A Chic Crowed Feted Isabel Marant’s Arrival in New York—Plus, Her New Store

Pier 17 in Lower Manhattan’s Seaport district is no stranger to romance—with a scenic backdrop of the Brooklyn Bridge, the locale lures visitors far and wide. Yesterday, as dusk turned to night, designer Isabel Marant was among this group. She, alongside a glamorous set of artists, designers, actors, and other sorts of creatives, toasted to the brand’s newly opened store on Madison Avenue. 

“I’m a little Frenchie, you know? Being back in New York and having a store on Madison feels like a dream,” she told Vogue near a table beautifully decorated and prepared by The Fulton restaurant—the latest spot by chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

While rest of the city was experiencing an adrenaline rush from the activities of both fashion and art week, but Marant’s dinner attendees carried themselves calmly as if nothing else in the world mattered but what was happening in the current moment. 

Guests such as Alton Mason, Ajani Russell, and Lily Aldrige basked in the soft mood over thinly sliced sashimi. Hari Nef waxed poetic about Issy Wood’s art pieces that are currently exhibited at the Michael Werner Gallery in New York. Elsa Majimbo swayed in her chair as “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes played in the background. Not a single glass was free of wine or tequila, and it was evident that the romance of the seaport setting was heavily influencing the night’s mood. 

But, like every other romance, the evening crescendoed. At around 10 pm, dinner guests got up from the chairs and headed to the dance floor inside of The Fulton. The soft glow of the lamps was traded in for beaming disco lights. The soft hum of music suddenly became blaring and slowly, other lucky invited party guests began to trickle in to join the festivities. Golfing star and model Paris Hilinski was spotted enjoying the picked-up energy. Folks of all sorts put their dancing shoes on and glamorously swayed all over the dance floor. 

At the very forefront of the dancefloor leading the exuberant moments was Isabel Marant herself. Soon, all eyes headed to center stage on the dancefloor, phones came out, and R&B group Blackstreet entertained the evening guests with sets of their best-known songs. Guests couldn’t do anything but dance.