The Rainmakers
VIPs Raise Money and Dodge Downpours at Vienna's Life Ball
"I honestly don't know what to expect tonight," Leigh Lezark said of her first Life Ball. That's probably the right attitude. Where else can Bill Clinton rub elbows with Lady Fag, or Whoopi Goldberg vie with the boys of Paris' Club Sandwich to flag down the same Champagne-bearing cater waiter?
The annual Viennese event has become a highlight of the global social calendar, not only for its anything-goes mentality but also for its commitment to philanthropy—the ball raises money to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic worldwide. So no surprise that Diane von Furstenberg, Francisco Costa, and Kenneth Cole all happily agreed to lend a hand and stage runway presentations—even if they all got rained out. But it takes more than a downpour to stop this party. Pink poncho-clad guests dashed into Vienna's gorgeous city hall, where the party was going strong. (Lezark and her fellow MisShape Geordon Nicol were deejaying in the VIP section.) In any one of the satellite party rooms, you might run into Patti LaBelle, Estée Lauder group president John Demsey, or a local drag queen. And even if the rain did squelch the performances—LaBelle's set was canceled, as was Dita Von Teese's scheduled presentation of a €100,000 check on behalf of Estée Lauder's MAC Cosmetics to Bill Clinton, whose Clinton Foundation is one of this year's beneficiaries—the mood didn't flag. (And the foundation will still get the check, of course.) "This means a lot to me," Von Teese said backstage, glittering in gold Elie Saab. "Being part of it is a huge honor."
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