MARIA ROSA A. DONADO

PORTFOLIO

hit two birds with one stone

After her 2007 win at Wimbleton, press from every publication waited for their chance to get a few remarks from Venus Williams. So on August 23rd, Venus finally spoke about her win and announced her partnership with Steve & Barry’s to launch her new clothing line called EleVen.

Because of her gruesome schedule, we had Venus for half a day, hosting two events back to back. The first was a national press conference announcing the new partnership to business and trade outlets, and the second was a champagne toast with women’s magazine editors to give them a sneak peak of the full line.

The press conference was held under the Steve & Barry’s logo in front of our Manhattan Mall store. A stage was constructed with a step & repeat back drop and mannequins posing on each side of an eight foot desk. Along Venus’ side, Associate Fashion Director, Rebecca Fitts, served as the moderator and Chief Partnership Officer, Howard Schacter, spoke on behalf of Steve & Barry’s. As expected, over 45 different outlets were in attendance.

After a quick wardrobe change and touch up, Venus was escorted across the street to the Steve & Barry’s showroom where the magazine editors had already been walked through the display. The focus during the design of the display was to keep it modern, chic, and not over the top with tennis items. By using touches of wheat grass around the space, we were able to achieve an outdoor feeling, without overdoing it. The hallways were lined with white chiffon drapes, gold pedestals to display shoes, and white mannequins for the clothing.

Passed appetizers and champagne helped celebrate the news and each editor spoke with Venus her inspiration for the line. As a thank you, editors were given their own pair of EleVen shoes to wear three months before they hit stores