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STORY: An AIDS fundraiser brought together A-list stars on Wednesday (February 8).

Celebrities donned designer gowns and strutted down the red carpet of the annual amfAR (American Foundation for AIDS Research) gala in New York.

Among the guests were 25-year-old actress Lindsay Lohan, and supermodel Heidi Klum, who made her first major public appearance since the divorce announcement from her husband, Seal.

The host of the event was movie star Sarah Jessica Parker, who underlined the importance of AIDS research.

"I think tonight we want to talk about where we were and where we have come to and what we still, what needs to be done. But also to reach out to wealthy people and say, can you help in this endeavor," Parker said.

Chairman of amfAR and fashion designer Kenneth Cole said that in the past year great progress was made in the field of AIDS research.

"We essentially learned how to render everybody safe from the virus, should they have access to the knowledge and the resources, should there be the will and the resources to apply them," Cole told Reuters.

AmfAR estimates that 34 million people around the world today live with HIV or AIDS.

Since the beginning of the epidemic, nearly 30 million have died of HIV-related causes.