Inside Travis Scott's Wild Audemars Piguet After Party

Welcome to NYLON’s Party Report Card, where we give you the Who, What, Where, Why, and When on this week’s hottest parties — plus all the gossip you missed. It’s the inside scoop you need to feel like you were on the invite list. Sorry in advance for the FOMO.

WHAT: Cactus Jack x Audemars Piguet After Party

WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 30

WHO: Travis Scott, Metro Boomin, Future, Mark Ronson, Orlando Bloom, Kevin Hart, Tay Keith, Lucky Daye, Cash B, KAWS, CEO of Audemars Piguet François-Henry Bennahmias

WHERE: Domino Sugar Factory, on the 14th floor

WHY: To celebrate the release of Audemars Piguet’s new limited edition Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar in collaboration with Cactus Jack

THE VIBE: If buildings were people then the freshly revived Domino Sugar Factory would undoubtedly be a 10. The dazzling giant of glass and brick is the shiniest new item on Williamsburg’s new Gold Coast, looming over the city’s east river development like a gleaming Fabergé egg. On Thursday night, it opened its alluring doors to play host to Audemars Piguet and Travis Scott’s hush-hush afterparty, despite still technically being closed due to heavy construction — a testament to the high levels of clout and power at play.

At 9 p.m., on the dot, hypebeasts, rap heads, art world fanatics, and members of the highest upper echelons of the music, art and fashion worlds converged at one of its gleaming entrances, which were heavily armed by a semi-circle of bouncers and well-dressed staff holding iPads. After a quick check through security and a reminder that vaping was not allowed, we were whisked into the elevators (manned by more staff in tan Audemars Piguet-branded jumpsuits) and zipped up to the 14th floor.

Immediately, I was hit by the sweet, unmistakable fragrance of people smoking weed. The entire wing of the 14th floor was transformed into what I’d imagine an Audemars Piguet-branded rave might look like, with everything bathed in slime green light. I began making my way through the crowd and towards one of its three massive open bars, serving free-flowing drinks like the Cactus Jack (a tequila-based cocktail), negronis, and champagne. On stage, the real Metro Boomin was already at the decks, exclusively playing his own or Scott’s songs. And casually standing next to him was Cactus Jack himself, dressed in a crisp white Audemars Piguet x Cactus Jack-branded lab coat and vibing out like he wasn’t the reason everyone was here.

For a watch release party there were no watches on display; instead, the back of the room held rows of lockers stuffed with the AP x Cactus Jack lab coats, though there were all emptied out by the time I arrived.

It was a stunning room for people watching: a bizarre cross section of influencers, nepo babies, industry elite, and Audemars Piguet’s own cache of wealthy clientele. There was Mark Ronson (in a pea coat) and Orlando Bloom (dressed in such a way I first mistook him for a skateboarder), casually chatting next to a huge Audemars Piguet-branded photo opp wall. There was Lucky Daye and Kevin Hart, who seem to have headed out right after his photo opp. Everyone was co-mingling: a young Gen Z videoing an approximately 70-year-old man who was dancing to “Sicko Mode.” There were couches, but no one was really sitting. No one wanted to miss the night’s big show: Scott’s performance.

Clearly in high spirits, Scott spent his entire time on stage either chilling next to Boomin at the decks, running into the crowd and dancing with random women, or hopping the safety rails into the crowd and leaving chaos in his wake. Eventually, it was time for the CEO of Audemars Piguet to make his remarks, and Scott dutifully climbed up onto one of the bars with a microphone to get everyone to quiet down, asking the bartenders to please “report to the front” for his “boy, François.” After some remarks from Bennahmias, who re-announced his retirement and closed his speech with a literal mic drop, Scott jumped into hits from Utopia and unreleased tracks, before being joined onstage by a slew of guests including Future, who came out to perform “Stick Talk,” and Sheck Wes. The lucky Scott fans who made it in formed a mosh pit right next to a crowd of suited executives.

Then, as abruptly as it all started, the stage emptied out. The DJ put on Tyla’s “Water.” Everyone beelined to the coat check even though it was only 11:50 p.m. and the event was supposed to go until 1 a.m. Guests left with their own AP x Cactus Jack lab coat and an Audemars Piguet embossed blue shopping bag filled with AP x Cactus Jack headphones, which they took into their Uber Blacks to be whisked back into NYC night.

BEST DRESSED: Future, in a slick black suit and diamond cross chain, topped with a luxuriously large fur coat

OVERHEARD: “If you’re a bartender put your middle finger up. This is François land.” — Travis Scott