At last night’s party to celebrate the decade-long career of Calvin Klein women’s creative director Francisco Costa, guests reflected what their own life was like 10 years ago.
“I was 18 and just entering my first semester at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.,” Rooney Mara told VF Daily before joining the party. “At that particular time I was quite miserable and probably scared. I didn’t really like living there that much, but I was meeting lots of new people, and it was scary. Freshman year of college is scary. It’s part of being 18.”
Life was anything but scary for Amare Stoudemire. “Ten years ago I was 20 years old. It was my third year in the N.B.A. I was very successful and single and having a great time. I was kind of a rock star,” said the now married dad of four children. Alexander Skarsgård was unknown on these shores. “I was a theater actor in Stockholm having a great time doing the play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
That was before Skarsgård’s face was plastered on giant Calvin Klein billboards. “It feels surreal,” observes the actor. “It doesn’t feel like it’s me in a way. You look up and there’s a Godzilla-sized version of you.” For Nicole Kidman, 10 years ago was all sort of a blur. “I can’t even remember,” said Kidman. “I didn’t have my daughters. I’ve had two babies since then.”
For many of the guests, staying 10 years at one job like Costa seemed unthinkable. “The longest nine-to-five I ever had was two weeks working at McDonalds,” said Ne-Yo. “I quit because I put too much salt on the French fries and the manager yelled at me. I didn’t feel like French fries were a reason to yell at a person, so I gave him back the little name tag and walked away.” The longest job that Rooney Mara held was babysitting. “I had a good balance between being a really fun babysitter but also strict,” she told VF Daily.
And since it was a Calvin Klein party, the stars also reflected about their first purchases from the designer. “I loved wearing the boxers so much,” revealed Calvin Klein’s men’s creative director, Italo Zucchelli. “I loved them to the point where I used to wear two or three pairs, one over the other as outerwear. I’d walk around with a T-shirt. I remember a friend of mine told me, You are the only person that I know in Italy who can get away with that.”
The party was held at Spring Street Studios, where close to 1,000 guests meandered throughout the cathedral-like warehouse, just a floor below where Costa’s Spring 2014 women’s runway show was held earlier that day. Waiters passed around flutes of Veuve Clicquot, truffled grilled cheese, mini lobster rolls, and whoopee pies. Pharrell Williams gave an unannounced performance, playing several songs, including “Get Lucky” and “Blurred Lines.” Ladies in the audience jumped onstage to dance with him.
Later in the evening, Leonardo DiCaprio surreptitiously appeared through a back door and got lost in the crowd. Blink and suddenly there was Doutzen Kroes in a chic dress. Blink again and there was Drake in a baseball hat.
