After Hermès’s Williamsburg Fashion Show, a Star-Studded Cocktail Party

On Thursday evening, after New York Fashion Week officially wrapped up, Hermès had something else in store for fashion insiders: a runway show and afterparty in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

The brand was in town to celebrate its Men's Winter 2023 collectsion, which first debuted in Paris during the menswear shows earlier this year and is in stores now. But this model lineup was decidedly more starry. Taylor Fritz, the world's top-ranked American tennis player (and fresh off a career-best quarterfinal run at the US Open), made his runway debut here alongside other notables like filmmaker Taika Waititi, NY Giants running back Saquon Barkley, interior designer Andre Mellone, Beef actor Young Mazino, BMX athlete Nigel Sylvester, and celebrity chef Roze Traore (who recently opened the La Fourchette de Rōze hotel in Côte d’Ivoire).

In their elegant leather jackets and cozy turtlenecks, the VIPs and models walked along the perimeter of the top floor of the newly renovated Domino Sugar Refinery as the sunset glow peered in through the Manhattan skyline (the evening was aptly titled "Walking On Air"). It was the first event to take place at the former sugar factory, and brand executives like CEO Axel Dumas and Hermès USA president Diane Mahady joined longtime men's artistic director Véronique Nichanian for the proceedings.

A big surprise in the front row was Matt Damon; the last time he attended a major fashion show was for Naeem Khan ten years ago with his wife Luciana Bozán, whom he brought again for Hermés. His fellow Oscar-winner Casey Affleck was also in tow, as was musician French Montana and actors Natasha Lyonne, Evan Mock, Tiffany Haddish, and The Summer I Turned Pretty star Christopher Briney.

Afterward, guests were taken up to Skylight at The Refinery, the glass-enclosed dome of the top floor for cocktails and bites (and those stunning city views). Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth performed her rock-inflected hits on stage for the crowd as the late-night hours went on. It was the latest Hérmes happening to take place in Williamsburg—the brand staged a memorable fitness activation there last year. A few blocks away, Hermès is constructing a large permanent Williamsburg store, just a few feet away from its temporary home on North 6th Street.