Elle
Decor editor Margaret Russell,
DIFFA executive director
David Sheppard and
Victoire Taittinger |
DIFFA
Champagne
Taittinger Presents
Elle Décor’s Dining By Design
Story by Edward T. Callaghan
Photos by Rob Rich
 ather
together 50 of the world’s greatest design gurus—architects,
artists, floral fashion, interior designers—and give them free
reign to indulge their most over the top fantasies and you have
Elle Décor’s Dining by Design presented by Champagne Taittinger,
the most spectacular tabletop event of the year.
Co-hosts Margaret
Russell, editor-in-chief of Elle Décor, Victoire
Taittinger, architect David Rockwell and philanthropist
Beth Rudin de Woody mobilized the entire design industry
for the seventh year on behalf of the Design Industries’
Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA).
New York’s Hammerstein
Ballroom was filled with eye popping displays by Versace, Christofle,
Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Vicente Wolfe and dozens
more. Standouts –
and there were plenty – included Robert Rufino’s Zhivagoesque
snow-covered table glistening with silver and crystal.
For Tiffany & Co.,
Robert Verdi’s creation for Champagne Taittinger was
like the inside of the fabled champagne bottles with Swarovski
crystals and milk glass globes.
Queer Eye for
the Straight Guy designer Thom Filicia opted for an
outdoorsy Tuscan setting with vine covered arbor for Pier 1.
Designers
Douglas Wilson,
Robert Verdi and
Carson Kressley |
Uber architect David
Rockwell, whose eponymous Rockwell Group created some of the
world’s most unique restaurants and public spaces, went
celebrity ga-ga with dinner ware embossed with the images of pop
icons like Cher and Bette Midler.
Victoire Taittinger
told us, “The family has for centuries been supportive of the
arts and artists, so, the affiliation with DIFFA came naturally.
The art of handcrafted champagne marries well with the art
of design.”
Upstairs, where the
champagne was flowing faster than the Seine, we ran into three of
TV’S interior design mavens: Doug Wilson of Trading
Spaces, Robert Verdi of Surprise by Design and Queer
Eye’s inimitable Carson Kressley.
Sipping the bubbly were
Cooper Hewitt director Paul Thompson, Moby, Boy George
(it was his night off then and now permanently since Taboo
folded), Susan Magrino, Darcy Becker, Nina
Griscom and our favorite couple on the scene, Rufus and
Sally, that is the Earl and Countess of Albemarle.
The
Countess and Earl of
Albermarle, Rufus and Sally |
New York is not the only
town to partake in this annual experience. Russell and Tattinger
will be carting these unique displays all around the country:
Houston, Kansas City (the largest attendance on the tour), Los
Angeles, East Hampton, Atlanta, Chicago and Minneapolis.
For details about
upcoming Elle Décor’s Dining by Design presented by Champagne
Taittinger, visit www.diffa.org. |
