For this week’s Friday Fête column, we’re sharing details from events hosted by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Scarpetta, and Loisida.
Photo by Tony Powell.
Last Saturday, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden celebrated its Hirshorn Ball, returning after two years. Hosted by Pussy Noir, the event was held to honor the acclaimed contemporary artist and designer, KAWS, who was in attendance. Other VIPs were united on the dance floor with a live performance by musician and composer, Dan Deacon, and in the garden with an interactive installation by artist and muralist Kelly Towles.
Photo by Tony Powell.
Red-carpet arrivals in costumes in keeping with the pop art theme paraded through the garden before a jury, including multimedia artist and musician Laurie Anderson, fashion designer Anifa Mvuemba, and Broadway costumer and performer Machine Dazzle, who crowned the winner. Special guests were treated to a pre-party performance by Anderson, with cocktails designed by the world-renowned bartender Ryan Chetiyawardana from the city’s cocktail bar, Mr. Lyan.
Courtesy of Scarpetta.
On Tuesday in New York, Alessio de Sensi, General Manager of Scarpetta, launched “VinVivo,” a series of interactive wine classes crafted for various audiences interested in better understanding the world of wine. The first session featured the introductory course, “Word of Wine,” which immersed students in the history, chemistry, verbiage, and techniques of wine-making. John Meadow, the founder of LDV Hospitality (which runs Scarpetta), praised it as an invaluable opportunity to bring wine-lovers closer to their attraction for the ample yet oversaturated and obscure wine market.
Courtesy of Scarpetta.
Emphasizing participants’ abilities to judge what they like and dislike by their own senses, rather than delegating to wine magazines, this course returned the wine experience to its convivial origins while maintaining a technical point of view, as opposed to the “snooty exclusivity” of some platforms. Along with the class itself, the two-hour session involved a curated dinner menu of an antipasti or charcuterie, Scarpetta’s famed spaghetti, and its delicious budino dessert. Other classes available to the public are available online for on June 4, 5, and 23, with more dates to be added.
Photo by BFA – Rupert Ramsay.
Also in Manhattan on Wednesday, Loisida debuted its Resort 2023 collection through a runway show at The Box. The creative directors, Veronika Vilim and Carson Lovett, sewed and designed the collection in their basement studio in the Lower East Side. Guests—including Angel Zheng, Caroline Vazzana, Clara Perlmutter, Katya Tolstova, Nolan Meader, Olga Ferrera, Sydney Belle, Rebecca Knox, Brita Filter, and Maine—were treated to the fashion brand’s exploration of a decorative technique called openwork, often employed in embroidery for ecclesiastical textiles, here both liberated from its history and displayed in traditional emblems like bridal trims, corsetry, padded silhouettes, and silk organza. The show explored the bliss of personal escape from societal norms, with hand-made prints manipulated with water, paint, and collages based upon the designers’ own ideas of bliss.
Photo by BFA – Rupert Ramsay.
