We might’ve been the very first event in the building — Navka Arena had just opened: massive, gleaming, brand-new. The first vision was pure spectacle: a car lowered on cables, dropping from the arena roof while aerial acrobats performed overhead — the whole wow. Reality turned out a little trickier, of course, but the original fashion-show idea held: Lyaysan Utyasheva, in a bold futuristic gown surrounded by models, unveiling a gorgeous new car in azure blue.

Three core values: technology, quality, design. Guests had to feel them — actually get their hands on them. Technology was the easy one; nobody’s impressed by that anymore. Design we played out through the fashion show itself, dressing "citizens of the future" in forward-looking looks (from up above the ice, it really came together).

THE CHALLENGE:

But quality? We turned it over and over until it clicked: people often read the quality of a thing through the way it smells. A car can reek of cheap plastic — or it can breathe rich leather and warm spice. So the welcome area got its own scent zone, and for once, "immersive experience" actually meant something.

Kirill Orlov