News
The San Diego Union Tribune
In Their Material World
August 2002
By Burl Stiff
“It’s so much fun to see all my fabrics,” explained Ingrid Hibben. “It’s wonderful! Everywhere I look I see my fabrics!”
Ingrid – widow of La Jolla tycoon Joe Hibben – was clearly delighted when she arrived at the 16th annual Golden Hanger Fashion Awards dinner the other night to see clothes made from materials she had donated to Fashion Careers of California College.
College president Patricia O’Connor explained: “Ingrid had a roomful of fabrics she’d been collecting for, I think, 20 years, and she donated it all to the college – to be used by student designers for the Golden Hanger shows.
Patricia co-chaired the Golden Hanger dinner, auction, and show at the Mission Valley Marriott with Janet Sutter, who won the college’s Lifetime Achievement Award last year.
This year’s winners included Anne Barrie, named San Diego Apparel Designer of the Year; Don Hansen of Hansen’s Surfboards, who got the Lifetime Achievement award; and philanthropist Ingrid Hibben, who was given the Special Award presented annually to the “individual who has had a major impact on the San Diego Community in a special way.
Jazzertogs by Jazzercise was declared Retailer of the Year; The Wheat Group, was named Accessories Company of the Year; Lissilaa Boutique was voted Progressive Retailer of the Year; the Weekend Exercise Company was the Fashion Company of the Year; and Walden Ashe Skin and Body Spa acquired the Beauty Company award.
The event was a benefit for San Diego’s Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Make-A-Wish children were featured in the fashion parade.
Celebrity models and the children with whom they appeared on the runway – dressed by student designers – were Jinah Kim, KSWB, with Adrianna Mericle, in designs by Lindsay Lane Fjelstad; Anita Bye, Neiman Marcus, with Victoria Valencia and Elizabeth Herring, in designs Veronica Freed; Kelly Krapf, XETV, with Alicia Luviano, in designs by Meme Postlewate; and Sally Sherry, KFMB, with Grace Padilla, in designs by Nikole Diane Koch.
Zandra Rhodes modeled with Carlie Partaine and Mikaela Partaine in designs by Kathleen Wise; Ingrid Hibben appeared with Emily Jo Warner and Savannah Gordish in designs by April Lowry; and Sandra Maas took the ramp with Taylor Carpenter and Aimee Auli in designs by Andrea Keene.
Some of the 800 guests in the crowd were Barbara ZoBell, Marilyn Dworkin, Robbi Kraft, Peggy Matthews, Mickey Gault, Leonard Simpson, Martha and George Gafford, Liz and Chris McCullah, Diana Cavagnaro, Lee and Dr. Peter Maturo, Diane Powers, and Daran and Ray Grimm with daughters Danica and Darah.
The fashion show was coordinated by Tanya McAnear, produced and choreographed by Jim Crawford.
How did the Hibben collection come about? It’s simple: She has a passion for fine fabrics, she sews, and she bought what she liked with every intention of making things.
“All the outfits were already in my head,” Ingrid said. She laughed and added: “But I’d have to live another hundred years in order to make them.”
