Office Drama: Thom Browne Celebrated His New Samsung Phone With a Moody Performance Piece

Thom Browne is the master of his own universe. And over the years the American designer has brought his audience to the fantasy worlds that he’s dreamt up. At his shows he’s created fairy-tale lands; filled makeshift playhouses with gnomes ; and staged a ballet in a steaming École des Beaux-Arts. So when it came time to debut his latest edition of the Galaxy Z phone, he did what he does best and presented the mobile device with a performance piece set in corporate America—that is, if Thom Browne were president.

In the lower deck of Sotheby’s on York Avenue, starkly minimal cubicles lined the walls, and atop the midcentury desks that sat within each office was a phone case in signature Thom Browne colors, a high-tech Samsung watch, wireless headphones, and the sleek new phone. Everyone was encouraged to see, touch, and interact with the modernized flip phone, and a cubical host ensured that viewers experienced all of the phone’s cutting-edge features. While handling the new wares, supermodel Xiao Wen Ju even left behind a well-angled selfie to exemplify the phone’s crystal-clear camera.

Among those at the event were Eliza Scanlen, Nick Robinson, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Jordan Roth, Jessica Williams, Cameron Dallas, Ella Hunt, Mel Ottenberg, and Nicholas Braun.

But the real fun began 20 minutes after the scheduled cocktail hour. The large, wooden doors of Sotheby’s Gallery 1 suddenly opened, and attendees were herded into the gallery space, which was filled with an army of Thom Browne corporate bees sitting attentively at their desks, donning the house’s signature suit.

During the show, models vigorously typed “I am not ready” into gray typewriters while the same phrase played overhead in a monotonous tone and models simultaneously answered their new Galaxy Z phones. It wasn’t until the narrative switched to “I am now ready” that models stood up from their desks, grabbed their suitcases, and left the room one by one.

“It’s all about people in the present and taking them in the future,” Browne explained. “[The models] were only ready when they had the proper technology.” All this to say, the throwback flip phone is ready for its comeback.