Motherland

“Tommy Hilfiger, are you a global feminist?” Annie Lennox asked Wednesday night as she addressed a charity cocktail party in Manhattan, apologizing for putting the designer on the spot.

“I’m there,” Hilfiger shot back with a big smile — and the room broke out into applause.

Lennox is patron of the charity Mothers2Mothers, which employs HIV-positive women to stamp out the transmission of the virus to children across eight African countries. She was introducing its mission to New York, and characterized it as “global feminism” at work.

“Over 250 babies are infected with HIV every day in sub-Saharan Africa. It doesn’t have to be that way,” the singer told a cross-section of the city’s movers and shakers assembled at the Manhattan home of luxury consultant Marigay McKee.

Kris Jenner was there, wearing low-key black — a tuxedo jacket from Phoebe Philo-era Celine with a gauzy Maison Margiela blouse. But her accessories did the talking: big aviator glasses and a sparkly Tom Ford bag spelling out “Pussy Power.

“I’m here for the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. Kendall is walking in it so I couldn’t miss it,” Jenner said of her model daughter.

Other fashion figures in the crowd included Value Retail’s Scott Malkin, Kering America’s Laurent Claquin, Gucci America’s Susan Chokachi and Harper’s Bazaar’s Glenda Bailey.

Last year, Mothers2Mothers served almost 2.3 million clients, and employed nearly 3,000 mentor mothers across eight African countries, virtually eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV among enrolled women four years in a row. — WWD STAFF