With the last happenings of Armory Week and New York Fashion Week at a close, this edition of Friday Fête highlights recent parties and events for both cultural happenings like The Attico Club, lunch with Gabriela Hearst and Mytheresa, and an afterparty with Christian Cowan.
Photo by BFA.com for Fotografiska New York.
Last Thursday, Fotografiska New York marked the start of New York Fashion Week festivities with a cocktail in honor of the photographer David LaChapelle’s first solo museum show, “make BELIEVE.” With partygoers like Sophie Elgort, Josh Wyatt, Phillipe Blond, Nicky Hilton Rothschild, and Sophie Sumner browsing all six floors of the museum, the night encompassed preview access to the exhibition (which features LaChappelle’s images spanning the past 40 years), specialty sips, a secret confessional room experience, live music, dancing, and The Macallan’s takeover of Chapel Bar.
Courtesy of The Attico.
Also that night, the fashion brand The Attico invited guests like Laura Harrier, Nadia Lee Cohen, Ivy Getty, Amina Muaddi, and Athena Calderone to The Attico Club. The dinner and party commemorating New York Fashion Week saw attendees arriving at ACME and The Nines, dressed in the brand’s own designs. They spent the evening mingling over food, drink, and a special performance by Gloria Gaynor.
Mytheresa x Gabriela Hearst NYFW luncheon, photo by Ivonne TNT, BFA.
On Friday, we headed to Eleven Madison Park for a luncheon with the designer Gabriela Hearst and retailer Mytheresa, co-hosted by Hearst and the brand’s CEO, Michael Kliger. Within the elegant dining room, attendees like Olivia Palermo, Athena Calderone, Derek Blasberg, and Charlotte Groeneveld enjoyed a four-course plant-based tasting menu from Chef Daniel Humm, including sumptuous dishes like celtuce steamed dumplings, squash, poblano peppers, and seitan, and fresh peaches with cherry and almond. Respecting the fashion brand’s ethos of environmental responsibility, the luncheon saw all décor—like miniature potted plants and topiaries lining the tables—sourced locally and donated after the event. Guests also left with a chef-curated Eleven Madison Home snack box in hand, which encompassed a partnership benefitting the non-profit addressing hunger, Rethink Food.
Artists First Alliance Benefête, photo by BFA.com.
Later that day, the Artists First Alliance’s fundraising benefit at The Rockaway Hotel offered a lively night of music and socializing, chaired by Mickalene Thomas, Sarah Arison, and Suzanne McFayden. With performances from headliners Mark Ronson and Chuck D, along with appearances from Lion Babe, Nicky O, Julie J, Tariq Trotter, and Dave Guy, the party welcomed attendees from the creative world like Titus Kaphar, Helen Toomer, Pari Ehsan, Zoë Buckman, Sheree Hovsepian, Lee Quinones, and Genevieve Gaignard.Formed to make artistic residencies more equitable, the alliance saw all funds raised during the evening divided between its beneficiaries, art spaces Baxter St at CCNY, NXTHVN, and Derrick Adams’s The Last Resort Artist Retreat.
Arine Aprahamian, Song Yi Jeon, Bronwyn Katzas, Ayesha Harruna Attah attend Rolex Arts Weekend 2022 At The Brooklyn Academy Of Music – Celebration In Honour Of The Mentors And Protégés Of The 2020-2022 Rolex Mentoring Programme; © Patrick McMullen, photo by Jared Siskin/PMC, courtesy of Rolex.
Last Friday also marked the start of Rolex Arts Weekend, which included two days of programming held at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The culmination of the brand’s most recent Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative—a program establishing creative exchanges between renowned creatives and emerging ones—featured performances, presentations, premiers, and conversations that were the product of mentor-protégé relationships between Spike Lee and the Native American filmmaker Kyle Bell; Phyllida Lloyd and the American theater director Whitney White; Carrie Mae Weems and the Colombian visual artist Camila Rodrígues Triana; and Lin-Manual Miranda and the Argentinian multimedia artist Agustina San Martín.
Christy Turlington Amber Valletta Kate Moss and Shalom Harlow at the Fendi Baguette 25th Anniversary show, photo by Getty Images, courtesy of Fendi.
On Saturday, we joined Fendi in celebrating 25 years of its iconic Baguette handbag with a runway show introducing a collection of Baguette-inspired designs, which were made in collaboration with the brand’s Creative Directors, Silvia Venturini Fendi and Kim Jones, along with Marc Jacobs, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tiffany & Co., and the luggage brand Porter. The momentous presentation was a star-studded one that included an audience of names like Kate Moss, Christy Turlington, Naomi Watts, sisters Maude and Iris Apatow, Kim Kardashian, Winnie Harlow, and Nikolai von Bismarck.
Photo by Jojo Korsh/BFA.com, courtesy of LaQuan Smith.
On Monday night following LaQuan Smith’s Spring/Summer 2023 presentation, the designer toasted the new collection with a late-night party at The Blond. Presented by Zebec, the glamorous evening held performances from Diplo, Rocking Dolls, and Spice, while Madonna, Becky G, Tiwa Savage, PJ Tucker, and other guests danced away with cocktails in hand, made using Zacapa’s XO and 23 rums.
Agathe Mougin and Rebecca Dayan at Givenchy’s New York opening, courtesy of Givenchy.
That evening also saw the opening of Givenchy’s new boutique, located at 9 Orchard Street. Overlooking SoHo from the space’s rooftop terrace, the reception—hosted in partnership with Purple Magazine on the occasion of its 30th anniversary—saw partygoers like Madelynn Furlong, Iann Dior, Fai Khadra, Declan Chan, Sita Abellan, Tanner Reese, Coi Leray, and Chloe Wise, with provided entertainment by Venus X and Paul Sevigny.
Will Cotton Drawing Party, courtesy of New York Academy of Arts.
On Tuesday night, artists gathered for the Will Cotton Drawing Party, held each year by Cotton ahead of the New York Academy of Art’s (NYAA) annual “Take Home a Nude” benefit. The evening saw creatives—like Cotton, Eric Fischl, Nicole Miller, Kathy Ruttenberg, and Inka Essenhigh—partaking in a session of live model sketching, then sticking around to socialize over drinks, passed bites, and a DJ performance. Many of the drawings created during the party were then donated for the NYAA auction, which will take place on October 25.
Photo by BFA.com, courtesy of Christian Cowan.
That evening, the designer Christian Cowan also threw an afterparty celebrating his Spring/Summer 2023 collection. Hosted by Jordan x Caine and 100 Vandam, the soiree was a lively one that saw guests like Trinidad James, Eugenia Gray, CT Heddin, and Brooke Corine enjoying sips from Casa Del Sol while Amrit and Anna Liuzzo DJed. The event was sponsored by CROCS and was complete with a giant ice sculpture of the brand’s signature shoe style, which served as a chilled perch for photos throughout the night.
“Louis Vuitton: Virgil Abloh,” by Assouline publishing, available for purchase on Assouline.com.
Assouline introduced its latest book Louis Vuitton: Virgil Abloh with an exclusive launch party on Wednesday evening. The intimate gathering offered a first glimpse of the publication’s three iterations, which all feature a beautiful selection of imagery detailing the beloved designer’s work for the maison before his passing last year.
Photo by BFA.com, courtesy of Neiman Marcus.
Also that night was Neiman Marcus’s celebration at Empire Diner, held in honor of the luxury retailer’s Fall 2022 advertising campaign “Live Your Luxury.” The retro space of the iconic eatery welcomed guests including Anne Hathaway, Indre Rockefeller, Jason Wu, Prabal Gurung, Alejandra Alonso Rojas, and stylists and co-hosts, Jason Rembert and Erin Walsh. The night embodied the campaign—dedicated to living the way one wants and doing so with optimism—through a sound experience from Silvia Prada, branded cocktails, beloved Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookies, and the luxe scent of Maison Francis Kurkdjian candles.
Chanel at the Villa Medici Film Festival, courtesy of Chanel.
Last night in Rome, Chanel kicked off its new partnership with the Villa Medici Film Festival, which takes place at the city’s French Academy through the weekend. The five-day fest began with a celebratory cocktail hosted by the fashion maison in the Villa Medici’s salons, where names like Linda Caridi, Rebecca Marder, Andrea De Sica, Denise Tantucci, and Gabriele Mainetti were seen in attendance. The opening festivities culminated with a screening of Other People’s Children, alongside the director, Rebecca Zlotowski, and the featured actress, Anne Berest.
Courtesy of The Dalmore.
Then, in New York, The Dalmore toasted to the latest expression of its single malt Scotch whisky, The Dalmore 14 Year. A special evening at Martiny’s with the brand’s Head of Advocacy, Craig Bridger,allowed guests the privilege of being the first to experience the warm amber liquor, which was matured in rare, aged Pedro Ximénezcasks (hand-selected from The House of Gonzalez Byass in Spain) and bears notes of citrus, licorice, caramel, fig, Medjool dates, and maple syrup.
Meanwhile, Prada’s Possible Conversations series took on the topic “Thinking Forests” at the house’s retail space on Broadway. Held in collaboration with Fondazione Prada and 2×4 New York, the discussion was moderated by Lucia Allais (Director of the Buell Center at Columbia University), encompassing discourse between the Co-Founders of Formafantasma, Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin, and Lindsey Wikstrom, the Founder of Mattaforma, regarding the larger cultural narrative surrounding fashion.
Finally, we closed out the evening in The Mark Hotel’s Presidential Suite, where Loro Piana was hosting a party to mark the debut of its special personalization experience, Villa Loro Piana. Downstairs, handbags and garments were seen on mannequins and bookshelves, ready to be completely customized to the customer’s liking of material, size, and shape. Upstairs, special guests of the brand indulged in city skyline views, cocktails, and hors d’oeuvres before retrieving their very own ballcaps—perfectly personalized with initials.
