ShootINg the Hoi Polloi At Ace Hotel

LOVE Magazine

Photos and Words Rebecca Zephyr Thomas

Growing up my doctor father had this weird fascination with pouring over the society pages in Tatler magazine, so I was aware of the idea of party photography before I had even been to a party or had my first taste of champagne. Once I hit early teens I’d cultivated my own obsession with the black and white photos capturing the legendary club Studio 54 - I fully wanted to be Blanca Jagger astride a white horse on the dance floor or at least be there in the middle of the action, taking the photos. 

Obviously in 2020 images of people at parties, enjoying themselves, sharing saliva, possibly other substances, letting go on the dance floor or even just double kissing hello take on a whole new, bittersweet significance. Yes, growing your own tomatoes and learning to meditate is nice and I am all for it - but when will naughty fun that’s worth capturing on camera return? And will there be anywhere left to have those kinds of crazy nights where you can’t remember much but you wake up with a smirk and a feeling of oh yeah that’s what it’s like to fully be alive in a big city? In the immortal words of disco diva Cheryl Lee Ralph ‘after dark, new energy finds me, I light up and live like a star, in the evening the real me comes alive’. 

The place that supplied that feeling for me and I think quite a few others in the east London creative circles, was Hoi Polloi in the Ace Hotel. Thanks to PR supremo Mandi Lennard, I captured a certain circle of London’s fashion elite letting their hair down regularly at private parties held at Hoi Polloi. A fashion week party was not to be missed and reliably had the hugely photogenic mix of high and low - drag performer teasing Katy Perry, art gallerists rubbed shoulders with the coolest new designers, and everyone headed to The Joiners Arms after. What David Waddington and Pablo Flack brought to a previously barren stretch of Shoreditch High street was proper, old school glamour that also didn’t take itself too seriously. It didn’t hurt that the beautifully finished wood-panelled interior and old Hollywood style booth seating lent themselves perfectly to photographing people and made my job that much easier.

My personal highlights from my many nights spent at Hoi Polloi? Well, there was the Halloween dinner where the man I was seeing at the time casually asked me when we were going to get married (reader, I didn’t marry him). Also the cosy dinner for four with Bryan Ferry, a musician I had grown up listening to and obsessing over, where I, unfortunately, spent most of the meal outside smoking fags instead of hanging on his every word (idiot!). The parties where I have to admit I was technically there to work but was perfectly convinced I’d take better photos if I was more on the level of the guests, ie at least slightly tipsy. Thank god for autofocus! Mostly I remember proprietors David and Pablo’s charm and generosity.

Hoi Polloi you will be missed, you brought a sparkle to Shoreditch.

All The Parties Remembered by Hoi Polloi Regulars

Owner David Waddington

‘So many good parties at Hoi Polloi, but one of the standouts was the Midnight Supper, where we swapped out all of our waiters with drag performers, gave them no training and let the chaos take over. Burgers literally flying around the room, heels, wigs, ketchup and chips. You took some amazing photos that night which remind me of old Interview party shots. Particularly the shot of Henry and Jonathan looking so dapper, and of course the glamour of Katie Perry and Derek Blasberg.’

DJ and Hoi Polloi Royalty Princess Julia

‘There have been so many moments hasn’t there!? 

I did enjoy djing at the ‘rave in a box’ when Hoi Polloi was still at the warehouse stage. 

And then we were blown away at the chicness of it all when Hoi Polloi finally arrived. We all felt part of this and David and Pablo really staged some major parties. One of which I ‘married’ A Man To Pet, was that for Halloween? Another time this brilliant show referencing The Queen (1968_film) starring all the major looks and queens - was it staged by the Theo Adams Company? There was another one The Theo Adams company staged- Cheoreomania omg that was so so major!’

Party Commander in Chief Mandi Lennard

‘Do you remember the rave in the empty concrete space, before they built Hoi Polloi? It was just a typical night of Bistrotheque’s extended family, everyone present and correct and ready to celebrate the prospect of Pablo and David’s new venture. A wooden 'rave box' within the space (Julia and Jonjo DJing), that anyone who entered, went into a total frenzy, with glow sticks and glow everything. Rob Meyers made a full suite of jewellery from his. The long dining tables - no-one could sit though - we were all too excited. Tim Blanks, Coz, Alice Rawsthorn, Nasir Mazhar, Ronojoy, Claire Barrow, Matthew Josephs, Anna Trevelyan, Louise Wilson, Jackson Boxer, Bishi, Louise Gray, Sharmadean, Lulu, Sloany… I was so happy as I lived opposite, and never put my coat on to go there, even in the snow! Who would realise how Hoi Polloi over the years would cement our community, celebrate the neighbourhood's creative undergrowth, keep us alive with intravenous after-hours cocktails, and for me, unforgettable parties on my doorstep.’

Max Allen, who had a Weekly Night at Hoi Polloi

‘Apart from my series of joyous successful collaborations with A Man To Pet at Hoi Polloi over the years, my favourite anecdote about our beloved establishment was when a friend of mine, who has run a series of businesses around east London and beyond, took her staff to Hoi Polloi for Dinner. After starters, she marched them into the toilet, racked up a series of fat lines of coke and exclaimed ‘Never ever forget that the Ace Hotel used to be a Crowne Plaza!’

I thought there was a lovely sentiment about aspiration in that.

Also once I was at one of those fashion celeb events and I saw Katy Perry going to the bathroom and shouted ‘look Katy’s Perry’s off for a Shit!’ way too loud and upset her team and most people sat around me.’