Limited edition cocktail menu at five Dorchester Collection hotels to celebrate designers shortlisted for the 2013 Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize

2013-08-16 — /travelprnews.com/ — The new fashion season cocktail menu celebrates the four gifted designers who have been shortlisted for the 2013 Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize. The cocktail menu will be available at five Dorchester Collection hotels: The Dorchester, London; Hotel Principe di Savoia, Milan; Le Meurice, Paris; Le Richemond, Geneva and The Beverly Hills Hotel, Los Angeles, where the shortlisting sessions took place.

The cocktail menu will be available during the upcoming fashion season, starting on September 5 to coincide with New York Fashion Week until October 2 when Paris Fashion Week ends.

To create cocktails which exemplify the spirit of the designers’ work and Dorchester Collection’s iconic hotels, the 2013 finalists have collaborated with Dorchester Collection bar directors and managers to produce a limited edition Fashion Prize cocktail menu.

Inspired by the dirty martini, Barbara Casasola’s favourite cocktail, Daniele Confalonieri of Hotel Principe di Savoia created the ‘Casasola Martini’ by mixing vodka infused with raspberry, Chambord, pineapple juice, raspberry purée and a splash of champagne, creating a rich Bordeaux coloured cocktail with a flavour that is enhanced the more it is sipped.

After seeing the exquisite designs of Huishan Zhang, William Oliveri of Le Meurice conceived ‘Berry Lace’; a spin on a mojito inspired by Huishan Zhang’s collections, composed of champagne rosé, strawberries, raspberries, brown sugar, lime juice and fresh mint leaves. Evoking Huishan Zhang’s feminine style where bespoke lace is the signature fabric of his design house, Berry Lace mirrors the luxurious individuality of his couture and ready-to-wear collections.

Design duo Fyodor Podgorny and Golan Frydman joined forces with Robert Rouleau of Bar Nineteen 12 at The Beverly Hills Hotel to create ‘Marilyn’, a champagne-based cocktail with peach purée and fraise syrup. The baby pink cocktail has an added splash of colour with a swirl of lemon rind reflecting their bright and dual nature designs. The name is borrowed from the glamorous, sensual and fragile Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe, a source of inspiration for Fyodor Golan.

Designer Emilia Wickstead paired up with The Dorchester’s Giuliano Morandin to devise ‘The Emilia’, inspired by her two favourite cocktails: a passion fruit martini and Moscow mule. This sophisticated ginbased cocktail was created with Canton ginger liquor, passionfruit and fresh lemon juice and is topped with champagne. The Emilia is served in a coupe champagne glass which will take guests back to the elegance and glamour of the 1930s, also a key period for Dior couture, which plays a major source of inspiration for the designer.

The esteemed panel of judges evolves year to year and has included world renowned and criticallyacclaimed members of the fashion elite. This year the judges include Caroline Issa, Stephen Jones, Daniella Helayel, Nicholas Oakwell, Rupert Sanderson, Stephen Webster, Fabia Di Drusco, Vivia Ferragamo, Guglielmo Miani, Margherita Perico, Derek Blasberg, Catherine Bloom, Penny Lovell, Gelila Assefa Puck, Frederic Aranda, Laurence Desbordes, Jean-Pierre Greff, Lorenz Baumer, Pamela Golbin and Kappauf.

On October 29, the winner of the 2013 Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize will be awarded an endowment of £25,000, mentoring from the judges, plus a two night stay at a Dorchester Collection property.

Notes to the editor:

2013 Dorchester Collection shortlisted finalists

Barbara Casasola
Barbara Casasola is a Brazilian ready-to-wear womenswear designer. Barbara who studied at London’s Central Saint Martins, has worked with the likes of Roberto Cavalli and was selected for Milan Fashion week’s Vogue Talents Corner. Her design aesthetic is centred around romantic minimalism and pared-back, understated luxury.

Fyodor Golan
Fyodor Podgorny and Golan Frydman make up women’s ready-to-wear designer Fyodor Golan. Painting provides a constant source of inspiration through which they create shapes and proportions, mirroring these into garments where microscopic detail is explored and dissected. Fydor Golan design for a woman who is emotional, expressive and strong; an international person who is not afraid to both explore and show her sensitive and powerful side.

Emilia Wickstead
Well regarded for her modern approach to made-to-measure as well as her fast growing ready-to-wear line, Emilia showed for the first time in London Fashion week in September 2011. Emilia has collaborated with Manolo Blahnik and Swarovski. Emilia took inspiration for her collections from The Beverly Hills Hotel which influenced her colour palate for her upcoming SS/14 collection.

Huishan Zhang
Chinese-born, London-based designer and Central Saint Martins’ graduate Huishan Zhang has created a luxurious brand where eastern heritage meets western influence. He was hand-picked by Delphine Arnault to work in the house of Dior whilst still a student. London’s V&A museum has selected his couture “Dragon Dress” to become a permanent piece in the T.T. TSUI gallery – making him the first Chinese contemporary fashion designer to receive this honour.

Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize
Established in 2010, the annual Dorchester Collection Fashion Prize was created to discover emerging fashion talent and build on Dorchester Collection’s own established fashion heritage. It is the first award of its kind developed by a luxury hotel company.

Dorchester Collection
Dorchester Collection is a portfolio of the world’s foremost luxury hotels in Europe and the USA, each of which reflects the distinctive culture of its destination. By applying its unrivalled experience and capability in owning and operating some of the greatest individual hotels, the company’s mission is to develop an impeccable group of the finest landmark hotels through acquisition as well as management of wholly-owned and part-owned hotels, and to enter into management agreements.

The current portfolio includes the following hotels (in order of them joining the group): The Dorchester, London; The Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills; Le Meurice, Paris; Hôtel Plaza Athénée, Paris; Hotel Principe di Savoia, Milan; Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles; Coworth Park, Ascot, UK; 45 Park Lane, London; and Le Richemond, Geneva. dorchestercollection.com

For further information on Dorchester Collection please contact:
Olivia Johnson or Victoria Henson at Peretti Communications
Telephone: 020 7244 1930
Email: olivia.j@peretti.com victoria.h@peretti.com