East Hampton - Now that our bear economy is showing it's bull-ish horns, and the East End real estate marketplace is progressively resuscitating itself after the 2008 slump of epic proportions, it is finally time to redecorate your fabulously-lavish estate on the Sagaponack Dunes. Gone are the days of city shopping in SoHo, catalog-ordering, and precariously-scheduled deliverymen. Enter Restoration Hardware, and their new store location on Main Street, East Hampton, here to provide all the ammo for even the ficklest of homeowner's re-sophistication, from artisan-crafted driftwood balustrades, to hand-tooled leather upholstery, to antiqued illustrated maps in world-weary frames.

Zoe Hoare, Chris Meade, and Pamela Eldridge. (Thomas McKee).

On Saturday, June 18, 2011, Restoration Hardware opened their doors for a socialite-studded opening party, complete with Bellini's (Co-CEO and Chairman Gary Friedman's favorite) hand-poured by jet-setting Cipriani bartender, Luca Rastelli, as well as hors d'oeuvres toted by the most dapper accumulation of cater-waiters, and delicious dessert treats by merit of local Dresden's doughnuts. The store itself, which boasts an impressive two-stories worth of beachside finesse and antique aesthetic edge, resembles more the likes of a five-star New York City lounge than it does the purveyor of fine furniture. Was that a dance floor behind the brilliant, two-ton crystal chandelier? No, just the cash registers.

Guests were greeted by a procession of champagne-filled trays, and gaggles of women in sky-high Louboutin's could bypass the ebony-wood staircase in a plush, leather-embossed elevator, trumping the finest of walk-in Cigar Bar humidors. The overall effect was impressive - masculine, handsome, and luxurious - the lovechild of Friedman's well-funded, well-conceived design sensibilities, saturated with style and devoid of anything ostentatious.


"We are all so used to having to order from the city," said guest Antonio Santiago, superbly coiffed in a white woven and cobalt cashmere. "It's just excellent that they've opened on Main Street. Makes things a lot easier."

Seeing and being seen at the evening's event included Restoration Hardware Co-CEO and Chairman Friedman, the gorgeously-stoic and sequined Associate Publisher of HC&G Pamela Eldrige, photographer Adriel Reboh, an all-smiles Lauren Kucerak, Juicy Couture's VP of Global Public Relations, Express Inc. Board Chairman Stefan Kaluzny, English Country Antique's owner Chris Mead, interior designer and New York Times writer Raul Barrenche, fashion guru Roland Nivelais, hunky photographer Bruno Staub, and VP/COO of Jean Claude Biguine, Herve de Maulmont. Actress, model, and well-seasoned Hamptonite Molly Simms was also in attendance, though she unfortunately eluded the Hamptons.com camera.

Restoration Hardware is located at 69 Main Street, East Hampton. For more information, call 631-907-1300.