“Well, you walk in and there are candles on the table—so you know there’s going to be great conversations,” Severance’s Britt Lower said upon arrival to The Odeon on Thursday night. And they weren’t just any candles that awaited—but Loewe’s signature Tomato Leaves tapers, which lent the restaurant the look and feel of a midsummer farmer’s market; worlds away from the March chill outside. While the festivities unfolded downtown, the true cause for celebration was stationed uptown at Bergdorf Goodman. To mark Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez’s first collection hitting stores, a full Loewe takeover of the department store’s windows had been unveiled a day earlier.
“It’s so cool to be back in New York. We’re never here anymore,” beamed McCollough. He and Hernandez, both New Yorkers who relocated to Paris upon their appointment to the fashion house, had crossed the pond one night prior. “This was a good excuse to invite all of our friends.”
The Loewe crowd is a good one. Around The Odeon, attendees were happy to see the who’s-who within the brand’s orbit. “There are just really great people in the room. Designers like Jack and Lazaro are always excellent curators of interesting, talented people,” actor Lucas Hedges told Vogue. “Like, I was at the Loewe show in Paris, and I was playing Uno with Lil Yachty. There’s always a sense of levity and fun.”
With Amazonas in both hands—meaning the handbag in one, a fittingly-named cocktail in the other—guests gushed over one another’s outfits, from colorful maxi dresses to graphic tees and suede jeans. “I feel so me. You would definitely see me wearing something like this in real life,” said Sinners star Jayme Lawson, swishing the sides of her loose-fit trousers. “I looove a baggy pant. It’s my favorite kind of pant.”
As dinner unfolded, the room began to swell with a kind of easy, collective gratitude. “Bergdorf’s is an amazing partner,” shared McCollough. “They’ve always been huge supporters of ours, so it’s cool to have this full-circle moment.” For Tracy Margolies, president of Bergdorf Goodman, the feeing is mutual. “We’re thrilled to welcome Jack and Lazaro back to a city with such significance to their creative journey,” she said.
The decision to host the dinner in lower Manhattan was an homage to “Loewe’s signature downtown edge,” added Margolies—and this particular venue is part of the designers’ own shared history. “We’ve been coming here our entire adult lives, so it just kind of felt right the right place,” McCollough explained. “Plus, I hear that Odeon’s trending right now!” (Word has it, Love Story fans have been flocking to claim the JFK Jr. booth since the series spotlighted the Tribeca restaurant.)
By the time the French presses made their rounds, profiteroles were passed, and the candles had melted well past their bases, the evening began its slow, inevitable wind-down. There were party favors, of course: Issue 10 of Loewe magazine, along with the very Tomato Leaves candles that had blazed bright all night—particularly fortunate for those enamored with the room’s verdant aroma.