PartyLines- photographs by Patrick McMullan

Are you part of the secret gay society at Condé Nast called the Majority? “No. I never got CC’ed on those memos.” —Hamish Bowles

—Amy Fine Collins

Since you didn’t study fashion, do you think budding designers need a degree? “I don’t think that fashion is something that you study. It’s either you have it or you don’t have it. You can teach yourself how to do things.” —Yigal Azrouël

—Arnold Scaasi

Do you like Project Runway? “I can’t believe what those people do, because they put them through, like, a lot of hell. I would never want to do it.” —Nanette Lepore

—Christian Cota

Why did the F.I.T. Museum choose Dries Van Noten to honor this year? “He represents someone who is an independent designer, has always gone his own way. And he has a very intense, beautiful personal life. He has a real life; he’s not just a fashion machine.” —Valerie Steele, F.I.T. Museum Director

—Joni Evans

—Patrick McDonald

What is your advice for aspiring interior designers? “There are going to be fewer opportunities, and the talented ones are going to seize them and get them.” —Charlotte Moss

—Liz Peek

As an art collector, have you gotten any good deals in this economy? “A beautiful Oldenburg drawing from the sixties, and a beautiful John Chamberlain foam piece from the sixties. They would have been much higher. It was just too good to resist.” —Beth Rudin Dewoody

—Yaz Hernandez

—Yildiz Blackstone

What is your advice for budding fashion designers? “Don’t look left or right. Follow your heart. No magazine, no editor, nothing can stop you.” —Ralph Rucci