Leonard Lauder (Estée Lauder's son and Chairman Emeritus) brought his "traveling companion" international actress, model and brand ambassador Elizabeth Hurley to town just for the occasion. Lauder was just a delight and held the crowd rapt with the story about how his mother came to Dallas in 1950 to pitch her new line to Neiman Marcus.
Seems the cosmetics buyer foisted her off onto an assistant buyer. Undeterred by the snub, Estée marched the assistant buyer into the ladies room and gave her a facial and applied her make-up. "She emerged.. glamorous! And if you had seen her before, she was not so glamorous," chuckled Lauder. 64 years later, the love affair between the two companies is still strong.
Jim Gold, President and Chief Merchandising Officer of Neiman Marcus Group, presented some Texas-themed gifts to the esteemed visitors: Hurley received a bouquet of yellow roses and Lauder a cowboy hat which gleefully donned. Lauder proclaimed Dallas women to be amongst the most beautiful in the world. "Look to your left, look to your right and you'll see what I mean," he mused. Hey, he'll get no argument from me!
