Over 600 Party People Flocked to the Frick for the Young Fellows Ball

“Who knew New York’s hottest club...is The Frick,” quipped designer Bach Mai. Outside the freshly renovated Upper East Side institution, hundreds of guests in tulle and tuxedos lined Fifth Avenue, eagerly awaiting entry to the first Young Fellows Ball since the museum’s reopening. Tickets had sold out in just five days, with supporters eager to see the Gilded Age mansion’s new look—and to party in its hallowed halls once again.

It was a milestone evening for Mai. A lifelong admirer of the museum, the Texas-born designer once created pieces inspired by its masterpieces as an undergraduate. Now, serving as both Honorary Chair and Fashion Chair, Mai had come full circle—many of his clients arrived in custom gowns inspired by their favorite Frick artworks. Among them was Baroness Allison Ecung von Arnim, whose icy-blue halterneck gown evoked the Rococo opulence of The Fragonard Room. (The Young Fellows book club had just finished reading about Madame du Barry, Louis XV’s mistress and the original recipient of the Fragonard panels.)

The evening’s dress code—“Porcelain Garden”—gave way to a sea of sky and cobalt blues, delicate florals, and bone-china-worthy embellishments. The theme paid homage to Ukrainian-born artist Vladimir Kanevsky’s eerily lifelike porcelain bouquets, currently on view at the museum through October. Lizzie Asher, a loyal supporter of the museum, could be seen directing guests toward the intricate displays—though her own ensemble turned just as many heads.

Clad in a Bach Mai-designed gown and carrying a fringed Jimmy Choo Bon Bon bag, Asher topped off the look with a flower-adorned headpiece shipped from Australia in record time. “The milliner said it would never make it on time—but I knew it would. Thank you, DHL!” she laughed, posing before Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres’s 1845 portrait of Louise de Broglie—now installed in what was once Henry Clay Frick’s bedroom.