Night Porter: Art of Wishes Event, London

The outfits were chic and the emotions palpable at the Art of Wishes Ladies Luncheon on the eve of Frieze Art Fair, staged in the architectural grandeur of London’s Centre Point building. The 1960s design icon was a fittingly dramatic backdrop to the event hosted by NET-A-PORTER and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, a charity that creates life-changing experiences for children with critical illnesses. Guests including Cefinn designer Samantha Cameron, model Jacquetta Wheeler and actress Camilla Rutherford mingled over champagne and hibiscus mocktails, with Cameron explaining she’d accessorized her Cefinn dress with a vintage pendant at her teenage daughter’s suggestion (“A medallion is cool, right?”). Over lunch, artist Phoebe Collings-James, wearing an olive Molly Goddard dress, chatted about her new exhibition in Cologne and an about-to-be unveiled work celebrating 100 years of women’s suffrage – a portrait of James’ grandmother, Valda Louise James, a former mayor of Islington and the first black woman to be elected to Islington council. Across the table, food writer Jasmine Hemsley, dressed in a dreamy floral maxi dress, shared stories about when costume-party attire goes wrong (tip: avoid white contact lenses).

Taking to the stage in a bohemian Etro gown, co-host and Make-A-Wish ambassador Batia Ofer welcomed the group by saying, “It’s wonderful to see so many beautiful, strong women here today,” before introducing a very special speaker: 15-year-old Younas. The charity helped Younas to achieve his wish of building wells in Gambia, inspired by a documentary he watched when he was sick; when he was well enough, he traveled to Africa to see his dream become a reality. A teary Tom Odell then took to the piano and sang his heart out, while guests bid on a Tracey Emin watercolor inspired by another Make-A-Wish child: six-year-old Grace, who wanted to visit Wales with her pony.

It was a moving and celebratory start to a week of wonders as Frieze takes over the capital. Tim Marlow, the Artistic Director of the Royal Academy, shared his Frieze Week tips – Doris Salcedo at White Cube Bermondsey and Tania Bruguera at Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall among them – and NET-A-PORTER President Alison Loehnis urged guests to shop a week-long curation of stellar-themed personal jewels, with 20% of proceeds going to the charity. Now, just close your eyes…