The story of Dom Pérignon has always been one of fortuitous encounters. After a history of collaborations with bold, inspiring creative talents like Marc Newson, Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons, Marcel Wanders, Karl Lagerfeld, David Lynch, Christopher Waltz and Tokujin Yoshioka, the vintage-only champagne house created by Benedictine monk Dom Pierre Pérignon at the Abbey of Hautvillers in Epernay in the 17th century has named American rock legend Lenny Kravitz as its Global Creative Director. First introduced to Richard Geoffroy – Dom Pérignon’s Cellar Master since 1990, who will be leaving his post at the end of the year – some 11 years ago in Paris by a friend in the wine business, Kravitz began the first in a long series of exchanges with the maison based on friendship and mutual respect, eventually visiting the Hautvillers village surrounded by vineyard-covered hills, the Côte des Blancs and the Marne River winding its way through the valley. It was there that Père Pérignon had endeavored to create, in his own words, the “best wine in the world”, which soon began supplying the court of King Louis XIV and whose rare vintages are today sought after by major collectors.
Embracing numerous creative avenues throughout his career, the extremely versatile Kravitz is not only a Grammy Award-winning singer, musician, songwriter and record producer, but also an actor, photographer and designer. Tapping his artistic creativity, lifestyle and attitude, the first expression of his collaboration with Dom Pérignon is a set of black-and-white photographs he took last May using his Leica Monochrom camera, which will be showcased in an advertising campaign spanning three continents debuting this month and an international touring exhibition called Assemblage lasting over a year starting in New York City (now on until October 6, 2018 at Skylight Modern) before traveling to London, Milan, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Berlin.
Given carte blanche, Kravitz united a diverse group of exceptional personalities from music, cinema, fashion, dance and sports, demonstrating the true essence of collaboration. They came together one evening for the joy of being with one another and to share experiences at the Stanley House, the first Los Angeles-based, single-family residential project designed by Kravitz and his interior and product design firm established in 2003, Kravitz Design (which designs everything from hotels, condominiums and furniture to Leica cameras and custom Rolexes). Reflecting bohemian soul and glamour, the 10,700-sqft, five-bedroom mansion perched on the Hollywood Hills with panoramic city and ocean views featuring expanses of glass, travertine, basalt, lava rock, exotic woods, custom artwork, a semicircular infinity swimming pool and even a lower-level nightclub proved to be the perfect home for entertaining.
“When I think about Dom Pérignon, it is all about bringing people together,” Kravitz discloses. “It is all about communication so that you can then have inspiration and be inspired to do something. You do not need an occasion. Life is the occasion.” After inviting American Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon, American actor and producer Harvey Keitel, American singer, actress and model Zoë Kravitz, Chinese-American fashion designer Alexander Wang, French dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied, one of the greatest Japanese football players of all time Hidetoshi Nakata, and Australian model and actress Abbey Lee Kershaw, Kravitz captured the alchemy created between them, observing their interactions and how they inspired one another. There are scenes of them drinking Dom Pérignon, talking, laughing, dancing and even one shot echoing Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper. Just like The Factory and Studio 54, Kravitz connected people while documenting the privileged moment, finding unlimited inspiration in this night that never ends. Accompanying him on this adventure was Mathieu Bitton, a photographer and filmmaker who shot a movie on these meetings initiated by Kravitz and Dom Pérignon.
Geoffroy remarks, “In recent years, we’ve been developing the idea about inspiring others and being inspired, or giving energy and being given energy. There’s sort of a spiral in that sense of caring and love, and then being given it back, which is very Lenny’s, and it’s why we’re that close, that connected. Creativity is like a terrific engine that needs to be fueled, and the fuel mostly comes from the outside, which you keep absorbing and sending back out.” Continuing his role as Creative Director in 2019, Kravitz will conceive furniture and objects centered around drinking champagne.
Check back next week for Part 2 featuring a Q&A with Lenny Kravitz.
