Brummell Autumn 2015

Autumn 2015

Shaping up Honouring 30 inspirational women: champions of diversity • Cars of the future Hiking in the Havasu Canyon • Men’s style special: suiting and accessories for the debonair

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Contents • Brummell

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Cover illustration: Daniel Frost Show Media Brummell editorial 020 3222 0101 — Editor Joanne Glasbey Senior Art Director Dominic Murray-Bell Managing Editor Lucy Teasdale Chief Copy Editor Eirwen Oxley Green Deputy Chief Copy Editor Gill Wing Art Director Jo Murray-Bell Picture Director Juliette Hedoin Editorial Assistant Jemima Wilson Copy Editors Lee Graham, Nicky Gyopari, Tanya Jackson, Clare O’Dwyer, Katie Wyartt Creative Director Ian Pendleton Managing Director Peter Howarth — Advertising & Events Director Duncan McRae duncan@flyingcoloursmarketing.com 07816 218059 — showmedialondon.com brummell@showmedialondon.com — Visit Brummell’s website for more tailor-made content: brummellmagazine.co.uk @BrummellMag

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Foreword It’s time the City faced up to its record on diversity, argues David Charters Money no object Chanel’s new women’s watch collection is typically understated, chic and alluring BEAUMONDE News Ballooning in Bhutan, how to negotiate Frieze, Savile Row bespoke shoes, and a travel entrepreneur’s thrill-seeking memoir Motoring Responding to hand movements, taking calls and parking themselves, the next generation of luxury cars redefines the term ‘automatic’ Textiles At Italian fabric company Reda, human skill will always be valued above technology Travel Ian Belcher takes the path less travelled as he hikes Havasu, the Grand Canyon’s breathtaking and unmissable little sister Heritage As production of the Land Rover Defender draws to a close, its spirit lives on in whisky from the original designer’s family distillery Accessories Mulberry’s new creative director has created an intelligent bag collection informed by the brand’s British roots After the City The former finance consultant who turned her quest for high-end workwear into a thriving business and network – The Fold

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107 Colour reproduction by Rhapsody, rhapsodymedia.co.uk. Printed by Pureprint Group, pureprint.com Brummell is published by Show Media Ltd. All material © Show Media Ltd. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited.

While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, no responsibility can be accepted for any errors or omissions.

The information contained in this publication is correct at the time of going to press. £5 (where sold). Reader offers are the responsibility of the organisation making the offer – Show Media accepts no liability regarding offers.

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MEN’S STYLE News The season’s new accessories and products, from leading style houses David Clulow Why those in the know own a library of spectacles rather than just one frame Belstaff The luxury brand’s motorbiking legacy is enshrined in a film starring David Beckham Pal Zileri The Italian tailoring house has rebooted to appeal to the lifestyle of the modern man Paul Smith A suit designed for travelling that won’t crease or crumple. It looks pretty sharp, too Oliver Spencer Well-known faces wear the designer’s understated but smart menswear Watches Plan your flight path with some of the best aviation-inspired timepieces in the air Bally The Swiss accessories specialist is inspired by its rich Modernist archive and heritage FEATURES Inspirational women 2015 We celebrate 30 champions of diversity making a real difference in City workplaces Women’s style news Autumn’s new scarves and accessories, plus Burberry’s dynamic red trench coat Tailoring Designer Pip Howeson brings the quality of bespoke suiting and coats to women Jewellery Creators of the world’s finest jewellery pay tribute to nature’s most beautiful blooms Watches Mechanical wonders for women’s wrists EPICURE News Caviar from the Volga river, the height of fine dining, new bars and cocktail culture Queens of cuisine The female chefs who run some of the capital’s finest and most exciting kitchens Rum Bacardí opens its private reserves to bring a delicious sipping rum to a thirsty market Need to know The last man on the moon, in his own time

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Through a glass, darkly

Foreword • Brummell

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The male-dominated City needs to face up to its weaknesses, embrace diversity and exercise a little humility

Words: David Charters Illustration: Brett Ryder

A long, lazy summer in Devon brought not relaxation but challenge. Reconnecting with the other Britain, the one from which I came, is often unsettling – but this year seemed particularly difficult. Long after I expected the 2008 banking crisis and its ensuing scandals to have faded, there is still a sense of bewilderment at the continuing excesses of the Square Mile. And as someone who lives on ‘Planet London’, a world away from rural Devon, I was asked a lot of questions.

So people were ‘fixing’ the interest rates that applied to the whole country? Or the currencies of entire nations? Who are these people? How many of them are there? What are they actually like? I had questions like this in the local pub, from people who may not earn in a lifetime what I used to earn in a year, yet work hard, are honest and law-abiding citizens whose sons still join the army to fight in politicians’ wars of choice, risking their lives to earn less in a year than a senior banker makes in a month.

Who are we? Well, we’re mostly men, mostly straight and white, and probably with a greater testosterone overload than the average man. It is ironic that in this issue we are celebrating once again the achievements of some of the brightest women in the City, but the fact is they’re interesting because they are exceptional. We have made some progress in diversity, but not enough. We still fish in too small a talent pool, and prejudice still rules the revenue-producing areas, especially those involving risk-taking rather than client services.

Would equity block trades ever have developed if women were in charge? Only a certain type of male pride is pandered to by the ‘chance to win’ a widely trumpeted block trade, where everyone knows you are coming, you own a year’s volume

We need to be better than we are. We should put our foot to the floor on gender diversity

in the stock and the world is betting against you.

An Equity Commitment Committee comprising chest-thumping males charges over a cliff, dragging the firm with them, with no naysayers present – at least none who dare speak up against the insanity.

The more I hear the diversity issue debated, the more I think it’s gender diversity that’s needed.

Yes, we should seek talent wherever we can find it, regardless of ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or disability: that is common sense as well as good business sense. But my feeling is that most men entering an organisation will try to fit in. We want to be accepted, liked and admired – and eventually chosen to rise to the top in order to lead. So we may not question the things we should.

In this regard, women are different – and, at the risk of repeating old clichés, yes, I do think they are more thorough, more conscientious, less likely to wing it, pay greater attention to detail and take much less for granted. It’s possible all these things are true precisely because women are breaking new ground, even today, in the City of London, and they have to be better than the men.

And what do men believe in? Well, there’s the annual bonus, of course, but what else? Are we ‘good’ people? Do we have values? Sadly, it seems

all of us are likely to be judged by the behaviour of a few. But then, how few are the bad guys?

Do we really believe only a handful of individuals were aware of the major scandals of recent times? Of course not. Anyone who has ever worked on a trading floor knows there is a constant flow of information about what is happening, who is doing well, what they are doing and how they are being paid as a result. It happens up and down the chain of command – in the back office, by the water cooler and over a drink after work. People know.

So either they cannot tell good from bad, and simply regard law and regulation as obstacles to be hurdled or otherwise got around, or they do understand and are complicit through their silence.

The absence of outrage in the country as a whole is astonishing. We are fortunate that much of what we do is intrinsically complicated, even dull, such that the media and therefore the public – and even most politicians – lose interest.

But we need to be better than we are. Our net should be cast beyond the connected middle classes who can fix summer internships for their children, beyond the privately educated who have never really had to strive. We should put our foot to the floor on gender diversity, not just for the ‘shop window’ of the quoted company board, but at the heads-of-division level and immediately below in the revenue – and risk – areas.

And, finally, we need humility. You can get that with a pint of local brew in Bideford. But stick to a couple or it might just go to your head. l The Ego’s Nest by David Charters, the fifth novel in the series about City anti-hero Dave Hart, is published by Elliott & Thompson, £6.99

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Brummell

A new women’s watch with a handsome heritage and androgynous appeal

Words: Joanne Glasbey Photography: Emma Job

The audacious Coco Chanel was impressively responsible for introducing many revolutionary yet enduring traits into the lexicon of style.

One in particular was the art of sourcing elements from the male wardrobe and reinterpreting them with understated feminine glamour. This legacy has inspired the house’s newest women’s watch creation, the Boy.Friend.

Taking Chanel’s celebrated Première collection by the hand into more masculine territory, the Boy.Friend offers a refined, strong-lined purity with its signature octagonal shape – emblematic of the No. 5 fragrance bottle and the shape of Paris’s ultra-luxe Place Vendôme.

This large model features a manual-winding mechanical movement and 42-hour power reserve in a case of 18ct beige gold – a colour unique to Chanel. There are also white-gold versions, and both precious metals are available with discreet diamond settings, and also in a smaller size. Despite its enigmatic (for which, read slightly grating) name, this watch is a contemporary classic for daring to be so simple and alluring. £9,400; chanel.com

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Beaumonde How to buy art, putting your feet first, and the sweet smell of microperfumery

Sky’s the limit Should you wish to indulge in a little one-upmanship, a trip in the world’s highest-flying commercial hot-air balloon should raise a few envious eyebrows. Travelling below a startlingly beautiful translucent red canopy, you’ll be carried over the eight-mile-long Phobjikha Valley in north-east Bhutan, passing above multicoloured prayer flags, gold-tipped temples and white farmhouses. A four-day stay in the 12-suite Gangtey Goenpa Lodge, which shares a ridge with a 17th-century Buddhist monastery, completes the experience – its floor-to-ceiling windows provide dreamy views over the cloud-garlanded valley below.

A 13-day all-inclusive trip, with ballooning, transfers and return flights, from £7,895pp; theultimatetravelcompany.co.uk

Notes to self If you struggle to discern between the 200 big-brand perfumes that are launched every year, why not investigate the growing slow-scent movement? One of its leading lights is microperfumery 4160 Tuesdays, which handcrafts small batches of Ken Spence; matthewshaw.co.uk

imaginative, non-gendered blends that evoke a time, place or person, and hosts bespoke blending classes.

Its fragrances are stocked at Les Senteurs, Fortnum & Mason and Escentual. 4160tuesdays.com

Man made ↑ With the stereotypically reluctant male shopper in mind, Hermès has launched Le Manifeste – an immersive website to liven up the online experience. The new digital platform showcasing the house’s menswear collections hosts playful videos featuring its ready-to-wear line and accessories, as well as a number of eclectic interactive activities to help the digitally distracted master a range of non-fashion-related skills, from building sandcastles to writing poems. lemanifestedhermes.com

Banking on success ↑ The Park Hyatt Vienna, Europe’s glitziest hotel launch in recent memory, happily embraces its former incarnation as a bank. Its subterranean spa has a hushed reverence usually reserved for clients inspecting their Swiss accounts, with the original three-ton safe door guarding a swimming pool tiled with fake gold bullion. The inventive, historically sympathetic revamp of this listed building on Am Hof Square is a breath of fresh air for the city’s hotel scene. vienna.park.hyatt.com

Beaumonde • News

A head start in art ↑ With Frieze London, PAD and the Affordable Art Fair all taking place in London this October, those wishing to begin building a contemporary-art collection will be spoilt for choice.

Enthusiasts of all levels wishing to hone their purchasing prowess should consider attending London Art Studies’ lecture series at the Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge this month. It launches on the 29th with ‘Great Collections of the Art World’, by museum curator Dr Clare Heath, which focuses on those of François Pinault, Charles Saatchi, UBS and Deutsche Bank, among others.

Meanwhile, in ‘The Insider’s Guide to Frieze’, on 6 October, Saatchi Gallery expert Ben Street will focus on what to look out for at the Frieze fairs. londonartstudies.com

At last ↑ If you thought Savile Row was merely home to tailors, think again. The first shoe brand to open a shop on the Row, Gaziano & Girling offers a bespoke service that allows customers to create a custom shoe, specifying the shape, leather and detailing. Each stage of the process – from the cutting and lasting of the leather to the stitching of the welt and sole – is done by hand, and fewer than 100 pairs are made annually.

The company offers a hand-painted patina service, too, by which belts and other leather items can be recoloured so they better complement a pair of much-loved shoes or a favourite suit.

From £4,000 for bespoke shoes and £120 for the patina service. gazianogirling.com

A passion for peregrination ↓ Geoffrey Kent, founder of the luxury travel company Abercrombie & Kent, has always been driven by wanderlust and curiosity. His exploits began at an early age – when he was just 16, he was the first person to travel by motorbike between Kenya, where he grew up, and Cape Town. His pioneering flame ignited, Kent has never looked back.

He has documented his globetrotting adventures and entrepreneurial vision in his autobiography, Safari, just published.

It’s an exciting odyssey through the impresario’s life, which demonstrates that his skills as a raconteur are as polished as the trips his company offers.

Both armchair travellers and adrenaline aficionados alike will enjoy the ride.

Safari: A Memoir of a Worldwide Travel Pioneer (Harper Collins, £20)

Carl Court/Getty Images

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ORACLE II

AM ER IC A’S CU P. B R ITISH TIM EKEEPI N G .

Bremont has been appointed the Official Timing Partner of the 35th America’s Cup – and of the defending champions, ORACLE TEAM USA. To celebrate, we’ve created four limited edition timepieces.

The Bremont ACI and ACII are inspired by the legendary J-Class yachts of the 1930s. While the Bremont Oracle I and Oracle II set new standards in technical innovation, precision and durability.

So the question is, which of these fine watches should you choose? Sorry, you’re on your own.

Motoring • Beaumonde

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Smooth movers The automotive future could well be driverless.

Intelligent design and game-changing innovations are driving high-end motoring forward

Words: Nargess Shahmanesh Banks

Richard Pardon

Clockwise from top left Audi R8 e-tron; Bentley Bentayga SUV; BMW 7 Series; Jaguar XJ Autobiography

There is much talk within the high-end motoring industry about the meaning of modern luxury. In the early days, skilful sculpting of the metal sheet and a touch of craft within the cabin was what it took to render an automobile desirable. Today’s designers have to work harder. Cars have evolved to be comfortable, intelligent mobile-living spaces.

BMW Group design director Adrian van Hooydonk believes the car design of today needs to be examined within the context of luxury in general, and it has to offer a visual and sensory language understood by aesthetes the world over.

So when tasked to sketch the latest 7 Series, he sent his team to explore luxury around the world.

Their findings proved to van Hooydonk that, when it comes to new luxury, there are universal similarities. ‘When you enter a top hotel there is a certain something, the subtleties – the light, mood, ambience,’ he says. ‘This is true of all markets.’

BMW’s paramount series, the 7, sets out to express this with a design that is restrained yet polished. Much like a contemporary hotel, the cabin has been envisaged as a sanctuary with high levels of quality and craftsmanship and plenty of tactile surfaces: quilted leather, warm wood and shiny chrome elements. A white light welcomes passengers, and the roof sparkles like a starry sky at night with its LED lights. ‘Luxury

is in the tiniest detail and in the elements of surprise,’ explains van Hooydonk. ‘It’s our niche, and this has a lot to do with intelligence.’

The new 7 will be more powerful and efficient than the car it replaces when it goes on sale in the next month or so. It’s packed with clever tech, too: it can self-park, and a wave of the hand will adjust the stereo volume and accept or reject phone calls.

Technology is also the focus of competitor Audi’s product vision. The brand has been exploring the feasibility of autonomous motoring for some years and is one of the first car makers to put a piloted car, the A7, on the US highway, where it successfully cruised driverless from Silicon Valley to Las Vegas earlier in the year.

The same technology has featured in Audi’s R8 e-tron concept car, a 456bhp supercar powered by electricity and piloted by a computer.

If produced, it could address sustainability, connectivity and digitalisation concerns without sacrificing passion for speed. While R8 e-tron may be a vision for now, much of its tech will feature in the upcoming A8. This flagship model, due in 2017, will debut the first stage of what Audi is calling its ‘full service’ piloted driving technology, which enables a degree of autonomous cruising.

Elsewhere, Jaguar has been designing a family of vehicles that marries traditional craftsmanship

with advanced technology, interpreted in a quirky British way. For design director Ian Callum, luxury should also revel in a touch of theatre. For instance, the metal rotary shift control aboard the latest XJ pops up when you turn the engine on, for, he says smiling, ‘that sense of occasion’.

Bentley, a brand with a more traditional British narrative, is also observing what constitutes the ultimate in high-end motoring, and is adding an SUV to its classic portfolio. The Bentayga, on sale in the first quarter of next year, promises to be the most powerful and exclusive SUV ever built. Bentley customers are unlikely to go off-roading, yet there is something desirable about a vehicle with this degree of refinement that can also rough it up when needed.

Bentley builds a sensuous narrative around a car, melding tradition and modernity, distilling and evolving values from its heritage. The Bentayga cabin demonstrates the skills of the Bentley artisans at the Crewe factory. The car features handcrafted wood, hand-stitched quilted leather and sculpted metal elements, all seamlessly executed within a highly digital and connected environment – offering possibly what could be interpreted as the pinnacle of modern luxury. l bmw.com; audi.com; jaguar.com; bentleymotors.com

Textiles • Beaumonde

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Processing fleeces at the New Zealand sheep farm

Material gains While technological advances have increased the output of Italian mill Reda, the quality of its raw material and human skill remains imperative

Alex Majoli/Magnum Photos

Words: Peter Howarth

Were you to compare the suit you are wearing today to its ancestors, you’d note that many things about it have changed. One of the most significant is the type of fabric used. Today, mills produce lighter-weight cloth that is more comfortable and yet still strong enough to do the job. Like cars, where performance is dependent largely on the power-to-weight ratio, with menswear fabric, it’s all about strength-to-weight. And to further enhance their appeal, modern fabrics often contain some form of finish or blend that contributes to their robustness, stretchiness, crease- and weatherresistance and stain-proofing. But despite all this, one element remains unchanged: the essential raw

material for woollen cloth comes from the same animals it always has done.

Reda makes cloth used by the world’s most famous menswear designers, including the likes of Paul Smith, Armani, Zegna and Ralph Lauren, in an Italian mill that dates back to 1865. This year, it decided to celebrate its 150th anniversary by commissioning a group of eminent photojournalists to capture life on the New Zealand sheep farms that supply it with its fleeces, and to document the manufacturing process that goes into turning them into cloth in its mills in Italy.

The resulting images, all taken by members of the Magnum Photos agency, portray the peculiar

mix of nature and technology, industrial process and human skill that goes into making these textiles so sought after, on a farm that has changed very little in its philosophy since it was founded.

Over the years, the business of selling cloth has evolved dramatically from the simple practices of bygone times. Ercole Botto Poala, CEO of Reda and the man behind the photographic project, explains: ‘When my great-grandfather started, he’d make a fabric and sell it at the local village market. Today, I sell fabric to the market online and the village is now global.’

In 2013, Reda launched its virtual store, becoming the first wool manufacturer in the world

Beaumonde • Textiles

We replace boring tasks with mechanisation, leaving more time for decision-making, skilled work, creative input

Reda’s mill has been manufacturing luxury cloth for 150 years. When produced by hand, its output was a mere metre a day; with mechanisation, it now makes 25,000 metres

to leverage e-commerce, offering a digital service that epitomises the potent balance between craftsmanship, technology and creativity.

Botto Paola, a well-dressed 44-year-old, is clear about what makes Italian fabric producers special. He acknowledges the challenges posed by the competition from mills in Asia that offer cloth at cheaper prices. But he explains how the expertise and quality championed by Reda constitutes a genuine difference, as does its collaborative attitude towards its customers and its location in Valle Mosso, in the heart of the Biella region. ‘Italy is still an important location for fashion. We meet with designers and their teams 18 months before our fabric will appear in the stores in tailored garments and, at this point, we discuss what they are thinking about. We absorb this, then help develop fabric to meet their needs, even if that means building a whole new machine.’

That’s how fabric design happens at Reda – that, coupled with the arbitrary creative impulse that might strike a craftsman ‘while he is eating a nice panino’.

Put simply, ‘you cannot replace the human touch,’ says Botto Paola, while conceding that technological advances mean that, where once Reda would be making a metre of cloth a day, it now produces 25,000 times that amount.

‘But we replace the boring manual tasks with mechanisation – that leaves more time for decision-making, skilled work, creative input.

There are some processes a machine can’t do, and using this combination of man and machine is the secret, I think.’

So while the cloth of your suit may be the product of state-of-the-art technology, it is still the ‘human touch’ that dreamt it up, and the sheep that donated the coats off their backs to make it a reality. Just as it always has been. l reda1865.com

Olivia Arthur/Magnum Photos

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WELCOME TO MY WORLD

In the lead role: John Travolta, movie legend and aviation aficionado.

Guest star: the legendary North American X-15 that smashed all speed and altitude records and opened the gateway to space. Production: Breitling, the privileged partner of aviation thanks to its reliable, accurate and innovative instruments – such as the famous Chronomat, the ultimate chronograph. Welcome to a world of legends, feats and performance.

CHRONOMAT 44

The rock less travelled

Travel • Brummell

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Havasu, a geological wonderland with a lush oasis at its base, is no less awe-inspiring than its big sister, the Grand Canyon

Alamy/Steppes Travel

Words: Ian Belcher

Ah, the Grand Canyon: the vertiginous ochre and red walls; the mazy, magnificent Colorado River; the awe, the grandeur… and the Domino’s pizza deliveries.

No, my eyes are not deceiving me: fast food is indeed dispatched direct to one of the wonders of the world. I’m resting against my rucksack beneath two monolithic fingers of rock, when the helicopter touches down in Supai – the only village inside the ravine – and unloads two super-sized deep-pan pepperonis.

It’s the Grand Canyon, but not as you know it. Havasu is the largest side canyon inside the vast geological maze of America’s iconic landmark – and pizza deliveries aren’t its only USP. There’s the waterfall higher than Niagara, a creek with the turquoise brilliance of Maldivian lagoons and the most remote community in the ‘Lower 48’ states.

It also has the last mule train in the US Postal Service – a Hollywood dream made real with Stetson-wearing locals riding heavily laden animals down plummeting switchbacks. They’re a godsend. In an act of private-public partnership that would make George Osborne salivate, the mail mules are subcontracted to carry our tents and supplies into the dusty backcountry.

However, Havasu is not just the Grand Canyon less known; it’s the Grand Canyon less travelled. Carving through the Havasupai Indian Reservation, it attracts just 20,000 visitors each year. Around 50km to the east, the iconic South Rim viewpoints of the eponymous national park absorb closer to five million.

Its vital statistics may be less show-stopping – it’s 10 times narrower and half as deep as the main Colorado River Canyon – but Havasu still offers an elegy-inducing panorama. Standing at the 1,522m trailhead, I watch as turkey vultures catch thermals in front of massive cliffs that plunge into a barrel-shaped floor of black and

Havasu Creek is gushing at more than five million litres an hour, lubricating an oasis of cottonwood, redbud and ash trees

Precious stones Opposite Havasu Creek, a tributary of the Colorado.

Above A professional guide leads a canyon hike

cappuccino scree. Just visible is a tiny crimson thread: the inner canyon navigated by our hike.

First the descent. Or rather the time travel.

The canyon is a layer cake of sedimentary sandstone and limestone with a base 185 million years older than its rim. Every step takes me 100,000 years further back in history. At 350 million BC, I turn right, hitting a metronomic stride on flatter, hard-packed sand and gravel.

The landscape may be vast, but it’s also strangely claustrophobic. The mammoth outer walls vanish and I’m swallowed alive by the inner canyon’s sandstone esplanade. It deepens rapidly: 100m, 120m, 150m, sculpted by flash floods into piles of giant stone discs.

And this is only the warm-up act. After 10.5km, turning into the main Havasu Canyon, I hear an incongruous gurgling: the first sound since entering the desert. Havasu Creek is gushing at more than five million litres an hour, lubricating an oasis of cottonwood, redbud and ash trees.

But just as nature gives, so it takes. Or nearly takes. Forty years ago, a hiker mistakenly turned right at this point. She was found three weeks later, delirious and emaciated after surviving on sips of spring water. A wooden arrow ensures no one repeats the near-fatal error and channels us further into a geological paradise.

A kilometre or two later, Havasu Canyon releases its vice-like grip, expanding into a pocket of peach and pomegranate fields. We’ve reached Supai. Home to 450 people, it’s underpinned by a classic case of fluctuating Native American fortunes. The Havasupai tribe arrived at around 1300, but six centuries later, found its territory decimated to near-zero by government prejudice.

Vigorous campaigning reclaimed 75,000 ancestral hectares (185,000 acres) in the 1970s, with the creek as its main artery, the village its heart. But if you’re hoping for The Last of the Mohicans, you’ll

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Brummell • Travel

be disappointed. Supai’s roofs have satellite dishes, its fenced gardens are strewn with toys and its two churches sit next to a basketball court and village square with posters warning about frozen pipes and flu jabs: the mundane and the everyday at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.

‘You should come in the rainy season,’ says Olivia, one of the locals watching the helicopter unload its supplies. ‘Water pours from the cliffs all around. It sounds so beautiful.’ I hold that exotic image as I press on for a few more thirsty kilometres in dusk light, eventually reaching the campsite run by the tribe on ancient cremation lands – ground zero for two days of exploration.

Deep in the canyon, all adventures are tied together by the mineral-rich, blue-green ribbon of the creek. Its appearance is made all the more dazzling by carbonates that separate from the water in arid desert air, draping branches, rocks, even camera lenses, with a hauntingly beautiful veil of travertine limestone.

No fewer than five remarkably photogenic cascades lie close to the campsite, including Beaver Falls, reached by what wilderness bible Outside magazine describes as the world’s greatest day hike. After descending the cliffs next to Mooney Falls – 9m taller than Niagara – through slanting tunnels chiselled by late-19th-century miners (to reach their expedition leader, who had plunged to his death), we wade through

thigh-deep water, wobble over narrow bridges and fight through dense vines of wild grape.

At least 100m above, a disused mine entrance appears as a pinprick in the massive rock wall.

As a rite of passage, Havasupai teenagers somehow scale the near-vertical face to enter the chasm.

Our slightly less terrifying route reveals a ladder of aquamarine pools, swaddled by mesquite, acacia and palm trees inside a golden gorge ignited by sunlight. It’s simply mesmerising.

Another day, another waterfall. Actually, two more, created seven years ago by thunderous flash floods. Each comes with a serene pool providing muscle-relaxing 20°C dips. Yet this amazing slice of wilderness is as much about people as natural drama. On my final night, Loren Manakaja walks from his home in Supai to sit next to dancing flames under a star-drenched Arizona sky.

He explains local fears about a planned uranium mine, sings mournful songs and laments the loss of traditions among the ‘couch potato’ young. ‘People leave for a few years,’ he tells me, ‘but they don’t like the fast life, the big stuff, the crowds. They prefer the isolation. They always come back to the canyon. Always.’ l Into the blue From top The Mooney Falls are 9m higher than Niagara; Beaver Falls – the trek to this natural wonder is reputed to be the greatest day hike in the world

Steppes Travel (0843 778 9926; steppestravel.co.uk) offers the Havasu hike from £2,150pp, including three nights’ guided camping, two nights in Phoenix, a helicopter flight out, and return flights

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Beaumonde • Heritage

One for the road As production of the Land Rover Discovery draws to a close, a small Scottish distillery has produced a fitting tribute

Words: Simon de Burton

Fans of the Land Rover Defender are preparing to enter a period of mourning this December, when the legendary go-anywhere vehicle is phased out after a remarkable 67-year production run.

Quite simply, it has become too old-fashioned to meet the stringent safety standards in many of the world’s key markets, notably the USA, and now fewer than 20,000 are built annually.

Some Defender die-hards have already convinced themselves the replacement won’t be as good and will be too luxurious and insufficiently utilitarian. The truth is, it is bound to be a whole lot better and will, in all likelihood, be available in every possible configuration to suit everyone from the most style-conscious King’s Road poseur to the most practically minded of country folk.

But how did it all begin? The story goes that the original Land Rover, the Series I, was conceived

by brothers Maurice and Spencer Wilks in the hope of bringing the ailing Rover car company back to profit during the post-war slump.

The brothers, then engineering director and managing director of the firm respectively, are said to have met up in the summer of 1947 on the beach at Red Wharf Bay, Anglesey, near where the family owned a holiday home.

Having discussed the possibility of designing a more effective alternative to the war-surplus Willys jeep they used on their land, legend has it they sketched out a design in the damp sand of the bay – and that formed the basis of the Land Rover shape that is still entirely recognisable in the outgoing Defender.

Less well known, however, is the fact that Spencer Wilks also had a home on the Scottish island of Islay, and it was here that much of the

Alamy; Andreas von dem Knesebeck; British Motor Industry Heritage Trust; Getty; The Advertising Archives

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1947 The Land Rover name is coined, allegedly by an employee of the Wilks family on Islay, who observed that the proposed off-roader would be ‘a Rover for the land’. The initial prototype had a central steering wheel, a feature not carried through to production models.

1948 The Land Rover is launched at the Amsterdam Motor Show, with a price of £450.

1984 The Land Rover’s ride improves when coil springs are introduced on the new 90 and 110 models.

1949 Production reaches 8,000 and the British army orders its first batch.

1990 The ‘Defender’ name is first used.

1954 A 2,800mm-long-wheelbase model is introduced, and the standard version grows to 2,200mm.

1998 A new five-cylinder diesel engine becomes standard.

1958

1966

The Series II model is launched, with rounded ‘shoulders’ rather than the flat panels of the original.

The half-millionth Land Rover is produced.

2007

2015

A new four-cylinder diesel engine, six-speed gearbox and more modern dashboard are introduced, in a bid to make the Defender more up to date.

The forthcoming demise of the model is marked with the release of three limited-edition ‘specials’ and the recreation of the Series I production line at Solihull.

Heritage • Beaumonde

development work on the Land Rover was carried out, notably on the two-mile rutted track leading from the closest road to the house.

It was because of this connection that Land Rover recently arranged an event that any lover of ‘the best four-by-four by far’ would have given his or her eye teeth to be a part of – one that offered the chance to drive an example of every standard production Land Rover to have been made, ranging from the original Series I to the latest limited-edition Defenders that have been produced to commemorate the model’s demise.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of being able to experience all these vehicles back to back was the fact that even the oldest models still seem remarkably capable off-road, and that they are not nearly as ‘agricultural’ on it as might be expected. My personal favourite was

1969 The headlamps move from their position in front of the radiator to the wings.

16.12.15 The two millionth Defender will be sold at auction by Bonhams in London, along with the first of 50 bottles in a limited-edition release of Kilchoman whisky, made by Spencer Wilks’ descendants.

1971 The Series III arrives, with a more sophisticated dashboard and a plastic, rather than metal, radiator grille.

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the load-swallowing Series III Station Wagon in long-wheelbase ‘Safari’ format.

It was also a surprise to learn Spencer Wilks’ home is still in the family, and that his grandson, Anthony Wills, has established the first new whisky distillery on Islay in 125 years. Kilchoman, which he opened a decade ago, is the only independently owned ‘farm’ distillery on the island. This means every part of the whisky-making process is carried out under one roof, from the malting of the barley to the bottling of the finished product.

Kilchoman single malt comes in three varieties – Machir Bay, 100% Islay and Loch Gorm – as well as a range of limited-edition and vintage releases. Don’t, however, be tempted to mix any of them with a steep, rutted track and a Land Rover – of whatever age. l landrover.co.uk; kilchomandistillery.com

1982 The ‘County’ Station Wagon is launched, with a more luxurious interior.

Clockwise from far left The British army has a longstanding loyalty to the Land Rover; an early advertisement; an original Series 1; the Forest Rover is put to the test; the two millionth Defender, which will be sold at Bonhams.

Top Kilchoman Distillery is honouring the car’s demise

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Beaumonde • Accessories

Go with the grain The first accessories collections from Mulberry’s new creative director are a celebration of the brand’s artisanal roots

Words: Clare Coulson

When Johnny Coca, the incoming Spanish-born and Paris-trained creative director, arrived at Mulberry earlier this summer, he was quick to point out exactly what drew him to the house.

‘I’m thrilled to share my vision with the teams in London,’ he said. ‘But it’s also crucial for me to spend as much time as possible at The Rookery and The Willows, our factories in Somerset, as they’re the heart of our brand, and craftsmanship is the soul of our products.’

The ex-Céline accessories designer succinctly pinpointed Mulberry’s real USP in a marketplace saturated with highly desirable bags: artisanal products made in England, combined with the gloss and elegance of luxury fashion.

That sense of craft has always been key to the company – ever since founder Roger Saul launched it from his kitchen table in 1971, making belts inspired by traditional saddlery. Although it began with belts, the brand has always been known for it-bags. Saul, inspired by the elegant practicality of traditional hunting, shooting and fishing accessories, created the first – a cross-body Trout bag, back in 1975. Along with Mulberry’s iconic scotch-grain weekenders, these bags would be enduring and global success stories. They may not have been made it on to the catwalks, but they were nonetheless highly coveted.

Fast-forward a few decades and the Mulberry hits are instantly recognisable: the heavily buckled Roxanne, the sleek and simple Bayswater, the Alexa satchel, the Cara backpack, and this year’s Delphie (from £595) – a sleek little shoulder bag that can be flipped to create an entirely new look.

This autumn, against the backdrop of a ready-to-wear collection inspired by the clean

From top Leather is cut by a craftsman at one of Mulberry’s two factories in Somerset; Delphie and Roxette bags

lines of England’s Georgian houses, from the stuccoed exteriors to the complex mouldings and ornate details within, the brand showcased its newest additions. The Jamie shoulder bag (from £495), inspired by its equestrian-influenced bucket bags of the 1970s, comes in materials including black, blue and oxblood washed-calf.

Meanwhile, a mini version, which can have a flat gold-chain handle, is available in an array of rich materials, including croc-print, haircalf, haircalf and suede, and sugar-pink ostrich.

The season’s other new addition is the elegant boxy Roxette (from £995) – a practical but chic day bag with short handles, detachable shoulder strap and a sleek, belted fastening – which is available in croc-print nubuck or calf or, for true indulgence, ostrich in a rich oxblood colour.

What unites them all is the intense artistry and attention to detail that is lavished on each and every bag at Mulberry’s HQ in Somerset – a county traditionally considered the home of the British leather industry. Those factories that Coca referred to on his arrival at the house include The Rookery, extended in 2007 to house 300 employees, while The Willows, built in 2013, was added to allow it to bring the majority of its production back into the UK. At the vast leather store, up to 150,000sq ft of hide is cut every month and each of the production lines specialises in one style of bag. At The Rookery, up to 1,100 bags are cut, stitched, inked and finished each week. Little surprise, then, that Coca is passionate about emphasising the link between Mulberry’s iconic status and its roots in the traditional crafts honed in the Mendip Hills. l mulberry.com

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Beaumonde • After the City

Into the fold Having struggled to find clothes to match her City career, Polly McMaster set up her own label to give high-flying women the edge

Words: Jemima Wilson Photography: Trent McMinn

There have never been so many positive initiatives to promote gender equality in the City; however, when it comes to matters sartorial, till now, senior women have been rather hard done by.

Ex-City consultant Polly McMaster co-founded her fashion brand The Fold in 2012 to address what she saw as an imbalance in the availability of high-end workwear. ‘If their male counterparts are sporting a suit made on Savile Row, women should be on a par,’ she says. Her aim for the label was that it would offer a capsule wardrobe that would empower female professionals in the workplace, acting as ‘an enabler for women to succeed, whether that’s impressing an interview panel or wowing an audience at a conference’.

McMaster had always wanted to pursue a career in fashion – she undertook work experience with a designer and took evening dressmaking courses when still at school – but decided to tread a more conservative path. Having read natural sciences at Cambridge, she went on to do a PhD in virology.

‘I came to realise that I didn’t want to be a career scientist, but enjoyed the collaborative working environment and analytical rigour,’ she explains.

‘That discipline has stood me in good stead.’

An interest in working in the City led her to join consultancy firm LEK in the healthcare and lifestyle consulting vertical, where she was able to utilise her scientific knowledge while learning about business. ‘I love the challenges of problem-solving and, in consulting, you are pushed to reach your full potential. That was very invigorating,’ she says.

Three years later, she began working in private equity at Apax. However, as she climbed the career ladder, she found dressing appropriately for work increasingly challenging. ‘It was an issue that often came up in discussions with female colleagues, and there weren’t many senior women that we could look to as role models.’

While at Apax, McMaster had the opportunity to study for an MBA at the London Business School (LBS), which gave her an opportunity to reflect. She felt her strengths lay more on the commercial and strategic side than in pure finance and, since she had struggled to find workwear for herself, gave some thought to the business opportunity this might present.

LBS proved an ideal testing ground as the idea for The Fold began to develop and, following a successful pilot launched with business partner Cheryl Mainland, the company quickly took shape.

‘We made some garments to see if we could sell them, navigate our way around the industry and actually build a viable business. That early groundwork and testing was crucial,’ she adds.

The Fold now encompasses an online boutique and a showroom in Clerkenwell, and offers a personal styling service and alterations facility.

All the pieces are designed in London and made in Europe. Mindful of her typical customer’s expectations, McMaster pays a lot of attention to the quality of the fabrics, whether ‘a striking tweed that’s ideal for a client lunch, or a non-crease suiting fabric you can pack for a business trip,’ she affirms.

And so far so good – the brand has already garnered a loyal clientele, including a collective of inspirational ambassadors known as The Fold Women. ‘We launched the initiative to celebrate the achievements of our customers, and we tell their stories on our website to inspire our audience,’ McMaster explains. ‘There’s quite a community now; we host regular business-breakfast events and people have made really helpful connections – some have even added new dimensions to their careers because of the exposure.’

Every once in a while, something will happen that forces her to acknowledge the strides she has made in only three years. However, in a business that’s pushing her further than she ever thought she could go, she is never complacent. ‘My stint in the City taught me to adapt to match the pace and diversity of the roles I was working in, and this really helped prepare me for running my own company – day-to-day, I can never predict the variety of challenges that will be thrown my way.’

For McMaster, the greatest reward for her efforts is seeing successful women wearing The Fold. ‘That’s the most tangible and satisfying way of seeing just how far our business has come.’ l thefoldlondon.com

Men’s style • Brummell

Menswear special — Business of style When asked if he travels in a suit - even long-haul – Paul Smith was adamant: ‘Absolutely!’ he said, ‘I wear one pretty much every day’ (page 60). While it may be a workwear staple, a suit is not always a necessity. Over the next 32 pages we embrace a broad spectrum of sartorial styles, from statement accessories to elegant outerwear, that make for an individual wardrobe, whether you’re at work, at home or on your travels…

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Brummell • Men’s style news Skin deep ↓ How do you incorporate a thorough skincare routine into a hectic day?

Celebrity make-up artist Jay Maskrey has the answer. As a personal-grooming expert for U2, Maskrey learnt a thing or two about what busy men need to look good and, as a result, created Routine for Men, a natural skincare range to suit the most demanding schedules – rock stars included. Step one, the dual-action face wash, with aloe vera, vetiver, bladderwrack and eucalyptus leaf oil, cleanses and refreshes the skin; step two, the revitalising moisturiser works to soothe, firm and hydrate. Rock on. £19–£29; routineformen.com

Experience counts ↑ Graeme Fidler is a man of notable menswear pedigree: his experience includes stints as creative director at Bally and head of menswear design at Aquascutum. He has now launched his own brand, Several, based in the Rochelle School in Hoxton. Here, menswear staples combine craftsmanship with contemporary style from labels such as orSlow, Marimekko and the Several own-brand line. several.co

Hide and chic ↓ JM Weston has been a master of traditional shoemaking for more than 120 years, but that doesn’t keep the company from continuing to innovate its most classic styles. For the opening of the Rue Saint-Honoré store in 2013, artistic director Michel Perry introduced a two-tone theme, reinventing the loafer 180 and double-sole Derby in tones of blue and black. Two years on, the second phase of the special collection is being launched, and the brand’s most iconic shoes have been given an update in understated shades of black and grey, with a selection of leather goods to match. jmweston.fr/en

Elegantly attired Daks began as a small tailoring company founded by Simeon Simpson in 1894, and business boomed in the 1930s, when his son Alexander revolutionised men’s fashion by inventing self-supporting trousers.

As a keen golfer, Alexander had experienced the irritation of braces causing a shirt to ride up, so he made an adjustable trouser waistband that held a shirt in place – problem solved.

Today, Daks also offers solutions in the form of stylish formalwear accessories crucial for pulling a look together. Its latest accessories collection features a range of ties, bow ties, scarves and pocket squares, all designed around the theme of ‘luxury in motion’. The collection is available in a spectrum of colours and patterns, to suit all manner of elegant attire. From £85; daks.com

Great Scot Pringle of Scotland has been knitting cashmere since the 1870s, and has pioneered some of fashion’s most iconic looks – notably golfing staple the Argyle sweater. To commemorate its 200th anniversary, the brand has launched Deconstructed, an interactive knitwear-customising experience that gives customers the chance to create their own designs. Meanwhile, the ready-to-wear collection celebrates the company’s blending of heritage with innovation – the tapestry jumper (pictured) is a key piece that updates a traditional pattern with a pixelated digital print. Upholding the theme of great Scottish talent, the anniversary campaign was shot by Edinburgh-born fashion photographer Albert Watson and features eminent Scots, including artist David Shrigley, actor Luke Treadaway and model Stella Tennant. £750; pringlescotland.com

Men’s style news • Brummell

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Hardy perennial ↓ In his book ABC of Men’s Fashion, Savile Row tailor Sir Hardy Amies wrote: ‘It is easy to think of fashion as frivolous. Clothes are, however, part of our lives and should be used to make our lives easier.’ With this in mind, the brand is sticking to the philosophies of its founder with the Hardy suit – a versatile two-piece with a sharp, slim silhouette, structured yet relaxed shoulders and a gently defined waist. It comes

New twist for old lace ← Lace ties and the bow variety have created quite a buzz for accessories label Marwood, holding, as they do, great appeal for formal occasions. The lace in question is a specialist cotton variety called Leavers lace, made at the Cluny Lace factory near Nottingham, the last remaining factory of its kind in the UK. Designer Becky French uses archive lace patterns from the factory to inspire her contemporary designs, and the most recent addition to Marwood’s lace collection is the appliqué tie, which features deconstructed lace and appliqué patches sewn on to woven jacquards.

From £115; marwoodlondon.co.uk

half-canvassed, in core colours of navy, grey and black, and subtle checks will soon be introduced.

Hardy suit, £395; hardyamies.com

Style engineers ↑ Mention of industrial engineering does not usually bring to mind accessories, but British brand Alice Made This uses manufacturing processes from industries as varied as military armoury and Formula One to produce innovative cufflinks and tie pins. Working with aerospace and nanotechnology factories for the new Geometry collection – inspired by primary shapes and architecture – the range has now been expanded to encompass a whole range of accessories for men, including belts, bracelets, key rings and lapel pins.

From £45; alicemadethis.com

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Brummell • Men’s style news

Mayfair man ↑ Few fashion companies can claim to be the outfitter of choice for heads of state, film stars and artists, but throughout its 130-year history, Turnbull & Asser has dressed clients as diverse as President Reagan, Charlie Chaplin and The Beatles. To complement its historic Jermyn Street branch, it has opened a store on Davies Street in Mayfair. The premises houses T&A’s readyto-wear collections, while an in-house tailoring team takes care of all things bespoke. turnbullandasser.co.uk

Passion from Parma → Acqua di Parma’s first Colonia fragrance – a bright blend of citrus, flowers and herbs – was created in 1916 in a small perfumer’s laboratory in Parma. The men’s cologne became synonymous with Italian elegance in the 1950s, when Hollywood film stars discovered Colonia in exclusive Italian tailoring shops. Almost 100 years later, the master perfumers is revisiting its heritage with Colonia Club, a delicious new take on the original.

Retaining its lightness with citrus, neroli and mint, the latest edition is aimed at ‘the gentleman who experiences life with passion’. Hopefully, that’s most men. £57 for 50ml; uk.acquadiparma.com

Beat the brrrs ↑ Like it or not, it’s time to start thinking about the coat that will see you through the colder months in style. A favourite is the Casentino

by Canali, which takes its name from a part of Italy long renowned for producing luxury wool-and-cashmereblend coats. Originally only available to the wealthy bourgeoisie in this area of Tuscany, today the coat has been reinterpreted in a slimmer fit for the modern gentleman. The fabric of this white version has been plucked by a machine to achieve its softly raised texture. £1,250; canali.com

Sole maker David Gandy, the world’s most famous male model, is transforming himself into an investor in British style. With a stake in the London Sock Co and the hugely successful M&S underwear and swimwear that bear his name, he is now backing a small shoemaker – David Preston. Gandy met Preston after his beloved limited-edition Cuban-heeled Paul Smith Chelsea boots had worn out. Preston, a boutique shoemaker with a cult following among musicians – including Kasabian and Blur – had just the thing, and Gandy, impressed, offered to buy into the company. Now David Preston is launching a range of footwear that, according to Gandy, ‘combines the elegance and quality of West London and Savile Row with the edginess and flair of East London’.

From £325; available at Coccodrillo.be; davidprestonshoes.com

Carrying history Dunhill has come a long way from its founder Alfred Dunhill’s humble beginnings as a harness-maker in the late 19th century, but the company hasn’t forgotten its roots. From Rolls-Royce headlamps to the brass fastenings of a Dunhill pocket watch, the archive of the British luxury label is a treasure-trove of design inspiration, and the new Duke leather bag collection references this history. Each bag is

crafted by a team of specialist leather artisans using traditional leatherworking techniques and features mushroom rivets with Alfred Dunhill branding from 1893. The standout piece is the Audley tote (pictured), with an unstructured shape and fold-down top that makes it versatile enough to pack lightly for everyday use, or cram full for a night away.

Audley tote, £2,900; dunhill.com

Men’s style news • Brummell

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Making it personal ↓ Burberry has a heritage of combining innovation and craftsmanship, and since Christopher Bailey became chief creative officer in 2009, the house has incorporated digital technology to bring a new level of personalisation to luxury fashion. The Burberry Scarf Bar, for example, allows customers to create their own version of the classic tartan scarf, choosing everything from the print to the colour of the thread as part of the monogramming service. The scarf is available in classic or lightweight cashmere, and you can choose from 32 shades of plaid, or add polka dots or hearts to the classic beige version for a touch of whimsy.

From £335; burberry.com

On-track outerwear ↑ Gloverall’s Monty duffle coat was a wardrobe staple in the early days of British Grand Prix motor racing, and its inaugural Made in England ’51 collection has been inspired by archive photos of drivers wearing the iconic coat. As the collection’s name suggests, premium British fabrics are prominent: tweeds from Fox Brothers and Harris Tweed feature alongside waxed cottons

by Halley Stevensons. Other key outerwear includes raincoats with racing-check fabric lining, sporty car coats and a quilted Rally jacket – all made for life in the fast lane.

Outerwear from £285; gloverall.com

In vogue brogue ← Since Sandra Choi became creative director of Jimmy Choo in 2013, she’s given the company a bit of a shake-up.

The brand launched its first men’s collection in 2011 – an expansion from the sexy, strappy stiletto image immortalised in Sex and the City – and under Choi’s creative leadership it has become a go-to footwear destination for many a style-savvy man. Adding artisan detail to the classic brogue design, Choo’s single monk-strap shoe is a key style for the winter season – it features a hand-stitched perforated brogue motif and is available in calf and patent leather in black or, for the slightly more adventurous, cola.

From £525; jimmychoo.com

Daily groom Founder of the Bamford Watch Department and now the Bamford Grooming Department, George Bamford admits he doesn’t have time to ‘faff around with pre-wash nonsense’ as part of his daily grooming routine. So, as a result of a collaboration with his mother Carole, who has a bath and body range, he has created a collection of six men’s grooming products that combine his vision with her cosmetic know-how. Vetiver inspired the scents of many of the products, including the shave oil – an essential moisturising product for those with beards. Much of the motivation for the range came down to aesthetics. ‘So-called “male” brands struck me as dressed-up unisex products,’ says Bamford. Though his wife has been known to use the exfoliating face wash, its sleek, masculine design leaves no doubt it’s definitely his. From £25; bamfordgroomingdepartment.com

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Brummell • Eyewear

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A right spectacle With the power to shape your image, glasses have become one of the most directional menswear accessories

Words: Jemima Wilson Photography: Dominic Murray-Bell

There was a time when visiting the opticians and shopping for prescription glasses was a chore that many a man would do anything to delay. Nowadays, while the correct diagnosis is still paramount, the search for the right eyewear is no longer just about improving vision – it’s about defining your style and creating an impression.

Not since the days of Michael Caine, John Lennon, Peter Sellers and Yves Saint Laurent have optical glasses played such an important role in a man’s wardrobe. In fact, many are investing in a whole spectrum of frames to suit a range of outfits and occasions. And in the same way a quality watch or well-matched pair of shoes is a barometer of taste, specs are now very much considered a statement fashion accessory – and you can never have too many.

Eyewear • Brummell

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01 PERSOL Best known for its sunglasses, as sported by style icons such as Steve McQueen, Persol’s range of optical glasses shouldn’t be overlooked. The Cellor frames were first popular in the 1950s, but the vintage silhouette has been updated with a new high-tech folding system so you can collapse them into a compact package.

PO3132V, £289.99

02 RAY-BAN The coolest of eyewear brands’ Light Ray 2.0 Generation frames might be retro-inspired, but there’s nothing dated about the modern materials used to make them. The titanium temples and screw-less microfusion Light Ray hinges make the glasses featherweight yet resilient. The round Phantos frames suit the square of jaw.

RX7073, £128

All available at davidclulow.com

03 PHILIPPE STARCK French designer Philippe Starck believes in creating efficient products through elegant and intelligent design. Leading by his own example, his latest range of eyewear features Biolink hinge technology, which gives the oversized yet lightweight frames 360-degree flexibility – meaning they will adapt to fit any face shape.

SH3018, £238

04 PAUL SMITH The Rittson frames on these add a quirky twist to a classic shape, and you’d expect nothing less from a designer renowned for doing just that.

The transparent acetate frames mix the conventional with the curious. The result – a playful yet sophisticated style that will add panache to even the most corporate attire.

PM8250U, £186

05 GIORGIO ARMANI First seen in the designer’s autumn/winter 15 menswear show, these luxurious specs, which are part of the Frames of Life collection, feature subtle diamond-shaped rivets on the frame front. Available in dark brown with green or yellow accent colours, they’re clearly designed for the fashion-forward professional.

AR7089, £190

06 BURBERRY Founded in 1856 and with a military heritage, Burberry is renowned for functional and innovative design and still looks to its roots to inspire its contemporary collections. The fashion house’s eyewear range is designed in London and the square acetate frames here feature its signature Horseferry check on the temples.

BE2214, £179

Brummell • Film

Action shot

clothing on his trek into the Amazon on a Triumph bike for last year’s BBC1 documentary David Beckham: Into the Unknown. And he was the poster boy for the brand in a moody black-and-white advertising campaign shot by Peter Lindbergh – also, incidentally, a biker.

In Outlaws, Beckham’s character, the Stranger, is marked as an outsider with a nonconformist spirit by what he wears: a Belstaff Weybridge Jacket (£1,275), Blackrod jeans (£285) and suede Trialmaster boots (£425) – a contemporary version of the classic movie-rebel uniform.

The film also stars Harvey Keitel, Katherine Waterston and Oscar-nominated actress Cathy Moriarty – best known for playing Vickie LaMotta opposite Robert Di Niro in Raging Bull – and was directed by Geremy Jasper, an award-winning commercial and music-video director and the co-founder of Legs multimedia studio.

Jasper says he wanted it ‘to be a marriage between Frida Kahlo and Elvis Presley… or as if Buñuel made a motorcycle B-movie for a 1950s drive-in’. Other film inspiration clearly comes from Fellini’s circus films, especially La Strada, as well as Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire and Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy of Westerns.

It’s ambitious, sure, but that’s what makes Outlaws so compelling. Unlike many videos that are produced for the internet by fashion houses wanting to sell their wares, this is a proper movie, and it has great cinematography, production values and – perhaps what gives it the edge over similar projects – a narrative.

For this alone, we applaud it. Oh, and the clothes look pretty good, too. l

Belstaff’s surreal 15-minute feature film has great cinematography and production values – and it stars a certain footballing icon

Words: Jane Fulcher

Luxury-outerwear and accessories house Belstaff has always embraced the audacious, taken risks and embarked on adventures. TE Lawrence, Che Guevara and Amelia Earhart are just a few of its more courageous customers. The British brand, which has roots in motorcycle clothing, also has a long association with film – Belstaff jackets have appeared in The Aviator, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, I Am Legend, Iron Man and War of the Worlds.

Now the company has combined its spirit of exploration with its passion for film by producing a short feature, Outlaws, and releasing it online.

Starring David Beckham as a nameless stranger pursued by a biker gang through the desert and shabby border towns of Mexico and the USA, it expresses the get-on-your-bike-and-ride ethos that underlies the popularity of biker gear, and leather jackets in particular.

Beckham, a keen motorcyclist himself, has been involved with Belstaff before, wearing its

From top Katherine Waterston and David Beckham in Outlaws

Watch Outlaws on the Belstaff minisite – visit belstaff.com/theoutlaws

Belstaff Films

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Brummell • Tailoring

Renaissance men The latest collections from Milan fashion house Pal Zileri boldly reclaim the country’s history of design innovation, as its two new leaders affirm

Words: Peter Howarth

If you spend time with Paolo Roviera, the relatively new CEO of this 45-year-old Italian house, and his co-conspirator, creative director Mauro Ravizza Krieger, it would be easy to believe they’re in possession of some sort of secret blueprint for the future of menswear, so infectious is their enthusiasm. But the clothes do back up the talk.

The Milanese showroom features the garments and accessories that manage that essential balance of tradition and innovation, craftsmanship and technology – and crucially, look interesting without making the wearer feel self-conscious.

‘The project is unfolding exactly as expected,’ says Roviera. ‘A year ago, we hired crazy geeks who said they’d reinvent the company. We described things to our board members that made them wonder what on earth we were talking about.

Now, they look back and can’t believe what we did.

The perception of the brand switched in a year.’

He’s not wrong. Pal Zileri is one of those Italian tailoring-based labels known for making nice, elegant menswear. The problem, though, according to Krieger, is the world is evolving, and labels must evolve, too: ‘China was God’s place [for Western luxury-goods companies],’ he says. ‘But I was in Shanghai at the start of June and the market is totally changing. The classic, high-end level, really Italian? Forget it. It has totally died in the past three years. They want to be more relaxed, more young, more active, more dynamic. That’s the life.’

Krieger, a dapper, elegant Italian with the look of a fashionable architect, says, ‘The customer, for

Some still imagine customers flying helicopters, sailing in megayachts. Who the hell lives that life?

me, is at the very centre – I try to think like the customer.’ Roviera talks of ‘the new consumer’. This is a man who doesn’t respond to the old-fashioned codes of luxury: ‘There are still people – and no offence to them – who romanticise about customers flying helicopters and sailing in megayachts. Who the hell lives that life?’ he asks.

It is perhaps because Pal Zileri is an Italian tailoring company that the changes afoot here seem so seismic. Krieger believes that Italy is a medieval place, ‘as a mentality and as a culture.

I live in Asti, an hour from Milan. It’s a medieval city and my office is in a medieval building. When you have to change something, it’s always difficult.

In Italy, if you grow up as a lawyer, you will always be a lawyer. My father was a chemist, and I started my studies in chemistry. If you change your job in Italy, it’s usually because of a mistake; for the rest of the world, you follow your passions. But Italy has a different mentality.’ This, he says, leads to companies wanting to ‘preserve the DNA, the story, the company, the manufacturing, the people’.

In its latest collections, Pal Zileri aims to subvert this attitude by taking the skills and knowledge the brand has built up over the years and applying a novel, relaxed and more modern approach to menswear. The phrase it has coined for this approach is ‘avant-craft’. Roviera explains that Italy has done this before, after World War II, when it boasted great innovation in design and industry. ‘I think we sometimes underestimate what our country was before,’ he says.

The new Pal Zileri product – a made-in-Italy mash-up of slim, tailored suits in houndstooth, Prince of Wales check and other geometric designs; big lace-up boots with grip-fast soles; colourful mohair knits; and beautiful and practical parkas in sheepskin or leather – needs a home that reflects its aesthetic. The freshly refurbished store in Milan establishes the precedent: full of speakers, sofas and turntables – a kind of masculine den.

‘We know that we men don’t like to go shopping unless for toys: cars, bikes and so on,’ says Roviera. ‘For clothes, we buy something because we need it. So, we said, let’s create an environment that will attract men and make them feel at ease when they enter. The nice thing is that everyone I’ve brought to the shop has said, “I could stay here for hours, listening to music, drinking, reading, chatting.” It’s very laid-back.’ l Pal Zileri’s redesigned store in London is at 125 New Bond Street. There is also a branch in Harrods, Knightsbridge; palzileri.com/en

privatewhitevc.com

Tailored for travel Sir Paul Smith has designed a suit to cope with the rigours of an arduous journey – tried and tested by an Olympic gymnast in full flight, no less

Words: Josh Sims Illustrations: Martina Paukova

For all that the trend for men’s luxury sweatpants may afford comfort on the go, don’t expect to find Sir Paul Smith travelling in these or, for that matter, any casual attire: ‘Do I travel even long-haul in a suit? Absolutely!’ says the designer. ‘I wear one pretty much every day, so know no different.’

As he explains: ‘I’m constantly travelling, and often have to run straight from the plane to stand in front of an audience to give a talk, so having a suit that can still look fresh is really important.’

To that end, this autumn/winter season, he has introduced the self-explanatory A Suit to Travel In – two-piece tailoring that is designed to handle all the rigours of a lengthy journey.

This suit, the first of a planned seasonal iteration, is cut in the Goldilocks zone – that is, in a fabric not too heavy, not too light, but just right. That makes sense in these times, when we’re travelling further and more frequently between differing climates. Smith notes: ‘The idea of seasons in fashion is meaningless – when

Available in three cuts, the suit is made in a high-twist 100-per-cent merino wool yarn with quick recovery

it’s autumn/winter in the UK, it’s boiling hot elsewhere in the world.’

His travel suit, which is available in three cuts and three colours – black, navy and dark grey – is made in a high-twist 100-per-cent merino wool yarn with quick recovery, crease resistance and even a degree of water repellency. It has almost unbreakable corozonut buttons, too, while a ‘half-floating’ canvas construction – of the kind that is typically found in traditional bespoke tailoring – allows for more movement without having to mess with the sleek style of the jacket.

Back in January, when Smith first presented the new suit, he demonstrated its utility by having Olympic medal-winning gymnast Max Whitlock, together with artistes from the National Centre for Circus Arts, throw themselves around while wearing it. All the suits remained sharp and unrumpled by the exertions of the gymnasts, with no crease or crumple to be seen.

‘These guys are really on the go, pushing their bodies to the limits, so they seemed the perfect people to show what the suit’s capable of,’ says Smith. ‘Lots of fabric described as “travel-ready” or “crease-resistant” has some man-made fibres in it to give it elasticity, or it’s a wool-and-mohair mix, which can be quite rough on the skin.What’s unique about the cloth we’ve used is it’s natural, which gives it breathability. To make the suit washable or stretchy too would have meant having to add synthetics, which we tried to avoid.’ Synthetics may have functional benefits, of course, but they also have several downsides, chief among them perhaps that they just don’t look as good.

That’s why Smith is sticking with this approach for the spring/summer 2016 version of his travel suit. Available in five brighter colours with a windowpane check, as well as in plain navy, it will be produced unlined and in a high-twist New Zealand wool made by Italian mill Loro Piana.

Smith is also introducing a new line of travelfriendly items, which includes the City Webbing leather wash bag, Jacquard Rabbit tessellationprint trolley suitcase, City Embossed leather-trim suit carrier and a mini shoe-care kit. However, to complement more practical considerations such as these, he also makes concessions to comfort: among the items that make travel more bearable for him are a cashmere sweater, his off-white calf leather trainers and the Blanket Stripe wool scarf from his own collection.

He recalls with a certain wistfulness the days when he was regularly travelling to London from his native Nottingham and even the trains had an air of sophistication. ‘My regular train had this amazingly elegant restaurant car,’ he says. ‘But now it’s very different. More people travel for work now than ever before and, for many, taking a plane is no different from taking a bus. The Suit to Travel In is just responding to their needs.’ l paulsmith.co.uk

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Brummell • Campaign

Identity parade Oliver Spencer’s versatile designs have attracted an eclectic mix of highly individual fans, as illustrated by his personality-driven campaign

Words: Jemima Wilson Photography: Rankin

Campaign • Brummell

They say clothes maketh the man, and nowhere is this more true than in the world of work.

Dull corporate uniforms are becoming a thing of the past and a more diverse style of workplace dressing looks set to be the future.

Of course, in some professions a formal suit is a necessity, and, thankfully, there are many out there that are the antithesis of dull. But workwear – in the broadest sense – doesn’t have to mean wearing a suit, and expressing a sense of identity through fashion is now more widely accepted.

In fact, you could go so far as to say that, in some cases – in the creative and tech industries, for example – it is positively embraced.

One designer of this opinion is Oliver Spencer.

Having initially gained recognition for the myriad collar styles, fabrics and quirks that characterised his range of shirts, over the past decade he has developed a capsule collection for men who aren’t obliged to wear a suit every day and an ‘off-duty’ wardrobe of staples for those who are.

A self-taught tailor, Spencer mixes classic tailoring principles with contemporary fashion design to make clothing as appropriate for a business meeting as it is for a drink in a bar afterwards. Professional yet relaxed, these are garments that work alongside everything you already own, from suiting to sportswear, and can be worn at both formal and informal occasions.

In his autumn/winter 2015 line, the rough meets the smooth in structured silhouettes influenced by the work of land artist David Nash and soft, sleek fabrics such as alpaca, recycled cashmere and fine lambswool. The palette, in which charcoals and greys are juxtaposed with hints of cream, accent brights and floral prints, is inspired by the natural environment.

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The lookbook presents a spectrum of diversity, but has a collective theme in that each man is stylish, inspiring and successful

Opposite Record label founder Dumi Oburota This page, clockwise from top left Actor Callum Turner; The Specials’ drummer John Bradbury; and Ocado founder Jason Gissing

To demonstrate the versatility of the collection, the designer asked Rankin to photograph an eclectic group of friends and customers (of which the photographer is one) – among them actors, music moguls and entrepreneurs – sporting Spencer clothes. While the lookbook presents a spectrum of diversity, there is a collective theme – each man is stylish, inspiring and successful, and his dress sense conveys his personality and the way in which he expresses it through what he wears.

Jason Gissing, the banker turned Ocado co-founder, says fashion has always been important to him; John Bradbury, best known as the drummer in The Specials, still thinks he’s a mod; and the musician-cum-cheesemaker Alex James, who is more comfortable with the word style than fashion, loves Spencer’s collection for exactly that reason: the pieces are stylish and transcend mere trends.

Wearing Oliver Spencer can undoubtedly help a man stand out; however, the designer believes that, without personalities to inhabit them, any garment is simply fabric. This collection confirms that, regardless of age, career or ethnicity, it’s the identities and achievements of those who wear the clothes that ultimately make the brand. l oliverspencer.co.uk

Top flight

The next generation of aviation-inspired watches combines tough materials and aircraft technology in reinterpretations of some classic designs

Words: Simon de Burton Photography: Marius Hanson

Clockwise from far left BREMONT Boeing 247 Ti-GMT; BELL & ROSS BR 03-94 Rafale; BREGUET Type XXI; BREITLING Battle of Britain Navitimer; OMEGA Speedmaster Skywalker X-33 Solar Impulse; IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Top Gun

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Brummell • Men’s watches

Bremont Boeing 247 Ti-GMT ↑ Bremont last year furthered its aviation ties by joining forces with Boeing to take advantage of the aircraft company’s advanced material-research facilities. This produced two watches, the Model 1 and the Model 247, with cases made from aeronautical-grade stainless steel. Now the pieces have been reinterpreted in aviation-grade Ti 6-4 titanium. The version above combines chronograph and GMT functions through a chronometer-certified movement. A sapphire insert in the back of the watch provides a good view of the mechanism and its turbo fan-style winding rotor. £4,995; bremont.com

Bell & Ross BR 03-94 Rafale ↑ It was 10 years ago that Bell & Ross released the square-cased BR 01 aviation-inspired wristwatch, creating one of the great horological success stories of the 21st century. The design has since been revisited in numerous guises, the latest being this 42mm BR 03 Rafale limited edition, which commemorates the French-built Dassault Rafale fighter jet. Inspired by the high-tech aircraft, the watch features a matt black ceramic case and a dial in a similar grey to that used to camouflage the plane. ‘Launched’ at the International Paris Air Show in June, the Rafale is limited to 500 pieces. £4,200; bellross.com

IWC Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Top Gun ↑ Since it first appeared in the 1930s, IWC’s Big Pilot’s Watch has remained a classic. The steel time-only version still attracts purists, but a few years ago the brand introduced its Top Gun variations, featuring modern materials and a more contemporary look.

The Perpetual Calendar model above is the most complex in the range, combining a 48mm ceramic case, an IWC movement with seven days’ power reserve, a perpetual calendar accurate until 2100 and a moon-phase display that should, in theory, need adjusting by only one day every 577.5 years. £29,500; iwc.com

Omega Speedmaster Skywalker X-33 Solar Impulse ↑ Omega’s Speedmaster has been associated with aeronautical adventures ever since it entered the history books as the first watch to be worn on the moon during 1969’s Apollo 11 space mission.

This X-33 model marks the ongoing attempt by aviators Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard to circumnavigate the globe in their solar-powered aircraft. Limited to 1,924 (referencing the year of the first round-the-world flight), the 45mm titanium watch has three alarms, multiple time-zone displays and a perpetual calendar. £3,720; omegawatches.com

Breguet Type XXI ↑ Breguet’s pilot watches date back to the development of the original Type XX created for the French Aéronavale during the 1950s, ‘Type XX’ being the specific design remit laid down by the military. Breguet’s original interpretation was adapted into a civilian piece that is still available, while the Type XXI sold alongside it and pictured above is a more complex version, featuring a fly-back chronograph function with a minute totaliser, and a second time-zone display that is complemented by a ‘night and day’ indicator.

The 42mm case is made from lightweight titanium. £9,200; breguet.com

Breitling Battle of Britain Navitimer ↑ On 15 September 1940, the RAF scored a decisive victory over the enemy that put an end to the Luftwaffe’s devastating night raids – a date that became Battle of Britain Day. To commemorate its 75th anniversary this year, pilot-watch specialist Breitling has created a run of 75 special Navitimer chronographs decorated with official Battle of Britain crests and fitted with individually numbered case backs. A percentage of the sale proceeds will be donated to the RAF Benevolent Fund, with the first piece in the series auctioned at the fund’s Royal Gala on 17 September. £6,490 (London boutique only); breitling.com

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Brummell • Design

This page, top and above An image of a Swiss Bally store from the 1920s inspired the design of the London flagship.

Left Zürich’s Bally Capitol, built in the 1960s.

Opposite The ‘Form Scratch’ installation by duo Kolkoz was unveiled at Art Basel last year

From here to modernity

Design • Brummell

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With 165 years of craftsmanship under its belt, luxury Swiss accessories label Bally continues to push the creative boundaries as it pays homage to its Modernist history

Arnaud Mauduit/2014

Words: Gemma Billington

Venerable Swiss luxury brand Bally was founded by brothers Fritz and Carl Franz Bally in the Swiss hamlet of Schönenwerd in 1851. From its beginnings as a traditional shoe-making business, Bally has become one of the world’s most celebrated luxury accessories brands, maintaining a reputation for innovation, endurance and quality.

In spite of its traditional roots, Bally is no stranger to the avant-garde. Throughout its history, it has always endeavoured to work with the most pioneering talent of the day: from Charlie Chaplin to architect Le Corbusier and graphic designer Bernard Villemot. And each collaboration has pushed the brand’s creative capabilities further.

Most recently, its Modernist heritage has been a cornerstone of its increasingly ambitious projects.

Today, Bally is under the leadership of CEO Frédéric de Narp, who came on board in late 2013. Overseeing a major reconstruction, de Narp swiftly appointed fashion stalwart Pablo Coppola as design director, and together the pair have striven to redefine Bally for the modern age.

‘To be modern is to always be modern; it is a way of being, of seeing and of thinking, rather than a mere question of temporality,’ de Narp has said. ‘The point is not so much to move with the times or even to be ahead of one’s time, but to understand it, to be part of it, to capture its trends, its vibrations and aspirations.’

Shortly after stepping into their new positions, Coppola and de Narp travelled to Schönenwerd to immerse themselves in the extensive Bally

archives, which would provide ample inspiration for its new direction. Even when orchestrating the launch of the London flagship store, Modernism and heritage played a key role. Designed by prolific architect Sir David Chipperfield, it was inspired by an archive photograph of a Bally store in Switzerland from the 1920s, the interiors of which were created by Modernist architect Marcel Breuer.

Bally’s commitment to design was further cemented by the launch of Function & Modernity, the brand’s digital magazine, dedicated to icons of modernity. It’s also a new platform to showcase its step into the world of contemporary art. One particularly ambitious project, unveiled in 2014, took the form of a ‘demountable’ house created

by French architect Jean Prouvé.

Among only 15 surviving today, the original house was designed to rehouse civilians affected by bombings in World War II. During its recent trip around the world, it was reconstructed at the Art Basel exhibition and its Miami offshoot, as well as in Shanghai. It was used to showcase Bally’s own collection of Modernist furnishings and, for each instalment, a local artist was commissioned to create a site-specific artwork as a unique and contemporary interpretation of the house.

Through challenging and engaging projects, de Narp and Coppola have successfully breathed new life into Bally. As the company enters its latest chapter, its keenness to push the boundaries of creativity remains steadfast. l bally.co.uk

‘To be modern is a way of being, of seeing and of thinking, rather than a mere question of temporality’

This page Devon loopbackcotton sweatshirt, £135; and sweatpants, £145 Inset Esme women’s silk pyjamas, £350. Brindisi men’s silk pyjamas, £577

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Work, rest & play

Brummell promotion

True to its founding philosophy that relaxation should be synonymous with luxury, Derek Rose has launched its inaugural men’s leisurewear collection. A purveyor of sumptuous pyjamas and dressing gowns since 1926, the luxury brand’s new range, for wear both indoors and out, comprises classically elegant pieces to make dressing for style and comfort a breeze

Photography: Julian Marshall Styling: Cynthia Lawrence John

Brummell promotion

Opposite Paris cotton pyjama trousers, £73.

Ethan MicroModal men’s T-shirt, £70; and Esme silk pyjama shorts, £126 This page Turner cotton T-shirt, £70; Devon loopbackcotton hoodie, £215; and sweatpants, £145 FOR STOCKISTS DETAILS, SEE PAGE 114

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v

Inspirational women: City champions of diversity I was delighted to be asked to be part of the panel of five judging Brummell’s most inspirational City women, which, in 2015, turns its attentions to those who champion diversity. This year’s process was the most challenging yet, such was the calibre of the nominees.

Indeed, we had to keep reminding ourselves that we were restricted to selecting a final list of just 30 and, so, needed to be disciplined in applying the rigorous shortlisting criteria.

The panel received 50 nomination packs, which we duly reviewed, giving ourselves a strict two hours in which to choose the finalists. It was clear straight away that every one of the

nominees is passionate about cultural change. Were they not being paid to advocate diversity and effect positive change in the workplace and beyond, these are women who would clearly be doing so anyway.

Our finalists can be proud of the way they have spearheaded nothing short of a cultural revolution in their organisations – and that, in the process, they have proved diversity is the key to success for every business.

Words: Jemima Wilson Photography: Trent McMinn Shoot assistance: Tom Robinson Hair, make-up & grooming: Sophie Everett Co-ordination: Duncan McRae

HEATHER MELVILLE Director, strategic partnerships, RBS, and non-executive director, Enterprise Enfield

In association with

Sandie Okoro ↑ General counsel, HSBC Global Asset Management An advocate for diversity and inclusion in all walks of life, Okoro is hailed as a trailblazer in law and finance. Prior to leading general counsel role at HSBC, she was global general counsel at Barings Asset Management for seven years. Until 2013, she was president of International Lawyers for Africa, an organisation providing scholarships for African lawyers to gain work experience at the UK’s top law firms. She is an ambassador for the Law Society’s Diversity Access Scheme and a judge for the Black British Business Awards.

Funke Abimbola Managing counsel, UK & Ireland, Roche Products Limited Abimbola is the most senior black lawyer in the UK pharmaceutical industry, and won the 2015 Women4Africa Career Woman of the Year award. An active member of the Black Solicitors Network and Women Lawyers Division of the Law Society, she also established the Women Leaders in Life Sciences Law network, dedicated to developing future female lawyers/leaders in the life-sciences industry. She has been nominated for several legal and diversity awards and judged the 2014 Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion award category at the Law Society Excellence Awards.

Tamara Box Global chair, Financial Industry Group, Reed Smith Outside her day job as board member and chair of the global law firm’s largest practice group, Box is an active supporter of women realising their full potential. She is a founding steering committee member of the 30% Club, an organisation working to achieve gender equality in business, and the chair of the Women of Influence initiative for Cancer Research UK. A graduate of the London School of Economics and a recent appointee to its board of governors, she created the Box Set to support the development of the LSE’s Women’s Library.

Inspirational women • Brummell

Mei Sim Lai OBE → Founder, LaiPeters & Co Lai has championed diversity for more than three decades through her extensive work with various networks, charities and government initiatives addressing race, gender and inclusion. As chair of numerous groups over the years, including the City Women Network and International Women’s Forum (IWF UK), she actively promoted diversity issues, and continues to be passionate about encouraging more women and people from a range of backgrounds to be involved in the civic City. Her accolades include an OBE for services to equal opportunities in 2004, and in 2012, she won the Asian Women of Achievement Award for her contribution to public service.

Opposite Rose diamond earrings; Limelight Garden Party diamond necklace and ring; and Limelight Blooming Rose diamond bracelet watch This page Traditional gold and diamond-set bracelet watch, and fully paved rose-gold and diamond Possession ring (left hand) and earrings All jewellery items identified throughout kindly lent by Piaget

Lisa Buckingham OBE Founder, Breaking the Mould Awards Following a career as a City editor at The Guardian and as editor of the Financial Mail on Sunday, Buckingham established the Breaking the Mould Awards to celebrate companies doing the most to develop female executive talent. She founded the Financial Mail Women’s Forum in 2001, and, to broaden the career horizons of young women, organised a series of Breaking the Mould conferences showcasing successful women in non-traditional roles. She is a senior adviser on diversity at the Institude of Directors, and was awarded an OBE for services to journalism and women’s issues in 2011.

Jessica Carmody Manager, Advisory, KPMG Carmody is a manager within KPMG’s advisory function, specialising in all aspects of people and change management. She has 10 years’ experience working across a variety of industries, including non-profit, retail and finance. She is passionate about raising understanding of mental health – at KPMG, for Mind and also personally. She is an active member of KPMG’s Be Mindful network, advocating better mental health in the challenging City environment; co-organised KPMG events for Mental Health Awareness Week; and represents the company in the City Mental Health Alliance.

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Sue Day Partner, KPMG Advisory Previously the first female partner in the KPMG CF Infrastructure team, Day continues to use her role to foster a positive working environment for women employees, focusing on how to recruit and retain more female talent.

She is also on the advisory panel of Breathe, KPMG’s LGBT network, advocating a more inclusive working environment for gay and bisexual women. A keen sportswoman, she is the former captain of the England Rugby team; a trustee of the Women’s Sport Trust charity, which exists to further opportunities for women in sport; and the first female president of Wasps RFC.

Sarah Deaves Private banking director, Lloyds Banking Group Since joining Lloyds Wealth division in 2013, Deaves has championed diversity and inclusion and is co-chair of Lloyds’ women’s network Breakthrough. With around 11,000 members, it has been key to the firm’s progress to diversity over the past three years, offering mentoring/development support, role-modelling sessions with senior leaders and active discussion forums.

As a supporter of the development of female talent, Deaves joined Lloyds’ executive diversity steering committees to advise on how to create better talent pipelines for women employees.

Natasha Frangos Partner, head of creative, media and technology, Haysmacintyre When, at the age of 30, Frangos was appointed as a partner at chartered accountant Haysmacintyre, she was the youngest to have assumed the role.

A supporter of women and young people in business, her senior position has made her a powerful role model in her industry. In 2013, she founded the Haysmacintyre Exceptional Female Entrepreneurs forum, a networking and support resource for 150 women.

She regularly speaks to start-ups and has judged the Young Guns Awards for many years, supporting the development of young entrepreneurs.

Barbara Kasumu Co-founder and chief executive, Elevation Networks Kasumu has championed equality in more than 50 organisations. She was appointed to the diversity and inclusion board for the London 2012 Olympic Games, and co-founded Elevation Networks – an award-winning social-enterprise network that connects around 12,000 high-achieving black, Asian and minority ethnic and female students with top recruiters for employers such as Barclays, Teach First and Deloitte. She also runs Visible Women, a campaign pairing young women with female mentors in male-dominated industries.

Margaret McCabe CEO and founder, Debate Mate McCabe has more than 20 years’ experience as a commercial barrister, which she combines with work in the voluntary sector for Centrepoint and the NSPCC’s Justice for Children programme. She was an adviser to Human Rights Watch UK and set up the Women Lawyers’ Forum and Ethnic Minority Lawyers conferences as vehicles to drive equality of access to the legal profession for women and ethnic minorities. She is the founder and CEO of global social enterprise Debate Mate, which runs communication skills training for both inner-city schools and the corporate sector.

Sonia Meggie Founder, Inspirational You Meggie is an award-winning social entrepreneur, philanthropist and community activist. Determined to see those around her achieve their full potential, in 2010 she founded Inspirational You to connect and empower young people, women and those from ethnic minorities to make positive professional changes. Under her leadership, it has joined forces with Barclays Corporate, BAML, Google and ITV. Named on Blackenterprise.com as one of the UK’s most powerful black women, in 2014, she won the Positive Role Model accolade in the National Diversity Awards.

Antonia Belcher → Founding partner, MHBC Antonia Belcher is passionate about influencing positive change for women and LGBT candidates pursuing careers in surveying, and is an active promoter of equal opportunities for all in construction and business.

Undertaking pro bono work to support educational and career opportunities in surveying, she is a board director of the Chartered Surveyors Training Trust, which provides employment-based training for young people. She is also a frequent panel member on Yvonne Thompson’s roadshow, 7 Traits of Highly Successful Women on Boards.

Inspirational women • Brummell

Limelight Mediterranean Garden diamond earrings, and Altiplano white-gold diamond-set watch

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This page White-gold, rose-gold and diamond Possession Toi & Moi pendant. Opposite White-gold Possession Classique earrings, and white-gold and diamond Possession ring

Inspirational women • Brummell

Charlene White ← Broadcaster, ITV News A strong believer that nothing is out of reach, White became the first black female to present ITV’s flagship news programme News At Ten in April 2014. Throughout her 15-year career in broadcasting, she has worked in schools, pupil-referral units and colleges to help train young journalists from a range of backgrounds, with the aim of improving diversity in the broadcasting industry. White works internally on ITN’s various diversity projects and has played an influential role in several organisations, including I’m Possible, which aims to inspire, educate and empower young women.

Claire Cockerton → Founder, CEO and chairwoman, Entiq Cockerton is an industry trailblazer in financial services and smart cities, and an advocate for women working in tech. A serial entrepreneur, she founded leading global innovation and technology enabler Entiq and co-created and developed Level39, Europe’s largest accelerator dedicated to fintech, retail and smart cities technologies. To raise the profile of women in her field, she published a listing of 100 who are active in the UK fintech industry. She was the founding CEO of Innovate Finance, is an active member of Women in Tech and hosted the 2015 Innovate Finance Diversity Challenge Awards.

Alicia Millar Manager, learning development team, Reed Smith An ardent advocate for diversity and inclusion, Millar played a key role in the creation of Prism, the LGBT forum for Reed Smith, securing senior management commitment, and the network has grown by 20 per cent since its inception. She sits on the Women’s Initiative Network of Reed Smith steering committee, has spoken at Stonewall’s Workplace Conference, and hosted events for the Radius D&I Leaders Forum. She is also co-chair of the LGBT chapter of the Network of Networks, a leading forum in the wider LGBT professional community.

Harriet Minter Editor, Women in Leadership, The Guardian As the editor of The Guardian’s Women in Leadership section, Minter writes extensively on a variety of issues relating to women and the workplace.

The section, which she founded in 2013 to help organisations become better at gender diversity, has a monthly readership of 250,000 unique users and is accompanied by a weekly newsletter written by Minter and read by 20,000. She is a mentor to several young women just starting out in their careers and speaks regularly on women’s rights, organisational change and the future of work.

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Rose earrings; pearl and diamond Limelight Mediterranean Garden necklace and ring; and Limelight Gala diamond-set bracelet watch

Inspirational women • Brummell

Miranda Brawn ← Barrister and director, Daiwa Capital Markets Recognised for her passion in supporting philanthropic issues, Brawn has a successful portfolio career spanning law, finance and diversity. Elected chair of JP Morgan’s Black Network, she is currently also vice-chair of the Black Cultural Archives and chair of its fundraising committee. She is a patron for Black British Academics, helping to increase diversity within the education and corporate sector, and sits on the boards of several women’s networking groups in the City, including the City Women Network.

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Carolyn Pepper Partner, entertainment and media, Reed Smith Pepper is a firm supporter of social equality and was chair of Reed Smith’s Disability Task Force, which launched in 2012 to improve diversity, giving aspiring lawyers with disabilities opportunities at City law firms. She is the sponsor of the firm’s partnership with GoThinkBig, a collaboration between 02 and Bauer Media offering careers advice to young people. She is also the partner sponsor of Reed Smith’s U-Turn/Create initiative, which aims to help improve the lives of vulnerable women in East London, including those trapped in cycles of homelessness and abuse.

Melanie Richards Vice chairman, member of the UK board and partner, corporate finance, Debt Advisory Services, KPMG UK Richards is an active advocate for diversity and inclusive leadership.

She speaks regularly about this topic both in the UK and internationally, and her influence has led KPMG to publish the most detailed diversity targets of its industry group. She is a founding member of the 30% Club steering committee, sits on the Harvard Women’s Leadership Board and is London co-chair of Women Corporate Directors. She also runs KPMG’s Senior Businesswomen’s Network.

Jacqueline de Rojas Vice president, Northern Europe, Citrix, and president, TechUK In her role at Citrix, where mobile working is a central element, de Rojas is recognised as the most influential woman in UK tech, actively encouraging other women to enter or return to the tech industry at all levels. The president of TechUK, she believes the UK can become the digital nation of choice for investment and talent by inclusively recruiting from across the diversity spectrum, promoting female talent into FTSE 350 boardrooms and inspiring girls to work in the industry. De Rojas is an adviser to the board of Digital Leaders and supports the 30% Club.

Carol Rosati OBE Global head, Inspire, Harvey Nash Following a career as a headhunter recruiting predominantly male CFOs and CEOs, Rosati founded Inspire in 2008 to address the lack of women of similar seniority. The network now connects 5,000 senior executive and board-level businesswomen globally with whom she shares her recruitment expertise via coaching sessions and workshops. Rosati champions diversity initiatives within many organisations, including Harvey Nash, and as part of Inspiring the Future, visits schools to inspire the next generation. She was made an OBE for services to women in business in 2015.

Alison Rose CEO, commercial and private banking, RBS Alison Rose is the chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland’s (RBS) corporate, commercial and private banking business and a passionate supporter of diversity. As a member of the bank’s executive committee, she leads more than 16,000 people and is accountable for market-leading brands such as Coutts and Lombard.

Rose has worked at RBS for over 20 years and, prior to her current role, was head of markets and international banking, EMEA. She is also an executive sponsor for the bank’s employee-led networks.

Melanie Seymour Head of DC operations, BlackRock Since joining BlackRock in 2011, Seymour has been an active member of BlackRock’s Women’s Initiative Network and became chair in 2015.

Outside her BlackRock role of UK DC and regional office lead, she is vice president of Women in Banking and Finance, supporting women in the finance industry at all levels. She is passionate about developing the next generation of leaders and mentors a number of men and women both internally and externally. Seymour is currently involved in industry-wide initiatives to retain female talent and increase social mobility within the City.

Dana Denis-Smith Founder, Obelisk A believer that flexible working is a real strength for lawyers and clients, Denis-Smith founded Obelisk in 2010 to re-engage highly skilled lawyers who have young children or other caring responsibilities. Formerly a journalist at The Economist Group, Denis-Smith applies ideas from other industries to drive change for women in professionalservices firms, and was recognised as the 2015 Outstanding Innovator by Legal Week. In 2014, she founded the First 100 Years project, the UK’s first digital platform dedicated to the history of women in law, delivered in a multimedia format.

Eileen Taylor CEO, DB UK Bank Limited Prior to her role as CEO of the UK banking subsidiary of Deutsche Bank (DB), Taylor was its global head of diversity for four years, during which time she worked with the group executive committee to develop a global diversity strategy. During her tenure, DB launched the Accomplished Top Leaders Advancement Strategy programme and DB Women Global Leaders at INSEAD to help women progress to senior positions within the bank. Taylor currently chairs Deutsche Bank UK’s diversity council and is a member of the City of London Power of Diversity advisory board.

Jennifer Taylor COO, EMEA, Bank of America Merrill Lynch As one of the most senior women in the region, Taylor has wide influence across Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML) and supports executives in 23 countries to develop its culture of inclusivity. She is co-chair of the bank’s EMEA diversity and inclusion council and supports its Returning Talent programme, assisting women who wish to resume work. She mentors many employees and, through the Global Ambassadors Programme, mentors women in developing countries to help them achieve their business objectives. She was awarded BofAML’s Diversity and Inclusion award in 2015.

Professor Hilary Thomas Partner and chief medical adviser, life sciences and healthcare, KPMG Thomas is the most senior clinician within KPMG UK’s life sciences and health practice and has championed diversity throughout her extensive career. She led a diversity initiative as the only woman on the executive team at Care UK, and works closely with the diversity and inclusion team at KPMG, where she is also the partner sponsor of the Carers network and an active participant in the KPMG Network of Women. In 2015, she was named as a Luminary by the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association.

Brenda Trenowden Head of the financial institutions group for Europe, and head of banks and diversified financials, Europe & Americas, ANZ In addition to her leading financial role at ANZ Bank, Trenowden is a founding member and global chair of the 30% Club, and was president of the City Women Network in London for three years. She spearheads diversity and inclusion initiatives for ANZ in Europe and the Americas, regularly speaking to women’s networks at client offices, including HSBC, Nomura, RBS and Deutsche Bank. She is also a founding UK board member for the Asian University for Women in Bangladesh.

Lesley Wan Corporate real-estate counsel, Lloyds Banking Group Wan has spearheaded a number of high-profile initiatives to promote diversity both within Lloyds Banking Group and externally, and created Lloyds’ Breakthrough mentoring programme to identify, promote and retain female talent. Outside her role at Lloyds, she regularly presents to City law firms about empowering women and is a supporter of the InterLaw Diversity Forum. In 2012, she set up the charity Through the Looking Glass to encourage young people from underprivileged backgrounds to pursue higher education or careers in the City.

Sacha Romanovitch → CEO, Grant Thornton UK LLP Prior to becoming CEO at Grant Thornton, Romanovitch was head of the firm’s London Advisory section, and the board member responsible for people and culture. She has led cultural-change programmes for major global business as well as Grant Thornton’s own programme, and pioneered the adoption of a holistic approach to spotting young talent that resulted in a 20 per cent increase in diversity in the 2015 trainee intake.

Externally, she is chair of the patron group for Access Accountancy, a social mobility initiative that aims to provide equal access to young people.

Inspirational women • Brummell

White-gold and diamond Possession earrings and rings

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The panel Liz Bingham OBE Partner, EY A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusiveness, Bingham has spent her career campaigning to create a working environment in which difference is celebrated and people from all backgrounds can succeed and flourish. As a restructuring partner and licensed insolvency practitioner, she has received many awards, and, in 2013, was awarded an honorary doctorate in Business Administration in recognition of her contribution to professional services. She was made an OBE for services to equality in the workplace in the 2015 New Year Honours list.

Heather Melville Director, strategic partnerships, RBS, and non-executive director, Enterprise Enfield Melville has 36 years' experience working in international sales in finance and sitting on a number of diversity boards. In 2010, she was awarded the Women in Banking & Finance Award for Achievement in the Champion for Women category, and in 2012, was awarded the World of Difference 100 Award and recognised as one of the top-100 women worldwide to have made a difference to female economic empowerment. She is the founder and global chair of the RBS Focused Women’s Network.

Dr. Yvonne Thompson CBE Author, and Chair, WBLN and ACBN Thompson has more than 30 years' experience in the communications industry, campaigning for equal opportunities relating to race and women’s boardroom equality. She was the only woman on a board at Choice FM (now Capital Xtra) for 15 years, and there experienced how lonely it can be for a woman at the top. Eager to share the experience she gained with others, she spent a year talking to women on boards, choosing 22 of their stories for her book 7 Traits of Highly Successful Women on Boards – an accessible read for anyone already serving on a board or aspiring to do so.

Vanessa Vallely Managing director, WeAreTheCity Following a 25-year career in banking and finance, Vallely started the networking website WeAreTheCity in 2008 as a vehicle to help women in the City connect and grow both personally and professionally. The site receives more than four million hits a month and was also launched in India in 2014.

Vallely’s debut book Heels of Steel, which was published in 2013, tracks her impressive career trajectory and includes advice intended to support the next generation in achieving their own career success. In 2014, she was cited as one of the top 100 Connected Women in the UK by GQ.

Our expert judges are well qualified to raise awareness of some remarkable women who, at different stages of their careers, are inspiring others in the name of diversity and often working for causes that are beyond the remit of their day job

Birgit Neu Managing director, neuchange Neu’s extensive corporate experience encompasses a number of roles at HSBC, including head of a privatebanking initiative for its commercial bank, and COO positions within its global banking and markets business.

In 2013, she founded culture-change consultancy Neuchange, and also co-chairs the Network of Networks for Gender, a best-practice-sharing forum for gender network heads from around 100 UK corporates and government agencies. She is also a facilitator for the Forward Institute, helping the next generation of leaders meet the challenges facing 21st-century business.

Lynne Freeman The panel would like to pay tribute to Lynne Freeman, London partner at Reed Smith, who passed away in July. She played a pivotal and innovative role in talent development across the firm, led the firm’s Women’s Initiative in the EMEA region and participated visibly and successfully in many gender-balance efforts across the City.

With thanks to all those who submitted nominations

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Women’s style • Brummell

Women’s style — Dressing for success ‘The most rewarding thing about my work is making my clients look and feel invincible,’ says women’s bespoke tailor Pip Howeson on page 92. Because confidence and style go hand in hand, over the next 15 pages we round up a carefully edited selection of new-season womenswear, from polished winter work clothes to chic leather accessories. We also showcase dazzling creations from the world’s finest jewellers – helping high-flying women to sparkle that little bit more.

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Classic nouveau ↓ Mulberry may be best known for its signature British-made leather bags, but its womenswear is also emblematic of our native style, combining city cool with the craft of the countryside.

Inspired by a fascination with British houses and how they have evolved through time, the autumn/winter 2015 ready-to-wear collection references grand Georgian interiors, namely the Neoclassical style of architects such as Robert Adam and Sir John Soane.

A filigree design is silk-screened on items across the collection – the large silk scarf pictured provides a luxurious layer for winter and is available in sea blue, jungle green and peony pink.

Border scarf, £190; mulberry.com

Two’s company ↑ Of all the luxury fashion houses, Dolce & Gabbana has arguably the most identifiable codes: crucifixes and roses, Sicilian lace, sharp tailoring, hourglass silhouettes and a romantic abundance of flowers. So it makes sense that the designer duo’s motifs should also reverberate throughout the brand’s fine-jewellery collections, as they do in the four distinct lines launched this autumn. The Mamma collection, pictured, features delicate roses in opal, jade and turquoise set into gold filigree on crucifix earrings and delicate necklaces, and standing proud on rings.

Vivid daisies in coloured diamonds and emeralds characterise Primavera, while Farfalle’s aquamarines, citrines, morganites and amethyst quartzes are crafted into delicate butterflies that float on pendants or perch atop cocktail rings. The rings, earrings and pendants in the Pizzo line, meanwhile, in ornate but delicate gold filigree set with tanzanite, aquamarines or deep-red garnets, reference traditional Sicilian yellow-gold jewellery. dolcegabbana.com

Heels of steel ← If you struggle to find shoes with the perfect heel – high enough to elongate the legs but comfortable enough to walk further than a few metres in – head to Harrods. Italian footwear brand Casadei allows customisation of every aspect of the handmade solid-steel heel of its signature Blade shoes, from the all-important height to the colour and material, be that suede, nappa leather, crocodile, python or silk-satin.

What’s more, for the ultimate in bespoke, your initials will be carved on the sole. From £550; casadei.com

Women’s style news • Brummell

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Work wonders ← Designer Brunello Cucinelli first had the idea to dye cashmere in 1978, and although at the time he was told it was a crazy thing to do to such a delicate fibre, subtly coloured cashmere and other natural fabrics continue to define his collections today. He makes annual visits to Mongolia and China to select the best-quality goat hair for his workshops in Solomeo, Italy, where master craftsmen transform it into garments. His latest womenswear collection features softly structured knits and tailored jackets – winter workwear that is warm yet smart, and transitions effortlessly into elegant evening attire. brunellocucinelli.com

Hide to seek ↓ Paul Smith finds inspiration in everything – he’s even written a book on the matter – and sometimes it comes from sources close to home. In the case of his latest women’s leather collection, it was his own shop at 9 Albemarle Street, Mayfair – items in the line are embossed with the repeating elliptical pattern of its cast-iron façade.

The collection includes eight products in 11 colour options. From £130; paulsmith.co.uk

I should Coco Mme Chanel opened her first shop on Rue Cambon in Paris in 1910, and the minimal elegance of her garments gained a legion of fans soon after. To mark the house’s long history, there will be an exhibition at Chelsea’s Saatchi Gallery from 13 October to 1 November. Exploring both Coco’s inspiration and creative director Karl Lagerfeld’s take on her classic designs, Mademoiselle Privé will include displays of haute couture from every era and re-editions of the high-jewellery Bijoux de Diamonds collection created in 1932. chanel.com

Coat of many colours ↑ Now an outerwear icon, the Burberry trench coat was created back in 1912 to protect military officers from wind and rain at the Front. Although it has been modernised over the past century, the coat’s fundamental design remains just as resilient against the elements, it is still made in the same gabardine fabric invented by Thomas Burberry in 1879, and no fewer than 80 highly skilled processes are required in its construction. For autumn/winter, coats in navy and parade red have been added to the women’s Heritage trench collection, so, no matter what the weather throws at you, style need not be compromised. From £1,095; burberry.com

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Brummell • Women’s tailoring

Measured response With garments designed to both flatter and empower, Pip Howeson’s bespoke tailoring service is aimed predominantly at women

Words: Jemima Wilson

Tailoring has moved beyond the confines of the boardroom, and, while men have long been able to invest in quality and individually crafted garments made to last, now women have the opportunity, with a couturier who creates truly bespoke pieces.

Pip Howeson started her business as a bespoke tailor with a largely female clientele in 2012. She found that although women can go to Savile Row for a variation of a tailor’s house style, there are very few tailors making utterly bespoke coats or jackets especially for the female figure. ‘Many women have dressmakers, but it’s not the same as having a beautiful tailored jacket,’ Howeson says.

Howeson enjoys making garments for both men and women: notable clients include Stephen Fry and Hugh Bonneville, and she’s currently creating a jacket for a man who has one arm bigger than the other. However, her bespoke service aims to address the lack of high-quality, feminine tailoring available for women who want a garment that will last a lifetime. ‘Women wear coats for around four years on average, whereas men often inherit them,’ she explains. ‘Why can’t we have the same principles for women as we do for men?’

The daughter of a naval officer, Howeson grew up obsessed with uniforms: the way they were cut and how people could make them look their own.

Women’s tailoring • Brummell

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Imogen Cunliffe

Women wear coats for around four years, whereas men often inherit them. Why can’t we have the same principles?

A keen horse rider, she attended agricultural college but it didn’t work out, so she entered the world of fashion. Her love of vintage riding habits inspired her to introduce the hacking jacket to Jack Wills in the company’s early stages, when she worked there with a team of around six people.

‘It was lots of fun,’ she recalls. ‘I loved the passion, and creating a lifestyle that made people happy.’

She moved on to work with Aubin & Wills, then with Selina Blow, an experience Howeson describes as ‘crazy, but amazing, as all her fabrics were sourced in England’. After that she worked with wedding dress designer David Fielden, but the style was too ‘floaty’ for Howeson, who likes the mathematical and structural elements required to construct a tailored garment.

After Howeson had a couple of commissions to make smoking jackets, her husband encouraged her to establish a bespoke tailoring business, and, through word of mouth, the requests were soon flooding in. She decided to pitch her business idea to a room of investors, and, while initially all five were keen, she entrusted Dragons’ Den’s Doug Richard and ex-advertising mogul Chris Ingram to give her the necessary funding.

Taking inspiration from designers such as Carolina Herrera, Oscar de la Renta and

Clockwise from above Pip Howeson in her home studio; and one of her bespoke hacking jackets

Brunello Cucinelli, Howeson has a classic approach to design: without inflicting her vision on her clients, she knows intuitively what works for different body shapes. A signature feature that characterises her jackets are two seams that sit in the back, which draw the eye inwards to flatter any figure. A proud advocate of traditional British craftsmanship, Howeson handcrafts all her garments in England using only the finest British fabrics.

The beauty of bespoke is that anything is possible, and what Howeson finds most rewarding about her work is bringing out the confidence in her clients by creating armour that makes them look and feel invincible, no matter what the occasion.

‘Whether they are full-time mums or CEOs, they are very successful in whatever they do, but there are a lot of powerful people out there who don’t have a lot of confidence,’ she says.

Howeson relishes the more challenging requests, preferring to find unconventional solutions rather than simply suggesting more straightforward options – something that singles her out in the market. She currently works from her home in Islington, but is set to open a new studio in Chelsea this autumn. l piphoweson.com

Botanic beauty Floral-inspired creations that showcase the skill of the world’s finest jewellers

Photography: Emma Job Styling: Jessica Diamond

Clockwise from far left High-jewellery necklace in yellow gold set with mother-of-pearl, aquamarines, tourmalines, emeralds and diamonds, £POA, BULGARI Mediterranean Garden necklace in pink gold set with tourmalines, spinels, aquamarines and diamonds, £206,000, PIAGET

Cluster Wreath necklace in platinum set with diamonds, £POA, HARRY WINSTON Haute-joaillerie necklace in white and yellow gold set with yellow and white diamonds, £POA, CHOPARD

Jewellery • Brummell

Opposite, from top Gatsby floral bracelet in platinum set with a black onyx and diamonds, £POA, TIFFANY & CO

Lily Cluster bangle in platinum set with diamonds, £POA, HARRY WINSTON

This page, from top Hortensia earrings in pink gold set with angel-skin coral, pink opals, pink tourmalines and diamonds, £21,060, CHAUMET

Angel’s Garland earrings in platinum set with kunzite and diamonds, £14,420, BOODLES

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Clockwise from far left Diorette ring in yellow gold set with a diamond, amethyst, mandarin garnet, tsavorite, pink sapphire and lacquer, £8,600, DIOR JOAILLERIE Gatsby flower ring in platinum set with diamonds, £POA, TIFFANY & CO Mediterranean Garden ring in pink gold set with a tourmaline, emeralds and diamonds, £153,000, PIAGET Caresse d’Orchidées ring in pink gold set with diamonds, £2,890, CARTIER

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Brummell • Jewellery

This page High-jewellery earrings in white gold set with sapphires, milky quartz, peridots and diamonds, £POA, BULGARI

Opposite Double-flower brooch in white gold set with diamonds, £POA, GRAFF DIAMONDS

FOR STOCKISTS DETAILS, SEE PAGE 114

The works Beautifully made mechanical watches for women that tick all the boxes

Words: Simon de Burton Photography: Marius Hanson

Clockwise from far left TIFFANY CT60; DIOR VIII Grand Bal ‘Résille’; CHOPARD LUC XPS Ladies; RICHARD MILLE RM 016; OMEGA De Ville Ladymatic; RAYMOND WEIL Freelancer

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Brummell • Women’s watches

Tiffany CT60 ↑ Legendary American jeweller Tiffany has this year revamped its watch offering with an all-new range of models designed and developed in-house.

The CT60 line comprises models for both men and women, one of the best of the latter being this 34mm steel-cased three-hander, which is fitted with a matching steel bracelet and a self-winding mechanical movement with 42 hours of power reserve. The white sunray dial carries gold numerals, while the bezel can be left plain or set with brilliant diamonds. A rose-gold version with a chocolate-brown dial is also available.

From £3,450 (plain steel); tiffany.co.uk

Dior VIII Grand Bal ‘Résille’ ↑ Dior’s Grand Bal watches offer a different take on mechanical watchmaking by placing the movement’s automatic winding rotor on the front of the dial rather than in the conventional position behind it. The rotors are then used as the basis for a range of designs redolent of Dior’s couture creations, with the 211 diamonds set into this 33mm model referencing the type of netting used on a ballerina’s tutu. The dial is made from black Vietnamese mother-of-pearl, which complements the black ceramic case, smoked-sapphire crystal case back and black lizard-skin strap. £18,800; dior.com

Chopard LUC XPS Ladies ↑ Named for Louis-Ulysse Chopard, who founded the company in 1860, Chopard’s premium watch range falls under the LUC banner, all of which use mechanical movements designed and assembled in-house at the brand’s Fleurier manufacture.

The XPS women’s model features a chronometercertified, self-winding mechanism with 65 hours of power reserve and a ‘stop seconds’ function.

A sapphire-crystal case back means the highly finished movement can be admired, while the dial is made from a sliver of mother-of-pearl.

The bezels and hour markers are diamond-set. £17,480; chopard.com

Raymond Weil Freelancer ↑ When the late Raymond Weil founded his house during the height of the 1970s ‘quartz crisis’, his aim was to make luxury timepieces that were relatively affordable. That ethos continues today, helped by many of the brand’s ‘ladies’ designs using quartz movements. But a growing demand among women for watches with more soulful mechanical mechanisms has led to the introduction of models such as this Freelancer, which proclaims its clockwork status through an opening in the dial that exposes the oscillating balance wheel. The watch has a mother-of-pearl dial and a steel case. £2,595; raymond-weil.com

Richard Mille RM 016 ↑ There is now sufficient demand from female horophiles for pieces that celebrate the art of 21st-century clockwork that Richard Mille – which favours pushing the boundaries of mechanical watchmaking – is gradually extending its women’s line with models such as this partly gem-set version of its RM 016. Featuring an extra-flat case made from titanium, the watch is light and comfortable to wear. The movement is also made partly from titanium, and uses the brand’s patented ‘variable geometry’ rotor, which adjusts according to the wearer’s level of movement. £79,500; richardmille.com

Omega De Ville Ladymatic ↑ Omega was one of the first horology houses to introduce a self-winding watch for women when it launched the original Ladymatic in 1955.

The model name was revived a decade ago and now appears on a range of 34mm round-cased watches that are available in steel and precious metals, with a variety of dial colours and materials, and with different levels of gem-setting. At the heart of them all, however, is the highly acclaimed ‘8521’ Co-Axial mechanical movement, which features a state-of-the-art silicone balance spring and is chronometer-certified for accuracy. £3,720; omegawatches.com

CHINESE BUSINESS LEADERS AWARDS 2015 NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN Brummell is proud to be the media partner for the Chinese Business Leaders Awards 2015.

The awards recognise and celebrate the most talented individuals within the UK’s Chinese business community.

To nominate a Chinese business leader of your choice, please visit sinopro.co.uk by 6 November 2015 and follow the link.

The awards ceremony and gala dinner will be hosted at the Grand Connaught Rooms in central London.

Awards organiser:

In association with:

DAVID CLULOW OPTICIANS. GREATER LONDON: BISHOPSGATE · CANARY WHARF · CHEAPSIDE · CORNHILL · COVENT GARDEN · CHELSEA KINGS ROAD · EALING · KINGSTON · HAMMERSMITH · HAMPSTEAD · ISLINGTON · KENSINGTON HIGH STREET · LONDON WALL · MAYFAIR WIGMORE STREET · NOTTING HILL · RICHMOND · SOHO · SURREY QUAYS · VICTORIA STREET · WIMBLEDON. SOUTH: BASINGSTOKE · BLUEWATER · BRIGHTON · BRISTOL · CAMBRIDGE · CHELTENHAM · COBHAM CROUCH END · GUILDFORD · LOUGHTON · MARLOW · NEWBURY · OXFORD · WATFORD

Epicure • Brummell

Epicure — Food & drink The onset of autumn makes heartier food the order of the day, and our Epicure pages give you the low-down on the most indulgent and interesting culinary activities in town. We pick the most exciting new bar and restaurant openings across the capital, prepare to get strapped in for Dinner in the Sky, and sample a selection of delightful delicacies, from Russian caviar to Spanish jamón. We also take a look at the female chefs behind some of the city’s finest dining establishments, and, to top it all off, we savour rum straight up. One thing’s for sure, London has something to satisfy every taste.

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Brummell • Epicure news

Good eggs ↑ The Volzhenka farm has been producing fine caviars on the banks of the Volga for generations. Entrepreneur Ekaterina Bataeva is a descendant of the founding family and, building on the expertise of her ancestors, recently launched her own company, Volzhenka Caviar. It offers a range that includes Beluga, Sevruga, Russian Oscietra and Siberian sturgeon.

Named after the women who live along the banks of the river, her caviar is of the highest grade of maturity. The fish are kept in deep, half-open tanks that are constantly refreshed with the waters of the Volga, ensuring their eggs are bigger, creamier and lighter in taste.

Available in 30g–500g jars, from £45; volzhenka.com

Thoroughly modern Global-cuisine magpie and cookery-book author Anna Hansen opened her latest venture, The Modern Pantry Finsbury Square, in the beautiful Art Deco Alphabeta building this month. Decked out in mid-century Scandinavian style, the restaurant and tapas bar serves the fusion food for which she is renowned – the likes of liquorice, soy and cardamom-cured beef fillet feature on the mains menu, and candied fennel and amchur-dusted puffed wild rice are among the bar snacks. themodernpantry.co.uk

Say yes to Nopi ↑ Whether you’re a regular at Yotam Ottolenghi’s Soho restaurant Nopi and want to know the secret of your favourite dishes – the twice-cooked baby chicken or baked blue cheesecake – or you’re a fan who wants to see what goes on in the restaurant’s kitchen, the collection of recipes in Nopi: The Cookbook is designed to inspire.

Written by Ottolenghi and his long-time collaborator, Nopi head chef Ramael Scully, it includes more than 100 of its most popular dishes, from simple starters to more complex mains and puddings, all guaranteed to impress – as Ottolenghi says, his recipes are ‘never simple, but doable’.

Nopi: The Cookbook (Ebury Press, £28)

Kevin Allen; Andy Donohoe/Pachamama

Modern spice ↑ Opening on Old Brompton Road this October, Flora Indica is a new bar and restaurant that adds a quirky twist to contemporary Indian dining.

Inspired by the work of distinguished Victorian botanists who discovered and documented plants across India and Britain, its head chef Suresh Pillai – a veteran of leading establishments Veeraswamy and Gymkhana – has incorporated an array of botanical flavours into the menu, namely dishes such as Cornish mussels in ginger and tamarind broth with a coriander naan, and Tamworth pork vindaloo with purple garlic and palm vinegar.

The interior was designed by Henry Chebaane and combines Kensington residential elegance with elements of 19th-century industry, including a steampunk-style distilling installation. flora-indica.com

Epicure news • Brummell

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Height of luxury ← Nine years after the first Dinner in the Sky launched in Belgium, the quirky experience, during which diners sit strapped in to a table suspended by a giant crane and dangled 25m above ground, is returning to London for a two-week residency, this time at Upper Ground, South Bank, in the second half of September. There will be daily sittings for breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus a special Taittinger ‘flight’ with canapés. The high-flying experiences start at £50 a head for breakfast and £200 for dinner. Unconvinced? Note the calibre of the chefs involved – Peter Weeden, Sophie Michell, Mike Reid and Tom Aikens have all signed up. It will almost certainly be the most memorable dinner date you’ll ever have.

17–30 September; eventsinthesky.co.uk

Called to the bar ↓ Until November, the Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge (bulgarihotels.com) has a pop-up mezcal bar in its Spirit Room and is offering classes in making mezcal cocktails and infusions. In the City, the Threadneedle Bar opens soon in the Royal Exchange (royalexchange.co.uk).

Its drinks list draws on Jerry Thomas’s Bartenders’ Guide, the first mixology handbook, first published in 1862.

Meanwhile, fans of the eccentric Mr Fogg’s in Mayfair (mr-foggs.com) will be pleased to know that a Covent Garden offshoot opens in October. It will have a Victorian tavern on the ground floor, with a gin parlour and salon above.

Deli delicious In Britain, canning food is a way to maximise cheaper cuts, but Spanish manufacturers treat it like slow cooking, creating melt-in-the-mouth textures and bringing out subtle flavours in gourmet produce. This is evident in Ibérica deli’s £30-a-tin shellfish from Galicia, where fresh water meets sea currents, producing cockles, clams and mussels with intense flavour. The deli also sells jamón, chorizo, sherry and cheese.

Ibérica: Farringdon, Canary Wharf, Marylebone and now Victoria; ibericarestaurants.com

Into the mix ↑ When it comes to cocktail preferences, it can be hard to experiment: if you love a whisky sour, why order a Negroni?

This October offers an ideal chance to break the habit. For six days, London will be taken over by mixologists, as London Cocktail Week brings signature blends, muddles and ices to an array of establishments such as Smith & Whistle at the Park Lane Hotel, the Churchill Bar & Terrace at the Hyatt Regency, and Pachamama Bar & Kitchen in Marylebone, above. The World Class London Cocktail Week Hub at 51 Poland Street in Soho – with rooms such as the Haig Club Lounge and the Tanqueray No. 10 Art Deco bar – will be the focal point.

5–11 October; londoncocktailweek.com

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Brummell • Chefs

Queens of cuisine The female chefs adding zest to the capital’s reputation for fine dining

Words: Stefan Chomka

Did you know that London is home – or partly, at least – to the best female chef in the world? Hélène Darroze might not be British, but as executive chef of two Michelin-starred restaurant Hélène Darroze at The Connaught (the-connaught.co.uk), the French chef splits her time between the UK capital and Paris, where she also has a highly fêted eatery.

Earlier this year Darroze was crowned the Veuve Clicquot World’s Best Female Chef. What’s more, she’s just one of a number of female chefs currently presiding over the London dining scene.

Like many of her peers, her career is grounded in classic French cooking. After growing up and working in her family’s restaurant in the south-west of France, she went on to work with Alain Ducasse at his prestigious Louis XV restaurant in Monaco.

Following that, Darroze opened the eponymous

An eclectic culinary trail has led these chefs to the most prestigious of places

Hélène Darroze in Paris and, after it received critical acclaim, was tempted across the Channel to launch in The Connaught in 2007.

Darroze is not the only top female chef to have run the restaurant at the London hotel. Before she took the helm, it was part of Gordon Ramsay’s group and home to Angela Hartnett, arguably the UK’s best-known female chef. Today, Hartnett is executive chef of Mayfair fine-dining restaurant Murano (muranolondon.com), operates the less formal Café Murano (cafemurano.co.uk), of which there are now two – St James’s and Covent Garden – and has also given her name to Hartnett Holder & Co, in the Lime Wood Hotel in Hampshire (limewoodhotel.co.uk), where she also cooks.

Kent-born Hartnett has been a long-term lieutenant of Gordon Ramsay, first working

Chefs • Brummell

Images courtesy of Café Murano, Hélène Darroze at The Connaught, Pont St, Spring

Opposite Charcuterie board at Café Murano This page, top to bottom Foie gras terrine, with black truffle and persimmon, from Hélène Darroze at The Connaught; desserts from Pont St’s Marie Antoinette afternoon tea; a selection of ice cream from Spring

with him at the start of his career at Aubergine in Chelsea back in 1994. In 2002 she opened Angela Hartnett at The Connaught, winning a Michelin star two years later, and, in 2008, launched Murano, again with Ramsay, eventually taking control of the restaurant in 2010.

Her hybrid French/Italian cooking style has won her many plaudits, while her strong kitchen persona has helped attract and nurture female talent: Pip Lacey is head chef at Murano, while its former sous chef, Sam Williams, now heads up Café Murano in St James.

Spring chef Skye Gyngell is also no stranger to accolades. Originally from Australia, she has worked at The French House in Soho and at The Dorchester, but it is her stint at Petersham Nurseries in Richmond, where she turned a

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ramshackle café into a Michelin-starred destination, for which she is best known. Having opened Spring (springrestaurant.co.uk) in Somerset House last October, she still practises her distinctive style of highly seasonal cooking, albeit now in considerably plusher surroundings.

Gyngell left her mark on another high-profile female chef and restaurateur during her time at Petersham Nurseries. MasterChef 2005 winner Thomasina Miers spent an informative time there under Gyngell before forming the successful Mexican restaurant chain Wahaca (wahaca.co.uk).

Miers’ path to restaurateur is an unusual one: having spent much of her youth travelling, she was convinced to enter the cooking world only after a chance meeting with TV cook Clarissa Dickson Wright at a fashion show. Her CV includes making cheese in West Cork and selling homemade pasta with TV chef Clodagh McKenna.

Miers’ love of Mexican street food, informed by her travels in the country, twinned with her MasterChef victory, eventually led her to open the first Wahaca, in Covent Garden, in 2007.

Chefs Florence Knight and Sophie Michell also entered the industry via less orthodox paths.

Michell trained to be a chef aged 19, but the executive chef of Pont St (pontst.com) in Belgravia and one of the female quartet behind The Gorgeous Kitchen restaurant at Heathrow’s Terminal 2 hasn’t always worked in commercial kitchens – she was formerly a private chef for celebrities, including Leonardo DiCaprio and supermodel Claudia Schiffer, no less.

Knight, who was until recently head chef at Polpetto (polpetto.co.uk) in Soho, studied for a year at the London College of Fashion before leaving and working as a pastry chef at Arsenal Football Club. She caught the attention of restaurateur Russell Norman and took the reins at Italian small-plate restaurant Polpetto in 2010, staying with it when it moved to its new location, above The French House, in 2014. Watch out for her next – as yet unannounced – chef role.

As with The Connaught, The French House has a strong connection with top female cooking talent. As well as being where Gyngell worked, it was here that celebrated chef Anna Hansen cut her teeth. Born in Canada and raised in New Zealand, Hansen moved to London and worked alongside New Zealand-born fusion chef Peter Gordon, opening the award-winning Marylebone restaurant The Providores with him in 2001.

In 2008, she launched The Modern Pantry (modernpantry.co.uk) in Clerkenwell, renowned for its highly creative fare. A long-awaited second launches in Finsbury Square this month, overseen

by Hansen’s head chef and protégé Rob McLeary, who has worked with her since 2008.

An eclectic culinary trail has led these chefs to the most prestigious of places, garnering them accolades en route and, in the process, gained the capital a firmament of Michelin stars. l

Family values

Spirits • Brummell

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A distillation of 150 years of dynastic expertise, the Facundo Rum Collection, from Bacardí’s private reserves, makes for blue-chip sipping

Words: Jane Fulcher Illustration: Cynthia Kittler

Enjoying a good whisky neat has long been a pleasure, and bars serving unadulterated vodka are now par for the course. The renewed popularity of high-quality tequilas and mescal, meanwhile, has led to a crop of small-batch, artisanal and deliciously complex sipping varieties. And now it’s rum’s turn to be savoured straight up.

Though it has been sipped for centuries in Latin America and the Caribbean, until recently, drinking rum undiluted by a mixer was less common on this side of the globe. As the spirit finds a new following, however, its high-end expressions are increasingly in demand.

‘The market for premium rums is growing four times as fast as the rest of the rum category,’ says Facundo L Bacardí, chairman of the world’s best-known distiller and great-great-grandson of its founder, Don Facundo Bacardí Massó. ‘As the market leader, we believed customers were ready for more robust, authentic sipping varieties, so decided to create the Facundo Rum Collection.

Sipping rum is a family tradition passed down from generation to generation, but this is the first time a collection of four luxury sipping rums has been created from our private reserve.’

After its launch in the United States in honour of Bacardí’s recent 150th anniversary, the limited collection of 10,000 bottles is now available for the first time in Europe. Each of the four blends pays particular tribute to a different element of Bacardí’s heritage. The company’s maestro de ron, or master rum blender, Manny Oliver, tasted more than 200 from the reserve and put forward around 40 varieties. Thereafter, the family, together with a panel of experts, chose a final quartet they believed embodied ‘150 years of visionary rum-making’.

They certainly live up to that claim. Neo (£48), the only white rum in the collection, which has a nutty, frangipane-and-fruit aroma, has been aged in oak for up to eight years, making it one of the oldest white rums available. The others – Eximo (£65), Exquisito (£130) and Paraíso (£300) – are

dark rums of distinct complexity and character.

Eximo, blended by Manny Oliver and aged in oak for a minimum of a decade, has strong caramel and toffee notes balanced by a hint of smoke, while Exquisito’s smooth apricot and butterscotch flavours contribute to making it perhaps the most effortlessly drinkable of the collection. Blended from seven- to 23-year-old varieties, its ageing in sherry casks lends it its unique notes and pays homage to Facundo Bacardí Massó’s Spanish heritage – he was born and lived in Sitges, near Barcelona, before emigrating to Cuba, where he remained until 1960. Paraíso, in contrast, which is finished in XO cognac barrels, honours the French lineage of his wife, Amalia Moreau.

It has a taste that is rich in honey and almond.

Each of the spirits in the Facundo Rum Collection is made for sipping neat or serving over ice – preferably in big blocks or spheres that melt very slowly. Nevertheless, employ any one of them in a cocktail and they will still taste fabulous.

The bottles are artworks in themselves, drawing inspiration from the Bacardí building in Havana, an Art Deco masterpiece completed in 1930 and one of the finest examples in Latin America. Neo’s is embossed with a motif inspired by the reliefs on the building’s exterior and includes a depiction of El Coco, the legendary coconut palm planted to mark the opening of the company’s first distillery, in Santiago de Cuba, in 1862. ‘We wanted the designs to reflect our Cuban heritage,’ Facundo L Bacardí explains. ‘During Cuba’s golden era, the Edificio Bacardí housed one of the most exclusive bars of all time. We went to great lengths to pick out motifs that would help us tell the fascinating story that is our history.’

The Facundo Rum Collection tells something of that story, and, in doing so, pays tribute to the remarkable process by which raw sugar cane becomes something ultra-refined: a spirit nuanced and delicate enough to be enjoyed in just the same way as a single malt or a fine wine. l facundorum.com

Rum’s the word Bacardí’s not the only brand making rums that are smooth enough to sip.

Here’s the inside track on the best of the rest from South America.

Zacapa, a celebrated Guatemalan rum, is matured above cloud level in the highlands of Quetzaltenango. The slow maturation afforded by the 2,300m altitude makes it as intriguing as it is delicious. Highly recommended: the platinum-medal-winning Ron Zacapa Centenario Sistema Solera 23. £46; zacaparum.com Diplomático hails from Venezuela and has won a raft of international awards – more than 20 at the last count.

Perhaps its most outstanding expression is the Reserva Exclusiva, which is aged for 12 years to create a dark, sweet, complex and memorable flavour. £40; rondiplomatico.com El Dorado makes a pretty bold claim with its name, but luckily it has the style and flavour to back it up. It is distilled on the banks of the Demerara River in Guyana, where explorers and conquistadors once searched for the legendary city of gold. This 15-year-old blend is liquid gold – and has been voted Best Rum in the World at the International Wine & Spirits Challenge for four years in a row. £43; theeldoradorum.com

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Brummell • Need to know

It was the Speedmasters on the astronauts’ wrists that had successfully guided them to this incredible feat

Space-time continuing Forty-six years after it helped guide the first humans to the moon, Omega revisits its enduring classic

Words: Eleanor Pryor

Affectionately referred to as the Moonwatch, Omega’s legendary timepiece is so called because of its role in cosmic history. In 1969, when the world stood captivated as two astronauts stepped out onto the moon for the very first time, it was the trusted Speedmasters on their wrists that had successfully guided them to this incredible feat.

The NASA-approved watch has played a part in all the lunar landings, right up to accompanying the last man to set foot on the moon. When Capt Gene Cernan, above, left its surface in 1972, little did he know he’d be the last for decades to come.

‘When I climbed up into the spacecraft for the last time, I knew I wouldn’t be coming back.

Someone in the future would, but it wouldn’t be me,’ remembers Cernan. ‘I looked down at my

final footprints and wondered how long they’d be there. How long my daughter’s initials would stay written in the sand, how long the flag would stand.

I’d like to think that it would be forever – however long forever actually is.’

Omega continues to pay tribute to its lunar legacy with a new generation of Speedmasters that are as dedicated to innovation and precision as those that came before. The multifaceted collection sees the Swiss watchmaker revisit its well-received Dark Side of the Moon timepieces, which saw the chronograph clad in black ceramic. It has been updated with additional aesthetic options for 2015, including the Black Black, which, as the name suggests, has a black dial, case, strap and even black luminova on the indexes, taking the concept of darkness to a whole new level. The next logical step forward in the series is played out with the White Side of the Moon – an all-white take on the design, equipped to the same specification and featuring Omega’s impressive co-axial movement.

Meanwhile, the brand further reinforces its intrinsic ties with NASA and commemorates the 45th anniversary of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission with the rather charming Speedmaster Apollo 13 Silver Snoopy Award. The Peanuts character was adopted by NASA as a safety mascot, with the accolade handed out to those who contributed to the success of a mission – it was awarded to Omega in 1970. The timepiece cleverly and subtly incorporates the cartoon element, with the Snoopy motif appearing at 9 o’clock and on the back of the case, and includes a small inscription on the dial, between 0 and 14 seconds, that asks, ‘What could you do in 14 seconds?’ – a reference to the time it took the astronauts on Apollo 13 to perform a mid-course correction before it re-entered the earth’s atmosphere.

Just one question remains: where is space travel – and the Speedmaster – heading next?

‘We’ve made the first step,’ says Cernan, ‘and some day, in perhaps another 50 years, the time between when I left the moon and the next person steps on it or goes to Mars is going to seem very short. None of us can know today what the future of human space travel will be, but I still believe in the indomitable will and courage, the passion, and the inspiration in the hearts and minds of dreamers.’ l omegawatches.com

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