NEW YORK — Andrew Rosen, Theory’s founder and president, and Frank Doroff, Bloomingdale’s senior executive vice president and general merchandise manager, were honored by Phoenix House on Wednesday for their support of the organization, which offers substance abuse education and treatment programs.
The Phoenix House Fashion Award Dinner, which was held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel here, raised more than $1 million to benefit the organization. Phoenix House offers more than 100 programs in nine states.
Fashion and retail executives who turned out included Bloomingdale’s chairman and ceo Michael Gould; Liz Claiborne’s chairman and ceo Paul Charron; Saks Fifth Avenue president and chief operating officer Andrew Jennings; Donna Karan International ceo Jeffry Aronsson; Burberry USA president Eugenia Ulasewicz; Mark Badgley and James Mischka; Ellen Tracy president Howard Rosenberger and vice president of design George Collins Sharp; Versace U.S. president Patrick Guadagno; Nicole Miller; Norma Kamali; Catherine Malandrino; Carmen Marc Valvo; Rebecca Taylor, and Alvin Valley.
Kenneth Cole introduced Rosen by saying, “I have been a friend of Andrew’s for a long time and realized this was going to be a big deal because he told me he was going to shave and…he left his BlackBerry at home. Like me, Andrew grew up in the fashion business, or at least he intends to.”
Rosen, accepting the honor, noted, “I have witnessed the havoc that addiction wreaks on a family, and the individuals who suffer from it. This is not something anyone can battle alone. And the Phoenix House assures us that we don’t have to.”
Doroff, possibly referring to the extra tables set up outside the main ballroom, accepted his award with a lighthearted apology. “We kept track of seats like we keep track of the inventory at Bloomingdale’s,” he said. “We were a little oversold.”
In a heart-wrenching acceptance speech, he recalled the death of his son, Josh. “Friday, March 17, 2000, was the worst day of my life — and I’ve had more than a few bad days,” he said, remembering the phone call he received from Hartford Hospital that day. “I thought to myself, ‘I hope Josh is OK, maybe he’s been in a car accident,’” he said. “How wrong I was. Josh and two of his friends had taken a fatal combination of drugs, celebrating after their midterms were over. His two friends survived, Josh wasn’t so lucky.
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“Phoenix House has the power to prevent those calls. Their methods work,” he added.