Donatella Versace

With a hairstylist on guard with a brush and a makeup artist standing sentinel with a powder puff, fashion diva Donatella Versace thrusts her left hip toward the camera. "My best side," she says in a smoky voice, hooking her thumbs on the waistband of a pair of pants just a shade more tangerine than her tan. Posing in front of a bougainvillea bush outside her bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel, the designer is commanding every click of this photo shoot.

PARIS --Planes couldn't land, cars couldn't move and pedestrians had to slosh their way through slush, but not everyone minded the snow in Paris for the start of haute couture week on Sunday. At Atelier Versace, Kevin Costner said, "It's given Paris a wonderful look - it's like a winter wonderland.” There to film “Three Days to Kill,” Costner said when the invitation to Versace's spring/summer collection arrived, going to the show seemed like a good idea. "I like to see what's going on in the city," Costner said.

Call him the accidental trendsetter. Costume designer Michael Kaplan's futuristic-noir look for "Blade Runner" inspired an Alexander McQueen fashion collection. His "Fight Club" designs were soon being paid tribute to by his designer friend Marc Jacobs as well as Donatella Versace. And then there were the slouchy, off-the-shoulder outfits in "Flashdance," which triggered a rabid '80s trend that still has some life left in it. So does this mean we might all soon be wearing feathered headdresses?

Call him the accidental trendsetter. Costume designer Michael Kaplan's futuristic-noir look for "Blade Runner" inspired an Alexander McQueen fashion collection. His "Fight Club" designs were soon being paid tribute to by his designer friend Marc Jacobs as well as Donatella Versace. And then there were the slouchy, off-the-shoulder outfits in "Flashdance," which triggered a rabid '80s trend that still has some life left in it. So does this mean we might all soon be wearing feathered headdresses?

PARIS --Planes couldn't land, cars couldn't move and pedestrians had to slosh their way through slush, but not everyone minded the snow in Paris for the start of haute couture week on Sunday. At Atelier Versace, Kevin Costner said, "It's given Paris a wonderful look - it's like a winter wonderland.” There to film “Three Days to Kill,” Costner said when the invitation to Versace's spring/summer collection arrived, going to the show seemed like a good idea. "I like to see what's going on in the city," Costner said.

THE Rodeo Drive Walk of Style tribute to Donatella Versace, held next to the Beverly Hills City Hall Feb. 8, felt like a Friars roast. 1. Eva Longoria, right, and Penelope Cruz loved the video of "SNL's" Maya Rudolph as the diminutive design dominatrix. 2. Sharon Stone, right, mocked Donatella's husky voice to auction off a Versace Lamborghini for Elton John's AIDS Foundation: "This car is so sexy. It's the Viagra of the future." 3.

No designer is the object of hero worship like Tom Ford, who reportedly boarded a private jet for three days of Oscar fetes in L.A. after his post-Gucci show bash here Wednesday. But the fashion world does still have a couple of characters, namely kaiser Karl Lagerfeld and prima Donatella Versace, who were caught in a comic gridlock Thursday night.

DONATELLA Versace, commander in chief of slit-down-to-there gowns, has a new runway to conquer -- and it's not the one festooned with flashbulbs, 6-inch heels or absurdly scrawny 15-year-old models. Rather, it is at the airport, where the Milan-based fashion designer plans to sex up the interiors of your private jet.

In that old comedy routine, the American tourist in a foreign country tries speaking English to a local and isn't understood. So the traveler keeps repeating his question, but louder. And louder. His subject isn't stupid or deaf. He just speaks another language. As the spring 2001 designer collections finished here, it's clear that now the Italians are the ones shouting, hoping that we stupid customers will finally get it.

If there's one show that can easily caricature fashion, it's Versace. Lots of glitz, lots of noise and enough dual-cheek air-kissing to suck the ozone--or what's left of it--out of Milan.

THE Rodeo Drive Walk of Style tribute to Donatella Versace, held next to the Beverly Hills City Hall Feb. 8, felt like a Friars roast. 1. Eva Longoria, right, and Penelope Cruz loved the video of "SNL's" Maya Rudolph as the diminutive design dominatrix. 2. Sharon Stone, right, mocked Donatella's husky voice to auction off a Versace Lamborghini for Elton John's AIDS Foundation: "This car is so sexy. It's the Viagra of the future." 3.

DONATELLA VERSACE blew into town with her entourage last weekend and set up camp in a smoking-allowed bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The Pink Palace's high-profile clientele being what it is, it's unlikely that she is the only regular guest who can claim a "Saturday Night Live" doppelganger. Yet when Donatella, as everyone calls her, is in residence, the glamour quotient rises, even at a legendarily fashionable place.

DONATELLA Versace, commander in chief of slit-down-to-there gowns, has a new runway to conquer -- and it's not the one festooned with flashbulbs, 6-inch heels or absurdly scrawny 15-year-old models. Rather, it is at the airport, where the Milan-based fashion designer plans to sex up the interiors of your private jet.

No designer is the object of hero worship like Tom Ford, who reportedly boarded a private jet for three days of Oscar fetes in L.A. after his post-Gucci show bash here Wednesday. But the fashion world does still have a couple of characters, namely kaiser Karl Lagerfeld and prima Donatella Versace, who were caught in a comic gridlock Thursday night.

With a hairstylist on guard with a brush and a makeup artist standing sentinel with a powder puff, fashion diva Donatella Versace thrusts her left hip toward the camera. "My best side," she says in a smoky voice, hooking her thumbs on the waistband of a pair of pants just a shade more tangerine than her tan. Posing in front of a bougainvillea bush outside her bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel, the designer is commanding every click of this photo shoot.

In that old comedy routine, the American tourist in a foreign country tries speaking English to a local and isn't understood. So the traveler keeps repeating his question, but louder. And louder. His subject isn't stupid or deaf. He just speaks another language. As the spring 2001 designer collections finished here, it's clear that now the Italians are the ones shouting, hoping that we stupid customers will finally get it.

DONATELLA VERSACE blew into town with her entourage last weekend and set up camp in a smoking-allowed bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The Pink Palace's high-profile clientele being what it is, it's unlikely that she is the only regular guest who can claim a "Saturday Night Live" doppelganger. Yet when Donatella, as everyone calls her, is in residence, the glamour quotient rises, even at a legendarily fashionable place.

"No, no. Audrey should wear the bathing suit. Chandra's hips will look too big in it." The decision to have a 19-year-old French waif walk down the runway in a bikini of glittering crystals is voiced softly, the words buffed by an Italian accent that smooths any sharp edges. The common perception is that all supermodels are blessed with perfect bodies. But Donatella Versace, the woman in charge, knows better. And she knows exactly what she wants. Next?

"No, no. Audrey should wear the bathing suit. Chandra's hips will look too big in it." The decision to have a 19-year-old French waif walk down the runway in a bikini of glittering crystals is voiced softly, the words buffed by an Italian accent that smooths any sharp edges. The common perception is that all supermodels are blessed with perfect bodies. But Donatella Versace, the woman in charge, knows better. And she knows exactly what she wants. Next?

If there's one show that can easily caricature fashion, it's Versace. Lots of glitz, lots of noise and enough dual-cheek air-kissing to suck the ozone--or what's left of it--out of Milan.