MIA: Badgley Mischka Visits Saks Fifth Avenue

Saks Fifth Avenue Dadeland set the stage for designers Mark Badgley and James Mischka’s fabulous in-store event co-hosted by the Patricia and Philip Frost Science Museum. The presentation was hosted by Venus Orbit Chair, Julia Rea Bianchi and Venus Orbit Philanthropic Chair Betty Lopez-Castro. The VIP gathering included a meet and greet with the celebrity designers, known for their flattering, embellished formal wear.

 The event gave the ladies an opportunity to pick up dresses for Miami’s social season, which although it just began, is already in full-swing.

In addition to the New York-based designers, guests celebrated the Venus Orbit Women’s Initiative, which is a group of dynamic women donating funds to support the new Frost Planetarium’s vibrant space-focused programming. The planetarium will open next summer, in 2016 and promises to be the jewel in Miami’s growing waterfront cultural center, as well as a new facility of note on a national level.

Some of the area’s biggest philanthropists came out for the day, including Trish Bell, Swanee DiMare and Terry Buoniconti. The women-inspired, Venus Orbit initiative reached a $250,000 milestone and en route to collectively raising $1 million dollars to be matched by a Knight Foundation 1:2 Challenge Grant, for a total of $1.5 million dollars. The gals enjoyed bubbly and bites while informal models showed off the latest designs, some of which got snatched up on the spot by those who needed gowns for the season’s galas.