Last night's Divine Design Gala was held at the elegant Beverly Hilton Hotel {where the Golden Globe Awards are held} in Beverly Hills, CA. The annual affair kicked off what has become the biggest retail shopping event on the West Coast!
Giada DeLaurentis (Princess of The Food Network) sat at the table next to mine. Also in the house was the voluptuous red-headed Mad Men hottie, Christina Hendricks who was honored with the 'Woman of Style' award, Rachel Zoe (who presented the 'Fashion Icon' award to Barbie - yes, Ken's girlfriend), Steven Kolb (Exec. Director of the CFDA & winner of the 'Man of Style' award) and a host of other Los Angeles fashion designers & fashion followers. The dinner was capped off with a Barbie fashion show, with pieces from the FIDM Debut 2009 alongside special designer renditions of a Barbie look, circa now! The pink runway and Barbie-look-a-like models were enough to incite the crowd. Loved it.
Divine Design is a 4-day shopping fest with goods by designers galore, that are sold at 50% off of retail on day one, going to 60%, 70% on day two & three, to finally go to 80% off on the last day of the sale. It's a shopper's delight, located in the old Robinsons May building on Wilshire Blvd. right next to The Beverly Hilton! All proceeds of the sale benefit Project Angel Food, a heavenly organization that prepares & delivers over 1,400 meals per day to people in LA living with illnesses that pretty much leave them restricted to their homes. This just adds to the goodness of it all! My family and I have volunteered several times at Project Angel Food, and I can say firsthand that it is both overwhelming and heartwarming to see what they do on a daily basis for so many people.
Gala guests were also treated to VIP passes good for in & out privileges during the entire sale event, and a preview before the sale was officially opened to the public. So many good things were begging to be bought, with the retail floor divided into various departments from home to luxury fashion to mens, children & gift items. I spotted Sonia Rykiel striped sheets (that look just like her signature stripes as currently shown on H&M's website), thick & lush Matteo LA towels in midnight black, gorgeous Capiz trays & accessorie by Dillon Wells, dapper knit neckties by Henry Jacobson, ridiculously delicious baby clothes by Lola et Moi, teeny bikinis by Peonie Swimwear (which I'd never heard of until last night), Berliner C shirts that were absolute must-haves! Elizabeth and James (the Olsen twins latest fashion venture) also represented with a collection of lust-inducing tops including a tiger print situation that I don't think I can survive without.
An entire section was devoted to Barbie with framed poster art photos of Barbie through the years - so cute, and limited edition items up for auction: Barbie Loves Rachel Zoe (Should I mention that Rachel's Barbie was rocking one of her signature looks - striped Missoni sweater, wide-legged jeans & an Hermes Birkin Bag!?! OMG!), and the Jonathan Adler Barbie Dream House (modeled after her real-life Malibu Dream House that he designed for her 50th Birthday - see photos under my Barbie posts). Can I just say how incredible ADORABLE these items were?? They are up for auction (Zoe is currently @ $550 & the Adler house opening bid starts at $800) on www.charitybuzz.com .
LTLY,
Roni♥
Ps... also spotted last night were about 2 "Santa Babys" {two very tall & dashing gentlemen in the red corduroy Faconnable suit that was featured on TRR at the beginning of the week}! How about that?!
