THURSDAY NIGHT FEVER: "This place makes you feel like a kid again!" said Anna Dello Russo, who tore up the parquet dance floor at a dinner and dancing party co-hosted by Wallpaper and ToiletPaper magazine on Thursday night during Milan’s Salone del Mobile.
And she wasn’t kidding: Guests including Maurizio Cattelan, John Pawson, Desiree Mejer, Tom Dixon, Rossana Orlandi, Alessandra Borghese, and Laura Bethan Wood gathered at the Sala Venezia, an old-style dance hall in the center of town, for a night of Champagne, lasagna, roast chicken — and hours of sweaty, silly, dance-like-noboby’s-watching revelry.
The prevailing mood of the evening was Italian seaside resort circa 1964, with a live band, an accordion player, and a glitter ball that dangled above the picnic-style dinner tables set up on the dance floor. Between courses guests hopped onto the dance floor to form a conga line, square dance, attempt the Polka, do the Twist or mess around to music that ranged from Italian hits from the Sixties to Elvis, Blondie, and Nancy Sinatra.
Dello Russo, decked in fishnets, heels and a dress that barely skimmed her bottom, danced like a wild woman with Cattelan. "The last time I danced like this was, well…last week! I love it," said the artist, who spent way more time on dance floor than at the dinner table.