Rebecca Moses Shares Career Moments at the National Arts Club
The National Arts Club is known to attract a fashionable and artistically inclined crowd, and Friday night was no exception.
Fashion designer and artist Rebecca Moses joined the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Marc Karimzadeh for a conversation about her career in the historic club. The CFDA’s Steven Kolb and Lisa Smilor were also on hand, as well as other style-minded guests like Deborah Moses, Nicole Fischelis, Freddie Leiba, Dustin Pittman, Nancy Chilton, Yeohlee Teng, John Bartlett and Anthony Galante.
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The self-described bohemian is known for her whimsical fashion illustrations, vibrant portraitures celebrating women, imperfectly perfect mannequins, her own fashion collections and as former head designer of the Italian ready-to-wear brand Genny. Last fall Moses’ creativity took her in another direction — a wallpaper collaboration with Momentum Textiles and Wallcovering.
The event’s location, which overlooks Gramercy Park, is historic in its own right. The NAC is housed in the Samuel Tilden Mansion, a Victorian Gothic building that is a national historic landmark. In 1898, the author, poet and New York Times’ literary and art critic Charles De Kay set out to create a hub for the arts in New York City. With Louis Comfort Tiffany, the architect and sculptor Charles Rollinson Lamb and some of New York’s other leading artists and patrons, they imagined the NAC as a gathering place for all types of artists and art lovers. When its original 34th Street location became too small, the financier and philanthropist Spencer Trask helped the club acquire the Samuel Tilden Mansion for a new base.
Moses shared highlights from her decades-long career in fashion. Asked on Monday what stood out to him about Moses’ talk, Karimzadeh said via email Monday, “From leaving high school a year early to work to sharing fabric orders with Michael Kors to make minimums and succeeding Gianni Versace at Genny in Milan, Rebecca’s professional and personal trajectory is nothing short of inspiring. Among her gems of wisdom were: ‘The road to success is never a straight one, and we must all take risks; don’t get hooked on the fame but cultivate your craft and discover the undiscovered magic within you; challenges, failures and losses encourage you to dig deeper.’ Her words resonate well within and outside the confines of fashion.”
Another fashionable crowd is expected at the NAC on March 21, when Ruben Toledo will be honored with the club’s Medal of Honor.
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