Ray-Ban Celebrates History—and Future—With Hands-On Bash

The Luxottica-owned eyewear brand showed off the remake of its Wayfarer style with an event that invited guests to interact with artisans at workshop stations.

Jim Shi

May 20, 2014

In time for the sunny days of summer, Ray-Ban hosted an event to celebrate the launch of its newest collection of Wayfarers inspired by all five senses. Named for the garment district and the year the eyewear brand was founded, the District 1937 bash took place on May 15 at Stage37 in Hell’s Kitchen, where a multisensory experience came in the form of specially built denim, leather, velvet, titanium, and steel work stations. Some several hundred guests turned out for the sunglasses-focused soiree, including Zoe Kravitz, Coco Rocha, Ireland Baldwin, Chromeo, and Katharine McPhee.

Custom walls were built for the occasion and assembled on site, and an upstairs Remix station—where select guests could assemble their dream pair of sunglasses—was welded on site as well. In total, nearly 36 hours went into the build, which took a team of 10 workers.

Attendees who trekked to the west side space were encouraged to get their hands dirty, working with craftsmen and artists in workshop vignettes. Capping off the night was a special performance by Blondie’s Debbie Harry.

The upstairs area featured the Ray-Ban Remix station, where custom-built kiosks allowed guests to customize pairs of Ray-Bans as gifts. With the process entirely digital, glasses were immediately expedited and mailed to guests a few days after the event. The station itself was welded on-site.

Photo: Courtesy of Luxottica

Ray-Ban utilized all 8,000 square feet of Stage37 for a bash dubbed "District 1937"—named for the garment district as well as the year the brand was founded. The event was held to celebrate the remake of its iconic Wayfarer style in new materials. Individual vignettes highlighting each of the five specially-treated models (i.e. denim, leather, steel, titanium, and velvet) were created to showcase the sunglasses as well as examples of their composition properties. A large rectangular grey space, for example, featured the kinetic steel sculptures of Anne Lilly.

Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Luxottica

As guests arrived at Stage37 in Hell's Kitchen, they encountered a step-and-repeat comprising dozens of Ray-Ban boxes. Once inside, the entrance through the loading dock served as an initial welcome space filled with factory items such as neon lights, metal scraps, bolts of fabrics, and more box displays.

Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Luxottica

The party was spread out across two levels, including a 1,500-square-foot upper level that became a sort of makeshift V.I.P. area. Upstairs housed a Remix station, photo area, bar, and lounge.

Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Luxottica

Unique displays of the different Wayfarer models were set up inside each vignette. While some were propped up or tied down, others were displayed in a pop-up fashion. In the steel station, the display was designed to look as though the eyewear models were protruding out of a single sheet of metal.

Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Luxottica

In the section transformed into a steel factory/workplace, guests interacted with architect-designers from Italy-based Microstudio, who created a unique takeaway in the form of a pop-up District 1937/Ray-Ban piece of art.

Photo: Jim Shi

In the denim vignette—the backdrop for which was a specially commissioned portrait of Blondie's Debbie Harry—contemporary artist Ian "Denimu" Berry showcased his 3-D pieces of New York subway scenes made from denim scraps. Separately, Darlene Hatchett interacted with guests to cut out a star and contribute to a large American flag.

Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Luxottica

To showcase the denim Wayfarers, Ray-Ban displayed a group of the sunglasses on a sheet of pieced denim that made for instant Instagram fodder. The glasses were tied down with gold string.

Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Luxottica

Detailed props decorated all the vignettes throughout the event. Subtle social media reference points encouraged guests to share their experiences on Twitter, Instagram, and other platforms.

Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Luxottica

Situated in the middle of the party space, the velvet station invited guests to interact with the material via various flocked items. They could also flock their very own Ray-Ban "Smooth as Velvet" poster with the help of Brooklyn-based Kayrock Screenprinting.

Photo: Courtesy of Luxottica

At the leather station, artist Mark Evans showed off his specialty: hand-etching animal hides using dozens of different kinds of knives and scalpels to create large-scale pieces. Guests could watch him complete a live piece; directly adjacent was a work table with leather Wayfarers propped up on display.

Photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Luxottica

Along with indie-pop duo MS MR, iconic rockstar Debbie Harry of Blondie performed at the Ray-Ban bash, entertaining the packed crowd with a bevy of her greatest hits.

Photo: Getty Images