Summertime Soirée on the Faubourg Saint Honoré
Scott Sallée attended the Summertime soirée for us and offered to share his experience with Prête-Moi Paris!
Summertime on rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré is in its third edition, and following the themes of peonies and jazz in 2012 and red roses and tango in 2013, we were invited to discover New York circa 1950-1960, with vintage cars, Mad Men, Broadway, the Jets, and the Pink Ladies.
Dancers from the group I Could Never Be A Dancer performed in the streets amidst a backdrop of iconic Big Apple sights, such as Con Edison orange and white stack steam pipes, the New York Times, and Yellow Checkered cabs.
Why New York? Because Faubourg Saint Honoré is celebrating 50 years of partnership with 5th Avenue, the stateside’s selective address for the world’s most recognizable stores, most of which share an address on both streets, such as Prada, Burberry, Hermès, Chanel, Cartier..
These boutiques and many others invited their best clients to come and savor the Summertime ambiance, while presenting their newest collections, exclusive items, limited-editions, agreeably accompanied by a signature cocktail and canapés.
We began the evening by the Bristol hotel, where the stage was set for West Side Story: Tony and Maria, a lovers’ tryst, singing the songs “Maria” and “Tonight, Tonight”, from the famed musical.
Monsieur de Givenchy loaned a photograph of Audrey Hepburn to Janssens & Janssens, on display during the evening.
Christian Louboutin had miniature hot-dogs, très américain, and Ermenegildo Zegna exquisite bites of foie gras in a crunchy pastry shell, followed by a whitefish carpaccio with fresh herbs and a zing of lime.
Burberry was presenting the arrival of their pre-collection for fall – monuments of Paris, London, Shanghai, Tokyo, New York of course – on silk scarves, trench coats, sweaters, and t-shirts. A glass of Champagne in hand, one could also watch the latest menswear show that had aired earlier that day on the store iPads, and order items directly from the runway.
To Hermès, where a beautiful saxophonist greeted their guests from the first floor walkway and dapper cocktail waiters whisked about in white shirts and brought a trio of mini burgers – beef, mushroom, vegetable – followed by tiny cupcakes in pastel green and pink.
Across the street by Chanel, a vintage popcorn machine – in polished brass. was jovially popping away, with a line of beaming partygoers following their nose and a few childhood memories to the front of the queue.
For the fortunate, an invite to Lanvin’s soirée came with sweet or salty popcorn dressed for the evening in the house’s trademark blue. As a welcome change from Champagne, fresh fruit and vegetable juices were on offer – carrot/orange, kiwi/banana, or red berries.
Prosecco at Prada all’italiano and black and white glamour shots outside the American Express booth rounded out the soirée, with a final performance of dancers skipping lightly down the street and into the sunset, marking the end of an evening, the beginning of summer, and the countdown to next year, where I’ll be marking my calendar for a must-not-be-missed event.
Love this post! I got the e-mail in my inbox and was delightedly surprised to see Scott! What a great team – and fabulous event! Loved seeing you this week and can’t wait to see you soon! x
Thank you prosas25. Scott is a fabulous writer and a great contributor! Hope he comes up with more ideas because I’d love to have an occasional post from him. 😉