Art Style: What the Armory Show’s Best-Dressed Attendees Wore to Buy, Sell, and Check Out the Art

Despite the fact that the
coronavirus has thrown the art world into a
state of chaos—impacting, in particular, the international fair
circuit and galleries abroad—the VIP preview of the Armory Show
yesterday turned out a strong crowd of attendees and exhibitors who
welcomed collectors, buyers, and admirers alike to Piers 90 and 94
on New York’s Upper West Side. 

Not only did the art world show
up—they dressed for the occasion, too, sporting a good deal of
color and pattern as if to wish away the last vestiges of winter.
(Historically, too, during times of global turmoil, fashion
designers have found solace in vibrant, life-giving clothes,
choosing to inspire joy on their respective runways instead of
reflecting the bleakness of reality.) 

In our latest installment
of Art
Style, our series documenting the fashions of stylish
art-world constituents, we’ve rounded up some of the best ensembles
we spotted during the Armory Show’s kickoff day, along with what
you need to know about the women behind their
assemblage. 

Who: Sandra
Long

What She Does: I
have an antique shop called Anglo-Raj Antiques. 

Why She’s Here: I love
art, because antiques are art, and a lot of my clients are here.
I’m based in New York, but I also work in India, Sri Lanka, and
Myanmar. With all this technology, we don’t really get to see
people in person all that often. So I came here to do that—to see
people. And I got to dress up a little! 

What She’s Wearing: I’m
wearing an Indian scarf and Tibetan jewelry. My shoes are Manolo
Blahniks and the velvet suit is actually by my niece who lives in
London. Her name is Jana and she has a company called De La Vali.
She just had a fashion show yesterday in Amsterdam as part of
London Fashion Week. She’s 27 and she grew up in Ibiza. She likes
fun things. I love the color. 

How She Describes Her Style: It’s me. You know, Bill Cunningham—he was a
dear friend of mine—always used to say that the real style was on
the street. So, this is the street—of the art world
anyway.  

Favorite Artwork or Booth at the Fair: A photographer at Pier 90 created a replica of
an old record store. That’s something that I think will definitely
sell. There are all these people in the music business who like art
and come to the fairs, like Puffy and Rihanna. They should be
buying these pieces and putting them in the entryways of their big
mansions.

Who: Noreen Khalid
Ahmad

What She Does: I’m the
director of communications and marketing at the Morgan Library &
Museum.  

Why She’s Here: I’m
mostly here to look at works and catch up with colleagues and
friends. I stopped by this booth in particular because it’s DC
Moore gallery and they’re showing Duane Michals’s photography,
which we just exhibited at the museum. Michals went through our
vault as well for the show, curating a selection of works to
exhibit alongside his oeuvre, so it was sort of a
retrospective-meets-artist-choice exhibition. 

What She’s Wearing: The
dress is Proenza Schouler and the jacket is J. Mendel. The purse is
Alexander McQueen. The bag is a personal favorite of mine—it’s so
easy to carry around, and I love the brass knuckles. I definitely
broke out my sneakers today, too, because I couldn’t handle
heels. 

How She’d Describe Her Style: I really consider the clothing that I wear to
be my armor for the day. I like to feel secure, but
comfortable. 

Favorite Artwork or Booth at the Fair: Aside from what I’m seeing at the DC Moore
booth, I loved seeing this cabinet of curiosities by David Beck at
Allan Stone Projects. I just arrived a little bit ago, though, so I
haven’t made it to the other side just yet.

Who: Phoebe Boswell

What She Does: I’m an
artist. 

Why She’s Here: I’m
showing with Sapar Contemporary, booth F6 at Pier 90. I’m enjoying
the fair today. I live in London, so I’m only in New York briefly.
I’m really happy with how the booth is looking. These are new
drawings, so it’s nice to see them framed and hung. The sand—I’m
really happy I was able to place the sand here below the works,
it’s very important. Everyone’s been very friendly so
far. 

What She’s Wearing: Just
before coming to New York, I was in Johannesburg to do a talk for
the Ford Foundation. I was in the airport, preparing for my
horrifically long 16-hour flight here. I was really delirious, and
I saw this jumpsuit suddenly and I was like, “I don’t have time to
try it on, my flight’s about to leave.” And jumpsuits are hard,
aren’t they? To get the length and fit right. I was like, “It’s
probably not going to work, but fuck it.” So I bought it and I
tried it on this morning and I said, “If the universe wills it, it
will be so.” And it fit kind of perfectly! I feel like it goes with
the space, too. 

How She’d Describe Her Style: I like to mix Kitenge African fabrics with
classic, timeless things. I like to keep people guessing. I never
want to do the same thing twice. I’m obsessed with jumpsuits right
now—boilersuits. Finding the perfect boilersuit. 

What Else She’s Doing While in Town: I’m also here because they announced Prospect
New Orleans yesterday and I’ll be exhibiting work there, so that’s
exciting. I have some meetings here. It’s always good to be in New
York. And there’s always such a good exchange between artists in
this city, so I’m looking forward to just meeting and connecting
with other artists.

Who: Kendell Ayers 

What She Does: I’m a
junior in college. 

Why She’s Here: This is
my mom’s gallery [Sicardi Ayers Bacino, of Texas], and I’m actually
cutting class to be here. It’s really exciting. I’ve helped in the
past with the AADA Art Fair, but this is my first time here at the
Armory Show. 

What She’s Wearing: The
skirt is by A.L.C., which is one of my favorite designers of the
moment. I really love their modern edge—it’s utilitarian, but also
feminine. Sometimes when things get too boxy, it’s not always
flattering. So that’s one thing that I love. And then my black
turtleneck is basically one of my go-to staples—it’s sort of an
art-world staple too, I’d say. I actually ran out to get these
black boots just this morning—they’re Sandro. 

How She’d Describe Her Style: Modern yet feminine. Not fussy. I do like puffy
sleeves and pleats, but at the same time I don’t want it to be over
the top. I think there’s a very fine line between there being just
enough detail and too much.    

What Else She’s Excited About at the Fair: One thing that’s really stood out to me is that
there are a lot of interesting moving pieces—there’s one around the
corner from here—and also several big mechanized pieces of
sculpture, which I really, really like because it’s a different
medium than what you’re used to seeing, especially at a fair like
this. I’m happy to see such a good turnout, too. 

Who: Ashlee Harrison

What She Does: I am the
director at Carpenters Workshop Gallery. 

Why She’s Here: We’re
presenting “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” by Atelier Van
Lieshout. We’re looking at having a very successful day, and the
solo show continues over at the gallery. 

What She’s Wearing: I
wanted to wear something that I felt comfortable in—it’s a long
day—that didn’t compete with the work. Something that’s a little
bit toned down, but still gives me a powerful feeling. That’s about
it, I think. I love my Celine shoes, they’re really comfortable,
especially on this concrete floor.  

How She’d Describe Her Style: All over, it depends on my mood. Arty,
minimal—sometimes I like patterns. 

What Else She’s Excited About at the Fair: Today I don’t think I’m going to see much
outside of my booth, but I can’t wait to go and explore what else
is out there in the next few days. We were installing yesterday and
I noticed there’s a lot of really great stuff this year. The
galleries really turned it out. 

Who: Marianne
Ibrahim

What She Does: I’m an art
dealer at my gallery, Marianne Ibrahim Gallery. 

What She’s Wearing: I
love suits in general. Today I’m wearing one—I felt very festive
and I love gold, and this one has gold elements. I like the collar
of my shirt, too—it’s sort of Victorian. And these are the same
shoes I wore to my very first Armory Show back in 2016. It’s funny,
it was actually my husband who brought them over to New York
without knowing and said, “Hey, you might want to wear these ones.”
And I said, “Yes!” So I hope they’ll bring me luck like they did
five years ago. 

How She’d Describe Her Style: I plan what I’m going to wear the day before.
I’m pretty organized in that way, because it takes a lot of stress
out of the process of getting dressed. When I go to art fairs, I
pack a lot of suits. And otherwise I like to wear a pair of
trainers and jeans and a peacoat. I love fancy dresses,
too. 

Is She Excited About the Fair? Yes, I’m very excited. This is the fifth time
we’ve shown black female artists—we’ve been showing them one after
the other in solo shows, so for me to be able to bring them
together this year creates a very strong conversation about the
visibility and inclusion of women of color in these kinds of
programs. But beyond that, the work is clearly aesthetically
relevant. And it’s also good to see the evolution of each artist.
In a way, it’s like a mini-retrospective of my Armory exhibitions.
We’ll move on to other projects after this. 

What Else She’s Doing While in Town: I’d love to do some shoe shopping. I’m looking
forward to seeing some exhibitions, spending time with artists, and
I hope I’ll be fortunate enough to acquire some works that I’ve had
in mind.

Who: Gabriella
Picone 

What She Does: I am the
director of communications at R and Company gallery. I’m also the
founder of Idda Studio, which is an art studio that focuses on
designs that are wearable fabrics for women. And I’m an artist
myself. 

What She’s Wearing: My
favorite color is brown, so I’m wearing head-to-toe brown. I just
wanted something really comfortable for the fair, but something
that also made me feel great! My shoes are by Ulla
Johnson. 

How She’d Describe Her Style: I really like minimal colors, but also
patterns. Very vibrant patterns, really. I also love jewelry, so I
try to accessorize as much as I can.

Who: Alexandra
Slattery

What She Does: I’m a
gallerist at Two Palms Gallery. 

Why She’s Here: We’re
exhibiting at the fair. I’m excited about showing Nona Faustine, in
particular. She’s a new artist who we just started working with,
and she’s made this amazing series called “My Country” where she’s
photographed monuments in New York and Washington, D.C. She’s
starting to branch out to other cities throughout the country as
well. The monuments are all obstructed by either a red line or a
black line that’s running through them and it’s representational of
this hidden history of the contributions that African Americans
have made to our country. It highlights the fact that we don’t
really talk about those histories and we don’t really represent
them in the monuments that we’ve erected. 

What She’s Wearing: The
fairs mean long hours and you’re on your feet a lot, so I always go
with a comfortable shoe. My platforms are from Stella McCartney and
my dress is from Zara. I’ve had it for a few years and I hadn’t
worn it in a while, so I thought it would be nice to pull out for
today. 

How She’d Describe Her Style: I feel like it’s a mix of things—usually more
classic pieces, but then I try to mix it up with something that’s
fun as well.

Who: Amber
Smith

What She Does: I’m an
independent art consultant. 

Why She’s Here: I’m here
to check everything out. 

What She’s Wearing: The
jacket is Calvin Klein and my pants are from Theory. I got my
earrings from a random store in Texas. 

What She’s Looking Forward to Seeing at the Fair:
Everything! I feel like it’s sort
of the start of the New York art season, so I’m getting a feel for
what’s out there. 

How She’d Describe Her Style: I always wear black and white, so I suppose I’d
describe my style as classic and minimal. 

Who: Anna
Camner

What She Does: I’m a
painter. I live in Stockholm.

Why She’s Here: I’m
showing some of my paintings with Galerie Forsblom. It’s
interesting to be here, it’s the first time I’ve been to an art
fair. It’s fun to meet new people and see all the
art. 

What She’s Wearing: It’s
funny, my skirt is getting more attention than my work today!
[laughs] I was worried that it was going to make me look like I was
going to the circus. It’s vintage Chanel. 

How She’d Describe Her Style: I just wear what I feel like. 

What Else She’s Doing While in Town: Seeing lots of art.

Who: Sarah
Vitale 

What She Does: I’m a
writer and photographer. 

Why She’s Here: I’m
taking pictures, gathering content, and checking out
galleries—especially the international ones that I don’t get to see
very often, so I’m excited about that. And to see the fashion,
too!

What She’s Wearing: I’m
obsessed with the Dutch baroque style, so I wanted to sort of
sartorially reimagine a painting to fit in with some of the art on
the walls.  

How She’d Describe Her Style: It’s pretty eclectic—anything that I can get
from vintage or secondhand stores. I like really oversized,
practical-but-stylish pieces. 

Favorite Artwork or Booth at the Fair: I went to school in Belgium, so I love all the
contemporary Belgian booths like Zeno X and of course Axel
Vervoordt. That’s my favorite one.

The post Art Style: What the Armory Show’s Best-Dressed
Attendees Wore to Buy, Sell, and Check Out the Art appeared
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