NEW YORK — Still reeling from its fashion week party on Liberty Island, Imperia, Russia’s top-shelf vodka, is ready for its encore — hosting Wednesday night’s party after the Victoria’s Secret fashion show.
Needless to say, tickets for “Imperia’s Million Dollar Party” are tough to come by since guests will mingle with Victoria’s Secret catwalkers, including Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks, Gisele Bündchen, Karolina Kurkova and Naomi Campbell. About 1,000 revelers will catch a performance by Dita Von Teese, who shook up the Louis Vuitton postshow party with a striptease. There will be other distractions at the $1 million extravaganza, including a 10,000-pound ice bar, 10-foot toy soldiers and Russian indulgences.
Armored trucks will shuttle 100 cases of Imperia vodka and 100 pounds of caviar to the Lexington Armory. The Moscow-based company is providing a bevy of Russian beauties dressed in Russian-inspired baby-doll dresses to waitress.
Imperia is eager to warm up Americans to drinking vodka. About 40 million cases of the liquor are consumed in the U.S. annually, compared with 200 million in Russia, said Jose Aragon, director of U.S. operations for Russian Standard Vodka, Imperia’s parent company.
“We go by a very simple point of view that vodka should be Russian,” he said. “Just as good champagne comes from France, fast red cars come from Italy, great composers are often German, and if you want good chocolate, go to Switzerland.”
As the first brand to partner with Victoria’s Secret for its show and after-party, Imperia is delighted by the Russian segment planned for the fashion show. Eugenia Volodina and Tatiana Kovylina are among the models to show off their Russian roots as well as Jacob the Jeweler’s diamonds during that portion of the show.