Air Mail and Bloomingdale’s Brings Italian Flair to Fashion Week With Upper East Side Soiree

On Thursday night, Air Mail and Bloomingdale’s teamed up to bring the retailer’s “From Italy, With Love” fall campaign to life on the Upper East Side. The first floor of the Academy Mansion set the scene for a lively evening with Italian touches throughout the sprawling party, which channeled nostalgia through the setting of the 1920s mansion, longtime media personalities and a few film icons. The party was hosted by Graydon Carter and Bloomingdale’s chief executive officer Olivier Bron, along with event cohosts Isabella Rossellini, Christine Baranski and Morgan Spencer.

“Do you think there’s a Negroni around here?” A guest was walking alongside Spector, past the gelato cart in the courtyard. It was a fair assumption; there were nods to the Italian theme throughout the party, including a food installation by Laila Gohar (the artist’s second fashion week party of the week), which featured cubes constructed of Italian assortments: olives, tomatoes and mozzarella. Less than an hour into the party, a guest approached and pulled a few olives off. Event matchbooks and golden masquerade masks were set out around the party, to further set the vibe.

“I grew up in Rome, and came to America when I was 18. But, you know, I traveled back and forth because my parents were in the film business. And so much of the film business is being nomadic,” Rossellini said of her cohost role. “So that’s my connection to Italy. And Graydon — who doesn’t know Graydon, you know?”

This weekend, Rossellini is headed to Canada for the Toronto International Film Festival premiere of her new film, “Conclave,” which debuted at Telluride and will be released theatrically later this fall. “I wish I had time to see more films. When you have your own film, you don’t see anybody else’s film. You spend the day meeting press,” she said of her upcoming trip.

She stars along with Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Ralph Fiennes in the film, which is set in the Vatican and was shot on location. “It’s about the election of a new pope,” she added. “It’s all full circle this week. I was so happy to be in Rome for three months.”

Other guests at the soiree included Bette Midler, Tiffany Haddish, Paul Feig, Nicky Hilton Rothschild, designers Stacey Bendet and Peter Som, and Air Mail contributors like Jill Kargman and Amy Fine Collins. “Real Housewives of New York” star Ubah Hassan gave an enthusiastic greeting to Rebecca Minkoff, the franchise’s newest recruit.

Soon, DJ Stretch Armstrong’s playlist was interrupted by the sound of opera singing; opera star Erin Morley had appeared on the courtyard’s second floor juliet balcony, where she and tenor Jamez McCorkle performed Puccini composition in honor of the centenary of the composer’s death.

Want more of la dolce vita? Metropolitan Opera is staging both “Tosca” and “La Bohème” this season.