One of the advantages of working for the interesting clients RAND serves is the opportunity to partake in worthwhile events—especially those with glitz and glamor! Such was the case two weeks ago when RAND’s Architectural Design team attended the China Fashion Night gala at the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan. The event was organized to honor the renowned designer Vivienne Tam and to raise funds for the China Beauty Charity Fund (CBCF), which endows grants and scholarships for Chinese students studying at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.
Our attendance, part of our “RAND Gives Back” campaign to support charities and worthy causes, was at the invitation of one of RAND’s clients, Yue-Sai Kan, the CBCF Founder and Chairwoman and an Emmy-winning television host, producer, entrepreneur, and best-selling author. Ms. Kan, whom People magazine once named “The Most Important Woman in China,” owns a five-story townhouse on Sutton Place that RAND has been renovating and expanding.
The gala featured spectacular gowns by Chinese designer Guo Pei.
We were treated to a stunning fashion show by one of China’s leading designers, Guo Pei, who showcased head-to-toe ensembles and inimitable gowns, inspired by stained glass domes of European churches, from her "Legend of the Dragon" collections for the first time in the United States.
In addition to the haute couture, which coincided with New York’s Fashion Week, Metropolitan Opera singer Hao Jiang Tian gave a special performance with his ensemble of young American singers who participated in a study of opera in China as part of cultural exchange program.
RAND’s Athmane Aouchiche, Suzanna Takayama, and Michael Simeone with China Beauty Charity Fund founder Yue-Sai Kan.
The audience featured a number of notable names from the worlds of fashion, art, entertainment, media, business, and politics, including Bebe Neuwerth, Amy Tan, Kaity Tong, Petra Nemcova, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, and ambassadors from China, Hungary, Panama, Sri Lanka, and Tunisia.
My RAND colleagues Athmane Aouchiche and Suzanna Takayama and I enjoyed a wonderful night of style, art, and elegance.
