Ples Sobě for sale: Prague designer sells ball for 4.5 million CZK

Designer Iva Burkertová, founder of the Odivi brand and a Forbes “30 Under 30” honoree in 2017, has put her project Ples Sobě up for sale, one of the most unusual society evenings in Czechia. The asking price is around 4.5 million crowns, but she is ready to negotiate.

The story began the way business media love to tell it: Iva felt that Czechia lacked a party to her taste, so she invented one herself. The first Ples Sobě took place in 2018 at Café Nona in the New Stage building of the National Theatre. The idea was to combine the elegance of a Viennese ball with the energy of Berlin clubs: festive, slightly decadent and free enough that for one night you can become someone else. Contemporary club music plays here, and masks turn the guests' imagination into part of the program. For a Czech audience that sometimes struggles to follow even a dress code, this is a serious departure from the usual.

Over time the ball “moved” to striking venues with impressive architecture: the Martinic Palace, Vzlet in Vršovice, and the industrial Uhelný mlýn mill in Libčice nad Vltavou. In 2025 guests were taken there by a specially decorated train: the musical program began on the way, so the party started before arrival.

What the buyer gets. According to Burkertová, in recent years the ball earned about 500,000 crowns from ticket sales and roughly another 500,000 from partners, that is, around 1 million crowns per season. Tickets cover production, while partner money goes to creative work: lighting, masks, working with the space, catering. In different years the ball's name featured Mumm champagne and, in 2025, Don Papa rum. The “dowry” includes a database of contacts, venues, artists and partners, as well as the audience that has formed around the event.

The deal can take different forms: a buyout of the whole brand together with the team, or a gradual handover. Burkertová herself is willing to stay on as a creative adviser. The new owner may, if they wish, change the format: instead of one big ball, hold several smaller events a year, private-order gatherings or foreign versions.

Why she is leaving. “I'm always building something and then running away. Maybe I need to launch things and think one step ahead,” Iva admits. The ball still takes a lot of personal energy, which she needs for new ideas. At first the team planned to develop the project on its own, but in the end decided to look for someone ready to take the initiative.

She is already looking beyond fashion: Odivi is turning into a platform about spaces and experiences, with trips to the mountains and architectural sites, and a residency for creative people in Portugal, to which she also ties the idea of a community center. “I'm still interested in design, and I'm increasingly drawn to regenerative design and education,” says Burkertová.