Kering’s Second Annual Caring for Women Dinner Even Bigger Than First
The gala, which raised more than $ 3 million for organizations working to end violence against women, drew guests including Nicole Kidman, Zoë Kravitz, Channing Tatum, Oprah Winfrey and Leonardo DiCaprio.
The Kering Foundation returned to
The Pool for its second annual Caring for Women dinner on Tuesday night. The foundation, celebrating its 15th year, works to end violence against women.
The theme of the evening was “strength in numbers,” which played out both in money raised and the number of VIPs in the room.
“Even more donation, even more involvement and commitment of people,” said Kering chairman and chief executive officer François-Henri Pinault of his hopes for the gala's second edition. “The response that we had for the second year has been amazing. It sold out almost immediately; we have a great response from influential people. You'll see the setup, it's quite impressive.”
Last year's inaugural event raised more than $3 million. “The impact [of the event] was always the awareness,” added Pinault. “We've been able to make a contribution to very efficient underground NGOs fighting against violence against women, and I hope to [raise] even more than that.”
“Hello beautiful,” said Wendi Deng, greeting Eva Chen at the top of the stairs at The Grill, where cocktail hour was well underway. Nearby, Olivia Wilde posed for photos with Malala Yousafzai before making her way up to the room's balcony, where the VIPs were beginning to congregate.
“I think the Kering Foundation is incredible, they've been around for 15 years supporting women and championing women and I think that's so important. Malala especially is so exciting,” said Rachel Sennott, who was capping off her fashion week with the black-tie benefit.
“My little sister is in fashion school and she came with me to a couple of shows, so that was really exciting,” said Sennott of her week. “She's already cooler than me.”
Kimbal Musk, en route to his dinner seat, stopped to chat with Kim Kardashian and Lauren Sanchez, offering a quick recap of his summer. He and wife Christiana Musk were seated at event cochair Salma Hayek Pinault's table along with Linda Evangelista and Augustin James Evangelista, right next to the stage.
The A-listers were spread throughout the room: Nicole Kidman was at a table with Stefon Diggs, Kardashian, Isabelle Huppert, Rachel Sennott, Tracee Ellis Ross and Luka Sabbat; on the other side of the room's central pool, Zoë Kravitz, Channing Tatum, Oprah Winfrey, Leonardo DiCaprio and Wilde were at Pinault's table. All of Kering's flagship brands were present at the event, with tables and executives and dressing credits, such as Yousafzai in a custom Bottega Veneta dress and Kidman in custom Balenciaga.
The scent of Palo Santo permeated the room, which was lined in trees and foliage — which were real, and would be donated to community gardens throughout the city after the event.
During her introduction for the evening, Hayek offered up her own definition of ‘togetherness' for the crowd. “Togetherness is the ability to fuse ourselves in something bigger than us,” she said. “The funny thing is that when you let go and become part of something bigger than ourselves, you have a deeper understanding of who you are as an individual.” Hayek also offered a little encouragement, and advice, for later in the evening. “I strongly suggest that you stay for the afterparty and dance, dance, dance like no one's watching. Unless Channing starts dancing next to you — then run for your life, because you don't want to be compared to that.”
Kimbal's signature cowboy hat, and central location, made him an easy target during the auction led by Lydia Fenet. His table proved to be a nexus for bidding activity: Hayek encouraged the room to bid, someone at the table had the winning bid on a Cindy Sherman print, and
Sanchez found herself in a bidding war with Kardashian, across the room, for the Balenciaga “Couture Experience” lot. As the price hurdled past the $150,000 mark, Fenet offered to double the offering in order to sell it to both women.
Stefon Diggs was the eventual buyer of Pomellato's Northern Italian getaway, with a little help from Kidman. “You'll be treated to a candlelight dinner,” encouraged the actress, reading from the lot's description. Sold!
In all, the evening raised more than $3 million in support of three organizations providing critical support and services for women in New York and around the world.
After the auction, Florence Welch took the stage. The singer closed out her performance with an invitation to the room: to put away their phones, and love the people they were with.
Because, after all, there are some things that money can't buy.