“It is rare to find an individual as beautiful on the outside as she is within. Deborah Alessi is that individual, and won’t rest until Face Forward puts the brakes on domestic violence.”, says one journalist.

Dr. David Alessi M.D. said, “Deborah and I are humbled by the continuous and growing support for our annual philanthropic event. Our wish is to draw attention to the atrocity of the worldwide problems of domestic violence and human trafficking. Face Forward’s annual gala fundraising efforts enable us to help even more victims in their journey to achieve both physical and emotional healing and recovery. This year has been exceptional for us with amazing patients and exciting new partnerships which will help us raise awareness and funds to help even more survivors. We have $750,000 worth of surgeries done in 2015 alone… My wife coordinates getting women from all over the world here and helps provides those along with housing and recovery. She’s amazing.”

Nelly, Shantel Jackson, Deborah Alessi, Dr. David Alessi

The epic event featured a red carpet, silent auctions, live auctions, a cigar lounge, VR viewing of Etihad Airlines short film with Nicole Kidman, dinner by Top Chef Master Neal Fraser and a special performance by Grammy winning rapper Nelly. The charity fundraiser’s goal is to raise more than $500,000 in 2016. Event Sponsors Include: Roberto Cavalli, Etihad Airways, Alessi Institute, Torrey Pines Bank and Per Aquum Niyama Maldives.

Nelly came to perform for the night and support long time girl friend Shantel Jackson, who is a survivor/advocate honoree of the night. He said:“I have daughters and I wouldn’t want them to go through this. I hope I have raised both my sons and daughters to know how to treat people of the opposite sex, and know what healthy relationships look like. It’s up to my generation and the ones that follow, to take a stand against domestic violence and inspire change.”

Do you know 1/3 of women in the world have experienced sexual, physical, emotional or other abuse in their lifetime? Over five million women a year are affected by domestic violence in the United States. You might think you will never be anywhere near a situation like this. But with the ever popular narcissistic personality disorder nowadays, abuse won’t be just physical, but takes the form of an emotional abuse. It can be quite invisible yet still very devastating. Without awareness, you can be well falling the traps without knowing till it is too late. In one story, a Swedish instrument player student studying at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music was able to use underhanded yet diabolic manipulation to totally devastate his victims without much obvious signs of emotional abuse while attempting to make his victims think it is their fault.

The gala event recognized all star athlete and NBA head coach Byron Scott as one of the evening’s celebrity athlete honorees for his philanthropic work and his pledge to help recruit athletes to learn and spread the word about domestic violence. Byron’s speech is highly motivational: “This is a very important charity. I think finally people are starting to speak out about domestic violence and it’s about time.”

As you can see, even the famous and rich can’t be exempt from such violence. Hollywood Singer/songwriter La Toya Jackson shared her heartbreaking story and advice at last year’s Face Forward Gala:”It’s so important to get out while you can. I thought I couldn’t get out and this is what people don’t realize or understand, abuse… it doesn’t differentiate. It doesn’t matter if your black, white, green or blue. It also doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor. A lot of people think, ‘How could I go through this? You are well off.’ But they don’t understand it doesn’t work that way. People might think you’re fine and doing okay but behind closed doors it’s a very different story. Eventually you have to let others know in an effort to help other people and let them know that this does exist and this is real. People really need to know what truly goes on in these relationships. No one knows how in-depth this is. Everyone has a story but at the end of the day it’s the same story.”

Honorees Shantel Jackson and Former NBA player/coach Byron Scott gave inspirational speeches to the audience

The high caliber event was a great success. The night reached its highest as Nelly performed 5 songs including “Country Grammar,” “Hot in Here,” and a special performance of a lovely song “Dilemma,” where he was joined on stage by girlfriend Miss Jackson.

We are supporters and advocates of domestic violence causes. In any event, you should stand up and speak out for yourself if you are a victim. If you’d like to come forward and help the cause in general, please feel free to reach out to us. Face Forward is an outstanding organization and to learn more about Face Forward, visit FaceForwardLA.org.

Los Angeles’ Otis College presented 2015 Creative Awards to three well respected honorees at the black tie gala:

Carlos Alberini; chairman of the Board and CEO of Lucky Brand jeans -

Trina Turk; founder and fashion designer of her own clothing brand –

and Gary Schoenfeld; president and CEO of Pacsun.

My favorite design was from the Sea Collection by Jessica Choi, winner of this fashion show.  She was mentored by Bob Mackie, who is known for his success in the disparate fields of theater and fashion. Many of the pieces in the Sea Collection have characteristics of the costumes Mackie had designed years ago.

Designer Bob Mackie –

Obviously if you think about water you think about beach or sea and then you would think of swim suits, crochet, breezy, flowy outfits. The whole collection had elements of this year’s spring and summer fashion trends such as; long silhouettes that tied at the waist, ballerina effect, sultry sheer, feathers and fringe, hippie, and romantic lace. The colors featured in the fashion show followed the season’s color trend of cooler and softer color choices with more subtle warm tones following a minimalistic theme.

This piece from the collection is particularly intriguing to me, it is the perfect imitation of a jelly fish. The dress has a high-low asymmetrical silhouette to it almost seems like how jellyfishes look when they are moving their bodies up and down under the water. I really love how this dress has tie dye towards the bottom like how jellyfishes usually have a darker color at the bottom but in this case it’s lighter at the bottom. Another good imitation of a jellyfish element is the transparency of jellyfishes, you see that where the one-shoulder part connects to the dress is mesh to show the see-thoroughness:

This dress, I believe, is another imitation of a jellyfish but a very different kind. As you can see the color is a lot brighter compared to the other dress. You see a lot of tie dye all over the dress, another difference is how the dress is pouffed, the pouf starts from the waist and it goes all the way to the calf, it’s a bigger jellyfish compared to the other dress. I really like how the model was accessorized, the two blue flaps above the ear seems to symbolize some sort of fins:

Another imitation of a sea creature is this piece; very obvious, this is a lionfish. The first image that came to my mind when I saw this dress was a starfish lying at the bottom of the ocean sand. The starfish is very evident on this dress, and the sand part to me is the mesh against the skin. The reason why I thought of the bottom of the ocean because how dark the skirt of this dress is, usually the deeper you go underwater the darker the blue of the ocean seems:

This feathery skirts and feathery coats were inspired by Mackie’s Fall 2001 “Foreign Intrigue” collection:

This gown has the characteristics of many of the season trends. The elegant tulle ballerina-inspired dress in this dusty pale rose color with feathers hung delicately from the slit to the bottom gives me a luxury bohemian feel. One other trend I didn’t mention before was the one-shoulder cuts, believe it or not, shoulders have become the sexiest part of our body this year:

Another really great piece from Jessica’s collection is also a ballerina-inspired style dress with long tutu-like skirt with long silhouette tied at the waist, also one of this season’s popular trends, in a beautiful subtle mustard color with emerald green and lustrous lavender at the bottom of the skirt. The long obi belt is considered to be one of spring’s most flattering trends inspired by the flowy kimono look:

This coral themed dress featured the tutu-like feathery skirt with a sultry sheer high neck top. This scandalous sheer fabric look is seen in many designs at the New York Fashion Week of this spring, such as Ralph Lauren, Delpozo, Rodarte, and Vera Wang:

As you all know, Trina Turk, has a knack for colors and patterns. The pieces mentored by her are inspired by architectures. You see a lot of the colors used in her Resort collection used in the pieces, such as, orange, neon pink, and electric violet:

The Otis fashion show has inspired me with its water themed fashion designs this year. It is very motivational to see students being mentored by industry designers such as Zaid Affas, Joe McCarty for Lane Bryant, Liliana Casabal for Morgane Le Fay, Trina Turk, and Bob Mackie, lingerie designer Mary Jo Bruno, in-house designers from Urban Outfitters, Isobella & Chloe childrenswear, Anne Cole swimwear, Quiksilver, DC and Roxy, and PacSun! In 2014, Los Angeles’ Otis College raised $1 Million with designer-mentored student fashion show for the scholarship fund.

Charlize Theron and Sean Penn 

Avatar Director James Cameron, keynote address on his philosophy of activism for worthy causes

Halle Berry appears with a vintage Versace dress and Harry Winston Jewelry

Ne-Yo live performance. Hey it is Ne-Yo again!

Paris Hilton DJ-ing. So happy to see Paris again!

Paris Hilton’s gown by Haus of Milani

Silent Auction to raise money for nonprofit causes

Celebrity supporters included Lisa Vanderpump, Ronda Rousey (UFC), Bo Roberts (300: Rise of an Empire), Jessica Burciaga (Supermodel), Edyta Sliwinska (Dancing with the Stars), Max Ryan (Sex and the City) Sofia Milos (CSI) and more, who attended to support and raise awareness for IceLink’s new 3 month charity links campaign where they will donate 10% of proceeds from each yellow, green, red, pink & turquoise bracelets to the Special Needs Network, which are the charity colors.  The bracelets are available at  Macys.com, the IceLink Boutique Online Shop & Worldwide retailers.

IceLink Owner’s Andy & Suzy Sogoyan with Star of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Lisa Vanderpump, Ken Todd and Giggy! 

I personally want to dedicate a post to Icelink’s #TheLinkParty also because of Lisa Vanderpump. Recently I watched Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and really liked Lisa Vanderpump’s classy and mature personality. When seeing her at the Icelink party, I don’t really know anything about her other than being a reality show star. I always believed in the philosophy that a lady should be classy, even nowadays the influence of Hollywood could be diverting from this value. Lisa inspires me to continue being who I am rather than following the crowd and norm. She still has the European manner and etiquette system with her, Something I personally experienced at a ball in Europe last month.

Lisa Vanderpump wears her Pink IceLink 6timezone and bicycle bracelet to #thelinkparty at the IceLink Boutique

UFC Champion Ronda Rousey Attends #TheLinkParty wearing her IceLink6Timezone watch    

Icelink sponsor Forgiato customizes a client’s Bentley with IceLink 6Timezone Clock

 Icelink Bicycle Link Bracelet

So I went to The Guild of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles’ annual Accessories for Success Spring Luncheon and Kyle by Arlene fashion show yesterday at the Beverly Hills Hotel as it seems fit into the category of fashion and charity. For 59 years, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles, one of the largest youth mentoring organizations in the country, has served children and families facing adversity by providing one-to-one youth mentoring services and ongoing support. Founded in 1985, the Guild is dedicated to promoting awareness and raising financial support for For Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles.

Now let’s take a look at the It Girls I interviewed at the event and their spring style picks.

Five-time Emmy Award-winning actress Heather Tom will emcee for the luncheon and she is in lovely Kate Spade colors -

Honoree Lee Phillip Bell, Co-Creator of Emmy award-winning daily dramas , “The Young and the Restless”, “The Bold and the Beautiful”, and Emmy Award-winning Host of “The Lee Phillip Show”, also went with spring color by wearing St John pastel blue suite -

If you are wearing black/white, add a colored clutch -

The informal fashion show features Kyle by Alene Too, a premier luxury women’s boutique in Beverly Hills with a partnership between The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards and upscale fashion retailer Alene Too owner Lizzy Schwartz.

Kyle by Alene Too models -

For a formal fashion & celebrity event like this, I picked a leopard halter dress, with a pair of wood colored heels to match. To add even more high fashion & spring accent, and avoid looking like a boring piece of wood, I decided to boldly use a purple babydoll styled trench coat to contrast -

 Frowning my eyes because of the bright sun