The Serpentine Gallery’s annual to-do is London’s party of the year. Last night’s crowd was as glittery as ever: Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom, Dakota Johnson, Mark Ruffalo, Lily Allen, and Bryan Ferry all turned up. Brendan Mullane, creative director of Brioni, who hosted the event alongside Marina Abramovic, André Balazs, and François-Henri Pinault, among others, told Style.com that partnering with the iconic London gallery was an organic process: “Brioni has deep cultural links instilled in its heritage—performance, art, and craftsmanship are at our core, so for us, getting involved seemed like a natural thing to do. When the opportunity presented itself, we jumped at the chance.”
This year’s pavilion, a giant cylindrical fiberglass structure designed by the Chilean architect Smiljan Radic, had partygoers wondering what it was. A pod? A helmet? A spaceship? A half-eaten doughnut? The guesses got more interesting as the evening progressed. Another attraction was the “Laboratory of Sound”—an “intelligent glass” box created by The Vinyl Factory that the DJs could manipulate to go completely dark. If Bradley Cooper and Suki Waterhouse were looking to get in some private time, that feature would have come in handy.
It was also fashion’s night out: Cara Delevingne, Riccardo Tisci,Prabal Gurung, Christopher Kane, Natalie Massenet, and many more rushed to the stage when a distinctive hat was spotted. Let’s just say there were some very happy Pharrell Williams fans in the crowd.Matthew Williamson summed up the evening best: “I knew tonight was going to be fun, I just didn’t think it was going to be this much fun.”
