“Hark our words! Hark our words!” proclaimed Kristin Scott Thomas in a thick West Country accent, nodding sagely as part of her guise as a clairvoyant for London’s Fabulous Fund Fair, the third annual gala fund-raiser for Natalia Vodianova’s Naked Heart Foundation, where guests spend carnival tokens with a monetary value at luxury fairground stands hosted by VIPs to win some exclusive prizes from a slew of LVMH brands.
In an off-the-shoulder jumpsuit from Fendi’s resort collection, with an orange turban wrapping her wild red curls and huge spectacles, Scott Thomas hovered over a crystal ball as she and tarot reader Shy Charles gave readings to guests in a glittery silver caravan at Fendi’s stand at the event.
“You will meet the love of your life at a friend’s wedding,” Shy Charles predicted for one curious guest. “Yes, that’s how it always happens,” enjoined Scott Thomas, “I know, I made a whole movie about it and it was right, ‘Four Weddings and a Funeral.'”
“You must come and play Spin the Bottle with me,” exclaimed Royal Ballet soloist Eric Underwood, looking dapper in his Brooks Brothers suit and white scarf. Over at the Dom Pérignon stand, Underwood was in charge of hustling guests to part with their tokens to spin a magnum bottle in the hopes of winning a glass of rare vintage Dom or a kiss from the dancer.
“I flossed, I used loads of mouthwash and practicing being as sparkly as possible,” he said. “I have been trying to sell it to people and it’s a bit difficult because when you say you’re going to kiss people, they’re either, like, ‘Yay!’, or they’re a bit, like, ‘Nah….'”
Underwood’s cohost Clara Paget took a break to play the Giuseppe Zanotti Pair-a-Pair game. With a stopwatch ticking, she madly opened doors in a wall, trying to reveal two matching styles to win. “It’s really not easy with a 20-second time limit after a glass of Champagne,” she said.
The actress was joined by Jana Sacha Haveman and Laura Castro, designers of Vali, who held their London Fashion Week press appointments earlier in the day. “They are my favorite designers in the world,” she said. “A lot of other brands offered to dress me tonight but I just wanted to wear Vali.”
Elsewhere, surrounding the carousel at the heart of the party, Doutzen Kroes oversaw the making and flight of paper airplanes into different-size holes for Louis Vuitton; Erin O’Connor hosted the Dior Lucky Star stand, where coins were dropped into channels to win prizes; Liv Tyler made saw rules were followed at the throwing at the Maxx Royal Resorts Pineapple Shy, where small bean bags were thrown to knock down pineapples to win holidays; Lottie Moss, Carmen Jordá and Charlotte Wiggins helped out at Stella McCartney’s classic Arcade Games, and Arizona Muse encouraged patrons to scoop a rubber duck at Net-a-porter’s Net-a-Duck game.
Model Oliver Cheshire was thrilled with his prize, a silver Dior bag. “I knew the bird on the Dior stand; she showed me how to drop the coins,” he winked, implying he perhaps hadn’t played strictly by the rules. “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”
“He’s going to give the bag to his mama, which is well-deserved,” said Cheshire’s fiancé, singer and actress Pixie Lott, who has been filming “The Voice Kids” with Will.i.am and McFly’s Danny Jones. “These kids are so inspiring. I watch them and think, ‘Wow! I couldn’t do that when I was seven.’ They’re so fearless and because they’re so young, even if they don’t get through to the next round, they still have so much opportunity ahead of them.”
Later, Cheshire was seen in fierce competition with Andrés Velencoso, both taking turns to hit a punching bag fitted with a strike meter to see who could punch the with the most force. Other guests playing along included Lara Stone, model Abbey Clancy, Baptiste Giabiconi, Toby Huntington-Whiteley, Millie Mackintosh, model and chef Isaac Carew, Jess Glynne, Yasmin and Amber Le Bon, Justine Skye and Corinne Bailey Rae.
Vodianova and cohost Karlie Kloss made the circulated at The Roundhouse in Camden, stopping for innumerable photos with their glamorous carnie friends and selfies with patrons. Ever the professional, Kloss had just got her hands on some fish and chips when Stella McCartney passed by and the trailing photographers called for a shot. With a hot chip in her mouth, Kloss simply ceased chewing, stepped up, struck a pose, then resumed her mastication when the snappers had their shot. All for a good cause.
The event raised more than $585,000 for Vodianova’s charity. All the money will go towards the charity’s programs to develop a network of support services for families raising children with special needs and to create inclusive play facilities for children of all abilities in Russia. “The more fun you have, the more fun they can have. So, go, have fun,” she enjoined.
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