W’s BIG 4-0: To celebrate W magazine’s 40th anniversary and the release of the Abrams book “W: The First 40 Years,” Stefano Tonchi and Catherine Keener, in partnership with Saks Fifth Avenue, hosted a cocktail party at Saks Beverly Hills on Wednesday night.
“This is more my thing,” said Keener of book parties versus fashion parties, although the tome has more than its share of fashion images. The store’s third-floor designer section had been cleared out to make way for an art installation featuring framed images from each decade of the magazine. “There are obviously thousands of images we couldn’t fit in the book,” said Tonchi. “And we didn’t want to use too many party pictures, for example, because that could be a whole other book. There could be books just on fashion, on gossips, even on Kate [Moss].” As he was signing away, Keener asked, “Should I go over there and help? Maybe do some hosting or presenting like the girls at car shows? It seems hard but I could learn.”
After the cocktail event, Tonchi and Keener adjourned to Spago for dinner with an art-heavy crowd that included Doug Aitken, Max Azria, Maria Bell, Eva Chow, China Chow, Amanda de Cadenet, Atlanta de Cadenet Taylor, Larry Gagosian, Kristin Carlson Gore, Katherine Ross and Michael Govan, Lykke Li, Craig McDean, Kate and Laura Mulleavy, Scott Sternberg and Sharon Stone.