On Wednesday, October 16 - The American Folk
Art Museum celebrated fashion’s finest with
their Folk Couture Benefit Gala. The event
heralded the Museum’s January 2014
exhibition Folk Couture: Fashion and Folk
Art. Tim Gunn of Bravo's "Project Runway"
hosted the the Gala which honored fashion
luminaries Dr. Valerie Steele, Director and
Chief Curator of the Museum at FIT & Lucy
Sykes, Fashion Consultant, Rent the Runway,
and Brand Ambassador.
Mr. Gunn introduced the Gala Benefit Chairs,
Yaz Hernández and Laura Parsons. Ms.
Parsons, the Museum’s Chairman of the Board,
spoke about the importance of the American
Folk Art Museum within the global cultural
landscape, as well as the interplay between
art and fashion.
The Gala guests were the first to get a
sneak peek of the exhibition’s stunning and
provocative designs, via a video
presentation during cocktail hour.
Afterwards, the guests enjoyed a dinner
created by Apogee events; seasonal fare
included filet mignon or maple-glazed
Chilean sea bass, and a dessert which paired
a mini strawberry shortcake and chocolate
silk and satin.
Gala Guests included :Berry Bloomingdale,
Hayley Bloomingdale, Amy Fine Collins, Dr.
Maria Ann Connelli, Francisco Costa, Louise
Hirschfield Cullman and Lewis B. Cullman,
Jane Bloomingdale de Cisneros, Simon Doonan,
Nancy Druckman, Valentino Garavani, the
Honorable Daphne Guinness, Betsey Johnson,
Penny and Allan Katz, Steven Kolb, Coco and
Arie Kopelman, Phyllis Kossoff, Jerry
Lauren, Ida Liu, The Honorable Iris Love,
Jonelle Procope, Laudomia Pucci, Peter and
Elisa Rapaport, Peter G. Scotese, André Leon
Talley, Diana L. Taylor, Judy Francis Zankel,
and others
The Folk Couture exhibition will highlight
the ways that fashion engages with art. The
Museum invited 13 fashion designers to
create an ensemble based on an artwork from
their collection which will be on view at
the American Folk Art Museum January 21
through April 23, 2014. The designers are:
John Bartlett, Michael Bastian, Chadwick
Bell, Creatures of the Wind (Christopher
Peters and Shane Gabier), Gary Graham,
Catherine Malandrino, Bibhu Mohapatra,
NotEqual (Fabio Costa), Ronaldus Shamask,
threeASFOUR (Gabi Asfour, Angela Donhauser,
Adi Gil), Koos van den Akker, Yeohlee (Yeohlee
Teng), Jean Yu.
The American Folk Art Museum is the premier
institution devoted to the aesthetic
appreciation of traditional folk art and
creative expressions of contemporary
self-taught artists from the United States
and abroad. The museum preserves, conserves,
and interprets a comprehensive collection of
the highest quality, with objects dating
from the eighteenth century to the present.