Fashionable union

It was Versace's first fashion show held in China - and it combined haute couture with a good cause, raising money for the children of earthquake stricken Sichuan province.

The preview of Versace's spring 2009 women's and men's collections was held on November 13, just half a year after the May 12 quake hit the province in southwest China, in a newly developed luxury area, the Beijing Legation Quarter, near Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.

An exclusive charity auction followed, with 960,000 yuan donated entirely to the Jet Li One Foundation, a charity project developed by film star Li of the Red Cross Society of China. The money will help open two to three Versace/One Foundation Children's Centers, providing psychological therapy and post-trauma counseling for children, in the earthquake-devastated territory.

The auction, conducted by Sotheby's, included exclusive luxury products and once in a lifetime experiences, donated by Versace and Li.

Donatella Versace, brand holder, vice president and creative director of the Italian fashion house, also designed a Versace/One Foundation logo that is featured on a range of limited edition merchandise that the "fashion queen" introduces in her collections for one year.

The items are available exclusively at 15 Versace boutiques on the Chinese mainland, and the first pieces went on sale the day after the charity event.

Just two days before the charity gala, Versace was in Sanjiang, a small town about two and a half hours bumpy drive from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan.

She was accompanied by Li to visit the first Versace/One Foundation Children's Center there. The two have set up a yearlong partnership to open other such centers in Sichuan.

The Sanjiang center features contemporary houses equipped with running water and electricity. It was finished recently and is home for over 400 children aged 6 to 14, many of whom are from Qiang and Tibetan minorities.

When the children presented a folk fashion show for Versace she said she was really excited and praised the local style as "beautiful".

Wearing a pink Versace/One Foundation logo T-shirt, the 53-year-old designer looked much younger than her age as she played games with the children, with a warm and gentle motherly smile.

She had seen the devastation on TV and the enormity of the plight faced by the victims who seemingly had little hope or prospects for the future.

"As a mother, I instinctively wanted to do something for the families that are suffering," said the mother of a daughter, 22, and a son, 17.

She found that Jet Li's One Foundation is one of the philanthropic organizations in China that immediately provided disaster relief support for the heavy quake and that it focuses on not only medical care but also post-trauma therapy.

After careful and serious communication, the luxury brand and the One Foundation reached their agreement and identified psychological therapy and post-trauma counseling as an essential form of relief for the Sichuan children.

Li's international image, his title as Red Cross Ambassador, the One Foundation's recent collaboration with a series of large brands, such as Toyota, Costa and Montblanc, as well as the transparency of the foundation promotes bilateral cooperation, observers say.

The foundation has released quarterly fund raising and allocation reports, audited by Deloitte, since its establishment in last April. According to a report released late last month, the One Foundation has raised over 82 million yuan from corporations, organizations and individuals from China and abroad between May 12 to November 12, which has gone to education, environmental protection and anti-poverty programs.

Li tells China Business Weekly that the Sanjiang Versace/One Foundation Children's Center will be a pilot project.

"We will accumulate experience from the center, further improve the model and spread it to all quake-hit areas, as more such children's centers are built here," he notes.

(China Daily 11/24/2008 page8)