Only in San Francisco do guests in sparkling dresses mingle with others in crisp office wear or street looks without anyone thinking it’s strange.
Two events this week highlighted the city’s diverse atmosphere and fashion flair: the annual Art Bash fundraiser by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Human Rights Foundation’s Artisan Fashion event at the de Young museum, with support from the Fashion Incubator San Francisco.
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Wednesday’s SFMOMA event showcased an eclectic mix of socialites, artists, patrons and businesspeople, armed with cocktails, a healthy appreciation for art and looks that ranged from high-end designers to streetwear, hoodies and sneakers.
Above the noise on the first floor, a sold-out VIP dinner took place on the second floor. At one table, Jeffrey Gibson’s Dior Lady Art project, “I Can Do What I Want,” made a cameo appearance, while others took in looks from Mexico’s Sanchez-Kane to Alexander McQueen.
The meal began with a few words from Bob Fisher, chairman of Gap Inc., chairman of the museum’s board of trustees. Fisher, in an Etro suit, had the challenging task of calming a particularly vibrant crowd.
“I do a lot of things at this museum, but apparently I’m the best at getting a crowd of 500 wonderful people — all very excited about being at Art Bash — to sit down and be quiet,” he joked. “The fact that it was so difficult to get everyone seated is just an indication of how happy people are to see each other…”
The comment resonates in a city still dealing with a COVID-19 hangover and other pressures, such as store closures and ongoing waves of tech layoffs in places like nearby Silicon Valley.
Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the atmosphere felt particularly animated.
“San Francisco has been so slow to come out of the pandemic,” sociologist, author and Art Bash host Sarah Thornton told WWD. “It’s only recently that people have started to feel like things are getting back to normal – obviously some things may never get back to normal – but it felt like there were more people at the dinner than ever before. It felt bigger.”
Thornton took a break from preparing for her upcoming book release for “Tits Up: What Sex Workers, Milk Bankers, Plastic Surgeons, Bra Designers, and Witches Tell Us About Breasts” to attend the event and showcase her friend’s work to celebrate, featuring the installation artist and filmmaker Sir Isaac Julien.
He adapted his 2010 work, ‘Ten Thousand Waves’, and 2022’s ‘Statues Never Die’, for installations created especially for Art Bash. Other artists included Chelsea Ryoko Wong, who created a pop-up activation called “Many Moons I’ve Dreamed of You” on a soundtrack provided by DJ Alex Shen of Lower Grand Radio, and renowned photographer Richard Misrach, whose “Solo to Symphony” activation featured performances by acclaimed Alonzo King Lines Ballet dancers.
Art Bash is not a unique event, but a wave of experiences, including art-driven rooms and party vibes, courtesy of rapper Tierra Whack, DJ Sazon Libre and others. VIP guests went from dining on short ribs and bidding in a simultaneous auction to an exclusive after-dinner lounge.
Once again, Valentino co-sponsored the event with Christie’s, AT&T, Bloomberg and Bank of America. According to Fisher, the museum has raised $3 million from ticket sales, sponsorships and donations, not including the auction.
The next evening on the other side of town, de Young hosted a very different kind of event at Golden Gate Park – one of the city’s fine arts museums. This affair was more of an intimate gathering, organized by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) with support from the Fashion Incubator San Francisco (FiSF).
Thursday’s theme, Artisan Fashion, invited guests to explore 100 years of the city’s designer looks and couture through the museum’s “Fashioning San Francisco” exhibit.
The program looked not only backwards, but also forwards, thanks to Snapchat augmented reality, which powers physical mirrors that allow visitors to virtually try on looks from the likes of Yves Saint Laurent and Valentino to Kaisik Wong. The experience, available now through August 11, marks the first time a museum has used Snap Inc.’s AR technology. used.
Further along, guests found themselves at a cocktail party with hors d’oeuvres, wine and beer on one side, and tables spotlighting FiSF-inspired designer brands like DiarraBlu on the other.
Jeanine Barnett Silberblatt, president and board chair of the FiSF, revealed to the crowd that in addition to helping to organize this celebration, the organization is also working with the Human Rights Foundation and its “Wear Your Values” program, an initiative created is called to raise awareness about ethical issues in fashion production.
The group has always supported local design talent as its core mission. But “when our designers lived here in the Bay Area, they increasingly had a global presence, made possible by technological advances,” she said.
The FiSF noticed that its cohorts were increasingly committed to supporting communities in their home countries, which inspired the group to open its doors and combine its community with HRF.
“Why would a human rights organization care about fashion, let alone dedicate an entire program to it?” Michelle Gulino, HRF director of legal affairs and programs, said. “For behind this world of beauty, glamor and creativity lies another world in which millions of people work tirelessly at the hands of mainly slave masters.”
HRF became concerned about the links between fashion and global human rights abuses, she added. This prompted the foundation to establish Wear Your Values in 2017 to focus on issues from environmentally conscious sourcing and production to the eradication of forced labor such as that imposed on China’s persecuted Uyghur population.
These are the “hidden social costs” of the fashion industry, says Claudia Bennett, who runs Wear Your Values.
The group has been working on a new database to give shoppers an easy way to find and support ethical brands. It hopes to make these available next year.
“Fashion is a form of storytelling, a form of expression, and the reason we’re all here today is because it can be a form of activism,” Bennett said on stage.
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