Avon and its new partner, Christian Lacroix, put beauty editors on the catwalk for the American launch of Rouge, the pair's new fragrance for women. The idea was to bring the world of Parisian haute couture to West 18th Street.
“Couture is something very new to Avon,” said Avon PR manager Regina Dinisio, who planned the event, “so we wanted to do something very sophisticated, very dark.” Planners set up the event at Lux Studios so that guests entered the party from the backstage area of a fashion show and were then escorted by models down a runway onto the strictly red-and-black floor.
Lacroix credits the design of the Rouge bottle to a bullfighter’s cape that was given to him, and that influence extended to Avon and EventStyle in their execution of the launch. Walls were covered in matador red with black accents, and the room itself was small, like a perfume bottle. Vials of Rouge were even used in lieu of lightbulbs in the room’s central chandelier.
Though Lacroix couldn’t be there himself, he taped a video message for the crowd, and highlights of his recent runway show ran on a loop on flat-screen televisions that were in all corners of the room and embedded in cocktail tables.
A soundtrack of Serge Gainsbourg played while the 110 guests lounged on red ottomans and nibbled miniature risotto cakes and bite-sized brownies. Pomegranate martinis—with color and scent resembling the perfume—were the night’s drink.
