Away From Her director Sarah Polley at the Alzheimer Toronto gala Photo: Tom Sandler Photography
The Alzheimer Society of Toronto drew on one of Canada's most successful films of recent years, Away From Her, to demonstrate the impact of the disease to attendees at its third annual gala Tuesday night. (The film portrays the story of a man coping with his wife's struggle with the disease.) The organization honoured actor Gordon Pinsent (who was unable to attend) and the film's director, Sarah Polley, prior to the sold-out event.
Guests watched four clips from the film during the gala, including the final scene, in which Julie Christie's character forgets who her husband (played by Pinsent) is. Dr. Robert Lester, the former executive vice-president for medical and academic affairs at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, and whose wife has dementia, was the keynote speaker. "Every year, the emotional quotient has gone up," said Francoise Hebert, C.E.O. of the Alzheimer Society of Toronto. "We really try to make people understand how cruel this disease is and how they can help by donating money."
The gala, which drew 390 guests and was sponsored by the Bank of Montreal, raised more than $350,000. All guests received a copy of the film as a gift. —Erin Letson
Restaurateurs Marco Petrucci and Albino Silva (of Chiado) have joined forces to transform the former Mildred Pierce space into Oasi—a restaurant, bar, lounge, and event venue in the King West neighbourhood. The building, located at 99 Sudbury St., was formerly used as a film studio and after-hours club. In addition to the restaurant, the site now includes a gym—and plans are in the works to add a rooftop patio and pool, a spa, art gallery, and hotel. "The owners are trying to instill a whole lifestyle concept into the building," says Lulu Vibert, who handles PR for the venue, which hosted a party for Valentino during the Toronto International Film Festival and opened to the public in late September.
Designer George Argyropoulos collaborated with Andrea Gray Design on the venue, which includes four distinct areas. The restaurant's main room, overlooked by a small bar, is filled with zebra wood tables and cream leather seating. Two curved banquettes sit against a stone wall at the rear of the room. The space seats 130 and holds 250 for cocktails. A separate, dimly lit bar—with walls covered in dark paisley wallpaper—is accessed through the main room. The intimate space has a small bar and custom metal tables.
Models at the Calvin Klein launch Photo: Courtesy of Overcat Communications
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
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.
The table setup for the Louis Vuitton dinner at Holt Renfrew Photo: BizBash
For the past two weeks, the exterior of the Holt Renfrew store on Bloor Street has paid tribute to Louis Vuitton, with one of the retailer's iconic accessory patterns covering the building's facade. On Tuesday night, the tribute continued as 100 guests dined in the department store's shoe section, which showcased memorabilia, special-edition items, and vintage photos from the French brand.
The event, hosted by Holt Renfrew president Caryn Lerner and Louis Vuitton North America C.E.O. Daniel Lalonde, celebrated the renovations of five Louis Vuitton boutiques across Canada; the last was completed in Edmonton three weeks ago. "At the end of this huge effort we put into the renovations, we thought it would be a good moment to bring out our best customers to celebrate the new stores and the heritage of both companies," said Charles Delapalme, vice president of stores for Louis Vuitton North America.
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Andrew Turner, president and founder of the experiential marketing firm the Jetstar Group, announced Monday that his firm has acquired Lifestyle Incorporated, a national design-based event company. "For years our clients have asked us for high-end corporate brand, design and creative services, and now we're excited to bring them Lifestyle Incorporated," Turner said. "This division will bring a whole new level of event production and execution to Canada."
Lifestyle Incorporated—under the direction of creative director Erastus Burley—has produced events for companies such as Pepsi-QTG, Frito Lay Canada, Nissan, Bell, Telus, and Yahoo Canada. "Our alignment with the Jetstar Group only further cements our expertise and industry credibility, allowing clients to engage their audience through innovative experiences, environments, and initiatives," Burley said.
5th Element Events announced Tuesday that Jennifer Crowley has joined its team as design director. Crowley started at the corporate event design firm on September 2 . She entered the event world in 2002 when she launched He Loves Me, a wedding design and decor company. Crowley went on to become the corporate event designer at Designing Trendz before joining the sales team at Decor and More.
After three years as publicist with the Canadian Opera Company, Melissa Than is moving on to become publicist of the National Film Board of Canada—Canada’s public film producer and distributor—on October 15. Than announced her departure on September 29. COC’s assistant publicist, Vanessa Somarriba, will be taking over Than’s position.
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.
A customizable note card from She She Impressions. Photo: Courtesy of She She Impressions
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
