Inside Steven Klein’s Birthday Bash with Kim Cattrall, Helena Christensen, and Irina Shayk
The gloriously dramatic Faena New York was the perfect maximalist backdrop for renowned photographer Steven Klein to ring in his 60th birthday. On Thursday night, some 70 of Klein’s inner circle gathered at the West Chelsea hotel to help him usher in the new…
Reported by Vogue.
Steven Klein turned 60 at the Faena New York on Thursday, and the photographer's birthday party was every bit as uncompromising as his work. Seventy of his closest collaborators—supermodels, editors, cultural figures—gathered in the hotel's maximalist West Chelsea space to celebrate a man who's spent four decades behind the lens capturing fashion's most arresting moments. According to Vogue, Klein told guests that the Faena, with its leopard-print 1970s lounge and a Keith Haring mural (the largest the artist created outside a museum), was the only backdrop worthy of the occasion.
The evening played out like a masterclass in Klein's influence. Grace Coddington and former British Vogue editor Edward Enninful were there—the kind of deep collaborators you don't just work with once. Kim Cattrall, who Klein photographed for an iconic 2002 "Got Milk?" campaign and again for Skims in 2023, described his aesthetic perfectly: "beautifully savage." She recalled a gift he'd given her years ago—a photograph of a stag mounting a horse—something only Klein would see and execute with what she called "powerful and sexual energy." Helena Christensen, equally prolific in Klein's editorial world, praised his honesty and eccentric vision. "His talent is mind-blowing," she said simply. Irina Shayk, dressed in scene-stealing Issey Miyake, echoed the reverence: Klein is "one of the most legendary artists out there."
The man still has bigger plans
What struck most was Klein's refusal to treat the milestone as a victory lap. When his partner Joshua Cummings surprised him with a three-layer red velvet cake, Klein's birthday wish wasn't personal—it was for the industry. "My wish is that creativity comes back to magazines, and for people to follow their dreams," he told Vogue. He's working on a feature film about New York's underbelly, planning exhibitions, producing books. Midnight found the crowd dancing in El Secreto, the Faena's new nightclub anchored by a deconstructed disco ball, with Susanne Bartsch serenading Klein from atop the bar. By the final glass of Champagne, it was clear: turning 60 doesn't mean slowing down for photographers who see the world differently than everyone else.
Read the original at Vogue.
