How to throw the perfect cocktail party? Look no further than Cynthia Rowley. On Monday, the CFDA member opened the door to the cool West Village townhouse she calls home to celebrate her Founder’s Award in honor of Eleanor Lambert at next week’s CFDA Fashion Awards. On hand were friends like Trey Laird, Sharon Coplan Hurowitz, Fred Castleberry, Tina Leung and Ezra J. William; family, as in daughters Kit Keenan and Gigi Powers, and designers such as Aurora James and Jeffrey Banks. There were also some Friends of the CFDA, including Dr. Macrene Alexiades, Alina Cho, James Frazier, Leila Larijani, Yao King, Raul Penaranda, Tara Rudes Dann, and Renna Brown-Taher.
In a room featuring the decorative piano filled with ice-cubes and topped with wine and liquor bottles, exquisite art, and views to the outdoor pool – all to live drumming – Rowley welcomed guests, including her old chum Alan Cumming, who raised a toast to the designer – and didn’t miss a chance for a little roast.
“She is very aligned with some of the greatest,” Cumming offered. “Cynthia could easily have said, ‘I think it’s the responsibility of a designer to try to break rules and barriers.’ But that was Gianni Versace. She could easily have said, ‘I think there is beauty in everything. What normal people perceive as ugly, I can usually see something of beauty in it.’ But that was Alexander McQueen…Or how about, ‘be thankful for all successes, lose your ego, take risks, fail fast, and if you don’t absolutely love what you do, run. And that actually was Cynthia Rowley.”
CFDA President and CEO Steven Kolb recalled his first interaction with Rowley three decades ago in Miami, years before he started at the CFDA.
“I was working at DIFFA at the time, and there was a charity fundraiser in Miami, and you had a men’s collection then,” Kolb recalled. “And for some reason, I ended up one of your models. It was the first and only time that I was on a runway, but at least I can say I was a model. You had made this beautiful white shirt that was hand-painted with a flower on it, and that was the most treasured shirt that I had forever and wish I still had. For me, it represented such joy. How you create as a designer is so joyful.”
As for Rowley, she expressed her gratitude for the moment with that signature joy: “I want to thank the CFDA, and I want to thank the Friends of the CFDA, and everyone for coming tonight. Thank you to my design team that is here among us… and my two roommates, Kit and Gigi, who were kind enough to let me take over the house tonight.”
Congratulations on your well-deserved award, Cynthia!
