Daily Front Row

2011 May 10

To the Lighthouse

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Linda Fargo
PATRICK MCMULLAN/PatrickMcMullan.com View Gallery

(NEW YORK) How to explain "posh" as a matter of dress code? At Monday night's Lighthouse International Gala, held in the Plaza Hotel's Grand Ballroom, it enjoyed myriad interpretations. For Lizzie Tisch, Missoni knits. For Lorry Newhouse, high-concept Rodarte. For Iris Apfel, a lemon silk Rucci coat, sculptural as can be, with her usual pile-on of faux bling and bangles. "Wearing that much jewelry is legitimate exercise!" whispered one of Apfel's tablemates, admiring the legend who graced the fashionettes with her presence to bestow the Posh Lifestyle Visionary award on her friend Linda Fargo. (Who, not so long ago, hosted an eighty-something-eth birthday for Apfel at the Khan's.)

And speaking of Fargo, it was the evening's honorees that made the room so heavyweight. There was the Fargo/Apfel powerhouse, and then Amy Fine Collins, who was given the Posh Fashion Visionary award by none other than Carolina Herrera. And then Lighthouse benefactress Kim Baker Campbell, awarded the Posh Lifetime Visionary award, was single-handedly responsible for filling the room with the Baker clan, to each of whom she payed complete homage in her acceptance speech. Although Apfel encountered a rough patch at the poorly-lit podium, she shrugged and went off-the-cuff. "New York is a city for windows," she said—and where are they done better than Bergdorf Goodman? Fargo first thanked Richard Lambertson, who hired her at BG fifteen years ago after a cold-call during a trip to New York, before inviting David Hoey and the BG visuals team to stand and collect their rightful applause.

At Fargo's table, a standing ovation was incited by Naeem and Ranjana Khan, Richard and Marcia Mishaan, and Ralph Rucci, and many others in the room (Gilles Mendel and Susan Sokol, Dennis Basso) followed suit. Following the fanfare, hosts Hamish Bowles, Lorry Newhouse, Pauline Pitt, and Michael Bruno encouraged guests to eat—filet, of course—as the merriment continued. Not like much consumption was in store for the evening's honorees, who were squired across the room and double-pecked by myriad admirers. That was enough to digest!
ASHLEY BAKER