AIR Magazine - Nasjet - January'22 by Hot Media

JANUARY 2022

ZAZIE BEETZ

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Contents

AIR

JANUARY 2022: ISSUE 124

FEATURES Thirty Four

Forty

Forty Six

Fifty Two

Zazie Beetz on shaking up the classic western, being broke, and considering colour when choosing a role.

Why the cutting-edge modernism of the famed Sixties’ designer Mary Quant endures in the modern era.

On screen, Olga Kurylenko plays Bond girls and Marvel baddies. In real life, she saves children from orphanages.

How an opera performed in Las Vegas this month is helping to keep the memory of Muhammad Ali alive.

Beetz Me

Hail Mary

Superhero

Stage Fight

Contents

JANUARY 2022: ISSUE 124

REGULARS Fourteen

Radar

Sixteen

Objects of Desire Eighteen

Critique Twenty

Art & Design Twenty Six

Timepieces Thirty

Jewellery

EDITORIAL

Sixty Two

Chief Creative Officer

Gastronomy

John Thatcher john@hotmedia.me

AIR

Sixty Eight

Journeys by Jet

ART Art Director

Kerri Bennett

Seventy Two

What I Know Now

Illustration

Leona Beth

COMMERCIAL Managing Director

Victoria Thatcher General Manager

David Wade

david@hotmedia.me

PRODUCTION Digital Media Manager

Muthu Kumar Fifty Eight

Motoring How a German company reimagines some of the world’s finest supercars.

Tel: 00971 4 364 2876 Fax: 00971 4 369 7494 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.

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NasJet JANUARY 2022: ISSUE 124

NASJET is the leading private aviation operator and services provider in Saudi Arabia that delivers world-class services in aircraft management, charter, flight support, sales and completions. Launched in 1999 in affiliation with US partner NetJets Inc, NasJet - originally NetJets Middle East (NJME) - demonstrated the highest levels of regional expertise by being the first private company in Saudi Arabia to be awarded an Aircraft Operating Certificate (AOC) by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA). The company has since grown to managing/supporting in excess of 19 fixed-wing aircraft, and employing 150 in-house aviation industry experts. We operate 24/7 from a state-ofthe-art flight center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, delivering superior levels of safety, service and value. VISION To be the leading business aviation solutions provider in the Middle East.

Welcome Onboard JANUARY 2022

MISSION • Safety: Our clients and employees’ safety and security are the highest priority in all our operations and services. • Standards: Our clients receive the utmost levels of service with word-class standards. • Empowerment: Our employees are vital to our success and are rewarded for their outstanding performance and innovations. • Profitability: We strive to ensure the full success and profitability of our organization. • Responsibility: We pride ourselves with our work ethics and strive for the highest levels of professional standards. VALUES • Transparency: We are transparent with our clients and with each other. • Efficiency: We achieve the highest levels of efficiency within our organization. • Communication: We work as a team and communicate with each other to improve the success of our business. This month we have relaunched our company website to provide a more user-friendly, design-driven portal which provides a full overview of our services and outlines the advantages of utilising them. You can visit it at nasjet.com.sa We welcome the opportunity to serve you onboard one of our private jets.

Captain Mohammed Al Gabbas Chief Commercial Officer

Cover: Zazie Beetz Corina Marie Howell/AUGUST

Contact Details: nasjet.com.sa / +966 11 261 1199 / sales@nasjet.com.sa 9

NasJet JANUARY 2022: ISSUE 124

Ways We Can Serve You Full range of services cater to your every need Aircraft Management Owning a private jet is certainly a pleasure, but it is also a major capital investment. We can handle that hassle and give you peace of mind knowing that an established and experienced international operator is efficiently managing your aircraft. The company has grown to managing/supporting in excess of 19 Middle East-based aircraft. Charter NASJET has a dedicated fleet of ultra-modern aircraft available for immediate charter, including Airbus, Boeing, Gulfstream, Legacy 600, and Citation Excel. We are also able to source any type of aircraft in the world if our fleet does not match your preference. Your requests and personal requirements are managed by a team of highly experienced charter experts, focused on making your trip exceptionally comfortable and seamless. Remember, we are looking to exceed your expectations, with our Client Service team operating 24/7, 365 days a year to ensure we are doing just that. For frequent charter clients we have a number of flexible and dynamic Block-Charter programs with all the usual benefits of on-demand charter but with additional cost savings based on volume discounts and flexible payment terms. The charter programs allow you to take control of your flying requirements, on a trip-by-trip basis. At the same time, it grants you access to the largest regionally managed fleet with seamless operations and a superior level of safety, reliability and value. For Charter Broker enquiries, please contact our 24/7 charter department at +966 11 261 1199 or email charter@flynas.com. Flight Support-Aircraft Owners Aircraft owners managing an aircraft internally can still benefit from NASJET’s unrivaled level of international support and significant 10

‘economy of scale’ cost-saving benefits. The NASJET Flight Center, Client Service, Charter Team and Engineering Teams operate 24/7, supporting owners with flight planning, overnight & landing permits, ground handling, fuel management, accommodation, catering, aircraft insurance, maintenance and aircraft evaluations. NASJET will provide aircraft owners with ‘back-up’ aircraft at attractive prices, when their aircraft is not available. The core management fleet includes Airbus, Boeing, Gulfstream, Legacy 600 and Citation Excel. Aircraft Sales As a world class owner, operator and manager of corporate aircraft, we are in the unique position of understanding the many advantages and disadvantages of aircraft ownership. We offer real-time pricing analysis, aircraft financing at preferential rates, aircraft inspections, sales/ marketing collateral and assertive price negotiations. Close ties with the leading business aircraft manufacturers, operators and international sales brokers further ensures the information presented is accurate and timely. Dedicated teams are able to handle legal and administrative documentation, including registration and licensing as well as scouring the market to present you with the widest

possible choice of aircraft. We have the required experience to enter into negotiations on any aircraft model, and together with marketing and advertising experts, we can help you buy or sell your aircraft with cost efficiency and the utmost discretion. With NASJET you can be assured that your aircraft sale or purchase is being managed by aviation experts. Completions Advisory If you are planning to purchase a new ‘green’ aircraft, or refurbishing your current aircraft, we have the capability and wealth of experience to ensure the completion and delivery of the aircraft is to the highest standard, protecting the future residual value of your aircraft. NASJET and appointed partners provide advice on the design, selection and installation of the cabin configuration, layout, type of seats, carpets, sidewall treatments and other furnishings, entertainment and communication systems, galley and lavatory fixtures, avionics packages, exterior paint and extended warranty programs Operating business aircraft in extreme hot and humid climates can mean the finishing and preparation of materials has to be of a specific requirement. Capitalizing on our regional knowledge as an operator of over 19 fixed-wing aircraft with hundreds of thousands of miles flown across every continent in the world, we guarantee your aircraft will be finished to the optimum standard.

NasJet JANUARY 2022: ISSUE 124

Introducing Our Fleet Over 19 fixed-wing aircraft are under our management

We are also able to source any type of aircraft in the world if our fleet does not match your preference Airbus Corporate Jet (ACJ) A318 In NASJET, we have two types of Airbus A318, an aircraft which combines Airbus reliability and intercontinental performance. Airbus A320neo Airbus A320neo is distinguished by its innovative technologies and the spaciousness of its cabin - the widest in the single-aisle aircraft category. The aircraft is equipped with a new generation of engines that contribute to a 15% cutback of fuel consumption and harmful emissions, and a 50% reduction of noise level. Boeing (B767) and Boeing (BBJ3) Boeing Business Jets bring the best of 12

private air travel, offering customers a wide range of Boeing products. The robust characteristics of this aircraft also provide an excellent value proposition when outfitted for more personalized space, unmatched reliability and worldwide support. Gulfstream (G650) and Gulfstream (GIV-SP) NASJET is the largest Gulfstream operator in the Middle East. You can fly in a spacious and comfortable cabin, which includes a full-service galley to serve your favourite meals. Legacy 600 Legacy 600 has installed an Ionization System which allows it to eliminate

99.9% of all microbes, bacteria, germs, bad smells, etc… in the air of the cabin during flight. This Legacy 600 is the first and only business jet to have this system installed during Covid-19, and will reduce the spread of the virus within the air of the cabin significantly. Citation Excel The Citation Excel aircraft combines transcontinental range and remarkable efficiency in a beautiful mid-size jet. The cabin offers comfortable room and a spacious interior. The high-quality leather seats are extra wide with full reclining capabilities for optimal comfort.

Counter Top: GRIGIO VENATO Wash Basin: RAK-CLOUD Mirror: RAK-JOY Wall and Floor: DESERT

AIR

Radar JANUARY 2022: ISSUE 124

Credit: © Métiers d’Art show finale, CHANEL

Honouring the unique talents of the storied and specialised workshops under the Chanel umbrella — the likes of Lemarié, a feather worker since 1880; Atelier Montex, an embroiderer since 1939; and Massaro, a shoemaker from as far back as 1894 — the latest Métiers d’art collection fully showcased their abundant artistry, with Virginie Viard revelling in the opportunity to bring these venerable talents to the fore.

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

S C H I A PA R E L L I

ACCESSORIES SS22 As ever inspired by the woman who founded the house — Elsa Schiaparelli, who prior to World War Two established her couture business in Paris and a reputation for surrealist styles and witty, ahead-of-their-time accessories, such as a telephone-shaped bag — creative director

Daniel Roseberry revisits some of the brand’s iconic motifs from Schiaparelli’s era in an extensive accessories collection that pays tribute to the body via visually striking pieces, most notably jewellery. Ears, lips, and eyes all playfully exaggerated in daring creations. 1

OB JECTS OF DESIRE

RICHARD MILLE

R M 3 5 - 0 3 A U T O M AT I C R A FA E L N A D A L Three years in development, the new butterfly rotor in the RM 35-03 — a patented innovation — allows the wearer to directly interact with the rotor’s geometry, controlling the movement’s winding speed based on lifestyle and activity levels — like the

driver of a car being able to adjust the transmission from road to track. It’s the fourth timepiece in the collection, and comes in two versions: blue Quartz TPT® with a white Quartz TPT® caseband, and white Quartz TPT® and Carbon TPT® with a Carbon TPT® caseband. 2

OB JECTS OF DESIRE

MESSIK A

M E S S I K A B Y K AT E M O S S O P U S 2 The follow-up collection to the hugely successful debut sees Kate Moss and Valerie Messika return with a visually rich assemblage of colourful pieces, comprising malachite, white motherof-pearl, turquoise and onyx across thirty-six exclusive pieces. Included is

this stunning earring, fashioned from gold, semi-precious stones and multiple diamonds. It can be worn individually or as part of a wider three-piece set — a teardrop-shaped top ear-clip and mid-ear clip completing the elegant triumvirate, that works whatever the occasion. 3

OB JECTS OF DESIRE

M U L B E R RY

S O F T S M A L L A M B E R L E Y S AT C H E L Launched in line with Mulberry’s Made to Last Manifesto, and in partnership with centuries old Scottish leather supplier, Muirhead, the Soft Small Amberley Satchel is part of a limitededition capsule of bags created using the world’s lowest carbon leather and

crafted in the brand’s carbon neutral factories, all part of Mulberry’s ambition to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2035. Created using hawthorn heavy grain leather, it’s available in four colourways: coral orange, black, charcoal, and this cornflower blue. 4

OB JECTS OF DESIRE

ROGER DU BU IS

E XCALIBUR DR WOO MONOTOURBILLON Renowned tattoo artist Dr. Woo adds his creative flair to the Excalibur Monotourbillon, a timepiece that’s garnered ample praise since its launch last year — not least for its RD512SQ calibre, rebuilt from bottom to top in an architectural

feat that sees the Roger Dubuis star levitate freely above the barrel. Dr. Woo uses that star as the spark for his own cosmic additions: the moon as an energy source, and planets peppered across the dial. It’s limited to just eight pieces. 5

OB JECTS OF DESIRE

R M SOTHEBY’S

1 96 5 S H E L B Y 4 2 7 S /C C O B R A Carroll Shelby’s simple plan of fitting a Ford V-8 engine into the chassis of an AC Ace proved to be a brilliant idea, with the Shelby Cobra quickly becoming one of the most iconic sports cars of its era. In the early 1990s, Shelby introduced the 4000 Series. Sometimes referred to as continuation cars, 6

they featured fiberglass bodywork, but buyers had the opportunity to order the more authentic aluminum bodywork at a substantial additional cost. This is one such example, a subtly modified interpretation of one of the most recognizable cars in the world. It’s up for auction on January 27.

OB JECTS OF DESIRE

S T E L L A MCC A RT N EY

SPRING 2022 RT W Taking cues from ‘Y is for Youth’ from the McCartney A to Z Manifesto, Stella McCartney’s spring awakening harmonises the nostalgic with the futuristic — connecting Y2K music subcultures and the digital generation of today to the ravers and club kids of the

Nineties. Timeless Savile Row tailoring is reimagined in clean neon shades and dichotomies of extreme proportion, with fitted double-breasted jackets worn over voluminous trousers inspired by raver pants. As always, this is a collection free of leather, feather and fur. 8

OBJECTS OF DESIRE

Critique JANUARY 2022 : ISSUE 124

Film Nightmare Alley Dir. Guillermo del Toro Down-on-his-luck Stanton Carlisle befriends a mysterious psychiatrist who he hopes will prove his golden ticket as he bids to con the elite of 1940s New York society. AT BEST: ‘An epic drama worth rewatching as there are many layers here.’ — Grace Randolph, Beyond The Trailer AT WORST: ‘As a story, there’s such little idea of what it truly is.’ — Matt Cipolla, The Spool

Parallel Mothers Dir. Pedro Almodóvar AIR

Two women meet in hospital room where they are going to give birth. The link that grows between them will change their lives. AT BEST: ‘Oscar-calibre screenwriting and direction.’ — Dwight Brown, National Newspaper Publishers Association AT WORST: ‘This isn’t one of the filmmaker’s great films, but it is a serious return to form.’ — Roger Moore, Movie Nation

Hero Dir. Asghar Farhadi Rahim is in prison because of a debt. During a two-day leave, he tries to appeal to his creditor, but things don’t go as planned. AT BEST: ‘Part of the movie’s brilliance is in how it questions the very concept of a good deed.’ — A.A. Dowd AV Club AT WORST: ‘A little too flat and prosaic for its rich, dark themes.’ — Stephen Dalton, The Film Verdict

June Again Dir. JJ Winlove A twist of fate gives family matriarch a reprieve from a debilitating illness, as she tries to put everyone back on track. AT BEST: ‘‘Finds a hellishly fine line between the comedic and romanticised.’ — Graeme Tuckett, stuff.co.nz AT WORST: ‘The film has its rewards, but it could have been a contender.’ — Paul Byrnes, Sydney Morning Herald

Critique JANUARY 2022 : ISSUE 124

Books T

Jay’s brilliant, brooding, gourmand is one of detective fiction’s greatest creations. I didn’t want it to end.” The death of girl in 1970s smalltown Ohio destroys the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the a family together in Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You. “Ng has set two tasks in this novel’s doubled heart — to be exciting, and to tell a story bigger than whatever is behind the crime. She does both by turning the nest of familial resentments into at least four smaller, prickly mysteries full of secrets the family members won’t share . . . What emerges is a deep, heartfelt portrait of a family struggling with its place in history, and a young woman hoping to be the fulfillment of that struggle. This is, in the end, a novel about the burden of being the first of your kind—a burden you do not always survive,” reviews Alexander Chee in The New York Times Book Review. “A powerhouse of a debut novel,” praises Huffington Post. “A literary mystery crafted out of shimmering prose and precise, painful observation about racial barriers, the burden of familial expectations, and the basic human

thirst for belonging ... Ng’s novel grips readers from page one with the hope of unraveling the mystery behind Lydia’s death — and boy does it deliver, on every front.” As our thoughts turn to how to be healthy at the outset of this new year, Daniel Lieberman, professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University, releases Exercised, which tells of how we never evolved to exercise. “In addition to exorcising myths and detailing what kinds of exercise we’re good at, as well as why these particular activities matter for our physical well-being, Lieberman also gives us permission to be kind to ourselves if we’d rather not bother… Most important, Lieberman doesn’t judge those who find exercising difficult, even after knowing that they should be doing it, because exercise still isn’t all that fun,” says The New York Times. Echoes The Boston Globe: “The science beneath Lieberman’s arguments is revelatory, with thrilling implications for evolutionary biology. Exercised is an excellent compendium on the broad medical advantages of exercise and a roadmap out of our pandemic to better health.”

Credit: Penguin Random House

he Hanged Man’s Tale by Gerald Jay sees detective Paul Mazarelle on the trail of a serial killer, who left a clue inside the pocket of his first victim – the Hanged Man tarot card. Meanwhile, Claire Girard, an irresistible and ambitious journalist at a popular tabloid, is wrapped up in the same story. “Excellent,” praises Publishers Weekly. “Combining rational twists with sophisticated characterizations, Jay and his collaborators never sacrifice plausibility for plot surprises.” “What Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther is to Berlin, Gerald Jay’s Paul Mazarelle is to Paris: the worldweary cop condemned to figuring out which of his colleagues is the least trustworthy,” comments fellow author Alexander Wolff. “Cinematic and suspenseful, laced with sudden turns, The Hanged Man’s Tale is a gripping read — a classic roman policier set in the thoroughly modern streets of Paris. You can taste the espresso in the cafes, and feel the danger lurking in the shadows.” Full of praise for the book’s characterisation was Andy Breckman: “Welcome back, Inspector Mazarelle!

Art & Design JANUARY 2022: ISSUE 124

Modern Man Is the world’s most expensive living artist Jeff Koons the heir to Andy Warhol or a cynical self-publicist making trophy art for billionaires? WORDS: KIRSTY LANG

T AIR

he world’s most expensive living artist is slowly making his way across an elegant Florentine square. Photographers surround Jeff Koons like a flock of hungry seagulls. It is the launch of his first big retrospective in Italy and he’s getting the kind of attention normally reserved for a Hollywood film star. Koons, 66, is one of a handful of celebrities in the world of visual art whose name pulls crowds to museums. He is also one of its most divisive figures, whose sculptures sell to the superrich for tens of millions of dollars. Over the past 25 years the growing number of high-net-worth individuals has led to an explosion in the contemporary art market. According to artprice. com, the contemporary art price index soared to an all-time high at the beginning of summer 2021 — with price increases of 400 per cent since the early 2000s. In the past year alone, $2.7 billion worth of contemporary works have changed hands at auction. About a third of these sales are generated by a handful of artists: Koons is one of them, Banksy is another. In 2019 Koons became the highestselling living artist when his stainless-steel Rabbit, modelled on a child’s inflatable bunny, sold for more than $91 million to a billionaire hedge fund manager. Slim with a well-coiffed head of dark hair, Koons is dressed in a navy shirt and a well-pressed pair of jeans. He looks more like a Wall Street banker than a tortured, paint-splattered creative — perhaps because he once was. He spent six years as a commodities trader before taking up art full-time. Today, his work divides the art world between those who think he is a cynical salesman creating big, shiny, superficial trophies and those who see him as a great figure in the American pop art tradition, the heir to Andy Warhol. For Koons to be exhibited in the home of the Renaissance is an important affirmation. He may have conquered the market since he emerged from the New York art scene of the 1980s but he

has struggled to conquer the critics. In 2004 the renowned Australian art critic Robert Hughes famously wrote: “Koons really does think he’s Michelangelo and is not shy to say so … He has the slimy assurance … of a blow-dried Baptist selling swamp acres in Florida.” But attitudes towards him are shifting and many world-class museums have exhibited Koons shows in recent years, including the Ashmolean in Oxford. Koons’s manner is patient and polite with everyone who approaches him. When I first meet him in Florence he nervously asks me if his breath smells. Apparently there had been some confusion over his breakfast order. “I asked for an egg-white omelette with onions, spinach and tomatoes and after eating it I realised they’d put garlic in, so if you can smell something, please tell me.” He is a perfectionist who likes to be in control of his environment. The unexpected garlic has clearly thrown him. Like his artworks, he is polished on the outside, but the carapace is difficult to penetrate. He often seems to be talking from a pre-written script, with stock phrases that are constantly repeated. Talking to him can be a surreal experience as he robotically trots out a ready-made narrative about his art and his life, regardless of the question posed. When I ask how it feels to be exhibiting in Florence, he says he’s “thrilled to be involved in a dialogue with a wider community about art. I’m thrilled because when I started, I knew nothing about art.” He then launches into a well-rehearsed story that appears in almost every interview he’s ever given about growing up in suburban Pennsylvania. It’s an origin story that is deeply rooted in a bright and hopeful postwar American consumer culture — and a theme he will return to repeatedly during both my encounters with him, first in Italy and later at his studio in New York. Born in Pennsylvania in 1955, Koons was encouraged to take art lessons by his parents. “I remember around the age of three, I made a drawing

Art & Design NOVEMBER 2021: ISSUE 122

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and my parents gave me lots of praise. My older sister Karen could always do things better, [whereas] art was something I was good at.” He says he learnt aesthetics from his father, who was an interior decorator at a furniture store. As a boy, Koons revelled in the constantly changing window displays in his dad’s store. He made copies of famous artworks, which his father displayed and sold — an important early validation. In 1972 the 17-year-old Koons left home to attend the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. At first he felt like a fish out of water. Or as he puts it: “I survived art school because I was able to accept my own cultural history. I grew up in Pennsylvania in a middleclass background. I was able to accept who I was and see that if something had meaning to me, I could communicate that to other people through my art.” The references to “self-acceptance” are another recurring theme in the Koons script. He moved to New York after graduating and got a job working at the membership desk of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), where he quickly gained a reputation for his impressive sales patter. His next move was to Wall Street, where he worked as a broker selling cotton futures over the phone. It was the 1980s, an era associated with yuppies and greed. It’s part of the mythology around Koons that his Wall Street background has somehow been instrumental in his success. But this is something the artist himself disputes, insisting that selling commodities was nothing more than a day job. He did it to fund his art. On the Tate website, Koons is described as an artist who “uses unlikely subjects to poke fun at comfortable suburban lives and tastes, and criticise a contemporary culture driven by commerce”. But he says: “My work is not about consumerism. I’m not making a comment on consumerism.” In the Koons world there is no hierarchy of objects. “I tend to work with images that can be looked down upon, but you have to accept your past and who you are.” Koons is not criticising suburban taste, he is putting it on a pedestal. Working with “images that can be looked down upon” is central to his practice — whether it’s inflatable pool toys, balloons, garden gnomes, giftshop souvenirs or household appliances 22

‘

The more you can remove judgment and practice acceptance, the more you are open to everything that exists in the world

’

including vacuum cleaners, pots and pans and pressure cookers. His role model is the French artist Marcel Duchamp, who coined the phrase “readymade” to describe mass-produced objects that he designated as art. Critics often describe Koons’s work as kitsch, a word he hates because it’s judgmental. He explains to me at length how being non-judgmental is central to his personal philosophy of self-acceptance. “The more you can remove judgment and practice acceptance, the more you are open to everything that exists in the world. Judgment leads to anxiety and segregation,” he tells me with a Zen-like smile. To start with I’m not sure whether he believes his own patter, but after spending a couple of days with him, I conclude that he does. Most of Koons’s sculptures come in multiples — there are four editions of the famous stainless-steel Rabbit, one of which is making an appearance in Florence. They’re known for being technically very difficult to produce. Every seam and crinkle on the plastic toy from which it is created has been replicated in steel. But instead of being cute or childlike, there is something sinister about its dagger-shaped ears and lack of facial features. When I stand in front of it, a warped version of my reflection looks back at me like the distortion in a funfair mirror. It’s quite unsettling. Alexander Sturgis, director of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, believes that Koons’s works must be seen in person to be appreciated. “It’s their physical presence — the lunatic care and attention is tangibly there when you are in front of them. Some of his surfaces are unlike anything you encounter anywhere in the world, super-shiny, coloured reflective surfaces that are almost liquid.” It seems appropriate that Koons’s latest exhibition should be housed in the

15th-century Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, which was built by wealthy bankers at the height of the Renaissance. According to the show’s curator, the art historian Arturo Galansino, the Strozzi family were big collectors, comparable to the New York hedge funders who collect Koons today. “The Strozzi were the richest men in the world, who liked to spend huge amounts of money on art to show how rich they were. Art history was invented here and Koons belongs to art history,” he says. It’s hard to reconcile the mild-mannered man I meet with the exhibitionist who once posed naked, He comes across as a family man who is happiest when talking about his kids and gushes with pride when I ask if any of his children are artistic, telling me that one of his two daughters, Scarlet, wants to be an actress and a stand-up comedian, and his youngest son is extremely gifted at drawing. “Probably the greatest pleasure I have is showing my children a way in the world in which they can flourish,” he says, smiling. “We drag them round museums all over the world. We usually spend new year in a foreign city and that would involve a visit to a gallery or museum. They would be with me here in Florence if it wasn’t for school.” The Koons family split their time between a townhouse on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and a farm in Pennsylvania. Eighteen years ago he and Justine decided they wanted the children to experience rural life, so went househunting in Pennsylvania. After looking “at literally hundreds of places” they ended up buying his grandfather’s old farm, which had been sold when the artist was four years old. “We knocked on the door, I explained about my grandfather, so they invited us in, showed us round and you know what? About three months later they rang and said, ‘Would you be interested in buying?’ ” Less than a week after meeting Koons in Florence I visit his studio in New York, where he designs his artworks with the help of about 50 assistants. He is renowned for working with cuttingedge technology and top craftspeople. When I ask if he makes anything with his own hands he answers, “Does the film director make the film?” His studio is two floors of an ordinary-looking office block in midtown Manhattan. Inside it looks more like an architect’s office, filled

Opening pages, from left to right: Helen Frankenthaler, Freefall, 1993. Twelve color woodcut on hand-dyed paper in 15 colors © 2021 Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Inc. / ARS, NY and DACS, London / Tyler Graphics Ltd., Mount Kisco, NY; Helen Frankenthaler marks up proofs for ‘Valentine for Mr Wonderful’ in 1955. Photo by Marabeth CohenTyler, 1995. Gift of Kenneth Tyler 2002. Courtesy: National Gallery of Australia

presented to him by his son Ludwig when he was a toddler. The illusion is perfect, it looks soft and organic; you want to touch it and squeeze it in your hands, but it is rock hard and made of aluminium. There are five in existence. In May 2018 Christie’s sold one in New York for $22.8 million. Damien Hirst — who has been a fan since his student days — has one in his large collection of Koons’s work. But the lengthy production times have been an issue. Gagosian gallery, which represented Koons until last year, found themselves faced with lawsuits from a hedge funder and a Hollywood film producer, who ordered artworks from a sketch and then got impatient when several years later they still hadn’t been delivered. One of the buyers even tried to sell his on before he got it. Buying Koons became a futures game. When I ask him about this, he says: “If you look at the history of making things, this is

not unusual. Michelangelo took years to make his pieces. Remember how the Pope got impatient with him [over the Sistine Chapel]?”. The artworks at the centre of the lawsuits were his Balloon Venuses, colossal stainless-steel sculptures inspired by tiny fertility symbols dating back to the Stone Age. When I ask why they took so long to make, Koons explains that he recreated the shape of the palaeolithic object using party balloons, but it took him months working with a balloon artist to come up with the perfect model. Then they were stalled for another year while they waited for space in a specialist foundry to do the milling, the machining, the polishing and the painting. “The idea that Koons is commercially successful needs examining,” Sturgis says. “He spends unbelievable amounts of money developing his artworks and has

Credit: The Sunday Times Magazine / News Licensing

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with rows of desks. There are mock-up models of his current shows in Italy and Qatar, with miniature cutouts of the work in cardboard. The assistants sit in front of computer screens working on 3D scans of his latest designs, known as The Porcelain Series, which will go on sale in about two years’ time. When I ask Koons to explain his practice step by step, he ushers me into a small storeroom. Inside a tall gunmetal cupboard are dozens of small, garishly painted porcelain figurines: ballerinas with lace tutus and shepherdesses cuddling lambs. They remind me of the kind of thing my grandmother kept on her mantelpiece. “I’m always searching for stuff, you know, looking on eBay and in airport gift shops.” He riffles around in the back before excitedly pulling out a 1950s china ashtray. “I love this. My grandparents had one. They were made in Japan after the war.” And once he has chosen an object, what’s the next step? Instead of answering, he starts telling me about his childhood again. “I grew up in Pennsylvania, in a middleclass family, my father was an interior designer …” I know the script now word for word. “I don’t want my art to be intimidating. Some people like to exercise power by feeling superior to others.” Eventually he explains how he uses technology to capture every detail. “I do CT scans, white light and blue light scanning until I have every measurement. We merge these different scans, take extensive photographs of the surfaces …” The Koons studio is effectively engaged in reverse engineering. Although he does make some changes — altering colours or small details — authentic likeness is important. Some of the sculptures will be cast in stone, some in metal in specialist foundries in Germany and the US. They can take years to make. But one of the hazards of this kind of work is being sued for copyright infringement. Koons has faced lawsuits where he was found guilty of this. Part of his defence was the sculptures were “made with the intention to parody”, which strikes me as a contradiction, given that Koons says his work is “not a comment on consumerism”. The longest he ever took to make a sculpture was 20 years. Described by a Christie’s catalogue as a “meticulous, epic recreation of a child’s toy”, Play-Doh was inspired by a multicoloured creation

Previous page: Balloon Dog, at the Chateau de Versailles, 2008 These pages, from left to right: Puppy, at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Spain, 2008; Jeff Koons poses at the opening of Lost in America is at the Qatar Museums Gallery, Doha

almost gone bankrupt several times. If he was interested only in making money, he could have made a lot more.” Koons now has a new gallery, Pace, in downtown Manhattan. It’s a huge, eight-storey space with white walls and pale wood floors, staffed by elegant young women dressed in black and white. One of the sales representatives explains to me that under their new regime “we will help facilitate production” and “no invoice will be issued until the work is finished”. Georgina Adam, author of Dark Side of the Boom: the Excesses of the Art Market in the 21st Century, says: “Koons’s monumental sculptures are trophy works. If you own a Balloon Dog or the Rabbit you are among a select few. If you have a megafortune, there are few things you can spend your money on that other people cannot. These sculptures are made very slowly, very carefully for the super-rich, a bit like the way Fabergé eggs were made in the past.”

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Probably the greatest pleasure I have is showing my children a way in the world in which they can flourish

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Koons has also indulged in what is known as “brand stretching” in the luxury goods market, Adam explains: “You can buy a Koons porcelain plate just as you can purchase a Picasso ceramic.” Then there are collaborations with the luxury goods industry on, for example, Louis Vuitton handbags. In 2017, Jay-Z performed in Britain at the Virgin V Festival in front of a 40ft inflatable Koons balloon dog, resulting in huge coverage for the artist on social media. And in the song Picasso Baby, Jay-Z raps: “Oh what a feeling, f*** it

I want a billion Jeff Koons balloons”. Apart from Banksy, it’s difficult to think of another contemporary artist who has entered the bloodstream of popular culture in quite the same way. Koons’s latest collaboration is with BMW. They asked him to make a special edition of the 8 Series Gran Coupé. “I have a large family. I’m used to driving around in a van that can seat 11, but this is something I’ve designed for myself.” He’s looking forward to unveiling it at the Frieze Art Fair in Los Angeles next year. “I feel like a peacock when I drive it. I want people to look and say, ‘Wow!’ But I also want them to see the presence of meaning and history.” That statement might work for his collectors and BMW buyers, but I’m not sure what the art critics will make of it. Jeff Koons: Shine is at the Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, until January 30; Jeff Koons: Lost in America is at the Qatar Museums Gallery, Doha, until March 31 25

Timepieces

JANUARY 2022: ISSUE 124

The Family Way Chopard’s Co-President Karl-Friedrich Scheufele on the soaring success of the Alpine Eagle and his ongoing commitment to sustainability

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WORDS: JOHN THATCHER

he annual Dubai Watch Week is hours into its first day and the walkways that filter invited guests between the purpose-built booths housing the watch world’s finest are abuzz. Inside Chopard’s home for the week, however, things are more sedate, serene even. This is a brand that moves to its own beat, and the conductor of it is sat relaxed, his hands carefully placing a few stellar examples from the Alpine Eagle range on a quilted tray before him. And well may Karl-Friedrich Scheufele take time to appreciate this unique timepiece, the first to be developed by three generations of the same family. Not that its making was entirely straightforward. “First, there was a process of convincing,” says Karl-Friedrich, Chopard’s CoPresident. “I was not ready to embrace the idea, thinking we already had enough collections in our portfolio.” The convincing came two-pronged, from father and son. And the greater number won out. “My father brought in his ideas and experience,” says Karl-Friedrich, explaining the familial roles in the designing process. “Karl-Fritz (son) introduced his own way of approaching things, and I was somewhere in the middle, with the fact that I think about the finer details of watch making.” The process of working together, combining counterbalancing interests, experience, and ideas was, says Karl-Friedrich, “very fruitful,” with 27

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I would not want a proactive investor telling me how to make watches

father learning much from son. “I definitely learned that you should listen to the younger generation and their opinions; that’s really a fact. I now do so more than I did previously. I keep on sounding out my son’s opinion of things.” It helped that Karl-Friedrich once found himself in exactly the same position as Karl-Fritz, approaching his father as a 22-year-old employee of the watchmaking department he now oversees with an idea for a watch he imagined and designed, the St. Moritz. It was Chopard’s debut sports watch, the first fashioned from steel, and its enduring appeal provided a blueprint for Karl-Fritz to follow with the Alpine Eagle. All three generations are still involved in each iteration of the Alpine Eagle, a timepiece that KarlFriedrich describes as “one of the most complicated watches in our line-up, when it comes to finishing. Everything is so very precise and done by hand, so it’s really a hand-finished product.” Since its launch in 2019, the Alpine Eagle collection has swelled, with notable pieces including the Cadence 8 HF. Produced as a limited edition of just 250 timepieces, it houses one of the most advanced movements from Chopard’s workshops, to run at twice the speed of the original. It followed the three-version XL Chrono, which welcomed a flyback chronograph in a new 44mm case. Next up, previews Karl-Friedrich, is a 33mm version, which will also be the first jewellery version of the Alpine Eagle. “Because we are masters of our destiny when it comes to making movements, Alpine Eagle is a concept that allows us to develop almost endlessly,” enthuses Karl-Friedrich, voicing his undimmed passion 28

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for the watchmaking process. It is thanks to Karl-Friedrich that Chopard manufactures independently. Last year, the house celebrated 25 years of doing so, with Karl-Friedrich having taken the brave but ultimately forward-thinking decision for Chopard to make its own movements. “I suggested it to my family and it was not a natural decision to take at the time. Later, maybe, but then we would have been too late. The investment was spread over the years, but it was still a very heavy investment. Today we are standing on our own.” The freedom afforded by independence is important to KarlFriedrich, and why, when I ask him if he’d ever look to sell the company, his response is unequivocal. “First of all, as a family we enjoy what we are doing. Secondly, there is no need to raise capital. I would not want a proactive investor telling me how to make watches.” He cites his hugely successful manufacturing decision as an example of something that may have been taken out of his hands, had Chopard been part of a conglomerate with wider interests. “Someone would have asked why? What for? Today we are more authentic, more independent, and it’s added value to the brand. The advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Of course, if you consider a shopping mall, our presence is limited to one brand, whereas a conglomerate may have four or five brands. But when it comes to making decisions on product strategy, or anything like that, we are quicker.” Not just quicker, but ahead of the curve. The Alpine Eagle is one example, a style of timepiece that, boosted by the changes to dressing caused by the pandemic, has gained

tremendously in popularity over the more formal style of watches with leather straps. But the greater example is Chopard’s commitment to sustainability. Now something that brands must reference, Chopard were very much pioneers within the industry. “We really got involved back in 2010,” remembers Karl-Friedrich. “We had a meeting with the then chairman of the WWF, and I remember leaving it asking myself the question: what could we, as a luxury brand, do? We started to think about our procurement, the materials we used, many different aspects. And because we are a family-owned, family-run business, we could make the decision to accept less profitability to do something for the world. One of the key fields was faremined gold, and we actually pushed some of the bigger players — banks, mines — to actually provide the industry with resources where we could find ethical gold.” It took until 2018 for the pieces to fall into place, but Chopard then became the first luxury brand to switch to using only ethical gold in its pieces. Having set the standard, would Karl-Friedrich like to see regulations introduced in the watch industry to ensure sustainable practice? “I think regulation is probably the last thing I would like to see,” he states. “Common sense has to prevail. I believe now that most serious companies in our field have acknowledged the necessity to act sustainably and to reduce their footprint. Regulations don’t always fix everything.” You’d think as a manufacturer of watch movements Chopard would always keep perfect time. In fact, they’ve always been ahead of it. And it’s not only for the betterment of the industry, but for the planet.

Opening pages, from left to right: Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, Karl Scheufele, Karl-Fritz Scheufele This page: Alpine Eagle Cadence 8 HF

Jewellery JANUARY 2022 : ISSUE 124

Tsar of The Show AIR

A new exhibition dedicated to Fabergé explores why, when the Russian artist-jeweller came to picking a foreign outpost, it had to be London

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ou be Tsar,” says Kieran McCarthy, advisor to the Fabergé Museum in St Petersburg and co-curator of an exhibition about the Russian artist-jeweller that’s showing until May at London’s V&A. We’re at Wartski, a Mayfair antique dealers whose association with Fabergé dates back to the 1920s, when the Soviet government began selling off the accoutrements of their former elite, in the name of progress. Treasure for Tractors, they called it. “Now, imagine I’ve done some wonderful service for the Russian empire,” continues McCarthy, “and you want to thank me.” A mirror to his left recedes into the wall with a silken purr. Behind it, scattering shards of light in every direction, is a jewel-encrusted gold box about the size of a cigarette packet. “Hand me the box,” McCarthy prompts, “and then I say, ‘Thank you very much, your majesty. Isn’t it beautiful, isn’t it wonderful,’ and then I probably bow a few times, and leave.” How can I describe what it is like to hold a work by Carl Fabergé? Its weight is precisely figured, and as comforting as a hand to the forehead. It fits into your palm, as if it were shaped with only that palm in mind. And while I’d be lying if I said the price of this enchanting box — estimated today at £425,000 ($570,000) — wasn’t causing my head to spin, the greater frisson comes from its direct connection to the glittering, ill-fated Romanov

family, of which Tsar Nicholas II — to whom it once belonged — was head. McCarthy hopes his re-enactment demonstrates how, in Fabergé’s day, his jewels and ornaments served as extravagant pawns in a vast game of gift-giving. “You would go to Fabergé to give it away,” he explains. “And this has a fascinating consequence — one that is key to our exhibition — because by knowing who bought which object and where it went, you get a real insight. It’s love, or it’s ambition; it’s rivalry, it’s social climbing. All of these things are expressed in the distributing of Fabergé objects.” Though the V&A exhibition presents the full Fabergé story — from modest beginnings in 1860s St Petersburg to a pre-eminent purveyor of luxury and craftsmanship, and on to the turmoil of the First World War and the Russian Revolution — it focuses most closely on a 14-year period, between 1903 and 1917, when the jeweller established an outpost in London. Though the ‘Easter Eggs’ Fabergé produced for the Russian imperial family have become a byword for wealth — not to mention the driver of plots from Murder, She Wrote to Scooby-Doo — that tiny part of the firm’s output has eclipsed their much richer story. “You can’t eliminate the eggs,” says McCarthy, “and in our exhibition, the finale is a glamorous display of them. But what

we want, is that by the time they get there, people will have been exposed to something much more nuanced.” According to McCarthy, Fabergé’s decision to open a branch in London – his only one outside Russia – was “partly a courtesy to the British Royal family, because they and the Russian royal family shared DNA.” (Queen Alexandra, wife of King Edward VII, was the sister of Tsarina Maria Feodorovna, wife of Tsar Nicholas II.) “A huge part of this relationship involved the exchange of gifts.” Indeed, on a visit to St Petersburg in 1894, Queen Alexandra described being given “half of Fabergé’s shop”. More than that, though, Fabergé, who was born in 1846, already had his practised entrepreneurial eye on London. The city was, says McCarthy “enjoying a golden era: flowing with money, at the heart of a trading empire and law abiding, which was important for a lot of these people. It was a place where the patrons of Fabergé naturally congregated.” Fabergé’s sales trips to London began in 1901, and feature regularly in the royal diary. “We bought about 43 of his lovely things,” noted Prince George (later king George V) in 1903 – the same year Fabergé opened an office near Oxford Street. Though he initially left it in the care of a British man named Henry Bowe, in 1906 Fabergé sent his younger son, Nicholas, to take charge. Nicholas, though, had little interest in the role and, after moving the business to Dover Street in Mayfair, he passed on the responsibility to a northerner named Henry Bainbridge. Fortunately for Fabergé, Bainbridge was born to it. “It was my business to make people’s heads reel,” Bainbridge writes, in his delightfully indiscreet 1933 memoir. He’d make customers feel “that there were things in the safe for which there was only one person in the 32

world.” He called this “vibrating” them. The understated nature of the Dover Street premises – bar a tiny plaque in the doorway, there was no indication of the treasures within – made it the perfect spot for their elite clientele to visit unnoticed. “It was impossible to stumble across Fabergé incidentally,” says McCarthy. “If you were there, it was because you had been introduced to it.” On one occasion, Bainbridge recalls a customer kicking off her shoes and “hurtling” them to the other end of the shop. “We had a nice soft piled muffy carpet,” he writes, “and those tortured feet must have delighted.” Unfortunately, at that moment, the door opened to reveal the Queen, whereupon “the poor dear lady had to stay... dodging around a centre showcase, clinging to it and shuffling round and round as the situation demanded.” By 1911, Fabergé’s shop was so crowded that he leased sumptuous new premises nearby on New Bond Street. Photographs of the interior show oyster silk walls and high Edwardian furniture. “It would be like walking into somebody’s drawing room,” says McCarthy. The shop’s sales ledgers contain over 5,500 entries, ranging from tiaras to whip handles. Smoking paraphernalia was popular – the most expensive being a gold cigarette case inlaid with enamel and mounted with diamonds, bought for £220 ($295) in 1913. Bainbridge had a knack for dreaming up new objets that would appeal to prominent customers. Under his direction, Fabergé began making enamelled works in the colours of patrons’ racing silks. The first were in the blue and yellow of the Rothschild family. Although Bainbridge intended them to be bought as gifts for the family, the Rothschilds acquired the lot. Leopold de Rothschild liked to keep a stash close at hand, and “Whenever he wanted to say ‘Good morning!’ ‘I like

you!’ he could simply slip a dark blue and yellow Fabergé object into his friend’s pocket”. Other items Bainbridge commissioned include painted enamel scenes depicting British landmarks or the homes of customers – Chatsworth House, Sandringham and the like – which he had mounted on boxes, and a truly horrifying series of miniature hardstone figures inspired by Japanese netsuke, but featuring, for example, a Chelsea Pensioner. McCarthy explains that these were a conversation point: “We’d go to each other’s country houses and we’d have a glass of port and I would admire your objects. You’d say, ‘Oh, the Queen gave me this, or so-and-so gave me that, and he really shouldn’t have. They were subtle means of communicating.” Fabergé’s London heyday coincided with a wave of ‘Russophilia’, which brought Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes to Covent Garden in 1911 and saw Lady Cunard and other Fabergé customers decorate her home ‘à la Russe’. But it all came to an end with the outbreak of war, when Fabergé’s gilded luxury seemed suddenly out of whack with the spirit of the times. Fabergé struggled on in London until 1917, when his fate was sealed with the abdication of the Tsar. Friends smuggled him to Riga, then to Berlin, and onwards to Wiesbaden — where he was reunited with his wife — and finally to Lausanne in Switzerland. But it was too late. As his son Eugene wrote to Bainbridge in 1920: “life without work... was insupportable for him...He was forced to observe, how all the work of his life broke down so stupidly & senseless. His heart was broken.” On the morning of September 24, Carl Fabergé smoked half a cigarette before dying, while holding his wife’s hand. Fabergé in London: Romance to Revolution is at the V&A Museum, London, until May 8

Credit: © Lucy Davies/ Telegraph Media Group Limited 2022

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he wanted to say, ‘I like you!’ he could slip a ‘ Whenever Fabergé object into his friend’s pocket ’

Previous page: The Alexander Palace Egg, Fabergé. Chief Workmaster Henrik Wigström (1862-1923), gold, silver, enamel, diamonds, rubies, nephrite, rock crystal, glass, wood , velvet, bone, 1908 © The Moscow Kremlin Museums This page: Fabergé's premises at 173 New Bond Street, London in 1911. Image courtesy of The Fersman Mineralogical Museum, Moscow and Wartski, London

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Zazie Beetz on shaking up the classic western, being broke, and considering colour when choosing a role

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azie Beetz and I get off to a bad start. Best known for her role as Van in Donald Glover’s hit comedy show Atlanta — for which she bagged an Emmy nomination in 2018 — she is sitting outside a coffee shop, speaking to me via Zoom. The picture is grainy and 15 minutes in she disappears. Some time later ‘David’ joins the call. Beetz is using the phone of her fiancé, the actor and writer David Rysdahl, and is sitting in the passenger seat of their car. “Mine is on charge,” she says apologetically, adjusting her silk headscarf, which is tied Monroestyle below the chin and held in place by two pearl hair slides. Beetz, 30, is unperturbed by the chaotic start. A level of cool-headedness she has developed, I suspect, to cope with the life-changing levels of success she has achieved over the past five years. Beetz was a year out of college, “broke and waiting tables”, when she was cast in Atlanta. Since then, she has gone from indie darling to action hero, landing big roles in both Marvel and DC films. She starred alongside Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool 2, opposite Joaquin Phoenix in the Oscar-winning Joker, and in the critically acclaimed animated series Invincible on Amazon Prime, a modern take on the whole superhero genre. By this time next year she will be known for a host of new roles too: as the Hornet in Bullet Train, an action thriller starring Brad Pitt; as a lead in Nine Days, and as Stagecoach Mary in the Jay-Z produced The Harder They Fall. One of this year’s most hyped films, The Harder They Fall was billed as Netflix’s first black western when released in October, and reportedly cost £65 million to make, with a cast that includes Idris Elba, Regina King, LaKeith Stanfield and Jonathan Majors. It is undoubtedly her biggest project to date. The cast, who play two rival gangs, spent months in “cowboy camp” brushing up their horse riding and gun skills. “Nobody got hurt, but we did get bucked a few times,” Beetz says. She bonded with King, whom she describes as a mentor figure, while of Elba, she says: “He’s charming, kind, strong and immensely talented.” The next Bond, perhaps? “I can definitely see it.” The film is inspired by historical figures, including Nat Love (the lead

Right: still from Deadpool 2 (2018)

Blackness ‘ isn’t defined by whiteness ’

character, played by Majors), who was born into slavery in Tennessee. After the Civil War, he became one of the most notorious cowboys in the Old West, also going by the name of Deadwood Dick. “There were a lot of black people in the West, and it was not a rare thing or an anomaly,” Beetz says. “The fact that we have been erased from the general portrayal of the Old West makes it seem radical to introduce us into the narrative, when really it’s just a more realistic depiction of who was living there at that time.” Makers of westerns have a track record of whitewashing the history of the Wild West. In the 1951 film Tomahawk, for example, a white actor was cast as the character based on American explorer Jim Beckwourth, despite the fact that Beckwourth was black. But the decision to cast Beetz as Stagecoach Mary has been criticised too. Mary was the first African-American woman to work as a star-route mail carrier, on which she encountered her fair share of bandits. An old sepia photograph shows her mean-mugging, rifle in hand. But the picture also shows her to be darkskinned, and some online commenters have said that the choice of a lightskinned actress is colourist. Beetz is biracial: her father, a cabinet-maker, is “very German” and her mother, who works in social care, African-American. She has a 14-yearold half-brother on her mother’s side. Born in Berlin, she moved with her family to New York when she was one. “Germany at the time was more homogenous,” she tells me. “My parents wanted me to grow up around people that looked like me — and that didn’t look like me.”

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What I like most about money is the pride of making it. It’s not about how much, it’s about the dignity that comes from being productive in society. That’s my high

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These pages: Salma Hayek backstage during the 92nd Annual Academy Awards 37

However, back in October, the feminist site Jezebel published a piece on Hollywood’s colourism problem, citing Beetz as an example. “This is something that I think about a lot and consider when contemplating any role that I take,” she says. “I understand the privilege that I have as a lightskinned woman and it’s always on my mind. I have, multiple times, turned down roles because I felt I wasn’t the correct choice for the character. At the time when I read this script, almost all the other cast members had already signed on. I could see that the characters were largely based on fiction and not truly on their historical counterparts, and that none of the characters actually bore much physical likeness to the actors that played them … I saw it as a wonderful opportunity to explore an iconic genre, the spaghetti western, and make it something new.” Her mixed-race identity has been a source of discomfort over the years. “I struggled with it in terms of not feeling like I’m either identity fully,” she says. She recalls one instance, when she was 11 or 12: “I was a part of this leadership programme for young black girls. We were all in the cafeteria when some song came on, and all the girls started dancing. I was like, what is this? What is this dance? What is the song? It’s a superficial example, but I remember 38

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having a really visceral reaction and thinking, ‘Am I not black enough?’ ” Her mother was vital in helping her to navigate questions of race. “She taught me that my existence doesn’t have to be validated by anybody. I’m black enough, because I am black,” she says resolutely. Beetz’s parents divorced when she was five but were “very adult about the situation”. They lived on different floors of the same block in Washington Heights and she would alternate between the two on a nightly basis. “They did a beautiful job. I felt very much like both parents raised me,” she says. One of the things that attracted her to The Harder They Fall was that race is presented as almost incidental. The film is not about black cowfolk, but about cowfolk who happen to be black. “The depiction of black people just living and [race] not necessarily being the focal point of the narrative is something I really enjoyed about the project,” she says. “Blackness isn’t defined by whiteness.” She is speaking to me from Atlanta, where filming for the fourth series of Glover’s show is under way. In 2016 when she landed the part Beetz was virtually unknown. She experienced “exhausting” levels of impostor syndrome at the time, which she sometimes still struggles with. Today she manages it through mindfulness and phone calls with David

(they met during an acting workshop and have been together for seven years). Beetz was recently named as Max Mara’s Face of the Future Honoree for 2021, but concedes that she’s not one for high-end fashion. Her Instagram (which has 741,000 followers) is far more likely to feature a video on the merits of composting or a recipe for homemade tea than a red-carpet selfie. She is passionate about the environment, and prefers to shop second-hand. “In my private life, I’m trying to consume less clothing and be intentional in what I need and don’t need. I’ve done red carpets where I’ve styled myself and rented from vintage places,” she says, alluding to a sheer T-shirt and billowing black skirt worn to announce the nominations for the 2020 Independent Spirit awards. My questions about the rumoured sequel to Joker, and whether or not Beetz will be starring in Deadpool 3, are met with a mysterious shrug. But there’s no shortage of opportunities, and she is embracing her new-found confidence. “It’s fascinating to see myself so calm when I enter new jobs. Initially I thought, I’ll never be able to direct anything, I don’t know how to produce, I can’t write. Now I’m, like, these are all things I can try. I’ve worked through fear a lot of times in this industry and I can potentially work through fear again.”

Credit: Style Magazine / News Licensing

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I’ve worked through fear a lot of times in this industry

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Why the cutting-edge modernism of the famed Sixties designer Mary Quant endures WORDS: LINDA GRANT

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‘ It was hard for her to be a global superstar and shy’

n 1965 Mary Quant designed a purple, short-sleeved, A-line minidress with an unconcealed zip up the front from waist to neckline, culminating in a large gold-coloured ring. Grace Coddington — then a model, later creative director of US Vogue — was photographed in it. As a suburban teenager in Liverpool I bought it with the money I got for my 14th birthday and wore it to parties. For me a Mary Quant dress, Mary Quant tights and Mary Quant lipstick in a signature daisy-embossed silver tube were the very breath of rebellion and modernity. And if I didn’t quite have the legs for miniskirts, I didn’t care. According to the designer Jasper Conran, Quant “changed everything, she recalibrated what modern women were wearing.” A newly released feature-length documentary, Quant, directed by Sadie Frost and with contributions from the likes of Charlotte Tilbury and Kate Moss, assesses the legacy of a designer (now in her nineties) who, together with her husband, Alexander Plunket Greene, and business partner, Archie McNair, redefined Sixties fashion. The daughter of Welsh teachers, she grew up in southeast London and

trained as an art student at Goldsmiths. Plunket Greene first saw her at the Chelsea Arts Club ball riding on top of a pile of balloons and experienced “a surge of lust”. They quickly married and forged a partnership to which she brought the creativity and he the flamboyant self-confidence, the contacts in the fashion press and the PR flair. He gave her the freedom to be daring: “Let’s be bad,” he would say. They opened a boutique, Bazaar, on the Kings Road in 1955. The clothes she sold, in which you could move and run for a bus, were born out of her rebellion against the crippling restrictions both of women’s lives and what they had to wear: the waist-clinching corsets, the suspender belts, the stilettos. Aged 12 I longed to be old enough to walk about on teetering points. By the time I was, Quant had killed them off, replacing them with round-toed shoes with clumpy heels. Everything Quant created came from her own rebellion against having to grow up and her loathing for the physical restraints of femininity. She designed for girls spending their first pay packet, the Chelsea girl who, she said, had “the best legs in the world”. She synced with Beatlemania,

and if a girl’s first car was a Mini, she must have a skirt named after it. One of the hallmarks of the Mary Quant look was its totality. An early and enthusiastic adopter of licensing, she branched out into every aspect of her look. It was not enough to have the dress, one must also have the coloured opaque tights and the revolutionary palette containing everything you needed for your face: eyeshadow, mascara, blusher, lipstick. Heather Tilbury Phillips first worked with the company in 1967 and became a director. “Mary was forward-thinking,” she says. “When the miniskirt started climbing, she approached the hosiery manufacturers and said, ‘Please would you produce opaque and patterned tights in contrasting and matching colours for my collection?’ It meant we could preserve an element of modesty. There were handbags, knitwear, sunglasses, shoes and boots. She wanted a total look.” Later, as her teenage customers started to marry and buy their first homes, Quant moved into homeware, challenging manufacturers to produce duvets and sheets in strong, dark signature Mary Quant

Previous page: Mary Quant, standing outside her shop Bazaar in Knightsbridge, 1960 Right: Mary Quant with her husband Alexander Plunket Greene, 1963

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colours. They said it couldn’t be done, they would run in the wash. Quant said: “You’ll find a way.” As her fame grew, Mary Quant as a brand and as a person became synonymous with the decade. She was photographed receiving Vidal Sassoon’s Five Point geometric haircut. Yet everyone who knows her agrees that, despite the flamboyance of her public image, she was cripplingly shy. Sara Hollamby, her PA and fitting model for five years in the Seventies, recalls the way she would withdraw physically when faced with too much attention: “Her posture would shrink, she would put her head down and look through her fringe, which made her seem as though she was very shy — but I often wondered if she was actually. She had to deal with men who probably looked at her and thought, oh, we can get what we want, but no, they didn’t. She used to sit back and wait until they had done a lot of talking, then she would come out with what she wanted and you knew she was going to get it. It was quite extraordinary 44

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how she managed, so clever.” Jasper Conran knew the private Quant and Plunket Greene when he and his parents, Terence and Shirley, would go for lunch at their country house in Surrey at weekends. “Mary has been in my life all my life and before my life — she made my mother’s maternity dresses,” he tells me. “I remember she was super-famous, a queen-like person. It was like going to lunch with Kim Kardashian but a lot better. She takes a long time to thaw out. I know her very, very well, and with me she is very jolly and conspiratorial. But nobody thought she would get this big. It was hard for her to be a global superstar and shy.” In 1970, after a miscarriage, Quant gave birth to a son, Orlando. It was unheard of for a woman in her thirties to be a mother and run an international company. But for decades she preserved a secret about her true age. “When Mary first met Alexander she was four years older than him,” Tilbury Phillips says. “She was marrying into what was an upper-class family and she was considered a shop girl. They

were very welcoming, but eyebrows were raised at Alexander’s choice. She didn’t want to put pressure on the situation, so she chopped four years off her age and her birthdate was quoted for decades as 1934 instead of 1930. When she gave birth to Orlando she was really 40.” Plunket Greene, the extrovert, had brought pizzazz to their marriage. He would order Hollamby to substitute gin and tonics for the tea and coffee at a 10am meeting before being overruled quietly by Quant. His early death in 1990 was, says Conran, “a crushing blow for her, but I don’t think it impacted her as a designer, she carried on for a long time after he died”. By the Seventies the pendulum had turned towards the nostalgia of Biba’s romantic bias-cut dresses and Laura Ashley’s milkmaid smocks. Yet Quant’s cutting-edge modernism, like Chanel’s LBD, endures. Decades after I bought my purple minidress, while having my hair cut in Covent Garden I gasped when I saw the hairdresser (not yet born when I first put on mine) wearing the same dress. Where on earth had she found it? “It’s vintage,” she said proudly.

Credit: The Times / News Licensing

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Everything Quant created came from her own rebellion against having to grow up

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SUPERHERO On screen, Olga Kurylenko plays Bond girls and Marvel baddies. In real life, she battles to save children from orphanages WORDS: FRANCISCA KELLETT

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lga Kurylenko is stressed. No, it’s worse than that, she’s “overwhelmed”. The Ukrainian actress arrives late and apologetic to our Zoom call, with a curt “I’m OK” when I ask how she is. She’s busy, she says. Always too busy, always with too much going on. She looks around the room as though she’s already worrying about what she has to do next. Did she survive lockdown OK? “Lockdown?” she says, eyes wide, almost incredulous. “I enjoyed lockdown! I needed to take a break. I could spend more time with my child, I could stop travelling and stay in one place. This is what I like.” What she doesn’t like, I can’t help thinking, is what she’s doing right now — talking to me. But as our conversation continues, I realise I’ve got that wrong. The 41-year-old actress talks as though she knows me, like we’re friends and she wants to have a little moan about her hectic life. What I thought was curtness is something different. I think it’s . . . honesty? Kurylenko is stressed because she’s on a very brief break from back-to-back filming, because she’s a single mum to her five-year-old son, Alexander, and because she works as the global ambassador for the charity Hope and Homes for Children. About that, she says: “I’ve not done enough recently.” Adding guilt to the stress. Not that you would know she was stressed from looking at her. Kurylenko looks like a supermodel: long, elegant limbs, ridiculous cheekbones, a very French pout (she spent much of her life in France, but now lives in London). She’s warm. She smiles a lot, and rolls her eyes and scowls and waves her hands around. She’s lovely to talk to — to watch talk, actually — which is probably what film directors think, judging by her schedule. Kurylenko says she’s fallen back into the habit of filming non-stop — four movies last year — a habit she had hoped to break during lockdown. Most famously she appeared opposite Daniel Craig as the Bond girl Camille Montes in Quantum of Solace, and has had roles in The Death of Stalin, Johnny English Strikes Again, Tom Cruise’s Oblivion, and, most recently, Black Widow, the Marvel movie. But we’re here to talk about her role with Hope and Homes for Children,

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It was terrifying. They already know that no one is there to love them

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which works to eliminate orphanages worldwide. Orphanages were phased out in the UK and much of western Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Ukraine, however, has more than 100,000 children living in 600 orphanages, Kurylenko tells me. That’s one of the highest rates in the world. But what’s really shocking is that 92 per cent aren’t orphans. They have a living parent who, with the right support, could care for them. Kurylenko, who for the past 15 years has advocated and raised awareness for the global elimination of orphanages, isn’t an orphan. Her dad “wasn’t around”, and she was raised by her mother and grandmother. But many children with similar backgrounds end up in orphanages. “We were poor; it was difficult,” she says. “When the Soviet Union collapsed it became very tough. There was a shortage of food. My mum would cut up her clothes to make winter clothes for me.” What she did have is love. “No one will care for you as much as your parents. Even if they make mistakes, they try their best. A stranger in an orphanage — they won’t try their best.” Her break came from a modelling scout when she was 14. “I got so excited that I could earn some money and help my family.” She moved to Paris at 16 and sent everything she earned back home. “I was like a squirrel, saving, saving, saving. I was so scared that there would be no more money. For me it was just survival. I bought myself one pair of black jeans and a yellow sweater and I wore it every single day for weeks, until an agent called me and said, ‘Can you buy something else for castings? You need to change; you’ve been wearing this for months.’ ” Paris was a lonely time. She was “not a party girl”. Instead she stayed alone in her flat, learning French from a book. She wrote diaries because she had no one to talk to. Modelling bored her: “I wanted something more. I wanted to express myself.” She took acting classes

Right: still from The Water Diviner, 2014

and was encouraged by her teachers to turn professional. Her gamble paid off. She has lost count of how many films she’s acted in and her work ethic hasn’t diminished. “I’m accepting all these jobs and I’m making my schedule so busy,” she says, looking around the room again. “I just can’t help it; it’s in my nature.” What she hasn’t done in “too long” is go to Ukraine. She became involved with Hope and Homes for Children in 2010, when the charity invited her to Kiev to visit some orphanages. “I was completely ignorant. I just didn’t know. I thought orphanages were good because that’s where kids are placed so they aren’t on the streets and they’re taken care of.” Orphanages, she immediately realised, are not good. “They had nothing. Barely any bed sheets, not one toy, nothing on the walls. There is nothing to do and just one person looking after 30 kids. It’s like a prison. The children are alive but they’re not living.” And then she went to the baby section. “That broke my heart.” The babies, she tells me, were left in rows of cots, with no human interaction. Some she found rocking on all fours, a sign of psychological damage. “They were rocking themselves to give comfort because no one holds them. It was terrifying. They already know that no one is there to love them.” She posts to her 775,000 Instagram followers about the issues, and has partnered with the British government to create awareness-raising short films to show the reality of orphanages, as well as encouraging UK orphanage donors and gap-year volunteers to redirect their efforts towards helping children to grow up in family environments. Earlier this year she lobbied 50

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the Ukrainian government after it backtracked on the decision to close its state-run orphanages, and called on the EU to put pressure on Ukraine to revive its plans to develop alternative family-care services and reintegrate children into families. Kurylenko says that the change in policy, which stipulates that “vulnerable” children under three and those with disabilities (which make up 90 per cent of children in its institutions) will remain indefinitely, puts thousands of children at risk of neglect, torture, sexual abuse and trafficking. “Vulnerable”, she tells me, often just means poor. In many cases, parents lack the funds and the state support to keep their child with them. A child needing physiotherapy in Ukraine are likely to be taken into care instead. And many are misdiagnosed with disabilities. “They think they are doing the right thing, that their child will be better looked after,” Kurylenko says. There have even been examples of babies being taken away from mothers who can’t breastfeed. Other reasons include substance abuse, conflict, the effect of Covid and the pressures of single parenting — like Kurylenko’s own upbringing. “I was one of the lucky ones.” This year, she’ll be helping Hope and Homes for Children with a new campaign, partnering with Abta, the travel association, and the UK Border Force to discourage tourists from visiting orphanages abroad or volunteering in overseas orphanages. This may be just the reason she needs to go back to Ukraine. The only problem is time. “I want to go back. I need to slow down on work, go back and see what I can do.” hopeandhomes.org

Credit: The Times/News Licensing

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I was so scared that there would be no more money. For me it was just survival

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An hour-long opera performed in Las Vegas this month is helping to keep the memory of Muhammad Ali alive — and is set to mark the champ’s 80th birthday WORDS: CHRIS ANDERSON

Right: Davis Miller with Muhammad Ali, courtesy of David Miller

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n January 17 this month, Muhammad Ali would have been 80 years old. Having passed away in 2016, expect this year to be very different to a decade ago when the boxing icon turned 70, hosting a gala event in Las Vegas — attended by Stevie Wonder, Snoop Dogg, Samuel L Jackson and Anthony Hopkins — to raise money for those battling neurological disorders, much as Ali himself was with Parkinson’s disease following his 20-year sporting career. But the date will still be marked, with Las Vegas, the world’s boxing capital, again playing its part, although perhaps in an unexpected way. So if you want to remember The Greatest, the place to be is Opera Las Vegas for a one-hour production, Approaching Ali, from January 21-23. A celebration of Ali’s life is enough to make anyone burst into song, so a staged opera is perhaps a fitting, if slightly unusual, tribute. But the story of how it came to be, the reallife events it is based upon, and how it all links to Ali’s legacy, is a trail worth following in itself. And the place to start is with American author and lifelong Ali fan Davis Miller, known for his 1997 best-selling book, The Tao of Muhammad Ali. The opera is very much based on Miller’s work, adapted for the stage by musician-composer DJ Sparr – a story about the charisma and humility of Ali, and how he shaped Miller’s life, from elevating a shy, 54

insecure 12-year-old, watching the early fights in the 1960s on a blackand-white TV, to encouraging him to seek out his hero in later life, with the two building a friendship. Speaking from his home in the US, Miller explains what audiences can expect from the performance. “It’s a straight-up opera, a chamber opera,” he says, enthusiastically. “There’s 10 musicians, a conductor and six characters — and the primary one just happens to be called Davis Miller [laughs]. “It started out as a production by the Washington National Opera back in 2013. They had been talking to DJ about an accessible, hour-long piece, and he immediately thought of my book and got in touch. I gave a couple of song ideas and an outline to Mark Campbell, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning librettist, and he turned it into a complete libretto. “So it premiered at the Kennedy Centre in DC, and the original person playing me was a guy named David Kravitz, who is coming back to do it in Vegas. Then Ali is portrayed by Soloman Howard, who is becoming quite a big opera star, nationally and internationally. He’s about 6ft 6in, and he’s a bass baritone, which means his voice is way down there.” The story is essentially of Miller’s first official meeting with Ali. Set in the late 1980s, years after Ali had retired from boxing, a 35-year-old Miller was struggling to become a writer. His obsession with Ali had

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endured from his youth, to the point that he even kept a haul of magazines, photos and other memorabilia in his car, ready for signing, should a chance encounter occur. As Miller and his family lived near Ali’s mother, Odessa, in Louisville, Kentucky, there was always a possibility. One day, Miller decided to drive past the Ali family home on a whim, and sure enough on the driveway was a huge, white Winnebago camper van, with numberplates that read ‘The Greatest’. Knowing this was his chance, Miller summoned the courage to knock on the door — a moment that is recreated on stage, where Kravitz as Miller sings: “What could happen? He slams the door in my face? What could happen? He slams the door in my face after knocking me on my butt.” Cue laughter from the audience. But in real life, Ali did indeed answer the door, still a hulking figure, with his speech slightly slurred by the onset of Parkinson’s. He invited Miller in, and the two bonded for several hours, with the aspiring writer explaining how watching Ali in his childhood, emulating his confidence, had helped him following the death of his mother. Ali, in return, signed the many magazines and photos, adding amusing comments. He invited Miller to stay for dinner, the two shadow-boxed in the garden, and Ali performed magic tricks. Later, the pair drove to a video

I wanted to rent a tape of his old fights to watch with him, and he picked out a Godzilla movie

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store (“I wanted to rent a tape of his old fights to watch with him, and he picked out a Godzilla movie,” Miller recalls). So the opera tells the story of that day. “Yes, it’s set primarily in Ali’s mother’s house,” says Miller. “There’s a lot of flashbacks to my childhood, when I was really struggling after my own mother died, and it shows how I looked to Ali as this from-a-distance, supportive figure. So we have Davis Miller in his 30s, struggling to become a writer, Davis Miller as a struggling kid, and there’s Ali, his mother, and my mum and dad — those are the characters. And we have a small, intimate set, with a sofa, some chairs and a 1960s vintage TV. For me, it’s a strange experience, seeing my life on stage like that — it took me a while to be able to separate myself from it.” One story missing is a time during the 1970s, when Miller travelled to Ali’s training camp at Deer Lake after hearing that the boxer had invited members of the public to spar with him. Miller actually climbed into the ring with his idol, lasting a few short minutes, but wrote about the experience for a magazine — which he read to Ali during that initial meeting. Miller then wrote a second piece, My Dinner with Ali, about these later events, which was also published. It won awards, was extended to become Miller’s first book, and then became a radio play and an opera. And it’s still going — next year to spawn a podcast series, and there is even talk of a movie. “And the opera is

going on tour as well,” Miller reveals. “Opera Las Vegas wanted it for the 80th birthday, but then it’s travelling to other cities, and possibly global.” Despite the two becoming friends, health reasons prevented Ali from ever seeing Miller’s book brought to life, but members of the boxer’s family did attend. “I’ve actually just made arrangements for Soloman, who plays Ali, to get boxing lessons with Ali’s grandson, an up-and-coming fighter called Nico Ali Walsh,” Miller reveals. “You may remember that one of Ali’s daughters, Laila Ali, was herself a boxer and a world champion. Well, his grandson has had several fights, he’s undefeated, and his Madison Square Garden debut is coming up. There’s no actual fighting in the opera, just some shadow boxing in the flashbacks, but it’s a nice little addition.” Just one of the ways that Ali’s memory lives on in addition to the work by Miller. But even without that, his legacy was always bound to endure. “The weight, the gravity around him, I don’t think it’s diminished,” says Miller. “For millions of people, he was family — an ailing grandfather figure to the world. And I’m hoping through what I do, people can see not just Ali the boxer or the activist, or the public figure or the fragile, older guy, but a sense of the complete man he was.” Approaching Ali is showing at Opera Las Vegas from January 21-23 57

Motoring JANUARY 2022: ISSUE 124

When in Roma This Ferrari Roma is the latest car from the brand to be enhanced by Novitec — a German company changing the rules for luxury supercars

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WORDS: CHRIS ANDERSON

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t must take a certain amount of gall to look at the latest cars emerging from the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Maserati and Rolls-Royce, and say, “Well, it’s okay, but it could be a lot better.” Most of us would marvel at the style, speed and technological achievements of a vehicle from any one of those brands, but for Novitec, a tuning company headquartered in Bavaria, Germany, it only thinks in terms of bigger and better. In other words, how to take one of these cars and push it to the next level, with enhanced performance and bespoke extras. Case in point, its latest move is to take on the Ferrari Roma, which as standard features a 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8 engine. That is still present, but some clever tinkering by Novitec’s engineers, including a new ECU, ups the power from 612hp to a peak of 704hp. The torque has also jumped similarly from 761Nm to 882Nm, while the 0-100km/h time loses a fifth of a second, clocking in at 3.2 seconds, with of top speed of over 325km/h. There are subtle body modifications too, courtesy of the wind-tunnel-tested styling kit, comprising a front lip, a tiny rear spoiler, and an extra vertical insert in the diffuser, with each made from carbon, featuring a high-gloss finish. Add in some forged Vossen alloy wheels, uprated suspension — which includes Novitec’s innovative front lift system, raising the car by 40mm at the push of a button, helping the driver to navigate ramps and speed bumps — any choice of leather or Alcantara interior trim, and a bespoke Ferrari Roma can be yours for the taking. This is basically the approach that Novitec has with a range of high-end motoring brands. Not that anyone seems to mind, or has kicked up a fuss. The company has been going now for 33 years, established in 1989 by entrepreneur Wolfgang Hagedorn, who saw potential in offering to personalise certain makes of cars. Fiat was actually first, and then Alfa Romeo, but then it all changed in 2003 with the unveiling of the company’s take on a Ferrari 360 Modena, now with black rear lights — which has remained a trademark of all Novitec Ferraris — and a power output upped from the standard 400hp to an impressive 565hp. Earning maximum respect from the car community, Novitec maintained its focus on Ferrari for the next couple of years,

introducing its own versions of the F430 and 599 in quick succession — the latter hitting an incredible 900hp. The demand from other car enthusiasts followed, with enhancements for Maserati offered from 2007, and Lamborghini joining the pack in 2013. In recent years, two prominent UK brands have been added to the German company’s list of Italian supercars: McLaren and Rolls-Royce. As another performance car brand, McLaren is more of the usual from Novitec, but RollsRoyce, while still being recognised for speed and power, arguably excels more in terms of comfort and refinement (who would take a Wraith on the track, for example?). Indeed, Rolls-Royce, a different beast, does seem to have carved its own division at Novitec, dubbed Spofec (derived from the iconic ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’ figure featured on the front of the cars) — and its own version of the Ghost II is its most recent creation. Like the Roma, the work on show is still fairly restrained, but offers a sportier interpretation of the Rolls-Royce saloon. A styling kit adds a new bumper splitter, side skirts, quarter panels, a revised rear bumper and a new spoiler lip, while long-term partner Vossen supplies the 22in chrome wheels, with the suspension lowered 44mm, making the car look

squat and aggressive — not the first thing that springs to mind when thinking of a Rolls-Royce. And, of course, the Spofec tuners have been inside the engine bay, upping the output of the twin-turbo V12 engine to 685hp and packing in 958Nm of torque. It means a faster sprint time of 0-100km/h in 4.5 seconds, but the top speed remains limited at 250km/h. As for other vehicle makes, Novitec has started to look at Tesla, with styling and suspension enhancements, rather than performance at this stage — but it could be a case of looking to the future, as well as considering other popular brands to play with. And customers can take all of what is offered for a particular make and model, or pick and choose, with a strong possibility that their car will end up one-of-a-kind thanks to the choices available. So while some might be keeping a close eye on this year’s motor shows as a means of planning their next purchase, Novitec is actively looking to see what it wants to improve. And it sets its sights on the most desirable motoring brands every time. But arguably, it is these manufacturers that have done the hard work, developing and building the cars, while Novitec swoops in to add those little personalisation touches. However it works, the world is grateful.

is a strong possibility your car ‘ There will end up being one-of-a-kind ’

Previous pages: Novitec Ferrari Roma These pages, from left to right: Spofec Ghost II; Novitec McLaren Senna

Gastronomy JANUARY 2022: ISSUE 124

Lay Down The Law AIR

Why giving up her law degree was the final ingredient Antonia Klugmann needed to fulfil her passion WORDS: JOHN THATCHER

or a country that boasts such a rich culinary heritage as Italy, to hear that as little as twenty years ago cooking in a kitchen wasn’t a very fashionable pursuit comes as something of a surprise. But when Antonia Klugmann, chef and owner of the Michelin-starred restaurant L’Argine a Vencò, told her parents [both doctors] of her intention to follow such a career path, their response was less surprise, more shock. That may, however, have had more to do with what Klugmann was doing at the time of her grand announcement — studying for a law degree. “I was searching for something that allows me to be more creative and I realised that I was happy just when I was cooking,” says Klugmann, who this month brings her celebrated culinary skills to Dubai for a one-off dinner at Jubilee Gastronomy, Expo 2020. “I remember that after my first service in a professional kitchen, I was watching my colleagues from a window, and realised I had found the right place for me.” That place is at the forefront of female chefs gaining long overdue recognition for their talents, something which Klugmann is naturally keen to see continue. “I’m absolutely in love with my work and my colleagues. However, I would like to see more diversity in kitchens. I think that our industry is facing the same challenges of other economic sectors. In Italy especially we have some cultural issues that we must deal with. Unfortunately, it’s something across society. It’s still very difficult for a woman to have both a satisfactory professional and personal life.”

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The change in Klugmann’s career came late, which meant her training was truncated too. Therefore she “didn’t really have a mentor as such. But I instantly fell in love with some of the chefs I read about in cooking magazines, and they showed me that cooking could be complex, interesting, and marvellous. They include Ferran Adrià, Pascal Barbot and René Redzepi. Then lots of Italian chefs like Gualtiero Marchesi, Fulvio Pierangelini, Massimo Bottura, Niko Romito and Piergiorgio Parini.” To learn on the job, Klugmann travelled across Italy, determined to arm herself with a wide knowledge of flavours, techniques, and the country’s varied regional cuisines. Then disaster struck, a serious road accident robbing Klugmann of a full year, which she spent recuperating at home. The time was far from wasted. “I was already living in the countryside, so during the recovery time I began to walk in the woods, studying botany and finally starting my own vegetable garden. Learning how much work is necessary to grow a tomato made me more sensitive and respectful about ingredients in general and especially herbs and vegetables.” She also began putting together plans to open her own restaurant which came to fruition in 2006, when aged only 26 she opened the Antico Foledor Conte Lovaria in Pavia di Udine, FriuliVenezia Giulia. Just three years later, she was shortlisted as one of the best emerging chefs in northern Italy. Five years on and Klugmann was on a quest for further knowledge, travelling to Venice to work at the Michelin-starred Il Ridotto, which specialised in Venetian cuisine, and then at the celebrated Venissa on Mazzorbo, a Venetian island. “Venice was an amazing experience. I learned a lot about the lagoon and its fragile ecosystem. A lesson that made me more sensitive about fishing methods. It was also the first time I worked in an organisation with PRs and a big kitchen team. It definitely prepared me for the following years and my new project.” That project was L’Argine a Vencò, which opened in 2014. “I was searching for a new location that could truly represent myself, and I discovered a wonderful place in the countryside of the Collio wine region: a mill from the 17th century surrounded by vineyards 64

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I love to see an emotion in their eyes when they taste my dishes

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and by a river — Judrio — located just a mile from the Slovenian border. A multicultural territory that historically has a lot in common with the city of Trieste, where I was born. Moreover, nature’s beauty is a powerful source of inspiration for me. And around Vencò there isn’t anything ugly.” There’s nothing ugly about Klugmann’s dishes either — beautifully presented and colourful, with their ingredients afforded equal consideration. “I don’t use anything rare in my kitchen,” says Klugmann. “We try to reduce our environmental impact using local and seasonal products. All herbs are foraged around the restaurant. Only a little part of fruits and vegetables are grown in our garden, but the rest is bought from local farms. During the last year, we have also improved our selection of meat and fish. 90% of the meat is now coming from local farms and all the fish is caught in the North Adriatic Sea, with non-intensive fishing methods. When it’s impossible to find an ingredient at the market we substitute the dish with a new one. In this way every 3-4 months the menu is renewed.” What does she hope people feel

when they taste her dishes? “My relationship with guests has changed a lot during the years. Now I’m more interested in their reactions and I love to see an emotion in their eyes when they taste my dishes. However, for a new dish I think about my personal taste. I don’t want to please someone else. It would be impossible to create something original in another way.” Such has been Klugmann’s rise to prominence in Italy that she was chosen to be the country’s first female judge on popular TV show Masterchef. “It was a great booster for our restaurant. We are in a beautiful area but less fancy than other Italian regions like Tuscany or Puglia. I tried to stay consistent with my values using this amazing chance to tell the audience about our countryside, the history of our territory and our kitchen philosophy.” Her arrival in Dubai grants Klugmann the opportunity to spread that philosophy wider. You’d do well to take note. Antonia Klugmann will be at Jubilee Gastronomy, Expo 2020, January 21. book.jubilee@gatesdxb.com

Opening pages: salmon with passion fruit dressing These pages, clockwise from left: Cyril Lignac; satay beef fillet, lime condiment; seared chutoro; soufflé; Bar des Prés, London; crab and avocado galette

Gastronomy JANUARY 2022: ISSUE 124

Feeding The Senses Why the headline-grabbing price tag of Sublimotion belies the real story of dining innovation

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WORDS: JOHN THATCHER

t’s fitting that as Europe’s wildest party scene, Ibiza is also home to its most unconventional restaurant, a restaurant where the food is only one ingredient, and arguably not the most important. In fact, to label Sublimotion a restaurant at all is to pigeon-hole it alongside company it bears little relation to. A ‘culinary art and gastronomic show’ is how its inventor describes it, the El Bulli-trained, twice Michelin-starred chef Paco Roncero, who launched what’s similarly billed as the ‘world’s most expensive meal’ at Ibiza’s Hard Rock Café back in 2014. For the last few months — and until February 4 — Sublimotion has had a temporary home at Mandarin Oriental Jumeira, Dubai, where its twice-nightly sittings of just twelve guests at Dhs5,000 per head have regularly sold out. It’s with good reason, too. Not only do the dozen diners embark on a gastronomic odyssey of ten courses orchestrated by one of the industry greats, but each is underpinned by theatre and technology, scored by a cast that includes the likes of a fashion designer, illusionist, film director and DJ. Though you never leave your chair, each course pits you in a different setting, from a 1940s jazz club in Paris, to onboard ‘Sublimotion Air’, for which your inflight meal is a tray of small dishes featuring lobster and caviar. For another, you don a VR headset while a virtual chef whips you up a lollipop of foie gras terrine. “The seed of Sublimotion was first planted at PacoRonceroTaller, a culinary lab of ours in the Casino of Madrid,” says Roncero. “The lab acts as our research workshop where we start to see beyond what’s on the plate, and we season the dishes with emotions instead of salt and pepper. From that small seed, we collaborated with Eduardo Gonzales and his team at Vega Factory, to create an experience like nothing else. This was no easy feat and took a team of professionals and largescale production to create it. “One of the most important skills we look for in a team member is that they love what they do. They must be flexible, empathetic, eager to grow and go one step further every day. A great capacity for adaptation and ability to work as part of a team is the key to our success. At Sublimotion, we have professionals from every field, with very diverse profiles, and the success of each

Above: Paco Roncero

dinner depends on the teamwork of them all. We combine talents from other professions and it’s exciting. I learn every day from each of them.” What you learn from dining/ watching/participating at Sublimotion is that it’s a welcome assault on the senses, a choreographed performance of immense skill that etches a smile on your face and leaves it there for the near three hour duration of the immersive, innovative, but, above all else, thoroughly fun experience. Working alongside Roncero are other globally renowned chefs, who together bring a total of ten Michelin stars to the table. “The ingredients of the dishes are important but not the only part of the show. We use ingredients of the highest quality, with recipes where we combine tradition with vanguard. The music, the chairs, the technology, the choreography, the table, the scents... are also ingredients for us. Each one of them adds an incomparable value.”

As for how Sublimotion has evolved through the years since its launch, Roncero says: “Sublimotion is a blank canvas. We have been in Ibiza for eight years, and every year we learn from the previous one, especially the first two years. We are in the middle of learning and that is always motivating. Sublimation today compared to the debut edition has nothing to do with the first — we have evolved and grown a lot. In Dubai, we have many exclusive details, as we always adapt to the city we are working in. I always like to say, that the experience is unique and different every day. “We sit down to eat about 75,000 times in our life and never get bored,” reflects Roncero, when discussing dining as a whole. “That’s magic.” Yet you only need to sit once at Sublimotion to be thrilled. Sublimotion is at Mandarin Oriental Jumeira, Dubai until February 4 67

Travel JANUARY 2022: ISSUE 124

JOURNEYS BY JET

Soneva Soul, Soneva Jani

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Maldives

iscover a new pathway to health, happiness and fulfilment. High among the treetops on the eastern side of Medhufaru Island, with views stretching out to the horizon, sits Soneva Soul — the transformative new wellness concept at Soneva Jani. Inspired by nature’s magnitude, the three-level complex is designed in perfect harmony with its idyllic island setting. Raised walkways wind their way through the treetops towards relaxation areas, treatment and consultation rooms, with suites dedicated to state-of-the-art biomodulation therapies and functional fitness. A yoga pavilion and meditation platform sit high above the treeline, commanding panoramic views across the sparkling turquoise lagoon, while open-air treatment rooms are bathed in the soothing natural soundtrack of ocean waves and the gentle sea breeze rustling through the leaves. Soneva Soul launched across Soneva’s Maldives and Thailand resorts at the end of 2021. It is founded upon the many years of knowledge and expertise Soneva has gathered along its journey at the forefront of the wellness and hospitality industries,

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merging ancient healing wisdom with science and innovation to reconnect mind, body and soul. Every Soneva Soul journey is completely personalised, elevating your wellness experience far beyond pampering treatments or massages to support every aspect of your life: rest and recovery; healing following illness; improving physical or mental performance; or simply indulging and relaxing in exquisite surrounds. Intuitive therapies harness traditional wellness practices — Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, herbalism — with each skilled therapist drawing on their own healing heritage. Cutting-edge treatments are informed by the latest diagnostics and therapeutic biomodulation, such as targeted vitamin therapies, cryotherapy, platelet-rich plasma, ozone therapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy. The permanent Soneva Soul team is complemented by an ever-changing calendar of residencies from visiting wellness specialists, chosen for their vast experience across the full spectrum of wellness practices and healing therapies, from Reiki to body work and osteopathy. Led by master fitness trainers, movement programmes combine functional gym-based fitness with experiential fitness, surrounded by nature — from sunrise workout sessions on the sand, to underwater aquatic training. Yoga and mindfulness masters lead inspiring group and one-on-one sessions that re-ground and reconnect, while specialist sleep programmes enable you to unlock the secrets of a more restful slumber. At Soneva, wellness is an intrinsic part of its ‘Slow Life’ ethos, inviting you to embrace a healthier, more sustainable way of life. Encircled by leafy jungle, its expansive private villas are a luxuriously secluded haven from the outside world — a place to disconnect and truly unwind. The deliciously wholesome menus across an array of unforgettable dining destinations emphasise plant-based cuisine, with many of the ingredients sourced from Soneva’s own organic gardens at the heart of each resort. Even the clocks are set to ‘Soneva time’, an hour ahead of local time, to maximise daylight hours, and restore your natural circadian rhythms. Land your jet at Maafaru International Airport, which offers CIP services and is just 15 minutes by speedboat from Soneva Jani. 70

What I Know Now

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JANUARY 2022: ISSUE 124

Rohit Ghai MICHELIN-STARRED CHEF AND AUTHOR The best piece of advice I’ve ever though, so I’ll only feel successful when chefs and we enjoy relaxing together and chatting about food and growing up. I’ve achieved more received was from my big brother, who Some of my happiest memories are from is also a chef. He told me not to come in my life. being in the kitchen with my mother. into the industry, as it was too much like One thing I do every day is speak to my hard work and he didn’t think his little brother was up to the challenge! Turns girls. I have a wife and two very young I love sport too and recently cooked for English rugby legend Matt Dawson, daughters, and no matter where I am in out I enjoy cooking as much as I enjoy which was a real honour. He’s a real proving him wrong, so I’m grateful to the world I have to speak to them each and every day. inspiration and such a good guy. him for making me so determined to DANISH CONFECTIONERY make this career work. A lesson I learned the hard way came If I could go back and tell my younger Bülow is thewhen storyI of passionate liquorice. In 2007 self something it would be to we follow your I suppose my mostLakrids notable by achievement opened the firstcraftsmanship restaurant of for gourmet created Danish liquorice, andhad today wefood continue our journey of creating dreams —and make suresurpristo prove your was winning a Michelin starexceptional [for my own, Kutir. We lots of ing combinations taste experiences liquoricebig asbrother our core. The ambition has critics and big names from thewith industry wrong! Jamavar] quicker than any Indian chefand sensorial remained the inspireinpeople the—world and spread our love for this unique the veryaround first days we hadn’t ever had [within ten months of thesame: To arrive Nordic flavour. When my family or colleagues think I’ve restaurant’s opening]. It was such an anticipated that. Luckily, they loved the food, but those days were exhilarating. cooked something delicious, or when honour, and there was so much support they walk into one of my restaurants for it from the wider Indian and chef community — people were very kind. Outside of work I look to my family and have a great time, I know I’ve done Johan Bülow something right. There’s still so much more to achieve often for inspiration. We’re a family of 72

WWW.LAKRIDSBYBULOW.COM • DUBAI LOCATIONS: DUBAI MALL • DUBAI MARINA MALL • ATLANTIS HOTEL COPENHAGEN • STOCKHOLM • OSLO • BERLIN • MUNICH • HAMBURG • LONDON

DANISH CONFECTIONERY Lakrids by Bülow is the story of passionate craftsmanship for gourmet liquorice. In 2007 we created exceptional Danish liquorice, and today we continue our journey of creating surprising combinations and sensorial taste experiences with liquorice as our core. The ambition has remained the same: To inspire people around the world and spread our love for this unique Nordic flavour.

Johan Bülow

WWW.LAKRIDSBYBULOW.COM • DUBAI LOCATIONS: DUBAI MALL • DUBAI MARINA MALL • ATLANTIS HOTEL COPENHAGEN • STOCKHOLM • OSLO • BERLIN • MUNICH • HAMBURG • LONDON

CALIBER RM 67-01