Last Night, Laura Kim and James Whiteside Opened the Fleuriste St-Germain Pop-Up

A hundred years ago, Marcel Proust published À la recherche du temps perdu or In Search of Lost Time. The modernist masterpiece recounts French society in the twilight of the 19th century and the dawn of the 20th: a tapestry of aristocrats, artists, bohemians, hustlers, dreamers, and the ideas they exchanged.

On a sweltering Thursday evening in downtown Manhattan, lost times were made up for. Co-creative director of Monse and Oscar de la Renta, Laura Kim and James Whiteside, principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre, welcomed a colorful crowd to Fleuriste St-Germain, a pop-up flower shop and cocktail lounge open today. 

“We were very inspired by the French salon,” Kim explained as talented friends like Tina Leung, Prabal Gurung, Phillip Lim, and Ezra William arrived. Sipping specialty St-Germain drinks, guests mingled and mused. 

As Kim played hostess, Whiteside prepared for his imminent performance in a back room. A model for the likes of Marc Jacobs and MAC Cosmetics, Whiteside is also a recording artist (known as JbDubs) and a drag queen (known as Ühu Betch). With the release of his book, Center Center, later this month, Whiteside will add author to his growing list of professions. 

In a flurry of excitement, guests swept to the side as Whiteside leaped into the space. His athletic body appeared weightless as he danced from the bar to the window sill with wild elegance. Each arabesque and glissade solicited cheers. 

The Proustian influence was made explicit when Kim and Whiteside engaged in a riveting rift on the writer’s famous questionnaire. In this uncertain time of rebirth, some look back at wildest eras for inspiration but last night offered a more thoughtful, refined, and optimistic vision of what gatherings might look like as we move into the new world.