PARTIES

Swedish House Mafia

Absolut Elyx opens its New York loft.


Absolut Elyx House

Last night, Absolut Elyx, the prettiest, coolest, and most pedigreed offspring of the Absolut vodka family, opened the doors to a 5,000-square-foot private loft in the Meatpacking District that will serve as the Swedish brand’s de facto home in New York. As guests arrived, Vespers, cool and crisp and Elyx-laced, came sailing out from the wet bar. These were enjoyed, in quick succession, in the warmly-lit open space, which has no shortage of the sort of approachable, carefully-mismatched seating that invites well-lubricated socializing. The talk around the dinner table, when we finally sat down to eat, actually revolved around the recent HBO documentary Going Clear, whose outrageous Scientology revelations are probably even more entertaining to recount to a stunned-looking Johan Lindeberg, Elyx’s ambassador to the style world, than it is to watch unfold onscreen. This is especially true if you’re drinking from a copper pineapple goblet, as we were in a fashion that felt distinctly unironic. (Elyx’s signature drink, we were told with great solemnity, is always served from a vessel made of copper, the traditional material in which the vodka’s single-estate wheat is distilled. During this portion of the evening, the word “integrity” was invoked a lot.)

Seamlessly, as we transitioned from one classic Swedish dish to the next—there was definitely fish, the exact types of which has since been lost to a vodka-induced haze—the talk moved on to W’s April cover girl, Alicia Vikander, who is also Swedish, and who happens to be friendly with Elyx CEO Jonas Tahlin and his wife Janina Boss, the couple who mind the loft. (In a twist worthy of blond Nordic super villains, their living quarters are accessed by the push of a certain book on a certain shelf.) Unsurprisingly, the rising actress was taken with the huge, welcoming space (which once belonged to Mickey Rourke). In fact, she recently inquired whether she could stay in the guest room when she is town next. Sorry, she was informed, the bed’s taken. But don’t worry, Alicia. Those couches look pretty comfortable.

Photos: Swedish House Mafia

Johan Lindeberg and Jonas Tåhlin. Courtesy of Absolut.

Courtesy of Absolut.

Courtesy of Absolut.

Courtesy of Absolut.

Courtesy of Absolut.

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