Celebrities, at least in Milan, are like buses. You sit around at shows, hoping one will show up, because, frankly, playing spot the designer gets boring real fast. But then nearly all of fashion week goes by, and not one does. (Anna Wintour is not a celebrity. Technically, she's at the office.)
With no-one to throw out airheaded comments about the clothes after the show (oh! Where are you Rachel Zoe?), journalists end up playing little games in their heads: Which side of the stage will the designer come out of? How long will they stay out - just a wave, or will they applaud themselves at length, even egging on the crowd for more (how modest you are, Giorgio Armani)?
But I will follow this analogy through, because just like London buses, on Monday not three but what felt like 50 celebs turned up at just one event - the Dolce & Gabbana Extreme Beauty in Vogue exhibition opening party. It was like a shot in the arm. While most of us probably can't identify with the models we see on the catwalk, seeing a good old regular celeb in a designer's look brings it just that little closer to reality.
Regular
And trust me, they really are regular. They talk about work, drink too much and text constantly, although they all happen to look gorgeous while doing it all. Then again, so does most of Milan every single day of the year.
But how much can the celebs really do to shift pairs of jeans and dresses? By today, when the Extreme hangovers will hopefully have passed and the fashion train rolls on into Paris, Milan's designers will be getting down to what 99 per cent of their work actually is: the unglamorous business of the hard sell. Good luck!
