Around Town: Jessica Biel Hosts Charity Water Ball
We were surprised that Adrian Grenier was not the host at this year’s Charity Water ball, given that the handsome Entourage star has been attached to the organization for years.
But then Jessica Biel sauntered in, gorgeous in Valentino (again—is there a relationship there?) to take over the hosting gig, and we forgot all about him.
“I’ve worked with a couple well projects with Charity Water in the past,” Biel said, explaining how she became involved with the gala. “My friend actually is one of the employees here, with the organization, and just mentioned it to me to see if I wanted to be a part of it, and I said yeah.”
Fashion Week regular Sophia Bush was in head-to-toe Chris Benz, including her wooden necklace and bracelets. “All of this is from his spring show, that I just loved, but the whole thing was inspired by my trip to Laos,” she said of how she selected her look for the evening.
“All of the white strings [on her wrist] are from a Baci ceremony that we had the evening before we left, and the people bind the Baci to your wrist and give you prayers and well-wishes for your life, and you’re not supposed to take them off. So I was, like, I’m not taking them off, so whatever I wear tonight has to coordinate with these!”
The One Tree Hill star had gone to the Asian country with Pencils of Promise, visiting villages where the organization has built schools.
Charity Water brings clean water to people in developing nations, and designer Nanette Lepore recalled a recent run-in—on open water—during a family trip to Italy this past summer.
“We were in Sicily, and we saw this island that looked really close, and we wanted to get there, so six of us got on a paddle boat, and we started sinking. We started sinking and we were laughing; it was pretty funny, and scary,” she said. The group, which included Lepore’s father and nephew, did make it to the island, and then they went for a swim. “And as soon as I got into the water, I got stung by a jellyfish,” she laughed.
Lepore added that being on a paddle boat off the coast of Sicily was less than chic, considering that they were surrounded by private yachts.
Greg Kwiat, of the diamond company, said they’ve designed a sterling silver and diamond bracelet, and all of the proceeds go to the charity. “Charity Water is a wonderful organization that we’re thrilled to be affiliated with,” Kwiat said.
Another thing Kwiat is thrilled about: the company designed Anne Hathaway’s platinum engagement ring. While Greg wouldn’t divulge details about the ring to protect the privacy of Kwiat clients, he did say that they worked with Hathaway’s fiancé Adam Shulman to design the ring. “Adam had a very strong sense of her style, so we designed a ring we knew she would love,” he said. “We’re working with them for the wedding bands as well.”
Tyler Perry served as auctioneer for the Charity Water ball, held at NYC’s Lexington Avenue Armory, and guests included Erin Fetherston, 90210’s Jessica Lowndes, Katie Lee and Fisher Stevens.