The magazine industry is a fickle business, so perhaps five decades in print deserves a little self-congratulation. That’s exactly what GQ did Tuesday night, with a no-holds-barred bash featuring a private concert with Kanye West at Chelsea’s Cedar Lake Center. The magazine enlisted KCD Worldwide to produce the party, whose 500 guests included Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Sean Combs, Cindy Crawford, LL Cool J, Diane Kruger, and Padma Lakshmi.
"We wanted to celebrate the past, present, and future of the magazine," said GQ creative director Jim Moore. "Looking back, we have such a cool history, and the old issues still say a lot about what men are wearing now. We incorporated that by including a modern projection that's never been seen before." Instead of a typical gallery retrospective of covers in the receiving room, thousands of images from the magazine's tenure shifted and pulsated on the walls to the beats of DJ Alec DeRuggiero's set. The installation was created by Core Audio Visual. The party itself was overseen by the magazine's event consultants, Wise & Company.A small army of men dressed in black (with only the magazine’s year of inception, 1957, printed on their shirts) served cocktails and appetizers. Guests were treated to mojitos and champagne at the door and ate the elegant finger food off linen napkins. “We wanted to do a master class in American food and to reflect GQ: hearty and masculine," said caterer Olivier Cheng of the party's abundant trays of hors d'oeuvres, which included mini truffled grilled-cheese sandwiches with celery relish and a take on Egg McMuffins with wild boar bacon and quail eggs.
West was a natural choice to appear, given his longstanding relationship with the magazine and the recent release of his latest album. At 11:30, he took the stage in front of a small orchestra of thickly eye-shadowed women and bounced back and forth in front of the rowdy audience as he went through much of his catalog. The skeletal rigging above the room burst green and blue in a show that illuminated the cloud of smoke and testosterone hanging in the air.
At the end of West's 45-minute set, much of the crowd flooded outside, where an old aluminum Airstream trailer served late-night snacks. Stragglers took advantage of the hot cheeseburgers (veggie for non-meat-eaters) and glass bottles of Coca-Cola—food that, like the magazine, is timeless and distinctly American.
Correction: The original version of this article incorrectly stated that GQ's public relations department oversaw the event. In fact, the magazine's event consultants, Wise & Company, oversaw the event.
"We wanted to celebrate the past, present, and future of the magazine," said GQ creative director Jim Moore. "Looking back, we have such a cool history, and the old issues still say a lot about what men are wearing now. We incorporated that by including a modern projection that's never been seen before." Instead of a typical gallery retrospective of covers in the receiving room, thousands of images from the magazine's tenure shifted and pulsated on the walls to the beats of DJ Alec DeRuggiero's set. The installation was created by Core Audio Visual. The party itself was overseen by the magazine's event consultants, Wise & Company.A small army of men dressed in black (with only the magazine’s year of inception, 1957, printed on their shirts) served cocktails and appetizers. Guests were treated to mojitos and champagne at the door and ate the elegant finger food off linen napkins. “We wanted to do a master class in American food and to reflect GQ: hearty and masculine," said caterer Olivier Cheng of the party's abundant trays of hors d'oeuvres, which included mini truffled grilled-cheese sandwiches with celery relish and a take on Egg McMuffins with wild boar bacon and quail eggs.
West was a natural choice to appear, given his longstanding relationship with the magazine and the recent release of his latest album. At 11:30, he took the stage in front of a small orchestra of thickly eye-shadowed women and bounced back and forth in front of the rowdy audience as he went through much of his catalog. The skeletal rigging above the room burst green and blue in a show that illuminated the cloud of smoke and testosterone hanging in the air.
At the end of West's 45-minute set, much of the crowd flooded outside, where an old aluminum Airstream trailer served late-night snacks. Stragglers took advantage of the hot cheeseburgers (veggie for non-meat-eaters) and glass bottles of Coca-Cola—food that, like the magazine, is timeless and distinctly American.
Correction: The original version of this article incorrectly stated that GQ's public relations department oversaw the event. In fact, the magazine's event consultants, Wise & Company, oversaw the event.
Kanye West performed a 45-minute set.
Photo: Joanna Totolici for BizBash
Kanye West performed a 45-minute set for the 500 guests.
Photo: Joanna Totolici for BizBash
Instead of the traditional gallery of magazine covers, an interactive installation of photos showcased the magazine's 50-year history.
Photo: Joanna Totolici for BizBash
Men wearing T-shirts emblazoned with the year of the magazine's inception served food such as coconut spinach on papadum from black trays.
Photo: Joanna Totolici for BizBash
Late-night snacks came out of an Airstream trailer parked outside the venue.
Photo: Joanna Totolici for BizBash
