NET-A-PORTER Limited
NET-A-PORTER Limited

IWC Schaffhausen and Peter Lindbergh Portofino Event Brings out the A-List


Patrick Dempsey
Photo: Getty Images
Patrick Dempsey goes scruffy for the LA event .

With a little Hollywood magic and art, celebrities were transplanted from Culver City, Calif., to 1960s Portofino, Italy, when Swiss watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen and legendary photographer Peter Lindbergh premiered their latest collaboration at the historic Culver Studios.

Besides the famous faces gracing the photographs, A-listers including Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Josh Duhamel, Rachel Zoe, and Rob Lowe attended the exhibition, which is now traveling the world, with stops in the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.

"It’s the one form of jewelry a man can have [that] says a lot about them," Dempsey told FashionEtc of the timeless watches. Dane, who was one of Lindbergh’s focal points, added, "Peter Lindbergh has a knack for sort of making you feel like he’s not around, which creates an organic vibe to his images. It brings out a non-conscious feel to the whole thing.”

Eric Dane Rebecca Gayheart

Photo: Getty Images

Eric Dane and actress/wife Rebecca Gayheart at the Shaffhausen/Lindbergh party.

Aside from food, wine, and live music, there was a photo studio where guests could get their portrait taken with an Old Hollywood backdrop similar to the one used in the campaign.

Poking our way through the thoroughbred crowd, we bumped into Dermot Mulroney, who noted, "People check their cell phones for the time and I feel like that’s kind of cheating. You should never leave the house without a good watch."

We couldn’t agree more.