Ecco Launch Combines Shoes and Home Furnishings

If you didn't have a fetish involving footwear and food before attending Ecco Shoes' fall/winter 2006 fashion launch at home decor retailer Fluid Living, you could be forgiven for developing one at the event. To promote Ecco's new styles, Judy Inc. combined shoes with home furnishings to create intriguing vignettes—such as a fully set dinner table with a pair of shoes resting on each dinner plate. Maja Yuricek, Ecco's marketing manager, said the display drew attention because it flouted the common household rule of no feet on the table. "We wanted to portray shoes in settings different than those people are used to seeing them in," Yuricek said. Other displays included shoes on coffee tables, beds, and couches.Yuricek chose a red and white decor theme—the colours of the Danish flag—to reflect the fact that Ecco is a Danish company and Fluid Living specializes in Danish furnishings. Public relations and event management company Courtney Rainey Group worked with Fluid Living and Chair-man Mills to cover the venue with Danish flags, hanging them on walls and draping them over tables, beds, and other available surfaces. Alma Florists chipped in red and white daisies, some of which sprouted from boots on display in the vignettes.

10tation Catering served Danish fare, including smorrebrod, an open-faced sandwich with blue cheese mousse and brandy soaked cherries; sausage cigars with chutney; and smoked salmon with goat cheese, capers and red onion spread. Danish Pastry Shop offered fresh pastries such as, well, the Danish. The Martini Club designed a trio of martinis for the event, including a cosmopolitan made with clementine- and tangerine-infused aquavit, Cointreau, and cranberry juice—garnished with a frozen cranberry.—Robyn Small

Photos: Courtney Rainey Group Inc.