An Intimate Toast to Two Design Visionaries

On March 15, the design world’s heavy hitters came together to celebrate the launch of Rafael de Cárdenas’s furniture collection for Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams. Guests enjoyed an intimate cocktail and dinner at Nine Orchard, where they dined on artisan cheeses, poached trout with hazelnuts and hollandaise, and snake river farm skirt steak with tellicherry peppercorn sauce. Before that kicked off, both de Cárdenas and Allison O’Connor, president and CEO of Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, spoke about his origins as a designer and how the collection came together—a years-long labor of love becoming a visual feast. Notables in attendance include Eric Petschek, Rafael Prieto, Leyden Lewis, JiaJia Fei, Sarah Medford, Giancarlo Valle, David Cafiero, and more. Photos by Yvonne Tnt/BFA.