Accessories Label Delvaux Fêted Its Latest Campaign With Courtney Love, Chanel Iman, Asia Chow, and Nell Diamond

Few intersections are as quintessentially New York as East 59th Street and Fifth Avenue. There, you’ll find Delvaux, the luxury Belgian accessories label, and across the street are the Plaza Hotel and gussied-up horses trotting through Central Park. Surrounded by such iconic institutions, grand department stores, and basement bars, Delvaux is in great company, and the same could be said of the crowd at last night’s event celebrating the brand’s newest campaign.

Upon arrival, Courtney Love could be seen sitting with her friend, the director Francesco Carrozzini, who created New York Stories in partnership with Delvaux. The haunting, hopeful, and poetic work, in Carrozzini’s signature black-and-white cinematography, follows Love as well as three other notable women—Nell Diamond, Chanel Iman, and Asia Chow—as they wander and reflect on the city they love.

Perched on a sofa, Love spoke with a hypnotic rasp. Beside her, Carrozzini, tanned and suited, oozed sophistication as he spoke about his latest project. When the brand approached him, the concept instantly excited the filmmaker. “Anytime people want to tell stories,” the director explained, “I’m into it. In this case, I liked that they wanted a very diverse group of women. I used Courtney as a center because I thought the association wasn’t obvious and was a way for [Delvaux] to enter rock ’n’ roll, gain a little irreverence, if you will.”

The connection was less obvious, at first, to Love. Gesturing to the surrounding elegance, the former lead singer of Hole said: “I didn’t know how I fit in at all when I walked in here. I thought, Oh, God, Fifth Avenue. I didn’t get it until I started looking around and saw the Magritte surrealist stuff, how well the hashtag did in China. There are a lot of cool stories in this brand.”

Stories, of course, are at the core of both the film and the store. Founded as a travel goods workshop in 1829, Delvaux has expanded in the nearly 200 years that have followed. In 1902, the company filed the first-ever handbag patent. Its ingenuity, craftsmanship, and wit soon rendered the company a favorite of the global fashion community. Since the opening of its Fifth Avenue flagship in January, New Yorkers have joined the obsession and become a part of the brand’s long history.

Fashion’s most influential players stopped by the Champagne-and-caviar-filled function. Vogue’s Anna Wintour, striking in a green dress and sunglasses, congratulated her son-in-law on his achievement and admired the colorful luxuries on display.

“I’m such a fan of Delvaux,” Willow Lindley, Vogue’s Accessories Director, said as she picked up a hot dog–shaped purse and smiled. “They not only make beautiful bags, but have some fun with them.”

The fun continued at the after-party, thrown at the exclusive Doubles Club. There, in the dark-wood and scarlet-walled cocoon, another side of New York emerged. A diverse crowd of pretty young things, industry legends, and rock stars came to sip martinis, make memories, and tell stories.