Getting a chic crowd to a lunch on a Tuesday is about as hard as finding white peonies on the first of November, but rest assured, Chanel and Barneys managed both. It may have been the Day of the Dead, but in Chelsea, at the downtown Barneys, it was the Day of the Derby—the Chanel Cruise Derby that is, at a luncheon celebrating the store’s launch of the laced brogue.
Over autumn salad and chicken milanese the talk was of Halloween costumes: adult, infant, and canine. Fabiola Beracasa Beckman shared photos of her elaborate unicorn ensemble for a Halloween wedding as well as her light-up wig and shoes for trick-or-treating with her two dragon-suited sons—a real mother of dragons. Jen Brill dressed her baby as a furry little shark, while Leigh Lezark, due with her first baby this winter, proudly showed photos of her Rosemary’s Baby costume, which was, indeed, inspired. Laura Love glumly admitted that she “failed” Halloween this year, though she remains optimistic about next year.
By the time the citrus flan emerged for dessert, ladies were done lunching and were returning to work: Audrey Gelman—already outfitted in her new derbies—back to the Wing, her new women’s club; Sarah Hoover over to nearby Gagosian; and the coterie of Condé editors down to One World Trade. But before leaving, guests were encouraged to try on their new pair of derbies, presented in an Instagram-friendly, monogrammed plexiglass cube. Many walked out wearing their new kicks. You know what they say, if the shoe fits . . .
