InStyle
September, 1999

A 600-string Salute

Offering his classic guitars to charity, Eric Clapton teamed with Giorgio Armani for a fashionable rocking send-off...

Rarely has "you look wonderful tonight" so suited anything as it did the cadre that that recently gathered in Los Angeles for a dinner on Eric Clapton's behalf. The event, hosted by designer Giorgio Armani, the musician's good friend, served as a preview of 40 of the 100 guitars that ol' Slowhand had culled from his collection and earmarked for the auction block at Christie's in New York, the proceeds destined for charity. "Eric is an icon of rock and roll, and Giorgio is an icon of fashion," observed dinner guest Lauren Holly. "It's fitting that they're partnering up." As some 400 friends and supporters of both men poured through a candlelit entrance into the foyer of Quixote Studios, Armani, sporting a navy suit and T-shirt, greeted them with open arms. "I took my hat off when I met Giorgio, our of respect," said heartthrob-in-training Josh Hartnett (The Faculty) of his introduction to the designer, whose clothes he often wears. "He was like, 'Put it back on!'"

In another room, Robert De Niro, Linda Fiorentino, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver mingled, admiring the array of guitars. Many were vintage models made by Gibson and Fender, and most had been used by Clapton in concert or on recordings during his almost-four-decade career. "They're an eyeful!" said Jeff Goldblum. "I'm knocked out by them. They're so beautifully displayed. And to think what they've been through. You can almost feel the energy."

A buffet dinner and concert were then served up in a large studio appointed with numerous gray sofas and a stage, on which Jimmie Vaughan was cranking it up. "I'm so jealous of people who can play," said Robin Tunney in a creamy Armani dress. Eventually, the master himself performed a half-hour set of songs from his new CD, Eric Clapton: Blues. Blue certainly described Clapton's mood. "It's and emotional day...letting go of these guitars," he explained. "Putting them together, saying goodbye. And waiting to see whether they'll be gobbled up or ignored."

He needn't have worried. The sale two weeks later took in more than $5 million, the profits targeted for the Crossroads Center in Antigua, a drug-and-alcohol rehabilitation clinic founded by Clapton in 1997. Now, low did that song go? "If I could change the world..."-Jeffrey Epstein