Armani minus the Sticker Shock

Armani Exchange, which for 17 years has brought “Affordable Armani” (not an oxymoron) to South Beach, celebrated its facelift and expansion last week with a bit of fanfare. If you’ll recall, 17 years ago most of Lincoln Road was condemned by the city and Ocean Drive was a retirement community. Yet Armani Exchange set up shop to bring hip and stylish clothes to the pioneers of the SoBe we’ve come to know and love (most of the time). President & CEO Harlan Bratcher told the 411 “AIX was the first designer flagship store on South Beach, and Giorgio Armani was the first designer to offer a ‘diffusion line’ (that’s a fancy way to say cheap, chic designer duds). The average price for a designer piece is just $50, but it’s not a ‘one-time-wear.’ Affordable Armani is still Armani.” Other designers following in Armani’s footsteps by creating diffusion lines include Donna Karan, Oscar de la Renta and Marc Jacobs.

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Also on Saturday night, socialites, Nancy Malnik and Beau Beasley each celebrated birthdays with huge bashes. Anyone who’s been to a Malnik party or passed by their Palm Beach manse, knows they don’t tend to do things “small,” after all, Al Malnik had the late Michael Jackson at his 70th birthday bash and a team of synchronized swimmers and full orchestra at last year’s Make-a-Wish garden party. So it should come as no surprise that Nancy Malnik’s 80s themed party in Boca Raton was an over-the-top affair. Nicole Miller, Scottie Pippen, and Russell Simmons all showed up to jam to a performance by Tone Loc, of Wild Thing and Funky Cold Medina fame. The party boasted the requisite 80s party props: Rubik’s cubes, Ms. Pac Man, and break dancers. Even more thrilling than the seemingly endless array of food: filet, sushi, seafood… were the Thriller and Fame shows- quite the shindig indeed.

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year…Art Basel, the “Carnaval” of the art world. A time when we wish those experiments with human cloning had yielded positive results. It seems that the world’s largest and most important art show gets bigger every year, especially since in addition to Art Basel itself, Vanguard, Scope, Verge, Art Miami, Art Viceroy, Design Miami and countless other satellite fairs have set up camp all over town, not to mention the requisite parties being thrown nightly and club transplants from Paris and New York. This week, the 411 brings you South Beach locals and Art Basel insiders’ top picks of not-to-be missed events during this week- in which having fun (and surviving) is its own art form. Read the rest here »

Ride Eva, Ride…

Everyone’s favorite (not-so-desperate) “Housewife,” Eva Longoria Parker, alongside BFFs, J.R. and Loren Ridinger, joined forces with 20 other celebs, to chair the first Rally for Kids with Cancer Scavenger Cup in Miami to benefit the Jackson Memorial Foundation, International Kids Fund (IKF) and Holtz Children’s Hospital. Kind of like an Amazing Race on steroids, the Rally events began on Friday night, at the “Qualifiers” Celebrity Draft Party, at the Ridingers’ North Bay Road manse, where each driver drafted his/her Celebrity Navigator. J.R. Ridinger, whose Market America team raised the highest amount, over $125, 000, drafted Longoria Parker. After brunch on Saturday, Loren Ridinger waved the checkered flag to signal the start of the race, which would include a total of 7 pit stops throughout Miami. Each team was required to find and solve a clue in order to determine the location of the subsequent stop. The race was extremely competitive. Team Market America even set up a control center with computers where Loren helped find answers for trivia questions while J. R. and Longoria Parker figured out the pit stop locations. When asked about their favorite pit stops, J.R. and Longoria Parker conveyed to Miami Socialholic that their favorite was the comedy stop at Blue Martini, where they had to perform a timed, impromptu comedy act together. They said they were completely put on the spot but loved it, especially since they were the only team to receive a ten from each of the three judges. A close runner up involved a jet-ski race out on the ocean where they had to find a hidden flag on the buoy that held the clue to the next location. They won this stop also, beating the other teams by finding the flag in just 2 minutes and 66 seconds! The consensus among all team members was that the most touching pit stop was at Jackson Memorial’s Holtz Children’s Hospital, during which the contestants interacted with the children, who created paintings of each team.

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Necessity is the mother of invention, and creativity for that matter. In an age where charitable dollars are hard to come by, organizations are getting more and more creative when it comes to urging people to part with their contributions. Over the past couple of weeks lucky guests have been treated to a cruise to nowhere, brushes with celebrity and mystery dinners. This weekend packs in more excitement with a celebrity scavenger hunt, right in our own backyard.

 Just Sit Right back and you’ll hear a Tale… Read the rest here »

Imagine there’s a Heaven, it’s easy if you try

The Annual InterContinental Miami Make-A-Wish Ball brings a little taste of Heaven to those who need it most. At Saturday’s ball, where “Imagine” was the theme, the beautiful, 16 year old Marina Diez, gave a poignant speech, detailing the thrill of having her wish to go to Wimbledon fulfilled and explained what having a wish granted means to a sick child.

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