Elles by Gilles Bensimon at Sofitel

Photo © Gilles Bensimon

Following last year’s beautiful mini-exhibit of iconic Brigitte Bardot pictures, French luxury hotel Sofitel is bringing glamour and elegance back to the District with Elles by Gilles Bensimon. On display through mid-June are stunning black and white photographs, by former international creative director of Elle magazine Gilles Bensimon, of some of the most beautiful and fashionable women in the entertainment and fashion world. The gorgeous ladies are on display in the hotel’s restaurant – Ici Urban Bistro –  which I can only interpret as an added incentive to order from the Ici’s De-Light calorie conscious menu 😉

Charlize Theron, Cindy Crawford and Audrey Hepburn (among others) arrived in Washington, D.C. after a few months at the Sofitel in New York city. They will be on display in the District through July 10th, when they will head off to Chicago before settling in Beverly Hills (October through the end of the year).

I had a lot of fun toasting the arrival in Washington of “Elles by Gilles Bensimon” at Sofitel’s chic May 16th “pretty in pink” celebration. While Gilles Bensimon didn’t make the trip to snap our portraits (womp womp) we had a lot of fun with the photo booth and I, obviously, was a huge fan of the pink carpet and the garden of colourful macarons!

But on a more serious note, the exhibit launched in New York right around International Women’s Day and is part of the “Sofitel Celebrates Women” initiative. Accor, Sofitel’s (French) parent company, has committed to increase the number of women who manage their hotels worldwide to 35% by 2015.  A great goal, and a beautiful way to celebrate it, if you ask me.

Sofitel Washington DC Lafayette Square is located at 806 15th street, NW just a stone throw away from the White House. Visit Ici Urban Bistro’s website for menus and to book a table.