The Invisible Man? Not Tonight
Bill Cunningham Reluctantly Embraces Spotlight at Party in His Honor
The Wednesday evening party at Bergdorf Goodman celebrating Bill Cunningham was what academics like to call "meta." Here was the much beloved photographer, who has long contributed the "On the Streets" and "Evening Hours" columns to the Sunday New York Times, taking photographs of the photographers who were photographing him. Though he seemed to be having a grand old time greeting guest after guest after guest, Cunningham admitted that he was far from his comfort zone. "I'm really about being invisible."
The center of attention in cobalt blue, Cunningham's every step was followed by videographers and photographers. "How many parties did you come to before this?" Cunningham asked Agnes Gund, who arrived around 9:30. Several cameras butted in to capture the historic exchange. "Five," she said. "But I had to drop by for you."
More than one guest compared the party to a zoo, not for its attendance record, overwhelming though that was, but for the rather outré fashion choices selected, no doubt, to attract Cunningham's eagle eye. "You just want to look at the animals," said the stylist Tina Chai, pointing to a woman wearing a Prada skirt as a blouse. Another partygoer wore a veil. And Vanessa Sterbenz, a personal shopper and jewelry designer, showed off a gold charm necklace; each link featured a photocopied picture of Cunningham's face. "It took me three days to make it," she beamed.
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