Sarah Catherine Hook knows a cinematic setting when she sees one. After all, the actress spent months filming The White Lotus season three in breathtaking Thailand. But closer to home, the Hamptons has cast its own spell.

“It’s my first time here, and it’s actually exceeded my expectations,” the Alabama native beamed. “I wasn’t sure what to expect—my only reference was that iconic Girls episode. That’s just been playing on repeat in my head—it really is one of the greatest episodes in TV history.” Dressed in a buttermilk-hued embroidered linen dress by Zimmermann and Jimmy Choo heels from Saks, she embodied summer elegance.

Hook was in town to join Saks Fifth Avenue for its annual summer sojourn—an alfresco affair that brings together designers, editors, content creators, and tastemakers for a quintessential East End experience. While many in attendance were longtime Hamptonites, the evening’s venue—the under-the-radar Watermill Center—was a delightful discovery for most. “I feel like I’m in Scandinavia. It’s almost eerily perfect,” Hook mused.

A summer of discovery suits Hook, who recently turned 30. Alongside that milestone comes a rising international profile thanks to The White Lotus. “It’s felt like a new beginning,” she shared. “I’m excited to lean into my womanhood more. I’ve always been seen as a bit of a girly girl, but I’m moving toward the next version of myself. Professionally, it feels like everything has led to this moment, and I’m in a privileged position to be a little pickier now. I’m so grateful.” (Her next act? The big-screen adaptation of People We Meet on Vacation, hitting theaters in January.)

On Thursday evening, Saks president and chief commercial officer Emily Essner hosted the event in the museum’s sculpture-dotted gardens, wearing a painterly Dries Van Noten gown. “I feel so inspired by the creativity,” she said, noting that art was woven into every detail of the night.

Dinner under the stars came courtesy of chef Flynn McGarry, who crafted an interactive culinary experience inspired by the Upside Down Zebra exhibition currently on view. Think: minimalist, surrealist, and abstract expressionist influences brought to the plate, with dishes like Montauk lobster and coconut cake arriving alongside powders, pipettes, and paintbrushes. “You’re the artist, this is your canvas,” guests were told.

Fashion’s own school of fish also made a splash: Essner compared notes on her googly-eyed Loewe x Paula’s Ibiza raffia pouch with Serena Goh’s gilded tin bag from emerging label Vin, while editor Vienna Vernose donned a sardine-print silk set by Alemais.

To close out the evening, guests had a choice: a nostalgic marshmallow-roasting moment at Saks’s beloved s’mores station nestled in the woods—or a more subversive alternative: silver trays of cigarettes offered beside the fire pit.

Sleepaway camp, but make it fashion.