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Couture Council of Museum at FIT
2011 Benefit Luncheon |
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Valentino.
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The Couture Council of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) honored Valentino with their 2011 Couture Council Award for Artistry of Fashion on Wednesday September 7, 2011 at a benefit luncheon at the David H. Koch Theater, Lincoln Center, New York City. As has become the tradition, this luncheon heralds the arrival of Fall Fashion Week. The luxury on-line retailer 1stdibs, a generous supporter of the Museum and its activities, sponsored the luncheon.
Dr. Valerie Steele, director of The Museum at FIT, announced, “Valentino was chosen in recognition of his status as a world-historical figure in modern fashion, a man who has dressed every beautiful woman of the past 50 years, from Jacqueline Kennedy to Madonna. Valentino’s concept of beauty is Apollonian in its classicism and perfect taste. Yet red, the color of love and passion, runs like a leitmotif through his career, asserting his passionate love of beauty. In today’s world of an often debased celebrity culture, Valentino’s dresses continue to assert an aristocratic ideal of art and beauty.”
FIT president, Dr. Joyce F. Brown, noted, “We are delighted to have this opportunity to honor Valentino, who, through his timeless and elegant designs, is a legend to all those who love fashion. He is an inspiration not only to students of fashion – like those at FIT – but to his fellow designers as well.”
In 1950, while still an adolescent, Valentino Garavani went to Paris to study at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, having already discovered (at a premiere of the Barcelona Opera) the perfect red that would become a leitmotif throughout his career. In 1968, a year of radical revolt, Valentino presented his immaculate Collezione Bianca of white and off-white dresses whose simple elegance proved that couture was not irrelevant.
Valentino was chosen to receive The Couture Council Fashion Visionary Award by the Couture Council Advisory Committee, an independent group consisting of curators, editors, and retailers. Members include Pamela Golbin, curator of the Musée de la Mode; Akiko Fukai, director and chief curator of the Kyoto Costume Institute; Caroline Milbank, independent curator and author; Glenda Bailey, editor-in-chief of Harpers Bazaar; Hamish Bowles, European editor-at-large of Vogue; Ken Downing, fashion director of Neiman Marcus; Linda Fargo, senior vice president of Bergdorf Goodman; Nicole Fishcelis, vice president and fashion director at Macy’s; and many distinguished others. Dr. Steele serves as chair.
Luncheon chairs for the Valentino Award are Anne H. Bass, Charlotte Moss, Diane von Furstenberg and The Honorable Daphne Guinness, whose personal collection is the subject of an exhibition at The Museum at FIT from September 16, 2011 through January 7, 2012. A number of Valentino’s masterpieces are featured in this exhibition.
The Couture Council, which was created in 2004, has become an integral part of the museum and a recognized authority in the fashion world. Its Artistry of Fashion Award furthers FIT’s deep connection with the fashion industry. Dr. Brown added, “We are very grateful to the Couture Council for the important work it does to support the mission of The Museum at FIT.”
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Anna Wintour, Valentino.
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Luncheon Chair Daphne Guinness, Valentino.
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Valentino, FIT President Dr. Joyce Brown.
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Valerie Steele, director of The Museum at FIT.
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Couture Council Vice Chair Yaz Hernandez, Board Member Eleanora Kennedy, Board Member Alexandra Lebenthal, Valentino, Stephanie Winston Wolkof, Couture Council Chair Liz Peek, Luncheon Chair Charlotte Moss.
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Giancarlo Giammetti.
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Couture Council Advisory Committee Member Ken Downing.
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Couture Council Advisory Committee Member Linda Fargo.
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Valentino, CFDA President Diane von Furstenberg.
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Darcy Rigas, Couture Council Advisory Committee Member Hamish Bowles, Yaz Hernandez.
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Couture Council Advisory Committee Member Glenda Bailey, Antonio Monfreda, Daphne Guinness.
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Couture Council Board Member Michele Gerber Klein, Couture Council Board Member Jean Shafiroff, Patricia Shiah.
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Antonio Monfreda, Luncheon Chair Anne Bass, Susan Lyne.
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Liz Peek, Lisa Klein, Hilary Geary Ross, Emily Rafferty, Chancellor Zimpher.
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Tamara Mellon, Erica Reid.
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Daisy Soros, Noreen Buckfire.
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Iris Apfel, Andrea Stark.
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Julia Koch, Noona Smith Petersen.
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Jamie Tisch, Cece Cord, Alexandra Kotur.
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Beth Rudin DeWoody, Jacqueline Weld Drake.
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Lizzie Tisch, Cameron Silver.
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Cornelia Guest, James LaForce.
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Vanessa Bryant, Kobe Bryant.
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Carlos Mota, Zani Gugelmann.
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Laura Vinroot Poole, Michael Bruno, Charlotte Moss, Georgina Spogli.
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Candy Pratts Price, Jon Cristophe Laizeau, Stefano Tonchi, Lynn Yager, Nancy Raquet.
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Barbara Regna, Fe Fendi.
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Lisa Fine, Carol Mack.
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Simon Doonan, Robert Verdi.
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Wendy Carduner, June Schorr, Heather Leeds, Josie Natori.
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Lizabeth Newman, Mary Ann Jorenson, Harriet Weintraub.
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Patricia Mears.
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Jamee Gregory.
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Lori Newhouse, Mica Ertegun, Marlene Hess.
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Pier Paolo Piccioli, Valentino, Maria Grazia Chiuri.
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Muffy Miller, Kathy LeFrak, Anne Harrison, Cathy Brienza Ingram.
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Susan Tabak.
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Melania Trump.
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Renaud Dutreil, Diane von Furstenberg.
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Couture Council Board Member Suzi Cordish, Jonathan Marder.
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Sharon Bush, Hunt Slonem.
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Ann Clairmont, Suzanne Cochran.
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Laura Heery Prozes, Judy Ney, Michael Kay.
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Couture Council Board Member Adrienne Vittadini.
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Leslie Schulhof.
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Couture Council Board Members Michelle Harper, Michele Gerber Klein and Chiu-Ti Jansen.
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Marisa Berenson, Coralie Charriol Paul.
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Couture Council Board Member Sarah Wolfe, Candy Pratts Price.
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Hon. Brenda Johnson, Elizabeth Armstrong, Effie Fribourg.
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Allison Sarofim, Michelle Harper, Nina Garcia.
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Cassandra Seidenfeld Lyster, Tiffany Koury.
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Fe Fendi, Nina Davidson, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, Eleanora Kennedy, Priscilla Rattazzi, Susan Gutfreund.
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Mario Buatta, Ann Rapp.
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Amy Fine Collins, Dirk Standen, Guest.
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Lindsay Caprioni, Anna Safir, Bianca Barnhill.
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| Photos:
Nicholas Hunt / PatrickMcMullan.com |
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