/UCWE/ - This midsummer’s eve fashion icon Zandra Rhodes, the Fashion and Textile Museum and Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity will team up with the crème de la crème of British fashion - from Sir Paul Smith to Clements Ribeiro to Lucinda Chambers to Jade Parfitt - to host a glittering charity event, the My Favourite Dress Charity Ball. The event, being hosted at the exclusive Hurlingham Club in Fulham, is being held in association with leading British Fashion Retailer Warehouse, who have stepped on board as principal sponsor.

A theatrical extravaganza of fashion and fundraising, the ball will raise money for Fashion and Textile Museum’s Education Programme, which provides disadvantaged young people with training and opportunities in fashion and Rainbow Trust, who helps children with life threatening or terminal illness and their families

Zandra and her creative team are working with teenagers from the museum’s education programme to design the event décor – an explosion of colour and fun in hot summer colours pink, orange blue. A veritable ‘who’s who’ of fashion will produce a further kaleidoscope of colour when they don their favourite dresses for the party.

Platinum selling artist Lucie Silvas will be headlining the entertainment, which includes New York dance act Rachel Cohen and Company who are flying in specially for the ball.

The theme of My Favourite Dress originated from the Fashion and Textile Museum’s highly successful international exhibition. The event was inspired when guests at the exhibition launch party, all of whom were wearing their favourite dress, declared how many compliments they had received en route. It will launch a series of My Favourite Dress charity initiatives, including the ‘My Favourite Dress Day’ where every woman in the country is encouraged to wear their favourite dress for the day.

“How often do we get to really dress up? I want to give women the chance to feel fabulous for the day by dressing up in their favourite dress – be it their wedding dress, prom dress, favourite sari or just their best summer frock. All the money raised from My Favourite Dress initiatives will help to bring vital support and care to young people throughout Britain. We have found the perfect charity partner in Rainbow Trust – they have really captured our hearts and imaginations and make a true and lasting difference to the families they work with. We can’t thank Warehouse enough for helping us make, what started as an exciting dream, a reality.” Zandra Rhodes CBE

For interviews, photographs, quotes or to send a photographer on the night please contact: Karen Berkley / Dita Miller at KB Publicity:  0870 4328410 / email: e-mail protected from spam bots

Trudy Millar at Rainbow Trust: 01372 220045 / email: e-mail protected from spam bots

Editors Notes:
Ticket Information: Tickets are priced at £175.00 each. For more information contact:
Rachael McLennan: 01372 220042 / email: e-mail protected from spam bots

Full List of Committee Members For ‘My Favourite Dress Ball’
Hilary Alexander, Jo Appleby, Lucinda Chambers, Nick Smith, Alison Chow, Emma Day, Ben De Lisi,
Poppy de Villeneuve, Daisy de Villeneuve, Damaris Evans, Elspeth Gibson, Allegra Hicks, Anya Hindmarch, Ashley Isham, Jackie Llewelyn-Bowen, Louis Mariette, Jean Muir Ltd, Sarah Owen, Jenny Packham, Jade Parfitt, Lorraine Pringle, Clements Ribeiro, John Rocha, Ann-Louise Roswald, Sir Paul Smith,

Full list of sponsors
Warehouse, Why Not!, Tasty Publishing, NowEmail

Fashion and Textile Museum
Opened in 2003, the Fashion and Textile Museum (FTM) represents the life long dream of founder, Zandra Rhodes. Located in one of the fashion capitals of the world, London, the museum is the first of its kind to showcase the talent of local and international fashion and textile designers. The FTM focuses on British and international fashion and textile design from 1950 to the present day.

Fashion and Textile Museum’s educational program aims to stimulate, encourage and inspire young minds through the study of contemporary fashion and textile design.  The museum aims to celebrate the innovative talent within the fashion industries and encourage young and aspiring designers to take the fashion industry to a new height and lead the way to the future.

Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity
Rainbow Trust provides a vital service to families who have a child diagnosed with a life threatening or terminal illness. From diagnosis, through bereavement and beyond they offer practical and emotional support and care both in the families’ own home and in two respite houses in Surrey and Northumberland.

At any time 10,000 families in England have a child diagnosed with a terminal or life threatening illness. No one expects to out-live their children. The news that your child may die shatters families.

Currently, Rainbow Trust helps one in ten of these families. For every child helped there are nine that don’t receive their special care. Rainbow Trust’s dream is for every one of these families to have access to a consistent source of emotional and practical support, for as long as they need it.