To promote the first-ever Ad Ball—which adopted a "Fashion Fetish" theme at the Fermenting Cellar Friday—organizers planned a photo competition and conducted a search at local ad agencies to find the advertising industry’s King and Queen of Kink & Couture.
Representatives from Narrative Advocacy Media, which handled PR for the event, visited agencies across the city with a variety of fashion and fetish-themed accessories and invited employees to dress up and pose for a chance to win the title. Visitors to the event’s Facebook page could vote for the winner prior to the gala—organized by the Ad Women of Toronto and held to cap the second annual Advertising Week. (Sarah Hart and Andrew Yeung Sin Hing of BBDO Toronto won the title.)
“Ad Women of Toronto now has over 200 members, so we decided to throw a gala and thought why not attach it to Advertising Week,” event manager Stacey Farber said. “We’re hoping it becomes an annual event. The Fashion Fetish aspect is the theme for this year. Bensimon Byrne came up with that idea.”
The benefit for Dress for Success Toronto and the Ad Women’s mentorship programs drew more than 400 guests. The evening included a runway show hosted by Fashion Television’s Jeanne Beker that featured designs from Andy Thé-Anh’s spring 2010 collection and fashions from menswear retailer Harry Rosen—modeled by ad industry executives. Flirty Girl Fitness performed a burlesque show to kick off the entertainment. The evening also included a performance by singer Anjulie and music from DJ Kaje.
Five restaurants—Buca, Gusto, Nyood, Lobby, and Merci Mon Ami—and Daniel et Daniel Event Creation & Catering set up food stations throughout the space. Servers offered Milagro tequila cocktails with names like Flirt and Fashionista.
5th Element Events dressed the space in hot pink and black furnishings from Contemporary Furniture Rentals and constructed a vinyl-covered runway in the centre of the main bar area. A six-by-eight foot picture frame held a stretch fabric screen, which provided a backdrop on the stage and was used to create a shadow effect for the burlesque show. “It’s a good way for us to push the envelope,” said 5th Element president Aaron Kaufman.
Event sponsors included CTV, Wind Mobile, Scotiabank and Wildeboer Dellelce L.L.P.
