Party Pictures 10/23/03 - Patrick McMullan, so80s

The launch of Patrick McMullan's SO80S at Bergdorf's

Patrick at his book party

Bergdorf Goodman and Gucci celebrated the launch of Patrick McMullan’s new book SO80S (translated: So 80’s – get it?) at a party that was probably the hottest party Bergdorf’s or the Upper East Side of Manhattan has seen in a long, long time. Patrick, as he is known by one and all, and he knows one-and-all for starters, brought out One and All. There must have been nearly a thousand who came and at least tried to get into the store that night.

It started at 8:30 – which is late for a book party in New York – but early for this crowd. I got there about 9:30 and it was just getting started. The first and second floors (where Gucci is) were mobbed with socialites, old hippies, celebrities, drag queens, trannies and even Michael Musto the chronicler of Downtown and NY Hipsterdom.

Click on image to order so8os: A Photographic Diary of a Decade

Bergdorf’s publicity department told me that all of the following graced their doors that night: Katie Holmes, Hayden Christiansen, Halle Berry, Ali Larter, Deborah Harry, Angela Bassett, Seal, Dean Winters, Tiffany, Fred Schneider, Lisa Airan, Peter Arnold, Muffie Potter and Sherrell Aston, Kelly and Gilles Bensimon, Harry and Gigi Benson, Stephen Burrows, Graydon Carter, Olivia Cantecaille, Alba and Francesco Clemente, Gail Elliot, Jennifer Creel, James de Givenchy, Christophe de Menil, Lipsinka, Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Farkas, Marjorie Gubelman, Cornelia Guest, Ashton Hawkins, Marcus Leatherdale, Rick and Kathy Hilton, Linda and Mort Janklow, Sale Johnson, Carolina Herrera, Nan and Thomas Kempner, Elizabeth Keiselstein Cord, Ghislaine Maxwell, Topper and Tinsley Mortimer, Tatum O'Neal, Campion Platt, Richie Rich, Jill and Andrew Roosevelt, Helen and Tom Schifter, Peter Brant and Stephanie Seymour, Rena Sindi, Isabel and Ruben Toledo, Ivana Trump, and Bettina Zilka.

True or not, it doesn’t matter. That wasn’t the half of it. Patrick McMullan started out taking party pictures back in the 70s for a little magazine called 212. Somewhere in there he caught the eye or ended up in the same space as the ubiquitous now-legendary Andy Warhol who had a magazine called Interview which was then the hippest, hottest, most sophisticated magazine in New York. Patrick started taking his party pictures for Interview and in the course of it Met Everybody.

The ghost of Andy visits the scene at Bergdorf's

In the time that has passed since then, the peripatetic, indefatigable, ubiquitous Patrick has gone to 20,000 parties and photographed probably hundreds of thousands of people uptown, downtown, around town, Hollywoodtown, Miami-ville and anywhere else where the hotties were roosting for the moment. He has become a Warhol legend himself, a legend and an industry in the business of party pictures. He’s also a very agreeable guy, a friend to one and all and his work has been published in book form that are unique photographic records of these times we’re living in.

This was a great party/booksigning, a memorable one. Bergdorf’s is on a campaign to get a buzz going and they have succeeded. The Patrick Party was the jewel in their buzz crown because everyone was so exhilarated by the critical-mass-a-people attending. You can still get to the party: buy the book.