Last night, New York’s youngest, most creative and exceptionally generous individuals, also known as the Whitney Contemporaries, donned their best inventive cocktail attire for a night at the museum. While swilling champagne and sipping mini chocolate milkshakes was de rigueur at the 2017 Whitney Art Party, checking out the outfits of each mover and shaker was just as important. Oh, and so was viewing the various floors of galleries featuring the work of Laura Owens, Jimmie Durham, Toyin Ojih Odutola and the incredibly timely and moving exhibition, “An Incomplete History of Protest: Selections from the Whitney’s Collection, 1940-2017.”
The Whitney bash, which was sponsored by Birkenstock, began with a dinner co-chaired by model Ashley Graham and 2017 Whitney Biennial artist Raúl de Nieves, and included a performance by rapper Young Paris. However, the entire evening was co-chaired by a very stylish crew: Zosia Mamet, Natasha Poly, Oscar de la Renta designers Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia, Vanity Fair‘s Michael Carl and stylist Micaela Erlanger. So it comes as little surprise that the outfits seen last night were top notch—and appropriately artsy enough for the event.
For example, artist Zoe Buckman wore an Alice & Olivia minidress that depicted a sequin version of the iconic image of the Beatles crossing Abbey Road, while actress Nina Dobrev opted for a black Versace dress spruced up by splashes of yellow, orange and royal blue, with accessories to match.
Then there were all the gals decked out in Monse, a brand that’s also helmed by Kim and Garcia. The design duo dressed a handful of their fellow co-chairs, including Poly (who boldly paired her dramatic rouge top with ripped jeans) and Erlanger, plus DJ Leigh Lezark, who belted one of the brand’s sleek blazers. Of course, we can’t forget the well-dressed men, like model Eric Rutherford, who donned head-to-toe grey and looked like a true winter dream.
Click through to see the best outfits from this year’s Whitney Art Party.
