Charlotte Ronson

On a sunny Tuesday morning in early January, a strange noise was echoing through Ally Hilfiger’s apartment, a one-bedroom condo located in the faddish badlands of SoHo’s western frontier. “It’s the tailor,” said Ms. Hilfiger, motioning toward a closed door from her cozy perch on a white Art Deco love seat.

Before the interruption, Ms. Hilfiger, the 22-year-old daughter of the designer Tommy Hilfiger who herself dabbles in design and fine arts, had been describing a sentiment she shares with a small subset of female New Yorkers: women who are born of wealth, committed to various charitable causes and creative pursuits, but who claim they are weary of the flash of Patrick McMullan’s cameras, in search of a more … bohemian sensibility. These are not Upper East Siders with pageboys and pearl chokers, sitting on museum boards but living below 14th Street, in their own Petit Hameaux replete with easels, dress forms or turntables.  read more »

Last night brought together a spirited mix of New York’s cutting-edge fashion designers and artists—young representatives from two industries that are impossible to keep apart these days.

Designer Philip Lim, model Jessica Stam, stylist Kate Schelter, Vogue’s Stephanie LaCava, socialite Genevieve Jones, men's wear designer Thom Browne and supermarket mogul Ron Burkle were among the revelers swirling around the Max Lang gallery in Chelsea—a smallish, brightly-lit, bi-level space on Tenth Ave. It's where French shoemaker Repetto was celebrating its 60th anniversary traveling exhibition and the launch of their eponymous charitable foundation.  read more »

Who can claim the title of 2007’s most socially social New York society clan? In a major year-end party wrap cobbled together by Style.com, the aesthetically-inclined Web site asks—and, thank gawd, answers—that very question.

On one side of the party divide is the Peter and Minnie Davis/Tinsley Mortimer team. (Mr. and Ms. Davis are, for those who didn’t know, Ms. Mortimer’s siblings-in-law.) On the other: Ann Dexter-Jones and her three party-hardy kids—Samantha, Mark and Charlotte.

As Style points out, it’s been quite a year for both clans: Topper and Ms. Mortimer’s wedding got a major write-up in the Times; and Ms. Davis tied the knot with Syriana director Stephen Gaghan. (What they don’t mention, however, is that 2007 was also the year society scribe Mr. Davis found true love in a certain young social, Paul Johnson-Calderon.)

Meanwhile, Mr. Ronson’s single, Stop Me, climbed to the number-two spot on the British charts—no small feat, to be sure. What’s more, Samantha Ronson was, for a while anyway, queen of the tabloids, soaking up the buzz as her friendship with Lindsay Lohan continued to heat up. And then there’s their younger sis Charlotte, who we caught up with not long ago at her Nolita boutique, where she was introducing her 2007 Resort collection. Ms. Dexter-Jones, too, told us all about her new lease on life post-divorce, loving the high-thread-count sheets at her new digs in the Bowery Hotel.

In the end, though, there can only be one winner; (as Heidi Klum might say, “You’re either in or you’re out.”) And in this case, Patrick McMullan must pick the winning bunch—“that ultimate litmus test of social visibility.” While the Dexter-Jones/Ronson squad racked up an impressive 422 photos credits on the social shutterbug’s Web site, the Davis/Mortimer clan reigns supreme. The trendy trio said "cheese" for Mr. McMullan’s lens a whopping 732 times.

“It was kind of inspired by mosaic travels," said Charlotte Ronson about her Resort 2007 collection previewing this week. She was standing in the middle of her small shoebox-shaped boutique on Mulberry Street in Nolita. The clothes were piled up on white shelving units in a take-it-or-leave-it style that suited the 30-year-old socialite and designer. “Just like a vacation after a long fall, it’s nice to have that soft wearable—but still, like, dark tones that I can wear in fall, so you don’t look too …” she said, eyeing this reporter’s light-colored sweater.

Though she doesn’t get to travel as much as she’d like, Ms. Ronson said she was influenced by trips to Spain, Ibiza and the Caribbean—“anywhere the sun shines.” She looks up to fellow clothiers like Rachel Comey, APC, Stella McCartney and Chloe, but she thinks it’s important to showcase young designers, too. (In the store, she has a case filled with retro-looking jewelry designed by a Teen Vogue assistant named Mary Kate Steinmiller.)

Ms. Ronson, whose brother, Mark Ronson, and sister, Samantha Ronson, have achieved a certain amount of notoriety in the music industry, has high ambitions for her own label. On top of her New York and Tokyo stores, she said she’d like to open others in L.A. and London. And she would also like to try her hand at designing a line of baby apparel. How cute! At the moment, however, she's just looking forward to spending the holidays at her sister's in L.A. “I’m going to stay with her Thanksgiving and cook—probably everything but turkey.”

So, is Ms. Ronson a vegetarian?

“No, I just am not a huge fan of turkey,” she said.