As is de rigueur at award shows, the Latin Recording Academy partners with an array of sponsors to pull off the glitzy Latin Grammys show and related programming. And following the 11th annual award ceremony on Thursday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, sponsors' names took a starring role at the official after-party, where a People en Español lounge beckoned guests in a 50- by 50-foot corner in a Mandalay Bay ballroom. Cara Gorman, the New York-based director of event marketing for Time Inc. Style and Entertainment Group, oversaw the event for the magazine, and Larry Abel/De-signs designed and executed a high-style lounge.
Abel's team draped two walls in 12-foot gold crushed-silk drape, and covered the remaining perimeter with gold wrought-iron walls, interspersed with green hedge. Logo gobos and throw pillows decked the space. Round sofas with high center backs sat throughout the area, and atop the center of the sofas were round tubes bearing celebrity images.
For L’Oréal Paris, Abel made eye-catching floral-style arrangements using actual product to serve as the petals. The arrangements were housed in sleek, white acrylic vases sitting atop gold-and-white pedestals. In the center of the space, a white table with acrylic legs held large, clear floral vases filled with L’Oréal Paris product for guests to sample and take home in small personal bags.
"L'Oréal's products are so beautiful, and we thought, how could we enhance their beauty and make them even more beautiful?" Abel said. "So we made art out of them. People stopped and looked. It catches their eye, and [they pause and observe], and then they say, "Oh, it's makeup.' Someone [inevitably] tries to pluck a petal."