Leslie BibbMadison Voelkel/BFA.com
New Yorkers have come to expect over the top showmanship during New York Fashion Week—but Wednesday evening’s elegant Boucheron dinner party was a study in a truly good time without the need for bells and whistles. Unfolding in the rarefied air of Central Park’s Conservatory Garden—where the permission to host parties of any scale is strictly controlled by the park’s conservancy—the fine jeweler invited a handful of friends for what appeared to be a simple al fresco dinner, shaded by the park’s towering trees.
But as the sun began to set, and guests took their seats, the details came to light. There was the menu, an arrangement of greatest hits from Thomas Keller’s nearby Per Se in Columbus Circle, including a charming dessert that resembled the boulders and mushrooms in this very park. There was the quartet of string players situated around the lily pond. Best of all, and perhaps most expected given the evening’s host, there was the guest list that included Colman Domingo, Leslie Bibb, Paul Anthony Kelly, and Lisa Rinna—all sporting Boucheron baubles in the shape of an ivy leaf.
The Lierre de Paris designs, an homage to the ivy on the Palais Royal arcades in Paris where Frédéric Boucheron opened his first boutique in 1858, could be seen in a slew of variations. “Just something simple,” Domingo joked of his many, many pieces chosen for the evening, which jazzed up his tuxedo. They included no less than five earrings, four rings, and two bracelets, all covered with glistening diamonds.
Surrounded by such lush greenery, Domingo and his seat mates took to their iPhones to use an app that identified the flora around them until the night fell and the unmistakable Central Park lamp posts gave the scene a romantic, cinematic glow.
Cue the first waft of fall leaves drifting down upon guests as dessert was served, making it clear that the greatest time in New York City, one filled with energy and newness, had arrived.
After all, September is the January of fashion.
