Hamptons Scene: Diana DiMenna, Heather Mnuchin, Alison Brokaw
Diana DiMenna, wife of Joseph DiMenna, fund manager at Zweig-DiMenna Associates LLC, tried on a $35,000 Dior mink coat dyed purple to an approving audience gathered in the Southampton, Long Island, living room of Simone and David Levinson, chairman and chief executive of L&L Holding Co.
Outside on the patio Debra Black, wife of Leon Black, the chairman and chief executive of Apollo Global Management LLC, told the president and CEO of Dior Inc., Pamela Baxter, about an imminent trip to Croatia and her work for the Melanoma Research Alliance.
“We fund in 11 countries,” said Black, who started the alliance with her husband.
Heather Mnuchin, a glass of rose in hand, said husband Steven Mnuchin, chairman of OneWest Bank Group, is loving their new home of Los Angeles after living in New York most of his life. “It’s like a rebirth,” she said.
And sitting in the sun on a white lounge chair, Alison Brokaw showed off her brand-new white BlackBerry.
“It has a touch screen and a keyboard,” said Brokaw, who is married to George Brokaw, a managing partner at Perry Partners.
Eventually there was business to attend to. Simone Levinson had arranged the gathering (and brought in Dior to present fall and pre-fall fashion to guests) to promote a new project, the Southampton Center of the Arts.
In remarks on her patio, Levinson explained that she is part of a group of private citizens working with the village of Southampton to develop the center.
‘Always Running Around’
Their vision is to turn the site that the Parrish Art Museum will soon vacate into a presenter of outdoor concerts and dances and indoor theater, cinema and other performing arts.
“I want this to happen because in the city I’m always running around,” Levinson said. “When I come out here I have the bandwidth to go see a show.”
Her past parties at the house, owned previously by designer Reed Krakoff, who helped her decorate, have all been birthday parties for her son. “This is the first time I’ve had an adult party here,” she said.
(Amanda Gordon is a writer and photographer for Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. Any opinions expressed are her own.)
To contact the writer on this story: Amanda Gordon in New York at agordon01@bloomberg.net or on Twitter at @amandagordon.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net.
Southampton Center of the Arts
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Diana DiMenna in a $35,000 Christian Dior mink coat.
Diana DiMenna in a $35,000 Christian Dior mink coat. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Southampton Center of the Arts
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Simone Levinson, a member of the Founders Committee of the Southampton Center of the Arts.
Simone Levinson, a member of the Founders Committee of the Southampton Center of the Arts. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Southampton Center of the Arts
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Pamela Baxter, president and CEO, Christian Dior Inc., and Debra Black, co-founder and chairman of Melanoma Research Alliance.
Pamela Baxter, president and CEO, Christian Dior Inc., and Debra Black, co-founder and chairman of Melanoma Research Alliance. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Southampton Center of the Arts
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Alison Brokaw.
Alison Brokaw. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Southampton Center of the Arts
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Erica Karsch and Nina Rennert Davidson.
Erica Karsch and Nina Rennert Davidson. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Southampton Center of the Arts
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Mark Epley, mayor of Southampton, New York, and Judith Giuliani.
Mark Epley, mayor of Southampton, New York, and Judith Giuliani. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Southampton Center of the Arts
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Guests and mannequins dressed in Dior filled the Levinsons's patio in Southampton.
Guests and mannequins dressed in Dior filled the Levinsons's patio in Southampton. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
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