Alice + Olivia’s Stacey Bendet Mixed Business With Pleasure at the First of Her Female Empowerment Dinner Series

Alice + Olivia’s Stacey Bendet has always been a champion of women in the workplace, so it was a matter of time before she launched her dinner series on the matter. Dubbed F.E.D. (Female Empowerment Dinner), the inaugural meal was cohosted by Tracy Margolies, chief merchant of Saks Fifth Avenue, last night at L’Avenue at Saks.

Margolies was actually one of Bendet’s first endorsers when she launched her collection in 2002. “Tracy was my buyer at Bergdorf’s,” said Bendet. “I used to go into her office on Rollerblades with fabric swatches and two pairs of pants and I’d be like, ‘Here, which ones do you want?’ We’d sit and play with the swatches and that was her buy!”

It such female friendships that got Bendet thinking of ways to breathe new life into her Classics collection, and thus F.E.D. was born. “I was like we should launch a female empowerment dinner series where we just bring together women from our creative fashion world,” she said. “Every season we bring an amazing group of women to just be together, talk about our world, talk about work, and so we decided to do it tonight!”

And the ninth floor of Saks became just that. Two long tables were dotted with glowing lamps, and bouquets of gold roses to set the scene. As guests Nicky Hilton Rothschild, Jenny Mollen, Huma Abedin, Jill Kargman, and more took their seats, it became quite apparent we were in for a fun night.

Conversations flowed like the wine into our glasses, easy and without judgment. From politics to how to nurture a love of math and science in young girls, no subject was left untouched. Between the courses of artichoke salads and cheesecake desserts, Meghan Markle proved the favorite subject—the consensus of the dinner party guests being to respect a woman’s choice to go her own way, to put herself and her family first.

Along with the dinner series, Bendet’s Classic’s collection also made its debut. Looking around the room, each woman wore a piece—ultramodern looks which were chock-full of soothing tones of cashmere and silks. “I just turned everything upside down and decided to modernize a woman’s workwear, make it easy for her,” she said. “When you’re going to work in the morning, whether you have kids or not, you usually rush to get ready. And whether it’s a sweater with a slip skirt or a blazer over a dress, or a cool, chic suit, we just kind of did it in soft colors in a beautiful palette.” This writer sported Bendet’s midnight Wheaton shawl-collar wrap blazer that proved both comfy and chic.

Parting gifts included tiny boxes filled with flower buds for us to take home and grow on our own and a T-shirt from the Women’s Earth Alliance. Melinda Kramer, the founder of the organization, which provides worldwide support to women working to protect our planet, was also present at dinner.

Nell Diamond of Hill House Home, Rachelle Hruska MacPherson of Lingua Franca, and Claire Olshan of Fivestory could all be seen sporting the smart looks in one form or another. Truly a perfect harmony of conversation, clothes, and commitment to honor each other’s successes. Bendet spoke the truth: “I always feel like whenever I bring my friends, women together, cool things happen.” Whoever said you can’t mix business with pleasure?