Inside the deceptively austere Fort Mason Festival Pavillion on Wednesday, a colorful scene unfolded: Men and women in patterned silks, leopard print, and intricate headdresses swapped gossip and guzzled caviar, surrounded by millions of dollars in ancient antiques.
This was San Francisco’s annual Fall Show (opens in new tab), which showcases antique art and other design elements from around the world — and where the only thing more eye-catching than the wares were the outfits.
The Fall Show (affectionately shortened from the ungainly San Francisco Fall Antiques Show), is a 43-year tradition that brings more than 40 international exhibitors to the city for a five-day extravaganza. It traditionally kicks off with a gala hosted by city society’s biggest names, from designer Stanlee Gatti to socialite maven Dede Wilsey. Each year has a theme to which guests try to tailor their outfits — think the Met Gala, but with fewer meat dresses and far fewer A-listers.
Ken Fulk, a cochair of the Fall Show’s design council, described the event as a “smorgasbord” — a collision of modernity and antiquity, of old money and new.
“It’s sort of all over, and that’s the cool thing about San Francisco,” he said, sporting a Thom Browne suit printed with idyllic nature scenes (opens in new tab). “It’s not divided. The beauty of it is when it mashes up — and that’s what happens here.”
It certainly was a mash-up. Where else could you purchase a $200,000 samurai suit from the 1840s, two vintage Italian glazed ceramic monkeys, and a surfboard emblazoned with a naked woman’s backside all in the same room? (Fulk told The Standard he purchased two chairs from King George’s coronation, which he described as “almost like folding chairs.”)
The gala theme this year was “Paradise Found,” and guests were invited to embrace “the tropical, the exotic, and the vibrantly colorful” — a hard pivot from last year’s “Black and White” theme, which left some guests underwhelmed. A surprising number of people interpreted this theme to mean they should don jungle-themed headdresses, from Carmen Miranda-style tutti-frutti hats to a purple and orange mohawk made from fresh flowers.
Notable attendees included Gap Executive Vice President Zac Posen, Architectural Digest Editor in Chief Amy Astley, and fashion icon Tommy Hilfiger and his wife Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger, who are honorary cochairs for the show.
Society regulars, including Trevor and Alexis Traina, Doug Goldman of the Haas family, and Gretchen Kimball also flitted among the crowd, drinking from the open bars and nibbling on snapper ceviche, grilled lamb chops, and something called “panna cotta shots.” Samantha DuVall Bechtel, whose family owns the Marina dining institution Izzy’s and serves on the young collectors’ committee, brought in NoPa restaurant Che Fico as one of the drink stands.
Salewise, there were highs: a 1940s map of San Francisco bars and clubs, the space-age pianos from Piedmont Piano Company, and a large-format poster of the Sutro Baths.
And there were lows: a litany of culturally appropriative costumes, Finnegan Gallery’s fake wood garden bench for $7,500, and whatever this is below.
Multiple attendees noted the effects of the Trump administration’s tariffs on imports at this year’s event, which usually attracts exhibitors from around the globe. While a few exhibitors made it in from Denmark, England, and Portugal, there were decidedly fewer African, Asian, and South American gallerists on display.
The chaotic nature of the global economy did not dampen turnout, though. Guests packed the corridors of the venue, and a gaggle of chatty guests at the front made it almost impossible to enter. The show appeared more bustling even than January’s FOG gala, the other major art show hosted yearly at Fort Mason.
The Fall Show is more of an ode to San Francisco’s antique collecting. In the past, a rule for the show set an age limit for the furniture: You couldn’t show a piece younger than 100 years. That rule has changed as the fair has turned to attract younger audiences with more contemporary tastes — and for whom a table from the 1970s might seem quite vintage enough.
Sarah Wendell-Sherrill, who stepped down as senior vice president from Christie’s San Francisco earlier this year after her husband, Stephen Sherrill, was appointed as District 2 supervisor, is on the young collectors’ committee, or as she calls it, “the vibes committee.”
“We seek the youth,” Wendell-Sherrill said. “Antiques are an important part of the history of this fair, and you need to see [contemporary work] too. We make sure our generation is here and knows about it.”
For the proletariat who are feeling Fall Show FOMO, don’t fret. The fair will be around all weekend, featuring lectures by Hilfiger and other design icons and collectors. For just $55, you can see it in all its glory — sans the open bar and caviar carts.