The first-ever La Soirée Cardinale was held at the Cantor Arts Center and the Anderson Collection Thursday night. The event was collaboratively hosted by FashionX, the respective museums and Stanford Cardinal Nights, providing guests with an opportunity to dress up, explore the museum’s exhibits, listen to live performances and engage in artmaking. 

The event, which received over 1,700 RSVPs, stemmed from the vision of Jacob Tan ’27, the director of FashionX’s philanthropy division, CompassionX. After pitching the idea to the museums, he worked in collaboration with them for over 10 weeks prior to the event, visiting the museums several times a week. 

“I was like, ‘what if we brought the Met Gala to Stanford?’” Tan said. “I know that students want an opportunity to dress up, they want something creative, they want to engage with the art and they want food too.”

Vivian Sming, associate director of academic and public programs at the Cantor, also described the event as the “Met Gala but at Stanford, at the Stanford museums.”

“We really wanted to create a moment in the quarter to celebrate the creativity and the artistic community of Stanford,” Sming said. 

The event featured performances by student bands in different locations across the museums, including Clare’s in Town, DJ Titus Parker and jazz performances. Students also stopped at stations to make jewelry, origami sculptures and photo collages.

The event encouraged students to follow a dress code: “The museum as a muse: Formal wear inspired by art.”

Attendees donned outfits ranging from flower headdresses and skeleton suits to prom dresses and standard black tie formal attire. Unleashing their creativity, one student wore a Jackson Pollock paint-splatter-inspired dress, another wore a shirt featuring the art of Henri Mattise and one wore a painted jumpsuit. Lara Wagner M.A. ’26 said she was surprised by how elegantly people were dressed. 

For Michelle Koo ’28, the dress code was an enjoyable touch. “It’s not every day you get to dress up nicely,” she said. “It’s a very nice occasion.”

Upon entrance, guests walked up the red carpet lined with photographers, leading into the Anderson, where the event was hosted from 7-9 p.m., and then at the Cantor from 8-10 p.m.

Tan said it was “surreal” to see their vision become reality. “This will be something that I remember for the rest of my life,” he said. 

One of Tan’s goals is to turn La Soirée Cardinale into a tradition on campus in the future. He hopes community members will become involved and share their ideas for feedback on the event.

“I really believe in traditions,” he said. “FashionX started the runway show, which has now become a tradition, and I really see [La Soirée Cardinale] having potential to become another Stanford tradition.”

Sming hopes the event introduces students to the two museums, as she says many are unfamiliar with their presence on campus. “For us, it’s really just about introducing and welcoming students into the museum for a night that’s specifically for them,” she said. 

Laniesha Brown, museum engagement and events coordinator at the Anderson Collection, said the event provided a unique opportunity to bring attention to the museum.

“I think [the Anderson Collection] is often within the shadow of the Cantor, both physically and generally because the Cantor is so much older of an institution … it’s just a really exciting opportunity to have students in our space,” she said. 

Due to the small staff size, Brown said it is rare for the museum to host a large-scale event like this, but viewed La Soirée Cardinale as an exciting opportunity.

“Every time I talk to a student about their first time coming, they’re like, ‘I had no idea this existed,’” she said. “I think this is a great opportunity for students to come and enjoy the space.”

Wagner, who is studying electrical engineering, said the event was a pleasant way to escape her routine. “It feels so nice to be surrounded by art again,” she said. “We’re always in the Quad and the School of Engineering, and here, everyone’s making stuff. It’s really nice,” she said, referring to students making jewelry at one of the art stations.

Christina Ba ’26 found it “really cool that more people are coming to Cantor.” “I go here a couple times every quarter, but I always miss the exhibits and stuff, so it’s cool to see more people and art,” she said.

Kiana Mokrian M.A. ’25 said that the event  “exceeded our expectations.”

“It’s really well thought out and there’s a lot of different ways that people can be themselves, express their creativity and learn things that they might not have known about,” Mokian said.

She appreciated the attention to detail of the arts-centric event. “It’s very special to Stanford because they do really high-caliber events across engineering and the arts and everything else,” she said. “So this doesn’t feel like an afterthought.”

Several attendees told The Daily that they would definitely return to the event next year. “I hope there’s another one tomorrow,” Wagner said. “I love it.”

Tan said the enthusiasm and turnout show the community is receptive to his vision.

“1,700 people coming here shows that people on this campus want a creative outlet,” Tan said. “They want a reason to dress up. They are interested in fashion.”