If it were up to Fleur Du Mal designer Jennifer Zuccarini, last night’s festivities might have taken the form of an unexpected block party. Instead, for obvious precautionary reasons, Zuccarini, co-host Langley Fox, and an intimate lot of friends of the lingerie brand spent the evening blissfully tucked away under the iridescent poolside patio lighting of West Hollywood’s new restaurant Issima for a belated celebration of the brand’s first West Coast store opening.
After moments mingling over cocktails, guests, including Gillian Jacobs, Dree Hemingway, Grace Johnson, Mimi Cuttrell, and Heidi Bivens were met at their tables with a candle-lit tablescape bearing gifts. Thoughtfully placed among the marble-backdropped arrangement were lace eye masks, a variation of silk thong and bikini style underwear (discreetly packaged in tiny boxes labeled “Fleur Du Mal essentiels”), and a first look at the brand’s handheld Never Have I Ever game, which was enough to keep a few attendees hooked until closing time. The display rang true to Zuccarini’s pursuit of shifting the way women approach lingerie and the idea of sexy, an apt way to solidify the brand’s new flagship location in the heart of the free-spirited city.
“I like having a cultural hub,” Zuccarini tells Vogue on why she set up shop right off of Melrose Avenue after a three-year hunt for a new location to complement the New York store. It’s a welcomed celebration of femininity alongside streetwear boutiques such as Palace, or less sensual ready-to-wear such as Ganni. “I always think about how we’re making a woman feel. I design things that give you a confidence boost, even if no one else is around.” The proof of a mission well executed is in Gillian Jacobs’s takeaway observation of the night: That attendees were giddy and felt good in the brand’s signature silks and bias cuts. And it didn’t take a block party to have a grand time.
