Heat of the Night

The Chicago chapter of Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS celebrated its 20th anniversary Saturday night, at a gala entitled "Black to Basics" in McCormick Place West's Skyline Ballroom. The weather, however, was anything but basic, with dangerous thunderstorms brewing and tornado warnings broadcast throughout the area. A downpour occurred right before the scheduled cocktail time of 6:30 p.m., and many guests arrived with drenched umbrellas, but the skies cleared up considerably without affecting the evening's turnout of around 780 design-industry insiders.

Sponsored by DuPont Corian, the annual Diffa/Chicago gala serves as the social kickoff of NeoCon, the furniture-design trade show at the Merchandise Mart. To pay tribute to Diffa's 1980s roots, Diffa/Chicago co-chairs Timothy Smith and Erik Parks worked with Sarah Schnell of Total Event Resources to evoke a decadent nightlife theme. In the check-in area, velvet ropes and bouncers clad in black suits and sunglasses brought to mind the V.I.P. entrance of a dance club. Silver lamé curtains with red uplighting framed the doorways leading to the reception area, where smoke machines helped create the scene of an early-'80s music video. Decor was designed by Pavel Juricek of Kehoe Designs.Mirrored columns and dancers stationed on light boxes greeted guests as they entered the cocktail reception, which was also home to an extensive silent-auction display. Organized into three distinct sections named after Chicago neighborhoods, auction items included everything from personal training sessions and Cubs tickets to tea at the Peninsula hotel and original artwork. In keeping with the event's design-savvy audience, numerous furniture items, donated by notable manufacturers, were a highlight.

Several bars and highboys decked in black linens from BBJ Linen could be found throughout the reception space. The dancers donned flashy '80s club wear and kept busy to generation-appropriate hits like  "Ice, Ice Baby," "Let's Talk About Sex," and "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)."

When a sheer black curtain that separated the reception space from the sit-down dinner area finally opened—revealing the banquet room dotted with disco balls, glittering linens, and giant light-reflecting brushed aluminum cubes—camera phones clicked while guests took their seats. "It was a total Steven Spielberg moment," said Diffa/Chicago communications chair Kim Winzeler. "It was like people were being called to the mother ship."

A catered dinner by Chicago Restaurant Partners consisted of courses named after iconic Chicago nightclubs. The first course (entitled "Shelter") offered a choice of baby arugula, seared red pepper, and grilled radicchio with balsamic vinegar, artichokes, and herbed goat cheese or sweet sausage with shaved fennel, summer mushrooms, and a cannellini bean salad. The main course (christened "Limelight") was a braised beef short rib and lobster ravioli duo with a seared prawn, and the finale (fittingly dubbed "Exit") featured black-and-white cupcakes served at the DuPont-branded dessert table. "This group doesn't eat much dessert," said Schnell. "The simple cupcakes this year were a huge hit."

During dinner, a short program included the presentation of the annual Unsung Hero award, this year given to Michele Rust, a long-standing Diffa/Chicago supporter. Screens on either side of the stage showed a six-minute video looking back on the history of the Diffa/Chicago gala, followed up by a live auction officiated by local charity auctioneer Greg Dellinger.

After dinner, the entertainment kicked into back into high gear, with drag queens performing to Madonna and Cher songs. Guests were clearly in the nightclub mood, as they danced until 1 a.m.