At Chanel’s New Fragrance Launch Party, Love (and Patchouli) Was in the Air

“I’m about to pop!” The musician and novelist Michelle Zauner, aka Japanese Breakfast, said on the red carpet outside Chanel’s New York Fashion Week party on Thursday, September 10. The 37-year-old, who is nine months pregnant, turned to the side and placed her tattooed hand on her belly. “I might give birth, like, today. Hopefully my water breaks in Balthazar!”

Zauner, who carried her mother’s Chanel bag—and wore a pair of sparkling toe-cap heels topped with a bow—joined Ella Rubin, Paloma Elsesser, Iris Law, Ayra Starr, and many more to celebrate the release of Chanel’s new Coco Mademoiselle Crush Absolu fragrance and the corresponding campaign, which stars Gracie Abrams. (They were also toasting a new Crush Absolu pop-up in the Meatpacking District that’s open to the public, where attendees can discover the ambery, woody, vanilla scent in person.) The brand posted up all night in the SoHo restaurant where Zauner crossed her fingers for labor, playing host to Coco Jones (in a fab purple skirt suit and plenty of golden Chanel jewelry), Keen Ruffalo (progeny of Mark Ruffalo and Rubin’s fellow star in Sterling Point), Janicza Bravo, and Sage Elsesser. Miyako Bellizi, Justine Skye, and Paloma Sandoval grabbed mini cheeseburgers and ramekins of baked macaroni and cheese off trays balanced by waiters wearing white coats. The elder Elsesser greeted the Dutch model Imaan Hammam with a hug in one of the bistro’s leather booths.

When asked about the best-smelling people she’s ever met, Law chose Paloma Elsesser: “Paloma had this tomato body cream that was amazing. She’s my crush and she cares a lot about scent.” Law also noted another crush, her very first: “River Phoenix in Stand by Me. I used to print out pictures of him and take them to school to show people.” Before snapping photos at the step-and-repeat, Law sprayed herself with a bottle of Crush Absolu that was making the rounds. Once she stepped inside of the venue, she immediately headed for the adjacent bakery, where to-go cups of coffee were distributed for those with a long night of parties ahead.

This is New York Fashion Week, after all. But for her part, Zauner told W she was one-and-done for the evening.

“This is my last outing,” she said. “I wasn’t even sure I was going to go, but it’s Chanel, so I had to make a chic appearance.”