The Colorful Tory Burch

Monday evening, art-lovers, artists and the socially mobile happily trekked to the far north reaches of the Upper East Side for a cocktail party celebrating two chic projects masterminded by Tory Burch. Held at the gallery Salon 94 and hosted by Burch, Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, Alexander Gilkes and Aditya Julka, the event toasted the glossy tome Tory Burch In Color, out this month from Abrams which showcases the many artworks, people, places and yes, colors, that inspire designer. There was also an accompanying Paddle8 auction, curated by Burch and featuring pieces by some of the artists highlighted in her book. (Online bidding runs through October 15, with a portion of auction proceeds—and all gross proceeds from the book’s sale received by Tory Burch LLC—benefiting the Tory Burch Foundation’s efforts toward economic empowerment for women.) Among the 23 lots are Damien Hirst’s Beautiful saucy spit roast it’ll all end in tears rug, 2007 and a Francesca DiMattio vase Edo Pot, 2012. If some of the names dotting the auction offerings, among them Ellsworth Kelly, Andy Warhol, and Laurie Simmons, seem a bit out of your price range, fear not: everyone has got to start somewhere. “[The first thing I bought at auction] was a piece of folk art—for about $300,” Burch recalls. “It was right after college. And I was so happy when I got it. I’ve always loved folk art. It’s easy to collect and it’s not terribly expensive. And there are great colors.” Naturally.