Belvedere Vodka has announced its global partnership with award-winning visual artist, musician, and activist Laolu Senbanjo, including a striking limited-edition bottle now available in-stores globally. The launch event for the Belvedere Vodka X Laolu Senbanjo 2018 Limited Edition Bottle collaboration event took place during New York Fashion Week. Featuring a fashion showcase with pieces by Sebanjo, the presentation was held at The Whitney Museum of American Art, and included supermodels Helena Christensen and Martha Hunt.

Supermodels Helena Christensen (L) and Martha Hunt (R) join Laolu Senbanjo at launch event for Belvedere Limited Edition Bottle

With an artistic vision to reveal the beauty within each of his subjects, the new limited-edition bottle visually brings to life Senbanjo’s interpretation of the complexity, nuance and character of the Belvedere liquid.

A Brooklyn-based Nigerian-born performance and visual artist, Senbanjo’s main artistic medium is the skin; he is best known for his body-painting featured in Beyoncé’s Grammy Award-winning visual album, “Lemonade.”  He’s graced the cover of the Washington Post, and has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, Vogue, BBC, CNN, and NBC. In addition to Beyoncé, he counts artists including Alicia Keys, Swiss Beatz, Seun Kuti, Tony Allen, Alek Wek, and Danielle Brooks among his collaborators.

Belvedere Vodka X Laolu Senbanjo 2018 Limited Edition Bottle

Senbanjo applies his mantra, “Everything is My Canvas,” to mural designs, fashion partnerships, live art events and installations, and now to the new limited-edition Belvedere Vodka bottle. The first Belvedere bottle with high-quality full-wrap sleeve technology features a flowing design with sharp edges that represent the water and rye working together to produce dimension and taste. Subtle skin-sense texture, which reacts to UV lights, is used to bring another sensory component to the bottle. The charcoal coloring and distinct shapes create complex, story-rich designs, which draw heavily from his Yoruba heritage.

Rodney Williams, president of Belvedere Vodka

“When Laolu paints a subject, each design is unique to what he believes depicts their inner beauty. This phenomenal message is seamlessly in line with our mission to reveal the unexpected beauty in life,” said Rodney Williams, president of Belvedere Vodka. “Also as a social advocate and former human rights attorney, Laolu’s philosophies align with our commitment to community and creating positive action in the world; in this case, the program supports the (RED) organization and the Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa, a cause we’ve been supporting for 8 years.”

“As an artist I get to share my soul with people around me, my environment and the world and I’m able to channel my experiences like my journey as a human rights attorney and as a Nigerian” said Laolu Senbanjo. “The Belvedere bottle design came from that inspiration as well as doing a lot of research about what Belvedere is at its core, like the rye and the pristine water. The bottle is an amazing blend of my art and bringing to life what Belvedere stands for – and I get to be a part of giving back to society, which means a lot to me.”

Belvedere Vodka and Laolu will revealed the limited-edition bottle at an event celebrating Spring/Sumer 2019 New York Fashion Week. The bottle will support the global fund to help eliminate HIV/AIDS in Africa. Now widely available, the bottle comes in 70cl, 75cl, 1L and 1.75L sizes.

Martha Hunt

Helena Christensen

HOMBRE Magazine’s Francisco Romeo celebrates launch of Belvedere Vodka X Laolu Senbanjo 2018 Limited Edition Bottle