Go Ben!

“I thought the panel was excellent,” Marie Royce told Hollywood on the Potomac about the afternoon “Diplomacy by Design” panel at The Hay-Adams Hotel that brought together the diplomatic community and leaders in the American fashion industry for an engaging panel discussion to explore the role of fashion in international diplomacy. The panel, moderated by Robbie Myers, featured Robin Givhan, Fashion Critic, Washington Post; Steven Kolb, President and CEO, Council of Fashion Designers of America and Derek Lam, Designer, Derek Lam International followed by a reception at Blair House – the President’s guest house – hosted by Ambassador Peter Selfridge, Chief of Protocol of the United States and Robbie Myers, Editor-in-Chief of ELLE.

“One of the things that they were talking about was the main fashion centers in the world being New York, London, Milan & Paris, and how fashion is also an aspect of culture. Actually, this set of panelists talked about how they would like to see fashion more integrated and that a President would not only go out for a ball or a ball game, but also would attend Fashion Week because that’s so important to the people of the industry. That would really create an impact. They also talked about the importance of fashion that started with Benjamin Franklin and how he actually made an impact, too.”