A Decade at the (New) Whitney: Art and Glamour Converge on the West Side

Vogue

21-05-2025

Michelle Monaghan, Maria Giulia Maramotti
Tiffany Sage/BFA.com
It was art imitating life—and life, of course, dressed in designer—as guests ascended the Whitney Museum for its annual Gala, held atop Manhattan's shimmering West Side. The evening marked more than just a celebration of the institution's 10-year anniversary in the Renzo Piano–designed building: it was a reunion of artists, collectors, patrons, and power-dressers who've long championed the museum's bold, contemporary vision. As twilight fell over the Hudson, so too did a stylish spell over the proceedings.
There were thought-provoking speeches from the honorees—chairman Richard M. DeMartini, artist Amy Sherald, and legendary curator Barbara Haskell. An array of notables—Michelle Monaghan, Leslie Bibb, Laura Harrier, Andie MacDowell, Nicky Hilton Rothschild, Kathy Hilton, Claire Danes, and more—artfully intermingled in the museum's grandiose halls. But perhaps one of the real forces that brought the museum to life was the anniversary edition of Max Mara's Whitney bag.
Back in 2015, Max Mara unveiled the Whitney Bag, an iconic piece created in collaboration with the Renzo Piano Building Workshop to mark the inauguration of the new Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan's Meatpacking District. What began as a limited edition bag quickly became a highly sought-after accessory for women around the world. 'It's a unique piece to be honest. It's a bag like no other on the market, and that makes us very proud, as well as the idea of representing [the Whitney's] architectural design and blending that with the spirit of Max Mara's brand aesthetic,' Maria Giulia Maramotti, Max Mara Fashion Group Board Member and third generation of the Maramotti family, tells Vogue. And indeed, the bag quite literally animates the Whitney through its ribbed design, which mimics the museum's facade.