Six Scents Parfum Launch at New Museum hosted by Gareth Pugh and Terence Koh exhibit/party at Richard Avedon's studio hosted by Olivier Sarkozy in New York. Text and photos by Glenn Belverio.

  
Above: This isn't what it looks like, trust me. Sophie Na takes a whiff of Preen's new scent while Gaby of Three As Four sticks to booze.

Dear Shaded Viewers,

Two big parties in one night, I can't remember the last time New York was this un-boring. Is this the last hurrah before the recession really hits hard in 2009 (as my friend Aric Chen and too many others predict) or will Obama fix the economy before all the champagne-and-caviar money dries up? I really don't want to think about it right now, non, non, non. The Marchesa Casati didn't stop partying when the Belle Epoque came to a screeching halt and World War I started, so why should we?

Last night was a lucky night for NYC's most discriminating noses. Seven New York premiered 6 new limited-edition unisex fragrances by Alexandre Herchovitch, Bernhard Willhelm, Cosmic Wonder Light Source, Gareth Pugh, Jeremy Scott and Preen by Thornton Bregazzi. The bash was held at the New Museum and Brazilian cocktails made from top-shelf cachaca were served (they got me in the mood for my upcoming trip to Fashion Week Rio). Kelly Cutrone/People's Revolution handled the PR and guest list. Upon arrival, I immediately picked up a bottle of Scent # 5, Jeremy Scott's "Illicit Sex," and sprayed some on my wrist. I was told by more than one person at the party that it smelled like "sweaty gay sex in a locker room--with a little bit of cinnamon sprinkled on the aftermath." It was then that I knew that I had finally discovered my perfect scent. (And by the way, it's the sort of scent that Tom Ford aspired to concoct--but failed to deliver--for his irritating brand.)

  
Above: Going up? We loved the chartreuse elevator at the New Museum. That's Felix Burrichter, editor-in-chief of Pin-Up, to the left.

  
Me and my glamorous date, Joselle Yokogawa, editor of the style blog Josie's House of Style. Btw, I love my new Pierre Hardy shoes. We rode up and down in the elevator several times, turning it into our very own VIP room.

 
The party's gracious, gorgeous host, London-based fashion designer Gareth Pugh who shows his collections in Paris. We love his outre, inflatable couture. I didn't get around to smelling his signature scent but something tells me it's a lot different than eau de musky balls.

  
Kelly Cutrone and her daughter, fashion authority Ava Cutrone. We let Ava do her little diva dance, where she ran in circles around Kelly and chanted "No, no! You can't take my picture!" until Kelly held her in place.The little lady doth protest too much!

 
Joselle with graphic designer and Hintmag blogger Anh Tuan Pham
 
  
Transsexual superstar Sophia Lamar

  
Sophia's shoes. "I made them myself. You have to be creative during a recession." When the Park Avenue broads go bust, I wonder if they'll be up for this fashion challenge?

  Joselle and perfume and wine blogger Christopher Voigt

    
"I don't think I like the Preen scent--it doesn't smell like jockstraps and cinnamon sticks." Love the CHANGE legend behind me--Obama is omnipresent!

  
Despite what appears to be four white bumps on a mirror, again, this is not what it looks like.

  
Ludwig Bemelman's Madeleine made a rare public appearance. 

  
Stylist Ting Ting Ling. We used to work together for WestEast magazine back in the early '00s.

  
Greg.K of MisShapes--yes, he's still around--supplied the background music. The other two MisShapes were suspiciously absent. Their loss!

  
Me and Kelly Cutrone. Love the pink jodhpurs. We are still planning our wedding and honey, it's gonna be fiercer than DVF's and Barry Diller's!

  
As I was leaving to go to the Terence Koh party, I ran into stylist Haidee Findlay-Levin in the elevator who was also en route to the much-talked-about soiree. She didn't want me to photograph her against the chartreuse wall because, "no one looks good next to that color." I think she looks just nifty in her Tom Scott string coat.

  
Cabbing over to the Koh bash with Lee Carter of Hintmag.com

 
Terence Koh greeted guests in the entrance hallway of Richard Avedon's former studio for an exhibit of his latest paintings. (Avedon lived and worked at this Upper East Side townhouse for three decades). Koh was nowhere to be seen during the party's peak, however. New Humility or Old Aloofness? PR poobah Nadine Johnson made sure we had enough A-list distractions to make up for Koh's disappearing act.

  
Was fun to run into my longtime friend and East Village neighbor Kembra Pfahler. We were the token poor people at the party.

  
Kembra brought one of the horsemen of the economic apocalypse on her back just to liven things up.

  

  
 
 Koh's new show, "Flowers for Baudelaire," was hung in Avedon's legendary cyclorama. I got chills imagining all the icons who had posed in this space over the past three decades. Koh told Aric Chen of Hintmag.com that he wanted to show here because, "It's all about how Richard Avedon would see himself in a mirror. What would he do? Each painting is the eye of Richard Avedon. Not the black iris, just the white parts of the eyeball." The pieces are covered in corn syrup and dusted with powdered sugar. So were the paintings dry? No, no they weren't. This led to a few fashion mishaps later but that was all part of the feckless fin de siecle fun.

  
Above: Haidee, Lee and Benjamin Liu

  
The Basquiat pretty much set the tone for the party: go-go '80s obliviousness despite the fact that the stock market is crashing every other day, banks are imploding, and the Earth is only minutes away from hurtling into the sun.

  
This woman was emblematic of the majority of the party's guests. Yes, she's wearing an anti-fur button but she informed me that her coat is real goat hair. Have you noticed the tip of her nose yet? Less than zero is not just her dress size.

  
I don't do coke so I hoovered up a few vials of cold pea soup instead

 
Coco (right) and another fur-clad party animal

So, as I was shoving my way toward the kitchen to intercept some grilled ham and cheese finger sandwiches, I ran into Coco who used to model for my friend Pierrot, a knitwear designer.

Me: Darling! I haven't see you since that disastrous day when I dragged Joyce Ma over to Pierrot's apartment to look at his collection. He had suggested she have lunch at Life Cafe and Ma walked in to his apartment and said, "That was the WORST lunch I've ever had in my life!" It all went downhill from there. How is Pierrot doing?

Coco: He's doing well, I talk to him every day. (Coco then whips out a Pierrot knit beret, plunks it on her head and models for me.)

Me (reaching over Coco's shoulder for a jumbo shrimp and avocado canape): I can't belieeeeeve I'm actually in Avedon's old townhouse! That man was a god. So who owns this place now?

Coco: You mean you don't know??

Me (chewing): Mrrmrrwmmrr......no, who?

Coco: Nicolas Sarkozy's half-brother, Olivier.

Me: What?!?! Nooooooo waaaaaay! Oh my god, that is major! Is Nicky here too?!

Coco: No, silly. And don't bother asking Olivier about him. He's not interested in politics at all.

Me: Omigod, did you hear that phone conversation Nicolas Sarkozy had with Sarah Palin? Talk about sexual tension! Sarah seemed really hot for a menage with Carla.

Coco: Are you serious? That was a HOAX. It wasn't really Sarkozy, it was a Canadian comedy duo who called her.

Me (hypnotically watching my champagne glass being slowly refilled): Hmm, what did you say, doll?

Coco: Do you want to meet Olivier? I think he's up on the roof deck.

Me (accidentally spilling champagne on someone's chinchilla shrug): Oops, sorry darling. Yeah, I'd love to meet him!

  
Above: Olivier Sarkozy. He's quite tall and rather striking. I didn't really talk to him because he was too busy complaining about the view from his roof deck. "I don't like the way the surrounding buildings look." Maybe he'll have them torn down? New York has too many buildings anyway.

  
Gareth Pugh and his very pretty friend were also hanging out on the roof.

  
Above: Maya Lin gave me exactly 1.5 seconds before turning on her heels and fleeing. (Not even giving me a chance to see what shoes she was wearing so I can't even make a label-whore-heels joke here).

  
When I saw that designer Kai Kuhne got Koh's aforementioned powdered sugar all over himself I was all, "Haha! Look at Kai, he has gook all over him. He's such a MESS!" Then when I got home, I noticed the white stuff was all over my jacket. Thank god it was only H&M and it didn't get on my new Pringle sweater--it won't wash off! But it's a Koh-Avedon souvenir, so it's fine.

  
Avedon's iconic Marilyn photo. Yeah, you can tell I had more than a few glasses of champagne at this point by my focusing skills.

  
The neon "i" piece just about sums it up, non?

  
After the party we dropped Haidee off in a cab and by coincidence she happens to live next door to Terence Koh's A.S.S. (Asian Something-Something?) Gallery on the Lower East Side. I loved the piece that was on display.

Thanks for reading.

Love,
Glenn Belverio