The Tamesis
It’s just after six o’clock on a Saturday night on the easternmost platform of London’s Victoria Station. Commuters wheeled suitcases home after a long week at the office and tourists flocked to the underground entrance to watch West End shows.
But if you look closely, you’ll notice an unexpected group of characters boarding the 6:30 pm train at platform two. Is that Roger and Milka Federer walking arm in arm to the carriage? Tom Ford and Stella McCartney weaving in and out of commuters to board a plane? Emma Corrin and Alexa Chung clinking glasses behind the window? Yes, in fact, it is.
Invited by its designers, Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin, and the evening’s co-host, Vogue’s global editorial director Anna Wintour, a glittering crowd traveled aboard Celia, the brand new private dining and event carriage on Belmond’s British Pullman trains. (All of this takes place just days after the 2026 Met Gala, a charity event that Luhrmann and Martin are also involved in.)
If there’s any party fatigue, though, you wouldn’t guess it. The evening started with cocktails in Celia’s car – Martin himself stood behind the bar in a marabou-sleeved Prada two-piece, gleefully pouring champagne into a Waterford Crystal coupe – before guests spread out across several carriages for a dinner of Isle of Wight tomato pie and Beef Wellington. Meanwhile, the postcard-like scenery of Kent Downs unfolds behind the window. Luhrmann, wearing a Border suit with braided lapels, walked up and down the train throughout the evening, encouraging everyone to eat, drink and be merry.
After dessert, everyone returned to Celia’s for espresso martinis and an hour or two of dancing to disco classics under the carriage’s soft ceiling. Most guests were then piled into a fleet of vintage cars and headed to Mark’s Club in Berkeley Square, ready to keep the night going until the early hours. A recurring question over nightcaps at Mark’s house was: When will everyone be invited to ride with Celia again? Full speed ahead.
