NYC’s Favorite Door Girl Markus Kelle Recaps the Interview x Equinox Party

On Wednesday night, Interview, in partnership with everyone’s favorite fitness and lifestyle club Equinox, kicked off New York Fashion Week with a rowdy party at the sceney downtown watering hole Casino. But inside, the vibe was giving steam room. If NYFW can often bring out the thirstiest of New Yorkers, this was the party for real ones only. The notorious NYC door girl Markus Kelle, in a fabulous fur and knockout boots, made sure of that. On the dance floor, bathed in sultry red light, one could spot real-life Barbie girl Hari Nef chatting it up with our editor-in-chief Mel Ottenberg. Meanwhile, real-life Bachelor Tyler Cameron held court in a booth, flanked by an army of it-girls. Across the room from them was Alan Cumming, looking every bit as he regal as he does on The Traitors, and Hunter Schafer, fresh off her show-stopping Hunger Games press tour, strolled in late with Interview‘s fashion director Dara. The morning after, our senior editor Taylore Scarabelli called Kelle up for a debrief. “Come correct,” they declared. “Wear an accessory and not an attitude.”

———

TAYLORE SCARABELLI: Hi! How are you?

MARKUS KELLE: I’m on two hours of sleep, but still kicking.

SCARABELLI: Oh, wow. Are you in the Alexis Bittar office? 

KELLE: I am. It’s nothing but bangles.

SCARABELLI: Stacks on stacks. How was your night?

KELLE: Amazing. What did you think?

SCARABELLI: It was great. And thankfully not as chaotic as our last party. No fights at the door.

KELLE: The energy was different. It’s so funny having done this for so many seasons. There’s such a shift before the weekend and after the weekend.

SCARABELLI: People get thirstier as the week goes on.

KELLE: I think that the magic of doing this before the weekend is that not everyone’s here yet. Last night felt really New York to me. It was very friends and family.

SCARABELLI: It was, but it was also very, “BFA is at the party.” It was so fashion.

KELLE: I think it was a really fun mix of the downtown girlies and some really fun celebrities that felt right. Everyone was really engaged. It wasn’t just like, “Oh, so-and-so was stopping by for a photo.” They were there for a good time.

SCARABELLI: Especially Frankie Grande. 

KELLE: Frankie Grande, who told me that he forgets that the Lower East Side exists.

SCARABELLI: [Laughs] Icon!

KELLE: She was like, “I’m so hopped up on Diet Coke.” I was like, “Bless you.” I had three Red Bulls and I thought I was having a heart attack.

SCARABELLI: I’m hopped up on Celsius right now, which is allegedly the same as pre-workout. Speaking of, this was an Equinox party, but I didn’t see any abs.

KELLE: I will say though, in the absence of six packs, the boys were in heat last night. It was a little cruisy.

SCARABELLI: We love cruisy. And the mix between Equinox influencers and Interview girls was really fun and kooky.

KELLE: It really worked. There was so much genuine crossover that it didn’t feel like it was two separate events. Sometimes you go to these Fashion Week parties and it’s like these collaborations that really aren’t kismet and it shows. 

SCARABELLI: It was our Studio 54. [Laughs] We were bringing all kinds of people together to dance to Silvia Prada.

KELLE: What about the looks? 

SCARABELLI: I loved Kuby’s sculptural towel look, very mysterious. But I was just going through the photos and everyone was looking very 2010, and doing a lot for the photographer. There were full on shoots happening in the stairwell. It was incredible. I was saying it kind of felt like China Chalet. Minus the smoking inside. Vapes only.

 

KELLE: No smoking inside but the outside smoking section was a kiki and a half. The girls were giving it out there. It was full on shows.

SCARABELLI: People were giving you shows in the window too, right?

KELLE: Well, that window was a proper peep show. It was something out of Berlin. One doggedly heterosexual man was just caressing his hair like Rapunzel. And then the next minute I look over and Mel was doing coat check. 

SCARABELLI: No way.

KELLE: I swear I saw him hanging up coats on that hanger.

SCARABELLI: Wow, okay. Some people I saw last night who looked fab—Christeene, icon, diva.

KELLE: Amazing. The best energy.

SCARABELLI: And the Heterosexual of the Evening Award goes to Tyler Cameron, the ex-Bachelor who was posted up with a bunch of girls in a booth all night.

KELLE: Brilliant. But is Reese Witherspoon’s son gay?

SCARABELLI: Was he there?

KELLE: Yeah. Deacon. I feel like he’s up there for hetero VIP. Maybe it’s a tie.

SCARABELLI: He’s Gen Z. So he’s neither here nor there, right? Isn’t that how that works? 

KELLE: Exactly.

SCARABELLI: And we have to talk about Alan Cumming. 

KELLE: He’s so brilliant at a party because he always gets there early and he always sets such a great mood for the room. You have this top tier celebrity that’s always there early and is exactly what you see on screen. He’s so gracious and fun and he’s so thrilled to be a part of it all. I can’t think of anyone better to get there early than him.

SCARABELLI: Him being there made me feel like I was on a fashion reality TV show.

KELLE: Yeah, because everyone’s watching that show Traitors, which I’m not entirely versed on. I think it’s some reality bitches in a castle in Scotland.

SCARABELLI: Oh, that sounds great. Who else was there? Hari and her hot boyfriend.

KELLE: Love. I thought for a second that she had an undercut, but her hair was just tucked back. I was like, “That’s really rock and roll.”

SCARABELLI: And Natasha Lyonne rolled in around midnight.

KELLE: A little in and out.

SCARABELLI: Oh, and there were some Housewives there. Kelly Bensimon.

KELLE: And Sai from the reboot. I’ve met her several times. I always forget how lovely and petite she is because she carries herself quite tall. But last night she had these amazing shoulder pads on and I swear the shoulder pads were as wide as she was tall.

SCARABELLI: Wow. Are we forgetting anyone else? Oh Hunter showed up with Dara, looking stunning per usual.

KELLE: Oh yes. I will say that things definitely took a turn after one.

SCARABELLI: Oh, really? I left just before then.

KELLE: Yeah, girl, people were getting thrown out. I guess they didn’t have enough caviar or french fries to soak up the gin because some girls were getting twisted.

SCARABELLI: We love it. 

KELLE: What’s nice about the Interview parties is that there’s no pretense to them. Everyone’s actually there to party. Some events you go to and it’s very posy and almost choreographed with a receiving line. The girls that come to these downtown Interview parties are there to get fucked up and shake those titties. Period.

SCARABELLI: That’s true. Well, thank you so much for hosting the door again. You always do such a good job. I know there were lots of people that showed up even though they weren’t on the list. And you know what? The ones that brought the fashions got in.

KELLE: A thousand percent.

SCARABELLI: A note to the girls for next time.

KELLE: Yeah. Come correct. Wear an accessory and not an attitude.