PUTTIN’ ON THE RITZ: The Ritz Paris has released a teaser of Zoe Cassavetes’ film.
This confirms a WWD report revealing that the director of “Broken English” has shot a film for the reopening of the mythic luxury hotel.
Called “Behind the Door,” the film stars French actress Ana Girardot and the Spanish model and actor Andrés Velencoso.
The four-minute film is to be released on The Ritz Paris’ web site and its YouTube channel on June 6, the official date that was set for the hotel’s much anticipated reopening. In it, Girardot sports creations by Azzedine Alaïa and Delphine Manivet, as well as Chanel fine jewelry, a spokeswoman for The Ritz Paris told WWD.
Cassavetes, the daughter of actor and filmmaker John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands, is very much plugged into the fashion world. Her fashion credentials include being a muse of Marc Jacobs’, and participating in Miu Miu’s “Women’s Tales.” Girardot is also a front-row regular at fashion shows.
The 29-second clip opens on a clock ticking. In it, a young woman sports a chic black sequined bustier dress and shows off her languorous dance moves. A spiral staircase is shown in a whirling shot. There’s a mysterious vibe to it. “It’s our inspiration, our reopening film. Emotion, magnificence and eternal, that’s what characterizes [the film],” the hotel’s spokeswoman said.
The clip posted on The Ritz Paris’ web site and its social media on Friday has kicked off the final stretch of a shrewd online campaign. On Saturday, the hotel posted a photograph of another frame from Cassavetes’ film featuring a lavish dining room festooned with luxury furniture and tableware.
Over the past weeks, the hotel has stoked curiosity by posting details of its revamp – think a fireplace in a suite, books in the Salon Proust’s library, a chandelier and blue ceiling – with hashtags #thelegendcontinues and #leritzcestparis (or ‘The Ritz, it’s Paris’ in English.)
The Ritz Paris has been shuttered since July 2012 for what is billed as the biggest refurbishment in its history, headed by architect Didier Beautemps of Paris-based Atelier COS and interior designer Thierry Despont.
Founded by Swiss hotelier Cesar Ritz in 1898, the hotel has hosted celebrities ranging from Coco Chanel to Ernest Hemingway, after whom the Bar Hemingway is named.
As first reported by WWD, Chanel plans to open its first spa named Chanel au Ritz Paris, dedicated to the brand’s skin care, in the Ritz Club.
In addition to the spa, the project involves refreshing rooms, suites, restaurants, bars, the leisure areas, The Ritz Escoffier cooking school and the hotel’s gardens.
Michelin-starred chef Nicolas Sale, who was overseeing the kitchen at the Table du Kilimandjaro and Kintessence restaurants in Courchevel in the French Alps, is to take the reins of the hotel’s restaurant L’Espadon, with Estelle Touzet — who ascended the ranks at famed Parisian hotels such as Le Bristol, Hotel de Crillon and Le Meurice — as the hotel’s chief sommelier.