What Loic Serot loves most about his job just isn’t solely the entry to a world of exclusivity and Luxury however the true interplay and connection he can have with very completely different and attention-grabbing individuals, celebrities, creative abilities and cooks too. Whereas gastronomy right this moment has been elevated past comparability, it stays centered on the desk, which has at all times been a locus for storytelling and historical past. There may be a lot to say about dinners, it’s the most politically — and artistically — charged second that may exist, in life itself.
As we speak at ASIAOMB, as Strategic Director and Artwork Director, he’s broadening and creating the ideas and financial system that he has created for dinner to different dimensions in Luxury, journey, and yachting to efficiently create different kinds of experiences.
Forward, we converse with Loic Serot to be taught extra about his experiences as an Occasion Creator.
You might be an “Occasion Creator”, how necessary has been your loved ones background in turning into who you are actually (for eg. your father as an architect and your mom as a dressmaker)?
My mother and father raised my brother and I with an open mindset and tailor-made a portfolio of very completely different experiences that inspired us to discover a variety of information from completely different cultures, literature, architectures, artwork, trend and music.
As our mother and father had been typically invited to openings, they weren’t dwelling and we grew to become liable for our time. We had been requested to shock them once they returned. This pushed us to be inventive, remodeling the home into one other theme by rearranging the lighting and objects, remodeling the rooms right into a starry lodge and typically even dressing up for the event. Experimenting with new recipes and cooking quickly grew to become a ardour we each treasure.
Essentially the most fascinating a part of my upbringing was my mother and father’ background as an architect and a dressmaker. They centered on changing 2D drawings into 3D realities, and that influenced the best way I perceived issues too. I discover it transcendental to see the second when an concept takes form, birthing from a selected emotion, after which turning into a real expertise of fixing realities.
In case you had been to say one mentor who’s inspiring you in your each day life and profession, who would that be?
My father, Daniel Serot. He was an unknown genius who performed together with his senses to control actuality and to create a shocking life.
Salvador Dali was one other mentor that I look as much as. He was not simply an iconic painter but in addition an unimaginable occasion designer, staging “unattainable” tales.
One other supply of inspiration for me comes from the e book “Picture, Icon, Financial system” by Marie-José Mondzain. The e book explores the origins of the Byzantine empire’s struggle of illustration and the way it influenced our up to date creativeness. Generally I do assume that Bernard Arnaut realized quite a bit from it as nicely.
What would you describe as your forte? What completely different views do you present versus different Occasion Producers?
I might say it’s my skill to craft compelling tales primarily based on the legal guidelines of the universe, attraction, and pleasure, then to translate these tales into distinct chapters that possess their very own energy and power of emotion by way of artwork, aesthetics and design, and at last to crystallize the magic by ending with a climax of memorable celebrations.
I don’t evaluate an excessive amount of to different producers’ work. As a substitute, I comply with my instinct and imagine that the perfect concepts are hidden within the processes of nature, physics, the universe, historical past, expertise and video games. I focus all my consideration on the topic and work till all components are mastered, linked and alive in the identical course. Every venture is a complete new “financial system” to be envisioned and succeed.
Do you might have any specificity?
At occasions, for instance, the meals plates had been primarily used as a white canvas: an invisible help to distinction a chef’s creations, or as a backdrop to replicate the model’s emblem. However for me, every plate is greater than a help or an announcement, I create them with the identical perfection as the opposite parts of the expertise. So, every course and plate works within the continuity of a story. They show, at first, a chef’s culinary financial system (how gastronomy works as a mixture of style, temperature, substance, plating and intention) after which combine these in a bigger framework and creative context to infuse feelings that hyperlink with the broader theme.
The idea of “expertise” is essential for you when designing an occasion. What’s a profitable “expertise” for visitors?
Folks attend occasions to expertise one thing not generally felt or anticipated. The important thing worth is to efficiently present entry to a different actuality. We, as occasion makers, should be the conduit of newness and permit individuals to raise themselves to a different degree of freedom and creativeness — in essence, we’re the magicians.
The rules we work by are: ritual, transfiguration, sacrifice, glorification and catharsis.
The precise return on occasion funding (other than exponential gross sales) are these crystalized reminiscences that should persist the longest. And they need to be engraved, mirroring as nicely, model’s title and philosophy.
Luxury“>Why do you particularly deal with occasions associated to the world of Luxury?
If you wish to discover extra in-depth about particular creation or idea in occasions, you want methods to afford them. So there isn’t a compromise: the perfect for the perfect. For Luxury manufacturers and billionaires, they want you to generate distinctive moments for them and their visitors. This can be a problem that I readily tackle to create new dimensions and concepts to blow individuals away.
Is there something you want to add about your work?
We have now learnt a lot these final 10 years and chartered new instructions for the subsequent 10 so there can be numerous adjustments coming. On account of our work, we additionally created two new roles: “Dinner Designer” in 2010 and “Culinary-tellers” in 2012 who carry which means to any occasion. These new roles have change into important in any high-end occasion right this moment.
I feel that our business is extra complicated and complex than prior to now, involving a variety of recent methods, representations, results, personalisation and dimensions. So it’s essential to be particular in your method and invite the proper particular person to do the proper job, particularly in Asia.
What introduced you to Asia? And why did you compromise in Hong Kong?
I used to be drawn to Asia resulting from its tradition, philosophy, and cinema which I felt a connection to my work. After finishing three masters in artwork, design and cinema, I used to be awarded grants and invited to take part in varied artwork residences in Asia, together with turning into a laureate of the distinguished Villa Kujoma, Kyoto in 2005. After this distinctive expertise, I selected to remain in Asia. Hong Kong was rising to be fascinating sufficient to help me in creating ideas I had about artwork, structure and gastronomy.
Constructing upon the success of our experimentation in festivals and occasions, we based ASIAOMB (AO), an organization primarily based on an avant-garde imaginative and prescient of distinctive, sensorial and opulent curated experiences. For instance, we had been the primary to create a full-immersive video projection and sound-designed sequence of dinners in Asia for K11 Founder Adrian Cheng within the K11 Artwork Mall TST opening at the start of 2010, inviting a younger Singaporean pastry chef to guide the gastronomy and dishes buildings, that has since change into well-known.
After Asia, what’s one other continent you wish to discover?
We did a couple of initiatives in Europe and quite a bit in South Asia, and we do love Hong Kong and Singapore for his or her excessive tradition, curiosity and demographic. Now, it appears as nicely that among the rich Chinese language and Individuals are thinking about us. So, let’s see the way it will flip…
What’s your favorite reminiscence of an occasion you organised in Singapore?
There are such a lot of good reminiscences of success. Chanel, within the coronary heart of Aubazine; Cartier, Panthera Odyssey, a chic exhibition that we signed; Financial institution of Singapore was one of many extra excellent initiatives involving virtuality and Web3 theme. Essentially the most superb was undoubtedly the launch of the most important superyacht in Asia, the White Rabbit for the Goh household.
My very favorite among the many others that I’ve completed was the launch of Richard Mille 50-04 with Kimi Raikkonen. It was by far essentially the most difficult but in addition essentially the most rewarding. I needed to give you a technique to increase funds for Kimi’s basis, whereas additionally entertaining the visitors with 3-starred meals and reviewing the watch. At first, I used to be not sure about how one can combine Luxury, haute watchmaking, celebrities, video games and gastronomy, however ultimately all of it got here collectively seamlessly. The occasion culminated with an ecstatic sequence of feelings from races, menu, TV present, desk video games, depth and humour, all occurred in a world-class setting.
Your subsequent necessary initiatives throughout 2023?
After these three years of robust financial headwinds, now we have re-evaluated AO to capitalise extra on our distinctive abilities. On the one hand, we’re persevering with to create beautiful occasions for manufacturers and the rich incorporating much more potentiality and imaginative and prescient. Alternatively, we are actually starting to have interaction with buyers for a multi-immersion restaurant that will be a fruits and celebration of our 13 years of success in designing dinner experiences.
Moreover, there’s additionally a lodge idea that has the potential to revolutionise the lodge business with a brand new vacation spot! However most significantly, after a number of years as a sponsor and partnership agent, AO will host its personal summit that may open in 2024, with the first-ever occasion that to generate optimistic carbon credit. Keep tuned!
And about dinner “design”?
The subsequent one is known as the “Jet lag dinner” and is being organized for one among our most loyal clients in Europe. We’re making a “flying solar” that may function the primary supply of sunshine in the course of the dinner. The occasion will incorporate parts of various time zones, economics, psychology, phrase processes and sustainability as these buyers have an interest within the blue financial system. It is going to be actually superb to play with the depth and positioning of the solar to create an phantasm of time dimension, distorting notion and actuality and bringing consideration to the urgent challenge of local weather change and our collective accountability to handle it.
The world is actually fascinating.
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