Guests at the launch party of Hearst Magazines' Shop
Etc. were invited—or rather, demanded—to shop until they dropped (or until the sponsors ran out of freebies).
The retail metaphor ran rampant beginning at the door, where guests were handed empty gift bags and the coupon books needed to claim gifts ("You'll have to shop your way through the party!" greeters exclaimed). Guests exchanged their coupons for merch that ranged from lipstick and nail polish to woven baskets from the likes of LancĂ´me, Armani, Banana Republic, and nearly a dozen other sponsors. Latecomers were dismayed to see that an early run on Coach sunglasses had left the racks bare by 7:30 PM.
Much like the magazine itself, which borrows its organizational conceit from a department store layout, the interior of
was divided into a series of stations bearing advertisers' and sponsors' goods.
To create this fantasia of consumption, Hearst Corporation events marketing director Melissa Stevens and Shop Etc. executive marketing director Lori Rhodes were determined to find an event planner who had actually designed a store. They found one in Randy Ridless, who has scant experience in event design but has created interiors for Bergdorf Goodman and Burberry's New York flagship store. "We met with a lot of great event planners," Stevens said, "but we made the decision to go with someone with a background in retail design."
Bill Schwinghammer was brought on board to manage the party's lighting scheme and Ridless invited the Los Angeles-based Ethos Design to create the racks and cosmetic counters lining the space. Frost Lighting provided the colored gels responsible for the party's ambient lighting.
Caterer Peter Callahan of Callahan Catering embraced the shopping vibe by tucking hors d'oeuvres into miniature shopping bags (that confused guests kept attempting to eat). Fortunes cookies containing a single fortune ("Ready, set, shop!") were handed out, and guests imbibed "Shopitinis" made from Cointreau and Damrak gin.
As for the party's "security," Burberry USA president Eugenia Ulasewicz was the lucky guest whose invitation—which came with a anti-shoplifting tag attached, as did every guests'—set off the security gates inside the party. Ulasewicz elected to give away the prize—a $10,000 shopping spree at Saks—to charity after a quick conference with Hearst execs. She gave away her shopping bag, too.
—Greg Lindsay
