By Michele Leight
On December 5, 2006, a full-length black column dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in the film "Breakfast at Tiffany's" set a world auction record for a dress made for a movie when it sold at Christie's, South Kensington, London, for $932,738. The dress had a pre-sale estimate of $50,000-$70,000. The proceeds benefit the charity City of Joy Aid, founded in 1981 by Dominic Lapierre and his wife after they met with Mother Teresa in Calcutta.
City of Joy Aid focuses on the poor, especially children at risk in West Bengal, India, where Mother Teresa first began her humanitarian work by going into the Calcutta slums to serve the poor and founding her own order, The Missionaries of Charity, which now has homes in 100 countries.
The name of the charity derives from a book written by Dominic Lapierre, and a film of the same name, "City of Joy," which starred Patrick Swayze. The best-selling book tells the tale of a Western priest whose faith is restored in the slums of Calcutta. The book and film are available at amazon.com, or cityofjoyaid.org. Royalties of the book benefit City of Joy Aid.
The French haute couture designer Hubert de Givenchy personally donated the dress to City of Joy Aid in memory of his lifelong friend Audrey Hepburn, an immensely popular actress and a high profile Goodwill ambassador for the international children's charity UNICEF. Following her death in 1993 "The Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund" was established to continue her work.
It is amazing when a dress with a pre-sale estimate of $50,000-$70,000 sells for $932,738, even one as iconic as this. Dominic Lapierre said: "There are tears in my eyes. I am absolutely dumbfounded to believe that a piece of cloth which belonged to such a magical actress will now enable me to buy bricks and cement to put the most destitute children in the world into schools."
The classic black dress was one of three identical dresses made for the film, "Breakfast at Tiffany's," for which Givenchy designed all the outfits except for one pink dress that Hepburn wore in the scene when she learns of her brother Fred's death. (The pink dress recently sold at Christie's Film and Entertainment Memorabilia Auction review, May 30th, 2007 (see The City Review article).
Hepburn wore the iconic black dress in the famous opening sequence of the film when she emerged from a yellow checker cab on to a deserted Fifth Avenue in the early hours of the morning after a night of partying, and gazed longingly into the window of her favorite store, Tiffany's. She was eating her breakfast out of a brown paper bag. It does not get more "New York" than that.
Hepburn's portrayal of Holly Golightly made her internationally famous. A timeless classic, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" was adapted from Truman Capote's novel of the same name, (both available at www.amazon.com), and directed by Blake Edwards. Millions of women still dress like Holly Golightly, whose slender frame was the perfect foil for Givenchy's classically elegant, minimalist outfits, complemented by mesmerizing accessories like long cigarette holders and super-sized hats and "shades."
Hepburn was born in Belgium in 1929, the daughter of a British banker and a Dutch baroness. She was educated in England, and trained as a ballet dancer with Marie Rambert, who also trained the legendary Nijinski. In 1953 she won an Oscar for her performance in "Roman Holiday," a wonderfully romantic film co-starring Gregory Peck, the now iconic "Vespa" scooter, and one of the most stunning cities in the world, Rome.
Hepburn had the most joyful smile ever to grace the silver screen. She exuded optimism whether she was playing Eliza Doolittle, or the gamine Sabrina. 2006 was the 45th anniversary of "Breakfast at Tiffany's."
In West Bengal, India, the joy of Dominic Lapierre and his wife will translate into the reality of 15 educational centers, which will focus on teaching children English and providing vocational guidance so they become employable. The first new center will be built in a village about two hours from Calcutta. The school is to be equipped with computers and audio-visual equipment to teach children English who would otherwise not attend school.
Like so many children in poor nations, these children currently fall into the wrong hands due to their circumstances. They are solicited by local mafia gangs who use them to bring illegal alcohol at night onto the ships anchored on the banks of the Ganges. "City of Joy Aid" pays the same amount to their families as the criminals pay them - $1 a day - to keep the children in school.
In any situation where poverty decimates human dignity, it is always the children that are hardest hit because their vulnerability makes them an easy target of predators.
Since 1981 the Lapierres and their charity have brought hope and relief to the poor through a network of clinics, schools, rehabilitation centers and hospital boats that reach people in remote areas of the Sundarbans, which, as those those who watch international news reports know, are consistently prone to devastating flooding and terrible poverty. The Lapierres have thus far relied entirely on book royalties, personally absorbing all other expenses themselves.
City of Joy Aid does not have religious or political affiliations, and has contributed to the rescue of over 9,000 children suffering from leprosy and other diseases due to malnutrition and poverty. It has offered medical assistance to over 5 million patients suffering from tuberculosis, cholera, leprosy and other diseases that exist wherever there is poverty. It has suppressed tuberculosis in 1,200 villages and dug 541 tube wells for drinking water, and taught thousands of village women to read and write.
The flamboyant author, who once drove a Rolls Royce and led the high life, was so moved by the circumstances of these endangered children and families that he and his wife sold their St. Tropez house so they can continue with their commitments to the poor.
Even the optimistic Mr. Lapierre could never have imagined such high drama as occurred in the world's oldest auction house one cold December day in London when, with the clap of hammer, 15 new educational centers were destined to be born.
A fortuitous donation of a "made-for-the-movies" dress to a very special charity, a legendary auction house and a buyer connected at exactly the right time. And many young children - who have no clue who Audrey Hepburn is will benefit.
Wherever she is, Audrey Hepburn must be smiling that magnificent smile.
"Harvest of Innocence," a book by Michele Leight,