Adam Lippes Toasted by Tory Burch, Wes Gordon, Linda Fargo, More
Adam Lippes had quite the fan club turn out Tuesday night to celebrate his label’s 10th anniversary at Majorelle on the Upper East Side.
The evening started in the Lowell Hotel’s Club Room, where Champagne was passed liberally and conversation was about the calm before the storm: New York Fashion Week.
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A who’s who of New York designers, retailers and tastemakers, many old friends, were there to toast Lippes. The designer is entering the “gold dust” phase of his business, with a plan to open 10 stores in five years, and focus more on storytelling and marketing after establishing a solid customer base and delivering consistently luxurious product.
“I should be at work right now, but I came for him,” said Tory Burch, who was expected back at her studio to continue work on her fall 2024 collection.
“Adam defines elegance…I’ve seen him build this company from the ground up,” said Saks Fifth Avenue fashion director Roopal Patel, wearing a white silk crepe draped gown by the designer.
“We special ordered this for the Linda shop,” said Bergdorf Goodman’s Linda Fargo, wearing Lippes’ show-stopping Italian rose jacquard opera coat and matching dress from the spring 2024 collection.
Lippes was taking it all in stride, the guest of honor at his own party.
“He’s so incredible with women,” said Kirna Zabête cofounder Beth Buccini, recounting an event she recently hosted for Lippes in Nashville, where Reese Witherspoon showed up. “It is a gift, he’s in the fitting room with them selling up the wazoo, it’s impressive.”
After cocktails, the crowd moved into the dining room, where Carlos Mota, Rickie De Sole, Amy Astley, Pilar Solchaga, Allison Loehnis, Derek Blasberg and more dined on poitrine de poulet roti and mousse au chocolat, and the love fest continued.
“Adam is the only person who’s ever hired me in my life,” said Rosie Assoulin, who worked for the designer before launching her own label in 2014.
“I know him from being struggling designers in New York,” said Wes Gordon, breezing in.
“He’s a very genuine person,” said The Fashion Guitar creator Charlotte Groenveld, recalling dinners in Paris and New York with Lippes and his husband, Alexander Farnsworth.
Once the amuse-bouche hit the table, Lippes took the floor for a toast.
“It’s such an honor to be surrounded by so many friends, and what I wanted for this dinner was friends,” he said. “When I decided to go into fashion as a career and swapped the sales floor of Bear Stearns for the sales floor of Ralph Lauren, my father called, as a father would, and he quipped, ‘Adam, wouldn’t you rather buy clothes than make clothes?’ There are some days where his wisdom is true, but not tonight. Tonight, I can confidently say there is no place I’d rather be than here surrounded by all of you.”
Launch Gallery: Inside the Adam Lippes 10th Anniversary Dinner
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