After taking over the Metropolitan Opera House for his 45th anniversary show, Michael Kors kept the New York feel going with an after party across the street at P.J. Clarke’s.
While “Chess” star Lea Michele, who’d been at the show, had to run to make the night’s performance, other Broadway stars including Rachel Zegler, Kara Young and Nicole Scherzinger were in attendance. Dakota Fanning sat at a table by the windows, sipping a martini. Trays of burgers, fries and lobster rolls circled the room as guests such as Martha Stewart, Suki Waterhouse, Kelsea Ballerini, Leslie Bibb, Supriya Ganesh and Ava Phillippe mingled throughout the restaurant.
Kors himself arrived later on, his signature dark aviators on and husband Lance Le Pere by his side. The room lit up and the crowd parted.
“Oh my god, he’s like the pope,” a guest enthused.
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After Kors had done a round of photos with his ladies, he made his way over to where Rufus Wainwright was stationed.
“I’m Rufus Wainwright, for those of you who don’t know anything,” he cracked, before singing covers of Bob Dylan and Billy Joel, which he dedicated to Kors and Le Pere.
“Rufus, you are magic, magic, magic, magic,” the designer said between Wainwright’s songs. “And honestly, what could be better than a martini, a cheeseburger and the Met?”
He went on to thank the room for having been part of his journey over the 45 years of business.
“You know what? Forty-five years in, I still feel like a kid. My knees won’t feel like a kid tomorrow. But really, I can’t thank you all enough,” Kors said. “Here’s the toast to all of you, and thank you. We are in the greatest f–king city in the world. When bad s–t happens here, they put the flag back up today — sorry, it’s back now,” he said to cheers, referencing the removal of the Pride flag at Stonewall National Monument earlier in the day.
“The other night we saw a girl in stilettos climbing over snowbanks with bare legs, and I’m like, ‘New York girl,’” Kors continued. “So really I couldn’t be happier and prouder to be a native New Yorker.”
Suki Waterhouse and Kelsea Ballerini
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