October 28. 2015 – The time of day that I attempt to write a blog of the previous night’s Maclynn8 event provides a pretty clear indication of how much fun was had. It’s 5.30 on the afternoon after the after party’s after party. Hey ho…
What a night. And so unexpected. I mean Maclynn8 going to a movie? How can you chat and get to know each other parked in front of a screen? Well this was a very special movie event so we thought it would be worth a go. The Intouchables is a very highly rated French comedy (8.6 on IMDB!) and pop-up cinema Bounce was putting on a one-off showing at Holborn’s trendy Hoxton Hotel in collaboration with emerging French artist Helena Perez Garcia who was there to give away special prints of her art inspired by the movie. Bounce had set up in a private room with stripy deck chairs facing the screen – actually surprisingly comfortable, but we nabbed the 12 seat sofa at the back and 15 of us squished onto it. Perked up by a Soho Mule cocktail and with posh popcorn and wine to see us through we managed to stay comfortable and awake for two hours, thanks to the fact that the movie was great fun – hip, charming, funny and sad, it hit all the right notes and watching it all snuggled together was intimate and cool.
So, having enjoyed this cultural delight together we all walked over to Soho to the wonderful private members club The Union Soho. This place is an institution; it opened 20 years ago, just before Soho House, and has kept true to its bohemian roots – a credit to my friend and owner Pete Cross. Meeting up with a further bunch of people who hadn’t been able to make the movie our crowd expanded to around 25. We were looked after by the ever-capable Ed, a star waiter who loves his job and always right on pitch trying to take orders from our noisy crowd who were more interested in animated chatting than how we’d like our burgers cooked. Thank you Ed you are a star….you can make my breakfast anytime…just saying.
Our beautiful, fun sophisticated group was made up of some of my favourite Maclynn8ers and some close friends from years gone by, and like The Union they just get better with age. One friend was there from Australia, one dear London-based friend I had met in the pool room at Soho House in New York many years earlier, another inspirational friend dropped in from Monaco and various corporate stars were jetting off the next morning to meetings in other countries. I love the international nature of a club like Maclynn8; the fascinating stories, the inquisitive minds and the ‘yup, that sounds fun, count me in’ attitude.
We ended up being chucked out (gently) by the Union at closing time and the night still being young, the after party’s After Party went on to Soho House. A very fine, fun and fabulous night and thank you all you cool wonderful people for joining in to see exactly how great a cocktail of movies, art and meeting new friends can be. The feedback has been great, so we’ll definitely try that cocktail again.
By Barbara Brudenell-Bruce, Managing Director Maclynn8
Barbara represents Maclynn in Monaco & London, and in 2014 launched Maclynn8, an invite-only private members networking club for the world’s most exceptional people. She pairs her incredible list of contacts with an intuitive sense of compatibility and environment, channeling the elusive magic ingredient that brings people together. events@vida8.com
