It was very much a family affair at the dinner to inaugurate Jean-Paul Gaultier’s exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, celebrating the latest leg of a worldwide tour that started in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 2011. The festivities began as a cozy cocktail party given by Piper Heidsieck champagne (remember the corset bottle Gaultier designed for the bubbly brand?), where we spotted Calvin Klein, Carine Roitfeld, Karlie Kloss, and Stefano Tonchi. We gracelessly threw back a few and raced into the dark halls of the exhibit, with their suggestive red neon lights and plush pink walls.

Soon enough it was time for dinner in one of the museum’s grand salons, where we were treated to a toast from the easy-on-the-eyes French-Canadian curator, Thierry-Maxime Loriot, who brought up to the podium a smattering of Gaultier’s muses over the years. Within minutes, Beth Ditto, Eve Salvail, Farida Khelfa, Hannelore Knuts, and Coco Rocha were locked in a hug-fest behind him. The man of the hour, Gaultier, then spoke briefly of his self-styled vie en rose and, gesticulating generously, the importance of finding beauty everywhere. Heartfelt would be an understatement.