PHOTOS: Inside Alber Elbaz’ Surprise 50th Birthday Party

by Verena von Pfetten | 5:19 pm, June 13th, 2011

If there was ever a fashion party we’d have loved to attend, it was last night’s surprise fete for Alber Elbaz‘ 50th birthday. Held at New York City’s The Boathouse restaurant and co-hosted by Lanvin and Paper magazine, the soiree was attended by a tightly knit groups of 100 of fashion’s finest and was really truly a surprise. Luckily for you (and us!), we’ve got photos and the inside scoop.

The guest list included fashion luminaries such as Linda Fargo and our personal fave Iris Apfel, editors like Sally Singer, Glenda Bailey, Joanna Coles, Joe Zee, and Hamish Bowles, and of course our sometime contributor Mary Alice Stephenson, who told us that Elbaz was “completely shocked and surprised” when he arrived and that, in true Lanvin form, the party was a straight up “color-fest.” (Check out Fargo’s necklace-shirt-lipstick color combo in the final image below. It’s to die for.)

As for the food, guests noshed on Elbaz’ favorite snack, crab cakes (yum!), and danced their faces off to Lady Rizo’s (who Stephenson describes as “the new Dita”) rendition of Cee-Loo’s “Fuck You.” And in case you wanted proof that this really was a friends-and-family affair, Ann Christensen brought her daughter and Anne Slowey brought her new baby. Adorable.