by Only in San Francisco do guests in sparkling dresses mix with others in trendy office wear or street looks without anyone thinking it’s weird.
Two events this week highlighted the city’s diverse spirit and fashion: the annual Art Bash fundraiser at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Human Rights Foundation’s Artisan Fashion event at the de Young museum, supported from the Fashion Incubator. San Francisco.
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Wednesday’s SFMOMA event featured an eclectic mix of socialites, artists, patrons and business executives armed with cocktails, a healthy appreciation for art and looks that ranged from high-end designers to streetwear, hoodies and sneakers.
Above the restaurant on the first floor, a sold out VIP dinner was held on the second level. At one table, Jeffrey Gibson’s Dior Lady Art project, “I can do whatever I choose,” made a cameo appearance, while others made appearances as clockwork from Mexico’s Sanchez-Kane to Alexander McQueen.
The meal began with a few words from Gap Inc. chairman Bob Fisher, who chairs the museum’s board of trustees. Fisher, in an Etro suit, had the challenging task of setting up a very lively crowd.
“I do a lot of things at this museum, but probably my favorite thing is to have a crowd of 500 amazing people — all excited to be in Art Bash — sit down and be quiet,” he said. “The fact that it was so difficult to get everyone to sit is an indication that people are happy to see each other…”
The statement resonates in a city still battling the hangover of COVID-19 and other pressures, such as store closings and ongoing waves of tech layoffs in places like nearby Silicon Valley.
Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the atmosphere felt very animated.
“San Francisco was so slow to come out of the pandemic,” sociologist, author and Art Bash regular Sarah Thornton told WWD. “It’s only recently that people feel that things are kind of back to normal – it’s clear that some things, maybe, aren’t going back to normal – but it felt like there was more more people at dinner than ever before. It felt more.”
Thornton took a break from preparing for her upcoming book release for “Tits Up: What Sex Workers, Milk Bankers, Plastic Surgeons, Bra Designers, and Witches Tell Us About Breasts” to attend the event and celebrate work her friend, an installation featuring artist and filmmaker Sir Isaac Julien.
He adapted his 2010 work, “Ten Thousand Waves,” as well as 2022’s “Statues Never Die” for installations created especially for Art Bash. Other artists included Chelsea Ryoko Wong, who created a pop-up act called “Many Moons I’ve Dreamed of You” against a soundtrack provided by DJ Alex Shen of Lower Grand Radio, and renowned photographer Richard Misrach, who has “Solo to Symphony”. Alonzo King Lines Ballet dancers were renowned for their performance in the activity.
Art Bash is not a one-off event, but an array of experiences including art-led rooms and party vibes courtesy of rapper Tierra Whack, DJ Sazon Libre and others. VIP guests went from dining on short ribs and bidding at a concurrent auction to an exclusive after-dinner lounge.
Once again, Valentino sponsored the event along with Christie’s, AT&T, Bloomberg and Bank of America. According to Fisher, the museum raised $3 million through ticket sales, sponsorships and donations, not including the auction.
Across town the next night, the de Young hosted a very different event in Golden Gate Park – one of the city’s fine art museums. This business was a great gathering of the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) with the support of the San Francisco Fashion Incubator (FiSF).
Thursday’s theme, Artisan Fashion, invited guests to view 100 years of the city’s looks and designers through the museum’s “Fashioning San Francisco” exhibit.
The program was not only looking back, but also forward, thanks to Snapchat’s augmented reality, which powers physical mirrors that allow visitors to virtually try on looks from the likes of Yves Saint Laurent and Valentino to Kaisik Wong. The experience, available now through August 11, is the first time that AR tech Snap Inc. at a museum.
Continuing on, guests were seated at a cocktail party with hors d’oeuvres, wine and beer on one side, and tables highlighting FiSF-incubated designer-led brands, like DiarraBlu, on the other.
While speaking to the crowd, Jeanine Barnett Silberblatt, president and board chair at FiSF, indicated that the organization is not only helping to throw this party, but partnering with the Human Rights Foundation and its program ” Wear Your Values”, an initiative created to raise awareness of ethical issues in fashion production.
The group has always supported local design talent as a core mission. But “more and more, our designers have had a global presence while living here in the Bay Area because of advances in technology,” she said.
FiSF noticed that its cohorts were increasingly committed to supporting communities back home, prompting the group to open its doors and connect its community with HRF.
“Why would a human rights organization care about fashion, let alone devote an entire program to it?” Michelle Gulino, HRF’s legal and program director, said. “For the world of beauty, of glamour, of creativity, there is another one where millions of people are toiling away in the hands of essentially slave masters.”
HRF has highlighted the links between fashion and global human rights abuses, she said. This prompted the creation of the Wear Your Values foundation in 2017 to focus on issues ranging from environmentally conscious sourcing and production to ending forced labor, like that of the persecuted Uighur people in China.
These are the “hidden social costs” of the fashion business, said Claudia Bennett, who runs Wear Your Values.
The group is working on a new database to give shoppers an easy way to find and support ethical brands. He hopes to make it available next year.
“Fashion is a form of storytelling, a form of expression, and the reason we’re all here today is because it can be a form of action,” Bennett said on stage.
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