CeCe Barfield Thompson Launched a Collection of Heirloom-Worthy Tabletop and All the Girls Came Out

Last night Sarah Hoover, Alexandra O’Neill, Huma Abedin, Kimberly Drew, Charlotte Groenveld, Indre Rockefeller, and more all descended on Creator House to fete CeCe Barfield Thompson’s latest collection of tabletop, which launched yesterday on Moda Operandi. And because most attendees were dressed by Markarian, everyone looked utterly lovely.

A miniature wall of flowers filled with Canterbury Bells, peonies, and cornflowers ran town the dinner table, which was set with rattan placemats, bamboo flatware, and the most delightful wicker chairs. And of course, there was Barfield Thompson’s new collection. The ladies and gentlemen laid the just-released embroidered elegant linens (“Each one takes 5 hours to make!” the designer told me) on their laps just as they should. A dinner of roasted beet salad, halibut, and sorbet strewn with flower petals, came on Barfield Thompson’s porcelain—handpainted with the delicacy of watercolors.

Named the Virginia Collection after the time the designer spent in her husband’s home state during the pandemic, the new collection was inspired by all the antiques and linens that filled the house of her inlaws. Those we heirlooms, she explains, and I hoped to create something of the same quality to be passed down. In crafting her new line, Barfield Thompson was dedicated to the utmost craftsmanship, working with the storied French makers of porcelain in Limoges and New York’s garment district. The result is a collection perfect for the country house you may or may not have or a touch of something bucolic for your city life.

“Thank you all so much for coming. This is the first time I’ve seen many of you in over a year,” she said, lit by the glow of tapered candles. “More than your support of my launch is the ability to spend time with you all. So I hope you enjoy each other’s company because there’s nothing more beautiful than that.”