Daily Front Row

2011 June 7

Polo Classics with Donna, Marc, and Nacho

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Julianna Margulies, Naomi Watts, Donna Karan, Wyclef Jean, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher, Paul Haggis
NICK HUNT / PatrickMcMullan.com View Gallery

(NEW YORK) Hampton weekenders, decked out in their Sunday best, returned home early for the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic hosted by Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, and Nacho Figueras on Governors Island. "This is just a regular Sunday for me," said Figueras as he posed with his polo stick on the red carpet. "My father was a polo player so I grew up with horses," shared Figueras wife Delfina Blaquier. "I’m very at home here. Nacho and I met at a polo match. One of my cousins introduced us," she added before posing with Karan, who donned an oversized Haitian straw chapeau. The designer made her way down the line of journos to explain the afternoon's charitable initiative, the Hope, Help & Rebuild Haiti program. "Haiti’s rebuilding is about their creativity and we need to align with them artistically, not only from a charitable point of view," she said. Famous faces gathered in support including Naomi Watts, Isla Fisher, Wyclef Jean, Catherine Malandrino, Lorenzo Martone, Nicky and Kathy Hilton, Julianna Margulies, Keith Lieberthal, Olivia Palermo, Whitney Port, Shenae Grimes, Kathy Griffin, Amber Heard, Alek Wek, Paul Haggis, Andre Balazs, Erin Fetherston, Lauren Santo Domingo, Keren Craig, Olivia Palermo, Sanaa Lathan, Danny Meyer and Sam Jaeger. MC Hugh Jackman admitted he wasn't as adept on a horse as Black Watch captain, Figueras. "When I was making Australia, I had a few very close calls," he admitted. "We were in the middle of the Outback, and there were 300 horses that all decided to run off. There was no pulling my horse back. My entire dialogue was recorded, and I’ve never sounded so scared in my life."

Leaving horseback riding to the professionals, most travelled by way of ferry and trolley while others, desperate to make the match on-time, skipped the lines in lieu of a $150 helicopter ride. Upon arrival, thousands of attendees in head-to-toe seersucker, pastel party dresses, and outrageous toppers, gracefully set up camp and perched blanket-to-blanket, indulging in $18 flutes of Veuve Clicquot or splurging for $85 bottles. Inside the VIP tents, Jacobs vogued for photogs, Jackman hung out with Fisher and Watts, Wek swapped stories with her mom, and Wyclef performed an impromptu ditty, pulling in Karan for a dance.

"When I first met Donna a few years ago, I told her I was looking for her and had a story to tell her," Wyclef told us. "When I was young, I worked in downtown Newark in a factory as a security guard. Some of Donna's clothes get shipped through Newark. I was on my post, I was young and I fell asleep. Dudes came in and robbed the joint—took like half of whatever Donna had in there. I thought if I ever met her, I gotta give her back a check because I fell asleep. Ask Donna how much; she knows." Karan wasn't in sight, but we did run into Kathy Griffin. "One of my favorite things is to watch drunk people," she quipped. "I’m hoping the Olsen twins or some of the society chicks get hammered. I’m hoping we have a society girl down, which would kick it up to a new notch." Within hours--much to the dismay of tipsy spectators and the pint-sized comedienne--the entire 6,000 bottle stash of bubbly was consumed, leaving the match high and dry. That didn't stop adventurous patrons from trying to bribe the catering service to hand over VC split bottles, packed inside the $250 picnic baskets filled with a 7-course tasting from The Modern, which featured arugula salad, caviar, liverwurst, quail terrine, and panna cotta.

Meanwhile, the crowd-pleasing "stomping of the divots" kept onlookers (mostly) distracted. "Is that what one does here?" asked Fetherston. "That’s like Pretty Woman!" Post-game, MVP Figueras, who racked up four goals, popped open a hidden bottle and accepted the winning trophy after besting Rico Mansur and team Veuve Clicquot, 6 to 5.
MARIA DENARDO