The Year’s Buzziest Beauty Launch Serves Lunch

Would Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece be served a slice of Principessa cake? I wondered while stepping into Sant Ambroeus SoHo, where guests gathered to celebrate the launch of La Beauté Louis Vuitton. Instead, LV-etched glassware filled with champagne and spritzes awaited. Just down the street at the Louis Vuitton store, Dame Pat McGrath had spent the morning unveiling refillable lipsticks, shadow compacts, and elaborate leather beauty cases to crowds of beauty and fashion insiders eager for a first look since Vogue broke the news this spring. Now, inside the neighborhood-favorite café, McGrath was finally able to relax with familiar faces after months of working with the house on a beauty line that meant “having, in a way, no limits and being able to push the boundaries,” she said with a smile. “Now, we're celebrating together—it’s so important to see all of my friends here. I’m so happy.”

The talent in the room alone could have filled a cover shoot: longtime collaborators Guido Palau and Jimmy Paul were on hand, as well as stylists Kate Young and Leslie Fremar, who knew McGrath from their early days at Vogue. “When I was an assistant at Vogue, most of my time was spent on set with Pat and I always admired her,” Fremar recalled. “She’s so creative and always pushes the envelope, and you just knew her products were going to be amazing.” Even her children, she added, have been curious about the line: The packaging is beautiful. The presentation is beautiful. The quality is beautiful. You wouldn’t expect anything less of Louis Vuitton and Pat.

Guests dined on caprese, branzino, and mixed berries served on Vuitton tableware flown in for the occasion. “I do all of my business lunches here because it’s right by my office,” said Young, noting the special touches like dahlias arranged in the collectsion’s shades and napkins tied with Vuitton luggage tags. Already test-driving the new lipstick, she said, “I really like the color I’m wearing today.” Tomorrow, Young heads to the Toronto Film Festival. This weekend, others will be at the Armory Show and the US Open as the multilayered parfait of September culture continues. As Lauren Santo Domingo put it: “I dropped my daughter off for her first day of school, and then I came here for my first day of fashion week.”