Bulgari Goes Brooklyn: The Brand Hosted a Raging Warehouse Party With Ciara and Diplo Performances

It was billed as a Brooklyn warehouse party, referencing the borough’s bygone thumping raves that would last for days inside of an abandoned industrial space that lacked everything but a sound system and a dance floor. With its passed hors d’oeuvres and its seemingly bottomless reserves of Prosecco, last night’s Bulgari bash, put on to welcome a new collection of rose gold jewelry from its B.zero1 collection, was considerably more luxurious than its gritty inspiration. “I’ve actually had an event in this space before,” Alexander Wang recalled of his February 2014 runway show and after-party. “But this is definitely much more elevated than any rave I’ve been to. I’m just happy to be here.” The venerable Italian jewelry and accessories house is no stranger to a good party; to mark its collaboration with Wang on a line of handbags last September, it reopened the defunct Henri Bendel space for one night only.

But last night, with more than 1,000 attendees, Brooklyn’s Duggal Greenhouse had been reimagined into a neon-inflected Roman ruin, with enough decadent jewelry on hand to make a Roman emperor blush. Lily Aldridge, who stars in the new Bulgari campaign alongside Zendaya and Naomi Scott, opted to wear a hefty-looking diamond-and-sapphire choker set in platinum. “This campaign was extra special because I was joined by two incredible women,” she told Vogue. “We had so much fun shooting it in Rome and getting to know each other. We really bonded together, and now we have this moment tonight to celebrate what we did. I’m really proud to be a part of it.” Not too far behind, a specially appointed security officer trailed her—and her jewels, valued at a cool $3 million.

Zendaya, Martha Hunt, and Candice Swanepoel followed suit, with Swanepoel opting for several layers of gold baubles. “I love to stack gold pieces because it looks sort of masculine, which I like,” she said, displaying her stacks of rings. “But for a rave I probably wouldn’t wear anything too expensive, in case I dance too much and lose it.”

Entertainment for the evening began innocently enough, with a duo of performances by DJ Mona Matsuoka and Becky G, although Ciara, who had made a brief red-carpet appearance earlier in the night, was rumored to be taking the stage. And sure enough, when the clock struck 11 p.m., she emerged with a troupe of dancers to belt out a set of hits that had the entire room practicing their “1, 2 Step.” “This party right here is on another level tonight,” Ciara proclaimed to the roaring crowd. “And for what it’s worth, I do feel really confident up here, especially carrying my third baby.”

The rest of the evening belonged to Diplo, who arrived from Paris Hilton’s birthday party with just a few moments to spare before assuming his duties onstage. In his now-signature ten-gallon hat and assorted Western finery, he seemed to have found a new fan base among Bulgari’s Italian executives who joined the masses of models and social media fixtures on the dance floor until the houselights came up around 1 a.m.