CRAFTY: The Sarabande Foundation, established from the estate of the late Lee Alexander McQueen, hosted a fund-raising gala called “Craftsmen’s Dinner” in Mayfair on Monday night, joined by the likes of Sarah Burton, Eddie and Hannah Redmayne, Nicholas Kirkwood, Rupert Friend and Stephen Jones, who turned out to support the foundation and its work in promoting contemporary craft in all its forms.
The dinner was held at the Berkeley Square pavilion of the LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair, of which Sarabande is the charitable partner this year, a partnership that held special meaning for Trino Verkade, founding trustee of Sarabande. She used to attend the fair with McQueen, who would often buy pieces of taxidermy or religious icons for his collection.
“So often we just look at the end result of something beautiful without realizing the incredible craftsmanship that goes into making them,” Verkade said. “We wanted to celebrate the craftsmanship that goes into the wonderful world we live in and really take a moment to think about what it takes to get to that level of craftsmanship: the training; the skills; the people who cut the patterns, who set the stones. Not just focus on the final, fun result.”
Sarabande, named after
The dinner was held at the Berkeley Square pavilion of the LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair, of which Sarabande is the charitable partner this year, a partnership that held special meaning for Trino Verkade, founding trustee of Sarabande. She used to attend the fair with McQueen, who would often buy pieces of taxidermy or religious icons for his collection.
“So often we just look at the end result of something beautiful without realizing the incredible craftsmanship that goes into making them,” Verkade said. “We wanted to celebrate the craftsmanship that goes into the wonderful world we live in and really take a moment to think about what it takes to get to that level of craftsmanship: the training; the skills; the people who cut the patterns, who set the stones. Not just focus on the final, fun result.”
Sarabande, named after