Mission Magazine, Nile Rodgers and Nancy Hunt welcomed the community to celebrate young changemakers at the city’s new nightlife hotspot.
Last Saturday, 360 people brought good energy to Selene night club in the heart of London to celebrate the launch of Mission’s latest The New Order Issue. The two-week-old club is the successor to the Chinawhite club on Winsley Street off Oxford Street, next to the iconic Mappin House that used to house Elle’s U.K. office. The space was blessed with the visit of guest editors Nile Rodgers and Nancy Hunt. And some of the great talent in the issue such as Misty Kyd Heath and Angelica Jopling. With We Are Family Foundation alumni Dali Schonfelder. Plus music producer Amir Amor, ex member of Rudimental, “King of Clubs” Philip Sallon, and “England’s most eccentric dresser” Daniel Lismore, among others.
Left to right: Nile Rodgers, Laya Pothunuri, Nancy Hunt, Diana Chao and Pembe Tokluhan.
Selene intertwines ancient Greek mystique and the luxury of a quintessential Soho night-out, with a mirrored tunnel leading the way into the only dance floor in Britain surrounded by 23 identical screens. The shape of the screens was reminiscent of historical arch windows, except they were flashing showreels of the magazine’s editorials, including one featuring the issue’s cover star Grace VanderWaal shot by Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinood Matadin.
Next to the aesthetically broken Doric columns, Pips Taylor kicked off the night with an energetic set on the deck. Taylor played some of Rodgers work such as Good Times by CHIC, I’m Coming Out by Diana Ross and Can’t Break My Disco Soul by Beyoncé and Nile Rodgers and CHIC.
Taylor, a creative consultant, DJ and broadcaster passionate for social causes, was the mind behind the women’s health podcast What the F… Fertility?! and the BBC Two documentary uncovering sexual abuse in the U.K. I Never Said Yes. When off-air, Taylor has interviewed stars like Nile Rodgers, Iggy Pop, and Lizzo.
“I’ve been working with Nile, Nancy and their incredible WAF Foundation for a number of years. I was a speaker at their TEDxTeen event sharing my expertise on broadcasting. I am hugely passionate about the work they do with young leaders. The philanthropic vision that WAFF and Mission both have complement each other perfectly. I love the platform that Mission provides for young people. Fashion should be inclusive and accessible to all and above all celebrated and that’s why I got involved!”
Pips Taylor
The Flag Twins, known in the creative scene as the Dukes of Peckham, later took over the decks to infect the crowd with their boisterous energy under their musical alias HE&D. The British-Ghanaian twins Kevin and Karlon Bonsu have recently become fashion’s modeling sensations, and have fostered a community of young creatives in London’s southeast with their Gen-Z oriented editorial work.
Left to right: Nile Rodgers and Amir Amor. Opposite image: Pips Taylor, Karlon Bonsu, Nile Rodgers and Kevin Bonsu.
The night ascended to a climax as fashion’s favorite DJ Dimitri From Paris blasted his signature funk and disco remixes, which saw the chic partygoers grooving and singing along to I Want You Back by Jackson 5 and Le Freak by guest editor Rodgers’ band CHIC. The French music producer, an old friend of Rodgers, started as a radio DJ and has performed at fashion shows for the likes of Chanel, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Hermès and Yves Saint-Laurent.
The set closed with Native New Yorker by Odyssey, an apt soundtrack as Mission Magazine, a U.S. public charity, was born in founder Karina Givargisoff’s East Village apartment, the party marks only the third time for the philanthropic media brand to host an event outside of the U.S. The New Order Issue, the publication’s twelfth, celebrates young people who strive to bring about positive change with co-founders Rodgers’ and Hunt’s youth-supporting We Are Family Foundation, resonating with the youthful spirit of the night.
“The job Karina wound up doing and how her team worked to pull this off is just incredible,” said Rodgers in a speech.
Some young provocateurs supported by the Foundation and featured in the issue joined the Mission community on the dance floor, including the founder of mental health non-profit Letters to Strangers Diana Chao, creative industry diversity advocate Pembe Tokluhan, sustainable solutions activist Laya Pothunuri, and hunger-solving food scientist Ciara Judge.
At the bar, cocktails were named after songs Rodgers produced — Lost In Music by Sister Sledge, Everybody Dance by CHIC, Get Lucky by Daft Punk, and Like A Virgin by Madonna.
Clockwise: Bodè Aboderin, Candice Brathwaite, Candice Brown, Anabelle Esqulant. and Kijuan Whitton.
The party was fueled by handcrafted premium mezcal and tequila by The Lost Explorer, David Mayer de Rothschild’s liquor co-venture with a focus on regenerative agriculture and the health of its agave-growing community. Twenty Light Spirits brought refreshingly and mindfully low-alcohol gin to the lineup. They were accompanied by The London Essence’s botanically distilled mixers. Alongside them were beer by Peroni, vibrant fizz by Domaine des Jeanne, and cans of complex and balanced bloody mary by Bloody.
“The job Karina wound up doing and how her team worked to pull this off is just incredible,” said Rodgers in a speech.
Get The New Order Issue here. Top inside image Dimitri From Paris and Nile Rodgers. All photos courtesy of David Owens.
