The Vulgar, Fashion Redefined 

A white poodle on a pink background with the word vulgar in the bottom righthand corner.

The Vulgar Ball, A Vulgar Party Like No Other 

Potent, provocative and sometimes shocking, the word vulgar conjures up strong images, ideas and feelings in us all. For a luxury event planner, there's no such thing as too much. 
The Vulgar, held at the Barbican, showcased over 120 stunning objects, ranging from historical costumes to couture and ready-to-wear looks, with contributions from leading contemporary designers such as Walter van Beirendonck, Chloé, Christian Dior, Pam Hogg, Charles James, Christian Lacroix, Lanvin, Moschino, Miuccia Prada, Agent Provocateur, Elsa Schiaparelli, Philip Treacy, UNDERCOVER, Viktor & Rolf, Louis Vuitton and Vivienne Westwood. The Events Mill designed the launch of this groundbreaking exhibition: The Vulgar Ball, an evening of frolicking and fundraising.

What We Did...

We provided a full cast of performers to support the event. Characters who adopted personas, in wardrobe that harked back to old vulgar and more contemporary themes, with bespoke wigs and expressive make-up. There was a big presence of drag within the event and music was integral throughout, referencing popular artists such as Madonna and cultural moments within fashion.
The Drag Queen Charity Case wearing an orange dress and multi-coloured wig, holding a fan. In front of a pink sign that says Barbican.A drag queen with a red wig and purple shimmering dress
Monochrome photo of character performers in costume and drag in front of theatrical mirrors.
Guests were encouraged to dress as flamboyantly and as vulgar as they liked. Each person became a passenger of the experience, adding to the overall immersion and interactivity. Within the event we included games rooms, food stations and a range of touch-elements as texture was an integral part of what constitutes the vulgar movement. Visual expression, joy and nostalgia also played a role.
A man wearing an ornate silver suite with a black hat and expressive striped make-up.
A male and female wearing leopard print suits.
A male and a female in avantgarde attire. The female wearing a bright yellow outfit and a fur hat.
luxury event planner
Three people in ornate, high fashion dress on the theme of Vulgar
A drag queen in a green wig and with blue painted skin.
Woman in a pink dress holding a fan with a painted face on the outside.A drag queen and a mannequin covered in cheese slices.
"We had a wondertul experience working with Christopher at The Events Mill on The Vulgar Ball. He came up with a fantastic creative response to the Ball's theme of The Vulgar and ensured that it followed through into all the areas. His attention to detail was extraordinary including a completely different themed design for each dinner table and he was a delight to work with. He ensured that a wonderful sense of humour ran through the décor which really helped to create the amazing atmosphere at the party. He was also fantastic at working within a tight budget and came up with really creative solutions to make it look great at low cost. We can't wait to have an opportunity to collaborate with him again."

Creative Director, Quintessentially 
The words "Lipsync for your lives" vinyled onto a mirror window.
A peacock set on a table full of various props.
A mobile phone made from flowers
Bespoke sculpture, armatures and floral design helped to convey various themes throughout the installations. For example, on the ‘yuppy’ themed table, an old phone was created using floral materials. Each table was so different that guests moved around to visit one another.
Mannequins behind ropes and stanchions.An actress wearing a huge blonde wig in front of an ornate mirror.
A shirt of mismatched patterns with the word VOGUE on the back.

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Vulgarity is not Vulgar Enough especially at The Vulgar Bal

The Vulgar, held at the Barbican, showcased over 120 stunning objects, ranging from historical costumes to couture and ready-to-wear looks, with contributions from leading contemporary designers such as Walter van Beirendonck, Chloé, Christian Dior, Pam Hogg, Charles James, Christian Lacroix, Lanvin, Moschino, Miuccia Prada, Agent Provocateur, Elsa Schiaparelli, Philip Treacy, UNDERCOVER, Viktor & Rolf, Louis Vuitton and Vivienne Westwood.

The Events Mill designed the launch of this groundbreaking exhibition: The Vulgar Ball, an evening of frolicking and fundraising with an incredible display of everything vulgar, expressing texture, colour and riot of the senses.

Brief

We were asked by Quintessentially, the high-end concierge members agency, to design an extra special evening for the launch of a new exhibition at the Barbican – The Vulgar, Fashion Redefined. Our brief was an open expression of creativity, exploring the realms of vulgar throughout history, bringing together these expressions as an immersive experience. We were like kids at a candy store.

One condition of the brief was to bring impact whilst remaining thrifty. The Vulgar Ball was a fundraising evening; therefore it was important that we were mindful of costs whilst designing with the wow factor. Naturally, the vulgar leant into this well, as expressions of this theme traverse tastes, so we were able to satisfy the brief by remaining crafty and theatrical. Collaboration was integral, also, with many designers, carpenters, fashion designers and performers coming together to create one of the most impactful and creative evenings we have ever produced. 

What We Did...

The party was held in a large blank canvas space which gave huge opportunities to be playful and immersive. Our design was wrapped around the word vulgar and its many synonyms, alternative descriptions, where we physically interpreted the definition of each word. For example, we installed a huge peacock design to represent the word “peacocky,” a vulgar term. 

As guests moved through various rooms, the immersion became more and more vulgar. From one room completely covered in pink faux fur to boudoirs with nude models draped in gold, pearls and lounging in bathtubs. This was the ultimate display of opulence, an unadulterated celebration of more-is-more, what some would consider vulgar and what others would consider “fashion-darling;” indeed, at some moment in history, a gold pashmina was banished from society for being too risqué.

Before the call to dinner guests were invited to walk the red-carpet catwalk and to strut their stuff in front of mannequins dressed in fabulous vulgar outfits, awaiting the paparazzi, their moment to shine. Dinner was served in the most colourful way possible. Introduced as a drag ball, with Queens and all the royal pomp one could imagine, the sound of RuPaul blasted out. We dressed each table with an array of immersive objects each reflecting a different description of the word vulgar. These contents were sourced from antique shops, markets, online retailers and in every corner of London, curated on site by our team and turned into an immersive design that truly honoured the theme of VULGAR.

This was one fundraising event that will go down in history.