Stars put their staid black evening wear back on the rack in favor of going plaid at the recent grand opening of the new Burberry store in Beverly Hills, where the well-established English clothier is staging its own checkered-chic British Invasion in hopes of taking Southern California by storm.
Hosts Kate Beckinsale–looking beyond radiant in a long plaid Burberry skirt and a midriff-bearing cutoff white T-shirt–and Rita Wilson–clad in a strapless black cocktail dress and Burberry wrap–led the glamour factor on the red carpet. They were joined by a coterie of actresses from film and television, including Jada Pinkett Smith, Melissa Joan Hart, Teri Polo, Denise Richards, Mimi Rogers and Daryl Hannah.
Wilson, one of Hollywood’s most gregarious and genuine leading ladies, told me she’s been a fan of the clothier for a long time. “We’ve spent a lot of time in England, and everyone’s got their Burberry trench and scarf and all of that…now it’s right down the street!”
Revealing that she forgoes the personal stylist route because she likes to make her own dressing decisions, Mrs. Tom Hanks gave me a sense of just how serious a shopper she is: “I go through phases,” Wilson revealed. “Sometimes you feel like you hate everything in your closets and you’ve got to get new stuff. I love clothes but I’m not too obsessed by it. I think I was when I was younger.”
Incorporating lightweight new fabrics with hip new interpretations, new Burberry designer Christopher Knight has updated the famed red, camel, black and white check print for the Hollywood crowd with more body-conscious fits, an evening wear line–even baby clothes. “The whole look has been rejuvenated in the last three years,” Knight told me. “We just felt it was a perfect time for Los Angeles. We have so much demand here, and I think it’s a style that just fits perfectly.”
Perfectly, of course, on a very va-va-voom Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, who showed off a prime example of Burberry’s reinvented signature style with a tartan bikini top (part of its exclusive L.A. swimwear line) that peeked from underneath an open white shirt.
Rose Marie Bravo, Burberry’s chief executive, told me the company searched in Beverly Hills for four years before settling on the new spot on Wilshire Boulevard, which until recently was the home of a Planet Hollywood. “We wanted to bring a little bit of London to Beverly Hills,” she said, “but we also wanted to be sensitive to the climate and to the lifestyle of the client.”
Such a London-meets-90210 vibe was never stronger than when I passed a stiff-upper-lipped “Palace Guard” stationed at the door and almost immediatiely encountered a mini-reunion of the ladies of TV’s fictional West Beverly High. Newly engaged Tiffani Thiessen huddled with newly brunette Jennie Garth, while teeny Tori Spelling gabbed with brother Randy (all this as a few look-alike gals in Tori’s posse whined greedily about grabbing their gratuitous gift bags and blowing the scene). Meanwhile, former Melrose Place star Daphne Zuniga posed patiently for the paparazzi.
The distaff members of the Frasier cast, Jane Leeves and Peri Gilpin, also huddled together as they soaked up the hard-rock-heavy spin stylings of DJ Rosanna Arquette,
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who lured partiers onto an improvised dance floor with Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith and other classic rockers.
Jag’s Catherine Bell, studying a pair of boots, was a bit worried about going on a spending jag when I told her that the cash registers were open. “Do you think there’s a discount?” she asked me with hope in her eyes. With those gorgeous orbs aimed at me (her eyes, guys!), had I been the salesman, I couldn’t have refused.
Sexy and sincere Shannon Elizabeth, adorable in a knit cap, brought her beau Joe Reitman. Their E! Celebrity Adventure had just aired, and Shannon–ready for a break after starring in four films this year–was already crossing her fingers for a return invitation. “We had such a good time!” she told me. “I was hoping that maybe there’d be another one and another cool place we could go, because I’m game!”
I kept running into Shannon’s American Pie castmate, the typically rocked-out Tara Reid, and her gaggle of gal-pals at the champagne bar, while an elegant-looking Mena Suvari quietly played wallflower with her hubby. A pair of arresting NYPD Blue sirens, Charlotte Ross and Garcelle Beauvais, mingled alongside The Practice‘s electrifying recent guest star Virginia Madsen, who–perhaps mindful of the effects of the provocatively low-cut number she was wearing–brought her intimidating brother Michael (Reservoir Dogs) as her chaperone.
Mr. Madsen, who I’ll warn you doesn’t like to be jostled in a crowd, wasn’t the only gent in attendance: Craig Kilborn, Chris Kattan and Scott Patterson (the Gilmore Girls star was on his first big fashion outing and confessed it was unusual to be “shaven and wearing a monkey suit” given his character’s more rustic approach to style). The gentlemen mixed happily with supermodels like Heidi Klum, Amber Valletta and Roshumba. “Talk Soup” hostess Aisha Tyler also adopted a sharp Burberry-esque look, but it was her height that impressed Orlando Jones: “Girl, did you get taller?”
Alexandra Wentworth, one of the funniest comediennes around (if not yet a household name) and soon-to-be Mrs. George Stephanopolous, told me that while she has a few projects in the hopper, right now “I’m all about getting married.” Heavily enmeshed in wedding preparations, she also skips the stylist route. “I start with my friends. I have a few friends who know fashion and I call them and say ‘What should I wear?'”
The rest of the crowd was comprised of some of the big and small screen’s hottest up-and-coming actresses, including Legally Blonde’s Selma Blair, Ali Larter and Linda Cardellini, China Chow (with proud papa, restauranteur “Mr. Chow”), Marley Shelton, Sarah Wynter, Bijou Phillips and Bree Turner.
At one point the party was so hoppin’ you couldn’t get your hands on a champagne flute unless you already had one. As I passed the almost painfully attractive Ms. Beckinsale on my way out and overheard her chatting with friends about where to go afterwards, it was clear that a good time was plaid by all.
