Jean Paul Gautier for Life Ball 2015
I’m so sorry for the long pause! This has been the most stressful week: Monday I just flew back from Vienna after an incredible weekend at the 23rd Life Ball to a less exciting student reality filled with essays, end of term exams and 3am highlighting sessions. As I do have a break between studying, I wanted to desperately share some photos from Jean Paul Gautier’s charity fashion show for the Life Ball.
However, I want to first state the fashion show, speeches, musical performances by artists such as Mary J. Blige and Madcon, are a part of the Life Ball held annually at the Wiener Rathaus once a year. It is a spectacular event, but it is the result of the evening, which is so remarkable. The event, started by real life superhero Gary Keszler, not only spreads the message of tolerance and awareness around the world, but it literally helps save countless lives through it's ticket sales and donations. Joined by notable foundations such as amFAR, Fashion 4 Development, The Global Fund, and The Clinton Foundation it is paving the way to an HIV-free generation.
We sometimes are blinded by the flashing lights of paparazzi and the costumes of the red carpet but we need to remind ourselves it is this fight against this monstrous disease we are part of and we must all continue to work together to conquer. {Stay tuned for an in depth article outlining the impact of the Life Ball and what I learned while attending the First Ladies Lunch with keynote speaker Charlize Theron on her Africa Outreach Program.} As for now, have a look at Gautier's creations which have made our world a little brighter, a little happier, and perhaps even a little more accepting (note his renowned gender bending references!)
Divided into themes including the Viennese Secession, Goldfinger, Femme Fatale, and Rainbow Skittles, celebrities such as Dita von Teese, Paula Abdul, Ellen von Unwerth (!!!) Carmen Electra and woman of the moment Conchita Wurst, glided down the runway while model exceptions such as Anna Cleveland (the daughter of Dali Muse Pat Cleveland, and also interesting to note a magical nymph princess from a far away land) fluttered down the stage similar to her performance at last season’s Giles show.
The show included Gautier's signature elements of the corset, gender bending silhouettes, and humorous extravagance translated to the theme of the Life Ball- this year Gold: Ver Sacrum. His references modernized Gustav Klimt's painted muses and the secession movement as demonstrated through the big afro-like hair and byzantine metals and art and craft movement prints.
