It doesn’t take much to get people to kick up their heels in Paris during the couture. Take Monday night’s party for Nick Blast, which Dior’s VIP director Alexis Roche threw at the Plaza Athénée. Chances are many had no idea who the guy was—I surely didn’t, though I was told he’s sort of a club owner/promoter/Parisian man-about-town—but that didn’t stop Eva Mendes, Margherita Missoni, Rachel Zoe, Lauren Santo Domingo, Andrea Casiraghi, Leigh Lezark, and Lou Doillon from piling into the hotel bar. “I just came for the cotton candy,” Santo Domingo said in the lobby, which was decked out in sweets and sugary bits. “They’ve run out of Red Bull, so this will have to do.”

Not that a few people didn’t try to mix some fun and business. When Esteban Cortazar showed up just past midnight, still wearing the helmet from a masked ball he attended earlier in the evening, he was on the hunt for Mendes. “I think she’s gorgeous, and I would love love love to make a dress for her.” Much to his dismay, however, she had already high-tailed it to her hotel. “It’s time for bed,” she announced moments before, gathering up her Dior cocktail dress. “We’re here till Thursday and I got stuff I want to do here.” But don’t look for her in any more front rows—Monday was the only fashion day on her schedule. “I’m spending the rest of my time here as a tourist,” she said.