Brunswick School Spring Fashion Show & Luncheon Celebrates "La Dolce Vita"

     (Greenwich, Conn. April 15, 2011) – It was a glorious day for “La Dolce Vita.” As more than 300 guests arrived at Brunswick School’s Burke Field House on King Street for the 58^th biennial spring fashion show and luncheon, they were greeted with Italian opera and a gymnasium revamped with soon-to-bloom pear trees and pots of blue hydrangea and ivy. Benefit co-chairs Michelle Binnie and Amy Dana were the first to stroll down the runway as they took the microphone to welcome the mothers and sons to an afternoon of spring fashion and fun.

            “Buongiorno! Ciao, bellas!” said Michelle Binnie. “Thank you for joining us and sharing in this wonderful Brunswick tradition.”

            “A million thanks to so many people who made today possible,” said Amy Dana. Special recognition was lauded to Saks Fifth Avenue Greenwich for the designer clothes and accessories for the mom models; to Thomas Dean Co., Lochlane and the Bonomo Family for dressing the men and boys in their Euro-Preppy style; to Hopscotch Salon for their hairstylists working backstage and to Saks of Greenwich makeup artists for putting the finishing touches on the moms. 

            “For transforming the space into the Italian piazza we dreamed about when we started planning the event, we thank Roberto Fernandez Landscaping,” Michelle Binnie added. “And to Ross Lodato at United House Wrecking, we give huge thanks for the borrowed sculptures, planters, and especially, for the fountain.”

            The co-chairs also gave a tip of the hat to the Brunswick Parents’ Association, to the team of parent volunteers—who organized everything from backstage coordination, catering, communications, floral and tabletop design, model selection and fittings, operations, photography, pre-party coordination, program ad sales and projection, publicity and printing, raffle prizes and ticket sales, reservations and seating, stage production—and, of course, to the Brunswick School juniors who served the magnificent pranzo (luncheon) by MaryBeth’s Caterers.

            “Thank you for all being here this afternoon,” said Headmaster Tom Philip. “Our spring fashion show and luncheon celebrates our extended community and the 109 years that Brunswick has been entrusted to prepare young boys for life.”  He acknowledged co-chairs Michelle Binnie and Amy Dana for their grace and leadership and for “orchestrating countless details and months of planning to make this appear to happen so effortlessly.”

            As Brunswick seniors and their mothers walked arm-in-arm down the runway in fine fashion, there was a sense of pride and nostalgia since the next big event is graduation in May.

            Proceeds from “La Dolce Vita” will support a new Brunswick initiative called the Foreign Language Immersion Program (FLIP). The endowment will enhance the Upper School Modern Language curriculum—which includes Arabic, Chinese, French, Greek, Italian, Latin and Spanish—by offering study abroad opportunities to every Upper School student, regardless of financial need, so that they can practice their language skills, live with host families, and further their understanding of the world.

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