Oscar de la Renta Presents The Colleagues Annual Luncheon

Photo Credit: AB Images

Oscar de la Renta brought a little glamour to Tinseltown on Tuesday as the luxury brand hosted the 28th annual Colleagues Spring Luncheon.

Emmy-nominated actress Roma Downey was honored with the Colleagues Champion of Children Award at the event, which was held at the Beverly Wilshire. The award honors those who have made a lasting impact on the lives of children.  Downey joins an impressive list of prior Champion of Children Award recipients including former First Ladies Nancy Reagan, Betty Ford and Laura Bush and her two daughters Barbara Pierce Bush and Jenna Bush-Hager, Princess Charlene of Monaco, James and Gloria Stewart, Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Anjelica Huston and Robert Graham, California First Lady Maria Shriver, Annette Bening and Warren Beatty, Angie Harmon and Jason Sehorn, Wolfgang and Gelila Puck, Oscar de la Renta and Sherry Lansing.

 Actress and comedian Kate Flannery of The Office acted as the Master of Ceremonies at the luncheon, which benefits the Children’s Institute, Inc (CII), which included the awards ceremony, a luncheon and a fashion show  from Oscar de la Renta’s Fall 2016 collection, designed by Peter Copping. The models also wore jewelry created by the iconic jeweler Van Cleef & Arpels, a sponsor of the event. Attendees included Kathy Hilton, Barbara Davis, Alex Meneses (“Telenovela”), Megan Colligan (Paramount Executive), Nazanian Boniadi (“Ben Hur”), Nadine Barber (MGM President Gary Barber’s wife, Eliza Bolen (Oscar de la Renta Executive), Barbara Thornhill (President of Colleagues), Anne Johnson (Colleagues Executive Chairman), Van Cleef & Arpels Americas CEO & President Alain Bernard and Mary Emmons (Children’s Institute Inc. president).

Founded in 1950, The Colleagues, a 501c3 non-profit corporation, are a group of 65 active women and over 25 sustaining members who volunteer their time and expertise to support and raise funds for their sole beneficiary, the Children’s Institute, Inc. In their efforts to serve Los Angeles’ most vulnerable children harmed by community and family violence, abuse and neglect, the Colleagues have donated over $25 million to CII through their high-end resale and vintage clothing shop and their annual spring luncheon. In addition to direct services, CII reaches more children through professional training, research and other leadership activities working with more than 24,000 children and families each year. 

Photo Credit: Benjamin Shmikler/ABImages