USAIN BOLT AND PELE HELP CELEBRATE OPENING OF NYC HUBLOT FLAGSHIP

Olympian Usain Bolt and soccer great Pele joined luxury Swiss watch brand Hublot on Wednesday, April 20 to help launch the company’s new 1,500-square-foot flagship store at 743 Fifth Avenue.

The athletes, who are both brand ambassadors, joined CEO Ricardo Guadalupe for a ribbon-cutting ceremony outside of the boutique, Afterwards, guests were directed to look skywards as a duo of Bandaloop dancers descended from the rooftop and danced across the store’s façade until they reached the ground to present Bolt with his newest Limited Edition Watch.

The latest in the long collaboration between Peter Marino Architects and Hublot, the boutique features a dramatic façade, lit with LEDs and faceted with powder coated black aluminum panels to evoke the straps of a timepiece. Inside, the décor reflects the brand’s contemporary style, with black lava stone and wood floors, graphite-colored leather furnishings, glass and polished stainless steel fixtures. There are also high-tech innovations including “shadow-less” LCD vitrine windows, sophisticated yet unobtrusive lighting, a wall of monitors, and a “book” with virtual turning “pages”, each showing a part of Hublot’s history, in the main window on Fifth Avenue.

“Hublot is thrilled to share this exciting occasion with the city of New York,” said Guadulupe. :Not only are we celebrating our new boutique on Fifth Avenue – the largest Hublot boutique in the United States- but we are paying tribute to the iconic and innovative All Black collection that Hublot founded exactly 10 years ago.”