Last night designer Jonathan Simkhai and Fai Khadra hosted an intimate dinner in Los Angeles to celebrate the launch of Simkhai men’s and women’s Pre-Spring 25 collections.
The mood was already festive thanks to a billboard that was sprinkling artificial snow over Sunset Boulevard as guests including Mindy Kaling, Erika Jayne, Rafferty Law, Natalia Bonifacci, Stephanie Suganami, Zane Phillips, and styling duo Alexandra and Mackenzie Grandquist gathered at The Duke Room–a new private space at The Sunset Tower named for former resident John Wayne.
For his newest offering, Simkhai had drawn inspiration from “Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction,” a LACMA exhibition examining how abstract art intersects with woven textiles, and Law, Phillips, and Khadra all wore looks from the artful collection, which launched today.
The crowd caught up over chilled Lalo tequila shots, served up via an ice luge in the shape of a Simkhai ’S’, and caviar and potato chips before moving into the dining room, which had been completely transformed by Khadra with custom-painted wooden panels, a blue acrylic table and striking candle display.
“The Sunset Tower Hotel is such an iconic hotel and this is the first time that this room has ever been used for a private event,” said Khadra, who had also tapped DJ KittySayWord to provide the soundtrack to the evening. “I wanted to design something authentic to Simkhai and create a unique, memorable experience for our friends.”
As the party sat down to a three-course meal of a local market greens salad, grilled salmon, steak frites, and molten chocolate cake, Simkhai raised a toast to his L.A. community and thanked Khadra for creating the beautiful setting. “It’s special moments like this when we come together to celebrate life and love and fashion that means so much.”