Amanda Bynes Makes Surprise Appearance at Fashion Event in L.A.

Amanda Bynes attended her first Hollywood party in a long time Thursday night, making a surprise appearance at the launch of fashion designer Michael Costello's pre-fall capsule collection in Los Angeles.

Bynes, 29, who was last spotted in public in early June following two years of well-documented troubles, was photographed in a white lace minidress and dark sunglasses.

The former child star, who has attended fashion school herself at L.A.'s Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, toured the event and also spent time with Costello – a season 8 contestant on Project Runway – in a back room, perusing the outfits and chatting with his team about design and sketching.
A friend who knows the Costello team reached out to let the designer know Bynes was a fan and wanted to see his new collection.

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"[The friend] called and said, 'Can she please come to the event? She's, like, the biggest Michael Costello fan.' I think it's so cute when you hear that big celebrities are fans of yours," Costello tells PEOPLE.

The actress, whom her attorney said in June was in a better place after a turbulent few years of troublesome behavior, smiled for photographers as she left the Costello event.


"Michael was a doll to her, and she had a great time," a friend of Bynes tells PEOPLE. "Amanda was there as a student of design ... She was in a back room with Michael looking at dresses and talking to his staff about design and sketching."

Portlanders Share Their Cringe-iest Fashion Show Horror Stories

 The city’s top fashion show producers share some horrible experiences with thoughtless audience members—and recommend some etiquette for your next stylish outing.            
               

  In my many years of attending countless fashion shows, I can group the people who attend into one of two categories: those who came to see the clothes, and those who came to party. In the spirit of full disclosure, I will confess to having been both—but even then, I was a mannered partier. As the amount of shows in town continue to multiply like bunnies, we asked two of the city’s busiest fashion show producers about what they’ve experienced and what they beg of us all not to do.

  Elizabeth Mollo and MaryAnn Escutia who work on producing the shows for nearly ever event in town (including FashioNXT, Open Season, Fade to Light, Alley 33, and Unmentionables) give us the real talk on their experiences.

‘GENERAL ADMISSION’ MEANS YOU SHOULD SHOW UP EARLY TO GET SEATS

Elizabeth Mollo: At the last Fade to Light show we had a party of six people show up super late without buying the upgraded tickets with reserved seating and basically refused to sit, standing in the middle of the runway until they were all seated together which held up the show about 20 minutes. Also in the same show, people sat in seats that were clearly marked for a sponsor and refused to leave until we got a security guard to force them out of the seats so the sponsor could finally sit down.