Bringing California to Sundance
California designers helped kick off the Sundance Film Festival with a series of parties, events and style lounges during the film festival’s Jan. 15 to 25 run in Park City, Utah.
7 For All Mankind partnered with Gen Art to co-host the “7 Fresh Faces in Film” event on Jan. 16. The event honored seven up-and-coming actors at the second annual celebration at the Hollywood Life House, located on Main Street. The seven rising stars each had at least one film premiering at this year’s festival and were toasted by members of the film and fashion communities. Jeff Abramson, Gen Art’s senior film division manager, and actress Virginia Madsen introduced honorees Pell James, Louisa Krause, Jess Weixler, Tania Raymonde, Zach Gilford, Charlyne Yi and Mark Duplass.
“These talented actors are poised to become the breakout stars of the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, and we expect them to make tremendous contributions to the entertainment community. This aligns with our own mission to support the artists who influence us,” said Leilani Augustine, vice president of marketing for 7 For All Mankind, in a prepared statement.
Many other designers were represented at the various style lounges and gifting suites located around Park City.
Kari Feinstein’s Style Lounge featured brands such as Superga and Rubber Duck, and The Rock Band Lounge, which included an interactive Rock Band stage, featured brands such as Kangaroos and California-based Sanctuary Clothing.
And for the second year, Fred Segal Fun hosted a boutique-style suite with key designers at Village at the Yard. California brands such as Supra, Hurley, Monarchy, Wildfox Couture, Love From Australia and Nightcap were some of the lines highlighted at the event, which ran Jan. 16-20. The event offered media, celebrities and VIPs access to some of the premier, sought-after brands from the 24-year-old iconic Santa Monica–based store.
According to owner Jaclyne Brander, hosting the suite is a great way to give back to her loyal customers. “Up until very recently, we only had one sale a year. We would never give discounts to anybody,” Brander said. “But this is our clientele; these are the people who keep us in business. These loyal customers come back to us, and this is kind of my way of giving back to them. That’s why I do it,” she explained.
In addition, the suite offers vendors great exposure to media in a short amount of time. “This is very focused and it’s very dynamic and it brings a lot of people. We’ve been slammed the whole time,” Brander said.
The event also celebrated the launch of www.fredsegalfun.com, an online extension of the retail mecca’s fashion-forward shopping tradition.
