How ‘bout breakfast at Tiffany’s?

B.W. COOK

Jeffrey Bennett opened the vault-like doors of Tiffany & Co. at South

Coast Plaza to welcome the ladies of The Decorative Arts Society to

an 8:30 a.m. breakfast at the big “T.”

The morning confab was designed by Bennett, a most debonair

Tiffany vice president who has jumped into the Orange County mix from

his East Coast roots with a full-speed-ahead attitude, making sure

that charity and community involvement are joined very closely with

company business.

The formula has worked handsomely. A win-win for Tiffany and for

Orange County. Some 100 very chic women of the Society came for

chitchat, fresh orange juice and morning delicacies, and to meet

Frank Arcaro, vice president of Tiffany’s exclusive Elsa Peretti

collection.

Bennett labeled the event “Pure Peretti.” The Newport-Mesa crowd

loved the program. It was art, design, lifestyle, fashion, business

and personal history rolled into a few short hours of fun and

discovery. Arcaro addressed the crowd, seated on white-gloss painted

chairs in the diamond salon, using a PowerPoint display to share

details about the life of Peretti. Models paraded through the Tiffany

store, showing off Peretti designs as Arcaro described their origins.

Chaired by Ann Dennis of Newport Beach, with support from Joan

Sammis of Linda Isle, the morning event was about one woman’s vision

that has changed lives. The Peretti story, creating opportunity and

opening doors, was a perfect match for the Decorative Arts Society.

With the purpose of supporting New Directors For Women, a

substance-abuse program aimed at changing the lives of troubled women

fighting alcohol and drug dependency, the goal of creating positive

change was on the minds of all supporting the event.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.