Michael Kors and Friends Toasted to the 45th Anniversary Collection Over Dinner in East Hampton

Naomi Watts, Michael Kors, Katie HolmesNeil Rasmus/BFA.com

The Hamptons season may be winding down after a busy summer, but on Thursday evening, The Hedges Inn was still in full swing. Clad in Michael Kors Collection, a well-dressed crowd strolled down the hydrangea-lined brick path into the historic East Hampton hotel to lionize 45 years of the label and its namesake founder.

Guests swirled about in the garden of the 153-year-old property, which has been reimagined and revived by Sarah Wetenhall, who served as co-host for the soirée. Armed with tuna tartare-topped chips and glasses of local Wolffer Estate rosé, friends of the brand complimented each others’ sequined gowns and draped dresses while mingling in the courtyard. Katie Holmes posed with Kors near the bar, feting a friendship that spans decades. Naomi Watts, Molly Sims, and Sailor Brinkley Cook all fell into animated chatter as Aerin Lauder caught up with friends nearby.

As a few rain drops fell, signaling the end of the cocktail hour, the seated dinner party was soon underway. On the patio of Swifty’s, the fan-favorite on-site restaurant, two candlelit banquet tables beckoned. Varieties of white florals sat atop blue gingham tablecloths—a Hamptons-coded mise en place if there ever was.

Chatter ebbed as Wetenhall stood, welcoming the crowd while also bidding farewell to Michael Kors Collection’s week-long residency in the property’s boutique. “While all good things indeed have to come to an end,” she said, raising a glass, and announcing some news for any snow birds and Floridians in the mix. “We are excited to be welcoming Michael Kors in-house at The Colony in Palm Beach.”

Then, it was Kors’s turn to take the floor. “I can’t believe at the age of 37 that I’m having a 45th anniversary,” he joked. “It’s crazy how time passes. During Covid, I said to a petrified crowd [at our 40th anniversary party], ‘We’re New Yorkers. We’re strong. We reinvent. We keep going.’ Five years later, for us to have this anniversary collection and to show it at the Metropolitan Opera House—it just shows the resilience, the time, and the magic of seeing all of you here.”

Kors continued, “Halston always said, ‘You’re only as good as the people you dress.’ And I have to say, I am only as good as the people I dress. Although you may not have a formal title, you are all ambassadors.”

Conversations resumed, and fresh garden salads were replaced by plates of buttery beef tenderloin. Soon, the sky darkened, the pitter-patter of raindrops was no longer just white noise but rather full-bodied splatters against the tent. “The hydrangeas will love this,” one guest laughed. As the evening dwindled and dessert was served, the rain persisted and the downpour served as the musical accoutrement to the strawberry shortcakes.

When the last licks of whipped cream had been scooped up, the reality of the monsoon began to dawn on the crowd. A few fortunate folk made their way upstairs to their rooms, finding petite Laduree macaroon boxes on their pillows. Others braved the deluge in stilettoes, holding Colony pink-hued umbrellas to protect their blowouts. But many from Kors’s closest circle stayed, laughing late into the night with the designer as the storm carried on.