Daily Front Row

2012 January 27

Target, Jason, and the "Wu Girls" Hit Skylight Soho

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Blake Lively, Jason Wu, Chloe Moretz
Patrick McMullan View Gallery

(NEW YORK) A rainy nook of nowhere-man’s land on Hudson Street—aka Skylight Soho—morphed into a charming Parisian playland for the launch of Jason Wu for Target last night. Laduree macarons, dished up for immediate nibbling and beautifully boxed as a takeaway treat? Check. Trompe-l'œil shutters, windows, and the ilk in the vein of Madeline scrawled on the walls? Of course! A high-energy performance Yelle, by France's fave "melancholic dance music" outfit? Done and done. 

Wu rolled in for the festivities, slightly wide-eyed and all smiling chatter, just moments before a clutch of Wu devotees arrived. “Jamie King flew in just for me, and Blake [Lively] and Chloe [Moretz] are here. What could be better?!” said the designer before scampering off for a chummy round of chats and hugs with all his fair-haired faves.  

“I've been up since 4 a.m. for filming, I don’t even know how I made it here!” exclaimed Lively to Moretz as the duo—both donning cream-and-noir combos from Wu—grabbed each others’ hands (with a few handlers, Moretz’s super-sweet mom, and other assorted posse members) and formed a disjointed conga line from the carpet to the pastel oasis of macarons in the next room.

The key Wu girl qualifier, in case you were wondering (since your dear Daily certainly was!): confidence. “It’s about knowing who you are!” Wu said. Turns out he knows himself pretty well as a designer, at least according to Moretz. “He knows what he wants and he knows how to get it!” said the starlet, sporting an artfully mussed take on those paired-and-pinned plaits from the collection’s lookbook, plus the evening’s models and servers. King was happy to weigh in on the Wu factor as well: “The secret is in understanding Jason’s playfulness, joy, enthusiasm, and classicism.”

Also in attendance: Emmy Rossum, Gail Simmons, Kelly Bensimon, VS model—and Tyson Beckford’s beau—Shanina Shaik, plus Harley Viera-Newton and Mia Moretti. As for the latter two, there was nary a DJ tiff between the fashion crowd spinning faves, to The Daily’s knowledge. Why bother, when there are oysters on the half-shell, teeny-tiny Croque Monsieurs, smidges of foie gras, lobster salad nibbles, and too many more tasty tidbits to remember (no, seriously, cheris…).

The models—preening in faux French windows for the entirety of the night—started tippling on vino and shimmying a bit as the clock struck 10. As for the afterparty? Count Wu out. “I have to go to bed and then wake up at 7—I had a really busy day, since we’re doing fittings,” said Wu sheepishly. “I know, that sounds so boring!”

Around two hours into the event, the hardcore shoppers (you know who you are, editrices!) had done their affordably-priced damage, braving cashier lines at least 50 rabid Wu fans deep in the process, before dashing out after a few air kisses and the lone Ladurée to munch on. For shame, chicettes! That’s when the baby-sized glasses of bubbly avec caviar came out to play, and the procrastinatory shoppers hit the Wu wares sans lines. Yelle, decked in fringed black leather, played to a thinned-out crowd as Technicolor-hued sugared apricots and petite pies straight out of Willy Wonka's factory made the rounds. By 10:30, the St. Germain and blood orange juice had run dry, but the deceptively strong grapefruit and vodka concoctions kept flowing. A girly alcohol jacket? The perfect accoutrement for the heeled and umbrella-less!
ALEXANDRA ILYASHOV