Celebrity News

Stuck elevator at Fashion Week like a scene from ‘Zoolander’

Fashionistas were freaking on Tuesday night when a group of them including Andre Leon Talley was trapped in an elevator after a show by designer Oscar de la Renta.

Eleven fashion editors and writers – including former Vogue staffer Talley, Scene Magazine’s Peter Davis, Niche Media’s Samantha Yanks, Le Figaro’s Godfrey Deeney and pregnant former Elle editor Kate Davidson Hudson – were the first to board an elevator after de la Renta’s show on the 25th floor of his West 42nd Street offices.

But when the overcrowded elevator got stuck for an hour around the building’s second floor, a spy said, “It turned into a scene from ‘Zoolander.’”

“The elevator stopped with a jerk, and then we realized we were fully stuck,” said a witness. “The elevator operator, named Jimmy, was amazing and kept his cool the entire time — even in the face of some crazy fashion divas.”

But then, “It was uncomfortably full and hot. People started taking off coats and scarves, and Andre took all his furs off. Then he started panicking and asking Jimmy if the building had contacted someone ‘from Oscar.’ He then kept ringing the alarm bell and asking for updates. He was asking for Oscar de la Renta himself, and saying ‘Do you know who is trapped in here? Does Oscar know we are trapped? Is that Oscar?’ It was basically like that for the entire hour.”

Finally, the fire department arrived to rescue the scared, sweaty fashion mavens by lowering a ladder through a hatch at the top of the car. One panicking Italian woman was in tears. And 6-foot-6 Talley, “was then freaking because there was no way he could get up the ladder and fit through a triangle at the elevator car’s roof!” Ultimately, however, he was extracted.

De la Renta’s PR team apologized to the escapees in the lobby, but rather than head for needed drinks, it being Fashion Week, the editors remained undeterred. “We all hoofed it straight to Narciso [Rodriguez’s show], ” sniffed a source.