STORY BY ERIN CARLSON | PRODUCTION & STYLE BY NATASHA CHALENKO | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JERAMIE CAMPBELL Here at the Nob Hill Gazette, we’re ringing in 2017 with our annual A-List of all the names we dropped during the past year. We invited a few of the glitterati to be photographed for the issue, and you’ve probably seen them around: There’s Willie Brown and the ever-fashionable Sonya Molodetskaya! Plus: Dede Wilsey! Riccardo Benavides! Karen Caldwell! Each donned designer get-ups from favorites like Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana and Oscar de la Renta. No A-List would be complete without this crew. “I’d be profoundly disappoint- “I think when people see you ed if my name was not there,” said smiling, having fun —that’s the most Brown, who arrived to the shoot important thing in life,” she said. dressed to slay in a Kiton tuxedo “Life's not easy, as we all know. and Christian Louboutin formal There are moments. There are ups wear slippers. “I’d be devastated! and downs. But if you can go some- Because by comparison, I observe where and dress up, have a smile on the wearing apparel of many of the your face, feel good, that’s a moment other males of San Francisco—and that gives you pleasure.” there’s not a whole lot of people who And perhaps, some love from dress the way the guys dress in New the A-List. York, or the way the guys dress in More-than-honorable mentions Paris or the way, apparently, every in this list's 26th edition: Pamala Italian including Italian farmers and Ted Deikel; Vanessa Getty; dress. The Italians really go into it.” Carolyn Chang; Joel Goodrich; Continues our former mayor, OJ Shansby; Stanlee Gatti; Sen- who hops from event to event, ator Dianne Feinstein; Lillian changing outfits no more than three Phan; Charlotte Shultz; Patricia times daily, “The difference between Sprincin; Ken Fulk; Gavin New- the A-List, the B-List and the C-List som and Jennifer Siebel Newsom; is the consistency, no matter what Marissa Mayer; Komal Shah; the occasion.” Robert Mailer Anderson; Farah You might think it’s about mon- Makras; Andre Leon Talley; Jon- ey and power and whom you know. ny Moseley; Jane Seymour; Mark But it’s how you wear it. Style is dem- Rhoades; Claudia Ross; Marc DEDE WILSEY ocratic. Style gets you noticed. Style Benioff; John Berggruen; Giselle The charismatic can make you famous. If you want to Perry; Malin Giddings; Emily socialite and stand apart from the pack, and make Holt; Sobia Shaikh; Leah Garchik; philanthropist glitters our events pages with any regular- Tatum Getty; Jerome Molles; Su- in Valentino while ity, you must do two things: 1) Get san Wojcicki; Carolyn Chandler; society photographer up off the couch and go somewhere! Charlot Malin; Todd Traina; Jack Drew Altizer snaps her Preferably to a social function bene- Calhoun; Nancy Bechtle; So- photo-within-a-photo. fiting a philanthropic cause! And 2) phie Azouaou; Arlene Inch; Yuri Asked to name her most Cultivate a look, and stick with it. As Pascarella; Sloan Barnett; Justin A-List moment, Wilsey Willie Brown emphasized: Consis- Fichelson and Gregg Lynn. answers, “When I walk tency is key. Last but never least Lois into my front door and Effervescent and bubbly as pink Lehrman garnered a grand total my dogs greet me.” champagne, Caldwell—a designer of 14 name-drops in this magazine, known for her vintage-inspired ranking her right up there among dresses—lit up the Julia Mor- the same Who’s Who whom she gan Ballroom with laughter the covered for decades as Gazette WILLIE BROWN moment she arrived toting her publisher emerita. The erstwhile SF mayor, a fixture on the social and philanthropic blush-colored, gold-embroidered Scroll through this page to locate scene, looks dapper in a Kiton tuxedo and his Christian Louboutin Oscar gown. your name, and if you can’t find it, slippers. “It’s always fun to show the bottom of your shoes,” says What’s her secret? remember: There’s always next year. Brown, referencing Louboutin's famous red soles. 22 JANUARY 2017 | NOB HILL GAZETTE NOB HILL GAZETTE | JANUARY 2017 23 SONYA MOLODETSKAYA The social swan and companion of Willie Brown is both glamorous and down-to- earth. Molodetskaya, sporting Dolce & Gabbana, has launched her own label, Major Obsessions, filled with the fun, flirty looks for which she's known. “You've got to have personality,” she muses. TheFashion on the- redList carpet photo credits Production & Style: Natasha Chalenko Photography: Jeramie Campbell Grooming:ᄁ Rocky Owens (Blink Eyebows & Cosmetics) Location: Julia Morgan Ballroom Props & Catering: Merchants Exchange Productions Special thanks to Drew Altizer photography for an appearance as the paparrazzi on page 23. Also see Drew's trips for better party photos on page 28 RICCARDO BENAVIDES The in-demand event planner, who recently styled a lavish party at the KAREN CALDWELL SF Opera, suits up in Isaia with shoes The clothing designer and life of the party channels Grace by the Mayer Shoe Co. "People say I Kelly in a regal Oscar de la Renta gown. Caldwell's most outdo myself ... but the women outdo A-List-y moments: “When I hold hands with my husband and themselves," says Benavides. "Some of take a walk with him. And also when I hug my kids.” the dresses were phenomenal." 24 JANUARY 2017 | NOB HILL GAZETTE NOB HILL GAZETTE | JANUARY 2017 25 Sara Abbasi • Victoria Abril • Kristina Academia • Lana Adair • Amy Adams • Edie Adams • Michel Adams • Jeremy Affeldt • Kendal Agins • Alyssa Aguilar • Christina Aguilera • John Ainsworth • Kathy Aizawa • Afsaneh Akhtari • Rami Al-Ali • Wynne Aldana • Nate Aldred • Kermit Alexander • Susan Alexander • Helene Alexopulos • Angela Alioto • Mario Alioto • Suzanna Allen • Renzo Alonza • Lauren Alsberg • Drew Altizer • Joseph Altuzarra • Katie Amoroso • Jan Anacker • Paige Ariana Anderson • Anne Anderson • Jeff Anderson • Wes Anderson • Robert Mailer Anderson • Adeline Andre • Jose Andres • Adolphus Andrews • Rt. Rev. Marc Andrus • Marie Antoinette • Yacine Aoudi • Ivy Archer Winters • Max Armour • Navid Armstrong • Frances Arnautou • Terjer Arnesen • Robert Arnold-Kraft • Myrna Aronoff • Stuart Aronoff • Patricia Arquette • Laura Arrilaga-Andreesen • Elena Arzak • Becky Ascher • Elaine Asher • Mohammed Ashi • Michael Ashman • Ambassador Venkatesan Ashok • Usha Ashok • Fred Astaire • Susan Atherton • Robert Atkinson • John Atwater • Helina Au • Jenna Azcarate • Sophie Azouaou • Ray Azoulay • Pamela Babey • Larry Baer • Pam Baer • Michelle Baggett • Robin Baggett • Colin Bailey • Diane Baker • Rosemary Baker • John Bakewell • Kimberly Bakkar • Marie Baldesseri • Renato Balducci • Armen Bali • Melissa Barber • Patrick Barber • Bruce Barden • Todd Barket • Barbara Barkley • Virginia Barlage • John Barle • Caroline Barlerin • Donna Barlett • Amii Barnard • Lauren Barnes • Roger Barnett • Sloan Barnett • Lila Barnett • Thomas Barrett • Maria Barrios • Keith Barry • Ted Bartlett • Lt. Washington Bartlett • Wilkes Bashford • Cori Bates • Regina Bates • Tony Bates • Kathleen Battle • Mauro Battochi • Juan Bautista de Anza • Shannon Bavaro • Andy Baxter • Ashley Baxter • Cheryl Baxter • Robert Beadle • Stephen Beal • Nancy Bechtle • Joachim Bechtle • Rod Beck • Victoria Beckham • Yves Behar • Jamie Behrendt • Jennifer Beiderbeck • Juliet Belkin • Lia Belli • Keith Belling • David Bellings • Lauren Bellings • Gordon Bellis • Charles Bello • Monica Bellucci • Riccardo Benavides • Susan Benedetto • Richard Benefield • Neal Benezra • Lynne Benioff • Marc Benioff • Tony Bennett • Paula Bennett • Lauren Bensinger • Pierre Berge • John Berggruen • Juliet Bergh • Dan Bernal • Belinda Berry • Heide Betz • Beyonce • Jennifer Biederbeck • Adam Arthur Bier • Rachel Bier Lem • Buffalo Bill • Kimberly Bini • Nicole Bini • Aaron Binnings • Arrian Binnings • Sejal Binnings • Michael Birch • Xochi Birch • Brandy Birch • Julia Birdsong • Robert Birgeneau • Elizabeth Birka White • Janet Bishop • Athena Blackburn • Timothy Blackburn • Klea Blackhurst • Cate Blanchett • Derek Blasberg • Stephen Bley • Richard Blum • Eileen Blum-Bourgade • Sylvia Blumenfeld • Andrea Bocelli • Veronica Bocellie • Fiona Bock • Sharmin Bock • Zach Bogue • Jean-Charles Boisset • Brian Boitano • Eliza Bolen • Alex Bolen • Lindsay Bolton • Elisa Bond • Barry Bonds • Dennis Bonney • Carol Bonnie • Bono • Jay Bordelau • Gwyneth Borden • Chris Borg • Kate Bosworth • Mario Botta • Massimo Bottura • Kais Bouzidi • Frances Bowes • David Bowie • Jamie Bowles • Lily Bowles • Philip Bowles • Rachael Bowman • Romana Bracco • Betty Brachman • Mark Bradford • Robert Bradford • Barbara Taylor Bradford • Wayne Brady • Jennifer Brandenburg • William S. Brandenburg • Miriam Brenner • Robert Brenner • Daniel Brewbaker • Aubrey Brewster • Jordana Brewstwer • Charles Breyer • Tom Briody • Sam Brock • Phil Bronstein • Barbara Brookins-Schneider • Rada Brooks • Renel Brooks-Moon • Willie Brown • Barbara Brown • Gov. Jerry Brown • Kathan Brown • Derick Brown • Gibbs Brown • Susan Brown • Victoire Reynal Brown • Eliza Brown • Arthur Brown Jr. • Jeffrey Brunetti • Carla Bruni • James Buchanan • Lawrence David Buck • Ron Buckammer • Alex Buehlmann • Mark Buell • Sabrina Buell • Susie Buell • Jimmy Buffet • Gianni Bulgari • Madison Bumgarner • Tory Burch • Frances Buren • Sid Burger • Daniel Burnham • Ellen Burstyn • Richard Burton • Peter Buxtun • Orkut Buyukkokten • Marilyn Cabak • Michael Cabak • Alexandra Caban • Allison Caccoma • Herb Caen • Anne Caen • Nicholas Cage • James Cagney • Elena Calabrese • Karen Caldwell • Rebecca Skye Caldwell • Patricia Calfee • Jack Calhoun • Barbara