Design, Food and Charity under the stars

                                                                                                                                                               photo credit: Marco Bollinger

Picnic by Design was a hip soiree last night!! Food and design, what a great mix for a New York City charity event hosted by DIFFA, the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS. DIFFA is known for raising awareness about HIV/AIDS through unique events like Architectural Digest's Dining by Design, an event that showcases styled table vignettes by premier designers. 

photo credit: Marco Bollinger

Not unlike picnicking at Central Park, guests were sprawled out on Mima's urban roof-deck, designed by DIFFA’s own co-chair David Rockwell. Creative juices were flowing...thirty designers, including myself, crafted a picnic experience  ($250) equipped with wine glasses, plates, utensils, napkins, a corkscrew, a blanket and other quirky surprises. In addition, three VIP “Chef Choice” packages ($500) were designed by celebrity-chef teams: Marchesa by Lenox/Chef Geoffrey, Marie Aiello/Chef Eric Ripert and Whoopi Goldberg/ TUG Studio/Chef Paul Liebrand. The brain of this casual-chic event was coordinated by the following young designers: Brooke Lichtenstein, Yiannos Vrousgos, Dwayne Clark, Bob Gaynor, Nigel Sielegar, Dee Kemper and Mary Davis. They did a marvelous job!

Had a great time speaking with some fun designers....

Dwanye Clark and Bob Gaynor from RDYC and Yiannos Vrousgos from Input creative studiosphoto credit: Marco Bollinge

                                                      and

  Me, quirky Jane Fondant and Dee Kemper of Domoore designs

                           

and 

Some hilarious entertainment:

photo credit: Marco Bollinger

Guests were entertained by dancing men dressed in red checkered tablecloths!

Now for some design which was a feast for the eyes....some designers deconstructed the given Scout bag and crafted a watermelon wagon, an English inspired trunk, a tee-pee, a romantic get-away and so much more!

All images above photo credit: Marco Bollinger

(see my picnic basket bag in the distance)

Dwanye Clark and Bob Gaynor from RDYC purchased my bag!!

photo credit: Marco Bollinger

                                     My designed picnic basket above

photo credit: Marco Bollinger

After all the oohs and aahs, guests were entertained by an exclusive movie screening of the documentary Making the Boys, addressing the serious issues of gay rights and social stigma. 

Thank you DIFFA, it was a blast!!

Part 2-

See my design process in crafting my basket:

Each designer was given a Scout tote bag to “trick” out. 

My basket was inspired by the industrial forms and materials of Richard Serra’s sculptures. All my materials were found at Home Depot. While shopping, I felt like I was on one of those reality design shows hunting for materials. After scouring the aisles, I decided to construct the bag out of woven-vinyl hanger strap used in plumbing and electrical speaker wire. And a way we go....

photo credit: Marco Bollinger