Madame Paulette, a fashionable cleaner and tailoring service in New York, held a grand opening party at its new location two days before the Met Gala.
Though no boldfaced names attended a grand opening party at its new West 57th Street home on April 30, the invisible presence of some hung in the air at the event, which took place just two days before the Met Gala on May 2.
The Tuesday before the party, Tom Ford, the designer, filmmaker and honorary Met Gala co-chairman, had sent over a shirt and vest that he planned to wear to the gala for a touch-up. Henry Ortiz, who takes care of V.I.P. clients at Madame Paulette, made sure the pieces were ready in time for the big night.
“I never say no,” Mr. Ortiz, 54, said about catering to the top clients. As a thank you for the quick turnaround and white glove service, he received a shopping bag stamped with Mr. Ford’s namesake label. Its contents? “Very personal,” Mr. Ortiz said.
Many partygoers, like him, were Madame Paulette employees. But a few longtime customers came out to celebrate the company. One, Amanda Sanders, an image consultant in New York, has been a loyal client for years. “It’s the only place you bring a gown,” she said.
In Ms. Sanders’s work, which can involve fashion styling, she has noticed more people identifying garments that may need a deft nip or tuck — the kind of service Madame Paulette provides.
Others at the party were neither employees nor clients, but had been introduced to Madame Paulette through another local institution: “The Real Housewives of New York City.”
The business’s former owner John Mahdessian was in a seven-year relationship with a former cast member, Dorinda Medley, before they parted ways in 2019. Madame Paulette, which Mr. Mahdessian’s great-uncle started in 1959, was mentioned often on the show, which also aired footage of parties held at the company’s former location on Second Avenue near 65th Street.
The West 57th Street address is not the only thing new at Madame Paulette. In April 2021, it was acquired by ByNext, a company in New York that has digitized components of laundry, dry cleaning and interior-maintenance services. Kam Saifi, the chief executive of ByNext, decided to move Madame Paulette to 57th Street to signal a new era and also to be nearer to the places where its typical customer shops.
“If you’re cleaning all of the clothing on Fifth Avenue, you have to be close to where the action is,” Mr. Saifi, 62, said.
Karen Jean-Aimee, 42, the director of luxury brands at Madame Paulette, reclined on a (unsurprisingly) spotless beige lounge chair. She is on maternity leave but stopped by to christen the new space with her co-workers.
Of all of the clients, famous or infamous, who was her favorite to work with? Anna Wintour, she said without hesitation.
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