Playboy picked a good one in 2018 Playmate of the Year, Nina Daniele, who worked the room and addressed an industry crowd at the invite-only boozy lunch at Beauty & Essex in Hollywood on Friday.
The Bronx native came to the brand through her agent at high fashion agency, One Model Management. Her cold open? “So, my aunt thinks I do porn… and I let her.” She won the room in 10 words on her way to an impressive six-minute argument for female sexuality and empowerment. “Even though I’m French and Italian, I have a background of savage blood.”
These are the two people shaping the future of the 65-year-old brand: CEO Ben Kohn and CCO Cooper Hefner. Kohn announced strong numbers — $1.5 billion in annual sales and branded product sales in 180 countries. “The rabbit head is one of the most recognized logos, with 97 percent global awareness,” Kohn said.
They will soon relocate the offices from Beverly Hills to Westwood, nesting closer to the former Playboy Mansion.
With her parents seated at a front row table, Daniele addressed the crowd as they noshed on a seven-course family-style lunch. “Taking your clothes off doesn’t imply empowerment. That’s too literal,” she said. “It implies that, ‘I don’t care what you have to say about my body. It is just the shell of the person inside and I refuse to let what you or society say about me dim my light and taint my truth as a person, as a human, and as a woman.’”
In a nod to Playboy’s long affiliation with jazz, the Supa Lowery Brothers entertained.
The current issue of Playboy touts a new slogan: “Entertainment for All.” For those inclined to read it for the journalism, inside are profiles on the Planned Parenthood president, Apple music czar Zane Lowe, and “late-night hell raiser” comic Jim Jefferies, posing here with the second generation Hef.
Hefner acknowledged that this was the first year for him and the brand since the passing of his father, Hugh, at the Playboy Mansion last September. Daniele never got the chance to meet the founder.
“Of course, I want attention, hello! Have you seen my Instagram? It’s called being an only child,” Daniele cracked. With the location at Beauty & Essex, it continues the partnership with TAO Group, which hosts a Playboy Pool Party every Friday at TAO Beach in Vegas.
For more from the Hollywood party scene, including the recent “Handmaid’s Tale” Season 2 premiere, click here:
