Cartier Makes London Fashion Week Debut
NEW FRONTIERS: Cartier knows how to throw a good party.
From its elegant lunches at the Goodwood Festival of Speed to the daylong happenings at the Queen’s Polo Cup in Windsor, the jeweler is known as an expert party host among London’s social and creative circles.
Now it’s flexing its muscles to woo London Fashion Week showgoers.
In celebration of its latest “Juste un Clou” collection, the brand hosted its first party during London Fashion Week in a Soho club — which was given the Cartier treatment in the form of golden DJ booths, neon lights, bell boys serving mini Champagne bottles and photo booths designed by Christian Larsson, that had guests queueing to get their pictures taken.
“We thought it’s really important to tune in with the vibrancy of London, particularly because we felt that our new products really resonate well with fashion, fashion week and a younger, very trendy audience,” said Laurent Feniou, Cartier U.K.’s managing director.
The kind of audience the event drew was definitely trendy: Buzzy up-and-coming designers Matty Bovan and Mimi Wade, models Winnie Harlow, Julia Restoin Roitfeld and Neelam Gill, actor Idris Elba and singer Alewya Demmisse, were among the guests. Demmisse — a former model discovered by Cara Delevingne — provided the musical entertainment for the night, alongside DJ Mimi Xu, who came fresh off the Temperley London runway.
“I’m so glad my show was on the first day and I can enjoy the weekend. It already feels like a century ago,” said Bovan, who presented his exuberant, over-the-top collection on Friday night to many industry fans, including Vivienne Westwood. “That was so unexpected and it all happened last-minute. I’m her biggest fan so it was a surreal moment for me,” he added.
The fashion week party is kickstarting a series of events Cartier has planned in the British capital, including a celebration of its Bond Street store’s reopening and a high jewelery presentation taking place here, early next year.
“Cartier has been settling in London for the past century and it has a really special place in the city. What we plan to do in the city this coming months will reflect our philosophy; we try to think of the brand between tradition and modernity and really marry the two,” added Feniou.
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