Life Ball

Life Ball is Europe's largest AIDS charity event. Begun in 1993, it takes place annually at the city hall in Vienna, Austria. The event is organized by Gery Keszler and it is the only AIDS charity event that takes place in a political building. [Youtube|nvgU7fsBUEw|YouTube - Life Ball Vienna 1993-2006 pt.2]

Life Ball consists of two parts: a grand opening ceremony including a fashion show performed on a giant catwalk at "Rathausplatz", the square in front of the city hall, which is free for everyone, and a fancy dress party inside the city hall hosted by Vienna's mayor, Michael Häupl, for which a limited number of tickets (c. 4,000) is available.

Already in its first year, donations reached € 79,940; in 2006, they peaked at € 1,111,162. Part of the money goes to the [http://www.ejaf.org/ Elton John AIDS Foundation] ; Sir Elton himself is a regular guest at the ball.

At Life Ball 2008, prominent guests included Sharon Stone (in her capacity as chairwoman of the [http://www.amfar.org/cgi-bin/iowa/index.html American Foundation for AIDS Research] ), Amanda Lepore (who performed the 2008 Life Ball song [Youtube|aN6nqUAMNA8|The Life (Life Ball 2008)] ), Kim Cattrall, Marcus Schenkenberg and Linda Evangelista.

Each year the fashion show highlights the work of a well-known designer, with professional models as well as celebrities on the catwalk. In the past, the latter group has included Til Schweiger, Kylie Minogue, Cyndi Lauper, and Dolly Buster.

Fashion designers since the inception of Life Ball:
* 1993 - Thierry Mugler
* 1994 - John Galliano
* 1995 - Jean-Paul Gaultier
* 1996 - Paco Rabanne
* 1997 - Vivienne Westwood
* 1998 - Jean-Charles de Castelbajac
* 1999 - Christian Lacroix, Philip Treacy, Vivienne Westwood, Jeremy Scott, Paco Rabanne and Julien Macdonald
* 2000 - Walter Van Beirendonck, Olivier Theyskens, Seredin & Vasiliev, Shirtology and Benoit Méléard
* 2001 - Roberto Cavalli
* 2002 - Moschino
* 2003 - Missoni
* 2004 - Gianfranco Ferré
* 2005 - Donatella Versace
* 2006 - Renzo Rosso (Diesel)
* 2007 - Heatherette
* 2008 - Agent Provocateur

Sources

External links

* [http://www.wien-konkret.at/unterhaltung/events/lifeball/ Article, Speeches and Fotos from the Lifeball 2008] Citymagazin for Vienna Wien-konkret 20th May 2008
* http://www.lifeball.org/
* http://www.stylebible.org/
* [http://www.conny.at/flash.html Conny de Beauclair's photo archives] (click on "Event wählen")
* [http://www.vrmag.org/issue29/THE_OPULENT_AND_SPARKLING_NIGHT_OF_LIFEBALL.html VRMAG, Issue29: The Opulent And Sparkling Night Of Life Ball]