Ben Barnes Fetes Salvatore Ferragamo UOMO Fragrance Launch with Italian Aperitivo

Actor Ben Barnes (of Westworld acclaim) hosted an exclusive Italian aperitivo to celebrate his campaign for UOMO Salvatore Ferragamo last night. The short video component, directed by Francesco Carrozzini, is guaranteed to have you lusting for summer. For the occassion, The Gramercy Park Hotel’s Rose Bar transformed into a tropical getaway, where guests like Hilary Rhoda, Ellar Coltrane, RJ King, Will Peltz, Clara McGregor, and more came to mingle.

We caught up with the man of the hour about his campaign spot and his fashion moment…

Ben Barnes

What was shooting the campaign with Francesco like?
Francesco has a really fun, naughty creative eye. We basically decided that it’d just be the two of us, and for parts, it was. There’s a sports car that I drive in the commercial. I would drive and he was in the back with the camera and that was it. We had this crew of very vivacious Italian men following us around and doing the lighting, as well as the grooming and the hair and the fashion side. Basically he was like, ‘I just want you to enjoy yourself doing this.’ The treatment for it was very ‘guy sits at a table with a drink.’ We shot in L.A. I think it just feels like a vacation—it could be anywhere, really. We did go to Florence for the launch of it, though.

Did you choose what you’re wearing tonight?
They [Ferragamo] gave me choices. Their rack is always chock-a-lot full of really stylish and elegant things, but I always pick the simplest thing. I like the cleaner end of their clothes. You can tell which guys are dressed in Ferragamo when you look around tonight because they all look really classy.

What are your thoughts on the fragrance?
I like the masculinity with the peppery smell, and the ambery smell is summery. I might prefer the new one—it’s a lighter version of the same thing. I’m wearing it!

When was your last trip to Italy?
The launch in Florence. I just finished reading Dan Brown’s book that’s set in Florence, Inferno. It has a lot of stories about these museums and gardens, and we had the launch in the Boboli Gardens. My friend Felicity [Jones] did the film, so I was really excited to see those places.

Will you now seek out the Illuminati on your next trip?
I might be a part of it already, you don’t know! [Laughs]

We caught up with the man of the hour about his campaign spot and his fashion moment…