BERGDORF GOODMAN STAGES YOUR DREAM DINNER PARTY FOR 'ONLY IN NEW YORK' CAMPAIGN

It's easy to romanticize social life in New York City: gatherings in people's exquisitely-decorated apartments, sharing food and stories with the most interesting strangers you'll ever meet. It's not a total fantasy — this does happen (sometimes, some in more cramped spaces than others) — but it's one of those things that make you think, "Only in New York." 

Bergdorf Goodman wants to capture that energy, and celebrate the people who make the city — and, specifically, its fashion industry — so special. So, on the precipice of New York Fashion Week, the iconic New York retailer tapped illustrator Joana Avillez to imagine a dinner party between a selection of creative New Yorkers, wearing the designers that represent its new vanguard. On the guest list: Linda Fargo (in AnOnlyChild), Dara Allen (in Proenza Schouler), Hailey Benton-Gates (in Khaite), Deeda Blair (in The Row), Laila Gohar (in Luar), Gabriella Karefa-Johnson (in Diotima), Gaetano Pesce (in Zankov), Antwaun Sargent (in Bode), Mark Ronson (in Peter Do) and Chloë Sevigny (in Proenza Schouler).

The "Only in New York" campaign is the result of conversations between Chief Merchandising Officer Yumi Shin, Fashion Director Fargo, VP of Brand Marketing and Creative Elle Strauss and the rest of the merchants about how Bergdorf Goodman would commemorate fashion week and the excitement around it. 

"We have this amazing store, bg.com... We want to reach everyone — how can we illustrate that? And that word: illustrate," Strauss says. "This feels like a really wonderful storytelling moment, and Joana felt like the perfect person [to do it]. It's this idea of celebrating the city's style and bringing that to the windows, digital and social."