Alexis Bittar's Opening Bash Attendees: A Bambi-Eyed Gaswanzebra and a Coyotelope

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North Damen was abuzz with traffic and pocketbooks of cash this past weekend as Alexis Bittar was visiting Chicago to open his newest shop of luxury sparklies. We stopped by the Bucktown boutique last Friday night to find a gorgeous stock of Goddess and the Grocer cupcakes, champagne, and a slew of style hungry Chicagoans.

Jet setting Alexis made a fashionably late entrance to his own party due of a flight delay at JFK but that didn't set back the party at all. From the moment the black balloons were tethered to the hand rail outside the store the steady stream of spendy socialites was non-stop. Locals and out-of-towners alike showed for the opening that was held in conjunction with Rima Suqi's book signing of her latest Assouline publication, American Fashion Designers at Home. Rima was stacked with Alexis' jewelry and was accompanied by her mother.

Alas, Alexis' airport taxi arrived at the store just in time for the stream of fans that apparently didn't stop coming until saturday afternoon. As we mentioned in an earlier post, we heard that Alexis may be bringing a few more furry friends (AKA Frank J. Zitz taxidermy) with him for the store opening. Well, he didn't bring them in his duffel bag like we thought- they flew here on their own and met him at the store. We didn't get a chance to talk with them but we snapped some party photos and we think they are a coyote with antelope antlers and a itty bitty zebra with gazelle antlers and swan wings. Like many other guests these two jeweled-up exotic hybrid animals were the first ones to greet us as we walked into the shop. As soon as we saw them, gasped deep and laughed so hard, one of your loyal Racked correspondents pulled a muscle in his stomach and was in pain for the rest of the evening. The hybrid animals do not have names yet but the little Gaswanzebra did let us in on a rumor that Alexis is in the process of creating part of next season's collection around goat.
· Alexis Bittar [Official Site]