Glossip: The Style Takeaways From The Serpentine Gallery Summer Party

One of the London summer season’s key parties was a meeting of designers and their muses …

An invite to the Serpentine Gallery’s annual summer party is one of the glossiest diary dates on the London party circuit, where the worlds of art, pop culture, fashion and politics collide.

This year’s event was no different; among the guests were various fashion designers and their squads including Emilia Wickstead and Alexa Chung, Roksanda Ilincic with Gold Rosheuvel and Arch Hades, Erdem Moraliogu with Ruth Wilson and Paul Smith with Orlando Bloom.

Alexa Chung and Emilia Wickstead.

Hosted by Michael R Bloomberg as well as the CEO and artistic director of the Serpentine Gallery, Bettina Korek and Hans Ulrich Obrist, guests mingled as they enjoyed cocktails, wine and champagne by Ruinart, Casamigos, Whispering Angel and MarGin.

Other VIPs included Anna Wintour, Diane Kruger, Venus Williams, Ellie Goulding, Zadie Smith, Bianca Jagger, Justin Theroux, Pixie Geldof and Georgia May Jagger, who made their way through an artist-led path in Kensington Gardens to the Serpentine Pavilion.

This year’s Pavilion, designed by French Lebanese architect Lina Ghotmeh, was inspired by her Mediterranean heritage. Titled À table it features a circular table along its perimeter, “inviting guests to share ideas, memories and concerns”. It was the focal point for the party catering by Skye Gyngell – best known for winning a Michelin star at the Petersham Nurseries Café and for her restaurant Spring at Somerset House. Lina Ghotmeh was in attendance with other artists including Grayson Perry, Es Devlin, Mary McCartney and Isaac Julien.

What to wear to such a starry event? While many guests opted for jewel colours (to stand out from the throng), the style takeaway suggests summer black or white is trending.

Ellie Goulding wore a black PVC off-the-shoulder dress, while Minnie Driver, Diane Kruger, Jourdan Dunn and Lady Mary Charteris all opted for black, with plenty of embellishment and toned abs on view too.

Rocking white in Simone Rocha were Cora Delaney and Gais Isaiah Jamal, as well as Emilia Wickstead in her own design and Bianca Jagger, who is a Dior muse. Clearly, Bianca knows that white is an age-defying choice which reflects light and looks good no matter what the season or the event.

As for exhibitions at the Serpentine, if visiting London, there are a series of summer weekend talks, as well as an interesting al fresco exhibition by Argentine artist Tomás Saraceno called “Web(s) of Life” which is inspired by spiders and their webs. For more information visit www.serpentinegalleries.org.

Click into the gallery below to see all the guests who attended.