The Glossary Summer 2019

FA S H I O N | B E A U T Y | H E A LT H | W E L L N E S S

ISSUE NINE SUMMER 2019 £5 WHERE SOLD

A R T S | C U L T U R E | F O O D | D R I N K | T R AV E L | H O M E S

YOU R LO N DO N ST YLE GU I D E

Alexa Chung

on the art of British style

SUMMER IN THE CITY The definitive guide to the season ahead

PLUS: Alex Eagle on FASHION Skye McAlpine on ALFRESCO ENTERTAINING Suzy Hoodless on INTERIOR DESIGN Manolo Blahnik on INSPIRATION Michael Kors COMES TO TOWN & Emeli Sandé’s LONDON FRONT COVER 9.indd 2

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CON I S S U E

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Arts & Culture 11 AGENDA

Dates for your diary this season

18 SUMMER EXHIBITION

Highlights from the Royal Academy’s world-famous art show

20 THE ALEXA FACTOR

Multi-hyphenate Alexa Chung opens up about style, self-worth and creating a fashion label

Style

28 FASHION NOTES

The designers and trends on our radar

30 EAGLE EYED

The founder of Alex Eagle Studio shares her personal style secrets

36 SOLE SEARCHER

Clare Coulson lauds shoe designer Manolo Blahnik and his exhibition at the Wallace Collection

40 KORS FOR CELEBRATION

Michael Kors throws open the doors to his new mecca in Mayfair

42 THE DRESS EDIT

The dresses you’ll want to live in this summer

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N TENTS Summer 2019

44 IN THE SWIM

The ethically produced swimwear brands we should all be diving into

50 THE WATCH & JEWELLERY EDIT The latest openings and trends

Beauty & Wellness 54 BEAUTY NOTES

The latest news and products

58 SUMMER IN A BOTTLE

Citrus, fruity, floral… the new scents to wear in the sunshine

Travel 80 82

62 SISTER ACT

Wellness gurus Nadia Narain and Katia Narain Phillips on the importance of self-care

Food & Drink 66 68 72

TASTING NOTES

ROLL IN THE ISLES

Play castaway on one of these magical islands

Home & Interiors 90 92

60 SCENTS OF ADVENTURE

The timeless glamour of the French Riviera inspires the latest fragrance from Chanel

TRAVEL NOTES

Global destinations

DESIGN NOTES

Inspirations from the world of interiors

IN GOOD TASTE

Interior designer, stylist and art director Suzy Hoodless talks décor

Last Word 96

MY GLOSSARY

Emeli Sandé’s little black book of the capital

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Where to eat and what to drink

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COME DINE WITH ME

Food writer and home cook Skye McAlpine on how to entertain with ease this summer

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TAKE IT OUTSIDE

The capital’s newest alfresco hotspots for sun-drenched dining

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GLOSSARY W E L C O M E

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TODD COLE

ummer in the city… long, hazy days and balmy evenings. London comes alive when bathed in sunshine. The sense of energy is palpable: the capital’s parks and leafy squares are in full bloom, café tables spill out onto pavements, and rooftop bars buzz with a sundowner crowd.

Not to mention a cultural scene that wholeheartedly embraces the open air, from Shakespearean comedies performed beneath a canopy of trees to films projected under the stars. And, of course, it isn’t summer without a festival or two.

Cover star Alexa Chung – no stranger to a festival herself – opens up about style, self-worth and the inspiration behind her latest collaboration with Barbour. Plus, she imparts her considerable knowledge on the festival dress code (p20).

As the mercury rises, there’s no better time to evaluate your new season wardrobe. Don’t miss our edit of summer dresses – pieces that will keep you cool even when it’s hot in town (p42) and we dive into the eco swimwear brands fighting against plastic pollution (p44).

If you’re looking for further sartorial inspiration, make sure you read our interview with Alex Eagle – the woman we all want to dress like (p30). Plus, we catch up with another of the capital’s tastemakers, interiors supremo Suzy Hoodless, (p92).

Summer may be carefree, but self-care should never be far from your mind. Wellness guru sisters Nadia Narain and Katia Narain Phillips – who count Kate Moss as a fan share their everyday rituals to boost happiness (p62). And to further lighten the mood, we bring you summer’s freshest fragrances (p58).

Of course, this time of year calls for alfresco feasting. Encompassing fairy-lit courtyard restaurants and cabana-style sky-high bars, we’ve scoped out the capital’s newest outdoor hot spots (p72), while food writer Skye McAlpine shares her summer entertaining tips (p68).

If you are looking to skip town, read about the best islands for playing castaway – from a luxuriously isolated archipelago off Panama to the Mediterranean’s best-kept secret (p82).

And, as always, we have the lowdown on all the capital’s cultural offerings, including highlights from the Summer Exhibition (p18); and legendary shoe designer Manolo Blahnik tells us about his new collaborative show with the Wallace Collection (p36).

Enjoy the issue - it’s everything you need to take you through the summer season and beyond.

Charlotte Adsett, Editorial & Style Director

THE GLOSSARY TEAM

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EDITORIAL & STYLE DIRECTOR: Charlotte Adsett ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Harriet Cooper EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Nicola Colyer

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CONTRIBUTORS: Clare Coulson, Laura Crisp, Georgie Lane Godfrey, Bethan Holt, Tabitha Lasley, Olivia Lidbury, Skye McAlpine, Bethan Ryder, Lucy Scovell, Katie Wyartt ART DIRECTOR & MANAGING DIRECTOR: Ray Searle FINANCE MANAGER: Amanda Clayton Contact us: editorial@theglossarymagazine.com advertising@theglossarymagazine.com

picks

CONTRIBUTING WATCH & JEWELLERY EDITOR: Ming Liu CONTRIBUTING FOOD & DRINK EDITOR: Rachel Walker CONTRIBUTING RESTAURANT EDITOR: Hilary Armstrong CONTRIBUTING TRAVEL EDITOR: Lizzie Pook

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Published by Neighbourhood Media Limited, 85 Great Portland Street, First Floor, London, W1W 7LT © 2019 Neighbourhood Media Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, whether in whole or in part, without written permission. The publishers and editors are not responsible for unsolicited material and it will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication subject to The Glossary magazine’s right to edit.

The Glossary works with FSC® and ISO 14001 certified eco printers in the UK that only use FSC-certified paper that has been sourced from a sustainable forest in an environmentally-friendly, socially responsible and economically viable way. All paper stock can be traced back to the original tree. Inks are vegetable based.

WELCOME LETTER 9 KW.indd 7

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: CHLOÉ Sunglasses, £275, net-a-porter.com ELLERY Earrings, £162, theoutnet.com; FERN FANS Fan, £80, fernfans.com ROSANTICA Bag, £822, modaoperandi.com MICHAEL KORS COLLECTION Platform sandals, £720, michaelkors.co.uk MARY KATRANTZOU Dress, £1,550, net-a-porter.com GUCCI Tote bag, £525, gucci.com

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The GUEST LIST S u m m e r

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THE FOOD WRITER

SKYE McALPINE Skye shares her secrets to throwing the perfect alfresco dinner party on page 68.

Skye is a writer, seasoned home cook and author of the blog From My Dining Table, in which she talks about life and food in Venice, where she spends the majority of her time. She also contributes to publications including Vanity Fair and Condé Nast Traveler and her first cook book A Table in Venice was published last year. “The one constant across the country is the simplicity and passion with which Italians cook and eat.”

Favourite alfresco spot: “Sitting in The River Café garden.

You can’t beat the relaxed atmosphere or the beautiful evening light on the river.”

THE WELLBEING SISTERS

NADIA NARAIN AND KATIA NARAIN PHILLIPS Nadia and Katia offer self-care tips on page 62.

Nadia is a leading yoga practitioner who teaches at Triyoga, and Katia has been a masseuse and health-food chef for more than 20 years, opening the capital’s first ever raw food café. Their books Self-Care for the Real World and Rituals for Every Day are bestsellers. “Self-care has become a buzzword, but sometimes we do it wrong.

People spend so much time hashtagging selfcare that they’re not actually in the moment.”

Favourite alfresco spot: “The Ladies’ Pond at Hampstead Heath. Bring a picnic and spend the day outside swimming with other women.”

THE FASHION WRITER

CLARE COULSON

Clare celebrates shoe designer extraordinaire Manolo Blahnik on page 36.

Clare was previously fashion features director of Harper’s Bazaar and now writes for the likes of FT How To Spend It, The Telegraph and Observer magazine. In light of the Manolo Blahnik show at the Wallace Collection, Clare pays tribute to the shoe designer. “Manolo is an absolute whirlwind who is always a joy. His cultural knowledge is breathtaking. He’s also a total one-off, which makes him even more of a national treasure.”

Favourite alfresco spot: “I love the Chelsea Physic Garden - it’s tranquil and packed with beautiful pockets of planting and calm corners to hide away in.”

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THE DESIGN EXPERT

BETHAN RYDER

Bethan interviews two of the capital’s leading tastemakers, Alex Eagle (page 30) and Suzy Hoodless (page 92).

With over 20 years’ experience in journalism, and the past 11 years in the luxury sector, Bethan is currently at Elle Decoration. For this issue, she talks to aesthetes Alex Eagle and Suzy Hoodless. “I love interviewing creative women and hearing how they curate and design and juggle it all. Later this summer I am launching a podcast called Design Principals, in which I will be interviewing more amazing female architects and designers.”

Favourite alfresco spot: “The garden of Dulwich Picture Gallery because it’s local, beautiful and enclosed.

I prefer it to the park; my kids can run around and play.”

THE LIFESTYLE JOURNALIST

OLIVIA LIDBURY Olivia takes a peek around the new Michael Kors concept store in Mayfair on page 40.

Olivia writes about fashion and interiors for publications including Stella and The Sunday Times Style magazine. Of Michael Kors’s new Mayfair store, she says: “It’s like you’re actually stepping into MK world living the jet-set life of this glamorous woman. Unlike the vast, impersonal concept stores that have become the norm, this intimate space is full of covetable touches that you want to take away for your own home.”

Favourite alfresco spot: “On a hot day I love anywhere by the water – preferably somewhere you can swim, like the Serpentine or Hampstead Ponds.”

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Romeo & Juliet SADLER’S WELLS 7 – 31 AUGUST

Choreographer and director Matthew Bourne’s contemporary reimagining of Romeo & Juliet is packed with vitality and vivid storytelling. London’s brightest young dancers join forces with the acclaimed New Adventures company to beautifully tell the tale of Shakespeare’s starcrossed lovers, who encounter passion and tragedy at the mercy of Verona’s patriarchal society. sadlerswells.com

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Agenda W H A T ’S O N & W H E R E

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SERPENTINE PAVILION TATE MODERN

UNTIL 6 OCTOBER Japanese architect Junya Ishigami has been selected to design this year’s Serpentine Pavilion in Hyde Park.

Ishigami has taken inspiration from his ‘free space’ philosophy for the temporary pavilion, which will be in situ for just over three months. “My design plays with our perspectives of the built environment against the backdrop of a natural landscape, emphasising a natural and organic feel as though it has grown out of the lawn, resembling a hill made out of rocks.”

Picture Perfect

Massimiliano Pironti, Quo Vadis?

serpentinegalleries.org

BP PORTRAIT AWARD UNTIL 20 OCTOBER

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM REGENT’S PARK OPEN AIR THEATRE

N AT I O N A L P O R T R A I T G A L L E R Y

UNTIL 27 JULY

The annual BP Portrait Award is the most prestigious portrait painting competition in the world. This year there were 2,538 entrants, submitted to be judged anonymously by a panel that included writer and presenter Gaylene Gould, artist Gary Hume and curator Zoé Whitley, with 44 making it through to be displayed in the show, including the winning portrait Imara in her Winter Coat by Charlie Schaffer (2019). npg.org.uk

Nothing says summer more than an outdoor theatrical production, and the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, set in beautiful landscaped grounds, is the perfect place to enjoy alfresco culture.

This season includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shakespeare’s fantastical fable of desire, confusion, jealousy and growing up. What better excuse to pack up a picnic and Pimm’s?

openairtheatre.com

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Kiss My Genders

WAR AND PEACE

HAYWARD GALLERY UNTIL 8 SEPTEMBER

ROYAL OPERA HOUSE

More than 100 works of art from the 1960s onwards have been brought together for this compelling exhibition, which explores and engages with gender fluidity, as well as with non-binary, trans and intersex identities. Through photography, painting, sculpture and installation, artists from around the world have moved beyond the conventional understanding of the body, opening up new representations of the human form.

The Welsh National Opera brings all the love, heartbreak, drama and death of Tolstoy’s War and Peace to the Royal Opera House. The striking production of Prokofiev’s realisation of the novel not only promises powerful melodies, but lavish sets and costumes that perfectly portray the grandeur of 19th-century Russian society.

23 - 24 JULY

roh.org.uk

THEATRE

southbankcentre.co.uk

FLEABAG

BITTER WHEAT

20 AUGUST – 14 SEPTEMBER It’s a bittersweet summer for Fleabag fans, as its creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge brings her multi-award-winning comedic play, directed by Vicky Jones, home to London for her final farewell performance. The one-woman show - which first made its debut in 2013 at the Edinburgh Festival before becoming a hit television series and a sell-out off Broadway - is a “rip-roaring look at some sort of woman living her sort of life”.

One not to miss. wyndhamstheatre.co.uk

UNTIL 21 SEPTEMBER John Malkovich returns to the stage after 33 years in this thought-provoking production, which is based on the Harvey Weinstein scandal in Hollywood.

Written and directed by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet, who takes inspiration from the #MeToo movement, it tells the power-to-shame tale of depraved Hollywood mogul Barney Fein, “a bloated monster - a studio head, who like his predecessor, the Minotaur, devours the young he has lured into his cave”. garricktheatre.org

WYNDHAM’S THEATRE

GARRICK THEATRE

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YOUNG VIC

29 JULY - 24 AUGUST Idris Elba has joined forces with Young Vic artistic director Kwame Kwei-Armah to cocreate this music theatre production, which promises an electrifying new blend of drama, music and dance as it follows one man’s journey Kaleo, who is played by Alfred Enoch - into the heart and soul of contemporary South Africa.

Directed by Kwei-Armah and inspired by Elba’s own album Mi Mandela, it’s a story of identity, family and belonging. youngvic.org

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WILLIAM BLAKE TATE BRITAIN

11 SEPTEMBER - 2 FEBRUARY Born in Soho in 1787, painter, printmaker and poet William Blake was one of the most important figures of the Romantic Age and an inspiration to artists and musicians worldwide, lauded not only for his technical innovation but also his vision and political commitment - all of which feel particularly relevant today. Alongside an immersive re-creation of the domestic room in which Blake displayed his art in 1809, over 300 original works including watercolours, paintings and prints have been collated for this much-anticipated exhibition - the largest of its kind for almost 20 years.

tate.org.uk

Clockwise from top left: William Blake, Albion Rose; Europe: A Prophecy; Capaneus the Blasphemer; Newton

OLAFUR ELIASSON TATE MODERN

11 JULY - 5 JANUARY Olafur Eliasson has had a long relationship with Tate Modern. His glowing sun The Weather Project drew more than two million visitors in 2003; last year, Ice Watch brought chunks of ice from Greenland to London. His new exhibition, In Real Life, is a series of captivating installations that explore the Icelandic-Danish artist’s deep engagement with society and the environment, and address everything from climate change to migration. tate.org.uk

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Félix Vallotton

ROYAL ACADEMY UNTIL 29 SEPTEMBER

At the end of the 19th century, Paris was the unrivalled capital of the Western art world. It was at this time that 16-year-old Félix Vallotton moved to the city, where he mixed with a group of artists known as Les Nabis - Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard among them - an association that undoubtedly had a major impact on the Swiss artist’s work. Painter of Disquiet is the first comprehensive survey of Vallotton’s career to be held in the UK, featuring over 80 works, from compelling portraits to bitingly satirical prints.

royalacademy.org.uk

NOYE’S FLUDDE LONDON COLISEUM 2 - 13 JULY

A joyous new production of Benjamin Britten’s masterpiece, which tells the story of Noah and his ark with its precious cargo of birds and beasts. In this collaboration between the ENO and Theatre Royal Stratford East, professional singers, actors and musicians will take to the stage alongside school children and the local community for a production that speaks of the promise of a new beginning. eno.org

GET UP, STAND UP NOW SOMERSET HOUSE

UNTIL 15 SEPTEMBER This landmark exhibition celebrates the impact of 50 years of black creativity in Britain and beyond. More than 100 artists feature, with historic artworks and new commissions sitting alongside items from personal archives. From a never-before-seen image of Michael X taken

by Horace Ové, and Steve McQueen’s poignant Remember Me, to works by dynamic young talent, all serve to reflect how artists have responded to the issues of our times.

somersethouse.org.uk

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NATALIA GONCHAROVA TATE MODERN

UNTIL 8 SEPTEMBER

By her early 30s, Natalia Goncharova had firmly established herself as leader of the Russian avant-garde. A pioneering and radical figure, she was never afraid to challenge the limits of artistic, social and gender conventions, whether displaying futurist body art, creating monumental triptychs or designing for fashion houses and theatres in Paris. This, the first UK retrospective of her work, gathers together more than 170 works to explore Goncharova’s inspirations, her groundbreaking experiments with modernist styles and her unique collaborations.

Clockwise from top left: Natalia Goncharova, Peasant Woman from Tula Province, 1910; Self-Portrait with Yellow Lilies, 1907-1908; Two female dancers (half-length).

Choreography design for Les Noces, c.1923; Bathers, 1922; Harvest: Angels Throwing Stones on the City, 1911

tate.org.uk

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Secret Rivers

MUSEUM OF LONDON UNTIL 27 OCTOBER

A fascinating look at London’s historic waterways and how they’ve shaped both the city and the people within it. Artworks, previously unseen artefacts, photography and film all reveal stories of life by the capital’s rivers, streams and brooks, as well as serving to show how these bodies of water played an important role in the city’s imaginations.

museumoflondon.org.uk

THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO ROYAL OPERA HOUSE UNTIL 21 JULY

David McVicar’s acclaimed production of Mozart’s much-loved comic opera returns to the Royal Opera House this summer for its sixth revival. Renowned conductor John Eliot Gardiner leads a stellar cast, including German baritone Christian Gerhaher as Figaro and American soprano Joélle Harvey as his beloved Susanna, as the tale of intrigue, misunderstanding, romance and forgiveness unfurls. roh.org.uk

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Summer Exhibition ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS UNTIL 12 AUGUST Words LUCY SCOVELL

L

ast year, the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition made an almighty splash, celebrating its 250th anniversary with a visual extravaganza coordinated to great acclaim

by Turner Prize-winning potter, tapestrymaker and curator Grayson Perry. With his flamboyant, satirical touch, humorous juxtapositions and pops of vibrant wall colour, Perry brought new energy to the world’s longest-running open-submission art show.

His was a tough act to follow. But British painter Jock McFadyen has risen to the challenge with aplomb, curating a sprawling showcase of more than 1,500 works of art (whittled down from an incredible 16,000 entries by big names and graduates alike) that explore our world today.

From Brexit Britain and climate change to immigration and split identities, this year’s show tackles it all. There’s a room dedicated to sustainability and the environment, and one to human passions across cultures and time. Political art gets a look-in, too. Banksy’s anti-Brexit Keep Ou installation made out of a repurposed EU arrivals gate from Heathrow Airport packs a stinging punch at the exhibition’s entrance, while Jeremy Deller’s banner announcing that “we are all immigrant scum” challenges us to think twice.

Elsewhere, panoramic photographs, figurative ink drawings and gritty urban landscapes by unknown hands nestle happily alongside works by some of the biggest names in contemporary art, including Anselm Kiefer, Tracey Emin and Conrad Shawcross.

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Left: Chantal Joffe, Night Self-portrait © Chantal Joffe, courtesy the artist and Victoria Miro, London/Venice This page, clockwise from above: William Tucker, Study for Dancer After Degas, courtesy the artist; Banksy, Keep Ou; Jock McFadyen, Poor Mother, photo: Lucid Plane; Chris Orr, Albert and the Mudlarks, photo Strike-a-light; Barbara Rae, Ilulissat, photo: Jed Gordon

Standout highlights of the exhibition include Chantal Joffe’s piercing self-portrait in oil; a ravishing painterly composition by abstractionist Frank Bowling, whose long-awaited retrospective runs concurrently at Tate Britain; and a delicate charcoal study of a dancer by modernist William Tucker. Then, of course, there’s the animal ‘menagerie’ boasting a life-size tiger coated in Tunnock’s Teacake wrappers by David Mach.

Outside, there’s even more to see: Thomas Houseago’s collection of mind-boggling sculptures loom large in the Annenberg Courtyard, while a colourful flag installation by Sir Michael CraigMartin flies high over neighbouring Bond Street.

As ever, there’s an overwhelming amount to see.

But taken as a cohesive whole, this exhibition draws a poignant portrait of our times. Love it or loathe it, its impact is difficult to ignore.

royalacademy.org.uk THEGLOSSARYMAGAZINE .COM

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Interview

She's been a teen TV star, style icon and serious fashion designer, but Alexa Chung's latest career move takes her back to her country-girl roots Words BETHAN HOLT Photography TODD COLE

‘O

h, Pip was my pony,' sighs Alexa Chung, twiddling with the cord-fastening of a cagoule named after her beloved childhood pet. Next, she moves on to Glenda, a long trench inspired

by Princess Margaret. 'Pop on a headscarf and jump in the Landie, it's Royal family catnip.'

Alexa is flitting from pets to royals because she's showing me the coats she's designed for her collaboration with Barbour.

Twenty years ago, the mention of the waxed-jacket brand would have conjured up images of the Queen rounding up her corgis for a brisk walk around the grounds of Sandringham. She does still come to mind, but so does Alexa Chung. 'That's sick,' she laughs when I put this to her. 'She's Balmoral, I'm amoral.'

In her earliest It-girl days, almost a decade ago, Alexa, now 35, would gallivant around Glastonbury in her waxed jacket, helping to render the quintessential country look a hipster must-have - it became known as the Hackney Farmer. But for Alexa, that was no Hackneyed concoction (so to speak), just a natural next step in her relationship with the coats she'd practically been born in.

'I got my first one when I was five, but it was a hand-medown from my siblings. At some point, I finally got my own and then in my 20s I bought a Beaufort in olive green that I wore around Brick Lane and then to festivals.' She goes self-deprecatingly smooshy when I suggest that with that purchase she launched a trend (one of many to her name), but then throws her head back and switches to an ultra-confident American accent, 'Yeah I did, it was pooirfect!'

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“I got lost for a bit, trying to please other people”

If that episode was a marketing dream for Barbour, then it must have been pinching itself when – several years later – Alexa, now the founder of her own label, Alexachung, knocked on its door asking to create this collection together. You might think of her as the queen of collabs - she's partnered with everyone from Marks & Spencer and AG Jeans to Superga and Madewell - but this is the first time that she has actively sought out a brand to work with.

It has now been two years since Alexa moved back to London from New York, where she'd been working since 2009, and took control of her own narrative. Instead of waiting for opportunities to come to her, she decided to launch her own label as an anchor for everything she wanted to be known for. 'I looked at something the other night and someone had written that I was famous for not doing anything in particular, and I remember that used to irk me,' she says. 'I'm really happy that at least now that doesn't come into question much because this has made it make sense.'

Thinking back, it was actually something quite specific that Alexa was – and is – famous for, so more fool that commentator. What has always made Alexa stand out is her idiosyncratic blend of dorky-chic style with a quick wit. After being scouted at Reading Festival when she was 16, Alexa spent her late teens and early 20s working as a model, postponing the places she'd been offered at King's to study English, and at Chelsea College of Arts. In 2006, she became one of the famously sarky co-presenters (with Simon Amstell) of Popworld on Channel 4 and later many more T4 shows. Along the way, she's also accrued a list of famous boyfriends, from the Arctic Monkeys' Alex Turner to actor Alexander Skarsgård and reportedly Coldplay's Chris Martin. Most recently, she posted a picture of her rumoured boyfriend, model Matt Hitt, on her Instagram feed, but close followers of her love life will have also have seen last week's paparazzi shots of her at a festival with a mystery man. (It's not, however, a subject she will discuss any more.)

Not only did we all want to watch her, we wanted to dress like her. And rather than being inspired by a carefully curated mood board, her look was just the clothes that she and her family loved, she reveals. 'I don't give my sister [Natalie] enough credit for influencing my style. She is eight years older than me and even today sometimes we'll turn up in the same thing,' Alexa reflects. 'She obviously had a certain way of putting things together, which filtered down to me, and it was the same with my brothers and my parents. I think there's this Chung

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way of dressing. The clothes that I then became known for were just what we all wore - Russell & Bromley loafers, the Barbour, the Breton top. I would just wear those clothes around the house, so when someone noticed them as being unique, that was... funny.'

Alexa doesn't make it back to where she grew up in Privett, Hampshire, quite as much as she'd like these days. She remembers a typically British country childhood, spending most of her time mucking out horses or making valiant attempts to save frogs. Fashion, apart from dressing up as a Spice Girl, didn't come into it until she hit her teens. 'The huge and hilarious irony of this entire situation is that I genuinely wore jodhpurs, ankle boots, a Barbour and a jumper from my brother - if I wasn't in my school uniform, a ballet outfit, or a swimming costume from the age of one to 16, that was it.'

Ambitions to be a fashion journalist came later when she'd hang out with her friend Lucinda, making magazines, re-enacting their favourite TV show The Word, and reading Vogue. Her dad helped nurture her curiosity, buying her the cult fashion tome Fruits. Of course, she's come a long way since then and fashion journalist is just one of the many job titles that she's had to her name: handbag muse and Great British Bake Off contestant are among the others. But her dad, Phil, is evidently super-proud. 'My little girl made best use of her pins last night... nice work atelier @ alexachung,' he wrote on his Instagram after this year's Met Gala.

Alexa admits that her modelling days brought on something of a personal style crisis. 'When I was a model, I just felt so transient... you're a product and people dress you up as they see you and I never had an opportunity to discover my own style. They asked you to dress in a neutral way so that you'd be attractive to all clients and they could imagine projecting their vision on to you. I think I spent a long time recovering from the idea that I was just a conduit for everyone else.'

That is partly where her determination to stick with the look she'd been wearing

since childhood came in. 'As a young woman in my 20s, I felt like I was supposed to be being my most hot. But I was like, "No, I'm going to dress like a grandma."

There was an irony to being probably the most attractive I would be in my life but f-ing it up by dampening the sex appeal.'

It's this girl-power-laced determination that inspired a generation of young women to follow suit and embrace dungarees, flat shoes and pussy bows over conventionally sexy clothes.

Alexa wears what she wants, rather than what she thinks she should wear. For the most part. 'Like yesterday, I did a shoot and I was wearing what I should probably be wearing, which is slightly more ageappropriate clothing, like suits and tailoring and a bit of sexiness. But I don't really want to dress like that all the time.'

And of course, it helps that she's preternaturally willowy so can carry off pretty much anything. She even makes me

the making of her Met Gala outfit ('I feel like I'm going to the dentist,' is her parting comment as she steps on to the red carpet), and a suitable-for-work make-up tutorial ('I'm trying to look like Meghan Markle in Suits-meets-Mick Jagger,' she says as she shares her fail-safe eyeliner technique). It's relatable and super cool, but with a side of serious-business savvy. She's also the cohost of Netflix's first fashion show, Next in Fashion, with Queer Eye's Tan France. The show will give young designers the chance to win $250,000 and have their pieces sold by Net-a-Porter.

Despite her packed schedule and grown-up approach to her brand, Alexa wouldn't miss this month's Glastonbury for the world. Watching the Rolling Stones from the side of the Pyramid stage in 2013 was 'the highlight of my life, genuinely', and despite her time living in the US, she's still an avowed Glasto girl. 'It's the best party in the world. Obviously, Glastonbury style has become a thing, but when you're there, it's so irrelevant because it's about being in the moment. It's a festival where, in contrast to somewhere like Coachella, it's not about what you've got on, it's about what you're doing.'

She might say it's not about what you wear, but a Barbour is her ultimate festival companion. 'Firstly, I think that it looks good, and secondly, you can take a can of cider in one pocket, your phone, wallet, all the stuff that you need in the other, baby wipes in the interior - it's a packhorse of a coat. Then you can lay it on the ground and sit on it so you don't get a wet bum.'

Alexa describes the waxed-jacket smell that hit her when she visited Barbour's South Shields HQ as being 'like home'.

She's given all the coats sweet traditional names like Edith, Maisie and Annie - 'I don't have children of my own yet so I take great pleasure in naming clothes instead,' she laughs - and we'll all be cooing over them this summer. Maybe the Queen will get on board, too. I can see her in the quilted Annie.

TODD COLE/THE TELEGRAPH/THE INTERVIEW PEOPLE

“I don't give my sister enough credit for influencing my style.

She is eight years older than me and even today sometimes we'll turn up in the same thing� rather fancy a pair of dad trainers when I spy her black Chanel ones during our interview.

Alexachung, which she credits with giving her 'a more settled way of life' is the culmination of the process of taking charge of her career. 'I got to the beginning of my 30s and was just sort of waiting for the phone to ring or chasing other things, whereas now it's on my terms, which is really nice,' she says. It's also allowed her to regain some control of her own image. 'Did I want to change it? I don't know how I'm perceived. I just found it frustrating. I got lost there for a bit, in trying to please other people, which I think is a common thing that women do.'

Now that she's in a groove with her eponymous line, which she has shown twice at London Fashion Week, Alexa is making forays into other projects. Besides the latest collaboration, there's the launch of her own YouTube channel. So far she has shared a behind-the-scenes look at

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The first drop of Barbour by Alexachung is available now at barbour.com

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C R E AT I N G C H A N G E . I S L A N D B Y I S L A N D .

S U N G L A S S E S M A D E F R O M O C E A N P L A S T I C ® C L E A N W AV E S . C O M

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STYLE Art Class

Following on from previous collaborations with renowned creatives such as Stephen Sprouse, Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, Yayoi Kusama and Jeff Koons, Louis Vuitton has asked six contemporary artists – Sam Falls (bag pictured), Urs Fischer, Nicholas Hlobo, Alex Israel, Tschabalala Self and Jonas Wood – to reinterpret its classic Capucines tote.

Elaborate processes, including high-definition printing and hand-stitched embroidery have been employed in the craftsmanship of the pieces. Only 300 of each design will be produced, with every bag numbered and signed by the artist.

Artycapucines PM bag, £6,050 Available from 25 June louisvuitton.com

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Fashion Notes

Dior takes a trip to the seaside, a curated eco edit and Rihanna’s game-changing label launches Compiled by CHARLOTTE ADSETT

J’ADIOR LA MER

STACKED UP

Supermodel Gigi Hadid’s second collection for Parisian jewellery brand Messika – My Soul – boasts a bohemian-chic vibe and is designed to be layered and stacked. Standout pieces include long sautoirs, statement ear hoops, ankle bracelets and rings, all adorned with Messika’s signature diamonds.

My Soul 18-karat Rose Gold Pavé Diamond Ring £1,440 & Mini Hoops £1,460;

messika.com

SS19 sees Dior’s summer capsule collection, Dioriviera, going on tour with pop-ups at Europe’s hottest beach resorts, such as Porto Cervo, Forte dei Marmi, Mykonos and Ibiza – as well as being available in seaside boutiques worldwide, including SaintTropez, Puerto Banús, Capri and Portofino. Nautical Breton stripes and the name of the destination where they are sold adorn key pieces, including T-shirts, swimsuits, woven bracelets and the Dior Book Tote bag. Personalisation services will be available in July. dior.com

IT’S IN THE BAG

e beaded mini bag gets a chic update with faux-pearls and pink ostrich feathers – the perfect partner for summer weddings and garden parties.

Mina tote, £255; net-a-porter.com

FOR THE

FUTURE

Shoe Redux

BLOCK PARTY A chic spin on a timeless classic, The Gail Mary-Jane Sandal by Michael Kors Collection (£550) combines a block platform heel with a wooden clog that encapsulates summer’s spirit of the Seventies. michaelkors.co.uk

Net-a-Porter’s new platform Net Sustain offers a curated edit that identifies environmentally friendly brands

RiRi revolution

Rihanna’s eagerly anticipated label, Fenty, has finally landed. The game-changing brand is the first original label launched by LVMH since Christian Lacroix in 1987 – and Rihanna the first woman of colour to helm a company at the maison.

Key pieces include oversized trouser suits in pastel hues and corseted shirts juxtaposed against raw Japanese denim.

fenty.com

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Sustainable and ethical shopping just got easier with Net-a-Porter’s new eco initiative, Net Sustain.

The carefully vetted edit is divided into five of the leading areas of concern in the fashion industry, and takes into account each brand’s impact on the welfare of people, animals and the environment.

From considered materials and processes, to Fairtrade locally made products that support communities, every item aligns with internationally recognised best practices. Launching with 26 brands and more than 500 products, there will be seasonal updates in addition to exclusive capsule collections from the likes of Stella McCartney, Mother of Pearl and Maggie Marilyn. Beauty products join the line-up next year.

STELLA McCARTNEY Crepe camisole, £435

MOTHER OF PEARL Lyocell camisole, £195

MAGGIE MARILYN Silk-organza shirt, £435

CHOPARD Happy Diamonds 18ct gold diamond necklace, £2,070 LEMLEM Amira gauze midi-dress, £445

KAYU Hollie crochet straw tote, £230

STELLA McCARTNEY Faux leather sandals, £500

net-a-porter.com

PIPPA SMALL Scallop 18ct gold earrings, £865

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MOTHER OF PEARL Annabelle organic silk skirt, £595

Wool jacket, £1,150

Wool jacket, £1,250

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Interview

EAGLE EYED

Through her eponymous shop-meets-gallery in Soho – which sells a meticulously curated blend of art, interiors and fashion – Alex Eagle has redefined the concept of retail. Here, she shares her thoughts on sustainability, style icons and the importance of kitsch Words BETHAN RYDER

M

eeting Alex Eagle is just like catching up with a best girlfriend.

Founder and creative director of lifestyle retail concept Alex Eagle Studio and The Store X projects, as well as her own brand, Eagle has been credited with reinventing the fashion boutique. She is possibly the coolest woman in London, and yet she is disarmingly easy company. We meet at the vast warehouse flat in Soho that she shares with husband Mark Wadhwa, a commercial property developer, and their two young children, Jack and Columba.

So relaxed is Eagle that the front door is wide open on my arrival, without a soul in sight. An artwork-lined entrance corridor leads into a basketball court-sized openplan apartment. Calls of “Helloooo?” are met by a lady with a Hoover, but seconds later Eagle breezes in, apologises for her scruffy appearance, proffers tea and chocolates and leads me to a sofa. No ordinary sofa, of course, but one of two six-seater linen Axel Vervoordt beauties that flank a large coffee table – also by the Belgian minimalist – that does well to survive under the weight of 15 towering stacks of art and photography tomes.

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Her long dark hair mildly dishevelled – she’s nailing the tousled bedhead look but is clearly no slouch – even her ‘at home’ loungewear attire is on brand.

“I’m wearing the merch,” she says of her white slogan ‘COLUMNS’ sweatshirt, a collaboration with Ben Kelly, designer of the legendary Haçienda nightclub, who is currently showing his Memphis-like column artworks nearby in The Store.

And although she doesn’t stock Charvet, her hot-pink leather slippers by the storied French brand are not dissimilar to the discrete mules and slip-ons that have become a cult Alex Eagle staple and key element of her highly coveted ‘uniform’.

There’s no sign of her other signature go-to, the blazer, and her usual tailored trousers are swapped for sweatpants.

Raised in Chiswick by a TV producer mother and art dealer father, Eagle is the first to acknowledge that her cultured London upbringing gave her a head start for a creative future. “I grew up going to art galleries and auctions,” she recalls.

“Looking and learning to assess things visually has always been a part of my life.”

This appreciation of art and objects led to an art history degree, which she loved and still references daily. Combine that with a super-stylish mother who wore Costume National, Max Mara, Armani and Calvin Klein and you begin to understand how her killer taste emerged.

“I can’t remember being any other way,” she says. “As a little girl I would get changed 20 times a day. I constantly tore pages out of magazines to create collages and scrapbooks, which I still have.” An editor and tastemaker from the start, then, this was fuelled by Eagle’s passion and drive; “I started at the bottom and worked my way up,” says the self-confessed workaholic.

Stints at The Sunday Times Style, Tank magazine and Harper’s Bazaar led her to Joseph during designer Louise Trotter’s tenure, which proved the most formative professional experience.

At Joseph she honed her ‘smart and chic’ unfussy style and her business acumen.

“It was run by such a small team for a big global company. I was in my mid-20s going to meetings with the CEO, creative director and buying director and seeing the full 360°, from creation to the customers, which was super interesting. Those were my building blocks and from there I saw the gaps.”

Her novel idea? A place where the collectable furniture and objets – the

Alex Eagle's

Wardrobe Staples

FROM TOP LEFT TO RIGHT: ALEX EAGLE Oscar Prince of Wales jacket, £1,250 VEJA V-10 Nautico sneakers, £115 ALEX EAGLE Kennedy silk top, £350 SOPHIE KEEGAN Pearl & chain 18ct gold charm, £500 SOPHIE KEEGAN I Mean The Dream Cloud 18ct gold charm, £300 LE MONDE BERYL Red velvet kitten heels, £365 GIULIVA HERITAGE COLLECTION Christie trench coat, £1,980 AWAY X ALEX EAGLE Medium suitcase, £275 ALEX EAGLE Tortoiseshell sunglasses, £180

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music, art, ceramics and books – change, but the clothes stay the same. This might sound insane for a fashion store, but with rising concerns about sustainability and landfill it now seems oddly prescient.

It was 2014 and Eagle was just 31, but two sites became available at around the same time: a three-floor shop on Walton Street just across from her former flat, and a 2,800 sq m ex-department store in Berlin’s Mitte that was a joint partnership with Soho House.

“Walton Street was basically an extension of my flat, where I was already styling friends and selling bits and bobs of furniture to them informally, so it became the official version of that. Berlin is an amazing space and my aim was more of a coworking creative hub selling clothes and coffee, with as much emphasis on selling a notepad as a Jil Sander coat,” she explains. Eagle threw herself into both, dividing her time between London and Berlin to launch them concurrently.

Was she daunted? “‘Yes, I was shit scared,” she admits, but Wadhwa, who prefers to be her very silent sleeping partner in the business, gave her the confidence to get stuck in. “He is my absolute inspiration, he believed in me and didn’t let me employ someone else. I did it all myself; of course I made small mistakes but nothing I’d change. Although it was a simple idea, it hadn’t really been done before.”

For the affluent top one per cent, Eagle's curated world is evidently spot-on because in 2016 she shuttered the Walton Street store and moved to larger premises, opening Alex Eagle Studio (often referred to as The Studio) on Lexington Street in Soho. She has retained the Berlin outpost as a separate business – The Store X – adding two further locations at Soho Farmhouse, Oxfordshire and 180 Strand in London. These are platforms for ideas and culture beyond shopping, with exhibition collaborations running from blue-chip galleries to public institutions, not to mention individual artists including Theaster Gates and allround renaissance man Virgil Abloh. “If you create a sense of discovery then there is a reason for them to come. We do shows and installations with artists and craftspeople, and when it comes to clothes people crave an edit,” she says. “If you type dark denim jeans into a good website, you might have 300 to choose from. I spend my time editing that down; it’s about saving people time, which is modern-day luxury.”

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Eagle’s Soho outpost smells divine the minute you step through the door (she stocks Cire Trudon and Espelma candles), staff let you browse unbothered and the edit is always an inspiring, apartmentlike mix of homeware, clothing and art – delicate Feldspar ceramics sit next to Veja sneakers, an Ettore Sottsass UltraFragola mirror hangs next to a Naoki Kawano print or a Luke Edward Hall painted plate. Just a few clothing rails are dotted about and various art and design books are sprinkled about shelving and surfaces; even beauty gets a look-in, with beauty editors’ top facials specialist Skinwork on the lower-ground floor.

Despite sharing this relaxed residential aesthetic, Berlin differs in offering; alongside Eagle’s own brand of ‘wearforever’ classics, there is a tight edit from major fashion houses such as Balenciaga, Jil Sander, Proenza Schouler, Rosetta Getty, Burberry and Junya Watanabe. She must be doing something right because, she whispers conspiratorially, “Burberry recently told me that it’s Riccardo Tisci’s favourite store in Berlin.”

London evolved differently. To create a point of difference from other high-end retailers in the capital, Eagle initiated a series of collaborations with old established British brands such as Jermyn Street’s New & Lingwood, with whom she created smoking jackets, slippers and brogues to suit women, and heritage leather luggage-maker Swaine Adeney Brigg. These continue to furnish the store, alongside craft pieces and her own ready-to-wear clothing line, which she launched in 2015, inspired by her mother’s enviable wardrobe.

Though she cites Charlotte Rampling, Katharine Hepburn, Sofia Coppola and Gloria Vanderbilt - all strong, sexy women who have championed a mannish aesthetic - as style icons, “I’m not looking for endless references because we’re not doing seasons,” explains Eagle of her collection. “I look to those tried-and-tested pieces of my mum’s, like a jacket by Piero De Monzi that we share, that are still good 20, 30, sometimes 40 years later.” Eagle’s bestsellers include the Le Monde Beryl shoes, 100% linen T-shirts, blazers, scarf-neck tops and dresses. “We’ve made the scarf-neck dress since the beginning, perfecting it over months. It suits my grandma and also my step-daughters, who are 11 and 17, and everyone in-between,” she says.

“My version of ethical is believing you will wear something to death. It’s about buying less, as opposed to this throwaway culture”

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STYLE

Undaunted by a lack of formal training, Eagle called upon a friend, fashion stylist Tam Rothstein (who now works with Martine Rose), to help start the clothing line. Then Eagle struck lucky when the ‘genius’ Chiswick seamstress who designed her wedding dress became available. She also has a Savile Row-trained female tailor who works on all the bespoke suits using Loro Piana fabrics. “We all read each other’s minds and sing from the same hymn sheet.

I can’t pattern-cut but I can draw, so I do a doodle and Honia just gets it.”

And this is Eagle’s interpretation of sustainable fashion. Sustainability is something she takes seriously (her friend David de Rothschild’s The Lost Explorer ethical beauty brand is a personal favourite), not only by focusing on wearforever classics from ethically sourced fabrics, but also by producing in small batches of limited runs and making to order. “The bespoke suits are the pinnacle of the investment piece; made to fit you perfectly, they will last you a lifetime. My version of ethical is believing you will wear something to death. It’s about buying less, as opposed to this throwaway culture.”

Alex Eagle isn’t all understated elegance though; she – and, by extension, the brand – has a fun edge. “I’d love to think I was totally Phoebe Philo or Rose Uniacke, and just really minimal. I think they do exquisite things, but in the end I like a bit of kitsch.”

Illustrating her point perfectly is the small embroidered cushion between us, bearing her signature feel-good slogan ‘I mean the dream’, which also appears on T-shirts, platters and Chinti & Parker sweaters. She’s even created her own #imeanthedream hashtag, for “when something’s that extra bit fabulous”. It appears to have captured a mood as Eagle is also working on book with Rizzoli, due out Christmas 2020, with that very title. “It’s going to be about all these interesting people around the world and their curations.” Other plans in the pipeline are more collaborations with luxury Hong Kong retailer Lane Crawford, and she’d like to expand into the US with her clothing line.

As we speak her nanny brings her eight-month-old daughter Columba over for a cuddle. Having kids has helped, she says, because it taught her how to let go and learn to delegate. “I need help across every area of my life,” she says. "My mum has been helping me build my business for the past three years. Having been a

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TV producer she knows how to get things done, manage a team, and when to say no. She helps me budget and prioritise.

She’s my reality check.”

It’s clear that having a supportive family and creative friends is a key part of the Eagle phenomenon. And the next generation is already waiting in the wings to join her. “Because we live in central London we take the kids to all the galleries; it’s really fun seeing things through their eyes. Jack loves art; he goes to shops and touches all the fabrics, he re-merchandises my shop.” I take my leave, with Eagle enthusiastically suggesting lunch sometime, “because I’ve done all the talking this time”. She is, I mean, the dream. alexeagle.co.uk

M Y

L O N D O N

GLOSSARY A L E X E AG L E

BEST BITES

The River Cafe in Hammersmith is a firm favourite. It’s near my childhood home and is always my first choice for celebrating with family and friends.

Thames Wharf, Rainville Road, Hammersmith, W6; rivercafe.co.uk

GO-TO BRITISH DESIGNER

Phoebe Philo is my forever favourite. As for British brands, I’m currently loving Holland & Holland. Its pieces are a true testament to the fact that you don't have to compromise style for functionality.

33 Bruton Street, Mayfair, W1; hollandandholland.com

HOTEL HAVEN

Claridge's. It’s a London institution and embodies everything I love about British tradition and elegance, and it’s perfect for afternoon tea.

Brook Street, Mayfair, W1 claridges.co.uk

CULTURE FIX

The Royal Academy of Arts is just a stone’s throw away from my loft in Soho and it always has an amazing programme of contemporary and Renaissance art. As a committee member, I may be slightly biased!

Burlington House, Piccadilly, W1 royalacademy.org.uk

FAVOURITE HAIRDRESSER

The team at Josh Wood are my go-to for events and photoshoots. Perfect for days where you want to look like you didn’t try at all, but you actually did.

6 Lansdowne Mews, Notting Hill, W11 joshwoodcolour.com

CLUB OF CHOICE

I love the atmosphere at The Chelsea Arts Club and spending time there with my father in the beautiful garden. The art changes regularly with new emerging artists, and I’m always excited to see what they’ll hang next.

143 Old Church Street, Chelsea, SW3 chelseaartsclub.com

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E L SO ER H C R A SE s of k r o w e es ar ver. With o h s e t i s i o His exqeured the worldelebrating art, revw exhibition c the Wallace a ne Blahnik at endary Manolollection, the leogw it feels Co r shares h idst the designheis designs ampieces to see eum’s master mus LSON LARE

C Words

COU

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T

here are very few designers who truly deserve legendary status – but Manolo Blahnik is certainly one of them. The Spanish-born and London-based designer’s fantastical shoes have inspired on-screen plotlines (they were Carrie Bradshaw’s one true and constant love in Sex and the City) and song lyrics – Beyoncé and Lady Gaga are among the many songwriters who have eulogised his footwear.

Manolos are beloved by A-listers too numerous to mention and adored by fashion doyennes. As Anna Wintour, Blahnik’s long-standing friend and client, opined in the 2017 biopic Manolo: The Boy Who Made Shoes for Lizards: “I can’t remember the last time I wore anybody else’s shoes – I just don’t even look at them.” And they’ve long been the royal go-to; Princess Diana was a regular client who usually favoured the designer’s low heels, while the Duchess of Sussex is a devotee of the towering, low-cut ‘BB’ pump. “It is a great honor and joy to have my shoes worn by such a beautiful young lady,” Blahnik once said. “Meghan is well on her way to becoming a style icon of the 21st century.”

His designs have, of course, also graced catwalks in fashion capitals for decades – next year the shoemaker celebrates his 50th anniversary – and 76-year-old Blahnik, who was awarded an Honorary CBE in 2007, has 18 stores worldwide, producing more than 600 shoes a season.

This summer, these elegant, timeless and beautifully-crafted shoes are being lauded as the masterpieces that they truly are, displayed among the frothy Fragonards and luscious Bouchers of one of London’s hidden gems, the Wallace Collection.

Blahnik, whose tireless creativity is fuelled by a deep passion for, and knowledge of, the decorative arts, has been going to the museum regularly ever since his first visit aged 19 – although typically, never with any fuss or fanfare.

“The Wallace Collection has been a great source of inspiration for me over the years with its incredible number of exquisite and breathtaking works from Fragonard, Rubens, Rembrandt and Watteau” THEGLOSSARYMAGAZINE .COM

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“It’s been a great source of inspiration for me over the years with its incredible number of exquisite and breathtaking works from Fragonard, Rubens, Rembrandt and Watteau,” says Blahnik of the collection that was amassed through the 18th and 19th centuries by Sir Richard Wallace, then bequeathed to the nation by Lady Wallace in 1897. “It is more than an honour that our shoes are exhibited alongside these 17th and 18th century masterpieces. We almost feel that we are not really worthy to be here, albeit temporarily!”

While the ever-modest designer refuses to rest on his laurels, the museum’s director Xavier Bray believes Blahnik’s creations are absolutely worthy of a spot among the museum’s treasures: “I know he’s a bit nervous to see his shoes juxtaposed with works of art in a museum, but for us there’s a friction in creating this show where you have this fantastic balance between the shoe and the art that surrounds it.

These are shoes that are designed to be worn, they are utilitarian, but at the same time they really are works of art.”

The idea for the show emerged organically after the pair were introduced, and together they conceived ten distinct areas that link Blahnik’s passions, inspirations and design with themes from the museum’s history and collections. In the delicious pink-walled Small Drawing Room, parallels are drawn between the Commedia dell’Arte – an early form of professional theatre originating from Italy – which will be seen alongside Blahnik’s exuberant designs featuring harlequin checks, pom-poms and vivid silks. In the Oval Drawing Room, two of the gallery’s best known

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“It is more than an honour that our shoes are exhibited alongside these 17th and 18th century masterpieces.

We almost feel that we are not really worthy to be here, albeit temporarily!” works, Fragonard’s The Swing (1767) and Boucher’s Madame de Pompadour (1759), are joined by 13 pairs of the delicious candycoloured shoes created by Blahnik for Sofia Coppola’s Marie-Antoinette.

Works by British artists including Reynolds, Gainsborough and Landseer are contrasted in the West Room with shoes that embody Blahnik’s love of traditional materials – including tartans and tweeds – and outdoor pursuits.

While in the Boudoir, an ornate and beautifully lit cabinet filled with diamond-encrusted gold boxes and delicate miniatures sits alongside some of the most intricately worked bejewelled creations. Shoes are placed in bell jars, sometimes in twos or fours, or arranged within cabinets alongside the museum’s ornate treasures, including Blahnik’s favourite Boulle wardrobes, which were once used by Queen Victoria.

For fans of the designer, it will be an unmissable opportunity to see his most incredible designs up close. Each one conceived first with a beautiful hand-painted drawing, then made by hand in Italy, where Blahnik still goes each season to personally work on the production.

And it’s this sense of craft and creation, an absolute passion for the process, that has perhaps always singled out the designer from so many of his contemporaries.

Blahnik grew up in Santa Cruz in the Canary Islands and at 14 went

to school in Geneva, where he stayed for university – his parents wanted him to study politics and law, but he switched to architecture and literature.

He moved to Paris in the mid-Sixties, where he studied art and stage set design; in 1969 he moved to London and quickly became immersed in the glamorous world of the Chelsea set while working for Joan Burstein at Feathers. But it was Diana Vreeland, the American Vogue editor-in-chief, who suggested he focus on shoes when he had a meeting with her in New York in 1969. “To be honest I wanted to do theatre design, but alas Ms Vreeland said that I should do shoes,” Blahnik has said. Within a couple of years he was making shoes for Ossie Clark, and then, with a loan of just £2,000, he opened his first boutique, in Old Church Street, Chelsea.

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from another time - always immaculately dressed in his Anderson & Sheppard suits with his impeccable old-school manners, refusing to kowtow to fleeting trends and fads. As a result he’s been at the top of his game for half a century.

And for Bray, he has truly earned his place among the old masters. “He’s someone who still uses our great collections and he takes inspiration from them, but he doesn’t copy. He absorbs it, digests and creates – and that is a sign of a great creative mind.”

At the Wallace Collection, visitors will be able to feast on 130 designs that he has created since then. For Bray, it’s a tantalising opportunity for visitors to see the museum through Blahnik’s eyes. “It’s like meeting someone from the 18th century, exported in time, and that’s a real pleasure for any curator,” adds Bray. “He reminds me a lot of [that era’s] marchands-mercier – the taste-makers who sold objets d’art and created fashionable pieces of furniture, porcelain or decorative pieces. Manolo gets individually involved with making the shoes, bringing all these materials – jewels, silks, fur – together in the most exquisite way.”

And perhaps Blahnik, who notably has made his home among the Georgian splendour of Bath rather than London, is

‘An Enquiring Mind: Manolo Blahnik at the Wallace Collection’ is on until 1 September. wallacecollection.org

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New House

STYLE A slice of NY chic arrives in Mayfair as Michael Kors throws open the doors to his new six-storey townhouse boutique Words OLIVIA LIDBURY

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own at the Piccadilly end of Old Bond Street, the new Michael Kors Collection boutique is markedly different to the brand’s flagship store, just a short walk away on Regent Street. In fact, it’s quite unlike any of the designer’s other boutiques.

Set in a handsome Georgian townhouse, Kors has employed carefully considered touches for his latest opening, designed to immerse the shopper into his own personal world; an intimate spin, if you will, on the concept store. “The new store design puts an emphasis on warm textures and a sense of residential ease,” says Kors, who founded his eponymous label in 1981.

Indeed, the designer’s own New York City apartment and his rural retreat in Florida have informed the covetable décor of the elegant, six-storey space. All the finishings are bespoke, from the blackened steel and raw concrete, to the gold Calacatta marble and oxidized maple. The fireplaces are original, and the antique brass fixtures and decorative trimmings sensitive to the history of the building. Rendered in a neutral colour palette, the overall aesthetic is modern yet warm - just like the sophisticated, polished glamour that Kors’ designs exude.

The ground floor is home to handbags and accessories, whose popularity have turned Kors into a household name and helped him amass a billiondollar fortune. The most sought-after handbags this season include the Crawford Crossbody with its boxy

shape and chain-link top handle, and the bestselling Oversized Bancroft, a roomy and ladylike shoulder bag. Both have been reimagined in pretty, floral-printed calf leather and juxtaposed with luxe python trimmings Upstairs, Kors’ Seventies-inspired Pre-Fall collection continues with crushed satin dresses, printed silk pyjama pants, colourful faux Mongolian shearling jackets (Kors is newly fur-free) and sky-high snakeskin platforms, all of which pop against the Eero Saarinen chairs and seagrass rugs. The sumptuous furnishings make this floor feel like a sitting room adorned with fabulous clothes, rather than a retail space.

The second floor is devoted to menswear, boasting a clever edit to take the modern gentleman from days at the office and smart dinners, to casual brunches come the weekends.

Exclusivity is the real draw of this unique store; on the third floor, a luxury VIP Salon offers a discreet service for those who prefer a little privacy. With personal stylists and champagne on hand, there is the opportunity to request tailoring tweaks to items such as evening wear to guarantee a one-of-a-kind purchase.

The clientele set to enjoy the benefits of this plush suite might include Kate Moss, Naomie Harris and Viscountess Weymouth, who all turned out to toast the store opening at a cocktail party and dinner earlier this summer. Kors himself was in town for the event, and he did not downplay the prestigious location of the latest store to bear his name, saying he was “excited” to debut his new store “on one of the most luxurious, storied streets in the world.”

Michael Kors Collection Townhouse, 9 Old Bond Street, Mayfair, W1 michaelkors.com

Michael Kors and Kate Moss at the new townhouse launch

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YELLOW

FROM LEFT: JOHANNA ORTIZ Exotic Piyata dress, £2,225, mytheresa.com; SELF-PORTRAIT Floral dress, £360, net-a-porter.com; STAUD Panier dress, £276, modaoperandi.com; Model wears BANJANAN Gabriella Buttercup dress, £330, modaoperandi.com; BAUM UND PFERDGATEN Abygail dress, £439, atterley.com; CAROLINA HERRERA Leopard Print dress, £3,200, carolinaherrera.com; LA DOUBLE J Visconti dress, £1,070, matchesfashion.com

THE DR ESS EDIT THESE COVETABLE DRESSES WILL SEE YOU THROUGH THE SEASON IN STYLE Fashion CHARLOTTE ADSETT

BLUE

FROM LEFT: Model wears ETRO Floral Silk dress, £1,075, etro.com; PETER PILOTTO Blue print dress, £1,550, harveynichols.com; THIERRY COLSON Tifenn dress, £480, modaoperandi.com; GANNI Joycedale Silk dress, £215, theoutnet.com; DOLCE & GABBANA Cherry Print Chiffon dress, £2,350, mytheresa.com; PREEN BY THORNTON BREGAZZI, Diana dress, £1,080, matchesfashion.com

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GREEN

CANDY

RED

FROM LEFT: Model wears JOANNA ORTIZ Floral dress, £1,245, farfetch.com; MARCH 11 Gaudi Floral dress, £875, march11.com; ALTUZARRA Helden Silk dress, £1,375, mytheresa.com; 16ARLINGTON Billie Feather Trimmed Printed dress, £750, net-a-porter.com; BANJANAN Laura Floral Print dress, £530, modesens.com; CULT GAIA Willow dress, £648, matchesfashion.com

FROM LEFT: Model wears ETRO Floral print dress, £2,675, etro.com; ULLA JOHNSON Joan Silk dress, £631, mytheresa.com; THE VAMPIRES WIFE Juno Silk dress, £1,355, thevampireswife.com; MICHAEL KORS COLLECTION Ruffle Floral Print dress, £1,820, michaelkors.com; GALVAN, Majorelle dress, £995, net-a-porter.com; BERNADETTE Sarah dress, £720, net-a-porter.com

FROM LEFT: Model wears PETAR PETROV Delmar dress, £1,390, net-a-porter.com; BORGO DE NOR Aiana dress, £675, farfetch.com; STELLA MCCARTNEY Ruffle dress, £1,635, stellamccartney.com; GANNI Kochhar dress,£550, brownsfashion.com; REBECCA VALLANCE Holliday dress, £486, modaoperandi.com; ALEXIS Marcas dress, £591, farfetch.com

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MAKING

WAV E S AS SWIMWEAR TAKES ITS PLACE IN THE FIGHT AGAINST PLASTIC POLLUTION THIS SUMMER, MEET THE BRANDS DIVING IN TO REDUCE THEIR ECO FOOTPRINT Words NICOLA COLYER

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STYLE

ARKET

Last summer, Arket made a sustainable splash with its debut range of recycled swimwear produced with Econyl®.

And for SS19, the Scandi-cool label returns with neon hues, sporty stripes, pastels and timeless neutrals across classically cut, supportive separates and one-pieces. By wearing this fabric, you can help reduce the global-warming impact of nylon by 80% compared with traditional oil-based material.

Regenerated nylon is lightweight, strong, quick-drying and UV resistant, so it’s practical as well as guilt-free. arket.com

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ith an estimated 12.7 million tonnes of plastic reaching our oceans each year, the global effort to reduce our waste is in full swing. Yet, somewhat ironically, every time we take a dip in the sea we are inadvertently adding to the problem. Synthetic oil-based fibres, such as nylon or Lycra, have long been the basic components of bikinis and one-pieces, adding to the amount of virgin plastic on the planet and contributing to the accumulation of microplastics clogging up our shorelines, poisoning marine life and infecting the food chain.

Thankfully, a number of swimwear designers are paving the way to stem this tidal wave of damage, using recycled and sustainable materials, and pioneering manufacturing techniques.

One popular solution lies in Econyl®, a regenerated nylon yarn made entirely from waste products, including the ‘ghost’ nets littering our oceans. Not only does this help remove deep-sea plastic waste, it also cuts down on the use of water, oil and energy used during the manufacturing process.

Elsewhere, natural fibres such as organic cotton and hemp prevent the release of microplastics into waterways, as do laundry bags that capture microfibres when washing.

Meanwhile, more durable designs and in-store reuse systems are also helping fight the war on waste.

Meet the enterprising luxury labels paving the way for a cleaner, greener future with their covetable, sustainable swimwear.

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OHOY SWIM

Unhappy with the surfwear options available for women, Scandinavian friends and boarders Anna Nielsen and Henna Kaarlela founded Ohoy Swim – Ohoy being the Scandinavian version of “ahoy” – a collection of one-pieces and bikini sets available in simple, modern cuts, designed to work as well with shorts or jeans as in the water. Each garment is made using 100% Econyl®, and a percentage from every sale goes towards supporting volunteer divers in their mission to clean up plastic waste from our seas.

The duo regularly decamps to their manufacturing base, a small family-owned factory in Sri Lanka, to ensure working conditions are fair. ohoyswim.com

FINISTERRE

Finisterre founder Tom Kay is passionate about the ocean, and sustainability is at the very core of his cold-water surfwear brand. Always at the forefront of product innovation, last year Finisterre launched a collection to raise awareness of marine microplastics, replaced the use of harmful fluorocarbons with a botanical-based water repellent called Neoseed, and ran the first ever women’s wetsuit tester camp to help develop a better product. Made using Econyl®, the collection is colourful, comfortable and long-lasting. finisterre.com

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FISCH Growing up on St Barths, Swedish designer Agnes Fischer has always had an affinity with the ocean. Horrified at the rapidly diminishing health of the planet’s coral reefs, she pledged to create a luxury sustainable swimwear brand handmade using only fibres from regenerated fishing nets and ocean waste. The collection, designed to be worn from the beach to the bar, features hand-painted vibrant prints and scrunchie-inspired straps. Plus, 10% of profits are donated to the Healthy Seas project to combat ocean waste. fischswim.com

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MARA HOFFMAN

At New York Fashion Week earlier this year, beachwear designer Mara Hoffman received the Repreve Champions of Sustainability Leading the Change Award. Known for her flattering, retro shapes that are always popular with the style set, Hoffman is well and truly committed to reducing her environmental impact – and has been doing so for the last 15 years. While she uses Econyl® for her swimwear, the designer has also started working Repreve into her textured pieces, a fibre made from upcycled plastic bottles that would otherwise end up in landfill or in our oceans. marahoffman.com

NATASHA TONIC’

Natasha Tonic’’s seasonless collection of swimwear is based on a unique blend of natural hemp and organic cotton fibre that’s antimicrobial and UV resistant, and hand-dyed (using low-impact colours) and sewn in Los Angeles. While there’s still 4% Lycra involved, this dramatically reduces the amount of tiny plastic fibres being released into the water with every wash. The eco designs can even double up as lingerie or activewear to prolong their life.

The brand has partnered with its local Californian non-profit organisation, 5Gyres, to donate 5% of profits towards fighting plastic pollution. natashatonic.com

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ECO EDIT From statement brights to playful patterns, get set for a sustainable summer with these covetable picks

STAY WILD SWIM

PEONY

The family-run Australian swimwear label Peony takes its name from the blooming peonies in founder Becky Jack’s garden. With a nostalgic bohemian aesthetic, the capsule collection features ditzy floral prints and soft colour palettes. Printed designs are made with Econyl®, while the lining of each piece is made entirely from recycled and sustainable fabrics, developed in-house, and all meet Oeko Tex Standard 100. Plans are afoot for a reuse programme, so customers can send back old pieces to be repaired or regenerated, taking this label one step closer to its goal of being fully sustainable by 2020. peonyswimwear.com

London-based sports-luxe swimwear brand Stay Wild Swim was co-founded by Natalie Glaze and Zanna van Dijk, and frames its ‘buy less, buy better’ approach with thoughtfully cut, brightly hued one and two-piece designs made from recycled nylon. Tags and packaging are fully recyclable, the label’s shipping is 100% carbon neutral, and they’re currently working on the technology to recycle old swimwear into new pieces. You can also pick up a GuppyFriend bag, designed to prevent microplastics entering the system during washes. staywildswim.com

B LO C K CO LO U R FROM TOP LEFT TO RIGHT: FINISTERRE Ostrea bikini top, £50, briefs, £45 STAY WILD SWIM The Odyssey swimsuit, £170 MARA HOFFMAN Dominique swimsuit, £280 TALIA COLLINS The Asymmetrical swimsuit, £158

TALIA COLLINS

Riviera-chic forms the mainstay of this eponymous label founded by ex-Vogue Paris stylist Talia Collins, whose passion for preserving marine life led her to create an eco-friendly swimwear line. The colour-block pieces, designed to be mixed and matched, are chlorine-resistant and have built-in SPF 50 UV filters.

Made using Econyl®, 10% of profits go to the Healthy Seas initiative to clear marine litter from our waters.

Collins also gives a 20% discount to customers who send in their swimwear for recycling. taliacollins.co.uk

DITZY PRINT FROM TOP LEFT TO RIGHT: GANNI Recycled frill bikini top, £60; briefs, £50 FISCH Grenadins bikini top, £115; briefs, £90 PEONY Willow bikini top, £115; briefs, £115 MARA HOFFMAN Kia swimsuit, £295

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Pop-Up

Bulgari x Selfridges Bulgari’s latest high jewellery collection, Cinemagia is a sparkling homage to the Italian Riviera of the 1960’s.

And to celebrate, a dash of la dolce vita glamour is coming to Selfridges via a pop-up shop from 8 July to 4 August before the collection launches worldwide in September.

Exclusive jewellery and watches will sit alongside painted handbags, which are set to be collector’s items.

DIVAS’ DREAM Rose gold necklace set with mother-of-pearl elements, a round brilliantcut diamond and pavé diamonds, £3,360

DIVAS’ DREAM Rose gold necklace set with carnelian elements, a round brilliant-cut diamond and pavé diamonds, £3,540

SERPENTI FOREVER BAG A world-wide exclusive of 200 limited edition pieces.

From £1,660

400 Oxford Street, W1

The

Watch&Jewellery Jewellery

E D I T LONDON’S DAZZLING NEW OPENINGS, TRENDS AND STATEMENT PIECES Compiled by MING LIU

London Calling

Cartier

London is being placed firming on the map this year at the venerable French maison. First up was the re-opening of its historic flagship on New Bond Street following a complete refit. Next came Magnitude, Cartier’s ground-breaking high jewellery collection that launched in the capital, which pits unexpected materials – think mesmerising matrix opals, and unusual brown-yellow rhomboid and shield-shaped diamonds – with openwork finishes. A secondary space comes to Bond Street later this year and will be the icing on the cake.

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Three chic updates to watch out for Store Re-opening Caroline and Karl-Friedrich Scheufele

Livia and Colin Firth

Arizona Muse, Alexa Chung and Julianne Moore

Chopard New Bond Street In June, Bond Street was transformed into a glittering red carpet – or in fact an eco-friendly blue one made from recycled plastics – when Chopard debuted a newly revamped boutique, now its largest in Europe.

Co-presidents Caroline and KarlFriedrich Scheufele were on hand with A-list supporters – Livia and Colin Firth, Arizona Muse, Julianne Moore and our cover star Alexa Chung – as exclusive gems, including vibrant flower chokers from Chopard’s Red Carpet Collection, added extra sparkle.

CHANEL J12 Marking the 20th anniversary of its iconic J12 with superminimalist refinements including a slimmer bezel, new typeface and thicker, 38mm allceramic case.

Ultra modern and ultra Chanel From £4,675, chanel.com

New Store Opening

Richard Mille

4-5 Old Bond Street, W1

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PATEK PHILIPPE TWENTY~4 AUTOMATIC HIGH JEWELLERY This Haute Joaillerie model is certainly eye-catching, thanks to a 36mm rose-gold case fully paved with 3,238 randomset diamonds – some 17.21cts in total. £295,140 patek.com

12-13 New Bond Street, W1

e Swiss watchmaker is moving from Mount Street to Bond Street in July, where fans can enjoy a three-times larger, two-storey flagship. Expect spot-on design touchpoints – a larger-than-life RM 008 tourbillon chronograph and a tonneau-shaped atrium – as you peruse the latest collections, including peppy Bonbon range.

F

DIOR GRAND BAL OPERA With a bold new shape reminiscent of the square stage at Parisian opera house Palais Garnier, this limited-edition piece (there are only 10) joins Dior’s Grand Bal collection. £POA dior.com

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Here comes the sun.

Indulge your skin at home or away. Scoop up Dr Sebagh’s skin care essentials to brighten, perfect and protect. Bursting with antioxidant power, Pure Vitamin C Powder Cream boosts radiance, repairs and protects whilst helping to prevent pigmention. The new Sun & City Protection SPF 50+ shields against UVA/UVB rays and digital (HEV) light, pigmentation and pollution.

Its non-oily, matte finish is perfect under make-up.

Available in-store and online at drsebagh.com @drsebagh #drsebagh

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BEAUTY

Purple Reign From violet to lilac and amethyst to mauve, purple is this summer’s stand-out shade for eyes. A modern update on classic black, purple eyeliner is universally flattering and makes eyes appear brighter. We recommend Marc Jacobs Beauty’s Fineliner Ultra-Skinny Gel Eye Crayon – Grapevine (£20) blended with Eye-Conic Multi-Finish Eyeshadow Palette – Provocouture (£40) to create the ultimate feline flick.

Marc Jacobs at harveynichols.com

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Beauty Notes

Summer’s super-matte lip, a trio of skin saviours and Harrods’ futuristic beauty hall Compiled by CHARLOTTE ADSETT

What’s Supp?

Using micro-nutritionist Valérie Espinasse’s expertise, Aime’s new Summer Glow supplements, ((£30) (£30),, are a fast track to radiant skin. Hot on the heels of its Pure Glow, which gained huge waiting lists in 2018, these plant-based capsules prepare your skin for sun exposure, with lutein, lycopene and beta carotene to encourage a natural tint, while vitamins help protect cells against oxidative damage.

aime.co

On-the-go glow

Joining their cult Jet Lag Mask, (£42), as the answer to glowing skin, Summer Fridays’ new R+R Replenishing Mask, (£46), is the antidote to long flights and sun-drenched days. A clever two-in-one, fine wild-rose powder gently buffs, while a potent mix of natural oils, including argan and avocado, guarantees super-so skin.

summerfridays.com

Matte Look

CORAL CRUSH The theme for the fashion house’s S/S19 show was ‘Chanel by the Sea’, and Lucia Pica – Chanel’s Global Creative Makeup Designer – created a zingy colour-pop matte lip using new neon-pink-coral Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet in Infra Rose, (£31), over layers of blotting powder. The slightly blurred, more natural look is the must-wear lip this summer. chanel.com

Ace of Base

Following in the hallowed footsteps of the Vitamin C Powder Cream, Dr Sebagh’s new Vitamin C Brightening Primer SPF15, (£55), is a powerful ‘agemaintenance’ treatment in its own right. The highly advanced formula creates a lightweight base that helps foundation last longer, while also promising to reduce pigmentation, blur fine lines and protect skin from sunlight. A true multi-tasker.

drsebagh.com

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SUNNY DELIGHTS Chemical-free, reef-friendly and non-toxic, mineral sunscreen is the safest way to stay protected against harmful UV rays.

Here’s our pick of the best

Hall of fame FENTY

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, could Harrods’ new beauty hall be the fairest of them all? The glossy marble-and-gold space marks the first stage of a three-phase, year-long refurbishment that once completed will become a 90,000 sq ft mecca for make-up and skincare. UK exclusives – such as Parisian vegan brand La Bouche Rouge and Fueguia 1833, the Patagonian artisan perfumery – sit alongside industry titans, while AI ‘magic mirrors’ create a live rendering of your face, so you can digitally try out new looks. A beauty concierge service will help you navigate all that is on offer, including 96,864 lipsticks, without the usual brand bias. Founder talks and masterclasses will be hosted in the auditorium, while livestreaming will ensure nobody misses out.

87-135 Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, SW3 Fueguia 1833 Ambar de Los Andes Pure Perfume, 8ml, £210 harrods.com

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: DRUNK ELEPHANT Umbra Sheer SPF 30, £29; drunkelephant.co.uk OMOROVICZA Mineral UV Shield SPF 30, £75; amara.com SOLEIL TOUJOURS Sunscreen Glow SPF 30, £36; spacenk.com AVEDA Daily Light Guard SPF 30, £34; aveda.com REN Clean Screen Mineral SPF 30, £30; renskincare.com BRUSH ON BLOCK Mineral Sunscreen, SPF 30, £28; brushonblocksunscreen.co.uk

Tribute Collection

Lip Service Say hello to Hot Lips 2, the new lipstick range from Charlotte Tilbury. Each of the 11 new shades is named a er 11 of Charlotte’s own inspirational icons, including author JK Rowling (peachy nude-rose) and singer Kylie Minogue (pale pink), and comes in a collectable, refillable case. Every purchase, (£28), will contribute to Tilbury’s £1 million pledge to Women for Women International, a charity that supports female survivors of war. charlottetilbury.com

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everyone triyoga...

6 beautiful locations 750+classes a week 25+ styles of yoga expert teachers pilates gyrotonic + barre treatments teacher training organic cafĂŠs lifestyle shops at triyoga london www.triyoga.co.uk

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BEAUTY & WELLNESS

Golden

WONDERS BRONZERS, TINTS & POTIONS TO GIVE YOU THAT HEALTHY, SUN-KISSED GLOW Compiled by CHARLOTTE ADSETT

CLOCKWISE FROM MAIN IMAGE: DIOR SS19 Wild Earth Collection, dior.com; CHANEL Soleil Tan De Chanel, £40, chanel.com SUNDAY RILEY C.E.O Glow Vitamin C and Turmeric Face Oil, £34, selfridges.com; KJAER WEIS Bronzer in Lustrous, £41, net-a-porter.com; SHISEIDO Synchro Skin Glow Foundation, £36, cultbeauty.co.uk; OUAI Hair and Body Shine Mist £25, net-a-porter.com; DR SEBAGH Self-Tanning Drops £35, drsebagh.com; MILK MAKEUP Blur Stick, £30.50, cultbeauty.co.uk; TOM FORD BEAUTY Soleil Glow Bronzer, £54, tomford.co.uk; HERBIVORE Prism Exfoliating Glow Potion, £52, spacenk.com; DIOR Self Tanning Jelly Gradual Glow, £39, dior.com; NARS Hot Nights Face Palette £56, narscosmetics.com; PAT MCGRATH LABS Skin Fetish: Highlighter + Balm Duo, £45, selfridges.com; CHANEL Les Beiges Eau De Teint, £48, chanel.com; RMS BEAUTY Buriti Bronzer, £26, net-a-porter.com; HOURGLASS Illume Sheer Colour Trio In Sunset £56, libertylondon.com

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L’ARTISAN PARFUMEUR BANA BANANA

Eau de parfum, 100ml, £115 A reimagining of an unreleased Jean Laporte fragrance from the 1970s, this distinctive scent combines extracts of nutmeg, jasmine, tonka bean and banana flower.

selfridges.com

Summer

BOTTLED THIS SEASON’S FRESHEST NEW FRAGRANCES Compiled by CHARLOTTE ADSETT

YVES SAINT LAURENT GRAIN DE POUDRE,

GOUTAL PARIS

BOIS D’HADRIEN

Eau de parfum, 100ml, £132 A modern interpretation of Goutal’s classic Eau d’Hadrien fragrance recalls a Tuscan sunset, with notes of Siberian pine, cypress, lime and musk.

Eau de parfum, 125ml, £210 An ode to the grain de poudre fabric used in the designer’s tuxedo jackets, this spicy leather scent blends black pepper, coriander, violet and sage harveynichols..com.

D.S. & DURGA NOTORIOUS OUD

Eau de parfum, 100ml, £220 Inspired by Notorious B.I.G. (yes, really), this is a “Brooklyn take on the most coveted ingredient in fragrance”, enhanced with saffron, Bulgarian rose and lavender.

libertylondon.com

LOUIS VUITTON AFTERNOON SWIM

libertylondon.com

Eau de parfum, 100ml, £185 An invigorating blend of orange, bergamot and mandarin that perfectly encapsulates plunging into an azure ocean on a hot summer’s day.

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BEAUTY & WELLNESS

MAISON FRANCIS KURKDJIAN

GENTLE FLUIDITY

Eau de parfum, 70ml, £150 One of a pair of fragrances that examine gender identity by using the same ingredients in different ways: here, the focus is on musky, oriental notes.

johnlewis.com

ACQUA DI PARMA

CIPRESSO DI TOSCANA Eau de toilette, 150ml, £108

e latest Blu Mediterraneo fragrance is a fresh mix of pine needles, star anise, orange and lavender, designed to emulate a Tuscan cypress tree.

selfridges.com

SHISEIDO RISING SUN

Eau de toilette, 100ml, £52 An energising blend of lemon, ylang ylang and coconut, this fresh scent is free from photosensitive ingredients so is safe to wear in the sun.

shiseido.co.uk

TOM FORD

COSTA AZZURRA ACQUA Eau de Toilette, 50ml, £82

A lighter update of 2014’s Costa Azzura parfum evokes holidays on Sardinian beaches with citrusy lemon and aquatic salty hints mixed with warm oak woody notes for an earthy base.

harrods.com

HERMES

UN JARDIN SUR LA LAGUNE Eau de toilette, 100ml, £89

Inspired by a Venetian walled garden, this vibrant fragrance blends floral notes of magnolia and lily with the salty, woody notes of the sea.

hermes.com

ROJA PARFUMS ELIXIR PARFUM

Eau de parfum, 50ml, £375 is bewitching scent from master perfumer Roja Dove has a Lily of the valley heart, warmed up with notes of bergamot, cinnamon and vanilla.

rojaparfums.com

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BEAUTY & WELLNESS

Left: Gabrielle Chanel, wearing trousers, at her house "La Pausa" in the French Riviera, 1938.

Above: Gabrielle Chanel on Roussy Sert's yacht in front of the Lido of Venice, 1936.

Above right: Gabrielle Chanel at "La Pausa", 1930.

Below: Gabrielle Chanel at "La Pausa" with her dog Gigot, 1930.

Scents of ADVENTURE The timeless glamour of the French Riviera is the inspiration for the latest fragrance from Chanel

A

ble to transport you through time and space, the best fragrances are those that capture those cherished memories.

For Gabrielle Chanel, these took place on the French Riviera, the glamorous Mediterranean coastline winding its way between the Alps and the glittering sea.

Whether it was on the Duke of Westminster’s yacht in Monte Carlo, at the renowned Hôtel de Paris in Monaco or in the olive groves of her beautiful villa La Pausa in RoquebruneCap-Martin, the French Riviera proved to be a place that Gabrielle Chanel would return to time and time again.

Now, it’s somewhere that has inspired the Chanel brand once more with the launch of the limited-edition Paris-Riviera, “a floral and luminous fragrance that reflects the joyful, sunny spirit of the Côte d’Azur in the 1920s – a sun-filled Eden that was a magnet for artists”, according to house perfumer Olivier Polge. The scent is the

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latest addition to Les Eaux de Chanel – a collection of fragrances inspired by the destinations she held most dear. “The idea was to combine Paris – the epicentre of Chanel fragrance creation – with other destinations that Gabrielle Chanel loved, and create fragrances that take you on a journey,” explains Polge. With notes of jasmine and neroli from orange blossom found in the South of France, this Mediterranean floral fragrance is bathed in fresh citrus notes. An instant promise of sunshine, azure skies and French sophistication.

Available until June 2020, £99; chanel.com

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Interview

SOUL SISTERS

Their self-care books have become global bestsellers with an A-list following. Here, yoga teacher Nadia Narain and her chef sister Katia Narain Philips share how we can all be a little kinder to ourselves Words TABITHA LASLEY

eople think it is about buying the right yoga leggings, or getting manicures. But we need to be careful we’re not just concentrating on the outside. The main thing is to be kinder to yourself,” explains Nadia Narain, when asked about the basics of self-care. She’s an expert in the field and she and sister Katia have been teaching people to look after themselves for more than 20 years – Nadia is a yoga instructor at London’s Triyoga centre, while Katia is a masseuse and health-food chef who founded the capital’s first raw-food café and have gained a celebrity following in the process. Reese Witherspoon, Rachel Weisz and Sienna Miller are all fans, and Kate Moss bought 22 copies of their first book, Self-Care For The Real World, as Christmas presents for friends. The sisters have since published a second tome, Rituals for Every Day, with easyto-follow advice on how to press the pause button on modern life.

Heir apparent to the clean-eating movement, the concept of self-care has gained traction over the past year – enter #selfcare in Instagram and you’ll bring up 16 million posts.

But as Nadia points out, this surge of interest can be something of a mixed blessing: “It’s become a buzzword, but I sometimes think we do self-care wrong,” she says. “People spend so much time hashtagging self-care that they’re not actually in the moment.”

At its most basic, self-care is about being kind to yourself. It sounds simple, but it takes practice. Here, the sisters show us how…

WATCH YOUR TONE

Nadia: I always check my internal dialogue. I’ve noticed that I’ll be so much more generous to other people than I am to myself. English women are very prone to this. There’s a great quote by the Dalai Lama where he says: ‘You’re not qualified to look after other anyone unless you look after yourself first.’ It’s like when you’re on an aeroplane, and they instruct you to put the oxygen mask on yourself before you put it on your child. Because if you lose oxygen, you can’t help anybody else.

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BEAUTY & WELLNESS

Katia: You should speak to yourself like you would a good friend. And do small things daily rather than big things that don’t last long.

SCHEDULE YOUR SELF-CARE

N: How you start your morning sets the tone for the day. I get up early and meditate. I also practise gratitude. It takes two minutes in the morning, and two minutes at night. In the morning, I write out my intentions for the day, and at night, I write three great things that happened that day. I’m much happier when I have an early dinner.

I live by a park, so if it’s still light outside, it’s nice to eat, then go for a little walk. And I always have a bath in the evening, because I teach so many people and I have lots of energy around me. I add salts and aromatherapy oils, and that’s my grounding, relaxing time.

Then I try to get to bed pretty early, by around 10 or 10.30pm.

K: In the morning, I like to have some time on my own before I go into work, so I can gather myself and check in. In the evening, I make sure that upstairs is calm and the lights are dimmed, so when we go up we can transition into bedtime mode.

RATION YOUR SCREEN TIME

N: At night, I make sure my phone isn’t in my bedroom The first hour of the morning is your most creative time, so if you reach for your phone, and start checking texts, emails and social media before you’re even out of bed, it’s a real waste of energy. If something comes in from work, that can put you in stress mode before you’ve even started your day. There’s nothing that can’t wait an hour. I try to turn my phone off by 9pm, and never look at social media before bed. I sometimes feel like social media is a download of other people’s lives on my existence. It might be fine for others, but I’m quite sensitive, so I have to be a bit more disciplined.

Everyone is different. You have to pay attention to what you need.

FORGET ABOUT FAD DIETS

N: We’ve done every fad diet in the book: juices, fasts, all that stuff. But extremes aren’t sustainable. You need to find balance and figure out what works for you. I’ve drunk spirulina for years. It’s

got high levels of protein in it, and B vitamins, so it’s good for stress. If I’m on the go I’ll add it to some coconut water, or make a smoothie with chia seeds and tropical fruit.

K: We were born and brought up in Hong Kong, where we ate a lot of Asian food: bone-broth soups, fish, vegetables and rice. Most nights we had steamed fish with ginger, watercress soup and rice. Mum was really strict. We weren’t allowed white bread or sweets in the house. What I choose to put in my body really affects my mood. I feel better when I’m eating fresh ingredients. If you sit quietly without distraction from TV or phones, and spend time chewing your food, and notice how your body feels after eating certain things, you’ll know what to avoid and what to add.

My favourite superfoods are spirulina to get that green kick, chia seeds for extra protein, and oils and cacao nibs for magnesium and iron.

TAKE IT OUTSIDE

N: I’ve been teaching yoga for 24 years. You get so many benefits from it: physical, mental, emotional. I come back to myself when I do it. Yoga creates a calmness in my mind and in my body, but I’ve never put it in the same category as exercise. I train once a week, outside in the park. I’m quite proud of myself that I’ve been able to do it through a whole winter, with snow on the ground. I also swim in the Ladies Pond’ in Hampstead. I went until about November and I picked it up again in spring. I like that feeling of being outside.

MAKE TIME FOR TREATMENTS

N: I go for massages regularly. And I have more facials now, because I’m older, and don’t get any injections. Abigail James (abigailjames.com) is great. She does a lot of facial massage. I also see an osteopath and a homeopath/energy worker, who lies you on a massage table and does healing work.

K: In Asia, we were brought up around acupuncture and massages. In the east it’s not so much a luxury as a way of life.

People have reflexology on their lunch breaks. You’d go to these little places with 20 chairs and sit down for an hour while they pounded your feet. Being a massage therapist myself, I know

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how important bodywork is. I go to a guy called Pawel Wiacek at Triyoga (triyoga.co.uk). I just had a great facial from The Organic Pharmacy in Hampstead (theorganicpharmacy. com), the Diamond Treatment. I see a specialist in craniosacral therapy and trauma release called Steve Haines (stevehaines.net). I also have a life coach, Kate Crow (katecrow.com). If it wasn’t for her, I don’t know how I’d have got through the whole process with the books. I’m an introvert and really shy, and I suddenly had to go on radio and do interviews. I thought I was going to die. Kate helped me to come out of my shell, and really shift old habits and old beliefs about myself.

Nadia and Katia’s book Rituals for Every Day is out now (Hutchinson, £14.99).

O U R

L O N D O N

GLOSSARY NADIA AND KATIA

HEALTH FOOD HAVEN

K: I love that Earth Natural Foods in Kentish Town has loads of bulk options; it’s organic and has plenty of great natural cleaning products. It’s reasonably priced, too.

200-202 Kentish Town Road, Camden, NW5; earthnaturalfoods.co.uk

BEST BITES

N: The Palomar’s delicious Israeli food. I really like the beetroot and goat’s cheese salad.

K: Morito in Exmouth Market does small tapas using fresh ingredients; it’s a mix of Moroccan, Spanish and Turkish.

34 Rupert Street, Soho, W1; thepalomar.co.uk 32 Exmouth Market, Clerkenwell, EC1; morito.co.uk

FAVOURITE SPA

We both like the Russian bathhouse Banya No.1, and we try to visit every few months.

You go into the sauna, they massage you with twigs and then throw cold water over you.

17 Micawber Street, Hoxton, N1; gobanya.co.uk

RETAIL THERAPY

N: Aimé London on Ledbury Road is great for clothes. And I love old-fashioned book shops like Daunt Books and Primrose Hill Books.

K: My favourite London market is Queen’s Park Farmers Market; it sells a huge range of seasonal produce from all over the UKx. 32 Ledbury Road, Notting Hill, W11; aimelondon.com 83 Marylebone High Street, Marylebone, W1; dauntbooks.co.uk 134 Regent’s Park Rd, Primrose Hill, NW1 ; primrosehillbooks.com

HIDDEN GEM

K: There are so many, but there’s a stunning plant shop in Dulwich called Forest. It’s so beautiful, I could spend hours and a lot of money there. I have an urban jungle at home.

43 Lordship Lane, Dulwich, SE22; forest.london

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CREATEVICTORIA.COM #novafood @createvictoria

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Cheyne Reaction Fifty Cheyne encompasses the romance of a modern British brasserie with river views overlooking the twinkling lights of Albert Bridge. Needless to say, the nine-month revamp of what used to be the Cheyne Walk Brasserie involved more than a lick of paint.

The deep crimson cocktail bar is a new addition and it’s all change in the kitchen too, with chef Iain Smith (formerly at the Social Eating House) overseeing a menu of modern classics – helping this neighbourhood institution become a serious destination.

50 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, SW3; fiftycheyne.com

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Tasting Notes The latest openings and places to know across the capital

TOUR DE FORCE

It doesn’t get much more Gallic than the escargots, Bayonne ham or Tarte du Jour at Les Platanes.

Based just off Berkeley Square, the high-end French bistro makes a top lunch spot, as well as a delightful setting for romantic evenings over wild sea bass in salt crust (£55, for two to share) along with a glass or two of Champagne Collet.

26-28 Bruton Place, Mayfair, W1; lesplatanes.co.uk

Compiled by RACHEL WALKER

BEE’S KNEES

FOOD FOR THOUGHT Clos19 - LVMH’s online platform for their Champagnes, wines and spirits - has teamed up with Refettorio Felix to put on a series of supper clubs with guest chefs to raise money for the homeless and vulnerable. Next are Spring restaurant’s Skye Gyngell and Rose Ashby on 2 July, who will be serving up a three-course menu at the St Cuthbert’s Centre, Earl’s Court.

clos19.com

OPEN ALL HOURS

Top Spot

BRIT PACK Jason Atherton has relaunched Little Social as No 5 Social, switching the French fare to strictly seasonal dishes from closer to home. The menu showcases native ingredients such as Herdwick lamb and Hebridean halibut, as well as vegetarian and vegan options and rhubarb wine cocktails - helping rethink modern British in the heart of Mayfair.

5 Pollen Street, Mayfair, W11 no5social.com

The outcry surrounding Wild Honey’s closure soon turned to joy at the news it would reopen at a Pall Mall address. The muchlauded institution has quickly settled into its new home with its full-height windows and parquet floors creating a sense of grandeur – the perfect backdrop to chef Anthony Demetre’s dramatic dishes. His signature Marseillaise Bouillabaisse is an extravagant shellfish medley (for two, £32 per person) and the ParisBrest is as decadent a patisserie you’ll find this side of the Channel.

16-22 Great 8 Pall Mall, St. James’s, SW1 wildhoneystjames.co.uk

ON FIRE

Banish any preconceptions of paella before heading to Arros QD, Michelin-starred Spanish chef Quique Dacosta’s first UK venture. His reinterpretation of traditional rice dishes are cooked a la llama (to the flame) with cuttlefish, tiger prawn, monkfish and ńoras aioli-filled paella pans presented to the table still sizzling.

64 Eastcastle Street, Fitzrovia, W1 arrosqd.com

Launching this summer as part of The Colony Club, 24 Mayfair brings a fabulous mix of retro Hollywood décor and Japanese gastronomy to central London. The members’ club, which will be open 24/7, is a haven of vibrant plush velvet and tarnished golds, coppers and bronzes, with exotic cocktails, Maria Grachvogel-designed staff uniforms and a glass-encased teppanyaki bar to match.

24 Hertford Street, Mayfair, W1 thecolonyclub.co.uk

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FOOD & DRINK

HOME FROM HOME Craving home-style cooking? Look no further than the new evening offering at Neal’s Yard-based café 26 Grains. Come 6pm, Wednesday to Saturday, the lights dim and diners lucky enough to bag a seat are treated to a pared-back, weekly changing set menu (always including a fresh pasta main).

It makes for a liberating lack of choice and fuels an intimate, family-dining feel.

1 Neal’s Yard, Covent Garden, WC2 26grains.com

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FOOD & DRINK

Summer Entertaining

Come dine with me Food writer Skye McAlpine is known for her simple, approachable Italian recipes channelling la dolce vita. Here, she shares her secrets to throwing the perfect alfresco dinner party from her charming Venetian home

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he story of how the little pink house on a Venetian backwater came to be my home is a serendipitous one. Unlike almost everyone else in my neighbourhood, I wasn’t born in Venice, nor is my family from there: we moved to the city when I was tiny, before I can really remember living anywhere else. I have no recollection of my first night in the attic bedroom, nor of seeing the city for the first time from the water. I do remember my mother telling me that we were to move there for a year – and my asking if this meant that I wouldn’t have to go to school. I was six. I did go to school, of course. And we stayed longer than a year; we’ve never really left.

As is the way for those who love to eat, my happiest childhood memories are centred on food. We had a small garden and would always eat outside during the summer.

I have so many memories of lunches under the shade of the leafy fig tree, and of long dinners scented by citronella candles, when the heat had finally broken and it was lovely and cool. We ate simple dishes like melon and prosciutto, tomatoes and mozzarella or cold pasta salads – things that didn’t involve spending too long in the kitchen. Dessert would always be easy and fresh – ice cream, sorbet, panna cotta or chunks of ice-cold watermelon.

If you know Italy well, you will know that each region boasts its own distinctive cuisine, just as it speaks its own dialect and exhibits an indefatigable sense of regional pride. It is perhaps not so surprising when you think that Italy only became Italy, as such, in 1861. Before that, it was simply a collection of independent principalities

“Somehow food always tastes better alfresco, and if you grow up in Italy, you have a very strong sense that there is a right and a wrong way to eat things”

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Yet what I enjoy most is really simple food, such as a roast chicken served with salad or potatoes. Making things easier for yourself as a host can make it more enjoyable for your guests too. I like to prepare as much ahead of time as possible, so that I can sit and drink rather than be in the kitchen or feel rushed.

If I’m cooking a casual lunch for friends, I often take advantage of things that I can buy pre-prepared, such as a bag of salad that I will top with pecorino, or juicy tomatoes and mozzarella that I will serve simply with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and fresh mint.

In Italy, a tavola is the call to lunch.

The interruption of daily business to make time for a good meal is as punctual as the bells chiming one o’clock, and it spreads across the city like a thick, muffling blanket. I must admit, I don’t always find time to pause for lunch these days – at least not properly, for the threecourse meal of primo, secondo and dolce as other Venetians do. But even if I don’t observe the lunch hour as strictly as I might, I value its spirit in the way I cook. We

a meal that can be eaten cold or requires little fuss so that I’m not running back and forth from the garden to the kitchen.

From the farro salad in my book, which combines baby artichoke, broad beans, garden peas and salty ricotta, to melon with thin slivers of prosciutto, I favour simple, flavourful and colourful food that I can prepare in advance and bring to the table when everyone is ready to eat.

My love of entertaining is definitely a passion that I’ve inherited from my family; my mother always believed that it makes no difference whether you’re cooking for four or for eight. For me, entertaining is therefore about bringing people together, celebrating old friends and making new ones. I always have an open-door policy for friends of my guests, or if I’ve met someone that I would like to get to know better I will invite them to join us all for a Sunday lunch.

As much as I love to eat, my favourite part of the meal is always that bit after lunch or dinner, when you linger on at the table, help yourselves to a second portion of dessert, sip on your coffee and chat. You know it’s been a good meal when no one wants to leave! I love the aftermath of a good supper party too – it’s a chance to relive the fun of the night before.

As for ingredients, like most Venetians, I shop seasonally and locally at the market every day. You won’t find kiwis or mangos at the Rialto market, though in winter there are piles of winecoloured radicchio and, come spring, baby artichokes – so tender you can eat their petals raw – heaped high on the stalls. There is something comforting about the seasonality of the market: it is never-changing and, at the same time, ever-evolving. Blink and the garden pea season will have passed you by, but no matter because you have it to look forward to next year, when it will be back just the same. My recipes promise this, too: food that will bring friends back year on year, time and time again.

“A tavola is the call to lunch. The interruption of daily business to make time for a good meal is as punctual as the bells chiming one o’clock”

and city states, which shared little more than geography. All of this is by way of explanation of the fact that when you talk to a Sicilian about Italian food they will regale you with tales of pizza and cannoli.

When you talk to a Roman, you will hear of deep-fried artichokes and cacio e pepe.

An Italian’s view of ‘real Italian’ food is still determined by where they are from, just as their views on how tomato sauce should be prepared is determined by how their own mother cooks it. The one constant across the country is the simplicity and passion with which Italians cook and eat.

For me, that’s what it is all about, especially in the summer. I like to cook in a relaxed, convivial way, focusing on enjoying time together with friends and family. We tend to give ourselves a hard time when hosting, feeling the need to put on a show with an extravagant affair.

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always do our best to eat as a family – that at least is set in stone. And because ritual is everything when it comes to food, I take as much care laying the table whether we’re sitting down to a plate of scrambled eggs on toast or a celebratory feast. I do this because I enjoy it: food tastes better when you eat it off a nice china plate, with a proper knife and fork, and with a cheery bunch of flowers to decorate the table.

Wherever possible, I try to entertain outdoors. Somehow food always tastes better alfresco, and if you grow up in Italy, you have a very strong sense that there is a right and a wrong way to eat things. I always keep it really simple with

This is an edited extract from A Table in Venice (£26, Bloomsbury)

by Skye McAlpine, out now

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FOOD & DRINK

Skye McAlpine shares her top summer entertaining tips SET THE TABLE

Setting the table with pretty plates, cutlery and glasses makes even the simplest of meals feel special. Fill a jug of water with sprigs of mint, lay out bowls of fruit and light candles. For a special occasion, a white tablecloth can transform the energy of the space.

COLLECT YOUR CROCKERY

I only use vintage, mismatched crockery; whenever I see something I like, I snap it up. I’m always drawn to pink, turquoise, soft green and white but it’s more about the feeling that I get when I look at it. In London, I love shopping at Petersham Nurseries; it sells such beautiful stuff.

FILL UP WITH FLOWERS

Peonies are my favourite when in season but you can never go wrong with roses. If eating in a garden, cut flowers and foliage from your surroundings are a lovely addition. Mix herbs like sage and rosemary into small posies to give lovely texture and scent.

SKIP STARTERS

I don’t bother with starters; I just serve a main dish with salads and sides. And then pudding, always.

It makes for a much more relaxing rhythm.

While guests are arriving, I put out olives and some manchego or Parmesan for people to nibble on over drinks.

EAT SEASONALLY

You can ensure tastier food by shopping seasonally, as the Venetians do. Just because it is on the shelves, produce won’t be at its best if it isn’t in season. Look at where the food has come from; the less it has travelled, the more deliciously fresh it will be.

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Alfresco Openings

T h e G re a t OUTDOORS SUN-DRENCHED DAYS AND BALMY NIGHTS… WHAT BETTER EXCUSE TO HEAD FOR ONE OF THE CAPITAL’S NEW OR POP-UP ALFRESCO HOT SPOTS? HERE ARE THE BEST PLACES TO SEEK OUT THIS SUMMER Words NICOLA COLYER

The Nyetimber Secret Garden

at Rosewood London, Holborn

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he Edwardian courtyard tucked behind Rosewood’s grand façade has been transformed into a floral idyll for the summer season by notable landscape designer Luciano Giubbilei. Created in partnership with awardwinning English wine producer Nyetimber, this summer’s Secret Garden pop-up (open until 29 September) delivers a taste of the British countryside right in the heart of the city, where guests can enjoy its namesake libation. Highlights of executive head chef Calum Franklin’s menu include Jersey rock oysters, gin-cured salmon and steak tartare, all of which come with recommended wine pairings, including the demisec Nyetimber Cuvee Chérie, the first of its kind produced in England. Originally created to be savoured with British desserts, this delicate, fresh sparkler more than holds its own alongside robust savoury dishes too. Morning larks will appreciate the breakfast menu, featuring all the usual suspects and, if you’re feeling up to it, yet more wine pairings.

252 High Holborn, Holborn, WC1 rosewoodhotels.com

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FOOD & DRINK

Jurema

at The Mandrake, Fitzrovia

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he cabana-style terrace on the first floor at The Mandrake hotel offers a moment of calm amid its bustling Fitzrovia location.

Step into this hidden sanctuary, designed by world-renowned landscape architects Bureau Bas Smets, and savour an urban oasis of hanging passion flower and jasmine plants punctuated by chic rattan furniture. A curated cocktail list of intriguing flavours is served from a wooden shack-style bar, and includes the sweet and sour ‘Butterfly’, a mix of Bolt Mezcal, Laphroaig Triple Wood, lapsang souchong tea syrup, citrus, egg white and butterfly sorrel. The food menu from European/South American fusion restaurant Yopo provides equal temptation, with dishes such as Iberico pork and roast pineapple tacos, courgette flower tostada with pickled jalapeño, and a seabass, avocado and raspberry ceviche.

20-21 Newman Street, Fitzrovia, W1 themandrake.com

“Step into this hidden sanctuary, designed by world-renowned landscape architects Bureau Bas Smets, and savour an urban oasis of hanging passion flower and jasmine plants punctuated by chic rattan furniture” THEGLOSSARYMAGAZINE .COM

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Dalloway Terrace

at The Bloomsbury Hotel, Fitzrovia

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he seasonally changing Dalloway Terrace at the Bloomsbury Hotel takes inspiration from Leonard Woolf’s The Village in the Jungle this summer. A canopy of tropical foliage dotted with magenta silk flowers sets the scene for the Sri Lankan-inspired menu additions. Botanical cocktails, such as the ‘Colonial Garden’ with its blend of Glendalough rose gin, Luxardo Limoncello, lime juice, gomme syrup and Belsazar Riesling foam, complement a jackfruit salad with lime and chilli dressing, and Sri Lankan curry with tofu, chickpeas and lime pickle. Those with a sweet tooth will enjoy an afternoon tea created by head pastry chef Chris Dodd, where mango and coriander tart with pink peppercorn meringue, and pineapple and red chilli terrine with red-vein sorrel, sit alongside a rare Sri Lankan tea. If you’re in a hurry, the vegan-friendly jungle lunch menu promises to serve two courses within 45 minutes.

16-22 Great Russell Street, Fitzrovia, WC1 dallowayterrace.com

Acqua di Parma at Sartoria, Mayfair

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n exploration of the relationship between taste and scent brings a unique take on Italian cuisine to Saville Row’s Sartoria, where chef patron Francesco Mazzei has collaborated with fragrance house Acqua di Parma to offer a special menu of cocktails and cicchetti inspired by the Blu Mediterraneo fragrance collection. Served this June and July in the restaurant’s Libare bar and out on a terrace filled with carefully placed orange trees and scented candles, the unique offerings bring a vibrant taste of the Mediterranean spirit to Mayfair. From the aromatic and zesty mix of Italicus bergamot liqueur, Sipsmith gin, cucumber water, lemon and mint that captures the Bergamotto di Calabria fragrance to the avocado tartare with flaked almonds that pays homage to Mandorlo di Sicilia and Sicily’s abundance of fresh green almonds, this is a treat for all the senses.

20 Savile Row, Mayfair, W1 sartoria-restaurant.co.uk

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The Secret Garden Bar at The Ritz, St James’

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hether seeking respite from the city heat over a leisurely lunch in the shade or enjoying a romantic evening under the stars as soft background music fills the air, head to the newly opened Secret Garden Bar at The Ritz, which promises to raise the stakes in elegant alfresco dining this summer. Open from 11am until 11pm daily until mid-September (weather-permitting), this secluded spot offers a unique sanctuary from its busy Piccadilly locale. Seasonal cocktails, wine, champagne and caviar are served alongside executive chef John Williams MBE‘s menu, which ranges from the Ritz classic club sandwich to British seafood platters featuring dressed crab, oysters, lobster, shrimp and prawns. Located on the edge of Green Park, nestled among perfectly pruned topiary, olive trees and vibrant flower boxes filled with geranium and fragrant lavender, this secret hideaway is the place to know when you’re dreaming of an escape to the countryside, even if only for an afternoon.

150 Piccadilly, St. James’, W1 theritzlondon.com

La Dolce Vita at The Berkeley, Knightsbridge

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sually only accessible to hotel guests, the rooftop garden at The Berkeley opens its doors this summer with Italian-inspired pop-up La Dolce Vita. Offering a taste of the Mediterranean right on our doorstep, this exclusive outdoor space will instantly transport you to sunny shores as you relax on a sun lounger while sipping a cocktail. When hunger strikes, the poolside menu offers fritto misto, tricolore salad, pizzetta and arancini, all to be followed by a scoop of gelato or limoncello sorbet, of course. This is the place to go to escape the crowds, as access to La Dolce Vita is available only to those who purchase a four-hour pass, granting entry to the rooftop garden and pool with a complimentary Aperol Spritz, or with the La Dolce Vita spa package, which includes the same access together with a head-to-toe treatment that will leave you feeling as if you’ve just spent two weeks in Positano. If you can time your visit to linger over aperitivo hour, you’ll witness the pool and garden’s transformation by candlelight.

Wilton Place, Knightsbridge, SW1 the-berkeley.co.uk

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Parrillan

Coal Drops Yard, Kings Cross

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he former sous-chef at Michelin-starred Catalan restaurant Can Fabes in Barcelona and head chef of Ossiano in Dubai, Angel Zapata Martin’s passion for his native Barcelona cuisine eventually led him to his current role as executive chef for London’s favourite tapas joint, Barrafina. Calling on Martin’s experience as a private chef in Ibiza, the latest spin-off from the group – Parrillan, in buzzing Coal Drops Yard – marches to the Balearic beat. On the partially covered rooftop, tables are equipped with a parilla, a small charcoal grill that puts diners in the hot seat by encouraging them to grill their own 50-day-aged beef picanha, diver-caught scallops or barbecue-friendly vegetables. Don’t worry, you won’t have to do all the work: chefs prepare the starters, such as the deliciously simple pan con tomate and their unique take on tapas bar stalwart banderillas, and delicious salsas to accompany mains. Finish off with the Mel I Mato tart, made using an artisanal cheese called mató from Girona – the perfect end to a long, lingering lunch in the sunshine.

Coal Drops Yard, Stable Street, Kings Cross, N1 parrillan.co.uk

Gold

Portobello Road, Notting Hill

H

uge, attention-grabbing gold eyes by Portuguese street artist Vhils adorn the front of this bohemian neighbourhood restaurant – though the star of the show here has to be the garden room. Filled with palm trees and monstera plants, the intimate space is nestled beneath a retractable glass roof, making it an ‘outdoor’ spot to be enjoyed in even the most British of summers. In the kitchen, chef Theo Hill, formerly of River Café, takes a minimalistic approach, cooking his food in wood ovens and over an open flame, allowing the produce to shine. Dishes such as whole sea bream with wild oregano and capers, and wood-roasted purple potatoes with caraway sauerkraut slaw, go hand-in-hand with the cocktails created by award-winning mixologists Matt Whiley (The Talented Mr Fox) and Rich Woods (The Cocktail Guy).

95-97 Portobello Road, Notting Hill, W11 goldnottinghill.com

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FOOD & DRINK

Sushisamba

Covent Garden

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he second London offering from the renowned Sushisamba, this new West End outpost has taken a different direction to the capital’s original on Heron Tower’s 38th floor. Stretching across the east side of the upper level of Covent Garden’s Grade II-listed Market Building, sweeping City views are replaced with charming vistas across the piazza. A mirrored gold ceiling and geometric floor tiles infuse Sushisamba’s signature energy into the historic building, while the living ceiling of South American and Japanese plants provides a warm welcome for imbibers at the bar. Although the Eric Parry-designed glass roof allows unrestricted views from indoors, a menu of small plates (think razor clam tiradito with crispy chorizo, yuzu olive oil, kumquat purée and peanut snow), sushi platters and summer-ready cocktails (Bombay Sapphire, Cocchi Rosa and rhubarb bitters topped with soda and prosecco), provides an irresistible accompaniment to a balmy evening spent on the terrace.

35 The Market Building, Covent Garden, WC2 sushisamba.com

ALL ABOARD

The Grand Duchess

Barge East

F

C

Paddington

loating seafood restaurant London Shell Co has added to its portfolio with The Grand Duchess, a permanently moored, impeccably restored old barge on the Grand Union Canal in Paddington. Like its sibling, fresh seafood is at the heart of this floating eatery, with daily deliveries from independent day-boat fishermen bringing in the best catches from the Cornish coast. Once on board, it’s rustled up into the likes of beer-battered lobster with fried curry leaves, or monkfish and wild-garlic kiev. The tipple of choice is sparkling wine, with more than 50 varieties to choose from – many from smaller, ecoconscious producers. Canal-facing counter seats offer a view directly onto the water, while white-clothed tables are the choice for a more refined affair. Groups can make themselves at home for the evening at the captain’s table, a secluded burnt-orange booth nestled into the bow.

Sheldon Square, Paddington Central, W2 londonshellco.com

Hackney Wick hildhood dreams of piracy eventually led three friends – Blandy, Ryan and Tommo – to restore a historic 114-year-old Dutch Tjalk and sail it across the North Sea from Holland to its new London home in Hackney Wick. But an endearing tale isn’t the only reason you should visit this floating bar and restaurant. Ryan calls upon his experience as a chef on private yachts to deliver a highly lauded menu of seasonal British classics with a twist, from pork belly sausage roll with bacon and chilli jam, to coconut tapioca with grapefruit and toasted coconut. The drinks menu shines the spotlight on the local neighbourhood with beer from the Truman’s Brewery, located just 500 metres from the vessel, and spirits from the East London Liquor Company. Below deck, tables are made from the boat’s former anchor winches, but it’s the seats above board that will be the hottest ticket when the sun shines.

Whitepost Lane, Hackney Wick, E9 bargeeast.com

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Island in the Sun Whether it’s a wildly remote archipelago, palm-fringed tropical paradise or a chilled-out bolthole in the middle of the Mediterranean, some of the most beautiful havens in the world are totally surrounded by water. So if you dream of escaping it all, why not spend the summer island-hopping? See page 82 for the most enchanting Robinson Crusoe adventures, including the bewitching Islas Secas. islassecas.com

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Travel Notes

Unwind in the Dolomites, ride horses in Utah and embrace castaway style in the Maldives Compiled by LIZZIE POOK

ISLAND IDYLL

Sunshine Spa

TUSCAN DREAM The olive tree-strewn hills of Tuscany are the backdrop to the latest addition to the Como family - Castello Del Nero. At the heart of this 740-acre estate, a 12th-century castle turned hotel offers an airy, pared-back aesthetic interspersed with pretty Renaissance frescoes. The Como Shambhala Retreat spa is a highlight; so, too, the Tuscan-inspired Michelin-starred restaurant. comohotels.com WILD WEST

With fly-fishing, sunset trail rides and heli-skiing on fresh powder snow in winter, it’s not just the cinematic mountain wilderness that makes the new Lodge at Blue Sky in Utah irresistible. Set in 3,500 rolling acres of ranch, the newest offering from Auberge is bold luxe meets mountain adventure, with Earth Suites, Creek Houses and Lodge Rooms overlooking the wonderfully craggy scenery.

aubergeresorts.com/bluesky

Big-hitting hotel group Baglioni have a claim to the most exciting opening in the Maldives this year.

Sprawled across the white sands of Maagau Island in the Dhaalu Atoll, the oceanfacing suites and overwater villas of Baglioni Resort Maldives snake towards the mottled blue sea, where you can dive with marine biologists before dining on sushi under the stars. baglionihotels.com

GET HIGH

If there’s a spot more restful than the Italian Dolomites, we’ve yet to find it.

Teetering high in the mountains of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, new sustainable resort Dolomites Lefay offers award-winning wellness mixed with classical Chinese medicine. Succumb to knot-busting massages using locally foraged alpine flowers, before launching into the extensive sauna circuit with dedicated aromatherapies and soulsoothing whirlpools. lefayresorts.com

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GENTLE GIANTS Named after a legendary local silverback, it’s no surprise gorilla tracking is the name of the game at Singita’s new Kwitonda Lodge in Rwanda. Comprising eight soothing suites and one family villa linked by foliage-fringed rock walkways, the buzzed-about property – opening in August – overlooks the magnificent Sabyinyo, Gahinga and Muhabura volcanoes.

rwanda.singita.com

HOUSE STYLE Four Seasons Private Retreats – the offshoot of the uber-luxe hotel group – has more than 750 residences and villas to rent in the most sought-after destinations around the world. You’ll still be able to enjoy the full complement of Four Seasons services and amenities, yes, but with the space, privacy and exclusivity of somewhere you can call home.

fourseasons.com/privateresidences

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Wanderlust

TREASURE

Islands From an other-worldly archipelago off Panama to the Mediterranean’s best-kept secret, these enchanting hideaways offer a refined castaway experience Words HARRIET COOPER

Islas S ecas Pa n a m a

islassecas.com

I

t’s no coincidence that the Gulf Of Chiriquí – a stretch of Panama’s Pacific shoreline – is also referred to as “the lost coast”.

For this is an area that’s as wild, unspoiled and unsullied by tourism as it is pristine and paradisiacal.

Even less of a coincidence that it is home to Islas Secas, a luxury resort set on a private 14-island archipelago, which has a sense of discovery and adventure at its core. Located 20 miles off the coast of Panama, this hideaway is accessible either by one-hour boat journey or via the resort’s very own seaplane, befitting the most intrepid of explorers.

Set amid lush rainforest and coconut groves, four casita sites sleep up to 18 guests (nine villas in total, all floor-toceiling cherry-wood shutters, louvred doors and tastefully neutral furnishings).

Each site offers a plunge pool, thatched roof cabana and sprawling outdoor deck from which to soak up the seemingly

endless ocean views, with nothing but the sound of the sea to rouse you from your reverie, save, perhaps, the occasional emerald hummingbird busily gathering nectar.

You’ll be captivated, yes, but you won’t want to stay sedentary for long. With such an extraordinary ocean wilderness on its doorstep, Islas Secas (or ‘dry islands’, referring to the area’s low tides) is the jumping-off point from which to undertake any number of once-in-alifetime aquatic adventures.

There’s swimming and paddleboarding in the calm, warm waters that lap the palm-fringed isles; snorkelling in Coiba National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which teems with giant manta and eagle rays, dolphins, leatherback turtles, over 750 species of tropical fish, and coral reefs; superlative catch-and-release tuna and marlin fishing; and seasonal humpback whale watching. In addition, a field station is currently being built, at which guests will be able to quiz visiting researchers and scientists. Fittingly, with so much on offer, there’s even a dedicated ‘adventure concierge’ to help you make the most of your surroundings.

Sun-kissed guests can kick back at the end of the day in Terraza, an open-air communal setting offering ocean-to-fork dining with local flair. Think grilled, straight-from-the-sea lobster, barbecued red snapper and fresh scallops, all served alongside produce from the resort’s gardens, including bananas, mangos, pineapples and cashews. Champagnefuelled picnics and sunset beach BBQs can also be arranged. Finish off with a nightcap in the seductive Hemingwayinspired bar, with its wooden panelling and colonial-style displays of historic maps and local artwork.

As you’d expect, the resort has an ecoconscience: it is fully solar-powered, recycles all its food waste and water for irrigation, and 75% of the archipelago has been left untouched, ensuring the unique ocean retreat is safeguarded for generations to come. For a sustainable, barefoot-luxur y-mee t s-adventure holiday, this place can do no wrong.

Due to open in December 2019, but taking bookings now. From $,2000 per person, per night, including all meals and drinks, activities, spa treatments, transfers and one private island getaway day.

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The Datai L angkawi Ma l a ys i a thedatai.com

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he Datai Langkawi perches majestically on the tip of Langkawi, the largest island in a 99-island archipelago on Malaysia’s west coast. Nestled in a 10-million-year-old rainforest, overlooking the dreamy Datai Bay and with a backdrop of the majestic Gunung Mat Cincang, this laid-back luxe hotel certainly has location on its side.

Now, thanks to a $60million (£48m) refresh, guests can fully immerse themselves in this natural wonderland, where flying lemurs (aka colugos) glide from tree to tree, families of dusky leaf monkeys play among the branches and water monitor lizards slowly go about their day.

The resort’s well-thought-through design maintains a deep connection with its environment. The 121 rooms, suites and villas all look out over tropical rainforest, some with views of the Andaman Sea and Tarutao Island beyond. For a true ‘at one with nature’

experience, book a Rainforest Collection villa, which stands on wooden stilts, surrounded by the dense vegetation.

Also elevated is The Pavilion, a signature Thai restaurant best appreciated as dusk falls and the air is alive with jungle chatter (it is perfect colugo-spotting territory); for Malaysian flavours, The Gulai House is set in a traditional kampung-style house where guests are welcome to sit on the floor for their feast; while the Beach Club and Bar is all about fresh seafood and cocktails,

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savoured to the soundtrack of gently lapping waves.

Even the spa, which focuses on the healing properties of plants and age-old Malay traditions, is situated along a small stream, surrounded by the sounds and subtle aromas of the rainforest.

For the active, the recently added Rimba Trail runs through the coastal forest to an 18m-high canopy walk (the first of its kind in a five-star hotel), affording rainforest vistas as far as the eye can see. Keen ornithologists will want

to bring binoculars to spot the brightly hued orange-breasted trogon, collared kingfisher and peregrine falcon.

Though, of course, if you prefer to appreciate nature from the squishy comfort of a sunlounger on the white sand beach or by the pool, the Datai Langkawi can comply.

Canopy Deluxe rooms cost from RM2,500 (ÂŁ475) per night; Rainforest Villas cost from RM3,200 (ÂŁ609), including breakfast (excluding service charge and tax).

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Mombo Camp & L ittle Mombo Bot s w a n a

wilderness-safaris.com

S

itting on the game-rich Chief ’s Island, slap-bang in the middle of the Okavango Delta, you’ll find Mombo Camp and Little Mombo.

Fresh from an overhaul, Wilderness Safaris’ flagship safari camp and its little sister have been completely reimagined.

Retaining all of their authentic bush-camp experience, they have also become the very definition of sustainable luxury.

At Mombo Camp, nine spacious tents afford sweeping views of the floodplains, each with a now-slightly-larger private deck and plunge pool from which to spot the herds of herbivores (and their predators) that roam freely below. Each tent comes with a sitting room, separate bedroom and bathroom, indoor and outdoor showers, and bathtub.

On the other side of the island and accessible via a raised boardwalk, Little Mombo is a smaller, more intimate version, with just three tents tucked away under a canopy of jackalberry and sausage trees. Both have a dining area (the menu includes traditional Botswana fare), boma, kitchen, lounge and infinity lap pool, ideal for combining breaststroke with unbeatable bush views.

But it’s the wildlife you’re here to see: long known as the ‘Place of Plenty’, Mombo is set within the Moremi Game Reserve, widely considered one of the best places for gameviewing in Africa. From lions, cheetahs and leopards to huge herds of buffalo, elephant, giraffe, blue wildebeest and zebra… all abound.

If you’re lucky, you might even glimpse that most magnificent of beasts, the rhino.

A light eco footprint manifests itself in the huge conservation effort underway here - and Mombo has played a key role in rhino relocation, reintroducing black and white rhino into the Delta. There’s ample opportunity for guests to learn about the rhino’s return to the wild, as well as the other ongoing biodiversity protection projects, both in the camp and on game drives.

Sharing the day’s stories as dusk falls, over ice-cold gin and tonics, with only the sounds of the African bush around you... it’s a moment you’ll never forget.

From $2,335 (£1,855) per person, per night based on two people sharing, including accommodation, meals, twice daily scheduled camp activities, park fees and all local drinks.

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Etosoto

Fo r m e n te ra etosoto.com

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ormentera is often referred to as the Mediterranean’s “bestkept secret”. Unlike its larger, glitzier Balearic neighbours, you won’t find any superclubs or megahotels here. The vibe on this - 22km-long and, at its thin central section, 2km-wide - island is laid-back, hippy-chic, with a serious undercurrent of luxe.

Time stands still here: days are spent exploring pretty, pink-sand coves and swimming in the warm, crystalline waters, punctuated only by lingering, rosé-fuelled lunches served by barefoot waiters.

Etosoto Formentera - the first ecofriendly hotel from Parisian brothers Julien and Grégory Labrousse (their other hotel is in Portugal) - is very much in keeping with the island feel; less of a hotel and more of a wellbeing retreat, it is aimed towards a freespirited, creative crowd.

Indeed, its name sums it up: Eto is an acronym of ‘Earth to Orbit’, which stands for the idea of a place away from all constraints, and Soto a current school of Japanese Zen Buddhist thought.

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You’ll find it to the east of the island, where a rocky, pine-tree-flanked road brings you to a collection of beautifully restored fincas, surrounded by olive and fig trees, vineyards and rolling fields of wheat, with sweeping sea views. A large patio and shaded terrace areas are ideal cocktail-sipping territory, while inside its all whitewashed walls, rattan furniture and covetable rugs.

Each of the ten rooms and suites is unique; for extra privacy opt for one of the two smaller fincas, where you can fall asleep to the rhythmic melody of the gently lapping waves. The beach is just steps away though there’s a host of activities on offer – after all, new and enriching learning is the raison d’être of Etosoto. Choose from organic gardening, slow-food workshops, kundalini yoga and naturopathy, among others. For children, the Super 8 Club gives them an opportunity to find out about film-making.

All that learning making you hungry? The restaurant’s USP is simple, nourishing meals - think plant-based milk and homemade granola for breakfast - with many of the ingredients grown on the estate. If you’re looking to disconnect for a few days then this is the place to do it.

A six-day yoga break, including accommodation, yoga and food, costs from €750 (£667) per person.

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HOME & INTERIORS

Pretty in Pink Fashion designer Roksanda Ilinčić has lent her considerable talents to The Penthouse at Gasholders London in King’s Cross, curating a space of eye-popping art and colour. The three-bedroom duplex, currently available to buy fully-furnished for £7,750,000, not only reflects Roksanda’s passion for sculptural form and textural depth, but is imbued with femininity with the furniture, objets d’art and textiles all created by women. gasholderslondon.com

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Design Notes

Colouful cushions, limited-edition artworks and a statement chandelier Compiled by OLIVIA LIDBURY

LEADING LIGHT

Meet Juliana: a dramatic chandelier that blends NYC cool with Venetian savoir-faire, specially created by Soho Home for former warehouse-turned-members’ club Dumbo House in Brooklyn, where you’ll find dozens adorning the bar. This twinkling marvel features rose-tinted Murano glass tubes, which are mouth-blown and hand-finished by skilled artisans in Venice. £1,850; sohohome.com

MADE IN ITALY

For décor sourced off the beaten track, bookmark e-tailer Artemest handpicks designs by the most exciting cra speople across Italy; think statement mirrors from Campania, sculptural footstools made in Tuscany, and irresistible brass trinkets like this rabbit doorstop by Lombardybased Ghidini 1961 (£310). Some pieces can even be customised. artemest.com

Sparkle on tap

CRYSTAL CLEAR Swarovski for the bathroom? It’s an exciting reality, as German design brand Dornbracht debuts crystal tap handles to lend an extravagant touch to sink fittings. Choose from a filigree fluted design or an asymmetrical cut and enjoy the projection of colourful reflections and magical ripples as they dance with the light. westonebathrooms.com

PICTURE THIS

Online platform Partnership Editions is the destination for unique and limitededition artworks from emerging and established artists, with carefully curated pieces priced between £50 and £1,000.

Don’t miss Dalston-based Rose Electra Harris’s Things I Love collection - seven one-off pieces for summer. Her way with vivid oil pastels and ink will stop you in your tracks. Tulip Romance, £650; partnershipeditions.com

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HOME & INTERIORS

PILLOW TALK

Artist and designer Luke Edward Hall’s signature embrace of bold colour and carefree playfulness has made him one of the most in-demand creatives in the capital. Not to be missed is his collaboration with The Rug Company, for whom he has designed cushions woven with his whimsical sketches of bright lobsters, anchovies and leopards. His Alathea and Valentine wall hangings, in fine wool Aubusson, make for art with a difference.

Cushions, from £135; Wall hangings, £750; therugcompany.com

RATTAN REVIVAL Whether it’s a tiki-inspired surface on which to rest a Negroni or a classic wicker chair for elegant lounging, weave this natural trend into your home

FROM TOP LEFT TO RIGHT: SOHO HOME Kimani Flower Chair, £795; sohohome.com GRACE BUFFET Vintage Rattan Sideboard, £5,600; 1stdibs.com SOHO HOME Havana Cane Stool, £149; sohohome.com HOUSE CURIOUS Byron Pendant Lamp, £355; housecurious.co.uk FRANCO ALBINI Vintage Rattan Mirror, £1,159; 1stdibs.com HENRY OLKO Vintage Bamboo Lounge Chairs, £13,370; 1stdibs.com HK LIVING Webbing Room Natural Divider, £400; hkliving.nl WEST ELM Rattan Tray, £59; westelm.co.uk

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Interview

IN GOOD TASTE Heralded as one of Britain’s brightest tastemakers, Suzy Hoodless is the name to know for truly inspired interiors. Here, she talks about challenging clients, cultivating colour and creating the new AllBright club in Mayfair Words BETHAN RYDER

L

ondon-based interior designer Suzy Hoodless is on a roll. Fresh from completing a show apartment at the high-profile Television Centre in west London last year, this May saw the opening of The AllBright in Mayfair, the glamorous interiors of which were also designed by Hoodless and her six-strong team. This vast, five-storey townhouse is the second outpost of the women-only members’ club by entrepreneur Debbie Wosskow, OBE and former Hearst CEO Anna Jones.

But while it might feel as if she’s just now hitting her stride, Hoodless has been busy successfully doing her thing for the past 19 years. “It’s just a very slow and gradual process building it up,” she says, stirring her hot chocolate. “It’s about dealing with people and very meticulous clients and suppliers, many of whom are craftspeople and creative. So I’m just bringing that together to create highly practical spaces that are comfortable, but also look good.”

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Since I first met Hoodless in the early Noughties, a lot has happened in the interim. Working out of west London – her studio is in Clarendon Cross – Hoodless is now married and mother to three children: Misty, eight, Myla, six, and Arki, four. The London home they share has been featured in House & Garden magazine, with Hoodless regularly appearing in its prestigious annual Top 100 Interior Designers list. Chez Hoodless is full of colour, patterned textiles, rugs, and 20th-century and contemporary design classics. Although her eclectic aesthetic has been fine-tuned over the years, many pieces she had in those early days remain – a set of Hans Wegner ‘Wishbone’ chairs in the kitchen, for example, as well as a pink-and-white Barber & Osgerby Quodes ‘Satellite’ cabinet in her daughters’ bedroom.

Heralded as “Britain’s brightest tastemaker” by Harper’s Bazaar, Hoodless is today known in affluent London circles and among a cosmopolitan, design-savvy set as the name synonymous with beautiful interiors. But carving out a niche in the residential realm is no mean feat when it involves satisfying private clients. Many successful interior designers who work across the board, from hospitality to retail, will tell you how exhausting and tiresome it can be dealing with those exacting and demanding characters from the top 0.1% of the population.

Yet when it comes to Hoodless, you get the feeling that the unflappable designer was born to do this. She actually prefers residential projects, saying that the trick is simply “to be really organised”, never leaving anything to chance because “it will always go wrong”. When we meet, she has come straight from an appointment with a client at Albany, the ultra-exclusive Georgian apartment block in Piccadilly. “We’re working with [bespoke furniture-maker] Rupert Bevan on creating this highly engineered, industrial kitchen inspired by the Maison de Verre,” she says of the project, one of the 12 she currently has on the go.

“The client is in finance and is very meticulous. I love working with him, but you have to be absolutely on your game,” she adds.

This regimental approach to organisation is of her own making; Hoodless was never formally trained. “I have brilliant systems, completely made up by me, and they’re watertight,” she explains. The first to admit that success is always partly down to good luck, Hoodless was, however, clearly determined to “get on with life” from the outset, dropping out of a history of design course at the University of Manchester after a mere six weeks. “I didn’t want to spend three years penniless, learning something I wasn’t sure I was interested in learning,” she says, matter-of-factly. “Everyone was going out and getting drunk and I’d been away at school already for seven years.”

She left and took a typing and shorthand course instead – “a life skill everyone should learn” – and consequently landed a gig assisting the creative team at Designers Guild, which gave her a taste of the interior design world: “I was showing the collections to the press, such as The World of Interiors, and I thought, ‘I’d really like to be on that side of things.’” A stint at Condé Nast followed. Then a lucky break beckoned in the form of Tyler Brûlé, whom a friend suggested she meet because he was setting up a new magazine. It was Wallpaper*.

Hoodless became part of the tiny original team (which included Paul de Zwart, founder of Another Country furniture, a favourite brand Hoodless specifies today), and embarked on a five-year adventure of touring industry trade fairs and styling houses for shoots across the globe. Equipped

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HOME & INTERIORS with this interior design The AllBright Mayfair apprenticeship of sorts, she eventually left because – yet again – she was missing the real world, or, as she describes it, “the practical element”.

Freelance styling and art direction followed. Her first house project was for someone she’d met at Wallpaper*. “It was all B&B Italia and very neutral, in beiges and taupes, which was the late-1990s aesthetic,” she recalls. “I couldn’t handle colour then at all.” That would soon change. While Hoodless still uses a mixture of vintage and design classics, if there is one thing that characterises the ‘Suzy Hoodless stamp’ today it’s a joyful embracing of colour and pattern. Take her own lively London home, for example. As well as a kitchen filled with Yves Klein blue cabinetry, the living room is bedecked with pale blue custom-designed shelving, a vivid yellow architrave and vintage armchairs picked up on Golborne Road and upholstered in bright geometric Pierre Frey fabric to juxtapose perfectly with a petrolblue velvet George Smith sofa.

Describing herself as a magpie, who picks and chooses, Hoodless says: “I’m probably not a very conceptual designer. I’m excited and driven by good design with provenance, which transcends different periods and styles. Most clients ask for a comfortable family home, so I want the What anchors this organic, fiercely practical side – it has to work. multifarious approach is often the The homes should celebrate clients’ architecture. Hoodless is a firm believer personalities. It’s often a real mix.” in restoring original details wherever Case in point: the BBC Television possible to lend depth and character: “We Centre development. “The BBC heritage always want to put houses back with their is totally unique to the site and is to be hard finishes – restoring the fireplaces, celebrated,” explains Suzy. “My vision skirting, cornicing – then you have good was to take the best of what is already bones and structure.” In this respect The there and to rework it for today.” While AllBright was a dream project for her. it may be a high-profile project, it was The first request from co-founders also one that was close to Suzy’s heart. “I Wosskow and Jones was that she restore was born in west London and my the townhouse feel of the property, which memories of the BBC go back to early was formerly inhabited by Bloomsbury childhood, so I have great affection and Auctions. Ceiling roses, panelling and nostalgia for it,” she says. cornices were all recreated by Hoodless.

The AllBright Mayfair

“I’m probably not a very conceptual designer. I’m excited and driven by good design with provenance, which transcends different periods and styles”

Beyond that, she was asked to create interiors that were “contemporary and feminine (but not ‘pretty’), comfortable and with lots of different and flexible areas able to accommodate events, coworking and socialising”.

Members now enjoy a glamorous club, replete with reflective surfaces such as brass lighting, foxed mirrored wall panelling and ceilings of dark gloss paint, combined with beautifully tailored fabrics that take their cues from nearby Savile Row. In the entrance lobby, Hoodless has embellished what is a narrow awkward space by lining the walls and ceiling in smoky tinted mirror. From there, guests climb a monochrome houndstooth-carpeted staircase up to the first-floor restaurant and bar.

A palette of pale blues and punchy greens dominate in here, softened by walls plastered to appear like folds of fabric. Clean and contemporary, Thonet chairs are paired with terrazzo-topped tables, with the odd Rosewood vintage sideboard or 1950s coffee table thrown in

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L O N D O N

GLOSSARY SUZY HOODLESS

The AllBright Mayfair

LUNCH DATE

to add character. Like the new Annabel’s

by Martin Brudnizki, the powder room at The AllBright is destined to be quite the hangout. “They wanted it to be very Instagrammable,” says Hoodless, “which is slightly terrifying but what’s fun is it’s not a home so we can be totally uncompromising.” Cue feeds filled with selfie-flattering mosaic pink floors and gold walls.

Meanwhile, the sensuous blue brushstrokes of giant palm leaves by

The AllBright Mayfair

French artist Raoul Dufy, in the form of Mille Feuille wallpaper by Christopher Farr, provide a calming backdrop to the second-floor beauty and wellness zone. On the third floor, a vibrant Ikat pattern (Taraz

by Pierre Frey) combined with bright geometric tiles and dark glossy blue ceilings livens up the co-working and events space.

Huge communal oak tables from Another Country provide work surfaces, with seating provided by DSW Eames chairs and Danish brand GUBI. The fourth-floor lounge bar is anchored by a huge yellow-gold mirrored bar with a pink leather-clad front, with mohair velvet seating in a pretty palette of pale green and pink. This leads out onto a large terrace, furnished with curvaceous wicker furniture from Sika Design and enclosed by leafy palms and ivy-clad trellis.

Crowning the club is the conservatorystyle fifth floor, a lofty room that benefits from a lantern skylight that floods the interior with natural light, and a secluded terrace that looks out over the Mayfair skyline – a fitting view for this year’s hottest addition to the private member’s club scene. suzyhoodless.com

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Orasay is an amazing new neighbourhood restaurant in Notting Hill, where brilliant chef Jackson Boxer cooks fresh fish and seafood inspired by the Western Isles.

31 Kensington Park Road, Notting Hill, W11 orasay.london

GO-TO GALLERY

As a member of the V&A, I visit a lot. I plan to see all the big exhibitions there but, also, the ones I chance upon are often an inspiring surprise.

Cromwell Road, South Kensington, SW7 vam.ac.uk

INTERIORS HAVEN

Another Country has a focused and discerning ethos, as well as beautifullydesigned and honest furniture and accessories. It’s a great place for presents, too.

18 Crawford Street, Marylebone, W1 anothercountry.com

FASHION FIND

Matches has a never-ending supply of interesting new designers. I buy lots of dresses by Preen, who do some great prints.

I just discovered Rhode and Sir for dresses, too. I’m currently wearing Gucci’s bright green Jordaan loafers with everything.

87 Marylebone High Street, Marylebone, W1 matchesfashion.com

SECRET SANCTUARY

I swim every weekend in the outdoor pool at the Chiswick Riverside gym; it’s amazingly invigorating, whatever the weather.

Riverside Drive, Chiswick, W4; virginactive.co.uk

CITY ESCAPE

Richmond Park reminds me of my childhood and is just a wonderful place to visit, whether for a walk, bike ride, to rollerskate, fly a kite or watch the deer. royalparks.org.uk

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L A S T WO R D

MY GLOSSARY EMELI SANDĒ

The soulful singer and songwriter reveals her little black book to the capital, from nail art to Nelson Mandela As told to GEORGIE LANE-GODFREY

HOME IS Bethnal Green and Hertfordshire – I split my time between the two.

Ever since I moved to London from Scotland, I’ve been drawn to the east. I like the creative energy of Bethnal Green and how noisy it is. Often I’m up quite late writing songs, so it’s comforting to know other people are awake, too.

FAVOURITE RESTAURANT Nobu in Shoreditch when I’m feeling fancy.

I actually spent last New Year’s Eve there – it’s got a great vibe and brilliant vegan dishes. Before I gave up fish, I used to love the black cod. But it now has an aubergine miso dish on the menu that tastes just like it, so there’s no compromise. noburestaurants.com THE DISH I ALWAYS ORDER IS The vegan aubergine and tofu claypot at Viet Grill in Hoxton. vietgrillrestaurant.co.uk FAVOURITE TERRACE The Sky Garden at the WalkieTalkie. I love that you can walk around and see such an incredible view of the city. The restaurant there is also phenomenal. skygarden.london BEST COCKTAIL A Pornstar Martini at Novikov in Mayfair - their bartenders make the most interesting and experimental cocktails. novikovrestaurant.co.uk THE SKY GARDEN

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BEST MUSIC VENUE Royal Festival Hall. I’ve never played it before, but I’m a big fan of cellist Jacqueline Du Pre who made her debut there, so it’s always been a dream of mine. The sound is amazing there – you really can hear every single instrument. southbankcentre.co.uk THE EXHIBITION THAT MOST IMPRESSED ME IS The Frida Kahlo Making Her Self Up exhibition at the V&A. It offered a perspective on Frida Kahlo’s life story through her most intimate personal belongings. I thought I knew about Frida Kahlo, but I learnt so much about her through this exhibition. vam.ac.uk

FAVOURITE SCENT YSL Mon Paris (£75 for 50cl) I like a fragrance that is mellow but moody. This one is wonderfully woody, but not too overpowering. yslbeauty.co.uk I GET MY HAIR DONE BY Raquel Fernandes of Beyond Curls at The Standard Studio in Blackheath.

It specialises in curly hair. I am so grateful for her care and expertise, plus we always have such a laugh. thestandardstudio.co.uk GUCCI AW19

FAVOURITE MEMBERS CLUB The Curtain in Shoreditch. The library room there is a great place to spend an afternoon working. It’s very welcoming and the décor is really cosy. thecurtain.com FAVOURITE SHOP Liberty London – it’s great for interiors inspiration. I also love the scarf room – I wear them a lot of scarves in my hair and Liberty has the most beautiful collection in London. libertylondon.com MY GO-TO DESIGNER Gucci. You can always spot when something is Gucci because its designs are so unique. The colours are so bold and never predictable – there’s real power in the designs. gucci.com

BEST BEAUTY SPOT Imarni Nails at The Curtain Hotel.

I’ve been going to Imarni for three years now and since then I’ve had the most imaginative nails. One of my favourite designs was for my first wedding anniversary, when she put my wedding date on my last three fingers. imarninails.com

THE CURTAIN

BEST WELLNESS SPACE I love SaiSei Cyro Studio, a holistic cyrotherapy studio in Stoke Newington. You go into this mist of freezing smoke and it makes your body wake up somehow.

You come out with great skin and feeling so energised – the process basically resets your whole body. saiseicryo.co.uk BEST YOGA STUDIO Triyoga. No matter what part of London you’re in there’s usually a Triyoga studio you can go to, and the teaching is exceptional. I went to a kundalini yoga class recently and I felt a real shift in my energy afterwards. I’d never tried it before, but it left me feeling very cleansed. triyoga.co.uk

SAISEI CRYO STUDIO

TRIYOGA

FAVOURITE LONDON DISCOVERY The mural of Nelson Mandela on Mandela Street in Camden. A few weeks ago, a friend showed it to me because it really excited him.

When I saw it I could see why; it’s so joyous, hopeful and bright.

Emeli’s new album Real Life is out on 13 September.

FRIDA KAHLO

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