On Tuesday evening, the bi-level roof of Elie and Rory Tahari‘s enviable Prince Street apartment was turned into a rooftop lounge with couches, bottle service, and a DJ station for a Council of Fashion Designers of America party welcoming 28 new members.
"I think it’s been 10 months since we’ve begun planning this!" said Mr. Tahari. “It’s always great to welcome new members into the community. I tell them how lucky they are because they are young and have a lot of opportunities available to them in the industry." The new members were pinned with floral boutonnieres instead of name tags so that everyone would know who they were.
The party was scheduled from 7 to 9pm; everyone could, therefore, get home in time to at least catch a part of the presidential debate. (CFDA President Diane von Furstenberg must have been looking forward to the debate, since she arrived and left in what seemed like a matter of minutes.)
But Mr. and Mrs. Tahari would not be tuning into the debates that evening after the last of the cater-waiters were out the door. Instead they would be attending the Madonna Sticky Sweet Tour show at Madison Square Garden.
"I went last night too, but I want to go again and Elie is coming with me," said Mrs. Tahari.
The new members appeared to be quite taken with the gathering thrown in their honor.
"Yes, we’re all part of a big wedding party," said jewelry designer Phillip Crangi, pointing to the boutonniere pinned onto the lapel of his fitted gray jacket. "I feel like I now have access to a lot of really smart people in case I need any questions answered."
Daily Transom wondered if Mr. Crangi, now that he’s part of this small community, could dial up Ms. von Furstenberg the next time he has a "question."
"Oh yeah, I have her on speed dial!" he joked. (We guess the small community is not that close after all.)
"We actually went to our first meeting yesterday and half of the time some of the members talked about how they can help some of the younger members during the hard economic times," said Vena Cava designer Lisa Mayock. "It sort of feels like you have parents in the industry or something."
Suddenly drawing our attention away from all the designers in the room was Martha Stewart, who naturally went straight for the closed off kitchen to evaluate the catering and presentation of hors d’oeuvres.
"The Taharis are friends so they invited to come by since I hadn’t seen their new place yet," she told Daily Transom. But after mingling with a few of the designers, Ms. Stewart, who stood out in simple slacks and a pumpkin-hued cardigan, had to head back to her Bedford home to catch the debates.
"I’m rushing right now!" she told the Daily Transom.
Also making the rounds was former CFDA president, vice-president of IMG fashion and matron of Fashion Week Fern Mallis. Since newbies Ms. Mayock and Mr. Crangihad already informed us of the financial anxiety that dominated their first members meeting, we wondered what Ms. Mallis predicted would happen to the fashion industry within the next year.
"If I had a crystal ball, I would tell you," she said. "We’ll probably see survival of the fittest, but I’m just going to hope that people will still be buying clothes and stores will still sell merchandise."
