Ferragamo’s Family Affair

You would think that a mere twenty-four hours after the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute Gala (or perhaps fewer hours for those who hit the after-parties), the fashion masses would be home in bed nursing the most staggering of hangovers. But Ferragamo managed to lure them out of hiding for a dinner in celebration of its new handbag collection, Fiamma, named for Salvatore’s late daughter. Hosted by the Ferragamo family—Ferruccio, James, Massimo and Chiara were all in attendance—the event introduced the chic, handle-topped half-moon bag with a short film and interview series, featuring multiple generations of international families, projected onto the walls of Casa Lever. The restaurant’s bar shelves were cleared of booze bottles and filled instead with Fiamma bags and amidst the Warhols on the walls were booths lined with more Fiamma styles, surrounded by roses. It was a purse lover’s fantasy.

During a protracted cocktail hour stars of the campaign like Princess Melusine Ruspoli, Stella and Lola Schnabel, Anika Poitier, and Mariel and Langley Fox Hemingway mingled over salmon-hued cocktails and endless canapés, the boite’s purple lighting casting an otherworldly glow. “Do you think they’ll notice if I steal a bag?” asked one young woman as she eyed a black version mere inches from her head.