VMan Gives Partygoers $5,000 in One-Dollar Bills and the Presence of Kanye West

... Kanye West might be there. Kanye is gonna be there. No — Kanye is performing. What confetti machines? They’re going to blow dollar bills through confetti machines. No — they’re gonna blow five thousand dollar bills through confetti machines. At the Mondrian. The Mondrian Soho? That place isn't even open yet. Just go to the hotel lounge, Mister H. No — it's in the entire lobby of the Mondrian...

The invitation to Tuesday's VMan magazine party gave away nothing and everything: A Karl Lagerfeld-shot image of Kanye West, mouth open and in sunglasses, with cut-outs of hundred dollar bills pasted between his lips.

There was an address in Chinatown. There was a date and time.

We arrived at a conservative 11:03 — the party started at 11:00 — and the mob had surpassed a block's length. The Observer got whisked in and entered a fushia-hued space with the paint still drying in places, that led to two oblong appendages stocked with bars and, eventually, a massive plastic-chandelier disco club. In the Mondrian Soho's pre-natal state this is "The Garden." There was some shrubbery.

The Observer took a lot of smoke breaks. Outside, we encountered Lady Bunny in her usual skyscraper blonde bouffount. She was in good spirits.

"Who has a cigarette for an old BITCH," she exclaimed. We obliged.

Kanye West was standing on a raised wing with Harper's Bazaar creative director Stephen Gan, Keri Hilson floating around. He saw us and we bypassed his bodyguards to say hello. We shook Kanye West's hand. He was smiling.

"Are you going to perform?" we asked. That was the rumor.

"No questions," Kanye West said. "You can only make statements."

"This is a fun party," The Observer said.

"Yeah," Kanye West said.

"Well, great to see you," The Observer said.

"Nice tie," Kanye West said. He was pointing at The Observer's tie.

Then, confetti machines blasted $5,000 in one dollar bills into the air.

nfreeman [at] observer.com | @nfreeman1234