Sometimes the most influential person in a room isn’t even in the room at all.
On Friday afternoon, guest of honor Gloria Steinem, who is on the cover of the launch print issue of The Shift, was unable to make it downtown in the 95-degree heat to West Village restaurant Le B. But the 91-year-old activist’s presence was threaded throughout the room: on issues of the magazine displayed around the venue, in conversation between guests, and even on the lunch menu.
“Anytime that we can be a part of a platform that supports women, and especially creative women, it’s so incredibly important to do,” said chef Angie Mar from the kitchen. Preparations were underway for the first course, a saumon en croute inspired by Lutèce chef André Soltner and in homage to Steinem. “Gloria’s such an icon. What better way is there than to serve an iconic New York dish from an iconic restaurant?”
Lunch guests included event cohosts Lucy Liu, Inez van Lamsweerde and Nili Lotan, along with Mariska Hargitay, Abbi Jacobson and Jodi Balfour, Poorna Jagannathan, author Rupi Kaur, Peloton instructor Aditi Shah, Maybelline global brand president Trisha Ayyagari, and other women from industries across tech, business, fashion and entertainment who are featured in the issue, which highlights 90 female changemakers. Down the block, the issue was prominently displayed in the windows of Casa Magazines.
“This is such an important thing,” Lotan said of her affinity for the project’s mission, spearheaded by Shilpa Yarlagadda. “Strengthening young women entrepreneurs to see that things are possible.”
In the dining room, Liu was holding court near a framed portrait of Steinem taken by van Lamsweerde.
”Apart from the legend that she is, the beauty that she is, we had shot her — I wanna say about 10 years ago — for The New Yorker. And what struck me then, and what struck me again now when we did this picture, is her generosity,” said the photographer, who works as part of the duo Inez and Vinoodh and has been a major founding supporter of The Shift. “She’s completely not focused on herself. She is fully outward facing and interested, curious, and mainly focusing on making lives of women better.”
Hargitay described Steinem as one of her greatest mentors, who has “taught me so much about going after something,” said the actress. “It’s been such a joy in my life to start ‘SVU’ and then shift it to something else — that was sort of my model of being fearless, and holding what’s possible and never relenting.”
During lunch, Liu took the floor to present a portrait of Steinem painted by Megan Gabrielle for the issue, and delivered an impassioned call to action.
”Feminism is not a moment. It is a movement, and a movement is an action word,” Liu said. “I think a lot of times we can show up to something and we can be there, and then we go home and then we are living our lives. But Gloria is actually showing us that we can do that and we can continue that train by our own experiences. Our lives are demonstrating what feminism is,” she added.
”We just need to take one step at a time. Don’t get scared. Get active.”
