Painted ladies, a runway show, and cocktails on a rooftop patio aren't elements you'd typically find at a law firm party attended by (mostly male) senior bank executives, which is exactly why Isabella Ben-David, a marketing and event specialist with Aird & Berlis L.L.P., chose to switch things up by hosting a client party on the Ultra patio Wednesday. “Every year the Financial Services Group in our company holds an event for our clients. This year they wanted it to be a little more exclusive,” said Ben-David, who added that group members thought a fashion show would create an interesting vibe for the event.
“Last year the event had a Muskoka theme, and the year before it was Hawaiian,” she said of the firm's annual summer party, which typically attracts about 250 guests. This year, the numbers were limited to 100 and the invitations were non-transferable. “It’s basically the senior executives of Royal Bank, Scotiabank, and financial institutions like consulting firms,” Ben-David said.
When the firm decided to stage a fashion show, Ben-David began looking for venues that regularly host runway shows. “I called INK Entertainment and went to see the Guvernment," she said. Ben-David also did a walkthrough of This Is London and “fell in love” with the space. But as soon as she saw the patio at Ultra she knew it was the right fit. “What sold me about Ultra is they have a fashion show there every Wednesday night at 11 p.m. They were already doing a show, so it saved us money in staging costs,” she said.
Ben-David chose a Miami theme for the event. "The patio is all white and we’re adding blue and green accents,” she said. Ben-David topped tables with feather boas and glass mosaic candleholders and placed sequined pillows on the venue’s white sofas. She also called on artists from Picasso Painters to paint two female models during the cocktail party, which began at 5:30 p.m. and continued until 10 p.m.
Although most of the clients in attendance were male, Ben-David didn't want any swimwear in the fashion show. “The lawyers would love that, but no, it's not happening,” she said. Instead, three female and two male models walked a black runway in designs from Jay Lindeberg and Sand, a fashion house based in Copenhagen.
White-clad servers passed mojitos and hors d’oeuvres like mini grilled chicken burgers topped with avocado and pineapple salsa and rosemary-skewered swordfish served with olive, orange, and tomato confit. Marigolds & Onions supplied cheesecake lollipops—coated in coconut, Oreo cookie crumbs, pistachios, or almonds—for dessert.
As they arrived, male guests received a pair of cufflinks and female attendees were given a purse-shaped compact engraved with the firm’s name. “It’s a fashion theme, and we wanted something small enough that people could put in their pockets,” Ben-David said.
Correction: A photo caption has been updated to correctly identify the DJ.
