Parties You Will Never Get Into

Before Lady GaGa was born, there was already Grace Jones. In the old days, one trusted Grace Jones to put on concerts bordering on disco theatrics and out-and-out madness. At the anniversary bash of Viktor & Rolf’s perfume, partygoers were able to briefly relive her glory days.

Dutch designers Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren arranged for the legendary diva to mark five years of Flowerbomb, their label’s wildly lucrative fragrance. A thousand guests packed the ballroom of Paris’ Le Meurice Hotel — including the likes of Jade Jagger, Renzo Rosso, Anouck Lepere, Afef Jnifen Tronchetti, Provera Lou Doillon, Keziah Jones, Renzo Rosso, Carmen Kass, Gareth Pugh, Daria Werbowy, Elettra Wiedemann, and Liya Kebede — to celebrate with the duo.

Guests were noticeably on the edge prior to Jones’ arrival, jostling for the best seats in the house. The designers had most of them in the VIP section however, which they shared with pals like Jessica Stam and Karolina Kurkova.

Then, around 12 midnight, Jones sashayed into the stage, wrenching an ecstatic cry from the crowd. Wearing a sable unitard with humongous sleeves, a Philip Treacy mask, and a flat-top hairdo, Grace Jones looked every bit the Lady GaGa precursor. She began her set with “La Vie en Rose,” which she proceeded to pepper with booty shakes and provocative commentary.

At 62, Jones still had the fashion instinct of a young, bold pop princess. Halfway into her performance, she tugged her leotard tightly, forming a thong, and yelled, “I’m ready when you are!”

Finally, it was time to sing the birthday song to the perfume, personified as a gigantic box. She sung it with the designers onstage.

“This is the first time I’ve sung happy birthday to a perfume,” she jested to the audience.

Lindsay Lohan failed to catch the Jones gig, arriving from London just as guests were trickling out.

Viktor & Rolf’s Flowerbomb now ranks among the bestselling fragrances in the world. The designers created the scent in collaboration with L’Oréal.