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GMHC Brings Bryant Park Style to Soho For A Good Cause |
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Written by T. Terry Maloney
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If it seemed like a mini-Fashion Week last Monday evening at the fabulous downtown venue known as Skyline Studios, perhaps that was the general idea. The second annual Fashion Forward, featuring six of New York's top designers, was a benefit for Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC), the nation's oldest HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care service provider, as well as the most glamorous fashion event held in the city outside of those weeks in February and September.
Fashion Forward is a high-profile event created in 2007 to salute the fashion industry's longstanding committment to the cause while continuously working to increase public awareness of the ongoing HIV/AIDS crisis.
Tim Gunn, the affable guru of Project Runway, served as master of ceremonies of the event which featured a Spring/Summer 2009 runway show by the six designers, including Michael Bastian, Betsey Johnson, Ports 1961 by Tia Cibani, Tim Hamilton, Charles Nolan and John Varvatos. A live and silent auction benefiting GMHC also took place, which featured designer shopping sprees offered by Andrew Buckler and Calvin Klein, among others.
Celebrities attending the event included designers Bastian and Malan Breton (Project Runway), supporting sponsor Derek Lam, the current Miss USA Crystal Stewart, and the legendary Beverly Johnson who, as the first African-American supermodel, was told by an enthusiastic admirer, "You are the Barack Obama of the runway!." (References to the president-elect and his committment to increased federal support for AIDS research by GMHC CEO Dr. Marjorie J. Hill were greeted by universal cheers and applause.)
Fashion Forward was supported by an honorary committee including Steven Kolb, president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and the "people's designer" Stan Herman. HIV-positive fashion designer and former Project Runway contestant Jack MacKenroth also participated in the event and told the audience about his experiences living with HIV for nearly 20 years, as well as his latest project, a national initiative called Living Positive by Design (LPBD), an HIV/AIDS education campaign sponsored by Merck & Co., Inc. LPBD aims to combat the stigma associated with HIV and highlights the importance for people living with HIV to have a positive outlook on life as an intregal part of the management of the disease.
This year, Bank of America joined Fashion Forward as a Presenting Sponsor and the bank's New York president Alan Rappaport was present for the event, telling the audience, "We salute the valiant efforts of GMHC and are proud to support this organizaion which brings hope and options to so many in need."
Other sponsors included Diana von Furstenberg, Hanne Apparel, Michael Kors, HX Magazine, Metro Source, The New York Blade, Soho Journal, Delta Airlines and Svedka Vodka.
Prior to the runway show guests were treated to a reception featuring libations by Svedka and a variety of tasty delicacies served on silver platters, although by far the most popular offerings were the mini-hamburgers and pigs-in-blanket, which were quickly wolfed down by this stylish crowd just as soon as they arrived from the kitchen.
Despite the dismal economic situation Fashion Forward was a successful event, raising $225,000, which will help GMHC continue to provide its services to more than 15,000 men, women and families in the New York City area living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, and to advocate for public health solutions for hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.
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