Fashion's Night Out is the one time you can step into a couture shop, buzzed off champagne, and happily be offered a discount—and most likely, another glass. But at last night's Roberto Cavalli party, you could almost forget the price-tags. An oversized spiral staircase separated the unabashed browsers below from the crowd above, who swayed to Solange Knowles' mix of Yacht and Salt-n-Peppa. "It's sort of been love at first spin for me—Q-Tip gave me my first lessons," starts an electric Solange, wearing a sheer animal print blouse and an ecrue ankle-grazing skirt-pant on the occasion. "I hope everyone below can't see right up this thing!" After her brother and larger-than-life sister bought her a DJ'ing set a year ago, the wild-haired chanteuse has been really getting into it. This is only the first of five NYFW parties—including BET's Rising Icons, Jay Z's afterparty, and the GQ-Rocawear event—where she'll DJ.

Despite a spattering of leopard and python stools, the yacht-ready crowd stood on either side of a well-secured velvet rope that separated Solange and the VIP crowd from, well, the others. A voice-resting Debra Cox (doctor's orders) side-stepped in the former area, periodically whispering to her hairdresser, alongside a gliding Miss Universe. Despite a blip with the sound equipment and a low-performance a/c, the event kept rocking within the leopard-loving walls. "Right now I'm really, really into prints. Mixing ankara and African and Kenyan patterns with really minimalist, modern pieces." After her set, Solange plans to hit the Opening Ceremony party. She's going to take it easy this week--check out one or two shows, maybe even sleep in. "I'm actually most excited about Jeremy Scott. He's a good friend of mine, and he's so excited, and now I'm so excited, and I just can't wait."