The American Folk Art Museum celebrated fashion’s finest with their Folk Couture Benefit Gala at NY’s fine Tribeca Rooftop.
Honorary Chair was Betsy Bloomingdale; and Chairs were Yaz and Valentin Hernández, and Laura and Richard Parsons.
The event heralded the Museum’s January 2014 exhibition Folk Couture: Fashion and Folk Art, and 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.
The awards ceremony was hosted by Tim Gunn of Bravo’s “Project Runway,”who presented the awards to Dr. Valerie Steele and Lucy Sykes for their leadership roles in fostering fashion and education.
Ms. Laura Parsons, the Museum’s Chairman of the Board and wife of former chairman of Citigroup and the former chairman and CEO of Time Warner Dick Parsons, 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 300 benefit 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.
List included: Berry Bloomingdale, Hayley Bloomingdale, Amy Fine Collins, Francisco Costa, Louise Hirschfield Cullman and Lewis B. Cullman, Jane Bloomingdale de Cisneros, 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, Liz Peek, Peter and Elisa Rapaport, Peter G. Scotese, and Judy Francis Zankel.
BENEFIT COMMITTEE SPONSORS: Laura and Richard Parsons, Citi, Yaz and Valentin Hernández, Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan M. Nelson, Elizabeth and Irwin Warren, Monty Blanchard and Leslie Tcheyan, Joyce B. Cowin, Kendra and Allan Daniel, Luce and Mike Danzier, Karin and Johnathan Fielding, Just Folk/Susan Baerwald and Marcy Carsey, Lucy Sykes and Euan Rellie, Time Warner Inc.
BENEFIT COMMITTEE SUPPORTERS: Peg Alston and Willis Burton; Mr. Gale H. Arnold; Mr. and Mrs. James A. Block; Bloomingdale’s; Berry Bloomingdale and Steve Keller; Hayley Bloomingdale; Franny Breuer; Barry Briskin and Jim Duggan; Dr. Joyce F. Brown; Noreen Buckfire; Barbara Bundy; Ann S. Caruso; Francisco Costa; Louise Hirschfeld Cullman and Lewis B. Cullman; Jane Bloomingdale de Cisneros; Ann Dexter-Jones; Simon Doonan; Nancy Druckman; Tiffany Dubin; Margot and John Ernst; Jacqueline Loewe Fowler; Frances Frawley; Laura Lofaro Freeman; Valentino Garavani; Arlyn and Edward L. Gardner; Paul Gigante and Madeline Vaz; Barbara L. Gordon and W. Stephen Cannon; Gail Gregg; The Hon. Daphne Guinness; Agnes Gund; John Hays; Audrey Heckler; Cheryl Henson; Betsey Johnson; Erica Kasel; Jane and Gerald Katcher; Penny and Allan Katz; Marianna and George Kaufman; Steven Kolb; Phyllis Kossoff; Albert Kriemler; Taryn and Mark Leavitt; Ida Liu; Stephanie and James Loeffler; Hailey Lustig and Stephen Prince; Patricia Mears; Wendy and Barry Meyer; Charlotte Moss and Barry S. Friedberg; Grace M. Parr; Liz and Jeff Peek; Sarah Sulzberger Perpich; Julie Persily and David Lefkowitz; Laudomia Pucci; Rockefeller & Co.; The Ronald and Jo Carole Lauder Foundation; Cassie Rosenthal and Michael Stanley; Eugenia Gonzalez Ruiz-Olloqui; Selig Sacks; Saks Fifth Avenue; Valerie Salembier; Jeanne and Robert L. Savitt; Pete Scotese; Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf; Su-Ellyn Stern and Andrew McMaster; Rachel and Donald Strauber; André Leon Talley; Barbara Tamerin; Diana L. Taylor; Yeohlee Teng; Paul Washington; Sue Ann Weinberg; Judy Francis Zankel.
Find out more: http://www.folkartmuseum.org/
Pictured:
Tim Gunn
Lucy Sykes, Valerie Steele, Yaz Hernandez, Laura Parsons, Tim Gunn
Daphne Guinness, Laudomia Pucci
Richard Parsons, Yaz Hernandez
Hayley Bloomingdale, Berry Bloomingdale, Jane Bloomingdale
Lucy Sykes, Valerie Steele, Yaz Hernandez, Laura Parsons, Tim Gunn