Girls’ Night Out

Social intelligence

Girls’ Night Out

March 12, 2012
“Every woman in the fashion business has a girl crush on DVF,” Tina Brown said of her co-host Friday night at the United Nations, where she and the designer were holding the third annual DVF Awards honoring extraordinary women. “I even thought I would rename myself Tina von Brown for a while,” she said jokingly to the audience.

But the night was not about DVF or Brown (though both are extraordinary), so Brown turned the mic over to the award presenters, including actresses Debra Winger and Jessica Alba, who were handing off the Anh Duong–designed statues to the likes of Oprah and Jaycee Dugard. “I think there’s a lot of social movements out there, but very few are effective,” Alba, who was presenting to Rio-based “grafiteira” Pamela Castro, told Style.com before the ceremony got started. “She [Castro] has found a way to really touch people. She educates women through her art—it’s very sexy and provocative, but also heartbreaking.”

The evening came to a grand crescendo when Oprah took the stage. “No matter how many margaritas I’ve had, I always make to at least one knee to pray every single day,” she told the audience, attributing her great philanthropic work to higher powers. “Everything that comes from me comes from something that’s bigger than me.” Before handing the inspiration award to Dugard, she said, “When I saw Jaycee’s interview with Diane Sawyer, I kept thinking of myself at 11 years old, on the way to school, and abducted, snatched, taken, and held prisoner for 18 years. Just take that in for a moment.” By the time Oprah closed out her speech, a good portion of the audience was in tears. “It’s my honor tonight to present the inspiration award, and I don’t even know if inspiration is a big enough word to encompass what Jaycee means to me and so many other victims of sexual violence, but she is exceptional as a woman and as a human being.”
—Kristin Studeman


Photo: Joe Schildhorn / BFAnyc.com

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