When Roberto Cavalli teamed up with J. Ben Bourgeois Productions to launch Cavalli's new vodka brand in Los Angeles, it was a mixed marriage between the Italian designer's florid style and the event planner's clean, contemporary look. "Cavalli was very influential in the decisions—the furniture, the glassware, the details," says Paul Roberts, senior event project manager for Bourgeois. "It was a great blending of two different aesthetics."Working closely with Selmin Arat and Marysol Patton of the Patton Group, Bourgeois created a lavish backdrop for the Cavalli brand, beginning with the press line in the driveway of a private Mediterranean mansion in Holmby Hills commandeered for the occasion. At one end of the press backdrop stood an ice replica of Cavalli's vodka bottle, complete with his signature serpent curving around it. Guests walked through the house to the back terrace, where a half dozen models posed around a shallow pool dressed in his designs. To create the "Cavalli landscape," as the planners called it, the designer sent stylists to do the models' hair and makeup and position them in tableaux.
The heart of the party was downstairs on the carpeted tennis court. Security staff guarded the centrally located V.I.P. area, which was furnished with geometric white banquettes and plexiglass boxes illuminated from inside with LED lighting. Instead of placing centerpieces on top of the boxes, planners placed flowers inside—burgundy roses, chartreuse orchids, and rust-colored foliage, bold hues designed to contrast with the white furniture and peach carpeting. Eight white couches in the shape of half circles hugged the corners, coupled with plexiglass coffee tables that also enclosed rose and orchid arrangements.
Facing the private area were two of three ice bars with sculptures of the vodka bottle and actual bottles frozen inside; bartenders served six specialty martinis. The bars flanked the booth where DJ Max Chipchase played a mix of house music he'd compiled after consulting online with DJs in Russia, Germany, Australia, and England.
On each side of the tennis court stood five tall tables covered in animal-print silk scarves and wraps that Cavalli had shipped in from Italy. "Cavalli wanted it to be wild patterns and tons of things piled onto the tables," Roberts says. "He didn't want it to be symmetrical." Strewn across the tables were three pounds' worth of Swarovski crystals, also imported from Italy, which caught the light and splattered sparkles all around.
"When you work with a designer like Cavalli, it's about letting him take center stage," Roberts says. "On our end, the design was muted against his designs—from the models dressed in his gowns to the fabrics he brought in from Italy. Those were the things that popped throughout the space."
—Irene Lacher
Photos: John Sciulli/WireImage
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The heart of the party was downstairs on the carpeted tennis court. Security staff guarded the centrally located V.I.P. area, which was furnished with geometric white banquettes and plexiglass boxes illuminated from inside with LED lighting. Instead of placing centerpieces on top of the boxes, planners placed flowers inside—burgundy roses, chartreuse orchids, and rust-colored foliage, bold hues designed to contrast with the white furniture and peach carpeting. Eight white couches in the shape of half circles hugged the corners, coupled with plexiglass coffee tables that also enclosed rose and orchid arrangements.
Facing the private area were two of three ice bars with sculptures of the vodka bottle and actual bottles frozen inside; bartenders served six specialty martinis. The bars flanked the booth where DJ Max Chipchase played a mix of house music he'd compiled after consulting online with DJs in Russia, Germany, Australia, and England.
On each side of the tennis court stood five tall tables covered in animal-print silk scarves and wraps that Cavalli had shipped in from Italy. "Cavalli wanted it to be wild patterns and tons of things piled onto the tables," Roberts says. "He didn't want it to be symmetrical." Strewn across the tables were three pounds' worth of Swarovski crystals, also imported from Italy, which caught the light and splattered sparkles all around.
"When you work with a designer like Cavalli, it's about letting him take center stage," Roberts says. "On our end, the design was muted against his designs—from the models dressed in his gowns to the fabrics he brought in from Italy. Those were the things that popped throughout the space."
—Irene Lacher
Photos: John Sciulli/WireImage
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Roberto Cavalli's vodka launched in Los Angeles with a dazzling animal print-covered party at a private manse in the Holmby Hills.
Ice bars featured sculptures of the vodka bottle and actual bottles frozen inside.
At one end of the press backdrop stood an ice replica of Cavalli's vodka bottle.
