A Transatlantic Toast: The British Consul General to New York Celebrates Andrew Bolton OBE
“When Hannah first called me about the award, I was convinced she was going to offer me to give Meghan Markle a tour [of the Costume Institute]!” So said Andrew Bolton—now Andrew Bolton OBE—about receiving the news of his anointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire. He was speaking to the guests at a party in his honor at the Residences of the British Consul General, co-hosted by Hannah Young, His Majesty s Consul General to New York, and Dame Anna Wintour DBE (to continue using proper titles).
As the Curator in Charge of The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Bolton has long been celebrated by his peers and the general public for exhibitions he’s curated, many of which inspire hours-long queues. Plus, he has been the recipient of the CFDA Eugenia Sheppard Award for Journalism (2015) and the Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion (2016). Still, he joked, “My parents have never congratulated me on anything. This is the only time, so thank you for making parents proud!”
With Andy Warhol’s Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom surveying the party, Bolton’s remarks were delivered to a room filled with his loved ones and supporters from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vogue, and beyond. The celebration followed his official awarding of the OBE in June of last year, as part of King Charles III’s Birthday Honours.
Introducing Bolton, Young homed in on the significance of the award. “His Majesty King Charles III wanted to give Andrew the honor of the Officer of the Order of the British Empire in his first-ever Birthday Honors as our reigning monarch,” she explained. “The honors are not just about being the best in one s field, important as that is. They are also about how individuals give back to the environment, to their communities, to the people around them, and also to the relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States. And Andrew, you are genuinely the epitome of that relationship.”
Standing at the back of the crowd, one could play a game of “spot the grosgrain” on the partygoers, many of whom donned pieces by Thom Browne, Bolton’s partner, for the night (Sharon Horowitz and Amy Fine Collins among them). Others winked at British designers. “I’m going for fox hunt!” said couture clotheshorse Jordan Roth, who wore an across-the-pond-and-back plaid combination of Thom Browne and vintage Vivienne Westwood. Elsewhere, Colby Mugrabi cut a cool figure in a black Galliano suit.
Guests arrived at the two-hour cocktail party at 6:00 p.m. sharp. Lest we forget that the residence is indeed a residence, Young explained to Vogue that her living quarters were right around the corner—“I ve got two kids and two cats and a husband here at the back”—and her 10-year-old daughter arrived home from school at the same time Wintour showed up. “It s spirit week, so she was in her pajamas, and she came right in to meet Anna—she was so nonchalant!”
As more guests popped out of the elevator at 50 United Nations Plaza, some caught the tail end of a fiery sunset on view from the 38th floor. They included designers Hillary Taymour, Emily Bode, Aurora James, and Stuart Vevers, plus actor-couple Rebecca Hall and Morgan Spector, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, Alina Cho, Sabine Getty, and Hamish Bowles (the latter, fresh from collecting the 2024 CFDA Founder s Award in honor of Eleanor Lambert on Monday night.)
Wintour—who nominated Bolton for the honor along with Young—also gave remarks, speaking to her deep appreciation for Bolton and his relationship with the US and UK.
“I do think of Andrew as very English, even though he has lived and worked in New York now for nearly a quarter-century and is bound to his wonderful partner Thom—a man so American he hosts something called a Thanksgiving football game,” she said. “Andrew’s work, I have always found, has a sort of magic eccentricity—an attention to detail combined with soft romanticism and a whimsical daring—that I recognize as English to its core. He draws as fully as anyone could on the capacities of the American scene—its size, its ambition, its international standing—but his exhibitions are something an American could not have come up with.”
Closing out the speeches, Young encouraged everyone to raise their glass. “It wouldn’t be an official celebration without one!” And with that, the room toasted Bolton, man of the hour, for his incredible accomplishments.
Hippolyte Petit/BFA.com1/20Andrew Bolton, Anna Wintour, Hannah Young, Thom Browne
Hippolyte Petit/BFA.com2/20Samuel Hine, Jeremy O. Harris, Rebecca Hall, Morgan Spector
