Like many of the best rooms in New York, the Lillie Langtry Room at Keens Steakhouse on Thursday night was glowing amber with candlelight—and overflowing with martinis, cheek kisses, and conversation. Among the topics discussed? Love triangles (Noel vs. Ben, Dean vs. Jess), NSFW camera rolls, Milan Fashion Week, and the lives—and shoes—of iconic New Yorkers.
And the occasion? A celebratory dinner to toast Alison Roman’s first fashion collaboration: a four-style shoe collection with the footwear brand Margaux. The collection, which includes three new silhouettes, was inspired by Roman’s daily life in the city. It was only fitting, then, to invite a group of designers, writers, chefs, actors, and more—including Coco Mellors, Clare de Boer, Susan Korn, Emily Sundberg, and Emilia Petrarca—for a steak dinner at one of Roman’s favorite restaurants in town.
“Keens is inextricably linked with my life in New York,” Roman said, in between bites of the platonic ideal of crudité. She’s been going to the steakhouse for years, and even exchanged vows with her husband, Max Cantor, there. “It’s just a really amazing New York establishment, and they don’t make ’em like they used to. This is, to me, what makes New York special.”
Margaux, founded in 2015 by Alexa Buckley Roussel and Sarah Pierson, was born out of a need for stylish shoes that you could actually live your life in. (No more switching from subway sneakers on the way to the office!) For Roman, life these days means taking care of her toddler, running errands, hosting friends, and getting everything ready for her new shop in Brooklyn Heights. Each day is different, just as each New Yorker is. To that end, I wondered: Which New Yorker’s shoes would everyone want to walk a mile in?
“Laurie Anderson,” said the author Zoe Dubno, who was wearing the Charlie Boot. “She is always looking at the world with such joy and reverence and playfulness.”
“Jackie O,” said fashion writer Jalil Johnson, who wore the Parlor Mule and an outfit inspired by the new Prada collection. “I would love to witness her during her book editor years, and that transition from being seen as America’s First Lady to book editor.”
“I’d love to walk a day in the shoes of Ruth Messinger,” said writer and community organizer Adam Eli. “Growing up, she represented what being a political Jewish person, a feminist Jewish person could look like. From being the first person to ever have a Bat Mitzvah at the Park Avenue Synagogue in 1953, to having Yom Kippur break-fast at Gracie Mansion with Mayor Mamdani this week, her shoes have seen all of New York.”
When asked the question, some considered the meaning of a New Yorker. “I have a friend who says: New Yorkers are born everywhere, every day,” photographer Hunter Abrams said, before settling on their answer. “I want to say Halston, because I feel like that walk would be really fun, and have a lot of fabulous people, and maybe there’d be some substances that I don’t really do anymore involved.”
