TO ONE who has forsworn alcohol for some months, being confronted by a glacial pyramid of vodka bottles under a dry, icy-white light simply wasn't fair.
Yet there they were, in the middle of the Grand Hyatt's ballroom lobby, mocking a man who had once been one of their unsung heroes of consumption.
Could I get through this fashion show and competition they were sponsoring without guzzling one in the loo lock-up? It was fortunate I did. I was later to be called up to sit with the judges and give them the benefit of my advice.
Yes, Smirnoff's mind was on higher things than alcohol last Wednesday evening. This was the ninth international fashion awards series it was sponsoring - this year among fashion and design students from 27 countries and, for the first time, from Hongkong.
''Smirnoff identifies itself with fashion,'' I was told. Not after they'd seen me with a bottle of the product down my throat, they wouldn't, I thought. But, putting that vile picture behind me, I admitted it was sensible that booze, which does so much to swell up the blood vessels of the nose, should actually encourage beauty.
In a town with a vast rag trade and the creative opportunities of a Trabant factory, the purpose of the exercise was to give encouragement to fashion design students to let creativity rip - and some of the creations were to reflect that very literally.