Join the Couture Council
The Couture Council is a membership group of fashion enthusiasts that helps support the exhibitions and programs of The Museum at FIT, a specialized museum of fashion. Your participation in this membership group makes it possible for the Museum to mount world-class exhibitions accompanied by publications and public programming, such as the annual Fashion Symposium. The Couture Council also supports the conservation and documentation of the Museum’s permanent collection, as well as facilitating the acquisition of historically and aesthetically important fashions and accessories.
Read what others are saying about the Couture Council
The Couture Council is credited as a sponsor for all exhibitions and public programs at the Museum, and membership is tax deductible to the extent provided by law. The Couture Council Annual Membership is $1,000 per individual or couple, or $350 for Young Associates (under the age of 30). Please make checks payable to the Educational Foundation for the Fashion Industries. Mail checks to The Museum at FIT, attention: Couture Council, Seventh Avenue at 27 Street, Director’s Office, Room E304, New York City 10001-5992.
Registration form – click here
Members of the Couture Council receive exclusive invitations to at least five events a year, including behind-the-scenes tours of the Museum’s collection, exhibition receptions, and visits to the ateliers of fashion designers in New York. In addition, Couture Council members are the first to receive invitations to the annual Couture Council awards ceremony and benefit luncheon.
2009 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion
On Wednesday, September 9, 2009 The Couture Council of The Museum at FIT will honor Dries van Noten with the 2009 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion at their fourth benefit luncheon at New York City’s Cipriani 42 Street. Once again, the FIT Couture Council’s glamorous annual luncheon is the first event of the New York’s Fall Fashion Week.
Previous recipients of the Couture Council Artistry of Fashion Award have been Isabel Toledo in 2008 (a prescient choice made before Mrs. Obama selected her for her Inaugural outfit), Alber Elbaz of Lanvin in 2007, and Ralph Rucci, the recipient of the first award in 2006. Recipients of the Award are chosen by the Couture Council Advisory Committee, an independent group consisting of curators, editors, and retailers. Members include Pamela Golbin, curator of the Musée de la Mode, Akiko Fukai, director and chief curator of the Kyoto Costume Institute, Glenda Bailey, editor-in-chief of Harpers Bazaar, Hamish Bowles, editor of Vogue, Ken Downing of Nieman Marcus, Linda Fargo of Bergdorf Goodman, Julie Gilhart of Barneys New York, and others. The group is chaired by Dr. Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of The Museum at FIT.
“Dries van Noten creates clothes of extraordinary beauty and originality,” says Steele. “His sense of color, print and decoration are unequaled. Dries’ clothes are not for one season. Like works of art, they continue to speak to us across time and space. He has created a unique personal signature, but at the same time, he facilitates the wearer’s individual sense of style.”
Simon Doonan, the famously witty creative director for Barneys New York, will again emcee the event, which is hosted by the founding Couture Council Chairmen Yaz Hernandez, Liz Peek, and Sarah Wolfe. Charlotte Moss is the Founding Luncheon Chairman. Attending the award luncheon will be members of the Artistic Committee, including Glenda Bailey, Hamish Bowles, Nina Garcia, Daphne Guinness, Iman, Carson Kresley, Ralph Rucci, Andre Leon Talley, Isabel and Ruben Toledo and Diane von Furstenberg. The Luncheon Chairmen include Vanessa Fata, Kimberly Kassel, Nadine Kasuga, and Jacqueline Sackler. The Junior Chairmen include Tennessee Hamilton, Amanda Hearst, Alexis Tobin, and Whitney Wolfe (all committees in formation).
Tickets for the Couture Council luncheon honoring Dries Van Noten are priced as follows:
Couture Table, $15,000 – Premium seating for a table of ten
Fashionista Table, $10,000 – Superior seating for a table of ten
Runway Table, $5,000 – One table of ten
Couture Ticket, $1,500 – Premium seating
Fashionista Ticket, $1,000
Runway Ticket, $500 (limited number available)
For more information on the Couture Council or to reserve luncheon tickets call 212.217.4532 or e-mail Couturecouncil@fitnyc.edu.
Benefits
Your contribution will help enhance our exhibitions, conserve our treasures, fund acquisitions, and improve our facilities. In addition, you will receive the following special membership benefits:
Read what others are saying about the Couture Council
The Couture Council is credited as a sponsor for all exhibitions and public programs at the Museum, and membership is tax deductible to the extent provided by law. The Couture Council Annual Membership is $1,000 per individual or couple, or $350 for Young Associates (under the age of 30). Please make checks payable to the Educational Foundation for the Fashion Industries. Mail checks to The Museum at FIT, attention: Couture Council, Seventh Avenue at 27 Street, Director’s Office, Room E304, New York City 10001-5992.
Registration form – click here
Members of the Couture Council receive exclusive invitations to at least five events a year, including behind-the-scenes tours of the Museum’s collection, exhibition receptions, and visits to the ateliers of fashion designers in New York. In addition, Couture Council members are the first to receive invitations to the annual Couture Council awards ceremony and benefit luncheon.
2009 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion
On Wednesday, September 9, 2009 The Couture Council of The Museum at FIT will honor Dries van Noten with the 2009 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion at their fourth benefit luncheon at New York City’s Cipriani 42 Street. Once again, the FIT Couture Council’s glamorous annual luncheon is the first event of the New York’s Fall Fashion Week.
Previous recipients of the Couture Council Artistry of Fashion Award have been Isabel Toledo in 2008 (a prescient choice made before Mrs. Obama selected her for her Inaugural outfit), Alber Elbaz of Lanvin in 2007, and Ralph Rucci, the recipient of the first award in 2006. Recipients of the Award are chosen by the Couture Council Advisory Committee, an independent group consisting of curators, editors, and retailers. Members include Pamela Golbin, curator of the Musée de la Mode, Akiko Fukai, director and chief curator of the Kyoto Costume Institute, Glenda Bailey, editor-in-chief of Harpers Bazaar, Hamish Bowles, editor of Vogue, Ken Downing of Nieman Marcus, Linda Fargo of Bergdorf Goodman, Julie Gilhart of Barneys New York, and others. The group is chaired by Dr. Valerie Steele, director and chief curator of The Museum at FIT.
“Dries van Noten creates clothes of extraordinary beauty and originality,” says Steele. “His sense of color, print and decoration are unequaled. Dries’ clothes are not for one season. Like works of art, they continue to speak to us across time and space. He has created a unique personal signature, but at the same time, he facilitates the wearer’s individual sense of style.”
Simon Doonan, the famously witty creative director for Barneys New York, will again emcee the event, which is hosted by the founding Couture Council Chairmen Yaz Hernandez, Liz Peek, and Sarah Wolfe. Charlotte Moss is the Founding Luncheon Chairman. Attending the award luncheon will be members of the Artistic Committee, including Glenda Bailey, Hamish Bowles, Nina Garcia, Daphne Guinness, Iman, Carson Kresley, Ralph Rucci, Andre Leon Talley, Isabel and Ruben Toledo and Diane von Furstenberg. The Luncheon Chairmen include Vanessa Fata, Kimberly Kassel, Nadine Kasuga, and Jacqueline Sackler. The Junior Chairmen include Tennessee Hamilton, Amanda Hearst, Alexis Tobin, and Whitney Wolfe (all committees in formation).
Tickets for the Couture Council luncheon honoring Dries Van Noten are priced as follows:
Couture Table, $15,000 – Premium seating for a table of ten
Fashionista Table, $10,000 – Superior seating for a table of ten
Runway Table, $5,000 – One table of ten
Couture Ticket, $1,500 – Premium seating
Fashionista Ticket, $1,000
Runway Ticket, $500 (limited number available)
For more information on the Couture Council or to reserve luncheon tickets call 212.217.4532 or e-mail Couturecouncil@fitnyc.edu.
Benefits
Your contribution will help enhance our exhibitions, conserve our treasures, fund acquisitions, and improve our facilities. In addition, you will receive the following special membership benefits:
- Invitations to exclusive events and private viewings
- Complementary admittance for two to all paid Museum educational programs
- Acknowledgments in FIT’s annual report, in the exhibition galleries and brochures, and on the FIT website
- Exclusive opportunities to meet other patrons of the fashion arts
Highlights from Previous Special Events
- Invitation to the annual Couture Council Artistry of Fashion benefit luncheon. Ralph Rucci (2006), Alber Elbaz of Lanvin (2007), Isabel Toledo (2008), and Dries Van Noten (2009). Venues have included Brasserie 8 ½, The Rainbow Room, and Cipriani.
- Complimentary admission to the annual Fashion Symposium, which includes an invitation to meet the speakers at a cocktail reception at the home of Valerie Steele, director and chief curator, The Museum at FIT.
- Private tour of Seduction led by Colleen Hill, assistant curator of accessories, The Museum at FIT.
- Private visits to the ateliers of fashion designers such as Angel Sanchez, Isabel Toledo and her husband, fashion illustrator Ruben Toledo, Ralph Rucci, and Zac Posen.
- Private tour of Gothic: Dark Glamour led by Valerie Steele, director and chief curator, The Museum at FIT.
- Invitation to the 2008 Fashion Walk of Fame Inductions at Bryant Park Grill.
- Invitation to YEOHLEE by Yeohlee Tang Fall 2008 Trunk show and personal appearance by the designer at Takashimaya New York.
- Invitation to the Couture Council’s first Global Leadership Award Luncheon honoring Giorgio Armani at Hearst Tower.
- Invitation to Cocktails and Jewelry, at Kentshire, the world’s leading dealers in antique furniture and estate jewelry.
- Invitation to an Evening of Classic French Cocktails and Couture at Rare Vintage, New York’s premiere destination for vintage fashion and accessories.
- Private tour of Ralph Rucci: The Art of Weightlessness, led by Patricia Mears, deputy director, The Museum at FIT.
- Luncheon with Susan Tabak, author of Chic in Paris, at Doubles.
- Private visit to the Hearst Tower, home of America’s first magazine, Harper’s Bazaar.
- Luncheon with Philippe Model, renowned Parisian couture milliner, at Doubles
- Special invitation to attend an opening luncheon hosted by the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in conjunction with the opening of the exhibition Fabulous! Fashions of the 1940s
- Pre-opening tour of Glamour: Fashion, Film, Fantasy
- Tea and special tour of The Couture Accessory exhibition with guest curator Caroline Milbank.
Couture Council Members
This year we are particularly grateful to the Couture Council for its support for the many projects we have initiated and the new acquisitions that have come into our collections. The members listed below have made a significant contribution to our work during fiscal year 2008-2009.
| Valerie Steele Farha Ansari Georgianna Appignani Gale Arnold Fabiola Beracasa Melissa Lewis Bernstein Eugenie Birch Debra Black Stephanie Seymour Brant Shannon Brower Robin Burns-McNeil Aileen Dresner Bonnie Dudley Lauren Dudley Carla Dunham Patti B. Elliott Bianca L. Elliott Caren Forbes Joele Frank Michele Gerber Klein Anne S. Goldrach Mr. and Mrs. Carl Goldstein Alexandra Golinkin Joyce Goss Mr. and Mrs. Martin Grass Susan Green Gretchen Grisanti Audrey Gruss Susan K. Gutfreund Jane A. Gyulavary Rosanne Hart Jaquett W. Heck Celia Hegyi Yaz Hernandez Joan Hornig Amabel B. James Raymond E. Kasser Mariana Kaufman Pat Kerr Daniel Kinne Lauren Korn Shuchi Kothari Judith Leiber Bernadette Lejeune Nicole Lenzen Mr. and Mrs. Michael Lynch Susan Lyne Chris Madden Sarah Mandato Lisa Malitz Jana Matheson Marilyn B. Megargel Karen Mehiel Pamela T. Michaelcheck Molly Middleton Caroline Rennolds Milbank Gillian Miniter Bibhu Mohapatra Charlotte Moss Louise Nicholson Beatrice Ost Nancy Paduano Liz Peek |
Carmen Busquets
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