The Zegna store on Fifth Avenue in New York was a sea of perfectly tailored suits and citric scents on Monday, December 3, as it celebrated the launch of its new collection of fragrances, Essenze. The collection is the result of a collaboration with Estée Lauder. The event and the line exuded all the elegance, sophistication, and innovation that one would expect when a luxury fashion house and a prestigious fragrance franchise work together. Trays laden with hors d’oeuvres, sparkling glasses of champagne, and small wooden boxes allowed guests to test the new scents and take a small sample of dry perfume home. The effect was that guests could indulge in the cologne as richly as in the charred beef fillet with Brussels sprout and apple tart Gruyere cheese puffs.
At the bar, each cocktail cleverly corresponded to one of the colognes: a bergamot flavored drink for the Italian Bergamot, a lighter gin mix for the Japanese Patchouli, a citric concoction for the Sicilian Mandarin, a vodka-based brew for the Indonesian Sub, and the classic addition of an actual purple iris in the clear cocktail designed for Florentine Iris.
Fabrizio Freda, CEO of Estée Lauder and Ermenegildo Zegna, CEO of Zegna hosted the event with attendees including VP of Vanity Fair Edward Menicheschi, actors Peter Facinelli, Kelly Rutherford, Ed Burns, and Dan Stevens, journalist Matt Lauer, and DJ/songwriter Solange Knowles. President of Estée Lauder fragrances Veronique Gabai-Pinsky said of the new line, “I feel [like the collection will be a great success]. I feel it in my bones.”
Photos: Clint Spaulding/PatrickMcMullan.com
