CFDA and Susanne Bartsch Present Love Ball III I CFDA

CFDA and Susanne Bartsch are reviving Love Ball this June after 30 years. Why are we doing this now? According to amFAR, nearly 22 million people have died of AIDS-related causes since the epidemic began in the early 1980s. Susanne, the legendary event producer and Queen of the Night, lost so many friends to HIV/AIDS, and asked herself, “What can I do? Fight. I can fight, and I’m going to fight. I decided that I should do something, an event that could raise money to help fight the disease.” At a Harlem House Ball, she watched the Ballroom community come together to compete in self-made families called Houses, and it clicked for Susanne: Love Ball was born. With the help of the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA), the fashion industry, uniting under one cause to compete in fundraising, established the Houses of Donna Karan, Emporio Armani, Bob Mackie, Betsey Johnson, Barneys New York, Isaac Mizrahi, Vivienne Westwood, PAPER Magazine and Thierry Mugler, among other corporate entities. Susanne also engaged the legendary Ballroom Houses of Omni, Xtravaganza, Ebony, Dupree, Magnifique, LaBeija, Pendavis, Afrika and Overness, who brought the art of Voguing to the world’s stage and in front of the fashion community for the first time. All proceeds raised at #LoveBall III ‪on Tuesday, June 25, 2019‬ at Gotham Hall in New York City will benefit the CFDA/Vogue Initiative at the New York Community Trust. Link in bio to purchase tickets. Produced by @bfa and @carlti