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Room To Read, Style To Spare

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

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‘Tis the season to be grateful, and we at Quintessentially were very thankful that we were able to take part in such a worthy cause: the Financial Times’ annual seasonal giving campaign. In a vote by 1,600 FT employees worldwide, Room to Read was chosen to be the Financial Times’ charity partner for 2009-2010.

To celebrate the launch of the campaign in New York, Quintessentially joined forces with Room to Read and the Financial Times to put together a cocktail party in the Villard Mansion of the Palace Hotel. The stately and opulent Library Room was a perfect setting to pay tribute to an organization committed to providing 150,000 children world-wide with much-needed books, libraries and other educational resources.

Guests enjoyed champagne and canapés while listening to speeches by John Wood, founder and executive chairman of Room to Read and John Ridding, CEO of the Financial Times. Mr. Wood’s speech was impassioned, sincere, and infectious. I truly hope our efforts are able to help Room to Read and the FT reach their campaign goal this year.

From a charity event uptown, we shift gears to a brand new Chelsea hotspot. Our second annual Aspen Night’s event (co-sponsored by Aspen Snowmass) was a great way to celebrate the holiday season with members and friends. The evening’s festivities took place at Todd English’s new supperclub, Juliet, with great nibbles of lamb and cheeses being passed around while everyone sipped on cocktails from a full reserve bar courtesy of our friends at Ketel One (Tavalon Tea also provided an amazing “White Tea” martini!)

LCS provided the music for the event which had everyone moving throughout the night. As the evening continued, Matthew Williamson had a wonderful presentation of the upcoming season’s key looks, one of which was a gown Matthew designed exclusively for Quintessentially – one of only 10 dresses in the world. As the party wrapped up, guests went home with goodie bags full La Cherche Midi candles, Vis – a – Vis cosmetics, Townhouse spa gift certificates, Aspen Apparel and a ski movie along with Snow and Quintessentially magazines.


Art Basel – and the parties!

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

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This year’s Art Basel Miami Beach fair proved to be bigger than ever and the events around town were as well! The week started off with a party at MOCA hosted by Vanity Fair, which was held at the museum’s courtyard where guests mingled and enjoyed cocktails and nibbles while viewing the current exhibition. The following day, the New York based gallery Deitch Projects hosted an event at The Raleigh with a special performance by Santigold. Parisienne hot spot Le Baron had their usual pop up -this year the club was at the Delano’s Florida Room.

Celebrities, socialites and artists alike all attended throughout the week; for those lucky enough to make it through the door you might have found yourself rubbing elbows with Jay Jopling, Andre Balazs or L’Officiel Homme’s Milan Vukmirovic along with former MTV VJ Jesse Camp and New York “it” girls Fabiola Beracasa and Genevieve Jones. On Thursday night, The W hotel was the place to be with a private dinner hosted by Cartier at Mr. Chow followed by a party for Alex Delal, Stavros Niarchos and Vito Schnabel at the hotel’s club The Wall -I recall the quote for the evening being “Schnabel lockdown” as the line to get into the hotel for either party went as far back as the parking lot.

On Friday, the chic Miami boutique, The Webster hosted an intimate cocktail reception for designers Viktor & Rolf followed by a private dinner by Caviar Kaspia. As the evening progressed so did the number of events, with a highlight being photographer Bruce Weber’s model-heavy soirée at The Standard hotel. Later in the evening the week’s most highly anticipated event, Visionnaire had their annual party at The Delano hotel, the event was in typical Visionnaire style a mix of big names from art and fashion including the New York Times T editor, Stefano Tonchi.

Finally on Saturday night the New York club, The Box had a pop up at Nikki Beach featuring their notorious and at times scandalous burlesque show while a few blocks down the penthouse and pool area of the Raleigh set the scene for David La Chapelle’s party which went on till the wee hours of the morning. Between the art, fashion and design all going on in Miami in addition to the slew of events, this week’s fair made for a truly sensory experience.


A car that redefines driving

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

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Once in a blue moon a car comes around that single-handedly redefines the driving experience for the 21st century. That car is the Lexus LFA—a thoroughbred supercar featuring advanced carbon fiber technology, race-inspired 4.8-L V10 engine, and a top speed in excess of 200 mph. Catered to the world’s elite, the Lexus LFA is so rare that production has been limited to 500 models world-wide, each being hand-assembled, with no more than 20 models assembled each month. But I digress.

On a crisp LA evening, over 200 guests arrived at an elegant Mediterranean Villa in Beverly Hills to celebrate the debut of the Lexus LFA. Even before the event began, the car made quite the entrance as it was flown in via helicopter and placed ceremoniously in the backyard of the mansion as the evening’s main centerpiece. Guests dressed in their finest “LA-Chic”—as deemed on the invite—were treated to a private tasting of over twenty different wines from select Napa Valley Vintners, which was further complemented by food pairings from celebrity chef Michael Mina of Bourbon Steak, Stonehill Tavern and XIV.

The breathtaking views, exquisite wines and superb food were the perfect way to unveil this world-class automobile.


A memorable night at the Salmagundi

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

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Recently, Quintessentially joined forces with SOS Children’s Villages and the W.H Patterson Gallery for a private viewing of a magnificent collection of oils and watercolours. The proceeds from the night’s events went to SOS Children’s Villages, the world’s largest charity dedicated to providing a safe and bright environment for orphaned and abandoned children.

At 7 pm guests wandered into The Salmagundi Club, a lovely mid-nineteenth century building housing works of fine art, where they perused paintings that ranged from Venetian landscapes to realist still life. As a piano played softly in the background, guests nibbled on canapés, sipped on drinks and mingled with fellow art connoisseurs. Martin Taylor, one of the featured artists, was spotted having a lively discussion about his method-painting with one of our fellow Quintessentially members. To wrap up the evening, the President of the Salmagundi Club raffled off Clive McCartney’s picturesque oil painting of Bryant Park to one of our lucky guests. A truly special event, for a truly wonderful cause.