Why clink a champagne flute to get a room’s attention when you can bang a cowbell? As a crowd gathered to toast Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid’s American West–inspired October cover, Baz Luhrmann had the right idea.
Despite Luhrmann’s East Village haunt, Monsieur, being more medieval-themed than horsegirl appropriate, it proved the perfect backdrop for an intimate, candlelit evening celebrating the supermodels and longtime friends—even without the temporary hay bales that were momentarily contemplated for the occasion.
Guests on Sunday—including many fresh off the day’s runways and designers who had presented mere hours before—paused for caviar-topped potato croquettes, mini sausage rolls, and “Easy Does It” cocktails while trying on Vogue × Jackson Hole’s Diamond Cross Ranch merch for size.
“Sometimes we have to talk our cover subjects into a concept for a shoot—but not this time,” Anna Wintour said. “In fact, it was Kendall, a little over a year ago, who came to us describing a dream shoot involving horses, the mountains of Wyoming, a ranch, and maybe a few cowboys. Honestly, she had us at horses.”
“Like proud parents, let us say how unbelievably special they are. Yes, these two look stunning in clothes. But it’s their personality, warmth, ambition, creativity, humor, and individuality that make them who they are,” Wintour added.
Jenner, who had swapped her riding clothes for The Row, echoed that the Lachlan Bailey–lensed shoot had lived on her vision board since childhood. “This really was a dream of mine,” she remarked. “I grew up going to Wyoming, specifically Jackson Hole, running through fields on horses. Then, adding Gigi to the mix made [the shoot] even more special. It was such a beautiful couple of days that we didn’t even feel like we were at work.”
Beside her, an embellished Miu Miu–clad Hadid was beaming too, as her partner Bradley Cooper cheered proudly from the crowd. “Thank you for all the memories—not just this trip, but being able to work with Vogue for the last ten-plus years is the greatest honor,” she said.
Leave it to Luhrmann, the ultimate showman, to add some theatricality to the bash. The auteur handpicked an up-and-coming country singer named Sacha—whom he’d met at the Toronto International Film Festival while premiering his new EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert project—to fly to New York City for a surprise performance.
“I moved heaven and earth to get here and sing for you,” the Ontario native said as a cowboy guided her to perch on the bar. She wasn’t kidding—having performed at the Canadian Country Music Association Awards in British Columbia the night before, she hadn’t slept a wink. Dressed in a teal leather western set with turquoise rings on every finger, the one to watch commanded the room with her emotive hit “Hey Mom I Made It,” plus a countrified medley of Chappell Roan, Billie Eilish, and Sabrina Carpenter tunes.
Forget the hay bales: it was the perfect fashion-infused yee-haw moment to end the night.
