Elton selling clothes for charity
Tuesday December 08 2009
Sir Elton John is finally saying goodbye to his beloved Versace shirts after years of clinging on to them for sentimental reasons - by selling them for charity.
His partner David Furnish said they had found it hard to part with the items since the death of their pal, designer Gianni Versace, in 1997.
But the 47-year-old, who's been through his own and his civil partner's wardrobe for charity sale Out The Closet, said they'd now decided to sell them to raise cash for The Elton John Aids Foundation.
He said: "Some things we've been hanging on to - the silk printed Versace shirts for many years Elton said 'Don't put those in the sale' because they're so redolent of Gianni Versace's spirit and he was such a great friend. But a few of them found their way into the last sale and they just sold so well, and people really liked them, and they're very collectable for a fan, or for a fan of fashion, so I cleared them all out!"
The filmmaker revealed he thought this year's Out The Closet sale would probably be the last. When the couple held a sale in 2002 it raised £400,000.
Furnish insisted it wasn't hard for the couple to let go of their clothes, saying: "When you go out into the field and you realise what a difference the money raised makes to people's lives. We have a lot of beautiful clothing in our wardrobe and we can't wear it all at once, and what's the point of hanging onto it when other people can enjoy it and it can raise money for charity?"
The sale opens to the public at the Flower Cellar in London's Covent Garden on December 12 and will be restocked daily until sold out, with a clearance sale taking place on December 19.
Press Association
