WWD
Michael Kors and Lance Le Pere Honored by LGBT Fashion Centered Dinner
By Kristen Tauer
June 3, 2025
On Monday night, The LGBT Center — colloquially, The Center — opened its doors in the West Village for the annual Fashion Centered dinner. The invite-only event, which took place just as Pride Month got underway, brings the fashion and creative industries together to raise awareness and crucial support for The Center. Resources offered by The Center include programs for youth, health services including substance abuse treatment and mental health support, and a physical space for community to gather.
Michael Kors and husband Lance Le Pere arrived during cocktail hour in tandem with Bette Midler, who would later present the couple with The Center’s inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award.
“I was fortunate to come of age at a time where maybe things weren’t as tough out there as they are right now, and I had a very supportive family overall,” said Kors, who grew up on Long Island. “But The Center is here for people who aren’t in that situation. So I’m happy to support The Center for all these years. And the work they do is remarkable. The people here are heroes. I stand and bow to them. I really do.”
Asked what Pride Month represents for him, Kors made sure to include the other 11 months in his answer.
?”I like to think that we should be celebrating Pride 365 days a year,” he said. “More than ever we have to make some noise and say to young people in particular: ‘You’re not alone. You do have a place to come to. You have community and you need to live your best life.’ That’s what it’s all about.”
The scene at the Fashion Centered 2025 Fundraiser Dinner. Lexie Moreland/WWD
During cocktail hour, guests including Presley Oldham, Christian Cowen, Brandon Blackwood, Lourdes Leon, Ladyfag, Ivy Getty, Sarah Hoover, Isaac Boots, Adam Eli, Richie Shazam and more mingled in The Center’s brick-walled courtyard.
?Peter Speliopoulos, who cofounded the Fashion Centered event, was being honored with the Trailblazer award with husband Robert Turner. “It was important to have the event here,” said Speliopoulos, standing next to event cochair Dorothy Berwin. “To have everyone feel what happens here and the soul of The Center and the work that’s done here,” he added. “?This place is a beacon for the entire nation.”
The celebratory event was underscored by a sense of urgency. During the appetizer course, Congresswoman Sarah McBride of Delaware took the stage to deliver a call to action.
“?While we say ‘happy pride’ this June, we gather here in this hallowed space to in so many ways return to the roots of Pride,” said McBride, the first transgender person elected to Congress. She recalled an incident from earlier this year, when Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert harassed a freshman Democrat using the bathroom inside the Capitol, mistaking her for McBride. “This community knows hardship, we know challenges, but what we recognize in Pride is that it has always been in our most significant challenges that we take our biggest steps forward as a community,” McBride added. “And The Center for so many years has been at the heart of forging community, and through it forging progress of meeting significant, seemingly impossible challenges, with hope, with joy, with authenticity, and with support.”
After dinner, Midler arrived onstage to introduce longtime friends Kors and Le Pere with a touching tribute. Before her arrival, the crowd had been instructed to shout out their favorite Midler films and songs.
“?I’d like to start by saying to those of you who don’t know me: You’re probably at the wrong event,” Midler said.
