Daily Front Row

(NEW YORK) There were so many excellent ways to busy oneself at last night's Whitney Art Party, it was both logical and befuddling for the fashion and art heavies (figuratively, c'mon, now) shuffling out after four or so hours of stimulation on the walls, on the ears, on the tastebuds. Let's backtrack: the shindig, with Olivier Theyskens, Bettina Prentice, and Denise Incandela serving as honorary co-hosts, transformed Skylight Soho into a myriad of awesomeness, the parts of the whole which would provide plenty of joy independent of each other. 

Factor une, a sprung-up art gallery ready for the silent bidding to go down; next, a lounge-y den area from which to watch said art perusing and potential purchasing occur; thirdly, a moving-target edition of two glorious restos—The Lion and Acme—dishing up deliciousness along the lines of spoonfuls of tuna tartar studded with crispy shallots, gravlax-styled squares of salmon, and petite pizza-like morsels of caramelized carrot and some sort of soft, pungent cheese (your Daily guesses, at least. It was delicious, regardless.). For dessert, brownie bites cradled dollops of caramel tossed with sea salt and flecked with gold leaf and edible flower petals (more on those later). 

The party people of the eve, separate from the fleet of incredible artists on the premises, included Kate Bosworth, Thakoon Panichgul, Sean Avery, Michelle Harper (sweet headdress, cheri!), the inspiring Aimee Mullins, Terence Koh, Lubov Azria with Michelle Kwan in tow, and Lauren Remington Platt.

Given the incredible works up for auction, works of creative output were front of mind. Erin Fetherston's latest masterpiece of sorts is of the digital variety, not the Resort collection manner. "I just relaunched my website yesterday! I'm auctioning off my vintage collection on the site, and the proceeds will go to Charity: Water." Best of the bunch? "A haute couture Chanel gown." Click at your own risk, Coco-heads. 

Performance artist Kalup Linzy took to the stage after 11 for a lovely, quirky soul set of mashup-cover hybrids including strains of Whitney Houston, Otis Redding, and Neil Young. There was a faux funeral in progress throughout the eve, too; hence the massive photos of Linzy framed in halos of edible flora.

Meanwhile, Ann Dexter-Jones moseyed through the works up for auction, apres a screening situation. "I just came from the Rock of Ages premiere; two songs featured in the movie were written for me." Some of the music certainly struck a chord, literally and figuratively, with the designer, and so did the film's story arc. Well, sort of.  "It's not my life. No, no. But I certainly lived it!" 
ALEXANDRA ILYASHOV