As any seasoned Art Basel Miami–goer knows, RSVP to everything, and just show up to what you can. From Brickell to Miami Beach, there are openings, panels, and the actual fairs—Design Miami, Untitled, Scope, and Art Basel Miami—to see and be seen at. And come nightfall the parties begin; invitations flood inboxes and Instagram DMs like an embarrassment of riches for the social butterfly.
The entrance of the Miami Beach mansion said it all—various focal points of its Art Deco façade were framed in neon lights: violet, indigo, yellow, vermillion orange. This was going to be a gathering of diverse types, all bold.
Entering the packed house, the chief of ceremonies, Peter Dundas, greeted guests in a yellow jacket decked with sparkling floral accents (from his upcoming men’s collection, of course). On this night, he and Artemis Baltoyanni were celebrating with friends—Alana Hadid, Rosario Dawson, Teyana Taylor, Ricky Martin, and more—the opening their new exhibition “Dream Makers: Fashion Illustrated.”
Along the walls, and within a partitioned-off room, colorful sketches of women and men from the past century posed—some with sprezzatura expressions, others with fierce bedroom eyes. “I’d really like people to become re-engaged with fashion illustration,” Dundas said, standing before a drawing of a woman in a flowing violet dress with a generous neckline—her left breast unfettered. “I think it’s an art form.”
After meeting Evangelo Bousis, Dundas’ smizing other half, guests could find themselves face to face with none other than Paris Hilton. She wore a lime green piece that glimmered in the dim poolside light. “In this dress, I feel like I’m the Tinker Bell of Art Basel,” she said.
As people sipped vodka and soda, excitedly talking with one another, Hilton gushed over Dundas’ “big heart” and his “legendary” fashion sense—and then, with a Cheshire cat grin, explained why it’s important to slay life—or sliv, as she calls it: “If you’re not sliving, you’re not living.”
