12.10.10: A cold New York | New York Social Diary

A cold New York

Looking up at the night sky from Fifth Avenue and 85th Street. 10:45 PM. Photo: JH.

December 10, 2010. Very cold in New York, temperature in the 20s.

Last night there was a memorial at Campbell’s Funeral Home on Madison and 81st Street for Elaine Kaufman with a huge turnout of famous names and faces. There were cocktail parties all over. A big draw was Stephanie Krieger’s annual holiday reception at her palatial Fifth Avenue apartment overlooking the park.

Yesterday lunch at Michael's was boffo. Someone told me they did more lunches than they have anytime in the past five years. We had lunch with some lovely folks from Dallas who handle the Neiman's account that advertise on NYSD. Left to right: Nick Drabicky, Senior Account Manager, Range (online media); Martha Darst, Marketing Manager, Designer Sites for Neiman Marcus; Jeff Hirsch; DPC; Ashley Van Hoef, Account Manager, Range; Joanna Lewis, Manager, Web Advertising for Neiman Marcus; and Gail Karr, Advertising Director of NYSD.
Photo credit Steve Millington.

I went to the American Museum of Natural History where The Animal Medical Center was celebrating its Centennial at their annual Top Dog Gala and honoring Billy and Kathy Rayner, long time supporters and major benefactors.

There were more than 475 guests. They raised more than $1.5 million. Peter Duchin and his orchestra played and after the evening’s awards and speeches were over (they kept them short as possible), everyone got up and danced. We’ll have more on it on Monday’s Diary.

The David Monn Centerpieces at last night's Animal Medical Center's Centennial Gala benefit.

Robert Liberman, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the AMC describing the ground-breaking project that has been underwritten by Kathy and Billy Rayner (above right), last night's honorees.

Billy Rayner talking about their dogs and why the AMC is so important to them. Behind him: Bobby Liberman, Kate Coync, and Kathy Rayner.

Rufus, an heroic Afghan stray dog who was befriended by Sgt. Christopher Duke when serving in Afghanistan and reunited with Sgt. Duke last July. Another stray, Target, was also reunited with his friend in Arizona.

View of the dance floor last night after the dinner and the awards.

Last night at the Plaza Hotel Christophe de Margerie, the CEO of the French energy company Total, took the stage to accept an award called the Pilier d’Or. An old friend, Citi’s CEO of Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Alberto J. Verme, had introduced him, and in deference, de Margerie kindly noted that “banks and oil are the most important companies in the world." He then urged the business leaders in the room not to abandon oil and gas in order to pursue new energy ideas, but rather to embrace both.

Then it was time to talk fashion: designer Marc Jacobs received the other award presented at the fund-raising gala by the FIAF as its supporters call it — an acronym that gives the English and then French translation, standing for "French Institute: Alliance Française."

Christophe de Margerie and Alberto J. Verme.

But in truth, no one calls it the French Institute. Most New Yorkers happily pronounce its French name, Alliance Française. This is an Upper East Side institution -- privately supported and presided over by Marie-Monique Steckel -- that offers language instruction, a library, and cultural programming, including film screenings, art exhibitions, talks on literature and history and fashion, and more.

Of course the aspect of French culture that so many New York women fessed up to admiring most last night was fashion (except it-girl Alexa Chung, who said her favorite part of French culture is cheese, brie and camembert to be specific). And when it came to fashion last night, there was only one designer that was proper to cite: the American, Marc Jacobs, who creates for the French house Louis Vuitton.

Anna Wintour looks as golden as an Oscar.

Accepting the Trophée des Arts.

Marc Jacobs demonstrated some of his healthy regimen in a lively video (including early footage of his Rapunzel-style long hair days).

At the podium, Anna Wintour praised Jacobs’s “intuition and grasp of the places where different worlds meet” and the “sheer joy of his creative mind.” She credited Jacobs, who divides his time between Paris and New York, for creating a vibrant cultural dialogue between France and America. “He can talk about anything. Having lunch with him is like playing ping pong,” Ms. Wintour said. “Afterward I feel outclassed, out of touch, and completely out of shape, but exhilarated.”

“Bon soir,” Jacobs said to accept his award, the Trophée des Arts. “That will be it for the French.” (Guests also heard him speak French in a video, after one of his shows, when he said to his boss, LVMH’s CEO, Bernard Arnault, “Vous aimez? Vraiment?”

Meanwhile, Junior Co-chairwoman Kate Bouqard, an international trade lawyer, had this to report on wearing a Marc Jacobs gown to the event. “It’s fabulous. It’s like wearing gold.” Speaking of: the gala, attended by 440 guests who supped on a salad garnished with thin slices of butternut squash and pomegranate seeds, followed by roasted rack of lamb, raised about $800,000.

Amanda Gordon for NYSD