It’s obvious: Diahann Carroll and Gregory Hines were having a great time. They were hosting the Fourth Annual Harveys Bristol Cream Tribute to the Black Designer, a black-tie affair in New York that honored both promising students and established fashion stars.
Lionel Hampton—“a man who never goes out of style,” Hines said—played the vibraphone. Carroll and Hines alternated in introducing selected winners, each of whom appeared on the stage with models, providing an explanation of their designs.
What you see here is the very end of the opening act, which included members of the Dance Theatre of Harlem. The photograph, taken by Don Hogan Charles, that ran with an article about the event, which took place in November 1981, showed the pair standing together in a slightly calmer pose, with the surroundings cropped out. This image seems to better capture what Helen Galland, president of Bonwit Teller, described after the event ended.
“It pushed the heartbeat up,” she said. “The enthusiasm, the clothes and the talent—they were all very special.”
—DAMIEN CAVE