The Big Party: Gianni and Donatella Versace Honored with Rodeo Drive Walk of Style Award

(FWD)
Updated: 2007-02-12 17:15

Eva Longoria arrives at the Rodeo Drive Walk of Style awards on Thursday night in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Los Angeles - Elton John wiped away a tear, then played Gianni Versace's favorite song ("Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me") as a giant leather-couched mosh pit of famous faces sang along, at the massive Rodeo Walk of Style Award party on Thursday night. The event celebrated the induction of the House of Versace into the elite group of Walk of Style recipients (others include Giorgio Armani, Edith Head, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Tom Ford) and brought out an eye-popping crowd of superstars.

Jennifer Lopez held off her trip to the Berlin Film Festival (she'll be honored by Amnesty International there for her work in "Bordertown"), donned a plunging-neckline white Versace halter gown, and joined husband Marc Anthony in sitting front row center on the white embossed leather couches (from the new Versace Home Couture collection, of course!). They snuggled and kissed as the party raged, but kept their hands in their laps as Sharon Stone took the stage ? her Versace gown was a black plunging-neckline halter ? and auctioned off a Versace custom-designed Lamborghini Murcielago sportscar.

Despite the lure of the proceeds of the auction going to Elton John's AIDS charity, most of the rich and famous clustered on the couches and draped in Versace Couture ? Eva Longoria, Cindy Crawford and hubbie Randy Gerber, Naomi Campbell, Tyra Banks, Penelope Cruz, Paris Hilton, and Jada Pinkett ? eschewed bidding. Still, the stunning vehicle went for $500,000, despite the fact that the outrageously wealthy music elite was well represented in the audience by Prince, Quincy Jones, Mary J. Blige, Kanye West, and Stevie Wonder.

Obviously, the night wasn't about spending money. Instead, it was all about celebrating the late designer Gianni Versace and his sister Donatella, who took over the fashion house after his murder in 1997.

"Tonight is a bittersweet occasion," said Rupert Everett, the night's host. "It's been a long journey for the House of Versace, from triumph to tragedy to triumph again."

The triumph was obvious in the huge tent erected for the celebration at the Beverly Hills City Hall. Literally everywhere you turned, there was someone whose face was strikingly familiar.

Look one way, Mischa Barton was sipping on the Orinoco V special rum and mint cocktail created for the evening. Look another, and a super-slim Drew Barrymore quaffed champagne from a delicate flute. Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher chatted with Lucy Liu; Trudi Styler, Teri Hatcher, Kelly Preston, Mena Suvari, Christina Ricci, and America Ferrera represented beauty from all generations; and Oscar nominee Jennifer Hudson proved that plus-size gals can wear Versace in style, too. (She was in a long cream number.)

And perhaps long-time Versace fan Brooke Shields said it best, when explaining why so many internationally recognized famous females turned up for this party honoring Gianni and Donatella.

"I've been wearing his clothes for years," Shields smiled. "Oh, no disrespect to her, but he was amazing. He made me look like a woman before I even was one!"