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| ed’s letter |
from the editor issue no.
114
Edit o r -i n-Chi e f Lesley Ellwood
Edi tor Richard Brown
a s s is tant Edi tor Bethan REES
Edit o rial a ssi stant
april 2017
david taylor
ART E DITOR
T
Chantal Lascelles
his spring, London is hosting a series of exhibitions to mark the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. The British Library’s retrospective, which you can read about on page 40, describes Russia in 1917 as ‘the biggest flame in a world on fire.’ The untimely death of Tsar Alexander III in 1894 propelled the underprepared Nicholas II to the throne. After two decades of public gaffes and ill-fought wars, the Emperor lost the support of his people. In March 1917, as riots over the scarcity of food erupted in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg), he was forced to abdicate. In October of that year, the second of two revolutions propelled the Bolsheviks to power. Led by Lenin, Russia became a republic, morphed into the Soviet Union, and emerged as the USSR. Stalin succeeded Lenin, grew an empire, won the space race, developed a nuclear weapons programme and helped instigate the Cold War. During this era of escalating tensions, a great swathe of African nations gained their independence from colonial rule. On becoming their own states, these countries were expected to align themselves with one of the world’s two superpowers. Angola, Mozambique and much of northern Africa chose the Soviets. Countries in the centre and south were supported by the Americans. Throughout this period – in fact throughout the whole of history – one African nation retained its sovereignty. Beating back an Italian invasion in the 1890s, Ethiopia is the only African country to have ever defeated a European power. A century later, when a Soviet Union-backed military dictatorship temporarily assumed control, the Ethiopian people defeated that too. It was the first independent African member of both the League of Nations and the United Nations. As the birthplace of the first Homo sapiens, 200,000 years ago, it’s also the land from which we all descend. Discover more on page 108.
G e n eral Mana ge r Fiona Smith
Pro d u cti on Hugo Wheatley Alice Ford Jamie Steele
Pro pe rt y Di r ec tor Samantha Ratcliffe
Ex ec u t iv e D i r ec tor Sophie Roberts
M a n a g in g Di r ec tor Eren Ellwood
Published by
Class dismissed.
RUNWILD MEDIA GROUP
One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5AX image A pilgrim prays in the complex of temples in Lalibela, Ethiopia
Richard brown, editor
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THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
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09/01/2017 10:54
contents
issue no.
114
april 2017
Alexander Beer Alexander shoots for a wide range of publications and brands, including GQ and Richard James.
Chris Allsop Chris has written for titles such as The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and The Guardian, mostly about travel, film and cheese.
96
76 Dream Chasers Malle London’s founders embark on an unsupported 10,000-mile motorcycle adventure 28 A Dame to die for Three-Michelin-star chef Anne-Sophie Pic lands in London at Ten Trinity Square 32 Soho House arrives in the City The Ned: the hotel set to transform socialising in the Square Mile 38 Malin Akerman Behind the scenes with Billions’ Lara Axelrod 88 A life less ordinary Memoirs of travel pioneer Geoffrey Kent 95 Return of the Rhino The first on-foot safari tracking black rhinos launches in Kenya 108 Ethiopia & the Lost Ark An adventure into an ancient holy land
city life
14 Edit A cityscape skateboard and a Maybach G-Class 21 Tech Nokia’s 3310 has us feeling nostalgic 25 LIVING The ultimate accessories for a bachelor pad
10
city social
28 news Get your claws stuck into meaty Blacklock 30 SIGNATURE DISHES The culinary calling cards of the capital
city collection
48 the return of the minute repeater The romantic timepiece makes a comeback 50 BORN TO BE WILDE Gabriella Wilde talks jewellery and more
city style
60 CURIOUS CATWALKS Our favourites from the four fashion weeks 62 Jean Jeanie A dossier of delightful denim 66 April Showers The best in rain macs and umbrellas
out of office
72 The death squad President The story of the Philippine leader 78 Pitch perfect The historic golf course Wentworth has had a facelift in time for the European Tour 82 Concrete Jungle Photojournalist Martha Cooper’s work documenting NYC graffiti in the ‘70s
Kari Colmans The former editor of Vantage Magazine, Kari is a contributing editor across Runwild Media Group.
“Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvellous” – Bill Moyers, journalist and former White House press secretary
on the cover
Contributors
Fashion shoot: Born Free – The City Magazine goes on safari for our Inside Africa special. Photography by Alexander Beer
THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
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City life scg003s, ÂŁPOA, Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, scg003project.com
City edit
Maybach pimps a Mercedes and Berluti teams up with Devialet
city tech
Nokia, nintendo and other brands bringing it back to the old school
city fitness
how castore became the number one brand in premium sportswear
[ city life ]
City edit
MERCEDES-MAYBACH G650 LANDAULET Luxury Mercedes-Benz sub-brand, Maybach, has created its first off-road model, the G650 Landaulet. Unveiled at January’s Geneva motor show, the allterrain vehicle boasts a 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged V12 engine and a semi-convertible roof structure. A heavy duty four-wheel drive system, featuring three separate differential locks, can be engaged on the move, while a seven-speed automatic gearbox channels 737lb ft of torque between 2,300 and 4,300rpm. Only 99 models will be made. Prices are yet to be announced, but you can expect the figure to top £400,000, the price of the previous range-topping G63 6x6. mercedes-benz.com
the car
14
THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
| NEWS |
The commodities and consumables raising our interest rates this month
the toy
linley skyline skateboards
275mm x 1025mm (widest point / longest point)
luxurylondon.co.uk | THE CITY Magazine
Handmade in England, these Skyline Skateboards feature laser-etched images of the London skyline, taking in the Shard, the City and Canary Wharf in one big financial triptych. Made from Canadian maple, they can be left natural, or finished off with ‘bubinga’ veneer, as seen here. Decorative as they might be, Amok trucks and wheels guarantee a smooth ride if you do decide to take to the streets. Just avoid kerbs. £750 each, davidlinley.com
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THE AVIARY NYC, MANDARIN ORIENTAL Following the success of the award-winning Aviary in Chicago, co-owners chef Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas have announced the opening of The Aviary NYC at Manhattan’s Mandarin Oriental. Set on the 35th floor of the hotel, the restaurant and bar will comprise 90 seats and feature sweeping views of Central Park and the New York City skyline when it opens this summer. If you’ve visited the Chicago branch, you’ll know to expect experimental cocktails and an energetic atmosphere. Next door, The Office will provide a speakeasy-style cloistered environment, serving a collection of rare spirits. The Aviary NYC is set to open in summer 2017, aviarynyc.com
the restaurant
16
THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
| news |
the speaker Phantom I Berluti Cocoon Protected by 108 patents and pumping out an incredible 4,500 watts, the Gold Phantom speaker, from French premium audio brand Devialet, is the world’s most powerful wireless audio device. It’s now available in what must be the planet’s most luxurious speaker case. Using its emblematic Venezia leather, Parisian shoemaker Berluti has created the deeply opulent Cocoon travel pouch. It’s available exclusively through Harrods. The Berluti Cocoon, £1,600, Devialet Gold Phantom, £2,190, devialet.com
The new Gold Phantom is six times more powerful than its Phantom predecessor
The Gold Phantom features 22-carat rose-gold plating
luxurylondon.co.uk | THE CITY Magazine
17
the jacket
The McKinnon Jacket, cANADA GOOSE The Canadians understand the cold. When it comes to protecting themselves against it, they’re perhaps the best in the world. The McKinnon Jacket, from Toronto’s Canada Goose, is ultra-lightweight due to its ‘SoloLight’ fabric, designed to face high winds and light rain. Everything from the drawcords and the droptail hem are intended to keep out draughts and protect from the elements. Oversized chest pockets keep your valuables secure and easy to reach. Clever Canada. £350, canadagoose.com
Functions over the top of cold weather layering systems, so you can customize your protection across multiple seasons
Lightweight windwear with oversized pockets and roll-away hood
Engineered to be worn between 5°C / -5°C
An ultra-lightweight fabric designed to face high winds and light rain. Soft to the touch and durable to the core
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Available in Sage (seen here), Sandbank or Marine Blue
THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
| NEWS |
Ilhwa Kim arrives in London Combining traditional Korean techniques with contemporary art, Ilhwa Kim is quickly becoming one of the most important modern-day artists in Asia. Recalling the classic painting technique known as pointillism, Kim dyes handmade Korean mulberry paper in different colours, laboriously cutting out shapes and rolling them before layering the pieces into a marvellous, raised, whirlpool effect of colour. Kim’s inaugural UK exhibition, Seeds of the Universe, is being shown at The House of Fine Art on 6 April. The House of Fine Art, 9-10 Royal Opera Arcade, SW1, thehouseoffineart.com
the art
luxurylondon.co.uk | THE CITY Magazine
19
Elliott Erwitt, 2015
Michele De Lucchi - Giancarlo Fassina: Tolomeo
| news |
[ city life ]
City tech
Essential apparatus for keeping ahead of the curve Words: david taylor
Underwood Model F typewriter keyboard
Old world inspiration
Channel your inner Hemingway with one of Jack Zylkin’s USB typewriters. Made from original models, the adapted machines are suitable for tablets and desktops. (NB: next Great American Novel idea not included.) Approx. £1,040, USB Typewriter, usbtypewriter.com
the brick is back
Nokia 3310
when phones were phones
Yearn for the days when your phone’s battery would last longer than six hours? The ‘new’ 3310 boasts up to a month of standby battery, looks classic, and if that doesn’t persuade you, includes Snake. From £35, Nokia, available to pre-order at carphonewarehouse.com
Nokia’s indestructible 3310 returns. Here are some other brands bringing it back to the old school
AT-LP120-USB turntable Spin it right round
Make the most of Record Store Day (22 April) this month by investing in a turntable. Audio-Technica provides options that look and sound great – and don’t break the bank if you’re just starting out on your vinyl journey. £239, AudioTechnica, richersounds.com
Polaroid Snap instant digital camera
the path to snap happiness
The perfect blend of Polaroid nostalgia and modern tech, the camera comes with a microSD card and self timer. £89.99, Polaroid, amazon.co.uk
Soundstorm 2.0 Bluetooth boombox walk the walk
The style is from the ’80s, but the technology has moved on. With up to 1000W of performance, and four hours of battery life, street parties are back in fashion. £130, Auna, auna-multimedia.co.uk
luxurylondon.co.uk | THE CITY Magazine
Nintendo Switch console
the birth of a future classic
Nintendo has made a habit of creating consoles that change the gaming landscape, and this is no different. It retains the Nintendo spirit of fun in a new format. £279.99, Nintendo, store.nintendo.co.uk
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| fitness |
[ city life ]
city fitness
It’s London Marathon month and when it comes to running, looking good is half the battle Words: david taylor
Nike Free RN iD (£115) The Free RN iD offers more support than the rest of the Nike Free running range by utilising a new outsole pattern that lets the shoe expand, flex and contract with your foot more easily. Plus, the shoe can be customised to your tastes, with different graphics, colours and accents available. store.nike.com
Covered in breathable mesh
Cool Threads Founded by professional sportsmen (and brothers) Tom and Phil Beahon, Castore’s aim is to give athletes what they need from sportswear, including moisture-wicking fabric and polygiene treatment that guarantees lifetime anti-odour protection. Each new piece is worn for 100 consecutive days before full production, to make sure it’s up to the job. castore.co.uk
New Balance 880v6 (£110)
saucony Triumph Iso 3 (£135)
As the successor to the lauded Triumph ISO 2, the ISO 3 retains all the good parts of its predecessor, while adding a more flexible outsole and an increased Everun landing zone under the heel for a bigger energy boost. The City Magazine’s shoe of choice. saucony.com
luxurylondon.co.uk | THE CITY Magazine
Steady and super comfortable
New Balance is certainly keeping to its name here, with a double-cushioned shoe providing extra responsiveness and comfort. This, along with a redesigned mesh upper developed from runner data and no-sew overlays, make the 880V6 a long distance runner’s dream. newbalance.co.uk Double-cushioned premium foam
23
reader event The city MAGAZINE IN PARTNERSHIP WTH INSPIRED 2017 INVITE ITS READERS TO
An exclusive preview of the latest designs in luxury bespoke furniture and contemporary silverware
Wednesday 3 May 6 - 8pm Goldsmiths’ Centre 42 Britton Street London EC1M 5AD Join us for a private preview and meet world-class furniture makers and celebrated silversmiths, who will be showcasing new, never seen before works available to buy or commission. Leading experts, curators and designers will be on hand to offer astute advice and insight into these original, highly collectible pieces.
To secure your place please RSVP rsvp@festivalofsilver.com Inspired is a must-see luxury silverware and bespoke furniture selling showcase. Now in its fifth year, this exhibition is renowned for bringing together the UK’s finest and most highly skilled artisans under one unique curated platform.
More about Inspired at www.festivalofsilver.co.uk
| INTERIORS|
[ city life ]
CITY LIVING
Standout homeware, because it’s what’s inside that counts Words | BETHAN REES
HUMIDOR
ALL IN A DAY’S WORK DESSAU DESK
Crafted using weathered oak veneers and a dark metal frame, this desk by OKA is the perfect balance between minimalism and practicality. The cubbyholes allow for stationery and essentials to be kept close to hand. As the old adage goes: tidy desk, tidy mind. Dessau desk, £645, OKA, oka.com
Celebrating one of the most dramatic skylines in the world – Dubai – this handcrafted, stained walnut humidor is the perfect place to store your cigars for optimal smoking conditions. Humidor, £5,500, Linley, davidlinley.com
LIGHT IT UP L a Pet i t e f lo o r l amp A f loor lamp is an easy way to make a statement using minimal space. This La Petite f loor lamp from Artemide is a minimalist piece, but also functions well to light a room , without taking up too much space. La Petite f loor lamp, £500, Artemide, artemide.com
Supe r si gnal r ad io The Revo SuperSignal FM/DAB radio has Bluetooth support, so listeners can wirelessly stream whatever they want through the system , encased in a sleek, handcrafted , walnut cabinet. SuperSignal FM/DAB radio, £199.95, Revo, revo.co.uk
you’re a big man, but You’re in bad shape
mr porter x sonic editions
Get Carter is easily one of the most iconic British films of the 1970s. This shot of a topless Michael Caine playing his role as Jack Carter, captured by the esteemed Terry O’Neill, is now available to buy through the latest Mr Porter and Sonic Editions collaboration. £300, mrporter.com
luxurylondon.co.uk | THE CITY Magazine
black candle With a scent of rich amber, this Acqua di Parma candle looks pretty dapper sitting on a coffee table. Entirely crafted by hand, the black wax cube candle has the instantly recognisable crest stamped on its front. Amber black candle, £70, Acqua di Parma, acquadiparma.com
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“Mayfair’s best kept secret”
info@hush.co.uk Telephone: 020 7659 1500 Fax: 020 7659 1501 No.8 Lancashire Court, Brook Street, London, W1S 1EY
City SOCIAL Neon sign at Sosharu’s 7 Tales basement bar, Turnmill Street, EC1, sosharulondon.com
La Dame de Pic
A Dame to die for - the City gets a new gourmet landmark
Signature dishes
The restaurants defined by their culinary calling cards
soho house in the City
five years in the making, The Ned is open for business
[ city life ]
City social REVIEW
La Dame de Pic, EC3 A Dame to die for as the city gets A new culinary landmark
from top Anne-Sophie Pic; Beetroot and bourbon pointu coffee; Brixham Dover sole BELOW The restaurant
When Four Seasons Hotel London at Ten Trinity Square opened earlier this year, the Square Mile got its first ever ‘It’ hotel. When said hotel invited AnneSophie Pic, currently the only female French chef to hold three Michelin stars, to open her first London eatery within its cavernous confines, the capital acquired a new destination restaurant. Pic began her career in her family’s restaurant, Maison Pic, in Valence. Having left to pursue a career in management, she returned to Maison Pic to train under her father. After his death, Pic moved front of house, until the loss of the restaurant’s third star prompted her to take over the kitchen in 1997. Despite having no professional training, within a decade Pic had ensured the return of that elusive third star. Her eponymous restaurant in Valence still retains all three stars (there are only two restaurants as decorated in London), while Beau Rivage Palace in Lausanne boasts another two. Pic is renowned for her left-field flavour combinations and attention to presentation, something that became immediately obvious as we sat down to begin the restaurant’s tasting menu. The décor is perfectly suited to fine dining – whites and off-whites complementing the Hermès leather banquettes and chairs (and waiters’ matching leather aprons). The high ceilings of the former Port of London Authority headquarters give the venue an airy, ethereal feel,
new opening
Blacklock City, EC3
Ex-Soho-brothel-turned-undergroundmeat-palace, Blacklock, opens its second venue in April, this time located in a Grade II-listed building on what was once home to one of the oldest (think Mediaeval) meat markets in London. The ethos from Blacklock Soho remains: top quality meat at a good price, cocktails for a fiver, and wine on draught. Blacklock City seats 100. theblacklock.com
28
something reinforced by low lighting. The meal gets off to a playful start, with curry-dusted marshmallows and dainty, thin-shelled bonbons. A glance at the menu brings up a few flavour combinations about which I’m faintly cynical. The signature Berlingots – a closed pasta dish based on the wellknown French sweets – incorporates smoked Pélardon cheese and matcha tea. Even the waitress had never heard of pairing matcha with anything in her native Japan. Here, though, somehow it worked: the matcha offsetting an otherwise potentially overpowering cheese filling, a tightrope walk between indulgent and fresh. This surprisingly successful pairing of seemingly uncomplimentary flavours proved to be a continual theme. Two stand-out instances were the coffee and cinnamon-roasted Hereford beef, and another signature dish, the superbly delicate White Millefeuille, where a voatsiperifery pepper added a subtle kick to the vanilla cream and jasmine jelly. All plates were accompanied by a different wine, picked by a sommelier visibly pleased by our reactions. There’s a freedom of flavour about Pic’s menu that is seen rarely in London. Two weeks after launch, The City Magazine learned that both Gordon Ramsay and Jason Atherton had popped in to check out the competition. Like us, they almost certainly left with the feeling they’d been taken on a culinary odyssey. Unlike us, thankfully, they probably now feel the pressure of raising their own game. ladamedepiclondon.co.uk
from top The restaurant; the exterior of the hotel BELOW Scottish langoustine; Brittany pigeon
La Dame de Pic, EC3 TOWER HILL
new opening
whitechapel refectory, E1
Café by day, wine bar by night, The Whitechapel Refectory opens in Whitechapel Gallery. Brought to you by Luke Wilson and Cameron Emirali, the duo behind 8 Hoxton Square and 10 Greek Street, expect it to become a hipster hangout for art-loving foodies. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings the space transforms into After Hours, an informal wine bar serving sides from £2, charcuterie from £8 and bubbles from £4. Wilson and Emirali are onto (another) winner. whitechapelgallery.org
THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
|NEWS|
KEEPING the epicure nourished WITH the square mile’s Latest launches and CULINARY crazes
Words: David Taylor
no egg-scuses Easter is upon us, so it’s time to crack out the egg puns and feast on novelty chocolate. Avocado egg, £49.50, Melt, meltchocolates.com; Colossal egg, £90, Fortnum & Mason, fortnumandmason.com
new opening
SMITHS AT CANNON STREET, EC4
£85, The HotJoint, hotjoint.co.uk
Leather apron,
Farringdon institution Smiths of Smithfield has opened its first outpost in the City. Sadly, the new Cannon Street premises fails to provide the same sense of occasion as the brand’s four-floor flagship opposite London’s principal meat market. With steaks starting at £24, sans sides, Smiths is up against some stiff competition in this part of town. If you fancy a sirloin, stick to Smiths the original. RB smithsofsmithfield.co.uk
luxurylondon.co.uk | THE CITY Magazine
Devonshire Club Cognac lockers, EC2
The Devonshire Club has partnered with Louis XIII Cognac to unveil an exclusive wall of curated and bespoke luxury cabinets. Each cabinet includes an engraved crystal decanter full of cognac, four crystal glasses, a pipette and a personalised plaque, ready to be enjoyed by their owners on each visit to the club. Each cabinet is priced at £4,000 and only 12 are available for members to purchase: a pretty special tipple, then. devonshire.club
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[ city social ]
SIGNaTURE DISHES T
he signature dish has become something of a fixation in recent years, with some restaurants doing away with a proper name entirely, all for the sake of a single culinary calling card. We’ve all had a late night Duck & Waffle, a cheerily priced lobster (versus an overpriced burger) and even a steaming Pho. So, which signature dishes have most come to define the restaurant in which they are served?
WHERE: Dinner By Heston WHAT: Meat fruit After a saturation of giant eggs, lickable wallpaper and zero gravity bacon sarnies, we get that you may be suffering from a little Heston fatigue. But, while the science-mad chef may have gone a bit OTT with the TV, you’d be a fool to forget how the gastronomic giant made his name. The famous meat fruit may look like a mandarin, but delve in and you’ll taste the most velvety chicken liver parfait known to man; rich with port, brandy and madeira with just the right amounts of garlic and thyme (although not quite enough grilled bread for smearing). Finish off with the famous pineapple tipsy cake with spit-roasted pineapple for a meal to remember. £17.50 and £14.50, Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, 66 Knightsbridge, SW1X dinnerbyheston.co.uk
WHERE: The Ivy WHAT: Shepherd’s pie Despite a recent refurbishment and a chain of brunch-friendly offspring, this old British institution, which celebrates its 100th birthday this year, has something of the aging rock star about it. The menu has barely changed
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WHERE: Scalini WHAT: Lobster linguine
in years, but you love it for its bang bang chicken and old dad jokes. And when it comes to classics, you won’t find a better shepherd’s pie anywhere on earth: a mixture of beef and lamb mince, together with the usual suspects of thyme, shallots, and Worcestershire sauce. If you can’t make it to the original haunt, the forever-multiplying Ivy Cafés also do a very decent alternative of slow-braised lamb shoulder with beef and cheddar potato mash. But you won’t spot quite as many celebs… £19.50, 1-5 West Street, WC2H the-ivy.co.uk
Curiously, the star attraction here isn’t even on the menu. Why, you may ask? Because if they can’t guarantee a fresh supply, then they don’t want to falsely advertise and deal with the subsequent fury to follow. An old-school gem, which has been serving unpretentious, and pretty much unbeatable, Italian fare for more than two decades, the tomatodoused lobster linguine (ask for it spicy) is hearty, exceedingly generous, and cooked to order as you like. While the international jet-set may take the FROW for a spectator seat among the considerable hustle and bustle, those wanting to slip under the radar should haul up at the back among the photos of famous patrons and the copious nibbles while you await your food. Market price (around £20), 1-3 Walton Street, SW3 scalinilondon.co.uk
WHERE: Kyubi at The Arts Club WHAT: Kyubites
WHERE: Hutong at The Shard WHAT: Roasted Peking duck served IN TWO STAGES A London outpost of its revered namesake in Hong Kong, the food at Hutong is representative of the northern region of China and high-end on every level. Hand-prepared and roasted in the restaurant’s dedicated duck-roasting kitchen, it really is the showstopper, with the tableside carving just adding to the theatre. The caramelbrown crispy sweet skin is served first with your traditional pancakes, while the roasted meat is taken back to the kitchen to be stir-fried with red onions and capsicum, and served with fresh lettuce leaves. £62 (serves 4-6 people), The Shard, 31 St Thomas Street, SE1 hutong.co.uk
They may be bite-sized, but these tiny tacos are so good that you can easily go through a dozen or more before you even start on the menu proper. Choose from robata-seared wagyu beef with chilli miso; tuna with kizami nori; salmon with ikura; grilled eggplant and zucchini or scallop with wasabi lime soy; chopped into tiny pieces and served in a pringle-like homemade potato crisp with avocado. The members-only restaurant, and the newest at the Club, is tucked away on the second floor, accessible only by lift. With a simple, understated décor and casual feel, it’s where those who don’t want to be seen go to sip their sake in peace. £3-£4.50 each, 40 Dover Street, W1S theartsclub.co.uk
THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
| city social |
Kari Colmans rounds up the restaurants defined by their culinary calling cards
WHERE: Fischer’s WHAT: Holstein schnitzel This classic Viennese café is the kind of place where anyone can find something to eat no matter the time of day. But whether you’re there for brunch, lunch or dinner, it’s always a good time for schnitzel. Sure, in some ways it’s just a giant nugget, but it’s the kind you don’t need to eat while hiding behind the box lid on the last tube home. While there’s nowt wrong with the chicken or classic Weiner schnitzel, you can’t beat the signature Holstein (veal), served with anchovy, capers and a fried egg. £26.25, 50 Marylebone High Street, W1U fischers.co.uk
WHERE: Hawksmoor WHAT: Sharing roast Everyone has a local where they think they can get the best Sunday roast in town. But they’d be wrong. Flavoured in the traditional way over charcoal, and then finished off in the oven, the prime rib and chateaubriand are served with all the trimmings: duck fat roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, carrots, greens, roasted shallots and garlic and lashings of bone marrow and onion gravy. While your grandma’s version may be served with a side of nostalgia (and a sprinkling of guilt), we’re sure that if you bring her here, she’ll happily hang up her pinny for good. Bone in prime rib £8.25 per 100g and chateaubriand £13 per 100g, 157A Commercial Street, E1 thehawksmoor.com
WHERE: Galvin La Chapelle WHAT: Tarte tatin Although these days the seriously fancypants places are all but scorned by the diet dictators, this Michelin-starred gem has even the fiercest of critics worshiping at its table. So much so, that Jay Rayner named it a “temple to gastronomy” when it opened a few years back: “Even the godless among us need somewhere to worship, and for that reason alone I should give thanks for the newest restaurant from Jeff and Chris Galvin,” he wrote. While the traditional French fare is truly remarkable from start to finish, the utterly unctuous apple tarte Tatin, served with a dollop of Normandy crème fraîche, really takes the biscuit. £9.50, 35 Spital Square, E1 galvinrestaurants.com
luxurylondon.co.uk | THE CITY Magazine
WHERE: BAO Fitzrovia WHAT: Lamb Bao It’s hard to choose just one pillowy puff of perfection at this bun mecca (the second opening after the success of its Soho branch), but we opted for the lamb shoulder, served with green sauce and soy pickled chili for the originality factor. Sure, the confit pork belly, or classic braised pork, are both worth their weight in hot sauce, but what we love about this Taiwanese street-food joint is its choice of dishes we haven’t seen before. Laid back and informal, you tick off your orders on a scrap of paper, which means that when you come to order a second, third, and fourth helping, you won’t need to suffer the smirk of the waiter judging your ever-expanding waistband. £5, 31 Windmill Street, W1T baolondon.com
WHERE: City Social WHAT: Potato gnocchi, confit chicken leg, roasted onion, fried hen’s egg, Parmesan A foolproof choice for corporate entertaining, what this Jason Atherton behemoth may lack in intimacy it certainly makes up for in show-off fine dining. Situated within iconic skyscraper, Tower 42, with views across the City, you can expect a good deal of pomp and ceremony with the revealing of each dish. But what is essentially the combination of egg and chips, and half a roast dinner, covered in cheese, this posh nosh – sorry, modern British cuisine – will have you forgetting your table manners and leaning in for seconds way too soon. Stretch to the private dining room or chef ’s table for the added wow factor. £14 small and £26 large, Tower 42, 25 Old Broad Street, EC2N citysociallondon.com
WHERE: SushiSamba WHAT: Black cod SushiSamba delivers for those patient enough to wait for an opening. Set on the 38th floor of Heron Tower, the lift up is on the outside of the building, offering views across London. The dishes are the main pull, however – the must-have being the Black Cod. Otherwise called Gindara Miso, the cod is traditional fare in Japan, but it’s given a SushiSamba twist here, the miso-marinated cod skewered and paired with lime-infused Peruvian corn. £24, 110 Bishopsgate, EC2 sushisamba.com
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| NEWS |
[ city life ]
bon viveur
Man-about-town, Innerplace’s Nick Savage, gives you the insider lowdown on London’s most hedonistic haunts
soho house arrives in the square mile
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s I walk through the 11 storeys of this Grade I-listed, 320,000 sq ft building, I’m told that there have been 600 workers tirelessly plying their trade on site for nearly half a decade. When The Ned opens in April 2017, there will be more than 800 staff members in total. As a members’ club, hotel and restaurant complex, it looks poised to breathe new life into the Square Mile in a way that hasn’t been achieved before – potentially transforming it from a weekday financial centre into a weekend destination, for its luxury offerings as much as its arresting architecture. The project has been launched as a collaboration between London-founded Soho House & Co and New York’s Sydell Group, and puts the historic building to use in a manner that beggars belief. Located directly opposite the Bank of England on 27 Poultry, the building was originally the headquarters of the Midland Bank, and was designed in 1924 by Sir Edwin Lutyens – otherwise known as ‘Ned’. Its current incarnation pays homage to the gilded era of the roaring Twenties with a sensitive restoration worthy of Mr Lutyens himself. Guests enter the building through the Grand Banking Hall, a sprawling triple height cavern propped up by 92 pillars, crafted from African verdite, a rare stone that’s no longer available on the
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booking a room at the hotel offers access to Ned’s Club, spread across the upper and lower sectors of the building. As visitors descend downstairs there’s a range of men’s and women’s grooming services of the Soho House imprint – namely Cowshed, Cheeky and Neville – however, the real magic takes place when you turn the corner and enter Ned’s Club through a 20 tonne, two-metre-wide bank vault door that was previously put to use in Goldfinger as a stand-in for Innerplace Fort Knox. It’s been transformed is London’s into an opulent bar serving personal lifestyle classic cocktails and concierge. Membership provides ciccheti. Also downstairs, complimentary access to the finest nightclubs, the best restaurants and Ned’s Club Active space top private members’ clubs. Innerplace includes a boxing gym, also offers priority bookings, VIP Pilates and yoga studios, invitations and updates on the latest and cardio, strength openings. Membership from £50 a month. and training equipment, innerplace.co.uk whereas Ned’s Club Relax international market. features a stunning rose marble Nestled among these are hammam, a 20-metre swimming eight restaurants including Soho House’s pool, a sauna and steam room. international Italian outpost Cecconi’s; the But the crowning achievement of Grill Room, a trolley service steakhouse for this renovation is Ned’s Club Upstairs – members and hotel guests; Malibu Kitchen, undeniably one of the most incredible roof a health-focused Californian restaurant; terraces in the capital, with stunning views Zobler’s, a Jewish-style NYC deli; Millie’s of St Paul’s and the City, as well as two Lounge, a 24-hour British brasserie; Kaia, original domes which have been converted a Pacific Rim poké bar; the Nickel Bar, a to bars in true Soho House style. There’s cocktail and piano bar; as well as Cafe Sou, also a 10-metre lap pool fashioned out of a Parisian-style coffee shop. Unbelievably, marble and the Canopy Bar & Restaurant, this is only the first of eleven floors. which features a retractable rooftop to deal The Ned boasts a cool 252 bedrooms with London’s mercurial climate. and a unifying motif of 1920s and 1930s After five years of hard labour and design. Each is replete with brass and heavy toil, The Ned has finally come to mahogany furniture, chandeliers and fruition and in grand style. Whether richly-patterned furnishings. It takes an it fundamentally transforms London’s exacting, if not expert, eye to discern financial centre remains to be seen, but it what’s original and what’s been custom will certainly leave an indelible mark on fabricated. Perhaps most importantly, the centre of the Square Mile.
TOP LEFT A bedroom at The Ned ABOVE L-R Cecconi’s; a bathroom; the exterior
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[ city life ]
Sparring Partners
Each month, Kevin Pilley, the world’s most widely published travel journalist (apparently) gets embroiled in a game of one-upmanship, with himself. This month, it’s restaurants
from left The author Kevin Pilley; Nobu; miso cod at Nobu
RESTAURANT DROPPING I below Pierre Gagnaire
t has been calculated that every five seconds someone somewhere in the world is either talking about their favourite restaurant or just about to. Restaurant-upmanship or chef-dropping has become an art form. It is played by millions of show-offs around the world. The object is to force your opponent into admitting that he or she hasn’t been lucky enough to have visited as many diverse and expensive restaurants as you. The winner is the player who manages to make his opponent concede that he or she, despite their travels, is a dreadful bore and a very sad individual indeed. Although I still coach, my competitive restaurant-dropping days are over. But I was privileged to attend the final of the 2016 World Chef-Dropping Championships. It was held at one of Gordon Ramsay’s places in London – so long the cradle of chef one-upmanship and haut cant. The competitors were Mr White and Mr Black, who won the toss. He chose a textbook opening. “I expect you have done Heston’s Fat Duck to death?” Without waiting for a reply he continued, “But El Bulli was equally good. Hard to separate them. As, of course, is Nobu and Pierre Gagnaire on the Rue de Balzac, if you can get in. Which I always do. I have a special table at Apsleys. And they always look after me at Corrigan’s.” White calmly parried this classic opening with: “Yes, but they are all rather passé, don’t you think? Bit like Homage at The Waldorf. And Joe Allen in Exeter Street. Still jolly good, but no longer stand alone.” Black remained expressionless. “I still like to get to Le Gavroche as much as I can. Although I only recently discovered the Lecture Room at Sketch which didn’t disappoint. I love the just pickled arugula at Assaggi…” “Don’t we all,” White broke in. “Up there with the scallops and chorizo at Bond’s….” Black interrupted. “With the sublime squid ink polenta.” He kissed his fingers and smilingly took up the initiative. White remained impassive, playing with a business card from The Ledbury. White sighed, reaching into his pocket and bringing out a serviette bearing the legend ‘Veeraswamy’s’, the UK’s oldest Indian restaurant, with which he dabbed his lips. Black smiled, sensing an opening. “For Gastropubs, you cant’ beat The Botanist, Sloane Square, or The Footman, Mayfair.” White nodded, simulating approval. He seemed flustered. “China Tang still has a lot to say for itself. As does Scott’s.” Black jumped in. “Mmm. Baked spider crab. Fabulous!” White cleverly counter-thrust, “and the best vegetarian ABOVE Le Gavroche menu in London.” RIGHT But he had left himself open to Black’s inevitable: Dessert at “The trumpet mushrooms at Club Gascon are a meal in Le Gavroche
from top Corrigan’s Mayfair; a dish of octopus and padron peppers at Corrigan’s Mayfair
I was privileged to attend the final of the 2016 World Chef-Dropping Championships
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above The Glade at Sketch LEFT The bar at Sketch
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| COLUMN |
above and right Dishes at The Ledbury
below Scott’s
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themselves... So succulent!” To which Black returned: “The Ritz’s stuffed saddle of Kent lamb Belle Epoque is still worth every penny.” Recovering good field position, White nodded knowingly and quickly went abroad. “I was in Iggy’s in Singapore last week. And Le Quartier Français in South Africa the week before that. Both memorable. I love New York – 21 and Per Se. But Manhattan’s the place to eat. Aureole, JoJo and so on. And of course from top Brooklyn’s got Peter Luger. Mustn’t discount Chicago, Veeraswamy; 21 in New York either.” Mr White, suffering this crushing early setback, desperately turned to Europe, raving about Ristorante Cracco, Gambero Rosso and Le Calandre. His tail was up. “Anne-Sophie Pic’s Beau Rivage Palace in Lausanne was amazing. It’s so nice to discover new chefs.” White went on. “Raymond, Gordon, Marcus, John, Rick, Harry, Anthony and Joel... One could go on endlessly. But, however wonderful their food, one does like a change. That’s why stumbling on Chan Yan-Tak was such a delight.” He had outreached himself and made a tactical error on which his opponent would capitalise. Black could now employ the Far East gambit. “Do you know that Tokyo has 11 three–starred establishments? 261 Michelin stars in all. And I’ve eaten in most of the best ones. You know, Esaki, Koju, L’Osier, Ishikawa, Kanda.” White was still naming chefs. “Thomas Keller, Vineet, Heathcote, Wishart, Rachael Ray, Paula Deen. Wolfgang Puck hasn’t lost it. NYC’s Batali’s Mario Babbo was a find, I tell you.” Black’s next move was the work of genius. “I flew to Monte Carlo for the weekend. I so don’t like calling it Monaco. Everyone does.” White’s mouth dropped open. “Yes,” he said, but not confidently. Feeling threatened he returned with the rather pathetic: “I still like Bleu. And Jules Verne. Paris is still good. As is Les Ambassadeurs. And, of course, Germany boasts the wunderbar Vendôme in Cologne.” Seeing the panic, Black visibly swelled. “You think so?” He shook his head. “I prefer Schwarzwaldstube – German gastronomy at its finest!” White had forfeited the advantage and his weak defence had been infiltrated. The coup de grâce was not far off. LA and The French Laundry waited in the wings. Black moved in for the kill. He further consolidated his position by picking up his mobile and booking a table at Le Louis XV. “Merci beaucoup, Alain,” he said. This drew an astonished gasp from the assembled audience. Heads shook. It was the prelude to the end. White only had one option left. To wait for the jointing axe to fall. Perspiring heavily, he bravely but vainly made one last ditch attempt but failed with “I love Nathan Outlaw.” In his mind he flicked frantically through the Gault & Millau restaurant guide. His face fell. He knew what was coming. The momentum was now all with Black. “The last time I was at the Hôtel de Paris, Ducasse rustled me some Vaucluse asparagus and crushed black truffles. The turbot and caramelised endives were unearthly. He’s invited me back to see what I think of his Château Pétrus ’45.” It was unrelenting. Perhaps inhumane. “I expect I’ll pop into Le Vistamar at Monte Carlo’s Hermitage Hotel and see my dear old friend Joël Garault, who I’m sure will tempt me again with his carpaccio of pink dorado and saffron-flavoured rockfish, served on blue Saba glass dishes overlooking Port Hercule. He’s earmarked a bottle of Château d’Yquem for my return.” No further resistance seemed possible. White’s position was untenable. Mentioning The Bombay Brasserie would have been capitulation. And anywhere in Venice abject humiliation. At that point, White resigned, offering his hand and conceding, “You do get around, don’t you?”
White had forfeited the advantage and his weak defence had been infiltrated. The coup de grâce was not far off
ABOVE Le Louis XV, Monaco
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“I still couldn’t tell you the first thing about the stock market... It’s just gambling. You’re gambling your money away and I’m not brave enough to do that”
Show Business As series two of Showtime’s big-money Wall Street drama, Billions, airs on Sky Atlantic, The City Magazine talks box sets and success with the show’s leading lady Malin Akerman interview: Richard Brown
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fter being persuaded to stay in LA after a failed screen test, Malin Akerman spent six months living on a friend’s sofa while waitressing for 20 dollars a day. Her breakthrough came via the small screen when, in 2005, she starred in HBO’s The Comeback alongside Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe from Friends). Roles in Entourage and How I Met Your Mother followed, before Akerman secured a string of parts in films including 27 Dresses (2008), The Proposal (2009), Couples Retreat (2009), Wanderlust (2012), and The Ticket (2016). As Lara Axelrod in Billions, Akerman plays the wife of hedge-fund superstar Bobby ‘Axe’ Axelrod, taking centre stage in the game of cat and mouse that’s playing out between her husband and the most powerful prosecutor in New York, US Attorney Chuck Rhoades. Billions Series Two is currently airing on Tuesday evenings at 9pm on Sky Atlantic and is available on Sky Catch Up
This Image ©2017 Showtime Networks Inc. All rights reserved.
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T
| interview |
here’s only one thing you should fear more than a man with limitless resources,” says Chuck to Axe at the end of series one. “And that’s a man with nothing to lose.” So, what can we expect from series two? MA: We are gearing up for the next Chuck and Bobby battle, both are now using different tactics. In series one, Bobby and Lara were kind of this impenetrable superhuman couple. In series two, you get to see them a lot more humanised.
How similar is Malin Akerman to Lara Axelrod? MA: I’m more of a kill them with kindness kind of person. Lara is more like just kill them. But Lara is also a nurturer. She protects her core family values fiercely. Many people will appreciate the inner struggles of her’s and Bobby’s relationship. Do you need to understand the financial world in order to enjoy the show? MA: No. I still don’t understand the stock market. It appeals to so many different audiences. I’m a big fan of House of Cards, and I remember watching the first couple of episodes and realising there was a lot of political jargon, but I just loved Kevin Spacey so much. Even if you don’t understand the financial jargon, you understand the power struggles. Have you been inspired to play the stock market yourself ? MA: No. I still couldn’t tell you the first thing about the stock market. I’m actually even more repelled by it now having been in the show. It’s just gambling. You’re gambling your money away and I’m not brave enough to do that. Can women enjoy the show as much as men? MA: Yes, the female characters are as strong as their male counterparts. That’s what’s so appealing, to play and to watch. I love that women are represented in such a powerful way, instead of being someone’s toy. We don’t see that in television enough. Would you marry a real life Bobby Axelrod? MA: No thanks – I’m OK. I like making my own money and being able to do what I want with it. I think having that much money would be overwhelming. Do The Wolf of Wall Street and Billions glamourise illegal trading? MA: I think there’s an appeal to it. But if you’re going to behave like the guys in The Wolf of Wall Street, you’re going to get caught. It’s no different from glamorising
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gangsters. Every sort of criminal has been glamorised in some way in television or film – it’s exciting to see how these people live. But you can see that it [becoming a trader] is a stressful life choice. As an actor, in terms of status does TV now rival film? MA: Oh yeah. I think people are more interested in TV than they are in film now. The streaming culture has really changed things. People like to get home and binge watch. I feel like cinema is kind of dwindling. The television networks have so much more creative liberty. There are so many great writers and directors, it’s been like bees to honey. I think TV is actually trumping film these days. Would you be more excited to land a TV role than a part in a film? MA: Yeah. As an actor, you get to create a longer arc. Although you really have to be choosy with it; if you pick a character you end up hating after three episode, you might get stuck with it for years. How did you finance your life in LA before making it in movies? MA: Waitressing for 20 bucks a day. And living on a friend’s couch for six months. I’ve been working since I was 16. Living on a couch and earning 20 dollars a day – you have to work hard to achieve your goals. It makes you want it even more. You have nothing to fall back on. What would you be doing if you weren’t an actress? MA: I went to university to study psychology. My focus was to get into schools and reform the counselling system there. I thought kids weren’t being helped enough in schools and we could nip so many problems in the bud just by being more attentive. According to Wikipedia you’re a Buddhist? MA: My mum raised me Buddhist. I love the philosophy and I love the fact there’s no exclusion. It doesn’t matter what religion you are, you’re welcome. It’s almost like a meditation. I think it provides a wonderful link to some form of spirituality but without any restrictions. It’s more of a philosophy than anything else.
All Images ©2017 CBS Studios Inc
Favourite place in the world? MA: Africa. Otherwise, it’s nice to be home. After living in Sweden and Canada, it’s nice to be in California where the sun is, usually, shining. Favourite box sets? MA: The Night Of and Stranger Things. I’m a big fan of the first 48, and Forensic Files. Fawlty Towers is one of my all-time favourites!
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Birth of a Nation
London’s museums and libraries mark the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution this spring with a series of exhibitions that explore the development of the world’s first Communist state Words: JACK WATKINS
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THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
| feature |
Red Army poster © British Library - right
ladimir Lenin may have gone down in history as an implacable revolutionary, but he was no street corner hoodlum and, as a formidable scholar, had a healthy regard for one of London’s greatest symbols of culture and learning, the British Library. “It is a remarkable institution, especially that exceptional reference section,” he wrote in 1907. “Ask them any question, and in the very shortest space of time they’ll tell you where to look to find the material that interests you.” A recommendation that remains valid today, it could have written by the library’s publicity office. Lenin had become a regular visitor to the Reading Room of what was then called the British Museum Library during his stay in London earlier in the decade, at which time he’d made the acquaintance of another Marxist, Leon Trotsky. But when he applied to the library for a ticket, he signed his application with the pseudonym he was using to evade the tsarist police, Jacob Richter. The letter is one of the items which will be on display in a new exhibition which, fittingly enough, will be staged at the British Library to mark the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution (Russian Revolution: Hope, Tragedy, Myths, 28 April–29 August). Beginning with the reign of the last tsar, Nicholas II, whose diary and a lavish album published to
then, and they still polarise them now. Tsar Nicholas, for instance, was blessed with a natural charm and grace, and had cultivated interests in history and foreign languages. But he was also an old-fashioned, not terribly imaginative, autocrat. In this he followed in the footsteps of his father Tsar Alexander III. The latter’s stern, inflexible rule was partially shaped in reaction to the terrorists who had lobbed a bomb at the carriage of his own father, Alexander II, in 1881. The tsar was horribly mutilated, with his stomach torn open, and he died in the arms of his wife. As a result, neither Alexander III nor Nicholas II would have much time for making concessions to the revolutionaries who for years had been agitating for a more open political system for Russia. Alexander III’s early death, aged 49 in 1894, had pitched a seriously underprepared Nicholas onto the imperial throne, and contemporaries were not slow to detect his sense of bewilderment. The wrong note was hit at his coronation, when he appeared at a major ball in his honour, seemingly oblivious to the fact that thousands of Russians had been crushed to death earlier in the day at another ceremony. It cast an early and lasting image of a royal out of touch with the people. His marriage to a German princess, who became the Empress Alexandra, was no help. English-educated, she was a narrow-minded conservative, but the weak-willed Nicholas easily fell
Lenin believed national borders and nationalism to be outdated, shallow concepts which simply buttressed the vested interests of the middle classes commemorate his accession will be among other exhibits, it will trace the growth of the revolutionary movement until Nicholas’s forced abdication in 1917, and the development of the world’s first Communist state, telling the story of all the political and social ramifications through photos, recordings and film, and banners, uniforms and weapons. Central to the narrative are two key players, the tsar and Lenin. They polarised opinion
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under her influence. When the pair celebrated the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty in 1913, they posed for photos in costume that aped that of their ancestors. It said it all. They were hopelessly locked in another age. In the First World War, Alexandra’s German background only served to create further alienation. With her mystic interests, she was utterly captivated by her spiritual adviser, Rasputin, but he was suspected
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| feature |
of being a German agent. Unable to provide leadership as the Germans broke the back of the once glorious Russian army, when the royal pair were at last forced to abdicate in 1917, they were considered so toxic even the British government of the day, under the leadership of the Liberal David Lloyd George, ultimately refused to give them haven for fear of public uproar. But they surely didn’t deserve their deaths in a cellar in Ekaterinburg the following year. The bodies were not recovered until the discovery of their remains by an amateur historian after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1998. Lenin, around the time of the fall of the Romanovs, had yet to move centre stage. Prone to sickness, with a love of nature and long therapeutic walks in the countryside, many suspected him, too, of conspiring with the Germans. Yet Lenin was not simply an ardent supporter of the oppressed Russian underclasses. He believed that once workers across the continent woke up to the reality that the war was being fought by the masses simply to sustain the material interests of the bourgeoisie, they would rise up in wider class warfare. The October Revolution of 1917 which brought Lenin and the Bolsheviks to power would, he thought, be the catalyst for worker uprisings in Germany and other parts of Europe. It was for this reason that the Bolsheviks changed their name to the Communists, hoping to hammer home their cross-continental kinship, and the fact that their inspiration had been taken from the Paris Commune of 1871. Lenin believed national borders and nationalism to be outdated, shallow concepts which simply buttressed the vested interests of the middle classes and thwarted efforts to create an egalitarian society. That he was probably right has been underlined again lately by the shrill cries of the Brexit hardliners, unable to believe their luck at the against-all-theodds result of the referendum. The EU is as much a tributary of the progressive thinking of men like Lenin as it is the corporate smorgasbord that its detractors like to suggest, another reason, perhaps, why the cultural headbangers so detest it. Even Time magazine has
made Lenin as one of their top 25 political icons of all time, and many left-leaning intellectuals still believe some of Lenin’s ideas offer solutions to some of the troubles afflicting the global economy today. The violence and repression which followed Lenin’s rise to power, and which still makes communism seem like a dirty word today, shouldn’t be allowed to entirely blot out the essential morality of his vision, based on the writings of Karl Marx and his idea of a harmonious society in which all would be able to fulfil their potential because “each would contribute according to his ability and receive according to his needs.” Contrast that to the words of the Empress Alexandra when rioting broke out in February 1917: “This is a hooligan movement, young people run and shout that there is no bread simply to create excitement, along with workers who prevent others from working. If the weather was very cold they would probably all stay at home.” But Lenin was not to see his mission through. He had a stroke in the spring of 1922, and retired from politics. Further strokes followed before his death, aged 54, in 1924. Nothing was stranger than the mummification of his body and its placing in a sarcophagus in Moscow’s Red Square, thus making it as much an object of veneration as some icon of the religion he regarded as “the opium of the people”. The British Library attempts to unravel some of the complexities of the civil war which engulfed Russia after the Revolution. A White Army recruitment poster, aimed at Muslim communities in the Caucasus, reminds of us of the huge geographical, ethnic and linguistic scope of Russia. The challenges the country faced were immense. Along with famine, supporters of the pre-Revolutionary order found themselves facing exile from their homeland. At the same time, vast efforts were made by the Bolsheviks to consolidate and celebrate their “new world”. Drives to extend literacy and the encouragement of workers’ cooperatives led to the production of striking propagandist artworks, designed to inspire and promote new communist values. The disaster for Russia, and Europe,
White Army recruitment poster, circa 1919 © British Library
was that Lenin was succeeded by Stalin. Lenin may have been a dictator and the focus of a damaging leader cult – which he personally disliked – at the head of a police state, but he did not rule by proclamation and impulse, whereas Stalin was a monster, who transformed communist rule into a narcissistic, oneman tyranny. His programme of enforced collectivisation was only made possible by a brutality far worse than anything inflicted by the tsars. The British Library publicity for this exhibition describes Russia in 1917 as “the biggest flame in a world on fire”. But it also tries to capture the hopes and idealism that fuelled the revolutionaries, and the overriding idea of creating a better world, as well the value of perseverance, and the dangers of personality cults, propaganda, and of allowing the cynics to “take back control”. At a time when, instead of using the referendum as an opportunity to have a rational debate on the future of Europe, we find ourselves at the mercy of a government that seems to have retreated behind slogans and a shabby, bargain-basement appeal to patriotism, a show such as this that appeals to the intellect as much as to the emotions is surely welcome. Russian Revolution: Hope, Tragedy, Myths, 28 April–29 August, British Library, bl.uk
how london is marking the 100th anniversary of the RUSSIAN REVOLUTION THIS SPRING Revolution: Russian Art 1917-1932 Royal Academy, until 17 April
Covering the first 15 years of Russian Communism, the Royal Academy’s exhibition details both the struggle for artistic identity and the propagandist effort for public hearts and minds. royalacademy.org.uk
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IMAGINE MOSCOW
Travesties
This exhibition shows the utopian vision of a generation of architects and designers who pictured the future of the Russian capital in a bold new light in the 1920s and early ’30s. designmuseum.org
Zürich, 1917. The elderly Henry Carr meets James Joyce, Tristan Tzara and Vladimir Lenin on the eve of the Russian Revolution. Tom Hollander stars in Stoppard’s historic comedy. apollotheatrelondon.co.uk
DESIGN MUSEUM, UNTIL 4 JUNE
by Tom Stoppard, Apollo Theatre
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ORIGINAL, LIMITED-EDITION ART DECO POSTERS
Limited to editions of 280, our newly-commissioned Art Deco posters feature glamorous holiday destinations around the world, ski resorts in the Austrian, French and Swiss Alps, and the world’s greatest historic automobiles. Over 100 designs to choose from, all printed on 100% cotton fine art paper, measuring 97 x 65 cms.
Priced at £395 each.
Private commissions are also welcome.
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material world
mclaren helps richard mille to revolutionise watchmaking once more
return of the repeater
the renaissance of the most romantic timepiece of all
born to be wilde
Gabriella Wilde on film, fashion and falling into jewellery
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WATCHes
Motorsport fanatic and one-man marketing machine Richard Mille introduces a new material to watchmaking, with help from McLaren
Words: RICHARD BROWN
News in Brief First model from a 10-year partnership
Bremont to expand Henley-on-Thames HQ
Following the launch of its brand new 40mm Airco pilot’s collection, Bremont has announced planning approval for a huge new Henley facility. The 1,800 sq m space will take the brand one step closer to its dream of manufacturing its own movement.
Torque-limiting crown prevents accidental overwinding
Combines a tourbillon escapement with a split seconds function
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ou don’t see many Richard Mille watches. Outside of industry events, I have only ever seen one. It belonged to a Swiss chap employed in crisis management. We were both guests in Verbier’s most exclusive ski chalet – me on a pinch-yourself press blag, him on account of being close friends with the chalet’s owner. He had arrived in a Bentley and couldn’t ski. He was there for the party. At dinner, passing across a platter of sashimi, I asked in which type of crisis management he dealt. “The Sepp Blatter and Russian Olympic Committee sort,” he said. An average day for him, he continued, might include flying to Abu Dhabi for an hour-long meeting with a prince embroiled in torture accusations, before flying straight back home. Who runs this world? People who own Richard Mille watches. Other clients include Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen. There’s also celebrity venture capitalist Tom Perkins, Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault and Juan Carlos I – the former King of Spain. You see, Richard Mille isn’t a businessman; he’s a business, man. In
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2001, he invented a completely new genre of timepiece. He’s spent the ensuing decade-and-a-half creating the ultimate status signifiers. His latest handiwork is the RM 50-03 McLaren F1. Weighing less than 40 grams – strap included – it is the lightest mechanical chronograph ever created. The watch incorporates graphene, a material that’s six times lighter than steel, and 200 times as strong. It is the first time graphene, which McLaren is currently trying to integrate into its F1 cars, has been used in watchmaking – firstly, in the RM 50-03’s carbon-based case; secondly, in its rubber strap, into which the material has been injected to add toughness. Having shown a prototype at SIHH in January, the brand has now unveiled what the production RM 50-03 will look like, updating the model with an orange strap, crown rubber and rehaut (the ring that sits between a watch’s dial and bezel). Production will be limited to 75 pieces. Don’t expect the price to put off the puppet masters of this world. RM 50-03 McLaren F1, £996,500, Richard Mille, richardmille.com
Roger Dubuis opens Harrods flagship
Roger Dubuis’ first London store landed in Harrods in March. Two unique timepieces are available exclusively in the boutique; the mesmerising Excalibur Knights of the Round Table, and the brand’s pocket watch – the Excalibur Spider Pocket Time Instrument.
Breitling and Swatch Group increase UK prices
Nine months after Brexit, a range of Swatch brands, including Omega, Longines, Rado, Tissot, Hamilton and Certina, increased their prices by around five per cent in March. Breitling increased its UK prices by six per cent.
UK Europe’s largest importer of Swiss watches
Between January 2016 and January 2017, Swiss watch exports to the UK rose by +0.9 per cent, confirming Britain’s position as the largest export market in Europe. During the 12-month period, Britain imported watches worth CHF 1.21 billion, almost equal to Japan (CHF 1.26 billion) and China (CHF 1.29 billion).
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Return of the
Minute Repeater
As time has moved from our wrists to the smartphones in our pockets, mechanical watches have survived by appealing to our romantic side. So it’s fitting that one of the world’s most romantic watchmakers should revive the most romantic complication of them all, writes Richard Brown
What is a minute repeater? A repeating watch is one that chimes the time on demand, rather than a sonnerie, which chimes the time in passing, much like a mantel clock. Typically, minute repeaters are activated by pushing a sliding lever, usually located at 10 o’clock. Repeater watches sound the time to varying degrees of precision; a quarterrepeater will strike the number of hours followed by the number of quarter-hours; a minute-repeater will chime hours followed by quarter-hours followed by minutes.
Calibre 89
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atches are to timekeeping what floppy disks are to storing data. Like DVDs, Microsoft Internet Explorer and FHM, mechanical timepieces should be consigned to memory. Things made of cogs, gears and wheels belong in museums. Weird, then, that between 2000 and 2015, the mechanical component of Switzerland’s watch industry more than trebled in size. Despite two years of contraction, last year the country still exported £11.8 billion’s worth of wristwear powered by a spring. Devices, that is, that serve their primary purpose less ably than the digital clock on your
microwave oven. One way of explaining the paradox is by considering the story of the minute repeater. As chiming watches that were conceived in the 17th century as a way of telling the time in the dark, minute repeaters today serve the same sort of function as the Corinthian columns that line the façade of St. Peter’s Basilica. Just as those decorative pillars serve to represent the ideals of one type of art form, minute repeaters embody the zenith of another. Minute repeaters are to watchmaking what St. Peter’s Basilica is to Renaissance architecture.
Patek Philippe president Thierry Stern
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5539G–001
How does a minute repeater work? Once the slide lever is pushed, mechanical ‘feelers’ read the time from the position of gears. Two hardened-steel hammers then strike the time on two differently-tuned gongs. Minute repeaters chime three different sounds; the hours are typically signalled by a low tone, the quarter-hours by a sequence of two tones and the minutes by a high tone. If the time is 02:49, for example, the minute repeater will sound two low tones, representing two hours, three sequence tones, representing 45 minutes, and four high tones, representing four minutes.
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In the flesh
Grandmaster Chime
A dying art form The first patent filed for an on-demand striker, or ‘repeater’, was granted to Englishman Daniel Quare in 1687. The first minute repeater – Quare’s sounded only hours and quarter-hours – is credited to fellow Englishman, Thomas Mudge, around 1720. The complication evolved under Abraham-Louis Breguet, who, in 1783, created the first striking repeater to be operated by a gong-spring rather than a bell. In 1899, Audemars Piguet became the first watchmaker to miniaturise a minute repeater into something small enough to be worn on the wrist. In the ensuing century, the minute repeater became the magnum opus in any watchmaker’s arsenal, imbuing a status far beyond any other complication, even that of the tourbillon. But two World Wars followed by the 1970s Quartz Crisis hardly created the perfect market conditions for the most expensive and time-consuming type of watch to thrive. By the 1980s, the minute repeater was all but horological history. Enter Patek Philippe. Determined to bring the art of the repeater back to life, the brand spent the best part of a decade dismantling antique watches for clues as to how to achieve the perfect chime. Patek Philippe’s first modern repeater landed in 1989. Issued to celebrate the brand’s 150th anniversary, the Calibre 89 incorporated 33 complications, making it the most complicated watch ever made. (It was bested by Vacheron Constantin’s Reference 57260 in 2015, which has 57 complications).
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It’s rare to hear a minute repeater in action. Only around three examples pass through Patek Philippe’s Bond Street boutique each year, during which time the brand might make 20 pieces in total. When a model arrived in London earlier this year – en route to a customer in Glasgow – I was invited in store for a listen. Since time-keeping went digital, mechanical watches have dealt in the business of romance. There’s not a watchmaker more romantic than the family-owned Patek Philippe, and there’s not a timepiece more poetic than one that doubles as a music box. Once the gongs are set, Patek explained, a watch is sent to a vacuum chamber where microphones analyse chimes. A computer will know which parameters the tone of certain calibres and case materials should fall within. If a watch isn’t perfect, a watchmaker must take it apart, file down the gongs, resemble and retest the piece until it is. On accepting responsibility for the completion of St. Peter’s Basilica, Michelangelo wrote: “I undertake this only for the love of God.” Listening to the enchanting tones of a minute repeater in the flesh, you can see how a watchmaker might approach the manufacturing of one with similar trepidation.
5216R_001
Patek Perfection
5208P–001
Having resumed regular production of its striking watches in 1992, Patek currently offers 12 non–limited minute repeaters within its family of watches. Manufacturing more than any other brand, the company has assumed leadership of the most exclusive club in watchmaking. Patek Philippe minute repeaters, says the brand, have to be audibly distinguishable as Patek Philippe minute repeaters. That comes from the top down. Every single piece goes to company president, Thierry Stern, for approval. Having spent his life around minute repeaters, he acts as the final QC. So what makes a minute repeater so hard to produce? Whereas a tourbillon might consist of between 60 and 70 components, a minute repeater movement will comprise more like 100. Each one takes between two and three years to make – one watchmaker working on a timepiece from beginning to end. A good number will be rejected by Mr Stern. These will then have to be taken apart, fine tuned and reassembled by hand. patek.com
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born to be wilde The face of Mappin & Webb and one of the stars of BBC hit period drama Poldark, British actress Gabriella Wilde talks jewellery, life in the country and working with Aidan Turner
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espite first impressions, Gabriella Wilde is no shrinking violet. Granted, with her angelic features and softly spoken voice, it would be an easy assumption to make. However, having decided to pursue two of the toughest and most competitive industries, modelling and acting, she is by no means timid and for those of you who watched her in the second series of Poldark, in which she plays the feisty Caroline Penvenen, you perhaps never would have thought it. Speaking to Wilde, her slightly reserved nature undoubtedly makes her come across as more reticent than some of her acting peers and she admits that she has never been one “to shout the loudest in the room.” And yet, this to me suggests that she is far more self-assured than many others in the film industry, which is ironically riddled with self-doubt and low self-esteem. Her most recent role as the brand ambassador of Mappin & Webb is admittedly more in line with Wilde’s work to date, having worked as a model before becoming an actress. With her natural elegance and poise – no doubt born from her English aristocratic heritage – Wilde was the ideal choice for the jeweller, which has more than 241 years of history and a Royal Warrant that was first granted by Queen Victoria in 1897. The actress needed no introduction: “I practically grew up with Mappin & Webb,” she comments. “My mum knows the brand for its jewellery and my dad for its silver. It is one of those brands that I feel has such a long-standing history.” Wilde’s roots are similarly tied to English tradition and her family lineage can reportedly be traced back to Charles II. She is the daughter of businessman John Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe, former chairman of the Watermark Group and grandson of Sir Fitzroy Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe, 1st Baronet. Her mother, Vanessa Hubbard, was also a model when she was younger and sat for David Bailey CBE. Wilde changed her moniker when she became an actress (her agent suggested it after coming across Oscar Wilde’s name on her bookshelf ), but otherwise remains very
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close to her family. With both parents having children from previous marriages, the actress is blessed with many siblings: “I have hundreds of brothers and sisters so my fondest memories are growing up and playing with them in the country,” she says, smiling. Her sister Isabella and “unofficial” stepsister Cressida Bonas (while no blood relation, Bonas’ mother was once married to Wilde’s father) have similarly pursued acting careers. Growing up and describing herself as “incredibly shy”, Wilde never considered acting, but at 14 was talent-spotted by Naomi Campbell. She joined Campbell’s agency, Premier Model Management, and the teenage Wilde found herself swept up in the frenzy of the fashion world, fronting campaigns for Burberry, Topshop and Abercrombie & Fitch: “It was such a mad way to start within that industry,” she recalls. “I did a few shoots with Isabella Blow, which was amazing, then I met Naomi and she took me to her agency. I think I just got swept up in the ride of it all.” Wilde, with her good looks and illustrious name, also caught the attention of the press, which attempted to brand her as an ‘It’ girl and named her the second most eligible girl in Britain. However, Wilde rejected these labels and by 18, she had decided to walk away from modelling. “I stopped because it didn’t make me happy and I didn’t feel comfortable doing it,” she tells me. “I think you need to have a very strong personality to exist in that world and I wasn’t prepared for it.” Her next step was to enrol in a fine art course at City & Guilds of London Art School, but she wasn’t long there before realising she wanted to act. Having never even appeared in so much as a school play, this decision came as a surprise to her family and friends. “I still have friends who can’t understand how I could be an actress because normally I’m quite introverted,” she says. “It was never a route I had expected to go down, but was something I found I was interested in.” In 2009, aged 20, Wilde made her acting debut in the film, St Trinian’s 2:
Empress blue sapphire necklace in 18-carat white gold, £38,000
Carrington blue topaz and diamond ring, £2,750
Floresco white gold large diamond drop earrings, £10,500
Floresco diamond & sapphire cuff, £40,000
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“I did a few shoots with Isabella Blow, which was amazing, then I met Naomi [ Campbell ] and she took me to her agency. I think I just got swept up in the ride of it all” luxurylondon.co.uk | THE CITY Magazine
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The Legend of Fritton’s Gold, appearing alongside Rupert Everett, Colin Firth and Talulah Riley. Shortly after this, the actress appeared in an episode of Doctor Who, a role which saw her reunite with her St Trinian’s co-star David Tennant. Her following film, The Three Musketeers (starring Matthew Macfadyen and Orlando Bloom), in which she played the queen’s lady-in-waiting Constance Bonacieux, was received poorly by both critics and audiences. However, her next big film – the third film adaptation of Stephen King’s supernatural horror novel, Carrie – was a box office success. Her latest role in BBC’s hit period drama Poldark, which has won over millions of fans since it premiered in 2015, is possibly her most diverse to date. She plays Caroline Penvenen, the manipulative niece of wealthy landowner Ray Penvenan ( John Nettles). A far cry from one of the Posh Totties in St Trinian’s or the simpering girl next door in romantic film Endless Love (in which she starred alongside Alex Pettyfer in 2014), Caroline is far more complex as a character and one which Wilde enjoys playing. “She’s really fun,” she says. “She’s not what she seems and is very naughty and quick-witted. She’s a bit of a feminist in her own way for that time and while she’s restricted as an heiress, she’s still feisty.” For Wilde, acting is far more rewarding and “creatively fulfilling” than modelling as it challenges her to explore a different side to herself. “It’s an incredibly exciting thing to do. Every job is different and the things you learn and discover when creating a person are endless. I’m not a very outgoing person, but I think there’s a difference in being myself and playing someone else. I really separate the two.”
“I’m not a very outgoing person, but I think there’s a difference in being myself and playing someone else. I really separate the two.’’ The actress finds this process very liberating, and explains how she always has to identify with her character before committing to the role: “Sometimes I read a role and just don’t relate to it on any level and so it’s not something I want to do. It has to come from somewhere truthful.” It has been confirmed that Wilde will reprise the role of Caroline in the third series of Poldark, which is due to air later this year. Aside from enjoying getting to evolve her character (and starring alongside Aidan Turner, whom she describes as “a really lovely guy”) – the other aspect of being in Poldark Wilde loves is filming in Devon. Having grown up in Hampshire, the
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actress’ heart lies in the country, which is why after four years living in Notting Hill she decided to uproot to Somerset, where she now lives with her husband, Alan Pownall (lead singer of electronic band Pale), and her two sons: Sasha Blue and Shiloh Silva. She may look the epitome of a girl’s girl, but again, Wilde is full of surprises, describing herself as a “real tomboy” and often finds herself wearing pieces from her husband’s wardrobe which, with two small boys under the age of five, is no doubt very sensible. “Don’t get me wrong, I love clothes,” she says. “My favourite brands are probably Céline, The Row and Chloé. But day to day I dress quite practically. I live in black jeans, and I like wearing
T-shirts and jumpers.” The red carpet is the time when she feels she can dress up and show her feminine side, but even then, she stands firmly by the principle of “dressing comfortably and being yourself ” as “there’s nothing worse than being in an environment and feeling unsure of what you’re wearing.” By keeping her work and private life separate and having learnt from a young age to ignore any diatribe the press might print, 27-year-old Wilde finds it easier balancing her career with motherhood, although she admits it is sometimes a struggle. “It’s important to me to spend as much time with my children as possible, but also it’s important for me to work. It’s hard, but fortunately I’m very lucky that I have a very supportive husband and family, and a job that allows me to bring them with me a lot. That’s a luxury a lot of mothers don’t have so I’m very grateful.” mappinandwebb.com
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JEWELLERY
Words: olivia sharpe
Drama queen
Many jewels shone at Paris Couture Week in March, but those that arguably sparkled brightest were those in Chopard’s Garden of Kalahari. The six-piece high jewellery collection has been created from the exceptional 342-carat rough diamond of flawless colour sourced in Botswana’s Karowe mine a year ago. Each jewel represents a different flower. POA, Chopard,
Still waters
At the A/W17 New York Fashion Week shows, the industry drew comment. Political statements shouted out from T-shirts bearing slogans such as ‘I am an Immigrant’ and ‘We are all Human Beings’. Elsewhere, however, some brands have chosen to inject a note of calm in such chaos – cue De Beers. The brand has added three new pendants to its Enchanted Lotus collection. Carnelian, lapis lazuli and jade have been embedded within micro-pavé lotus motifs. Carnelian and lapiz lazuli pendants, £2,425; Jade pendant, £3,250, available from 1 May, debeers.co.uk
chopard.com
Diamonds in the ruff As part of William & Son’s patronage of the National Portrait Gallery and lead sponsorship of the Portrait Gala (a special annual event that sees funds raised to support the gallery’s work and research), the company has designed a jewellery collection to mark the occasion. Drawing on one of the gallery’s most famous paintings, the Ditchley portrait of Queen Elizabeth I, the necklace and earring set features ethicallysourced aquamarine stones surrounded by 11.83-carats of baguette-cut diamonds – inspired by the Elizabethan ruff worn by the monarch in the painting. POA, williamandson.com
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Zero hour
In one of her last projects before her death, architect Zaha Hadid reinterpreted Bulgari’s most iconic ring: the B.zero1. The piece, which was originally inspired by the Roman Colosseum, has been through countless redesigns since its creation in 1999, yet this is perhaps the most dramatic to date. Its trademark motifs – the tubogas, a flexible band of sleek contours produced without soldering, and the Bulgari double logo – still feature, but Hadid daringly deconstructed the central looping band to incorporate her free-flowing aesthetic. The ring is available in four versions. From £1,580, 168 New Bond Street, W1S, bulgari.com
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ready, steady...
bridal runway With summer weddings just around the corner, don’t miss out on bridal boutique Les Trois Soeurs’ aspirational Canary Wharf catwalk event this month, showcasing the best in bridal fashion
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es Trois Soeurs is unique in being the only luxury bridal boutique in Canary Wharf, helping busy brides find the wedding dress of their dreams, in an immersive, enjoyable experience – during their lunch break, if need be. The shop stocks a range of high-end international designers and in a first for Les Trois Soeurs, the brand is holding a bridal catwalk fashion show next month. It promises to be a luxurious affair, with Champagne by Ruinart and canapés by Ampersand. As for the wedding dresses, Les Trois Soeurs is honoured that famed wedding dress designer Hayley Paige will be coming from America to present her new Fall 2017 bridal collection and host a Q&A session. Hayley Paige dresses are feminine and ephemeral, often working with chiffon and a full silhouette. The American
designer is renowned in her field, having developed a celebrated ten-piece bridal collection while studying at Cornell University. Since then, she has worked on ready-to-wear for Jill Stuart and the first Marchesa Eterna bridal collection at Priscilla of Boston, before launching her own line. Also at the event will be group shows with pieces from Temperley London, designer J’Aton Couture, Amanda Wakeley, Caroline Castigliano, Jennifer Behr, Jenny Packham accessories, Lazaro, Lova, Oscar de la Renta shoes, Philip Treacy, Alon Livné White, Tiffany
As for the wedding dresses, Le Trois Soeurs is honoured that famed wedding dress designer Hayley Paige will be coming from America & Co. and more. Representatives from Penhaligons, Mr & Mrs Smith, Canary Wharf Group, Henry Poole, Cliveden House, Tiffany & Co and more will also be in attendance. One particular notable guest will be Lady Louisa Collings, who is an Ambassador for the international children’s charity, World Vision and sister of Lord March who owns the Goodwood Estate. Lady Collings will talk about educating girls in the developing world and how it helps to prevent early child marriage, a cause which Les Trois Soeurs Bridal supports. Also attending is famed designerturned- philanthropist Jimmy Choo OBE. Choo was the Princess of Wales’ official shoe designer since the early 1990s, and he describes Princess Diana as “beautiful, fabulous and an iconic lady with such style.” Not just anyone could be trusted to ensure the Princess’ feet were encased in the most fabulous and stylish shoes around, but Choo had the necessary training and experience.
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“I was born and raised in Penang, Malaysia,” he says. “My father was a shoe designer and I was immersed in the world of shoemaking from an early age. My first fashion educational experience was being taught by my father. When I first started, he wouldn’t let me make a shoe. Instead, he said ‘Sit and watch, just sit and watch.’ For months and months, I did that.” It paid off. As long-standing family friends with the Les Trois Soeurs founder Terri Chan, Choo will fly in specially for the event. “I am pleased to support this event as an honourary guest and excited to see the new season bridal designs at this catwalk show,” says Choo. “[Chan] has an enviable selection of stunning dresses from some of the best national and international bridal designers. This show will be an homage to the design talent she supports at her Canary Wharf boutique.”
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Les Trois Soeurs Bridal presents The Luxury Bridal Show in Canary Wharf 4 May, 7-10pm East Wintergarden, 43 Bank Street.
VIP tickets £50, standard tickets £25 For tickets contact sophie@lestroissoeurs.co.uk, 020 7510 1766, lestroissoeurs.co.uk
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MONDAY 10 – THURSDAY 13 APRIL JUBILEE PLACE 11AM – 5PM
CANARYWHARF.COM @YOURCANARYWHARF @CANARYWHARFLONDON
00505_Press AD_RUNWILD TITLES_vrs1.indd 1
22/03/2017 11:15
ea s t e r e g g-ci te me n t Head down to Canary Wharf from Monday 10 to Thursday 13 April, kids in tow, and take part in the Easter festivities taking place; explore the malls in search of the five hidden easter eggs, get creative in the workshops and enjoy the kids eat free deal from Jamie’s Italian
kids eat free While you’re out and about in Canary Wharf, making the most of the special events this Easter, make the most of the outstanding dining offerings available. Jamie’s Italian, in Churchill Place, is offering an awardwinning kids’ menu for free from 1 - 23 April. Just quote your server the code KIDSTP and pick from a choice of six dishes. Even the pickiest eater will be satisifed.
happy bunny The holidays are approaching and the little ones are bound to need activities to keep them entertained. Why not take them along to the children’s workshops in Jubilee Place, taking place across the four days? Let them get their creative juices flowing and make their very own easter bunny ears head band. Whether they choose colours, embellishments or choose to keep it simple, the hands-on workshop will certainly keep them occupied and they can leave with adorable ears to take home and put on with a smile on their face at the end of the day.
easter egg hunt This Easter, get your mini detectives on the case and on the look out for the five missing Easter eggs dotted around the estate. Hunt around the malls in search of the large 3D eggs and once they’ve spotted them, make sure to note down its unique colour. Your little explorers will claim their chocolate coin prize in Jubilee Place and are sure to have a cracking good time.
e ast e r t re at s Easter bunny garland, £2, Flying Tiger, Crossrail Place Hen house, £15, Marks & Spencer Simply Food, Jubilee Place
Easter egg charms, £65 (left), £75 (right), Links of London, Jubilee Place
Easter egg basket, £8.50, Paperchase, Jubilee Place
Chocolate Owl, £5, Waitrose Food, Fashion & Home, Canada Place
Bunny soft toy, £5, Flying Tiger, Crossrail Place
Bunny backpack, £16, Monsoon, Jubilee Place
Chick soft toy, £13.50, Paperchase, Jubilee Place
canarywharf.com
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Milano: Galleria V. Emanuele
ITALIAN TRAVEL BAGS SINCE 1952
Available at Harrods, Selfridges, John Lewis and caseluggage.com
CITY STYLE The F/W17 ready-to-wear show by Chanel at the Grand Palais, Paris, 7 March 2017. Image by Olivier Saillant, chanel.com
curious catwalks
all the world’s a stage – a roundup of the world’s big four fashion weeks
Hackett X Aston Martin
The tailor partners with the supercar maker on a second collection
april showers
look dapper while keeping dry – weatherproof your wardrobe
Words: BETHAN REES
The fashion weeks are over. Here’s what A/W17 has in store
curious catwalks
T
he free coconut waters have been drunk dry and the FROW have gone home. The fashion weeks are over, but for a while, all eyes were concentrated on the sartorial servings from the four main cities – London, Paris, Milan and New York. There were many talking points throughout the A/W17 showcases; Vivienne Westwood walking in her own show, Stella McCartney paying tribute to the late George Michael at the end of her showcase, Burberry’s artistic collaboration with Henry Moore sculptures in Soho (London), Kanye West casting hijabwearing model Halima Aden in her first show and Nicki Minaj going half-topless. But, of course, the clothes should take centre-stage. Here’s a roundup of what most caught the eye of The City Magazine.
MAX MARA [Milan] Max Mara’s A/W17 collection is a story of two sides. On one hand, it’s what you can only describe as a sartorial hug. Teddy bear textured coats, camel cashmere capes, supersized mittens and shearling dresses made for a cosy showcase. On the other hand, it’s super luxe, oversized power suits in classic Max Mara style – as the saying goes, if it ain’t broke. . . What the collection did have in common, though, was block colours and slouchy shapes. Each model on the runway was wearing only one colour – mostly vermilion red, wolf grey, gold or brown – and all of the looks gave a slouchy silhouette, even the tailored suits. gb.maxmara.com
SIMONE ROCHA [London] Dublin-born Simone Rocha treated the catwalk to a different take on femininity at London Fashion Week, exploring ideas of functionality, masculinity and diversity. Referencing military uniforms and armour using khaki green velvet, big belts, crossbody bags and four-pocket jackets, the collection also featured the classic Rocha floral motif we’ve come to love, but this time with a grown-up sensibility. Replacing pastel pink and playful florals, the print has evolved using more grown-up shades of black, brown, white and red shades and using materials such as leather; the collection has a practical, more severe feel. Also, Rocha chose to cast models of all ages including septuagenarians Benedetta Barzini and Jan de Villeneuve – proving that style has no age limit. simonerocha.com
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MONCLER GRENOBLE [nyc]
The curtains rose for the Moncler Grenoble A/W17 collection to reveal a whimsical, snowy set, and the clothes followed in suitable wintry fashion. Ski-style staples such as big reflective glasses, bright puffer jackets and vibrant fur mittens were reinvented – it’s impossible to deny the ’70s inspiration in retro print and furry snow boots. Suitable for the slopes? It’s far too pretty to get damp. Maybe this collection is one for après-ski? moncler.com
SHRIMPS [London]
A Shrimps collection without fun faux furs wouldn’t be a Shrimps collection at all. London-based designer Hannah Weiland stuck to the brand’s design roots and the signature faux fur pieces came out in full force in a variety of prints and colours. The A/W17 range feels as if the label has grown up a bit, with a gentlewomanly feel to the show. Pearl-style embellishment on white faux fur, elbow-length gloves and exaggerated cuffs gave a Breakfast at Tiffany’s touch. Weiland cites her influences as Scotland and FrenchAmerican artist Louise Bourgeois, which can be seen through the use of tartan and outline sillhouette drawings. shrimps.co.uk
YEEZY [nyc]
BRANDON MAXWELL [nyc]
Who said catwalks needed to be serious? A casting of women, including Jourdan Dunn, Joan Smalls and Bella Hadid, who were told to have fun, displayed Brandon Maxwell’s collection. Sashaying down the runway, smiling and dancing, it was a welcome addition to New York Fashion Week. Although Maxwell has only been on the scene for two years, he has dressed the former first lady Michelle Obama, and Lady Gaga has named him as her favourite designer. His classic monochrome palette was uplifted by the injection of forest green, navy and burgundy and the collection took on a strong structural form with bold silhouettes, high-leg slits and cutaways. However, as ever with Maxwell’s designs, the collection is extremely wearable. brandonmaxwellstudio.com
Kanye West and his Yeezy line played it relatively safe at New York Fashion week in February this year, as part of the ‘season five’ presentation. Losing the nude body suits, West introduced more denim and khaki and the perfect combination of workwear vs sportswear. It felt as if West had provided something for consumers to wear on a daily basis – a mature move from the rapper turned designer, perhaps. Guests attending the show were also warned not to share images on social media by signs distributed outside, which read: “No cell phones, no photos, no videos. Absolutely no social media.” However, not everyone stuck to the rules, including Kim Kardashian. yeezysupply.com
DIOR [paris]
“Among all the colours, navy blue is the only one which can ever compete with black,” wrote Christian Dior in The Little Dictionary of Fashion. Dior’s A/W17 collection saw models sporting blues in all shapes and sizes, from denim jeans to navy eveningwear. There was a military feel to the collection – the models wore leather berets (by milliner Stephen Jones), which we’re pitching as next season’s biggest trend. This is definitely an army I’d like to be a part of. dior.com Photo: FirstView
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Photo ©Adrien Dirand
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| STYLE |
Words: BETHAN REES
jean jeanie
Making your wishes come true, one denim jacket at a time
m.i.h jeans
There’s something a little Obi-Wan Kenobi about this kimono-style denim jacket. The large front pockets, belted waist and wide sleeves make for an interesting take on the classic denim jacket, and would work perfectly over a Breton striped top. Finn kimono jacket, £245, M.i.h Jeans, matchesfashion.com
alexander mcqueen Stella Mccartney
Country and western meets high fashion with this Stella denim jacket. Framed with polished silver studs and intricate embroidery (which continues on the back with depictions of hummingbirds), don’t ignore the detail on the cuffs, too. Oversized embellished jacket, £1,340, Stella McCartney, stellamccartney.com
Something a little different from McQueen – this light denim, slightly oversized jacket features embroidery and sequins of horseshoes, flowers and birds. The peaceful garden-like design is a step away from the usual grungey-style of designer, and it’s perfect for spring. Embroidered jacket, £2,345, Alexander McQueen, farfetch.com
SEA
In classic English style, this denim jacket with broderie anglaise is a welcome addition to your spring and summer wardrobe. With a lace-up back and frayed edges, there are many design elements to this piece. Pair with wide-legged culottes. Broderie anglaise denim jacket, £520, SEA, net-a-porter.com
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valentino
This dark-blue denim jacket is a highlight of Valentino’s Cuban-themed Resort 2017 collection. Using colourful wooden beads, this is a welcome update to the classic chore-style jacket. Embellished denim jacket, £3,365, Valentino, matchesfashion.com
THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
| style |
luxurylondon.co.uk | THE CITY Magazine
bethan rees visits the spa at Shoreditch House
A connecting theme between the Cowshed and Soho House brand is its rustic luxury feel – think sripped-back wood with chandeliers. You won’t find any whale music or the sound of trickling water at Shoreditch House – this spa is a sociable place to unwind, which feels uber relaxed and not stuffy. Considering it’s located in one of the most exclusive clubs in London, it’s very surprising how you’re made to feel so at home. When I visit, it’s the end of a very long week and I am feeling rather cranky. The solution? The Moody Cow massage. Using an oil with a blend of rose geranium, linden blossom and
cash cow
D
ropping the phrase ‘Shoreditch House’ into a conversation commands a certain smugness. It has kudos in super trendy social circles. It is, of course, part of the Soho House group, the world’s most famous chain of private members’ clubs. The group is currently enjoying a significant number of column inches in the London media thanks to the opening of its latest outpost, The Ned, in the City. Inside, the upholstered havens hide a resident spa and skincare brand: Cowshed, which has been synonymous with the group since the first spa opened in 1998 in the old cow shed at Babington House, its Somerset club. Using organic and wild crafted plant extracts, Cowshed is a notoriously playful brand. Whether you are looking at taking some of its products home (ranging from body oils to eye balms, and shampoo to candles) or visiting one of its spas, Cowshed rejects the one-size fits all approach. The company’s range of ‘mood’ themes means that you can tailor what you want from a product or a treatment in relation to how you’re feeling. So, for example, if you’re burnt out, the Knackered Cow range has calming lavender to soothe your sorrows; if you’re feeling grouchy, the Grumpy Cow collection will banish a bad mood with its mandarin and grapefruit essences. There’s even a Horny Cow range for the amorously inclined, featuring a seductive blend of rose, patchouli and vanilla, plus cinnamon for a warming touch of spice.
frankincense, the aroma almost instantly banishes my bad mood. Of course, the firm yet soothing massage which melts the knots away in my back, also helps. Other treatments available at the spa range from manicures and pedicures to facials – but the most interesting thing on the menu is the LED facial. Recently launched in collaboration with The Light Salon and using an express skin rejuvenation technology, these quick treatments use LED light technology due to its reported benefits. Light therapy is a natural, noninvasive treatment that is completely safe and suitable for all ages and skin types. It’s ideal for all-round skin health, delivering energy into the cells to boost the production of collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid. After my treatment, enjoying a slice of cake and a cup of tea from its in-spa café, I think to myself: “I could stay here until the cows come home.” It’s good to know that you don’t have to be a member to enjoy the spa, too. Cowshed, Shoreditch House, 1 Ebor Street, E1, 020 7749 4531, cowshedonline.com
[ beauty ]
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Your monthly sartorial meeting
the Style brief
Brands on board
Hackett X Aston Martin capsule collection
Hackett is collaborating with Aston Martin for the second time, with a new capsule collection for S/S17. The 22 piece collection takes inspiration from both Aston Martin’s AM37 powerboat and the design philosophy of the DB11. hackett.com
Saddle up
Paul Smith cufflinks
These bicycle saddle cufflinks have a polished silver finish and Paul Smith signature embossed T-bar fastenings, in tribute to your healthy commute. £85, paulsmith.com
Stefano Ricci
from italy, with love
Celebrating its 45th anniversary this year, Stefano Ricci’s eponymous brand has stuck to its ‘100 per cent made in Italy’ promise, including the techniques used throughout the bespoke service. Bellissimo. stefanoricci.com
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THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
| style |
CHECKLIST
Cerruti 1881
The cold days are getting warmer, and the dark nights are getting lighter. It’s almost acceptable to drink Pimm’s again. It’s time for a spring wardrobe.
S/S17 collection
In an unnamed atelier near Paris, Cerruti 1881’s S/S17 collection takes its inspiration from the cinema, using natural light to promote the collection. Modelled for the second season by Andres Velencoso, the new collection also includes the launch of denim and sportswear. cerruti.com
From top to bottom: Explorer 8673 sunglasses, £180, Silhouette, silhouette.com Waffle navy jacket, £395, Simon Carter, simoncarter.net Slim-fit pima twill trousers, £115, Polo Ralph Lauren, ralphlauren.co.uk Mr Jones perforated nappa trainers, £345, Harrys of London, harrysoflondon.com
Defining moments
Ermenegildo Zegna S/S17
Step one in Ermenegildo Zegna’s ‘Zegna Conversations’ brings together heavyweight actor Robert DeNiro and new kid on the block McCaul Lombardi in a video and shoot for the brand’s Defining Moments campaign. Shot in Los Angeles, the two actors talk of their inspirations and mentors, the state of modern film, and the moments that have defined them as men. You can get involved too, via the company’s website, by submitting your defining stories. Every month, the best will be rewarded with an exclusive Ermenegildo Zegna suit – all made to measure. zegna.co.uk
New in town
Richard James’ New Arrivals
Alongside the usual seasonal collection releases, Savile Row stalwart Richard James is asking fans to keep an eye out for a collection called New Arrivals. Released periodically throughout the year, it covers everything from new cuts of suit, to a wide range of accessories, including a selection of sturdy, English-made bags. richardjames.co.uk
luxurylondon.co.uk | THE CITY Magazine
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| STYLE|
Words: Shane C. Kurup
APRIL SHOWERS
Weatherproof your wardrobe
check mate
Silver-screen classic
Since creative director Allesandro Michele took the reins at Gucci, his pieces have been defined by a reimagining of the house’s signature design codes and an inventive use of irreverent ’70s styling. This trench from the label’s latest collection epitomises this approach, with its multi-coloured check and louche, retro profile. The fact that it’s crafted from the finest wool and cashmere underlines the Italian powerhouse’s knack for luxury. Checked wool and cashmere trench, £1,630, Gucci, mrporter.com
One of the most celebrated leading men of Hollywood’s golden age, Humphrey Bogart’s portrayal of Rick Blaine in the 1942 cult flick, Casablanca, cemented his status as a style icon. Donning a Burberry trench and jaunty fedora, Bogart epitomises what the British label dubs ‘The Art of the Trench’. Note the nonchalant Blaine-esque knotting of the belt for extra style points. The Westminster long heritage trench coat, £1,395, Burberry, uk.burberry.com
The Nordic-Japanese hybrid Alongside cutting-edge design and exceptionally tall people, the Nordic nations are renowned for having rather inclement weather. It should come as no surprise, then, that Norwegian Rain – based in Bergen – should be spearheading the creation of innovative, ultra-modern rainwear. Combining premium Japanese fabrics with off-kilter shapes, the brand’s designs have a truly distinctive feel. This doublebreasted design offers added protection on blustery days, while the generous cut ensures it’s easy to layer over knitwear or tailoring. Technical coat, £700, Norwegian Rain, matchesfashion.com
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One for the weekend Stutterheim – another brand hailing from rain-soaked Nordic lands – was founded by Alex Stutterheim, after he stumbled across his Swedish grandfather’s fishing coat in an abandoned barn. Noting the garment’s smart fusion of style and function, it spurred him to replicate these qualities in a modern package. The brand’s sleek, contemporary designs feature bold block colours and a water-repellent rubber coating, ensuring you look sharp while remaining dry. Large stripe taincoat, £230, Stutterheim, Stutterheim.com
THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
| sTYLE |
1. S tarfield umbrella , £150, London Undercover X Billionaire B oys Club, londonundercover.co.uk 2. R S1 ash crook solid umbrella , £243, Fox Umbrellas, foxumbrellas.co.uk 3. A donis R229, £55, Ayrens Paris, ayrens.com 4. C lear canopy PVC umbrella , £24, Fulton , fultonumbrellas.com
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luxurylondon.co.uk | THE CITY Magazine
Rain, rain, come our way
C i t y Umbre l l a with car ved jaguar handle; car ved w hippet handle; car ved boxer handle, all £265, James Smith & S ons, james-smith .co.uk
Get covered
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It’s never too late...
LUXURY BODY BUTTER IN WHITE CASHMERE FROM THE BATH & BODY COLLECTION
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| sTYLE |
Clean couture
Upgrade your morning shower with some designer suds
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1. V itamin cleansing bar, £16, Baxter of California , mrporter.com 2. O /S charcoal cleanse soap, £8, O/S Barbers, osbarbers.co.uk 3. A lmond exfoliant, £15.75, Senteurs d’Orient, senteursdorient.com 4. C osmic Yuzu soap, £11, War y Meyers, war ymeyers. bigcartel .com 5. B lack poppy & wild fig soap, £7, Soap Co., thesoapco.org 6. A loe and karité ultrabar, £13, Molton Brown , moltonbrown .co.uk 7. S unday Cologne soap, £18, Byredo, mrporter.com 8. E au de Campagne soap, £22, Sisley, harrods.com 9. O ud wood soap, £27, Tom Ford , harrods.com
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US MASTERS 2015
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The Man behind The Mask
Vinnie Jones on his antics on and off the pitch
Frank sinaTra
celebrating the centenary of one of style’s greatest icons
seize The day Trip
how to get the most out of the continent this summer
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out of office Expedition Jacket, coming soon, Malle London, mallelondon.com
The Death Squad President The Philippine leader waging a brutal war on drug lords
Pitch Perfect
ahead of the pga, Wentworth’s historic West Course gets a face lift
Inside Africa
Ethiopia’s Holy Land, geoffrey kent & saving the black rhino
The Death Squad President Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte rode into power on the promise of tackling his country’s drug problem by murdering its perpetrators. With more than 7,000 people dead in the eight months since taking office, he’s proven to be a man of his word Words: Chris Allsop
B
y anyone’s standards, 71-year-old Rodrigo Duterte has acquired a striking collection of nicknames. There’s Rody, Digong, DU30 (how his name is pronounced, found printed on t-shirts at Philippine market stalls), The Punisher, and The Death Squad Mayor. The latter nickname, bestowed by Human Rights Watch, heralds from his days as Mayor of Davao, a city on the Philippine island of Mindanao that, in the early ’80s, was dubbed ‘Murder City’. Duterte’s nicknames are used by those who love him and those who fear him; he restored law and order to Davao’s grateful populace, but his brutal war on crime there claimed the lives of more than 1,000 people. In May of 2016, Duterte was voted in as president of the Philippines. As soon as he took office, he unleashed the uncompromising tactics that had brought peace to Davao, applying them writ large to the country as a whole. The deaths of more than 7,000 people have followed, with swift international condemnation. Not that Duterte seems fazed; known for his off-colour public statements, he responded by calling President Obama the “son of a whore” and threatened to burn down the United Nations. Beyond this, he’s also publicly claimed
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to have personally murdered several people, as well as shooting someone in his law school’s corridor who was disrespectful towards his ethnicity. Are these statements bluster and braggadocio, or the confessions of a serial murderer?
Murder City
In 1988, Duterte, then 43, became mayor of Davao. This coastal city of around 1.5 million people were then plagued by a communist insurgency and intense gang violence born out of a brisk drug trade. Murders were carried out in broad daylight, despite a network of military checkpoints across the city. Duterte knew Davao. Prior to his mayoralty, he’d served as Davao special counsel before becoming assistant prosecutor. Journalist Sheila Coronel recalled her meeting with the new mayor, and learned that he was already, in his first year, set on bloody recourse. In The Atlantic, Coronel reported: ‘There was a notorious drug dealer, [Duterte] said, who had been rushed to the local hospital, wounded and bloodied, following a shootout with the police. The drug dealer was still alive, [Duterte] said. So [Duterte] went to the hospital
THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
| feature |
Duterte delivering his first State of the Nation Address at the Batasang Pambansa with Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, July 25, 2016
population 101,981,000 Capital city manila Religious makeup 92% Christianity / 5.6% Islam luxurylondon.co.uk | THE CITY Magazine
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| feature |
and unplugged the life support system.’ Coronel went on to note that she couldn’t corroborate the story, that there was no way for her to tell whether this was posturing or a statement of fact from the new mayor. She also described how she found Davao then, terrorised by bands of vigilantes, roaming the streets with guns or long knives. Today, the citizens of Davao tell grateful stories about their ex-mayor during his seven terms in local office, before he ascended to the presidency. They say that he would patrol the streets on a motorcycle (Duterte has publicly stated that during these patrols he was looking for “confrontation so I could kill”) and once, while waving a revolver, forced a tourist to eat their cigarette butt after they contravened the no-smoking in public spaces rules (more typically you can expect Davao’s ‘Anti-Smoking Task Force’ to issue a citation). Out the other side of 22 years of Duterte, Davao City is now regarded as one of South East Asia’s safest and most prosperous urban areas. Murder City had become Duterte City.
Duterte Country
The 7,641 islands that comprise the Philippines are a spicy caldereta of ethnicities and cultures. The islands, strategically located in the western Pacific between Indonesia, China and Vietnam, suffered a tumultuous history of mismanagement by a succession of colonial powers, before finally securing independence from the United States at the end of WWII. The ’60s saw the rise of the dictator and kleptocrat Ferdinand Marcos, whose iron rule was eventually overthrown by the non-violent People Power Revolution in 1986. Duterte became mayor two years after the overthrow of Marcos, when this country of 100 million people, recently returned to democracy, was mired in partisan infighting, economic stagnation, corruption and crime. In this new century, there has been increased political stability, but the Philippines remains racked by a hydra of other unresolved issues. According
to figures from its National Statistical Coordination Board, a quarter of the population fell below the poverty line in 2014, while almost 10 per cent of the population are estimated to be users of crystal meth, or ‘shabu’ as it’s known. Despite crime rates on the decline, Filipinos continue to feel insecure, fearful of their relatives and children falling foul of the drug threat. It was this fear that Duterte tapped into when he joined the presidential race, talking tough on crime – he promised to kill 100,000 criminals in six months if elected – while offering populist pledges such as the devolution of power from the capital Manila, as well as a crackdown on corrupt politicians. In May of last year, he won by a landslide, receiving almost double the votes of the second-placed candidate. His war on drugs began two months later, as soon as Duterte began his sixyear term. In a speech to supporters, he exhorted Filipinos to aid the police in their task by taking the law into their own hands, offering bounties of 5,000,000 (£80,000) for the murder of drug lords, 3,000,000 (£48,000) for a distributor. Two months later, an average of 37 people were being murdered daily in extra judicial killings. The tactics echoed those that he’d employed in Davao – summary justice meted out on the streets. According to the testimony of Edgar Matobato to the Senate, Duterte was responsible for the creation of a ‘death squad’ of hit men in Davao who dumped the criminals they were ordered to target in the sea, or sometimes fed their victims’ bodies to crocodiles. “A leader must be a terror to the few who are evil,” Duterte said while on the campaign trail, “in order to protect the lives and well-being of the many who are good.” Matobato’s testimony emerged during a hearing convened to investigate Duterte’s drug war, chaired by perhaps his most high-profile domestic critic, Senator Leila de Lima. Matobato’s accusations, which Duterte dismissed as the ramblings of a “madman”, stemmed from the creation of the “Lambada Boys” in 1998, a small team that was later expanded to include Davao police officers. The revelations, however, seem to have done nothing to dent his popularity, with many citizens choosing to liken their new president to a disciplinarian parent – that, despite his war on drugs already claiming the lives of innocents caught in the crossfire, such as five-year-old Danica May Garcia, killed in August 2016.
The Populist Handbook
The Philippine people’s affection for Duterte goes beyond just appreciation for his hard-nosed stance on crime. He’s seen
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Duterte is greeted by overseas Filipinos during his official visit to Vietnam, September 2016
as a political outsider, more ‘real’ than the Manila elite (during the election, all four of his opponents were major political players). It’s a perception reinforced by his casual polo shirts, candid combativeness and salty turn of phrase before a microphone. During election season, he dominated the headlines by insulting the Pope, kissing female supporters and mocking his opponents. Now that he’s in power, he’s demonstrating traits, such as threatening the media and individuals, like Senator Leila, who dare to challenge him, that put him squarely in the strongman category, alongside Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdo an, Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and the US’s Donald Trump. In an echo of Trump’s own Dredd-style “I am the Law” sentiments while presidentelect, Duterte has spoken about how, as president, he will eventually pardon himself for mass murder. There are indicators that his off-thecuff bluster is more bark than bite. After insulting Obama, he announced that that he sought a closer relationship with Russia and China. Since then, the relationship with the US has been normalising once more. Duterte has also pursued a much more liberal agenda than that of other nationalist strongmen – he’s pro-LGBT and pro-women’s rights (something he neatly dovetailed into nepotism after his daughter succeeded him as mayor of Davao City (his son is vice-mayor)). At the time of writing, he was in the midst of a salvo aimed at the Catholic Church, which had dared to criticise the countrywide death squad carnage he’d initiated. The Catholic Church was “full of s**t”, he said, going on to claim that, as a child, he’d been abused by a priest. With Catholics comprising 80 per cent of the population, moves such as this risk eroding his popularity; another recent apparent misstep was the return of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos’s body for burial in the Heroes’ Cemetery in Manila. As he once said, “I’m president of the Philippines, not president of the international community.” With his popularity holding, for now, the Philippines remains Duterte Country. Left Duterte meets Vladimir Putin during the APEC summit in Lima, November 2016, kremlin.ru
THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
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| slug |
Ticket to Ride
Having established their adventure accessories brand in 2012, Malle London founders Robert Nightingale and Jonathan Cazzola road test their recently launched Expedition Collection on an unsupported 10,000-mile motorcycle adventure across North America. This shot was captured in the Bonneville Salt Flats in the deserts of Utah. mallelondon.com
luxurylondon.co.uk | THE CITY Magazine
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Pitch Perfect
Wentworth’s historic West Course has had a facelift. Ahead of the European Tour in May, The City Magazine tees off with club CEO Stephen Gibson Words:: David Taylor
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THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
| feature |
Stephen Gibson
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ny golfer worth his weight in green fees has a golfing bucket list – and you’d be hard-pressed to find one that doesn’t have Wentworth near the top. Founded in 1922, the Wentworth Estate grew to surround three courses, two of which conceived by expert designer Harry Colt, and the residents have watched some of the most prestigious tournaments in the world come through the Art Deco Clubhouse – including the event that inspired the Ryder Cup. Golf clubs hang from the walls of the Clubhouse, one donated by each winner of the World Match Play Championship, starting in 1964 with Arnold Palmer. The European Tour’s headquarters are on the estate, and its flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship, gets underway on 25 May, providing the first chance to see the completely revamped West Course in play. CITY: Ready for the PGA? SG: The course is ready, but the surrounds are what we’re working on at the moment. We’re redoing all of the greens, tees, bunkers – we had 92 bunkers, we now have about 60 – resealing the fairways, new irrigation, and a SubAir system under the greens. It’s the first in England, and it’s an amazing system. CITY: Sounds awesome. But what exactly is a SubAir system? SG: It’s like a network of hairdryers under every green. The greenkeeper can see on his iPad how much moisture is in the grass, and turn on the SubAir, which can suck moisture out and blow air through: if you threw your jacket on the green, it would levitate. There’s no risk of waterlogged greens – no other course in the country can do that. We can actually set the greens to a speed, firmness and moisture level. The speed of them
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MAIN Image on PREVIOUS page Wentworth BMW PGA 2015 , ©Adam Jacobs Photography THIS PAGE (CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT) The 2nd hole on the West Course at Wentworth; Wentworth BMW PGA 2015, ©Adam Jacobs Photography; the lounge at Wentworth
will catch people out. That’s why at the Masters or US Open the scoring is never quite as high: the greens are so difficult. CITY: Was it important to retain Harry Colt’s architectural spirit? SG: Some of the players a couple of years ago thought that earlier changes we made had gone away from Colt’s original design. We wanted to go back to his heritage. Paul McGinley and Thomas BjØrn were on the architectural team, along with Ernie Els. You couldn’t just go back to the blueprint of Colt’s course, because modern equipment would blow it away, with Rory McIlroy hitting it 320 yards through the air. We have to have an element of modernisation to the course. CITY: Are you excited for the PGA? SG: I can’t wait. It’s our busiest week of the year, and one that all the members and staff are excited for. I think it’s testament to what we’ve done on the course that Rory, Justin [Rose], and Henrik [Stenson] have all decided to come back this year. It’s always nice when we have a Major winner in Europe [in Stenson], because we have the trophies on the back of the first tee. We’ll have the Claret Jug, and we never quite know whether there’s going to be a Green Jacket, because the Masters is just before the event, so we can’t have Danny [Willett]’s from last year. We have Gary Player’s golf day for his charity every year, and Danny came in, obviously wearing his green jacket – I don’t think he’s taken it off all year. CITY: What’s the plan for the Clubhouse? SG: We have a three-year plan for the whole place. The West Course is obviously our jewel in the crown, so we wanted to make sure that we set a benchmark. The Clubhouse is going to be remodelled, but will keep that authentic, 1920s feel. The Tennis Club has to have a fresher look, because it’s a 1990s building and all about sport. There’s a much
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lighter, airier, younger feel to the health club, as you’d expect. CITY: Wentworth doesn’t just mean golf? SG: Wentworth has everything. I think sometimes people don’t realise that there’s a real club atmosphere. It’s often been seen as a corporate venue, but it certainly isn’t that any more. We still have a local residents’ membership for the social aspect. It’s incredibly important to make sure they have a way to get into the heart of the community – even if they’re not golfers. CITY: What’s the tie-in between Wentworth and the City’s newest members’ club, Ten Trinity Square? SG: They were both built in 1922 and now they’re connected through our clubs. Our debenture members are going to be their founder members as well, and their general manager, Charlie Parker, grew up on this estate – his father and sister are still members. The two places are woven together. Our owner’s philosophy [Dr Chanchai Ruayrungruang, chairman of property developer Reignwood Group] – and it would be a lovely way to live – is four days in the city and three in the country. If you’re a city dweller and you’re working in town, you can entertain or work at the club during the week, and then at weekends spend your time here. CITY: Is there a big City membership at Wentworth? SG: There are definitely a lot of city dwellers who play here. If you can afford the best, you’re going to have the best, and I think that’s what we provide. You
have one of the best courses in the world to entertain on, a lovely dining room to eat in, and if you want to put guests up overnight we can do that as well. CITY: Does Mr Els still have a place here? SG: He does – he’s still our global ambassador along with Ben An. In golfing terms, he grew up here, he’s our most decorated winner of events, he’s our architect – he’s all about Wentworth, and he has been for 25 years. You can find him hitting pitch shots on the 16th with a cup of coffee in his hand in the evening. I’ve seen that happen before! From 1 April 2017, Wentworth Club’s membership model will change from a semi-private club into an invitation-only, fully private members’ club based on a debenture model. To express an interest in the availability of holding a debenture membership, visit wentworthclub.com
“Wentworth has everything. I think sometimes people don’t realise that there’s a real club atmosphere”
THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
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THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
| ART | Freshly Painted Wild Style Wall in Riverside Park, Manhattan, NYC (1983) by Martha Cooper
jungle luxurylondon.co.uk | THE CITY Magazine
In the late 1970s, New York City was bankrupt, dirty and dangerous. Born on these grimy streets, graffiti rapidly made its mark. Martha Cooper, a photojournalist at the New York Post, was one of the first people to document this controversial and subversive movement Words: mark and hannah hayes-westall
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WELLNESS
as an Art
Oasis gives you a moment to stop and take a breath. Feel the freedom and relaxation in your body and mind. Let your senses be inspired in a private paradise. It is all waiting for you. The art of wellbeing.
The Oasis by Don Carlos Resort · Boutique Hotel Experience · Marbella T (+34) 933 271 455 · dcreservas@expogrupo.com · www.doncarlosresort.expohotels.com/en/the-oasis · www.expohotels.com
inside africa
a land before time “Africa never fails. With its broad acacia trees and giraffes moseying among the grasslands, the Mara River is the ultimate escape: so wildly beautiful and beautifully wild, so incredibly much to take in that he has no choice but to lose himself in his surroundings and forget his troubles. They say only time heals a broken heart, but any man with a purpose knows that the far faster cure is adventure – and there’s no greater adventure than a safari.” Geoffrey Kent, chairman and CEO of Abercrombie & Kent, and author of Safari: A Memoir of a Worldwide Travel Pioneer
PHOTOGRAPHY BY Alexander Beer, on a barlcay stener safari (see more on page 106)
A Life Less Ordinary A MEMOIR OF A WORLDWIDE TRAVEL PIONEER
In 1962, Geoffrey Kent had nothing but a Kenyan shilling and an old Land Rover when he outfitted his first safari in Nairobi. Today, he is chairman and CEO of Abercrombie & Kent, the world’s leading purveyor of luxury adventure travel tours
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afari takes us to the earth’s most dazzling destinations with the world’s greatest tour leader. From the opening safari with actor Richard Burton, to his travels with Prince Charles and Bill Gates, to his icy dip in the waters of the North Pole, Geoffrey shows how travel is the great adventure that will change your life and better the world.” —Jeffrey D. Sachs, economist and director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network Today, Geoffrey Kent tours the planet’s wildest frontiers with a clientele that includes Bill Gates, Ted Turner, Ralph Lauren, and DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. Taken from his 2015 autobiography, Safari: A Memoir of a Worldwide Travel Pioneer, the following extract reveals how it all began.
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inside africa [ chapter 5 ]
Tented Luxury 1962 Words: GEOFFREY KENT, WITH KRISTINE GASBARRE
I
n 1952, in an effort to gain independence from England, a large group of Africans band together to take their land back from white settlers. During the worst of the conflict, which becomes known as the Mau Mau Uprising, my sister, five years old, and I, age 10, leave our home to stay in the centre of Nairobi with my parents’ friend Dr. Flowerdew. When my parents come to visit us, they offer hushed accounts to the Flowerdews about the massacres happening on the Kinangop. “I can’t bear to think about what happened to the Rucks,” I hear Mummie tell Mrs Flowerdew in the next room. “What’s happened to the Rucks, Mummie?” “Geoff, that wasn’t meant for your ears,” she says. “Darling... they’ve all died.” “The Mau Mau killed them?” “Yes.” The Rucks were our family’s good friends on the mountain, and their youngest son was just a toddler. But even as the attacks reach their most horrific points, my father won’t dream of leaving the South Kinangop – and my mother won’t dream of leaving my father. But when she makes the drive into Nairobi to see us, in addition to donning a hat and gloves, she also has a .32 Beretta pistol strapped around her waist. In February 1960, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, gives his famous “Wind of Change” speech in Cape Town, stating that colonial rule cannot go on. Despite the fact that British settlers have put down the uprising, the British government in 1962 gives Kenya self-governance and determines that the farms in the white highlands will be taken away and returned to the Kikuyu. Ironically, because my father knows all the land and all the people in the area, he takes a temporary job with the new Kenyan government to help them decipher exactly which land belongs to which owners in the land settlement. Then, after they have possession of everyone’s properties, the new Kenyan government force my parents off the farm they’ve spent two and a half decades creating. Fortunately, Mummie and Dad sensed this coming. As they face the prospect of having no home and no income, my father lands a part-time job as a tour guide with a local travel company. Finally something is going well: thanks to his military experience of having been the first person ever to map the route from Kenya to Nigeria, Dad knows the roads and sights of Africa better than any tour guide in the region and is earning a good wage – especially from American travellers, who are known to tip generously when they especially like a guide. At this point, every few months I’m making regular visits home from the army. During one of these visits in 1962, Dad, Mummie, and I make a decision. We love Africa, and travellers are clearly growing more interested in the place we call home. We three go in as partners, founding our own travel company, with the intent to host safaris around Kenya, and then possibly moving into other areas of East Africa.
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Our challenge now is to find clients. After reading an issue of Time magazine, I learn that Texans are the richest people in the world. Whenever I station myself outside the New Stanley Hotel or in the adjacent Thorn Tree Restaurant, I find it easy to spot the Americans in contrast to the travellers who arrive
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from London or Johannesburg. Americans usually carry lots of baggage, and they wear cowboy boots, and sometimes Stetsons. Americans are very picky about their guides, and my friendliness proves to be a selling point – indeed, we begin to magnetically attract business with this approach. As we book our first few clients, I’m motivated to think even more critically about what people really want from a once-ina-lifetime safari vacation. We’ve set ourselves apart with a nice truck, and we send our clients out for the day with drinks chilled in our ice bucket. Still, there’s so much opportunity for us to stand out. The lodges for nonhunting safari clients are lacklustre, sometimes offering only a couple dozen tiny rooms and zero in-suite dining. The last thing a tourist wants to do after a flight from London or New York is to locate an African market and then navigate his or her way around it, looking for a nice bottle of wine or foods that are particularly appetising. My idea lights something in me so serious that I know I can’t share it with my father. “Let us carry on as we are,” he’s taken to saying, but I know his true conflict is with how much money we’d need to invest to grow our business into something unique. While he and my mother are on vacation trekking through the Khyber Pass, which connects Pakistan and Afghanistan, I make a trip to the bank. “I’d like to make a withdrawal from our business account, please.” “How much?” asks the bank manager. “All of it.” “That’s seven thousand pounds, Mr. Kent.” “OK, I’ll take five thousand pounds,” I tell him. “Leaving two thousand pounds for a rainy day.” I call my old army friend, Corporal Taylor, and inform him that I’m preparing to buy a second-hand army Bedford truck – four tons, with four-wheel drive. “I’m putting in a refrigeration system,” I tell him. He agrees to meet me in Nairobi. We work day and night to build the freezer – five feet long, three feet deep – and we fit the refrigerator with special rubber balances to keep everything steady across rough terrain. When we finish, we drink Tusker beers chilled on ice made from a generator connected to the truck: Abercrombie & Kent is officially the first East African safari outfit to develop mobile refrigeration.
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Corporal Taylor agrees to accompany me to the campsite for two weeks, as do Omolo and Wilfred, the driver I’ve hired, and Joseph Nduati, the chief salesman from Low & Bonar. . . “We have two weeks,” I tell them. “We have to learn to set up camp in under 24 hours, and strike it in less than 12.” I click the stopwatch and we unload the truck, the tents going up and down, up and down, up, down, up, down, until the staff is exhausted. After just over a week’s time, we pop a bottle of champagne: there before us stand four tents, each of them fifteen feet across with a veranda six feet deep in the front. In an afternoon’s time, each tent can be erected by this, my new staff, to hold an occupancy equivalent of a double room in a hotel. The floor of every tent is covered with a groundsheet to keep out bugs and beetles, then covered again with a beautiful rug. The walls of the tents rise about 12 feet and slope somewhat inward, making the interior feel much like a bedroom. The veranda leads into the living-room portion of the tent, and the entire thing feels spacious
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inside africa and bright, with electric light, bedside lamps, beautiful carpets, and lovely sprung double beds high off the ground. . . Inside the tent we’ve put lovely Plastolene tubs for women to take bubble baths in, and out back we’ve put in showers for the men.... Inside the suite we lay out a bottle of Scotch on ice, chilled martinis, crystal wineglasses, and sideboards displaying fresh vegetable crudités, smoked salmon, and chocolate cake. I look at my men, and we behold the total luxury experience before us. The whole scene is completely ace. I vow that this marriage of adventure and extravagance will be the stamp that Abercrombie & Kent’s brand will come to be known by: the Off the Beaten Track Safari. . . Abercrombie & Kent needs the best chef in Nairobi, I sit thinking. Where will I find a hospitality staff as good as the Muthaiga Club’s? When Francis returns from putting in my order, I lean in. “You’re known to be the best barman in Nairobi,” I murmur. “If I told you I had a job for you, and that you’d make more money with more interesting clientele and more flexible hours . . . would you come with me?” His eyes go wide as we exchange a glance. He nods inconspicuously. “What about the maître d’, and the chef – do you think they’d come along with you?” Again, Francis nods.“Give your notice and plan to start in two weeks,” I tell him. “And don’t say a word to the members.” However, my parents return from their vacation the next week, and my father’s gotten wind of it. “You’ve spent our entire savings, you’ve killed our business, and you couldn’t fail to do so before nicking the best staff the Muthaiga Club has ever seen. Jesus, Geoff, have you gone completely nuts?” “Dad, I’ve told you that we need to do something to stand out from the competition. It was a risk, but now we’ve done it, and soon we’ll be the envy of every safari outfitter in Kenya.” “Darling,” says my mother, “I think the idea itself is marvellous, but the price of something like this will cost three to four times what we’ve been charging, at least. Where on earth do you think we’re going to get clients who can spend that?” In a huff, my father speeds off – to the club, no doubt – and I look at my watch: the first flights from London and Johannesburg will arrive in time for lunch. I dash out to the New Stanley Hotel, sit down at my usual table, and order my usual lunch: a milkshake. From my bag I pull my calculator and a notebook and lay out my maps, staring hard. Then suddenly, I spot a Texan – it’s just like spotting a bird. “Forget the milkshake!” I call to the waitress, racing out into the lobby, where I extend my hand to him. “I don’t think you’re from around here,” I say. “Texas, perhaps?” “How’d you guess?” he says, laughing. “I’m Geoffrey Kent, I own a safari outfitter in the area.” “Name’s Worthing – Tom Worthing.” He’s more than six feet tall, wearing fine-looking cowboy boots, jeans, a red-and-white checkered shirt, and a Stetson. “And this is my wife, Sara.” His paw is friendly, but it nearly swallows me up when he shakes my hand. “Sara and I actually would like to go on a safari,” he says. “Which company are you with?” When I tell him, he slaps his knee. “From what they tell me, you’ve got the best safari in East Africa!” “Is that what they say!” I laugh. Good God, is that what they say? “Yep, sure is. Would you set up an itinerary for us?” “How long?” “Say, thirty days. We were just gonna step out ta lunch, can you run me some numbers and meet us afterward?” “Certainly, and might I recommend the Thorn Tree next door for
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your lunch – tell them Geoffrey Kent sent you. I’ll come up to your suite in an hour.” Thirty days, thirty days. I begin making notes, plotting out the logistics and the costs of fuel to travel. From Nairobi we’ll leave to spend four or five nights in a number of different locations, with occasional stays at guest lodges so my team can set up the mobile camp ahead of us. The itinerary will go from Kenya to Tanzania to Uganda, as such: Amboseli, where we’ll camp for a couple of nights beneath Kilimanjaro, then on to Lake Manyara, the only place to see tree-climbing lions. From there we’ll visit Ngorongoro Crater, where I’ve managed to get the first-ever permit to camp at the bottom of the crater, then to the Serengeti for tea with Jane Goodall at her camp – I know her through the Leakey family; she loves to chat with visitors about her work with chimpanzees. Then we’ll stay for a few nights in the Masai Mara, then on to Kisumu, where we’ll catch the ferry across Lake Victoria to Jinja, Uganda, from which point we’ll make our way to Queen Elizabeth Park. From there we will go to the Kibale Forest, where we will spot chimps, and then, for the grand finale of the safari, three nights at Paraa Lodge in Murchison Falls, Uganda. This destination is currently all the rage, as the 1951 Humphrey Bogart film The African Queen was filmed there. I calculate the costs of food – lots of steak, Americans love steak – and good liquor, hospitality staff, housekeeping, transport. I keep the numbers low by planning to host the entire thing myself. I’m prepared not to make a profit – the whole point is to show my parents we really can sell this vacation, keep up my morale, and hopefully grow the word about how excellent Abercrombie & Kent’s Off the Beaten Track Safari is. It comes to $3,235.00. Damn! The price is still too high. Why didn’t I come up with a less luxurious package? I should’ve thought how I could pare down my staff and plan for slightly lower-quality food and beverage – Americans don’t mind a burger every now and then! Just like that, I feel as if I’ve lost the business. An hour later, as I knock on Tom and Sara Worthing’s door, my palms and forehead are sweating. I’m not sure even a Texan will be keen on the idea of a safari at this price. “Great lunch, Kent, fine recommendation,” says Tom Worthing. He stands over my desk with his thumbs through his belt loops. “So what’ll it be?” I’ve rehearsed this pitch for weeks, awaiting the right moment to launch into it. “Thirty days, you’ll have me as a guide all to yourselves, and you’ll see elephants, and rhinos, and leopards and buffalos and lions,” I tell them. “The big five! And the birds, the trees, the mountains, the views; why, just wait until you see our camp on the lake –” “Kent. How much?” I lay my hands flat on the desk in front of me, as if to brace all three of us. I purse my lips. I lose confidence and can’t get the number out. Eventually – finally – I announce: “It’s two thousand, nine hundred and twenty-two dollars.” Tom Worthing’s face falls. He looks at his wife, and then turns back to me. “He must be kidding.” I’ve blown it. “Kent,” he says. “Is that all?” Suddenly, an inspiration: “Each!” Tom Worthing pulls out his checkbook, scribbles out a cheque, and hands it to me. “We’ll add your tip at the end, if that’s okay,” he says. “That will be fine, Tom.” “You see that, Sara?” Tom Worthing says. “Only the best for my lady.” For the first time I realize how to make a good profit. Safari: A Memoir of a Worldwide Travel Pioneer, 2015, HarperCollins, amazon.co.uk
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CONTEMPORARY ELEGANCE IN THE HEART OF THE CITY CITY OF LONDON | OPENING APRIL 2017
DISCOVER MORE info.city@dorsetthotels.com dorsetthotels.com/unitedkingdom/london/city
Saxon Hotel
Johannesburg, South Africa
Ruckomechi camp
Mana Pools National Park, zimbabwe
The Ruckomechi Camp is a fantastic spot for wildlife watching. In May, it’s revealing its new look, including 10 new tented suites. From £594 per person, per night, wildernesssafaris.com
The Saxon hotel in Johannesburg has opened its new 700 sq metre, two-floor spa, tipped to be the most luxurious spa in the city. With eight new treatment rooms, including a couple’s treatment room and a sleep zone, the spa is an oasis of wellness. The menu offers unusual treatments such as the sound therapy, which uses noises like Tibetan singing and cymbals to restore the body’s energies. From £442 per room per night, saxon.co.za
natural beauties
From rainforests to jagged mountains to metropolitan cities, Africa’s landscape has it all. Bethan Rees provides a roundup of the latest news from the continent’s leading hotels and safaris
Ngoma lodge
Chobe National Park, Botswana
From November to March is the time of year when Africa’s bird spotting opportunities are at their best. It’s a time when more than 300 species migrate to the Chobe from Europe, and the skies and waters of the region light up with the beautiful wings of these birds in flight. Ngoma Lodge is the ideal place to rest your head while taking this trip of a lifetime. From £453 per person per night, africaalbidatourism.com
ulusaba
Sabi Sand Reserve, south africa
Ulusaba is Sir Richard Branson’s private safari game reserve located in the Sabi Sand Reserve. Ulusaba has 21 rooms and suites spread over two lodges: Rock Lodge, including the beautiful Cliff Lodge, and Safari Lodge. Known for the quality of its safari experience with some of the most knowledgeable rangers and trackers in the country, game drives are without a doubt a highlight of any stay. The name Ulusaba means place of little fear, and this stems from the hill on which Rock Lodge sits. It provided the ancient Shangaan tribal warriors with the perfect lookout point. From £690 per person per night virginlimitededition.com
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inside africa bisate lodge
Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda
In June this year, Bisate Lodge opens in Rwanda. Situated next to the renowned Volcanoes National Park and comprising six forest villas, Bisate Lodge will offer a luxurious base from which to enjoy an extraordinary gorilla conservation experience. Situated within the amphitheatre of an eroded volcanic cone, the lodge is near enough for guests’ morning gorilla treks, but far enough away so as to feel remote. From £881 per person per night, wilderness-safaris.com
Belmond mount nelson hotel cape town, South africa
The Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel is hosting its fifth annual sculpture exhibition with a display of bronze sculptures by South African artist Dylan Lewis and aims to connect visitors with the wildlife of South Africa. From £477 per room per night, belmond.com
The silo
Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City
Towering above the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town is the recently opened Silo Hotel, designed by Thomas Heatherwick. Built in a repurposed grain elevator, the hotel has 28 bedrooms including a 2,012 sq ft penthouse suite with a sizable balcony. From £768 per room per night, theroyalportfolio.com
Pitted as one of the upcoming luxury hotspots, west Africa is a place to keep your eye on. Opening in June this year is the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City brand new spa. In Accra, Ghana, it’s set to be one the largest luxury spas in the whole of west Africa. The Resense Spa will include 10 treatment rooms, a hammam and a 25-metre outdoor pool, while the indoor relaxing areas are decorated with gold mosaics, creating a luxe look. From £223 per room per night, kempinski.com
Accra, Ghana
Cape Town, South Africa
casa bella
Diani beach, kenya
On the magnificent stretch of coastline located south of Mombasa, is the new luxury boutique hotel Casa Bella. The boutique hotel is made up of five lavish ensuite rooms and it can also be booked for exclusive private hire – perfect if you’re planning a wedding. While being located on the popular Diani Beach, the Galu stretch is a tranquil haven moments away. From £214 per person per night, almanararesort.com
get packing The essentials to keep you looking and feeling fresh in sub-Saharan Africa
Side band trousers, £530, Berluti, berluti.com
Rollable Superfino Montecristi panama, £995, Lock & Co, lockhatters.co.uk
Tangier sunglasses, £2,500, E.B. Meyrowitz, ebmeyrowitz.co.uk
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Cuban collar shirt, £90, Libertine, johnlewis.com
Kirtland International leather carry-on, £995, Tumi, tumi.com
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YO U M AY N E V E R M A K E I T BA C K HOME T H E SA M E .
Book your Bermuda holiday with Classic Collection Holidays on 0800 294 9329 or 01903 836643.
inside africa
return of the black rhino In 1970, after decades of poaching, the number of black rhino grazing the planet’s grasslands had fallen to 70,000. By 1993, that figure had dropped to 2,475. Thanks to international efforts, and the first ever black rhino safari project in Kenya, numbers are on the rise Words: BETHAN REES
photography Juan Pablo Moreiras
“W
e could not imagine that it [rhino poaching] would have such a great effect. It is shocking‚” said Dr Desire Dalton‚ one of the authors of an international research study, published in February 2017, entitled Extinctions‚ Genetic Erosion and Conservation options for the Black Rhinoceros (Dicerosbicornis). The study was conducted to look at the welldocumented poaching of black rhinos and the subsequent demise of their population. It found that there was a loss of 69 per cent of the species’ variation between 1775 and 2008. The study also raised fears that the species could disappear from the wild within the next two decades. A light at the end of the tunnel shines in the form of Saruni Rhino, a new safari property located in the Sera Community Conservancy Wildlife Reserve in northern Kenya. Saruni, a collection of luxury properties, has opened the first ever opportunity in east Africa to track the
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black rhino on foot. The 350,000 hectare reserve is the first in Africa to own and operate a sanctuary dedicated to the conservation of this species, and marks the return of the rhinos to this land – where they were historically absent for a quarter of a century. A dozen rhinos were relocated to the Sera Community Conservancy in 2015 and on 11 March 2016, a female black rhino gave birth. It was the first of its kind to be born on community land in northern Kenya in more than 25 years. The rhinos on the reserve have their horns microchipped, and the guides, using a radio transmitter, lead you through the bush on foot to see the giants. According to the WWF, populations of the black rhino fell to 70,000 in 1970 and by 1993, there were only 2,475 in the wild. Numbers now appear to be around the 5,000 mark, but the species is still on the critically endangered list. In traditional Chinese medicine, rhino horn is said to help treat fever, and in
Vietnam it’s reported that it can cure cancer. Global trade in rhino horn is banned by a UN convention – but because of the demand, a profitable black market exists. It’s reported that rhino horn is worth more than its weight in gold. In March 2017, two events brought the topic into focus. In a zoo near Paris, poachers broke in and shot a rhino dead, before cutting of its horn with a chainsaw. In the same month, Thai customs confiscated 21 horns with an estimated value of around £4.1 million – the largest haul in recent years. Although critically endangered, the black rhino does have some hope, especially with the assistance of the Sera Community Convservancy and the Saruni Safari destination, where you can see the enchanted giants in the flesh. From $630 (USD) pppn sharing plus an additional $175 pp conservation fees, all bookings require a minimum stay of 2 nights at Saruni Rhino and 2 nights at nearby Saruni Samburu, sarunimara.com
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Beige leisure shirt, £190, brown Chelsea boots, £1,190, Dunhill, dunhill.com; Red and blue pocket square with white print £65, Turnbull &Asser, turnbullandasser.co.uk; Leather belt, £129, DAKS, daks.com; Cotton stretch chinos, £110, Tommy Hilfiger, tommy.com; Hunter flask with cups, £185, dark tan leather satchel (left), £1,215, Ettinger, ettinger.co.uk; Tan leather bike bag (right), £550, Gladstone London, gladstonelondon.com; Tortoiseshell and metal sunglasses, £170, Taylor Morris, taylormorriseyewear.com
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inside africa
| fashion |
born free “The spirit of the wild is quick to assert supremacy, and no man of any sensibility can resist her” – James Stevenson-Hamilton, the first warden of South Africa’s Sabi Nature Reserve photographer alexander beer stylist graham cruz
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this page Linen wool-mix blazer, £430, BOSS, hugoboss.com; White, pink and blue check shirt, £185, Turnbull &Asser, as before; Military green tie, £70, Cerruti 1881, cerruti.com; Moleskin trousers, £135, Simon Carter, simoncarter.net; Oxblood slip-on brogues, £395, DAKS, as before; Linen pocket square, £35, New & Lingwood, newandlingwood.com; Glasses, from £106, Alexander McQueen, lenshour.com; Whiskey leather Pioneer carry-on suitcase, £875, SteamLine Luggage, steamlineluggage.com right Cream merino crew neck, £295, slim-fit chinos, £190, tortoiseshell sunglasses, £275, Dunhill, as before; Khaki long jacket, £315, Paul Smith, paulsmith.com; Sand/Havana shoulder bag, £300, Ettinger, as before (left); Olive green satchel, £175, Simon Carter, as before (right); Ebony ultra soft vacchetta boots, £650, Jimmy Choo, jimmychoo.com
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Silver leather blouson, £1,130, Dunhill, as before; White cotton T-shirt, £55, BOSS, as before; Waxy tan leather belt, £130, Ettinger, as before; Green linen trousers with seam insert, £179, Cerruti 1881, as before; Metal cuff, £99, DAKS, as before; Sage fedora, £190, Hickman & Bousfield, hickmanandbousfield.com
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| fashion |
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LEFT Oatmeal safari jacket, £1,640, Thom Sweeney, thomsweeney.co.uk; White shirt with brown embroidery, £185, JBJ, j-b-j.com; Giraffe print pocket square, £50, Chester Barrie, chesterbarrie.co.uk; Calico fedora, £115, Lock & Co, lockhatters.co.uk; Cream cotton trousers, £169, BOSS, as before; Cashmere socks, £60, Pantherella, pantherella.com; Tan suede double monk shoes, £795, John Lobb, johnlobb.com THIS PAGE Oatmeal blazer, £495, Chester Barrie, as before; White cotton shirt, £235, Thom Sweeney, as before; Cotton shorts, £175, DAKS, as before; Cashmere socks, £60, Pantherella, as before; Sand suede boots, £995, Christian Louboutin, eu.christianlouboutin.com; Leopard paw necklace, £149, Joubi, joubi.co.uk; Green cotton handkerchief, £25, New & Lingwood, as before
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THIS PAGE Pit crew racesuit, POA, Ickenham leather boots, £475, Belstaff, belstaff.co.uk; Olive weekend bag, £625, Ettinger, as before; Cashmere socks, £60, Pantherella, as before RIGHT Silk/cotton Manhattan-style jacket, £1,490, loose trousers, £550, brown calf leather moccasin, £460, Ermenegildo Zenga, zegna.co.uk; Green shirt with Mandarin collar, £190, Paul Smith, as before; Superfine cashmere scarf, £225, Begg &Co, beggandcompany.com; Paisley print silk pocket square, £25, Simon Carter, as before; Whiskey leather Pioneer carryon suitcase, £875, SteamLine Luggage, as before MODEL: Robertas Aukstuolis @ Select Model Management WITH THANKS TO: Barclay Stenner, barclaystenner.com; Namibia Tourism Board, namibiatourism.com.na. You can fly to Namibia with SAA, flysaa.com
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WILD THINGS Seamlessly combining old-age traditions with new school luxuries, Barclay Stenner’s mobile safaris allow for optimal wildlife watching. Well, if it’s good enough for Taylor Swift…
Words: BETHAN REES
“T CLOCKWISE from above Buffalo at sunset by James Stenner; lion by James Stenner; safari car by Alexander Beer; elephant by James Stenner; safari tent by Alexander Beer; John Barclay (left) and James Stenner by Alexander Beer; hippo by John Barclay
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here is a romance to Africa. You can see a sunset and believe you have witnessed the Hand of God. You watch the slow lope of a lioness and forget to breathe. You marvel at the tripod of a giraffe bent to water... When you’re in Africa, you feel primordial, rocked in the cradle of the world,” writes American novelist Jodi Picoult in her book Leaving Time. In Botswana, you can experience all of the above. Nicknamed the Switzerland of Africa due to the country being peaceful and prosperous, it’s a safe place to visit. John Barclay, co-founder of luxury mobile safari company Barclay Stenner, says: “Safety is a massively important consideration and it’s wonderful not having to worry in Botswana.” However, Barclay Stenner are also able to deliver privately guided safaris across other countries in Africa – they recently went to Virunga National Park in Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Stenner tells me it “blew his mind”. Botswana was also the meeting place of Barclay
and his business partner James Stenner, in June 2013, at the Makgadikgadi Salt Pans. Stenner was there as his brother was planning to propose to his girlfriend. At the time, Barclay was the mobile safari manager at safari company Uncharted Africa. Stenner was told that there were some opportunities to work at Uncharted, and he put in his application. Barclay was raised in Botswana to a lineage of African pioneers and adventurers, and went on his first safari aged five. Stenner grew up in Northumberland with a dream to visit Africa. Working together at Uncharted, Stenner used his expertise of international events, hospitality and management in combination with Barclay’s experience in guiding. While working together, the company won the Best Mobile Safari in Africa award in both 2013 and 2014 at the Good Safari Guide Awards. The seeds for Barclay and Stenner to go it alone were planted by two highly reputed African safari moguls, Michael Lorentz of Passage to Africa and Susie Cazenove of Cazenova + Lloyd, who were impressed by their experience with Uncharted Africa. They suggested
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“A mobile safari is the true essence of safari and the way early explorers and hunters used to carry out their expeditions” that they had what it takes to deliver a new mobile safari product. In November 2014, Barclay and Stenner took that step and haven’t looked back since. “A mobile safari is the true essence of safari and the way early explorers and hunters used to carry out their expeditions,” Stenner says. “We can keep our ears to the ground,” continues Barclay. Barclay Stenner uses what they call the “bush telegraph”, relying on news reports, friends and other safari guides. “We can base our camp locations on the most up-to-date movements of the game and its predators. This is a major advantage of being mobile, as well as being totally private, of course,” says Barclay. In addition, the mobile element leaves less of an imprint on the environment with no permanent structures. “We leave nothing but footprints when we continue our safari to the next wilderness area,” Stenner adds. Barclay Stenner mixes old-school African safari traditions with modern-day luxuries. They’ve introduced ideas such as hiring exclusive chefs to cook for guests, including a South African Masterchef finalist. “We also work with South African sommeliers,” James tells me. But it doesn’t end here – James himself is a dab hand at mixology. “He has a knack of being able to mix fine cocktails in the bush. His Old Fashioneds have been described as ‘better than anything in New York’,” according to Barclay. The company also has a new tent concept. “It’s so much smarter than the classic meru tent, which has not changed in design other than a few personal
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modifications since the 1940s,” says James. The new tents combine modern technology to make guests feel at home. The tent has USB ports on the bedside tables and the bathroom is much bigger than in a traditional tent – providing more comfort and privacy. James jokes: “Our tent shower has more pressure than my one at home!” The tents also include four-poster beds, with 400-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets, Persian carpets and brass sinks, too. One client who took full advantage of Barclay Stenner’s luxury mobile safari was singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, for her music video to Wildest Dreams, which at the time of writing has over 532 million views on YouTube. I ask James how it felt to have such a high profile client. “Naturally, we were nervous at first, but we had to get on with the job of filming six different locations over four days across Botswana. After having a chat with our mothers, we heeded their joint advice: ‘we are only human and everyone sits on the loo with their trousers around their ankles’.” On a Barclay Stenner safari, guests can expect to see a huge variety of animals such as lions, leopards, cheetahs, giraffes, hippos and rhinos, and Botswana boasts the highest concentration of African Elephants on earth – roughly 150,000. But, preservation and respect of the wildlife is the most important component to Barclay Stenner. John elaborates: “The most important threat to our wildlife currently is the ever expanding human population and the subsequent habitat loss. If an area can provide an income, then it will be preserved. Promoting these wilderness areas is proving to be the most important action one can take in preservation of its wildlife.” As with all industries, technology is a major player in the world of safari, and I want to know what Barclay Stenner is doing to keep up with it. “We are part of an organisation that provides a virtual reality safari experience,” John explains. “The idea for creating VR videos stems from offering the safari experience to those who are unable to travel, including those with terminal illnesses.” With its roots in the past, but its future firmly in modern luxury, Barclay Stenner provides a safari experience quite like no other. barclaystenner.com
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inside africa
ETHIOPIA & THE LOST ARK Split by the Great Rift Valley, landlocked Ethiopia is home to archaeological finds that date back more than three million years. It’s a place of ancient culture, rock-cut churches and, as legend has it, is the final resting place of the wooden box containing the Ten Commandments. Kevin Pilley ventures into the Holy Land
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© Dereje
Lalibela means ‘bees recognise his sovereignty’ – referring to being protected as a baby by a swarm, an incident foretelling his importance. Lalibela once lived in exile in Jerusalem. “You must not approach it with a bad heart. Its awesome powers are mentioned in the Old Testament. In Exodus and Deutoronomy. It killed 250 dissidents when the cherubims on its top spouted flame at them. It afflicted Miriam, the insubordinate sister of Moses, with temporary leprosy. It has great powers.” We were eating ‘wot’, a lamb stew, served with ‘inacera’, a large pancake of fermented dough. We drank the local ‘Gouder’ red wine. It wasn’t one of the 250 fasting days on the Coptic calendar. A big-bearded Australian cleric in a cassock was staying there too. “Timket is more than 3,000 years old,” he said. “The sistra hand bells you hear everywhere go back to pre-dynastic Egypt. The instruments played are the nearest to the harps of David. This is a holy place. Man started here five million years ago. Ethiopia or Abyssinia is mentioned 33 times in the Bible. The Ark more than 40.”
timket
The procession began at the ‘teff ’ rock churches with 600 priests appearing through the tiny holes in the hillside. The cloth-covered ‘tabots’, no bigger than footstools, were carried on the skullcaps of men dressed in white turbans and ornate capes. Amidst scenes of unrestrained jubilation, similar to a cup-winning football side returning home, the arks were carried two kilometres down a dusty road. The gold embroidery of the monks’ cloaks and deacons’ hats glinted in the sun. The silver crescents and spangled saintly figures on the banners that flanked them reflected back the strong mid-afternoon African sun. Cowskin ‘kebedo’ drums pounded and the ‘sistras’ jingled and jangled. Clouds of incense billowed from swinging censers. The sweet smell of frankincense, which I had smelt fresh and unburnt for the first time while walking around the Merkato in Addis, Africa’s largest open market, was everywhere.
© Rafal Cichawa
THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
ALL IMAGES Courtesy of Shutterstock
Y
ou don’t need a washable but unwashed, uncrushable but rumpled wool felt fedora or a reliable bullwhip to find the Lost Ark. You need a dentist’s appointment. During my six-monthly check-up, Jeff, my dentist, revealed to me the exact location of two fillings as well as the Ark of the Covenant. He said he was planning his holiday and I asked him which country he most wanted to visit. “Ethiopia,” he said. “To find the Ark.” Excavating my mouth, he continued: “It’s up north in Tigray in the holy city of Axum. You can see it in New Jerusalem too.” He ended up sunning himself in Cyprus. And I ended up educating myself on the ‘Eighth Wonder Of The World’. The Ark, a gold and acacia wood box containing the Ten Commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai, was brought from Jerusalem to Ethiopia by Menelik, the country’s first king and the result of a onenight stand between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Eventually it ended up in Axum, the first Ethiopian city to be Christianised. Lalibela, an hour’s flight from Addis, is famous for its 11th-century churches carved out of the Lasta mountains. They claim to be the final resting-place of the Ark too. The 11 monolithic rock churches of Lalibela are one of the three holy places which all Ethiopian Christians must visit before they die. The others are Axum and the sacred monastery at Gishen Mariam, which is said to contain a piece of the cross of Christ. ‘Timket’ is the annual Epiphany festival celebrating the baptism of Jesus by John in the River Jordan. Similar events take place in Axum, Gondar and Addis. In Gondar, north of Lake Tana, known as the ‘Camelot of Africa’ because of its royal castles (like Fasil Ghebbi), pilgrims are baptised in the city’s Fasilides Bath. Eighty per cent of Ethiopians are Christians and members of the Orthodox Tewahedo Church. But the River Jordan is the most popular place to be baptised. Lalibela’s Wollo stream is named Jordan. As well as mass baptisms in the ‘tabal’ or holy waters, 11 replica arks are ritually paraded. Pilgrims come from all around the world to see the ark of testimony, the holy vessel and repository of divine energies. Each church has its own ‘tabot’ or imitation ark, which, as a symbol of God’s presence on earth, gives every church its sanctity. Ethiopia was one of the earliest nations to adopt Christianity in the first half of the 4th century. Experts doubt claims that the famous rock-hewn churches were built with the help of the Knights Templar. Some of the churches lie almost underground in deep trenches. They are connected by tunnels with offset grottoes and crypts. Bet Medhane Alem has three empty graves dug for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Selassie chapel is the place of the greatest sanctity and where the Ark was thought to have been kept. “You must not touch or see the tabots,” said Solomon, a former Ethiopian church deacon and the owner of the Jerusalem Guest House where I stayed in Lalibela. The ‘New Jerusalem’ was created by Emperor Gebre Mesqel after Jerusalem was taken by Saladin’s Muslims in 1187.
inside africa © Dereje
“The odour of virtue,” explained Gashaw, my guide, who, like all Ethiopians wore a blue silk cord or ‘matab’ around his neck from which hung a crucifix. We ran alongside the procession, bumped and jostled by children, goats and tourists. “It is burnt on holy olive trees. The rising smoke helps our prayers go up to heaven.” Reaching a field opposite the best and only hotel in town, the arks were installed in a large marquee pitched on a hillside overlooking the plains of Wollo.
of their ‘makwamya’ praying sticks. On an earth embankment beside Solomon’s gift shop, the holy men swayed and surged beneath their fringed parasols dancing the ‘bezakula’. Trumpets blared, children danced and everyone had a song to sing. Young boys jumped up and down shouting “Eyota”, their shepherd’s crooks upraised. Young girls pogoed by the roadside in between the goats, asses, beggars, cripples and tourists, shouting “Behota Caiba!” (Be Still Merciful”).
“The holy men swayed and surged beneath their fringed parasols. Trumpets blared, children danced and everyone had a song to sing” For an hour, the chief priest or ‘kasi’, speaking through a heavy beard, a megaphone and a short translator, supervised the baptism at a cross-shaped stone trough. Hundreds and hundreds were splashed and splashed each other with ‘tabal’ or holy water, before settling down for the night to sleep one blessed night beside the sacred Silat of Yahweh. They read themselves to sleep, reading from their prayer books. They would sleep the night in the open air next to the very finger of God. All night, the monks chanted ancient Zeemia hymns written in Ge’ez, the ancient language of worship. Back at New Jerusalem, we listened to the chanting and the antiphonic music. Solomon listened. “They are singing the Melia,” he said. “It is a chant praising St Michael. They praise every one of his body parts. “ He listened again. “They are on his chin now. They have a long way to go. They will not get to his toes much before morning.” At first light we were up to watch more people being baptised and blessed on the holy ground opposite the Rotha hotel. ‘Rotha’ was Lalibela’s orginal name. From a hill above the monastic township, we watched the arks return to their churches, the priests pulling themselves uphill with the aid
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Finally, as the Arks disappeared back into their respective Holy of Holies, not to be seen again for another year, everyone screamed “El!El!El!El!El!El!El!” and Ethiopia echoed with the sound of ancient Amharic hosannas and hallelujahs. I had seen the Ark. I told Solomon that I was happy. He smiled and passed me a millet beer. I told him then how I had come to Lalibela and how I had learned of the location of the Ark. Not through a vision or vocation. But because of my dentist.
opening page Biete Abba Libanos (House of Abbot Libanos), an underground monolith church carved into rock at Lalibela left Ethiopian pilgrims praying in the complex of temples at Lalibela above Ethiopian Orthodox followers celebrate Timket, the festival of Epiphany, in Addis Ababa, January 2015 above Ethiopian Orthodox priest dressed in a white cotton robe walks the pilgrims to the Church of St George
© Sarine Arslanian
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The lowdown on the hottest properties on the market right now IMAGE Harvey Maria X Neisha Crosland check vinyl tile. See more on page 114
PROPERTY NEWS
Keep tabs on the market, whether you are living or investing in the capital
SALES Andrew Groocock, head of sales at Knight Frank Canary Wharf, comments on the trends in the residential sales market Spring is upon us, and it’s usually now that the market bursts into life. Clients are bringing their properties to the market to make the most of the lengthening days and the improved presentation of their outside space. It’s also the time that purchasers make a concerted push to ensure that they have found and moved into their new home in time to make the most of the summer nights. The property market took a bit of a beating over recent months with changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax, referendums and the dreaded talk and arrival of Brexit. However, what both buyers and sellers need to remember is how robust the London property market is – the number of deals being completed in Canary Wharf are at their usual levels. The biggest change recently is the number of viewings. We are working harder now to agree deals and when you are using a motivated agent, that isn’t a problem – going the extra mile and ensuring that the best-quality applicants are viewing our client’s property comes naturally. Buyers in this market should work with an agent who provides honest opinions of properties to ensure that the agent can hone in on the correct property quickly. There are many properties out there, and you can run the risk of seeing too many properties. Be clear about what the non-negotiables are and be flexible on the rest, but most importantly work with and use the agent to help you find your dream home. For sellers, the key is be patient. You need to expect to see more people coming through the door before offers are reached. It will take longer than it has taken over recent years to find a buyer. However, as long as your agent is constantly in touch and guiding you through the market in terms of the presentation and price of your property, you will sell. Choose an agent who has a record of selling the best homes, has the international reach to expose your property to the widest selection of applicants, who can present your property in its best light and most importantly, works hard, putting in the hours. Knight Frank Canary Wharf 020 3813 9149 knightfrank.co.uk
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You should always get advice [on your mortgage], every circumstance is different. Ask yourself how accessible you need that money to be in the future. Once it’s paid off, it’s hard to get back. - Jeremy Duncombe, director of Legal & General Mortgage Club
FLOOR IT British vinyl flooring brand Harvey Maria has collaborated with textile designer Neisha Crosland on its latest collection, entitled Check. Featuring a striking geometric pattern that forms a diamond motif when laid, the vinyl flooring comes in four tones – flint, slate, graphite and camomile. The luxury vinyl tile Is hardwearing, easy to maintain and warm underfoot, which makes it a great surface for hallways and bathrooms. Neisha Crosland check vinyl floor tile, £44.80 per square metre, Harvey Maria, harveymaria.com
SWI NG WH E N YOU ’ RE WI N N I NG Construct ed from iron and brass, thi s wing wall lamp pays tribut e to th e industrial trend . For an extra design elem ent, placing tw o n ext to each oth er makes it even more dynamic, and doubles up as a wall feature. Long brass swing lamp, £169.95, House Doctor, ovohome.com
THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
| property |
HANDLE WITH CARE
LETTINGS Alex Cater, senior negotiator at Knight Frank Canary Wharf, comments on the trends in the residential lettings market
The new Mademoiselle collection from Haute Déco, a handcrafted handle specialist, was designed in homage to Coco Chanel – inspired by the bouclé fabric that launched in 1953. These statement handles, for entrance doors and cabinetry, have a muilti-dimensional, woven texture. Made of solid bronze, each piece is mirror-polished to achieve a jewellery-grade sparkle, turning these handles into door jewellery. Mademoiselle collection, from £275, Haute Déco, hautedeco.com
Prints charming Established in 1935, Vallila Interior is a leading Finnish brand of contemporary printed fabrics, rugs and home accessories, and its S/S17 collection is not short of on-trend, vibrant prints. The Tiaiset curtain is a bright, leafprint fabric in yellow and green – it also comes in a pink colourway. Vallila creates ready-made curtains, which makes life much easier, and the curtains also feature rod pockets, places for curtain hooks and draw-cord for pleating, so the printed curtain will be able to fit into your home, regardless of what style fitting you have. Tiaiset curtain (one), £52.90, Vallila Interior, vallila.co.uk
SINK OR SWIM
Clearwater, a brand known for its sleek, freestanding baths, has branched out to launch a new collection of basins for the bathroom. With both classic and contemporary styles available to choose from, the basins are available in both Clearstone and natural stone. If you’re looking to kit your bathroom out in uniform style, the most popular bath designs by Clearwater are also produced with a matching basin. Formoso petite basin, from £249, Clearwater, clearwaterbaths.com
luxurylondon.co.uk | THE CITY Magazine
After a sleepy December, the first quarter of 2017 saw the lettings market in Canary Wharf return with a bang. It is quite typical to see people hold off on their property search until the New Year and this was exactly what happened. There seemed to be a renewed motivation for our applicants to make the move and to find the property that most suited their new requirements. I have noticed, however, that with available stock levels in the area continuing to rise to the highest level that I have ever experienced, applicants are presented with more choice than ever. This means they are viewing more properties before they are reaching their final decision. This brings me on to my next point: agents should inform landlords that all properties priced competitively on the current market are continuing to go under offer within a very short space of time. I personally think that we are still in a tenants’ market, which means that more than ever, asking prices have to be set at realistic levels in order to attract offers. It is imperative that you allow your agent to advise you correctly on this, otherwise you could be wasting precious marketing time. There will be more new-build developments completing in E14 over the next couple of years, which will inevitably have a knock-on effect on prices in the area. Everything will of course settle down in time and once it does, I can see market prices increasing. Also, I have noticed an increase in corporate relocations in the area over the last quarter which can only be a good thing. Deal numbers have been high so the office is very upbeat as we approach (at the time of writing) the end of the financial year, which is set to be a record year for the department. Knight Frank Canary Wharf 020 3813 9149 knightfrank.co.uk
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MOVE FASTER SELL WITH KNIGHT FRANK We pride ourselves on exceptional service and unrivalled market knowledge, with a global network of 417 offices across 58 countries that can showcase your property to the widest possible audience. KnightFrank.co.uk/Riverside Riverside@knightfrank.com 020 3641 5932
Guide price: £2,200,000
Caro Point, Grosvenor Waterside SW1W An immaculate and modern 3 bedroom apartment on the 11th floor of Caro Point, Grosvenor Waterside. The apartment benefits from stunning westerly views across London, 24 hours concierge, underground parking and a gym. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, reception room, terrace, porter/concierge, leisure facilities. Approximately 104 sq m (1120 sq ft) Riverside@knightfrank.com Office: 020 3641 5932
@KF_SWLondon KnightFrank.co.uk
Guide price: £5,950,000
Parliament View, Albert Embankment SE1 A stunning penthouse, in a sought-after central riverside location. The vast reception room with double-height ceilings provides spectacular views of the river and its iconic buildings. 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2 reception rooms, terrace, porter/concierge, leisure facilities. Approximately 342 sq m (3,681 sq ft) Riverside@knightfrank.com Office: 020 3641 5932
City Mag April'17 Issue Sales
13/03/2017 12:35:07
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MOVE Faster. Sell with Knight Frank
Our understanding of the everchanging market enables us to price your property accurately, so you can rely on Knight Frank to get you moving. Call us today on +44 20 8166 5375 to arrange your free market appraisal. KnightFrank.co.uk/wapping wapping@knightfrank.com
Guide price: £899,950
New Crane Wharf, Wapping E1W 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment. Reception room, kitchen, porterage and parking. On the fifth floor of a popular converted warehouse. Approximatley 94 sq m (1,012 sq ft). Share of Freehold. Office: 020 8166 5375
@KnightFrank KnightFrank.co.uk
Guide price: £1,950,000
Cinnabar Wharf, Wapping E1W Wonderfully presented 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment set on the banks of the River Thames. Reception room with open plan kitchen, porterage and parking. Approximatley 117 sq m (1,264 sq ft). Leasehold: 981 years remaining. Office: 020 8166 5375
297h 210w Mayfair Mag
20/03/2017 16:00:37
Widegate Street, City Of London E1 A three bedroom three bathroom apartment for sale in the City of London. The apartment is split over the second and third floors of a Georgian building in the Middlesex Street conservation area, and includes a roof terrace, a fantastic reception room with vaulted ceilings alongside a good size kitchen. EPC:B. Approximately: 173.7 sq m (1870 Sq ft) Leasehold: approximately 996 years
Guide price: £1,500,000
KnightFrank.co.uk/aldgate aldgate@knightfrank.com 020 3544 0712
@KnightFrank KnightFrank.co.uk
KnightFrank.co.uk/ALD170033
City Magazine April 2017 1 page (Widegate Street)
10/03/2017 12:34:46
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FOUND Your perfect tenant. Let with Knight Frank. Our local expertise and global network mean that we can find a reliable tenant for your property; and with an average tenancy of nearly two years, Knight Frank not only helps you find them – but keep them as well. Call us today on 020 8166 5366 to arrange your free market valuation. Guide price: £575 per week
Prusoms Island, Wapping E1W
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A stunning 2 bedroom apartment in a sought after warehouse conversion. 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (both en suite), large open plan reception and dining room, modern kitchen and a day time porter. EPC: C. Approximately 116 sq m (1,249 sq ft). Available furnished. wappinglettings@knightfrank.com Office: 020 8166 5366
All potential tenants should be advised that, as well as rent, an administration fee of £276 will apply when renting a property. Please ask us for more information about other fees that may apply or visit KnightFrank.co.uk/tenantcharges
@KnightFrank KnightFrank.co.uk
Guide price: £875 per week
Riviera Court, Wapping E1W A 2/3 bedroom riverside apartment split over three floors near St Katharine Docks. 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, large reception room, extra room for dining room or third bedroom, balcony with river views, large patio/terrace and private parking. EPC: C. Available furnished or unfurnished. wappinglettings@knightfrank.com Office: 020 8166 5366
297h 210w Mayfair Mag
21/03/2017 11:27:25
FOUND Your perfect tenant. Let with Knight Frank. Our local expertise and global network mean that we can find a reliable tenant for your property; and with an average tenancy of nearly two years, Knight Frank not only helps you find them - but keep them as well. KnightFrank.co.uk/aldgate aldgatelettings@knightfrank.com 020 3823 9930 Guide price: £425 per week
Times Square, Aldgate E1
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Smart 1 bedroom 6th floor apartment in the popular City Quarter development. The apartment boasts an open plan reception room with modern fully fitted kitchen, leading out to a private west-facing balcony. In addition, the apartment also boasts wooden floors, luxury bathroom, concierge and communal water gardens. EPC: D
All potential tenants should be advised that as well as rent, an administration fee of £276 and referencing fees of £48 per person will apply when renting a property. Please ask us for more information about other fees that may apply or visit KnightFrank.co.uk/tenantcharges
@KnightFrank KnightFrank.co.uk
Guide price: £1,000 per week
Satin House, Aldgate E1 A 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment available to rent in Satin House, part of the luxury Goodman’s Fields development. This apartment comes with access to the onsite gymnasium, swimming pool and spa, plus 24 hour concierge and private cinema room. Included is access to a beautifully landscaped tenth floor roof garden. EPC: B
city mag chris APR 17 edition
07/03/2017 14:07:09
| property |
Insider Knowledge
What is the current outlook for the central London development market? diana alam, head of residential development sales, jll
Packington Square
T
he central London development and sales markets are still acclimatising to the new conditions following the EU vote, two sets of stamp duty changes and landlord tax relief changes. We anticipate 2017 will be another year of adjustment, albeit with greater upside potential than had been anticipated in the immediate aftermath of the EU Referendum decision. Many developers, especially in Zone 1, are revisiting their unit mixes, prices and marketing strategies in response to altering market dynamics. Most schemes remain viable, despite recent conditions; developers are happy to proceed, albeit with an air of caution. Very few developments have become unviable, although some are being temporarily postponed or switched to purpose-built private rented communities. We expect demand to increase slightly during 2017 as more people become accustomed to the new market landscape, although ongoing Brexit rhetoric is likely to disrupt the underlying improvement. We are forecasting sales prices to remain flat during 2017 as the number of unsold units increases, despite the volume of new launches being held back. The number of completions has risen by
luxurylondon.co.uk | THE CITY Magazine
in Islington and Landmark Pinnacle in Canary Wharf will be launching shortly through JLL, plus there is plenty of choice for the buyer with available investment or end-user properties in existing developments. Properties under £1,000 per sq ft are still in high demand and with more Help to Buy developments coming to the market the next few months will be active. Finally, there are attractive offmarket opportunities available too, so it is always worth calling your agent if you are looking to buy.
50 per cent over the past two years and is set to increase further in 2017. This has implications for the lettings market and despite increasing demand and higher inflation, we expect rental growth will remain subdued but stable this year as more units hit the market.
How are the City and East residential markets performing?
The City and East residential markets have been performing positively during the first quarter of 2017, with new development launches attractively priced. Developments such as Packington Square House price growth (%pa) Central London developments
For more information, please call 020 7337 4004 or visit jll.co.uk/residential
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2017-21*
0
1
2½
6½
5
15.8
Greater London
1
2
3
5
7
19.2
UK
½
1
2
4
5
13.1
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2017-21*
Central London developments
Rental growth (%pa)
1
1
3
3½
4
13.1
Greater London
2½
3½
4
4
4½
19.9
UK
2½
3
3½
3½
4
17.6
Source: JLL *cumulative growth
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CATALINA HOUSE, E1 ● ● ● ●
2 Bedrooms 2 Bathrooms Approx. 976 sq ft (90.7 sq m) 2 Balconies
● ● ● ●
Easy access to Aldgate station Fully furnished On site leisure facilities EPC: B
£765 per week Furnished For more information, call Neil Short 020 3183 5949 or email neil.short@eu.jll.com
Potential tenants are advised that administration fees may be payable when renting a property. Please ask for details of our charges.
16-17 Royal Exchange London EC3V 3LL
jll.co.uk/residential
ROMAN HOUSE, EC2Y ● ● ● ●
1 Bedroom 1 Bathroom Approx. 558 sq ft (51.8 sq m) Siemens appliances
● ● ●
24 Hour concierge Within easy access of Bank station EPC: B
£825,000 Leasehold For more information, call Barry Monaghan 020 3183 5949 or email barry.monaghan@eu.jll.com
16-17 Royal Exchange London EC3V 3LL
jll.co.uk/residential
Mayfair Showroom 66 Grosvenor Street, London, W1K 3JL 28 offices in Central London and over 60 across London
Dalston Lane, E8 ÂŁ1,750,000
Once the library of the former Hackney Institute College, now a unique three bedroom apartment. This property has two double bedrooms leading off of the entrance hall both with en suite bathrooms. Upstairs has an open plan kitchen reception room and separate dining room or possible third bedroom, energy rating d. Dexters Hackney 020 7247 2440
Great Sutton Street, EC1V ÂŁ2,100,000
A two double bedroom penthouse apartment on Great Sutton Street. The property has a curved vaulted roof in the large reception room and a through kitchen. There are two good sized double bedrooms with en suite bathrooms and private balconies. Further benefits include two roof terraces which are connected via a walkway, energy rating c. Dexters Clerkenwell 020 7483 6369
dexters.co.uk
Park Street, W1K
Rodmarton Street, W1U
A beautifully presented three bedroom apartment on the first floor of this red brick period conversion, with a double reception room, separate kitchen and two bathrooms, energy rating d.
A unique two bedroom split level apartment in a purpose built building in Marylebone. There is a large open plan reception room/kitchen which is divided by a glassed courtyard and two bathrooms, energy rating b.
Dexters Mayfair 020 7590 9590
Dexters Marylebone 020 7224 5545
Upper Ground, SE1
Tea Trade Wharf, SE1
A two bedroom, two bathroom apartment on the 21st floor of the newly completed South Bank Tower. The flat has an open plan reception room with city views and 24 hour concierge, energy rating b.
An impressive three bedroom riverside apartment in Tea Trade Wharf. The accommodation is arranged over two floors with a large wrap around balcony, gym access and 24 hour concierge, energy rating c.
Dexters London Bridge 020 7483 6390
Dexters London Bridge 020 7483 6390
£1,950 per week
£1,550 per week
£1,395 per week
£1,450 per week
Tenants fees apply: £180 per tenancy towards administration, £60 reference fee per tenant and £144 towards the end of tenancy check out report (all inc VAT).
| promotion |
cadogan tate Making the move Whether upsizing or downsizing, or indeed moving a departing President out of the White House, Cadogan Tate is the mover of choice
T
ransferring your life from one home to another is an incredibly stressful ordeal, not least for all the wrapping and unwrapping, the endless cardboard boxes and the heavy lifting. This is why the large majority of us call in a professional moving company. The relatively low cost of a good quality mover is a sensible and worthwhile investment. When it comes to your valued possessions, whether sentimental or delicate collectibles, who can you trust to pack them up and transfer them to a new home, whether from Clapham to Chelsea or halfway across the world?
One of the more highprofile moves was for President Barack Obama Cadogan Tate is no stranger to the world of high-value, complex and time-sensitive moves. The company was founded in 1977 with a Luton van, an office in Covent Garden and storage facilities in Southwark. A year later, it was selected by Christie’s to transfer auction lots from its warehouse to its South Kensington sale rooms – now Cadogan Tate works with all the major global auction houses.
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Through its relentless focus on quality and customer service, Cadogan Tate has built up an incredibly loyal customer base by offering a flexible range of services and geographical locations. The company is based in north and south London, Paris, the Côte d’Azur, New York, Miami and Los Angeles, and has more than half a million square feet of high-security temperaturecontrolled warehousing. As such, Cadogan Tate provides specialised moving, storage, international shipping and insurance services to individuals, families, businesses and governments covering the entire UK, EU and USA, as well as all major worldwide destinations. Cadogan Tate has moved a 1,200-person marketing firm in central London overnight; flown replacement financial trading servers via private jet to New Jersey in the wake of Hurricane Sandy; transported a personal art collection worth more than $300 million from Geneva to Hampstead; and relocated more than 20,000 items of smoking ephemera from London to a private museum in Turkey. Nevertheless, by far the largest number of assignments the company undertakes
each year is the moving and storage of thousands of private homes. One of the more high-profile moves recently completed was for top interior designer Michael S. Smith, who called to book a move in Washington on Inauguration Day. Rescheduling to a quieter time was desirable, but clearly impossible as the client in question was President Barack Obama. The instructions were simple if daunting: the move was to be completed in no more than four hours under the direction of the secret service and White House staff, and the movers were to know nothing about the property until arrival. Cadogan Tate’s moving teams are used to providing immaculate service under complex conditions, so it was no surprise that Michael S. Smith’s beautiful room sets were safely installed in the departing President’s elegant new home. Cadogan House, 239 Acton Lane, NW10, cadogantate.com, +44 208 963 4000
THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
WAKE UP TO KING’S CROSS Become neighbours with Central Saint Martins, Louis Vuitton, Google, Everyman Cinema and the new Thomas Heatherwick designed shopping destination, Coal Drops Yard.
To experience our beautiful collection of new show apartments book your private viewing now:
London’s best transport links with zone 1 tube, close proximity to 15 major universities and colleges; rail links across Great Britain plus Eurostar, the UK’s only direct rail connection to Europe.
Call +44 (0)20 7205 4246 or email enquiries@livingatkingscross.co.uk
Apartments ready to move into today.
PLIMSOLLKINGSCROSS.CO.UK
Beckenham 020 8663 4433 Bromley 020 8315 5544
Chislehurst 020 8295 4900 Locksbottom 01689 882 988
Orpington 01689 661 400 West Wickham 020 8432 7373
Beckenham BR3 Exceptional Arts and Crafts family residence occupying a plot of approximately 0.8 of an acre.
£3,250,000 F/H Five bedrooms
Five bathrooms
Four receptions
EER C
Contact Beckenham 020 8663 4433
Chislehurst BR7
Shirley Hills CR0
Set behind electronic gates, is this beautiful detached home located on a popular road in Chislehurst.
Fabulous, extended detached family home offering 3,344 sq ft of well presented accommodation.
£1,695,000 F/H
£1,375,000 F/H
Four bedrooms
Four bathrooms
Seven bedrooms
Two bathrooms
Three receptions
EER C
Four receptions
EER E
Contact Chislehurst 020 8295 4900
The Acorn Group, incorporating:
Contact West Wickham 020 8432 7373
langfordrussell.co.uk
ENJOY THE LONDON LIFESTYLE WITH A RIVERSIDE LOCATION
Pavilion Square is the exciting new phase at Royal Arsenal Riverside, a collection of contemporary homes with beautifully crafted interiors. It is ideally situated for the forthcoming on-site Crossrail station and London City Airport, which is just 7 minutes away. Residents will enjoy access to the Waterside Club with facilities including a 20m swimming pool, gym, 24-hour concierge service and cinema room.
ROYAL ARSENAL WOOLWICH
CANARY WHARF 8 MINUTES*
LIVERPOOL STREET 14 MINUTES*
BOND STREET 22 MINUTES*
HEATHROW 50 MINUTES*
1 and 2 bedroom apartments available from £475,000 Call 020 3504 4095 to register your interest
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www.royalarsenalriverside.co.uk
Computer generated image is indicative only. Photography of Pavilion Square Showhome is indicative only. Prices and information correct at time of going to press. *Approximate travel times for Crossrail taken from Royal Arsenal Woolwich. Source: www.crossrail.co.uk
Proud to be a member of the Berkeley Group of companies
INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO
BRANDON HOUSE, se1
Enjoy an enviable Zone One location at Crest Nicholson’s Brandon House – a luxury collection of one-, two- and threebedroom apartments, two-bedroom duplexes and two- and three-bedroom townhouses, next to Borough Underground Station in SE1. Residents will benefit from living directly opposite Borough Underground Station, providing fantastic connections to the City and Canary Wharf. The arrival of the Elizabeth line next year will also open transport links from Canary Wharf to provide even more rail options across London and beyond. For those travelling even further afield, Brandon House also offers easy access to London’s four main airports, ideal for those who frequently travel overseas. The development has its own dedicated 24-hour concierge service for added security and complete peace of mind. It is on hand for day-to-day needs, such as key holding, receiving packages and arranging dry cleaning. They are also available for additional services upon request such as ticket bookings and restaurant reservations. Each home at Brandon House has been carefully designed to reflect the needs of modern city living, providing residents with a chic central London base to call home. Properties at Brandon House have been created to maximise light and space
throughout, with large, open-plan living rooms incorporated in the design. All homes have access to at least one private terrace or balcony, providing some much sought-after outdoor space within a city centre location. A number of the capital’s hot shopping destinations can also be easily reached, with both the luxury retail of Bond Street or Stratford’s Westfield shopping centre short tube rides away. In addition, the trendy bars of Bermondsey Street are just a short walk away, and the area boasts an unrivalled mix of Michelin-starred restaurants, independent cafes and boutique shops. Sky-high dining is on offer at the various eateries and cocktail bars at The Shard, which is just a ten-minute walk from Brandon House. Residents can also immerse themselves in the culinary delights of South London’s foodie hotspots, Borough Market and Maltby Street Market, which sell a range of gourmet food, fresh produce and coffee. If that’s not enough, the capital’s cultural hub, London’s South Bank, is within walking distance from the development. This popular area of the city is steeped in heritage and lined with world-renowned iconic landmarks, such as the London Eye and the Tate Modern art gallery. Two of London’s most popular theatres, The Old Vic and the National Theatre, are also within close reach of Brandon House, offering a range of leading stage productions all year round.
brandon house, se1 020 3437 1107 brandonhousese1.com
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THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
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S E
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IC R P
£6
T H E V I E W TO T H E C I T Y F R O M P LOT 4 5 01
NESTLED IN THE HEART OF THE SOUTHBANK ON THE DOORSTEP OF THE CITY
Move into your new luxury home from April – Located opposite Borough station for the Northern Line – A mix of luxury apartments, penthouses & sought-after freehold mews houses – 24hr concierge service – Some with views of The Shard & the City – 2 year Crest Nicholson warranty & 10 year NHBC
Sales Suite open daily: Mon 12-7pm, Tues to Fri 11am - 7pm, Sat & Sun 11am - 4pm 180 Borough High Street, SE1 1LH
Borough
The Shard
Borough Market
Tate Modern
St Paul’s Cathedral
The Gherkin
London Eye
6 mins
7 mins
10 mins
16 mins
17 mins
20 mins*
London Bridge
Bank
Waterloo
Liverpool Street
King’s Cross
Canary Whar f
Oxford Circus
Bond Street
1 min
3 mins
6 mins
10 mins
12 mins
13 mins
13 mins
17 mins
www.brandonhouseSE1.com
0203 437 0454
Travel times taken from National Rail and Google Maps. View photography taken from Plot 4501. Digital illustration is indicative only. Pricing correct on 20.03.17.
INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO
quebec quarter, se16
Dubbed the ‘hottest of hot spots’ by the media due to its close proximity to the City, Canada Water is home to L&Q’s Quebec Quarter – a selection of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments for sale. The light-filled homes, the majority of which are dual aspect, come with floor-to-ceiling windows, with the highlight being the extensive outdoor decked terraces, offered by a number of the apartments – ideal for al fresco dining and entertaining. Those without terraces have generously proportioned balconies, with upper level properties enjoying spectacular views of the surrounding Russia Dock Woodland, the River Thames and nearby Canary Wharf.
With beautifully landscaped grounds, communal play areas and direct access to the woodland, Quebec Quarter has community living at the forefront of design. Extensive communal landscaped gardens separate the seven apartment blocks, with play areas and a cross-site path leading directly into the woodland. Just a short walk away, Surrey Quays shopping centre offers plenty of amenities and many green spaces, such as Southwark Park, help residents feel far away from the city, while still living in a surprisingly central location.
Prices from £560,000 for a one-bedroom apartment, from £650,000 for a two-bedroom apartment, and from £745,000 for a threebedroom apartment.
quebec quarter, se16 03330 033 663 quebecquarter.co.uk
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THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
Galliard_OW_Mag_FPC 22/03/2017 14:39 Page 1
THE LOW DEPOSIT LAUNCH LONDON’S BEEN WAITING FOR! PRICES FROM £850 PSF WITH UP TO 4 YEAR COMPLETIONS
NEW HIGH SPEC APARTMENTS DESIGNED TO LEAD THE MARKET IN PRICE & VALUE RELEASING THURS • FRI • SAT
20TH -22ND APRIL CROWNE PLAZA LONDON - DOCKLANDS ROYAL VICTORIA DOCK WESTERN GATEWAY, LONDON E16 1AL
EAST INDIA DLR CANARY WHARF CROSSRAIL 2018 THE CITY • BANK
4 MINS 7 MINS 10 MINS 13 MINS
Orchard Wharf LONDON RIVERSIDE E14
APARTMENTS FROM £399,000 WITH A £2000 DEPOSIT TO EXCHANGE ON THE DAY REGISTER NOW FOR PRIORITY STATUS
020 7620 1500 galliardhomes.com
Price correct at time of going to press. All journey times are approximate source tfl.gov.co.uk. Image of development is computer generated.
Take time to explore What would you do with an extra hour a day? Live at 250 City Road and stroll home in 15 minutes, leaving you more time to enjoy city life – from a plethora of art galleries, designer boutiques, bars and restaurants to new green spaces, state of the art gym, swimming pool and fitness terrace. 1, 2 & 3 BEDROOM APARTMENTS Prices from £885,000 MARKETING SUITE Open daily 10am - 6pm - Late night opening on Thursday until 8pm and early closure on Sunday at 4pm Sales & Marketing Suite, Old Street, London EC1V 2QQ Register your interest now CALL: 020 3468 5790 EMAIL: 250CITYROAD@BERKELEYGROUP.CO.UK
www.250cityroad.co.uk Proud to be a member of the Berkeley Group of companies
Prices correct at time of going to press.
INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO
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THE CITY Magazine | luxurylondon.co.uk
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CITY ROAD, EC1V
Berkeley Homes (North East London) Ltd has set a new benchmark in flexible living with the launch of a new collection of premium one-bedroom apartments at 250 City Road – the landmark development that is redefining EC1. In addition to the master bedroom, the premium one-bedroom apartments offer an extra room providing homeowners with the luxury of having additional space for a separate study, gym or guest accommodation. Situated in the heart of London’s most vibrant areas, 250 City Road is located in Islington between Angel and Old Street. Designed by Foster + Partners, the development delivers the optimum place to live and work, within walking distance of the capital’s key employment districts of the City and Tech City.
Upon completion, the scheme will comprise 933 homes, a new design-led four-star Nhow hotel, office and retail space. The intelligently devised studio, one-, two-, and threebedroom apartments and penthouses are arranged across eight buildings, including two landmark towers reaching up to 42 floors that meld effortlessly with the streetscape. Berkeley Homes is working with a panel of expert interior designers; Darling Associates, Scott Brownrigg and Goddard Littlefair, to create elegant, light-filled apartments. All are fitted with the finest specification, including Siemens integrated appliances, underfloor heating and comfort cooling. An exclusive collection of Platinum residences offers finishing touches including fitted surround sound and natural stone worktops. Each apartment features balconies, terraces and/or winter gardens. Residents will have access to a rooftop gym, terrace, 20m indoor pool, spa and 24-hour concierge services, along with secure underground parking, almost 1,500 cycle spaces and round-the-clock security. Externally, outside space extends to almost two acres of peaceful and enclosed green spaces. An expansive retail offering, new cafes, restaurants, shops, Grade A office and studio space allocated for start-up companies will help cement 250 City Road’s arrival as a principal new quarter in this rejuvenated part of town. From £885,000 for a one-bedroom apartment
CITY ROAD, EC1V 020 3642 3851 250cityroad.co.uk
luxurylondon.co.uk | THE CITY Magazine
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Computer generated image is indicative only.
Computer generated image is indicative only.
OneOne Park Park Drive Drive looking looking towards towards thethe City, City, Canary Canary Wharf Wharf
London’s London’sfirst firstresidential residentialtower tower bybyHerzog Herzog& &dedeMeuron Meuron Launching Launching Spring Spring 2017 2017
OneOne ParkPark Drive Drive 483483 apartments apartments located located across across 58 storeys 58 storeys on the on the private private Canary Canary Wharf Wharf Estate Estate
Sales Sales Enquiries Enquiries +44+44 (0)20 (0)20 7001 7001 3800 3800 canarywharf.com/residential canarywharf.com/residential residential.sales@canarywharf.com residential.sales@canarywharf.com