Grace Coddington’s Book Launch Party at Indochine Was a Fashion Family Reunion

Ever since Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat turned up on opening night in 1984, Indochine’s banana-leaf-papered dining room in NoHo has been a watering hole for the fashion set. The legendary editor Grace Coddington has long been among its regulars, making it an especially fitting setting for a dinner honoring Grace: Now, her new book from Phaidon. On October 13, W Editor-in-Chief Sara Moonves and Louis Vuitton gathered an intimate group of Coddington’s friends, colleagues, and longtime collaborators to toast its launch.

The book brings together the work Coddington has made in the decade since stepping down as Vogue’s creative director—including many of her shoots for W—and plenty of the people who helped create those images were in the room. Photographers Craig McDean and Arthur Elgort joined hairstylists Jimmy Paul and Orlando Pita and makeup artists Dick Page, Pat McGrath, and Francelle Daly. A contingent of Vogue alumni came too, among them the legendary editor Phyllis Posnick.

Over Indochine classics like vegetable summer rolls and sea bass in black bean chili paste, Derek Blasberg regaled his end of a long table with stories, while a coterie of Coddington’s former assistants enjoyed a reunion. Elle Fanning, whose first Vogue cover Coddington styled in 2017 sat next to the woman of the hour and chatted all evening.

During her toast, Moonves fondly traced her own relationship with Coddington from her early days as an intern at Vogue to her arrival at W. Shortly after taking over the magazine, Moonves recalled meeting Coddington for lunch at Sant Ambroeus and asking if she would shoot for W. Coddington said yes, beginning a collaboration that has since produced some of the magazine’s most memorable fashion stories—many of them featuring the model Rianne Van Rompaey. “Grace has a true love of redheaded models,” Moonves said, drawing a big laugh from the crowd. “And in every shoot, Rianne’s hair just kept getting redder and bigger”—not unlike Coddington’s own.

Moonves also touched on Coddington’s longstanding creative partnership with Louis Vuitton artistic director Nicolas Ghesquière. “Nicolas and Grace, both legends, understand and respect each other so much,” she said. “In a fickle industry, it’s a relationship that withstands the test of time.”

Enduring friendships were at the heart of Coddington’s speech that followed, as she thanked everyone in the room and paid tribute to Elgort, now 86, who was seated at the head of the table. “Your pictures still enchant me and make me laugh,” she said. “And life is about laughing.”

As Coddington recalled in the latest issue of W, Anna Wintour actually threw her 50th birthday party at Indochine, complete with a sheet cake bearing a frosted portrait of Coddington that, by her own estimation, looked nothing like her. Decades later, Moonves presented her with another sheet cake—this one emblazoned with the cover of Grace: Now.

For Moonves, the symmetry wasn’t lost. “How, in a million years, I’m getting to throw you this party, celebrating your brilliant new book, is beyond me,” she said during her speech. “I’m so lucky to be a small part of Grace’s big life.” Looking around a room filled with people whose own lives and careers have intersected with Coddington’s over the decades, it was clear Moonves wasn’t the only one who felt that way.