VOLUME VI / ISSUE III / MARCH-APRIL 2022
NE W Z EALAND BMW P OLO OP E N · SAU D I ARABIA' S A LUL A DES ERT PO LO THE GAU N T LE T OF P OLO: T H E C .V. W HI T N EY C UP
MANIFEST
IN MARCH
MAKE DREAMS REALITY
GAMBLING ON
CRYOGENICS
IS A SECOND LIFE WITHIN REACH?
FAMOUS FOR THE WRONG REASONS
THE RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN
LUXE OF THE IRISH FEWER PINTS MORE CASTLES FOR ST. PATRICKS DAY
DR. PAUL FARMER'S LASTING LEGACY ON GLOBAL HEALTH
FILTERS AND FILLERS
BODY DYSMORPHIA & SOCIETY'S COMPLICITY
VINTNERS SHAKING UP THE INDUSTRY
HEALTH IS WEALTH BUILD LONG-TERM HAPPINESS
VOLUME VI / ISSUE III / MARCH-APRIL 2022
Ambassador Claude-Alix Bertrand Publisher
Joshua Jakobitz Editor-in-Chief
William Smith
Katerina Morgan
Polo Photographer
Aubrey Chandler
Copy Editor & Philanthropy Contributor
Contributing Photographer
Claire Barrett
Contributing Photographer & Polo Contributor
Head of Photography
Eva Espresso
Contributing Photographer
Cezar Kusik
Wine Contributor
Raphael K. Dapaah Art Contributor
Jyoti Paintel
Sofya Khizhik
Michael J. Snell
Lifestyles Contributor
Joey Velez
Wellness Contributor
Brett Chody
Trends Contributor
Panthil Dwivedi
Spiritual Contributor
Wellness Contributor
Justin "Goliath" Johnson
Polo Lifestyles is a publication of HT Polo Publishing Co. 995 Detroit Avenue, Suite A Concord, CA 94518
Wellness Contributor
Brand Representatives Michael J. Snell - The Hamptons Stanley Pierre-Etienne Caribbean Jessica Foret Wax - Santa Fe K & Co. Media - Los Angeles
Content Copyright © Polo Lifestyles 2021 All Rights Reserved.
Contributing Photographers
For information or to advertise Contact editor@htpolo.com Read online at www.pololifestyles.com
Richard Phibbs Angus Fonda Ned Chukka
Cover Photo of Grace Bol by Richard Phibbs
Justin Johnson - Atlanta
Photo on this page by Courtesy of Global Polo Entertainment
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INTERNATIONAL POLO CLUB U.S. Open Women’s Polo Championship® The Gauntlet of Polo USPA Gold Cup® U.S. Open Polo Championship® GRAND CHAMPIONS POLO CLUB USPA North American Cup USPA National 20-Goal Legends of Polo Carlos Gracida Memorial The International Cup
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SCOREBOARDS & COCKTAILS
ALULA DESERT POLO
SAUDI ARABIA'S EQUESTRIAN EXPLOSION
Page 40 POLO LIFESTYLES EDITORS & CONTRIBUTORS
Ambassador Claude-Alix Bertrand Publisher Polo Lifestyles @haiti_polo_captain
Panthil Dwivedi
Wellness Contributor PanthilWrites.com @panthildwivedi
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Josh Jakobitz
Editor-in-Chief Polo Lifestyles @joshuajakobitz
Eva Espresso Photographer
Eva Espresso Photography
@eva.espresso
Claire Barrett
Head of Photography
Claire Barrett Photography
@clairebarrettphoto
Michael J. Snell
Lifestyles & Automobiles Contributor @agnello_1
Raphael K. Dapaah Art Contributor Dapaah Gallery @dapaahgallery
Aubrey Chandler Photographer Polo Lifestyles @aubreychandler
Jyoti Paintel
Spiritual Contributor Polo Lifestyles @jyotipaintel
Joey Velez
Cezar Kusik
Wine Contributor Polo Lifestyles @cezartastesearth
William Smith
Brett Chody
Trends Contributor Polo Lifestyles @brettchody
Justin Johnson
Wellness Columnist
Philanthropy Contributor
Wellness Contributor
@velezmentalhealth
@willismith_2000
@goliathcoaches
Velez Mental Performance May & Stanley Smith Charitable Trust
Goliath Coaches
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Virgil Abloh x Nike sneakers Back from the dead with set auction record, page 78 cryonics, page 92
Body and Booty Dysmorphia broken down, page 166
Plan a Luxe St. Patrick's Day getaway, page 82
FROM THE RUNWAYS
TO POLO FIELDS
NEW YORK AND MILAN FASHION WEEKS LIT UP WITH FALL-WINTER LOOKS PAGE 100
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EL DORADO POLO CLUB
I
ADMITTEDLY DON’T HAVE MANY HOBBIES AND I HAVE FEWER THAT I ACTUALLY INDULGE; READING IS ONE. A VERY LONG TIME AGO, YOU COULDN’T GET MY NOSE OUT OF A BOOK. BOOKS WERE AN ESCAPE FROM REALITY, INTRODUCING ME TO IDEAS AND CONCEPTS, NEW WORDS AND FARAWAY PLACES. I DOUBLE-MAJORED IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH LITERATURE IN UNIVERSITY, WHICH BASICALLY MEANT I READ MORE BOOKS, ESSAYS AND POETRY IN FOUR YEARS THAN MOST PEOPLE CONSUME IN A LIFETIME.
Upon entering the workplace, I spent equal time writing and editing, but less time reading. Over time, reading fell off of my schedule and out of my life. When I first moved abroad in 2010, in order to sharpen my language skills, I picked up the habit of reading the daily newspaper, Le Nouvelliste, in French (oftentimes with a dictionary close at hand). At a time when American newspapers were cutting daily home delivery, reading the newspaper at my desk felt like a very dignified, old-school activity. I bought a new book for the first time in probably a year last week, and in place of television at night before I fall asleep, I have been reading “The Comedians,” by Graham Greene. Set in Haiti, it’s transporting me to an era before my time but in a country still vividly recognizable. I probably only read one chapter in the late evening before my eyelids get heavy, but the re-establishment of this hobby has brought me immense joy lately. Joy is not necessarily in unrestrained supply as of late. To say there’s a lot going on in this wild world we live in would be a gross understatement, but this month, we reached far and deep to find some joy to share with you. Every single story and feature in this issue was curated through the lens of curiosity or novelty, because right now, what we can offer the world is a little joy. As we watched the Off-White FW22 fashion show – a tribute to the enduring creative genius of Virgil Abloh – the emotion felt over and over was joy. Mr. Abloh, knowing his time was near, dictated, annotated and WhatsApp-messaged his clear instructions for this collection and future collections to his creative team. We also go beyond the grave with our feature on cryogenics this month. Understanding fully that the technology may or may not come into existence anytime soon, more and more of us are opting to freeze our bodies cryogenically in hopes of a second lease on life. In “Dying to be (Not) Famous,” our trends contributor is on top of the Right to Be Forgotten, a rarely enforced or respected EU regulation that, when used correctly, should give users more control over personal data and potentially embarrassing content that lives infinitely on the Internet. And don’t we all have something we’d rather not see online? Best, Josh Jakobitz josh@pololifestyles.com
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VOLUME VI / ISSUE III / MARCH-APRIL 2022
carolinaherrerra Bright and gorgeous colors for spring and summer, perfect for VIP polo lounges this season
globalpolo and timmydutta Timmy Dutta shows us his backhand during the C.V. Whitney Cup, part of the Gauntlet of Polo
partnersinhealth
Dr. Paul Farmer passed away, leaving a legacy of humanitarian care and a get-it-done-spirit page 24
chapman_collection Very comfortable in Sally Chapman's original home decor designs from her workshop in South Africa
londonbreed San Francisco lit up blue and yellow in support of Ukrainian independence
royalsalute Royal Salute, a whiskey perfect for a quiet night or post-victory on the polo fields
experiencealula Saudi Arabia's tourism initiatives included the second annual AlUla Desert Polo tournament
haiti_polo_captain Sunday by the pool with reading material of choice for this polo player at home in California
giuseppezanotti Tone-on-tone COBRA sneakers from the Italian master of cool streetwear
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Click and comment on our choices... Tag @pololifestyles. We will share noteworthy comments with you next month.
equestriandesign "Everyone is a bit scared," said the horse, "But we are less scared together."
lagospoloclub The fast-paced Nigerian polo season is underway at the exclusive Lagos Polo Club
moetchandon If you're in London, stop by Violet Cakes for these thematic goodies for Valentines
experiencethefrenchriviera Real estate hits all-time highs in certain markets, including the French Riviera
mandrina.mx Dreaming of a winter getaway Mexico is a land of limitless options and choices for luxe stays
netjets Who's spoiled on the PJ? These four-legged family members wouldn't travel any other way
foundr It's March, so it's time to reevaluate our energy, priorities and passions with some guidelines
paularnholdglass
Bright and cheery, these glass cups and vases will bring a little spring into your kitchen and art de la table
shotbyud A gorgeous shot from The Bridge, an annual event in The Hamptons page 25
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NEW ZEALAND POLO OPEN
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P H OTO GRA P H S BY E VA E SP RE SSO
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NEW ZEALAND POLO OPEN
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P H OTO G RA P H S C O U RT E SY N Z P O LO O P E N P R
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D
MYSTERY CREEK TIGERS WIN NZ POLO OPEN
ESPITE THE BMW NZ POLO OPEN EVENT BEING CANCELED (DUE TO CURRENT COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS IN NEW ZEALAND) THAT WAS TO ATTRACT A CROWD OF OVER 6,000, THE POLO COMPETITION WAS ABLE TO CONTINUE IN AN AMENDED FORMAT WITH LIMITED SPECTATORS.
In a true competitive final that was held on Clevedon’s Smiths Lawn, Mystery Creek Tigers and 4CYTE contended for the prestigious trophy with Mystery Creek Tigers winning 12-8.
Best Playing Pony went to ‘Duchess’ played by Kit Brooks. Best Thoroughbred went to ‘Coke’ played by JP Clarkin and owned by Garth McKenzie.
The win for team Mystery Creek Tigers was the 4th NZ Polo Open victory together for JP Clarkin and Kit Brooks and the first for Garth Fraser and Bianca Drake. Player of the match went to JP Clarkin. page 31
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SNOW POLO WORLD CUP ST-MORITZ
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P H OTO G RA P HS C O U RT E SY N Z P O LO O P E N P R
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NEW ZEALAND POLO OPEN
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P H OTO G RA P H S C O U RT E SY N Z P O LO O P E N P R
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SNOW POLO WORLD CUP ST-MORITZ
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P H OTO G RA P HS C O U RT E SY N Z P O LO O P E N P R
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SAUDI ARABIA'S RICHARD MILLE ALULA DESERT POLO
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PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY ALULA DESERT POLO
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ALULA DESERT POLO P
SAUDI ARABIA'S PREMIERE POLO EVENT RETURNED TO THE DESERT
OLO IS A NEW SPORT IN THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA, BUT THE COUNTRY IS ALREADY HOSTING INTERNATIONAL EQUESTRIAN EVENTS. After the roaring success of two polo tournaments this year, Saudi Arabia is looking for other ways to solidify the presence of equestrian events in the kingdom. The second edition of Richard Mille AlUla Desert Polo — the only modern polo tournament in the world to be staged in a desert environment — took place on February 11 at AlUla, Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site. It formed part of the Royal Commission for AlUla’s commitment to reinforce Saudi Arabia’s cultural relationship with art and its horsemanship heritage.
Twelve players from four teams faced off over the two-day event, a mixture of professionals and invitees. There is a long-standing connection between equine culture and AlUla’s heritage, the Director of Special Initiatives at the Royal Commission for AlUla, AbdulRahman Alsuwaidan said. The commission is working on “connecting and preserving” this legacy. Last month, AlUla hosted two major equestrian events — The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Endurance Cup 2022 and the Richard Mille AlUla Desert Polo. Alsuwaidan said these world-class events are part of a larger, long-term commitment to develop the equestrian sector to the highest global standards with the view to making AlUla an international destination for equestrian sport and tourism. Polo may be a new sport in the Kingdom, but royal organizers have the
experience of bringing in international sporting events, such as F1, boxing and football games, among other events. The Richard Mille AlUla Desert Polo invited 18-year-old Saudi Prince Salman bin Mansour Al Saud to participate at the event. The award winning “Polo Prince” won the Most Promising Talent award. Alsuwaidan said the Royal Commission of AlUla plans to work closely with authorities and sports federations in relation to the equine industry. “Our aim is to create a sustainable economic sector covering three main pillars which are develop human capabilities and partner with key organizations and industry players, introducing and applying the best policies and standards for equine facilities and activities and developing priority equine facilities and infrastructure,” he said. In line with this ambition, he said, the Kingdom hopes to host the FEI
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY ALULA DESERT POLO
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SAUDI ARABIA'S RICHARD MILLE ALULA DESERT POLO
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY ALULA DESERT POLO
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SAUDI ARABIA'S RICHARD MILLE ALULA DESERT POLO
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Endurance World Championships. “With that, there would be a great opportunity across many areas for the local economy in AlUla. It’s a new era for sport in the kingdom, and to stage such an event would require a stellar infrastructure. “That is why a lot of our core objectives at present are focused on best practice in terms of animal welfare and all-round competition organization. With our infrastructure, the sports and leisure experiences for horse lovers, we
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are focusing on delivering opportunities to the local communities, creating skilled jobs for people which no doubt will be at the center of developing AlUla as a must-visit destination.” The equestrian sector is a key pillar of the RCU’s longer-term strategy, highlighting the monumental beauty of AlUla as a place that is unique in the Arabian Peninsula. He said polo has undergone a major transformation globally as participation among women in
polo has increased and “women have taken on more active and prominent positions in the sport”. “There is so much talent in the Kingdom, and our aim is to increase participation and inspire the next generation of athletes,” he added. The Saudi Polo Federation intends to continue to work to increase the profile and interest in desert polo and in the AlUla Desert Polo event, he said.
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SAUDI ARABIA'S RICHARD MILLE ALULA DESERT POLO
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY ALULA DESERT POLO
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THE GAUNTLET OF POLO THE C.V. WHITNEY CUP
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THE GAUNTLET OF POLO THE C.V. WHITNEY CUP
T I M M Y D U T TA page 54
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PA R K P L A C E R O D E T O V I C T O R Y
T
HE FIRST LEG OF THE 2022 GAUNTLET OF POLO® AND THE C.V. WHITNEY CUP® CONCLUDED ON SUNDAY ON THE U.S. POLO ASSN. FIELD 1 AT THE INTERNATIONAL POLO CLUB PALM BEACH WITH PARK PLACE AND SCONE MEETING IN A REMATCH OF LAST YEAR’S FINAL.
Behind a dominant second half, Park Place surged into the lead to claim the 14-11 victory and defeat Scone in the final for the second consecutive year. A match-up between the tournament’s best offense in Park Place and the best defense in Scone, it was the determined attack of the defending champions which proved to be the difference in the second half. Shooting 53% on 17 shot attempts, Park Place won the battle in open play, while matching Scone’s five
penalty goals. Hilario Ulloa was exceptional for Park Place, converting all three of his Penalty 4 attempts to finish with a game-high eight goals, while Britos contributed four goals as the other half of the formidable duo. Holding the father-son duo of Adolfo and Poroto Cambiaso scoreless over the final five chukkers, Park Place outscored Scone 9-3 in the second half to retain possession of the C.V. Whitney Cup®. Entering the game conceding one goal
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THE GAUNTLET OF POLO THE C.V. WHITNEY CUP
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on handicap after Josh Hyde was recently raised, Scone quickly extended that lead to three after consecutive field goals from Poroto Cambiaso.
Opening the second chukker with a Penalty 3 conversion, Scone maintained their three-goal advantage, but Park Place turned to the throw-in line to gain the extra possessions needed for a comeback. Winning eight of the first nine throw-ins, Park Place applied pressure on Scone’s defense with Ulloa adding two goals along with one from Josh Hyde to pull back within one. Young Keko Magrini made his impact on the game before the end of the half, producing a three-goal third chukker with a penalty conversion and scoring off a pass from Adolfo Cambiaso. As the halftime horn sounded, Scone held an 8-5 lead while containing the potent Park Place attack. P H O T O G R A P H S C O U R T E S Y G LO B A L P O LO E N T E R TA I N M E N T
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THE GAUNTLET OF POLO THE C.V. WHITNEY CUP
PA R K P L A C E D E F E AT E D S C O N E P O L O
Playing an otherwise disciplined match, Scone found themselves in foul trouble throughout the fourth chukker, allowing Park Place to fight their way back into the game. All four Park Place players received one foul, resulting in two penalty goals for Ulloa and a tied score at 8-all, leaving the title to be decided in the final two chukkers. Scoring on consecutive plays to begin the fifth chukker, Cody Ellis and Juan Britos gave Park Place their first lead of the game during a decisive stretch that left Scone trying to slow their attack. With the momentum in Park Place’s favor, Ulloa
scored two more goals to complete a run of seven unanswered goals and leave Scone trailing 12-8. However, before the end of the fifth chukker, Scone found their stride and Magrini scored two quick goals to bring Scone back within just two goals. Coming out of the chukker break Scone pressured Park Place to receive a Penalty 4 attempt and although they were unable to convert the opportunity, a Penalty 3 conversion from Magrini shortly after put everyone on edge with Park Place holding on to a slim 12-11 lead. Racing down the side of the field, Britos ran past the Scone
defender to finish with a neckshot just inside the post and quickly followed with a penalty conversion that secured the victory. As time ticked down to zero, Park Place celebrated the 14-11 victory as they remain C.V. Whitney Cup® champions for the second year in a row. Finishing with four goals and two assists, Britos was named Most Valuable Player while also claiming Best Playing Pony honors for El Overo Indigena, played in the second and fifth chukkers. The AAP Argentine Bred Best Playing Pony was awarded to Hilario Ulloa’s Lavinia Marea.
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DR. PAUL FARMER'S LASTING LEGACY The humble doctor was a champion for global health
P H O T O G R A P H S C O U R T E S Y PA R T N E R S I N H E A LT H
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DR. FARMER A TRIBUTE TO
D
R. PAUL FARMER, WHO DIED UNEXPECTEDLY ON FEB. 21 AT THE AGE OF 62 IN RWANDA, WAS ONE OF THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE I HAVE EVER KNOWN.
mote Cange, Haiti, where they not only cared for local residents, but also trained a team of community health workers to serve the surrounding areas. After he graduated, he practiced medicine in the U.S. for a few months a year to pay his bills, and devoted the rest of his time to the clinic in the Haitian highlands.
They also operate in 11 other countries, including Rwanda, where they partnered with the government to rebuild the nation’s health system, which had been destroyed during the genocide. Their facilities serve millions of people a year, most of whom live on less than a few dollars a day.
As co-founder of the global health and social-justice organization Partners in Health, Paul spent more than 30 years fundamentally changing the way health care is delivered in the most impoverished places on earth.
He lived there in a simple home with a tin roof, concrete floors, and no hot water, not so different from the converted bus he grew up in with his parents and five siblings in Florida.
My family is profoundly grateful to have long benefited from Paul’s many gifts, going back to the time Chelsea read his work at Stanford, reached out to him, and gained his mentorship and friendship. I’m honored to have worked closely with him in Rwanda through the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and in Haiti, first in bringing treatment to HIV/AIDS patients, and then after the 2010 earthquake when we led the U.N. Office of the Special Envoy for Haiti. For 20 years, I watched him make everything he touched better with his hardheaded evaluation of each and
Along the way, his fine mind, big heart, and relentless, infectious drive to do good—and have a good time doing it— inspired countless others to follow his example. While still a student at Harvard Medical School in the 1980s, Paul and his colleagues opened a one-room clinic in repage 64
Within a few years, the clinic’s work gained worldwide notice for bringing tuberculosis under control in the area, at about 1% the per-patient cost in the U.S. Paul and his colleagues then achieved similarly impressive results against HIV/AIDS. Today, Partners in Health operates 16 health facilities in Haiti, including a teaching hospital, and employs a local staff of nearly 7,000.
TRIBUTE BY BILL CLINTON / SPECIAL TO POLO LIFESTYLES
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every problem at hand, and his ardent conviction that even in the poorest places, even in the face of dysfunctional politics and violence, he could make things better. Paul treated every person he met with genuine compassion, kindness, and
dignity. He saw every day as a new opportunity to teach, learn, and serve. It was impossible to spend any amount of time with him and not feel the same. He also managed to become a wonderful husband, father, son, brother, colleague, mentor, and friend. His constant kind-
ness to, and support for, Chelsea as she built her own career in public health is just one of hundreds of examples of that friendship. To be his friend was a gift of grace. He was angry about the extreme inequities in health care and brought the consepage 65
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THE GILDED AGE page 70
TH E LON G -S TAN D IN G RU L E S O F A RCH IT E CTURE I N S PI R E D BY TH E G IL D ED AG E
GE
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PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY HBOMAX
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J
ULIAN FELLOWES’ NEW HBO SERIES DRAWS HEAVILY ON THE NEW YORK THAT EDITH WHARTON WROTE ABOUT IN THE LAST DECADE OF THE 19TH CENTURY, AND IN HER PIONEERING BOOK THE DECORATION OF HOUSES
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If you’ve been watching Julian Fellowes’ lavish new series The Gilded Age, set in New York in the final decades of the 19th century and featuring much marble, many digs about new money, and real historical characters combined with fictional creations, you might wonder at its similarity to certain of Edith Wharton’s novels. The truth is that it was the Pulitzer Prize-winning
Wharton—and most particularly The Custom of the Country, her novel about a ruthless social climber—who inspired Fellowes to be a writer. But Wharton’s first book, co-written with Ogden Codman, the architect she employed to work with her on her house in Newport, Rhode Island, was a treatise on decorating houses, titled, simply, The Decoration of Houses. An
BY FIONA MCKENZIE JOHNSTON
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ode to nobility, grace and timelessness, her ideas about proportion and simplicity are still the bedrock of any scheme, and the book has been described as the equivalent of the King James Version of the Bible. But first, Newport, where we saw Larry Russell pretending to play croquet in the first episode of The Gilded Age, having been tasked by his calculatingly ambitious mother with befriending Carrie Astor (a real person; the Russells, meanwhile, are based on the Vanderbilts, who were dependent on Mrs. Astor’s acceptance if they were to achieve their aims of joining the crème of New York society). Between the years of 1870 to 1910 or so, Newport’s waterfront was where some of the world’s wealthiest people owned summer ‘cottages’, and it is those houses that have been used for many of The Gilded Age interior scenes. The Russells’ Manhattan ballroom is in
fact the music room at The Breakers, the Renaissance-style palace built by Cornelius Vanderbilt II and his wife Alice, designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt (also a real person; though the fictional Russells did not use him, but Stanford White—again real—who genuinely designed Fifth Avenue mansions before being murdered at the Madison Square Theatre). The room itself was made in France, and then shipped over in the 1890s. Filming has also taken place at The Marble House, built by William K. Vanderbilt and his wife, Alva, to outshine The Breakers, also using Hunt. Modeled on the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis, only bigger, the façade was made from 500,000 cubic feet of white marble, while the dining room was modeled after the Palace of Versailles’s Salon of Hercules, and the ballroom after its Hall of Mirrors. While neither The Breakers nor The Marble House were influenced by
Wharton’s book—they were finished before The Decoration of Houses was published 1897—there’s a chance that they inspired certain passages, for her ideas on the dangers of the new (and their behavior) at face value look similar to Agnes van Rhijn’s; “The vulgarity of current decoration has its source in the indifference of the wealthy to architectural fitness,” she wrote. In fact, Wharton left Newport in 1899 when the view from her elegant octagonal sunroom was compromised by the construction of a house by a designer who clearly had not yet absorbed her design principles. And yet the ‘new’ that Wharton abhorred was the oppressive Victoriana of the time, and we think she might rather have admired the Russells/ Vanderbilts. (Though Consuelo Vanderbilt, daughter of Alva and William—who might therefore be Gladys Russell in Fellowes’ series—did not like Wharton. She wrote about
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meeting her in The Glitter and the Gold and complained that Wharton was studying her in a forensic fashion. Which, of course, she was.) Either way, there’s a good game of Edith Wharton bingo to be played while watching The Gilded Age, according to the rules below.
buildings in New York at that time, only a Methodist Church in Baltimore—then we too can march to our own tune and arrange our houses according to how we want to live, and “the more closely we follow this rule the easier our rooms will be to furnish and the pleasanter to live in.”
SETTLE FOR ONLY THE BEST…
SOME RULES CAN’T BE BROKEN
Use and buy the best you can afford— and if you can afford it, it is your civic duty: “When a rich man demands good architecture his neighbors will get it too. . . Every good molding,” writes Wharton, “every carefully studied detail, exacted by those who can afford to indulge their taste, will in time find its way to the carpenter-built cottage.” The Russells, obviously, have complied with this. Those society ladies really should have used their ballroom for that fair.
That said, there are universal regulations, which according to Wharton include avoiding unnecessary window dressings, ensuring privacy is afforded via doors that close (no open plan for her; also, doors should swing into a room, and screen the part of the room in which the occupants usually sit) and making sure tables are not “so littered with knick-knacks” that there isn’t room for books. She remarks that the drawing room in some houses “is still considered sacred to gilding and discomfort” and complains about the modern upholsterer who “pads and puffs his seats as though they were to form the furniture of a lunatic’s cell.” She also loathed extendable dining tables.
…BUT BE OUTWARDLY MODEST And yet . . “In town houses especially all outward show of richness should be avoided; the use of elaborate lace-figured curtains, besides obstructing the view, seems an attempt to protrude the luxury of the interior upon the street.” We don’t know what Wharton thought of the magnificent facades of those Newport cottages. Perhaps this rule didn’t apply by the sea, or only applied to curtains? Either way, these days billionaires have their houses removed from Google Street View, which could be seen as the modern equivalent. ORIGINALITY IS KEY “It seems easier to most people to arrange a room like someone else’s than to analyze and express their own needs. Men, in these matters, are less exacting than women, because their demands, besides being simpler, are uncomplicated by the feminine tendency to want things because other people have them, rather than to have things because they are wanted.” In other words, stop aspiring to whatever others have got. If the Russells could employ Stanford White— who, if we’re going to look at reality again, hadn’t yet designed any major page 74
DON’T OVERLOAD YOUR ROOMS WITH COLOR Next, “the fewer the colors used in a room, the more pleasing and restful the result will be. A multiplicity of colors produces the same effect as a number of voices talking at the same time. . . . continuous chatter is fatiguing in the long run.” Additionally, Wharton advised using the same materials for curtains and chair-coverings, which “produces an impression of unity and gives and air of spaciousness to the room.” We’re not sure the Van Rhijn house would pass; there are definitely rooms that have curtains in a different shade to the walls, and there’s a sofa that is a different color again. But worst are the stairs, which appear to have a patterned carpet. “It is fatiguing to see a design meant for a horizontal surface constrained to follow the ins and outs of a flight of steps.” We’re not totally with Wharton on all of this.
MARBLE IS KING Marble was a favorite material, and, Wharton wrote, ideal for floors, walls, bathrooms—well, everything. So perhaps the façade of The Marble House did pass muster, with its roughly $2.7 million of white marble shipped from a quarry near the Hudson river. The house also used yellow marble from Montagola in Italy (it lines the entrance hall) and pink Numidian marble that came from Algeria. DON’T FORGET THE CHILDREN We haven’t yet seen any nurseries or schoolrooms in The Gilded Age, but Wharton was adamant regarding the importance of their (good) design. “The room where the child’s lessons are studied is, in more senses than one, that in which he receives his education. . . . Daily intercourse with poor pictures, trashy ‘ornaments,’ and badly designed furniture may, indeed, be fittingly compared with a mental diet of silly and ungrammatical story-books.” Which is a wise lesson for all of us with progeny and all the more reason to make sure their bedrooms offer beauty. EACH ROOM HAS A PROPER PURPOSE Finally, the decoration of ballrooms and music rooms, which should be “quite separate from the family apartments, either occupying an entire floor or being so situated that it is not necessary to open them except for general entertainments.” Within this is essentially the lesson that each room should have its own purpose. “Nothing can be more cheerless than the state of a handful of people sitting after dinner in an immense ballroom with gilded ceiling, bare floors, and a few pieces of monumental furniture ranged around the walls; yet in any house which is simply an enlargement of the ordinary private dwelling the hostess is often compelled to use the ballroom as a drawing room.” Wharton was also more generous when it came to decorating a ballroom or a music room than she was with other
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parts of the house—it was the one place that you were allowed to go to town with moldings and gilding and painted ceilings and all the rest. We’re yet to see the Russell’s magnificent example
in action, but we do know that Mrs. Vanderbilt was eventually called on by Mrs. Astor when she gave a ball so grand and so magnificent that Carrie Astor was desperate to attend. There’s a
reason those decades became referred to as the Gilded Age, and we’ve a feeling there are a lot more good interiors to come.
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY HBOMAX
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PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY THE IMPRESSION
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S OT H E BY ' S VI RGIL AB LOH- DE SIGNED
LOUIS VUITTON x NIKE S N E AKE R S B R EAK AU C TION REC OR DS
I
N THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED AUCTION THAT MARKED THE FIRST-EVER RELEASE OF THE LOUIS VUITTON AND NIKE “AIR FORCE 1” SNEAKERS AND LOUIS VUITTON PILOT CASE CREATED BY VIRGIL ABLOH, THE 200-LOT SALE ACHIEVED A TOTAL OF $25.3 MILLION YESTERDAY—MORE THAN EIGHT TIMES THE AUCTION’S OVERALL $3 MILLION HIGH ESTIMATE.
In the most valuable charity auction hosted at Sotheby’s in 10 years, proceeds from the sale benefit The Virgil Abloh™ “Post-Modern” Scholarship Fund in partnership with the Fashion Scholarship Fund, which supports the education of talented students of Black, African American, or African descent.
The Nike Air Force 1, celebrating its 40th year, was designed in 1982 and is one of the most successful and iconic shoes ever created. On the occasion of the Louis Vuitton Men’s Spring-Summer 2022 runway show, Virgil Abloh collaborated with Nike to design 47 pairs of bespoke Air Force 1s, fusing the trainer’s classic codes with the insignia and materials of Louis Vuitton in homage to the hip-hop culture that shaped him. The sneakers were made with materials employed in Abloh’s Louis Vuitton men’s collections, and styled with his signature quotation marks, echoing the written graphics Abloh often used in his work. The individual styles designed for the show were made by Louis Vuitton in its shoe manufacture in Fiesso d’Artico, Italy. A total of 200 pairs are being made available for this auction in an exclu-
sive colorway and in a range of sizes. The sneakers, entirely made in leather, are embellished with Louis Vuitton’s emblematic Monogram and Damier patterns with natural cowhide piping. Each pair will be sold in a Louis Vuitton pilot case, exclusive to this auction. Reimagined in an orange colorway by Virgil Abloh for the Louis Vuitton Spring-Summer 2022 collection, the historic case timelessly blends a rigid yet supple exterior. Crafted from Taurillon Monogram Leather – a signature of many of Virgil Abloh’s leathergoods creations – this new interpretation is a testament to the inimitable savoir-faire of Louis Vuitton’s finest artisans. It features the Maison’s classic S lock closure in white metal finishing and a luggage tag in the shape of the Nike Swoosh, adapting to every shoe size, based on an internal cushion system. page 79
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LUXE
OF THE IRISH
S
W HETH ER YOU'R E TRAV E L IN G O R STAYIN G H O M E , C E L E B RAT E MA R C H 17 T H I N ST Y L E
AINT PATRICK’S DAY IS NEARLY UPON US, AND WE’RE EXCITED TO CELEBRATE IT IN A WORLD THAT’S LOOKING MORE AND MORE POST-COVID. AND AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR, WE’RE ALL IRISH!
When it’s not March 17th, almost 40 million Americans—11.1 percent of the total population—still report having page 82
Irish ancestry, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (Irish is the second most popular ethnicity that Americans claim, following German). An additional three million people separately identify as Scotch-Irish – their ancestors were Ulster Scots who emigrated from Ireland to the United States. Compare that to a current population of only 6.4 million on the island of Ireland itself. Here’s a quick primer for those who may not be fully up to speed on St. Patrick’s
Day and its traditions (but first, a fun fact: according to Statista, one in 161 Americans is named Patrick). The holiday began as a religious feast day for the patron saint of Ireland, marked on the day of his death. Ironically, St. Patrick wasn’t born in Ireland: according to the traditional narrative, he was born in England in the 5th century, and at age 16 he was enslaved by Irish raiders who transported him to the Emerald Isle and held him
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CHICAGO
there for six years. He later fled back to England, received religious instruction, and then returned to Ireland to serve as a Christian missionary. The record is clouded on whether he was Celtic or Roman by blood – turns out he may have been Italian, not British – further proof that it’s what we do, not where we’re born, that we’ll be remembered for. Legend has it that Patrick stood on an Irish hillside and delivered a sermon that drove the island’s snakes into the sea. While Ireland is actually snake-free, the History Channel assures us that scholars have concluded that the snake story is an allegory for St. Patrick’s eradication of pagan ideology. Another legend has it that he explained the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) using the three leaves of a native Irish clover, the shamrock. That’s how the tradition of wearing shamrocks and green on the day of his death originated. Until the 1700s, St. Patrick’s Day was a Roman Catholic feast only observed in
Ireland—the faithful spent the occasion in quiet prayer at church or at home. As Irish immigrants arrived in America in the 1840s, March 17th began to take on importance as a day to mark Irish pride; the day in the patron saint’s honor gradually came to be associated with anything related to Ireland. Today, 127 million Americans (56.3%, up from 44.1% just five years ago) say that they plan to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day – of those, over 80% will wear green; 40% will make a special meal, and 30% will attend a party. Collectively, they’re expected to spend $4.6 billion. In addition to the historical elements, we like to think of St. Patrick’s Day as celebrating creativity, spunk, and resilience, in the spirit of these famous children of Ireland: James Hoban, the architect who designed the White House; Grace O’Malley – the Pirate Queen – who personally convinced Elizabeth the First to free her and her family despite all the English loot they’d taken; Dorothy
Stopford Price, a physician who introduced a vaccine against childhood tuberculosis that is still used today; and Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese, both of whom served as Presidents of Ireland. Here are some ideas on how to make this year’s St. Patrick’s Day meaningful and memorable: VISIT BOSTON Of all U.S. cities, Boston is home to the most concentrated Irish population: 20.4 percent of the city’s residence are of Irish descent. In 1961, John F. Kennedy famously became the first Irish-American Catholic president, and greater Boston keeps his spirit alive in many venues, including the John F. Kennedy Museum and the Kennedy School at Harvard (fun fact: According to the Christian Science Monitor, Andrew Jackson is actually the U.S. President with the closest ties to the Emerald Isle: both of his parents were born in Country Antrim, and moved to America in 1765, two years before
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his birth). There’s a large St. Patrick’s Day parade (you can decide if you’re up for that). If you want a great historical overview of the impact of Ireland on the city, the best idea is to follow the Irish Heritage Trail – it’s a circuit through the main parts of town, easily walkable, that will show you all the high points. Other luxuries await that we urge you to experience while you’re in town, even though they have nothing to do with St. Patrick’s Day: the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; the New England Aquarium; and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. We recommend staying at the Four Seasons – with its excellent service, view over the Public Garden and proximity to Newberry Street shopping, it’s the perfect location for any adventure; our friends also love the boutique hotels XV Beacon and Nine Zero. SPEND SOME TIME IN CHICAGO An iconic annual St. Patrick’s image is Chicago’s annual dyeing of the Chicago River green. The practice started in 1962, when city pollution-control workers used dyes to trace illegal sewage discharges and realized that the green dye might provide a unique way to celebrate
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the holiday. That year, they released 100 pounds of green vegetable dye into the river–enough to keep it green for a week. Today, it’s green only for a few hours (it’s happening on March 11 this year, as is the annual parade). You cannot go wrong with the Chicago Four Seasons, the Peninsula, the WaldorfAstoria or the boutique Thompson Chicago. VISIT DUBLIN What better time to do this? Approximately 1 million people annually take part in Ireland’s St. Patrick’s Festival in Dublin, a multi-day celebration featuring parades, concerts, outdoor theater productions and fireworks shows. Whether you go for the holiday, or later, here are some key sites to see in Dublin: St. Stephen’s Green, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Phoenix Park, the James Joyce Bridge, Trinity College and Dublin Castle. For your hotel, the Shelbourne or the Merrion would both be great choices. If you have time, take a drive to the upscale coastal village of Dalkey; visit Glendalough, a 7th century monastery; see the Cliffs of Moher; and spend a night at Dromoland Castle in
County Clare. HOST A DINNER PARTY No time to travel? Have people over on March 17th (conveniently, it’s a Friday this year) and make some late-winter warming traditional dishes: Irish soda bread (which gets its name and distinctive character from the use of baking soda rather than yeast as a leavening agent); Irish stew (with Guinness stout, of course); or corned beef and cabbage (optional – it’s the clichéd meal but definitely not a necessity). Waterford crystal is a famous Irish export, as are fine Irish linens, so set a gorgeous table, and don’t feel obligated to make everything green. TAKE IN A MOVIE There are so many choices! There’s a plethora of actors, directors, writers and producers of Irish descent, plus movies set in Ireland or about Irish history. Here are a few ideas. George Clooney is Irish. So are Liam Neeson, Daniel Day Lewis, Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg, Ben Affleck, Drew Barrymore, Anne Hathaway, Julia Roberts, Bill Murray, Sean Penn, Harrison Ford, Michael Moore and Johnny Depp. Ditto actress
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MALAHIDE CASTLE
Judy Garland, actor Peter O’Toole, directors John Ford, Alfred Hitchcock and John Huston, and Gone with the Wind producer David O. Selznick. Classic films with Irish themes include My Left Foot, The Quiet Man, The Departed, Waking Ned Devine, Gangs of New York, The Commitments, and The Crying Game. COME TO NEW YORK CITY Greater New York has the largest Irish population in America: 12.9 percent of its residents claim Irish ancestry, which compares to a rate of 11.1 percent of the country overall. New York City also has the distinction of being host to the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade – it took place on March 17, 1762, and featured Irish soldiers in the English military. Today it draws over 200,000 participants and nearly 2 million people line the parade route, which runs along 5th Avenue from 44th Street to 86th
Street. A more genteel celebration can be achieved by visiting the Irish Hunger Memorial at the corner of Vesey Street and North End Avenue; or crossing the river to see the Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum. You should definitely make time to visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral – just not on March 17th. We’d stay a bit off the beaten path in midtown on this trip, as it will be a madhouse – instead, set up your luxurious base camp at the Ritz Carlton at Battery Park, the new 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, or the charming Walker Hotel in Greenwich Village. TEST DRIVE A LUXURY FORD Henry Ford, founder of Ford Motor Company, was Irish. You can kick it mogul-style while celebrating Irish business leaders by taking a Ford GT supercar out for a spin: it’s the most expensive car in the automaker’s history, costing about $400,000, and the company plans to
make only 250 of each year. LISTEN TO SOME MUSIC Three of the Beatles (Lennon, McCartney and Harrison) were of Irish descent. So are Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Kelly Clarkson, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Pink, Britney Spears, and Justin Timberlake. READ A BOOK Literature illuminates historical Irish experiences; revisit some of the world’s greatest poems; celebrate a playwright; or read a classic novel written by or about the Irish. As further proof that the world loves an excuse for a good party, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in many locations far from Ireland and America, including Japan, Singapore and Russia. So wherever you are, you’re likely to find someone willing to shout Erin Go Bragh! with you. page 85
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PHILANTHROPY IN FOCUS
UKRAINE
& ITS PEOPLE BY WILLIAM SMITH
A
S THE STAFF AT POLO LIFESTYLES WAS PUTTING THE FINAL TOUCHES TO THIS MONTH’S EDITION, THE WORLD WAS GREETED BY YET ANOTHER DAY OF IMAGES OF THE RUSSIAN ASSAULT ON UKRAINE AND ITS PEOPLE.
A
s of this writing, and within just the first days of the invasion, nearly 1,000,000 people have been displaced, fleeing from metropolitan centers and many to neighboring countries such as Moldova, Poland and Hungary. Soberingly, the United Nations
Refugee Agency estimates up to 4 million Ukrainians, nearly 10 percent of the population, could be displaced should Russia’s invasion continue and escalate. Many respected organizations have established funds where people can give to support the people of Ukraine in the immediate crisis. Here are a few suggestions: Center for Disaster Philanthropy International Rescue Committee UNICEF Ultimately, peace in Europe, and especially as it relates to the former republics
of the Soviet Union, including Ukraine and Georgia, both of which have come under attack from the resurgent imperial ambitions of Russia’s oligarchy, means building peaceful democracies. You can support the ongoing efforts to strengthen Eastern Europe’s nascent democracies by supporting the following organizations: National Democratic Institute Freedom House Atlantic Council WILLIAM SMITH PHILANTHROPY CONTRIBUTOR POLO LIFESTYLES 2022 page 89
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CRYONICS
A SECOND LEASE ON LIFE
I
T’S SAID THAT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT MAKES US HUMAN IS OUR AWARENESS OF OUR OWN MORTALITY, AND FOR NEARLY AS LONG AS WE’VE KNOWN THAT WE’LL ONE DAY DIE, WE’VE WONDERED ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF WAKING BACK UP.
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Stories about resurrection and immortality are found in countless religions and myths, and in recent years, many of these stories have hinged on the idea of cryonic preservation: freezing a body and then reanimating it in the future. If it worked for Han Solo, Captain America, and Fry from Futurama, why can’t it work for us? “[For] most cryonicists, there’s two
things you’ll find. We are sci-fi lovers, obviously. We’re also optimists,” said Dennis Kowalski, the president of the Cryonics Institute, a non-profit based in Michigan and one of a handful of companies worldwide offering its line of services. That optimism is important, because cryonic preservation and reanimation is, “100 percent not possible today,” ac-
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“EVEN IF IT DOESN’T WORK, WE’RE STILL ADVANCING SCIENCE, FIGURING OUT WHAT DOESN’T WORK. AND IF IT DOES WORK, OH MY GOD, WE JUST STUMBLED ACROSS A CURE FOR DEATH, AT LEAST TEMPORARILY.” DENNIS KOWALKSKI
cording to Kowalski. But, he said, “We’re not at the zenith of all of our knowledge right now, and we certainly have more to learn and to discover in the future.” Kowalski, a former paramedic, cites modern life-saving interventions like cardiac defibrillation and CPR as examples of how science can drastically change — for most of human history, people generally agreed that there’s no way to save someone whose heart has stopped. “And now,” he said, “it’s pretty darn routine.” Based on that premise — that someday, science will find solutions to biological damage that’s irreparable by today’s standards — the aim of cryonics is to keep bodies in a stable, preserved state until the necessary medical technology arrives. Even to its staunchest adherents, cryonics isn’t a guarantee; Kowalski described it as, “An ambulance ride to a future hospital that may or may not exist.” But he views the field as a sort of Pascal’s wager — we’re definitely going to die, so if there’s even an outside chance of prolonging life through cryonics, there’s nothing to lose and potentially a second lifetime to gain. HOW THE CRYONIC PROCESS WORKS When someone who’s made arrangements to have their remains cryonically preserved is declared dead, a medical team cools the body with ice water and keeps the body’s tissues oxygenated us-
ing CPR and oxygen masks. The ice-cold body is put in a hermetically sealed container and flown to the cryonics facility. (A note on nomenclature — freezing a cadaver is cryonics, not cryogenics. Cryogenics is the science and engineering of super-low temperatures.) At the cryonics facility, the team puts the body on a machine similar to a heart-lung bypass, circulating the blood and maintaining oxygenation. They pump in a vitrification solution that works like antifreeze to keep the body’s tissues from turning to ice crystals, in hopes of minimizing structural damage. Then, they slowly cool the body to -320 ℉ in a liquid nitrogen vapor chamber. Once it’s cold enough, the body is transferred to a Thermos-like tank of liquid nitrogen, where it’ll stay for the foreseeable future. The patrons’ fees (around $28,000 per person) maintain the institute’s endowment to keep the organization running in perpetuity. The bodies will wait in these tanks until medical technology (hopefully) is able to revive them. Kowalski says there are three challenges for this future tech to overcome: it’ll need to repair the damage done by freezing, cure whatever ailment originally killed the subject, and reverse the aging process so that the subject has a young, healthy body to enjoy in their second go-round. No one knows what that technology might look like; Kowalski’s best guess is tissue engineering and molecular nanotechnology
that will be able to repair and replace damaged tissues. Kowalski and his fellow proponents of cryonics recognize that it’s a tall order. But if you ask most cryobiologists — scientists who study the effects of freezing temperatures on living tissues for procedures like in vitro fertilization, stem cell therapy, and organ transplantation — about cryonics, they’ll just shake their heads. WHAT COULD GO WRONG “There is absolutely no current way, no proven scientific way, to actually freeze a whole human down to that temperature without completely destroying — and I mean obliterating — the tissue,” said Shannon Tessier, a cryobiologist with Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital. When scientists attempt to freeze a sample of living human tissue, like a slice of liver, “The tissue is completely obliterated, the cell membrane is completely destroyed. There’s actually no proof that you’re preserving anything, and that’s because the science is just not there yet.” There are animals that can survive being frozen and thawed, like Canadian wood frogs, but these organisms have evolved specifically to handle the pressures of freezing temperatures in a way that our bodies simply haven’t. Tessier said it’s page 93
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hard to imagine how our tissues could even withstand the process of being rewarmed, even with the benefit of a few centuries of scientific advances. “We did an experiment in the lab, a couple of years ago. We tried to vitrify a porcine heart, a whole pig heart. And, of course, the technology currently does not exist to rewarm the heart fast enough and, literally, the whole heart cracked in half.” The ability of our tissues to physically withstand freezing and thawing is just the beginning, said John Baust, a cryobiologist at Binghamton University, SUNY. When our tissues are chilled, the part that freezes is mostly pure water — the cells, salts, and organic materials making up our fluids are excluded. The left-behind cells undergo severe molecular stress. “There are genetic changes that occur,” said Baust, “That say to the cell, ‘Die.’” These instructions for cell death, called apoptosis, start well before freezing temperatures are reached. “For those of us who work in the area of
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freezing biological materials — mammalian cells, tissues, we’ve tried organs, and so forth — there’s just insurmountable problems,” says Baust. Cryonicists like Kowalski are well-aware of these criticisms. He argues that while these problems are insurmountable to us today, they may well be solvable in the future. It’s a point that’s definitionally impossible to rule out — almost like definitively proving that there’s no such thing as unicorns. “I don’t think anyone really can deny what the future might hold,” says Baust. “I don’t have all the answers. But I think skepticism is very reasonable.” ‘NOTHING TO LOSE’ Beyond arguments of what’s possible, or might be possible in the future, there lingers another question: even if you could be brought back, would you even want to? After all, you’d be stranded in a strange world, separated from everything that made your life worth
living in the first place. Anders Sandberg, a philosopher at the University of Oxford’s Future of Humanity Institute, likens the prospect of revival to being “a temporal refugee — you can’t survive in the present, your only chance is to kind of exile in a foreign land.” But for Sandberg, an advocate of cryonics who every day wears a medallion inscribed with his cryonic instructions, “Life is worth living. I really enjoy being alive. As long as that is true, I want to try to hang around. But it’s of course a gamble.” “You have nothing to lose, everything to gain. Other than some life insurance money. And for me, it’s worth it. It gives me peace of mind,” says Kowalski, who is signed up for cryonic preservation along with his wife and sons. “Even if it doesn’t work, we’re still advancing science, figuring out what doesn’t work. And if it does work, oh my God, we just stumbled across a cure for death, at least temporarily.”
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FASHION & STYLE
VIRGIL ABLOH'S LAST COLLECTION NYFW FALL-WINTER 22 MILAN FASHION WEEK: FENDI
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OFF-WHITE FW22 ECHOES
VIRGIL ABLOH’S SPIRIT
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T’S CRAZY TO THINK OF AN OFF-WHITE WITHOUT VIRGIL ABLOH. I MEAN, HIS NAME IS PART OF THE BRANDING. BUT THIS IS A BRAND TOO BIG AND TOO RELEVANT TO SLOW DOWN, LET ALONE SHUT DOWN, SO IT’S ONWARDS AND UPWARDS FOR FALL/ WINTER 2022.
This being the first Off-White show since Abloh’s passing in November 2021, there are big shoes to fill. However, no one is attempting to fit into them any time soon. Instead, Off-White™ parents New Guards Group, Farfetch, and LVMH are content to guide the brand with Abloh’s spirit.
Specifically, Off-White will be guided by the countless WhatsApp messages left behind by Virgil and shaped by the teams that already directed much of the brand’s output. “The number of ideas that we have directly from him — that were unmanageable on a daily, weekly and monthly basis [through WhatsApp] — it’s endless,” Off-White CEO Andrea Grilli said in a recent interview with Business of Fashion. “This is the legacy that we’re going to build around.” Abloh was, after all, the consummate creative director. He shepherded the right people to the right places and gave them ideas worth developing into product, rather than actually designing goods himself. The same teams are in place now that were in place when Abloh himself was overBY JAKE SILBERT
seeing Off-White and their jobs remain the same: bring Abloh’s vivid imagination to life. Grilli and New Guards founder Davide De Giglio have plans to bring in a creative “collective” for Off-White, similar to Jean Paul Gaultier’s rotating cast of collaborators and Maison Kitsuné’s Guest Designer series (this may or may not be the case at Louis Vuitton, where Abloh was artistic director). With this in mind, Off-White FW22 has no external director and remains an expression of Abloh’s creative id. The late Louis Vuitton artistic director›s final designs for Off-White hit the runway as part of its FW22 show, debuting alongside Off-White new «high fashion» collection (think approachable couture), beauty products, and collaborative Church’s shoes — all ideas that page 101
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OFF-WHITE FW22 Abloh cooked up and pursued prior to his death. At Louis Vuitton, this was reflected in a “final show” of sorts, complete with homages aplenty.
No such situation at Off-White, which isn’t bidding adieu to Abloh but simply viewing his output in reverent new light. FW22 is technically Abloh’s final show for Off-White, in that it’s the last one that he personally oversaw but his touch will forever grace all future designs.
The FW22 collection itself was a proper event filled with dramatic garments that pushed the limits of the word “clothing.” Strands of denim created an indigo-dyed ghillie suit, knit backpacks were tie-dyed vivid hues, sweaters were torn asunder by geometric holes, hats were page 103
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huge and occasionally horned. But that’s not to suggest that Off-White FW22 is entirely comprised of challenging apparel: fleece puffers, leather cargo pants, and weed leaf bags are
accessible to even casual fans, and the new Off-White beauty line (presumably represented by the “FACE” stickers) is a guaranteed moneymaker. So, it is crazy to think of an Off-White without Virgil
Abloh. But the label still says “Off-White c/o Virgil Abloh” and it’s not wrong. He may be gone but it’s still his brand. New clothes. Same brand. Same vision.
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MICHAEL KORS
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NE W YOR K FAS H IO N W EEK RECA P
LUXE LOOKS TAKING US INTO FALL-WINTER 2022
N
EW YORK FASHION WEEK CAME BACK IN FULL SWING, AND THE WORLD’S TOP DESIGNERS KICKED OFF THE FALL 2022 SEASON WITH A BANG.
While New York continues its gradual ascent to be competitive – both creatively and financially – on the international stage against bigger weeks like Milan and Paris, this season, in particular, also felt tuned in to the character and legacy of New York City itself, with designers
drawing inspiration from both its magic charm and its rough edges. Tory Burch layered on the layers in an ode to New-York femininity that made for her strongest collection in years. Khaite eschewed the digital glitz of trends while remaining impeccably “ofthe-moment” with a focused collection that was achingly, icily, cool. Gabriela Hearst demonstrated the haute power of sustainability with a collection that was earthy, androgynous, and meaningfully luxurious. Carolina Herrera takes home the top spot with creative director Wes Gordon’s romantic and colorful work (appropriately timed for Valentine’s Day), which made precise use of contrast to pair sexily form fitting cuts with expansive explosions of opulent fabric, rewriting the designer’s codes through his own forward-thinking language.
STYLE
TORY BURCH
GABRIELA HEARST
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BRANDON MAXWELL FW 2022
BRANDON MAXWELL FW 2022
CAROLINA HERRERRA FW 2022
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NE W YOR K FAS H IO N W EEK RECA P
STYLE BRANDON MAXWELL FW 2022
GABRIELA HEARST FW 2022
CAROLINA HERRERRA FW 2022
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MICHAEL KORS FW 2022
JASON WU FW 2022
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MICHAEL KORS FW 2022
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LAQUAN SMITH FW 2022
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LAQUAN SMITH FW 2022
LAQUAN SMITH FW 2022
LAQUAN SMITH FW 2022
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PRABAL GURUNG FW 2022
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NE W YOR K FAS H IO N W EEK RECA P
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TORY BURCH FW 2022
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FENDI AT MILAN FASHION WEEK
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STYLE
A
LONGSIDE GLENN MARTENS OF DIESEL, KIM JONES KICKED OFF MILAN FASHION WEEK WITH HIS FALL/ WINTER 2022 COLLECTION FOR FENDI. THIS SEASON, THE DESIGNER LOOKED TO THE LUXURY HOUSE’S ARCHIVES, SPECIFICALLY SHOWCASING REFERENCES TO THE BRAND’S SPRING 2000 COLLECTION.
“The best way to explore the Fendi archives is through the Fendi wardrobes,” Jones said in the show’s notes. In addition to the 2000 runway, he revisited the brand’s Spring/Summer 1986 collection with inspiration from jewelry designer Delfina Delettrez. Combining these two references, the designer incorporated sheer chiffon to dresses, two-piece sets, trousers and more, accompanied by long gloves and cropped jackets. For an added nostalgic touch, models accessorized with tinted oval glasses. Further standouts from the collection
included a pocketed belt that cinches the waist while holding essentials like a phone, as well as corset tops paired with midi-length skirts highlighted with chiffon detailing. As a continuation of Jones’ FW22 menswear collection, the “O’Lock” print was applied to select outfits. As for handbags, the runway celebrated the 25th anniversary of the iconic Baguette with three revived editions. Other silhouettes such as the Fendi First and oversized shopper took the spotlight as well. page 121
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MILAN FASHION WEEK - FENDI FW 2022
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DYING TO NOT BE
FAMOUS BRETT CHODY Trends contributor @brettchody
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EARLY EVERYONE HAS HEARD A VERSION OF THE DAUNTING CAVEAT ABOUT DIGITAL PERMANENCE: ONCE SOMETHING IS ON THE INTERNET, IT WILL BE THERE FOREVER AND CANNOT BE DELETED. EVERYDAY ACTIONS LIKE UPLOADING A PHOTO TO INSTAGRAM, LIKING A TWEET ON TWITTER, OR SHARING A MESSAGE ON FACEBOOK ALL ARE RECORDED IN A DIGITAL RECORD, WHETHER YOU DELETE IT AFTER-THE-FACT OR NOT. page 126
The world has seen politicians, celebrities, and other public figures taken down because of their past actions on social media. Just last year, renowned journalist Alexi McCammond, who built a name for herself covering the Trump presidency for Axios, was selected as the new Editor in Chief of Teen Vogue. But soon after her hiring, racist and homophobic tweets written by McCammond years prior resurfaced, sparking outrage within the Teen Vogue staff and across the country and forcing her to resign before she even started the position. American model Chrissy Teigen came under fire when news broke that she cyberbullied television personality Courtney Stoddon in 2011, sending her messages on Twitter urging her to take her own life. Teigen subsequently apologized, writing, “I was a troll. Full stop. And I am so sorry.” But digital permanence doesn’t just
affect those in the public eye. It’s a subliminal but powerful factor in millions of lives and can change the trajectory of someone’s life. What someone does online can make or break a potential job or college acceptance, affect personal relationships, and sometimes even ruin life as they know it. The Internet is a beast of its own nature and often common citizens cannot control what content goes viral and spreads like wildfire across the world, even if it’s against their own will. But lawmakers in the European Union have acknowledged the omnipresent unfairness surrounding digital permanence and have taken steps to allow European citizens the opportunity to remove content from the Internet that they wish not to be publicly accessible anymore. It’s called the “Right to be forgotten” law, also known as the right to erasure. It was enacted in 2014. The idea for the law stemmed from the sentiment that criminal convictions should be deleted from the Internet
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when someone who has served their time seeks employment, insurance, or other opportunities. Now that it’s a law, there’s a wider threshold for what type of information an individual can request to be wiped from the Internet. According to the General Data Protection Regulation in the E.U., an individual may request to have their personal data erased from websites if it’s no longer relevant or necessary, or if it falls into another category specified by law. But it’s not so cut and dry. While any individual in the E.U. can request for some of their personal information to be deleted with a form, an organization’s right to process that information may override their right to be forgotten. For example, if the information is being used to exercise freedom of expression or serves in the public interest, the organization may deny the right to erasure. That hasn’t stopped European citizens from trying to get their personal data
erased, however. Google said it received more than 650,000 requests to remove almost 2.5 million URLs from search results in the first few years after the law was enacted, but only 43 percent of the URLs were actually removed. As of now, the right to erasure only applies to applies to websites inside the European Union, and it looks like it will remain that way for the foreseeable future. The European Court of Justice ruled in 2019 that Google and other search engines only had to remove requested URLs for users inside the E.U. rather than globally. Here in the United States, the majority of Americans are in favor of the right to be forgotten. A study conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2019 found that 74 percent of U.S. adults say it’s important to keep things about themselves from being discovered online, with an overwhelming 85 percent believing that all Americans should have the right to
have potentially embarrassing photos or videos of themselves removed from public search results. Despite public opinion, it doesn’t look like Americans will be awarded the right to be forgotten anytime soon thanks to the country’s emphasis on First Amendment rights and the fact that it’s home to Google, which would most likely spend millions of dollars in litigation against it. That being said, regardless if you live in a country where you have the right to be forgotten or not, it’s absolutely imperative to be intentional about your actions online– no matter how trivial or arbitrary you think one may be. Once something is out there, it’s out of your hands and essentially impossible to remove under most circumstances.
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{PRIVATE VIEWING}
PATRON'S PLACE page 131
VERNISSAGE
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A S E R I E S B Y R A P H A E L K . D A PA A H I N T R O D U C I N G T H E - N E X T- B I G A R T I S T S T O T H E W O R L D O F A R T C O L L E C T O R S A N D C U R AT O R S
PATRON'S PLACE LAURA NUNEZ DEL ARCO & OLIVER ELST
OCCUPATIONS: CO-FOUNDERS OF PRIOR ART SPACE AND PRIOR NEXT GENERATION GEOGRAPHY: BERLIN AND BARCELONA RD: Tell us a bit about yourselves. Who are you, how did you first start collecting, and why? Laura: I’m a Spanish art collector specializing in artistic and creative direction across the fashion and art industry in Shanghai and Berlin. Art has always been my biggest passion and my way to understand the world, and make sense of life. In 2018 I founded the Del Arco Collection which is focused on supporting artists that explore female and self-representation, identity manifestation, belonging and gender portrayal.
The aim of the collection is to promote artists with narratives and visions concerning the representation of women, non-binary, LGTBQ+, and every gender identity subject underrepresented across the contemporary arts landscape. My collection intends to create a conversation with the viewer about shared stories, duality, body objectification, cultural belonging, genre stigmas, and self and social conflict. Oliver: I started first with editions from the German artist Gerhard Richter. As editions didn’t give me the same feeling as an original work of art I decided to start the Cuperior Collection. The word Cuperior describes the philosophy of the collection. The word is a combination of the Latin word cupere - to desire and prior - the precursor. My dad traveled a lot to Africa when I
was young, which left a lasting impression on me as he always showed me pictures from his travels which I found fascinating. The artists from across Africa show a completely different and unique perspective on their nations, identity and experiences, which inspired me to focus my energy and time on collecting contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora. In 2020 I expanded my collection to include a wider range of artists internationally. RD: How many pieces of art do you currently have in your private collections? Oliver: Together around 100 pieces. As patrons of contemporary art, how do you both go about acquiring work? Are your tastes in art similar or different? Laura: Luckily we have similar tastes, but sometimes we have different interests, which is why we collect together page 133
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but also separately. We are always trying to improve and sharpen our view and eye on art together. We spent most of our free time going to museums and galleries to see as much art as possible. It’s such luck to be able to share this passion with each other. RD: Which piece of art in your collections is your favorite, if any, and why? Laura: Nadia Waheed - Entering Eden because of the deep connection and the meaning of the piece to me. Oliver: Cinga Samson, Two piece 2, because of its marvelous painting technique and the concept behind the work. RD: Name three living artists you would love to include in your collection in future. Laura: Maria Fragoso, Haley Josephs, Sofia Mitsola, Robin Francesca Williams, and Tschabalala Self. Oliver: Jenny Saville, Alex Gardener, Lynette Yiadom Boakye RD: If you could have dinner with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be? Laura: Dead: Frida Kahlo; Alive: Marina Abramovich
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Oliver: Dead: Pablo Picasso ; Alive: Cinga Samson
Ballon, Elisabeth Glaessner, just to name a few.
RD: What is it about an artist and their work that attracts you the most?
In the second room of the space and in the context and focus of our art collections, we collaborate with galleries and artists. We curate monthly exhibitions for artists either already in our collection or on our radar, enabling them to exhibit their latest series of work in our space to an established art market.
Laura : For me, it is the personal engagement with the artwork and the reflection of my own story in it. The point of view given is essential to me. Oliver: For me, an artwork needs to drive and inspire me, in order to convince me. My decision to then acquire a piece comes from my gut feeling and instinct. There are of course describable factors such as the golden ratio, positioning and characteristics of an artist’s work; but also indescribable factors, like when an artwork expresses a sentiment or evokes an emotional response that captures the viewer and truly moves them. RD: You recently both co-founded and opened up a space in Berlin, PRIOR Art Space. Tell us a bit about the intention and plans for this new venture. Laura and Oliver: Together we founded PRIOR Art Space in Berlin, to display our collections to the public and promote artists from our collections. Some artists we have on display in our space are: Cinga Samson, Vivian Greven, Tyler
RD: What advice would you give to budding art collectors, especially couples, who want to start a collection? Laura and Oliver: Buy what you love and what your gut feeling says. Buy and collect as a couple but separately too. When you are about to buy a work, ask yourself whether you would be interested if the work had been placed or discovered in a very different context. Understand what the artist’s work is about and respect it. Don’t let the work die at home; lend it or donate to museums, exhibitions etc…it is a responsibility for a collector to do more for the artist than only to purchase. And finally but most importantly, train your eye by going to exhibitions often. Legacy and continuity is important to most family art collectors; do you plan
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to whet the cultural appetite of any future children you may have so that they continue where you have left off? Laura and Oliver: We hope our future kids will be as interested as us in art. We will give them the best guidance into arts and culture and transmit the passion for collecting art and visiting museums from a very young age. We
believe art can help you understand the world better. RD: Finally, who are the most recent artists that you have come across that fill you with excitement, and you expect will become stars? Laura: Vivian Greven, Grace Mattingly, Bambou Gili, Amanda Wall, Janine Brito, and Nadia Waheed
Oliver: Giorgio Celin, Igor Moritz, Tyler Ballon, Annan Affotey, No Martins, Tosin Kalejaye, Carlo Anselmi, and Isaac Mann. Discover more about Laura and Oliver’s collection at PRIOR Art Space/Berlin and on instagram
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MANSION OF THE MONTH
955 FIFTH AVENUE PH NEW YORK CITY 10028
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MANSION OF THE MONTH
995 FIFTH AVENUE PH NEW YORK CITY 10028
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TUNNING 5-BEDROOM PENTHOUSE DUPLEX WITH SPECTACULAR TERRACES, EPIC NYC VIEWS AND EXTRAORDINARY LIGHT. Perched high atop the Stanhope, this sun-drenched residence boasts tremendous garden-like terraces laid out by the brilliant landscape designer, Madison Cox. The triple mint condition aerie boasts an amazing 72 linear ft of frontage directly on Central Park and 10ft high ceilings. There is not a room within the 6,891sqft interiors that is not graced with lovely leafy outlooks. The overall feeling throughout the residence page 140
is pastoral and bucolic, and the views of the Park seamlessly merge into the vistas from the two very large west facing terraces. Encompassing 5,042sqft of exterior space, the five wraparound terraces convey a sense of absolute calm and serenity. Within the residence, the Dining Room with wood burning fireplace has a charming breakfast niche that appears to cantilever out over the terrace and Park, while the elegant corner Living Room overlooks the Reservoir. There is also a cozy wood paneled Library with a bay window. Then upstairs there is a lovely Study nestled amidst the environs of another massive terrace. Absolutely ideal for the grandest and most glamorous entertaining, the apartment is also perfectly suited to a lifestyle with
family and guests. The Private Quarters are comprised of 5 bedrooms that allow for absolute privacy, and each suite is impeccably appointed with a marble bathroom and fabulous closets. The bedroom suites also features French doors and sun dappled views of the terraces with arched allees, vine clad trellises, and verdant plantings. Additionally, there is a Powder Room, a Laundry Room, and a Chef ’s Kitchen along with an adjacent terrace with a vegetable garden & a grill. State of the art HVAC, FIOS and Crestron systems are seamlessly melded with the traditional prewar sensibility of this iconic Rosario Candela building. Impeccable Gym and Spa facilities and white-glove service are all included at The Stanhope.
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$50,000,000 BEDROOMS 6 | BATHROOMS 7 FULL AND 1 PARTIAL 5,891 SQUARE FEET
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NANTES PAYS DE LA LOIRE 44000 FRANCE
PRICE $29,967,206 USD BEDROOMS 8 / BATHROOMS 2 FULL INTERIOR 10,7639 SQ FT. / EXTERIOR 317.29 ACRES NANTES, PAYS DE LA LOIRE, 44000 FRANCE HUS STUD FARM This exceptional estate comprises not only a historic chateau but also one of France’s biggest equestrian facilities with page 146
the capacity to house approximately 400 horses. The castle has been restored and offers 1000 sq. meters of perfectly renovated living space including an indoor pool, a steam room and a gym. The spacious grounds comprise 128 hectares including private access to the River
Erdre, a 30-meter mooring, extensive equestrian training facilities including show jumping and dressage with 200 hectares extra rental. Restored outbuildings, helicopter pad and only 35 kilometers from the international airport. The sale includes 300 horses.
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CASTILLO CARIBE CARIBBEAN LUXURY IN THE CAYMAN ISLANDS PRICE UPON REQUEST
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OW YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL: LIFESTYLE, LUXURY, LOCATION AND LIMITED TAX LIABILITY. WITHOUT DOUBT CASTILLO CARIBE IS ONE OF THE FINEST BEACH-FRONT ESTATE HOMES IN THE WORLD OFFERING EVERY LUXURY FOR MODERN DAY LIFE WITH ALL THE LIFESTYLE OPTIONS ONE WOULD EXPECT FROM THE CAYMAN ISLANDS AND THE CARIBBEAN.
Although the Cayman Islands enjoy year-round sunshine and a temperate climate, this benefit is eclipsed in most people’s eyes by the Islands’ offshore status. The Cayman Islands are well known as a financial center on the world’s stage and provide the highest quality of lifestyle available in a tax
neutral environment, making it very appealing to people of high net worth to seek residency here - a position that is actively encouraged by the local government and, as a British Overseas Territory, is a very stable option. There are a number of destinations in the world that are able to offer offshore status to a greater or lesser degree, but the Cayman Islands have no local taxes whatsoever: no property tax, no income tax, no capital gains tax and no inheritance tax. Castillo Caribe offers a rare opportunity to combine this with privacy, security, luxury and lifestyle all on a pristine white sandy beach overlooking the crystal-clear waters of the Caribbean Sea. The space afforded here is too limited to provide adequate description of all the properties features and amenities, please request a detailed package by emailing: heather.carrigan@sothebysrealty.com
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In Closer A SearchLook of Solace at Minority Vintners
INSPIRING MINORITY
WINEMAKERS
Editor's Note: Cezar Kusik is very busy opening new wine concept restaurant in San Francisco, so we have given him some time off. We can't wait to visit his new haunt very soon and get a full report. He will return to Polo Lifestyles in April 2022.
yards in America and the vintners who run the business, along with details on how to buy their wine labels online. By the way, these would make great luxury gifts for the wine lover on your list!
OOKING TO SUPPORT MINORITY-OWNED BUSINESSES IN THE WORLD OF LUXURY? IF YOU LOVE FINE WINE, THIS ONE’S FOR YOU. WE’VE GONE IN SEARCH OF THE TOP MINORITY WINEMAKERS TO KNOW RIGHT NOW.
If you’re looking for luxury businesses and brands to support, look no further. All the way from Spain to California, stopping in Kansas and Brooklyn on the way, all of the wineries on this list have robust online ordering options.
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We have curated a list of some of the best minority-owned wineries and vinepage 152
A GROWING COMMUNITY OF MINORITY VINTNERS The Association of African American Vintners (AAAV), founded in 2002, currently reports having more than 30 vintner members. Even better? In a re-
cent interview, one of the organization’s board members notes: “Every day I find there’s another new African American– owned winery. We’ve had several join in the last few days. To me, that’s the difference. How many are there? Maybe there’s 60, maybe there’s 100. It’s still very small.” Still, it’s a start and a foundation upon which to build. Need further proof that minority-owned wine businesses are part of the zeitgeist? Look no further than Netflix’s spring 2020 film Uncorked. Starring Mamoudou Athie, Courtney B. Vance and Niecy Nash, it’s a family drama about a black son working in the wine business who dreams of becoming a master somme-
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lier. But his father runs a successful barbecue restaurant and wants to pass it on to his child. The film sparked lots of conversation, including about the paucity of minority-owned wine businesses and minority vintners. The ultimate solution is getting more of these businesses to launch and thrive – and that’s where you come in, dear reader. Send yourself a bottle of one of the wine labels on this list today, or find another minority-owned wine business and become a regular customer. Once we’re free to gather socially again, we’re totally having a wine tasting party featuring these labels. In the meantime, though, we’ll happily imbibe with the members of our bubble. Who are the top minority winemakers to know right now?
THEOPOLIS VINEYARDS If you look at any list of the best wineries in the United States, chances are Theopolis Vineyards is going to be at the very top. Founder Theodora Lee is also known as “Theo-patra, Queen of the Vineyards” and you can taste the royalty in every bottle.
can find their eleven signature bottles at their tasting room downtown, and even try their aptly named Union Station Chardonnay.
Located in the Yorkville Highlands of California, their grapes are the best you’re going to find, and the results are in their hand-crafted wine. You can join their monthly mail-order wine club ($65-$576), or order a bottle here ($22-$42). This Yorkville Highlands Pinot Noir, flavored with red cherry and rose, looks like a killer bottle to start your drinking.
And if you find yourself inspired, McDonald even offers a Wine Education program called “Wineucation,” so that you can get into the game yourself. If you’re at a distance, you can ship their wines ($19.99 – $49.99) to thirty-seven different states. We love their 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon.
JENNY DAWNS CELLARS
Founder André Hueston Mack was once the sommelier for many of New York’s finest restaurants. Well, lucky for you, he now sells his distinctive and flavorful creations online, so you can try these special blends yourself.
Jenny Dawn Cellars opened their doors in 2016, in the heart of Wichita, Kansas. Using grapes sourced locally and from California, founder Jennifer McDonald handcrafts all of their wine on-site. You
MAISON NOIR
And if you love his inventive style, his brand happens to double as a fashion line – so you can wear his signature look. You will never forget any of his wines ($25 – $185), but perhaps the most memorable is the 2020 “Knock on Wood Chardonnay” which features honeydew melon, pear and starfruit.
ESREVER WINES Founded by best friends Ashanti Middleton, Jasmine Dunn and Tyshemia Ladsonthree in Queens, New York, Esrever Wines is a passion project. And the brand behind one incredible wine. The name speaks to the founders’ desire to reverse the weekend and experience it a second time – and is in fact reverse, reversed. And their wine is good enough to help you time travel. A sparpage 153
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A Closer Look at Minority Vintners
kling blend of chardonnay and chenin blanc, it’s the kind of wine that feels like celebration and rest, no matter what day of the week you’re drinking. You can order a bottle here on Happy Cork.
ABBEY CREEK VINEYARD The first Black winemaker in the state of Oregon and one of the top black vintners in America, Bertony Faustin came to wine with a desire to leave his mark. And that’s exactly what he did. He forever changed Abbey Creek, creating the page 154
vineyard’s very first wine label in 2008. Since then, he’s made a documentary called “Red, White and Black,” as well as a stunning catalogue of wines ($30 – $100) of course. Not sure where to start? Give the Sparkling Blanc de Noir #JanelleMonáe a whirl.
MCBRIDE SISTERS The McBride Sisters have an incredible story: they were raised separately, one of them in New Zealand and one of
them in California. Though they had never met, they both grew up around vineyards, and both developed a love of wine. And now they are owners of the largest Black-owned wine company in the US. You can shop their signature “She-Can” cans and their bottles here ($16.99 – $72.16). If you’re just trying their brand for the first time, the cans are their trademark product, and definitely the way to start. Order a sampler pack to help you kick off happy hour.
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ALIGN WITH YO SPIRITUALITY · FAITH · QUESTIONS · GROWTH · FOCUS
MARCH TOWARD YOUR DREAMS
Spiritual contributor Jyoti Paintel will be back next month with an all-new piece and perspective... we can't wait to read it.
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HE WINTER’S FINAL NEW MOON IS RISING ON MARCH 2, AND IT’S FULL OF MAGIC, MYSTICISM, AND LOTS OF MANIFESTING MOJO. SERVING AS ONE OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF PISCES SEASON, THE MARCH 2022 NEW MOON WILL PLUNGE US INTO THE ETHEREAL WATERS OF OUR EMOTIONS AND MAKE OUR LOFTIEST DREAMS FEEL LIKE THEY’RE SUDDENLY WITHIN REACH. IF WE CAN CONNECT WITH THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF MARCH’S NEW MOON, WE CAN USE IT TO BRING MORE ABUNDANCE INTO OUR LIVES. New moons are all about embracing new beginnings in astrology, as they kick us off into a new lunar cycle each month. Because new moons are a reset point for the lunar calendar, they’re page 158
considered an ideal phase for planting new seeds in your life, launching new projects, or setting fresh intentions. That’s why manifestation rituals are so effective during these cosmic periods. The March 2022 new moon takes place in the sensitive sign of Pisces, so its spiritual meaning is about believing in your dreams and opening your heart to life’s ever-changing flow. If we’re willing to work with its power, the March new moon can bring us luck, growth, and healing.
WHAT’S THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF MARCH’S NEW MOON? This new moon kicks off a new month and sets the tone for the astrology of March 2022. At the time of this lunation, we’ll have four planets in Pisces — the sun, moon, Jupiter, and Neptune — forming what’s known as a stellium in astrology. This team of planets is especially significant, as Jupiter and Neptune are the traditional and modern ruling planets for Pisces. This is the only time in our lifetime that these two planets will be traveling together in their home-base sign, so with the sun and
moon here activating their presence, this lunation offers a time when we can deeply tap into the gifts of Pisces’ power. Pisces is an emotionally focused water sign, and it’s the twelfth and final sign of the zodiac. Its ethereal energy inspires us to go with the flow of life, embrace the full spectrum of our feelings, and connect with a sense of spiritual oneness. That said, this new moon is beautifully suited for spiritual introspection time. Dig deep within your heart and connect with your feelings as you set new moon intentions, and ensure your current goals aligned with the vibration of your higher self. It’s also an important time to practice empathy toward yourself and others, so move forward on all new endeavors with a deep sense of compassion. This new moon is giving us rose-colored glasses to look through, but it’s also giving us the tools we need to carry these rosy visions in reality. Because this new moon launches us into the last lunar cycle of the winter season, there’s also an emphasis on exploring new emotional territory. Pisces is a mutable sign, so its energy is all about accepting change and embracing transitions. Shifting gears in life can
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OUR PURPOSE IN SY N C W IT H YO UR V IB E
R E N E WA L · C O M M U N I T Y · S U P P O RT · E X P LO R AT I O N · E N E R G Y
be difficult, especially when it concerns matters of the heart, but with lucky planet Jupiter aligned with the new moon’s motivating vibe, we’ll probably be feeling idealistic about what unknowns are to come. Additionally, the new moon is forming positive sextile aspect to unpredictable planet Uranus, which means that whatever surprises that get thrown our way are likely to be helpful and positive rather than destabilizing. Trust the universe!
HOW TO WORK WITH THE MARCH NEW MOON ENERGY Connecting with the spiritual energy of this new moon is even easier than usual, thanks to the stellium of planets in
the mystical sign of Pisces that’s upping our intuitive powers. Pisces energy is associated with our subconscious, sleep, and dreams, so this is an ideal opportunity to try some new moon dream work. On the nights of, before, and after the new moon, set an intention before bed to remember your dreams, and focus on a goal or mantra that you’re hoping your subconscious can grant you insight into. When you wake up in the morning, immediately write down everything you remember from your dreams — descriptions of feelings, locations, energies, people, and situations, even if they seem trivial or silly. After three nights of new moon dream-logging, spend some time reflecting on the themes, symbols, or
recurrent images that came up in your dreams and get creative about applying them to your current situation. New moons naturally enhance our intuition, so you may be surprised by the meaning that comes through. Because of the heavily Piscean energy of this lunation, it’s also a beautiful time to connect with the element of water. Taking a candle-lit moon bath as you write your new moon intentions is a beautiful way to connect with the lunar energy and carve out some healing time for yourself. What images you see? What energies are you receiving? Keep your third eye open and see what messages find their way into your new moon experience. page 159
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MOLD YOUR MIND HUNT
TH E
G O O D
ST U FF
THE KEY TO BUILDING
LONG-TERM HAPPINESS JOEY VELEZ @joeyavelez88 Healthy Lifestyles Contributor
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F YOU LOOK AT ALL THE WORDS IN THE ENGLISH DICTIONARY, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WOULD FIND? THAT THERE IS ALMOST A 2:1 RATIO OF WORDS WITH A “BAD” CONNOTATION COMPARED TO THOSE WITH A GOOD ONE. But if you think about that, it makes sense. Society teaches us to focus on the negative more so than the good: media highlights the wrong in the world more so than the good, in school you receive plenty of feedback for what you did wrong, but not so much when you are right, and in business there is a focus on what is wrong and how to improve it. Another reason is that the impact of bad events are stronger than the impact of good events. People tend to think more and longer about negative events, positive emotional experiences tend to drift away more quickly, and you are better able to recall those negative events. While things may not always go your page 162
way, and not to discount the importance of focusing on ways to improve, searching for the good in your life has many benefits for your psychological well-being. This is more than just “looking at the bright side”, which may not always be effective. This is about creating positive emotions and how those positive emotions can unlock your mind.
IMPACT OF “THE GOOD” Making a deliberate effort to search for the good aspects of your life has been shown to have tremendous impact on psychological and physical well-being. In 2003, researcher Robert Emmons compared individuals who reported major life hassles versus individuals who reported on those things that made them grateful. What Emmons found was that those who reported five things they were grateful for felt better about their lives, were more optimistic about weekly expectations, had improved sleep, exercised more, and reported fewer physical complaints. The impact also reaches the younger generation, where researcher Maykel Verkuyten (2002) found that children who “count their blessings” experienced increased school satisfaction, which leads to increased academic and social success. Building positive emotions can lead to more creative thinking, better relationships, undo the impact of negative emotions, and enhance your resilience, all by making the effort to find
“the good” in your life. Both of these studies, and plenty of other research related to building positive emotion, focus on gratitude. A side effect of eliciting the positive emotion of gratitude helps you appreciate people and the smaller aspects of life. For example, I start my day by writing down three things for which I am grateful. Some pertain directly to a prior event and some are completely random, but what this process helps me do is start the day off on a positive note. Thinking about the people who impact my life, thinking about what I get to do that most people do not, such inner reflections provide me with the motivation I need to keep getting better every day. However, there was also a time when I could only focus on “the bad”, and it impacted my appreciation for the sport I love: Basketball. Things were not going my way and I began to not enjoy what I was doing, due in part to my only focusing on the negative, which was very upsetting to me. But then I started to journal about all the things I was grateful for, especially with basketball. This process helped me increase my connection with my teammates, helped me improve my productivity on the floor because I started focusing on what I was doing well, but most importantly, it helped me regain the love I had for the sport. All by changing the narrative away from “the bad” to “the good”.
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HUNT THE GOOD STUFF One strategy to help build positive emotions is to start or end your day by thinking about three things that bring you a deep sense of gratitude. These three things can happen that day, the previous day, or can be something that you are generally grateful for in life’s course. As you begin this practice, start by asking yourself a series of questions related to your good things: Why did this good thing happen? What does this good thing mean to you? What can you do tomorrow to enable more of this good thing? In what ways did you or others contribute to this good thing? Use these questions to get you started, but then adapt as you become more comfortable with the practice. You can also take this information and share it with another individual (if you are comfortable sharing). Verbalizing what you are grateful for not only heightens the positive emotions you will experience, but it can help strengthen the connection you have with another person because emotions are contagious. You will both feel better. You
will both be reaping the psychological and physiological benefits of positive emotions, and, like me, you will soon discover there is no better way to start or end your day. For example, right before I sat down to put the finishing touches on this column, I wrote down thing things that I was grateful for and am sharing them with you! One thing I am grateful for is my dog, Kobe. I live 2,000 miles away from home, so he provides much needed companionship at this pivotal point in my life. Another thing I am grateful for is one of my co-workers, Britt. She has provided me with an endless amount of support since I moved across the country, and I would not be the person I am right now without her. She has helped me grow in my career as a mental performance consultant, but she has also helped me grow so much as a person. Finally, I am grateful for this magazine in many ways. I am grateful for those who take the time to read this column each month; I am grateful to be a part of such a special team of writers, editors, and everyone else associated
with the magazine; and I am grateful to have a platform where I get to write monthly about something I am passionate about that could potentially help improve the lives of others.
THE WAY FORWARD As soon as you finish reading this, take a few minutes and think about three things you are grateful for in your life. You can write them out, say them out loud, or think them to yourself and take notice of how this process impacts your mood. Maybe even take that next step and go to a colleague, your spouse, or call a family member and go through this process together. To experience the benefits fully, make this process a habit. Make a deliberate effort the next 10-14 days to write or think about these three things. Whether it be in the morning or at night, whether by yourself or with another individual, individualizing this process will increase the likelihood of creating a new habit. There is more good in our lives than bad, you just might have to be more deliberate in searching for the good in order to change the way you view your world. page 163
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LIFE COACHING AND EXPERT
WELLNESS EXERCISES
BOOTY DYSMORPHIA (I LIKE BIG BUTTS AND I CANNOT LIE) JUSTIN "GOLIATH" JOHNSON Wellness contributor @goliathcoaches
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AM A BLACK MAN: 6’5”, BROWN SKIN AND 230 POUNDS. IN OTHER WORDS, I’M HARD TO MISS. GROWING UP, I NEVER FELT COMFORTABLE IN MY SKIN. MY INSECURITIES RAN DEEP: WE LIVED IN THE HIGH DESERT IN PALMDALE, CALIF. (NOT KNOWN FOR ITS DIVERSITY) WHERE BEAUTY WAS NOT REFLECTIVE OF HOW I LOOKED. The ideals – blonde or brown hair, light eyes, non-melanated skin – were not only things that were praised in my school, but also the images I watched on television. The perceptions of beauty in the late 80s and early 90s did not represent me page 166
and I felt lost and unattractive. It was unpleasant at best and coupled with the fact that we were basically lower-middle class. Food was always on the table, but my clothes were not new and my shoes were always worn down. I remember once for Halloween, my parents dressed me as a bum. Ingenious, really: it only took some of my older, worn-down clothes and was a very creative but extremely inexpensive costume. My classmates took note that I was taller than everyone else and bullied me about it. I never desired to be other than black, but by the time I got out of Palmdale, my self-love definitely needed some healing. Today, at 37 years old, I feel the most comfort I’ve known in my entire life. Throughout history, the desire to be desired is a recurring theme. Throughout the ages, we have physically changed ourselves to fit the narrative of the time. The histories of different cultures provide a unique insight into the influence what was desirable during different ages and times. We have gone to the extreme
to fit the perceived beauty of the moment. If you don’t believe me, look up feet binding, waist training, corsets, and elongating necks.
Chinese foot binding
But today, it’s different. When I left Palmdale, I left behind the perceptions from television and my classmates, finding comfort in my family. This was years before anyone had ever watched a TikTok. Now, perceptions of beauty follow us 24/7 through social media. From a young age, the use of filters and surgeries drill into our subconscious that we will not be desirable if we don’t match society’s definition of attractive. Through social media, we now have a collective and extremely consistent
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Body dysmorphia is a mental health disorder with more than 200,000 cases diagnosed each year in the United States.
playlists, the ideal of the big booty was redefining the epitome of a perfectly proportioned woman. Keeping Up with the Kardashians a decade or so later normalized the use of plastic surgery in the mainstream to achieve a beautiful aesthetic. Never mind that you can easily Google “(Insert sister) Kardashian before and after surgery,” to see the vast differences in proportions, shapeliness and angles. On FX’ “Pose,” Candy injects who-knows-what into her backside to plump it up, resulting in a lumpy result and ensuing infection. No matter the outcome, the truth of the matter is that very few women naturally possess the curves considered “ideal” by the image-shaping crowd So what has this societal addiction to body modification done to our culture? Besides investing thousands of dollars in surgeries and procedures, these addictions have warped our reality, denigrating us to the limited parameters and magic of Instagram filters. We, as a collective, start to believe in our own false reality. We look in the mirror and nothing we see is enough. That envy has the potential to turn into a self-hatred, making it nearly impossible to see otherwise.
A Victorian corset
Neck elongation techniques
reminder that you are not as good as “fill-in-the-blank.” You’re not shapely enough, your skin is too light, your hair is too kinky or too straight. We scrutinize every part of ourselves, competing with an unattainable ideal of perfection.
Mainstream media had never paid much attention to the derriere before this point. Culturally the booty has always been an attraction point for black and brown people, but it was not glorified as a universal treasure.
In the early 90s, Sir Mix-A-Lot rapped, “I like big butts and I cannot lie,” perhaps more than a little ahead of his time, shining attention on the sexual exploitation of the gluteus maximus.
Society’s exploitation of melanated people’s physical attributes in the modern age alone can be traced back centuries. Now, ushered in by pop music, rap culture and radio station’s Top 40
So we change, we sell ourselves for a dream, we let go of what’s really important to “look” important. The instant gratification of the filter has taken us further and further away from real beauty. All of us are different, with unique attributes and special qualities to offer. We cannot continue to allow media and the outside world to set our inner self-worth. I, too, like big butts and I cannot lie, but what I like more, and am ultimately attracted to, is what makes you, you. JUSTIN “GOLIATH” JOHNSON WELLNESS CONTRIBUTOR POLO LIFESTYLES 2022 page 167
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