Dior Hosts a Cocktail Party to Celebrate CFDA

“And then a vision arrived . . . ” announced perennial party boy Harry Brant upon spotting Giovanna Battaglia in a show-stopping silver Dior mini dress at the SoHo outpost of Ladurée last night. They were just two of the many fashionable friends of Raf Simons who gathered for a post-CFDA soirée at the famed French confectionery to celebrate the Dior designer and recent recipient of the 2014 International Award.

Even artist Rachel Feinstein raced downtown after putting the finishing touches on her newest public installation Cliff House to raise a glass to the maestro. Let’s just say, if anyone can pack a room, it’s Raf. Summer arrived just in time for the festivities, gracing guests with the perfect weather for refreshing caprese salad, raspberry mojitos, and ever-flowing coups de champagne.

Brandishing matching mini Lady Dior bags and decked in the brand, Atlanta de Cadenet and Laura Love took selfies beneath the trellises in the candlelit courtyard where Shala Monroque and Stephanie LaCava, both in Dior, and Jamie Bochert, Bee Shaffer, and Vanessa Traina Snow enjoyed chilled-out tunes and macarons.

Adorations and air kisses fluttered about the star-studded crowd all night, where a number of elated CFDA winners including Shane Gabier and Christopher Peters of Creatures of the Wind, Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne of Public School, and Joseph Altuzarra swapped congratulations.

Many of the well wishers made their way to the Man of the Hour who received praise from Love (his self-professed number one fan) and Leandra Medine, wearing a delicate draped blouse and trousers by CFDA nominee Rosie Assoulin. “I think genius is an overused word, but it’s a perfectly allocated term to describe Raf Simons,” Medine gushed. “The thing about Raf is that he designs clothing that women actually want to wear.

Even if you don’t have a personal connection to him, just by virtue of wearing his clothing, you feel like you’re forming a relationship like somehow someone is hugging you. That’s all you want to feel when you’re wearing clothing: This intimate connection to something bigger.” Perhaps, as she suggested, “Dior CEO Sidney Toledano said it best: Dior is like a tree and while Raf understands the roots, he’s not afraid to plant his own flowers.”