The Life Ball - United in Diversity 🏳️🌈
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By Hannah Schmidt-Rees
Taking place in Vienna's City Hall, The Life Ball is the biggest charity event in Europe raising money for people with HIV or AIDS. Founded by Gery Keszler's organisation AIDS LIFE in 1993, the 26th Life Ball just happened, taking place on the 8th of June, 2019. Not only known for its fundraising efforts, The Life Ball is also known for being home to some of the most extravagant red carpet outfits.
The Life Ball has become a major fixture on the city's and the world's calendar, with over 45,000 spectators every year and being attended by many high profile celebrities, including; Elton John, Dita von Teese and Naomi Campbell. Over it's 26 year lifespan, it's also raised over $34 million for HIV/AIDS charities across the world.
Unlike an event like the Met Gala, The Life Ball is predominantly open to the public, being able to view the red carpet, the opening show, the fashion show (by Italian fashion house Missoni this year) and the Life Ball party, as well as actually being able to purchase tickets to the full event and the red carpet itself. Inspired by Vienna’s opulent balls, fashion is an incredibly important aspect of The Life Ball. Not only is a fashion show an integral part of the event, the fashion of the red carpet is, incredible. Imagine a mixture of club kid fashion, drag and intense European-inspired costuming. Various famous fashion designers have previously contributed to the fashion show, including; Thierry Mugler, Vivienne Westwood and Donatella Versace.
For this year, the theme was; "United in Diversity; Walking on the yellow brick road towards an end to AIDS." Every year, a 'Style Bible' is released, giving inspiration to all guests for their red carpet outfits. This year the bible was full of black and white imagery of vintage circus performers and artists. We are all freaks in our own right, each on the search for a home, a heart, a brain, or courage. LGBT+ individuals are often seen as 'freaks' or 'outsiders' in their society, making the circus metaphor particularly redemptive and fitting. Themed around vintage circus performers and obviously the camp film The Wizard of Oz, guests are highly encouraged to wear an extravagant outfit to The Life Ball. As it say on their website, "At the ball night in particular, extravagant outfits and creative stylings are not only a sign of solidarity, but also an important visual statement that is carried out into the entire world through the reporting media." So as you could imagine how extravagant the outfits get.
As it's currently Pride Month, I thought it would be fitting to have a look at the incredibly extravagant fashion that graced the red carpet, both this year and in previous years.
This year's Life Ball however, is the most significant one yet, as it coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. It is also the last Life Ball, as it's becoming difficult to find sponsors and funding. And whilst it's fun to talk about who was on the red carpet and what they were wearing, the purpose of The Life Ball cannot be ignored. The threat of HIV/AIDS is still very real, and while we have made some significant advances to both benefit the lives of those affected by HIV/AIDS and to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, it is still a significant issues that we still need to tackle.
That is why The Life Ball was first created, and we still need to honour that.