Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.life From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Fake It must be DIFFA Date: Tue, 17 Nov 92 15:07:56 EST Message-ID: \SE E;LIFE;ABOUT TOWN \HD Lasers? Fake fog? It must be DIFFA \BY Ann Geracimos \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES Up against laser beams, fake fog, spotlights and colossal columns, Mary McFadden's beads and sequins hardly mattered. And when models entered in plain draped sarongs with pectorals bared, nothing else so charmed the audience Saturday at the fifth gala fund-raiser for DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation For AIDS). That was before thong-encased "body warriors" appeared with their skin hand painted in elaborate designs and costumed in silver masks and "fig leaves." After all, it was a design-minded crowd. More than a thousand guests in black tie had paid between $100 and $250 each to share good feelings and an abundance of energy at what traditionally is one of Washington's liveliest benefit parties, dubbed "A Votre Sante" in upbeat fashion. Ticket sales and silent auction receipts were expected to contribute $200,000 to local AIDS support organizations. A solemn runway show of Miss McFadden's spring-summer '93 collection quieted the scene between dinner and dancing. Her gorgeously pleated and colored silk gowns - looking very nearly the equivalent of tribal dress - never had a more dramatic backdrop than the ornate interior of the Renaissance Revival-style National Building Museum. "She is a visual historian," said Warren Robbins, founder of the Smithsonian's Museum of African Art, who was escorting the designer. They are friends from the time when she lived in South Africa and both collected and promoted African art. The clothes shown Saturday, which were flown down from New York in nine trunks and assorted bags, were inspired by Celtic art and especially the Book of Kells, said Miss McFadden's assistant, Laura Moffatt. (A McFadden jacket valued at $4,400 from one of her previous couture collections was part of the silent auction.) "We were trying to bring in larger names," said architect and committee member Scott Jaffa of the choice of entertainment. Miss McFadden, like nearly everyone involved in the evening, contributed her services to the cause. These pre-inauguration days are heady times, when the hint of a Clintonite on a guest list causes event publicists to work overtime. Rumor was that Clinton transition team head and lawyer Vernon Jordan would show Saturday accompanied by D.C. Council Chairman John Wilson, but if they did, they were late and easily got lost under a maze of balloons dropped from the ceiling in the booming late-night haze. Hundreds of white balloons were unleashed like outsized raindrops on the dancing crowd after the fashion show, when the action really began. Dancers joyfully kicked and swayed, bumped and stomped, pop-pop-popping at each step. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM