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The right sounds The musical acts at GBK’s pre-awards’ event really made the day

The sound of concern

Elyse Glickman and Elva Zevallos attend GBK’s 2012 American Music Awards lounge, with relief efforts for Hurricane Sandy and the American Red Cross in focus

 


Clockwise from top left Sheila E. Jessica Sutta. DJ Babychino. Jamar Rogers.

 

While mention of the three letters GBK conjures up a heady blend of high-end lifestyle products and high-profile fund-raising efforts targeted at celebrities and socially prominent Hollywood tastemakers, Gavin B. Keilly and his team opted for a pre-award event that was wonderfully intimate yet totally rocking.

Though there were plenty of interesting, useful and luxurious products dispensed to VIPs and we enjoyed our conversations with wonderful entrepreneurs behind the products, what we really liked about this gathering was that the event itself felt like a private party in a musician’s home (even with the shared knowledge that the venue, the Andaz Hotel, was the Hyatt ‘Riot House’ back in a past life, hosting such hell raisers as Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and The Who).

Celebrities on hand to take in the sounds, the delectable gourmet finger foods and Royal Red Velvet cupcakes, hand-made cocktails and the cool setting included matchmaker Patty Stanger, Becca Tobin (Glee), Chris Mann and Jamar Rogers (The Voice), girl group Blush, Aubrey O’Day, Backstreet Boys members Brian Littrell and Howie Dorough, 10-year-old DJ Babychino and legendary percussionist Sheila E. In our humble opinion, the celebrity attendees deserving the most props were the musical acts who lent their talent and extra ambiance to Gavin Keilly’s Hurricane Sandy fundraising extravaganza: Stazz, Standley, Angelyna Martinez, Branches, Deqn Sue, DJ Etunes, J-Dub, Pullman Standard, Mike Burke and the aforementioned wunderkind DJ Babychino.

Hearts and wallets were open with equal enthusiasm, as 100 per cent of the event proceeds went towards supporting the American Red Cross and Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. In addition to the monetary donations, collected at the entrance, another great charity, A Rose of Thanks, created a special greeting card for guests to personalize and send to the survivors of Hurricane Sandy.

In keeping with the ‘Made in the USA’ theme of this event, we really liked what we saw from Louisiana-based accessories’ designer Barbara Conner, who expanded her beautifully designed line (gorgeous pearl and gemstone pieces for humans) to include alligator and cowhide dog collars (Swamp Dogs of LA) with a lot of personality.

It was also interesting to see how far Michelle Roy had come since we first encountered her at the old Silver Spoon events in the early 2000s. While she is still hand-crafting the bejewelled flower and butterfly hair clips that first made her popular with young LA fashionistas (hence, the name of her company, Social Butterflies LA), she, like Conner, has broadened her line with edgier, more dramatic pieces as well. Though Roy was generating a buzz for her new boutique in west Hollywood, the invention literally generating heat at the event was her Italian leather ‘coffee cuffs’ (above right), intended to replace less eco-friendly cardboard coffee–tea cup jackets. Roy describes the collection playfully as ‘50 shades of earl grey,’ which is apt as each one is as individual as the imbiber.

Dr Michelle Noonan, an up-and-coming radio and television personality, was there to demonstrate how she has literally bottled her knowledge with GCBX and Nextrim vitamin supplements (www.trygcbx.com; www.gonextrim.com) as well as a new skin care line. Another woman owned-company that got our attention was Cindi Nails, offering a base and top coat set that can be used with any favourite brand of nail polish. When used as directed, these products extend the life of manicures and pedicures, whether done at a salon or at home. It was also wonderful to see our Stephanie from Revitalash presenting the full rundown of the ever-evolving line along with the latest news about new and wonderful breakthrough products in the works.

Though some fashion-forward folks may look down their noses at sneakers and mukluks (such as Australia’s Ugg boots), the truth is, comfy shoes are not going anywhere, and creative people are simply going to find ways to make practicality cute. Hong Kong-based shoe company iiJin is doing just that, not only with a range of cool prints, colours and embellishments, but also platforms inside the shoes to add a few literal layers of fabulousness to the look without sacrificing comfort or support.

Before guests left for the day, they stopped by the Action Flipbooks, which takes the whole photo booth trend to a brand new level that is at once old-fashioned and high-tech. The station allows guests to make their own custom animated video flipbooks to take home. •

 





Celebrities on hand to take in the sounds, the delectable gourmet finger foods and Royal Red Velvet cupcakes, hand-made cocktails and the cool setting included matchmaker Patty Stanger, Becca Tobin (Glee), Chris Mann and Jamar Rogers (The Voice), girl group Blush, Aubrey O’Day, Backstreet Boys members Brian Littrell and Howie Dorough, 10-year-old DJ Babychino and legendary percussionist Sheila E.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Elyse Glickman is US west coast editor of Lucire. Elva Zevallos is a correspondent for Lucire.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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