Aspen Hope Center hosts cocktail party fundraiser for Aspen Cares theatrical fashion show and sample sale

A three-minute dance performance tonight at the Caribou Club will offer a sneak peek of the upcoming Aspen Cares theatrical fashion show, which also will feature several modeling sequences and storylines about people struggling with sexual- and mental-health issues.

Tonight’s cocktail party is hosted by Aspen Hope Center — a local mental-health outreach program that provides education and care to those in need — in partnership with Aspen Cares.

Started by Ramona Bruland and Katy Parnello in 2011, Aspen Cares is a group that supports local mental- and sexual-health awareness and organizations.

The event this evening will serve as a fundraiser to Aspen Cares theatrical fashion show at the Belly Up on March 25 and its sample sale at Casa Tua on March 27.

The proceeds of Aspen Cares events will benefit Aspen Hope Center, along with two local sexual-health services.

At today’s event, three Aspen Cares theatrical fashion show volunteer models will preview a few of the looks that will be modeled during the upcoming show.

All of the looks modeled in the show are donated by local and national brands — like the luxury French label Jitrois and couture fur line Dennis Dasso — and will be sold at Aspen Cares’ sample sale at Casa Tua on March 27.

Guests at the cocktail party this evening also can raffle on a collection of 40 bottles of wine worth a total value of about $5,000.

The collection of wine includes everything from old Bordeaux wines to rose Champagnes, Bruland said, adding that it is “quite an exceptional arrangement.”

Specialty cocktails, wine and Champagne also will be served at the event, along with a list of hors d’oeuvres that includes lobster corndogs, wild mushroom quesadillas, elk carpaccio and artichoke croquettes.

Also on the agenda this evening, the afro-country band “Wink and the Signal” will perform live music, and Aspen Hope Center executive director Michelle Muething will show a short video that highlights the organization’s work and “how critical we are in this valley,” Koehler said.

“It’s important to know why all of this hard work is going into this event,” Koehler said, adding that Aspen Cares “puts so much time and hard work in making this happen.”