Interview And Vans Kick off NYFW With a Very ’80s Dinner Party

Last night, we kicked off NYFW with an ’80s-themed dinner party at the iconic, Andy Warhol-adored steakhouse Raoul’s to celebrate Paloma Elsesser’s Vans “Classic Since Forever” campaign, as well as the unveiling of our September issue. There were red roses, pressed white tablecloths, and a menu of brasserie standards hand-written by our very own Mel Ottenberg. Throughout the evening, Emily Ratajkowski sipped ice cold dirty martinis, while Dylan O’Brien grazed on buttery steak frites and creamy profiteroles. A psychic was giving tarot readings upstairs, and the guests were giving material girl, with our forever muse Chloë Sevigny sporting a plaid skirt and our fashion director Dara keeping it classy in a crisp white blouse. Hari Nef arrived fashionably late in a dark power suit and even darker shades, and immediately snagged a copy of Interview so she could show everyone her alluring editorial. After dinner, the music switched from the B-52’s to Beyoncé, and revelers convened by the bar to drink espresso martinis. We sent each guest home with a pair of Old Skool Vans customized by the graffiti artist Alehsy, but not before we extended the party for another hour. Below, our editor-in-chief gets intimate with the guests, and offers some juicy details about the inspiration behind Kim Kardashian’s controversial cover story. 

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MEL OTTENBERG: We’re just doing a voice note right now because I have to cover this party and I forgot to cover it. I should have talked to the tarot card reader upstairs, you’re eating a french fry, this is Emily Ratajkowksi. 

EMILY RATAJKOWKSI: Hello. 

OTTENBERG: What’s—um, she’s sticking the french fry, two fries, into the Heinz tomato sauce and then she’s—well, the Interview and Vans tomato ketchup rather—and then she ate the french fries. And now she’s stuck a knife into the ketchup, but it didn’t help. And now she’s trying to bang it on her steak’s au poivre. It’s medium-rare, and the ketchup’s coming out, it’s going all over her fork, and the steak. 

 

RATAJKOWKSI: Do you want to dig in? 

OTTENBERG: And it’s amazing. I don’t know, like I have to cover this party and I forgot to talk about it. 

RATAJKOWKSI: So let’s talk about it! 

OTTENBERG: So now she’s sipping her martini, there’s three olives—

RATAJKOWKSI: Second martini. 

OTTENBERG: She’s double dipping the fries, it was two fries, one of them with ketchup one of them without. She’s eating them, she’s laughing. Do you have anything to add here? 

RATAJKOWKSI: No! [Laughs] 

OTTENBERG: [Laughs] Okay, thanks. 

OTTENBERG: I’m covering this party. What do you want to say? 

HARI NEF: I would just like to say that it is Fashion Week. It is the kick off. And there’s no better way to kick it off than where it all kicked off. 

PALOMA ELSESSER: Ooooh.

NEF: Which is Andy Warhol’s Interview, at his favorite steakhouse, Raoul’s. This is history in the making, never for the faking, always for the taking. I won’t say money we’re raking, because you know fashion doesn’t pay anything—but bitch, we’re out. 

ELSESSER: What a fucking poet! 

NEF: It gave slam. 

OTTENBERG: A poet! What do you think of the cover?

NEF: This is history in the making. Because this is my representation. This is representation for girls who are also, like, gay. 

OTTENBERG: I mean, jockstrap stylist’s own. I know it. 

NEF: I know where I came from, and I know where she’s going. And it’s the same place. [Laughs]

OTTENBERG: Thank you so much for hosting this party with us.

PALOMA ELSESSER: Oh, it’s my absolute pleasure. 

OTTENBERG: So what was the question you were asking me? 

ELSESSER: My question is, for Kim’s ass strap, did you intentionally not retouch the tiny fold that’s happening right there?

OTTENBERG: So the answer, and I’m glad I’m answering this once and for all, because I’ve been getting a lot of DMs from gays who are like, “My OCD is freaking out.” Sex is messy. Sex is fun. Sex doesn’t need retouching. 

ELSESSER: Period. 

OTTENBERG: Sex is fucking hot. 

ELSESSER: It’s real. 

OTTENBERG: And when you’re fucking and you’re rolling around, and your jockstrap gets a little twisted—

ELSESSER: I called it an ass strap [laughs]. 

OTTENBERG: Leave it! I was like, “I’m not retouching this, this picture’s fucking amazing. I think that it’s fun, and it’s the perfect picture. And that’s what we’re going with.” And I just want to also say what I said to Kim, because her people didn’t want her to wear the jockstrap, and they were like, “She can’t wear the jockstrap, she can’t wear the jockstrap.” And I’m like, “She’s wearing a jockstrap.” And the day of, she was like, “I kind of want to wear the jockstrap.” And I’m like, “Listen Kim, a jockstrap is a great frame for an amazing ass. That’s all it is. Men know it, now you know it.” Boom! Thank you. 

ELSESSER: Period. The fucking BDSM of it all. The Farrah Fawcett-ing. That pum-pum. Honestly, she has a snatched pum-pum. 

Ottenberg: Thong. Yes, she does.  

ELSESSER: Where was this thong from? 

OTTENBERG: Stylist’s own. “American Flag Thong: Stylist’s Own, Jockstrap: Stylist’s Own.” 

ELSESSER: Come on, this is what I do. I have a picture like this. 

OTTENBERG: Yes, you do have a picture. We’re about to make t-shirts. Dylan [O’Brien], Paloma, I’ll be sending them to all of y’all.