Maria Cornejo Gathered the Women of Noho to Raise Funds for Planned Parenthood

Brooke Bobb

Maria Cornejo Gathered the Women of NoHo to Fundraise for Planned Parenthood

Maria Cornejo
Maria Cornejo
Photo: Courtesy of Giada Paoloni
Christy Turlington Burns
Christy Turlington Burns
Photo: Courtesy of Giada Paoloni
Maria Cornejo and Laura McQuade
Maria Cornejo and Laura McQuade
Photo: Courtesy of Giada Paoloni
Ulla Johnson
Ulla Johnson
Photo: Courtesy of Giada Paoloni
Inside Maria Cornejo's NoHo showroom.
Inside Maria Cornejo's NoHo showroom.
Photo: Courtesy of Giada Paoloni
The scene at the cocktail party.
The scene at the cocktail party.
Photo: Courtesy of Giada Paoloni
Maria Cornejo and Cass Bird
Maria Cornejo and Cass Bird
Photo: Courtesy of Giada Paoloni

Last night, designer Maria Cornejo opened the doors to her Noho showroom for a gathering in celebration of women’s rights. She hosted a fund-raiser for Planned Parenthood, whose offices are right across the street from Zero + Maria Cornejo. “I am the walking raffle ticket!” she said with a laugh and a firm grip on her mezcal cocktail. She was wearing one of her own designs that was up on the raffle block: a hot pink, draped linen dress and matching pink and red heels. “It’s nice to be able to put a little bit of color and fashion into a cause that you really believe in,” Cornejo explained. “Planned Parenthood is in the neighborhood and they are providing health care to a lot of women. It’s important to highlight that and not to just focus on the abortion issue. Women’s rights are fundamental human rights.”

Cornejo was joined by the Women of Noho, a group of women-owned-and-operated businesses in the neighborhood, and by Planned Parenthood New York’s CEO Laura McQuade, who said in a speech that Cornejo and her team were “incredible supporters of Planned Parenthood New York City.” She added, “We are so lucky to have neighbors like Maria and the Women of Noho, who are using their voices and power to bolster Planned Parenthood as we fight for what’s right—access to safe, legal abortion, and reproductive health care.” Other than the representatives from Planned Parenthood and the Women of Noho, a few of Cornejo’s fashion industry friends also came to the event and participated in the raffle. Christy Turlington Burns and Cass Bird and her wife, Ali Bird, all turned up.

Designer Ulla Johnson was there too, along with designer Jane Mayle. Both contributed to the raffle, as did Rachel Comey, MZ Wallace, the restaurant team at Atla and Cosme, The Standard hotel, and more. A limited edition T-shirt was also available for purchase with 100 percent of the proceeds, along with the raffle proceeds, going directly to Planned Parenthood New York City. The T-shirts feature a pink collage of faces of women like Coretta Scott King, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and Gloria Steinem. As Cornejo said as her showroom began to become crowded with women, “We’re all in it together.”

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Originally Appeared on Vogue