Fashion Designers Plan Holiday-Season Soirees

Fashion designers know how to party. But while some count on the trendiest new nightspot to deliver a good time, others take a hands-on approach.

This images released by Nicole Miller shows "Tortilla Soup" by Nicole Miller. (AP Photo/Nicole Miller)

(AP)

With the holidays around the corner, the Associated Press asked Nicole Miller, Peter Som, Cynthia Rowley and Devi Kroell to plan seasonal soirees. They're among the scores of designers who contributed recipes to the new "American Fashion Cookbook," published by Assouline.

"Designers, by definition, are among the most creative people on earth," master hostess Martha Stewart writes in the book's foreword. "So it comes as no surprise that fashion people are also keenly interested in food, in its preparation, in its presentation, and in all kinds of recipes. I have eaten at several well-known designers' homes and I have always been greatly impressed with the kinds of foods they served."

Here are four fashionable parties:

NICOLE MILLER'S SIT-DOWN DINNER

—Signature drink: Eggnog and martinis with candy canes.

—Favorite foods: Rack of lamb with rosemary cooked on top of a cassoulet made with sliced potato, white beans and onions.

Miller, who has been known to throw a sit-down meal for up to 36 people, also likes to cook up a theme — fondue, or Mexican or Turkish food, perhaps. She's working on a menu for a white truffle dinner.

For dessert, she'd serve a combination of panna cotta, chocolate mousse, figs cooked in Madeira wine and candied chestnuts with whipped cream.

"I'm always cooking, lots of times I spend the whole weekend cooking," she says.

—Dress code: She'll make herself an outfit to fit her motif but she usually won't tell anyone else so they don't feel burdened to do the same.

—Special touch: A little party favor. For a Southwest-themed party, guests took home mini cactus trees and at a Turkish party, there were evil-eye napkin rings. The decor tends to be simple and sophisticated, Miller says, and if there's a crafty element — a centerpiece of pine cones and greens for the holidays, for example — she'll try it DIY.