We’ll just say it: Rodarte knows how to have fun, and it doesn’t involve a bloated guest list. There was no line to get inside of Jac’s on Bond on Friday night, no name-dropping — and to casual passersby on the street, no sign of the energetic party brewing inside the landmarked building.
Sisters Laura and Kate Mulleavy toasted their latest collection with an intimate dinner, hosted by IMG, at the soon-to-open restaurant in NoHo (a reinvention of beloved haunt The Smile). The designers were surrounded by their nearest and dearest friends, most of whom had sat in the front row at the runway show in Brooklyn several hours earlier.
As dinner wrapped and guests began to emerge from the restaurant’s private back room, one person mingling by the bar wondered what celebrities might appear, his wishlist stacked with former New York City mayors: Bloomberg? De Blasio?
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The Rodarte guest list proved even more thrilling. There was Brie Larson, in a Rodarte T-shirt and beret, chatting with Quinta Brunson next to a Slick Rick portrait; there was Molly Ringwald and daughter Mathilda Gianopoulos, twinning in pastel puff-sleeved dresses, and there was Beanie Feldstein and fiancé Bonnie Chance Roberts, saying their post-dinner goodbyes and gamely posing for their last photo of the night.
Those who stuck around wasted no time getting down to business: the dance party portion of the evening. Restaurant staff pushed the room’s central pool table back a few feet to expand the makeshift dance floor that had quickly emerged in front of the DJ setup. Tavi Gevinson, Starcrawler singer Arrow De Wilde and Oscar-nominated costume designer Shirley Kurata showed off their best moves as the DJ offered up crowd-pleasing party hits by Whitney Houston and more.
Orville Peck, a late arrival, had no trouble tracking down Laura Mulleavy to offer his praise for their latest collection. “I was stunned. It was gorgeous,” said the musician from behind the fringed curtain of his mask. The conversation was soon interrupted by another arrival: a cherry-topped chocolate cake, in celebration of Kate Mulleavy’s birthday on Feb. 11.
As the clock hit 11 p.m., the celebration didn’t show any sign of stopping as the room formed a conga line. Hard to believe, but it was only the first official night of fashion week.