MILAN —

WWD: Will it be featured in the magazine?
A.L.T.: Maybe in the future, not in the first one. Hopefully they will give it to us.
Numéro has a certain format I must adhere to, but I want to be culturally correct, electrifying the cultural theme, bringing in local personalities who are Russian and on an international scale. First thing I want to do is a big spread of American fashion, of designers in America who have stores in Russia. Where do you see a Russian magazine concentrating on American fashion, which is strong and valid, especially Oscar de la Renta and Ralph Lauren having stores here but also others that don’t have stores in a Russian setting?

WWD: How do you feel at this moment in life with what you’ve accomplished and looking at your new projects?
A.L.T.: It’s a very creative moment and I’m very proud of myself here. On Jan. 28 I was at Oxford, at the Union Club Debate Society. I got the invitation by mail and I thought it was a joke. I spoke about my life, my background, my humble beginnings in North Carolina, my book, my life with Andy Warhol, my life at Interview, my life at Studio 54, my life in Paris, with WWD, with Vogue, Anna Wintour, everything that I’ve done. I spoke to 200 students and it was so well received. I knew it would be, I was prepared, I’d done my homework, I was sure that I would be a hit but I was not sure I would be smash hit.
There is no fashion school at Oxford, it’s the mecca of education, there is no fashion school, students came from 39 different universities. It is one of the oldest places established…what in? [Asks his assistant at a computer, who says the university dates back to 1209.] Thank God Jeffrey is here with his computer, it’s just as in an American TV show.

WWD: Speaking of television, how do you feel in front of the camera? Do you feel comfortable?
A.L.T.: I always feel comfortable, basically in any situation except perhaps airports. I feel insecure because of the process. You never know how long they are going to let you stand with your shoes off, if they are going to throw away your most expensive cream because it’s 120 ml. as opposed to 100 ml., it always happens to me. I don’t know what to expect.
You can’t argue with them. I had been given a beautiful bottle of fragrance from L’Wren Scott, they made me go twice, tested the cologne, wrote down my name and that of the fragrance. It’s annoying.

WWD: Yes, and you are busy.
A.L.T.: Yes, I’m busy and I like to go fast.

 WWD: Do you continue to work with Vogue? This week we saw you sitting apart from that magazine’s team.
A.L.T.: Yes, I sit with Numéro, but I’m connected to Vogue, it’s my family and we remain great friends. Anna [Wintour] and I exchanged four e-mails this morning. I will  be doing digital — online “Mondays With André” which has already started, and I just wrote a post this morning about the Oscars.
About Vogue: I’ve been there for 30 years, it was a tough decision when I went to talk to Anna about this. I’m proud to say I’m going to be 64, I felt I needed more financial security as I go in my twilight age, a little bit more cash for mortgages and as I go into retirement. I took the job because I love Russia and the salary was something fabulous. Money isn’t everything but it is when you start thinking about putting money away for your retirement days.…Anna was very sympathetic and understood and she decided we remain on good terms and that I do the digital and the online. And I’m very happy to do it.
We just had dinner two nights ago here in the Veranda and will be having dinner in Paris.

WWD: In reference to the Oscars, what did you think of the ceremony and its fashion?
A.L.T.: Last night was one of the dullest, saddest moments of the history of the Oscars, and the red carpet was the dullest, saddest moment for many reasons. These women are so controlled by the uber-stylist that they are afraid of giving their own opinion on what they should wear and they all feel safe with a strapless dress with a train that is unnecessary. In the heyday of the Oscars, there were electric sparks flying. When Cher went in her fabulous Bob Mackie dress and her Mohawk, and Björk with her swan dress. Then we thought it was bad taste, now I think it should have been the best dress because she stood out. Strapless dresses make you want to turn the page. Luckily, I was supposed to go to the Oscars and do television and I chose to concentrate and come here for my new job.

WWD: Who would you have covered it for?
A.L.T.: For “ET.” Last year it was very successful, with the blessings of Anna and Vogue. I did the SAG Awards, the Grammys and the Oscars. This year I did only the Golden Globes. I had a rude awakening: These women have the privilege to wear the best clothes and jewels, but they don’t know how to walk  in them because they haven’t lived in these worlds.
At the SAG, it’s striking how these women…Amanda Seyfried. She wore Zac Posen, saying to the TV presenter: I chose it because it’s so intense and I knew it was intense but I hope I don’t win because I don’t want to stumble. She knew she wasn’t handling the dress properly.
Beautiful Jennifer Lawrence in her beautiful Dior dress and she deserved the best actress Oscar because she was fabulous in the movie. She is the new Ava Gardner, fabulous, and she fell off the steps [opens his eyes wide in disbelief]. She fell because she doesn’t  know how to wear big ballgown dress. She didn’t grow up wearing one, she is not expected to, but if you have the privilege to be nominated, it’s better to say please let it be light or have someone in your hotel suite to give you lessons on how to walk and control your look so that you feel at ease in your gown.
After seeing the SAG Awards, I decided I was not going because this is the place of empty gestures and only echoes a system where people want to feel safe. I’m not talking about Meryl Streep in her gold Lanvin dress when she won her Oscar last year. Her daughter told her to wear it. Lucy Liu looked incredible at the Golden Globes with her huge floral Carolina Herrera gown, wearing a ponytail. She stood out like a Fragonard painting. You have to  be original and confident and wear something that is unexpected, even if it’s a jumpsuit or a pantsuit, a smoking, dare to step out of the zeitgeist of the strapless uniform because it’s safe and you know you will not be criticized by tabloids.

WWD: What do you think of all the different media now and fashion journalism within the media?
A.L.T.: Fashion bloggers are overwhelming, really it is stifling, it used to be so because of the photographers, but now they leave you alone. Now you have to wade through a sea of bloggers, you don’t know where you end up. You have to be polite because you don’t know who they are. I don’t read blogs, except for those of the New York Times or WWD. But I’m happy people have this intimate relationship with people that have opinions.
Everyone is a fashion editor now only because you blog.

WWD: And how do you feel about that?
A.L.T.: Well, it’s incorrect to assume you can be a fashion editor because you blog, if you don’t have experience to look at fashion in a professional way.  I’ve been trained without going to fashion school, I’ve been in fashion all my life, starting with Andy Warhol. It’s a combination of decades of experience with the best people. Therefore, I know how to assess a fashion look, a dress, a collection, a celebrity, an event like the Oscars.
I don’t understand the world of the Internet. I just type up on my computer.
[Showing Jennifer Lawrence falling at the Oscars on his computer.] This will be on record forever. Take a lesson in Oscar dress etiquette like little debutantes who are taught how to serve tea or go to a dance. People need to be edited, life needs to be edited. I need to be edited.
Jennifer should have said, “Show me how to walk.” She is not the only one to have problems walking up the steps. She looked wonderful standing still. She is so beautiful and I’m not objecting to the dress. It’s divine. I’m sure she doesn’t care, it’s not important to her, but you don’t want to see yourself falling [at such a time].

WWD: In terms of designers, who do you think is influential now?
A.L.T.: Miuccia Prada, Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs. And Tom Ford.

WWD: What do you think of the obsession with celebrities? Is it healthy or positive for fashion?
A.L.T.: It depends on the season, it’s good when the movies are great. “Argo” is great and it has done wonders. I’ve never met a more polite, elegant and impeccable human being as Ben Affleck. He was back at the time with Jennifer Lopez and he is now. Success has not spoiled him. He’s like a new Cary Grant, but better. Celebrity is good, because it’s aspirational when you give young people [the idea] to become like Ben Affleck, to become a successful film director.

WWD: I meant, what do you think of people’s obsession with celebrities and what they are wearing?
A.L.T.: It’s always been that way, maybe it was a different formula. In the Thirties, people were obsessed with the Duchess of Windsor, a fashion icon through the pages of Vogue and Tatler. People have always been fascinated by people in the public eye and what they wear, what they are doing, but not in a tabloid way. Tabloid celebrities are a turnoff. A lot of celebrities…you wonder why they are celebrities. I name no names, I don’t want to offend…Beyoncé is an  incredible success, she is not a tabloid, she is a human being that has achieved extraordinary things. You want to read about her.
But I don’t want to read about a reality-show celebrity. Snooki and Honey Boo Boo. These are big celebrities in the U.S. You want to throw up. More people watched Honey Boo Boo’s show during the Republican and Democratic conventions last year [looking puzzled]. She is exhaustingly tacky. The fascination with that is not necessary. If you have a fascination with First Lady Michelle Obama and what she does, it’s another thing. There are no more Elizabeth Taylors, you could be fascinated by her, she lived so many lives, she lived far, she loved the jewels, she had gaudy taste but she had extraordinary talent.
They don’t influence fashion but people that watch what they are doing.
Fashion influentials today are Beyoncé, Rihanna, top models, I still think to this day Madonna, Nicki Minaj in a very strange way. First Lady Michelle Obama is a great fashion icon. These are positive role models. Particularly Michelle Obama and Beyoncé. I put them at the top.

WWD: Looking ahead, what are your upcoming projects?
A.L.T.: A book, coming out in April, from the catalogue of an exhibit of black dresses — contemporary not historical — in Savannah [last year], which was a big success. Rizzoli published the book. My biggest dream is for the show — which is going to travel to Paris in June and will be at the Mono Bismarck Foundation for three months, my biggest dream is that it will go to Russia and be at the Garage, the contemporary art gallery. I feel very proud of it.

NEW YORK —

First, she was surprised none of her friends had leaked word of the deal to her — and she no doubt has lots of friends who could have, since she was an executive at Martha Stewart for six years and eventually ascended to co-chief executive officer overseeing the company’s merchandising operations.

But Marino was also surprised, because she didn’t think Martha Stewart’s similar agreement with Macy’s Inc. — a deal she conceived of and helped negotiate and execute — would allow it.

That’s certainly the position of Macy’s, which sued Stewart last year, ultimately bringing the three parties to New York Supreme Court, where Marino, now group president at Li & Fung, was testifying.

Marino first started to talk about joining Martha Stewart when the home maven was serving a prison term for obstruction of justice. “My perception going in was that the business was going to be very challenged as a result of Martha’s incarceration,” Marino said.

Kmart — which sold Martha Stewart home goods at the time — was also going through a difficult transition under the guidance of hedge fund operator Edward S. Lampert, she said. “I believe that we needed to diversify the business because we had all of our eggs in one basket,” Marino said. And the company’s deal with Kmart wouldn’t let them take the brand to another discount player such as Target Corp. or Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

So Marino approached Macy’s. “I felt that we needed to take Martha Stewart upmarket,” she said.

The question of exclusivity came up frequently in Marino’s negotiations with Macy’s and was an important point for the department store. Marino said it was her goal that the Martha Stewart brand take over more of Macy’s home business and that she believed the brand would be aggressively promoted and advertised.

Macy’s has been accused in the case of not doing all it could to grow the Martha Stewart business.

Martha Stewart has maintained that it was within its rights to sign its deal with Penney’s because it’s setting up shops-in-shop with the chain. Under the agreement with Macy’s, Martha Stewart is permitted its own branded shops.

The trial continues today with Penney’s ceo Ron Johnson taking the stand.

The number of looks to be exhibited bears a certain significance: Rihanna has released seven albums in seven years, received seven Grammys and seven Billboard awards, graced the cover of Complex seven times — and then there was the infamous, globe-trotting 777 tour she went on to promote her album, “Unapologetic.” The outfits span from her stage to red-carpet looks and testify the chameleonlike qualities of her wardrobe, whether “really pulled together or grungy for performances,” said her stylist, Mel Ottenberg. Rihanna helped hand-pick the looks, which include custom pieces like the Adam Selman-designed pink lace minidress that she wore for the Victoria’s Secret fashion show last November.

The Rihanna for River Island collection, which ranges between $45 and $350, will only be available at River Island and Opening Ceremony locations, as well as online at openingceremony.us. The exhibition will be presented at Opening Ceremony’s New York flagship at 35 Howard Street, where it will remain for three weeks.

MILAN —

“It’s a fantastic brand with an international charm, and an incredible fame — there is a strong request for the label and room for it in the market,” said Massimo Ferretti, chairman of Italian apparel manufacturer Aeffe SpA, which tapped Puglisi in September to relaunch the top line. After previous unsuccessful attempts prior to Aeffe to rejuvenate the Ungaro brand, Ferretti said the turnaround starts with a clean slate.

“There were two seasons of gap, nothing was on the market, and there is no memory of previous efforts,” contended Ferretti. “It’s an international label with Italian roots, quality and know-how, and we will keep its historical headquarters in Paris.”

Ferretti noted that the target is to reach 250 stores in the first season.

The entrepreneur turned to Puglisi believing in his talent to reinterpret Ungaro’s style and spirit while renovating it as a contemporary and international brand, positioning it in the high-end range of the market. Couture is not in the cards at the moment, he said.

“When I asked Fausto to provide ideas, he came to me with a book of sketches, already projected into the future,” said Ferretti.

Puglisi hardly sits still at the Aeffe offices here, clearly brimming with energy. “I am super-excited; I love the Seventies and Ungaro, with [Gianni] Versace, [Thierry] Mugler and [Christian] Lacroix. It’s an aesthetic I’ve always found fascinating,” said Puglisi, who will continue to design his own namesake collection, launched in 2010.

While declining to reveal details about the fall collection, he conceded he has reworked iconic looks and Ungaro’s “polka dots, trenches and knits.” But retro is not part of his vocabulary. “The lineup is contemporary,” he said.

Asked to describe the collection, Puglisi said: “Woman, woman. Emanuel Ungaro was one of the few heterosexual designers. He loved women, and his looks were never vulgar; they were seductive while respectful of women. Sometimes today you see designs that are either for the untouchable nun or for a prostitute.”

Ferretti said he’d heard positive comments on the new course of the brand by its founder, Emanuel Ungaro. “First I have to prove my skills; I have huge respect for him,” said Puglisi of potentially communicating with the retired couturier.

While technically a license for the global production and distribution of the brand’s women’s clothing and accessories under the Emanuel Ungaro moniker, Ferretti defined the agreement as a “partnership” with Ungaro owner Asim Abdullah, a San Francisco-based high-tech entrepreneur, and his investment vehicle Aimz. Aeffe has the option to acquire a significant minority share of Ungaro’s capital stock on achieving shared goals, but not before 2020. The agreement will be active for seven years, with the option to renew for another seven.

PARIS — MAC Cosmetics is ratcheting up its international profile with an otherworldly flagship set to open on the tourist-clogged Champs-Elysées here on Tuesday.

And the Paris unit could be only the first of many as the brand plots an aggressive push overseas. Another five flagships could be in the offing, including units in Beijing, Shanghai, London, Rome and possibly Tokyo and Seoul, according to Karen Buglisi, global brand president of MAC Cosmetics. These will join two more Paris store openings before the end of the fiscal year in June 2014. In the Europe, Middle East and Africa region alone, 70 MAC stores were added this year.

“It has to be the right place, it has to have the right opportunity for business and the right opportunity for exposure,” Buglisi said.

James Gager, senior vice president and creative director of MAC, added, “And they will be very carefully designed, so it feels relevant to the market we are entering into — but still feels MAC.”

Like a Thunderdome of beauty, the Paris store has a soaring ceiling in an elliptical arch, a gleaming white floor — and makeup as far as the eye can see. Futuristic touches include a columnar LED display featuring colorful, amorphic forms gliding around, and highly reflective black glass panels.

“This will be a truly global store,” Fabrizio Freda, chief executive officer of the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., told WWD Thursday in one of the VIP areas on its second story. “My ambition is that this [location] will represent the concept of ‘global’ the way the Estée Lauder company sees it, which means just the opposite of standardization. It means inclusion, it means local relevance, which means making everyone feel that they can find the answer to their own fashion ambitions or simply trends, inspirations or products and services in that store.

“The essence of prestige [for us] is not only about selling products but selling an overall experience that adds value to the product,” he added.

The flagship’s location in one of world’s most visited cities is also pivotal, as the EMEA zone, comprising Europe, the Middle East and Africa, has become MAC’s largest market in revenues outside North America, supplanting the Asia-Pacific region.

Lauder executives declined to divulge sales projections or costs for the shop. However, Freda said it represents the most expensive freestanding-store real estate investment ever made by the entire Estée Lauder company.

Buglisi added that saleswise, “I think for sure it’s going to be in [MAC’s] top five, and ultimately it should be our number-one store.”

Industry sources estimate that the brand is shooting for a target of $10 million in revenues the first year, and $12 million in the second. The sources calculate that it cost $2.5 million to build the store.

Gager designed the 4,022-square-foot Paris location (with 1,800 square feet of selling space), which will be the third and largest flagship for the brand, following one on New York’s Time Square and another on the city’s Fifth Avenue. Each one is different.

Gager described the new boutique as looking like a “cathedral of light.”

“We’ve been in search of a location here for many years, but it had to be the right location, and the Champs-Elysées is an iconic street in the world, is a fashion street [with] 170 million visitors,” said Buglisi.

Here, 40 makeup artists hail from many different countries and speak 15 languages — including Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Turkish and Portuguese. The product range spans 1,200 stockkeeping units.

“So we have the shade for you, whether it’s a lipstick, whether it is an eye shadow, whether it’s a foundation,” said Buglisi.

The shop will have more than 40 makeup collections per year, which MAC executives liken to fast fashion.

Gager said lighting for the eight makeup stations is crucial. After senior MAC makeup artists tested the shop’s light, one traveled to Germany, where the lights were being sourced, to work with the manufacturer.

“It gets you the best makeup light possible, so when you’re having your makeup done you look pretty much the same when you leave the store; I think the worst thing for a woman to do is to have her makeup done in light and she thinks she looks amazing but then she looks outside and her friend says, ‘You look horrible,’” said Gager. “That won’t happen here because it’s very balanced light.”

“Delivering the right experience to the consumer has so much to do with how makeup plays in light,” continued Buglisi.

To help with product navigation, Gager conceived small panels hanging from the walls with succinct product information.

“I think that navigation is really, really critical [for] a modern consumer that has many different kinds of moods during the day and is also very busy. [The panels allow] you to have a pre-information or pre-knowledge of products,” he said.

The VIP areas (there’s a second, more luxurious nook downstairs, used as a private makeup room) are unique to the Paris flagship.

Gager added the location would be used for events, like hosting guest DJs or an after-hours party for an emerging designer.

Like the two New York flagships, the MAC Champs-Elysées store will frequently customize windows.

“It is [one of our ways of] getting someone interested in our brand — enticing them and seducing them so they want to see what our product offering is, so it will always keep it fresh and exciting for anybody who is passing by,” said Gager. “They are almost one-offs.”

A first for MAC in France is a lash bar, allowing women to hold a little translucent wand with eyelashes stuck on to see how they look before making a purchase.

In wall niches sit look books with drawings of faces with various color cosmetics, so people can browse different styles. Empty pages allow for the store’s makeup artists to include their own sketches.

Accessories, which are often an impulse buy, are located near the cash registers.

The new location is just a stone’s throw from the Sephora Paris flagship, also on the Champs-Elysées, where MAC is carried, as well.

“There is still a lot of opportunity for building the awareness of the brand, to make the brand known and appreciated,” said Freda. “When people get to know [MAC], they love it. So the fact that we opened a freestanding store does not mean that we will sell less in the other stores or in the other points of sales which are in the city; just the opposite. It means they will sell much more everywhere.”

In a MAC first, for the shop’s opening a limited-edition run of 600 lipsticks in an especially created color and a sleeve saying “MAC Champs-Elysées” were made. These will be handed out with a tote bag to the first 600 people entering the Paris location on opening day.

“I would say everything about this store is unique,” said Buglisi.

MAC is forging ahead with its expansion in Europe, where its business has been growing by double digits and doubled over the last five years, according to Buglisi.

“We have a very aggressive expansion plan for this region,” said Buglisi.

That’s despite the fact Europe currently has a weakening cosmetics market.

“But [it] remains the biggest prestige cosmetics market of the world,” said Freda. “So for us as a company it is very important to continue growing in Europe, even in a period of slight market decline, and to gain market share. We are growing in Europe. Last year, MAC grew more than 20 percent in this declining market.”

He said in France, the Estée Lauder Cos. is growing 8 percent in a market that is down 1 percent.

“So we are building significant market share, and MAC is one of the brands which is driving this success most aggressively and this strategy will continue,” said Freda.

NEW YORK — Jane Pratt’s new digital platform XoVain covers beauty in a way that’s very, well, Jane Pratt.

Rather than traditional beauty coverage, Pratt wants to take a more realistic approach, taking on real beauty issues and providing readers with an easy way to shop the products featured in posts.

Today’s launch of the Say Media-owned digital property solely dedicated to beauty comes after the introduction of almost two-year-old XoJane, Pratt’s first online venture. For XoJane, which just surpassed two million uniques a month, beauty was the top performing category on the site (where stories could sometimes receive 1,000 comments).

Maybelline is the official launch sponsor of XoVain, which will see a revenue model that consists of advertising and a percentage of proceeds from embedded shoppable items in stories. Pratt said readers don’t have to leave the site to purchase product. The site will also contain some sponsored content, and Pratt plans to partner with additional brands going forward.

“We’re covering beauty in the context of your entire life, not just how to get a look,” Pratt said in her office here, rattling off the kinds of topics XoVain might tackle. These include: how to look like you haven’t been on a flight for 12 hours when you’ve been on a flight for 12 hours, or what to do when you’ve been out partying until 4 a.m. and have a meeting at 7 a.m.

“Everything isn’t epic. [Sometimes it will be something like] ‘It looks like I shoot up but it’s eczema,’” Pratt added.

The images are personal but a little more polished and produced than those on XoJane, but for Pratt, it’s about getting to know “this cast of characters” who are writing and “going through someone’s life with them.”

The site has a beauty director and senior beauty editor, as well as crossover with staff from XoJane, including managing editor Corynne Cirilli and executive editor Emily McComb. There are also about seven regular contributors who will help produce about seven posts daily.

Pratt will speak about the new venture at SXSW in Austin, Tex., on March 12 and wants to bring a touch of reality to beauty coverage. “Beauty doesn’t have to be that serious,” she said, noting that the site will not use “experts” or quote “people with Ph.D.’s” to comment on issues. “Someone who has had skin problems their whole life is an expert on the issue.”

Barkley L. Hendricks has his own distinct sense of dress. On a recent mucky day, the artist is in a gloomy monochromatic ensemble: black loafers, black jeans, black vest over a black oxford, and a black handkerchief wrapped around his neck, accentuating his fuzzy salt-and-pepper goatee. His accessories have a little more quirk: a leather fedora, a trio of chunky gold chain bracelets and a toothpick tucked discreetly behind his ear.

He’s milling about “Hearts Hands Eyes Mind,” his new exhibition on display until April 6 at Jack Shainman Gallery in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. Its stark white walls are punctuated by the brightly hued paintings and graphic photographs on which Hendricks has built his more-than-40-year career. He first gained notoriety in the Sixties and Seventies for his portraits, which often depict full-figured, African-American subjects whose distinct sense of style were reflective of the urban street culture then on the rise.

“Fashion is a situation we all find ourselves in every day, when we wake up and have to put on clothes,” Hendricks says.

Both Peter Som and Derek Lam have cited him as a source of inspiration for recent collections. “There’s a statement we all make with clothes and it’s a contribution to the culture that surrounds us.”

When it’s time to pose for his own portrait, he puts his hand in his pocket, stares down the lens and doesn’t move a muscle. It’s that unshakable sense of confidence to which Hendricks is drawn. His one requirement when selecting a subject? “Attitude.”

Lately, Hendricks’ fascination with street style has led him to a focus on footwear. He admits to having procured thousands of heels over the years to accessorize his subjects. “I don’t wear them though,” he stipulates. “Do you see her shoes?” he asks, motioning to a piece, “Triple Portrait: World Conqueror.” In the painting, a brassy Latina woman is sucking down the last bits of a cigarette, wearing a pair of white slingbacks with Marilyn Monroe’s visage emblazoned on them.

“You know that Marilyn Monroe quote right?” Hendricks asks before illuminating. “‘Give a woman the right pair of shoes and she can conquer the world.’”

Dovetailing with the women’s empowerment theme, guests were treated to an extended trailer of the short film “The Supreme Price,” a documentary by Joanna Lipper about her friend, Nigerian activist Hafsat Abiola. The film was the recipient of the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund’s Spotlighting Women Documentary Award and will premiere at film festivals and in theaters this year before running on PBS.

The event was hosted by Pat Mitchell and Salma Hayek Pinault, a cofounder of Chime for Change along with Frida Giannini and Beyoncé Knowles. “Not to be disrespectful to my fellow actors, but so many are using their fame to bring ‘awareness.’ But it’s time to actually do something,” said Hayek Pinault to the room, which included Jada Pinkett Smith, Jodie Foster, Guy Oseary, producer Jesse Dylan, Desirée Rogers, Annie Philbin, One Kings Lane founder Ali Pincus, One Campaign founder Jamie Drummond and David Carey.

“They drop that bomb in your lap and then go on to bring awareness to their next film. But there are no innocent bystanders in the information age. We need to use the tools available to us today to turn awareness into action,” she said, referring to Catapult and how it enables users to find charities and projects to donate their money and skills to, and the way Facebook enables people to start movements in the virtual world that can transform into tangible events. “Everyone get on their smartphone and like Chime for Change on Facebook. This is a pretty popular room, and I know Guy Oseary must have like 10,000 friends and Jodie Foster must have 50 million Twitter followers.”

The campaign will utilize a film platform, executive produced by Hayek Pinault, which comprises 10 shorts, the first being “The Supreme Price,” to set the narrative for its initiatives. Mariane Pearl will be managing editor of the campaign’s journalism platform, curating stories from around the world. There will be a major concert this summer, about which details are still under wraps.

Afterward, Foster said, “That was inspiring. I need to go lie on my bed and think about it all.” Pinkett Smith, who has been a vocal activist against the trafficking of women, told Hayek Pinault, “We’re chiming. This is a great day because an extension of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and the Violence Against Women Act passed today in Congress so it shows that our hard work pays off.” “I’m inspired by you both,” Abiola told them. “I knew you could do a lot because you memorize all those movie lines, but this is amazing.” “Please, we are thankful to have someone like you here,” Hayek Pinault told her. “We’re tiny, but don’t let that fool you.”