After a cold and dreary week in Paris, the sun finally broke through on Saturday morning, just in time for the tail end of Paris Fashion Week.
The timing was also perfect for the Business of Fashion’s annual gala, the BofF 500, hosted by the publication on Saturday evening at the Shangri-La Paris, a luxury hotel in the 16th arrondissement, replete with an outdoor red carpet. Parisian fans of fashion and celebrity lined the streets outside the hotel, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars: Attendees included Kylie Jenner, Victoria Beckham, Jared Leto and the French singer Yseult, among others.
Inside, guests ascended a grand spiral staircase into a series of ornate ballrooms that looked as if they had been designed by Marie Antoinette herself. (The hotel, built in 1896, was originally the mansion of Roland Bonaparte — prince, geographer and, yes, a descendant of the French emperor Napoleon — and retains all of its original splendor.)
Guests grazed on an over-the-top spread of appetizers on a long dining table adorned with dripping bouquets of grapes, flickering candles and exotic flower arrangements. But the main attraction was the bars — serving cocktails, wine and champagne — which remained mobbed at all hours of the evening.
The annual gala celebrates Business of Fashion’s index of 500 influential designers, celebrities, media figures and leaders in the fashion industry. (Staff members of The New York Times are included on the list.)
The event is regularly held during Paris Fashion Week, and, after a few muted years because of the pandemic, was back in full swing this season, capping a series of parties held around the city. Earlier in the week, guests sipped cocktails at Beyoncé’s speakeasy pop-up for her whiskey brand, SirDavis, at the Hôtel Plaza Athénée and danced the night away at Le Grand Bal, hosted by Paris Society at the Parisian restaurant and event venue Maxim’s.
But the Business of Fashion gala was one the week’s starriest parties.
“People get to meet the people they’ve admired from afar, people get to meet people they don’t know, people get to reconnect with old friends they haven’t seen,” said Imran Amed, the founder and chief executive of Business of Fashion. “It’s a little bit like a high school reunion.”
This year’s gala class added the musicians Charli XCX, Anitta and Tyla, as well as the actors Greta Lee and Ayo Edebiri.
Both Ms. Lee and Ms. Edebiri are Loewe ambassadors, and attended the gala wearing designs straight from the Spanish house’s most recent spring 2025 collection, which went down the runway just the day before. (Jonathan Anderson, the creative director of the label, “actually chose these for them,” said their stylist, Danielle Goldberg, who was also added to the list.)
“It’s such a special collection, so for us to wear it tonight is really meaningful,” Ms. Lee said.
“It’s like wearing art,” Ms. Edebiri said, before sharing the celebrity she was most excited to try to talk to at the party: Nara Smith, the model and lifestyle influencer.
Ms. Smith attended the party with her husband, the model Lucky Blue Smith, who admitted he had taken “two or three naps today” after weeks of traveling in order to have the stamina to attend the late-night fete.
When asked about their favorite part of visiting Paris for fashion week, many of the guests defaulted to the food: Ms. Smith said she had been enjoying the croissants, while for Ms. Lee, it was the bread and butter.
“Escargot — some people think it’s overrated, I do not,” said Shay Mitchell, the actress and founder of Beis Travel. “It’s my thing — a glass of champagne and escargot.”
A few hours into the event, Mr. Amed took the stage to speak to the packed room before introducing the musical act, the Nigerian singer Wizkid.
Nearby, guests swarmed Kylie Jenner for selfies before she was whisked away into a private backroom, not to be seen again. The model and musician Gabbriette stopped in front of a wall-length gold mirror to examine her reflection and then handed passers-by her phone, asking them to snap a photo of her.
As the night came to a close, the actor Dylan Sprouse, accompanied by his wife, the model Barbara Palvin, helped his fellow actor Nina Dobrev down the slippery staircase and back into the hotel’s lobby, as others began what seemed like an interminable wait for a taxi.
Many exiting guests looked ready to end the night, but rumors of a nearby after-party swirled. After all, it was only 11 p.m. — in Paris, the night had just begun.
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