Anne Fontaine: You Are Most Welcome On Madison Avenue

When you meet the lovely and sophisticated designer, Anne Fontaine, you feel charmed by her presence. She personifies a graceful elegance and there is a resounding cleverness about her. It is of no surprise that she is a successful designer that has inspired many with her fashions – most notably, the ‘white shirt’. Anne has done for the white shirt what Gucci has done for the little black dress. So when Anne launched her flagship store on 62nd and Madison last night, the crème de la crème of Manhattan’s fashion guard swooned to take it all in.

The store, which really could be a gallery, embodies the same charm and grace that Anne herself has. I stepped out of the cab with my fabulous date Lilly Schonwald and passed my cab onto Betsey Johnson who was waiting as we exited. That’s when you know it’s going to be a good event!

I was greeted by the stunner that is Laird Roach at the entrance and whisked into the store. My first impressions of the boutique are that it is bright, modern, with lots of white accents (like the hanging beads that create smaller more intimate atmospheres) and the whole boutique possesses an amazing old world charm. The one thing I loved, and it was standard throughout the boutique, are little displays of past designs of detailed collars on white shirts.

Truly art inspiring. I slipped into the back “black room” which epitomizes a display of haute couture that one would expect to find in the Met. Except these are signature Anne Fontaine designs that would make any woman into a Bastian of fashion. The downstairs has these two amazing VIP areas where clients can relax, enjoy and have a personalized shopping experience. It is clear that no details were left neglected in the boutique’s design by world renowned architect Andree Putman.

If the saying holds true that you are only as good as the company you keep, Anne receives good marks by society’s standards. Last night she was joined by Betsey Johnson, Christina Ramirez, Matthew Bauer, Summer Ray, Jennifer Meyers, Kelly Hoffman, Anisha Lakhani, Christina Ramirez, Laird Roach, Mark Gilbertson, Ari Zlotkin, Dori Cooperman, Casey Johnson, Ed Harrison, Susan Harrison, Victoria Kirby, Lilly Schonwald, Vaughn Dorrian, Melissa Berkelhammer, Carina Crain, Genevieve Bahrenburg, Philip Gaupher and Dennis Wong. Guests enjoyed fabulous cocktails, champagne and some of the best passed hours d’ouvres I’ve had in awhile (mini Grilled Cheese, Lobster mini tacos, cream puffs and the list goes on).