Sarah Jessica Parker was slated to present Manolo Blahnik with an award but was nowhere to be seen by the time guests settled into their tables at Cipriani, sipping "Le Provocateurs," a pear-infused martini and the signature cocktail of the evening. The very pregnant star of "Sex and the City" eventually showed up though, wearing a short, black number that did everything but hide her enormous belly, to pay homage to the man she called an artist: "Archive them, ladies!... Most marriages don't last that long, but with Blahnik, you can be monogamous."

When one of the guests asked Parker when she was going to have the baby, she simply repeated, "Who knows, who knows?" and left soon after her presentation.

Sean "P.Diddy" Combs, who received the FGI award for American designer, thanked such designers as Tommy Hilfiger, Tom Ford and Ralph Lauren for giving him "the confidence to keep the swagger."

Although the invitation called for black tie, scores of people showed up in their own interpretations for the formal affair. Baz Luhrmann wore an impeccable Prada suit but completed the ensemble with a six-dollar tie he had bought in the hippy Haight-Ashbury section of San Francisco, where his stage version of "La Boheme" opened last week. Billy Zane, who called last night's event his "maiden voyage" into the fashion world, completed his Ozwald Boateng suit with a fedora-like hat he had gotten at Vlad the Impaler's (who is said to be the inspiration for the myth of Dracula) castle in Romania.

The FGI Superstar award was given to International Herald Tribune fashion editor Suzy Menkes, who arrived wearing bright red vintage Lacroix and accompanied by her son and signature swept-up hairdo. In a regal voice that rivaled the Queen's, Menkes thanked Diane von Furstenberg, who presented her with the award, and "the Tribune editors who have always stood by me through the rough times," alluding to LVMH's decision to ban Menkes from the Paris shows last year.

The highlight of the evening came when Harvey Keitel appeared on stage to introduce Eve Ensler, author of "The Vagina Monologues," with the Humanitarian award. The gruff-looking star of such movies as "Mean Streets," "Taxi Driver" and "Reservoir Dogs," opened his speech with, "I must admit, I've had problems with the vagina," and proceeded to read a lengthy, graphic section of Ensler's best-selling book. While von Furstenberg, Barkin and Leibowitz snickered to each other, Graydon Carter and Ron Perelman exchanged amused but visibly uncomfortable glances across the table.