Ward and Nico Landrigan of Verdura's 5th Avenue salon hosted over 50 prominent New Yorkers for cocktails and a lively discussion of Memos: The Vogue Years with book editor Alexander Vreeland, moderated by New York Magazine Design Editor Wendy Goodman. Memos: The Vogue Years, published by Rizzoli New York, offers an extraordinary compilation of more than 250 pieces of Vreeland’s personal correspondence personally selected by Vreeland’s grandson, Alexander Vreeland. Mr. Vreeland was on hand to sign books for those in attendance.
Guests including Carolina and Reinaldo Herrera, Montague and Mayme Hackett, Emilia and Jose Pepe Fanjul, Jacqueline Corbelli, K.K. Auchincloss, Florence Peyrelongue, Wendy Goodman, Ward and Nico Landrigan, and Alexander Vreeland had the opportunity to preview Verdura’s spring collection “Essentials of Style.” Sicilian Duke Fulco di Verdura began his extraordinary career in Paris as jewelry designer for Coco Chanel for whom he first designed his signature Maltese Cross brooches and cuffs. With a Hollywood connection through his friend and client Diana Vreeland, Verdura designed colorful jewels for stars of the era including Greta Garbo, Joan Crawford and Marlene Dietrich. Fulco di Verdura and Diana Vreeland enjoyed a lifelong friendship and years of collaboration.