Life Ball MINI 2009 designed by The Blonds for Katy Perry receives a rapturous welcome at the opening show

The Life Ball MINI 2009 made its grand entrance before a 40,000-strong crowd. Conveying VIP passengers David and Phillipe Blond along with Patricia Field, the Life Ball MINI 2009 opened the spectacular show in the square in front of Vienna’s City Hall.

Traditionally, the Life Ball MINI is created by the same designer responsible for the fashion show at the opening event. In 2009 it was The Blonds, currently New York’s hippest design duo. Offering her active support during the design process was their friend, the singer Katy Perry.

The result is a unique automobile: the Life Ball MINI 2009 in a pink and black leopard look. The wild cat theme continues on the inside, where the seats and part of the dashboard are lined with black imitation fur.

Embroidered tassels with silver threads and rhinestones are attached to the seats and the wing mirrors.

 And there is even glamour lurking in the footwells, where the mats are covered in black, glittery, deep-pile carpeting.

“MINI is just like our fashions – glamorous, sexy, cheerful and never boring,” says David Blond of his captivating creation.

For fans wishing to own this one-off model, nothing could be simpler: this year the Life Ball MINI 2009 is being raffled off in a prize draw.

Tickets cost 10 euros each and are available at all Life Ball events, from all BMW and MINI partners in Austria, directly from Life Ball, through the Austrian lottery distributors Prokopp and over the internet of course. Detailed information on purchasing tickets can be found at www.mini.at and www.lifeball.org. All proceeds from the prize draw will go to Life Ball and projects fighting HIV/AIDS.

Tickets will be on sale until the end of August and the official draw will take place on 1 September 2009. The Life Ball MINI has so far been designed by famous fashion icons such as Missoni (2003), Ferré (2004) and Versace (2005), followed by Diesel in 2006 and Agent Provocateur last year. Total proceeds now amount to more than 300,000 euros.

Social commitment on the part of the BMW Group

The collaboration with the Life Ball goes back to the year 2001. “In supporting the Vienna Life Ball – for the ninth year in succession – the MINI brand is forging its own path and making its own very individual contribution to the battle against this immunodeficiency disease,” comments Andreas-Christoph Hofmann, Head of MINI Brand Communication. “Each year, the Life Ball brings the pandemic back into public awareness at an emotional level and the raffle for this uniquely designed MINI will generate substantial funds for projects battling HIV/AIDS.”

Global measures against HIV/AIDS are a focus of the BMW Group’s commitment to social change. The company’s involvement is particularly far-reaching in South Africa, where it runs a comprehensive workplace programme for associates and their families as well as a range of projects in the communities and wider society. In other countries too, such as Thailand and China, the car manufacturer is committed to combating the pandemic. The BMW Group’s membership of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GBC) underscores its long-term involvement at its various locations around the world.