The Dracula club, in Saint-Moritz, has been a carefully guarded secret ever since the industrialist Gunter Sachs, who was once married to Brigitte Bardot, opened its doors in 1970. It hasn’t changed much since. Smoking is still allowed inside. Photographs are not. Memberships have been passed down generations, and each “Ghost Rider” still carries an engraved silver cup. Gunter’s son the artist Rolf Sachs now runs the show.
To celebrate the opening of this year’s Saint-Moritz edition of NOMAD, the annual boutique art-and-design fair, AIR MAIL hosted a dinner party for a group of participating artists, gallerists, and auctioneers at Dracula. The event was co-hosted with Gunter’s granddaughter, the curator and AIR MAIL Editor at Large Roya Sachs.
True to German form, Rolf and his girlfriend, Princess Mafalda von Hessen, arrived early. They ordered two tequila sodas, which, they say, saves them the hangover. AIR MAIL International Editor Isabelle Harvie-Watt ignored their advice and opted for a margarita.
At the bar, Lola Schnabel, the artist and daughter of Julian Schnabel, puffed on a cigarette with fellow artist Yves Scherer, with whom she collaborated on a curatorial project for the fair. Nearby, NOMAD founders Giorgio Pace and Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte discussed plans for the upcoming Capri edition.
Other guests included the U.K. chairman of Sotheby’s, Lord Harry Dalmeny; the gallerist Tristan Hoare; Gianluca Longo, the style director for The World of Interiors; Whitney Robinson, formerly the editor of Elle Decor; and Victoria von Faber-Castell, the German countess.
After a dinner of carpaccio, caprese, and ravioli with butter and sage, guests put on their AIR MAIL x Chez Dede scarves, illustrated by Andrea Ferolla, and made their way to the dance floor. By the time the clock struck midnight and D.J. Dombrance took to the stage, something surprising for the buttoned–up art world happened: everybody danced.
Elena Clavarino is the Senior Editor for AIR MAIL
