Gala by the Sea: Inside the Glitzy LuisaViaRoma x UNICEF Saint Barth Fundraiser
To get to Saint Barth, one must endure a terrifyingly tiny airport runway or a choppy, hour-long ferry ride from nearby Sint Maarten. (Unless, of course, you’re arriving via yacht, as many of the island’s visitors tend to do.) It’s certainly not a convenient holiday destination and it’s even less of a practical locale for a megawatt, celebrity-filled art auction fundraiser—but then that’s part of the point.
“We choose the most difficult places,” said Andrea Panconesi, the president and founder of e-luxury retailer LuisaViaRoma, of his company s series of fundraisers for UNICEF. Since the first gala in Sardinia’s Porto Cervo in 2018, the now bi-annual event (hosted in Capri and Saint Barth) generates an almost deafening buzz. “Capri is a nightmare to get everything there, and here in Saint Barth, everything has to be imported—but that s what makes it special. We don t like easy things,” he continued.
Last night, LuisaViaRoma hosted yet another impossibly glamorous event at Emeraude beach just down the street from the isle’s storied Eden Rock Hotel. Situated in a tent that fit over 500 people, the gala, (supported by the Red Sea International Film Festival, which received polarizing reviews earlier this month) raised funds for UNICEF, the United Nations International Children s Emergency Fund—an agency dedicated to providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children around the world. By the end of the night, over $3 million was raised and it was celebrated with a double-feature musical performance from Lenny Kravitz and Drake.
Guest included Leonardo DiCaprio (unphotographed, per usual), Rita Ora (who wore a custom David Koma dress festooned with a serpentine bejeweled neckline, a feathered mermaid hem, and matching opera gloves), Tobey Maguire, Naomi Watts (in a diaphanous patterned Roberto Cavalli gown), Billy Crudup, Luke Evans, Edward Enninful Obe, Karolina Kurkova (in a mercury-like metallic Dolce Gabbana legging and tunic set), Maxwell, Kygo, Liya Kebede, Kiernan Shipka, and Georgia Palmer. Everyone arrived around 8 PM for a cocktail hour that was sprinkled with several of the night’s auction lots—Steve McQueen s own 1961 Cooper T-56 formula junior race car, a diptych by 10-year-old painter wunderkind Andres Valencia, and Iranian artist Soraya Sharghi To Persian Hero, 2022. Guests pursued the available items before taking their seats in the dinner tent that was bathed in a blue light reminiscent of the nearby waters.
“The collaboration between LuisaViaRoma and UNICEF over these five years has shown that uniting in solidarity really makes a difference in the lives of many children around the world,” said Luisa Panconesi, daughter of Andrea and the individual credited with conceiving the partnership alongside Tommaso Chiabra. Dressed in a flowing white gown, she thanked everyone in the room and encouraged them to dig deep during the subsequent auction. “There is no future without children and your generosity will assist UNICEF s continued work in providing care and protection to the most vulnerable around the world."
Presiding over the auction was the ever-entertaining Simon de Pury; gavel in hand, he hyped up the audience to raise their paddles. He had help, though, from a series of starry assistants. Rita Ora introduced a work by Chris Levine, serenading the crowd with ABBA’s “Money, Money, Money” in acapella. Event co-chair Karolina Kurkova (with makeup by Charlotte Tilbury, beauty partner of the event) impressed upon the audience the significance of Soraya Sharghi’s painting, given the current geopolitical situation in Iran. It sold swiftly, as did all the other lots which were gobbled up by the deep-pocketed guests who were thrilled to secure a magnanimous status (and bragging rights) among their fellow partygoers.
Around midnight, attendees were rewarded with a musical finale. Dressed in heeled thigh-high boots, a satin coat, and a diamanté-encrusted top that appeared more like a necklace, Kravtiz rocked on stage; he kicked off his set with “American Woman” and proceeded to have jam sessions with his guitarists and saxophone players, before ending with “It Ain t Over Til It s Over.” With a swagger that epitomized rock stardom, he didn’t address the crowd with a hello (he’s too cool for such formalities) and had guests standing on their gala chairs, dancing to the rhythm.
After a brief pause, out came Drake, who promised to keep the party going as it was way past midnight at this point. In true fashion, he infused his set with a bit of sentiment, wishing all the guests a Happy New Year and oozing out good vibes. Performing a mish-mash with snippets from his top hits (“God’s Plan,” “One Dance”), he finished it off with an unexpected song that he didn’t actually perform himself; instead, he encouraged a bit of audience participation with Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.” With a crowd comprised of various ages and nationalities, it was a shared moment; the universally beloved tune was one that absolutely everyone knew the words to, and so most everyone did indeed sing along. Reminding everyone of the importance of coming together, the moment was a perfect way to cap off the night.
Craig Barritt/Getty Images1/28Paolo Rozera, Alessandra Rossi, Andrea Panconesi, Luisa Panconesi, Tommaso Chiabra
Photo: Lucas Possiede2/28Rita Ora
