And indeed it was. The Gucci cocktail party took place at the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Sydney’s Circular Quay and upon arrival, guests—who were largely made up of the brand’s top tier clientele—walked a red carpet through an art deco neon movie theatre set and into the most exquisite Gucci pop up shop doubling as a museum worthy installation.
A fashion army of mannequins held court on a velvet pink room wearing gowns glittering with sequins and trailing feathers, modern takes on heritage Jackie and Diana bags were out on display and then there were the jewels. Giving the mannequins some stiff competition for best dressed, was the crowd, all of whom understood the unspoken dress code: head to toe Gucci.
And it was to this super stylish crowd, Arena took to the microphone and sang some of her best loved songs, starting with Sorrento Moon. The song, which Arena released in January 1995, was her first choice to sing because she knows how much that song means to so many. The following morning when Arena and I caught up to chat about the event, she said, “There would have been quite a few people in that room with a long-standing history of that song, but there would also be some who don’t.”
One such guest tapped the singer on the shoulder in the lobby of the hotel that morning.
“She was originally from Burma but has been living in Australia since she was 15. And she said to me, ‘I just downloaded Sorrento Moon this morning’, and she said it's been on repeat. Then she thanked me! I asked why and she said, ‘because I discovered something I now love in a way I didn‘t expect to.’ And I just think that’s really cool, that after all this time that song can still be a beautiful new discovery for someone.”
Choosing the set list is something Arena takes seriously, in the hopes of achieving responses like this.
“I think about I think about the event. I try and get as much information as I can about it. Who's going, what's it about? What's the objective of it? I don't care about the business side of it, but I care about what they do psychologically and what they emotionally want to ascertain from the event. And once I know and have those questions, then I feel that I can put together something that's more appropriate as opposed to me just sitting there going, ‘What do I want to sing?’ I kind of put myself in the position of what I like to hear in that kind of context.”
Judging from the audience crowding around the pint-sized star, perched up on their Gucci-clad tippytoes, she certainly nailed it.
