May 2 Round Robin: Van Cleef & Arpels Opens With Crystal Charity Ball And Fresh Faces Of Fashion Reveals At Park Place Porsche

Margaret McDermott helped launch the Trinity River Audubon Center on May 2 with marvelous recollections of Dallas. Decade after decade she shared gems that she knew oh-so well. And while only a few got to be a part of this memorable launch, others were busy throughout town:

Van Cleef & Arpels

Women’s Wear contributor Holly Haber was trying to read her notes. While the scribblings may have looked like a Texas version of hieroglyphics, it was pretty obvious that the Van Cleef & Arpels boutique in Neiman Marcus NorthPark was a hit!

To introduce NM’s most dazzling department, they launched it with an invitation-only reception for the Crystal Charity Ball ladies, who provide the perfect occasions for wearing diamonds and gems.

Van Cleef CEO Nicolas Bos explained how they arrived at the selection of NM NP: “We began with a small presence here. We have always had a strong clientele in Dallas and Texas. We feel Neiman Marcus has a fantastic history. We knew from our clients which location would be the best for this boutique. NorthPark was definitely the best destination for the very high-end. Crystal Charity Ball was part of our partnership with NM. We appreciate working with NM, because they are similar to us” in their approach.

While models wearing magnificent works of VC&A nonchalantly strolled through the crowd of guests, Margaret Hancock could have easily been mistaken for one of them. After all, she was tall, beautiful and wearing  double strands of VC&A’s Alhambra yellow-gold-and-white mother of pearl necklaces with matching ear studs. Only difference was they were hers. And every VC&A lover knows  you can never have enough of their beauties, so it wasn’t surprising to see Margaret have one of the display windows opened to try on a ring. . . And the timing of the boutique’s opening couldn’t have been better. . .  just before Mother’s Day! . . . Dwight Emanuelson back from great diving in Little Cayman, said wife Claire, who definitely needed more jewelry. Wink, wink. . . Alicia Wood was soloing it, since husband Scott had taken the Wood daughters to REI to shop for camping gear. . .  Don Conlon reported that he’d gotten a new camera. After all, new grandbaby Quinn deserves better than grandmom Robyn’s iPhone photos.

Fresh Faces of Fashion Reveal

It was a different Fresh Faces of Fashion Reveal this year at Park Place Porsche. It was leaner, faster and lacking of the 2013 FFF on the runway. To handle the huge crowd, the adjoining patio was protected by a tent with see-thru walls to temper the gusty wind and chill. Who would have thought cold temperatures would be a problem in May?

Guests in the main showroom kept eating, drinking and checking each other out. The only sound was the distant sounds of speakers like Fresh Faces of Fashion Chair Yvonne Crum, heard over the PA from the adjoining tent. She was announcing the results of the raffle sales. Among the 2013 FFF, Melody Rogers had come in first selling $21,450 worth of tickets and Peyton Blackwell had come in second with a whopping $18,650. Among the non-FFF were Katy Messersmith and Princess Diana’s former chef Darren McGrady.

Another highpoint of the speakers was Darren’s pulling the winning raffle ticket for his chef’s package to London. There was silence and then he announced the winner was — Wendy McGrady. His wife? No. He was just joshing.

Instead of a designer showcasing the Stanley Korshak fashion lineup, it was a quick one-run of less than a dozen models wearing merchandise from the Shak. As event producer Brett McKinney said, the emphasis was on the 2014 Porsche Cayman. And how right he was.

No sooner had the roar of the engines been heard than a yellow Cayman Porsche pulled up, the attending models removed the velvet ropes and the crowd bypassed the jaw-dropping models for the hot vehicle.

But perhaps the capper of the evening for Suicide and Crisis Center was Park Place’s Rob Sumner presenting a $10,000 check to the SCC Executive Director Margie Wright. Translation: In the past seven years, Park Place has not only partnered up with the FFF program, they’ve provided a $10,000 check each year.

Thanks to the gala at Korshak, the “reveal” at Park Place, the raffle and the $10,000 check, a total of $255,000 was raised for the SCC program this year.