Monday, 15 July 2013

Setting fire to the rain at Absolut bash


Come rain or shine, or as the case may be, amber storm warning, nothing stops the bright sparks of the social circuit from hitting a much ballyhooed event. The scene; Tazmania Ballroom, the event; launch of yet another brand, the weather; abysmal. But, the crème de la crème turned up in full force while it drizzled incessantly for Absolut's big splash, the launch of their new, premium line of vodka, Absolut Elyx.

Attendees such as Ana R, Charlotte Chen, Elaine Lee, Karena Ng, Sabrina Ho, Gilbert Yeung, Kennis Tai, model turned actors Carl Ng and Ankie Beilke, Shirley Hiranand and her awesome motley crew of kids, the Chellarams (Manolo, Chitra, Manoj) were seen among a sea of faces. We didn't find any Swedish models in the mix, but we did find the Russian vodka-luvin' contingency, the ridiculously attractive coupling of Aziz Rakhimov and fiancé Ekaterina Bogaevskaya (better known as supermodel Katya) at the event. Popular models-about-town David Oshry and Lenka Korbova tried their own mix of Elyx infused cocktails as the party raged on, oblivious to the spluttering rains.

Elizabeth Forsmen and Richard Webb

Last seen in the action romp “The Viral Factor”, we grabbed actor Carl Ng for a quote, "I've had the Absolut Elyx before. It's smooth and easy to drink," he said, while he played with a dry ice holding contraption that fogged all the drinks on the table. “It’s a great drink to have neat or as a mixer as its smooth like most grain-based vodka drinks are. The potato based vodka drinks are different, bit more rough. Elyx is good stuff.”

The ever-popular man about town, Gordon Lam took to the stage as emcee for the night as he introduced Xavier Beysecker, Managing Director of Pernod-Ricard Hong Kong. While we thought 'elyx' was an abbreviation of some sort for an “elixir”, Beysecker said the ‘Lyx’ derives from the word “luxury” in Swedish. "Oh you can definitely say its an elixir too”, he said with a laugh.



For those in the know, the arrival of Matt Pomeroy from Sweden created a buzz, the vodka brand's global ambassador took the stage and highlighted the features of Elyx, all lost in the cacophony of the well-peopled room.

The evening wrapped up with a pool tournament open to all guests, as custom-designed Absolut Elyx copper pool ball sets were laid out on all the pool tables across the room. Beysecker presented the winner with a 1.5 litre bottle and a brand new copper pool set.

Not before long, glasses were raised, toasts were led by Beysecker and Pomeroy as an acrobatic, aerial dancer took to the floor and cleared out an area. Between heaven and earth, in perpetual limbo she did her little routine and at the end, as the waiting staff handed her the newly designed bottle, she pretzeled herself into different positions and served shots of the vodka.

Just as any posh bar, sometimes you do have to bend over backwards to get a decent drink.


Cartier

At the launch of Cartier's latest collection, Paris Nouvelle Vague, got the usual swag, press releases, info, images and the like.

Chuffed at the personalised sketch an amazing artist from Hong Kong (signed "John" no surname...) did for all the guests.

Sitting next to Virginie Martignac (newbie to HK, Marketing & Communication Director for the brand), our table had the most fun at Pierre, at the ol' Mandarin Oriental hotel. 

Monday, 8 July 2013

My day with Madhuri Dixit: Indian actress and icon is in Macau!

Yesterday, had to spend the afternoon with the one and only... Madhuri Dixit.

Spending the week ahead writing it up for Prestige. Her performance at IIFA was... perfection.

MD signed my copy of Faces by Gautam Rajadhyaksha. He adored her and vice versa. 

When asked, she made it a point to state, "I miss him so much Rama, I can't tell you...".

Bless.



Saturday, 29 June 2013

Runway: June 2013: Lenka and her model sisters




Tasha Ling as stylist, Lenka Korbova as one of the three cover girls - one of my fav shoots by the dream team. 



Tuesday, 11 June 2013

Back to Basics: Calvin Klein's return to Form

Christy Turlington (now with the hyphenate Burns, post nuptials with monotone actor Edward Burns) returns to the house of Calvin Klein with a stunning women’s Fall 2013 Calvin Klein Underwear global advertising campaign.

Shot by photographer Mario Sorrenti on location in Vieques, Puerto Rico, Turlington's comeback campaign is a resplendent one, reflective of some of the most iconic images that reeled through the late '80s and early '90s.

One of the few and original supermodels, Turlington has a long-standing relationship with the house; beginning with her first runway show for Calvin Klein for the Fall 1987. In 1988, Irving Penn photographed Turlington for her first Calvin Klein Collection advertising campaign and that same year, she became the face of Calvin Klein’s scent, ETERNITY, captured by Bruce Weber. Even as I type these words a montage of black and white and sepia toned images with Turlington's scintillating beauty and her perfect nose and profile are seeping through... If Elle Macpherson was 'the body', surely Christy Turlington was 'the face'!

Turlington continued to work with legendary photographers Steven Meisel, Mario Testino, Peter Lindbergh and Jurgen Teller, for several more advertising campaigns for the Calvin Klein and its various subsidiaries (the jeans, the swimwear, the casuals, the formals...etc). While leading an illustrious career in modeling, Turlington has gone on to direct and produce No Woman, No Cry – a documentary film about the global state of maternal health. Following the release of her film in 2010, she founded Every Mother Counts (EMC), a campaign to improve the health and well-being of girls and women worldwide. The organization’s mission is to end preventable deaths caused by pregnancy and childbirth around the world. Beauty with a purpose indeed.

EDITORIAL CREDIT: Calvin Klein Underwear
IMAGE CREDIT – BEHIND THE SCENES IMAGE: Courtesy of Calvin Klein, Inc.

Friday, 7 June 2013

Behind the Scenes of a Magazine Cover shoot: The Dream Works cause the Team Works!

After a miraculous - and I do mean miraculous - sun kissed day, we had the best cover shoot for Galaxy magazine.

Timon and Jon have a clip of the night before when half of Macau was flooded with manic rain. As I was leaving late from the office, it looked like the apocalypse... The morning after, faith-affirming sun burst through JUST for our shoot!

Worked with Timon (Red Dog Studio) after a long time. We had done shoots together for other magazines before and it was great to catch up with him. He has his roster of publications he likes to work with, and I have my usual suspects who do the magazine cover shoot. Was great to get a fresh perspective from him and his awesome crew. Best shoot yet. All the ingredients fell into place at the right time.

Tasha Ling did a brilliant job styling the entire thing - it really isn't as easy as it looks. We had great support from Burda office, Kathy and Leona stepped it up. Just had bags and bags of clothes and accessories - all a bit overwhelming by the time I got there with... five more cases.

Karen Yiu - my star, my sunshine - was as always, impeccable. Her hair and make up skills are beyond bril. She's just the BEST.

Kate B was our first cover model for the year. A bit of drama... but the shots are amazing.

Can't wait for the world to get a glimpse of the best cover shoot yet. Out in a few weeks.









Thursday, 23 May 2013

Peta Lily

Peta Lily and P Ramakrishnan
One of my fav stage and theatre actresses, directors, writers... the multi-hyphenate Peta Lily.

Thrilled to catch up with her over brunch at Classified down Hollywood Road.

She's brilliant, funny and fun - and above all, a great interview. We spoke for hours and I didn't want our chat to end - sadly, she had a flight back to London the same day so we bid adieu far too soon.