Oscar de la Renta, Saks Fifth Avenue Partner to Mark Save Lake Tahoe’s 50th Anniversary

When models walked the runway at the League to Save Lake Tahoe’s fund-raiser in 1969, they were barefoot on a beach. “It was raw,” said Saks Fifth Avenue’s president Marc Metrick, of the original setting. “It was fashion at its core.” Held at a Rubicon Bay beach house on the lake, the function began as a collaboration between the late Bill Blass and Saks Fifth Avenue’s James J. Ludwig, a vice president and general manager of the retailer’s San Francisco branch at the time. Along with Eugene Levin, owner of Maurice Rentner (Blass was its designer), they took notice of Bay Area customers vacationing in Lake Tahoe for the summer and relocated their habitual fall presentation, usually held in August, to the Sierra Nevada area. “It moved from a fashion show with boxed lunches — literally, there were boxed picnic lunches — to an involved community event,” continued Metrick. What started as an intimate show has evolved into a significant production that has raised $1 million this year and a total of more than $18 million for programs dedicated to the protection and preservation of the Lake Tahoe Basin. The affair, which now showcases Oscar de la Renta designs, celebrates its 50th anniversary this weekend. “Oscar and

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