Autumn 2014
Looking up Celebrating 30 inspirational women entrepreneurs • London’s best modern-art fair • High-tech lowdown Men’s style special: sharp suiting, bike apparel and dapper accessories • Swimming in the Antarctic
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Invention of the Breguet balance spring, 1795 The balance spring gives time rhythm and sets its rate – the key to a watch’s precision. With its many patented innovations, the Tradition 7047PT with fusee tourbillon pushes the limits of precision time-keeping by combining the accuracy of the Breguet balance-spring’s terminal curve, conceived in 1795, and the anti-magnetic properties of silicon. History is still being written ...
B R E G U E T B O U T I Q U E – 10 N E W B O N D S T R E E T L O N D O N W 1 S 3 S P + 4 4 2 0 7 3 5 5 17 3 5 – W W W. B R E G U E T. C O M
Welcome to Brummell This issue, the ‘little black book for the City’ brings you the lowdown on helpful shortcuts, including the theatre club that not only ensures members get the best tickets to see the play of the moment, but also enjoy pre-arranged interval drinks and a sociable dinner afterwards with drama experts. Our tech expert guides us round the most interesting new products to make lives smarter and even more effcient; we vicariously experience a chilly but extraordinary snorkeling trip round Antarctica’s magnifcent and deadly icebergs; and we explore the upcoming Frieze Art Fair, with recommendations of artists to look out for. This issue also includes a 47-page menswear special, showcasing sharp suiting and wearable accessories for work and play.
Above all, we are proud to celebrate 30 of the many successful women entrepreneurs based in the City, or with a strong City client base. Our aim is to inspire other women (and men) to become entrepreneurs too, by showing what is possible, by taking personal and material risk – of money, equity, reputation, career – most often with an uncertain outcome, to build an enterprise of meaningful scale, with sustainable economics. We assembled a distinguished panel of infuential and inspiring female City professionals to champion 30 pioneering women who have shown originality in their ideas and impressive entrepreneurial fair, endeavour – and bravery – to eschew corporate life and start, run and grow their own businesses. Joanne Glasbey, Editor
V I E W T H E F I L M AT: W W W. G I E V E S A N D H A W K E S. C O M
Sea Island cotton. Woven in Switzerland. Made in Nottingham. SUNSPEL.COM
Contents • Brummell
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Cover illustration: Olimpia Zagnoli 25 Show Media Brummell editorial 020 3222 0101 — Editor Joanne Glasbey Art Director Dominic Bell Managing Editor Lucy Teasdale Chief Copy Editor Chris Madigan Deputy Chief Copy Editor Gill Wing Senior Designer Jo Murray Picture Director Juliette Hedoin Staff Writer Charlie Teasdale Style Director Tamara Fulton Copy Editors Nicky Gyopari, Katie Wyartt Creative Director Ian Pendleton Managing Director Peter Howarth — Advertising & Events Director Duncan McRae duncan@fyingcoloursmarketing.com 07816 218059 — showmedialondon.com brummell@showmedialondon.com — Visit Brummell’s website for more tailor-made content: brummellmagazine.co.uk
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Foreword Columnist David Charters lays out the advantages – and remaining obstacles – to gender and other equality in the City Money no object David Linley’s beautiful walnut portable shooting-party bar – for that snifter to celebrate bagging a brace BEAUMONDE News The latest London hotel openings; a luxury hi-tech golf trolley; a pro tennis camp in Antigua; a MotoGP-themed watch and a 20th-century design fair in Mayfair Tech This autumn’s covetable gadget releases, including a bag that charges your phone, a mini-system for the digital age and the frst 4K TV from Bang & Olufsen Travel A cruise to the Antarctic is just the tip of the iceberg. To reveal the region’s true beauty, you need to suit up and dive in After the City Former trader and fnancial PR Louisa Guinness sells jewellery by artists from Pablo Picasso to Grayson Perry
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Colour reproduction by Fresh Media Group, groupfmg.com. 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 coats, suits, shoes, shirts and accessories from leading style houses Barbour and Land Rover Two great British outdoor brands meet to form a stylish countryside alliance Dolce & Gabbana The Italian design duo opens its frst atelier for bespoke tailoring in Milan Bugatti Limited-edition cars and a menswear line act as a coda to the decade of the Veyron Men’s watches A selection of the most stylish timepieces unveiled in recent months Belstaff How David Beckham has followed other male style icons into off-road biking Gucci All men are not created equal, so the Italian label’s new tailoring collection has seven fts Shinola The American watchmaker that is helping to revive Detroit’s manufacturing base Ralph Lauren How the man behind the logo rebooted the world’s most recognisable men’s style brand Burberry The timeless trench has proliferated over the years but is now refned to four key styles FEATURES Inspirational women 2014 This year’s list of 30 leading female City stars focuses on entrepreneurs Art The Frieze art fair continues to grow, with ever more intriguing sideshows Jewellery Tangled up in blue as jewellery houses focus on sapphire, moonstone and aquamarine Women’s watches Characterful clockworks for the female wrist Need to know The club that secures tickets to sold-out plays and creates the complete night at the theatre EPICURE Food & drink news The latest restaurant, distillery, private dining room and wine merchant openings Cocktails We’ve had the single-dish restaurants; now we can drink in single-style bars
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Minority report
Foreword • Brummell
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Is the City witnessing a change in attitude, putting paid to former prejudices and allowing the trading foor to become, fnally, a level playing feld?
Words: David Charters Illustration: Brett Ryder
Let me score full points for prejudice. Women who make it to the top in any area of business, let alone fnancial services, tend to interest me more than men. Why? Well, we sort of expect men to be running investment banks, hedge funds and private equity frms. Most of the bosses of these sorts of frms are men, and most of their key lieutenants are too, even in the 21st century. Organisations that are even halfway successful tend to repeat what they have done before. Boards consisting largely of middle-aged white men tend to replace themselves with other middle-aged white men. For a woman to succeed in an environment where it is unusual to appoint a woman to a top job, she has to be exceptionally good, and probably in some way unusual. A man is likely to be, well, just another man doing the sort of things that generations of men have done before. They can get to the top by being conventional, albeit talented, hard-working, lucky and all the other things that typically characterise success. Gay men are similarly interesting. In a testosterone-flled, macho, aggressive world, achieving a command position can be a challenge for an openly gay man. In theory, of course, we are all open-minded, liberal in our thinking and indifferent to people’s personal lives, but in practice there is a barrier to being accepted in working environments such as the trading foor, which can be hard to overcome. Overt hostility may have been largely legislated out of existence, but there can be a world of difference between being merely tolerated and being enthusiastically accepted on your merits. Physical disability is even more troublesome. I have seen only a handful of wheelchair-bound individuals on City trading foors. But those I have seen have been universally impressive. I once had the privilege of serving as a trustee of the visual impairment charity Action for Blind People, when it was chaired by John Spence, who previously ran Lloyds Bank’s retail operations. He was initially told by an HR ‘professional’ that he would have
In theory we are open-minded, but in practice there is a barrier to being accepted on the trading floor
to give up work as his eyesight progressively deteriorated – which was, of course, a red rag to a bull. Not only did he continue working, he ended up managing many thousands of people all over the country – far more than ever reported to the man in HR who frst spoke to him. But on the other hand, he is no ordinary man. Exceptionally clever, determined and interested in a multitude of different areas, he is a real extrovert, in spite of a potentially debilitating condition. He would have done well if he had been marooned on a desert island, let alone working in the City of London. The issue is, we still have a view of ‘normal’, which is probably driven correctly and reasonably by the characteristics we see in the majority of people with whom we work. If most of the people currently on the trading foor are white, heterosexual, able-bodied males, this can easily condition our view of our identity. Who are we? We are, predominantly, a bunch of white men. So, does that automatically mean we expect those same people to reach the top of the organisation? Probably. Given that there are, by defnition, fewer slots at the top than there are lower down, the unconscious bias in our expectations of who should be running the frm is likely, therefore, to be accentuated. And those who do make it to the top but do not ft the mould may be subject to unspoken assumptions that tokenism, fashion and corporate image-consciousness is driving a preference for pushing minorities up the corporate ladder. How galling to succeed through sheer talent and hard
work and then be looked down on for having somehow been unfairly favoured. What is the answer? Certainly not quotas. They are likely to be counter-productive, particularly in a fercely and generally effciently competitive market, and in any event are patronising to those who make it by their own efforts. We have probably gone as far as we can in pushing for change through legislation. Inspiration is a better bet. Telling the stories of inspirational role models helps us all raise our game. Some of the stories in this edition of Brummell, for example. And then we need time. One of our greatest statesmen, talking privately about the troubles in Northern Ireland, said that, regardless of the progress made by politicians, true change could never be legislated for at the stroke of a pen; months, or even years, would not be enough. To move people from entrenched positions of prejudice and bigotry would require at least three generations. I would like to think the City of London can move a little faster than that – compared to much of society, we can move at close to the speed of light – but, in this case, time may be the great panacea in changing attitudes, laying prejudice to rest and creating a truly level playing feld. What would success look like? I’d like to see half the revenue-producing areas of all the major investment banks run by women, with a similar proportion in the next couple of tiers down from top management. My guess is that revenues would be less volatile, risks would be curtailed, and longer-term proftability and sustainability would feature in place of a heavy focus on this quarter, this year, and the next bonus. There might also be fewer scandals and disasters, which would make the City a less entertaining place – but then you can’t have everything. In the meantime, the more we hear about the unreasonable individuals in the City who refuse to take no for an answer, the happier I shall be. Bring on the myth-busters. l
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Brummell
For a successful day in the feld, a portable miniature drinks carrier is just the ticket
Photography: Andy Barter Words: Joanne Glasbey
The game season is well and truly open, but the best day’s shooting isn’t just about the sport. It’s also about the shared experience with friends, and the conviviality of a drink between drives or a snifter after fighting. And the pleasure will be memorably enhanced – not to mention made more convenient – with help from the Linley Shooting Companion. Pleasingly neat, the Tardis-like box comes equipped with two lead-crystal decanters, eight numbered pewter
cups in a rack referencing the guns’ pegs, a cigar cutter and a compartment that holds eight Corona No 5 cigars. The compact size of the handsome oiled-walnut case with leather handles – and corners protected by nickel brackets to protect against bumpy roads – ensures it will ft comfortably into your car boot, leaving plenty of room for that other indispensible shooting companion: the muddy chocolate-brown Labrador. £3,750; davidlinley.com
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Beaumonde
Tennis in paradise; a feast of furniture; simple cycles; the golf trolley that shadows you; London’s hot new hotels Collector’s item ← The eighth annual PAD London Art and Design fair will hit the capital again this October, flling Mayfair’s Berkeley Square with a plethora of 20th-century art, photography and design treasures from 62 international galleries. This year’s fair highlights come courtesy of some of the UK’s newest modern art exhibitors. The Daniel Blau gallery is putting forward a solo exhibition of rediscovered drawings by Andy Warhol, while Robin Katz Fine Art will present paintings by Bridget Riley. Contemporary furniture designers will be out in full force, with Gallery FUMI showing iconic chairs from Alex Hull and furniture by Faye Toogood. Béatrice Saint-Laurent’s Galerie BSL will show pieces by Charles Kalpakian, such as the Kineticism IV wall cabinet pictured here. The Cabinet of Curiosities exhibition, meanwhile, will feature frst-timer Finch and Co’s collection of ethnographic art from destinations as far-fung as Sri Lanka and the Solomon Islands, alongside pieces from tribal-art afcionados Alain de Monbrison and Galerie Flak. 15-19 October; pad-fairs.com
Tee toter Reminiscent of a sports car with its unique chassis and wheels, the Stewart X9 Follow Golf Trolley will lug your kit around the course so you don’t have to. Thanks to its Bluetooth connection and clip-on sensors, it matches your pace and follows your every move with the touch of a button. An integrated rear stabiliser keeps clubs secure, while built-in holders allow easy access to balls, tees and scorecards. £1,499; stewartgolf.co.uk
Scandinavian sense ↑ Inspired by his family’s fshing heritage but keeping the city in mind, Alexander Stutterheim’s raincoats are versatile, durable and sleek. The Stockholm (pictured), based on his grandfather’s Sixties raincoat, is made from premium rubberised cotton and features double-welded seams, snap closures and hemp drawstrings. Handmade in Sweden with meticulous craftmanship, Sutterheim’s raincoats can withstand the harshest weather conditions and still keep you looking your best. Stockholm coat, from £200; stutterheim.com
Wooden it be nice ↑ Creating the perfect kitchen, gun room, library or dressing room is not a task to be taken lightly, and this is where Somerset-based Halstock comes in. The 50-strong team creates intricately designed furniture to exacting specifcations. It also offers a bespoke kitchen-design service that stretches to carving a favourite recipe onto the inside of a cabinet door. One of its latest one-off commissions is this square, free-standing chess and backgammon games table, handcrafted from ebony, boxwood, sycamore and poplar woods. halstock.com
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Beaumonde • News
Best beds ← Ever since the Shangri-La at The Shard opened its doors, it seems that new hotels are popping up all over the city. In the heart of Mayfair, Chris Corbin and Jeremy King (The Wolseley, The Delaunay, Brasserie Zédel) will open The Beaumont, a 5-star, 73-room hotel, on Brown Hart Gardens this autumn. Harking back to the famous pre-war hospitality of the area, The Beaumont will offer 23 suites, a classic grill room, an American-style bar and a spa with hammam. However, its most attractive asset must be ‘Room’, a one-bedroom suite in the form of a habitable sculpture by Antony Gormley. Moving south-east, Mondrian London at Sea Containers will open on 30 September. It’s full of striking design touches – guests can’t fail be impressed by the giant copperclad ‘hull’ that runs through the building via the lobby (left) and dazzled by the views from the rooftop bar. For news on all the latest openings, visit brummellmagazine.co.uk
Bike psyche → For those looking to take up cycling, deciding on which bicycle can be tricky because the choices are endless. Thankfully, a series of companies have cottoned on and have taken to offering simple, straightforward, good-quality bikes that meet the needs of the rider, be they a weekend hobbyist or daily commuter. Martone Cycling Company does exactly that, and focuses on making its bikes look as good as they ride. Frames are built from hardy hi-ten steel and the sleek drivetrain offers an innovative ‘duomatic’ gear system, which automatically adjusts to match your speed. Available in a choice of black, white, red, gold or silver frames, there’s also an optional matching basket, so ferrying your essentials around town is a doddle. £1,100, Available at the Conran Shop; martonecycling.eu
Track time ↑ In MotoGP, timing is everything, so it’s no surprise Tissot has been the sport’s offcial timekeeper since 2001. In celebration of this long-standing partnership, the Swiss watchmaker has created the T-Race MotoGP 2014 Automatic Chronograph, a limitededition model (only 3,333 pieces) in stainless steel. With a checkered-fag motif on the face and startinggrid markings at the indices of the counters, together with bold black, red and silver colouring, the watch clearly has superbike racing in its soul. £880; tissot.ch
News • Brummell
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BRUMMELL PROMOTION
Alchemy and harmony The Dalmore’s master distiller Richard Paterson reveals the philosophy and craft of a great single malt
Awaiting the perfect moment Clockwise from left: The Dalmore maturing in port pipes and Gonzalez Byass sherry casks; The Dalmore King Alexander III, £140
My philosophy of whisky involves four stages. There is alchemistic artistry from the combination of barley, yeast and water from Loch Morie. Once the fermented wash goes into our four idiosyncratic fat-top stills and four cold-water jacket stills, the dynamic distillation takes place. The stills behave differently in winter to summer, so we have to react to that, as well as the specifc nature of the wash, adjusting the cut to maintain the distinctive Dalmore new-make spirit, with its citrus notes. Then there is what I call sublime maturation. We use hand-selected Kentucky bourbon barrels and have exclusive access to Gonzalez Byass casks that held Matusalem sherry for 30 years. The result is a well-rounded whisky, rich with aromas
Court the sun → Just as you’ve perfected that tricky disguised backhand slice, summer’s end threatens to derail your tennis. Fear not. The solution lies on Antigua’s south coast during Curtain Bluff’s November tennis retreat, where Brits Annabel Croft and Andrew Castle offer coaching, specialist clinics and pro-am matches. But whenever you visit (other stars hold court in spring) there are few better places to improve your game, thanks to four top-notch courts threaded through profuse tropical vegetation near one of the resort’s two excellent beaches. Sport is a signifcant part of the longestablished Curtain Bluff’s DNA, attracting a loyal, well-heeled but unstuffy clientele. Alongside tennis, there’s scuba, water toys, squash, basketball and game fshing – all of which is covered by the all-inclusive price. But don’t just go for the exercise. Or the excellent food, 25,000-bottle wine cellar or waterfront spa. Go for Curtain Bluff’s marvellously chilled vibe, which fows from its unique relationship with nearby Old Road Village. As well as funding college scholarships, medical and building costs, it employs a vast number of locals including, naturally, three tennis pros. From £579 per night for an all-inclusive double room; curtainbluff.com
of marmalade, coffee, chocolate, sweet vanilla and spice. Those favours make up the language of The Dalmore, but we then look to emphasise certain phrases in different expressions. To achieve that, the fnal element is harmonious fusion. There is an art to perfecting a single malt, but also a craft. I assess our whiskies constantly during their maturation to tell when they have reached the perfect moment to be released from cask. I do this in my workshop, a place full of bottles – reference samples of all the whiskies we’ve made over many years – which all tell a story. I enjoy total peace and quiet because only a few people work on this foor and there’s no traffc noise. There is plenty of natural light and I have all the tools I need – strength
and colour metres, demineralised water, the right glasses… and time. It’s important to keep going back to a sample to nose it after an hour, two hours, even 48 hours, so that it fully reveals its style. For The Dalmore King Alexander III, for example, the whisky is transferred into a further four woods – adding port pipes, marsala barrels, madeira drums and Bordeaux cabernet sauvignon barriques. I know what the different fnishes bring out in the whisky so work out the assemblage accordingly – that particular formulation has greater proportions of sherry and port to bring out red berry fruit aromas, almond on the palate and a spicy fnish, but the lighter spirits are essential to harmonise it. thedalmore.com
Luke Waller, an artist who also runs a restaurant, says: ‘I think the lines between different jobs are very much blurred nowadays. There are so many more professions and they are less defned and more creative’
The new art of business
Brummell promotion
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Businessmen of the 21st century have schedules that are faster, more mobile, physical and demanding than those of their predecessors. Hogan shoes are the choice of a man such as artist and restaurateur Luke Waller – a man who knows he can thrive in more than one feld with his character and individuality intact
In today’s constantly evolving society, the mechanics of doing business all over the world have changed beyond recognition. And it is the visionary modern businessman who is driving these changes. He is an entrepreneur; his creative spirit and his ever-changing work parameters mean there is no typical working day for him, and he refects the Hogan values of self-expression and aesthetic confdence. Gaining international recognition and notoriety for his innovative and forward-thinking approach within his chosen feld, he is a true pioneer. This manifests itself in a working day that is fast-paced and varied, taking place within a wide range of locations and circumstances. And he requires a wardrobe that can adapt to any situation. Since it was created in 1986, Hogan has been at the very forefront of casual businesswear, championing an urban look that is clean, sharp,
refned and professional but relaxed. Today, the timeless values of quality and ingenuity remain at the heart of Hogan. With an innovative approach to design, use of the highest-quality materials and an outstanding attention to detail, Hogan is renowned for its modern styling that allows the wearer to be comfortable and yet ready to do business; for those who prefer a cool, contemporary style, but still want to pay homage to sartorial traditions. Although he recognises and respects the values of tradition and heritage, the visionary Hogan customer also challenges these values. This is refected in his personal style, with a look that is confdent and contemporary but with a frm nod to tradition. And Hogan perfectly epitomises this attitude, matching classic cuts and materials with modern lines and styles that can meet the needs of this ambitious modern businessman and his progressive lifestyle.
Highlights from the Route collection A classic Derby model, with English brogueing and some surprises to give it a modern ‘dandy’ feel: the contrast of a white under-layer revealed by punching in the black upper, and a contrasting white welt separating black upper and sole.
A plain Oxford with a toe featuring modern styling on the upper, with a raw edge and stitching at a slight distance. The padded high-tech fabric collar gives this model an active look. Made of brushed leather with a contrasting brown sole.
The Hogan look is confident and contemporary but with a firm nod to tradition
The rich Bordeaux colour of the brushed leather upper on this plain Oxford has a modern-looking raw edge, with inset stitching. An interesting contrast is created with the use of the black padded high-tech fabric collar and sole.
CGI is for illustrative purposes only
Cubitt House is a rare collection of beautifully designed and elegant central London residences, moments from the banks of the Thames. A range of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom residences available now.
Technology • Beaumonde
TV: Bang & Olufsen BeoVision Avant This 55in LCD model marks the Danish label’s frst offcial foray into ultra-high defnition ‘4K’ TVs. It’s also the frst Bang & Olufsen set in years of which the design induces a genuine sense of awe. While many of its technological bells and whistles are invisible to the eye – a profusion of sensors assesses everything from ambient light to the distance between the TV and the nearest wall before tweaking the settings accordingly – the feature that you’ll return to time and again is its motorised sound bar, which utilises no fewer than 160 mechanical parts to unfold magically from the screen. £5,995; bang-olufsen.com
Switched on This time of year traditionally marks the advent of an industry-wide crop of fresh-out-of-the-factory gadgetry, be that titanic TVs or svelte smartphones. The forecast for technology consumers this autumn is an encouraging one: buttons, switches and cables are increasingly notable by their absence, while space-saving design is becoming ever more innovative. Here are some of the most noteworthy new arrivals
Words: Henry Farrar-Hockley
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Beaumonde • Technology
Headphones: Samsung Level Over With its executive styling and high-spec hardware, Samsung’s new mobile audio sub-brand Level is clearly aiming to muscle in on Beats by Dre. This fagship model is certainly a statement of intent, packing in both Bluetooth and NFC (Near Field Communication) pairing modes for cable-free playback, as well as active noise cancellation and touch-sensitive controls for adjusting the volume and skipping through tracks. There’s even an accompanying app that lets you tinker with the EQ settings to beef up the already-generous bass. Android handset-compatible only. £299; samsung.com/uk
Phone: TAG Heuer Meridiist Infnite ↑ A handset sporting an actual numeric keypad might appear an archaic proposition in this day and age, but the limited-edition Infnite represents a milestone in mobile telephony. Central to its early-adopter credentials is a tiny photovoltaic cell, embedded beneath the near-scratchproof sapphire-crystal screen, that produces enough electricity under natural or artifcial light to keep the phone ticking over in the absence of a power supply (or the Aspinal bag, opposite). Constructed from grade-5 titanium, carbon and rubber, it also features the now-‘standard’ Meridiist perks, from a round-the-clock concierge to a dual-time GMT clock. £7,900; tagheuer.co.uk
Watch: Cogito Classic → Proving that smart watches needn’t be ugly nor require daily charging, this elegant steel and silicon design blends old-fashioned timekeeping (courtesy of a Citizen quartz movement) with utterly of-the-moment connectivity (a Bluetooth receiver buried under the glass). Water-resistant to 100m and powered by a standard cell battery that’s good for a full year’s use, it’s nonetheless able to notify the wearer of myriad features, such as calendar events, missed calls and emails, on a paired Android or iOS phone. It can also be used as a remote for the handset’s media player and camera. At last, a smartwatch that’s exactly that. £130; cogitowatch.com
Display: LaMetric ↑ Roughly the size of a pocket speaker, LaMetric is a discreet wireless ticker display that relays ad infnitum just about any real-time information of your choosing, from live share prices to the local weather. Part of the appeal of this gadget – the creation of which was crowd-funded online by Kickstarter – lies in its deceptive simplicity. The dot-matrix ticker comprises a pixelated screen that can handle basic animation (be it scrolling text or cartoon rain clouds), a built-in speaker to notify you of new activity, and two recessed buttons to fick between your chosen metrics. The personalised data feed is controlled via an easy iPhone app. $149; lametric.com
Technology • Beaumonde
Luggage: Aspinal Mount Street Tech ↓ Killing two birds with one handcrafted stone is this exemplary leather workday bag from Aspinal, which combines age-old luggage-making techniques with contemporary circuitry. Available in two sizes and an array of colours and fnishes, the Mount Street Tech provides suffcient storage space for a laptop, two smartphones and a tablet. Of course, all this gadgetry doesn’t run on air, which is why this 21st-century business bag also has a built-in rechargeable power pack for topping up your technological arsenal on the go. From £595; aspinalofondon.com
Hi-f: Denon CEOL Carino ↑ Remember the mini system? Denon practically pioneered the small-yetpowerful radio, cassette and CD boxes that brought high-fdelity sound to bijou living spaces in the Nineties. Now it’s reinterpreting the concept with a plug-and-play model for the digital age. The Carino contains a 50W amplifer that drives a pair of matching cube speakers (each with a retractable
Sleep monitor: Sense Its aesthetic similarities to the Death Star notwithstanding, Sense is a determinedly peaceful invention designed to improve the way we sleep. The base unit acts as both an environmental monitor and a smart alarm clock that wirelessly communicates with a small tracker attached to your pillow. By measuring and scoring your sleep pattern along with the bedroom’s ambient light and noise levels, temperature, humidity and air quality, it’s able to recalibrate its alarm setting to wake you at just the right point in your sleep cycle, making ‘morning people’ of us all. From $99; hello.isva
1.5m cable) while a virtual subwoofer adeptly replicates the requisite low notes. On the touch-sensitive OLED display, you’ll fnd volume and input controls, the latter allowing you to toggle between a hardwired USB connection for PCs and a range of Bluetooth options for sharing music via phone or tablet. £299; denon.co.uk
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Beaumonde • Travel Freeze frame Glacial ice near Port Lockroy, Antarctica
Southern exposure Once admired only from aboard a cruise ship, Antarctica’s icebergs can now be viewed from below – and it’s defnitely worth taking the plunge
I’ve entered a subzero Guggenheim: an alfresco gallery exhibiting thousands of icy abstracts. Created by winds and currents off the Antarctic Peninsula’s Pléneau Island, the Iceberg Graveyard is exquisite proof that no artist, be it Picasso, Michelangelo or Van Gogh, can ever rival nature. I’m not interested in aesthetics, however – I want an iceberg that I can snorkel around safely. That means the runt of the litter: small, with rounded edges, low in the water and grounded on the seabed. It’s all down to balance. A million tonnes of ice can pivot on an area less than a metre square. The slightest wave might roll it on top of you. We putter around the graveyard in an infatable Zodiac boat for around 90 minutes but, remarkably, not a single iceberg fts the bill. You don’t compromise on safety when you’re plunging into the ocean at the end of the world. This is the frst commercial snorkelling trip in the history of the White Continent, and Aurora Expeditions – pioneers of Antarctic cruises – is keeping things as watertight as possible.
It starts with theory. As our ship, Polar Pioneer, carries us across the nauseous rollercoaster of the Drake Passage from South America, instructions are drilled into us with military effciency: we must always snorkel with a buddy, regularly search for eye contact with guides in the nearby Zodiacs and never swim underneath – or into – an iceberg. ‘There’s no room for risk-taking,’ says Martin McGrath, the trip’s lead diver, frmly. ‘You’re doing something very simple in one of the most dangerous places on earth.’ Unruly ice is one thing; brain-numbing cold quite another. Twice a day, we’ll be spending 30 to 45 minutes face down in water of between 1°C and 3°C. Around icebergs, where glacial melt mixes with saline without freezing, it can drop by a further 2.5°C. A week of immersion in these waters risks silent hypothermia, and experts from Waterproof Expeditions, subcontracted to run sub-aqua and snorkelling activities, will watch us carefully for signs of creeping lethargy. Naturally, we’re wearing
more than Speedos. The voyage around the peninsula’s bays, islands and inlets is carrying new, state-of-the-art snorkelling dry suits. Made of nylon and synthetic rubber, they’re stretchy and easy to slip on, with comfortable seals – very different beasts to the Michelin Man suits I’ve worn in Arctic Canada. They’re accessorised with a neoprene hood and gloves, while underneath I’m a walking advertisement for top-notch outdoor wear: Icebreaker Merino base and mid-layers, and Sherpa climbing trousers. Water increases heat loss around 40 times; my gear could cut that fgure by almost 90 per cent. We’re not completely insulated, however. The skin around our mouths is still unprotected and the guides compare the initial sensation – before numbness sets in – to being stabbed by a thousand pins. Yet as we slip over the side of the Zodiac in Port Lockroy on Goudier Island, anticipation most defnitely trumps fear. At close quarters, the iceberg resembles a collapsed pavlova. It’s divine. Just divine. Ringed
Alamy
Words: Ian Belcher
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Beaumonde • Travel
On my last snorkel, I gaze down into the inky depths and can’t help contemplating what lies beneath
by emerald sea worthy of a Maldivian lagoon, it’s streaked-toothpaste blue with compressed glacial ice. Underwater, it’s shockingly large, and riddled with purple-hued fssures, caves and passages. Twice I swim into transparent older ice, invisible to the naked eye. Its otherworldly beauty reminds me of the Northern Lights. But the Antarctic offers far more than frozen water. Off D’Hainaut Island, and watched by a tuxedoed auditorium of Gentoo penguins, I foat over surprisingly vivid orange lichen, red kelp and ochre weed. There are tiny transparent fsh, splinters of intricately carved ice and, near the bay’s mouth, a streamlined blur of penguin feathers and fns. It’s not a Frozen Planet spectacular, but that particular footage was the reward for days and days of watching and waiting. ‘We can put you where it might happen,’ says McGrath, ‘but there are no guarantees.’ It doesn’t matter. It’s already extraordinary. And it gets better. As I surface, primeval groans and cracks herald a distant explosion of calving ice. At water level, it’s simply thrilling. On other days, the sea reveals vast curved bones – the detritus of volcanic Deception Island’s early 20th-century whaling industry – and ethereal jellyfsh, krill, and mustard and pink ribbon
Aurora Expeditions (020 7228 1230; auroraexpeditions.co.uk) offers a 17-day Antarctic itinerary including a Polar Pioneer ‘Spirit of Antarctica’ voyage from £7,675pp (excluding international fights)
Alamy; Steve Boyd
Breaking the ice Above: A wind-shaped ice formation in the Argentine Islands Left: Two snorkellers brave the icy waters around the Antarctic peninsula Below: The aptly named Paradise Bay
worms. McGrath, a polar diver for 20 years, describes seeing starfsh ‘the size of dustbin lids’. But the most memorable snorkel comes in the Argentine Islands, as we sail towards the Antarctic Circle. It’s not just the eerily regular blocks of rock resembling a sub-aqua Wailing Wall, or the blue, turquoise and purple limpets; it’s the celebratory drink afterwards alongside Ukrainian scientists at Vernadsky Research Station. Their homemade vodka suggests they may have discovered deposits of high-grade petroleum. It certainly fuels the feeling that this is an expedition rather than a mere cruise. As does the Polar Pioneer itself. Once part of the Soviet hydrographic feet – Antarctic tourism boomed with the USSR’s disintegration and the sudden availability of ice-strengthened ships – it has an ‘open bridge’, which allows us to witness the Russian skipper’s brilliant navigation. There is also a convivial on-board vibe, with passengers and Aurora crew sharing meals that are more ancien régime than nouvelle cuisine (carbs are an ally against the cold). The industrial rear deck sports a crane, containers of diving gear and piles of Zodiacs and kayaks coated in snow. You certainly won’t fnd that on Silversea. Nor will you swim alongside alpha predators. Of all the prolifc wildlife we encounter – the whales, penguins, shags and skua – none has the leopard seal’s notoriety. Eleven years ago, one of the magnifcently reptilian creatures with the fangs of Nosferatu and the jaws of an anaconda on steroids attacked and drowned a snorkelling marine biologist, dragging her 70m under the surface. If one approaches, we must immediately make ourselves larger by sticking close to our buddy. We must never trap one against an ice wall. It’s sound advice, but it doesn’t prevent the occasional outbreak of irrational fear. On my last snorkel, around a berg blooming from the ocean like a vast rosebud, I gaze down into the inky depths and can’t help contemplating what lies beneath: Jaws syndrome. Happily, when I fnally do encounter the leopard seal, I’m in a Zodiac. Just feet away, it toys with a desperate chinstrap penguin before skinning and devouring it like a niche serial killer. It’s more mesmerising than frightening. Along with multi-hued icebergs at sunset and wisps of cloud garlanding vertiginous coastal peaks, it’s another awe-inspiring spectacle, making the Antarctic the most remarkable place you’ll ever visit. l
introducing the ettore Bugatti collection
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Beaumonde • After the City
Jewel purpose With her fnancial background and art-world connections, Louisa Guinness has created a gallery with a unique offering: a showcase for artists’ jewellery
Words: Charlotte Metcalf Photography: Trent McMinn
When Louisa Guinness set up her Mayfair gallery in 2013, dedicated to selling jewellery by artists, some of her old City friends were only just catching up with the fact she’d left the Square Mile over a decade previously. ‘“Ah! So that’s where you’ve got to!” they’d say. I loved the City so much it looked as if I were there to stay,’ laughs Guinness. After a holiday stint as a blue button in 1987, Guinness was so eager to start working in the City that she eschewed a place at St Andrew’s. ‘I was one of the only girls on the Stock Exchange foor,’ she remembers. ‘It was such a boys’ club, but I liked the environment. I had two uncles who were stockbrokers and had loved playing poker as a child, so the City seemed the natural place for me.’ Without a degree, Guinness was initially only able to fnd temporary work, but she was quickly upgraded to a research-assistant position. She spent two years at Barings when the Stock Exchange was at its peak and Christopher Heath was famous for earning over £1m. But at 22, Guinness found the responsibility of being a night trader overwhelming and quit to go into fnancial PR. ‘But I was still obsessed with prices,’ she says, ‘and I wanted to be back in the heart of things in the City.’
So she returned, working for James Capel and then Hoare Govett, before taking a role in Hong Kong, followed by one in the States. ‘Even when I was living in America, I was still dealing with Asian markets and taking clients there. In Asia, you tend to meet the chairmen of small companies, so I learnt from the horse’s mouth about growth and sales and saw frst-hand which companies make money, which don’t and why,’ she says. In 2000, Guinness took a sabbatical. Back in London, she began exploring areas of design she’d always been interested in. ‘My father had a steam- engine museum in Ireland,’ she explains. ‘Aesthetics were always a big thing in my family and I’ve always loved beautifully presented things.’ That the artists’ jewellery in her gallery is beautifully presented is an understatement. Clients sit in an elegant atelier on charming little sofas on an oval of deep-blue carpet and admire jewellery created by artists ranging from Picasso and Man Ray to Anish Kapoor and Grayson Perry. Her offering is unique – it’s the only gallery to showcase jewellery by artists. She laughs about her switch into the world of art: ‘I had a client in San Francisco who read my stars. He told me I was in the wrong industry and should be in the arts. And here I am.’ Guinness’s initial interest was in classic design. ‘I’ve never been into fashion or fads, but I love things that will endure. I always admire a really well-made pepper mill or pair of scissors,’ she says. ‘Originally I was interested in furniture but, wearing my City hat, I knew enough about money to see I would struggle to break into that market as a newcomer. I didn’t have enough of an edge.’ Nevertheless, Guinness opened the frst-ever space to exhibit artist-designed furniture, showing work by Donald Judd, Ron Arad and Rolf Sachs. And, in Christmas 2003, she decided to put on a show of artist-made jewellery. ‘I borrowed everything I could lay my hands on and asked other artists I met to make jewellery,’ she explains. By now Guinness was married to one of London’s top gallery owners, Ben Brown, and meeting artists daily. Her inaugural exhibition at Brown’s gallery showed jewellery by Gavin Turk, Tim Noble & Sue Webster, Anish Kapoor and Claude Lalanne, among others. To keep her overheads down, she worked from a room at the back of the gallery and began commissioning work and buying jewellery by modern masters such as Alexander Calder and Max Ernst. When Brown moved to a new gallery in 2012, Guinness decided it was time to branch out on her own. She had spotted a space in Conduit Street in 2012 but it took over six months to confrm her occupancy and another three to design and refurbish, with architects Maybank and Matthews. ‘The best thing I’ve learnt from the City is the importance of cash fow,’ she continues. ‘I can look at a forecast and make a better decision than someone without a fnancial background. I’m very cautious, so my returns are perhaps not as great as they could be. But I’m not doing this just for money. I love giving artists a window and enjoy people coming in to see their work. Paradoxically, the most important lesson I’ve learnt from the City is that not everything is about fnancial reward.’ l louisaguinnessgallery.com
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GOLF DERBY 641 Five eyelets derby shoe, Ridgeway sole goodyear stitched, Limoges Document-case in calfskin, hand-sewn ring handles
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Menswear special — Originality & style According to Stefano Gabbana, ‘Every man lives in a world of his own, with completely different characteristics to anyone else’ (page 56). Of course, he’s absolutely right, but that doesn’t mean that traversing the mountain of fashion and discovering one’s own style isn’t a tricky process. Brummell is here to act as a sherpa. Over the next 46 pages, we explore the tailoring terrain, from sharp suiting to robust outerwear…
Words: Peter Howarth, Charlie Teasdale, Jemima Wilson Still-life photography: Emma Job
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Brummell • Men’s Style
Check: your statement ↑ The key to dressing well is confdence and self-expression: if you feel good about what you’re wearing, you tend to carry it off more convincingly. For some, dressing to their personality means wearing muted tones. For others, it means being a little more bold, and Hackett’s new statement-check pieces in the autumn/winter 2014 collection are perfect for that. This single-breasted suit will mark out from the crowd as soon as you walk through the door. Those with subtler aesthetics can opt for the range of checked ties, fat caps and luggage. Hackett statement-check suit, £1,000; hackett.com
Tailor-made travel ↑ Gieves & Hawkes, one of Savile Row’s pre-eminent tailoring houses, seems to have ‘broken America’, following the announcement that collections will be available at Bergdorf Goodman department store in New York. And this wanderlust continues at Isetan in Tokyo. But, even with all this glorious expansion, Gieves is making sure it looks out for number one by renovating its Savile Row fagship – it is set to re-open in October. gievesandhawkes.com
Roll with it ← In the past, the roll-neck sweater has got a bit of a raw deal – not least because it has been the go-to item of clothing for baddies and ne’er-do-wells in movies for decades. The truth is that it’s a simple way to smarten up an outft, and serves as a handy alternative to the shirt and tie, especially in the unpredictable conditions of autumn. Recognising the piece’s oft-overlooked versatility, Savile Row’s Chester Barrie has created a range of roll necks in cashmere and merino wool, providing the perfect opportunity to mix up the standard offce attire. Chester Barrie roll neck, from £110; chesterbarrie.co.uk
In focus: Paul Smith Paul Smith’s passion for bicycles isn’t a well-kept secret, but you may not know that as a teenager he was on track for a career in professional cycling until an injury steered him in a more sartorial direction. Smith’s new 531 cycling collection is his homage to the sport. It is named after Reynolds lightweight tubing, which revolutionised bike racing in 1935 and was used by 27 winners of the Tour de France. The lightweight Ventile cotton jacket, pictured, is both water-resistant and highly breathable. It helps protect the rider in a number of senses, with a retractable splash guard and refective trim to enhance its bright orange colour. The full Paul Smith 531 collection includes jerseys, T-shirts and shorts, and will be in stores in October. 531 Ventile cotton jacket, £400; paulsmith.co.uk
In focus: Canali Though founded in 1934 and still best known for its tailoring, Canali has constantly evolved, as Elisabetta Canali, of the Italian family frm’s third generation explains: ‘It was my father who developed our values, encapsulated by the idea of “Made in Italy”. It’s not just an expression, but is full of meaning – a certain style, quality and craftsmanship.’ After 50 years of tailoring, Canali expanded to provide customers with a total look: shirts, then ties, shoes, socks, scarves, bags, cuffinks and more. Today, everything is still made in Italy and Canali is continuing to develop – evidenced by the appointment of designer Andrea Pompilio as creative consultant. ‘We do not want to simply rely on our heritage, although we will always preserve our values,’ explains Elisabetta Canali. Calfskin Derby shoes, POA; canali.com
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Leading men ↑ Quintessentially Italian design house Ermenegildo Zegna has enlisted a host of cinematic talent for its frst foray into flm. Stefano Pilati, Zegna’s head of design, has collaborated with South Korean director Park Chan Wook (Oldboy, Stoker) on Arose Reborn. The series of short movies starring Jack Huston (American Hustle, Boardwalk Empire) and Daniel Wu (above, Blood Brothers, Overheard) illustrates Zegna’s aesthetic and exhibits examples of its fne tailoring. They support Pilati’s ‘New Leadership Generation’ concept – a modern, stylish take on decision-makers and powerbrokers often thought of as éminences grises. arose-reborn.zegna.com
Donkey work ↑ Aigle, the French brand known for its rubber boots, has been making Face facts → Founded in 1870 by William Penhaligon, who came from Cornwall to London and ended up as Queen Victoria’s perfumer and the court barber, Penhaligon’s has developed a wide range of fragrances over its history. Now it has launched its frst comprehensive grooming range, including a facial wash and cleansing mask; shaving soaps, creams and balms; and, appropriately for a company formed by a barber, moustache wax and hair pomade. All are fragranced with Bayolea, a favourite reformulated from Penhaligon’s archives that features masculine notes including mandarin, cardamom, sandalwood and musk. Gentlemen’s Grooming range, from £10; penhaligons.com
a splash with its clothing collections recently, and a collaboration with veteran designer Nigel Cabourn has taken things a step further. This donkey jacket is a meeting of welcome functionality, timeless industrial style and craftsmanmade materials, with cotton and wool woven in Britain. Le Galibot jacket, £650; aigle.com
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Country and town ↑ ‘Country life is no longer a complete departure from elegance and style,’ says Michael Perry, artistic director of JM Weston. ‘It’s an art of living.’ The French shoe designer is best known for providing footwear to urbane Parisians, including several Messieurs le Présidents. But, to back up Perry’s assertion, the new Country Gent collection, available from October, offers adaptability, with shoes that are as ftting for the boardroom as for the cosy confnes of a rural bolthole. jmweston.com
Business class → Maintaining one’s personal style in the face of frequent long-haul travel is a problem for countless businessmen. Thankfully, Pal Zileri’s Viaggiatorre (‘traveller’) capsule collection is designed to combat the signs of transit on your clothes, and have you looking your best, no matter how long the journey. Woven from a specially created ‘Super 130’ fbre, this two-button suit is crease-resistant, waterproof and anitbacterial, and offers breathability and a natural stretch. Despite the advanced technology of the fabric, Pal Zileri claims its signature ‘handmade’ characteristics are not diminished, but enhanced. Viaggiatore suit, £1,359; palzileri.com
À la mod ↑ DAKS is celebrating 120 years of rich British heritage by giving a nod to mods. The campaign for the autumn/ winter 2014 collection features the Modfather himself, Paul Weller, and his daughter Leah. In the men’s collection, which encapsulates the contemporary yet timeless image of the DAKS brand, the musician’s personal favourite is the herringbone double-breasted coat – a mod staple that gives a rock’n’roll edge to DAKS’s classic, elegant style. Herringbone coat, £550; daks.com
In focus: Sunspel The Sunspel T-shirt is already an icon, so altering it in some way for each collection must be tricky business. Unsurprisingly, the British company has maintained its selection of plain, perfectly cut crew necks (including the wonderful white varietal, left) in the autumn/winter 2014 collection. But the addition of ‘cut & sew’ designs, pictured below in grey and slate, adds a modern touch to the range of timeless styles. The collection also includes a selection of striped T-shirts in autumnal shades, as well as loopback sweat tops and hoodies, rib-knit jumpers and brushed-cotton shirts. As you might expect from Sunspel, the collection uses the highest available quality of fabrics throughout and demonstrates an unwavering attention to detail. Sunspel T-shirt, £65; sunspel.com
In focus: Hardy Amies Bespoke In the spirit of innovation that seems to imbue everything that Hardy Amies is currently doing, the Savile Row label is taking on the conventions of its birthplace. Thus, it will be offering fully bespoke suits starting at £2,200, considerably cheaper than is customary for the genuine bespoke experience – where an individual pattern is cut to your personal specifcations. Although there will be higher-priced versions available too, more in line with the traditional pricing of the Row, the idea is to offer a way into bespoke for people who have never tried it and are currently in the habit of buying ready-to-wear suits from international designers, which may well cost a not too dissimilar amount. It’s the kind of move that might just spawn a new generation of bespoke customers.
Men’s Style • Brummell
Hardy perennial
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Best of British Opposite: Basket-weave, unlined, three-patch-pocket jacket, POA, and a selection of ties, from £120. This page, from top: Design director Mehmet Ali’s ‘curation of things the Hardy Amies man will fnd interesting’ includes a Brooks B17 Standard saddle; an Acme whistle; and a Dawson Denim mechanic’s apron
The new Hardy Amies store on Savile Row is an expression of British craftsmanship – not only in its architecture but as a bold curiosity shop
Words: Andreas Branwell
Visit Number 8 Savile Row, the new Hardy Amies store, and you’ll be confronted by a clothes-shop interior quite unlike anything you’re likely to have seen before. Composed of elements that defne the capital – red brick, limestone, London Underground tiles, glass pavement inlay and even shrubbery – it’s a ftting backdrop for Hardy Amies’ contemporary take on bespoke suiting, ready-to-wear, made-to-measure and made-toorder collections, together representing the best in British design. Design director Mehmet Ali felt passionately that he wanted No 8 to be more than a retailer of tailoring-inspired clothing. ‘Just as the store is constructed from curated materials evocative of London, so too are the contents – a curation of things the Hardy Amies man will fnd interesting and that will augment his lifestyle,’ he explains. The question he asked himself while imagining this space, he says, was, ‘What does modern London mean to us?’ The answer was a blend of history and modernity, beauty and function, wit and wisdom, the tried-and-tested and the pioneering – hence the mélange of components taken out of their usual context and repurposed for a boutique he describes as for ‘modern traditionalists’. Given that Hardy Amies aims to embody the aesthetic of what Ali calls ‘contemporary heritage’, it was important that the store also embodied this ideal. ‘Instead of offering just Hardy Amies clothing and accessories, I felt we should acknowledge that modern men curate their lives. They pick and choose things they like to have, not out of blind, head-to-toe brand loyalty, which is very dated, but instead based on an informed preference for the things themselves. Thus, there’s a place for a beautifully designed shoe horn, bicycle saddle or hi-f, along with a jacket, shirt and shoes.’
To this end, Ali, working with creative consultant Steve Davies, has entered into collaborations with an eclectic choice of British companies, inviting them to supply the new store either with pieces they already produce, or with special commissions for Hardy Amies. Partners include Brooks, the maker of leather bicycle saddles and bags, established in 1866, and the rather newer London Undercover, which, for the past six years, has designed strikingly contemporary umbrellas with an ethos of environmental awareness. Other stand-out pieces include Cherchbi’s modern tweed and leather bags, Abbeyhorn shoe horns and clothes brushes – in production since 1749 – and, to refect Sir Hardy’s love of gardening, horticultural tools from Welsh frm Coldatnight. Ali explains that he hopes to create a store where people can come for inspiration, fnd things they were not expecting and be introduced to brands they may not have heard of. ‘It’s interesting to curate the best of British design, whether it comes from a company that has more than 100 years of heritage, or one that is only a few years old. We won’t discriminate – we’re just after the most exciting things.’ To add to the curated effect, all the light fttings, tables, chairs and freestanding items are by British designers – again, long-established and new alike: from Sir Terence Conran, via David Chipperfeld, to Barber Osgerby. Lights are by British industrial designer Kenneth Grange, while the pendant light above the cash desk was salvaged from a Twenties shoe factory in Somerset. Ali explains that the new store should feel as much like a club as a place selling clothes, and that the appeal will be for locals as well as tourists – because there will always be something to surprise you there. l Number 8 Savile Row,W1; hardyamies.com
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Cuff love ↑ To do a good suit justice, no matter how good the tailoring, you need to accessorise well. Once you’ve got the fundamentals in place, you should consider the extra accoutrements and Deakin & Francis cuffinks are a good place to start. Now owned and managed by seventh-generation brothers James and Henry Deakin, the family company has been hand-crafting fne cuff-fasteners in Birmingham since 1786in a wide range of designs, from bugs and animal to traditional gem-edged squares. Prices start at £150 for plain silver ovals, climbing to £25,000 for limited-edition pieces. deakinandfrancis.co.uk
Bet on the tote ↑ Taken from the autumn/winter 2014 menswear collection, Ferragamo’s new luggage pieces are classic in
Siblings in style → Norton & Sons creative director Patrick Grant on opening the fagship store of his revival venture, E Tautz: ‘E Tautz is very much the sportier younger brother of the more grown-up and dignifed Norton & Sons. I love a simple thing done well, and I wanted a store that refected the ethos of the clothes; hand-crafted in beautiful materials but with simplicity, functionality and a lack of fuss. Every product in the E Tautz store is either made in Britain, made from British materials, or both, and we make a choice to buy better things, working with craftspeople that we trust.’ For the full interview, visit brummellmagazine.co.uk
design but modern in function. As this tote bag in tan leather illustrates, they are chic and unassuming from the outside, but within lies considerable capacity for tablets, laptops and smartphones, and whatever else the modern businessman cares to carry. Tote bag with adjustable strap, £1,109; ferragamo.com
In focus: Bally The heels of the Bally shoes above are not chipped. A ‘gentleman’s corner’ is a recently revived design detail invented by shoe and leather specialist Bally of Switzerland a century ago: a small triangle is sliced from the inner corner of each shoe’s heel, to prevent men from catching their trousers on their heels and tearing the fabric. As part of his focus on bringing Bally’s heritage of craftsmanship and construction to life, design director Pablo Coppola is using that example of attention to detail as inspiration for the creation of a relaxation area at the Bally store on New Bond Street. The Gentleman’s Corner Lounge is a dedicated space for personal made-to-order and specialist shoe-care services. Gentleman’s Corner shoes, £675; Haul Large bag, £1,595; bally.co.uk
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Country club A collaboration between two houses with a heritage of design and durability is a waymarker for other brands with shared values
Words: Simon de Burton
It is diffcult to think of two brand names more instantly associated with the countryside than Barbour and Land Rover, so it seems surprising that these two British institutions – which have a combined age of 186 years – have never formed an offcial alliance. Until now, that is. The new Barbour for Land Rover clothing range has recently hit Barbour stores (and Land Rover’s off-road Experience Centres) and consists of two initial but still extensive lines of rugged gear for men and women. The Country Lux pieces are high-end garments aimed at those whose idea of rural life extends to more than a Sunday-morning stroll around Richmond Park. It comprises seven pieces for men and fve for women, including a selection of practical, waxed-cotton jackets called Freeland and Cyclone, which have been thoughtfully designed to be as comfortable when worn behind the wheel of a Range Rover as when hacking through a thicket. The more refned Black Label line, meanwhile, is intended for urban Land Rover/Range Rover fans inclined to use their off-roaders for nothing more extreme than mounting the kerb near the school gates. As well as coats, jackets and jumpers, there is also Black Label luggage: a holdall, a casual briefcase and a shoulder bag in hardwearing olive-green canvas and leather. Both collections have dual branding, but it is thoughtfully discreet – so wearing Barbour for Land Rover kit won’t immediately mark you out as one of those off-road enthusiasts who has an obsession with winches and Jerry cans. Barbour has been based in South Shields in Tyne & Wear ever since founder John Barbour moved there from Scotland in 1894 to continue his oil-cloth business. Barbour developed into a company that made protective clothing for fshermen and the military before expanding in to the civilian sector with the famous waxed-cotton, thornproof jackets that, thanks to Barbour’s motorcycle-enthusiast grandson, became the default clothing of hardy bikers. Despite the introduction of ‘technical’ clothing in the Eighties, traditionalists never forsook it,
The dual branding is discreet, so won’t mark you out as one of those off-road driving enthusiasts
Countryside alliance From top: An original sketch of the Land Rover Discovery, from its launch in 1985; Chartner men’s waxed jacket, £329; Lordenshaw women’s quilted jacket, £269
and Barbour gear (once the preserve of Sloanes) has recently enjoyed a remarkable renaissance among the style-conscious. The company’s products have never been less than practical and hard-wearing – in fact, they can even be everlasting, thanks to the in-house renovation service, which deals with a remarkable 50,000 repairs each year. There are as many as 2,000 garments in the service centre at any time; and the fact that most of them are green and roughly the same shape should make for a logistical nightmare were it not for the fact that each jacket is given a computer code the moment it arrives – assuming, of course, that it is a genuine Barbour. Imitations are politely declined and returned. Genuine jackets are inspected and checked for damage before someone undertakes the often unsavoury task of sifting through the pockets. They are rarely empty and a ‘black museum’ of items discovered includes live shotgun cartridges, fox tails, fshing hooks, syringes and assorted contraceptive devices. Once, so the story goes, a frantic dentist called to say he had sent in his jacket complete with a set of dentures. When the jacket has been given the all-clear, Barbour’s machinists can perform any one of more than 250 repairs in a pre-ordained amount of time. A full sleeve patch, for example, takes 12 minutes, new knitted windcuffs are ftted in six minutes a side and replacing a zip is a 24-minute job. If the work is going to take more than 100 minutes, customers are usually advised to buy a new jacket. One customer, however, was happy to foot a bill of more than £250 for repairs to an heirloom Barbour; but some jackets are, simply, irreparable. The most common cause of expiry stems from putting them through the washing machine, and attempts at home reproofng often end in disaster, too. Far better to entrust the job to Barbour’s 10-man reproofng department who re-wax up to 35 jackets each per day on special, heated tables using the frm’s petroleum-based formula. l Visit barbour.com for details of the service centre, and the Barbour for Land Rover range. For details of Land Rover’s off-road experiences, see landrover.comxperiences
THE HYBRID
Two of a kind Dominico Dolce, right, and Stefano Gabbana in their new Milanese headquarters, on Viale Piave, in the residential district of Porta Venezia
Sartorially speaking
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With the opening of their frst atelier for bespoke menswear, the duo behind a global fashion empire explain why, this time, it’s personal
Courtesy of Dolce & Gabbana
Words: Peter Howarth
A few years ago I interviewed Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana and asked them to tell me what their ambitions were. Gabbana, ostensibly the more laid-back of the two, cracked a joke about only wanting to work for a quarter of an hour a day: ‘…from 2pm to 2.15pm, and spend the rest of the time shopping and having treatments.’ For his part, Dolce, wryly and in a tone that suggested he wasn’t being entirely humorous, said he dreamed of having a small atelier where he could make beautiful things for an exclusive clientele. Today, I remind Dolce of that conversation and he laughs. ‘You know, sometimes I feel like Benjamin Button, that I’m living my life in reverse,’ he says. ‘You can travel all the way around the world and end up where you started.’ His amusement is prompted by the fact that his dream of a little tailor’s shop has now become a reality. This summer, Dolce & Gabbana unveiled Sartoria, a bespoke studio at 13 Corso Venezia in Milan – an extension of their existing menswear store. And the reason Dolce feels he has come full circle is because it was in just such an environment that he frst became acquainted with the idea of creating men’s clothes. His father was a well-known tailor in the town of Polizzi Generosa, near Palermo, in Sicily. His mother, who ran a store, asked her husband to help look after their son, and so Dolce Junior found himself in his tailoring studio, which doubled as a nursery. Here, he played with the cloth and machinery – cutting his fngers on sewing machines in the process – and made his frst pair of (tiny) trousers when he was just six years old. Dolce & Gabbana menswear has always refected Dolce’s childhood experience. Every
This is a place where people can come and discover their love of clothing. That’s the whole idea
collection starts with velvet and pinstripes – two of the fabrics his father used. Moreover, there is regular interplay between different types of masculine clothing that owes much to Dolce Senior’s business practice. For example, Dolce & Gabbana habitually riffs on the elegance of formal tailoring – the sleek eveningwear and suiting for which the house has become renowned – while also championing the more hardwearing and homely aspects of the male wardrobe, such as durable knits, big boots and heavy overcoats. This duality is there in Dolce’s description of how his father would measure up the nobility during the day and make clothes for the local farmers in the evening. Both types of customer took great pride in their appearance, which the designer says had a great impact on him. Spending time with his dad was an education – an introduction to different types of people, and a lesson in how dignity has nothing to do with class or money. ‘I’ve gone back to my roots with our new sartorial store,’ says Dolce. ‘I love to make clothes and this is a place where people can come and discover their love of clothing. That’s the whole idea – to help people choose their own clothes. It’s for yourself alone – not to show that you are rich or powerful, but that you care about yourself.’
In Dolce & Gabbana ready-to-wear there has always been a sense of the democratisation of menswear. The designers are keen to point out that the essential item of clothing for men in Sicily is the white shirt, which is arguably the most democratic item imaginable. You can see the inspiration of both ends of society in each collection. The common thread is the Italian ideal of la bella fgura, which says that, whatever your background or fnancial status, you take care of your appearance. Even if your clothes have seen better days, you dress up for Sunday afternoon and the ritual passeggiata. Domenico and Stefano remember this from their childhoods – how the people would walk up and down the main street, saying ‘ciao’ to each other. If, for Dolce, the new sartorial store is a homecoming, for his design partner, it is more the apotheosis of their work with menswear. Gabbana speaks of the power of bespoke tailoring to complement what nature has given us: ‘Every man lives in a world of his own, with completely different characteristics to anyone else,’ he says. ‘Our suits enhance the strong points of the male body, only possible thanks to our knowledge of the human body, which is based on a near-anatomical study that’s crucial for creating garments that fall perfectly.’ He points out that what they are offering here is a full tailoring service, where there is specialisation in ‘the intricate steps required in making a jacket’. The process is one of personalising the design. Customers look at sketches, fabrics, buttons, linings. They are talked through the alternative choices of cut, style and fnish. They can choose the number of pockets they would like, and in
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which style. For Gabbana, it’s all about ‘unique details’. He explains: ‘When talking about a man’s jacket, one of the most important of these details is the buttonholes. Ours are cut following traditional tailored techniques and sewn by hand, one by one.’ Of course, what you get at the end of the process still bears the Dolce & Gabbana signature style, but it is yours, and yours alone. However, it’s not just the product that has been tailored to each customer. The whole idea behind this space is to make each visit an intensely personal experience. Dolce sees it as a kind of antidote to the pace of modern life, and modern retail in particular. ‘With modern technology and globalisation, there is an obsession with the new, with fast response,’ he says. ‘The danger here is that it can kill our humanity, our appreciation of the small things, of the fve senses. These are very important – you need to be able to slow down, take your time, smell the fruit, the fower. The same is true of shopping. If you simply buy online, you buy without experiencing anything – without art, without harmony, without love.’ It’s clear that, for Dolce, this whole enterprise is something of a crusade. He talks about how they have opened this new store because of their passion, and not to make money. Fashion today, in his opinion, is driven too much by the obsession to rack up proft. To this end, many big fashion companies, he believes, are busy trying to sell more and more accessories – shoes, bags, glasses and watches. ‘Style is built around tailored clothing – not a bag,’ he says. Gabbana agrees:
All the elements This page from top: Each buttonhole is made by hand; a slim wool frock coat from the frst Dolce & Gabbana Sartoria collection, presented in June in Milan Opposite from top: The atelier’s apartment-like interior is a mix of Neoclassical and mid-20th-century modern design; shoes from the collection displayed on vintage chairs at the new 13 Corso Venezia store
Andres Passuelo; courtesy of Dolce & Gabbana
Men’s Style • Brummell
‘The jacket and waistcoat are, and always will be, the symbols of classic elegance.’ ‘We need to remind people to start with the elementary clothes,’ adds Dolce. ‘With the best ingredients. It’s like food, like when you eat great buffalo mozzarella. It’s about quality. About respect for the culture – food for your body, but also for your mind. In this way, we can learn.’ To encourage customers to get involved in the creation of their clothes, the new atelier has been designed to feel like an apartment, with beautiful furniture. ‘People need to come in, talk a little, sit on the sofa, have a Scotch,’ explains Dolce. ‘It’s an intimate and confdential process. Maybe someone is a bit shy to begin with, but it is our job to talk to them about their dreams. This sartorial project is about so much more than fashion. It’s about your own time. Doing something for yourself. Discovering your personal style.’ To encourage people to spend time there, the space is beautifully conceived. The atelier opens on to a typical Milanese courtyard that is home to a Sicilian garden. The foors feature fve different types of marble, as well as 19th-century-style parquet, while furniture has been curated – a one-of-a-kind bookcase designed by Giò Ponti for a luxurious hotel in St Tropez; a table by Ignazio Gardella; and more Ponti, including chairs for Reguitti from 1949, and recessed ceiling lights he developed for naval architect Nino Zoncada, which were fxtures aboard the Augustus, an Italian cruise liner built in 1927. Other lighting includes a piece by Ercole Barovier and a majestic Palmengarten chandelier
This sartorial project is about so much more than fashion. It’s about doing something for yourself
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with 140 light bulbs arranged in a radial pattern reminiscent of the palms in the outdoor garden. The bespoke collection offers not just suits, but everything you could wish to fnd in a male wardrobe – shirts in cotton and linen, cashmere sweaters, shoes and socks, underwear, even pyjamas. ‘I love it when people come in and are open to ideas,’ enthuses Dolce. ‘An important politician came in for a suit. He ended up ordering a brocade jacket, waistcoat and pyjamas. Pyjamas are important. I remember my father making fannel ones for the winter and silk for the summer.’ Clearly, Sartoria is something of a homage to Signor Dolce Snr. But is the design duo really able to get as personally involved in its work as he did, given the small matter of their day jobs running a global fashion empire? ‘Absolutely,’ says Dolce. ‘Our tailor, Andrea, is very capable, but sometimes he will ask for advice. Once, we had a conversation about a shirt he was trying to match with a suit. I had to explain to him that the customer would need more than one shirt, because he travels. When I’m travelling, I always pack at least four. ‘It is through conversations like this that we connect with our customers. Coming to the atelier should be like visiting your barber. It’s not just about a ftting: it’s about connecting. Some people think tradition is old and boring. But without a foundation in tradition, it is impossible to have a coherent and substantial modern vision.’ l Dolce & Gabbana Sartoria is at Corso Venezia 13, Milan; dolcegabbana.com
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Power line
The Bugatti family’s remarkable creative dynasty – car-makers, furniture designers, sculptors – is celebrated in six limited-edition cars and a clothing range
Words: Charlie Teasdale
Preparing to get behind the wheel of a Bugatti Veyron is a tricky thing, because it’s like no other car in the world. The Grand Sport Vitesse – the model I was foolishly allowed to pilot for 100 miles along California’s Pacifc Highway – can sprint from a standing start to 100km/h in just 2.6 seconds, so the experience is more akin to a space-shuttle launch than say, a Sunday drive. It was the end of Monterey Car Week and the destination was Oxnard – a thoroughly underwhelming city an hour north of Los Angeles. We were headed to the Mullin Automotive Museum, wherein we’d fnd an exhibition that offered more exquisite art, design and engineering than all the galleries and garages of Ventura County put together. The unassuming, hangar-like structure is full of some of the world’s most beautiful, rare and sought-after cars. Peter Mullin, an international authority on French cars from the pre-World War II Art Deco period (and, by extension, many other
eras too) took on the building in 2006 and set about creating a tribute to the cars he loves so much. Pay a visit today and you’ll be presented with The Art of Bugatti – an extensive exhibition illustrating the vast body of work of a single family – but don’t expect just four-wheeled creations. ‘In another exhibition about a car manufacturer, you’d see only cars, then more cars, and more cars after that. Here, you see cars, furniture, paintings, sculptures – all from the same family. No other manufacturer can say that it came from a family of artists – and they are not unknown artists either, but world-renowned in their own right,’ says Julius Kruta, head of tradition at Bugatti. You’ve no doubt heard of Bugatti, but for most the name conjures speed-blurred visions of exotic cars, which would be a fairly accurate assumption. However, the exhibition looks beyond the automotive branch of Bugatti and explores a dynasty that has offered up an almost unfair glut of creativity and craftsmanship.
First there was Giovanni Bugatti, an architect and sculptor. His son Carlo was born in Milan in 1856 and went on to train in his father’s trade at the Brera Academy in Milan and the Académie des Beaux Arts in Paris. An artist at heart, he worked in all manner of materials, but is perhaps best known for his furniture design. He had three children: a daughter and two sons. Rembrandt, the youngest, was exposed to his parents’ circle of friends – including composer Giacomo Puccini and painter Giovanni Segantini – from an early age, and went on to become a celebrated sculptor, most revered for his bronze animals. Ettore, the eldest, channeled his creativity in a more practical direction and took up an apprenticeship at a bicycle company at the age of 17. Within the space of two years, he had built his frst engine-driven tricycle and then his frst car. The wheels of Bugatti were in motion. A year later, Ettore moved to Alsace to be car manufacturer De Dietrich’s technical director, still
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The most striking element of a Bugatti was its looks, with aesthetics often holding precedence over comfort
Power of six Opposite: Les Légendes de Bugatti outside Château Saint Jean in Molsheim Above: Rembrandt Bugatti’s dancing-elephant emblem Below: Ettore Bugatti at De Dietrich, around 1902
so young that his father had to sign the contract on his behalf. Over the next few years, he held a series of design and development positions in the automobile industry, while simultaneously building cars at home. In 1909, he struck out on his own, and production of the Bugatti Type 13 began. His business was based in a disused dyeworks in Molsheim – the town the company still calls home – and the production of one lightweight, elegant car after another began in earnest. World War I hampered production and the family was forced to temporarily relocate, but once hostilities were over, they picked up where they’d left off. Ettore built astonishingly fast cars and his creations were frequent winners at Le Mans, Brescia and other early grands prix. Beyond the engineering, though, the most striking element of a Bugatti was its looks – each was more beautiful than the last – with aesthetics sometimes holding precedence over comfort or performance. The Type 55 Roadster, for example, was wholly
impractical. ‘It has no purpose other than to be beautiful,’ says Kruta. ‘There are no doors, so the wind passes around your kidneys and makes you ill, there’s no boot and it’s not very good from an aerodynamic standpoint. But in terms of proportions, everything is just perfect.’ Shortly after the Type 55 came the Type 57 – the frst car with a chassis designed by Ettore’s son. In 1936, Jean Bugatti took over management of the Molsheim plant when his father, laden with debt and disappointed with his staff following a national strike, moved to Paris. The next era of Bugatti was sadly to be short-lived, because three years later, Jean was killed in a road accident. Soon after, Ettore was forced by the Nazi occupiers to sell his business, and Bugatti Automobiles became merely a legend. In 1998, almost 60 years after Bugatti closed its doors, Volkswagen revived the name and the culture of design and performance. Production of the Veyron 16.4, a car that defed tradition and represented a major milestone in automotive engineering, began in 2005. Garnering huge acclaim across the board, the Veyron has regularly been described as the greatest car in the world, thanks, in no small part, to its unparalleled top speed of 408km/h. Variations, including the Veyron Grand Sport, Super Sport and Grand Sport Vitesse, were created and quickly sold over the past 10 years, and now Bugatti is winding down production, with only a handful left. To mark the end of the ‘Veyron era’, the company recently created Les Légendes de Bugatti, six specially designed editions of the Grand Sport Vitesse that pay homage to major fgures of Bugatti’s heritage. In August 2013, the Jean-Pierre Wimille – a car inspired by the life and success of the racing driver who won Bugatti two victories at Le Mans – was presented at Monterey Car Week. Then, over the course of the next year, Bugatti launched the Jean Bugatti, the Meo Costantini, the Rembrandt Bugatti, the Black Bess (dedicated to the Type 18) and then, fnally, the Ettore Bugatti, which was presented alongside the others in Monterey this summer – probably the last time six of the world’s most impressive cars will be in the same place. The Légende models, of which there are only three of each, stand as testament to the astonishing but prematurely curtailed work of the Bugatti family, and there’s a sense that, had they been able to continue their work, these are the cars that they would inevitably, triumphantly have created. To add to the exclusivity of Les Légendes, Bugatti has created a capsule collection of menswear and womenswear that matches each of the six cars. Featuring leather jackets, trousers, T-shirts and accessories, the range is available
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Design statement Clockwise from above: Velvet tuxedo; pinstripe fannel suit; and a range of accessories including carbon-fbre EB sunglasses, all Ettore Buggati Collection
only to the 18 new owners, and looks to channel the very DNA of the company: exquisite design, outstanding quality and a soul of sophisticated luxury. No detail has been overlooked, from the subtle dancing-elephant logo – which began life as a Rembrandt Bugatti sculpture – to the use of cordovan leather, the same material that appears in the interior of the Ettore Bugatti Légende. In the same way that the overwhelming technology of the Bugatti cars of the 21st century has fltered down through the entire automotive industry, this capsule clothing collection serves as a foundation for Bugatti’s latest venture: a full fashion collection, available to all. With a design ethic that marries refnement with individuality, the Ettore Bugatti Collection comprises coats, jackets, suits, shirts and accessories, featuring an abundance of luxurious fabrics and eye-catching patterns. Almost every item is a statement piece, but from a company that specialises in standing out from the crowd, what else would you expect? Highlights include a tuxedo in blue velvet, a double-breasted fannel suit with contrasting lapels and a briefcase in black palmellato leather. A car company creating a clothing collection might seem a little incongruous, but at Bugatti the idea is that styling, engineering and good design transcend the parameters of industry. It is the ethos Giovanni and his family set out with all those years ago, and one the company continues to honour today. With a collective of infuential artists, furniture-makers, writers and engineers at its core, it’s only surprising it didn’t happen sooner. The real question is, what will Bugatti create next? l The new Bugatti store at 22 Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, SW1X 7QN, will be opening later this autumn; bugatti.com
This page, clockwise from below: Bremont Wright Flyer; Omega Speedmaster MK II; IWC Portuguese Tourbillon Mystère RÊtrograde Opposite, from top: Bell & Ross BR01-94 B-Rocket; Richard Mille RM 033
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In good hands Whatever your personal preference – timeless or pioneering, understated or with a fourish – there is a fne new watch to suit you
Photography: Andy Barter Words: Simon de Burton
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Bremont Wright Flyer ↑ Bremont has incorporated material salvaged from famous objects – a Spitfre, HMS Victory and Bletchley Park’s Hut Six – before. Now, each of its 450 Wright Flyer chronometers contains a small piece of the actual muslin fabric from the Wright Flyer, which became the frst successful powered aircraft in 1903, when it achieved four short fights near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The material was salvaged from Orville Wright’s home after his death in 1948, and some of the proceeds of the watches will go towards restoring the building. £17,950 in stainless steel; £27,950 in rose gold; £30,950 in white gold; bremont.com
Omega Speedmaster MK II ↑ The original ‘Speedy’ was launched in 1957 and was popular as a driver’s watch before establishing itself in the horological frmament in 1969 when Buzz Aldrin wore one on the Moon during the Apollo XI mission. The same year, Omega extended the range with a Speedmaster MK II that featured a more ovoid case and a different dial. The model has proved less popular with collectors than the round-cased original – but that could change with the arrival of the re-launched MK II, available as a ‘racing’ version with orange dial highlights, or this more sober design with black and white markings. £3,950; omegawatches.com
Bell & Ross BR01-94 B-Rocket ↑ Bell & Ross has teamed up with British custom motorcycle builder Shaw Speed & Custom to create a second bike after the Nascafe three years ago. The B-Rocket is an even more radical machine: a retro-futuristic drag bike based on Fifties jet planes. The B-Rocket watches that go with it include this 46mm, three-counter chronograph featuring a black dial bordered by a black and white tachymeter scale for speed and distance calculations. The strap is made from padded black leather inspired by the ‘kneeler’ bike’s leather-covered knee supports. A 42mm, time-only version is to come. £4,800; bellross.com
Richard Mille RM 033 ↑ The RM 033 took fans of Richard Mille watches by surprise when it was frst launched in 2011, not just because it was round rather than in RM’s more familiar cushion shape, but because it was unusually slim. However, the RM 033 is made in the same cutting-edge materials and techniques for which the brand’s more familiar watches are renowned – so the ultra-thin movement is hewn largely from titanium and is ftted with a highly effcient, off-centre micro-rotor made from platinum. The model pictured here is clearly aimed at the famboyant, but more discreet versions are available. £114,200; richardmille.com
IWC Portuguese Tourbillon Mystère Rétrograde ↑ In 1939, two watch importers from Lisbon and Oporto asked IWC for a large wristwatch with the accuracy of a marine chronometer – the opposite of the prevailing trend for small, neat Art Deco style timepieces. IWC responded by ftting a highly accurate pocket-watch movement into a plain, 41.5mm case with the option of simple black or silvered dials. Phased out in the Seventies, the Portuguese was revived for IWC’s 125th anniversary in 1993 and has since been made available in various guises - including this high-end tourbillon model with retrograde date and power reserve display. £80,000; iwc.com
S C O T T ’S E X P E D I T I O N TO TH E S O UTH PO LE . BEGUN 1910. C O M P LE TE D 20 1 4 . On January 17th 1912, after a journey of 900 miles, Captain Robert Falcon Scott reached the South Pole with his four companions: Edgar Evans, Lawrence ‘Titus’ Oates, Henry Bowers and Edward Wilson. But any elation the men felt quickly turned to despair. They were not, as they’d hoped, the first. A Norwegian team, led by Roald Amundsen, had beaten them by 34 days. ‘The Pole’ wrote Scott in his diary, ‘but under very different circumstances from those expected. Great God! This is an awful place and terrible enough to have laboured to it without the reward of priority.’ Already in low spirits, their return journey was blighted by poor luck and poor weather. Evans fell badly on the ice, suffering severe concussion. He collapsed and died near the bottom of the Beardmore Glacier on February 17th. In the days that followed, the four remaining men had to endure some of the most extreme conditions ever recorded in the region. Oates, crippled by frostbite and slowing the team’s progress, famously walked out of the tent to his death in order to save his comrades. His sacrifice was in vain. By March 22nd, Scott, Bowers and Wilson, unable to cover the necessary distances in the appalling weather, had only two days’ food left, yet were still three days from the next depot. Then a blizzard descended, trapping them in their tent. With all hope gone, the three men lay down and waited for the end. ‘Had we lived’ wrote Scott, ‘I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes, and our dead bodies, must tell the tale.’ They died just eleven miles short of their destination. And for more than a century, nobody had ever attempted to complete the entire 1,795 mile route of Captain Scott’s Terra Nova expedition. This year, however, British explorers Ben Saunders and Tarka L’Herpiniere successfully walked the entire distance. Over 105 gruelling days, in temperatures as low as minus 45 degrees, and with each man dragging 200kg of supplies, the pair set a new record for the longest polar journey on foot. Both men wore Bremont Terra Nova chronometers outside their jackets throughout the trek. The Terra Nova has a specially-oiled mechanical movement that can function at sub-zero temperatures, when lesser watches would, quite literally, freeze. (Scott used mechanical watches on his expedition and one hundred years later a mechanical watch is still the best tool in extreme conditions.) The Terra Nova is built from aircraft-grade titanium, which makes it remarkably tough, and crucially, exceptionally light. ‘On expeditions like this’ says Saunders, ‘every gram counts.’ The Terra Nova is available now in a strictly limited edition of 300. And, unlike Ben and Tarka, to get yours you need venture no further than your nearest Bremont stockist.
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Brummell • Men’s Style Two wheels good David Beckham, on a converted Triumph T100, wearing Belstaff
Easy riders
When it comes to rugged motorcycle gear, Belstaff – worn by legends since 1924 – has remained an iconic brand
Words: Peter Howarth
If you watched David Beckham’s documentary, Into the Unknown, charting his recent trip through Brazil, you’ll have clocked the motorbikes he and his friends chose as their preferred mode of transport: beautifully converted Triumph T100s. You may also have noticed the gear he was wearing, by Belstaff. The interesting thing here is that there is a South American precedent for this. In 1952, a 23-year-old medical student set off with a biochemist friend on a trip round the continent, riding a single-cylinder 1939 Norton 500cc steed dubbed La Poderosa (‘The Mighty One’). His name was Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara and he’d go on to become arguably even more of a poster boy than Mr Beckham is today, and the epitome of the romantic revolutionary. But while Che is remembered as a man who sported a combat jacket and beret, he also wore Belstaff – as did many other biking legends, including TE Lawrence (of Arabia), who held that his beloved Brough Superior was better than a thoroughbred (‘A skittish motor-bike with a touch of blood in it is better than all the riding animals on earth...’). Ewan McGregor is also a fan of Belstaff, and something of a poster boy himself for modern bikers. His two epic motorcycle journeys, made with his friend and fellow thespian Charley Boorman, have been the subject of two compelling TV series and books, Long Way Round and Long Way Down. The actors were inspired to undertake their initial quest by Ted Simon’s Jupiter’s Travels – perhaps the greatest work of biking literature ever written. Simon, a journalist, rode around the globe for four years on a 500cc Triumph Tiger 100, covering 63,000 miles and taking in 54 countries. This 1973 voyage is the daddy of all
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biker tales and beloved of anyone who fancies the idea of touring on two wheels. Simon is clear about what makes motorbikes different. In Jupiter’s Travels, he says: ‘It’s no trick to go round the world these days; you can pay a lot of money and fy round it non-stop in less than 48 hours, but to know it, smell it and feel it between your toes you have to crawl. There is no other way. Not fying, not foating. You have to stay on the ground and swallow the bugs as you go. Then the world is immense.’ The King of Cool, Steve McQueen, also read Jupiter’s Travels, and his widow sent McGregor her late husband’s copy after she had seen The Long Way Round on DVD, telling him in an accompanying letter that, if Steve had been alive, he’d have been riding along with them. McQueen was another Belstaff wearer and is, in many ways, the epitome of the rugged cowboy on two wheels. He liked a motorcycle adventure. In the late-Fifties, he and some friends journeyed across revolutionary Cuba, where the danger was not just to do with the terrain: ‘Batista and Castro were shooting it out across the countryside. There were uniforms everywhere, but we had an adventure, which is one of the things that makes motorcycling so great, because it never fails to give you a feeling of freedom,’ he said. He was also highly competitive, once stating, ‘Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting.’ He was good in a car and on a bike. He mused, ‘I’m not sure whether I’m an actor who races or a racer who acts.’ McQueen competed in
To know it, you have to stay on the ground and swallow the bugs as you go. Then the world is immense
On the road This page, from top: David Beckham; Steve McQueen, left, competing in a 500-mile race across the Mojave Desert in 1963. Opposite: Sammy Miller. number 263, and Dave Eakins, number 261, at the 1964 International Six Days Trial in East Germany
many top off-road bike races on the west coast of America, including the Baja 1000, Mint 400 and Elsinore Grand Prix. In 1978, he was inducted into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. In 1964, McQueen headed to to Erfurt in East Germany, behind the Iron Curtain, as part of the frst-ever US team to compete in the International Six Days Trial, along with his friends Bud and Dave Ekins, Cliff Coleman and John Steen. He even carried the American fag for the group at the opening ceremony. The ISDT, as it was known, is the challenging annual endurance motorcycle race now renamed the International Six Days Enduro. One feature of the competition is that entrants carry out their own repairs. The black-and-white pictures of McQueen during that gruelling motorised marathon have become part of the legend of both the actor and rugged biking. Many, taken by François Gragnon, show him spattered in mud, with raindrops on his distinctive striped helmet, cornering on dirt, right
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John Dominis/Rex Features; Nick Nicholls courtesy of Sammy Miller; Peter Lindbergh
Win leg stuck out for balance, or lying on the ground, relaxing and chewing the fat with other riders. One of those also there, competing against the US contingent, was Ulsterman Sammy Miller MBE, who was on the British team. Miller won a gold medal. Now aged 80, he remembers going out practising with McQueen, and says the actor was ‘a nice guy – good craíc, good fun’. But he didn’t win gold – that achievement was reserved for one of his team-mates, Dave Ekins. Ekins began next to Miller: ‘We started in pairs, so the American team told him, “Stay close behind Sammy for six days and you’ll have a gold medal too.” The crowds called us “Miller and his shadow”. He got the only gold medal for the USA team!’ Miller’s motorcycle-racing career began in 1953 and he has won over 1,482 motorcycle trials. He was British Trials Champion 11 times in succession – a record that has never been bettered. He now runs the Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum in New Milton, Hampshire, which houses some 400 exhibits, including factory racers and exotic prototypes, and is considered to be one of the fnest collections of fully restored motorcycles in the world. He is still competing and winning – and he, too, is an advocate of Belstaff. Indeed, he was wearing the brand when he won his gold competing against the United States in the ISDT in East Germany. Today, there is a waxed-cotton jacket named after Miller in the Belstaff collection – a replica of a 1955 Trialmaster style. ‘I wore Belstaff all my career,’ says the champion rider. ‘In 1954,
I entered the Scottish Six Days Trial and I wrote to Belstaff and they made a suit for me to wear. I won the Ben Nevis trophy wearing it in that competition. It’s a good company, making good waterproof clothing. One Scottish Six Days event, it rained fve days of the six. I was the only dry guy out in the feld.’ The Belstaff name runs through the narrative of the history of motorcycling like a winding off-road trail. Founded in 1924 by Harry Grosberg and his father-in-law, Eli Belovitch (the label’s moniker comes from combining ‘Belovitch’ with ‘Staffordshire’, which was the location of the frst factory), Belstaff frst manufactured waterproofs, and then, in 1927, started making specialist clothing for motorcyclists. Today’s incarnation of the brand has had an injection of luxury that positions it as a kind of BMW GS1200 Adventure among outerwear: like the enduro bike, it can do the business if required, but most of its clientele won’t put it through its paces. However, that heritage – and Belstaff now has some 90 years’ worth – is, in fact, what makes its apparel, and particularly its iconic belted jackets, appealing. Put simply, Belstaff has the all-important authenticity that underpins successful brands, striking a chord with those possessed of the spirit of adventure and independence embodied in the act of motorcycling. Even if the majority of those who visit its fagship Bond Street store get no closer to a bike than watching David Beckham negotiate the rough roads of Brazil. l belstaff.co.uk
Competition WIN a Belstaff Roadmaster jacket Visit brummellmagazine.co.uk/belstaff between 22 September and midnight on 31 October and enter your details for the chance to win a Belstaff Roadmaster jacket. Perhaps the company’s most iconic item, the belted design is over 30 years old. Ergonomic and streamlined, it features a heritage check lining, adjustable snap cuffs and antique brass hardware. Full terms and conditions are on the website.
This page and opposite: Check stretch moulinĂŠ-wool New Signoria suit; cashmere cardigan; fne-stripe cotton classic shirt; silk and cashmere tie; and leather-soled shoes with Gucci script detail
Magnifcent Men’s Style • Brummell
If you’ve an eye for a slick suit but lessthan-model-like proportions, your luck’s just changed – Gucci’s new collection’s the shape of things to come
Photography: Lachlan Bailey Models: Clement Chabernaud, Janis Ancens, Arthur Gosse
Over the years, Gucci has found favour with a host of the world’s most stylish men: from Frank Sinatra, Alain Delon and David Niven in the last century, to James Franco, Ryan Gosling and Robert Downey Jr in the current one. Interestingly, playwright Samuel Beckett had a Gucci Hobo bag, proving that even literary geniuses are susceptible to the attraction of a stylish accessory. Today, Gucci’s creative director, Frida Giannini, has taken a welcome step towards addressing the practicalities of outftting real men, by acknowledging that not all are created equal – or at least, equally shaped. The new Gucci tailoring collection offers seven silhouettes, from the Seventies-inspired Heritage, with larger lapels and thin sleeves, and the modern Marseille, which is tapered through the body, to the classic-ft Signoria and the slim-ft Monaco. This allows for different body shapes and aesthetic preferences while always delivering the signature Gucci look, which dials up elegant Italian style. When it comes to the technical details, every suit in the collection boasts impeccable construction and made-in-Italy expertise, while linings feature a variety of iconic Gucci motifs: the horsebit, chain, diamanté and GG patterns. If a Gucci suit is the mark of a modern, cosmopolitan man-about-town, then henceforth, the seven silhouettes on offer mean he will be able to fnd his ideal ft and look, without sacrifcing a single stitch of individuality. l gucci.com
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Brummell • Men’s Style This page: Stretch-cotton and suede Dylan 6os suit; fancy-check cotton classic shirt; silk and cashmere tie; silk and cotton pocket square; leather belt; and G-Timeless watch in a stainless-steel case with a silver dial and leather strap Opposite: Fancy-check fannel New Signoria suit; cotton-twill classic-stripe classic shirt; silk and cashmere tie; 18ct yellow-gold Diamantissima tie bar; silk and cotton pocket square; crocodile-leather belt (just seen); leather-soled shoes with Gucci script detail; and leather briefcase
‘We are dedicated to pushing the limits of classic suiting with modern fabrics and bold textures, while maintaining our rich Italian heritage of artisanal craftsmanship’ Frida Giannini, creative director of Gucci
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Brummell • Men’s Style
‘The Gucci man likes a sophisticated silhouette, but has an instinct for experimentation – and, without question, quality is the foundation of our design philosophy’ Frida Giannini
Men’s Style • Brummell
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Opposite, from left: Over-check micro-design wool New Signoria suit; classic-stripe cotton slim shirt with contrast collar; silk and wool tie; silk and cotton pocket square. Rib-fannel Heritage suit; melange-check cotton-twill classic shirt; silk and cashmere tie; leather belt (just seen); leather-soled shoes with Gucci script detail This page: Wool double-breasted Signoria classic coat; soft-check wool Dylan 60s; leather-soled shoes with Gucci script detail; Diamanté leather duffe bag
This page: SablĂŠ wool-mohair Signoria suit; wool-mohair waistcoat; piece-dyed poplin slim shirt; silk tie; and silk pocket square Opposite: Wool-silk Marseille suit; structured wool-silk waistcoat; soft-stripe cotton slim shirt; regimental pattern silk tie; silk and cotton pocket square; and leather belt (just seen)
Men’s Style • Brummell
‘We’re defnitely seeing a shift to a slimmer, more tailored ft. My aesthetic also owes something to the rock spirit of the Seventies: extravagance mixed with an air of nonchalance is what I fnd so appealing’ Frida Giannini
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Brummell • Watches
Born in the USA
Out of the urban decay of Detroit, high-end watchmaker Shinola has surfaced – its mission to reclaim territory lost by the US watch industry and, at the same time, regenerate a once-great American manufacturing city
Words: Tracey Llewellyn
Although the roots of precision mobile timekeeping lie frmly in English soil, it is the Swiss who have for centuries dominated global watch production. In the mid-19th century, however, the United States pioneered the use of automated machines to mass-produce mechanical watches with interchangeable parts, leading to an immediate and huge drop-off in Swiss exports to America. Refusing to become the also-ran of watchmaking, Switzerland invested heavily in industrialisation and education and, by the early 20th century, its watchmakers had not only caught up with US output, but mastered the ability to produce complicated timepieces at affordable prices. The simpler watches being made in the US couldn’t compete and, by the time quartz technology swept through the industry in the Seventies, its watch industry was all but over. Fast-forward nearly half a century to 2010 and a brainstorming session between executives from Swiss movement manufacturer Ronda AG and strategic developers from Dallas-based Bedrock Manufacturing – a company led by Tom Kartsotis, founder of highly successful accessories label Fossil. The purpose of the pow-wow was to discuss the once-great US watch industry and the possibility of regenerating it. Little more than a year later, the Shinola watch factory – named after an obsolete boot-polish brand popular among US troops in World War II – opened its doors for business on the ffth foor of Detroit’s College for Creative Studies (CCS). The decision to base Shinola in one of the USA’s poorest cities just months before it was declared bankrupt was a practical one. Although there was no heritage of watchmaking in Detroit, Shinola’s
Hands up for Detroit This page: the face of the Runwell 41mm watch features the word ‘Detroit’ and the name of the watchmaker. Opposite: Shinola’s Swiss-made quartz movements (top) are hand-assembled in the Detroit factory (below)
directors looked beyond that to the industrial history of the city’s past. The consensus was that, while equipment and trainers would have to be brought from Switzerland and components shipped in from Europe and Hong Kong, the workforce could be 100-per-cent American, with all assembly and quality control carried out in Detroit. Shinola CEO Steve Bock explains, ‘It’s a city on the rise, full of people who know how to make things and make them well. You only have to look at what’s come out of Detroit in terms of manufacturing. Craftsmanship and a frst-rate work ethic emanate from it.’ In the beginning. Shinola had a staff of six; today, there are more than 200 employees working in the 60,000 sq ft facility. Around 50,000 watches left the Detroit factory in 2013, but Bock believes that potential capacity for the current premises is up to 1.2 million units per year. Shinola’s rise has been meteoric – the factory started production in 2011 and stores were opened in Detroit, Minneapolis and New York in the last year, with further boutiques in Chicago, Washington, LA and London to open soon. Acceptance of the brand has been almost universal, its design-led ethos making it a darling of the fashion press in record time. And, despite the inevitable backlash from a small section of the press and online community questioning the ethics of using Detroit as a marketing platform, the dominant sentiment is that any initiative that brings attention to the city and provides jobs within it has to be commended. There are currently four timepiece collections – Runwell, Brakeman, Birdy and Gomelsky (the latter two being for women) – in the price range
Carlson Productions LLC 2013; David Lewinski
Watches • Brummell
$475 to $1,000, all of them hybrids of fashion and fne-watchmaking. Championing the American aesthetic of the Twenties to the Sixties, they are minimalist in style with an emphasis on super-high component quality, allowing Shinola to be one of the very few companies capable of offering a limited lifetime warranty. The dials are clear and utilitarian, save for the word ‘Detroit’ and the Shinola emblem of an orange lightning bolt. Every Swiss-made quartz movement is hand-assembled in Detroit and each watch delivered with a small plaque bearing its maker’s name – a further symbol of the pride and passion behind the product. Although watches are the core offering from the brand, beyond the doors of Shinola’s assembly facility lies an Aladdin’s cave of branded delights. Other products bearing the company signature include some of the world’s hippest bicycles, with components produced in Wisconsin and assembled in full view of customers in the fagship Detroit store. And then there are the leather goods – journals, wallets and bags made with hides from the Horween tannery in Chicago. In fact, so passionate is the Shinola team about its leather products that, earlier this year, it set up its own leather factory within the confnes of CCS, training workers to make straps, under the watchful eye of ex-Louis Vuitton maestro Paloma Vega-Perez. ‘The more we can manufacture at Shinola and in Detroit, the better. Investing in our people, equipment and facilities is essential to our long-term success,’ says Bock of his decision. Beyond the bread-and-butter products of Shinola lie some showstoppers, in the shape of the ‘Curated’ collection of limited-edition, 100-per-cent
Projects like this are a wonderful way to bring the story of Shinola and US manufacturing to the fore
Signature pieces Opposite from top: A Shinola bicycle being assembled in its Detroit fagship store; hide from the Horween tannery in Chicago. This page, from top: The Shinola Runwell 11-speed, porteur-style bicycle. Below: A leather iPad Mini envelope made in Shinola’s factory
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American goods such as letter jackets, baseballs and footballs. There is also ‘Shinola Pet’, a 2014 collaboration with A-list fashion photographer and dog lover Bruce Weber. The American-made line of pet accessories includes dog leads, collars, beds and toys. Everything Shinola stands for can be summed up in its strapline, ‘Where American is Made’, and its ‘Great American’ series of limited-edition watches is the physical manifestation of this statement. Celebrating US innovators, the frst piece, unveiled at the end of 2013, was the Wright Brothers watch (and bearing in mind Orville and Wilbur’s history as bicycle-makers, the temptation to make a matching Shinola bike was too great to resist), which commemorated the 110th anniversary of the frst powered fight. The second piece, celebrating the achievements of Henry Ford, will be launched next month. Then there’s the ‘Shinola Salutes’ range of limited-edition watch collaborations with American icons and heroes such as Mustang and Oscar de la Renta. ‘These serve to emphasise that American-made is the core of the brand,’ says Bock. ‘Projects like this are a wonderful way to bring the story of Shinola and US-based manufacturing to the fore.’ The past three years have certainly been exciting for Shinola, and the eyes of the watch world are now focused on America, waiting to see if it really can reclaim old territory. As one of the brand’s early advertisements decrees: ‘The long tradition of Detroit watchmaking has just begun’. l The frst London Shinola shop opens on Newburgh Street,W1, in November; shinola.com
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Brummell • Men’s Style
Hail to the chief
New-silhouette suits, a shirt that tracks physical activity, and its frst New York fagship store – how Ralph Lauren set about rebooting the world’s most recognisable label
On the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 55th Street is a handsome Twenties neo-classical building with an imposing limestone façade embellished with bronze-trimmed windows. To its west stands the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, where Duke Ellington performed his career-defning Concert of Sacred Music in 1965. To the south is the St Regis Hotel – the fêted Beaux-Arts style monument in which Salvador Dalí resided for much of the Sixties and Seventies – and a few blocks north, white-blossomed Callery pear trees mark the entrance to Central Park. In short, this is a prime slice of New York real estate. And late last month, this lovingly restored landmark reopened as the world’s frst Polo Ralph Lauren fagship store. ‘When I began designing, I started with the timeless elements of a classic style I called Polo,’ explains the brand’s eponymous founder, chair and CEO. ‘Over many years, the brand has established a reputation for quality, heritage and authenticity. I believe there’s a tremendous opportunity to extend Polo’s enduring appeal around the world, and I’m thrilled to be opening our fagship at home in New York City.’ Lauren’s is the quintessential rags to rag-trade riches success story: of how a regular American guy with no formal fashion training saw a gap for a new style of wider tie and went about turning it into an international retail empire with a turnover of $7.5bn. The man renowned for his penchant for ‘non-fashion fashion’ was born Ralph Lifshitz. The son of lower-middle-class European immigrants, he was raised in the Bronx suburb of Moshulu Park, and even in childhood exhibited a keen appreciation of style, experimenting with
The Polo Ralph Lauren logo is the equal of Apple’s in instantly identifying it as a covetable lifestyle brand
the preppy clothing combinations that would come to defne his ubiquitous aesthetic. In his 1957 high-school yearbook, under ‘goals’, he wrote simply ‘millionaire’. A decade later, he approached Bloomingdale’s to pitch his concept for a 5in-wide tie, having already borrowed $50,000 to found his own business under the aspirational Polo name. But when the store insisted he tone down his designs and remove the branding, he rejected its offer on principle. His single-mindedness paid off, however, as Bloomingdale’s relented, with the ties turning out to be a huge success. Today, Polo Ralph Lauren is the defning symbol of an accessible modern style that never succumbs to fashion’s ceaseless desire for reinvention. Its logo – a mallet-wielding rider astride a galloping horse – is the equal of Apple’s in instantly identifying it as a covetable lifestyle brand. And after nearly 50 years of shaping the way we dress, its striking new home represents arguably its most ambitious undertaking to date. If you’ve ever set foot in a Ralph Lauren store, be it on New Bond Street, on Boulevard Saint Germain, or in Shibuya-ku or Chicago, you’ll know these are no ordinary stop-and-shop retail experiences. Part of the appeal of Lauren’s world is the scale and scope of his imagination – an attention to detail borne out in his meticulously storyboarded temples to all things sartorial. In this regard, 711 Fifth Avenue is no different. The 38,000sq ft space is a paean to the Polo brand, and will be the frst of a roll-out of similarly fully featured fagships the world over, with a London address due to be added in 2015. As well as acting as a showcase for the frst complete lifestyle range of the Polo Women’s label,
David Turner/Condé Nast Archive/Corbis
Words: Henry Farrar-Hockley
Prep school Opposite: Morgan sports jacket, ÂŁ395, from the A/W14 Polo Ralph Lauren collection This page: Ralph Lauren In New York
Brummell • Men’s Style
The mothership’s suiting proposition addresses the needs multitasking alpha
new deftly of the male
Martin Muchalski; Kevin Norris/Emily Meidenbauer
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which launched earlier this year, the ‘mothership’ also carries the full gamut of Polo menswear, including a completely new suiting proposition that deftly addresses the needs of today’s multitasking alpha male. The four-storey edifce houses Ralph Lauren’s frst restaurant in New York City, too – a 150-cover dining room with log fre and saddle-leather banquettes – and an artisan-coffee bar. Sourced from organic blends, Ralph’s Coffee is another example of its creator’s understanding of how an aspirational lifestyle brand can operate beyond the conventional. Numerous fashion labels claim to offer their customers that all-important ‘top-to-toe’ experience, but Lauren has always taken this concept a step further than the competition. He was the frst fashion designer to launch a full home collection, back in 1983, and while countless other clothing brands have made the logical expansion into haute horology, few have done so with the same ambition. When Lauren announced his £33,000 RL67 Safari tourbillon at last year’s SIHH industry fair, the watch world certainly took notice. He had decided to transplant one of timekeeping’s oldest, most accurate and complex mechanisms into a gunmetal-fnish sports case intended for the great outdoors. Ralph Lauren’s stable of style collections refects an innate understanding of the diverse demands of today’s man – it ranges from the full bespoke fnery of Purple Label’s classical elegance to Black Label’s modern luxury wardrobe staples, and from RLX’s outward-bound technical wear to the preppy, all-American collegiate sensibility of Polo. The Polo marque is undergoing a transition that goes far beyond the walls of its recently unveiled New York centrepiece. Key to its new direction is a fresh approach to pared-down tailoring that blends its traditional aesthetic – chalk-stripe fannels, Saxony woollens and rich tweeds – with a sleeker, more European silhouette that has higher armholes, a closer ft through the chest and an unlined construction with more natural shoulders. The suits are available as separates, and the jackets – from £345 – have a drop of seven inches to ensure a better proportioned waistline. Bedford is an equestrian-inspired design with strong shoulders, double vents and a natural roll on the lapel, while Polo is, as the name suggests, a classic house cut with a single vent and soft shoulders. Morgan blends tailoring and sportswear. As with all Ralph Lauren garments, the end products are
What’s in store Opposite: The New York fagship. This page, from top: Slim-ft plaid dress shirt, £85, and cashmere-knit tie, £100; Bedford Desmond sports jacket, £595; Bedford Bellows sports jacket, £595
the result of time-honoured craftsmanship and state-of-the-art technology. To this end, there is perhaps no better example of Lauren’s ability to keep things classic while training an eye on the future than the other ‘frst’ his company chalked up last month. Ten miles east of the Fifth Avenue fagship is Flushing Meadows, home to the annual Grand Slam tennis event, the US Open. It was at this year’s tournament that the ball boys wore simple black Polo Ralph Lauren athletic tops ftted with biometric sensors that accurately measure everything from heartbeat to respiration, stress levels and the wearer’s energy output, and send the stats to a smartphone. It’s the designer’s frst foray into wearable tech and, while only in the test phase, it could be lining the shelves of the Polo fagship as early as spring 2015. Now, that’s something to get the pulse racing. l Available from Ralph Lauren, 1 New Bond Street, London W1S 1SR (020 7535 4600); also Harrods and House of Fraser; ralphlauren.com
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Men’s Style • Brummell
Firmly entrenched With a distinguished heritage that began with the military, the hardwearing Burberry raincoat remains a stalwart of the stylish gentleman’s wardrobe
Words: Charlie Teasdale
A good invention, no matter how simple, will stand the test of time. The trench coat, as the name suggests, was frst developed to protect World War I soldiers from the foul weather that dogged the European fronts, and it remains largely unchanged today, in both design and form. The name, however, is slightly misleading, because its story started decades before the frst shots of the war were even fred. Thomas Burberry, founder of the eponymous fashion house, invented cotton gabardine, the weatherproof fabric that gives the trench coat its functional prowess, in 1879. Lighter and more comfortable than its waxed or rubberised predecessors, its tight weave offered breathability and greater freedom of movement. Before its introduction to the battlefeld, it was favoured by such venerable explorers as Amundsen, Shackleton and Mallory, who sported a coat made from gabardine on his infamously doomed attempt to reach the summit of Everest. The miniscule openings in the fabric allow improved ventilation in the garment, but its compact structure prevents rain from passing through. It was an ingenious, landmark creation and one that deserved attention, and would be crafted into something that would serve a purpose for many years to come. When it came to military use, every element of the trench coat was considered, from the epaulettes that denoted the rank of the wearer to the storm shield on the upper back that staved off the howling rain to the gun fap that added extra protection when he was called to use his rife. Intricate and diligent craftsmanship ensured the garment withstood the rigours of war, and that
devotion to function remains today, though the military detailing is now aesthetic. The process of creating a single Burberry trench coat, which now marries traditional techniques with modern technology, takes three weeks. Workers at the company’s factory in Castleford, West Yorkshire, are highly skilled; those who construct the collar, for example, take up to a year to master the fne hand-stitching required to create a fuid curve and make the piece sit perfectly on the neck. Beyond that, the cuff straps and belt are constructed to guarantee a fat lie, the lining is carefully placed to make sure the famous check is aligned throughout, and the creation of the back pleat – a method unchanged in 100 years – is scrutinised to ensure freedom of movement. Refnement is the name of the game at Burberry, so it comes as no surprise that the company recently made the decision to trim its core range of trench coats to just four styles: the Sandringham slim ft, The Kensington and The Wiltshire modern fts and The Westminster classic ft. Offered in a small but handsomely adequate assortment of lengths and colours, the collection maintains the design touches that have made the trench not only an iconic piece of clothing, but the mainstay of all aspects of the brand, from catwalk shows to store interiors. It is often said that a man should build his wardrobe on a foundation of key pieces that offer timeless style, comfort and confdence: a tailored suit, a white cotton shirt, black Oxfords, a fne cashmere sweater and a quality trench coat are good places to start. l burberry.com
Coat of arms Opposite: Images from the Burberry archive. Above: The Westminster - Long Heritage trench coat, £1,195
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KENSINGTON BAG
Inspirational Women Entrepreneurs
Inspirational women • Brummell
The panel
Johanna Waterous CBE (chair) Senior independent director, RSA Insurance plc and Rexam plc; non-executive director, Wm Morrisons plc Claire Cockerton CEO of Innovate Finance and chairman at Pivotal Innovations
Heather Melville Director strategic partnerships, Payment Solutions Group, Commercial and Private Banking, The Royal Bank of Scotland
In association with
Joanna Santinon Partner, tax, Ernst & Young LLP
Maggie Berry Executive director for Europe, WEConnect International
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Photography: Philip Sinden Words: Jemima Wilson Co-ordinator: Duncan McRae
Every September, Brummell showcases the most successful women currently working in the City and, this year, we focus on entrepreneurs. A true inspiration to other women (and men), these 30 visionaries have shown originality in their ideas and are not averse to taking both personal and material risks. They have each built up a successful, sustainable business of signifcant scale, putting their reputation on the line in the process. Our pioneering women work across a number of sectors, but all have a strong connection to the City, with their business – or the majority of their clients – being based in or around the Square Mile. Their success was measured according to a number of factors, including revenue model, sustainability and market value.
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Emma Sinclair ← Co-founder, Enterprise Jungle A serial entrepreneur, Emma Sinclair co-founded Enterprise Jungle, a social discovery and knowledge extension for enterprise intranet/ ESN/HRIS platforms. She began her career in investment banking and, at 29, was the youngest person in the UK to take a company – Mission Capital – public. She recently sold car-park operator Target Parking to become a full-time techie. Sinclair has received multiple business awards and contributes to The Telegraph’s Wonder Woman section on business, having been a launch contributor, and has a technology column in The Wall Street Journal.
Julie Meyer MBE → Founder, EntrepreneurCountry Julie Meyer MBE has assisted European entrepreneurs in building category-defning, tech-enabled frms for nearly 20 years. She founded Ariadne Capital in 2000 with 62 leading entrepreneurs to create the gold-standard for the fnancing of European entrepreneurship and, in 2008, launched EntrepreneurCountry, a global discovery platform for corporate and start-up innovation. She has backed seven explosivegrowth companies, syndicated more than £350m investments and is a board director to INSEAD, Vestergaard (humanitarian development), Quill, Taggstar and BitX. Opposite: Chelsea crêpe de Chine blouse, £580; Bayswater suede bag, £1,200; and Mira calfskin and suede shoes, £380, all Mulberry. Trousers, Sinclair’s own. Above: Kensington dress, £800, Mulberry
Niki Beattie Founder, Market Structure Partners Following a career at Merrill Lynch spanning many changes in capitalmarkets technology and regulation, Niki Beattie founded Market Structure Partners in 2008, providing strategic advice on fnancial-market structure. She is a non-executive director of Cheuvreux International Ltd and the Moscow Exchange, and non-executive chairman of Aquis Exchange, sits on the Regulatory Decisions Committee of the UK Financial Conduct Authority and is a member of the Secondary Markets Advisory Committee of the European Securities Markets Authority.
Louise Beaumont Co-founder and chief sales and marketing offcer, Platform Black Platform Black is at the forefront of the alternative-fnance industry, matching businesses that have invoices they want to trade with investors with liquid funds to invest. Having invented a new type of SME fnance by leveraging the capital markets into SMEs via an innovative trading platform, co-founder and chief sales and marketing offcer Louise Beaumont advises Number 10, HM Treasury, the Cabinet Offce and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on primary legislation, invoice fnance and supply-chain fnance.
Alice Bentinck Co-founder, Entrepreneur First Alice Bentinck is a co-founder of the seed-investment programme Entrepreneur First, which selects on the basis of technical talent. Taking the best computer scientists and engineers, often before they have assembled a team or fnalised a start-up idea, Entrepreneur First helps build successful technology start-ups in London. Over the past two years, it has built 20 companies now valued at over $80m. Bentinck has also set up Code First: Girls, a free, part-time course teaching high-achieving women undergraduates to code.
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Brummell • Inspirational women
Rosaleen Blair Founder and CEO, Alexander Mann Solutions Since founding Alexander Mann Solutions in 1996, entrepreneur Rosaleen Blair has seen it become recognised as a global leader in talent-acquisition and management services. Previously named Ernst & Young’s Business Products & Services Entrepreneur of the Year and Veuve Clicquot Businesswoman of the Year, she is passionate about diversity and youth employability, and engaged in many charity and governmental organisations, including the Prince’s Trust, Life Skills and Everywoman.
Gay Collins Executive chair, MHP During her 24 years’ experience in PR, Gay Collins has set up two fnancialservices PR companies, Penrose Financial and Ludgate Communications. She was involved in a management buy-out to set up Ludgate and, in 1998, co-founded one of MHP’s predecessor consultancies, Penrose Financial, before becoming executive chair of the combined group MHP. She is also a founder steering-committee member of the 30% Club, on the board of Cancer Research UK’s Women of Infuence and non-executive director of JP Morgan Overseas Investment Trust plc.
Charlotte Crosswell Founder and CEO, NASDAQ OMX NLX Charlotte Crosswell is the founder and CEO of start-up cross-product trading and clearing platform NASDAQ OMX NLX, launched in 2013. NLX used the NASDAQ OMX internal venturecapital fund to establish a brand-new market in European interest-rate derivatives – something that had not been done before. Since its launch, it has won the Derivatives Week Global Derivatives Awards 2013, the Exchange Platform Launch of the Year and the FOW International Award for Best New Exchange.
Nathalie Dauriac Stoebe Founder and CEO, Signia Wealth Formerly a senior client partner at Coutts & Co and a founding member of the Coutts Private Offce focused on advising ultra high-net-worth clients, Nathalie Dauriac Stoebe is founder and chief executive of Signia Wealth. She has been elected as one of 40 Rising Stars by the European Wealth Management Bulletin, and in 2010, won the Spear’s award for the Future Leader in the Wealth Management Industry. Dauriac Stoebe was also nominated by Ernst & Young for its Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in 2013.
Dominique Day Founder, Bootcamp Pilates Taking the ftness world by storm, Dominique Day founded Bootcamp Pilates in 2005 and now receives almost 250 clients a day across her four London studios in Bayswater, Fulham, Richmond and the City. The company has 30,000 clients and more than 40 members of staff and has been featured in Vanity Fair, Vogue and most major UK newspapers. Day’s background is in TV production, where she created and managed a TV news-production company working with major US broadcasters such as ABC, NBC and CBS.
Clare Flynn Levy Founder and CEO, Essentia Analytics Formerly a fund manager, Clare Flynn Levy is founder and CEO at Essentia Analytics, which empowers professional investors to improve individual performance by making more skilled investment decisions. Flynn Levy is an entrepreneur whose specialisms include hedge-fund and fnancial software, behavioural fnance and fnancial analysis. She also serves as a non-executive director of Team Grasshopper Ltd, acts as an advisor to the Board of City Lounge Ventures Ltd and sits on the European Regional Board of YPO-WPO.
Brynne Herbert → Founder and CEO, Move Guides Brynne Herbert created the frst cloud solution for the global talent-mobility industry in her role as founder and CEO of Move Guides. She began her career working at Standard Chartered and Lehman Brothers, before founding Move Guides in 2011, winning the UK Business Angels Association’s Best Female Investment award in 2013. Real Business named Herbert as one of 20 women energising Britain through vision and disruptive ideas, and she is acknowledged as being among London’s most infuential people on the 2013 TechCityInsider 100 list.
Opposite: Portland nappa dress, £1,500, and Bayswater goatskin bag, £1,500, both Mulberry. Shoes, Herbert’s own
Inspirational Women • Brummell
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This page: Dress, Butler’s own; Bayswater calfskin bag, £1,200, and Philippa calfskin shoes, £380, both Mulberry
Sarah-Jane Butler → Founder, Parental Choice Ltd After working as a fnance lawyer with Linklaters and Freshfelds for 10 years, Sarah-Jane Butler founded Parental Choice Ltd, of which she is now co-director, in 2011. The company, which has been featured in The Daily Mail and The Guardian, works with corporates to help professional parents combine their career with the right childcare. From setting up payroll and contract services for nannies to sourcing tutors and au pairs, it offers an all-encompassing service to support parents in just about every aspect of their children’s lives.
Tina Freed Co-founder, E2W With over 15 years’ experience in the London Stock Exchange and Credit Suisse, Tina Freed co-founded E2W to bridge the gap between fnancial institutions and the companies who wanted to sell to them. Through her unique business model, providing working parents with a work-life balance and a career that builds on their City experience, she has helped many women return to work without compromising the responsibilities of family life, and strives to ensure they continue to make a signifcant contribution to the industry.
Farida Gibbs CEO, Gibbs S3 As CEO of Europe’s fastest-growing IT staffng and consulting frm Gibbs S3, Farida Gibbs has received a multitude of women’s-achievement awards. Appointed ambassador of WEConnect International, she sits on the board of HRH The Prince of Wales’s initiative Mosaic, advisory boards for the Centre of Excellence for Women’s Entrepreneurship and Mosaic Network, helping launch the Mosaic Associates Female Entrepreneurs Network. A columnist for Asian Wealth Magazine, Gibbs is to be a mentor to the Women of the Future ambassadors programme.
Giulia Raffo ← Co-founder, Autonomous Research Since co-founding Autonomous Research fve years ago, Giulia Raffo has seen the business achieve signifcant growth. The company was entirely self-funded when launched and, while the decision to build a start-up at a crucial point in her career was brave, Autonomous’s business model has proved to be sustainable, with regular annual growth in profts. The frm now has more than 60 employees in London, New York and now Hong Kong, and fve per cent of partnership profts are donated to charity each year. She recently joined Bousard & Gavaudan.
Nicola Horlick Founder, Money&Co and CEO, Derby Street Film The founder of new online crowdfunding business Money&Co, Nicola Horlick previously co-founded Rockpool Investments, raising over £60m in the past two years to invest in opportunities such as movies and restaurants. She is chief executive of Derby Street Films, which has raised several million pounds under the Enterprise Investment Scheme to fnance the development of a slate of feature flms. Her new investment fund, Glentham Film I LP, will work closely with Derby Street Films in that regard.
Seonaid Mackenzie Founder, Sturgeon Ventures Seonaid Mackenzie has had a 30-year career in the City, and founded Sturgeon Ventures, the pioneering FCA regulatory incubator for start-up managers, in 1998. She and her frm have since gone on to win many accolades, including Venture Catalyst of the Year at the M&A Awards 2013 and 2014, Trusted Regulatory Incubator Firm of the Year at the Acquisition International Finance Awards 2014, and the well-respected Thomson Reuters Compliance Innovator of 2013. She founded socially responsible investors The Wellness Fund Foundation in 2010.
Heather McGregor Owner and CEO, Taylor Bennett The Financial Times’ Mrs Moneypenny, and author of the best-selling Careers Advice for Ambitious Women, former stockbroker and investment banker Heather McGregor is now the CEO of Taylor Bennett, an executive search frm specialising in investor relations and corporate communications. She has doubled its size since acquiring the business in 2004 and continues to expand it internationally. In 2008, she established the Taylor Bennett Foundation, which trains mixed-race and minority-ethnic graduates and helps them win jobs in communications.
Inspirational women • Brummell Sarah Wood ← Co-founder and COO, Unruly Leading social video campaigns as co-founder and chief operating offcer of marketing-technology company Unruly, Sarah Wood is one of the most infuential women in UK tech. Among the many other accolades she has received, Wood was voted Red magazine’s Digital Woman of The Year. She is part of the Gazelle Group of Entrepreneurs and has been a member of Social Media Week’s Global Advisory Board since 2011. She teaches an MPhil course in Mash-Ups, Memes and LOLitics: Online Video Culture and the Screen Media Revolution at the University of Cambridge.
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Dale Murray CBE CEO, Eposs Ltd Dale Murray CBE, an entrepreneur and angel investor, co-founded Omega Logic in 1999, before becoming chief executive of Eposs Ltd. She currently serves on a business taskforce on EU regulation for the Prime Minister and is a non-executive director of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and UK Trade & Investment. She is also a non-executive director for Sussex Place Ventures and a board advisor to both Seeders and the Centre for Entrepreneurs. Murray’s accolades include a CBE, awarded for services to business.
Kathryn Parson Founder, Decoded Since founding Decoded in 2011, Kathryn Parson has seen the company nominated as one of The Telegraph’s top-fve most innovative businesses in the UK, empowering thousands of individuals and companies across the globe with accelerated learning experiences. She also sits on the board of the London Tech Ambassadors Group and won the Veuve Clicquot New Generation Award 2013. Last year, she was listed as one of Management Today’s 35 Under 35 and, this year, included in The Sunday Times Britain’s Top 30 Female Power List.
Melissa Rowling Founding partner and MD, Greentarget The founding partner and managing director at Greentarget, a specialist fnancial-services agency that manages communications for organisations that include Royal Bank of Canada, SaxoBank, Liquidnet, CaixaBank, Wholesale Markets’ Brokers Association and DTCC, Melissa Rowling has 20 years’ experience in public relations. She worked at City PR agency Square Mile, assisted in setting up a global macro hedge fund that was part of Ikos Asset Management and headed up the fnancial-services division at Weber Shandwick, before co-founding Greentarget in 2006.
Sam Smith Founder, fnnCap The youngest and only female chief executive of a City brokerage, Sam Smith founded fnnCap in 2007. Under her leadership, the frm has become one of the fastest-growing independent brokers in the City. Outside her duties as CEO, she has won multiple business awards and is actively involved in various mentoring projects, such as Pinky Lilani’s Women of the Future awards. She also serves as the patron of the Modern Muse project, which aims to inspire the next generation of female business leaders and entrepreneurs.
Anna Sofat Founder and MD, Addidi A highly qualifed and experienced wealth adviser, Anna Sofat is founder and managing director of Addidi, a company incorporating the women-only Addidi Enterprise Club, comprising Addidi Business Angels, Addidi Pioneers and Addidi Talent. In 2012 and 2013, it was identifed as one of the Top 100 Financial Planning Firms by New Model Adviser magazine, and, in 2014, Sofat was awarded unbiased.co.uk’s Financial Adviser of the Year award. She has been a non-executive director for the social enterprise Fair Finance since 2005.
Julia Streets Founder and CEO, Streets Consulting Streets Consulting is a businessdevelopment, marketing and communications consultancy for fnancial services, technology and fast-growth companies. Founder and CEO Julia Street’s career has included senior consultancy and executive roles at Instinet and NYSE Technologies, and she also serves on the board of the charity Children in Crisis. Passionate about innovation and representing frms driving industry change, Streets is a regular contributor to a variety of FinTech schemes and a commentator in her own right.
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Brummell • Inspirational women Sheila Flavell ← Founder director and COO, FDM Group Spearheading FDM’s global-expansion programme and the highly acclaimed Women in IT campaign, Sheila Flavell is a founder director and the chief operating offcer of FDM Group. She was awarded Leader of the Year in a Corporate Organisation at the 2012 Cisco Everywoman in Technology Awards, featured as one of TechCityInsider’s Top 100 Movers and Shakers on London’s Digital Scene 2013 and selected as one of Cranfeld School of Management’s Top 100 Women to Watch in the Female FTSE Report in 2013 and 2014.
Above: Chelsea silk-charmeuse dress, £990, and Bayswater ostrich-skin bag, £4,500, both Mulberry
Vanessa Vallely Founder WeAreTheCity and CareersCity Following a 25-year senior career in banking and fnance, Vanessa Vallely left the City to pursue, through a number of businesses, her passion for helping women and youngsters. She is the founder of leading women’s network, job board and website WeAreTheCity and CareersCity, serving an audience of more than 250,000 women in the UK and India each month. She sits on the Women of Infuence board for CR-UK, and last year published her frst book, Heels of Steel, imparting advice for the next generation of corporate workers.
Dr Herta von Stiegel Founder and CEO, Ariya Capital Group Ltd Dr Herta von Stiegel leads Ariya Capital, which builds large, clean, renewableenergy projects in sub-Saharan Africa and creates sustainable agricultural investment opportunities. She is the founder and former chair of the Prince’s Trust Women’s Leadership Group, author of The Mountain Within – Leadership Lessons and Inspiration for your Climb to the Top, leader of a multi-ability expedition to reach Mount Kilimanjaro’s summit and executive co-producer of The Mountain Within, the award-winning flm about it.
Louise Wilson Co-founder and MD at Abundance Number four in the original Financial News Rising Stars under 40, Louise Wilson left her role as UBS’s head of European capital markets in 2008, keen to show money can deliver a win-win both for the planet and people of all means. Now co-founder and MD at Abundance, the UK’s frst regulated crowdfunding platform, she offers investments that create an attractive long-term income and help the environment, letting investors large and small put money directly into UK renewable-energy projects.
With thanks Photographer’s assistant: Chris Bromley Hair and make-up: Marléne Andersson Mulberry
www.theofennell.com
Dramatic tension From top: Franz Erhard Walther’s ‘action sculpture’ ‘Sehkanal (1. Werksatz No. 46)’; the United Brothers’ ‘Does This Soup Taste Ambivalent?’ – a broth made using vegetables grown in Fukushima
The art circus comes to town
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Frieze represents all that is exciting about contemporary art – and its ancillary events make the experience all the more immersive
Galerie Jocelyn Wolff; Green Tea Gallery
Words: George Pendle
Roll up! Roll up! The fair’s in town! And there’s no big top more flled with marvels, no salespeople more acrobatic than those at Frieze, which, this October, returns to Regent’s Park for the 12th time. Ostensibly, Frieze is a fair for the sale of contemporary art – that is, art made in the past decade. Over 150 of the world’s bluest blue-chip galleries will be buying booths at the fair – at a cost of around £30,000 each – in which they get to hawk their fnest wares to the world’s richest collectors, and to around 60,000 visiting members of the less-well-to-do public. Paintings, sculptures, video art, performance art – Frieze acts as a sort of bulging white chrysalis in which emerging artists can be transformed, butterfy-like, into major players over the course of an afternoon. It’s where, for a few days each year, the cerebral world of the artist meets the animal world of commerce in a consensual but uneasy embrace. This is nothing new – art fairs have acted as salesrooms for decades. However, in the past 10 years, they have become more important, extravagant and popular than ever before. Even as late as 2003, most London galleries showing contemporary art were struggling to fnd collectors for their work. Now, according to the 2014 Wealth Report by property company Knight Frank, fne art is the most popular ‘investment of passion’ among wealthy individuals (that is, those with net assets of over $30m), beating wine, watches, classic cars and sports teams hands down. Art fairs have gone from being relatively staid events for art professionals and a few seasoned collectors to veritable feeding frenzies of conspicuous consumption. If you’ve ever
Fine art is now the most popular ‘investment of passion’ among those with net assets of over £30m
looked at a piece of contemporary art and wondered what it means, you need only look at the sponsors of this year’s Frieze – Deutsche Bank, BMW, Alexander McQueen, Champagne Pommery – to get your answer. Nevertheless, ever since 2003, when it was launched by the publishers of the art magazine of the same name, Frieze has been more than just a market: it has become a cultural event that has brilliantly managed to focus the city’s wandering attention on art for fve full days. Indeed, you could say it’s become such an established part of life in the capital that it’s an extension of the traditional season, alongside the Ascot races or Henley Royal Regatta, albeit with rather more relaxed rules on décolletage. What has always differentiated Frieze from its rivals, such as Art Basel or the Armory Show in New York, is its popularity with the public. Riding on a growing wave of interest in contemporary art that can be traced back to the Royal Academy’s Sensation show in 1997 and the opening of Tate Modern in 2000, its organisers have consistently satisfed the desire for new, often edgy, work. And the many ancillary events connected with it have
further inveigled it into the city’s consciousness. Frieze Music has seen performances by musicians as varied as Jarvis Cocker and the controversial composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. Frieze Projects, which features specially commissioned artists’ work, has flled the fair with unique one-of-a-kind moments, with visitors stumbling across Gianni Motti’s yogic policemen or happening upon Joanna Rajkowska’s smoking grass. Frieze Talks, meanwhile, has allowed the fair to keep a semblance of the serious critical ethos that underpins Frieze magazine. Participatory art experiences are something at which Frieze has excelled, and a new addition this year will be Frieze Live, which will showcase performance art. Visitors will have the chance to get their hands on the work of Franz Erhard Walther, a leading artist of ‘action sculpture’ since the Sixties. He describes his artworks as fabric ‘instruments’ that viewers are encouraged to manipulate to increase their awareness of time, space and the human body. One such instrument is a 20ft-long stretch of fabric into which two people place their heads, creating a double-headed mask – or, if you prefer, the world’s largest hoodie. Then there’s a giant felt purse into which you can crawl, or a massively padded vest you can strap round your body and try to move about in. The ‘instruments’ are intended not for recreation – although it’s hard to stife one’s laughter – but meditation; they seek, albeit for just a minute, to transform your perception of your body. If wearing a windsock on your head is not to your taste, how about something to eat? As part of this year’s Frieze Projects, the mother of the
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Japanese artists known as United Brothers will be making and serving bowls of soup. The catch is that, among its ingredients, will be vegetables grown in the radioactive soil of Fukushima. The dilemma each visitor will face about whether or not to eat the soup is precisely the artwork’s aim. Yet despite all these supplementary attractions, Frieze is, at its heart, about selling art. One of the most sought-after artists at this year’s fair will undoubtedly be Oscar Murillo – a young Colombia-born, London-based artist who has seen prices for his scrawled canvases explode over the past 12 months. At the 2013 fair, his paintings sold in the low six-fgure range and, this year, they are expected to easily break the million-pound mark. It’s no surprise that, through both his artistic style and the hype that surrounds him, he is eliciting comparisons to the Eighties artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Less well known, but gaining increasing buzz, is the work of the Brooklyn-based 27-year-old Jamian Juliano-Villani, whose bright cartoon paintings pay homage to the psychedelic visions of past masters such as Robert Crumb and Peter Saul while remaining startlingly fresh. Also worth seeking out is the work of Bangkok native Korakrit
Arunanondchai, who has just had his frst solo exhibition at MoMA PS1 in New York. At this year’s fair, he will be creating an immersive video-and-cushion installation that will be part-shrine, part-slumber party. Running alongside the fair, and lending it historical heft, is the relatively recent addition of Frieze Masters. An offshoot of the main fair, it sells artworks created before 2000. In the past couple of years, works by Picasso and Miró have sold here for multi-million-pound sums. In 2014, headlines were made when a recently discovered work by the 16th-century painter Pieter Brueghel the Younger sold for £6m. Frieze Masters is where the museum meets the shopping mall. This year, Frieze Masters will feature works ranging from those created by Rosemarie Castoro, a pioneer of Sixties Minimalism, to 7,000-year-old Neolithic stone objects. And the question everyone will be asking themselves, as they enter the white tent of the fair proper, is which of the hot young artists will end up, in a decade or two, next door among the gold-plated might of the Masters. l Frieze London takes place from 15 to 18 October. Tickets from £15; friezelondon.com
Marlborough Fine Art; Matthew Septimus 2014, courtesy of MoMA PS1
New view From top: Korakrit Arunanondchai’s ‘2012-2555’ installation, incorporating video and performance; Francis Bacon’s 1982 ‘Study from the Human Body – Figure in Movement’
Blue print From cyan to cerulean and azure to aquamarine, one hue sets the tone for high jewellery this season
Styling: Jess Diamond Photography: Milo Reid
Jewellery • Brummell
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Opposite: White gold high-jewellery secret-watch bracelet set with diamonds and sapphires, POA, CARTIER This page: Platinum high-jewellery necklace set with moonstone, diamonds and sapphires, POA, CARTIER
Opposite, clockwise from left: White gold Feu D’Artifce ring set with diamonds and sapphires, £42,000, DIOR JOAILLERIE; white-gold ring set with a 58.44ct pear-shaped
aquamarine and sapphires from the Temptations collection, POA, CHOPARD; white gold ring set with a 61.94ct African paraiba tourmaline and diamonds, POA, THEO FENNELL
This page, clockwise from left: Yellow gold Ancolia ring set with diamonds, yellow tourmalines, rubellite and lacquer, £26,000, DIOR JOAILLERIE; platinum Soleste pear-shaped tanzanite
earrings set with diamonds, £10,200, TIFFANY & CO; titanium earring (one of a pair) set with diamonds and aquamarines, from the Haute Joaillerie collection, POA, CHOPARD
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Opposite: White-gold pendant set with diamonds and briolette-cut topaz from the Haute Joaillerie collection, POA, CHOPARD This page, from top: Platinum earrings set with pear-shaped sapphires and diamond micropavĂŠ, POA, HARRY WINSTON; yellow gold Hermitage opening ring set with a 64.53ct aquamarine, diamonds, rubies and coloured rhodium, POA, THEO FENNELL
Woman’s hour The latest timepieces for watch-savvy females combine beauty and elegance with characterful clockwork
Photography: Andy Barter Words: Simon de Burton
This page, clockwise from top: Blancpain Retrograde Calendar Lady; Breguet Reine de Naples Lady Automatic; Chopard Happy Sport Opposite, clockwise from top: Hermès Faubourg; Cartier Ballon Blanc; Chanel J12 365
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Blancpain Retrograde Calendar Lady ↑ When marketing genius Jean-Claude Biver set about reviving the world’s oldest dial name back in 1982, he did so on the basis that Blancpain – founded in 1735 – had never made a watch with a quartz movement, and never would. That ongoing philosophy means Blancpain enjoys a 30-year lead over rivals who only recently acknowledged that watch-savvy females like to keep time with characterful clockwork. This exquisite calendar watch has a mother-of-pearl dial with retrograde date and moon phase indication and a 65-hour power reserve. The bezel is set with 40 diamonds. £28,700; blancpain.com
Chopard Happy Sport ↑ It was back in 1976 that Chopard, then better known for jewellery than watches, introduced a men’s dress watch called the Happy Diamonds, featuring gems that appeared to career around the dial without interfering with the movement of the hands. The illusion was created by sandwiching the stones between a pair of ‘foating’ crystal discs. In 1993, co-president Caroline Scheufele integrated this idea into a resilient casual watch for women, the Happy Sport, which has since been produced in dozens of variations, such as this one with a diamond-pavé case and a bezel set with coloured gems. £54,750; chopard.com
Breguet Reine de Naples Lady Automatic ↑ Ever wondered who made the frst wristwatch? It was probably the great Abraham-Louis Breguet, who, exactly 200 years ago, delivered a watch to Napoleon Bonaparte’s sister, Queen Caroline of Naples, with a strap made of gold thread that could be knotted around the regal wrist. The unusual, egg-shaped case was reprised by the modern-day Breguet company in 2002 in a model called the ‘Reine de Naples’. This rose-gold version substitutes the gold-thread strap of the original with a band of black satin. The hobnail decoration on the silver dial is a Breguet signature. £87,800; breguet.com
Chanel J12 ‘365’ ↑ The J12 was designed by Jacques Helleu, the late, long-standing artistic director of Chanel, whose love of sailing led him to name the watch after the famous J12-class racing yachts. It’s therefore no coincidence that he chose tough, scratchproof and non-corroding ceramic as the material from which to make its case and bracelet, which frst appeared in 2000. The J12 has been made in numerous guises, the latest of which is the ‘365’. This 36.5mm, self-winding version features a diamond-set bezel and highlights in Chanel’s very own ‘beige gold’. £12,500; chanel.com
Cartier Ballon Blanc ↑ A follow-on from the larger, pebble-smooth Ballon Bleu line of perfectly round watches with ‘captive’ crowns, Cartier’s Ballon Blanc brings the traditional delicate cocktail watch of old into the 21st century. Measuring a petite but practical 30mm in diameter, the bezel on this feminine quartz watch is pavéd with diamonds weighing 9.35cts and complemented by a very elegant diamond-set fve-row bracelet that nicely offsets the mother-of-pearl dial and classic blued-steel hands. The highlight of the Ballon Blanc, however, is probably the single 0.20ct diamond that is embedded beside four o’clock. £34,200; cartier.com
Hermès Faubourg ↑ There are plenty of good reasons for watches to be made big – they’re easier to read and somewhat easier to assemble too. But now that the tiny cocktail watches of the Twenties and Thirties seem to be enjoying a revival, watchmakers are gamely revisiting the art of extreme micro-engineering. Hermès’ miniscule Faubourg has a case diameter of just 15.5mm – it’s the smallest watch created by the house in a century of watchmaking. Featuring a white lacquer dial with four diamond-dot hour markers, it is presented on a bracelet or a strap made of satin or classic Hermès leather. £9,750; hermes.com
brummellmagazine.co.uk
The relaunched and refreshed Brummell website – brummellmagazine.co.uk – is an essential resource: your edited selection of the very best in style, culture, travel, watches, food, drink, technology and motoring. Featuring exclusive interviews, videos and reportage, it’s the indispensable daily update of the little black book for the City.
Brummell epicure Food & drink For the gastronome, gourmand, connoisseur or just plain famished – a section that focuses in on food and drink. This issue, we take you truffing, have a sneak preview of the newest restaurant openings in the City and central London, and try out some of the capital’s latest speciality bars to short-circuit the route to an enjoyable experience dining out, eating in, imbibing and consuming. And for those who like to get creative in the kitchen, we propose a humble, simple tool to help make awkward kitchen tasks more of an effcient pleasure…
The mushing mushroom Opposite: This clever beechwood mushroom is designed for working food and purées through rounded sieves and strainers. And it looks pleasing, too. £3.50; divertimenti.co.uk
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Champagne with a Gherkin ↑ A new private dining room at 30 St Mary Axe offers exclusive champagnes and 360° views. The Perrier-Jouët Room, decorated with the house’s Art Nouveau anemone design, familiar from its bottles, is on the 38th foor of The Gherkin and is operated by Searcys (which also has branches in One New Change and St Pancras). The room will be the only place to serve the newly launched Belle Époque Rosé 2005 and will offer an array of packages, from three-glass tasting fights (£37 per guest) to an evening with Perrier-Jouët’s UK ambassador, including a fve-course meal paired with different cuvées (£220 per guest). Masterclasses include a very technical workshop, in which you can learn the effect of different glasswear and serving temperatures on champagne. searcys.co.uk
Italian passion Passione Vino, supplier of Italian wine to many of London’s leading restaurants, has opened its frst shop close to the City. Its personable owners, Luca Dusi and Federico Bruschetta, offer the best expressions of classic grapes – Barbaresco, Dolcetto, Sangiovese etc – as well as real rarities. There is also a cellar room for tutored tastings with food. Passione Vino, 85 Leonard Street, EC2 A4QS; passionevino.co.uk
Do Dabbous ↑ In the spring of 2012, Ollie Dabbous’ eponymous restaurant opened to critical acclaim and a booking frenzy. Now the gastronomic wünderkind has published a book of his favour-packed, elegant dishes. Featuring tantalising, pared-back photography, it features recipes, organised by season, for Dabbous favourites, including barbecued Iberico pork, savoury acorn praline, radishes & crushed green apple; raw beef with cigar & rye; and coddled egg, smoked butter & mushrooms. Dabbous: The Cookbook, £50, Bloomsbury
Alamy
Holiday for fun guys ↑ If you’re reading Brummell’s Epicure section, it’s likely your planning of a good holiday revolves around food culture. Arblaster & Clarke, a company that organises wine and food tours, was founded in 1986 and started with vineyard visits. Today, the company excels in expert-escorted trips to the best terroirs of Europe and the New World, but wine is no longer the only indulgence on the menu. Part of the Gourmet Holiday range, Arblaster & Clarke runs a truffe-hunting trip in Piedmont. Guests stay at a four-star winery hotel, enjoy traditional Piemontese meals in rustic settings, visit Barolo producers and a grappa distillery, explore Alba market and, at a secret location, enjoy a morning of truffe hunting – and in October, that should be a fruitful experience. 22–26 October, £1,599pp; winetours.co.uk
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New restaurant openings → Tom's Kitchen (tomskitchen.co.uk; pictured), the latest in the collection from industry mainstay Tom Aikens, has just opened in St Katherine Docks. Overlooking the luxury yachts in the marina, the restaurant focuses on provenance and production, using UK-based suppliers where possible and supporting British farmers. East Asian barbecue restaurant Bo Drake (bodrake.co.uk) is set to open on Soho's Greek Street soon. The menu is inspired by chef Jan Lee’s Chinese heritage and British upbringing. Named after the butler from Agatha Christie's Seven Dials Mystery, rather than the England spin bowler, Tredwell’s (tredwells7dials.com), on St Martin’s Lane, is Marcus Wareing’s frst casual-dining restaurant. And fnally, Alan Yau, – creator of behemoths Wagamama and Busaba Eathai – is rumoured to be opening London’s frst Chinese gastropub this autumn. Brummell will keep you posted at brummellmagazine.co.uk
Still life ↓ The new Bombay Sapphire distillery in Hampshire opens to visitors on 1 October. A former Bank of England paper mill on the River Test, it is partly designed by Thomas Heatherwick (known for the Bus for London) – two futuristic glasshouses contain the gin’s botanicals, planted in consultation with Kew Gardens. In one room, you can identify your favourite aromas – the results go to a barman, who will create your ideal cocktail. Private gastronomic, horticultural or tasting events can be arranged – and the Four Seasons Hampshire is a cab ride away. distillery.bombaysapphire.com
Spring in October Former Vogue food editor Skye Gyngell is best known for her Michelin-starred Petersham Nurseries in Richmond. This autumn, the Australian chef is bringing her barnstorming brand of ingredient-led cooking to central London. Spring will occupy a 19thcentury drawing room in Somerset House that hasn’t been open to the public for 150 years. Guided by the seasons, the menu will change daily. springrestaurant.co.uk
Meat quicker ↑ A great local butcher is only useful if you have time to visit. A new service, Meat Porter, delivers restaurant-quality meat from Smithfeld or direct from mainly British farms. The selection includes 35-day matured steaks, lean mince, duck breasts, sausages and bacon. A simple website allows you to drag and drop onto a ‘chopping board’ and choose your delivery slot (order before 3pm for next-day delivery). The meat arrives in a metal-lined box with chill packs to ensure freshness. And for inspiration, the blog suggests recipes. meatporter.com
Just the one, thanks
Cocktails • Epicure
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With single-dish restaurants now well established in London, some cocktail bars are following suit, specialising in and perfecting one style of cocktail
Words: Chris Madigan Illustration: Lauren Rolwing
‘Mi mojito en La Bodeguita, mi daiquiri en El Floridita.’ Whether Ernest Hemingway actually said these words about his Havana drinking schedule is a matter of debate. But it’s true that he drank only the smooth, blended cocktail in the sophisticated restaurant bar, whereas the hole-in-the-wall was where he went for the rough, muddled mix. While most bars have followed the principle that they should be able to mix any cocktails, a growing number is following the single-dish restaurant trend and concentrating on doing one thing supremely well. Given the knowledge that Ian Fleming drank – and, supposedly, came up with the recipe for the Vesper – at Dukes Hotel in St James (dukeshotel.com), head barman Alessandro Palazzi offers variation in vodkas and gins (including his own truffe-infused vodka), as well as garnish. He has introduced a high level of theatre, mixing the cocktail at your table and throwing vermouth from the frozen glass over his shoulder like salt. That other stalwart cocktail, the Manhattan, has become strongly associated with Oblix (oblixrestaurant.com), which serves green tea & hibiscus and fg versions, as well as the classic. They are sold in an 1,800ml decanter, having been premixed and ‘mellowed’ for six months. And when Quaglino’s (quaglinos-restaurant.co.uk) reopens in October, Michal Zawerbny has designed a champagne-cocktail menu, including such wintry variations as Xante liqueur, pear juice and cinnamon syrup topped up with fzz. Martinis and Manhattans are classics that Londoners have been comfortable with for decades, but some barmen are pushing into more unusual styles. When the London Edition Hotel opened on Berners Street in Fitzrovia, Venetian Davide Segat had a cosy back room at his disposal. Rather than make it a run-of-the-mill whisky bar, he decided to do something else: ‘We have the lobby bar for a wide range of cocktails, but here we had the opportunity to concentrate on one thing. Edition
One bar has taken things a step further and specialises in distilling its own spirits
hotels always try to refect the city they are in. It seems to be accepted that Americans invented cocktails, but in fact it was the British who frst started mixing drinks when they went to India. It was known as “panch” – fve, in Hindi – because that was the number of ingredients. The spirit was a coconut rum called arrack and it was mixed with citrus, sugar, water and tea – the sort of spiced tea that makes chai. And, of course, they also took punch to the Caribbean and around the world.’ Punch Room is intimate, seating-only and booked by email (punchroom.ldn@editionhotels.com). The punches, which come in bowls with a ladle, are not the ‘lob in all the leftover booze and add fruit juice’ variety; the list is only 10 items long, divided between traditional punches – ‘in the 18th and 19th centuries, if a family hosted a party and served a good punch with expensive ingredients such as nutmeg, it would be written about by commentators,’ says Segat – and the team’s own creations. Of the old school, milk punch is a pleasant surprise – it uses clear whey along with arrack, cider brandy, rum, green tea, lemon juice, spiced syrup and pineapple. But Segat’s nod to his Italian roots, the Teddy Hook – Martini Gran Lusso, grappa, lemon juice, sugar syrup, hibiscus tea and basil water – is sublime. Some specialists concentrate on timing: the rise of the aperitivo is largely down to the Polpo group of restaurants (polpo.co.uk), each of which has a bar beneath. While they are largely banging out negronis and Aperol spritzes, the menu does cover cocktails based on the entire range of amari
(bitters) – including a Manhattan substituting bitter-sweet Montenegro for vermouth, and a gin fzz with artichoke-based Cynar. The latest trend is for dessert bars. Basement Sate (basementsate.com) (as in ‘sate your appetite’, not peanut sauce) has just opened on Broadwick Street. Don’t expect the sweet and creamy likes of White Russians, though. Owner Cathleen McGarry explains, ‘We focus on sharper, savoury tones, using the likes of beetroot, grapefruit and salted caramel, which cut through the desserts’ richness. Fruitier desserts, on the other hand, are balanced by the sweetness of our homemade syrups.’ Homemade syrups, infusions and aged cocktails are becoming commonplace, but one bar has taken things a step further and is distilling its own spirits. In the Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green, Matt Whiley and his team at the Peg + Patriot (pegandpatriot.com) have two vacuum stills called rotary evaporators. ‘We’d altered the favour aspect of our cocktails before, at my previous bars, Worship Street Whistling Stop and Purl, but wanted to shift the goalposts. We don’t have to work with the same list of spirits as everyone else.’ Whiley’s a shaker-maker, as it were. The results are startling: a sazerac with a fnish of dry-roasted peanut; tequila with a nose of gin botanicals; and the barely credible Pho Money Pho Problems, with a spirit that’s rich with fennel seeds, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, onion and oyster sauce – it tastes almost exactly like the Vietnamese soup. In the past, they’ve created a salt-beef beigel spirit and drinks from which the spirit has evaporated away, including a Campari soda ‘placebo’ that’s spot-on for favour. ‘We’re happy to stand by the still and talk science,’ says Whiley, ‘but, really, this is just fun. When I see someone’s reaction to their frst Pho Money, it always makes me smile.’ Davide Segat says this city is one of the few places where such specialisation is possible: ‘Londoners are open to exploring an idea and all its possibilities.’ l
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Brummell • Need to know
Culture club
Join Artfull London and you’ll not only catch the latest hit show, but be able to discuss it with a theatre expert at dinner afterwards
Words: Charlotte Metcalf Illustration: Jean Jullien
The brainchild of actress and writer Melissa Knatchbull, Artfull London was set up to cater to theatre-lovers who are too busy to book tickets or keep an eye out for sure-to-sell-out shows. Knatchbull chooses the best of London’s plays – occasionally venturing further afeld – ranging from cult fringe shows and hit West End musicals to the very best of theatre at the National or the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford. Members of Artfull London pick what they’d like to see from Knatchbull’s selection, then simply turn up. She will have booked a table for dinner afterwards with a cast member, the playwright or the director and one of her panel of critics, which includes The Times’s Kate Bassett; Benedict Nightingale, formerly of The Times; Michael Billington of The Guardian; Matt Wolf of The New York Times online; and Geoff Colman, head of acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Joining Artfull London is simple, too: visit its website, fll out a membership form and pay an annual fee of £100. Knatchbull has appeared in numerous flms, television series and theatre productions, including Four Weddings and a Funeral, Mission: Impossible, Randall and Hopkirk Deceased and The Taming of the Shrew. She has an MA in screenwriting and has produced an open-air Shakespeare festival in the Cotswolds and a play in a high-security prison. ‘With my contacts and experience, I was well placed to start Artfull London,’ she says. ‘So often, when I talked about a fantastic play I’d seen, friends would tell me they didn’t have the time to trawl through the listings and, by the time they’d found a show they wanted to see, it would have sold out. You have to be quick on your toes in the capital, so I began thinking what a great service I could offer.’ The average £150 cost of an evening covers far more than the performance. Knatchbull pays attention to every detail, buying a programme for everyone and ensuring wine is on hand at a reserved table both before the show and during the interval. She will have booked a restaurant – included in the price – post-play, so members might dine at Hix, The Ivy or Brasserie Zédel if they’ve been to a West End show, the theatre brasserie if they’ve been to the Bush or a local trattoria if they’ve been to the Almeida. She also offers a bespoke service for those wanting to entertain an important client, for example, or celebrating a birthday. Usually, Knatchbull assembles a party of fewer than a dozen, so everyone is able to join in the conversation. Her connections reach far beyond the world of theatre, so don’t be surprised to fnd yourself sitting next to a leading criminal barrister or a well-known interior designer. Artfull London evenings I have enjoyed have included dinner with actress Hattie Morahan after A Doll’s House at the Young Vic, and a robust discussion about the meaning of Gothic horror Bracken Moor, at the Tricycle, with the production’s writer, Alexi Kaye Campbell. Another night, after watching James McAvoy play a particularly gory and bloodspattered Macbeth at Trafalgar Studios, Benedict Nightingale regaled us with stories of all the great Macbeths of the past three decades. ‘I love predicting the shows that will become smash hits and securing tickets to them for my members,’ Knatchbull says, ‘like Punchdrunk’s cult hit The Drowned Man, the award-winning Red Velvet at the Tricycle or Wolf Hall at Stratford, which was so popular not even the families of the cast could get tickets.’ l Artfull London’s new website is under construction. In the meantime, to enquire about membership, email melissa.knatchbull@gmail.com
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HACKETT.COM
“ O N E M U S T D R E S S C O R R E C T LY F O R W O R K ” Jeremy’s Rule No. 2 for living a better life
Bespoke prom otion • Brum mell
Banking on women Bank of America is investing in innovative mentoring programmes to empower women leaders around the world
Words: Tamsin Crimmens
The most innovative businesses know that unlocking the potential of women as leaders, employees and entrepreneurs isn’t just good PR or a shining example of corporate social responsibility, but sound economic sense. Bank of America is banking on women around the world through a vast programme of strategic partnerships, mentoring and capital investment. The popularity of mentoring continues to grow – and for good reason. To help address this in developing economies, where there are barriers for women who may have the drive and ambition to become successful but are held back by a lack of access to the business skills, technology and capital they need, Bank of America is participating in the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women’s Mentoring Women in Business programme. It matches female entrepreneurs with mentors, using an innovative online platform to create a global community of women invested in each other’s success. So far, the programme has connected over 1,200 entrepreneurs in more than 55 countries with mentors, including more than 120 Bank of America employees. Offine, the bank partnered with Vital Voices to launch the Global Ambassadors Program (GAP), which connects highly successful women business and media leaders with eager mentees in emerging economies for one-on-one mentoring. Stonger together Bank of America Global Ambassadors share their expertise in Belfast
in association with
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Forums have so far been held in Mexico, Qatar, Brazil, Singapore, India, South Africa and Haiti, helping 56 women leaders from 29 countries to share specifc skill sets and strategies that will make an impact in their respective communities. The most recent event, in Belfast, brought together women from post-confict and ongoing peacebuilding countries, including Rwanda, Somalia, Indonesia, Croatia, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine and Northern Ireland for a week-long forum. Carol Fitzsimons, chief executive of the charity Young Enterprise Northern Ireland, worked closely with mentor Katy Knox at Bank of America to produce a focused strategy that develops the entrepreneurial skills of young people. ‘Katy helped me distil my strategy into fve key themes. Through her network, she has provided me with a “global virtual advisory board” of supporters who are working with me to really enhance the performance of the charity.’
in association with
Knox has always had an interest in helping women grow personally and professionally, and while in Northern Ireland, benefted from gaining a new perspective. ‘It was a humbling experience. Each of these women faces challenges and obstacles on a daily basis, some beyond comprehension – for example, running a proftable business in Libya is challenging due to social, economic and political unrest. It’s easy to lose sight of the global challenges when you are immersed in day-to-day issues.’ Fitzsimons echoed her mentor’s thoughts: ‘It was fascinating to learn about the challenges women from places such as Somalia face, and to play a small part in supporting them in continuing to work to improve all our local economies.’ Because women are known ‘multipliers’, with research showing they reinvest an average of 90 per cent of their income in their families and use their expertise and connections to help the next generation of leaders1, the forums have a ripple
1. www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2001/03/01/000094946_01020805393496/Rendered/PDF/multi_page.pdf
‘The more steps we take together, the fewer that women have to walk alone’
Bespoke prom otion • Brum mell
Leading lights The week-long Belfast forum connected highly successful women from post-confict and ongoing peace-building countries
effect, positively impacting far beyond the women who attend. This was true of the Belfast forum, where the women in attendance, though growing their businesses in challenging environments, share a common belief that mentoring the next generation of young entrepreneurs is the best way to overcome the political instability in their countries. While support comes in many forms, it is often fnancial assistance that can have the greatest impact on women entrepreneurs. Bank of America invested $10m in Calvert Foundation – a US-based non-proft investor that specialises in social-impact investment – to make loans to organisations that support women in developing countries throughout Latin America, Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. These organisations positively affect women in a number of ways – from connecting female-led, small-to-medium enterprises with fnancing to providing access to services and products.
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As the number of women in business grows globally, it is vital to ensure their experience of the workplace is one of inclusion, engagement and opportunity. A new approach, whereby young leaders seek out senior men and women who will be their ‘fst on the table’, speaking up on their behalf and helping them advance in their careers, ensures everyone is invested in helping women continue to rise. The ethos of Bank of America’s work to empower women is best summed up by mentor Katy Knox, who states: ‘The more steps we take together, the fewer that women have to walk alone.’ l The most recent Global Ambassadors Program, in Warsaw, convened women from Central and Eastern Europe, including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Poland, for a week-long forum that incorporated leadership training, collective workshops, one-on-one mentoring sessions and strategic planning