Corks Popped at Philipp Plein Event in Cannes
PARIS — There were Champagne bottles aplenty at the Philipp Plein event Oct. 4 held at the designer’s luxurious villa, La Jungle du Roi, perched in the hills above Cannes, France.
Bubbly circulated and was served to guests milling around a tilted XXXL Champagne bottle-shaped sculpture high up in the air, which echoed the form of the designer’s new women’s fragrance bottle for Plein Fatale. Flowers — not alcohol — flowed into the festooned pool below.
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The new scent, due out at the end of October, was created under license with Give Back Beauty. Plein had introduced a men’s scent in February 2020, right as the coronavirus pandemic hit.
“Nevertheless, in all the countries where we started to launch the fragrance, it was in the top-five rankings,” Plein said as guests were arriving, many in sparkly attire. “Especially Italy was a big success for us. Several weeks ago, we were in position number two.”
The men’s scent rollout remains ongoing, and Plein Fatale marks the Philipp Plein brand’s first women’s fragrance.
“We are very excited,” Plein said, as Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” beat in the background. “We think it’s very important to have a playful packaging.”
The men’s scent, dubbed Plein No Limits, comes in the shape of a credit card. “Of course, we want to create dreams,” Plein said. “We serve dreams. This is part of our DNA. Who doesn’t want to own a credit card with no limits? And I have never met a woman who said ‘no’ to a glass of Champagne.”
Plein Fatale was created by Firmenich master perfume Alberto Morillas. (Coincidentally, Morillas also helped conceive Yves Saint Laurent’s Opium, which Plein remembers his mother wearing.)
Morillas wanted to design a scent for Philipp Plein in line with the brand, the designer explained.
“Philipp Plein is sexy. Philipp Plein is loud. Philipp Plein is maximalist. Philipp Plein is bling. Philipp Plein is fun. This is what I think he put into the bottle — all these kinds of different attributes,” he said.
His business is expanding swiftly in the female market. Today its breakdown is 60 percent men and 40 percent women, whereas it was 70 percent men and 30 percent women just two years ago.
Philipp Plein, the brand, is 24 years old and recently signed more than 12 licenses.
The timepieces licensed with Timex are now sold in 29 countries, and the watchmaker also holds Plein’s jewelry license.
Philipp Plein Sport will be reintroduced next year, also under licenses, and the designer has a golf wear license in South Korea.
The two other projects being feted simultaneously at his home included NFT-associated eyewear, touted as the “first phygital eyewear style,” called the Crypto King$ Limited Edition.
The frames, done in collaboration with the De Rigo Group, come embellished with Plein iconography, such as skulls and crystals. A limited-edition drop of 1,000 of them took place on Sept. 24 in the brand’s Paris boutique and each pair came with an NFT designed by 3D artist Antoni Tudisco. They sold out in two days.
“We were the first luxury brand ever to accept crypto…online and offline in all of our stores,” reminded Plein of his brand’s pioneering spirit in the digital space. “We also started to sell NFTs at the beginning of the year, very successfully.”
Feted, as well, was Plein’s limited-edition $keleton timepiece. That fueled the $keleton Rally, which began in New York City and ended in the Hamptons on Sept. 4.
Screens with the NFTs, a car Plein decorated and the Plein Fatale bottles were on display at his home. Attendees there could view the video spots for all three projects in the private screening room while munching on popcorn.
His projects never stop. Philipp Plein furniture will be shown at HPMKT in High Point, North Carolina, starting Oct. 22.
“We are opening a hotel in Milan,” Plein said. “It’s going to be a magic opening next year.”
The party, which took place as the TFWA World Exhibition and Conference was being held in Cannes, was a microcosm of what he sets out to do with this brand overall.
“We want to entertain, make people happy again, smile and enjoy life,” he said. “This is what fashion is about.”
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