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THE MAKING OF A

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MASTERS OF DESIGN

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WATCHES Omega’s

partnership with the James Bond ﬁlms has produced a cool new timepiece

AUTO The DBX, Aston Martin’s brand new super-SUV, marks a milestone for the famed British brand

INFLUENCER The

stunning Sophia Stallone is not only Hollywood royalty but a social media star

LEADING MAN

Multi-talented Tyrese Gibson may be best known for the Fast & Furious saga, but that’s just the start

YACHTS Billionaire Herb Chambers’ new 263-ft. Excellence superyacht is a marvel of naval architecture

MOTO Testing out the wickedly powerful and stylish new Triumph Rocket 3 R in Portugal

SPIRITS Here’s why cask ﬁnishes are revolutionizing the world of high-end spirits way beyond whiskey

ENTERTAINER

The superstar rapper known as Offset, a true talent, launches a new career in fashion

GOURMET Our trip to the St. Barth Gourmet Festival ﬁl led with famed chefs and fantastic food

PHOTOGRAPHY

Looking back on more than 26 years with the modern icons known as Mert & Marcus

LEADING LADY

Yvette Monreal, who made heads turn in Rambo: Last Blood and will again as superhero Wildcat, is one to watch

ATHLETE

Here’s why WWE star and former Green Bay Packer Mojo Rawley is a world-class wrestling superstar

SUPERCAR The incredible 1,900 HP Pininfarina Battista is a spectacular evolution of italian auto design

TITAN Here’s how

visionary billionaire Elon Musk built Tesla and SpaceX into forces to be reckoned with

DESTINATION

A look at the pristine Caribbean island of Grenada and its newest luxury escape, Solamente Villa

ADVENTURE Join

us off-roading in high-powered dune buggies with Wide Open Baja in Baja California

MAXIM COVER GIRL Our competition First Run-

ner Up Lacey Asher, who loves all things fast, is ready to race

COVER STORY

Victoria’s Secret was just the beginning for German beauty Lorena Rae, who’s ready to conquer the world. Lingerie by Agent Provocateur

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ON THE COV ER Lorena Rae wears earrings by House of Emmanuele, skirt by Paul & Joe, and sunglasses by Dolce & Gabbana. Photographed by Gilles Bensimon

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TimeTo Kill A look at the latest chapter in Omega’s long-running collaboration with the James Bond ﬁlms Te x t b y JAR ED PAU L S T ER N

James Bond’s original watch of choice, starting with 1962’s Dr. No starring Sean Connery, was the Rolex Submariner—a suitably iconic timepiece for the soon-to-be world’s most famous secret agent. Rolexes, many of them fitted with special gadgets courtesy of Q-Branch, continued to be part of 007’s arsenal through the Roger Moore era up to 1989’s License to Kill, Timothy Dalton’s second and last appearance as Bond. Starting with 1995’s GoldenEye however, the Omega Seamaster more or less replaced the Submariner as 007’s watch of choice, gracing the wrist of newly minted Bond Pierce Brosnan. The official story goes that Oscar-winning costume designer Lindy Hemming, brought on to help refresh the franchise when Brosnan took over the role, chose Omega as 007’s new watch because her fa-

ther had served in the Royal Air Force, whereas Bond is a Royal Navy officer. Omega, established in Switzerland in 1848, was for a time official supplier of dive watches to Britain’s Ministry of Defense. And Bond has been wearing Omegas—specifically numerous versions of the Seamaster Diver 300—ever since. Daniel Craig has worn 11 different Omegas on screen since he became Bond in 2006, and for the latest film, the franchise’s 25th (and reportedly Craig’s last appearance as 007), No Time To Die, he helped design a timepiece that both honors Bond’s legacy and helps him get the job done in style. The new Seamaster Diver 300M 007 Edition is sized at 42mm and crafted from Grade 2 Titanium, and its looks are decidedly retro, thanks to military styling and an aged brown coloring used on the markers and numerals that echoes the “tropical” hue that certain vintage watch dials acquire over time, increasing their desirability. “When working with Omega, we decided that a lightweight watch would be key for a military man like 007,” Craig says, hence the use of titanium, which is both lighter and stronger than many forms of steel. “I also suggested some vintage touches and colors to give the watch a unique edge.” Omega states it was “purposefully built with military needs in mind,” and Craig says the finished product “looks incredible.” It is also slightly slimmer than the standard Seamaster Diver 300M models, because Craig also wanted it to fit comfortably under the cuff of the custom-made dress shirts he wears while saving the world. On the watch’s case back is a series of numbers that follow the format for British military-issue watches. It starts with 0552, a naval code number, followed by 923 7697, the designation for a divers’ watch, while the letter A signifies a screw-in crown. Then 007 which is, of course, Bond’s iconic agent number, while the final digits, 62, refer to the year of the very first Bond film. It is available on either a titanium mesh bracelet or a NATO-style nylon strap reminiscent of regimental British military colors, à la the early Bond films. Powered by Omega’s Co-Axial Master Chronometer Calibre 8806 movement, the watch is water-resistant to 30 bar, or about 1,000 feet. “It’s important that Bond has the kind of luxury accessory that fits him,” Omega CEO and President Raynald Aeschlimann adds, “because he has the character of being on one side an incredible adventurer with a lot of missions, and on the other side, a gentleman.” The new timepiece is also being made available to the public for aspiring secret agents and watch collectors in general. Craig’s enthusiasm for Omega might even predate 2006’s Casino Royale, when he was issued his first secret service Seamaster Diver 300M, now a prized possession that “never leaves the safe in my closet,“ he told Bloomberg. He recalled that while working in Budapest years ago, he bought a vintage Omega in a sad state of disrepair, which was later restored for him. “That was the beginning, really, when my collection of watches and my interest in watches started by being involved with Omega through Bond,” he remembered. “The history of these watches, the history with the [British] navy and the marines, it seems so much bigger than Bond”—and yet so eminently suitable for an officer and a gentleman who knows when it’s time to stop playing by the rules. The new Seamaster Diver 300M 007 Edition created in conjunction with the 25th James Bond ﬁlm

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AUTO

The Secret Agent’s SUV

Aston Martin, James Bond’s favorite car brand, enters a new era with the DBX

n Daniel Craig’s latest outing as James Bond in the this fall’s No Time to Die, no fewer than four Aston Martins including the iconic DB5 and Valhalla supercar share the screen with him. None of them are SUVs—and until recently, the very idea of an Aston Martin that was anything but a flat-out sports car would seem preposterous. But the storied 107-year-old British marque recently debuted the DBX, its first-ever SUV and one that delivers the performance and style long associated with the Aston Martin badge, and we can’t help but think Bond is missing out. Powered by a 542-hp AMG 4.0-liter V8, it’s capable of doing 0–60 mph in 4.3 seconds with a top speed of 181 mph. Car and Driver speculates that the DBX may well break the SUV lap record at Germany’s

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legendary Nürburgring circuit. That and its nearly $200,000 price tag put it firmly in the new category of super-SUV staked out by the likes of the Lamborghini Urus and the pricier Rolls-Royce Cullinan. It’s a bit more subtle than they are and perhaps a bit cooler for being less aggressively attention-attracting. If you don’t order yours in purple that is. Either way we hope no one does anything aesthetically unfortunate with the beautiful saddle-colored leather Aston sources for the DBX’s interior—and matching set of luggage—from Bridge of Weir, the 115-year-old Scottish firm that uses only the finest hides sourced from heritage breeds. “The design of the DBX began on a blank sheet of paper,” notes Aston Martin Lagonda’s Vice-President and Chief Creative Officer Marek Reichman. “We created a car

with incredible proportions and practicality that will reset the standard for SUVs in the luxury space. It has been a monumental task to deliver such a special car, from the initial design concepts right through to the fantastic work done by the dynamics engineers, and having to create a new manufacturing facility to produce it,” but the investment appears to have paid off with the order book filling up rapidly. Like the DB5 and the latest DBS Superleggera, the DBX bears the initials of David Brown, the distinguished British businessman who owned the company from 1947 to 1972. And Aston has now entered a new chapter of investment. In January it was announced that Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll had agreed to purchase up to 20% of the company and rename his Racing Point F1 team after the auto brand, giving it a powerful new presence on the world stage (Aston’s sponsorship deal with Red Bull Racing ends this year). Perhaps the LS era will one day equal that of the DB. Meanwhile the partnership with an F1 team and its engineering expertise is bound to benefit Aston’s road cars as well, and we feel confident in predicting that a Superleggera version of the DBX will one day blow the doors off of anything 007 has ever gotten his hands on.

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Te x t b y JAR ED PAU L S T ER N

The PURSUIT OF EXELLENCE Billionaire Herb Chambers’ award-wining 263-ft. superyacht is the new master of the seas Te x t b y JAR ED PAU L S T ER N

elf-made billionaire Herb Chambers, known for the highend car dealerships throughout New England that have made his name a household word, is one of the great American success stories. He’s also one of the world’s most renowned commissioners of luxury yachts, having just launched his sixth vessel christened Excellence, which has immediately taken its

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distributor, which he sold for $80 million in 1983, he surely doesn’t need the money. Having built his own fleet of superyachts must be especially satisfying however to the former Navy recruit. The new Excellence can accommodate 12 guests in seven cabins along with a crew of 20. The sophisticated style of Winch’s interiors, flooded with natural light thanks to a triple-height glass atrium, belies the yacht’s power; despite its size it is capable of a maximum speed 16.8 knots with a cruising speed of 13 knots. The owner’s suite, complete with a private deck with a Jacuzzi and sun loungers as well as a separate terrace, is especially impressive with floor-to-ceiling glass providing 180-degree views. There is a large swimming pool on the yacht’s main deck aft with a swim-up bar, while the sun deck features another Jacuzzi. A spa with a sauna, a gym and a tiered cinema are all in keeping with the billionaire lifestyle, as is a spacious beach club with a sea terrace and bathing steps on the swimming platform aft. And Excellence carries two custom limo tenders crafted by Hodgdon of Maine for excursions to shore, stored in a large water-level tender garage. “I wanted the boat to be what I’ll call a ‘happy boat,’” Chambers explained to Forbes. “There are many boats out there that are overdone. They become an exercise in excess. I didn’t want that.” For all its luxurious appointments and design flourishes, Excellence evokes elegance above all. And fully lives up to its name.

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place on the list of the world’s most beautiful superyachts. Built by Abeking & Rasmussen, the legendary shipyard founded in 1907 on the banks of Germany’s Weser river, the 263-ft. craft is immediately recognizable thanks to its slightly intimidating reverse bow; but any hint of menace is offset by massive, multi-level windows that reflect the sea and the yacht’s surroundings, altering its appearance with every journey. Designed by the UK’s acclaimed Winch Design, it captured both the “Best Exterior Design” and “Finest New Superyacht” awards at the Monaco Yacht Show in 2019. “Her interior takes cues from Floridian East Coast Art Deco, near where the owner grew up, as well as from the details found in his impressive automotive collection,” Ignacio Oliva-Velez, Senior Partner, Yachts for Winch Design tells Maxim. “These automotive references are found throughout her interior…. Excellence has a modest volume but an incredibly generous feel, ergonomically designed with socializing in mind.” “It’s fun to build a boat,” as Chambers told Forbes. “As a matter of fact... it’s probably more fun to build them than it is to use them.” As one of the country’s savviest businessmen, Chambers is also apparently out to make it profitable as well; Excellence is being offered for charter by Burgess with rates starting at about $1.1 million per week. Although with an estimated fortune of $1.7 billion, which began with $500 borrowed from his mother to start his first company, a copier

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ROCKET MAN

Taking Triumph’s raucous new Rocket 3 R for the ride of a lifetime in Portugal

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hrough the smoke, we’re playing a very competitive game of crazy eights. We are an Indian American, two African Americans, and an Englishman in New York, at a French Algerian hookah bar, in the Algarve. Laying down the heaviest of card hands, while pondering the lore of Triumph Motorcycles Ltd. The combination of legends and whispers that define the DNA of this most revered of British brands. Marlon Brando in The Wild One. The first 100-mph production-class bike lap at the Isle of Man TT, the ultimate road race, by the appropriately-named Malcolm Uphill on a Bonneville Thruxton. Or the scene from The Great Escape, in which Steve McQueen—or rather, his stunt double—jumps the barbed wire fence in a scramble for freedom, on a specially prepped Triumph TR6 dressed up to look like a German army BMW. “Trumpets,” as they’re known to the faithful, have a special place in my heart. I’ve been faster, scared myself more, and reached further into the internal void while riding them than almost any other brand of motorcycle. And I’ve owned a few over the years. From jittery meth-head Speed Triples to poised, regal Daytona T595s. Each had its own personality, and distinct character. A soul. Instilling a feeling of trust as you put your life in its hands and forcefully twisted the “go” grip until it hit the stop. Take the motorcycle to pieces and you will not find it—but it is the thing that makes the difference between a mode of transport, and a passionate love affair. After an e-mail arrived earlier this year asking if I’d like to reignite my Triumph love affair, I couldn’t say no. A quick transatlantic hop followed by some Sleazyjet to Faro, Portugal, and I arrived in situ only partially broken and jet lagged. One muscle-rejuvenating massage later, I was ready to swing a leg over a Trumpet for the first time in a while. And hoping that all that rubbish about learning to ride a bike was true. Even if it was a bike with a bigger engine capacity and more power and torque than the first car I owned. It was, of course, the all-new Rocket 3 R. If these things have souls, perhaps its spirit animal is the silverback gorilla. Looking large and docile and slow—until it rips your arms clean out of their sockets and disappears into the mist. The Rocket 3 R features the world’s biggest production motorcycle engine at 2,500cc, and delivers the highest torque of any production bike on the road today. Weighing in at a whopping 163 lb-ft / 221Nm at 4,000 rpm, this thing makes Anthony Joshua look as if he lacks punch. In October 2019, past TT winner Gary Johnson strapped into the hot seat and piloted one to a new Triumph production motorcycle record of 0-60 mph in 2.73 seconds on a track in Cartagena, Spain. “It was great to experience this truly incredible acceleration,” Johnson says. “It’s hard to describe just what this motorcycle is capable of. The

Rocket 3 R was well prepared and I felt very confident—even in this racetrack set-up. As early as the first attempt we made, I felt that the acceleration was so strong and that we would be successful. The Rocket 3 R ran perfectly and the track and weather conditions were ideal. The whole team did a fantastic job.” I woke up on Sunday morning with the taste of döner kebab sweating out of my pores. Extra chile sauce. Extra garlic sauce. An almost -foray into the packed dance floor of the Irish pub we had stumbled upon in our quest for post-hookah eats. Crazy eights over, this was about to get serious. A day spent relearning the history and provenance of Triumph, which first started making two-wheeled machines more than a century ago. Then dinner out with entertainment courtesy of Gary and his stories of derring-do at the TT and beyond. Trying to figure out which piece of the motorcycle was the “ring piece” he mentioned. Accompanied by endless banter between him and record-holding racer Maria Costello, who when not giving Gary as good as she got was offering to make me her copilot in the next TT. And amusement at the statistical chance of bumping into friends from Monaco in a random restaurant in the Algarve, with hugs and hellos before I went off to battle the gorilla. And then to it. Monday AM. Strapping into the Triumph safety gear. Jeans lined with PEKEV (sort of like Kevlar) along with D3O impactabsorbing knee protectors. Arms into a protective upper body condom with more PEKEV. Back protection, elbow protection, shoulder protection, kidney protection. New Triumph gloves to abate the road rash potential of taking a face-plant onto the tarmac and gravel. Or that ditch which has been known to jump up at you unannounced. A new pair of DQ boots, with an extra layer of cowhide on the left for gear-change wear. And finally a Shoei helmet to keep what was left of the addled, kebab-infused grey matter in one piece should anything go badly wrong and the gorilla really throw me across the road. I survived. But the foot pegs didn’t. Which always strikes me as scary and remarkable on a bike. Leaning over so far that the sides start scraping the tarmac, as a Joker-like grin fueled by adrenaline and fear and joy spreads across your face. I wasn’t pulling rolling burnouts like the guy I was following, Joe Akroyd, also of TT fame. Or popping wheelies on a bike that weighs more than a baby elephant. But holy shit, was I having fun. And way more fun than should be reasonably possible. I was riding the silverback. And not getting spat off. Or my arms pulled out of their sockets. But simply observing from that quiet place inside me how damned fast this thing was. And how the power was endless. And as brutal as you wanted it to be. When it wasn’t sitting quietly in reserve. Calm and knowing. Like the professional MMA fighter at the bar when the angry small guy decides to pick a fight with him for no reason. Most surprising of all, it went around corners. Fast. At angles which belie belief. And at least with my riding technique, making me think of the Batman Tumbler throwing out an anchor at 90 degrees to swing around the corner faster and tighter than such a solid beast should. The Rocket 3 R is simply fantastic. Ridiculous. Unimaginable—but fantastic. Superman you may not be, but with the right leathers, on the right day, on the right road, in the right light, you may just convince a few innocent bystanders that you are… if they can even discern what you are as you blur past from 0 to 60 in 2.73 seconds, riding a silverback gorilla through the mist.

Top: The new Triumph Rocket 3 R features the world’s biggest production motorcycle engine. Above: One of the riders at Triumph’s Rocket 3 R event in Portugal. Opposite: Our dapper correspondent Duncan Quinn prepares for takeoff 20

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TK GUTTER CREDITS

“A COMBINATION OF LEGENDS AND WHISPERS DEFINES THE DNA OF THIS MOST REVERED OF BRITISH BRANDS”

SPIRITS

CULT CASKS & RARE FINISHES

Experimental cask ﬁnishes started with Scotch and have now gone mainstream in the best of ways Te x t b y JAR ED PAU L S T ER N

will give it a different suit to wear on a different occasion,” Guillaume Lamy, Vice President Maison Ferrand, The Americas, tells Maxim. “Working with Maison Ferrand founder Alexandre Gabriel and his team in Cognac and in Barbados taught us a very important thing— finishes are there to expand the wardrobe of a beautiful rum or gin, and create style and elegance without changing the spirit’s character or original beauty.” Plantation Rum has become a cult favorite with bartenders and serious spirits enthusiasts by favoring craft over marketing. Most of its rums are double-aged; once in their country of origin and then a

Top: A behind-the-scenes look at a Courvoisier x Def Jam campaign featuring artists Arlissa, Amir Obè, Valee, and Bobby Sessions; Above: Courvoisier Master Distiller Benoît De Sutter admires his handiwork in the company of precious cognac casks. Opposite, top: David C. Stewart of The Balvenie nosing a cask at the distillery in Scotland. Opposite, bottom: Rare spirits in one of Maison Ferrand’s cellars 22

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relatively recent phenomenon in the world of single malts, dating to the early 1990s, experimental cask finishes are now a critical component of many high-end whiskey brands’ offerings—and other spirits are starting to take note. From fine French spirits to rum, tequila, gin and even aperitifs, intriguing cask finishes are now popping up across all categories, offering whole new perspectives and styles and pushing the boundaries of what was once thought possible and acceptable to enthusiasts. Many credit David C. Stewart at famed single malt Scotch distillery The Balvenie with having pioneered the cask finish movement when he debuted The Balvenie DoubleWood Aged 12 Years in 1993, one of the first double-matured whiskies on the market. Recognizing that few parts of the process affect the character of a whisky more than the time spent in the cask, and the characteristics of the casks used, Stewart transferred the malt from its primary barrel into a second cask previously filled with sherry, creating an entirely new flavor profile that enhanced the spirit beyond mere aging. The sherry finish soon became an industry classic, and many major single malt whisky brands have since offered it in addition to their core range. In recent years, others in different parts of the industry have seemingly taken cues from the aesthetic Stewart developed. Few have embraced cask finishing as passionately as Maison Ferrand, the premier boutique spirits brand which produces Ferrand Cognac, Plantation Rum and Citadelle Gin, among others. “Finishes for us are more like another maturation of the spirit that

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“CASK FINISHES CREATE STYLE AND ELEGANCE WITHOUT CHANGING THE SPIRIT’S CHARACTER OR ORIGINAL BEAUTY” second time in ex-cognac casks at Maison Ferrand in France. One of its recent releases, Plantation Xaymaca Special Dry, is a blend of pot still rums from Jamaica that are then “married” and double-aged in ex-cognac barrels at the Ferrand estate. Ferrand also uses unusual casks—five types of them, including acacia, mulberry, and cherry—to give a unique finish to its Citadelle Réserve barrel-aged gin, imparting characteristics that seem more common to whiskey. Known as Napoleon’s Brandy, the famous cognac house Courvoisier was founded in 1828 and is as steeply rooted in tradition as any French spirit. Yet it too has embraced cask finishes as a way to innovate but not alienate. It first experimented with a sherry cask expression in 2019, and has recently come out with Courvoisier AvantGarde Bourbon Cask Edition, the first release in its new Avant-Garde Series, finished in Kentucky bourbon barrels. “Following the successful launch of Courvoisier Sherry Cask, it was clear that there was a demand among consumers for an elevated twist on a sipping spirit,” Courvoisier Master Blender Patrice Pinet tells us, noting that “the demand for and consumer interest in hybrid spirits is rapidly growing, particularly in the cognac and bourbon space.” He worked alongside Courvoisier’s Master Distiller, Benoît De Sutter, and Jim Beam’s legendary Fred Noe, to “source the highest quality bourbon barrels that provide us with the tasting notes we were

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Scientist, a new expression from cult Vermont-based rye distillery WhistlePig. “Cask finishes are a great way to take whiskey to the next level of flavor,” the brand’s Master Blender Pete Lynch tells us. “We have such a wide range of casks to choose from, from wines, spirits, and even different oak and wood types, that we can really create truly unique whiskeys that the world may have not seen before.” For The Samurai Scientist, “we looked to our industry friends and partners in Japan at Kitaya brewery and took note of their world-class Saikoo umeshu,” a Japanese plum liqueur, Lynch says. “A rye whiskey as flavorful as this, thanks to the unique flavors imparted by the Japanese umeshu casks, has never been seen by the world, and the result is spectacular.” Sixteen years of aging in new-char oak, plus five weeks in umeshu casks, imparts “delicate notes of tart plum, savory umami and sweet fruit [that] play incredibly nicely with the bold, intense flavors of our cask-strength rye…. It’s not something you can just take one sip of, and the flavor develops in the glass over time, compounding into something greater.” For the record, we had no intention of stopping at one.

Top: The Royal Warrant on display at a Dewar’s visitors center. Above: Dewar’s is known as the world’s most awarded blended Scotch whisky 24

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looking to achieve with our new Avant-Garde liquid…. The extra aging creates an elegant, velvety finish with tasting notes of vanilla, honey and sweet marmalade,” definitely an evolution of the classic Courvoisier flavor profile. One might think that an iconic aperitif like Campari, whose secret recipe has been unchanged since 1860, would have little need for experimenting with cask finishes. Yet in September 2019, it released a limited edition expression called Campari Cask Tales honoring the legacy of Davide Campari. Created by Herbalist and Master Blender Bruno Malavasi, it is finished in bourbon barrels in an “exploration into the world of cask-finishing.” Malavasi “experimented with casks from multiple sources to find the ideal environment to age and flavor” the spirit, without drastically altering its character. On the palate, “the bourbon barrel finishing smooths the bitter notes with fruity, sweet, and creamy tones, providing a delicate oaky smokiness,” the brand says. With so many renowned spirits getting into the cask-finishing act, whiskey brands are turning to new avenues of innovation. Dewar’s, one of the world’s most famous Scotch labels, is launching a limited edition 8YO Ilegal Smooth Mezcal Cask Finish that cleverly aligns its whisky with the trendiest spirit going. And while doing so might seem counterintuitive for a blended whiskey wherein the key component is consistency, Dewar’s Master Blender Stephanie Macleod arrived at it as part of a “journey of experimentation to develop new flavor profiles in the Dewar’s house style.” To create it, the classic Dewar’s White Label blend of over 40 single malt and grain whiskies, aged for eight years in Scotland, were blended and aged again before being finished for at least six months in Ilegal Mezcal casks. “Normally, 60% of a whiskey’s flavor comes from the wood,” the brand notes. “This is enhanced even more so by the extra aging period…. This specific cask finishing beautifully complements the classic Dewar’s house style, creating a complex, yet harmonious blend [with]a twist of crafted, Oaxacan smoke.” Of equal interest and ingenuity is The Boss Hog—The Samurai

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“FINISHES ARE LIKE ANOTHER MATURATION OF THE SPIRIT THAT GIVES IT A DIFFERENT SUIT TO WEAR ON A DIFFERENT OCCASION”

Top left: The entrance to the Kitaya brewery in Japan, WhistlePig rye’s partner for one of its rare expressions; Top right: Plantation rums make a delectable punch; Above left: Campari Cask Tales is an evolution of the iconic aperitif; Above right: Cask ﬁnishes give Citadelle Réserve barrel-aged gin its unique characteristics MAXIM.COM

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ENTERTAINER

OFFSET, ON TIME

Be it watches or cars, superstar rapper-turned-designer Oﬀset always opts for icons Te x t b y T I M S T R U BY

P h o t o g ra p h y b y B EN JAM I N B O N N AY

his past January, in Paris’s 8th arrondissement, Kiari Kendrell Cephus was getting ready for one of the biggest nights of his career. Better known as the rapper Offset, he wore head-to-toe black denim, sunglasses, and a little bit of bling. The venue, a massive church, buzzed with excitement, and some of the supporters included his mother and business manager Latabia Woodward; his fellow Grammy-nominated, Platinum-selling Migos

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bandmates Quavo and Takeoff; and Offset’s wife Cardi B, who wore a custom Mah-Jing Wong catsuit under a faux-fur coat. The crowd, however, was not there to see Offset perform. They’d come to see his designs. It was Fashion Week Men’s in the City of Light, and the 28-year-old rapper was debuting the 11 pieces he designed in the Fall/Winter collection for Laundered Works Corp., the label overseen by Chaz A. Jordan. Male models would soon strut

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down the runway in luxury streetwear—hoodies, sweatshirts, t-shirts and flannels. Backstage, Offset wasn’t gladhanding and schmoozing, he was putting sneakers on the models and checking on all of the last-minute details. The idea of a music mogul with 16 million Instagram followers on his knees tying shoelaces for strangers might seem unusual, but Offset is a man full of surprises. His career began, naturally, with music. Migos’ first hit, “Versace,” dropped in 2013 and since then, the trio from Gwinnett County, Georgia, has ridden a rocket ship to mega-stardom. Following their 2017 No. 1 hit “Bad and Boujee,” they not only ascended to the top of the rap game but also transcended it, becoming mainstream pop icons as well. Migos earned Grammy nominations, toured with Drake, and showed up in Netflix ads and NBA promotional spots. Meanwhile, Offset made headlines of his own. With his 2017 marriage to rapper Cardi B, he formed the latest culture-music power couple à la Jay-Z and Beyoncé. Offset, Migos and Cardi B headlined the 2018 Maxim Super Bowl party along with Post Malone. And last year Offset released his first solo album, Father of 4. With his earnings, the artist turned to cars. His collection is a mix of modern—a McLaren 720S, a Lamborghini Aventador S, a Mercedes-Maybach S600, and a Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Daytona, to name a few—and classic, including a 1970 Chevy “Split Bumper” Camaroand a 1955 Chevy Bel Air. His current favorite however is a Ferrari 812 Superfast. “It’s fast,” Offset explains. “And smooth. With more room on the inside.” But he’s not filling his garage to show off. He’s following his longtime passion and doing it with a purpose. “I met Jay Leno and he preached about buying cars he likes,” he recalls. Following the former Tonight Show host’s advice, Offset spends relatively conservatively, making sure he has enough in the bank to buy the cars outright and not have to then sell them. With his hectic travel schedule and penchant for switching up rides whenever he’s home, his collection remains in pristine condition, all with less than 2,000 miles on them. Yet the care and selection of his prized rides also serve a greater goal: an investment. Get Offset talking about cars and he’ll spew models and years and talk numbers like a human Kelley Blue Book. Depreciation, appreciation, valuation, he knows it all. In fact, he will be the host and an executive producer of a forthcoming car show on Quibi. “You can’t be like ‘I’m a rapper and I got a million dollars and I’m

gonna get me a Lamborghini,” he explains. “You gotta educate yourself on whatever you purchase. A lot of people don’t understand that game.” That game means buying both brands and models—especially limited editions—that will become exponentially more valuable. He cites his Charger Hellcat (#215 of about 500 made) and getting his hands on an Aventador SVJ, of which there are only 63. His dream car? A LaFerrari. But that will have to wait. While he could pony up the $2 or $3 million, he won’t risk buying cars at that price until he has $100 million liquid in the bank. He’s not, however, self -conscious about his lack of über-expensive vehicles. “I’d rather have my nice collection,” he says of his more modestly priced rides. “I know these cars are going to be like those cars down the line. I’m just taking my time.” Offset applies the same mentality to another of his prized possessions: watches. “I’ve always liked watches,” he says. “And then I started noticing guys like Jay-Z and Kevin Hart.” With their timepieces in mind, Offset started laying out for iconic brands like Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe. The reaction was immediate. “I’ll be gambling at a table in Vegas and my watch will get me a conversation with a CEO,” explains the artist. “I’m young and got some tattoos on my face, and I get judged a little sometimes. it is what it is in life, ya know? But they see that Patek on my wrist and they say ‘Damn, what does he do? Who is this guy?’” And it’s not the flash and bling he’s looking for. It’s quality. Another investment. “It’s a great product and not a lot of people are hip to it,” he says. “Artists’ houses get broken into all the time and they’ll steal a PlayStation or a TV, and certain Pateks will get walked past because they look like a $2 watch when they’re worth $350,000.” He likens the ownership to a secret society. “Those purchases feel good,” he notes. “You know what you have on your wrist whether or not anyone else does.” Back in Paris, the Migos rapper’s debut as a designer was a resounding success. According to Offset, the entire collection sold out. But that’s just the beginning. “In 10 years, I just want to be an inhouse big brand that’s still here,” he says. “I never want to sell it or franchise too many times. And I want it all online because more and more stores are closing every day.” Like all of his passions, Offset is in it for the long game.

“YOU GOTTA EDUCATE YOURSELF ON WHATEVER YOU PURCHASE. A LOT OF PEOPLE DON’T UNDERSTAND THAT GAME” MAXIM.COM

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GOURMET

TEMPTATION ISLAND

The St. Barth Gourmet Festival shines a light on the posh destination’s world-class culinary scene

n 2017 the storied island of Saint Barthélemy—or as it’s casually tossed around amongst the G650 set, St. Barths—was besieged by Hurricane Irma, nearly razing one of the Caribbean’s most opulent jewels. But less than three years after one of the worst disasters in its history, the French outpost’s profile has somehow, almost incomprehensibly, rebounded and is looking better than ever. We flew to St. Barths to experience one of the island’s annual flashpoints—the prestigious St. Barth Gourmet Festival—to not only enjoy a bounty of Michelin-starred chefs and world-class cuisine, but to verify that St. Barths’s legendary caviar- and Moët-soaked dens of opulence have indeed returned to their former glory. As the volcanic isle first materializes out of the plane’s window, what strikes you first is its ripeness. On sunny days, of which Saint Barthélemy is said to boast more than 300 every year, the island looks like an emerald floating on a shimmering turquoise pool, its famous

beaches bright white slashes dividing the green from the impossibly blue. That moment of dreamy wistfulness quickly evaporates as the eight-seater Pilatus PC-12 descends, and suddenly it looks like the Tradewind Aviation turboprop is on a collision course with a mountain. All dazzlement shatters, and suddenly you realize why this Caribbean island regularly makes the World’s Most Terrifying Airports lists. Due to wind shear and a comically short runway (just over 2,100 feet, too short for anything larger than a 19-seater), the descent towards St. Barths is a white-knuckle initiation into a secret, lavish cult: survive the jump-in, and prepare to enjoy the silken luxuries of a rarefied society. There are hundreds of islands in the West Indies, but none quite like St. Barths. Even Columbus recognized its singularity when he first laid eyes upon it in 1493, naming it after his beloved brother Bar-

The Michelin star-studded cast of French and local chefs at the 2019 St. Barth Gourmet Festival; Above, Left: The superyacht-ﬁlled waters of Gustavia Harbour; Above, right: Local delicacies; Opposite: Chef Jarad McCarroll preparing a dish consisting of different layers and textures of onions built into a mold of St. Barths 28

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tolomeo. Squint at its Rolex-filled and Hermès boutiquelined streets, or on its sugar sand beaches with a rosé in hand, and the vibe is more St. Tropez than St. John. Unlike many a nearby island still pulling itself out from the wreckage of Irma, you’d be hard-pressed to find any clue that the Category 5 storm wreaked just under $1 billion of damage on this French overseas collectivity. Annual events like the West Indies Regatta and St. Barth Film Festival are already back in full force, but we came here to experience the island’s epicurean Super Bowl—the culinary goldmine known as the St. Barth Gourmet Festival. Having celebrated its seventh year, the Gourmet Festival invites celebrated French chefs to cook alongside teams of local maestros to not only attract worldwide talent to St. Barths’s ritzy shores, but to highlight the local talent already manning the kitchens of its worldclass hotels and restaurants. Take Chef Jarad McCarroll who runs his restaurant Jarad at the five-star Hotel Le Toiny. McCarroll teamed up with Patrice Vander, acclaimed executive chef at the Hôtel Royal and its Michelin-starred Les Fresques. At McCarroll’s openair kitchen they split duties on a four- or eight-course prix fixe menu. Both prepared impeccable delicacies for their sold-out seatings, but it was McCarroll’s ingenious “Our Island”—a dish consisting of different layers and textures of onions built into a mold of St. Barths— that won’t soon be forgotten. Starting with a powerful vegetable stock, Chef McCarroll slowly infused it with roasted onions over a period of more than 10 hours. He then finished the consommé with an elderflower vinegar, gifting it a beautiful lift. The last step is a layering of bacon jam, chive emulsion, potato soil and burnt and pickled button onion on top of the Lyonnaise. Then there’s his terminally tender Snake River Wagyu Picanha, slow-cooked for around six hours over wood and charcoal, slowly smoked to render the fat of the grade A+ beef until the surface borders on crispy. “Wagyu is full of monosaturated fats, so its fat has a lower melting point than regular beef,” explains the South African chef of his patient technique. “By cooking it this slowly, all the fat breaks down and is absorbed by the meat, making it extremely juicy and tender. It gets lots of love.” Dishes like these have made Jarad one of the most coveted restaurants on the island, and are why the revered French culinary guide Gault & Millau just awarded McCarroll Chef of the Year on St. Barths. His restaurant also received the highest score in the Caribbean.

“FOR ME IT’S NOT AN INGREDIENT THAT MAKES ST. BARTHS SPECIAL, IT IS THE ATMOSPHERE”

Trying to cook elevated masterpieces on a remote island is not without its handicaps, however. Sure. every week a supply boat from France docks, bursting with meat and French delicacies like foie gras, Saint-Nectaire cheese and cases of rosé and Dom Pérignon. There’s also a weekly plane for more perishable items like fresh produce. Niche ingredients can be very hard to come by, but Caribbean lobster, mango and mahi mahi are among the local treats chefs might encounter. “Working on an eight-square-mile island where things are flown or shipped from Miami and France can be quite challenging,” McCarroll explains. “You have delays, missing items, rough seas so no delivery, etc. You need a thick skin and a quick-thinking mind…. Last season, when something delicious was in season, I would order a lot and preserve, pickle or ferment it. For example, I ordered a lot of elderflower and pickled it all, so I have good ingredients all season.” The Gourmet Festival also offers a rare opportunity for these hometown heroes to work with international superstars. One night we dined at the five-star Hotel Christopher’s Christo Lounge Restaurant, another top St. Barths culinary destination, at a dinner helmed by Chef Arnaud Faye of La Chèvre d’Or in the South of France. Not only has Faye earned two Michelin stars, but he’s also a Meilleur Ouvrier de France—a prestigious designation given to only the greatest of Gaul craftsmen, across many trades. It’s not only Faye’s first time at the festival, it’s also his first time on the island. “I’m very surprised because it’s really professional,” Faye notes about his inaugural experience on St. Barths. “Everywhere you go has good service, everybody is really kind, really attentive to the guests. I arrived on Saturday and I had the pleasure of dining at different restaurants, and everywhere the food is very good.” Visiting St. Barths on any week during high season—roughly November to March—is an experience of superlative indulgence. But having the opportunity to also dine with some of the best culinary maestros on the planet makes the Gourmet Festival an inimitable event. Faye’s starter of Guadeloupesourced melon with glistening langoustine netted in Caribbean waters was as fresh as could be. The rice-infused dessert delicately spruced up with mango and coriander was more fine art than sustenance. “A lot of people come to St. Barths for the view, but also for the gastronomy. Food quality is important in this era,” Faye explains. When I ask what his favorite local ingredient is to work with, he shakes his head, smiling. “For me it’s not an ingredient that makes St. Barths special, it is the atmosphere.”

“WORKING ON AN ISLAND WHERE THINGS ARE FLOWN OR SHIPPED IN CAN BE QUITE CHALLENGING”

Top: Chef Arnaud Faye of France’s famed La Chèvre d’Or; Above: Chef Jarad McCarroll, winner of Chef of the Year on St. Barths; Opposite: Mouthwatering vignettes from the Gourmet Festival 30

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PHOTOGRAPHY

DYNAMIC DUO

Superstar photography duo Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott have been creating truly iconic and provocative images for the past 26 years

onsidering the impact they have had on the world of fashion photography, it’s surprising to learn that Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott only met in the mid-1990s, at a party on a pier in Hastings on the south coast of England. Inside of three years Alas, born in Turkey, and Piggott, born in Wales, had converted a decrepit East London loft into a photo studio and published their first work as “Mert & Marcus” in Dazed & Confused, the hip British style and culture magazine launched by Jefferson Hack and photographer Rankin in 1991. Inspired in the beginning by the louche, scathingly sexy imagery of iconic photographers Guy Bourdin and Helmut Newton from the latter half of the 20th century, Mert & Marcus quickly got the attention of major fashion magazines, including Vogue Italia, which has praised their ability to transform “classic beauty with their controlled aura of glamorous grunge,” followed by famed fashion brands. Rather than merely imitating Bourdin and Newton, Mert & Marcus developed early homages into a surreal, super-saturated, incredibly sexy and nearly transgressive style that felt thrilling and new. They were also among the first mainstream fashion photographers to make an art form out of digitally ma-

nipulating their images. As Charlotte Cotton wrote in her text for the duo’s seminal monograph Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott, brought out by high-end art and culture book publisher Taschen in 2017—and currently available in both XL format and a limited Collector’s Edition, numbered and signed by both photographers for $1,000—“Despite their ascendency into the rarefied ranks of master image-makers in the era of digital post-production[,] where the capture of an image can be merely the starting point of an image’s evolution[,] Mert & Marcus consistently demonstrate the capacity to begin and reimagine anew in real time, in response to what unfolds uniquely before their camera.” Over the past 26 years, the pair has helped “shape the global image” of brands including Giorgio Armani, Roberto Cavalli, Fendi, Miu Miu, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, and Givenchy, Taschen notes, as well as that of towering figures such as Lady Gaga, Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Gisele Bündchen, Lara Stone, Angelina Jolie, and Rihanna, denoting Mert & Marcus’s preference for strong, fearless female subjects; they obviously truly love confident women. “They are alchemists of sorts,” Cotton notes, “who make new visual tales that can cause a chain reaction in

Top: Anja Rubik photographed for Love magazine in Los Angeles, 2010. Opposite: Kate Moss for Love magazine, London, 2009

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A L L P H OTO S @ 2 0 1 8 M E R T A L A S & M A R C U S P I G G OT T/ C O U R T E S Y TA S C H E N .

Te x t b y JAR ED PAU L S T ER N

“FULL OF ARCHED MYSTERY, SUBTLY IMPENDING VIOLENCE AND DARK ROMANTICISM” the arched mystery, subtly impending violence and dark romanticism that define this aesthetic genre…. Exquisite nudity is clothed and staged by the drama of the creative duo’s vision. Lit to perfection, each nuanced gesture is observed and captured by their astute camera,” all with a “tenor of hyper-real excess—pulsing with sexuality.” Most recently, the pair announced a collaboration with cosmetics giant Lancôme on a new makeup capsule collection called After Dark. “Somehow, what excited us over the past 26 years was transforming and creating characters with light, makeup and stories,” the duo said in a statement at the time of the launch, “and this is what we tried to achieve with this collection.” As Cotton points out, “From the outset, their creative partnership has been about discovery and the challenge of how to visualize their imaginings.” We can’t wait to see what they do with the next 26 years.

Top: Kate Moss for Vogue Nippon, London, 2011. Above: Moss on the cover of the stunning Taschen monograph; Opposite: Guinevere van Seenus for W magazine, Ibiza, 2004 34

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A L L P H OTO S @ 2 0 1 8 M E R T A L A S & M A R C U S P I G G OT T/ C O U R T E S Y TA S C H E N .

our memory banks, leaving a far-reaching and indelible mark,” be it on their own behalf or for a famous brand or personage. She states that the pair have done nothing short of “rewrit[ing] the rulebook for how to stage seductive voyeurism and activate our imaginations. They take the arena of fashion photography to be one where social conventions and strictures can be suspended and have pushed the genre into unprecedented territory that is rich with possibilities.” Overall, she writes, “a gothic sensibility pervades—full of

INFLUENCER

The

STALLONE LEGACY

The famed actor’s daughter Sophia Stallone is making her voice heard, for a good cause

ou might call it a cotillion on steroids, but Sophia Stallone’s coming out party was the time she and sisters Sistine and Scarlet were named Miss Golden Globe for the 2017 awards ceremony. The trio made the cover of The Hollywood Reporter and were finally being asked by interviewers about their own exploits and not just, “What’s it like to be the daughter of Sylvester Stallone and [former model] Jennifer Flavin?” “I never thought I would ever be on the cover of anything, especially with my sisters,” Sophia, 23, tells Maxim about what became a transitional moment in their lives, leading to modeling gigs in Tokyo, Milan and Shanghai. “It was a time when we felt like we were making a name for ourselves. Obviously, everyone was interested ‘cause they know who my dad is and my mom is, and they want to know who the daughters are. But we really had the chance to share our voice and have the opportunity to figure out our footing, and what we want to say and what we’re passionate about.” Now, about that famous dad. “He’s so witty and he has such a dry sense of humor. It’s really cool when I get to see people’s reaction from his jokes,” she laughs. Not really known for his comedy, Stallone has played some indelible movie tough guys like prizefighter Rocky Balboa and Vietnam vet John Rambo. But Sophia’s favorite is 1997’s Cop Land, directed by Ford v Ferrari filmmaker James Mangold. “It’s a different side of him,” she says about her father’s performance as an incorruptible small town sheriff. “I really liked seeing the transition physically, mentally and emotionally that he doesn’t usually get to do. He is an amazing actor and it’s great to see that emotional side of him.” The gorgeous Sophia studied Art History at USC, but she switched her major to Communication. Her father happens to be a dedicated painter as well and a lover of fine arts, often seen at gallery shows such as last year’s George Condo opening at Sprüth Magers gallery in Los Angeles. Stallone Sr.’s latest faves are Condo, Kerry James Marshall, and Bridget Riley; sometimes they play a game whereby they have to guess who an artist is by the color, style and period of a work. When not reading or baking, you’ll find Sophia on the golf course or horseback riding, or regularly volunteering at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. “I had open heart surgery. It’s where I had my second operaTe x t b y J O R DAN R I EFE

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tion,” she offers. Although born with a hole in her heart, Sophia leads a healthy active lifestyle. “So, I’m really happy that I’m able to have the time to give back.” Another way of giving back is spreading positive vibes through her blog and social media posts. Her Instagram page @sophiastallone—1.3 million followers and counting—is a blizzard of photos in different moods and style, while her blog (sophiastallone.co) offers sage advice for millennials, started months after her own graduation from USC. “No one really talks about that transition of young adults entering the adult world. It really takes a lot of patience and talking,” she says, recalling the anxiety of her own experience. “That transition from having someone tell me what to do to you’re your own boss, which I love now but before was really intimidating.” The situation wasn’t helped by the fact that Sophia, like many millennials, has anxiety issues. Fortunately, she finds that social media has become a place where people can heal by speaking frankly to a community of fellow sufferers. “When you feel like no one’s going through it with you, it’s hard,” she confesses. “I’ve given people tips on what helped me and how to make it better based on my own experiences.” There were five siblings in the Stallone clan, but Sage, the eldest, from the actor’s first marriage with Sasha Czack, died of heart disease in 2012 at the age of 36. His brother Seargeoh, three years younger, was diagnosed with autism at an early age. The eldest of Stallone’s three daughters with Flavin, Sophia was followed by actor-model Sistine, two years younger, and 18-year-old Scarlet. There was talk of a reality series starring the trio, but ultimately it was decided there’s just not enough drama between them, though Sophia and Sistine are currently planning a podcast. And if they need any free advertisement, they can rely on Sophia’s 16,000-plus Twitter followers in addition to her growing legion of Insta fans. “I have this platform and I have an opportunity to share my advice and my lifestyle and even my family, so they can get to know us more,” she says about becoming an influencer without really trying. “Anyone with a big following might think of a way to make it a positive experience for people. I think eventually from building social media and building a brand, I can create something I can call my own.”

P h o t o g ra p h e d b y M AN FR ED BAU M AN N

Home of the Original Steakburger AN AMERICAN CLASSIC SINCE

1934

LEADING MAN

FAST FORWARD

Beyond the famous franchise, Tyrese Gibson’s whole career has been in high gear

Te x t b y J O R DAN R I EFE P h o t o g ra p h y b y C H R I S T I N E M O R D EN

t’s rush hour again for Tyrese Gibson, who is behind the wheel when we catch up with him, just where you would expect to find the guy who plays Roman Pearce in next year’s Fast & Furious installment, titled F9. Actor, singer and former model Gibson has been with the franchise for 17 years, watching them come and go— Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot, Charlize Theron—to name just a few of the players throughout the oil and octane saga. New faces in F9 include John Cena as Jakob Toretto, Cain to Vin Diesel’s Abel, Dominic. “John Cena being Vin’s brother and them being archenemies, it was definitely something I can relate to cause before me and my brother started getting along, it’s the type of relationship we had,” Gibson tells Maxim. “You have some dudes who have brothers who drink and smoke and play video games all day and don’t want to do shit with their life. And then you got the other brother who’s working his ass off, trying to make something of nothing and basically carrying the survival of the whole family on their back.” The other guest star is Cardi B, who kept the cast in stitches. “She was a joy, man. She’s just got a really big personality. The jokes are nonstop, she’s very funny, great energy,” he laughs, adding that Cena surprised them with his affability. “We expected him to be an asshole cause he’s a wrestler and his line of work is so aggressive. We just expected him to be aggressive. He’s just the nicest guy ever.” The one regular FF cast member who wasn’t there, hasn’t been there since 2015’s Furious 7, Paul Walker, who played Brian O’Conner, died at the age of 40 in a car accident in 2013. Every time the cast returns to the FF franchise, it’s a reminder to all of them of the tragedy of that loss, especially Gibson who grew close to Walker over the years. “People will say Paul is not in it so why are you guys continuing? That’s exactly why we’re continuing cause we made the shift in my mind saying we have to do this for Paul,” Gibson says. “But the biggest decision came from us talking to Paul’s family and them giving us their blessing. The last movie that Paul did was ‘7,’ and then to see Paul’s father,

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mother and brothers at the premiere of ‘Fast 8,’ it just sends the message that they’re fully supporting us every step of the way.” Gibson grew up in Watts, the youngest of four raised by a single mother. His first appearance was singing in a Coke ad when he was just 15. Modeling offers followed and within a few years he was signed to RCA Records. His debut album, Tyrese, peaked at #17 in the Billboard 200. Although director John Singleton’s 2001 film Baby Boy was Gibson’s big-screen debut, he has built his acting career around two franchises; Fast & Furious and Transformers, in which he plays Sergeant Epps, a role he could return to again on the big screen. Before that, Gibson will portray superhero Simon Stroud in Morbius, based on the comic book character. Stroud is an FBI agent in pursuit of Morbius (Jared Leto), a scientist who has inadvertently injected himself with a form of vampirism. “My character was originally white, and they made him black. But I like to say he was a white guy who got a really good tan,” Gibson jokes about Stroud, who sports a hi-tech weapons-grade arm in the film. “That arm has all kinds of special effects and powers, and that’s going to mess people up when they see this movie. It’s my first time ever officially being a superhero. I’ve done some superhero shit, but I ain’t never been a superhero. I had to explain this to my daughter.” And that’s where you’ll find him when he’s not at the wheel or running for his life from giant robots—with his daughters. “I’ve never known love like this before,” he says. “When you have kids, it takes you to levels that you didn’t even know you had. You have a bottom line that you never knew you had. You don’t put up with agents and managers and entourage and family that’s trying to disrespect you and take advantage of you. You just have zero tolerance for bullshit.” Whatever love he’s lost for the industry, the fans are a whole other story. “I just want to say to all of the fans and readers of Maxim, thank you for continuing to support me and stand with me and show love to me for all of these years. It’s something I do not take for granted.”

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LEADING LADY

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SLY FOX

There’s more to Yvette Monreal than a superhero suit and some method acting Te x t b y J O R DAN R I EFE

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t’s become a rite of passage for every young Hollywood actor— the role of superhero. Yvette Monreal did it by waltzing into the DC Universe as Wildcat (Yolanda Montez) in the CW’s Stargirl. Yes, she was thrilled to don Wildcat’s singular high-tech suit, giving her cat-like powers and razor-sharp claws; but Monreal found herself connecting with her character in unexpected ways. “It was something so similar to what I was going through emotionally,” she tells Maxim. “This character was trying to find herself and she felt like she was being isolated from the rest of the world. And she was really trying to come to terms with just being herself. And I found myself emotionally connecting to her.” Stargirl stars Brec Bassinger as Courtney Whitmore, who moves from L.A. to Nebraska where she discovers her new stepdad (Luke Wilson) was a superhero sidekick to Starman (Joel McHale) before they were vanquished by an unnamed adversary. Her discovery inspires her to assemble a new generation of Justice Society of America superheroes. First appearing in DC Comics in the mid-1980s, Wildcat was born of a gynecological experiment gone wrong. She developed superhuman speed and received superhero instruction from her godfather, heavyweight boxer Ted Grant, formerly a superhero also called Wildcat. And like Wildcat, Monreal grew up apart from her biological father. She lived amiably with her mother, stepfather, and siblings, in the Lawndale area of West L.A. “I was kind of shy growing up but my sister was the outspoken one and helped me be a little more confident in everything I did,” she says. “And I think that’s why I always put on shows for my family. I always liked the attention, like the camera on Christmas Eve.” When she got to high school she was more concerned with looking cool than auditioning for a school play. Even so, her first role prompted cold feet and a life-changing response from her mother. “If you can’t do it in front of your high school peers, you’re not going to be able to do it in front of the world,” she told her. “That really put things in perspective. When I joined the drama class it really made me go for it and have no fear.”

After high school she graduated from Santa Monica College where she studied Special Effects and later a two-year conservatory program at the prestigious Stella Adler Academy of Acting & Theatre. Her biggest break to date, of course, is working with Sylvester “Sly” Stallone on last year’s Rambo: Last Blood, which earned $91 million worldwide. In it, she plays Gabrielle, Rambo’s teenage niece who is kidnapped by criminals in Mexico. “He always says if you’re going to put yourself on film you’d better give it 110 percent, cause that is going to be there forever,” she recalls Stallone telling her for when the hours grow long and you just don’t have another take in you. “He really knocked some sense into me sometimes. It would be 14-hour days and I was tired. But you have this veteran on set reminding you that we’re more than halfway there, pumping you up. He’s exactly what you see in the films.” Yes, this is a pivotal moment in Monreal’s career, but it didn’t happen overnight. Her resume stretches back to the sci-fi series Chutes, in 2013. A year later she was out-andproud as Reagan on MTV’s Faking It, and on Robert Rodriguez’s spy series Matador, she played Senna Galan, daughter of evil billionaire Andrés Galan, played by legendary stage and screen actor Alfred Molina. “Working with Alfred was probably the best thing,” Monreal says. “I learned so much from him, his poise and the way he acted, it gave me a little foundation as to where to go with it.” Between Rambo and Stargirl, she’s right where she wants to be for the moment—in the action-movie world—though she’s always open to a meaty role in an independent film. Growing up, she was always a short ride from the beach and today she still is. So, guess where you’ll find her when she’s not administering feline justice in the DC Universe—on the beach strumming her ukulele or reading a book. “I read a lot of self-help books, books that give you a pump of energy,” she sighs. “I do acting class, so reading plays helps me constantly oil the machine. It’s like a machine, you have to oil it if you want to keep it sharp.”

“[STALLONE] ALWAYS SAYS IF YOU’RE GOING TO PUT YOURSELF ON FILM YOU’D BETTER GIVE IT 110 PERCENT”

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ATHLETE

MOJO RISING

The improbable story of Mojo Rawley, professional wrestlingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s next big thing

For WWE Superstar Mojo Rawley (born Dean Muhtadi), the ascent to the pinnacle of the sports-entertainment world has been an unlikely journey. After working his way up from the lowest levels of college football all the way to the NFL, Rawley began a second career in the world of professional wrestling. Since his arrival, the now 33-year old Rawley has quickly risen through the ranks of the WWE to become one of the most electric performers in the industry. Prior to his likely appearance at WrestleMania set to livestream from Orlando, Florida, Rawley spoke to

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Maxim about his extraordinary path to the WWE. Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s your background? Were you a WWE fan growing up? I was born and raised in Alexandria, VA, and am a proud T.C. Williams Titan, the school from the movie Remember the Titans. My family was in the United Nations so we are from everywhere, primarily the Middle East. I grew up watching WWE; every Monday Night Raw would be on television and my brother Casey and I would be watching.

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Te x t b y K EI T H G O R D O N

INSIDE THE 2020 MAXIM BIG GAME EXPERIENCE

S E T H B R O WA R N I K / W O R L D R E D E Y E .C O M

For the 20th year, fans flocked to the annual Maxim Big Game Experience in Miami. The Havana Nights -inspired soiree, produced by In the Know Experiences and in collaboration with Columbia Records, took place in a specially constructed 40,000-square-foot waterfront venue on the coast of Biscayne Bay that offered jaw-dropping views of the Miami skyline. The unforgettable evening featured performances from Grammy-winning duo The Chainsmokers, hip-hop artist Megan Thee Stallion, rapper Russ, Miamiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own Rick Ross, DJ duo Lost Kings, DJ Chase B, and Latin artists MYA, Luis Figueroa and Emilia. iHeartRadio twins Lulu and Lala greeted VIP guests on the red carpet. Follow @maximmag for more information on upcoming Maxim Experiences.

A MAXIM EXPERIENCES PROMOTION

What was the motivation behind your career switch and how did you get your chance with the WWE? I was a free agent in the NFL coming off a bad injury and was in talks with a couple of teams when I received a unique opportunity. Gordy Gronkowski, father of the Gronkowski brothers, arranged a meeting between me and his old college roommate and current WWE producer Mike Rotunda. The rest is history. What similarities are there between the two sports that seem to attract so many former football players to professional wrestling? Does it satisfy your competitive streak in the same way? The life lessons derived from a career in football are perfectly in line with what it takes to be successful in WWE. Dedication, perseverance, the comprehension of how a team works, and humility are extremely important here. To be completely honest, initially I was concerned that the WWE brand of entertainment would inevitably not satisfy my competitive streak, but this never became an issue. You compete to win the crowd, the trust of your coaches, and the respect of the locker room. Is there a strong brotherhood/community in the WWE or are the athletes competitive behind the scenes as well? The WWE locker room is very similar to the NFL. It’s all one big family. For the most part, everyone gets along and we get to travel the globe together performing and entertaining the greatest fans in the world, so the bonds are built very strong. Make no mistake, it is extremely competitive. Whereas everyone works towards putting on the best show possible, everyone also competes to have the best or most entertaining

“TO ME HUMILITY IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS IN THIS BUSINESS”

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segment on the show, whether it is a match, an in-ring promo or backstage segment. Everyone wants to be the best and works hard to do so. WWE is unlike any business. I like to think of it as the world’s largest mom-and-pop business. We are around one another far more than our own families and we travel the world together. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, but we always entertain the WWE Universe. We are a global brand full of larger than life personas. To me humility is one of the most important characteristics in this business. What is the schedule like for a WWE Superstar? The schedule is actually relatively constant. On a normal week, I fly out Friday morning for four days of shows. The daily itinerary is the same; gym, show, drive. Gym, show, drive. On Tuesday, I fly home and go straight from the airport to the WWE Performance Center for weight training and conditioning with former NFL strength coach Sean Hayes. Then I go out to the rings to observe or join one of the various training sessions. From there I go to hot yoga, film study, a deep tissue massage, and finally sushi for dinner every Tuesday night with family or friends. If the flight after Monday’s show is a red-eye, then I do all of this on zero sleep. What’s the toughest part of maintaining your body and mind during the WWE schedule? The travel; most of us are very large people and we don’t fit on planes very well. Do you prefer being a good guy or a bad guy? Does it require different mentalities to be a “hero” or a “heel”? When I am a good guy on TV, my character tends to be almost identical to how I am as a real person. However, as a bad guy, I get to be the opposite. I get to be a jerk. I get to talk trash, I get to say all the things that I’m thinking but have to restrain myself from saying out of respect or decency. I liken it to being an athlete playing in the away stadium with all the boos and hostility. Being the bad guy tends to be way more fun! What interests or hobbies do you have away from the ring? Breakdancing my butt off. It’s the best cardio workout and it’s probably the thing I’m best at! I can’t sit still. I take my training very seriously but I also take fun very seriously too. Even when I’m having fun, I’m constantly thinking of ways to incorporate it into my WWE persona, as that way I’m serving two purposes at once. What’s allowed you to succeed in such a competitive industry? I credit all of my life’s successes to my ability to “Stay Hyped.” That is my life’s mantra. Facing adversity with a smile and excessive energy. Being the hardest worker in whatever I do, and never stopping, resting, or complaining. That is what has helped me to succeed at all levels of WWE and in life.

P H OTO S C O U R T E S Y O F W W E , I N C .

You worked your way from lowly D-III college football all the way to the Green Bay Packers. How did you to forge such an unlikely path? I started off as a non-scholarship athlete at a D-III school. I was the last athlete recruited in my class. I became a team captain, school record holder, and earned an academic scholarship. I then transferred to Maryland where I had to pay $35,000 a year and start over as a walk on. I left Maryland as a starter, record holder, and scholarship athlete with the highest GPA on the team. In the NFL, I was not drafted and was not signed in free agency. I earned my way through a tryout. My entire career I was always the guy that was picked last, but found a way to get the job done and leave my mark on the team.

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SUPERCAR

PININFARINAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S THIRD WAVE

In its 90th year, famed Italian design house Pininfarina helps lead the way to a new generation of over-the-top supercars

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s legendary Italian design house Pininfarina S.p.A. enters the third stage of its nearly century-long lifespan, a new brand, Automobili Pininfarina, has joined the family, aiming to produce the most elevated sustainable luxury cars the world has ever seen. Their first creation, the zero-emission Battista, flaunts celestial performance, with mind-boggling numbers like 1,900 horsepower, a 217-mph top speed, and a 0-62 mph time under two seconds. Yet Automobili Pininfarina aspires to even bigger goals than simply boasting one of the quickest vehicles on the planet: by 2025 they plan to debut an entirely new vehicle category dubbed the S-LUV (Sustainable Luxury Utility Vehicle), and aim to become the most sustainable luxury manufacturer in the world. “This is the story of a company, and it is the story of a family,” Paolo Pininfarina, Chairman of Pininfarina S.p.A., beams proudly as he holds court in a sun-drenched gallery of his firm’s museum. “My grandfather had a vision to continue the company after his life: ‘My life is too short!’ he said, ‘I want the company to survive!’ And so he trained my father Sergio to become the second chairman of Pininfarina. And when I and my brother were born my grandfather was very happy, and he said ‘Now that we have these two new Pininfarinas I dream our

company can be projected into the next century!’ And now here we are, in 2020.” We’re standing in a gleaming glass atrium in Pininfarina headquarters in Cambiano, Italy, surrounded by some of the most coveted automobiles in human history: the Cisitalia 202, Ferrari P6 and Berlinetta Boxer, Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider and 2uettottanta concept. Walking among these curvaceous steel masterpieces, it is blindingly clear that this is indeed the story of a family as much as a company. In the exalted pantheon of automotive design there are few names that carry more weight than that of Pininfarina. Sure other giants loom with surnames like Bertone, Giugiaro, Zagato, et al, but none quite hold the gravity and longevity of Turin’s most storied design house. Created in 1930 by Battista Farina, a man born in the foothills of the Italian Alps in 1893, Carrozzeria Pininfarina quickly gained fame penning cars of exquisite balance and elegance. Tiny in stature, and born the tenth of 11 children, Battista’s nickname “Pinin” (littlest one in the the family) soon became inseparable from his myth. The story of Pininfarina is really a trilogy, broken down into three distinct books: Book I, the genesis and foundational era under Battista; Book II, its evolution and more than half-century of collaboration

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with Ferrari under the leadership of Battista’s son Sergio; and finally today we gather in Turin to read the first chapters of Book III—probably best titled A Work In Progress. This third stage really began in 2012, unquestionably a transformational timestamp for Pininfarina. The death of Sergio in July of that year ended what many consider the halcyon era for the house. A half-decade of rising debt also saw 2012 as the year of a painful corporate restructuring. Lastly—and perhaps most ominously—Ferrrari created Centro Stile, it’s in-house design center. The F12berlinetta, which debuted in 2012, marked the last production Ferrari to ever use Pininfarina styling, ending a streak started in the ’70s, where nearly every Ferrari production vehicle was designed by Pininfarina (with the lone exception of Bertone’s 308 GT4). Enter Indian conglomerate Mahindra Group, which purchased Pininfarina S.p.A. in 2015, saving it from seeming insolvency. It’s important to note the association with Ferrari immortalized Pininfarina, there’s no question. But the design house made its name years before the Prancing Horse even existed, so there’s reason to believe it will continue flourishing. For this reason Mahindra formed Automobili Pininfarina to envision, engineer, design and manufacture vehicles under the Pininfarina badges. And it all starts with the Battista [see sidebar], an electric rocketship imagined to elevate Pininfarina into the minds (and garages) of the world’s most discriminating and deeply pocketed collectors. But the story doesn’t end there. After the tour of the museum they usher us downstairs to see the next vehicle in the Automobili Pininfarina stable: the PURA Vision, a design concept that looks to forecast an entirely new lineup of vehicles under the signature ‘PF’ badge. And while the Battista takes its powertrain from Croatian hypercar builder Rimac, these newer vehicles will be manufactured in Northern Italy, with newly-developed platforms and powertrains.

“ A COMBINATION OF HERITAGE, DESIGN, AESTHETICS, PERFORMANCE AND CONNECTIVITY” 48

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There’s not much we can divulge about this sneak preview, but we can say that the PURA Vision is a thing of spectacular beauty, pulling elements from some of Pininfarina’s most iconic vehicles. A chimera of sorts—half shooting brake, half SUV, all crossover—the S-LUV features a unique silhouette with the high fenders and low hood of the Dino. Very low in height with a narrow greenhouse, its linear simplicity echoes that of the Alfa 2uettottanta with the short overhangs and proportions of the Cisitalia. Pininfarina’s Chief Design Officer Luca Borgogno claims the PURA Vision’s all glass cabin hails from the very rare 1953 Alfa Romeo 6C Superflow IV. Its sides are deeply scalloped but polished smooth, almost like the high cheekbones of a supermodel. “We want to give a kind of sensuality to the car,” explains Borgogno. “It’s like the hips of a woman that are, in my opinion, one of the sexiest parts.” Beyond the zero emission all electric powertrain that will run across the fleet, serious sustainability efforts include a “circular economy” wherein scraps of aluminum and leather are upcycled into unique materials. Components like carpeting are made of discarded fishing nets, and some leather is tanned with an organic agent sourced from pruned leaves. Given the PURA Vision’s narrow windows and low height, I ask if the glass roof was designed to mitigate the claustrophobia from such a small greenhouse. The amicable designer smiles and shakes his head. “The inspiration was to actually have the perception of the surrounding environment as much as possible,” Borgogno clarifies. “It’s linked with our sustainability aspect. So the glass greenhouse has to do with enjoying the environment as much as possible, being related to looking outside: the feeling, the colors and the beauty of nature.” If the PURA Vision augurs what the Automobili team can bring into showrooms, then Pininfarina’s third book could very well become a bestseller. Who knows, it could even spark a second trilogy.

BATTISTA ANNIVERASARIO

Much has already been written about the Battista, but in Turin we were the first to witness the limited edition Anniversario. Created to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Pininfarina design house, the Anniversario features the same ridiculous zero-emission powertrain that courses through the Battista: a 120 kWh high-power-density battery supplying four independent electric motors, one at each wheel. This generates 1,900-hp and 1,696-lb-ft of torque, enough force to timewarp the Battista from 0-62 mph in under two seconds, and from 0-124-mph in under six—acceleration engineers compare to that of a fighter jet. Aesthetically the Anniversario edition offers a second set of 21-inch “Impulso” forged aluminum wheels, a slew of additional aero enhancements (including front carbon fiber winglets, rocker panel, reworked rear diffuser, rear aero fins and a bespoke rear wing), headlight engraving, “90” badging throughout, and a signature two-tone livery. Designed to make the Battista “just a little more special,” according to Luca Borgogno, only five of the Anniversario will be made starting at $2.9 million. — NS

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PININFARINA AND FERRARI

1964

Over more than a half-century of collaboration, Pininfarina designed some of Ferrari’s most iconic and collectible cars. The two companies first joined forces in 1951, and while Ferrari worked with other coachbuilders in addition to Pininfarina in the 1950s and ’60s, by the 1970s, the famed Turin firm could take credit for every Ferrari road car except the Bertone-designed 308 GT4. Here are some of their greatest Prancing Horse masterpieces. — Jared Paul Stern The 275 GTB is frequently cited as one of the greatest Ferraris of all time.

1968

The 365 GTB/4, aka the Daytona, won praise and races in equal measure.

1987

The F40 was designed to celebrate Ferrari’s 40th anniversary with style and power.

1976

Interest in the 512 BB, for Berlinetta Boxer, in recent years has seen values soar.

2002

Named for Ferrari’s founder, the eye-popping Enzo brought F1 tech to the street.

1984

Made famous by Miami Vice, the Testarossa has been praised as a modern classic.

2013

The Pininfarina Sergio concept is mechanically based on a Ferrari 458 Spider.

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ULTIMATE LUXURY

A conversation with Automobili Pininfarina CEO Michael Perschke Te x t b y N I CO L A S S T EC H ER

rina after 10 years of having our own car brand, I think that will make it extremely striking. But the Battista is the right starting point. When Pininfarina stopped creating current production cars for Ferrari many analysts thought it signaled the company’s end. Can you talk about phasing Pininfarina into this third chapter of its life? Fair question. Now I have to say I’m not part of Pininfarina so I cannot really speak to how it felt for the Pininfarina people. I personally think retrospectively, maybe this is one of the best things which happened to the company, because I would always say that Pininfarina delivered to Ferrari the shovels to allow Ferrari to dig for gold, because it was the design that made the Enzos, the F40s, the F50s really legendary.… But if you look in the history books it’s all about the design, and that was Pininfarina. So Ferrari breaking up that marriage actually gave Pininfarina the opportunity to step out of that shadow and define its own destiny. Now that led to a second company because Pininfarina [S.p.A.] is a design and engineering company that continues to serve other manufacturers,

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What is it like to inherit this legendary name, responsible for some of the most iconic cars in the world, and shepherd it into a new era? I think it’s a once-in-a-lifetime unique opportunity that you take a brand which is so strong, which has 90 years of legendary design. You go to The Museum of Modern Art, you go to the Petersen Museum, you go here to the National Automobile Museum and you have so many masterpieces of Pininfarina, and yet Pininfarina has never done that step to develop brand new cars. So I think that was a big strategic move. Thanks to Anand Mahindra and his foresight acquiring the company back in 2015, but already having in mind to create a car company. I think that already is a very important, very vital step. But I think the opportunity we now have is to start with new technologies. We’re not another “me too” combustion engine brand—we’re actually the first ultimate luxury car brand with zero tailpipe emissions. I think that’s a very, very unique positioning that we’re very proud of. Also our 90th anniversary is kind of that hook year where we can launch our first product, makes it even more unique. And when it’s time to celebrate 100 years of Pininfa-

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and we [Automobili Pininfarina] are only looking to create that beautiful new car brand.

the ingredients by the magician, like my [Design Director] Luca Bergogno, they create a very unique three-star dish.

Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen the success of Tesla, and the unveiling of a slew of other EV hypercars like the Lotus Evija snd Rimac C_Two; just being an EV hypercar is no longer revolutionary. What is unique about your positioning? I think there are three or four elements for this unique positioning. First and foremost I think Pininfarina owns aesthetics, beauty and design. Everybody else can own other attributes but I think nobody will really challenge Pininfarina on organic design, proportions, dimensions, surfaces. Pininfarina defines the category. We are not a follower, we are best in class for 90 years. For luxury this is very important because luxury is also a lot about design. Secondly, we have that unique heritage of having designed 64 Ferraris, 700 cars, 120 show cars, and we are very well respected. The Cisitalia was the first car which went into the permanent exhibit of The Museum of Modern Art. So I think thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a very strong asset we have. The third asset we want to own is driving characteristics and performance. At the end we might not be the strongest by four or five horsepower, but thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not relevant. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s how you can apply the power to a day-to-day use. And then lastly we want to also be among the best in the connectivity space. So when you come to your car it has intuitive-to-use, easy-to-integrate technologiesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;because thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of the critical elements for the next generation. So that combination of ingredients heritage, design, aesthetics, with performance and connectivityâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;if you put them together are quite unique. I always say itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like a Michelin star chef: he goes to the same vegetable market as the normal restaurant. But the application of

Pininfarina can hang its hat on aesthetics and design. But what youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve never done is manufacturing. What do you tell investors to make them confident your team can bring a fleet of cars into production? So I think thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re different levels. The Battista is going to be produced here, in a combined team of Automobili Pininfarina and Pininfarina. We have in the group already the capabilities of small scale, very unique series. And weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re here in Italy around terrain where you have a lot of these small shops, coach builders, leather companies, who can provide all the ingredients. Small numbers but high-quality suppliers, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s where I think we also have the strengths at our disposal. And then for the next car [PURA Vision] itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scaling up. And I think the scaling up is something we are just embarking on and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to see more on the scaling up, the factory, the green production technologies, photovoltaic and all that, which we will embed to become a zero impact company by 2025.

DESIGN GENIUS

Cyprus, and now we aim to leverage our vast experience in high-end residential complexes by designing a breathtaking piece of architecture for Excem that establishes an emotional connection with people.â&#x20AC;? Call it the architectural equivalent of a super-luxury car with mouthwatering lines and you wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be far off. And while real estate is becoming a more important part of the business, Pininfarina is still heavily invested in designing beautiful things that go fast, from the sleek Pininfarina Goldenpass Express train in the Swiss Alps, set to launch this winter, to the Princess X95 luxury yacht, with extensive outdoor space and an open-plan, modular interior; and the Airbus Corporate Jets 350XWB, which features wings that â&#x20AC;&#x153;morphÂľ LQ Ă LJKW WR SURGXFH WKH PRVW HIĂ&#x20AC;FLHQW DQG FRVW HIIHFWLYH Ă LJKW SRVVLEOH DV ZHOO DV D IXVHODJH PDGH IURP next-generation carbon composite materials.â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Jared Paul Stern

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Pininfarinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s design projects now extend to trains, yachts, real estate and beyond â&#x20AC;&#x153;Beauty, Innovation, Purity and Authenticityâ&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the design principles of the legendary house of Pininfarina, founded in Turin, Italy, by Battista Pinin Farina in 1930, apply equally to the projects the company has pursued beyond the realm of gorgeous Ferraris, Alfa Romeos and other automotive icons. Battistaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grandson Paolo Pininfarina, now Chairman of Pininfarina S.p.A., started diversifying the design business in the late 1980s, making forays into product and later industrial and interior design, and, most recently, architecture. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s major projects in the latter category now include the control tower of the new Istanbul Airport as well as a number of cutting-edge residential buildings in Europe and Latin America, such as the Cyrela by Pininfarina residential tower in SĂŁo Paolo, Brazil. This year, on the brandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 90th anniversary, it has announced a new endeavor with Spanish developer Excem Real Estate for a residential complex that will â&#x20AC;&#x153;become a unique architectural landmarkâ&#x20AC;? on Spainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s famed Costa del Sol, Spain. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have hoped for a better gift for our 90th birthday,â&#x20AC;? says Paolo Pininfarina. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For years we have gradually pushed our creativity forward from cars to the world of industrial design and building architecture, and the market has understood this. We have learned that once a deVLJQ ODQJXDJH KDV EHHQ GHĂ&#x20AC;QHG D world of opportunities opens up. We started out from new luxury residential concepts with projects like Cyrela in Brazil or Sixty6 in

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COVER STORY

BODY &SOUL German beauty Lorena Rae is on her way to superstardom, starting with the cover of Maxim

Photography b y GILLES BENSIMON Styling b y CAROLIN E CH RISTIANSSON Te x t b y THOMAS FREEMAN

Dress, PAUL & JOE, Earrings, HOUSE OF EMMANUELE

Top, Ã&#x2DC;UD, Necklaces, THEA JEWLERY

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ive-foot-eleven German supermodels are seldom described as “relatable.” Still, the word enters my head when thumbing through Lorena Rae’s Instagram. Her pictures seem to be mostly candids, not the work of illustrious photographers. The fresh-faced brunette with the eye-popping figure may be the only model with nearly two million followers who frequently posts photos of herself smiling, not smizing. And what a smile it is. At 25 years old, Rae has modeled for brands like Versace and Hugo Boss. She has been on the covers of Grazia Italy, Grazia Australia and Vogue Taiwan. For a time, she was romantically linked to Leonardo DiCaprio. Her most famous coup came in 2018, when she walked the runway of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. “I am very proud to have walked the Victoria’s Secret runway, so I am really sad to see it go,” she tells Maxim of the annual show’s recent cancellation. “Preparing and getting ready for the casting was definitely a big deal and a really motivating goal to work towards.” Rae is showing signs of long-term stardom. She still models for Victoria’s Secret and is the face of its Bombshell Paradise fragrance. Still, fashion is notoriously fickle, and the brand holds less sway than it did in the days of Gisele Bündchen. Despite the unpredictability of her profession however, Rae is as cool as her sapphire blue eyes. “I believe in taking everything at my own pace,” she says. “It’s easy to look around and compare yourself to what everyone else is doing and get wrapped up in the idea of ‘this is what I’m supposed to be doing too,’” she adds. “You should stay present and focused and enjoy where you are at now.” Although comfortable at the top, Rae has humble beginnings. She grew up in a small town in northwestern Germany, where runways, swimwear shoots, and dates with Hollywood actors were not on her radar. She claims she was shy as a kid, a characteristic that likely diminished in front of the camera. When I ask about her upbringing, her people send me an assortment of childhood photographs, one of them a portrait of her posing with a red hibiscus flower. She’s a natural. When I tell her that I read she had learned English by watching American television, she responds, “That’s true! I obviously started learning English in school, but I became really good at it while watching Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries.” English may not be her first language, but Lorena Rae is candid about a range of topics. Here, she tells Maxim about her early days as a model, her recent safari in Kenya, and her girl crush on Gisele. How does it feel to be on the cover of Maxim? To be on the cover of Maxim is an absolute honor. If I look at all the incredible women who were on the cover before me, it is quite hard to believe that I get to be next in line. I’ve always been obsessed with Irina Shayk and Sara Sampaio’s covers and actually had the exact pictures on my goal-mood board for a very long time. Manifestation is a thing! Tell us about growing up in Germany. What were you like as a kid? I am a very big family person and loved growing up in a small town with my family. Even though you might not see it today, as a kid I was very shy. I always needed my mom to speak for me at the supermarket or even at doctor’s appointments. I’ll never forget the first flight I had to take for a job abroad when I was 18. My dad had to drop me off at the airport, check in my luggage, and explain to me every single detail so I would calm down—and actually start this journey by myself and step out of my comfort zone. This industry taught me early on that there is not a lot of space for shyness. It really helped me grow up and

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become the strong person I am today. When did you decide to pursue modeling? Modeling never crossed my mind until I was approached by a model scout in a mall in Hamburg in the summer of 2012. I was with two of my best girlfriends, growing up in a small town, where action and excitement were quite rare. Of course, we thought it would be funny to play dress up and take some pictures. Never did I expect to actually sign a contract with a modeling agency about a month later. If it were up to me, I would probably be working at my dad’s car dealership right now, selling cars. Tell us about your wildest modeling world experience. Probably living in a model apartment with six or seven other girls when I came to New York for the first time. Eight of us slept on bunk beds in a two-bedroom apartment, sharing one bathroom. Clothes, hair, iPads, makeup, fights, laughs, and shoes everywhere. Many different characters and attitudes. Every girl with her own story and a big dream. It was tough for me to be that far away from home while trying to understand the business. In the end, I made friends for life. They taught me many things about the industry and what it’s like to live and survive in the Big Apple. You recently went on safari in Kenya. What are some highlights from the trip? Going on a safari has always been a huge dream of mine. I can say that this trip was more than I ever expected. Visiting Africa changes you. Sleeping in a tent in the absolute wilderness and seeing endangered rhinos protected from poaching was mind-blowing and endlessly inspiring. Your career has entirely taken place in the age of social media. How has that affected your career? I can only speak for myself, but I am glad social media has been there throughout my career. When I started modeling, one of the first things I would hear from clients and casting directors was, “We would love to see more of your personality.” Now, in addition to just having your portfolio, you also have Instagram as a platform for people to see who I am when I’m not wearing designer clothes and a lot of makeup. What do I do for fun? What are my passions and hobbies? What’s my dog’s name? It’s given many of us the opportunity to connect with people we might have never been able to meet or work with. Whose career do you admire? Gisele Bündchen. She is my ultra girl crush. There is hardly one thing that she does that doesn’t somehow inspire me. Everything she represents feels very genuine. It doesn’t just make me want to be her best friend, but it also makes me want to work on myself, my career, and my own family one day. What qualities do you look for in a romantic partner? I am a very romantic Cancer, so it is quite hard for me to keep this response short. Here are my top four: honesty, loyalty, respect, and a sense of humor. Lastly, when do you feel sexiest? With a fresh tan!

Dress, CONSTANTINA DANIS, Shoes, GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI, Earrings, HOUSE OF EMMANUELE

Dress, CONSTANTINA DANIS , Earrings, HOUSE OF EMMANUELE

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“THIS INDUSTRY TAUGHT ME EARLY ON THAT THERE IS NOT A LOT OF SPACE FOR SHYNESS”

Dress, VASILISSA BY CONSTANTINA X EMMANUEL, Bracelet, HOUSE OF EMMANUELE,Ring, HOUSE OF EMMANUELE, Shoes, JIMMY CHOO

Skirt and top, JIRI KALFAR, Necklace, ERICKSON BEAMON

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Blazer, CHRISTIAN SIRIANO, Earrings, HOUSE OF EMMANUELE, For more information, see page 82. Panty, COSABELLA Assistant Stylist, Rap Sarmiento. Makeup, Leslie Lopez. Hair, Matthew Monzon.

Market Editor, Rap Sarmiento. Makeup, Charlotte Willer. Hair, Marty Harper. Top, INGIE PARIS, Necklace,ERICKSON BEAMON

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Blazer, PAUL & JOE, Shoes, GIUSEPPEZANOTTI, Ring, HOUSE OF EMMANUELE, Panty, AGENT PROVOCATEUR

TITAN

LIGHTNING STRIKES Elon Musk is changing the world we live in, and racking up billions of dollars along the way Te x t b y T I M S T R U BY

lon Musk cares about you. In fact, the 48-year-old entrepreneur, visionary and mogul at press time worth about $40 billion according to Forbes—cares about all of us. This makes him unique because most moguls, entrepreneurs and visionaries are simply concerned with creating the best possible product. Musk obviously cares about his products—from electric cars at Tesla to his SpaceX rocketry—but he also cares about creating a healthier planet. A better future. The New York Times has stated that he is “arguably the most successful and important entrepreneur in the world.” When Musk’s SpaceX company finally managed to land one of its rockets safely back on a drone ship in 2016, Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield tweeted his congratulations. The event “opens the imagination to what is possible,” he wrote. And essentially those seven words have summed up Elon Musk’s approach since he was a toddler. If the debate about Musk’s genius is boiled down to question of nature versus nurture, one glance into his childhood makes a powerful case for the latter. Raised in Pretoria, South Africa, he was preternaturally curious about science and sci-fi, making explosives and eventually reading Isaac Asimov novels. By 1989, he’d matriculated at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, but later transferred to the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated with degrees in physics and business. In 1995, he cofounded Zip2, an online mapping and business directory service. After selling Zip2, he founded X.com, a financial services company that later developed into PayPal. In 2002, eBay purchased it for $1.5 billion and Musk launched into an all-new direction. That direction harkened back to his childhood fascination with the stars and planets. In past interviews he’s referenced Earth’s five massextinction events, and Musk believes that the survival of humans relies on becoming a multiplanet species. That means colonizing Mars. And the first important step is the ability to travel there affordably. In 2002, with his PayPal payday, Musk started Space Exploration Technologies, now known as SpaceX. The goal was simple: develop and manufacture rockets and spacecraft that are cheaper and more reliable. The secret? Make them reusable. To do so, he hired talent from TRW, Boeing and NASA, while he manned the roles of CEO, Cofounder and Lead Designer. The process to reach more than 17,000 mph (to break from the Earth’s atmosphere) and more importantly, retrieve the used rockets, was neither easy nor cheap. Failures were commonplace. He only gave the company’s Falcon Heavy rocket a 50 percent chance of success. But his desire to beat out those in the rocket business—Lockheed, Boeing, Russia, and China—has paid off. In 2015, SpaceX’s orbital-class booster rocket Falcon 9 was the first ever to deliver a payload to orbit, turn

around, reenter the atmosphere and land in a designated destination: a pad at Cape Canaveral. Only five years later, Musk and his fellow engineers have contracted more than 100 launches—a sign that Mars might not be that far away. Yet Musk was not just satisfied with space. He understood that the planet’s inhabitants were facing another crisis, one that few industries were seriously addressing: climate change. The need to break from the dependence on fossil fuels inspired him in 2004 to become one of the main financiers of Tesla Motors (later renamed Tesla), the electric car company founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning. Their first vehicle, the Roadster sports car, hit the streets in 2008. Yet this wasn’t your typical electric car. It could travel 245 miles on a single charge and do 0–60 mph in less than four seconds. But Musk didn’t stop there. Next was the Model S sedan, followed by the Model X SUV, and more recently, the Cybertruck, partly inspired by one of James Bond’s amphibious Lotus Esprits, which Musk owns. Again it was not all smooth sailing. Tesla experienced major production problems. An exceptionally difficult first half of 2019 seemed to signal the end was near—however, in January of this year Tesla pleased analysts with a $105 million quarterly profit. The news sent the stock on a tear and the company’s valuation passed the $100 billion dollar threshold, making it the second most valuable automaker behind Toyota. While it bodes well for the future of sustainable-energy cars, it also could mean a boost for Musk’s bank account in the neighborhood of a $370 million payout. Space travel and revolutionizing the auto industry would likely be enough for most people. But as he’s proven over and over, Elon Musk is not most people. His vision, drive, the ability to make dreams into reality appear as limitless as the universe itself. Another current endeavor is the Boring Company, an infrastructure and transportation concern that hopes to fuse state-of-the-art tunneling technology with an electric public transportation system. The hope? To put an end to urban traffic blight and allow people to travel underground at high speeds for long distances. He’s also continuing to expand Starlink, the name of a satellite-based internet service that is part of SpaceX. With more than 240 Starlink satellites currently in space and thousands more planned for the coming years, Musk intends to create a network that can beam internet access back to the ground and provide coverage to less populated and less accessible areas all over the world. With such a diverse group of companies and such incredibly lofty goals, Musk knows that not all of his designs will come to fruition. Failure and setbacks, as he has experienced often, go with the territory. But it certainly won’t deter him from trying. Anything, anywhere. “When something is important enough,” he once said. “You do it even if the odds are not in your favor.”

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A X E L L E BAU E R- G R I F F I N / F I L M M AG I C V I A G E T T Y I M AG E S

“HE HAS BEEN CALLED THE MOST SUCCESSFUL AND IMPORTANT ENTREPRENEUR IN THE WORLD”

GRENADA

SECRET SANDS

While the rest of the region wrestles with overdevelopment, Grenada remains the chosen destination for Caribbean cognoscenti Te x t b y K E I T H G O R D O N

Grenadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lush, unspoiled tropical landscapes are just part of its allure

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P H O TO K Y L E W I C O M B / C O U R T E S Y O F T H E G R E A N A D A TO U R I S M A U T H O R I T Y.

t’s not the most famous, most frequently Instagrammed, or most blogged about Caribbean island—which is part of the reason you should be setting course for Grenada, which more than holds its own against better-publicized neighbors. For centuries, traders flocked there for its abundance of valuable spices, and the smell of nutmeg in the air still greets visitors upon their arrival. But now the main attractions are Grenada’s natural beauty, stunning beaches and a level of tranquility hard to find in more developed destinations. In fact, its relatively low profile has enabled it to maintain the characteristics and personality that make it feel truly unique in the Caribbean, a throwback to a time before Expedia and cruise ships by the score. Most visitors are greeted on this marvelous island by perhaps the most stunning port town in the entire region, St. George’s. Vibrant and colorful architecture surround the mesmerizing harbor, while a stroll through its narrow streets and alleys conveys a strong sense of

the city’s colonial history. Local shops and street food vendors make exploring the town a fantastic way to spend an afternoon, and they strike a perfect balance with the beaches and natural settings that will take up much of one’s time on Grenada. St. George’s Market Square is the largest market on the island and a great place to both people-watch and experience Grenada’s bountiful products. A benefit of the gradual pace with which Grenada has been developed for tourism is the abundance of natural parks, isolated beaches and exotic wildlife. Of the island’s 45-plus beaches, the most popular by far is Grand Anse Beach, located some five miles from St. George’s. A two-mile stretch of idyllic white sand paradise cozies up to a turquoise sea that shifts to a deep cerulean color just a few yards offshore. Numerous watersports are available on the beach, with snorkeling a popular option for exploring beneath the surface, and waterskiing and paddleboarding on top of the water. Backed by a charming selection of hotels, restaurants and beach bars, it’s the perfect way to enjoy a continued on page 71

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Solamente Villa boasts every conceivable luxury, including aqua spin bikes in the swimming pool

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COURTESY OF VILL A SOL AMENTE

“ONE FLOATS IN SOLAMENTE; NOTHING IS BORING, AND BEAUTY IS PRESENTED IN EVERY TURN AND HOUR”

GRENADA

A PLACE IN THE SUN Solamente Villa will soon be Grenada’s most alluring and exclusive escape

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welve years in the making, Grenada’s new luxury escape, Solamente Villa, is set to welcome its first guests in time for the forthcoming seasonal festivities. The exclusive retreat on the island’s stunning southern coast was originally built as a private residence nearly 50 years ago, and it retains that spirit while offering a world-class “barefoot luxury” experience courtesy of a multimilliondollar renovation project. With rates starting at $25,000 per night, it will only be available for five-to-six weeks per year and is expected to attract the likes of royalty, celebrities and billionaires who seek the privacy and security that only a private villa can provide, yet with all the amenities of a five-star resort. Expanded to 25,000 square feet by acclaimed Mexican architect Manuel Mestre, the residence now features eight suites capable of accommodating up to 17 guests in sybaritic luxury, yet the vibe at the ecofriendly estate is more holistic than hedonistic. “Solamente is a happy home, you feel this energy from the moment you step foot on the property,” pioneering Grenada developer Sherry Azadi tells Maxim. Azadi’s sister Suzy Azadi, with whom she is a partner in New York City-based Azadi Design, oversaw the interior of the villa, which is adorned with unique pieces of art and furniture from around the world, combining with natural materials used in its construction for a warm, welcoming and harmonious effect. The all-inclusive Mexican-style property with Caribbean flair is a fitting setting for the gracious decor, with its 100-foot infinity pool

matched by 150 feet of private white-sand beach and a reef just off shore that makes it the most majestic private residence on the Caribbean island known for its pristine beauty. Guests will be attended to by a staff, known as guest ambassadors, numbering 15, including three chefs, a personal trainer, butlers, housekeepers, security guards, and chauffeurs. And there will also be a spa, tennis court, Technogym-equipped workout room and extensive outdoor spaces including two thatch-roofed palapas and a private dock with a motorboat. Sherry Azadi says the original plan was to tear down the existing structure and start anew, but according to Mestre, “the spirit of the original owner [an American heiress] was too strong…. He said, ‘I could hear the laughter, joy, and happiness in the walls, and this is why I respected the wishes of Solamente’s destiny.’ He felt compelled to honor the house.” She adds, “the interior and architecture are in a perfect balance like a dance to beautiful music. One floats in Solamente; nothing is boring, and beauty is presented in every turn and hour.” To assemble the eclectic, contemporary decor, “we traveled around the world collecting piece by piece,” Azadi notes. Hence items sourced from Grenada itself now live in harmony with others from Africa to the Middle East, and many of them come with inspiring backstories. “All of this has true meaning,” Azadi says. “There’s something very energetically beautiful about every piece and everything that was sent here.” Of equal importance is truly impeccable service, because “that is actually not such an easy thing to find,” Azadi says. “I travel around the world

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breathe when they were in the hotel, because everyone jumped on them. They were dying to get autographs, pictures with the children and so forth. And so Federer and his family were quickly whisked off to a yacht. And I thought it would be incredible if we created a home where you have [the atmosphere of] a yacht but on land, with all of its luxury, security and privacy.” The cuisine is certainly expected to pass muster with those used to Michelin stars. The property’s executive chef, Dexter Burris, a native of Grenada, was brought over from Calabash Luxury Boutique Hotel, one of a handful of properties from the famed Relais & Châteaux association in the Caribbean, which is known for fine food and wine. Azadi says the

COURTESY OF VILL A SOL AMENTE

extensively, and whether we rent villas [or] stay in the best five-star hotels, quite honestly service is the one thing I always find lacking.” To that end Azadi brought in Marie-Claude Metrot, one of France’s top luxury hospitality consultants and an expert on protocol and etiquette, who has held numerous posts including Quality Director of the legendary Ritz hotel in Paris, and whose clients have included the likes of Karl Lagerfeld and LVMH billionaire Bernard Arnault. Metrot says that the level of service at Solamente is “haute couture.” A defining moment in Azadi’s quest to provide an impeccable haven for celebrities came when she ran into Roger Federer and his family at a famous five-star hotel in Sardinia. “They didn’t have a moment to

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GRENADA

culinary offerings will be truly varied depending on what is fresh and in season, both at the property’s own farm garden and from local producers and fishermen, with an emphasis on local seasoning and cooking styles. Grenada, known as the Spice Isle, is the perfect place to expand your palette and be at one with nature. “I think what makes Grenada so magical is the fact that it’s an untouched island in so many ways,” Azadi notes. “There are still monkeys in the trees…. Some of the roads are quite rugged, and there’s this purity about it [and] an innocence compared to the other islands. It’s people are incredibly kind and very beautiful. And

there is no other private home on this island of this caliber.” Which enables Solamente to be the kind of place where “you can truly refresh your soul and rejuvenate yourself.” Which is why Azadi plans to retain it for personal use most of the year. “Obviously Solamente is going to be rented to an exclusive group of people,” she says. “But it’s not so much about the money as it’s about the experience. And this is what’s so important. Solamente is not really a business, [and] I’m not going into it to make a huge profit. It’s more that I’d like to share it with certain people. And that is truly the vision for it.”

Scenes from the well-lived life at Solamente Villa

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stunning natural view without ever leaving the convenience of nearby amenities and delicious refreshments. However most of Grenada’s meandering coastline is jagged and untamed, meaning an array of different types and sizes of beachfronts are on offer for visitors. La Sagesse Beach offers seclusion, with large coconut palms providing shade for beachgoers, and extravagant flora providing a stunning backdrop for this hidden natural gem. There is also Levera Beach, part of Levera National Park, with its mangrove swamps, lagoon and abundant birds and other wildlife, in addition to a stunning beach, quiet during the week, that overlooks both the surrounding blue waters and nearby Sugar Loaf island. Additional natural wonders can be found thanks an array of gorgeous waterfalls, with sites like Annandale, Concord, Victoria and the Seven Sisters waterfalls all located on this one small island. Most require short walks, hikes or treks of varying difficulty, so either grab a map and some good hiking shoes, or hire one of the local guides who can help visitors fully appreciate the water features and surrounding rainforest. Ironically for an island of such unspoiled natural beauty, one of the most amazing attractions anywhere on Grenada can be found just offshore in the Molinere Beauséjour Marine Protected Area off the west coast of the island. The Molinere Bay Underwater Sculpture Park, founded by British artist Jason deCaires Taylor, is a surreal installation of at least 75 pieces of art in a series of different collections placed on and around the seafloor. Since the park’s creation, tropical fish, coral and sponges have made the exhibits their home and both scuba divers and snorkelers can visit the site and enjoy one of the most unique underwater experiences to be found anywhere on the planet. Finally, Magazine Beach offers another option for those seeking an equally stunning beachfront excursion. Light pink sand and bluegreen waters greet visitors, who are likely to find the peace and quiet they’re seeking along this stretch of the beach. The snorkeling just

offshore is superb and accessible to swimmers of all levels. We recommend combining a day spent frolicking in the waves with a dinner reservation nearby at The Aquarium Restaurant. Fusing international dishes with West Indian traditional flavors, this seafood-centric establishment offers incredible freshly caught menu options, including our favorite, the Aquarium Medley, which offers guests a large selection of lobster, scallops, jumbo shrimp and fish to share. Speaking of truly special culinary options, Grenada is not lacking when it comes to fine dining on par with any Caribbean destination. Many of the top dining options are found at the elite hotels on the island, an added attraction for those who stay at these world-class properties. One of the most highly regarded of these is Calabash, a five-star institution that is a member of the prestigious Relais & Châteaux group. Visitors can stay in spaces ranging from impressive junior suites to standalone villas that offer all of the privacy and comfort of

Opposite: Moonrise over the entrance to Mount Hartman Bay Estate resort; Top and above: The posh Calabash Luxury Boutique Hotel is one of the island’s top destinations MAXIM.COM

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GRENADA

Top: Looking out to sea at the luxe Silversands Grenada resort; A Tesla at an entrance enticing entrance to the property; Opposite: The picture-perfect pool at the Silversands Grenada 72

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a private home with the elite service and attention one would expect from a five-star resort. With names like Caribali, Hummingbird and Treefrog, these villas are an Instagrammer’s dream, with jaw-dropping views and amenities such as infinity pools, Balinese-style cathedral ceilings and polished hardwood floors. Calabash is also home to Rhodes Restaurant, an open-air space founded by the late renowned chef Gary Rhodes. Surrounded by flowering plants, palm trees and sparkling lights, the only thing that can distract diners from their surroundings are the delectable dishes on offer. From the first appetizer through dessert, each dish is treated with the utmost care, including the rotating list of specials that highlight local proteins and spices. Another option for uncompromising luxury and service is Silversands Grenada. In addition to guest rooms and suites that combine modern design with an open, breezy layout, guests can also choose one of the private villas, with their own pools or views of the sea that will impress even the most jaded of travelers. The resort has something for everyone, whether your preferences lean towards the rum and cigar lounge—ours do— the full-service spa, or a beach club with resident DJ. It also offers multiple dining options, including the deservedlyacclaimed Asiatique, where diners are treated to dishes that integrate Asian techniques into local ingredients and traditional Grenadian spices. Sustainability is a key tenet for the resort, which sources most of its fruits and vegetables from local female growers, supporting both on-island food sources and female economic empowerment amongst the local population. Then there is Spice Island Beach Resort, featuring 64 beachfront suites are unique in their layout, as each suite provides a level of privacy and exclusivity sure to satisfy the expectations of the most demanding of guests. Breezy terraces and private lawn gardens provide a space for relaxation and rejuvenation, and many have private plunge pools in case the gentle breezes aren’t sufficient to cool off midday. In addition to standouts like the chic Janissa’s Spa and available beach-

side yoga sessions, Spice Island can offer culinary options including the fabulous Oliver’s Restaurant. In this open-air dining room with splendid views of the sea, diners are treated to exquisite offerings of both international and Creole dishes, all while being serenaded by calypso, reggae and steel bands from the island, making this one of the most authentic local dining experiences imaginable. Last but not least, those with an eco-friendly leaning can find true bliss at Mount Cinnamon Grenada, a boutique property featuring 37 suites and villas adjacent to the idyllic Grand Anse Beach. Despite possessing a more laid-back vibe than some of its peers on the island, the resort doesn’t cut any corners when it comes to luxury and service. While inhouse restaurant Savvy’s serves delicious options for breakfast and dinner, we find ourselves drawn from the beach to the midday barbecue and icecold beverages at Savvy’s Beach Cabana, open until the sun goes down at the end of your beach day. Find a spot in the shade of the palm trees that line the beach and enjoy your favorite cocktail. While lesser known than some of the other Caribbean island destinations, Grenada has been growing its reputation as a world-class luxury getaway and drawing more diverse visitors with its combination of extravagant luxury and natural beauty. The island has also been making more of an impact globally. For instance, the up-andcoming designer Fe Noel, whose family hails from the island, made a huge splash at New York Fashion Week earlier this year with her Grenadianinspired clothing line. This follows the creation of Grenada Fashion Week a few years back, which not only brought attention to the island, but to the fashion styles and talented designers coming from the small nation. Needless to say, Grenada is a destination on the rise. But while unrestrained development and shortsighted planning has turned some Caribbean islands into seemingly artificial and inauthentic destinations, Grenada has managed to develop world-class amenities without losing its natural wonders, its small-island feel and the warmth and hospitality that make a visit there such an intoxicating experience.

Above: Instagram beauty Veronika Klimovits (@veronika_klimovits) lounging at the island’s 61° West Restaurant + Beach Bar; Opposite, top: Grenada’s renowned Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park; Opposite, bottom: The stunning Seven Sisters Waterfall 74

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T H I S PA G E C O U R T E S Y O F V E R O N I C A K L I M O V I T S O P P O S I T E B O T TO M P H O TO K Y L E W I C O M B T O P P H O TO O R L A N D O K . R O M A I N / C O U R T E S Y O F T H E G R E A N A D A TO U R I S M A U T H O R I T Y

GRENADA

“I THINK WHAT MAKES GRENADA SO MAGICAL IS THAT IT’S AN UNTOUCHED ISLAND IN SO MANY WAYS”

ADVENTURE

DESERT WARRIOR We ride with Wide Open Baja in a 200 hp race-prepped buggyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and live to tell the tale Te x t b y N I CO L A S S T EC H ER

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P h o t o g ra p h e d b y AN D R E W G R I M S H AW

“

ust,” warned Darrin Graham in his signature dramatic style, “is the enemy.” I remember his caution now, seconds too late. The wiry Wide Open Baja guide was prepping us for three days of tearing through some of the most remote areas of Baja California in over-powered race buggies, yet I thought he was speaking theoretically. You know, of hypothetical threats like plaque or communism. Illusory tricks pulled by the powers-that-be into getting you to brush your teeth, or vote Republican. But what was purely theoretical only hours ago is now acutely practical, as a wall of yellow sand swallows me whole and clobbers my goggles, blinding me like a heart attack. I’m following a raceprepped buggy at over 70 mph as it rips through some of the most pristine desert I have ever had the grace of laying eyes upon, but I may have gotten too close. Suddenly a towering cardón—the giant saguaro-like cactus that calls this land home—materializes through the golden haze, necessitating a brake stand and emergency detour left. Thank god for the superb Fox suspension and Wilwood brakes; the buggy recovers, and the cardón—not to mention my driving record—lives another day. Heart pounding, I ease on the throttle and again recall Graham’s cocked warning: Dust is the enemy. As the last man on this five-buggy caravan I stop to let the dust fog settle. I’ve never seen so many cacti before, like a virtual forest of cardones, the largest cactus species in the world, peppered with chollas: twisted, branchlike plants with vicious, barb-like needles. Yellow butterflies flitter across my helmet’s restricted field of view. The sun is hot on my exposed skin, the Subaru Boxer engine idles impatiently behind me. After about a minute the coast is clear: it’s go time. Flooring the throttle the flat-four hits redline before I upshift, second, third. It’s a hell of a ride, this thing. Squeezed into the fivepoint harness the vibrations course through me, utterly visceral. The cacophony of the exposed 200-horsepower powerplant, the clanging of suspension as dampers test their limits, the intermittent whirring of a fan powering up to desperately cool off the torrid engine. These moments at speed are a petrolhead’s night emission. You don’t go full-bore all the time during these expeditions—you wouldn’t want to, or probably even have the stamina to—but when you choose to engage in high-focus driving these spaces will fill you with vast, childlike, almost delirious joy. On straights… pure combustion, slamming through gears at speeds reaching 80-mph blurs… into corners. Down shifting, feeling the rear-axle slide out from under you, releasing throttle, recovering—and doing it all over and over again. Rhythm, hypnosis. I’ve experienced this kind of trance before, a weird conflation of acute hyper-attention with the calming effect of repetition. Except usually it’s

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on looping racetracks with grandstands and Pirelli signs cluttering my vision. Now it’s through landscapes so spectacular Ansel Adams could spend a season here trying to capture it on film. It’s profoundly beautiful and strangely meditative, apart from the braaaaaap! of hammering pistons filling the hot Mexican air. “This terrain really puts an exclamation point on the fact that smooth is fast,” Sam Cummings will tell me later over a tub filled with Dos Equis. “Because of the soft sand, the slickness of the rocks, the slippery hard surfaces, it really lowers the speeds at which the car’s limits can be reached. You really gotta focus because if you lose your concentration for a second you’ll overcook the turn.” Sam is one of a dozen guys from Michigan I’ve joined this week, a private group of old friends that convenes every other year or so to experience Wide Open Baja in all its harebrained glory. While some are amateurs, Sam is one of the more experienced racers; he’s had his competition license since 1996, and races three or four times a year in one of four vintage track cars. “There are a lot of similarities to the vintage racing experience: it’s one part camaraderie, one part history and one part racing. But here the history is perhaps replaced by scenery, right? I mean look at the settings—they’re extraordinary!” Sam recalls our first lunch stop on a gorgeous expanse of empty white beach, where while staring out into the Pacific he witnessed a whale breaching. “Think about that juxtaposition,” he sighs. “I mean that’s just cool shit.” Wide Open Baja was created in 1997 to offer plebeians a chance to taste the Baja experience in race-prepped, action-ready buggies. Co-founder Bill Savage designed the innovative tubular space frame that forms the architecture of these buggies in 2002, and since then they have slowly evolved into the bristling off-road gladiators they are today. Make no mistake: these are the actual cars that compete

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in the Baja 1000—the longest non-stop race in the world, and what many consider the most brutal motorsport anywhere. Fittingly in 2012 WOB was purchased by Roger Norman of SCORE International, the sanctioning body for the Baja 1000. But as much as motorsports informs WOB’s DNA, this thing isn’t just about speed. Sure velocity, aggression, dexterity are all part of the fun. They are the meat of the Wide Open Baja adventure, but they don’t really capture its soul—and that is exploration. Simple discovery, the type that launched ships across oceans and covered wagons across the Continental Divide. You will rumble into swathes of desert almost no other humans will ever see. Zion-like monoliths, stratified and colored, rising from the sand. You will ride jagged roads hugging the ocean, on one side verdigris green cliffs, the other brick red boulders tumbling into the sea. You pass shipwrecked fishing boats pushed into the craggy shores, broken and rusted, waves crashing against them so close ocean sprays our visors as we drive past. Nowhere does it feel quite like this—as primitive, wild, lawless, divorced from time and modern civilization. Occasionally you have to slam the brakes into a sideways skid as a bull bigger than a Sprinter van wanders onto your path. Other times it’s a herd of wild horses startled by your approach, skittish and anxious and running full fleet along the road, black manes flowing. But don’t fool yourself: this is a dangerous sport. Respect it. Spend too much time sightseeing and disaster strikes like a scorpion. Most rolls are little more than thrilling mistakes, exclamation points to punctuate the trip. High-speed flips happen; a broken arm or ankle seem possible. In the event of an emergency, WOB has contracted a service to medevac you out of these endless tracts of badlands. I ask one of the guides when the last flip was, and he thinks

for all of a second. “Ummmm… last week,” he says flatly. “But we just rolled it over and kept driving.” Staying within your limits is absolutely key to a successful venture. Personally I can admit to maybe a half-dozen turns during our three days of mischief where I superseded my skill set. Where had anything unexpected popped up—a single gash in the road, a missed tree trunk, an itinerant goat—I would have rolled my buggy like Vegas dice across the arroyo. “Not knowing exactly what’s coming up around every corner or up every hill, that uncertainty keeps you on your toes,” agrees Dan DeVos, the hub of the Michigan crew and owner of the Gulfstream private jet that brought them all down here. A dyed-in-the-wool car nut like Sam, Dan thoroughly understands the critical balance of speed and caution that Baja demands. “On the race track you know what’s coming: you go around and around and around the same thing every time. Here you don’t have a second to take your mind off of what you’re doing because everything changes so quickly and so, so dramatically.” As principal owner of the NBA’s Orlando Magic and 30-something car dealerships across the Midwest, DeVos could choose anywhere to spend this precious week of downtime, and yet he chooses to be here—in Baja, racing these deranged buggies across the Mexican desert. “There’s nothing like it,” he declares, explaining how his endless quest for the interesting and unique brought him here for the first time back in 2003. “I’ve never seen an organization put on an event like this where normal guys can go drive race-prepared buggies through the desert.… As long as you’re not stupid, the thrill is there.” He pauses. “It’s all about the camaraderie. It’s about friendship.” When I ask he and Sam if they would do it again, Sam jumps in. “In a heartbeat,” he asserts instantly. “Definitely doing it again. Right now we’re on sort of every two years, but I’m starting to get older— maybe we should do it every year.”

“TEARING THROUGH SOME OF THE MOST REMOTE AREAS OF BAJA CALIFORNIA IN OVER-POWERED RACE BUGGIES”

MAXIM COVER GIRL

RACY GIRL

Lacey Asher

Our competition ﬁrst runner up is a force to be reckoned with Race car driver, model, businesswoman, adrenaline junky—meet Lacey Asher, first runner up in the Maxim Cover Girl competition. This low-maintenance, high-octane beauty loves nothing more than to put the pedal to the metal in all of life’s adventures, especially racing, her primary passion. With a Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) competition license, Lacey is ready to take her racing career to the next level, and is hopeful that the recognition from this incredible experience will connect her with great people and organizations that can help get her the right sponsors. But there’s more. This badass babe is also an expert in combat sports, holding a second-degree black belt in Taekwondo, and is also active in boxing, skydiving, target practice, and go karts. The sweet Texas girl does it all in stride and believes in the power of positive thinking. “I’m a big believer that with a positive attitude and hard work, you can accomplish anything!” she says. “At home, on the track, and in my charity endeavors, I always set my goals high. I also think a smile and simple acts of kindness go a long way. Be happy and spread happiness is my mantra.” It’s not all about sports, though, as Lacey is a woman of many talents. Being a successful businesswoman is also very important to her. Over the past decade, Lacey has been expanding her professional abilities, including working as a computer interface analyst. And when it comes to dating, it’s no surprise that Lacey much prefers an active outing. Asked to describe her ideal date, she replies, “A night at the go kart track or a jog on the beach. I just love racing and fitness.” Lacey also finds a sense of humor the most attractive trait in a man. “If you can make me laugh, that’s much more important than looks to me,” she reveals. With her love for everything racing related, it’s not P h o t o g ra p h e d b y DAV E L AU S

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surprising that her celebrity man crush is Daniel Ricciardo, an Australian Formula One Driver with the Renault Team, and that her woman crush is former racing driver Danica Patrick. At the end of the day, Lacey strives to be as positive as possible and wants to use the notoriety she gains from this journey to help worthy causes. She is thankful for the support from friends and family during this competition, and says her favorite part was raising money for Jared Allen’s Homes for Wounded Warriors.

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A tranquil, tropical scene at Grenada’s stunning Solamente Villa

CREDITS COVER: Earrings, HOUSE OF EMMANUELE, houseofemmanuele.com. Skirt, PAUL & JOE, paulandjoe.com. Sunglasses, DOLCE & GABBANA, dolcegabbana.com. P.6: Bra and thong, AGENT PROVOCATEUR, agentprovocateur.com. Necklace, THEA JEWELRY, thea-jewelry.com. P.52: Dress, PAUL & JOE, paulandjoe.com. Earrings, HOUSE OF EMMANUELE, houseofemmanuele.com. P.53: Top, ØUD, oud-paris.com. Necklaces, THEA JEWELRY, thea-jewelry.com. P.55: Dress, CONSTANTINA DANIS, constantinadanis.com. Shoes, GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI, giuseppezanotti.com. Earrings, HOUSE OF EMMANUELE, houseofemmanuele.com. P.56: Dress, CONSTANTINA DANIS, constantinadanis.com. Earrings, HOUSE OF EMMANUELE, houseofemmanuele.com. P.57: Dress, VASILISSA BY CONSTANTINA X EMMANUEL, constantinadanis.com. Bracelet, HOUSE OF EMMANUELE, houseofemmanuele.com. Ring, HOUSE OF EMMANUELE, houseofemmanuele.com. Shoes, JIMMY CHOO, jimmychoo.com. P. 58: Skirt and top, JIRI KALFAR, jirikalfar.com. Necklace, ERICKSON BEAMON, @ericksonbeamon. P.59: Blazer, CHRISTIAN SIRIANO, christiansiriano.com. Earrings, HOUSE OF EMMANUELE, houseofemmanuele.com. Panty, COSABELLA, cosabella.com. P.60: Top, INGIE PARIS, ingieparis.com. Necklace, ERICKSON BEAMON, @ericksonbeamon. P.61: Blazer, PAUL & JOE, paulandjoe.com. Shoes, GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI, giuseppezanotti.com. Ring, HOUSE OF EM-

MAXIM (ISSN 1092-9789) May/June Issue, Volume 24 , Number 3 is published bimonthly in Jan/Feb, Mar/Apr, May/June, July/Aug, Sep/Oct, and Nov/ Dec by Maxim Inc., 121 West 36th Street #327, New York, NY 10018. One-year subscription rates for U.S., $24.97; for Canada, $30.97; for all other countries, $36.97 in prepaid U.S. funds. Canadian GST Registration #867774580, Publications Agreement number 40031590. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to Maxim, 121 West 36th Street #327, New York, NY 10018. We sometimes make our subscriber list available to companies that sell goods and services by mail that we believe would interest our readers. For subscriptions, address changes, adjustments, or back issue inquiries, or if you would rather not receive third-party mailings, please visit us at Maxim.com/ customerservice or write to Maxim, 121 West 36th Street #327, New York, NY 10018, or email customerservice@mastcircgroup.com. Copyright © 2020 Maxim Media Inc. Maxim ® is a registered trademark owned by Maxim Media Inc. All rights reserved.

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COURTESY OF VILL A SOL AMENTE

MANUELE, houseofemmanuele.com. Panty, AGENT PROVOCATEUR, agentprovocateur.com.

S E P T / O C T 2 019

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” attr i b uted to

MICHELANGELO

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