Gucci to support Madonna's Malawi cause

Italian Luxury brand Gucci is joining forces with Madonna to raise funds for orphans in Malawi, the impoverished southern African nation where the pop singer has been trying to adopt a child since last year. Gucci will host a fund-raising event with dinner, a musical performance and a party on February 6 next year to mark the opening of Gucci's largest store in the world, on New York's Fifth Avenue, co-hosted by Madonna.

Madonna stated the event will benefit UNICEF and the charity she co-founded in 2006, Raising Malawi, which focuses on trying to end the poverty and hardship suffered by Malawi's 1 million orphans, many of whose parents died of AIDS.

"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," Madonna said in a statement. Gucci, which is owned by French retailer PPR, has been a UNICEF corporate partner since 2004