Harper’s Bazaar sics lawyers on phony Fashion Week bash

It was a fashion faux party!

Harper’s Bazaar lawyers fired off a legal letter last week, Page Six hears, after party organizers sent out invitations for a bash that appeared as if it would be hosted by the famed style bible, but… was not.

And even as revelers — who included some top designers and models — sipped champagne at the party, some among the crowd still believed they were being hosted by the chic monthly.

Fashion folk were excited to receive an invite, apparently from the Hearst publication known for its sophisticated A-list bashes, in their inboxes as Fashion Week began.

But it turns out the party wasn’t actually a Harper’s Bazaar party at all — and, indeed, Harper’s Bazaar was not happy about it.

The invitation that went out on September 8 for the soiree — which did wind up drawing names like designer Christian Siriano and model Coco Rocha — billed it as a “Harper’s Bazaar Cover Launch Party,” and promised a performance by dance music legend Crystal Waters. The invite was emblazoned across the top with the instantly recognizable logo of the 157-year-old publication.

But as it turns out the “cover” in question was not the cover of the same Harper’s Bazaar that has been graced by everyone from Kate Moss to Gisele Bundchen, but rather the cover of Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam.

(A local company, Sun Flower Media, licenses the name from Hearst and has published in the Southeast Asian country since 2011).

Waters is on its cover, and a rep connected to the singer decided to throw a bash to celebrate her appearance.

A source tells us word got back to Hearst Tower, and execs sent a cease and desist letter to the party organizers telling them to stop using the logo and brand.

Days later, when RSVP confirmation emails went out, organizers slipped in a disclaimer. “Please note to avoid any confusion: This event is Crystal Waters’ party to celebrate,” they read, “Harper’s Bazaar is not involved in the actual party.”

The bash — held at hotspot Petite Disco — went on as planned, but without any signage or mention of Harper’s Bazaar.

There was DJ set by hip duo the Muses (who are, in fact, booked regularly for fashion’s biggest bashes), and appearances by Siriano, Rocha, and 80s “Queen of the Night,” Dianne Brill.

But while many guests seemed to be having a blast, there was some confusion amongst attendees about what event they were actually attending.

“Had I known it was not a Harper’s Bazaar party, I would not have brought any of my clients,” one peeved publicist sniffed.

Waters’ rep insists it was all an honest misunderstanding. 

“The night was a NYFW celebration for Crystal Waters in honor of many things, including her Harper’s Vietnam cover,” the rep said in a statement. “There was an obvious misunderstanding of what the party was about and once the cease and desist was received, immediate action was taken to honor Hearst’s request to the best of our ability to let all invited guests, as well as social media, know that this wasn’t a sanctioned Harper’s Bazaar or Vietnam hosted/sponsored event.”

Harper’s Bazaar has long held an annual black-tie bash for their Icons issue at the Plaza, which has featured performances by the likes of Kanye West, Lady Gaga and Christina Aguilera, with guests including Zendaya, Kendall Jenner, Cardi B, and Shailene Woodley.

They threw a smaller version of the bash this year with Bvlgari at Wild Cherry with cover star Dua Lipa, Gabriela Hearst, and Linda Evangelista.

Waters herself did not seem to know about the whole fiasco.

The singer and a number of other performers did covers of her hits like “100% Pure Love,” to an adoring crowd.

The icon told Page Six she never gets sick of singing “Gypsy Woman (La Da Dee).”

“Look at what happens when I sing it,” Waters told us. “I do like a 30 minute show, but they wait for ‘Gypsy,’ and it comes on, everybody’s up, everybody’s up.”