life ball

Kenneth Cole, Diane von Furstenberg and Calvin Klein Create Special Minis for Life Ball 2010

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Auctions, Charity

Every year the rich and famous of the fashion world gather in Vienna for the Life Ball. The charity event is the largest HIV/AIDS fundraiser of the year, and has been supported for the past ten years running by Mini. Over the course of their decade of collaboration, the BMW subsidiary has enlisted the talents of such noted designers as Diesel, Versace and Agent Provocateur, and the unique hatchbacks they've created have raised half a million euros for the cause.

This year, however, they've brought in three big name designers – Kenneth Cole, Diane von Furstenberg and Calvin Klein creative director Francisco Costa – to customize special Minis for the event. Each is featured in the image gallery below and will be auctioned off at the gala in Vienna on July 17 to kick off the 18th International AIDS Conference.

Gallery: Mini Life Ball 2010

Tags: aids, amfar, calvin klein, diane von furstenberg, francisco costa, Hillary Clinton, hiv aids, kenneth cole, life ball, life ball mini, mini, mini life ball

The Blonds Outfit Special Mini Cabrio for 2009 Life Ball

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Charity, Celebrity Design

Automakers have plenty of reasons to create special editions. Sometimes they're celebrating an anniversary, sometimes a monumental race victory, or sometimes they're just looking to boost sales. Mini, on the other hand, creates a special edition of its retro hatchback every year to raise money for HIV/AIDS. The cars are always styled by a different designer, and sold in conjunction with the Life Ball, Europe's premier HIV/AIDS fundraiser, to raise money for the charity. Following previous editions outfitted by Versace, Diesel and Agent Provocateur, this year's Mini Life Ball special was designed by The Blonds, known in Hollywood for clothing pop stars. Their inspiration for the pink leopard print design was Katy Perry, the pop sensation famous for the hit song "I Kissed A Girl", who will be performing at this year's gala in Vienna on May 17. The one-of-a-kind Mini will be raffled off at the event.

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Tags: i kissed a girl, IKissedAGirl, katy perry, KatyPerry, life ball, life ball mini, LifeBall, LifeBallMini, mini, mini cabrio, mini life ball, MiniCabrio, MiniLifeBall, the blonds, TheBlonds