The Beauty of Food Creation
Renowned food stylist Ayako Suwa invited guests to Le Voyage de Synactif with Clé de Peau Beauté
Imagine a dining event where guests get to experience the food with all five senses; rather than just consuming food, the overall goal is to evoke various emotions. This is exactly what renowned Japanese food stylist Ayako Suwa does with her work. Although she received formal training at the Kanazawa College of Art and has a background in graphic design, she discovered her passion for food art in her childhood and decided to incorporate it into her career. Suwa is the director of Food Creation, a creative agency she founded in 2006 that puts a conceptual spin on the idea of food and treats it as a communication tool. She often partners with companies and brands to create unique and innovative dining experiences.
Suwa was in Hong Kong in September to present the latest event in her “Journey on the Table” series, this time in collaboration with Clé de Peau Beauté and Michelin-starred chef Vicky Lau, who helped prepare the dishes. The series has been presented in a range of cities, including Singapore, Tokyo, Taiwan and Paris, and although each event is based on a different theme, the concept remains the same—to immerse guests in a culinary journey that will invigorate all the senses. For the event in Hong Kong, Suwa chose butterflies as the theme.
“Butterfly wings resemble the Clé de Peau Beauté Synactif eye masks, and we wanted to take guests on a purification journey through nature to reach their destination,” explains Suwa. “It’s a very beautiful concept and we crafted a deeply immersive experience—this time, it’s more high-tech with sound effects and video projections. It’s truly an innovative dining experience that the guests have never had elsewhere.”
It was Suwa’s own personal experience with the Synactif range that inspired the concept for the event—all the elements together are meant to emulate the experience she had while using the products, namely the purification and transformation aspects that are synonymous with the Synactif collection. Throughout the event, Suwa aimed for guests to feel what she felt, without having used the products themselves, and ultimately reach a destination of unimaginable beauty.
The Synactif Eye Care Ritual is the latest addition to the Synactif range and encompasses both a daily eye cream and a weekly eye mask. When combined, the products help enhance the clarity, smoothness and vibrancy of the delicate skin around the eyes. The Synactif Eye Care Ritual not only helps achieve a beautiful skin tone and texture, but also reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. The luscious ingredients revolutionise skincare and transform facial gestures into expressions of beauty.
Clé de Peau Beauté Synactif is a luxury line of skincare products that target the lymphatic drainage system to help remove toxins from the body. Simple in application and packed with enriching and beautifying ingredients, the range—which is infused with the Rose Synactif fragrance—moisturises and rejuvenates skin to achieve a subtle luminosity.
While it may be uncommon to draw inspiration for a dining event from beauty products, Suwa points out that there are distinct parallels: “I think there is a deep relation between the two, because beauty is also linked to the senses and emotions— just like the food art I’m doing.”