“Are you ready to party?” Janelle Monáe cried out to the crowd from the makeshift stage at Lord & Taylor, where the singer-songwriter-actress performed Thursday night as part of the celebration for the renovated and reconstituted fifth floor, which is now devoted entirely to dresses.
“We came all the way from Atlanta to electrify you,” said Monáe, who looked party-ready ravishing in her glittery Zuhair Murad dress. The Lord & Taylor team was just as jazzed up, with Lord & Taylor and Hudson’s Bay president Liz Rodbell appearing in Reem Acra, and Suzanne Timmins, senior vice president and fashion director for the department store chains, in an Edeline Lee dress.
“To take a category so associated with Lord & Taylor and blow it out, is right on the money, and showing vintage and jewelry makes it all the more dimensional,” said Rebecca Moses, whose mannequins, done in collaboration with Ralph Pucci, are prominent on the floor.
Barbara Tfank, highlighting her double-face Taroni satin cape coat, said Lord & Taylor did a superb job in choosing fabrics and shapes from her collection. The Dress Address is a clever idea, Tfank said, referring to the tag line Lord & Taylor has revived to help brand the store and the floor as a destination. But she’s long been partial to Lord & Taylor and its flagship. “It’s got great bones,” Tfank said.