A Marriage of Fashion and Art
(08/04/2009) The two curators of the upcoming Guild Hall exhibit “The Art of Fashion in the Hamptons,” Pamela Fiori, who has led Town
Betsey Johnson
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& Country magazine since 1993, and Stan Herman, a designer for over four decades, have both focused their careers on fashion, style, and philanthropy.
Although Town & Country’s reputation is as a premier luxury lifestyle magazine, and Mr. Herman has been called the “people’s designer,” given his focus on clothing that is accessible and affordable, the two have teamed up with nine designers to preside over a marriage of sorts between fashion and the art world.
Donna Karan
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The official wedding day for the exhibit will be Aug. 15, but a pre-wedding summer party and preview will take place on Friday, Aug. 14, beginning with cocktails and a sneak peek at the show at 6 p.m. at Guild Hall in East Hampton. A dinner and live auction will follow at 7 at the Woodhouse Park Estate of Tony Ingrao and Randy Kemper, where music will be provided by Peter Duchin and his orchestra.
The designers selected for the show are Tory Burch, Betsey Johnson, Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Reed Krakoff, Ralph Lauren, Nicole Miller, Elie Tahari, and Vera Wang. The designers were asked to choose an aspect of the East End that had resonance for them and, using art and objects from Guild Hall’s collection, put together vignettes with their designs built around those themes.
Elie Tahari
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For example, Tory Burch selected a boldly colorful abstract collage and oil on canvas by John Little as her inspiration. A Southampton summer resident for 15 years, Ms. Burch and her three boys “love to swim in the ocean and surf” and go “clamming and crabbing together,” she said in a release. Her assemblage will include equally bright colors to complement Mr. Little’s canvas — among the items, an orange-and-pink terry cloth towel and an orange Branch Cotton Voile Tory Tunic from her 2008 spring collection.
Charles Waller’s “Burning Heart,” a mixed-media piece, served as the launching pad for the exuberant Betsey Johnson, who wrote in a statement: “If I have a blind date and fall in love, will I have my fourth wedding here? Absolutely!!! XOX Betsey.” The items she has paired with “Burning Heart” are in themselves an homage to the East End: Sag Harbor Cruise, Silk Ruffle Tier Corset Gown, from her BJ Vintage collection, and East Hampton Playground, Cotton Ruffle Corset and Bloomer Shorts, from her 1990 spring collection, to name just two of her selected items.
Pamela Fiori
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“To me, the Hamptons has always been about finding the calm in the chaos of our lives,” said Donna Karan. She selected the very Zen-like sculpture “Winged Figure” by Stephan Weiss to build her vignette, which includes pieces from her Urban Zen collection.
Ralph Lauren went with two artists he views as “creative, nonconformist, bohemian” — Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner — and he drew particular inspiration from their homestead overlooking Accabonac Creek in Springs.
Reed Krakoff
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Having spent nearly 20 years in the Hamptons, Elie Tahari was drawn to an abstract painting by Willem de Kooning from the 1950s. Mr. Tahari’s home, Crestview, is a 19th-century barn transplanted from Vermont to the oceanside in Sagaponack. The casual and relaxed setting, he said, which is also sophisticated and modern, is often the source of inspiration for his designs.
Nicole Miller
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Vera Wang is deeply connected to the East End, she said, through the creation of her garments. She views the Guild Hall exhibit as being all about the “sensuality, charm, and simplicity of the Hamptons.” Ms. Wang selected the photograph “Wyandanch Road, Southampton” by Arthur Becker. She has integrated her designs, including an Olive Cloud Print Duchess Tunic Dress accompanied by a “burnished brass lash bracelet,” to reflect her philosophy of “texture and transparency mixed with different plays on proportion and fit,” offering an “ease and artsy attitude.”
Robert Wilson’s rusted steel minimalist chair, “Pierre
Tory Burch
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Curie Chair From De Meterie, 1989,” from Guild Hall’s collection, drew Calvin Klein, who has chosen designs from his 1998 spring collection, to team up with the art. The pieces, which are “ethereal and subtle, delicate and complex,” and in shades of porcelain, crystal, and white, take on, for the designer, the feel of early dawn on the East End, when the sky, ocean, and sand are “gentle and soft.”
Reed Krakoff has lived in East Hampton for almost 10 years and finds inspiration for his designs for Coach in the Atlantic, gardens, and in smaller views such as “manicured hedges,” “weathered stones,” and “climbing hydrangeas.”
Clifford Smith’s oil-on-line painting “Ocean Field II” was Nicole Miller’s choice. Ms. Miller, who has been involved with the Group for the East End for several years, is dedicated to protecting and preserving the natural habitats here and spends a lot of time on the water to “recharge and invigorate” herself.
Vera Wang
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The designers and Ms. Fiori will give a gallery talk and sign books on Aug. 15 from 3 to 4 p.m., followed by a members preview and reception at 4 and a public viewing from 5 to 6. The exhibit can be seen through Oct. 18.
Tickets to the summer cocktail party and preview range from $50 for “young patron” tickets to $2,500 for sponsor tickets, and tables for 10 guests can be had for $12,000 to $25,000.