In case the balloon arch at the entrance didn’t tip guests off, last night’s Stella McCartney resort presentation was her usual carnival-style affair, with diversions like a human statue, live chamber music, and models blowing bubbles, drinking champagne, and dancing. (A much better gig than presentations where models have to stand still on a podium for two hours with the occasional water break.) And as is typical with McCartney’s events, a wide swath of friends and admirers joined her, from models Cara Delevingne and Jourdan Dunn to artists Jeff Koons and Marilyn Minter. (SNL honcho Lorne Michaels was there too, deep in conversation with a corporate-looking crowd.) As the model Liya Kebede put it, “People like her a lot.”
Many of the friendships go way back — we’re talking Paleozoic era. As Liv Tyler told the Cut, “We have been friends for 300 million years. We’re dinosaurs.” Helena Christensen said that the two have been pals since McCartney’s early days. “[We met] like 20 years ago. When she started, we did the shows together. Back then we were just a bunch of girls hanging out, having fun. I didn’t even feel like I was working. It was just like hanging out with your friends.” Christensen added that this was a rare appearance for her: “I don’t really go to a bunch of shows. I feel like I checked that box,” she said, adding that she did attend Dior’s resort show at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. “I got a little seasick.”
The playful atmosphere of the evening was perfectly suited to McCartney’s designs, which look great in motion: swingy printed dresses, camp shirts paired with Bermuda shorts, and an oversized-poncho-and-draped-skirt combo that, somehow, just looked right. When attendees weren’t partaking in outdoor activities (the human chessboard was a popular photo op), they were talking about the throwback yin-yang prints on many of the pieces. It got several attendees thinking about the ‘90s. Said Hanneli Mustaparta of her attempt to revive the decade, “I’ve been wearing a mom jean — well, it’s kind of a mix between a mom jean and a boyfriend jean, so it still looks kinda hot. It’s a weird fit but in a nice way. A nice weird fit.”
Tyler said, “That’s my era, so I love it, I love it. There was something so much more relaxed about it, a little bit more playful. A little bit more of an edge. I think it wasn’t as thought-out, people were just creating looks from what they had in their closet or what came to them. I’m very nostalgic for anything ‘90s — music, fashion, films, all of it. I have a lot of things that I still never got rid of. I have a couple Betsey Johnson [pieces]. I have this light blue [dress] with white polka dots and a little red romper with a zip. I just remember wearing it on my first audition, when I was very young — 16 or 17. I always hold on to that.”
Is there anything the actress wouldn’t wear? “I don’t like it when girls that are going out to get really drunk wear really tall shoes and really short skirts,” she said. “I’m worried they’re going to fall over and something bad’s going to happen to them. That, I don’t like. I’m like, ‘Girl, just put some flats on or wear a long dress!’ But the combo of the short skirt and the heel — unless Mario Testino’s taking your picture for a photo shoot, don’t do it!”