| EVENT REPORT 02.15.06 12:00 AM |
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| Vivid Designer Tables Fill Orchid Dinner |
| The focus was on flowers at the New York Botanical Garden’s benefit, and texture and shine were among the prominent design elements. |
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| It didn’t really matter that the dramatic cityscape twinkled outside the Rainbow Room’s windows, since all eyes (and noses) were on the creative designs that graced the tables for the New York Botanical Garden’s Orchid Dinner. Thirty-four fanciful tables graced the scene—a pastiche of work created by floral, interior, event, fashion, and retail designers—all using the requisite orchids; dramatic elements infused both the centerpieces and table settings. |
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PHOTO GALLERY |
 | | Harry Slatkin of candle firm Slatkin & Company created a luscious cascade of purple orchids that hung at various lengths—including strands that ran onto and over the table. |
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 | | Inspired by the witch’s palace in The Chronicles of Narnia, interior designer Celerie Kemble, fashion designer Lela Rose, and event designer Bronson van Wyck designed a massive dual-spire ice sculpture embedded with orchids. |
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 | | Kemble, Rose, and van Wyck mixed pewter place settings with a table overlay, chair covers, and napkin rings in silver faux fur. |
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 | | Baccarat’s visual director, Kelly Lafferty, incorporated Philippe Starck’s Darkside line of crystal—including the designer’s black crystal chandelier—into the dramatic table setting. To support the chandelier, a black gazebo-like structure was built to fit over the table and outfitted with a gray mirror ceiling. White orchids and a silver metallic organza overlay topped the table. |
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Flowers aside, unusual textures and metallic references made a noticeable appearance in this year’s designs. A vibrant orange quilted cloth covered the table that Stephen Elrod created for Lee Jofa. Silver fur showed up on the table, chair covers, and napkin rings for the Chronicles of Narnia-inspired table by Celerie Kemble, Lela Rose, and Bronson van Wyck. An iridescent green-gold overlay blanketed the table designed by Healing Barsanti; it was embellished with biomorphic shapes stitched out of golden thread (which befit the centerpiece that integrated green orchids and pearlescent shells strung on golden wire).
Artist Michele Oka Doner employed an array of her own work—heavily textured silver vessels that held large green leaves and green orchids. Another metallic reference appeared in the form of silver organza, which was used over black silk at Baccarat crystal’s table. And the table that Nina Campbell and Antony Todd put together was covered by a greenish-bronze silk that sported a brown flock design.
Penny Arnold, the garden’s director of special events development, oversaw the event, with design coordination help from Charlotte Frieze, garden editor at House & Garden magazine. Gotham Gardens’ Dan Dahl acted as a liaison with all the designers, providing assistance and offering advice. Although the evening is a celebration of design, it’s also a fund-raiser, and the garden earned more than $600,000 for orchid research. Scads of the flowers will be on view to the public when the Orchid Show opens at the garden’s Enid A. Haupt Conservatory on February 25; the exhibition continues through April 2.
—Mark Mavrigian
Photos: Jeff Thomas/Image Capture for BiZBash
More Photos From the Orchid Dinner
Vivid Designer Tables (Part Two)
Vivid Designer Tables (Part Three)
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