Six red Maserati joined 70 high-profile inspirational women on this year’s Cash & Rocket Tour. The 70 ladies, dressed in glamorous red evening wear, completed 1600 miles over 3 days in a parade of luxury and vintage cars all wrapped in red. Amongst the starlets behind the wheel of the Maserati models wereTop Shop heiress Chloe Green, Italian actress Matilde Gioli, Valentino Creative Director Maria Grazia Chiuri, jewellery designer Betony Vernon, Italian Vogue Editor Franca Sozzani and Galeries Lafayette Fashion Director, Averyl Oates.
The Cash & Rocket convoy collected funds for three non-profit organisations in Africa: Shine On Sierra Leone, Orphan Aid Africa in Ghana and Sumbandila in South Africa. Last year, over £178,000 was raised for the charities; this year’s goal was to eclipse that figure and, although final figures have not yet been calculated, the total is set to exceed over £776,000. Topshop Heiress Chloe Green and co-pilot Kate Ryan, received this year’s award for raising the most money out of all of the teams, raising a staggering £217,787 so far.
The Tour started in Venice on Friday 6th June before passing through Milan and finally reaching Geneva at the end of day one. During the first day the ladies enjoyed a glamorous Italian lunch at the exclusive Finger’s Garden restaurant in Milan, courtesy of Maserati.
On day two the procession headed for France stopping in Reims on the way to Paris where they were welcomed to Valentino’s HQ by a line-up of Maserati models.
The tour concluded last night with a final drive across the channel and an impressive 35 car, police escorted convoy to London’s Sloane Square. Later a White Gala Dinner and charity auction took place at the National History Museum; guests wore glamorous white according to the dress code and dined around the huge Diplodocus dinosaur exhibition.
VIP guests in attendance at the star-studded event included designer and model Jasmine Guinness, models Daisy Lowe, Jade Parfitt and Yasmin Le Bon, television personality Jo Wood and British singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, who also performed later in the evening. Designer Delfina Delettrez Fendi also attended, arriving in immaculate style in a chauffeur driven Maserati Quattroporte.
Amongst the charity auction prizes which helped raise the record beating funds were a pair of David Morris rose-cut diamond earrings and a one-of-a-kind Valentino gown designed by Co-Creative Directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli which sold for an incredible £110,000.
