The Times Magazine 55n her suite at the Rosewood hotel
in central London, the fashionista,
art-world impresario, multimillionaire
divorcée and now saviour of the Victoria
and Albert Museum, Libbie Mugrabi- dressed in a turquoise bra top and
matching track pants from the designer
St John, black Manolo mules with crystal
buckles, hefty Balenciaga earrings and
a black baseball cap styled backwards
bearing the legend “Divorcée Glam” – is
becoming extremely animated.
She’s hatching plans to host a V&A fashion
fundraiser to rival New York’s legendary Met
Gala, for which – until now – London has had
no equivalent.
“When shall we do it? Next year?” she
asks. Let’s not put a date on it, her old-school,
dapper PR warns gently. “But I’m going to talk
to the V&A about it,” retorts Mugrabi in her
quickfire, squeaky New Jersey tones. “When
I first mentioned it they said, ‘What?’ I said,
‘Look, I’m friends with [UK-US billionaire
philanthropist Len] Blavatnik and this person
and that person,’ and they were like, ‘Oh.’ It’s
maybe over the top, like everything else I do,
but I think each table should go for $1 million.”
Met Gala tables sell for around $150,000,
she’s cautioned. “But this doesn’t have to be
for 1,000 people. Why can’t it be for 200 VIPs,
or 100 with 10 tables? We’re not going to copy
the Met; I’m talking our version. High-low
fashion – an event where people can wear
gorgeous suits with sneakers or a gorgeous
gown with a baseball cap.
“I went to the Met Gala twice,” Mugrabi
continues. “I hated it. I don’t like the way
fashion people act. I find them very, very
rude. Even if you sat with someone at lunch
yesterday they’re probably not going to say
hello to you. They think they are above
others. I’m from the art world and art is
welcoming. I’m all about inclusivity.”
If anyone can rescue the V&A from its
post-Covid financial doldrums and zhoosh up
the London scene, it’s Mugrabi, 42, fresh from
her divorce from David Mugrabi, the 50-year-
old scion of the Israeli-Colombian Mugrabi
dynasty, with a net worth of $5 billion, largely
derived from an art collection that includes
1,000-odd Warhols (the largest assemblage
in the world), not to mention hundreds of
Renoirs, Picassos, Hirsts, Koonses etc.
Now, the split dubbed “New York’s
nastiest divorce” has (sort of) ended with
a settlement of $100 million and she’s
seeking a new focus, somewhere far from
her £59 million former home on the Upper
East Side and “controlling” in-laws, anda new purpose as benefactor extraordinaire.
Already, her contribution has allowed
the V&A to save its Fashion In Motion
programme – free-to-attend catwalk shows
featuring both emerging and established
designers – from the post-pandemic axe.
Matching Mugrabi with a museum with the
largest collection of dresses is genius, given
her legendary passion for fashion. During
their divorce, David’s lawyer pronounced,
“One of the major issues of why the marriage
disintegrated was Mrs Mugrabi’s profligate
spending,” adding she would spend “$10,000 in
the blink of an eye” on daily trips to boutiques
such as Chanel and Valentino. Mugrabi
confirmed to The New York Times, “I spend
more than six figures a year on fashion.”
“Anybody who doesn’t take fashion
seriously has no soul,” she affirms now. She
continues, “I would really like to do something
amazing at the museum. Because I’m a very
cultured girl. I know a lot and I had never
heard of Fashion in Motion before. To be
honest, I’d never been to the V&A before
[2021], but oh my God it’s my favourite place.
It’s magic. A lot of young girls from NewI
SHE PLANS A MET-STYLE GALA FOR LONDON’S V&A.
‘EACH TABLE SHOULD GO FOR $1 MILLION’
Left: boarding a private jet after her divorce.
This image: with the artist Guy Stanley PhilocheJUDE EDGINTON, BACKGRID