As far as Fashion Week parties go, Thursday night’s Interview magazine relaunch party at the yet-to-be finished Standard Hotel in the meatpacking district will be hard to top. The Standard is still a construction zone—exposed wire, plywood laid down for walkways, DJs in hard hats—and the effect was very much early ’90s East Berlin, except for all the New York darlings wandering around, thrilled at the prospect of a new party venue.
Arden Wohl was there. Donna Karan was there. Gossip Girl’s Taylor Momsen made an appearance, as did model Jessica Stam, author Tama Janowitz, real estate developer Janna Bullock, socialite Stella Schnabel, and actresses Mary-Kate Olsen and Lauren Hutton.
"Most Fashion Week parties are thrown in like the same four or five spaces," said Interview‘s new blue-eyed editor in chief Christopher Bolan. "We wanted to do something different, something unique."
Mr. Bolan told the Daily Transom that Glenn O’Brien, one of the magazine’s editorial directors, had to work the details out with New York City in order to use the construction zone as a party venue for some two or three hundred rowdy party guests.
In the elevator going up to the glass-enclosed top floor of the building, the Daily Transom crossed paths with socialite Genevieve Jones and Vogue‘s Stephanie La Cava.
An unidentified woman also getting into the elevator stopped Ms. La Cava and said that she had some wonderful new handbags to send her. And after Ms. La Cava excused herself to depart for dinner with Ms. Jones, the unidentified woman informed her friend, "Do you know who that was? She works at Vogue on that ‘People are Talking About’ section.
"I love her cute little glasses," she added. "I have to send her that bag Monday morning."
Once we got upstairs we found socialite Lydia Hearst, in a beige dress and hair crimped, standing toward the back of the room with Tara Subkoff. Ms. Hearst told us that she had just come from a screening of a short film in which she starred alongside Aubrey O’Day, which Ms. Subkoff directed.
"We got a standing ovation! I’m still actually kind of in awe of the entire situation," said Ms. Hearst of the screening.
Also, Ms. Hearst wanted to clear something up. That shot of her a couple of weeks ago kissing Ms. O’ Day on the street was part of the film, which is something she couldn’t reveal when the photo hit the Web and made everyone speculate whether we had another Sapphic relationship on our hands.
"We didn’t have the budget for extras!" said Ms. Hearst, explaining why they were kissing in public. "The whole thing was filmed very guerrilla style."
Ms. Hearst said that she hasn’t gotten much of a summer vacation and is surviving Fashion Week on three hours of exercise per day and "tons" of Red Bull. (Ms. Hearst is not allowed to discuss what she’s doing during Fashion Week, but expect to see her around, she said.)
Lately she’s been happy to become a "full body girl."
"I got the Myla lingerie campaign which transitioned me from being just a beauty cosmetics spokesperson to a full body girl," she said.
On the opposite side of the room the proprietor of the space, hotelier André Balazs was hugging and kissing guests as they walked out of the elevators.
"I’m trying to make sure that no one falls out of the building," said Mr. Balazs, assuring us that the party guests were safe no matter how hard they danced on the floor.
"Like most of New York, I’m trying to survive Fashion Week," he said when we asked him what he’s been up to lately. But mostly, he said he’s been working on the space, which he says should be finished in seven or eight months.
We wondered what the hotel will be like when it officially opens.
"It will be …" Here Mr. Balazs paused and took the Daily Transom’s face like a child’s in a way that, for once, made us envious of Uma Thurman. "I think tonight is a good indication."
