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FORM 48

DESIGNER

Iris van Herpen’s genre-defying designs 52 WATCHES

Women’s timepieces get complicated 56

JEWELRY

A rare, vintage Bulgari sapphire suite from La Maison Yamron 66

MEN’S FASHION Avant-garde, whimsical styles for the modern gentleman 72

BEAUTY Luxury fragrance gets the artistic treatment

Publisher/CEO Jim Schwartzel

Editor in Chief Stephanie Granada

Creative Director Scott Glick

Editor at Large Kristen Shirley

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Senior Writer Jaynie Bartley

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Director of Audience Development Kerri Nolan

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Welcome to a world of style, character, imagination and resilience. Storms may rage, but Naples stands strong and beautiful as our paradise on Earth. Here, the sun shines a little brighter, conversations linger a little longer and days easily fall into place, allowing time to indulge in the splendid things our community—and the world—has to offer.

That’s why in GORDON DRIVE, we curate the globe’s finest luxuries to enjoy during the winter months in your Port Royal enclave. For the second year, we’ve tapped distinguished and in-the-know luxury journalists reporting on yachting, fashion, high jewelry and other indulgent discoveries to excite you and your inner circle.

Consider the Richard Mille RM UP-01 Ferrari ultra-flat watch. The watchmaker’s new collaboration with the Italian racing legend packs a ton of style into a tiny frame about as thick as an American quarter. It’s ideal for the supercar enthusiast in your tribe. For the jewelry aficionado, we look to Messika; the young maison, founded by the daughter of a diamond-dealer family, brings a modern edge to the traditionally conventional high jewelry market. Speaking of fashion innovators, Iris van Herpen continues to wow with sculptural designs that play with technological innovations to enhance the craft-driven world of couture. Surely, any Naples lady who commissions a van Herpen gown would cause a splash at their gala of choice this season. For the theatrical Gulfshore Playhouse Bubbles, Baubles & Broadway, perhaps?

On the philanthropic front, we’ve been delighted to hear of the Women’s Foundation of Collier County’s Women Lifting Women initiative and its efforts to support unsheltered women over the age of 70. The cause has lured denizen of style Elizabeth Star back into action as the ultimate fundraiser. It only takes $10,000 to $12,000 to house and provide healthcare and other wraparound services for one woman for an entire year, Star emphasizes in the “Empowering Success” feature.

Elsewhere in this issue, we scope the hyper-bespoke offerings from heritage automobile makers to whimsical designs for a playful game room to Jamaican rum as the next great collectible spirit you’d be wise to get your hands on now. So, sit back and soak in the magic as you slip into the singular world of winter in Naples.

GRANADA Editor in Chief

Stephanie

Our executive editor for GORDON DRIVE, Shirley is the founder of La Patiala, a luxury encyclopedia, and a frequent contributor to Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes and Robb Report. The New York-based journalist specializes in high-end living. In this issue, she writes about the blooming world of women’s watches and an exceptional Bulgari suite at La Maison Yamron.

Growing up in Bermuda trained Dara’s eye to follow the finer things in life from a young age. She reports on travel, wine and spirits for Wine Enthusiast, Forbes and Travel + Leisure Here, Dara highlights the high-tech storage WineCab and Hennessy’s ultra-rare collaboration with Berluti.

A natural-born flâneur, the California-based journalist reports on prestigious travel and design as the executive travel editor at Jetset and a Maxim contributor. Storytelling with seasoned narratives remains the core of her ethos, exemplified here by her reporting on the nation’s most prestigious private clubs.

Si PENALOZA

Living in Boston, Plummer writes with a focus on the world of style. He graduated from McGill University and St. John’s University School of Law, and has written for The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and Vogue. Here, he explores the rising exuberance of men’s fashion.

The New York City writer and broadcaster serves as editor at large for Robb Report, as well as a columnist and podcaster with Bloomberg Pursuits. Here, Ellwood writes about the newest must-have for the discerning host: couture centerpieces and favors made of sugar.

A New York City-based writer, Reynolds specializes in the finer things, including superyachts and bespoke design. A former Elite Traveler editor, her work has been featured in Forbes, Robb Report and House Beautiful. Here, she explores the latest in private jet interior design.

Jillian DARA

Emma REYNOLDS

Mark ELLWOOD

Todd PLUMMER

Si

Kristen SHIRLEY

Do all the good you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as you ever can. –John Wesley The Michelle Thomas Team supports philanthropy throughout our community and donates a portion of

Nass has authored six books on watches, won the industry’s coveted GEM Award for Media Excellence and has been named to the 2022-23 Marquis “Who’s Who in America.” Here, she writes about Richard Mille’s collaboration with Ferrari for a record-setting, ultra-thin timepiece.

A former beauty editor at Elle, Marie Claire, InStyle, and Vogue is now based in Los Angeles, where she reports on luxury and wellness trends. In this issue, she explores the parameters of wearable art through bespoke fragrances.

Revered for his celebrity portrait photography, Cruz has worked with President Barack Obama and Christina Aguilera. For this issue, he photographed Naples’ philanthropist Elizabeth Star in her Port Royal home and the Bulgari sapphire suite from La Maison Yamron.

The entrepreneur and media personality has written about automobiles for Los Angeles Times and The Hollywood Reporter for years. In this issue, the L.A.-based father of two kids and a goldendoodle, Rosie, writes about heritage automakers and the new street-legal supercar by Mercedes.

A British luxury lifestyle journalist and editor, Zaltzman specializes in yachting and travel. Her work is published in The Times, The Telegraph, Centurion and Robb Report, to name a few. In this issue, she introduces Monaco-based Alberto Mancini, one of the youngest yacht designers shaking up the industry.

The author and journalist’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker and Vogue Her most recent book, Red Lipstick: An Ode to a Beauty Icon, examines the enduring appeal, glamour and history of makeup’s most beloved staple. In this issue, she details the power of fragrance in the home.

Julia ZALTZMAN

Jon Alain GUZIK

Ning CHAO

Omar CRUZ

Rachel FELDER

Roberta NASS

BY ROBERTA NAAS

A MAGNIFICENT ULTRATHIN WATCH

In the world of watchmaking, where the canvas is a dial not even 2 inches in diameter and the mechanical heart inside is even smaller, brands regularly strive for perfection, sometimes struggling to shave off hundredths of a millimeter to accomplish their goals. This is exactly what Richard Mille did with its RM-UP 01 watch, created in cooperation with Ferrari. Even for me, a veteran watch journalist, author of six watch books and witness to countless world firsts, the RM-UP 01 is mind-boggling. This record-setting piece may well be unbeatable.

Richard Mille—which bills its watches as racing machines on the wrist and usually builds oversized 3D pieces—tossed much of its watchmaking direction out the proverbial window here, wowing us with the result. Nearly five years of research and dozens of prototypes later, the almost paper-thin titanium RM-UP 01 steals the title of being the world’s thinnest mechanical watch. The 1.75mm-thick (the thickness of the American quarter) timepiece houses the world’s thinnest automatic movement, with a jaw-dropping, free-standing caliber inserted into the case—unlike other ultra-thins whose casebacks serve as a mainplate to pile on components.

Devoid of a dial and a traditional crown, the watch features a patented escapement system and ingenious winding and setting modules that are inset into the case top and operated by the wearer using their fingertip (or with a provided tool). The hour and minute subdial is also set into the case top and protected by a tiny sapphire crystal. A magnificent Prancing Horse is etched onto the case, recalling the legendary car maker. Just 150 will be made, each retailing for $1.88 million.

Courtesy Richard Mille

HAND-ENGRAVED BAMBOO RODS

I’ve long followed my dad to his Southeastern fishing tournaments, but it wasn’t until I met Georgia rodmaker Bill Oyster, of Oyster Fine Bamboo Fly Rods, that I learned about the art behind the sport. Oyster’s fresh- and saltwater-fly rods are crafted from a single culm of Tonkin bamboo, considered the sport’s gold standard. Each rod takes at least 50 hours to complete, with carefully split strips planed to 1/1000th of an inch; guides are attached with fine silk thread. Then, the surface is smoothed, and a Portuguese cork handle is added.  Oyster’s artistry shines, as he uses a microscope to hand engrave the reel seat and ferrules with intricate fishing scenes, family crests or portraits of pets, made of nickel silver with the option of adding 24-karat-gold inlay. Oyster has made rods for the likes of President Jimmy Carter (who he took fishing in the waters around the Soque River in North Georgia). These artfully crafted rods become family heirlooms passed down for generations. There’s nothing like them.

Courtesy Jerry Mucklow

LUXURY SPACE TRAVEL

Space Race 2.0 is upon us as dozens of companies line up to send civilians to space, or at least to the edge of it. In my years of writing about over-the-top, once-in-a-lifetime experiences, I see Space Perspective’s Spaceship Neptune as the most achievable next step for luxury travelers who have done it all Earth-side and seek an upscale galactic experience—sans the years of preparation and training.

If Virgin Galactic and SpaceX are Formula 1 racing, Spaceship Neptune is a leisurely bike ride. Expected to launch from Kennedy Space Center starting in 2024, the climate-controlled, pressurized passenger capsule has a bar, bathroom and Wi-Fi. The impressive carbon-neutral spaceship is lifted to the edge of space by a renewable hydrogen SpaceBalloon, a technology NASA has used for decades.

Picture this: You are seated in one of the nine plush, reclining chairs (eight for passengers, one for a pilot) as you float at a pleasant 12 mph to 100,000 feet above, with a chilled cocktail in hand during the six-hour journey. The swanky, lounge-like capsule is swathed in 1.5-meter-high panoramic windows for easy viewing. Gaze in wonder as the Earth takes its circular shape and the blue sky is enveloped by black, while galaxies near and far sparkle in the distance.

4

THE STREET-LEGAL FORMULA 1 VEHICLE

The specifications of the new Mercedes-AMG Project ONE hypercar are mind-boggling: An E PERFORMANCE hybrid drive—a combined effort with the Mercedes’ Formula 1 team in England—consists of an integrated unit with a turbocharged, 1.6-liter V6 engine connected to four electric motors that produce a whopping 1,063 horsepower. The drivetrain is mated to an automated 7-speed manual transmission, developed to stand up to the rigors of the Formula 1 powertrain.

That much power produces a 0-62 mph time in 2.9 seconds, 0-124 mph in 7 seconds and an electronically-limited top speed of 218 mph. This is a street-legal car, with a curb weight of 3,737 pounds—about the same as a new C-Class. The supercar also has the look and feel of the racecars driven by the brand’s Formula 1 team, which makes this the halo for Mercedes. If you are one of the lucky 275 people who had a chance to get one, you’ll be treated to what the brand describes as ‘Formula 1 for Two’ with a design that mixes the luxury you’d expect from Mercedes (supple nappa leather for the seats, black Dinamica microfiber upholstery, Burmester sound system) and race car design (active aerodynamics and carbon fiber everywhere—from the body to the monocoque—and butterfly doors). The Mercedes-AMG Project ONE been sold out since first announced in 2017, so consult your broker to track one down and get in on the action.

Courtesy Mercedes-Benz

WONDROUS OBJECTS

What is the most sophisticated material of our time? Ask Damon Crain, founder of the reputed and imaginative Culture Object art gallery in New York, and he’ll tell you it’s plastic. The former collection management consultant and current Corning Museum of Glass fellow makes a compelling case, too. “That’s not a value judgment; think of plastic’s unique properties, all of its applications—it’s wild,” he says.

Marlies van Putten and Rutger de Regt—independent artists who also work under the collective Handmade Industrials and are represented by Culture Object—exalt the material to its full potential. The duo patented a Make & Mold process, in which they take heated plastic pellets; pour them into a balloon with vacuum pressure; apply heat; and improvisationally manipulate the forms with their hands and other tools, like zip ties and pressure bolts.

The Peacock Series, which Crain commissioned, consists of a center table and two console tables, leafed in Japanese tinted silver. It’s the largest plastic work they’ve done—and likely the largest they’ll ever produce. While the tables look like they may have been chiseled from wood or plaster, upon closer inspection, the balloon-like shell and satinsmooth surface reveal the source material. “Plastic is something we should be proud of and respect, but we’re reckless with it. Single-use plastic should never be made. Whereas, these are heirlooms, meant to be around forever,” Crain says.

I like how he puts it: “To appreciate [the work] is an aesthetic initiation.”

We think of plastic as cheap and unattractive. To be able to look past that opens the doors to many ideas and possibilities.

Courtesy Culture Object/Don Freeman

JEWELS FOR AN EMPRESS

By its very nature, high jewelry is dazzling. The finest craftsmanship and the most exquisite gemstones create sensational, one-of-a-kind pieces. It is the pinnacle of the jewelry world. Messika—founded by Valérie Messika, who descends from a family of diamond dealers—is a newer player, but its latest collection showcases the brand’s talent for contemporary aesthetics and dazzling diamonds.

Since Messika works solely with diamonds, the maison relies on innovative designs to keep its pieces from becoming repetitive. The new collection takes it a step further, telling a story through the stones. The Akh-Ba-Ka suite features 15 diamonds cut from a single 110-carat rough stone, including a central 33-carat diamond. I’ve seen thousands of pieces from top houses, and many highjewelry collections are rather boring, featuring safe, classic, investment-worthy designs that will never go out of style (nor will they particularly be in style). The Beyond the Light collection looks to ancient Egypt, with pieces inspired by history and mythology. The highlight is undoubtedly the Akh-Ba-Ka necklace—the most glamorous winged scarab I’ve ever seen.

Courtesy Messika

A DRESSED-UP SPIRIT

These days, when an ultra-premium spirit brand collaborates with a luxury designer, it’s not necessarily groundbreaking; however, when Hennessy presents its rarest liquid in partnership with the superior Parisian leather maker, Berluti, it’s exactly that. The iconic French maison sourced from its Richard Hennessy blend—the brand’s most exclusive cognac, eponymous to its founder, produced in only 12 tierçons per year from the oldest (dating back to the 19th century), most finite eau-de-vie—to release 150 bottles under the Maison Hennessy Editions Rares Collection.

Hennessy’s three-piece set can easily be referred to as a masterpiece. The Baccarat carafe, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind (behind the master plan of the redesigned World Trade Center) and attaché case in Venezia calf leather from Berluti, is exclusively available via private sales. Not to mention, it comes with an engraved script from Hennessy’s founding act, a crystalline geometric stopper, an angular Berluti leather sheath that permits the decanter to stand alone outside of the matching case and a customized card holder tucked inside the case. This set goes beyond collaboration into storytelling at its finest, uniting heritage brands and repositioning them through art, design and rare spirit into the epicenter of luxe modernity.

Courtesy Bulgari

PHANTASMAGORICAL

FASHION

When it comes to inimitable looks that steal the show, insiders turn to Iris van Herpen, the Dutch couture designer known for continuously revolutionizing the fashion world since launching her label 15 years ago

Few designers possess the vision and audacious technical skill to interpret Ovid’s Metamorphoses into an haute couture collection. Yet, if asked to recall a qualified talent, Iris van Herpen is surely the name that leaps to mind for anyone with even the most fundamental knowledge of fashion. That her latest collection accomplishes this self-imposed challenge with such lyrical beauty only speaks to the Dutch designer’s unique ability to blend artistry with an overtly inventive approach to her craft.

Van Herpen is celebrating the 15th anniversary of her house, a label beloved by style aficionados for its sculptural designs that answer the question, ‘Is fashion art?’ with a resounding ‘yes.’ Even within the rarefied universe of haute couture, her looks often defy description, perhaps seeming more at home in films like Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element or James Cameron’s Avatar than on runways. Since launching her label in 2007 after interning for Alexander McQueen, the designer has been on an ever-evolving quest to defy the laws of physics while exploring the relationship between technology and biology. Van Herpen collaborates with architects, kinetic sculptors, skydivers and NASA engineers to create pieces with nebulous layers of glass organza heat bonded to biodegradable, laser-cut boning; Mylar cut into rippling pieces that recall digital glitches and genetic mutations; mini dresses that appear to be woven from broken glass; 3D-printed nylon frocks that resemble a bubble-like exoskeleton; tops made of burnished fine steel; and dresses reinforced with PETG (a plastic used in packaging) so they appear to float around the body like an aura or cloud. In 2021, van Herpen presented a dress from her Earthrise collection by having skydiver Domitille Kiger wear the nearly indestructible gown—with thousands of blue spheres made of recycled marine debris—as she danced through the air at about 186 mph. It’s no wonder the Musée des Arts Décoratifs is dedicating a show to the designer’s genius in late 2023.

While many designers are content to mark a milestone with a retrospective look at the

signatures and codes at the root of their success, such a knee-jerk position holds little interest for van Herpen. Instead, the Amsterdam-based designer turned to Ovid’s epic poem, published sometime around 8 A.D., for the collection, which premiered this summer in Paris.

Metamorphoses delves into many of Greek mythology’s most celebrated legends, including the tale of Apollo and Daphne, who was turned into a laurel tree by her father as her only escape from Apollo’s lust. Woven through van Herpen’s aesthetic, Daphne’s transition—her metamorphosis—is told through several of the 16 physical and three digital designs produced. Evoking thoughts of how nature might merge with the physical body, each look is as undeniably romantic as it is reflective of van Herpen’s cutting-edge sensibilities. The collection’s name, Meta Morphism, is likewise a nod to its inspiration and van Herpen’s pursuit of artful craftsmanship in an increasingly metaversefocused world.

Her palpable delight in interpreting such stories is matched by the materials she employs in her creative process. Today, designers of many disciplines utilize 3D printing, but van Herpen has been working with the technology since 2010, crafting the sculptural elements integral to her pieces while also enjoying a front-row seat for its evolution and applications. That idea juxtaposes nicely with materials, like cocoa bean husks and algal blooms, which she turned into 3D-printed fibers, used in Meta Morphism pieces that highlight sustainability and the role it can play in futuristic fashion.

In van Herpen’s eyes, that future can only exist with the inclusion of haute couture. “Even though we are in 2022, people value craftsmanship, and I don’t think that will perish,” she noted prior to the debut of her anniversary collection. “I really believe in the value of couture … It’s a place where there is time and space for the development of new techniques and new materials.”

MECHANICAL MARVELS

Inside and out, these women’s watches have beauty and brains

Historically, women’s watches were feats of ingenuity and beauty. The first wristwatch ever made was for a woman; Abraham-Louis Breguet designed a wristwatch for the Queen of Naples in 1810, back when men exclusively wore pocket watches. However, in recent history, women’s timepieces have been a mere afterthought for many brands. Shrink down a men’s watch, add a smattering of diamonds and swap the mechanical movement for a batterypowered quartz one. After all, women don’t care about cars, technology or machines, right? Wrong.

Thankfully, this outdated notion has changed in recent years. Brands noticed more women were purchasing ‘men’s’ watches, and several things happened. Some companies stopped gendering watches, separating them by size. Others created even more ‘feminine’ timepieces but added timeonly mechanical movements. The most enlightened watch brands began to give women’s watches equal emphasis, creating new movements designed for slimmer cases, adding high complications into highjewelry watches and crafting exquisite feminine collections that don’t patronize female collectors.

Bulgari is leading the charge. The Roman jeweler created a tiny mechanical movement, Picolissimo, to place in high-jewelry timepieces. It also uses the same complicated movements in men’s and women’s styles, including retrograde minutes, tourbillons and jumping hour movements—all rare in women’s watches.

Chanel recently released a flying tourbillon movement in the J12 collection, which watch fans of all genders are lusting after. But, since this is Chanel, it’s not enough to have an in-house flying tourbillon. The French maison set a diamond in the middle of the tourbillon cage. As it spins, the diamond moves, allowing its facets to sparkle from every angle.

Artisanal crafts have been where women’s timepieces shine, with miniature paintings, colorful enamel, marquetry and gem-setting taking centerstage. Hermès has shaken up traditional crafts in its wild and whimsical Arceau Hermès Story watches. The dials feature modern motifs rendered by ancient techniques. In one design, a selfie-taking princess sitting astride a horse in an enchanted forest highlights the brand’s expertise in miniature painting, while a lifelike tiger peers out among flying butterflies and birds in a showcase of wooden marquetry and hand-engraved gold appliqué. Both feature mechanical movements.

Meanwhile, Van Cleef & Arpels is known for its Poetic Complications, where it blends métiers d’art with whimsical ways of telling time. The Lady Arpels Heures Florales reinvents how we read time. Instead of having hour and minute hands, flowers open and close to indicate the hour.

Watchmakers have always competed for the smallest, most precise and complicated movements. Now, with a renewed interest in women’s mechanical watches, they’ll have to compete on an even smaller canvas to win records while still dazzling the wearer with beauty.

Traditional crafts dance with sophisticated complications and modern culture in the new wave of women’s timepieces. The Arceau Hermès Story watches blend marquetry, enameling, miniature painting and engraving to depict whimsical scenes inspired by the brand’s scarves.

BY KRISTEN SHIRLEY

PHOTOGRAPHY OMAR CRUZ STYLIST GEMENY HERNANDEZ

ONCE IN A BLUE MOON

Bulgari’s signature Trombino design creates an eye-catching ring with a 5.5-carat antique cushion-cut sapphire.

While there’s plenty of estate jewelry for sale, few pieces have the ‘holy trinity:’ impeccable provenance, a signature from a top jeweler and highquality, untreated gemstones. This sapphire Bulgari set has all three and more. Jewelry suites often get broken up as they pass through generations; this one has remained in the same family since it was purchased in the 1960s—and it’s in its original fitted box, making it even rarer.

For more than a century, Bulgari has crafted jewelry using the finest quality gemstones and exquisite craftsmanship. Even pieces that are decades old look modern, thanks to their timeless designs. The ring features Bulgari’s signature Trombino design, making it instantly recognizable to those in the know. The earrings, bracelet and necklace surround sapphires with glittering white diamonds that nicely contrast with the rich blue hue of the gemstones. Of course, the suite looks beautiful when worn together, but each piece shines on its own.

With many of the best mines now being depleted, vintage pieces like this provide an opportunity to procure some of the rarest and finest gemstones of all time. (Pro tip: If you ever find a Golconda

diamond from the legendary Indian mine, buy it.) These Bulgari sapphires come from Burma, one of the most revered sources of sapphires, second only to Kashmir. Yamron Jewelers—a trusted local source for gems in Naples for 50 years—launched its La Maison Yamron boutique two years ago to deal in such treasured vintage and estate pieces from houses like Bulgari, Harry Winston and Graff, as well as independent watchmakers like FP Journe. The Bulgari suite is one of the finest the team has seen come through their collections.

The necklace features 74 oval sapphires, the bracelet has 34, each earring has two beautiful stones, and the ring showcases the finest gemstone of all: a 5.5-carat antique cushion-cut sapphire. The stones are untreated (unlike most sapphires), meaning they are so naturally perfect in saturation and clarity that you couldn’t improve upon them. Finding so many untreated sapphires takes time; acquiring sapphires that are perfectly matched in color and size can take years, if not decades. La Maison Yamron says suites like this account for less than 1 percent of all estate jewelry on the market, so it’s sure to be snapped up by a savvy collector soon.

The sapphires in the three-piece suite—with a necklace, earrings and a bracelet—hail from Burma, one of the most revered provenances in the world.

239.263.3071 623 5th Ave S, Naples, Fl 34102

Purveyor: William Boyajian www.portroyaljewelers.com

*Suite of 550 carats of Gem Pariba and 100 carats of diamonds

You are the only one

COLOR THEORY

Out with the old, in with the wild — a ravishing new era of eyebrow-raising menswear begins

For so long, the world of menswear has felt like a constant. There have always been experimental streetwear types on the fringes, but the worlds of sartorial style and classic suiting have existed on the same aesthetic continuum for about a century. Men’s fashion has always prided itself on moving somewhat slower and being marginally more trend averse than the frenetic women’s runways—slower to adopt certain trends and slower to let them go.

The current runways, however, beg to differ. The 2022 and 2023 collections have proposed a new psychedelic point of view—something colorful, exuberant and less stereotypically masculine. Something wild. And, there’s no

time like the present to turn your wardrobe on its head.

We saw it at Giorgio Armani, where classic men’s suiting emerged reimagined in space-age metallics. Or, at the storied European house Givenchy, where head-to-toe denim felt less ‘Canadian tuxedo’ and more luxe. Colors, colors everywhere have only continued to intensify in saturation and hue in recent seasons, with a panoply of men’s suits and trousers and shirting in highlighter pinks, seafoam greens and eyepopping patterns that, even just a few years ago, would not have even been considered in the menswear lexicon. Statement bomber jackets from Prada, Sacai and KENZO feel fresher than

the classic navy blazer. If you like it, wear it. Tired classics need not apply.

But be warned, it’s a fine line between smart dressing and utter chaos if you’re trying out today’s wildest fashions. If you’re mixing two things that traditionally wouldn’t go together—a micro print on top and striped pants on the bottom, for instance—try coordinating the color palettes to create the optical illusion so that even the most clashing prints could go together. There

are palatable ways even for more conservative dressers to dip a toe into the trend, too—like a dazzling yet understated Rose de Noël brooch from Van Cleef & Arpels that would liven up any lapel.

If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that life is short, and you should dress however you desire. The age of overbearing trends and fitting in through fashion is over; the age of anything goes is upon us.

“As an all-female team, we offer a truly intimate understanding of femininity, and our cardinal rule is simple: If we wouldn’t do it on ourselves, it never makes it into our office.” Dr. Kiran Gill

Kiran Gill, MD

Board Certified Plastic Surgeon

Nadia Kazim, MD Board Certified Ophthalmologist and Oculoplastic Surgeon

Diana Carrau, MD Board Eligible Plastic Surgeon

Argentinian painter Julian Bedel and American light artist Lia Chavez channel inspiration from nature to craft bespoke, olfactory experiences.

In today’s atmosphere of collaborations, artists are pivoting faster than one can say ‘NFT.’ In the commercial space, we’re seeing creatives add their Midas touch to beauty. Argentinian painter Julian Bedel and American light artist Lia Chavez are two artists who draw from their backgrounds to manipulate fragrances and facial oils. Their pieces, steeped in intention and meaning, attract collectors seeking an immersive sensory experience.

While philosophers have long debated the definition of art, the ability to evoke a reaction is a common thread among trailblazers, from Michelangelo to Marcel Duchamp. When conceptualizing the installation project that evolved into Fueguia 1833, Buenos Aires-and Milan-based Bedel hoped “to allow people to travel with their mind, just smelling distilled plants and botanicals through glass flasks.” He remains profoundly aware of smell’s emotional power and ability to trigger memories. Now with seven global perfume galleries and hundreds of fragrances in his oeuvre, Bedel still considers his creations “bottled art pieces—each has an inspiration and story and is produced in limited quantity with a serial number.” Like a painter renders a landscape, Bedel’s mission is to mimic scents found in nature, not invent new accords like a ‘nose.’ Muskara Phero J is his masterpiece, an Emperor’s New Clothes ‘anti-perfume,’ which smells like nothing in the bottle but amplifies the wearer’s natural pheromones when applied to the skin. Muskara Aquilaria is the newest addition to this bestselling series.

For New York-based multimedia artist and Hildegaard founder Lia Chavez, working with plants was a natural progression of her work with light. “For the whole of my artistic career, I’ve sought to present unforgettable encounters with physical light that usher in deeper forms of spiritual illumination in my audience,” she says. She was moved by photosynthesis and how plants masterfully emulate the intention of drawing in physical light to produce powerful energy. “I became deeply interested in engaging the wisdom of nature on a level that would inspire people in their daily lives,” she says. By partnering with Isabella Rossellini’s members-only organic farm and boutique inn, Mama’s Farm on Long Island, Chavez controls her creative process from seed and harvest to blending and bottling. Hildegaard’s inaugural debut is a meticulously curated collection of four exquisite facial oils—Neroli, Olibanum, Immortelle and Rose (blended with extracts, such as green tea, white peony, and pomegranate)—that Chavez calls her Haute Botanicals.

Recently, Hildegaard teamed up with experimental art gallery The Something Machine in Bellport, NY, to present Mirrormind . The collaboration features a new Chavez performance work and the release of a limited-edition facial oil, which allows collectors to take a tangible piece of the exhibit home. “The idea of creating rituals my collectors can experience directly through their senses, rituals which can transform and elevate their daily awareness, is thrilling to me,” she says.

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Allied Marine Naples Team is thrilled to assist you not only with new and preowned yachts for sale but also with memorable yacht charters.

Bold and defiant, the Pershing 6X embodies the Pershing predatory spirit, with her taut, agile forms and cutting-edge tech. A blast of power with a 48-knot top speed, she’s primed to run rings around the rest and poke fun at convention. Typical of the X Generation, the sleek, pared-back lines on the Pershing 6X vaunt large hull windows that illuminate the spaces below deck. In another savvy advance, the side wings are integrated into the superstructure for even greater on-board comfort and pleasure.

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PHILANTHROPY/FASHION FEATURES

Omar Cruz

By Laura Kostelny Photography by Omar Cruz

EMPOWERING SUCCESS: ELIZABETH STAR RETURNS TO THE SCENE, WITH THE GOAL OF UPLIFTING LOCAL WOMEN, STARTING WITH UNHOUSED FEMALES OVER THE AGE OF 70.

A resident of Naples since 1995, Elizabeth Star has been instrumental in many philanthropic efforts. Though she’s laid low in recent years, learning the rates of unhoused senior women in Collier County motivated her to spring into action through the Women’s Foundation Women Lifting Women campaign.

ELIZABETH STAR couldn’t be more aptly named. Armed with charisma and outfitted in couture, the dark-haired beauty has a knack for drawing people in, whether at an intimate cocktail party, a charitable event or on the deck of Annastar, the 164-foot boat she shares with her husband, Stanley. Her grand Port Royal home, a collaboration with designer Susan Ferrier and architect Bobby McAlpine, not only graced 10 pages in Veranda’s recent summer issue, it scored the cover. Even though Star’s lifestyle— not to mention that last name—is tailor-made for eminence, the soft-spoken philanthropist isn’t one for the spotlight. At the moment, she’d much rather steer attention toward Women Lifting Women, a campaign working to house a population of local unhoused women who also happen to be senior citizens.

“Did you know that as many as 70 senior women in Collier County are unhoused or living in their car?” Star asks passionately. “It is shocking and heartbreaking—these are women in their 70s and 80s who have fallen through the cracks and into extreme hardship, and they need our help. The basic needs most of us take for granted—where do you brush your teeth, where do you use the restroom, where do you bathe, where do you get food—become daily challenges.” It’s a national problem: According to a recent story in the LA Times, a 2019 University of Pennsylvania-led study on the unhoused projects

people 65 and older experiencing homelessness will nearly triple from 40,000 to 106,000 by 2030. “These are our mothers and grandmothers. The vulnerability coupled with their age is tragic,” Star laments.

As the honorary chair of Women Lifting Women, Star has set about educating the community at large on the nonprofit’s three pillars—housing unhoused senior women; guiding young women to get them through high school and to attend college to plan for a brighter future; and building an endowment to support women in perpetuity. More importantly, she’s asking people to contribute and put their money where their compassion is. Star notes that it takes $10,000 to $12,000 to give a senior unhoused woman shelter—and ‘wraparound services,’ which include health services—for one year. “No donation is too small, and no gift is, frankly, too large,” she says. “This is what I call ‘targeted giving;’ it comes with clear-cut results. Every investment is going to make a difference.”

Star has been hitting her mark—both raising money and generously donating it—since arriving in Naples around 1995. Prior to that, she and her husband made regular trips to the area from Western New York before eventually deciding to set down roots, when their son was entering sixth grade. They were attracted to the Community School of Naples’ legacy in education. “The Community School of Naples was small when my

Star—who is seen here working from her Port Royal home, designed by architect Bobby McAlpine— was named honorary chair of Women Lifting Women.

Fitting for Star’s legacy as a denizen of style, the Women Lifting Women initiative kicked off with an event at Marissa Collections, where the group raised $170,000.

“This is what I call ‘targeted giving;’ it comes with clear-cut results,” she says, adding that it takes $10,000 to $12,000 to provide housing and wraparound services, including healthcare, to one woman for a year.

Though she and her husband, Stanley, donate to causes around the country, she is most inspired by the philanthropic community in Naples and how it’s largely driven by women who support each other.

“WOMEN ARE THE DRIVING FORCE IN PHILANTHROPY HERE—JUST THEIR ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS, THE TIME THEY DEVOTE AND THE WAY THEY SUPPORT THEIR FRIENDS IN THEIR ENDEAVORS— IT’S UNBELIEVABLE. I’VE NEVER QUITE SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT.”

“It is shocking and heartbreaking—these are women in their 70s and 80s who have fallen through the cracks and into extreme hardship, and they need our help,” Star says. “These are our mothers and our grandmothers.”

Women Lifting Women is reevaluating its findings and the needs of senior women in Collier County, which have only increased since Hurricane Ian. Whatever is needed, Star is determined to make it happen: “Anything I do, I can guarantee I will meet my goal.”

son was there; that’s where I first started to meet people,” she says. “I was the new girl in town, so I wasn’t really keyed in at that point.”

That all changed when she got a phone call from Polly Keller, founder of David Lawrence Centers, a Naples nonprofit that provides lifesaving behavioral and mental healthcare to those in need. “In addition to the Community School, mental health is something that I’ve always been interested in. We had lunch, and I got involved immediately.”

While the Stars donate to a number of causes around the country, including Duke University School of Law, she says that there’s something about the work in Naples that’s particularly inspiring. “Women are the driving force in philanthropy here—just their organizational

skills, the time they devote, and the way they support their friends in their endeavors—it’s unbelievable. I’ve never quite seen anything like it,” she says. Maybe it’s all that female-centric power that makes her even more determined to help those who are decidedly powerless. After a Gather for Good event at Marissa Collections raised $170,000—enough to house up to 17 women for a year—Star is ready to raise the necessary cash for the remaining 53 ladies and more identified by the organization this fall. After Hurricane Ian, Star says they must reassess their numbers. “Anything I do, I can guarantee I will meet my goal,” she says with a laugh. “I’m not going to have the biggest committee, and I’m not a big delegator. But this has worked out very well for both myself and the community.”

“I’M NOT GOING TO HAVE THE BIGGEST COMMITTEE, AND I’M NOT A BIG DELEGATOR. BUT THIS HAS WORKED OUT VERY WELL FOR BOTH MYSELF AND THE COMMUNITY.”

BODY OF WATER

Photography by THANASSIS KRIKIS

A color-block design creates a flattering silhouette for bikinis. To make a one-piece more captivating, look for a plunging neckline and mod detailing.

Neutrals create the perfect palette for any destination. To elevate the look, go for suits with a little shimmer.

Graphic patterns are a modern choice for days on the water.

For a swimsuit that rivals the water views, opt for a sculptural look with ruffles that flatter.

Trendy cut-outs emphasize the physique, and an asymmetrical neckline draws the eye to the waistline.

Real estate sold by real experts.

Apache yacht, courtesy Tankoa

A WORLD

Lavish, swanky and sometimes downright insane.

Over the last decade, private jet interiors have transformed from having a few custom throw pillows to full-blown, sky-high palaces with innovative technology, residential-style layouts, bespoke furnishings and untraditional amenities.

As private-jet ownership and demand soar, people are creating well-designed vessels to showcase their style and taste, with features including Peloton bikes, Loro Piana textiles custom-designed to match a wardrobe, circadian lighting to align sleep schedules, hand-stitched family crests or company logos, custom veneer colors and hand-woven carpets. “Why is the interior of your plane not as well designed as the interior of your Bentley or doesn’t have the richness of the watch you are wearing, yet they cost far more?” wonders Eddie Sotto, founder of SottoStudios/LA. “I want to bring a more elegant

sense of escape to flying. We want clients to feel like they are escaping into a very intimate and personal domain, born of their own expression, one that is frictionless, casual and comfortable but sophisticated and compelling. Every detail should reward their close inspection.”

SottoStudios/LA’s Skyacht™ One, inspired by a 1930s motor yacht, is themed around navigation. Throughout, there are symbols and details like astrolabes, armillary spheres, charts and a marquetry clock, with yacht-inspired mahogany accents, vintage-style leather sunshades and bulkhead walls planked and pegged like on a boat. While overt themes tend to guide design concepts, often, clients simply want something that matches their boat or favorite five-star hotel room. Take Winch Design’s swanky Peacock jet delivery, crafted for owners who wanted a home away from home. There’s an opulent up-lit bar;

Private jets today act like an extension of your home, providing a boundless canvas for design creativity and innovation

Courtesy Greenpoint Technologies

Greenpoint Technologies’ biophilic design for its Retreat jet incorporates full-wall LED screens that display live images from a camera outside the jet or videos of nature. A metallic ceiling, resembling a golden river, flows down the entirety of the jet.

Elegant touches, like hand-woven textiles, Peloton bikes and Hermès furnishings, create interiors representative of owners’ styles. Officina Armare’s Bombardier Global 6000 draws inspiration from Art Deco design.

Courtesy Officina Amare

hidden Champagne cooler; full-spectrum, audiosynced lighting; and the largest TV ever fitted on a private jet, located in the bedroom.

Design studios have also toyed with the ideas of calmness and tranquility by utilizing a lighter, more ethereal color palette. Winch Design’s Sky Residence offers a soothing concept that eschews closed, private spaces for an open floor plan with neutral shades of ivory, white and pale blue to complete the look.

This concept of free-flowing spaces is rampant among other firms, too. Greenpoint Technologies’ award-winning interior Retreat brings the outdoors in with full-wall LED screens that display live images from a camera on the outside of

the jet or videos of nature. Curved furniture and spa-like lighting make it feel warm and inviting and a high-gloss, metallic ceiling resembling a golden river flows down the length of the jet.

Loyal clients are calling upon their favorite designers, even if that designer has little-to-no jet design experience. Officina Armare—a yacht, architecture and product design firm—just created its first Bombardier Global 6000 proposal, with fine art on the walls, Hermès interiors along the cabin, Loro Piana upholstery, navy nubuck crocodile leather—perhaps inspired by a shoe or handbag collection—and hand-tufted flooring.

“It’s a world between worlds,” Sotto says. Maybe the sky is not the limit after all.

SottoStudios/LA’s Skyacht One fuses aquatic travel and aviation through its 1930s motor yacht-inspired design.

Courtesy SottoStudios/LA

THE NEXT WAVE

Yacht designer ALBERTO MANCINI is THE MAN TO CALL TO COMMISSION THE SEXIE ST, sleekest floating villa ON THE HIGH SEAS

If you think change is coming, you’re late to the yacht party. The needs and ideologies of young superyacht buyers are bringing experiential entertainment to the design fore. And Italianborn, Monaco-based Alberto Mancini is leading the charge. At 44, Mancini is one of the youngest established yacht designers on the block. Yet the former car designer’s reputation as a creative disruptor has been building for the past 20 years.

Prior to founding AM Yacht Design in 2006, he collaborated with interior-design rock stars, such as Carlo Nuvolari and Dan Lenard, and penned yachts for an enviable list of yards: Baglietto, Fairline, Magnum Marine, OTAM, Revolver and

Azimut-Benetti Group, the largest superyacht builder in the world. His work has also earned a growing collection of awards, the latest being a Best Interior for Mangusta’s Oceano 44 at this year’s Cannes boat show. It caught the judges’ eyes with its Miami-penthouse-style upper deck, a feature Mancini describes as a game changer. “It’s the first time we’ve designed an upper deck with no handrails, only glass balustrades, so it totally transforms the connection between the interior and the outdoors,” he says.

The Oceano44signals what Mancini believes to be the next trend in yachting, whereby the forward section is an authentic ship that gives a sense of life

at sea, and the aft is more akin to an overwater villa. It’s further compounded by drop-down terraces that open at the stern and on both sides, gifting a Nikki Beach vibe with a cool sea breeze.

The boy who grew up dreaming of cars is setting the superyacht world on fire. In 2021, he released a 250-foot yacht concept named T760 Apache, which features a glass-bottomed suspended pool, a helipad, a waterfall, and tier upon tier

of outdoor living. It held a mirror up to the new generation of yacht owners: Millennial billionaires who eschew speed and performance in favor of technical prowess and fresh thinking. “They don’t even care if it’s ugly, as long as it delivers the desired experience,” he says with a laugh. “They might only fly in for four days at a time, but while onboard, they want space for 20 friends, the best chef, a DJ—everything.” Mancini responded with

Mancini’s Apache design for Italian shipyard Tankoa has garnered attention for its indoor-outdoor livability and standout features, like the glass-bottom infinity pool within the 1,345-square-foot beach club.

He has designed yachts for all the heavyweight shipyards—Baglietto, Azimut-Benetti Group, Tankoa Yachts and Mangusta. Recently, he’s been racking up awards for designs like Monokini, with her five cabins and contemporary-minimalist interiors filled with wood, leather and steel.

Courtesy Baglietto

a floating private island wrapped in an impressive superyacht aesthetic.

He learned from the best, first under the stewardship of Mauro Micheli at Officina Italiana Design, before the late Tom Perkins, then-owner of the iconic Maltese Falcon, headhunted him to work under Ken Freivokh. Mancini’s automotive training is also evident, from the sprawling sleek decks and high-ceilinged cabins aboard Monokini the Baglietto design that he still considers to be his most striking work on water—to the air intakes,

grills and control panel on the Aquariva. But it was childhood summers spent sailing aboard his family’s 49-foot ketch that formed the bedrock of his Mediterranean style. “Those years spent cruising with my father set me on this course,” he muses. “Yacht design comes from my soul. I like the challenge of outrageous briefs, sketching something that will test the limits of an owner’s imagination.”

Some designers stick to their niche, but Mancini is on a mission to do it all.

Designs like Mancini’s Dominator ILUMEN are more akin to floating villas, complete with glass surfaces, oversized sun decks and cabins, infinity pools and spaces that enhance the connection to the water.

CITIZEN OF THE WORLD

M/Y NJORD hits the seas as the largest, most opulent, eco-friendly residential yacht

Courtesy Ocean Residences Development

If you like the thought of owning a luxurious triplex that floats effortlessly from one beautiful location to another, we have good news for you: Ocean Residences Development (ORD) is creating the 948-foot superyacht NJORD the world’s largest private residential yacht, launching in 2026.

Named after the Norse god of the seas and wind, the Espen Øino-designed, 12-deck ship features 117 residences, including 16 duplexes and triplexes (with elevators). “My vision is to leave a lasting legacy in our wake,” ORD’s chief executive Kristian Stensby says. “A luxury

yacht with a purpose, which is meticulously designed by icons of the marine world and takes personalized services to an entirely new level.”

The residences range from 1,500 square feet to almost 9,000 square feet in 15 floorplans, with two-to-six bedrooms. Interior designers David Linley and Kelly Hoppen created the first units to glamorous effect. Many other global interior designers and architects are also involved to make the residences unique.

And with prices ranging from $8.5 million to $70 million, you can rest assured the amenities are world-class. With about 110 feet in width,

With 117 residences (some as large as 9,000 square feet), a Chenot spa and wellness center, a jazz club, a concierge hospital, and a helicopter pad, NJORD raises the bar for aquatic living.

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there’s room for a “beach club” at the stern, with all the toys you’d expect for the well-heeled traveler (tenders, personal watercraft, rigid inflatable boats, submersibles); a dive center; a Chenot spa and wellness and fitness centers; six restaurants and bars; a 10,000-bottle wine cellar; a jazz club and nightclub; golf simulator; and concierge hospital. There’s also an observatory— if looking up is your thing. As for services, the ship has everything from florists to tailors to housekeepers to ensure a no-fuss, no-muss lifestyle. And did we mention the Airbus ACH 160 helicopter and onboard hangar?

Built by German shipbuilder Meyer Werft, the NJORD is the world’s first superyacht powered solely by carbon-neutral fuel. With dual-fuel LNG engines, batteries for hybrid operation, heat recovery systems and advanced powermanagement systems, it’s the greenest superyacht in the world. Mirroring its residents’ philanthropic ethos, the yacht also has a research lab with scientists mapping the ocean floor as you travel from the Arctic to Alaska. “As residents travel the globe, they are united in a philanthropic purpose, creating positive change where it matters most,” Stensby says.

The 948-foot superyacht is the world’s first to operate on carbon-neutral fuel. Plus, it has a research lab on board for scientists to map the ocean floor as you cruise around the globe. Courtesy Ocean

C M Y CM MY CY CMY K

With its furrowed brow and Dick Tracy chin, the new Pardo Endurance 60 yacht doesn’t look like anything else on the water. It commands attention and admiration. If you’re in the market for a new cruiser and appreciate quality, style, space and exclusivity, you owe yourself a closer look at the E60—a multideck, multisuite yacht that might just be the perfect choice for treks around Naples’ waterways.

The Italian beauty utilizes the inverted bow the yacht maker is known for and features smart styling cues that add livable space, safety and convenience to the entire package. Perhaps the most compelling amenity is the drop-down bulwarks off the rear main deck that create a 441-square-foot floating terrace. The feature adds aesthetics normally associated with yachts more than twice the E60’s size (it all buckles in nicely for smooth cruising when you hit rough waters). And under the flybridge, the front windscreen of the cockpit and generously sized main salon

rakes backward from the top, rather than the traditional downward slope, significantly reducing cabin heat—a very welcome feature for Florida’s sun-baked days. At the stern, there’s a hydraulic platform that can be lowered for an easy swim or tender access.

And while personal options abound, the modern interior coupled with luxurious finishes make the expansive three-cabin, three-bathroom craft a perfect home away from home. “The E60 is the ultimate luxurious floating Italian villa,” says Zach Germain, managing partner of Germain Yachts, the local Pardo retailer. “I love its quiet, long-range, comfortable qualities. And its looks really stand out among the ‘history lane’ that you see down at the marina.”

Oh, and that ‘E’ stands for endurance. With a 634-gallon fuel capacity, along with silent and efficient twin 600-hp Volvo IPS-800 engines, the boat is meant for long trips. You can cruise for up to 800 nautical miles at a leisurely pace. And when you’re traveling in style, why rush things?

The E60 combines the mechanics of a zippy runaround boat with the aesthetics and spaciousness of a yacht, with three cabins and three heads, an expandable deck, and a range of about 800 nautical miles.

At Kalea Bay, the perfect day ends in “Y”

Deciding which day is the best day at Kalea Bay is quite simple. It’s any day that ends in “Y.” Mondays are made for workouts on our sky deck. Tuesdays are for tennis. On Wednesdays, watch the sun setting from your oversized lanai. Treat yourself on Thursdays with poolside service. Friday night fun is always found at the Club and around the bar. Splash away your Saturdays atop 23 stories at our rooftop pool. Sunday morning mimosas taste best when sipped in your own space. Yes, every day is the best day at Kalea Bay.

BY JON ALAIN GUZIK

THE NEW BRITISH

INVASION

From Aston Martin to Bentley to Rolls-Royce, the big three British automakers are having a moment in aesthetics and innovation—and it’s showing through all of the brands’ record-breaking sales and younger, more diverse clientele.

What’s driving all the action? Each brand has a more distinctive lineup and a slew of newly updated models. Mostly, each of these automakers prides itself on the ability to deliver an over-thetop level of customization with opportunities to realize everything from dictating the simple pile depth of the floor mats to the creation of a headto-tail ‘price-is-no-limit’ bespoke model with singular design flourishes that are handcrafted and limited to the owner. “There has been a shift from the buyer wanting instant gratification to those going through the bespoke experience. A good 50-to-75 percent of our customers want something special, something that mirrors who they are as an individual,” says Jason Reidel, general manager and partner at Naples Luxury Imports, whose dealerships are the premier luxury car dealers for Southwest Florida.

Each of these companies has dedicated customization divisions—Q by Aston Martin, Bentley Mulliner and Rolls-Royce Coachbuild— and can do almost anything the customer requests.

For example, look to the luxe $1.9 million, limited-edition Bentley Mulliner Bacalar (all of which sold out before production even began) or the nearly limitless way you can configure an Aston Martin DBS (Buckinghamshire Green with a Californian Poppy interior, please).

The most luxurious commission we have seen in a while? Well, that would be the RollsRoyce Bespoke Phantom Oribe, a collaboration between Hermès and Rolls-Royce for a very lucky collector. Just the MZ Oribe Green paint— developed especially for the owner, based on their collection of 16th-century Japanese Oribe ware ceramics—costs $200,000, Reidel explains. The hue plays off the interiors, resplendent with Hermès flourishes and leather work. “With RollsRoyce, we’ve had customers go deep on bespoke— one-off veneers and a paint color of their own that the brand can never sell again, embroider themes from their airplanes into their RollsRoyce’s detailed coachwork,” Reidel adds. “With the level of creativity with these brands, people are having a lot of fun with it. The Naples market is so different, and it’s such a special town. We’ve grown up over the years, and it’s nice to know we have a customer base with such a fond appreciation for automobiles.”

Courtesy Bentley Motors

When it comes to delivering personalization in aesthetics and drive, heritage automakers from across the pond still lead the pack

Courtesy Rolls-Royce

MEMBERS ONLY

Now more than ever, America’s beau monde congregates at prestigious private clubs—and these are a few of the nation’s finest

WHILE BRITISH SPORTING CLUBS and guilds may have centuries on us in terms of founding dates, America perfected the country club idea in the 1970s, thanks partly to venues like the Port Royal Club, which debuted in 1960. Here, in this storied enclave of Naples, early homeowners bonded to cultivate a convivial clubhouse and enviable lifestyle. Whether under the guise of golf, yachting, skiing or horseback riding, members-only clubs give us a meaningful ‘third place’ to invest in our social capital. In a tumultuous climate of change, a sense of common ground has never felt more profound. Even amidst the calamity suffered by the Port Royal Club in the face of Hurricane Ian, the administration and members have united to create alternative formats for community interaction while the physical structure gets rebuilt.

Regarding the nation’s most prized links, Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia counts only 300 members, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates among them. Though the most coveted tee time invites these days is not in the Peach State, it’s at Hobe Sound, near Michael Jordan’s Florida home. Jordan’s new private golf club opened under a shroud of mystique in 2019, but the stories around

the secretive Grove XXIII have already become the stuff of legend—think the biggest names in entertainment and sports. Photos are forbidden inside the clubhouse; part of the growing enigma is that Jordan swears his members to secrecy. The one perk that guests can’t help posting to social? Video clips of the drone delivery service dropping cold beer and nibbles to players mid-round have surfaced on the Internet.

While the pandemic forced most industries into radical adaptation, private clubs experienced a sharp validation of the social sanctuaries they provide. Suddenly, an inner sanctum became most vital and desirable. This trend has led to residential ski clubs—like Spanish Peaks Mountain Club and Yellowstone Club—emerging as the ultimate bolthole for the wealthy. Graced by a Tom Weiskopf, 18-hole championship golf course, Spanish Peaks members enjoy access to 5,800 acres of skiing at Big Sky Resort, with a private base located at the Clubhouse. Yellowstone Club sprawls across 15,200 acres in Big Sky; members include Justin Timberlake, Jessica Biel and Google’s Eric Schmidt.

For captains of industry mingling over Bentleys, bison chops and smoking steel barrels, Sonoma’s

Wing & Barrel Ranch unites the finest in sport shooting, golf and culinary pursuits in Sonoma

Courtesy Wing & Barrel Ranch/Michael B. Woolsey Photography (2); Previous spread: Courtesy Evan Schiller Photography

Courtesy Wing & Barrel Ranch/Jared Stern (2), Spanish Peaks Mountain Club/Zak Grosfield, The Battery Club

Clubs like Wing & Barrel Ranch, in Sonoma, and Spanish Wells Mountain Club, in Big Sky, provide plush settings and recreational pursuits for illustrious members to commune.

Wing & Barrel Ranch is the haute new club that has all the power brokers buzzing. The 1,000-acre retreat unites the finest in sport shooting, wellness activities and culinary—all in a viticulture utopia where prime land easily commands a cool $1 million per acre. Initiation ‘deposits’ come to $125,000, with lower fees for those out of state. The club is home to the West Coast’s only 80-foot High Tower stand, which mimics real birds for an authentic shooting experience. Wing & Barrel member and famed chef Charlie Palmer has become the club’s executive culinary advisor. Named “Best Chef in America” by the James Beard Foundation, Palmer is a keen sportsman who enjoys sparking camaraderie in the club’s kitchen and with winery partners. In the realm of America’s most prestigious private clubs, Wing & Barrel certainly takes gold on the culinary hedonism front.

Elsewhere in California, San Francisco tech elites mingle at The Battery Club, designed by renowned interior designer Ken Fulk. Located within a 58,000-square-foot former marble factory in the Financial District, The Battery has four bars, a restaurant, a wine cellar, a library, a roof garden, a gym and a spa. There are also 14 guest rooms, including a penthouse with panoramic views of the Bay Bridge. As Soho House goes fully global, with Tel Aviv and Canouan locations coming online, The Battery Club doubles down on the Bay Area, developing an outpost in Oakland with its acquisition of the now-defunct Bellevue Club’s six-story clubhouse on Lake Merritt. Will the next great startup be born on a sofa at The Battery Club? In this era, private clubs create avenues to meet your next co-founder, investor, co-captain or advisory board ace. This is the enterprise of making business pleasurable.

San Francisco’s tech elite are known to hobnob within the Ken Fulk-designed spaces at The Battery Club.

Courtesy The Battery Club

FUN

HOUSE

Miami-based MONIOMI Design’s collectible hoops and toys score major points for your game room

A marble dining table that seats 12 and doubles as a ping pong table; a copper basketball hoop with a backboard made of painstakingly hand-cut and laid marble and onyx—these are just two designs in the wonderfully over-the-top Altis Ornamentum furniture and accessories collection.

The creators, Ronald Alvarez and Monica Santayana, are co-founders of MONIOMI Design, a Miami-based design firm. The business and life partners have always been interested in sports and “collected a few basketball-style art pieces, including a hoop made by a local Miami artist with a net made of hair,” Alvarez explains. This inspired them to explore creating fully functional archetypal sports pieces that draw on the aesthetics of ancient sports arenas. (Hence the collection’s name, as Altis was believed to be a sacred space used by Zeus, with administration buildings for the Olympic Games). The collection references the stadiums of ancient Greece (columns, arches, marble) with elements of Art Deco and Memphis Group design (pastel colors, geometric shapes).

The success of the mini hoops (sold with customized basketballs) led the couple to expand the collection to include wool and silk rugs inspired by the tracks and courts of ancient arenas.

At a glance, the woven works—which can also hang as tapestries—simply read as beautiful, graphic designs without any obvious sports reference. Soon after, they added masterpieces like the pingpong dining table, with its removable hand-woven leather net and the basketball hoop with a net that takes at least eight hours to crochet.

The duo also collaborates with artists resulting in pieces, including Twin Pops, a lucite seesaw with removable hand-dyed Tibetan lamb cushions by sculptor and installation artist Gabriela Noelle. There’s also a punching bag crafted from handspun wool, Italian leather and copper-plated chains, created with Miami artist Omar Fajardo.

The Altis Ornamentum collection is not only sophisticated, fun and functional; it also mirrors society’s current fascination with sports. “Athletes are becoming huge celebrities who set trends in fashion and design,” Alvarez says. In addition, basketball imagery and iconography are being harnessed by the likes of artists Hugh Hayden, Tyrrell Winston, Victor Solomon and Hank Willis Thomas. Alvarez is coy about whether any superstar athletes or artists own MONIOMI goods, but he promises the brand will debut a fresh roster of slam-dunk offerings at Design Miami 2022 in December.

The collection draws from ancient Greek athletics and Art Deco and Memphis Group designs for pieces like a basketball hoop with hand-cut marble and onyx and a hand-crocheted net. Courtesy MONIOMI Design

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SPIRITS

CELLARS

SCENTS LIFE

Trunk Archive / The Interior Archive/Andrew Twort

UNCORKING THE FUTURE

When designing or installing a cellar, or any form of wine storage, collectors are aware of the inherent hurdles of human error that exist within standard caves. For an experience as exhilarating and exorbitant as collecting wine, the technologydriven WineCab aims to remove any potential for spoilage, subbing in robotics to solve traditional storage qualms. The system is also an ace for storing premium bottles within a limited space. Why compromise your collection when you’re in your Naples condo for the winter?

Doubling as a wine management system and interactive showpiece, WineCab utilizes a six-axis robotic arm that is the first of its kind for residential storage. Designed by Calvary Robotics’ founder Mark Chaney, the component isn’t just a techsavvy feature but an animated show and insurance for your wine’s safety. When you choose a bottle from the 62-inch touchscreen display (controlled by facial recognition), the arm gracefully dances around the unit. It carefully dispenses the bottle, in 15 seconds or less, to a single-bottle load drawer. Since there’s no opening and closing of a cellar door,

the temperatures and humidity remain consistent, eliminating minute fluctuations that can cause damage over time—it’s futuristic, practical and exhibitive, all in one fell swoop.

The unit also flexes technology with its simulated sommelier system, using artificial intelligence to suggest wine pairings, keep a tally of vintages and notify you when a particular wine is running low. Collectors add their bottles to the loading drawer, where they are robotically scanned and populated into a personal inventory, kept in collaboration with the advanced wine-management system, Delectable, which has more than 600,000 labels in its database.

Though WineCab operates on an AI system, every unit is personally constructed. Oenophiles can choose from a Curio Classic corner unit that holds 250 bottles, an 11-foot wall model with room for 300, a 15-foot version that stores 600 or a soon-to-be-offered, 6-foot unit. The finishings are also customizable, from wood style to personal engravings to interior wallpaper, to suit your desired space—whether blending into a kitchen corner or standing out as a living room display.

Artificial intelligence comes for one of the world’s oldest art forms via a sleek, compact wine storage system, perfect for condominiums

WineCab’s robotic storage digitizes your collection, offers wine recommendations and dispenses bottles within 15 seconds.

Throughout the 21st Century, ‘ultra-luxury liquor’ has mainly meant scotch and cognac. But, the concept is finally beginning to apply to other aged spirits, including some you might not expect. Rum is a prime example. If you still stereotype it as a well fixture destined for cheap summertime mixers, it’s time to acquaint yourself with the liquor that hails from Jamaica. From here, you’ll discover a sophisticated sipping elixir—one that connoisseurs and investors are increasingly embracing as a value proposition—for now. “Any high-end spirit ought to carry a high degree of complexity,” explains Gabriel Urrutia, spirits educator and author of Miami Cocktails. “And it doesn’t get much more complex than Jamaican rum. Distilleries on the island use fermentation methods and techniques you won’t find anywhere else to develop fruity and tropical flavors that really stand out.”

The key to that terroir is dunder: a yeast-rich additive that Jamaican distillers collect from the previous production batch. Traditionally, they’d let it mingle over several days with the subsequent fermentation. The process imparts a funkiness brimming with over-ripened bananas and mango, fading from the tongue with toffee and spiced butterscotch.

Few places capture these notes quite as compellingly as Hampden Estate in Trelawny Parish. Although the operation has existed since 1753, it wasn’t until 2016 that an international bottler (Habitation Velier, known for distributing luxury single malt) helped make Hampden

a household name among collectors. Now its 11-year-old LROK label routinely fetches up to $200 a bottle.

Urrutia recommends taking one home if you can find it, or any bottlings by Habitation Velier, for that matter. He’s also a fan of Worthy Park Estate, especially a 2008 vintage from the producer, which matured in port casks. It currently retails for roughly $135. But with only 585 bottles ever made, its scarcity will surely drive the price ever upward for those with an eye on investment.

At the S Hotel Jamaica—a boutique all-inclusive in the heart of Montego Bay—food and beverage manager Jermaine Hart is finding more and more guests are interested in exploring the local rums as a standalone, as opposed to just guzzling them in punch or Painkiller cocktail form. He steers would-be sippers toward elegant age-statement blends from Appleton Estate. “It’s from an iconic part of the island that’s steeped in history and rich in culture,” he says of the 273-year-old distillery, comparing its traditional approach to that of superior scotch. “It’s distilled in small copper pots, aged in oak barrels, and at no point in the process are sugar or artificial flavors added.”

If you’re not planning a trip to the Caribbean anytime soon, Hart advises you bring a taste of the islands back to your home bar with a bottle of Appleton’s Hearts Collection 1994 Vintage. It sells for $300 to $600, a modest sum considering that the distillery’s oldest expression—the 50-year Independence Reserve—now fetches almost $16,000. Try pouring that into your next daiquiri.

SWEET SENSATIONS

MAAYAN ZILBERMAN CRAFTS THE LATEST MUST-HAVE FOR GALAS: CENTERPIECES CRAFTED FROM SUGAR

When the entire Knicks squad and their guests walked into their VIP lounge after an end-ofseason game, they saw what looked like a sculpture. The pyramid of shoes, each a replica of those worn by the players, was lit from below, translucent and sparkling. The piece wasn’t blown from glass but painstakingly handspun from sugar by Maayan Zilberman. The founder of New York-based Sweet Saba is a former ceramicist and fashion designer; she has carved out a niche creating showstopping centerpieces and favors made entirely from sugar.

Donatella Versace is another happy customer; for her, Zilberman created a pile of supersized crucifixes for a party celebrating the brand’s Met Gala sponsorship. She’s also done Chanel lipsticks for the fashion house, sugar floral bouquets for Nordstrom, candy snake charms for Gucci and imitation caviar rings for La Prairie. Audemars Piguet is also a client—though Zilberman’s project for the

watchmaker’s event at Art Basel Miami Beach almost proved disastrous. She had created replicas of Piguet’s watches and jewelry at her New York atelier, only to find the pieces had turned cloudy once installed under Miami’s salty air. She managed to rescue the display moments before its unveiling by passing a chef’s torch over the surface, scorching the sugar back to brilliance.

As a result, Zilberman often uses prop sugar, a sturdier inedible alternative derived from beets rather than cane. The material won’t fog and is durable, so the installation can be kept as artwork. Zilberman often counsels clients to offer take-home keepsakes, like miniature versions of the central sculpture, rather than suggesting they break into the centerpiece mid-bash. VIPs often show up at the end of the evening. “You don’t want them to just get the crumbles,” she says.

Sweet Saba is usually booked about six months in advance, with a six-to-eight-week turnaround, from conception to installation via mood boards, 3D renderings and taste tests. She likes to work from a sensory-based brief: a snapshot of the guest of honor’s hobbies or the scent of flowers that will decorate the venue. A single showstopper runs between $30-to-$40,000, while a project that includes keepsakes could cost up to $250,000.

When Zilberman is setting up sculptures in Florida, part of her production process includes dehumidifiers. Moisture is kryptonite for hard candy, she explains, and the damp, salty air here can wreak havoc on her delicate installations. But she’s happy to come in a day early and set up dehumidifiers to prep the place for installation. There’s an unexpected bonus to this, too. “It makes it extra chic because everyone’s hair looks great,” she says.

Through Sweet Saba, former ceramicist and fashion designer Maayan Zilberman creates jaw-dropping, edible centerpieces and party favors from melted sugar.

Naples Botanical Garden is where plants and people thrive together.

ARTFUL AROMAS

When most people think of designing a room, they usually consider paint color, furniture, art and flooring. Scent is frequently an afterthought, although it can impact the space just as intensely.

“It’s really the last sensory dimension,” says Olivia Jezler, founder of Future of Smell, which advises companies on fragrance. Scent adds what she calls an “element of experiential immersion and cohesion in a space.”

Certainly, a burning candle that’s redolent of spices and pine suggests wintertime, even on the warmest Naples day. Aromas like tobacco and leather lend themselves to a book-filled library, and heady floral notes are perfect for a sunny living room or a yacht set to host friends and family.

Some brands offer especially refined home fragrances. Take Trudon, the French brand that’s been in business since the 17th century. Its elegant scented candles—like Reggio, with citrus-based notes of grapefruit and mandarin, and Madurai, teeming with jasmine and ylangylang—come in several sizes, including an extra-large version that burns for more than 300 hours and makes a design statement of its own. Trudon’s newer reed diffusers float scent through your home for up to four months.

Another French heritage company, House of Krigler, recently launched its Aquarelle collection

of candles, which feature some of its popular scents, like Good Fir 11 and Pleasure Gardenia 79, in glass containers with colors inspired by the Mediterranean.

As stylish as a sleek vessel can be, some candles come in high-design containers that become part of a room’s decor. Take for example, the candelabra recently introduced by Fornasetti Profumi, part of a Milanese company best known for its distinctively designed plates. Atop an illustrated base, its six candle holders are centered with a red ceramic apple filled with a smaller candle, scented with notes of jasmine and tuberose.

Similarly, offerings from Ginori 1735, the home fragrance collection introduced in 2021 by the heritage Italian tabletop brand, includes a selection of reed diffusers in porcelain holders molded to resemble a face. There’s also a large candleholder that’s essentially a classical sculpture of a curly-haired head, featuring a candle infused with bergamot and patchouli tucked inside.

Having a wardrobe of home fragrances makes it easy to shift a room’s mood to best suit the occasion. “We might want to change these scents throughout the day to help trigger different sorts of reactions or memories or states of mind,” Jezler says.

FOR THE MOST ELEVATED home, invest IN A SCENT TO elevate the experiential IMMERSION FOR YOU AND YOUR GUESTS

Trunk Archive /The Interior Archive/Christopher Simon Sykes

Heritage brands like Trudon, Ginori 1735 and Fornasetti Profumi create home fragrances that elevate any space.

AGENDA

Mark

JAN. 28 Night at the Museum for Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples (C’MON) takes on a Saturday Night Fever theme, with groovy outfits, a ’70s cover band, menus by celebrity chef Philippe Haddad and personal wine pourings at the $20,000-pluslevel tables by Three60 Market’s Rebecca Maddox. cmon.org

FEB. 3-5

The queen of wine auctions nationwide and the longestrunning fundraiser in town, Naples Winter Wine Festival , returns with new dates and the same singular devotion to helping children in Collier County. This year’s NWWF, which supports Naples Children & Education Foundation, focuses on children’s vision, dental, healthcare and mental health. napleswinefestival.com

FEB. 11

STARability’s fifth-annual STAR Gala at The RitzCarlton Golf Resort, Naples, elevates the glam this season with a red carpet Hollywood

theme, as it raises funds to support individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. STAR participants take centerstage at the event, helping emcee and sharing their stories. starability.org

MARCH 2

Naples’ love for our singular ecosystems is evident at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida’s Magic Under the Mangroves Gala , held at the Conservancy Nature Center. Don your finest for this elegant affair, known for its stellar sustainable catering and interactive setting. Funds raised support some of our region’s most vital environmental issues, including mangrove restoration and water quality. conservancy.org

MARCH 6

Gulfshore Playhouse’s Bubbles, Baubles & Broadway always delivers on interactive experiences and Broadway performances. This season will be no different, thanks to the masquerade theme that promises elements from the

gothic Phantom of the Opera and the fairytale world of The Carnival of Venice gulfshoreplayhouse.org

MARCH 29

No doubt, the city’s most fashionable event—known for its shows with big-name designers over the decades (Michael Kors, Naeem Khan, Carolina Herrera)—Naples Botanical Gardens’ Hats in the Garden delights with its blooming locale and hundreds of guests donning over-the-top millinery (an award goes to the most creative hat, so don’t hold back). This season’s fête includes a runway show by Oscar de la Renta. naplesgarden.org

FEBRUARY 21

Leading up to The Mending Broken Hearts with Hope luncheon at The RitzCarlton Golf Resort, Naples, The Shelter for Abused Women & Children hosts a designer boutique on the 20th and 21st. Funds raised at this year’s event aid in renovating the shelter’s childcare center. naplesshelter.org