Madonna and Gucci for Unicef

Madonna and Gucci join forces for Malawian orphans

MADONNA IS JOINING forces with Gucci to raise funds for Unicef and orphans in Malawi.

The Material Girl, who is the process of having her adoption of a Malawian child made official, will host a special fashion event in February at the new Gucci store on Fifth Avenue, including a dinner, concert and afterparty.

Befitting the high-caliber host, the guest list is set to be just as starry with Madonna calling on her most A-list of friends to make the evening extra special. Co-chairs include Lucy Liu, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, Gwyneth Paltrow and Salma Hayek.

'I am grateful that Gucci is joining forces with me to bring attention to a country with millions of children in desperate need of our help,' says Madonna. '[The charity] Raising Malawi has already done tremendous work in helping these children. But we have much more to do and this event will surely bring us closer to our goal.'

Mark Lee, CEO at Gucci, adds: 'We are honoured to have Madonna host this very special event with us, celebrating the opening of our New York Fifth Avenue flagship store while generating funds for Raising Malawi and Unicef... We are inspired by the work of Raising Malawi and Unicef - organisations that are improving life in communities devastated by HIV/Aids, and helping thousands of children in their daily struggle to survive.'

Every penny from the event will go towards good causes, after Gucci offered to underwrite the whole event.