Inside the WSJ. Innovator Awards

by Eddie Roche

The Pitts—as in Angelina and Bradnearly stole the show at WSJ. Magazine’s fifth annual Innovator Awards at the MoMA last night, but the couple fit right in with other heavyweights in the room. DeNiro! Wintour! Mrs. Prada! Other boldface names welcomed by WSJ. editor in chief Kristina O’Neill and publisher Anthony Cenname included Jared Leto, Sharon Stone, Karlie Kloss, Francisco Costa, Lily Donaldson, Linda Fargo, Questlove, Martha Hunt, Carol Lim, Humberto Leon, Victor Cruz, Jamie Bochert, and Italo Zucchelli.

The intimate seated dinner honored the seven trailblazers in their respective disciplines, who were all featured in the November issue of WSJ., which is out this weekend and is being applauded as the second-largest issue in the magazine’s history (thanks to an impressive 33 percent jump in ad pages). This year’s Innovator list includes Richard Serra (Art); Mark Parker (Brand); Thomas Heatherwick (Design); Angelina Jolie Pitt (Entertainment/Film); Miuccia Prada (Fashion); Karl Ove Knausgaard (Literature); and Stewart Butterfield (Technology), and each took home an award created by 2011 Design winner Joris Laarman.

Miuccia Prada, David Geffen, Anna Wintour

Miuccia Prada, David Geffen, Anna Wintour

Prada’s honor was presented by artist, filmmaker, and friend Francesco Vezzoli, who offered insight into the elusive designer. “I have a friend, a very dear friend, we spend a lot of time together,” he said during his speech. “We talk about politics and art, we go to the beach together, we swim, we laugh, we argue all the time, we tease each other, we have a lot of fun, she’s reliable, she’s honest, she’s human, which is very important to to me. Her name is Miuccia. We talk about love all the time. She finds my love life incredibly boring. She finds my sex life even more boring. What else can I say? She’s the best friend I could ever have.” Jolie Pitt, who was presented the final honor of the night by Robert DeNiro, used her moment at the podium to spread her gospel. “I accept this award mindful of those, particularly of women, who have not had our opportunities, who live under political systems or personal situations that deny them self expression, freedom and independence and who remind us that as much as we celebrate and all that has been achieved through innovation and human invention,” she said, “there is still so much more for us all to do.”

After dinner, guests were invited to the fourth floor of the MoMA for private access to the Picasso Sculptures exhibition, on view through February. There, we spotted models Constance Jablonski (with Andreea Diaconu), who filled us in on the highlights of the evening. “Obviously Angelina Jolie was the light of the night,” Jablonski told us. “Stunning and interesting and so powerful. I want to be like her! I always tell Kristina [O’Neill] it’s one of my favorite events of the year. You leave having learned something.”

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