EVENT REPORT

Nike Turns Bank Into Temporary Speakeasy to Celebrate Chicago Pop-Up Shop

Nike's speakeasy-themed Six Points party 
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Nike's speakeasy-themed Six Points party  Photo: Josh Sears

 
By Jenny Berg | Posted May 10, 2010, 12:10 PM EDT
CHICAGO High-end sneaker boutique St. Alfred recently partnered with Nike to open Six Points. Cindy Hamilton, a Chicago-based spokesperson for Nike, described the Milwaukee Avenue venue as a "retail collaborative space" that will host events throughout the summer. On April 30, the brands celebrated the opening of the pop-up space with a cocktail party for 80 guests, tapping Experient to produce the intimate soiree.

On the same day as the event, Hamilton said, "Nike had unveiled the home kits for several countries, including the United States, that will play in the World Cup this summer. So another goal for the event was to showcase those designs, which are now available at Six Points and other Nike retail destinations." Because the company keeps the designs of the uniforms "under lock and key until they are launched," Hamilton said, planners decided to "play off that secrecy and intrigue" by hosting a speakeasy-theme event in the vault of an abandoned bank.
Nike's Six Points Speakeasy
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Prior to the event, each guest received a mailed invitation with a numbered safe-deposit-box key, which they presented for admission at the entrance of the bank. Models wearing 1920s-style makeup and hairdos posed as bank tellers, and presented some guests with locked silver metal briefcases. One by one, guests were escorted into the bank vault, where they used their keys to open safe deposit boxes. Inside the boxes, they found cards printed with access codes that would help them unlock their suitcases. Inside each suitcase was a custom jersey, which bore logos that represented Nike, St. Alfred, and the Six Points collaboration.

While they waited for their turn in the vault, partygoers lounged in a basement room that Event Creative decked with mirrored tables, crystal chandeliers, and lounge areas filled with white leather furniture. At custom bars, staffers doled out throwback cocktails like Sidecars and Manhattans, and DJ duo Flosstradamus spun from a vintage velvet sofa. At the end of the night, the vault reopened for a dessert reception where Blue Plate servers circulated with mini lemon meringue pies and chocolate molten cake bites.