Before the madness of New York Fashion Week kicks off, another style icon — Snoopy — had his moment in the spotlight. On Tuesday evening, the exhibition “Snoopy in Style” opened with a VIP cocktail reception in the Meatpacking District.
Guests including Zac Posen, Christopher John Rogers, Kay Unger, Colm Dillane, Ashlynn Park, Gigi Burris, Henry Zankov, Shantell Martin, Peter Som, Celia Dean and Sarah Andelman milled about the open space, moving through the fashion portion, the shop and the rest. The vibe was undeniably positive: one woman began crying upon arrival at the sight of the cartoon. People couldn’t help but dance to the Charlie Brown theme song as it played overhead, and more than one guest snapped up a gift bag as they walked in, heaven forbid they run out.
Jean Schulz, the widow of Charles Schultz, wore a cotton black and white shift dress with Snoopy patterned throughout.
“I’ve worn it in Mexico City and Berlin and New York,” she said of the dress. “And then my house burned and my dress burned. So I said, ‘Can you make me another one?’ And they sent me half of what this is and it took me a long time and finally a couple of years later I said, ‘OK, give me some fabric and I’ll have someone copy it.’ So somebody remade this from pictures.”
Jean Schulz
Lexie Moreland/WWD
Walking through the exhibit was a trip down memory lane for Schultz.
“There’s so many things — like when I first met Sparky [Charles], that was the jacket that his whole family wore,” she said, pointing to a shearling jacket on display. “Hard to believe, but that’s all 50 years ago.”
It was a reunion for many in the Snoopy universe, including Glenn Mendelson and his family, who were in town from San Francisco. Mendelson is the son of producer Lee Mendelson, and he voiced Schroeder when he was just 10 years old.
“There’s always something that you can feel connected to when you look at them. When you watch all this stuff you say, ‘Yeah, I can identify with that,’” he said of Snoopy. “It’s the greatest thing to be associated with.”