Close friends and colleagues roast and toast Elizabeth Arden’s Art Spiro at The Fragrance Foundation’s Circle of Champions 2013 event.

Elizabeth Arden’s executive vice president of marketing, Art Spiro, became the 14th annual inductee to The Fragrance Foundation’s venerable Circle of Champions on October 8th during a toast and roast evening at the St. Regis Hotel in Manhattan. The elite group includes icons in the fragrance industry such as Leonard Lauder, Bernd Beetz, Don Loftus, Camille McDonald, Thia Breen and Ann Gottlieb.

Elizabeth Musmanno, president of The Fragrance Foundation and The Musmanno Group got the evening rolling as she invited Spiro to join the “hot seat” on the dais. “During his illustrious career,” said Musmanno, Art has led the development of some of the industry’s most landmark scents. Few executives are as hands-on and benevolent as Art.” His noted accomplishments include Juicy Couture, Usher, and Curve for Men and Curve for Women.

Art Spiro of Elizabeth Arden and Elizabeth Musmanno of The Fragrance Foundation.

Donald Loftus, Parlux Ltd.’s president, turned up the laugh meter as he launched into his crowd-pleasing role of roastmaster. Jibes about Art as a baby, Art as a hippie—but ultimately, as fellow roaster Camille McDonald told the crowd of industry executives, “it’s nearly impossible to find anything bad to say about him,” though try, she did.

While many of the evening’s participants made reference to Spiro’s tendency to speak in monotone, his humble acceptance was pitched with emotion as he thanked all his friends, family and co-workers for their supportive roles in his career. There was no question that he had chosen the right path: “I love helping the future leaders of the industry,” said Spiro. “You know, it’s a wonderful place to be when you’re really happy with your life.”