VIP Dinner

Bicester Village

Challenged to devise a strategy which would guarantee the attendance of over 350 national and international media, bloggers & social influencers, in order to maximise coverage and celebrate the newly expanded Bicester Village, which saw the addition of 34 brand new luxury fashion boutiques.

We curated and delivered the epitome of a luxury dining and overnight experience the evening before launch to ensure the attendance of key media. We identified and selected Aynhoe park as the venue to host all 32 senior editors from key fashion publications, such as Sam Conti, Bureau Chief at WWD and Lucia Van Der Post, Associate Editor at FT How to spend it, to name but a few. 

Making the decision to buy-out the venue catering and production, we were able to deploy our top-tier luxury event partners such as Cellar Society to deliver an exquisite menu with silver service trained, elite male models. 

Opulence was paramount to every detail, so we worked closely with Florist Owner/Founder Nikki Tibbles. A collaboration with Luke Edward-Hall accented the dining experience with his limited-edition crockery collection, bespoke to Bicester Village as well as ornate silverware, crystalware, bespoke candles.

A premium service, intimate environment and luxury experience directed by 22x43, culminated in a successful pre-launch VIP celebration and the affirmation of Bicester’s luxury credentials amongst consumer and trade press.

The following morning guests departed Aynhoe Park for the main press launch at Bicester Village and were joined by an additional 350 journalists and influencers. A key challenge was, ‘how do we get them there’?

Leveraging an existing relationship between Value Retail and Chiltern Railways, we negotiated for the very first time, the opportunity to remove a Silver Train from public service, chartering the service exclusively for launch day guests. Meticulous planning and the creation of simple brand assets such as embroidered headrests, table liners, linen napkins and bell boys, inexpensively disguised the standard service as ‘Bicester Express’.