“I feel like I’m going to burst into flames,” a guest at the Revolve house in Watermill, N.Y., muttered while fanning herself Saturday afternoon. She was dressed like practically everyone else there — Coachella without the flower crowns.
Every summer, e-tailer Revolve makes a visibility push by renting out a sprawling manse for the four weekends of July and hiring celebrity hosts to draw in press. This weekend was Nicole Richie’s turn. The scorching temperatures kept the pixie indoors for most of the afternoon. Others had to cool off the old-fashioned way: cold booze. Luckily Moët & Chandon sponsored the event and was launching their Moët Ice Impérial Rosé, meant to be consumed with ice. Revelers frolicked across the back lawn, Moët-filled chalice in hand, interacting with the various props (read: Instagram and Snapchat bait) scattered across the property.
“Revolve is run by these just really young, cool innovative thinkers,” Richie said, in the air-conditioner-blasted living room. She created a capsule with the e-tailer, titled House of Harlow 1960 x Revolve. It ranges from $60 to $400 and became available exclusively on the web site on June 2. “So I know I wanted to meet with them because I think what they’re doing is really cool. So we had a meeting and sat down and talked about the type of girl I’m designing for and the type of girl they’re designing for. And I spent time in their studio and I just immediately knew after our conversation that I wanted to collaborate with them.”
Meanwhile, Marigee McKee and Bill Ford were opening up their summer home in Southampton to a Missoni-clad crew of notables: Sophie Elgort, Alexandra Lind Rose, Elanor Lambert, Jennifer Creel, Annelise Peterson Winter, Alina Cho and others. The occasion? The kickoff of Armarium’s 10-day pop-up shop in Sag Harbor – Missoni pre-fall had just become available to rent on the app and at the pop-up so, of course, all the ladies who lunch came out in their rented pre-fall best. All managed to avert spilling any of their summer cocktails on their loaned wares.
Forty-five minutes east in Montauk, N.Y., another designer was toasting her line. “Hey babe,” Erin Wasson cooed, greeting a reporter. The model-turned-fine-jeweler looked ever the California surfer cool, in ripped jean shorts and a white T-shirt, her sea salt-tinged hair in a messy top knot. Wasson was at Surf Lodge, about to sit for a dinner toasting the one-year anniversary of her fine jewelry line, which she was dripping in. She had posted up on the beach earlier that day selling her wares.
“Jewelry shopping is an intimate experience, so when we do trunk shows, it’s great to see what women are drawn to and watch their reaction when they put stuff on,” she said. “And I love interacting with these women — you know, women buy more fine jewelry for themselves than people think and I think it’s great, seeing women buy things at that price point for themselves.”
A few tables over, Fiona Byrne was hosting a dinner party in celebration of her collaboration with Paige Gamble (titled Fiona Byrne x Paige Gamble). The pair created an 18-piece collection of soft leather clutches and totes, all patterned in prints with summer motifs — an aerial beachscape sprawls across a pebbled leather clutch, another is patched with a 3-D vanilla ice cream cone. They range from $65 to $495. “These bags make me want summer to never end,” a diner said wistfully, picking at a glob of burrata. “I hope we get real ice cream cones after this.”