Up on the 50th floor at the Ritz-Carlton in NoMad on Sunday night, the crowd at UTA’s pre-Met Gala soiree were getting a primer for the following evening. Everywhere one looked around the room at Nubeluz by José Andrés, UTA’s roster of talents were meeting, greeting and catching up.
Brandon Maxwell huddled in a booth with Karlie Kloss, who he dressed for the gala in 2016 and 2018, and later made the rounds with fellow designer Christopher John Rogers; Eric Rutherford joined Cynthia Erivo at a table looking out on the venue’s dramatic cityscape views, and Lizzo, who arrived later in the evening, held court from a booth near the entrance. The singer, donning a strappy dress by Ruben Isaza for the occasion, greeted Awkwafina with a hug and posed for photos with Gabrielle Union as the actress headed out for the evening with husband Dwyane Wade.
Other guests included Jodie Turner-Smith, Teezo Touchdown, designers Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim — the pair stopped by after hosting their own Monse event downtown earlier in the evening — Jamie Dornan, and Chase Stokes, who grabbed a bite from the “José’s Taco” cart, which was serving up the chef’s signature snack of jamón Ibérico de bellota with Ossetra caviar.
“I love culture through the lens of food, music, and fashion,” said José Andrés Group chief executive officer Sam Bakhshandehpour, who connected with UTA through the agency’s head of culture and leadership Darnell Strom. The José Andrés Group was one of the evening’s sponsors, and was eager to offer up one of their spaces to celebrate one of New York’s buzziest cultural events of the year. “There’s nothing bigger than the fashion of New York,” he added.
