Charity Chic
Tuesday August 25, 2009 | Contributor: Jennifer Wright

In New York it seems charities come in and out of fashion. And at the moment, there’s no organization that seems more “in” than Designers for Darfur. Only a few weeks after their fabulous party at the Gates the fundraisers hosted another—even more delightful—soirée at the speakeasy on the corner of Bleeker and Broadway. (I truly wish this location would actually take a name—preferably Woodson and Ford, which seems to be what everyone calls it anyway—so I no longer have to call it “the speakeasy on the corner of Bleeker and Broadway” which, you have to admit, makes its location somewhat less secret.) Once again, publicist Justine McCarthy hosted the evening, conscientiously reminding guests that all the proceeds from the libations were for the charity’s goal of ending genocide in Darfur.





The event drew a shockingly fashionable crowd, though I shouldn’t have been surprised—this is a charity that partners with designers, after all. Still, it has been ages since I’ve been in a group where women were wearing floor-length gowns. The attire added a charmingly sophisticated twist to the evening. Maybe the premiere of Mad Men is putting us in the mood for old-fashioned glamour. I was delighted to see Guest of a Guest editor Rachelle Hruska in a lacy black-and-white number.





Also present was renowned film writer and director Roberto Monticello, recipient of the 2007 Film Humanitarian Award at the Queens International Film Festival.  A trapeze artist and free-fall parachutist before becoming a documentary filmmaker, Monticello has devoted much of his life to human rights and environmental causes. He has been involved in alleviating famine in Ethiopia; documenting human rights abuses in Afghanistan; and supporting Peruvian Indians in the Andes. On behalf of the Red Cross, he has visited—and been wounded—in Darfur. This particular evening, he was premiering his newest documentary, The World’s Crying, comprised of footage Monticello shot in Darfur and Rwanda during the genocides. Though I’m not convinced that the best place to showcase a serious documentary is in the midst of revelry in a speakeasy, it was very enlightening to hear from someone who had witnessed the atrocities first hand.





In addition to enjoying fantastic special drinks, such as the Woodson and Ford (hint, hint: a speakeasy name), guests were also presented with delicious cookies! I resisted eating mine to take careful note of the flag (I think it’s a flag) design on it. At first I assumed this was the flag of Sudan, but then I recalled that the colors of Sudan’s flag are red, black, white and green, not red, white and blue. (Okay, I confess. I looked it up on my iPhone.) But the shapes—the triangle and stripes—are similar. Maybe the cookie is meant to reflect some sort of merger of America with Sudan?  Or is it meant to imply that, regardless of our nationality, we are all impacted by events in Darfur? Or maybe it simply means that the cookie decorators had very limited supplies of icing.





That small mystery remains to be solved—at the next truly scrumptious Designers for Darfur evening.

Pictures by Steven Ekerovich