Page 2 / News, Trends, Gossip and Stuff To Do : News and Notes : With Taylor on the Injured List, Passport ’99 Calls on Fisher
Carrie Fisher is stepping in at the last minute for Elizabeth Taylor to host Saturday’s Macy’s and American Express Passport ’99 fashion show in Santa Monica. Taylor, the event’s founding chairwoman, is unable to do the honors because she is still recovering from a back injury. The 67-year-old actress fell and fractured several vertebrae.
Fisher will be joined onstage at the HIV/AIDS benefit by co-chairs Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Cindy Crawford. More than 2,800 are expected to attend the dinner, auction and runway show of clothes by designers Julie Chaiken, Tommy Hilfiger, Cynthia Rowley and others.
Benefit Chronicles: Out in October is a new book by Michael Anketell, founder and chairman of the annual Friends of People Living With AIDS benefit. “Heavenly Bodies: Remembering Hollywood and Fashion’s Favorite AIDS Benefit” chronicles the history of the extravaganza, which each year honors a top fashion designer. The coffee table book highlights the personalities that have appeared at the event since 1985, including Calvin Klein, Gianni Versace, k.d. lang, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, Donatella Versace and others.
People Who Help People: Chanteuse, director, movie star and landowner Barbra Streisand’s personal jewelry goes on the block Wednesday and Thursday at Christie’s Los Angeles. Sure, the Harry Winston ring and Cartier necklace are to die for, but Babs has also put up two tickets for her New Year’s Eve show in Las Vegas. The auction will benefit the Streisand Foundation, a local charitable organization. Streisand’s collection can be viewed for free through Tuesday.
Speaking of Jewelry: At 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sotheby’s auction house will host a discussion of the role of American jewelry in fashion over the last 100 years. Speakers include Hutton Wilkinson (partner of the late designer Tony Duquette) and Rita Watnick of the vintage store Lily et Cie. On view at the event will be highlights from Sotheby’s “Magnificent Jewelry” and “A Century of Style” collections, which go on auction in New York next month. $35. (310) 786-1868.
Fashion Honor: Oscar de la Renta will present the Hispanic Fashion Award to Brazilian designer Ocimar Versolato on Wednesday at a gala fashion show in Washington, D.C., hosted by the national nonprofit Hispanic Designers Inc. De La Renta is a founding member of the education and scholarship organization celebrating its 15th anniversary this year.
Two Hunks, One Magazine: For its annual tribute to Latino men, Latina magazine has for the first time produced two different covers for one month. Maybe the editors couldn’t decide who should grace the cover of the October issue, so half of the magazines feature singing sensation Ricky Martin and the other half have Benjamin Bratt, former “Law & Order” hunk and Julia Roberts’ flame. Readers can vote for their favorite hunk by logging on to https://www.latina.com.
Yeah, baby!: Add to the bevy of Austin Powers collectibles a designer fragrance. The scent, called Mojo, will be launched in Los Angeles at the end of this month.
And the Contenders Are: The nominees for the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards were announced this week. For most fashionable female artist: Lauryn Hill, Jennifer Lopez, Courtney Love, Madonna and Gwen Stefani. For most fashionable male artist: Sean “Puffy” Combs, Lenny Kravitz, Ricky Martin, Mark McGrath and Will Smith. Other categories include celebrity style, women’s wear designer of the year, model of the year and more. The awards show will be held in New York on Dec. 5, and broadcast on VH1.
Cocktail Chatter: On the party front, giant blow-up photographs of stylish cocktail dresses dotted the walls of Smashbox Studios in Culver City last week when Chanel, W magazine and Sotheby’s hosted a party to promote the auction house’s upcoming sale of cocktail memorabilia. Guests sipped Absolut Mandarin martinis and viewed auction items on computers set up for the occasion. The lot includes cocktail dresses, rings, jewelry, vintage shakers and napkins, and a rare Playboy bunny costume.
In Short: David Dart’s new store on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica features the designer’s sportswear and dresses as well as home fashion items. . . . Banana Republic’s new flagship store on Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade is offering free cellular phone recharging while you shop.
E-mail Booth Moore at booth.moore@latimes.com.
