Cassius Clay sent us this missive from New Haven, CT, after party baron Simonez Wolf gave a talk for a controversial class on nightlife at the Ivy last week.
Warden of the night Simonez Wolf visited New Haven last week to teach Yale scholars of Lux et Veritas a bit about Nox et Festivitas.
Joining the ranks of past presidents, Nobel laureates, and the Dalai Lama in the pantheon of previous guest-lecturers at Yale, Simonez addressed students in Madison Moore’s American Studies class, Dance, Music, and Nightlife Culture in New York City on the role that nightlife plays in the development of creative movements.
Approaching the notion of nightlife with well-tested experience and an academic perspective, Simonez contends that clubs need not be dismissed as debauched boîtes of the dark. Pop-up parties at Madame Wong’s and Red Egg expanded new frontiers in some of Lower Manhattan’s more forgotten neighborhoods. These clubs can condense the city’s creative minds in one spot, develop new connections, and move on to different things just as quickly.
As with anything stylish and timeless, the visit showed that trend and tradition augment and inform each other. Here’s hoping for future Simonez and Yale collaborations––perhaps a Boom Boom Starr Reading Room? OC's Sofia interviewed Simonez to know more.
___________________________________________
Sofia Cavallo: Why do you think nightlife is so important to a city?
Simonez Wolf: Well more than anything it's a industry that generates a huge income for the city by creating jobs. Economists talk about a recession, but I don't see it in nightlife. I know about five new places opening soon.
SC: What's the nightlife like in other cities you know?
SW: It's funny because New York City was the mecca for nightclubs, but now Paris is doing all the innovating and the rest follow.
SC: There have been many iconic moments in nightlife. The first that comes to mind is Bianca Jagger riding a white horse into Studio 54 on her birthday. What are recent amazing nightlife moments?
SW: I don't think anything has beaten that. I went to Colette's YSL party during Paris Fashion Week a few years back. It was at the Opera house and they turned it into a gigantic discotheque. Pretty amazing! But I guess Le Bain came close, with the mini pool last summer and the topless girls bathing.
SC: What would you say is the Studio 54 of today?
SW: Nothing really compares, except for maybe the Boom Boom Room and Le Bain together.
SC: So pop-up clubs. What's the deal, why are they big all of a sudden?
SW: Well pop-ups have existed mostly in retail, but for mine I personally was inspired by Le Baron during Miami Art Basel. It's magical! They also do it during the Cannes film festival. New York has very strict regulations and most places experience a lot of problems. A pop-up makes sense if you don't have the money––it pushes you to be more creative and strategical in the way you promote it. I am breaking all the usual promoter club formulas. I feel they are so dated now.
SC: So the location and space of a party doesn't matter anymore? Is what makes the pop-up club basically the people?
SW: They do matter. Everything counts––the door person, the waitresses and bartenders, the spot, the music, the people, the buzz.
SC: How did you transition from being a stylist into a nightlife perso
Warden of the night Simonez Wolf visited New Haven last week to teach Yale scholars of Lux et Veritas a bit about Nox et Festivitas.
Joining the ranks of past presidents, Nobel laureates, and the Dalai Lama in the pantheon of previous guest-lecturers at Yale, Simonez addressed students in Madison Moore’s American Studies class, Dance, Music, and Nightlife Culture in New York City on the role that nightlife plays in the development of creative movements.
Approaching the notion of nightlife with well-tested experience and an academic perspective, Simonez contends that clubs need not be dismissed as debauched boîtes of the dark. Pop-up parties at Madame Wong’s and Red Egg expanded new frontiers in some of Lower Manhattan’s more forgotten neighborhoods. These clubs can condense the city’s creative minds in one spot, develop new connections, and move on to different things just as quickly.
As with anything stylish and timeless, the visit showed that trend and tradition augment and inform each other. Here’s hoping for future Simonez and Yale collaborations––perhaps a Boom Boom Starr Reading Room? OC's Sofia interviewed Simonez to know more.
___________________________________________
Sofia Cavallo: Why do you think nightlife is so important to a city?
Simonez Wolf: Well more than anything it's a industry that generates a huge income for the city by creating jobs. Economists talk about a recession, but I don't see it in nightlife. I know about five new places opening soon.
SC: What's the nightlife like in other cities you know?
SW: It's funny because New York City was the mecca for nightclubs, but now Paris is doing all the innovating and the rest follow.
SC: There have been many iconic moments in nightlife. The first that comes to mind is Bianca Jagger riding a white horse into Studio 54 on her birthday. What are recent amazing nightlife moments?
SW: I don't think anything has beaten that. I went to Colette's YSL party during Paris Fashion Week a few years back. It was at the Opera house and they turned it into a gigantic discotheque. Pretty amazing! But I guess Le Bain came close, with the mini pool last summer and the topless girls bathing.
SC: What would you say is the Studio 54 of today?
SW: Nothing really compares, except for maybe the Boom Boom Room and Le Bain together.
SC: So pop-up clubs. What's the deal, why are they big all of a sudden?
SW: Well pop-ups have existed mostly in retail, but for mine I personally was inspired by Le Baron during Miami Art Basel. It's magical! They also do it during the Cannes film festival. New York has very strict regulations and most places experience a lot of problems. A pop-up makes sense if you don't have the money––it pushes you to be more creative and strategical in the way you promote it. I am breaking all the usual promoter club formulas. I feel they are so dated now.
SC: So the location and space of a party doesn't matter anymore? Is what makes the pop-up club basically the people?
SW: They do matter. Everything counts––the door person, the waitresses and bartenders, the spot, the music, the people, the buzz.
SC: How did you transition from being a stylist into a nightlife perso