“I’m a New Yorker at heart. I was born here. I love the holidays in New York,” said Olivia Wilde. The actress may call Los Angeles home, but she knows that there is something special about the crisp air of the city that never sleeps at holiday time. “There’s nothing better than roasting chestnuts and hot chocolate and the smell of trees,” she said.
“My kids love Christmas in New York,” she added. “It’s really funny, because a lot of the places that are sort of like tourist destinations, where I wouldn’t necessarily want to go and spend time, on Christmas, you’re like, ‘Yeah, let’s go.’ The Rockefeller Center ice skating rink, the tree. Even though it’s complete insanity. I think it feels like an optimistic nostalgia.”
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Wilde was in town on Thursday night to mark the season with Tiffany & Co. As a friend of the house she was tasked with the honor of lighting up a massive Bird on the Rock creation perched high atop The Landmark, Tiffany’s legendary Fifth Avenue boutique at 57th Street. The American jeweler celebrated the occasion with an intimate cocktail party on the eighth floor while also showcasing its holiday windows outside, sure to be a must-see for the many tourists visiting the city during the season.
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Another icon of Fifth Avenue, the massive snowflake that hangs above the street corner for the season, as it has for decades, was lit in Tiffany blue — a first — for the event. And back inside the store guests including Lauren Santo Domingo, Sabine Getty, Georgia Fowler and more sipped Champagne while taking in the view and, obviously, surveying the latest jewelry and home collections.
“Right now what I’m most obsessed with is we did a collaboration with Fondation César,” said Santo Domingo, Tiffany’s artistic director of home. The founder of Moda Operandi is known for her taste and is busy planning her gifts for the season. The collaboration plates, which feature a reimagined broken plate style designed by César in 1973, are an ideal choice for her. “It sort of plays on this beautiful heritage, but we’re still having fun, breaking some rules, having fun throwing parties,” she said. “They’re lovely dessert plates. So that’s my go-to gift this year.”
Throughout the space, festive trees were adorned with Tiffany ornaments and stacked blue boxes of all sizes with perfectly tied white ribbons. “I go where I’m needed,” Santo Domingo said of her busy holiday plans, noting that she also has jury duty over the next two weeks. “I’m doing my civic duty,” she said with a smile.
Introduced by Tiffany in 1965, Jean Schlumberger’s Bird on a Rock design serves as a hallmark of the house. The holiday version took a team of artisans and engineers over five months to create and features more than 47,340 micro-LED lights that beam out over the building.
“I associate the holidays very strongly with Tiffany. And I think it’s amazing to honor the history of the house,” said Wilde, wearing a dazzling suite of Bird on a Rock creations in diamonds and yellow gold.
“It’s uplifting my spirits, and I’ll tell you, they have not been very uplifted recently. So to be able to celebrate like this is really special,” she added.