The Groundbreaking Dress Code at Vogue’s Pre-Met Party? “Florals, For Spring”
When the dress code is “Florals, for Spring, the venue needs to be just as groundbreaking. Last night, a fashionable crew gathered at the Dutch Flower Line, a New York City floral market, to celebrate Vogue’s annual Pre-Met Party. Each year, the fete brings together Vogue’s staff and many fashionable friends (Charli XCX! Paloma Elsesser! Ashley Graham!), and serves as a delicious amuse bouche ahead of the First Monday in May.
“There’s nothing more fun than riffing on the year’s Met theme for its more louche baby sister, the Pre-Met party,” said party cohost Chloe Malle, “With “The Garden of Time” theme in mind, our amazing event planner Jess Rose suggested Dutch Flower Line, in my opinion, the absolute best shop in the flower district and it couldn’t have been more perfect.”
Cohosted by Malle (editor of Vogue.com), Chioma Nnadi (head of editorial content of British Vogue), Mark Guiducci (Vogue s creative editorial director) and Samantha Sussman (Senior Director, Creative Development and Programming, Social Media), the party began at 9 p.m. sharp. Guests were welcomed with bouquets of tulips, roses, lilacs; this was one of the rare NYC parties where the florals were both the merch and the decor.
A scan through the room offered a garden variety of floral fashion interpretations. Malle wore fresh rosebuds in her hair, and an ethereal Simone Rocha robe-de-style with long-stemmed roses sewed beneath layers of organza in the skirt; Guiducci wore a Tom Ford suit in a dark brown tone that he described as the “color of a garden bed” and finished the look with a fresh white peony on the lapel. Cohosts Nnadi and Sussmann wore gossamer tulle skirts with light floribunda touches.
At the party’s peak, the room was downright packed, and the scent of flowers wafted through the space. A trip to the bar — which served up twists on French 75s with floating petunia petals and more festive drinks courtesy of Delta One — felt more like cutting through a wildflower field, sidestepping oversized floral brooches and blooming boutonnieres.
Hari Nef (in a painterly floral SS24 Balenciaga maxi) swanned through the room; Gwendoline Christie, in a smart floral tailoring, made an appearance before her gig as Vogue Met Gala livestream co-host, and Ivy Getty, cut an elegant figure in a vintage silky slip dress she picked up recently while in Rome. Getty’s floral touch? A pair of vintage Rene Caovilla sandals. Anok Yao gunned for best dressed in a vampy gown with an open-back by Quine Li. Elsewhere, there was Law Roach, who donned a yarn pom-pom hat and a lilac-colored coat.
A handful of designers were there, carving out the time during their crucial final hours of Met Gala fittings. Tanner Richie and Fletcher Kasell of Tanner Fletcher admitted they were still not finished with their Met Gala looks. “It’ll get done—gulp!” said Kasell of the top-secret looks they’re designing. Markarian’s Alexandra O’Neill was present, too, expressing excitement at some last-minute call-ins for the Met. Also in the room were Erdem Moralıoğlu, Carolina Herrera’s Wes Gordon, and Oscar de la Renta’s Fernando Garcia and Laural Kim.
Midway through the night, guests were treated to cubes of petal-infused jello shots from Solid Wiggles, and The Dare DJed from a second-floor balcony. Those with a sweet tooth moved outside for a soft serve cone, doled out from a parked ice cream truck. It certainly wasn’t the only treat of the night: guests were happily encouraged to take as many bouquets as they could carry—a flower fix sure to tide everyone over until Monday’s big bloom-filled gala.
1/70Paloma Elsesser, Charli XCX
2/70Amelia Gray