The naysayers who claim “New York Fashion Week is dead” clearly haven’t been to a PAPER party.
To celebrate the closing of another creatively fulfilling week of collections, we threw the NYFW party of the week alongside Lexus and Tokyo design house AMBUSH to celebrate the launch of their collaboration collection, “The Future Classic Club,” and all of NYC turned out. The office-after-hours party brought together future thinkers, fashion lovers, and the community that keeps NYFW alive. The space transformed into an embodiment of the collaboration’s ethos, celebrating the people, the objects and the ideas that keep pushing the limits within the creative world; under the creative direction of Yoon Ahn, the initiative launches through a film and the limited capsule collection.
Inside the party, guests craned to see who was who amidst the chaos of flashing cameras. Guests included Saweetie, Sebastian Yatra, Coi Leray, Joan Smalls, Yoon Ahn, Bad Gyal, JOP from Fuerza Regida, N3on, Sara Choi, Fiffany Luu, Sierra Rena, and a crowd of equally glamorous guests.
As crowds of people were moving through the venue—set up like a late-night office after hours, just with far better lighting and a charged, electric energy—it felt like Tokyo after dark but in the heart of New York. The collection was displayed on mannequins, styled as extensions of our cover story featuring Choi, Luu and Rena. The mannequin installations were staged within a sea of VIPs and Lexus IS vehicles to create a uniquely immersive scene. Echoing the cover story, our game changers, Choi, Luu and Rena were there—moving among the cars and filling cabinets with PAPER Magazine zines featuring their faces, set against the sleek design of the Lexus IS, which marks its 25th anniversary and anchors the collaboration.
Huddy (Chase Hudson) pulled everyone straight onto the dance floor to open the night. Phones were out capturing the moment, selfies stacked up, but the vibe remained fully present. The “cool stations”—aka the bars (yes, every visual detail was designed to fulfill the fantasy)—quickly got crowded, and while meeting new people, you naturally became part of the scene, almost like stepping into a film. The film for the campaign itself, inspired by the visual language of early Japanese cinema and directed by Xavier Tera, was also playing across the screens.
For those not familiar with DJ Pee .Wee and his wildly fun set—that’s actually Anderson .Paak’s alter ego. Whether dropping “La Chona” or spinning throwback anthems, he kept the energy high and the crowd was eating it up. The peak was when in the middle of the crowd a trumpeter made his way to the booth bringing that excitement that only live performance can. Safe to say: he had everyone dancing. The party reached such a fever pitch that even the car alarms went off. That was a moment!
As the night went on, new forward thinkers and genre benders kept arriving—in every sense of the word. Drinks kept flowing, laughter built, and from every angle it felt electric. It felt like a throwback to the wild party days—industry legends mixing with a new generation of fashion obsessives, streamers colliding with musicians and performers. It was a genuine moment of connection and pure enjoyment, all at once.
Back to the decks, Rei Ami from KPop Demon Hunters fame made her debut as a live DJ, dropping two new tracks while completely taking over the party and breaking the night wide open. You have not seen this girl move until you’ve seen her behind a booth.
If you thought that was it, you’d be wrong. Ty Dolla $ign showed up just as we thought the party found its peak—and brought new meaning to the word. He turned the volume all the way up and closed the night on a high. **thank you for the Khia drop**
By the end of the night, I noticed some of the pieces on display from the collection had disappeared—and honestly, of course they did. When the collection is fab and this function is popping, that’s exactly what’s supposed to happen.
This story is a collaboration between PAPER, Lexus and AMBUSH.
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Getty Craig Barritt
