TIFF After Dark by Paul Livingston
If you happened to see this month’s cover of Vogue, you would have noticed the style scene’s newest dutchess grinning front and centre. Yup, the girl with the chunky eyebrow, Cara Delevingne, made her TIFF/Toronto debut last night at Soho House, which had everyone drunk in love, or, well, at least drunk on champagne. And it was all so delicious.
But our fashion fairytale actually begins down the street, 1,600 feet up in the air. You did read that correctly. The stars weren’t just wearing Armani on the red carpet, they were celebrating him as well at The CN Tower. It was the big bash for the world premiere of Films of City Frames, Giorgio Armani’s “initiative to connect with the world of cinema through the rich fictional universe built around Frames of Life.”
And, in this case, style over substance wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. For one, the after-dark view of Toronto’s cityscape is so killer that’s it’s already worth the trip up the elevator alone, TIFF drama or not. Celebrity-spotting almost becomes secondary. Wait – is that Harrison Ford? interrupts a friend, crazy and curious all in one. Maybe. The mood lighting is too good in here.
But being at a party at the Tower is just like being on a boat – it’s one big circle that you just can’t escape. It’s like you’re running laps for sightings, each completed round brings you a new fresh face. Like The Good Wife’s Josh Charles, who almost made me want to hug him after this past season. As I turn the corner, Canadian R&B somebody Jully Black struts about trying to find a way down. And there’s Chloë Grace Moretz, looking fly as hell for a teenager – with money.
Image by George Pimentel
And then Mark Ronson, most notably known for helping make Amy Winehouse a thing, took his place at the booth to DJ an incredible set that included everything from Mariah & ODB to Biggie to a tribute to Winehouse herself. And it was the perfect way to dance on.
Now back to our regularly scheduled Cara. On the second floor of Soho House, it was all beauty, brought to you by TopShop. The supermodel-du-jour exchanged her green jewelled frock from the premiere of her debut role in the British psychological thriller Face of An Angel into a rock look that was all biker jackets and short skirts. And she was wearing her signature Mulberry quilted knapsack. Divine.
It was a modern media frenzy: dudes taking pictures of her posing with other sort-of hot girls, perhaps their girlfriends. At one point, Cara cheers like there’s been a goal because, presumably, it was the perfect picture. Even though there’s a no mobile photo thing at Soho, the rules were made to be broken last night. And all hell broke loose when Kate Beckinsale, Cara’s co-star, walked in like a queen. They quickly move to the corner of the car, neither with a drink in hand, BFF-ing the rest of the party away with a big sister-little sister vibe. It was adorable.
Although there were no skylines to see here, the sight of the night was definitely Cara’s new tattoo, as she discreetly took off her shoe to show it off. Yup, it was placed under her right foot and no, I couldn’t make out what it said.
But there was too much else to care about in the Soho: Salma Hayek, Ben Stiller, Amanda Seyfried, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, Rosario Dawson.
Yup, everyone was out last night. And the champagne kept flowing.
