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contents
spring 2011
INTERNATIONAL LIFE
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international insight luxury inspiration business
Issue V
best of london: Catch the Chelsea Flower Show in full bloom and the beauty of the beast at The Animal Art Fair in Fulham
POLO’S FUTURE: Octavia Campbell-Davys believes we could one day be cheering on the national team on the sports channel
WATCH gallery: 70’s retro design chic from France’s oldest watchmaker, inspired by travel and technology JEWEL IN THE CROWN: In search of the perfect ring for a dazzling spring/summer matrimony. William and Kate watch this space DIGITAL FUTURE: Dr Mark I. Williams discusses the impact of cloud technology across the business sector and explains why 2011 is the ‘year of the cloud’ MENTORS: International Life talk to six outstanding Business Mentors and they reveal their own personal journey and how that’s informed their approach to dealing with clients PHILANTHROPY: Witness, the non-profit human rights organisation showcases work from a collection of esteemed artists; produced to raise funds and awareness of violations across the globe THE BUSINESS MENTOr: Business Guardian Angel, Phil Jones talks about some salutary lessons from his time in business and why he values an objective voice in the boardroom investment: Peter Doherty examines the bold strategies adopted by the government of St Kitts to attract wealthy investors to this idyllic Caribbean hideaway ONE MINUTE ENTREPRENEUR: Max Parker takes the hotseat and waxes lyrical about the responsibilities of business ownership and what Mr Cameron and friends could do to help small businesses
Middle: Part of Philip Walwyn’s elegant home in St Kitts, he shares with artist Kate Spencer Bottom: Handmade backgammon set from master craftsmen, Geoffrey Parker Games
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contents
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FASHION: Yves de Contades captures the freedom and simplicity of private aviation and a fantastic summer wardrobe too PSYCHOLOGY: Cecilia d‘Felice examines our love affair with screen technology and ponders the effects on human relationships Travel - Berlin: International Life spent 24 hours in Berlin and loved the Boutique design hotels, world class arts and lashings of Absinthe LOndon Fashion Week AW11: Sara Darling gives her thoughts on signature trends for autumn/winter 2011 and James Nixon points his lens at some of the UK’s home grown talent technology: International Life rounds up a collection of futuristic fantasy buys from the world of technology, automobiles and horology FOOD: Iqbal Wahhab’s New York sojourn allows him to indulge a little at Le Bernardin and discover the local obsession with chicken wings Film: Martin Gutteridge-Hewitt interviews the legend that is Chilly Gonzalez, reviews a Czech film on the reclusive North Korea and Aneka Chohan explains why we should respect and preserve old cinema BEAUTY: Geraldine Shaker reveals the science and competition behind the age-old search for eternal youth PROFILE: Design guru Harry Pearce talks about his involvement with Human Rights organisation ‘Witness’ and how graphic design can help change the world interiors: Ulla Kloster runs the rule over the design industry’s annual showcase Salone del Mobile and offers an intriguing insight in to Denmark’s Art enfant terrible, Kristian von Hornsleth London villages: Check out a lively bit of mayhem at The East End Film Festival and a selection from the impressive arts and events programme at Canary Wharf Food Reviews: Iqbal Wahhab delights in the food at ‘American barbecue’ inspired Barbecoa, but despairs at the service and gives a thumbs up to the direction of French restaurants in the capital Food & drink: Levanah Reyes-Wainwright finds that advances in food technology mean you no longer need the Doc and his DeLorean to see the future. It’s already here INSIGHT: Quentin Mackay argues for a re-education on the subject and meaning of ‘Luxury’ and believes those trading under this elite badge would fail a genuine lux M.O.T test hands down
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masthead The International Life brand is expressed through multiple media: quarterly magazine / website / e-newsletter / social media / video
Futures & Trends. Spring 2011
You. London. The World
W
e are often bombarded by hordes of researchers who pepper our inboxes with email questionnaires on ‘the future’ or ‘new trends’ and what qualifies a brand to call itself luxury. We’ve got our own intelligence on this because we spend a considerable amount of time talking to a high net worth audience and have factored their input into the discussion. That’s why we travel the world in search of great brands and brand experiences and filter them back as great destinations, investment opportunities or the next luxury brands. What defines true luxury? That’s another hot topic that won’t go away and purveyors of authentic luxury goods like Quentin Mackay are pretty forthright about those masquerading in this sector and call for a re-education of this often misused accolade. Wouldn’t this allow for a clear distinction between the luxury players and the pretenders? International Life
Publishers Managing Director: Yves de Contades yves@publishingsociety.com Managing Director: Peter Doherty peter@publishingsociety.com www.twitter.com/luxurybrand Editorial team Editor in Chief: Peter Doherty peter@publishingsociety.com Editorial Director: Yves de Contades yves@publishingsociety.com Editorial (Film): Martin Gutteridge-Hewitt martin@internationallife.tv Fashion Fashion: Sara Darling Photography: Yves de Contades Photographic Assistant: James Nixon Hair: Amanda Oliver www.amandaoliver.co.uk Make up: Vaida Mugenyte using Bacca cosmetics Assistant: Sophie Stafford Models: Vanessa Chromik at Lenis Models Rodrigo Muller at M and P Advertising Sales: 020 7932 0802 sales@internationallife.tv 07957 246 845 07939 285 296
Editorial Specialists Psychology: Dr Cecilia d’Felice Arts/Travel/India: Priyadarshini Kohli Scent: Celia Lyttelton Beauty: Geraldine Shaker Film: Martin Gutteridge-Hewitt Film: Aneka Chohan Boats and Sailing: Laura Aitken Polo: Octavia Campbell-Davys London/Travel: Kris Griffiths London: Clare Richardson Luxury Brands/Arts/Travel: Peter Doherty Fashion/Psychology/Tech: Yves de Contades Fashion: Sara Darling Fashion: Indian Princess Books: Victoria Maw Art: Gavin Haines Food & Drink/Travel: Iqbal Wahhab Food & Drink: Levanah Reyes-Wainwright Luxury: Quentin Mackay Interiors: Ulla Kloster Front cover credits Model: Rodrigo Muller at M and P Check shirt: Ermenegildo Zegna White trousers: Paul & Joe Belt: Zegna Watch: Chopard Ring: Theo Fennel Glasses: D Squared Ipad case in black woven buffalo: Quentin Mackay, £395
International Life is published quarterly by International Life Magazine Ltd., 35 Morland House, Marsham St, London SW1P 4JH. Registered Company No: 06532821. Telephone: 020 7932 0802. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the publishers. Transparencies and other material submitted for publication are sent at the owner’s risk and, while every care is taken, neither International Life Magazine Ltd, nor their agents accept any liability for loss or damage. Although International Life Magazine Ltd has endeavoured to ensure that all information inside the magazine is correct, prices and details may be subject to change. Opinions expressed are those of the contributors. Always seek independent advice before making any investment which is at your own risk. For subscriptions and back issues: email subscriptions@internationallife.tv for details.
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London best of
International Life has wandered the main arteries of this great city, taken the pulse, examined the lifeblood and compiled extensive notes. They’ve been distilled to their very core and sit on this page as a barometer of London in spring 2011
The Greatest Flower Show on Earth Nowhere makes gardening more fashionable than the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. A catwalk of colour and creativity, the brightest new ideas, the latest trends and the pinnacle of garden design make this show the one the world wants to see. Make sure you’re there to enjoy gardening at its most gorgeous and glamorous. The sheer diversity on display should satisfy city dwellers and country folk alike. For more information please contact: www.rhs.org.uk/flowershows Tickets: www.rhs.org.uk/Shows-Events/ RHS-Chelsea-Flower-Show/2011/Tickets. Buy tickets over the phone: 0844 338 7505 (overseas visitors call +44 121 767 4063)
Mixing it up at Proud2 Proud’s Las Vegas inspired club night at the O2, showcases their unique blend of live music, burlesque & circus performances, celebrity DJs and very special guests. You’ll spy regular clubgoers dressed in extravagant burlesque, circus and vintage attire. You’ll find the crowd on the dance-floor are predominantly twenty somethings, with the more mature clientele necking champagne in the VIP booths upstairs. This place has all the hallmarks of an Alex Proud venture; imaginative, daring and a little bit crazy, but that’s why it’s worth the effort. Dates: Every Fri. & Sat. www.proud2.com All tickets: www.viewlondon.co.uk/proud2 VIP access: Jamie@proud.co.uk
A vision for new artists DEBUT Contemporary is a mentorship and guidance scheme for ambitious aspiring artists, showcasing over 40 artists across the board from visual arts to performance, film, animation and music.
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Vibrant husband and wife duo Samir Ceric and Zoe Knight, have developed a pioneering ‘hub of talent’ framework in bohemian Notting Hill. One of its main objectives is to impart industry knowledge and advice to artists, enabling personal development and a sustained career in this field. www.firstwednesdays.co.uk
Beautiful beasts on canvas This is the second instalment of the Fulham Palace-based Animal Art fair which last year proved that there is a significant market for ‘animal art’, with over £500,000 worth of art sold. It’s a marketplace which offers direct access to the world of animal art, with no middle men, no galleries and no premium - just the opportunity to discover new talent and to buy directly from the artist. With the recession driving interest in art investment, the highly anticipated 2011 Animal Art Fair has seen strong demand for participation. Animal Art Fair (5-8th May) www.animalartfair.co.uk/visit-the-fair
Orchestral manoeuvres and a shy superstar Barbican theatre: April Music: José González performs with The Gothenburg String Theory. Mon. 11 April A special, one-off show sees the celebrated Swedish singer-songwriter performing with the maverick, 20 strong orchestral collective Gothenburg String Theory. Lush arrangements and bold instrumental. Music: Ron Sexsmith + special guests Saturday 30 April Darling of BBC4 and the current songwriter’s songwriter, the exquisitely voiced and painfully humble Canadian
presents a special evening with guests celebrating his upcoming release Long Player Late Bloomer. He is worthy.
Scandalously, hypnotic entertainment Barbican theatre: May Music: Group Doueh + Hayvanlar Alemi with Sublime Frequencies DJs Fri. 13 May Western Sahara’s Group Doueh play hypnotic rocking guitar tracks and meditative acoustic folk songs, whilst Turkish psychedelic phenomenon Hayvanlar Alemi cover international pop hits, fusing Thai rhythms, ska and Hawaiian surf music. Theatre: Barbican Theatre. The School for Scandal, Deborah Warner Wed. 11 May - Sat. 18 June The Barbican produces Sheridan’s masterful 18th century comedy The School for Scandal, directed by British theatre director Deborah Warner. The play, a coproduction with The Holland Festival, receives its world premiere in London. www.barbican.org.uk
The art of silk and cashmere Ascher’s ‘pop up’ residency in Brompton Cross may have ended but their SS11 collection is now available at several iconic independent stores around town. Their best selling navy Cashmere, titled ‘London 1944’, was originally design by Feliks Topolski for Ascher (in 1946). Ascher certainly have their stamp on vintage ‘cool’ with a commissioned collection from 20th Century greats that include Picasso, Matisse, Henry Moore, Zao Wou-Ki, Cecil Beaton, Barbara Hepworth, John Piper, Paul Nash, Graham Sutherland, Jean Cocteau and Ivon Hitchens. www.ascherstudio.co.uk or through Wolf & Badger W11 or Roullier White, SE22
best of london
The beauty of discovery Stanley Dyson and His School. A selection from the recently discovered private collection and portfolio of work by unknown artist and (secondary school) art teacher, Stanley Dyson (1920-2007) will be exhibited by Robert Young Antiques. As a lonely boy, Stanley would cycle across the Derbyshire peaks sketching local churches and landscapes. After attending art school in Liverpool, he returned to the Peak District to teach and paint. His work displays great subtlety in the use of colour and a striking graphic style with confident composition and an empathy and humanity with his subject matter. Sadly, this sensitive soul never offered for sale or even exhibited a single work right up until his death in 2007. His work was discovered during an attic clearout. This exhibition and sale will hopefully expose this gifted individual to his first, commercial audience. 17th March to 23rd April 2011 68 Battersea Bridge Road, London, SW11
Design: ‘John Makepeace ‘Enriching the Language of Furniture’ John Makepeace, ‘father of British furniture design’ is (belatedly) staging his first ever solo exhibition in association with the Arts Council in the stunning neoclassical environs of Somerset House. This celebration of John’s fifty years at the forefront of British design brings together twenty-five pieces from public and private collections in the UK and abroad, some not previously seen by the public. Recent work includes designs made in left hand page, top left: HM Queen at The Chelsea Flower Show top of page: Argentina’s Tango Fire at The Peacock Theatre middle left: Chill out at Proud2 at the O2 middle right: Gone but not forgotten. The work of artist, Stanley Dyson directly above: ‘Trine Chair’ by John Makepeace bottom right: Portraits galore at The Animal Art Fair
limited editions from a single tree. The exhibits will include the famous ‘Mitre’ chair made to celebrate HM the Queen and Prince Philip’s Silver Wedding Anniversary and ‘Ripple’ - a chest carved with wave forms penetrating the surface of the oak, from a tree planted in 1740 and harvested in 1980. Somerset House, London, until 15 April Crafts Study Centre, Farnham, Hampshire: 26 April - 16 July 2011 Lotherton Hall, Aberford, Leeds, Yorkshire: 23 Sept - 20 Nov 2011
Minimalism and desire Dance: Rosas. Early Works Sun. 10 - Sat. 16 April Tickets: £10 - £27 Sadler’s Wells has enjoyed a strong relationship with Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s Rosas since the company had its first performances here in 2002. The Early Works project is a look back at four of this pioneering contemporary dance company’s past works, which represent the early period in De Keersmaeker’s career. These pieces are characterised by a pared down movement vocabulary and the honing of dance elements to a pure minimum. Dance: Tango Fire - Flames of Desire (UK Premiere) Peacock Theatre Tues. 12 - Sat. 23 April Tickets: £15 - £42 Following sell-out seasons in New York, Barcelona, Hamburg, and Cape Town, Argentina’s dance company, Tango Fire, returns to the Peacock Theatre with its brand new show, Flames of Desire. The show recounts the history of tango from its origins in the dance halls of Buenos Aires through to its growing popularity as a contemporary dance form. Flames of Desire features ten dancers including three world tango champions, one of Argentina’s finest young singers and Quatrotango, a quartet of brilliant musicians. 30 minutes prior to each performance audiences are invited on the stage for a milonga, a traditional public dance practised in Argentina. For further information on Rosas and Tango Fire: www.sadlerswells.com www.internationallife.tv/london
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P
olo has been undergoing many changes in recent years and is beginning to register more and more interest in the general public. New patrons are breathing new life into the sport and blowing holes in its image of being purely elitist and prohibitively expensive. Clubs are springing up throughout the country and the players are becoming much smarter about how to promote themselves and keep the sport in the public eye. If you are aged up to twenty-one then your local pony club is a fantastic place to start playing. Clubs will also have reduced subs for young people which are well worth taking advantage of. For adults, if you take a look at the Hurlingham Polo Website for the UK or at Polonetworks for the rest of the world, you can see that your nearest club is almost as easy to find as the closest golf club. The websites for these clubs are also becoming more sophisticated, so you can see what each club offers and whether it is for you. The sport is expensive but so is a weekend spent in the city and polo certainly is a lot more fun! Shooting, Golf, Sailing, Skiing and Fishing can all be put into the same bracket, but you can do as much as you want. For example, you can also hire rather than buy and just play the summer seasons. To earn a living from polo, most players will try to become professionals. This normally begins when they reach two goals and can charge for playing on the team of their patron. Professionals will help your team not only to win, but by using professionals you will play in higher level matches during which you will be pushed physically and mentally and learn quickly. Most professionals will supplement their incomes with buying and selling horses, teaching and even becoming professional umpires. Whilst the Jilly Cooper image of handsome professionals touring round the world and dating glamorous women can be true, there are also a lot of pitfalls. Injuries, the cost of keeping horses and
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Polo
The Future
sport
International Life’s Octavia Campbell-Davys lifts the lid on the burgeoning Polo scene in the UK and believes the game is undeserving of its elitist tag and even suggests in the future, we may be tuning in to the sports channel to cheer on the national team the recession mean that life is not so glamorous for the majority of players. Instead many have to find work on a weekend to weekend basis, and live with a lot of uncertainty. Last summer however, despite the recession, teams were still entering medium and high goal tournaments. Some of the patrons were forced to retire at this level, but others were quickly stepping into their places. Celebrity matches have also been organized which have proved really popular and have shown that you don´t need to have been brought up on a horse to have a go. In fact, the majority of polo
Many top players also have their own clothing line and even chains of shops. In England most people would find it hard to think of famous players but perhaps might think of Henry Bretty (who featured in the advertisements for Hacketts), Jodie Kidd and Tommy Lee Jones. A Facebook page is dedicated to bringing Polo back into the Olympic Games and International games are already common place throughout the world. In England, we have the Cartier International in Windsor as the most high profile tournament. I’ve found polo clubs to be really
players in the UK have come to the sport later in life and the handicap system means that it is not to your disadvantage. Mint Polo in the Park has had vast coverage in the media and shows that televised polo is possible and can make money. In Argentina families crowd around the TV to watch the Argentine Open and their abilities in this sport are a source of national pride. The players are as famous as David Beckham and feature on billboards around the country promoting energy drinks, clothing etc.
friendly places, where spectators are welcomed and all new members valued highly. Polo is a sport that the British actually excel in, and this should certainly be encouraged. At the moment youngsters are only supported financially via their parents and some private organisations and yet we still manage to produce some exceptional players. The Tomlinson boys should be role models for all sporting enthusiasts for their dedication to the game and their sportsmanship. Instead, few people have
polo
Clubs are springing up throughout the country and the players are becoming much smarter about how to promote themselves and keep the sport in the public eye heard of them, and they’ve had to create their own opportunities. If we want to keep producing top players we have to bring polo out into the open. For you this could mean popping into a club, or perhaps, some day in the future, even watching polo on the sports channels and cheering on your country.
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watches
70’s TV by LIP
Lalla by LIP
retro chic
Retro design chic from the 1970’s, courtesy of French watch maker ‘LIP’
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watches
MACH2000 by LIP
The collections are inspired by the essence of 1970 technology, travel and pop culture which are directly related to todays love of vintage fashion. Big Fridge by LIP
LIP watches incorporate Swiss movements or LED of the same high quality, mineral glass faces, stainless steel or aluminium cases, genuine leather or rubber straps, and are water resistant. vavawatch.com
Big TV by LIP
De Baschmakoff by LIP
www.internationallife.tv/watches
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jewellery
VAN CLEEF & Arpels
The Eternity ring is considered, conceived and designed around two rare materials: platinum, the most precious metal in the world; and, the hardest and one could argue the most aesthetically beautiful of all natural materials, diamonds. This circlet of precious metal is the circle of eternity, fashioned so as to have neither beginning nor end; timeless and incorruptible in its purity. The Eternity wedding band, platinum and round diamonds £5,700. Van Cleef & Arpels, 9 New Bond Street , London W1 T +44 (0) 20 7493 0400 www.vancleef-arpels.com
This summer’s
International Life canvassed London’s elite jewellers, and its creative mavericks FOR the PERFECT ring TO SET OFF a DAZZLING spring/summer matrimony. TAKE YOUR PICK... Chopard
An engagement ring should always represent the woman wearing the ring. Designed to be untouchable in its form and grace, it would of course have to be crafted around the most precious, rare and yet strongest of gems, diamonds. From our High Jewellery Collection, the ring we feel suits her best, encompasses all these qualities in abundance. It is 19ct diamond ring entwined on the finger by white gold, and dare we say it... a breathtaking piece, fit for a future queen. Chopard Boutique 12 New Bond St London W1 T +44 (0) 207 409 3140 www.chopard.com Price: POA
GARRARD
Garrard Regal setting engagement ring featuring a brilliant eternal cut diamond. The Eternal Cut™ is exclusively owned by Garrard. Designed by Gabi Tolkowsky, the master cutter renowned for having fashioned the largest diamond in the world, this cut has a unique petal design that appears to intensify the quality and light reflected from the stone. Its unparalleled elegance originates from the softness of its spectacular diffused brilliance. Wearing an Eternal Cut ™ diamond symbolises a desire for a rare beauty and originality. Stockists: 0870 8871 8888. Price: POA
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SARAH JORDAN
The ‘Eden Tri Set’ Matching integrated ring made in platinum in the UK. Engagement ring with 0.25ct brilliant cut diamond rrp £1985 matching wedding band with 0.10ct diamonds rrp £1235 and to complement; Gents matching wedding band @ £1695. Stockists: T +44 (0) 123 965 4500 info@sarahjordan.co.uk
jewellery
LUCIE CAMPBELL
Platinum Saddle set wedding ring with 4.51cts Diamond All GIA certified E VS1 & E VS2(0.30ct-0.33ct) £14900 Lucie Campbell 26 New Bond Street London W1S 2JY T +44 (0) 20 7 629 4647 www.luciecampbell.com
Rockstars SHAUN LEANE
The wedding ring & engagement ring set from the award winning Entwined Collection. 18ct White Gold & Diamond interlocking 0.90ct Solitaire ring and Diamond Pave set Wedding Band £13,690 Crafted to perfection, Shaun Leane’s ‘Entwined’ Collection features handcrafted 18ct gold interlocking engagement and wedding rings which are romantically designed to perfectly interlink and symbolise unity. T +44 (0) 207 405 4773 www.shaunleane.com
AURUM
Bespoke wedding rings in platinum with diamonds. This pair of unique contemporary platinum wedding rings was commissioned from Aurum designer-jewellers, who specialise in creating bespoke rings. Prices depend on metal weight, diamond content and labour. They have an asymmetric profile, and the smaller surface is pavé-set with diamonds and the larger one is heavily textured. Lady’s ring 0.60ct - £3,195. Gentleman’s ring 1.02ct - £4,495. Aurum designer-jewellers www.aurumjewellers.com T +44 (0) 190 320 7944
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“A TOP SPOT FOR LUNCH” - daILy teLeGraPh
“Best Breakfast In London” - the Good food GuIde and the tImes
“roast has a menu to make BrItIsh cookInG cooL and an envIronment to make It sexy” - London eatInG
% (E] MR XLI PMJI SJ 6SEWX 7am Breakfast, and the day Begins... As the traders of Borough Market start to appear one by one, the first breakfast dishes start to roll out of the kitchen heading for the early birds eager to devour the best brekkie in town... Aromas of smoky bacon, crusty toast and fresh teas fill the air, as the restaurant quickly begins to fill. A sense of excitement begins to grow - The ‘Full Borough’ has been served no doubt – a celebration of the Great British Breakfast, with all the usual components, with a couple of special treats – Ramsay of Carluke Black pudding and Roast’s very own special recipe sausages!
12pm the lunch rush... One hundred and fifty diners are about to arrive, hungry and awaiting a feast of the most wholesome, fresh and seasonal produce our shores have to offer. Canny concoctions such as hot scotch duck eggs with pea shoots and piccalilli fill the starter list. As cries of ‘pound a punnet’ echo from the market below, guests wash down a glass of the exclusive Roast Bacchus white wine, whilst enjoying flavours such as cold poached organic salmon or our house favourite – slow roast pork belly, crispy crackling and Bramley apple sauce.
6pm dinner overlooking st paul’s cathedral... The restaurant is alive, atmosphere buzzing as dinner gets underway. Soft jazz piano can be heard from the bar, among the pouring of fancy drinks and ‘Bloody Tasty Mary’s’ for the after work sharpener. Melt in the mouth ox tongue can be seen amongst the tables, a staple of British cuisine, while others take on the 14oz Shorthorn rib eye steak. The restaurant is in its prime, people eating, drinking, smiling whilst enjoying the special sense of occasion.
iPhone and iPad users: download the free Roast app!
ROAST: The Floral Hall, Borough Market, Stoney Street, London SE1 1TL T: 0845 034 7300 | info@roast-restaurant.com | www.roast-restaurant.com
11pm service ends... As Borough Market winds to a close, the last of the restaurant guests slowly depart. Life in the restaurant is still not over...clean up and prep for tomorrow. Just another day in the busy life of Roast...
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International Life’s Business section introduces you to some of the most dynamic entrepreneurs, specialists and innovators in the luxury industry.
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T Transaction
One of the big themes in this issue is ‘futures’. We talk to Dr Mark I. Williams on the adoption of Cloud Computing and the cultural and organisational challenges facing SMEs and corporates alike. The business of mentoring is discussed by a panel of experts and Business mentor Phil Jones recalls his own life journey and the satisfaction he derives from advising new companies every week. Peter Doherty looks at investment opportunities in the Caribbean island of St Kitts and the attractive ‘tax exile’ packages on the table. Max Parker of Geoffrey Parker Games is the focus of our Q&A ‘One minute entrepreneur’ and photographer Yves de Contades captures the freedom and luxury of private aviation. www.internationallife.tv/business
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Di Digital
Peter Doherty quizzes digital guru Dr Mark I. Williams on the future of cloud computing and its implications for corporates, SMEs and the humble sole trader
The future’s in the clouds Can you describe cloud computing in layman’s terms? Cloud computing in its purest form is pay-as-you-go IT, online and on-demand. The IT capabilities provided as a service to businesses include single software applications or software suites; online software development platforms; and virtual computing infrastructure, ranging from data storage to computer grids. What are the implications for big business? Perhaps one of the biggest implications of cloud computing for big businesses is that small businesses now have affordable access to enterprise-grade IT so the playing field has been levelled. Big businesses have to decide where cloud computing fits into their business. Moreover, with the advent of Web2 and online social networking, internet presences overlap and business users are using multiple public clouds on a daily basis so corporate IT systems need to be able to accommodate this sea change. When a corporate completely moves over to cloud would you say there’s really no turning back because of the sheer expense, skill sets and cultural change involved? Corporates can take a ‘hybrid’ approach by which they can have a private cloud for some or their computing capabilities and a public cloud for the rest, so they can make a choice at some stage to go fully private cloud or public cloud if they wish, or perhaps switch to another provider for their public cloud. If, however, they completely move over to cloud computing then they should factor in an exit strategy so that they can retrieve their business data and business processes in a coherent form. And they can use multiple cloud providers as a failsafe, too. But whenever a business moves into the cloud they need to take their people with them. Some employees may associate themselves with particular software applications rather than business functions, and some staff may find it hard to let go of systems they have used or managed,
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so there is some internal communication work to be done. The best thing to do is to get everyone involved in key decisions about cloud computing by asking them to try out particular services for themselves and to document what they do in their jobs day-to-day. In many cases it is the employees who discover the benefits of cloud computing first, though, and their familiarity with web-based applications means that they have many of the necessary skills in place already. Which business systems are best suited to move to cloud computing and where can customers calculate their ROIs? All office applications have their equivalent in the cloud, and most database-driven software, too. Many large businesses around the world have moved from Microsoft Office and Exchange Server to Google Apps, for example, because it has email, office applications and document sharing built in, and there are significant cost savings to be made in desktop support, hardware upgrades and software license renewals. Microsoft also offer cloudbased versions of their office and email applications. Jim Graham of 3M is quoted on Microsoft’s home page as saying one of the benefits of Windows Azure, is it will ‘relieve our IT staff of the systems management and administration responsibilities of supporting a dynamic infrastructure’. Isn’t this a euphemism for job losses or can you actually see Cloud Computing creating jobs and how? Cloud computing allows talented technical staff to provide more value to the businesses they work for beyond just ‘keeping the lights on’. Less time is spent setting up and maintaining servers so more time can be devoted to developing or configuring business applications. As more business processes move into the cloud, IT staff gain new opportunities to make a bigger impact on their businesses than ever before.
digital polo
one of the biggest implications of cloud computing for big businesses is that small businesses now have affordable access to enterprise-grade I.T. so the playing field has been levelled Won’t the future be driven by the market and how computer giants adapt to facilitate cloud? In other words won’t we all be dragged along by the big players? Cloud computing adoption is driven more by the little guys than the big guys. As new entrants to the market gain a following amongst small businesses, large enterprises take notice and eventually follow suit. There will still be software running locally on computers or local networks, and, if anything, it will be the more risk-averse ‘big guys’ who will ensure that the noncloud option still exists. Cloud is being touted as the solution for just about any business. Does that include sole traders or small businesses that run on a shoestring to ensure they’re profitable? Cloud computing is ideal for sole traders and small businesses. Unlike big businesses they do not have the capital to invest in their own IT infrastructure so they cannot save money over the long term by creating their own private clouds. Instead they benefit from a shared public cloud where they only pay for what they need when they need it. On first inspection one could see ‘open source’ friendly clouds where non-profit, education and freelance communities share and interact, but how are such (largely non-fee paying) communities going to exist with this pay for use model? Some cloud computing services are provided free to education and non-profit organisations. For example The Open University now provides Google Apps accounts to all their students and they do not pay a penny for the privilege, and they could have done the same with Microsoft Live@Edu. There are community clouds, such as those shared by government bodies and international academic collaborations, but there are shared costs involved. Nevertheless the metering technology is there now in open source cloud systems to ensure that the organisations within
a community cloud pay in proportion to their usage so I can see this model becoming more popular in future. Why do you see 2011 in particular as ‘the year of the cloud? The past couple of years have also been touted as ‘the year of the cloud’, but 2011 is, perhaps, the year when cloud computing becomes the established norm for business IT. How can one be sure that cloud-based applications can be customised to meet the exact needs of a particular business? The great thing about cloud computing is that you can try a number of systems without paying a fortune on hardware or software. If you want to ensure that you can fully customise cloud-based applications then you can either use virtual servers so you have complete control of your applications or you can choose a cloud-based platform like Force.com upon which you can build your application in any way you like using useful component parts so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, as it were. There are concerns about security and ownership. What happens to data if a business discontinues their subscription to a cloud-based system? It depends on what agreement you have with a cloud provider, but, generally, the data is yours and it is removed automatically from the system when you leave. Cloud providers are well aware that data security is the paramount concern amongst potential customers. To combat piracy won’t all software be rented in this way and no longer be sold as it is presently? Some software runs best on local hardware. For example using CAD software or image manipulation software is very painful over a network. However it is possible to download and rent software for a time so that it becomes inactive when a short-term
license expires so I suspect that boxed software will become more of a rarity in future. I remember with mobile phones it was business users only for a year then all of a sudden within a 12 month period everyone seemed to have a smaller version of that clunky mobile and the shift had happened. Many of us are using cloud now in some form or other but are not that aware of it. At what point do you see the big cultural shift to cloud when everyone will be aware of its advantages? In the case of cloud, the rise of feature-rich websites made it all possible. Suddenly a web page could respond just like a desktop application with instant feedback rather than clunky click-and-wait. This, coupled with virtualisation technologies and faster internet connections, made it possible to build web-based software applications, development platforms and systems administration tools that were as good if not better than desktop-based alternatives. So in this case the technological revolutions that made cloud computing possible were driven by consumers’ use of the web. And it is our familiarity with web applications at home that is causing the cultural shift in the businesses we work for. IT has usually been managed internally by technical people, but now a marketing director can sign up his or her team as users of an online customer relationship management system and get working on a campaign without any involvement by the IT department. That is the power of cloud computing and that is why the big cultural shift is happening. Dr Mark I. Williams is the author of A Quick Start Guide to Cloud Computing, part of the Kogan Page New Tools for Business series at www.koganpage.com blog.muoncloud.com www.internationallife.tv/business
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Business
Sukhi Wahiwala
MentoringBusiness
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International Life asks a wide selection of experts, from serial entrepreneurs to social media specialists, about their approach to mentoring. The panel also share their thoughts on the advantages of being mentored and its potential to aid career and business success.
Jonathan Pfahl
Sukhi Wahiwala Mentor. Serial Entrepreneur
Jorgen Sundberg
Phil Carr
Nik Kalsi
Laura Ashley-Timms
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Can you give a brief description of your personal background? My inspiration was primarily from my parents who migrated to the UK in the sixties. Also elements of my personal society, the energy within my family and I felt an accountability to my family name. Dad set his own high standards and instilled in me a sense of personal pride and a desire to do the best job possible. Mum complemented Dad’s robustness with a nurturing softness and I’ve benefited from that from the year dot. In my teens I took over a family business and became a millionaire by twenty-one. How did you become a mentor? The catalyst was a life threatening illness which made me re-evaluate things. On my return to work I put in a core team to ensure I could work both ‘in’ the business and ‘out’ of the business, without being over relied on as the key man. My father had always told me ‘Son always try to work with people who have lost money themselves, as they will value money correctly.’ Experiencing my first ever financial business loss taught me invaluable lessons like the value of building a core team, empowering them and knowing how to recover a business. Not being anchored to the business enabled
me to pursue an overwhelming purpose and desire to inspire other people by coaching them to success and prosperity. What are the benefits to being mentored and what is your specialism in this field? Would an athlete set out to be the best they can possibly be without a coach? No, absolutely not, but this logic doesn’t always translate to business where people feel they should have all the answers. A business needs to grow and progress and in order to do that it needs the necessary skills and expertise at its disposal. I have a business motto which is - Sukhi makes business SIMPLE, the word ‘SIMPLE’ being an acronym for what I bring to business: Strategy / Insight / Marketing / Positioning / Logic / Experience me@sukhiwahiwala.com www.sukhiwahiwala.com Jonathan Pfahl CEO of Rockstar Mentoring Group Can you give a brief description of your personal background? I am an ex-Goldman Sachs Wealth Manager, originally from Sydney. I was born in Hong Kong and encouraged by my father to go and experience such financial centres as London and New York. I came to London and started my own businesses. I have never looked back.
mentoring
My father... told me ‘Son always try to work with people who have lost money themselves, as they will value money correctly’ SUKHI WAHIWALA How did you become a mentor? When I was at Goldmans, I took advantage of their in house mentoring program. Had the head of my dept. mentor me on a one-to-one face to face basis for six months. He helped me bring in over $100m of new business within that period. When I came to London at the beginning of 2005, I saw some huge opportunities in the property market. I had never done it before and was not going to try it out and “hope” it worked out. I found a company that provided property mentors and paid them a lot of money to have one of them take me out and show me how to do it. My first deal paid back my mentoring expense three times over within three months… I then replicated that strategy twenty-six times in my first year, wrote to thank them, they then came back and asked me if I would like to mentor for them. Over the next eighteen months I mentored over fifty different clients in property. They all went on and did very well. That’s when it hit me, mentoring works and there is a huge demand for it. What are the benefits to being mentored and what is your specialism in this field? The key benefits for being mentored are leveraging off the mentors: 1. Experience 2. Guidance 3. Their contacts
4. Them making you accountable to achieve certain goals and steps on a monthly basis. Was there a company that offers this not just to people in property, but in all industries and for business owners at all levels? There wasn’t and so the Rockstar Mentoring Group was born in 2007. jonathan@rockstargroup.co.uk Jorgen Sundberg Mentor. Social Media Can you give a brief description of your personal background? I’m from Sweden, moved to London and started working in IT recruitment. Realised that technology could be used to my benefit and became a top biller without working harder than anyone else, just smarter online. I also noticed that companies with good online presence and candidates with strong personal brands had little need for recruiters - they seem to find each other anyway. Hence I hung up my recruitment boots and now help companies and people market themselves online and in particular on social media. How did you become a mentor? I have always shared my best tips and tricks with people, a few years back I started blogging them as well. This has in turn led to speaking gigs, consulting assignments and coaching/mentoring
individuals. So I started with giving away free information and built up a reputation. What are the benefits to being mentored and what is your specialism in this field? The greatest two benefits of being mentored are being introduced to someone else’s (hopefully strong) network. Great contacts can take years to build up and a mentor can speed things up. The second benefit is that the mentee can be blinkered and miss out on opportunities due to lack of knowledge of the market (or unknown unknowns if you will). The mentor will have a helicopter view from their experience. The drawback to being mentored is that you are less likely to get burnt; failure is sometimes the best mentor you could hope for - it teaches you to do it better next time. jorgen@linkhumans.com Phil Carr Mentor. Stocks & Commodities Trading Can you give a brief description of your personal background? I was always quite a determined kid growing up in South West London with a strong latin family influence. I was not naturally academic and was predicted to fail most of my studies, however I’ve always found great pleasure in proving people wrong and exceeding expectations. I went on to study Psychology at Bristol >> www.internationallife.tv/business
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I learnt early that hard work and refining skills and processes win out over talent Laura ASHLEY - TIMMS >> Univ. before embarking on a seven year career in Recruitment. I needed change and then pursued my life long ambition of a career as a professional trader. How did you become a mentor? I wanted to move away from being an employee into something that gave me choices and freedom. For return on time invested, trading was perfect. I signed up to a course with Investment Mastery, excelled and began consistently achieving over 10% on my entire portfolio each month trading the US stocks. I was asked by Investment Mastery to join as a consultant and teach the strategies for success to new clients. I have since trained, educated hundreds of individuals who want to be professional traders through seminars and training workshops and continue to ‘day trade’ my own portfolio. What are the benefits to being mentored and what is your specialism in this field? Giving my knowledge to others and watching them succeed is the best reward of all. I train, coach and mentor individuals who want to become professional traders. My specialism is Commodities and US Stocks. I have achieved over 700pts on certain trades through my strategies and I am one of the few traders in the UK to go from no experience to full time trader, trading my own portfolio within six months of completing a course. I now work for myself. If I can do it, I give others confidence to do the same. I am a certified NLP trainer and coach. phil@philcarr.co.uk Nik Kalsi Business Mentor Can you give a brief description of your personal background? I was born in Leicester into a family with strong entrepreneurial values. I was very fortunate to have two influential role models - my dad who worked as a salesman and my grandfather who was a serial entrepreneur. After graduating with a BA (Hons) in Design & Marketing in 2002 at the height of the “Dotcom” recession
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- and after numerous CV rejections, I started my own business journey. At the age of twenty-three, I published a youth culture magazine called Juicy, whose success exceeded all expectations as the recession had put paid to some of the leading publications - Juicy filled this void. It gained instant recognition with features in the major international Marketing press. This led me to co-found a Marketing Agency working for a number of big brands like Adidas, The Arts Council, mentoring Channel 4 and EMI Records. I then moved into Executive Search to further my business, leadership and coaching skills. I now specialise in this field through my company: www.thecareerexpert.co.uk
an international career beginning in the Philippines, before returning to UK where I worked in menswear, managing budgets of £100m for a major retailer. I have always been highly focused on commercial results achieving significant year on year growth for over a decade. After a stint in America I worked across Europe and Asia before moving into the entertainment industry. Here I applied what I’d learnt from manufacturing and retail to set new standards for global brand and product licensing. In 1999 I co-founded Notion (BusinessCoaching.co.uk) - now regarded as the leading Business Growth Mentoring company in the UK with some of the most experienced coaches and mentors on board.
How did you become a mentor? Working in Executive Search enabled me to understand / analyse an individual’s career goals and provide them with powerful strategies to achieve their full potential. I trained with Christopher Howards Academy of Wealth & Achievement. I’m also a NLP certified trainer and coach.
How did you become a mentor? I was coaching and mentoring other team-mates from an early age. I further developed my coaching skills during my corporate career before attaining formal qualifications in Coaching, NLP and MBTI between 1997-2002. I am passionate about helping clients to discover which small changes to their performance can generate the greatest impact to their bottom line.
What are the benefits to being mentored and what is your specialism in this field? I mentor a diverse cross-section of people who have reached a crossroads in their working lives and want to look at their options, change career, personal branding, start a business or increase income streams. My own experience in business provides me with a unique set of tools/strategies to assist others fulfil their ambitions nik@thecareerexpert.co.uk Laura Ashley-Timms Co-Founder, BusinessCoaching.co.uk Can you give a brief description of your personal background? I earned my first pay cheque at six weeks old and spent my youth being pushed by sports coaches, when I learnt early that hard work and refining skills and processes win out over talent. I set myself tough goals and achieved most of them including representing England and Great Britain at international tournaments at Table Tennis. At university I was one of the first women to go to Oriel, Oxford. I have enjoyed
What are the benefits to being mentored and what is your specialism in this field? I love working with ambitious MD’s and Entrepreneurs. For my clients the number one benefit is Business Growth and a strong return on their investment! My company has worked with over five thousand businesses including start-ups, MD’s of Corporates and a Dragon from the Den, so the opportunity to fast track and share best practice is huge. Most importantly I am more than a mentor, as I’m also a highly skilled business coach. This means that the experience is not just transactional, but transformational. I will challenge you to achieve more, help you change your mindset, develop your team, keep you motivated, clarify your strategy, leverage your time and hold you accountable to deliver! As one new client said this week, “It is also surprisingly fun!”. I may believe in pushing you hard but it’s always done with a smile and sense of humour! laura@notionltd.com
philanthropy
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philanthropy
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International Life’s Yves de Contades chats with Phil Jones about the business and life challenges he’s faced and how it’s informed his own approach to Mentoring then sometimes that is inevitably at my expense. The FD I hired for one of my companies a year ago told the board they couldn’t afford a non-exec so I left that company in December 2010. I should have been pissed off but actually I felt the opposite, I left them with a strong board and they didn’t need me. For a digital agency, I found them a buyer and took them through a two year earn-out that merged them into the parent group. That became another fond bye bye for all the right reasons. I think it’s quite funny.
Phil Jones photographed by Yves de Contades
When did you start mentoring and how does it work? I started the mentoring and non-exec roles in July 2004, I had a six month sabbatical after I left work and a month of football in Portugal for Euro 2004. In hindsight I wish that I had access to somebody who was impartial when I was running my own business and my partners and I had to make life changing decisions on a regular basis. Our houses were security for our business for eleven years and the only people we could rely on for advice was ourselves. In my opinion I think it works best when the mentor/non-exec has no personal financial interest in the company. On more than one occasion I have been offered shares in the companies I work with and decided against it. I like the fact that whatever question is thrown at me I can answer it honestly and without factoring in personal gain. It doesn’t mean I always get it right but more often than not I do. It’s a strange situation but for a non-exec success often means losing my job. If I help a business strengthen its board
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Where did you work before? I started a typesetting studio (called APT) with two very good mates back in 1979 and we built it to 100 staff before selling it to an advertising agency on a three year earn out between 1987 and 1990. I decided on a change of career and took over as MD of a small studio called Real Time Studio in 1991 before the advent of digital and ended up building one of the UK’s first digital agencies working with clients like Diesel, Canon and Accenture and creating identities for UK Sport, UK Athletics and the 2006 World Cup bid. We merged Real Time with a top 5 DM agency Evans Hunt Scott to become ehsrealtime and two years later with another DM agency to become EHS Brann. When I joined in 1991, I inherited ten staff and when I retired it was well over three hundred. The creatives nicknamed me “chairman of vice” because along the way I had acquired the vice chairman and operations director title. Big agencies throw up silly job titles. From where do you get your love of the creative industry? That’s an interesting question really because many of the people I have hired and worked with in my career are not creative in the traditional sense. I think
many people who don’t work in the creative industry have creative ideas all the time but are never given the opportunity to bring them to life. I did a 5-year apprenticeship in a printing company in Manchester and it was probably the least creative environment you could ever imagine. But for some strange reason it inspired me to write a book of song lyrics and I put together a book of thirty of them called Inside Looking Out. It coincided with the great Bernie Taupin, Al Stewart, Dory Previn etc writing inspiring lyrics and I decided to move to London to try my luck as a songwriter. I teamed up with a musician named Dave Cooke and we hit Tin Pan Alley hoping to make it big. Despite failing to make it big in the music industry it did get me out of my comfort zone and to move to London and that changed my life forever. (let me know if you want an old 1973 lyric?) How do you balance work/life? As they say in football parlance, it’s definitely been a game of two halves. The first half was heavily weighted in favour of work. In the eighties it was 12 hour days for as long as I can remember and in the nineties my wife and I lived apart during the week in order that I could focus on building Real Time and our kids could be closer to grandparents in case everything went “tits up” and we needed to downsize quickly, there was a nasty recession at the time. It was a one year experiment that lasted 13 years. Once the kids had started school in the Lincolnshire countryside there was no bringing them back to London and the success of Real Time meant more time at work during the week. The first half seemed to last forever. But the second half started on January 1st 2004 when my lovely wife Babs and I decided to change everything. I gave up my full time job with no job to go
business
In hindsight I wish that I had access to somebody who was impartial when I was running my own business and my partners and I had to make life changing decisions on a regular basis to, our daughter was leaving Liverpool University and our son was on his way to Nottingham University, we sold our beautiful old rectory in Lincolnshire, shipped the furniture over to our villa in Portugal and rented a big house in Fulham for a year while we planned our tactics for the second half. It was the best thing we ever did and I can honestly say that the noughties have been the most enjoyable time of my career. The balance is now 80% family 20% work and its great. How is the business structured? Real Time Consultancy has a simple structure, “me and mrs jones”. I am MD and Babs is my company secretary. Working for a selection of small and large businesses in London, Manchester and Liverpool requires an enormous amount of organisation and forward planning and in between working for businesses I organize my own non-profit events which help me bring the design, digital and sports communities together annually. podgelunch.com seventeen years old for the design community. digitalpodge.co.uk; eight years old for the digital community and sportspodge.co.uk which is six years old for the sports community. The Manchester version started in Feb. We are calling it The Stodge Lunch. Each lunch has a different design theme and has two hundred guests who split the bill. They are great fun but take a lot of organisation. I have a little A team who help me and they include Babs, my daughter Clare and my son PJ. What is special about your work? Well having worked such silly hours for twenty-five years or more it’s great to be able to pick and choose when and who I want to work with. It’s also a great feeling when I walk into one of the businesses I work with and everyone is genuinely pleased to see me. If you are only with people one or two days a month it’s very different to walking into a company every day of the week. Regardless of how good a person is they eventually end up being
taken for granted. In my last few years at work board meetings became a chore and now they are back to being lively and fun. What has been your best move at the company? Well to start with the name itself, Real Time. I think the URL realtime.co.uk is very much “of the moment” so I was pleased I was able to take that over to my own business in 2004. And being able to work with my family every day of the week is my greatest pleasure. And your worst mistake? Not starting my own consultancy two years earlier when ehsrealtime became EHS Brann and the name Real Time was dropped from the name. It never felt quite the same to me after that. What do you most enjoy about work? First the people and second the freedom. I genuinely love meeting people and making introductions and in my current role that takes up a large percentage of my time. Every day is different with new challenges. Having the freedom to be able to decide who I work with and for how long is my greatest pleasure. In full time employment it’s very difficult to choose who you work with and turning up at the same place every day is a distant memory to me. Who are the key people around you that contribute to your work? Well in my business life the key people around me are the owners of the businesses I work with. They range from design and digital agencies to IP lawyers, Auto networks, fashion photographers and Animation specialists. They are the people who pay me and allow me to do the things I do for fun. And that’s where the family unit step in to help me organize all my peer to peer lunches. Current trends in the industry? Partnering and collaboration is most certainly back on the menu. In the eighties I made all my money by working as a
supplier to advertising agencies and design companies who outsourced a lot of work to trusted partners like my company APT. With the advent of the Apple Mac they took it all in-house in the nineties and then they did the same with digital in the noughties. I think that is all changing now and the larger agency groups are outsourcing much more to specialist companies who they can trust to deliver rather than employing the staff and worrying about the constant battle to stay ahead of the technological changes. Another trend for many of the creative businesses I work with is to open overseas offices. Branding agency Navyblue and Photolink now have an international setup. The opportunities for UK businesses overseas continue to grow. What are your ambitions for the future? All my ambitions revolve around my immediate and extended family and my mates. I love to see smiles on people’s faces and it gives me the greatest pleasure when those around me (at home and at work) are in good spirits and enjoying life. I love it when I hear my wife or my son whistling. It sounds stupid but just hearing people around me laughing out loud or having a little skip in their stride makes me feel good. Listening to my daughter on the telephone telling her grandma she has just been promoted or hearing my son speak in Spanish or seeing both my sisters becoming proud grandparents. If you were not doing this what would you be doing? Well when I watch the way an outstanding football manager like Alex Ferguson deals with the people below, around and above him, cutting through all the political bullshit, dealing with greedy agents, the press, the egos of the players, never losing that winning mentality and keeping a twinkle in the eye I would quite like his job. I just wouldn’t like to be the one who took that job immediately after he retires. If my life so far is a game of two halves I might leave that one for extra time. www.internationallife.tvbusiness
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I Investment
Selling St Kitts International Life’s Peter Doherty finds an abundance of tropical temptations on the island of St Kitts and discusses the opportunities on offer at Christophe Harbour for the savvy investor
A above and top Turtle Beach Bungalows. Rates start at £230 per night to £300 in peak season (Dec.- March). www.ChristopheHarbour.com.
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s soon as you touch down at Robert L Bradshaw Airport you feel the warmth of the local hospitality and climate. It’s always a bonus to start on a positive note. At present The Marriot shoulders the main responsibility as the ‘best’ residence for visitors and yes it ticks most of Mr Maslow’s ‘needs list’, but it is a corporate hotel. It has that universal feel, but what you want is ‘unique’. You make the journey to experience and feel ‘unique’. This feel was captured in bundles when I came across four secluded beach front bungalows on the picturesque Turtle Beach, with views of nearby Nevis. They are a hop and a skip to the beach and as one-bedroom villas, make for the perfect getaway for dreamy couples. Each bungalow features Amish hand-hewn logs, wood-shingled roofs, and custom
mahogany shutters and doors. Large glass and louvered sliding walls slide open directly to the beach, revealing expansive views across the Atlantic Ocean - and there’s a private plunge pool, gazebo, and outdoor shower. This is pure escapism and I hear rental includes dining at the nearby restaurant! The authorities in St Kitts have bigger and longer term strategies in place with a view to attracting bigger (and wealthier) fish from abroad. They’re certainly using plenty of bait with the Christophe Harbour Development. Christophe Harbour itself is an impressive 2,500 acres, including six stunning beaches on the south east peninsula. The resort community is designed to include a generous yacht harbour and marina; a championship 18-hole golf course; luxury residential
investment
Christophe Harbour. Fact File Spanning 2,500 acres, including six beaches. Located on the southeast peninsula. The master-planned resort community will offer a mega yacht harbour and marina; a championship 18-hole golf course; luxury residential real estate; two five-star hotels; a private yacht club; beach club; restaurants and shopping. Investment: Sandy Bank Bay Sandy Bank Bay will be home to the first completed residential community at Christophe Harbour offering residents easy access to a beach club, dining, swimming pools and nature trails. Lots are priced from £285,000 - £1.7 million. The 14 built-for-sale beach front and hillside bungalows start at £585,000
top right Planned 17th Tee at Christophe Harbour and 17th Hole at The Marriot Golf Club
Windswept villas The Windswept Villa sites are above Sandy Bank Bay and will look out across the Atlantic Ocean. Combined land and build costs start at £1million* for a three-bedroom property. Four-bed villas are also available.
right Catarmaran tour from Cockleshell Bay
top left and right hand side The effortlessly charming Beach House restaurant and the perfect way to ‘taxi home’
real estate; two five-star hotels; a private yacht club; beach club; restaurants and shopping. It has a number of different plots and locations, all with unique selling points. It sounds amazing. The masterplan looks incredible and the people I met from the USA (Hedge Funder) and UK (Business owner), gushed enthusiastically. Part of the excitement was certainly the location. These guys had island hopped before buying, so knew the alternatives.
see any reasonable medical facility on site. I say this because some european islands and even exclusive ‘closed’ developments I’ve encountered, did not factor this basic need into their plan with some regret. Many will look at this as a land buying exercise, others will want to retire here to see the sun set each evening. But retirees are in greater need of medical care and the only saving grace is that there is a small medical school on the island and it’s still
The other reason for their Cheshire Cat grin was the generous overtures from the St Kitts government, who offer ‘tax free’ status on foreign income and a passport with lifetime citizenship for purchasers. Investors were either offered the opportunity to purchase a plot of land or go the whole hog and build their dream home. Those I spoke to chose the latter. I can imagine how difficult it was for them to resist such temptation. The picturesque views were a big sell in themselves and the choice of golf-side villas, harbourside condominiums, and beachfront, hillside and mountaintop homesites pushed the envelope. Putting on my investor hat, I couldn’t
within reasonable reach of the US. In terms of sustainability it does need a greater number of purchasers willing to not only build, but occupy or let their property in order for the planned amenities to be well patronised and the community to thrive. In the end buildings are just structures. It’s people that breathe life into new destinations and make communities. At present the island is over-dependent on the cruise ship market and it’s sugar cane industry is now history. Christophe Harbour is certainly part of the new vision for St Kitts and wherever I went I got buyin from the locals. There’s a lot at stake for the island, but there’s also plenty on the hook for the big fish.
Many will (SEE) THIS AS a land buying exercise, others to retire
Harbourside Residences Arranged along the perimeter of the mega yacht harbour, these homesites offer the opportunity for over-the-water designs with the option of private docks and beaches as well as views of the marina and golf course. Land costs start at £600,000. Cardinal Point Up on the hillside above Sandy Bank Bay, the Cardinal Point lots provide panoramic views across the resort and out over the Atlantic. These large homesites will emulate the Mediterranean, designed by the esteemed Architecture firm Merrill Pastor & Colgan. Home sites begin at £1.1 million. Marina slips Offering 300 slips, the marina will accommodate yachts up to 300 feet in length. Available from £6,500 per liner foot. Benefits The government’s Citizenship By Investment Program offers those who invest in property on St. Kitts or Nevis the ability to apply and if approved, receive the following benefits: 1. St. Kitts/Nevis citizenship for life 2. Dual citizenship 3. St. Kitts passport 4. Visa free travel to other countries 5. Full-residency status 5. Tax free status on foreign income Developer: Christophe Harbour Development Company, Limited (CHDC) Other ventures: Kiawah Island, S.C., and Doonbeg Golf Club, Ireland.
Please check prices with developer www.internationallife.tv/business
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En Entrepreneur
one
minute entrepreneur Max Parker, owner of Geoffrey Parker Games About Geoffrey Parker Games: Based in the Essex village of Wimbish, they have been designing and hand crafting traditional board games since 1938. The quality of their craftsmanship, high production values and timeless simplicity of their games and bespoke creations have fostered an enduring following from royalty and motor racing moguls through to Hollywood movie stars
Your father was quite a pioneer in the production of games. What attributes do you feel he had that contributed to the business being a success? Wanting to achieve the best in design through using the best possible materials, without compromise. Geoffrey Parker Games is a father to son business. Did you ever have the desire to go off and do something else? When times are tough - often! However, my other chosen profession would have been as a chef, so I think that the saying “out of the frying pan into the fire” would be especially apt. You really do make everything by hand in your Essex studios. How do you feel when you see competitors or other businesses liberally misuse the ‘Made in the UK’ stamp? Disappointed - we have such a strong tradition of design in the UK but often our manufacturing is undertaken overseas - I am proud we buck this trend, although the only weapons we really have against price, is the quality of our craft and that no corners will be cut, flexibility and our unwavering ethos to give the client what they want, not what we want to sell them - bespoke has to be the way UK companies can compete against those who are too large to consider the customer first. What has been your biggest mistake and success in business? Trying to stay with customers who traded down during various recessions by producing a lesser product - it is like a Rolls Royce engineer being asked to work on a mass market car - it doesn’t fit either in production or in the marketplace where one is known for unparalleled excellence. As for success, I believe our strength in many respects lies in “small is
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beautiful” - this enables us to react quickly to customer demands- no one Billionaire should or wants to be the same as another after all! It was this strength that allowed us to produce a £500,000 Monopoly set in a five week deadline! What are the biggest challenges to your business at the moment? Cash flow is always an issue - as the ability to find specialist materials has shrunk, the investment in those commodities has increased so stock holding is important to be able to react to client demands, especially when one makes almost entirely to order. Your business requires people with great skills and craftsmanship. In the digital age are those skills in decline in the UK? Not in decline as these are inherent skills within the British make-up, going back hundreds of years. More a case of working with one’s hands is not considered a “worthy” profession. However, against huge bonuses in the financial sector or reality TV sensations overnight, are young people going to pick a profession where dedication to a craft and inner satisfaction is more important than material rewards? What is your signature piece? Backgammon is definitely our most extensive production but probably these days our 25 multi game cube encompasses much of our skills, from design through to craft at its very highest level. What is the one thing government could do to assist small businesses? Firstly remove the onerous tasks such as tax collecting of PAYE to VAT. Secondly, and this is aimed at those companies that have that
great British skill set, it still seems that the retailer of beautiful craft items receives the plaudits in the press or the awarding of the Royal Warrant. These should go to the makers not the sellers of such fine merchandise, as it is they that not only have the skill, but also most of the time the ideas, designs and the tenacity to see it through. Do you have any advice for entrepreneurs starting their own venture now? Don’t ever think that running your own business is about fast cars and time on the golf course - you have to wear many hats, always take the knocks, risk family life as business dictates, often you are the last in line to be paid - sometimes you‘re not, be prepared to take risks, always go that extra mile for your customers, but at the end of the day (or night) you have created something of your own, no one will pat you on the back, so don’t forget to do that yourself every so often and also believe there is light at the end of the tunnel. If you had the power and authority to change anything in the world. What would that be? A big question - I guess respect for each other - be it creed, colour or skill - in such a throwaway society it is easy to forget the traditional skills handed down from generation to generation, be it survival in deepest Africa or building an Igloo in the Arctic. Once these have gone society will be very bland and future generations will all be trying to live through the same routes - we only have to look at how disastrous this can be when the financial worlds takes a hick-up, perhaps this is a warning to enjoy and celebrate the simpler life skills we all possess? www.geoffreyparker.com
Above the clouds with ConnectJets
fashion
Many aviators believe the freedom that private flying affords them is an unparalleled experience. Why? Because it’s freedom in its purest form. ConnectJets takes us aboard the Beech Super King Air B200 - complemented by a collection of high fashion chic
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fashion
left hand page Model: Vanessa Earrings & Necklace: Chopard Platinum jacket: Jaeger Black Daphne gold calf: Quentin Mackay Price: £850 this page Model: Vanessa Silk maxi dress: Jaeger London Turquoise necklace: Chopard Shoes: Prada Sunglasses: D Squared ‘Jack’ antique gold bag: Quentin Mackay Price: £1895 Model: Rodrigo Slim fit navy suit and basket weave tie: Mr Start White shirt: Prada White wooden sole shoes: Z Zegna Luggage: Ghurka
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fashion
this page Model: Rodrigo Blazer: Ermenegildo Zegna White shirt: Paul Smith Watch: Chanel Sunglasses: Zegna left hand page Model: Rodrigo Charcoal ‘Hopper’ Blazer: J Lindeberg Charcoal ‘Paulie’ tousers: J Lindeberg Fine knit top: Ermenegildo Zegna Sunglasses: Karl Lagerfeld White wooden sole shoes: Zegna Overnight bag: Ghurka
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fashion
Stockists Quentin Mackay www.quentinmackay.com Chopard 12 New Bond St, London W1S 3SX 020 7409 3140 Crumpet www.crumpetengland.com Omar Kashoura www.omarkashoura.com J Lindeberg www.jlindeberg.com Longchamp www.longchamp.com Jaeger www.jaeger.co.uk Brian Clarke brianclarkemenswear.com My Asho www.myasho.com Laura Gravestock www.lauragravestock.com Chanel www.chanel.com Cartier www.cartier.com Urban Code www.urbancode.co.uk Asos www.asos.com Ermenegildo Zegna www.zegna.com Milly www.millyny.com D Squared www.dsquared2.com Prada www.prada.com Theo Fennell www.theofennell.com Paul Smith www.paulsmith.co.uk Mr Start www.mr-start.com Paul & Joe www.paulandjoe.com Karl Lagerfeld www.karllagerfeld.com Sticky Fingers www.houseoffraser.co.uk
Model: Vanessa Dress: ‘Jewel’ by Lisa at My Asho Belt: Jaeger Silver ‘Majestic’ bangle: Laura Gravestock Watch:Vintage Cartier
Men’s accessories were provided by Ghurka; The iconic American luxury leather travel & accessories company. For more information please visit www.Ghurka.com
International Life Fashion Team Photography: Yves de Contades Fashion: Sara Darling www.saradarling.com
Models: Rodrigo Muller @ M and P Vanessa Chromik @ Lenis Models
Hair: Amanda Oliver www.amandaoliver.co.uk Make up: Vaida Mugenyte using Bacca cosmetics,
Assistant: Sophie Stafford Photo Assistant: James Nixon
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ConnectJets based at London Fairoaks introduce International Life to the world of private aviation. ConnectJets would like to thank Ghurka (luggage), Synergy Aviation and Audi for their contribution to this photo shoot. Car: Audi R8 4.2 Quattro Aircraft: Beech Super King Air B200
psychology
The Future of Psychology Screen Dream or Screen Scream?
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Psychologist Cecilia d’Felice argues our eagerness to embrace screen technologies may compromise our ability to communicate on a basic social level and ultimately erode human relationships
odern neuroscience has given us fMRI neuroimaging technology, which allows us to see how the brain responds not only to its external environment but also to its internal cognitive and emotional processes. What we learn is that screen tech is already having a profound impact on the neurochemistry of the brain. Our frontal lobes contain most of the dopamine neural pathways that are correlated with reward, attention, long term memory, planning and motivation. This part of the brain also helps us perceive cause and effect, distinguish good from bad and enables us to be socially responsive and acceptable, mediating the more primitive ‘Id’ emotional impulses from the amygdala, our ancient ‘reptilian’ core. Our dopamine pathways are reward systems that feed us feel good hormones whenever we achieve a goal. So every ‘kill’ on a video game gives the player a
communication, leading to rejection. The challenge of making and sustaining real friendship increases because we quickly compare our performance in the real world with the virtual and realise that we cannot control other people but we can control our screens. It becomes easier to isolate and interact with cyber friendship, where we can add or delete at the graze of a button. Negotiating the complex interface where human behaviour and technology meet is now revealing the potential for a darkness we have yet to imagine. Right now, over one million Japanese men aged between sixteen and thirty live permanently in their bedrooms refusing to come out, glued to screens, in a phenomenon known as hikikomori - withdrawal. Our fear that machines will one day enslave mankind, so often depicted in comic strips, animations and cinema, is in some ways already becoming a subtle reality as our addiction to technology erodes
dopamine boost, just as every flutter on the roulette wheel or every grab for a donut tweaks those same feel-good pathways. The problem is that after a while too much dopamine is as unhelpful to us as too little. Our thinking ends up fragmented and insular. We can become paranoid and agitated. Take social networking. At first sight it looks like people are enjoying unprecedented friendship groups, plenty of contact and no more lonely nights. The reality however, is that an over dependence on virtual friendship leads to reduced social skills in the form of inarticulate and emotionally clumsy attempts at
our time and undermines our ability to love and nurture each other. We become increasingly impatient with real world connections complaining that they are too slow, forgetting that authentic human communication takes time to process, understand and respond to. What can psychology offer to this increasing threat to our development? As psychologically and emotionally aware individuals, we are able to work creatively and in harmony with each other to generate a future that is helpful both to ourselves as individuals and the people we share it with. We live with a paradox that the more technologically advanced
we are, the less emotionally aware we are in danger of becoming. For all our apparent sophistication in technology, we appear less able to develop emotionally skilful expressions bonding us to our common humanity. Increasingly we observe parents interacting more with their screen techs than with their children, compounding this gross failure in emotional nurturing by equipping their infant children with screen technologies of their own. Already primary school teachers are witnessing an unprecedented number of new school starters who are unable to talk, play with other children or do something as simple as eat with a knife and fork because their parents have dumped them in front of a screen from the moment they are born. We are in danger of depriving our children of the real world contact that enables them to function as social creatures. Psychology plays a vital role in understanding that a future where our social skills - the ones that have brought us this far in our ability to co-operate, work and create together - must not be lost to a diminution of communication skills that erodes empathy, understanding and ultimately human relationships. The future of psychology must address the man machine interface and help create a healthy balance where our screen technologies serve us rather than us serving them. We all need to be aware of the risks of new technologies: Perhaps they should now, like so many things in our brave new world, come with a health warning. Be patient in real world communications. Listen actively, feedback what you have understood and smile! Dr Cecilia d’Felice Author (21 Days to a New You, Orion) Broadcaster (House of Grazia, Atomized for Sky, June 2011) Relationship Expert for Match.com & MatchAffinity.com www.internationallife.tv/psychology
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feature
24hrs
in Berlin
International Life found Berliners to be so fond of referring to their beloved city as ‘edgy’ or ‘alternative’, that it made ‘alternative’ arrangements and overlooked the five-star corporates for a boutique Design Hotel in Mitte - cool central
H
ow many other european countries could honestly say that they could cope with an influx of over thirty million people in one night? In 1989 Germany reunified because they had the will and more importsntly the resources to achieve this goal. In the twenty years since it is fair to say that market forces have been the hands that have shaped this city. We’re reliably informed by Berlin property agents that, not too disimiliar to London, singletons play cat and mouse with the market. They move in to ‘promising but undersirable areas’, create a thriving community, then when the push
Our destination is the fashionable Mitte district in central Berlin, apt because we were also attending Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Berlin. We get there in no time at all, although the shabby tube system and sheer volume of random young men drinking alcohol concealed in brown paper bags does touch a nerve. What is striking though, is the friendliness of Berliners and their quiet desperation for you to enjoy their city. Added to that, as shabby and run down as it is, their tube systems works. Trains are on time and that means you are too. Take note Transport for London. The Weinmeister Hotel, part of the
Everywhere you go design features and artwork augment the experience ... (there’s) A visual delight on every corner chairs appear and the school bus tonks its horn, it’s time to move on because, firstly, they’ll be priced out and secondly, they want to reside in a certain, cultural bohemia with their peer group or like minded individuals. It’s not an age thing, (ageism doesn’t seem to exist here), more a need to be free to live on their own terms. I wonder if in some way this has been informed by the fact that half of the city has been scarred by captivity and the other, conscious of its menacing proximity? When I arrive at Schoenefeld, one of Berlin’s two airports, I realise how easy it is to get around on the tube system.
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Design Hotels group resides conveniently in the heart of stylish Mitte and immediately espouses all the promises made in its literature. A commissioned graffittied door is the entrance. It’s small and intimate, with reception and bar close together. The eating area extends from the bar into little hubs with sculptured dividers punctuated by uprights laced like corsetry from top to bottom. There’s a real sense of fun. Everywhere you go design features and artwork augment the experience. There’s no endless corporate flock or grey walls here, but a visual delight on every corner from framed images to applied graphics.
above the front door of The Weinmeister Hotel adorned with a riot of graffitti, sets the tone for the playful interior styling
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The Weinmeister is a member of Design Hotels™
far right Hotel reception and bar area below Hotel rooms: Hi-tech and Multi-functional furniture right Formal and relaxed areas at Spindler & Klatt restaurant bottom right Spindler & Klatt club night
There’s an invitation-only rooftop area and bar with stunning city vistas. The rooms are cleverly arranged in a open plan style with dual functions to many of the furnishings. The back of the headboard on my sumptuous double bed acted as a hanging facility for clothes with drawers arranged neatly at the bottom. Every room has its own iMac to enable you to download tracks from your ipod and even share them with other guests, creating a unique, ever evolving playlist in the hotel. A neat idea. We also used our big screen for surfing destinations and planning our Berlin itinerary. On to the restaurant, which included a modern take on German cuisine (sausages galore) and european favourites. There was a selection of healthy options across the menu and this was particularly evident at breakfast, with imaginative muesli, natural yoghurt and fresh fruit combinations along with the more traditional hearty fayre beloved of the natives. My only disappointment was not seeing the spa and sauna. It seemed perpetually closed? May be the fashion darlings had block booked for beauty rehab after a hard day on the catwalks?
What makes you fully appreciate this hotel apart from its playful interiors and cool design aesthetic, is when you see the corporate alternatives. Despite the chic protestations of their modern architecture they lack character and you can’t imagine yourself smiling contentedly at breakfast. For full details and room rates visit: designhotels.com/weinmeister_berlin_mitte
and precision. They offer a master class in seasoning, from starter through to dessert and that detail doesn’t falter on their drinks list as cocktails hit the mark too. Consider the sheer simplicity of this starter ‘gratinated feta cheese with miso crust and bread salad’. It is not something one would immediately gravitate to, but we were so pleased we did, because it was a delight and set the bar unbearably high. For mains we ordered ‘carpaccio of Spindler & Klatt. A jewel on the river tuna with cilantro and lime emulsion’ This riverside gem serves Pan Asian cuisine, well actually the influence is mainly from the Japanese open kitchen and the vegetarian option of ‘pappardelle with goat Japanese, but don’t expect wall to wall cheese, porcini mushrooms, black truffle sushi, it’s more diverse, expansive and and baby leaf spinach’ and ‘prime rib of imaginative than that. In fact, Spindler & veal’ with a Hong Kong influence. Even a Klatt is one happy surprise after another. meat eater would appreciate the flavours in Weekdays it’s a restaurant and at the Pappardelle and the veal was expertly weekends, after service, it converts to an after hours club and quite a spectacular one realised. Dessert was a dual between the delicate tanginess of the lemongrass at that. You don’t have to traipse around brûlée and physicality of the ‘thai mango Berlin, looking for nightlife after your with vanilla brittle cream and coconut ice meal, it’s all here, multiple screens with cream’. The latter won because we swiftly creative visuals, abundant chillout areas ordered an encore. The bar equally had and floor to ceiling diaphanous curtains a grasp on balance and served up killer which swish out to reveal an outside area Mojitos, Caipirinhas and Margaritas. overlooking the river. As far as the food is concerned, flavours Enter the DJ right on cue, recline and relax. www.spindlerklatt.com are combined with a great deal of thought www.internationallife.tv/travel
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Premium Fashion Fair photography by Zahraa Ali
Berlin Listings Berlin has undoubtedly some of the best art and culture in the world. Check out the city’s burgeoning fashion scene (we’ve included highlights of the Autumn/Winter 11 collection), cuisine and nightlife.
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Museums At the centre of the German masterplan to recover its cultural status is the refurbishment of Museum Island, which was declared a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site in 2000. The plan is for five museums on this site to be upgraded and connected by underground walkways, to enable the visitor to cover 6,000-odd years of cultural and art history in one quick jog around the block. www.smb.museum
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Long Night of the Museums (Jan & Aug) Twice a year over ninety musuems open their doors until 2.00am and the public comes in droves. There’s also special events and entertainment to keep spirits up. www.lange-nacht-der-museen.de
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The Bauhaus Museum No movement has come near the impact the students and designers of the Bauhaus school have had on modern living. Chairs, furnishings, buildings and even urban planning, it’s all here and astoundingly the über modern pieces on display were produced around ninety years ago. You can trace the blueprint for so many modern brands right back to this school - from Apple to Burberry to Conran. Make your own list. bauhaus.de
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Jewish Museum The building itself is another Libeskind masterpiece. Once inside you find yourself walking on metal discs, each with a face chiselled out. It makes for a harrowing and eerie experience. www.jmberlin.de The Stasi Museum Something of a political hot potato at the moment, with victims of the Stasi believing the present government’s keeness to rebuild this museum as their opportunity to re-tell this part of German history in a more sanitised form. So see the real thing before the ‘makeover’.
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The German Museum of Technology German’s do have a formidable reputation in this field and the museum features maritime and aviation exhibition halls. www.sdtb.de/Technikmuseum.3.0.html
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Other recommendations Facil restaurant. (The cream of Berlin) at Mandala Hotel. www.themandala.de/facil_en.htm Cookies & Cream (Makes it cool to be vegetarian) www.cookiescream.com Hot Spot (For those who know their Chinese food) www.restaurant-hotspot.de
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1. Facil Restaurant. Dress casual 2&5. Premium Fashion trade fair AW11 3. Berlin Gallery 4. Arrange a tasting at The Absinthe Depot 6&7. Mercedes-Benz FashionWeek AW11
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8. Premium Fashion trade fair AW11 9. Bauhaus Museum 10. Jewish Museum 11. Auzina at MBFW AW11 12. BlackyDress at MBFW AW11
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17 13. DIMITRI at MBFWB AW11 14. AlinaBotea at MBFW AW11 15. LeverCouture at MBFWB AW11 16. RenaLange at MBFW AW11 17. Tomaszewksi at MBFW AW11
Fashionable Absinthe Bar. Not for the lily livered. www.erstesabsinthdepotberlin.de Berlinomat. A mini-dept. store for home grown design talent; fashion, accessories, furniture and jewellery. www.berlinomat.com
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fashion
London Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 11 International Life headed down to a chilly Somerset House for a heart warming feast of fabulous fashion. James Nixon snaps some homegrown talent and Sara Darling gives her thoughts on key trends that will be the signatures for the essential autumn/winter wardrobe
left to right Amanda Wakeley Ashley Isham *James Hillman
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n short, fashion in London will be a little bit modest for Autumn/Winter 2011. If you are a true fashionista, you will pick up on the key trends of knee length skirts, masculine two pieces, tunic sets and even flat shoes! Etro showed us wide legged trouser suits coupled with high neck jumpers and celebrity favourite D&G sent models down the catwalk in pinstripes, buttoned up shirts and high waisted slacks, with a nod to the
heels although a popular choice, did not dominate. Metallic will be back with sequins popping out for evening glamour at Moschino, Gianfranco Ferre and Ashish, and Bottega brought out the true Hollywood moment with basque tops and sparkle! Still nodding to the 70s, colours wise, mustard and ribena berry jumped out amongst the mushrooms and browns in
the party season will certainly involve a nod to feathers and fake fur, which graceD the shows at Gucci and Just Cavalli eighties and the film “Pretty in Pink”. This will be a relief for the faint hearted after the minuscule minis, which will be bracing the legs of the brave this summer, and designers definitely leave a lot to the imagination with boxy shapes shown at Jil Sander, structured shoulders à la Prada and floor sweeping coats at Ermando Scevino. Winter can be fun though and the party season will certainly involve a nod to feathers and fake fur, which graced the shows at Gucci and Just Cavalli. And flat
Paul Costelloe ice skating skirt inspired collection, which would be rather excessive if worn with the ice skating boots at DSquared. For those who need a brighter pop of colour to beat the winter gloom, you can do no wrong by checking out the Burberry collection, and fans will be wrapping up in red, lime and tangerine coats which were shown on both men and women. Perfect to go with the generous black flares or leather leggings. www.internationallife.tv/fashion
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fashion
pick up on the key trends of knee length skirts masculine two pieces tunic sets and even flat shoes!
top left *Florian Jayet top right Betty Jackson right Emilio de la Morena far right Amanda Wakeley All photography unless specified James Nixon * Š Christopher Dadey Photos
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fashion
top left Aminaka Wilmont top right Corrie Nielsen right Bora Aksu
bottom left Jaeger bottom right *James Hillman
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tech / gadgets
Pentax 645D Medium-Format Digital SLR Camera. Developed to provide super-high-resolution images, produced by
large image sensors. It combines exceptional image quality with excellent maneuverability and outstanding reliability to simplify professional-level outdoor photography. RRP: £8999.99 (body only) £9999.99 for the kit (inc. 55 mm SDM 645 lens)
Air2Air DraganFlyer Helicopter Can be piloted remotely and an advanced autopilot feature is available to offer flight support when needed. They can carry a payload of up to 1kg and interchangeable camera attachments including infra-red and low light video cameras, as well as a top end 12.1mp camera capable of 720p video and Micro Analog Board Camera that can capture a range of stunning aerial imagery and video. Buyers receive two days worth of training with an experienced pilot
The X8 retails around £30k - £40k The X6 retails around £21k and The X4 retails around £14k
gadget
ipad 2. With the new front and rear cameras, iPad 2 users can now make FaceTime calls to millions of iPhone 4, iPod touch and Mac users so they can see family and friends anywhere there is Wi-Fi. iPad 2 comes with iOS 4.3, the latest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system. Starter price £439
M55 Beast 55 Hybrid Bike Hybrid drive means that the engine is not a substitute to the rider’s human power but an addition - it lives with your ride: if the sensor feels that you need some extra torque, the motor switches on instantly and smoothly to multiply your effort. 1500 Watts of power can accelerate this machine to a stunning 40 miles per hour and it can go as far as 75 miles with a single charge. Even off-road. The price of this premium model is €25.555 (excl. VAT, including free shipping within the EU)
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Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4 Aventador: the name of one of the most courageous of all bulls With the Aventador LP 700-4, Automobili Lamborghini is redefining the very pinnacle of the world super sports car market - brutal power, outstanding lightweight engineering and phenomenal handling precision. (0-62 mph) acceleration in just 2.9 seconds. A rocket. Starting price will be £242,280. www.lamborghini.com
tech / gadgets Dive mask camera by Liquid Image The Wide Angle Scuba Series HD is an integrated dive mask/camera that records HD 720P video (1280x720) at 30fps along with 5.0mp still images. The depth rating on this new model is 40m/130ft, which covers depths reached by certified recreational divers. RRP: €250 www.liquidimageco.com
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The Transition® Flying car by Terrafugia Terrafugia developed the Transition® to provide pilots the convenience of a dualpurpose vehicle. Its unique design allows the Transition® to fold its wings and drive on any surface road with a modern personal airplane platform. Once at the airport, the wings extend and the aircraft is ready for take-off. www.terrafugia.com
FreecomMobile Hard Drive Freecom’s Mobile Drive Mg combines sleek aesthetics with functionality - and with a thickness of just 10mm, the Mobile Drive Mg is also the thinnest mobile hard drive available in the world. USB 3.0 technology makes it possible to transfer files in the blink of an eye. 750GB (with USB 3.0 and FireWire, 12mm in height). RRP €129,95/£119.95
Nomad Brush: A Unique Paintbrush for the iPad Each brush is carefully handcrafted, featuring soft, flexible bristles made from a blend of natural and conductive fibres. This simple and elegant design delivers instant feedback to the artist, making it a perfect tool for drawing and painting on the iPad or any capacitive touchpad device. Black Brush $24 www.nomadbrush.com
Atomic Floydtm MiniDarts Earphones Superb sound quality with killer looks Prices range from £99.00 to £149.00
Quinting Manufacture d’Horlogerie transparent Ghost Watch It is the only watch manufacturer in the world to have created transparent movements and to master its technology. Quinting has succeeded in bringing the ancient art of watch making together with future technology. A watch worn by many world leaders. www.quinting-watches.com
www.internationallife.tv
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travel
T
he only traditional low-point of going to New York has been getting there. First, the flight isn’t short enough to keep working or reading and isn’t long enough to get proper shut-eye. You don’t want to eat before your flight and the food on board makes you regret not doing so. And then there’s Customs at JFK. With a name like mine it takes an average of four hours to get out of the hellish terminal. All that has now changed with the British Airways 001 flight, an all flat bed business class flight that takes off from the cosy London City Airport. It’s more like a club than a flight - passengers chat with each other over
united tastes of america
New York Iqbal Wahhab’s food odyssey led him to take a healthy bite out of the Big Apple; a twelve course tasting menu at the impressive Le Bernardin, a skirmish with street food and a spot of Amish cuisine Champagne and I even got Maureen the stewardess to do some nifty thimble work on my jacket. The menu comes courtesy of our very own ‘Roast’ chef Lawrence Keogh and changes monthly. Food for the airwaves has many different challenges than when on land as we have slightly numbed palates from the altitude and so dishes as well as wines need to be chosen to compensate for this. On this smartphone-friendly flight, I was able to e-mail Lawrence saying the grilled halibut
with pearly barley and saffron vegetable broth and the Colston Basset blue cheese to follow passed the mark admirably. Equally agreeable was the fact that visa clearance takes place at Shannon Airport while the plane re-fuels and took me all of two minutes. I’m in New York with two journalists on a food mission - to eat in as many of the city’s celebrated restaurants as possible. Our only deviations in four days were to the Museum of Modern Art (featuring an>>
Le Bernardin Restaurant. Main dining room
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SEared langoustine with foie gras shavings, Taglioloni with sea urchin sauce covered with caviar and Turbot with black truffled custard are among the many dishes that you will remember more than the fact that the treat costs $325. If you’re going to splash out once while in New York, this is the place to do it 46
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>> exhibition on kitchens) and the amazing emporium Eli Zabar, beloved of New Yorkers for its fresh, healthy and vibrant foods. We’re staying at the trendy and recently converted Gotham Hotel in Midtown conveniently situated between Madison and Fifth Avenues. It’s a new style of accommodation, doing away with frumpy concierge and reception desks and instead having an informal lounge serving wines and juices and doormen can look after your needs. The rooms, the TV and the beds are huge and there are large balconies too. The bathrooms have massive overhead showers, so we were very happy with where we had chosen. Our first night took us to Le Bernardin, the three Michelin starred French seafood restaurant. In this beautifully ornate room with stunning floral sculptures, we dive into a phenomenal twelve course tasting menu and soon the effortlessly-charming chef Eric Ripert came out to greet us and tell us what we were about to be indulged with. Seared langoustine with foie gras shavings, Taglioloni with sea urchin sauce covered with caviar and Turbot with black truffled custard are among the many dishes that you will remember more than the fact that the treat costs $325. If you’re going to splash out once while in New York, this is the place to do it. The next day, it’s breakfast at the ubercool, warehouse-like Breslin where an American guy at the next table actually said to his server: “I’ll just have steak and eggs and toast”. I opted for a more unconventional dish of poached eggs on curried lentils with yoghurt. I’m glad I tried it, but won’t do so again. Lunch was downtown at David Burke Kitchen. Burke has cooked at all levels from the top Michelin places to having his own burger joints in departmental stores. This one is somewhere in the middle. Crab cakes are a little brick giving an unusual textural twist by being encrusted with pretzels. New Yorkers all have their burger favourites and many choose Burke’s. It was certainly one of the best I’ve ever had - and I’ve had a few. That evening I get taken by locals to what is considered a “hot” restaurant called The Lion. It’s all black inside and there are many models and actresses. The menu looked a bit like most trendy places tend to have - tuna tartare and of course the obligatory burger. I tried the Amish chicken. If that’s an authentic rendition, then it’s no wonder why the Amish look so
travel
...at Papaya King. A juicy beef sausage can be had any time with onions, chilli or in the mornings with scrambled eggs. To make you feel better about yourself you can have a freshly made papaya or carrot juice. That was as close to anything healthy we had thus far
other page Le Bernardin Restaurant top Gotham Hotel exterior above Gotham Hotel room interior
miserable. On the “Avoid” list. The next morning we walk twenty-five blocks to work up an appetite for a hot dog breakfast at Papaya King. A juicy beef sausage can be had any time with onions, chilli or in the mornings with scrambled eggs. To make you feel better about yourself you can have a freshly made papaya or carrot juice. That was as close to anything healthy we had thus far. New York’s latest food obsession is chicken wings and so we tried four versions - two at a Korean chain called Kyochon as a pit stop on the way to one of the legendary Five Napkin Burger
spaces that are popping up everywhere. There’s a permanently massive queue and you soon see why. Hell’s Kitchen Wings are devilishly hot and their 10 oz cheeseburger is a piece of perfection. This is a food obsessed city (there’s even a Rotisserie Chicken channel on TV) and when the owner decided to make changes to his burger recipe, the media wrapped themselves up into a frenzy of excitement. That night we ate, well more wings at my favourite restaurant in Manhattan, Blue Smoke, renowned for its magnificent barbecues. St Louis ribs are much juicier than baby back and they are a must try on your next trip. A brisk stroll around Central Park on Sunday morning led us to The Caprice, which recently opened in The Pierre Hotel. Slickly designed in black and white with beautiful staff and less beautiful guests which happens when you’re linked to a hotel, it was nice to see The Sunday Times available for guests. It was the only place I went to where they served loose green tea (in this coffee city, some places didn’t even know what it was). We hired a car and drove up to Harlem to visit Sylvia’s - the city’s famed soul food restaurant where on Sundays they have live gospel singing which along with their fried chicken make this a memorable Must Do event if you’re over at the weekend. I’d happily live in New York - but only if they found out what vegetables were. www.internationallife.tv/travel
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the legend of film
International Life’s Martin Guttridge-Hewitt took time out with acclaimed musician and producer Chilly Gonzales. Chess champions, working with friends, and the artist’s first film were high on the agenda.
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So, you know, the movie is a great way to cement this mythology I’ve been building. I take great care that the Gonzales story is airtight
e’s collaborated with the likes of vocal sensation Feist, party starting groovers Playgroup, and synth-sleaze princess Peaches. Apple selected a cut of his slick piano prowess for their iPad advert (yes, that tune), and the likes of Erol Alkan and Boys Noize remixed. On stage, Chilly Gonzales is an enigma. We caught him in a Manchester church and ‘pure entertainer’ is the only apt description. Ironically bitter-but-hilarious diatribes against peers that perceive themselves to be above pop culture, and the most energetic ivory tinkling session imaginable- spanning jazz, classical, film score and indie rock- are just two reasons why you need to make the effort. With such pedigree, and cult status, it’s hardly surprising that masters of ironic oddness like Chris (Four Lions) Morris and stars from The Mighty Boosh clamoured for tickets to the London date. Riotous in extremis, the only thing funnier than discussing, in great detail, the sickeningly perverted undertones of playing in major compared to minor inside God’s house, was the film that preceded the live show. Taking its name from his latest album, The Ivory Tower is the multitalented mastermind’s first foray into film. He funded most of the production, and co-wrote the screenplay for Adam Traynor to direct (a fellow member of The Puppetmastaz music collective). Electroclash pioneer Tiga stars alongside Gonzales, with the pair playing feuding brothers. The former is an ultracompetitive chess champion. Gonzales, in contrast, left a dominant role in the world of classic Kings and Queens, travelled, and invented a freestyle version, Jazz Chess. It’s a veritable family affair, with the cast and crew dominated by longterm friendships (Peaches and Feist also
feature). As dry as it is laugh out loud funny, comparisons with the Will Farrell canon of satire aren’t too far off the mark. Impressive considering this is a debut comedy only in part, and was really developed to give the latest LP a new angle. “I like the idea that you can create something to make an album bigger. I’m not competing for radio play, so for me a way to be strategic has to be more about creating my own world that’s going to appeal to people who take the time to explore it,” explained Gonzales, while trudging through thick Toronto snow. Tonight he flies back to Paris, his adopted home, to play 12 dates in three weeks. He’s just finished a spell providing a piano accompaniment on Peaches’ tour, and in between the two his work as comusical director of a Canadian band has surely taken up what little free time there was. If it were ever in question, this proves beyond doubt that the constructed domain he speaks of is expansive, and seriously successful. “So, you know, the movie is a great way to cement this mythology I’ve been building. I take great care that the Gonzales story is airtight, for me. And those who follow it will find that effort is something that you can feel, and if you take enough time, you can get a part of that story.” If we’re talking stories, then film is the ultimate narrative form. Ivory Tower tells a tale of personal battles, the denial of one’s self, the eventual meeting of minds, unification, and an end to petty infighting. Does this lift the lid on a created character that, while clearly donning a smoking jacket on stage, remains shrouded in mystery? “Oh yeah, it’s heavily autobiographical. When you’ve never made a movie before it’s important to be naive and think ‘yeah>> www.internationallife.tv/film
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below centre The deliciously decadent Tiga contrasts with the unkempt, nomad played by Gonzales in Ivory Tower
film
Chilly Gonzales cont. >> let’s just do this’. But it’s also necessary to realise that people have often failed before with such a big undertaking, so you front-load it with things. “Luckily I had enough experience to think about what I knew about, and I have this close knit musical family with really good working relations that aren’t really in danger of being affected by big egos. So I decided to use that family as much as I could, and realised they would look like good actors because of the clever writing I had done using stuff from their lives. Kind of like method acting, but in reverse.” It’s certainly true. From Gonzales as the nomad-returned, sporting faded jacket, ‘Fagin’ gloves and grizzly beard, to Tiga’s performance as the obnoxious, and deliciously decadent brother, you need to remind yourself these guys are players in avant-electronica, not independent cinema. The result makes for a smoother transition from aural to visual than most have made. “I didn’t hire anyone I wasn’t 100 per cent sure could handle it - especially ego wise. That’s what eats up time, the little ego wars. Probably the biggest thing I have learnt in over 15 years of performance is there is no time for working with people whose egos rule their life.” We think back to the night in the church. Such command of an audience, what effort to make the experience utterly incomparable, and then there’s the sardonic wit carried through every sentiment of each conversational interlude. One could be forgiven for thinking the guy in charge was somewhat egocentric. Thankfully, and through heartfelt laughter, he admits to this himself. “I have a huge ego! Of
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course, some would even say I’m known for it. But when it comes to working with people I know what needs to be said, and I know if something needs to be put somewhere else. People can come into my world and help me out too, there’s no competition. “I had a lot of help with the screenplay from a pretty well known screenwriter in France. She assured the structure of the movie, because there really is a long, wonderful story - no pun intended - and history behind screenwriting, and with key posts like this you have to tackle that otherwise you just look like an idiot. “So she was there to make sure we stuck to the sports comedy structure. Like Rocky, Blades of Glory, 8 Mile and films like that - whether funny or not, these are inspirational stories that work. It’s the same with my music. My lyrics and
performance are challenging enough so I don’t need to reinvent the wheel. A classic pop song works, for obvious reasons, and so does a tight, well written screenplay.” It’s surprising that such traditionalism lies at the basis of someone who’s known for irreverence, though current single Ivory Tower is a timeless piece of feel-good, soul infected pop. And that’s the point. Cutting your nose off with cool, in order to be seen as cool, isn’t very cool at all. But this antithesis of being a scenester is coming from a guy perceived to be ‘in the circle’, so is it also a rejection of the past? “It’s much more complex than that. You’re asking something like is a Catholic sick of God, you know. It doesn’t begin to describe it. Your life is a reaction to or denial of that Catholic upbringing. My entire career, life, subject of everything I do is dealing with a hardcore capitalist upbringing, but ending up as essentially an arty-fartsy creative type. To reconcile that I’ve become the subject of my life’s work, as it were. “So, basically, tired of it isn’t even close because the entire idea of finding an audience, and how an audience chooses you, or vice versa, is fascinating stuff. And I’m forever linked to the hipsters that made me in 2000, linked to Berlin- those are my origins. You can’t deny where you’ve come from,” Gonzales retorted, and we couldn’t agree more. Producer, writer, pianist, comedian. Whatever stage you start reading from, it’s a fascinating journey with one thing at its core. Whoever Chilly Gonzales is, whatever role he plays, there’s something incredibly honest, and irrefutably sincere about all that he does- despite the sarcasm. Staying true to one’s self, you can’t ask for much more than that.
film
History in the making As International Life looks to the future Aneka Chohan takes a quick glance back. The history of cinema is vanishing while all eyes are focused forward, but old films need our attention too, as a recent restorative screening proved.
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talian-born American film director, Martin Scorsese, said: “We’ve seen growing awareness of film preservation, yet the deterioration and eventual disappearance of films has not come to an end. There’s still a race against the clock to save what we can at some point.” Some of us would never have heard of the biggest problem now facing these movies: the slow but devastating effects of time on celluloid. But what possible reason is there for silent films to be saved? Why bother spending time and money restoring and preserving, rather than letting the inevitable happen in order to concentrate on new productions? Jean Renoir’s Boudu Saved From Drowning is a 1932 example of why. The film begins with Boudu (Michel Simon) attempting suicide by jumping into a river. Edouard Lestingois (Charles Granval), a Parisian bookseller, rushes to his rescue, befriending and taking him home. At first, the household is disgusted with Boudu’s eccentric and irreverent behaviour, so he agrees to change. However, things take a different course once the unwelcome guest wins 100,000 francs on the lottery. Big deal, you might think. From that synopsis the film probably doesn’t sound too interesting, so why bring it back? To attempt an answer, rather than concentrating on the plot, let’s look at content. Because if you focus, it’s possible to see how different the on-screen world is from our society: whatever they had, we now lack. In the opening scene, when Boudu is saved by Lestingois, the former is unconscious and being resuscitated by the
latter. Note that Lestingois does not use the mouth-to-mouth technique common nowadays, instead opting to try artificial respiration, grabbing hands and pressing them on Boudu’s chest. There is a certain level of decency, you see, and a sense of personal space that people abided by. Take another scene, say, when Boudu is changing into dry clothes. The director positions vases and cupboards about the shot in a way so as not to expose the character’s body, and thus doesn’t offer any nudity. It’s something you’ll find in every pre-talkie, a result of censorship that reflected the ethics of its time, rather than stifling societal traits, executed with wit. So Renoir’s work now becomes more than just a film. It acts like a time capsule, informing new generations about what previously existed in their world. Much can be learnt about 1930s French culture from this cinematic text. How else would we know that polishing your shoes before going out was a must back in those days? David Shepard has been a film preservationist for more than 40 years. As such, his restorative filmography covers countless titles. He says, preserving film “is like taking paintings out of the attic again, rebuilding some parts of a sculpture, or bringing an opera back to the stage. “Old films reflect our modern history and are a priceless art form, preserving golden legacies, and extraordinary people that are still known to this day. Whatever these characters’ roles and interests were, they hold little connection to the timeless value that now exists as a result of recorded documents, and the amazing lessons they teach us.” As Shepard states, Boudu Saved From
Drowning is educational. But rather than pure academic tutelage, here it’s a lesson in lives lived. “A retrospective mirror on the way we are, or have been, and a canvas that shows us a formative era, far removed from our minds,” explained Shepard. “But for cineastes watching old films is not just about learning. Tribute is paid and appreciation expressed for legendary personalities like Marilyn Monroe, Laurel & Hardy and Chaplin to name but three. It is expensive work and could be greatly accelerated with more money, which isn’t easily found in this economy. But money must somehow be found for film preservation, especially for works that won’t earn substantial income if they are reintroduced to the market place.” Another film preservationist, Robert A. Harris, agrees. “Most of the early films did not survive because of wholesale junking by the studios. There was no thought of ever saving these films. They simply needed vault space and the materials were expensive to house.” What archives could be available had things been different. It’s understandable that, as a medium finds its feet, early classics are lost along the way. But we’ve come far since those formative years, not least by moving from silent to sound, to colour, to digital. In light of such developments, in an industry that cannot stagnate for fear of collapse, it seems all the more important that we take what fragile foundations are left, and cement their place in the future of film forever. Boudu Saved From Drowning is available on DVD courtesy of Park Circus www.internationallife.tv/art
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arely a quarter into 2011 and already the world has been irreversibly altered. Make no mistake, when people come to summarise the current decade, this year will be remembered with one word‘revolution’. Egypt took us all by surprise with the fall of President Hosni Mubarak. Neighbouring Libya is currently grabbing headlines as crisis point approaches, with the spectre of civil war. These are worrying situations. But without action, there can be no change. And for both countries, change is necessary. As Eastern Europe proved two decades ago, events like this can rarely be predicted. On a recent trip to Berlin, which, incidentally, coincided with that key international cinefest, the Berlinale, memories of seeing bricks torn down in my infant years came flooding back. We dined at the fantastic Ritz Carlton, an imposing art-deco style high rise set in a prominent position on Potsdamer Platz. Over beef bourguignon we were told the square, smack bang in the heart of Germany’s capital, had only recently been constructed. The area was vacant, before becoming one of Europe’s largest building sites. The city’s divided history has wreaked havoc on investments, a fact that became increasingly evident elsewhere. At the East Side Gallery silence fell as we observed section after section of the Berlin Wall, now displaying chillingly poignant, political murals, and insensitively scrawled graffiti that reads “Hola mama 2010”. Here the differences between oppression and decadence are clear, twenty-two years after unification. Desolation in the shadow of a bustling metropolis: it’s a harsh, unforgiving locale made up of derelict blocks and empty spaces. Today the Iron Curtain is little more than a fascinating history. For proof wander through Budapest’s Memento Park, described by Lonely Planet as a ‘Communist Disneyland’. The collection of Soviet-era statues relocated some thirty
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International Life’s Martin Guttridge-Hewitt ponders on the lo-fi Czech documentary Welcome to North Korea, via North Africa, Berlin, Budapest, and the 24th Leeds International Film Festival
minutes from downtown Pest includes Stalin’s colossal boots, the remains of a huge effigy that was destroyed as Hungary attempted to turn on mother Russia. There’s an air of wrongdoing about the place, better that, than the full statue in place, complete with dictator at the helm. In 2009 China may have celebrated 60 years under Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels’ doctrine. But the country now boasts the world’s second largest economy, with experts sure it will replace America at the top within the next few years. And as for opening up, it has never been easier to arrange a holiday in the People’s Republic. In contrast the Korean Peninsula still offers much mystery thanks to the secretive, isolationist policies of the northern Democratic People’s Republic. Not so long ago a few friends took up posts in Seoul, the South Korean capital. People are genuinely paranoid there, and who can blame them. The civil war that began in 1950 technically never ended, and their unfriendly neighbour has recently tested nuclear weapons. But, far from the stereotypes that typified nations under Soviet rule, we have little to really use as a reference point for what happens behind the doors firmly sealed by Pyongyang’s administration. Because getting into North Korea might be possible, but its icy, state apparatus inhibit exploration. Last year Leeds International Film Festival screened Linda Jablonská’s Vítejte v Kldr! [Welcome To North Korea]. So we jumped at the chance to take a look inside the impossible to imagine. The documentary follows a group of Czech tourists, who each paid a reported $2,600 to tour the near impenetrable domain. It reveals a nation seemingly void of colour and personality, save for a few subdued characters the visitors are allowed to speak to, under observation and censorship, and the monolithic grey structures celebrating the successful subjugation of around twenty million people. To add an additional layer of spectacle, some of the people on the trip remember
living under similarly close scrutiny, with the ‘powers that be’ looking on. It’s fascinating to see their reaction while walking down avenues under the watchful eyes of suspicious guards. Prevented from talking to the scarce passers-by, it’s a deeply worrying experience, regardless of their histories. Even through the celluloid it’s possible to feel the unnerving air that suffocates a country on the brink of famine. Yet despite severe economic sanctions dissent is nowhere, and authoritarianism reigns unchallenged. One of the travellers remarks: “The people here are weird”. “I would say they’re absolutely perfect,” replies another. “Perfect in abnormality”, the first retorts. From the well-pressed uniforms of the school children performing in honour of their leader, to the near deserted highways and high-rises, this oddness is tangible. Later they arrive at the demarcation point, the world’s most heavily guarded border. The last remaining frontline of the Cold War was established in 1953 to separate North from South. In 1992 the latter constructed the Odu Mountain Unification Observatory so people could ‘witness’ a nation divided by the Imjin River. 16.5 million visitors had done so by 2010. In contrast, only a handful of people have ever seen the view from the other side of this sinister fence. It’s an area that has witnessed extreme suffering, but now those in charge on both sides recognise the appeal of visiting. Like the Berlin Wall, here rival ideologies were cemented with a line drawn in the sand. While Welcome boasts amusing moments, there’s a moral sincerity abound that matches its powerful position as a peephole into the other. Jablonská’s film lacks comprehensive distribution, meaning the majority of global audiences will be blind to North Korea’s interior, mirroring that country’s everyman on the streetunaware of all that lies on the outside. For more information: www.negativ.cz/en/ films/welcome-to-north-korea
beauty
The future of cosmetics
Geraldine Shaker reveals the science and competition behind the age-old search for eternal youth
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he ancient Egyptians formulated lipstick from a mixture of chemicals that led to serious and sometimes fatal diseases - this formula later became known as the-kiss-of death. Fast forward a couple of hundred years and things have greatly improved, make-up isn’t lethal anymore, make-up has become smart. Today, cosmetics are being replaced with cosmeceuticals, cosmetics that leave you even more beautiful when you wash them off. With the industry in a state of constant progression it’s exciting to
cynical of us, and whilst long lasting nail polish is always a plus, I’m not sure if all of the predictions will come to fruition. Personally I would rather have droopy eyes than walk around with sticky patches on my face. I’d be terrified that one of the intelligent stickers would slide off in public, revealing a droopy, unintelligent eye! I’ve been searching the world for innovative cosmetics for over thirteen years. These days you don’t have to look too hard to find cutting edge products that are successfully making our lives easier and more exciting. Serums that
3. Ricky’s NYC has created no-frizz hairbrushes that are infused with olive oil and keratin that smooth, defrizz and add shine to the hair. 4. Almay recently launched a powder foundation that encapsulates coconut water to deliver hydration to the skin. 5. Neutrogena Wet Skin Sunblock Spray is the first-ever waterproof sunblock specifically designed for wet skin application. So it seems the most exciting products of the future will create solutions to age old problems or give us something
The make-up bag of the future will contain beauty products that help us defy time imagine what the beauty industry will have to offer in the next decade. In 2010, Paris Vogue asked various cosmetic giants, “What is the future of cosmetics?” Clarins claimed a self-adjusting skin cream that delivered just the right amount of nutrients, hydrations and vitamins for each skin, whilst Yves Saint Laurent envisioned a nail polish that lasted fifteen days or more. Lancôme predicted a second skin in the form of stick-on patches that gave the illusion of less-droopy eyelids and Dior claimed, ‘Cosmetics will become as efficient as medicines’. Pretty exciting, even to the most
make our eyelashes grow, light reflective liquid foundations with color matching technology and silicone based moisturizers, which act as wrinkle fillers and pore minimizers. Some of my favorite recent launches include: 1. Josie Maran foundation, which balances and restores skin with argan oil. It also covers blemishes and fine lines with chameleon pigments, a color-matching technology that goes on white and then adjusts to skin tone. 2. Kérastase Chroma Sensitive is the first sulfate-paraben and silicone-free, low-foam “cleanser” designed to protect hair colour.
we never even knew we wanted. The make-up bag of the future will contain beauty products that help us defy time and reach our individual beauty potential; foundations that treat skin complaints and revive our skin, plumping out wrinkles and creating the kind of immaculate complexion most of us can only dream of, products that protect during the day and repair at night, we are already experiencing the tip of the iceberg. In the future, our makeup bags will be filled with cosmetics that help us perfect our beauty rather than covering or concealing it. www.internationallife.tv/beauty
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interiors
Preview Salone del Mobile 2011 & Denmark’s Art megastar Ulla Kloster runs the rule over the design industry’s annual showcase and makes a selection of personal favourites and offers an intriguing insight in to Denmark’s Art enfant terrible, Kristian von Hornsleth.
top right: Adonis Pauli Home Jewels, mirror left: Classicon. The Munich Lounge Chair far left: Arthur Brett & Sons. Table bottom left: Innovation. Clubber sofa bed in white leather with wooden armrest in walnut in sleep position bottom right: Molteni. Glove Squiggle
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ilan has been a byword for design, creativity and industry for a long time - for the last 50 years to be precise. Back in 1961 a group of entrepreneurs got together to create the first ever Milan furniture fair, the SALONE INTERNAZIONALE del MOBILE, which to this day attracts Europe’s finest design talent and furniture dealers. Some call it the best furniture fair in the world with over 2,500 exhibitors. And this year marks the fair’s 50th anniversary, cause for celebration within an industry that continues to grow and innovate. International Life has picked some of the best brands showing in Milan between April 12-17, they come from the UK, Italy, Germany and Scandinavia. London-based furniture designers and manufacturers Arthur Brett & Sons are regular exhibitors of classic furniture, whose bespoke bedroom pieces are in many of the most
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prestigious homes around the world. Also ‘Best of British’ is Jonathan Charles Fine Furniture, whose tempered collection of classic chairs, tables and mirrors impress European connoisseurs and dealers. Scandianvia is known for minimalism, functional chairs and sofas. None more so than Innovation, which was set up by members of the hippie generation in Denmark in the early 1970s. Here they take the sofa bed to new levels with a standout piece for 2011 - white leather and wooden armrests in walnut. German furniture designers ClassiCon is showcasing their award winning Munich Lounge Chair, and, explains a ClassiCon representative: “The chair is very popular with architects who see something special about its design, but it is also popular with the general public.” Salone Internazionale del Mobile www.cosmit.it +39 02725941
interiors
Hornsleth has... become one of Europe’s most controversial and entertaining artists
Kristian von Hornsleth artworks left: Chairman bottom: Morgan Car bottom right: Deep Sea Sculpture top right: Gold Bull
From architect to art - London based KRISTIAN von HORNSLETH made the move some 15 years ago and he says this: “It seems that art raises questions and architecture can provide the answers….” Hornsleth has since become one of Europe’s most controversial and entertaining artists with near rockstar status in his native Denmark, where a stage play called Kill Hornsleth is showing in the capital Copenhagen. Now living in the UK, Hornsleth has teamed up with the Morgan Motor Company to handpaint a sports car, shown at the Milan design week in April. But while he relishes collaborations with car companies and owners - a Lamborghini is among his other trophy pieces - it is his paintings, sculptures and special projects, which have seen his star rise. The controversial Uganda project, where he re-branded a village and got 100 people to change their names legally to Hornsleth in return for live animals which they could
then trade, caught the media’s attention back in 2006, and his Rolex watches, provocatively engraved, have plenty of takers. From May 5 he will be showing his work at the GG Gallery in London’s Notting Hill. Hornsleth’s mixed media paintings have already caught the eye of celebrity clients such as Kenny Goss & George Michael and Skype founder Janus Friis. Vibrant colours, witty one-liners and his signature HORN$LETH logo splashed across the paintings have not always made him popular with everybody, but his fans keep coming back for more. Kristian von Hornsleth www.hornsleth.com 07816 839 451 07711 157 518
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london villages
There’s always something happening in London’s Villages. From a newly spruced and revamped Mount Street in demure Mayfair to a lively bit of mayhem at The East End Film Festival. Check out a selection from the impressive arts and events programme at Canary Wharf, fast becoming one of London’s ‘must visit’ destinations. From Vintage Dance days to Motorexpo, London is out there waiting for you to come aboard.
London Villages
Canary Wharf & City | Belgravia | Chelsea | Kensington | Knightsbridge | Marylebone | Mayfair | St James’ | Notting Hill | Soho
Canary Wharf
above left Jill Ford Ceramics at Craft Month
above Summer fashion events at Canary Wharf
Restaurant The Parlour manages to blend business chic and glamour with a comfortable, informality that makes for an enchanting proposition. This is a place to casually discuss a deal or recline and reflect on the week with friends, associates or family whilst gazing across the generous green space in the square. Recommended. See our full review here: www.internationallife.tv/food-drink www.theparlourbar.co.uk Cool interiors. The Parlour at Canary Wharf
Vintage Dance Recreate the glamour of days gone by at our fabulous new Vintage Dance Club. Both evenings start with informal instruction and feature dazzling displays from professional dancers. The thoroughly English Tea Dance was once an essential part of the social calendar and you relive it through the waltz, cha-cha and foxtrot to the delightful sound of the eleven piece Berkeley Square Society Band. Swing Dance sees the East Wintergarden transformed into a jumpin’ juke joint with live music from high energy swing band Jive Aces as you Lindy Hop, jitterbug and jive the night away! Partners welcome but definitely not essential. Full bar and food available. Weds. 11 May & Thurs.12 May www.canarywharf.com
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Get in the swing with Vintage Dance at Canary Wharf
Dancing City previews La Mirada Transparente by Producciones Imperdibles Don’t miss this extraordinary opportunity to experience dance from an unusual angle. A transparent stage provides the setting for a series of performances designed to be viewed by audience members on reclining seats beneath the stage. Providing breathtaking perspectives on sensuous Spanish dance framed by Canary Wharf’s towering architecture, the effect is unforgettable. Free. Thurs. 30 June & Fri. 1 July www.canarywharf.com Discovery Walks Take a closer look at the architecture and unique public spaces that define Canary
Wharf on one of these fascinating guided walks. Now renowned for leading edge contemporary design, these walks reveal the extraordinary transformation of an area whose development was once considered an “impossible” task. Discovery Walks take you beyond the façade of this once derelict estate which now boasts some of the world’s best architecture, urban design and more than 60 permanent works of modern art. Art Discovery Fri 20th May Architecture & Design Sat 21st May Both walks start at the Canary Wharf Jubilee Line Station (West exit, Reuters Plaza) Free guided walks. Throughout Canary Wharf www.canarywharf.com
london villages
Let the madness begin; a carnival of film and culture at the East End Film Festival
The Lunch Market Canada Square Park Enjoy alfresco lunch at The Lunch Market with over 30 stalls of delicious international foods. Choose from spicy curries or tagines, fresh burritos with guacamole or a range of delicious organic vegetarian food, chunky Argentinian steak sandwiches, gourmet chorizo rolls, fresh ice cream and much more. Some of Canary Wharf’s most talented chefs will also showcase their talents with free cooking demonstrations informed by their love of local ingredients. On 28 June Michelin-starred chef Mark Sargeant, formerly of Claridge’s, is the special guest demonstration chef. Tues 31 May & Tues 28 June www.canarywharf.com Canary Wharf Motorexpo Throughout Canary Wharf Back for the 16th Motorexpo transforms Canary Wharf into a paradise for car lovers with an amazing array of vehicles from across the automotive spectrum. Set to be the biggest event in Motorexpo history, the world’s leading motor manufacturers including Bentley, BMW, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mazda, MercedesBenz, Skoda and Tesla to name just a few, will be showcasing their very latest vehicle line-ups and getting you just that little bit closer to your dream car! Be sure not to miss the cavalcade of Jaguar E-Types that will descend on Canary Wharf to celebrate the car’s 50th anniversary and herald the opening of this summer’s London Motorexpo. Mon 6 - Sun 12 June canarywharf.com motorexpo.com
Love Summer, Love Fashion! Throughout Shopping Malls. Free Canary Wharf’s annual summer shopping event returns on Thursday 26 May. This exclusive one day shopping event offers a one-stop shop for a summer fashion fix. Catwalk shows in Canada Place and Jubilee Place will feature a diverse selection of Canary Wharf’s leading brands with many offering discounts of up to 20%* on the day. Catwalk shows will take place at lunch time and in the evening with entertainment from 5pm. Our famous Goodie Bags will also be distributed in Jubilee Place from 5pm!* * Terms and conditions apply Thurs 26 May www.canarywharf.com Merete Rasmussen: Sculptural Ceramics Lobby, One Canada Square. Free. Danish-born ceramicist Merete Rasmussen moved to London in 2005 but her work retains strong connections to the clean and simple lines that typify the best of Scandinavian design. For Rasmusssen her chosen material is stoneware, which is the vehicle for her ideas as a sculptor. She focuses predominantly on abstract form, taking her inspiration from nature as well as architecture and design. Until 20 May Curator Ann Elliott in conversation with the artist. Reserve a place: 020 7418 2257 mereterasmussen.com
Camden Crawl, accompanied by live performances. Mon 2nd May: 12pm - 6pm - Monday Movie Madness This carnival of film and culture comes to a frenzied climax over the May Bank Holiday. www.eastendfilmfestival.com The Nature of Change: Hybridity and Mutation The Old Truman Brewery 4 Wilkes St, E1 30th March - 17th April 2011 Symposium: Sat. 16th April 11 am - 5pm Open: Daily, 11 am - 6pm Nothing in the entire universe ever perishes, believe me, but things vary, and adopt a new form. (Ovid, Metamorphoses) This show brings together a group of 13 talented emerging and mid-career artists whose work identifies the notions of hybridity and mutation. The intention is to provoke discussion regarding the nature of change in the current cultural moment. Artists: Kayde Anobile, Alice Bradshaw, James Drew, Gabo Guzzo, Sadie Hennessy, Will Kendrick, Alexander Kyriacou, Jan Manski, Amy Moffat, Piers Secunda, David A Smith, Kazuya Tzuji and Sam Zealey. josephine@hrlcontemporary.com 07919 416 290 henry@hrlcontemporary.com 07984 950 951 www.hrlcontemporary.com
City East End Film Festival 2011 27 April - 2 May 10th Anniversary! Event Dates, Highlights & Special Royal Wedding Weekend Events! Wed. 27th April (doors open 6.30pm) Opening Night - The World Premiere Gala Screening of The Libertines feature length documentary, followed by a very special live performance. Fri. 29th April: The Royal Wedding All Day street parties - from screenings of yonder year to cake ‘n’ curry and celebrations of a more unusual kind…. the EEFF will also be hosting a series of free celebrations along and around Brick Lane, embracing all the area has to offer. Sat. 30th April & Sun. 1st May - Camden Crawl. The EEFF has invited two very special celebrity guests to curate and host two afternoons of film and music at the
David A Smith at The Old Truman Brewery
Craft & Design Month 21st April - 14th May If you’re a budding jewellery designer, have a passion for pottery or just love arts and crafts - head down to the launch exhibition for Craft & Design Month at London Glassblowing Studio and Gallery. On show, some of the UK’s most talented designer makers working in a wide range of craft disciplines from glass, ceramics, jewellery and silversmithing to furniture, wood, leather and textiles. 62 - 66 Bermondsey St, London Bri. SE1 www.craftanddesignmonth.net www.internationallife.tv/london
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Belgravia Tom Tom Cigars & Coffee Cohiba Behike 52, 54, 56 - The best Cigar of 2010. The most anticipated cigar release of the year - Cohiba Behike. Boxes of 10 retail as follows: Cohiba Behike 52 - £296, Cohiba Behike 54 £387 and Cohiba Behike 56 - £43* 3 Elizabeth Street, London SW1 www.tomtom.co.uk Hawick Cashmere Hawick Cashmere produces the highest quality cashmere, all Made in Scotland. The boutique offers a unique bespoke service ‘Create Your Own’ where customers can pick a style from the collection and choose from the paint box of 49 colours. 51 Elizabeth Street, London SW1 e: london@hawickcashmere.com www.hawickcashmere.com The Peggy Porschen Parlour We don’t use the word fantastic much, because we’re a hard bunch to please at International Life, but Peggy Porschen Cakes are pretty special. The store is a bright pink apparition on the corner of Elizabeth and Ebury St. A sort of cake fairyland, referred to as ‘the parlour’. Pure escapism. We recommend it. See our full review here: www.internationallife.tv/food-drink 116 Ebury Street, London SW1 www.peggyporschen.com
Chelsea
top Father’s Day special at Urban Golf Kensington middle left Sam Roddick, the driving force behind erotic emporium, Coco de Mer middle right Tom Tom Cigars & Coffee - home to the cigar conoisseur bottom Belgravia’s cake fairyland, the Peggy Porschen Parlour
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Eaton Square Choral Concerts An outstanding series of chamber choral music concerts presented in the superlative acoustics of St. Peter’s Church, Eaton Square. The two concerts remaining in the spring 2011 series. On Thurs. April 7, the Vasari Singers. On April 14 Thurs. Peter Donohoe, winner of the coveted Tchaikovsky competition. See our full preview here: www.internationallife.tv/londonlife www.stpetereatonsquare.co.uk
Kensington Many happy returns Coco de Mer The erotic emporium, Coco de Mer, is celebrating its 10th birthday this year and
continues to inspire and expand clients sexual repertoire. Coco de Mer is not backward in divulging their penchant for the three T’s; touch, thrills and titillation. Brompton Cross Boutique 108 Draycott Avenue, London SW3 e:bromptonx@coco-de-mer.co.uk www.coco-de-mer.com Tee for two this Father’s Day Courvoisier has joined forces with Urban Golf Kensington to offer a unique Father’s Day experience including a cluband-ball session followed by a glass of delicious Courvoisier Punch - a refreshing combination of Courvoisier VS, Angostura Bitters and lemonade mixed with orange and lemon wheels! Enjoy a perfect boys’ heaven hideaway for you and your Father with the stylish gentlemen’s lounge decked out with leather seating, HD TV screens showing the latest sporting ventures and a sleek, contemporary bar. See our full preview here: www.internationallife.tv/londonlife www.urbangolf.co.uk
Knightsbridge Dine like a Royal at Langtry’s Restaurant 1 March - 1 May 2011 Take part in the Royal Wedding celebrations by sampling a Royal Wedding four-course menu or Traditional Royal Afternoon Tea in the elegant restaurant, Langtry’s. Diners can enjoy the same four-courses, served at The Queen Mother’s wedding in 1923, along with a glass of English sparkling wine for £29.95 per person. The mouth-watering replica dishes include: Consommé à la Windsor; Lamb cutlets Prince Albert; Strawberries Duchess Elizabeth; and Montgomery cheddar with Queen Mary’s biscuits. See our full review here: www.internationallife.tv/food-drink Langtry’s, 21 Pont Street London SW1 www.langtrysrestaurant.com Get ready for a guilt free summer yoomoo is the refreshing new phenomenon in guilt-free snacking, with a fantastic range of fat free fro-yos including: anglemoo: natural frozen yogurt, mixed seeds, blueberries and raspberries. berrytwistmoo: twisted natural & strawberry frozen yogurt, strawberries
london villages
brands and the renovation has driven a number of high profile names to the street, renowned for its stunning neoFrench Renaissance style architecture and synonymous with luxury retail brands including Marc Jacobs, Christian Louboutin, Lanvin, Azzaro, Carolina Herrera, Balenciaga and Stephen Webster. Notable additions in 2011 include eminent Scottish rainwear specialists Mackintosh and innovative footwear designer Nicholas Kirkwood make it one of London’s most prized, ‘boutique’ destinations. www.grosvenorlondon.com Take your pick from a rakish selection of silk scarves from Archer Adams
& white chocolate buttons. New for summer, sunshinemoo: mango and kiwi twist on natural yogurt Available in Harrods and Canada Place in Canary Wharf. www.yoomoo.com
Marylebone Say it with silk The Archer Adams shop in London believe they may hold one of the greatest silk scarf selections of all time. A bold claim that provokes further investigation. Archer Adams silk scarves come in two styles, Italian silk printed in Como that is sheer and light (£65) or our heavy weight printed English silk that is also made in England (£110). www.archeradams.shop.venda.com/engine/ shop/category/Scarves
Mayfair Le Caprice hosts the Belvedere Bloody Mary brunch The brunch menu includes offerings of salt beef hash with ducks egg, risotto primavera with zucchini flowers, and shrimp burger with spicy mayonnaise. Cocktails featuring the new Belvedere Bloody Mary maceration include the Classic Bloody Mary and the Pineapple Mary. Le Caprice, Arlington House, Arlington St London SW1 www.le-caprice.co.uk Mayfair’s premier shopping street is now open for business Mount Street in London’s Mayfair is home to some of the world’s most prestigious
The Mount Street Deli Food & Drink Events Amedei’s chocolate masterclass 19 April at 6pm Easter for grownups! Sara Jayne Stanes from the Academy of Culinary Arts will lead guests through a tasting of Italy’s finest chocolate by Amedei, including 70% Chuao, Porcelana and the 75% cocoa solid Amedei ‘9’. The chocolate will be complemented by dessert wines from Raeburn Wines. Tickets £10 info@themountstreetdeli.co.uk The Mount Street Deli, 100 Mount Street, London W1 www.themountstreetdeli.co.uk Natural wines and organic canapes 24 May at 6pm The Mount Street Deli hosts an evening of produce created with an eye on nature. Soil Association accredited caterers Urban Caprice will offer organic canapés including Lombardia bresaola with rocket and tallegio and seared Orkney scallop with garden peas and Tamworth bacon, to be complemented by natural wines from Raeburn wines. Tickets £10 info@themountstreetdeli.co.uk The Mount Street Deli, 100 Mount Street, London W1 www.themountstreetdeli.co.uk Napket Napket, the chic boutique cafe in central London is a little different to your usual cafe, combining food with fashion. The charming staff serve a wide offering ranging from breakfast through to dinner. The new evening menu and modern cocktail list make Napket the perfect place to entertain clients. An ideal place to unwind after a busy day. 61 Piccadilly W1 5 Vigo Street W1 www.napket.com
St James’ Interactive restaurant inamo st james allows customers to choose from the deliciously, flavoursome Asian fusion cuisine using a range of virtual tablecloths with features including ‘Chef Cam’, a map of the surrounding area and taxi booking facilities. With a team picked from some of London’s finest cocktail establishments, the bar is fast becoming a destination in its own right. inamo Lower Regent Street SW1 Read our full review here: www.internationallife.tv/food-drink www.inamo-stjames.com
Notting Hill The Wall boutique Customers travel from all over the country to experience their excellent personal shopping service (they also do retail online and by mail order). They have built a reputation for producing luxurious clothes using the finest fibres, which flatter the mature woman. There’s special shopping events, sample sales and sale previews too! The Wall Boutique, 1 Denbigh Road, London, W11 www.wall-london.com/gb/boutique
Soho 100 of the best of British Time Out’s 100 Best British Films, recently selected by 150 film industry experts are being screened to the public with tickets costing just £12. Each screening will feature introductions from leading members of the British cinema world. Tim Arthur, Director of Time Out Live, comments “The season offers the people of London the chance to see some of the greatest British films ever made, presented by some of the film world’s most influential voices. A movie aficionado’s dream”. A list of Time Out’s 100 Best British Movies is hosted on the Time Out website and has proved incredibly popular, attracting over half a million visitors in the first four days of going live. www.timeout.com/london www.internationallife.tv/london
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Review / Barbecoa Iqbal Wahhab delights in the food at ‘American barbecue’ inspired Barbecoa, but finds the service to be navigationally challenged
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e all love Jamie Oliver. We love the fact that he was talent-spotted when a TV programme was being made at the River Cafe where he was a junior chef. We loved The Naked Chef for making blokes want to cook and we loved the fact that he told America they were a nation of fatties. Rumour has it that Barbecoa - his latest venture delving into American barbecues
in and on the day we visited, it seemed as if the waiters were similarly challenged. If we’d accepted every course that was mistakenly brought to our table, we would probably still be there. The kitchen is on open display as we like and the food itself is every bit as delicious as you would expect. My rather big-eating companions for the evening and I drove the restaurant staff up the wall by ordering about two thirds of the menu one course at a time: pork
or so extra dishes which our nautically challenged waiter mistakenly, continually and eventually annoyingly brought to our table. I guess they got to the point where they thought that everything that was coming out of the kitchen had been ordered by us. I complained to the manager about these continual errors and said that I didn’t want to pay the service charge so she took it off the bill which still came to £320 for
beer caN chicken is prepared by shoving a half empty can of beer up the bird and placing it on a covered barbecue with New York chef Adam Perry Lang - received 5000 calls in the first hour of opening its reservations line and the system went into meltdown. That’s probably one of the rumoured sixty-five Jamie clones in his head office who put that out, cleverly twisting an operational failure into a commercial boast. One New Change, the massive new development opposite St Pauls where this massive restaurant is based, is a strange place. The odd configuration means it’s a minor miracle if you can navigate your way
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scratchings with Mole (chocolate chilli) sauce, juicy tangy chicken wings, tender smoky baby back ribs, beer can chicken with phenomenal beans which we fought over, amazing pulled pork shoulder. For those unfamiliar with it, beer can chicken is prepared by shoving a half empty can of beer up the bird and placing it on a covered barbecue so that the beer infuses the meat. Pulled pork is a roasted shoulder that literally gets ripped up. Proper redneck stuff. We could have eaten the half a dozen
four of us. I emailed her the next morning saying I would like to book another table if they would have me back and I got the snooty reply that as they were in the hospitality business, I could come back and she did indeed have a table for when I had requested. She also added that the chef wanted me to know that he thought there was nothing wrong with the service we had and that he had given the waiter the cash I had withheld. I cancelled the booking - no matter how good a beer can chicken can be, there’s no excuse for badass attitude.
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Review / Les Deux Salons Iqbal Wahhab finds contrary to Albert Roux’s claims that the curtain was coming down on French food in London, that in fact it’s moved on with a healthy injection of fun to replace the stilted, theatre and heart clogging cuisine of yesteryear
Albert Roux - who opened Le Gavroche decades ago recently announced in an interview that French food was over in London. A bizarre claim at the best of times
T
he celebrated and now ancient chef Albert Roux - who opened Le Gavroche decades ago - recently announced in an interview that French food was over in London. A bizarre claim at the best of times but when most of the recent London openings have been French (Koffman, Marcus Wareing, Petrus and not to mention his own son’s place in Parliament Square) it’s doubly questionable. At Le Petit Maison in Mayfair, they probably turn away more people than
they can accommodate. The same is as likely to be true at Les Deux Salons on the edge of Covent Garden and brought to us by the team behind Arbutus and Wild Honey. Where old Albert may have a point is that the kind of clientele that used to be attracted to cobwebbed Maitre D’s speaking in hushed tones whilst serving heart clogging dishes with fois gras and frothed up cream are dying off. In their place is the addition of a term not traditionally associated with French dining: fun. www.internationallife.tv/food-drink
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Back to the
food & drink
food-ture Levanah Reyes-Wainwright finds that advances in food technology mean you no longer need the Doc and his DeLorean to see the future. It’s already here ...
B
top The Jellymongers: Bompass & Parr and above with their Courvoisier project
Seabrook Crisps
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reast milk ice cream? Marty McFly could be forgiven if he was here today and thought it was the year 3011. Food has changed dramatically and even in just the next few, it looks set to be revolutionised once more. Leading the foodies are Sam Bompass and Harry Parr, otherwise known as the “jelly mongers”. These two British artists design spectacular food experiences often working on an architectural scale with cutting edge technology and make Heston Blumenthal look like a marshmallow. What about an Architectural Jelly Banquet for your next birthday? With a waggle engine strapped to the bottom of the table creating a non-stop wobbling effect? Too flashy? Then how about a Scratch ‘N’ Sniff Cinema Experience with aromas micro-encapsulated onto special cards for a multisensory viewing experience? Or how about a walk through dining experience, with multi-course meals charting key periods in The Complete History of Food? If you don’t want a free bar at your next event, then how about rafting across a Punch Bowl before having a drink. Teaming up with Courvoisier, Bompass & Parr embarked upon a six month research project with UCL and as-you-do flooded 33 Portland Place with over four tonnes of punch; enough for 25,000 people. The enfants terrible of food experimentation are bang on the money for emerging future trends and were named as one of “The 15 people who will define the future of the arts in Britain”. Seabrook Crisps have created a new crisp concept, Goodbye salt, Hello flavour having finally discovered a way to make fully flavoured crisps without adding one grain of salt. That’s right No Salt! Only
traces of naturally occurring sodium resides in these crisp and considering that the FSA (Food Standards Agency) is urging people to slash their salt intake, these new crisps are really groundbreaking. MD John Tague comments “the range took 2 years to develop and through trial and error we feel that we finally have a full tasting crisp with bags of flavour”. Available in four lip-smacking flavours - Jacket Potato with Caramelised Onion anyone? - in multipacks and grab bags(£0.65) nationally at most retailers. Next is the hot confectionary trend for 2011 - Gourmet Popcorn by Joe&Sephs. This indulgent treat is handmade with 100% natural ingredients, air-popped and comes in a range of quirky and exciting flavours. No more movie nights in with stale popcorn, how about Caramel, Macchiato and Whisky flavour? Or even smooth caramel, pepper and chilli. Starting
Joe&Seph’s Gourmet Popcorn
from £2.95 per pack it can be served straight out of the bag, heated before serving or heated then cooled for extra crunch. Or for that extra pop (corn) of luxury how about gift jars filled with your favourite recipe. Want to help the environment and have a nice alcoholic beverage? Then Iceberg Vodka will do both. This unique new spirit derived from the pure water found inside the smaller icebergs after being detached from the main glacier is one of a kind. Whilst tap water, which many spirits are made with, typically contains 200-300 parts per million of impurities the water
food & drink
What about an Architectural Jelly Banquet for your next birthday? (OR) a Scratch ‘N’ Sniff Cinema Experience with aromas micro-encapsulated onto special cards for a multisensory viewing experience?
Breast Milk Ice Cream
Iceberg Vodka
Modern Milk
from icebergs contains just 0.04 ppm. This premium and luxury brand is an incredibly pure and clean vodka option currently being served in London’s Nobu restaurant. A trend is also emerging for mixers that compliment your drink. FeverTree specialise in producing premium natural mixers like their Mediterranean Tonic Water. Tim Warrilow, MD and Co-Founder comments that “Over the years premium vodkas have become an important part of the sophisticated drinker’s repertoire, but it has not been easy to find a premium mixer to stand tall alongside their smooth and refined tastes”. That’s where Mediterranean Tonic Water comes in, it has been designed specifically for the vodka drinker. This crystal clear tonic with a daylight blue hue from the pure natural quinine has aromas of thyme and fresh citrus along with hints of rosemary. Delicate and floral this highly carbonated drink has small champagne style bubbles, helping to hold the fizz for longer and preserve the flavour of your drink throughout dinner parties. Companies are also waking up to the fact that people want food and drink that does many jobs. Lakeland Dairies have addressed this by introducing Modern Milk, a chilled milk drink designed for adults in four delicious and sophisticated flavours. Milk for adults? Surely our palates are much too refined for such novelties. But then again it is the first semiskimmed milk drink in the UK that offers extra calcium (70% RDA) as well as added vitamin D and fibre. I can definitely see the rich and the famous promoting this
Mediterranean Tonic Water
after a date with their personal trainers. Four different flavours are available: Lush Banana and Honey, Ripe Strawberry and Raspberry, Smooth Coffee with a hint of Vanilla and Milk Chocolate with a hint of Golden Caramel. “With new research showing us that milk consumption has fallen significantly in the last decade, few people think of Milk nowadays as a high protein snack” says Simon Muschamp from Lakeland Dairies. Low in fat and added sugars with natural flavours that are this delicious, I’ll be reaching for this for the ideal post-exercise drink. The food innovation movement has begun; it seems that food and drink companies are intent on talking us on an edible epic adventure into the possibilities of what we consume. And if the above is anything to go by, I for one can’t wait to see what’s next. Key Stockists/Information: Breast Milk Ice Cream: www.theicecreamists.com Bompass & Parr: www.jellymongers.co.uk Books ‘Jelly’ and forthcoming ‘Cocktails’ available from Pavilion Seabrook Crisps: www.seabrookcrisps.com Joe&Seph’s Gourmet Popcorn: www.joeandsephs.co.uk or Brent Cross Shopping Iceberg Vodka - www.thedrinkshop.com or at Nobu London Mediterranean Tonic Water: exclusively available at Waitrose £.2.99 for 4x200ml Modern Milk: www.modernmilk.co.uk £1.29 per 330ml; available in selected Tesco stores
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insight
Future Luxury Quentin Mackay argues for a re-education on the subject and meaning of ‘Luxury’. He questions whether brands who readily define themselves as ‘Luxury’ can truly fulfil the stringent and essential requirements to deserve this elite badge
Well, I regret to tell you that 99% of brands who claim this accolade (LUXURY) today simply do not measure even halfway up the Luxury yardstick to justify the use of this prestige
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hat is Luxury today? Has it changed? Who owns it? Who supplies it and who can justify using the word. Luxury, Luxury, Luxury, Luxury, I wonder if like me, you hear this word used over and over and over again today by all manner of brands that purport to being providers of Luxury goods and services, it has become a rather eye rolling paraphrase. Well, I regret to tell you that 99% of brands who claim this accolade today simply do not measure even halfway up the Luxury yardstick to justify the use of this prestige. Whether we as a mass like it or not Luxury is for a very select few, it is expensive (because of its values) and it has certain authentic qualities that you will not find in mass brands. In our disposable society Luxury is a misfit, Luxury is lasting and looks the same, even better ten years after it was bought. Luxury is comprised of unique high quality materials, personal hand finishing, innovation, passion and Luxury does not have any mirror value (going out and seeing ten people with the same product). To quote one [true] Luxury brands tagline which sums up the sentiments of this precious word ‘you do not own a ………, you are simply looking after it for future generations’. Perfect! I read forums frequently, forums who claim to unite Luxury folk, one person asked recently “What is your favourite Luxury brand’? People responded ‘Prada, Gucci, Dior, Celine, Chloe, Mulberry,
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah’. These brands are not Luxury brands, they are high design RFMCG brands (relatively fast moving consumer goods). Dior is the one exception with a branch of it that is Luxury, the Couture. Luxury needs to be re-explained and reunderstood. It is a unique product through its limited numbers, all of its values which lead to a higher price and cognitively to an exclusive product, which many of us simply cannot afford. Hermes, Chanel, Piaget, Rolls Royce, Loro Piana and there are many more visible luxury brands. Why? Because they A. incorporate and maintain quality, craftsmanship, innovation, uniqueness, customer service and brand values which of course combined all have a price. B. are created for a connoisseur and like it or not Luxury is still only for a select few. C. they are never in fashion or never out of fashion, they just do what they do passionately and with principles. D. they don’t dilute their message, heritage, principles, materials, craftmanship, etc. I have been very fortunate to own a few genuine Luxury articles and the difference is the build, the weight, the quality and the service not only when you made the purchase but also following. All of these factors are the distinction between the ‘we ares’ and the ‘we think we ares’ and when one wears for example a luxury watch it is spotted because it has a presence and of course is an item rarely seen. www.quentinmackay.com
t h e n e w c o n t i n e n t a l g t. a f u s i o n o f e x t r e m e s .
Welcome to a new chapter in Bentley history. The new Continental GT – a remarkable fusion of breathtaking performance, sensuous luxury and modern technology. This stunningly sculpted coupe’s sharp features are indicative of Bentley’s DNA. It harnesses an incredibly powerful 567bhp (575PS, 423kW) FlexFuel W12 engine sporting innovative capabilities for everyday driving. This is matched with an exquisitely handcrafted, contemporary interior
to ensure you are transported by all-wheel drive across countries and continents in superior comfort and elegance. Supreme motoring that is unmistakably Bentley. Welcome to the new Continental GT. Fuel economy figures* for the Continental GT in mpg (l/100km): Urban 11.1 (25.4); Extra Urban 24.9 (11.4); Combined 17.1 (16.5). CO2 Emissions (g/km): 384.
For information call +44 (0) 1270 535032 or visit www.bentleymotors.com. * Fuel consumption figures are provisional and subject to Type Approval. The name ‘Bentley’ and the ‘B’ in wings device are registered trademarks. © 2010 Bentley Motors Limited. Model shown: Continental GT.