To celebrate 25 years of Fashion Television and launch a commemorative magazine chronicling defining moments of the series created by Jay Levine and hosted by Jeanne Beker, CTV invited 900 guests to a cocktail party at the network's downtown headquarters at Queen and John Streets on Tuesday. Mafalda Caruso, CTV's executive director of special events, planned the anniversary bash, held in a space that's normally used as an office.
"Anybody that's had anything to do with Fashion Television in the past 25 years has been invited," said Caruso, who called on Rob Dittmer of Three Event Planning & Design to turn the office into a party space and showcase black-and-white images of supermodels like Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington—all pulled from the pages of the magazine's commemorative issue. Unit 11 Custom Staging created a black runway (bearing the FT logo) for a fashion presentation of vintage looks from the past 25 years, selected by stylist Cherie Federau of Shrimpton Couture.
After walking a black carpet on Queen Street, guests entered the second floor through a hallway with a photo tribute to designers like John Galliano and Karl Lagerfeld. Black-and-white images of the designers, printed on sheer fabric panels, accented a wall of white draping in the hallway, which also included an all-white studio set designed to look like a backdrop used in a fashion shoot.
Inside the main space, servers from Core Event Staff passed hors d'oeuvres from Daniel et Daniel Event Creation and Catering. A food station included items like herbed gnocchi in a tomato basil sauce, duck confit cupcakes topped with roasted beet mash icing and maple-bourbon demi-glace, and a caviar station with a selection of Arctic char, salmon, and sturgeon. Cocktails included a signature drink called the FT25 Royale, made with Mumm Napa Brut Prestige.
Caruso used black and white furnishings from Furnishings by Corey to create seating areas for guests and hung an oversize makeup mirror—complete with a red lip imprint from Canadian supermodel Coco Rocha—behind the main bar. DJ Amalia Leandro spun tunes in a round booth positioned at the top of the runway.
Rocha, pictured on the cover of the commemorative issue, was on the guest list but a scheduling conflict in New York prevented the supermodel from attending. An oversize image of Rocha's cover hung near the entrance to the main party space, and guests received copies of the magazine in the gift bags.
A 25th anniversary special, including footage from the birthday bash, will premiere on CTV at 7 p.m. on Sunday.
