Last night How To Spend It, the Financial Times’ luxury lifestyle magazine, celebrated its 20th anniversary with a party at the Corinthia Hotel in London. Hosted by FT CEO John Ridding, FT editor Lionel Barber and How To Spend It editor Gillian de Bono, the event marks this week’s launch of a How To Give It commemorative fundraising issue and auction, available in FT Weekend on 29th-30th November.
In an industry first, each item and experience pictured in the magazine will be auctioned by Christie’s in an online sale between 29 November and 11 December. All proceeds will be donated to Save the Children, the charity that helps children in areas of natural disaster, conflict and abject poverty.
In a speech to guests, Lionel Barber paid tribute to Gillian de Bono for her unique vision and to her talented editorial team. They “consistently produce a magazine that is not only beautiful to look at but underpinned by excellent journalism,” he said.
Gillian de Bono thanked everyone involved in the How To Give It fundraising issue – from the luxury brands who generously donated one-of-a-kind lots and Christie’s who waived their fee to her team who pulled out all the stops to deliver this industry first.
Guests included Roberto and Eva Cavalli (pictured here with Gillian de Bono); Christopher Kane; John and Simone Rocha; Marcus Wareing, Maria Grachvogel, Ozwald Boateng; Nick Hart; Stephen Jones; Melissa Odabash, Anton Mosimann; and Patrick Grant. Drinks were provided by Krug.
How To Give It features interviews with Colin Firth, Marc Newson, Stella McCartney, Rene Redzepi and Lapo Elkann. Star lots include a £93,300 limited edition Chopard Tourbillon watch made of Fairmined 18ct rose gold; a £32,000 holiday for two on North Island, Seychelles; one-of-a kind handbags by Prada and Gucci, each worth in excess of £20,000; and a champagne-paired dinner for six people hosted by Olivier Krug in his childhood home in Reims, worth £15,000. Preview the lots here.
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About How To Spend It
Published 31 times a year with the Financial Times, How To Spend It is widely regarded as the benchmark for luxury lifestyle magazines. It is also available online at howtospendit.com and as an app. During Gillian de Bono’s tenure as editor, How To Spend It has been named Colour Supplement of the Year 13 times at the Newspaper Awards, and is the only colour supplement to have won all three major industry awards in a single year: The British Press Awards 2004, the British Society of Magazine Editors 2004 and The 2004 Newspaper Awards. How To Spend It also stands out as the only newspaper colour supplement with a foreign language edition, following the recent launch of its partnership with Il Sole 24 Ore.
About Save the Children
Save the Children works in 120 countries. We save children’s lives. We fight for their rights. We help them fulfill their potential. For more information, please visit www.savethechildren.org.uk.
About the Financial Times:
The refresh is the latest development in 126 years of quality journalism and innovation. The Financial Times was first printed in 1888, and since turning its pages pink in 1893, the FT has continued to transform itself with new business models and services. Providing essential news, comment, data and analysis for the global business community, it has has a combined paid print and digital circulation of almost 677,000, the largest readership in its history. Mobile is an increasingly important channel for the FT, driving 60 per cent of subscriber consumption, almost half of all digital traffic and 20 per cent of new digital subscriptions. FT education products now serve two thirds of the world’s top 50 business schools. For news about the FT follow @FTPressOffice.
For further information contact:
Kristina Eriksson
T: +44 (0)207 873 4961
E: kristina.eriksson@FT.com