A model presents creations from Diesel at the 14th Life Ball
© AFP/File Joe Klamar

VIENNA (AFP) - "It has the same energy and the same spirit (as the first Life Ball) but it's a new generation," organiser Gery Keszler told a press conference hours before the show.

"That's why it was most important for me to invite the coolest designers from the USA, Heatherette, and at the same time having such young people" involved in the extravaganza, said Keszler who has overseen the event since he first created it in 1993.

Trevor Rains and Richie Rich -- the New York designer duo known as Heatherette -- designed the costumes for this year's extravagant fashion show, which will take place on a giant red-ribbon shaped catwalk, half of which will consist of an ice-skating rink, in front of Vienna's City Hall.

Grammy-award winning singer Mya, actor Adam Brody from the TV series "The O.C," French football star Christian Karembeu and his model wife Adriana, Lance Bass and JC Chasez of former boy band N'Sync, porn star Jenna Jameson and New York's number one transsexual Amanda Lepore will be among the celebrities modelling the flamboyant outfits.

Mya and pop sensation Scissor Sisters will perform live at the event, which is expected to go until 5:00 am.

"It is a crazy party," Keszler told journalists, adding, "it's quite an impressive event and nobody expects it from the city of Vienna."

But he pointed out however: "it's most important, beside the fundraising, that we never forget how many millions -- 40 million people -- are infected (with HIV) in the world.

"AIDS is still here, AIDS has to be fought more than ever."

More also needs to be done to help children who suffer from the disease, actress Sharon Stone, who works with the Foundation for AIDS Research (amFAR), told the press conference.

"You don't have to be rich, you just have to have an hour, you have to have some initiative and you can make a difference," she said, adding that amFAR's share of the Life Ball's proceeds would go entirely to its TREAT Asia project, which delivers AIDS treatments around Asia.

Some 2.3 million children under the age of 15 have HIV and 540,000 alone got infected this year, she said. At present, 780,000 children need treatment and only 15 percent get it, she added.

"How do you not find the time? How do you let one child die every minute from AIDS?," she asked, as she called on people to devote more time and energy to helping young people with AIDS.

Last year, the Life Ball raised some 1.1 million euros (1.48 million dollars) for Keszler's Aids Life association and he hopes to top that amount again this year. Fifty percent of the money will go to AIDS projects in Austria, while the rest will be handed to international organisations, such as amFAR.

Some 4,000 guests, who paid between 75 and 135 euros (100 and 180 dollars) for a ticket, are expected to attend Saturday's Life Ball, themed "Once upon a time there was a princess called Hope" and broadcast for the first time on national television.

The point of the Life Ball is "letting the world smile for a minute... and saving a lot of people's lives," Heatherette's Richie Rich said.

©AFP