(Long Island, N.Y.) Fashionista and Lifestyle Guru Derek “Fabulous” Warburton hosted a glamorous evening and private VIP preview party on March 22, 2010 at the launch of their new boutique in Hell’s Kitchen.
Celebrities, New Yorkers and guests enjoyed an exclusive shopping experience viewing the Spring Previews sales and listening to the expert style advice from Celebrity Stylist Derek Warburton. The new location is at 9th Avenue between 49th and 50th streets. The celebrity red carpet event featured the documentary premiere of Derek Loves Housing Works a special newly created edition of his trendy fabulous online series that can be found on Derek’s website, DerekLovesShopping.com. Other celebrities that attended the Red Carpet Gala were Realty TV Stars Alex McCord and Ramona Singer.
Fabulous Derek’s motto in life is to “Help, Teach, Inspire, Love and Have Fun”, Derek takes us on a journey inside the medical facilities of the HIV/AIDS organization. This documentary was produced to convey to the world how Housing Works helps and interacts with the community giving their support and participation.
Cognac Wellerlane interviews various celebrities at the VIP preview party on March 22, 2010.
Housing Works mission is to provide homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS and their families with housing, meals, medical care, drug treatment, social support, employment opportunities and other lifesaving services.
Housing Works is especially committed to serving those who have difficulty obtaining services elsewhere because they struggle with mental illness or chemical dependency.
Through political advocacy, Housing Works and its clients fight to ensure that homeless and low-income people worldwide who are living with HIV/AIDS have access to adequate housing, meals, medical care, drug treatment, social support, employment opportunities and other services fundamental to health and happiness.
Housing Works’ housing programs do more than put roofs over our clients’ heads. They are an essential foundation for their clients to achieve mental health, physical health, and political empowerment as people living with HIV/AIDS. All Housing Works clients who live in their housing are linked to their comprehensive services, which include primary care, job training, nutritional counseling and meals, drug treatment, and HIV prevention education.
Housing Works currently operates four housing programs in three New York City boroughs that provide homes for 71 homeless New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS. In addition, they provide 68 units of housing that are colocated with their Adult Day Health Care centers.
Fashionista and Lifestyle Guru Derek Warburton has adored fashion his entire life. After starting to brand himself as fashion enthusiast in high school, by creating fashions for school projects, he relocated from New Hampshire to New York City to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology. Warburton styled and produced his first benefit, Fashion for Aids, a charity fashion show using vintage clothes to highlight the 1920s through the 1970s after graduating from college.
With his styling/production accomplishments and his fashion branding he decided to venture out exploring new possibilities and made Boston, Massachusetts his new home. Receiving tremendous publicity from being featured in publications such as the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald newspapers and acquiring the titles “It Boy” and “Boston’s Fashion, Beauty and Style Guru”, he began writing for fashion columns for “Stuff” and Platinum Magazines.
Derek has quickly become a TV and Internet Star traveling through Miami, London and Milan. His charm and unforgettable personality landed him co-hosting positions on “Britain’s Fashion Avenue”, “Big Boutique” on the Style Network, and as a fashion trend reporter for Fox News.
Derek continues to work on fashion editorials, co-styling Sean Paul for Interview Magazine and Beyonce for the House of Dereon Campaign. He also worked as fashion editor for Floridian magazines “Gulf Shore Life” and “Boca Raton”.
He now dedicates his time between New York and Miami for his flourishing fashion business. His latest creation is DerekLovesShopping.com.
DerekLovesShopping.com is a lifestyle destination that acts as a guide to “Help, Teach, Inspire, Love and Have Fun”! It features lifestyle topics, home DIY’s, beauty How To’s, street style and a quirky daily feature called “Budgalicious” which demonstrates to women of all ages how to shop on a budget, but still look fabulous! In addition, the site has also been the home of his popular web series called “Derek TV”, where he discovers the best shops worldwide and shares them with his fashion audience.
Derek currently is focusing on his “How to Be Derek Fabulous” workshop at the Bottomless Closet NYC, in which he teaches and inspires women who are in need how to get back into the work force. His work with the organization has received acclaim from The New York Times and The New York Examiner. In addition, he has an apparel and home line which is sold nationwide, and was recently named a “Lifestyle Guru” on behalf of Guru Nation.
Fashion Stylist James Aguiar also stopped by to chat with me at the event. In case you may not be aware
James Aguiar is best known as a host of the Emmy-nominated television series “Full Frontal Fashion,” the best known and most authoritative television program in fashion. As a sought-after media source of witty and to-the-point commentary on style and pop culture, James’ un-erring eye for all things vogue brings him to every major fashion capital in the world, such as New York, Paris, and London, as well as Miami and Los Angeles. His range as a fashion expert is extremely extensive and he has hosted “Behind The Label,” an in-depth portrait of the most influential designers in the industry, as well as “Where D’YA Get That?” where he bonds with the trendiest people on the street. He has been a regular on E! Entertainment’s Style Network since 2003 where he co-hosted “Style Court,” and is a recurring personality on the popular series “The Look for Less.” Other television appearances include Bravo’s ” The Fashion Show”, CBS’s “Early Show,” ABC’s “The View,” FOX’s “Good Day NY,” “Red Eye,” “The Montel Williams Show,” “Chelsea Lately,” “Style Star,” “Fashion Police,” “The Jane Pauley Show,” “Living It Up! With Ali & Jack,” “The Modern Girl’s Guide to Life,” “Life and Style” and “E! 40 Crimes Of Fashion.”
In print James has been quoted in “ELLE,” “Harper’s Bazaar,” “Vogue,” “Shape,” “Life & Style,” “Real Simple,” and ” TV Guide.” And he’s been featured in “The New York Times,” “New York Magazine,” “The New York Post,” “Quest,” “Genre,” and “Page Six.”
His latest projects are as host of the original web series “She got game” for WEtv.com and as fashion correspondent for tonic.com. James got his start in fashion as Fashion Director for the legendary Bergdorf Goodman.
Later that evening I chatted with Bravo Realty TV Star Alex McCord from “The Real Housewives of New York.”
Alex expressed how important it is to support and contribute to Housing Works. Alex McCord, the youngest of the cast is 36 and is married to Simon van Kempen, a hotel manager for the Chandler Boutique Hotel in Manhattan. She has two adorable children, Francois and Johan. While on the red carpet she enthusiastically mentioned that she and and her husband have written a tell all book book entitled, “Little Kids, Big City”, that will be in stores in April 2010. Alex is a former actress and model. She was a graphic designer for over nine years. In March 2009, Alex was laid off from her job in visual merchandising for Limited Brands/Victoria’s Secret. She is now consulting for Second Time Around, a luxury consignment chain. Alex was born in Washington, DC, raised in Kansas, TX and the US Virgin Islands, and has lived in New York City since 1996. She is a graduate of Northwestern University. She and van Kempen currently reside in the Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
You can also visit her and Simon at their website www.mccordvankempen.com
For more info on Housing Works please visit www.housingworks.org and for more info on Celebrity Stylist Derek Warburton please visit www.dereklovesshopping.com
