The epicenter of New York Fashion Week made a brief transition last night, from the far reaches of lower Manhattan to the tony Upper East Side, where The Plaza Hotel played host to Harper’s Bazaar’s Fourth Annual Icons Ball. The black-tie bacchanal, this time reimagined with a rock & roll theme, welcomed its usual gaggle of supermodels spotted on the magazine’s pages including Gigi Hadid, Adriana Lima and Cindy Crawford, but among them were a few new faces. There was Jim Carrey, who has recently transitioned from blockbuster comedian to fine artist skilled in the ways of abstract oil painting, as well as Bonner Bolton, the dashing professional bull rider-cum-model signed to IMG Model Management. Even the rarely-spotted, legendary crooner Dionne Warwick made an appearance at the sprawling celebration.
In addition to these few unexpected faces, there were many guests orbiting in the stratosphere of mega-celebrity; the types often attracted by Harper’s Bazaar’s International Fashion Editor, Carine Roitfeld. Jared Leto, decked out in an embellished Gucci tuxedo, serenaded guests like Ciara and Nicki Minaj, who swept through the room in a commanding floral ball gown and flowing blonde locks. Paris Jackson, also in a floral number, caught up with Courtney Love, who wafted by in a cloud of vanilla-scented perfume.
Away from it all were The Weeknd and his current flame, Selena Gomez. The talented pair remained firmly ensconced in a private room backstage, tucked away from the party’s plebeians. At 10:30 p.m. sharp, The Weeknd emerged to an eager sea of iPhones, very few of whom danced to the platinum-selling artist’s half-hour performance, despite Moet & Chandon’s free-flowing champagne vending machine and Belvedere’s martini bar. “It’s a fashion crew,” he joked as the wife of last year’s performer, Kim Kardashian, looked on from the balcony. “We’re all cool here, I get it, but let’s have a good time.” With that, the dancing ensued, bringing together the creative and corporate classes to cut a rug into the wee hours of Saturday morning.
It felt as if the young power couple, Gomez and The Weeknd, had usurped Kardashian and her husband of three years, Kanye West, as the darlings of New York Fashion Week. While West has noticeably taken a step back from the spotlight, canceling both his YEEZY stadium tour and his Yeezy Season 6 runway show earlier this week, The Weeknd (whose given name is Abel Tesfaye) is in the midst of his wildly popular Starboy tour. This, combined with Gomez’s staggering social media following—one that far exceeds that of Kim Kardashian’s—primes the young couple for a new chapter as the next Kim and Kanye.