| EVENT REPORT 02.23.06 2:19 PM |
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| Soho House Opens in L.A.—Just for Oscar Week |
| Not to be excluded from the Academy Awards festivities, the private club took its brand to Hollywood. |
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Not to be excluded from the Academy Awards festivities, Soho House brought its brand from London and New York to the Hollywood Hills for a week. The chain of private clubs rented a 10,000-square-foot private residence and transformed it into a maze of luxe suites, calling it the Soho House Villa. (Soho House New York president Chris Sade will open a permanent L.A. venue in 2006.)
Interior designer Amanda Masters transformed the formerly outmoded home into an ultra-modern, hip hangout—befitting the Soho House name—in a period of only a week, but she had a generous budget of $250,000 to do it. After she brought in furniture and decor pieces from a variety of periods,
like 1800’s-style high-back chairs and mid-century modern sofas and ottomans, the look was eclectic, but distinctly modern and clean—like a bachelor pad after a thorough pass by the Queer Eye guys.
In addition to courting potential members for the West Coast club, the villa hosted existing members of the international brand’s venues, who were welcome to come and go as they pleased. Inside, they enjoyed pampering (the club’s New York spa techs flew out for the job, hair gurus from Bumble & Bumble touched up hair, and the M.A.C. cosmetics people had brushes at the ready), browsing sponsors’ goods (although the PR folks for high-end watchmaker Carl F. Bucherer were quick to point out that there were no freebies—just exposure to potential customers), and eating and drinking (Absolut vodka stocked the bars). In Style magazine—newly free from its Elton John AIDS Foundation party sponsorship duty—was among the sponsors.
The promotion was not without hiccups. The New York Post
reported that Soho House upset the folks at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences when it originally dubbed the temporary club the “Soho House Oscar Villa,” without getting permission to use the trademarked “Oscar” name.
Still, it got plenty of hype during a week filled with parties and promotions. And the house hosted its own Oscar night bash, where guests could watch the ceremony on a multitude of flat-screen televisions, including several in a tented dining area with spectacular views of the city—as well as a buzzing fleet of news
helicopters.
—Alesandra Dubin
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Read about Miramax's Academy Awards weekend party... |
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