>> In front of a sold-out crowd last night at FIT's Katie Murphy Amphitheatre, Prabal Gurung, fresh off a trip to visit his family in Nepal, fielded questions ranging from the status of his love life — "I'm single" — to whether he would ever consider designing for a major fashion house — "Yes."

Gurung, who has been in business for just about a year, producing three collections under his namesake label thus far, remarks of his quickly-found success:

"I'm as talented as any other designers, I'm not more talented or anything else. But there are various other factors that came into where I am today . . . There are stories like, let's say Proenza [Schouler], they went to school, graduated, and they were discovered — they're very talented — stories like Alex Wang . . . it happens once every few years. I came from the school of thought [where] I believe in paying your dues, learning your craft, knowing what it takes to make a good collection. I paid my dues, so for me, when people say it's an instant success, I'm always like, no, it's been ten-plus years of hard work."

He credits Oprah for bringing him to New York »

>> Stefano Tonchi Makes First Hire at W —It was rumored that Stefano Tonchi may be taking W the In Style route — he himself suggested that the magazine will be "less . . . fashion-obsessed" — and now, he's made his first hire, notably outside the fashion realm. Tonchi confirmed that Lawrence Karol, who most recently served as Gourmet managing editor, will top the W masthead as executive managing editor. [FWD]

>> Stefano Pilati's failure to appear at last night's Metropolitan Opera Gala, Yves Saint Laurent's biggest event of the year stateside, raised a few eyebrows, The Daily reports. For the last two years running, Pilati has showed at the event, usually with Anna Wintour by his side, but last night neither appeared.

Apparently during Paris Fashion Week, talk turned to Pilati's sales performance at the brand: top retailers reported that Yves Saint Laurent's accessories sell well (Pilati has a foundation in shoes and bags) but the ready-to-wear fails to resonate with customers. Rumors that PPR is searching for a new creative director at the brand ensued.

Reps deny any rift »

>> Sarah Jessica Parker Warned Halston They'd Be "Bludgeoned" For Working With Her —Sarah Jessica Parker, who joined Halston to oversee the archive-inspired Heritage line starting in Spring 2011, says she took a long time to agree to work with the brand. "There was every reason to say no, and there were very compelling reasons to say yes." But, when she first came in New York City in 1977, "you couldn't be alive and not know the name Halston," and the brand was very persuasive, she says, even though she told them they were taking "a very untraditional route" and they'd be bludgeoned for it.  Ultimately, her decision came down to: "Does it scare me? Am I intimidated? Am I challenged? That's kind of the way I've always made decisions. And luckily, the Halston offices are about a ten-minute walk from my house." [Vogue]

Marchesa’s Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig have partnered with Lenox to design tableware.

Carolina Herrera did not intend to be on Tinsley Mortimer's reality show, High Society.

She may not have been born when it ceased publication in 1995, but Tavi Gevinson pleas for another Sassy magazine.

"Ask a Stylist," which was released today, is a new iPhone application from Glamour magazine that doles out style tips in real time with a team of eight stylists on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Hudson jeans is launching a high-end couture collection, called Resurrection. The line is constructed by hand from recycled denim and comes with a $995 price tag, compared to the main line which retails between $215 and $325 a pair.

Source: Getty

The May issue of Vogue magazine features Sarah Jessica Paker on the cover and in an editorial as a 1940s screen siren photographed by Mario Testino. In the accompanying article, written by Vicki Woods, Parker discusses fashion, fragrance, family, her twin baby girls (Babe and Kitty born by surrogate), and the second film installment of Sex and the City, which will be released next month. On Patricia Field's costuming the four main SATC characters for scenes taking place in the Middle East, Parker says:

"[Fields] wanted all the characters to be interesting, sexy, all the stories that Pat likes to tell with clothing, but we had religious and environmental and cultural standards to respect. You have to look at clothing and women and women’s bodies completely differently. And you start to see how you can still see so much with someone covered. And how exciting that is and how beautiful it is and how draping can be incredibly sexy.”

Sometime between Woods' interview and the magazine hitting press, it was announced Sarah Jessica Parker would be the president and chief creative officer of Halston's Heritage collection. Woods quickly phoned Parker to fill in the blanks:  "What possessed her? Isn’t she busy enough? What was she thinking?" To which Parker explained she had fond memories of Halston from visiting Studio 54 when first living in New York as the child lead in Annie and that the company was very persuasive:

“There was every reason to say no, and there were very compelling reasons to say yes. . . It’s an exciting time at that company. It has had some false starts that are well documented and it is relaunching itself. It has a wonderful legacy, and I couldn’t say no, and I’m . . . uh, figuring it out. Does it scare me? Am I intimidated? Am I challenged? That’s kind of the way I’ve always made decisions. And luckily, the Halston offices are about a ten-minute walk from my house.”

Source: Vogue/Mario Testino

>> Last night Tanner Hall, the first film written and directed by Tatiana von Furstenberg (daughter of Diane) with her best friend, Francesca Gregorini, had its New York premiere as part of the Gen Art Film Festival. The movie, which follows a coming-of-age story of four friends at an all-girl New England prep school, features school uniforms designed by Diane von Furstenberg and stars Rooney Mara, Brie Larson, Amy Ferguson, Amy Sedaris, Tom Everett Scott, Chris Kattan and Georgia King.

The premiere came fresh off the news yesterday that the film was acquired and will be released in the United States in the late Summer; it will also be shopped for international distribution at the Cannes Film Festival next month. After the premiere, Diane tweeted, "I am proud of Tatiana and Francesca .. Movie played very well.. Cannot wait for the movie to open to the public!"

The trailer! »

In anticipation of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa this summer, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have tapped Italian soccer stars Antonio Di Natale, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Claudio Marchisio, Federico Marchetti and Domenico Criscito to appear in the latest Dolce & Gabbana underwear campaign.

The five sculpted bodies were photographed by Mariano Vivanco in front of a locker room shower stall wearing underwear from the World Cup collection. Each piece from the lineup — tracksuits, jackets, polos, vests, shorts, sweats, T-shirts and trousers — features an Italian flag in support of the national team and is only available in the team's colors. You can get yours at Dolce & Gabbana boutiques mid-May.

Frida Giannini took her first trip to Singapore this week to officiate the opening of a revamped Gucci flagship and while there, experienced the honor of having an orchid named after her. (Rihanna and Princess Diana also have special blooms named for them in Singapore.) The Paravanda Frida, a white flower with fuchsia tips, was the inspiration for limited-edition bags only available in Singapore to benefit a local children’s charity. While in China, Giannini also announced plans to launch a children's line for Gucci this June, first in Italy and then in 40 worldwide stores.