Fashion forward at museum

Crystal Bridges raises $2 million

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville was filled with everything haute couture Oct. 26. The day’s fashion-focused happenings began with the Fashion Symposium in the Great Hall and ended with the star-studded Grit to Glamour Party in the museum’s transformed lobby and Eleven Restaurant. Some 450 gala guests helped raise $2 million for the museum’s arts education programs. The events were held in celebration of the museum’s first fashion exhibition, “Fashioning America: Grit to Glamour.”

Tommy Hilfiger, founder and creative director of Tommy Hilfiger, headlined the afternoon’s Fashion Symposium, created in partnership with the Council of Fashion Designers of America to convene “leading industry voices to celebrate American fashion design and share stories, experiences and insight on sustainability, diversity, equity and inclusion.” The day featured conversations on empowering a future generation of female entrepreneurs, Inclusive Design, Responsible Luxury, the Future of Fashion, and supporting the next generation of Black fashion designers.

Symposium guests also heard from Steven Kolb, Council of Fashion Designers of America CEO; Maghan McDowell, Vogue Business senior innovation editor; Stuart Vevers, Coach executive creative director; Nicole Phelps, Vogue Runway global director; Tania Flynn, Nike vice president of women’s apparel product design; Tracy Reese, Hope for Flowers founder and creative director; Aurora James, Brother Vellies creative director and founder; Sara Kozlowski, CFDA

vice president of sustainability initiatives and education; Bethann Hardison, fashion advocate and luxury brand consultant; Omar Salam, Sukeina designer and founder; Fe Noel, Fe Noel founder and designer; Michelle Finamore, Crystal Bridges guest curator; Ruben Toledo, Crystal Bridges guest exhibition designer; and Leslie Leonard, Walmart U.S. senior vice president of men’s/women’s/kids’/baby footwear merchant group.

That evening, hosts Olivia Walton, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Board chairwoman; Derek Blasberg, author and television personality; Hank Willis Thomas, artist, co-founder of For Freedoms and Crystal Bridges Board member; Karlie Kloss, model and television host; and Tommy Hilfiger welcomed guests to Grit to Glamour, the museum’s inaugural benefit gala. The invitation to the celebration of fashion promised “an intriguing mix of high and low, casual and opulent, expected and unexpected in everything from the décor to the food to the attire,” and guests and party planner Van Wyck & Van Wyck did not disappoint.

The evening’s guest list included Christy Turlington Burns, Alexi and Seth Meyers, Jeremy O’Harris, Alex and Michael Toccin, Sylvanna Durrett, Chandra and Jimmie Johnson, Lyn and Norman Lear, Cameron Silver, Arianna Huffington, Geena Davis, Meg Ryan, Sybil Robson Orr, Brandon Maxwell, Barbara Bush, Lauren Bush Lauren, Julia Koch, Lynne and Jim Walton, Kelly and Steuart Walton, Sarah Simmons, Mandy Macke, Annemarie Dillard, Olivia Tyson, John Randall Tyson, Diane and Mark Simmons, Gov. Asa Hutchinson and wife Susan, Shelley and Doug McMillon, Tony Waller and Ben Blakeman.

(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Carin Schoppmeyer) Steuart and Kelly Walton (from left) with Olivia and Tom Walton welcome guests to Grit to Glamour, the inaugural gala to benefit Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art on Oct. 26 at the museum in Bentonville.

(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Carin Schoppmeyer) Tony Waller (from left), Deborah Wright and Ben Blakeman pause for a photo at Grit to Glamour. Waller and Blakeman served as host committee members for the benefit.

(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Carin Schoppmeyer) Meghan McDowell, Vogue Business senior innovation editor and Hilfiger, Tommy Hilfiger founder and creative director, conclude the Fashion Symposium at Crystal Bridges.

(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Carin Schoppmeyer) Derek Blasberg and Karlie Kloss (from left), Olivia Walton and Tommy Hilfiger gather at Grit to Glamour.

(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Carin Schoppmeyer) Asa Hutchinson III, Gov. Asa Hutchinson and wife Susan, Dave and Sarah Wengel and Alex and Michael Toccin attend Grit to Glamour.

(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Carin Schoppmeyer) Tracy Reese (from left), Aurora James, Steven Kolb, Council of Fashion Designer of America CEO, Tania Flynn and Nicole Phelps gather after a panel discussion at the Fashion Symposium.

(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Carin Schoppmeyer) Lizzie Tisch (from left), Sylvanna Durrett, Olivia Walton and Christy Turlington Burns visit at the Crystal Bridges fundraiser Oct. 26. Durrett and Burns served as host committee members for the benefit.

Wren Dillard (from left), Amanda Dillard and Annemarie Dillard, Grit to Glamour host committee member, stand for a photo at the fundraiser Oct. 26.

Casey Hamaker (from left), Elizabeth Miller, Anne Jackson, Mark Trevino, Mandy Macke, host committee member, Danyelle Musselman, Jennifer Yurachek and Tareneh Manning enjoy Grit to Glamour.