Stacey Bendet reveals superstar friend inspired…
Lauren Sánchez Bezos doesn’t just pilot helicopters, she also shares fashion inspo on the fly.
When Alice + Olivia founder, inventive director and CEO Stacey Bendet was working on her spring 2026 presentation to be held Manhattan’s Surrogate’s Court, the new Mrs. Bezos despatched her a classic Vogue image of ten fashions in jacquard clothes posing in an elegant blue Gilded Age room. “She goes, you have to recreate this,” Bendet told Alexa.
“I was staring at this set, trying to figure out what to create in the Hall of Records under the staircase,” said Bendet, referring to the well-known double-flight marble staircase in the Beaux-Arts-style edifice. “And when I saw that image, it was like this magical moment. I was like, ‘Are you reading my mind?’ We recreated the set.”
On Saturday, the designer showcased her line at a buzzy afternoon celebration in the historic building. Hundreds of friends sipped cocktails and toured a sequence of elaborate tableaux where fashions posed in themed vignettes. In the curved space beneath the staircase was the mise-en-scène based on Sánchez Bezos’ clipping.
This set was inspired by a classic Vogue image that Lauren Sánchez Bezos despatched to Stacey Bendet. Jason Lowrie/BFA.com
Stacey Bendet (middle) is joined by actor Sarah Pidgeon (left), who performs Carolyn Bessette in the upcoming FX sequence “American Love Story,” and singer and actor Ashlee Simpson. Far proper: A colourful ball robe with a patriotic print. Jason Lowrie/BFA.com
Sporting her signature sparkly headbands and inky black eye make-up, Bendet greeted and posted for photographs with dozens of stars including Brooks Nader, Ashlee Simpson, Sarah Pidgeon, Mary Holland Nader, Grace Ann Nader, Sarah Jane Nader, Nicky Hilton, Ava Dash, Jenny Mollen and more. UConn hoops champs Azzi Fudd and KK Arnold also posted up at the event.
Sánchez Bezos couldn’t make it, but Bendet said her friend’s help was invaluable. The newlywed philanthropist and media persona attended a number of high-profile fashion occasions in New York last week, including Chanel’s Sofia Coppola ebook celebration. Sánchez Bezos and her husband also went to the Kering Foundation Dinner and the launch of 72 magazine, the new publication from former British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful.
“[Lauren] is so creative,” said Bendet. “She loves fashion and she’ll send things sometimes.”
UConn basketball champs Azzi Fudd, left, and KK Arnold performed the fashion sport. BFA – JOE SCHILDHORN
Actor, author and writer Jenny Mollen kicks up her silver wedge. Jason Lowrie/BFA.com
The pioneering, fearless American girl is the overarching theme of this Alice + Olivia assortment. “It was inspired by the fact that it’s the 250th anniversary of the United States [next year],” said Bendet. “And I wanted to do something that reflected on the intersection of fashion, art, culture and even industry over time. So each set in the show represents a different part of American history.”
Sporty, striped seems to be are in the spring look ebook. Jason Lowrie/BFA.com
Lady Liberty wore a costume one story tall. Jason Lowrie/BFA.com
Most dramatic of all was the Lady Liberty costume. With a spiked crown her her head and a torch in her hand, the model stood on the marble balcony overlooking the festivities. Her 20-foot-tall floral robe printed with butterflies and roses draped over the doorway.
It was a monument to creativeness.
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