PHOTOS: Inside the Frick Collection’s 2026 Young Fellows Ball

Emira D’spain and Ava Dash. Matt Borkowski/BFA.com

Last week, the Frick Collection threw open its doors for one of New York’s most anticipated fêtes: the Young Fellows Ball. Now nearing its third decade, the sold-out gathering drew hundreds of the city’s best-dressed under-45s, there to support the museum’s exhibitions, conservation efforts and public programming—and, just as importantly, to be seen doing it. Guests responded to the year’s theme, Travel Through Time, with an unforgettable array of ensembles inspired, no doubt, by the highly anticipated “Gainsborough: The Fashion of Portraiture” exhibition, which explores the intricacies of fashion in 18th-century British portraiture. The result was a scene reminiscent of the Gilded Age, albeit with Renaissance, Georgian, Rococo and—in one case—Star Trekkian flourishes thrown in for good measure.

Spotted among the crowd were plenty of familiar faces, each dressed to match the splendor of the setting. Local luminaries included socialite and philanthropist Natalie Bloomingdale, arts patron Alexander Hankin, socialite and arts supporter Casey Kohlberg, philanthropist Laurence Milstein, fashion queen Cynthia Rowley, the ebullient Christopher Griffin (a.k.a. Plant Kween) and the perpetually impeccable Vogue editor Lilah Ramzi. The out-of-towners were equally impressive, among them Fendi fashion dynasty scion Alessia Fendi, Getty oil fortune heiress Ivy Getty, JFK grandson and Democratic political figure Jack Schlossberg, designer extraordinaire Zach Weiss, British-Italian socialite and Made in Chelsea personality Mark-Francis Vandelli, Saturday Night Live’s Marcello Hernández, models Ava Dash and Emira D’Spain and designer Bach Mai.

Did this year’s Young Fellows Ball lack some of the fizz of last year’s? Perhaps, though only barely and only because 2025’s gala was tied to the much-celebrated reopening of the storied institution after lengthy renovations, a once-in-a-generation occasion that set an almost unfair precedent. What didn’t change was how the gorgeous swirl of gowns nearly upstaged the beautiful artworks on display. But only nearly.