Society page ubiquitors — Jennifer Creel, Nina Griscom, Alexandra Lebenthal, Debbie Bancroft, Helen Lee Schifter and Jamee Gregory among them — shuffled into the dimly lit (and thematically appropriate) room. Surrounding the restaurant’s bubbling pool were not only the predictable hurricane lanterns but also a trio of smiley models in to-the-floor Oscar de la Renta gowns, their ears, necks and wrists dripping in Graff sparklers. The two brands underwrote the event.
“It’s brand new,” Jamee Gregory said of her own ensemble, a recently acquired de la Renta black and white silk faillle Chantilly lace tea dress from the designer’s pre-fall collection. “Don’t you just love it?”
Soon Mark Gilbertson stepped up to the microphone to introduce Susan Henshaw Jones, the museum’s director. “It’s so great to see so many friends gathered here tonight in support of the museum which is, after all, the city’s museum,” he said.
“Thank you everyone for coming tonight. There’s so much great spirit involved,” Henshaw Jones said to the room. “And this is obviously a great event.”
The evening raised more than $375,000 for the Harlem institution.