fashionunfiltered.com | by Todd Kingston Plummer
“Let’s do lunch” is the ubiquitous refrain of many fashion folks and busy corporate-types in New York. But the problem is, a high-noon lunch date in June often means sweltering temperatures, sticky subway rides, and unsightly sweat stains. Not so chic. However, a pair of midday events this week taught us how to lunch in style while looking cool as a cucumber.
On Tuesday, Italian jewelry brand Buccellatti partnered with W Magazine to throw an intimate luncheon at its Madison Avenue boutique in celebration of its new Opera Color collection. There was a range of creative-chic ladies in the mix including singer Margot, photographer Sophie Elgort, and Luxcartel founder Natalya Poniatowski. Caroline Vreeland breezed in wearing a languid knit jumpsuit with cutouts from Baja East that was the perfect shade of sky blue. “It’s surprisingly comfortable,” Vreeland told us, “And I just love John and Scott.” Indeed, who doesn’t love the Baja boys?
Whereas the Buccellatti do was all about uptown ladies-who-lunch, the Haspel lunch on Thursday was a distinctly downtown affair for dapper gents. Haspel is a century-old heritage American clothing brand, known for inventing the seersucker suit. So for National Seersucker Day, the label held a lunch at Santina in the Meatpacking District. Of course, everyone attending—Instagrammer Patrick Janelle, illustrator Richard Haines, even Haspel owner Laurie Aronson—was decked out in his finest seersucker suit. “I was worried about wearing all white at first,” said model Eric Rutherford, “But I like it. It works. There are different ways to wear seersucker.” He was right— paired with a black t-shirt and some sneakers, his suit skewed a bit more urban, whereas others in colorful pinstripe looks skewed a little more traditional. Because of the material’s natural breathability, everyone in seersucker looked cool because they didn’t have to worry about wilting in the heat.
Although it was a slow week for evening parties, last Thursday night was the amfAR Inspiration Gala, widely considered to be the last black-tie affair of the party season before summer. Usually held at Cipriani Wall Street, the event this year was moved to Moynihan Station, a massive, convertible warehouse space near Penn Station. “The Inspiration Gala just has a lot more going on creatively, so you can do a lot more with the space here,” Kenneth Cole told us. Indeed, the affair kicked off with a seventy-one look runway show and concluded with honoring Louis Vuitton’s Kim Jones and supermodel Naomi Campbell.
Later on, guests moved to Top of the Standard for an unofficial afterparty, where we ran into Brandon Maxwell, still elated from his Swarovski Award for Womenswear win at the CFDAs earlier in the week. “I just can’t believe it,” he told Fashion Unfiltered. “I’m from a small town in Texas, and a year ago I didn’t have a company. So to go through all of this, to get into all of this debt, to follow your dream to start your brand, and to get this kind of validation is just unbelievable.”
We observed another heartfelt moment with a designer on Wednesday night at the launch dinner for GREY Jason Wu. “I just wanted to have delicious food with people I care about the most, so thank you to everyone for being with me here,” said Wu as he looked around at the table. Zosia Mamet, Julia Garner, and models Constance Jablonski and Kati Nescher were in the mix.
