A swarm of celebs and socialites descended upon Midtown Wednesday night to fete Kenneth Cole's latest project, a charitable initiative he's dubbed "Awearness." The designer/philanthropist created the global nonprofit to celebrate his brand's 25 years of design and do-goodism.
At the heart of last night's celebration was the launch of his first book, entitled Awearness: Inspiring Stories About How to Make a Difference.
This lucky intern was able to score an invite at the 11th hour and got a sneak peek at the book before it goes on sale next month.
The page-turner (I read a third of it on the cab ride home) features 86 personal stories from celebrities, political figures, and ordinary people on how they've made service a part of their life. The mantra of the book, Cole says, is "no good deed should go unpublished."
I spotted a number of the book's contributers at last night's party, including the more-gorgeous-in-real-life Rosario Dawson, whose work with Voto Latino is featured in the book, and Hasidic hip-hop artist/activist Matisyahu.
With all eyes on Dawson in a navy blue bandage dress, I almost missed the slew of other celebs who showed up to support Awearness, including Diane von Furstenberg, Lauren Bush, and Olivia Palermo (who'll be gracing the pages of MC's fashion feature in December).
Marie Claire's Deputy Editor, Abigail Pesta, was lucky enough to interview the man of the hour, who said he plans to take the idea of the book online and create a forum for the countless other charitable stories waiting to be written.
While mingling throughout the Grand Central store, I also got to check out the first shop-in-shop where you can buy Awearness merchandise or become a member of the Alliance by signing up on one of the in-house computer kiosks.
My editors got to sip "Awearnesstinis," which were a huge hit with the crowd, but the real treats were the swag bags. Made of reusable canvas, they featured the phrase "Use me ... again and again and again. (I'm used to it.) From last night it's clear that the Pun Prince is making his mark on more than just the totes.