These days it seems that the fragrance industry is after a younger customer, targeting twentysomethings with more youthful models in ad campaigns, forays into the world of social media, and late-night club-like launch events. The latter was true of last Wednesday night's soiree for the debut of Salvatore Ferragamo's latest women's scent, Attimo, the first official event at the Standard's new rooftop bar Le Bain. Favoring a downtown nightclub atmosphere over a more formal cocktail party, the Italian fashion house and perfume producer hosted 350 jet-setting social types like Gaia Repossi, Chiara Clemente, Lady Alice St. Clair Erskine, and Dree Hemingway in a barely branded setting atop the meatpacking district hotel.
"We wanted to have this party in New York because of Ferragamo's history in America," said Ferragamo Parfums' C.E.O. Luciano Bertinelli at the event. "New York is the center of the world, and this [hotel's rooftop] is one of the best places to be in the center of the world. The atmosphere tonight is about having fun while enjoying and sharing positive emotions."
To position the event in a way that would promote the new fragrance without feeling too heavy-handed with the decor, Linda Russell, Ferragamo USA's senior vice president of merchandising and marketing, tapped Van Wyck & Van Wyck, which made the most of the bilevel hotspot's glass and mirrors. The crew also took design cues from the perfume's packaging and ingredients, devising a red-and-gold color scheme that recalled the hues of the bottle and the brand's logo, and providing red peony bouquets and gardenias to suggest the fragrance's top notes.
"In terms of the level of production and decor, I think you have to be careful to not overproduce an event," said Ryan Jordan, Van Wyck & Van Wyck's newly appointed director of its brand experience division. "Huge amounts of production aren't always the best way to create an environment and atmosphere that fits with the product or brand."
So, in keeping with this overall aesthetic, no models handed out scent samples or spritzed guests, although attendees did receive a bottle in their gift bag. In fact, aside from a few flat-screen TV screens playing the commercial on a loop, Attimo candles burning in the bathroom, and a neon Attimo sign beneath a dance floor that was built over the drained pool, there was nary a logo in sight. "It wouldn't have been right having people going around spraying perfume. It would have been too department store-ish," Jordan explained. "With the exclusive crowd we were targeting, we didn't want it to be too obvious that they were at a press event."
While the downstairs section held an energetic dance party with DJ Kiss spinning, the upstairs rooftop was more subdued, with three water beds upholstered in red fabric and high-back leather sofas for guests to relax. As an added activity, the event also included a mock photo shoot that imitated the new ad campaign with two lounging models encouraging guests to pose on one of the beds for photographer Patrick McMullan.
