April 5, 2016: Gucci to Integrate Men's and Women's Shows, H&M Bringing Digital Experience to Coachella, How Rio Olympics Officials Plan to Fill Empty Seats

1. GUCCI TO INTEGRATE MEN’S AND WOMEN’S SHOWS: Starting in 2017, Gucci will combine its fashion shows for men’s and women’s clothes into a single event for each season. The brand’s chief executive, Marco Bizzarri, made the announcement at The New York Times International Luxury conference, and says the move simplifies numerous aspects of the business. The New York Times: “On its face, unifying men’s and women’s wear makes sense, and not just because most consumers think of men’s and women’s wear as one category ('clothes'). Combining the collections creates obvious efficiencies, most clearly in the cost of a show, which can reach €1 million. In addition, at a time when men’s and women’s wear are getting ever closer together … combining the two underscores the message of a single brand aesthetic across genders. … However, there is an institutional and municipal argument against combining the men’s and women’s weeks. Every fashion week city profits, literally and significantly, from playing host to the collections. Each season brings floods of buyers, critics and support staff into each city, providing a financial boon for related industries.” http://nyti.ms/203hsBy

2. H&M BRINGING DIGITAL EXPERIENCE TO COACHELLA: Longtime Coachella sponsor H&M is bringing its first digital experience to the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival next weekend and the following weekend this month. The experience is an onsite, Instagram-focused installation called “Reborn,” which will allow festival attendees to create shareable video memories. The Hollywood Reporter: “The H&M tent brings the desert scenery to the digital realm with a 360-degree greenscreen backdrop featuring video content from the festival grounds. Images will flash by in three- to five-second increments to make up a 15-second video immediately available for social media (it's no coincidence that Instagram's video time limit is also 15 seconds). … Along with digital experience, the "Reborn" installation will also feature a sustainability space, which highlights H&M's water conservation efforts and recycling programs, including the "close the loop" initiative.” http://bit.ly/1VsZXd2

3. HOW RIO OLYMPICS OFFICIALS PLAN TO FILL EMPTY SEATS: Factors including the Zika virus, violent crime, and a political crisis are some of the reasons why the Rio Olympics has only sold around half of its available tickets. Brazil’s new minister of sports has a plan that would involve the government buying tickets, which could potentially boost sales. Yahoo Sports: “Ricardo Leyser, who this week replaced George Hilton as Brazil's minister of sport, said in an interview with Folha newspaper that he was working on a plan to boost purchases—as well as to stir up more excitement among Brazilians. One measure could be the government buying unsold tickets, particularly for the Paralympics, and distributing them among schools, he said. ‘There is a perception that the Brazilian population has not yet woken up for the Games. We are going to work energetically on this because it's still not in people's heads. We need to sound an alert so that people remember this event and go and buy tickets,’ he said.” http://yhoo.it/1SvxNsS

* LOCAL NEWS *

BOSTON:  The Hangover Pub is now open in Worcester. The venue specializes in drinks and snacks made with bacon. 

CHICAGO:  The 20th annual Taste of Randolph Festival is slated for June 17-19. The event will feature tastings from some 20 local restaurants as well as live music. A V.I.P. package gives access to lounges, reserved concert seating, and discounts on beer. 

LAS VEGAS:  For a high-energy business entertaining or incentive option, ZZ Top and Gregg Allman are slated to perform at the Pearl inside Palms Casino Resort on October 7.

LOS ANGELES:  On August 26 at the Ritz-Carlton, Laguna Niguel, the Ohana music festival weekend will kick off with the Ohana Lua, hosted by comedian Jeff Ross alongside Eddie Vedder, Kelly Slater, and others.

Local event listings from the new Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/losangeles

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA:  Lamborghini Broward will host a private grand opening event Thursday in its 25,000-square-foot showroom. The event will feature new models as well as vintage vehicles including an original Lamborghini tractor. There will also be spirits tastings by the Balvenie and Glenfiddich.

NEW YORK:  Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will meet for a Democratic debate on April 14 at the Duggal Greenhouse on the Brooklyn Navy Yard. CNN: cnn.it/1qlGM9N

Relish Catering & Event Planning will provide catering for the Fox Upfront for the 10th year in a row. The event will take place May 16 at Wollman Rink in Central Park.

Local event listings from the new Masterplanner: http://www.masterplanneronline.com/newyork

ORLANDO/CENTRAL FLORIDA:  Lakeridge Winery & Vineyards will host "Blues at the Winery" Saturday and Sunday. The event includes performances by local blues artists and a variety of food and beverage vendors. Gate donations benefit the emergency department at Leesburg Regional Medical Center.

SeaWorld Orlando will open its new roller coaster, Mako, on June 10. The park says the ride will be the longest, tallest, and fastest coaster in Orlando.

SAN FRANCISCO:  All Day I Dream will come to Golden Gate Park on May 22. The event features house and techno music. 

TORONTO:  Fashion Art Toronto will take place April 12-16 at Daniels Spectrum. The event will feature runway shows, performances, fashion-inspired photography, art installations, and films. 

YOUR NEWS: What are you doing? Tell us: [email protected]. 

JOB BOARD: Post a job or find a job: http://jobs.bizbash.com

With contributions from Jenny Berg in Chicago, Alesandra Dubin and Claire Hoffman in Los Angeles, Mitra Sorrells in Orlando, and Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, Jill Menze, and Ian Zelaya in New York.

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