Rachel Zoe's "Style: A to Zoe" Party at Cartier in LA

"Manners maketh the man" as William of Wykeham's old adage goes, but it's the accessories that maketh the icon, according to celebrity fashion stylist Rachel Zoe.

And how fitting that a trend-setter who espouses such a belief should choose Cartier to host the launch party of her new book, Style A to Zoe at the jewelers flagship store in Beverly Hills, providing Zoe with ample opportunity to bask in the glory of her success in a playground of the best-dressed celebrities - Djimon Hounsou, Emmy Rossum, Joy Bryant and Farrah Fawcett to name a few.

Draped in a shimmering-gold vintage Halston dress, made complete by the tousled, blond locks, the heavily-penciled eyes and tanned waif-thin arms and legs sprouting from the garment's openings, Zoe arrived at Cartier last night, looking every bit as stylish as the beauty mannequins she's famous for dressing.

"I wrote this book as a way of helping people understand style, a way of getting into their minds," said the 36 year-old fashion auteur. "I'm just trying to understand who my readers are and how they view fashion." So what can readers expect from this latest fashion Torah?

"Love, passion and dreams," according to Frederic de Narp, President of Cartier North America and a staunch supporter of the Rachel's latest endeavor." Like Cartier, Rachel is a pioneer, a trend-setter, she creates style, she makes dreams come true."

Although the book explores the concept style and its many facets, Zoe remains hard-pressed to define what style actually is. "It's completely subjective. You can't grasp it because it's just so personal."

Actress Emmy Rossum agrees.

"It's your own personal flair and aesthetics," said Rossum, an ASW member. "It's an expression of how you want the world to see you. I very much look forward to reading the book."

— Mmoma Ejiofor

The Cartier Award 2007: And the Winner is...?

On the first day of London’s Frieze Art Fair, a full house of serious art buyers and seriously puzzled artists laughed and scratched their heads as the 2007 Cartier Award recipient, Mario Garcia Torres, used an actor representing a pseudonym to present his winning project.

The Los Angeles-based Torres, who has exhibited at the Tate Modern, Kadist Art Foundation and Venice Biennale, took 'playful' to another level with a droll monologue for a nonexistent but notorious entertainment world scapegoat, Allen Smithee. Beginning in 1968, Hollywood directors would credit Allen Smithee, an anagram for 'The Alias Men', when they felt they lost creative control of their film. Allen Smithee’s filmography has 67 films so far.

“I am a dustbin of creative work, an unlikely collection of artistic rubbish and cobbled together leftovers. You can really make it as a garbage collector,” cautioned the actor, employed by Torres as Smithee. Torres managed to challenge the confines of a creative act in only thirty minutes, pointing out that a collective body of artistic failure can turn into success.

Curator of Frieze Projects, Neville Wakefield, describes Torres’ work as, “an irresistible combination of dry wit and conceptual elegance sure to perplex, confuse and hold everyone’s attention.” Indeed, Torres managed to genuinely confuse the audience, who craved a glimpse of the elusive artist and wondered if Allen Smithee was, in fact, a famous director.

—Taraneh Ghajar