The Rio 2016 Olympic Games are up and running, but something you won’t see on the televised coverage is the thriving social scene that has taken over Ipanema and Copacabana beaches and, on a more serious note, the significant investment and restoration that several brands have brought to that area. Omega, for instance, has completely renovated the formerly run-down Casa de Cultura Laura Alvim, a space that was at different times a private residence, a movie theater, and a cultural center. And although there were swimming matches starting as late as 10:00 p.m., on Saturday night the Omega House opening party was the hottest ticket in town.
The house’s namesake was a mid-century artist and intellectual, so it was fitting that the crowd of partygoers was a who’s-who of who made the trip down to Brazil. Prince Albert II of Monaco, actress Camilla Belle, and Eddie Redmayne stopped by, as well as Omega president Raynald Aeschlimann and Rio’s woman-to-know Paula Bezerra de Mello, PR director at the Fasano Hotel.
Party talk centered around the day’s athletic highlights: the records set during women’s swimming, the USA vs. China basketball match, and French gymnast Samir Ait Said’s unfortunately gruesome vault accident. All in all—being in Rio, seeing the games, enjoying a caipirinha at Omega House—it was a rousing day that Redmayne found inspiring. “I supposed we’re both deeply competitive human beings,” he told Vogue.com when asked what athletes and actors had in common. “There’s something about both of those trades that, as a kid, those are the dream industries. You see your icons doing them and you aspire to be like them. In sport and acting, everyone tells you there’s very little possibility of making it, but if you have the courage to pursue your dreams, it’s a wonderful thing to be able to do.”
