Dancing Queens

Martina Mondadori closes Salone del Mobile in characteristic style, hosting Cabana’s 10th anniversary party at the historic Società del Giardino in partnership with Valentino. Highlights included creative direction by Lalia Gohar, deputy editor Miguel Flores-Vianna’s dance moves and six birthday cakes from the master pâtissiers at Sant Ambroeus.

📍Società del Giardino, Milan

Cabana Co-Founder and Editor-in-chief, Martina Mondadori, invited her closest friends and collaborators for dinner and dancing at the infamous gentleman’s club, Società del Giardino. Founded in 1783, the historic building was unveiled at Cabana’s swansong during Salone to celebrate Cabana’s 10 Year Anniversary Issue, with ten silk covers by Valentino. Many partygoers, even those living locally, had never seen it.

The entrance was flanked by waiting staff wearing splendid Grand Budapest Hotel-style uniforms, as an orchestral composition by Henry Macin set the mood. Creatively directed by Laila Gohar, the elegant event felt like a 360-degree film set. The high-drama theatrical dinner took place under arches of foliage and piles of grapes, as the dining room morphed into an enchanted wonderland for the evening. Two vast spot-lit wooden tables increased the rustic, quintessentially Italian effect, each laid with ‘Martina’ Ginori tableware, from the 10 Year Anniversary collection. 

Laila orchestrated a series of installations throughout the palazzo, from a central pyramid of silver cups containing mozzarella balls and baby tomatoes on silver sticks on a Cabana house table cloth in the centre of one of the beautiful rooms. 

Martina held back tears during a heartfelt speech before dinner was served. The Editor-in-Chief spoke about the journey and spirit of Cabana over the magazine's 10-year meteoric rise, thanking friends, colleagues and collaborators for their dedication, loyalty and artistic talent over the last decade. 

Martina’s inner circle gathered around her, including designers Amanda Brooks and Coco Brandolini, and editors Amy Astley and Emanuele Farneti, while guests feasted on a delicate starter of zucchini ribbons and asparagus salad, followed by risotto zafferano with gambero rosso, and a choice of six birthday cakes.

Continuing Cabana’s relationship with Sant Ambroeus, the iconic restaurant catered the entire evening under Laila’s direction. Six vast cakes were revealed: The Mont Blanc, two Principessas iced in baby blue and bubblegum pink, Gianduia, Rosa, and lastly a Pan di Spagna, all presented on topiary style plinths in the ballroom under swinging chandeliers. Plates of cake were devoured and guests spilled out into the garden fuelled by potent cocktails and endless coups of champagne. 

The Dress code ‘Glam tie’ was interpreted in a myriad of ways, designer Stephan Janson artfully fastened a polka dot silk scarf, while Cabana collaborator, Remy Rezullo, attached the cameo of his grandmother to his pink cravat in a clever riff of a bow tie. Everyone hit the dancefloor as more revellers joined for the afterparty, moving on until the early hours at Milan's infamous night spot, Bar Basso.

Beautifully presented in Valentino iconic prints in silk, Cabana’s 10th Anniversary Issue is both a celebration of the last 10 years of Cabana, and a promise for the future, to continue shining a light on exceptional and lesser-known places, spaces and decorative arts. This issue’s covers feature 10 different Valentino fabrics.