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“Ladies and gentlemen. This is your captain speaking. Today we will be landing at London City Airport. We’ll find heavy rain and low ceilings. Crosswind is 18 knots and moderate turbulence is reported. Of course, your Falcon 7X will handle these conditions with ease, so sit back and enjoy your flight. We’ll be on the runway shortly.”
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CONTENTS / FEATURES
Managing Director Victoria Thatcher Editorial Director John Thatcher Group Commercial Director David Wade david@hotmediapublishing.com Commercial Director Rawan Chehab rawan@hotmediapublishing.com Deputy Editor Richard Jenkins richard@hotmediapublishing.com Features Editor Lara Brunt lara@hotmediapublishing.com
Forty Six
Fifty Six
Like A Hawke
Renta-crowd
Boyhood star Ethan Hawke opens up about his own past and why he’s happy on the fringes of the A-List.
Behind-the-scenes of Oscar de la Renta’s Fall 2015 collection by Peter Copping.
Fifty Two
Sixty Two
Belle Of The Ball
Margot For It
Schiaparelli ambassador Farida Khelfa is a real-life runaway with an inspiring rags-to-riches story.
The Aussie actress on acting alongside Leo and her sizzling chemistry with Will Smith.
Senior Designer Andy Knappett Designer Emi Dixon Business Development Manager Rabih El Turk rabih@hotmediapublishing.com Illustrator Andrew Thorpe Production Manager Chalitha Fernando -8-
THE LONDON JEW ELLER
CONTENTS / FEATURES Eighteen
Seventy
Radar
Gastronomy
The desire for design remains strong in Dubai as d3, an interactive experience, opens.
AIR chats to the man who holds the keys to the world’s only Michelinstarred Thai restaurant.
Twenty Six
Seventy Four
Art & Design
Travel
MoMA’s Björk retrospective opens in New York, and Elliott Erwitt is honoured in London.
Meet André Balazs, the man behind hotspots from Chateau Marmont to the Chiltern Firehouse.
Thirty Six
Jewellery Neil Lane creates masterpieces for the stars, worn on red carpets around the world.
Forty Two
Timepieces Bulgari celebrates 40 years of watchmaking with new interpretations and a hitech concept watch.
Sixty Six
Motoring Morgan Motors are at the vanguard of retro-chic high performance automobiles.
Tel: 00971 4 364 2876 Fax: 00971 4 369 7494 Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from HOT Media Publishing is strictly prohibited. All prices mentioned are correct at time of press but may change. HOT Media Publishing does not accept liability for omissions or errors in AIR.
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AL BATEEN Welcome to the April edition of AIR magazine, your own personal guide to Al Bateen Executive Airport, its developments, its people and the latest news. This issue will take you on a journey through Al Bateen’s facilities and offerings which aim to deliver the best quality services for its customers from aircraft operators, aircraft owners and pilots. We look forward to welcoming more and more visitors throughout 2015, and we remain committed to providing the highest level of private aviation services to our customers from all over the world. On behalf of AIR and the entire Al Bateen team, we wish you a safe journey wherever you may be heading to. We look forward to welcoming you again to the region’s only dedicated business aviation airport. Ali Majed Al Mansoori, CFA Chairman of ADAC
April 2015
WELCOME ONBOARD
Contact details: albateeninfo@adac.ae albateenairport.com - 13 -
AL BATEEN NEWS
a STORY of SUCCESS
How Al Bateen has made great strides in over half a century of service
A
l Bateen Executive Airport, the dedicated business aviation airport of Abu Dhabi Airports, began operations in the 1960s as WKH ÂżUVW PDLQ LQWHUQDWLRQDO DLUSRUW in the UAE capital, until Abu Dhabi International Airport was opened in 1982. Al Bateen was then initially converted into a military air base that operated until the end of 2008, when Abu Dhabi Airports took over the management of the airport and transformed it into a world class executive facility. It currently has stand capacity for up to 90 private MHWV DQG RSHUDWHV IDVW DQG HIÂżFLHQW turnarounds. There are no holding
patterns and, with short taxiing times and a strategic location in the heart of Abu Dhabi, it is within easy reach of the city’s major businesses and leisure facilities. Al Bateen has since witnessed a steady rise in the number of visiting executive jets. Most recently, in 2013, the airport reported an 18% increase in visiting aircraft WUDI¿F DQG D LQFUHDVH LQ WRWDO FRPPHUFLDO DLUFUDIW WUDI¿F FRPSDUHG to 2012. This growth demonstrates the success of the airport in attracting corporate and VIP clients. The emirate of Abu Dhabi plays host WR D QXPEHU RI KLJK SUR¿OH VSRUWLQJ and cultural events throughout the year and many of the visiting VIPs land at Al Bateen Executive Airport. 7R VXSSRUW WKH LQFUHDVLQJ LQÀRZ
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AL BATEEN NEWS
of visitors, a range of new services have been introduced at Al Bateen Airport, such as a new aircraft cleaning service provided by Falcon Aviation Services (FAS), a partnership with Emirates Transport Services and new fuel uplift services. These services are coordinated and offered by DhabiJet, the airport’s Fixed Base Operations (FBO) service provider. DhabiJet brings together all of the requirements for business aviation customers visiting the executive airport, under the management of a single highly trained DhabiJet customer service team. The team acts as a single point of contact for all requirements and works consistently hard to provide the fastest possible services time ‘door to door’ for passengers and crew. Its range of services also includes the meeting and greeting of passengers, refueling, aircraft cleaning services, ground handling, transportations and hotel arrangements. Catering is provided by gategroup of Switzerland, through its ‘Executive Gourmet’ catering facility, offering world class hospitality and catering services to meet the tailored requirements of elite passengers and private jets. For the last three years Al Bateen
Airport has hosted Abu Dhabi Air Expo, the only general aviation exhibition in the Middle East. Air Expo showcases key developments that relate to private aircraft, helicopters, general aviation manufacturers, airport equipment and services, pilot training schools, DYLRQLFV LQVXUDQFH DQG ¿QDQFLQJ It has rapidly become one of the key events in the global business aviation calendar, a testament to Al Bateen’s unique status as the only airport of its type in the region. In February 2014, the third Air Expo attracted a record number of visitors (almost 17,000, a 30% increase on the previous year) and enabled sales worth more than AED5 billion to be generated. Al Bateen Airport is also the home of Gulf Centre for Aviation Studies (GCAS). Since its establishment in 2009, GCAS has provided training for many thousands of aviation professionals, not only Abu Dhabi Airports’ own staff, but also other delegates from all around the world. This has not only been crucial in developing skills and raising operating standards, but GCAS has also in the process established itself as a leading expert in the provision of skills and the raising of standards - 16 -
more generally in the global aviation industry – a huge endorsement of its expertise. Development of professional skills, and especially the employment and training of UAE nationals, is vital to the future both of Abu Dhabi Airports and that of Abu Dhabi as a whole. In this regard, an especially important initiative was the launch of Al Eqla’a train-tohire programme last year, a graduate training programme dedicated to Emiratis and overseen by GCAS. It is the only such training of its type in the region and will play a key role in the harnessing and development of local talent. GCAS also hosted 250 students at this year’s Air Expo, giving them a tour of the show and RI LWV IDFLOLWLHV LQ WKH KRSH RI ¿ULQJ their enthusiasm and interest in a career in aviation. The transformation of Al Bateen Airport in the last six years has thus been nothing short of phenomenal. From having operated for many years as a military base, it has had to change its capabilities to cater for an entirely different sector, demanding the highest standards of customer service. It has rapidly become one of the world’s leading executive airports, a fact for which Abu Dhabi can be proud.
> When it comes to art, Dubai isn’t letting Abu Dhabi have everything its own way yet. As the annual Art Dubai and Design Days Dubai fairs in the city draw to a close, the grand finale comes in the form of “d3”, an open-tothe-public community event from April 2-4. Curating the experiential dining experience is award-winning restaurateur Mourad ‘MOMO’ Mazouz. He collaborates with pop artist and close friend Hassan Hajjaj to deliver a whimsical restaurant decked out with his trademark style of recycled North African objects and pop-culture reference, creating a colourful, unforgettable experience of their own region and a feast for all the senses. - 18 -
MR M. MAZOUZ, Courtesy of Gusford Gallery, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
RADAR
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Film Furious 7
Dir: James Wan 3DXO :DONHU¶V ¿QDO ¿OP DQG WKH seventh instalment in the longrunning fast car franchise. AT BEST: “A smorgasbord of speed, stunts and shooting.” Auto Blog AT WORST: “For Vin Diesel, who was extremely close to Walker, completing the production without his friend was H[FHHGLQJO\ GLI¿FXOW ” Extra
The Woman in Gold
Dir: Simon Curtis Helen Mirren plays an elderly Jewish survivor of World War II that sues the Austrian government for stolen artwork. AT BEST: “Helen Mirren elevates the material with her usual aplomb.” Hollywood Reporter AT WORST: “Opportunities are missed to explore the conundrum, controversy and morality of the art restitution struggle.” Telegraph
Desert Dancer
Dir: Richard Raymond In the volatile political and social climate of 2009 Tehran, a group of dancers start a secret dance company in the Iranian desert. AT BEST: “Male-star Reese Ritchie looks and dances like a young Michael Jackson.” Hollywood Reporter AT WORST: “While some dramatic scenes are clunky, Desert Dancer still comes across as a creditable effort.” SCMP
Child 44
Dir: Daniel Espinosa At a grim outpost in 1950s Soviet Russia, a disgraced agent and his wife aim to capture a serial killer. AT BEST: “Tom Hardy has never met an accent he didn’t like, and in Child 44 he gets to take mid-century Russian out for a spin.” 6ODVK¿OP AT WORST: “Clearly, Child 44 is not being seen as a contender, and probably plays as more a genre piece than anything else.” Indiewire - 21 -
CRITIQUE
Theatre
F
or theatregoers looking for a sprinkling of stardust, the Gerald Schoenfeld theatre in New York has exactly what’s required – undisputed master of her craft Helen Mirren, reprising her role as Queen Elizabeth II in a new play by Peter Morgan, The Audience. Alexis Soloski of The Guardian writes: “There was some concern that American audiences wouldn’t understand the play, but that always struck me as misguided. Morgan is a perfectly able writer and he pops enough relevant details into each scene to locate the ignorant and congratulate the informed. He doesn’t seem to have made too many alterations to the original script but he seems to have added a brief Blair appearance and some son et lumière at the FORVH RI WKH ÂżUVW DFW MXVW VR you know it’s Broadway.â€? Marilyn Stasio of Variety was impressed by Mirren’s evolution of her character, and writes: “Mirren is positively endearing as the young Queen Elizabeth, eagerly addressing Sir Winston Churchill (Dakin Matthews, eerily realistic) DW KHU ÂżUVW DXGLHQFH ZLWK a list of informed and thoughtful questions about the state of the postwar Empire — only to be told rather brusquely, in one of the more riveting scenes in the play, that her role is to shut up and listen to him. Over the years (and through a number of lightning-quick onstage costume and wig changes), Lilibet, as Churchill affectionately calls the \RXQJ PRQDUFK EHFRPHV D VKUHZG MXGJH RI FKDUDFWHU and adept at maintaining the rigidly noncommittal political stance expected of her.â€? Until June 28. Kevin Spacey’s dominion of London’s Old Vic has been one of the runaway success stories in stage. His twelve years as the venerable theatre’s artistic director may be drawing to a close, but his legacy will outlast us all. The return run of Spacey’s mesmerising incarnation of Clarence Darrow is a triumph, says Dominic Cavendish of the Telegraph, who also says: “This remains a
masterclass in how to woo an audience. Spacey’s ability to connect with those watching in-the-round, and his complete ownership of the space, is second to none. A conspiratorial glance, the twinkling of a narrowed eye, D ÂżVW VKDNHQ LQ YHKHPHQW LPSDVVLRQHG EHOLHI Âą DQG ZH DUH KRRNHG LQ WKUDOO WR WKLV UXPSOHG VWRRSHG ÂżJXUH ´ 0DWW 7UXHPDQ RI 9DULHW\ ZDV MXVW DV LPSUHVVHG ZLWK Spacey’s performance, a valedictory run through quality material. He also praised the themes in the work, writing: “Spacey gets to give voice to big, noble liberal ideals. ‘The cause of crime is poverty, ignorance, hard luck and, generally youth,’ he booms. ‘I speak for that long line of men and women who, in darkness and despair, have born the labors of the human race.’ It’s practically impossible to side against anyone who says such words.â€? Until April 11. For a clear-cut and accessible version of one of Shakespeare’s more twisting tragedies, Halifax in the UK is the place to go. The Viaduct Theatre is currently staging a performance of King Lear that “sends out little splinters of insight,â€? says Dominic Cavendish of The Telegraph. He says: “There’s a virtue to the simple sense here of a capable director exploring a classic with an actor and company he admires. Some might scoff at the early Jacobean costumes and the lack of a signature concept, but I liked the modesty and clarity of the venture: it VHQGV OLWWOH VSOLQWHUV RI LQVLJKW Ă€\LQJ WRZDUGV \RX ´ 7KDW very reliability, however, leads Ian Shuttleworth of the Financial Times to retort: “The approach is simple and uncluttered (in this case, nipped and tweaked to come in at under three hours, a pleasant surprise for any Lear), but also lacking substantive insight or individual perspective. Miller sets the action in the early 17th century, rather than pre-Christian England, but this has little impact on the staging. It is also oddly thin on subtlety.â€? Now touring various venues around the UK until June 13.
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CRITIQUE
Art The 19th-century Parisian art dealer credited with creating the modern art industry is the focus of Inventing Impressionism, a new exhibition at The National Gallery in London. So universally popular are the Impressionists today, it’s hard to imagine a time when Monet, Degas, Manet, Renoir, et al weren’t revered. But in the early 1870s they struggled to be accepted. Shunned by the art establishment, they were even lambasted as ‘lunatics’ by one critic. But thankfully Paul DurandRuel knew talent when he saw it. Realising the fashionable potential of their derided ‘impressions’ of
urban and suburban life, DurandRuel dedicated the rest of his life to building an audience for their work. “Without him,” said Monet, “we wouldn’t have survived.” The exhibition features 85 masterpieces from the movement, all but one having passed through DurandRuel’s hands, including three of 5HQRLU¶V IDPRXV 'DQFHV DQG ¿YH from Monet’s Poplars series. It is “a superb exhibition in every respect”, declares The Guardian’s Laura Cumming. “The art is sensationally beautiful – and it is enduringly radical. That is the whole point of the show. The curators want us to
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see this art with new eyes – no small task given the blinding familiarity of some of these scenes.” The Independent’s Karen Wright delights in the “spectacular” artworks, but ¿QGV WKH SUHPLVH RI WKH VKRZ ± WKDW without the singular determination of the dealer our art history might be quite different – “borderingon-crass”. She says, “I only wish our nose had not been rubbed in this theory so often. Do not allow my quibbles about presentation to prevent you from enjoying the treasures in this wonderful show.” However, the Telegraph’s Alastair Sooke believes the exhibition gives well-deserved recognition to the man who almost bankrupted himself to bring about the movement. “Everyone thinks they know what Impressionism is. But this is why Inventing Impressionism is so clever – because it offers an enterprising, fresh take on a familiar subject,” he says. Until May 31. Bringing the local art scene right up to the minute is Scotland-born, up-and-coming artist Charlie Anderson, whose style of working in billboards has seen him collaborate with Beatles drummer and art expert Ringo Starr, as well as luxury online store Mr. Porter. Anderson’s work will be available to view and purchase at a new exhibition in Dubai’s Street Art Gallery, curated by Stef Valici, from April 24. Laura Bannister of Russh Magazine says: “Anderson’s images are reactions to culture, to the moments and movements of right now that build up on billboards and brick walls as hundreds of paper messages, only to be partially hidden or replaced. The most rewarding facet of his artistic practice is technique, as he mimics this process through paint, curating the fragments of messages that peek WKURXJK WR KLV ¿QDO FRPSRVLWLRQ ´ *HW LQ RQ WKH JURXQG ÀRRU ZLWK DQ exciting, vibrant and talented young artist who is going places fast.
Books Following the success of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train comes The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer. Will the debut novelist’s work prove just as gripping? It tells the story of the abduction of eight-year-old Carmel – the red-coated girl of the title – by a man who claims to be her estranged grandfather. As Beth, her mother, desperately searches for her, Carmel realises that her kidnapper has not taken her at random: he believes she has a special gift. Narrated alternately by Beth and Carmel, “it keeps the reader turning pages at a frantic clip,â€? says Celeste Ng in The Guardian. Carmel’s sections hold most of the action of the story, but by telling these sections in a child’s voice, “Hamer VHWV KHUVHOI D GLIÂżFXOW WDVN DQG at times they come off somewhat stilted,â€? says Ng. “In other places, Carmel is repetitive – realistically childish, perhaps, but frustrating for WKH UHDGHU ´ 7KH IDWDO Ă€DZ KRZHYHU may be the “aimless, dreamlike qualityâ€? of her captivity. “Characters drift in and out of the narrative like ghosts. Again, this stylistic choice helps to convey Carmel’s mental state – but the tension sometimes Ă€DJV ´ %XW +DPHUÂśV QRYHO DLPV WR EH more than a thriller, and “the real heart of the book is not its suspense, but its explorations of grief and how we weather it,â€? says Ng. The Financial Times’ Isabel Berwick agrees that it’s a page-turner that “keeps the reader hooked – and awake into the small hoursâ€?. On one level the narrative is simply a race against time, although, “the momentum falters a little in the Beth chaptersâ€?, as the character’s life is on hold, which Hamer marks by naming the days and then years since Carmel disappeared. “Beyond that, those looking for more literary sustenance may enjoy the way the story is subtly threaded through with all sorts of allusions to religion and the unseen world,â€? says Berwick.
After a debut novel is published to critical acclaim and commercial VXFFHVV WKH ÂľGLIÂżFXOW VHFRQG QRYHOÂś should be approached by readers with perhaps a certain amount of caution. AD Miller’s debut Snowdrops was a bestseller that was also shortlisted for the 2011 Man Booker prize; will his second outing, The Faithful Couple, hit the same heights? The faithful couple of the title are not, as one might expect, happily married to one another, but two friends, Neil DQG $GDP ZKR ÂżUVW PHHW LQ when they are two English youths travelling in California. The story follows them across two decades, through girlfriends and wives, success and failure, children and bereavements, as power and remorse ebb between them. California binds them together, until - when the full truth of what happened there in their youth emerges, bringing recriminations and revenge - it threatens to drive them apart. It is “gripping, affecting and memorable, a novel that manages the dual feat of being entertainingly and intelligently ‘readable’,â€? says The Financial Times’ Malcolm Forbes. “If Snowdrops was accomplished but light, then its superior follow-up Ă€DXQWV LWV LQVLJKW DQG FRPSOH[LWLHV and impresses with its skilled portrayal of two men trying to stay DĂ€RDW DQG WRJHWKHU WKURXJK WKH turbulence of modern life.â€? The Guardian’s Colin Barrett says the novel is “explicitly an examination of maleness, and the consoling rivalry of male friendship. It is also about how men use women, sometimes overtly but mostly subtly.â€? As an exploration of the paradoxes and limits of male friendship, it is “a thoughtful, frequently witty and insightful bookâ€?, but as a novel it is “overmediated, too often insisting on making all the connections for the reader, instead of letting us make them for ourselves,â€? he says. - 25 -
ART & DESIGN
The
Sound of Music As a major retrospective of Icelandic singer Björk’s work opens at New York’s MoMA, AIR looks back at the history of one of the world’s most compelling artists
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The Face, Photo by Glen Luchford. Images courtesy of Wellhart and One Little Indian
Images courtesy of Wellhart and One Little Indian
ART & DESIGN
B
efore anything else, there was The Sugarcubes. The multiinstrumentalist Icelandic alt-rock band burst onto the international scene in 1987 with the crossover hit Birthday, following that up with three albums before disbanding in 1992. Most members of the band drifted off into individual interests – some elsewhere LQWR WKH PXVLF EXVLQHVV VRPH LQ QHZ ¿HOGV HQWLUHO\ And one decided to go it alone as a solo artist – BjÜrk Guðmundsdóttir. Twenty-two years later, after a career of stellar highs, critically acclaimed work and boundary-pushing avant JDUGH DUW %M|UN ¿QGV KHUVHOI WKH UHOXFWDQW VXEMHFW RI D major exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art,
celebrating her impact on the world of music. BjĂśrk, who has homes in New York, London and Iceland, spoke with 7LPH 0DJD]LQHÂśV ,VDDF *X]PiQ DERXW WKH GLIÂżFXOWLHV WKH exhibition faced. She said: “It’s tricky for a musician to be in a visual museum. To take someone on a musical journey, like a musician’s development, how you change in 20 years’ time. That’s the experiment.â€? ([SHULPHQW LV GHÂżQLWHO\ WKH ULJKW ZRUG %M|UN offers an experience of music in many layers, with instruments, a theatrical presentation, an immersive sound experience, a focused audio guide, and related visualizations—from photography and music videos to new media works. The exhibition draws from more than 20 years of the artist’s daring and innovative career, beginning with her eight full-length albums and - 28 -
multiple collaborations with directors, photographers, designers, artists, and other experimental practitioners, DQG FXOPLQDWLQJ LQ D QHZ LPPHUVLYH PXVLF DQG ¿OP experience commissioned by MoMA. The exhibition was conceived and organized by Klaus Biesenbach, the Chief Curator at Large at MoMA, and was the product of a close collaboration between Biesenbach and BjÜrk. It brings together a chronology of sounds, videos, objects, instruments, costumes, and images that express the artist’s overarching project: her music. Chronologically, the exhibition begins with WKH UHOHDVH RI %M|UNœV ¿UVW PDWXUH VROR DOEXP 'HEXW LQ
the singer to take part. He told Rolling Stone: “I DVNHG %M|UN IRU WKH ÂżUVW WLPH LQ LI VKH ZRXOG EH thinking, considering about doing an exhibition in the contemporary art world, and her question was ‘How do you put music into a frame and how do you put it on a pedestal?’ We started talking and her condition, her challenge to me, was saying ‘Try to make an exhibition, a visual museum, that’s obviously primarily about music.’â€? Biesenbach added: “I hope that a visitor will take away that music is as personal as it is art.â€? The curator’s wish appears to have been granted, and so has BjĂśrk’s – and then some. The exhibition is clearly
‘Alcoves containing some of BjĂśrk’s more outlandish stage costumes line the walls of the gallery space, drawing guests ever-more into the singer’s world’ 1993, and proceeds through her career up to her most recent work in 2015, including a new video and music installation commissioned especially for the Museum, Black Lake (which also appears on her new album, Vulnicura). What’s interesting about BjĂśrk, who is almost the ultimate culmination of a female solo artist, is that she never wanted to be a solo artist at all. She told GuzmĂĄn: “I was in bands from when I was 15. I preferred being in a group. But I think what happened to me – the music in the band I was in wasn’t my taste. I love the people in it – we still text each other all the time. We all run this label in Iceland called Bad Taste, and they’re still like my best mates. But as a music nerd, I just had to follow my heart, and my heart was those beats that were happening in England.â€? The exhibition has been a long time in gestation. Biesenbach had spent over a decade trying to convince
about the singer’s music, but also brings in so much more than that. It’s housed inside a two-story, black painted pavilion inside MoMA, and its coup de grace LV WKH PLQXWH DXGLR WRXU RI WKH VHFRQG Ă€RRU ZKHUH visitors don a headset and listen to spoken narrative written by Icelandic poet SjĂłn and read by actor MargrĂŠt VilhjĂĄlmsdĂłttir, a fable about a young girl venturing into new kingdoms. Eventually it transpires that the tour is taking you through BjĂśrk’s solo career from its beginning to the current date. Video clips, alcoves containing some of BjĂśrk’s more outlandish stage costumes and paraphernalia line the walls of the gallery space, drawing guests ever-more into the singer’s world. Far from signaling the end of BjĂśrk’s music career, the exhibition is billed as a “midcareer survey,â€? and is unmissable for music fans that want to understand how this mysterious singer from Iceland came to rule the world. On show until June 7, moma.org
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ART & DESIGN
Elliott’s
WAY The 2015 Sony World Photography Awards will be honouring one of the medium’s most talented practitioners, Elliott Erwitt. AIR spoke with Astrid Merget, creative director of the World Photography Organisation, about the photographer’s craft
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1 © Elliott Erwitt / MAGNUM PHOTOS
2 Š Elliott Erwitt / MAGNUM PHOTOS
ART & DESIGN
“H
ow can I describe a picture? You look through your VWXII \RX ¿QG VRPH JRRG SLFWXUHV \RX SULQW WKHP What’s there to describe?� It’s fair to say that Elliott Erwitt is not the world’s easiest interviewee, as World Photography Organisation creative director Astrid 0HUJHW IRXQG RXW 6KH VSRNH ZLWK KLP DKHDG RI WKH DQQRXQFHPHQW WKDW WKH \HDU ROG ZDV VHW WR UHFHLYH the Outstanding Contribution to Photography honour
'HVSLWH KDYLQJ IRUWXLWRXVO\ PLVVHG RXW RQ PRVW RI WKH GLI¿FXOWLHV RI WKH 6HFRQG :RUOG :DU (UZLWW HQGHG XS LQ WKH DUP\ DQ\ZD\ ¹ EXW QRW DV D VROGLHU +H ZDV a photographer’s assistant while stationed in France DQG *HUPDQ\ ZKHUH KH ZDV DEOH WR KRQH KLV FUDIW DQG DOVR VWDUW SHUIHFWLQJ ZKDW ZRXOG EHFRPH KLV FDOOLQJ card: black and white candid shots of ironic or absurd situations, within everyday or occasionally grave VHWWLQJV ¹ D PDVWHU RI ZKDW +HQUL &DUWLHU %UHVVRQ WHUPHG WKH ³GHFLVLYH PRPHQW ´ 'XULQJ WKLV WLPH KH PHW DQG ZDV KXJHO\ LQÀXHQFHG E\ IDPRXV SKRWRJUDSKHUV
‘Throughout the 1950s and ‘60s, Erwitt was in the right place at the right time to capture some of the era’s most iconic images’ DW WKH 6RQ\ :RUOG 3KRWRJUDSK\ $ZDUGV DQG IRXQG LW PRUH WKDQ D OLWWOH KDUG JRLQJ Âł$ WUDLW WKDW VWURQJO\ GHÂżQHV (OOLRWW LV KLV DYHUVLRQ WR WKH VSRWOLJKW LQFOXGLQJ LQWHUYLHZV ´ VD\V 0HUJHW Âł+H LV ÂľD PDQ RI IHZ ZRUGV Âś DV \RX PLJKW ÂżQG KLP EHLQJ GHVFULEHG E\ RWKHUV WLPH DQG WLPH DJDLQ DQG KH GRHV QRW OLNH PDQ\ TXHVWLRQV ´ (UZLWW ZDV ERUQ LQ LQ 3DULV )UDQFH ,Q MXVW EHIRUH WKH RXWEUHDN RI ::,, WKH (UZLWW IDPLO\ Âą ZKLFK ZDV RI 5XVVLDQ RULJLQ Âą HPLJUDWHG WR WKH 86$ 7KH \RXQJ PDQ XVHG KLV (XURSHDQ XSEULQJLQJ LQ KLV VWXGLHV RI SKRWRJUDSK\ DQG ÂżOPPDNLQJ DW /RV $QJHOHV &LW\ &ROOHJH DQG ÂżQLVKHG KLV HGXFDWLRQ LQ DW WKH DJH RI
OLNH (GZDUG 6WHLFKHQ 5REHUW &DSD DQG 5R\ 6WU\NHU The latter hired Erwitt to work on a photography project IRU WKH 6WDQGDUG 2LO &RPSDQ\ ZKLFK ZDV KLV ÂżUVW IRUD\ LQWR SURIHVVLRQDO ZRUN 7KLV WKHQ OHG WR WKH \RXQJ SKRWRJUDSKHU MRLQLQJ WKH 0DJQXP 3KRWRV DJHQF\ LQ ZKLFK DOORZHG KLP WR VKRRW SURMHFWV DURXQG WKH ZRUOG DQG FDWDSXOWHG KLP WR ZRUOGZLGH IDPH 7KURXJKRXW WKH V DQG Âľ V (UZLWW ZDV LQ WKH ULJKW SODFH DW WKH ULJKW WLPH WR FDSWXUH VRPH RI WKH HUDÂśV PRVW LFRQLF LPDJHV ZKHWKHU LQ DGYHUWLVLQJ RU SKRWRMRXUQDOLVP +H EHFDPH IDPRXV IRU KLV VWXGLHV RI 3DULVLDQ GRJV DV PXFK DV KLV SURÂżOHV RI ZRUOG OHDGHUV D WHVWDPHQW WR KLV H\H IRU WKH XQXVXDO KLGLQJ LQ ZKDW
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1. FRANCE, Paris (1952) 2. Jacqueline Kennedy at John F. Kennedy’s funeral, November 25, Arlington, Virginia, USA (1963)
3 © Elliott Erwitt / MAGNUM PHOTOS
3. Elliott Erwitt, New York, USA (1999)
appears on the surface to be quite mundane. Photo essays of Marilyn Monroe are what he’s asked about most often in interviews, and part of his talent was summed up in 2006 article for the Sunday Times, when journalist Lesley White said: “With his cuddly grey sweater, his glasses and freckles, he looks like a little boy who has aged but not really grown up rather than a veteran photojournalist approaching his 80th year. He has been married four times and you can see his appeal to women: he looks as if he needs looking after, though of course his pictures depend on a boldness and self-reliance that have seen him gatecrash
meetings of world leaders (de Gaulle, Brezhnev, Kosygin) VR FRQ¿GHQWO\ WKDW QRERG\ QRWLFHG ´ Erwitt will receive his award on April 23 at the Sony World Photography Awards Gala Ceremony, which will be followed by an exhibition of his work at London’s Somerset House. Merget believes that photographers young and old can learn from Erwitt’s career, and says: “Elliott is entirely unique and independent in every way. Photography is part of his very fabric, but he also clearly separates what he calls his ‘hobby’, from his client work. To most, there will be no noticeable difference between WKH WZR 7KDW LV ZKDW PDNHV KLP D PDVWHU ´ - 33 -
ART & DESIGN
S
ince the inaugural Sotheby's Contemporary Art Doha auction in 2009, the sale has continued to break ground - and records. Following the success of last year's sale, which achieved record prices for 13 artists, the auction returns to Doha on April 21. The sale includes a selection of highcalibre works from leading Middle Eastern and international contemporary artists, including Anish Kapoor, Chant Avedissian, Ayman Baalbaki and Manal Al Dowayan. It ZLOO DOVR IRFXV RQ DUWLVWV ZKR DUH UHGH¿QLQJ contemporary art through a global dialogue, many of whom are being introduced in the UHJLRQ IRU WKH ¿UVW WLPH Highlights include Anish Kapoor’s Untitled (est. $800,000-1.2 million) from the artist’s pixelated disk series, another one of which sold at last year's sale for $1,595,000 against an estimate of $700,000-900,000 – the highest price achieved for a work by the artist in the Middle East. A bold, graphic Christopher Wool work, Untitled (est. $1-1.5 million), is also expected to attract spirited bidding. Created between 1986-1987, the work is one of the artist's most sought-after pattern paintings made using UROOHUV LQFLVHG ZLWK ÀRUDO GHVLJQV WKDW DUH transferred onto an aluminium canvas. Further highlights include El Anatsui’s Introvert (est. $700,000-1 million), a found aluminium and copper wire installation, and Ali Banisadr’s The Shrines from 2011 (est. $100,000-150,000), which appears at auction just six months after Sotheby’s set a record for the artist for The Chase in the previous Doha sale. The sale also includes a rare and early peau relief by Farid Belkahia, Morocco's foremost artist. Made up of parchments stretched into organic shapes and adorned with magical symbols and rituals, Untitled carries an estimate of $40,000-60,000.
QATAR CALLING
As contemporary art returns to Doha this month, AIR previews Sotheby’s forthcoming sale - 34 -
2.
1.
3.
1. ANISH KAPOOR (b.1954) 'Untitled', stainless steel 230 x 230 x 45cm Executed in 2008 Estimate: $800,0001,200,000
2. ALI BANISADR (b.1976) 'The Shrine', signed and dated 2011, oil on panel 91.5 x 76.5cm Estimate: $100,000150,000
- 35 -
3. FARID BELKAHIA (b.1934) 'Untitled', signed and dated '81 trice, pigment on vellum, in six parts 100 x 200cm Estimate: $40,00060,000
JEWELLERY
- 36 -
In The Fast Lane Annabel Davidson meets the man who makes Academy Award-winners’ jewels
- 37 -
JEWELLERY
E
very year as the stars step out of their cars to reveal their Oscars frocks, jewellery lovers focus their eyes on wrists, ¿QJHUV HDUOREHV DQG QHFNV KRSLQJ IRU D FORVH XS RI VRPH RI WKH IDEXORXV MHZHOV ZRUQ E\ WKH DWWHQGHHV 7KH FDPHUDV QHYHU JHW FORVH HQRXJK WR WKH URFNV IRU P\ OLNLQJ EXW , VWLOO JHW D WKULOO IURP VSRWWLQJ VRPH KRW QHZ GHVLJQHU¶V HDU FXII RQ $QJHOLQD RU D YLQWDJH &DUWLHU EUDFHOHW RQ 0HU\O HYHQ LI LW UHTXLUHV PXFK XVH RI WKH SDXVH EXWWRQ DQG EUHDNLQJ P\ RZQ UXOHV DERXW QRW JHWWLQJ WRR FORVH WR WKH 79 %XW LI WKHUH¶V RQH GHVLJQHU ZKRVH ZRUN LV DOZD\V VHHQ DW WKH $FDGHP\ $ZDUGV LW¶V 1HLO /DQH 7KH %URRNO\Q ERUQ /$ EDVHG MHZHOOHU¶V QDPH LV V\QRQ\PRXV ZLWK +ROO\ZRRG KDYLQJ OHQW VROG DQG FUHDWHG SLHFHV IRU DOO WKH ZRPHQ - 38 -
ZKRVH IDFHV DSSHDU PRVW RIWHQ RQ WKH ELJ VFUHHQ IURP (OL]DEHWK 7D\ORU WR -HQQLIHU *DUQHU ³,¶YH ZRUNHG ZLWK VR PDQ\ EHDXWLIXO ZRPHQ DW WKH 2VFDUV ´ /DQH VD\V ³)URP $QJHOLQD -ROLH DQG +DOOH %HUU\ WR $QQH +DWKDZD\ DQG .DWH +XGVRQ MXVW ODVW \HDU ± LW¶V KDUG WR WKLQN RI ZKR ZDV ¿UVW %XW RQH RI WKH ¿UVW FHOHEULWLHV , FDQ UHPHPEHU GUHVVLQJ ZDV 5HQHH =HOOZHJHU 6KH FDPH LQWR P\ VWRUH DQG VDLG WKDW VKH ZDQWHG D UXE\ DQG GLDPRQG ULQJ 6KH GLGQ¶W HYHQ KDYH KHU GUHVV ¿QLVKHG EXW VKH NQHZ VKH KDG WR KDYH WKLV SLHFH , PDGH KHU D EHDXWLIXO ULQJ DQG VKH ZRUH LW ± VKH HYHQ JDYH PH D VKRXW RXW ZKLFK ZDV DPD]LQJ 7KH EHVW SDUW WKRXJK ZDV WKH QH[W GD\ ZKHQ , UHFHLYHG D KDQGZULWWHQ QRWH IURP 5HQHH WKDQNLQJ PH IRU WKH ULQJ DQG VD\LQJ WKDW VKH FRXOGQ¶W VWRS VWDULQJ DW LW DOO QLJKW ´ )RU /DQH WKH SURFHVV RI GUHVVLQJ D star in his jewellery starts months or PRPHQWV EHIRUH WKH DFWXDO FHUHPRQ\ EXW DV KH H[SODLQV WKHLU VW\OLVW LV NH\ ³,
KDYH JUHDW UHODWLRQVKLSV ZLWK WKH VW\OLVWV ´ KH VD\V ³7KH\ DSSUHFLDWH WKDW , XQGHUVWDQG ZH DUH FROODERUDWLQJ WR FUHDWH DQ DPD]LQJ ORRN 7\SLFDOO\ ZH KDYH WKH FHOHEULW\ DQG VW\OLVW come into the store to check out some pieces DQG VHH ZKLFK MHZHOV ZLOO EHVW FRPSOHPHQW WKHLU RYHUDOO ORRN +RZ LW DOO FRPHV WRJHWKHU GHSHQGV RQ KRZ PXFK WLPH ZH KDYH 2QH \HDU ZH JRW WR ZRUN ZLWK .DWH :LQVOHW DQG ZH PDGH WKHVH EHDXWLIXO HDUULQJV WR FRPSOHPHQW KHU GUHVV 6KH FDPH WR XV YHU\ HDUO\ RQ ZKLFK ZDV JUHDW DQG VKH ZDV UHDOO\ H[FLWHG DERXW WKH ZKROH SURFHVV ´ %XW LW¶V QRW DOO DERXW FUHDWLQJ EHVSRNH pieces for Lane, who is also a true jewellery D¿FLRQDGR ZLWK KLV RZQ FROOHFWLRQ RI YLQWDJH SLHFHV ³,¶YH HYHQ ORDQHG SLHFHV IURP P\ SULYDWH DUFKLYDO FROOHFWLRQ OLNH , GLG ZLWK -HQQLIHU *DUQHU D IHZ \HDUV DJR ´ KH VD\V ³,¶YH DOZD\V EHHQ IDVFLQDWHG E\ SHULRG MHZHOOHU\ :KHQ , ZDV \RXQJHU , ZRXOG SLFN XS OLWWOH SLHFHV WKDW , ORYHG DQG ,¶YH EHHQ OXFN\ WR JURZ WKDW FROOHFWLRQ RYHU WKH \HDUV WR LQFOXGH VRPH
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T HE WORLD STANDARD
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ALLAN STANTON | +971 50 653 5258 | allan.stanton@gulfstream.com | GULFSTREAM.COM G650ER, G650, G600, G500, G550, G450, G280 and G150 are trademarks or registered trademarks of Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.
TIMEPIECES
TARIQ MALIK Baselworld’s Brightest Sure as the seasons turn, Baselworld comes and sets the watch world alight. This month, we look at interesting new launches from two of the most celebrated manufactures, Patek Philippe & Rolex
Rolex
Possibily the most anticipated event at Baselworld, speculation was rife of a new Daytona or even a new Datejust. :KLOH ZH OLNHG the Everose Yachtmaster with its newly designed ³2\VWHUÀH[´ bracelet, what really got our attention was the announcement that WKH 'D\ 'DWH ,, ZRXOG be no longer, and the ODXQFK RI WKH 5ROH[ 'D\ Date 40. We welcome a reversion to 5ROH[œV SUHIHUUHG GLDPHWHU RI PP (suitably modern versus the classic Day-Date at 36mm), as well as the EHDXWLIXO QHZ GLDO FRQ¿JXUDWLRQV and improved President bracelet. For us though, the real news is a brand new movement, the 3255. 5ROH[ FODLPV WKDW RYHU per cent of the movement consists of redesigned and optimised parts, with 14 patents to show for it. The 3255 now boasts 70 hours of power reserve, nearly 50 per cent more than its predecessor. A new escapement, mainspring barrel and larger mainspring are main factors in improving the power reserve. The new escapement is PDGH IURP QLFNHO SKRVSKRURXV PDNLQJ LW DV UHVLVWDQW WR PDJQHWLF ¿HOGV DV 5ROH[œV 0LOJDXVV 7KH VXP total of these improvements is a movement now twice as accurate as that required COSC standards, with
a daily variation of two seconds. :LWK DOO WKHVH LPSURYHPHQWV 5ROH[ has reinforced the Day-Date’s position as its “most prestigious PRGHO´ :H ORRN IRUZDUG WR VHHLQJ LW in the metal.
Patek Philippe
to discuss the Calatrava Pilot Travel Time Ref. 5524, a dual-time watch inspired by classic aviators WLPHSLHFHV 7KLV KDV GH¿QLWHO\ created quite a reaction; emotions UDQJLQJ IURP VXUSULVHG WR KRUUL¿HG As they say, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. We should probably ¿UVW FRQJUDWXODWH 3DWHN IRU WU\LQJ something very different. There DUH D FRXSOH ZDWFKHV LQ WKH 3DWHN Museum that could be considered an inspiration for this watch; but PRUH OLNHO\ LW FDQ VHH DV DQ H[WHQVLRQ RI SUHYLRXV UHOHDVHV WKLQN Aquanaut Travel Time) with an attempt to reach out to younger watch enthusiasts. 3DWHN FODLPV this release is a fully functional watch for the modern man. With function in mind, a size of PP PDNHV VHQVH however it being in White Gold and retailing for around CHF 45,000 seems to defy that claim. Some aspects we do appreciate are the deep blue dial, EROG QXPHUDOV GDWH IXQFWLRQ DW VL[ RœFORFN DQG VFUHZ GRZQ SXVKHUV ,W will be interesting to see how the watch community discusses this timepiece over the coming months.
%HIRUH ZH WDON DERXW WKH %DVHO ODXQFKHV ZH ¿UVW ZRXOG OLNH WR UHPLQG WKH UHDGHU WKDW 3DWHN Philippe celebrated its 175th anniversary in October last year, releasing four limited editions, the highlight being the Grandmaster Chime with its two (yes, two) dials and 20 complications for the rounded retail price of CHF 2,500,000. My point being that we have seen quite a few new 3DWHN UHIHUHQFHV LQ WKH ODVW VL[ months. On to Basel: the easy choice would KDYH EHHQ WR WDON DERXW the Split-Seconds Chronograph 5HI ZLWK LWV EHDXWLIXO EODFN enamel dial. Traditionally styled with a modern 41mm diameter and technically superb, the 5370 WLFNV DOO WKH ULJKW ER[HV IRU 3DWHN purists, both modern and vintage. :LWK QHDU XQLYHUVDO ³ORYH´ IURP WKH ,QVWDJUDP FRPPXQLW\ WKLV ZRXOGQœW Tariq Malik is co-founder of the have split opinion as much as it can UAE’s only vintage watch boutique, VSOLW VHFRQGV VRUU\ ,QVWHDG ZH Momentum. momentum-dubai.com WDNH WKH KDUGHU SDWK DQG FKRRVH - 41 -
Best of
BULGARI
As Bulgari celebrates 40 years of watchmaking, AIR talks to design director Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani about the brand’s classic models and exciting new arrivals Words: Lara Brunt - 42 -
C
ompared to its 131-year history of making modern, elegant and colourful high jewellery worn by legendary beauties such as Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren, Bulgari’s four decades as a watchmaker may seem inconsequential. Yet, any comparisons made simply on numbers fail to acknowledge what the Italian brand has achieved in watchmaking in such a relatively short period of time. 2014 was a case in point. “Last year, we had an amazing year,â€? agrees Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani, senior director of Bulgari’s Watches Design Centre. “We broke the rules with the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon and we gained the [Jewellery Watch] prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève with the Diva.â€? While the 18-carat white gold Diva timepiece, set with baguette-cut and brilliant-cut diamonds and
The concept watch features a 41mm steel case, with the case middle in magnesium and PEEK polymer, and a ceramic bezel engraved with the double Bulgari logo, along with a mechanical self-winding movement that operates at 4Hz and has a 42-hour power reserve. It represents another big step for the Italian marque, says the designer. “It’s an intelligent watch – it’s not a smart watch – that is 100 per cent Swiss-made and 100 per cent mechanical,â€? he explains. “The idea was to put a chip inside a timeless product – because a luxury watch has to be timeless – that can manage your private information with your mobile. So your mobile becomes old in six months or a year, but your watch is timeless.â€? %XOJDULÂśV DSSURDFK WR WUHQGV DQG WHFKQRORJ\ UHĂ€HFWV WKDW RI LWV YHU\ ÂżUVW WLPHSLHFH WKH %XOJDUL 5RPD launched in 1975 when quartz technology had turned
‘The movement is a testament to Bulgari’s reputation as not only a design-led manufacture, but a technical one too’ emeralds, wins in the style stakes, the Octo Finissimo Tourbillon (left) lays claims to the title of the world’s thinnest tourbillon movement. Made up of 249 parts, the Octo Finissimo calibre operates at 3 Hz, has a power reserve of about 55 hours, and comes in at over a millimetre thinner than Arnold & Son’s UTTE (1.95mm vs 2.97mm). The movement is a testament to Bulgari’s reputation as not only a design-led manufacture, but a technical one too. “We have amazing skills,â€? says Buonamassa Stigliani. “You have WR VSHQG IRXU RU ÂżYH \HDUV ÂżUVW WR GHVLJQ WKLV kind of movement and you have only one way to produce it. Each element inside the movement has to be more or less perfect because you don’t have enough space to make mistakes. So this is a great step IRU WKH EUDQG EHFDXVH LWÂśV VR GLIÂżFXOW WR imagine this kind of movement and only three or four brands in the watchmaking industry are able to do this.â€? At Baselworld this year, Bulgari unveiled the Diagono Magnesium concept watch (right), a self-winding mechanical watch incorporating a cryptographic chip and invisible antenna which, using NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, enables the ZDWFK WR WUDQVPLW D GLJLWDO FHUWLÂżFDWH WR WKH Bulgari Vault app on the user’s smartphone. The brand has partnered with Swiss digital VHFXULW\ ÂżUP :LVHNH\ WR HQVXUH WKDW RQO\ WKH RZQHU RI WKH ZDWFK KDV DFFHVV WR WKH FRQÂżGHQWLDO content on their “wrist-vaultâ€?. - 43 -
traditional watchmaking on its head. “The trend for digital watches was so strong and Bulgari made its own interpretation with a solid gold case and limited to only 100 pieces. Today, the smart watch [trend] is so strong and Bulgari makes its own interpretation with an absolutely mechanical piece so only the technology in your mobile becomes old,â€? he says. To mark the 40th anniversary of the iconic model, the brand is presenting a series of new models: the FRPPHPRUDWLYH HGLWLRQ 5RPD )LQLVVLPR 5RPD Tourbillon Finissimo, Bulgari Bulgari Solotempo and 5RPD 7XERJDV Âł%XOJDUL KDV WR EH FRQWHPSRUDU\ DQG avant-garde, so it’s not copy and paste from the archives – it’s new interpretations with new proportions,â€? says %XRQDPDVVD 6WLJOLDQL Âł7KH ÂżUVW %XOJDUL 5RPD ZDV D 35mm [case] so I cannot use exactly the same details and proportions because today a 35mm doesn’t make sense for a man and we have the Finissimo movement that needs a 41mm case.â€? The 44-year-old from Naples joined the company in 2001 after three years at Fiat’s Style Centre in Turin designing cars, and has been in his current role since
2007. Designing cars and watches is not so dissimilar, he says. “In my opinion, a designer has to be able to design cars, planes, trains, watches. When you are an automotive designer you have to know the technology and the language behind this product. It’s exactly the same thing when you talk about watches. If you know these secrets, you are able to design all elements that you have around you – furniture, watches, cars, anything,� he says. While Buonamassa Stigliani is not involved in technical development, his role is to ensure Bulgari timepieces strike the perfect balance of Italian style and Swiss know-how. This prompted him in 2011 to move WKH %XOJDUL GHVLJQ WHDP IURP 5RPH WR 1HXFKkWHO LQ Switzerland, home of the brand’s in-house watchmaking
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‘The Diagono Magnesium concept watch is an intelligent watch - it’s not a smart watch - that is 100 per cent Swiss-made and 100 per cent mechanical’ production. “When you see the Octo Finissimo or the Carillon Tourbillon – very iconic pieces – you cannot PDQDJH DOO WKLV FRPSOH[LW\ IURP 5RPH ´ KH VD\V Staying true to Bulgari’s heritage as a jeweller is also vital. “My ambition is to innovate with 100 per cent respect to our roots and our DNA,� he says. “And I think we have done a good job with [2014’s sundial-inspired] Lucea, because this was exactly the aim: to make a mainstream watch with the iconic signature of the brand. And when you see Lucea with its proportion and
the bracelet and the crown, it’s absolutely clear that we are talking about Bulgari.â€? And while the inspiration for Bulgari timepieces XQGRXEWHGO\ FRPHV IURP 5RPH %XRQDPDVVD 6WLJOLDQL must also imagine new products and predict trends – no mean feat for any designer. “Bulgari has an amazing KHULWDJH DQG DUFKLYH Âą \RX KDYH WR ÂżQG WKH ULJKW VFLHQFH and imagine how this will evolve in the future for the next Bulgari products,â€? he says. With Buonamassa Stigliani at the helm, the future looks bright for Bulgari. - 45 -
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Words: Word Wo rds: rd s: HELENA H EL ELEN ENA EN A DE BERTODANO BERT BE RTOD RT ODAN OD AN NO
A
funny funn fu nnyy thing nn thin th ing in g happens h happ ha app ppen enss as en a Ethan Eth han n Hawke arrives Hawk Ha wk ke ar a r vvee s at ri at thee Four th Fo our u r Seasons S ea easo sons so ns Hotel Hote Ho tell in Beverly Bev ever erly er lyy Hills. Att fi rst Hill Hi lls. ll s. A firs rst there ther th e e er off ex excitement, is a little l it ittl tlee buzz tl bu b u zz o xci cite teme te ment me ntt, the the restaurant rest re stau st aura au ra a nt staff sta taff ff are a re attentive, att tten en nti tive ve,, people ve peop pe ople op le stare. Then, star st are. ar e. T hen, he n, suddenly, sud udde denl de nly, nl y, all a lll heads hea eads ds swivel: Pacino swiv sw ivel iv el:: Al el A P acin ac in no ha hass ju just st lloped oped op ed iin n and an d Hawke Hawk Ha wkee iss no wk no longer long lo nger ng e the er t he biggest big igge gest ge st star st ar iin n th thee room. room ro om.. om This, This Th is,, however, is howe ho weve we ver, ve r, is i s just ju stt the t he way wayy Hawke Hawk Ha wkee likes wk like li kess it: ke it: “I never nev ever e wanted er wan ante tee d to be a name nam amee brand: bran br a d: Tom an Tom Cruise, C ru r isse, e Brad Bra rad d Pitt, Pitt Pi tt,, George tt Geor Ge orge or gee Clooney Clo loon oney on ey - they t he heyy are are the the there’s ttop to p of my my profession, prof pr ofes of essi es sion si on,, bu on butt th ther erre’ esa huge hu ge responsibility resspo pons nsib ns ibil ib ilit il ityy and it and burden burd bu rd den that t ha hatt comes come co mess along me alon al ong on g with with being bei eing ng g a legitimate leg egit itim it imat im atee at full-scale movie full fu lll-s -sca cale ca le m ovie ov ie star.” sta tar. r.”” r. Unlike wearing U Un like li ke Pacino Pac acin i o we in wear arr in ing g his hs hi black and sunglasses, ttrademark tr adem ad emar em ark ar k bl blac ack ac k an nd sung su u ngla ng g lass la a ss s es es,, Hawke Hawk Ha wkee looks wk look lo okss out ok out of o place pla lace ce in i n these thes th esee es swanky Hee is w wearing swan sw a ky eenvirons. an nvir nv iron ir ons. on s. H ea a ri ring ng a suit su it and a nd tie, t ie ie,, granted, g an gr ante ted, te d, but but iin n th tthee - 4477 -
manner mann ma nner nn er of of a schoolboy scho sc hool ho olbo ol boyy trussed bo trr us usse sed se d up occasion beyond his ffor fo or so some ome m o c as cc asiio ion be ion b beyo e yo yond nd h nd i s ccontrol is o tr on t rol oll (he (h he is i s en en route rout ro utee to a Golden ut G ol olde den de n Globes Glob Gl ob bes e press pr pres res esss co cconference). nfer nf eren er ence en ce). ce ). His His cropped cro ropp pped pp ed spiked hair ha ir iiss sp spik iked ik ed up; up; he he is ssporting port po rtt in ing ga few fe w days’ days da ys’’ stubble ys stub st ubbl ub blee and bl and is chewing che h wi wing ng trying on a ttoothpick. oo oth thpi pick pi ck.. As iiff tr ck tryi y ng tto yi o distance dist di stan st ance an ce himself h im imse self se lf from f ro rom m the the glitz gll itt z of ourr surroundings, ou surr su r ou rr ound ndin nd ings in gs,, we sit gs sit at at a table tabl ta blee bl outside. But outs ou tsid ts ide. id e B e. ut iitt is iinescapable: nesc ne scap sc apab ap able ab le:: ass le we talk, t al alk, k, the t he limousines l im imou ousi ou sine si ness pull ne pu ll up up and a nd an d disgorge disg di sgor sg orge or ge the t he homogenised hom omog ogen og enis en ised is e beautiful ed bea e ut utif iful if ul people off Ho Hollywood peop pe ople op le o Holl llyw ll ywoo yw ood oo d next next tto o the th he hotel’s Marilyn hote ho tel’ te l’ss statue l’ stat st atue at ue of of Ma Mari rily ri lyn ly n Monroe Monr Mo nroe nr oe laughing, skirt utter. laug la ughi ug hing hi ng,, sk ng k ir irtt afl aflu utt tter e . er not hee lo looks outt of It’s It ’s n ot jjust usst that that a h look okss ou ok o o place; hee iss o out off pl place. There plac pl ace; ac e; h ut o p acc e. e T here he re is i s no o artifi ce to arti ar tifi ti fice fi to Hawke, Hawk Ha wke, wk e,, who who could c ou ould ld perhaps per erha haps ha ps be as a s big big a leading lee ad adin i g man in ma a n as a Cruise C ru ruis isee or is Clooney, but who more detached, Cloo Cl oone oo ney, ne y, b utt w u h iiss mo ho m re d re e ac et ache hed, he d, a New New York York intellectual i nt n el elle llee ctt ua a l who who became beca be came ca me a reluctant r lu re luct ctan ct antt actor, an acto ac t r,, sstealing to t al te a in ng hearts hear he arts ar ts as as thee soulful th so soul oul ulfu f l teenager fu teen te enag en ager ag er in i n Dead D ad Poets De Poe oets ts Society So o ciiet e y a quarter q arr te qu terr off a century c en entu t ry ago. tu ago go.. 43, Att 4 3 he 3, he is still sti till ll good-looking, goo oodd lo dlook okin ok ing, in g,
but in a slightly scraggly way - his bottom teeth are wonky, and stand as a symbol of his refusal to conform (he was furious when a former agent asked him to sort them), to become one of what he once called “the pod peopleâ€? of Hollywood. Thirteen years ago, it looked as WKRXJK +DZNH ZDV ÂżUPO\ RQ FRXUVH to become a “legitimate full-scale movie starâ€?. He was nominated for an Oscar for his role as a rookie cop in Training Day and had picked an A-list wife in the shape of Uma Thurman, who became the mother of KLV ÂżUVW WZR FKLOGUHQ 6LQFH WKHQ KH has taken everything down a notch, throwing his energy into the theatre DQG ORZ EXGJHW LQGLH ÂżOPV PDQ\ of them directed by his pal Richard Linklater, divorcing Thurman and marrying his children’s nanny, Ryan Shawhughes, with whom he now has a further two children. He has always stressed that their relationship began long after his marriage had ended. “I’ve vowed to my kids not to talk about that any more, because no matter what , VD\ VRPHERG\ FDQ ÂżQG D VHQWHQFH in it that will be in bold print, and somebody in my kid’s school will show that to my kid and it’s really hurtful.â€? He says he does not look back on anything in his life in a negative light. “If I were full of regret, it would be a sad, pathetic thing for me to say in an interview. But I’m an incredibly nostalgic human being. I think a lot of actors are. My point being, I am very nostalgic, but I work hard not to be.â€? In fact, he says, he is trying hard to put a more positive spin on his life. “My wife says by being introspective I often come across as being depressed or self-loathing. The truth is I’m probably immersed in one of the happiest times of my life. I feel like a lot of the groundwork that I put in in my twenties and thirties is starting to pay off. I feel really excited about the second half of my life.â€? His most recent project is Richard Linklater’s brilliant Boyhood, a
ÂżOP VKRW RYHU D \HDU SHULRG chronicling in real time the life of a young boy from kindergarten to college. Hawke plays the boy’s father and helped write the script - he thinks of himself as much a writer as an actor: he has published two wellreceived novels and was nominated for two Oscars for screenwriting (for Before Sunset and Before Midnight, part of a gently romantic trilogy, also directed by Linklater). On a personal level, he sounds equally happy: “If your personal life isn’t working, none of the other stuff matters. The ground just falls out from underneath you. I thought life would be a lot easier. I somehow thought I would hit some magical SODFH DW RU ZKHQ \RX ÂżQG yourself and people would realise how well-meaning you are and what a good person and how talented you are.â€? He laughs and shakes his head. “It hasn’t felt like that at all. It’s just
‘Hawke is more detached, a New York intellectual who became a reluctant actor’ felt like a morass, a slog. I feel like a cat; I keep having to survive and land on my feet.� Most Hollywood actors I come across don’t even grasp your name, let alone care whether you have a life outside the questions. Hawke actually seems to want to have a conversation. Knowing that the time allotted to us is short, he gives me his personal email. “If you think of other questions you want to ask me, just shoot me an email; I’ll answer it.� He is true to his word - I send him an email with extra questions and he phones me to answer them. “I want it to be a good article, too.� He makes it feel like we are in this together. How many children do you have, he asks as we sit at the table, waiting in vain for someone to take our order. We are talking about - 48 -
the passage of time, a big theme in Boyhood. Three, I say. “Don’t you ÂżQG \RX DUH IDU PRUH DZDUH RI WLPH if you have more than one child? When you have one, you think they’re going to be that age forever. I’m so keenly aware to savour my third and fourth children [aged six and three], because I know that age is going to be gone in seconds. And QRZ ZLWK D \HDU ROG ,ÂśP UHDOO\ WU\LQJ WR FKHULVK KDYLQJ D \HDU old: I realise this is the last summer he is even going to want to hang out with me.â€? Hawke talks intensely, never dropping eye contact, laying his hand at times on my arm for emphasis. Despite his determination to sound upbeat, he can come across as an oddly tortured soul: “I microanalyse everything. It’s impossible for me not to micro-analyse this interview, for Christ’s sake ... I thought when Training Day came out, I would be able to parlay that kind of mainstream success into total creative freedom, and it’s just been a lot harder than I thought. “I’m envious of the way Brad Pitt has lived his life,â€? he continues. “For example, when he makes his Tree of Life [Terrence Malick’s experimental masterpiece], the whole world watches it. And you know what: if Brad Pitt had played the dad in Boyhood, Rick would have had a much easier time selling it.â€? Constitutionally, though, he is QRW PDGH IRU WKH JROGÂżVK ERZO RI celebrity. “Fame is isolating. It’s like a hall of mirrors - all you see is yourself. It makes you crazy, and I’ve worked very hard to resist that ... Don’t forget, I’ve seen the best of my generation die: River Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman.â€? Both actors were close friends of his. He starred LQ KLV ÂżUVW ÂżOP ([SORUHUV DW WKH DJH RI ZLWK 3KRHQL[ ,W ZDV D Ă€RS D salutary lesson to Hawke, who went from being a “big shotâ€? at school to a ÂżJXUH RI IXQ 1RZ KH VD\V KH LV JODG WKH ÂżOP IDLOHG EHFDXVH LW SUHSDUHG him for “a life of rejectionâ€?. A life of rejection? With more than ÂżOP FUHGLWV WR KLV QDPH VXUHO\
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that is overstating it a bit? “It doesn’t matter if you’re Billie Holiday, you get rejection all the time. If you feel it too intimately, you’re never going to get out of bed. When you imagine getting famous, you never imagine the hate mail. You imagine people being adoring, not sneering.â€? Do people sneer at him? “Of course they do. That’s what human beings do all the time.â€? He describes KRZ PDQ\ RI WKH ÂżOPV KH PDNHV DUH perceived failures at the time but then attain a sort of cult status. Boyhood had a much bigger impact. Six-year-old Mason’s SDUHQWV DUH GLYRUFHG ZKHQ WKH ÂżOP opens and his father, who has been DEVHQW IRU PRQWKV LV VORZO\ reappearing in his life. “When my IDPLO\ ÂżUVW VDZ WKH PRYLH ZH JRW WR WDONLQJ DERXW KRZ LW IHOW VSHFLÂżF to our family. On the other hand, it shows how un-unique we all are, how our experiences are a collective experience.â€? Hawke’s own son and daughter were three and seven when he and Thurman split. Hawke holed up in the Chelsea Hotel in New York for a couple of years. It was, he later said, the darkest period of his life. “Life hands you blows,â€? he says today: “Death, depression, divorce.â€? Of his character in Boyhood, he says: “The father may be a ne’er-dowell when it starts, but he slowly ÂżQGV D VHQVH RI UHVSRQVLELOLW\ although it comes at a cost. He tells his son that if his mother had just waited, he would have become the boring, castrated guy she wanted him to be.â€? Hawke sighs. “So much about what makes a relationship successful is the time of when two people meet each other, when they’re really willing to give the other person what that person is asking for.â€? He says that he, Linklater and the other actors, who include Patricia Arquette as his ex-wife and Ellar Coltrane as their son, all contributed their own experiences to the writing of the movie. “I’m not the only person who is the child of divorce. For all of us, the movie was a little
crucible where we could pour our experiences. I’ve also experienced divorce as a father and I could sit there with Ellar’s dad and talk about what his custody deal was and how disappointing that sometimes is.� Hawke was three when his own parents divorced: “You kind of wake up to your consciousness having no idea why your parents split.� Born in Austin, Texas, he was an only child - his father was an insurance actuary and his mother a charity worker. He spent the school year with his mother and summers with his father, and eventually moved with his mum to New Jersey. It was here that he heard about an open casting call in New York for Explorers and, his curiosity piqued, hopped on a train to attend it. Later he went to university, but the immediate success of Dead Poets Society scuppered his plans to get a degree. Twice he enrolled in New
‘Fame is isolating. It’s like a hall of mirrors all you see is yourself’ York University’s English course, but the offers were coming in so thick and fast, he gave up. “I didn’t want to be an actor,â€? he once said, “[but] it seemed silly to pursue anything else.â€? $ ZDLWHU ÂżQDOO\ DUULYHV +DZNH orders water and a “green goddessâ€? juice, which arrives just as he is whisked away: he looks at it, torn, then picks the whole thing up and takes it with him, glass goblet, ice and all. A couple of days later, when we speak again, we discuss the time he was considered for the starring role in Titanic, a role that went, of course, to Leonardo DiCaprio. I ask if he ever thinks, “If only...â€? “No, I don’t think that - my sights were set on my own mission and if James whatshisname didn’t want me, so be it... I’ll tell you this, I wouldn’t have handled it as brilliantly as DiCaprio. I hung out with him a little when - 51 -
Titanic came out; it was like hanging out with a Beatle.â€? He cites DiCaprio and Quentin Tarantino as two people who have conquered Hollywood the right way. “Most people don’t understand how hard it is to get a movie pushed through the Hollywood system that has any artistic credibility whatsoever. Yet every year DiCaprio is putting out a movie that is artistically and commercially viable. $QG 7DUDQWLQR LV PDNLQJ DUW ÂżOPV I have a tremendous amount of respect for the handful of people ZKR KDYH LQÂżOWUDWHG +ROO\ZRRG and have come out on the other side still with their soul and artistic integrity intact.â€? Tarantino has been romantically linked to Thurman, so this is quite an endorsement. It is as close as Hawke gets to the subject of KLV ÂżUVW ZLIH Despite his artistic principles, in +DZNH VWDUUHG LQ 7KH 3XUJH D ULGLFXORXV VFL Âż KRUURU ÂżOP Âł,ÂśYH been fortunate to have an ability to do some commercial work. Sometimes I feel that ability is my greatest weakness ... More people VDZ 7KH 3XUJH RQ WKH ÂżUVW QLJKW LW was out than have ever seen all three of the Before trilogy. A certain group of people likes [the indie work], but it won’t pay my child support.â€? The occasional money-spinner makes Hawke feel even more compelled to keep up his exhausting dance of integrity on the fringes: “In the last three years, I did Brecht, Chekhov and Shakespeare: you can’t be a mainstream movie star and FUDQNLQJ WKDW RXW , WKLQN LI \RXU ÂżUVW love is writing, which is the case for PH \RXU ÂżUVW ORYH FDQÂśW EH PRYLHV ´ He comes across as a genuine man pedalling furiously, if somewhat fruitlessly, against the Hollywood behemoth. With typical selfdeprecation (“My grandfather always told me I should brag moreâ€?), he says there is little nobility in this quest. “People try to give me credit for turning down the mainstream Hollywood life, but it’s just a survival instinct. I’ve had about as much success as I can handle.â€?
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Cinderella STORY * * *
Paris’s couture catwalks are full of runaway princesses. Yet former model Farida Khelfa, an ambassador for the house of Schiaparelli, is a real-life runaway with a rags-to-riches story
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I
n the late Seventies, aged not quite 16, Khelfa left her conservative family in Lyon and hitchhiked to Paris. She had grown up in one of the city’s most infamous banlieues, Les Minguettes. “I wasn’t allowed to go out,â€? she says. “I couldn’t do anything. The only lessons I had were sewing and cooking so I could get married. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. The only thing I wanted was to be free.â€? Khelfa turned up at her older VLVWHUÂśV Ă€DW LQ WKH FLW\ RQO\ WR EH WROG there was no room for her. So she found shelter in Le Palace, a Parisian nightclub in the 9th arrondissement that rivalled New York’s Studio 54 in both glamour and guest list. It was here that she met her fairytale princes in the form of Christian Louboutin, Jean Paul Gaultier and Azzedine AlaĂŻa.
maker and an activist. Not keen on modelling (she didn’t like being told what to wear) and after a turn as the head of Gaultier’s couture salon she became an ambassador for the newly revived house of Schiaparelli in 2012 after it was bought by Tod’s group owner Diego Della Valle. “We had to remind people who Schiap was,â€? she says of her role at the atelier. “How important and VWURQJ VKH ZDV 6KH ZDV WKH ÂżUVW WR GR FDPRXĂ€DJH WKH ÂżUVW WR XVH newsprint on dresses, to do visible zips in the 1930s, to work with artists. I was surprised by how modern she was.â€? Born in 1890, Italian designer Schiaparelli was one of Paris’s greatest pre-war couturiers, but her label closed in the Fifties. She collaborated with Jean Cocteau and Salvador DalĂ to create surrealist gowns for the city’s more avantgarde customers, famously inventing the
‘Having made documentaries on her friends Gaultier and Louboutin, she spent the aftermath of the Arab Spring filming in Tunisia’ “I came from nowhere. I didn’t have a penny in my pocket and they helped me. They didn’t ask for anything in return. That’s very rare.â€? Khelfa moved in with Louboutin and his mother — they still refer to each other as sister and brother — and embarked on an existence so exhilarating that she has never looked back. “We just got chatting,â€? she says of the man behind the redVROHG VWLOHWWRV Âł,W ZDV ORYH DW ÂżUVW sight.â€? Khelfa became a model, a contemporary of Inès de la Fressange and Carla Bruni, for whom she was a witness at her wedding to former president Nicolas Sarkozy. From that perch, Khelfa has been variously an actress, a documentary
shade shocking pink, a dress painted with a lobster and a hat in the shape of an upturned shoe. I’m sitting with Khelfa in the Place VendĂ´me salon, surrounded by examples of Schiaparelli’s prescience: a powder compact decorated to look like a telephone GLDO WKDW SUHÂżJXUHV ODVW \HDUÂśV McDonald’s fries phone case from Moschino; perfume bottles modelled on Mae West’s torso, ideas that have been reused by Marc Jacobs and Jean Paul Gaultier, respectively. These days this would be called clever marketing, but then, Schiap was the only one doing it. And now Khelfa is banging the drum for her. “Slowly but surely we have more and more people coming,â€? she says. “They come from all over the - 54 -
world — the Middle East, America, Russia.” Despite the departure of the line’s most recent designer, Marco Zanini, last November — there is no word yet on who will take his place — the KRXVH LV VXU¿QJ D ZDYH RI UHQHZHG interest in haute couture, which has been reinvigorated by the superrich. “I’m very impressed by the Russians,” Khelfa says. “I think they have good taste. Of course you get bad taste everywhere, like the nouveau riche, but most are very well dressed.” This from the woman styled by Louboutin for one of their nights out in a high-leg swimming costume, sunglasses, elbow-length gloves and a cape. “We didn’t have any money,” she protests. “We spent most of the GD\ WU\LQJ WR ¿QG WKH ULJKW RXW¿W If you go to fashion parties now it’s all the same dress; it’s not very exciting.” In her modelling days, Khelfa was often assumed to be South American, which her friends told her to encourage, since her Maghreb roots were considered far less glamorous. She has returned to it in ODWHU OLIH WKURXJK KHU ¿OP PDNLQJ Having made documentaries on her friends Gaultier and Louboutin, as well as on the Hollande-Sarkozy election, she spent the aftermath of WKH $UDE 6SULQJ ¿OPLQJ LQ 7XQLVLD “I found the people you never see in the Muslim world,” she says. “Activists, journalists, models, designers. They were young and articulate, the opposite of what you see all the time:’’ Speaking before the Paris terror attacks, Khelfa wants to tell a different story. “For me, it’s important to say it. There’s a lot of work to do in France. “But I feel very lucky. When I left home I didn’t know I was leaving. I went to buy bread and I never came back. But I had a cat, and you know how animals are. He understood.” Perhaps that cat was in on the fairytale. - 55 -
The Show Must Go On
Oscar de la Renta’s Fall 2015 runway show marked the much anticipated debut collection of Peter Copping. It was a show that did much to honour the late de la Renta’s legacy, and one at which AIR was invited backstage to capture the mood as the models readied themselves for the momentous reveal.
21stCentury BOMBSHELL From an Australian soap opera to holding her own opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie is taking Hollywood stardom in her stride
I
t was a slap – administered to none other than Leonardo DiCaprio – that set Margot Robbie on the path to international fame. While auditioning for The Wolf of Wall Street, with a scene in which her character and DiCaprio’s character are in the midst of an argument, the Australian actress improvised by slapping the actor across the face. Hard. “I do wonder sometimes what would have happened had I not slapped him. I still remember that stunned silence when I did it,� she laughs. “I was supposed to walk away from him but I just got really into the moment and turned around and smacked him. Once I did it, I was like, ‘Well that was a terrible
idea, but at least I got to smack Leonardo DiCaprio’.â€? Turns out it was not such a terrible idea, after all. Director Martin Scorsese cast her as Naomi Lapaglia, the trophy wife of DiCaprio’s stockmarket fraudster, Jordan Belfort, in WKH ÂżOP WKDW ZHQW RQ WR JURVV QHDUO\ $400 million at the worldwide box RIÂżFH Âł, SLQFK P\VHOI ZKHUH , DP now,â€? she admits. Raised on a Queensland farm, Robbie cut her teeth, as many young Australian actors do – Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe and Liam Hemsworth, among them – in the long-running soap opera, Neighbours. “It’s like a rite of passage,â€? she says, “and clearly it’s a tried and tested path boasting some huge success stories.â€? She credits the soap with not - 62 -
only teaching her to act, but putting her on the fast track to Hollywood. “Neighbours was my schooling,â€? she says. “I really learnt so much and it annoys me when people say how happy I must be to have graduated up, as it were. Let me say, I was over the moon when I landed Neighbours. Soaps are far more technical than one would think. We were shooting an episode a day. One whole episode a day. A movie is shot over months. It’s a crazy contrast.â€? After three years on the soap, Robbie made the move State-side in early 2011. “It really didn’t feel like I was taking this big risk at the time, it felt like the only way to move IRUZDUG ´ VKH UHĂ€HFWV Âł9HU\ QDWXUDO and something I always wanted to GR 'HÂżQLWHO\ WHUULI\LQJ EXW , GLG D
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Text: Piers Manning/The Interview People, with additional copy by Lara Brunt Images: Getty
lot of pre-planning and saved all my money.â€? She landed a role in TV drama Pan Am, which was cancelled after one season, and had a small role in the romantic comedy About Time. Two months later, she was in New York, on the set of The Wolf of Wall Street. Quite a projectory. “Yeah, of course, it was huge,â€? she agrees. “It was GLYLQJ LQ KHDG ÂżUVW ,WÂśV 6FRUVHVH LW was huge. It still is.â€? It must have been daunting working with DiCaprio and Scorsese, who have collaborated on a number of projects? “They had this bond, ZKHUH RQH ÂżQLVKHG WKH RWKHUV sentence and it was like telepathy. I found myself thinking, ‘Eh, was something changed there? Did I miss VRPHWKLQJ"Âś , KDG WR XS P\ JDPH VR much to keep up,â€? she says. Up her game she did; Robbie is QRZ RQH RI 7LQVHOWRZQÂśV PRVW LQ demand young actresses. First up, VKHÂśV VWDUULQJ RSSRVLWH :LOO 6PLWK
mad dash across the Atlantic which GLGQÂśW GR JUHDW WKLQJV IRU P\ VWUHVV levels,â€? she recalls. Upon landing in New York, Robbie discovered the airline had lost her OXJJDJH Âł6R ,ÂśP UXQQLQJ DURXQG Topshop grabbing at railings, whatever I could pick up, and throw on these clothes in the cab to the audition.â€? Despite this, she nailed it. Âł, GRQÂśW WKLQN , FRXOG WKLQN VWUDLJKW at that point. Just walked in, did what I had to do and it managed to work in my favour. And I never for a moment thought I had any chance,â€? she says, modestly. “The list of actresses before me was incredibly intimidating.â€? What was it like working with 6PLWK RQH RI +ROO\ZRRGÂśV ODUJHU than-life characters? “Wonderful, IXQQ\ $ EODVW ´ VKH VD\V Âł+HÂśV WKH :LOO 6PLWK WKDW \RX VHH LQ ÂżOPV DQG 79 +HÂśV WKH H[DFW VDPH JX\ 7KHUHÂśV such warmth and welcoming and no, WKHUHÂśV QR DWWLWXGH RQ VHW +HÂśV MXVW
‘The Wolf of Wall Street was diving in head-first. It’s Scorsese, it was huge. It still is’ in Focus, which chronicles the globetrotting relationship between two con artists Jess (Robbie) and Nicky (Smith) who hustle their way through the US and Argentina. The on-screen chemistry between the 24-year-old actress and Hollywood big hitter surprised everyone, she says. “But I guess you can never predict KRZ \RXÂśUH JRLQJ WR JHW DORQJ ZLWK someone,â€? she muses. “For some reason, we just walked in to the room, and got along so well and that went on throughout the shoot. It was IDQWDVWLF $QG LW GRHVQÂśW KDSSHQ ZLWK HYHU\ DFWRU \RX ZRUN ZLWK LW GRHVQÂśW happen with every person you meet.â€? 5REELHÂśV DXGLWLRQ IRU )RFXV ZDV just as memorable, in that she DOPRVW GLGQÂśW PDNH LW 6KH JRW D FDOO from her agents while she was on holiday in Croatia. “It was a bit of a
rallies the entire set, gets everyone in this fantastic mood, which makes LW UHDOO\ IRU WKH ZKROH GD\ <RXÂśUH never going to be around him and QRW ODXJK QRW KDYH D JRRG WLPH ,WÂśV just his natural make-up.â&#x20AC;? 1H[W RQ 5REELHÂśV DJHQGD DUH UROHV in Tarzan, followed by Suicide Squad and Z for Zachariah. Playing Jane RSSRVLWH $OH[DQGHU 6NDUVJDUGÂśV 7DU]DQ VKH VD\V LWÂśV QRW D WUDGLWLRQDO UHWHOOLQJ RI WKH IDPRXV WDOH Âł,WÂśV VHW DIWHU VR \RX ZRQÂśW EH VHHLQJ KLP LQ WKH MXQJOH %XW WKHUHÂśV JUHDW DFWLRQ DQG D ORYH VWRU\ DQG LWÂśV been a lot of fun,â&#x20AC;? she says. Jane is D EUHDN IURP WKH QRUP WRR Âł6KHÂśV quite independent, not so reliant on Tarzan, I kind of like the strong IHPDOH FKDUDFWHUV 6KHÂśV D VWURQJ character and fun.â&#x20AC;? Independent, feisty and fun. Sounds a lot like the actress herself.
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MOTORING
MODERN CLASSICS In 2015 the history is the future, as retro-luxury carmakers find success in the styles of the past - 66 -
Y
ouâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve probably read with interest how brands like Mercedes, Audi and even Lamborghini are beginning to experiment with things like driverless technology, battery-powered engines and super-hi-tech safety technology that makes decisions for you. On the whole, these thoroughly modern developments are welcome, necessary even, for the supersized manufacturers to meet ever-increasing regulations over emissions. So when a company is unabashedly retro in its motoring design, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s both a comfort and a thrill â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and discerning buyers are starting to realise that sometimes, the old ways are the best. Perhaps the most well known of these companies is Morgan, which has been specialising in high-performance automobiles that offer peak performance for over a hundred years. At last monthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Geneva 0RWRU 6KRZ WKH ÂżUP GHEXWHG WKH VWXQQLQJ Aero 8. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the latest model in a line that has been running since 2000, and looks like it has
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The Aero 8 looks like it has been transported from 1935â&#x20AC;&#x2122; been transported directly from 1935. Its lines DUH Ă&#x20AC;RZLQJ URXQGHG DQG PXVFXODU ZLWK ORQJ front fenders, and Morgan suggests that the Aero 8 was designed to evoke a boat deck when seen from above. The interiors are all leather and walnut, and there is a refreshing lack of tech on the dials â&#x20AC;&#x201C; just the essentials, the way driving used to be. Under the bonnet, however, things are much more modern. A bristling 4.8 litre V8 engine pushes out 367 horsepower, and the six-speed manual gearbox will take elated drivers to 170mph (an automatic is also available), and 0-62mph is achieved in just 4.5 seconds. There are certain other concessions to modernism, too, airbags and air conditioning chief among them. But itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the sheer style of the thing that sets Morgan apart. Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan founded the Morgan Motor Company in Worcestershire, England in 1909, and their ÂżUVW FDU ZDV WKH 0RUJDQ WKUHH ZKHHOHU 7KH ÂżUVW IRXU ZKHHOHG PRGHO FDPH LQ DQG ever since then the ethos of the company has remained unchanged: coach built, charismapacked road vehicles that are utterly unique from anything else on the road. - 67 -
MOTORING
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1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
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Morgan Aero 8 Morgan Aero 8 Equus Bass 770 Equus Bass 770 Caterham 7
4.
In the United States, a new company is doing something similar but with a very different feel. Equus Automotive has decided that the new generation of American muscle cars is lacking in a certain savoir-faire, and made moves to rectify it with the stunning Equus %DVV 7KH ¿UP KDV JLYHQ LWV YHKLFOH YLQWDJH styling with the full aluminium silhouette of a 1960s fastback Mustang, with hints from various other muscle classics like the Dodge Challenger, and combined them all to create something quite unique. The engine keeps up its side of the bargain, too, with the standard kit comprised of a supercharged 6.2 litre LS9 V8 engine directly from the Chevrolet Corvette
aggressively old school car built with one thing in mind – pure enjoyment on the road. Based on the Lotus Seven, which was produced between the 1950s and ‘70s, Caterham bought the rights to the design in 1972 and since then has specialised in building a suite of subtly different versions of the iconic roadster. The lightweight, two-seater sports car is so married to the past it’s actually easy enough for a buyer to put together himself, which is one of the company’s selling points – tinkerers can buy a Caterham either road-ready from the factory, or in component form for self assembly. With a weight of just 550kgs, the Caterham 7 is about as old-fashioned as a new
‘The Caterham 7 is about as old-fashioned as a new car gets’
5.
ZR1. The car itself is the product of six years of tinkering by Equus, who is aiming to provide WKH GH¿QLWLYH PXVFOH FDU H[SHULHQFH ZLWK WKH rugged good looks of the classic models of the 1960s and ‘70s. Unlike those rough-and-ready vehicles though, the Bass 770 has an interior completely hand-wrapped in soft leather, all the electronic screens and gadgets you could want to complete your journey, and a soft, subtle gearbox that makes driving it a breeze. The price of each hand-built model is enough to put off most casual owners, and so each Equus driver can also enjoy the fact that their modern-muscle is unique on the road. Taking inspiration from the iconic racing cars of the past, the Caterham 7 is an - 69 -
car gets. It isn’t just boutique marques that are looking to the past to inspire their futures, either. Ford, one of the biggest car manufacturers of the last hundred years, has plans to resurrect its iconic GT, with the recently announced model based on the 1960s GT40 racing car. Aiming squarely for the supercar territory occupied by Ferrari and Lamborghini, Ford is hoping that consumers will once again be ensnared by the car’s unapologetically retro shape – even if the engine and interiors are as modern as can be. Ford’s new GT is due for sale in 2016, proving that the taste for retro-styled cars shows no sign of slowing down.
GASTRONOMY
Star PERFORMER ***
Words: RICHARD JENKINS
A
s so many love affairs do, it started on a beach in Thailand and ended in tears. Only this wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t an affair of the heart â&#x20AC;&#x201C; more a matter of the stomach. Henrik Yde Andersen, whose Thai restaurant Kiin Kiin in Copenhagen is the only one in the world honoured with a Michelin star, is recounting to AIR how the boy from Hørsholm became enamoured with the food that would make his name. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I visited Thailand on a short holiday, and at QLJKW , ZHQW WR WKH EHDFK DQG KDG P\ ÂżUVW 7KDL IRRG ´ KH recalls. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I started crying - that was how spicy it was! I loved the way the Thai people sat around the table and shared the plates, and how there was sugar in the main course and salted dried prawns in the dessert. It was so anarchistic, and I loved it instantly. The next morning I woke up and made my way to restaurant, knocked on the kitchen door and asked if I could learn some tricks, and D GD\ KROLGD\ WXUQHG LQ WR D ÂżYH \HDU VWD\ ´ Andersen had been trained in French kitchens, and after returning from his half-decade sojourn, had an epiphany. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When we got back from Thailand, I got very jealous that the French restaurants seemed to hold a PRQRSRO\ RQ KRZ WR FUHDWH D ÂżQH GLQLQJ H[SHULHQFH 6R P\ SDUWQHU DQG , VDW GRZQ DQG WULHG WR ÂżJXUH RXW D
way on how to morph the two types of cooking together as a fusion. When we create new dishes we start with a classic Thai dish, and as with most traditional food, you will cook it like your mother did, that traditional way. Unfortunately at home in Copenhagen I had access to all the ingredients, but I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a Thai mother. But we did have a professional kitchen, and we had the machines to turn out a perfect dish every time. Kiin Kiin has two owners, one Danish and one Thai, so I go a little bit overboard and my Thai partner makes sure each dish VWLOO KROGV WKH Ă&#x20AC;DYRXU RI 7KDLODQG Âł Kiin Kiinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s headline draw is that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the only Thai restaurant in the world to be awarded a Michelin star â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and Andersen believes that consistency is key. He says: â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are very stable, we have luckily been fully booked for 10 years now, and I believe the guide likes consistency, you can come on a Monday or a Friday, and we will always try our best. We also start from scratch, whether itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oyster sauce, a product that most buy in a supermarket already bottled, we start with fresh oysters. Prawn crackers, we start with fresh prawns. There are many very good Thai restaurants, but weirdly it seems that in the western part of Europe it is considered a cheap way to have dinner, strange when you think of the labour that goes into cooking real Thai food.â&#x20AC;?
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Henrik Yde Andersen, whose Kiin Kiin is the only Michelin-starred Thai restaurant in the world, talks to AIR ahead of Anantara Gourmet 2015
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GASTRONOMY Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not just the consistency thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s made Kiin Kiin world-renowned. The genius of the chef, modest though he is, must take the lionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s share of the plaudits. Traditional Thai delicacies like chicken satay and congee with ginger and roasted onion dance alongside quirky PROHFXODU WZLVWV Âą JDL GRRQ ZLWK ÂľGDQFLQJ ÂżVK Ă&#x20AC;DNHV Âś or moe bing grilled pork with sugar and coriander. For Andersen, the freshness of the restaurant comes from constant invention. He says: â&#x20AC;&#x153;We mostly use molecular stuff for the fun factor. Years ago dining in a Michelin restaurant would be a very serious affair, these days it is luckily more about having a good time out with your family and friend, and some of the tricks can help setting the mood. Talking technically, it gives me better control on the produce and that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cooked perfectly. A new dish is our take on Pad Thai where we substitute the Ă&#x20AC;DYRXUOHVV ULFH QRRGOHV ZLWK SUDZQ QRRGOHV EULQJLQJ LQ PRUH Ă&#x20AC;DYRXU DQG IXQ ,PSURYLQJ ZKDW ZDV WUDGLWLRQDOO\ a peasantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dish is fun... when it works!â&#x20AC;? Ten years of success in one city inevitably means expansion for any chef looking to broaden their fan base. So for a Thai restaurant based in Copenhagen, the next step was obvious, if intimidating â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to take Bangkok. Not that it stopped Andersen, who opened Sru
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Improving what was traditionally a peasantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dish is funâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Bua by Kiin Kiin in 2013. That must have been some challengeâ&#x20AC;Ś â&#x20AC;&#x153;Not a challenge,â&#x20AC;? Andersen interrupts, â&#x20AC;&#x153;A living nightmare! Cooking Thai food for Thai people in Thailand, oofâ&#x20AC;Ś luckily the Thais quickly understood my modern approach and my very personal way of cooking their culinary heritage, but a lot of eyebrows were raised in the beginning. But the Thais are wonderful and now the restaurant is full every night.â&#x20AC;? And next, of course, there is the Middle East. Andersen is involved with Anantara Gourmet 2015, the week-long culinary showcase held this year between April 9-16 at both Anantara Eastern Mangroves Hotel & Spa Abu Dhabi and Anantara Dubai The Palm Resort & Spa. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Anantara has a long history with Thailand and I like their style,â&#x20AC;? says Anderson. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Their cooking is very quality focused and the Thai chefs are very talented. I love Middle Eastern food. I just got back from Oman, where I sampled young chefsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; modern takes on their food, it was such an eye opener. I can really taste the feeling of being on the spice route, there was a beautiful all-yellow bread with the most fantastic smell of saffron, the pot with steamed lamb... I could go on and on.â&#x20AC;? He doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t need to â&#x20AC;&#x201C; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s clear from spending any time with Andersen that food is his great passion, and Thai cooking is his genius. Anyone with working tastebuds should seek him out at Gourmet 2015 and prepare to be amazed by the knowledge on display.
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I
have only two questions for AndrĂŠ Balazs. The ÂżUVW LV KRZ GR \RX GR this? How do you make the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hottest hotels, over and over again; in New York and Los Angeles, in Miami and London? Hotels so instantly fashionable, so hip and so chic, they incubate their own social scenes, their very own It crowds? Hotels with restaurants so busy servicing the needs of pop stars and expresidents, badly behaved actresses and their boy toys, that normal, non-famous people donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a hope of getting a table, a fact that only makes us more craven in our pursuit of a reservation? How do you make hotels so LQĂ&#x20AC;XHQWLDO WKH\ UHGHÂżQH WKH neighbourhoods in which they stand? How did you, for example, spot the potential in a warehouse in New Yorkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s formerly lacklustre Soho district, which would, in 1997, become the Mercer hotel, a celebrity hangout for deliciously scandalous incidents, like the time when Russell Crowe threw a phone across the lobby at the concierge? And then thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the Chiltern Firehouse, %DOD]VÂś ÂżUVW YHQWXUH LQ %ULWDLQ D London hotel so absurdly celebrityrammed that the paparazzi have set up a semi-permanent camp at its gates. How do you do that, then? My VHFRQG TXHVWLRQ LV DUH \RX JRLQJ out with Kylie Minogue, as has been reported? Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m waiting for Balazs at a corner table in the Chiltern Firehouse. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m a little early, but this way, I get to check out the space. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a good table, is this, elevated so you get a view of the room without being visible back. (Is this the best table in the house, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll ask Balazs when he arrives. â&#x20AC;&#x153;No,â&#x20AC;? he replies. â&#x20AC;&#x153; that two-corner on the sofa ...â&#x20AC;? he points to a table on the far side of the room, â&#x20AC;&#x153;either end, beneath the kitchen. Or the one on the furthest side,â&#x20AC;? he points again, â&#x20AC;&#x153;is a little bit more discreet.â&#x20AC;?) From up here, I can watch the beautiful front-of-house women in
their jumpsuit uniforms and the FXWH EDUPHQ VPLOH DQG Ă&#x20AC;LUW DV WKH\ re-angle overhanging lights, so that their cocktail clientele can take VHOÂżHV LQ WKH PRVW Ă&#x20AC;DWWHULQJ ZD\ possible. I can scan the room for A-listers in action. I can reassure myself I am in The Place To Be in London. The Chiltern Firehouse opened in February 2014 - only it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t open, so much as explode. One minute, Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cool crowd was making do with Soho House. The next, no one gave a monkeyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unless you had a reservation at â&#x20AC;&#x153;Firehouseâ&#x20AC;?. Which you almost certainly didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. The place was soon packed to the rafters with famous people. the Clintons, Lindsay Lohan and One Direction, John Kerry and Katy Perry, David Beckham and Cara Delevingne ... The paparazzi arrived and never really left, proving so
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I can reassure myself I am in The Place To Be in Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; persistent a presence that local residents in Marylebone complained about the hotel, which theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d rechristened â&#x20AC;&#x153;that A-list monsterâ&#x20AC;?, to Westminster Council. Critics fell over themselves to praise the restaurant. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s run by acclaimed chef Nuno Mendes, although as one reviewer pointed out, who gives a damn about Mendesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; talents? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Colonel Sanders could be doing the catering, and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d still come.â&#x20AC;? 7RGD\ LV QRW P\ ÂżUVW WLPH DW WKH )LUHKRXVH , ÂżUVW VFRUHG D WDEOH WZR months after its launch, just as it became more buzzed over than any venue for a decade, an Algonquin meets the Met Bar via Studio 54 sort of a myth-generator. One of Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s PRVW LQĂ&#x20AC;XHQWLDO 35V JRW PH LQ ,ÂśG never have made it otherwise. I tried to call and book on one occasion, only to be told by a very chirpy man who introduced himself as Josh - 74 -
that I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a hope in hell. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d offer to put you on the waiting list but there are 160 people ahead of you already ... â&#x20AC;&#x153; Josh said. Even with a reservation, getting into the Firehouse proved tricky for someone unaccompanied by a famous person. I had to talk my way through three separate ranks of clipboardwielding, jumpsuit-clad greeters, each of whom seemed more certain than the last that I wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t supposed to be there. Eventually, I tracked down my friend in a VIP area so secret we were the only people in it. Still, I left with no idea of what makes the Chiltern Firehouse more fashionable than any of Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s many other hotels and restaurants. The answer, I concluded, must be Balazs himself. He arrives - swishy and suave, if shorter than I anticipated. Fiftyseven, with an international It boy tan, handmade suit, a scarf tied with Mourinho-esque levels of SDQDFKH KH LV GHÂżQLWHO\ KDQGVRPH enough to date Kylie Minogue. He has a roguish gash on his forehead - damage sustained two days earlier when he slipped and fell in the mews house heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s renting. He only just moved in â&#x20AC;&#x153;after living [at the hotel] literally since the day we opened ... And thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no banister on the stairs, a roof deck with no railing round it, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s crazy dangerous ... I left the lights on the second night. Would you like a drink?â&#x20AC;? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lunchtime, but I say, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yes, please!â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s because youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re an English writer,â&#x20AC;? Balazs says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;An American one would never have a drink with an interview.â&#x20AC;? Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not sure if heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s telling me off. A waiter arrives to take our order (Balazs says we should share the spicy tuna devilled eggs as a starter, which â&#x20AC;&#x153;are pure protein, by the wayâ&#x20AC;?) and we survey the room. I ask Balazs if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perfect, and he says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;No. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a work in progress. First, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re building the stage, the physical stuff. Then, the next stage is casting the characters.â&#x20AC;? :DLW E\ ÂłFKDUDFWHUV´ \RX PHDQ staff? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yes.â&#x20AC;? And clientele? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yes, but that comes
MEET ANDRÉ BALAZS, the multimillionaire behind the world’s coolest hotels Words: Polly Vernon - 75 -
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later. And the actors need to be ...â&#x20AC;? 8P KDQJ RQ E\ ÂłDFWRUV´ \RX DOVR mean staff? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yes.â&#x20AC;? Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re all rather beautiful. Is that policy? (Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve stayed at three Balazs hotels in the US, and had noted in all of them that the staff - sorry, â&#x20AC;&#x153;actorsâ&#x20AC;? - are easy on the eye.) â&#x20AC;&#x153;Um. Well. That certainly doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hurt. But the most important thing is that they enjoy making people happy. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what drives me.â&#x20AC;? Just that? Before meeting Balazs, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d concocted an entire codpsychological theory to explain his compulsion to create enclaves of cool. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yes, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s it. There are far easier ways to make money. But when they say, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Oh my God, I just had the most amazing evening!â&#x20AC;&#x2122; The gratitude that people have ... Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very, very satisfying.â&#x20AC;? Balazs started work on the Chiltern Firehouse nearly six years
ago. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Two years in planning. A year designing it. Two and a half years building it.â&#x20AC;? Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d wanted to open in London for a long time, because, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I love London. What I really feel is that Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shut down. After 9/11, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a steady erosion. Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always been a very inward-looking, fearful FRXQWU\ 7KHUH DUH H[FHSWLRQV /RV Angeles and New York and Miami. But after 9/11, even in New York there was a gradual and really erosive shutting-down. What I feel in London is that there is a sense of optimism that I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t spot in New York right now.â&#x20AC;? London has the edge on New York? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more dynamic. And the exuberance of London, the willingness of people to have a good time. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t expect.â&#x20AC;? When he started planning the - 76 -
Chiltern Firehouse, was it his express intention to launch the coolest hotel and restaurant in the city and, by extension, the country which, by the way, you have? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thank you,â&#x20AC;? he says, as if he means it. Humility is part of Balazsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; schtick. â&#x20AC;&#x153;No. We just set out to do the best we could.â&#x20AC;? Right, but all your businesses are intrinsically cool, AndrĂŠ. Cool is their currency. Cool is what sets them apart from all those other beautifully styled, immaculately functioning luxe and boutique hotels. Cool is what brings the celebrities clamouring. Cool is why Lindsay Lohan ran up, and then refused to pay, a bill for $46,000 at the Chateau Marmont, prompting you to ban her from the premises (although apparently, not from these premises). â&#x20AC;&#x153;Anything thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s good, people appreciate, you know?â&#x20AC;? Balazs says â&#x20AC;&#x153;And you can have all these discussions about what is good, but all it is really is a long, long series of bespoke solutions to unique problems. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;How do I get the back of the room to be as light as the front?â&#x20AC;&#x2122; And it goes on and on ...â&#x20AC;? Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re cool by accident? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I think we live in a culture where people are obsessed with whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new, and obsessed with whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s good. And I really believe that you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t try to be something. You just put your head down and make something really good.â&#x20AC;? Balazsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; status as the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coolest hotelier is in no way a consequence of long-term ambition. His career trajectory seems bizarre, erratic and disjointed; if it hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t SDLG RII KDQGVRPHO\ OLWHUDOO\ Balazs has an estimated net worth of $450 million) youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d wonder what he was playing at. His academic father and psychologist mother emigrated from their native Budapest UHORFDWLQJ ÂżUVW WR 6ZHGHQ DQG WKHQ Cambridge, Massachusetts. Their son started out with highly romantic DUWLVWLF DVSLUDWLRQV Âł, ZDQWHG WR be a sculptor, but then I went the other way, and thought I wanted
to be a journalist. I started three newspapers at once at university, ZRUNHG EULHĂ&#x20AC;\ DV D MRXUQDOLVW LQ 1HZ York until I realised I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t write fast enough and I was going to die.â&#x20AC;? In the early Eighties, Balazs joined his father, who was by that point teaching at Harvard Medical School, to form a successful biotech company called Biomatrix. After that, in 1984, he invested in a Manhattan nightclub called MK, KLV ÂżUVW IRUD\ LQWR WKH EXVLQHVV RI PDNLQJ SHRSOH KDSS\ 1H[W FDPH WKH 1990 acquisition and renovation of the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood. But it was the Mercer that brought Balazs to the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s attention, a hotel in a location so obscure, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I made the launch invitation from a map, because I was afraid no one would know where they were going,â&#x20AC;? Balazs tells me. But that was before Calvin Klein took up an extended residence there; before Russell Crowe threw that phone, and before I was dispatched in 1998, as a younger hack tasked with investigating an article entitled â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Coolest Places in the Worldâ&#x20AC;?. Balazsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; personal myth as a tastemaker and a cool-crowd magnet grew fast, and was undoubtedly
LQĂ&#x20AC;DWHG E\ KLV HPHUJLQJ propensity for relationships with extraordinarily beautiful women. In 1985, Balazs married Katie Ford, daughter of the founder of the Ford model agency. The couple have two grown-up daughters. Balazs and Ford divorced in 2004 - amicably, he tells me: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s my best friendâ&#x20AC;? - and Balazs began a long-term on-off relationship with the actress Uma Thurman, to whom he became engaged, although the couple never
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Anything thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s good, people appreciateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
ended up getting married. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s subsequently been connected with RenĂŠe Zellweger, Sharon Stone, Cameron Diaz and Pippa Middleton, among quite a lot of others. Something happened with him and Courtney Love (who said of Balazs, â&#x20AC;&#x153;He can be a bad boyâ&#x20AC;?); and now there are these Kylie rumours, ZKLFK ÂżUVW VXUIDFHG LQ 2FWREHU ODVW year, when Minogue and Balazs dined at the Chiltern Firehouse over - 77 -
two successive evenings, prompting one newspaper to ask: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Can Kylie tame the most toxic bachelor in Hollywood?â&#x20AC;? I approach the Minogue issue gingerly. Balazs is garrulous DERXW KLV EXVLQHVV KHÂśOO ZDIĂ&#x20AC;H RQ endlessly about â&#x20AC;&#x153;the unique position we hold as a relatively small-sized business coupled with real focus on operations ...â&#x20AC;?, but heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s frustratingly discreet about the A-list crowd it entertains. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s extremely adept at name-dropping without actually dropping anyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Last night, I was having a long drink with a director, very well known. I wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t name him, but he spends half his year in hotels, and half of them are oursâ&#x20AC;?), and heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll deny furiously that he actively pursues his celebrity clientele, throwing rhetoric at the argument like this: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not a strategy! Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a tribe, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a self-forming community! These people are artists, who appreciate the work of other artists, and who ... congregate.â&#x20AC;? All of which makes me tentative about bringing up the subject of his own starry private life. I ask him if heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s concerned with the way he looks, adding, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re
TRAVEL considered attractive, arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t you ...â&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thank you,â&#x20AC;? Balazs says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re very sweet.â&#x20AC;? Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s true, I say. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m very fortunate, I guess, if people think that, thank you.â&#x20AC;? Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve also had a string of beautiful girlfriends, which, one could argue, serves as concrete evidence of your charms. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Oh, thank you,â&#x20AC;? he says, quietly, as if dropping the volume on our exchange might deter me. Well, you must have noticed they were all beautiful. Is that - are they - an inevitable part of the life you lead? If one mixes almost exclusively with beautiful and famous people, I imagine it ups the odds that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll end up in relationships with some of them ... â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know,â&#x20AC;? he says. (Which is ridiculous; if Balazs doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know, who does?) And how is your love life currently? Balazs laughs, not unkindly. He isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t playing the game, but nor is he cross with me for trying. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You have to ask, and I respect you for asking.â&#x20AC;? But youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not going to tell me? â&#x20AC;&#x153;How could I?â&#x20AC;? he says. My moneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on Kylie. We return to the safer ground of London property prices. I ask Balazs if the rumour is true that prices in the surrounding area have gone up by 80 per cent LQ WKH \HDU VLQFH WKH KRWHO ÂżUVW launched. He says he believes it is true, and that similar things have happened in the areas surrounding all his hotels. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot of power youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got there, AndrĂŠ. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yeah,â&#x20AC;? he says quietly, â&#x20AC;&#x153;and I am a big, big fan of the old shops around here, and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m nervous about it changing. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m fearful of it.â&#x20AC;? He talks about two big new residential developments in the area, â&#x20AC;&#x153;and both of them are called Chiltern. We only called this the Chiltern Firehouse because just calling it the Firehouse would be too generic, but already itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s become ...â&#x20AC;? +H WUDLOV RII OHDYLQJ PH WR ÂżOO LQ the gap with words like â&#x20AC;&#x153;shorthand for a bit of a monsterâ&#x20AC;?. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve seen â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Chilternâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in the press, in The New
1. The Standard Spa Miami Beach 2. The Standard Spa Miami Beach 3. The Standard Hollywood
- 78 -
York Times, and the fear, my fear, is that wonderful old-timers like Marioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the barber [situated just across the road from the hotel] or the newsagent [next to Marioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s] will be driven out ... And you know, Ralph Lauren just paid Archer Adams [a Chiltern Street menswear shop], in order to secure a lease thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gone up 150 per cent.â&#x20AC;? Does he feel guilty? â&#x20AC;&#x153;I feel sad. None of them is being forced, none of them is being pushed out. So, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re very, very happy sellers. But thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s always this question about the rate at which progress and evolution should happen ... Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s crazy. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just ... extremely strong.â&#x20AC;? Yet itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s precisely this neighbourhoods and the potential to change them - that is Balazsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; grand SDVVLRQ Âł7KH ELJJHU SLFWXUH WKH knock-on effect, the transformative
choice. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s when I started investing in clubs and restaurants and hotels.â&#x20AC;? I ask him if that set-up also makes him a workaholic. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sure Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m some form of workaholic, yes. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sure thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of my issues.â&#x20AC;? I ask him if thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s anyone heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d rather didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t come to the Chiltern Firehouse, and he says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;No one other than the paparazzi, whom I would just beg to stay away.â&#x20AC;? A noblesounding proclamation I simply donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t buy. The pap circus is a) an inevitable by-product of an institution custom-designed to service famous people, all of whom very much want to be papped in those precise FLUFXPVWDQFHV DQG E D VLJQLÂżHU RI its success. The paps will leave when WKH FHOHEV ÂżQG VRPHZKHUH FRROHU WR hang out, and presumably Balazs doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want that happening any
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sure Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m some form of workaholic, yesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; power.â&#x20AC;? I ask him whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s next for his business and he says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are looking to take entire areas of a city and regenerate them, resuscitate them.â&#x20AC;? Balazs says hotels have the power to change areas; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hotels â&#x20AC;&#x153;that become the focal points of new communitiesâ&#x20AC;?. His next target of transformation is north London, the building that housed the old Camden town hall. I should be buying something round there about now, I joke. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Actually, you should,â&#x20AC;? Balazs says, quite seriously. :H ÂżQLVK ZLWK D VKDUHG GHVVHUW (a spiced pumpkin pie), and with a contemplation of Balazsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; work-life balance. He tells me that part of the reason he plumped for a career in hospitality was that he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enjoy working on the biotech company with his father, because he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like the sharp delineation between work and non-work. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like living a separate, parallel life like that. I decided to go into business where being in business was being with your friends. It was a very conscious thing, a very conscious - 79 -
time soon. $QG , DVN KLP DERXW WKH ÂżUVW WKLQJ he does on checking in to someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hotel room. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I rearrange the furniture. Usually theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re so poorly laid out, and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m very sensitive to my physical environment. I very frequently take the curtains off, because I like lightness. I climb up on a chair and take them down.â&#x20AC;? Finally, I ask him if he ever just wants to be quiet, alone, and to go to bed early. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yes!â&#x20AC;? he says, with more vehemence than I expect. Do you ever get the chance? â&#x20AC;&#x153;No!â&#x20AC;? he says, with equal vehemence. 7KHQ Âł:HOO 6RPHWLPHV , JR WR EHG early.â&#x20AC;? What timeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;earlyâ&#x20AC;?? â&#x20AC;&#x153;Midnight,â&#x20AC;? he says. Not in my book itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not, I say. He laughs. Then I say goodbye to the man some call Hollywoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most toxic bachelor, although I think â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hollywoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coolest town plannerâ&#x20AC;? may be more accurate, before realising AndrĂŠ Balazs never really answered either of the only two questions I had for him.
LIFE LESSONS
WHAT I KNOW NOW
When I founded M. Micallef with my husband Geoffrey Nejman in 1996, the concept was to mix art and perfume. I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to be a commercial brand; instead, I wanted be very exclusive, expensive and unique. At the time, the market was down but we continued to follow this concept.
Martine Micallef Artist and co-founder of M. Micallef Perfumes
'XULQJ RXU ÂżUVW WULS WR WKH 0LGGOH (DVW ZH went to the Spice Souk and bought some Arabic oil and took it back to the laboratory in France. Now all the brands have oud, but ZH ZHUH WKH ÂżUVW WR PL[ $UDELF RLO LQ D )UHQFK style and this was one of the keys to our success. I design our bottles and they are all handmade at our atelier in Grasse, France. Of course, we could establish another factory somewhere less expensive but itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not what we want to do. Our strategy is different from a commercial brand, and we want to stay with our high quality. I spend six months of the year in Dubai. I love to have contact with our customers because this is when you have ideas. I also love to experience different cultures because each one gives you rich inspiration. It takes about 4-6 months to develop a new perfume because the longer you take to prepare the base, the better the quality. We buy the best quality ingredients, such as vanilla from Madagascar and rose from Bulgaria. We use 80 per cent natural products and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really our signature. Our perfumes can be found in around 900 luxury stores in 54 countries, but now our strategy is to have our own stand-alone boutiques too - we SODQ WR RSHQ LQ WKH QH[W ÂżYH \HDUV EHFDXVH we want to build an even more artistic brand. For example, in our boutiques you can have your bottle personalised with engraving, painting and special stones. - 96 -
Value Redefined ... >LSJVTL [V [OL VUS` 7SH[PU\T 7SHU 3\_\Y` 9LZVY[ PU [OL 4HSKP]LZ VMMLYPUN >H[LY =PSSHZ ^P[O WYP]H[L WVVS ,UQV` H TLTVYHISL Z[H` PU VUL VM V\Y :\UZL[ >H[LY :\P[LZ ^P[O I\[SLY ZLY]PJL YVVT ZLY]PJL WYLTP\T TPUPIHY HUK MPUL KPUPUN HSS PUJS\KLK
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