French-inspired Hollywood spot Les Deux became an all-out 18th-century Parisian playground for TV Guide’s fifth annual Emmy after-party last night. The club’s interior designer, event producer Tony Schubert of Event Eleven, expanded on his original design, which spilled over into a 15,000-square-foot tent in an adjacent parking lot.
Decor elements from the club, such as wall sconces and the deep red, gold, and black color palette, were replicated outside, where guests could roam the tented area or an open-air French manicured garden complete with topiaries, trimmed hedges, and juniper trees. Paintings of French nobility hung on the walls of the tent, and black crystal chandeliers imported from Paris dangled from its ceiling. Models dressed in Marie Antoinette drag pushed champagne carts and lounged on sofas or swings hanging from large plant-covered arbors throughout the venue.
Even with the nods to French aristocracy, it was Hollywood royalty that the magazine’s executives sought to draw. “This is a TV event, so we look to attract top TV talent, which in many cases isn’t always the 18-to-23 crowd,” said John Geiger, the magazine’s vice president of consumer marketing and business development. “We’re also looking for the other heavy hitters in the Hollywood industry—the producers, the show runners, the studio heads. That’s the type of crowd we’re going after.”
To appeal to mature industry bigwigs, Schubert tapped R&B artist and Grammy-award winner John Legend to perform, but it was surprise musical guest Kanye West who had teenage and middle-aged guests alike swarming the stage for his two-and-a-half song set. (The hip-hop star forgot the lyrics to “Touch the Sky.”)
But the evening wasn’t all about opulence and entertainment; guests received a simple card (embedded with seeds that could be planted) at the end of the evening, informing them that in lieu of gift bags, the magazine had planted 100,000 trees in their honor in Senegal.