The Veronica Beard Sisters-in-Law Held a Dinner at—Where Else?—Veronika

Last night, sisters-in-law Veronica Miele Beard and Veronica Swanson Beard, founders and designers behind the chic brand Veronica Beard, hosted a whimsical dinner at an apt location—Veronika, a romantic, chandelier adorned restaurant inside New York’s iconic photography museum, the Fotografiska. It was a spot Swanson Beard had first visited near its opening just before the COVID lockdown, she told guests during her dinner speech. Now, three years later, joined in hosting the evening with Laura Brown, they’d gathered everyone from Martha Stewart to Zoey Deutch, Mindy Kaling, Candice Huffine, Rachel Brosnahan and Aurora James at the extravagant spot to fete the brand’s latest campaign.

On the menu were delectable offerings of shrimp, organic cauliflower, New York strip steak, and for dessert, an assortment of gelato and chocolate cake that was almost too pretty to cut. Perhaps with another group, a room such as this one would make for a quiet dine, maybe for a date night, but with everyone buzzing from the energetic rush of fashion week, it wasn’t hard for table mates to become enraptured in giggly conversation, a few mingling about different tables to meet a new face, or catch up with an old friend.

Before guests parted from their seats and into the rainy night (not at all in any rushed manner as most lingered for much after dessert was served), tasseled hotel keys were dispersed among the tables, each thoughtfully engraved with guests’ names—a creative approach to the traditional gift bag. What they left with was better than a hotel room, but instead, a posh, collegiate style logo crest blazer from the brand’s latest fall collectsion. Swanson Beard had mentioned during her speech the brand opted to focus on fall rather than a spring collectsion as most brands will present this fashion week, so as to instead remain in the present, just as their guests were able to escape to the present for a few hours of conversation among friends.