Even though this week's weather pattern would seem to dictate otherwise, summer days are gone and so are beach house pop-ups—replaced by retail pop-ups like Little Black Dress. Fiji Water partnered with H. Stern to host an intimate dinner for 30 on Tuesday at the shopping pop-up in West Hollywood to underscore the brand's relationships with different industries and play up an image of quality. “It was the unique nature of the space that made me hold it here and not a restaurant or hotel,” said Fiji Water event manager Greg Sato.
The theme of the event was “A Renaissance of Simplicity,” meant to evoke the salon-style gatherings of bygone eras, during which guests discussed important issues. Attendees included a group of influential people across various industries, including designer Diana Resnick, Nanette Lepore C.E.O. Heather Pech, Interscope Records marketing head Chris Clancy, and Modern Luxury president Alan Klein, who assumed hosting duties.
Next Friday—just after Los Angeles Fashion Week wraps—Versus L.A. will debut in the Stock Exchange Building downtown. In a nod to restoring downtown's fashion district as a nightlife destination, the team behind the new club fully renovated the historic building.
The multilevel venue has 22,000 square feet of event space and holds 1,800. The ground floor has indoor ponds and a bar and lounge with several semiprivate tables, as well as a banquet hall with room for 250.
Models at the Calvin Klein launch Photo: Courtesy of Overcat Communications
FROM TORONTO When Coty Canada began planning Tuesday's media launch for the new Calvin Klein fragrance Secret Obsession, the company wanted to create a sense of mystery and suspense for guests. “Since the name of the product is Secret Obsession, we wanted to invite all of the media members and really not reveal where they were going," said Aliki Mahshy, director of public relations and education for Coty Canada. So the company arranged for private cars to pick up guests and drive them to a location that remained "undisclosed," Mahshy said.
Guests were dropped at the shipping entrance to a downtown building and taken through a subterranean tunnel of sorts to enter the event space, the the bank vault in the basement of the Suites at 1 King West. (The building, now a hotel, once housed the head office of the Dominion Bank of Canada.) “This location was so indicative of Secret Obsession. When we found this it was extremely intriguing to us. There’s a lot of caged elements and the idea or concept of unlocking something. It was really very fitting for this particular brand," Mahshy said.
Meeting Professionals International (MPI) announced yesterday the host cities for four of its upcoming conferences. The 24,000-member group’s largest annual gathering, the World Education Conference, will head to Orlando, Florida, from July 23 to 26, 2011; to St. Louis from July 28 to 31, 2012; and to Las Vegas from July 20 to 23, 2013. (The 2009 and 2010 incarnations are set take place July 11 to 14 in Salt Lake City and July 24 to 27 in Vancouver, British Columbia, respectively.)
MPI also holds an annual MeetDifferent conference, which focuses on innovative meeting design, alternative learning strategies, and new technology. The 2009 event is planned for February 7 to 10 in Atlanta, and the organization also announced yesterday that the 2010 conference will take place in Cancun, Mexico, February 20 to 23. —Claire Hoffman
FDCC president Robin Kay Photo: Courtesy of the Fashion Design Council of Canada
FROM TORONTO The Fashion Design Council of Canada (FDCC), which launched L'Oréal Fashion Week eight years ago, is set to present the spring 2009 collections from October 20 through 25 in the tents at Nathan Phillips Square. This season's shows, being held over six days, will be Toronto's biggest presentation yet.
"It’s growing in every way—in awareness and attendance, in designers and sponsorship," said FDCC president Robin Kay, who noted that more than 35 sponsors have signed on to support Fashion Week, during which more than 70 designers will showcase their work in 38 shows on two runways (a first for L'Oréal Fashion Week). We asked Kay how the event has evolved and how she envisions its future.
You have implemented some major changes within the past year. What's your goal?
To be a really great Fashion Week that designers want to come to and show at and sell product. Fashion Week is a calling card for the industry, for designers to sell clothes, for reporters and writers and photographers, and retailers and buyers. It’s a huge, huge industry that was absent in Canada…I came to realize it because I was a designer, and when I stopped and looked up and saw there was nothing happening in this country, I really thought a Fashion Week would be the best attention grabber. It’s been inspirational for the city. It’s wonderful to link art and commerce, to link sponsors with the event and to build our country’s fashion economy. That’s what’s exciting for me.
Thermador's cooking contest-style press event Photo: Jessica Torossian for BizBash
FROM NEW YORK With the ongoing popularity of Food Network cooking shows and reality TV series Top Chef, more and more chefs are coming out of the kitchen and into the spotlight—especially at events. Yesterday, Thermador played up this trend by presenting three New York culinary personalities in a cooking show-style format as a vehicle to promote its latest cooktops. Dubbed the Thermador Chefs Challenge, the event at the Altman Building involved two sessions—one in the afternoon and another in the evening—for more than 300 journalists and interior designers.
Hosted by chef and restaurateur Tom Colicchio, the challenge pitted chefs Michael Psilakis (of Anthos) and Alex Guarnaschelli (of Butter) against each other in a 15-minute cook-off involving chocolate. Although no winner was declared and the focus was more on the new technology than the chefs's performances, guests were able to sample the dishes and see the appliances in action. The event was overseen by Thermador PR manager Marni Hale and marketing agency the Rogers Group.
Last week, Amanda Lamb began her new post as a manager in the publicity and special events department at Warner Brothers, where her responsibilities will include overseeing production for events like film premieres and securing sponsors. Lamb joins the company after working as the senior event manager at Benarroch Productions, an event production and management firm that often handles movie premieres. —Rosalba Curiel
Mariachi Monumental de America performing at the reopening party Photo: Vince Florez/CelebrityPhoto
After being closed for a year, La Fonda on Wilshire reopened October 1 with an event to celebrate the newly refurbished landmark. During the grand reopening party, the venue unveiled its new entertainment and cultural center, the centerpiece of the $1 million renovation project. The entire Spanish colonial-style building is available for buyout, offering 20,000 square feet of event space. The second-level cultural center holds 100, the restaurant 200, and the Hayworth Theater 300.
Future community outreach programs for the cultural center include a joint effort with LAUSD to form a mariachi group, revolving shows featuring the works of local artists, and other Mexican cultural initiatives. Mariachi Monumental de America de Juan Jose Almaguer—which performed at the opening party—plays in the restaurant Wednesday through Sunday.
An acrylic fountain on Elle's stage Photo: Donato Sardella
A scant 200 guests made the invitee list for Elle’s Women in Hollywood event Monday night at the Four Seasons. Chelsea Handler assumed hosting duties for the event, which honored Hollywood icons including Halle Berry, Jane Fonda, Catherine Hardwicke, Anne Hathaway, Salma Hayek, Nicole Kidman, Sigourney Weaver, and Isla Fisher.
Elle’s Eric Johnson oversaw the event for the magazine and worked with Larry Abel/De-signs for production. “The aesthetic we are going with this year is very clean, crisp, fresh—something that we feel is in line with Elle,” said Caitlin Weiskopf, the magazine's special events and merchandising manager, who also worked on the event.
A customizable note card from She She Impressions. Photo: Courtesy of She She Impressions
FROM TORONTO She She Impressions is a Toronto-based company that sells a variety of stamp designs, note cards, and a selection of coloured inks through its online store. The company, launched earlier this year by longtime friends Martha Digby Boyle and Leslie White, designs personalized name and address stamps and has just begun offering a new product called My Logo Stamp, which is suitable for corporate clients. With a black and white copy of a logo—in either a jpeg or pdf format—the company can create a custom self-inking stamp to be used as a seal on envelopes or featured on one of its 15 note card designs. The front of each card has a circular cut-out to accommodate the stamped design. The stamps, which can be shipped throughout North America, retail for $49.99 and will last for as many as 10,000 impressions. —Susan O'Neill
