Over the last 35 years, Indochine has seen many legends of fashion frequent its famed banquettes – Calvin Klein, Diane von Furstenberg, Thierry Mugler and every supermodel among them – on Friday night, it was up to the next generation of American fashion talent to make this icon of New York City nightlife its own.

For his first New York Fashion Week as CFDA Chairman, Tom Ford hosted a dinner at Indochine to celebrate international editors and rising talent – and to make sure they break the proverbial bread in an intimate, family-style setting.

“Somebody asked me why we were having this dinner,” Mr. Ford offered during his toast. “And it was very easy, simple, and straightforward. When you have dinner with someone – when you see them, talk to them, and socialize with them – you look at them in a very different way. So this is about bringing together really wonderful talent that New York has with journalists from all over the world.”

And that’s just what happened as designers such as Maryam Nassir Zadeh, LaQuan Smith, Kerby Jean-Raymond, Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta, and Beckett Fogg caught up with editors like Edward Enninful, Suzy Menkes, Jefferson Hack, Sophia Neophitou, Karla Martinez de Salas, and Godfrey Deeny.

“A lot of you rearranged your travel schedules to be here and a lot of the rest of all have shows,” Mr. Ford added. “Have a great fashion week and thank you all.”