Air Magazine - Gama Aviation - September'16

Issue SIXTY FOUR SEPTEMBER 2016

THE STYLE ISSUE AW16

Luxury • Culture • People • Style • Heritage

Haute Joaillerie, place VendĂ´me since 1906

IS GOOD EVER GOOD ENOUGH? If an Embraer executive jet feels like nothing you’ve experienced before, that’s because there was nothing like it before. In short, our executive aircraft are the tangible manifestation of our culture of constant improvement and unconventional thinking. You’ll notice it in the details. Feel it in ergonomics. And hear it in cabins that maintain amazing levels of quiet at every altitude. We’re not for those who are comfortable with the status quo—but rather, for those who consider that the starting point.

EmbraerExecutiveJets.com

Contents SEPtEmBEr 2016 : ISSUE 64

Editorial Editorial director

John Thatcher Editor

Chris Ujma christopher@hotmediapublishing.com Sub-Editor

Emma Laurence Contributing Editor

air

Hayley Skirka

art art director

Andy Knappett designer

Emi Dixon illustrator

Andrew Thorpe

CommErCial Forty

Fifty Six

david@hotmediapublishing.com

As Helena Christensen gracefully matures, she’s adamant for women to defy the media and do the same

Inside the creative mind of Guo Pei, whose bespoke style creations are taking both East and West by storm

Commercial director

Forty Six

Sixty Four

Vacheron Constantin enters a new realm of horology, and entices the discerning watch lover to join the journey

At 82, Mr Armani is still the driving force of the eponymous brand – but what fuels the fashion legend?

managing director

Hels Belles

Victoria Thatcher Group Commercial director

David Wade

Taking On The World

Rawan Chehab

rawan@hotmediapublishing.com Business development manager

Rabih El Turk

rabih@hotmediapublishing.com

ProduCtion Production manager

Muthu Kumar

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Design Destiny

Armani

Contents SEPtEmBEr 2016 : ISSUE 64

Eighteen

Thirty Four

Timepieces

Motoring

Seventy

Seventy Eight

A new book looks at the work of Marc Hom, the man behind the lens who makes the stars look super

Panerai’s most complex timepiece to date is full of personality, and looks just as good as it sounds

The Fenyr SuperSport bares it teeth, as W Motors unleashes an instant design (and performance) classic

Secluded and serene, Soneva Fushi is the Maldivian birthplace of the ‘no news, no shoes’ philosophy

Twenty Eight

Thirty Six

Seventy Four

Unwinding the history of Bulgari’s seductive Serpenti collection, which has spellbound all in its gaze...

After 47 years, Woodstock remains the big bang of festivals; photographer Baron Wolman was there

A visit to the Dolder Grand, where Zürich’s culinary legend – Heiko Neider – crafts plated masterpieces

Radar

Art & Design

Gastronomy

air

Jewellery

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. HOT Media Publishing does not accept liability for omissions or errors in AIR.

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Travel

© 2016 TUMI, INC.

THE NEW V3.

OUR LIGHTEST LUGGAGE. EVER.

TUMI.COM

Gama Aviation SEPTEMBER 2016 : ISSUE 64

Welcome Onboard SEPTEMBER 2016

I’m delighted to welcome you to the September edition of AIR, Gama’s in-flight magazine.

I hope you’ll enjoy learning more about our global business aviation group and the services we provide as you browse through the pages.

Gama is one of the world’s largest business-jet operators – we have nearly 150 business jets operating all around the globe. Established in the United Kingdom in 1983, we’ve grown to have bases throughout the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America, as well as operating licences issued by the UAE, UK, US and Bermudan Authorities.

In addition to providing aircraft management and charter services, the group also provides aircraft maintenance, avionics design and installation, aviation software, aircraft cleaning and leasing services to a wide range of clients.

Gama’s expansion in the Middle East continues to progress well; our regional fleet has grown significantly over the past 12 months with the arrival of a number of aircraft, along with the continued development of our regional footprint and services. This includes the opening of our Jeddah office and Abu Dhabi base. Also, Gama is now operating the only businessaviation FBO at Sharjah International Airport, which is proving to be a very popular facility for Sharjah and the Northern Emirates, as well as a practical alternative to Dubai International Airport.

Business aviation remains one of the best tools available to corporations and individuals who want to make time for themselves and it’s been pleasing to see a continued resurgence in charter flights – the world is travelling for business again and developing much-needed revenue for the global economy.

Thank you for choosing Gama, and have an enjoyable flight.

Richard Lineveldt General Manager Gama Aviation

Contact Details: charter.mena@gamaaviation.com gamaaviation.com 13

Gama Aviation

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Gama Aviation SEPTEMBER 2016 : ISSUE 64

Enjoy the legendary Gulfstream G550 charter aircraft Brand new to the fleet, Gama Aviation welcomes its newest (2014) charter Gulfstream G550. Capable of nonstop flights in excess of 13 hours, the G550 will carry up to 14 guests over 12,000km in exceptional comfort.

For your comfort the G550 offers:  Wi-Fi.  10 individual seats with six lie-flat beds.  A highly finished bespoke cabin.  Three separate compartments convenient for families, business and diplomatic travel.  The ability to book a Michelin-star quality chef for in-flight dining.

A full service prior to departure and on landing Gama Aviation’s charter teams around the world recognise that your trip on the Gulfstream G550 charter aircraft is more than just booking a flight – it’s about delivering a promise, a commitment to you that is beyond simply taking off and landing. To this end, its charter teams will be able to assist you with:  Visas and other travel 15

An exceptional flight deserves exceptional dining With flights emanating from the UK, it is recommended that your charter flight is accompanied by a truly special dining experience. Gama Aviation’s partners at On Air Dining are masters in developing fine-dining concepts that work at altitude, tasting as good as those from London’s finest restaurants.

documentation required by your party.  Personal security.  Boutique five/six-star accommodation at your destination.  Helicopter or ground transfers to and from the nearest airport.  Onward-trip planning using further private aviation or commercial flights.

In addition to in-house fully bonded ATOL/ABTA travel concierge that will work with you or your advisors to make sure every detail of your trip goes without a hitch. For charter enquiries please contact charter. mena@gamaaviation.com

Gama Aviation SEPTEMBER 2016 : ISSUE 64

VIP event at the Jersey FBO Join us for a wonderful evening on Friday 23 September 2016 Gama Aviation is thrilled to continue its traditional Jersey VIP Evening on the wonderful island of Jersey, home of its newest business-aviation terminal.

As in previous years, the occasion provides a relaxed atmosphere with refreshments and canapés, while affording the opportunity to showcase up to a dozen aircraft from the likes of Gulfstream, Bombardier, Dassault and Textron, plus a selection of luxury cars and bespoke jewellery from Catherine Best. The aircraft lineup is one of the strongest outside of the traditional aviation trade shows, allowing you to get up close and personal with the types flown by us all around the world.

This will be a memorable event that has long been on the Jersey social calendar. Attendance is on an invitation-only basis.

Oxford facility receives FAA approval Maintenance base receives FAA approval to support Bombardier Globals, Challengers and Embraer Legacy

Gama Aviation’s maintenance base at Oxford Airport has added to its comprehensive coverage with the addition of FAA approvals for ‘N’ registered Bombardier Globals, Challengers, the Embraer Legacy series and the BAE Hawker series.

Scott Corbett, base maintenance manager, Gama Aviation Oxford, 16

commented, “This summer has seen a high volume of maintenance activity taking place in Oxford. The new FAA approval, combined with our 24/7 AOG coverage for these highly popular types creates a compelling proposition for individuals and fleet owners who want holistic coverage for their aircraft.”

MAX SPEED: MACH 0.88 • MAX RANGE: 8,056 KM • MAX ALTITUDE: 13,716 M

PROVEN LEADERSHIP Growing an international business demands reliability and peak performance.

That’s what the Gulfstream G450™ delivers. This aircraft is part of the top-selling platform in business aviation history and consistently earns NBAA reliability ratings above 99 percent. Take the guesswork out of success. Put yourself in a G450.

ALLAN STANTON | +971 50 653 5258 | allan.stanton@gulfstream.com | GULFSTREAMG450.COM Theoretical max range is based on cruise at Mach 0.80 with eight passengers, three crew and NBAA IFR fuel reserves.

Actual range will be affected by ATC routing, operating speed, weather, outfitting options and other factors.

Radar

AIR

SEPTEMBER 2016 : ISSUE 64

Copenhagen-born, Brooklyn-based photographer Marc Hom’s CV reads like a who’s who of contemporary Hollywood cool: Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Brie Larson, Lupita Nyong’o (pictured), Quentin Tarantino... even Michelle Obama. But Hom’s craft goes beyond the cult of celebrity – he’s also an acclaimed fashion photographer, and the glossy-magazine world’s go-to for clean, classic, classy portraiture. In a new collection of his work, Profiles, iconic shots of some of the world’s most famous faces share the pages with more personal images of Hom’s friends and family. He calls it “a reflection on my fascination with the person and their innate beauty”, while in the book’s foreword, Anne Hathaway says of her first shoot with Hom (the result of which graces the cover), “It was the first time I felt seen. It was the first time I felt beautiful.” Testament indeed to the superstar on the other side of the lens. teneues.com 18

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Critique SEPTEMBER 2016 : ISSUE 64

Film Kicks Dir: Justin Tipping Fresh kicks make Brandon a target in this sobering tale of inner-city life AT BEST: “Has almost too much grittiness for its own good, but [the film’s] appeal easily smooths over [its] rougher edges.” indieWIRE AT WORST: “If… over-reliant on slo-mo, voiceover and almost wall-to-wall music to drive scenes, its silky blend of lyricism with urban grit marks it as a promising debut.” Hollywood Reporter

Ben-Hur AIR

Dir: Timur Bekmambetov In this remake of the 1959 epic, Judah Ben-Hur exacts vengeance on the adopted brother who condemned him to slavery AT BEST: “There are so many good things about [this version] that it’s hard to understand why so much of it is laid to waste by a mountain of cheesy effects and clunky, leaden dialogue.” The Patriot Ledger AT WORST: “An oddly lacklustre affair: sludgy and plodding… that feels like a mini-series served up in bits and pieces.” Variety

Don’t Breathe Dir: Fede Alvarez A trio of young home raiders believe they’ve found an easy robbery target in a lonely, blind war veteran… They’re wrong AT BEST: “It offers… edge-of-your seat thrills… but also takes you into far darker territory than anticipated.” New York Daily News AT WORST: “While it is definitely time for Alvarez to stretch beyond his brand of housebound horror, he just may be the current master of it.” The Young Folks

Southside With You Dir: Richard Tanne The first date between Barack Obama and his now-wife Michelle becomes the source material for a charming, summery flick AT BEST: “If you remove the historic importance of these two characters, it still mostly works as a simple love story between a pair of intellectuals striving for greatness.” Collider AT WORST: “Of course this is a stylised, and yes… idealised, version of [their romance]. That’s pretty much the point.” Chicago Sun-Times 20

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Critique SEPTEMBER 2016 : ISSUE 64

Theatre

AIR

T

he chronicles of the pioneering Tuskegee Airmen – the first African-American fighter pilots – are a tale worth telling, and Black Angels Over Tuskegee sets out to do exactly that. Written and directed

by Layon Gray and playing at New York’s St Luke’s Theatre, this is a performance of juxtapositions according to Jason Zinoman for The New York Times. “Every sympathetic character hits one note over and over, but Mr Gray has the instincts of an entertainer, and the rapport his actors have established is persuasive enough to distract you from the formulaic aspects of the drama. As manipulative, obvious and sentimental as it is, this show is also tough to resist. By the end, when the pilots overcame their obstacles and finally got up into the air to the swelling of music, tears welled up in my eyes right after I rolled them.” Backstage gives Gray’s work supplementary credit, arguing, “Some plays teach, others celebrate, and a few simply entertain. Black Angels Over Tuskegee manages to do all three and one thing more: it inspires.”

Across the Atlantic, Things I Know To Be True opens at the Lyric Hammersmith in London before embarking on a two-month UK tour taking in Oxford, Warwick, Liverpool, Manchester and Chichester. Having premiered in Australia, this first-time collaboration between the State Theatre Company of South Australia and the UK’s Frantic Assembly sees Imogen Stubbs lead a remarkable cast in award-winning playwright Andrew Bovell’s latest work.

Embroiled in suburban domesticity, The Guardian’s Jane Howard points to the emotional connection the audience will derive from the performance: “Directors Geordie Brookman and Scott Graham spread tenderness throughout the production, delicately folding us through the family drama. We watch people hurt each other; we feel this hurt. And yet this tenderness remains, always.” Expect an intricate

Things I Know To Be True

study of the mechanics of a family that is as poetic as it is brutally frank.

Further north, the Edinburgh Festival may have drawn to a close for another year but there remains ample theatrics in Scotland’s capital and The Cheviot, The Stag And The Black, Black Oil is just one example.

Recounting the history and tragedy of Scotland, and performed as a ceilidh with song, humour and drama intermixed, this is a unique theatrical showcase. David Pollock for The Independent says, “It has everything, 22

and it throws it at you in generous handfuls; laughter, farce, drama, live song and dance, finely researched political intent,” while The Guardian’s Mark Fisher calls the play “rousing, raucous, polemical, plangent and fun”. Performed by the Dundee Rep Ensemble, Joyce McMillan writing for The Scotsman gives the work unparalleled acclaim, describing it as “Joe Douglas’ glorious revival of what’s arguably the single most important show in the whole history of Scottish theatre”.

Critique SEPTEMBER 2016 : ISSUE 64

Art

AIR

“B

ruce Conner is among the most important postwar artists you’ve probably never heard of… He delved into the rise of consumerist culture and fears of nuclear Armageddon during the height of the Cold War. This show – the artist’s first monographic museum exhibition in New York – is the first large survey of his work in 16 years and the first complete retrospective of his 50year career,” says Time Out New York of the explosive Bruce Conner: It’s All True. Writing in The New York Times, Roberta Smith enthuses, “In multiple media, over more than five decades, this restless denizen of the San Francisco cultural scene resisted categorisation, art-world expectations and almost any kind of authority. His opposition took the form of dark assemblages made from the detritus of modern life that include some of the most forceful evocations of American violence in 20th-century art… While years late, [the retrospective] also feels right on time… This pulsating enumeration of 20th-century catastrophe – war, colonialism, the bomb – interspersed with carefree surfers and scantily clad starlets initiates us into Conner’s sensibility, his preference for appropriation, accumulation and assemblage of small pieces into unexpected wholes… His hypnotic rendition suspends the viewer between pleasure and horror.”

The collective unconscious can be explored at the Museum of Modern Art in New York until 2 October.

Is Making Beauty – a solo exhibition

by Macedonia-born artist Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva – grand-scale majesty, or merely macabre? “Art and animal flesh collide... Specifically, she works using animal organs, transforming the perishable waste products into artistic materials via a chemical process akin to embalming,” heralds CNN. “Her wide-ranging practice incorporates ephemeral, perishable and precious materials; often transforming mundane surfaces into intricate and grandiose environments

Fragility (2015) by Elpida Hadzi-Vasileva, exhibited as part of Making Beauty

that reflect upon a series of historic, geographic and cultural contexts.

Haruspex (2015)… responds to a key scriptural text. Constructed from meat-industry waste products, the installation’s central point, a chalicelike form, is made from a cow’s stomach,” explains Aesthetica. Kit Buchan at the Observer elaborates, “Perhaps the most intriguing and unsettling aspect of the exhibition is that the majority of the work is made from artistically manipulated animal viscera, painstakingly preserved and exploited to fascinating, decorative effect… The lace-like drapery surrounding the space, translucent with delicate filigree, is in fact the distended membrane of pig gut.

Elegant threads of sheep’s intestine connect these walls to a central, textured sphere, made from the carefully preserved stomach of a cow (its third stomach, to be precise, an organ once known as ‘the bible’ for its page-like folds)… The eccentric, even repellent aspects of these materials are not lost on Hadzi-Vasileva, however, who seeks to unearth beauty, ‘whatever beauty is’, in the most tortuous corners of our minds and bodies.” It shows until 30 October at Nottingham’s Djanogly Gallery.

Rounding off with another dose of dark matter is Pamela Wilson’s The Sweetest Poison, at New York’s RJD Gallery until 2 October. “Wilson has 24

never coloured inside the lines – not in her adult life, as a professional artist, nor as a child, with her box of crayons in a Mormon household, the place that shaped her entire future.

Her paintings push her audiences into dark, challenging places. There, they experience her conception of beauty, her newfound inspiration, her violent past and her pain,” surmises Michelle Trauring of The Sag Harbor Express. Pat Rogers of Hamptons Art Hub delves deeper: “People in exotic garb caught in unusual situations embracing strange objects are the mainstay here. Think harlequins, taxidermy geese, clown-white faces, fur stoles, flowing gowns, dolls and oversize striped lollipops… [Her] painted worlds are inhabited by people who can be found along railroad tracks, in burning landscapes, dim interiors, thick woods or on desolate beaches.

In some cases, the subjects are portrayed à la Hitchcock, with only a threatening sky as backdrop, or perhaps a sliver of land or mountainside for grounding... The compositions themselves move closer to intimate portraits, channelling the kinds of real-life insights that can sometimes appear within restless dreams… The light that guides her comes from the experiences we have along the way that help us to grow as human beings.”

Critique SEPTEMBER 2016 : ISSUE 64

AIR

Books

“I

s Alice Oswald our greatest living poet?” asks Charlotte Runcie of The Telegraph, on the release of Oswald’s Falling Awake. “There’s a case to be made that she is... On paper, at least, she fulfils the requirements, having won all the prizes you might reasonably expect a British poet at the height of her powers to win…

Throughout Falling Awake, the hours and the seasons, as well as the insistent course of river currents, are felt as the internal rhythms of the poetry. Reading it in one breath allows you to see how skilfully Oswald slips in and out of strict formal structures, shrugging metrical skins off and on, forging ahead more freely in her longer pieces. Some poems are like canals, others are rivers.” Theophilus Kwek of The London Magazine elaborates, “The most striking poems in this volume are brief and tightly formed, resembling woodcuts in their ability to record strokes of light and shade.

Rarely longer than a page, they employ quick, untrammelled lines to sketch the contours of a scene…

The simplicity, however, is deceptive.

These carefully knit pieces position themselves as heirs to a long alliterative aural tradition, and rely

on the inner music of each line to echo in the mind.” The Guardian’s Kate Kellaway concurs. “Alice Oswald pulls off a feat in her seventh collection: she finds words for encounters with nature that ordinarily defy language…

It is an astonishing book of beauty, intensity and poise – a revelation.

Some of the poems are inspired by mythology… most are unmediated, autobiographical, witnessed... The collection’s title is spot on. I cannot think of any poet who is more watchful or with a greater sense of gravity.”

In Anu Partanen’s The Nordic Theory Of Everything, “The Finnish journalist offers a surprising theory of why Americans are neither currently upwardly mobile nor free…

In her careful, evenhanded series of thoughtful essays, Partanen, who just became an American citizen, parses the recipe for Nordic success that even the self-congratulatory ‘exceptional’ American may want to ponder and adapt. Step by step, the author sifts through the Nordic system of universal health care, early education, and equitable taxes, a system that frees citizens to be autonomous and creative without stress – a ‘wellbeing state’ rather than a ‘welfare state’,” 26

writes Kirkus Reviews. Michelle Dean at The New York Times casts a more critical eye. “[She] has much to say about what the Nordic countries have to offer, but remarkably little to say about how Americans can achieve this kind of glory for themselves…

Other than expressing a touching faith in American energy and selfmotivation, she can’t explain how and when this country could get there.

This exposes the problem with this sort of outsider’s book. Partanen is a careful, judicious writer and she makes a careful, judicious case. But I doubt any American not already sympathetic to her argument will be persuaded. It’s useful to know what the outsider knows: there are other ways of organising humanity. If only we could teach everyone that.”

Anuradha Roy’s novel Sleeping On Jupiter is gritty yet poetic. “Roy’s chiselled prose allows her to expose the endless, treacherous hypocrisies of Indian society… Violence and misogyny, as Roy drives home, is the norm here. India is evoked in the ginger and crushed cloves of a seaside tea stall, the poetry of Jibanananda Das, the scent of grapefruit and above all, in the shame of speaking about violence… What emerges in here is the story of entrenched evil… against women and children that cannot be challenged, only escaped,” writes journalist Meena Kandasamy. In The Independent, Rebecca K Morrison says, “The narrative structure of interwoven voices, lives overlapping during the course of five days… is beguiling and provides the framework that makes exploration of the subject of [abuse] possible, respectful, and timely.

The themes of innocence stolen, the refuge of the imagination, and the inclination to look away are handled with sensitivity and subtlety in some of the best prose of recent years encountered by this reader. Roy brings a painterly eye, her choice of detail bringing scenes to sensual life, while eschewing floridness… This tale of innocence lost is a masterclass in the art of restraint.”

Jewellery SEPTEMBER 2016 : ISSUE 64

AIR

Snake Charmers

From their very first slitherings, Serpenti pieces have captured the admiration of beautiful women the world over. The newest interpretation from Bulgari is equally hypnotic WORDS : HAYLEY SKIRKA

R

ewind to 1963, when filming for one of the most expensive movies ever made had just begun in the heart of Rome. Under the direction of Joseph L Mankiewicz, the historical epic Cleopatra was brought to life in an extravagant display that involved hundreds of costumes, thousands of extras and millions of dollars’ worth of set design. It was a marathon event and yet… the ensuing love that blossomed between co-stars Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor would endure in the eyes of the public.

Despite being married to others, Burton and Taylor began one of

history’s greatest love stories, throughout which the actor showered Taylor with gifts. Among these were many pieces from Italian jewellery house Bulgari and the actress was repeatedly pictured wearing her Serpenti bracelet on set in Cincinnati.

In these jewels, Taylor found a new love, and Burton famously declared that despite three years filming in Rome, “The only word Elizabeth knows in Italian is Bulgari.” This affinity with the Italian maison was a love that would outlast her romance – the pair split 10 years later – as Taylor continued to sparkle in Bulgari, 28

wearing it to meet Queen Elizabeth II in 1976, and again when posing for the cover of Helmut Newton’s iconic Portraits some 20 years later.

Taylor was perhaps the quintessential Bulgari woman: glamorous, seductive and iconic, everything the house aims to be. Her love for Serpenti gave rise to an unparalleled popularity, causing the snake-inspired pieces to go down in history as some of Bulgari’s most beloved. Since then, the serpent has shed its skin several times and this year, in celebration of 132 years of craftsmanship, Bulgari unveiled its latest incarnation.

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AIR

Previous pages: Bulgari Serpenti platinum, diamond and emerald necklace.

Above: Elizabeth Taylor wearing a Serpenti bracelet while filming Cleopatra in Rome, 1962. Opposite: Bulgari Serpenti 18ct rubellite, rose gold and diamond earrings.

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The new interpretation plays on a variety of forms inspired by the serpent: wraparound bracelets, rings and jewelled watches that are somewhat softer than earlier pieces, delicately stylised if you will. According to creative director Lucia Silvestri, “This new reinterpretation of the Serpenti collection has been one of our greatest challenges as a design centre for 2016.

We strongly believe in our codes,

The snake represents an evolution… It is beautiful in its hypnotic danger which made (and continue making) Bulgari’s identity and style. But, of course, each of these codes must be reinterpreted, must always surprise and be in constant evolution for women that are never the same.”

Trawling Bulgari’s archives, the first depiction of the serpent dates back to the 1940s with the Tubogas design – a sleek and flexible hose of gold braiding bearing a resemblance to woven-metal gas tubing. Hours of specialist work transformed the braiding into a series of gold coils that wrap around the wrist in a snake-like manner. And thus, the Serpenti was born. Stunning pieces incarnating both the good and the bad ideals that the snake has been known for throughout history were crafted from gleaming yellow gold, featuring tails studded with diamonds and beautiful gem-encrusted heads. Their beauty was hypnotic and it wasn’t only Taylor who was captivated by their allure.

“In the Sixties, Diana Vreeland wore her Serpenti belt necklace as an instrument that reflected her glamour and dynamic personality in a very audacious way,” reveals Silvestri. And in keeping with this iconography of cyclical rebirth, Serpenti has returned time and again on the necks and wrists of some of the most refined women in the world.

Actresses Olivia Wilde, Lily Collins and Jaime King have all been pictured sporting Serpenti on Hollywood’s red carpets, while Marion Fasel’s commemorative book Bulgari: Serpenti Collection is replete with famous faces.

In addition to Taylor and Vreeland, Rachel Weisz and Anna Wintour – US

Vogue’s editor-in-chief and legendary fashion dynast – adorn the pages, sparkling in Serpenti. For Silvestri, this simply makes sense: “Serpenti is inextricably bound to those women that made our history, something to be remembered. Today, I would love to have Queen Rania of Jordan as a customer, I think her charisma and elegance could be in perfect synergy with Bulgari’s identity.”

In 2016, a distinct move away from focusing on the reptile’s coils sees a carefully articulated head take centre stage, with the snake’s face set into pendants for the first time. “For the new Serpenti collection, the Bulgari woman and the snake have the same capability to seduce with their hypnotic gaze,” explains Silvestri.

Noticeably more expressive, the new Serpenti face brings the creature to life with gemstones that captivate. This is the soul of the creative director’s role.

“My job is to turn the markets in search of stones,” she says. “I spend weeks on the road between New York, Jaipur, Geneva, Hong Kong, Bangkok… looking for gems that are true ‘Bulgari stones’.

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Behind an amazing stone, you have to already see it in a jewellery creation.”

And in Serpenti’s rebirth, the role of such stones is apparent. Multifaceted expressions of seduction are captured in the serpent’s playful eyes, beneath which lingers a hypnotic glare stunningly set with amethyst and rubellite or malachite. Sparkling with desire, Silvestri explains the significance of the design’s transition. “The snake represents an evolution, first to a more stylised and allegoric design, given through the collection with the scale motif or the Tubogas – and then to the very essence of Bulgari’s spirit animal: the eyes and hexagonal scale design.

It is beautiful in its hypnotic danger.”

Speaking a contemporary creative language, the reimagination of Serpenti embodies Bulgari’s philosophy of innovation while remaining in harmony with its long-standing ancient overtones. Wound tight with history, the new collection is one of the maison’s boldest expressions to date, encapsulating the notion that as style, taste and society march on, the snake will always bite back.

OB JECTS OF DESIRE

OBJECTS OF DESIRE

Master craftsmanship, effortless style and timeless appeal; this month’s must-haves and collectibles

OB JECTS OF DESIRE

D

celine

TRI-FOlD Bag

New for FW16 comes the ultimate in understated chic from CĂŠline. Resplendent in daffodil (one of five colours available) and fashioned from supple, natural calfskin, this functional tri-fold shoulder bag gets its name from the trio of interior compartments, including one on top that

you can fasten with a zip – perfect for storing a purse. Added security, without compromising on style, comes in the form of leather laces, positioned at either side of the bag and on its top, which can be tied to fully envelop the contents. This is how to shop in style. celine.com 1

OB JECTS OF DESIRE

E

G l o b e -t r o t t e r

alEx anDER mCquEEn CaSE

A harmonious collaboration between this English luggage manufacturer and the luxury fashion house led to these travel pieces with split personality. Vulcanised fibreboard and leather corners ensure durability on the understated outside,

while silver studs and skulls add a touch of menace that says ‘hands off my luggage’.

The Alexander McQueen logo is also etched onto the metal buckle of the leather strap, and there are two models: a 13in mini utility case and a 21in trolley case.

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OB JECTS OF DESIRE

bremont

BOEIng 100

Limited to just 300, this special-edition chronograph pays homage to Boeing (in the year of its 100th anniversary).

The comforting hue of the strap evokes the ‘Boeing Brown’ cockpit colour used in aircraft of yore, and the watch has

technical as well as visual cues: Boeing aviation-grade Ti 6-4 titanium is used in the timepiece, while carbon-fibre composite from the original Dreamliner testbed aircraft is integrated into the crown. A collector’s piece for the long haul.

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OB JECTS OF DESIRE

S

l a m borGhin i

CEnTEnaRIO ROaDSTER

Enthusiasts who attended Monterey Car Week in California were the first to lay eyes on the open-air version of this carbon-fibre road god. A 6.5l V12 engine is behind the 2017 roadster blistering from 0 to 100km/h in 2.9 seconds, and the vehicle has plenty of droolworthy tech

elements as well as a clean, seductive, aerodynamic silhouette. Inside, the Centenario is still fighter-jet feisty. It’s yet another upper-echelon masterpiece of engineering brilliance... which – if you don’t already own one of the 20 coupés or 20 roadsters – is already sold out. (Sorry.)

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OB JECTS OF DESIRE

I 5

OB JECTS OF DESIRE

R

dior homme

p I n B R O O C h w I T h S I l k- S aT I n R O S E

Dior Homme encourages you to showcase your rebellious side this season, taking inspiration from arguably the most definitive metaphor for the punk era – the safety pin. However, rather than used to pierce the skin, as was the fashion during the days of Sid Vicious et al,

today’s Dior-crafted palladium-finish safety pin is softened by a silk-satin rose, designed to pierce the lapel of a blazer.

Not quite anarchy, but a playful nod to the overt spirit of punk while playing up the romanticism that is present in the lyrics of many a famous punk song. dior.com 6

OB JECTS OF DESIRE

sa i n t l au r e n t

pa RIS p u mp

How to improve upon the timeless aesthetic grace of the stiletto? Simple. Add a cute, crystal-covered leather bow to the 4.3in heel. The 1980s were the inspiration for Saint Laurent’s FW16 collection and the stiletto screams that decade of excess just as loudly as exaggerated shoulders.

But it wouldn’t be Saint Laurent without setting the agenda for the present while channelling the past, which is why these pumps – ever iconic in black – proved such a hit when they sauntered down the runway. Find them at the brand’s flagship Mall of the Emirates store. ysl.com 7

OB JECTS OF DESIRE

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j u l i e n ’ s auc t ions

ICOnS & IDOlS SalE Self-styled auction house to the stars Julien’s Auctions brings a random array of items under the hammer for its next sale, taking place in LA from 22 to 23 September and online via julienslive.com.

An extraordinary lot is an ornamental box

containing the ashes of Truman Capote, which belonged to his close friend Joanne Carson, prior to her passing in 2015. Less morbid is a poster for The Kid, Charlie Chaplin’s debut feature film, which hung in his office. Its estimate is USD30-50k.

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Timepieces SEPTEMBER 2016 : ISSUE 64

A Symbol Of Power TARIq MALIK

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here are few timepieces that exude the glow of status and power quite like the Rolex Day-Date – known as the President’s Watch. Since its inauguration in 1956, it has been worn by men who have changed the course of history and shaped world events, and one story perfectly captures its essence.

In 1962, Marilyn Monroe famously sang Happy Birthday to President John F Kennedy at Madison Square Garden. That same day (or so it is rumoured), she gave his aide, Kenneth O’Donnell, a gift, with instructions to give it to Kennedy when nobody was looking. It was a gold Rolex Day-Date with the inscription: “Jack, With love as always, from Marilyn, May 29th 1962.” The president, wanting to keep their love secret, instructed O’Donnell to get rid of the watch. Whether that part is true or not, that watch sold at auction in 2005 for USD120,000.

The Day-Date’s powerful reputation didn’t just come about by accident: it was designed by Rolex’s founder, Hans Wilsdorf, from the very beginning. He gifted the watch to the highly respected Swiss Army general Henri Guisan, and later presented Winston Churchill with the 100,000th Officially Certified Rolex Chronometer. Strategically, the watch became associated with power.

Over the years, the watch has been worn by Presidents Eisenhower, Johnson and Roosevelt, among many other world leaders. But it’s not only presidents that wear it. Martin Luther King was often seen wearing a gold Day-Date, and it’s popular with movie and sports stars, too, including Rolex brand ambassador Roger Federer.

While the Day-Date is by no means the most complicated watch, it was quite unique when it was released.

The jump-calendar system was one of a kind then, and was dubbed the ‘miracle at midnight’ because of the way the date windows simultaneously jump to the next day. Chronometer accuracy was combined with a robust, water-resistant Oyster case and the luxurious three-link president’s bracelet. Those charismatic satinfinish outer links and polished central links made it the perfect symbol of reliability and prestige.

I can only imagine at how many high-powered meetings the Day-Date has peeped out from a sleeve while important documents were signed.

This particular Rolex has become a go-to symbolic gift to commemorate major achievements like graduating from university or closing a lifechanging business deal. In fact, last year the Phillips Glamorous Day-Date auction was entirely themed on this 33

single model, with huge success.

The pre-auction estimates were far exceeded, every piece was sold and the net total was over USD6 millon.

On display were rare editions, uncommon dials, special bezels and bracelet variations. The top lot, nicknamed The Big Kahuna, was a platinum and diamond reference 6612 with an unusual circular satin finish. Dating back to 1958, it sold for an astounding USD507,000. Also on auction was a reference 1831, originally made upon special order for the Shah of Persia, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in a limited run. This one goes by the name The Emperor, and went for USD260,000.

On the same occasion, Pucci Papaleo – a world-class expert on vintage Rolex and author of many Rolex books – launched a new book featuring the rarest examples of the Day-Date. We’re fortunate to have one of the pieces featured in the book in our possession. Sinbad is a reference 1802 with a unique three-diamond dial, factory-set Arabic-calendar discs and mesh bracelet.

Though so much is known about the Day-Date, some pieces still remain a mystery because they were made on special orders or in very limited numbers and won’t appear in any brochures until they hit the collector’s market. The Rolex DayDate remains a symbol of power and status, even after 60 years.

It underlines the old Rolex slogan: “Men who guide the destinies of the world wear a Rolex.”

Find Tariq’s co-founded vintage-watch boutique Momentum in Dubai’s DIFC; momentum-dubai.com

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SEPTEMBER 2016 : ISSUE 64

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Timepieces SEPTEMBER 2016 : ISSUE 64

Orchestrating Time An openworked, triple-gonged, dual-chimed, offset-angled tourbillon – this Panerai is pure pleasure to the ears WORDS : haylEy SkIrka

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t’s been a somewhat busy year for Panerai. First, there was the launch of a handful of novelties at SIHH, followed by a slew of more new timepieces in May. And now, Officine Panerai introduces the Radiomir 1940 Minute Repeater Carillon Tourbillon GMT, the watchmaker’s most complicated timepiece to date.

With a long record of supplying timepieces to the Royal Italian Navy and a history intricately linked to the world of the sea, Panerai has sought inspiration from its own past to create this work of genius. As early as the 13th century, sailors would mark the passage of time using the chimes of a ship’s bell and it is this very resonance that Panerai has replicated within its latest ode to watchmaking perfection.

Aural-philes rejoice, as this particular Panerai’s perceptible chimes are a delight to the ear. Activated by a pusher at 8 o’clock, helpfully adorned with a musical note, the chiming is carried out by three hammers that strike an equal number of gongs. Having three hammers rather than the traditional two allows for three different sounds to be combined, resulting in a melody much like that created by a bell.

The first gong is the lowest, and indicates the hour, while the last and highest gong indicates minutes.

The middle gong triple-chimes a baritone-pitched note, corresponding to 10 minutes. The delightful melodic chimes are further enhanced by the specificities of the red-gold case and by the unique structure of the timepiece,

Aural-philes rejoice, as this particular Panerai’s perceptible chimes are a delight which has been created as two separate parts, then soldered together. When housed in the custom-built wooden presentation box – supplied with every custom-made order of the model – the sound is unassailable.

Powered by Panerai’s new handwound skeletonised P.2005/MR manufacture-made calibre, the repeater function can impressively be activated for a second time zone, indicated on the dial by the central arrow hand and the am/pm indicator at 3 o’clock. Perhaps even more interestingly, the tourbillon cage is perched on a perpendicular axis as opposed to a classic parallel axis, a precision patented by Panerai that also rotates on a 30-second turn, rather than the traditional one-minute rotation. The arrangement of both together ensures that the movement compensates rapidly for any change of rate, warranting the height of timekeeping precision.

Moving away from the minimalist Panerai style that the brand is best 35

known for, this timepiece pays homage to the sophistication of skeletonising coupled with contemporary design. The tourbillon is visible from the dial side, an original effort from the company, while from the open back, the hammers of the minute repeaters, spring barrels and power-reserve indicator are visible.

At night, the hours, minutes and hands for all time zones come alive with a bright-green luminosity, giving wearers a skeletonised work of intricacy by day and by night – a timepiece that is more akin to Panerai’s classic Radiomir.

Available on a made-to-order bespoke allotment only, the Radiomir 1940 Minute Repeater retains a sense of exclusivity, making it all the more desirable for watch collectors and enthusiasts. The option to customise the timepiece by selecting the watchstrap, case and hands – coupled with a USD400,000 price tag – underscores its position as Panerai’s best example to date of precision and performance.

Art & Design SEPTEMBER 2016 : ISSUE 64

High & Mighty AIR

Half a million like-minded souls came together for rock ’n’ roll, yet their cultural anthem resonated beyond a mere three-day festival in 1969.

Baron Wolman captured every heady moment of Woodstock: an event that defined a generation

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ooking at my Woodstock contact sheets I was reminded what a singular social event it was… what a singular personal experience it was. I had never seen so many people gathered in one place, much less so peacefully.

Woodstock was a disaster waiting to happen but didn’t. The counterculture idea of ‘peace, love and music’ came to fruition that amazing weekend: there was no violence, only sharing. There were no corporate sponsors, no branded T-shirts, just the beautiful gathering of like-minded (mostly young) people

who shared common beliefs, dreams and hopes for the future.” Wolman has had decades to reflect on this seminal music event (though it feels a disservice to call it merely that), and had added reason for nostalgia when compiling images for his exhibition at London’s Proud Gallery.

His visual documentation of those now-fabled August days in 1969 is a defining highlight from an immense career portfolio. In a pre social-media and viral-marketing era, news of the event was naturally slow burning, yet Wolman still found his way to the 36

600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills.

“That summer, my fellow photographer Jim Marshall and I embarked upon a book project to photograph the many music festivals being held in America, from rock to blues to bluegrass to folk to country. When we started on our festival road trip, Woodstock was not on our itinerary; if there had been any publicity for Woodstock it was centred on the east coast of the US, not in the hinterland, but when we finally learned about it there was no way we could not attend – the band lineup was incredible.”

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Previous page: Baron Wolman photographed by Bill Graham at Woodstock.

This page, clockwise from above: A couple play the guitar sitting on their car on the way to Woodstock; groups on the road to the festival; people made use of all possible vantage points to see the bands.

Opposite: Santana, then unknown, photographed

by Wolman performing on the Woodstock stage.

All images © Iconic Images/Baron Wolman

Wolman attended for both the book and Rolling Stone – where he was chief photographer and a founding member – and the magazine would later call the festival “one of the 50 moments that changed the history of rock and roll”.

It was profound, he says, because “there had never, ever, been such a large gathering of people to hear music in one specific location. That was the main difference. There was only a feeling of community, and of people wanting to help one another”. He has written, “I ended up spending most of my time out in the wild with the crowd because what was happening ‘out there’ was just too interesting not to explore,” and adds, of enduring personalities, “Carlos Santana was

a memorable character, particularly when it became common knowledge that he spent his entire breakthrough set hallucinating. Wavy Gravy left us with one of the best Woodstock quotes: ‘Good morning! What we have in mind is breakfast in bed for 400,000.’”

Woodstock had a seismic effect on the presentation (and consumption) of live music, too. Wolman analyses, “It was the birth of the ‘mega-festival’ phenomenon, showing concert promoters worldwide that it was logistically – and, more important, financially – possible to stage a festival for tens of thousands of attendees, a fact quickly confirmed by the existence of Glastonbury, Isle of Wight, Woodstock Poland, 38

It was the birth of the ‘mega-festival’ phenomenon

Atlanta Pop Festival, Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, et al.

Nearly half a million people attended the pioneer event, but its hyper-cool nature means many others must claim, “I was there.” “Is there a question you ask to find out if the person you’re talking to really attended?” we ask Wolman. He mellowly reflects that, “Several hundred thousand attended and several hundred thousand more attended in spirit. I usually show them the 300,000 Strong photograph and ask them where they were seated.

Actually, several people have indeed found themselves in one or more of my Woodstock photos.” It’s this aforementioned image that resonates most with him. “That one photo is the

most powerful – it fills the entire frame with people, as far as the eye could see.

I stood in the middle of the stage and looked out. I put my widest-angle lens on the camera, and still I could not include the entire crowd in my picture.”

Though the hippy, trippy revellers were treated to a seven-minute riproar of My Generation by The Who, a funky Soul Sacrifice by then-unknown Santana and an iconic rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner by Jimi Hendrix, Wolman’s festival-defining tune is actually from an artist who wasn’t there. “Though Joni Mitchell didn’t attend, her song Woodstock is the track that represents to me the spirit of the three days of peace, love and music... ‘By the time we got to 39

Woodstock, we were half a million strong, and everywhere there was song and celebration,’ she sang.”

Years have passed, but the legend lives on, and the Camden exhibition crystallises the event through an innocent lens. “With the exhibit, my hope is that it communicates the singular extraordinary ‘gathering of the tribes’, at a time when we thought we could guide the peoples of the planet to a lifetime of peace and sharing – to a world devoid of war and killing.” But alas, he muses, “Sadly, time has proven our yearnings to be just unrealised dreams.”

Woodstock by Baron Wolman shows at Proud Gallery in Camden, London, until 11 September

BEAUTY F OR T H E AG ES One-time member of the catwalk’s Magnificent Seven, Helena Christensen talks of imposing no limits, her need to always travel light, and why she’s grateful social media wasn’t around in her modelling heyday WORDS : Celia Walden

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I don’t want any woman to feel that there are any limits imposed by age

“I

really don’t think we should talk about ageing.” We’re 20 minutes into an otherwise amiable chat, but it seems I have inadvertently pushed one of Helena Christensen’s trigger buttons. Famously one of the most mild-mannered and easygoing of the Magnificent Seven – a term coined by a New York Times op-ed 20 years ago when she, Linda Evangelista, Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Elle Macpherson and Claudia Schiffer were ruling the catwalk – Christensen has gone from expansive and jokey to crossing her arms and pursing her lips.

She looks both very beautiful and very intimidating, but I push on: because?

“Because this is something only women ever have to deal with, not men. Why do men never ever get asked about ageing?” I’m thinking it’s because a certain kind of man would simply shrug and say that they’re maturing like a fine Burgundy, making more money than ever and enjoying late-inlife fatherhood with the 22-year-old lingerie model they’ll trade in some time next year.

But this isn’t the moment to be flippant, and in any case the 47-yearold doesn’t seem to expect an answer.

“If women weren’t reading about the constant pressure of ageing,” she goes on, “it might not be in their heads. And I don’t want any woman to feel that there are any limits imposed by age.”

I may have raised her heckles, but Christensen will always remain my favourite supermodel, and this eloquent little eruption – in the midst of calm Danish waters – only makes me like her more. She’s as glorious to look at as ever, a few laughter lines around the eyes, but as hard-bodied 43

as her twentysomething self in a white & Other Stories bustier dress most teenagers would find hard to pull off.

I forgive her for her tetchiness around the A word, because she is, after all, at the end of a long day promoting the boyfriend shirts she and her business partner Camilla Stærk have designed for Thomson’s five-star Sensatori spa resorts.

I even concede that she has a point.

We are obsessed with how women age today. Whether this is by nature or media nurture, women are interested in both the process and the implications of ageing. They (and I include myself here) look at someone like Christensen – who doesn’t appear to have had any work done – and they want to know her secrets, her ruses, her rules.

“Why would there be any rules at all?” she asks, smiling and serene once again. “It’s all about keeping healthy and staying true to yourself and your style. I mean, you could be a very unfit 20-year-old and look really dumb in a minidress, or you could be a super-sexy 60-year-old and look great in one. Anyone can wear whatever they want to.”

Even when she was in the thrust of the supermodel madness and writhing around on a beach in the video for Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game, the daughter of a Danish typographer and a Peruvian vintage-boutique owner has maintained a detached stance to fashion, celebrity – and tabloid drama.

Brought up in suburban Copenhagen, Christensen came to modelling relatively late (having won herself the Miss Denmark title at 18) and with a relaxed, hippy-chick attitude. She eats far more cheese than is decent for any woman with that figure (“but thank

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I would be unable to sleep if I had as many Instagram followers as Kim Kardashian

goodness journalists have stopped bringing me really smelly ones as gifts”) and has often stated that she “hated the ‘supermodel’ branding”.

Her only brush with scandal came at the end of a four-year liaison with the late Michael Hutchence (when it was wrongly suggested that the singer left her for Paula Yates), and since then she has had a child – 16-year-old Mingus – with American actor Norman Reedus, swapped the catwalk for photography and design, and is now happily ensconced in Manhattan with Interpol singer Paul Banks – as ever living life on her own terms.

Christensen describes her current professional balance as being “40% modelling, 40% photography and 20% all kinds of strange, interesting, weird stuff” and, unlike some members of the Magnificent Seven, her collaborations always have a genuine rather than a ‘big bucks’ feel to them. Which is presumably why after all these decades spent in hotel rooms, she remains a travelaholic.

“When I go away I’m so low-key that I only bring hand luggage, because the whole airport thing is so frustrating,” she sighs. “So we really wanted to design a shirt with a very casual, loose and deconstructed fit that could double up as a minidress with a belt and take you from day into night.

Because sometimes I’ll get some place and realise I’ve brought too little,” she laughs. “I always run out of underwear, for example, so I’m forever washing it.

I’ll literally go on a three-day trip and only bring one pair of underwear. Then I’ll think, ‘What are you going to do now – turn them over or what?’ And by the way,” she’s quick to point out, “I’ve never done that.”

Another – almost equally unpalatable – thing Christensen won’t do is flog herself or her wares on social media.

Her Instagram account is only two months old and not massively active (“I only caved in because of peer pressure from friends,” she quickly explains) and that’s as far as she’ll go in the cyber-sphere. “I’ve always said, ‘Whatever,’” she shrugs. “I mean, now that I’m on Instagram I can see the allure, but there’s something about judging yourself on how many followers you have that could put you in a constant state of anxiety. I would be unable to sleep if I had as many followers as Kim [Kardashian]. It just doesn’t seem natural.”

Given how well the likes of the new generation of models, such as Cara Delevingne, Kendall Jenner and Karlie Kloss, have utilised social media to increase their profiles, does she never wish she’d had access to such a tool when she was starting out? “Oh, honestly, I feel so grateful that social media wasn’t there before,” she assures me. “I was very happy with just being an elusive, mysterious figure that just appeared in photoshoots. I feel like a lot of my character hopefully came through in the pictures. Because from the start I felt that modelling is like acting in a silent movie – and that was enough for me. I never had the desire to let the world know about the rest of my personality. Just being who I was, am, has always been enough for me.”

And although it’s probably easier to be at one with yourself when you’re Helena Christensen, I think to myself as we airkiss goodbye – all earlier awkwardness forgotten – if banishing all thought of ageing gets you even a sprinkling of her Zen, it might be worth a try.

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ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD As practical as it is sophisticated, as casual as it is elegant, Overseas World Time is Vacheron Constantin’s instant classic

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PHOTOGRAPHS : ŽIGA MIHELČIČ STYLING : VASIL BOZHILOV MAKE-UP : SHARON DRUGAN HAIR : ANGEL MONTAGUE SAYERS LOCATION : NIKKI BEACH RESORT & SPA DUBAI, OPEN FOR RESERVATIONS FROM 1 DECEMBER; nikkibeachhotels.com

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hree interpretations – blue, silver-toned, or brown dial – each delivered with interchangeable, tool-free straps of stainless steel, rubber and alligator mississippiensis, highlight both the practical convenience and casual elegance of the Overseas World Time, an ideal travel companion crafted to suit those whose office is the globe. This modern-day classic displays 37 time zones, including those offset by 30 or 45 minutes in relation to UTC time, while at its centre is a projection map depicting the continents and oceans, enhanced by a sunburst satin-brushed finish. Powered by the Caliber 2460 WT, entirely developed in-house at Vacheron Constantin, its 22ct gold oscillating weight bears a wind rose – a universal symbol indicating the cardinal points for travellers.

Further proof that, as with every Vacheron Constantin model, the devil is in the detail.

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Opening pages: Kinga wears: Top and skirt, both Salvatore Ferragamo.

Sunglasses, Karen Walker at BySymphony. Bence wears: Sweatshirt and chinos, both CH Carolina Herrera.

This page: Bence wears: Jumper, Pal Zileri. Chinos, Hugo Boss. Opposite: Bence wears: Shirt, Berluti. Chinos, CH Carolina Herrera

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Opposite: Bence wears: Shirt, Pal Zileri. Trousers, Salvatore Ferragamo. Kinga wears: Shirt, Thomas Pink

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Bence wears: Jumper, Berluti. Jeans, Alexander McQueen

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Opposite: Bence wears: Jumper, Alexander McQueen. Kinga wears: Dress, Alexander McQueen.

This page: Bence wears: Bomber jacket, MSGM. Chinos, Hugo Boss

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THE

EMPIRE’S NEW CLOTHES

She’s the seamstress who dresses China’s super-rich and, with more billionaires in Beijing than New York, she has no shortage of clients. Guo Pei reflects on the world’s need for beautiful clothes WORDS : anna murphy

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I

magine a gathering of Disney princesses or, better still, Westeros queens. That was what Guo Pei’s couture show in Paris was like. Guo is China’s leading couturier, the only one with an international profile, since she dressed Rihanna for last year’s Met Gala in New York. She is also the sole Asian-born and educated designer to have been invited to join Paris’ snooty Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture in its 148-year history, albeit for a moment as a guest only.

To top it all, earlier this year TIME Magazine named her one of the world’s 100 most influential people.

Guo Pei deals not so much in fashion as fantasy: impossible, peculiarly ageless clothes that look as if they have been conjured up by George RR Martin. If Cersei from Game Of Thrones is in the market for a wardrobe refresh, she knows where to come.

Guo’s catwalk hosted, by turn, ice maidens in crystalline shivers of white silk, phoenixes in fiery slivers of red and gold, plus lots of brilliant blue dresses, one with a spangled skirt slightly reminiscent of a giant doll looroll cover. Then there were the black ensembles, one with a fur skirt, another in velvet with an Edwardian-style hat and train that would have belonged in My Fair Lady. (Confusing, I know.)

What was most consistent, and spectacular, was the intricate, often 3D, metallic embroidery and the cloisonné (enamel decoration). But all that oriental opulence was spliced with old-school Hollywood elegance – part Vivien Leigh, part Carole Lombard. It was like watching a black-and-white film hyped up into something beyond Technicolor.

Finally, Guo appeared on the catwalk to take her bow, a diminutive bobbed figure in a black shift dress. The modesty of her appearance after all that bombast was a shock. She looked, more than anything, like a tailor.

When we meet at her Paris studio a couple of days later, the 49-yearold Beijing-based designer is wearing another black seamstress shift dress, albeit with some flourishes of gold embroidery. “When I was little, people would ask what I wanted to do when I grew up and I would always answer, ‘Make clothes,’” Guo tells me through a translator. “A tailor did

There’s a saying: ‘Timing makes the hero.’ Chanel came along at the right time, and so did I not have any status in Chinese society.

Handicrafts weren’t valued as much as intellectual work. But I didn’t care. I was always going to be a tailor.

I didn’t have another choice.”

Guo could thread a needle at two and was sketching dresses not long after, inspired by the stories her grandmother told her of their family’s once-luxurious existence. “She would tell me about how her silk clothes felt when she touched them, when I’d only had clothes made of cotton; about how flowers were embroidered onto her dresses.” Her grandmother had to burn everything during the Cultural Revolution, but a fire of a different sort had been ignited in Guo Pei. “Now, even when I touch the most beautiful silk, it is not as beautiful as the silk in my memory,” she says.

By the time Guo went to school, she was “altering the loose dresses my mother handed down to me so they were more stylish. When I wore them to class, my teacher angrily accused me of being a capitalist”.

Today, the scale and success of Guo’s couture business is remarkable: her Rose Studio in Beijing produces up to 4,000 pieces a year at prices that go up to, and north of, USD220,000.

Last year, her already cult status in 58

China reached fever pitch when she provided one of the wedding dresses for the model and actress Yang Ying, aka Angelababy, who is among the country’s biggest social-media stars.

(Angelababy’s ‘other’ dress was by Christian Dior, and the bill for the wedding – to the mirror-image actor-slash-model Huang Xiaoming – topped USD26 million.)

Yet Guo’s obsession remains the same: making clothes. She becomes most animated in our conversation when, to illustrate a point, she extravagantly air-stitches an invisible dress, or air-scissors a piece of fabric.

Attempt to push her towards matters political, to ask her about the crossover between her clientele and the wives and daughters of the nomenklatura, for example, and she retracts suddenly, like a startled sea anemone. “I don’t care about the political party,” she tells me. “But I think that, in every moment, the world needs beautiful clothes, and it needs tailors.”

But, of course, some moments are better than others and, as Guo freely admits, she has been lucky with hers.

“There’s a Chinese saying: ‘Timing makes the hero.’ Chanel came along at the right time, and so did I – at the moment of China’s ascendance.”

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Most of my clients have been with me for 15 years. They have seen me growing up, and vice versa… They are proud of me Guo’s Chinese-inflected iconography caters to her country’s new super-rich, and her business, which she founded in 1997, has grown in tandem. Neither she, nor they, would exist in their current form without the Chinese experiment in pseudo-capitalism of recent decades. As it is, Beijing now has more billionaires than New York, according to Hurun, a Shanghai luxurypublishing company. And Guo has been dressing them – the women, at least – for longer than any of her compatriots.

“Dressing up for special occasions was a new trend,” she says, “and people wanted glamorous dresses.”

Guo has been making showstoppers since forever ago. Even at the unromantically named Beijing No 2 Light Industry School in the Eighties – where you learnt the techniques of making clothes but, according to Guo, “They didn’t know what fashion was” – she turned out a meringue of a dress as her graduation project, in contrast to the everyday garb every other student had produced.

Mixed up in her head with her grandmother’s sumptuous memories,

Guo tells me, were her occasional glimpses of China’s one magazine at the time (“Only two pages in colour, all the rest black and white”), and the odd film from the west that had reached Beijing on video. “I loved Gone With The Wind, and how she made the green curtains into a dress. I asked my teachers how to do it but they didn’t know.” Eventually a costume designer at the Chinese National Theatre told her to try bamboo hoops, but they kept on snapping. That loo-roll-holder dress, I now realise, is just another sally at Scarlett O’Hara, but Guo has come a long way from bamboo hoops.

“Guo Pei is in a category all of her own,” says Angelica Cheung, the editor of Vogue China, which – in another reminder of the country’s warp-speed embrace of luxury – was founded only 11 years ago and now has a readership of 1.4 million. “She worked on her business for many years to build it up. Now there are other people who do similar, but for a long time there weren’t.”

Guo says most of her clients are businesswomen: “Superwomen, the 61

most important women in China.”

Cheung agrees that the designer’s fans are usually self-made. “Wives of wealthy men tend to go for fashionable fashion. Guo’s clients are mostly entrepreneurs, who became rich out of their own efforts.” That said, since President Xi Jinping launched his anti-corruption campaign four years ago, and simultaneously encouraged the party faithful to adopt “neoChinese dress” – both of which hit foreign luxury-label sales hard – Guo has seen her client base among the elite’s wives expand.

Whoever they are, what is clear about Guo’s clientele is that, as the designer puts it, they “prize intricacy”.

Cheung goes further: “They really appreciate the craftsmanship, and they are not swayed by trends.”

Even in Guo’s showroom, where there are more wearable day pieces alongside the extravaganzas from the catwalk, the look is not trend-based. There are dolly mixture-hued cheongsams with elaborate embroidery, tassel-adorned tailoring and upturned shoulders that echo the so-called artichokeleaf roofline of traditional Chinese buildings. Guo’s aim is to create “heirlooms”, and she is uninterested in anything as fly-by-night as a trend.

What’s more, she likes to be in control of what her clients wear. She recounts how, prior to embarking on her couture business, when she worked for one of modern China’s first privately owned companies, she would count people wearing her designs on the streets of Beijing. “That was great for me, but the clothes wouldn’t match the shoes or whatever. I would want to rush up to them and tell them how to wear it, but I didn’t dare.” Is she a control freak?

“Maybe. But I just really wanted to tell them how to wear it correctly. That is what encouraged me to do couture.”

Angelica Cheung tells me that she knows “people who order one Guo Pei dress every year, and whether they wear it or not they just like to collect.

These women are very different from your typical fashion consumer, and they are very loyal”. As Guo puts it, “Most of my clients have been with me for at least 15 years. They have seen me growing up, and vice versa.” She pauses. “They love me,” she states, factually. “They are proud of me.”

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I had met some of them at Guo’s show. Like Jing Ling, from Hong Kong, who was posing for photos in floorlength, crystal-strewn midnight tulle, and had burgundy hair that appeared to have been not so much styled as carved.

“She is a fantastic designer,” said Jing.

“She uses traditional techniques to make her dresses, but they are also international. The symbols she uses mean things to Chinese people, like the dragon or the phoenix.”

Above all, the customers I spoke to viewed buying and wearing Guo Pei as a patriotic act and, by extension, one of self-definition. “I have a Chinese face,” said Jing, “so her clothes suit me.

I think Guo Pei is just the beginning.

More Chinese designers will follow her. China is getting stronger now.”

Yvette Yung, also from Hong Kong, and wearing an embroidery-encrusted silver duchesse-satin ballgown straight out of Frozen, agreed. “We are proud of her. All Chinese girls want to have a wedding dress by Guo Pei.” Conveniently, Guo will soon be launching a specialist line of wedding dresses designed to “introduce women to the beauty of Chinese designers”, with prices starting at a more realistic – for her – USD8,000. Such is the fanatical focus on all things wedding in contemporary China that one unemployed woman insisted on spending her life savings on a Guo Pei dress for her daughter, much to the designer’s discomfort. Another sign of the changed times: Guo herself didn’t have a wedding dress. “We didn’t have the culture of the wedding dress in China then.”

In fact, she didn’t even have a ring.

Her Taiwanese husband, who imports luxury textiles from Europe, asked her if she wanted “a ring or 15,000 square metres of fabric. I chose the fabric without hesitation. It was the kind of fabric I had never seen before. It was only recently that I realised it was stock they couldn’t sell”. Her husband – with whom she now has two daughters – has collaborated in the building of brand Guo Pei from the start.

“Without him, I would be making beautiful clothes in China, but noone else would know about me.”

Guo speaks her Chinese clients’ language, metaphorically as well as literally, happily incorporating

someone’s request to, say, have a daughter’s horoscope embroidered onto a dress. Her clothes speak that language, too. Those scarlet gowns on the catwalk weren’t just gorgeously vava-voom to the women on Guo’s front row; they would also bring good luck.

The dragon that adorned the copperwire bodice, stacked on top of a glittery sapphire skirt, symbolised potency.

“All this is part of my culture,” says the designer. “It’s in my blood. I want to bring our traditions into modernity.”

In that, perhaps, she is succeeding.

At the Met’s China: Through The Looking Glass exhibition in New York last year, the show’s curator, Andrew Bolton, described her clothes as a kind of “auto-orientalism” that was without precedent. The game-changer for Guo was her 25kg, 5m-long embroidered yellow satin mega-cape-cum-train, worn to the institution’s China-themed soirée by Rihanna. It went viral as the

All this is part of my culture.

It’s in my blood. I want to bring our traditions into modernity omelette dress, the pizza dress, or – among the more culturally clued up – the jianbing dress, this being a kind of egg-pancake snack eaten in China.

Is it true that when Rihanna’s team first approached her, Guo had never heard of her? “Yes,” she laughs.

“I don’t use the internet very often.

I don’t read magazines.” But when Guo came to America to meet the singer, she found her “so beautiful, so confident”. Her only concern, “when I saw what she looked like, is whether she could wear the cape, because it’s so heavy”. Rihanna, as she discovered, is made of stern stuff.

Another singer has since asked to wear Guo’s clothes, the designer tells me. She can’t quite remember her name. Eventually it comes to her, kind of. “Beyonce,” she says, without the accent. “Beyoncé?” I offer. “Yes! Beyoncé. She likes my clothes.”

The designer prefers not to lend, even to superstars, but to create, so for the moment Beyoncé is having to wait. “I need more time to prepare, then we can do it.” I am confident that Guo Pei will make it worth her while.

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AR MA 64

When it comes to ready-to-wear classics, Giorgio Armani is not ahead of the curve: he is the curve. The mastermind of the eponymous Italian fashion house speaks exclusively to AIR

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Although my style has an international flavour, the sense of beauty and harmony is Italian

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hen you witness a genius in action, your mind wanders to how exactly they acquired their talent. Before delving into their backstory, one imagines tales of a child prodigy: Mozart-like, innate abilities. Armani is a synonym for elegant taste, a consistent signature design, composed colour palettes and business nous: he undoubtedly has the natural eye and magic hands, but did not necessarily have the inclination at first. “I never had a burning passion for fashion – I actually discovered it much later due to a series of coincidences.

Like every child, when I thought about what I wanted to be when I grew up, I dreamed of being a doctor. I made small dolls of dough and hid a coffee bean inside, and said the grain was the disease that I had to find and cure.

Years later, however, I realised that it wasn’t for me. I left medical school and began to work for La Rinascente, which at the time was the largest department store in Italy. And that was how everything started.”

Humble – and tough – beginnings shaped his style identity. His aesthetic was, he says, “undoubtedly created early and is deeply influenced by the postwar Italy that I grew up in, and also from the dignity of my family, of doing a lot with a little. It is an aesthetic closely related to ethics. These teachings and values are most certainly behind the person that I am, even from a professional perspective”. Another pillar of the Armani ethos, he believes, rests on a passionate and visual culture.

“I am a proud Italian, and although my style has an international flavour, the sense of beauty and harmony that lies underneath is Italian. We Italians have a unique privilege that we tend to overlook: we live in a country where everything speaks of beauty – it’s everywhere. I am attracted by that

which is harmonious and serene, and it is precisely the harmony between one’s clothing and one’s self that I think is the key to my success,” he enthuses.

Once he deployed that gift, Armani’s ascendency was swift, but what is perhaps most astonishing is that everything you associate with the empire only started after he turned 40.

His far-reaching ambition has become a multifaceted business worth an estimated USD2 billion – yet it all happened after 1975. Spotted window-dressing at La Rinascente, he worked with Nino Cerruti in the 1960s, then freelanced before establishing his company (alongside partner Sergio Galeotti) with a tworoom setup in central Milan.

Armani was in (or ensured he was in) the right place at the right time. His reimagined men’s jacket, the dressing of Diane Keaton at the 1978 Oscars, and Hollywood wardrobe alignment in both The Untouchables and American Gigolo were flashbulb moments that first introduced his name to the USA, having already cemented it in Europe. Journalist Suzie Mackenzie wrote, “His innovation was casual chic – it’s often said he introduced gentleness to men, and strength to women.” Armani shrewdly connected with film stars, creating red-carpet fashion, or at least the concept of it. “‘Why do I want someone to dress me?

I can dress myself, and who is Giorgio Armani?’ That was Michelle Pfeiffer’s response – so quaint in hindsight – when in 1983 the Italian designer first approached the 23-year-old actress about wearing his clothes to a few fancy Hollywood events. Thirty-one years later and everyone who’s anyone wants a designer to dress them and they all know who Giorgio Armani is,” Kate Finnigan related in The Telegraph, back in 2014.

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Now, his empire has influenced other aspects of refined living – Dubai itself has been a recipient of his creative outreach in the shape of the sophisticated Armani Hotel Dubai, set within the iconic Burj Khalifa. “I had long cultivated the idea of creating a complete lifestyle that would reflect my ideas while being applicable to various fields outside of fashion,” he explains.

“Fashion, furniture, restaurants and hotels seem at first glance actually quite different from each other, but in reality I’ve discovered remarkable similarities.

It’s about giving shape to an idea, working with textures, finishes and volumes, taking care to combine beauty with comfort and function. The Armani aesthetic comes from my own design philosophy, so there is an undeniable union that links my clothes to any of my other creations.”

This diversification is mentioned when the designer speaks of his greatest accomplishments: “In general, to have created a lifestyle that is instantly recognisable to the public, to have designed clothes that are not simply beautiful or elegant, but able to determine new attitudes, follow and perhaps facilitate the change of social patterns. It’s an achievement that my work has had such a strong and tangible impact on people’s everyday lives. Then there were several important specific times, such as when I was on the cover of Time in 1982; the launch of Giorgio Armani Privé, my haute-couture line, in 2005; the opening of my first Armani Hotel in Dubai in 2010; the proclamation of Giorgio Armani Day

by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2014; the celebrations for the 40th anniversary of my brand last year.”

Eighty-two years old, he is still involved day-to-day, is still the sole shareholder and has still not yet designated an heir. No matter: he vocally looks toward the future. This July he spoke publicly of creating a foundation that would safeguard the group he founded, to “ensure that the house remains consistent with some principles that are particularly important to me”. In our interview he shares, “For the Armani Group, the intention is to stay in line with the times while maintaining its essential features: naturalness, elegance, linearity and dignity.” Of the

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Previous page: Armani examines drawings of new designs, circa 1979 Right: Armani at home with his pets, circa 1979

industry’s own fate, he says, “Fashion is constantly projected into the future: we work six months in advance. I hope that the future of it offers more substance – stylistic innovation – than communication, [as well as] timeframes that are a bit slower. The future of fashion certainly lies in new talent, as long as they have the perseverance to endure and the strength to resist, because this is an unforgiving trade.”

Mr Armani has said before, “I love things that age well – things that don’t date, that stand the test of time and that become living examples of the absolute best.” It’s an approach encapsulated, for example, in the Autumn 2016 Collection, critiqued

by Tim Blanks for BoF. “If Giorgio Armani’s collection was indeed his response to the ‘Gucci-fication’ of Italian fashion, he certainly couldn’t have picked a better medium for his message than black velvet. So sombre, so subdued and yet rich enough to satisfy his own late-period appetites...

There was a time when Armani was almost ascetic in comparison with his Milanese peers, and very vocal he was in his distaste for their perceived excess. Fashion spins in cycles, so perhaps he feels he’s back at that point now.”

When asked of his toughest test over the years, though, his response makes deliberation over the nuances of trends seem frivolous: the answer relates to personal tragedy, and the passing of his own personal champion, business partner Galeotti – a seismic event of which he is guarded. “My biggest challenge, I would say, was finding myself as an entrepreneur, as well as a designer, following the death of Sergio.

The path that has led me to where I am today was tough in the beginning.

I discovered skills in leadership and strategy that I didn’t even know I had.

By nature, I persist when confronted with difficulties and push forward, looking for new ways to progress.”

In the sense of progress, Armani’s actual method of bringing his ideas to fruition has evolved. He says, “Fashion has become a real and true system over time, and perhaps this has resulted in a loss of authenticity.

I have adapted by keeping up with the times, using modern tools without ever compromising the authenticity of my style. Of course, the speed with which the system currently moves is at times excessive, and perhaps slowing it down would benefit everyone.” But the fact that the heart of his fashion has remained unchanged is actually quite remarkable, considering the transient nature of the industry in which he operates.

The path that led me to where I am today was tough Armani is almost an avatar of his own brand, yet there are assumptions that cloak the public persona. He is a perfectionist, yet described as “elegant with his feelings and sort of shy” (by his niece, Roberta), while Vogue cover icon Lauren Hutton believes the word for him is “gallant”; he chooses to speak only two languages (French and Italian, though he understands English); his donning of shades is not pretension but dates back to an eye injury he suffered when a child. There is plenty that goes unknown about the great man, but you get the sense that this circus is not for him at all – what drives him is making his clients look amazing and feel self-assured. He has said, “I believe my clothes can give people a better image of themselves – that it can increase their feelings of confidence and happiness.” It’s another of his fashion philosophies, however, that strikes a chord with certain profoundness when applied to life: “Elegance doesn’t mean being noticed, it means being remembered.”

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Motoring SEPTEMBER 2016 : ISSUE 64

Leader Of The Pack Ferocious and powerful, the Fenyr SuperSport is the newest beast unleashed by Dubai-based W Motors.

CEO Ralph Debbas explains how motoring aficionados – and style purists – are in for the ride of their life

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WORDS : CHRIS UJMA

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hen you channel the most vicious wolf in mythology as your creative muse, you’re setting a clear statement of intent. The roaring strapline – adapted from a piece of 13th-century Norse literature called Prose Edda – has plenty of bite too: “The earth will shake violently, trees will be uprooted, mountains will fall, and all binds will snap – Fenyr will be free.” You’d expect no less passion from a company whose genesis, the Lykan HyperSport, took the world by storm upon its release three years ago.

CEO Ralph Debbas confides, “It wasn’t an easy task because we needed to create a second car, as everybody knew the Lykan as the most beautiful, elegant car in the market. We wanted the Fenyr to be completely out of the box – something that when you see it, you say ‘wow’ – not necessarily just attractive but very aggressive. In the end we used some styling cues that were deployed in the Lykan, but changed many things, too, such as openings in the front and sides, air vents, etc. We purposefully gave it more aggressive features, and from every single angle you can appreciate the engineering process that’s gone into making something that is a performance vehicle, not just a collector’s item.”

It is coupé-only and lower, at just 1,199mm off the floor. It’s limitededition but small-series, with only 25 due to be produced per year, from the dedicated factory in Dubai.

It’s powerful, with a 4l flat-6 rearwheel-drive engine and a twin turbocharger with independent cooler, and produces 900hp. The transmission is a seven-speed double-clutch PDK (Porsche Doppelkupplung) with paddle shift. Plus, it’s ferocious; put your hand near the grill and it will bite your hand off. And only one of those statements isn’t factual.

Debbas enthuses, “I know it’s biased because we build the cars, but performance-wise these are mindblowing vehicles. Though the Lykan (with 780hp) is one of the nicest drives you can have on the track, the Fenyr goes a step further. We opted for the most powerful six-cylinder ever made – the car has a weight of just 1,200kg, a torque of 1,200, and we’ve achieved over 410km/h top speed, so it’s a

performance machine that’s beyond belief… You’re in control of the Fenyr – it’s not driving you – because it’s not all about maximum power, but about harnessing it for the joy and beauty of driving.”

The Lykan had ‘Hollywood’ appeal, with its eye-catching interior design details and, also, quite literally – it was vaulted into the hero role of drive-it-like-you-stole-it franchise Furious 7, after none other than Vin Diesel watched a documentary on the making of the car. W’s inclusion on the silver screen was in some ways accidental, but the tech and luxury elements were certainly not – the limited-production Lykan was stuffed with attention-grabbing features to proclaim, “W Motors has arrived.”

Having cemented (or should that be ‘carbon fibred’) its status as a credible industry heavyweight, the strippedback Fenyr was dreamed up for the driver. Yes, they’re two different vehicles, but their fates are intertwined.

“We wanted to make sure that we have two vehicles, one for the people who want to drive it and feel special in every way, surrounded by a luxury atmosphere. The other (the Fenyr) was an opportunity to work on the technical side, with cutting-edge materials, ergonomic excellence and a pure experience for the driver.”

The attention paid to engineering greatness means the SuperSport’s internal aesthetics are a simpler affair.

“When it comes to the cabin, in terms of technology, the goal was not to create something advanced – it’s purely about performance. We scratched off all the elements of luxury from the Lykan, so there’s no more hologram, no more Franck Muller haute timepiece, no diamonds, no concierge service, no reverse doors. The interior is very pure, with a lot of carbon-fibre features, and we simplified around 80% of the interior to keep things very light – there’s one big screen and console cluster in the middle. It’s very modern yet driver orientated,” he explains.

Though Rudyard Kipling once penned, “The strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack,” if the mountains are indeed going to fall, perhaps it’s best that the 400km/h Fenyr is unleashed as a lone wolf. Debbas describes the 72

W Motors disciple as “a car freak”, adding, “All of our clients are those who truly understand automotives and engineering, and have a love for cars – they’re not only interested in buying the ‘most expensive’. They’re people who want to be different, and understand the engine and what it can generate. To explain the benefits of the Fenyr, it’s neccessary to have an audience who understand. Ours do. On average, our clients possess a stable of 10 to 20 cars, and they want a vehicle that will attract

We have made this a performance vehicle, not just a collector’s item attention and, moreover, provide an unrivalled driving experience.”

Ostentation often blinds, and the global response to the Lykan (after the awe) bypassed its exceptional performance and focused on the desirable details. ‘Dubai built a car with diamonds, holograms and a luxury watch? Is it gold plated too?!’

The aggressive Fenyr marks a shift and means serious business, without marketing gimmicks like its bling brother. Backed by exceptional performance, it bays for Bugatti blood and thirsts to rip Ferrari’s throat out. With its second power play, the pioneering Arabian manufacturer of high-performance hypercars has made a significant motoring move indeed – from diamonds, and into the rough.

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Gastronomy

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SEPTEMBER 2016 : ISSUE 64

Grand Designs As the most accomplished Michelin-starred enclave in Zürich, The Restaurant at Dolder Grand is a fine-dining icon. It’s where Heiko Nieder masterminds fare with flair – a harmony of substance and distinctive style

WORDS : CHRIS UJMA

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ot to depend too heavily on stereotypes, but this country’s creative reputation compels you to expect the very best. ‘Swiss Made’ is a hallmark of excellence, be it bespoke horology collectibles, a slice of well-aged Emmental, Gruyère or Sbrinzf, a mouth-melting morsel from a chocolate box, or the versatile efficiency of an army knife. All of which sets the scene for The Restaurant, which does not merely uphold the standards of the haute culinary sphere – it shapes them. Two Michelin stars and 18 GaultMillau points (for the purists) validate its influence, and its portraits on a plate are a fascinating collusion of skill and imagination.

The gourmet architect is Germanborn chef fine dining Heiko Nieder, one of the most decorated names in the industry: his dishes are so composed that they wouldn’t look out of place among the contemporary works at the Kunsthaus Zürich. Linear and circular design elements are played with to draw the eye to each course, many of which have a common protagonist – egg – cleverly disguised in myriad varieties.

“In all, it’s a combination of design and presentation,” he professes, adding, “The arrangement of my dishes is just as important as the flavour. Guests will recognise the high quality of our products, and everything needs to match: a harmony of great atmosphere, great fare, great presentation.”

Unapologetically complex menu items range from nibbles to formal courses, and there’s no boundary to the sourcing of focal ingredients – venison from Austria, lobster from Brittany and line-fished cod from the North Sea are some of the stars, enhanced by the likes of sea-urchin cream, coconut, citrus, capers, ginger, jasmine, sorrel, banana and caviar. Combine the seemingly eclectic components and you revel in taste without boundaries, too.

“The dish that perfectly combines all flavours and textures is lobster with strawberry, beetroot, tarragon and 76

I am constantly refining and I do not rest on my oars

mustard,” says Nieder. “Overall, we offer an innovative gourmet menu, and the cuisine is an array of intriguing dishes that defy classic culinary preconceptions. Surprising, light dishes characterise the menu. Our plating is also something very special.”

The phrase ‘visually arresting’ applies aptly here, not least from first impressions on arrival. The Dolder Grand was built circa 1900, and exudes natural splendour and sheer class. Being perched on a hill ensures the panorama is picture-postcardworthy, with uninterrupted vistas of the Alps and Lake Zürich – take a table on the terrace in fine weather to savour another delectable element of the restaurant. “The hotel provides an exquisite setting in which to relax, with a wonderful view out over the city, lake and mountains. Its elevated location between pulsating city and invigorating nature makes the Dolder Grand the ideal setting for The Restaurant.

Within, our distinctive décor achieves

a truly intimate dining experience. The fully restored historic ceiling embodies the room’s elegant atmosphere, which is also emphasised by the tasteful interior design,” Nieder enthuses. Its colour scheme is regal: champagne- and goldcoloured walls strike a chord of taste, and stark white tablecloths draw focus to the mini stages upon which they crisply sit; pull up a scarlet chair and watch the impending theatre play out.

Having acquired experience at notable restaurants such as VAU in Berlin and L’Orquivit in Bonn (where he achieved his first Michelin star), Nieder was “keen to create my own culinary style but in order to do that I have to learn a lot and one can only do that by working in several diverse kitchens”.

Now he is world renowned for his efforts, so once it was a case of ‘mission accomplished’, and he’d planted his flag on the mountaintop of the profession, what beckoned him next? It was The Epicure, an annual festival where some of the industry’s finest are assembled, 77

Avengers-style, for guests to peek behind the curtain of fine-dining excellence. “After the hotel reopened post-renovation in 2008, we focused on our own events, but my dream was to have a fine-dining festival. Zürich already had a very local festival, but I envisioned one with international appeal. The Epicure has since been a meeting point for top international chefs, all of whom have made a name for themselves through innovation and pioneering creativity.”

Now entering its third edition, the 2016 gourmet summit will allow guests to experience the crème de la crème of culinary talent. Each night, says Nieder, “I will create an eight-course menu with guest chefs such as Harald Wohlfahrt (from the Schwarzwaldstube in Baiersbronn), Curtis Duffy (Grace, Chicago), Andreas Caminada (Schauenstein Schloss Restaurant Hotel, Fürstenau) and Pascal Barbot (L’Astrance, Paris).”

Nieder views the event – which has achieved meteoric success – in an almost understated way, saying, “I’m incredibly proud that for three years now we have managed to persuade so many world-renowned chefs to come to Zürich, and have had the honour of serving up dazzling dishes to our respective guests.”

He’s a direct interviewee: for example, when speaking on what fuels his success, he says clinically, “I am constantly refining and I do not rest on my oars.” As a culinary artist, though, it’s little matter that Nieder’s selfanalysis of fine dining bypasses deep complexity. It’s on the plate where he does the talking, via nuanced fare that bursts with complex flavours, defies convention and is a feast of aesthetic excellence. The Restaurant is a formal destination of finesse that never fails to amaze avid epicureans – and that’s a trait worthy of depending on.

The Epicure – Days of Culinary Masterpieces, runs 14-18 September 2016; theepicure.ch

Timepieces Travel SEPTEMBER JUNE 2016 2016 : ISSUE : ISSUE 61 64

8 journeys by jet

Soneva Fushi

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Maldives

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he concept of ‘no news, no shoes’ is now synonymous with the Maldives, and something almost every resort preaches as its defining philosophy. But the idea was born at Soneva Fushi, the original island escape, where its practice still holds firm despite the ubiquitous mobile phone being able to keep guests attuned to the world beyond this beautiful, still virgin-like island. The surest sign of this comes at mealtimes, when all around tables are alive with chatter, no heads dipped nor faces lost to screens. This is paradise as nature intended, not as man interpreted.

Blanketed by tropical greenery, the island is best traversed by bicycle, following the string of wooden posts charmingly daubed with wonderlandstyle navigational instructions. Or you can simply follow your ears to where the waves break and flatten out on their journey to the powdersoft sand. This will lead you, on one end of the island, to a wooden jetty, at the end of which is Bar(a) Bara.

You’ll come here to sip on crafted cocktails while watching the sun tuck itself into the ocean, and occasionally to see bottlenose dolphins frolic in the dying embers of daylight. But you’ll also come here to snorkel at a breathtakingly beautiful spot.

Stepping down from Bar(a) Bara into the translucent ocean, you’ll descend into an aquarium-esque world, fish of myriad sizes, colours and speeds 79

moving gracefully about you. The dropoff, just feet from the bar’s steps, then takes you into another realm, one of such a brilliant blue that it takes time to register the sheer beauty of it. The sun, sending a beam torch-like from above, highlights turtles in the deep.

Evenings here are equally memorable.

Start them with dinner under a canopy of stars, surrounded by the very tops of tropical banana trees at Fresh in the Garden, which you’ll access via a suspended rope bridge. And end them with a private visit to the on-island observatory, where the Maldives’ first astronomer will guide you on a visual tour of the celestial plains, never so detailed as when viewed from the remoteness of a tropical island.

Another day in paradise begins all over again when you awake at the nine-bedroom Private Reserve – unquestionably one of the most unique and jaw-dropping dwellings in the whole of the Maldives. Little wonder that Soneva Fushi is so popular with the celebrity set, although in keeping with the island’s philosophy, no-one comes here to make headlines.

The closest landing strip to Soneva Fushi is at Dharavandhoo Airport, from where a speedboat will whisk you off on a 12-minute ride to the resort.

The other option is to land at Malé International and charter a seaplane for what is a scenic 30-minute flight. soneva.com/soneva-fushi

What I Know Now

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SEPTEMBER 2016 : ISSUE 64

Roy Luwolt

Co-founder And mAnAging direCtor of mAlone SoulierS The trajectory I have taken is a comedy of attentiveness, and I may have dreamt the destination but certainly could never have dictated the plot-by-plot journey. In time, I learned to listen, and to act after plan – because you simply never know until the consumers do (after you’ve informed them of what’s best). Any business plan is a strategic suggestion; then comes the actual business, after the market is conceived.

When Malone Souliers launched, no woman had been hungering for yet another shoe label – the world boasts far too many. However, we got to carve a most desirous yet practicable offering: shoes created by an obsession

with product quality, from a brand committed to affordability in a most insecure economy – hence the hundreds of stores opening worldwide within two years of trading.

In the information age, a consumer’s inclination to purchase is due to the potent variable of choice. That consumer is more likely to make a purchase if the information does not exceed his or her patience, knowledge or attention span. As a producer, it is my duty to provide a succinct and edible capsule of information, edited to the affinity and needs of the client.

Otherwise, the brand loses its voice due to my very own (placement) noise.

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A conclusively geeky ability I’ve acquired is just how feasible it is to conceive the market you wish to supply.

It’s possible, and indeed advisable, to develop the need a product intends to fulfil. For me, it comes back to enabling the market and both informing and satisfying the consumer – most crucial a lesson when one considers a sector so saturated as luxury shoes for women.

I’ve learned that when the market gets hard, support the consumer, and the best piece of advice I’ve ever received is: “Divide labour, specialise and stick to what you know best.” As for the future? I hope to eliminate the distance between youth and luxury.

JW MARRIOT T® MARQUIS DUBAI

Destination of Exceptional Taste. ƪ at a myriad of award-winning restaurants and lounges.

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Sheikh Zayed Road, Business Bay, PO Box 121000, Dubai, UAE | T +971 4 414 0000, F +971 4 414 0001 | jwmarriottmarquisdubai.com JW Marriott Marquis Dubai |

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