ICE CUBE: Project Mondo and The Eyes Of Love - Tonight!

Mondo Guerra hits up 17th Street's Hotel Palomar to benefit ActionAIDS' Dining Out for Life program with a Fashion in Action event featuring t-shirts of his design and nibbles from Square 1682.

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ICE CUBE: Project Mondo and The Eyes Of Love — Tonight!

POSTED: Thursday, February 14, 2013, 1:00 PM

Filed Under: Activism | Ice Cubes

Valentine’s Day is for lovers, I get that. Still, if you adore fashion and you dig doing good perhaps you can merge all that l’amour into one outing. You could do that tonight, Feb. 14, as fashion designer/Project Runway All Stars winner and AIDS advocate Mondo Guerra hits up 17th Street’s Hotel Palomar to benefit ActionAIDS’ Dining Out for Life program with a Fashion in Action event featuring t-shirts of his design and nibbles from Square 1682.

Guerra — who goes mostly by his first name, “Mondo” — has spent time in Philly before. He did the AIDS Walk here two years ago, loves the city’s sense of history and winding streets (“they’re so narrow,” he says) and appreciates the buzz he gets here after living in New York City for so long. Most crucially, he’s impressed by this city’s dedication to AIDS/HIV education and activism. “We are all activists. Philly’s big on that. Anyone can get involved from any community that you are a part of. I get asked that all the time. It’s easier than you think.”

Guerra says that when he was at his lowest (he didn’t publicly announce his health status until his time on Bravo’s Project Runway) he turned to his local AIDS/HIV-centric organizations for aid and education. They helped get him through the heartbreak. “Being proactive can help you get answers, lead a healthier life. If you’re not infected, it can help you to stay safe. Let’s face it, we may not all be infected but we are all AFFECTED by the disease.”

He’s happy to be a conduit for people’s stories, about growing up gay, about being struck by sickness. “I hear a lot of stories that people saw me come out on television and how that made it possible for them to do so. I get people talking about friends’ willingness to come out or NOT come out, their dad is infected, their uncles or sons. I didn’t allow myself to hear these stories because I was closed off, because I hadn’t told my own story. It is important to talk about the disease. It’s the only way that we can end this.”

Along with his AIDS/HIV activist agenda, Guerra is busy with the spoils that he won during his time as a Project Runway All Star. Along with a bundle of cash, he got a great deal with Neiman Marcus and a Mondo product line that should be getting off the ground shortly. “I’m looking at samples this week,” says Mondo who is also busy readying an eyeglasses line this summer. “It takes years to get the ball rolling This industry is six months ahead and 12 months behind, very much hurry up and wait.”

The current obsession that Guerra hopes will make it into his newest print-centric designs is Courtney Love circa 1994. “I like the idea of her move from grunge to glamor,” says Guerra.

All this should leave little time to do anything else, but when ACTION AIDS, Dining for Life and its sponsor Subaru called, Guerra dropped everything and designed a shirt for the event that he’ll unveil tonight. “Me being a foodie, I love eating out, so I looked for inspiration in kitchen ware. I rummaged through my own kitchen and got an idea that had something to do with utensils. That became my shirt. You’ll see when you get there that you’ll recognize my particular winking take on things.” As for the party itself, on the Day of Valentine’s, Guerra thinks the party would make for a romantic first date, “It’s better than just roses and candy. Giving back is so much more fun and romantic. Take your best friend with you and it’ll be a delight.”

Tonight, Thu., Feb. 14, 6 p.m., $50, Hotel Palomar, 117 S. 17th St., actionaids.org.

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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