Gucci is planning to open its largest store on Fifth Avenue and 56th Street in February, Women’s Wear Daily reports today. To mark the occasion in blow-out style is only fitting for the second goliath of global fashion brands. After all, it’s been an integral part of the hyper-provocative celebrity aesthetic since Tom Ford became its creative director in 1994. On February 6, Madonna and Gucci will join forces to throw a launch party, which will also serve as a benefit for the charities Raising Malawi and UNICEF.
Confirmed co-chairs at what’s already been billed Gucci’s “biggest event ever,” include the brand’s current creative director Frida Giannini, Salma Hayek and her fiancé, PPR chief executive François-Henri Pinault, Gwyneth Paltrow, Adrien Brody, Sting and Trudie Styler, Téa Leoni, Lucy Liu, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, London-based hedge fund mogul Arpad Busson and, for good measure, Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs.
"I am grateful that Gucci is joining forces with me to bring attention to a country with millions of children in desperate need of our help…Raising Malawi has already done tremendous work in helping these children," Madonna said of the upcoming Gucci benefit.