The A+D Architecture and Design Museum in Los Angeles recently welcomed scores of designers and design aficionados to its annual fundraising fête, which was held in in the lobby of the Variety building on Wilshire Boulevard. The theme of this year’s gala, Celebrate: The Journey, focused on the delights and challenges of travel in the 21st century. Cue the Kool & the Gang soundtrack!
The highlight of the gala was a runway show featuring a bevy of models dressed as foxy retro-style flight attendants displaying many of the 40 custom-designed carry-on cases conceived for the event by a wide array of talents from the fields of interiors, architecture, graphics, fashion, and product design. Participants included architects Steven Ehrlich , David Hertz , and Michael Rotondi , designers Trip Haenisch , Kathryn M. Ireland , and Karim Rashid , and multimedia artist–designer April Greiman .
Bidding for the avant-garde totes was fierce as attendees drove up auction prices for the most desirable pieces. Among the roughly 600 celebutantes were architect Michael Palladino of Richard Meier & Partners , design critic and radio personality Frances Anderton of KCRW, developer Billy Lehman, and Jay Roewe, senior vice president of production at HBO.
The funds raised will support the A+D Museum’s ambitious exhibition program, including the upcoming show “Never Built: Los Angeles” (opening July 27), an intriguing look at some of the visionary, heroic, and occasionally bizarre unrealized projects that might have reshaped the city’s landscape.
