Fashion Cares Retrospective: 25 Years of Style

A quarter century after its inaugural gala attracted 400 of Canada’s most fashionable—including Jeanne Beker and Dsquared2’s Dean and Dan Caten—Fashion Cares marks its silver anniversary with one final, fabulous night. Following headliners that have included Katy Perry and Deborah Cox, Toronto-born chair David Furnish has booked the event’s biggest diva yet: his husband, Elton John. Furnish, a guest at the very first fundraiser, has schooled Sir Elton in the party’s legacy. “We’ve talked about how really out there, yet world class and progressive Fashion Cares was,” Furnish says. “It was one of the first [events] of its kind, and Canada did it first.” The aim of the September 9th event is to raise $2 million for the AIDS Committee of Toronto and the Elton John AIDS Foundation, a goal Greta Constantine designers Stephen Wong and Kirk Pickersgill, both veterans of the gala’s camp-tacular show, believe sets the event apart. “There’s not a lot of things that you can do that are so much fun and can do so much good,” Wong says. “This is one of them.” -- Ryan Porter



Top Canadian celebrity photographer George Pimentel opens up his archive of snaps from Fashion Cares exclusively for FLARE. Pimentel's captured all the over the top performances, celebrity guests and unforgettable moments on-stage. Relive the best of Fashion Cares and stay tuned for our coverage from the main event on September 9!