Duffy the Welsh singer/songwriter along with actress Hilary Swank were among the guests enjoying an evening of celebration in honor of Escada’s Creative Director, Damiano Biella at Saks Fifth Avenue’s New York City flagship store.
The party was hosted by queen of nightlife Amy Sacco to benefit the nonprofit Benefit Free Arts NYC.
Swank entered the 51st entrance of Saks wearing a white Escada coat. The actress glowed as she showed off her new hair cut.
Swank said that she attended the party because “I’m fan of Saks. I’m a fan of Damiano’s.”
Currently the actress calls Los Angeles home.
“It’s nice to be in New York with the foliage at its peak,” Swank said.
When the actress took off her coat, the photographers went nuts trying to get a golden shot of her in a green, one-strapped Escada dress. The dress’ bold design pleased the actress who admired its color and described the unique artistry as “kind of architectural.”
Damiano Biella, the king of Escada, regularly works with starlets. He recently designed Katherine Heigl’s famous red dress which she wore to the Oscars.
Biella describes the Grey’s Anatomy star as “so fresh and so unpretentious…an absolute treasure to work with.”
The Italian designer has been working in fashion for 17 years. Despite his star-studded list of clients, Biella still gets excited when he sees his clothes worn by women on the street.
His eyes beamed as he described seeing a woman earlier in the afternoon on Madison Avenue wearing Escada.
“Wow..I mean it gives meaning to what you do,” Biella said.
Though people were celebrating art and fashion, the economy was not far from people’s minds.
Sacco said that despite the bleak economic outlook, she knows that one commodity will still be in high demand.
“We will still be drinking,” Sacco said.
“People no matter how poor they are. They always find a way to buy a bottle of alcohol,” Sacco added.
Inside Saks New York City’s social elite were drinking champagne and white wine as Duffy performed on stage.
The soulful singer honored Damiano Biella by singing “Warwick Avenue,” his favorite song off her latest CD entitled Rockferry.
