Chocolate, Cocktails, And Caviar Pizza: Inside Louis Vuitton’s Grand Manhattan Store Unveiling

“She’s here!!!!” There were some 1,800 fashionable attendees at Thursday evening’s debut of the Louis Vuitton mecca on East 57th Street, but everyone only had eyes for one. At about 8.30 p.m., the crowd hobnobbing around the elegant fourth-floor Le Cafe over caviar pizza parted like the red sea for a nonchalant Martha Stewart to breeze right through.

Stewart was greeted with open arms by restaurateur Stephen Starr, who is helming the Stateside debut of Le Cafe Louis Vuitton. The tastemaker of all tastemakers was whisked straight into his kitchen and given a sense of what was on the menu from the man who brought us Buddakan and Pastis. A decadent dessert—whipped up with the maison’s own chocolat; more on that later—received a particular nod of approval and one of Stewart’s iconic winks.

While the scale of the five-story space feels like you’ve left the city, as does the influx of the Parisian-feeling Le Chocolat Maxime Frederic counter and the aforementioned library-esque café hangout, homages to New York were everywhere you looked during the VIP opening bash. A cartoonist from The New Yorker was on hand for customized doodles, eager shoppers perused a dedicated capsule collection featuring red apple motifs, and there were plenty of mini cheesecakes, “chic” hot dogs, LV-branded takes on deli sandwiches, and classic cocktails inspired by Manhattan to go around.

Those details weren’t lost on New York native Jennifer Connelly. The actress is still beaming from running her first New York City marathon for charity earlier this month. “It was an extraordinary experience,” she told Vogue of the milestone achievement. “The spirit and the camaraderie were so special, and I saw everyone out cheering. I came straight home for an ice bath afterward. I’m trying to get my son to do it with me next time!” 

Seeing as they were all on home turf instead of their regular Paris Fashion Week front-row catchups, Connelly was busy chatting with fellow house ambassadors Bradley Cooper and Ana de Armas on the fifth floor of the space. The serene top level displays some of the most magnificent dresses designed by Nicolas Ghesquière. Like the bordeaux-hued leather number that Zendaya just wore to her beau Tom Holland’s BERO event, which was hanging up right beside the trio, and a custom look recently worn by Cynthia Erivo. Potentially the busiest woman in showbiz until Wicked hits theaters, the British star had popped by the boutique earlier on Thursday evening, so she could see it before heading to the Manhattan premiere of the movie a few blocks over at MoMA.

As the space swirled with models, executives, publicists and managers clad in black, and everyone who could manage to get their name on the VIP invite list, Mike D. of the Beastie Boys took to the DJ decks. Actresses of the moment Eve Hewson, Ella Hunt, and Juliana Canfield swapped notes on their looks while newly-engaged Nina Dobrev could be seen posing up a storm in a phone booth activation.

Speaking of photo backdrops, nostalgia-led fashion fans went nuts for the OMA Architects-designed activation areas on each floor, which throw it back to beloved collaborations with Stephen Sprouse, Takashi Murakami, Supreme, Yayoi Kusama, and Richard Prince. Expect to see a lot of these on your own Instagram feed, once the store officially opens today.