A room fashioned after a Viennese turn-of-the-century café might seem an unlikely place to commemorate a friendship forged via Instagram.
But for Aerin Lauder, who hosted Cordelia de Castellane at the Neue Galerie Monday night for a dinner celebrating their two flower-themed tomes — “Living With Flowers” by Lauder and “Flower Couture: From My Garden to My House” by de Castellane, both published by Rizzoli — the museum cofounded by her father Ronald S. Lauder was a natural one.
“She offered to do something for me in Paris, and I said I would love to reciprocate with an event in New York,” Aerin Lauder said. Of first meeting de Castellane, she said, “I was following her on Instagram, which is very funny, and I fell in love with her sensibility. I loved how she captured flowers, life, living and entertaining, and at one point, asked if she could ship me a wreath to the U.S.”
In addition to the two authors, attendees included Martha Stewart, Carolyn Murphy, Tory Burch, Pierre-Yves Roussel, as well as the Estée Lauder Cos.’ Stéphane de La Faverie and Jane Hertzmark Hudis, Jo Carole Lauder, Wes Gordon, Paul Arnhold and more.
For de Castellane, who was only in New York for a few days, it was a moment of camaraderie. “I call Aerin my flower friend,” she said. “We had our book about flowers coming out at Rizzoli in the same time, and we thought we could answer each other in two different styles. They are similar books, but also very different.”
With a good amount to cram into during her trip to New York, from visiting the Frick to wandering through blooms in Central Park, de Castellane said, “I love New York at this moment of the year. I did a collection at Baby Dior where I had done prints of New York and tulips on dresses last year.”
Indeed, the mood was just as rosy among guests. “All flowers are important. They are part of my landscape, I live on a farm and I’ve planted probably millions of flowers,” Stewart said. “They’re part of the landscape, they’re part of the home, they’re part of gifts. And Aerin has captured that.”
Lauder has also built the entirety of fragrances for her namesake brand, Aerin, around floral olfactive families. “Aerin has taught me a lot in regard to the power of flowers and what it means to have that personal touch in your home,” said Hudis, the Estée Lauder Cos.’s executive vice president and chief brand officer. “I think flowers and beauty are intertwined. And Aerin has always believed that beauty in the home, beauty in general, is all about beautiful flowers.”
To that end, after soup and schnitzel in the museum’s Café Sabarsky, guests left with miniature potted geraniums — a nod to Aerin’s mother, Jo Carole Lauder’s preferred party favor.
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