For Project Angel Food, to shop is divine
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A Philippe Starck Ghost chair for $200, L.A. Eyeworks frames for $175, a fur capelet for $300, Monique Lhuillier wedding gowns, Ralph Lauren cashmere sweaters, Elizabeth & James boyfriend jackets and Steven Alan tartan shirts -- all at 50% off. Deals like this can only mean one thing: Project Angel Food’s annual Divine Design Marketplace is open for business in Beverly Hills, with donations from tons of top fashion and home designers.
Thursday night’s Divine Design opening gala and awards presentation at the Beverly Hilton boasted a glittery cast of characters from the design and fashion industries, including Council of Fashion Designers of America Executive Director Steven Kolb, who came in from New York to accept the Man of Style Award (or the Man Who Found Style Award, as the tongue-in-cheek film introducing him suggested, referring to Kolb’s transformation from nonprofit nerd to Seventh Avenue sophisticate when he got the job in 2005).
‘Mad Men’ lovely Christina Hendricks, in a body-hugging dress and long black gloves, was named Woman of Style, and super-stylist Rachel Zoe presented the Fashion Icon Award to...drum-roll, Barbie, who else? ‘The big lashes, the hair -- obviously she has been a huge inspiration to me,’ Zoe said.
L.A.-based interior designer Michael Smith (who was tapped to decorate the Obama White House) presented the Interior Designer Pioneer Award to one of his mentors, the late Dorothy Kneedler Lawenda. (Smith worked as an assistant at the Kneedler-Fauchere showroom when he was starting out). He praised her ‘legacy of taste’ and called her a ‘fashionista’ who had kimonos made from leftover fabric from her interior design company. Lawenda died last year. Her husband of 57 years, Harry Lawenda, accepted on her behalf.
After dinner, a Barbie fashion show featured a bevy of bouncy blonds in outfits created by FIDM students and California designers such as Bob Mackie, Kevan Hall, Sue Wong and Robin Piccone (loved the SCUBA-inspired swimsuit). I sat next to Trina Turk and chatted about her new jewelry collection landing in stores next month, and also ran into JC Obando, George Esquivel, Scott Sternberg and Magda Berliner.
All proceeds from the event, and from sales at the marketplace, will benefit Project Angel Food, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The organization has served more than 6 million meals to people in Los Angeles who are affected by HIV/AIDS, cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. Each week, 13,000 meals are cooked and delivered with the help of 1,500 volunteers. And if that’s not a reason to get your shop on, I don’t know what is.
The Divine Design Marketplace is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. today through Monday at 9900 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills (the old Robinsons-May space). Tickets are $25. For more information, click here.
--Booth Moore
