waris at the pierre hotel in new york for his new book “to india with love”

natalie portman, waris whluwalia

james ivory page from the book to india with love

photographer karen collins, kimberley norcott

aslaug magnusdottir, president of house of waris with ucef hanjani

my favorite room at the pierre where salvador dali spend days chasing the mocked up clouds

author tina bhojwani, president and CEO of louis vuitton daniel lalonde, designer/author waris ahluwalia and author mortimer signer

since the crash of the economy it seems like we are all attending more parties rather than pulling late nighters. that, i assume, is the silver lining in all of this. the good news is that not all parties are just to wine-and-dine new yorks newest most-needy-class. this was waris’ week. this shindig, at the newly re-opened pierre hotel (owned previously by the 4 seasons group) had something substantial behind it, an effort to remind us of not only the beauty of india, but to support the victims of mumbai’s 2008 terrorist attack.

the book is filled with memories and photographs of contributors like silvia fendi, elizabeth hurley, natalie portman, owen wilson and the like from their past visits to india. owen wilsons photo taken by his mom was one that stood out for me. unfortunately the book, published by respected publisher assouline, was rather disappointing for its lack of attention to detail and their hack-saw compositions. the love put in by waris and the gang somehow did not translate into the assouline’s team. that said, i personally bought 2 books and highly recommend a copy as the proceeds will go directly to the victims of the attack. hard cover $49.95

contributors include: Adrien Brody, Kenneth Cole, Silvia Fendi, Diane von Furstenberg, Elizabeth Hurley, Evelyn Lauder, Natalie Portman, Rachel Roy, Owen Wilson, and Matthew Williamson, among others. to learn more mumbai: we got your back. by dd