Sarah Staudinger and Ari Emanuel hosted a cocktail party in the penthouse of Chateau Marmont to celebrate the seventh edition of Frieze Los Angeles. The event brought together guests from art, fashion, design, and Hollywood circles. A highlight was the debut of a limited-edition Tommy Bag collaboration with artist Merikokeb Berhanu.
On Wednesday night, Sarah Staudinger, founder of the fashion brand Staud, and her husband Ari Emanuel, founder of the events company Mari which includes Frieze in its portfolio, organized a cocktail party at the Chateau Marmont penthouse. The gathering marked the seventh edition of Frieze Los Angeles, blending attendees from diverse creative fields. Among the guests were Orlando Bloom and Nick Kroll chatting near the bar, Rachel Sennott and Dree Hemingway on the couches, and on the terrace, Jeffrey Deitch, Casey Fremont, Essence Harden, Djuna Bel, Nikolai Haas, Scout Willis, Winnie Harlow, Devendra Banhart, Lily Kwong, Cailin Russo, and Lauren Sanchez.
At the event's core was the introduction of a special Tommy Bag edition, developed in partnership with Ethiopian-born painter Merikokeb Berhanu, represented by James Cohan gallery. The bag draws from Berhanu's painting Untitled CII (2025), featuring four unique designs with only 10 pieces each, priced at $1,300 and sold exclusively at Staud's Melrose Avenue store. This marks Staud's initial artist collaboration for the popular handbag. Staudinger shared with Vogue, "The fact that Merikokeb gave us permission to take her amazing works, dissect them, and turn them into wearable pieces of art is amazing." She added, "I love that this allows you to buy a piece of art that you may not otherwise be able to afford. And I think the way we took her pieces—and reinterpreted them in beads—was also artistic on its own level. They’re super sick. We have customers who collect the Tommy and just go nuts for them."
Staudinger's own creations were prominent, with ceramic sculptures of her smiley-faced character Henry placed around the penthouse. Guests received Henry tokens upon arrival, and a larger piece functioned as a cigarette holder. Departing attendees took home gift bags containing a ceramic Henry and a Staud x Frieze cashmere sweater. Staudinger reflected, "Henry just makes me really happy and I think everyone else kind of feels that."
As the evening progressed toward 10 p.m., Staudinger expressed her enthusiasm: "I love Frieze—it’s such a big cultural moment in L.A. They own the art side of it, and I want to be their partner on the fashion side of it. Think LACMA and Gucci…but cooler."
