Ethiopian Supermodel Liya Kebede honors Shaft

Gotham Hall in Manhattan on Tuesday night was all about glam and diversity as model Liya Kebede, Russell Simmons, Isabel Toledo, and Bruce Weber accepted awards from The Gordon Parks Foundation. “Gordon Parks was my man! He was my hero!” said Russell Simmons before sitting down to join an audience that included Anna Wintour (dressed in shimmering gold), Ralph Lauren (with wife Ricky and son David in tow), and designer Zac Posen. “Gordon Parks comes from the tradition of photographers who look so carefully at the people who wander the streets,” said rocker Patti Smith. “He made me see the human being a little differently. You’re in the subway and all of a sudden you see people’s ruminations, sorrows, and the whole tableau of human emotions.” Smith recounted how when she first came to New York, her first stop was Café Reggio’s because she recognized it from the soundtrack to Parks’ seminal blaxploitation film “Shaft”. “’Shaft’ was mind-blowing,” said Kebede, who saw the film as a kid growing up in Ethiopia.


The evening was more sneakers and suits than Shaft-like cool, except for the striking emcee, Andre Leon Talley. The Vogue editor-at-large was dressed in a massive black Isabel Toledo caftan coupled with an oversized gold Roger Vivier necklace and diamente buckle shoes (talk about bringing on the bling). Manhattan awards galas are notorious for being of epic length, but last night’s ceremony galloped along at a perfect pace, with Bruce Weber’s funky documentary “Liberty City Is Like Paris To Me” — which portrayed joyous Floridian street scenes during this past January’s inauguration — the meandering exception. Best that Bruce, swaying backstage to the music of his documentary, stick to photographing labs and naked young men.

Parks (a renaissance man who was a photographer, cinematographer, musician, poet, novelist, journalist, activist, and film director) was lauded throughout the evening for his ground-breaking role as an African-American artiste and for his non-Avedon-esque, un-staged fashion photography. “He’s an inspiration to me,” said hot young fashion designer Chris Benz, “because there’s a nice electricity showing that things aren’t so perfect.” But perhaps the most touching moment in an otherwise serious evening was when artist Ruben Toledo toasted his wife, designer Isabel Toledo. After praising Parks for his “soulful glamour,” Toledo couldn’t help but note “and my wife makes the best Cuban black beans in the world.”