The designer Rolly Robínson, seated at top, hosted an intimate meal at a showroom in New York’s Chinatown. Photography by Linda Xiao. When they were young, the jewellery and accessories designer Rolly Robínson moved with their family to the tree-dense outskirts of Sevierville, Tenn., a small city with a bronze statue of Dolly Parton at its centre. There, they spent their summers outside, playing make-believe in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. “Living semi-off the grid among bugs and reptiles and wild animals,” Robínson said recently, “it unlocked this whole other part of my brain, this untapped place.” They held on to this love of fantasy and the outdoors when they undertook another transformative move, to New York City, in 2011.
On a Tuesday afternoon in early June, Robínson invited seven friends to a lunch celebrating both their 13th year living in the New York area and the launch of their 13th collection from their jewelry line, Isshī. “This is my 13 going on 13 event,” Robínson said with a laugh. The venue was the Chinatown showroom of the lighting design company Blue Green Works, co-founded by Robínson’s friend Peter B. Staples. Each place setting had a banana-leaf mat, and hanging over the table was a flared green glass pendant lamp that called to mind a palm tree; together, the details made the space feel like a jungle oasis. It was a fitting place to see Isshī’s resort 2025 collection, in whose press materials Robínson likened the experience of heartbreak to a plane crashing into the rainforest: Modular leather-cord necklaces, crystal-embellished bracelets and hand-felted lamb’s-wool corsages all resembled carnivorous plants.
Guests were invited to touch and try on the pieces, which were displayed on tables and plates throughout the space. Around 1:30 p.m., a delivery driver arrived carrying bags of dim sum, and while Staples doled out the food, Robínson offered their guests a brief toast: “Everyone here today has been a rock for me at some point,” they said, reflecting on the highs and lows of their life in the city, from becoming a regular presence in the Manhattan nightlife circuit to ending a nine-year relationship. After dessert, the group climbed one by one onto the building’s fire escape, balancing coffee mugs that sloshed with wine. And as they talked, the disco music emanating from the studio’s speakers melded with the frenetic honking of traffic down below.
The attendees:
Robínson, 36, invited friends and collaborators who’ve been important to the development of Isshī, including Staples, 39, and Robínson’s former partner and current housemate Jeauni Cassanova, 30, with whom they started the brand in 2019. Cassanova, a vintage clothing collector and TikTok creator, was the first guest to arrive, ambling up the stairs to the studio in a pair of eggshell-blue ostrich-leather pumps. The photographer Oscar Ouk, 35, arrived next, followed by the fashion designer Claire Sullivan, 30, and Sabrina Reales, 35, the founder of Sel Aer Studio, an agency that represents fashion and accessory lines including Isshī. Robínson greeted each new arrival with a “Hi, queen!” and a kiss on both cheeks.
The table:
To prepare for the event, Robínson and Staples picked up several sets of chopsticks, simple white plates and plastic tip trays from a nearby kitchen supply store and arranged them on a long wooden table. The centrepiece was a bouquet by the florist Audrey Hilfiger filled with white-edged purple orchids.
The food:
To keep the focus on their friends and the collection, Robínson opted to order in for lunch. From the restaurant Dim Sum Go Go — a neighbourhood favourite where Robínson often holds meetings — they selected takeaway dishes of golden-brown fried rice, plump vegetable dumplings and string beans glistening with sambal sauce. As Staples lifted the lid of a bamboo steamer, the group shrieked with excitement at the sight of some bubble-gum pink dumplings; the wrappers had been dyed with beet juice and filled with a mixture of lotus root, cabbage and jicama, which gave them a subtle crunch. Later, Robínson brought out a stack of salty almond cookies purchased from M & W Bakery, located on the studio building’s ground floor, and a plastic pitcher overflowing with oranges.
The drinks:
Guests brought their own beverages to share with the table. A bottle of orange wine from the Spanish label Gulp/Hablo — an easy-drinking mixture of verdejo and sauvignon blanc varietals — was passed around and poured into ceramic diner–style coffee mugs.
The music:
“Kind of summer island, beachy, tits out” is the atmosphere Robínson said they wanted to conjure with their playlist, which included the Canadian studio project Vera’s underground disco anthem “Take Me to the Bridge” and “Love in C Minor – Outro” by the French producer Cerrone. When the Italo-disco artist La Bellini’s gooey 1978 track “Satan in Love” came on, Robínson began to wiggle in their seat at the head of the table, moved by the sludgy bass line.
The conversation:
Rather than assigning seating, Robínson placed a different trinket on each plate and asked their friends to sit by the one that most resonated with them, sharing their reasoning with the group. Everyone is a doll to Robínson, the hospitality manager Zach Ligas, 35, announced to the room, as the designer helped clasp necklaces and bracelets onto their guests, who wore their picks for the duration of the event.
An entertaining tip:
Robínson is careful to ensure that every detail of a party is aligned — especially their outfit. For this lunch, they paired a striped Christopher John Rogers dress with a plush chartreuse hat to which they affixed a dumpling-shaped pin, a playful nod to the meal they’d be serving. “My aunt told me years and years ago growing up that presentation is everything,” they said. “And I don’t miss a detail, ever.”
