Born in Miami, Sunglass Hut returned to its roots on Wednesday for the opening of its largest outpost to date, located on Lincoln Road. At the in-store launch, model Chanel Iman hosted the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The launch party continued into the evening on the seventh floor of the 11 11 Lincoln Road parking garage structure, which overlooks the entire city. Called the Sunglass Hut Summer Block Party Miami, invited guests entered the elevator with an event attendant and found a step-and-repeat with both the event logo and the Sunglass Hut brand logo. Shelves of sunglasses rounded out the scene. Block party attendants were dressed in matching uniforms, complete with fedoras, white linen tops, neon orange shorts, and metallic gladiator sandals.
The spacious venue featured family-friendly games, including corn hole, bocce ball, ping-pong, hopscotch, and a chalk-coloring area, all plastered in the event’s logo. Adults and celebrities indulged in a life-size chess game, including Iman, Gabrielle Union, and guest artist Amy Heidemann. Later on, Union also tried her hand at the pop-a-shot basketball game.
Heidemann is one-half of the pop duo Karmin, who performed on an elevated stage outfitted with vertical pink LED panels, a Sunglass Hut banner, and a mirrored DJ booth, where DJ Irie spun throughout the rest of the three-hour block party. Green vines laced through the roofing of the structure along with strings of white LED lights, which lit up the space after sunset. Psychic Queen Isis offered gratis sessions in numerology and tarot card readings for guests interested in clairvoyant advice.
White low beds accented with orange, brown, silver, and off-white pillows provided lounging areas, along with playfully colored, oversize hacky-sack ottomans for resting. Low tables accompanied the beds, each encasing different sunglasses beneath clear panels.
Five white picnic tables with orange impatiens centerpiece planters were set up near the grilling station, which served hot dogs, hamburgers, sliders, corn, and macaroni and cheese, accompanied by a condiment station with grassy displays. For dessert, Ice Box Café provided a gorgeous spread atop a picnic-print checkered tablecloth, with everything from cookies to brownies, mini cupcakes to Madeleines. Vintage glass-jar beverage dispensers offered refreshing, nonalcoholic sips such as mint lemonade, tropicalade, and raspberry tea. Vendor carts clad in the block party logo served popcorn snacks and Italian ices.
Adults enjoyed an open bar at two stations, serving Don Julio, Tanqueray, Stoli, and Ketel One. Bottles were arranged on a white structure centered with the block party logo.
Pop Industries created the scenic fabrication and Odio World Inc and Matt Heien provided celebrity wrangling.
