Sotheby’s Fetes its “Visions of America” Series With a Fashion-Filled Evening
For several years now, Sotheby’s has hosted “Americana Week,” an annual in-person and online auction celebrating the American visual and decorative arts. For the 2024 iteration, however, Sotheby’s decided to shake things up—and who did its CEO, Charles Stewart, call upon to help? Thom Browne, founder of the eponymous New York-based fashion label and an astute patron and collector of American arts. (At the Sutton Place home he shares with husband Andrew Bolton, you’ll find Norman Rockwells and William Merritt Chases on the walls.)
For “Americana Week,” newly redubbed “Visions of America,” Browne did double duty: Not only did he help to curate the sale of American art and objects dating back to the 17th century, but he also brought in the Council of Fashion Designers of America, for which he serves as chairman, to host an auction of its own. Both were feted last night.
The evening started at Sotheby’s York Avenue outpost with a 6pm cocktail party. Guests wandered through the CFDA’s sale, “Defining American Style,” which features everything from the Khaite dress that Kendall Jenner wore to the last CFDA Awards, to the pressed-flower Oscar de la Renta dress that Anna Wintour wore to the 2021 Met Gala and the blinged-out Michael Kors pantsuit worn by Nicole Kidman for AMC’s viral We Make Movies Better campaign.
Included among the group that toured the lots were Julia Fox (dressed as a belly-baring bride in Fancì Club), Richie Shazam, Amy Fine Collins, Alina Cho, Andy Yu, Steven Kolb, Jason Wu, and Christian Siriano. The latter two posed for photos beside their donated pieces, all of which will benefit the CFDA Foundation, offering scholarships and mentoring to American designers.
After snaking through mannequins dressed in the fashion lots, guests could tour a pied-à-terre installation assembled by interior designer Corey Damen Jenkins, showcasing many of the pieces selected by Browne.
“One of the challenges and opportunities of heritage American decorative arts, furniture, paintings, is to either contextualize, decontextualize, or recontextualize it in a contemporary setting,” says Stewart. “And I think that the pied-à-terre Jenkins put together is really exquisite. It shows everyone what they can do with these exceptional works that have that history and heritage.”
Following the cocktail hour, a select group (on which Thom Browne suiting abounded) was shuttled all the way downtown for a dinner that continued the heady, star-spangled theme of the night. Guests dined in a Tiffany glass-ceilinged room at the New York Stock Exchange, a space where newly public companies go to celebrate after ringing the iconic NYSE bell. What could be more American than that?
And it didn’t stop there. American-based chefs Josiah Citrin and Ryan Ratino, who have about half a dozen Michelin stars between them, hosted the four-hands dinner—served on twin tables dressed in all-white linens and topped by all-white floral arrangements—with wine pairings from American vintners. (Sotheby’s has been selling wine at auction since 1970, and this year is revving up its viticulture department, overseen by the company’s global head of wine, Vanessa Conlin.) Beyond, an installation of Thomas Moran’s Green River, Wyoming landscape helped set the Americana scene even more.
“The idea of ‘Visions of America’ was really a celebration of American creativity, craftsmanship, and artistry, through many different lenses,” said Stewart, “not to mention incredible food, wine, and of course, fashion!”
Rupert Ramsay / BFA.com1/17Thom Browne, Anna Wintour
Rupert Ramsay / BFA.com2/17
