As throngs of fashion insiders closed out New York Fashion Week and headed across the pond for an English take on summer style, we headed to Tuscany – a St Giles Signature Hotel to be exact. On this particular Thursday evening, The Tuscany Hotel opened its penthouse suite to street artist Pegasus and an array of fashionistas, art lovers, and über-chic NYers, to celebrate the reveal of the London based artist’s five new pieces commissioned for the space.
Before the great reveal, guests were invited to enjoy hors d’oeuvres and cocktails as they toured the top floor which boasted 1,400 square feet of indoor and outdoor space. As a two-piece jazz ensemble played, we got our fill of the multi-room suite done in soothing earth tones. The space features a fully equipped kitchen, marble baths, a master bedroom with a king-sized bed and a direct view of the Chrysler Building, as well as a wraparound terrace with an additional view of the Empire State Building to the south. With a presentation like that, it was hard not to make ourselves at home.
As the sun began to set alongside the Empire State Building, we gathered in the sitting area to see the first of Pegasus’s five custom pieces. Each one featured style icons of “old New York.” The first and grandest to be unveiled was of Marilyn Monroe which was mounted in a gleaming pink frame with a quote that read, “We are all stars, and we deserve to twinkle.” The next to follow Marilyn’s unveiling were Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, John & Jackie Kennedy, and Audrey Hepburn – circa Breakfast at Tiffany’s of course. The artist, whose influences include Andy Warhol and Banksy, maintained his well-known stencil work and added details to the remaining images of the aforementioned icons. For example, he incorporated articles of JFK’s assassination in his Kennedy’s piece, and the title of one of Ella Fitzgerald’s songs, “Let’s Fall in Love”, in hers. The complete series definitely embodied an old New York feel.
St Giles made sure to make the evening a charitable affair by offering guests an opportunity to bid on one of the art pieces created by Pegasus. Through their Hotels with Heart charity, the money raised was donated to Art Start who “nurtures the voices, hearts, and minds of New York City’s underserved youth through consistent creative workshops inside homeless shelters, alternative to incarceration programs, and partnering youth agencies.”
-James Bianca