Aerin Lauder + Holiday

Aerin Lauder, the granddaughter of the legendary Estée Lauder, founder of the half-century-old $3.5 billion global cosmetics empire, and daughter of Ronald Lauder, the 57-year-old chairman of Clinique and former United States ambassador to Austria, shared a few of her favorite gifts to give in the December 2007 issue of House & Garden. The magazine spread was incredibly memorable. Nice to put yourself in the stilettos of a park Avenue princess every now and again.
I always buy a gift for the faces of our brand. A lot of them have children, so I send gingerbread houses from William Poll. This year I'll send one to Gwyneth Paltrow.

Price: $375 to $800
There's a great place in Palm Beach called Hoffman's. It's homemade chocolates come in a beautiful gold box.

Price: $22
For my best friend, a gold sea anemone that I designed for Bergdorf Goodman's. It's a beautiful object to put on a desk.

Price: $1,000
At Christmastime I love to do a dinner at a new restaurant with my direct reports, and I give everyone a book. This year the Lanvin book from Rizzoli is beautiful.

Price: $85
(Amazon $53)
Most memorable was Aerin Lauder's beautiful East Hampton home decorated for the holiday.

I enjoy decorating with old-fashioned candies at Christmastime and think these red stripes are a great contrast to the blue in her room. I love the polished touch satin bows seem to add and I particularly love this shade of blue paired with her gold accents and flatware.
Not only does she give them as gifts, but Aerin always orders a gingerbread house from the upper east side William Poll for her own home.