Fierce fashion and generous giving are the goals for the annual Jeffrey Fashion Cares event on Aug. 30.
Now in its 18th year, the event—held at new venue 12th & Midtown—will spotlight special guest designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez of it-label Proenza Schouler during a couture runway show and play host to honorary chair Sara Blakely, the Atlanta entrepreneur who founded SPANX. The event also features an official after-party, and for the first time this year, tickets to it are available to the general public. The high fashion bash will take place at Opera, where DJs Fred Schneider of the B-52s and Vicki Powell will spin, and there will be performances by gloATL dancers, aerialists and fire breathers.
Blakely, who spends most of her time in New York but whose popular line of shapewear remains based in Atlanta, said she looks forward to the opportunity to give back to her community.
“I’m excited to see lots of good friends that I haven’t seen in a while and I can’t wait to see all the amazing clothes,” she said.
But the night isn’t just about glitz and glam. The event has grown into one of the largest combined AIDS and breast cancer benefits in the country and has raised approximately $9 million for the causes. This year the beneficiaries will be the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Greater Atlanta Affiliate and the Atlanta AIDS Fund. Sponsors who donate their time, services and wares help the organization keep down the cost of what is always an extravagant and impeccably executed event, adding to the giving.
“It's turned into a really beautiful evening, but we're lucky in what we spend to produce that evening is so minimal,” said Jeffrey Kalinsky, Fashion Cares founder and owner of retail stores Jeffrey New York and Jeffrey Atlanta. “Almost everything gets donated. We've been able to raise a lot of money and I'm thankful for that."
The event turns out attendees from all over Atlanta and beyond for a glimpse at some of fall's hottest fashions during the annual runway show and silent and live auctions including prizes from Tiffany & Co., the St. Regis Hotel and AirTran Airways.
“Jeffrey Fashion Cares gains more support with each passing year from a diverse range of people across Georgia and the Southeast,” said event co-chair Lila Hertz. “We feel very lucky that there are so many people that attend our event annually and are just as committed as we are to raising as much money as possible for two such important causes.”
This year, Louise Sams and Jeffrey McQuithy join longtime co-chair Hertz in putting on the fashionable fete. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with lots of new people this year,” Hertz said. “The two new co-chairs have been great and have brought in a whole new energy. They’ve been really helpful.”
Kalinsky is thankful for all of the support. "I can’t thank Lila, Louise and Jeffrey enough—and the support of the Atlanta AIDS Partnership Fund, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, and the Elton John AIDS Foundation—there’s so many people. It's the entire community that makes this evening such a success."
Jeffrey Fashion Cares, 7 p.m. Aug. 30. 12th & Midtown, 33rd floor, 1075 Peachtree St., Atlanta. Tickets start at $500; patron packages start at $1,500. Official after party. Opera, 1150 Crescent Ave. N.E., Atlanta. $150. All tickets: www.jeffreyfashioncares.com/atlanta , 404-420-2997.
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