Karlie Kloss and Jason Wu are teaming up to raise $50,000 for AIDS organisations.
The model and the designer are close friends and will head up a team called Step Forward to complete a 6.2-mile sponsored AIDS Walk around New York this Saturday (19.05.12). They are currently taking sponsorships to reach their target.
Kloss told vogue.co.uk: ”The idea came about at the Met Ball with a mutual friend of ours.
”We were in a sea of glamour and we looked at each other and said, ‘what do we do next?’
”The AIDS Walk became a perfect opportunity to change our ballgown and black tie for sneakers and work-out clothes.
”Juicy Couture is even donating a bucket of money for me to wear their clothes for the event which is amazing – it’s fantastic to see my friends in the fashion community getting behind us, come on guys!”
Karlie, 19, wore a custom-made pink gown by Jason to the Met ball earlier this month. She joked she had been training for the walk by getting plenty of practice on catwalks.
She said: ”I have been training for this walk on many catwalks around the world.
”I wanted a day to spend with my friends in New York that was healthy and positive and what a better way to do that than in Central Park and raising awareness for a cause that I am passionate about. It’s about raising awareness and making a difference.”
The former ballerina also said she was inspired to do the walk after a moving story she had heard.
She added: ”I sat at the Glamour Women Of The Year Awards one year and was inspired by a woman called Elizabeth Glaser and her son Jake and their story.
”It was through this I became involved in awareness for Paediatric AIDS. My father is a doctor so I understand the fight as well.”