A magazine, Issue 68

no. 68 oct/nov 2013 LL10,000

Your very own Nordic escapade Focus Scandinavian fashion, design, cuisine, films and travel Art Viennafair, Lyon Biennial and shows by Morgan Fisher and Florian Maier-Aichen Fashion Fall fantasy, autumn shades of gray Design David Adjaye’s latest Hotels Luxurious stays in New York, London, Toronto, Beirut and Capri

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Its appearance and disappearance mark the end and the beginning of each day. And wonders of all kinds have been ascribed to the full moon for as long as anyone can remember.

These qualities were the inspiration for the master watchmakers

at IWC who developed the Portuguese Perpetual Calendar.

The 18-carat red gold case houses an impressive automatic movement with a perpetual calendar and perpetual moon phase display, countdown to the next full moon and a Pellaton automatic winding system, to mention only the most sophisticated of its complications. Needless to say, it runs with the same unerring precision as the moon in its orbit around our planet.

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Inside No. 68 OCT/NOV 2013

Cityscape

44 Beirut Roger Vivier and a honey boutique 46 London Liberty’s fabulous fabrics 48 Paris Showing off underwear 50 Milan Anna Piaggi revived 52 Copenhagen Claus Meyer’s Radio eatery 54 Oslo Sleeping at The Thief 56 Istanbul By Gaia & Gino’s light 58 New York Dominique Ansel’s cronuts 60 Los Angeles Step into Bottega Veneta 62 Chicago Burberry’s spectacular store 64 Ottawa A tribute to snow 66 Dubai Nadim Karam and his elephants

Playground

82 Movies Understanding Lars von Trier 86 Film A Syrian love story 88 Music Tunes from Scandinavia and more 90 Toys Lego is not just for kids 92 Books Cool new titles

Fashion

94 New York labels What’s new for fall?

98 Trend Plastic in the latest collections 100 Nordic brands The most exciting ones 102 Fashion city Antwerp celebrates style 104 Bags The Marc Jacobs offerings 106 Accessories Inspired by rock ‘n’ roll 112 Hot stuff Season highlights 118 Heartbreaker Charlotte Olympia heels 120 Once around Stockholm The latest styles 142 Autumn in Scandinavia Looks for her

Beauty

164 Makeup Eyes like a model 166 Skincare Express treatments in three cities 168 Must-haves Inspired by Dsquared2

Celebrity

170 Paul Smith A chat with the designer 172 Lydia Courteille Her fantasy jewelry 174 Lara Khoury New Lebanese fashion 176 Fashion icons From the music world 178 Zeina Kassem Making Lebanon’s roads safe

Design

182 Museum Astrup Fearnley in Oslo 184 Aldo Cibic A talk with the Italian designer 186 David Adjaye His new collection of chairs 188 Vetro Vero Fabulously colored glass objects 190 Nordic accessories In Beirut 192 Design trend A Nordic perspective 194 Design update Four sleek new projects

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Inside High Art

196 David Zwirner International gallerist 198 Sylvia Martins The painter, intimately 200 Yarat Azerbaijan’s artistic platform 202 Photographs Capturing the African soul 204 Viennafair Art in Austria’s capital 208 Lyon Biennial What’s happening this year?

210 Fashion exhibit Flashback to the ‘80s 212 Art galleries Fall’s top shows, globally

Gourmet

216 Restaurants Nordic cuisine 218 Manhattan Two places to lunch 220 Chocolate Valrhona’s new space

Lifestyle

222 Green city Beirut as an urban garden 224 Nightlife A hot new club for Beirut 226 3D printing Now available in Lebanon 228 Car Drive the new Porsche Panamera 230 Diptyque A novel diffuser 232 Spa Switzerland’s Bad Ragaz

no. 68 oct/nov 2013 LL10,000

Journey

234 Five Nordic cities A personal tour 240 The Milestone London’s bijou property 242 Lyon The French city’s renaissance 244 The Chatwal Manhattan’s reigning queen 248 The Shangri-La Toronto’s glam hotel 252 The Oberoi Indian luxury comes to Dubai 254 Masira Mystery island in Oman 256 Badaro Beirut’s modernist neighborhood 260 The Smallville An urban hotel for Beirut 262 Capri Palace Italy’s celebrity hideaway

Last Word

264 Lebanese wine Why you should love it

Your very own Nordic escapade Focus Scandinavian fashion, design, cuisine, films and travel Art Viennafair, Lyon Biennial and shows by Morgan Fisher and Florian Maier-Aichen Fashion Fall fantasy, autumn shades of gray Design David Adjaye’s latest Hotels Luxurious stays in New York, London, Toronto, Beirut and Capri

Cover She’s in a Dolce & Gabbana dress. Photographer Jimmy Backius. Stylist Amelianna Loiacono. Hair and makeup Teresa Grundin at Mikas Looks. Model Clara H at Mikas. Location Stockholm, Sweden.

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Publisher

Tony Salamé Group TSG SAL

Editor-in-chief Marwan Naaman

Creative director Malak Beydoun

Editors

Associate editor MacKenzie Lewis Assistant editor Nora Habbal Contributing editors May Farah, Serena Makofsky, Warren Singh-Bartlett Canada editor Melanie Reffes France editor Brent Gregston Italy editor Renata Fontanelli UK editor Grace Banks US editor Robert Landon Beauty editor Charlotte Colquhoun

Art directors

Art and production director Maria Maalouf Guest art director Raya Farhat Junior art director Charline Brechotte

Writers

Salma Abdelnour, Paul Cochrane, Stephanie d’Arc Taylor, William Dobson, Sophy Grimshaw, Ellen Hardy Michael Karam, Anthony Klatt, Marie Le Fort, Sabina Llewellyn-Davies, Kate Marris, Shirine Saad Rich Thornton, Pip Usher, Dorothy Weiner, J. Michael Welton

Photographers

Fashion photographers Jimmy Backius, Joe Kesrouani, Tsar Contributing photographers Pascale Beroujon, Paul Clemence, Tony Elieh, Nathan Rott, Ieva Saudargaite, George Sokhn

Stylists

Mélanie Dagher, Amelianna Loiacono, Jessy Moussallem

Joe Kesrouani Beirut native Joe Kesrouani started painting and taking photographs at 14. In 2009, he published Monochromes, a book of his photos recently added to the collection of La Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris. In this issue, he takes a portrait of Lebanese designer Lara Khoury (p.174).

Nora Habbal Founder of fashion label Royal Threads, Nora Habbal spent the past summer as assistant editor at A magazine. She has a Bachelor’s degree from the American University of Beirut and a diploma in fashion media styling from the London College of Fashion. In this issue, she creates the makeup must-haves beauty page (p.168).

Sophy Grimshaw Sophy Grimshaw is an arts and lifestyle journalist based in London. After a Master’s degree from Cambridge University, she started her career as a writer for Elle, and over the last 10 years she’s written for magazines, websites and newspapers. Read her interview with legendary UK fashion designer Paul Smith (p.170).

Charline Brechotte A magazine’s junior art director, Charline Brechotte, has worked at various establishments, including ad agencies Ishan Khosla Design in Delhi, India, and Impact BBDO in Beirut. She studied at Geneva’s Ecole des Arts Appliqués (EAA).

In this issue, she creates the layout for “A Nordic adventure” (p.234), among others.

Dorothy Weiner Dorothy Weiner has been the longtime editor-inchief of several society/ lifestyle magazines in the American Midwest. She is a widely published travel and dining writer and has been an A magazine contributor for the past five years, covering the United States and Europe.

She takes a tour of five Northern European cities in this issue (p.234).

Serena Makofsky Serena Makofsky covers street art, slow food and pop culture for print and web magazines. She lives in Oaxaca, Mexico, where she endeavors to find village markets and dive cantinas.

She’s at work on a movie script about an ex-voto painter who is haunted by visions. Read her music reviews (p.88) and her personal look at Lars von Trier’s films (p.82).

Advertising

Melhem Moussallem, Karine Abou Arraj, Stephanie Missirian

Production and printing

Senior photo producer Fadi Maalouf Printing Dots: The Art of Printing

Responsible director Nasser Bitar

140 El Moutrane St., Fourth Floor, Downtown Beirut, Lebanon, tel. 961.1.974.444, a@aishti.com, aishtiblog.com

season in Scandinavia We’re at the threshold of winter. A few more weeks, and the northern hemisphere will be covered in a blanket of snow. So you have just enough time, while autumn still reigns supreme and before temperatures drop below zero, to take a whirlwind tour of Europe’s Nordic cities: sip an espresso in one of Copenhagen’s legendary cafés, visit Oslo’s iconic Astrup Fearnley museum, stock up on lush fabrics at Helsinki’s breathtaking Marimekko boutique, live out your Shakespearean fantasies in Helsingor and get to know Swedish design in Stockholm, where Ikea was born. This issue of A magazine takes its inspiration from the far reaches of Northern Europe, bringing Scandinavia and its sleek radiance to the shores of the Mediterranean.

Marwan Naaman

A cityscape

Just in Beirut

LÕ Atelier du Miel (left)

This is the first boutique of its kind in Beirut.

Stylishly designed L’Atelier du Miel sells 30 kinds of Lebanese honey, in gorgeous packaging, from places like Barouk, Ain Dara, Tyre, Kesrouan, Zahle and more.

Shehade St., Tabaris, Ashrafieh, tel.

01.322.064.

Coco Mademoiselle (below)

Twelve years after it was first launched, Chanel’s Coco Mademoiselle fragrance remains sexy, young and captivating, with a heady, floral bouquet.

Available at Aïshti stores.

Italian label Moschino celebrates its 30th anniversary with a special collection that includes bags, sunglasses, tops and even stylish umbrellas.

Available at Aïshti stores.

Jimmy Choo (above)

Jimmy Choo’s Flaunt suede and lace ankle boots come in a sexy, seductive floral motif and feature a delectable open toe. Jennifer Lopez and Samantha Barks own the very same pair.

Available at Jimmy Choo and at Aïshti stores.

Corneliani (above) Samsung (right)

It’s perhaps the most formidable smartphone currently on the market. The Samsung Galaxy S4 has great features, including a fiveinch HD display, front and rear HD cameras and even touch-free capabilities.

Visit samsung.com A 44

Any man worth his suit won’t want to miss Corneliani’s made-to-measure event, on October 17 and 18. Corneliani’s skilled tailor Bryan Neary will be available both days to take measurements and create elegant, perfectly fitted suits. By appointment only.

Foch St., Downtown Beirut, tel. 01.991.111, ext. 500.

©L’Atelier du Miel, Chanel, Chloé, Corneliani, Mini, Moschino, Samsung, George Sokhn, Tsar, Le Vendôme, Vertu, Zegna

Moschino (above)

Vertu (below)

Ermenegildo Zegna (left)

Luxury mobile phone manufacturer Vertu has just launched the limited edition Ti Ferrari. There are only 2013 pieces of this new handset, which combines Vertu’s modern technology and luxury services with Ferrari materials and content.

Allenby St., tel. 03.726.726, vertu.com

Enzo d’Alessandro from Ermenegildo Zegna will be in Beirut for three days only, October 28, 29 and 30, to create sleek, made-tomeasure Zegna suits, leather garments, jackets, pants, coats, shirts, ties, shoes and belts. By appointment only.

Adbel Malek St., Downtown Beirut, tel.

01.991.111, ext. 222.

ChloŽ (below)

It’s the second of Chloé’s iconic A, B and C bags. Taking the letter B to stylish new heights, Baylee is a supple, two-toned day bag that’s a highlight of the current collection.

Available at Chloé and at Aïshti stores.

Mini Ray (below)

The Mini Ray, a special edition of the Mini Cooper S, is a must for those seeking to drive the Beirut streets in fabulous style. The color options are black with lemon yellow, energy pink or vitamin orange.

Tel. 01.684.684, bashen.com

SydneyÕ s (above)

Sydney’s, the iconic rooftop restaurant inside Le Vendôme Hotel, shimmers anew after stylish renovations. The soul of the legendary restaurant remains, but the place now features modern design touches and lighter colors.

Ain el Mreisseh, tel. 01.368.800, levendomebeirut.com

Roger Vivier (above)

Lebanese women are celebrating the recent opening of the country’s first Roger Vivier boutique. The luxurious new space carries the iconic French brand’s footwear, handbags and accessories.

Abdallah Beyhum St., Downtown Beirut, rogervivier.com 45 A

A cityscape

Just in London

Van Gogh in Paris (left)

The “Van Gogh in Paris” exhibit chronicles the years 1886-1888 in Van Gogh’s career, focusing on the influence of Monet and Gauguin on the artist.

On view until November 29 at Eykyn Maclean, 30 St. George St., W1S, tel.

44.20.7499.6244, eykynmaclean.com

The Colony Club (above)

Be seduced by the glamour of Russian roulette at the crème de la crème of the London casino scene, The Colony Club.

Boasting a restaurant with five chefs representing cuisine from around the world, this is a true hidden gem.

24 Hertford St., W1J, tel. 44.20.7495.5000, thecolonyclub.co.uk

Liberty (below)

Liberty of London is now launching its second ever collection of fabrics. Inspired by British landscape architect William Nesfield, the new fabrics recall classic English gardens.

Regent St., W1B, tel. 44.20.7734.1234, liberty.co.uk

Burberry (left)

Triton Penthouses (right)

The Triton Penthouses at Regent’s Place are the epitome of luxury. The glorious residences feature interiors by Douglas Mackie and are housed inside the Triton Building, conceived by Stephen Marshall Architects and developed by British Land.

For more info, tel. 44.20.7631.1000, thetritonpenthouses.com A 46

©Burberry, The Colony Club, Liberty, Eykyn Maclean, Luchford APM

The eggplant color (or aubergine as the Brits say) is one of the hottest trends on the Burberry women’s catwalk. Raincoats, skirts, tops and more come in this captivating fall hue.

121 Regent St., W1B, tel. 44.20.7806.8904, burberry.com

A cityscape

Just in Paris Mercer by Edith (right)

Pan (below)

St. Germain’s iconic boutique Mercer by Edith (founded by style guru Edith Ayache) was recently revamped by interior designer Caroline Lory. The rejuvenated and luxurious new space still carries the likes of Vionnet, Alexander Wang and Jil Sander.

39 Rue de Sèvres, sixth arrondissement, tel.

33.1.45.48.92.71, facebook.com/mercer.edith

Conceived by Ludivine Billaud, Pan restaurant won 2013’s Fooding Award for Best Décor. Vintage Scandinavian chairs, two-tone wooden plank floors and a stunning mural create a sleek backdrop for Filipino chef Aaron Isip’s Asian-inspired menu.

12 rue Martel, 10th arrondissement, tel.

33.9.52.51.63.70, facebook.com/chezpan

La MŽ canique des Dessous (left)

This humorous exhibit examines the history of male and female undergarments, including the fly, corset, crinoline, bustle, stomach belt, bra and more.

On view until November 24 at Les Arts Décoratifs – Mode et Textile, 107 Rue de Rivoli, first arrondissement, tel.

33.1.44.55.57.50, lesartsdecoratifs.fr

Monsieur Bleu (below)

Set inside the new wing of the Palais de Tokyo, with a breathtaking view of the Eiffel Tower, Monsieur Bleu is Paris’ chicest new brasserie. Designed by Joseph Dirand, the place entices with multiple shades of green.

20 Avenue de New York, 16th arrondissement, tel. 33.1.47.20.90.47, monsieurbleu.com

The new fall/winter 2013-14 collection of footwear from Rupert Sanderson is taking Paris by storm. Bold and fierce, Sanderson’s heels explode with bright, feminine colors and come in unconventional materials like barbed wire.

5 Rue des Petits Champs, Palais Royal, first arrondissement, tel. 33.1.42.60.71.29, rupertsanderson.com

Prince de Galles (above)

Originally designed in 1929 by architect André Arfvidson, the Prince de Galles Hotel reopened after a spectacular restyling by Pierre-Yves Rochon. Rare black Saint Laurent marble and striped Macassar ebony cabinets shimmer with luxury.

33 Avenue George V, eighth arrondissement, tel. 33.1.53.23.77.77, hotelprincedegalles.fr A 48

©Les Arts Décoratifs, Marion Bartel, Adrien Dirand, Mercer by Edith, Prince de Galles, Rupert Sanderson

Rupert Sanderson (left)

Gypsy

SYLVIE SALIBA - QUANTUM TOWERS, ACHRAFIEH, TEL 01/330 500

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A cityscape

Just in Milan

Giada (right)

Hat-ology (below)

The first Giada store just opened on Milan’s most prestigious street. The new collection is the work of Italian designer Rossana Daolio, who embraced and revitalized the brand’s pure, minimal, ultra-feminine aesthetic.

15 Via Montenapoleone, tel.

39.02.9179.8888, giada.com

Italian luxury label Salvatore Ferragamo opened its newest concept store on the ground floor of a historic 16th-century building. Shoes, bags, jewelry and more are displayed in a space that shimmers with mother-of-pearl, ivory and other precious materials.

3 Via Montenapoleone, tel. 39.02.7600.0054, ferragamo.com

Zegna and Maserati (below)

It’s one of the most exciting collaborations in recent years. The purely Italian Maserati Quattroporte Ermenegildo Zegna concept car combines the superior technology of the car manufacturer with the stylish elegance of the classic menswear brand. This is a limited edition vehicle.

Visit maserati.com and zegna.com

Elena Rede (above)

Italian artist Elena Rede designs iconic, one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces that resemble sculptures. “Wearing Art” is the name of her latest collection.

21 Via Repubblica, elenarede.com A 50

©Salvatore Ferragamo, Giada, Maserati/Zegna, Anna Piaggi Foundation, Elena Rede

Salvatore Ferragamo (above)

“My hat is personal. It is what contains the soul, the feeling, the sensation that moves this little world around.” So said the late, great Anna Piaggi, who was famed for her eccentric wardrobe and unique hats, created

by Stephen Jones. Her style is celebrated in the “Hat-ology” exhibit, which coincides with the one-year anniversary of Piaggi’s death.

On view until November 30 at Palazzo Morando, 6 Via Sant’Andrea, tel.

39.02.8846.5735, civicheraccoltestoriche.mi.it

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A cityscape

Just in Copenhagen

Ole Lynggaard (below)

Radio (left)

Danish luxury brand Ole Lynggaard turns 50 this year. With iconic Helena Christensen as its muse, the company remains the largest goldsmith workshop in Scandinavia, offering timeless, handcrafted pieces.

4 Ny Østergade, tel. 45.3333.0345, olelynggaard.com

In Copenhagen, everyone knows Claus Meyer, co-founder of prestigious restaurant Noma. Most recently Meyer opened Radio, a stylish restaurant where wood-slatted walls provide a backdrop for exquisite new Nordic cuisine.

12 Julius Thomsens Gade, tel. 45.2510.2733, restaurantradio.dk

Fiskebar (right)

Sophie Bille Brahe (right)

A graduate of London’s Royal College of Arts, Danish jewelry designer Sophie Bille Brahe creates poetic pieces for her eponymous line.

Her jewelry is sold at Colette in Paris and Dover Street Market in London.

Visit sophiebillebrahe.com

Hotel Alexandra (below)

Hotel Alexandra is a design buff ’s dream come true. Staged throughout the hotel and the 13 design-themed rooms are furniture pieces by the likes of Hans J. Wegner, Arne Jacobsen and Finn Juhl.

8 HC Andersens Blvd., tel. 45.3374.4444, hotel-alexandra.dk

O-S-V (left)

Vintage pieces by brands like Acne, Costume National, Dsquared2, Dries van Noten, Philip Lim and Helmut Lang are available at Copenhagen’s legendary O-S-V Secondhand Fashion store.

4 Peder Hvitfeldts Straede, tel. 45.3210.4222, o-s-v.dk A 52

©Sophie Bille Brahe, Fiskebar, Hotel Alexandra, O-S-V, Ole Lynggaard, Radio

Prime restaurant Fiskebar is all about seafood: try fish and chips wrapped in newspaper, a unique kind of Danish oysters or the trout tartare from Jutland.

100 Flaesketorvet, tel. 45.3215.5656, fiskebaren.dk

A cityscape

Just in Oslo Ekeberg Skulpturpark (left)

Oslo opened its newest sculpture park in September. Ekeberg holds various art pieces in its 63 acres of greenery. Site-specific commissions by artists like James Turrell, Jenny Holzer and Tony Oursler are scheduled to be unveiled over the coming years.

Wik & Wals¿ e (below)

China manufacturer Wik & Walsøe (founded in 2006 by Linda Svedal Walsøe and Ragnhild Wik) showcases a Nordic influence in all of its designs. Plates, bowls, cups and vases come in clean, minimalist shapes and a wide array of pattern designs.

Visit wik-walsoe.no

Mathallen (above)

Norwegian designer Andreas Engesvik recently unveiled The Woods, which are clusters of glass bubbles with differing proportions and colored tints, supported by solid glass stems. “The inspiration was found in the forests and the lights of the north,” says Engesvik.

Visit andreasengesvik.no

Tjuvholmen Sj¿ magasin (right)

At the entrance of Tjuvholmen Sjømagasin fish and seafood restaurant, diners are greeted by large aquariums that are home to dark-hued lobsters and king crabs.

Norwegian food entrepreneur Bjørn Tore Furset helms this superlative eatery.

14 Tjuvholmen Allé, tel. 47.2389.7777, sjomagasinet.no/en A 54

The Thief (above)

The Thief is Norway’s first design hotel.

Anchored at the tip of new waterfront district Tjuvholmen, the hotel showcases interiors that reflect the innovative spirit of its surroundings, including stunning contemporary art pieces and sleek design furnishings. In-house Norwegian restaurant Fru K opened in January this year.

1 Landgangen, tel. 47.2400.4000, thethief.com

©Per Inge Bjorlo, Andreas Engevisk, Finn Stale Felberg, The Thief, Tjuvholmen Sjomagasin, Wik & Walsoe

Andreas Engesvik (above)

Oslo’s newest and most appealing market, Mathallen is essentially a food hall where chefs and visitors can discover, sample and purchase products from local, small-scale producers. Offerings include fish, meat, baked goods, coffee and more.

17 Maridalsveien, mathallenoslo.no

zagliani.it

A誰shti Downtown Beirut 01. 99 11 11

A cityscape

Just in Istanbul

Gaia & Gino (right)

Gaia & Gino’s Enlightenment Collection, inspired by Martin Luthr King Jr.’s famed saying “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can,” comprises 32 home accessories designed by the likes of Karim Rashid, Arik Levy and Jaime Hayon.

Visit gaiagino.com

Animal prints added a touch of wild to Burberry’s menswear collection for fall/ winter 2013-14. Check out the tiger lapel on a tech-fabric jacket, the pointy leopard shoes and the zebra details.

Abdi Ipecki Caddesi, 5 Park Apartment, Nisantasi, tel. 90.212.241.5516, burberry.com

Gaspar (below)

Designed by Seyhan Özdemir of Autoban, Gaspar restaurant is anchored inside a century-old printing house, a beautiful neoclassical building with high ceilings. The double-story space is clad with a dynamic patchwork of plywood panels.

Müeyyeyzade Mahallesi, Necatibey Caddesi, 6 Arapoğlan Sokak, Karaköy, tel.

90.212.293.6660.

Gram (left)

After the success of her Lokanta Maya restaurant, chef Didem Şenol – voted Best Chef 2010 by Time Out Istanbul – opened Gram, a deli serving cuisine that reflects a connection with the land and the seasons.

Asmali Mescit Mahallesi, Mesrutiyet Caddesi, Beyoglu, tel. 90.212.243.1048, grampera.com

Nebula by Dice Kayek (above)

Imagined by the Kayek sisters, two fashion designers based in Istanbul, Nebula is a marble installation featuring rotating slabs of marble that slowly open and close, leaving steam to evaporate in between the narrow slots. Mar(ble)ous.

Visit dicekayek.com A 56

©Burberry, Dice Kayek, Gaia & Gino, Sergio Ghetti, Gram

Burberry (above)

A cityscape

Giuseppe Penone (below)

Robert Indiana (left)

Madison Square Park Conservancy has unveiled a new sculptural installation by Italian artist Giuseppe Penone, consisting of three monumental bronze trees. “Ideas of Stone” features Penone’s signature manipulation of the trees’ natural forms.

On view until February 9 at Madison Square Park, madisonsquarepark.org

“Robert Indiana: Beyond Love” is a retrospective that reveals an artist whose work, far from being unabashedly optimistic and affirmative, addresses the most fundamental issues facing humanity: love, death, sin and forgiveness.

On view until January 5 at the Whitney Museum of American Art, 945 Madison Ave., tel. 1.212.570.3600, whitney.org

Dominique Ansel (below)

Soho’s trendiest bakery is also the birthplace of the Cronut (half croissant, half donut).

Chef Dominique Ansel creates only one Cronut flavor per month, and past offerings have included rose vanilla and lemon maple.

189 Spring St., tel. 1.212.219.2773, dominiqueansel.com

Zaha Hadid (below)

Related Companies has commissioned Zaha Hadid to design an 11-story residential condominium adjacent to the High Line in Chelsea. The project marks Hadid’s first commission in New York.

520 W. 28th St., zaha-hadid.com

A 58

Landmarc (above)

Mark Murphy’s two Landmarc restaurants (one in Columbus Circle and the other in Tribeca) are icons of the New York dining scene. The cuisine here is French bistro with Italian influences.

10 Columbus Circle and 179 W. Broadway, landmarc-restaurant.com

The High Line Hotel (below)

Housed inside a 19th-century, red-brick former seminary, the newly opened High Line Hotel features eclectic art, vintage furniture and antique carpets sourced from around the world and stylishly arranged in each of the 60 guestrooms.

180 10th Ave., tel. 1.212.929.3888, thehighlinehotel.com

©Dominique Ansel, Chris Burden/Gagosian Gallery, Dedalus Foundation/Georges Poncet, Marian Goodman Gallery, Zaha Hadid, The High Line Hotel, Marc Jacobs, Landmarc, Mondo Collection, Morgan Art Foundation/Artists Rights Society, Mykita, St. Regis

Just in New York

Mykita (left)

Mykita opened its first ever store in the United States. Set in Soho, the new all-white boutique carries the Berlin-based brand’s entire collection of eyewear.

109 Crosby St., tel. 1.212.343.9100, mykita.com

Marc Jacobs Beauty (left)

The first Marc Jacobs Beauty store ever has opened in New York’s West Village. A makeup lover’s dream-come-true, the place carries all 122 pieces of the new range.

385 Bleecker St., tel. 1.212.924.6126, marcjacobsbeauty.com

Chris Burden (above)

Occupying all five floors of the New Museum, “Extreme Measures” examines the ways in which American artist Chris Burden has continuously investigated the breaking point of materials, institutions and even himself.

On view from October 2-January 12 at the New Museum, 235 Bowery, tel.

1.212.219.1222, newmuseum.org

St. Regis (below)

New York’s fabulous St. Regis has undergone an extensive renovation that will culminate in a stunning reveal this October. Interior design firm HDC infused the rooms, hallways and public spaces with contemporary style, while maintaining the hotel’s design legacy.

2 E. 55th St., tel. 1.212.753.4500, stregisnewyork.com

Mondo Collection (below)

Mario Elcid and Hany Boutros, Lebanese owners of Mondo Collection gallery, just introduced a new line of scented candles. The first three scents are M2 Amants, M3 Fascino and M5 Simbolo.

20 W. 22nd St., tel. 1.212.675.8155, mondocollection.com

Robert Motherwell (above)

Devoted to papier collés and related works on paper from the ‘40s and early ‘50s, “Robert Motherwell: Early Collages” examines the American artist’s origins and his engagement with collage.

On view until January 5 at the Guggenheim, 1071 Fifth Ave., tel. 1.212.423.3500, guggenheim.org 59 A

A cityscape

Just in Los Angeles

Under the Mexican Sky (below)

From the ‘30s to the ‘80s, Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa (1907– 1997) forged an evocative image of Mexico.

This exhibit features film clips, paintings, photographs and more drawn from Figueroa’s archive.

On view until February 2 at LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., tel. 1.323.857.6000, lacma.org

Abelardo Morell (above)

Showing a range of individual works and series – many never displayed before – “Abelardo Morell: The Universe Next Door” highlights the artist’s photographs and his exploration of visual surprise and wonder.

On view from October 1-January 5 at the Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Dr., tel.

1.310.440.7300, getty.edu

Italian luxury has a new address in Tinseltown, with the recent opening of Bottega Veneta. The boutique carries the full collection of clothes and accessories for men and women.

8445 Melrose Place, West Hollywood, bottegaveneta.com

James Welling (below)

Lauded for his influence on the contemporary generation of art photographers, James Welling has created beautiful photographs for over 35 years.

“James Welling: Monograph” provides the most thorough presentation of the artist’s work to date.

On view until January 12 at the Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., tel.

1.310.443.7000, hammer.ucla.edu

Dolce & Gabbana (above)

LA is in for a religious experience. Dolce & Gabbana’s fall/winter 2013-14 collection is inspired by Sicily’s Cathedral of Monreale, complete with dresses enhanced by prints of icons and mosaics. Perfect for the perennially decadent City of Angels.

312 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, tel.

1.310.888.8701, dolcegabbana.com A 60

Paiche (above)

Ricardo Zarate’s new Japanese-Peruvian fusion restaurant offers delectable, inventive dishes like risotto with clams and sea urchin, and sashimi-style ceviches.

13488 Maxella Ave., Marina Del Rey, tel.

1.310.893.6100, paichela.com

©Bottega Veneta, Dolce & Gabbana, Abelardo Morell/Edwynn Houk Gallery, Ryan Tanaka, Televisa Foundation, James Welling

Bottega Veneta (left)

A cityscape

Just in Chicago

Prabal Gurung (below)

The new fall/winter 2013-14 collection from Prabal Gurung is designed for modern-day glamazons. Strong military details are at play, and highlights include a funnel-neck coat in navy brushed wool.

Available at Ikram, 15 E. Huron St., tel.

1.312.587.1000, prabalgurung.com

City Self (right)

What does Chicago look like through the eyes of New York-based painter and filmmaker Sarah Morris? Chicago is Morris’ 10th film and part of the “City Self ” exhibit, featuring works about Chicago by artists and by outsiders like Morris.

On view from November 29-April 13 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 220 E. Chicago Ave., tel. 1.312.280.2660, mcachicago.org

Paul Sietsema (left)

Paul Sietsema explores what it means to be an artist today – amid a barrage of images, instant access to information and the alternate realities presented by digital technology – in his latest solo exhibit.

On view until January 5 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 220 E. Chicago Ave., tel. 1.312.280.2660, mcachicago.org

Burberry’s grandiose five-floor Chicago flagship opened at the very end of last year.

The massive store houses the complete collections of clothes and accessories for men and women and also offers tailoring and beauty services.

633 N. Michigan Ave., tel. 1.312.787.2500, burberry.com

The Boarding House (below)

Celebrated restaurant The Boarding House features shareable dishes and pizzas in The Cellar and Bar areas, and a more extensive offering of plates in the third floor dining room. The food reflects chef Bjorn Rasmussen’s take on Mediterranean cuisine.

720 N. Wells, tel. 1.312.280.0720, boardinghousechicago.com

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©The Boarding House, Burberry, Prabal Gurung, Sarah Morris, Paul Sietsema/Matthew Marks Gallery

Burberry (right)

Samsung Airtrack

Hi-Fi sound quality that’s warm and rich FOR YOUR MUSIC SENSATIONS.

Immersive cinematic sound for Smart TV. Samsung Wireless AirTrack HW-F751 Soundbar. *Subwoofer is not pictured.

The Samsung AirTrack brings a cinematic experience to your home.

3D Sound Plus synchronises the sound to match the motion and depth of the image, while new Vertical Surround Sound fills the room from floor to ceiling with powerful realistic sound.

With the absence of trailing wires between the AirTrack and TV .

A cityscape

Just in Ottawa

ByWard Market (left)

ByWard Market is one of Canada’s oldest and largest public markets, with a cornucopia of cafés, specialty food shops, boutiques, galleries, restaurants, pubs, salons, wine bars and year-round events.

Between George and York Streets, tel.

1.613.562 3325, byward-market.com

Holtz Spa (right)

Food tour (below)

The Glebe is one of Ottawa’s most beautiful neighborhoods, with a delicious array of restaurants, shops and food artisans. Tours of the foodie hotspots are offered every Thursday in October and every Saturday in November, from 10:30am to 1pm.

Visit cestboncooking.ca

Peter Shmelzer (right)

“Peter Shmelzer: New Paintings” features the artist’s brightly colored and expressive paintings, which evoke emotional responses from fans and acclaim from critics.

On view from October 4-28 at La Petite Mort Gallery, 306 Cumberland St., tel.

1.613.860.1555, lapetitemortgallery.com A 64

Snow (above)

A source of passion and creativity, snow is as Canadian as a spirited game of hockey.

Saluting the white stuff, “Snow: The Exhibit” showcases more than 300 snowrelated artifacts.

On view from December 6-October 5, 2014 at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, 100 Laurier St., Gatineau, Quebec, tel.

1.819.776.7000, civilization.ca

©ByWard Market, Canadian Museum of Civilization, C’est Bon Cooking, Holtz Spa, Peter Shmelzer

A member of Leading Spas of Canada, Holtz Spa is Ottawa’s largest spa and the hands-down favorite of corporate big shots, political figures and everyone else looking to unwind from capital stress.

45 Rideau St., tel. 1.613.241.7770, ottawa. holtzspa.com

A cityscape

Just in Dubai

Nadim Karam (left)

“99 Objects Possible to Find on a Cloud” is a major exhibition of Lebanese artist Nadim Karam’s sculptures and paintings.

Fantastical dreamscapes fuse elements from real life with his urban toy characters.

On view until November 28 at Ayyam Gallery, Al Quoz, Alserkal Ave., tel. 971.4.323.6242, ayyamgallery.com

Anantara (above)

Aesthetically defined by its Thai birthplace, luxury specialist Anantara brings the grace and beauty of that culture to The Palm. The Middle East’s first over-water villas offer views to the sea, while the resort provides turquoise watered swimming lagoons.

The Palm, tel. 971.4.567.8888, anantara.com

Conrad (below)

Ketchup (below)

Physique 57 (above)

A barre-based exercise method is the best and trendiest way to achieve a lean body.

US export Physique 57 combines isometric exercises with orthopedic stretches to lengthen muscles and improve posture.

Citywalk, Jumeirah, tel. 971.52.877.5757, physique57dubai.com A 66

©Anantara, Conrad, Nadim Karam/Ayyam, Ketchup, Physique 57

A swanky city hotel this may be, but that doesn’t stop it from offering an Urban Oasis pool surrounded by desert palms, lawns and succulents. Michelin-starred chef Marco Pierre White has created an English-inspired grill menu for his on-site eponymous restaurant.

Sheikh Zayed Rd., tel. 971.4.444.7444, conradhotels3.hilton.com

This Ashton Kutcher-backed burger joint prides itself on quality ingredients and an innovative take on the classics. Opt for the sophisticated slider selection.

Boulevard Plaza, Downtown, tel.

971.4.363.8595, ketchup.ae

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A playground _ movies

A career in controversy

By Serena Makofsky

Breaking the Waves

Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier never fails to shock audiences

Dancer in the Dark

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Antichrist

Things changed with the 1991 release of Europa, widely recognized as his comeback.

The surreal drama concerns an American in post-war Germany who arrives with the intent of healing a hurting country and who winds up amid a pro-Nazi terrorist plot. The director walked away with the Jury Prize, the Technical Grand Prize and Best Artistic Contribution at Cannes.

Dogville

Kicked out of Cannes. Credited with inventing porn for women. Overcome with phobias.

Maybe a Nazi, probably not. Danish director and screenwriter Lars von Trier never takes the easy road, and he doesn’t want his audiences to either. In fact, he has said, “a film should be like a stone in your shoe.”

How does one become a provocateur of international renown? For Von Trier, the journey began at home. Raised by Jewish communist parents who practiced nudism, the young Von Trier found a distinct way to view the world when he received a Super-8 camera on his 11th birthday. By young adulthood,

he enrolled in the Danish Film School and immersed himself in the sinister stories and stylism for which his early work is known.

Soon, however, the director pulled away from the film noir of his The Element of Crime, a 1984 drama concerning a detective attempting to solve a series of child murder cases. He made a bet with a honcho at the Dansk Filminstituet that he could make a movie for one million kroner, or what Hollywood calls a shoestring budget. The result was the 1987 horror fantasy flick Epidemic, which bombed, a fact that might contribute to Von Trier’s calling it his best film.

Breaking the Waves marked another sharp turn in Von Trier’s artistic trajectory.

Here he told a story that deeply explored a woman’s experience, contending with issues such as sex, madness, masochism, faith and self-sacrifice. Critics raved over Emily Watson in the role of Bess, a young woman on the Scottish coast who believes God speaks to her. She meets Jan, a worker on oil rigs, and they have a passionate honeymoon, followed by a tragic accident that leaves Jan paralyzed below the waist. A heavily medicated Jan convinces Bess that she must have sex with others and describe her experiences to him.

In an interview in Sight and Sound magazine, Von Trier observes, “Bess is confronted with many different power structures, including the power that the hospital and the doctors exercise. And she’s forced to adopt a position with the purity of heart that she possesses.”

Breaking the Waves won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 1996.

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A playground _ movies

Melancholia

The fallout was not good. He issued a halfhearted apology, then retracted the apology because he felt it was clear he had been joking, and ultimately got himself booted from Cannes.

Nymphomaniac

The year 2000 saw another boundarybreaking Von Trier film concerning a woman making dangerous self-sacrifices. Icelandic singer Björk starred as Selma, a woman slowly going blind who risks everything to save her son from losing his sight. Dancer in the Dark was another favorite at Cannes, winning the 2000 Palme d’Or. Von Trier, beset by phobias, almost missed the award ceremony, but then had a custom trailer outfitted to ease his journey.

But it was the film’s star that was most deeply scarred during this time. Björk has not gone into detail about what happened between her A 84

and the director, but said she would never act in another film. She later wrote a letter to Nicole Kidman, warning her not to work for Von Trier in the 2003 drama Dogville, because he would “eat her soul.”

It seems controversy follows The Great Dane. He dug himself into a deep hole at the screening of his 2011 film Melancholia in Cannes. He told the assembled press, “If I’d been a Jew, then I would be a second-wave Jew, a kind of a new-wave Jew, but anyway, I really wanted to be a Jew and then I found out that I was really a Nazi,” and “What can I say?

I understand Hitler.”

But if talking is what gets him into trouble, it’s filming that redeems Von Trier. He’s wrapped his latest project, a feature about the “…erotic life of a woman from the age of zero to the age of 50.” The hardcore flick, Nymphomaniac, is garnering attention for the director’s decision to use unsimulated sex during filming. Yes, “sex for real,” in layman’s terms. However, if you were hoping to catch stars Shia LaBeouf and Charlotte Gainsbourg doing the deed, you’re out of luck. The director ultimately substituted the stars with body doubles for the most intimate moments, and confirmed that the doubles did have sex on screen.

(Von Trier fans will recall that there was one hardcore sex moment at the very beginning of his 2009 film Antichrist, which starred Gainsbourg along with Willem Dafoe.)

In an interview during the making of Nymphomaniac, Von Trier said of his new work, “Hopefully, it will be a very messy film.” Knowing the visionary director’s track record, it’s quite certain some cleanup will be necessary.

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A playground _ film

Passion among the ruins

By MacKenzie Lewis

Malas and his crew began production for Ladder to Damascus (Soullom Ila Dimashk) with no public announcements, filming indoors to avoid attention. The movie that would unfold tells the story of a young Syrian girl who moves to Damascus to study acting. As the uprising swells, she meets an aspiring filmmaker renting a room in the same house; the two fall in love while the city around them falls apart. The all-seeing Syrian government likely knew about the project from the minute the first camera started rolling, but if Malas’ 40 years in the industry taught him anything, it’s how to obscure a political message in layers of government-approved fiction.

That’s not to say a director even as experienced as Malas could prepare for filming during a civil war. The situation forced an unusual flexibility on the part of the director and his team.

Exploiting an incomplete script, bombs forced their way into the storyline during filming.

The cast is made up primarily of amateurs, and one actor was arrested and released at a protest before production even began. Another crew member was arrested mid-production.

Malas became acutely aware that anything could happen during a war; he frantically collected footage of even minor characters, imagining alternative endings should something happen to one of his stars. In the end, the only reliable element was the concept – a tale of suffocating and the absence of freedom, perhaps less fictional than originally intended.

Ladder to Damascus was produced by Georges Shoucair’s Abbout Productions and has been selected for this year’s Toronto Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival.

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©Abbout Productions

A new love story shot in war-torn Syria

Award-winning Syrian filmmaker Mohamad Malas was pouring himself into a fictional tale of “suffocating and the absence of freedom” when civil protests in his country gave way to violent conflict. Rather than wait for things to unravel completely, he put his pen down and started shooting a feature film with a yet-unfinished script.

A playground _ music

Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die! by Panic! at the Disco

The follow up to Vices & Virtues celebrates debauchery and the virtues of vice, hence the nod to a line from Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

The much-talked-about “Miss Jackson” is loosely inspired

by Janet Jackson’s “Nasty,” but things quickly move from danceable to aggressive, typical for this Sin City tribute.

Aventine by Agnes Obel

Scandinavian sounds and beyond

While on tour for Philharmonics, her 2010 debut album, the singer/ songwriter found herself enticed by sparse soundscapes “…with voices here, the piano here – everything is close to you.” The Denmark-born artist’s single “The Curse” is at once austere and seductive, with a Tori Amos quality, and it draws you in with its melancholy sound.

Satyricon by Satyricon

Yes, it’s the Norwegian black metal band’s eighth album, so why selftitle it? According to front man Satyr, this release most “captures the spirit of this band.” Counter to trends in auto-tune and digitizing, this album keeps things raw, featuring analog production for an unprocessed sound.

This IsÉI cona Pop by Icona Pop

If “I Love It” is all you know of Swedish duo Icona Pop, it’s time to check out this electro house/punk release that has an unrelenting indie pop catchiness.

Keep the party going with the amped-up “All Night,” and catch New York rapper Zebra Katz on “My Party,” a funked-up version of Lesley Gore’s standard.

True by Avicii

We All Want the Same by Nadim Naaman “We’re singing different songs, in different ways, at different times,” the West End performer sings in the title track. His debut album, a mix of musical theater, pop, jazz and R&B, represents a decade of songwriting, and Nadim Naaman delivers it with joy and passion.

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“Wake Me Up” seemed like an unholy union, that of electric dance music and country, but it became a top single for Swedish DJ and producer Avicii. In a recent Rolling Stone interview, the artist said he found EDM too repetitive and felt compelled to focus on the melodic potential of house for his debut studio album.

NICOLE KIDMAN WATCH THE FILM AT JIMMYCHOO.COM

BEIRUT BEIRUT SOUKS, FAKHRY BEY STREET 01 99 11 11 ext 595

A playground _ toys

Small toys for big boys

By May Farah

Lego’s famed bricks are not just for the kids

Yes, the hugely popular, kids-oriented building toys the company has been producing since the late ‘40s are still there – with themes as diverse as castles and dinosaurs, cities and space. But, with the more recent introduction of new concepts and games, including an entire section dedicated to complex building structures, Lego is no longer exclusively for children. Take, for example the new Star Wars-themed building extravaganza, A 90

which contains more than 10,000 pieces – it requires not only more skill, but a lot more patience.

Now available in virtually every country across the world, Lego began unofficially in 1932 when Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter in Billund, Denmark, started making wooden toys in his workshop.

Two years later, in 1934, he registered his company officially under the name Lego, from the Danish phrase leg godt, which means “play well.”

In the late ‘40s, Lego expanded into plastic toys and began producing, among other new products, an early version of the now famous interlocking bricks. More recently, it has also licensed themes from cartoon and film franchises – Star Wars,

Iron Man, Harry Potter, Toy Story and numerous others.

Lego’s headquarters are still in Billund, but over the years it has morphed into a multi-faceted company, with theme parks in Europe, the United States and Malaysia (Legoland, offering over 50 rides and attractions). The company also sells Lego Architecture, designed for older players who want to build and learn about iconic buildings in the world, like Big Ben, the Empire State Building and Burj Khalifa. Tech lovers can opt for Lego video games or Lego Mindstorms, software and hardware designed to create small, programmable robots.

And, don’t let some of the price tags deter you; if you divide the total price by the hours of fun and distraction, it’s a real bargain.

©Lego

If, like most people, you think Lego is only for children, think again. Or better yet, pop into a Lego store (there’s a small one in the Beirut Souks, a multi-level store at Rockefeller Center in New York and the more elaborate Lego Imagination Center in Minnesota’s Mall of America), and prepare to be amazed.

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22/07/13 15:51

A playground _ books

Life as a Visitor

Iranian Jew Angella Nazarian writes of her dramatic escape from Teheran as a young girl to her subsequent life in glittering Beverly Hills in Life as a Visitor.

Part prose, part poetry, this visually splendid Assouline book also includes an evocative selection of images.

Available at Aïshti stores.

Levant

In perfect print Garden Park Community Farm

Architecture Now! Museums

This gorgeous Taschen volume highlights 50 architectural projects that push the limits of contemporary museum design. View stunning works by established masters like Zaha Hadid and Renzo Piano, as well as amazing buildings by new starchitects, like Zhag Lei. Available at Aïshti stores.

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Northern Delights

Gestalten’s Northern Delights highlights the timeless, functional and visually appealing design output of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

The book focuses on young talents from the four countries, while showcasing everything from individual products to living spaces.

Available online at gestalten.com

Cahiers dÕ Art

Cahiers d’Art is republishing Christian Zervos’ Pablo Picasso catalogue, which includes over 16,000 paintings and drawings by the artist. Pre-order the 33 volumes before the November release for $15,000. After publication, the cost is $20,000.

Available online at zervos. sothebys.com

©Cahiers d’Art, Raya Farhat, Gestalten, HarperCollins, Princeton Architectural Press

Nelson Byrd Woltz: Garden Park Community Farm is a 240-page opus that draws new boundaries for the practice of landscape architecture in the 21st century.

The 12 projects contained in it are not only beautiful, but insightful and sustainable as well.

Available online at amazon.com

In her newest book, Levant, Anissa Helou shares incredible recipes inspired by her childhood in Lebanon and Syria, and by her travels across the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Recipes include fried eggs with sumac and sweet pistachio pie.

Available across Lebanon.

A fashion _ new york

First, we style Manhattan

By Shirine Saad

Marc Jacobs

Diane von Furstenberg

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What to wear this winter, as seen on the New York runways

ŠBadgley Mischka, Tory Burch, Prabal Gurung, Marc Jacobs, Theyskens’ Theory, Diane von Furstenberg

Badgley Mischka

Concrete luxe After years of all-black uniforms, gray is back and should be worn as a total look, with subtle contrasts of textures and tones.

Marc Jacobs Marc Jacobs created beautiful cable knit sweaters in rich shades of charcoal and gray pinstriped suits, which contrasted with bright blue.

Theyskens’ Theory

Tory Burch The Klimt-inspired collection from Tory Burch offered a pearly gray dress, a beautiful gray zigzag printed woolen jacket and a contrast of cream and dark gray for a luxe skirt suit.

Badgley Mischka Brocade, the fabric of the moment, was fresh on a skirt paired with a gray bouclé jersey top. Badgley Mischka also added gray fur or gloves to sophisticated dresses; strict dresses were glammed up by pearly sequins in sandy tones; and power dresses and gowns came in a shiny gray color, enhanced with vivid rhinestone embellishments.

Prabal Gurung We love Prabal Gurung’s gray bitonal strap sandals. The designer also added gray fur to brighten up military uniforms.

Diane von Furstenberg The DVF collection was filled with wild ‘70s prints on sexy pantsuits; gray ombré tailored jackets; lamé metallic gray pants and skirts fit for Studio 54 or the Boom Boom Room.

Prabal Gurung

Tory Burch

TheyskensÕ Theory Olivier Theyskens’ dark, luxurious pantsuits are elegant yet understated.

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A fashion _ new york

Theyskens’ Theory

A touch of fantasy Fashion is in a celebratory mood this winter, with disco metallics, shiny fabrics, funky prints and inventive color contrasts. Time to step out in your blue suede shoes.

Diane von Furstenberg

Prabal Gurung

Marc Jacobs Marc Jacobs was feeling very festive this season, and his runway models reveled in shiny hotpants, mini skirts, disco-ball jackets, plush fur jackets and even a long, sexy fishnet dress. Who’s ready for champagne?

Tory Burch

Badgley Mischka Who wouldn’t want to own Badgley Mischka’s gorgeous gold sequin tunic? And the equally elegant gray shift dress with sequin shine and a fur collar? The modern Holly Golightly will certainly enjoy slipping into those pieces for a visit to her admirer.

Prabal Gurung Prabal Gurung updated military khakis with leather harnesses, beautiful Eastern prints, peplums and cutouts, creating super-elegant skirt suits and va-va-voom dresses with draped satin.

Diane von Furstenberg “Every woman wants to be glamorous and rock ‘n’ roll,” Diane von Furstenberg said at her show. “It’s not about going to a party. It’s life as a party.” Hence the wild leopard prints, metallic leggings and gorgeous red and fuchsia dresses.

Badgley Mischka

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Marc Jacobs

TheyskensÕ Theory Olivier Theyskens is one of the more understated New York designers, but his neutral collection had eccentric elements like shiny miniskirts, innovative quilted dresses and a lovely sequin pattern that he used on a long dress and a coat.

©Badgley Mischka, Tory Burch, Prabal Gurung, Marc Jacobs, Theyskens’ Theory, Diane von Furstenberg

Tory Burch Tory Burch’s refined prints were inspired by Art Nouveau’s elaborate decorations, and graced everything from skirts to jackets. They’d be perfect for a Gatsby-style garden party.

A fashion _ trend

Do you take plastic?

By Grace Banks

Enjoy a season of lip-gloss sheen and sophisticated swagger

The clipped silhouettes and unashamedly vintage prints of the last two seasons are reframed through Frankie Morello’s manipulation of plastic. The Italian brand’s shoulder-baring, black-tie dresses eulogized the enduring appeal of prim and proper, while a gutsy holographic print hinted heavily toward the importance of pushing boundaries. Through a soft feminine pattern, Frankie Morello’s organza dress is so blue-nosed you’re almost convinced tweed is involved somewhere. At Topshop’s Unique, texture was manipulated to create a polished Stepford Wife look. Its full skirt topped off with a comfortingly soft cropped knit rendered highshine plastic utterly possible for sophisticated dressing.

Kenzo’s British phone-box red cocoon coat plays to the A 98

necessity of fun in early autumnal cover-ups, its glitterglue finish making it a true joy to wear. There’s plenty of room for the classics too: Burberry redefined the identity of its original 1915 trench through latex – the only woven fabric was used on two small lapels, proving the more seriously you take plastic, the better it looks.

Of course, there’s a looser, more upfront edge that shouldn’t be overlooked. Felder Felder’s rioja red cigarette pants? Inspired by the shabby glam they saw on the streets while studying in London’s Soho.

Daniela and Annette Felder wanted to reference the darker cultural elements that influenced them: their skinny pants are heavy with ‘70s Brooklyn punk styling and dedicated to skater Tony Alva – their combination of latex and pony skin subscribed to his rough street glamour.

Before hitting the mainstream, plastic needed a seal of approval, which Chanel provided through its Lego box bag, a clutch that works out any brass connotations of its medium. Like Chanel, Stella McCartney toyed with the useful side of this material: capped in PVC, the label’s cleat sole shoe is the plastic must-have of the season and a lovely trend nod.

©Burberry, Chanel, Felder Felder, Kenzo, Stella McCartney, Unique

Its fit was tailored to the point of couture. Finishing just below the knee, the shade was shrimp and it was Burberry Prorsum – this was a cocktail skirt, no doubt about it. Elegant and sophisticated, it possessed a sense of intrigue defined by one thing: it was 100 percent latex. Amped up proactively by Cara Delevingne, who walked this piece down the runway, in a show drenched with classics, Burberry’s insinuation was clear; plastic is fall/winter 2013-14’s agent provocateur.

Chanel

Kenzo

Burberry

Felder Felder

Stella McCartney

Unique

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A fashion _ nordic

Scandinavia avant-garde Northern Europe is home to edgy fashion labels

It was denim brand Acne that first put Scandinavia on the fashion map. Sure, Sweden’s H&M was already a High Street powerhouse, but it wasn’t until Acne jeans were spotted on Hollywood celebrities that fashionistas started taking Nordic designers seriously.

Following Acne’s spectacular success, other established Scandinavian brands decided to set aside their Nordic heritage and create contemporary collections with a twist. The result is a clean aesthetic that’s a far cry from the outspoken and graphic designs espoused by many Southern European brands.

Han Kj¿ benhavn A Danish menswear brand, Han Kjøbenhavn was launched in 2008 by two local hipsters.

Designers (and skaters) Jannik Wikkelso Davidsen and Tim Faith set out to create a brand of timeless workwear, imbued with a streamlined Danish aesthetic. After the success of their initial collection of affordable eyewear, they quickly moved into menswear: vintage outfits, traditional indigo dyeing techniques, military details and great quality resulted in almost overnight popularity for Han Kjøbenhavn. This year, the duo opened their first US store on Prince Street, in Manhattan’s über-cool Nolita neighborhood.

This is only their second store worldwide – the first is, of course, in Copenhagen.

Visit hankjobenhavn.com

Tigerklo Stockholm-based label Tigerklo was founded just three years ago. The brand specializes in genuine handcrafted leather accessories, including iPad and iPhone cases, cardholders and leather-bound notebooks. Manufactured in Tärnsjö – where leather goods for Louis Vuitton and Acne are produced – the goods are assembled and stitched by hand, and then embossed with a flowery signet. Company founder Fredrik Tigerklo assures that every product will age beautifully, “with dignity and grace.”

Visit tigerklo.com

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Stutterheim Alexander Stutterheim decided to revive the traditional Scandinavian fishermen’s raincoats when he founded his eponymous label. The Swedish designer and entrepreneur modernized the raincoat’s look, while basing his new designs on his grandfather’s old raincoat from the ‘60s (that he accidentally found in an abandoned barn). Whether there’s a drizzle or a downpour, Stutterheim raincoats are guaranteed to keep you dry, in style – there’s no Velcro, Gore-tex, straps or strings dangling from any seam. It’s the real deal.

Visit stutterheim.com

©Acne, Han Kjobenhavn, Humor, Soulland, Sutterheim, Tigerklo

By Marie Le Fort

Soulland Behind Soulland’s creative inspiration is Silas Adler, a 28-year-old Dane with ties to Sweden and Tanzania. Back in 2002, the designer started a small company specialized in print T-shirts that rapidly grew into a well-established menswear brand. In 2008, he was nominated for best Danish up-and-coming designer by the Danish Fashion Awards. Rooted in traditional Scandinavian craftsmanship, Soulland’s design aesthetic mixes classic menswear with trendy prints and typography. Think gothic letters, constelated dots and Babar motifs.

Visit soulland.com

HŸ mor Founded in 2007, Danish streetwear brand Hümor mixes and matches contemporary menswear lines with hipster culture. For its new fall collection, the brand blends sporty colors, edgy rock attitude and classic college cuts and prints. “And to keep the Humör philosophy of twisting things, we introduced paisley hand-drawn camouflage drawings and snake patterns,” the creative team explains. A collection in tune with the brand’s core vision to offer “unlimited and contemporary lifestyle to everyone who believes that they can always be stronger and run faster.”

Visit humoer.dk

Acne Since 1996, Acne has been at the forefront of the fashion world, with flagship stores in London, New York and Tokyo and numerous points of sale. But what still makes Acne unique today is its vision: standing for Ambition to Create Novel Expressions, the label remains distinctly hip. Jonny Johansson, one of the founders and now global creative director, always liked the idea of “appropriating a difficult word” and making it cool. The label is bestloved for its amazing jeans, leather work and use of prints.

Visit acnestudios.com

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A fashion _ city

AntwerpÕ s 50 years of style

By Shirine Saad

The Belgian city celebrates its homegrown fashion talent this year

This year, the prestigious Fashion Department, which was launched in 1963, celebrates it 50th anniversary. The festivities began in June, when the school invited all members of the Antwerp Six – Ann Demeulemeester, Marina Yee, Dries Van Noten, Dirk Van Saene, Dirk Bikkembergs and Walter Van Beirendonck – to judge the collections of the its graduates. The six A 102

©Boy Kortekaas

Antwerp, the historic capital of the Flemish Renaissance, is now one of Europe’s leading centers of avant-garde creativity. This coveted role is mainly due to the Belgian city’s Fashion Department at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, which has consistently been training some of the leading talent in the industry since the mythical Antwerp Six studied there in the late ‘70s. Some of the school’s most famed graduates include Martin Margiela, Veronique Branquihno, A.F. Vandervorst, Peter Pilotto, Raf Simons (creative director at Dior) and Christian Wijnants, the winner of 2013’s Woolmark Award.

designers, all of whom still live in the city, had not reunited in the last three decades, and reminisced about their days at the academy.

Back then, as street protests roared, the Antwerp Six had rebelled against the fashion school’s rigid, couture-style teachings. They began to break things apart to create their own visions. Demeulemeester, who remains true to the rebellious spirit of her youth, says that it was in fact the academy’s rigorous curriculum that pushed her to break free.

“We didn’t have the weight of the French or Italian tradition,” she explains. “I came from the middle of nowhere and worked really hard to break out of this city.” Soon after they graduated, the Antwerp Six embarked on a road trip to London, where they presented their collections to buyers, as the press instantly christened them “the new avantgarde.” The rest is history.

The academy is now famous for its stellar curriculum, which is replicated by several other schools. Students learn to make patterns as well as historic and ethnic costumes, and learn techniques from printmaking to 3D shoe design and leather patching. “They really focus on creative freedom,” explains Demeulemeester. “They push people to find their own voice.” Van Beirendonck, the outrageous designer of latex body-con T-shirts with printed hair, blown up S&M gear and phallic headpieces, is the school’s director. He works individually with each student, developing technical expertise, research skills and, most importantly, imagination.

“We have a very specific way of raising the students,” says Van Beirendonck, whose extraordinary gray beard has become as iconic as his work. “We try to tell a story, to communicate through fashion. It’s a more profound way of designing.”

At Antwerp’s ModeMuseum (MoMu), a show titled “Happy Birthday Dear Academie,” which opened in September and runs until mid-February, highlights various aspects of the school’s fashion education during the first 50 years of its existence, while focusing on the friendship and emergence of the Antwerp Six plus Margiela. Other major events

planned include fashion talks with Wijnants on October 17 and a major display of images, shot by Ronald Stoops and styled by designer Dirk Van Saene, on massive billboards throughout the city center.

For more info, you can download the Antwerp App, which was created specifically for the Fashion Department’s 50-year anniversary, at thisisantwerp.be 103 A

A fashion _ bags

On the Marc

By MacKenzie Lewis

Fall in love with Marc Jacobs’ latest bag collection

The 1984 in nautical blue

The Mini 1984 in green python The Polly in patchwork teal

For nearly a decade, Marc Jacobs was able to rest on his quilted leather laurels. The top-handle Stam, introduced in 2005, had fans like Dita von Teese, Rihanna and Jessica Stam, the model-muse the bag was named after, and it’s still one of the designer’s top-selling pieces. Then, just when the fashion world thought it knew what to expect, Jacobs shook things up with a fall handbag collection of completely original icons.

It retains the elegance of the original, in a scaled-down size ideal for the day-to-night transition.

Though not called The Duffy, The 1984 might as well be. One of the most recent additions to the designer’s collection, it serves as a tribute to what may be the most significant year in Jacobs’ life: the year he met business partner-turned-best friend Robert Duffy. The 1984’s timeless shape references a vintage men’s bag, with a splash of Downtown cool – the Jacobs touch.

The fall collection also features new Marc Jacobs hardware: a lock that takes about 12 hours to hand make and comes in a pale gold finish. A method of hand painting called la costola, literally “the rib,” is employed on the piping of each bag. Leather colors include rich shades of chestnut, truffle and aubergine, and also bolder hues in luxurious python. The quality of craftsmanship and attention to detail are in keeping with the iconic designs. Like true friendship, this collection is meant to last a lifetime.

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©Marc Jacobs

The Mini 1984, a new, miniature version of its full-size companion, mimics the 1984 in shape and functionality.

The Stam has still more competition in The Polly. Also derived from a classic men’s bag, The Polly’s convertible jewelry-inspired “bijoux chain” can be worn long, short or across the body. Its sophisticated shape and feminine details grant it versatility unusual for a bag its size.

nancygonzalez.com

A誰shti, Downtown Beirut 01. 99 11 11

A fashion _ accessories

I love rock Ô nÕ roll Photographer Tsar Stylist MŽ lanie Dagher

Sara Battaglia clutch LL1,575,000; Marni earrings LL405,000; Jimmy Choo clutch LL1,597,500; Alexander McQueen sunglasses, LL510,000; Prada keychain LL315,000; Dior ring LL915,000; Saint Laurent heels LL1,192,500; Prada flats LL1,252,500; Diane von Furstenberg clutch LL615,000; Prada gold heels LL1,417,500; Charlotte Olympia platform heels LL2,895,000

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A fashion _ accessories

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Céline lace-up shoes LL1,942,500; Fendi heels LL2,287,500; Saint Laurent bag LL2,325,00; Chloé bag LL4,402,500; Sara Battaglia LL1,815,000; Chloé bracelet, LL1,035,000; Chloé ring, LL510,000; Balenciaga bracelet LL1,042,500; Marni fur bracelet, LL405,000; Chloé heels LL1,320,000; Nilo earrings LL592,500; Marni collar, LL547,000

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A fashion _ accessories

This page Maison Martin Margiela hats, LL285,000 (each); miu miu lace-up shoes, LL1,400,000; Céline sunglasses, LL510,000; Prada wallet, LL840,000; Saint Laurent belt, LL1,530,000; Chloé bag, LL5,722,500; Prada skirt, LL1,395,000; Dior heels, LL1,492,500; Marni ring, LL405,000 Opposite page Gucci booties LL2,025,000; Balenciaga heels LL1,402,500; Stella McCartney loafers, LL1,192,500; Linda Farrow sunglasses, LL757,000; Saint Laurent fur bag LL3,502,500; Maison Martin Margiela cuffs, LL1,522,500; Ileana Makri bracelet, LL1,635,000; Prada gloves, LL772,500; Marni clutch, LL1,725,000; Céline fur collar, LL1,755,000. Available at Aïshti stores.

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A fashion _ hot stuff

Characters in fashion Photographers Tony Elieh, Raya Farhat Stylist Jessy Moussallem

Step into the shoes of your favorite movie character, and get ready to change who you are

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The mistress 3.

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1. Dsquared2 coat, LL2,280,000; 2. Dior necklace, LL3,142,500; 3. Bulgari watch, LL44,400,000; 4. Gucci bag, LL3,532,500; 5. Jimmy Choo shoes, LL1,942,500; 6. Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet lipstick No. 40, La Sensuelle, LL70,500; 7. Prada coat, LL11,497,500; 8. Bulgari Mon Jasmin Noir fragrance, LL178,500; 9. Fendi shoes, LL2,992,500; 10. Agent Provocateur lingerie set, LL593,000; 11. Delfina Delettrez ring with attached purse, LL2,643,000; 12. Dior runway look; 13. miu miu bag, LL2,992,500; 14.

CĂŠline sunglasses, LL600,000

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A fashion _ hot stuff

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The black widow

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1. Dolce & Gabbana runway look; 2. Diane von Furstenberg top, LL510,000; 3. Saint Laurent sunglasses, LL600,000; 4. Gucci dress, LL3,090,000; 5. Cartier watch, LL41,982,000; 6. Fendi rings, LL442,500 (for both); 7. Dior shoes, LL1,342,500; 8. Moschino jacket, LL2,152,000 and skirt, LL915,000; 9. Fendi bracelet, LL622,500; 10. Fendi bag, LL3,735,000; 11. Dior jacket, LL6,412,500; 12. Dolce & Gabbana gloves, LL555,000; 13.

ChloĂŠ shoes, LL1,320,000; 14. Marni bag, LL1,995,000; 15. Prada shoes, LL1,252,500; 16. Gucci skirt, LL2,242,500

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1. Marc Jacobs Daisy fragrance, LL186,000; 2. Dior jacket, LL5,842,500; 3.

Marc Jacobs earrings, LL105,000; 4. Dior ring, LL915,000; 5. Marc Jacobs runway look; 6. Prada coat, LL4,552,500; 7. Balenciaga bag, LL3,172,500; 8. ChloĂŠ bag, LL1,342,500; 9. Prada shoes, LL1,177,500; 10. Marc Jacobs umbrella, LL105,000; 11. Prada jacket, LL3,472,500; 12. Prada skirt, LL1,560,000; 13. Dior sunglasses, LL825,000; 14. Fendi bag, LL1,995,000; 15. Gucci shoes, LL1,182,500

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A fashion _ hot stuff

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1. Moschino runway look; 2. Gucci hat, LL878,000; 3. Paul & Joe jacket, LL1,222,500; 4. Marni collar, LL547,500; 5. Gucci throw, LL1,785,000; 6.

Marni jacket, LL1,642,500; 7. Burberry bag, LL2,392,500; 8. Moschino top, LL1,177,500; 9. miu miu bag, LL3,232,500; 10. Balenciaga top, LL1,492,500; 11. CĂŠline boots, LL4,110,000; 12. Gucci bag, LL1,972,500; 13. Fendi boots, LL2,827,500; 14. Fendi bracelet, LL442,500

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The purist

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1. Fabiana Filippi top, LL742,500; 2. Dior bag, LL6,330,000; 3. Marc Jacobs earrings, LL97,500; 4. Balenciaga runway look; 5. Céline top, LL1,710,000; 6. Moschino shoes, LL570,000; 7. Céline skirt, LL2,2610,000; 8. miu miu skirt, LL4,830,000; 9. Dsquared2 pin, LL66,000; 10. Fendi bag, LL1,612,500; 11. Chloé cardigan, LL1,470,000; 12. Céline hat, LL1,305,000; 13. Prada shoes, LL1,252,500. Available at Aïshti stores.

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A fashion _ heartbreaker

The playful Rapunzel Rapunzel heels from Charlotte Olympia are part of the British label’s magical Once Upon a Time fall 2013 collection. In addition to braided straps and crystals, the sandals are delicately embroidered with Rapunzel’s face. Grab a pair, and let you hair down. Price tag: LL2,895,000.

Available at Aïshti stores.

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©Charlotte Olympia

Fairy-tale steps

Fashion

Once around Stockholm Autumn in Scandinavia

Once around Stockholm Photographer Jimmy Backius Stylist Amelianna Loiacono Location Stockholm, Sweden

She’s in a Maison Martin Margiela turtleneck, Roberto Cavalli kaftan, Etro belt and Le Silla boots. Her necklace and bracelet are by Dsquared 2

She’s in a Michael Kors cape, P.A.R.O.S.H turtleneck, Levi’s shorts, Iceberg boots, Gucci belt, Gucci watch, Hermès scarf and vintage necklace.

Her bag is by Marni

She’s wearing a Brunello Cucinelli cape, Brunello Cucinelli top, Diesel shorts, Marni necklace, Marni boots and Dsquared2 bracelet

She’s in a Fendi top, Dries Van Noten shorts, Gucci belt and Marni boots

She’s in an Etro jacket, Brunello Cucinelli top, vintage shorts, Pucci boots and Maison Martin Margiela bracelet

She’s in a Pucci dress, Pucci boots and Maison Martin Margiela coat. Her bag is by Sara Battaglia

She’s in a Roberto Cavalli jacket, Diesel overalls and Gucci boots

She’s in a Brunello Cucinelli cape, Jo No Fui top, Jo No Fui shorts, Marni boots, Borsalino hat and vintage necklace. Her bag is by Bottega Veneta

She’s wearing a Roberto Cavalli sweater, Michael Kors vest, Diesel shorts, Marni boots, Maison Martin Margiela bracelet and Tory Burch necklace

She’s wearing a Moschino cape, Moschino dress, Gucci boots and vintage shorts

She’s in a Diesel top, Maison Martin Margiela cape, American Apparel shorts, Le Silla boots, Dsquared2 jewelry and Gucci watch. Her bag is by Fendi.

Available at AĂŻshti stores.

Hair and makeup by Teresa Grundin at Mikas Looks Model Mona Johanesson at Mikas

Autumn in Scandinavia Photographer Jimmy Backius Stylist Amelianna Loiacono Location Stockholm, Sweden

She’s wearing a Burberry trench coat and Dolce & Gabbana shoes

She’s in a Dolce & Gabbana dress

She’s wearing a Dsquared2 dress and Gucci shoes, and she’s carrying a Dolce & Gabbana bag

She’s in a Jo No Fui top and Dolce & Gabbana skirt

She’s wearing a Prada skirt and jacket. Her bodysuit is vintage

She’s wearing an Iceberg dress

She’s wearing a jacket, sweater and skirt, all by Gucci. Her shoes are by Dolce & Gabbana

She’s wearing a Tory Burch skirt, Tory Burch top, Agent Provocateur bodysuit, Jo No Fui belt and Dolce & Gabbana shoes. Available at Aïshti stores.

Hair and makeup Teresa Grundin at Mikas Looks Model Clara H at Mikas

WWW.AISHTIBLOG.COM

WWW.AISHTIBLOG.COM

Foch strEEt · aishti Downtown · aishti sEasiDE · BEirUt city cEntrE · aizonE aBc · aizonE intErcontinEntaL mzaar · aizonE citymaLL

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A beauty _ makeup

If looks could thrill

By Charlotte Colquhoun

Pucci

This season, take your cue from the runways: keep your lips sealed, and let your eyes do all the talking.

Dior

Eye makeup demands attention

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Chanel In an overly dark show, Karl Lagerfeld was keen to emphasize that the mood was “not depressing.” This was achieved with a liberal sprinkling of sparkle: shimmering thread was woven through darker materials and tweed embellished with a glittered touch. Carrying on to the makeup, Peter Philips took the star-dusted theme and affixed silver sequins to the eyelash lines, lids and eyelashes.

Comfortable it didn’t look, but my goodness was it eye-catching. He finished the look with a generous sweep of Chanel’s Le Crayon Khôl liner in Noir under the lower lashes to add more definition to the eye contour.

Pucci The devil-may-care rock-chic of this season’s Pucci gal was influenced by Britt Ekland and Anita Pallenberg. The makeup look was suitably ‘60s/’70s, with porcelain skin, pale lips, pastel lids and lashes to die for. Artiste Lisa Butler turned to MAC for the makeup and defined lids with Kohl Power Liner in deep black Feline, layered false lashes and oodles of mascara. Stormy Pink Longwear Paint Pot gave the lids a pretty, violet dusting and clearly delineated the eyelid from the superbly fluttering lashes.

©Chanel, Dior, Pucci

Chanel

Dior Raf Simons’ knowledge of the contemporary art world led him to Andy Warhol for a collection full of direct references and motifs from the artist’s work (as well as this being a handy link to Christian Dior, who also had a background in art). Simons said: “I’ve always been interested in surrealism,” and it was this that evidently led the eye makeup concept. Makeup supremo Pat McGrath flicked liquid silver cat-eyes in three smooth strokes: the classic over lash, below the lower lashes for added drama and within the inside lid crease to further open the eyes.

FE ATURING ELETTRA WIEDEMANN ABC DBAYÉ MALL , GROUND FLOOR , LEBANON, T +961-4-417 217 AG ENTPROVOCATEU R .COM /CONTRO LYOU R SELF

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A beauty _ treatments

Spa express

By Charlotte Colquhoun, MacKenzie Lewis and Marwan Naaman

Red Door Spa at The Chatwal

Dorchester Spa

Face and body treatments for people on the go For those men and women who have everything but time, here are express spa treatments in London, New York and Beirut designed to boost your energy levels, rejuvenate your skin and relax your senses – all in less than 40 minutes.

Beirut If your skin is dry, dull or just plain tired, a quick intermission at Aïshti’s Ï Day Spa in Downtown Beirut is in order. The ultra-modern spa’s Hydra Express Facial is a quick fix for any skin type, employing Anne Sémonin aromatherapy products to deliver a service short on time but high in instant gratification.

Though the express facial clocks in at just under 40 minutes, the tone is set for lasting relaxation when the lights dim and music drifts in. The A 166

treatment begins with the gentle removal of any makeup. A skilled therapist soon gets to work, efficiently cleansing the face and chest with a plant-based milk, applying it in soothing circular motions. Next, an exfoliating mask scrubs off dead skin cells, and, depending on your skincare needs, a mask, serum or combination of the two is applied to the skin.

While the rich treatment works its magic, the therapist gets to work on an energetic drainage, massaging the arms, hands and neck to eliminate toxins. The mask is wiped away, leaving behind a sense of tranquility and a revitalized complexion.

Tel. 01.995.757, aishti.com London To aim for full relaxation of mind and body in an express treatment is simply unrealistic; by the time the healing hands have kicked into action you’re all too aware of the ticking clock heeding home time. Functional treatments are another matter altogether, and the Body Glow at The Dorchester Spa in London promises silky soft

skin, achieved over what is admittedly not an un-relaxing half an hour. The Turkish Mineral scrub from Kerstin Florian combines deeply purifying mineral salts with balancing lavender oil. The addition of eucalyptus oil not only stimulates the immune and respiratory systems, but also crucially packs an antiseptic punch, ensuring the exfoliation doesn’t cause irritation.

All of Kerstin Florian’s products seek to unite essential oils, minerals and thermal waters to proven therapeutic effect. Après scrub, a rich moisturizer is applied over the whole body. If you are left with a moment or two free, sneak a treat at The Dorchester Spatisserie, possibly the sweetest spa-café-concept around. With its macaroon-shaded drapes and Louis XV chairs, it’s straight out of Marie Antoinette’s most saccharine, cake-filled daydreams.

Tel. 44.20.7319.7109, thedorchester.com New York The prestigious Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa, which recently opened a new space inside New York’s luxurious Chatwal hotel, has a rich, varied menu of spa treatments. If you’re pressed for time, one terrific option is the Olive Oil Body Glow, which takes a mere 30 minutes but will take loads of stress off your mind. After you’re shown into your own private dressing room and shower, the spa technician takes you to the spacious, softly lit treatment room. To the sounds of soothing music, the technician exfoliates your entire body with olive oil salt, expertly removing all dead skin cells and impurities. This deep scrub is followed by a full-body application of organically derived hydrating cream, ensuring that your skin is recharged and rejuvenated for the day ahead.

Tel. 1.212.764.6200, thechatwalny.com/ Spa-Fitness

©Aïshti, The Chatwal, The Dorchester

Ï Day Spa

7 For All Mankind store, Beirut Souks, Souk El Tawileh Also available at all A誰zone stores in Beirut, Dubai, Amman

7forallmankind.com

05/09/13 16.00

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A beauty _ must-haves

Wild innocence The Dsquared2 fall look is subtle yet sexy

3.

1. Tom Ford Nail Lacquer Plum Noir 5.

2.

4.

2. Saint Laurent Eyeliner Baby Doll No. 12 3. Chanel Mystère, Les 4 Ombres Quadra Eyeshadow No. 43 4. EstŽ e Lauder Bronze Goddess Powder Bronzer No. 3, Medium Deep

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5. Dior Addict Mirror Shine Volume & Care Gloss No. 257, Venus 6. Chanel Le Blush Crème de Chanel No. 62, Presage

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8.

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8. Lanc™ me Hypnôse Drama by Albert Elbaz Full Body Mascara, Extra Black

©Dsquared2, Tsar

7. Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Even Finish Foundation No. 4.25, Natural Tan

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Available in Lebanon: Aïshti Downtown, Aïshti Seaside, Aïshti Verdun, Aïzone Beirut Souks, Aïzone ABC Ashrafieh, Aïzone ABC Dbaye, Aïzone City Mall +961 1 991 111, Beirut City Center +961 1 287 187 Dubai: Mall of the Emirates +971 4 347 9333, Dubai Mall +971 4 3306 442, Mirdiff City Center +971 4 284 3007 Jordan: City Mall +962 6 582 3724 Kuwait: The Avenues Mall +965 2259 8016

A celebrity _ designer

Earning his stripes

By Sophy Grimshaw

Paul Smith chats with A magazine ahead of his career retrospective at London’s Design Museum

My office is like the inside of my head.

“There’s going to be a section in the exhibition with stuff from the crazy room where I work, my office. I’m blessed that every day we get posts from around the world from people who just feel they want to write to me. I get letters from six-year-olds, 10-year-olds, 90-year-olds, from Australia, Belgium, everywhere. So we’ll show you a bit of the spirit and atmosphere of the office. There’s a big table that my design assistants come and sit around, and they’ll say ‘I love the colors in this book,’ or ‘Don’t you like this rough thing next to that smooth thing?’

Rough and smooth could become Harris tweed and silk, if you’ve got a lateral way of thinking.

Donna [Loveday, curator], says the room is like being inside my head. You wouldn’t want to be inside, I promise you. We’ll give you free paracetamol on the way in.”

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Seeing my past collections is scary.

“There will be a long room full of a massive selection of the various collections, which is scary for me, but probably interesting for everybody else. Because you forget that, while silhouettes now are really slim, they used to be huge. You cannot believe how things have changed. So that will be really interesting for fashion students. But we’re hoping for an

exhibition that anyone can be interested in.

We want to encourage all types of people to come to the exhibition, it’s not elitist. You’ll also see the studio where we do textile prints, colors and stripes and cut patterns. It’s hard to show it in full, but it will be pretty interesting.”

It’s not what you do, it’s what you don’t do.

“With collaborations, it’s not what you

©Paul Smith

At my first shop, my dog was the manager.

“When you walk into the exhibition, there’s going to be a little [replica] shop, about 12 square feet, of my first ever shop. The manager was Homer the dog, not me.

Homer ran it; people used to talk to Homer first and me second. We did both look exactly the same at the time, so people probably couldn’t tell the difference. The shop was really tiny and only open two days a week because I realized that I couldn’t earn a living from that shop. The clothes in it were pretty specific for the time, so I worked doing lots of other things so that I could enjoy that purity for two days.”

This page PaulS mith stores in Tokyo (above), London (top right), Korea (immediate right) and Los Angeles (far right) Opposite page Paul Smith in Japan earlier this year (top) and in his office (bottom)

My wife taught me everything.

“There’s a section in the exhibition about my wife Pauline, who has been very important.

She taught me all aspects of design because she trained at the Royal College of Art as a fashion designer, during heady days when what we learned was very real: how to construct clothes, with less awareness of marketing. She’s very into real clothes, how they are constructed and worn.” do, it’s what you don’t do. We could have designed two or three hotels last year; we’re constantly asked to design things, so it’s a matter of what you say no to. But we’ve worked with Leica cameras and John Lobb. Certain things like that are delightful, so we’re going to show you some of those collaborations.”

Fashions shows are one part of the process.

“There will be a fashion show section in the

exhibition. A lot of people don’t understand fashions shows. So many fashion designers think that a fashion show is the main event, twice a year, and it’s not, it’s one part of the process. The important thing to try to get across is that while it’s very important, having an idea, designing clothes, making them at the correct price, delivering them on time, selling them to a shop that sells them and keeping good press, is all part of the process too.”

Leaving on a high.

“Hopefully you’ll leave on an optimistic note.

The idea is that every day is a new beginning.

I want young people in this troubled world to actually have goosebumps and to go away and say ‘I can do that.’ That’s the whole point of this exhibition.”

“Hello My Name is Paul Smith” runs until March 9 at the Design Museum, 28 Shad Thames, London SE1, tel. 44.20.7403.6933, designmuseum.org A 171

A celebrity _ designer

Get your rocks on

By Grace Banks

The traditional connotations of luxury jewels and finery are being cast aside by former Dior fine jewelry designer Lydia Courteille.

Huge diamonds on dainty rings, pear drop pendants – you’ll struggle to find any of these in her Paris boutique. Instead, on display are otherworldly, handcrafted masterpieces.

This is accessorizing with a narrative, each item conveying its own tale through oversized rubies and a bold color palette. “I like the fake look. But I want to have a real piece of jewelry looking like a fake,” explains Courteille. This creative mood has earned her collaborations with Prada, Carven, Alexander McQueen and Givenchy, of which she says: “It was fun. Would I like to do it again? Why not?”

Courteille’s My Secret Garden line takes its inspiration from Victorian kitchen gardens and Mexican fruit collectors. Her unique treatment produces Halloween pumpkin rings crafted from pure diamonds, wild strawberry earrings fashioned from tsavorites, coral and emeralds and fruit-emblazoned hoop earrings.

Courteille is happy that her pieces make a statement. “Someone told me that my jewelry is a conversation in itself. Each piece has its own life and personality.” This aesthetic is evoked in a flower ring with miniature ants, composed of diamonds, crawling into the center of the flower.

Courteille is also a storyteller. The Cabinet of

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Curiosities line revolves around the designer’s fascination with the trinkets in Italy’s Wunderkammer shop. Brooches featuring ancient and long forgotten African kings are made eternal and beautiful once again through yellow gold, boulder rock opal and gold diamonds, while 16th-century Chinese rulers are brought back into prominence, cast in opal onto a rhodium gold ring. These pieces haunt you. “Something happens, and I don’t know why. It’s my way. But you find you aren’t the same without the jewelry; it’s the effect it has.”

Medieval gothic bestiary is at the forefront of Courteille’s latest collection. Here, monkeys, scorpions and deer are recreated in orange garnets, sapphires and Vietnamese rubies. Despite Courteille’s fascination with antiquities, designs are kept modern through a luminous range of colors and a sense of humor – a frog ring topped with a diamond crown offers a nod to the ridiculous.

Courteille began her creative journey by working with antiques, re-fashioning the 18th-century cameos that so many of her friends had inherited, making them into rings and giving them a second life by adding clusters of diamonds and tiny animals. “A ring is better than a brooch any day. A ring is a personal treat.” By constantly looking into the past, and sourcing inspiration from ancient fables and tales, Courteille remains one of the world’s most exciting jewelry designers.

©Lydia Courteille

Lydia Courteille’s designs restore magic to accessorizing

JOHN ARMLEDER, CHRISTIAN HOLSTAD, THOMAS HOUSEAGO, YAN PEI-MING, ROB PRUITT, PIOTR UKLANSKI, KAARI UPSON

EAST OF EDEN DUE TO ITS SUCCESS, THE EXHIBIT HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL THE END OF OCTOBER “SQUAT,” A NEW SHOW FUSING ART AND DESIGN, OPENS IN NOVEMBER METROPOLITAN ART SOCIETY, TRABAUD ST., ASHRAFIEH, BEIRUT, INFO@MASBEIRUT.COM, T: 70.366.969

A celebrity _ designer

A new kind of style

ŠDaniel A, Joe Kesrouani

By Kate Marris

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Lara Khoury leads the next generation of Lebanese fashion designers

Lara Khoury might just be Lebanon’s next big thing in fashion. And fittingly the 28- year-old designer is the protégée of Elie Saab, the designer credited with placing Lebanon on the fashion world map and now putting his name and resources to a fashion school at the Lebanese American University (LAU). After training at École Supérieure de la Mode (ESMOD) in Paris, Khoury spent a year working for Saab.

“That’s where I learned the ABC of how to run a successful business,” she says.

Visiting elf-like Khoury, who speaks English with a gentle French accent, in her beautifully converted studio in Beirut’s Gemmayze, is to witness an aesthetic rarely seen in Lebanese fashion design: huge volumetric shapes – Japanese buyers love her – and

womenswear and menswear in wools and cottons, uncommon fabrics in Beirut’s ateliers.

Her latest collections, as well the never-ending folds of her distinctive wedding dresses, animate her studio, a delicious smelling, all-wooden space she designed to accommodate shop displays, fitting rooms, storage and a workshop, all through a series of sliding doors and invisible cupboards.

The understatement of Khoury’s person, her surroundings and her muted color palette mean she is just about the antithesis of the hyper-feminine glamour characteristic of so many other Lebanese designers. “I want to show the world another aspect of Lebanese design that’s not only about bling bling and coupe sirène,” she explains. She points to Lebanon’s traditional Gulf client base as the reason behind designers’ attachment to the

mermaid cut, with its ultraslimming effect.

Khoury searches for femininity in its altered forms: “I work a lot on volume, and I experiment. What drives me to create is to alter the shape of the female body by using fabric that falls in an interesting way, but creates a beautiful silhouette in the end.”

Her creativity extends beyond fashion – architect Gregory Gatserelia, whom she considers a mentor, has commissioned artwork from her. “The challenge,” she says, “is to balance art and fashion. Fashion is not art. If it’s not worn, fashion doesn’t exist.”

Even at her young age, Khoury is already enjoying international recognition. Her designs are currently finding great success in Japan, Kuwait and the United States.

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A celebrity _ icons

Style symphony Meet three London musical fashion icons

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England’s front women pack a serious punch. Since Marianne Faithful inspired girls to wear Mary Quant mini-skirts and Cleopatra eyeliner in the late ‘60s, designers, editors and fashion lovers have looked to the chanteuse for beaconlike style guidance. After stealing the heart of Frida Giannini with her vintage Saint Laurent gowns and pre-raphaelite beauty, Florence Welch, of Florence and the Machine, gained Marianne status, becoming the muse and campaign girl for Gucci. Flo is one of a crop of band girls whose love for the theatrical make them some of the most trailblazing style icons in the city.

Bo Claridge and Alis Pelleschi started working with Rita Ora early in her career, when the 18-year-old came to them looking for something “new, fresh and totally different.” What she got was baby blue plastic and the blooming of a collaboration with haute-latex designers Meat. Ora is one of the label’s oldest fans, her penchant for PVC extending beyond stage costumes to street wear. Meat lead the way with plastic as the new material, earning its stripes through sheer dresses trimmed with ostrich feathers and ‘90s-style Buffalo shoes. It was their patent leather skirt suit adorned with oversized flames that put Ora on the radar as London’s new style icon.

©Charli XCX, Rita Ora, Jessie Ware

By Grace Banks

Ora’s look is like something from a Lewis Carroll novel. With bleached white hair, Elton John-style sunglasses and a love for pairing something pretty with something ugly, she’s truly definitive.

Jessie Ware is at the heart of the vintagemeets-sports scene. Like Lily Allen, Ware’s style is limited edition trainers and feminine tea dresses. Collecting vintage is something Londoners take pretty seriously, and since the ‘90s, Ware has flocked to the stalls of Portobello Road and Greenwich Market, where tables are piled high with waist-cinching cocktail dresses and mint-hued furs. Through this romantic style, Ware creates a look part Ava Gardner, part urban queen. Just like Florence, Ware’s stage clothes are some of the most talked about in the country – she recently shook up the bohemian etiquette of Coachella in a Peter Pilotto dress.

A vessel of London’s punk rock spirit, Charli XCX is the epitome of rebellious glamour. Her ripped denim, sooty eyes and embarrassing dad sunglasses gained the singer muse status to Londoner Roberto Piqueras. It was her creeper teddy boy shoes, spandex trousers and oversized T-shirts that helped inspire the designer’s glitter grunge aesthetic. Before fame, the North London native appeared in videos and installations for all her art school friends, and her style is infused with an audacious spirit.

This page Charli XCX (top) and Jessie Ware (directly above) Opposite page Rita Ora

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A celebrity _ profile

Building roads for life

By MacKenzie Lewis

In a split second on October 19, 2010, Zeina Kassem’s life changed forever. Crossing the street on the way to school, her 17-year-old son Talal was mowed down by a speeding driver. The driver was going so fast he didn’t even realize he’d hit someone; Talal was thrown from the windshield to the pavement and died instantly.

Kassem stayed on the scene for an hour, observing the police and medical teams run through protocol in the aftermath of the crash. “I began to think,” the mother says with a shaky voice, “what could have been done differently?”

Motivated by the thought that she could prevent other mothers from suffering her own fate, Kassem began lobbying

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to change outdated traffic laws in Lebanon. But navigating bureaucracy takes time, which wasn’t a luxury she felt she had.

There is a short window of time following a traumatic injury, during which prompt medical attention may prevent paralysis, irreparable brain damage and even death. This so-called “golden hour” was the inspiration for Roads for Life: The Talal Kassem Fund for Post Accident Care. Kassem founded the organization 2011, with a mission to provide optimal support for trauma victims.

She began by raising money to support the Advanced Trauma Life Support certificate course, in partnership with the AUB Medical Center, and to bring Pre-Hospital Trauma

Life Support training from the United States to Lebanon, with the support of BLC Bank.

The courses provide doctors with the training needed to maximize the “golden hour” and give trauma victims not only a better chance of survival, but also a better chance for a decent quality of life.

So far, Roads for Life has helped train over 142 doctors, in more than 50 hospitals, across the country. They hope to soon implement a similar program for nurses and haven’t given up on changing legislation. The past three years have been challenging, but Kassem focuses on the positive impact of her work.

“Helping people in reducing death and sorrow is like Talal is living each day.”

©Tony Elieh

After a horrific accident, Zeina Kassem set herself the task of changing Lebanon for the better

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11/07/13 11:09

A design _ museum

An Oslo icon

Norway’s capital now has its own Renzo Piano landmark

Once upon a time, museums were just buildings with pretty things inside. Now they’re icons. They’re institutions. They’re moneymakers shaken vigorously by mayors and real estate developers who want their city to be the next Bilbao. Pritzker Prizewinning Italian architect Renzo Piano is the current darling of museum boards around the world, with his clean, well-lighted rooms and budget-friendly building processes. It seems appropriate that just about every museum project of his recalls an uncannily serene, highend office park.

Now, Piano has extended his brand to Oslo, Norway, where the Astrup Fearnley Museum seems to have just swooped in, pristine and cold and perfect, from the Arctic waters that

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surround it. The museum, which was unveiled at the end of last year, is in fact a complex of three buildings separated by the waters of a canal. However, the three glass roofs form a single, sail-shaped curve, sort of like a squashed fragment of the Sydney Opera House. At one point, the curve reaches down almost to touch the grassy gardens that cluster around the museum. And just as the building reaches down the earth, so the gardens themselves dip their toes into the waters of the surrounding fjord. In fact, on summer days, after sating the mind on the works of Jeff Koontz, you can join the bathers on the steep little beach at the museum’s feet.

Expanding on nautical themes, Piano supports his construction with long rows of slender

©Nic Lehoux

By Robert Landon

white columns, which are secured with cable riggings as if to consciously mimic the masts in the adjacent harbor. Likewise, timber cladding, weathered to a silvery gray, recalls a ship’s deck – and also adds a much-needed note of warmth amid all the cold glass and sharp lines.

feel like corporate conference rooms. It’s an odd effect that most critics say is not great for the art, but makes perfect sense when you consider that the museum is part of a larger, commercial project to develop highly valuable waterfront land.

Moving inside, the museum has all the markings of a Piano project: whitewashed galleries lit ingeniously by a combination of natural and artificial sources. They brilliantly illuminate a collection that reads like an auctioneer’s dream, with works by all the contemporary megastars: Matthew Barney, Gilbert & George, Damien Hirst and Koons, as well as a sprinkling of local Norwegian artists.

At certain points, the galleries shrink down from grand double-height spaces to what

Despite such private interests, it cannot be denied that the museum offers Oslo an attractive free public space that is knit beautifully into the rest of the city, including a promenade that reaches all the way to city hall.

“The visitor can be in contact with nature, take a swim, enjoy urban life, while contemplating art,” writes Piano. “This is meant to be a place for silence and meditation, but also somewhere to meet people or just enjoy a cup of coffee, while looking at boats sailing in the fjord.”

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A design _ profile

Magic Cibic

By Renata Fontanelli

Cibic’s first foray into the design world came in 1977, following an unexpected meeting with the great master Ettore Sottsass. Together the two men founded the now legendary firm Sottsass Associati, although Cibic didn’t even hold a degree in architecture – his A 184

was a truly inborn talent. It was during that era that Sottsass also founded the Memphis Group, a collaborative that brought together the ‘80s leading designers, including Alessandro Mendini and Michele de Lucchi, as well as reporter Barbara Radice.

“Succeed in telling a lot with little, working more on the poetics of things than on the aesthetics of form,” says Cibic of the Memphis Group’s mission. “Their vibrant collection continues to convey the powerful energy of an operation dreamed up outside of market logic.”

Given his respect for the Memphis Group and his essential contribution to its founding and to that of Sottsass Associati, it was surprising when Cibic chose to go his own way and found Cibic & Partners, with studios in Milan and Vincenza. His firm had a particularly big year in 2013, when Cibic launched the “Freedom Room” during the Milan Triennial last April. The “Freedom Room,” which was created in collaboration with the maximum

©Cibic & Partners

The Italian designer infuses the unexpected into his work

To celebrate his wedding with blonde California siren Cynthia, the mother of his son Ian, Aldo Cibic chose Paolo Pini, a mental institution in Milan, as the setting. Only Cibic, one of the most eccentric figures of Italian design, could have come up with such a crazy idea. But Cibic’s like that. He loves to swim upstream and think about the future.

The 58-year-old designer is a visionary, who while talking is already thinking about what he’ll do tomorrow, taking for granted concepts that would never occur to other mere mortals. It’s difficult to follow his stream of ideas, and at times his discourse can be confusing. However, if you stop and pay close attention, you enter into an absolutely creative dimension that’s full of pragmatism and good sense.

security prison of Spoleto, saw Cibic working with prisoners to create “ideal” cells, where despite the restricted space it’s still possible to satisfy the needs of a daily existence. “This idea was born from the need to work not only with objects, but also with the notion of space,” says Cibic. “My intention is to also adapt the same concept to youth hostels and low-cost hotels, with the aim of making spaces no larger than nine square meters more human and livable.”

Cibic is someone who can literally make the impossible possible. One of his more eccentric creations is a small cart designed to be attached behind bicycles or motor scooters and that contains all the equipment necessary (including the seat) to shine shoes.

His “Microrealities,” from 2004, was composed of four urban spaces (shopping center, park, station and crossroads), which, stripped of their one functional purpose, became places for socialization.

“There’s a need for new meeting places,” Cibic believes. “I like to think of design as a spark that sets off contacts and relationships, places where people from different walks of life make contact.”

Then there are spectacular projects for private clients, including the new Rinascente in Milan, a department store that had fallen on hard times and that is now reborn, more

glamorous than ever, thanks to Cibic’s touch.

Another great coup is the expansion of the new Staff International headquarters for Renzo Rosso’s Diesel group.

Cibic is also extremely proud of the UNA wine bottles he designed back in 2011 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy. “It gave me real satisfaction,” he says. “And let’s not forget that, being from the Veneto region, my greatest passions include wine.”

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A design _ chairs

Skeleton seating

By MacKenzie Lewis

British-Ghanaian architect David Adjaye is set to become a household name, and no one’s more surprised than him. A magazine sat down with the visionary architect who, after designing Lebanon’s Aïshti Foundation, is heading indoors with the Skin and Skeleton collection of chairs for all-American furniture company Knoll.

Q You recently designed a furniture collection for Knoll. Why is furniture design a logical next step once an architect becomes a star?

A I have always worked at many different scales, with products and furniture sometimes providing a testing ground for the architecture. I have designed bespoke furniture, such as a concrete, integrated sofa for one of my clients; the Monoforms range and exterior seating at Waddesdon Manor; as well as products, including a range of vases for Gaia & Gino and door furniture for izé. What is entirely new, however, is to have designed an entire collection.

Q What challenges did the transition from architect to furniture designer pose?

A Sometimes what you think will work as the final product becomes an investigation, a kind of experiment. You know instantly that it ultimately won’t work, but it is part of the story, and I have a real delight in the samples, the mock-ups and the sketches.

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It is an amazing luxury to be able to manipulate and sculpt – at full scale – as you go along. This is something you can’t do with buildings.

Q Which of your projects best represents you as an architect?

A It’s impossible to say. They are all relevant, including my research projects and unbuilt projects. It is all part of an ongoing investigation into form, materiality and light – an evolving process rather than any one finished entity.

Q Which was/is the biggest labor of love?

A My work on the National Museum of African American History and Culture [in Washington, DC] is hugely exciting. It’s probably the most important commission for me: it’s arguably the most important public space in the world. But I am no less passionate about other projects. The biggest labor of love is always what I’m working on now.

Q Between the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and your work with Knoll, you’re poised to become a household name. Is that something you were consciously working toward?

A If I had been driven by fame or money, I would not have chosen to be an architect!

©David Adjaye

David Adjaye talks about his new line of furniture for Knoll

Alfred

A design _ glass

In Venetian and Nordic traditions

ŠVetro Vero

By J. Michael Welton

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Fall in love with Vetro Vero’s hand-blown glass

first at Haystack Mountain School in Maine, and later at Penland School of Craft in the mountains of North Carolina. “Michael and I inspire each other,” she says. “But we also listen to customer feedback and incorporate that as well.”

Tucked away in Chester County, just south of Philadelphia in the eastern United States, is a glass studio dedicated to creating refined, hand-blown and lead-free crystal. In Venetian colors. “We have high standards,” says Josie Gluck, partner in Vetro Vero (that would be Italian for True Glass) with Michael Schunke. “We don’t call a piece finished until the line is the way we want it.”

Their process begins with pure raw materials, melted into molten glass through closely monitored cycles in an energy efficient furnace. They say each handblown glass object is individually made by practicing the core values that brought them together: honest work, pure materials, fresh designs and respect for the Italian glass tradition in which they were trained.

They use two basic color palettes – one bright, and another that’s a little softer and perhaps more neutral. Most pieces are detailed with 24-karat gold leaf and accents.

Their glass is smooth and clean, with a strong consideration for scale, proportion and design, all defined by function. “It’s for

Their glass clearly is influenced by artisans in Italy and Scandinavia, but also from knowing their materials over the course of time. Gluck’s been working at the craft for 13 years and Schunke for 22. They met when she served as his teaching assistant,

décor and home accessories, like decanters and tumblers,” says Gluck. “It’s visually functional too.”

Multiple pieces are designed to interact with each other, or the space in which they’re placed. Where they overlap next to one another, they create new colors. “If you place a yellow bottle in front of a blue one, you’ll see green,” she says.

Their work stands apart from others, largely because of their sophisticated eye, coupled with a high degree of consistency. “We have a skill that allows us to control the material in ways we want to see evident in the work itself,” says Gluck. Not surprisingly, that’s not a skill that they readily share with the rest of the world. While they welcome visitors for scheduled appointments, they do not offer glass-blowing demonstrations to the public. The look and feel of the finished product will have to suffice.

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A design _ accessories

Dinner party, Scandinavianstyle

By Salma Abdelnour and Marwan Naaman

Find your favorite Nordic design in Beirut Even if it took many years – make that centuries – for the Scandinavians to capture the world’s attention with their food (see “Nordic epicure,” p.216), they’ve always had incredible style. No one sets a dinner table or furnishes a dining room better than those Northern Europeans. As trends go in and out of style around the world, Scandinavian design never seems to fade away. And for good reason: its clean lines, ingenious flourishes and topnotch quality have ensured that products from Sweden, Norway and other Nordic countries continue to be coveted, collected and displayed worldwide.

Lebanon is no exception. For lovers of Scandinavian tableware, cooking utensils, and other essentials for the dining room and kitchen, there are plenty of places to shop in and around Beirut.

Lebanese designer Karen Chekerdjian’s shop opened near Beirut Port in 2010, and carries mostly her own designs, which reflect the wide-ranging influences that shape her eclectic style. Some of her designs show a Nordic inspiration, as in the gleaming blue or white ceramic Base bowls and plates, which she describes as “a little bit Japanese, a little bit Scandinavian.” In 2000, Chekerdjian collaborated with the Icelandic artist Tinna Gunnarsdottir to create what they call the Rolling Stone, a globe-shaped sculpture made of maple wood, plywood and stainless steel that slides open and doubles as a container.

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©Ieva Saudargaite

Karen Chekerdjian (left)

A• shti Home Collection (left)

In addition to its exquisite fashion offerings, Aïshti also carries furniture and home accessories, at both its Downtown Beirut and Jal el Dib seaside locations. Among the many brands available are three distinctive Danish labels: Eva Solo, Menu and Georg Jensen. Eva Solo produces, among other things, sleek, distinctive, slanted wine glasses and fun accessories like the Aquastar watering can.

If you’re a fan of silverware, Georg Jensen offers curvaceous pitchers and star-shaped trays as beautiful as they are unique. Then there’s Menu, which makes eye-catching design products, including cups with designer motifs, clear teapots and double candleholders.

Visit aishti.com

ID Design (right)

Launched in Denmark in 1969, ID Design has a store in Sin el Fil. Its extensive collection of furniture and housewares goes beyond the ultra-sleek aesthetic often associated with Scandinavian products. The Deluxe and Global lines include pieces with exuberant, globally inspired patterns or plush silhouettes.

But with the Urban and Upnordic lines, the company reveals a minimalist sensibility more typically associated with Scandinavian design – for instance in a blocky, high-gloss white dining table offset by curvy mid-century-style black chairs.

Visit iddesign.com.lb

XXe Si• cle (left)

Hamra’s XXe Siècle gallery is a fantastic place to browse the ever-changing selection of European furniture, much of it from Scandinavia. Recently, XXe Siècle was carrying a collection of leather-andwood chairs by Esko Pajamies, made in Finland around 1966, and a glass-topped Scandinavian table with star-shaped stainless steel legs, dating to circa 1970. To cast a subtle glow over the table, the shop happened to have the perfect item: a starshaped metal chandelier made in Sweden around 1960.

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A design _ trend

A Nordic perspective Some of the world’s top design brands come from Northern Europe

By Marie Le Fort

Marimekko (left)

Hay (above)

Over just one decade, Hay has grown into a major design company. Its most recent releases, the Copenhague desk and chairs designed by the Bouroullec brothers, were a major global hit. Since its founding, Hay’s mission has been to encourage Danish furniture designers to return to the innovative greatness of the ‘50s and ‘60s, but in a contemporary context. Committed to nurturing the originality of young talents, Hay also encourages up-and-coming designers, and has recently manufactured Louise Campbell’s Prince chair and textiles by Dutch designers Scholten & Baijings.

Visit hay.dk A 192

Muuto (above)

Meaning “new perspective” in Finnish, Muuto is a Nordic brand that handpicks the brightest design talent in Northern Europe and gives them the freedom to express their individual story through everyday objects. How can one reinvent a chair, a vase, a lamp? Muuto has the

answer: “Some designers want to change a usage, others find passion in color and shape or draw deeply from personal experience.” Look out for Michael Gersteen’s Closely Separated vase, Norway Says’ salt and pepper mill and Lars Tornoe’s Dots coat hooks.

Visit muuto.com

©Hay, Home in the Woods, Marimekko, Menu, Muuto, Normann Copenhagen

A beacon of Finnish culture, Marimekko was founded in 1949 by Armi Ratia. A true visionary, Ratia described her brand as “a cultural phenomenon guiding the quality of living.” In 1962, she even built a utopia called Marikylä (“Marimekko Village”), with the aim to house company staff and to function as a laboratory for product design, while striving to develop new ways of living. Over 60 years later, the company continues to thrive in textile design, with flagship stores across the globe, from New York to Sydney.

Visit marimekko.com

Normann Copenhagen (left)

Jan Andersen and Poul Madsen founded Normann Copenhagen in 2005, setting the company in a converted movie theater on Copenhagen’s east side. Inside the sprawling space, design lovers can view a complete roundup of recent creations by young Danish and international designers like Marcel Wanders, Adam Goodrum, Ross McBride and more. Whether it’s the Onkel sofa by Simon Legald or the new Star lamp by Kasper Guldager Jørgensen, Normann Copenhagen’s sleek products perfectly embody the 21st century’s design ethic.

Visit normann-copenhagen.com

Menu (right)

Danish brand Menu describes itself in three words: Scandinavian Design Originals.

Throughout the years, the company has released many ingenious Scandinavian design products, always with a touch of humor, including the Dropp! bowl, the Kettle teapot and the Jewelry Tree.

Visit menu.as

Home in the Woods (left)

Featuring designers from across Scandinavia, the initiative Home in the Woods – whose slogan is “From Swedish Modern to New Nordic” – was developed in New York as a “story that shows sustainable craftsmanship through innovative historical and contemporary creations. It further explores the artistic boundary with nature as a material and inspiration.” Home in the Woods features works by Andreas Engevisk, From Us With Love, Front Design, One Nordic Furniture Company and Tigerklo, and exists primarily as an online platform.

Visit homeinthewoodsnyc.com

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A design _ update

Personal space Design flair for your interiors

LetÕ s do brunch (left)

This past September, Christofle unveiled a collection designed by Jean Marie Massaud called Silver Time. The new line, created specifically for brunch, includes silver pieces such as a bread basket, tea pot and beautifully minimal containers and trays.

Visit christofle.com

The grunge-like soul of denim brand Diesel has moved from clothing to lighting, becoming a source of inspiration for Soft Power, a table lamp from Foscarini made of fabric, with a young spirit and a solid line.

Visit foscarini.com

Create your own table (left) Every summer, Villa Noailles in Hyères, France, hosts Design Parade, an international festival of design now in its eighth edition. This year’s winner of the new talent award, Mathieu Peyroulet Ghilini, created Tréteaux, with help from fellow designer Alistair Law. Together, they developed a series of standard elements to be assembled into pieces of furniture of any kind or scale.

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Mirror, mirror (above)

Gallery Libby Sellers just introduced the Copper Mirror Series, designed by Norwegianborn, London-based duo Amy Hunting and Oscar Narud. The series of freestanding mirrors are crafted from copper, mild steel and stone left in their natural state, paying tribute to Norway’s rich cultural and topographical heritage.

Visit libbysellers.com

©Christofle/Jean Marie Massaud, Foscarini, Gallery Libby Sellers, Véronique Huygue

Light in style (right)

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“made in italy ”

Aïshti seAside Bldg., JAl el diB, leBAnon tel. +961.4.717 716 FAX +961.4.717 716 www.aishti.com

F L E X F O R M SPA indUstRiA PeR l’ARRedAMento 20821 MedA (MB) i tA l i A ViA einAUdi 23.25

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A high art _ interview

Voice of the heart

By Shirine Saad

most powerful and influential personalities of the art world. He has just inaugurated a new five-story, ecologically sound building in New York’s Chelsea and a gallery nestled in an 18th-century townhouse in London’s Mayfair. He was recently listed second in Forbes’ “America’s most powerful dealers,” with $225 million in revenue, after Larry Gagosian’s $925 million.

Gallerist David Zwirner has built an empire by choosing art he loves A 196

“I cannot show or sell art that I do not like and respect,” says 48-year-old gallerist David Zwirner. “I am sure nobody will believe this, but it is actually true. Our gallery’s core values are aligned to be artist-centric, and we help give artists the support they need on any aspects of their activities, whether it’s exhibitions, catalogues or archives.”

Zwirner, the son of a German art dealer who began building his collection while working at a record label in Hamburg, and now represents 43 artists, including Yan Pei Ming and Yayoi Kusama, is one of the

Zwirner was exposed to contemporary art from a young age, in his family’s art-filled Cologne home. He discovered Andy Warhol’s Brillo boxes, Cy Twombly’s Bolsena painting and the works of such artists as Gerhard Richter, Martin Kippenberger and Sigmar Polke, among others. As a young man, he decided to become a musician and attended New York University’s music program, but he soon realized that music wasn’t his calling and moved toward the art market, collecting new works and working with gallerist Brooke Alexander. In 1993, then in his late 20s, he set up his own gallery space in Soho. His first group of artists included Tuymans, Rhoades, Stan Douglas and Franz West, a risky and diverse roster that established Zwirner as a visionary. That year, his Rhoades show sold out. Zwirner then expanded to the adjacent space and began adding more artists to his list.

©Dick Eusterbrock, David Zwirner

“For me it is important that an artist has a unique voice,” says Zwirner, who is credited with launching the international careers of several artists, including Luc Tuymans and Jason Rhoades. “I am open to all medias, and I do not believe there is a right or wrong way to make art. It can be figurative, abstract, small, large, plain, colorful, minimal or maximal, but it does need to be authentic.

I am keenly aware of the history of art and its trajectory forward, and I am interested in work that adds to that vocabulary. It is extremely exciting to be associated with something that feels new.”

Installation by Adel Abdessemed (top) and the artist Donald Judd among his work (bottom)

Zwirner continues to develop his primary and secondary markets carefully, advising foundations and private clients on building collections, bringing artists to over 15 art fairs worldwide and focusing on new markets. He is particularly interested in the Middle East, where the art market is booming: “L’Age d’Or,” a solo exhibit by Algerian conceptual artist Adel Abdessemed, whom he represents, opens at the Mathaf museum in Qatar on October 6 and runs until January 5.

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A high art _ profile

What blooms inside

By Robert Landon

The canvas is almost as tall as Sylvia Martins herself. Its contents are still secret, but the way she is dragging it across the paintsplashed floor of her Soho studio, she is already revealing a great deal about herself as a painter – muscular, independent, reverent about the act of painting but unwilling to treat the results like some fragile, fetishized object.

And then she flips the vast canvas around.

Suddenly before me there hovers a gorgeous world of saturated colors in which fuchsia and blood orange and burning yellows have been corralled into unlikely harmonies. It’s like I’ve just dived into some hidden corner of one of Odilon Redon’s delirious bouquets. It’s a wonderful, buzzing, totalizing sensation, and one that I don’t want to end any time soon.

Though she’s mostly a New Yorker, I first met Martins six months earlier in her Rio de Janeiro apartment, a wide-angle, modernist space perched just above one of the most privileged stretches of Ipanema Beach. As the

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sky and sea turned many impossible shades of pink, she gave me a brief resume of her life. Despite the tabloid aspects – LTR with Richard Gere, marriage to tragic Greek scion Constantine Niarchos – Martins is first and last a painter. It did so happen that, when she first moved to the United States in 1979, New York was the disco capital of the world, and Martins was breathtaking with her smoky blue eyes, bee-stung lips and Brazilian breeziness. So it was inevitable that she ended up on more than one A list.

But no matter how late she stayed at Studio 54, her canvases were never neglected for long. Her natural glamour no doubt helped win her a stint at Andy Warhol’s factory, producing silk-screens. Very soon, her friends were a Who’s Who of the New York art scene, from Francesco Clemente to Jean-Michel Basquiat. She mentions them by first name only, as if everyone must have met them at some point along the way.

However, it was not these media darlings

©Paul Clemence

There are no rules to Sylvia Martins’ artwork. Just unadulterated passion

but Richard Pousette-Dart – a humble worker among workers – whom she chose as her mentor while studying at the Art Students League. A painter who eschewed the limelight, he was the youngest and quietest member of the Abstract Expressionists, and was described by the New York Times as “the patron saint of American painting’s wideranging visionaries and eccentrics.”

Like Pousette-Dart, Martins’ work treads the fine line between figuration and abstraction.

Are we looking at the evocation of water lilies or the intangible meeting of shape and color? The answer lies somewhere in between. “My paintings are near abstractions that evoke images from nature and organic forms,” says Martins.

And like Pousette-Dart, she refuses to align herself with a specific style or set or precepts. “My focus is simply on painting itself,” she says. To that end she has experimented widely with tools and techniques, relying not just on brushes but also rollers, palette knives, paper towels and even her own hands.

Though Martins travels regularly to her native Brazil and is wildly inspired by the daily transmutations of the sea outside her Ipanema window, she can really only paint when she’s in New York. The city, she says, focuses and disciplines her. It forces her inside, to find what blooms there. During my visit to her Soho studio, she was humming with energy, but focused too on the task at hand. It was nearly 2pm, the hour when she likes to start painting. With breezy Brazilian hospitality, she invited me to stay for a coffee.

But inside, I knew she was itching to pick up a brush and start painting, so I politely declined so she could get on with the show.

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A high art _ organization

©Faig Ahmed,Ramal Kazimov, Aida Mahmudova, Tim Roberts, Yay

“Wave” (left) and a thread installation (below), both by Faig Ahmed, “Ignorant Tourists” by Ramal Kazimov (bottom left) and “Recycled” by Aida Mahmudova (bottom right)

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The artistsÕ room

By Grace Banks

Aida Mahmudova, founder of Azerbaijan’s Yarat art organization

Yarat provides a platform for Azerbaijan’s emerging talent

Aida Mahmudova’s charm is striking. As an artist, businesswoman, video installationist and creative entrepreneur at the head of nonprofit organization Yarat, she emanates ingenuity and success. Eager to provide a platform for the bubbling pool of creative talent in her native Azerbaijan, Mahmudova established Yarat, an artistic organization with artists on its board of directors and whose mission is to exhibit local artists internationally and in their Baku gallery space, Yay. Taking their name from the Azerbaijani word for “create,” founder Mahmudova deftly made this the organization’s pioneering reality, bringing the project to life with sharp creative direction that has seen her catapult 24 creatives into the art world, including Sitara Ibrahimova, Orkhan Huseynov and Farid Rasulov.

The organization’s first show, “Participate,” celebrated Azerbaijan’s progressive art scene and set the tone of Yarat’s mission.

“Art from Baku is very distinctive,” explains Mahmudova. “There are influences from Russia to Iran. One of the main themes is history and deconstruction. It’s important for any nation to reference its historical culture; we encourage the dissection and analysis of it.” Mahmudova views Ramal Kazimov’s work as key to the Yarat initiative: Kazimov tunes into the mixed identities of Azerbaijan with “Anxious

People,” a piece in which he twists a portrait to the point of abstraction, in a statement on mixed identity.

It’s “Love Me, Love Me Not,” Yarat’s Venice Biennial show that has really put them on the map. “We want to present art from Azerbaijan to an international crowd,” explains Mahmudova. The exhibition offers an unprecedented look into the creative consciousness of modern Azerbaijan. Faig Ahmed’s work illuminated the show: playing with diverse historical contexts such as development and tradition, he deconstructs their meaning. Through “Untitled,” Ahmed toys with traditional aspects of Azerbaijan culture, such as rugs, offsetting their roots by presenting a technical view of the process of weaving. His work “Curve” further peruses this theme, using cold sculpture lines reminiscent of the brutalists.

Yarat is dedicated to realizing its creative and political ambitions through art, while using its gallery space Yay to produce museum standard exhibits. Pushing the newest generation of artists to the front of an international art scene is a challenge, but something makes you feel that Yarat will succeed.

“Love Me, Love Me Not” runs until November 24 at the Venice Biennial, labiennale.org 201 A

A high art _ photography

Shades of Africa

By Brent Gregston

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Philippe Paschkes, a hair stylist and makeup artist in New York’s fashion industry, has devoted his talents to a most unusual photo project. After years of visiting and working on the African continent, he became haunted by the contrast between African beauty and suffering. “I was staying in five-star hotels, but saw kids dying in the street because they didn’t have any food,” he says.

“That’s the unacceptable reality I witnessed.” Paschkes decided to produce a book of photos to raise money for an NGO helping children in Africa. His fantastical portraits were recently exhibited at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. The book – Africa –

has a preface by Her Serene Highness, Charlene of Monaco, who is South African born.

African faces are still rare in the world of mainstream fashion.

Only a few designers regularly use black models to represent their collections. Paschkes has never shared this overwhelming preference for white skin. He enlisted the support of black and African fashion models in New York. They donated their talent and time to the project, often sacrificing their weekends. “I had a great rapport with the models,” he says. “They understood that I knew exactly what I wanted and would carry on and on with me until we got it right.”

In the beginning, Paschkes was committed to doing everything – except the photography. But when no photographer agreed to undertake the challenge, he decided to do it himself. He had 30 years of experience with almost every aspect of creating a successful photo shoot, but now he would have to handle the camera. “In the beginning it was a disaster,” he admits, “until I mastered the crucial art of lighting.”

Paschkes worked on his project for almost three years. The photos were shot in the bedroom of his small New York apartment.

They make no direct reference to African history or values, but

©Philippe Paschkes

One man’s homage to the black body

are purely aesthetic, drawing inspiration from the physical beauty of his models, posing or caught in frenzy, sometimes naked, but more often adorned.

He has dressed the models in a dizzying array of feathers, seashells, coral and fabrics.

When he couldn’t find the right object in the suitcases he brought from Africa, Paschkes cruised 125th Street in Harlem for hairpieces and ritual face paint and the African market on 116th Street for feathers and Bogolans (colorful cloth that’s dyed in fermented mud). Paschkes made much of the jewelry and some of the other accessories himself. He designed and handcrafted all of the costumes using African prints and fabric. Styling a single hairpiece could take days.

He made avant-garde use of all his makeup skills, painting white feathers on one model, clay on another, or applying blackface to a blue-eyed woman.

Paschkes, a wizard of the fashion industry, does not wave his magic baton to fetishize or sexualize the black body. Rather, his portraits alternate between surrealism, play and a sense of reverence. One of his nudes struggles under the weight of an ivory tusk (actually made of fiberglass) as if it were a cross.

And a mother and child portrait reminds us that, in some places, black skin has never been subject to fashion. In Paschkes’ native France, people have long worshiped black Madonnas.

For more info, visit philippepaschkesphotography.com 203 A

Meet me in Vienna

By Sabina Llewellyn-Davies A 204

ŠViennafair The New Contemporary

A high art _ fair

Austria’s capital hosts one of fall’s most exciting art fairs

Over the past nine years Viennafair The New Contemporary has become a reliable launch pad for budding Central, Eastern and Southeastern European artists. Art collectors and museum curators from around the world flock to Vienna to meet new talent from these underdeveloped markets.

“In the last years there has been a genuine boom in art fairs. Today, in nearly every corner of the planet, an art fair takes place at least once per year. We have successfully developed an innovative fair concept with a distinctive scope,” says Christina Steinbrecher-Pfandt, 205 A

ŠViennafair The New Contemporary

A high art _ fair

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co-artistic director of Viennafair The New Contemporary.

Many galleries have already applied to participate this year, some well established and others just newly emerging in the Eastern and Southeastern European region – from Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to Poland, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Hungary and Slovenia, to Russia, Romania, Bulgaria and Albania. Expect also a strong presence of galleries from Austria. “We are completely redefining the notion of ‘East meets West’ and offer… an interesting mix with which one can become informed about art, communicate about art and participate in creative processes, too,” says Steinbrecher-Pfandt.

Apart from the art on show, there are also various presentations, discussions and debates on the contemporary art scene. At “20 four 7 – Collecting The New Contemporary,” the conversations focus on collecting art, with avid collectors on-hand to share their ideas on the global art scene.

“A key objective for Viennafair The New Contemporary is to reach new buyer segments in the focus regions. At the same time, we will involve Vienna more vividly in the program,” says Vita Zaman, co-artistic director.

“The New Contemporary will spread out beyond the walls of the fair hall and into the city, becoming a true festival for exchange in the creative scene.”

Viennafair The New Contemporary runs from October 10-13, at Messe Wien, Hall A, Entrance A, Vienna, Austria, viennafair.at 207 A

A high art _ biennial

When art tells stories

This year’s Lyon Biennial focuses on the power of art to examine multiple realities

It’s been 22 years since Lyon’s first Biennial. In the two-decade span, the art fair has grown in importance and scale, becoming one of France’s leading artistic events. Now in its 12th edition, the Biennial, which opened on September 12 and is scheduled to run until January 5, explores the theme of storytelling and its ramifications, questioning the image’s role in history and its place within larger realities. Curator Thierry Raspail and guest curator Gunnar B. Kvaran combined forces to stage this year’s fair.

“The Lyon Biennial 2013 has brought together artists from all over the world

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who work in the narrative field and use art to experiment with the modalities and mechanisms of storytelling,” says Kvaran.

From sculpture to animations, paintings to performances, the established and emerging artists chosen for the exhibition propose new ideas in a world controlled by homogenized discourses, from Hong Kong to Mexico. “Theirs are totally new narratives that defamiliarize us with the world and restore the deep-rooted strangeness and complexity that classic storytelling devices have always sought to iron out or to stifle. These are art narratives that enable us to see and understand the

©Ian Cheng, Jonathas de Andrade Souza, Paulo Nimer Pjota

By Shirine Saad

This page “40 Nego Bom é Um Real” by Jonathas de Andrade Souza (right) and “Entropy Wrangler” by Ian Cheng (below) Opposite page “Dialogo entre Arranjos, Constelações e Tempo 1”

by Paulo Nimer Pjota

world in a new light and more intelligibly,” Kvaran adds.

The works, most of which have been commissioned specifically for the Biennial, occupy the city’s various corners, private spaces, cultural centers and museums, weaving a complex and multi-form network of ideas and stories, particularly emphasizing artists from emerging countries and regions in turmoil.

Brazilian artist Jonathas de Andrade Souza’s installation tells the story of the Nego Bom (“black candy”), a very popular sweet in Northeast Brazil. “In the local markets,”

says De Andrade Souza, “there’s a popular slogan that says ‘40 Nego Bom é Um Real.’

Vendors shout this slogan in the streets to sell their candy. The project starts with this slogan as a title.”

Chinese artist Yang Fudong studies the real and fake life of an actress and the construction of social identity. Filled with archive elements, films and installations, Fudong’s piece explores the multi-faceted existence of this actress who may or may not have existed.

As Roland Barthes wrote in 1966: “Narratives of the world are numberless.”

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ŠMonica Curtin, Derek Ridgers, V&A

A high art _ fashion

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Back to the Ô 80s The V&A’s latest show is dedicated to British fashion from the ‘80s

By Sabina Llewellyn-Davies

While it’s generally believed that British fashion had its heyday in the ‘60s, it wasn’t until two decades later that fashion greats like Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano and Paul Smith emerged. The ‘80s club scene was pulsating, and it sparked the imagination of budding fashion designers who showed off their creations in hip London venues like Camden Palace, Taboo, Heaven and Blitz. In 1984, the first London Fashion Week took place and presented the talents of fashion schools like Central St. Martins and the Royal College of Art, while the new movements of New Romantic, Glam Fetish and High Camp came to the world’s attention.

The “Club to Catwalk,” on view at London’s V&A and curated by Claire Wilcox alongside assistant curator Kate Bethune, is really exciting in its vision and implementation.

It showcases how club wear managed to reinvent fashion, while also celebrating fashion’s connection to the music scene, at a time when many clubbers created their own outfits for a night out. The Blitz club even had a door policy of only letting in “the weird and the wonderful.”

“The Museum has never held an exhibition solely on ‘80s fashion, and we wanted to correct the stereotypes that people tend to have of the decade,” says Bethune. “This is not an exhibition about leg warmers, shoulder pads and Dynasty. Rather, it presents, through over 80 fully styled mannequins, the creative explosion of London fashion and the breadth of the creative talents working out of the city during the decade.”

For the show, the team of designers at the V&A have created an incredible club booth with TV monitors playing club footage from the ‘80s set to a funky soundtrack.

On display are outfits created by the most innovative designers of the decade including Westwood, Galliano, Betty Jackson and

Katharine Hamnett. Expect some incredible customized wear, including a jacket by Christopher Nemeth made out of post office sacks and a customized denim jacket from Westwood. Also, Hamnett’s iconic slogan T-shirts, including the one she wore at a fashion reception for prime minister Margaret Thatcher, featuring the slogan “58% don’t want Pershing,” in response to the controversial talks over US missiles.

“Club to Catwalk” is a real eye-opener and a trip down fashion memory lane for anyone who remembers the decade, as well as for those who want to discover its distinctive style.

“Club to Catwalk” runs until February 16 at the V&A, Cromwell Rd., London, vam.ac.uk 211 A

A high art _ exhibits

Autumn art Richard Avedon “Avedon: Women” presents a selection of photographs from the ‘60s and ‘70s, specifically focusing on images of women in motion, a leitmotif of Richard Avedon’s fashion photography.

Exhibition highlights include an image showing Malgosia Bela and Gisele Bundchen bracing themselves against unseen harm while dressed in Dior couture.

On view until October 26 at Gagosian Gallery, 17-19 Davies St., London W1K, tel.

44.20.7493.3020, gagosian.com

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©The Richard Avedon Foundation, Morgan Fisher/Bortolami, Abdullah Murad/Art on 56th

Exhibits for a new season

Abdullah Murad Abdullah Murad is featured in a solo exhibit this fall. The Syrian artist’s colorful paintings and drawings highlight arabesque concepts and are deeply influenced by the abstract school of Arab art.

On view from November 27-December 14 at Art on 56th, Youssef Hayek St., Gemmayze, Beirut, tel. 01.570.331, arton56th.com Morgan Fisher “Interior Color Beauty” is an exhibition of new work by Morgan Fisher. The 25 paintings on show are enlarged facsimiles of paint chips showing color combinations for interiors in the booklet Exterior and Interior Color Beauty, produced around 1935 by General Houses, Inc., a manufacturer of prefabricated houses founded by the artist’s father, Howard T. Fisher.

On view until October 19 at Bortolami Gallery, 520 W. 20th St., New York, tel. 1.212.727.2050, bortolamigallery.com

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A high art _ exhibits

©Florian Maier-Aichen/Gagosian Gallery, Raed Yassin/Running Horse, Akram Zaatari/Regen Projects

Florian Maier-Aichen Florian Maier-Aichen combines traditional photographic techniques – albumen, silvergelatin, and c-printing – with hand-drawn elements and computer-imaging processes.

Inspired by early photographers who used combination printing to heighten the colors and details of their landscape images, he creates seamless photos that never betray the intricate and layered modes of production required to create them. This is the first exhibition of his work in Hong Kong.

On view until October 26 at Gagosian Gallery, 7/F Pedder Bldg., 12 Pedder St., Central, Hong Kong, tel. 852.2151.0555, gagosian.com

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Regen Projects LA’s venerable Regen Projects is presenting a group exhibit of video works by John Bock, Keren Cytter, Paul Pfeiffer, Gillian Wearing and Lebanese artist and filmmaker Akram Zaatari.

This marks the first time many of these works are shown in the City of Angels.

On view until October 26 at Regen Projects, 6750 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, tel.

1.310.276.5424, regenprojects.com

Raed Yassin Lebanese artist Raed Yassin literally, and mechanically, reproduces the visual fabric of his childhood memories in a series of embroideries in the “Dancing, Smoking, Kissing” exhibit. He takes the viewer on a pictorial walk down memory lane by threading together the mental images of his childhood with their disappeared photographic representations.

On view until October 25 at The Running Horse, Sleep Comfort Depot, Karantina, Beirut, tel. 01.562.778, therunninghorseart.com

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A gourmet _ restaurants

Nordic epicure

By Salma Abdelnour

Experience the world’s trendiest regional cuisine

Foie gras…Tortellini…Smörgåstårta…Wait, what was that last one again? French and Italian food vocabulary rarely needs translation, but Scandinavian dishes? They’re difficult for most non-Scandinavians to pronounce, let alone understand. (Smörgåstårta is a Swedish sandwich that resembles a cake.) But things are changing fast.

Lately there’s been a seismic shift, and the most avantgarde food-lovers worldwide are now turning their attention to the formerly neglected cuisines of the Nordic countries. Once known mainly for Swedish meatballs, Scandinavian cuisine is now the epicenter of the most cutting-edge food trends.

Noma in Copenhagen

Geranium in Copenhagen

Every dish is presented like a sculpture at Geranium, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant with giant picture windows overlooking a peaceful, tree-filled park. Chef Rasmus Kofoed and his brilliant staff work meticulously in the kitchen to create some of the most eye-popping dishes anywhere in Scandinavia, or beyond. They might bring out a small plate topped with two exquisite little orange globes (which turn out to be made from carrot and sea buckthorn, a local coastal berry), then delicate scallops decorated with sour elderberries – and, after more than a dozen inventive courses – a spectacular green-and-white dessert made with cucumber and white chocolate, of all things.

Visit geranium.dk

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©Acme, Chez Dominique, Geranium, Noma, Restaurant Frantzén

When the young, rising-star chef Rene Redzepi opened Noma in 2004, with his visionary business partner Claus Meyer, they couldn’t have known that their restaurant would become one of the most respected, copied and impossible-to-get-into culinary destinations in the world.

Redzepi wowed diners with a menu that emphasized “New Nordic” cuisine, focusing on locally grown ingredients transformed into gorgeous, unexpected creations.

Signature presentations like the edible red flowers that conceal succulent escargots; tiny sandwiches made with crispy chicken skin and smoked cheese; and sweet Danish langoustines served in a rich oyster emulsion, led Noma to be ranked number two internationally in S. Pellegrino’s prestigious The World’s 50 Best Restaurant Awards 2013. It continues to rack up honors, and to turn away diners who don’t reserve far in advance.

Visit noma.dk

©Acme, Chez Dominique, Geranium, Noma, Restaurant Frantzén

Restaurant FrantzŽ n in Stockholm

Chef Björn Frantzén trained with celebrity chef Alain Passard at L’Arpège in Paris, but the menu at his chic Stockholm restaurant is indisputably Nordic – with French influences scattered about. Recent highlights included a tartare made of charcoal-grilled veal, bone marrow and Osetra caviar, served on top of a beautiful bright-green parsley soup. The procession of desserts include a perfect pink dome made with beetroot, blackberry jam, black currants, licorice and 100-year-old vinegar. Although Frantzén parted ways with his former co-chef Daniel Lindeberg (the restaurant was called Frantzén/Lindeberg until this past May), his place is still going strong.

Visit restaurantfrantzen.com

Chez Dominique in Helsinki

Widely considered the best restaurant in Finland, Chez Dominique attracts diners from around the world who come for chef Hans Välimäki’s delicious Nordic food – and sense of humor. His menu veers from the lessradical-sounding – Swedish asparagus with brown butter, hollandaise sauce and “smoke” – to the completely whimsical, as in the dish called “My mother always told me don’t eat that yellow snow.” What’s in that dish, exactly? Curious types will have to hop on a plane to Finland to find out.

Visit chezdominique.fi

Acme Diner in New York

Once a Southern-style American diner in New York’s ever-hip East Village, Acme was recently transformed into a showcase for the Scandinavian-influenced menu of chef Mads Refslund, one of the original chefs at Copenhagen hotspot Noma. He’s serving dishes that make use of mostly local, New York-area ingredients, which he turns into Nordic-inspired creations like langoustines with white walnuts and burnt lemon, or lobster with red currant and sweet tomatoes. But the dining room is unmistakably New York, with its brick walls, amber lighting and warm, buzzy ambience.

Visit acmenyc.com

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A gourmet _ restaurants

Uptown and Downtown lunch

By Marwan Naaman

New York’s cosmopolitan population and its historic role as a gateway to North America have turned it into a global center for international and experimental cuisine. The top chefs in the world have a presence here, and many Manhattan visitors come to the city just to sample its restaurant offerings. Two chefs that have come to embody New York’s love affair with daring cuisine are Marcus Samuelsson and Daniel Boulud.

DBGB Kitchen & Bar French-born chef Boulud has restaurants all over the world, including London, Singapore and Montreal. In New York, Boulud helms no less than eight restaurants, including the very

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stylish and ultra-popular DBGB Kitchen & Bar. Located on the Bowery, in the Lower East Side, DBGB Kitchen is one of Downtown Manhattan’s culinary beacons, a casual space where Boulud has successfully merged French brasserie cuisine with American tavern traditions.

The interior reflects the Lower East Side’s history as the restaurant supply neighborhood, with dark wood shelves neatly stacked with copper pots and pans, mugs, cups and bottles. There are booths lining each side of the long dining space, with a row of tables between the booths, and an intimate space in the back for private parties.

For lunch, DBGB Kitchen offers 12 kinds of homemade sausage, East Coast and West Coast oysters, croque monsieurs and three kinds of burgers. If you’re in the mood for lighter fare, try the tasty Chop-Chop salad, a mix of romaine, avocado, red pepper, carrot and watermelon in a ginger-sesame dressing.

For a heartier experience opt for the juicy Frenchie burger, a generous beef patty with confit pork belly, tomato-onion compote and Morbier cheese on a brioche bun, served with golden, crispy French fries.

There are many options for dessert, but this writer fell in love with the restaurant’s three ice cream sundaes. The Strawberry Cream, made with

©DBGB, Red Rooster

Two stylish Manhattan restaurants reflect their chefs’ food philosophies

mascarpone ice cream, pine nut cake and fresh strawberries, is a divine treat, while the Iced Mocha, a blend of brownies, coffee gelée, chocolate sauce and amaretti cookies, is a sinful affair (ah, but how wonderful it is to sin!). Not to be outdone, the Key Lime is an addictive pleasure, with coconut crumble, lime fluff and salted peanuts. All three are topped with delicious whipped cream.

For reservations, tel.

1.212.933.5300, dbgb.com Red Rooster At the other end of Manhattan is Samuelsson’s shrine to American cuisine. The Ethiopian-born, Swedishraised chef has three successful American-inflected eateries in

Sweden (Kitchen and Table in Uppsala, Norda in Gothenburg and American Table Brasserie and Bar in Stockholm), but it’s his Harlem restaurant, Red Rooster, that has received the most press, most notably as the place where US president Barack Obama launched his second presidential campaign back in 2011.

Lunch at Red Rooster is a creative affair, with offerings like the Rooster Cobb salad, featuring lump crabmeat, bacon, avocado, eggs and blue cheese; gingered carrot soup, with sweet soy cream and mint pesto; and Helga’s meatballs, made with lingonberries, braised green cabbage and mashed potatoes. Burger lovers

can choose the rich and very tasty Red Rooster Burger, served on a pretzel bun with New York cheddar cheese and a side of parmesan fries.

One reason to eat at Red Rooster frequently is to sample the restaurant’s cupcakes.

A different flavor is offered every day, always with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. A second dessert option is the three-layer carrot cake with pineapple carrot sorbet. On the day I had lunch there, the dessert special was a sweet potato donut with cinnamon sugar: a wicked affair for a wicked lunch ending!

For reservations, tel. 1.212.792.9001, redroosterharlem.com A 219

A gourmet _ chocolate

Valrhona unveils a new space near Lyon that celebrates chocolate

By Shirine Saad

If the world’s leading chefs, including Pierre Hermé, Alain Ducasse and Paul Bocuse, use Valrhona chocolate for their desserts, it’s because the French brand has established itself as the standard of excellence in the field. The professionals at Valrhona seek and find new plantations, monitor the growth and exchange of cocoa beans from around the world, prepare the cocoa and create a myriad of chocolates to accommodate every taste and need, including the new Dulcey, a blond chocolate with an unctuous texture and a hint of caramel.

Since 1922, the experts at Valrhona have sought the highest quality beans and experimented with different flavors and textures, creating the ground-breaking Guanaja in 1986 – the world’s most bitter chocolate, which revolutionized the industry and the world of pastry-making. Two years later, the Ecole du Grand Chocolat was born, headed by the prestigious pastry chef Frederic Bau. The school develops new techniques in chocolate and pastry-making, while teaching apprentices from around the world about the art of chocolate. Now the house, based in Tain L’Hermitage near Lyon,

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is opening a space dedicated to the history and art of chocolate-making: La Cité du Chocolat, a former warehouse transformed into a playground for chocolate lovers.

This 700-square-meter space, which opens in October 2013, begins with an area dedicated to tasting, smelling and touching the chocolate, allowing the visitor to be instantly absorbed in the universe of chocolate. “We did not want to create a museum,” says Frank Vidal, the director of La Cité. “We wanted to communicate that the most important thing was to taste and understand what makes a great chocolate – the taste, the intention, the texture.”

The Comptoir des Recettes explains the difference between various origins, as well as the secrets between the recipes that allow different chocolates to have their own taste.

The inner functioning of the chocolatemaking and pastry-making processes will be illustrated step by step. Finally, in the Atelier, a chocolate expert shows what makes a Grand Cru chocolate so unique through tastings and technical explanations. Visitors emerge sweetly intoxicated.

©Valrhona

Cocoa heaven

A lifestyle _ green space

Bring back the green

ŠBeirut Wonder Forest, Dihzahyners, Nadim Kamel

By William Dobson

Is it possible to transform Beirut into an urban garden?

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Wassim Melki had a vision. A vision to “enhance the quality of life in Beirut,” providing “social, environmental and aesthetic benefits.” His idea was Beirut Wonder Forest: turning post-war urban sprawl into an urban garden, encouraging locals to take advantage of their own private space to counteract the lack of green. “I used to come down every day from the mountains, and I had the horrifying view of a concrete jungle with the smog of pollution looming over it,” says Melki. Rapid post-war efforts to rebuild left the city with just three percent green space.

Berlin, by contrast, has over 28 percent.

What’s more, it’s almost impossible to plan for new, conventional green spaces without demolishing existing buildings. But it’s these buildings that are the foundation of his vision. With over 18,500 unused rooftops, reclaiming them could bring back as many as 60,000 trees, making the city a unique landmark, Melki believes.

Ideally, reconstruction would have headed in this direction. However, Melki is also keen to stress that if he’d started the project 10 years ago, it would have had little success.

Almost by accident, he began the project at a paradigm shift in Lebanese society, as the younger generation started to retake pride in their city. “The reaction was overwhelmingly surprising,” says Melki, and he was inundated with phone calls from the start.

Firstly, residents wanted to know how to get involved, and even Lebanon’s prime minister called, while garbage collection company Sukleen offered to distribute the trees.

Unfortunately, more sponsors stepping in moved the project away from the low-profile intervention Melki initially had in mind and “into a sort of bureaucracy,” putting a slight

stall on proceedings. However, he remains hopeful of his vision being carried out.

For Dima Boulad of Beirut Green Project, Melki’s experience is something to which she can relate. “If we can change one thing about one person,” she says, “we’ll be happy. What we initially saw as our weakness, namely our simplicity, has actually turned out to be our biggest strength.”

Elaborating on her idea to organize a series of outside lunches, she says “There are parks in Beirut. It’s just about letting people know they’re there.” She also talks of a paradigm shift, highlighting the return of people from abroad and the advent of social media, which “has given us the push to let us know that what was in our minds was also in the minds of others.” These lunches have seen residents from all generations get involved and start to enjoy what little green space there might be.

“We know there are lots of negatives in our country but, when you concentrate on the negative, it’s a waste of time,” she says.

Jubran Elias, co-founder of Dihzahyners, an NGO focused on bringing color back to Beirut’s neglected staircases, is another local whose idea has benefited from its small scale. It started as a Facebook group “to share inspiration, job opportunities, ideas and websites among our generation of graphic designers.”

After seeing a picture of a staircase in Wuppertal, Germany, painted by artist Horst Gläsker, Elias struck upon the idea of doing the same here in Beirut. While the idea was originally met with derision, quickly “people got motivated to get involved.”

After completing their first project in Beirut’s

Sakiet el Janzir neighborhood back in April 2012, with paint bought from their own pockets, things quickly snowballed. “People were watching us from their balcony,” Elias says. “They were surprised, and it made them happy.” An old lady walked past and asked if she could paint.

From there, they moved on to the numerous stairs in Mar Mikhael, which is where people really started getting to know about the project.

“We went from 100 likes on Facebook to over 1,000 in the space of four days,” Elias says.

Suddenly the team of 12 would be joined by more than 50 people turning up to paint. Not long after that, sponsors started phoning, as did requests from interviews from as far afield as France and the Netherlands.

Yet, for Elias the message remains simple.

“We are the generation who have the energy,” he explains. “It’s about giving positive moods to people and showing that there’s always someone who cares about Beirut. We’re all living together, and I want to show it’s not a hopeless country.”

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A lifestyle _ club

Ready to party

By Pip Usher

masterpiece that may be the largest privately owned expanse of graffiti in the world (at time of writing, Sky Management were waiting for confirmation from The Guinness Book of World Records).

The dome perches along BIEL’s stretch of dusty road, an egg-shaped expanse of loud graffiti that trumpets its arrival to Beirut’s club scene. Named O1NE, this modernday Colosseum will soon house Lebanon’s glittering night owls in a lavish production to rival ancient Rome.

Under the leadership of Roy Valk, a veteran art director from Holland with 30 years of graffiti experience under his belt, the artists have transformed the building’s 2,500 square meters of concrete into a riotous tribute to nightlife.

Owned by Sky Management, the infamous founders that propelled Sky Bar to international fame as the world’s best bar in 2009, O1NE has grabbed attention from the moment its futuristic skeleton was painted a shocking shade of hot pink. A renegade flamingo perched amid the sun-drenched concrete of Downtown Beirut, the building showcases pink walls that have gradually been covered with the artwork of 15 graffiti artists. Traveling from countries as far-flung as Argentina and Brazil, they have blended their individual styles into one cohesive A 224

Surveying the construction site, splattered in paint, Valk explained his vision as a careful blend of photo-realism with the kind of abstract art that demands “people use their brains to figure out what is going on.”

The building’s urban exterior may have attracted some odd looks, but Sky Management is tapping into a rapidly burgeoning scene. In the past five years, a proliferation of political slogans, spray-paint artwork and tags have begun adding character to Beirut’s crumbled walls. Valk described the local scene as “coming up really fast,” with

aspiring “bad boys” able to trawl the Internet for inspiration from countries with more established graffiti communities.

Roids, a 30-year-old artist who studied graphic design and fine art before becoming involved in London’s street art scene, is hopeful about Lebanon’s graffiti community, encouraging them to “paint as much as possible; it’s better than gray walls with bullet holes.” Shielded from Beirut’s blistering sun by a worn baseball cap, he described graffiti as a democratic art form that “does not have barriers.”

Sky Management is proud of its latest investment, claiming that O1NE is “not only a club, but an artistic landmark.” Like Sky Bar, O1NE’s focus is on excess: the most unique exterior, the craziest clubbing experience and the most desirable clientele.

O1Ne promises a clubbing experience in which “one night, you could be in a spaceship; the next, you could be in a submarine partying with the fishes.”

I’ll see you at the opening in December!

©Ieva Saudargaite

Beirut nights will never be the same

www.aeronautica.difesa.it

www.aeronauticamilitare-collezioneprivata.it Available at all A誰zone stores, +961 .1. 99 11 11

A lifestyle _ 3d printing

Changing the world

By Sabina Llewellyn-Davies

Guillaume Crédoz wants to take your dreams and make them a reality.

The 40-year-old Frenchman has given Beirut its very own walk-in 3D printer, and he’s very excited about it. “Just imagine, a designer, architect or engineer can now have a prototype created into a physical shape in a short time, sometimes within a matter of hours,” he says.

“Just give me a design, or I can create one, and I will turn it into a physical object for you.”

Crédoz is no stranger to this concept. He created his first 3D printing 18 years ago while working as an architect and university professor in Canada. It was there that he met his Lebanese wife Souraya, a landscape architect and ceramic artist. In 2008 the couple moved to Turkey, then a year later to Damascus, where they bought an Ottoman palace. After spending a year renovating the palace, they were forced to leave the country due to the deteriorating security situation. Next stop was Lebanon, where they now operate a 3D emporium on the site A 226

of a former bakery in Mar Mikhael. The place is home to Crédoz’s rapid manufacturing station, the SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) machine.

Here, he creates prototypes of models and objects with his 3D printer.

The process is simplistic: a 3D digital design of an object is printed in the SLS machine, then a laser beam targets a block of powder, molding particles to create a 3D shape. Crédoz is currently developing a variety of material compounds, for example a blend of polyamide and cement, which can be used to produce precise concrete models. And, for the sake of recycling, he reuses the powder up to 12 times.

“The idea of this concept is to eliminate the supplier. For example, a friend of mine needed a spare part for a broken lamp, but the Italian supplier was slow to send the spare part, so I reproduced it for him in no time. One local inventor came in with his design, and we printed it out. And recently, a chef came in wanting to produce specific models of cake molds, which we 3D-printed for him.”

Crédoz realizes that the real potential of this invention has yet to be fully explored. “Recent advances mean you can now 3D print in metal and bio-materials, and the list of uses will keep on expanding. Once people become more familiar with this technology, they will realize that they can produce any object.” It’s a small manufacturer’s dream come true.

©Tony Elieh

Guillaume Crédoz introduces Lebanon’s first 3D printer

A lifestyle _ car

By Paul Cochrane

ŠPorsche

First drive

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Get behind the wheel of the new Porsche Panamera The jagged Hajar mountains that provide the backdrop to Muscat stand in stark contrast to the smooth curves of the new Porsche Panamera. Yet the Panamera is all about “thrilling contradictions,” being a four-door luxury car with all the power of a sporty two-seater.

En route to the top of the Hajar range, the new generation Panamera quietly roars through the dry landscape that is occasionally punctured by wadis dotted with oasis towns nestled amid date palm trees. A fine location to put the Panamera through its paces, with long smooth turns, some sharp curves on the mountain roads and some good stretches in the flatter parts to test out the 400-500 plus horsepower engines. Turn on either of the two sports modes, and the Panamera becomes a super car, easily negotiating the windy roads and gravitational pull as the mountains gradually rise to 2,000 odd meters.

What’s new about the second generation Panamera?

Porsche has stripped the motor down to a V6, threeliter bi-turbo engine and bolstered fuel efficiency, while smoothing out the front and rear lies of the car. What is really noticeable is that the Executive versions of the 4S and turbo models have an extra 15 centimeters in length that give the extra bit of leg stretching space that has so often made those in the back seat not as comfy as they should be in a luxury sports saloon. The extra legroom makes a road trip for four through the Omani mountains a pleasurable ride for all.

Out of the 10 new Panamera versions, there is an e-hybrid model, a global first as a plug-in hybrid in the luxury class. While not as fast as the combustion models, it still has 416 horsepower, goes from 0-100 km/h in 5.5 seconds and, in all-electric mode, has a top speed of 135 km/h. Almost silent, such green power makes the Panamera as quiet to drive as a Rolls Royce.

Nearing the top of the Hajar mountains, the scenery turns into a lunar-like landscape, and in the e-hybrid, insulated from the elements and any sound, it’s as if you’re flying in a high-powered, luxury moon-mobile.

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A lifestyle _ brand

Something in the air

By Ellen Hardy

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A Diptyque scent is a real piece of Paris.

The original boutique – a hushed, woodlined, delicately perfumed place on the exclusive Boulevard St. Germain – is located in the historic fifth arrondissement on the Left Bank. Just a dreamy wander through bookstore-studded streets from the banks of the Seine, where couples stroll arm in arm, flanked by Notre Dame cathedral, La Grande Mosquée de Paris and the Luxembourg gardens, the neighborhood reflects Paris’ medieval and contemporary history. It has traditionally attracted an artistic, stylish, bohemian crowd of residents – this is where Hemingway attended Gertrude Stein’s salons, and would drink with other writers at the Café de Flore. In another street nearby stands L’Hôtel, where Oscar Wilde lived and died, and which has also hosted the singer

Mistinguett, actor Marlon Brando and writer Jorge Luis Borges.

All this history, culture and chic are part of the Diptyque story. Started as a boutique for fabric designs and objets trouvés in 1961, the brand has developed over time and today stands for the ultimate in sophisticated perfumery and scents for the home, with branches worldwide. Diptyque’s distinctive eau de toilette exudes pure luxury, while the iconic Feu de Bois candles turn a house or apartment into a home – a place of relaxation and retreat.

All of which makes the release of Un Air de Diptyque a significant move for the brand.

Combining its feel for timeless design with a keen sense of innovation, Un Air de Diptyque

©Diptyque

Un Air de Diptyque is a fabled new diffuser from the French perfume house

is an electrical scent diffuser for the home that has been three years in development, using exclusive technology that enables different scent capsules to be switched in and out according to the user’s mood.

Because the plastic-coated capsules are suspended at the center of the module, they don’t touch the ceramic or any other part of the diffuser, making for an exceptionally pure aroma that doesn’t get tainted over time. One capsule lasts for 40 hours, and one press down on the diffuser releases an hour-long cycle that shuts off automatically.

With its timeless design, clean lines and golden typography, ideal for larger spaces, Un Air de Diptyque is proof of a brand at the

top of its game. Ideal for households where open flames are too risky, the diffuser also allows Diptyque to explore new scents that don’t work when heated in candle – citrus, for example – so the label will be able to expand and develop the range of capsules over time. On its launch in fall 2013, five classic scent refills will be available – Figuier, Ambre, Feu de Bois, Baies and 34.

These capsules cleanly and cleverly fill homes with the scents of the Mediterranean, with Oriental airs, with the warmth of a winter’s night around the fire, with the perfume of summer flowers in an English garden or with the classic 34, developed to perfectly express the spirit of the St. Germain lifestyle.

Diptyque is available at Aïshti stores.

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A lifestyle _ spa

Cloud nine

By Grace Banks

Grand Resort Bad Ragaz offers a spa experience with a glamorous spin

In 2008, a $160 million renovation of the resort was carried out, creating 55 state-of-the-art suites.

Guests enter through a lounge dedicated to the thermal mineral water that the spa is built upon, with a mineral bar offering over 50 variants of thermal spring water. Well-being is key here, with each room boasting its own mini spa, complete with steam room and sauna. The hotel’s To B. Wellbeing spa was built on top of the Tamina Gorge, which was discovered in 1242, and its pools are supplied with this water.

Guests seeking adventure can indulge in the outdoor swimming experience, surrounded by thick forests, while the diverse list of therapies, including chocolate A 232

facial treatments and Thai massage, ensure there is always something new to try.

Well-being and health are buzzwords at Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, with a world-renowned medical center offering weight loss and detox programs, as well as holistic treatments for those with heart conditions. Each program is designed by experts in their field, and each is accompanied by a healthy eating program. Fine dining forms a crucial part of the resort’s culture, with eight Gault & Millau-rated restaurants offering everything from pan Asian cuisine to Italian calorie-controlled meals. Zollstube restaurant takes traditional Swiss food and gives it a sheen of glamour – think fondue infused with champagne and truffles.

The setting of Bad Ragaz is infectiously romantic. Accessed by an old fashioned train direct from Zurich, the resort is located among the majestic, snow-capped mountains of Heidiland. Visitors come back year after year for Bad Ragaz’s mix of high-octane luxury and traditional charm. The beds are impossibly comfy, the service perfectly executed and the memories last well into the return to busy life.

For reservations, visit resortragaz.ch

©Grand Resort Bad Ragaz

There isn’t much you can’t get at Switzerland’s Grand Resort Bad Ragaz. Thermal mineral water in every bathroom, revolutionary dental care, Michelin-starred restaurants and pioneering beauty treatments: this fivestar retreat is an essential destination for celebrities, models, royalty and the elite looking for a place to switch off. At Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, they find it. Here, guests recharge and reset. As the world’s leading health spa, this luxury retreat nestled cozily in the Swiss Alps offers groundbreaking health and fitness programs.

©2013 New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc.

REDEFINE GIRLS’ NIGHT OUT.

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A journey _ nordic cities

Explore the attractions of five Northern European cities

By Dorothy Weiner

Take a trip north – far north – and get to know some of Europe’s oldest and most intriguing cities, like cosmopolitan Stockholm, heavily Russian Helsinki, scholarly Uppsala, Shakespearean Helsingor and design-inflected Copenhagen.

Copenhagen Of all Scandinavian cities, Copenhagen is perhaps the hardest to describe. It’s a blend of the ancient and modern, leisurely cafés and quick street food, old schooners and sparkling new cruise ships. It’s busy and big, exhausting and exhilarating.

Unlike those of its Baltic neighbors, the sites in Copenhagen are fairly spread out, so you have to work to get to them. That means you need to get to know the city right from the start. The best way to get acclimated is on the City Cirkel bus, which makes a big, one-hour loop around town, stopping near all the top sites, and running every seven minutes.

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There are some remarkable experiences to be had, starting with Rosenborg Castle.

It doesn’t feel like any other castle we saw throughout Scandinavia. Dark and heavy in its appointments, the gorgeous ceilings alone are worth the price of admission.

King Christian IV built it in the years 1606 to 1634 as a summer castle in the Dutch Renaissance style.

The nearby Frederiks Church, or Marble Church, is very different from the traditional Lutheran steepled churches of the area.

Patterned after St. Peter’s in Rome, this domed church was begun by Frederik V in 1740, but not consecrated until 1894.

Located a stone’s throw from the royal palace, Amalienborg, where the Crown Prince has taken up residence, the church caters to the city’s rich and famous.

No stay in Denmark is complete without a glimpse into its storied design history.

©Pascale Beroujon, Louisiana, Visit Helsingor

A Nordic adventure

The Danish Museum of Art and Design has a display of modern seating, lighting and cabinetry. Another remarkable museum, this one of antiquities, is the Glyptotek, founded by brewing magnate Carl Jacobsen (Carlsberg Brewery). Consisting of two buildings linked by a sun-filled glass dome, the museum has amazing classical sculpture, in addition to more modern works.

For dining, we sampled the Michelin-starred Era Ora. Located a short walk from our hotel, in the nearby area of Christianshavn, this place offers a very high-end Italian menu gustatione, or tasting menu, designed daily by the chef. A full 16 courses, each just a bite or two in size, will not fail to amaze you, and they can be paired with three different levels of wine, from premium to unbelievable.

While Copenhagen can test your patience (and your pocketbook), the most iconic Copenhagen experience won’t at all. It’s what I watched outside my hotel every evening: people perched along the water, sipping a Carlsberg and just relaxing.

Helsingor Even though Hamlet was a figment of Shakespeare’s imagination, the castle he hailed from wasn’t. Named Kronborg Castle, the Renaissance palace is in the picturesque little town of Helsingor (anglicized to “Elsinore”), about 25 kilometers away from Copenhagen. That makes it the perfect day trip for visitors to the Danish capital – and not only because of Shakespeare.

Perched high above the Baltic Sea, where the straits between Denmark and Sweden are at their narrowest, Kronberg was a strategic source of power and revenue for Danish kings. When Frederik II built it in 1559, he exacted a toll for all ships navigating through those waters. Today’s visitors to the town can walk its cobbled streets and easily imagine what life was like centuries ago. There’s an old Carmelite monastery to explore and, of course, the remarkable castle with its climbable tower, maritime museum, royal apartments, moats, cannons and sea views. Best of all, Helsingor offers the perfect opportunity to see what a real Danish seaside town looks like, with its red-tile roofs, brightly painted stucco homes and charming downtown of shops and cafés.

In the crisp, cool Danish weather (even in the middle of summer!), nothing is nicer than a patio lunch at one of the town’s cafés.

We stopped for the traditional smorrebrod, a large platter with some combination of meatball, chicken or fried fish and black bread, a bit of salad, boiled potatoes and peas. Danes usually drink a mug of Carlsberg or Tuborg with this staple meal.

This page The Danish seaside town of Helsingor (top) and the famed Louisiana modern art museum just outside town (directly above) Opposite page Amalienborg royal palace in Copenhagen

On the way back to Copenhagen, don’t miss the renowned modern art museum, Louisiana, started by founder Knud Jensen in 1958 as a showcase for Danish art. Named for the art patron’s three wives (each named Louise), this is a remarkable museum, with works by Picasso, Giacometti, Warhol, Rauschenberg and many others.

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A journey _ nordic cities

That Russian influence can be seen everywhere because it wasn’t until 1917 that Finland became a sovereign nation, after centuries of domination by either Sweden or Russia. The country was originally founded in 1550 by Sweden to act as a buffer against Russia. The architecture of most of this A 236

city’s prominent structures is neoclassical, with gigantic pillars, dentil molding and massive alabaster statuary.

The first thing to do is go to Senate Square and look at those two houses of worship and at all the other imposing Classical Revival structures built in the early 19th century.

Then step into both cathedrals to get a sense of the city’s dual identity: Slavic v. Nordic.

In Uspenski Cathedral, an elaborate iconostasis in front of the nave depicts giltenhanced paintings of Biblical characters.

Massive chandeliers, marble pillars and a gilded ceiling add to the heavily ornate nature of this Helsinki Orthodox parish church. Helsinki Cathedral, older than Uspenski, has a bright-white Romanesque exterior and clean open pews laid out in a cross formation. Built by Prussian architect Carl Ludvig Engel, it clearly conveys a

different aesthetic, one that downplays worldly grandeur with a clean-lined simplicity in stark contrast to its Russian Orthodox neighbor.

Before catching the ferry to the World Heritage Site fortress of Suomenlinna, give yourself a little time to walk around the open air Market Square that spans the waterfront area. There you’ll experience Finland via the various booths selling salmon rye bread, forest blackberries and Lapland crafts. You’ll need at least an hour at the fortress; there are barracks, storage caves, the old wall (with cannon holes) and several museums to explore, all scattered about a huge area.

Be sure to leave time to do something no one should miss in Helsinki: shop. After all, Finland is home to Nokia and Marimekko, among others.

©Stockholm Visitors Board, Visit Helsinki

Helsinki You have to know a little about Helsinki so you can get to its essence. For one thing, Helsinki is much “newer” than its Nordic neighbors. Surrounded by water on three sides, the Finnish capital has a heavily Russian aura. Both of its major cathedrals, Helsinki Lutheran and Uspenski, have those distinctly Russian Orthodox domes. Even the ancient church tower at Suomenlinna fortress is topped by a single oxidized dome with a gold cross (not surprising, given it was built as a Russian Orthodox garrison church in 1854).

Stockholm Stockholm may mean “land of timbers,” but this Nordic city is all about water. A first-time visitor can’t help but be reminded of the nautical here, with its boat horns, screeching gulls and smorgasbords of herring, salmon, shrimp and other fruits de mer.

Viking ghosts, too, are omnipresent, in a proud tradition of sea superiority, where the Swedish savior, St. George, slays the warmongering dragon (Denmark). The sculptural incarnation of that victory is on view in the 12th century Stockholm Cathedral, a landmark visitors should not miss. Located in the old city, called “Gamla Stan,” the cathedral is a reminder of Stockholm’s Teutonic and Viking roots – just stand in front of its austere, 12-foot high candelabrum to understand.

Middle Ages, rich tapestries and frescoes on every ceiling amaze and overwhelm.

You won’t want to miss Moderna Museet, the Modern Museum, and its rich collection that includes works by Matisse, Kandinsky, Kokoschka and Picasso. But the artistic pièce de resistance in this city is Nationalmuseum, which has an impressive collection of works

by Rubens, Rembrandt, Goya, Renoir, Degas and Gauguin.

But that severity is balanced by more modern elements, including Stockholm’s lively decorative arts, and it is just that blend of the ancient and the modern that makes Stockholm fascinating for the traveler.

Within yards of one another, you can travel in time from the fully restored Vasa battleship, built in 1628, to the Nordiska Museet, where design achievements like Ikea’s 1970 stacking plastic chair have made Sweden the paragon of clean, functional living.

The easiest way to get around is by water ferry. Or you could do what Stockholmers do and walk just about everywhere, rain or shine. Once you get oriented, this is a very simple city to master, as long as you remember that the water can be on your right – and one block down, on your left, too – even though it will feel counterintuitive. We started our Stockholm tour at City Hall, with its iconic golden triple-crown spire, set right on the waterfront. Unlike most civic buildings, this one has global stature as the site of the famed Nobel Prize ceremony, held in its Blue Hall (which, oddly, is not blue).

This page Stockholm’s nautical spirit (above) and an interior view of its Royal Palace (left) Opposite page Views of Helsinki (top left) and of the city’s Temppeliaukio Church (bottom left) and its Olympic Stadium (right)

Then it was on to Gamla Stan, where Stockholm was born. Charming winding cobblestone lanes are lined with restaurants, shops and landmarks. This is where you’ll find the Royal Palace, the official residence of the royal family of Sweden. When they are not here, the Royal Apartments can be toured for a glimpse of the immense wealth amassed by a country that at one time dominated northern Europe. Marble staircases, gilded cherubim, ormulu, artwork dating to the 237 A

A journey _ nordic cities

The spectacularly gothic Uppsala Cathedral (above and top left) and the anatomical theater inside Uppsala’s Gustavianum (immediate left)

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Although it’s the fourth largest town in Sweden, Uppsala has a charming quaintness, thanks in no small part to the university.

With the pastoral River Fyris meandering through it, this academic part of the city is filled with flower-strewn bridges. Buildings are colorful stucco-and-wood structures painted in whimsical pastels with contrasting window and door trim.

Upon arrival, visitors will have no trouble getting their bearings here. The cathedral’s gothic spires, the tallest in Scandinavia, guide them right to the town’s cultural center. Founded in the 13th century, the Domkyrkan is the final resting place of such notables as Gustav Vasa, the botanist

Carl Linnaeus and the philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg.

Facing Uppsala Cathedral across a small courtyard is the university’s oldest extant building, the Gustavianum, named after King Gustavus Adolphus (Gustav II Adolf), who funded its erection in 1625. Originally built to include student chambers, a lecture hall, a refectory, a kitchen and a cellar (for the professors’ beer and wine), today the orange stucco building is a museum that contains the university’s sizable collection of artifacts.

In 1662, its most fascinating feature was added: an anatomical theater with domed cupola where human and animal dissections were conducted for medical instruction.

©Corbis, Destination Uppsala

Uppsala If Stockholm is Sweden’s London, nearby Uppsala is its Oxford. The city 45 miles away has been the academic hub of Sweden since the 15th century, and offers a fascinating look at the excitement science engendered in the Renaissance age. Uppsala is the birthplace of cinema icon Ingmar Bergman; the site of Scandinavia’s largest gothic cathedral; and home to the first university in Scandinavia and to Uppsala Castle. Within the city limits also lies one of the most fascinating remnants of Viking culture, Gamla Uppsala (or Old Uppsala), burial mounds from the Dark Ages and site of pagan sacrifices to Thor, Oden, Frey and other Norse deities.

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A journey _ london hotel

Milestone moments

By Marwan Naaman

Choose the Milestone Hotel to live out your royal London fantasies

My stay at the Milestone Hotel earlier this year marked my third sojourn at a London property belonging to the luxurious Red Carnation Hotel Collection. Previously, I’d stayed at the Hotel 41 in Belgravia and the Egerton House in Knightsbridge. Those boutique properties had 28 rooms each, so the experience was akin to staying in a plush private residence, where staff are always at your beck and call.

The five-star Milestone Hotel, though also a boutique property, is larger in size, with 56 rooms and suites, plus six apartments, as well as a fitness center and pool, so the feel here is quite different. In fact, if you have royal fantasies, this is the place you’ll want to choose. The Milestone Hotel has suites that face Kensington Palace and Gardens, so anytime you look out your window, you might just see Kate Middleton taking Prince George of Cambridge out for his morning stroll, the pram flanked by an army of bodyguards.

In keeping with a truly British experience, the Milestone Hotel offers a lavish afternoon tea service in its Park Lounge, which boasts oversized armchairs, a blazing fireplace and scenic views of Kensington Gardens across the way. The wide selection of bespoke coffee and tea is accompanied by finger sandwiches and scones as well as pastries such as cupcakes, macaroons and éclairs.

Fine food is a great part of the Milestone experience. The crown jewel here is Cheneston’s, an intimate restaurant with rich mahogany furniture and dark wood paneling. Cheneston’s serves as the setting for a decadent breakfast buffet that includes

©The Milestone Hotel

This royal vibe extends to the entire hotel and is the reason why so many guests choose to

return to the Milestone. The hotel prides itself on having two staff members for every guest, thereby ensuring that all guests are given the care and attention usually reserved for royalty. Stately touches designed to enhance your stay include freshly baked cookies left in your room after the turndown service, and the option to select your preferred type of pillow and comforter.

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various kinds of cereal, fruit, cheese and charcuterie, as well as croissants, pastries and freshly baked bread. The restaurant also offers a menu of refined British cuisine for lunch and dinner, with specials like chicken pot pie, pot roast dover sole and saddle of venison in a chocolate jus.

And if you want to live out your royal fantasies to the utmost, head to the Queen’s Gallery at nearby Buckingham Palace. The exhibition space showcases the collection of treasures and artworks held in trust by Queen Elizabeth II for the United Kingdom. Here you’ll truly feel like a great monarch – if only for a day.

The Milestone is home to Stables Bar, one of London’s great, “secret” watering holes, and to the Conservatory, a glass-enclosed room where guests can enjoy cocktails, light snacks and even brunch on weekends.

For reservations, tel. 44.20.7917.1000, milestonehotel.com

Since the hotel is housed in a 19th-century Victorian landmark, it makes perfect sense to infuse its guestrooms with old-world glamour. Owner Bea Tollman decorated all of the rooms, giving each one its distinct personality, with themes ranging from Art Deco and Kensington Palace to Matisse, Venetian and Safari.

One more thing: the hotel’s location, just a couple of minutes’ walk from High Street Kensington, means that a series of delightful boutiques, as well as a sprawling Whole Foods, are right outside your doorstep. Harrods and Harvey Nichols are also nearby, as are various cultural attractions, including Royal Albert Hall, the Science Museum, the Natural History Museum and the V&A.

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A journey _ france

Lyon reborn

By Shirine Saad

France’s second city sheds its staid image and rejuvenates itself for a new generation

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Lyon is an ancient French city, a place where exchanges of cultures have always nurtured thriving artistic and culinary lives. But now the capital of French gastronomy is reinventing itself, with a flurry of new boutique hotels, designer bars and art biennials.

The city, tucked between the Saône and Rhône rivers in the Rhône valley, near the Alps and the Mediterranean, was an important Roman and Gaul center in Antiquity. Even back then, the city had been the site of rich exchanges between different cultures and a platform in the silk and spice trades. About 100 varieties of cheeses, innumerable wines and liquors, sausages, chocolates and nougats are crafted in the region, providing the city’s chefs with fresh, delicious ingredients for their rich and elaborate menus.

Paul Bocuse, one of the most influential chefs in the world, established the city as a gastronomic capital, a place where local traditions – such as the bouchon, or casual eatery – and typical dishes (tripe, quenelle and île flottante) are perpetuated. Head to Bocuse’s Halles market, a paradise for food lovers, and sample oysters, sea urchins, wild meats, local dishes and, of course, a large variety of pungent cheeses. Or stroll the markets of St. Antoine and La Croix Rousse and mingle with equally foodobsessed locals.

Lyon is also the site of many new architectural projects, including La Confluence, a massive overhaul of a formerly deserted waterfront area.

Architects such as Kengo Kuma are designing avant-garde buildings in the

area, where young professionals and creative types flock for drinks, food and cultural events. One particularly popular spot is La Sucrière, an event space in a ‘30s sugar warehouse that offers a rooftop bar in summer. Everyone is watching the evolution of the Musée des Confluences, an imposing, futuristic, cloudlike structure scheduled to open in 2014.

With its Opera Nouvel, an Italian-style monument whose half-cylindrical dome was designed by Jean Nouvel, its National Symphonic Orchestra, its Museum of Fine Arts and Museum of Contemporary Art, Lyon offers top-notch cultural events year-round, including the Biennale d’Art Contemporain, the Nuits de Fourvières, the Biennale de Danse and the Nuits Sonores.

The older generation may collapse after a couple of bottles of Côtes Rôties and a sevencourse meal, but the younger set – many of whom are students at the local universities – hang out in wine bars such as Georges Five and even American-style parlors, the hippest of which is L’Antiquaire. After your night crawl, crash at the whimsical College Hotel in the Old Town, where school benches and chalkboards make for a fun atmosphere.

Philippe Starck’s bohemian-style hotel Mama Shelter just opened, offering an urban retreat in the heart of the city.

Of course, restaurants and wine bars are always buzzing with action, as eating here is taken very seriously. The tradition of the bouchon, which began with a stand where workers would chew on saucisson and throw back a couple of glasses of wine, still endures.

One favorite is Daniel et Denise, where must-haves include quenelle de brochet, sauce Nantua and île flottante aux pralines.

Mathieu Viannauy’s La Mère Brazier, where the chef serves house classics like artichauts au foie gras, is a more upscale option. The chicest place to dine, though, is L’Institution, which has just been revamped by Jacques Garcia, with jewel-toned velvet seats and gold-accented black walls.

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A journey _ new york hotel

Gotham glamour

By Marwan Naaman

Relive Manhattan’s golden age at The Chatwal

These dramatic, passion-filled events serve as a backdrop for The Chatwal hotel, which opened in 2010 inside White’s landmark building. The first Starwood Luxury Collection hotel in Manhattan, The Chatwal was designed by the firm of Thierry W. Despont, whose previous projects include A 244

the Getty Museum in LA and the centennial restoration of the Statue of Liberty.

In creating the interior for The Chatwal, Despont relied heavily on the building’s rich theater history as well as White’s lust for life. When you take the short flight of stairs up from the street and enter the hotel lobby, for example, you’re immediately greeted by a massive, sepia-toned mural of New York.

In addition, the reception desk, concierge station and lobby bar are clad in chrome metals fins, in a very deliberate nod to Manhattan’s ‘30s Deco glory.

The 76 rooms and suites are just as grand as the hotel’s public areas. Here, Despont drew his inspiration from France’s traditional malletiers, the bygone luxury trunk designers from centuries past, to infuse a travel theme into each living space. The built-in cabinets, for example, are wrapped in faux leather and resemble ancient pieces of luggage. All the modernist details are

©The Chatwal

Few New York hotels can lay claim to The Chatwal’s fascinating history. This iconic property, set on 44th Street near the Broadway theater district and Bryant Park, is housed inside a Stanford White building, which was built in 1905 and served as the home of Lambs, America’s first theater club. White, a celebrated architect, was known for his womanizing ways, and one of his conquests was the 17-year-old Evelyn Nesbit, who went on to marry millionaire Harry Kendall Thaw. When Thaw learned of his wife’s affair with White, he followed the architect to Madison Square Garden (which White also designed) and shot and killed him.

combined with ultra-modern touches, like fine 400-thread-count linens, designer bath amenities, plush terry-cloth robes and 42inch plasma screens.

One suite worth mentioning is the Barrymore Suite, named after John Barrymore, Hollywood star Drew Barrymore’s grandfather, who was an original member of Lambs. This 10th-floor penthouse includes four guestrooms, four full bathrooms and two sitting rooms, dining rooms and kitchenettes, as well as a private, heated outdoor terrace and a 1,000-square-foot roof deck overlooking 44th Street.

The Lambs Club The restyled and revived Lambs Club is perfectly in tune with The Chatwal’s retro glamour. This New York institution, once patronized by the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Fred Astaire, is helmed by legendary New York restaurateur Geoffrey Zakarian and features a dramatic décor, all red leather and shiny silver, and black walls adorned with photographs of Broadway and Hollywood stars. There are no windows, and the restaurant is tucked 245 A

A journey _ new york hotel

away at the back of the hotel, so that privacy and discretion are guaranteed.

The centerpiece of the space is a floorto-ceiling, 18th-century fireplace – an original gift by White himself.

Red Door Spa at The Chatwal One of the most exciting new additions to The Chatwal is the Red Door Spa by Elizabeth Arden, which has three luxurious spa rooms and three private changing suites with steam showers, as well as a manicure and pedicure studio. The varied spa menu includes skincare, massage and body treatments, and most notably the Red Door Grand Debut Facial by Cornelia. Beauty legend Cornelia Zicu, global chief creative officer for Elizabeth Arden Red Door Spa, returned to the spa after nearly a decade to launch The Chatwal’s exclusive facial, a twohour skincare renewal and transcendental treatment performed by Zicu herself.

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And then thereÕ s New York As engaging as The Chatwal is, one the hotel’s biggest draws is right outside its main entrance: New York. The Chatwal is just a few minutes’ walk from the Broadway theaters near Times Square, Fifth Avenue’s exclusive boutiques,

Macy’s at Herald Square, Grand Central, Rockefeller Center, the Empire State building and everything else that represents this great American city.

For reservations, tel. 1.212.764.6200, thechatwalny.com

©The Chatwal

The dinner menu, as devised by Zakarian (whose impressive career includes stints at Le Cirque in Manhattan and The Dorchester in London, and who also appears as a judge on the Food Network’s Chopped), is as grand as the setting, featuring modern American cuisine with an international flair. This is also where hotel guests have breakfast and lunch.

A journey _ toronto hotel

A better place to be

By Marwan Naaman

The Shangri-La Toronto embodies the sleek, dynamic spirit of the 21st century My travels over the past few years have taken me to various Canadian cities. I am now quite familiar with Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa, and even with more rural and less populated parts of Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia. But up until last June, I’d never visited Toronto, Canada’s economic and cultural capital.

Toronto is described by many as a “mini New York,” due to similarities between the two cities. The Canadian city has its own version of Times Square (Dundas Square), a Broadwaylike area complete with world-class theater shows (King Street West) and very distinct neighborhoods, each with its own character, including Kensington Market, Leslieville, Koreatown and Little Italy.

Toronto, however, does have one up on its US neighbor: the Shangri-La Hotel, which opened late last year. There are only two ShangriLas in all of North America, and both are in Canada (in Vancouver and Toronto). The Toronto property is particularly breathtaking, and, in this writer’s opinion, the city’s very A 248

©Shangri-La

But the two cities are totally different when it comes to their hotels. New York has some of the most magnificent and distinctive hotels in the world, and in that respect Toronto still has a long way to go. There are, as of yet, no properties in Toronto that resemble Manhattan icons like the Standard, the Gramercy Park or the Gansevoort.

best hotel. For those of you not familiar with the brand, Hong Kong-based Shangri-La is Asia’s leading luxury hotel group, with properties across Asia, Europe and the Middle East, in addition to the two in Canada.

A gleaming glass tower soaring above University Avenue, the Shangri-La Toronto is already a city landmark, just one year after its inauguration. Closer to earth, right outside the hotel’s University Avenue entrance, Zhang Huan’s stunning sculpture “Rising” invites passersby to stop, admire and linger. Huan, one of China’s most renowned contemporary artists, created this artwork specifically for the hotel. The polished, stainless steel sculpture is made up of countless doves, which appear to be flying out of a dragon-like, twisted tree branch and into the hotel itself.

The sculpture then extends indoors, onto the walls of the hotel. According to Huan, the message behind the work is that humans can coexist peacefully with nature and thus make their cities better places to live.

you can imagine) is popular with locals, particularly the young professionals who work nearby and come here almost daily for afterwork revelry.

The 202 rooms and suites are as luxurious and engaging as the lobby. Ranging from 490 to 2,200 square feet, the rooms are among the largest in Canada, with a Chineseinspired décor complete with lush fabrics and sophisticated furnishings. The rooms also have large walk-in closets and hi-tech details,

Perhaps this was the intention of the ShangriLa group: to make Toronto a better place to live. If so, the company has certainly succeeded with the dramatically beautiful hotel. First off, the lobby of the Shangri-La, featuring live piano music every afternoon, is already one of the most popular hangouts in the city. In addition to hotel guests, the sprawling lobby, with its blazing, glassenclosed fireplace and superlative selection of drinks (cocktails, tea and anything else

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A journey _ toronto hotel

The bathrooms, many of which have floorto-ceiling windows so that you can gaze out at Toronto while you bathe, are like mini spas. Bianco Statuario marble, sprawling tubs, glass-enclosed showers and Minginspired vanities combine to create a dreamlike experience. LCD TVs are built into the bathroom mirrors.

The Shangri-La also offers all the amenities one could possibly expect from such a luxurious hotel – and then some. There’s a 24-hour business center, plush conference facilities, valet parking, Wi-Fi, 24-hour room service and butler service in the suites.

Bosk in glory The hotel’s culinary crown jewel is Bosk.

Boasting blond, natural oak floors and floorto-ceiling windows that let in massive amounts A 250

of light, the restaurant provides a smooth, sleek, sophisticated setting in which to dine.

Damon Campbell, Bosk’s executive chef, has been with Shangri-La since 2008 (he has worked at the Shangri-La hotels in Manila and Kuala Lumpur), returning to his native Canada last fall to create Bosk’s distinctive menu. “My dishes are ingredient inspired and globally influenced,” he explains. The service at Bosk – like everything else at Shangri-La – is stellar: the waiters know everything there is to know about the menu, and they’re so well-versed in wines that whichever ones they recommend will surely pair beautifully with your meal.

The wine list at Bosk is out of this world, with select vintages from Italy, Australia, California, France and Portugal, among others.

At the Miraj The recently opened Miraj Hammam Spa has quickly become Toronto’s prime address for health and well-being. Located inside the Shangri-La, this sumptuous, Moorish-inspired spa glows with Gold

Jerusalem marble and flowing fountains.

Star treatments include the Hammam & Gommage, which takes place in the private hammam and features a detoxifying scrub with Moroccan black soap, olive extract and eucalyptus, and the Claudalie Grand Facial, which uses French vinotherapy products.

Body time In addition to the spa, the Shangri-La houses a state-of-the-art fitness center, offering the latest and most advanced TechnoGym weight and cardio machines. This is no mere hotel gym: it’s a large, well-equipped and spectacular space in which to work out, with oversized windows that let in a flood of light and allow glimpses of city life while you sweat.

There’s also a 20-meter-long enclosed pool with private cabanas, an infra-red sauna, Jacuzzi and separate changing facilities and steam rooms for men and women.

For reservations, tel. 1.647.788.8888, shangrila.com/toronto/shangrila

©Shangri-La

including a system that lets guests control music, lighting, the TV and the drapes with the touch of a button, right from their bed.

WWW.AISHTIBLOG.COM

A journey _ dubai hotel

The Oberoi brings Indian luxury to the Gulf

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Uncountable steel and glass spires soar from Dubai’s desert wastes; from the outside, they’re differentiable from each other only by the obvious architectural features geared to capture the untrained eye.

But inside, the luxuries of the world await: the pistes of Switzerland, the cafés of Paris and the nightclubs of Hollywood, all accessible by successive rides in a car then an elevator. The Oberoi Dubai,

By Stephanie dÕ Arc Taylor

the Emirate’s newest five-star hotel, has added a portal to yet another world: the colonial opulence of India.

The Raj is there upon your arrival at the grand entrance, when a statuesque gentleman in a turban and shalwar kameez is the first to greet you as you are helped out of the car. More subtle sub-continental touches abound inside the hotel, from the intimate 42-seat pan-Indian

restaurant helmed by master chef Rais Ahmed, whose diners feast on recipes passed down from his grandfather, to the hand-tufted Indian carpets warming the marble floors throughout the tower, and the Ayurvedic spa treatments, developed in the south Indian state of Kerala, that added years to the life of this harried writer.

Mr. Oberoi’s trajectory, opening his first hotel in 1934

©Oberoi

A new Dubai treasure

©Oberoi

after having risen through the ranks from clerk to manager on the success of a novel coal inventory scheme, mirrors the meteoric late-20th century success of India’s tiger economy.

From one hotel in Kolkata, to many properties in India, to hotels throughout the Middle East and Asia, cruise ships, private planes, resorts and an industry-best post-graduate program in hospitality, the Oberoi Group now regularly wins international prizes for its service and accoutrements, most recently at the 2012 World Travel Awards and from Travel & Leisure magazine.

But according to the Oberoi Dubai’s PR liaison Cynthia Saab, what Indian motifs there are mainly represent a nod to the heritage of the group:

looking to the future, the Oberoi’s focus is squarely on the cutting-edge standard of transnational luxury.

Guests pad about on Italian marble, are favorably lit by chandeliers of Czech crystal and dine on culinary delights at Umai, the hotel’s pan-Asian restaurant that engages the only sushi chef in Dubai certified to prepare the potentially poisonous fugu fish (the other, less-adventurous seasonal assortment of sashimi was luscious and expertly cut the night I visited).

The rooms are awash in silk, from the unctuous robes to the knobby-silk upholstered living room furniture. Two presidential suites even feature in-room plunge pools.

In the words of Saab, an elegant Lebanese expat, the Oberoi’s Dubai hotel represents “Chanel, rather than Christian Louboutin.” It’s true that the hotel’s most memorable touches of refinement are not as glaringly obvious as red leather-soled stilettos. It’s not wild parties that the Oberoi wants guests to remember – the hotel doesn’t have an in-house nightclub, a rarity for the famously raucous Emirate – but rather the quiet panache of the jasmine-scented cold towels delivered at just the right sticky moments, the darktiled infinity pool whose water tastes as pure as the chilled Evian waiting by my chaise longue and the captivating fragrance of the Frangipani trees in the atrium.

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A journey _ oman

OmanÕ s fantasy island

By Rich Thornton

As the breeze swashes dishdashas across the tired deck of a vintage Greek ferry, you might think you’re on the film set of an Ottoman love story. Another glance around and the sight of posh Porsche Cayennes snuggled up against goat-filled pickup trucks proves that wherever your destination, it will be a draw to the elite and the everyman alike. You’re in Oman, and you’re traveling to the enigmatic island of Masira.

Tucked up against the southeastern coast of the wild and barren Arabian Peninsula, Masira is – to use a cliché – a diamond in the rough. Home to pirates and fishermen of centuries past, the island appears to be

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a desert, with vast, empty beaches, but Masira is actually home to a wealth of exotic wildlife. Cut off from mainland Oman by 19 kilometers of Indian Ocean, Masira has had limited human expansion, making it a haven for wild fauna and for not just one, but four species of sea turtles.

Between the broken dhows and windbattered fishing huts, Green, Hawksbill, Olive Ridley and Loggerhead turtles have all found pockets of sheltered sand in which to nest. In fact, Masira houses the largest population of Loggerhead turtles in the world, with the US state of Florida a close second.

©Nathan Rott

Masira is magical, untouched and populated by sea turtles

A four-wheel drive is the best way to discover all the hidden coves and forgotten oases of the island. But if you’d rather use your feet, simply book a room at the luxurious Masira Island Resort. Nestled at the back of the island’s most prolific Loggerhead breeding beach, the resort offers intimacy and solitude, allowing you to hear the turtle eggs hatch from the comfort of your sun-lounger.

camels, endangered Egyptian vultures and indigenous gazelles. Camping trips to the island’s untouched southern beaches can also be arranged through the resort.

Opened in 2010, Masira Island Resort only has 20 rooms, each with a private, seafacing, turtle-viewing balcony. Tours of the island, which can be booked from the hotel, get you close to Bedouins wrangling over

Make sure you visit soon though: the Omani government has set out to build a bridge from the island to the mainland, ensuring that Masira won’t remain a fantasy destination for long.

The only sign of past human presence on the island is a deserted US army base on Masira’s northernmost edge. The soldiers are now long gone, and they’ve left behind nothing but their nickname for Masira: “Fantasy Island.”

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A journey _ beirut neighborhood

Beirut retro

By Warren Singh-Bartlett

Under Badaro’s mid-century spell Wedged between the Emir Fakhreddine’s pine forest, planted to prevent the sand dunes of the southern coast from encroaching on arable lands north of the Bourj, Beirut’s Ottoman Hippodrome and one of the busiest cross-city “expressways,” Badaro (the Beirut neighborhood named after Habib, a wealthy businessman who once set up a textile factory here) still enjoys the kind of cachet that comes from being one of the last remaining, largely intact urban expressions of pre-war Beirut.

Buying up land only recently vacated by Lebanon’s armed forces, who still maintain a sizeable barracks and a military hospital in the area, Badaro’s new and very upper middle class residents appear to have adopted Modernism without reservation, and the apartment buildings they left behind still inform the area’s architectural élan today.

Joseph Philippe Karam, the architect who designed La Gondole, Raouche’s Shams Building and the Beirut City Center (the never-completed shopping center and A 256

©Ieva Saudargaite

Home to the French Army during the mandate and a mixed Druze-Christian population, including many Syrian Christians, who were displaced by the nationalization laws of the ‘60s, the neighborhood historically saw itself as the sophisticated alternative to Ashrafieh.

cinema, the egg-shaped remains of which still stand next to the Azarieh in Downtown Beirut) not only designed a number of the buildings here, but also his own family home, the still elegant Karam Building.

It isn’t all form meets function, though. The elegant late Deco buildings on either side of the Syrian Catholic Archbishopric, and the graceful Internationalism of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, particularly along Alam, Parc and Bani Kanaan, add significantly to Badaro’s eclectic charm, making it, like Gemmayze and Mar Mikhael, one of the few remaining examples of the Beirut that was.

of quirky little boutiques attest. There’s a tailor, Oussama al Ahmad, who is able to determine fittings for his mandarin-collar shirts entirely by eye; another specializing in Asian remedies and Ayurvedic products; Coquelicot, a florist that does a roaring side-trade in delicious Oslo ice-cream; the (in)famous Patisserie Éclair, which has been turning out pastries of choice for more than four decades; and creaky restaurants, décors and menus unchanged since 1974.

Of course, developers are moving in. Never really recovering after the war, when it was just behind one of the most notorious crossing points in the city, enough of Badaro has lain empty for long enough to prove attractive. One of the most notable recent casualties has been the former home of writer Amin Maalouf, who had an apartment on the second floor of the old sandstone home that stood next to the sleek, postmodernist Museum Tower cluster until earlier this year.

But this is no lament. While the neighborhood’s old nemesis up the hill barely resembles its sleepy pre-war residential self, Badaro still does, as its smattering

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Of course, as Badaro’s gradual transformation from narcoleptic neighborhood into inner city hub picks up pace (and no doubt has Fakhreddine turning in his grave), those older outposts may eventually be swept aside. There are already newer arrivals like Vide-Posh, a shop that sells vintage decorative items, Ethiopian hairdressers and several small dekkanet selling rounds of fluffy white injera. Then there’s the family-run Mum & I, where Samia serves up the dishes she grew up eating to impatient office-workers as well as hip new café/restaurants like Roy’s Public House and Kudetá, which some are claiming as the opening salvoes in Badaro’s gathering assault on the crowns currently held by Mar Mikhael and Gemmayze. The old rivalries return and from destruction, new life comes.

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©Ieva Saudargaite

A journey _ beirut neighborhood

A journey _ beirut hotel

Smallville, big difference

By Warren Singh-Bartlett

From the moment you enter the spare but sophisticated lobby, passing under the curiously molecular brass chandelier rescued from the old Summerland, The Smallville treats guests to an experience that this city has long needed but has, for the most part, gone without. For you see, Badaro’s newest 117-room, 39-suite addition may be an urban hotel, but it is also a beachhead, a beautifully crafted feint by Beam Developers, into the hitherto underserved realm of the affordable yet contemporary and chic hotel.

Just up the street from Antoine Nahas’ delectable wedge of

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‘30’s neo-Pharaonism, Beirut’s bijou National Museum, and directly across the street from the cluster of three-story Art Deco lovelies that sit on either side of the Syrian Catholic Patriarchate (and which, by the way, are practically begging to be beautifully lit at night), The Smallville has big ambitions.

Let’s start with the rooms. I had the privilege of a corner suite, which meant a double bed in the main space and a second room with two singles just off the corridor, as well as a small but well-appointed kitchenette.

The flatscreen TV in my room was mounted on a pole and designed to swivel between

the open-plan living room and bedroom. It also supported a clever/kitsch oversized overhead light, which resembles a giant magnifying glass. This could also be swivelled to shine over the bed, though that required a little more muscle.

Whatever their configuration though, and most rooms can be linked to make a larger apartment, they are modern but not minimal. The palette, a snappy assortment of blacks and whites, is enlivened by swathes of bold geometric print wallpaper, clever tiltshift photographs of Beirut cityscapes by Tony Elieh and soft, golden lighting. From the

©Ieva Saudargaite, The Smallville

Beirut’s first urban hotel is special indeed

wrap-around balconies (only one set of corner rooms comes without one), the views over Beirut are both beautiful and also quite different than those enjoyed at other hotels. Rather than the sea, the mountains or the sandstone glow of central Beirut, it is the ziggurats of Mount Ashrafieh, the cushiony canopies of the Hippodrome and Forêt des Pins and the steady stream of nighttime traffic along the Damascus Road that delight here.

This is particularly the case from the compact rooftop pool – infinity, of course – which seems to hover over the racetrack. It’s a lovely place to soak, drink in hand and watch the sunset.

Though it will only be opening later this year, the rooftop will also be home to the hotel’s second restaurant, the Pool House, a Mediterranean eatery, serving assorted dishes from Spain, Italy, Greece and, of course, Lebanon. It may also – though this is yet to be determined – be the place where winter breakfasts will be served.

If my vote counts for anything, I would urge the Fakhry family, the minds behind The Smallville, to do so. I can’t think of anywhere better to down eggs Benedict or a mid-morning Mimosa.

notable touches, among them the unctuous bitterballen, a cheesy, mildly spicy potatoey delight that is stuffed with dates.

The design throughout is the work of Architects Anonymous.

Their deft mix of technological touches (the ceiling LCD screens in the red glass-paneled lifts, for example, and the electronic tickertape display in the lounge), semi-futuristic furniture, splashes of vivid color and bold graphics is best described as contemporary casual. This moniker might just as well be applied to the hotel’s warmly informal staff, who eschew traditionally starchy uniforms and come nattily attired in custom-fitted Salsa jeans, screen printed T-shirts and oh-socool blazers. Modern. Urban.

Unpretentious. The Smallville is a little delight.

For reservations, tel. 01.619.999, thesmallville.com

The main restaurant, called The Social, occupies the lovely lobby. Design is key here too, and it’s a clever mix of pavement café and modern lounge, with a striking yellow glass curtain box for more formal dinners and a terraced contemporary garden, for outdoor dining. The menu, served up by the memorably named Joseph Joseph, is a mix of international/American dishes – think burgers, pizza, pasta, surf and turf – with a couple of 261 A

A journey _ capri hotel

Italian hideaway

By MacKenzie Lewis

Live a beautiful life at the Capri Palace

When Tonino Cacace took over the family business in 1975, he began a decades-long transition from a four-star hotel on the quiet side of Capri to a luxury hideaway. In the process, standard rooms were converted to palatial suites designed in tribute to Hollywood stars. The Presidential Suite Paltrow, on the hotel’s top floor, includes two spacious bedrooms, a terrace and garden, two private pools and panoramic views of the sparkling bay, local villages and surrounding islands. Dedicated to the Oscar winner and sometime hotel guest, the Deco-styled suite features black and white portraits of Gwyneth Paltrow that watch A 262

over visitors. Other suites pay homage to Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn.

In keeping with a well-rounded approach to the good life, the Capri Beauty Farm appeals to the mind as well as the body. The spa offers an array of treatments that range from medical (food intolerance tests and posture counseling) to pampering (coconut peels and deep tissue massages), combining the advances of modern medicine with holistic treatments.

The hotel’s Michelin-starred Il Riccio, once a favorite of Jacqueline Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis, is similarly a selfproclaimed “resting place for the soul.”

One of three restaurants on the resort, it features a traditional fish counter

with freshly caught octopus, lobster and cuttlefish, and a “room of temptation,” filled with delectable desserts. Artist Paul Sandulli created mermaids to decorate the space, while majolica tiles from Vietri decorate the kitchen.

Art is a central focus of the hotel, evident from the subtlest details to the White Museum. An on-site museum inspired in its design by the great masters, it features work by renowned artists, as well as participants of the hotel’s Artists in Residence program.

The Capri Hotel & Spa hosts emerging talent while they work, blurring the lines between artist, art and resort.

For reservations, tel. 39.08.1978.0111, capripalace.com

©Capri Palace Hotel & Spa

If there’s one thing to take away from a stay at the Capri Palace Hotel & Spa in Anacapri, Italy, it’s that life is beautiful.

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A last _ word

Love Lebanese wine

By Michael Karam

will think you’re cheap if you buy local?

We have it in our minds that Bordeaux produces wines that will transport us to paradise, but in reality only 5 percent of the 650 million of bottles made by 13,000 producers from that region is the stuff of legend. The rest is pretty ordinary.

So if you genuinely prefer red Burgundy because you appreciate the pinot noir, or you’ve fallen madly in love with New Zealand sauvignon blanc then fair enough, but please don’t just buy a wine because it looks good, and you want to impress your friends, especially if you have a favorite Lebanese that you enjoy and want to share.

Because isn’t enjoyment and sharing what it’s ultimately all about?

consumers apply the same rationale and are influenced more by label design and region than any understanding of what’s in the bottle. Only a real enthusiast will check to see what grapes are used, and whether or not it has been aged in oak.

Few of us will consider that the wine, if it is a full bodied red, might be a bit young to drink and probably not know that the more affordable the wine, the chances are you will enjoy it more because it is made to be drunk now.

If this sounds like you, don’t be too offended. About 90 percent of wine

But when you have a country that produces great wines, why suddenly assume people

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Let’s bust this myth that Lebanese wine is somehow inferior. Pound for pound it’s as good as any wine on earth. It’s just a matter of taste.

©Kefraya

I’m sure you’ve been there. You’re invited to dinner and you want to take wine. But what to buy? Lebanese? Best not. What will people think? Something French with a funky label? Bordeaux? That sounds impressive. So do Burgundy and Côtes du Rhône. Oh, and there’s Italy and Spain.

But do I really know what I’m buying?

Not really, but if it’s expensive and looks good who’s going to care? And these wine shops will put it in a nice bag. It’s all about presentation, isn’t it?

If you really want to show off, buy a bottle of unoaked Lebanese red made with some Cinsault or a white that has some Obeideh, and tell anyone at the table that the Bekaa Valley is one of the most impressive wine regions on earth. Inform those who complain that Lebanese wine gives them a headache that they probably drank the wrong wine (too young and too tannic) at the wrong time (without food in midsummer) and that a young Château Petrus would probably have the same effect.