Inside Armani Beauty’s Dinner at the Berlin Film Festival
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Music, art, culture and then a dance party late into the night: Despite the high celebrity count, it was a very “Berlin” kind of event. And that’s how it was supposed to be, Veronique Gautier, global president for Armani Beauty, told WWD on Saturday night in the German capital.
The beauty brand celebrated its first partnership with the annual Berlin film festival, the 73-year-old Berlinale, by hosting a dinner for around a hundred guests inside a telecommunications bunker-turned-private-art-museum.
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Local low-fi duo May the Muse wooed diners with emotive guitars, after which fashion’s favorite DJ, Honey Dijon, played a party-starting set. Guests were also able to take private tours of the artworks downstairs; the Feuerle Collection features early contemporary and Southeast Asian art and Chinese design.
Armani Beauty has already had a relationship with the Venice film festival for five years. But now, Gautier said, was the right time to make the brand’s presence known in Berlin, too. Of the big three European film festivals, Venice is known for its glamour, Cannes for the business and Berlin for politics.
“Berlin is edgy and bold and has an energy,” Gautier said. “[The Berlinale’s] commitment is important to us. It’s part of what we want to bring to the brand. Because Armani is always timeless but also of its own time.”
The Berlinale runs until Feb. 26 and to celebrate the new sponsorship, the brand flew in guests from all over Europe and the U.S.
Armani faces Barbara Palvin and Madisin Rian were in town, as were actors Sadie Sink, Dylan Penn, Honor Swinton Byrne and Toni Garrn. Also at the dinner were Olivia Palermo and partner Johannes Huebl, German actresses Emilia Schuele, lead in the recent series “Marie Antoinette,” and Florence Kasumba, who’s likely best known for her roles in Marvel movies like “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” as well as Tom Wlaschiha, previously of “Game of Thrones.”
Actress Sydney Sweeney, who is also ambassador for Armani’s brand new “My Way” perfume, was mobbed by photographers.
She couldn’t stay long as she had to present the premiere of her new film, “Reality,” that same evening.
“I think it’s such a special place for this film to premiere,” Sweeney told WWD. “I’m nervous, but I always get nervous. It’s a good kind of nervous though.”
The film tells the story of whistleblower Reality Leigh Winner, who leaked classified information about election manipulation in the U.S.
Sweeney was only in Berlin for the film’s premiere and then would be leaving again. “I wish I could stay longer,” she said. “You know, my great grandfather is from here [Germany]. My mother and little brother actually came here and found the place he used to live.”
Sadie Sink — who’s likely best known for her role in the hit series, “Stranger Things,” but whose repertoire is fast expanding — will be staying longer in Berlin.
“I was here for four-and-a-half months filming and I love it here,” Sink told WWD; she stars in a yet-to-be-released thriller called “Berlin Nobody.”
“There’s a sense of freedom here. You can also be a little bit more anonymous here than in America so it’s easier for me to get around,” the young actress noted.
Launch Gallery: Armani Beauty's Exclusive Dinner Party in Berlin
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