Designs for giving
Whatever Stella wants, Stella gets -- at least when it comes to the design details of a gala in her honor. From the meatless menu to the petal-pink party tables that dotted the ballroom at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, it was a Stella McCartney kind of night when the British fashion designer and animal rights activist was recognized by Saks Fifth Avenue and Cedars-Sinai Research for Women’s Cancers.
Along with dinner partners Rita Wilson, Tom Hanks, Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg, McCartney dined on vegetable strudel at a table topped with a bouquet of sweet peas. And, as if to say that centerpieces could hardly be enough for the daughter of ex-Beatle Paul McCartney, hundreds of cherry blossom branches -- some fresh, some faux -- accented the walls. “When you honor a designer, you want the room to reflect her aesthetic,” a Saks party planner explained. “She told us she wanted feminine, but not too girly.” She also wanted no meat showing up on the dinner plates. But when guests are paying $1,000 a pop they “expect more than just veggies,” the planner said. So McCartney settled on salmon as an option.
Sailing down the red carpet in one of her own creations, a clingy silk strapless number with a splash of silver glitz at the thigh, McCartney yanked its train -- “I’ve never worn a train before” -- smiled and took a deep breath. Stepping out of paparazzi range, she said that being chosen to receive the Courage Award for helping to raise funds for cancer research was “slightly humbling.” “I really feel like I’m accepting on behalf of the women with the real courage -- the women with cancer,” said the 31-year-old, who lost her mother, Linda McCartney, to breast cancer in 1998. “But if I can come to an event like this, maybe I can also encourage people to look after themselves.”
The March 25 gala starred Faith Hill -- with guest Natalie Cole getting into the act -- and raised nearly $1.5 million for the Cedars research program. Presenting McCartney with the award, Wilson, dressed in a narrow black satin pantsuit and sheer top by the designer, called her “strong, confident and accomplished beyond her years,” a woman who has made “an impressive mark in the world of high fashion with her creative styles and distinctive humor.” For the courage and determination McCartney demonstrated throughout her mother’s illness and for her work on behalf of cancer research, she deserved to be recognized, Wilson said. And so did every woman and her family “whose life is threatened by this disease.”
