Leave it to La Ligne to bring out the stars in stripes.
Everyone from Chris Rock to Chelsea Clinton, Selma Blair, Emily Ratajkowski, Natasha Lyonne and more came for a very swank dinner at new downtown Frenchie hot spot Fouquet’s on Wednesday night.
Former Vogue editors Valerie Macaulay and Meredith Melling and former Rag & Bone head of business development Molly Howard founded the contemporary brand on knitwear, specifically mariner stripe knitwear.
It’s grown to much more, with many more sweaters, flared pants and flirty dresses, like the burgundy sweetheart style worn by model chanteuse Karen Elson, who took the mic later in the night.
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The party was a celebration of the newest category, La Ligne Jean, which includes three styles named after the founders, in two washes each.
“I have all of them,” Rock said, modeling a mariner sweater. “I got some that haven’t even come out yet, I got bootlegs, I got knockoffs,” he joked, adding that he’d do anything for his friend Howard.
Guests sat down to tables with bowls of caviar with all the fixins’, La Ligne branded ciggies, lighters and stickers, and a La Ligne Jean x Fouquet’s sweatshirt at every seat.
“We thought we should do it here because it’s French and we like to pretend to be French,” Howard said during a toast, before turning serious about what the original circa 1899 Brasserie Fouquet in Paris means to her family history.
After her grandfather escaped Nazi Germany before World War II, he joined the U.S. Army intelligence unit, and became one of the first to liberate Paris. He stayed above Fouquet’s and has fond memories of the chef whipping his Army rations into something more akin to the gourmet fare served Wednesday night, when the cheeseburger was a must-try.
La Ligne Jean’s campaign face, Selma Blair, was at Melling’s table with her dog Scout by her side.
“When we were working on the collection during the COVID[-19] interlude, we thought, is it about three people bringing the styles to life or one incredible chameleon like Selma,” said Melling. “It’s also a priority for the brand to not just choose a pretty face. That’s one thing. But for us, we love to bring people into the brand who are multifaceted,” she said, noting the recent casting by La Ligne of Paulina Porizkova, who is outspoken about aging; Olivia Munn, who is outspoken about Asian hate, and Amy Schumer, who is outspoken about everything. “Selma ticked all these boxes because she has so much to say beyond just wearing clothes,” Melling said of the actress, who has been outspoken about her MS.
“I watched their work when they were editors, and they are the girls I always wished I looked like,” said Blair. “When Paulina did the campaign, I said inside maybe one day I can wear La Ligne because they are the cool girls,” she laughed. “The shoot was just so easy…I was so comfortable. And the jeans are great, I feel like a fashion editor.”