Incline Village Runway Show Nets Record $1.67M to Keep Lake Tahoe Blue

A beachside runway show at Lake Tahoe just set a new fundraising record, pulling in $1.67 million in a single evening to support efforts to protect the lake's famously clear water. The 57th annual Oscar de la Renta Fashion Show benefiting Keep Tahoe Blue drew hosts and guests to Incline Village on the first of August, capping a weekend that began with a VIP cocktail reception the night before.

The gathering has come a long way from its origins. According to the San Francisco Examiner, the fashion show is an annual event pairing runway fashion with a beachside celebration, and its lifetime fundraising total now sits at nearly $30 million. This year's show featured Oscar de la Renta's Pre-Spring 2027 collection, continuing a partnership between the fashion house and the Lake Tahoe conservation cause that has become one of the region's signature philanthropic traditions.

From a $12,000 Beach Picnic to a Million-Dollar Gala

The event traces back to 1969, when designer Bill Blass and models walked barefoot over wooden slats on the sand at Rubicon Beach, raising roughly $12,000 for what was then a fledgling conservation group, according to SFGATE. About 300 guests attended that inaugural gathering, which was co-organized with Saks Fifth Avenue and local League leadership over picnic lunches on the shore. Blass anchored the Tahoe show for decades before handing the reins to Oscar de la Renta, who began presenting collections at the benefit in the late 1990s and continued until his death in October 2014, after which co-creative directors Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia kept the brand's commitment to the fundraiser alive.

The event crossed the $1 million single-day mark for the first time in August 2017, during its 48th edition at the Schumacher family estate in Incline Village, when roughly 650 donors attended a show featuring de la Renta's 2018 Resort Collection. Two years ago, the August 2024 show raised $1.4 million, a record at the time that pushed cumulative lifetime contributions past $27 million, per the New York Social Diary. This year's $1.67 million haul surpasses that benchmark.

Who Turned Out for This Year's Show

This year's edition was hosted by Danielle Kling, J. Riccardo Benavides, Jane Mudge, Lindsay McConnon, Jennifer Brandenburg and Jessica Hickingbotham, according to the Examiner, with Barbara Brown honored as the event's VIP honoree after two decades of supporting the show. Attendees included Mike Fried, Lydia Graham, Adriana Hayward, Paul Wiseman, Delphinia Hayward, Bill Hayward, Tatum Crocker, Madalynn Chernoh, Brittany Messmer, Alysha Messmer, Betty Yu, Richard Hechler, Malin Giddings, Robin Pendergraft, Marcia Riedel, Jennifer Krach, Juliette Davis, Ryan Schumacher, Kern Schumacher, Marcia Messmer, Riccardo Benavides, Lorna Meyer Calas and Roman Gronkowski, per the Examiner's account of the evening. Photography from the event was provided by Drew Altizer, Mahelly Ferreira and Jessica Monroy.

Where the Money Actually Goes

The proceeds flow directly to Keep Tahoe Blue, the modern name for an advocacy group that uses science, advocacy and community action to protect Lake Tahoe, working to reduce pollution, prevent invasive species and improve sustainable transportation around the basin. The organization traces its roots to 1957, when it was founded as the Tahoe Improvement and Conservation Association to block a proposed four-lane highway encircling the basin and a concrete bridge across Emerald Bay, according to SFGATE. Attorney Bill Evers spearheaded that founding effort after witnessing wetland destruction from residential development at Tahoe Keys.

The now-famous slogan itself dates to August 1965, when it was written into the organization's legal incorporation documents before becoming a worldwide symbol through dark blue bumper stickers launched in the early 1970s, as detailed by Moonshine Ink. Those stickers emerged as a rallying cry during a period of rapid casino, highway and subdivision expansion around the lake. Fundraiser proceeds have historically fed a live auction segment called Raise the Paddle, which directs money toward forest restoration, beach cleanups and water clarity monitoring; at the 2018 show alone, that segment generated $84,000 beyond ticket sales and general bidding, according to Haute Living.

Why Clarity Still Matters

The stakes behind the fundraising are measurable. Findings released in June by the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center showed the lake's 2025 average water clarity was 69.2 feet, a plateau following decades of steep decline but still far below the 97.4-foot average recorded between 1967 and 1971. Researchers arrive at that figure by lowering a 10-inch white Secchi disk from a research vessel to measure how deep light penetrates the water.

Because Lake Tahoe is not designated a national park, local advocacy groups rely heavily on private donor funding to manage the pressures of an estimated 15 million visitors and 10 million car trips each year, according to Keep Tahoe Blue. That volume of tourism places ongoing stress on roads, shoreline clarity and the basin's watersheds. The organization's community stewardship work extends beyond galas: on July 5, it held its 13th Annual Keep Tahoe Red, White & Blue Cleanup, mobilizing volunteers across six basin locations to remove thousands of pounds of trash and keep single-use plastics and food wrappers from breaking down into microplastics in the lake.