In New York, the end of summer happens to coincide with the beginning of Fashion Week, and on Thursday evening, the city’s style set kicked off the latter at the Academy Mansion, on East 63rd Street.
The former home of businessman William J. Ziegler Jr., it was built by Frederick Sterner in 1920 and is considered to be an architectural marvel. Inside, AIR MAIL Co-Editor Graydon Carter and Bloomingdale’s C.E.O. Olivier Bron, along with Isabella Rossellini and The Gilded Age’s Christine Baranski and Morgan Spector, presided over the festivities.
Guests including Tiffany Haddish; Bette Midler; Victor Garber and his husband, the painter Rainer Andreesen; Louise Grunwald; Ivy Getty; Tommy DeVito; designer Tanner Richie and his partner, Fletcher Kasell; Linda Wells; Jill Kargman; and the comedian Matteo Lane gathered in the front room, admiring the edible sculptures of tomatoes and mozzarella by the culinary-installation artist Laila Gohar.
The theme of the party was Italy. The occasion for such festivities: From Italy, with Love, a Bloomingdale’s campaign kicking off this month. At its stores across the country, the retailer is offering a special curation of the best of the country’s fashion, design, cuisine, and culture—no plane trip required—that includes 300 exclusive pieces from brands such as Max Mara, Chez Dede, Ferragamo, and Valentino.
Each room of the four-floor town house included references to Italy’s coastline. Illustrations by Chez Dede’s Andrea Ferolla, including on custom lampshades, sconces, cushions, ashtrays, matchboxes, and serving trays, adorned every corner.
Given the theme, it was a prosecco affair, which earned the approval of Krystyna Bron and Alessandra Stanley, AIR MAIL’s Co-Editor (and former Rome bureau chief at The New York Times). Outside in the courtyard, interior designer India Hicks and chef Romilly Newman stuck to wine and Negronis, which they whisked with custom-made swizzle sticks. (Colombian artist Carlos Motta was seen stuffing eight into his pocket.) La DoubleJ designer J. J. Martin admired the artwork, and creative director Marcos Fecchino, singer Wé Ani, and comedian Naomi Watanabe grabbed ashtrays to take home as souvenirs.
As the party raged on, opera star Erin Morley took her position on the upstairs balcony to perform “O mio babbino caro,” from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, to the delight of Baranski. The influencer Natalie Suarez brandished her phone. And it was a moment worth capturing—word on the street was that the performance earned Midler’s approval.
Alice + Olivia designer Stacey Bendet swished around in a characteristically exuberant outfit, while Amy Fine Collins wore a blue suit with embroidered lapels. Illustrator Angelica Hicks remarked, admiringly, “It must be Thom Browne.”
After another performance, this time by tenor Jamez McCorkle, the socializing continued, especially among the designer Nicky Hilton, film directors Paul Feig and Andrew and Nicholas Jarecki, cookbook author and food influencer Andy Baraghani, and designers Rebecca Minkoff and Peter Som.
Despite all the action, Rossellini lamented that she was missing her Long Island farmhouse. “It’s sheep-shearing season,” she explained to Isabelle Harvie-Watt, AIR MAIL’s International Editor.
When DJ Stretch Armstrong cranked up the disco music, Frédéric Fekkai snapped pictures and Charly Sturm went outside for a breath of fresh air. Dara Khosrowshahi, the C.E.O. of Uber, was rumored to have gone home in a yellow cab. Meanwhile, the architect Adam Charlap Hyman pondered the merits of a Sant Ambroeus gelato. (Always a good idea.)
Upstairs, where Gohar had installed three cakes shaped like Doric colonnades, a few revelers gathered for some quiet time. The delicacies were the size of refrigerators, and, yes, you could eat them, too. And sure enough, some people did.
Elena Clavarino is a Senior Editor at Air Mail
