Lingerie Miami
Eva Longoria Parker and Veronica Webb helped raise more than $200,000 to benefit and empower impoverished women
Supermodels walked the runway for charity in couture designs by Agent Provocateur, Fifi Chachnil and Carine Gilson at the first annual Lingerie Miami at the exquisite Vizcaya Museum and Gardens.
(Check out the Lingerie Miami fashion show photo gallery.)
Eva Longoria Parker and Veronica Webb hosted the event that raised more than $200,000 to benefit global microfinance organizations that help benefit and empower impoverished women who earn less than $1 a day in six countries including Colombia, the United States, Brazil, Jamaica, Mexico and India.
Renata Mutis Black, founder of Lingerie Miami, along with the 7Bar Foundation welcomed the international luxury-lingerie brands whose designers revealed their latest collections on the same catwalk in the United States for the first time ever.
The idea behind microfinance is that individuals are provided with small loans to start or grow small businesses, allowing them to become economically self-sufficient, provide for their families for the long-term and replace dependency on limited donor funds.
“This is a new approach to philanthropy,” says Black. “Microfinance is the only sustainable way to help alleviate poverty; my aim is to enable the powerful glamour of the luxury consumer industry to drive the momentum of microfinance forward.”
Guests arrived to a star-studded evening to celebrate femininity and global female empowerment. Miami’s finest were treated to a private cocktail hour hosted by Cipriani and three course dinner provided by Touch Catering. Belvedere Vodka served their signature cocktails and Moet & Chandon created unique crystallized champagne magnum bottles exclusively for the event.
Eve Salvail, celebrity DJ and former high fashion model began spinning records as the sun set and the runway was cleared for the upcoming show. Glamazon models strutted the elegant catwalk in breathtaking lingerie as photographers and guests alike gazed in awe. The three shows, each unique and different from the next, showcased bold elements of fantasy and creativity. The night also included a silent and live auction where the most desired item was a kiss with Eva Longoria Parker and a private tour of the Desperate Housewives set in Los Angeles which sold for $35,000.
Additionally, Deepak Chopra gave a moving speech about living in today’s world and how the microfinance initiative reminds us of the importance of philanthropy and contributing to the well being of our own human race.
Attendees of the glitzy affair included Eva Longoria Parker, Veronica Webb, Deepak Chopra, Ines Rivero, Joanna Krupa, Elsa Benitez, Fabiola Beracasa, Leticia & Michy Grendene, Tracy Mourning, Maggio & Ignazio Cipriani, Barbara Becker, Shareef Malnik, Michael Capponi, Uli Herzner, Eva Da Cruz, Claudia Aros, Rony Seikaly, Wayne Boich, Maria Bravo, Juan Carlos Arcila Duque, Susanne Birbragher, Tina Carlo, Sara LaCharlotte, Amir Ben Zion, Marita Stavrou, Christina Getty Maercks, Hernan Arriaga, Tico and Alexandra Torres, Michelle Pooch, Eric & Stacy Milon, Amanda & Mark Tamis, Merle & Danny Weiss, Louis Aguirre, Sean Yazbeck, Ugo & Sara Columbo, Agent Provocateur founder Joe Corre, designer Fifi Chachnil, and designer Carine Gilson. Guests gathered at SET nightclub for an exclusive after-party where celebs and Miami’s finest danced the night away.
