Every year The
Couture Council of The Fashion Institute of Technology
"breaks a bottle of champagne" over
the bow of Fall Fashion Week with the Couture
Council Award for Artistry in Fashion Luncheon.
The 2011 nominee is the incomparable Valentino
who will be honored on September 7, 2011 at a
benefit luncheon at David K Koch Theatre in Lincoln
Center. Past Council awardees were Karl
Lagerfeld (2010), Dries
Van Noten (2009), Isabel
Toledo (2008), Alber
Ebaz (2007) and Ralph Rucci (2006).
In honor of and
to promote the upcoming festivities, the Council
hosts an annual summer party. This year the party
was held at Central Parks's Boathouse on Wednesday,
August 17, 2011. The Boathouse was a charming
setting for the riotous fashions sported by the
celebrants. There were nature's flowers outside
and fashion flowers inside, all dramatically lit
by the shadowy light of dusk in Central Park.
The guests were a mixture of
uptown and downtown fashion lovers/divas and no
one came "straight from work" to attend
the event. The Couture Council celebrates fashion
as art and so did the guests, who worked the room
modeling their personal fashion "calling
cards." And there were hats, lots of hats
- not quite enough to be English, but getting
there.
Liz Peek addressed the crowd
to drum up excitement for September's luncheon.
The room was so full and the partygoers having
so much fun ("I love it," "Where
did you get that?" and a bit of "Really,
you don't say"), Ms. Peek had to address
the group twice in order to be heard, once from
each end of the long room.
The party's host committee included:
Anne Goldrach, Michelle Violy Harper, Yaz Hernandez,
Chiu-Ti Jansen, Michele Gerber Klein, Alexandra
Lebanthal, Kamie Lightburn, Doris P. Meister,
Liz Peek, Jean Shafiroff, Sarah Wolfe and the
Director of the Museum at FIT, Dr. Valerie Steele.
Many fashion designers took
a break from their preparations for their fall
collections to attend including: Zac Posen, Thakoon
Panichgul, Maria Cornejo, Stan Herman, Eric Javitz,
Gemma Khang, Tiffany Koury, Raul Melgoza (Luca
Luca), Maggie Norris, Devon Scott, Steven Stolman
and Patricia Underwood.
Other guests include: Glenda
Bailey, Geoffrey Bradfield, Malik So Chic, Alva
Chinn, Cece Cord, Jennifer Coleman Creel, Carmen
D'Alessio, Louise and Terry Doktor, Patricia Field,
Mai Hallingby, Cathy Hardwick, Maria Cooper Janis,
Eleanora Kennedy, Willa Kim, Carson Kressley,
Chloe Malle, Alex McCord (New York Housewives),
Chris Nirschel (Food Network), Marjorie Reed-Gordon,
Jacqueline Weld, Bill Cunningham and Sarah Wolfe.
The 2011 luncheon chairs are
Anne H Bass, Charlotte Moss, Diane von Furstenberg
and The Honorable Daphne Guinness.
Guinness's personal couture collection (with
many masterpieces by Valentino) will be exhibited
at The Museum at Fit in September 2011.
To purchase luncheon tickets,
contact Vicki Guranowski at 212 217 4105, fax
212 594 9206 or email Victoria_Guaranowski@fitnyc.edu.
For more information about The
Museum at FIT, log onto fitnyc.edu/3662.asp.
The Hats
Photo Credit: Wendy R. Williams
Patricia Field and Friend
Photo Credit: Wendy R. Williams
Atmosphere
Photo Credit: Wendy R. Williams
