Diamonds are a girls best friend and the Jewelers of America (JA) held the 18th annual GEM Awards on Friday, January 10, 2020, at Cipriani 42^nd Street in New York chaired by CHANEL’s Olivier Stip. Ed Bridge of Ben Bridge Jeweler received the prestigious GEM Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Nikos Koulis won the GEM Award for Jewelry Design. The GEM Award for Media Excellence was awarded to Rachel Garrahan, presented by 2019 GEM Award winner Will Kahn. Twist took home the award for GEM Award for Innovation.

A dazzling stage and guests enjoyed the evening surrounded by luxury gems and personalities.

Sponsors of the 2020 GEM Awards included: Cornerstone Sponsors – CHANEL and Synchrony; Premier Sponsor – Signet Jewelers; Patron Sponsors – Chow Tai Fook North America, David Yurman, DeBeers Group; Benefactor Sponsors –COUTURE, HODINKEE, JCK Events, Lightbox and Movado Group Inc.

About GEM Awards

Jewelers of America’s GEM Awards is the fine jewelry industry’s premier accolade gala, which recognizes the achievements of individuals and companies whose work raises the visibility and status of fine jewelry and watches. To learn more about GEM Awards, please visit gemawards.jewelers.org.  

Hundreds of leaders in business, philanthropy, government, and higher education gathered for a memorable evening at The Pierre New York on Wednesday, Oct. 30 for the Institute of International Education’s Centennial Gala.

Martin (Marty) Lipton was honored with the IIE Stephen P. Duggan Award for Mutual Understanding in recognition of his lifetime of extraordinary achievement and his lasting contribution to international higher education. During Lipton’s tenure as chairman of the New York University board of trustees, he led the effort that made NYU the first global network university.

Lipton was later joined onstage by Ken Langone and Larry Silverstein for a conversation moderated by two-time Emmy winning journalist and business news anchor Maria Bartiromo. Langone is a co-founder of The Home Depot and the founder and chief executive officer of Invemed Associates LLC. Silverstein is the chairman of Silverstein Properties, Inc. and has been a leader in the redevelopment of the World Trade Center after 9/11.

The panel discussion covered a wide range of issues, including the impact that international educational experiences have on the workforce and businesses, the process of the international transformation of NYU, and the current state of the business world and global economy.

In celebration of IIE’s 100^th anniversary, the winners of the newly launched IIE Centennial Fellowships were announced. Funded by private contributions including an endowment named in memory of former IIE Trustee Rodman C. Rockefeller, the IIE Centennial Fellowships honor IIE’s long association with the Fulbright Program. Created in 1946, the Fulbright Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and administered by IIE and other implementing partners. Each year, this prestigious fellowship competition at IIE will be open to all Fulbright Program alumni. Winning projects will highlight the values of mutual understanding, leadership, and impact and will be designed to help solve the world’s most pressing problems.

Marie Royce, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, spoke about ECA’s mission to advance U.S. foreign policy objectives through educational, professional, cultural, and sports exchanges that promote mutual understanding between the people of the United States and people of other nations.

The gala was underwritten by the Angelson Family Foundation. Serving as co-chairs for the event were: Calvin G. Butler, Jr.; Barbara M. Byrne; Martha M. Farkouh; Colleen Goggins; Peter M. Gottsegen; Jack M. Greenberg; Vartan Gregorian; Ruth Hinerfeld; Thomas S. Johnson; Henry Kaufman; Laya Khadjavi; Laurence C. Morse; Hartley Rogers; Thomas A. Russo; John Sexton; HRH Princess Ghida Talal; and Linda Vester.

ABOUT THE INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION (IIE):

The Institute of International Education, established in 1919, is focused on utilizing education to promote peace and mutual understanding in today’s interconnected world. IIE develops and manages more than 200 international education and cultural exchange programs with participants from more than 180 countries. To learn more, visit iie.org.

The Boys’ Club of New York’s 71st Annual Fall Dance—the “Green Gala”— held at The Pierre on October 16th had more than 700 guests in attendance. The atmosphere was filled with tall lush greens and recycled fashion was the dress code (encouraging guests to rent, rewear, or borrow their black tie attire). In celebration and support of BCNY’s robust new sustainability initiatives, philanthropists at every age came together to support.

The event was co-chaired by members of BCNY’s Women’s Board, including Gabrielle Bacon, Stephanie Kearney, Ros L’Esperance, Anjali Melwani, and Gigi Mortimer. Celebrities such as Tory Burch,  Academy Award-winning Film Director Jimmy Chin; Inside Edition Anchor Deborah Norville; and Tabitha Simmons were also in attendance.  Vice Chairs of the event included Lizzie Edelman, Lourdes Fanjul, Yesim Philip, and Harry Williams. Several corporate sponsors where sustainability lies at the core of their missions supported the event, including Belvedere Adventures, S’well, The 1 Hotels, Sustainable BBH at Brown Brothers Harriman, and the Appalachian Mountain Club.

A delicious dinner, speakers, and the reveal a new inspiring video introduced by BCNY’s Chief Program Officer and proud Boys’ Club alumnus Carlos Velazquez, where current members talked about their future-focused goals and alumni reflected on the impact the Boys’ Club made in their lives. Guests generously contributed to a variety of wish-list items centering on sustainability and environmental issues, raising more than $125,000 for these worthy Boys’ Club causes.

“We are committed to developing a robust sustainability initiative for our boys and helping them become responsible citizens of the world, said BCNY Executive Director and CEO Stephen Tosh.

ABOUT BCNY: Founded in 1876, the mission of the Boys’ Club of New York is to empower boys and young men by providing effective programs and a supportive community. BCNY accomplishes this by offering programs in music and arts, social and recreational activities, mentoring, academic support, and athletics. We deliver enriching afterschool programs to hundreds of boys each day at our three clubhouse locations in East Harlem, Flushing, and the Lower East Side. Our open-door policy and $5 membership fee ensure any boy—age 7 to 21—can join.

On March 22, the Lincoln Center Young Patrons hosted their annual gala at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The setting was surreal with sky high ceilings as majestic acoustics of The Sugar Tone Brass Band and Harlem Gospel Choir opened the evening.  DJ Jenny Albright brought down the house as over 800 Young Lincoln Center philanthropists and enthusiasts raised $280,000 for arts education and audience development initiatives. A few Lincoln Center artists were even spotted among the crowd.

Gala co-chairs included  Michelle Copelman, Josh Elkes, Michele Grant, Anuj Gupta, Laura Hellman, Jake Huff, Tyler Murphy Reed, Christina Russell, Shiv Sethi, Alexander Stamatiadis, and Lita Tandon.

The silent auction featured donations from Max Mara, HeyDay, Blushington, Rent the Runway, among others.

Photos by Ethan Covey and Cali York

Martin and Jean Shafiroff hosted an intimate St. Patrick’s Day cocktail party in their Upper East Side home honoring Stony Brook Southampton Hospital with their special guest Patrick McMullan this past Sunday, March 16.

The ever charming hostess herself greeted each guest as they arrived at the door and made sure every guest had a champagne or whiskey in hand. She was glowing in an Oscar de la Renta gown and all guests joined her in wearing green. The passed appetizers in matching hues, added to the festive occasion. Her special guest, Patrick McMullan is known for his St. Patrick’s Day parties, and in 2017, Jean threw him surprise dinner to celebrate the occasion.

Guests mingled, laughed, and enjoyed each other’s company with a great mix of the Shafiroff’s friends. Midway through the evening, Jean commanded the attention of the room to talk about the importance of the Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. Her words were spoken with encouragement for her community, saying with a smile “there are two things you need – a good hospital and a good ambulance.” She then introduced Patrick, who also stressed the importance of the hospital saying, “I am incredibly grateful for the hospital as without it, I wouldn’t be here.” She is the epitome of true elegance as a host, all of her guests felt as if they were enjoying an evening in their own home with friends they’ve known for years only to have shaken hands for the first time that evening. Her precious rescue Rosie also joined the party later in the evening.

Stony Brook Southampton Hospital 61^st Annual Summer Party will take place on Saturday August 3^rd and Jean and Martin Shafiroff have been named this year’s honorees. In addition, Jean Shafiroff has been named to the board of Stony Brook Southampton Hospital Association.

She serves on the board of many causes including New York City Mission Society, French Heritage Society, Couture Council, Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation, Southampton Bath & Tennis Club’s Charitable Foundation, and Global Strays. In addition, Jean is an Ambassador for the American Humane Society and the Ambassador-at-large for the Southampton Animal Shelter. She is also a New York Women’s Foundation Board Alumna and remains very active with the Foundation.

St Patrick’s Day was a splendid evening this year for her guests and everyone was given another glimpse of her kind heart, generous spirit, and effortless elegance.

Images by Credit Gonzalo Marroquin/PMC

On Tuesday March 5, 2019, Chanel Iman and her husband Sterling Shepard, Gay Talese and Audrey Gruss, joined Galerie Gmurzynska Co-Owner Isabelle Bscher and gallery Director Martin Friedrichs in honoring Karl Lagerfeld at the opening of an oeuvre-spanning exhibition of his fine-art photography.

The show, on view from March 6 through April 27, 2019, is the gallery’s second exhibition following its inaugural showing of work by Wifredo Lam. In the comprehensive exhibition of more than 40 works, the full range of Lagerfeld’s output is on display, from his celebrity portraits—whether a close-up of Nicole Kidman or Arnold Schwarzenegger atop a motorcycle—to his photography depicting his beloved adopted city of Paris, and his romantic depictions of floating flowers.

In addition to the New York City show, an exhibition of Lagerfeld’s work has also been mounted at the gallery’s Zurich space, through May 2019. The gallery’s first solo exhibition of Lagerfeld’s fine-art photography was in 1996.

More than 150 friends, collectors, and art-world luminaries gathered for a private reception at the gallery’s New York City location, 39 East 78^th Street, to fete Lagerfeld and his artistic output. Guests included: Beth Rudin DeWoody, Glenn Fuhrmann, Israel Englander, Jamee and Peter Gregory, Omar Hernandez, pianist Micah McLaurin, artist Susan J. Barron, Jeremy Fragrance, James Ginty, Rose Hartman, Caroline Johnson, artist Bentley Meeker, Randi Schatz, Whitney Schott, designer Helen Yarmak, Janna Bullock, and Zoe Bullock.

Alexander McQueen chose the New Museum’s NextGen dinner on Friday night as its first event sponsored stateside. The annual dinner, which this year honored Laure Prouvost, exemplifies the museum’s mission to highlight emerging contemporary artists.

“New Museum’s mission is new ideas, and it’s just so wonderful when we can celebrate the emerging voices,” said Karen Wong, deputy director of the New Museum during cocktail hour at Studio Ten at Industria. “We’re very proud that we’ve got this terrific platform for artists who are doing innovative, provocative, weird work, and that we’re able to give them space and the right type of support.”

The museum first showed Prouvost’s work several years ago, before she went on to win the prestigious Turner Prize. Massimiliano Gioni described the sequence of events as “auspicious.”

“It’s been a nice ongoing conversation,” he said, adding that one of the artist’s videos is currently on view at the museum’s offsite exhibition at The Store X in London. “I think she’s one of the most interesting artists working today, but particularly, everything about her videos is strangely fluid between reality and imagination, and language and reality. And that also makes her particularly interesting to recognize tonight as representative of the next generation. I always think that you feel a generation gap first of all through language and through words, and her work is very much about that. She is an artist who is a leader in inventing a new language and new work.”

The artist blurred reality during the evening, too, describing a dream-like sequence of events involving her grandmother while accepting her award.

“I don’t feel as new as the New Museum, but I’m getting newer and newer everyday,” said Prouvost, who was in town for one night only. “On my way here as I was flying, I was remembering how my grandma used to go on a little plane, she would ask my uncle to take her on a little plane, and she would undress, go totally naked, and attach herself to a little rope and just jump and float through the clouds.”

Maybe it was metaphor, but it did provide a moment of pause for the crowd, which included Maria Sharapova, Derrick Adams, and Aimee Mullins and Rupert Friend.

“A lot of my work is about the past, so the past and the new and the future is one thing — one big, organic thing that feeds from each other,” Provoust had described earlier. “I guess what [New Museum] does is to support so many new brains to explore and provoke us, promote our future, promote the idea of me flying here for this new event. And that’s what art is supposed to do, is provoke and question.”

Annual Enduring Vision Awards Gala

The well-attended event honored Patricia Hearst, Joe McMillan and Darren Walker, with a performance by Sheryl Crow during dinner.

Twenty-five years and counting. The Elton John AIDS Foundation has outlasted the careers of many pop stars, thanks to the unwavering dedication of its founder, Elton John and his husband, EJAF chairman David Furnish.

“When you visit people who have had the benefit of the money raised that we’ve given them, and see the gratitude they have, no matter how worn out you might feel, it just fills you up with energy,” John said during the EJAF’s annual An Enduring Vision gala benefit at Cipriani 42nd Street on Monday night, a few nights before his Farewell Tour performances at Madison Square Garden. “They’re so grateful that people care who don’t live in their country but from abroad and people give them money to have a decent life, decent medicine and hope. And when they’re very happy, they make me very happy. So you come back and start the process all over again.”

As for the foundation’s plans for the next 25 years, Furnish offered a direct goal: “Just to end AIDS by 2030. That’s the milestone that we have, and we think we’re on our way to doing it,” he said.

The well-attended event honored Patricia Hearst, Joe McMillan and Darren Walker, with a performance by Sheryl Crow during dinner.

“I’ve been a longtime supporter, and when they asked me I said yes, mostly because this is the only one I would say yes to I think,” Hearst said of the honor.  “Because it’s HIV and AIDS, and it’s Elton and David, and they just do so much worldwide. I think it’s a wonderful foundation; the work that he does is so selfless and really important.”

The event was packed with celebrities and business heavy weights alike — including Robert Kraft, who host Gayle King gave a shout-out during dinner. (“We should say congratulations to Robert Kraft because the Patriots won yesterday,” she said, as the camera cut to the sports team owner’s beaming face on large screens set up inside the event hall.)

One woman in a beaded red gown waited for a man with long hair to finish an interview with a reporter before swooping in for a selfie. “Who was that guy?” she whispered, as he walked away with his date.

That guy happened to be Tom Payne of “The Walking Dead” fame. The actor was in town for the event one day after attending a Comic Con in Rhode Island.

“I feel very fortunate to be in a position with my job to play a member of the LGBTQ community, and with that be welcomed into the community,” he said. “We got invited to Elton’s party at the Oscars at the beginning of this year, and that was an amazing honor — and that was one thing, but this [party] is to come out and celebrate what amazing work this foundation does.”

Also in attendance were Iman, Tony Bennett, Leonard A. Lauder, Billie Jean King, Marina Abramovic, who walked in holding the hand of Todd Eckert, and Judith Light.

Light has been a longtime supporter; she’s been involved since the very beginning of the initiative in the early Eighties.

“When we began to find out our friends were dying,” said the actress, clad in a fully sequined Christian Siriano gown, “Elton took up this mantle and started really being out there and supporting people and making sure people remember that AIDS is still with us. That it’s not over, and making sure that people were taken care of and knew they were loved and that they were supported if they found out they were HIV positive. For me, to make sure that people are taken care of and that they’re not discriminated against is just about the most important thing that we can all do for each other. Particularly at this time. It’s a very big day tomorrow.”

Election talk was heavy on people’s minds — and in their conversations — throughout the night. The event opened with a powerful 20-minute speech rooted in the political given by Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative and the New National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. Afterward, John paid tribute to another longtime EJAF supporter; last year, the late Aretha Franklin performed during the benefit.

“We witnessed what turned out to be the final performance of the queen of soul,” John told the crowd. “We were sobbing, you don’t see greatness like that very often, we will never see it again. And we saw it at our event,” he added. “She raised the roof and she sang and she played and we made us all weep — and she gave us the performance of a lifetime.”

Francis Ford Coppola Honored at 2018 NYPL Lions Awards

New York society gathered inside the historical building to award Francis Ford Coppola, historian and biographer Ron Chernow, opera singer Jessye Norman, poet Claudia Rankine and novelist Elizabeth Strout.

On Monday night in Midtown Manhattan, Gay Talese was inside the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue, the NYPL’s Library Lions event — an annual celebration of patrons of the arts.

“I’m an old Lion,” he said. “Every year I come, there are new people. And every year I come, there are old people who died. And I’m still around. I’m 86. Wow, what an old person I am.”

Talese was one of a handful of former Lions wearing their medals, attached to the thick, signature red ribbon, proudly around their necks at the party. They’d put on their black-tie finest and gathered within the confines of the historical building to honor this year’s set: Francis Ford Coppola, historian and biographer Ron Chernow, opera singer Jessye Norman, poet Claudia Rankine and novelist Elizabeth Strout.

Sofia Coppola, who will receive her own award from Ballroom Marfa at their Spaghetti Western Gala Tuesday night in Manhattan, attended to support her father. Lauren and Andrés Santo Domingo, David Remnick, The Breakfast Club’s Angela Yee (who’s a library ambassador), Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rory Culkin were also in attendance at the party — which was truly a sight to see, interior design-wise. Cascades of vines fell from the entryway, where all of the honorees’ books were on display. On the third floor, the Rose Main Reading Room was transformed into a dining hall for the guests, where a live band played jazz tunes and the tables were festooned with alternating floral arrangements of orchids and white lilies. The whole night smacked of some bygone era of New York, when people wore fedoras and Mackintoshes and elbow-length gloves.

Tory Burch, after posing for photographs upstairs, said she was busy beyond words, what with her foundation, her collections for Tory Sport and the main line, and, oh yeah — her upcoming wedding.

“I’m getting married in a couple of weeks,” she said. “I’ve got three children, three stepchildren and three stepchildren to come.”

Another thing that’s been keeping her nose to the grindstone: Tuesday’s election.

“We designed a T-shirt, and partnered with Eighteenx18, Yara Shahidi’s group. I’ve challenged ceo’s to give people time off to vote. We set up different registering opportunities in some of our store locations. So we’re committed.”

But back to Talese, who seemed jolly as the wine and cocktails continued flowing. During dinner, all the past and new Lions were asked to please rise. Talese, sitting at the same table as Ford Coppola, got up, looked at the director and raised his fist in acknowledgment.

Talese touched briefly on the Netflix documentary “Voyeur,” which was released in 2017 and centered around controversies of the journalist’s book “The Voyeur’s Motel.” Apparently, according to Talese, prior to the documentary, he’d signed a “million-dollar deal” for another movie to be made by directors Sam Mendes and Steven Spielberg based on the book. Talese didn’t tell anyone that three years prior, the documentary group had followed him for “Voyeur.”

“I didn’t think it was important,” he said. “I thought it was a little documentary, for journalism. Mendes found out about it and Spielberg got angry. They were blindsided, I blindsided them. Then they killed the million-dollar deal.

“But you know something? When you’re 86 years old, it doesn’t matter. I’m here. I’m still alive. And I’m still drinking gin martinis.”

These days, immersive installations made for the ‘gram are a dime a dozen in New York. But when it comes to experiencing “a true original,” there’s only one pop-up that should be on your radar.

Last night, A-listers came out to celebrate the global pop culture icon that is Mickey Mouse at the unveiling of Mickey: The True Original Exhibition, a 16,000-square-foot space that brings together art, fashion, and photo ops inspired by Mickey’s 90th anniversary. The opening night bash saw celebs and fashionistas, including Sarah Jessica Parker (wearing Gigi Burris-designed mouse ears, natch), Natasha Lyonne, Tali Lennox, Justine Skye, and Victor Cruz explore the massive and magical Meatpacking District exhibit.

Boasting a colorful maze of immersive rooms and original art by Keith Haring, Daniel Arsham, Oliver Clegg, and many more, the tribute to the Disney star provides a truly unique perspective on the history and inspiring influence of Mickey Mouse; it also confirms his timeless staying power in a world of gimmicks and short attention spans.

Besides indulging their imaginations, visitors will also be able to browse and purchase limited edition merchandise and receive complimentary scoops of Ample Hills Creamery’s birthday cake ice cream from their Disney Mickey Mouse range of flavors. It’s not quite Disney World, but it’s certainly as close as you can get in NYC.

Ali Wentworth Honored at Hope for Depression Research Foundation‘s 12th Annual Luncheon Seminar

On Tuesday, November 6^th, Hope for Depression Research Foundation (HDRF), the leading non-profit dedicated to advanced depression research, held its 12^th Annual HOPE Luncheon Seminar at The Plaza Hotel.  The seminar focused on “Brain Health and Wellness” with leading scientists and psychiatrists taking the stage to talk about the transformative benefits of meditation, diet, sleep and exercise.

The day culminated with author, actress and comedian Ali Wentworth, who made the room of 300 people laugh with humorous insights about her own experience with depression and psychiatric treatment. She was honored with the 2018 HOPE Award for Depression Advocacy. 

Master of Ceremonies Chuck Scarborough began the event on a more somber note with a review of the year’s headlines in mental health, including the tragic suicides of Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade. He reminded the audience that depression and suicide are on the rise, and that HDRF’s mission to find new and better treatments for depression is more urgent now than ever.

The keynote speaker, acclaimed neuroscientist Richard Davidson, PhD, then came to the podium to speak about the fundamentals of emotional well-being. Dr. Davidson is the Founder and Director of the Center for Healthy Minds at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is personal friends with the Dalai Lama and is a prolific writer on the topic of brain and emotion as well as the benefits of meditation.

He explained that his extensive brain research indicates that well-being is a skill we can develop by focusing on four components: awareness/attention,connection, insight and sense of purpose. He said that a wandering mind is an unhappy mind, and pointed out that in modern life, the average adult’s mind wanders 47% of the time. This sent a titter of nervous laughter through the audience.

Diet, sleep and exercise and their link to brain health was the topic covered by the next speaker, psychiatrist Dr. Samantha Boardman of Cornell Weill. She stressed that nutrition is as important to psychiatry as it is to cardiology or gastroenterology.

Dr. Boardman cited a study in which subjects ate only fatty and sugary foods and developed impairments in learning and memory in four days. Another study shows that young adults who ate more fruits and vegetables every day reported improved vitality and motivation in as little as two weeks. In keeping, she always recommends a Mediterranean style diet that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, fish, nuts, and unsaturated oils like olive oil.

Sleep and mental health go hand in hand, Dr. Boardman said. People who don’t sleep enough are less inclined to interact with others, robbing them of healthy social bonds, studies show. Furthermore, when we lack sleep, other people perceive us as socially repulsive, creating a vicious cycle that may be contributing to the public health problem of loneliness. Dr. Boardman told the audience to cultivate better sleep habits by leaving screens out of the bedroom. She said 90% of young adults sleep with their cell phone in bed. Even more shocking: 1 in 3 smartphone owners say they would rather give up sex than their phones.

A sedentary lifestyle is worse for your health than smoking, diabetes and heart disease, Dr. Boardman said.  She added that most of us sit still for 13 hours a day, not including sleep hours. We cannot assume regular visits to the gym are sufficient. We need to move more in general – stroll around the block at lunchtime, take the stairs instead of the elevator, walk instead of calling a cab. Evidence clearly shows that being active and spending time outdoors improves our resilience, motivation and positivity.

HDRF Founder & Chair Audrey Gruss turned the focus of the day to the advanced research of HDRF’s team of acclaimed scientists, The Depression Task Force. She announced that the team has recently published a major study that points to a potential blood test for depression and new category of anti-depressant that is faster-acting and with fewer side effects than current medications in use for the past 30 years.

Audrey Gruss then presented Ali Wentworth with the HOPE Award for Depression Advocacy saying, “with keen observation and humor, she demystifies a very serious topic by inviting us all to pull up a chair and chat with her.” 

Ms. Wentworth took to the stage and joked, “My mother is an über-WASP, and when I was growing up, we didn’t talk about feelings or issues… I went through a depression in my twenties and I was in therapy and taking Zoloft, and I called my mother up and I said, ‘Is there any depression in our family?’ and she said ‘Nope, no depression.’ I said, ‘All four of my grandparents killed themselves, that’s not depression?'”

She went on to speak about how attitudes have changed around what used to be a taboo subject; she can see it in her daughter and her daughters’ friends who are speaking much more openly about mental health. “I’m very proud of her because we talk about anxiety as much as the Kardashians… 99% of the time.”

The Luncheon Seminar Co-Chairs were Ann Barish, Natalie du Pont Edmonds, Peter Gregory, Tania Higgins, Margo Langenberg, Kitty McKnight, Serena McKnight Bowman, Peter S. Paine III, Nancy Silverman and Felicia Taylor.

Additional guests included: Geoffrey Bradfield, Janna Bullock, Sharon Bush, Hilary Geary Ross, Jamee Gregory, Susan Gutfreund, Kim Heirston, Chicago Fire actor Jeff Lima, Karen LeFrak, Jay McInerney, Christine Mack, Marc Rosen, Margo Nederlander, Marina Pellechi, Jean Shafiroff, Scott Snyder, and Lis Waterman.

ABOUT HOPE FOR DEPRESSION RESEARCH FOUNDATION

HDRF’s mission is to fund the most innovative neuroscience research into the origins, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of depression and other mood disorders – bipolar disorder, postpartum depression, post-traumatic stress syndrome, anxiety disorder and suicide.

In 2010, HDRF launched its Depression Task Force – an outstanding collaboration of eight leading scientists, at the frontiers of brain science, from different research institutions across the U.S. and Canada. These scientists have developed an unprecedented research strategy that integrates the most advanced knowledge in genetics, epigenetics, molecular biology, electrophysiology, and brain imaging. To accelerate breakthrough research, they share ongoing results, in real time, at the HDRF Data Center. For more information, visit: www.hopefordepression.org

Lin-Manuel Miranda Honored at

Dominican Women’s Development Center’s 30^th Anniversary Gala

On Thursday October 25, the Dominican Women’s Development Center, the largest independent Dominican founded organization in the United States, held their 30^th Anniversary Gala at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, where they honored composer, lyricist, and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, and other notable people, including philanthropist Jean Shafiroff.

The gala raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to help fund the center’s diverse programs for Latina women and families of the Washington Heights community.

Lin-Manuel Miranda‘s father Luis A. Miranda, Jr. introduced Rosita Romero, DWDC Executive Director, who danced her way on to the stage before offering a rallying speech, saying “Our evening’s theme is transforming lives, but the first life the DWDC transformed was mine.” She spoke about the center’s achievements and how they have helped more than 11,000 individuals and families with support services, referrals and resources.

Lin-Manuel Miranda then came to the stage and joked, “I love Dominican women so much I married one,” before applauding the work of the DWDC for always “lifting up the community.” Throughout the evening, the DWDC also recognized exceptional individuals and corporations that have made their mark.

Dr. Casilda Balmaceda, Board-Certified Neurologist and CEO of Neurology Associates, was presented with the Healthcare Leadership Award; Jean Shafiroff,Author and Philanthropist, was presented with the Outstanding Philanthropy Award; Daniel Kern, NYPD Police Officer, was presented with the Honorable Service Award; Marisol Martinez, Vice President, Channel Relationship Marketing, Charter Communications, was presented with the Visionary in Strategic Marketing and Communication Award; Jomari Goyso, Designer, Beauty Expert and Hairstylist, was presented with the Lifestyle Breakthrough Award; andMaria Terrero, Family Services Coordinator, Early Head Start, DWDC, was presented with the Founders Award.

An auction was then held, where people bid on luxury handbags including one by Oscar de la Renta, vacations and art work donated by Kate Shin from the Waterfall Mansion – where one of the bids was for $37,000.

The Gala Chairs were Luz Miranda-Crespo and Sabine Poisson. The Gala Benefit Committee was Annette Malloy, Luz Bermudez, Maritza Santiago, Karen Kelley, Fermin Espinosa, Petra Cruz, Michelle Ester, Brenda Scott, and Rosita Romero.

About the Dominican Women’s Development Center

The mission of DWDC is to empower all women and communities to advance gender equality and social justice.  Since 1998 and with an uncompromised resolve, the DWDC has made tremendous strides to fulfil its mission to empower all women and communities to advance gender equality and social justice. Fueled by an unrelenting quest to see families and individuals realize their potential, the DWDC has been a compassionate source of hope and inspiration to countless women, children and households through programs and services that restore their dignity and self-esteem while encouraging the pursuit of possibilities far beyond their personal circumstance and socioeconomic conditions.

At their annual events, the DWDC is able to showcase some of the lives they are privileged to shape, and equally ecstatic about recognizing individuals who share our passion for service as well as honoring our selfless organization partners without whom the mission of changing lives cannot be achieved.

Thirty years is not just a DWDC milestone: it is the perfect embodiment of a collective community accomplishment. The DWDC believes in treating all people with dignity and respect, that promoting gender equality is fundamental to social justice, that all people have the right to opportunities and resources that support them in reaching their full potential. They believe in practicing holistic, culturally sensitive, inclusive and innovative community engagement. They are committed to serving all communities regardless of background gender, race, ethnicity, economic status, age, religion, culture, sexual orientation, or other identities, and believe in the power of advocacy for ourselves and their communities.

French Heritage Society’s Black and Orange Ball

On October 31^st, French Heritage Society (FHS) held its Annual New York Gala Dinner Dance at The Plaza Hotel. This year, the exquisite, much anticipated affair was festively themed The Black and Orange Ball, and black-tie clad guests wore elegant masks, disguises, and colorful accents.

The evening honored French luxury lifestyle brand LALIQUE and its founder René Lalique. It was organized under the gracious patronage of His Excellency Gérard Araud, Ambassador of France to the United States, His Excellency François Delattre, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations, and Mrs. Sophie L’Hélias-Delattre, Ms. Anne-Claire Legendre, Consul General of France in New York, and Mrs. Bénédicte de Montlaur,Cultural Counselor of the French Embassy in the United States.

The Gala Chairmen were CeCe Black, Silvina Leone, Liz McDermott, Jay R. Paul, Jean Shafiroff, and Ann Van Ness. The New York Chapter Chairs are Guy N. Robinson and Odile de Schiétère-Longchampt, who also served as the Design Consultant. The Board of Directors includes Elizabeth F. Stribling, Chairman of the Board, Denis de Kergorlay, President, David M. Gray, Treasurer, and Jennifer Herlein, Executive Director.

A cocktail reception commenced with singer and performer Lenny Hoops providing the music and entertainment before guests sat for dinner. Attendees raised their glasses as Chairman of the Board, Elizabeth F. Stribling and Denis de Kergorlay welcomed guests, and CeCe Black thanked her fellow Gala Chairs.

The events wine consultant and emcee, George Sape then introduced a short video about LALIQUE before Elizabeth F. Stribling and Denis de Kergorlaypresented a trophy to the LALIQUE team, which was accepted by Sarah Gargano on behalf of the brand. Celebrating their 130th anniversary in 2018, LALIQUE is internationally recognized as the ultimate symbol of French luxury.

A short dancing break set to the music of the Alex Donner Orchestra before Nicholas Dawes, Vice President, Heritage Auctions, the country’s leading expert on René Lalique, began the live auction.

Supporters were given the opportunity to bid on four lots that included Living LALIQUE – an exclusive cocktail party for up to 10 guests in an elegant space designed by LALIQUE, which served so popular a second party was provided with both selling at $4,500. A lavish travel package to Discover the Parisian Art-de-Vivre was sold for $6,500, dinner for four at Skybox at Daniel accompanied by superlative wines was placed for $3,500, and a stay at La Mamounia, the legendary 5-star palace hotel in Marrakesh, Morocco, resulted in a bidding war before being placed with the winner for $6,000.

A short video about the FHS Student Exchange Program, was then screened before Naomi Jabouin, FHS Student Exchange Program Alum, made brief remarks to express her gratitude for the program. The auctioneer then collected for the bids for the Student Exchange Program, before dessert was served and dancing resumed.

About French Heritage Society

French Heritage Society was founded in 1982 as a two-way street for Americans and French to share their love of historic architecture. French Heritage Society intervenes to ensure that the treasures of our shared French architectural and cultural heritage survive to inspire future generations to build, dream and create. FHS has contributed to over 580 restoration grants and helped secure $21.2 million dollars, including matching dollars, for historic monuments, buildings and gardens in every department in France and to properties in the United States that reflect France’s historic influence. There are 11 Chapters of the Society throughout the United States and Paris.

Performa likes to keep its crowd guessing. And as usual, its annual fall gala offered plenty of surprises throughout the night.

This year’s event at Stage 37 honored iconic land artist Christo and his late wife Jeanne-Claude who, over the course of many decades, created ambitious large-scale environmental works. As an homage to the duo’s work, the stated dress code of the night was “fold,” and many in the crowd obliged.

“I think fold has something very conceptual and beautiful and poetic about it; you can kind of interpret it any way you want. You’re not enforcing anything on anyone, because there’s folds in every type of material,” said event cochair Roya Sachs, a lifelong Christo admirer. “He really reminds me and shows me that persistence and imagination have no boundaries. Whatever you want to achieve, you can achieve that. He spent so many years trying to develop his projects, and then finally when they come to fruition it’s a magical moment,” she added. “Oftentimes you see a finished project, but you don’t know what went behind that, what went into that, and what that means and how that’s transferred and how does that change the artwork.”

Christo maintains that what went into his projects is a lot of work — real work.

“Real wind, real water, real danger, incredible problems, real fear,” said the 83-year-old artist during cocktail hour. “Everything we do is all real work; has nothing to do with make-believe. Most of the art today is illustrations of things. We have to get permission — we don’t talk to actor politicians, we talk to the chancellor of Germany.”

For their “The Gates” project, which was documented by the late Maysles brothers, he had to talk to many New York politicians until he was able to realize the plan of erecting 7,503 saffron-canopied gates inside of Central Park.

 

“That is not performance. When I did the install of the gates, it’s not performance,” he said. “When I went to the politicians to get the permission, it’s not a performance; Mayor [Ed] Koch refused the project of the gates, I needed to fight with Mayor [David] Dinkins, when [Rudolph] Giuliani refused the project — not a performance, not at all. It’s not about a performance, doing this project has nothing to do with performance,” he added. “All of these projects are a lot of reality, but not performance.”

The climbers scaling the railing inside the event space were, however, real performance artists. So were the performers tethered to buckets inside the venue’s entrance. The crowd included artists of many stripes, from the up-and-comers to the more established, including Ellie Goulding, Rashid Johnson, Derrick Adams and David Hallberg. No matter how Christo chooses to define his work, the fact is that he’s part of the fabric of the larger artistic cannon.

“I’m always astonished by people who’ve managed to sustain a position, a level of ingenuity and inventiveness and creativity that over six decades, it’s huge,” said Performa founder RoseLee Goldberg, who met Christo in the Seventies when she was working in London and described his work as “democratic.” “One of the points I’ve been trying to make ever since I wrote my first book in 1979, but also with Performa is that performance has been around for centuries, it’s not something that suddenly new,” she added.

On October 18, 2018, The Frick Collection hosted its annual Autumn Dinner. This year’s black-tie event honored Henry P. Johnson, a steadfast friend of the Frick and a loyal supporter of both the museum and library.

A formal sit-down dinner in a series of contiguous, dramatically lit galleries was the highlight of an unforgettable evening evocative of one of the great society dinners of Gilded Age New York. Banquet tables ran the length of the mansion’s West Gallery, where guests dined among works by Vermeer and Rembrandt. Those seated in the more intimate Oval Room found their round tables surrounded by full-length portraits by Whistler. Guests in the East Gallery dined among paintings by David, Goya, Van Dyck, and others.

Frick Chairman Betty Eveillard welcomed everyone from the podium in the West Gallery, and thanked guests for their generous support of the Frick and for joining the museum in celebrating the evening’s honoree, Henry P. Johnson. After the main course, Frick trustee Margot Bogert and Frick Director Ian Wardropper toasted Johnson. Wardropper then presented him with a commemorative silver tray donated by Tiffany & Co.

Amy Astley, Anna Wintour, Michael Kors Party the Rumors Away at AD Style Issue Fete

After a week fraught with rumors concerning the future of Vogue and multiple Condé Nast titles, AD’s editor in chief Amy Astley hosted a party to shake that gossip off.

Architectural Digest had a party at New York’s Legacy Records on Manhattan’s West Side on Wednesday to toast its September style issue — although the timing wasn’t great. The Brizo-sponsored event — which drew the likes of Michael Kors (who’s on the cover of the magazine this coming month and gave AD a full video tour of his penthouse apartment), Jason Wu, Anna Sui and Anna Wintour — was hosted by Architectural Digest editor in chief Amy Astley. Condé Nast had been suffering a hailstorm week surrounding rumors of Wintour leaving — which it finally firmly denied by saying she was staying “indefinitely” — when reports, including in The New York Times, revealed that three of the financially challenged media giant’s publications — W, Brides and Golf Digest — are up for sale. But if anyone at the fete was worried about those issues, it didn’t show. Hordes of people swarmed the bar and entrance area of the venue, crowding together and kissing each others’ cheeks.

Woman of the hour Wintour stood in a corner after posing for photos on the step and repeat. Arms folded, she leaned against a railing and put her head down to chat with Kors. But to anyone else, she retained her usual Greta Garbo-esque act, declining to be interviewed by saying, “I’m just running out, but nice to see you.” Even when a guest inquired whether she’d seen her daughter Bee Shaffer’s wedding photos from her recent nuptials to Francesco Carrozzini, Wintour simply pulled a pained smile and kept walking. Nice to see you, too.

Astley did pause to chat about why readers are so interested to see the inside of celebrities’ homes.

“What’s interesting in our world is personal,” she said. “My first style issue at AD, we featured Marc Jacobs’ home, and people were very surprised to see how he lived. It wasn’t what they expected. In the case of Michael Kors, I was really struck by how perfectly cohesive his house was with what he’s been doing his entire career: sleek, luxurious minimalism.”

Switching to her mentor Wintour’s title, Vogue, Astley was asked about rumors that Wintour gave Beyoncé full editorial control over that magazine’s September cover story. “I don’t know anything about that,” Astley said. “To me, that’s just talk in the media. I wouldn’t believe any of that talk about anybody ceding control. There’s no way that Anna’s making a false move with anything that she’s doing at Vogue, especially that issue.”

Both Wu and Sui are busy at work on their respective spring collections they’ll be showing in September. With their fabrics for the upcoming season fully squared away, they said they’re ready to start putting things together.

“Now I don’t have an excuse why there’s nothing done,” Sui said, laughing.

It was downright sizzling at the Jean Paul Gaultier party celebrating the new Scandal By Night women’s fragrance, due out in September.

Elisabeth Jones Hennessy, Anna Cleveland, Paz de la Huerta, Betony Vernon and Catherine Baba were among guests at the majestic 19th-century mansion on the Place Saint-Georges that was teeming with pole dancers, leather-bound men and gender-bending staff peddling black fans, red lollipops and French letters in wicker baskets. In true Gaultier fashion, a cloakroom attendant sported a striped sailor shirt.

“Scandal was the official life, and Scandal By Night is the non-official life of ‘Madame La Ministre,’” said Thomas James, general manager of Jean Paul Gaultier, referring to the protagonist in the advertising campaign for the original scent out last summer. She’s a government minister who parties all night in Paris’ Pigalle neighborhood then makes her way directly into the office.

“This is a night experience,” continued Vincent Thilloy, senior vice president of prestige designer and alternative brands at Puig, Jean Paul Gaultier’s owner.

Rossy de Palma, a longtime friend and muse of Gaultier, was in attendance. The actress, who recently appeared in the hilarious #Jeanpod spot to help the designer mark his 20 years in the perfume business, plans to take her theater piece, “Love, Travel and Resilience,” on the road, to Paris, Lisbon and Argentina.

She’s working on a new film, too, among other projects; just do not count on her taking a long vacation anytime soon. “I don’t believe very much in holidays like everybody else,” she said. “I take some days all through the year when I can, like four days of intense relaxation…[to] reset my software and do something I enjoy but not be in places where everyone goes.”

That might be Spain’s Formentera or Madrid, continued de Palma.

In fact, Formentera is Blanca Li’s holiday destination of choice this summer. “I need to disconnect from everything, and that’s the place for me, where I can really let it go,” she said.

Biarritz, in southwest France, is the upcoming vacation spot for Vincent Cassel, who arrived at the party with Tina Kunakey.

Arch Ballet hosted their Making Waves Summer Benefactor Party this past Wednesday, August 15 at Fashion Bar to toast to their rising achievements of 2018 thus far. The neon pink LED touches and palm tree leaves were a chic compliment to the New York Fashion Week artwork that covered the walls of this Vogue worthy cocktail bar.

The soirée was post performance of their World Premiere ballet REM. Conversation was bustling with compliments about the troupe’s talented dancers and vision of it-girl choreographer Sheena Annalise, between the stories of juicy Hampton’s weekend trip shenanigans.

Between all the conversation, champagne glass clinking, and auction bidding, the event raised vital funds for Arch Ballet’s next creations. The buzz around the party was that it has to do with neuroscience, but the choreographer herself wasn’t ready to reveal when asked for comment. Patrons “in the know” of the behind the scenes though, can’t help but to spill some of the excitement.

We will have to follow them @archballet to see what the secrecy is all about.

Host committee members of the evening were Gerald Appelstein, David Ballinger, Avishan Bodjnoud, Nicholas D’Angelo, Bryan Hale, Scott Jeffrey, Marija Pecar, Edda Santiago, and Jeff Vockrodt.

Photos by Steve Yensel

Paddle and Party for Pink held its annual fundraiser in the Hamptons on Saturday, starting bright and early at 8 a.m. with a paddle board race and ending with a casual evening rager underneath the night sky.

The party took place right on the water of Sag Harbor’s Havens Beach, and raised money — $1.4 million, to be exact — to benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Part of that figure came from a raucous auction in which a lunch with Gwyneth Paltrow sold for $55,000. So that’s the going rate for hang time with G.P.

Guests hit the dance floor and dined on snacks from the food trucks surrounding the perimeter of the area — shirtless models circled the party holding a bright pink shotski, offering brave souls shots of espresso booze.

Despite the good cheer and revelry, the story behind Paddle for Pink is a more serious one. Founder Maria Baum discovered paddle boarding was therapeutic and stress-relieving after she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent chemotherapy.

“You start at whatever level and speed you’re comfortable with, and then you do a little more, and then a little more,” she said of her experience with the sport. “Some days you feel like you can’t, so you don’t.

“I was a trader on Wall Street before this, and I didn’t ever exercise and I ate like crap,” she added, tearing up. “I didn’t share with my kids when I was going through chemo. I was glad in the morning to just get it out; I would be emotional and crazy and then I’d paddle board and come back so peaceful and calm. My kids saw me doing something physical and outside in nature and they were young enough to not realize what was happening until it was over.”

This year, Lilly Pulitzer came on as a lead sponsor of the event. Nearly all the guests — save a few city kids who didn’t switch up their usual all-black getups — were decked out in the bright pinks, yellows and neon oranges synonymous with the label. The brand decorated the cushion covers, poufs and bar in loud prints, and had a company print artist painting live at the entrance.

Chief executive officer Michelle Kelly attended in a bright yellow, one-shoulder Lilly dress. She discussed upcoming projects for the company, which include two store openings in Newport Beach’s Fashion Island center and a shop in Palm Beach, Fla., on Worth Avenue. The bricks-and-mortar difficulties so many companies have experienced were not lost on Kelly, but she said the emotional connection customers have with Lilly Pulitzer brings consumers into the physical stores.

“Our team doesn’t think in channels as much,” she said. “They’re thinking about: our customer starts on her phone, for sure, then may end up in our store, and both of those are really important. But they need to work together.”

LTD by Lizzie Tisch, an experiential style venture founded by retail entrepreneur Lizzie Tisch, launched with a series of events over the weekend of July 13 in Bridgehampton, New York. The weekend kicked off with a private dinner to celebrate the launch, which was attended by Kelly Ripa, Sarah Jessica Parker and Jane Krakowski. Sales events also took place throughout the weekend, for which LTD curated a living showroom of renowned pop artist Ashley Longshore’s works sold alongside a collection of Lizzie’s summer must haves.

Photo Credit: Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com

LTD focuses on exclusive, limited edition designer collaborations bringing exciting collections and unique product to consumers, with the goal of infusing shopping with excitement, fun and a sense of discovery. 

Photo Credit: Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com

Serving as Longshore’s exclusive Hamptons activation this summer, a selection of 40 pieces, in a variety of sizes and mediums, including paintings, sculptures and furniture were sold at the event. Inspired by Longshore’s bold and colorful pieces other featured items included custom cashmere sweaters by Rachelle Hruska MacPherson’s Lingua Franca line donning Longshore’s famed punny phrases.

Energetically aware home and body goods from Sage & Salt were also featured. A portion of sales proceeds went to The Retreat, which provides domestic violence and sexual assault services on Eastern Long Island.

Photo Credit: Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com

Additional attendees included: Joseph Altuzarra, Alina Cho, Sean and Rachelle MacPherson, Amirah Kassem, Daniel Benedict and Andrew Saffir, Caroline Hirsch and Andrew Fox, Laura Slatkin, Darcy Miller, Fiona Rudin, Robert Verdi and Peter Pilotto.

Photo Credit: Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com     

Photo Credit: Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com

Photo Credit: Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com

Photo Credit: Benjamin Lozovsky/BFA.com

A cultural staple for the artsy set, the Parrish Art Museum is practically The Whitney of the East End. Unsurprisingly, its patrons are just as chic.

Jean Shafiroff

Maren Otto, Robert Wilson, Terrie Sultan

On Saturday, nearly 500 well-heeled Hamptons philanthropists headed to Water Mill for the museum’s annual Midsummer Party, this year honoring long-time trustee Chad Leat and artist Keith Sonnier, whose exhibition, Keith Sonnier: Until Today is currently on show.

Between all the dining, dancing, and auction bidding, the event raised almost $1.3 million in support of the museum. Even more impressive, however, were the creative-cool ensembles being donned by the art-making and art-loving guests.

Barbara DePortago, Gillian Fuller, Wendy Stark

Jason McDermott, Justine Caputi, Townsend Katz,

Merrin Jenkins, Andrew Katz

Like some summertime scene straight out of a Slim Aarons photograph, the world’s most well-to-do gathered this week at an idyllic Tuscan villa for the annual Fourth of July bash hosted by Rosetta Getty and her billionaire-heir husband Balthazar.

Fashion insiders, celebrities, and international It Girls, from Elizabeth Olsen and Sofia Sanchez de Betak to Mia Moretti and Kardashian Krew members Jen Atkin and Stephanie Shepherd, lounged poolside under the Italian sun at the historic Villa Cetinale, a sprawling, 17th-century estate in Siena. Coinciding with the Palio, one of the oldest horse races in Europe, the Getty’s yearly fete marries the American holiday with old-world tradition.

“[The Palio] is a big deal to the Sienese, and thousands upon thousands of people crowd into the Piazza del Campo to watch not just the race, but also the procession before it, where the neighborhoods—the contrade—march out with drums and flags and men in armor as precisely as they have since the Middle Ages,” explains Rosetta in Vogue.

But between all the excitement, long, languid lunches of pasta and fresh fare awaited their guests, as well as poolside sunbathing and walks through the gorgeous gardens. Of course, it couldn’t be Independence Day (for the Americans) without a show of fireworks, and indeed the weekend festivities culminated in a stunning al fresco dinner lighted by explosions in the sky.

Beats whatever barbecue you went to, huh?

The Glass House celebrated their annual Summer Party on Saturday, June 9th, 2018. The Summer Party was made possible by generous support from Houlihan Lawrence, The Howard Hughes Corporation/Seaport District NYC, Janice Parker Landscape Architects +  SRI Fine Art Services. The al fresco event featured a festive farm-to-table picnic by South End, rosé by Whispering Angel, lawn games including ping-pong and chess, the music of Philip Glass and John Cage performed by Brooklyn Rider, and a special auction of contemporary art, luxury items, and experiences powered by Paddle8.

Tesla provided transportation between the parking area and the Glass House. Guests had the exclusive opportunity to view a Tesla Model X on display during the event. This year’s Summer Party artist, Jenny Holzer, created two limited edition mirrors In a Glass House and Certainly sex, in support of the Glass House. Ticket purchasers at the VIP Friend level and Platinum Table level received a single edition as part of their donation.

Guests strolled the 49-acre landscape and enjoyed an exhibition on view in the Painting Gallery, Personal Effect: Works from the Collections of Philip Johnson and David Whitney, from the Glass House permanent collection, and had the opportunity to preview a virtual reality experience that simulated the restored interior of the Brick House, which remains closed and requires much-needed restoration.

The Summer Party benefit auction included works by Andrea Zittel, Dustin Yellin, Lawrence Weiner, Lindsey Adelman, The Haas Brothers, Rita Ackermann, luxury trip packages and many more unique art and design items.

The Summer Party was kindly sponsored by Art in America, ArtNEWS, and Moffly Media.

All proceeds from the Summer Party benefit the Glass House. The Glass House, built between 1949 and 1995 by architect Philip Johnson, is a site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation located in New Canaan, CT. The pastoral 49-acre landscape comprises fourteen structures, including the Glass House (1949), and features a permanent collection of 20th-century painting and sculpture.

 

Belgian gallery owner and curator Gregoire Vogelsang from Vogelsang Gallery presents the third edition of Cube Art Fair. The contemporary art fair takes place on the ground floor gallery space of 521 West 27th street designed by world-renown architect Zaha Hadid and is adjacent to the High Line Nine gallery spaces.

Cube Art Fair presents photography, paintings, and sculptures from upcoming and established European and American artists such as David Drebin, Antoine Verglas, Justin Bower, Desire Obtain Cherish, Carine Doutrelepont, Jane Fleetwood-Morrow, Eugenio Marino, Troy House, Peter Mc Lennan, Gregg Emery, etc.

Founded in 2016 with already two successful editions produced in Brussels, Belgium (under the theme The American Art Fair of Brussels), Cube Art Fair brings to New York it’s unique model which bridges European and American collectors, galleries, and artists. Cube Art Fair gives unique opportunities for exhibitors, collectors, and artists to build strong relationships with one another through various intimate setting and dinners taking place at collector’s private homes.

The New York edition (through June 30th) will host cocktail events every Thursday, charity auctions, and exclusive sit-down dinners for art collectors and curated attendees throughout the entire month of June. The black tie dinners, organized in partnership with Maison Christofle and Caviar Petrossian, will also serve as the soft launch of the events program of the High Line Nine galleries connected to the Zaha Hadid Building.

Springtime in New York means more than allergies and clement weather. As the city thrums with anticipation for Monday’s Met Gala, the red carpets start rolling out all over town, including at the New York City Ballet’s Spring Gala, held Thursday night at Lincoln Center.

“It’s always the gala before the Met Gala,” said native New Yorker Ansel Elgort, who attended alongside his ballerina girlfriend, Violetta Komyshan.

In the wake of Peter Martins’s retirement last January as ballet chief, amid allegations of sexual and verbal misconduct (Martins has denied all allegations of misconduct and an independent investigation did not corroborate the allegations), the New York City Ballet returned to its roots with a celebration of choreographer Jerome Robbins. At the gala the company premiered the electric, whirlwind number “Something to Dance About,” which condenses nine of Robbins’s major works—including West Side Story, Gypsy, Funny Girl, and The King and I—into one unmissably spectacular 30-minute performance, and will have five more performances in May.

Elgort, dressed in a snappy Givenchy suit, was unabashed about his respect for N.Y.C.B.’s dancers, reflecting on his younger days as a student at the School of American Ballet. “I was in the S.A.B. for five years. The reason I even tried to get into S.A.B. was because of musical theater, because I wanted to do musical theater,” Elgort said as he sat down to an asparagus and prosciutto salad at the post-performance dinner. “I figured that if you did this it would help you do musical theater, and you watch the way these dancers do musical theater—the way Chase Finlay jumped around in that sailor outfit . . . it’s insane.”

For Elgort, who is a musician in addition to his acting career, dancing always came third. “I was dancing because I wanted to get better at it, not because I was really good or I liked it. I loved singing and acting and dancing, but dancing was definitely the third.” Still, that doesn’t stop him from cutting a rug once in a while (several memorable scenes in Baby Driver included): “I love to dance. I dance every day. Even when I work out I dance. I like to dance all the time.”

Over at table 63, Hamilton veterans Leslie Odom Jr. and Phillipa Soogushed about choreographer wunderkind Justin Peck, who had just premiered “Easy,” his new 80s-inspired number. “I love the way Justin works,” Odom Jr. said. “And there’s not a lot of that out there right now. He’s so creative and thoughtful. You would think that that’s ubiquitous, but it’s really not and it makes him special.”

Odom Jr. and Peck collaborated on a workshop for the current revival of Carousel, which Peck choreographed. “I thought the same thing when I worked with him then,“ Odom Jr. said. “It was witty and singular and confident. He studied Jerome Robbins so he’s trying his best to be everything that man was and add to that. To push the form forward.”

Sarah Jessica Parker, who walked the red carpet with her twin daughters, was missing from the dinner. She was present at the performance, though, seated front and center on the mezzanine, where Peck came to visit and pay his respects after the final ovation. She gave him a hug and introduced him to her daughters before sweeping them out onto the deserted plaza—though dinner had not started, it was probably way past their bedtime.

Article by HW Vail

Broadway composer Stephen Sondheim could not have been more succinct when he wrote a lyric for his groundbreaking 1970 musical, Company. It was a mere six words, but when performed by iconic actress Elaine Stritch, “Does anyone still wear a hat?” became as much a part of the very fabric of musical theater (ironically spoken, not sung) as Bette Davis’s “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night” did for film.

Truthfully, almost a decade earlier, the hat as a must-have for any well-dressed lady’s daytime turnout was single-handedly eradicated by one man: hairdresser Kenneth Battelle and his bouffant hairdo for First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. In a broad stroke, with the help of large Lucite rollers, a lot of back combing, and a monsoon of hairspray, the American women’s millinery industry went belly up. Similarly, when President Kennedy eschewed the traditional top hat at his inauguration, the same fate befell the men’s hat business.

It was considered a novelty therefore, when in 1983, the Women’s Committee of the Central Park Conservancy planned a new fundraising luncheon at Tavern on the Green and encouraged ladies to wear pretty spring hats. Three hundred guests attended and the event raised a grand total of $173,000.

Today, the annual Frederick Law Olmsted Awards Luncheon attracts a sellout crowd of 1,200, and over its 36-year history has raised over $55 million dollars for Central Park (this year’s event will be held May 2). It is one of the most successful fundraising luncheons in the country, along with being one of the most photogenic. Spectacular hats and stylish dresses aside, the Central Park Hat Luncheon, as it is universally called, is now held in a soaring tent erected within the Conservatory Garden, the only formal garden that exists in the park. Covering a total of six acres, it is divided into three styles: English, French, and Italian.

Like so much of Central Park, the Conservatory Garden was severely neglected before the Conservancy was formed as a private, non-profit organization in 1980 by a small group of concerned citizens. Restoration began in 1983, and in 1987 it was reopened to the public. Like any garden, it requires constant care, albeit on a grand scale.

“Bill Cunningham would always come back from the luncheon like a kid with a big haul from the candy store.” —John Kurdewan, the photographer’s longtime New York Times collaborator

“The park is the jewel of New York, free for everyone to use and enjoy,” says Gillian Miniter, a member of the Women’s Committee and former chairman and honoree of the luncheon. “We raise several million dollars every year that goes directly to the care and the maintenance of the park.”

On the current to-do list: a necessary but costly upgrade of the Conservatory Garden’s hardscapes. “The Women’s Committee has pledged to raise $5 million towards the $10 million needed to restore all of the paths, plazas and fountains,” Miniter explains. “They are original to the 1937 construction, and have deteriorated from decades of wear and tear.”

Indeed, the 1980s project only addressed the botanical elements, the fruits of which are now dazzling, as another former chairman of the luncheon, Anne Harrison, recalls: “One year, Mother Nature was really on our side. All of the cherry trees were in full bloom, and it was a sensational display!”

Equally sensational without fail are the attendees, as captured over the years by renowned photographer Mary Hilliard and the late photojournalist Bill Cunningham in his feature pages for the New York Times. A milliner before he went to work as a freelance writer for Women’s Wear Daily, he had a falling out with publisher John Fairchild and resigned, reinventing himself as a photographer of society and street fashion the likes of which the world will probably never see again.

BILL CUNNINGHAM AND JOHN KURDEWAN

DIANA DIMENNA

“It was the Grand Prix of hatmaking for him,” says John Kurdewan, Cunningham’s longtime New York Times collaborator. “As much as he loved the formality of fashion and the world of white gloves—he went wild for creativity—anything that was technically intricate or celebrated nature—things like butterflies and bees—were ‘just marvelous!’ He would always come back from the luncheon like a kid with a big haul from the candy store. I would download his camera right away in anticipation of putting the page together.”

One year, when Cunningham was unsteady from a knee injury, Kurdewan shadowed him at the luncheon. “I was terrified of the cobblestones. Not only for Bill, but all for all of the women in their stilettos.” He continued, “It’s a marathon of an event to work—the hundreds of beautifully dressed women coming down the Vanderbilt Gate stairs—and of course, for Bill, the incredible hats. I noticed that he seemed unusually shaky, and asked one of the volunteers if they could bring me a little bread. You know how he was- he usually would never accept even a glass of water. But they set up a small table and two chairs out of sight and brought us both full plates. It’s probably the only instance in our 15 years together that I ever saw him eat anything at an event. And the whole time, he fretted that because of him, someone would be going without their lunch!”

Here are a few more photos from the luncheon in years past.

By  STEVEN STOLMAN

Article for Town & Country Magazine