It was the night the world of fashion gave its vote of confidence to a centre previously popular but not cool.

To mark the forthcoming reopening of the revamped Southbank, Alexandra Shulman, editor of Vogue, hosted a dinner at the new Skylon Restaurant at the Royal Festival Hall.

The guest list covered fashion, music, art and writing. Model Lily Cole, actors Thandie Newton and Alan Rickman, composer Thomas Ades and writers Hari Kunzru and Alain de Botton were there alongside artists Martin Creed and Cornelia Parker.

Sir Terence Conran, who worked at the Festival of Britain as a teenager, led the design team for the restaurant, which is intended to add a final touch of style to the £111 million transformation of the Southbank Centre.

Sir Terence said: "The Southbank was the first glimpse of cheerful modernity after the end of a long, gloomy war. I wouldn't be here if it didn't matter to me."

The centre was built in 1951 in a spirit of egalitarian post-war optimism as part of the Festival of Britain.

Guests reminisced about their own experiences of the centre, especially the Royal Festival Hall, which re-opens next month after its first major overhaul in half a century.

Thandie Newton, who danced at the Festival Hall as a girl, said it still retained its idealism. "It's a properly fabulous environment. It doesn't feel class-ist."

Mark Wallinger, one of this year's Turner Prize nominees, said he saw Miles Davis and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys play there.

Michael Lynch, the Australian chief executive who has kick-started work after years of delays, said a fine restaurant went hand in hand with presenting a good programme.

"If you spend £100 million on a building, you hope that it will attract new people and make people feel as if it's an incredibly exciting part of the city."

Ms Shulman said the Fifties design and architecture was very much of the moment. "For years, everyone thought it was hideous. Now it looks spot on. And this whole area feels so much more alive."

Artist Antony Gormley, who co-hosted the dinner, said: " London has come alive in the last 15 years and this is the heart of its aliveness. This is the place that gives it its beat." Guests had a glimpse of the refurbished Royal Festival Hall. Alan Rickman said: "It's thrilling. Magnificent. It's a great public space. What's not to support?"

The revamped Royal Festival Hall opens to the public with a weekend of events called The Overture starting on Friday 8 June.

Billy Bragg is among the performers. "I think it will be a wonderful thing to be part of," he said.