This season we kicked off of our coverage of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week on the Red Carpet for 9th Annual Style Awards 2012 at The Stage in Lincoln Center.

Fashion and Hollywood elite presented awards in 12 categories honoring the industries top designers, hair and makeup artists, stylists, actors and athletes.

While on the red carpet, we got the chance to ask nominees and super chic attendees, what are some of their style staples and quick fix tips. We caught up with so many great new friends including designer Rebecca Minkoff, Miss America 2012 Lauren Kaeppeler, ELLE Magazine Creative Director Joe Zee and Style Network’s own Empire Girl Adrienne Bailon - who gave us a chic n’ sweet peek at her nail collection that will be launching in October. As well a few of our own NYLA favorites, top stylist Phillip Bloch and always chic designer, Catherine Malandrino.

Peep through our photos of the night:

Nicole Richie

Iman

June Ambrose

Adrienne Bailon

Phillip Bloch

The event, also sponsored by Maybelline, paid homage to New York City as each of the designers had to create pieces that represented what New York meant to them. The designers created two or three looks to send down the runway, each of which was impeccably made and unique. I don’t know how those judges chose winners!

Some of my favorites included a leather and knit ensemble made by Daniela Gutmann, a men’s look by Karen Pancho which had these super cool navy cropped pants, and an all knit look by Rosa Ng that had a fierce ombre knit vest!

The show was really incredible and two very lucky winners came out of it – congratulations to Jongsuk Park who won the Maybelline New York Visionary award and TaeKyung Kim who won the Fashion Next Design Award! (images via elle.com)

The full film, directed by Steven Klein, is expected to debut next month at the Guggenheim, and also online via LittleMonsters.com.

Take a peek for yourself below and let us know what you think:

Sparkle (Jordin Sparks) has two sisters, Sister (Carmen Ejogo, Away We Go) and Dolores (Tika Sumpter, Think Like a Man), and they are all great singers. Sister (whose real name is Tammy) is the “showman” of the three, and with the help of Stix (Derek Luke, TV’s Hawthorne), their manager, they form a girl band, with Sister as the lead singer and Sparkle and Dolores on back-up. Their mother, Emma (Whitney Houston, The Bodyguard), disapproves of their singing, as she tried to have a singing career when she was younger but failed. Sister has a boyfriend but quickly attracts the attention of a TV celebrity, Satin (Mike Epps, Jumping the Broom), and falls into a tumultuous and violent relationship with him. Sparkle and Stix have an off-and-on relationship, but when the group falls apart due to Sister’s drug addiction (which is the fault of Satin, for the most part), Stix wants to move to California, since he’s “done with Detroit.” Sparkle, who also writes original songs, must decide if she has the courage to become her own act, and sing her own songs on stage.

If I was reviewing this movie on the singing itself, it would get 5 out of 5 stars. Curiously, Sparks’ singing isn’t utilized much, until the very end, when she takes the stage on her own, and we see the depth of her abilities. Houston sings solo in a few scenes, and they are bittersweet moments when you remember she’s no longer with us, as she’s a fantastic singer. Carmen Ejogo, as the main showrunner at first, is great, and so is Tika Sumpter as Dolores, who is in the group to earn money so she can attend medical school.

Yes, see this film. In the scenes where there wasn’t any singing, the film did drag a little bit, but that might have been because it could have had a shorter runtime. I was surprised that Whitney Houston hasn’t really done any movies since the late ’90s, because she was great as the girls’ overprotective mother, who didn’t want them to fall into the same scenario that she had lived through, where she didn’t make it and also turned to drugs and alcohol; in one scene, she snaps something like “Wasn’t my life enough of a cautionary tale for you?” I was also surprised that this was Jordin Sparks’ first film, as she is a natural actress; I hope to see her more on the silver screen in the future.

Sparkle is in theaters today, August 17th, and is rated PG-13 with a runtime of 116 minutes. 3.5 stars out of 5.

The celebrated artist, once called a “different kind of diva” by Vogue, just wrapped her first COVERGIRL advertising shoot, which is scheduled to debut in the September issue of that publication next week.

Major congrats, Janelle! xo

Purchase Gerard Darel at www.bloomingdales.com or select Bloomingdales locations.

Check out what Liam shared with Glamour:

GLAMOUR: So maybe this is a silly question, but…Team Gale or Team Peeta?

LIAM HEMSWORTH: I relate to Gale more. I feel like my decisions would’ve been similar to his decisions in those situations. I’d be trying to figure out a way to stop [the Games] or fight back.

GLAMOUR: Is your fiancée, Miley, Team Peeta or Team Gale? She has to be Team Gale, right?

LH: She says she’s Team Katniss.

GLAMOUR: Very clever. When fans approach you two, do they usually want pictures with you or her?

LH: If it’s a really young person, it’s usually for her. But people do like to take photos of us together because of The Last Song [the movie they costarred in].

GLAMOUR: Chris Hemsworth [Thor, The Avengers] is your older brother. Do you feel competitive about who’s better looking?

LH: [Laughs.] Well, when I started high school, I remember all the older girls coming up to me and saying how in love they were with Chris.

GLAMOUR: Did you and your brother ever have a crush on the same girl?

LH: As the younger brother, I think you always have crushes on your older brother’s girlfriends.

 

Clockwise:
Gypsy Junkies Melrose Drape Vest in Liberty Print: $62
Gypsy Junkies Liberty Scarf: $52
Deja Soleil Ibiza Heat Top: $45
Deja Soleil Miami Spice Bottom: $45
Hadari Sandals: $69
Old Gringo Boots: $400-450
Gypsy Junkies Liberty Denim Shorts: $79