For the official opening of interior designer Jim Magni's luxury lifestyle company and showroom at the Pacific Design Center, event producers channeled the Starck Club, an edgy Dallas boite co-hosted by Philippe Starck and Grace Jones in the 80's. That meant plenty of white everywhere—white walls, white tulle curtains hanging from the ceiling, and the wait staff in white sarongs, T-shirt dresses, and flip-flops. Guests received silver-embossed invitations on white leather and even snacked on white M&M's inscribed with the designer's name.The white landscape was one of two distinct party areas created for the launch of the Magni Collection's first flagship showroom. Working with branding and marketing consultant Penelope Francis and Krislyn Custom Floral Couture, Magni took over the empty space adjacent to his cozy showroom so that his 300 guests would have plenty of room to mingle. The clean space was subdivided into three areas by creating an open circle in the middle of the room with arcs of white tulle curtains. Inside were white ottomans and tall tables topped with white antherium in glass bubbles set inside clear glass columns. The far wall was used to project the 1968 cult film Danger Diabolique. "It was a sexy movie that projected the future in 1968 and looks very current today," Francis says. "It's just fun. It's like, 'Oh my God, what is that?'" Nearby Grammy-nominated music supervisor Chris Douridas spun tunes for the evening.
Magni's cozy showroom next door featured samples of his sleek furniture line as well as a model in a Jenny Packham cocktail dress and diamonds borrowed from 1700 Ocean, demonstrating one possible use of the chocolate-brown bed: She reclined on it, flipping through shelter magazines such as Robb Report Luxury Home, which co-hosted the party. A film loop of images directed by Francis to evoke Magni's lifestyle vision was projected against a bare wall. "It's a message and the message is a lifestyle," Francis says. "It's not just about selling sofas. I'm selling sexy, luxurious lifestyles."
—Irene Lacher
Posted 04.06.06
Photos: Jeff Vespa
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Magni's cozy showroom next door featured samples of his sleek furniture line as well as a model in a Jenny Packham cocktail dress and diamonds borrowed from 1700 Ocean, demonstrating one possible use of the chocolate-brown bed: She reclined on it, flipping through shelter magazines such as Robb Report Luxury Home, which co-hosted the party. A film loop of images directed by Francis to evoke Magni's lifestyle vision was projected against a bare wall. "It's a message and the message is a lifestyle," Francis says. "It's not just about selling sofas. I'm selling sexy, luxurious lifestyles."
—Irene Lacher
Posted 04.06.06
Photos: Jeff Vespa
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