Yeah Yeah Yeahs and J.Crew Kick Off NYFW, Indie Sleaze Style

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: J.Crew’s celebration of the Fall 2022 collection, designed by Brendon Babenzien.

WHEN: Wednesday, September 8

WHO: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Mia Moretti, Alison Roman, Ella Emhoff, Naomi Fry, Allison Roman

WHERE: Jeans, a soon-to-be opened hot spot by the owners of Superiority Burger and Williamsburg located in — get this — the old Butter location on Lafayette Street, followed by a dinner at Indochine. It really is 2005 all over again.

WHY: To celebrate Brandon Babenzien’s first collection at the helm of J.Crew

THE VIBE: Have you ever wondered what happens when you mix indie sleaze with prep? In Brendon Babenzien’s world, it’s a lot of damn fun. On a night packed with parties, no singular room was perhaps more packed than the basement of Jeans. There was no service and an open bar, which gave it the air of a college frat party back when you still needed to use T9 to text. Often when party invites come armed with a “special performance” tag, you can expect a quick 3 song set where the artist looks miserable and you can barely hear over the clinking of Champagne flutes.

That was not the case here. First off, not a single soul in the audience was having more fun than the one and only Karen O, clearly loving her return to the stage after the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ extended hiatus — but the crowd damn near tried. For seven (7!) songs, they screamed the lyrics back to the front woman with such vigor, it’s a wonder how anyone still has their voices today. Riding the post-show high, an even smaller crew headed across the street to Indochine for a private dinner where lychee martinis were as popular as ever. Like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, some things just never get old.

BEST DRESSED: Ava Von Osdol in a temperature-appropriate slip dress (it gets hot at the front of the pit)

OVERHEARD: “I had to choose between this and The Strokes tonight — can you imagine?”