AIR Magazine - Nasjet - October'21

OCTOBER 2021

A DAZZLING HOMAGE TO A CENTURY OF CHANEL N°5

CHANEL CELEBRATES N°5 In 1921, Gabrielle Chanel has an idea for a perfume which she calls N°5, her lucky number.

This vision of creation owes its singularity to the permanence of one perspective: the idea above all else.

In 2021, a High Jewellery collection celebrates the House’s emblematic number with a creative act that combines the audacity of a technical challenge with the freedom of an original approach.

CHANEL High Jewellery creates the N°5 Collection, with a centrepiece that reveals a unique geometric virtuosity: a necklace whose design reflects all the defining features of the N°5 perfume bottle, composed of more than 700 diamonds set around a diamond specially cut to weigh 55.55 carats.

The perfection of the idea has determined the weight in carats.

This is an unprecedented approach: to start with a rough diamond, aiming not for the greatest weight but for the perfection of the stone, cut to the exact dimensions of an idea.

Diamonds are eternal. To CHANEL, éternité, the French word for “eternity,” is first and foremost an anagram of étreinte, the word for “embrace.” As such, this is how the House defines creation: an embrace between matter and spirit, which alone can give birth to a style.

CHANEL reaffirms it today: creation is eternal.

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Enviable Enviable performance Enviable performance performance in challenging in challenging in challenging airports. airports. airports.

Full fly-by-wire Full fly-by-wire Full fly-by-wire with active with active with turbulence active turbulence turbulence reduction. reduction. reduction.

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IN T RO IN TDRO IN U CTDIN RO UG CDITN UHG CEITNNHGEEW TNHEEWN E W

Contents

AIR

OCTOBER 2021: ISSUE 121

FEATURES Thirty Eight

Forty Six

Fifty Four

Why it’s all coming together for Jeremy Scott, the designer for whom celebrities are happy to dress as hamburgers.

Known for his speed and simple nature of his portraits, photographer Andy Gotts is the choice snapper of Hollywood.

Original influencer, entitled heiress, now domestic goddess. Will the real Paris Hilton please stand up?

Great Scott!

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Face Time

The Real Paris

D E S E RT R O M A N C E Treat your loved one to something unique and memorable at Al Maha, A Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa. Providing privacy and tranquility in equal measure, the Desert Romance Package includes a two-night stay in a luxurious, secluded suite with your own private, temperature-controlled swimming pool, exclusive VIP amenities, premium sparkling beverage upon arrival, gastronomic dining experience at Al Diwaan, romantic deck dinner and a 60-minute spa treatment for both guests.

*Terms & conditions apply FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO BOOK YOUR STAY PLEASE CALL 971 4 832 9900 OR VISIT AL-MAHA.COM

Contents

OCTOBER 2021: ISSUE 121

REGULARS Fourteen

Radar

Sixteen

Objects of Desire Eighteen

Critique Twenty

Art & Design Twenty Four

Timepieces Thirty Two

Jewellery

EDITORIAL

Sixty Six

Chief Creative Officer

Gastronomy

John Thatcher john@hotmedia.me

AIR

Seventy

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 Sixty Two

Motoring To celebrate 70 years since Jaguar’s first victory at Le Mans, the company is offering a limited number of authentic recreations of the car that won it for a cool $2.7 million.

But could it prove a bargain?

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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Service and detail that shape your journey.

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Each 624sqm suite features two separate bedrooms with two separate living rooms.

Additional benefits include complimentary airport transfers, private check-in and check-out and access to the Executive Lounge on the 37th floor.

Enjoy celebratory dining in 10 award-winning restaurants and bars, and pampering at the luxurious Saray Spa.

JW Marriott® Marquis® Hotel Dubai marriott.com/DXBJW Sheikh Zayed Road, Business Bay, PO Box 121000, Dubai, UAE | T +971.4.414.0000 | jwmarriottmarquisdubai.com

NasJet OCTOBER 2021: ISSUE 121

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 OCTOBER 2021

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: Chanel, Eternal N°5 earrings in white gold and diamonds

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

NasJet OCTOBER 2021: ISSUE 121

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 OCTOBER 2021: ISSUE 121

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.

Radar OCTOBER 2021: ISSUE 121

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Credit: Mélanie Laurent, courtesy of Cartier

AIR

The long-awaited Expo 2020 Dubai opens to the world this month, with one of its unique attractions built to support women’s empowerment and gender equality. In collaboration with Cartier, the stand-alone Women’s Pavilion is an Expo first, and recognises the central role that women have played throughout history and will play in the future.

Among the cast of contributing artists is French actress, screenwriter and director Mélanie Laurent, who will curate an immersive exhibition fostering dialogues across cultural, artistic, and social fields.

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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

HUBLOT

BIG BANG DJ SNAKE Hublot’s latest high-profile artist collaboration hits its highest note yet, as renowned record producer DJ Snake wraps his personality around the Big Bang. Though its design remains instantly recognisable, here the case and bezel glimmer – changing colour

depending on the light and the angle from which the watch is viewed. The cut-outs on the outer edge of the bezel were designed by DJ Snake himself.

Limited to 100 pieces, the Big Bang DJ Snake will be supplied with two, easily interchangeable straps.

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OB JECTS OF DESIRE

CHANEL

CRUISE 2021/22 Having illuminated the Carrières de Lumières in the hills of Les Baux-deProvence when it was first shown back in May, November 2 marks Dubai’s turn to bask in the spotlight shone by Chanel’s Cruise 2021/22 collection – the full show will be staged at a 2

yet-to-be-revealed location in the city.

Guests will be treated to a striking display laced with an air of rebellion, with punk and mod references to the fore. On the lighter side are pieces like this structured bag, fashioned from wood, leather and metal.

OB JECTS OF DESIRE

CH AU M E T

BEE MY LOVE PENDANT As the pandemic ushers in a desire for sparkling daywear jewellery (and more than a little bit of playfulness), Chaumet has added a trio of shimmering pendants to its Bee My Love collection: rose gold, rose gold decorated with six diamonds (as

pictured here), and white gold sprinkled with six diamonds. Composed of three bands joined together and mounted on a delicate gold chain, the highly polished gold is arranged in hexagonal pockets of honeycomb (hence the ‘bee’), which help reflect the light it catches.

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OB JECTS OF DESIRE

DIOR

CHEZ MOI Launched at the height of the pandemic to fulfil the need for comfortable clothing which was stylish to boot, Maria Grazia Chiuri’s remedy capsule, Chez Moi, was the first from the storied house to be completely dedicated to loungewear. On

the back of its success comes the follow up, a capsule comprised of day/night pieces once again adorned with motifs and prints characteristic of the house. All of a sudden, the thought of another lockdown isn’t quite so unpalatable.

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OB JECTS OF DESIRE

HERMÈS

VICTORIA Continuing fashion’s trend for viable leather alternatives, the Victoria bag debuts Sylvania for the new season, a supremely soft yet durable material created from mycelium in what was a three-year collaboration between Hermès and biomaterials company

MycoWorks. It was in the Hermès workshops that the innovative material was refined – tanned, finished and shaped in time-honoured tradition by craftspeople – so that it bears such a strong resemblance to leather, right the way down to its detailed wrinkling.

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OB JECTS OF DESIRE

AU DI

GR ANDSPHERE CONCEP T Termed ‘the private jet for the road’, the Audi grandsphere concept car has been devised to offer unparalleled levels of driver freedom – this is a car designed for Level 4 automated driving, which means that when in this mode the interior rids

itself of anything superfluous, like a steering wheel and pedals. Anyone who has driven the new e-tron GT will know that Audi is setting the pace in the field of electric cars. This vision of the near future is further proof.

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OB JECTS OF DESIRE

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OB JECTS OF DESIRE

T I F FA N Y

VIC TORIA® BAND Back from its enforced hiatus, last month’s Venice Film Festival saw the movie world’s finest strut its red carpet in all their finery. The finest of all?

That was The Queen’s Gambit’s Anya Taylor-Joy, who headed to the premiere of her new film, Last Night in Soho,

sparkling in Tiffany diamonds. Paired with a Tiffany & Co. Schlumberger® Monarque necklace was this Tiffany Victoria® band ring in platinum with diamonds – a striking, unique combination of both marquise and round brilliant diamonds.

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OBJECTS OF DESIRE

Critique OCTOBER 2021 : ISSUE 121

Film Belfast Dir. Kenneth Branagh From Belfast-born Branagh comes a heartfelt depiction of the Irish city, a tale of love, laughter and loss in one boy’s childhood.

AT BEST: ‘It is one of the year’s best movies, no doubt.’ — Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily AT WORST: “If only the misty romanticism of his story could match Branagh’s genuine affection for his subject.’ — Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly

Blue Bayou AIR

Dir. Justin Chon A father must confront the ghosts of his past when he discovers he could be deported from the only country he has ever called home.

AT BEST: ‘It is both a passionate exposé of a serious injustice and a big emotional ride.’ — Lee Marshall, Screen International AT WORST: ‘Stylistically overwrought and narratively overstuffed.’ — Guy Lodge, Variety

French Dispatch Dir. Wes Anderson The French Dispatch brings to life stories published in an American newspaper in a fictional 20th-century French city.

AT BEST: ‘A near-perfect encapsulation of Anderson’s filmography and perhaps the best film to show to newcomers.’ — Rafael Motamayor, Collider AT WORST: ‘I don’t necessarily think Anderson has it in him to make a ‘bad’ movie, but this one felt minor.’ — Jordan Ruimy, World of Reel

The Card Counter Dir. Paul Schrader An ex-military interrogator who uses gambling as a coping mechanism is haunted by the ghosts of his past decisions.

AT BEST: ‘A masterclass of tension that manages to dwell on the many dichotomies of morality.’ — Rafaela Sales Ross, The Skinny AT WORST: ‘Who is the audience for The Card Counter?’ — Tony Macklin, tonymacklin.net 18

Critique OCTOBER 2021 : ISSUE 121

Books T

for Mr. Herron—if alas for us—events continue to produce rich material for his special gifts.” The Financial Times also highlighted Herron’s style, saying that his “distinctive voice, marked by a dry wit and mordant sense of humour, runs through the series, and his latest work is no exception.”

Based on the author Lauren Fox’s own family letters, Send For Me spans generations from Germany on the eve of WWII to present-day Wisconsin in the US, unspooling a thread of love, longing, and family.

“An artfully constructed and richly absorbing novel that shows how love is strengthened, not weakened, over distance and time,” reckons the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “Beautifully written, deeply felt, tender and thoughtful,” reviewed The New York Times Book Review, while The National Book Review was also fulsome in its praise, hailing the book as “Extraordinarily nuanced and moving.

Fox elegantly incorporates lines and short excerpts of her own greatgrandmother’s letters, adding to the power and intimacy of this fine novel.”

Back in 2013, in the aftermath of the acquittal of the man who murdered seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin. Alicia Garza wrote what she called “a love letter to Black people” on Facebook, She signed it off with the words, “Black people…Our lives matter,” which would morph into the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter. But long before she became a founding member of Black Lives Matter, Garza had spent two decades learning how we can inspire and activate more people to fight for the world we all deserve. “In a year when a long overdue reckoning with racism is once again in the spotlight, Garza’s call to action . . . is urgent and critically necessary,” says Time of The Purpose of Power. Fellow author Kiese Laymon critiqued the book in a single word: “Damn”, before adding that “It changes everything. I suppose I shouldn’t be shocked at this book’s audacity, because it’s written by a young black woman who literally changed everything. Very few books become national monuments. Even fewer help shape social movements.”

Credit: Penguin Random House

he Slough House of Nick Herron’s latest novel is MI5’s off-the-record depository for demoted spies — those deemed surplus to requirements.

But when its members begin to die in strange circumstances, those remaining face a fight for their lives as they try to navigate layers of lies, power and corruption. “Herron’s excellent series featuring a motley crew of sidelined MI5 agents united under the fearless leadership of the unforgettable Jackson Lamb, has grown ever-more reflective — if not downright prescient — of contemporary political machinations, and is all the richer for it,” says The Boston Globe. Writing in The Wall Street Journal, Kathleen A. Powers says: “Out of a wickedly imagined version of MI5, [Herron] has spun works of diabolical plotting and highspirited cynicism, their pages filled with sardonic wit, their characters approaching the surreal . . . Mr. Herron goes about this with bouncing black humour and a set of characters whose appearance and manner would be over the top in any other era. Happily

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Art & Design OCTOBER 2021 : ISSUE 121

Careful What You Wish For AIR

From Silicon Valley to The Saatchi Gallery, how Philipp Humm swapped the boardroom for the studio WORDS: CARU SANDERS

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CEO turned artist is not something you hear about very often. The stereotypes abound, whether it’s the sensitive ‘starving artist’ or the ‘sellout’ who abandons their craft for a regular paycheck. There’s a frequent presumption that business and the arts are strange bedfellows.

Philipp Humm’s is a different story.

Growing up in Germany, he applied to the most prestigious art school in Berlin. As academic as he was arty, when he turned up for the interview he didn’t have enough work in his portfolio to get him through the door.

If he had, he might have bypassed the business world completely. Instead, Humm’s artistic ambitions were simply put on hold as he worked his way through high-tech roles including vice president at Amazon, CEO at T-Mobile, and CEO of Vodafone Europe, a role that brought him to London.

Dexterous enough to steer corporate behemoths into the future while devoting time to his passion, Humm spent 60 hours a week doing his ‘proper job’ and spent around 40 in his studio, painting. He would sketch colleagues in the boardroom and painted under a pseudonym, until he was ‘outed’ on the front page of the Wall Street Journal in 2016.

With the same passion and

‘

Faust is a genius that has gone too far.

Unlike Trump, who is not a genius

Opening page and far right: Philipp Humm 22

determination that he’d summoned in his corporate rise, Humm decided it was time to take the leap, tradingin the boardroom for a studio in the north London house he shares with his wife and two dogs.

Influenced by the likes of Dali, Paula De Rego, Goethe, Lichtenstein and the Old Masters, Humm found a throughline to his work in the form pf Goethe’s famous poem, Faust. Having witnessed first-hand the antics of the global elite, Humm was aware that his insight had to be channeled Hogarth-style into a visual narrative. It had to tell a story. He had to paint what he knew.

Humm was fascinated with Faust, the legend of a man (loosely based on the life of Johann Georg Faust (c1480– 1540), who sold his soul to the devil in return for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures, and used Goethe’s narrative to capture a sense of why some of the world’s most powerful men are driven by their darker sides.

What began with a few sketches in 2017 has expanded into a ‘pop expressionist’ odyssey — paintings in oil and watercolour, fine art photography, sculpture, a novella, and even a feature film, which Humm wrote, cast, costumed and directed.

Humm’s Faust is an extreme version of ourselves, living for the moment

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according to our own desires. As with credit cards and fast food, we opt for immediate gratification, even in the knowledge that it brings long-term pain.

For Humm, every historical era and culture has its own Faust figure, and he has woven several versions into his tapestry of modern life. His primary Faust is a tech giant modelled on Steve Jobs, dressed in Jobs’ ‘work uniform’ of New Balance sneakers, jeans and black turtleneck sweater.

Like Faust, Jobs reached the pinnacle of his industry but had regrets.

No detail is accidental in Humm’s visual narrative and language. The Marvel character Mephisto is dressed as a hedge fund manager, while the symbolic bull of Wall Street bucks with a warning on monetary policy.

In November 2019, Humm added to his Faustian oeuvre with The Last Faust, a theatrical feature-length art film. Set in 2059, it tells of tech giants reigning with unfettered control.

“Having worked in high tech, I am an insider and understand the moral shortcomings of its leaders”, explains Humm. As for who is the ultimate archetype, Steven Berkoff, who stars in the film, explained in an interview with The Guardian that he believed Donald Trump to be the perfect example of Faust. Humm begs to differ. Retirement from the corporate world has given him the opportunity to reflect on the social responsibilities of its leaders.

He says: “Faust is a genius that has gone too far. Unlike Trump, who is a gifted populist, low on morals and not a genius. [Harvey] Weinstein is a close match in the first part of The Last Faust, but I was thinking more of people like Steve Jobs, Zuckerberg, Larry Page, Bill Gates and Larry Ellison. Zuckerberg is a genius who believes he can create his own censorship – a state across states.”

In transposing the legend of Faust to the 21st century, Humm has created a cautionary tale.

“We have not changed in 500 years,” he states. “Except that science and technology are far more advanced and dangerous. If you create a self-learning computer system more intelligent than yourself, it might attempt to save the planet by eliminating humans altogether.’”

Philipp Humm’s Faust, Saatchi Gallery, London, October 13-17 23

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WORDS: TRACEY LLEWELLYN

Reinterpreting the Classics Breitling’s Top Time Classic Cars Capsule Collection pitstops in the 1960s to celebrate three era-defining cars

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Timepieces

OCTOBER 2021: ISSUE 121

C

ars are in Breitling’s DNA. Racing through its proud past are myriad moments of historical and horological significance, not least when in 1905 Breitling’s founder Léon Breitling applied for a Swiss patent for the first chronograph, designed to measure the speeds of racing cars. Then there’s Breitling’s near twenty-year relationship with Bentley, the longest ever between watch and car manufacturers; its role as the official timekeeper for some of motorsports biggest events; and the fact that the brand built successful relationships with some of motor racing’s finest drivers, including Formula One legends of the 1960s, Graham Hill and Jim Clark, who both wore Breitling Navitimers.

In the same decade, Breitling debuted its Top Time chronograph models. Launched to symbolise the free-spirited, fun-loving nature of the time, they were also aimed at the style savvy; a square-cased version modelled by females in fashion bible Vogue; the Reference 2002 model with two subdials worn by Sean Connery in his role as that seasoned arbiter of good taste, James Bond, in 1965’s Thunderball (the exact watch

he wore on screen would later sell at auction for over GBP100,000).

It’s to the 60s that Breitling pays homage with the latest iteration of Top Time, turning the clock back to an era when nothing encapsulated the feeling of freedom better than hitting the open road in an American muscle car. The ultimate style symbol, classic cars don’t come much more classic than the likes of the Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Mustang and Shelby Cobra, three iconic designs that have inspired the look and feel of three new Top Time chronographs.

Bold of colour, each watch features the logo of the car that informed its design — engraved in impressive detail onto its stainless-steel caseback.

The Top Time Chevrolet Corvette, resplendent in red and black, takes its cues from the Corvette C2 from the mid-1960s, fondly referred to as the ‘Sting Ray’ for its low-profile body. The green and brown Top Time Ford Mustang version references a car beloved of rock stars and screen legends, a model immortalised in popular culture by Steve McQueen, who propelled it through the steep streets of San Francisco in the Academy Award-winning Bullitt. In blue and brown is the Top Time Shelby Cobra.

The Shelby Cobra was created by Le Mans-winning driver and car manufacturer Carroll Shelby for 1960s competitions, marrying classic British chassis design to American racing ingenuity and engineering. The watch hints at one of the car’s distinctive paint jobs: blue with white racing stripes.

The 42mm cases of the Chevrolet Corvette and Ford Mustang versions house the COSC-certified Breitling Caliber 25, a self-winding 1/8th of a second chronograph movement with a power reserve of roughly 42 hours.

Both watches feature a tachymeter scale and three black contrasting subdials, with their applicable car logos at the 12 o’clock position.

Inside the slightly smaller 40mm Top Time Shelby Cobra beats the COSCcertified Breitling Caliber 41, a selfwinding 1/4th of a second chronograph movement with an equal power reserve of approximately 42 hours. It has a white tachymeter scale and two white contrasting subdials, plus the Cobra logo at the 6 o’clock position.

Three legendary car designs reimagined in a trio of timepieces that form a capsule collection guaranteed to set your pulse racing. breitling.com 25

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These pages, from left to right: Top Time Chevrolet Corvette with Breitling Caliber 25 and black racing-themed calfskin leather strap with folding clasp; secondgeneration Chevrolet Corvette

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These pages, from left to right: Top Time Ford Mustang with Breitling Caliber 25 and brown racing-themed calfskin leather strap with folding clasp; first-generation Ford Mustang

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These pages, from left to right: Top Time Shelby Cobra with Breitling Caliber 41 and brown racingthemed calfskin leather strap with folding clasp; Shelby Cobra

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Jewellery OCTOBER 2021 : ISSUE 121

AIR

One Of A Kind How to celebrate the centenary of the iconic Chanel N°5? Via the maison's largest ever high jewellery collection, of course

Credit: Marion Cotillard wearing the ‘N°5’ necklace set with a 55.55-carat diamond, created on the occasion of the N°5 centennial, photographed by Karim Sadli, 2021

WORDS: JOHN THATCHER

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These pages, clockwise from left: Thomas du Pré de Saint Maur; making of 55.55 necklace; bottle of Chanel N°5

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t’s fair to say that Chanel N°5 challenged – and ultimately changed – the very notion of what a perfume is, what it could be.

For the former, Coco Chanel – and collaborating perfumier Ernest Beaux – eschewed the trend for a singlenote scent at the time of its creation (one whole century ago this year) for one comprising eighty ingredients, changing them up until, on attempt number five, the right note was struck.

As for what a perfume could be, it was also a scent created to empower women, not one developed to appeal to the noses of men, as was the norm.

The one hundred years since have seen N°5 transcend its primary function to become a remarkably influential, truly iconic product.

What then, is the secret of its enduring appeal? “It requires luck, a combination of Marilyn Monroe's bedsheets and Andy Warhol's images,” says Thomas du Pré de Saint Maur, Chanel’s head of global creative resources. “But most of all, the object has to carry on being a living model for society, speaking the language of the time in which it lives, and standing as a referent for its era without fear of

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becoming contaminated by it.”

The centenary celebration of this extraordinary object is set in stone.

Or, more specifically, diamonds – a spectacular high jewellery collection created in homage to it. The 123-piece Collection N°5 is the largest in Chanel’s history and is spearheaded by the dazzling 55.55 diamond necklace, so named because the rock at its centre is a one-off: a D Flawless, Type IIa diamond, weighing in at exactly 55.55ct.

“It shows the absolute power of a fragrance that is capable of inspiring anything, even things that a priori seem counter-intuitive. In designing the Collection N°5, Patrice Leguéreau (director of the Chanel jewellery creation studio) did not merely reproduce the shape of the bottle; rather he kept a certain distance from the fragrance, retained a freedom in the way he related to it, in order to capture its spirit. The N°5 perfume is a concept and an inspiration. It makes the imagination soar, gives it wings,” says Thomas.

In addition, Thomas sees as intrinsic the association between the N°5 perfume and the jewellery of Gabrielle

‘

It shows the absolute power of a fragrance that is capable of inspiring anything

’

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Chanel has brought a certain elegance to ‘high jewellery. It is a name that endows an exceptional quality ’

Chanel. “There are obvious links on the level of aesthetics. Both the perfume and Gabrielle Chanel's work with diamonds possess the same sense of refinement, a rigor that is never minimalist. Like the jewellery, the N°5 fragrance is worn directly on the skin, while both of them evoke our emotions and offer an intimate experience.

Rather than “a few drops of Chanel N°5,” Marilyn Monroe might equally well have said that she wore only diamonds to bed…

“I would say too that the N°5 fragrance is faceted and scintillating like a diamond. And its sillage contains a notion of radiance and richness that is also found in high jewellery.”

Of course, just as Gabrielle Chanel proved so influential in the world of perfumery, so too did she revolutionise jewellery. “The idea of a collection simply didn't exist in the world of jewellery in 1932,” says Thomas.

“Gabrielle Chanel became the first to present a collection of jewellery on a defined theme, Bijoux de Diamants.

Until then, jewellery had been an art carried out to commission – Chanel transformed it into a new luxury field, with collections, a purpose, a global strategy, and an ambition behind its designs. Creating a jewellery collection that highlighted the way a piece falls, the way it feels, and the 36

feeling of exclusivity it gives to the woman who wears it – all this was truly groundbreaking at the time.

“A dress may be cut from the finest fabrics in the world, but if it hangs like a sack, if the wearer doesn't feel good in it, then it is not a luxury item. The same goes for jewellery. I think also that Chanel has brought a certain elegance to high jewellery. It is a name that endows an exceptional quality. It is the style that rules more than the object. But as long as we remain faithful to the Chanel style, everything becomes possible.”

Describing that particular style, Thomas says: “There is a certain lightness to the jewellery, but no fragility. The pieces do not tell much of a story, nor are they poetic or dreamlike. They have to hold together. They also reflect a resolutely graphic quality in their lines, their use of colour, or their choice of a monochrome palette.

Chanel jewellery is uncompromising.”

Which is why, when deciding on who would model the 55.55 necklace, only one name came to mind. “As an actress, Marion Cotillard conveys that French spirit, that supple combination of rules and hard-fought freedoms. This necklace embodies the spirit of the N°5 perfume in a remarkable way.

Marion Cotillard, the face of N°5, had to wear it.”

Right: 55.55 necklace

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Jeremy Scott broke Anna Wintour’s icy composure when he announced his move to LA, but it’s all coming together for the designer WORDS: JASON SHEELER

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here’s a moment lodged deep in Jeremy Scott’s neocortex.

It’s a fabulous-slash-campy moment, because we’re talking about Jeremy Scott, and Jeremy Scott tells the most hilarious anecdotes. Just ask Miley Cyrus or Dua Lipa or Katy Perry or anyone else who dresses as a Moschino hamburger without batting a single false eyelash.

The way Scott remembers it, he was at a dinner in Paris. “Maybe it was couture week.” It was 2001. He’d launched his own line there a few years earlier and, on this night, he ended up speaking to American Vogue editor Anna Wintour.

“I am moving to LA,” Scott tells Wintour. Silence hangs in the air. “You mean New York.” “No, LA.” Wintour’s icy composure cracks. “Why?” Scott’s face — that of a Sistine Chapel cherub, framed by a mullet — creases with laughter at the memory. Over Zoom, his cackle echoes through the vast modernist 1940s John Lautner mansion in Hollywood Hills that he shares with his Czech partner, model Denek Kania.

Today Scott, 46, is a designer heading a global brand. We’ve become used to how fashion’s top names are shuffled in and out, but Scott’s reign at Moschino — the famed Italian house founded by Franco Moschino in 1964 — has been remarkably steady.

After Moschino’s death in 1994, the irreverent label languished in dutyfree, name-plate belt-buckle purgatory.

When Scott joined, in 2013, he brought both his hand (deft, sculptural) and his voice (witty, loud). Celebs signed on (and sat front row at surrealist shows featuring Care Bears and My Little Ponies), and waiting lists grew for bags in the shape of McDonald’s cups. Moschino now accounts for more than 70 per cent of the bottom line at parent company Aeffe.

But back at the time of Wintour’s pregnant pause, Scott’s career had plateaued. The early noughties were the days of Michael Kors at Céline and Marc Jacobs at Louis Vuitton — Americans in Paris doing American sportswear: parkas and turtlenecks, jeans and sneakers. And lots of handbags.

By contrast, Scott had assimilated into the Parisian scene. He was hanging out with Karl Lagerfeld (“Jeremy is the only person who could take Chanel on after 40

is the biggest bully ‘atInstagram school these days ’ me,” Lagerfeld once told Le Monde) and getting rave reviews from Vogue Paris.

His runway shoes were by Christian Louboutin; his fabric was sourced in the Clignancourt flea market. Madonna was keen to drop his name, Björk wore his all-white collection. He was doing Blade Runner-inflected glamour and logos; he was trying to revive the ‘80s with a vision best described as soigné trash.

He was spot on, if a decade early.

Then he up and left for LA — a good 10 years before the city became a style capital. “It was still tacky back then, but I saw this whole other side to it,” he says. And today, exactly 20 years later, he is at the top of his game. “It does feel good,” he acknowledges. “But

Opening pages: backstage at Women SS22 These pages, from left to right: Jeremy Scott backstage at Women FW21; Men FW21 Next pages: backstage at Women FW21; Men FW21; backstage at Women SS22

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I always cast myself as the underdog.”

Growing up in Missouri, outside Kansas City, he was the youngest of three. His mother was a teacher, his father an engineer. He was interested in clothes but says, “I didn’t know there was this world outside the mall and the thrift stores.” Then he saw Details magazine in junior high. “It was like a bible to me. I think it was a friend of mine’s older sister who had a copy. I saw it at their house. And I was gone.”

He learnt about Thierry Mugler, Claude Montana, Jean Paul Gaultier, Moschino, “and Karl, everybody, anybody, Betsey Johnson...” Music videos also sparked his imagination.

Free your Mind by En Vogue, “with all those Gaultier pieces,” he recalls.

“Lisa Bonet in The Cosby Show and A Different World wearing Romeo Gigli and Issey Miyake.”

Fashion became an obsession and a lifeline. He hung out with arty New Wave kids dressed like Depeche Mode (“but I never wore all black because I’m too colourful a person”). He was ‘other’ before that was even a term. “At the beginning of high school, I got chased through the halls by a skinhead who told me he was going to kill me. For the first two years, hardly a day went by when someone didn’t push me, try to hit me, call me a name, throw something.”

He pauses. He doesn’t want to minimise bullying. He fiddles with his necklaces, which include a plastic beaded number. “But it made me stronger to deal with things that I couldn’t deal with today,” he says.

“Instagram is the biggest bully at school these days.” He acknowledges the fashion industry is making strides with inclusivity and generally becoming more modern. “I think fashion is trying to clean up its act. But it wasn’t always kind.”

Back in Missouri, his high-school counsellor had told his mother there was no hope for the uber-creative Scott of going to university. He tried to get into fashion school. “I sent my portfolio to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. They sent me a rejection letter.” Scott closes his eyes. “They said I ‘lacked originality, creativity, and artistic ability’. I cried. I cried. It was like the Wizard of Oz telling you to go home. ‘You’re different, but you’re just different in Kansas City,’ they 42

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They said I ‘lacked originality, creativity, and artistic ability’. I cried. It was like the Wizard of Oz telling you to go home

employee of a vast multi-national company. (In July, Aeffe, which also owns Alberta Ferretti and Pollini, paid $77 million million to acquire the remaining 30 per cent of Moschino.)

Scott’s first show for the label featured a Chanel-looking suit in the exact hues of the McDonald’s logo — an absurd yet desirable idea that would have made Franco Moschino, famed for surreal glamour, smile. A SpongeBob SquarePants gown followed.

It’s been hit after hit ever since. And while he hears about sales from time to time — at €215 million, remarkably 2020 was only slightly down on a fiveyear average — Scott insists he doesn’t feel pressure: “I don’t really look at spreadsheets. I sometimes get a report like, ‘These are things that resonated with sales, so you’re aware.’” As for most designers, bags are important.

“So it’s the crazy bag that looks like some object, whether it’s a slot machine or whatever. Those are the big sellers — a bottle of Champagne as a purse sold out. They can’t make enough.”

’

Current favourite is the Biker bag.

His early collaborations prepared him for this. “I learnt it really early on from my work with Adidas. If you just do it because you want to and you believe in it, you love it, whimsical as it may be, that’s what resonates.

My gift is to give people what they haven’t seen before.” Don’t expect a grey cashmere sweater. “I’m not your basics designer and I never will be.” That translates into Karen Elson singing in ‘50s diner dresses in ‘80s Patrick Nagel print colours.

And so the outsider, the underdog, the bullied kid, is now the establishment.

But he is still having a ball. He showed an entire collection on marionettes during the pandemic. “Being called establishment isn’t insulting, it’s just funny. Because I still honestly think of myself as an underdog. I realise I’ve achieved things and I can take stock of them, but I still don’t feel fully accepted by the establishment. Maybe it’s better that I stay in that mindset, and it keeps me young and hungry. I’m not done.”

Credit: © Jason Sheeler / Telegraph Media Group Limited 2021

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were telling me. ‘You’re not London different, you’re not New York different, you’re not Paris different. You’re not those kinds of special. You’re just special in this dumb little town.’”

He moved to New York anyway.

People began to notice. He was special, after all. “I looked gender fluid, gender neutral, non-binary, whatever term. I lived that life. I mean, I was my own canvas.” He wore shredded dresses from the 1800s and bits from the 1980s all mixed up. “I loved that time.

I felt so liberated. People were excited about everything from me carrying a parasol, to me wearing platform shoes, to even me being very thin, which was made fun of in school.”

Eventually he arrived at the Pratt Institute School of Design in Brooklyn, then headed to Paris. On arrival, he founded his own label with a 1997 show in a Bastille bar inspired by the David Cronenberg film Crash — and got himself labelled the bad boy of fashion. Even tacky. But he didn’t care.

“It was a badge of honour,” he says. “Because people like Jean Paul Gaultier, who I admired, had had some of those same terms.” Scott admits he did feel put in a box. But what a nice, silk-lined box it was: “My career looked fabulous. My life looked fabulous.” Some afternoons he would jump on a plane with Lagerfeld. “Karl was like, ‘Oh, let’s go to Monaco,’” he says. “And I’m suddenly on a private jet — with no suitcase.”

He was rumoured to have turned down top jobs at Chloé and Pucci.

Eventually, though, he needed to grow creatively, “And I wasn’t going to be able to do it in Paris. That’s why I decided to move to Los Angeles.” In LA in 2001, Scott felt inspired again. “I felt an energy, a creativity, something that wasn’t quite defined, and it felt wild and exciting and new.” This was long before Hedi Slimane moved the Saint Laurent HQ there, in 2012.

For a time, Scott seemed to stay afloat through brand partnerships with, among others, Barbie, Longchamp, Swatch and Adidas. His winged sneakers and money-print shoes for Adidas became cult classics, but he remained niche. In 2013, he finally said yes to a big brand: Moschino.

While he had always owned his own label outright, he was to be a full-time

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Known for his speed and the raw, simple nature of his portraits, photographer Andy Gotts is the world’s hardest-working celebrity stalker WORDS: CHRIS ANDERSON

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nstead of trying to name all of the celebrities he has worked with, it is much easier for British photographer Andy ‘One Shot’ Gotts to list those that have so far evaded his lens. As his new book of portraits, The Photograph, shows, many famous names have stepped in front of his camera, captured quickly in his distinctive clean style, with the images featuring in magazines and newspapers, galleries and exhibitions, and even earning him an MBE from Queen Elizabeth II for services to photography.

It seems that the key to his success is persistence, and not to shy away from asking his celebrity subjects who else they can recommend him to. “So Dustin Hoffman introduced me to Brad Pitt,” Gotts revealed in an interview with The Gentleman’s Journal. “Brad suggested George Clooney. Clooney recommends me to Julia Roberts. Julia introduces Susan Sarandon. Susan said I should shoot Paul Newman…”

The last name is of particular significance, as it was the late Newman who awarded Gotts his nickname, One Shot Gotts, in honour of his chatty, quickfire technique. “One of the highlights of my career, without doubt,” Gotts told the BBC. “Paul was the most gentleman of gentlemen.

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He didn’t believe any photographer could get a shot so quickly, so when I said, ‘Mr Newman, we have it,’ he replied, ‘Mr Gotts, your reputation is justified, you really are a one-shot guy. Hey, you’re One Shot Gotts!’”

The book is packed with famous faces, with many accompanied by anecdotes from Gotts himself. “I shot George Clooney at his Lake Como residence in Italy,” he reveals. “It felt more like a five-star hotel than a private house. George disappeared to find a plain white wall for the shoot. He had these three pet ducks, and while I was waiting my tripod hit a bookshelf and a very large world atlas fell onto one of them. In a panic – and not knowing what to do with an unconscious duck – I kicked it across the room!

“George soon re-emerged wearing a pirate’s hat from a dinner party the previous night. When I pointed out what a fool he looked, he started roaring with laughter – there was my pic! Then suddenly, there was a muffled quack, and a dazed duck waddled across the floor. I let out a nervous giggle…”

Other celebrities featured via portraits and contact sheets include Scarlett Johansson, Dolly Parton, Rita Ora, Kylie Minogue, Ringo Starr, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Daniel

Opening page: Scarlett Johansson These pages, from left to right: George Clooney; Robert de Niro; Ringo Starr

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The shot is De Niro impersonating Pacino doing an impersonation of De Niro’

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These pages, clockwise from far right: Kylie Minogue, Robert de Niro; Meryl Streep; Scarlett Johansson; Kate Moss; Ringo Starr; Penelope Cruz; George Clooney

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Craig and Michael Caine, with some sharing their own accounts of working with Gotts. All images share similar traits – shot speedily, with minimal make-up, simple lighting, and no editing or post-production. A refreshing change perhaps, even for subjects used to being photographed regularly.

Which brings to mind supermodel Kate Moss. “I wanted Kate’s image to be more of a portrait than a fashion shoot,” Gotts admits. “The focus was on her and not what she was wearing.

But she’s great to work with. Some supermodels act like supermodels, but Kate Moss acts like Kate Moss, really down to earth. She invites you into her house, sits on the sofa and then tells funny stories about her mates.”

You have to wonder if a particular star has ever made Gotts feel intimidated.

Robert De Niro, perhaps? “That shoot was done at the Dorchester Hotel in London, and he was an hour late, made 52

worse by the fans trying to get to him in the lobby,” Gotts recalls. “He wore an old blazer and a captain’s hat, and told me to call him Bob. We did a few shots, and the conversation turned to voices and impressions. I asked him if he ever gets bored of people mimicking his line from Taxi Driver, the infamous, ‘You talkin’ to me?’ He said he didn’t, but then asked if I’d ever heard Al Pacino do the impression? I started shooting again as he screwed up his face and barked out several times, ‘You talkin’ to me?’ The shot is De Niro impersonating Pacino doing an impersonation of De Niro!”

Other memorable shoots include Meryl Streep. “I wanted dramatic lighting, and her personal make-up artist told me, ‘Ms Streep is never lit like that in her photographs,’ so I made up an excuse for him to fetch the PR guy and just carried on, giggling like a naughty schoolboy,” Gotts admits.

There was more laughter with

supermodels act like supermodels, ‘ I Some but Kate Moss acts like Kate Moss ’

Penelope Cruz. “She turned up with her husband, Javier Bardem, who I’d shot before, and he wanted to say hi,” reveals Gotts. “But he kept making comments to her in Spanish, her cheeks would turn bright red and she’d burst into hysterical laughter. And I wanted serious, brooding shots. In the end, I made Javier wait outside, and that just made her laugh even more.”

And of course, there is the celebrity who started it all. “Stephen Fry came to my college where I was studying photography in 1990 to give a talk,” says Gotts. “I set up a makeshift studio in an adjoining room, then went to the Q&A where I put up my hand and asked him if he’d come next door for a photo. After rolling his eyes and checking his watch, he agreed. He gave me 90 seconds, and I took 10 shots.”

In that moment, Gotts realised that he wanted to specialise in celebrity portraits, with the snowball effect beginning quite

quickly. Fry, impressed with a Polaroid that Gotts had given him, showed it to his friends, Kenneth Branagh and then-wife Emma Thompson, who got in touch asking for their own portraits.

The shoot Gotts arranged was then interrupted by Derek Jacobi, and so the process continued for the next 30 years.

Gotts admits that all of his shoots are arranged through word of mouth, that he never takes an assistant along to keep just one pair of eyes on his subject, and he tries not to overdirect, letting the moment flow. With a new book to be proud of collating his work, it seems that his approach has paid off. “I’m honoured to do it,” he says. “Not a day goes by when I don’t consider how many photographers would jump into my shoes to do what I do. I’m very lucky and I know it.”

The Photograph by Andy Gotts is available now from ACC Art Books, accartbooks.com

These pages, from left to right: Meryl Streep; Kate Moss; Penelope Cruz 53

Original influencer, ubiquitous party girl, entitled heiress… and now lovedup domestic goddess. Will the real Paris Hilton please stand up?

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WORDS: MARTHA HAYES

The

Real Paris 54

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irrored disco balls, chandeliers you could swing from and a large neon Ernest Hemingway quote that reads, ‘I drink to make other people more interesting.’

I’m in ‘Club Paris’, the exclusive yet infamous party room that’s played host to hundreds of revellers over the past 15 years, at Paris Hilton’s multimilliondollar Beverly Hills mansion, in a private gated community off Hollywood’s iconic Mulholland Drive.

I wish I could say I’m on the dance floor, drink in hand. Instead, it’s 11.30am on a weekday morning and I’m waiting for the heiress (to the Hilton hotel chain) turned entrepreneur on a plush grey sofa, surrounded by black-and-white sequinned cushions of her face. Yes, Paris Hilton’s home furnishings are as extra as you might expect.

The 40-year-old former It girl shuffles into the room quietly 15 minutes later. In the early 2000s, she was as famous for partying as she was for carrying miniature dogs around in designer handbags and appearing on the hit US reality show The Simple Life. Over 13 million viewers tuned in to watch Paris and fellow socialite Nicole Richie leave behind their mobile phones, celebrity status and LA lifestyles to live with a family in Arkansas and fail to hold down manual, low-paying jobs like farming and working for a fast-food chain.

Yet today there is no grand entrance.

She isn’t flanked by publicists or bodyguards. Neither is she top-to-toe in labels, monograms or Swarovski crystals (all of which she made popular back in the day). She’s wearing black sweatpants and a neon-striped Aviator Nation windbreaker jacket when she joins me on the sofa, and her once long, blonde Barbie-doll hair has been chopped into a chic bob.

But the biggest surprise is that ‘Club Paris’ is, in fact, no more. Her home, which she bought in 2008 (and was famously burgled by the Hollywood ‘Bling Ring’, about which Sofia Coppola made a film in 2013), recently underwent a two-year renovation.

And what I’m seeing today are merely the remnants of the decadence and debauchery that once went on here.

“I’m grown-up now, so now this room is a movie theatre,” she says, reaching 56

They kept looking at me as The ‘Simple Life character and I just felt there’s so much more to me ’

for a cashmere blanket to wrap herself up in. “I’m so over going to parties. I never thought I would say that. I used to live for the nightlife. Now I couldn’t care less. I love being at home watching Netflix and cooking with my love [her fiancé Carter Milliken Reum – more on him later] and our puppies [there are currently six, named Diamond Baby, Harajuku, Crypto, Ether, Slivington and Cutesie, and their breeds range from Pomeranian to Chihuahua]. It’s nice to be with someone where you don’t even want to go out because it’s more fun being at home together. I have lived 10 million lifetimes. I’m ready for the real simple life.”

Paris is so domesticated these days that she has a new TV show to prove it.

Cooking With Paris, which launched

on Netflix in August, follows her as she tries out new recipes in her kitchen – opulent (marble counters, gold taps) with a sprinkling of Paris (a pink food processor, coffee mugs branded with her catchphrase ‘Loves It’) – joined in each episode by a different celebrity friend from Kim Kardashian to Demi Lovato. Before taking part in the show, the only thing she could cook was the lasagne recipe her mother, Kathy Hilton, taught her as a child. “She’s part Italian so she makes the best lasagne,” Paris explains. “Growing up, I was always in the kitchen with her cutting things up like a little sous chef.” I don’t think she’ll mind me saying she was approached by Netflix after she made the lasagne for her YouTube channel and got 5.1 million views, rather than

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as a result of her culinary talents.

The show is very Paris: boldly tonguein-cheek with a ‘fun and playful’ vibe that will appeal to The Simple Life fans. Think Paris dressed in a hot-pink ballgown riffling through the fruit and veg section of a supermarket. “What do chives look like?” she asks the grocer. “What do I do with them?”

In episode one, Kim Kardashian (who was Paris’ stylist and friend long before she became famous for Keeping Up With The Kardashians in 2007) joins Paris for breakfast in her kitchen, which ”looks like if Barbie or a Disney Princess had a kitchen. It’s very fun and girly and cute,” she says. They reminisce about their days of partying in Ibiza, while attempting to make French toast, frittata and blue marshmallows (inspired by Paris’s favourite American breakfast cereal – the marshmallowladen Lucky Charms). The producer has to show Paris where her blender is.

I’m particularly fascinated by Paris’s newfound domesticity because when I first met her, just two years ago, she was still very much a party girl, albeit a business-savvy one who was travelling 250 days of the year to DJ all over the world (Paris has made a name for herself in the industry and started a coveted annual residency at Ibiza super club Amnesia in 2013). “I invented getting paid to party,” she told me proudly, back then, along with how she felt “forever 21”.

But that was before her extraordinary feature-length YouTube documentary, This Is Paris, was released in September 2020. Whether you have long dismissed her as a poor little rich party girl, or recognise her as a business mogul with a multibilliondollar empire (consisting of 45 branded stores, 19 product lines and 27 fragrances), the documentary, which has had over 22 million views to date, will make you question everything you thought you knew about Paris Hilton.

Paris initially signed up to make the documentary because she felt underestimated and misunderstood (“People didn’t see the businesswoman I am and all that I have created,” she says, “they kept looking at me as The Simple Life character and I just felt there’s so much more to me”), but ended up opening up about a childhood trauma she had long suppressed.

When Paris was 17, her parents Kathy 58

and Richard Hilton (the grandson of Hilton hotel founder Conrad Hilton) sent her to a psychiatric residential treatment centre in Utah.

They believed an 11-month stay at Provo Canyon School for ‘troubled teens’ would curb her partying, as she was regularly sneaking out of the family’s home to go to nightclubs.

What unfolds in the documentary is that Paris, along with many other students at the school, was emotionally and physically abused and left with insomnia, anxiety and trust issues.

Her parents only found out about the abuse when they watched the documentary with their daughter last year. “I made a promise to myself when I left there that I would never think about it or talk about it with my friends or family so nobody ever knew,” Paris explains.

That must have come as a terrible shock? “They were heartbroken and crying,” reveals Paris. “My mom was shaking. She was like, ‘I am so sorry. I had no idea. I thought it was a normal boarding school.’ But they couldn’t have known; these schools manipulate the parents as much as the kids. They would tell the parents, ‘Your kid’s gonna say, ‘I want to come home, they’re doing this and that to me,’ but they’re just lying, don’t believe them.’”

Paris has since worked with Breaking Code Silence (an organisation created to eradicate the mistreatment of children in systemically abusive institutions) to successfully pass a bill putting certain regulations in place (for example, a ban on chemical sedation and unauthorised mechanical restraints) in Utah’s ‘troubled teen’ centres. She hopes to go to Washington, DC to get the same bill passed in every state.

At the time, Paris felt very resentful and angry towards her parents “because I was a teenager,” she points out. “Who wouldn’t be?” Now, as an adult looking back on it, she says, “I understand so much more. If I have a daughter one day and she’s 16 and sneaking out to nightclubs, I’ll freak out.” The film, she says, has brought her closer to her parents, “because they understand me more”. The same could be said for the rest of the world. After all, the real takeaway from This Is Paris is that the Paris Hilton playing out her life in the public eye – complete with highpitched baby voice and phrases like

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‘That’s hot’ (which she trademarked) – is merely a character she created.

“When I got out of the school, at 18, I didn’t want to think about [the abuse] so I invented this whole new persona – a Barbie doll with a perfect life,” she explains. She adopted the voice for The Simple Life and found herself having to do it again and again when the show kept being recommissioned.

“Then the world just saw me like that, so I was like, ‘OK,’” she shrugs.

“When the media would talk negatively about me, I would just be like, ‘That’s not even who I am. I’m the smart one because I made up this character and I’m laughing all the way to the bank.’ Nothing could hurt me. It was like wearing a shield.”

Even when the coverage was particularly nasty? After all, she’s had tabloids following her since her 60

late teens; their interest peaking when a tape she appeared in was leaked and released as 1 Night in Paris by her ex-boyfriend Rick Salomon in 2004. (In This Is Paris, Paris reveals she was pressured into making the film, aged 19, and likens it to being “electronically raped”.)

“I was so vilified all the time, people were so mean about me, making up stories every second,” she recalls. “In the beginning, I would cry and call my mom, but then I got used to it over the years. My mom would say, ‘That’s just how it is in this business.

Your family, friends and everyone who loves you know that that’s not who you are, so don’t pay attention.’”

There are striking parallels between Paris’s experience in Utah – the fear that she wouldn’t be believed and subsequent pretence

that life was ‘perfect’ in order to cope – and what Britney Spears’s recent testimony revealed about the conservatorship that has controlled her life for the past 13 years.

Paris says it was heartbreaking to hear her friend take the stand but hopes it leads to her freedom. “I knew she was being controlled but I had no idea it was on that level,” she admits. “She has never spoken up like that before, so it made me proud to hear her using her voice. We were last in touch a few months ago and I’m sending her so much love.”

Paris, who is the oldest of four siblings (her sister Nicky was born in 1983; her brothers, Barron and Conrad, in 1989 and 1994 respectively), was born in New York. Hers was a wealthy and privileged upbringing (her father is said to be worth $350 million),

Credit: © Martha Hayes / Telegraph Media Group Limited 2021

split between homes in Los Angeles and New York, and her grandfather Barron Hilton’s Nevada ranch on a 7,139-acre estate. Paris is reluctant to talk about growing up as a Hilton, although she does recall being a tomboy. “I loved playing outside, fishing and playing sport,” she recalls.

In This Is Paris, Nicky – who, alongside Paris, had her very first taste of fame when the sisters (then aged 16 and 19) had their pictures taken by cult photographer David LaChapelle for a story called ‘Hip-Hop Debs’ in the September 2000 issue of Vanity Fair – recalls with glee what a tomboy Paris was, and still is, and notes that ‘her brand is more glamorous than she is’.

“I’m definitely an undercover nerd,” laughs Paris when I bring it up. “I’ve always been like that. I’m really into video games, crypto, tech and gadgets. I like going to arcades to play race-car games or fighting games like Mortal Kombat. A lot of people don’t believe it but I’m very shy.”

Secretly shy, but admittedly an ‘open book’ after the documentary, the next chapter for Paris should be an interesting one. She’s just signed a lucrative two-year deal with Warner Brothers to develop, executive produce and star in original unscripted TV, and first up is Paris in Love, where she’ll document the run-up to her forthcoming wedding to 40-year-old Carter, a tech startup entrepreneur and investor.

Details are top-secret, but she mentions “wedding gowns” so we can safely assume there’ll be a few costume changes on the big day. Her dream dress “used to be very princess”, she admits, “now, I’m thinking more elegant, but still like, Paris-ised.” And anyone hoping for diva moments will be disappointed: “I’m the opposite of a Bridezilla,” she promises.

Paris had to convince camera-shy Carter. “I explained to him, ‘This is not a reality show. It’s an elevated docu-series,’” she says proudly. “He loves me so much he agreed!”

It must be refreshing to be with someone who doesn’t court publicity.

When we last spoke, Paris said she found it hard to trust her romantic partners – and who can blame her?

“Carter is the opposite of every guy I’ve ever met before”’ she confirms with a

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I invented this Barbie doll persona... It was like wearing a shield

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smile. “He’s very business-focused and not into the Hollywood scene. I’ve never experienced that before, so it’s amazing to know that someone loves me for me and doesn’t want the spotlight.”

The couple got together on Thanksgiving 2019, but Paris has known Carter and his family (of considerable wealth: Carter’s father Robert Reum was chairman of Amsted Industries, ranked one of America’s largest private companies by Forbes) for 15 years.

They haven’t spent a night apart since.

Of course, quarantine enforced that recently, but it helps that they’re both workaholics. “We push each other to be the best versions of ourselves,” she says.

Proud to be thought of as the original influencer before there was even a name for it (“Other influencers are like, ‘You are the OG! You created this!

I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing if it wasn’t for you’”), Paris’s constantly evolving personal brand has recently pivoted into the arena of podcasts (interviewing friends and family for iHeartRadio’s This Is Paris) and the digital-art world of NFTs (nonfungible tokens). She also has plans for a second memoir (set to be a very different read to her fluffy first effort, Confessions of an Heiress, in 2004).

“Success has driven me my whole life, especially after what I went through as a teenager,” she says.

“I never wanted to be known as a Hilton-hotel granddaughter, I wanted to be known as Paris.” And that means it’s hard to delegate, even with a big team around her. “I just feel like if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”

But, despite her once claiming she wouldn’t stop working until she had made a billion dollars, it seems her and Carter’s plans to start a

family are what she’s really focused on next. The couple are currently undergoing fertility treatment.

While her reasons for embarking on IVF are not public, her recent comments that she was motivated by a desire to ‘pick’ twins weren’t well received by the IVF community. “I don’t know anything about how this all works,” she says vaguely, “but it’s my dream to have a boy and a girl.” The production team behind Paris in Love are keen to document the journey, so perhaps it will become clearer then.

Paris may not act like a 21-yearold any more, but she still looks like one. Her anti-ageing secret? Tech, naturally. She’s just ordered her own hyperbaric oxygen chamber and regularly uses a microcurrent device called NeurotriS, said to be the most advanced personal face and body toner, which Madonna also swears by. “I’ve never done an injection – no Botox, no fillers,” she says. “Most of my friends have been doing that for years, since they were in their 20s, but I’m so happy that I’ve not done anything.”

Her style, on the other hand, has definitely matured for the better.

Case in point, the chic spring/ summer 2021 Lanvin campaign she was recently the face of. “I used to have more of a Barbie-raver, clubkid vibe and now I’m more elegant and wearing Lanvin, Valentino and Oscar de la Renta,” she reflects.

It must be strange seeing all the things she popularised in the 2000s – Juicy Couture velour tracksuits and Von Dutch hats – on Gen Z. “Everything I wore back in the day when people thought I was nuts,” she laughs. “It was like, ‘What is she wearing?’ Now everyone is wearing it.”

Before I leave, I ask Paris if her dogs still reside in their two-storey Spanish-style villa because, frankly, along with Club Paris, it’s the stuff of legend. She takes me downstairs to the pool area where the 300-square-foot doggy mansion stands before us, in all its glory, and miniature dogs clamour around our feet. I ask if I can take a picture and, before I know it, Paris – dogs in hand – is posing up a storm.

A lot might have changed, I think, but there’s plenty that hasn’t.

And somehow, something tells me we’ll always have Paris.

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Motoring

AIR

OCTOBER 2021 : ISSUE 121

In With The Old To celebrate 70 years since Jaguar’s first victory at Le Mans, the company is offering a limited number of authentic recreations of the Jaguar C-Type that won it WORDS: CHRIS ANDERSON 62

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his year is a busy one for Jaguar in terms of celebrating milestones.

There is the 60th anniversary of the iconic E-Type, introduced as a two-seater open-top roadster in 1961, and referred to by Enzo Ferrari as “the most beautiful car in the world.” The same year also saw the release of the Mark X, Jaguar’s flagship saloon throughout the 1960. Then there’s 25 years of the XK two-door grand tourer, made from 1996 until 2014; and two decades of the X-Type, first introduced in 2001.

But of all the Jaguar birthdays, only one will be honoured with a special Continuation model. This is when the Jaguar Classic division of the company is tasked with hand-building a limited run of authentic replicas, based on a car from the past. Since the Continuation line began, the engineers have remade the Lightweight E-Type from 1963, and two cars from the 1950s, the D-Type and the XKSS. Now the attention turns to the C-Type, a car that Jaguar used to win its first Le Mans 24 Hours race back in 1951 – 70 years ago. Bristol Aircraft Company aerodynamicist Malcom Sawyer, who had joined Jaguar in 1950 (and would later design the E-Type), was tasked with creating the car’s slippery, flowing body, mounted over a lightweight tubular frame.

Fitted with an uprated 3.4-litre straight-six engine, the initial batch of three C-Types were designed, built and tested in just six months, then driven from the UK factory in Coventry to France for Le Mans. Peter Walker and Peter Whitehead won the race in their C-Type, with the other two cars retiring.

But with its first major win, Jaguar was clearly onto something. It tried to improve the car for the 1952 race, but the changes actually made it overheat, and all three retired. Luckily, the following year would see the C-Type’s biggest success at Le Mans overall, and it is actually this version, the 1953 model, that the Continuation is based on.

The body was switched to thinner, lighter aluminium, with Weber carburettors to increase the power output to 220hp. Then, when the C-Type won the Reims Grand Prix in France, driven by Stirling Moss, its new innovative brake-disc system, developed in partnership with Dunlop – a first for the industry – was hailed a success, 64

‘

With each model rumoured to cost nearly AED10.15 million, some care when driving may be required

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and that too found its way onto the car, with 16in 60-spoke wire wheels to keep them cool. It all helped Jaguar to come first, second and fourth at the 1953 Le Mans, and marked the first time that a race had been won by an average speed of over 100mph (161km/h).

Further innovations saw the car give way to the D-Type, and in total just 53 C-Types were built – all to the lesserpowerful 1951-52 spec, which had the original drum brakes – with 43 sold to private owners, mainly in the US. But now, there is another chance to own one, and a more powerful version, with Jaguar Classic hand-building eight Continuation models at its site in Coventry, the car’s spiritual home.

Like the 1953 Le Mans-winning C-Type, the Continuation has all of that particular car’s improvements, from the brake discs to the aluminium body. Engineering documents and photographs from the archives were examined, with the information fed into 3D CAD (Computer Aided Design) software, and the customers’ preferences for the exterior and interior colours, as well as badges and optional extras, taken from an online configurator.

More than 2,000 parts used in the making of the C-Type were listed on the original ledger, and all needed to be recreated, or in some cases sourced. The

engine is identical, taking nine months to construct, and even the smallest details unique to a 1953 C-Type have been carried over, including the different fusebox cover it had to its predecessors.

In some cases, authentic parts from the 1950s have been refurbished, such as the Lucas rear-view mirrors, three-quarter Brooklands race screen and Smiths clocks. This process was described as “an exhausting treasure hunt.”

Other gauges and clocks, including the rev counter, needed to be recreated, with the ignition switch and start-up procedure just as it was back then.

Hardura trim, leather seats and a Bluemel steering wheel finish the interior nicely.

So where can you drive your C-Type Continuation? It is not actually road legal, thanks to its 1950s technology and specifications, so the track is the best option, or maybe a historic race series, such as the Jaguar Classic Challenge, taking place at a number of locations worldwide, including Le Mans. However, with prices for each model rumoured to cost nearly £2 million ($2.7 million), some care when driving might be required. Still, with an original C-Type raced in 1954 selling for US$13.2 million (AED48.47 million) at an auction in California in 2015, it could well be considered a bargain.

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Gastronomy OCTOBER 2021: ISSUE 121

AIR

Take a Bow

As 50 Best gets set to shine a belated spotlight on the region’s restaurants, AIR meets Its director of content, William Drew WORDS: JOHN THATCHER

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he late Gary Rhodes was a rare breed. Though the GCC has seen a plethora of other Michelin-star-toting chefs decamp to our desert cities to open restaurants, they’ve done so in name only, leaving other chefs in situ to do the cooking and only pitching up a couple of times a year to host events and charm attendees.

Gary Rhodes did it differently. His UK restaurants garnered four Michelin stars down the years, yet when he decided to open a restaurant in Dubai he made the move permanent, devoting time to the region and helping to mould its culinary landscape by significantly improving standards.

Were he alive today, Rhodes would no doubt sport a proud smile as the region he did so much to elevate – a region that, for whatever reason, has been long overlooked by the likes of Michelin – will finally receive the recognition it so richly deserves.

That recognition comes in the form of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, a panel-led body that votes annually to compile its global list (which is actually a top 120) but also tallies Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants and Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants, both

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since 2013. In February 2022, the inaugural Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants will be staged, a nod to the region’s ever-evolving, ever-improving gastronomic offering.

Has this acknowledgment come late?

“Yes, absolutely,” replies William Drew, director of content at 50 Best, sharing the opinion that the region’s recognition is long overdue. “50 Best is launching Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants to shine a much-deserved spotlight on the region as a world-class culinary destination.

Abu Dhabi specifically [which plays host to the awards ceremony] has been establishing itself as a culinary force for some time, with the launch of initiatives such as Abu Dhabi Culinary Season, the Emirati Cuisine Programme, and the Abu Dhabi Food Festival.

“Over the last decade or more, the likes of Abu Dhabi have attracted major international chefs to open high-profile restaurants, which has in turn led to the more recent rise of home-grown Emirati talent, now gradually coming to the fore.”

Yet were you to trawl through 50 Best’s global lists from past years, you’ll find two UAE restaurants, Zuma

Dubai and LPM, made the grade as far back as 2013. They remained near the tail end of the top 100 the following year, before failing to surface again. No other regional restaurant has featured since. A lack of focus from 50 Best? A dearth of regional experts available to vote? High standards not being met by the restaurants? Whatever the reason, Drew will not be drawn.

“There are myriad explanations as to why restaurants might move on or off the list or why some regions have a strong showing or lack representation,” he says. “It could be an indication of shifting culinary tastes, or it could also represent that a geographical area is becoming more important. We do not disclose details about the numbers of votes restaurants have received in order to make the list. Equally, we do not comment on restaurants that are not on the list, ensuring the positive celebration of restaurants and chefs that 50 Best seeks to promote.”

Neither will we know who the voters are, only that that they number 250 and are comprised of “anonymous restaurant experts from across MENA.” A huge number of experts, then. So how will they evaluate the restaurants

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The list will be a true reflection of the greatest eating destinations across the Middle East and North Africa

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Opening pages: dishes from Mirazur, France, the current number one restaurant in the world Opposite pages, clockwise from top left: a dish from Geranium, currently ranked at number five in the World’s 50 Best; a dish from Dubai’s LPM; Geranium; LPM Right: William Drew

under their watch? “That is up to each voter to decide – as everyone’s tastes are different, so is everyone’s idea of what constitutes a great restaurant experience. Of course, the quality of food is going to be central, as is the service – but the style of both, the surroundings, atmosphere, and indeed the price level are each more or less important for each different individual.

Restaurants do not have to fit a certain criterion,” reveals Drew. “This is not intended as a ‘fine dining’ list. or as a list with any such specification, but a true reflection of the greatest eating destinations across the Middle East and North Africa. The list may comprise secret local spots alongside high-profile names, established classics next to daring innovators.”

More than simply rate restaurants, 50 Best is a custodian of the industry.

That was highlighted during the worst of the pandemic, when restaurants were shuttered and the industry was brought to its knees. To help, 50 Best launched 50 Best for Recovery, an

“overarching program to help provide tangible financial relief for the industry, as well as helpful resources for restaurant businesses as they emerge from the pandemic and seek actionable advice and support,” states Drew. A fund of US$1.29 million was raised and donated to restaurants, bars and non-profit organizations supporting the sector.

As the surviving restaurants reemerged, how does Drew think they have been shaped by the pandemic? “I believe it has accelerated and intensified existing shifts towards more sustainable food systems and more sustainable restaurant systems – by the latter, I mean a healthier and more humane working environment and structure to hospitality businesses,” suggests Drew.

“People will continue to value outstanding experiences, though those experiences will not necessarily be ‘formal’, in the more traditional fine-dining manner.”

Undoubtedly the biggest post-pandemic transformation has taken place at New York’s Eleven Madison Park, one of 50 Best’s ‘Best of the Best’ restaurants

[its wait list for a table was recently reported to be 15,000]. It has reopened to serve a vegan-only menu. Does Drew see this move as trend setting? “It was a brave and forward-thinking move that is likely to have a ‘trickle down’ effect,” he says. “For the highest-profile restaurant in the U.S. to have taken this step is a statement in and of itself — and that’s clearly part of why Daniel Humm is doing it. People pay attention to what is happening at high-profile restaurants.

If other chefs and restaurateurs see that he’s made a success of this — and I’m confident that he will — then they will think maybe they can do it. And a lot of talented chefs will pass through that kitchen and they will come out believing that vegetables are just as valuable as steak or lobster, or those products that traditionally connote luxury.”

Whether or not we’ll one day have our own answer to Eleven Madison Park in the GCC, there’s no doubt that 50 Best’s long overdue arrival in the region will ensure the culinary scene continues to develop and set new standards.

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JOURNEYS BY JET

Four Seasons Hotel Madrid

AIR

Spain

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n award for the world’s friendliest, most welcoming hotel may not exist, but if it did, we’d wager a thick wedge of cash that Four Seasons Hotel Madrid would take the crown. It’s not just that the ear-wide smiles and spoken pleasantries that greet you each time you enter the hotel’s resplendent lobby are dispensed with genuine warmth, more that the staff here clearly derive such pleasure from ensuring your stay is memorable – taking your children on a hotel-wide hunt for gold coins left over from when the building was a bank; adapting the offering at Dani (the eponymous brasserie from Dani Garcia, whose restaurants have served up a trio of Michelin stars) to suit both young and old; or an impromptu tasting of the local wines before dinner.

This is a hotel that aims to please and hits the target time and again.

And well might the staff here be proud of their hotel. Situated in the heart of the city, it comprises seven historical buildings which date to the 19th century and served as the headquarters of Spanish bank Banesto until 2004 – some of the fixtures and fittings restored and repurposed to honour the building’s legacy, most strikingly in the beautiful Royal Suite, an expansive space which formerly hosted the bank’s management team.

The hotel’s spa is even more splendorous. Stacked over four floors, it’s topped by a 14-metre indoor pool, which a skylight runs the length of to flood the whole space in natural light. Better still is the adjacent sun terrace, where relaxing day beds look out across the city to the hills beyond.

It’s on another terrace that your days begin (and really should) end – rooftop brasserie Dani. Here, the flavours drawn from simple ingredients are sensational, not least the tomatoes, slathered on slices of multigrain toast at breakfast, as is the Spanish tradition; presented in gel form at the centre of one of Dani’s signature dishes at dinner, an outstanding nitro tomato and green gazpacho, ringed by a baby shrimp tartare.

Dani offers everything a brasserie should, but with a flair normally confined to fine dining establishments. Fitting, then, that it literally crowns this truly landmark hotel.

Land your jet at Madrid Barajas International Airport, from where a prearranged limousine transfer to the hotel takes 25 minutes.

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What I Know Now

AIR

OCTOBER 2021: ISSUE 121

Hélène Poulit-Duquesne CEO, BOUCHERON What defines a successful person?

Success is not an end in itself, more an ongoing journey, both professionally and personally. Being such a subjective notion, what makes me feel successful professionally is when I see progress and find sense in what I am doing. This is why I am more attached to little daily achievements and joys. Personal success is much more of an objective to me and I would consider myself successful, with a balanced, meaningful life lived for others, fuelled by passion and filled with serenity.

One thing I do every day is review the business results of our global boutiques, which I receive every morning at around 10am. Regardless of the results, it is always exciting to learn of our 72

performance, and I always send a text message to the local teams right away to congratulate them when I discover a big sale. This is my way to create pride and foster emulation among our salespeople.

On a more personal note, as I drink a lot of coffee in the morning, I also tend to balance it with a detox juice of fresh fruits and vegetables.

A lesson I learned the hard way was at the beginning of my career. At the time, I was chief of staff to the general manager of LVMH. For four years I had the chance to nurture close and unique professional relationships with top managers, and I was aware of all business trends and decisions. Although I loved it, I decided to change careers, and took on a new role in marketing. Taking a step back

and almost starting from scratch taught me humility. Years later, and quite surprisingly, I realised that those four years had given me a global vision of the luxury industry, and that I owe my career to the experience of deciding to regress in order to progress at a later stage.

What inspires me outside of work is nature, and especially horses. For me, the essence of horse riding is all about collaboration, mutual respect and humility. You cannot force a horse to do something; you have to make it accept to do it. It is the essence of management also. Leadership is not about power. True leadership is about inspiring people and making them feel safe, while following you. It is about real trust.

Wash Basin and WC: RAK-VALET Furniture: RAK-JOY UNO Wall and Floor: TOKYO CONCRETE

CALIBER RM 63-02 WORLD TIMER

RICHARD MILLE BOUTIQUE DUBAI | ABU DHABI | RIYADH | KUWAIT | DOHA | ISTANBUL | MOSCOW

www.richardmille.com