Yali Gets Ahead of Fashion Week With an Intimate Uptown Soiree

Nestled within a whisper-quiet street on the Upper East Side, last night’s event lured cultural luminaries who minged within a beautifully decorated private home. The occasion? To celebrate the elegant world of Yali and their latest collection. 

Popular for their silk and velvet renditions of the Chinese Tuxedo, Pia Zanardi, founder and designer of Yali, wanted to further combine the cultures most prevalent in her own life. “The Chinese tuxedo silhouette is versatile and timeless and I truly fell in love with it after living and researching in China,” Zanardi tells Vogue. “But, I wanted to reel the label back a bit to my Italian roots and flare of New York City where I consider my tribe to be.” This cultural merge is easily spotted within the collection. The Chinese Tuxedo silhouette remains the same, but the button colors are swapped or wrapped in silk, matching skirt and jacket tops are found for casual affairs, and cavernous plants are printed onto fine silk.

Many of the evening’s guests were makeshift models for the collection’s debut. “We’ve thrown big parties in the past before, but this time, I wanted things to be more intimate, like a family get-together,” the designer says. One attendee wore a Yali full silk set and paired them with emerald earrings. Another wore one of the collection’s puffer skirts paired with black tights. And the hostess, comfortable with making a fashion statement, donned the full silk dress adorned with botanical printed plants. 

Guests were treated to a vegetarian meal filled with beautifully softened beats and potatoes, a bed of rice, and salad. In the center of the dining table, candles, emitting a soft glow onto the plates, were perched within all sorts of veggies: eggplants, full cauliflower stalks, tomatoes. The night was certainly casual, almost reminiscent of Sunday dinner at your grandparent’s house. There was even a caramel-colored dog greeting guests at the door. Perhaps it was exactly the type of occasion needed before the fiasco of fashion week to come.