Joan Rivers Is Still the Fashion Police

Moments before the Badgley Mischka show began yesterday, Joan Rivers was walking up the runway with a camera crew, shooting a TV segment. The usually stone-faced fashion crowd burst into unprecedented, extended applause. Some stood; cheers broke out.

We caught up with Rivers after the show and asked her if that happens everywhere. “Never!” she said. “That knocked my socks off.”

Then we posed this question: covering Fashion Week—heaven or hell? “Heaven,” she replied. “The fun of Fashion Week, the excitement, the glamour. It’s one opening night after the next.”

Rivers’ critiques are hilarious but scathing. How difficult is it, we wondered, to skewer celebs and then run into them at events? “Our job on Fashion Police is to be critics, so that’s what I have to do,” Rivers said. “And I don’t run into anyone because I’m invited nowhere.”

Kate Mara, Erin Andrews, Coco Rocha and Kelly Osbourne were all among Badgley Mischka’s front row.

Kate Mara, who starred with James Franco in 127 Hours and with Josh Radnor in happythankyoumoreplease said that she is “about to start a new series in April with David Fincher, called House of Cards. We’ll shoot for about seven months.” The series, which debuts later this year, also stars Kevin Spacey. Fincher directed Mara’s two-years-younger sister, Rooney, in The Girl With a Dragon Tattoo. Kate said she is “very excited” about Rooney’s Best Actress Oscar nomination.

Rooney’s red carpet appearances this award season tend to be cyberpunk while Kate generally dresses more girl-next-door. We asked about the differences in their styles. “We have really similar taste, actually,” said Kate. “I think our styles change with the roles we’re working on; that’s the look you have at the moment.”

Kate’s famous NFL family owns both the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants, so naturally Kate attended the Super Bowl last weekend, as did ESPN football reporter Erin Andrews, who sat a few seats from Kate in the front row. “The Super Bowl had a great atmosphere,” said Andrews. “I thought Indianapolis did a phenomenal job hosting and the game was just amazing.”

The statuesque Andrews, who was wearing a one-shouldered red dress, could easily be mistaken for a model. How does she handle the inevitable flack for being a beautiful woman who loves fashion, while being taken seriously in the locker room?

“I’ve got to tell you, I’m one of the first women at ESPN to go to this kind of stuff [Fashion Week] and have fun with it,” she said. “I think I’m just finally over that whole ‘people think pretty girls can’t like sports’ thing. We can do both. To be honest with you, it’s a bigger deal for me to get ready for this today than it is to get ready for a football game. I get to have fun, right?”

And what’s the biggest difference between going to Fashion Week and going into a locker room?

“The smell.”