Risque Business

At the Tribeca Ball, even seen-it-all stars get an eyeful

Invitations to the Tribeca Ball may have read "festive attire," but the stars in attendance still felt a tad overdressed. That's because the beautiful models in their midst were wearing... their birthday suits. It was all for a good cause, of course. Benefiting the New York Academy of Art, the Hermes-sponsored event celebrated the school's 20th year of studying the human figure. During cocktails the models peeled off their clothes and struck poses, while graduate students sketched away. "The female body is amazing," said Kim Cattrall, admiring the handiwork. Did that mean she'd be willing to slip out of her Hermes jumpsuit? "Not tonight," she said, laughing. Normally, though, she doesn't mind baring all. "I look at myself in the mirror and love what I see," she said. "I celebrate the female form every day." Celebrating the male form was Edie Falco. "Is David Bowie here yet?" she asked. "I've been a fan forever. He's so sexy!" But he and wife Iman arrived fashionably late. Looking over the avant-garde scene Iman observed, "I love the mismatched decor." (A dessert table, for example, was adorned with bowling pins, delicate porcelain china and a ceramic rabbit.) "I'm just trying to soak it all in," said Griffin Dunne, who was enjoying his own healthy discussion of female anatomy. "I was talking to Moby about girls," he said with a wink. "And you know, everything is good."

Photos by Nick Elgar