Trust a fashion designer to bring an oomph factor to anything, and fashion mogul Vera Wang is one such magician. Wang is renowned for her impeccable vision to create a lifestyle beyond fashion and into publishing, fragrance, beauty, accessories, and home. Driven by artistic, modern, luxurious design and a high level of customer experience, Vera Wang’s collections hold enormous appeal. The designer has now stepped into the world of bubbling beverages with a first-of-its-kind partnership with the world’s first luxury vodka brand, Chopin. “This is the first fashion-vodka collaboration ever to be launched in the United States and a first-of-its-kind partnership for both our brands. It is also the first commercially marketed artist-designed bottle for Chopin. Everything about this project is bespoke. This is a true partnership and co-creation.”, said the Founder and CEO of Chopin Vodka, Tadeusz “Tad” J. Dorda.
Launched this spring, the limited edition Vodka is hand-crafted from farm to bottle. Vera Wang personally selected a special variety of young potatoes that have never been on the market. The potatoes used for the product are sustainably grown and sourced without chemicals or pesticides in the village of Krzesk, Poland, where the Chopin Vodka distillery is located. The resulting product is naturally gluten-free and has a distinct taste, aroma, complexity, and character, unlike any other product available to date. “Vera is a passionate Chopin drinker and she discovered us some time ago. We found out about her love of vodka, met and bonded over our shared passion and life work. It was then we decided to create something special just for her.”, explained Dorda.
Wang has been an ardent fan of the drink, but it was during the creative process that she discovered its subtleties over the past two years while co-creating her own. The designer further explained, “(Regarding the discovery process….) Like anything, I began to develop a taste for vodka by trying it…initially as a mixed cocktail from classic screwdrivers and bloody marys to cosmopolitans, apple martinis, or the cocktail of the moment… one of the great things about vodka is its versatility. But for purists, I now drink vodka chilled to really savor/appreciate its unique flavor and texture. Many descriptives are top of mind…delicately flavorful, nuanced, sophisticated, and amazingly smooth. Sexy. “Romance in a bottle.”.
Wang was determined to retain the Chopin bottle’s iconic shape, with a modern, architectural, and sophisticated iteration for the Vera Wang fashion/lifestyle brand that is guaranteed to stand out on any bar. From the matte bi-color bottle to her personal messaging, she describes this project as a fantastic journey. “It is the culmination of my long love affair with vodka in the most personal and expressive way.” The poem on the back of the bottle is an “ode” to Wang’s unique and highly personal relationship with vodka: how it makes her feel, the memories it evokes, and the emotion, sensuality, and romance vodka represents to her.
“Thanks to Tad, I was able to learn from THE MASTER. He and his team in Poland presented 14 different variations that we tested in a makeshift lab set up in my NYC kitchen pre-pandemic. For 10 hours, we tasted and savored each preparation while Tad himself tutored us in the vodka distillation process, literally from the ground up. In other words, the type, size, flavor, and origin of each potato and how long they take to grow, process, ferment, and rest. Believe me, I will never ever look at a potato the same way again…In the end, I chose no. 9, and oddly enough, my entire team agreed.”, explained the designer.
Chopin Vodka Chopin is a boutique, family-owned distillery that crafts artisanal spirits and liqueurs. Widely regarded as the world’s top vodka maker, Chopin Vodka is distilled from local ingredients grown in a new district of eastern Poland (100km east of Warsaw). From growing, cooking, fermenting, and distilling raw ingredients to bottling, the entire process is carefully tended. Chopin Vodka was the first to debut ultra-luxury vodka in 1993 with its iconic bottle – a design that has since redefined the vodka sector. In addition to producing three single-ingredient vodkas – potato, rye, and wheat – to showcase just how different vodkas can be, Chopin also offers a limited-edition Family Reserve Young Potato Vodka and a trio of Dorda Liqueurs (Dorda Sea Salt Caramel, Dorda Double Chocolate, and Dorda Coconut).
The limited-edition collaboration is available on ChopinVodka.com and select retailers nationwide for a suggested retail price of $99 (1 liter).
