“You empower women and families not to survive, but to thrive. And you pick the organizations that incite them to dream and give them the tools to make their dreams come true,” Salma Hayek Pinault told Vanity Fair at the fourth annual Kering Foundation Caring for Women Dinner on Thursday.
Francois-Henri Pinault, Salma Hayek PinaultRoy Rochlin
Hayek Pinault served as cohost for the annual event alongside Colman Domingo, Demi Moore, Jessica Chastain, Julianne Moore, Dolores Huerta, Jeff Koons, and her husband, François-Henri Pinault. Held at The Pool on Park Avenue, the event raised a record $4.5 million for organizations committed to ending gender-based violence and empowering women and girls globally. Some 200 guests from across creative disciplines gathered in the candlelit space where stars like Lenny Kravitz and keynote speaker Diane Von Furstenberg were spotted taking selfies. Baz Luhrmann could be seen adjusting the train of Lauren Sánchez’s dress as she entered the room with her husband, Jeff Bezos. Dakota Johnson, who turned heads in a sheer Gucci gown, took a seat next to Kirsten Dunst to chat, while other guests like Seth Meyers, Linda Evangelista, Adrien Brody, and Georgina Chapman made their way to their seats as the lights began to dim.
“It’s about creating a sense of community,” said Hayek Pinault. “Everybody is here to participate in trying to figure out better ways to grow together.” As she spoke on the importance of collaboration and empowerment, she spotted her fellow cohost and personal hero Dolores Huerta, the trailblazing labor activist and pioneer of the Chicano civil rights movement. As they embraced, Hayek Pinault became visibly emotional, wiping tears away as she expressed her admiration, taking out her phone to get a photo together.
Dinner guest and longtime women’s rights advocate Mariska Hargitay also became emotional when speaking on the matter, holding back tears as she cited the resilience of the human spirit in the fight for equality. “Progress looks like not giving up in a world where people are so beat down and so afraid right now, like a huge tank is coming to steamroll everyone,” she told Vanity Fair. “It’s so important not to be anesthetized and to be beaten down by fear and by everything that’s coming at us, and to keep the fight going.”
