Porter magazine’s third—and biggest—launch party of the season, in Paris this time, took place at the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild, the neo-Louis XVI hôtel particulier that was once the home of Adèle de Rothschild. And to underscore its hominess, Natalie Massenet and the Porter team brought in an interior decor complete with two Irish wolfhounds lazing in the foyer and posh wheels parked in the courtyard. As anyone tracking Instagram feeds will have seen by now, several bold-faced personalities were having a blast splaying themselves across the hoods of those cars, even before they lifted their first glass of champagne.
And the bubbly flowed amply as Massenet and Porter editor-in-chief Lucy Yeomans welcomed a host of friends and family—a fashion elite composed of designers, photographers, models, artists, actresses, and “everyone who inspires us,” as Massenet put it.
One talking point among those present, including Isabel Marant, Peter Dundas, Anthony Vaccarello, Edie Campbell, Izabel Goulart, Phillip Lim, Richard Chai, Olivier Theyskens, Charlotte Dellal, and Kristin Scott Thomas, was the new book, of course, but also how Massenet has already changed their lives with Net-a-Porter. “I have three kids. If I shop anywhere, it’s online,” said Dellal. Goulart concurred: “I just don’t have time for anything else.” Commented Yeomans: “Porter will always be two steps ahead, but it’s like a best friend. You don’t tell your best friend, ‘You have to be a goth virgin.’ You tell her what she needs to know.” Added Massenet, “And the day she wants to download her shopping in a microwave oven, we’ll be there. Thirty seconds—ding!”
“Lots of magazines out there talk to women who are using their husband’s credit cards,” observed Caroline de Maigret, who was featured in the first issue. “To me, Porter is talking to the ones who wield their own.” Speaking of owning, Hurricane RiRi touched down sometime after 1 a.m.—and judging by early morning’s un-Instagrammed faces, this party was one for the record books.
