Me: To me, the fashion industry is this black box that has people in it, and clothing comes out of it

That might be understood as you expressing that you consider the fashion industry low status with a challenge for her to prove otherwise.

<at this point I decided trying to get her to tell me about it wasn't going anywhere, so I moved on to attempt at embarrassing my friend who was standing nearby, who then got lots of unwanted attention from her>

The straightforward way to get her to tell you something about the fashion industry would be to ask her a question about it. You didn't.

Most people in parties don't focus on exchange of information. If you are talking to someone who thinks conversation is about finding a topic where meaningful information can be exchanged the purpose of your remarks is more obvious than if you are talking to someone who has other goals.