DESIGNED FOR CHANGE: With the string of in-person spring events still going strong, next up is Housing Works’ Design on a Dime’s 2022 Groundbreaker Awards.
The April 20 event at the Metropolitan Pavilion will salute actor and activist Patricia Arquette, Kering America’s president Laurent Claquin and pioneering model and activist Bethann Hardison. Design on a Dime’s founding chair James Huniford will be greeting guests with the dinner’s chairs Cliff Fong and Charlotte Moss, who are each interior designers.
As a model and later as the owner of her own modeling agency, Hardison has championed generations of talent. She took part in the legendary “Battle of Versailles” runway show in 1973, when American designers upstaged their European counterparts. With her agency Bethann Management, she helped to bring models like Tyson Beckford to the forefront of the fashion industry. Throughout her career Hardison has championed diversity and inclusion, and at times has called out the lack thereof. In the past few years Hardison has been mentoring on-the-rise designers and helped Black creatives accelerate their careers through the Designers Hub. The group has the support of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
A former consultant early on in his career, Claquin worked at Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume and Centre Pompidou before joining Kering in 2004. In 2011, he relocated to New York City to start Kering’s Americas division for the luxury group. More recently, Claquin has been integral to the Kerby Jean-Raymond and Kering-supported group Your Friends in New York.
Next week’s ticketed dinner will also provide attendees with VIP access to Design on a Dime’s opening reception on April 21. Elissa Grayer, Andrew Greene, Stephen Henderson, James LaForce, Charles King and Tatyana Miron are among the members of the dinner committee. This year’s dinner is being sponsored by Kering, Bloomingdale’s, Benjamin Moore, WarnerMedia and West Elm.
Source: WWD