What would bring many of the city’s most well-heeled creatives to a cemetery downtown in the middle of the day? Thankfully, there was no tearful reason for this chic mid-June gathering—quite the contrary, in fact. On Wednesday afternoon, multi-hyphenates Charlotte Groeneveld, Colby Mugrabi, Rebekah McCabe, CeCe Barfield Thompson, Isabel Wilkinson, Nell Diamond, and Michelle Hellman got the gang together in the serene surroundings of the New York Marble Cemetery to raise a glass to their friend Sarah Hoover and the arrival of the summer season.
The landmarked location on East 3rd Street and 2nd Avenue was given a dreamy new lease of life for the occasion, with a divine ‘sprezzatura’ grazing table by Daniel Emilio of Alimentari Flaneur anchoring the celebration. “Sprezzatura means a studied carelessness—it’s like a casual, elegant effortlessness, which is very in keeping with Sarah and Tom’s vibe,” Emilio said of writer, historian, and art world fixture Hoover and her husband, the contemporary artist Tom Sachs.
Also in keeping with the couple’s honed taste, Emilio had assembled “the best of the most simple things” for people’s perusal as they caught up and compared social calendars—plump Medjool dates, seemingly the most deluxe strawberries to be found on the island of Manhattan, grilled peaches drizzled with truffle honey, sticky licorice, and fried chicken on a silver platter. “It’s like a still life…food should seduce you,” he added of his edible work of art.
The concept of sprezzatura seeped into everything about the garden festa, no matter where you looked. Emilio’s ever-so photographable XL snack plate was accentuated even more by tableware by PORTA, the popular Brooklyn treasure trove for dinnerware, linens, and art. Objects from the Studio Giancarlo Valle-designed shop were also seen dotted around picnic benches and at the bar; where bottles of bubbly by Ruinart were frequently being popped open by cute waiters in striped aprons.
Arguably the best-dressed amongst the crowd, though there was stiff competition thanks to no shortage of Prada, prints, and punchy colors, was Winifred ‘Fred’ Sachs; Hoover and Sachs’ newborn daughter. A pink-and-white Chanel-clad Hoover, who’s already mom to son Guy, explained that now both of her kids have names referencing their grandpas.
In makeshift lounging areas under parasols and transformed by flowers by Lady J Creative, guests including Christy Turlington, Leigh Lezark, Kate Young, Gray Sorrenti, Christie Tyler, Maria Duenas Jacobs, Indre Rockefeller, Derek Blasberg, Coco Baudelle, Noor Tagouri, Paul Arnhold, Rachelle Hruska MacPherson, Vanessa Traina, Chloe Malle, Cynthia Rowley, Rickie de Sole, Tina Leung, Christina Grasso, Brett Heyman, Jane Keltner de Valle, Isabella Boylston, Hunter Abrams, and many, many more, marveled at the beauty of the historic cemetery while taking a reprieve from the humidity of the city. Nearby, shaded in her little white bonnet and being passed around to greet her very stylish ‘aunties’ and ‘uncles,’ future fashion fixture Fred approved.
