On Wednesday, at the Top of the Standard, former Ford Models CEO Katie Ford brought out Helena Christensen, Michael Stipe, her ex-husband Andre Balazs, Liev Schreiber and Selma Blair for a benefit for Free the Slaves, which helps to liberate the 27 million enslaved around the world.
"Can you believe it's so many people?" asked Ms. Ford, who was exposed to the issue when she went to a discussion about it three years ago at the U.N. "I thought slavery didn't exist anymore. I could never believe that it existed in the first place."
"Has Oprah done a special on this?" asked the photographer Todd Eberle. "I don't know," responded the fashion designer Nicole Miller.
"I just read something about this a month ago," added Mr. Schreiber, who is currently training for the hockey film "Goon."
A high-spirited auction took place where Mr. Balazs purchased a Steven Klein photograph and Ms. Miller took home French Culinary Institute cooking lessons to support the cause.
Ms. Christensen, who will be traveling to Nepal for Oxfam next year, arrived post-auction because she was out of a babysitter for the evening. "This whole thing really freaks me out because of how many girls and places it happens in. Even in my own home city, Copenhagen, it happens," she said.
