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On October 19, Dallas’s legendary TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art benefit celebrated its 25th annual dinner and contemporary art auction—and its last. Presented by Saks, the city’s most anticipated philanthropic event of the year went out with a bang as the evening raised well over $10.2 million, leaving behind a formidable legacy of giving (and a big hole to fill in Dallas’s fall social calendar).

Since its founding by Cindy and Howard Rachofsky in 1999, the groundbreaking event has continually served as the largest fundraiser for amfAR in the country—as well as for the Dallas Museum of Art—raking in over $130.2 million in support of AIDS research at the nonprofit co-founded by Elizabeth Taylor in 1985 and the venerable museum’s Contemporary Art Acquisitions Fund. Co-hosted once again by Lisa and John Runyon, the Rachofsky’s welcomed 500 guests to their home for a final sold-out black-tie evening celebrating a quarter-century of philanthropy that has historically extended far beyond Dallas’s open-hearted community. “This milestone year is a testament to the extraordinary generosity of our artists, dealers, and supporters who have made TWO x TWO a cherished asset in our community,” said Howard Rachofsky. “We are deeply honored to have hosted this momentous event and humbled by its legacy supporting two important causes.”

Like clockwork, beginning at 6:30pm sharp, guests began parading up the driveway to the Rachofsky House for a cocktail hour during which they enjoyed craft cocktails like the hostess’s favorite “Cindy’s Margarita,” with Casa Dragones Blanco tequila, or any number of other concoctions from the Tequila Casa Dragones bar, as well as those being poured at the La Grande Dame champagne, Belvedere vodka and the Macklowe stations strategically placed throughout the alfresco red-themed lounge area to help loosen wallets (and test credit limits) during the silent and live auctions. Atop a 30-foot-tall dress constructed of 34,000 red roses designed by Todd Fiscus in collaboration with George V Hotel and the Four Seasons’ creative director Jeff Leatham, DJ Lucy Wrubel—like an arthouse Rapunzel—stood sky-high, spinning a memorable opening set that played everyone into dinner.

Following copious drinks while waxing poetic about years past, the crowd entered the 7,000-square-foot geodesic dome tent bedecked by Fiscus (and his team at Todd Events) in silver and white—the whole thing resembling something like the inside of a mirrored disco ball—as an homage to the event’s silver jubilee. Once seated, the evening’s master of ceremonies, Alan Cumming, treated guests to a song and hilarious “fairy story” that chronicled the event’s history and thanked the people and sponsors involved. Chef Juan Garrido of Art 2 Catering created a multi-course dinner, served in acts, that began with piles of Regiis Ova Caviar on a dressed bagel chip that was, itself, followed by even more caviar accompanied by house made potato chips and fried chicken skins. Act II included buttermilk fried chicken served in glass buckets, a black lentil salad and Napa cabbage roll, and a duo of reimagined picnic salads paired with an endless flow of 00 Chardonnay and the Mascot Cabernet Sauvignon. As dinner concluded and amfAR’s newly renamed Cindy and Howard Rachofsky Award for Artistic Excellence was presented to New York-based artist Nicholas Party, 10-time Grammy Award-winner Chaka Khan took to the stage to belt some of her biggest chart-topping hits including: "I’m Every Woman," "I Feel For You," and "Tell Me Something Good," courtesy of entertainment sponsor Nancy C. Rogers and celebrity travel sponsor Headington Companies.