Oprah Winfrey, Ralph Lauren Raise $7 Million by Talking Live at Lincoln Center

Larry Busacca/Getty Images for Ralph Lauren

Oprah Winfrey wore a red portrait neckline gown and red heels to interview Americana designer Ralph Lauren on Oct. 24 at a live benefit that raised over $7 million for Lincoln Center and the Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention.

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It was not their first chat. Oprah initially interviewed Lauren in May on one of her final TV show episodes. But she didn't save any hard hitting q's for the second meeting, asking questions such as “How’d you get to be so darned American?” “Were you ever scared?” “What makes you most proud?”

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Here's some private Lauren deets Oprah managed to pry out of the designer. When he watches videos of his old fashion shows, his hands still get sweaty. He keeps all his old clothes: "You never know when you’re going to need them.” On his constant reinvention: “Forty-five years of copying, that’s why I’m here.”

Finally, Winfrey mused about never having seen an actual Lauren fashion show. And surprise, surprise, don't you know she got one. Lauren said, “Let me show you, Oprah" and more than 50 models walked the stage in designs from his Spring 2012 collection.

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In the audience and at the post-show dinner: Actress Camilla Bell, Jerry Seinfeld, Michael J. Fox, Diane von Furstenberg, Anna Wintour, Naomi Watts, Graydon and Anna Carter, Nate Berkus, Matt Lauer, Brian and Jane Williams., Gayle King Michael J. Fox, and wife Dr. and Lisa Oz, Wendi Deng Murdoch, Al Roker, Tom Brokaw, Anderson Cooper, Deborah Roberts, Bryant and Hilary Gumbel, Martha Stewart, and Barbara Walters.

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Some celebs even got to ask Lauren their own questions during the interview. Today show weather anchor Al Roker asked “Can I get a discount?" Lauren answered “Al Roker? Sure. I watch him all the time. Yes.” Williams wanted to know his favorite car. Lauren admitted, “That’s the hardest one. They are all like my children.”

Andy Cohen, host of Bravo's Watch What Happens Live wanted the designer's opinion about people who have copied his American style. Always a class act, Lauren politely demurred, “I don’t think about them.”