Net-a-Porter and Tiffany Co. Hosted a Party at Grey Gardens—East Hampton’s Most Famous Address
On balmy Friday afternoon, just outside the doorway where the Maysles Brothers famously filmed Little Edie swaying to her flag dance, a group gathered for a party in the garden—Grey Gardens to be exact. In attendance was an assembly of female creatives including Tabitha Simmons, Casey Fremont Crowe, Athena Calderone, Dree Hemingway, and more. It was quite a photogenic crowd with girls in white eyelet dresses and ribboned sun hats—looks befitting the summery event. The reason for the gathering? Unofficially, to scope out the storied grounds, now under the care of homeowner Liz Lange, who has been steadfastly bringing the property to its original glory (and then some) with decorator Mark D. Sikes. Officially, to celebrate the Net-a-Porter launch of the latest collection of Tiffany T, Tiffany Co.’s youthful line of diamond and precious stone baubles.
Hosted by Lange; Alison Loehnis, president of Net-a-Porter and Mr Porter; and Reed Krakoff, chief artistic officer of Tiffany Co., the event began at noon sharp with a vodka-lemonade cocktail hour.
“This is the first time we’ve done color for Tiffany T,” Krakoff explained before lunch. “It seemed like a great time to launch, in the summer, when everyone’s wearing color.” The collection features tones in shades belonging to the Tiffany color palette. Shop for dainty rose gold chains with iridescent mother-of-pearl pendants and stacked bangles with little T’s in Tiffany’s signature icy turquoise. It was a shade of blue not too far off from that of the parasols which were clustered around the circle-shaped pool. Of the setting, Krakoff went on to say, “It’s such an important part of East Hampton, East Hampton history, and American history, so it’s a pleasure to be here... I haven’t been given a peek inside [Lange is in the final-touches phase before her interiors make their grand debut], but I plan on it!”
And part of the Hampton’s more recent history, as those who’ve spent time on the beaches out east can attest, is Net-a-Porter. Come summertime, the luxury e-tailer will fly airplanes with banners touting their same-day delivery option. The airborne advertisements were actually the idea of Loehnis, who grew up on these beaches. “As a child, I remember these prop planes going by with ads for rum... There’s no more captive audience than people on the beach with nothing else to look at but the water and the sky. It’s perfect!”
Loehnis sported a Zimmerman top and a full arm of Tiffany T bangles, one of many in the crowd whose Tiffany wares glinted in the sunlight. This included Lange, the lunch’s hostess with the mostess who so generously welcomed her guests. And she was happy to do so as the jewelry maison does much to support a charity particularly close to her heart, The Door—a New York City-based organization dedicated to empowering youth through educational programming and health-services.
Soon after, everyone was ushered to tables set by Stefanie Cove with Tiffany tableware. The meal began with caviar and ended with a sweet fruit and panna cotta dessert—a prelude of sorts to the sweet finale. As guests departed, they were instructed that the little blue boxes which sat at each place setting were theirs to keep. It wasn’t breakfast at Tiffany’s, but this was just as good.
Photographer: Joe Schildhorn/BFA.com1/13Alison Loehnis and Aerin Lauder
Photographer: Joe Schildhorn/BFA.com2/13Charlotte Groeneveld, Tamu McPherson, and Nicole Warne
