Bacardi jumped on the reality-TV train for the inspiration to promote its lemon-flavored offshoot. The rum brand challenged budding fashion designers to come up with Limón-inspired nightwear, and five finalists received free trips to New York, where they cut and sewed their creations in a makeshift reality-TV show set. By day, Bacardi installed sewing stations and cutting tables—in lemon yellow, of course—in a raw space at 76 Greene Street in SoHo, and the finalists were taped as they worked to finish their frocks between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. “The biggest challenge [for us] was to make sure that the afternoon space for the live cut-and-sew was true to a designer workroom, with everything the contestants would need to complete their challenge,” said Bacardi Flavored Rums marketing manager Natalia Iglesias, who worked with SiteNY’s Eric Winston to produce the event.Once the clock struck four, the sewing stations were replaced with couches, creating a yellow-hued lounge space for a cocktail party at 7 p.m. A large screen overhead showed footage from earlier in the day, and kitschy design elements abounded: Ironing boards bolted to the floor functioned as cocktail tables, and Lucite catering trays housed yellow buttons, pincushions, thread, and sewing needles. The finalists’ sketches adorned the walls, and their garments were displayed on mannequins near the bar. Celebrity judge Vanessa Minnillo and the fashion-heavy crowd received cookies in the shape of yellow shift dresses as parting gifts.
—Courtney Thompson
Posted 03.28.07
Photos: Paul Morigi/WireImage (cut-and-sew, bar, trays), BizBash (ironing
boards, DJ)
—Courtney Thompson
Posted 03.28.07
Photos: Paul Morigi/WireImage (cut-and-sew, bar, trays), BizBash (ironing
boards, DJ)
SiteNY's Eric Winston designed and installed Bacardi's cut-and-sew portion of the event.
Once the finalists completed their designs, SiteNY turned the venue into a lounge space, complete with a curving, Bacardi-bedecked bar.
The finalists' sketches graced the venue's wall, hovering above ironing boards bolted to the floor, which replaced highboy cocktail tables.
Mark Fahrer Catering supplied design-themed trays.
Visible from the street was DJ Sky Nellor, working the turntables.
