|
On Thursday December
13, 2012 Jacqueline Weld Drake, Ernica Arengi
Bentivoglio, John Bernbach, Mario Buatta, Fe Fendi and
Kalliope Karella hosted over 200 guest at Casita
Maria’s Holiday Cocktail Party at Roberto Cavalli,
711 Madison Avenue at 63 Street.
Guests who attended
the gathering included:
Edgar Batista, Haley
& Jason Binn, Liliana Cavendish, Ann Dexter Jones, Paula
Fendi, Anges Gund, Susan Gutfreund, Mai Hallingby
Harrison, Maria Eugenia Haseltine & William Haseltine, William
Ivey Long, Kalliope Karella, Eleanora and Michael Kennedy,
Sandra Landy, Carmen Lambari, Cristiano
Mancini, Daisy
Olarte de Kanavos, Lauren
Remington Platt, Michael
Rena, Barbara Cirkva-Schumacher & John Schumacher, Jean
Shafiroff, Daisy Soros, Stephanie Stokes, Christine
Schwarzman, Felicia Taylor, Adrienne Vittadini
and Cipriano
Zabbos & Alexandra Zabbos.
The evening celebrated
the work of Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education,
located in one of the poorest neighborhoods of the Bronx,
which supports young people and their families through high
quality social, cultural, and educational opportunities.
Casita Maria was founded in 1934 by Claire and Elizabeth
Sullivan, two schoolteachers in East Harlem.
Guests were served
special cocktails made with Roberto Cavalli Vodka. Event
shoppers received a special gift, a Casita Maria tote that
was inspired by Roberto Cavalli. The production of the tote
was part of an educational project endowed and directed by
the Roberto Cavalli Company. Many different members of the
Roberto Cavalli staff explained their roles inside the
fashion house --- showing the ‘interns’ all kinds of
different careers that happen behind the scenes.
ABOUT THE CASITA MARIA
CENTER FOR ARTS & EDUCATION: The
mission of the Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education is
to empower youth and their families by creating a culture of
learning through high quality social, cultural, and
educational opportunities. Casita Maria was founded in 1934
by Claire and Elizabeth Sullivan, two schoolteachers in East
Harlem. Working from a small East Harlem apartment, Casita
Maria’s goal back then was to give the children of recently
arrived Latino families the educational support needed to
thrive in their new homeland—the young could lead their
parents and their community to full participation in the
American Dream. By developing new programs as new issues
arose, and relocating to the South Bronx as its community
moved around the city, Casita has been able to effectively
serve each new generation. By 1961, Casita was offering
programs similar to those created by its founders and
thousands of New Yorkers gained skills and were offered
essential services through its work. As the Bronx “burned”
in the 1970's, Casita was a safe haven and a route out of
poverty. Casita Maria continues to be a driving force in the
communities it serves through vital after school and
educational programs that focus on the arts and technology.
With the opening of
our new, state of the art facility, the Casita Maria Center
for Arts & Education on Simpson Street in the South Bronx,
we now present musical, dance, cinema and theater
performances, as well as art exhibitions and installations.
With state of the art facilities, carefully designed
classrooms, and fully equipped studios the new building
allows us to triple the number of New York City students
able to participate in our in school, after school and
summer arts and education programs. Built by the NYC School
Construction Authority, under the auspices of the NYC
Department of Education, on land owned by Casita Maria the
new building is the culmination of a remarkable
public/private partnership that has developed over many
years. By diligently working together our Board and staff,
our partners in New York City government, our supporters,
and our community, we have created something very special
for the South Bronx, and for the city at large. For more
information see: www.casitamaria.org
.
ABOUT ROBERTO CAVALLI:
Roberto Cavalli was
born in Florence, Italy. His grandfather, Giuseppe Rossi,
was a member of the Macchiaioli Movement, whose work is
exhibited in the Uffizi Gallery. Following in the family
footsteps, Cavalli enrolled at the local Art Institute.
While a student concentrating on textile print, he made a
series of flower prints on knit that caught the attention of
major Italian hosiery factories.
By the early 1970s, he
invented and patented a revolutionary printing procedure on
leather, and started creating patchworks of different
materials. He debuted these techniques in Paris,
immediately getting commissions from the likes of Hermès and
Pierre Cardin. At age 30, he presented his first namesake
collection at the Salon for Prêt-à-Porter in Paris and later
brought it to the catwalks of the Sala Bianca of Palazzo
Pitti in Florence. In 1972 Roberto Cavalli opened his first
boutique in Saint-Tropez.
Today Roberto Cavalli’s
collections are sold in over fifty countries worldwide.
Roberto Cavalli designs RC Menswear as well as the youth
aimed line Just Cavalli, launched in 1998 as well as the
Angels & Devils Children Collection and the Class line.
Roberto Cavalli’s collections span multiple product
categories including accessories, shoes, eyewear, watches,
perfumes, underwear and beachwear. In 2002 Cavalli opened
his first café-store in Florence, revamping it with his
signature animal prints. This was shortly followed by the
opening in Milan of the Just Cavalli café at Torre Branca
and another boutique on Via della Spiga. |