C California Style & Culture

Fashionable Living

Alessandra Ambrosio

Cover

BOHEMIAN SOUL

Valerie von Sobel’s mountaintop abode

Laure Hériard Dubreuil & Aaron Young’s art-filled beach house

Benjamin Millepied’s next dance

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FASHIONABLE LIVING EDITION PLUS KELLY WEARSTLER / SEA RANCH / BOOMING MONTECITO / WELLNESS RETREATS

& CU

Gucci

Gucci

Prada

Prada

Cartier

Cartier

Saint Laurent

Saint Laurent

Bottega Veneta

Bottega Veneta

Jimmy Choo

Jimmy Choo

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STATEMENTS

Wave hello to the all-new Sea Ranch.................................................................................................................................... 29

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The East Coast’s The Gilded Owl lands on these shores.................................................................................... 35 Moncler finds a new home on Rodeo Drive.................................................................................................................. 36 Gucci goes gaming in its playful new Lifestyle collection.................................................................................. 38

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TOC 1

Montecito’s scorching real estate 90. 44 market shows no sign of cooling off.....................................................................................................................................

The group behind A.O.C. wine bar expands with four new L.A. spots............................................................................................................................................ 46

FEATURES Alessandra Ambrosio on falling for California and her mini-Coachella................................................................................................................................... 50

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Benjamin Millepied on nearly 10 years at the helm of the Los Angeles Dance Project................................................................................................ 74 Inside Laure Hériard Dubreuil’s art-filled Malibu beach house....................................................................................................................................................... 80

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DISCOVERIES

Homestead Modern’s magical Joshua Tree retreat.........................................................................................

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The sisters turning plums into cult beauty products................................................................................................................................................................

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Kelly Wearstler’s Zen moments........................................................................................................................................

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46.

VALERIE: ELIOT LEE HAZEL. ALESSANDRA: WE ARE THE RHOADS. LAURE: THE INGALLS. BENJAMIN: FRANK OCKENFELS.

Valerie von Sobel’s fashionable life in the San Jacinto Mountains................................................................................................................................................. 64

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ALESSANDRA AMBROSIO: WE ARE THE RHOADS. FASHION NEWS: SALVATORE FERRAGAMO. DECOR & DESIGN: TIM STREET-PORTER. EVENTS: VALENTINO. PROFILES: KURT ISWARIENKO. TRAVEL: SAN YSIDRO RANCH.

Cover star Alessandra Ambrosio on the irresistible pull of The Golden State

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Contributing Editors Caroline Cagney, Elizabeth Khuri Chandler, Kendall Conrad, Danielle DiMeglio, Nandita Khanna, Stephanie Rafanelli, Diane Dorrans Saeks, Andrea Stanford, Stephanie Steinman, Nathan Turner Contributing Writers Catherine Bigelow, Christina Binkley, Samantha Brooks, Kerstin Czarra, Peter Davis, Helena de Bertodano, Marshall Heyman, David Hochman, Christine Lennon, Ira Madison III, Martha McCully, Jessica Ritz, S. Irene Virbila, Chris Wallace Contributing Photographers Guy Aroch, David Cameron, Mark Griffin Champion, Gia Coppola, Victor Demarchelier, Amanda Demme, Michelangelo Di Battista, Lisa Eisner, Douglas Friedman, Sam Frost, Adrian Gaut, Beau Grealy, Zoey Grossman, Pamela Hanson, Rainer Hosch, Kurt Iswarienko, Danielle Levitt, Kurt Markus, Blair Getz Mezibov, Lee Morgan, Ben Morris, Pia Riverola, Alistair Taylor-Young, Jack Waterlot, Jan Welters

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ife in California is unique compared to most any other place in the world. That singular spectacularness, that’s the reason people are drawn, almost irresistibly, to our shores to make a life — and what a life it can be!

With this issue, our nod to fashionable living — an incarnation of what once was our special home edition — we have spotlighted a few amazing residents who take living to the next level.

Valerie von Sobel stands out in any room she enters, with her sartorial flair for the dramatic. She translates that aesthetic into her home in Idyllwild. Almost as if out of a fairytale, it is the ultimate escape from a life of philanthropy, soirees and being a muse to many.

Laure Hériard Dubreuil was a trendsetter from the start, having created the retail empire The Webster.

When she married the equally talented artist Aaron Young, their union of style was destined for greatness, and as predicted, a beautiful balance of work and family ensued. We visit them at their new Malibu getaway to discover the secret to their success.

Benjamin Millepied is truly at the top of his game. From a legendary career in dance to becoming one of the top choreographers in the world and launching a successful dance company in Los Angeles, the multihyphenate is now adding a new title — movie director — to his already impressive résumé. But what strikes me is not only that he accomplishes so much but that he always does so with such grace — the most fashionable way to live!

And in this unmatched setting, who wouldn’t want to run off into the sunset? At Topanga’s new Elsewhere, you can, and our cover subject, model Alessandra Ambrosio, does just that in this season’s finest bohemian garb, embodying our own flower-child dreams.

Because at the end of the day, isn’t it all really just about living out our (California) dreams?

NICK FOUQUET Broken Soul beaver felt hat, $1,425, Studio C, Playa Vista, 12751 Millennium Dr., Playa Vista.

CHANEL FINE JEWELRY Impression de Camélia earrings, price upon request, chanel.com.

Founders

Founder, Editorial Director and CEO

@ccaliforniastyle

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Booties, price upon request, givenchy.com.

ON THE COVER

Photography by WE ARE THE RHOADS. Fashion Direction by KATIE MOSSMAN. Hair by ROB TALTY at Forward Artists using IGK Hair.

Makeup by GINA BROOKE BEAUTY for Kisolite Clay at The Wall Group using Armani Beauty.

Manicure by MEL SHENGARIS at Forward Artists using OPI. ALESSANDRA AMBROSIO wears GIORGIO ARMANI top, jacket, pants and boots.

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ILLUSTRATION: DAVID DOWNTON.

JENNIFER SMITH

GIVENCHY

Valentino

Zendaya by David Sims at the Palace Theater in Los Angeles, 17th April 2021

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C P E O P L E

IN MEMORIAM

Andrea Stanford

W

hen I first met Andrea Stanford I had just opened a shop on Almont Drive, and Andrea, along with C’s founder Jennifer Smith, stopped by to say hello. Jennifer was launching this magazine about California and Andrea was its home and design editor [a position she held for about five years before continuing on as a contributor]. I was new to Los Angeles at the time, and though I had met Andrea’s brothers (the infamous Borda boys!) when we were teens (coincidentally, we both grew up in Carson Valley), I had only heard about their cool older sister. Little did I know she’d turn out to be the cool older sister I always wanted.

Supportive, loving, wickedly funny — with the best laugh ever. That day Andrea (who going forward I only referred to as “Stanford”) convinced Jennifer to not only feature me in one of the first issues of C but make me an ongoing contributor as well.

But it wasn’t just me. Stanford loved to discover new talent, to connect people and watch those relationships thrive. She championed creatives and the interiors community, and all this was rooted in her deep love of design.

Almost 20 years later, I’m still on the masthead at C and dear friends with Jennifer. Stanford always knew the coolest places and the hottest trends and loved sharing them. Her energy was infectious, and she always entered a room with warmth and light. When she later signed on to One Kings Lane and came up with the idea for their Tastemaker Tag Sales, I was her first subject.

She liked to call me her guinea pig. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I always trusted Stanford and she never let me down. (By the way, my sale sold out in hours!) Any time you got a call from Stanford you knew there was something exciting brewing. So many fun projects and collaborations over the years — too many to mention — but all were infused with her passion and brilliance.

Stanford passed away this summer after a heroic battle with cancer, but she left an indelible mark on the California design community and beyond. In her spirit, let’s continue her work of lifting others up and spreading support and love. ♥

Contributors C

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COOL COLLECTIBLES FROM LOCAL ARTISANS AND GLOBAL TASTEMAKERS

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A portal at THE SEA RANCH LODGE leads guests from the boardwalk to the west side of the property. Below: A walking trail within The Sea Ranch community.

T A T E CONTRIBUTORS ANDREW BARKER

JESSICA RITZ

ANUSH J. BENLIYAN

REBECCA RUSSELL

MAX BERLINGER

ERIK TORKELLS

KELSEY McKINNON

ELIZABETH VARNELL

GEMMA ZOË PRICE

S. IRENE VIRBILA

Statement Opener

M E N

CHANGING TIDES Northern California’s iconic Sea Ranch Lodge is reborn

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Clockwise: The Sea Ranch Lodge deck. The property is perched on 53 acres of NorCal coastline. The Lodge building houses the general store, post office, cafe and more.

The community’s sheep and goats are used for prescribed grazing. Serene Pacific views from a meadow.

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lmost 50 years after the coastal Sea Ranch community was first conceptualized along Sonoma’s rugged cliffs, its iconic Lodge reopens this October after an extensive revitalization by a collection of designers including Mithun, Terremoto and The Office of Charles de Lisle, with a standing invitation for visitors to stop by and experience this jaw-dropping setting firsthand.

Public spaces within the 10,000-square-foot structure have been restored and reconfigured in keeping with the original developer and architects’ vision of living lightly on the land, stewarding it for future generations. Architectural design firm Mithun took visual cues from the windsculpted coastline and traditional barns, emphasizing rough, natural materials inside and out and reorienting venues to focus on the Lodge’s main amenities: bluff-top Pacific Ocean vistas, the sound

of crashing waves and views of native wildlife wandering across the property’s rambling meadows.

The Lodge’s oceanfront dining room, overseen by executive chef Eric Piacentine (previously of Big Sur Bakery), specializes in elevated comfort food such as homemade pappardelle with foraged mushrooms and Sonoma duck with wild rice, beets and huckleberries. A cozy fireside bar and lounge with a solarium, a new artisanal cafe and mercantile general store and 500,000 square feet of oceanfront land for events round out the facilities and will host cultural programming.

The Lodge, set on 53 acres of coastal landscaping, has long been a hub for the wider 7,000-acre Sea Ranch community, envisioned in 1964 by its developer and a group of architects including Al Boeke, Lawrence Halprin and MLTW to embody Californian ideals of optimism, creativity and a desire to live in harmony with nature and the surrounding landscape. The Ranch stretches 10 miles

Sea Ranch

along the Pacific’s coastal shelf to incorporate 2,224 private homes framed by cypress hedgerows, rolling hills and meadows, and forests of redwood and Douglas fir connected by hiking trails to Gualala Point Regional Park.

60 Sea Walk Drive, The Sea Ranch; thesearanchlodge.com. G.Z.P.

LOBE LOVE Adorn your ears with pearls From left: DAVID WEBB earrings, price upon request.

TIFFANY & CO. Tiffany HardWear South Sea earrings, $3,700.

SOPHIE BILLE BRAHE Celie earrings, $3,063.

VAN CLEEF & ARPELS Magic Alhambra earrings, $11,600.

BUCCELLATI Rete con Pearl earrings, $5,700. R.R.

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THE FENDI FIRST A modern classic emerges from Kim Jones’ first ready-to-wear collection for the Roman brand

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Fendi

FENDI First small handbag in white leather with python trim, $3,190.

Photography by MARK GRIFFIN CHAMPION 32

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Vacheron Constantin

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D E S I G N NATASHA BARADARAN's NB Essential Due Colori cabinet, featuring vegan parchment doors in rose gold and amethyst.

CLOSE TO HOME

FINE PRINT Kathleen and Tommy Clements, the mother-son duo behind Los Angeles’ Clements Design, could have penned their first book years ago. Since teaming up over a decade ago, the pair have set the high-water mark for California aesthetes with worldly, sophisticated spaces for high-profile clients including Bruno Mars and Jennifer Lawrence. But their style has never been to kiss and tell, which makes their debut tome, Eight Homes (Rizzoli New York, $75), all the more exciting. From a Spanish-style house in Beverly Hills to a tropical Hawaiian hideaway, homes for friends and collaborators including architect Howard Backen, Ellen DeGeneres and artist Ingrid Donat attest to the pair’s preternatural eye for composition and their unique creative language. K.M.

Design News

Since debuting her eponymous line in 2014, Natasha Baradaran has found inspiration for her fashion-forward furniture designs and textiles from her multicultural (Persian and Italian) background and international travels.

But during California’s stay-at-home order last year, with wanderlust on the backburner, the interior designer discovered an unexpected muse: Los Angeles. Taking cues from her own Beverly Hills abode and the idea that your home is your haven, Baradaran’s new NB Essential collection of versatile, contemporary and customizable pieces is anchored by plush upholstery — spotlighting her proprietary luxe fabrics, of course — unlacquered brass and warm woods, with standouts like the whimsical Globeau pouf and the Due Colori cabinet. 723½ N. La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood, 323-456-4314; natashabaradaran.com. A.J.B.

The clamshell-andchrome fountain by CHARLAP HYMAN & HERRERO.

SHOW OF HANDS What do you get if you cross a Case Study House

by Richard Neutra with three of Los Angeles’ rising-star creatives?

“Built In,” the first show at the Neutra VDL House since the pandemic began, sees over 25 local artists, architects, designers and creators selected by gallerists and designers Benjamin Critton and Heidi Korsavong (of Marta) and artist Erik Benjamins to create site-specific works that blend in seamlessly with the midcentury-modern masterpiece, complementing its right angles and lush landscaping.

Highlights include a sound installation by Jeremiah Chiu, featuring archival interview footage with Dione Neutra (Richard’s wife), and a clamshelland-chrome fountain in the reflecting pool by Charlap Hyman & Herrero. neutra-vdl.org. A.B.

QUILTY PLEASURES “Sanford Biggers: Codeswitch” at the California African American Museum marks the celebrated New York City-based multidisciplinary artist’s Los Angeles homecoming. On view through January 23, 2022, the exhibition is a comprehensive survey of the Codex series of altered quilts that he began in 2009. Biggers, who grew up in L.A., says his transformation of these antiques using various materials can be characterized as desecration, embellishment or beautification. In addition to powerfully examining themes of race, identity and art history, the remixed visual vernacular of these pieces upends entrenched hierarchies assigned to textile arts and other crafts. “I always want to disrupt that narrative,” Biggers says. 600 State Dr., L.A., 213-744-2084; caamuseum.org. J.R. A detail of Bonsai, 2016, by SANFORD BIGGERS.

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NEUTRA VDL HOUSE: ERIK BENJAMINS. SEVENTH HOUSE: AUSTIN LEIS.

S S T ysl.com T A A T T E E M M E E N N T T S S

BATHE AREA Malibu-based Vast Studio elevates the prosaic bathtub and sink to “functional pieces of art,” in the words of co-founder and creative director Ryan White, a Los Angeles-based interior designer whose work has been featured in Elle Décor and House Beautiful. And its first client just happened to be one of Malibu’s most famous residents: Miley Cyrus, whose Vast tub took center stage in her latest home story for AD, not to mention her Instagram feed (with her inside). Inspired by the hammams and bathhouses of Africa and Mesopotamia, where bathing was a

Bathtub IV in blush concrete by VAST STUDIO, $7,995.

SEVENTH HOUSE.

ritualistic act, Vast uses patented processes and the latest engineering to create lightweight metal or concrete pieces with a sleek design that’s neatly placed between timeless and timely. vaststudio.com. A.B.

STYLE STUDIO

Cienega which is already a big hit with Los Angeles’ interior-designer community, who are drawn in by his exquisite mix of “My aesthetic is a mix of eclectic and custom creations, Japanese antiques and minimalist,” says Adriano Balestra, an sought-after pieces by the likes of Pierre Italian interior designer by trade who Jeanneret and Le Corbusier. “I am deeply used the extra time afforded by the inspired by the Japanese culture and pandemic to set up shop. Having trained wabi sabi, where pieces have a meaning, a under the likes of the Obamas’ favorite story behind them and unique character, Michael S. Smith and taken inspiration often noticeable from a unique patina or from the Belgian designer Axel Vervoordt, textures,” says the Roman transplant, who he has just opened a showroom on La moved to L.A. when he was 18 and studied interior design at UCLA. Seven years in, he STUDIO BALESTRA. has no plans to head back any time soon. “I have been influenced by the beauty of architecture and art that my country has to offer. However, Italy was too sleepy for me and too old school — interior design isn’t a real job there, it is more of a hobby.” 767 N. La Cienega Blvd., L.A., 424-3628202; studio-balestra.com. A.B.

Design News

RISE AND SHINE At the ripe old age of 28, Trevor Cheney — the former director of Galerie Half and interiors adviser to the likes of Jennifer Aniston and Ryan Murphy — has already become one of the design world’s most promising young stars.

When one of Frank Gehry’s early masterpieces became available on Melrose Avenue earlier this year, Cheney decided it was time to strike out on his own.

This September, he opened the doors to Seventh House inside the stunning cubist compound, where there’s plenty of space for Cheney — who already represents Giancarlo Valle, Max Zinser and Greg Moore — to experiment with fresh ideas. “I wanted everything here to have a clean and contemporary feeling regardless of what decade or design movement a piece came from,” he says. 7001 Melrose Ave., L.A., 323-591-0156; seventhhouse.la. K.M.

RARE BIRD A coveted stretch of Beverly Boulevard (where you’ll find Nickey Kehoe, Garde and other industry favorites) recently welcomed its newest denizen: designer Andy Goldsborough’s The Gilded Owl. The debut West Coast outpost of the Hudson, N.Y.-born art-and-design gallery boasts an ever-evolving curation of private-label home goods (like handmade Levaggi chairs and Goldsborough-designed abstracted camouflage rugs). Not to miss are The Gilded Owl’s exclusive commissions, which were kicked off in Los Angeles by AD100 design firm Charlap Hyman & Herrero, who created a series of sculptural tables inspired by the kidney-shaped pools of midcentury California. 7282 Beverly Blvd., L.A., 917-270-2480; thegildedowl.com. A.J.B. From left: THE GILDED OWL. A rare set of ’80s-era dinnerware by ANGELA CUMMINGS for ARITA, $3,800, set atop a SIVA ARREDAMENTI 1950s dining table, $8,000.

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MICHAEL KORS COLLECTION Fall/Winter 2021.

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HIT PARADE

TEAMING UP Giorgio Armani holds a vaunted spot in Hollywood, with a history of dressing stars before many fashion houses dreamed of looking to the West Coast for style partnerships. Now the designer, who owns a professional basketball team in Milan and has outfitted Olympians and UEFA soccer teams alike, is partnering with the Los Angeles Chargers’ premium membership program, Chargers LUX. On any given Sunday, suite owners and Armani connoisseurs will sport design-forward customized merch inside Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium.

Chargers players including running back Austin Ekeler and cornerback Michael Davis previewed polos, tailored blazers and suede coats in the preseason, kicking off the Italian house’s first partnership with an American football team. Bolts game-day style just got elevated. chargers.com; armani.com. E.V.

Style News

The Fall/Winter 2021 Michael Kors Collection show featured a total of 15 archival looks — including a Resort 1991 crystal-encrusted crepe slip dress — as a nod to the brand’s 40th anniversary. The curated ensemble, dubbed the MK40 Reissue Capsule, marks the first time Kors has rereleased a garment since his brand’s inception four decades ago. But now the designer has embedded a techforward twist: Each piece includes a QR code sewn inside linking to stories about the design, along with photos, personal anecdotes and videos of Kors discussing the look. Be on the lookout for monthly drops of the capsule collection in stores. michaelkors.com. E.V.

Chargers cornerback MICHAEL DAVIS in GIORGIO ARMANI.

MONCLER Beverly Hills.

Below: A limited-edition Pupazzo art toy by artist STEVEN HARRINGTON.

NEW PEAKS Upon entering Moncler’s gleaming new Beverly Hills flagship, you’re greeted by an oversize cartoon character, dubbed a Pupazzo, which was designed

by Los Angeles-based artist Steven Harrington.

Outfitted in a baby-blue puffer jacket emblazoned with clouds and holding Harrington’s signature palm tree, the sculpture reflects the heritage brand’s playful yet plush sensibility. The spacious new boutique, clad in pinewood, ivory Italian travertine and Ceppo di Gré stone, is centered around a sinuous helical staircase connecting the first and second levels.

An elegant rooftop terrace awaits guests for the French brand’s future instore events. 340 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 424354-4562; moncler.com. K.M.

PILLOW TALK Rest assured with vibrant designer cushions From left: GUCCI floral pillow, $750. ELDER STATESMAN striped pillow, $1,095. LOUIS VUITTON Objets Nomades Flower Field pillow by Atelier Oï, $3,050. SAINT LAURENT RIVE DROITE Marrakesh pillow, $4,500. MISSONIHOME Humbert pillow, $210. R.R.

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David Webb

The Beverly Wilshire - 9500 Wilshire Boulevard • 310-858-8006 • www.davidwebb.com • @davidwebbjewels

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RALPH LAUREN The Welington Collection embellished shoulder bag, $1,950. Below: The range includes Stirrup watches in new black finishes.

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GAME START As a child, Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele found that everyday objects had magical and mysterious auras. “Going to the stationery store and finding pencils, pens, notebooks, games meant bringing a dream into my daily routine,” he says. Such memories prompted the Italian fashion house’s new Lifestyle collection, complete with bewitching canvascovered notebooks and hexagonal notepads — also available with graphically patterned covers made from Gucci’s animal-free Demetra material and pages made from FSC-certified pure cellulose paper — plus letter cases, stationery sets, colored pencils and handcrafted glass-domed paperweights encasing florals or Disney characters. Playing cards made by Italy-based Modiano with mythical landscape scenes join marbled resin dice, while briefcases contain poker or backgammon sets. How to dress for such drawing-room pursuits?

Silk-satin pajamas in house prints paired with mules or slippers. At last, the perfect implements to pen an engrossing epistolary novel are conjured in one collection. gucci.com. E.V.

Style News

From top: GUCCI Lifestyle collection Geometric G print backgammon sets, $4,100 each. Disney x Gucci Daisy Duck fan, $390.

What better way for Ralph Lauren to pay tribute to its equestrian roots than to launch a collection dedicated to and designed around traditional saddlery? A buckle or signature motif appears throughout The Welington Collection, across shoulder bags, riding boots and fine jewelry for women as well as belts, totes and timepieces for men. Leather goods come in an array of finishes from truffle leather and python to chestnut and suede. ralphlauren.com. A.B.

IN THE FOLD Hold on to an origami pouch From left: ACNE STUDIOS bag, $1,050.

JW ANDERSON Twister bag, $995. TOD’S T Timeless tote, $2,945.

BOTTEGA VENETA bag, $3,200. R.R.

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BLUE STATE Making time for indigo wrist candy

TIFFANY & CO. Tiffany Knot bangles, from $6,900.

TO HAVE AND HAVE KNOT The industrial chain link, ubiquitous on city streets, is reimagined in a striking new Tiffany & Co. line of bracelets, pendants, rings, earrings and necklaces. The entwined Tiffany Knot design symbolizes connections between individuals and bonds with their surrounding environs, even the city itself. A single artisan sees each piece through from start to finish, handcrafting each component from castings. 210 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-273-8880; 350 Post St., S.F., 415-781-7000; tiffany.com. E.V.

POTENT GOODS Offline kimono, $275, and lounge pants, $160.

PUFF PIECE Juicy Couture co-founder Gela Nash-Taylor — whose iconic velour tracksuit defined an era of Los Angeles fashion — has teamed up with her son, Travis Nash, to launch a brand for the next generation of trendsetters.

Their new Hollywoodbased luxury cannabis and lifestyle line, Potent Goods, includes premium bud products meant to “tilt you toward euphoria,” as Nash-Taylor likes to say: signature packs of seven pre-rolls (each of which has a half gram of high-quality flower) and a discreet all-in-one vape pen. And naturally, the range also includes elevated unisex loungewear, from floral-print kimonos to snake-print windbreaker sets, as well as smart accessories for the stylesavvy cannabis connoisseur. potentgoodslashop.com. A.J.B.

Style News

Artist ALEX ISRAEL’s digital trunk images, on display in LOUIS VUITTON shop windows through November.

From top: CARTIER Tank Must watch, $2,860. BULGARI Gerald Genta 50th Anniversary Arena Bi-retro watch, $61,000. IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN Big Pilot’s Watch 43, $8,400. JAEGERLeCOULTRE Reverso Tribute Monoface Small Seconds watch, $8,750. VACHERON CONSTANTIN Fiftysix Complete Calendar watch, $24,000. R.R.

OUTSIDE THE BOX Toasting the bicentennial of designer Louis Vuitton’s birthday, the French fashion house aptly invited 200 creatives to redesign its most emblematic object: the travel trunk. Of the worldwide visionaries, California’s artistic set — including architect Frank Gehry and artists Jwan Yosef, Alex Israel and Kandis Williams — lent their unique eye to the project, dubbed Louis 200.

After their digital debut, the unique works are slated for auction by Sotheby’s in December, with proceeds benefiting an arts-driven charity. louisvuitton.com. E.V.

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SLIP SERVICE Ermenegildo Zegna Italian quality and SoCal cool make Ermenegildo Zegna’s #UTE Triple Stitch sneaker a thing of understated beauty

Above and below: The #UseTheExisting Triple Stitch sneaker, $750/pair,

by ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA.

W

hen it comes to style, California has always done things differently.

Instead of a power suit, for instance, Angelenos of influence tend to be spotted in artfully tattered jeans and a perfect white tee. Up in Silicon Valley, tech titans upset the Old World sartorial hierarchies when they embraced casual fare like the high-end hoodie and, in recent years, cashmere sweatpants.

But above all, there’s the West Coast’s enduring embrace of the sneaker, a love that borders on obsession.

So maybe it’s a bit surprising that it’s an Italian label that has crafted a shoe so beautifully attuned to the breezy SoCal lifestyle. But that’s exactly what Ermenegildo Zegna has done with the #UseTheExisting Triple Stitch sneaker. A no-fuss slip-on with a sleek silhouette, this is a shoe that

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Clockwise: The #UTE Triple Stitch tote bag, $1,250, belt, $350, and sneakers, $750. Looks from the ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA XXX Fall/ Winter 2021 collection.

OASI ZEGNA nature park in Piedmont, Italy.

California has been on the forefront of ecological practices that protect the planet’s most valuable resources, and that’s a philosophy baked into Ermenegildo Zegna’s very foundation

Ermenegildo Zegna

understands the casual glamour of a city like Los Angeles, where surfers, skateboarders and Hollywood moguls regularly rub shoulders and, in some instances, are one and the same. It’s like a cross between a sneaker and a driving loafer, perfect for days spent zipping between meetings in a Tesla Model X — not trudging on foot. Plus it’s understatedly chic, meaning it won’t look out of place at the San Vicente Bungalows or on a red carpet. And the luxe materials and crosselastic detail that replaces traditional laces make the subtlest of nods to Zegna’s longstanding commitment to craftsmanship.

Zegna and The Golden State share some other core beliefs, too, like their dedication to the environment. California has been on the forefront of ecological practices that protect the planet’s most valuable resources, and that’s a philosophy baked into Zegna’s very foundation.

In fact, the #UTE Triple Stitch’s latest version comes in a gray felt accented by leather detailing in a rich and earthy color called vicuña, a nod to the llama-like animals of the same name (which are raised in Peru), whose fine, rare wools the brand uses in its garments. Zegna’s dedication to

the environment is also reflected in Oasi Zegna (“Zegna Oasis”), a shining jewel in the Zegna family’s impressive crown. First established in the 1930s by the brand’s founder as an outdoor retreat for residents of the small villages near Zegna’s mills, today those lush rolling hills serve as a living manifestation of the brand’s desire to connect humans to the physical environment around them. That message is more urgent today than ever.

Sustainability is a much-touted buzzword in the fashion industry right now, but it’s one that Zegna actually eschews, believe it or not. The company prefers specific actions to opaque terms. To wit, the #UseTheExisting campaign highlights the brand’s commitment to rethinking the life cycle of textiles and fabrics that would normally go to waste — ranging from finished, leftover textiles to unused fibers — and how they can be reworked into designs. For a family business deeply committed to tradition, it’s an incredibly forward-thinking initiative, as we in California also look toward the future of our planet. zegna.com. 2

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LAUREN TSAI AND THE ART OF STORYTELLING Meet the artist, actor and Thom Browne ambassador

L

auren Tsai is in Japan thinking about death. “I don’t always want to be thinking about death,” she admits, “but I do think it’s OK to let that be something that motivates you.

To remember that nothing really matters, so everything you do should matter. Accepting that nothing matters is a very freeing thing.”

This might sound like heavy conversation fodder, but it’s not. The 23-year-old multimedium artist is talking specifically about her creativity, her fear of being judged and how criticism can sometimes feel so devastating it becomes a roadblock. But if you pull back, suddenly it empowers you to be bold in your work and take risks.

Tsai’s life and artistic persona are a study in beautiful contradictions. Born in Massachusetts, she moved to Hawaii as a child and now splits her time between the U.S. and Japan. “Every time I go back and forth, I think I grow a deeper appreciation for both countries,” she says. Her illustrative work is otherworldly and strange, influenced by anime and comic books and tinged with a certain intergalactic darkness. And while her dreamy tales play out on the page or canvas, her oeuvre also includes an underlying thread of performance. From playing a version of herself on Terrace House: Aloha State to her acting work in the TV show Legion and this year’s coming-of-age dramedy Moxie, Tsai has talents beyond the visual arts. Even her modeling, to a degree, is a performance.

Tsai was photographed in Thom Browne in the Noguchi Garden in Costa Mesa, near the brand’s recently opened South Coast Plaza store. She feels a certain alignment with Browne, who like Tsai isn’t afraid to toy with darker themes and bring them to life in unexpected, alluring ways. “When I’m wearing Thom Browne, I feel like an extremely powerful version of myself,” she says. South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bristol St., Ste. 2632, Costa Mesa, 714-410-8485; thombrowne.com. 2

Thom Browne

Hector pebbled leather bag, $2,600. Above and left: LAUREN TSAI wearing THOM BROWNE.

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Lido Marina Village

Montecito

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BOOM TOWN Why the red-hot Montecito real estate market is win-win for agents and flippers

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irst came the renters: When the world locked down in March 2020, and people in Los Angeles and San Francisco felt the walls closing in, they turned toward Montecito. And why not? Everything that makes the Santa Barbara enclave a lovely place to visit — the weather, the beaches, the hiking, the sheer idyllic setting — also makes it a perfect place to live, especially if you can telecommute.

Soon the rental market went berserk, with prices as much as doubling. So people shifted to buying, or investing in a property where they could temporarily live that would end up as a second home. As the pandemic wore on, Montecito’s appeal only grew, and — unlike in other booming secondary markets, such as the Hamptons or Aspen, where the appeal is seasonal — buyers began to see it as a yearround home. “There’s an urgency that didn’t exist before,” says The Agency’s Eric Haskell, who currently has a property with a pair of oceanfront estates listed for $160 million.

“People may have wanted a house here, but they never needed it because their whole life didn’t center on Montecito. That has changed.”

The old Montecito demographic — literally: it was mainly retirees — has been surpassed by people in their 30s and 40s, with school-age kids.

“It’s a different group than has historically been interested in Montecito,” says Haskell. “I’ve gone to major estates and the people who walk in look like they’re just out of high school.”

With so few homeowners willing to leave during the pandemic, however, what little inventory there was got quickly snapped up. In a classic case of low supply and high demand, asking prices shot through the roof: Depending on whom you ask, they’re up 30 to 40 percent from two years ago. In 2019, the average closing

price was $3.88 million; in 2021 it’s $5.58 million and rising.

“Ten million used to be this mark where there weren’t that many sales every year,” says Robert Riskin of Riskin Partners Estate Group, which sold more than $603 million worth of real estate in 2020 alone. “And if you were going to get $10 million, as a seller, you had to have lots of square footage, a great location, views, guest structures. Now, $10 million buys an OK, average-size house in an average location.”

People are paying over ask, by as much as $2 million, for anything and everything, small to large, in all parts of town. The stuff that used to be held against properties — fire risk, debris-flow damage, proximity to a major road — is routinely overlooked. And if one factor above all nets a premium, it’s move-in condition. “They want the lifestyle immediately, and they’re willing to pay for it,” says Tim Walsh of Village Properties Realtors, who has been selling real estate in Montecito for over 35 years.

Still, demand only grows. “It’s like a whole new group of buyers comes in every two months,” says Walsh. “What they have to understand is that the sellers are in control.

They don’t like hearing that, but it’s the truth.”

Buyers are having to bend over backward: All-cash has long been the MO in Montecito,

Montecito

“What new buyers have to understand is that the sellers are in control” TI M WALSH

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but now offers — and there T are always multiple offers these days — come with no A contingencies attached, no inspections and seven-day T closings. And leasebacks, which used to be rarer than sightings of Meghan and Harry, have become E the norm. “Leasebacks are part of every major transaction M at this point, because no one knows where they’re going to E move,” says Haskell. “There are no rentals, no other homes on N the market. They’re afraid they won’t have anywhere to live.”

T That leads us to who these buyers reportedly are.

S Montecito has always had its share of boldface names, primarily from Hollywood, which hasn’t changed. Notable newcomers include Meg Ryan (who bought for $5.025 million in February 2020 and sold for $13.25 million a year and a half later), Ariana Grande ($6.75 million) and Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo (who flipped an estate for $5.8 million more than they had paid three months earlier). Celebrities who have relocated within Montecito include Dennis Miller (who paid $16.3 million for a new house across the street from the one he sold to Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi) and Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom ($14.2 million).

That said, the major influx is from the worlds of tech and finance. The list of noteworthy buyers spending big is a who’s who: former Google CEO Eric Schmidt ($30.8 million); Vlocity co-founder Craig Ramsey ($31.25 million); East Rock Capital’s Graham Duncan ($19.385 million); Alan Salzman of VantagePoint Capital Partners ($18 million); Scott Casto of Pondera Holdings ($16.3 million); General Assembly co-founder Adam Pritzker ($15.8 million); GameMine founder Daniel Starr ($13.3 million); Tesla’s head of design, Franz von Holzhausen ($12 million); financier Philippe Laffont ($11.7 million); Zappos founder Nick Swinmurn ($8.6 million); Mark Armenante and Young Sohn, more co-founders of Vlocity ($7.2 million); and Mason Morfit of ValueAct Capital ($9.2 million). Dragoneer Investment Group’s Marc Stad even bought twice in less than three weeks — one for $29 million and Continued on p.97

Words by ERIK TORKELLS Illustration by DEREK CHARM 45

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Mahi-mahi with blackolive vinaigrette.

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A.O.C. Brentwood. Below: Heirloom tomato salad with purslane, black olives, charred scallion and feta.

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EXPANSION ON THE MENU For almost two decades, Los Angeles’ wine lovers have flocked to chef Suzanne Goin and sommelier Caroline Styne’s beloved wine bar A.O.C. This past June, the two added a second, casually elegant version on the Westside in the former Tavern space.

“This is really the way Suzanne and I like to eat,” says Styne, “grazing on a variety of dishes and tasting little bits of this and that throughout a meal. It just feels the most festive.” The menu of small and large plates at the new spot is much the same as at the original — stellar charcuterie and cheese boards, inventive salads and, from the wood-burning oven, dishes like clams doused with sherry and a splendid squid-ink arroz negro — with exciting wines

from small producers. Designed by the firm Nickey Kehoe, the light-filled space charms with a palette of lettuce green and charcoal, bistro chairs and velvet booths and banquettes.

During lockdown, the two celebrated restaurateurs were also busy reimagining the food and wine at the Hollywood Bowl and creating two restaurants — and a svelte cocktail bar — for the soon-to-open Proper Hotel in Downtown L.A. Inspired in part by Portuguese flavors, “Caldo Verde will pair bold, direct flavors from the sunny coast and Old World cities with the glorious bounty of our local markets and fishermen,” says Goin, while the rooftop Cara Cara will have a wood-burning oven and a menu inspired by the flavors of Los Angeles.

As for the future of the Lucques Group, “we are doing things how we always have — organically and (for better or worse) without too much of a master plan,” explains Goin. “Our focus has not really changed — we love creating beautiful spaces where people want to be with delicious food and drink.” 11648 San Vicente Blvd., L.A., 310-806-6464; aocwinebar.com. S.I.V.

Food News

The mastermind behind Malibu Farm restaurants and a pioneer of farmto-table fare, Helene Henderson made her way to Los Angeles from Sweden (by way of New York City) without any intentions of becoming a chef. “I had never heard of Malibu, surfers or female chefs when I was growing up, but here I am,” she writes in her new cookbook, Malibu Farm Sunrise to Sunset: Simple Recipes All Day (Clarkson Potter, $40).

The tome features 100 straightforward recipes inspired by Henderson’s Swedish heritage and life by the water — from pytt i panna smokedsalmon hash to vegetablecrust pizzas — and is peppered with personal essays that chronicle the self-taught chef’s extraordinary journey.

“My hope with this book is that it will inspire you to cook more at home,” Henderson writes, “to cook without recipes and with confidence.” A.J.B.

TEQUILA STUNNER If you thought California already had enough tequilas to choose from, think again. El Cristiano has landed with a promise to be the finest-tasting tequila in the world — and it makes a compelling case. Masterminded by the Aceves brothers, third-generation tequila makers in Mexico’s Jalisco Highlands, El Cristiano is made in the village of Arandas using the region’s finest blue Weber agave, which is selected by hand and aged in oak barrels. But the idea was in fact born on a tequila-tasting weekend attended by Christian Navarro of Wally’s Beverly Hills and the Shaffer brothers, who were integral in establishing the Patrón brand. A portion of the money from every bottle sold goes back to Arandas, to help fund its orphanage and public school and the local soccer team. el-cristiano.com. A.B. The EL CRISTIANO range includes a silver, two reposados and three añejos, as well as the premium aged “Ocho” Extra Añejo.

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A.O.C. EXTERIOR: AMY NEUNSINGER. MALIBU FARM: ERIN KUNKEL, REPRINTED FROM MALIBU FARM SUNRISE TO SUNSET BY HELENE HENDERSON. COPYRIGHT © 2021 BY HELENE HENDERSON. PUBLISHED BY CLARKSON POTTER, AN IMPRINT OF RANDOM HOUSE, A DIVISION OF PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE LLC.

PIER PRESSURE

E

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FASHIONABLE LIVING EDITION DIOR coat, $7,700, skirt, $5,300, and boots, $2,390.

Well Opener How Alessandra Ambrosio fell for California Valerie von Sobel’s charmed life in the San Jacinto Mountains

WE ARE THE RHOADS

What will Benjamin Millepied’s next dance look like?

Inside Laure Hériard Dubreuil and Aaron Young’s art-filled beach house California Style & Culture 49

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GIORGIO ARMANI top, $1,895, jacket, $3,695, and pants, $3,295.

Location: Stefan Ashkenazy of Petit Ermitage’s Elsewhere estate in Topanga Canyon; elsewherecalifornia.com.

When she’s not shooting campaigns or covers,

Alessandra Ambrosio spends her downtime playing volleyball and hosting BBQs in her Santa Monica home. Here, the Brazilian supermodel explains the irresistible pull of The Golden State

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SALVATORE FERRAGAMO coat, $4,400, and shoes, price upon request. Opposite: MIU MIU coat, price upon request, and dresses, $2,340 each.

JIMMY CHOO boots, $1,125.

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SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO top, $1,550, vest, $1,290, pants, $950, boots, $2,295, and necklaces, from $1,050.

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BRUNELLO CUCINELLI coat, $11,995. JIMMY CHOO boots, $1,125. Opposite: PRADA coat, 56 request. price upon

SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO dress, $10,500. VHERNIER earrings, $15,400.

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“For my 40th I said, if there’s no Coachella this year, I’m going to do my own mini-Coachella” ALESSANDRA AM BROSIO

O

f the all the hidden talents one might imagine Alessandra Ambrosio uncovering during quarantine, it comes as something of a surprise to learn that she didn’t take up baking sourdough bread or doing crossword puzzles or learning some nearly forgotten needle art. Instead: hair and makeup. The Brazilianborn model, next to whose name the word “bombshell” rarely fails to appear, had never done her own glam routine before. “In my business, you get so spoiled,” she explains.

“People do everything for you. But in the last year, I had to become my own stylist. I thought, OK, it’s time to learn.”

On an afternoon in August, Ambrosio is tucked into a sofa on a breezy second-floor terrace at the Little Beach House Malibu.

She wears a gauzy Missoni shirt in bright turquoise, cutoff denim shorts and braided leather sandals from Bottega Veneta, a brand she’s in the midst of a minor love affair with.

The waves form big, cacophonous barrels down below — just the sort that her daughter Anja, 13, has rushed fearlessly into nearly every day of the summer. (They’re still too intense for her son Noah, age 9.) Ambrosio caught her first wave in Santa Monica years ago, but motherhood has taken the allure out of daredevil sporting. And then there’s the cold water. “In Brazil and Hawaii, I’ll still surf,” she says. “Not here. No wet suits! I’d rather chill.”

Ambrosio has been one of the world’s

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busiest models ever since she was 15 — including a 17-year reign as a Victoria’s Secret Angel until she stepped down in 2017 — so the pandemic offered an opportunity to reconsider the breathless pace of her life.

“The past year was a very interesting change for me,” she says. “It was a moment where home became everything. I was so used to traveling, being on the road all the time. I had a great support system here while I was working, where my parents would fly in to help, or my sister would come with her family. But they couldn’t travel. I became my kids’ teacher, their everything. It was great bonding time for us, a time to spend every day together, which we had never done, to get to know each other in a deeper way.”

Since moving to the U.S. 22 years ago (she gained her citizenship last year), punctuated by stints in Paris and Tokyo, Ambrosio has truly made a home for herself here in California. Her children’s father, Jamie Mazur, who founded Re/Done jeans, grew up in Los Angeles, and they moved here together from New York in 2008. (The couple split up a few years ago.) “As soon as I got pregnant,” Ambrosio says, “I said, I’m going to make the move. I always wanted to be as close to the ocean as I could. Growing up in Brazil, we didn’t live by the sea, but I would go whenever we had time, every summer. We Brazilians do have that style of life, the need to be by the water.”

A peripatetic creature by temperament and profession, Ambrosio has learned to appreciate her own backyard, literally. “I’m

not a very good cook,” she says, “but I love being a little mixologist, and I got good at making different margaritas all the time, grabbing things that grow at my house — kumquats or different types of lemons from the tree, mixing it up, adding mint or rosemary from the herb garden.” In the last year, she isolated with a small pod of close friends who would come over for dinner and drinks and what became the official pandemic pastime: Mexican Train, a game played with dominoes. As the days got warmer, Ambrosio and her friends and children formed a volleyball group at the beach. She has always loved to play but never had the chance to do it regularly. “I even took some classes. I think I got good.”

The pandemic also gave Ambrosio a break from modeling work, which made it the perfect opportunity for a retrospective project. Around the end of 2019, photographer Stewart Shining, whom Ambrosio has known for 25 years — since she first came to New York — suggested that they look at the enormous number of images they had made together, many unpublished, and build a book out of them. “It was a dream project,” she says. “Neither of us had done a book before.” Alessandra, as it is called, will be out in time for Christmas. It brings together old and new work, including images from what she calls her “last party” — a trip to Rio de Janeiro’s Carnaval. “I’ve been a model for 20 years, we’ve been working together for 20 years, I turned 40 this year. It just feels like the perfect timing.”

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VALENTINO dress, $26,000.

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LOUIS VUITTON top and jacket, prices upon request, skirt, $5,200, and boots, $2,470. Opposite: DIOR coat, $7,700, skirt, $5,300, boots, $2,390, and earrings, $690.

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“Be who you are. Don’t try to be anyone else. Fashion is finally giving a chance to everyone to feel important” ALESSANDRA AM BROSIO

Quarantine set the scene for lessglamorous but equally satisfying projects.

Ambrosio has a chocolate lab named Cinnamon who became friendly with a neighbor’s golden retriever. Last September, Cinnamon gave birth to 10 puppies. “That was pretty special,” Ambrosio says. “Growing up in Brazil, you just let the dogs out, and my dog would always have litters, then we’d give the puppies away to friends. I thought, well, it would be great for my kids to experience that — to see them since day one, the whole process. It was really cool for me and for them. I was taking care of this massive litter, and we gave the puppies away when they were ready to leave their mom and kept one for ourselves.”

Ambrosio makes a point of introducing her children to the values and traditions of Brazil, which was easy enough when her own parents regularly came to town to help out with childcare. In their absence, there is the Sunday Brazilian barbecue that Ambrosio has made a weekly tradition at her home in Santa Monica whenever she is in town. She shops at a Brazilian butcher on Venice Boulevard, who supplies the essential cuts: picanha, the much-prized rump cap with its thick blanket of fat, and, for the braver guests, chicken hearts. A dear friend of hers, who is married to a Brazilian woman and has become an expert in the art of churrasco, tends the grill, while Ambrosio mixes up caipirinhas and margaritas with whatever fruit she has on hand — kiwis or strawberries, watermelon, pineapple. Ambrosio’s boyfriend, the model

Richard Lee, may make a pie for dessert, while she throws together the traditional Brazilian fudge balls called brigadeiros for the children.

While she tries to keep Brazil alive in her children’s imagination, like all parents Ambrosio must contend with the power of the iPhone. She was able to take her kids to Brazil for three months last winter, and when they returned in March, her son was unsure how he felt about returning to school in person. “He said, ‘I prefer virtual school,’ and I was like, no. You’re going,” she says. “The online thing is so big for them. I didn’t have a virtual world growing up. The friends you made, they were real, and they were in front of you, and you had to deal with the problems in front of you. In this virtual world, things become a bit shallow.”

On the other hand, Ambrosio has had to adapt to the way in which social media has transformed her own industry — sometimes for the better. She takes care of her own Instagram, with more than 10 million followers, nearly every day: spontaneous family moments at home or on the beach mixed with a healthy dose of models having fun, very frequently in bikinis. “Last January, right before the pandemic, I was so tired of social media,” she recalls. “I had a lot going on, a lot of trips to do, and I wanted to live my life.

I even thought about closing my Instagram.

Then the pandemic came, and that was the only thing that kept me doing stuff. I was taking classes online. There’s this amazing yoga teacher in Hawaii who started doing her classes through Instagram Live. And I did a

few interviews. It was a great way to keep my job going.

“I think it’s part of what we do now,” she continues. “We have to do it. Sometimes it’s fun, sometimes it’s a lot of work. I think if I was a millennial I’d be way more on top of it. I haven’t connected with TikTok and all those platforms. I see my kids doing it, and it’s not for me. I can’t force it. I can’t be dancing like a teenager. I’d rather let the young ones do it.”

She remembers the old days, when “behind the scenes” meant a carefully controlled and choreographed encounter. “Now everything is exposed. Which I think is good in a way.

It gives voice to people who have things to say. We’ve had this big change in the fashion industry around inclusion and diversity, and I think that’s great. Social media definitely helped that.”

In 2019, the Victoria’s Secret fashion show was canceled amid declining ratings and growing concern that the company had failed to represent women of different sizes and backgrounds. In June, the brand announced a new fleet of ambassadors that include the soccer great Megan Rapinoe, the trans model Valentina Sampaio and the actor Priyanka Chopra. While Ambrosio has fond memories of her days at Victoria’s Secret, she welcomes the label’s change of course. “When I worked there it was amazing, and we were family,” she says. “But the whole world is changing, and I think it took a little bit of time for Victoria’s Secret to do that. Now they’re doing it with a whole new group of girls. The thing is: Be who Continued on p.97

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GUCCI top, $890, skirt, $1,980, and coat (hanging), $13,000.

JIMMY CHOO boots, $1,125.

Fashion assistants MELINETTE RODRIGUEZ and LONDRA MIRACLES. Hair by ROB TALTY at Forward Artists using IGK Hair. Makeup by GINA BROOKE BEAUTY for Kisolite Clay at The Wall Group using Armani Beauty.

Manicure by MEL SHENGARIS at Forward Artists using OPI. Makeup: ARMANI BEAUTY Luminous Silk foundation, $64, Lip Power lipstick in shade 104 (Selfless), $38, Neo Nude Melting Color Balm cream blush, $38, and Eyes to Kill Stellar eye shadow in shade 4 (Stardust), $36.

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As the pandemic hit, actor, muse and philanthropist Valerie von Sobel made for her Idyllwild retreat, and she still hasn’t left Words by DAVID NASH Photography by ELIOT LEE HAZEL Fashion Direction by ALIONA KONONOVA

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VALERIE VON SOBEL happily tends to her property’s landscaping on a daily basis. ALIONA KONONOVA skirt and dress, SMITH & HAWKEN wellies and shears, and vintage hat.

Opposite: A small chapel sits on the Idyllwild plot.

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ixty minutes outside of Palm Springs, situated on a healthy parcel of land in the San Jacinto Mountains town of Idyllwild — like a scene out of a Hans Christian Andersen story — sits a small chapel and a quaint country home known as Chalet Tournesol. And its main character, with all her eccentricities, fits right in.

An artist, philanthropist, former interior designer and onetime actor — recognized these days for her dazzling red coiffure and thoroughly independent style — Valerie von Sobel admits to being more content surrounded by nature than anywhere else.

“The interruption of a social life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and besides, I hate small talk,” she offers without hesitation in an accent that conjures images of Greta Garbo.

“Here I have my library and my music — it’s entirely enriching, and I consider myself incredibly privileged. Other people should be so lucky.”

Von Sobel acquired the picturesque property in 1995 — the same year she lost her son, husband and mother — and eventually took the existing A-frame down to its foundation to erect what would become her refuge from the heartbreak. As it turned out, the towering ponderosa pines, blooming

Feature Idylwild “The interruption of a social life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, and besides, I hate small talk” VAL E R I E VO N S O B E L

From top: The living room of Chalet Tournesol. A rococo console sits in the entrance hall.

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Von Sobel, reimagined as a winged maiden, on the grounds of her Idyllwild retreat. ALIONA KONONOVA skirt, top, wings and hat. DIOR necklace.

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Von Sobel — wearing a vintage Korean priest’s hat and an ALIONA KONONOVA ensemble (complete with bird-feather brooches) — makes an entrance at the gate of her Japanese garden.

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manzanitas, burbling creeks and imposing granite formations of the high mountain valley made the perfect companions. “My bond has always been with nature, and I simply realized I wanted to be here,” she explains. “Fall is very pretty, but my favorite of the four seasons is winter — it’s truly why I’m here. I have proper snow and it’s absolutely breathtaking.”

The “new” structure, a 19th-century barn she bought in New England and had trucked across the country in 1998, stands in stark contrast to the dramatic interior design of her Los Angeles pied-à-terre filled with European antiques and a remarkable collection of contemporary art. “Being here gives me a total feeling of freedom. I’ve spent the last year and a half here without going back to L.A. once — this is much more of a personal space, designed appropriately for the surroundings.” Named after her son Andre’s favorite flower (tournesol is French for “sunflower”), the house and nearby chapel are a thoughtfully considered homage to his memory. “Of course, everything he loved became sacred to me [after he succumbed to an inoperable brain tumor at age 19]. I have a photo of us in an Austrian chapel, so I had it copied — only the Alps are missing.”

Never one for doing things by half measures, von Sobel fashions every other aspect of her life as well as she outfits her homes. “Clearly I’m not conservative at all when it comes to dressing either,” she laughs.

“Wearing six designers at once — the outcomes of six sets of hands — is typical of how I dress.

Even though Lagerfeld was a f—ing genius, I’d never wear [head-to-toe] Chanel.” While she often mixes haute couture from coveted designers like Christian Lacroix and Jean Paul Gaultier with Target finds, it’s younger talent that she champions in her carefully curated looks, like the work of Aliona Kononova (who also styled von Sobel for this story). “I love supporting emerging designers like Aliona and Irina Dzhus. Every day there is a new talent born and a new vantage point of fashion.”

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The entrance looks onto a pergola of wisteria.

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“My favorite season is winter.

I have proper snow and it’s breathtaking” VAL E R I E VO N S O B E L

From left: A bird cage is part of von Sobel’s remarkable collection of antiques and contemporary art.

Wearing an ALIONA KONONOVA turban and a vintage Venetian diamond octopus bracelet, von Sobel unwinds with Lucy, her 20-year-old dachshund and constant companion.

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Feature Idylwild In fact, the Hungarian-born import was once an emerging talent herself — in Hollywood. After she was discovered, her big break came in 1962’s Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation, opposite Jimmy Stewart, Maureen O’Hara and Fabian. “It was a good time; except I was under contract to Jerry Wald at 20th Century Fox and — just as they’d done to Marilyn Monroe — he changed my name to Valerie Varda.” This revelation may come as a surprise to those who think they know her: “My given name is actually Zsuzsanna, but nobody knew how to pronounce it; feed it to a dog and it would die of word poisoning.” Although she worked in the industry for just a few more years, her husband liked the name, so she kept it. “The only sad part of that flash-inthe-pan career is that I never found out if I could actually act!”

Since then she’s lived “seven lives,” and at 80 years old she now finds herself immersed in a busying routine, with days spent tending her expansive “all-white” garden filled

“Even though Lagerfeld was a f—king genius, I’d never wear [head-to-toe] Chanel” VAL E R I E VO N S O B E L

with wisteria, crocuses, tulips and clematis, designed in the style of the Sissinghurst Castle Garden in Kent, England (not to mention caring for her Japanese garden); reading (at least three books at once); doting on her 20-year-old dachshund, Lucy; and overseeing her foundation, Compassion Can’t Wait, which offers financial and emotional support to families of children with life-threatening illnesses. “When we lost our son, this work meant my emotional survival,” she says bluntly. “And it continues to provide a daily reality check into what it means to be helpless in the face of a child’s sudden terminal illness.”

The way von Sobel readies herself each day is surprisingly uncomplicated, and is both her ultimate indulgence and best advice. “Ever since I was 15 years old, I’ve had breakfast in bed — I’d like to teach the whole world the benefit of it, because you anchor your day in luxury.”

Visit compassioncantwait.org to learn more about von Sobel’s charitable work. X

From left: Von Sobel purchased the picturesque A-frame property in 1995. Von Sobel poised outside Chalet Tournesol — named in memory of her son, Andre — wearing a DZHUS top, CHANEL corset, ALIONA KONONOVA skirt and vintage boots. (The hat is a result of a weekend curling zip ties.) Opposite: The library of Chateau Tournesol.

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RANGE OF MOTION

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As the Los Angeles Dance Project gets ready to turn 10, we catch up with its founder,

Benjamin Millepied, about his new film and the future of the company

Words by KELSEY McKINNON Photography by FRANK OCKENFELS Fashion Direction by CHRISTOPHER CAMPBELL 74

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t a certain point, elite performers often find themselves driven to pass on their knowledge to help shape the next generation: A musician becomes a composer, an actor becomes a director, an athlete becomes a coach or, in the case of Benjamin Millepied, a dancer becomes a choreographer. Nearly a decade ago Millepied, New York City Ballet’s French-born principal, hung up his tights and headed west with his fiancé (now his wife of nine years) Natalie Portman — whom he famously met on the set of Black Swan, which he choreographed and starred in — and started his modern dance company, Los Angeles Dance Project (LADP).

Operating out of a Downtown studio and performing at venues across the city, Millepied has become a tireless champion for his underappreciated art form. In the years that ensued, he’s joined the rarefied ranks of Los Angeles’ cultural heavyweights, including LACMA’s Michael Govan, the L.A. Philharmonic’s Gustavo Dudamel and the Hammer Museum’s Ann Philbin, who collectively generate the creative currents that pulse through the city. During COVID, while LADP productions were placed on

hold, Millepied sashayed across artistic disciplines entirely, directing his first feature film, a dreamlike adaptation of the famous opera Carmen. The film will be released next year, after LADP returns to the stage this winter with Millepied’s highly anticipated rendition of Romeo and Juliet in Paris.

We caught up with the multidisciplinary creative and father of two to talk about his time filming Down Under, the future of LADP, his untraditional approach and his affinity for unexplored performance spaces in Los Angeles.

C Magazine: It’s been almost 10 years since you moved to L.A. and started LADP. Take us back to where your mind was in those early years.

Benjamin Millepied: There was very much an attraction of building something in a new place. I knew it was going to be difficult and I was attracted by L.A. L.A. was mysterious to me. It hasn’t lost any of that.

It was fun to build something from scratch here, and we’ve grown the support. I think the company is here to stay.

C: You’ve spent so much of your career in New York and Paris. What’s special about L.A.?

BM: There’s a huge amount of companies in New York and Paris. I like being away. I like having this freedom. The artists and the city continue to interest me, and it feels like a great place to try and continue to support them.

C: Where are your favorite places in L.A. that the company has performed?

BM: There are a ton of places that are unexplored. I think the beauty of L.A. is really to try to do more, and to not necessarily use the theaters. The Ace Hotel was great, the LA Phil was great and I love our space, it’s a very simple dance space.

But you know, why not perform at the train station, Schindler House, Huntington Library? That’s something that we are going to look at more and more: places that are not necessarily theaters.

C: You’ve done a number of collaborations with artists and galleries like Doug Aitken and Hauser & Wirth. How did those come about?

BM: I reach out to them. It’s my own personal interest of culture and painting.

I think so many of these artists have interesting responses to our times, and I love the dialogue. And I always try to push people to collaborate.

C: Do you collect contemporary art, too?

BM: Rarely, you know, rarely, but yeah.

C: What are some of the big challenges you’ve faced so far?

BM: You’re fighting with screens. The most common thing people talk about is what TV show they are watching. I personally want to have as much cultural

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“Staging is a very big component to directing. Great directors in my opinion are choreographers” BENJAM IN M ILLEPIED

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“I never play the cult figure that you find a lot in dance companies.

I tell the dancers: ‘You can trust yourselves’” BENJAM IN M ILLEPIED

experience as possible. What you have to do is just offer it. It’s the people who come that count, it’s not the people who don’t come. It’s a mission. It’s very important that we continue the success — not only for the life of the arts and the artists, but really the art form of dance being a response to this moment and the idea of creating an archive.

C: What’s the plan going forward?

BM: Well, I certainly hope we can get back to indoor performances and perform a lot more. LADP was never a traditional model.

I’m very much interested in having lengthy periods of time where the company rotates with different curators than myself, to have different points of view. I’m thinking about a different model going forward that is more encompassing and not traditional in ways that fit more with current times.

C: You spent much of the past year shooting Carmen in Australia. What was that experience like?

BM: It was really amazing. We shot Australia for Mexico and L.A. between the desert landscape and the cityscape. The nature of my movie is between reality and a dream, and Australia really worked very well.

You wouldn’t know you’re not in L.A. C: How did you prepare to make a film?

BM: I think that had I not run anything before, being a film director would have been

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more difficult. But having managed people before was a plus. I kept joking that even though I have made a lot of little films, I felt like this film was film school for me.

C: That still sounds daunting.

BM: Well, I have been taking photographs as a hobby for a long time. When you come to film, that’s a very important component: how to create a frame. And then of course how people interact and move in it. So staging is a very big component to directing.

And staging is having an understanding of how people interact and move in a space in relation to the camera, so that is very much choreography. Great directors in my opinion are choreographers.

C: How would you characterize your leadership style in general?

BM: I’ve had to be a leader for a long time, between having the company here for [nearly] 10 years, then I have my experience with the Paris Opera [director of dance at the Paris Opera Ballet from 2013 to 2016].

I never play the kind of cult figure that you find a lot in dance companies. I tell the dancers, “I already think you are great because you were hired.” I just let them sink or swim. You can trust yourselves.

You don’t need my constant approval. This need is often insecurity, and so I think with dancers it’s really powerful for them to gain

confidence as soon as possible.

C: And on a film set?

BM: In film it’s a collaborative process.

You have to guide with your vision and find people who get your vision, but the whole point is to have people pose things you didn’t think of yourself, and giving freedom to your creative team.

C: Do you think you’ll do another film someday?

BM: Truly, I can’t wait to get going on another picture. I’m naturally drawn to unconventional films. I want to be able to create something that feels really unique.

C: So something unexpected…

BM: Yeah. Or having a very strong musical component.

C: Can I ask you something off topic? How do you translate your last name in English?

BM: [Chuckles] It means “a thousand feet.” There are different meanings. I think it has something to do with vineyards, I’m from Bourdeaux.

C: Seems like a very apropos name for a dancer…or someone who never stops moving.

BM: Yes. C: So does that mean you are still partial to French wines?

BM: [Chuckles] No, not at all. Not at all.

I drink lots of American wines — organic American wine. X

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DOUBLE VISI From left: LAURE HÉRIARD DUBREUIL and AARON YOUNG’s blue bungalow nestled within the tropical landscape. Hériard Dubreuil in a DIOR sweater, LHD pants and HERMÈS clogs; Young in a BODE shirt, ACNE STUDIOS jeans and VANS slip-ons.

Feature Malibu For creative power couple Laure Hériard Dubreuil of The Webster and her fine-artist husband Aaron Young, an old-school ranch on Point Dume is the ultimate blank canvas for a family escape

Words by KELSEY McKINNON Photography by THE INGALLS 80

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alking into the Malibu home of Laure Hériard Dubreuil and artist Aaron Young, one is immediately struck by a mesmerizing black circular piece by Young that hangs over a leather Zanotta sofa.

The word “California” spirals upward out of a dark abyss, blurred as if it’s shaking in an earthquake. For Hériard Dubreuil, the piece was particularly moving. She smiles and says in her thick French accent, “He hypnotized me to move to California with it.”

The couple’s path to California was a bit circuitous. Their meet-cute can be traced back to Art Basel Miami Beach 2008. Young, an internationally acclaimed artist from San Francisco whose pieces are in the permanent collections of LACMA and New York’s Museum of Modern Art, among others, was there with his gallerist Larry Gagosian;

Hériard Dubreuil was preparing to launch her fashion retail empire, The Webster, in Miami that same year. (The Webster now has eight boutiques, including three in California, plus a forthcoming Toronto location.) The couple moved to a formal 19th-century row house in New York’s East Village that once belonged to Mary-Kate Olsen and Olivier Sarkozy and bounced back and forth to Europe (Hériard Dubreuil hails from France’s famed Rémy Martin cognac family and grew up in Paris and Cognac). But when Hériard Dubreuil became pregnant with their son, Marcel (who’s now 7), Young, who is also an avid surfer, was filled with nostalgia for the West Coast.

“I was thinking about my own childhood growing up in California and I started to drop hints,” he says. “I worked on her for five years.” As part of his campaign, the couple rented a vacation house on Malibu’s Point Dume, an intoxicatingly serene blufftop community settled in the 1940s with

sprawling ranch-style properties that come with towering eucalyptus trees, wild peacocks and parrots, celebrity neighbors (Chris Martin, Julia Roberts, Barbra Streisand) and keys to one of California’s most soughtafter — and heavily guarded — surf breaks.

Young finally got his wish in 2019, after the couple found out they were having a second child (their daughter, Marguerite, is now 2) and The Webster opened in Orange County and Beverly Hills and signed on to do a collaboration with Rick Caruso’s Rosewood Miramar Beach hotel in Montecito.

The pair doubled down with a house in town — a one-story midcentury “light box” in Beverly Hills that’s closer to work and school — and a weekend pad on their beloved promontory. The charming 1950s ranch is painted a vibrant robin’s-egg blue that echoes the color of the Pacific and feels at one with the neighborhood’s simple homesteads. But inside, an irreverent and

From left: The deck overlooking the majestic Santa Monica Mountains is an extension of the house. A board from CATCH SURF designed by artist EVAN ROSSELL peeks out from the board room.

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In the living room, two pieces

by Young — Tonya and Nancy, 2012, and Untitled, 2010 — look upon a chaise longue by OSCAR NIEMEYER.

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Feature Malibu “When I first came to Aaron’s artist loft he had this Hans Wegner daybed that was so chic against the paint splattered on the floor.

We’ve had this in all our houses” LAURE HÉRIARD DUBREUIL

Left to right: Young’s Focus on the four dots in the middle of the painting for thirty seconds, close your eyes, tilt your head back, wait, 2006. Another piece by the artist: Platonic Heaven, 2005.

Opposite: Hériard Dubreuil reclines on the HANS WEGNER daybed in an LHD jumpsuit, BALENCIAGA belt and BOTTEGA VENETA slides.

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Young, in an OLATZ shirt and MARNI pants, sits on a Milano sofa by ZANOTTA underneath his 2020 work CALIFORNIA.

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sophisticated mélange of blue-chip art and modern design reflects the home’s worldly and highly cultured inhabitants.

“It’s a mix and match,” says Hériard Dubreuil, who exhibits the same effortlessly cool Frenchgirl approach to fashion. “When I first came to Aaron’s artist loft in SoHo he had this Hans Wegner daybed with an original turquoise cushion that was so chic against the paint splattered on the floor. We’ve had this in all our houses and now it’s in Malibu in the sunroom,” she says. Vintage Milo Baughman chrome swivel chairs were plucked from the row house, as were crimson rugs and an iconic Oscar Niemeyer chaise longue. The metal dining chairs that were originally designed for the Centre Pompidou library came from Hériard Dubreuil’s first apartment in Paris, where she worked for Yves Saint Laurent and Balenciaga after graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. “I think the black Zanotta sofa was the first piece of furniture I ever bought,” she says. The result is a space that is instantly familiar, and proof that good taste has the ability to transcend time and place.

Hériard Dubreuil incorporated accessories from The Webster Home collection, including

“There’s a wonderful connection to nature” LAURE HÉRIARD DUBREUIL

trippy sculptural mushroom vases from DValner Studio, and splurged on the prized Roger Capron side table in the sunroom.

“That’s one piece that I always dreamt about.

The yellow and blue tiles are very South of France, it’s very happy and sunny and I always fantasized about it. I’ve never had the right

place for it until now,” says Hériard Dubrueil.

The home’s natural light and bright white walls also provide a gallerylike setting for powerful pieces from Young’s collection. Many are works of his own he rediscovered when he was packing up his New York studio; others are from friends including Leo Fitzpatrick and Dash Snow. Young is currently working on a show that he will present at the UTA Artist Space gallery in Beverly Hills in January. “I’ve been in New York for the last 20 years, so I’m going to show some stuff from living here in L.A. and having L.A. as my muse,” he says.

Long, carefree days on the point are filled with beach walks and bonfires, surfing and sandcastles and trips to the local French bakery for lavender macarons with the kids. “There’s a wonderful community and a connection to nature with all the flowers, olive trees and lemon trees in the garden and bunnies hopping around,” says Hériard Dubreuil. For Young, it’s a full-circle experience: “It gives me the feeling of what I had with my own family. This was the main goal, to give a California foundation for Marcel and Marguerite that is etched in stone for their trajectory into the world.” X

From left: In the master bedroom, a marble lamp sits atop a vintage nightstand. The airy dining room features Beaubourg wire chairs by MICHEL CADESTIN and GEORGES LAURENT for CENTRE POMPIDOU.

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The Retreat by Homestead Modern promises to make Joshua Tree shine

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ince debuting in 2010, Homestead Modern has earned a reputation as the leader in offering the High Desert’s most chic remote accommodations, all 40-plus of which are within a 20-mile radius of Joshua Tree National Park. From a one-bedroom cabin in Joshua Tree designed by Marmol Radziner to a minimalist casita in Pioneertown, the curated collection of boutique vacation homes all feature Homestead’s top-tier service and amenities, spanning private chefs, pantry stocking, in-home massages, sound baths and hiking suggestions from the concierge.

Now the company is expanding to offer a

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hotel-style destination, firmly cementing its foothold in desert hospitality. This December, the company will debut the Retreat by Homestead Modern, a group of 14 historic, midcentury-modern bungalows on the Joshua Tree Retreat Center campus whose architectural heritage dates to 1960, when they were originally designed by Pasadena architect R. Harold Zook. The redesigned properties will feature private patios, expanses of glass, kitchens and open floor plans — all under the direction of Brad Dunning, who has preserved architectural gems from starchitects like Wallace Neff, A. Quincy Jones and John Lautner. retreat.homesteadmodern.com.

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Travel MASTER OF WELLNESS This alluring Lanai sanctuary is not your typical luxury health spa

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From top: SENSEI BY NOBU. The sun-filled contemporary lobby at SENSEI LANA‘I, A FOUR SEASONS RESORT. Opposite, from top: The Great Room overlooks the gardens. Treatments include Lomi A‘e, the ancient Polynesian art of bodywalking.

estled in the hilltops on the island of Lanai, on 24 pristine acres just 20 minutes from its beachside sister property, is Sensei Lāna‘i, A Four Seasons Resort: a luxury wellness retreat that merges science-driven healthy living with five-star hospitality and a totally personalized journey. The debut concept is a unique collaboration between the well-being company Sensei (from Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and leading physician and cancer specialist Dr. David Agus), Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts and chef Nobu Matsuhisa.

Yes, you can go to lose weight. Yes, you can go to learn how to get better sleep. Yes, you can go for a nutrition evaluation and a cleanse. No, you don’t have to do any of the above — you can just go and relax. (Yes, there’s alcohol. No, children are not allowed.)

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The journey begins with a Sensei guide who can help each guest craft a custom itinerary. Feeling stressed?

Your guide (who likely has a master’s degree in their field) can create a program to help analyze your sleep patterns, suggest mindfulness workshops, help you learn the most effective yoga poses to decompress and guide you through a nutritional program to help keep your stress levels in check. For those who want to shed some of the COVID 15, there’s a movement studio for personal training, along with a nearby obstacle course, hiking, beachside yoga, swimming, sailing, golf, horseback riding and just about every other outdoor activity you can imagine.

Spa treatments appear to be the standard facials, massages and body wraps, but nothing feels basic when you’re in a stunning 1,000-square-foot private spa hale, surrounded by the lush island landscape. The 96 guest rooms all follow the spa’s neutral backdrop, featuring soft white linens, cream walls and light natural woods.

Of course, for those who can never get enough of Nobu Malibu, total bliss may come from the dining experience alone. A specially crafted Nobu menu for Sensei comprises three meals a day, served in a glass pavilion overlooking a reflecting pond. You may not return home with a killer granola recipe, but you will return with a lighter mind, softer soul and revived body.

From $800/night; fourseasons.com/sensei. X

LEI OF THE LAND Two reimagined hotels on Oahu invite you in with their aloha spirit NOTORIOUS NORTH SHORE The only resort on Oahu’s infamous North Shore, Turtle Bay is undergoing a massive transformation inspired by its sense of place. The three-winged, 452-room property is perched on a rugged peninsula favored for its winter swells, family-friendly snorkeling and of course turtle-rich waters. Starting with reinventing the arrival experience, Los Angeles’ Dianna Wong Architecture + Interior Design and Hilonative architect Rob Iopa have revamped the now sun-drenched lobby to cater to views of the bay and horizon beyond. To date, the 42 freestanding oceanfront Bungalows have been reappointed, and there was a real emphasis on the property’s numerous infinity and terraced pools (bonus: two waterslides). With even more to come, the 1,300-acre Hawaiian oasis already holds two golf courses, 12 miles of hiking trails, tennis courts, horseback riding, an 11,000-squarefoot spa, surf experiences created by pro Jamie O’Brien and several restaurants, including Beach House by Roy Yamaguchi. From $479/night; turtlebayresort.com.

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RIDE THE WAIKIKI WAVE On the far end of Waikiki, the newly renovated Kaimana Beach Hotel sits in the shadow of Diamond Head (kaimana means “diamond” in Hawaiian). With a quick transformation from Private Label Collection, founded by Honolulu native Jonathan McManus, the 50-year-old hotel has ushered in a casually hip new chapter. The open-air lobby is lightfilled, with relaxed lounge areas and joyful gallery walls which give way to the bar and beachside restaurant, Hau Tree by James Beard Awardnominated chef Chris Kajioka -- instantly popular for its nearly all-day brunch. Value add: Adjacent to the hotel, native longboard champ Kai Sallas runs a surf school, paddling beginners and pros alike into Waikiki’s best breaks. From $199/night; kaimana.com. JENNY MURRAY From top: KAIMANA BEACH HOTEL in Waikiki.

TURTLE BAY RESORT on Oahu’s North Shore.

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Three sisters are elevating the plum to cult beauty status

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Above: ALLISON, JACQUELINE and ELAINE TAYLOR . Top right and below: LE PRUNIER Plum Beauty Oil, $72. Opposite, from top: The family’s plum farm in Sutter. Le Prunier Plumscreen, $78.

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orthern California’s fertile Sacramento Valley, where the rich soil complements a balmy Mediterranean climate, is the ideal environment to grow luscious, purplered California plums, which are currently being hailed as the newest superfood to break into the beauty space.

“My sisters and I grew up on a fourthgeneration, 104-year-old family farm which operates as the world’s largest grower of organic dried plums,” shares Allison Taylor, who, along with sisters Jacqueline and Elaine, co-founded Le Prunier, an organic beauty line centered on the nutrient-rich oil that is a byproduct of their harvest.

As teenagers, the sisters frequently accompanied their father on business trips to Asia. It was there that they discovered that dried plums are lionized as a superfood with benefits far beyond digestion. In fact, a study conducted by researchers at Tufts University ranked dried plums as containing one of the highest amounts of antioxidants of any fruits or vegetables, even more than kale, spinach or blueberries. Realizing that the pits of these antioxidant-rich plums were being discarded as waste on their farm

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PORTRAIT: HEIDI EDWARDS. PRODUCTS AND RANCH: MATT MORRIS.

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“prompted us to begin collecting the seeds, upcycling and cold-pressing into our now cult-favorite, multi-use Plum Beauty Oil,” explains Allison. “We always knew we wanted to be involved with the family business, but it was important to us to innovate and do something we felt passionately about, which happened to be clean skincare.”

After partnering with renowned labs, and with over two years of testing which produced transformative results on their own acne-prone, sensitive skin, the sisters knew they were onto something special. “The antioxidants naturally nourish and replenish the skin,” says Jacqueline. “Our beauty oil is naturally rich in provitamins A and E, powerful polyphenols, omega fatty acids 6 and 9 and lipids (oleic and linoleic acid), which improve hydration and can help speed up the healing process.” The golden-hued oil smells faintly of marzipan, feels silky rather than greasy and absorbs quickly, leaving skin ultra-moisturized with a light dewy finish.

Sound too good to be true? Just wait, there’s more — Plum Beauty Oil has a natural SPF of 10! Not enough on its own for sun protection, it inspired the sisters to create Plumscreen, the newest addition to the Le Prunier

“We always knew we Beauty wanted to be involved with the family business, but it was important to us to innovate”

lineup. The unique formulation pairs the plum oil with non-nano zinc oxide (less than 5%), providing skin benefits with broad-spectrum SPF 30+, UV and bluelight protection, all without leaving the dreaded white residue.

The takeaway? Not all plums are created equal. “Advanced irrigation systems including subsurface drip irrigation and readily accessible water are also vital factors to growing healthy driedplum trees,” shares Elaine. “Combined with our farm’s organic and sustainable growing standards, the result is some of the best dried plums in the world.” 2

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B E A U T Y RBROW styling balm, $23 each.

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STRIKE OIL

S C O V E R I E S Inside FACILE DERMATOLOGY + BOUTIQUE in West Hollywood.

Below: Facile’s proprietary new skincare range.

EASY DOES IT

In response to dozens of requests from customers seeking an oil with the same signature scent as her beloved Malibu Made Body Scrub (like a scrumptious French vanilla cookie), Carson Meyer, founder of C & The Moon, set out to create the ultimate multiuse product.

Made with a lush blend of organic oils, including sea buckthorn, rose hip and argan, combined with food-grade vanilla, this fast-absorbing Malibu Made Glow Oil can be used on the face, body and hair — addressing everything from sunburn to stretch marks, split ends to hair frizz. “I like the idea of products that serve multiple purposes.

Less counter space needed, and less packaging waste,” explains Meyer, a lifelong environmental activist. “If you could take one product to a desert island, this is it.” candthemoon.com. K.A.

Beauty

West Hollywood’s Facile dermatology + boutique recently moved from Robertson Boulevard to a much larger destination on Melrose Place.

The 2,800-square-foot space exists on two floors, with four treatment rooms, two aesthetician rooms and a thoughtfully curated beauty boutique. New to the shelves is Facile’s eponymous skincare line, “developed and formulated with all skin types in mind,” explains co-founder Danielle Nadick Levy. The range includes eight products: four “core” essentials — a cleanser, hyaluronic-acid serum, moisturizer and lip balm — and four serums made to target specific needs. 8457 Melrose Place, West Hollywood, 310-929-2220; facileskin.com. K.A.

HIGH BROW Born with a full, bushy unibrow, veteran beauty editor Rachel Marlowe has a lifelong obsession.

“I’ve had my brows tweezed, waxed, tinted, permed, laminated. I’ve tried almost every brow product on the market.”

Ultimately, what she wanted was one multitasking brow product that did all of those things: something that defined, styled, conditioned, softened and stimulated brow regrowth.

Enter Rbrow, Marlowe’s just-launched, all-natural, universal brow product, uniquely formulated to benefit both hair and skin.

Loaded with fatty acids and nourishing oils, Rbrow is housed in an innovative tube that squeezes the product straight onto an antimicrobial silicone brow-styling brush. “It’s so easy! I call it Great Brows for Dummies,” Marlowe enthuses. therbrow.com. K.A.

COMFORT ZONE Den Mother, Venice’s new wellness destination, is an experiential space that combines multiple ancient healing modalities and methods under one roof — from Japanese acupuncture to Indian Ayurveda, Chinese herbology and reflexology to Nordic bathing. “We believe in taking a multidimensional approach to healing, by creating personal rituals and protocols that combine products from across the botanical spectrum,” says co-founder, clinical director and lead health practitioner Elisa Angelone. Den Mother boasts four private treatment rooms and an outdoor private treatment room with a cedar sauna and cold plunge. And don’t miss the bar and cafe, courtesy of their neighbor The Butcher’s Daughter. 1209 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, 310-310-8905; denmother.com. K.A. DEN MOTHER is housed in a beautifully restored 1930s craftsman bungalow.

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Aspiration

Leave your bank, save the planet.

ASPIRATION.COM The Aspiration Plus Debit Card is issued by Coastal Community Bank (“CCB”), Member FDIC, pursuant to a license by Mastercard International Incorporated (“MCII”). Cash Management Accounts are offered through Aspiration Financial, LLC (“AFLLC”), a registered broker-dealer, Member FINRA/ SIPC, and a subsidiary of Aspiration Partners, Inc. (“API” and, with AFLLC, “Aspiration”). Aspiration is not a bank. Aspiration is unaffiliated with CCB and MCII.

Malibu Beach Inn

Discover your Malibu Moment™

FOR RE S ERVAT I ONS : 1 . 8 0 0.4 . M A L IB U / W W W . M A L IB UBE AC HINN . C O M

BOOK COVER: STEWART SHINING. AMBROSIO IN DIOR: WE ARE THE RHOADS.

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BOOM TOWN

CALIFORNIA DREAMER

another for $12.2 million, which he later flipped for $13.25 million. It’s on the market again, this time for $27.75 million.

Agents say there was a chain reaction. “We tapped into a large group of people who all knew each other, especially in the Bay Area,” says Riskin. “They were telling their friends, and whole communities started coming.

There were a lot of young venture capitalists who all knew each other and who were looking at real estate at the same time.”

Of course, no one has played Montecito real estate like Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi. While you were perfecting your sourdough, they sold a house on East Valley Road for $33.3 million and one in the Hedgerow (flipped to Ariana Grande) for $6.75 million. They also paid $49 million for Dennis Miller’s Picacho Lane compound, $14.3 million for the Ennisbrook hacienda they had already flipped for $11 million in 2018 and $2.9 million for a midcentury house near Butterfly Beach. And they flipped two others — for $3.665 million and $29 million — that have never been publicly reported. Last but certainly not least, word on the street is that they’re about to unload the Picacho Lane compound, and for a hefty profit.

Most of the area’s recent flips, however, are not by investors. Instead, people are buying — and selling — interim houses, perhaps because they want their kids in school, or they want to be in the market and plan on trading up when something better becomes available. Or, like former Bottega Veneta designer Tomas Maier, they need a place to live while they renovate or build elsewhere.

For that reason alone, the market is likely to remain strong even when inventory loosens up. And if that pent-up demand weren’t enough to raise prices, consider how much money the new arrivals are pouring into these estates, many of which hadn’t been updated in decades. Top architects, contractors, and landscape designers are booked for months out.

It remains to be seen how all this will affect Montecito, a place where the appeal has long been that nothing ever really changes. Two things, however, are certain: It’s a fantastic time to sell, if you can find somewhere equally delightful to live, and it’s a glorious time to be a real estate agent. 2

you are, embrace who you are. Don’t try to be anyone else. Fashion is finally giving a chance to everyone to feel important, pretty and good about themselves.”

In April, Ambrosio celebrated her 40th birthday with a party in the desert.

Traditionally the date coincides with the Coachella music festival. As her fans and followers know, Ambrosio is an alt-rock junkie and a festival regular; in fact, she believes she has missed only the first two years of Coachella since its launch in 1999, and her post-hippie wardrobe of sundresses, tie-dye, bikini tops and floppy hats has become the festival’s trademark style. “It’s my birthday ritual,” she explains. “So for my 40th I said, if there’s no Coachella this year, I’m going to do my own mini-Coachella. I invited the 20 to 25 people closest to me in L.A. I got a house in the desert right next to where the festival usually is. A little cover band played my favorite songs.

We spent three days dancing and hanging out in the pool. It was the perfect staycation.”

This fall, as the world opens up a bit, Ambrosio will be back on the global fashion

Runover

stage. She has a TV project she cannot yet speak about and has events planned in Europe and South America. These days she works with a few brands with which she has longlasting relationships, such as the watchmaker Omega. She has a swimwear line, GAL Floripa, which she co-founded with her sister and her best friend in Brazil. (Floripa is the nickname of Florianópolis, the Brazilian island where she has a family home.) “Obviously I don’t work like I used to,” she says. “This has been a great transition time.

“I feel like I got calmer during the quarantine,” Ambrosio explains. “I don’t feel the urge to go party. I kept seeing pictures of my friends in Europe this summer, and I thought, I don’t really miss this. I think I like to be with my kids and my friends at home, chilling, going to the beach, playing volleyball, taking the dogs for hikes. This fall it will be about mixing that up with the traveling I’ll do for work. It’s a nonstop world, and this was a great time to breathe, to learn about myself, recharge and reset instead of always being on to the next thing.

Coming out of the quarantine, I don’t think I’ll be the same. I don’t know, maybe I’m just growing up.” 2

From left: Alessandra

by Stewart Shining, $95, available November 30.

DIOR coat, $7,700, and earrings, $690.

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ZEN

M O M E N T S

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How do you stay in shape?

I play tennis six to seven times a week; there’s nothing better than an hour filled with hard-core drills and learning the skills of a sport at the same time. I work out twice a day and fit in my lunchtime workout with [personal trainer] Andie Day between meetings.

S C O V E

What is your favorite spa?

The Ayurvedic Surya Spa at the Santa Monica Proper, helmed

by Martha Soffer. They have a transformational multiday Panchakarma treatment.

R I E S

K ELLY WEARSTLER The world-renowned interior designer and ultimate California tastemaker

Zen Moment

Where do you live?

Los Angeles.

Where do you feel most Zen? At home with my family.

What is your favorite hike?

Solstice Canyon Loop in Malibu.

It has incredible views.

What is your favorite beach?

Malibu. We have a house on the beach where we’ve made some super special memories as a family.

What is your favorite relaxing getaway?

Joshua Tree. It feels like another world, and you can hit Palm Springs on the way.

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What is your favorite healthfood fix?

A fresh passion-and-orange juice from JJ’s Lone Daughter Ranch, a family farm in the San Bernardino area run by the brilliant Laura [Ramirez].

What do you eat first thing?

Some fermented foods in the morning to support my gut health.

Do you follow a diet?

No, but I’m really passionate about health. I eat intuitively to provide my body with what it needs.

What is your favorite hotel?

Any of the Proper Hotels.

We designed these hotels to be fiercely local, to embrace the vibe of the cities where they are, while also feeling like home.

What are your favorite skincare products?

Biologique Recherche’s eye cream, Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream, SkinCeuticals vitamin C serum and tinted sunscreen with SPF 50 (sunscreen is so important) and May Lindstrom face mist.

What are your favorite hair products?

Davines OI shampoo/conditioner.

What book are you reading?

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid. It’s a great local novel.

Who are your favorite musicians to help you relax?

A mix of jazz, old school and contemporary from Stan Getz, Sarah Vaughan, Herb Alpert to the likes of Kamasi Washington.

What is your favorite podcast?

I love podcasts and to be enlightened. Some of my favorites are The Tim Ferriss Show, How I Built This, The Journal, The Huberman Lab Podcast and Design Matters.

What is your favorite drive?

The route from the city to Malibu. Coming into PCH is so amazing, I always feel a sense of decompression. 2

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