Cocktail hour started early yesterday—mid-afternoon, to be precise—at the Baccarat headquarters in the 16th arrondissement, where the French heritage brand held first-look screenings of its Love Story trilogy. Of her first-ever speaking role, in the slightly complicated (and deeply French) vignette by Sonia Sieff, Caroline de Maigret admitted that she nearly backed out. “I had knots in my stomach constantly. But in the end, tackling something I didn’t know how to do was liberating.” So liberating, in fact, that she’ll be taking on her first short film this fall.
In the evening, summer showers dampened the garden portion of the Bulgari party, but given that the venue was a 19th-century mansion that’s currently home to the gastronomic restaurant Apicius, no one was much bothered. “It’s winter back home in Australia, I’ve got no complaints,” said actor Eric Bana, who confessed to a “soft spot for the greens” among the gems paraded at the evening’s fashion show. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy leaned more toward the diamonds, but added that she loved the candy-chic look of the bracelet she was wearing. “To me, jewelry is made of memories and history, like perfume. Bulgari brings me back to my roots, my childhood, because it’s part of a major legend in Cinecittà and fashion,” said France’s former first lady. “I became French when I married five years ago. But I love having the chance to be Italian again!” Speaking of Italian, Fendi threw a party at its Avenue Montaigne store to introduce the world to Karlito. The little doll Cara Delevingne toted down the label’s Fall runway in February has multiplied; we expect to see them popping up all over the shows in September.
The Germany-Brazil World Cup match was getting started as the first courses arrived at Just One Eye’s dinner for jeweler Wilfredo Rosado at Caviar Kaspia. By the time the famous baked potatoes emerged from the kitchen, it was 5-0. Alix Duvernoy, a Brazilian who was making the rounds at couture for the first time, wasn’t pleased. Rosado himself had tickets to Sunday’s final, but sold them. “I’ve never been to Rio,” he said. Instead, he’ll take his holidays in Europe. As of halftime, he was still deliberating between Budapest and Prague.
