United Women
Meryl, Iman, and More at the Inaugural DVF Awards
Diane von Furstenberg and Tina Brown celebrated International Women's Day with the first-ever DVF Awards on Saturday night, decorating the United Nations' fifties-era cafeteria with low-lying black and white graphic-print sofas and hot pink throw pillows. "I transformed the U.N. into a nightclub," the designer joked. She also recruited bossa nova queen Bebel Gilberto to perform, but the evening attracted no ordinary crowd of night crawlers. Christiane Amanpour and Meryl Streep were presenters, while Charlie Rose, Iman, and NYPD Commissioner Raymond Kelly numbered among the guests.
Streep presented Ingrid Betancourt, a former senator of Colombia who was kidnapped by FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) guerrillas during her presidential bid and held captive for over six years, with a $50,000 grant. "You know, I used to be a cheerleader," the actress said. "I wish I could still do a double flip and a Chinese split, because I would cheer for these ladies." Accepting her award, which will help her foundation fight social injustice, Betancourt replied, "I don't know who's more distinguished, the presenters or the winners." Earlier, in the green room, she related a bit of her ordeal: "When I was abducted, one of the things that amazed me, even in that place in the jungle, was that the girls who were my guards managed to have their fashion. Fashion is very cultural, and it's a way of expressing yourself. It's one of the important things to get people together." You don't have to tell that to von Furstenberg and her hot pink pillows.
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