Smarty Party

The old tradition of the ‘salon’ — where guests become members of a small, privileged audience — gains momentum.

On a Thursday night in August, in an empty storefront in SoHo, a group of guests in well-considered outfits gathered. It wasn’t strictly a party, although there were flowing cocktails. It wasn’t a seminar or conference either, although the hosts — James B. Whiteside, a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, and Laura Kim, a creative director of Oscar de la Renta — led discussions about how their industries should change in the wake of the pandemic and about wildfires and the Black Lives Matter movement.