New York City, April 30th, 2009. Saks Fifth
Avenue presented the third annual Design Cares
event, 'Kaleidoscope of Dreams' benefiting St. Jude
Children's Research Hospital at the Armory on
Lexington Avenue and 26th Street. About 900
supporters showed up for the occasion. The VIP
section numbered 500 and was sold out days before
the event. Leslie Mills, a committee member said,
"The amount of support we received was
overwhelming. A lot of people wanted to be a part of
our event, so many designers wanted to donate gowns
for our fashion show; we had to stop at 32 or our
show would have gone on all night!"
Co-chairs of the evening were Dawn Gallagher
and Reynaldo Davis Carter. Hosts and contributing
guests were Phillip Bloch, Chanel Iman, Jill
Nicolini, Christian Siriano and Veronice Webb.
The runway show featured exclusive evening
gowns by designers: Karl Lagerfeld, Karl Lagerfeld,
John Galliano, Versace, Alberta Ferretti, Badgley
Mischka, Marc Jacobs Collection, Diane von
Furstenberg, Carolina Herrera, Catherine Malandrino,
Chado Ralph Rucci, Yigal Azrouël, J. Mendel, Luca
Luca, Maggie Norris Couture, Carlos Alberto, Matthew
Williamson, Michael Kors, Narciso Rodriguez, Reem
Acra, Valentino, Vera Wang, and Gucci, to name a
few. Every dress was auctioned off at the event and
online to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital.
According to Launch Media: New for 2009 are
several elements to Design Cares. First, is Models
of Hope, whereby socials and celebrities walked the
runway in the gowns for St. Jude Design Cares. Some
of this year’s models were, Jaslene Gonzalez –
Americans Next Top Model, CariDee English – Model,
TV Personality, Whitney Thompson – Americas Next Top
Model Winner, Ally Hilfiger, Byrdie Bell, and many
more. Second, is the theme Kaleidoscope of Dreams:
“Kaleidoscope” because the show was made possible by
the charitable efforts of so many participating
parties and designers; and “Dreams” was a Dream Come
True for two young girls, and current St. Jude
cancer patients who wish to be fashion designers
when they grow up. Design Cares paired the girls
with designers Christian V. Siriano (winner, Project
Runway Season 4) and Tian Justman (emerging designer
and former St. Jude patient and cancer survivor,
www.tianjustman.com), who reinterpreted the
children’s gown drawings for the runway.
About St. Jude: St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital is internationally recognized for its
pioneering work in finding cures and saving children
with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. St.
Jude is the first and only pediatric cancer center
to be designated as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by
the National Cancer Institute. Founded by late
entertainer Danny Thomas and based in Memphis,
Tenn., St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with
scientific and medical communities around the world.
St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer research
center where families never pay for treatment not
covered by insurance. No child is ever denied
treatment because of the family’s inability to pay.
St. Jude is financially supported by ALSAC, its
fundraising organization.
Photos and story by Sara Herbert-Galloway