Christian Cota and Doc Hendley's "An Evening for Charity"

Nate Berkus, Ana Ortiz, Christian Cota, Doc Hendley

Women's clothing designer Christian Cota was kind enough to personally invite me to the launch of his e-commerce site and his 2009 eHoliday capsule collection, “An Evening for Charity” on December 1, 2009.

The event benefited CNN’s 2009 Heroes nominee, Doc Hendley, and his non-profit aid organisation Wine to Water that began in 2004 and focuses on providing clean water in developing countries around the world.

Guests sipped Taittinger champagne while Mr. Cota himself signed the limited edition men’s and women’s hand painted t-shirts. The 2009 Christian Cota eHoliday capsule collection features dresses and separates that are being sold exclusively during the month of December on christiancota.com. 25% of the online sales will go to the Wine to Water charity along with proceeds of the limited edition hand painted t-shirts.

After graduating Parsons School of Design in 2005 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, Christian Cota launched his company in February of 2007. In 2007, Style.com named Christian Cota one of their “Ten Newcomers to Watch”. In January of 2009, he received Fashion Group International’s "Women’s Ready to Wear Rising Star" Award.

The Museum at FIT’s Annual Couture Council Summer Party

With her true southern hospitality, Charlotte Moss was gracious enough to open her Upper East Side home this past Wednesday, August 5, 2009 for this year’s Museum at FIT’s Annual Couture Council Summer Party- and I was invited! Her beautiful four-story brownstone on New York’s Upper East Side was the perfect setting for a summer cocktail party. The lovely Couture Council Chairs hosted the event, including Yaz Hernandez, Liz Peek, Sarah Wolfe and Dr. Valerie Steele.

The Summer Party kicked off the fundraising drive as a prelude to the September luncheon at Cipriani celebrating the 2009 Award for Artistry of Fashion. This year, bellini toasts will be in order as the award will be presented to the talented Belgian designer Dries Van Noten, who will make a rare appearance here in New York. Previous recipients include Ralph Rucci in 2006, Alber Elbaz of Lanvin in 2007 and Isabel Toledo in 2008 (before Michelle Obama wore her on Inauguration Day!).

I was  incredibly honored to have been invited to the event and to have met some of the most talented figures in fashion and interior design including Glenda Bailey of BAZAAR Magazine (and her beautiful Christian Lacroix jewelery), Ralph Rucci, Christian Cota, Victor de Souza, Thakoon Panichgul, David Chu, Nanette Lepore and of course, Charlotte Moss! Yaz Hernandez and her fellow chair members were such welcoming hosts and I hope to have the pleasure of meeting them again.

Glenda Bailey of BAZAAR was especially personable as she spoke about her upcoming October issue and the perhaps not-so-looming economy hitting the fashion world, “I got a call today that October will be ten pages larger than we thought. You can smell the positivity!” Bailey also noted that the best purchase (and her favorite look) for this upcoming fall season is the classic tie-waste camel trench coat from Max Mara.

After the well-dressed crowd began to leave the back garden and finish their vodka-lemonade with basil cocktails (the drink of the night), I finally got my opportunity to speak with Charlotte Moss one-on-one. She gave some great advice on stepping into the world of interior design and she spoke about her future endeavors, including writing more for Veranda Magazine. I asked about Max Sinsteden, an impressive intern of hers, and mentioned how I recently wrote about the two of them. She was ecstatic to hear what I knew about him and explained that they just got back from London together (see my previous post on Max’s dorm room here).

Moss' signature design philosophy of “couture living” personifies elegant spaces in which one is meant to live and entertain in. She draws her inspiration from her extensive travels, reading and native southern heritage- and all of this is apparent in her understated yet luxurious home.

I was pleasantly surprised about how open and welcoming everyone at the event was to talk about what they were working on- and how they were equally interested in what I was doing! It was a night I won’t soon forget!

Currently on exhibit at The Museum at FIT is Isabel Toledo: Fashion From The Inside Out, displaying seventy iconic looks from the mid-1980s to the present, including the ensemble worn by Michelle Obama on Inauguration Day. Read more on the exhibit at The Museum at FIT’s site here.

Charlotte Moss' home, the back garden

Dr. Valerie Steele, Yaz Hernandez

All photography credit to Patrick McMullan and Shaun Mader.