Madonna and Flavor Flav Turned Out to Support Ib Kamara at Off-White’s Late-Night Bash at The Manner
If you live on Thompson Street between Spring and Broome, chances are you didn’t get a whole lot of sleep on Sunday night. Still, perhaps the people watching outside your bedroom window made up for it, as the SoHo street swarmed with the likes of Madonna and Flavor Flav. Following the Off-White show, its first splash Stateside, fans of the brand flocked en masse to The Manner to raise a glass to creative director Ib Kamara.
If you made it past the line and into the plush hotel, debuting to the public later this month, you were rewarded by being one of the first people to experience the swanky property. Upstairs on the second level, designed to feel like an intimate and luxe apartment setting, the candle-lit scene was sexy and vibey and surprisingly chill, but then again—at 10.30 p.m., the night was young. One person looking calm and serene was Kamara himself, who was joined by colleagues as well as school friends and family who’d flown in from the UK and around the world to support him during the brand’s milestone moment.
Earlier that day, in his show full of hot and sensually-cut clothes, the designer had sent models down the runway in belts that flashed the letters S E X. Is New York still sexy, to him? Kamara, who’d been wanting to take his show here for two years, resoundingly thinks so. “Yes! Everyone always looks great here—I travel a lot, but I love that when you come to New York, people love to show skin and they’re so strong and confident.”
Thrilled with the reception following the inaugural New York runway outing, he was ready to welcome fans into the Off-White family with open arms. The main thing on his agenda for the bash, which brought together some 450 VIPs, clients, editors, and entertainers? “Lots of dancing—lots of sweaty dancing,” Kamara told Vogue, gleefully. “We’ve some incredible DJs tonight, some of whom are friends of mine. And Madonna! She is an absolute dream guest, I love to have her support.”
By the time Madonna descended on the venue with her entourage just after midnight, things were in full swing everywhere you turned. On the rooftop terrace, there were dirty martinis and CÎROC Limonata cocktails all around as guests tried to get a non-blurry Instagram Story of recent Grammy-winner Victoria Monet. On the 11th floor, which gave attendees the chance to peek into some of the divine hotel rooms, watchful security guards made sure no one dived right onto the gigantic beds. (Please mind your manners at The Manner, folks.) And in the foyer, in an icy blue Off-White bomber, Flavor Flav was loving all the meet and greets as people finally made it past the velvet rope and into the late-night party.
While the rapper is known as a hype man, it was his turn to big up the brand and Kamara. “It was my first New York Fashion Week show ever! It was too short,” he said of the outing, wanting it to have gone on all day, he enjoyed it that much. “The models looked so serious—if it was me, I would have been walking down like the man smiling and waving at everyone.” With any luck, he’s hoping he gets the nod to walk next time the brand shows on his home turf.
Yvonne Tnt/BFA.com1/21Flavor Flav
Yvonne Tnt/BFA.com2/21Sunisa Lee