A ‘Divine Design’ for Feeding the Living : Charity: A flock of celebrity style-setters are donating everything from skills to costumes to help AIDS sufferers get daily meals at home.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is parting with his leather “Terminator” jacket. Madonna is tossing in the notorious gold corset and panties she wore while performing “Like a Virgin” in “Truth or Dare.” And Bette Midler will surrender the mermaid costume of her ultra-tacky, lounge-singing alter ego, Delores DeLago.

The fish outfit, along with donations by international style-setters from Michael Jackson to Giorgio Armani, will go on the block today at “Divine Design.”

The auction is a benefit for Los Angeles Center for Living, a charity that delivers hot meals to 200 home-bound AIDS patients seven days a week through “Project Angel Food.” Among other services, the center sends volunteer “clean teams” to spruce up the homes of those dealing with life-challenging illnesses.

“Divine Design” is shaping up as the trendiest celebrity auction in ages. Along with more than half a million dollars’ worth of clothing from such designers as Karl Lagerfeld, Gianni Versace, Calvin Klein and Perry Ellis America, other donations include:

* The opportunity to have artist David Hockney hand-paint a swimming pool.

* A party for 35 children between the ages of 4 and 14 at the Santa Barbara ranch of Michael Jackson. The kids will play games, eat lunch with Jackson and catch a movie in his screening room.

* Original sketches or models by noted architects, among them Pritzker Prize-winners Frank O. Gehry and Wolf D. Prix.

* The contents of fantasy rooms created by 32 Los Angeles interior designers, including Jarrett Hedborg’s “Hawaiian Sitting Room” and a bedroom by Waldo Fernandez. Fernandez took time from coordinating Elizabeth Taylor’s wedding to co-chair “Divine Design” and to persuade many of the other interior designers to participate.

* A chance to sit with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in the royal enclosure at the Cartier International Polo Classic.

* The opportunity to appear in costume as a cast member in the London production of “Miss Saigon,” then board the Orient Express to Paris for the premiere of “Les Miserables.”

* A necklace created by Cher and jewelry from dozens of noted designers, such as Angela Cummings and Yves Saint Laurent.

Why have many of the more prominent names in entertainment and design rallied behind the Center for Living, a relatively new charity that’s only in its second year of big event-syle fund-raising?

“All stars are frustrated designers; they all have decorators and they all love their decorators. And this is the second wave of the AIDS movement,” says Bette Midler. “I believe people are catching their breaths from the first wave when it seemed there was no end in sight. Now they’re starting on a new wave of consciousness and fund-raising.”

Along with her mermaid costume, Midler is donating the furnishings from “A Mermaid’s Salon,” a dressing room she and interior designer Nancy Kintisch created. In addition, Midler has appeared in televised public-service announcements for the center directed by Oscar winner John Schlesinger.

Midler also points out that Marianne Williamson, who founded the Center for Living in 1987, has proved a powerful force in marshaling support.

“She’s quite charismatic. People like her a lot. I’ve only seen her lecture on television,” says Midler, of the cable TV talks Williamson gives on “A Course in Miracles,” a “channeled” three-volume self-study course on spiritual psychology. Williamson lectures on the books three times a week in Los Angeles and monthly in New York City.

“Marianne also spoke at a memorial of a friend of mine,” adds Midler. “Her heart is definitely in the right place. You can quarrel with her philosophies, but this work has to do with feeding people. And if you don’t feed them, they won’t get fed. It’s a good cause. It’s impossible to say no.”

Indeed, the Center for Living’s honorary board of advisers reads like a who’s who of New Hollywood: Louie Anderson, Kim Basinger, Barry Diller, David Geffen, David Hockney, Anjelica Huston, Judith Light, Shirley MacLaine, Bette Midler, Anthony and Berry Perkins, John Schlesinger, Joel Schumacher and Diane von Furstenberg.

The list of honorary committee members for “Divine Design” is even longer and includes such names as Harrison Ford, Marvin Davis and Kevin Costner.

Williamson, who recently was dubbed “Mother Teresa for the ‘90s?” by Time magazine, thinks there’s a simple explanation for the abundant support for the Center for Living.

“People want to help. This is not the early ‘80s. This is not a time in America when you have to convince people that there’s a problem. People get that there are problems. They want to know what they can do,” she says.

“There is now remerging a spirit that people can make a difference.”

The auction will begin at 4 p.m. General admission is $100 with specially designated tickets available for $500 to $10,000.

Last year’s fund-raiser, the “Angel Art” auction, sold more than 350 paintings and photographs to net more than $550,000 for the center.

This year, co-chairs Williamson, Waldo Fernandez and photographer Michael Childers hope to net more than $1 million.