admin It’s that time of year again! Miami is being swarmed by art connoisseurs and cool hunters from New York (for the week, Miami is New York City’s 6th borough), London, Los Angeles, and beyond. Call it their annual pilgrimage to Art Basel Miami Beach and the many other art fairs (like Nada and Untitled) simultaneously taking place this week.
It’s a week of art, officially. (Just one day into the fair, critics are buzzing about photographer Wolfgang Tillmans’s new works at David Zwirner, gallery 56 Henry’s Basel debut, and a sprawling showcase of Louis Vuitton’s collaboration with Frank Gehry.) But after the art comes the parties and the after-parties. Basel offers a dizzying amount of options for those looking to clink cocktail classes and dance on the beach till the early hours of the night. On the docket for this year? White Cube’s annual rager at Soho House Miami Beach, a Gagosian fete cohosted with Positano hotel Le Sirenuse, and a Mickelane Thomas party with Janelle Monae at the Miami Beach Edition. Fashion-wise, Dior, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Ssense x Marni, and Farfetch x Dolce & Gabbana have also joined in on the fun with parties of their own. It’s a celebratory whirlwind all in the name of art; a roundup of the most fashionable fetes, below.
Tuesday
Hassan Pierre Celebrated Mickalene Thomas at Mr. Chow
On Tuesday evening, Hassan Pierre—the CEO and Co-founder of Maison De Mode—executed his annual Art Basel Miami Beach dinner, cohosted alongside Lola Ogunnaike and Shop with Google. This year, the honoree was the unmistakable Mickalene Thomas; dripping in Gucci, she smelled of a heavenly palo-santo fragrance by Costa Brazil (Francisco Costa was also present), which she had in the pocket of her studded suit. The evening, which celebrated Thomas’ brand-new garment collaboration with Shop with Google, commenced with an hour-long intimate cocktail reception on a hidden terrace followed by a family-style dinner in Mr. Chow’s marble-clad private room. Mr. Chow himself even made a surprise guest appearance rocking a floral Mickalene-designed hat, which was gifted to every attendee. After the first course, a conversation between Lola and Mickalene ensued, while James de Givenchy of TAFFIN, Nathalie Obadia of Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Dominique Lévy of Lévy, Gorvy Dayan, Vito Schnabel of Vito Schnabel Gallery and François and Olivier Sarközy dined. Karolina Kurkova, who rolled in fashionably late as she was enjoying an evening on Whitney Kronke’s mega-yacht, enhanced the evening alongside Stefano Toncchi, Barbara Becker, Luis Morais, Robert Verdi, Mckenzie Liautaud, Alexis Stoudemire, Aurora James and Isolde Brielmaier, the deputy director of the New Museum. – Erin Newburg
