As Paris Fashion Week gets underway in the city of light, the real show of the season was unfolding against the illuminated backdrop of the Louvre Pyramid. On Tuesday evening, the world-famous institution hosted the inaugural Le Grand Dîner du Louvre, bringing some 300 cherry-picked VVVIPs from across fashion, entertainment, and philanthropy together for an unforgettable night at the museum.
As hordes of fans gathered eagerly with their iPhones and paparazzi snaked up the sides of the Seine, a Chanel Couture-clad Keira Knightley was among the first to arrive, hand in hand with her musician husband James Righton. Also in Chanel, the maison’s longtime muses Caroline De Maigret and Charlotte Casiraghi stepped out of sleek cars looking the picture of Parisian elegance. While absent from the catwalk this season, Gigi Hadid showed off her supermodel strut on the Right Bank as she emerged from an SUV on the arm of her longtime friend, designer Jeremy Scott. For her first major red carpet appearance of the year, Hadid wore a creation formed from three of Scott’s gowns for Moschino all Frankensteined together.
Due to tight scheduling, many glamorous attendees made their way to the soirée straight from the Alaïa show. Barbara Palvin Sprouse looked ethereal in a blush Iris Van Herpen gown that looked like delicate adjoined fairy wings. Taylor Hill and South Korean DJ Peggy Gou were also resplendent as guests of the innovative Dutch designer. Nodding to a recurring theme as of late, several stars, including Ashley Graham and French-Belgian actress Virginie Efira, opted to go the suited and booted route, ties and all. Black, the fashion crowd’s perennial color of choice, was also a go-to for the likes of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Michelle Yeoh, Paris Jackson, Cindy Bruna, Valery Kaufman, Alton Mason, and designers Agnes B, Jean Paul Gaultier, and Harris Reed.
In a fun twist, front row favorites Kelly Rutherford (Gossip Girl matriarch Lily van der Woodsen) and Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu (Emily in Paris’ Sylvie Grateau) both looked as formidable as their famed TV alter egos in sharp-shouldered Vetements and strapless Balenciaga Couture, respectively. Meanwhile, Marisa Berenson, Elsa Schiaparelli s granddaughter and the quintessential muse and model of 1970s New York, showed today s stars how it s done in decadent sequins, fur, and jewels.
While there were boldfaced names everywhere you looked—David and Victoria! Tyra! Naomi! Jisoo!—there was one moment that caused audible gasps ahead of cocktail hour. In scene-stealing yellow, the evening’s rumored performer, Doechii, sent flashbulbs into overdrive when she stepped out in her bejeweled Valentino Couture number.
Once inside, guests were treated to a pre-dinner private tour of the museum’s latest exhibition, “Louvre Couture: Objets d’Art, Objets de Mode”. The curation, which opened to the public in January and is on view until July, is peppered with 100 pieces that marry modern fashion with classic art.
Speaking of classics…as she floated through the Cour Marly gallery, former First Lady Carla Bruni caused jaws to drop. “You look gorgeous,” Victoria Beckham could be heard telling her as they hugged. Bruni had dusted down a particularly special gown for the evening—a form-fitting bias cut ivory silk dress from John Galliano’s Fall Winter 1995 collection; one which she had debuted herself in the runway show. (A version of the dress is in The Metropolitan Museum’s permanent collection.) With Galliano himself by her side, it was a poignant nod to their thirty-year friendship. Eva Herzigova and Naomi Campbell, who also took part in that seminal show, were both nearby too. Amina Muaddi, the designer behind the popular namesake shoe line, was also turning heads in a memorable Galliano-era Dior slip dress from Spring Summer 1998.
As the fete stretched on, it was time for a fashionable feast. Anne Sophie Pic, one of the world’s most-lauded female chefs, had been enlisted specially by the Louvre to oversee the culinary experience that awaited attendees. As people clinked glasses of Moët Chandon, Hadid and fellow model Josephine Skriver caught up near marble plinths while Naomi Campbell and the French Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, shared airkisses tableside. Meanwhile, Erdem Moralıoğlu, Rick Owens, Ib Kamara, Veronica Leoni of Calvin Klein, and Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant of Coperni broke bread. According to the design duo, they’re feeling cool, calm, and collected ahead of their gamer-themed show that’s coming up.
However, Seán McGirr told seatmates that he sadly couldn’t stay long—he’s up against the clock to put the finishing touches on his latest for McQueen. (Think: more of what we saw on Miley Cyrus at Sunday’s Oscars ceremony, and you’re on the money.) The Beckhams, meanwhile, nestled in beside Simon Porte Jacquemus—now there’s a collaboration we’d like to see?
To end the impossibly chic affair came the pièce de résistance, in the form of a set by newly-minted Grammy winner Doechii. And better yet? Absolutely no press allowed so that the A list could really let their hair down for the remainder of the night. While it may have been the first-ever Grand Dîner du Louvre, the success of the pilot proves that this is a European spectacle to watch. With only 30 exclusive tables up for the taking, the event had already raised more than €1 million for the museum before the festivities even began.
