Stars come out to view a constellation of luxury smartphones
The 20,000 sq ft ArtisTree space in Taikoo Place was transformed into multimedia installation-cum-swanky lounge for the exclusive launch party for Vertu's latest smartphone series, Constellation Quest, last week.
Guests, including actress Carina Lau Ka-ling (third from right), and event emcee Lisa Selesner were ushered through a dark corridor with screens showing a cacophonic video collage of modern life, and into a blacked-out event space with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres.
After Vertu president Perry Oosting (second from left) made a Steve Jobs-like speech from the stage, about how his smartphones can help users manage the chaos represented by the entrance video display, he gestured to a giant cylindrical structure occupying the centre of the space. In a sequence reminiscent of a scene from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the structure came to life in a show of light, text and swelling sounds, finally 'levitating' to the ceiling, revealing jewel-case displays of the phones.
The previously muted crowd began to stir after the stunt, but it wasn't until Eason Chan Yik-shun (third from left) appeared on stage that the party started to feel like a party.
After sharing the correct pronunciation of 'Vertu' with his usual tongue-in-cheek humour, the singer belted out a song in English, Putonghua and Cantonese, causing people to whip out their phone-cameras, mostly non-Vertu models, to capture a memento of the performance.
