How does one hold a fashion week party and runway show while still under house arrest? Well, hosting it on your own rooftop is one idea.
This was the cunning logic of convicted criminal and high society socialite Anna Sorokin, better known as Anna Delvey, who once again made the point this fashion week that an ankle tag will not hold her back.
Sorokin, who went to prison for attempted grand larceny (theft of personal property) in 2019 and was the subject of the Netflix documentary “Inventing Anna”, was released from detention in 2022 but remains under house arrest for overstaying her visa.
Since her release, Sorokin has made it clear that she still wants a place in the high society circles she initially scammed her way into. But this time, she’s being upfront. And what could be more upfront than a fashion week party held in your own home, so as to avoid violating your parole agreement?
As Sorokin prepared to launch Shao Yang’s first runway show and welcome guests into her East Village apartment for the night, she told WWD: “I’m just trying to do the best I can. I’m not thinking about what people will think of me. I can’t be thinking about that. It’s just very toxic. They will say bad things. Hopefully, somebody will say some good things. I’m just trying to do what I think is right.”
For the occasion, Sorokin wore an all-black look, with a satin camisole and matching tailored trousers, paired with a dark blazer that featured crystal embellishments on the shoulders. Her trademark glasses were gone, replaced with a piercing, blue-eyed stare, and her once-mousy hair has been given a glow up with subtle blonde highlights.
Sorokin has said that she is “always fascinated by fashion,” and that she was and remains obsessed with print magazines. She was even accepted into Central Saint Martins when she was younger, but moved to Paris for a stint at Parsons School of Design instead. She then worked in fashion public relations at the Press Factory in Berlin, followed by an internship at Purple magazine, which led her into the art world, where she did the majority of her scamming.
Her crimes seem to be mostly forgiven, though, or at least according to her publicist, Kelly Cutrone, who told WWD: “Anna Delvey is a pop culture queen, visionary, sweet thing and a powerhouse.”
As for Shao Yang, who used Delvey’s residence to launch her namesake label, it’s all good business: “As a young brand, we need to think outside-the-box,” she told People magazine.
Well, you can’t get much more outside-the-box than this. Unless you’re Anna Sorokin, and being any further outside of the box is literally illegal.
