BACARDÍ hosted a star-filled Halloween party Brooklyn’s Navy Yard, featuring Mark Ronson, Emily Ratajkowski and many others. Read about it!
With Halloween falling on a Monday, it made perfect sense for New York to turn it into a “halloweekend”. Suddenly the search was on for the best party in the city. It became clear for Saturday, that was one accessed by private ferry out to the Navy Yards in Brooklyn. If last year’s “it” Halloween party was at an art-filled warehouse in the Bronx, this years’ was BACARDÍ takeover of the Duggal Greenhouse.
It was the over-the-top event that only BACARDÍ could possibly achieve. Guests made their way into the aircraft hangar-sized space, which filled quickly. Bars were serving unique BACARDÍ-infused cocktails, including an excellent and fun red rum punch.
The proposed centerpiece was Kenzo Digital’s elevated experiential art work, who literally flipped the traditional concept of a haunted house on its head, and created a multi-sensory experience that captivated, thrilled, and frightened guests (he received plenty of support from the likes of Kehinde Wiley and Alicia Keys). Affectionately referred to as ‘Nocturnal Awakening’ the installation featured various innovative technologies, visual and auditory effects meant to delve deep into the psyche of each visitor. The structure itself was a two-floor, multi-room labyrinth that brought the BACARDÍ bat to life. Be there as it may, we certainly saw plenty of selfies being snapped in the mirrored windows.
But if Nocturnal Awakening wasn’t cool enough, the people watching and dancing was a little more accessible. It was fabulous to see so many costumes from Serena and Venus Williams, plenty of Kylie Jenners, sexy skeletons, a convincing “Blackout” era Britney Spears and, of course, a required Donald Trump.
Among the dressed included some real celebrities such as Emily Ratajkowski as Cleopatra in an alluring costume designed by Yandy as well as Baz Luhrmann as a demented priest, refusing to shift out of character. He wore a cloudy eye and summoned guests over to him with a BACARDI cocktail in hand to “repent their sins.” Others included Jillionaire, Philippe and David Blond of “The Blonds,” the crazy fashion duo whose innovative designs are almost costumes in themselves. And we definitely saw a very convincing Lana Del Rey costume…
Swizz Beatz arriving in a Raf Simons designed costume with his posse who socialized with invited guests in a bat adorned lair. To call it “scary chic” wouldn’t be far from the truth. On the floor, everything from sliders to doughnuts were being served in addition to the endless BACARDÍ cocktails.
As if this all wasn’t enough, Swizz Beatz turned up the heat with an amazing set, a critical mix of throwback and current hits, dancing party-goers went wild including myself dancing with a few ghosts and a giant Pikachu. Mark Ronson and Swizz paired up for a few mixes before Ronson took over full time until the morning hours.
This was only the latest in a series of artist collaborations from BACARDÍ, and this night was the definition of a perfect Halloween party, going off without a single hitch, and plenty of hits, good looks. It was a space for people to be free, to be someone else for the night. But I noticed, people were their true selves. It felt great and we look forward to what BACARDÍ might think up next.
Photo Credit: BFA