Award-winning costume designer Bob Mackie to be honored by Desert AIDS Project

(PALM SPRINGS, CA – July 27, 2009)

Anyone who has attended one of the annual Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards galas knows that the event already has its share of glamour and elegance. But the 2010 gala on February 27 will be sure to set a new standard when Bob Mackie will be honored with an Arts and Activism Award.

The man who said “A woman who wears my clothes is not afraid to be noticed,” has dressed entertainment icons for decades. His costumes for Barbra Streisand in Funny Lady earned him one of his three Oscar nominations. For 11 years, Bob Mackie produced dozens of costumes each week for Carol Burnett and the cast of her self-titled TV series. And who can forget Cher’s outrageous costume, complete with a huge feathered Mohawk headdress, at the 1986 Academy Awards where she deadpanned, “As you can see, I did receive my Academy booklet on how to dress like a serious actress.”

Mackie’s sparkling and imaginative costume designs set him apart from the crowd early on. Almost immediately after graduating design school, he was in high demand as an assistant to many of Hollywood’s top costume designers, including the legendary Edith Head. Earning three Academy Award nominations and nine Emmy Awards during his career thus far, Bob Mackie is a perpetual over-achiever and not likely to sit on his laurels.

As his costume design career progressed through the 60’s and 70’s, it was apparent that Mackie’s name had viability as a retail brand. It was time for his designs to find expression beyond the rarified world of movie and TV stars – Bob Mackie would soon be coming to a store near you!

The first Mackie ready-to-wear collection, debuting in 1982, was so successful that it quickly sparked the launch of his “Wearable Art” program on QVC-TV, his signature “Mackie” fragrance, and the introduction of the collectible Mackie Barbie® doll program. His fashion design skills were later translated, with resounding success, to the “Bob Mackie Home” collections of home furnishings and lighting. Simultaneously, Mackie maintained his ties with many of his former clients, continuing to dress them for stage and camera.

In 1999, the Bob Mackie Retrospective at The Museum at The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City coincided with the release of a lavishly illustrated book, Unmistakably Mackie. His Hollywood staying-power was recognized in 2002 when he became the only costume designer to be inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. In 2005, Otis College of Art & Design, Los Angeles’ oldest arts institute, awarded him an honorary doctorate degree, in recognition not only of his design accomplishments but also his 20 years of mentoring Otis students. The tdf/Irene Sharaff Lifetime Achievement Award for his theatrical costume career, followed in 2007. Most recently, Mackie was honored by The Hollywood Arts Council, becoming the first recipient of the Charlie Award for Fashion Arts. The Charlie Awards recognize contributions of merit to Hollywood and its many related arts.

But even while enjoying these professional triumphs and financial success, Mackie sadly suffered the loss of his son to AIDS. That’s why he decided, in 2005, to put his talent to work in a different way – with a charity auction of 150 separate lots from his personal archives of sketches, costumes, and couture outfits. After stops for viewing in London and Beverly Hills, the collection arrived in New York where the items were auctioned by Christie’s, with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

The Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards were named for a man who was well-known not only as a “designer’s designer” transforming the homes of the rich and famous but also as a volunteer and philanthropist who cared deeply for the cause of AIDS. When Bob Mackie receives his Arts and Activism Award on February 27 at the Palm Springs Convention Center, he will join past award recipients – like Carol Channing, Kristin Chenoweth, Judith Light, Liza Minnelli, and Bebe Neuwirth – that he might have well dressed for stage or screen.

But like Steve Chase, he will stand before all in attendance as more than an icon of design. He will be, simply, another man who came to understand the personal loss AIDS can bring to any of our lives and chose to do something about it.

To purchase tickets for the Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards, call 760-323-2118, ext. 266. All net proceeds from the gala will benefit Desert AIDS Project, the organization in our community where people living with HIV and AIDS can receive comprehensive support, including medical care, case management, and social services. D.A.P. also offers confidential HIV testing at a number of locations and widespread education and prevention services for schools, civic organizations, businesses, churches, and health organizations throughout the communities it serves.