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SPRING 2021 • VOLUME 25 • ISSUE 1 Publisher/Editor-in-Chief MICHELLE ZERILLO-SOSA michelle@dolce.ca Director of Operations ANGELA PALMIERI-ZERILLO angela@dolce.ca

ART DEPARTMENT Co-Founder/Creative Director FERNANDO ZERILLO fernando@dolce.ca Senior Graphic Designer CHRISTINA BAN Senior UI/UX Designer YENA YOO Web Developer JORDAN CARTER Junior UI/UX Designer MARIA KOROLENKO Digital Content Designer MARCO SCHIRRIPA

EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Fashion & Home Décor Editor MICHELLE ZERILLO-SOSA Beauty & Travel Editor ANGELA PALMIERI-ZERILLO Copy Editors and Proofreaders SAMANTHA ACKER, CATHARINE CHEN, JENNIFER D. FOSTER, NINA HOESCHELE Contributing Writers SAMANTHA ACKER, CASSANDRA GIAMMARCO, RICK MULLER, DONNA PARIS, CECE M. SCOTT, JOSH WALKER, ESTELLE ZENTIL Contributing Photographers GREG ALEXANDER, JESSE MILNS, MAURO MONGIELLO, STEVE MONTPETIT, CARLOS A. PINTO, SOFIA SANCHEZ Social Media Manager & Content Creator REUT MALCA PR & Communications Coordinator CASSANDRA GIAMMARCO PR & Editorial Assistant ESTELLE ZENTIL

VIDEO DEPARTMENT Videographer CARLOS A. PINTO Contributing Videographers DANIEL COOPER, LUDOVIC NORTIER

ADVERTISING Director of Marketing ANGELA PALMIERI-ZERILLO angela@dolce.ca Senior Account Managers MARIO BALACEANU, CHRISTINA BONO

ADVERTISING INQUIRIES T: 905-264-6789 info@dolce.ca • www.dolcemag.com Front Cover RUTH BADER GINSBURG Portrait by SEBASTIAN KIM

Dolce Magazine is published quarterly by Dolce Media Group, 111 Zenway Blvd., Suite 30, Vaughan, Ont., L4H 3H9 T: 905-264-6789, info@dolce.ca, www.dolcemedia.ca Publication Mail Agreement No. 40026675. All rights reserved. Any reproduction is strictly prohibited without written consent from the publisher. Dolce Magazine reaches over 900,000 affluent readers annually through household distribution across Canada. Dolce Magazine is also available to over 100 million digital consumers of Magzter Inc. and Issuu. Inquiries about where else Dolce Magazine is available for sale may be directed to Dolce Media Group: info@dolcemedia.ca or 905-264-6789. Visit www.dolcemag.com for single copy and yearly subscription fees. The opinions expressed in Dolce Magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or advertisers. Dolce Media Group does not assume liability for content. The material in this magazine is intended for information purposes only and is in no way intended to supersede professional advice. We are proud to be a Canadian company that has successfully published magazines for the past 25 years without any government funding or financial assistance of programs to cover editorial costs. It has all been possible thanks to the wonderful support of our readers and advertisers. ISSN 2370-4063 Next Issue: Summer 2021 ©2021 Dolce Media Group. Printed in Canada.

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PUBLISHER’S NOTE

Michelle Zerillo-Sosa

Publisher/Editor-in-Chief

Believe In a world that is fast becoming soulless Be challenged to ﬁnd your own soul Then make it selﬂess. When the television portrays only tragedy Be challenged to turn it off Spend your time working on your own humility. If you’re surrounded by people who are envious Be challenged to cull the herd around you Fill your life with those who bring joyousness. During the times you feel utterly hopeless Be challenged to claw your way out Understand that genuine happiness is timeless. Find your soul. Believe in yourself. Trust in your God. Love your family. Share your plenty. Lean when you need. Live out loud. Fernando Zerillo Love heartily. Grow your humanity. Infect the world with your faith. Co-Founder/Creative Director — from The Wife by Iris Imeneo

natural disasters and extreme weather conditions, one could ask the same question now. In De Lio’s case, where was God when deadly bacteria infected his body, nearly taking his life and resulting in the amputation of both of his legs? In that article years ago, one of the questioned religious leaders replied that God was in the firemen going up the stairs to rescue the people in the towers. It’s a response that to this date gives me to beloved rapper The B.I.G. Designer comfort. Likewise, now,Notorious God is in the rescue workers bringing Frank and Rico, writerMexico Aminatou Sow created the was in the relief toChi Puerto and Florida. And God doctors who fought save Paul De Lio. He was with the family famous “Can’t SpelltoTruth Without Ruth” image and friends prayed De Lio’s life and later, for his recovery. that graceswho posters andfor stickers. Fans of Ginsburg Today, just a few months after ordeal, have tattooed themselves withhis images of De her Lio face,is filled with positivity He is ready to help others worn her and mostgratitude. famous quotes on shirts and pins,find ways to live with motivation. Dare then, GodOn alsothe resides in De and dressed up as her forI say, Halloween. Lio’s heart. See his story on page 32. popular comedy show Saturday Night Live, Kate Of course, it’s possible you do not agree with my thoughts McKinnon’s impression of Ginsburg delivered on the whereabouts of God. We all know that one should not sharp put-downs with the catchphrase, “That’s speak casually of politics or religion, for these are sensitive a Gins-bur.” topics (although the weather isn’t exactly a safe topic anymore, Sadly, Ginsburg passed away in September 2020 either). But perhaps you will be interested in our story about at the age of 87 due to complications of metastatic the Bahá’Í Faith, a relatively new religion with 5 to 7 million pancreatic cancer. Even in death, she made history adherents practising globally. If you believe in the betterment of as the first woman and the first Jewish person to lie the world, in unity, love and service, you might find your place in state at the believe U.S. Capitol Building. Shesexes, told races NPR and creeds, here. Bahá’Í’s in equality of all in a 2019 interview that she had no regrets about and in the harmony of science and religion. Story on page 74. her professional life,weand herall trail-blazing legacy In this day and age, could use more unity, love and faith, will be remembered by generations to come. regardless of what form it takes. May you enjoy this edition of WeLife hope you enjoy feel City Magazine. It, our like spring life, is edition yours toand experience and do empowered and inspired to follow suit. with what you will.

Strive to be notorious

ll too often these days, people are Michelle Zerillo-Sosa, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief publicized for the wrong reasons, such as their popularity on social media channels, rather than actions they’ve taken to improve the world. Furthermore, the media’s attention on women in the spotlight is often problematic, focusing more on who wore less than who did their best. But the unforgettable woman gracing our cover, ell, in the case of Yolanda Gampp, this could be Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was a real possibility. If you’re not yet familiar with both a role model and a pop culture icon. her work, she isBader a multi-millionaire YouTube — Ruth Ginsburg Soon after graduating from Cornell University, baker (3.3 million subscribers, that is) … all Ginsburg married her husband and gave birth to thanks to her incredible imagination. their first child. Societal values in the mid-fi fties This is a woman who dreams up cakes for a living — not demanded that Ginsburg quit her career to become traditional tiered shapes and flavours, but cakes that look like a housewife and a stay-at-home mother, but she hot dogs, huge candy apples, watermelons, in flavours like the and her husband were equal partners in life.ultimate The red velvet and chocolate cake … You get the idea. next year, Ginsburg enrolled in Harvard Sweet Law mother For years, shelady ruled issues of constitutional of27 God, this hasonthe power to tempt even School, one of only nine women in her class of 500 law, becoming well-known not only her is fight the strongest-willed person with her cakes! Herfor belief that men. There was only one women’s restroom on equality, butwith alsothe forlove the eye-catching anything isforpossible, and and support ofcollars family the entire campus, one of the libraries didn’t and allowfriends, made beads,levels lace and even shells that she wore the of highest of success are attainable. Read women inside, and the dean himself questioned with her her story on page 38.robes. These collars came to symbolize the female students’ right to be there. theofsubstance work herfaith position, Speaking belief, weofallher pray thatorour need such neverasbe tested the the waycollar Paul she De wore Lio’s on is. days Manyshe of dissented. us go through life The blatant sexism Ginsburg faced throughout without question why tragedies strike her career became the core of her legal work. A ever having “JusticetoGinsburg inspired leagues of our menlives andor the to lives ofwomen others intothe world. few yearsbased back, we pioneer in gender equality legislation, she rose fi ght forAequality on published gender, anthe article about the basic definition of God.says I remember asking the prominence in her field, eventually reaching race and civil rights,” Shana Knizhnik, writer to pose this question to various religious leaders: pinnacle of her profession in 1993, her appointment a lawyer who created the blog (and, later, “Where book) was God in moments suchRBG,” as 9/11?” Given the recent state of to the U.S. Supreme Court. “The Notorious which compares Ginsburg

CAN YOU HAVE YOUR CAKE “I do think IAND was EAT TOO? bornIT under a very

bright star”

Michelle Zerillo-Sosa Michelle Zerillo-Sosa Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Publisher/Editor-in-Chief

Fernando Zerillo Co-Founder/Creative Director

@dolcetweets @amorebagstoronto @dolcemag / @amorebagstoronto / @fernandozerillo

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CONTENTS SPRING 2021 / VOLUME 25 / ISSUE 1

LEGENDARY RBG: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Gisnburg’s pioneering advocacy for women’s rights, and a look at her emblematic collars

GIOVANNA ENGELBERT: For the first time in 125 years, Swarovski appoints a companywide creative director, namely Milanese fashion icon Engelbert

DAZZLING JEWELS: Swoon-worthy arm candy made with diamonds, sapphires, tourmalines, spinels, and more . . .

104

FLEURS DE VILLE: A collection of budding gowns that blend in with the beauty and metamorphosis that come with a blooming season

JUN AIZAKI: How Aizaki’s design firm CRÈME is bringing to life the essence of Philadelphia through the Hyatt’s new flagship hotel

20 26

AGNELLI AND FERRARI: The MEF Modena exhibition has opened its doors virtually, celebrating the one-off cars cars built by Ferrari for Gianni Agnelli

CANADIAN GRAND PRIX: The City of Montreal replaces a temporary paddock structure with an impressive C$50-million building as part of a renewal agreement for the Grand Prix

46 TAMARA BAHRY: A look at the fine art photographer’s newest collection, inspired by Rembrandt 66 KOREAN STEAKHOUSE: How restaurateur Simon Kim was born to build Michelin Star–worthy establishments More stories inside . . .

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DOLCE EXCE LLE NCE AUTO

FROM FERRARI WITH LOVE

Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari F2003-GA at the MEF Modena

Celebrating the one-off cars built by Ferrari for Gianni Agnelli, the new MEF Modena exhibition has opened its doors online

aving officially opened on March 12, the Gianni Agnelli and Ferrari: The Elegance of the Legend exhibition is a dedication to one of the brand’s most loyal clients, confidantes and partners. The opening date, which marked the 100th year since Agnelli’s birth, saw the exhibition go live on MEF Modena’s social media and website until the physical space reopens. Its digital launch, a pivot many galleries and cultural institutions have taken during the pandemic, was

complemented by free virtual live tours that ran until April 1. Born in Turin, Italy, Agnelli was an industrialist and president of FIAT. Affectionately known as the “avvocato,” or the “lawyer,” he was a prominent figure in Italy’s modern history. His relationship with Ferrari was one founded on both personal interest and business. In terms of business, Agnelli became CEO of FIAT in 1963 and, in 1966, chairman. In June 1969, it was announced that 50 per cent of Ferrari had been purchased by FIAT.

But, before any of that, it was his personal love for Ferrari that drew him to the brand. The models on display in this exhibition don’t just showcase that love, but also Agnelli’s familiarity and devotion to style. It was a devotion so notable that he was named one of five best-dressed men in the history of the world by Esquire magazine, and fashion designers among the likes of Nino Cerruti have named Agnelli to be an inspiration. As Ferrari executive chairman and CEO John Elkann said in a statement, the exhibition

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF MUSEO ENZO FERRARI

WRITTEN BY JOSH WALKER

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“combines, on the one hand, the excitement that the most beautiful cars in the world evoke in people who love driving, and on the other, the enormous respect and real passion that my grandfather had for Maranello [Ferrari] cars — a passion that led him to make every Ferrari he owned special and which we are happy to share with all the enthusiasts.” The Ferrari 166 MM is just one of the cars on display. Customized with fine blues and greens, and fitted with a bespoke cabin, it was Ferrari’s first oneoff for Agnelli. It was created after he saw it at the Turin Motor Show in 1948, where he described its sleek design as “barchetta” or “little boat.” A term that, like the car itself, has stood the test of time and has been used in the industry to describe open-top racing cars since. The 1952 Ferrari 212 Inter is another. As well as setting a new trend with its effortless pairing of two-tone 456 blue and a magnolia white roof, it introduced two headlights designed to make highspeed driving as easy in the dark as it is during the day. The 1959 Ferrari 400 Superamerica is also on display. Bodied and fitted out by Italian car design firm Pininfarina, the car brought with it a new chapter in Ferrari Grand Tour styling. Fast-forward through the exhibition’s timelines and you see not just the movements of Agnelli’s style and influence, but also Ferrari’s fierce devotion to creating cutting-edge cars. In 1989, Agnelli added the Ferrari F40 to his collection, customized with an exclusive black-fabric seat upholstery and a Valeo electric clutch. In 2000, he took the 360 Spider as inspiration to create a one-off barchetta clothed in a silver-grey livery. This model became a wedding gift for Luca di Cordero Montezemolo, Ferrari’s chairman at the time. The exhibition ends with a car dedicated to the long-standing collaboration between Ferrari and the lawyer. Unveiled just two weeks after his death in 2003, the Formula 1 car was a heartfelt gesture from Ferrari to the memory of someone who had embraced its community so completely. “My father was impressed by the avvocato’s power, acumen and ability in business,” says Piero Ferrari, Ferrari’s vice-chairman and non-executive director, on the mutual respect and esteem shared between the two. “They understood each other intuitively, and that relationship consolidated over the years, culminating in the agreement in 1969 that created one of the strongest partnerships in the automotive world. I was with my father on that historic day when I had the pleasure of meeting Agnelli. From then on, with FIAT by his side, we felt that our company had a guarantee of continuity and development.” Gianni Agnelli and Ferrari: The Elegance of the Legend is open now virtually at the MEF Modena. www.ferrari.com @ferrari

The exhibition brings together cars from as early as the 1940s

Customized with blues and greens, the Ferrari 166M is fitted with a bespoke cabin

The collection of cars is a testament to the special relationship shared between Ferrari and Agnelli

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DOLCE EXCE LLE NCE DISCOVE R I ES

KENZO TAKADA COLLECTION AUCTION TO HIGHLIGHT SPRINGTIME IN PARIS The auction of items from Takada’s apartment is a rare opportunity to capture the style of the great designer

Shown in his Left Bank apartment, Takada is surrounded by his collectibles soon to be on auction, reflecting the influences of the designer’s life

ne of the most eagerly awaited art auctions of the year is happening on May 11, which will offer the sale of furniture from the personal collection of Kenzo Takada, the legendary Japanese designer and icon of Paris fashion. Items from the décor of his Paris apartment, where he lived for the final 15 years of his life in the famous Saint Germain quarter, reflect the creativity, interests and influences of this global citizen. Administered by Artcurial, in collaboration with Christie’s and held in his Parisian apartment, noteworthy items in the auction include a large wooden Hinoki horse from the Han period, a Buddha torso dating from the third century and a Pleyel grand piano designed by JacquesEmile Ruhlmann. The lighting on offer includes a spectacular crystal chandelier that hung in Takada’s living room, part of the nearly 600 total lots available for bidding. Another highlight is the series of 13 photographs by William Eggleston, as well as collections revealing the diversity of styles appreciated by Takada. There are some 60 lots of tableware, and, in addition to his own glassware and porcelain creations, there is a selection of Japanese stoneware. Collectors will also have the opportunity to discover the talents of Takada, the artist, with several of his paintings on offer, plus a separate “Online Only” sale will include more than 100 creations from his multicoloured and original wardrobe pieces. Kenzo Takada is well-known as the first Japanese designer to achieve success in the world of Paris fashion. Moving to the city in 1965, he had his first Paris fashion show in 1970 and was immediately acclaimed a visionary designer. During the first 12 months of his business, he designed not two but four collections in a single year. Takada passed away in Paris in October 2020. For more information on this rare auction opportunity for enthusiasts and collectors to rediscover the quintessential designer’s eclectic and stylish universe, as well as a lifetime dedicated to fashion, art and culture, visit www.artcurial.com.

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PHOTO BY MITCHELL GENG

WRITTEN BY RICK MULLER

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DOLCE EXCE LLE NCE COLLECTI B LES

FRANK GEHRY AND HENNESSY X.O COGNAC AUCTION

Gehry’s Masterpiece Decanter design for Hennessy X.O creates an artful second skin for the bottle by shaping 24-karat gold over bronze and glass set into the metal

Hennessy X.O Cognac and Frank Gehry partner to create a masterpiece decanter

he timeless quality of Hennessy X.O Cognac and the inspired designs of Frank Gehry, one of the world’s most renowned architects, combined to highlight the recent Sotheby’s Dedicated Spirits Auction in New York. To mark the special 150th anniversary of Hennessy’s inaugural X.O Cognac, the brand teamed up with Gehry to design a Masterpiece Decanter. The decanter drew a final bid of US$18,750 in the auction held to raise funds as part of Hennessy’s Unfinished Business initiative, launched last May and committed to helping small businesses power through the immediate financial challenges brought on by the pandemic and ensure they have the resources to get back on their feet. Bottle No. 1 in the limited edition of 150

decanters produced for the Hennessy X.O x Frank Gehry Collection, the Masterpiece Decanter was on offer from the Asian American Business Development Center, with auction proceeds to benefit the organization as part of the Unfinished Business initiative. The Masterpiece Decanter is a stunning visual display certain to be the centre of any room it occupies. Gehry elevated the esthetics of the decanter to match the history and qualities of the Hennessy brand. His gold and glass glorifier mixes contrasting themes of movement and freedom of form that have made Gehry and his building designs known and immediately identifiable around the world. The celebrated architect created bespoke moulds to bring his design to life in creating a second

skin to clothe the bottle by shaping 24-karat gold over bronze and glass set into crumpled metal. The contours around this magnificent decanter evoke the River Charente — which once carried precious barrels to maritime trading routes — and illuminate the deep colour of the cognac within. To house the Masterpiece Decanter, Gehry called on the cardboard design skills showcased in his Easy Edges furniture line to create a protective case. As part of the auction, Sotheby’s offered Gehry’s original mould together with the decanter itself, giving collectors the memorable opportunity to acquire not only this rare Cognac, but also the tools with which it was made. www.hennessy.com @hennessy

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PHOTOS COURTESTY OF HENNESSY

WRITTEN BY RICK MULLER

PHOTO BY CARLOS A. PINTO PHOTOS BY STEPHANI BUCHMAN PHOTOGRAPHY

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FAST FORWARD

CANADIAN GRAND PRIX IN MONTREAL REINVESTING TO EMERGE AS A FORMULA 1 LEADER This landmark world sporting event welcomes a new C$50-million permanent building, ensuring its future global status for decades to come

ince 1978, the Canadian Grand Prix race staged in Montreal has been one of the staples on the global Formula 1 (F1) racing circuit, attracting the world’s best drivers. Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton have each won the race seven times, and the event has recently announced a new infrastructure to be constructed, which will ensure its landmark status for decades to come. As part of a renewal agreement for the Canadian Grand Prix, the City of Montreal has replaced the existing temporary paddock structure

with a C$50-million permanent building to more adequately meet the needs of this world-class sporting event. Designed by Montreal-based FABG architects, the new paddock includes garages for all the teams, offices for the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and the promoter, a lounge area for 5,000 people and a multimedia centre for journalists and broadcasters. FABG’s vision was for the new building’s design to echo the innovative structures which captured the world’s attention when Montreal staged the World’s Fair, Expo 67, on Notre Dame

Island, setting the benchmark for success for every subsequent World’s Fair. The island is now home to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, named after the late Canadian racing legend, who was known as one of the most talented and daring drivers ever to take to the track. The new paddock was designed as an assembly of prefabricated parts, including the concrete panels, steel beams and columns, wooden beams and panels sourced from Northern Quebec, and removable partitions using recycled materials. The wooden structure created for the roof is especially notable to the paddock’s overall

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PHOTOS BY STEVE MONTPETIT

WR ITTE N BY R ICK M U LLE R

The grand entrance to the new paddock features a wooden roof, reflecting a return to natural design and materials

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The paddock is an assembly of prefabricated parts and recycled materials, including wooden beams and panels sourced from Northern Quebec

design. It reflects the desire to move away from the images and values usually associated with the high glamour and glitz of world-class motor racing and, specifically, Formula 1, which attracts some of the fastest crowds in the world, on and off the track. The return to a simpler and more natural design and materials incorporated moves away from over-the-top global luxury in order to highlight the cultural and geographical specificity and diversity of each stage of the F1 circuit and adapt it to emerging global values. Founded in 1954, and formerly known as Blouin and Associates, FABG changed its name in 1988 to reflect the succession of a third generation to the management of the company, renowned as one of the world’s most innovative and respected architectural firms. arch-fabg.com @architectes_fabg

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FASHION

CARRYING YOU INTO

SPRING

Make spring cleaning fun by tucking away the old and adding these fresh totes into your closet WR ITTE N BY E STE LLE Z E NTI L

MEDIUM LADY D-LITE BAG Fashioned with Dior’s multicoloured paisley motif, the front of the bag features the “Christian Dior” signature and is embellished with thick “D.I.O.R.” pale gold-finished metal charms. www.dior.com

MINI BOÎTE CHAPEAU Featuring Louis Vuitton’s classic monogram canvas and leather name tag, this boîte bag has interior malletage quilting and can be worn three ways, thanks to the removable strap. ca.louisvuitton.com

PEEKABOO ISEEU MEDIUM Fendi’s undyed canvas bag is decorated by à jour embroidery and has an unlined interior with two compartments, as well as an adjustable, detachable shoulder strap in brown leather. www.fendi.com

GUCCI HORSEBIT 1955 SHOULDER BAG Borrowing symbols from the equestrian world, Gucci’s distinctive double ring and bar design in gold-toned hardware adds a classic touch to its textured white leather body. www.gucci.com

LA MEDUSA SMALL HANDBAG Adorned with a Medusa plaque, Versace’s latest handbag features two detachable shoulder straps: one leather and one chain, making it as versatile as it is chic. www.versace.com

SHEARLING TOTE The front of this soft shearling tote is accented by Prada’s black intarsia lettering and includes a removable shearling pouch with a zipper on the inside. www.prada.com

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FASHION

GIOVANNA ENGELBERT: THE BRAINS AND BEAUTY BEHIND SWAROVSKI

Milanese fashion editor-turned-influencer Engelbert takes household brands to a whole new level

iovanna Engelbert’s name is synonymous with style. Considered fashion royalty, she is a modern-day Renaissance woman with an incredible curriculum vitae built on more than two decades of experience in the fashion world. She has worn many hats, each more fabulous than the next, including model, stylist, fashion editor, creative consultant and social media guru. Born and bred in Monte Napoleone, part of Milan’s fashionable Quadrilatero della Moda retail district, Engelbert is everything you’d expect and more from someone whose earliest memories are of the vignettes presented in the windows of ultra-luxurious boutiques. The city’s neoclassical mansions, antique shops and museums were the perfect backdrop growing up for this icône de la mode. Engelbert started her career as a fashion model for the iconic Dolce & Gabbana, but quickly realized that her skills were not limited to one side of the camera. She worked her way from model to stylist and eventually became a fashion editor

at L’Uomo Vogue, Vogue Japan and W Magazine. Fashion was something learned over time, but Engelbert was born with style — something that cannot be taught. She has an innate understanding of the fashion landscape and lends her intelligence, creativity and style acumen to every project she comes in contact with. Using social media for her brand, Engelbert naturally took to Instagram when it first launched. With her aspirational lifestyle and luxurious sartorial finds, she has organically grown her account to 1.1 million avid followers since then. Engelbert’s Instagram is a visual diary that captures her authentic persona through fashion and travel snaps. The democratic nature of the platform has made some of her street-style looks more well-known than her editorial work. And Engelbert has a masterful ability to garnish her ideas with just the right amount of je ne sais quoi to keep her audience hungry for more of her memorable fashion recipes. When you scroll through her feed, you can see the glamour that distinguishes the quintessential Milanese woman. Her outfits follow a more-

is-more maximalism approach when it comes to accessories and colour, painted with vibrant shades, animalia, rainbows, prints and patterns. The photographers are always keen to capture her eye-catching, mood board–worthy ensembles. Engelbert’s style always tells a story. Occasionally, she shares a glimpse into her private life with husband Oscar Engelbert, a Swedish real estate tycoon whom she married in summer 2016. The Swedish-Italian couple’s extravagant wedding took place on the island of Capri, as well as in Stockholm. It should come as no surprise that Engelbert wore six looks at her multiple wedding celebrations: a custom Azzedine Alaïa dress, a Valentino couture gown, a custom Thom Browne dress, a custom Alexander McQueen gown, a Giambattista Valli couture gown, and finally a custom Prada dress as the cherry on top. After garnering attention through her work as W Magazine’s contributing fashion editor, she teamed up with Rizzoli New York in 2017 to publish her first book, Gio_Graphy: Fun in the Wild World of Fashion. It might seem counterintuitive to

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF SWAROVSKI

WR ITTE N BY E STE LLE Z E NTI L

Fashion runs through Engelbert’s blood. For Swarovski’s opening installation of Wonderlab, she dazzles from head to toe in yellow, rocking a Richard Quinn coat, Giannico heels and, of course, Swarovski earrings

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Pictured at the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele in Milan, Swarovski’s opulent Wonderlab installation is a feast for the eyes

‘‘

THE WONDERLAB IS WHERE SCIENCE AND MAGIC MEET, WHERE EXTRA AND ELEGANCE COLLIDE

‘‘

dive into the print world after moving extensively into the online space, but, understanding both print and digital language fluently, Engelbert strategically found a way to use both in her favour. It is because of that fluency, and her signature crème-de-la crème content, that Engelbert has attracted major brands to seek her expertise as a consultant. In 2017, she was named creative director for Swarovski Professional, and in May 2020, her role was expanded to global creative director of Swarovski Group. Swarovski has a rich history spanning more than 126 years of innovation in crystal cutting, celebrating crystal in all its forms, and bringing together the worlds of design, science, fashion and entertainment through its craftsmanship. Under Engelbert’s eye, Swarovski is unveiling the “Wonderlab”, a new brand identity, along with new stores and a redesign of the swan logo. Beginning in February 2021, 28 Instant Wonder

stores will be unveiled in key global markets. The inaugural opening is in Milan’s Galleria, followed by 27 more store openings across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, including new locations in Paris and New York. Engelbert describes the new brand identity thus: “The Wonderlab is where science and magic meet, where extra and elegance collide. It is a feeling of wonder that everyone should experience as we invite them into our new world at Swarovski.” The partnership between Swarovski and Giovanna Engelbert is a match made in fashion heaven. The new candy-style crystals are as sure to excite the world as they are to decorate her next outfit. Just as Swarovski has managed to stay timeless, so, too, has Engelbert. Fashion comes and goes, but style lasts forever. www.swarovski.com @giovannaengelbert

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SPRING BLING

JEWELRY

A Cut Above the Rest: Jewelry Made for Falling in Love WR ITTE N BY E STE LLE Z E NTI L

SAPPHIRE SWEETNESS Celebrating the beauty of wildflowers, these earrings are adorned with round and pear-shaped gemstones, reproducing the diversity and harmony of nature. www.vancleefarpels.com

TOURMALINE TREASURE Reminding us of the light-blue skies over Cortina, Italy, this tourmaline is set in a cushionshaped bezel, highlighting the delicate openwork in white gold and diamonds. www.buccellati.com

RUBELLITE RICH Inspired by a rose’s spikes, this standout cocktail ring is hard on the outside, made up of diamonds, peridots and pink tourmalines, but features a soft and rounded top, thanks to its cabochon rubellite. faraonemennella.com

DIAMOND DELIGHT Featuring a richly hued oval sapphire surrounded by a double halo of pavéset diamonds, this elegant pairing is classic in every way. www.damianijewellers.com

SPINEL SENSATION This exquisite cocktail ring is made up of three gemstones: one rectangle- and one pear-shaped pink sapphire and an additional oval deep-pink spinel, all surrounded by brilliant diamonds. www.valentejewellers.com

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ACCELERATING STYLE

BRETT DAVID’S PRESTIGE IMPORTS: EXOTIC CARS CAPTURING SOUTH BEACH SWAGGER

With an inventory featuring Lamborghini, Lotus, Porsche, Ferrari, Bugatti and others, Prestige Imports has become one of the world’s most revered exotic sports car dealers I NTE RVI EW BY E STE LLE Z E NTI L WR ITTE N BY R ICK M U LLE R

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF PRESTIGE IMPORTS

Assuming the helm from his late father when he was just 19, Brett is living the South Beath lifestyle on the water and the land

arely does a business emerge that seems ideally suited to its location, the surrounding vibe and its times, so much so, like the chicken and egg, it’s almost impossible to distinguish which came first — the business or the location? Such is the case with Brett David’s Prestige Imports car dealership, one of the world’s most revered exotic sports car dealers, which has become the epitome of the South Beach lifestyle in Miami. When Brett’s father, Irv, opened his gas station in 1977 on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami Beach, he had a dream of eventually selling European sports cars. He thought the combination of sun, sand, real estate and the money that was flowing into the area would provide his market, and Irv noticed a certain lifestyle was emerging around South Beach, an area only its residents were aware of. That was until a few years later, when Michael Mann created the iconic show Miami Vice, a combination of sex, speed and style wrapped in the hot, sultry setting of an exotic Florida night, which brought the South Beach swagger into every living room. The early 1980s was a time of sleek style, chic sophistication, pastels, big wallets and even bigger shoulder pads, and nothing captured this better than Miami Vice, which took the glitz and glamour of Dynasty or Dallas and coupled it with the grit and street smarts of vice cops working South Beach in incredible sports cars. “South Florida automotive is kind of like a dynasty, a staple,” says Brett in a recent interview with Dolce. “You look at it back in the day, through movies and TV shows like Miami Vice, with Crockett and Tubbs driving down South Beach in a Testarossa or a Lamborghini. Miami has just always swagged out with that beautiful backdrop of palm trees and sports cars. I think that, when you think of Miami, the first thing you think of is a fancy sports car . . . and those palm trees, beautiful people, different languages and the ocean.” Brett David was just 19 years old when his father, Irv, suddenly passed away, thrusting the mantle of management upon him to protect his father’s legacy and realize his automotive dreams. He keeps his father’s nameplate on his desk in his honour. Today, Prestige Imports is recognized as a world leader and innovator in the exotic car market. It is one of North America’s leading Lamborghini dealerships, offering the highly coveted Aventador, Huracan and Urus models. Additional brands include Pagani and Lotus, with the Pagani selection including the Huayra and Zonda, while Lotus models include the Evora and Elise. Prestige also holds a massive inventory of high-end exotic pre-owned vehicles, including Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley, Mercedes, Porsche, Rolls-Royce and Bugatti. For Brett and his team, knowledge, expertise

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Brett’s goal is to make the experience of buying a car from Prestige Imports something memorable that will last for years to come

‘‘

I THINK THAT, WHEN YOU THINK OF MIAMI, THE FIRST THING YOU THINK ABOUT IS A FANCY SPORTS CAR

‘‘

and customer service are the lynchpins to the success and renown of Prestige Imports. “Our mission statement is key, which is, ‘We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen,’” he says. “We don’t like to be salesmen, and I don’t train my team to be aggressive. I train my guys and girls to be liaisons for clients, to be more than a helping hand, and that has translated into clients coming back and developing a business that’s based upon retention by delivering great service to our clients.” It’s also a business that is growing into other areas, such as marine, aviation and even real estate, in offering more choices to experience the South Beach luxury lifestyle with the confidence of the Prestige Imports brand name at your side. It’s been a natural extension for Brett, who admits he loves adrenaline, but the right kind of adrenaline. “My hobbies are anything to do with the water. When it has nothing to do with a combustion engine, you will find me on the water,” says Brett. “My serenity and my peace and my rebound come from the energy on the water with my family and friends.” Naturally, he has converted this love of water into Prestige Marine, the company’s first marine dealership, which carries brands such as VanDutch, Bordeaux and Midnight Express, and has been an immediate success. His pride of his family and his business is being preserved with a documentary he is currently working on with his mother that highlights the historic elements of the dealership, because

— Brett David

Prestige has become so much more than just a dealership. “The Prestige Imports brand is worldrenowned, being featured in different video games, music videos, television shows and movies being written today,” says Brett. “We’re documenting it because I realize that, through the pandemic, there are moments you take for granted, and there are certain moments that I wanted to be able to have — historic moments to remember forever.” The family-owned business also gives back to its local community by supporting many charities, including MyWish4U, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, and in memory of Irv David, Brett teamed with the American Heart Association to develop the Prestigious Heart Fund. Along with his sister Brooke, Brett’s Ride2Revive provides children facing life-threatening diseases a memorable adrenaline-filled outing on a racetrack to revitalize their senses. “We’re all about passion, performance and prestige,” says Brett in describing Prestige. “I think the experience of buying a car from Prestige Imports is something memorable that you’ll remember for years to come.” Irv David was a man in the right place at the right time with the right dream in selling the South Beach lifestyle to the world. Brett David was the right man in the right place at the right time to make that dream come true.

www.prestigeimports.com @brett_david

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TIMEPIECE

HAUTE HOROLOGY Owning a luxury watch is about much more than just expense or status. It’s about valuing outstanding quality, craftsmanship, design and artistry — something that can only be achieved with time WR ITTE N BY E STE LLE Z E NTI L

PATEK PHILIPPE NAUTILUS Embodying a luxury sports watch in the most elegant way, the Nautilus displays a black brown dial surrounded by rose gold, a sapphirecrystal case back, an octagonal-shaped bezel, and a horizontally embossed dial. www.patek.com

ROYAL OAK PERPETUAL CALENDAR Combining modern esthetics with prestigious traditional horological mechanics, this Piguet watch features a blue dial with a “Grande Tapisserie” pattern, pink gold hour markers and a blue inner bezel, all cased in 18-karat pink gold. www.audemarspiguet.com

RICHARD MILLE RM 72-01 Equipped with the brand’s first in-house chronograph featuring a patented design, the RM 72-01 is simply a masterpiece. Everything about the watch was designed to emphasize uncompromising quality and optimize function. For example, instead of a casing ring, the movement is mounted on chassis-mounting rubbers fixed by titanium screws. www.richardmille.com

F.P. JOURNE CENTIGRAPHE This unprecedented timepiece features a patented ergonomic chronograph and patented chronograph mechanism for its ingenious configuration. In purchasing a Centigraphe, F.P. JOURNE has committed to donating 30 per cent to the Institut du Cerveau – ICM (Brain & Spine Institute) in Paris. www.fpjourne.com

ROLEX COSMOGRAPH DAYTONA Fifty years ago, this chronograph was created to be the ultimate timing tool for endurance racing divers. Still in a class by itself, this particular 18-karat gold version of the original model features a black and champagne-coloured dial and a black bezel on an Oysterflex bracelet. www.rolex.com

LUMINOR 1950 EQUATION OF TIME This Panerai watch beautifully displays a sophisticated and complex mechanism called the “Equation of Time,” which is the difference between the mean time and the true time indicated by the solar meridian. www.panerai.com

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AUTO AFICIONADO

GARAGE-8: A GARAGE FIT FOR BOND AND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS

American architect Eric Carlson brings what it means to be an auto aficionado to a whole different league WR ITTE N BY E STE LLE Z E NTI L

Carlson imagined Garage-8 to be on a cliff site in Monaco, designed to house some of the finest automobiles and vehicles in the world

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www.carbondale.fr

‘‘

With its modern glass design, you can enjoy your car collection and cityscape from the comfort of your bed

IT IS DESIGNED [GARAGE-8] SO THAT EACH AUTOMOBILE CAN BE ADMIRED WHEN [ITS OWNER IS] EATING, SLEEPING, BATHING, SWIMMING, JOGGING AND PRACTISING THEIR GOLF SWING

‘‘

RENDERINGS COURTESY OF CARBONDALE

hether it’s James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 or Drake’s MercedesMaybach 6 Coupe, most of us have indulged in the fantasy of owning our dream car. But, if we had our dream car, wouldn’t that mean that we would need a safe place to park it? That’s where Eric Carlson comes in. Carlson is the brainchild behind some of the most luxurious architectural gems in the world. Working from his Paris-based studio CARBONDALE, he creates spaces for those looking to live in the lap of luxury. Just as every bottle of Romanée-Conti is stored in a state-of-the-art wine cellar, and every Patek Philippe Grandmaster Chime is waiting to be spun by an up-to-the-minute watch-winder, dream cars need to be stored in homes that reflect their beauty — particularly when they are set in park 95 per cent of the time. As a renowned expert in luxury architecture worldwide, Carlson has designed museums, office headquarters, private residences and most notably the flagship stores of some of the world’s finest brands, including Louis Vuitton, Dolce & Gabbana, Paspaley and BMW — just to name a few. His latest concept? A dream garage for the ultra-high-net worth in Monaco, estimated at a cost to build of US$16 million. His concept, called “Garage-8,” derived from its looping shape, goes beyond satisfying the most avid car and garage enthusiast. “I imagined Garage-8 on a cliff site in Monaco, with direct access to one of the most famous Formula 1 racetracks and adjacent to diverse driving experiences on city streets, coastal roads and circuitous mountain drives,” says Carlson. Taking inspiration from the showroom and museums that Carlson has designed for BMW in Paris, London and New York, he integrated continuous lines of diffused lighting in his newest concept to create “swage lines” that highlight the contours and curves of the car bodies. The top-tier garage is strategically designed to maximize the visibility of the cars that are parked inside. With the car collection placed at the centre of the house, it is surrounded between levels made up of glass floors: “It [Garage-8] is designed so that each automobile can be admired when [its owner is] eating, sleeping, bathing, swimming, jogging and practising their golf swing. Even when dressing, they can choose their clothes, shoes, watches, cufflinks and jewelry, and, of course, the car that goes with them.” It’s like being able to observe a fish in a fishbowl, but much more alluring. Fit for Bond woman or Bond-like gentleman, Garage-8 is the ideal way for car addicts to seamlessly integrate automobiles into every part of their lives, making each aspect an exceptional experience. If you’re still working on purchasing your dream car down the road, Carlson’s concept is something to keep in mind. Just like its name, Garage-8, the looping figure eight, is a numerical representation of what our dreams can be: infinite and always shifting gears.

Garage-8’s name derives from the looping shape that maximizes the visibility of the cars, all while in park

@ericcarlsonarchitect

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TRENDSETTER

MILES REDD:

PHOTO COURTESY OF BALLARD DESIGNS

THE STYLISH ART OF DESIGN

With his own sense of personal style, emotion and attitude, Redd is in demand and in command in the world of design

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Acclaimed New York City interior designer Miles Redd brings his distinctive panache and style to his composition and creation of elegant spaces I NTE RVI EW BY M ICH E LLE Z E R I LLO-SOSA

Q: What is the one thing you have learned from Oscar de la Renta? A: One thing? I learned 10 things a day. He always said, “If you rest, you rust,” and that is always in my mind, to keeping moving forward. Q: You often like to pay special attention to doors, an item that is repeatedly overlooked by some. Why is it so? And what are some of your favourite ways of decorating a door? A: I think people have a reverence for architecture that is sometimes to the detriment of design. They look at a door and think that it should be painted trim colour — which is typically white, mainly because that is what most do, and I am not saying there is anything wrong with that. Sometimes it is absolutely the thing to do — but now especially in new construction, doors are plain to the point of dull. It is a way of keeping cost down. I just like to take that dull door and do something to it. Sometimes we just paint it a bright colour, sometimes we upholster it, sometimes we cover in grass cloth. It just adds so much. People use doors every day, and I think when they walk through this beautiful thing, it does something… Q: What is your signature piece that is always present in your projects? A: A little bit of pale blue is in all my projects. Q: You were quoted somewhere that “things that come into your life are meant for you.” Can you explain why that is and can you share an example? A: I shop a lot at auctions and I just find certain things just pop up that are meant for a project or a person. It comes from being very in tune with objects, but I would also like to point out that I love objects, and they certainly enhance one’s life, but a time comes when one is done with them, and they go back into the universe for someone else to enjoy. It is good to not be attached, because it is just stuff, and there is always stuff. One thing that came to me that I feel was meant for me is

‘‘

I JUST FIND CERTAIN THINGS JUST POP UP THAT ARE MEANT FOR A PROJECT OR A PERSON. IT COMES FROM BEING VERY IN TUNE WITH OBJECTS

‘‘

Q: What is your definition of elegance? A: Streamlined, usually black, with perhaps one discreet baroque element.

The Big Book of Chic is a 300-page illustrated volume that includes Redd’s wide range of his bold and sophisticated projects, including his own townhouse and beach house

my David Adler mirrored bathroom. It sat on the showroom floor for five years, and no one wanted it… Q: You often refer to your office as a “laboratory.” What are some elements that make this individual and inspirational? A: It is just a place to try things and experiment — I think the thing that makes that happen is the sample library of stuff to play with and put together in new and interesting ways. Q: What favourite memory do you have that can make you feel immediately happy ? A: Spending time skiing or at the beach with my nephews and family always puts a smile on my face. Q: What is your best quality and your worst fault? Please explain. A: I think I have a lot of empathy and can understand a lot of what people feel and want. I think that is my best quality, my sympathies, if you will. And my worst is my great expectations, but I don’t like to dwell on the negative, so we will leave it at that. Q: What are you most proud of at the moment? A: I am very proud that America is turning toward

the light, with more kindness, understanding and inclusivity. Q: What is your greatest accomplishment? A: Moving to New York and creating a successful business. Q: What is your definition of success? A: A kind of freedom from the ego, a lightness and contentment. Q: What is your definition of la dolce vita? A: Decadent lunches in a warm climate. Q: Favourites: fabrics, fragrance, shop, restaurant, saying? A: I am mad for black horsehair, I love the freshness of orange blossoms in bloom. Does Christie’s count as a shop? My favourite restaurants are 5 Hertford and Le Petite Maison in London, and the saying is, “Quelle horreur!” Q: If you could change anything about society, history or yourself, what would it be? A: I wish we could live in a peaceful world, with more kindness and understanding. www.reddkaihoi.com @milesredd

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SPONSORED CONTENT

The fresh approach to real estate of husband and wife founders of Condoville, Shaminder and Jasneet Gogna, has been an immediate success for their growing client roster

MR. AND MRS. CONDOVILLE:

MAXIMIZING REAL ESTATE VALUE AND OPPORTUNITY

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A new concept in real estate has emerged in the booming Toronto area. Dolce recently sat down with Condoville founder and president Shaminder Gogna and talked about how his company’s suite of services can help people maximize their real estate value and realize greater opportunity

Q: You were where we all want to be now, on a beach in Hawaii in 2013, when you first thought of the idea behind Condoville. What gap in the marketplace did you identify? A: Then, no one was investing in buildings outside of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), but I realized there were some ideal secondary and tertiary markets nearby, and there was a gap for both investors and developers. Investors couldn’t afford to continue investing in the GTA, but didn’t know about sites outside the GTA. I knew there were high-quality land and buildings in secondary markets, and the idea was to help the average family invest in real estate by giving them opportunities that would be affordable for the average household.

PHOTOS BY CARLOS A. PINTO

Q: You’re a developer as well as marketer and a sales broker. What was the original concept behind Condoville and the services you could provide? A: I thought if I could keep ahead of the curve by identifying certain markets poised for growth and communicate the advantages of these markets to certain households, it could prove quite beneficial to families who wished to invest in real estate. For example, I went to school in the KitchenerWaterloo, Ont., area and knew Google was soon to land there. It wasn’t information that was readily available, but its impact would be huge. There was a lack of high density and modern condos, so the area was on the cusp of terrific growth. Condoville was doing the due diligence others weren’t. Q: Give us an example of how you help people maximize real estate value and opportunity. A: Perhaps you own a small hardware store on a main street in a smaller secondary market, so your focus is primarily on your business and perhaps not your location. I see the value of that main street location, which can be repurposed to develop that prime site into a top-quality five- or six-storey condominium, which will provide a much greater return on the property. We’ve already done that two or three times, and the reaction has been terrific. We review their parcel of land, then talk to the municipality about what is allowed to be built there. We help them think outside of the box as to the true potential and value of their land or store.

The Condoville team of (from left) Rahmat Bawari, Mitchell Coburn, Shaminder Gogna, Hassib Bawari, Sumeet Banwait and Jasneet Gogna provide a growing suite of services to maximize real estate value for clients

Q: Would it be accurate to say Condoville is an advocate on behalf of your clients? A: We are advocates, who can help a landowner understand municipal services, and we can help them raise capital in order to adhere to the proper studies, which need to be completed to move forward. Part of our analysis is understanding the land’s best use in order to maximize the highest revenue possible for our clients. We also apply, on the landowners’ behalf, for any grants that may be available, so they can get the most rebates possible. Q: Have Condoville’s services grown since you started in 2017? A: Absolutely. We have a growing team of experts on our staff, who are customer-focused, and when we started, we only provided about 10 per cent of the complete services we do today. Condoville has been assisting builders and developers market and sell their projects. We’ve recently formed Condoville Developments to assist landowners develop their parcels of land, as well as develop on our own infill sites.

Q: How does Condoville measure success in these early stages of its existence? A: It may sound cliché, but success to all of us at Condoville is based upon how many people we have helped out. Whether it’s investors or the average households who see a great return on their real estate, or business owners we’ve worked with and turned into developers, the satisfaction comes from seeing the great returns they’ve achieved. Q: The approach of Condoville is to simply help people. Is that a reflection of the personal life philosophy of you and your wife, Jasneet? A: Absolutely. We understand that all types of problems exist for an array of reasons, whether personal or business, and those problems involve real people with substantial consequence. We do our best to provide solutions and create a working relationship that initially invests our time and efforts into solving the problem. We don’t receive our fee until several critical steps have been achieved. condovillerealestate.ca

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The luxuries you need to know across fashion, florals, furniture and more TEXT BY JOS H WALKE R

OBJECTS of

GUILIA GTA: Described in a statement as “a gift to every fan of Alfa Romeo and petrol heads in general”, the Guilia GTA is Alfa Romeo’s best-performing sports saloon to date. | alfaromeo.ca

KRUG GRANDE CUVÉE BRUT: Known as a champagne with a rounder flavour profile, this cuvée has been developed from a blend of 140 wines spanning longer than a decade. | krug.com

GRANDEMARE OUTDOOR SECTIONAL: Flexform is a brand known for its Made In Italy label. Its outdoor furniture is no different. This sectional boasts wooden armrests and is accompanied by the Tessa Outdoor armchair. | flexform.it

MALTESE CROSS CUFF: Available in small, medium and large, the Maltese Cross Cuff, including diamonds and 18k gold, was originally designed for Coco Chanel in the 1930s. | verdura.com

JENNY PACKHAM AW21 PRE COLLECTION: For AW21, the British designer looked at Hollywood’s Golden Age for inspiration, from its sensational gowns to its personalities. | jennypackham.com

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AIRPODS MAX: Apple elevates their AirPods to over-ear headphones with minimal distortion and active noise cancellation for a memorable listening experience. | apple.com/airpods-max

LOUBI QUEEN: As one of the fashion house’s most iconic pieces, the Loubi Queen consists of a delicate ankle strap and leather-wrapped stiletto heel. | christianlouboutin.com

JUNGLE ANIMALIER SQUARE DISH: Bring the jungle into your home with this Versace flat bowl, decorated with the brand’s iconic style and finished with Medusa accents. | versace.com

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE: A hub set in the heart of London, The Royal Exchange brings together luxury boutiques stocking independent brands and spots for dining, coffees and cocktails. | theroyalexchange.co.uk

DESIRE

BY APPOINTMENT ONLY DESIGN: Offering floral services, styling and installation for all sorts of occasions, this London-based brand is founded on creativity and attention to detail. | byappointmentonlydesign.com

PORSCHE EBIKE SPORT: Inspired by the lines of the Porsche Taycan, the eBike brings the performance and finish of the iconic sports car manufacturer to two wheels. | porsche.com

HOSPITALITY

Madi is working on a number of initiatives that shed light on protecting the environment and its ecosystems

CONNECTING THE DOTS:

HOW RALF MADI BUILT HIS CAREER ON CURATING Madi has worked on has led him CONNECTION Everything to his dream project: a hotel in Bali that he can’t wait to present to the world

here’s a common theme in everything Ralf Madi creates: connectivity. Madi’s undeniable talent is the original way he sees people and the world around him. As a self-made success — entrepreneur, event curator, club owner, restaurateur and investor — he built his career on his love for bringing people together through curated experiences. To fully understand where Madi is today, it is important to get to know where he came from and

the influences that surround his life. Raised by a single mother, Madi understood the importance of hard work and knew from an early age that he would be in charge of creating a purposeful and fulfilling life for himself: “I create families. Family doesn’t just have to be blood. You can create a family. I think it’s such a new world now. Go and create your family.” Outgoing and uber-friendly, Madi’s connections of friends and family span the globe. By the time he was 21, he had a whopping 700 people attend

his self-thrown birthday celebration. “This is what I love to do, bringing people together, making people happy, through music. I was able to mix all these amazing people together. They were all there for a common purpose, for my birthday. So when I finished university, right away I jumped into the bar business,” says Madi. Naturally, Madi thrived in the hospitality realm, and after graduating from university, he started managing a bar in Toronto called Mad Bar on Richmond Street. While building his clientele

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF RALF MADI

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Madi pictured at the Morabito Art Villa property in Bali, where he is creating the hotel of his dreams

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PHOTO BY C-REEL - CYRIL SAULNIER

Surrounded by a flowery one-hectare tropical oasis, Morabito Art Villa directly faces the Indian Ocean, providing an incredibly relaxing atmosphere and breathtaking view (www.morabitoartvilla.com)

The Marafiki Safari experience is a passion project created by Madi. The event, which explores the tribal lands of Kenya through safari and music culture, is scheduled to reoccur in February 2022 (marafikisafari.com)

Ralf and his fiancée Virginie, whom he recently got engaged to in Bali, are partnering together to build their fashion line Orion et Coco (@orionetcoco)

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FROM A BUSBOY TO A WAITER TO A PROMOTER TO A CLUB OWNER, YOU DREAM OF HAVING A HOTEL

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at Mad Bar, Madi’s trajectory led him to meet Charles Khabouth — the ultra-successful nightclub owner, restaurateur, music promoter and hotelier, known as Toronto’s “King of Clubs.” Khabouth took Madi under his wing for three years at the Guvernment, one of Canada’s largest and longestrunning nightclubs. Under Khabouth’s tutelage, Madi learned how to take the hospitality business to the next level and build a company from the ground up. With hands-on experience under his belt, Madi started a production company with his friend and business partner Zark Fatah, curating events for different clubs across the city. The venture was a success, with a loyal following, and provided Madi with a foundation on which to open his first club at the age of 30, called Century Room (now Everleigh). Having worked hard to attain a footing in the industry, Madi kept his head on his shoulders and carefully invested his hard-earned savings. “I bought real estate back in the day — all preconstruction — so I was really smart with my money. It wasn’t like, ‘Hey, I’m in the clubs. I’m going to travel and spend it on girls and cars and all that.’ Real estate is the most important thing for you to build the foundation for yourself and wealth.” Madi, wanting to expand his portfolio into the lifestyle realm, decided to add restaurants and spas to his repertoire. So far, he’s on his way to building his own lifestyle-entertainment empire, having opened Hammam Spa, Maison Mercer, KiWe (now known as Portland Variety) and Petty Cash. Throughout his lifestyle portfolio expansion, he founded international projects, including festivals in Mexico (BPM), Jamaica (Tmrw.Tday), and Mykonos, Greece (VOID). It’s worth noting that Madi played a huge role in the influencer hotspot that Tulum is today, greatly due to BPM, which he created when he was 34 with his best friend Craig Pettegrew. “BPM was in Playa del Carmen, which is half an hour away from Tulum. We would do

parties in Tulum, so that’s how Tulum kind of blew up, because people would come to BPM,” he says. His most recent project is an exclusive experience that explores the tribal lands of Kenya through safari and music culture called Marafiki Safari. One of its biggest supporters is Guy Laliberté, owner of the legendary Cirque du Soleil and close friend to Madi. They first met 12 years ago, when Madi attended one of his famous private parties at his Montreal estate, after Formula 1. Says Madi: “He’s taken me on these amazing experiences all around the world, so the Marafiki Safari was what I learned from Guy. He’s such a kind, loving person and so giving, and he incorporates party with education.” Laliberté was the first person Madi called to run by the concept of Marafiki Safari. “Right away, he Skyped me and said, ‘Hold 12 spots for me.’ It was the first time that he’s ever gone to somebody else’s event, so it was such an honour. This guy you look up to is now part of what you’re doing. It’s like he passed the torch to me,” says Madi. In all of Madi’s projects, there’s an element of philanthropy, education and preserving Mother Earth. “For the safari, we raised US$60,000 to go toward anti-poaching for the animals. It’s about opening people’s eyes to what’s happening.” On the safari, which is already planned again for February 2022, Madi connected with someone from Extreme E, a racing series where electric SUVs compete in the most remote corners of the planet to highlight the climate-change challenges faced by the different ecosystems. Spanning four continents, at some of the world’s most remote locations, Madi will be in charge of curating the experiences for each location they visit. With sustainability and climate change top of mind, Madi hopes the pandemic will positively change the way we see the world and the people around us. “I think they’re going to realize that we live on such a beautiful planet, and that it’s time to take care of this planet that we live on, and

not just walk through life throwing plastic here and there, polluting. I think people now appreciate how important it is for us to communicate with one another.” At some point along his journey, Madi realized that clubs weren’t his passion anymore. “I always dreamed of having a hotel, and Teddy Azar, whom I met in Mykonos, basically asked me to come check out this property in Bali. I came and checked out this property, and as soon as I walked in, I got goosebumps,” he says. Currently, Madi is working on his dream project in Bali alongside Azar, on a hotel called Morabito Art Villa. Says Madi: “From a busboy to a waiter to a promoter to a club owner, you dream of having a hotel. So now, all my experience can be put into this hotel. I can’t wait to present this to the world.” Madi will still be creating these passion projects while he’s staying in Bali, until the hotel is running at 100 per cent. If you take a look at his Instagram feed, you can see the environmental initiatives he’s working on, the orphanages he visits and the progress of Morabito Art Villa. Madi lives life to its fullest, even when it comes to the clothes he wears: “Fashion is not about labels for me. It’s about mixing in different things to create a style, and it’s how you represent yourself. When I’m out and I see a stylish girl or guy, I always go and introduce myself, because I know that we are kind of likeminded and we like the same music.” That stylish girl he’s talking about may very well be his fiancée, Virginie, a fashion designer. They met shortly before COVID-19 started, and he proposed during the pandemic, while they were staying in Bali. “I gave her this ring that I bought in Bali, because we had to pretend that we were married to go to the orphanage, so we could stay together.” They are now working together to launch their fashion brand, called Orion et Coco. Partnering with females is something that Madi believes is one of the major keys to his business success. He has always hired women managers

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With a sunset bar, restaurant, gym, spa and incredible suites, Morabito Art Villa is curated for customers who want to have the best five-star experience accommodation in Bali

to run his businesses, because it makes him feel more comfortable. And he recently partnered with the female-run creative digital agency 2Social. “Something that I realized, coming from a single mom, is that I really think that women run the world. I just think women care more, and the egos don’t get involved. I have such strong women around me. I just love to empower women. There are so many talented women out there,” Madi says. Madi always lends a helping hand, because he understands the impact he could have on someone, just like the effect Khabouth and Laliberté had on him: “I’m always helping people out, even if

it’s my competition. I do things without needing something in return; I’ve always done that. It’s about positive energy and karma. I’m living proof of good karma, because everything came back to me.” It’s true: everything has come back to Madi. While Madi has been able to create life-changing experiences for so many people, he has created a dream life for himself, focusing on giving back through the establishments by emphasizing the importance of educating people on problems that exist around the world through these experiences. Over the next couple years, Madi would like to start a family of his own: “Personally, I would like

to have a baby. I’m even thinking of adopting, to be honest with you, because there are enough kids who are in the world. I would like to have a child, so that they can create a legacy that I’ve created.” Madi’s life story highlights, more than ever, that finding connection, sharing knowledge and nurturing your family aren’t defined by blood. The legacy Madi has created goes past his business accomplishments. He set out to create exactly what he said he would do: a family larger than he could have ever imagined that has deep roots spanning the globe. www.ralfmadi.com @ralfmadi

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25 Torbarrie Rd. - Now Open Canaroma Bath & Tile is proud to announce the opening of our brand new state of the art showroom offering a unique experience to explore and awaken all your senses - a working water station, elaborated fixture and vanity selections, an extensive tile gallery, alongside a magnificent Slab Hall and our exclusive Versace boutique. 25 Torbarrie Rd., Toronto ON M3L 1G5 tel: 905-856-7979 | www.canaroma.com @canaromatoronto KSL-Dolce-LC-Mar2021-MM2.pdf

25:03:21

2:19 pm

CMY

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ARCHITECTURAL LANGUAGE

www.dolcemag.com SCAN THIS QR CODE TO WATCH THE VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH RICHARD LIBRACH

RICHARD LIBRACH ARCHITECT:

Architect, lecturer, mentor Librach has risen to the top of his profession during his 25-year career

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PHOTO BY CARLOS A. PINTO

BRINGING PASSION AND EMOTION TO HIS ARTISTRY WITH ARCHITECTURE

PHOTO BY STUDIO SHAI GIL

Librach uses generous stone and wood in a sleek, modern and contemporary approach to design

WR ITTE N BY R ICK M U LLE R

t is one of the most unifying things about people; we all have an interest in it, and most certainly have something to say about it — architecture. We love that building here, or we hate that building over there. Or, in private at home after a party, with comments ranging from, “That’s the most spectacular home I’ve ever been in,” to “Aren’t there city bylaws against something like that?” Architecture sparks opinion. And, people love their opinions. Perhaps it is because architecture is all around us and speaks to us. Whether we realize it or not,

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GREAT SPACE EFFECTS US TO DO BETTER, TO INHABIT IT AND TO DO BETTER FOR OURSELVES

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One of Canada’s top architects allows us inside his emotional perspectives used to create his visions of form and place

architecture is part of our daily visual. It’s static, it’s permanent and it surrounds us. Architecture is just there. One of the Renaissance’s most renaissance men, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, once said about architecture, “Music is liquid architecture. Architecture is frozen music.” Richard Librach, one of Canada’s most prominent architects, has a few things to add to that, as one of the most learned professionals to speak about our obsession with architecture. “I noticed a big shift in the public conversation during the museum-building phase, such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris or the Royal Ontario

Museum addition in Toronto, buildings for displaying public artifacts, where modernism collided with the traditional,” says Librach. “As people started to experience public buildings in a big way, there began a debate about the building being a piece of design by itself or as a vessel for what’s inside. People were travelling more, and the internet brought imagery to us. The globalization of imagery gave people ideas about the possibilities of architecture.” Over the course of the last 25 years, Librach has risen to the top of his profession, recognized for his design brilliance and his sleek, modern and contemporary approach in distinctive residential and commercial architectural expression. He is known for taking a consultative approach to his projects, where he seeks a collaboration of discovery with his clients in order to reflect their actual needs and lifestyles. “My role is to hold up a mirror to the client and ask if they want to continue to live the same way, or explore other ways,” says Librach. “My role is also interpretive and to listen to what they’re saying and getting them to express what they really need and then making suggestions to them. People need a bit of the familiar before we go further, so I try to make them aware of where we’re going in order to achieve the right balance to transcend a problem.”

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Librach’s vast experience with a full array of clients throughout his career means he understands those who may find the idea of redesigning their current home or getting ready to build a new family home a somewhat intimidating process. To ease fears and to make its clients a full partner in the process, Richard Librach Architect offers a comprehensive consultation package to clarify its mutual vision and give clients a full understanding of the process they will undertake. The consultation package includes in-home consultation, scope of work and design solutions

for consideration, a project timeline and budget, a customized project feasibility guide and a preliminary sketch design. The result is that there are no surprises, which can make the entire process an enjoyable one, so every project is as distinctive as every client. “I’m always looking for what is the culture of the client and the way they live, and how that translates to the site of the home. That affords the possibilities to express architectural language. You make ways to allow all of the elements in, so each project is different and unique,” says Librach.

It is both illuminating and enlightening to get a deep perspective on architecture from one of the masters. The artistry and creativity that Librach brings to his craft are to be treasured and admired, illustrating to us all the wonders of possibility the discipline can provide and, once again, sparking individual opinions on something that is all around us. Few elements of our physical world prompt the emotion that architecture does. “I believe architecture is a simultaneous merging of functions,” says Librach. “How a building performs, how it inspires and how it impacts you — that is an esthetic, psycho-emotional response. Great space effects us to do better, to inhabit it and to do better for ourselves. It merges art, logic and emotion, allowing us to feel comfortable about ourselves in the familiar, yet explore the unfamiliar. It’s like being under a warm blanket in front of a fire with a winter storm outside our window. That engages all of our senses. Through materiality and with light is our need to feel connected to our exterior environment, yet with the comfort of our interior bubble.” www.rlarchitect.com @richardlibracharchitect

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PHOTOS BY STUDIO SHAI GIL

Librach specializes in creating a natural oasis in an urban setting, enhancing its environment with materials and design that bring forth natural light to create a fusion of form and function ideal for everyday living

HOME DECOR

SITTING PRETTY This slender brass-legged bench, available in elegant colours like blush and olive green, combines its sleek profile and lightly padded seat to create a sitting space that is comfortable, serene and sophisticated. www.roveconcepts.com

CABINET CRAFTSMANSHIP Made with a staggering 1,088 multicoloured handmade leaf gilding triangles and crafted with mirror, acrylic, gold and silver leaf, this avant-garde pixel cabinet displays a playful character through its shape, colour and striking design. www.bocadolobo.com

COASTAL CHIC Known for its high-end restaurants, legendary resorts and unmatched selection of luxury retail boutiques, this beautifully bound pastel-pink book celebrates Palm Beach’s booming social scene through its lively photo-rich pages. www.anthropologie.com

DECOR GALORE

Reinvent, refresh and add a new wave of design, texture and colour into your home this spring with décor that will be the breath of fresh air you need WR ITTE N BY E STE LLE Z E NTI L

FELINE FURNITURE Conveniently tucked under a console or as a stand-alone accent piece, this plush stool is a fantastic way of incorporating an eye-catching print and practical seating into your home — adding flair to even the smallest corners. www.kare-toronto.com

MODERN DINING Crafted with antique brass and smoke tempered glass, this contemporary dining table features a stainless steel base with a brushed antique gold finish — dining at every meal with a side of modern chic. zillihome.com

ODE TO ROME Inspired by the monumental Colosseum, this piece by Dustin Rousseau combines aspects of both drawing and painting, utilizing varying techniques to symbolize the evolution of the built world over time. www.rhmodern.com

ANIMALIA ABODE Roberto Cavalli is bringing his signature animal motifs into the home with a bold monochromatic zebra pattern, creating a glam-chic setting where wild animalier motives come to life. www.robertocavalli.com

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PHILANTHROPY

Marion on her Four Sixes Ranch in Texas

HEIRESS ANNE MARION: AN AMERICAN VISIONARY How one of America’s greatest cultural philanthropists masterfully painted her life, leaving behind one of the country’s greatest art collections

hey say life is a blank canvas, and it’s up to you how you want to paint it. If that’s true, Anne Marion has painted a masterpiece through the family legacy she has upheld and deepened, and the exceptional collection of artwork she has carefully put together throughout her lifetime. An American heiress born into a ranching family, she inherited the world-renowned 6666 Ranch, known as the “Four Sixes Ranch,” which today encompasses 260,000 acres of land in King County, Texas, from her great-grandfather Captain Samuel Burk Burnett. Marion was acutely aware of the risks and responsibilities that come with generational

inheritance. As the saying goes, “The first generation makes it, the second generation spends it, and the third generation blows it.” Marion, however, ensured that this wouldn’t apply to her stewardship of her family’s legacy. She was extremely dedicated to the ranch, never straying away from the shared vision she and her predecessors had for it. As Marion once explained it, “The most important thing that ever happened to me was growing up on that ranch. It kept my feet on the ground more than anything else.” The foundation of Marion’s life masterpiece is based on her love and pride for her family’s ranch, philanthropy and art collecting. As one of America’s greatest cultural philanthropists, Marion

understood that what makes life rich is not the worth of an impressive art or jewelry collection, but rather, one’s philanthropic work. Through her charitable foundation, Marion has distributed more than US$600 million in grants to a variety of institutions and causes over her lifetime. Her life’s work reminds us that when leaving Earth, our legacy is not defined by what we take with us, but the impact we have on society. In recognition of the fact that art is for all to enjoy, for 2021, Marion had previously arranged for a number of pieces from her art collection to be sold through Sotheby’s New York, launching with an 18-lot dedicated evening auction in New York in May.

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF SOTHEBY’S

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Andy Warhol’s Elvis 2 Times 1963, silkscreen ink on synthetic polymer paint on canvas, is estimated to be worth between US$20 million and US$30 million

Estimated in the region of US$150 million, and anchored by post-war American art masterpieces, the collection showcases artworks by Warhol, Still, Diebenkorn, Kline, Motherwell, Lichtenstein, Hofmann, Francis, Noland and Louis, among other giants of 20th-century American art. A few standout pieces from the prestigious collection include Clyfford Still’s 1948 PH-125, with its large and visionary characteristics of the post-war abstract expressionist movement, and Roy Lichtenstein’s Girl with Beach Ball

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UNPRETENTIOUS AND PROUD OF HER RANCHER LEGACY AND LIFESTYLE, ANNE WAS A BOLDHEARTED TEXAN THROUGH AND THROUGH

Pair of emerald and diamond earclips by Verdura, estimated to be worth between US$100,000 and US$150,000

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— Amy Cappellazzo, chairman of Sotheby’s Global Fine Arts Division II characterizing modern art, as well as Andy Warhol’s 1963 Elvis 2 Times signature pop art. Amy Cappellazzo, chairman of Sotheby’s Global Fine Arts Division, describes best who Marion was: “Anne Marion was a true art collector and had an eye for quality. She was brave in everything she did, from her choice in artwork to her sense of design and colour. Unpretentious and proud of her rancher legacy and lifestyle, Anne was a bold-hearted Texan through and through.” In addition to Marion’s fine art collection, Sotheby’s will also hold a dedicated online sale of her jewelry collection, with American-made pieces by Verdura, Andrew Clunn and, most notably, David Webb. Decorated with turquoise, tourmaline, aquamarine, sapphires, emeralds and rubies, Marion’s jewels reflect the colourful life she lived and will surely be conversation pieces for the woman lucky enough to be adorned by them. Hugh Hildesley, who joined Sotheby’s in 1961 and is a colleague of Marion’s husband, John L. Marion, who was an American auctioneer and philanthropist who served as the chairman of Sotheby’s, captures the richness of her philanthropic life: “The sheer scope of Anne’s

Kenneth Noland’s Rocker, 1958, acrylic on canvas, is estimated to be worth between US$2 million and US$3 million

astounding achievements will prove influential and transformative for generations to come, from her role as president of the Burnett Foundation to founding the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, donor of the Marion Emergency Care Center in Fort Worth, to tireless trustee of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Kimbell Art Museum and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Anne knew quality when she saw it, and that was never truer than when she first met John. For more than three decades, they together forged a legendary partnership, which was to the art world’s supreme

Marino Marini’s Rider, bronze, conceived in 1952, is estimated to be worth between US$2 million and US$3 million

advantage. That legend represents one of the great treasures in my 60 years of Sotheby’s history.” Just like Marion, we can all be the artists of our own destinies, using each stroke to paint the pictures of our desires. They can be as monumental in scale as Still’s abstract expressionism or as lighthearted and fantastical as Warhol’s pop art. Regardless of the method, we can be sure that, by the end, no canvas will remain blank if a life is lived with charity and art. www.sothebys.com @sothebys

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HOSPITALITY

WRITTEN IN THE STARS:

HOW SIMON KIM WAS DESTINED TO CREATE MICHELIN STAR–WORTHY RESTAURANTS

Restaurateur Simon Kim is bringing fun and fire to the American steakhouse by merging it with Korean barbeque, creating an authentic brand representative of who he is

Pictured with a mask in hand, Kim has faced the pandemic head-on. As a leader, he has learned how to pivot quickly in order to keep his New York restaurant running safely, while also expanding the Cote brand to Miami

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PHOTO BY CHARLES ROUSSEL

WR ITTE N BY E STE LLE Z E NTI L

PHOTO BY NAHO KUBOTA

Located in the Miami Design District, Kim’s restaurant features a swanky bar that reflects the fabulous Miami lifestyle. The restaurant is equipped with a half milliondollar state-of-the-art air ejection technology system, ensuring the best air quality while dining indoors

Meat is at the heart of Cote. The elevated designs within the interior and exterior of the restaurant include details like an elaborate dry-aging room and two private dining rooms

PHOTOS BY GARY HE

hick slabs of shadowy marble with faint, creamy veins that double as tables; elegant, earthy artwork of obscure, mysterious shapes; and rich, dark-green walls make it clear that Cote is a restaurant that takes itself seriously. But not too seriously — overlooking the dining room is an oversized pink neon sign of Cote’s Korean flower logo, which reassures diners that they’re allowed to have a bit of fun with their dinner. This original combination, rare among Michelin-starred restaurants, only seems paradoxical, though, until you meet Cote’s founder and owner, Simon Kim.

Speaking with Kim makes an impression. He is extremely articulate, with a manner of speaking that is more akin to an old friend than a restaurateur, a characteristic enhanced by the nostalgic, soothing tones of his voice. Grace, integrity and purpose were behind every word he spoke. But just as naturally, Kim made me feel at ease with his lightheartedness; he may be the only Michelin restaurateur to identify “fire, beef and booze” as the secret ingredients to his success. To understand Kim’s ambitions requires an understanding of the influence of Kim’s parents in shaping the essence of the restaurant. It takes someone with special perseverance and clarity of

purpose to bring Korean barbecue to Michelin status. These characteristics can be traced back to Kim’s mother: “My mom, she is one of those ladies, if she puts her mind to it, anything is possible sort of a lady. So, I think I got that entrepreneurial spirit. If I have an intention, if I have a will, there’s going to be a way. And if it doesn’t work out, it means I didn’t try hard enough.” From his father, Kim finds the importance of plate integrity and detail-oriented service. “I am in the hospitality business, and it’s all about the details, and my father is literally the epitome of appreciation of fine details. My father never really appreciated anything because it was highly

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sought after. There’s going to be someone who actually physically and metaphysically connects with a product, service, restaurant or hospitality institution, and I think that’s my father,” says Kim. “He will go to a restaurant if they have the best product, or where the owner of the restaurant had the best intention and attention to detail, in a very humble but very meaningful, integrity-driven way. He always appreciated that, and I think that impacted me more than anything.” His father’s influence was what compelled Kim

to open his first restaurant in 2013, when he was just 28 years old. “The dinner table is the only time when I had real interaction around my dad; he was very much an introvert. At a very early age, I learned that food has the power to bring people together.” This motivation resulted in Piora, an Italian-Korean restaurant in New York City’s West Village. Although initially a critical success, during its first 18 months, Piora was losing money. Despite pouring his soul into his dream restaurant, Kim was in personal debt and considered closing

the restaurant in summer 2014. But Kim, drawing on his parents’ perseverance, held firm in his vision for Piora and kept it open. His dedication paid off. In fall 2014, Piora received a Michelin star. This was a turning point for Kim: “I was able to pay off all my debt; it was a dream come true. We kept the restaurant with the Michelin star for the next four years.” After the success that came from Piora, it was time to open a new restaurant. In 2017, he closed Piora and opened Cote NYC. In Cote’s inaugural

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PHOTOS BY GARY HE

Every table at Cote Miami has a smokeless, state-of-the-art tabletop grill that allows for guests to indulge in Cote’s signature menu, which includes 45-day, USDA prime dry-aged beef, and nutrient- and probiotic-rich side dishes

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THE COTE BRAND IS WHO I AM. I AM AN AMERICAN. COTE IS AN AMERICAN RESTAURANT. WE’RE THE FIRST KOREAN STEAKHOUSE EVER

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year, it received a Michelin star. Cote’s concept was born out of this realization that Kim had: “The Cote brand is who I am. I am an American. Cote is an American restaurant. We’re the first Korean steakhouse ever. When I came to America, people didn’t see an American, they saw a Korean person. And after being in America, when I went to Korea, people didn’t see me as a Korean, they saw an Americanized version of Korean, and so I kind of didn’t get accepted either here or there,” he says. “And I kind of had an identity crisis and then I realized, after Piora, what makes me unique is that I’m Korean-American. I understand Korean culture better than any Americans can, and I understand American culture better than any Koreans can.” In February 2021, the avid foodie and restaurateur opened his third restaurant, Cote Miami, after his success with Cote NYC. Cote Miami was two years in the making. It took Kim six months of intense architectural sessions to come up with the initial plan, with construction taking nine months. “We built care into the design, the structures, tables, the flow of the restaurant and, of course, the food procurement. We procure the best ingredients, ingredients with great integrity intact, and the service, too. It’s not just about treating our customer with integrity; it’s the care and anticipating their needs. To me, I think that’s the epitome of hospitality — it’s how much care you can actually output.” Every detail was taken into account when developing Cote Miami’s concept in order to create the ideal feng shui. Among other things, this meant importing Brazilian stones that were used at the New York location and investing in a half-million dollar, state-of-the-art Paragon Dedicated Outdoor Air System (DOAS), setting a new standard in air quality for indoor dining establishments. Of course, Kim applied the same rigour to developing Cote Miami’s menu. For example, Kim partnered with two of the world’s most prestigious caviar houses, Regiis Ova and Petrossian, for Cote’s caviar service, one of Kim’s favourite items on the menu. Details like these are what make Kim’s execution stand out from the rest. The launch of his new restaurant and operating Cote NYC during the pandemic were described by Kim as “the single greatest challenge that he had faced in his entire life.” But again, this is where his parents’ lessons of perseverance are invaluable. During the pandemic, the savvy businessman quickly pivoted and found a “way” to deliver to his customers by providing “steak care packages,” and he partnered with Goldbelly, a national food delivery platform, to ship steak to places as far as Hawaii. Cote even partnered with Frontline Foods, providing meals for front-line workers, as well as City Harvest, donating five per cent of his sales to the organization. To add to his philanthropic work, Kim has been hosting fundraisers for organizations

fighting against the recent increase of violence against Asian Americans, namely Apex For Youth, CACF NYC and AAFE NYC, raising a total of US$23,500. He plans on expanding the Cote brand further and shares an optimistic approach for the hospitality industry as a whole: “I think the restaurant industry and hospitality are in position for the greatest decade we’ve ever seen.” While climbing up the hospitality ladder in his twenties, Kim met one of his biggest mentors, Yong-Maan Park. As a former chairman of the Chamber of Commerce in Korea and former chairman of Doosan Corporation, Korea’s oldest conglomerate, Park became an important figure in Kim’s life, both personally and professionally. “I met him while I was a manager at Jean-Georges restaurant. He would come to New York once a month, and I booked amazing restaurants for him. He appreciated my access to good restaurants, and I appreciated his ability to pay for the bills. Over the years, we became really good friends. We would dine, talk about business, growth and dreams — all those things — and he became kind of like my father figure.” Some of the greatest advice has come from the conversations over dinner with Park. While Kim was in the middle of opening Cote NYC and closing Piora, he was concerned about having children and the pressures that he was facing in business at the time. Park assured Kim that everything would be OK: “‘Your child has his own

fate, so I understand, as a parent, you may feel like you have to do everything,’ he said. ‘Don’t overthink it; you’re not God. Just don’t get in the way.’” In a way, the three-time Michelin star restaurateur’s success was almost preordained, starting from his family’s dinner table in Seoul. At dinner, Kim saw his mother’s keen desire to please her husband through her cooking. Her meals were respectfully critiqued by Kim’s father in the way a Michelin inspector inspects a star chef. This left an imprint on Kim’s future restaurants, as he always thought to himself: How can I please my father? What would my father say about this — about this plate or about this chair? Kim made me rethink the deep impact that hospitality can have on someone. For him, it’s the little things that hospitality can offer that impress him, like turndown service in the evening, or the water placed on the bedside table in case one becomes thirsty in the evening. “Those are the details that wow me, because I didn’t know that I needed them, and, to me, that’s motherly. And that’s why moms are the best, right? And when you become old and you no longer have Mom, being able to feel that motherly care through hospitality is everything to me.” It should be no surprise, then, to learn what Kim hopes to have as his last meal: “A dinner that my mother cooked for me.” www.cotenyc.com @cote_nyc

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ART

www.dolcemag.com SCAN THIS QR CODE TO WATCH THE VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH PETER TRIANTOS

SHOW ME

LOVE.

SHOW ME

JOY.

SHOW ME

BEAUTY

Triantos will possibly return to Seoul, South Korea, and Mykonos, Greece, for solo exhibitions, as well as to Art Basel in Miami

ho knows what might have happened if Peter Triantos had never met his muse. One thing is for sure: the world might never have had the pleasure of laying eyes on some of Triantos’s most magnificent pieces. “For me, Seraphina, my wife, played a very important role in the blossoming of my art — she sparks everything,” he says. “Of course, I was an artist before that time, but it plays a big role when you have somebody who absolutely backs you.” Actually, he says, his work exploded because of her. Seraphina may light the fire, but it’s Triantos’s sense of wonder and his passion for, well, life, really, that fuels his art. Take, for example, his

Jelly Bean series, a visual delight of colour, positive energy and pure joy. Or his Napa Valley series, which captures the essence of nature on canvas. “The paintings took me there on a journey,” he says, speaking of this special place for him. In fact, it’s all part of the journey for Triantos, whose art has taken him literally around the world, from the United States and Europe to Korea and New Zealand. Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, solo shows in Greece and London were postponed this past year. But Triantos isn’t the kind of guy to sit still and worry about that. He’s already looking ahead to a group show that’s being planned in Dubai. “You know what? You cannot really plan, he says. “There has

WR ITTE N BY DON NA PAR I S

to be room for error. If you knew everything, how could there be room for creativity?” he asks. As for this past year, not only has Triantos survived, but he has also thrived. He has continued to expand, opening up new galleries in Toronto, including one that will be throwing open its doors in Yorkville. “We’ve got a 3,000-square-foot gallery; it’s a huge space. And we just opened a 6,000-square-foot gallery at the Yorkdale Shopping Centre. We’ve received so many compliments from so many art lovers who have visited our new Yorkdale location,” he says. “That is going to be a tremendous launch that was six months in the making, trying to sign all the leases.” And as soon as the lockdown

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PHOTO BY CARLOS A. PINTO

Toronto-based contemporary artist Triantos loves nothing more than starting a new piece. “Art moves people in such a fascinating way,” he says.

Contemporary abstract artist Peter Triantos believes art should be passionate, vibrant and joyful. And the whole world agrees. Although he’s based in Toronto, you’ll find his high-end fine art in residential and corporate spaces in private collections, model suites and major lobbies across North America, Europe and Asia

Triantos’s diverse and vast body of work includes Woman and Tiger Cat Screaming (top left) and the Napa Valley series (top right), which is an ode to the beautiful vineyards of the region

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LOVE IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT WORD. LOVE BRINGS US INTO THIS LIFE [AND] LOVE SHOULD TAKE US OUT

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PETER TRIANTOS

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was lifted, Tate McRae filmed her new music video, “Bad Ones,” at Triantos’s Brandon studio. Triantos enjoyed sharing his studio with a fellow artist for the day: “She is the most wonderful and beautiful person inside and out.” That’s pretty awesome, especially in these troubled times, but perhaps it’s because of his philosophy, or maybe it’s just what people need right now: his unbridled enthusiasm for his work, and the people who want a piece of it. While it’s true that social media plays a big role in promotion, there is a whole world outside of social media, he adds. And, for Triantos, the real joy comes in the tangible world, the actual delivering and installing of a painting. “We are also accepting crypto currency for the art. This time, we won’t need to travel to the new world. It’s coming to us. So, what we’re looking to do in 2021 is to make sure that our clients are thrilled, make sure that our clients are absolutely happy,” he says. “The last thing I want is a negative connotation to go with [the art]; it has to be full of joy.”

Triantos considers himself a humanitarian, and philanthropy is part of his mission in life, so he donates works of art to many charities asking for donations. “That’s one of the roles that the artist should play once they have a voice,” he says, “to make sure that you use it properly. Do not use it to exploit; use it to help humanity.” The reason he donates to so many causes is simple: he believes the causes are good, and many charities, such as the Children’s Aid Foundation, Canadian Aids Foundation, SickKids Foundation, Mount Sinai Hospital, Camp Ooch and Camp Trillium for kids and families affected by childhood cancer, and the Rainmaker Enterprise, an organization dedicated to creating solar-powered water infrastructure in South Sudan, have been on the receiving end of Triantos’s donations. “I believe everybody has a responsibility to one another,” he says. “We’re all brothers, we’re all sisters — we’re one. When we hurt each other, we hurt ourselves. When we hurt the planet, we hurt ourselves.”

Black and White Abstract (original). Prints are currently for sale (now also accepting crypto currency)

Triantos has a message for a younger generation: believe in yourself to build a strong foundation. “I think that the fact is this: you control your destiny in many ways,” he says. “And if you have a strong core and believe in yourself, only great things will happen.” As it happens, he has an even bigger message for all of us: live in the moment. “I’ll tell you one thing: only you can make those changes,” he stresses. If you’re not spending enough time with your family, and the direction you’re heading is only going to keep you less and less in touch, then make those changes, he urges. The final word? That’s easy for Triantos. Always, it starts and ends with love for him. “Love is probably the most important word. Love brings us into this life [and] love should take us out,” he says. “I don’t want to be making art that has any kind of connotation other than love. I want to be spreading the word.” petertriantos.com @petertriantos

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SPONSORED CONTENT

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ESTATE HOME ELEGANCE This French inspired chateau is the epitome of expansive luxury living, offering optimal sophistication and authenticity

a European flare, creating the feeling as though it has been passed down through generations,” say the homeowners. This exquisitely designed home features unparalleled finishes and refined luxury that only masterful hand-craftsmanship with a meticulous attention to detail can create. All the interior finishes were custom designed and built, from millwork to ceilings, to handcarved stone sinks, forged iron railings, French polish-stained walnut walls, stately custom doors and ceilings, Parquet de Versailles floors and upscale finishes throughout the residence. The elaborate Downsview Kitchen and custom cabinetry are spectacular, and the room features a soaring 24-foot beamed cathedral ceiling and numerous expansive windows offering breathtaking views of the outdoor gardens. This home was listed for sale with Laura Compagni of Royal LePage, of which Carriage Trade was the exclusive luxury marketing real estate service offered by Royal LePage to market distinguished homes to the most discerning buyers globally. When interviewing realtors, the homeowners were confident that Compagni was the best choice. “Her exceptional drive, expertise, knowledge, skills and enthusiasm are what made us confident that she is the right person to represent the sale of our home,” say the owners. “Laura exudes passion and purpose. She took the time to appreciate and

The homeowner (left) listed her home for sale with Laura Compagni of Royal LePage (right), who successfully sold it in late March 2021. She looks forward to nurturing a longstanding relationship with Compagni

truly understand the many attributes of our home. She takes great pride in achieving success with all of her endeavours, and we look forward to a longstanding relationship.” The 28 Nightfall Crt. residence in Kleinburg is an expression of elevated elegance and represents a rare opportunity for landmark estate home ownership adjacent to Toronto, North America’s fastest-growing metropolitan area and one of the world’s world-class cities. www.lauracompagni.com

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF LAURA COMPAGNI

arely has an estate home been on the market with such outstanding design, superior quality of handcrafted and imported finishes and optimal location as 28 Nightfall Crt. in the prestigious, high-demand village of Kleinburg, Ont. This gated palatial property, set upon 1.3 acres amid a private enclave on manicured rolling hills, backs onto conservation lands offering nature and privacy. This award-winning architectural and interior-designed 17,000-square-foot custombuilt smart home is a masterpiece of artistry, form and function. The grandeur of the home boasts a remarkable fusion of comfortable contemporary living and unsurpassed recreational amenities. The backyard oasis with award-winning Betz self-cleaning swimming pool features an integrated overflow spa and tanning shelf, pool cabana, expansive lounge, outdoor kitchen, wet bar and dining areas. The magnificent loggia is year-round with retractable doors for open air, a fireplace, heated flooring and built-in barbecue and pizza oven. This home is the epitome of luxury living, exuding warmth with a flare of classic elegance, everlasting superior architectural designs and high-quality craftsmanship. “The home’s greatest inspiration was from our travels to Europe and most definitely France. We wanted to create an ambiance of comfortable elegance that transcends

PHOTO BY CARLOS A. PINTO

All the interior finishes of the home were custom designed and built, everything from the decorative millwork to its lofty ceilings

With expansive principal rooms, elegant entertaining spaces and luxurious indoor and outdoor amenities, 28 Nightfall Crt. is one of North America’s most grand landmark residences

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SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

Stegemann (left) wrote The 7 Virtues of a Philosopher Queen to help women, but it has evolved into The 7 Virtues, a shining example of social enterprise, helping farmers in war-torn countries earn decent wages.

SMELLS LIKE SOMETHING GOOD

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE 7 VIRTUES

When Barb Stegemann’s friend Trevor Greene signed up with the Canadian Armed Forces because he wanted to help women in Afghanistan, she wanted to go, too. She couldn’t. But, when Greene was brutally attacked, Stegemann told him simply, “Don’t worry, I will take up the cause.” This is the story of how she poured her heart and soul into this new mission, achieving something far greater than either of them could ever have imagined — persuading farmers in Afghanistan and war-torn countries around the world to start growing flowers to make essential oil for perfumes WR ITTE N BY DON NA PAR I S

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YOU HAVE TO GET MAD FIRST, THEN YOU JUST THINK ABOUT IT AND CALM DOWN AND TAKE A BATH, THEN HAVE A NAP, AND YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND WILL GIVE YOU ALL THE ANSWERS YOU NEED

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hen someone believes in you, encourages you and supports you, you don’t ever forget it. Barb Stegemann certainly didn’t. And when her family moved to Antigonish, N.S., from Quebec in the ’70s, her life changed. “I come from a very humble background,” she says. “We were on welfare, we had a few things, but mostly we went without. We were bullied, and I think that made me a risk-taker, because I never had anything to lose.” All Stegemann knew was that she wanted to study philosophy and journalism at university, and when she was accepted at University of King’s College in Halifax, she was over the moon. She showed up with a knapsack, five bucks and no sheets for her bed. But when she met Trevor Greene, he became a mentor to her. “He took me under his wing and changed my life,” she says. When Greene signed up with the Canadian Armed Forces, he just wanted to help women. But in 2006, a Taliban fighter put an axe through his head, and Greene was lucky to come home alive. He spent two years in a hospital being rehabilitated. And for many days Stegemann was there, along with his wife, Debbie, and his daughter, Grace. “I witnessed this strong man, now unable to move,” says Stegemann. Since then, Greene’s recovery has been nothing less than remarkable. “Whatever happens, you have to make sure that your best friend’s life is not in vain, and that became my priority, because so much was taken from him,” she adds. The first time Stegemann saw Greene in the hospital, she knew she wanted to carry on with his mission. “I just said, ‘You heal; I got this.’” She had no idea where to start, but she became obsessed with writing a book, getting up every day at 4:30 a.m. to start writing. On International Women’s Day in 2010, she self-published The 7 Virtues of a Philosopher Queen: A Woman’s Guide to Living & Leading in an Illogical World. Now in its eighth edition, Stegemann’s book has become a bestseller and is also the subject of the awardwinning documentary Perfume War, directed by Michael Melski. Stegemann also became obsessed with helping people in war-torn countries, to do business with them and make sure that families could work with dignity and earn a decent income. In Afghanistan, the Taliban were forcing farmers to grow illegal poppy crops for heroin, with many of the farmers having to resort to unthinkable measures, like handing over their children to drug smugglers to pay their debts. When Stegemann read about Abdullah Arsala, who was encouraging farmers to grow orange blossoms and roses, instead, to make essential oils for perfume, she became intrigued. “I purchased a sample from his distillery, then I bought the oils, the bottles and the formulations to make perfume,”

she says. Once she did that, she smuggled a bottle of the fragrance back to him in Afghanistan. “I wanted to show there were good people there,” she says. Next hurdle, though, was that she needed a loan to get the fledgling business going, but the banks wouldn’t finance her. That’s when she had the great idea of going on Dragons’ Den. Brett Wilson agreed to finance her company, 7 Virtues Inc., and became a mentor to her as well. And it just grew and grew and grew. The more Stegemann travelled, the more she realized that she couldn’t stop with Afghanistan. “That’s why I went to Rwanda. The mission wasn’t over, it was just beginning,” she says. Today, 7 Virtues is helping people in Haiti, too, and working with Israel and Iran. They have come up with one of their most popular fragrances today, Middle East Peace. The news reached Sephora, which eventually led to Stegemann’s brand ending up in Sephora stores across North America. And now CPL Aromas, an international fragrance house, is on-board, committed to buying $3 million worth of patchouli oil from Rwanda every year. “That is huge, that is life-altering, that is changing entire communities,” says Stegemann. Although Stegemann knew nothing about making perfume or partnerships, she knew how to forge ahead. Perhaps it was her philosophy degree or perhaps it was resilience from when she was a child. Whatever it was, she just took a leap of faith. “I’m very good at not caring about what someone thinks of me — I also think I’m not that important,” she says. “I’m just going to go do my service to others. But it’s interesting that I never really reflected on the fact that I’ve had really great

training and had to deal with a lot as a child that there’s not much anyone could do to me now.” There’s really only one way to describe what Stegemann is doing: she calls it social enterprise. “It’s not charity, it’s fair trade,” she says. “I need my suppliers as much as they need me — and we’re equal.” She doesn’t really believe in charity, either. “We need charity, it’s important after an event like earthquake, or where there is an immediate need, but I’ve seen too many charitable donations never making it to the people they were supposed to help, instead, going to line the pockets of corrupt governments,” she adds. Even a pandemic has not set back Stegemann. In the beginning, she had engagements cancelled, which was worrisome. “I’ve always lived on my speaking engagements and my books,” she says, as she takes no money from the fragrance company. But she has a saying she came up with during this time: “Get mad, take a bath, have a nap.” To get out of the situation, she explains, “you have to get mad first, then you just think about it and calm down and take a bath, then have a nap, and your subconscious mind will give you all the answers you need.” Stegemann discovered there were digital grants available for people who were starting to pivot digitally in their business. “My choice was to build an entire studio, and it’s like ABC News: it’s got a teleprompter, stunning portrait candles, cameras,” she laughs. “My son is a techie, so he works with us and does our video, and he built the studio in my office.” Now, as a bonus, Stegemann can train about 700 Sephora beauty advisers at once in about an hour, whereas before, they would have to go into individual stores to train them. Stegemann did learn one thing from the pandemic. “We will be remembered as individuals and brands, and by how we got people through this pandemic,” she says. Now she can spend more time with her family. She’s started Friday night backgammon and cribbage tournaments. “The more balanced I am, the happier I am,” she says, and she is quite happy to spend more time with her family, going for walks by the lake with her husband and spending more time with her daughter, Ella, and her son, Victor. Stegemann is essentially unstoppable. She’s full of great advice and, to share it, she just launched a mini online leadership course for women. It’s free, and she’s getting non-stop emails from all kinds of women. “I’m just thrilled, because I didn’t know how they would respond,” she says. Stegemann says that although she grew up in poverty, she always dreamed of having a beautiful family. “I have my dream life and I’m very grateful,” she says. “I don’t take it for granted.” www.the7virtues.com @the7virtues barbstegemann.com @barbstegemann

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DISSENTS AND AFFIRMATIONS: THE PURSUIT OF SOCIAL JUSTICE

Justice Ginsburg in her judicial robe and jabot

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s intent, her raison d’être, was clear: all men and all women, regardless of gender, race or creed, must be treated equally without fail WR ITTE N BY CECE M. SCOTT PHOTO BY SOFIA SANCHEZ AND MAURO MONGIELLO

f the many things Ruth Bader Ginsburg, famously known as “Notorious RBG” (a nod to the famed American Rapper The Notorious B.I.G., also known as “Biggie Smalls”) was celebrated for, and, in fact, was emulated for, were her many and varied statement necklaces. RBG, only the second woman to be appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States, was an associate justice of

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that court from 1993 until her passing in 2020. (The first woman, Sandra Day O’Connor, was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1981 by thenpresident, Ronald Reagan.) But make no mistake: while these necklaces, also known as collars, might originally have been seen as fashion statements, a way to dress up her judicial black robes, anyone in the know, anyone in RBG’s circle, knew that these were no ordinary pieces of jewelry that she wore to court on important days. Known as jabots, RBG’s necklaces glinted in the courtroom lights, metaphoric and steely declarations of her unflinching opinions on decisions handed down by the Supreme Court. Arguably RBG’s most renowned jabot was her dissent collar, a heavily jewel-studded necklace which she wore when she was proclaiming her condemnation and disapproval — her dissent — to a decision handed down by the Supreme Court. The fact that RBG would speak her dissent is unusual in itself; announcing a majority opinion in the court

a spur-of-the-moment response to recognize a moment in time in 2013, in large part stemming from the Shelby County vs. Holder voting rights case. The majority opinion in that case rolled back the 1965 Voting Rights Act’s protections, which would inherently impact the ability of certain communities to vote. RBG made it clear that this action would erode the rights of people of colour, poor people and other marginalized populations. And while B.I.G. and RBG are two people who could not be any more different on so many fronts, their words, in different ways, both spoke truth to power.” Famously, near the end of her dissent in the Shelby County case, RBG explained why the regional protections of the Voting Rights Act were still necessary. “Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.”2

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IN EVERY GOOD MARRIAGE, IT HELPS SOMETIMES TO BE A LITTLE DEAF

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chamber is custom, but reading aloud in dissent is rare.1 And so, the dissent collar, that RBG wore on the day after Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential win speaks volumes without uttering a word. Just as intriguingly, it was the yellow jabot, with its thin bejewelled strips extending symmetrically from the collar, that RBG chose to wear to Barack Obama’s first address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress, on December 31, 2005. So, who is Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and how did this diminutive woman who fought and won myriad impactful battles on the stage of equality, especially as it relates to women, get tagged to the phenomena that is The Notorious B.I.G.? Shana Knizhnik, co-author with Irin Carmon of Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg (2015), is a public defender working in the criminal defence practice of the Legal Aid Society of New York City. It is she who was the original master-maker behind the idea of linking the rapper’s B.I.G. acronym to that of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. “I started the Notorious RBG movement on Tumblr back in 2013. I wanted it to have a sense of irreverence and fun,” Knizhnik says. “It was

— Evelyn Ginsburg It is important to understand RBG’s background and what the defining experiences were that drove her to be a tireless advocate for women’s rights and equality well into her eighties, an age when most people put down their gauntlets in favour of a more sedate lifestyle. Born to Jewish parents on March 15, 1933, Ruth, nicknamed “Kiki” by her older sister, was a cellist and a high-school cheerleader whose young life was steeped in sorrow. She lost her two-year-old sister to meningitis when she was 13, and tragically the day before she was to graduate from high school, RBG’s beloved mother, Celia, succumbed to cancer. But Celia’s counsel to her daughter stuck: “Hold fast to your convictions and your self-respect, be a good teacher, but don’t snap back in anger,”1 advice that RBG followed her entire life by advocating for what she believed in and creating powerful environments in which the people she was championing thrived. In fall 1950, RBG attended first-year classes at Cornell University in New York. While there, a professor at the university was targeted by Senator McCarthy’s Subcommittee and indicted

for refusing to name fellow Marxist members of a study group. When it was pointed out to RBG that a lawyer had come to the professor’s rescue, she decided that the championing of people’s rights would be an ideal fit for her. In her senior year, RBG met her soul mate and future husband, Marty Ginsburg, who ultimately was the one instrumental in getting RBG appointed to the Supreme Court. Societal values at the time that RBG and Marty got married were pinned to what we now consider archaic tenets. Once married, a woman, if she was working, was forced to quit her job, stay home and become a housewife, her sole purpose being a wife and prolific mother. (Enterprising women were known to keep their marriage a secret from their employer, so they could continue working.) But neither RBG nor Marty were interested in the notion of a woman being subservient to a man; they were equal partners in life, and that was the way it was going to be. After ruling out both medical school and Harvard Business School — namely because women were not allowed — the couple applied and were accepted into Harvard Law School. The couple now had their first child, Jane, and RBG wasn’t sure that she could handle both the demands of law school and the raising of a toddler. But the counsel she received from Morris, Marty’s father, helped set RBG’s course. “If you don’t want to go to law school, you have the best reason in the world, and no one would think less of you. But, if you really want to go to law school, you will stop feeling sorry for yourself. You will find a way,” Marty told her.1 And indeed, that is what RBG did, albeit with a lot of challenges along the way. Harvard Law School, long a bastion for men, was comprised of 500 men and nine women when RBG attended. Shamefully, women, a whispered presence in the school’s hallowed halls, did not have access to any bathrooms, nor were they allowed to use some of the school’s reading rooms, facts that today’s women cannot even begin to imagine. Between studying the law and raising a toddler, life was busy but good. And along the way, RBG became one of the first women members of the Harvard Law Review. Tragedy struck, however, when Marty was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He was extremely ill and extremely weak. Resolute and undeterred, RBG went to her own classes while recruiting note-takers in Marty’s, notes that she would type up for her husband to study while he dealt with his illness. Against unmitigated odds, Marty graduated with his law degree that year. RBG transferred her studies to Columbia Law School, where she graduated in a tie for first place. “RBG’s work ethic was incomparable,” says Knizhnik. “When my colleague and I were writing the RBG book, I was a law student, and Irin was

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PHOTO BY SOFIA SANCHEZ AND MAURO MONGIELLO

Justice Ginsburg wearing one of her famous dissent collars, which she wore when she dissented to a decision being handed down by the Supreme Court

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Co-author of the Notorious RBG book, Shana Knizhnik (left) met Justice Ginsburg in her chambers in fall 2014 and gave her a framed “Notorious R.B.G.” poster

working full time. I saw the work and intensity it takes to write a book on top of studying, so just imagine what RBG endured. She was and is an inspiration to me. RBG could get by with just a few hours’ sleep, and, in fact, was known on the Supreme Court for being a night owl, sending messages very early in the morning to staff.” RBG’s fights for equality on a grand scale, her mission to educate and her determination to be a change-maker are legendary. She was a co-founder of the Women’s Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and championed women’s rights cases (and some men’s, as well) right up to the Supreme Court, forever changing the face of the constitution as it relates to gender equality. Some of the many cases that RBG defended in court, ones that made the most impact, include the 1996 Virginia Military Institute court case, which challenged the all-male admissions policy at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI). The court, led by Justice Ginsburg, required the statefunded school accept women for admission. In the opinion, United States vs. Virginia, Ginsburg wrote that “generalizations about ‘the way women are,’ estimates of what is appropriate for most women, no longer justify denying opportunity to women whose talent and capacity place them outside the average description.” “The majority opinion in the VMI case is perhaps the best-known and most important majority opinion Justice Ginsburg has penned in her 24 years [as at 2017, in total RBG served on the Supreme Court for 27 years] on the Supreme Court,” says Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor of law at the University of Texas School of

Law. “That case, more than any other, epitomized the justice’s effort to establish true sex equality as a fundamental constitutional norm, and its effects are continuing to reverberate today.”3 In a more recent case in 2020, one whose oral arguments Ginsburg participated in from a hospital bed, dealt with the Trump administration’s expanding exemptions for employers who had religious or moral objections to complying with the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate. In her dissent, Ginsburg lambasted the court for “[leaving] women workers to fend for themselves,” in a case where the justices struck down the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate. “Today, for the first time, the Court casts totally aside countervailing rights and interests in its zeal to secure religious rights to the nth degree,” Ginsburg wrote in dissent. She also noted that the government had acknowledged that the rules around the reduction of contraceptive coverage would cause thousands of women — “between 70,500 and 126,400 women of childbearing age,” — to lose coverage.3 Legalese and causes aside, who was Ruth Bader Ginsburg, what was she like beneath her collection of gleaming multicoloured collars, iconographic eyewear and the hair that was famously tucked into a severe bun at the nape of her neck, held there by a scrunchie? Who was the courageous woman behind the metaphoric coats of armour that deflected all attempts to silence her unflinching criticisms in the pursuit of the greater good? Knizhnik shares a charming story of what it was like for her to sit beside RBG at Irin Carmon and Ari Richter’s wedding in 2017. “I sat beside Justice Ginsburg at Irin’s wedding

reception; it was the most stressful meal I have ever had,” Knizhnik, who is an accomplished lawyer herself, says laughingly. “I made, prior to the wedding, a list of conversation points to refer to, as RBG was not the most talkative person. She was soft spoken and was very deliberate with her words. Her clerks used to say that they had a fivesecond rule, that if Ruth stopped talking, you had to wait five seconds to make sure she was finished speaking — she was that deliberate with her words.” (RBG also officiated at Knizhnik’s New York legal wedding ceremony in September 2019.) At first glance, R.B.G.’s persona might be interpreted as severe, possibly unapproachable, but she was known for her compassion and openmindedness, and so she gamely embraced the “Notorious RBG” moniker. “I met RBG in her chambers in the fall of 2014 and gave her a framed ‘Notorious RBG’ poster,” Knizhnik says. The fact that the rapper and the Supreme Court justice were both Brooklynites probably didn’t hurt, either. In fact, in a 2015 interview with NPR, “Ginsburg admitted to being quite a fan of her new nickname, handing out T-shirts with the title to friends and fans alike.”4 RBG’s popularity grew exponentially, and over the years she became a cultural phenomenon, with Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update” featuring an RBG character in a recurring role. Too, there was a 2018 movie made of RBG’s life called On the Basis of Sex. An avid fan of the opera, RBG famously said, “If I had any talent in the world, any talent that God could give me, I would be a great diva.” (As it relates to the opera.)

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While she didn’t get a chance to sing opera, RBG did appear on-stage as an extra on three different occasions, including Ariadne auf Naxos, where RBG batted a fan and wore a white wig.1 On another occasion, in 2013, she, along with three judicial colleagues, appeared in a production of Die Fledermaus, where they were introduced as “three guests supreme from the Court Supreme.” In fact, RBG went on to oversee twice-annual opera and instrumental recitals at the Court, because, she said, they “provide a most pleasant pause from the court’s heavy occupations.”1 As her popularity grew, RBG memes and her gift for phrases that resonated exploded. There were quotes where RBG talked directly to women and their need to be independent, their need to claim their gender equality rights: “Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. It shouldn’t be that women are the exception.” There are also RBG’s forceful appeals that encouraged everyone to work together in partnership and harmony, rather than divisiveness: “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” And, of course, the oft-quoted advice from RBG’s mother-in-law, Evelyn, on how to sustain a successful marriage: “In every good marriage, it helps sometimes to be a little deaf.” Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died of metastatic pancreatic cancer on September 18, 2020. She was 87 years old. Even in death, she made history, becoming both the first woman and the first Jewish person to lie in state at the United States Capitol Building. Her legacy of impactful rulings, ones that she made over her 27 years as a Supreme Court judge, will continue to be felt throughout many generations to come. The effects of RBG’s unrelenting advocacy for women and equality for people of all races were a clarion call of hopeful and positive activism, the likes of which the male bastions of politics have never before seen. “It is impossible to give Ruth enough credit for opening up the doors that she did for all women. As a millennial, it is difficult for me to imagine being one of only nine women in a class of 500 at Harvard Law School. Justice Ginsburg inspired leagues of women and men to fight for equality based on gender, race and basic civil rights,” Knizhnik says. “As Frank Chi and Aminatou Sow said in the stickers they created at the same time Notorious RBG started, “‘Can’t Spell Truth Without Ruth.’” 1. Carmon, Irin and Shana Knizhnik. Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. New York: Dey Street Books, 2015, p. 6. 2. Michigan Law, University of Michigan, Ellen D. Katz. Justice Ginsburg’s Umbrella. Accessed via https://repository.law.umich. edu/book_chapters/81/. 3. CNN Politics. “Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s most notable Supreme Court decisions and dissents.” September 18, 2020. Accessed via www.cnn.com/2020/09/18/politics/rbg-supreme-courtdecisions-dissents/index.html. 4. Okayplayer. “Ruth Bader Ginsburg was Proud to Share a Nickname with The Notorious B.I.G.” Accessed via www.okayplayer. com/culture/ruth-bader-ginsburg-nicknames-notorious-rbgnotorious-b-i-g.html.

From NOTORIOUS RBG by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik, published by Dey Street Books. Copyright© 2015 by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik. Reprinted courtesy of HarperCollinsPublishers Page 3 It was Chief Justice John Roberts’s turn to announce an opinion he had assigned himself. The case was Shelby County v. Holder, a challenge to the constitutionality of a major portion of the Voting Rights Act. Roberts has an amiable Midwestern affect and a knack for simple but elegant phrases that had served him well when he was a lawyer arguing before the justices. “Any racial discrimination in voting is too much,” Roberts declared that morning. “But our country has changed in the last fifty years.” One of the most important pieces of civil rights legislation of the twentieth century had been born of violent images: the faces of murdered civil rights activists in Philadelphia, Mississippi; Alabama state troopers shattering the skull of young John Lewis on a bridge in Selma. But for this new challenge to voting rights that came from sixty miles from Selma, Roberts had a more comforting picture to offer the country. High black voter turnout had elected Barack Obama. There were black mayors in Alabama and Mississippi. The protections Congress had reauthorized only a few years earlier were no longer justifiable. Racism was pretty much over now, and everyone could just move on. RBG waited quietly for her turn. Announcing a majority opinion in the court chamber is custom, but reading aloud in dissent is rare. It’s like pulling the fire alarm, a public shaming of the majority that you want the world to hear. Only twenty-four hours earlier, RBG had sounded the alarm by reading two dissents from the bench, one in an affirmative action case and another for two workplace discrimination cases. As she had condemned “the court’s disregard for the realities of the workplace,” Alito, who had written the majority opinion, had rolled his eyes and shook his head. His behavior was unheard of disrespect at the court. Page 31, 32 Where Kiki was shy and contained, Marty was the life of the party. His father, Morris, had risen through the garment industry to become vice president of Federated Department Stores; his mother, Evelyn, was an operagoer who quickly took her son’s motherless girlfriend under her wing. Kiki became a regular at the Ginsburg home on Long Island. She worked one summer at A&S, one of Federated’s stores, and on those suburban streets, she failed her driving test five times before passing the sixth. Just because Evelyn didn’t work outside the home didn’t mean Marty expected the same from his future wife. He wanted them to marry and keep on working together, at Harvard. His idea was, Marty later recalled, “to be in the same discipline so there would be something you could talk about, bounce ideas off of, know what each other was doing, and we actually sat down and by process of elimination came up with the law.” Marty had dropped his chemistry major because it interfered with golf practice, so medical school was out. Harvard Business School didn’t accept women. So they settled on law. “I have thought deep in my heart,” Marty would confess forty years later, “that Ruth always intended that to be the case.” They both made it into Harvard Law School. Marty, a year older, enrolled immediately while Kiki stayed in Ithaca to finish at Cornell. In June 1954, they married in the Ginsburgs’ living room, just days after Kiki’s graduation from Cornell. There were eighteen people present, because in Judaism that number symbolizes life. Moments before the ceremony, as Kiki made last minute arrangements, Evelyn asked her to come with her to the bedroom. “Dear,” said Evelyn, whom Kiki would soon call Mother, “I’m going to tell you the secret of a happy marriage. It helps sometimes to be a little deaf.” In her outstretched hand were a pair of earplugs. It took some time for RBG to understand what Evelyn was trying to tell her. During the honeymoon in Europe, her first time outside of the country, it became clear. “My mother in-law meant simply this,” RBG said. “Sometimes people say unkind or thoughtless things, and when they do, it is best to be a little hard of hearing—to tune out and not snap back in anger or impatience.” Page 167 Being an opera fan on the highest court has its perks, including at least three onstage turns as an extra. One of these was with Scalia, in Ariadne auf Naxos, where RBG batted a fan and wore a white wig. One singer hopped on Scalia’s lap. In a 2003 production of Die Fledermaus, she, Kennedy, and Breyer surprised everyone onstage when they were introduced as

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“three guests supreme from the Court Supreme.” The best part? “Domingo was about two feet from me—it was like an electrical shock ran through me,” RBG said. RBG now oversees twice-annual opera and instrumental recitals at the court. As she put it in a speech, they “provide a most pleasant pause from the court’s heavy occupations.”

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WORK FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN RBG saw injustice in the world and she used her abilities to help change it. Although the forces of “apathy, selfishness, or anxiety that one is already overextended” are “not easy to surmount,” as she puts it, RBG urges us “to repair tears in [our] communities, nation, and world, and in the lives of the poor, the forgotten, the people held back because they are members of disadvantaged or distrusted minorities.” BUT PICK YOUR BATTLES RBG survived the indignities of pre-feminist life mostly by deciding that anger was counterproductive. “This wonderful woman whose statue I have in my chambers, Eleanor Roosevelt, said, ‘Anger, resentment, envy. These are emotions that just sap your energy,” RBG says. “They’re not productive and don’t get you anyplace, so get over it.’” To be like RBG in dissent, save your public anger for when there’s lots at stake and when you’ve tried everything else. AND DON’T BURN YOUR BRIDGES “Fight for the things that you care about,” RBG advised young women, “but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” RBG always tells her clerks to paint the other side’s arguments in the best light, avoiding personal insults. She is painstaking in presenting facts, on the theory that the truth is weapon enough. DON’T BE AFRAID TO TAKE CHARGE RBG believes that “women belong in all places where decisions are being made.” Back when many feminists were arguing that women spoke in a different voice, RBG observed the flaw in describing women as inherently different or even purer than men: “To stay uncorrupted, the argument goes, women must avoid internalizing ‘establishment’ values; they must not capitalize on opportunity presented by an illegitimate opportunity structure.” RBG has used her establishment positions to fight for structural change and on behalf of the oppressed. More recently, she has also united the court’s liberals under her leadership.

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IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO GIVE RUTH ENOUGH CREDIT FOR OPENING UP THE DOORS THAT SHE DID FOR ALL WOMEN

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HOW TO BE LIKE RBG

— Shana Knizhnik

THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT, THEN DO THE WORK When a young RBG suddenly was faced with the prospect of starting law school with a toddler, her father-in-law told her, “If you really want to study the law, you will find a way. You will do it.” RBG says, “I’ve approached everything since then that way. Do I want this or not? And if I do, I’ll do it.” BUT THEN ENJOY WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY RBG gets out—a lot. BRING ALONG YOUR CREW “RBG was never in it to be the only one, to be the superstar that nobody could match,” says fellow feminist attorney Marcia Greenberger. RBG mentored legions of feminist lawyers and happily welcomed Sotomayor and Kagan to the Supreme Court. HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR A little goes a long way.

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BEAUTY

ream C OF THE CROP

6 These plummy beauty finds are ripe for the picking and won’t disappoint WR ITTE N BY E STE LLE Z E NTI L

1. CHRISTIAN DIOR LOTION ROSE & LAIT AU MAGNOLIA Derived from flowering plants, Dior botanists and scientists sought out the best ingredients to infuse into their skin care, enhancing a woman’s beauty while respecting nature by using responsibly sourced ingredients. www.dior.com 2. ABSOLUE REGENERATING RICH CREAM Through sophisticated extraction processes, Lancôme’s regenerating cream is infused with its exclusive blend of grand rose extracts, acting as an incredible moisturizer for aging skin. www.lancome.ca 3. MY WAY EAU DE PARFUM Giorgio Armani’s newest feminine fragrance is orchestrated with consciously sourced ingredients, like bergamot, orange blossom, tuberose, jasmine, cedarwood and a sensual vanilla. www.armani-beauty.ca 4. LIP MAGNET LIP FREEZE COLLECTION Giorgio Armani Beauty’s quintessential Lip Magnet range is introducing never-before-seen hues, resulting in sorbet matte tones that will complement your spring wardrobe and add a pep to your step. www.armani-beauty.ca 5. RÉNERGIE LIFT MULTI-ACTION CRÈME LÉGÈRE Lancôme’s anti-aging moisturizer is a bestseller for a reason. Formulated with hyaluronic acid, CRÈME LÉGÈRE visibly lifts and tightens all facial zones in just four weeks. www.lancome.ca 6. ROUGE HERMÉS, MATTE LIPSTICK, ROSE BOISÉ Made in Italy, Hermès’s refillable Rose Boisé hydrating matte lipstick is a gentle and subtle rosewood colour and carries the scent of discreetly gathered forest fruits. www.hermes.com

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CRAFTSMANSHIP

HATS OFF TO JAY CHENG: A MILLINER’S TALE

Jay Cheng’s magnificent headpieces are a testament to the quality, design and artistry she brings to her millinery creations

Cheng pictured in front of the more than 500 wooden blocks she has collected over time to shape her whimsical hat creations

tacked on a wall lined with a sea of shelves in an artist’s studio are rows and rows of tales of romance, but not in the form you’d expect. Instead of being flat books, full of foxed pages with bookmarked leaves, they find themselves in asymmetrical wooden shapes and sizes, with no particular beginning, middle or end. However, each shape tells a beautiful love story carved out by Jay Cheng. Just like Pinocchio, every wooden shape is yearning to be plucked by Cheng, in the hopes of coming to life as the protagonist of her next great work. As a talented and accomplished milliner, working at her craft over the past 17 years, Cheng creates headwear worthy of royalty. Originally from Hong Kong, Cheng moved to Toronto to attend boarding school and graduated with a degree in fine arts from York University. Majoring in printmaking, she began to work at a print house in Toronto, but decided shortly thereafter she wanted to return to Hong Kong, known for its fast-paced lifestyle and booming

PHOTO BY FRANKLIN LAU

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textile industries. She ended up staying longer than expected and met her boyfriend, now husband, photographer Franklin Lau. During their courtship, Cheng started helping her boyfriend with his shoots. While she was assisting him, she picked up fashion and product styling and was slowly building a career in the fashion space in Hong Kong. Creativity, being something that comes intuitively to Cheng, allowed her to constantly explore where her interests led her. “I slowly got trained to be a fashion stylist, so that was my life before millinery. I did a lot of stuff. I even ventured into being a fashion designer in the ’90s and then I did a bit of photography. Like most of my stuff in my life, they found me.” Millinery did find Cheng — and in the most enchanting way. After experiencing a bottleneck period in her creativity, she decided to take a twoweek holiday in England and enrolled herself in a millinery class at the London College of Fashion. “I looked at the description, and I love wearing hats. It sounded romantic enough to me.”

Her love for millinery started the day she attended her first class. The way Cheng describes her passion and magnetic pull toward the quirky wooden blocks sound like the greatest love affair you’ve ever heard: “The teacher said go into the next room and find the shape that speaks to you and bring it back to the classroom. So, I walked into the tiny room filled with hat blocks, which define the shape of the hat that you will make, and I walked in there, and the room, lined with shelves from the ground up to the ceiling packed with all these wooden shapes, the smell, the sight, the touch, I just fell in love, right at that moment. I brought the shape into the room. Just holding it, feeling the block, this is it, this made me curious, this speaks to me. I felt that romantic vibe, that fire lit up in me, and once we started learning the technique, it’s like I never looked back.” Constantly wanting to evolve in her craft, she managed to get lessons with Rose Cory, milliner to Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mother before she retired. “Learning from different milliners is making the connection and also learning

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PHOTO BY GEORGE PIMENTEL

Cheng debuted her latest collection at New York Fashion Week 2021 in collaboration with couture brand RVNG. The felt hats brought playfulness and craftsmanship to RVNG’s The Beyond Collection

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I GUESS I WAS TRYING TO FIND THAT CONNECTION BETWEEN THE HANDS AND MY HEART, AND MILLINERY JUST FILLED THAT VOID THAT I WAS LOOKING FOR

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JAY CHENG

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techniques that they might have learned from other milliners who passed down to them. It’s a continuous thing to get techniques that might have been lost in time.” As a pioneer in her field, Cheng herself has become a teacher of the millinery arts and has been invited to run workshops and masterclasses in cities all the way from New York to Shanghai. Paving her way as the leading milliner in Hong Kong, Cheng would make fabulous headpieces for clients needing to decorate their heads with something extraordinary for extravagant events, like the Royal Ascot in England. A career milestone for the milliner was being invited to participate in one of the exhibitions at the 2018 London Hat Week. “I was there to teach my masterclass, so to me, that piece, that particular event, is very meaningful because starting in London, after so many years of doing it from 2004 to 2018, I went full circle. To me,

it’s very important, being a student back then and then going back and being able to actually be a teacher, share my skills and inspire students who came to my class. It’s pretty emotional.” For the last five years, Cheng has been based in Toronto and has created a ready-to-wear collection called Block Common, a collection more suited to the Torontonian market. “It’s chic, it’s something that you can add on to your wardrobe, play with it, add your own character. There’s no trim, no feathers, no extra stuff. You wear it and you pair it up with your own vibe. You define your hat, basically.” The most popular hat in the collection is called the Ma Hat. It takes anywhere from four days to a week to create this signature hat, with every step of the hat handmade by Cheng, something she learned to appreciate from her grandmothers. “Growing up, both of my grandmothers liked to sew and knit, and so I’ve always had a very hands-

All hats from Cheng’s ready-to-wear collection Block Common are made with love, using traditional millinery techniques

on experience with them teaching me different things. I guess I was trying to find that connection between the hands and my heart, and millinery just filled that void that I was looking for.” Pre-pandemic, Cheng had a successful pop-up shop for her ready-to-wear collection, but due to the restrictions, she shifted sales online by meeting people virtually to create their bespoke hats. “I never knew that this pandemic would open up a door for me to reach more clients.” A silver lining found amid the pandemic has been the opportunity to learn something new, revisit an old hobby or give back to our communities in ways we haven’t thought of before. With each hat sale, Cheng is generously giving back to her community by donating a portion to the Daily Bread Food Bank Toronto. She is also looking to re-explore her fancy roots by creating a capsule collection inspired by the pieces she made while she was based in Hong Kong. “I don’t know if whoever’s out there is going to wear it, but if I don’t make those pieces, I’ll never know.” We may never know what love story will jump out of Cheng’s next hat, but we know one thing: if Cheng’s hats could come to life, they would sing and dance around in delight, having been crafted by this master milliner’s hands. www.jaycowmillinery.com @jaycow_milliner

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VIP STYLE For business, recreational, sightseeing or city-tocottage private air, Blade Aviation provides luxury and convenience

THE HEIGHT OF PRIVACY

Offering VIP and private charter short-distance air travel across Ontario, this privately owned company provides the optimal solution for luxury travel to maximize cost and time efficiency

hen the pandemic hit and social distancing became the norm, the impact on the airline, tourism and cruise ship industries, which bring crowds together, became extremely challenging, and it probably won’t return to normal for months to come. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines in late March

2021 which said that travel is to be avoided for the time being, even for those fully vaccinated. Where some see challenges, others, like Blade Aviation, based in Ontario, see opportunity. Blade is a privately owned aviation company offering cost- and time-effective private short-distance air travel across Ontario and to destinations such as Montreal, New York, Boston and Cleveland. Headquartered in Gravenhurst, Ont., in the heart

of Muskoka, Canada’s cottage playground of pristine lakes and wilderness, Blade has become the ideal solution for those looking for ease, privacy and luxury travel to maximize the time efficiency of any trip, while avoiding large crowds. “I’m from this area and know it well, and Muskoka is booming,” says Jay McMackin, Blade’s chief pilot and operations manager. “We are getting more and more enquiries about little day

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PHOTOS BY CARLOS A. PINTO

WR ITTE N BY R ICK M U LLE R

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WE CAN MAXIMIZE THEIR TIME AT THEIR PROPERTIES, SO THEY CAN ENJOY THEM MORE

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packages and getaways. We even have what we call ‘heli-picnics,’ where we can land in a secluded spot, perhaps near a waterfall, and people enjoy a beautiful lunch. These days, as people are looking for things to do, those are extremely popular.” Blade Aviation’s focus on Ontario, and specifically the Muskoka Region, takes advantage of the region’s explosive growth in the last decade. As a result of this growth, the driving time from Toronto (North America’s fastest-growing metropolitan area), which used to take 90 to 100 minutes, now can stretch to three hours — and even longer on weekends. The escape from the density of the city during the pandemic has resulted in additional demand on recreational properties throughout the Western world. A Royal LePage real estate report in late March 2021 said the average price of Canadian recreational properties will rise 15 per cent in 2021, with some prime properties in the highly desired Muskoka Region increasing in price by as much as 25 per cent to 30 per cent. “People have paid a lot of money for their properties in Muskoka, and time is money,” says McMackin. “We can maximize their time at their properties, so they can enjoy them more. Blade is very time effective, so people are not sitting on a highway for hours and can be at their property in 40 minutes. And if their properties are big enough, we can land right outside their front door.” The Blade Aviation fleet includes Bell Helicopters, which hold seven passengers; the Airbus AStar, which hold five passengers; and the Robinson R44, for four passengers. It also offers private jet charters using the Cessna Citation X,

for eight to 12 passengers, which is the highperformance leader in speed and luxury, and the Pilatus PC-12, holding nine passengers and the most comfortable and technologically advanced business jet. For fishing trips in northern Ontario, Blade also features the Beaver float plane from De Havilland Aircraft of Canada, the acknowledged “workhorse of the North,” with a range of more than 730 kilometres. Blade Aviation’s services extend well beyond a mode of private transportation via VIP charter flights, offering public and commercial transportation. It also offers one- or twohour sightseeing tours of beautiful Muskoka, construction material transportation services, government services as required and provides a distinctive way to capture aerial photography of property, movie filming, even a memorable way

to film weddings and special occasions, with the optimal angle only a helicopter can provide. Blade Aviation employs highly experienced and qualified flight instructors for those who wish to learn the joy and freedom flying can deliver. For business trips, Blade Aviation offers effortless, quick services with luxury amenities, and golfers can take advantage of the many spectacular courses of the Muskoka Region in half the travel time. For convenience to anyone in the Greater Toronto Area, Blade Aviation flys out of Toronto Pearson International Airport, the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, which is adjacent to Toronto’s downtown, and the Toronto Buttonville Municipal Airport, northeast of Toronto. Flying time from Toronto to Muskoka is a quick 40 minutes, and through its Black Car Service, convenient ground transportation for pickups and drop-offs is also available from Blade Aviation. “We have luxury Cadillac Escalades, as well as a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Cargo Van, fully loaded, and that demand has been huge,” says McMackin. “Helicopters are weather-dependent, so if the weather prohibits flight, we have the option of driving them home in luxury. No other company offers this vehicle backup service.” The past year, we have all been making adjustments in how we live, work and play. Blade Aviation is the ideal transportation solution in an imperfect world and proof that through innovation and new thinking, life still must go on, and it can be enjoyed — high above the madding crowd. www.bladeaviation.ca @blade.aviation

Blade’s fleet includes luxury helicopters, and the company also offers its Black Car Service for VIP ground transportation

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ART

For the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Howe designed the Olympic cauldron and accompanying kinetic sculpture for the closing ceremony

BRINGING THE FUTURE INTO THE PRESENT

ANTHONY HOWE: THE VISIONARY BEHIND MESMERIZING SCULPTURES Howe’s face, marked by a steely gaze, hides behind it a vision of the future through his art, impacting you beyond thought and bringing you into feeling WR ITTE N BY E STE LLE Z E NTI L

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Masterfully engineered to make steel come to life, Howe’s kinetic structures resemble extraterrestrial creatures from an unfamiliar planet

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ANTHONY HOWE

veryone wonders, especially in times like these, what the future will hold. The answer may be in Anthony Howe’s kinetic stainless steel sculptures, which stand tall from Dubai to California. Eliding the boundaries between the natural and the artificial, his sculptures sit at the intersection of the complicated relationship between the present and the future and their influence on one another. Born in Salt Lake City, Howe studied at Cornell University, followed by the Skowhegan School of Sculpture and Painting. While working part time erecting steel shelving for office spaces, he discovered and explored the malleability of steel and its possibilities in the creation of art. His exploration of these possibilities led him to create kinetic wind sculptures that look like something you would see in a science-fiction film. Working from his home in his remote island studio on Orcas Island, Wash., his sculptures, each as individual as a fingerprint, are a glimpse into Howe’s innovative imagination, showcasing that there are no limits to what a human brain can accomplish. Howe ingeniously turns steel, one of Earth’s strongest metals, into an uber-sophisticated piece of art that moves elegantly under the influence of the wind. Working with the elements and rhythms of nature, Howe’s sculptures move as fluidly as waves crashing on a beach and are as

soothing as watching hummingbirds’ wings as they float in the air. Even though the extraterrestrial-looking sculptures are cold in nature, they manage to draw emotions one would not expect from a steel structure. Somewhat paradoxically, the mechanical complexity and industrial properties of his sculptures create an experience characterized by overwhelming peace and calm. “When I began making three-dimensional objects, one of my goals was to make something that helped people to relax — ideally, to enter a meditative state similar to what I had experienced in transcendental meditation. When the world around us feels like it makes no sense and is going to fall apart, sometimes the best thing to do is take a break. Maybe looking at one of my sculptures will help you along.” Howe’s serene and otherworldly work has gained global praise, having been showcased in palaces, sculpture parks, and even the Barneys’ (now closed) Christmas window in Manhattan. Howe had the honour of designing the cauldrons for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Recently, his work Lucea provided a backdrop to Auli’i Cravalho singing “How Far I’ll Go” at the 49th Academy Awards ceremony. One of Howe’s most surprising yet innovative collaborations was with Iris van Herpen for her couture collection titled Hypnosis at Élysée

Montmartre in Paris for the city’s Haute Couture fashion week. Howe and van Herpen merged fashion and kinetics, engineering an haute couture dress composed of aluminium and stainless steel and embroidered with a delicate layering of feathers in cyclical flight. Says Howe: “I’m exploring basically the same thing as I have in the past: to try to take kinetic wind sculptures to new places, to make something that works well and will last hundreds of years, but is also pleasing to the eye and fulfills certain personal artistic requirements.” Howe admits he doesn’t know what the future generations will think of his sculptures: “I’ve no idea what they will say, but what I hope they’ll say is that it still looks good and works well. And that it hasn’t fallen prone to any particular fashion of the time.” But perhaps that’s the point: his ability to see possibility in steel and beautify it, romanticizing what the future could look like. While Howe’s work presents a specific view of what the future could look like, he leaves it open for future generations to re-examine their relationship with nature and technology in light of what his sculptures tell us about our current understanding of the world around us. Regardless of the passage of time, his work taps into something irrevocably human: the serenity and admiration one can feel when experiencing and engaging with art. www.howeart.net @anthony.howe.art

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AUTOMOTIVE IMPRESARIO

www.dolcemag.com SCAN THIS QR CODE TO WATCH THE VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS PFAFF

CHRIS PFAFF:

PASSION, PRIDE AND PERFORMANCE Pfaff Automotive Partners is setting the standard in the high-end automotive field in Canada

n individual’s passion for an interest can take many forms. Michelangelo was passionate about painting, but disliked the process (perhaps months lying on your back painting a chapel’s ceiling had a thing or two to do with that), yet Churchill used the act of painting as a physical and emotional release for a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders. Lennon and McCartney were passionate about songwriting, but not performing (especially when they couldn’t be heard above the screaming), yet B.B. King once played 362 concerts in a single year. Chris Pfaff is passionate about cars, selling cars and auto racing, though not necessarily in that order. As president and CEO of Pfaff Automotive Partners in Concord, north of Toronto, he has grown the company from a single family-owned dealership to one of the most recognizable names in the car industry and an upscale automotive emporium with operations across Canada. And he recently found time to spearhead the winning team at the renowned 12 Hours of Sebring endurance road race. Chris’s passion about the car business is in his blood as the son of Hans Pfaff, a German immigrant who came to Canada in the 1950s with a deep love of cars. Hans started by washing Volkswagens at a dealership in midtown Toronto in the early 1960s, until his boss put him on the

sales floor, where he excelled. A common trait of successful salespeople is that they always have their sights set on loftier goals, and in 1964, Hans bought a Volkswagen dealership in Newmarket, just north of Toronto. Hans Pfaff ’s name is legendary in car sales as one of the best there ever was. Many stories abound about his abilities, keen people skills and sales techniques, a favourite being about a young man who just got his driver’s licence and came in to ogle the new cars. Despite knowing the kid had no intention nor ability to buy, Hans took him out for a spin. Years later the same man, now a doctor, returned and bought a Porsche. Young Chris was introduced to the business under the master tutelage of his father. “I was literally born into the business and spent summer jobs and part-time jobs there from the time I was 12 or 13 years old,” says Chris recalling his early career. “I then worked four years at Mercedes-Benz Canada in the retail division, which was a great learning experience and selfconfidence booster, where I realized I could do the business on my own if I needed to or wanted to.” That day unfortunately came all too soon, as in the early 1990s Chris returned to Pfaff Auto when his father became ill, and following the death of Hans Pfaff in 1993, Chris bought the business from the family. Later in that decade, he began to grow and expand the business by adding other

dealership franchises, body shops, forming Pfaff Leasing and offering tuning and collision repair. Today, Pfaff Automotive Partners employs more than 950 people with dealerships in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, London, Guelph, Ont., and Montreal. This year, it opened a fourth Porsche dealership in Ontario, which Chris feels will be successful due to its surrounding marketplace of Markham, Ont. “It’s exciting, as it’s a brand-new store and new retail concept in the way we do business right from the start. Markham is such a fantastic marketplace, and we know the Markham clientele are really going to embrace the Porsche brand,” he says. Pfaff Automotive Partners now sells a full range of cars, from exotics like McLaren and Pagani, to upscale models from Audi, Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and MINI, to traditional brands such as Mazda, Subaru, Toyota and the complete Fiat-Chrysler-Alfa Romeo-RAM truck line. True to his character, however, Chris is quick to share the credit with his team when speaking about the company’s growth and success. “A large part of it is our people, as I was always focused on getting good people and having them grow along with us,” says Chris, “making sure that we interacted professionally, but also that we have a lot of fun at it. It is the people at Pfaff who have really grown the business. We’ve also had some great partners with the different brands

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PHOTO BY JESSE MILNS

WR ITTE N BY R ICK M U LLE R

Standing atop his field, Chris has grown his company into a national automotive powerhouse

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that we represent — Porsche, Audi, Volkswagen, Mercedes, BMW — so all of that has been the biggest help for us as well. We always wanted to grow and be the best and be really good at it.” Chris Pfaff ’s interest in cars also extends to motorsports and car racing, a passion he shares with many notables. The famous actor Steve McQueen, who channelled the “cool” of James Dean and Bobby Darin and brought it into the colour of the 1960s, once said about auto racing, “Racing is life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting.” McQueen acted in cars in some of his movies, such as Le Mans about the famous 24-hour annual race in France, and, of course, drove during the car chase in Bullitt. Often imitated but never duplicated, most car fans agree to this day it stands alone as the greatest car chase in motion picture history. That chase scene sits at a Table for One, and all other movie car chases can please stand in a line outside the door, and we’ll seat you when we can, which will be never. Endurance racing was a passion for McQueen, which Chris also shares. In fact, along with his partner Peter Revson, McQueen won in the three-litre class of the 1970 12 Hours of Sebring in Florida, an accomplishment Chris now also shares after Pfaff Motorsports won in its class in one of the world’s most famous endurance races this past March. Starting the race in second-to-last position, the Canadian-based Porsche team won the GTD

class driving a Motul Porsche 911 GT3 R. Despite having to listen in on the team’s radio from his kitchen in Canada and watch it remotely on television due to border travel restrictions, it was a thrill Chris will never forget. “That was only our second year entering and we won it, so it was a great accomplishment on behalf of our team and Porsche, and it was a really exciting weekend,” says Chris. “I’ve watched that race since I was a teenager, so it was a very personal experience for me to be part of that race. Being a car guy and doing a bit of racing myself with my brother when I was younger, we’ve always been involved in motorsports. There is a lot of employee involvement, and the manufacturers like it. And we’ve learned a lot, which we’ve extended into our business model in terms of timing and efficiency. Motorsports is a natural extension of the car business, and I think it helps our branding.” Chris is always driving the company forward with new partnerships and initiatives. Last year, the company launched Ontario’s first Porsche NOW pop-up store at Markham’s Markville Mall, offering Porsche enthusiasts, prospects and customers a memorable experience with the famous car line. Earlier this year, Pfaff Marine, a division of Pfaff Leasing, announced a new relationship with Tecnomar and The Italian Sea Group, a global leader in the yachting industry. Pfaff Marine will now be bringing in the exclusive made-in-Italy yachts and offering Tecnomar’s collectible and

high-performance creations to the Canadian marketplace. In March 2019, Pfaff Automotive Partners was chosen as the exclusive Eastern Canada retailer for Automobili Pininfarina, which has unveiled the Pininfarina Battista, a landmark 1,900-horsepower electric hypercar and the most powerful road car ever designed and built in Italy. It is one of many changes Chris sees happening in the automobile industry that he is staying on top of and actively participating in. “Now we’re getting into electric cars. And right now I have two green cars in the family at home, and we enjoy them a lot,” says Chris. “They’re very smooth, they’re very quiet; the power is instantaneous. The electric car will become more and more a part of the landscape, but the challenge in the Western world is whether we have enough electric power in the grid to satisfy the demand. However, newer biofuels are emerging which are 70 per cent cleaner, so we may see a bit of a hybrid.” Knowledge, expertise and emotion are three trademarks of Chris Pfaff. As history shows, whoever you are, or whatever your interest, he is another example and a shining testament of a person who has succeeded through the power of passion and by building his company and honouring his family by being driven by performance. www.pfaffauto.com @pfaffauto

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF PFAFF AUTOMOTIVE PARTNERS

With dealerships in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, London, Guelph and Montreal, Pfaff Automotive Partners now employs more than 950 people and recently opened a fourth Porsche dealership in Ontario, serving the Markham area

Pfaff Automotive Partners now sells, leases and services a full range of vehicles, from exotics to upscale to traditional brands, as well as trucks and motorcycles

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IT IS THE PEOPLE AT PFAFF WHO HAVE REALLY GROWN THE BUSINESS

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— Chris Pfaff

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MOVE OVER,

MANHATTAN

The luxury, understated elegance The luxury, understated elegance and style we’ve come to associate with and style we’ve come to associate with high-end Manhattan condos now have high-end Manhattan condos now have an address in Toronto an address in Toronto

A DV E R TO R I A L A DV E R TO R I A L

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No. 7 Dale is going to turn some heads. No. 7 Dale is going to turn some heads. Deemed one of the very few “ultra-luxury” properties in Toronto, this Deemedtwo-building one of the very few “ultra-luxury” properties inthe Toronto, this 26-unit, residential property overlooking Rosedale 26-unit, two-building overlooking ravine rivals high-end residential Manhattanproperty condos in style, spiritthe andRosedale bespoke ravine rivals high-end Manhattan condos inRosedale style, spirit and bespoke luxury. Beyond the cachet of a coveted address, No. 7 luxury. Beyond athe cachet of a coveted address, No.the 7 Dale presents once-in-a-lifetime buyingRosedale opportunity. Due to Dale presents as once-in-a-lifetime buying Duethe to fithe neighbourhood’ Heritage designation, No.opportunity. 7 Dale will be rst neighbourhood’ s Heritage No. 7 Dale will be the first and last development of itsdesignation, kind in Rosedale. and last development of its kind in Rosedale. The significance of this has not been lost on the illustrious team The signifi of Globally this has not been lost on the illustrious team behind thecance project. renowned Canadian talents Siamak behind the project. Globally renowned Canadian Munge talents Siamak Hariri (Hariri Pontarini Architects), Alessandro (Studio Hariri (Hariri Pontarini Architects), (Studio Munge) and Janet Rosenberg (JanetAlessandro Rosenberg Munge & Studio) were Munge) and to Janet Rosenberg Rosenberg & Studio) were hand-picked make a bold and(Janet unprecedented mark on the world hand-picked to make a bold and unprecedented mark on the world of luxury condominiums. of luxury condominiums. “The combined vision and unparalleled expertise of Siamak, “The combined unparalleled of Siamak, Alessandro and vision Janet and will translate into expertise an elevated lifestyle Alessandro unlike and Janet will translate intoproperty an elevated experience any other residential in thelifestyle city. It experience any other propertyof inluxury, the city. will perfectlyunlike encapsulate the residential highest standard fit forIt will perfectly encapsulate the highest of luxury, fit for Rosedale, ” says Josh Shteiman, VP of standard Development at Platinum Rosedale, says Josh No. Shteiman, Vista, the ”firm behind 7 Dale. VP of Development at Platinum Vista, the firm behind No. 7 Dale. For Mr. Hariri, the two connected, low-rise boutique buildings For Mr. two represent connected,the low-rise boutique that formHariri, No. the 7 Dale culmination of buildings years of that formand No.research. 7 Dale “Our represent the was culmination of planning main goal to createofa years bespoke planning and research. “Our blend main goal was to into create bespoke luxury residence that would effortlessly theaRosedale luxury residence effortlessly the Rosedales community. My that visionwould wasblend to honour the into neighbourhood’ community. My vision honour the while neighbourhood’ storied architecture andwas lushtosurroundings, envelopings storied lush surroundings, while residentsarchitecture in a feelingand of luxurious sophistication, withenveloping views of residentsold in trees a feeling luxurious historic sophistication, of century and of enchanting homes”with he views explains. century old trees and enchanting historic homes” he explains. The thoughtful interplay of history and modernity is evident in every The thoughtful interplay ofboasts historyfland modernitywindows, is evident smooth, in every interior. Each residence oor-to-ceiling interior. Each residence boasts floor-to-ceiling windows, smooth,

10-foot clear ceilings and an airy, open floor plan that seamlessly 10-foot clear and an to airy, opensun-drenched, floor plan that seamlessly integrates withceilings the outdoors create boundless integrates“Every with the outdoors to createunder sun-drenched, boundless spaces. interior is crafted our philosophy of spaces. and “Every interiorwith is crafted underonour of wonder discovery, an emphasis the philosophy simplicity and wonder discovery, with an emphasis on the simplicity and eleganceand of modern design. ” says Mr. Munge. elegance of modern design. ” says Mr. Munge. To exude warmth and welcome, Studio Munge opted for a To exude Studio Munge opted for ofa soft colourwarmth palette and and welcome, stone accents. The studio’s choice soft colour palette and— stone accents. The studio’s choiceand of “super-luxury” finishes kitchens by Dada and closets “super-luxury” finishes and closets and millwork by Molteni & C.——kitchens are newby to Dada Toronto, developments millwork by Molteni & C.for —New are new Toronto, developments and typically reserved YorktoCity’s most prestigious and typically reserved forsuch NewasYork most prestigious addresses. Lavish details, oiledCity’s oak flooring, expansive addresses. Lavish details, as oiledfurther oak flooring, expansive glass fireplaces and luxurysuch appliances conspire to make glass replaces and in luxury appliances further conspire to make No. 7 fiDale an oasis the city. No. 7 Dale an oasis in the city. When considering the exterior design, Janet Rosenberg & When the exterior Janet Rosenberg & Studio considering took full advantage of thedesign, property’s dramatic location Studiothe tookRosedale full advantage the property’s dramatic location atop Valley.of“Thoughtful planning went into atop the Rosedale Valley. went into the landscape design, to “Thoughtful highlight andplanning preserve several the landscape design, totrees highlight andproperty, preserveto restore several magnifi cent 150-year-old lining the magnifi cent trees elements, lining the property, to restore some of the150-year-old original heritage and to seamlessly some of the theproject original heritage elements, and to seamlessly integrate within the Rosedale neighbourhood fabric,” integrate the project Ms. Rosenberg says.within the Rosedale neighbourhood fabric,” Ms. Rosenberg says. Set back from a quiet, tree-lined street on almost three acres Setland, backNo. from a quiet, tree-lined almost acres of 7 Dale is perfect for street those on who want three the privacy of No.without 7 Dalethe is perfect those and whoappreciate want the privacy of aland, home propertyfor upkeep having ofnea dining, home without the property upkeep and doorstep, appreciatea having fi art galleries and shopping at their scenic fi ne dining, stroll art galleries 10-minute away. and shopping at their doorstep, a scenic 10-minute stroll away. Slated for fall/winter 2022 occupancy, No. 7 Dale represents Slated fall/winter 2022 occupancy, No. Dale represents the nextfor chapter in Rosedale’s rich history. All7you need is a key. the next chapter in Rosedale’s rich history. All you need is a key.

To explore more about this unique project, visit 7dale.com. To explore more about this unique project, visit 7dale.com. SPRING 2021

WHAT ONCE SEEMED IMPOSSIBLE NOW HAS AN ADDRESS

No. 7 Dale, a bold, new condo development, is rewriting the book on ultra-luxury condos. Nestled in the exclusive Rosedale neighbourhood, this 26-unit statement brings refined living to another level. Overlooking the lush and scenic Rosedale Ravine, it offers everything you could want from a natural setting, while only being a short stroll away from the finest shops and restaurants Toronto has to offer. Renowned architects and designers Siamak Hariri, Alessandro Munge and Janet Rosenberg come together to bring you something the city has never seen before. And likely won’t see again. This trio’s rare and special talents combine to create something truly original and timeless. Each unit in this four-storey retreat ranges from approximately 2,000 to over 5,000 square feet.

Light-filled rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows and smooth 10-foot clear ceilings throughout dazzle at every turn. Features like Italian designed kitchens from Dada, custom millwork from Molten & C, stone fireplaces, and top-grade appliances round out perfection in each residence. You’ll also enjoy a heated underground garage, private elevators, a 24-hour executive concierge and a spa with infrared sauna, steam room, stateof-the-art gym with Pelotons, yoga room and even private personal training is available. Best of all, this one-of-a-kind creation will be ready for fall/winter 2022. Quite simply, there’s no place like No. 7 Dale. To explore more about this unique project, visit 7dale.com.

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DESIGN

To date, Aizaki has worked on projects in cities including New York, Tokyo and London

JUN AIZAKI: PUSHING THE ENVELOPE Fresh from finishing his first full hotel, the founder and principal of CRÈME discusses Philadelphia’s charm, the power of ideas, and listening to restaurant conversations

hen I speak with Jun Aizaki, he’s at his home studio in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg, N.Y. New York is a city he’s lived in for close to 30 years, but having just completed the full interiors and branding of the Hyatt Centric Center City hotel, he has Philadelphia on his mind. “We’re in Brooklyn, on the periphery of Manhattan and what happens in New York, but we have the best view of Manhattan. We can go there whenever we want, but have a different sense of time. I feel Philadelphia is like that. It’s not the

mega-city that New York is, but it has its charms, history, nature and so many unique aspects.” Situated in the city’s renowned Rittenhouse Square, the Hyatt Centric Center City is sophisticated in its simplicity. Completely new in its construction, the hotel includes more than 330 rooms across two floors, 22 of which are luxury suites. As well as a sweeping lobby on the second floor, the location includes a feature staircase and social spaces. “We found three tiers of inspiration,” Aizaki continues, talking about the design process. “One

being the historical architecture and history of how the city evolved. There’s also an element of nature that’s fascinating about Philadelphia. The last is the city’s association with street art and art, in general.” Take a closer look at the hotel, and all of those elements haven’t just been introduced but celebrated throughout. Blackened steel and woodpanelled walls line the public areas as an homage to the crafts and cultures that shaped the city. The main lobby’s art objects highlight the narrative of the natural world and the farming history of

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF CRÈME

WR ITTE N BY JOS H WALKE R

Every detail of the hotel has been considered, including the lobby’s shelf display, which features a number of artworks and objects curated by Fanny Allié and Yael Caffrey

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Opened as a flagship for the Hyatt brand, the hotel aims to bring to life the essence of the city

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Aizaki’s creative design agency CRÈME is based in Williamsburg, N.Y.

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OUR STYLE IS TO KEEP PUSHING THE ENVELOPE. EVERY PROJECT IS A DIFFERENT PROBLEM

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Pennsylvania. The elevator lobbies are home to textile-based projects from artist Fanny Allié, which are testaments to the city’s diverse neighbourhoods and landscapes. Everywhere you look, there’s a reference to one of Aizaki’s three tiers. The fact that it was a flagship location for the Hyatt brand was also an important factor in ensuring the hotel spoke not just to but of the city. “It was a big responsibility, but also challenging and super exciting,” Aizaki explains. “We really wanted to help the brand establish its identity and DNA.” The Hyatt Centric Center City took five years from initial conception on paper to completion and, after navigating the events that have changed the world, it’s ready to be experienced by guests. For Aizaki, the passion for creating started young, and he always said to his family that he wanted to become an architect. From as early as six years old, he has memories and anecdotes of telling his parents he wanted to do something with buildings. “Even as a teenager, I liked making things, drawing things, playing with clay and Lego,” he says. “There was a point when I wanted

to become a cartoonist, but design and architecture were always a calling.” In 2004, he founded CRÈME, a creative design agency and collaboration of international designers and creative professionals. With a firm belief that all design challenges require the same problem solving, CRÈME takes a holistic approach to projects. “We tend to think we don’t have a style,” he says. “Our style is to keep pushing the envelope. Every project is a different problem.” Take a look at their work to date and you realize that’s true. Alongside the Hyatt Centric Center City, CRÈME has been responsible for retail spaces in Tokyo and restaurants in London. They’re all different in their approach and speak to the challenges waiting to be solved. “There are many parts to design,” Aizaki continues. “There’s a part when you don’t even have a project and you’re just imagining what you can do. Thinking about that makes me excited and happy. The power of ideas is so important, and not just in design — in any discipline.” But, whatever the project, it’s seeing it come

to life and having people experience it that are the true tests. “Everything at the end of a project makes sense when you hear compliments not just from clients, but also people visiting the space. I like to just sit in a restaurant we designed and listen to people,” he says. “When I hear someone say it’s an amazing space or they didn’t know it was here, it makes me really happy.” Thinking back on all of his experiences and projects so far, Aizaki believes the key is perseverance. “I really think it’s important,” he says. “‘Keep doing what you believe in’ is the best advice I’ve been given.” It’s that humbleness that also drives his answer when asked what, for him, defines la dolce vita. “It can mean so many different things to different people,” Aizaki concludes. “I feel I’m living la dolce vita right now. Being healthy in a pandemic. You can’t ask for more. It brought me back to basics. Little things, like going to the park [with my wife and son], redefined what’s important in life.” www.reddkaihoi.com @creme.design

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ART FOR THE SOUL Each female face painted onto the carpets tells a different story and completely captures your attention with their striking gaze

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MATHIEU BORIES

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Mateo redefines traditional carpets through his archetypal murals ornamented with ancient motifs and striking female faces I NTE RVI EW AN D WR ITTE N BY E STE LLE Z E NTI L

contemporary design. Would you consider yourself more of a traditional or contemporary individual? A. This is exactly the point, to merge and create a bridge between traditional design and contemporary/street art. As for myself, I consider the same; I truly evolve in between ancient wisdom and contemporary tools. I use technology to serve me and not to distract me. I enjoy comfort, but I’m not looking for too much luxury. On the other side, I try to keep my life simple, minimalist and close to nature. I am a spiritual human, as I practise yoga and meditation every day and, before each painting, I practise some rituals, as well as shamanic experiences.

rench-born artist Mathieu Bories, alias Mateo, blurs the boundary between art and spirituality through his collage and stencil artwork that merges elements of traditional design and contemporary street art. After completing a master’s degree of art in Toulouse, he headed to Montreal to start his career as a graphic designer. A few years into work, Mateo decided to go on a trip around South America, where he was influenced by the street art scene in Argentina. It was after this trip that he decided to devote himself entirely to art. Mateo’s particular method of painting striking female portraits on traditional carpets builds a bridge between the past and the present and is reflective of his deep spirituality, which comes from practising kundalini yoga, meditating and entering a flow state before starting each project. Drawing inspiration from his inner self and cultures around the world, his art exudes both wisdom and diversity. Mateo characterizes himself as someone who helps reconnect erased romanticism in contemporary society, using ancient wisdom and contemporary tools as a compass for his work. Mateo’s artwork is thought-provoking and grounding, reminding you of a simpler time when ultra-consumption of technology didn’t exist and when we were closer to nature and had a deeper connection to one another.

BEFORE I PAINT, I MEDITATE AND ENTER INTO A FLOW STATE OF CONCENTRATION. MAYBE THAT’S WHY YOU CAN FEEL SPIRITUALITY THROUGH MY WORK

Q. Tell us about where you grew up, the people in your family. A. I grew up in a small town in the south of France, close to Spain. Sunny, natural environment. My family is not in the art field. They taught me simple and human values, also to be close to nature.

I love to think that, in those contemporary days, we have reached a high level of comfort and technology, and this is now our choice to use it wisely, and also remember the wisdom of ancient cultures. We’ll merge the past and the future.

Q. Your artwork succinctly merges traditional and

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Q. Who has been instrumental in your career path as an artist? A. Really, I learned by myself and built all aspects of my career alone. But I always look to artists whom I admire, like Basquiat, Inti, Banksy, C215, Seth and Faith47, to try to find the key to their creativity and their process. After that, I just practised and finally found a way to show my art and meet the right people.

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Q. What is the process for your artwork from start to finish? How long does the whole process take? A. I estimate the whole process to be around 80 hours of work, but it’s always different, depending on the project, the inspiration and the flow state. At the beginning, I look for carpets to paint on, then I order them. I also look for women/ muses to portrait, then create a photo shoot and try to reveal their true essence with poses and expressions. The most important step is the creation of a

Through Mateo’s extensive travels around the globe, he has gained an invaluable spiritual perspective on life, which he expresses through his artwork

sketch on my iPad®: drawing the portrait and trying various compositions to merge it with the carpets I have until I find the perfect fit between the two. It can take hundreds of variations before I’m satisfied. Q. You are known for drawing inspiration from around the world. With so much change going on, due to the pandemic, has the source of your inspiration changed? A. The pandemic didn’t really affect my inspiration, as I’m used to spending a lot of time alone in my studio, working on my paintings and various projects. As an artist, I think I’m more used to being confined. Also, the inspiration can be found in my inner self, as well as research in books, internet, music, etc. Q. Where are you hoping to travel to next? A. Good question — not sure yet, I’m actually stuck on the island of Ometepe, in Nicaragua. I travelled here in January for an artist residency with Momentom Collective. The idea is to be immersed in the jungle with like-minded artists and create magic, boost our inspiration with daily yoga, meditation, circus, art classes, as well as vegan food cultivated on-site. We are autonomous here and live for a moment outside of the pandemic situation. It is a highly inspiring and spiritual experience.

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Using spray paint, Mateo adorns female faces on traditional carpets. The process can take up to 80 hours or more from start to finish

Q. How does travel impact your work? A. Travel is an essential source of inspiration for me, as it opened my mind to new realities and cultures. I also need to travel to paint murals and exhibit around the world. Q. Your artwork exudes spirituality. How do you tap into your spirituality in your everyday life? A. Spirituality is a way of living. I personally don’t believe in religions, but I believe in high consciousness, deep connection with nature and human beings. Living in the present moment and being careful of the choice and direction we take in life; grow as my higher self, always learning, as life is sacred. Along my travels, I have been initiated to various shamanic rituals and ancient medicine practice, which really opened my vision of the world. In my everyday life, it means being healthy, sensible, practising kundalini yoga, meditation and mindfulness as much as possible. I try to merge this with my artistic practice, as I consider each artwork sacred and make rituals for them. Before I paint, I meditate and enter into a flow state of concentration. Maybe that’s why you can feel spirituality through my work. Q. How has COVID-19 affected your artwork? A. Actually, it didn’t really impact my artwork because COVID comes from the external world, and my artwork is created within my inner world.

Q. Your artwork questions the perception of ancient wisdom and its impact on Western societies. Have you been able to draw from ancient wisdom for the pain that the world is going through right now? A. Not sure . . . If the world would be more conscious and connected to nature, all this pandemic situation would not happen. Q. If you could change anything about society, what would it be? A. To slow down the system and equilibrate the wealthiness, as well as be more connected with each other and nature. And use technology wisely and stop wasting resources. Q. What would be a dream project or collaboration for you? A. A large exhibition project in Iran and working with communities. And a street art project with Banksy. Q. What is the best compliment you have ever received? A. “You are so exceptional, and you don’t even know it.” Q. How would your friends describe your personality? A. Calm and quiet, but powerful and wise. Knows how to listen before he speaks. Naturally funny. Q. What do you admire most in people? A. Compassion, passion and talent.

Q. You’ve said before that your artwork “helps reconnect erased romanticism in our contemporary society.” What does romanticism mean to you? A. Romanticism for me evokes a time before the ultra-consumption and connection with technology. A time where I travelled without a phone and Google map, a time where adventure was real, that you can leave your country without knowing where you will go and when you will return. A time when you write a letter with ink and not send an SMS. All these little things that make life more exciting, passionate and adventurous. Romanticism is living your life like you were the hero of a book. Q. Where do you see yourself in the next two years? A. Difficult to imagine, but now I’m more curious about living in nature and communities with new values. Create a new world and new way of living. With a beautiful art studio. Q. What is your definition of la dolce vita / (the good life)? A. Where I’m now, we call this “pura vida” or “pure life.” Living on our own path, in the present, without stress. In nature, close to the elements and the sun. In connection with each other. Creating art. mateowallpainter.com @mateo_wallpainter

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MADE FOR MEN

HIS ESSENTIALS

For the man who is already effortlessly polished, these essentials will complement a style marked by sophisticated nonchalance — how to dress in the pandemic’s new normal WR ITTE N BY E STE LLE Z E NTI L

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3 1. PAL ZILERI | SPRING/SUMMER 2021 COLLECTION Marrying casual and contemporary, Pal Zileri’s latest Spring/Summer 2021 Urban Casual collection includes classic spring pieces worth investing in, like an ultra-light suede biker jacket or classic slim-fit denim jeans. www.palzileri.com 2. AESOP | SCULPT HAIR POLISH Made with key ingredients like bergamot rind and lime, this high-hold styling hair polish, applied wet or dry, will add an effortless shine and a subtle citrus aroma to your growing locks. www.aesop.com 3. GIORGIO ARMANI | ACQUA DI GIÒ ABSOLU EAU DE PARFUM Celebrating the union of water and wood, the marine and patchouli notes of Acqua Di Giò embody masculinity with a twist — best for a man looking for a woody and aquatic signature fragrance. www.armani-beauty.ca 4. SAINT LAURENT | LEATHER AIRPODS CASE Crafted in Italy, this leather-covered AirPods case, attached to a logo-engraved key ring and embossed with SAINT LAURENT PARIS lettering, will make your ears and your eyes happy. www.ysl.com 5. THOM BROWNE | UNCONSTRUCTED JACKET WITH FOUR-BAR STRIPE Made in Japan, this unconstructed sport coat is designed with a seamed four-bar stripe at the sleeve with buttoned tricolour grosgrain cuffs, complementing a man who’s looking to rock casual-cool. www.thombrowne.com 6. BALMAIN | COTTON T-SHIRT IN MONOGRAM PRINT When it comes to classic T-shirts, this Balmain crewneck is far from basic, featuring the luxury fashion house’s flocked logo and an all-over branded monogram print. www.balmain.com

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BUDDING BEAUTIES

Capturing femininity at its highest form La Métamorphose, an haute couture brand designed by Polish sisters Ewa Gawkowską and Margaret Szczęsną Marek, celebrates the beauty of women and flowers through its newest collection Fleurs de Ville, merging them together as an ultimate ode to femininity

The dainty collection is made exclusively with silk, chiffon and tulle fabrics from France

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Paired with custom shoes made by Ginissima with the same fabrics and colours of Fleurs de Ville, the shoes integrate seamlessly into the collection

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When visiting Paris as children, Ewa and Margaret, the sister designers, observed and admired the elegance of the female outfit and wanted to embody that through each of their collections

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TROPICAL FEVER Nothing says spring like flowers blooming all around us, and that’s exactly what La Métamorphose created for its Spring-Summer 2021 couture collection Fleurs de Ville. The combinations of cotton-candy colours in tandem with silk, chiffon and embroidered tulle are the elements that sowed the seeds of La Métamorphose’s latest collection. Made exclusively with fabrics from France, the pastel and nude tones only add to the collection’s soft, dreamy and romantic design. Filled with romance, each piece of the enchanting collection looks like a beautiful flower blooming right before your eyes.

The haute couture dresses borrow elements of flowers, like their delicate nature, translating them into the whimsical collection

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Fleurs de Ville imitates the beautiful hues of fresh flowers, including nude pinks, pastel blues, powder violets and vibrant fuchsias

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The collection is full of symbolism, including the colour palette used for each dress. This slit gown in royal blue symbolizes rebirth, similar to the change in season from winter to spring when nature begins to awaken

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FASHION FLOCK Birds of Love, a collection by Lebanese designer Ziad Nakad, lets our minds escape through fashion and travel, landing at the Château de Vaux-Le-Vicomte, a baroque French château in Maincy, France VISIT WWW.DOLCEMAG.COM TO WATCH BEHIND-THE-SCENES FOOTAGE

Reigning in purple, Nakad’s creations are designed for women on a timeless quest for beauty and elegance

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Nakad’s collection is full of dramatic flair and timeless femininity through his incredible silhouettes and majestic fabrics, like ostrich feathers, silk and lace

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The regal backdrop in Nakad’s couture SpringSummer 2021 collection was captured at the Château de VauxLe-Vicomte in France

FASHION ESCAPISM Launching his atelier in 1997 after working with many famous fashion designers in Beirut, the gowns masterfully designed by Ziad Nakad have attracted international clientele who value exquisite design and unparalleled craftsmanship. Nakad’s newest Spring-Summer 2021 collection Birds of Love is a testament to his long-standing ability to reveal the feminine side of every woman through his breathtaking haute couture gowns. The intermingling of ostrich feathers, silk and lace is the epitome of elegance, sophistication and style. Inspired by a yearning to fly away from Beirut, Birds of Love allows you to travel to a place and indulge in a little fashion escapism.

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All the pieces of Nakad’s collection are entirely hand-embroidered in the designer’s atelier, with some dresses requiring up to three months of work

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Pictured at the Château de Vaux-Le-Vicomte in France, Nakad’s dresses reflect their environment, illuminated by their majestic and regal design

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ZIAD NAKAD Spring-Summer 2021 Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week Production MÉPHISTOPHÉLÈS Photography Greg Alexander Art director Sébastien Vienne Makeup Carine Larchet & Benoît Claverie Hair Elisabete Godart & Julia Godart Models Angeline@EliteMilano; Marion@Metropolitan; Eve@Karin; Katya@Metropolitan Special thanks Château de Vaux-Le-Vicomte

In every piece of his new collection, Nakad celebrates the feminine silhouette through his eccentric fabrics, sheer embroideries and unconventional beadings

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MARINE LIFE

THE NEW WAVE Van der Valk Shipyard has unveiled Helga, a testament to the limitless opportunities its clients have when designing a new yacht WRITTEN BY JOSH WALKER

t 26 metres, Helga is the fifth model in Van der Valk’s Raised Pilothouse line. Created as a family superyacht, the layout and interior — like all in the range — are fully customizable to a client’s preferences and tastes. The Helga features a large main lounge and gathering space, a dining area and a staircase connecting the various rooms. The yacht’s dining area purposefully sits in the wheelhouse, allowing for extra space in the salon. Of the numerous details requested, it’s the pastel blue hull that’s most noticeable. That’s not to say it’s the only detail, though. As well as a flybridge for outdoor activities, gate doors and stainless steel additions have been included around the swim platform. The vessel benefits from four guest suites on the lower deck — one master and three guests — and two crew cabins on the main deck. All are complemented with contemporary finishes of washed oak and walnut, and generous views of the water. The engineering of the yacht is also a feat, with a 12-cylinder MTU engine that boasts a top speed of 27 knots. In short, Helga is a fine example of what Van der Valk Shipyard has to offer in 2021. As a family-run business, Van der Valk Shipyard’s history stretches back to 1967, when it was founded by professional yachtsman Wim Van der Valk. Since then, the business has grown to become the only Dutch yard building with 18 to 45-metre aluminum hulls in-house, as well as take care of all outfitting and finishes. As the company’s website states: “This gives Van der Valk complete control over the price-quality ratio as we ensure our rich heritage is translated into a beacon of innovation in the 2020s.” vandervalkshipyard.com @vandervalk.shipyard

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF VAN DER VALK SHIPYARD

Helga’s guest suites allow families to experience the water in style

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E X P E R I E N C E T H E U L T I M AT E IN BESPOKE CARIBBEAN LIVING ON WORLD-RENOWNED SEVEN MILE BEACH

Introducing The Watermark. Escape to paradise in the most beautiful region of the Caribbean Sea. These 54 exclusive beachfront residences combine breathtaking architecture with luxury offerings in both services and amenities. Situated on Seven Mile Beach, Grand Cayman, recognized as one of the world’s best beaches. A new standard for world-class oceanfront living. 118 DOLCE MAGAZINE | www.dolcemag.com

Sales Inquiries: 1-(345)-925-6404 | info@thewatermarkcayman.com

www.thewatermarkcayman.com

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