Divine designs, inspired discounts

It wasn’t exactly the kind of kiss the crowd was hoping for.

When Adrien Brody took the stage to accept the man of style award at a gala Thursday evening in a giant tent on the grounds of Santa Monica Airport, all the crowd got were a few lousy air kisses. His entrance was hardly the show-stopper that the actor pulled at the Academy Awards in March, when he swept Halle Berry into an embrace that sent hearts aflutter across the world. Then again, he was alone, and celebrity smooching wasn’t really the point of the evening.

Brody was there to help celebrate the opening of the 11th annual Divine Design, the much-anticipated discount shopping event that comes around every year just in time for the holiday season, which features fashion, beauty, toy and home furnishing boutiques at Barker Hangar. Proceeds benefit Project Angel Food, a nonprofit that delivers meals daily throughout Los Angeles to more than 1,200 people living with HIV/AIDS. The organization will raise 30% of its $4-million annual operating budget through Divine Design.

“The biggest word for tonight is ‘gratitude,’ ” said John Gile, executive director of Project Angel Food, who said that 1,400 people attended Thursday’s gala. “Sometimes we forget so many people are hungry and sick.”

“I love a bargain,” said the ubiquitous Jennifer Tilly, who officially welcomed the crowd. “I had to wrestle for the last Givenchy Barbie.”

Eric McCormack of “Will & Grace” presented the corporate humanitarian award to Louis Vuitton, the French luxury goods company that has raised $2 million for American charities in the last year.

Sarah Michelle Gellar, in a sleeveless black Prada dress with a gathered, scooped neckline, was also in the house to accept the woman of style award. (“True style is being generous,” she mused.)

But Selma Blair, who presented Gellar the angel-shaped statuette encrusted in Swarovski crystals, upstaged her friend in the fashion department.

Blair’s Louise Brooks haircut, black Valentino halter dress with cutouts, and rhinestone stilettos had true star quality. Blair said Gellar, whom she met at an audition for the 1999 film “Cruel Intentions,” “was the first girl who befriended me in Hollywood.”

(Backstage, Blair showed off her engagement ring, a sapphire solitaire with a diamond band. In October she became engaged to actor-rocker Ahmet Zappa, son of Frank and brother of Dweezil, Moon Unit and Diva.)

Meanwhile, a few steps away in the hangar, people were still shopping, Absolut Kurant martinis in hand, well past 10 p.m. There were plenty of half-off bargains to be had: a pair of $900 wicker chaises for $450; $250 L.A. Eyeworks frames for $125; $100 Tommy Bahama aloha shirts for $50, and $20 Hello Kitty Etch-A-Sketches for $10 (which people were practically fighting over).

“There’s a diverse selection, and ... it goes for a great cause,” said Yvonne Greene, an L.A.-based designer scout for New York’s Henri Bendel, who picked up several Hanky Panky lace camisoles ($15 each) and T-shirts by men’s label Ecko. “They had some great, of-the-moment vendors,” she said. “It wasn’t a lot of secondary merchandise.”

Divine Design continues through Sunday, with markdowns over the weekend to 90%. Admission is $25. For information, see www.divinedesign.org.