Last week, Lucy Sykes Rellie and Gillian Hearst Simonds (try and say that five times fast) hosted a socialite heavy champagne kegger for Hong Kong native Cho Cheng to celebrate the opening of his design salon on the tony U.E.S. The Atelier's designs cater to gossip girls (and their moms) with deep pockets whose shopping preferences are clearly the couture houses of Europe. Indeed the celadon walls, cocaine-white furniture, and Kirstie Alley-sized phalaenopsis orchids seem copy-catted from Chez Chanel, circa 1936.
It was all very rococo-a-gogo, with guests like Nina Griscom, Carolina Zapf, Kimberly Guilfoyle Villency, and Alexandra Lebentha downing Payard's macarons with Veuve while perusing Cheng's debutante friendly designs (in fact, one party-goer, I.M. Pei's granddaughter, Olivia Pei, commissioned a red and gold metallic gown for her debut at the Crillon Ball). Cho himself, an exquisite cross between Michael Jackson and Ziyi Zhang, was the perfect foil for his delish creations whose inspiration comes from his grandmother, the legendary Betty Char-Nuis Yan. The acclaimed couturier founded the famed Betty Couture at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong in 1960. Cheng, an alumni of New York City's Parsons School of Design, (and the recipient of the famed Golden Thimble Award) imbibed his eponymous fashion house both Yan's vision and a fresh, modern sensibility that encompasses both couture and ready-to-wear collections. The result is a jewel box of a collection that appeals to everyone from the ingénue to the investment banker.
Deep thoughts...Gillian Hearst Simonds, Cho Cheng, and I get personal in one cocktail bubble, while Carol Han, Jessica Karcher, and Miguelina Gambacinni do the same in another.
White Hot: Gillian Hearst Simonds channels the White Queen in CHOCHENG's ivory silk weave jacket over a slinky chartreuse dress.
FOX-y Lady: Kimberly Guilfoyle Villency does basic black.
Living in a Downtown World: Uptown fashionista and CHOCHENG creative consultant Lucy Sykes Rellie rocks out the black, structured silk smoking jacket over jeans and a beater.
