Yvonna Russell

Wepa! The Casita Maria Fiesta Gala was held on a lovely October 15th evening in Manhattan at The Plaza Hotel. The festive annual gala was a benefit for the Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education in the South Bronx. The gala’s international social scene was a cultural mix of royalty, beauty, talent and affluence. Marvelous guests Adwoa Aboah, Liza and Sergio Alvarez, Peter Bacanovic, Tony Bechara and Carolina von Humboldt, Tina and Simon Beriro, Violaine and John Bernbach, Cathie and Tom Black

Tadashi Shoji Spring 2020 collection is too beautiful for words flirting between residing in fantasy while staying grounded in the real world. The designer showed his collection at Spring Studios on Thursday afternoon, September 7th in downtown Manhattan. His occasion designs inspired by Once Upon a Time…in Japan of day to evening dresses, cocktail dresses and evening gowns would appease any modern day goddess. The designer who is a Japanese born and trained painter referenced works of Ukiyo-e

Game on at the Citi Taste of Tennis on August 22nd, Thursday evening in Manhattan. Cipriani 42nd Street was lit with top seeded US Open tennis players and celebrated chefs from the best New York restaurants. Celebrating the 20th year of the premier event is the kickoff before the upcoming 2019 US Open tennis tournament held at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Before competing for the gold cup and 12.5 million dollar purse, players mingle and nosh with tennis and gourmet aficionados. The tennis players who

La crème de la creme of the interior design world showed out in force at the 47th Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club Annual President’s Dinner on Monday evening, April 1st at New York City’s Cipriani 42nd Street. The benefit dinner is one of the organization’s biggest fund raising events. The 100 year old nonprofit serves underprivileged kids age 6–18 with after school programs in sports, performing arts and tutoring in the Bronx. Manhattan’s Spring social calendar must be seen black tie event is also

Andre Malraux declared, “Culture is the sum of all forms of art, of love and of thought which, in the coarse or centuries, have enabled man to be less enslaved”. The Arts Arena celebrated the Inaugural Benefit Gala PARADE: Vive les Artistes at the Plaza Hotel on the evening of October 26th. The Arts Arena provides free performances, film screenings, exhibitions, lectures and conversations with world class artists in visual arts, performing arts and film. The non profit has produced 270 cultural

Rita Hayworth said, “I’ve had a lot of unhappiness in my life — and a lot of happiness. Who doesn’t? Maybe I’ve learned enough to be able to guide my daughters.” The 35th Annual Rita Hayworth Gala was held at Cipriani 42nd Street on the evening of October 23rd in New York City. Her daughter, gala co-founder and chair Princess Yasmin Aga Khan and gala co-chair Anne Hearst McInerney hosted the high society black tie affair. More than 5.7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease, and i

Abstract painter Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) was a visionary artist who knew she was ahead of her time. The Guggenheim Museum presents her first major solo show in the United States,” Hilma af Klint : Painting for the Future”. Opening today the landmark exhibition of 120 works of art graces 5 tiers of the spiraling Frank Lloyd Wright rotunda of the Guggenheim. Begun over a century ago af Klint’s radical art is contemporary in the use of bold color, symbolism, fluid movement, geometric shapes and

Power players from the US Open, business, politics, philanthropy and science enjoyed and engaged at The Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) Gala in the Hamptons on the perfect summer evening of August 25th. After three days of research panels, health seminars and tennis tournaments at private estates in Southampton, all were gathered for dinner and dancing at the Parrish Museum. For the 19th year, legendary Wall Street financier Michael Milken celebrates over $750 million total has been raised for

Celestial bodies from fashion, film, theater philanthropy, arts and finance ascended on Lincoln Center on the evening of November 30th in Manhattan. The Lincoln Center Corporate Fund honored Louis Vuitton’s Artistic Director of Women’s Collections, Nicolas Ghesquière with a gala at Alice Tully Hall. Outside paparazzi and fans snapped the arrivals on the red carpet. Entering Alice Tully Hall, an exclusive one-night-only installation celebrating the venerable French fashion house Louis Vuitton wi

Leading man Hugh Jackman is very particular about his coffee. He loves his coffee fair trade. On a trip for Worldvision, Hugh planted trees, shoveled manure for biofuel and learns about trading at the coffee co-op with Ethiopian farmer Dukale. Jackman and his wife Deborra-Lee Furness learned firsthand the struggle of the Ethiopian coffee farmers to earn a living wage. Over a seven year period director Josh Rothstein captured the unlikely friendship of the two men which began a transcendent life