Nancy Davis and Tommy Hilfiger's Race to Erase MS stands out among Los Angeles benefits as a showcase for one of the year's biggest silent auctions. (There may be just one event that has a bigger one, and that's the super A-list Carousel ball, which is hosted by her well-connected and tireless mother, Barbara Davis, whose late billionaire husband, Marvin, was a former owner of 20th Century Fox.) With more than 1,000 items in the silent auction at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, the event offers a leisurely, two-hour cocktail session to give the 1,300 potential bidders a chance to peruse the long auction tables and to allow plenty of lubricating time for their generous impulses.
Working with Davis and Liz Zigal, the executive director for the Nancy Davis Foundation for MS, veteran event planner Mindy Weiss returned for the fifth year to design the colorful bidding room. "I've got the auction down to a science," Weiss said. This year's event raised $2.5 million.
Starting with the "disco fever" theme selected by Davis and Hilfiger, Weiss decorated the cavernous auction room with peppy pink and orange curtains and signage. "That is the big combination this year and it completely works with the disco theme," Weiss said. "When you use bright colors like that the energy completely changes in the room. It's fun energy and the whole thing is about getting people to buy things and keeping their energy and excitement up."
The bright palette continued in the ballroom, where Mark's Garden created centerpieces of roses; some tables had pink, some orange, and some had flowers of both colors. Napkins wrapped in disco-ball necklaces were set on silver sequined tablecloths. "Nancy loves to give away something that guests will put on at the event," Weiss said.
Hilfiger went into his archives for 70's fashions sported by professional and celebrity models like the ubiquitous Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan at a vintage fashion show organized by Jack Rich, Hilfiger's vice president of special events. That was followed by rousing sets by longtime Davis family friend Natalie Cole as well as Sister Sledge and Macy Gray. By the time Kool and the Gang arrived onstage, much of the crowd was on its feet. Guests left with Hilfiger backpacks filled with a Trapp candle; a Hilfiger fragrance; Davis's new book, Lean on Me; Girl Scout cookies; and other treats.
—Irene Lacher
Photos: Kevin Winter/Getty Images (Cole, Sister Sledge)
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Working with Davis and Liz Zigal, the executive director for the Nancy Davis Foundation for MS, veteran event planner Mindy Weiss returned for the fifth year to design the colorful bidding room. "I've got the auction down to a science," Weiss said. This year's event raised $2.5 million.
Starting with the "disco fever" theme selected by Davis and Hilfiger, Weiss decorated the cavernous auction room with peppy pink and orange curtains and signage. "That is the big combination this year and it completely works with the disco theme," Weiss said. "When you use bright colors like that the energy completely changes in the room. It's fun energy and the whole thing is about getting people to buy things and keeping their energy and excitement up."
The bright palette continued in the ballroom, where Mark's Garden created centerpieces of roses; some tables had pink, some orange, and some had flowers of both colors. Napkins wrapped in disco-ball necklaces were set on silver sequined tablecloths. "Nancy loves to give away something that guests will put on at the event," Weiss said.
Hilfiger went into his archives for 70's fashions sported by professional and celebrity models like the ubiquitous Nicole Richie and Lindsay Lohan at a vintage fashion show organized by Jack Rich, Hilfiger's vice president of special events. That was followed by rousing sets by longtime Davis family friend Natalie Cole as well as Sister Sledge and Macy Gray. By the time Kool and the Gang arrived onstage, much of the crowd was on its feet. Guests left with Hilfiger backpacks filled with a Trapp candle; a Hilfiger fragrance; Davis's new book, Lean on Me; Girl Scout cookies; and other treats.
—Irene Lacher
Photos: Kevin Winter/Getty Images (Cole, Sister Sledge)
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This year's Race to Erase MS benefit featured a disco theme and a performance by Sister Sledge.
The auction featured more than 1,000 items.
Natalie Cole was among the host of performers—who also included Macy Gray and Kool and the Gang.
Even the desserts, in the shape of platform shoes, kept with the disco theme.
