Tuesday night, Kiehl’s honored artist Jeff Koons with a special holiday fete at which the East Village cosmetics store pledged a $225,000 donation to The Koons Family Institute, an initiative of the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children.
DJ’ing at the affair, at Kiehl’s flagship store at 13th St. and Third Ave., was nightlife impresario Paul Sevigny, whose skateboard Koons snazzed up with an original magic-marker drawing, above.
Sevigny recently became a partner at Don Hill’s rock club in Hudson Square, having previously operated the Beatrice Inn hot spot, which was a bit too hot for neighbors. Other V.I.P. guests included R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe, who sported some black “bling,” above right, actors Michael C. Hall and Kyle MacLachlan and a bevy of designers, photographers and models and at least one VJ. Kiehl’s skincare has partnered with Koons to design two limited-edition labels for its signature Crème de Corps collection. One hundred percent of Kiehl’s net profits from these labels, up to $225,000, will benefit The Koons Family Institute.
One of the most famous living artists, Koons’s work is showcased in the world’s most highly regarded museums. Less known is the story of his abducted child. Koons had a son, Ludwig, with his former wife, and they agreed to have joint custody. But she absconded to Italy with the boy, and Koons has battled unsuccessfully to get him back. The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children, founded in 1998, works to identify and coordinate a global network of organizations fighting child sexual exploitation and abduction. The Koons Family Institute, a resource of the I.C.M.E.C., combats child exploitation in all its forms, including child trafficking, child pornography and child abduction.
