'Tis the season for gift-giving, and also the time to give back, as New Yorkers like Zac Posen, Rachel Roy, and Tinsley Mortimer know all too well. As members of the Friends Committee of New Yorkers for Children, they helped wrap 1,200 presents for children in foster care at the non-profit's ninth annual "Wrap to Rap" event, held this year at the Ainsworth.
The guests included the group's board of directors and the Young Friends, among them Zani Gugelmann, Nicole Esposito, Annelise Peterson, Euan Rellie, Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos, Marisa Brown, and Susan Magazine. The handful of absentees were down at Art Basel -- as I have mentioned before, NYFC is a high-profile yet dedicated group of people who don't merely lend their name to the charity. They walk the walk and, yes... Wrap to Rap.
As for the "rap" portion of the late-afternoon get-together, DJ D-Nice spun the tunes -- Nicki Minaj and Rihanna interspersed with holiday classics. Oh, and "Like a Prayer," because when will a Madonna song not be a crowd pleaser? The wrap/rap-happy group was joined, as is tradition, by over 100 teens in foster care, and they in turn learned the importance of volunteerism and giving back to their communities.
I also learned the art of gift-wrapping is one that I have never quite mastered, and I was especially rusty this time around. (I have no doubt that, by the 26th, I will have honed my skills completely). Ms. Mortimer, who was at the same table as me, was a literal wrapping machine: She perfectly packaged five gifts in the time it would take me to finish one. And I could have used some bows to cover the slight imperfections of my final products. Alas, there were none to be found, but Zac Posen had the ingenious idea of creating bows out of the wrapping paper. But I suppose that it is why he is one of our most celebrated designers and creative talents... and I merely buy his clothes because they're pretty.
I asked Mr. Posen how he spent his Thanksgiving, and he said: "working." On his pre-fall collection, specifically. That's pre-fall 2012, folks. Seriously, where does the time go? I might as well wish my readers a Happy New Year right now, because as soon as we blink once, 2011 will be history.