Yahoo Lifestyle Saks Kicks Off New York Fashion Week at Crane Club
On Wednesday night, Saks Fifth Avenue brought its annual fashion week party, typically held at its onsite restaurant L’Avenue, downtown to the Crane Club. The new-ish venue opened late last year, but for many guests it was their first time at the Tao property. And what better introduction?
Champagne and martini towers awaited guests including “The Gilded Age” costars Louisa Jacobson and Morgan Spector, Prabal Gurung and Tina Leung — with Ponyo, her Cavapoo, in tow — Laura Harrier, Leyna Bloom, Hari Nef, Alex Consani, Ivy Getty, Jemima Kirke and Nicky Hilton Rothschild. The party doubled as a date night for Chanel Iman and NFL player husband Davon Godchaux, who will celebrate their one-year wedding anniversary later this month.
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“It’s just great energy that they [Saks] bring to fashion week. I think it’s becoming quite a cornerstone of fashion week,” said Thomas Doherty of the retailer’s annual event. The actor, who recently returned from a trip to Australia, was taking a modest approach to the week. “I had to get out of New York, it was so cold,” he said. “So I’m just settling in. I might go to bed early tonight.”
“Early” during fashion week is relative, and the night, hosted by Saks’ Emily Essner, was just getting started. French DJ duo Doppelganger Paris manned the decks as the room continued to swell. Midway through the party, Delaney Rowe realized that she was wearing the same pink paillette minidress as the dancers performing from raised platforms throughout the room.
Rowe’s fashion week schedule includes sitting front row at Simkhai, Tory Burch, “and then my favorite show every February is Thom Browne,” she said. “I’m sad that it’s not on Valentine’s Day this year, as it was in the last few years — but that’s okay. I’ll figure out something else for Valentine’s Day.”
With fashion week officially kicking off Thursday — but already preluded by several days of parties — Rowe shared her plan for the days ahead. “It can be an intense week. It’s very important not to drink too much alcohol. Be good about that, be good about water — and then to try to have a normal work day, so that it doesn’t feel like this unhinged party time,” she said. “Just keep things on track and healthy,” she added. “And, sleeping.”
The dancers retreated from the red-draped stage, soon replaced by singer Caroline Polachek. “It’s such a huge privilege to be here with you to kick off New York Fashion Week with Saks, while we’re all so fresh and gorgeous,” Polachek told the crowd while performing her three-song set.
Afterward, confetti rained down onto the crowd as servers began to pass around Saks-branded pizza boxes, french fries and soda. You can take the fashion week crowd out of L’Avenue, but you can’t take L’Avenue out of fashion week.
Launch Gallery: Meredith Duxbury, Laura Harrier, Caroline Polachek and More Kick Off NYFW With Saks Fifth Avenue
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