Star Turnout for Valentino, Rain or Shine

Jamie Mccarthy/Getty ImagesSarah Jessica Parker and Valentino Garavani attend the Valentino Garavani Virtual Museum Launch party.

Wednesday night’s torrential rainfall had a few unexpected effects at the party for Valentino Garavani’s new virtual museum at the IAC Building. For one thing, many of the late-arriving guests were torn between watching the streaming videos of the designer’s career highlights along one wall and the streaming deluge of rain on the West Side Highway, seen through the opposite wall of windows.

Valentino arrived early with Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, followed by socialites and designers of multiple generations. Joseph Altuzarra, Richard Chai and Peter Som were there, along with Courtney Love, Claire Danes and Daphne Guinness, if that gives you an idea of the mix. The rain was so bad, though, some guests didn’t want to leave.

Waiting at the coat check, I bumped into Ms. Parker, in a smashing silver lace dress.

“I haven’t checked a coat in New York for 10 years,” she said. Someone had taken hers when she first arrived.

And in the blink of an eye, an attendant appeared with her coat draped over both his outstretched arms, as if he were presenting a newborn baby. This wasn’t special treatment, by the way. The attendants were doing this with all the coats, even the few that weren’t by Valentino.