Art-Goers Are Such Animals in Latest Send-Up From W Magazine

Now, the Mag Documents 'Species' Attending Frieze

Published On
May 16, 2017

Editor's Pick

W Magazine continues to delight us with its fresh twists to covering the beauty and fashion industries. Previously, it had former Beauty Editor Jane Larkworthy give a makeup tutorial like no other and applied a wildlife documentary-inspired lens to the patrons of Paris Fashion week in a satirical film directed by Aaron Christian.

This week, W reunited with Christian on a new short, this time, closely examining the creatures of another fascinating subset of society: art fair attendees.

The new film, "Chameleons of the Art World: The Humans of Frieze New York," delivers a playfully biting anthropological assessment of visitors of the recent Frieze Art Fair in NYC, categorizing them into various sartorial "species," including the "Bubblegum Lilypad," the "Lilac Sequin" and "The Gallerina."

In an accompanying online piece, W's Mike Albo writes that here, the fashion "can be looser, either more mundane and utilitarian (especially this year, when Frieze was held during a weekend of high precipitation) or they can be so insanely attention-getting it achieves an awkward, sweetly geeky extreme that would never be duplicated in the street style ecosystems that surface during fashion week."