Exclusive! Inside Chanel’s Met Gala After-Party, Where Cara Delevingne, Gisele, and Penelope Cruz All Gathered

Leave it to Chanel to host the most exclusive event of the night. It was a party that was so hush-hush, Met Gala goers might have wondered if they could even get it! The party was set at the Mercer Hotel’s not-yet-opened Sartiano’s—the latest from Scott Sartiano’s firm, which is also responsible for the buzzy Zero Bond, where another Met Gala after-party was unfolding—and began promptly at 10:00 PM. Chanel is unsurprisingly punctual, and so guests knew not to dilly-dally at other events following the end of the Met Gala and head straight to Soho for even more festivities. That is, before making a quick change to their after-party looks.

Glamorous and effortless, Gisele swapped her archival, all-white, feathered Chanel dress and cape for a classic LBD that featured chain detail. It was all the better to dance in, and that she did. When the dancefloor hadn’t yet started going, the Brazilian model took it upon herself to get bodies moving. She danced with Marion Cotillard (whose new pink hairdo shoke as she shimmied) and Penelope Cruz (who opted to stay in her divine ice blue look inspired by an Haute Couture Spring 1988 collection dress). Cruz was among many Chanel muses in attendance; Margot Robbie was spotted with her close friend Cara Delevingne (sister Poppy was also around), and Kristen Stewart was cozy in a banquette.

Located in the former space of Mercer Kitchen, guests wound downstairs to a basement level that was gorgeously glowing in candlelight and filled with floral bouquets of lilacs, white peonies, and roses. There, they had the chance to take a spin on the dance floor or tuck into a booth for a bit more privacy. Throughout the night and as guests came and went, the soiree never felt too empty or, worse, too full. Guests who looped about the room would have seen Jeremy Strong chatting it up with Dame Glenn Close; Lila Moss posing for pictures with Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece; and Usher bringing even more life to the party.

It was a big night for Chanel. While “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty” celebrates the designer’s decadeslong career and his designs for several fashion houses, Chanel was heavily represented in the show and on the Met Gala’s red carpet. And if not Chanel, exactly, most guests dressed in the codes of the house—black, white, and camellias abounded on the red carpet. So, it was only fitting for Chanel to host an after-party—or make that the after-party.