We love a good A-List friendship, and best mates Victoria Beckham and Eva Longoria are one of our favourite platonic pairings. Ever since the British fashion designer met the American actor in the early Noughties, they have been firm friends and are fixtures at each other’s life milestones. That extends to the Global Gift Gala, a fundraiser that brings money and exposure to Eva’s decade-old charitable foundation, and while Victoria couldn’t make it to this year’s London bash due to a New York business trip, she was definitely there in spirit.
‘She's my sister,’ Longoria told Grazia. ‘I mean, she's very philanthropic in her own right. And she's been doing so much for women. And to have her as a partner in any philanthropic endeavour is really a gift. She's so committed to using her voice and her platform or resources to do that. And that's always a great, great friend to have.’ It’s not the only positive, though. ‘The best thing about having her as a friend is her closet,’ Longoria laughed.
Eva and her friend Maria Bravo set up the foundation ten years ago. ‘We had this idea of connecting the dots between people, and charity and philanthropists’, she explains. ‘So many people want to do well and do good, but don't know how. So we wanted to make it easy for them, and to bring attention, awareness and funds to fiscally responsible organisations across the world.’
Eva first entered the international spotlight as part of the cast of Desperate Housewives, alongside Teri Hatcher and Felicity Huffman. But stardom was not what drove her to charity. ‘It's in my DNA’, she says. ‘I grew up in a very philanthropic family, my sister has special needs. And so I was always was born into it. I've never known anything else, but to give back and to volunteer and to be involved in your community. And so whether or not I was going to be famous, I knew this was going to be my life's work.’
One thing’s for certain, though: unlike many celebrities, Eva won’t be aiming to exact change from the Oval Office. The most powerful person in politics is the citizen’, she says. ‘I prefer to use my powers like that. I think the myth is that you have to become a politician to do good. I’m not sure that's true.’