LOS ANGELES, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Attendees at the 81st Annual Academy Awards, along with the 36.3 million viewers who tuned in to watch the Oscar(R) telecast last evening, were treated to a spectacular yet intimate set design created by architect David Rockwellfeaturing a three-ton, 60-foot tall custom designed Swarovski crystal curtain sparkling with over 100,000 crystals flown in especially from Austria.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090224/NY74343 )
Swarovski's illuminating tapestry of cascading crystal and light served as backdrop for Oscar host Hugh Jackman in addition to some of Hollywood's biggest stars including Nicole Kidman, Robert De Niro, best actor and actress winners Sean Penn and Kate Winslet, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. The dazzling curtain helped redefine this year's Oscar experience with more of an elegant party feel.
David Rockwell, founder and CEO of Rockwell Group, which completed the home of the Oscars(R), the Kodak Theatre, seven years ago said, "We could not think of a better partner than Swarovski to fulfill our vision of not just a curtain, but a frame to capture all the elegance, excitement and high-fashion that is the Academy Awards. We have collaborated with Swarovski many times and the result is always breathtaking. This is yet another spectacular centerpiece."
"Swarovski is especially honored and privileged to have been part of the 81st Annual Academy Awards(R)," said Nadja Swarovski, Vice President of Crystal Business. "We were thrilled to collaborate with David Rockwell on his redesign of the set for what is certainly Hollywood's most star-studded evening. We send our most heart-felt congratulations to all the nominees and winners."
View exclusive behind the scenes footage of the creation of the Swarovski Crystal Curtain for the 81st Annual Academy Awards on www.swarovskisparkles.com and swarovskisparkles.tv.
In 1895, Daniel Swarovski I, a Bohemian inventor and visionary, moved to the village of Wattens, Tyrol in Austria, with his newly-invented machine for cutting and polishing crystal jewellery stones. From this beginning that revolutionised the fashion world, Swarovski has grown to be the world's leading producer of precision-cut crystal, for fashion, jewellery and more recently lighting, architecture and interiors. Today, the company, still based in Wattens, family-owned and run by 4th and 5th generation family members, has a global reach, with some 22.000 employees, a presence in over 120 countries and a turnover in 2007 of 2.56 billion Euros. Swarovski comprises two major businesses, one producing and selling loose elements to the industry and the other creating design-driven finished products. Swarovski crystal components, known by their product brand names CRYSTALLIZED(TM) - Swarovski Elements for fashion and STRASS(R) Swarovski(R) Crystal for architecture and light, have become an essential ingredient of international design. Since 1965 the company has also catered to the fine jewellery industry with precision-cut genuine and created gemstones, and from April 2008 has strengthened this relationship by revitalising and renaming the product brand ENLIGHTENED(TM) - Swarovski Elements. Showing the creativity that lies at the heart of the company, Swarovski's own-brand lines of accessories, jewellery and home decor are sold through more than 1300 Swarovski stores and concessions in all major fashion capitals, while the exclusive Daniel Swarovski accessories collection has become the company's Couture signature. The Swarovski Crystal Society has close to 400,000 members worldwide, keen collectors of the celebrated crystal figurines. And in Wattens, Swarovski Kristallwelten, the multi-media crystal museum, was opened in 1995, as a celebration of Swarovski's universe of innovation and inspiration. The Swarovski corporation also includes Tyrolit(R), manufacturing grinding tools, Swareflex, for road safety reflectors and Swarovski Optik, producing precision optical instruments.
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