The Edit by Brett Graff
A snapshot of the week's social scene.
Women on Top
Social superstar Marysol Patton hosted a lunch to celebrate Women’s History Month at Kiki on the River and introduced Cindy Eckert, a self-made billionaire who created what the media called, “the female Viagra.” Like other differences in men and women, Eckert’s cure works on the brain, not the blood flow. The entrepreneur and former Merck executive sold her two companies for more than $1 billion and promptly started The Pink Ceiling, a fund investing in products created by women or for them. She was applauded for her savvy and her strength by the dozen influential and authoritative women in attendance including Christy Martin, Dana Shear, Alexa Wolman, Countess and cabaret star Luann de Lesseps, Eilah Beavers, Lydia Touzet, Carole Iacovelli, Ariel Penzer, Hello Campos and celebrity reporter Maddie Marr. Everyone left with a Lingua Franca sweater embroidered with “Women on Top.”
Live Like Marile Lopez
Philanthropist Marile Lopez is accustomed to chairing galas and running business operations but is these days preparing for a new, post-pandemic position: Empty-nester. The mom of five and her husband Jorge Luis Lopez Esq. are trading their 8000-square-foot Bayshore Drive home for a 4000-square-foot Key Biscayne condo and hosted a Free Garage Sale to scale back on all the stuff they’ve accumulated over the decades. A lucky handful of friends and family walked away with one of 15 gowns up for grabs, designed by the likes of Monique Lhuillier, Rivini, Yvonne de la Vega and Viktor & Rolf. Also to go were the vases galore and holiday home decorations for Halloween and Christmas. “It was liberating,” she says. “You have this view of your stuff, thinking its tied to memories or has a monetary worth but okay, we enjoyed it. Now it’s time for someone else to enjoy it.” The sale, she says, was Round No. 1. For the next round, when the home sells, she’ll bid farewell to winter clothes, area rugs and furniture.
Floral and Fashion Fantasy
Bal Harbour Shops will launch Fleurs de Villes ROSÉ, an installation of 15 fresh floral couture mannequins inspired by the color pink. The effort is in partnership with Fleurs de Villes to support the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF.)
The 10-day floral extravaganza will be designed by local florists, including Ines Naftali, Oscar Mora Floral Art and Aniska Creations. Bal Harbour retailers sponsoring mannequins include Neiman Marcus, Chopard, De Beers Jewellers along with exclusive wine partner Château D’Esclans, are among the brands sponsoring floral mannequins.
The instillations will be hosted at Bal Harbour Shops’ iconic outdoor setting March 19th to March 28th.
Brett Graff is SocialMiami.com’s managing editor and has been a journalist covering money, people and power for over 20 years. Graff contributes to national media outlets including Reuters, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, Maxim, and the PBS show, Nightly Business Report. A former U.S. government economist, her nationally syndicated column The Home Economist is first published in The Miami Herald and then on the Tribune Content Agency, where it’s available to over 400 publications nationwide. She is broadcast weekly on two iHeartRadio news shows and is the author of “Not Buying It: Stop Overspending & Start Raising Happier, Healthier, More Successful Kids,” a parenting guide for people who might be tempted to buy their children the very obstacles they’re trying to avoid.
