Battle of the Fashion Week Parties: Calvin Klein vs. Fendi

Raf Simons undeniably owned this season’s New York Fashion Week, and while the industry was certainly ready to return the love to the Belgian designer, it still didn’t let him get away with having all the fun. Alexander Wang did his best to throw an inventive “no after party,” whereas Fendi, even though its runway show was over a week off, assembled models like Joan Smalls at a much more convenient location than 146th Street, and on Friday night, the Italian brand went head-to-head with Simons’ own grand bash. See how the two parties stacked up, here.

When: Calvin Klein: The party started at 10 p.m., exactly 12 hours after the start of that morning’s runway show.

Fendi: By 9 p.m., the door was mobbed, the line to get in snaking around the block.

Where: Calvin Klein: The dark of the Calvin Klein offices in Midtown, which also served as the venue for the show that morning—meaning it was still decked out with the frayed homage to Americana installed by Raf’s longtime friend, the artist Sterling Ruby.

Fendi: An undisclosed location in lower Manhattan, eventually revealed as the third floor of the Fulton Market at the South Street Seaport. (Jumbotrons illuminated with the words “F Is For” lit the way for wandering partygoers.)

Who: Calvin Klein: Raf Simons, aka the reigning king of Fall 2017, plus his longtime collaborators and newfound admirers, like creative director designer Pieter Mulier, the artist Sterling Ruby, the model Hanne Gaby Odiele and her husband John Swiatek, the photographer Willy Vanderperre, and the actors Kate Bosworth and Ashton Sanders. (Not to mention the hordes that waited for up to an hour outside in the cold.)

Fendi: Teyana Taylor, with newly rust-orange hair, supermodels like Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid, Joan Smalls, and Winnie Harlow, and a cadre of fashion scions: Presley Gerber, son of Cindy Crawford, and his crew, Roberto Rossellini, son of Isabella, Sofia Richie, sister of Nicole and daughter of Lionel, and Alexandra Richards, daughter of Keith. Then, like Calvin, there were the requisite mobs of partygoers waiting in the queue in hopes of being granted entry. (Unlikely.)

Soundtrack: Calvin Klein: DJ sets from Richie Hawtin, Nina Kraviz, and the Black Madonna.

Fendi: Sets by a veritable who’s-who of music: Abra, Migos, Metro Boomin, Lil Uzi Vert, and 21 Savage, among others.

Statement Accessory: Calvin Klein: The white bandanas Calvin Klein sent out ahead of time to showgoers looking to rep “unity, inclusion, hope, and acceptance,” another campaign for solidarity this fashion week, started by Business of Fashion. Oh, and Raf’s ever-present champagne flute.

Fendi: A sultry pout. If you didn’t act like one of the cool kids, you weren’t getting in.

The Party Crashers: Calvin Klein: Assorted Raf stans, who mostly were left outside on the pavement.

Fendi: The club kids crowd. As part of the Boiler Room series, the party was also live-streamed, so even if you didn’t have any luck gate-crashing, there were still other means.

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