Fashion and arts elites unite in Doha for Franca Fund Gala, raising millions for cancer research

Global fashion and cultural icons gathered in Doha on Sunday for the inaugural Franca Fund Gala, honouring the late Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani and raising funds for cancer research.

The event, held at the Museum of Islamic Art, brought together the world's top fashion and arts figures including Anna Wintour, Gisele Bündchen, Tyra Banks, Regina King and Jeff Koons to support the Franca Fund for Preventive Genomics. The gala raised more than $4 million (€3.45m).

"She was an extraordinary, fearless, courageous woman who took endless risks and really stood up for everything that she believed in, whether it was climate change or women's rights," said Wintour.

The iconic editor-in-chief of Vogue and global chief content officer and artist director at Condé Nast co-chaired the gala alongside Francesco Carrozzini, Sozzani's son and co-founder of the fund, and Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairperson of Qatar Museums.

Sozzani died in 2016 from a rare lung cancer. Her son subsequently launched the fund in partnership with Harvard geneticist Dr Robert Green to advance DNA-based research.

"We now have some sense of what is going to put you at risk for cancer, heart disease, some types of autism, a whole range of things," Green said.

"My mother believed that ideas should never sit still," Carrozzini said. "She once told me, 'If it's not daring, it's not new. And if it's not new, it won't matter.' Health – like creativity – should never be a privilege. Preventive genomics has the power to save lives – not years from now, but today."

Supermodel Gisele Bündchen, who worked with Sozzani for years, remembered her as "a very soft-spoken lady but very strong, you know, Italian, very Italian and very loving."

Actress Regina King praised Sozzani for "creating opportunities for models of colour that would have never graced a cover, and had such a huge hand in Vogue Black."

Model Tyra Banks said she found Sozzani "so warm and so welcoming while also being a visionary and edgy and cool."

Sheikha Al Mayassa announced donations to the Qatar Cancer Society, which has provided financial assistance to more than 10,770 cancer patients, and to the Xana Foundation in support of La Casa De Las Xanas, a holistic centre in Spain for families with children undergoing treatment for serious illnesses.

The funds raised will support ongoing research programmes in preventive genomics at Harvard Medical School and Mass General Brigham led by Green.

The gala arrived in Doha through a partnership with M7, in a display of Qatar's ambition to grow as a hub for creativity, design and philanthropy. The event coincided with Evolution Nation, a celebration marking Qatar's cultural journey over the past 50 years.

Artist Jeff Koons said Qatar is "really showing the world how to use the arts to bring people together."

"People all over the world involved with fashion, the arts, culture. The sense of one-ness. I mean, it really is like a tribe, a world tribe," Koons concluded.

Attendees included Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan, Miuccia Prada, Christian Louboutin, Natalia Vodianova and Tessa Thompson.