Stars Come Out to Fête Valentino (& His Dogs) @ MoMA

Last night at the MoMA, while the aristocracy of the fashion and entertainment worlds trailed in and out of the star-studded premiere of Valentino: The Last Emperor hosted by Quintessentially and the Gilt Groupe, the designer’s pooches stole the show. While only there in spirit -- Valentino’s six pugs, Molly, Milton, Monty, Margot, Maude, and Maggie -- were the hot topic of the evening.

Not a real surprise, given New York’s ongoing pug obsession. The event marked the end of the designer’s 50-year fashion career, with the premiere of a behind-the-scenes documentary of the competitive and glamorous life of Valentino and his partner Giancarlo Giammetti. “The pugs are the costars of the film,” claimed director Matt Tyrnauer, who followed the designer around for the final two years of his career to shoot the film. “There’s a scene in the movie where they’re making a $100,000 dress, and the pug walks out from underneath the dress, so yeah, they kind of got in the way, but in a good way,” added Tyrnauer.

All of the celebrities who had worked with Valentino said that while a bit spoiled, the pups are quite adorable. Victoria’s Secret model Karolina Kurkova proudly claimed that the dogs took a liking to her, but was sure to mention that, “They’re really not nice to everybody.” Gwyneth Paltrow, who made her grand entrance arm-in-arm with the designer, admitted that while the pugs were, “kind of mean,” she insisted that she still loved them. Her daughters remained undeterred in their quest to befriend the pampered pups, who have their very own limo to escort them to the airport in accordance with their jet-setting lifestyle. Other boldfaced names at the event included Anne Hathaway, Claire Danes, Martha Stewart, Agyness Deyn, Hugh Dancy, Selita Ebanks, Jason Wu, and Chanel Iman.

On the fashion front, Valentino—with his old-Hollywood charm and trademark orange facial glow—declared, “I’m not touching fashion anymore,” but added with a smile, “just dresses for high fashion or ready to wear.” The “retired” designer is devoting a great deal of his newly free time to designing costumes for the theater. He also claimed that this documentary was an accurate depiction of himself. “They took almost every detail of my life. When I’m in my house, when I speak with my people. I never was a person who showed off my private life very much, and all of a sudden they were there filming. Sometimes I didn’t even know they were behind my shoulders.” The director had a different recollection. “You’re walking around with cameras, lights, and microphones, and you’re in the way, and Valentino is someone who wants something when he wants it, and doesn’t want to wait around. So we were getting screamed at a lot, but I put it in the movie because that’s who the man is. Valentino is very nice, but he’s a fashion legend, and you don’t get there by being all sweet and polite all the time.”