Zac Posen and His Dallas Gal Pals Enjoy an Intimate Lunch — and the Fashion Icon has Major News

PaperCity has a long history with fashion darling Zac Posen. In 2003, not long after he debuted his collection and shot to stardom, Neiman Marcus shut down the restaurant and bar at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek for a party in his honor, co-hosted by PaperCity.

“When I arrived,” said Posen, who was back at the Mansion recently for a luncheon, “at my bedside was a box. I opened it, and inside was a pair of black Lucchese boots with my initials, ZP [a gift from Neiman’s]. It was an amazing welcome.” He still has said boots and needs an excuse to wear them again. Dearest Zac, we have ideas.

The intimate luncheon, which brought him back to town, was held in the Mansion’s sunny promenade. Posen mingled with his longtime Dallas gal pals — including hostess and Rosewood Mansion curator Kimberly Whitman, who entertained with a Rosewood Conversation with the designer.

He was also here to quietly finalize some news. This February, it’s official: Posen will also serve as a Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek curator. He’s in good company, as fellow Rosewood curators (a high-profile bunch that acts as ambassadors for Rosewood Hotels & Resorts’ global network of luxurious locales) include style icon Iris Apfel, Chinese prima ballerina Yuan Yuan Tan, and London auctioneer Simon de Pury.

At a post-lunch chat in the Mansion’s FDR suite, we caught up on all that’s gone on since that epic party. Posen’s style genius has expanded considerably — he has a cookbook coming out, he’s designing the new flight-attendant uniforms for Delta Airlines, serves as creative director of womenswear for Brooks Brothers, and still finds time to plant the most exquisite gardens at his family home in Pennsylvania.

He’s a bit like the next Oscar de la Renta — a sartorial Renaissance man, whose good taste spills into every aspect of life. “I’m all cut up from my roses,” he says, looking at his hands. And on the topic of de la Renta, he humbly confesses: “I’ll have to make my own Annette …”

As we talked, Posen sipped an espresso and was quick to point out the lemon twist. “This is why I love the Mansion,” he said of the attention to detail. “Most places don’t know how to properly serve an espresso.”

Our conversation returned to his first stay here almost 14 years ago. “Ken Downing was doing this kind of glamorous Tony Duquette boudoir set-up downstairs,” he says. A remarkable moment for the then 21-year-old.

From there, we talked trends (“I hope the next era of extravagance is coming. I think the level of self-invention is going to create that”); Texas women (“They are powerhouses — they really are. I’m always floored by their sense of understanding of quality and antiquity, and that balance between the wow-moment and something slightly reserved”); and his fascination with Fort Worth (“I love a good rodeo princess”).

But, of course, his adoration of the Mansion tops all. “I love the romance of it,” he says. Us, too, Zac.

Marvelous Mansionites: Rosewood’s Brett Perkins and Tracy Fitz, guests Capera Ryan, Christine Handy, Kersten Rettig, Natalie Chu, Bora Song, Max Trowbridge, Hillary Stonger, Maggie Kipp, Brooke Davenport, Nancy Gopez, Julian Leaver, Jamie O’Banion, and Samantha Wortley.