Some of the best-dressed men in Dallas — and, of course, quite a few lovely ladies — recently gathered at Candleroom to mix, mingle and preview the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA) Dallas 2013 collection. This year’s fashion and philanthropy extravaganza, dubbed House of DIFFA, takes place March 23 at the Hilton Anatole, where supporters will partake in a seated dinner, provocative style show, and live and silent auctions.
Cocktails flowed as DIFFA Dallas board members and Style Council ambassadors bragged about this year’s collection, which includes a pretty-in-plaid blazer from Billy Reid and an edgy studded leather jacket from open-any-minute Traffic LA, among about 70 others. Event chair Brittanie Buchanan Oleniczak confessed her favorite in the collection is the feminine and fitted orange leather jacket donated by Joan Rivers.
Chairman of the board Clint Bradley boasted like a proud papa about some pretty unbelievable live auction items, including a two-night stay in Bora Bora — with a $1,000 voucher for airfare — donated by Dallas Cowboy Marcus Spears, and the Edo Popken Experience that includes two custom jackets created by the designer himself — you will be fitted at his Zurich studio — and a stay with him at his private chateau.
As the room started to fill, the jackets were raised high above the crowd, so everyone could get a better look. But our eyes were locked on the dressed-to-the-nines crowd sporting their own stylish jackets, awesome eyewear and fabulous footwear — from flashy red loafers to hip orange sneakers.
Among the style setters spotted on the scene: Vivian and Alberto Lombardi, Alexis Bourn, Jason Oleniczak, Hilary Kennedy, Stephanie Kille, Chuck Steelman, LeeAnne Locken, John Bobbitt, Debra Nelson, Carmeleta Whitely, Jan Strimple, Matt Wilkerson, and Carol Quist.
If the style quotient at this preview was any indication about what’s to come in a couple of weeks, we had better go shopping.
