| EVENT REPORT 10.13.08 3:15 PM |
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| Artist Management |
| Local and European artists helped create visually arresting branding opportunities for event sponsors at Gen Art's fashion shows. |
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Gen Art’s Fashionably Natural and Fresh Faces runway shows last Thursday and Friday at the Petersen Automotive Museum focused on showcasing the collections of up-and-coming fashion designers. But for the arts and entertainment organization’s senior vice president of events, Elizabeth Shaffer, the task of presenting event sponsors in interesting and captivating ways was equally important.
“My job is about coming up with brand activations and figuring out ways to convey messages,” Shaffer said. “I worked closely with corporate sponsors to showcase brands in nontraditional ways, and in ways that didn’t make guests feel like they’re being over-marketed.” |
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PHOTO GALLERY |
 | Models walked a 60-foot catwalk at the Fresh Faces and Fashionably Natural fashion shows.
Photo: Tiffany Rose |
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 | At the Fashionably Natural show, guests posted paper notes on a tree identical to one that appears in artist Roman Klonek's animated television commercial for Soyjoy.
Photo: Tiffany Rose |
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 | Gen Art and Soyjoy flew in artist Roman Klonek from Germany to create a painting at the Fashionably Natural show.
Photo: Tiffany Rose |
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 | Soyjoy bars decorated vases full of colorful gerbera daisies at the Fashionably Natural show.
Photo: Tiffany Rose |
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Shaffer turned to artists in order to create those unconventional branding opportunities. At Thursday night’s Fashionably Natural event, attendees could watch as artist Roman Klonek worked on a painting reminiscent of the artwork he created for presenting sponsor Soyjoy’s print and television advertising campaign. An eight-foot replica of a colorful tree that appears in Klonek’s animated television advertisement for Soyjoy was also on site. Guests could post messages about things that made them optimistic, a nod to the soy snack company’s “fortified with optimism” tagline. Additional artwork by Klonek, as well as Simon Peplow and Gary Taxali—two other artists who have contributed to the company’s advertising campaign—were also on display.
At Friday night’s Fresh Faces show, graffiti artists created a Los Angeles-centric mural against a 24-foot white canvas decorated with T-Mobile and BlackBerry logos, as well as vinyl images of BlackBerry’s latest mobile phones. Models circulated the venue with trays of the phones, giving guests the opportunity to examine the devices.
This year marked Gen Art’s 11th annual Fresh Faces fashion show, and the first go-round for the Fashionably Natural show, which presents the work of local fashion designers who use all-natural material to create their collections. “Traditionally, Gen Art has focused on the cutting-edge talent emerging in fashion, so it made sense that we launch an eco-fashion show,” Shaffer says. “Eco-fashion is a huge hot button right now, especially in the L.A. market.”
—Rosalba Curiel
RELATED TOPICS
Gen Art, T-Mobile, BlackBerry, Soyjoy
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