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from the editor issue no.
126
april 2018
m a n a g in g Edi tor Richard Brown
c o n t e n t d i r e ctor dawn alford
a s s is ta n t Edi tors david taylor Melissa emerson
Edit o ria l i nt e rn Abisha sritharan
The Times They Are a-Changin’. Luxury is in a spin. Social media is transforming the reasons we buy things. Ecommerce is transforming how. Consumers have grown savvy to branding. Sustainability, transparency, authenticity. Experiences not material things. Right here, right now. Millennials, millennials, millennials. How to make their wares relevant to contemporary culture is the most pressing question puzzling companies today. The quest for an answer has given rise to a new breed of brand director: the Super CEO. Equal part business person, maverick and motivational speaker, this Common Project-sneakered impresario is on a mission to prove that they’re down with the kids – and able to communicate in a language that next-gen consumers will understand. Ironically, for a group of nonconformists, each of these Super CEOs, in the luxury sector at least, seems to be answering the digital question in the same way. They’ve collectively decided it’s all about cross-industry ‘lifestyle stories’ pushed via selfserving social media influencers and arranged marriages between themselves and celebrity ambassadors. Last month, IWC Schaffhausen launched a marketing campaign with Bradley Cooper sat on a runway on a motorbike in front of a vintage aeroplane. Celebrity – tick. Lifestyle – tick. Vintage cool factor – tick, tick, tick. The image was a carbon copy of an advertisement that Breitling had created with David Beckham just a few years ago. Literally down to the brown leather jacket both Cooper and Becks are wearing. And there’s the thing. In an attempt to become all things to all people, brand identities are becoming blurred. What do you stand for if you’re doing the same thing as everyone else? The archetypal Super CEO Georges Kern is widely credited for transforming IWC from a niche tool-watch maker into a global mega brand. Now CEO of Breitling, Kern is currently attempting to revive the chronograph specialist without alienating the brand’s core customer base (p44). Swapping watches for underwear, Marcel Hossli parted ways with Patek Philippe a decade ago to become CEO of luxury nightwear company Zimmerli. Hossli talks pants, product and entrepreneurship on page 64. Elsewhere, Lexus goes all lifestyley by launching a speed boat on page 12; the love affair between watches and motoring continues through Richard Mille and McLaren Automotive on page 14; and the Super CEOs of Aston Martin, Porsche and Jaguar all embrace electric motors at the Geneva International Motor Show on page 72. And then there’s Ferrari. Which has just announced the most powerful, dinosaurdrinking V8 engine ever out of Maranello. Now there’s a language we can all comprehend.
J EWE LL E RY EDITOR MHAIRI GRAHAM
ART E DITOR Laddawan Juhong
Ge n era l M anag e r Fiona Smith
Pro du cti on Hugo Wheatley Alice Ford Jamie Steele
Pro pe rt y Di re ctor Samantha Ratcliffe
Ex e c u t iv e D i r e ctor Sophie Roberts
M a n a g in g Di r ector Eren Ellwood
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Richard brown, managing editor
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april 2018
Contributors
contents
issue no.
SET TO be the fastest hybrid trackonly hypercar on the planet: The Aston Martin VALKYRIE AMR PRO image courtesy aston martin
Chris ALlsop Chris is a Bath-based freelance journalist and photographer who mostly writes about travel and film for the Guardian, and the Sunday Times Travel Magazine. This month he checks out a the Swire hotels of Shanghai (p100)
73 on the cover
22 Mr oliver newton The personal art conciege to the super wealthy 24 ms elena baturina B aturina on business, background and Be Open foundation 38 chain reaction Say goodbye to dog tags and sufer beads and hello to a new range of men’s jewellery 44 breitling rebranded The aviation watch specialist revisits the foundations on which Breitling was built 72 electric dreams How much is the automotive industry evolving? 76 Martin Freeman The actor on television, typecasting and the thrill of acting
City Life
12 Lexus sports yacht H ow the car company is taking a different route 14 The royal albert hall and devialet The newest music collaboration 16 Turnbull & Asser The Journey shirt collection 18 Sunspel The Ian Fleming inspired designs
8
city social
30 New and noteworthy The latest launches and culinary crazes 32 bon viveur A spate of South American restaurants in London
city Style
37 Jewellery news Liven up your outifts with the latest jewellery trends 42 david M Robinson Newest collection of handmade rings 48 street life Latest fashion trends on the LA streets 58 Style him Men’s monthly style guide 60 Mark francis The distinguished authority on men’s style 64 Zimmerli The watch expert takes on a different brief
City ESCAPE
94 Travel news The latest in luxury travel 96 Bill heinecke The businessman who redefined the limits of luxury in Southeast Asia 100 Shanghai The swanky Swire Hotels of Shanghai
Josh Sims Writer Josh has written for the FT and South China Morning Post. He is also an author. He interviews Elena Baturina on her background, her business and her philanthropic work (p24).
Nick savage Editor of specialist concierge service Innerplace, On page 32 Nick offers the lowdown on Mexicaninspired London eateries
lu x u ry lon don.co.u k
Signe d’exception. Available exclusively in fine wine shops and in the best restaurants. champagne-billecart.com
CITY LIFE A P R I L
2 0 1 8
Rolls-Royce unveiled a new version of the deluxe Dawn at the 2018 Geneva International Motor Show. The Dawn Aero Cowling transforms a standard Dawn into a two-seater roadster-style motor car by creating an extended cover over the rear seat area. rolls-roycemotorcars.com
p. 12
p. 22
p. 24
SuperYachts, Super-SPeakers and shirts for spies
The personal art concierge to the world’s super wealthy
Russia’s richest woman on the youth of europe
City Edit
Oliver Newton
Elena Baturina
the Edit
The commodities and consumables raising our interest rates this month
THE yacht
no.
01 The Lexus Sports Yacht The famous car manufacturer is making a splash
It may be known for its luxury crossovers and coupés, but Lexus has announced the production of a new mode of transport: a streamlined power boat. The Lexus Sports Yacht concept was announced early last year, and now Lexus has announced plans to move ahead with production. While the concept model was 42 feet long and could seat up to six people, the production version has been enlarged to 65 feet and is capable of seating up to 15 people. Toyota Marine is behind the engineering, while renowned Marquis-Carver Yacht Group will manufacture the vessel once it goes into production for release late in 2019. The luxury yacht will contain lavish staterooms below deck, entertaining space, and connected services for security, smartphone integration, remote diagnostics and maintenance. Lexus is yet to confirm the technical details of the production model, but the Sports Yacht concept was designed around an engine that powers the new LC 500 coupé – a twin V8, 950hp gasoline engine capable of 49mph on the water. lexus.co.uk
the watch
the Edit
no.
02
RM 11-03 McLaren Automatic Flyback Chronograph
richard mille and mclaren automobile manufacture a six-figure stopwatch
Last year, Richard Mille partnered with McLaren to manufacture the lightest mechanical chronograph ever created. This year, the motoringman watchmaker joined the supercar specialist at the Geneva International Motor Show to reveal its latest collaboration: the RM 11-03 McLaren Automatic Flyback Chronograph. The watch’s featherweight case is comprised of Carbon TPT – a super-resistant material
introduced to watchmaking by Richard Mille – interlaced with Orange Quartz TPT, a tribute to the colour synonymous with McLaren. Titanium pushers are designed to echo the design of the distinctive headlights of the McLaren 720S. Titanium inserts, similar in shape to the iconic McLaren F1’s air-intake snorkel and bearing the McLaren logo, adorn the bezel. Elsewhere, a grade-five titanium crown is shaped
like a nine-spoke McLaren wheel. Under the bonnet beats the automatic RMAC3, a calibre first launched in 2016 with a 55hour power reserve and flyback chronograph function – allowing for instant stopwatch restarts. Only 500 examples will be produced. RM 11-03 McLaren Automatic Flyback Chronograph, £173,000, richardmille.com
the Edit THE tech
no.
03
The Phantom of the Royal Albert Hall
Devialet and the Royal Albert Hall: the musical collaboration sure to be a hit
The iconic London venue has teamed up with the high-end hi-tech giants in order to take the beauty of live performances to those outside the venue. While the great hall will provide the content, Devialet’s technologies will live stream the performances from the auditorium to people
outside the venue. The Phantom will enhance the sound inside the building’s grand entrance to allow people of all ages and backgrounds to feel the magic of the Royal Albert Hall from outside the venue: a first in its 150-year history. Devialet will also participate in
the Royal Albert Hall’s Education and Outreach programme that reaches over 1,800 participants each year. The audio technology company has also teamed up with brands such as Renault and Sky in recent months. devialet.co.uk
the Edit the shirt
no.
04
The Journey Shirt by Turnbull & Asser Making Monday mornings easier
Turnbull & Asser – the bespoke shirt-maker, clothier and tiemaker – has announced the launch of the Journey Shirt Collection. The new collection consists of a range of luxury crease-resistant business shirts designed for ‘the man on the go’. The collection is made up of four families of shirt: traditional Twill, Twill 2-Fold 100, Linen and Oxford, and opts for a classically versatile colour palette of white, pink, lilac and blue. The shirts also come in a variety of patterns such as plain, check and stripe. Evoking the sense of journey and travel, these shirts will see wearers through the day and night without crease or compromise. The shirts will be available from spring 2018 for £195 in store and online. turnbullandasser.co.uk
the collection
the Edit
no.
05
Sunspel launches a new 50s-inspired collection The name? Fleming. Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide and inspired 26 films. The writer was a fan of Sea Island cotton, and as well as wearing the fabric himself, he would also dress his suave superspy in the material too. Now, Sunspel and The Ian Fleming Estate have come together to produce a line of menswear made from the same rare cotton. The collection includes shirts, soft-knitted
polo shirts, jumpers and classic T-shirts, all in a cool restrained palette of white, navy blue, sky blue, grey and green. The Sunspel design team looked to the fifties, when Fleming brought his daring spy hero to life. Hence the inclusion of the camp-collar shirt and short-sleeve knitted polo. Sea Island cotton accounts for only 0.0004 per cent of the world’s cotton supplies, making it one of the rarest cottons in the world. It takes great skill to spin its fine
fibres, but when spun it produces the softest, silkiest cotton available. The Ian Fleming collection is available in Sunspel stores and online now. 7 Redchurch Street, E2 sunspel.com
I
the art fixer
Personal interior design service to the super wealthy, Oliver Newton has carved out a niche among young, moneyed art novices Words: Alistair MacQueen
n the typically grey-haired world of antiques, Oliver Newton is a rare find indeed – and not just because at 27 he is somewhat younger than your average art dealer. Newton has astutely positioned himself as the personal art concierge to a particular kind of high-net-worth individual. His clients are young, international and often new to the world of collecting. They entrust Newton to source unique paintings, sculptures and pieces of silver for their homes and offices – if these artworks generate a return on investment, even better. “It’s not solely about acquisition,” Newton explains, from the bar of a Mayfair-based private members’ club. “It’s about picking the right art for the right home and lifestyle. Traditional collecting involves purchasing piece by piece – my interest is thinking about how art works with your day-to-day life.” To that end, Newton visits the places where the art he buys will end up, calculating the impact that those works will have in situ. So what sparked his original interest in antiques? “I was always interested in history and historic objects, which lead me to get a job with Daniel Bexfield Antiques [just off Charing Cross Road] when I was 17. Mr Bexfield inspired within me a love of silver. From there I learned about other antiques and became interested in interior design.” Later, having graduating from Bristol university with a degree in history, Newton began working at Koopman Rare Art in Chancery Lane – the ne plus ultra of antique silver and art dealers, where his education continued until he was confident enough to set out on his own. “I wanted to do something different. I wanted to offer a personal service that went beyond the traditional relationship between antique dealer and client. I wanted to make the process of acquiring art as painless as possible. If a client is looking for art for their home, I’ll go through their house, room by room, listen to their desire and go away and make that vision a reality – from procurement and authentication, to logistics and finally installation.” Oliver’s current client base comprises a handful of wealthy individuals, some serial entrepreneurs and an eminent interior designer. Most are under 40 and many are first-time art collectors. So what sort of art does a rich, thirty-something novice tend to desire? “Wish lists can vary from contemporary art to Old Masters. You always get the traditional investable names such as Van Gogh, Picasso and Monet. They’re a global language. In silver it’s people like Paul Storr and Georg Jensen; in jewellery it’s Cartier, Boucheron, Van Cleef & Arpels.” While his work takes him around the world – on the day of our meeting he’d flown in from New York at 5am – Newton bases himself in London. Not simply because it is home, he says, but because the capital is the base of some of the greatest art dealers in the world. “You’ll mostly find me at Richard Green [an art dealer on Bond Street], SJ Phillips for jewellery, or Ronald Phillips for furniture [both on Bruton Street]. For silver, it’s mainly Koopman Rare Art.” Newton knows that his discerning clients expect him to buy well. “I need to assure the buyer that, financially, this is a great piece, that the condition is very good, that there’s been no restoration, that it has a wonderful provenance. Objects don’t always go up in value, but, as my old boss always said, ‘if you buy to the best of your budget, your money is much safer.’” Has there been a shift in the type of assets young collectors are attracted to? “More people are buying silver. Ten years ago silver collections would have been locked away in a cabinet – now people buy with the intention of actually using pieces in their everyday lives. The silver market is only going to grow.” The art collections of many of Newton’s clients far exceeds the value of their homes, so what is his number one rule of advice when recommending new purchases? “Ultimately it’s important to buy the best examples of the medium you’re interested in – because if the price goes down, at least you get to enjoy the art itself.”
interview
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23
Tsarina Baturina Russia’s richest woman
on supporting the youth of Europe Words: Josh Sims
E
lena Baturina simultaneously rolls her eyes and wrinkles her nose at the question. Just what does she make of the title ascribed to her by the media: ‘Russia’s Richest Woman’? “I don’t suppose that I am, probably – I’m just the only one to declare my wealth,” she laughs. “It’s just not something I think about. It’s not like I need another dress. The biggest privilege of the position is that I get to meet really astonishing people, and not just established figures but young people with incredible ideas.” Baturina – London-based and, to get the vulgarities out of the way, having been worth at different times over the last decade anywhere between $1bn and $4bn – is big on young people. Her think-tank-cum-foundation, Be Open, may have been established with the rather vague if noble intention of fostering creativity of all kinds – since 2012 it’s sponsored design events, led workshops, run conferences and launched art prizes, among other activities – but here she is at City Hall with the Mayor’s Fund for London’s Dragon’s Den-style City Pitch programme, handing out her large cheques to a bunch of junior schools who have had to work up all sorts of entrepreneurial plans. “It’s amazing how you get these very small kids trying to tackle these enormous issues – how to help the homeless through winter, how to make sick children in hospital deal with loneliness
– and with actual, practical results too,” says Baturina, who, while typically poker-faced, seems genuinely touched by this. “And the younger the child, the easier it is to get their ideas. They’re not spoiled yet. They’re not selfish yet. And it’s down to us if they become that way.” Perhaps this is why she’s glad that, more by luck than judgement, her two daughters have been educated in the West. Here, they can own their successes; back home, Baturina says, they would have been locked into a system of the wealthy and well-connected that would all but have guaranteed that success regardless of their efforts. Perhaps this is why she’s told them that she will invest in their education but, after that, “they’ll have to make their own way – because it’s their life and they should be responsible for it”. Baturina, 55, may have put school well behind her by the time she turned entrepreneurial, but she had her own ideas too. Starting out alongside her parents on the factory floor of an industrial toolmakers, and studying in the evenings, she moved up to work as a research assistant but found that ideas generated by her generation were typically rebuffed by the staid oldies – “as young people in Russia we had a different outlook to the leaders,” she recalls. In time, she would get into computer hardware, earning enough to shift into recycling plastics. Her company, Inteco, became a maker of plastic homewares – winning by making it
interview
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25
interview
better and cheaper than the competition – in time parlaying this into investments that allowed it to become Russia’s largest cement manufacturer, then parlaying that into becoming one the country’s biggest construction companies, with the focus on monolithic housing projects. “This was just at the beginning of the ‘new’ Russia, so on the one hand there were these huge opportunities to create businesses – the whole field was open – and on the other hand there were no clear rules for running businesses, so you could wake up one morning and find that all the rules had changed,” she says. “That certainly keeps you energised. You can’t fall asleep in that situation. But I have to say that I think stability is better for business...” That’s one reason why much of her work now is across Europe – these days, having sold Inteco in 2011, it’s mostly in real estate and hotels (she owns several, including the Morrison in Dublin), with interests in solar energy and membrane technologies on the side. Indeed, the fact that she sold the business she’d founded and run for 25 years is something of a sore point. Her husband, Yuri Luzhkov, was by this point the democracychampioning Mayor of Moscow but had fallen foul of the regime of President at the time (and current PM) Dmitry Medvedev. Once he was sacked in 2010, amid
work. “There are parts of the Soviet Union that Russia shouldn’t let go off,” she notes. But she largely brushes off the idea that his position got contracts signed. “If someone thinks that you can only build a successful business because your husband is mayor, then they’re missing an opportunity to believe in themselves,” she counters. “All that’s important is that I know what happened and that so do the people who know me well.” Nor, she adds, should one buy wholesale into the stereotype of Russia as entirely corrupt and the West as entirely clean. “Sure, business in Europe is more predictable – you can see more clearly what is achievable and in what time-frame. Europe is different. European countries are different,” she suggests. “But I can’t say I never saw corruption in Europe. People are the same. If there’s an opportunity to get some extra, then people take it. Then again, I’m used to seeing business as not just subject to the laws of economics but also the political situation.” Business is, too, what she’s all about. Baturina has said that many of Russia’s super-rich have, it might seem, found themselves locked into dick-swinging competitions of building ever bigger yachts, rather than building much of substance. “The big privilege of having a lot of money is that you can spend it how
“Business is an art form. When you pull off a successful business project, you get the same satisfaction as a writer completing a novel” power struggles and allegations of corruption, both he and Baturina knew it was only a matter of time – for their safety and for that of their children, who required bodyguards to accompany them wherever they went – before they’d have to leave the country. That the Russian government seized some prime land she owned in Moscow, without compensation, no doubt further soured her opinion of the way things were going. “I can’t say that selling the company was like parting from a child, but it was a painful process,” she says. “I can’t say I was pushed into selling, but we understood that the conflict between my husband and Medvedev created circumstances such that it was impossible to carry on. Put it this way: the year before the sale I had no intentions to sell. I had long-term plans. But it happened. I sold everything I had in Russia. And I’m not someone to step on the same rake twice.” Russia made her. Russia broke her – metaphorically if not financially. Perhaps ironically, given that it was her husband’s political ties that caused her such a business headache, Baturina has for years found herself subject to the assumption that it was Luzhkov’s clout that helped Inteco grow so big. There’s one way in which she concedes that her husband was able to smooth her business path: “he helped me get over those little pin pricks where people doubted me because I was a woman,” she explains; and this even in a country – at least back when it was still the Soviet Union – that had done so much to advance women in typically maledominated fields and had provided kindergartens and summer camps to make it easier for both parents to
lu x u ry lon don.co.u k
you want to, but I don’t think that means you should throw it to the wind,” she notes. Real estate, one senses, doesn’t give her quite the satisfaction that construction back in Russia did. It’s a deep-seated feeling that comes from having started out as a factory hand, she says – “and even now all the markets and shares and futures – all those [ financial machinations] – are much less attractive to me than physical things you can actually make”. It’s also why she’s looking for new opportunities to do just that: she’s identified, for example, a niche demand for luxury property for older people that she’s keen to pursue. “The fact is that, as people get older, they’re less comfortable being alone at home. But older people now are also completely different to how they were just 20 years ago – they’re much more active and they want to maintain that lifestyle. So we’re looking at ways of bringing those two needs together,” she explains. Nor is this just about pandering to the needs of the monied. “Student accommodation is also an interesting niche,” she adds. “It’s incredible how bad the shortage is, especially in London”. “Besides,” she adds, although she collects Russian porcelain, loves golf and has recently taken up scubadiving, “it’s business that gives me huge pleasure. Actually I think it’s an art form. I think when you pull off a successful business project, you get the same satisfaction as, say, a writer completing a novel. The question is how you see business yourself. You can make a dull process out of writing a novel. But, by the same token, you can make an exciting process out of business.”
27
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07.03.18 09:12
CITY
SOCIAL Billecart-Salmon celebrates its 200th year It’s a big year for champagne House Billecart-Salmon. Not only is the House celebrating its bicentenary throughout 2018 with a world tour of top restaurants in collaboration with Michelin chef Alain Passard, but an exclusive Bicentenary Cuvée will be released in a limited run of 1,818 bottles – commemorating the year the House was founded. Elsewhere, Mathieu Roland-Billecart will take over from his uncle François as CEO, while chief winemaker François Domi will hand over to Florent Nys. Santé, Billecart-Salmon. champagne-billecart.com
p. 30
New and noteworthy the uk’s first cognac show & a very merry pop-up
p. 32
mexican magic London’S NEW TAKE ON TACOS AND tortillas
Four Degree, SW8
A Fusion food hub that has come up with some fantastically fresh ideas Words: David Taylor
Four Degree, a fresh-faced Vauxhall venue on the banks of the River Thames, serves Japanese and European fusion food. And there are lots of genuinely exciting dishes. See the camembert with lobster bisque, or the foie gras teriyaki for evidence. I chose the camembert to start, while my guest went for the baby spare ribs, the rich caramelised ribs cut through by the Japanese sansho pepper. Plates are classed as ‘nibbles’, ‘small’ or ‘big’, but there’s also a sushi bar, with a comprehensive range of maki, nigiri and sashimi. If you decide to go ‘big’, try the black cod miso. Dessert is a more traditonal affair, albeit with a cosmopolitan twist. The chocolate fondant comes with red bean sweets and green tea ice cream, while the sorbet selection includes pineapple and ginger, mango and blood peach. The drinks menu is arguably the highlight of Four Degree and is inspired
City Social
Keeping the Epicure nourished with the latest launches and culinary crazes
Review
by the restaurant’s first month of opening, last December. Resident Tibetan monks (really) created a range of sand mandalas and blessed the space. In their wake comes a drinks menu based on a Buddhist interpretation of the past, present and future. ‘The Past’s fusion champion is the Mai Taiko, a strong and creamy blend of rice milk, yuzu juice, chocolate and tonka bean bitters and Japanese and Jamaican rum. ‘The Present’ is all about deep, strong flavours, such as the King Lou, a heady mix of Maker’s Mark, pecan bitters, sake and peaty scotch. ‘The Future’ is decadent at Four Degree, with The Sin, an Ocho Tequila, kumquat and wasabi jam, momo fruits liqueur and yuzu concoction. Have one too many of any and you’re unlikely to remember the concept of time yourself. Four Degree is also home to the UK’s first Macallan Whisky Lounge, an indulgent
area housing some of the world’s most exclusive drams in a setting fit for a civilised knees-up. Suntory’s wares are all on show, along with rarer expressions from distillers such as Angus Dundee and, of course, The Macallan. There’s plenty to enjoy at Four Degree for any taste – it certainly lives up to its fusion billing. Kanpai! fourdegree.co.uk
Four Degree
searcysatthegherkin.co.uk
Searcys at the Gherkin’s new Champagne Brunch with Veuve Clicquot (£55, Sundays only) is a boozy British banquet in the sky.
Brunch above the rest
FOOD & DRINK
New & noteworthy
Events The Cognac Show, WC1
The UK’s first ever Cognac Show aims to celebrate all that’s good about the French spirit. Big cognac houses will line up alongside smaller producers to showcase the very best of their wares. No slippers and smoking jacket here, though: the event opens cognac up to a wider audience, with more than 150 cognacs to try and the opportunity to talk to producers such as Rémy Martin and Hennessy. Bloomsbury House, 27/28 April, £40/45, cognacshow.com
Merry Men, SE1
Bottle Bank
lu x u ry lon don.co.u k
From left: Martin Miller’s Westbourne Strength gin, £34.99, waitrosecellar.com; Haig Club Clubman Whisky, £24.25, thewhiskyexchange.com; Ketel One Oranje Vodka, £26.23, masterofmalt.com
While his Bermondsey-based Michelin-starred Restaurant Story undergoes a facelift, chef Tom Sellers isn’t taking any time off. From 4 April, pop-up Merry Men will serve a banquet-style menu dedicated to seasonal produce such as bone marrow, eel and parsley or lardy cake with salted blackberries. The pop-up will also host guest chefs such as Jason Atherton, with a portion of all takings going to charity. £65 for four courses, 47 Tanner Street, tickets available via eventbrite.co.uk
31
[ city social ]
bon viveur Mexican Magic A spate of South American restaurants have transformed London’s approach to tortillas and tacos
O
ne has only to take a cursory glance at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants or breeze through a couple of Netflix documentaries to realise how far Mexican cuisine has come in the past decade. As someone who grew up in North America with dishes like sopa de tortilla and chilaquiles regularly on the kitchen table, I’ve been bemoaning Britain’s paucity of legitimate Mexican restaurants since I arrived in 2004. However, after spending years sniffing around London for decent tacos, my days of whingeing are over. The capital now boasts a plethora of eateries worth their salt (and lime).
Ella Canta (Mayfair)
While its price point may have divided critics, I couldn’t fault the standard of cooking at Ella Canta. Spearheaded by Martha Ortiz, who earned pride of place on Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurant list as head chef at Dulce Patria, Ella Canta has breathed new in life into Intercontinental Park Lane. Colour is very important to her, readily visible throughout the restaurant design and particularly the food. Starters are eye-poppingly vivid. Guacamole dusted with ricotta and cerisecoloured pomegranate seeds was topped off with a golden, finger-sized grasshopper. A pale green tamal Mexicano was encased in a butter-soft pocket of carnitas, topped off with yolk-hued queso and bright white cream. For high-spec Mexican, there’s nowhere better. ellacanta.com
above & right: Santo remedio below: ella canta
Santo Remedio (Bermondsey) In terms of talent and technicality, Edson Diaz-Fuentes is likely one of the best Mexican chefs in London, and he doesn’t stab the prices upwards like some others. Having encountered issues with landlords and licensing at the original Shoreditch site which subsequently closed, he and his wife Natalie put together a successful crowdfunding effort to launch Santo Remedio on Tooley Street. The room is replete with artefacts that the couple have gleaned from their time in Mexico (both are native), the cocktails are punchy and the kitchenwork flirts with perfection. santoremedio.co.uk
news
Man-about-town, Innerplace’s Nick Savage, gives you the insider lowdown on London’s most hedonistic haunts
Tortilleria El PastÓr (Bermondsey)
Best of the Rest
El Pastór caught headlines for myriad reasons. Founded by the Hart Brothers (Barrafina, Quo Vadis) with Crispin Somerville, the restaurant goes through the painstaking process of importing native Mexican corn, nixtamalizing it in house, and making its own tortillas. Perhaps more notably, El Pastór’s staff members emerged as heroes following the terrorist attack on Borough Market, when they hazarded life and limb to protect restaurant guests. If that’s not reason enough to pay El Pastor a visit, it also serves a number of the city’s best Mexican dishes: there’s no better tortillas, tuna tostada or tacos al pastor in the smoke. tacoselpastor.co.uk
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Breddos (Clerkenwell + Soho) Many people swear by these homegrown taqueros, who formerly ran some of the most popular food stalls in the Smoke and now run two bricks and mortar restaurants. Count on impeccably sourced British produce prepared with a modern twist. breddostacos.com
Del 74 (dalston)
Full disclosure, the guys who run Del74 are buddies of mine. However, this seems to be the case with most of the taqueria’s patrons. It’s like a Mexican incarnation of Cheers: everybody knows your name. Above all, it’s really fun, and after enough mezcal you could mistakenly place yourself south of the border, it has that kind of authentic energy. Over two dozen visits I’ve refined my order to near perfection. It usually starts with mezcal margaritas, guacamole with freshly prepared totopos and off-menu ceviche before segueing into excellent quesadillas, fish tacos and the best carne asada in the city. tacosdel74.com top: El Pastor Tortilleria middle & Bottom: del 74
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CorazÓn (Soho) Run by chefs who formerly rattled the pans at The Riding House Café, Corazón is a svelte little space in Soho that has found its niche as one of the neighbourhood’s best Mexican eateries. corazonlondon.co.uk
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Bad Sports (Shoreditch)
Bad Sports shares common DNA with Del74. Situated on Hackney Road, there’s a cocktail bar underneath where Innerplace is they project, you guessed it, London’s personal lifestyle American sports. Upstairs concierge. Membership provides complimentary access to the finest the room is pretty bare nightclubs, the best restaurants and bones but they do top private members’ clubs. Innerplace also offers priority bookings, updates on a splendid lamb the latest openings and hosts its own barbecoa taco and masa regular parties. Membership from £50 a month, fried chicken. innerplace.co.uk badsports.co.uk
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London’s only jet-set lifestyle event
11TH - 12TH MAY 2018 WYCOMBE AIR PARK BUCKINGHAMSHIRE
Shooting and Country Show
Explore a combined world of lifestyle brands and experiences 150 Lifestyle brands . 30 Unique experiences . 1 Exclusive location
www.theeliteevents.com
STYLE Gieves & Hawkes’s new collection is inspired by the glamour of the English summer sporting season. The bespoke tailor has incorporated colours such as sky blue, polo red, racing green and buttercup yellow into its latest designs. Suiting retains its position at the heart of the collection, with designs inspired by the wardrobe of a young, sporting Prince Charles. gievesandhawkes.com
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STreet Life
Mark francis
zimmerli
summer essentials shot on The streets of la
the outspoken reality tv star turns tailor
Why a watch industry exec took on a very different brief
CURIO COLLECTION S T E R L I N G S I LV E R V E R M E I L W I T H S E M I - P R E C I O U S S T O N E S A N D D I A M O N D S
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JEWELLERY
Poetry in motion
Jacqueline Rabun debuted her first collection for Georg Jensen in 2000, featuring an egg-shaped resin bracelet, symbolic of the enduring relationship between parent and child. The curvilinear design is reintroduced this spring in a 26-piece collection, beautifully hand-sculpted in sterling silver and 18-carat rose gold. Offspring collection, from £95, georgjensen.com
Gem Investments Words: MHAIRI GRAHAM
Crowning glory
In anticipation of the royal wedding, British jeweller Annoushka has designed two new Crown rings. Each is hand-set with 72 sizzling pink rubies and sapphires that are certain to make you feel like royalty. From £1,800, annoushka.com
April flowers
Celebrate the arrival of spring with Harry Winston’s sparkling Forget-Me-Not collection. New pieces elevate the sweet, star-shaped flower in vivid blue and hot pink sapphires, complemented by diamonds – of course. POA, harrywinston.com
Diamonds from down under
Australian fine jeweller Alinka has landed at Harvey Nichols. Founded by Alina Barlow in 2015, the brand creates contemporary, sculptural designs with a rebellious edge, bedecked exclusively with black and white diamonds. From £295, harveynichols.com
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Forget dog tags and surfer beads – men’s jewellery got an upgrade
Chain reaction W o r d s : R a c h a e l Tay l o r
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: ring, £POA, ara vartanian; skull queen karma bead, £89 and love knot bead, £79, both thomas sabo;
M
uch ado was made in the press recently about Ed Sheeran’s decision to wear an engagement ring. The shock! The horror! A bizarre quirk of an out-oftouch celebrity, surely? But the truth is that men are becoming much more adventurous when it comes to jewellery, and designers are responding with collections and collaborations that offer so much more than dog tags and surfer beads. “Tainted by the 1970s moniker ‘medallion man’, gentlemen and jewellery have taken several years to become reacquainted,” muses British jewellery designer Stephen Webster, who has been courting the purses of both men and women for most of his career. His jewels, sold under the tagline “jewellery to separate the men from the boys”, include punky razor blade-inspired pendants and single diamonddotted drop earrings. These come from the Thames collection, a collaboration between Webster and Blondey McCoy, the young fashion-designer-turned-skater. While Webster’s personal brand of bling attracts a rock ’n’ roll crowd that has always been more comfortable with a skull ring and layers of lariats ( fans include singer James Bay), he feels that the scope is widening for masculine jewels. “The democratisation of men’s jewellery has now led to men from all walks of life being able to find a place for jewellery in their wardrobes,” he says. Harrods agreed with him, and held a Stephen Webster men’s jewellery pop-up shop last year. Research released by Barclays in November suggests that British men are now spending an average of £300 more a year on clothes, shoes and grooming than women. It also claimed that men are devoting more money to fashion than to drinks with friends or tickets to sports events. With so much being diverted to looking good, it’s understandable that these modern men desire a little flash for their cash – and what would surely be described as a cocktail ring should it be found on the finger of a woman is now finding its way onto male digits. Oscar Graves, a jewellery brand that launched last year, sells dress rings for men. “Our ethos is quite simply to be the first label to offer a genuine alternative for styleconscious men when it comes to luxury rings,”
grey riot ring, £325 and the cuban ring, £2,995, both oscar graves
JEWELLERY
image courtesy of oscar graves
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PROPERTY
image courtesy of oscar graves
JEWELLERY
says Pearse Curran, creative director of the Dublin-based brand, which can be found in Wolf & Badger’s Mayfair store. “No other area of fine jewellery has been neglected more over the past century than men’s rings.” To redress the balance, Oscar Graves proffers engorged signet rings in silver or gold, set with faceted blue Burmese spinel and smoky quartz, sized to be worn on ring fingers rather than pinkies; as well as heavyset diamond-pavé rings inspired by the Baroque period. This is not to say that pinky rings, the classic male trinket, are out. Plain silver signet rings were worn on pinkies by male models during the S/S18 runway shows of Givenchy, Isabel Marant and Paul & Joe (the latter dressing only its male models in jewellery, while females were left unadorned). There are also plenty more adventurous options out there, like Foundrae’s unisex Scarab rings that layer colourful flashes of enamel over gold to mimic cigar wrappers. An increase in jewellery collections being branded as unisex is a key driver of the expanding choice for men. As gender norms are redefined in every walk of life, jewellers too are less keen to put shoppers in boxes. For instance, Webster and McCoy’s Thames collection is technically a unisex line, despite its masculine undertones. When Kate Moss, who once described jewellery as her “drug of choice”, collaborated with Brazilian jeweller Ara Vartanian last year on a collection of precious talismans littered with inverted gemstones, rose-cut diamonds, swords and sickle moons, it identified as gender neutral. A group of male and female models, who looked like they’d just drifted out of a spiritual retreat, were drafted in to show the versatility of the collection for the official campaign. Brooches for men were another catwalk hit this season, and in the world of high jewellery, brands like Chaumet have reported men buying pins to liven up lapels. Even suiting, the most masculine of attire, is benefitting from jewels as modern dandies sneak a little personalisation into boardrooms and black-tie events. Jeweller Shaun Leane, whose recent sale of couture fashion jewels at Sotheby’s New York raised $2.6 million, launched his first men’s collection in a decade last year. The Arc collection includes slick silver and gold vermeil tie clips and cufflinks that are perfect for this purpose. Also central to the collection are necklaces, bracelets and cuffs designed to be stacked. Vartanian too has responded to the trend for male stacks in his main collections, with edgy zig-zag rings set with black diamonds that slot into one another. Thomas Sabo also has its eye on male shoppers, and this year the jewellery brand launched Rebel Charms, its first charm collection for men. Rather than build up your bracelet, these masculine charms, with motifs like feathers, skulls and snakes, are supposed to be clipped onto necklaces. In its first week, an oxidised silver feather charm from the men’s collection sold in such volumes that it became the brand’s bestseller, over and above any of its women’s charms.
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: 18Ct white gold and black diamond single earring, £1,600, KATE MOSS X ARA VARTANIAN; SCARAB CIGAR RING, $2,850, FOUNDRAE; 18ct white gold and moonstone ring, £2,800, KATE MOSS X ARA VARTANIAN; TV RING, £2,400, AND razor blade ceramic RING, £1,450, BOTH STEPHEN WEBSTER X BLONDEY MCCOY; ARC earrings, £115 each, SHAUN LEANE; 18ct yellow gold, ruby and black diamond single earring, £4,200, KATE MOSS X ARA VARTANIAN
“The reaction we had at the launch was incredible,” says marketing director Louisa Hopwood. “We had influencers who would see one of my team wearing it and literally take it off their necks.” Layers of charm necklaces are perfect selfie fodder for the stylish man, yet it seems the democratisation of jewellery stretches far beyond posing on Instagram. It is no longer just metrosexuals who are wearing fashion-led jewellery every day. As one passionate male jewellery collector told me: “My jewellery sets me free from the mundane; it allows me to express my style. My mates used to laugh at me in the pub when I’d come in with stacks of bracelets and rings across my hands, now they just want to know where I get them.”
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A Ring to It This month, David M Robinson introduced a brand new handmade diamond engagement ring selection to its bridal collection
pa r t n e r s h i p
D
avid M Robinson has introduced a brand new collection of five exquisite handmade engagement rings to its stunning bridal collection, just in time for wedding season. Every bespoke DMR story starts at the workshops and this time is no different. Master Goldsmith, Rupert Haworth, crafted the collection from the current workshop, just a stones throw away from the original location set up in Liverpool almost 50 years ago by David Robinson himself. The exclusive collection of rings, which were designed and handmade in Liverpool, all use simplicity as a main source of inspiration. You won’t find diamond encrusted bands or any unnecessary detailing, this collection is all about stripping it back and focusing on the the stunning diamond at it’s centre. The selection perfectly epitomises the best of DMR’s bespoke services, which not only includes designing rings from scratch alongside the guidance of clients, but also encompasses remodelling heirlooms and taking diamonds or gems from old pieces of jewellery to use within a more modern piece that is unique to you. Clients are involved in the process from start to finish, from discussing initial ideas to suggesting metals and cuts, but the experts are there to give their professional
“It has been fantastic to bring together a mix of techniques for this collection, including many workshop processes that have been used for many hundreds of years.”
guidance for those that are unsure. The meticulous attention-to-detail the dedicated team bring means that clients can be as involved as they like and rest assured that they will be walking away with a piece unlike any other. DMR values their customers opinions, so when it came to crafting the brand new collection, suggestions were taken on board. “This handcrafted bespoke collection has allowed us to create a set of beautiful oneoff rings. Each has its own DMR DNA with subtle sweeps and curves that can only be achieved by hand and all finished to the highest standard. Each ring has a special meaning that can be treasured forever,” Haworth said. “It has been fantastic to bring together a mix of techniques for this collection, including many workshop processes that have been used for many hundreds of years. We’re excited to hear the feedback from our customers.” Each engagement ring boasts a plain band, handcrafted in platinum, 18ct yellow or rose gold, and allows the diamond to talk for itself. The sparkling stone comes in a few different shapes and sizes, but the most striking of the five rings incorporates the latest engagement ring trend; the trilogy ring. The stylish threestone ring, inspired by the engagement ring presented to Meghan Markle by Prince Harry, is striking to say the least. The 18ct yellow gold ring features a cushion cut diamond weighing 0.90cts, set alongside two round brilliant cut diamonds. With the largest team of in-house goldsmiths in the North West of England, DMR remains proud of its roots and the bespoke pieces of jewellery it continues to craft for clients. Visit its Canary Wharf Jubilee Place store to find out more about the bespoke services available. David M Robinson, Jubilee Place; davidmrobinson.co.uk
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WAT C H E S
In the Hot Seat You have around a one in three chance of breaking your spine but are trading a violent event for probable death. So just what goes through your head before activating an ejection seat, and what happens to your body after? One man who knows is Breitling Jet Team pilot Bernard Charbonnel Words: Josh Sims
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ith her short skirt, heels and come-hither expression, she’s a rather unexpected sight in the side office of an aircraft hanger – especially since she’s suggestively straddling a bomb. She’s not real, of course, but a stylised mannequin, riding her destructive charge. On this is written a place and a date: Valkenswaard, Holland, September 15th 2012. That was the day that Bernard Charbonnel was the man who fell to earth. Charbonnel was a fighter pilot in the French Air Force, flying Jaguars and Mirages. He has some 8,500 flight hours under the belt of his G-suit. Now he’s one of seven elite pilots flying for the Breitling Jet Team, Europe’s only civilian aerobatic team, akin to the Red Arrows or Blue Angels: barrel rolls and looping the loop in his twoseater Albatros fighter trainer aircraft, just two metres from his colleagues, at 600mph, is all in a day’s work. “I’m honestly never scared when I fly,” says Charbo, as he’s nicknamed. “I’m only scared that I won’t be able to do my job. Certainly you get stressed. But it’s the stress of the performer. Thankfully, for a guy like me, short and strong, dealing with the G-forces is easier – the gap between heart and head is shorter...” Yet every day, at team briefing, he gets to see that woman: a cheeky gift from the then president of Breitling (now under new management, Breitling has subsequently dropped all such provocative pop-art mannequins from its marketing). It’s a reminder of the day he became an elite among the elite: as a pilot who had to eject from his aircraft. “It was,” he says, “my only
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ejection. It’s a very, very rare event.” Charbo describes said event not stony-faced and pale, but with a big smile and boyish excitement. And with the professional distance and ease of someone discussing how, say, his car exhaust once gave way on the motorway. “My turbine failed – and then it exploded,” Charbo says, matterof-factly. “There’s a big ball bearing linking the crank shaft to the compressor and a pipe inside that broke. I felt some vibrations, and could smell burning. A red warning light came on in the cockpit and then came the explosion. My wingman told me there were five-metre flames coming out of the rear of the aircraft and that I had to shut the system down to prevent fuel getting to the flames. So the engine stopped, of course. And this aircraft, well, it only has one engine...” Nickname: Charbo Within two Position: Right seconds of engine inside wingman shut down, Charbo had made the decision Flight hours: 8,500 to eject. From first vibration to ejection was just 40 seconds – during which time Charbo had assessed the mechanical situation, acted on it, made a mental note of his Albatros’s position, speed and altitude, conducted a visual survey of the surrounding countryside to see if there were any options to land the aircraft and, having decided there were not, directed the aircraft away from any population centres below, towards forestry. “Strangely, the adrenaline in your system actually makes you feel very strong, and it sharpens your
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perceptions. All the time the plane is descending very rapidly – although the sensation is less of you going down, as the ground is coming up to you, and fast,” he says. “Of course, you’re still surprised it’s all happening, because for all of your training you never expect it to actually happen. But you’re so busy with certain things you need to do, that you don’t have time to think about your situation. You’re too busy to be scared.” Pity then, the man in the back seat, who had nothing to do: on this rare occasion – and in the West there have been around just 8,000 ejections since the ejector seat was invented shortly after World War Two – Charbonnel had a passenger with him. This was one of the Air Team’s technicians, a man who knew the aircraft intimately from a mechanical perspective, but did not regularly pitch one around in the sky, nor undergo ejection training. For 40 long seconds he waited, perhaps pondering the fact that survival rates for ejector seats stand at around 89 per cent, and only at 51 per cent for ejections at less than 500 feet; or that ejection involves experiencing a pull between 12 and 15G, albeit for a fraction of a second; and that it hasn’t been unknown for pilots to be paralysed by the explosive force of ejection; or to be left permanently two inches shorter from the force of their spine accelerating into their skull; or for their limbs to be broken by what’s known as wind blast – the impact on an arm or leg of being suddenly introduced to air moving at several hundred miles an hour. So he waited. And waited, while the aircraft tumbled towards the earth. Until he got the pilot’s order – “Eject, eject, eject!” – at which point, like the pilot, he tucked his feet under his seat, grabbed the red handle between his legs with both hands, pressed the triggers with both thumbs and pulled up. This initiated a fully automatic sequence of events that blows off the cockpit canopy, with a rocket mechanism propelling the occupant and the seat he’s in up and away from the aircraft, crucially clear of the tail fin, before deploying the parachute at the optimum height available. It was hitting a tail fin, in fact, that knocked unconscious and killed test pilot Douglas Davie when he scrambled out of his ailing Gloster Meteor in 1944 – the incident that encouraged the British Air Ministry to begin development of some kind of escape system suitable for this new, much faster kind of jet-powered aircraft, one that would be successfully developed by self-taught engineer James Martin, based on ejection systems actually created by Saab in Sweden and by Heinkel in Germany during the war.
“For the technician it was not a good experience: 40 seconds of pure stress and fear. For me it was actually good fun,” says Charbo, laughing, somewhat guiltily. “From the pulling of the handle to being out there and under the canopy of your parachute takes just three seconds. It’s odd how you go from this speed and commotion and noise to floating in complete calm and silence in that three seconds. You go from intense stress to this intense awareness that you’re alive. And in that three seconds I heard everything, saw everything, smelled everything – it was a movie in slow motion. I’ve only had that experience once before, when I was in a car crash. “I actually saw the aircraft, completely vertical, plough right into a field, and I was so happy to see it do that – because the very worst thing for a pilot is to see his plane land in a crowd. There’s a limit to what you can do – if you’re at too low an altitude. When you have to eject, you have to eject. But, still, that’s the worst thing. Seeing that your aircraft hasn’t done anyone else any harm is the best thing.” Charbonnel landed in the middle of a cornfield, the crop three metres high around him. An indication of just how collected he was, he immediately penned a brief report on the aircraft’s condition at the time of the problem. He spent the next quarter of an hour wandering around, trying to find his way out the field. He was met by Dutch policemen, whom, he says, aggressively questioned him in custody for the next eight hours. Charbonnel does not have much good to say about Dutch policemen. Charbonnel was flying the next day. And for the next 10 days or so he was, metaphorically and, in a way, literally, on cloud nine. “I just had this incredible feeling of happiness. I just felt so good – I had none of the usual aches and pains. I felt like I was in perfect condition. Of course, again it’s just the adrenaline still in your system,” says Charbo, bringing mere sensation back to hard reality, as perhaps only a fighter pilot that views ejection much like a Sunday stroll might. “And yet, I wish that feeling had stayed with me.” Has he taken any lesson away from his extraordinary experience? Is there any lesson he might draw from it for others? “Yes,” he says – but it’s not one that might be expected to please any Maverick. “When you’re facing a major incident like that, you have to follow the rules. That’s it. That’s the lesson,” he says. “You just have to do what you’re meant to do – because it works. When you train for this kind of thing, it’s all written down in a book. And you follow the book. And, you know, next time – if there is a next time – I’d do exactly the same.”
WAT C H E S
Breitling
Rebranded The watchmaker’s new top brass signals a future away from aviation Words: Richard Brown
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ew men have achieved more in Watch Land in the previous decade-and-a-half than Mr Georges Kern. Taking the reins of IWC in 2002, the German-born 36-yearold became the youngest CEO in parent company Richemont, owner of Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Panerai and Piaget, among others. Through sporting partnerships, celebrity emissaries and a strategically-positioned product offering, the TAG Heuer alumnus transformed IWC from a periphery player
Navitimer 8 automatic 41, £3,850 Chronograph 43
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into one of luxury’s most visible lifestyle brands. If you weren’t into watches 10 years ago, chances are you wouldn’t have known the acronym IWC denoted a mechanical watchmaker from Switzerland. Invitations to Kern’s gala dinners at the annual SIHH trade fair became the hottest tickets in town. Secure one and you might find yourself sharing a dance floor with Cate Blanchett, Adriana Lima, Bradley Cooper and Lewis Hamilton – just some of the more prominent members of IWC’s new army of superstar ambassadors. In November 2016, Richemont announced a major shake-up of its management structure. The group chose to promote Kern to head of watchmaking, marketing and digital for the entire organisation. The following year Kern was invited to stand for election to the Board of Directors. Then, in July 2017, his employers released the following statement: “Richemont regrets to announce the resignation with immediate effect of Mr Georges Kern… Georges has been offered an interesting opportunity to become an entrepreneur.” Three months earlier, CVC Capital Partners, Europe’s largest private equity group, and previous owners of Formula One, had acquired an 80 per cent stake in rival watchmaker Breitling ( for an estimated £750 million). By July, the group had secured the services of Kern as its new CEO, reportedly in return for a significant stake in the watch company. Just six months later, Kern unveiled his vision, embarking on a global press tour alongside new creative director Guy Bove (previously product development director at Chopard) and new chief marketing officer Tim Sayler (headhunted from Audemars Piguet). Buzzwords from the Zurich leg – “simplify”, “smaller” and “strengthen” – point toward a slimmed-down product line, both in terms of the number of
Navitimer 8 B01 Chronograph 43, £5,900 in steel, £15,980 in red gold
references Breitling will offer and the case sizes it will produce (the company will no doubt have one eye on Asia, where its current oversized chronographs have historically failed to find a market). Elsewhere, much bandied-about “tradition”, “reassurance” and “history” suggest Breitling will follow the rest of the industry in reissuing watches from its extensive back catalogue, tapping into the prevailing popularity of all things vintage. There’ll also be a shift away from aviation – Breitling’s heretofore raison d’être – into watches for “land” and “sea” – again, perhaps, with Asia in mind, where the romance of aviation resonates less strongly than in Europe and the US. Current Breitling fans should not fear a complete reimagining of the brand they covet, however. Rather than a myopic attempt to reinvent what Breitling embodies in the pursuit of short-term profit, Kern says he is simply revisiting the foundations on which Breitling was built – innovative, genre-defining tool watches – before the brand got all large and laddish in the nineties and noughties. The best indication of where Kern’s Breitling is heading came with the new Navitimer 8 collection, the first, five-model line of watches released under the creative stewardship of Bove. Characterised by bevelled lugs, a notched bezel, a railway minute track, and a logo that does away with the pair of wings that previously stretched from behind an italic ‘B’, the collection is decidedly retro. And, at first glance, rather un-Breitling. The range-topping Navitimer 8 B01, powered by Breitling’s in-house movement, as well as the mid-tier Navitimer 8 Chronograph (with a Valjoux base movement) and Navitimer 8 Unitime all feature 43mm cases. The Navitimer 8 Day-Date and entry-level Navitimer 8 Automatic measure 41mm and both run on modified calibres from ETA.
Navitimer 8 chronograph 43, £4,550 automatic 41
NAVITIMER 8 AUTOMATIC DAY & DATE 41, £3,500
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Charlie
Roll neck, £150, John Smedley, johnsmedley.com Trousers “Duke Windowpane”, £295, New & Lingwood, newandlingwood.com Trainers, “Tom” Sneakers, £325, Harrys of London, harrysoflondon.com
Viktorjia
Shirt, £230, Corneliani, corneliani.com Trousers, POA, Dolce&Gabbana, dolcegabbana.com Shoes, £1,100 Dolce&Gabbana, store.dolcegabbana.com Earrings, POA Chanel @ Susan Caplan, susancaplan.co.uk
StreetLife Photographer: Mike Ruiz @Mikeruiz.com Stylist: Kristine Kilty
This page: T-shirt, £210, Brunello Cucinelli, selfridges.com Jacket “Charles” double-breasted jacket, £1,075, Stella McCartney, stellamccartney.com Trousers “Julian” Trousers, £430, Stella McCartney, stellamccartney.com Slides, £210, Stella McCartney, stellamccartney.com Opposite page: Short-sleeved sweater, £235, Thom Sweeney, matchesfashion.com Trousers, £175, Kent & Curwen @ Mr Porter, mrporter.com Trainers “Tom” Sneakers, £325, Harrys of London, harrysoflondon.com
Charlie
Paisley shirt, £255, Etro @ Harrods, harrods.com Trousers “Edmondton Herringbone”, £295, New & Lingwood, newandlingwood.com Shoes “Edward” Loafers, £395, Harrys of London, harrysoflondon.com
Viktorjia
Dress, £2,800, Dolce&Gabbana, store.dolcegabbana.com Earrings, £295, Dolce&Gabbana, store.dolcegabbana.com Boots, £625, Dolce&Gabbana, store.dolcegabbana.com
This page: Top, £69.95, APC @ Harrods, harrods.com Washed Denim Jeans, £510, Berluti @ Mr Porter, mrporter.com Trainers “Tom”, Sneakers, £325, Harrys of London, harrysoflondon.com Blazer, £350, Hackett, hackett.com Opposite page: Shirt, £230, Corneliani, corneliani.com Washed Denim Jeans, £510, Berluti @ Mr Porter, mrporter.com Glasses, £170, DSquared2, www.dsquared2.com Shoes, £470, DSquared2, www.dsquared2.com
This page: Polo shirt “Isis” Polo Shirt, £135 John Smedley, www.johnsmedley.com Trousers, POA, Dolce&Gabbana, dolcegabbana.com Necktie, £50, Penrose London, penrose-london.com Bag, POA, Dolce&Gabbana, dolcegabbana.com Earrings, POA, Chanel @ Susan Caplan, susancaplan.co.uk Opposite page: Printed Shirt, £155, Enlist @ Mr Porter, Mrporter.com Chinos, £129, Brooks Brothers, brooksbrothers.com Trainers “Tom” Sneakers, £325, Harrys of London, harrysoflondon.com Shades, £258, Prada @ Harvey Nichols, harveynichols.com
Hair & Makeup: Ozzie Gutierrez using Marc Jacobs & Embryolisse Models: Charlie Matthews @ DT Model Management & Viktorija L @ Hollywood Model Management Photography Assistant: Ozzie Gutierrez
Style Brief
Your monthly sartorial meeting Words: David taylor
Alpin landscape print coat, £450
Chapman hooded jacquard trench, £850
Aquascutum
Aquascutum was founded in 1851 by tailor John Emary with a mission statement of producing clothes that remained stylish while protecting the wearer from Britain’s famously unpredictable weather. The new collection is a return to roots, inspired by the rugged nature of the country’s northern landscapes. The colour palette takes the rich tones and textures of the Scottish Highlands; from earthy clays, moss and mahogany to vibrant winterberry and forest green. aquascutum.com
STYLE
Bag it up
The Suit Carrier Holdall, £650, Bennett Winch, bennettwinch.com
Chester Barrie Denim Collection
The double denim trend shows no signs of abating. Championing a more formal approach, Savile Row tailor Chester Barrie has created a button-down shirt from luxuriously soft Japanese denim. Dress it up with light chinos, a knit tie and a patterned spring blazer. £110, chesterbarrie.co.uk
The G21 Smoke, £1,595, Gladstone London, gladstonelondon.com
V Line backpack, £1,850, Valextra, valextra.com
Hurlingham striped holdall, £155, Hackett London, hackett.com
Mr P Capsule two
New season, new Mr P capsule. The label’s first spring/summer collection is inspired by ’60s Los Angeles, the era of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. The pieces are made in Italy, Portugal and Japan, and include a suede tan jacket, cotton camp-collar shirt and a striped cotton rollneck. mrporter.com/mrp
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Pauline 24h bag in Taurillon Gex leather, £3,510, Moynat, moynat.com Brown leather holdall, £165, John Lewis, johnlewis.com
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Fine&
dandy
Do you know a shawl from a shahtoosh or a jabot pin from a tie pin? Neither did we until we met Mark Francis Vandelli, the distinguished authority on men’s style Words: Hannah Lemon
M
ark Francis Vandelli is a name that often has people rolling their eyes. He was made famous by Made in Chelsea, the Channel 4 socialite ‘drama’ full of It people with names like Binky, Toff and Habbs, hailing from South Kensington and Knightsbridge. One of the programme’s most memorable characters has been Mr Vandelli himself, who replaces personal gossip with witty repartee: “Do you know what I find ghastly? People who jog in public”, or “I don’t have any resolutions whatsoever. How could I possibly improve upon myself ?” With this in mind it’s hard not to imagine Vandelli strutting around ballrooms in bespoke suits and turning his nose up at any canapé with a toothpick in it. But when I was introduced to him at an awards ceremony, it became evident that half of this dandyish persona is a tongue-in-cheek exaggeration for the Made in Chelsea producers. Weeks later, when I phone him, he’s bunged up with cold but ever charming. I can tell certain comments are delivered entirely for a reaction; an embellishment of the character he has created. When I ask him how he’s bearing up, he replies: “Colds – they’re just so common.” I titter down the phone and
“There’s nothing as demoralising as feeling underdressed”
style
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spend the next half an hour listening to his rolling ‘Rs’ and accentuated ‘ohs’ as he talks about his foray into fashion. His mother, Russian model Diane Vandelli, was a muse of Yves Saint Laurent “at a turning point in London in the 70s when everything was changing and people were quite rebellious”. Although Vandelli remarks that for someone who spent her life in couture, she cares very little about it now. In fact it is his father, Italian industrialist Marzio Vandelli, who seems to have passed on the mantle of debonair dressing. Vandelli’s abundant vocabulary has me Googling phrases (a shahtoosh, for your information, is a shawl), but despite the big words, he is unexpectedly self-depreciating. “Never overdo it. I should know, I’ve done it many times,” he says. With a capsule collection for Hawes & Curtis under his crocodile belt, various television shows with his “best friend” Viscountess Emma Weymouth of Longleat, as well as endless public appearances and private party invitations, there’s not a moment that a hair or handkerchief is out of place. How would you describe your style? As curated and timeless and, I suppose, elegant; but that’s not really for me to say. What’s your favourite item of clothing? An era that shaped my understanding of menswear was when Tom Ford was at Gucci – a fundamental epoch for fashion. I still wear those pieces a lot.
What would you never leave the house without? A watch and pocket square. They must complement an outfit and provide a subtle indication of taste. I seldom wear a modern watch. It’s terrible when you realise there’s someone wearing the same model. Name your favourite brands? Gérald Genta was a genius who designed some of the most iconic watches for Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet in the 70s. Cartier was already creating timeless watches in the 20s and 30s, which were recently reproduced in its Collection Privée. I collect those too, but you know what I really love that no one wears? Graff watches, they’re fabulous for the evening. Any other accessories? Actually, I have to say – almost at any time of year – a shahtoosh goes down very well. How about ties? I’ll wear a tie in the office, at a wedding or a funeral. I don’t particularly approve of ties in the evening – it’s not ‘me’. But what I truly detest is the loosened tie, circa midnight, with shirt buttons undone. That’s when you know a man’s given up. Would you ever wear a pre-tied bow tie? I should really say I’d never do such a thing. For velvet, though, I make an exception. Tying one’s own can prove quite disastrous: they can become a gigantic, cravat-like error hovering above one’s shirt.
How has your family influenced what you wear? My father was a bon viveur, a flâneur and a gambler. At my age, he was in black tie most nights. As a result he’s left me an inordinate number of smoking jackets and a vast archive of eveningwear. It harks back to a bygone era of glamour and sophistication: two things that have unfortunately become increasingly rare.
“Elegance never goes out of fashion”
“One should never clash with the artwork”
“Don’t be fooled. I prefer receiving awards to presenting them”
style
What’s the most sentimental piece that you own? My jewellery. Mostly family pieces, many of which I’m gradually converting into cufflinks, shirt studs, jabot pins and so on. I also collect Art Deco jewellery, mostly Cartier and Lacloche Frères that I buy at auction. Unfortunately, jewellery is also very easy to lose – a wonderful diamond and sapphire panther of mine went for a walk a little while ago and never came back... What do you dislike about current trends for men? There’s nothing worse than men having the hem of their trousers so high that you see their ankles. It looks totally uncivilised. A man’s best friend is a great tailor because they’ll always make him look his best, whatever the occasion. Are there any colours that you like to avoid? Mustard. I avoid mustard at all costs. I find it absolutely abominable. There is nothing that could ever please me about such a colour. Who is your favourite tailor? I adore Neapolitan tailoring. It’s really the birthplace of great menswear and a constant inspiration for my own collections. If your blazers are handmade in Naples you can throw them into a suitcase, pull them out and be sure they’ll look as though they’ve just been pressed.
“When your parents are your inspiration. Capri, summer 1980”
What has been your biggest fashion faux pas? Overdoing it – wearing the whole look from the fashion show. It denotes a total lack of originality and the demise of spontaneity. You have to think twice before wearing the velvet blazer, with the evening trousers, with the full length mink, with diamond stud buttons, with the jabot pin in your bow tie, with a patent shoe... sometimes you just have to pare it down. How would you decribe true luxury? Finding something that no one else has: a cobbler in Portofino who makes beautiful suede loafers that are so soft you can roll them up. Designers and manufacturers who still produce unique pieces using artisanal methods – those are the chicest luxuries. What do you wear when you’re relaxing? I don’t understand the need to have a different wardrobe for occasions in which no one can see you. I was brought up to dress on my own the way I would at a dinner party. After all, you never know who’s looking... Best piece of advice? Appropriacy. To dress in a manner befitting your figure, age (unfortunately), complexion – if you must – and lifestyle. That said, there’s nothing as demoralising as feeling underdressed. As long as one’s selective when accepting invitations, it’s really very difficult to overdress. And if that’s the case, it may just be a sign that one needs better friends.
“Neptune’s back in the office”
“Like father, like son. St Tropez, 1979” “Minimalist? This is positively Spartan”
“Walking is such a chore” LU X URY LONDON.CO.UK | 663 3
“Successful people
wear good underwear”
Why a man at the pinnacle of the watch industry took on a very different brief Words: David Taylor
STYLE
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W
hen you’ve put good underwear on, you should forget it immediately. When you feel it during the day, it distracts you. You feel that something isn’t right.” Marcel Hossli is passionate about pants. The CEO of luxury garment maker Zimmerli is an expert in luxury branding, though his previous job was a far cry from his current sector. “I used to be in the watch business. I’m a mechanical engineer, and I love watches – I got infected by the watch virus,” Marcel jokes to me when we meet at the George Club. Mount Street. “I was looking to get into watches, and had a friend who used to work for Swatch. This was in the hot period, so he got me a job at Swatch as a product manager in 1994. “I worked for Swatch for three years, then went to Lucerne and worked for Bucherer, taking over responsibility of its watch brand. We developed the newly positioned Carl F. Bucherer, named after the founder. I spent eight years there, then moved to Patek Philippe in Geneva.” Prestigious indeed. Why switch between a profession you love to a small brand in a different industry that you know very little about? “I was at home one Saturday morning and saw in the newspaper that Zimmerli were looking for a new CEO,” Marcel explains. “It had always been my dream to manage a small but very fine Swiss company. They were looking for somebody who had worked for luxury businesses – they weren’t asking for specific product-related experience. They knew they had a very good product, but they had no clue about marketing and branding.” It’s a job Marcel has taken on for the last decade, growing Zimmerli from a niche brand into one of the world’s leading producers of quality underwear, nightwear and loungewear, with approximately 600 outlets worldwide, including a 250 sq ft shop floor in Harrods. Zimmerli was founded in 1871 by Pauline Zimmerli after her husband’s dyehouse went bankrupt. Seeing a gap in the market for high-quality hosiery and socks, Pauline began selling further and further afield from her small home town of Aarburg. With a rapidly growing demand for her products in Paris and elsewhere, the entrepreneur actually invented a machine to knit ribbed elastic fabric, sending her plans over to the USA and receiving her first two-needle knitting machine in 1874. The entrepreneurial spirit has persisted throughout the company’s history, which has continuously produced clothing since the day of its inception. I sat down with its most recent entrepreneurial chief to discuss modernising a traditional company, and why the world’s leaders should all wear Zimmerli. How much of an entrepreneur was Pauline Zimmerli? She was an innovative person. Her two sons were in the business too – they travelled to the United States, took the orders there, came back. The whole process took months, but Pauline Zimmerli only focused on producing very high quality products. That’s why she was so successful: she sold most of her products in the western part of Switzerland, where you have the watch industry, already a very rich industry at the time. Zimmerli has always been very innovative, and that’s part of our philosophy. You have a total of ten boutiques around the world. How do you decide which cities to open in? We have a very selective distribution, but you can find Zimmerli in places from Los Angeles to Toyko to Melbourne. We always try
to work with the best partners at the most prestigious locations. It’s about expanding the Zimmerli universe. Luxury is never mass. You need to be selective in what you are doing, in terms of fabrics, the way you distribute and so on. How do you ensure Zimmerli stays relevant? You need to know who you want to appeal to. You need to be relevant, to reinvent yourself; not in a drastic way, but a brand should always have movement, otherwise you’ll die with your customers. When we entered the Russian and Chinese markets, there were different customers with different expectations. They’re younger, especially in China, and they’re looking for new things. If they hear that Zimmerli’s producing the finest underwear in the world, but they don’t like the style, they won’t buy it. How important is respecting Zimmerli’s past? Hugely. We have some products where the design is 50 or 60 years old, but you always need to readjust the style. Take the Porsche 911: it was first produced in 1964 and is still a huge success. If you compare the first Porsche with the latest Porsche you can see it’s the same product, but it’s evolved over time, and that’s what we’re trying to do. What makes Zimmerli different? We are always trying to find ways to increase the sense of wellbeing whenever you’re wearing our products. When you get up in the morning you take a shower, and the first thing you put on is underwear. If you put something on and it’s caressing your skin already because the fabric is so fine, you feel well in yourself. It’s a change in attitude. You don’t feel scrappy, you feel that you have a purpose, that you are somebody. People don’t necessarily think of the value of good underwear, but I always say that successful people wear good quality underwear. It changes their attitude in the morning. How important is it that your products are made in Switzerland? Very. We have the tag on every single piece of underwear. It’s all made in our own factory in the south of Switzerland. I think the big asset of Switzerland is the notion of having a good-quality product. Everybody knows Swiss watches: Rolex, Omega, Patek. You wouldn’t necessarily think of fashion when you think of Switzerland, but the value of ‘Made in Switzerland’ is so strong that it really helps. ‘Made in Switzerland’ is a quality seal, a promise that it’s the real product. What’s it like to work for Zimmerli? The average time that people have been with us is 14 years. One lady who’s just retired was with us for 41 years as a seamstress. You need to find new staff, but it’s not easy. They’re walking a fine line: on the one hand, they need to work at a really high level of quality but on the other, they can’t spend half an hour on a piece of underwear. You need to find a good compromise: they need to be really quick and productive, but also extremely skilled. What motivates you about this job? Every day is still a pleasure, and that’s what’s so great about this job. In the morning when I get up, I love to put on my Zimmerli and go to work. Would you describe yourself as a brand man? Absolutely. Maybe I’ll still be here in 10-15 years. That’s very possible. Do you smile every time you sit down. Yes! ‘Great, I can’t feel my pants!’ Very good.
STYLE
Left: Pauline Zimmerli and family Clockwise from Right: Zimmerli advertising compaigns thorughout history
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Eye Spy Canary Wharf ’s Tom Davies Bespoke Opticians celebrates 15 years and a brand new London factory Words: joann khatib
T
om Davies not only celebrated 15 years since he launched his bespoke eyewear service last year, he also made the bold decision to move his production line from China back to the UK. With a brand new factory open in London, Davies has plans to train a new generation of eyewear craftsman, combining the latest manufacturing techniques with traditional handcrafting skills that the brand stands for. Founded in 2002, Tom Davies Bespoke Opticians has gone from strength to strength and quickly catapulted into becoming one of Britain’s leading bespoke eyewear brands. It wasn’t long before word of the its attention-to-detail and excellence spread and Hollywood came knocking on its door.
“Canary Wharf is one of my biggest and best with a prestigious clinic, plenty of space and top equipment. ”
Davies has since created frames for films including The Tourist and for the iconic Clark Kent in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, as well as designing personal frames for the likes of Angelina Jolie and Ed Sheeran. It’s all about handmade quality when it comes to Tom Davies and that’s exactly what makes the brand and eyewear really stand out from the crowd. It started when Davies identified the customer’s need for properly fitting frames that didn’t compromise on style, and he came to realise that bespoke was the only way to go. Its stores offer a full bespoke service, using only the very best materials – principally natural horn, pure titanium and cotton acetate – with all frames being made by hand by truly exceptional craftsman. The bespoke consultation starts with getting to know the customer, learning about the lifestyle they lead, their occupation and any issues with their current frames. The designer will then take precise measurements and photographs to create drawings of a frame that perfectly fits. Once the client is happy with the look and feel, the design is sent off to be crafted in the brand new British factory. Finally, all bespoke frames are finished with the name of the customer engraved discreetly on the inside of the temple arm. While the brand mastered the craftsmanship behind producing beautiful frames, Davies also looked at the science behind the lens. With the very latest technology available, the stores also boast a clinic, alongside expert eye technicians offering in-depth and detailed eye exams. This guarantees that the lens made fits exactly with the client’s unique eyes and it can also spot any abnormalities that need to be addressed. Almost two years ago, Davies successfully opened his Canary Wharf store in Cabot Place and strongly believes that out of his five stores in London, this is still his favourite. “Opening a store in Canary Wharf was a really good step to take. People that work here are a natural fit to our bespoke design consultation service,” Davies said. “It is also one of my biggest and best with a prestigious clinic, plenty of space and top equipment. I always feel that it’s important to invest about an hour when it comes to ensuring our customer’s glasses are the best they can be. However, our process also depends on who the client is and how much time they’ve got. Hence, for our busy clients in Canary Wharf, our team have been trained to do bespoke services in ten minutes. It’s totally possible to pick a frame, check what needs to be tweaked, then get it made.” Tom Davies Bespoke Opticians, Cabot Place; tdtomdavies.com
canarywharf.com
@yourcanarywharf
@canarywharflondon
ISSUE 126 april 2018
ELECTRIC DREAMs
the future of four wheels at the geneva motor show
bREITLIng REbRAnDED
the aviation watch specialist sets a new flight path
ChAIn REACTIon how mens jewellery made it into the boardroom
speeding into
summer
Chasing the sun in the latest superyachts & hottest hypercars
ms elena baturina
russia’s richest woman on supporting the youth of europe
mr martin freeman
the bafta award winner on sherlock, society & celebrity status
mr oliver newton
the twenty-something building art collections for the super rich
THE LATEST ISSUE OF
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out of
OFFICE
Ducati UK has announced it will again hold two track days on the full GP circuits at Silverstone (31 May) and Donington Park (July 5). Track days will be held in association with California Superbike School. The 959 Panigale (£285), Supersport S (£265) and new Panigale V4S (£365) will be available to hire by the day or by the session. ducatiuk.com
p. 72
p. 76
p. 83
the future of four wheels at the Geneva motor show
From slough sitcom To acclaimed movie star
why modernist architecture will always prove divisive
Motoring news
Martin Freeman
function on form
Best in Show
words: Hugh Francis Anderson
The 2018 Geneva International Motor Show demonstrated just how much the automotive industry is evolving, with a record number of hybrid and all-electric vehicles making their debuts. Away from lithium-charged motors, a collection of V8s, V12s and W12s continued to push the capabilities of the faithful combustion engine
MOTORING
no.
01
The Concept
Porsche Mission E Cross Tourismo
Perhaps one of the shock unveilings of this year’s show was Porsche’s all-electric SUV concept, which we can expect to go into production in the next couple of years. Its design will resonate with fans of Porsche stylistics, and it also boasts some rather phenomenal statistics; a 600bph motor will achieve 0-62mph in under 3.5 seconds and boast a range of more than 300 miles. In addition, an innovative 800-volt charging system means that it will be possible to recharge the Mission E Cross Tourismo to a range of 250 miles in just 15 minutes. porsche.com
no.
02
For The Track
Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR Pro
The new Valkyrie AMR Pro will be the quickest hybrid track-only hypercar on the planet. With recent collaborations with Red Bull Racing injecting years of F1 technology into its design, this model fettles the existing 6.5-litre, V12 Cosworth engine found in the road-homologated Valkyrie and combines it with energy recovery technology to produce in excess of 1100bph. Weighing just 1,000kgs and capable of ‘more than its weight in downforce,’ the AMR Pro should be the fastest track car ever made, with a top speed in excess of 225mph. Just 25 will be produced, the first reaching its owner in 2020. Naturally, all have already been sold for an undisclosed price. astonmartin.com
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no.
03
The Supercar
Ferrari 488 Pista
A lighter, faster version of the 488 GTB, the Pista is propelled by the most powerful V8 to ever come out of Maranello. The 3.9-litre twin-turbo hurls out a staggering 711bhp, achieving a 0-62mph time of just 2.8 seconds and a top speed of 211mph. Stylistically, it is a 488 through-and-through, with re-engineered aero for greater downforce. Prices are not yet known, but expect it to be well over ÂŁ200k. ferrari.com
MOTORING
no.
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The Hypercar Rimac C_Two
Renegade Croatian-born electric hypercar manufacturer, Rimac has had its fair share of bad press, not helped by Richard Hammond’s rather expensive crash in the C_One aired on Amazon’s Grand Tour last year. Honing and perfecting its technologies, however, Rimac has now unveiled the C_Two – and its stats will blow your mind. Bhp? 1914. Zero to 62mph? 1.85 seconds. Top speed? 258mph. Rumours suggest it will cost close to the £1 million mark. rimac-automobili.com
no.
05
All-Electric Jaguar I-Pace
Coined the greatest contender to the Tesla Model X, the new Jaguar I-Pace stole the electric-car show on the JLR stand. As the marque’s first allelectric model, the I-Pace will feature a 90kWh lithium-ion battery, capable of 395bhp and a range of 298 miles. In addition, it will be capable of 0-60pmh in 4.5 seconds, the same as the Range Rover Sport SVR. Although charging times are still relatively long; over an hour to quick-charge to 80 per cent, the I-Pace marks the evolution of traditional automotive manufactures towards the future of the all-electric motor system. With an electric version of the XJ due to arrive next year, technology and performance will only rise. The I-Pace is on sale now with prices from £58,995. jaguar.co.uk
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Fame means
nothing – not in the grand scheme of things Actor Martin Freeman has followed an eclectic path, in roles that led from The Office via the hobbitlands of Middle-earth to the complex, troubled Dr Watson and, most recently, the Black Panther’s CIA sidekick. But, despite this stellar trajectory, he can’t take fame too seriously Words: Jan Jacques
PROFILE image: Victoria Will
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I
f Martin Freeman is ever in danger of developing a swelled head over his stratospheric rise from much-loved but hapless Tim in The Office to international movie star, latterly in Black Panther, it seems his children will keep his feet firmly on the ground. When I ask whether his kids are excited about Black Panther, in which he stars with Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis and Michael B Jordan, he laughs. “They’re equally as excited about whatever I work on – and that’s to say, they’re not very excited at all.” You could be forgiven for thinking Joe, 12, and nine-year-old Grace are two exceptionally picky children. After all, Black Panther is the hit of the season, and, unusually for a superhero blockbuster, has achieved both critical acclaim (a 97 per cent positive rating on the Rotten Tomatoes website) and an enthusiastic audience reaction. But, concedes Freeman, there are still some thrills to be had when your dad is a star. “They’re more excited by the people I get to work with. They’re in awe of Danai [Gurira] and Lupita, Daniel [Kaluuya], Chad [Boseman].” Black Panther has been praised for being the first Marvel film with a black lead, a predominantly black cast, and strong roles for women. However, when I mention that it is being heralded as a Hollywood game changer and important for cultural race relations, exasperation shows. “I’m getting asked about that an awful lot and I’m keen to reiterate, it’s not just about race and changing the structure of Hollywood – certainly the story isn’t about that,” he explains. “Yes, it’s a first of its kind with a cast of majority black actors and it’s also a very empowering film for female actors but that’s not the crux of the action. It appears to me an archaic notion to focus on, and I know it’s hugely significant, but isn’t that wrong?” It should not make headlines, he says, that “there are characters in the story, some are black, some are brown, some are white – that’s life.” He adds that he hopes this is an issue that can be laid to rest. “I hope we don’t have to address this anymore when it comes to a film, but look at it instead as a piece of entertainment that will engross the viewer, thrill them, challenge them, put forward yes, sociocultural issues, but on
“Black Panther is not just about race - certainly the story isn’t about that. There are characters in the story, some are black, some are brown, some are white – that’s life.”
PROFILE
imageS: Victoria Will
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the whole, leave the audience exhilarated. Then we’ve all done our job right.” How does working on such blockbusters compare to TV? He smiles again. “It’s really similar to me. The camera is the same and whether it’s something smaller or something huge like this, the job is always the same for me. Filmmaking is a group of people coming together and trying to tell a story in the best way.”
But he does concede there are contrasts. “Yes, surely. On movies with huge budgets, you’re looked after very well. Between accommodation, travel and food, they want to make your environment as comfortable as possible so you can do your job to the best of your ability. So there’s the difference.” Freeman’s career has spanned the genres: comedy, sci-fi, action, costume drama, porn. Well, the last he has a little issue with. According to popular belief, his character in Love Actually was a stand-in on a porno movie. But he wants to clear his reputation: “We weren’t working on a porno, we were stand-ins on a very highbrow, sort of racy Merchant Ivory. It’s all a misconception.” His career highs include starring film roles in The Hobbit trilogy, The World’s End and Captain America: Civil War. TV roles in Fargo and Sherlock have distinguished him as a versatile actor, and, among other accolades, he has Emmy, BAFTA and Empire awards. Freeman is affable and friendly, if a little detached; it’s clear the promotional trail isn’t his favourite path. Born in Aldershot, Surrey, he is the youngest of five siblings. His parents separated when he was a small child and he lost his father when he was only 10 years old. Brought up as a Roman Catholic, he attended a Catholic school before enrolling at the Central School of Speech and Drama, and in 2001 he had a huge breakthrough with British comedy series The Office, created by Ricky Gervais. The comedy proved a big hit and Freeman endeared himself to audiences with his portrayal of Tim Canterbury, a lovable, underachieving sales rep with a crush on the company secretary. “I think I’m particularly fond of The Office, because that’s where it all took off for me,” he says. “I wouldn’t be here talking to you without it. At the time, it was the biggest thing I’d ever done and the first time I’d had that giddy excitement. It changed my life, it was when I started getting stopped on the tube. I love it. If I catch it by chance, I’ll always sit down to watch, because it’s my kind of show, it’s everything I like.” I ask if any one role has particularly inspired him, and he replies thoughtfully: “I’m pretty proud of everything I’ve done. There’s stuff I’ve done, and if I’m lucky 20 people have seen it – perhaps fewer – and I’m as proud of those as I am of the super-popular projects I’ve worked on. I don’t discriminate.” Freeman’s CV is strikingly diverse – was being cast in similar roles something
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he fought against? “Typecasting?” he replies. “It’s been a mixture. I think people thought I was genuinely a stand-up from doing The Office, particularly in the first few years after, and clearly I am not – but I could have made a nice profession doing comedies and all that. I love to make people laugh.” I wonder what sort of work he’d refuse. “I do say no,” he insists. “It comes down to my own taste, what I would and wouldn’t watch. But I also have people working for me to whom I am very grateful, for clearing the path and shining a light on me by saying ‘he would be interested in doing that’.” Playing Dr Watson in Sherlock, alongside Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role, is something he’d love to reprise, but he can’t say if it will happen. “It’s a fortuitous curse that we’re all so very lucky to be so damn busy. It’s a blessing, overwhelmingly a blessing – but for Sherlock, it’s a curse.” He laughs, adding: “It’s not a curse. But Benedict, Steven [Moffat], Mark [Gatiss] and myself – we’re a disparate group leading very disparate lives. I’m not being cagey when I say I really don’t know. It might happen, yes.” This stellar cast, he says, likes to take its time, with quality control in mind – but Sherlock remains one of his favourite acting projects. “I love doing the show and I’m like a little kid when those scripts come through my letter box. I get genuinely breathless.” You won’t see it on his long list of accomplishments, but Freeman is one half of the most successful ‘conscious uncouplings’ since Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin. When the star split from actor wife Amanda Abbington after 16 years together, there was no announcement, unlike Paltrow and Martin’s famous declaration. So determined were they not to make a fuss, that news didn’t leak out until eight months or so after it had happened in 2016. It’s only recently that Freeman, 46, has felt comfortable expressing his feelings about what eventually (to his disquiet) did become newspaper fodder. And he is clearly relieved that, although
separated, his good relationship with Abbington continues, and both are devoted parents. He recently told The Times: “We have a fine old time, me and my kids, and I know they do with Amanda. And fortunately, me and Amanda get on like a house on fire. We’re very close.” And the secret of their success? “I think we just like each other,” he says. “Amanda always made me laugh. I always thought she was brilliant at her job and I respected her as an actor. I’ve probably shared more fun with her than anybody. And yeah, I love her. I really love her. We get on amazingly well.” In a Radio Times interview, he added: “We’re honest to God doing it [separating] in about as civilised a manner as I’ve ever heard of.” He filmed the last series of Sherlock after he and Abbington had separated; a case of life imitating art, as the fictional Watson also split from his wife – played by Abbington. It’s a tribute to their professionalism that no one was any the wiser during filming. This ability to draw a firm line between the personal and the professional perhaps explains his pragmatic attitude to fame. “I think it’s important to never believe it, never take any of it seriously. It’s not like it means anything in the grander scheme of things,” he says. “When you do, that’s when the problems start.”
CLockwise from far left: Freeman at the giffoni film festival, image:GIO_LE / Shutterstock spotted On the set of sherlock,with co-star benedict cumberbatch. IMAGES Mr Pics/ Shutterstock
PROFILE
Image: James Gourley
“I’m like a little kid when my scripts come through my letter box. I get genuinely breathless”
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Luv. Nordic elegance. The design of Cecilie Manz‘ bathroom series Luv combines Nordic purism and timeless, emotional elegance. Soft shapes follow a stringent geometry. The result is a new unique design language with precise, clear and ďŹ ne edges. For more information please visit www.duravit.co.uk or contact info@uk.duravit.com
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21.12.17 14:31
ARCHITECTURE
Function on Form Testament to its resilience, modernism continues to receive both hate mail and love letters. The muchmaligned architectural genre will forever prove divisive yet its influence on every aspect of contemporary culture is impossible to ignore
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ast year, the alt-right website, Infowars – one of the chief perpetrators of the infamous Pizzagate sham during the 2016 US presidential election (a discredited conspiracy theory connecting Democratic officials with a child-sex ring) – posted a 15-minute-long video entitled ‘Why modern architecture SUCKS’.
Words: Chris Allsop
Bruno Fioretti Marquez Director’s House and Moholy Nagy House, Bauhaus, Dessau, Germany, 2010
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What is it about modernism that has made it so resilient to our evolving tastes and needs? What has equipped it to be impervious to an unending welter of criticism? The piece vented its spleen upon modernism, the architectural movement of high rises and reinforced concrete that had its origins in the First World War, and apparently ended, according to architectural historian Charles Jencks, ‘… on July 15, 1972 at 3.32pm or thereabouts when the infamous Pruitt-Igoe scheme, or rather several of its slab blocks, were given the final coup de grâce by dynamite.’ Apparently dynamite wasn’t enough. The principles of modernism, bundled up with social justice theory, are continuing to influence architects to this day. Homes expressing modernist elements continue to be in high demand along America’s West Coast, while modernist apartments have accrued a cachet in Shanghai. Emblematic designs such as the Noguchi coffee table and Breuer chairs have become ubiquitous. And if frothing alt-right fascists weren’t enough to convince one that modernism is possibly more relevant than it’s ever been, Phaidon has recently published Ornament is Crime – a gorgeous, minimalist tome brimming with monochrome images of flatroofed, boxy houses to be enjoyed in the comfort of your Eames lounge chair. ‘The purpose of this book,’ writes co-author Matt Gibberd, ‘is to identify its key aesthetic characteristics and show how this most trailblazing of architectural styles is still thriving in the 21st century. If Modernist architecture were a family tree, then contemporary architects such as Smiljan Radic, Tadao Ando, and John Pawson would all have inherited limbs, ears and noses from the Modernist masters Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright.’ The purpose of the book might also be to act as a brochure-of-a-kind for Gibberd’s other job, that of founding director, along with his co-author, Alfred Hill, of The Modern House estate agency. That this agency, which specialises in homes reflecting modernist principles, has flourished since 2005 is proof that the desire for these kind of design-led homes remains robust. But what is it about modernism that has made it so resilient to our evolving tastes and needs? What has equipped it to be impervious to an unending welter of criticism, as scathing as that levelled at it by Prince Charles in 1987 who said of the modern towers springing up in London: “You have to give this to the Luftwaffe. When it knocked down our buildings, it didn’t replace them with anything more offensive than rubble.”
Sou Fujimoto Architects: House NA, Tokyo, Japan, 2010 © Iwan Baan Studio
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Šebo Lichý Architects: House Among the Trees, Bratislava, Slovakia, 2013 © Tomáš Manina
As Honest as Rubble
‘To be a modernist,’ wrote Deyan Sudjic, director of London’s Design Museum, in The Guardian, ‘was to have a point of view about everything from music to psychoanalysis. It was to take a moral stand about the “honest” use of materials, and to believe in the designer’s duty to build a better world.’ Little surprise that such a philosophy was born out of the carnage of the First World War. Visionary architects including Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (aka Le Corbusier), Adolf Loos, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Gropius were inspired by the geometry of Cubism and the potential of new technology to help rebuild what those same advances had just so efficiently transformed into rubble (this would later be directly exemplified in the metal frame military technology employed in furniture and structures designed by Charles and Ray Eames). In Berlin, Gropius founded the German art school known as the Bauhaus (translation: ‘construction house’). Its aim was to tie together all of the arts under a single umbrella sensibility that combined design with new technology, an ambition that flowered into the language of modern design. ‘What distinguished modernism was its vociferous rejection of history and tradition,’ writes Sudjic, ‘[The modernists] were driven by the urge to design every
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You’ll find the architectural imprint of modernism everywhere.
The movement’s vision of elegant, light-filled living spaces built
of the most up-to-date materials remains simple in its appeal
ARCHITECTURE
chair and teacup as if no such thing had ever been done before.’ In Vienna, Loos lectured that “ornament is crime”, formulating a new architectural commandment; the white walls and bare ceilings of absolutist modernist buildings were the blank standards born by this new modern army. Also arriving with this aesthetic revolution was a sense of space delivered in small rooms through its bright, airy aesthetic. The sense of renewal was emphasised by the use of chrome and reinforced concrete, modern materials that, as Sudjic has it, “offered an unadorned truth”. At the high end of the market, modernism brought striking individuality to the adoring gaze of an avantgarde crowd. But it was in low-cost housing where the modernists believed their work could really have an impact; a new concept of social housing, cheap to build but utopic in scope. Today, Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation in Marseilles remains one of the movement’s outstanding successes – a block of 337 interlocking duplex apartments that open up to an enclosed and complete world structured like an ocean liner: interior streets lead to built-in nurseries, shops, and gyms. Le Corbusier envisioned that this Brutalist tower block – constructed of moulded cement in a post-war France where steel was scarce – and others like it would be the solution to rehousing the masses displaced by the Second World War (today, of course, the apartments are in high demand by well-off design fanatics). On the continent, modernism in all of its forms flourished. Which isn’t to suggest that it was ever without its detractors. Chief among those were the Nazis who, with their traditionalist values, drove the modernists with their dangerous, new ideas to take refuge in the US and Britain.
Architecture for Architects? While Prince Charles’s remarks are uniquely crass, his reaction to modernism echoed a response shared by many. Evelyn Waugh lampooned Gropius in his Decline and Fall with his creepy and cold Professor Otto Silenus who believed that, “the problem of architecture as I see it, is the problem of all art; the elimination of the human element from the consideration of form”. In the US, the journalist and author Tom Wolfe took aim at housing concepts from the Bauhaus, describing them as looking like “insecticide factories”, while attempting to sit in Le Corbusier’s signature chaise longue was to “invite a karate chop to the back of the neck”.
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THIS PAGE above left: Juan O’Gorman: House and Studio for Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, Mexico City, Mexico, 1932 © Leonardo Finotti above right: Paul Rudolph: Bass Residence, Fort Worth, TX, USA, 1976 © Grant Mudford OPPOSITE PAGE: April 1972. The demolition of a building within the Pruitt–Igoe urban housing project in St. Louis, Missouri first occupied in 1954. The complex was designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki, who also designed the World Trade Center towers.
When Jencks sounded the death knell of modernism with the televised dynamiting of Pruitt-Igoe, the style was meant to be giving way to postmodernism, the ironic revival of historic motifs (a veritable copycat crime wave, from Loos’ perspective). And yet enthusiasm for modernism persists, flourishes even. In the US, modernist landmarks such as Marcel Breuer’s Snower House and the Walter K. Harrison House are being snapped up and lovingly restored to their former clean-lined glory. In the UK, meanwhile, the architect Neave Brown was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal, British architecture’s highest award, for the Alexandra Road housing scheme in north London.
Shining a Light
You’ll find the architectural imprint of modernism everywhere. The movement’s vision of elegant, lightfilled living spaces built of the most up-to-date materials remains simple in its appeal and broad – a sketch easily adjusted to individual tastes. For architects, stripping down a design to its essentials to ensure that everything included has a reason to be there has become simply a matter of good practice. However, changes in the way we live – kitchens for one have opened up from the modernist’s functional galley (although the built-in cabinets remain) – have tempered Le Corbusier’s dictum that the house is a “machine for living in”. With smooth lines like that one, the modernists demonstrated how they could be their own worst publicists to the masses. But criticisms of modernism are often a matter of blinkered perspective more than anything else, frequently forgetting the housing failures of the 19th century that the movement was a response to – tower blocks, for example, sought to concentrate density in better buildings and open up space for green areas that previously there had been no room for. Says Christopher Wilk, the V&A’s Keeper of Furniture, Textiles and Fashion: “We live with the legacy of modernism. The buildings we inhabit, the chairs that we sit on, the graphic design that surrounds us have all been created by the aesthetics and the ideology of modernist design. We live in an era that still identifies itself in terms of modernism, as postmodernist or even post postmodernist. It is simply not possible to work in ignorance of the most powerful force in the creation of 20th-century visual culture.” Just ask Apple’s chief design officer Jonathan Ive. And to the alt-right’s question of ‘Why Modern Architecture sucks? Because it represents truth. Which, for some, isn’t always pretty. Ornament is Crime, £29.95, Matt Gibberd and Albert Hill, Phaidon, phaidon.com
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The Night Prince (Le Prince de la nuit), 1937, Watercolor and gouache on black paper, 323 x 245 mm, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Gift Mr. Daniel Cordier, 1976. © Centre Pompidou
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here are artists and there are scientists, and sometimes, the ideas that one holds are closer to the other than we might assume. One of history’s quiet influencers, Belgian-born poet and artist Henri Michaux was a man for whom understanding the workings of our consciousness was the serious endeavour of a lifetime, and whose explorations of the unconscious mind bestowed on him the ultimate accolade of being not only ‘a painter’s painter’, but a ‘poet’s poet’, one without whose work the world of ideas does not change. Michaux, who spent most of his life in Paris, was a man of contrasts. Born in Belgium in 1899, he was by all accounts a sulky, sickly child, introverted and interested only in reading. Throughout his life he would assiduously protect his solitude, yet, surprisingly, also force himself into contact with life’s extremes through a series of radical acts, beginning when he abandoned medical school shortly before graduating, joined the merchant
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High Poet-artist Henri Michaux took psychoactive substances for the improvement of us all Words: Hannah and Mark Hayes-Westall
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navy and travelled to South America. When the pendulum swung the other way, he returned to Paris, discovering a need to think and write, and quickly became friends with a crowd which included the artists Claude Cahun and Brassaï. He subsequently journeyed to and wrote about his experiences in Asia, Ecuador, Portugal and Spain, but he was becoming more and more preoccupied in the journeys he was taking in his own head, and in communicating them through poetry and prose. The poetry Michaux produced in the late 1920s was both influenced and admired by the Surrealists, but he refused to join them officially, citing the controlling tendencies of movement leaders like André Breton. However, he was interested in their ideas, and it was at this point that he began to see painting as a way to communicate unhampered by the constraints of Western language systems. Drawing on the ideas of the Expressionist painter Paul Klee, he developed the idea of painting not a representation of reality, but a fabricated image of the reality his unconscious mind perceived. The idea of communicating the truth of one’s perception fascinated Michaux, and it is perhaps in keeping with his scientific training that he intuited an idea that has since been experimentally proven: that creativity thrives when there is a framework of boundaries for it to respond to. In his earliest painted works, he developed a three-step process that would minimise his ability to affect the outcome, piling pigment onto paper, then splashing it with water from a great height, and finally reviewing the result and then using a line or mark to ‘fix’ in place the image that he saw in the splashes, incidentally predating the creation of the Rorschach inkblot test by several decades. In the course of creating hundreds of images, he discarded any in which he felt his conscious intervention had gotten in the way of communicating
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Michaux was administered hash, mescaline, psilocybin and lysergic acid (LSD), with varying results
the unconscious mind’s perception, yet despite very different images there was a consistency – each image to him contained a face, and he dubbed the images ‘self-portraits’. The idea that the result of accident and chance could represent the perceptions of the unconscious mind went on to be explored in great detail by the Abstract Expressionist movement, with whom he had some interactions (notably with artists like Jackson Pollock). However, in the 1920s, it was little discussed outside the burgeoning word of psychoanalysis, unlike his other great passion: ethnography, particularly pictographic communication. From the late 19th century to the start of the 20th, archaeologists made a series of startling discoveries, including the unearthing of the extensive and previously unknown Indus Empire, with its sophisticated bureaucracy based on a pictogram language system. For Michaux, who had admired the ritual sculpture of ancient South American and Asian civilisations, the idea that a lost culture could continue to communicate, effectively, millennia later was intoxicating, and he spent many years attempting to create his own system of pictograms, drawing on the rhythms of music and dance. It was during a collaboration with Bilbao-based neuroscientist Julián de Ajuriaguerra that Michaux first experimented with psychoactive substances. New drugs were being rapidly developed, but without access to the kind of MRI technology that we today use to see changes within the brain, scientists needed to establish other ways to understand the impact of these substances. De Ajuriaguerra approached Michaux with a proposal to create a series of images under the influence of different drugs. Beginning with ether (“It develops too rapidly for a redistribution of the sensory regime to take place”), Michaux was administered hash, mescaline, psilocybin and lysergic acid (LSD), with varying results. The tests took place in laboratory conditions, with Michaux observed and questioned by a panel of three scientists throughout, and led the artist to conclude that the experimental process was faulty, as it divorced the experience from the meaningful context with which it was used in ritual. Michaux conducted subsequent experiments within a specially created environment filled with ritual sculpture and music, using the time to focus on his pictogram works with the aim of unlocking a universal pictorial language of movement, and creating new works focused on a graphic matrix he had been developing for some years. These graphic works, together with the poetry and prose he produced at the same time, made him a totemic figure for the burgeoning psychedelia movement, but while he knew leaders like Timothy Leary and William Burroughs, he stopped his experiments after a few years, describing himself as “a drinker of water”. While Michaux has retained his place as an influencer of artists and thinkers, wider awareness of his work has been limited by his refusal to grant interviews, and even a reluctance to be catalogued in academic journals. An impressive new show of his work at Guggenheim Bilbao addresses his work and contextualises his relevance, showing more than 200 works alongside ethnographic articles from the artist’s studio. It is a serious show, focusing on the artist’s method and passions, and demonstrates the extraordinarily prescient work that resulted from Michaux’s scientific approach, causing the viewer to see new connections between both the art and science of the 20th century.
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Find the work Henri Michaux: The Other Side runs until 13 May 2018 at the Guggenheim Bilbao, guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en
clockwise from top left: Untitled, 1944, India ink on paper 240 x 320 mm; Untitled, 1938, Watercolour and gouache on black paper 230 x 305 mm; Untitled, 1981, Watercolour on paper 367 x 270 mm; Untitled, 1970, Watercolour and acrylic on paper; Untitled, 1938–39, Gouache on black paper 100 x 130 mm Paris Š Archives Henri Michaux, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2018, Photo: Jean-Louis Losi
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ESCAPE p. 94 around the world f r o m s cot t i s h g o l f courses to tuscan castles
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Bill Heinecke
meet The man who redefined travel in South-east asia
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house to house the company successfully localising luxury travel
In the heart of Kenya’s Watamu Marine National Park lies the refurbished Hemingways Watamu, recently re-opened after a multimillion-pound refurbishment. Spend the day snorkelling over the coral reef, kite surfing, humpback whale watching, or visiting the Sokoke Forest, East Africa’s largest, most intact coastal forest, then relax in the hotel’s botanical swimming pool and spa. From £181, based on two people sharing, hemingways-collection.com
Around the World
escape the rat race with the latest in luxury travel Words: David TAylor & Melissa Emerson
Castello di Velona
Take in 360-degree views of typical Tuscan wine country from this hilltop hotel – a former military fortress dating from the 11th century. Opt for a Castle room with vaulted ceilings and oak beams or the more modern Sunset wing. The spa makes use of the natural mineral springs in the Val d’Orcia region, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From €495 per night, slh.com
Lulu Guldsmeden
Scandi hotel group Guldsmeden is expanding into Germany, with an 81-room outpost in Berlin. All of the cosy rooms have a different design and its restaurant, Sæson, crafts modern Nordic cuisine with organic, seasonal farm produce. From €115 per room per night, guldsmedenhotels.com
Almanac Barcelona
Almanac enjoys top billing steps away from the luxury of Barcelona’s Passeig de Gràcia, and the hotel reflects this, with grey and gold tones and Ibizan white marble bathrooms. More openings are planned for Budapest, Prague and Vienna.
From €450 per room per night, almanachotels.com
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Stay (on) the Course The beautiful countryside hotels that double up as your golf clubhouse away from home
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Schlosshotel Kronberg
Germany Half an hour from central Frankfurt, Schlosshotel Kronberg is housed in the impressive Schloss Friedrichshof, built under commission from Empress Victoria Friedrich and completed in 1893. The traditional course is open April-October, and looks out over the Frankfurt skyline. schlosshotel-kronberg.com
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Caddy Rooms
Spain Located on the PGA Catalunya Resort, and opening this month, the Caddy Rooms are surrounded by the resort’s two championship courses, one of which is ranked the best in Spain. caddyrooms.com
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Adare Manor
Ireland After almost two years, Adare Manor has reopened in all its 19th-century splendour. The new course has been designed by famous architect Tom Fazio, with the claim it will be one of the best in Europe. adaremanor.com
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Fairmont St Andrews, Scotland Think of British golf, and more likely than not, one town springs to mind. St Andrews, on the east coast of Scotland, is a pilgrimage for golfers, with 13 golf courses in the town’s postcode, and 20 per cent of yearly tourism coming from visitors watching or playing golf. It’s no surprise, then, that luxury hotel chain Fairmont has invested heavily in its St Andrews address. The five-star Fairmont St Andrews has recently reopened after a £17 million redevelopment. The resort makes use of the Fife’s good weather to create a true Links golf experience: it’s the sunniest area in Scotland, with an average of 1,500 hours of sunlight each year, and has about half of the rainfall of the west. The hotel’s redesign has been inspired by the history and landscape of the area. The atrium now boasts a 60-metre ceiling sculpture by awardwinning artist George Singer that swirls above guests’ heads to mimic
the coastal winds outside. The restaurant is now run by Frank Trepesch – former executive sous chef at The Savoy – and Gerard Chouet, formerly of Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons. The Kittocks Den bar has been refurbished, and takes design inspiration from the nearby River Tay and surrounding fishing villages. While it can’t help your short game, no matter the result outside, the Fairmont is the perfect place to toast a long day enjoying this beautiful part of Scotland. DT fairmont.com Ingo Gasperini
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creating As head of Minor International – operator of hotels including Anantara, Four Seasons, Marriott and St. Regis – American-born Thai-national billionaire-businessman William Heinecke has redefined the limits of luxury in Southeast Asia Words: Richard Brown
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Villa Similan
Villa Similan, part of Layan Residences by Anantara – and Bill Heinecke’s private weekend abode – was designed by the late Indonesian design guru Jaya Ibrahim. Sitting at the highest point permitted for residential construction on Phuket Island, it comprises eight bedrooms connected by indoor/outdoor living spaces, a glass-clad wine room, games room and the original Golden Gun from the 1974 James Bond movie, shot in nearby Phang Nga Bay. Other residences within the development range from two to seven bedrooms, each with a 21m infinity pool, providing unobstructed 180-degree views over the Andaman Sea. phuket-residences.anantara.com
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rriving in Thailand as a child, William Heinecke started his first business before the age of 18, providing office cleaning services and running a radio advertising company. Minor Holdings – named because of his adolescence – morphed into The Minor Group, which, over the next five decades, grew to include more than 30 companies, 150 hotels, 2,000 restaurants and 300 retail stores. Renouncing United States citizenship, Heinecke became a Thai national in 1991. He has since served as the president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Thailand and sat on the Prime Minister’s Foreign Investment Advisory Council. He is a supporter of the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre and author of The Entrepreneur: 25 Golden Rules for the Global Business Manager. How does one remain sane while running a billion-dollar company? It’s really rather easy. I enjoy what I do. I have always felt like the world is my oyster and every day poses new challenges and new rewards. I’m passionate about my work. What’s keeping you busy at the moment? Right now I am focusing on building long-term sustainability for all our businesses – for the sake of our stakeholders. We employ 60,000 people and we always say for every one employee we affect 10 lives. I take this responsibility very seriously. How does Anantara differentiate itself from other hotel chains? With Anantara, life is a journey – a never-ending adventure of exploration. Derived from the Sanskrit word meaning ‘without end’, the word ‘Anantara’ embraces the excitement of discovery. A true destination experience is a signature hallmark of Anantara. This value is reflected in a commitment to harmoniously blend in with the character and landscape of each location. What makes Villa Similan so special to you? It is my personal residence; it’s where I escape to, where I really feel at ease and I can relax. Often I invite friends over for a barbeque on the terrace or cocktails on the rooftop terrace. I really enjoy entertaining friends and family and this is the perfect spot. We also like to take Major Affair, the 90ft Sunseeker yacht out into the Phang Nga Bay and cruise around the islands, dive or just simply relax.
Bill’s best…. City: London Restaurant: Wolseley London Hotel: Anantara Layan Phuket and The Beaumont, London Book: Too difficult to pick… Film: The Man with the Golden Gun Possession: Rolex Daytona watch
What have been the most significant trends in luxury travel in the past five years? To understand the behaviour and habits of millennials. To deliver a value proposition we must connect to them at a human level. This can and will be via digital channels, but it has to be meaningful for the individual. Standardisation and a cookie-cutter approach simply won’t work with millennials. Social networks, mobile, VR, AI, content… The digital train has left the station, if you were not onboard – good luck! Which trends do you predict will emerge in the next few years? Making your bucket list come true. For some this will mean accessing the finest things in life – luxury jets, yachts, private residences. For others, it will mean reconnecting with the things that really matter, but in a luxurious setting. Waking up at dawn to take in a sunrise atop a 60m-high dune in the Liwa desert in Abu Dhabi; taking a walk with a street-rescued elephant in the jungle
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of the Golden Triangle in northern Thailand, or swimming with manta rays in the pristine waters of the Maldives. How have people’s expectations about luxury travel changed? In many ways, they haven’t. People still expect a customised experience, seamless service and excellent facilities. At the same time, things have changed enormously. Luxury has become accessible to so many more people. It’s about creating opportunities and experiences for people which allow them to take a step back from their incredibly busy lives and simply savour the moment.
“We employ 60,000 people and we always say for every one employee we affect 10 lives. I take this responsibility very seriously”
Where do you currently call home… I call both Bangkok and Phuket home. Bangkok has been my home for more than 55 years and that will never change. It’s a world-class city yet it has maintained its culture and heritage, which is actually quite rare. I also call Phuket home as I go there nearly every weekend.
Who are your business heroes? Elon Musk, Warren Buffet and Bill Gates.
Name three career highlights… Launching my first business. Going up against a titan like Goldman Sachs in a battle to take over the Regent Bangkok (now Anantara Siam) and winning! Launching the Anantara brand in 2001. Is it true that you own the actual Golden Gun from the 1974 James Bond movie? Yes, I bought the gun at auction some time ago because of its history and links to Phuket. I thought it would be nice to ‘bring it back home’.
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What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever been given? My mantra has always been, find a gap and fill it. When many of my classmates were heading off to college, I decided to stay in Thailand as I felt that it was the right time and the right place. The Land of Smiles was filled with excitement and opportunity and I was determined to be part of it. My inspiration at that time was the King of Thailand, HRH King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX). HRH dedicated his entire life to the people of Thailand and he was a source of inspiration throughout my career until his death in late 2016.
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House to
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Swire’s hotly anticipated The Middle House, Shanghai, is the latest example of the luxury brand’s successful approach to localisation Words: Chris Allsop
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clockwise from far left: THE TEMPLE HOUSE CHENGDU; THE TEMPLE HOUSE CHENGDU; THE TEMPLE HOUSE CHENGDU; The Middle House, Shanghai
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hanghai is not shy of a glamorous hotel or two, but with the arrival of Swire Hotels’ The Middle House, a relatively exotic proposition has landed, well, in the middle of all the soaring Asian sleekness. Luxury hotel company Swire has, over the course of a decade, acquired a reputation for its “exceptional personalised service”, as Swire’s MD Toby Smith describes it. The brand’s most exclusive hotels are its House Collective boutiques, of which the Middle House is the fourth in a series that includes properties in Beijing, Hong Kong, and Chengdu. With each of its hotels, Swire has hired top-flight architects and designers to produce “distinctive hotels with a sense of place that breaks with convention”. This last part subtly subverts what has become the overriding trend in hotel design, that of localisation, where, instead of stepping into identical
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surrounds wherever you are in the world, you enter a property that sensitively reflects the locale that you’re visiting. The Ace Hotel group is often lauded as a leader in this style, and Swire could be viewed as Ace’s more elegant, luxurious counterpart. Swire’s 100-studio The Temple House in Chengdu, which opened in July 2015, has been perhaps the most conventional of the company’s House quartet when it comes to the assimilation of the historical and cultural trappings of its destination. “Establishing a distinct sense of place was a defining factor of Swire’s brief, as was delivering an upmarket aesthetic on a small scale and ensuring the guest experience came above everything else,” explains Katy Ghahremani, partner at Temple House-creator Make Architects. London-based Make took its inspiration from the city itself and designed a form specific to the location – in this case, a typical Sichuan courtyard
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above and left: The upper house, hong kong Below: THE TEMPLE HOUSE CHENGDU
house configuration. The firm went on to incorporate features, materials and landscaping that reference the region’s unique scenery and architectural style, such as the city’s traditional brick teahouses and brocade. “This configuration – a secluded sequence of gardens bordered by two L-shaped medium-rise buildings – is a contemporary interpretation of traditional local design,” says Ghahremani. The scheme involved the restoration of a Qing Dynasty heritage building located at the corner of the site to create an entrance lobby, and the conversion of two historic courtyard houses into a luxury spa. Underground service facilities were covered with undulating hillocks intended to be reminiscent of Sichuan’s terraced paddy fields. “It’s very much a part of the city and blurs old and new in a fascinating way,” Smith says of the Chengdu hotel. “It forms part of the local government’s conservation project to preserve surrounding heritage buildings, which includes a thousand-yearold Daci Temple.” When architect and designer André Fu, who designed Swire’s The Upper House in his home town of Hong Kong, was briefed by the group, his client’s requirements were remarkably succinct. “It was a two-word brief,” recalls Fu, “for a hotel that focuses on the pursuit of ‘calm’ and ‘comfort’.” Having designed the recently opened Andaz Singapore by Hyatt as well as the forthcoming Waldorf Astoria in Bangkok, the Upper House, an intimate hotel of 117 studios and suites, is, now, a physically smaller project for Fu, but at the time – as it was for Japanese architect Kengo Kuma when he designed Swire’s Opposite House in Beijing in 2008 – it was his first hotel (and only three years after finishing his studies at the University of Cambridge). As with Make and the Temple House, Fu was committed to the idea that the hotel should celebrate its sense of place. That you reach the minimalist property via a “dark and seductive escalator journey”, as Fu describes it, already seems a perfect metaphor for the verticality of Hong Kong. But the Swire subversion could be said to come into play with the size of the rooms in a city where space is at a premium; the smallest is 730 square feet, which, on average, is about double the size of the average hotel room in Hong Kong. The Upper House, with its modern, Asian-influenced residences, attracted plaudits for evoking a “new level of modern Asian sensibility”. If localisation is explicit anywhere in such an understated project, it’s in the use of bamboo and lacquered panels amid a generally international aesthetic. For its most recent hotel, Swire maintained its mingling of east and west by employing the experienced Piero Lissoni, founder of Lissoni Architettura in Milan, to bring to life its most recent portfolio addition. The Middle House, eschewing the crowded Bund or gleaming Pudong, is found in the lanehouse neighbourhood of Dazhongli (‘zhong’ means ‘middle’ in Chinese, hence the hotel’s name) on the fashionable Nanjing Road (West). It’s also part of a mixed-use development named HKRI Taikoo Hui. “I think it’s the future,” Lissoni says about the blend of rooms and apartments found in the Middle House. “The new generation of travellers are interested in receiving
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this page: THE UPPER HOUSE, HONG KONG
five-star services, while staying in what feels like a personalised home.” Approaching the hotel, the first thing that strikes you is that it’s relatively modest in terms of floors compared to practically everything else in the city, although it still somehow manages to fit in 111 rooms as well as 112 serviced apartments. “Continuity [with the city around you] is like a discussion between your building and the rest,” Lissoni says. “We try to connect with them, and to respect [the surroundings] it sometimes requires you to be different.” With the exterior of the Middle House, Lissoni has managed a fine balance of belonging and distinctiveness. This is best exemplified by the round aluminium louvres contributing texture to the exterior façade. They fulfil a functional role – providing privacy for the rooms – and offer a nod to the slat louvres that are commonplace in Shanghainese architecture. Inside, Lissoni marries his European sensibility with cultural elements distinctive to the region. The Italian designer, drawing on his decades of experience reshaping contemporary furniture, has created modern interpretations of traditional Chinese furniture. These include oriental-style nightstands, contemporary table lamps, and wall-to-wall benches. “The big risk with hotels is banality: glass and stone, glass and marble, glass and whatever,” he says, going on to describe how he was at pains not to attempt to emulate the Chinese style, but to interpret the country’s rich cultural and historical tradition in his own way. “It’s the use of the old materials with the new taste, and a human touch.” Chinese artwork adorns the walls, while backlit walls and glazed screens are used to lighten the bathrooms. In the apartments, Lissoni has employed sliding wood panels – etched with traditional Chinese design elements – in an effort to create a flexible living space, offering a gentle barrier between the bedroom and the living area. Brushed bamboo textures are impressed into the rich brown ceramic parquet tiles of the bathrooms. While localisation, done well, can augment a visitor’s stay, there’s another intriguing element to this trend. As in Chengdu, Shanghai is a city where tradition and history has too often been overlooked in the name of progress. In this context, Swire and the localising tendencies of other hotel groups are, curiously enough, becoming accidental caretakers of a destination’s identity (admittedly reinterpreted through the imagination of architects). These hotels become like museums of a kind, except with better spa facilities… themiddlehousehotel.com
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London homes a
& property showcasing the finest homes in your area
c o v e r i n g c a n a r y w h a r f, t h e r o y a l d o c k s , s t r a t f o r d , b o w & w a p p i n g
zero deposit a ne w scheme aiming to improve the rental process for l andlords and tenants
A property at Royal Albert Wharf by Notting Hill Sales. See page 122 for more information
Clink Wharf, Southbank SE1 Five bedroom loft-style penthouse with impressive city and river views An absolutely sensational, 7051 sq ft, New York loft style property offering truly unique accommodation in the heart of Borough market. Characterful features abound, in the form of exposed bricks, thick wooden beams, wooden flooring and bespoke doors and joinery. Each room enjoys its own personality and offers spectacular views of the river, city and surrounding areas. 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, kitchen, 3/4 reception rooms, gym, 2 parking spaces. EPC: B. Approximately 123 sq m (7,051 sq ft). Leasehold: approximately 974 years remaining
Guide price: POA
KnightFrank.co.uk/riverside riverside@knightfrank.com 020 3641 5932
@KF_EastLondon KnightFrank.co.uk
KnightFrank.co.uk/RVR170144
City Mag April 2018 Sales
15/03/2018 14:19:01
Turner Street, Whitechapel E1 An end of Terrace Georgian House built around 1812 The house set over four floors retains various original features including floorboards, panelling, cast-iron fireplaces, and mahogany banisters. The walled garden is a fair size and west facing, with the addition of a double storey summer house which could be used as a gym, study or workshop. 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 reception rooms, kitchen, garden. EPC: D. Approximately 166.27 sq m (1,790 sq ft). Freehold
Guide price: £1,650,000
KnightFrank.co.uk/aldgate aldgate@knightfrank.com 020 3544 0712
@KnightFrank KnightFrank.co.uk
KnightFrank.co.uk/ald170796
City Magazine April 2018 1 page (33 Turner Street)
20/03/2018 11:12:29
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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 020 8166 5375 to arrange your free market appraisal. KnightFrank.co.uk/wapping wapping@knightfrank.com
Guide price: £575,000
New Crane Wharf, Wapping E1W A large dual aspect apartment that is tastefully presented throughout in this characterful warehouse conversion in the heart of Wapping. 1 bedrooms, 1 bathrooms, reception room, kitchen, 24 hour porterage, parking. Approximately 67 sq m (729 sq ft). Leasehold: approximately 95 years remaining. Office: 020 8166 5375 wappingsales@knightfrank.com
@KnightFrank KnightFrank.co.uk
Guide price: £1,535,000
Merchant Court, Wapping E1W A wonderful penthouse apartment in a river fronted warehouse conversion located on the banks of the River Thames. 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, reception room, kitchen, balcony, porterage, parking. Approximately 140 sq m (1,510 sq ft). Share of Freehold. Office: 020 8166 5375 wappingsales@knightfrank.com
City Mag April 2018
13/03/2018 12:11:53
FOUND YOUR PERFECT TENANT LET WITH KNIGHT FRANK
Our understanding of the everchanging market enables us to price your property accurately, so you can go back to what you love sooner. Call us today on 020 3823 9930 to arrange your free market appraisal. KnightFrank.co.uk/aldgate aldgatelettings@knightfrank.com 020 3823 9930 Guide price: £995 per week
The Eight, Shoreditch Village EC2A
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A brand new contemporary two bedroom apartment located in a boutique development. 2 double bedrooms, 1 with en suite bathroom, seperate family bathroom, reception room, open plan kitchen and balcony featuring high ceilings and interior designed furniture. EPC: B. Available furnished. aldgatelettings@knightfrank.com Office: 020 3823 9930
All potential tenants should be advised that, as well as rent, an administration fee of £288 and referencing fees of £48 per person will apply when renting a property. There will also be a £48 charge to register your deposit with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme if applicable. (All fees shown are inclusive of VAT.) Please ask us for more information about other fees that will apply or visit www.knightfrank.co.uk/tenantfees.
@KnightFrank KnightFrank.co.uk
Guide price: £1,150 per week
Cashmere House, Aldgate E1 A stunning three bedroom apartment in the luxury Goodman's Fields development. 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, reception room, open plan kitchen, access to 24 hour concierge, on site leisure facilities and residents' cinema. EPC: B. Available furnished. aldgatelettings@knightfrank.com Office: 020 3823 9930
City Magazine April 2018
13/03/2018 12:27:41
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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. If you are considering letting a property this year, please contact us on 020 8166 5366 or visit KnightFrank.co.uk/lettings All potential tenants should be advised that, as well as rent, an Guide price: £595 per week
St Thomas Wharf, Wapping E1W
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A beautifully presented two double bedroom, 2nd floor apartment in this attractive development on Wapping High Street. Recently refurbished reception room with double doors leading to a private balcony, comprising of a stunning kitchen and bathroom. EPC: B. Approximately 72 sq m (771 sq ft). Available furnished. wappinglettings@knightfrank.com Office: 0 2 0 8 1 6 6 5 3 6 6
administration fee of £288 and referencing fees of £48 per person will apply when renting a property. There will also be a £48 charge to register your deposit with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme if applicable. (All fees shown are inclusive of VAT.) Please ask us for more information about other fees that will apply or visit www.knightfrank.co.uk/tenantfees.
@KnightFrank KnightFrank.co.uk
Guide price: £575 per week
St. Bartholomew House, City EC1A A one bedroom apartment to rent in a heritage building. Luxury bathroom and open plan dining/kitchen area complete with beautiful wooden flooring and built in wardrobes. EPC: C. Approximately 55 sq m (589 sq ft) wappinglettings@knightfrank.com. Office: 0 2 0 8 1 6 6 5 3 6 6
April 2018
19/03/2018 14:34:12
Galliard_HTB_CityMag_FPC_29.3.18 23/03/2018 09:21 Page 1
GALLIARD HOMES PRESENT
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HOT PROPERTY
The Tudors, br6 This stunning home with a tiled first-floor exterior and gable roof, built in the 1930s, is set in 0.75 acres of attractively-landscaped gardens. It is for sale for the first time in over 40 years, in the highly desirable and wellmaintained Farnborough Park, a private gated estate offering 24-hour security for residents. The village of Locksbottom is within a few minutes’ walk and has an array of shops, restaurants, traditional public houses and two major supermarket chains. Shopping centres including Bluewater and The Glades in Bromley are also within easy reach. The existing property extends to almost 5,500 sq ft with accommodation arranged over two floors. The ground floor entrance hall leads onto the principal reception rooms, many of which retain charming original features and working fireplaces. The kitchen and dining area is approximately 23ft x 19ft (to the widest point) and is well-lit thanks to a conservatory overlooking the centre of the garden. A formal dining room and spacious games room are also accessible from the kitchen area.
PROPERTY
For spaces in which to relax, there’s a family room that leads onto a more formal main reception room with dual-aspect views over the landscaped grounds. The first floor, accessible via two staircases, boasts six bedrooms, including a master with en-suite shower room, and a separate family bathroom. The property also benefits from a self-contained swimming pool complex with changing and bathroom facilities. A utility room connects to the double garage, which is approached by a carriage driveway for added grandeur. Due to the size of the plot, there is the potential to extend, modernise and redesign the property (subject to local authority planning consent). The agent Langford Russell – part of The Acorn Group – retains details of early stage architectural designs that propose the removal of the existing dwelling house, and construction of a 9,000-10,000 sq ft state-of-the-art family residence. These plans are available on request to seriously interested parties although – as no approaches have yet been made to the appropriate management and planning departments – the agent is inviting offers subject only to contract for the existing dwelling house at this time. Offers should be presented in writing to Langford Russell, 423 Crofton Road, Locksbottom, Kent BR6 8NL and be supported by proof of funding, solicitor details and a timescale in which the buyer intends to complete. Offers invited in excess of £2.5m. For more information contact Chris Salt or Michelle Briley at Langford Russell on 01689 882 988, langfordrussell.co.uk
Farnborough Park has excellent transport links with Orpington Station (1.7 miles away), Bickley Station (2.9 miles) and Bromley South (3.2 miles) all providing a direct service into London Bridge, Cannon Street, London Victoria and Blackfriars. A fast service from Orpington to London Bridge takes 15 minutes and from Bromley South to London Victoria takes 17 minutes. By car, the M25 is easily accessible (4.4 miles), as is the A21 (1.6 miles), Biggin Hill Airport (4.1 miles) and Gatwick Airport (within 40 minutes).
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Affordability solved for tenants The Acorn Group has announced a partnership with Zero Deposit. Its aim is to improve the rental process for landlords and tenants, by offering an alternative to the traditional security deposit. The scheme enables tenants to pay the equivalent of one week’s rent – to purchase a Zero Deposit Guarantee for their landlord – in place of the traditional six-week tenancy deposit. It effectively gives landlords the same protection as a six week tenancy deposit and tenants still have to pass a rigorous referencing process, so the quality of applicants will not change. By offering this product, The Acorn Group’s landlords will potentially be able to open up their property to a wider audience. One of the key drivers in creating Zero Deposit was to help solve affordability challenges for tenants who, on top of rent and the other costs of moving, are expected to part with up to 6 weeks’ rent for their security deposit, for the duration of their tenancy. Even worse, when moving from one rental property to another, tenants may have to find their next deposit before they get their last one back. These affordability issues can lead to delays in tenants being ready to move into properties and thus extend void periods for landlords. Tenants remain fully liable for any rent and financial loss or damage due to the landlord throughout the tenancy and the product is delivered in partnership with The Dispute Service (TDS), which uses its experience to provide expert adjudication services and ensure a fair resolution of any disputes at the end of the tenancy. CEO of The Acorn Group, Robert Sargent (pictured above), says: “It’s an ongoing goal of our residential letting and management teams to provide all residents letting through our business with real financial options. Zero Deposit negates the need for them to lock away a significant amount of capital during their tenancy, whilst not eroding the comfort our landlords get from the payment of a security deposit. “We look forward to giving our customers the choice of how they approach funding a new tenancy and considering the best use of their finances over what is often a long-term decision to rent rather than buy. ”
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Mayfair Showroom 66 Grosvenor Street, London, W1K 3JL 28 offices in central London and over 60 across the capital
Guildford Street, WC1N ÂŁ3,500,000
This Grade II Listed Georgian home has three bedrooms and has been updated to a high standard. The house is arranged over five floors which include a master bedroom spanning the whole third floor. Further benefits include a gym, sauna and a rear garden. Dexters Bloomsbury 020 7833 4466
Grange Grove, N1 ÂŁ2,800,000
A semi-detatched Victorian house with three double bedrooms. The property has a double reception room, three bathrooms and study. Further benefits include off-street parking and bi-folding doors leading to the garden with a raised stone terrace, energy rating d. Dexters Islington 020 7483 6373
dexters.co.uk
Wapping Wall, E1W £1,462 per week
This two bedroom, top floor apartment is situated in the renowned Metropolitan warehouse conversion in Wapping. The property has high ceilings, wood flooring and exposed brickwork. Further benefits include a spiral staircase to a private roof terrace, energy rating c. Dexters City 020 7392 9111
Vaughan Way, E1W
£1,100 per week
A brand new three bedroom apartment in the sought after London Dock development located next to St Katherine’s Dock and Tower Gateway. The property has a large open plan kitchen/reception room, three bathrooms and two balconies, energy rating b. Dexters City 020 7392 9111 Tenants fees apply: £180 per tenancy towards administration, £60 reference fee per tenant and £144 for a professional check in (All inc of VAT).
five minutes with... How do you feel the market will perform this year? We have already seen an uplift in activity so far and we expect this to continue through to spring. However, this year will be all about buyer confidence, and with mortgage rates at an all-time low and government assistance packages out there, now really is a great time to get onto the property ladder, especially with possible further interest rate rises. Nonetheless, make sure you do your homework, ensuring that you do a checklist (cost of buying exercise) and take plenty of advice.
Chris Lee Senior Partner, Felicity J Lord How did you get into property? I was previously in the recruitment business but realised I needed to be out of the office more frequently, rather than being chained to a desk. So – nearly 20 years ago now – I joined the big wide world of estate agency.
How did your office refurbishment go? It was actually rather stress-free as we relocated to a larger unit a few doors down from where we were. This allowed the builders to work around the clock with no disruptions and they were able to complete the work on schedule. The
new office has ample space with seating areas for clients to relax. The location also attracts a lot of footfall, being so wellplaced at the entrance to Shad Thames, just under Tower Bridge. It has a fabulous view of (what we feel) is the best-looking landmark in London. What are the main areas of the city that your office covers? We cover most of the Southbank, taking in London Bridge, Borough, Bankside, Shad Thames and Tower Bridge.
What is it that you enjoy most about your work? We get to meet so many interesting people and this is an aspect of the job that I enjoy, but you can’t really beat delivering a sale for a client – it’s a huge decision for most people.
What makes your office stand out in the Shad Thames area? We are committed to offering a service that is second to none. We open our phone
Do the seasons dictate business? Previously, you could always sense what the market was going to do and when, as the trends were almost identical from year to year. However, in recent times, it’s been more difficult to call.
this page, clockwise from top: hop studios; tower bridge; hop studios; alaska buildings
PROPERTY
image credit: Everett - Art / Shutterstock.com
Nowadays, we are seeing such luxuries as on-site golf simulators, relaxation spas and cinemas and soft shell crab is incredible, and the tasting menu is out of this world. It’s a great place to go for cocktails too. Where’s on your travel bucket list? I’ve ticked a few places off over the years, and my trip with my wife to the Maldives to celebrate our anniversary is one that’s difficult to beat. However, Machu Picchu in Peru to do some trekking and Iceland to see the Northern Lights are next on the list.
lines from 8am until 10pm, seven days a week, to ensure our clients can easily reach out to us. Sellers also appreciate an agency with plenty of knowledge and amongst the team we have over 60 years’ worth of experience within the London market. How does technology help you? Last year, we invested heavily in a new social media tool called FLINK. With this highly sophisticated technology based on scientific algorithms, we are able to identify what you can call ‘passive’ buyers and tenants – customers that haven’t yet decided to register with an agent. In its infancy, it’s already proved to be a game changer. Are new build homes or period properties more popular at the moment? Period properties have, in recent years, led the way, including the stunning warehouses we sell in and around Shad Thames. However, some of the new iconic buildings currently under construction are attracting some discerning buyers who
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want the ultimate in modern architecture, or just want to be the first person to own the property. What features do people look for when buying a home? It depends on trends at the time, but lighting and luxury kitchens and bathrooms are always at the top of wish lists. Nowadays, we are seeing such luxuries as on-site golf simulators, relaxation spas and cinemas. What’s the best meal you’ve had out in London? I’ve been lucky enough to have enjoyed plenty of incredible meals in London, however, being a real lover of Japanese food, it has to be Roka. The black cod
Who would be your three dinner guests from history and why? If I can include any of my grandparents in this, then they’d be top of my list. However, I’d be really keen to sit down with Bobby Moore and hear just how great it felt to win the 1966 World Cup. Secondly, and an unusual one, Imhotep. He was an Egyptian architect (I always wanted to be one) who apparently designed the first pyramid. I’d love to find out exactly how it was constructed. And lastly, Van Gogh, to see if he really was a creative genius, and not just a mad man. Shad Thames Felicity J Lord, 34 Horselydown Lane, SE1, 020 7089 6490, fjlord.co.uk
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PENTHOUSES WITH A VIE W SE1’s Coda Collection at The Music Box are ready to move into. Each offer panoramic London skyline views, inspirational architecture and outstanding interiors. • Final 3 penthouses from £2,500,000 • 24 hour concierge service • Great Zone 1 location • 2 minute walk to Southwark tube station*
020 3772 7725 themusicboxse1.com
THEMUSICBOXSE1.COM
SELLING AGENTS
* S O U R C E G O O G L E . PR I C E S A N D I N FO R M ATI O N CO R R EC T AT TI M E O F PR I NTI N G . PH OTO G R A PH D EPI C T S A CO DA CO L L EC TI O N PENTH O U S E TER R AC E .
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ONE OF THE BEST CONNECTED RIVERSIDE DESTINATIONS IN LONDON ROYAL ARSENAL WOOLWICH
CANARY WHARF 8 MINUTES*
LIVERPOOL STREET 14 MINUTES*
BOND STREET 22 MINUTES*
HEATHROW 50 MINUTES*
Royal Arsenal Riverside is an outstanding riverside location, with an ever expanding range of residents’ amenities. It is ideally situated for the forthcoming on-site Crossrail station and London City Airport, which is just 7 minutes away. 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments Prices from £465,000
Call 020 3504 4095 to register your interest
| www.royalarsenalriverside.co.uk
Sales & Marketing Suite open 10am to 6pm (Thursdays until 8pm) Imperial Building, No. 2 Duke of Wellington Avenue, Royal Arsenal Riverside, Woolwich, London SE18 6FR Photography 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
www.royalarsenalriverside.co.uk Proud to be a member of the Berkeley Group of companies
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
Locksbottom BR6
Beckenham BR3
Offered to the market in immaculate condition is this stunning four bedroom detached home.
Well-presented Victorian home situated in a sought after cul-de-sac in central Beckenham.
£900,000 F/H
£930,000 F/H
Four bedrooms
One bathroom
Four bedrooms
One bathroom
Three receptions
EER F
Three receptions
EER E
Contact Orpington 01689 661 400
Contact Beckenham 020 8663 4433
Bromley BR1 A much sought after regency townhouse on the revered development by Millgate Homes.
OIEO £1,500,000 F/H Four bedrooms
Three bathrooms
Two receptions
EER B
Contact Bromley 020 8315 5544
The Acorn Group, incorporating:
langfordrussell.co.uk
THE TUDORS FA R N BOROUGH PA R K - OR PI NGTON BR6
Offers invited in excess of £2,500,000
For sale for the first time in over 40 years, this six bedroom residence extends to almost 5,500 sq ft and offers great potential to redesign, extend or redevelop (STPP). Located on a private estate and set in the heart of a dual frontage 0.75 of an acre plot with attractively landscaped gardens.
For more information contact Chris Salt or Michelle Briley at Langford Russell T: 01689 882 988 • E: locksbottom@langfordrussell.co.uk • W: langfordrussell.co.uk
PROPERTY
INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO
ROYAL ALBERT WHARF, E16 When combined, the Royal Albert, Royal Victoria and King George V docks enclose 250 acres of water. However, the transformation of this historic trading centre into a modern residential and commercial hub has perhaps been hampered by its peripheral position in the city and a lack of transport links. All that is now changing, and rapidly. New dockside development Royal Albert Wharf, by Notting Hill Sales, is located just a few minutes’ walk from DLR station Gallions Reach. Later this year, it will be just five stops from brand new Crossrail station Custom House. Up to 12 services an hour will provide rapid connections from here to stations including Canary Wharf, Liverpool Street and Tottenham Court Road. The development is also in close proximity to London City airport. Jenny Murphy, head of sales and marketing at Notting Hill Sales, says: “The property market in this east London district is certainly seeing the benefit of the Crossrail effect. With property prices already creeping up along the Crossrail route, many buyers are keen to take advantage of the growing popularity of the area.” The wider regeneration of the
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Royal Docks is set to result in over 9,000 homes being built by 2027, so buying early in this newly forged waterside community might be a wise move. Much of the Royal Albert Wharf development is right on the water, and as well as apartments, the site will be home to a number of shops, restaurants and cafés, some along the water’s edge, where a 100-year-old Edwardian pump house still operates. As well as on the on-site amenities, the nearby RAW Labs studio hosts talks, events and workshops including life drawing classes, film screenings and exhibitions. It might be a historic setting, but the two- and three-bedroom apartments are brand new and hassle-free. Kitchens boast soft-closing wall units and integrated Zanussi appliances, while bedrooms come with fitted wardrobes, and some with en-suite shower rooms. Interiors are bright thanks to full-height windows, and all homes benefit from private outdoor space. It’s worth noting that Help to Buy is available on a selection of homes, and Notting Hill Sales will also pay 100 per cent of the stamp duty on selected properties.
Price
From £495,000 for a twobedroom apartment and from £677,500 for a three-bedroom apartment 020 8357 4579 nhillsales.com
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HELP TO BUY AT ROYAL ALBERT WHARF at the royal docks in london’s zone 3 2 Bed apartments with waterside views From £495,000
80% SOLD On a two bedroom flat with a full purchase price of £495,000, you’ll only need a 5% deposit of £24,750 and a 55% mortgage of £272,250. London Help to Buy will give you a 40% equity loan of £198,000 interest free for the first five years.
truddle @ savills.com | 020 3627 4988 royalalbertwharf.com
Terms and conditions apply. Please speak to a Sales Advisor for further details on Help to Buy. Pricing correct on at the time of printing. YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE OR ANY DEBT SECURED ON IT.
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