Palm Beach, Florida - 200 of South Florida’s
most prominent people attended the Inaugural Palm
Beach Style Luncheon held in December 2008 at
the Colony Hotel Palm Beach, Florida. The luncheon
served as a kick-off for the Museum of Lifestyle &
Fashion History’s capital campaign fund drive for
its proposed permanent building. Five million
dollars need to be raised for the first phase of the
building capital campaign.
The sold-out
luncheon included South Florida guests from the Town
of Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Boca Raton,
Delray Beach, Highland Beach, Manalapan, Hillsboro
Beach, Parkland, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Bal
Harbour, to name a few. All guests were delighted
with the sound of live music, the beautiful sight of
the room décor and the delectable tastes of fine
food.
The event
chairperson was Lynda Levitsky and her
co-chairperson Susan Wexler both of Highland Beach, Florida. The Master of Ceremony for the
Inaugural Palm Beach Luncheon was Kara Kostanich
who is the Reporter/Weekend News Anchor for CBS 12
TV News for Palm Beach County. Committee members were Ila Fox
Ardleigh of Boca Raton; Polina Bathvarova of Boca
Raton; Rebecca Coleman of Boca Raton; Lori J.
Durante of Delray Beach; Tanisha Nunn Gary of
Stuart, Florida; Robin J. King of Fort Lauderdale;
Elyssa Kupferberg of Boca Raton; Janie Lewis of Boca
Raton; Linda Rich of Highland Beach; State
Representative Maria Sachs of Delray Beach and
Richard Vezina of Fort Lauderdale.
The luncheon
sponsors included
Palm Beach
County Commissioner Addie L. Greene;
Hermès of Paris in Palm Beach, BNY Mellon Wealth
Management; Herme de Wyman Miro of Palm Beach,
Florida; and I-Supply. The music was sponsored
by Richard Vezina and Lynda Levitsky.
And, the gorgeous orchid centerpieces were designed
by Susan Wexler and sponsored by her and
Lynda Levitsky. The magazine sponsor was
Florida Design’s Palm Beach,
The Island Magazine.
The Honoree
for the luncheon was style doyenne Iris Apfel
of Palm Beach, Florida who was presented with a collage
designed by artist Bruce Helander. Iris
Apfel was recognized for her great sense of style,
contributions to the perpetuation of the educational
significance of fashion and her renowned interior
design career at the company that she founded with
her husband Carl Apfel. That company was Old World
Weavers in
New York City
which is an internationally acclaimed textile design
and manufacturing company. The year was 1950, and
Harry S. Truman was the thirty-third President of
the United States,
when Carl and Iris Apfel started their company Old
World Weavers. Sixteen years ago, the Apfels
retired and sold Old World Weavers to Stark Carpet.
During Mrs. Apfel’s distinguished career at Old
World Weavers, she was a part of many interior
design restoration projects including work at the
White House under nine different U.S.
Presidents that include Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon,
Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Reagan and Clinton.
A permanent
gallery dedicated to the style, fashion, interior
designs and furnishings of Iris Apfel is now
included in the plans for the building for the
Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History.
The Museum of
Lifestyle & Fashion History has now acquired more
than 1.4 acres of property in
Boynton Beach,
Florida (Palm Beach County) for a proposed museum facility for
the purpose of presenting permanent and traveling
exhibits. The Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History
has been the only museum in
Palm Beach County approved to host traveling exhibits
from the Smithsonian Institution. When the Museum
was located in the donated space in a shopping
center in downtown
Delray Beach a
number of exhibits from the Smithsonian were
hosted. That shopping center has been sold and
demolished for redevelopment. A building is very
much needed by the Museum to once again bring
exhibitions to this area from the Smithsonian as
well as artifacts from around the world. For the
permanent building for the Museum, there are many
naming opportunities available as well as other
donation and sponsorship categories.
The luncheon
guest speaker was Mr. Ira Neimark, former CEO
of Bergdorf Goodman. His lecture brought the allure
of the fashion industry center stage. Mr. Neimark
has written a book Crossing Fifth Avenue to
Bergdorf Goodman in which he shared his
experiences and lessons learned at Bergdorf where
the store catered to a distinct client base of fame,
royalty and wealth. Attendees at the luncheon all
received autographed copies of the book.
The Museum of
Lifestyle & Fashion History is a non-profit museum
that was established in year 1999, therefore, will
be celebrating its 10th anniversary
during the year 2009. The mission of the Museum is
to offer educational programs, and history and
retrospective anthropology exhibits showcasing
lifestyle, cultures, people, places, fashion trends,
clothes, architecture, furnishings, decorative arts,
interior designs, locomotives and toys, and
information about popular uses of artifacts by
people/events of various periods of time. The goal
of the Museum's mission is to collect and preserve
objects and artifacts that relate to the Museum’s
mission; provide educational & cultural arts
programs for children, families, the general public
and the economically disadvantage; and the goal is
to enhance tourist attractions and the economy of
the area.
For more
information, call 561-243-2662 or email:
Invite@PalmBeachLuncheon.org