After a one-year hiatus, North America’s biggest art fair, Art Basel Miami Beach, and the star-studded and exclusive party circuit that it inspires, has roared back to life. This time around, the international jet set and arty hobnobbers seemed like they hardly missed a beat. On Monday night alone, two days before the fair even officially opens to the public, one could toast Dior’s latest design collaboration series in the Design District, before heading over to dinner with Olivia Rodrigo and Hailey Bieber in a celebration for Saint Laurent before hitting up another held by Kering and hosted by Solange. If that wasn’t enough, you could also catch Nas performing his hits in front of a brand new BMW concept car atop Miami Beach’s fanciest parking garage.
With Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Loewe, Burberry and more in town to throw events later in the week, things are sure to continue at full speed. If you happen to be in town for it all, a word of wisdom: go easy on the Champagne. It’s free flowing and we can assure it’s not going to dry up anytime soon.
Dior Medallion Chair Exhibition Opening Cocktail
Taking over the new Superblue space in the Wynwood neighborhood, Dior held a cocktail heralding the American debut of its Medallion Chair project. The house asked over a dozen artists, including Sam Baron, Nacho Carbonell, and Pierre Charpin to reinterpret the iconic chair. Guests including Karlie Kloss, Ricky Martin, and Venus Williams provided the star power, while DJ Mia Moretti provided the music.
Venus Williams looked statuesque with blunt bangs and a chic and simple all-black outfit with a Dior saddle bag.
Ricky Martin, wearing Dior Men, and husband Jwan Yosef coupled up for the evening.
Emma Mannswirth, Eric Jess, Tanner Reese, and Liv Solo grouped up for the party.
BMW’s Concept XM Party
Celebrating both the 50th anniversary of BMW’s cultural engagement and its high-performance M line, the German car company took over South Beach’s iconic 1111 Parking Garage for a party that featured a performance by the rapper Nas. While also offering a tribute to the late Virgil Abloh, Nas performed a string of his hits, including “If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)” and “Hate Me Now.”
Brooklyn-based artist Kennedy Yanko, who donned some choice vintage Jean Paul Gaultier, also debuted a new sculpture, “Intrinsic Sage,” specifically designed for the event. “This moment of co-creation between visual art and music by Kennedy Yanko and Nas brings together two cultural fields that have inspired each other for many decades and are two main areas of BMW brand cooperations,” said Stefan Ponikva, Head of BMW Brand Communication and Experience, in a statement. “It all started with a dialogue with our designers around the BMW Concept XM and this exchange on eye-level is what makes our collaborations authentic.”
Guests like Luka Sabbat took in the event.
Nas’s fellow hip hop legend Timbaland also stopped by for the party.
Of course, BMW had a creation of its own to unveil as well in the form of the new Concept XM model, which will also be displayed at the main Art Basel Miami Beach fair later in the week. The plug-in hybrid crossover also represents a new stylistic direction for BMW, and a version of the model will go into commercial production sometime next year.
Saint Laurent Rive Droit Dinner Celebrating Sho Shibuya
Olivia Rodrigo, Hailey Bieber, Zoë Kravitz, and more stars joined Saint Laurent creative director Anthony Vaccarello in Miami Beach for a dinner to kick off 2021 Art Basel and celebrate the brand’s latest collection. Unlike Vaccarello’s other project’s for Saint Laurent, however, this one is a little different. As part of the brand’s Rive Droite Ephemeral Gallery project, Vaccarello erected an exhibition space on the beachfront in order to display 55 works by New York-based artist Sho Shibuya—a special number, as this year is the 55th anniversary of the opening of the brand’s first ready-to-wear boutique in Paris. Each one of Shibuya’s pieces depicts a sunrise over the past year, painted on the front page of the New York Times. Two of the paintings, commissioned by Vaccarello, feature the red and pink of Saint Laurent’s original logo.
Olivia Rodrigo and Talia Ryder, who co-starred in the “Good 4 U” music video, buddied up.
Zoë Kravitz at the Saint Laurent Rive Droite Art Basel Miami Beach 2021 party.
Amber Valletta at the Saint Laurent Rive Droite Art Basel Miami Beach 2021 party.
Kering, Phaidon, Christie’s, and Saint Heron’s WOMAN MADE Dinner
At the Miami Beach home of local power couple Jackie Soffer and Craig Robins, Kering, Phaidon, Christie’s, and Saint Heron celebrated the release of the new book WOMAN MADE: Great Women Designers, which celebrates female designers’ contributions to everything from furniture to lighting.
Designer Raul Lopez and friends huddled between the palm fronds at the Kering dinner.
Many of the designers featured in the book were in attendance.
Supermodel Elle Macpherson, Soffer’s sister-in-law, also made an appearance.
Source: W Magazine
