A recurring motif of the evening? Thom Browne. Guests fresh from the designer’s show arrived in perfectly tailored pleated skirts, shrunken blazers, and his signature trompe l’oeil designs. Jordan Roth and Cole Escola, both visionaries of style in their own right, embraced the Browne aesthetic, as did Morgan Spector and Rebecca Hall, the latter toting a dachshund-shaped handbag that turned more than a few heads.
Anna Wintour opened the evening with a toast to Carpenter’s Vogue milestone, recalling their first conversation in which the singer rattled off an ambitious list of career goals—including collaborating with Dolly Parton (a duet that, as Wintour noted, would debut in just a few days). “Listening to her vivacity and enthusiasm, I thought, ‘She’s going to accomplish all of these things—probably before she even leaves my office,’” Wintour quipped. “There truly isn’t anything you can’t do!”
Carpenter, in turn, reflected on the significance of the moment. “For any little girl on planet Earth, being on the cover of Vogue is one of her biggest dreams,” she said. “But you never picture it happening in such a special way, with such a special group of people.” She made sure to recognize the creative forces behind the cover’s magic, namely Pat McGrath and Guido Palau, whose work helped bring her vision to life.
Around the candlelit space, stacks of glossy March issues adorned tables, while guests stole quiet moments to flip through the pages. Some admired Carpenter’s images, while others lingered over their own designs in print—after all, much of American fashion’s leading talent was in the room. Christopher John Rogers, Collina Strada’s Hillary Taymour, Jonathan Simkhai, Prabal Gurung, and Raul Lopez were just a few of the designers who turned out for the night.
And in the grand tradition of fashion week, where the best parties are as much about the future as they are about the present, the evening doubled as a celebration of what’s to come. As guests clinked glasses and swayed to the music—most likely a Carpenter anthem on repeat—it was clear that this was more than just a party; it was the perfect finale to New York Fashion Week. Who better to close out the city’s most glamorous week than the artist whose songs had been the unofficial soundtrack of the season?
