(NEW YORK) Last night at Highline Stages on West 14th Street, Diane von Furstenberg and Andrew Rosen co-chaired the first OPEN MARKET to benefit the Meatpacking District Improvement Association. Fashion brands such as Alice + Olivia, Theory, and Trina Turk held sample sales while guests such as Olivier Theyskens, Leigh Lezark, Lex Kendall, and MPIA Executive Director Lauren Danziger nibbled on bites from local haunts such as Morimoto, Bakehouse, Soho House, and the Standard Biergarten. (The Standard’s now-famous pretzel was a crowd pleaser.)
Even the Gansevoort Hotel’s Exhale Spa contributed to the event with free massages. “What you have to know is that this neighorhood is a real neighborhood,” von Furstenberg told us during the event. “We get together and make things happen. The first thing we did years ago was turn it into a historical preserve to make sure the area was always preserved. Then we got involved with the Highline; then we called The Whitney. It’s a neighborhood we care about. There’s a lot of great things coming!” What are her fave haunts in the hood? “I move so little! I’m on the top of my tower there. I like the fact that it’s all there! I’m the Godmother of the neighborhood! I can’t escape it.” Who would want to, DvF?
EDDIE ROCHE
