Pictured above from left to right:  Mira Sorvino, Andie MacDowell, Jessica Lange, Milla Jovovich, Lauren Hutton, Marcia Cross, Eva Longoria, Lutz Bethge (CEO of Montblanc International), Emily Blunt, Helen Hunt, Sienna Miller, Susan Sarandon and Christina Ricci.

Style Seen Daily  attended the “Montblanc Signature For Good Gala Benefitting UNICEF” held at the Los Angeles Paramount Lot during Oscar 2009 weekend.  

It almost felt like the Oscars itself, as a slew of A listers dressed to impress came out to support this major charity initiative for worldwide literacy.   We talked one on one with all the stars present, and have an exclusive photo of Reese Witherspoon (who donated $50,000 to the charity!).  

Style Seen Daily gives you an exclusive look inside the Montblanc & UNICEF charity event with host Reese Witherspoon.

The ‘Montblanc Signature for Good’ activity is one of Montblanc’s major charity initiatives in 2009. Their kick-off event unveiled 12 portraits of Internationally known actresses Emily Blunt, Marcia Cross, Andie MacDowell, Helen Hunt, Lauren Hutton, Milla Jovovich, Jessica Lange, Eva Longoria, Sienna Miller, Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon, and Mira Sorvino.  These portraits are currently up for auction to raise money for UNICEF’s effort to combat illiteracy.  Every single actress came out to the event to show their support.  

Andie MacDowell told us directly her thoughts on the portraits:  ”It’s a really glamorous way to bring attention to a very important need about education for countries all over the world.  I have been very blessed, I have a great life, I have wonderful opportunities and I don’t take it for granted.  I like doing charity work and I think eventually I will end up just doing that.”

MacDowell was not shy about revealing her true thoughts on why she thinks her photo turned out so great, “Well I’m 50 years old and it’s kind of a stupid thing to say but the lighting was really really good.  Great hair and make up, they made me look so beautiful!”

Sienna Miller also enjoyed participating in the project and said to us:  ”It was not like a normal photo shoot because it was not just posing. They gave us characters from novels.  I was Natasha from Warner and I loved it because I had a role to get into which is easy because I’m an actress and it made it easier for me.  I’m not very good at just standing there and posing. It was fun we had such a good time.”

And Eva Longoria shared to us: “When they asked me to do it I thought why not?! It’s only 2 hours out of my day to do a photo shoot and it will help millions of kid all over the world.”

The 12 portraits unveiled at the Montblanc & UNICEF event.

Guests arrived dressed in old Hollywood glamour, and we watched as the lovely Dita von Teese took the carpet wearing a silk chiffon Christian Lacroix gown, from the 2008 collection, the long draped skintone dress had a copper bow, pink ombre train, matching clutch and Dita had a Montblanc bow necklace.

Dita von Teese.

Supporter Lucy Liu wore a white Giambattista sheath dress with a wool cape and a taupe clutch. 

Lucy Liu.

Marcia Cross arrived wearing a Elie Saab lilac sparkling gown with cap sleeves, floral details, an empire waist and a Swarovski clutch.

Marcia Cross.

Following these ladies came Christina Ricci who wore a sweet LBD from Monique Lhuillier. Along with her ruffled dress, she had tan Christian Louboutin heels and a black satin clutch.  (The majority of shoes walking the red carpet were Christian Louboutins!) 

Christina Ricci.

Our last three favorite looks inlcuded Helen Hunt in a black Dolce and Gabbana satin dress with matching pumps…

Helen Hunt.

 Eva Longoira’s chocolate brown Reem Acra dress….

Eva Longoria.

and Sienna Miller’s flowing multi colored Ungaro gown… (it was also Slumdog Millionaire Star Anil Kapoor’s favorite as well and he was so struck that he asked us for a personal introduction and ofcourse we were happy to make that connection)

Sienna Miller.

Inside the event, Montblanc, SIGNATURE INTERNATIONAL and UNICEF unveiled the images shot by American photographer Roger Moenks where each actress portrayed a heroine from one of literature’s timeless classics, including Scarlett O’Hara from Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind”, Juliet from Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, Marguerite Gauthier and from “La Dame aux Camélias” by Alexandre Dumas.

Each actress signed the Limited Edition photo on arrival of the event, and the CEO of Montblanc International,  Lutz Bethge, revealed all images in a dramatic drop of a curtain.  Lutz stressed the importance of the initiative stating, “Support of the underprivileged cannot stop when times are tough. We are very proud to benefit from the support of these 12 extraordinary ladies to take our work with UNICEF one step further and enhance our joint commitment to support education programmes.”

After the ladies were introduced and their stunning portraits revealed, Michael York invited the 250 guests to a sit down dinner where Reese Witherspoon presented UNICEF with a huge $50,000 check that she personally donated.

The 12 pictures have begun their world tour, which will last 6 months, in various Montblanc activities, then will head back to Los Angeles to be auctioned off on September 8^th, 2009, International Literacy Day. 

Recipients of the portraits will get the personally signed picture of the individual actress and a precious version of the Montblanc Meisterstück, the legendary and timeless writing instrument that is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year, a rare limited edition of only 12 pieces worldwide, dedicated to UNICEF.

UNICEF and Montblanc have shared an important common goal over the years – working together to fight illiteracy around the world by giving the “power to write” to underprivileged individuals. In previous years the Power To Write campaign has raised over 1 Million USD in Montblanc boutiques across the world towards education programmes initiated by UNICEF.  

For more coverage of this event visit the official Signature For Good website.