<\/p>\n
Models walk the runway during the House of DIFFA gala in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2026.<\/p>\n
Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery year I do a little extra,\u201d said Gabriella Monte, disassembling her costume near the women\u2019s bathroom. Monte\u2019s look \u2014 let\u2019s call it Hollywood noir meets glam witch with a touch of mermaid \u2014 was inspired by Hedy Lamarr\u2019s crown of stars in the 1941 musical Ziegfeld Girl, and a wire contraption Monte wore like angel wings framed her long raven hair in a sparkly constellation. \u00a0<\/p>\n
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But negotiating a bathroom stall in this get-up would be another matter. \u201cIt takes three men to help me,\u201d said Monte, part of the style board that helps throw this event (it takes a village). She smiled as one guy detached yards of ruffly black tulle trailing from her slinky black gown. \u00a0<\/p>\n
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House of DIFFA<\/a>, which took place on Saturday, May 9, is Dallas\u2019 version of the Met Gala<\/a>, an eye-candy event where masquerade meets evening gown, chain mail meets black tux and a feathered headdress can never be too large. Around 1,200 people gathered at the downtown Sheraton for a fundraiser with a no-joke cause \u2014\u00a0DIFFA stands for Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS \u2014 but thrown with an epic playfulness that makes it a one-of-a-kind event. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cDIFFA\u2019s all about the fashion and the drama,\u201d said David Chadd, a designer who co-chaired this year\u2019s gala with David White. The theme was Hotel Mystique; guests entered through a burgundy velvet tunnel that felt like stumbling onto a secret. \u201cI thought this mysterious hotel could become a dramatic event on the runway but also point to some of the mystery in the AIDS community, how people have to hide behind closed doors,\u201d said Chadd. \u201cIt goes deeper than the drama.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Jan Strimple, left, accepts the DIFFA Dallas Legacy Tribute award. Right, co-chairs David Chadd (left) and David White with runway producer Robyn Chauvin.<\/p>\n Jan Strimple, left, accepts the DIFFA Dallas Legacy Tribute award. Right, co-chairs David Chadd (left) and David White with runway producer Robyn Chauvin.<\/p>\n 80 models and 175 light fixtures \u00a0<\/p>\n DIFFA started in the early \u201890s when Dallas creatives joined forces to raise money for people living with AIDS. One tradition that\u2019s held is a collection of bespoke jackets<\/a> made by high-profile designers and auctioned for charity (modeled this year by students from Booker T. Washington High School). For more than 25 years, fashion event producer Jan Strimple<\/a>, the Dallas model discovered by Bob Mackie, made the runway show a centerpiece, for which she received a DIFFA Dallas Legacy Tribute award on Saturday night. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cOur intention was to take people that society said were unlovable and uplift them,\u201d said Strimple when she accepted her award, still owning the stage in glasses and short-cropped silver hair. \u00a0<\/p>\n These days the runway show is produced by Robyn Chauvin with a crew of more than 60. It\u2019s hard to overstate how elaborate it is: 80 models, 40 hair and makeup artists, 20 creators and designers, more than 175 lighting fixtures. \u00a0<\/p>\n LeeAnne Locken, former Real Housewife of Dallas and longtime DIFFA supporter, cheers with guests at the House of\u00a0DIFFA gala in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2026.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Everything but the kitchen sink, plus Miss America\u00a0<\/p>\n Although DIFFA has the trappings of other fundraising galas \u2014 the photo stations, the live auction, the sit-down chicken dinner with its sad, stale bread rolls \u2014 what makes the evening special is the runway, an hour-plus fantasia of visual splendor that must be seen to be believed. Part theater, part avant-garde couture, part camp spectacle \u2014 if there is anything else like it in the city, I\u2019m unaware.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cWelcome to Hotel Mystique, where the past never sleeps and neither will you,\u201d said the show\u2019s emcee, Dallas drag great Alyssa Edwards<\/a>, also known as Mesquite-born Justin Johnson, who rose to fame on RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race. With her platinum blond fountain of hair and dangling chandelier earrings, Edwards ran the show like Joan Rivers mixed with Dynasty\u2019s Krystle Carrington mixed with Sunset Boulevard\u2019s Norma Desmond. Seen it all, babe. \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Alyssa Edwards step onto the runway as host of a fashion show during the House of DIFFA gala in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2026.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n The spectacle was a tour through the imaginary Hotel Mystique: a mix of celebrity and political intrigue in the lobby, the gangsters and molls of the casino, the Palm Springs socialites poolside and buff men pumping iron in the gym. If this sounds like a jumble of styles and storylines, it was, an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink aesthetic that included a 13th floor inhabited by ghosts, a gothic Marie Antoinette-Bride of Frankenstein vibe that sent dancers in gauzy white scrim twirling into the audience. \u00a0<\/p>\n Gabriella Monte raises an auction paddle during the House of DIFFA gala in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2026.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News Guests arrive for the House of DIFFA gala in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2026. The annual Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA) event is a fundraiser for HIV\/AIDS services across North Texas. The 2026 theme was \u201cHotel Mystique.\u201d<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News Guests browse through one-of-a-kind jackets designed by artists for auction during the House of DIFFA gala in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2026.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News Lacey Lucas is silhouetted against the stage during the House of DIFFA gala in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2026.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News A guest gets the QR code for art displayed for silent auction during the House of DIFFA gala in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2026.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News Models walk the runway during the House of DIFFA gala in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2026.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News Models walk the runway during the House of DIFFA gala in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2026.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News Jason Melton and Maria Johnson dance in the crowd as models take to the runway during the House of DIFFA gala in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2026.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News Models walk the runway during the House of DIFFA gala in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2026.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News Miss America 2026 Cassie Donegan performs during the House of DIFFA gala in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2026.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News Dancers spin through the crowd as models take to the runway during the House of DIFFA gala in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2026.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News Models walk the runway during the House of DIFFA gala in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2026.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News Models walk the runway during the House of DIFFA gala in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2026.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News Models walk the runway during the House of DIFFA gala in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2026.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News Models walk the runway during the House of DIFFA gala in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2026.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n There was a disco scene. There was an \u201880s-style aerobics scene that erupted into a hair-flicking, leg-lifting dance number. I forgot to mention that before the runway show, 2026 Miss America\u00a0Cassie Donegan sang \u201cSomewhere Over the Rainbow.\u201d That\u2019s how much went down on Saturday: It slipped my mind that the country\u2019s most famous beauty queen belted out a classic of the American songbook while keeping a sparkly crown steady on her head. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n There was just so much to see! A guy in a chandelier, a guy in a cage, a woman with a silver ship nestled in her enormous wig. This wasn\u2019t a runway show. It was an experience. Apologies if you missed it, but hey, there\u2019s always next year. \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Models walk the runway during the House of DIFFA gala in Dallas, Saturday, May 9, 2026. 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