AIR Magazine - Al Bateen - March'23

FEATURES

Thirty Four National Treasure

As he prepares for this month’s Academy Awards, Bill Nighy talks notoriety, loafing around, and Anna Wintour rumours.

Forty Change Of Scene

Iris van Herpen’s innovative ideas has added a new dimension to couture. Now she thinks it needs a revolution.

Forty Eight She’s In Fashion

A new book reveals all about Jeanne Lanvin, and outlines why she is still inspiring haute couture today.

REGULARS

Fourteen Radar

Sixteen Objects of Desire

Eighteen Critique

Twenty Art & Design

Twenty Four Jewellery

Thirty Timepieces

Fifty Six Gastronomy

Sixty Two Ultimate Stays

Sixty Four What I Know Now

Fifty Four Motoring On track with the Rimac Nevera, the fastest seriesproduction electric car in the world.

EDITORIAL

Editor-in-Chief & Co-owner John Thatcher john@hotmedia.me

ART

Art Director Kerri Bennett

Illustration Leona Beth

COMMERCIAL

Managing Director & Co-owner Victoria Thatcher

General Manager David Wade david@hotmedia.me

PRODUCTION

Digital Media Manager Muthu Kumar

Media City, Dubai, UAE

Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from HOT Media is strictly prohibited. HOT Media does not accept liability for any omissions or errors in AIR

MARCH 2023

Welcome

We wish you a safe journey and look forward to welcoming you back to Al Bateen Executive airport – the only dedicated business aviation airport in the Middle East and North Africa – to further experience our unparalleled commitment to excellence in private aviation.

Al Bateen Executive Airport

Cover : Bill Nighy by Scott Trindle/AUGUST

Abu Dhabi Airports Announce 15.9 million Total Passenger Traffic

Newly published figures show traffic tripled through Abu Dhabi Airports in 2022 compared to 2021

Abu Dhabi Airports, the operator of the emirate’s five airports, including Al Bateen Executive, has released its passenger traffic results for 2022. From 1 January to 31 December 2022, 15.9 million guests used Abu Dhabi International, Al Ain International, Al Bateen Executive, Delma Island and Sir Bani Yas Island Airports — tripling the 5.26 million achieved in 2021. Announced on the sidelines of the World Cargo Summit in Abu Dhabi, the company’s 2022 traffic results also illustrated growth in other key areas of the business, including Air Traffic Movements (ATMs) across the five airports, which totaled 194,667 for the year.

These figures showcase the integral role airports in Abu Dhabi continue to play in accommodating passengers travelling for both tourism and business purposes, as well as their increasing popularity as airports of choice for people making their way to and from regional and international destinations.

H.E. Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri, Managing Director & CEO, Abu Dhabi Airports, said: “2022 was a remarkable year for Abu Dhabi in passenger traffic terms. It illustrates the emirate’s vast potential as an attractive destination to visit, live and work in. Our recent airport infrastructure investments, sustained excellence across customer service,

Al Bateen Executive Airport is the first dedicated private jet airport in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Our exclusive status offers ultimate and prestigious luxury with several enhancements currently underway.

We offer: The

operations, and ongoing collaborations with key stakeholders and government organisations, including the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, whom we work closely with to grow Abu Dhabi’s travel, tourism and business offering, enabling investment across industries, and welcoming new audiences to visit Abu Dhabi.

“Looking ahead, we are working towards readiness to accommodate even

greater passenger traffic in 2023, which we anticipate, as higher numbers of international visitors come to the UAE for key events. Sustainability continues to play a big role in everything we do, from design to construction to operation and delivery. Such opportunities underscore that this is truly an exciting time for Abu Dhabi and the aviation transformational journey that is unfolding.”

Furthermore, cargo traffic results

were favourable, with 583,949 tonnes of air freight handled across Abu Dhabi and Al Ain International Airports, as airlines continued rebalancing their fleets between passenger and cargo aircrafts. This positive figure is attributed to several factors, including increases in shipments of both general cargo and specialised products such as express, temperature-controlled, and pharmaceuticals.

‘ 2022 was a remarkable year for Abu Dhabi in passenger traffic terms. It illustrates the emirate’s vast potential as an attractive destination to visit, live and work in’

H.E. Eng. Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri, Managing Director & CEO of Abu Dhabi Airports

The globetrotting Other Art Fair pit stops in London this month, where among the showcased works of emerging talents (such as that of contemporary painter Sarah LimMurray, pictured) is a thoughtprovoking selection from female refugee artists drawn from Ukraine and the Middle East. Coinciding with the celebration of International Women’s Day, Refugee Art Works (RAW) forms part of the fair’s wider goal of championing female talent in the art world, with over 60% of the works on show produced by women. The Other Art Fair, March 9-12, The Truman Brewery, Shoreditch, London

OBJECTS OF DESIRE

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

CARTIER THE OBI NECKLACE

The globetrotting Cartier brothers saw beauty in many things throughout their long journeys: nature, cultures, and craft. Such inspirations continue to fuel the imagination of the house when it comes to creating high jewellery. The latest Beautés Du Monde collection

features this spectacular necklace, the design of which has its roots in Japanese fabrics decorated with the rising sun motif. Comprising eight cabochon-cut emeralds, including one of 12.53 carats, rubies and onyx, the piece is also transformable.

VALENTINO SPRING-SUMMER 2023 LE CLUB COUTURE

In his show notes, Valentino’s Creative Director Pierpaolo Piccioli wrote of haute couture as “an expansion of the imagination, a space beyond reason.”

Finding the similarities between it and the freedom of expression that has always existed in club culture, Piccioli

hit the dancefloor to inspire this collection, his moodboard pinned with photos from iconic clubs like Studio 54 and Taboo. As such, there are pops of colour throughout (not least on men’s suiting) with more than a nod to the dramatic.

CHANEL HAUTE COUTURE SPRING-SUMMER 2023

Like a gift that keeps on giving, Coco Chanel’s apartment on Rue Cambon remains ripe with inspiration. In it are objects, sculptures, and drawings of animals – lots of them. They were the creative muse this time around as the house welcomed spring in its uniquely

charming way. “The whole embroidery universe of the collection is turned towards the animal world,” said Virginie Viard, with kittens, corgis, rabbits, and swallows to the fore. Elsewhere, the eyes were drawn to white cross-laced boots –expect them to be the hit of the season.

SCHIAPARELLI HAUTE COUTURE SPRING-SUMMER 2023

It was with little surprise that having created a literal ‘catwalk’ for this show – Irina Shayk shimmying down it with a fearsome faux lion’s head protruding from her shoulder – Schiaparelli blew up the internet, courting controversy among keyboard warriors. Social media

is its own hell, but it was the Inferno of Dante’s The Divine Comedy that Creative Director Daniel Roseberry had in mind when dreaming up this collection. Beneath the torment was of course the extraordinary: Roseberry’s sculpturelike pieces are heavenly designs.

YANINA

HAUTE COUTURE SPRING-SUMMER 2023

The common poppy flower dominated the thoughts of creative director Yulia Yanina as she worked up the moodboard for her latest couture collection, using it as a conduit for colour, happiness and love and for women who are, “Beautiful, happy,

self-reliant – even a little cheeky sometimes!” It further served as an inspiration for numerous shapes and details, such as hyper sleeves, romantic silhouettes, and hand-made décor across a vibrant range of dresses and tunics, skirts and palazzos.

The striking of a more optimistic note, following the gloomy tone of the pandemic, continues apace in the fashion world. The Hermès man is the latest to be swept up by this wave of good feeling, Véronique Nichanian making him feel extra

good about himself by dressing him in clothes that are as comfortable as they are luxurious – see sweatshirts in cashmere, cardigans in baby lamb. There is also a dash of the playful, particularly in knitwear adorned with stitching and braided leather details.

HERMÈS MRTW FW23

Louis Vuitton has been building its library of industry-leading City Guides for over twenty years, taking a unique look at destinations such as Madrid and Miami, Taipei and Tokyo. Featuring the personal perspectives on a variety of

independent and guest writers, each guide goes beyond the obvious attractions to highlight in-the-know places, from go-to restaurants to offthe-radar boutiques. Now Dubai has joined the prestigious set, the first Arab city to do so.

LOUIS VUITTON DUBAI CITY GUIDE

credit: Karen Madi

OBJECTS OF DESIRE

The Lost King

Dir. Stephen Frears

Based on a true story, an amateur historian believes she has found the lost burial site of King Richard III, much to the chagrin of Britain’s most eminent historians.

AT BEST: ‘Presents a real-life hero whose humility and ordinariness is at the very heart of her historychanging power.’ — Jim Schembri, jimschembri. com

AT WORST: ‘Too slippery with the facts to have any standing when it comes to the truth.’ — Paul Byrnes, Sydney Morning Herald

Blueback

Dir. Robert Connolly

A marine biologist befriends a rare fish which serves as a metaphor a mother and daughter’s passion for the ocean and each other.

AT BEST: ‘An exceptional cast brings this very beautiful and ultimately moving film vividly to life.’ — David Stratton, The Australian

AT WORST: ‘A coming-of-age tale that’s downright silly, never finding a tone that does anything beyond manipulation.’ — Brian Tallerico, rogerebert.com

Stalker

Dir. Steve Johnson

Returning to an eerily empty hotel after a day of shooting, a young actress finds herself trapped in an old, dangerous elevator with an unwanted companion.

AT BEST: ‘A taut, tense, terrific thriller... The best ‘elevated’ horror of the year.’ — Dallas King , Flick Feast

AT WORST: ‘Its pulpy, nasty final twist felt to me like a disturbingly misogynist move.’ — Cath Clarke , The Guardian

La Civil

Dir. Teodora Ana Mihai

A desperate mother is drawn into increasingly intense and dangerous circumstances as she searches for her abducted daughter in Mexico.

AT BEST: ‘A gripping thriller that balances tension with a nuanced portrait of the culture of violence that has come to define modern Mexico.’ — Allan Hunter, Screen International

AT WORST: ‘Ultimately lukewarm and unrealistic.’ — Alejandro Alemán, El Universal

Set in the nineteenth century in the immediate aftermath of slavery, River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer tells of a mother’s journeys across the Caribbean as she bids to find the children stolen from her. “A moving and dynamic novel… Shearer treats such a difficult and underexamined part of history deftly and honourably. She sieves through it to give us what all good novelists do; the essential without sacrificing the specific and the historical,” reviews The Guardian. “In scenes of vivid horror, stirring resilience, and moving reconciliation, Shearer shows the cruel effects of slavery and its aftermath. The beautifully written depiction of a mother longing for her children makes this transcendent,” writes Publishers Weekly in its starred review. While Library Journal says that, “The novel is in many ways an adventure story, but Shearer capably shifts the narrative from action to

introspection, illuminating the inner life of this powerful matriarch.”

Crux is the memoir of renowned journalist Jean Guerrero, who weaves a riveting adventure story on her quest to understand her troubled father. “What truly makes this book extraordinary is the careful layering and connections… It’s the kind of story you think about long after you’ve finished reading it, and the kind of memoir that seems to redefine the genre,” says Los Angeles Review of Books. Fellow author Melissa Febos is also a fan of Guerrero’s work. “Crux is everything I want in a memoir: prose that dazzles and cuts, insights hard-won and achingly named, and a plot that kept me up at night, breathlessly turning pages.

Jean Guerrero has a poet’s lyrical sense, a journalist’s dogged devotion to truth, and a fast and far-reaching mind. This is a book preoccupied with chasing — that is one of its harrowing pleasures — but, like all great memoirs,

it is ultimately a story about the great trouble and relief of being found.” The Washington Post was more succinct in its praise, hailing it as, “Luminous… heartfelt and mystically charged.”

In A Dark and Secret Place by Jen Williams, a woman baffled by her mother’s suicide discovers she had a decades-long secret correspondence with a serial killer. “A fairy tale for adults with strong stomachs,” writes Kirkus Reviews. “Masterfully plotted and heart-poundingly tense, Jen Williams combines British folklore, cults, and the most chilling serial killer to grace the page in years — creating a thriller that’s both mesmerising, and utterly terrifying. I was hooked from the first page to the last,” praises author Katie Lowe. “Twists and turns that keep the reader engaged, you’ll be shocked right up until the very end,” reckons Red Carpet Crash, while New York Journal of Books calls it, “Clever… a chilling tale.”

Broadly Speaking

Art Dubai’s Executive Director, Benedetta Ghione, on how this year’s fair expresses its ever-expanding influence beyond its immediate borders

This page, from top to bottom: Natvar Bhavsar, Ambee, 1993, courtesy DAG; Natvar Bhavsar, Aaswee, 1998, courtesy DAG Opposite page: Maxime Manga, Anarchy, 2022, courtesy Maxime Manga

WORDS: JOHN THATCHER

Si xteen years on from its inaugural staging, Art Dubai will once again occupy a significant slice of the sprawling Madinat Jumeirah this month. But though the venue remains the same, the fair’s size and scope –and, indeed, the region’s art scene as a whole – has grown exponentially.

“Before our first event in 2007, I doubt that many would have considered the UAE a global art centre,” says Art Dubai’s Executive Director, Benedetta Ghione. “Mirroring the economic rise of the region in recent years, and the UAE government’s commitment to supporting art and culture, the UAE has become a key creative and international cultural hub, with more artists than ever calling Dubai home. It is now firmly established as the link between East and West and is a platform for regional artists to receive both international curatorial and art market exposure.”

During previous conversations, Ghione has expressed her passionately held belief that Art Dubai tries to reframe what an art fair can be. In what ways does she think it has achieved this?

“The very essence of what Art Dubai aspires to is to bring together artists and inspirational and creative thinkers from across the global south (broadly Latin America, Asia, Africa and Oceania) who are underrepresented in the wider global art world that is by default dominated by Western-led geographical scopes and narratives. And that is exactly what we have done and will continue to do.

“The fair is continually evolving each year. We also listen to our audiences, particularly as the world has adapted and changed over the last few years. There is a real desire – and not just in the art world – to bring people together, for live experiences and the exchange of ideas across cultures.

“This sense of collaboration is incredibly important – there’s so much to be gained by sharing expertise and knowledge.”

Such an international outlook extends Art Dubai beyond its physical location and restraint of its five-day timeframe. “We have an extensive yearround education and commissioning programme, working in close collaboration with local and regional partners to deliver ambitious cultural programming,” highlights Ghione. “We believe that we play a role in broadening the narratives that go beyond the fair

itself – we’re an institution in our own right, that spreads the word across the art world throughout the year.”

The impact closer to home of this farreaching influence has been marked.

“The thriving art scene in the region is no longer just homegrown – it has become international,” says Ghione proudly. “We have seen a large number of collectors from all over the world base themselves in Dubai, and international galleries opening spaces in the Emirates. For example, the commercial gallery Perrotin, founded by Emmanuel Perrotin, opened its first space in the Middle East in Dubai in November 2022. International contemporary art gallery, Galleria Continua, will also show at Art Dubai this year and they opened an exhibition space inside the iconic Burj Al Arab – their eighth such space globally.

“We are now internationally recognised as a region of creative talent. Our role is to amplify the voice and heighten the

vision of all up-and-coming cultural workers who are underrepresented in the wider art world. It is why more than 130 galleries from all around the world will be on show at this year’s event. Today, there is a more diverse mix of artists – we have many female artists exhibiting at this year’s event, for example. They include a significant amount of young female Iranian artists, who have been invited to highlight and uphold their latest creations. We will also have works from the late influential Jordanian sculptor Mona Saudi and Iraqi-born artist Sama Alshaibi, who brings the Arab female figure to the forefront of her diverse multimedia works.

“The tremendous growth we are seeing in cultural investment in the region at a leadership level, particularly in the UAE and KSA, is supporting a thriving art scene and allowing the region and the artists here to gain international attention and recognition.”

‘ We believe that we play a role in broadening the narratives that go beyond the fair itself ’

Ghione’s point on the influence of locally-based collectors is an important one to understand. “Collectors have a huge impact and influence on driving the development of art scenes across the global south and supporting the redistribution of cultural centres across the world. In many, they set the tone.”

In response to their increasing importance, this year’s Art Dubai will stage a series of high-level ‘Collector Talks’, presented in partnership with Dubai Collection, the basis of which will explore some of the dominant and emerging themes in the art world and debating what it means to be an arts patron in a fast-changing institutional landscape.

One of these themes is of course digital. This year’s event will reflect its growing popularity. “The response to last year’s digital event was hugely positive,” says Ghione. “I think many people will be surprised that our digital section has expanded for 2023 despite the recent challenges in the crypto sector – that points to it being here to stay. Last year we had a good blend of bricks-and-mortar galleries – the more traditional art gallery models – as well as an interesting spread of the organisations leading the way with new digital models.

“We will be working with some of the very best names in digital art including the Lian Foundation, founded by Fiorenzo Manganiello, an expert in blockchain technology, which will showcase a selection of artworks that bridge the gap between physical and digital. It also includes our friends at MORROW collective who will present ‘UAE First Immersion’, featuring new works by artists including Coldie, Colborn Bell, Monaris, Bryan Brinkman, Kirk Finkel and Raphael Torres, some of the leading names in crypto art from the USA.

“We also have the Punk6529 Museum of Art, which has one of the largest and most valuable NFT collections in the world, presenting its core project, the Open Metaverse, while artists from Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka explore the theme of disruption in the format of digital videos, images and NFTs.”

Joining them at this year’s fair will be 30 first-time participants, including galleries from Paris, Buenos Aires, and Harare.

“New exhibitors bring an excitement to the fair,” says Ghione. “Their creativity can offer a new and unexpected viewpoint of the world and reflect new trends in the global art world.”

Art Dubai, Madinat Jumeirah, March 1-5

Opposite page, top to bottom: Araeen, Red Structure, 1975; Achraf Touloub, Vies Parallèles, 2021, courtesy of Parliament, Paris and the artist This page, top to bottom: James Barnor AGIP, Calendar Model, 1974, courtesy the artist and October Gallery; ThankYouX, Art1, 2022; Marwan, Untitled, 1978, courtesy of the artist estate and Sfeir-Semler

Beauty Queen

Boucheron’s latest high jewellery collection is fit for royalty. Creative Director Claire Choisne talks of its historic inspiration

WORDS: JOHN THATCHER

Claire Choisne is all smiles over Zoom, a welcome contrast to the gloomy skies of a rain-soaked Dubai that form my background. “It looks more like Paris right now,” she says of the unusual weather in the emirate, leaning into her screen slightly for a closer look.

And well may she be full of joy. We’re talking the morning after she revealed Boucheron’s latest high jewellery collection, Like a Queen, a colourful suite of eighteen radiant pieces that, for the very first time, owe their creation to one single item plucked from Boucheron’s vast archive — an aquamarine and diamond double clip brooch, gifted to Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of her eighteenth birthday, and worn by the late monarch on momentous occasions during her long reign: her Diamond Jubilee in 2012; the 75th anniversary of the speech made by George VI to announce the end of World War II; and on the 70th anniversary of her coronation in 2022.

Boucheron’s Histoire de Style line, one of two high jewellery collections revealed each year by Choisne, the maison’s Creative Director, has its roots in Boucheron’s history, requiring Choisne to pour through past creations for inspiration. Though rich with opportunity, this does present a unique test. “It's a big creative challenge, because you want to create something that looks new but also something where the inspiration for it is instantly recognisable, and to find a contemporary way to wear a piece of jewellery that was designed for a different time. You have to strike the right balance,” says Choisne. Does she usually have a concept in mind before she delves into the archive, or does her muse stem solely from what she finds? “I have no set idea before looking. I saw this brooch and couldn’t get it out of my mind. It's perfect. I love both the story behind it and its design.

“Being able to wear a piece in a number of ways, as well as the use of colour, were central to our work on this collection, so that both men and women may wear these pieces. We wanted these eighteen variations to reflect the ease of wear of the Queen’s model, since the two brooches may be attached in

‘ Being able to wear a piece in a number of ways, as well as the use of colour, were central to our work’

various ways, on their own or together. We also wanted this collection to convey the elegance distinctive of this Art Deco piece.”

A big challenge met and overcome, Choisne has managed to construct pieces that feel instantly modern yet remain resolutely reflective of the original brooch and the grace and sophistication of Queen Elizabeth II.

“Queen Elizabeth II struck this unique balance between her stature as a world figure and her joyful, expressive outfits. In fact, I started my mood board for this collection with pictures of the queen in these colourful outfits. It looked like a rainbow.”

S o too does the finished collection. Colour Block is a trio of diamondstudded ear jewellery pieces – which can be worn alone or grouped on different parts of the ear – resplendent in lemon yellow, fuchsia pink, and turquoise blue, the kind of colours the UK’s longest-serving monarch would wear to the Ascot races.

For Hypnotic Blue, a six-carat Ceylon sapphire (hence the hypnotic) is clasped within a double arc set with round and baguette diamonds. Green Garden is a platinum ring paved with emeralds and diamonds, enhanced by a fine line of green lacquer. It’s a piece that may be worn in two ways, with or without its diamond surround. When apart, the piece becomes a solitaire with a magnificent cushion-cut Zambian emerald of 6.25 carats. A pair of coordinating earrings feature two detachable pear-cut emeralds of 4.04 and 3.99 carats.

R olling Red is a magnificent fusion of 34 Mozambique rubies and close to 1,300 round and baguette diamonds. It’s a set comprising a necklace, a pair of earrings, and a ring. Equally eye popping is Mega Pink, two versatile brooches named for their pink tourmalines. Cut into cabochons and baguettes, the coloured stones are highlighted by channel-set diamonds, while pink lacquer areas heighten their intensity.

T he Moon White and Frosty White sets bring out the brilliance of diamonds. The former features 175 Akoya pearls and diamond-set links that form a three-strand necklace with a detachable Art Deco clasp paved with diamonds, which may be used in

Opening pages: Rolling Red pendant earrings

Previous pages, clockwise from top: Green Garden earring; Hypnotic Blue ring; Mega Pink brooch

These pages, from top to bottom: Frosty White necklace (drappé version); Hypnotic Blue bracelet; Moon White necklace

Opposite page: Lemon Slice choker

the hair or as a pair of brooches. The latter is the most transformative of the sets, a dazzling necklace in white gold, diamonds and rock crystal that can be configured six different ways. The piece is set with more than a thousand diamonds, its sides adorned with the two Art Deco designs which may be detached and worn as a single or double brooch. The lower portion of the necklace, composed of four sparkling strands, can also be utilised as a cape clasp.

For Histoire de Style, pieces are typically designed around both stones that already belong to the maison (such as the rubies used for Rolling Red and the captivating emerald that underpins Green Garden) and those purchased to fit Choisne’s designs.

For July’s high jewellery collection, Carte Blanche, all the stones are meticulously sourced and purchased to marry Choisne’s vision, however imaginative it may be. “Lucky me that it’s not my challenge!” laughs Choisne mischievously. “When I have an idea it’s difficult for someone to change my mind. I become quite obsessed. Some people at Boucheron suffer a lot!”

S poken like a true queen, just like the monarch whose historic brooch she has metamorphosised into a stunningly vibrant antidote to the murky winter weather.

‘ I started my mood board for this collection with pictures of the queen in these colourful outfits. It looked like a rainbow ’

Fine Time

Roger W Smith mechanical watches are the rarest of creatures – British engineering, pieced together by hand, with only 17 leaving the workshop every year

The Isle of Man, in the middle of the Irish Sea, a similar distance from the coasts of both Northern Ireland and England, seems an unlikely destination in the world of watchmaking. We’re used to hearing about the latest models from the Vallée des Joux in Switzerland, but not so much an island of 84,000 people, best known for its rural landscape and medieval castles, and the annual Isle of Man TT motorcycle race. However, there is a self-contained watch manufacturer here, Roger W Smith, with a skilled workforce of just 15 people, taking delivery of raw materials, creating and shaping every component, and producing a mere 17 examples each year. The target customer is the ultimate watch connoisseur, who appreciates the intricate details and precision of the craft, and is not swayed by high prices or lengthy waiting times (currently six years).

Managing to secure an order for a Roger W Smith watch is an achievement in itself, with those who refuse to wait looking to see if any crop up at auction — in November 2022, a Series 1 model sold for £660,000 ($795,000) in an online sale organised by A Collected Man, a London-based watch-trading specialist; and a year earlier, another Series 1 raised a similar amount in an auction held by Phillips.

W hat does the man at the top of the company, founder Roger W Smith himself, think about the resale market for his product causing such a stir?

“It’s hugely gratifying, but throughout all of this it’s never really been about the money for me, just the craft,” he says, speaking from his Isle of Man offices. “To see these watches in demand like that, it’s incredible, and it’s a side to it that really amazes me.”

Born in 1970, in Bolton, Smith’s early

interest in watches led to him taking a course at the Master School of Horology in Manchester, which he passed top of his class with honours from the British Horological Institute. A visiting speaker, legendary British watchmaker George Daniels, who lived on the Isle of Man, was impressed with Smith’s work, and invited him over to work on a new series. Smith soon started working on his own watches too, and when he died in 2011, Daniels left his entire workshop to Smith to help him.

F rom there, Roger W Smith grew into the company it is today.

“We have 10 watchmakers at the benches, building each model from scratch, including the cases and the movements,” Smith explains. “I oversee the process these days, rather than get too involved, and

for me it’s good to keep on passing down these skills. The watchmakers who have been here the longest are now training the younger generation.

“And we use a lot of traditional tools, here in the George Daniels workshop. There are devices to make components by hand, but also state-of-the-art CNC equipment. The engine-turning machine we use to apply the patterns to the dials is well over 100 years old!”

Just what you need when turning out 17 watches per year. “We have aspirations to get up to 24 in the not-so-distant future,” Smith admits. “There are five different models that we offer currently, from the Series 1, which is our entry level with its simple time-only movement, right up to the Series 5 Open Dial. The Series 2 has a power reserve indicator; Series 3 has a calendar complication; and Series 4 is an intricate triple calendar wristwatch.

“But we never carry stock, and each watch takes about 11 months, start to finish, sold directly to the client. It’s a different business model compared to other watch companies, but it works for us. This becomes a personal journey for the customer, as they like to be involved, visit the workshops, and get to know the people building their watch for them.

And I still get a huge amount of pleasure from seeing these pieces being built.”

Smith is a champion of British watchmaking, but also manufacturing in general. He was awarded an OBE in 2018, and is the chairman of the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers, which has 75 members, representing lots of different businesses. In 2015, he was the subject of a documentary, The Watchmaker’s Apprentice, which explored his relationship with Daniels. Smith also has an ongoing relationship with Birmingham City University, hosting undergraduate horology students within the workshops.

So what does the future hold? “There are still watches I want to make,” Smith concludes. “I always thought 10 would be a good number for a body of work, so I still have more to do. The Series 6 I started designing in lockdown, and the mechanism for that will be produced soon. Plus we’re always improving and refining everything we’re already doing. Even the work of George Daniels, his escapement, we’re still developing it, though we’ve been using it since 2006. It’s about trying to improve mechanical timekeeping, and making it relevant for today’s digital world.”

‘ It becomes a personal journey for the customer, visiting the workshops and getting to know the people building their watch’

Opening pages: Roger Smith

Left: Series 4, The 100th Watch

Above: The Great Britain

As he prepares for this month’s Academy Awards, Bill Nighy talks notoriety, loafing around, and those Anna Wintour romance rumours

WORDS: ED CUMMING

Bill Nighy sits down, dressed in a full Crystal Palace kit and running a hand over his recently shaven head. “Let’s talk about my sexy life,” he says loudly, furiously chewing gum, before snapping his fingers and summoning a pint of lager. Not really. Other actors change their look or their approach. They have phases. Bill Nighy has been playing Bill Nighy to glorious effect for nearly 50 years. He is not about to stop now. He glides into a café he has chosen — he likes choosing cafés — around the corner from his home in Pimlico, London. He offers a couple of fingers to shake, the others clenched by his Dupuytren’s contracture, a condition he has suffered from since his 20s, before politely suggesting we move to his preferred table. He has many preferred tables.

He is tall and angular, his grey hair swept neatly back. In a development that will not surprise keen Nighy observers, he is wearing a suit. Today it is a beautifully tailored charcoal number over a navy shirt made of wool that looks so soft you want to stroke it. His eyes sit behind thick-rimmed glasses. There is a copy of the London Review of Books under his arm.

Nighy has always dressed older than his years, so at 72 he looks just as he always has: like a cool older dude.

Even if you didn’t know who he was, and the ripple of attention from other customers as he arrives suggests they do know who he is, you would understand that he was someone interesting, the guy in the corner of the jazz club with some wonderful

stories that may or may not be true. He is a bit tired, he explains. He has just flown in from the Toronto International Film Festival. Before that he was at Telluride, in Colorado. He finds it difficult to sleep on planes; difficult to sleep in general.

“I’m not famous for it,” he says, in that deep, measured voice of his. Luckily he is famous for plenty of other things. Famous for his breakthrough BBC miniseries, The Men’s Room, in 1991. Famous for a handful of brilliant plays, like Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia and Joe Penhall’s Blue/Orange. Famous for avoiding Shakespeare because he ‘can’t act in those trousers’. Extremely famous for his performance as the ageing rock star Billy Mack in 2003’s Love Actually, a role that changed his career. Famous, and well paid, for his turn in Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean films as Davy Jones, a villain whose face is squid. Famous for his love of Crystal Palace.

The exhausting recent schedule has been in the service of his latest film, Living, which might be the best he has ever made. And for which he will contend the award for Best Actor at this month’s Academy Awards, the first time he has been nominated for an Oscar.

The script is by the Nobel Prizewinning novelist Kazuo Ishiguro, and the lead part was written with Nighy in mind. It came about after a dinner he had with Ishiguro and his wife Lorna MacDougall, and the producer Stephen Woolley and his wife and business partner Elizabeth Karlsen.

“What is my life like?” Nighy says, acknowledging the good fortune of

having one of the great novelists of his generation craft a part for him. “You feel you must have been pretty good in a previous life. It was wonderful that Mr Ishiguro — I’m encouraged to call him ‘Ish’ but I can’t bring myself to — wanted to write it with me in mind. I was very moved by it, because it was the first job I did after Covid. It was great to be back at work, surrounded by people.”

For his part, Ishiguro says writing with Nighy in mind “made things much easier,” and that even the character’s name, Williams, was derived from the actor’s own.

“I have admired Bill Nighy hugely for many years, and found it frustrating that he was most often to be found in brilliant supporting roles, but rarely as the central figure in a film,” he says. “He is one of those rare actors who can arouse deep affection in a viewer without resorting to sentimentality or manipulation. Prior to Living, I’d become convinced he was one of today’s genuinely great screen actors, who’d curiously achieved, in the UK, the status of national treasure without ever having a major starring role worthy of his giant talent.

“In Living I think Bill gives not only one of the greatest screen performances of recent years, but a kind of great performance that is uniquely his own,” he adds. “It’s one of those massive performances that seems to come from something deeper than superb technique.”

Living is set in 1953, in London. Nighy plays Mr Williams, a buttoned-up civil servant who has never recovered from the death of his wife 20 years

These pages, from left to right: still from Pirate Radio (2009); still from Love Actually (2003)

ago. He lives in the suburbs with his grown-up son and daughter-in-law. Every day he takes the train to work, where he presides over an office of dull men in suits and a secretary, Margaret (Aimee Lou Wood). Early on in the film Mr Williams receives a cancer diagnosis. Re-evaluating his life, he forms a friendship with the much younger Margaret that helps to change his outlook. His remaining months acquire fresh purpose. He resolves to use his position to build a playground for children in a bombed-out edge of London.

In a crucial central scene, Mr Williams tells Margaret that all he wanted to be was a gentleman. You can imagine Nighy saying it himself.

“I’m interested in what’s called Englishness, particularly of that period, which is a certain restraint and reserve,” he says.

“Modest behaviour. It’s usually spoken of in a slightly negative way, in terms of suppression. But also it’s kind of admirable. From an acting point of view it’s enjoyable to try and express quite a lot with not very much.” As to whether he has succeeded, he’ll have to take our word for it. Nighy, who never watches his own work, has not seen Living

Like Mr Williams, Nighy grew up in the suburbs — in Caterham, Surrey, with an older brother and sister. His father, Alfred, managed a garage; his mother, Catherine, was a psychiatric nurse. In recreating a world so close to his childhood, did he find himself cast back?

“I did, yeah,” he says. “I was poor. I would have been one of those kids

[for whom the playground in the film is intended]. It’s odd when you get to an age that black-and-white footage involves you. I wasn’t doing my dad as Mr Williams. But my dad was a very decent man, and reserved in the way people were in those days. He was a principled man.”

Acting has only ever been part of the Nighy equation, an occasional distraction from the serious business of living well. As much as any of his roles, Nighy is famous for being Bill Nighy, gentleman at large. Ask anyone who spends time in central London and they will have seen Bill out and about.

When the Queen died, it was suggested she had been seen in real life more than anyone else, but Nighy must be close.

When I polled Twitter for sightings, I received more than 800 replies. Bill drinking coffee at Lina Stores in Soho, Bill walking in and out of The Wolseley, Bill wandering the V&A, Bill having a frozen yogurt from a shop called Snog, Bill wandering the Royal Academy, Bill browsing books in Hatchards, Bill sitting at the bar of the Royal Opera House, Bill sitting at the bar of the Stafford hotel, Bill flirting with a barmaid, Bill browsing cravats in Liberty, Bill drinking coffee

‘ They used to say of acting that there would be periods of unemployment and my heart used to sing’

in Hampstead with Nicole Farhi, Bill ambling down Piccadilly with Anna Wintour (more on the Vogue editor later). The man is never at home.

In these tales, the same words crop up again and again. Dapper. Immaculate. Sharp. Unfailingly, the people who have seen him recall a well-cut figure, all silk scarves, trench coats and tightly furled umbrellas. Any reported interactions are charming. Bill will have a chat. Bill will stop for a photo. Bill will wave back. A certain dream of London, a place where perfectly dressed gentlemen stroll about eating, reading and looking at art, seems possible when Nighy is around. This level of scrutiny would make other people uneasy, but Nighy long ago came to terms with the idea that a few selfies was an acceptable price for his freedom.

“The thing is I don’t own a car and have no interest in owning one,” he says. “It’s an odd thing being an actor, you forget [that you are recognised]. But I love cafés as much as I love anything. It’s pretty much my reward for everything. So if I can’t wander about and go to cafés, then it’s all a bit…” He trails off.

“I’m not going to get mobbed in the street. I have a degree of notoriety, which is just about right. People are friendly, but it’s not a frenzy. I manage pretty well.”

He didn’t come straight to acting. The original plan was to be a writer. When he was 16, he moved to Paris to try to emulate his heroes Hemingway and Fitzgerald. He didn’t write anything, but he assumed some of the lifestyle.

Eventually, he returned to study at Guildford School of Acting — not Guildhall, although he enjoyed the occasional confusion — before starting his professional career at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool.

He doesn’t read the papers or watch the news. We speak a few days after the Queen has died. He says his thoughts are with her family. He wore one of the then Prince Charles’s suits once, “midnight blue, a serious piece of tailoring.” You get the sense that whatever he is talking about, he would almost always rather be discussing clothes. He has previously railed against the trend for what he calls “bogus sportswear”, although he has admitted to wearing trainers for exercise, which he took up only in middle age.

“I do think [fashion] has been a bit downhill since 1947. If you took people off the street in 1947, they’d all look kind of OK. It wouldn’t matter what shape you were. I don’t know if that’s true today.”

He reads avidly. He recently read all of Joan Didion, whom he adores. But the most animated he becomes is when he talks about the science-fiction writers William Gibson and Neal Stephenson, both of whom he admires.

“[Gibson] is witty, dry, hip, imaginative,” he says, a sequence of adjectives that might be applied to Nighy. “There’s something about the atmosphere of his books I really like.

“I’m good at not working,” he adds. “I love loafing around. They used to say [of acting] that there would be periods of unemployment and my heart used to sing. The whole idea was not to go to work. There was something glamorous about not working. It’s like when you used to play truant. When everyone else is at school and you’re not, it’s very exciting.”

There are moments when Nighy’s leonine sangfroid slips, ever so slightly. As he talks he slides his phone twitchily around the table, as though looking for somewhere it feels right, before sweeping it on to the banquette beside him in mild frustration. He stopped drinking decades ago, perhaps not coincidentally around the time his career took off. It doesn’t seem like a stretch to imagine that some of his other habits might have replaced booze. For all his visibility, parts of him remain out of sight.

“People think I’m laid-back or mellow, words like that, which is not how I experience my day,” he says.

“I’m just as wired as everyone else. People mistake me for someone who’s relaxed. I am sometimes, but other times it’s just a trick of the light.”

Routine is part of his mechanism for coping with the stresses of work.

“I like to get up an hour and a half before I have to be anywhere, so I can go to a café, take a book. I like to eat before I get anywhere. I don’t want to eat when I get there. When I get into a new trailer at work I get the coffee machine going and put certain tunes on, just to control the environment.”

For all the time he spends in restaurants, his frame suggests he doesn’t eat much. “People think that, but actually I eat quite a lot,” he says. He had been eating salmon for breakfast every day but had to stop. “I hit a wall with salmon,” he says. He currently favours a Parmesan, mushroom and tomato omelette, with avocado on the side.

One obscured area is Nighy’s private life. For 27 years his partner was actor Diana Quick. Their daughter, Mary, 38, is a director and has two children of her own; he says he is prone to spoiling his grandchildren. Though they broke up about 15 years ago, he and Quick remain close. When he says that if he received a diagnosis like Mr Williams’s, he would spend more time with his family, it is still Diana and Mary he means. I have to ask about Wintour, I say. They have been photographed together many times.

“I’d love to answer that,” he says, leaning towards the Dictaphone. “But if I did, I’d be involving the readers in something very close to gossip, and I know they’d never forgive me for that.”

It’s a very Nighy answer: charming but evasive. He’s also used it before.

We walk out into Pimlico’s afternoon sunshine. For once, Nighy has turned for home — there is football to be watched — when he is interrupted by a young man who comes bounding out of the café and introduces himself. He wants to be an actor, he says. Does Bill have any tips? He is thinking of doing a master’s at Lamda. Is that a good idea?

“I don’t know what a post-grad is, but then I don’t really know what a grad is…” Nighy jokes, before offering a more serious reflection. There’s only so far talking can take you, he concludes, “before it comes down to experience.”

The young man quotes a line from About Time. Nighy talks about the trick of making it seem like you’ve just thought of the line.

“Acting’s not rocket science, but it’s not nothing, either,” he says. “It’s an honourable thing to be involved with.”

‘ People think I’m laid-back or mellow, words like that, which is not how I experience my day’

Credit: © Ed Cumming / Telegraph Media Group Limited 2023

“Fashion design is still a male dominated world — even though a lot of them are designing for women,” says Iris van Herpen, the visionary Dutch haute couturier.

Y ou may not recoginse her by face, but would be hard pushed to forget seeing her work. Her name is synonymous with extra-terrestrial, three-dimensional gowns that appear to shape shift in motion, the best of which possess such perplexing levels of intricacy the eyes can only gawk.

F or this reason, Herpen, 38, is a red carpet virtuoso, both adored and championed by the world’s most outlandish dressers — from Björk to Lady Gaga, Winnie Harlow, Gwendoline Christie and Cara Delevingne. The sculptural designs are often regarded as fine art, collected by prestigious museums including New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the V&A, and she has been a fixture of Paris’ couture week since joining the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture in 2011.

A fter more than a decade spent in fashion’s most exclusive sector, Herpen remains discontent with the diversity on schedule. This season 29 maisons showed; 22 collections designed by men, and seven by women.

“ My team is really female driven. It’s important to me, and it’s important to talk about it and show it is possible. I hope to be an example for others,” she says via video from Amsterdam. It is 9am there, and she looks ethereal in a chinoiserie style robe with tumbling curls.

M isogyny was the catalyst for her offering during couture week; a short film referencing the global female struggle, and a direct response to the Mahsa Amini protests in Iran. “It’s an artistic expression of a political movement,” Herpen says.

T he collection is titled Carte Blanche and was shot by French artist Julie Gautier underwater. This is a successful pairing — the nature inspired and technologically derived gowns look like deep water corals as models hold their breath and contort.

“ We chose to do it underwater as a symbol for women having no speech, with this extremely heavy underwater dancing,” Herpen says.

Above: Iris Van Herpen All pages: Carte Blanche SS23

‘ The system is still drawn to the traditional, but it’s important to have different options when presenting collections’

To conclude, a woman lets out a scream of air bubbles and floats to the surface. “It is a dedication to the strength that is needed to speak up,” she explains. It is visually rich, and makes for suffocating viewing.

D eciding to show with a four-minute film bucked the trend across the other couturiers who, post-pandemic, doubled down on the flamboyance of runway spectacles. For haute couture, Franck Sorbier was the only other designer to opt for digital.

T he risk proved a very real one when Herpen released the onschedule film just two hours after the Schiaparelli show, where Irina Shayk walked the catwalk in the same lion head gown Kylie Jenner wore on the front row. Nearby, Doja Cat sat with her face covered by 30,000 red Swarovski crystals. A social media eclipse ensued, and Herpen’s collection struggled to make a noise.

W hy snub the catwalk? “Freedom of expression. In the last few years we’ve spoken a lot about more flexibility in how we present our work, but everything has gone back to the old ways,” she says. “The system is still drawn to the traditional, but it’s

important to have different options when presenting collections.”

I t is a quiet approach. The artist in Herpen stands for integrity first and foremost — this season that has come with a cost. “The subject [of the collection] is an important and heavy one. It needed the storyline and telling of a film. It was the only way to embody the emotion that I wanted to visualise,” she says.

H er resolve comes as no surprise. Herpen has long been a black sheep in couture, and since founding her label in 2007, has maintained an unrivalled grip on her entire company output. She does not produce ready-to-wear, “so there is no intermedium of stores or buyers that tell me what to do,” she says, and proudly runs her atelier without the need for a secretary. That is remarkable given her output, which last year included a custom costume for Letitia Wright in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever , a Vogue cover with Michelle Yeoh, Björk music videos and Lorde concerts, to list a few of her personal highlights. She is also two years into creating a vast 12 room retrospective exhibition at Paris’ renowned Musée des Arts Décoratifs, set to open

‘ There is no intermedium of stores or buyers that tell me what to do’

November 29, 2023 – “that really feels like a life’s work,” she says, content.

A nd these are only her physical creations. “The last year for me has been quite focussed on augmented reality,” Herpen says. She has found herself near the forefront of Web3 fashion, in most part thanks to design process beginning with digital rendering. It makes sense, too. Innovation has been her USP since TIME Magazine named her 3D printed dress one of the 2011’s 50 Best Inventions.

D o not hold your breath for the results — she is waiting until tech platforms can cater to the detail of her physical outputs. At present, attempts at Metaverse fashion weeks, hosted on platforms including Roloblox and Decentraland, have been defined by comically rudimentary avatars.

“ Creatively, the sky is the limit in terms of what will be possible,” Herpen says. “But it stupidly depends on what the bigger tech companies come up with. I do believe augmented reality will be an added layer to our physical reality, in all aspects of our lives — creatively, politically, economically. Everything.”

I t throws up endless questions. Digital fashion’s appeal is democratisation, but how do you balance this with haute couture pricing? What degree of resources should you funnel into a space that is in constant development, and how do you protect your intellectual property when laws lag behind advancements?

“ I have no idea,” Herpen says. “But we are in an AI revolution at the moment, and more will come quite soon. That I know for sure.”

‘ Fashion design is still a male dominated world even though a lot of them are designing for women’

A new book reveals the origins of Parisian fashion house Lanvin, and how its founder, Jeanne Lanvin, is still inspiring haute couture today

WORDS: CHRIS ANDERSON

With creative director Bruno Sialelli at the helm, Lanvin appears to have a bright future ahead of it. Appointed in January 2019 to update the oldest French fashion house in existence, Sialelli scored an immediate hit with his Curb sneakers, and their exaggerated, lace-heavy appearance. The late Louis Vuitton designer Virgil Abloh became a fan, as did hip-hop artist Kid Codi, and Dune actor Timothée Chalamet, who bought pairs in multiple colours. Suddenly, after several tumultuous years, where the brand seemed to work its way through one creative director after another, desperate to find its identity, Lanvin was seen again as a cutting-edge, sought-after name. People were even singing about it — check out rapper Billie Essco’s track, ‘Lanvin Skate Shoes’.

The hype now surrounding the house mirrors that of its early days, when Jeanne Lanvin herself attracted the attentions of the rich and famous in Paris with her creations, including hats, dresses, children’s clothing and perfume, encouraging her to open her own boutique in 1889 and supply these customers full time. Today, Lanvin is 134 years old — no French fashion house has been in business longer — with Vogue magazine saying of its founder in 1927: “Truly, she is one of the great women of the world.”

Jeanne Lanvin, her personal story, and the origins of the brand bearing her name, are the subject of a new book, Jeanne Lanvin: Fashion Pioneer, written by Pierre Toromanoff, published by teNeues in English and German. It features old photos, paintings, and images of classic dresses, sourced from the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, or the Palais Galliera museum in Paris, where much of her work is now on display. Expressing his own admiration for his muse, the author, Toromanoff, says, “Jeanne Lanvin is to haute couture and fragrances what Leonardo da Vinci is to painting and science.”

The book is largely biographical, following Jeanne Lanvin from her birth on January 1, 1867 to her death at age 79 on June 6, 1946. We learn

how she was the eldest of 11 children, growing up in one of the poorer areas of Paris, and discover how becoming an apprentice milliner at age 13, making fanciful hats, would kick-start her interests in fashion. “In Paris alone, more than 650 milliners were established at the beginning of the 20th century,” explains Toromanoff, such was the popularity of hats among men and women at the time. “One of Jeanne’s frequent tasks was to deliver new hats to clients, and this allowed her to discover the most fashionable neighbourhoods of Paris.”

Making a name for herself, Jeanne Lanvin was able to establish her own milliner’s shop in 1889. Then, four years later, she moved to a larger boutique at 22 Rue du Faubourg SaintHonor é , and over the years would proceed to take over the entire building. An address still associated with Lanvin today, the location was thoroughly refurbished and given new life in 2021 by Belgian designer Axel Vervoordt, who wanted to match the modernity of Bruno Sialelli with the heritage of Jeanne Lanvin. There are Burgundy stone floors, rounded lines and swirls, and a number of original features, such as the Printz triptych mirror, in Jeanne Lanvin’s office since 1930, and the black lacquered elevator, with carved wooden panels and gold leaf.

A short-lived marriage to Count Emilio di Pietro, an Italian nobleman, resulted in Jeanne Lanvin giving

birth to her only child in 1897 — her daughter, Marguerite Marie Blanche di Pietro, which as Toromanoff describes, “would largely determine the evolution of the Lanvin brand in the years to come.” It was by making clothes and hats for Marguerite, often matching her own, with luxurious materials and intricate weaves, that she gained the admiration of Parisian high society, who wanted similar outfits for their own children, leading to Jeanne Lanvin opening a children’s clothing department at her store in 1908.

Just one year later, orders for

‘ Jeanne Lanvin is to haute couture and fragrances what Leonardo da Vinci is to painting and science ’

Previous page: Theatrical dress for French actress Jeanne Renouardt, 1927 © Rijksmuseum These pages, clockwise from left: Lanvin at her Parisian mansion with paintings from her collection. Photo by Laure Albin, 1937 © Ville de Paris BMD; Cyclone ball dress, 1923 © Metropolitan Museum, New York; Wedding Ensemble, 1925 © Philadelphia Museum of Art

children’s clothing were exceeding those for hats, and clothing for young women also became part of the offering, so that mother and daughter could shop and choose outfits together. Each look was fresh, surprising and magnificent. “Her only aim was to magnify women,” says Toromanoff. “Jeanne Lanvin transformed fashion without seeking to revolutionise it.”

The Lanvin empire continued to expand through the decades.

Jeanne Lanvin opened a dye factory in Nanterre, so she could establish her own shades: the famous Lanvin Blue, and Polignac Pink as another tribute to her daughter. Ribbons, pearls, embroideries and precious details became the trademark of her dresses, now available worldwide, and worn by nobility and Hollywood actresses. “Jeanne Lanvin was skilled at instinctively assimilating and reinterpreting the most diverse influences and motifs, from Aztec patterns to Slavic embroidery,” Toromanoff says of the quality of her work.

After becoming the first designer to launch a children’s fashion line, Lanvin followed it with the first made-to-measure collection for men in 1926, and teamed with architectdecorator Armand-Albert Rateau to

offer furniture, rugs, curtains, stained glass and wallpaper in the Art Deco style. Lanvin Perfumes was the next step, with My Sin developed for the US market, and then Arpège formulated in 1927 to celebrate her daughter’s 30th birthday — once again, Marguerite had inspired a new direction for the company. “Nothing seemed impossible to Jeanne Lanvin,” Toromanoff says of her determined spirit.

Upon the death of her mother in 1946, Marguerite inherited the business, overseeing it until her own demise in 1958, at which point ownership transferred to a cousin, Yves Lanvin. Various owners, including L’Oréal, have helped to shape the brand in the decades since, with the current proprietors renaming themselves the Lanvin Group in 2021 and appointing Bruno Sialelli as creative director. What Jeanne Lanvin might have thought of his Curb sneakers is anyone’s guess, but a read of this new book can perhaps provide a few clues.

As Toromanoff himself concludes, “This is the tale of a woman who overcame adversity and social determinism, demonstrated formidable business acumen, and defied the conventions of the time to live as she saw fit. She serves as an example and inspiration to all women.”

‘ Jeanne Lanvin transformed fashion without seeking to revolutionise it ’

Jeanne Lanvin: Fashion Pioneer by Pierre Toromanoff, published by teNeues, is available now from accartbooks.com

Left: Assorted hats and dresses. Fashion Illustration, November 1920 in La Gazette du Bon Ton © MFA Boston This page, from top to bottom: Acimboldesque Woman’s hat, around 1920 © Philadelphia Museum of Art; silk coat, around 1913 © Palais Galliera, Musée de la mode de la ville de Paris

Winds Of Change

On track with the Rimac Nevera, the fastest series-production electric car in the world

WORDS: JEREMY TAYLOR

According to Rimac (pronounced in Croatia “rim-atz”), its Nevera hypercar was named after “a quick, unexpected and mighty Mediterranean storm that races across the open sea off Croatia”. The headline figures that accompany the Croatian firm’s electric record-breaker justify the lofty epithet, but having toured the Rimac factory and spent time with its employees, it’s obvious that the name is as applicable to the company itself — and especially its founder, Mate Rimac.

The starting point for all this is visible in a section of the factory called the ‘gallery’, where various crash-tested prototype Neveras share space with Mate’s own eclectic collection of vehicles. He has a few Ferraris and even a Mercedes SLR-McLaren, plus a Bugatti Chiron, of course (Mate is CEO of Bugatti Rimac), but he’s clearly a fan of BMW M cars, too. And there among the perfectly presented cars is the unmistakable body shell of the first-generation BMW 3 Series, the E30.

This is the car in which Mate first mixed his proven electronics expertise (from a

very young age) with his love of motoring, all in his parents’ garage at home. The story goes that an engine failure prompted him to power the BMW with electric motors sourced from forklifts. His fellow trackday enthusiasts initially made fun of the car, but over time he developed his own electric components and the “Rimac BMW e-M3” went on to set five Guinness and FIA world records for the fastest accelerating electric car. That was 2011, and Mate was just 23, but he already envisioned creating a ground-breaking electric supercar, starting with a blank sheet of paper. The Rimac ConceptOne was born that year, built by Rimac’s eight employees just in time to present it at the Frankfurt motor show.

To finance the project, the company worked on EV technology for other car makers, and started turning a profit in 2013. Two years later, the team numbered 100 people; in 2017, that jumped to 250 and the following year they unveiled the C Two (which became Nevera) at the Geneva motor show.

In the gestation period from that display

car to the first customer-ready Nevera (2016 Formula One World Champion Nico Rosberg’s, no less), the work of Rimac Technology expanded at pace. Rimac nonchalantly confirms that by 2020 it was “working with almost every single OEM in Europe” with a team of 850 people. The following year, Rimac Automobili and Bugatti merge, the Nevera is ready for production and the firm reveal plans for a massive state-of-the-art ‘Campus’ facility near Zagreb in Croatia.

The day we arrive at the current main production facility there are approximately 1,500 employees and a desire for many more.

At the centre of this whirlwind of activity sits the Nevera, an electric hypercar that comes with some profoundly serious numbers: 1,888bhp, 1,725lb ft of torque, 0-100km/h in 1.85 seconds,

a 412km/h top speed and a $2.2m price tag.

Following an eye-opening tour of the production facility, we were tossed the keys for a few hours at the wheel, taking in slippery back roads, a test track and

even an opportunity to try out a rather special Drift mode.

Given the performance and the hypedup capability of the Nevera, it’s quite a restrained piece of exterior design. It follows the expected hypercar norm in terms of a low and wide stance, but it’s not particularly showy or dramatic when parked up.

That’s especially the case if the rear wing is in its lowest position. It forms part of a sophisticated active aerodynamics system that adjusts four different elements — two in the nose, two at the back — to suit a wide variety of situations.

At one extreme, low drag is desirable to extend the range between charges, as it is to achieve the car’s top speed, while at the other, downforce helps with high-speed stability and cornering. The system even reacts to use of the brakes, acting as an air brake.

In terms of style details with meaning, take a look at a side view of the Nevera and you’ll notice a long shape that effectively runs from the nose and narrows ahead of the rear wheels. This references the cravat, which originated in Croatian military in the 17th century.

Aft of the doors on each side are three LED lights that call to mind Le Mans racers. Buyers can specify colours of a flag for these, for example, but they can also change appearance depending on the driving mode selected.

More theatre is brought to the Nevera’s appearance by the use of butterfly-wing doors. They’re surprisingly heavy to operate, though they do incorporate a sizeable section of the roof and side sill, which makes getting in and out a cinch.

The two-seat cabin is on the snug side and the design is quite minimalistic, but it’s no stripped-out racer. The large battery pack is H-shaped, allowing the seats to be mounted as low as possible, while a low-set windscreen base allows for good visibility, too. The positions of the seats, and indeed the steering wheel, can be electrically adjusted via the central touchscreen.

This is a proprietary system from Rimac running its in-house infotainment software, and it allows access to a bewildering array of data and customisation of the driving experience.

Yet Rimac has cleverly paired this modern interface with chunky analogue knobs to easily allow alteration of the drive settings on the move. Depending

on function, they can be turned, pushed or pulled, adding a wonderfully tactile interface with the car.

This is officially the fastest seriesproduction electric car in the world – though apparently, customer cars are limited to 353k/ph by default. On the way to that, it covers the standing-start quarter mile in 8.58 seconds. That makes it the fastest-accelerating production car on the planet according to Rimac –regardless of what powers it.

Later in the day we get to push the Nevera to its limits on a test track and to discover the true character of the car. It is breath-takingly quick on track. It takes a few laps to realise that the Nevera devours straights so quickly that you need to rethink the braking points, as your brain can’t quite comprehend what’s happening. Even so, in those first sighter laps it’s clear that the car is quite forgiving of any ham-fistedness, and it is utterly stable.

When you get to grips with the speed and the immense performance on tap, it rewards with keen responses and you soon learn where you can take liberties and how to extract the most from the car — and yourself. Dialling back the torque vectoring system is illuminating, as it reveals how much work the car is doing for you, especially on the entry and exit of corners.

And anyone who dismisses sporty

electric cars for their lack of an evocative noise needs to hear the Nevera at work. There’s no aural trickery at work here, just four electric motors and their gearboxes rotating rapidly. It’s mechanical and exciting in a totally new and different way to what has gone before.

Rimac, however, didn’t set out to produce a car for one-off acceleration runs and track days; the Nevera was designed to be used on the road over long distances, too. The 120kWh battery pack is good for 485 kilometres under WLTP testing conditions and it has been futureproofed with the ability to charge at up to 500kW.

Rimac has committed to producing just 150 examples of the Nevera for sale and first deliveries began in the summer of 2022. Though the first two years of production are accounted for, there are cars still available to order.

Would-be buyers shouldn’t be distracted by the huge performance and the world records that are part and parcel of this car, as there’s so much more to it than that. It is an incredibly exciting piece of automotive technology and art rolled into one, but one that can be driven long distance comfortably.

What’s more, it’s only the starting point for the Croatian company, one that is on a trajectory that is just as beguiling. We can’t wait to see what Mate Rimac does next.

‘ Nevera devours straights so quickly your brain can’t quite comprehend what’s happening ’

Human Touch

Though José Andrés has built a culinary empire and amassed Michelin stars, it's his humanitarian work that stirs the soul

WORDS: JOHN THATCHER

“When I change the traditional recipe for paella in one of my restaurants it is big news in Spain," states José Andrés, holding court at a table over lunch at his newly opened restaurant at Dubai's Atlantis The Royal, Jaleo by José Andrés, and describing how he’d added lamb to the traditional rice-based dish in lieu of rabbit — sacrilege for Valencians, a city that takes its paella to heart. He’s not being egotistical (a more humble person you’d be hard pushed to meet, truth be told) but merely stating a fact. Of all the chefs that have left Spanish shores through the years, no one has been a bigger proponent of the country’s cuisine than José Andrés. In fact, you can credit him with orchestrating the tapas revolution in America, the country to which he emigrated aged 21 in 1991, first to New York, then to Washington D.C, where, thirty years ago, he opened the first Jaleo.

It’s now part of a global chain of myriad restaurant concepts food trucks through to vegetable-focussed that number over thirty, Dubai’s opening just the latest. Not bad for a man who left for America with only a reported $50 in his pocket. He is currently billed as the only chef globally that has both a twostar Michelin restaurant (Minibar in Washington D.C) and four Bib Gourmands, and is a New York Times bestselling author and television personality to boot. A portrait of him currently hangs in The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.

Yet hugely impressive though his gastronomic journey has been thus far, more rewarding is his tireless humanitarian work. “It all began in 2010 after a huge earthquake devastated Haiti,” outlines Andrés in his mission statement for World Central Kitchen, the not-for-profit organisation he founded with his wife, Patricia, with the aim of helping to feed the world’s hungry during times of devastation, whether caused by war or natural catastrophe. “Cooking alongside displaced Haitians in a camp, I found myself getting schooled in how to cook black beans the way they wanted: mashed and sieved into a creamy sauce. You see, food relief is not just a meal that keeps hunger away. It’s a plate of hope. It tells you

in your darkest hour that someone, somewhere, cares about you. We don’t just deliver raw ingredients and expect people to fend for themselves. And we don’t just dump free food into a disaster zone: we source and hire locally wherever we can, to jump-start economic recovery through food.

“After a disaster, food is the fastest way to rebuild our sense of community. We can put people back to work preparing it, and we can put lives back together by fighting hunger.”

A ndrés and his team served over 3.8 million meals in Puerto Rico following the devastation of Hurricane Maria in 2017, they helped in the aftermath of Beirut’s brutal blast, were there to support those who lost their homes when bushfires burned through Australia, and fed tens of millions of struggling people during the Covid-19 pandemic. Latterly, Andrés has been in Ukraine, where by last October World Central Kitchen estimates to have had already served over 165 million meals to Ukrainians. “We consider ourselves like the unofficial caterers of the event,” Andrés told The Wall Street Journal. “If it was a wedding, we would stay till the end of the wedding.”

I n recognition of his humanitarian efforts, Andrés was listed as one of TIME Magazine ’s 100 Most Influential People in 2012 and 2018, while former US President Barack Obama awarded Andrés the National Humanities Medal in 2015. Unlike several contemporaries you can care to mention, Andrés is a chef who has used his celebrity for selfless reasons.

B orn in Asturias, Spain, to parents who both worked as nurses, the family moved to Barcelona when Andrés was six years old. It would prove a pivotal decision. There, some years after enrolling in the city’s culinary school aged 15, he met the legendary Ferran Adrià, often cited as the world’s greatest chef, for whom Andrés then worked as an intern at the much eulogised and hugely influential El Bulli.

T he pair fell out when a scheduled meeting between the two to discuss a contract for Andrés didn’t take place both blame the other for not being at the agreed location on time, and the pair are now firm friends. Yet within one week of their argument Andrés was heading to New York.

T iming is everything in cooking.

‘ After a disaster, food is the fastest way to rebuild our sense of community’

Opening pages, from left to right: Jaleo by José Andrés; José Andrés

These pages: Jaleo by José Andrés

Emirates Palace Mandarin Oriental, Abu Dhabi

You can be sure of few things in the world of travel – spoiler alert, the weather’s not one of them – but one certainty is the standard of service at a hotel managed by Mandarin Oriental. Never does it fall beneath excellent, no matter where in the world it is.

That’s certainly the case in Abu Dhabi, the latest city to hoist the Mandarin flag – or, more specifically, wave the Mandarin fan – as the luxury brand officially takes over management duties at Emirates Palace.

The term ‘iconic’ is typically used with wild abandon by marketeers these days – and just as typically, incorrectly – but Emirates Palace is indeed iconic. More a symbol of the city than a mere hotel. Not that you’d attribute the word ‘mere’ to anything at the twin-winged, marble-laden Emirates Palace.

Besides the superior levels of service, Mandarin Oriental has added a dash of its renowned hospitality throughout the hotel. You’ll feel it in rooms that, but for all their lavish materials, were previously designed in way that left them feeling a little sterile, a touch cold. Now they’re warm and inviting while no less luxurious. This is particularly true of the hotel’s revamped suites, where an overload of gold has been softened to something much more contemporary and reflective of a forward-looking city.

Speaking of which, in a first for the region Emirates Palace is now home to Vegan Rooms, which house nothing made using animal-based products or materials and include sustainable bedding and crueltyfree bath amenities. Guests can also select from an exclusively vegan in-room dining menu and minibar.

Gastronomy is another area in which Mandarin Oriental excels. To Emirates Palace’s pre-existing line up of restaurants, which includes an outpost of the ever-excellent and Michelin-starred Hakkasan, Mandarin Oriental has added Talea by Antonio Guida, a multi award-winning chef heralded by critics and diners alike as one of Italy’s finest. This restaurant is helmed by his protégé Luigi Stinga, whose subtle modernising of homemade, family-recipe staples saw Talea scoop a Michelin star within months of its opening. That’s a rarity anywhere in the world. Somewhere within the vast expanse of the palace’s spectacular entrance level you’ll find Episodes, a new beautifully decorated area comprising a tea apothecary, which offers exclusive blends drawn from around the globe; a gourmet deli where lobster terrine is a highlight; a cake shop replete with fanciful creations small and large, and a gelateria full of interesting local flavours to which you can add edible 23k gold.

But here you don’t even have to turn to everdependable ice cream to charm your children into obedience. At this palace, kids are king. In addition to having their own club, they have the run of a huge pool, lazy river (rubber rings come as standard) and a duo of fun water slides to conquer. More than enough to keep them occupied while you spend time in The Spa at Mandarin Oriental, a revamped haven fit for a palace.

Jeremy Morris

The best piece of advice I’ve ever received is to never compromise on quality. At David Morris we make all our jewellery in-house and are meticulous about our craftsmanship. Not only are we one of just a few family-owned jewellery houses on London’s Bond Street, we are also the only house to have a high jewellery atelier on the premises. We have artisans working with us who have been handcrafting David Morris pieces for more than 30 years.

When I was younger, my measure of personal success was how well I was doing at work. Now, it’s very different. I love designing and creating high jewellery, I was born to do it, but not to the detriment of my family. Balancing work and life — finding that perfect equilibrium between my

CEO AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR, DAVID MORRIS

family and my profession — is what constitutes success for me today.

My father instilled in me a desire to work hard, but of course when I was younger, I tended to ignore his words of wisdom. So, if I had the chance to go back and advise my younger self I would say: put your pride aside and listen to you father. Don’t be so dismissive of your parents because they really do know best.

Wherever I am in the world on any given day, I always make time to speak to my sales team. A daily debrief really helps me to plan and anticipate what lies ahead.

In my world, a good business mind is every bit as important as a passion for jewellery. When I started out at David

Morris, I spent years physically making jewellery, so I knew what a piece should look like. Now, as CEO and Creative Director, I know that creating jewels is just part of what we do. We make a point of always going above and beyond for our clients, forging close relationships with the fabulous and famous women who will ultimately wear our jewels.

I really admire people who are capable of building something from nothing — those with the courage and conviction to start from scratch on the strength of a great idea and succeed through sheer talent.

My ambitions are the same as those of my father, who passed the reins of David Morris to me in 2003. I want nothing more than to pass on a healthy business to the next generation.

Illustration: Leona Beth

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