The brand celebrated founder Jeff Pink’s 40th anniversary in the industry.
Jeff Pink poses with his ORLY EPIX cake.Jeff Pink poses with his ORLY EPIX cake.
On the evening of Monday, May 4, nearly 90 international distributors, media representatives and ORLY International employees donned their best cocktail attire and congregated on the rooftop of Perch, a 16th-floor restaurant and bar with a 360-degree view of the downtown Los Angeles skyline.
They were all present for ORLY International’s Made in LA cocktail hour and dinner, which concluded the first day of the nail lacquer brand’s International Conference, a biennial event that brings representatives from ORLY’s worldwide distributors to the company’s home in Los Angeles.
The Perch dinner also served as a celebration of ORLY founder Jeff Pink’s 40th anniversary in the beauty and nail polish businesses. Pink is widely credited as the inventor of the French-tip manicure in 1975, which was made famous by that year’s Paris Fashion Week.
In homage to the nailcare guru, several surprise guests made appearances to honor their colleague. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti presented Pink with a certificate from the city, and heartwarming toasts were made by Jack Sperling, Pink’s mentor and the man who introduced him to the beauty distribution industry more than four decades ago; Creative Age Publications founder and CEO Deborah Carver; and Leslie Stevens of ORLY’s PR agency, LaForce + Stevens.
The awards didn’t end there, however: ORLY distributed International Awards to Italian-based Ladybird for Excellence in Marketing, Belgian-based ORO Nails for Excellence in Consumer Sales and Greece-based EVA Beauty for Excellence in Professional Development.
While admiring the impressive panorama, guests sipped on craft cocktails and wine, indulged in passed hors d’oeuvres and enjoyed a four-course meal. To end the evening, Pink was presented with a cake in the shape of an ORLY EPIX polish bottle.
Those in Los Angeles for ORLY’s International Conference had spent their day watching marketing presentations and attending product review sessions for ORLY’s 2016 launches. Attendees also had the opportunity to engage with guest speaker Linda Immediato, style director of Los Angeles magazine. The next day, communications presentations—focused on business building and distribution—were followed by a Cinco de Mayo happy hour.
