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"  Felecia Webb, Ruben and Isabel Toledo Photo: Marion Curtis, Starpix It&amp;#039;s been a whirlwind week for Isabel and Ruben Toledo. After giving an hour-long talk at New York&amp;#039;s French Institute Alliance Fran\u00E7aise on Monday, they were honored last night for their longstanding support of DIFFA (Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS) at the fundraising organization&amp;#039;s Dining by Design dinner gala. The event was a gala like no other\u2014instead of a sea of uniform round tables, each table was a dining installation, designed and personalized by luminaries like Aerin Lauder or Ralph Lauren. Event co-chair Tracy Reese, for example, created an intimate setting surrounded by a blue trellis covered in monarch butterflies. &amp;quot;I just wanted to have an element of fantasy and lightheartedness,&amp;quot; she explained to us. The Toledos, who have worked with DIFFA since it was founded in 1984, recalled the table they created for the first-ever Dining by Design gala back in 1998. &amp;quot;It was done on a shoestring,&amp;quot; Ruben said. &amp;quot;We rented a table, and I painted on tablecloths and made placemats for people\u2026it was very low-key.&amp;quot; As for last night&amp;#039;s set-up, he said, &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s just amazing how the design industry pulls together to create this. It&amp;#039;s like a land of Oz in here.&amp;quot; So what does the busy duo have next on their plate? &amp;quot;This summer we&amp;#039;re headed to Pilchuck,&amp;quot; Isabel noted, while Ruben chimed in: &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s Dale Chihuly&amp;#039;s glass school\u2014we&amp;#039;re doing an artist-in-residence thing there for a month in the mountains of Seattle.&amp;quot; And next year, he added, &amp;quot;We have a big exhibition coming up at the Boston Museum of Fine Art. It&amp;#039;s my artwork and Isabel&amp;#039;s fashion work, colliding together. It won&amp;#039;t be a retrospective\u2014this is first time we&amp;#039;ll do an art installation.&amp;quot; Keep up to date with the latest fashion news.  Tracy Reese and Felecia Webb Photo: Marion Curits, Starpix "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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