Denise Hale with Peter Marino

Chanel recently took over Maiden Lane in San Francisco for a party celebrating the reopening of the gorgeous new store designed by Peter Marino. And when Denise Hale said it was “the party of the year,” there was no one on the block who would disagree.

The party, hosted by Vanessa Getty and Samantha Traina, had it all — a sexy, fun setting (Maiden Lane was tented, and had a chic nightclub vibe with silver walls), gorgeous haute couture gowns flown in from Paris, great music (from Leigh Lezark, Greg Krelenstein and Geordon Nicol of The Misshapes), and a diverse social crowd clothed mostly in Chanel.

“San Francisco is very fashion-aware,” said Peter Marino, the world-famous architect and interior designer who does all of Chanel’s stores worldwide. “The people are extremely educated in fashion. They know just as much as anyone in New York City or Paris.”

William Getty, Vanessa Getty and Peter Getty

The only thing missing was, of course, the great man himself. What must we do to get a visit from Karl Lagerfeld? Let’s work on that, shall we? But the Chanel representatives who were on hand (Sigrid De l’Epine, Angela Dotson, Barbara Cirkva, and Anne Wagner) were, of course, terribly chic, as is probably a job requirement.

Actress Maria Bello was there, as was model Maggie Rizer, Danielle Steel, Mayor Newsom and sleek new mother Jennifer Newsom, three Gettys and at least six Trainas (John, Maxx, Zara, Samantha, Todd and Katie, if you’re curious.)

Maggie Rizer and Alex Mehran, Jr.

Tatiana Sorokko

Leigh Lezark

Other notables included (in no particular order, this is by memory, darlings) Tatiana Sorokko, Katya Sorokko, Claudia Ross, Yurie Pascarella, Victoria Yeager Sawyer, Mireille Schwartz, Vandy Boudreau, Shell Cardon, Jennifer Utley, Kate Harbin, Elizabeth Touw, Juliet de Baubigny, Karen Tamblyn, Jeana Toney, OJ Shansby, Elizabeth Thieriot, Sobia Shaikh, Karen Caldwell, Rosalina Lydster, Helen Raiser, Maria Manetti Farrow, Andrea Schnitzer, Bahya Oumlil-Murad, Jenna Hunt, Sophie Azouaou, Deepa Pakianatham, Nicola Miner, Vicki Winston, Jodie Thelander, Sonya Molodetskaya, Shannon Bavaro, Joy Bianchi, Cameron Phleger, Jodie Thelander, Katie Simpson, Kimberly Bakker, Lisa Alexander, Jessica Moment, Lisa Grotts, Sabrina Buell, Jaime Du Pont, Melodie Johnson, Lana Adair, Natasha Kolb, Lynn Simpson, Lex Tyndall, Max Boyer, Marcy Carmack, Maria Quiros, Victoria Miller, Margaret Mitchell, Linda Gordon, Diane Dorrans Saeks, Christine Rios… and that’s just the women.

Among the men were Alan Malouf, Alex Chases, Joel Godrich, Ricky Serbin, Stephen Jenkins, Justin Fichelson, Marius Carlucci, Damion Matthews, Brandt Hooker, Mark Calvano, Jorge Maumer, Yves Behar, Charleston Pierce, Robert Mailer Anderson, Davis Nash, Paul Pelosi, Jr and others.

Vanessa Getty

Danielle Steel and daughter Samantha Traina

The redesigned boutique, at 155 Maiden Lane, was too crowded to fully enjoy, but subsequent visits have shown just how genius it is. You simply must check it otu for yourself.

Photos: CHANEL – SAN FRANCISCO BOUTIQUE REOPENING, by Drew Altizer [drewaltizer.com]