aaamusic | On 28, Oct 2011

GREY GOOSE Winter Ball to benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation

hosted by David Furnish, Sir Elton John and GREY GOOSE Saturday 29 October 2011, Battersea Park, London

 

This Saturday 29 October GREY GOOSE®, the World’s Best Tasting Vodka, will host its GREY GOOSE Winter Ball to benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation, with David Furnish and Sir Elton John. The theme of the event, which is indisputably one of the highlights of the international social calendar, will be a celebration and exploration of The Architecture of Taste in Battersea Park, London – an unforgettable night with world class cuisine by elBulli and bespoke cocktails and auction lots by Christian Louboutin, Marc Quinn, Jonathan Saunders, as well as a live music performance and entertainment.

GREY GOOSE is renowned for having redefined perceptions of vodka in the context of taste and will this year invite guests to experience the structure and components of taste through the mediums of spectacular food, cocktails and design. Exploring taste in its every form, the ball welcomes the globally renowned elBulli to the UK for the very first time in the restaurant’s fifty-year history. elBulli, which was voted the world’s best restaurant no less than six times before its closure in July, has designed an incredible menu for the evening’s guests which incorporates a selection of groundbreaking molecular canapés as well as a four course dinner.

GREY GOOSE has collaborated with each of the evening’s partners – Christian Louboutin, Marc Quinn, Jonathan Saunders and elBullli – to create bespoke cocktails using only the finest ingredients and perfectly capturing the spirit and personality of the individual that inspired it. The cocktails served on the night will include the GREY GOOSE Red Carpet by Christian Louboutin, GREY GOOSE L’Oeil de la Poire by Marc Quinn and the GREY GOOSE Blue Print by Jonathan Saunders. In addition, the Nitro Bar will serve spectacular nitrogen infused cocktails in elBulli’s signature molecular style created especially for the evening, such as the GREY GOOSE elBulli Martini cocktail, a reinvention of the traditional martini, chilled with liquid nitrogen and garnished with a spherified olive.Christian Louboutin has designed a unique cocktail bar to be auctioned on the night which takes the shape of his classic stiletto turned on its side with his signature scarlet sole. A faultlessly sleek and stylish creation, Louboutin’s cocktail bar beautifully juxtaposes the old with the new, with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and highly polished red and black surfaces. The bar will be sold to the highest bidder complete with a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes and a GREY GOOSE cocktail party to celebrate.

Marc Quinn has had a hand in the decoration of the venue – donating 100 limited edition, hand framed Iris prints that will hang in the reception and be available to buy for £1,000 each. Quinn is also offering as an auction lot a unique portrait session for the successful bidder to have the Iris of their eye recreated by him with oils on a circular canvas. The canvas will be installed in the winner’s home with a GREY GOOSE ‘Private View’ party for the winner and up to twenty of their friends.

As well as designing beautiful uniforms to be worn by the waiting staff, which incorporate his signature use of bold colour and print, Jonathan Saunders is also donating a cocktail dress that represents the evening’s Architecture of Taste theme and will be sold to the highest bidder with a stunning pair of Christian Louboutin Super Vic Strass stilettos and spectacular Love Knots earrings generously donated by Solange Azagury Partridge.

100% of the funds raised from the event including ticket sales are donated directly to the Elton John AIDS Foundation (charity registration no 1017336). To date, the GREY GOOSE Winter Ball has raised more than £1.8M for the foundation and is becoming one of the charity’s biggest fundraisers. This year’s Winter Ball aims to raise awareness and funds for projects in the UK and abroad, such as the Cambodia Habitat for Humanity scheme building housing for families with children suffering from HIV/AIDS.

Celebrity attendance confirmed to date includes: Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Jonathan Saunders, Plan B, Graham Norton, Kelly Rowland, Joe Jonas, David Walliams, Dame Shirley Bassey, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michelle Dockery, Alexandra Burke, Eliza Doolittle, Mischa Barton, Mary Charteris, Liberty Ross, Gizzi Erskine, Tali Lennox, Julia Restoin-Roitfeld, Jaime Winstone, Giles Deacon, Dinos Chapman, Marcus Wareing, Johnny Vaughan, Harriet Scott, Lulu, Alfie Boe, Ozwald Boateng, Nick Candy and Holly Valance, Sam Webb, Jean marc Puissant, Laura Wright, Vicky McClare, Robert Konjic, Zara Martin, Tom Beard, Camilla Rutherford.