The New York Times - November 10, 2005
Eric Wilson

The fund-raiser, produced by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, has been dormant for more than a decade. But it is being revived twofold this year, with an invitation-only physical store and gala coordinated by Ms. Wintour and an online version for the public. The online affair, an auction on eBay, begins today and continues through Dec. 7.

Among the items on Ms. Wintour's agenda was noting that Polo Ralph Lauren would be sending 20 employees to a warehouse in Secaucus, N.J., where the clothes are stored, to replace all the hangers with a more aesthetically pleasing style. Mr. Lauren's retail team was evidently channeling the spirit of Joan Crawford.

"The enormity of this is really extraordinary," Ms. Wintour said. "There have been more than 200 people working on this through at least 200 meetings, gathering $11 million worth of clothes from 350 donors. We have really had to hustle." (Fifty-seven fashion designers are listed as committee members for the event.)

About 40 percent of the donations will be available at tonight's gala for 400 guests at Skylight, an event space on Hudson Street. Its design pays homage to the film version of "The Chronicles of Narnia," opening next month. Guests will step through an oversize wardrobe - a reference to "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" - into a wintry landscape of white carpets, snow drifts, quince blossoms, icy tree branches cast in Lucite, bundles of white birch and a sleigh piled with designer clothes.

"There is a real sense of spectacle to it," said Charles Fagan, an executive vice president at Polo Ralph Lauren, adding that the expense of the undertaking was largely offset by donated services. That includes wooden hangers flocked with a white feltlike texture, so much better suited to the theme than those dull painted ones. "We have to create an environment that inspires people to shop," Mr. Fagan noted.

On eBay, the thousands of offerings are more straightforwardly presented: a Derek Lam chiffon dress once worn by Alicia Keys, a silk Carolina Herrera dress worn by Ren e Zellweger, a cashmere blanket from Marc Jacobs.

Ms. Wintour noted that it is important to revive interest in AIDS fund-raising in the fashion industry, which has turned its focus to issues like breast cancer and disaster relief. "AIDS faded somewhat from people's consciousness," she said. "It's great if we raise lots of money, but to me, raising awareness that AIDS continues to ravage many parts of the world is the most important thing."

Feathering the Nest

Peacocks simply cannot die fast enough.

Waiting lists for a hot handbag are fairly commonplace in luxury retailing, but at Bergdorf Goodman, waiting lists are now for the birds (peacocks, specifically). A few weeks ago, the store installed a boutique on its seventh floor recreating the unusual atmosphere of a Parisian boutique that specializes in taxidermy, and since then the stuffed birds have been, ahem, flying out the door. A peacock featured in Bergdorf's Christmas catalog is already back-ordered.

"We sold six peacocks in one week," said Robert Burke, the fashion director of Bergdorf. "But there is a waiting list because we have to wait for them to die of natural causes."

The creatures on display were imported from Deyrolle, the 174-year-old naturalist company that is famous on the Left Bank for its amusing and pristine displays of gazelles dressed in human attire, Chinese chickens and zebras standing at a dining room table. A seven-foot ostrich stands sentinel at the Bergdorf boutique, with a price tag of $10,000, while a gaggle of geese (about $2,595 each) are mounted on shelves next to a black swan ($4,495) and a rearing zebra ($26,500).

Each specimen is presented with paperwork documenting how it was obtained and directions for its care. An annual dousing of insecticide and gentle cleaning with white gasoline is recommended. If this seems like a tall order, consider the customer who asked for a giraffe, preferably one that expired at a young age to accommodate her low ceilings.

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