Marc Jacobs Brings Crowd to Bergdorf Goodman After Dark

“We’re going to start our journey to happiness.”

Drag queen Scarlet Envy, dressed in a glittering pink gown, sauntered into the handbag section of Bergdorf Goodman, where she found an intimate crowd sipping water and Champagne shortly after the store closed for the evening. These were the chosen VIP few invited to experience Bergdorf Goodman After Dark, in celebration of Marc Jacobs’ partnership with the retailer.

“Like you, I thought that tonight would be an after-hour shopping spree, but that’s not the kind of happiness we’re looking for, OK?” Envy said. “Over the past two years, we’ve all had a lot of time to reflect on what love and happiness means to us. Now for me, happiness, it’s in the word happiness — it’s penis, but I also love hairspray, I love sequins as well, and we’re going to experience other ways to find happiness tonight.”

With mini flashlights in hand, the crowd followed Envy up the escalator to the shoe department — “where the only reason you’ll be kicked out is for wearing the wrong shoes,” quipped Envy — and took a plush seat for a short performance by drag queen West Dakota. Afterward, it was up the escalator again, this time to the fourth floor for a few pre-dinner experiential curiosities. There was a tarot card reader, a woman seated amongst crystals strumming singing bowls and a monkey psychic set against a glittering backdrop — a prime photo opportunity for the likes of Chloë Sevigny, Kim Petras, Anna Sui, Debi Mazar, Amelia Gray Hamlin, Helena Christensen, Char Defrancesco and Ella Emhoff.

Upstairs at dinner, the designer elaborated on the reading. “I sat down with Angel, this wonderful card reader, and she told me a bunch of stuff, and we’ll see how much of that I can retain,” the designer said. “There was something about Saturn and how I just needed to accept some of the knocks — this year, I’ve had some difficulties, some obstacles, but I have to be mature and I have to accept them rather than try to hide them or be immature about them.”

Each guest had received a tarot card in an envelope upon arrival, and Jacobs pulled his own out of his clutch — the King of Pentacles, which represents the culmination of hard work and material success.

As for the whimsical nature of the evening, Jacobs gave all credit to Bergdorf. “You put yourself in the hands of Bergdorf Goodman and you’re going to be pleasantly surprised,” he said. “I was basically told to show up tonight at 8, and that’s what I did.”