I was lucky enough to attend the Pre-ESPYS Celebrity & Athlete Gifting Lounge at the Rolls Royce showroom (also known as Manhattan Motor Cars) at 28th Street and 11th Avenue. Sports stars attending Fanatics Fest, FIFA World Cup activations, and MLB All-Star festivities all came together for this elevated luxury experience (along with TV and food world luminaries). There were curated gifting opportunities from some legendary and new-and-trending brands including (of course) Rolls-Royce, One Rare Steakhouse, Style 50, Truniagen, Harlem Standard Whiskey, The Avra Group, REX Watches and Karmily Diamonds. The electric Lotus sports cars seemed to be one of the stars of the show and of course, all the influencers had to shoot their IG reels posing with them, LOL!
I am one of the top fans of Avra and recently reviewed the newest and most spectacular location at 33rd Street and Ninth Avenue for newyorklifestylesmagazine.com) so this particular booth had me as a constant stalker! As expected , I loved what they served including their vegetarian skewers with cucumbers and amazing Feta cheese and their freshly sliced tenderloin served medium rare on toasted homemade sourdough slices. There were also bites made with raw tuna. Guests got bottles of AVRA’s amazing imported EVOO (pictured above).
I also discovered One Rare Steakhouse of Scarsdale who served Chilean Sea Bass, tuna crudo, fabulous tenderloin done with Cajun seasoning and sliced whole porkbelly (they pretty much had me stalking them as well, LOL). This booth was highly artistic with creative serving displays and it seemed to be one of the first places that guests gravitated towards!
I was also excited to see the table and racks of Made In America products in the Style 50 area including small butterfly bags from Carlos Falchi, a brand that I have met up with plenty of times at Accessories Council previews and at their own events back when Carlos Falchi was still alive. (I used to like to talk to him about the stage wear he designed for Elvis and Mick Jagger–I suspect they included the grommet covered jumpsuits–and he sent me a thank you note featuring a handmade marker drawing of one of his large butterfly bags.)
Athletes got something extra special–customized Best Of Legacy “smart albums” with many newspaper clippings and online media coverage of their careers which included footage of their best moments in their respective games (more items can be added as time goes on). I cannot think of a greater gift for anyone who has focused their life on playing sports. I am impressed that they can find articles on players from just about any publication or outlet!
Influencers posing in the five or six Lotus sports cars on hand at the gifting event? You know that there was almost not enough luxury cars for all the influencers who wanted photo ops in these stunning vehicles. The athletes on hand tended to gravitate towards the Rolls Royce SUVs a little more and I met a few back in the area of the showroom where you get to pick the color and metal hardware for your vehicle!
Of course there was a red carpet featuring a step and repeat covered with the names of the various brands on hand and a group of about 30 photogs shooting away. Gift bags included great items that included healthy beverages and nutritional supplements—I enjoyed my Gorgie watermelon energy drink and starting on the latest version of TruNiagen (which is great for brain fog, BTW). I hope to attend another one of these luxury gifting suites in the future—not only is the sampling and gifting fun, but you get to mix and mingle with plenty of people that you wouldn’t get to meet in real life. Thanks to Indra Public Relations and Luxury Experience Co. for putting the event together!
