All For Love
(LOS ANGELES) Love was in the air at Wednesday night's star-studded third-annual Cartier Love Day celebration gala held at the gallery-like home of contemporary art collectors Maria and William Bell in Bel Air. The elegant affair, held in Los Angeles for the first time, brought out class acts including this year's musically-inclined crop of ambassadors--Fergie, Ashanti, Common, Good Charlotte's Joel and Benji Madden, Hilary Duff, Janet Jackson, Eve and Emmy Rossum--was held to kick off the jeweler's launch of its Love Charity bracelets, charming 18-karat white gold miniature Love charms set on various colored silk cords corresponding with each ambassador's chosen charity (the invitation itself kept to the theme as well, featuring a Cartier-embossed guitar pick).
Available in stores nationwide beginning today, deemed "Love Day" worldwide, the bracelets are tied with partnered organizations like P.S. Arts, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Peapod Foundation, Common Ground Foundation and Blessings in a Backpack.
"I'm currently the spokesperson for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation and my Love Charity bracelet is pink, so it means a lot for me to be here," said Rossum, who just finished filming the upcoming Dragonball. "Breast cancer touched my family recently and my godmother just underwent a double mastectomy and I held her hand through the whole thing. Fortunately, she's now cancer-free."
At the expansive estate, attendees including Jermaine Dupri, Eva Mendes, Nicole Richie, Kimora Lee Simmons and Djimon Honsou, Rosario Dawson, Bridget Moynahan and Chloë Sevigny enjoyed a festive evening that included a private dinner on the lawn, a chic poolside cocktail reception in the courtyard (love astrology readings, on-site sushi chefs and a black-and-white digital photo booth and slide show entertained for hours) and an unforgettable after-party that was punctuated by an invigorating live, and surprise, performance by a dazzling Diana Ross. "She rocked the house so effortlessly," laughed a gleeful Monique Lhuillier, who let loose with girlfriends in the front row. "Not bad entertainment for a Wednesday night, right?"
For Frédéric de Narp, however, the occasion could only last so long, as the president and chief executive of Cartier North America had to catch a red-eye flight back to New York to join Rihanna (a past Love Charity ambassador herself) to turn the Empire State Building Cartier red this afternoon in honor of the annual occasion.
While Jackson and Dupri discreetly took in the concert from a slightly secluded balcony away from crowd, Eve boldly mingled with partygoers well into the evening and swayed to the beat with abandon. The R&B star rocked her own peach-colored Love Charity bracelet, proceeds of which benefit Women in Transition, a Philadelphia-based non-profit group that provides aid to women battling domestic violence and substance abuse--and reflected on the night. "All in all, it's been a very uplifting evening," she concluded. "And did you see Diana Ross' hair swinging up there on stage? That made the whole night!"
JENNIFER CHAN
