Joseph Altuzarra Dreams Of One Day Dressing Kate Moss

by Justin Fenner | 12:25 pm, March 29th, 2011

Fashion wunderkind Joseph Altuzarra can more or less have what he wants — he’s just that talented. But last night when we saw him walking the red carpet (well, more like concrete floor on an aircraft carrier) at Jeffrey Fashion Cares, we couldn’t help but wonder if there was anything his career is missing. Altuzarra told us all he wants is a little Kate Moss.

“I have most of my dream clients already,” he said. “But I think it would be great to have Kate Moss as a client!”

But Altuzarra didn’t show up to court new customers, although he easily could have gotten a handful more from the crowd that showed up for the event, now in its 19th year, which raises money for four LGBT service organizations.

“I think it’s very easy for people to think that our industry is very frivolous,” Altuzarra added. “But I think events like these help dispel that idea. I think a lot of the industry really does care and really does things to help.”

And boy did they help. Jeffrey Fashion Cares was has been in New York for eight years and is the brainchild of Jeffrey Kalinsky, the Charleston-born retailer with stores in Atlanta and New York City. The event benefits Lambda Legal, The Hetrick-Martin Institute (which runs Harvey Milk High School), The Point Foundation and Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the world’s first HIV service organization. In the first two hours of the event, a silent auction and contributions from sponsors raised over half a million dollars for those organizations.

Check out a few photos from the event below (including what Dina Manzo has to say about Lady Gaga), and find out how you can participate in Fashion Cares’ fundraising efforts here.

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1.Designer Jason Wu and Jeffrey Kalinsky

2.Dina Manzo on Lady Gaga

The gays don't need Lady Gaga: "I recently saw her in concert. I want people to be empowered and be confident on their own will and not really look for it in someone else. Especially the gay community. Know that they have it in themselves. To be strong and know it gets better. And not wait for somebody else to tell them. Just do it."

3.Simon van Kempen and Alex McCord

Why they're not building a lifestyle brand: Simon: "Never say never, but just because we’re on reality TV doesn’t mean we’re a product that can be packaged and sold … We’ve been the slowest to put our name on everything. Viewers get pissed off with that after a while. If all you do is schill, schill, schill all the time." Alex: "Right. But that’s not to say that if and when we find an opportunity that’s really a good fit we wouldn’t pursue it. But nothing to announce at present."