NEW YORK — “The wonderful thing about having your own party is you can do whatever you want,” blared Arnold Scaasi into a microphone from the top of the staircase overlooking the courtyard of his Beekman Place apartment building.
And boy, did he ever at Wednesday night’s Council of Fashion Designers of America soiree. During one of several impromptu announcements, Scaasi wasn’t above a shameless plug or two. “Anyone who wants to do licensing for Scaasi, speak up,” he said. “This party was not for nothing.”
It was intended for the CFDA’s 18 new members, though they got little air time. The designers did get to chat with such guests as Francisco Costa, Nicole Miller, Peter Som, Thom Browne, Gilles Mendel, Yeohlee Teng, Steven Kolb, Carmen Marc Valvo and other partygoers.
As the only CFDA founding member in attendance, Scaasi welcomed the gang and added “who knew the 282 that belong were all going to show up?” That was an overstatement, but when the RSVPs were tallied, the soiree had to be held outside instead of in Scaasi’s art-adorned apartment, much to the revelers’ disappointment.
Upstairs at a photo op before the party got under way, Tina Lutz, Marcia Patmos, Esteban Cortazar and the rest of the rookies stole a glimpse of Scaasi’s $10 million pad, which is on the block.
“If I could move it to Alabama, I’d definitely move in,” said Project Alabama’s Natalie Chanin.
The rest outside were left to wonder. “I just want to go up and see the apartment,” Rafe Totengco whispered to a friend.
Mary McFadden made heads turn when she arrived with organist-runway model Cameron Carpenter. The unlikely duo prompted Duckie Brown’s Steven Cox to gasp, “I love Mary McFadden. Is that her boyfriend? They kind of look similar.”
Scaasi, meanwhile, still had plenty to say and managed to strike a serious note, recalling how he had to ask executives at Henri Bendel for an advance when he was getting started in 1956.
“There was no such thing as chargebacks,” he said. “I don’t suggest you ask Saks Fifth Avenue to pay the bills you will have. But have courage. Most of all you have to have courage with what you do.”