Saint Laurent Reeditions Madonna’s Iconic Sex Book—and Celebrates With a Steamy Miami Beach Party

“There’s only one Madonna,” said Anthony Vaccarello of Saint Laurent as he stood amidst framed images from Madonna’s 1992 Sex book at the party he threw in Miami to celebrate its 30th-anniversary reedition, which the house is publishing. The party drew Zoe Kravitz, Hailey Bieber, Anja Rubik, Emmanuelle Alt, Raf Simons, Alek Wek, Honey Dijon, Richie Shazam, and Madonna’s kids Lourdes Leon and Rocco Ritchie, and of course, M herself. (The exhibition itself will be on view through Sunday at the Beachfront at 17th Street, Miami Beach.)

Vaccarello’s reference to her singularity is apt. It is hard to imagine now, but the publication of Sex was incendiary, stoked by a campaign ahead of its arrival (and way ahead of its time) that virtually defined the word viral. The book was published simultaneously around the world—at midnight back home in the U.K., if I remember correctly, with lines around the block to get a copy—and came in a sealed Mylar wrapping that you had to cut open before you could see what was inside, though the legend of what Sex contained was already growing before anyone had as much as clapped eyes on the contents.

And what images they were, created by Madonna (coming off the release of her landmark album Erotica, with the video for the title track using footage from the Sex photo sessions) and photographer Steven Meisel at the top of his game. In turn, they were supported by a cast which included Naomi Campbell, Isabella Rosselini, Vanilla Ice, Daniel de la Falaise, and actor Udo Kier (who was in attendance at the party and whose ice-blue eyes are just as hypnotically piercing as they are in Meisel’s images) not to mention the guys who performed at the Gaiety Theatre, an old burlesque haunt on Times Square which disappeared into the night as the area turned into a tourist-y Disneyland of sorts.

Madonna and Vaccarello’s co-edit of the book’s images for the show —Madonna in fetish leather, or her face buried deep in someone’s ass, or sucking a toe, Peter Hujar-style—were (and remain) an unrepentant and fearless self-exploration by Madonna of her own sexuality—and by extension, the right of all women to express theirs.

Unsurprisingly, when it’s a Vaccarello meets Madonna moment, guests turn it out: Rubik in an olive green cowled dress straight off of the Spring 2023 runway of a few weeks back, Alt in killer high-waist Saint Laurent denim, a gold YSL brooch glinting at her neck, Ana Khouri in sinuous second-skin jersey adorned with metal hardware, Gottmik and Violet Chachki in very au courant black and punkish studs—but how could they not, when Madonna herself arrived in a YSL smoking accessorized with a riding crop, grillz gleaming in her mouth, and more jewels by Loree Rodkin and Michele Lamy.

Later, guests left the exhibition space in golf carts to head across the beach to the after-party, where the ocean waves were drowned out by the beat of the music. Delicious bites might have been getting passed around, but they weren’t the main attraction: At that time of night, dining wasn’t the focus, it was all about the dancing.