Daily Front Row

2010 April 15

Loft Party

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Alia Ahmed-Yahia, Kate Young, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Tina Chai, and Joanne Blades
WILL RAGOZZINO/PatrickMcMullan.com View Gallery

(NEW YORK) One might not associate Ann Taylor with a raging party on the Bowery, but last night’s Loft Style Studio event would beg to differ. By 8:15---the party started at 7:30---there was a line down the block of would-be revellers itching for entry into the Bowery Hotel. To its credit, the presentation of the Fall 2010 Loft collection was hardly a simple affair of mannequined looks. Alexa Chung held court at the turntables, stylists Joanne Blades, Tina Chai, Kate Young and Alia Ahmed-Yahia showed off their individual takes on the brand’s fall wares, and Ra Ra Riot took the stage with a rousing performance while guests partook in plenty of champagne.

And while the celebs on hand at the bash were aplenty—Maggie Gyllenhaal, Alexis Bledel, and Mena Suvari, who arrived in the middle of the performance wearing not the brand du jour, but head-to-toe Alice + Olivia—the number of non-Loft-affiliated designers present was the real surprise of the night. “I came out to support Kate [Young] and Tina [Chai],” explained Phillip Lim on arrival. “And I have to go say hi to Alexa—although I guess she's busy DJing!” Another glued to the DJ’s side was fellow Brit Henry Holland. “I'm here in the states filming with Alexa; we’re making a television show called Frock Me,” he laughed. “It will only air in the UK, but I'm sure it'll be on YouTube or something. It's very embarrassing!”

The other prevalent topic of the evening? That little California music festival. “I'm going to Coachella tomorrow!” exclaimed Holland, who will have at least one chic pal along for the ride: Rebecca Minkoff. “We’re on the same flight and we’re staying in the same house,” she revealed. “I tried to go on the Coachella diet,” she said, explaining its necessity in an environment of tiny jean cutoffs and bikini tops, “But I couldn’t! I just wanted to keep eating.”
EMILY GYBEN