SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS proudly announces its inaugural partnership with world-renowned shopping district, Rodeo Drive, for the 2011 holiday season. Situated at the heart of Beverly Hills’ Golden Triangle, Rodeo Drive defines sophisticated luxury for fashionable shoppers from around the world and is uniquely placed to showcase an exclusive collaboration with SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS.

Swarovski partnered with Goldrun for a special ‘Let it Sparkle’ augmented reality application. The ‘app’ allows everyone strolling on Rodeo Drive to snap pictures of the limited edition products in front of the stores in new and innovative ways. The ‘app’ can be downloaded for free on http://itunes.apple.com/ us/app/goldrun/id396800792?mt=8.

Known the world over for its glamorous shopping ambience, Rodeo Drive is set to sparkle even brighter during the 2011 holiday season with a stunning, state-of-the-art custom SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS installation constructed along its center median. With the cooperation of The City of Beverly Hills and using innovative technology, thousands of SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS combined with LED lights will deliver a modern, interactive holiday experience with the exciting, crystalline creation; the installation is more than pure decoration and enables communication in brilliant new ways for the holiday season.  Adding even more glamour to the sparkling celebration, the iconic Via Rodeo Drive lampposts will also be crystallized throughout the holiday season.

"As the epicenter of luxury and the home of premium brands from around the globe, it was the perfect fit for us to collaborate with the City of Beverly Hills and our existing partners on Rodeo Drive for this very special holiday initiative, " said Reinhard Mackinger, executive vice president, Elements Business, Swarovski North America. “As one of the finest luxury ingredients used in fashion, accessories, jewelry, interiors – and now with our holiday sculpture, SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS is once again able to show its vast range of creativity, innovation and brilliance to help make Rodeo Drive sparkle even brighter.“

“We are very excited by this year’s holiday program and our partnership with SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS,” adds Mayor Barry Brucker. “Their creative team is just phenomenal. They have integrated the sparkle theme into the décor and the holiday events in original and exciting ways. The holidays are always special, but this year with Swarovski and ‘Let it Sparkle,’ shopping in Beverly Hills will be a magical experience.”

On Monday, November 21, 2011, Hollywood actress Jessica Alba, together with SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS and the mayor of Beverly Hills, will unveil the dazzling high-tech installation. As dusk falls, the spectacular sculptures will be transformed into dazzling light, after which Jessica Alba will release the holiday cheer with her own special message, the first to appear on the installations’ ticker tape. Jessica Alba will wear the SWAROVSKI CRYSTALLIZED™ Winter Garden Necklace at the event to mark the company’s support for her charity, baby2baby.org.  SWAROVSKI CRYSTALLIZED™ is making a monetary donation in support of Baby2Baby in the spirit of the holiday season.  Baby2Baby is a non-profit organization which supplies greater Los Angeles area families in need with essential gear and clothing for their babies and young children through a network of community-based organizations.

“I am honored to be a part of this exciting partnership between SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS™ and Rodeo Drive” says Jessica Alba. “What makes this evening most special is that SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS™ innovative concept store SWAROVSKI CRYSTALLIZED™ will be lending a helping hand to a charity that is very dear to me, Baby2Baby.   As a mother, I cannot imagine what it must be like for parents who cannot afford the most basic necessities for their babies. I am so proud to be wearing this beautiful necklace and hope that we are able to raise money for those who need it the most this holiday season.”

Communication, and in particular holiday communication, is central to this special collaboration. Taking inspiration from the ways in which we transmit information – from DNA, Morse code, ticker tape, text messaging to twitter - the interactive installation allows anyone anywhere can join Jessica Alba, Mayor Brucker, Nadja Swarovski and designers Roberto Cavalli, Margherita Missoni, Stuart Weitzman to name a few to tweet their very own holiday message, which will then be instantly displayed on one of the installation’s five chrome DNA helix-like sculptures and live streamed on www.facebook.com/swarovskielements. Embellished with thousands of sparkling SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS, each sculpture will contain an electronic ticker, reminiscent of the ticker tape, one of the earliest digital electronic communications mediums dating back to the late 1800s.

By using the hashtag #letitsparkle, the holiday messages tweeted from around the globe will appear on these sparkling sculptures’ electronic screens. To send a message via SMS in the US only, text the word "sparkle" followed by a holiday greeting to 877877. 

Against this spectacular backdrop of crystal and technology, Rodeo Drive’s prestigious retail stores such as Missoni, La Perla, Bebe, Escada and Stuart Weitzman amongst many others will join in the celebrations by focusing the spotlight on their exclusive products made with SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS. Shoppers can revel in the festive atmosphere while seeking out those fabulous ‘must have’ items of jewelry, fashion, accessories, lingerie and footwear and also discover for themselves the exclusive limited editions all made with SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS.

In order to celebrate the exclusive designs, Swarovski partnered with Goldrun for a special ‘Let it Sparkle’ augmented reality application. The ‘app’ allows everyone strolling on Rodeo Drive to snap pictures of the limited edition products in front of the stores in new and innovative ways. The ‘app’ can be downloaded for free on http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/goldrun/id396800792?mt=8.

The SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS holiday installation on Rodeo Drive will be unveiled on Monday, November 21, 2011 through till January 3, 2012.  Rodeo Drive and SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS’ sparkling partnership is guaranteed to make holiday celebrations lighter, brighter, more glamorous and even more joyful.

SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS Holiday Celebrations Around the World

The SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS’ holiday partnership with Rodeo Drive is not the only sparking celebration for 2011. London’s iconic Harrods department store as well as famous Takashimaya locations in Tokyo and Singapore will also be aglitter for holiday 2011.