ANGLOMANIA 3 by zuki turner

FASHION•SPORT•LIFESTYLE

ISSUE03 WINTER 09 £5.00

NEMANJA VIDIC

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

LEWIS HAMILTON • david bowie • michelle obama oprah winfrey• harry redknapp • dinos chapman

MODIO PUBLISHING ANGLOMANIA LTD PO BOX 206, 77 BEAK STREET, SOHO, LONDON, W1F 9DB EDITOR IN CHIEF & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR mo galy sow DEPUTY EDITOR amy tipper-hale FASHION COORDINATOR cleo davis BEAUTY COORDINATOR niedian biggs MUSIC COORDINATOR geoff maccormack EDITORIAL TEAM ayo alli, cleo davis, paul joseph, véronique de freitas EDITORIAL ASSISTANT véronique de freitas SUB-EDITOR kia abdullah ART & DESIGN zuki turner PHOTOGRAPHY dave gorman, geoff maccormack, ishay botbol, john davis, kevin joseph, louise melchior, magnus ekstrom, paolo regis, paul de luna, paul hampartsoumian, paul tyagi, richard davies, thomas hoeffgen, uzo oleh CONTRIBUTORS angharad webb, christian schleisner, daniel adlem, daniel mantle, diana berneaga, irene darko, jamie gunns, mads stigborg, malkit singh, martin bray, michael scott carter, penelope rowlands, rahma mohamed, ryutaro, sergey logvinov, shinya fukami, sunami INTERNS elina kras, elise merckoll, kiran brach, patrice lovelace ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE tannaz kowssari tannaz@anglomaniamag.com ADVERTISING TEAM ben green, dermot young, svetlana zurna PUBLICATION DIRECTOR alain lecour @ exportpress paris FINANCE AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS michael scott carter PRODUCTION MANAGER tom simpson ACCOUNTS robert shaffran INFO info@anglomaniamag.com PRINT epc bristol DISTRIBUTION domestic comag international; export press ISSN 1758-9827

CONTENTS 14. anglomania awards 50. lewis hamilton

- winning formula 54. formula one a history 56. british racing scene 64. the harry effect 66. nemanja vidic veni,vidi,vidic 74. horsepower of the six nations 78. nba - the legal alien 84. gotham glamour 94. eastern fashion bloc 102. anglophilia 110. the biggest splash 120. someone to watch over me 130. white lines 146. qatar - the great new escape 152. minimalist masterclass 158. the silver arrow of the 21st century 164. the high life 166. when helicopters meet high fashion 167. the art of giving 168. eastern districts 174. tall tales, teapots and travels with bowie 182. pop loves electronic rock 190. preview 193. blow your mind 196. the art of subterranean living 202. the dark heart of africa 205. african arenas 218. sister act 220. the weight of the dollar 12

ANGLOMANIA

AWARDS 2008

Anglomania is hosting its own International Sport and Style awards for 2008. We’re putting the highest achieving sport competitors of 2008 in the running for Best Sportsman of the Year and Best Female Athlete of the Year. The most popular top fashion brands and sport collaborations will be voted for by Anglomania readers, Prada Sport fighting it out with Dirk Bikkembergs to find out which heralds champion of the catwalk. The results will be published in the February issue of the magazine. This issue, Serbian stopper Nemanja Vidic, gave us a unique insight into how he has adapted his game for the British pitch. He discusses life on the defence at Manchester United, including his friendship with Rio Ferdinand and his mentor, Sir Alex Ferguson. In celebration of Lewis Hamilton’s recent victory for Great Britain, Anglomania has delved deep into the picture archive of British Formula One to bring you the most memorable moments and pinnacle drivers including a young Damon Hill and his father, and the legendary Sir Stirling Moss. Political writer, Ayo Alli reports the continual unrest of the Congo and the downfall of President Mobutu after 32 years in power. The decline of America’s market prompts an article on the next possible superpowers. mo sow editor-in-chief 14

British Sportsperson of the Year

Lewis Hamilton The youngest ever Formula One champion. In his first season at Formula One he finished second in the 2007 race, the following year he won the championship. He’s also considered the first black driver to win the title, despite being mixed race.

Christine Ohuruogu

The British reached an Olympic tally of 16 golds this year at the Games – Britain’s best tally since 1908. The total was reached after British runner Christine Ohuruogu won the women’s 400 metres.

Rebecca Adlington

record-breaking Nottinghamshire-born swimmer won the Olympic freestyle final on 16 August this year. She won by a full six seconds and beat the previous record by two seconds – a record that was previously set by Janet Evans when Rebecca was just six months old.

David Haye

Born in Bermondsey, London. Haye recently pursued his ambitions in the heavyweight division, most recently beating Monte Barratt in a WBC Heavyweight Title Eliminator. Haye is a former WBA, WBC and WBO cruiserweight champion.

High Fashion Sport Brands

Prada Sport

Hugo Boss

In 1913 Prada was started by Mario Prada. he began selling shoes, leather handbags and trunks. After experience in Europe and in the US, he opened two boutiques in Milan. Today, the worldwide empire has stores in practically every country in the western world.

Hugo Boss was established in 1923 in Metzingen, Germany. In 1999, Hugo Boss Clothing decided to separate the suits and casual part of the business, resulting in Boss Orange and Boss Black coming into to the market. In addition, Boss Green was specifically created for a sportier look.

Dirk Bikkembergs

Ralph Lauren

Since 2000, Dirk has become particularly popular with a young audience. He CREATED a new type of sportswear, ‘Bikkembergs Sport’, to enforce his vision and convey his message to the young at heart. This collection contributed to give Dirk the opportunity to design for the Inter Milan football club.

Ralph Lauren was founded in 1967, after he opened his very first tie shop. Next up was the menswear and later, in 1971, the women’s label was introduced to the market. The preppy and chic look of Lauren’s collections is now complemented by sportswear, casual-wear and home furnishings.

Best sporting moment of 2008

Lewis Hamilton wins Formula One Usain Bolt wins 100 metres and Rebecca Adlington wins women’s Arsenal kids Championship at the Brazilian breaks world record freestyle 800-metre swim and Carling Cup Grand Prix breaks world record

beat Wigan

Most stylish sportswoman

Allyson Felix

Maria Sharapova

Alison Stokke

Anna Rawson

The youngest gold medalist sprinter for the 200-metre race in 2005 at the Helsinki Olympics. Two-time Olympic silver medalist and two-time Athletic world champion gold medalist. This year Allyson won gold at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in the women’s 4x400 metre relay team.

One of the most high-profile sportswomen of her generation, Sharapova won Wimbledon at the mere age of 17 in 2004. She won the US Open in 2006 and the Australian Open in 2008. last year she was the world’s highest paid female athlete, for achievements both on and off the court.

Pole vaulting champion from the US. She hasn’t had any huge sporting achievements to date but aesthetically she’s winning polls internationally all over the Internet.

Began a modeling career at the age of 16 then turned professional golfer at the end of 2004. She played a full season on the Future Tour and finished third at the Ladies Euro Tour 2005. She also played a season as a 2006 rookie at LET.

Best sport design collaboration

Yohji Yamamoto and Adidas The collaboration between Adidas and Yohji Yamamoto is known as Y-3, Y standing for Yamamoto and 3 representing the well-known three stripes of Adidas. Their collaboration differs as the Japanese designer has been given freedom to start from scratch in order to create the Y-3 collections.

Alexander McQueen and Puma The Puma by Alexander McQueen collaboration combines different trends in sports and fashion and also sport history and technology into unique collections. McQueen´s collection for instance, is inspired by the anatomy of the foot – an extraordinary design with great comfort and functionality.

Stella McCartney and Adidas

The Adidas by Stella McCartney collaboration was launched in February 2005 with the spring/summer collection. The unique concept for women is highly functional and deeply rooted in a wide range of sports such as: running, yoga, golf, dance, gym studio, swimming, tennis and winter sports, consisting of apparel, accessories and footwear.

Best Performance Brand Most anti-climatic sporting event

Nike Nike was founded in 1962 by Bill Bowerman and Phil Knight and was originally Blue Ribbon Sports. They called their upcoming company “Nike” after the winged Greek goddess of victory, and their logo, which was designed for only $35 by Carolyn Davidson, became the well-known “swoosh”. However, Nike is also recognised for their famous slogan “Just Do It”.

Reebok Reebok was founded in the uk by Joseph William Foster. tHe company initially started in the late 1800s because of the innovative addition of spikes onto running shoes. Later in 1958, Foster’s grandsons came up with the company Reebok and also gained the rights to sell the shoes in the US in 1979. Reebok USA became the most expensive running shoes at the time.

Adidas In 1924 Adidas was founded in Germany by the two brothers, Adi and Rudolf Dassler. The company was first named ‘Dassler shoes’. In 1948 however, Rudolf Dassler left to start his own company, now known as Puma. When Rudolf left, his brother came up with the well-known three stripes logo and changed the name to Adidas, ‘Adi’ from Adolf and ‘Das’ from Dassler.

Amir Khan is defeated in 54 seconds against Colombian Breidis Prescott

puma Rudolf Dassler left his brother at Adidas to start Puma in 1948. The headquarters was located in West Germany, and started off as a German based company. The ‘Atom’ came to the market in 1948, followed by the ‘Formstripe’ five years later. down the line Puma produced more appealing styles like the soccer shoe the ‘King’ and the popular ‘Suede’ aka the ‘Clyde’.

LACOSTE In 1933 the French-owned company was formed by tennis player, Rene Lacoste. The first sport performance clothing ever seen was worn by Rene during the US open championship in 1926, which he won. Rene wore a cotton polo shirt, after the championship win, his friend drew him a crocodile, which he embroidered onto his tennis shirts.

Liu Xiang pulls muscle two strides into his meant-to-be Olympic Glory 19

Female athlete of the year

Lorena Ochoa

Laila Ali

Rebecca Adlington

Marta Vieira da Silva

Number one ranked female golfer in the world. Considered the best Mexican golfer of all time, she took up the sport at the tender age of five. She went professional after finishing her sophomore year in college.

This female boxer isn’t quite as famous as her father, Muhammad Ali, but just as successful in match terms. Her total fight tally reaches 24, with no draws or losses. Her impeccable track record has been thought to be slightly disappointing due to the fact she has repeatedly avoided fighting other top women in the championships.

British freestyle swimmer who received two Olympic Gold medals this year for the 400 and 800 metres. She has set a new British, Commonwealth, European and Olympic record of 18.18.06 in the preliminary heats of the women’s 800-metre freestyle on 14 August.

Discovered at the age of 14, Marta is considered the best female soccer player in the world. She was voted the 2006 and 2007 FIFA women’s World Player of the Year. In the 2007 women’s world cup she won both the Golden Ball award as best player and the Golden Boot award as top scorer.

john davis

flip schulke

Best sport photographer

tom van heel

magnus ekstrom

FASHION•SPORT•LIFESTYLE

ISSUE01 AW08 £5.00

DAVID BENTLEY

DAVID HAYE BARACK OBAMA • GIORGIO ARMANI • ARSÈNE WENGER • RAFAEL NADAL

NELSON MANDELA • TOM FORD • PELE • NICHOLAS ANELKA

HENRY HOLLAND • TEAM GB • LOUIS VUITTON • CLAIRE MERRY Vivienne Westwood cover sectionUK.indd 1

PETRA ECCLESTONE • SALOMON KALOU • DIRK BIKKEMBERGS • NOÉMIE LENOIR 18/7/08 13:21:45

FASHION•SPORT•LIFESTYLE

ISSUE02 WINTER 08 £5.00

cover section2UK.indd 1

ISSUE03 WINTER 09 £5.00

NEMANJA VIDIC

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

LEWIS HAMILTON • DAVID BOWIE • MICHELLE OBAMA OPRAH WINFREY• HARRY REDKNAPP • DINOS CHAPMAN

7/10/08 14:56:53

TO SUBSCRIBE TO ANGLOMANIA PLEASE VISIT WWW.ANGLOMANIAMAG.COM OR EMAIL INFO@ANGLOMANIAMAG.COM 21

Sportsman of the year

Usain Bolt

Michael Phelps

Cristiano Ronaldo

Lewis Hamilton

Rafael Nadal

A household name since the Summer Olympics, He now holds Olympic and world records for the 100 metres at 9.69 seconds, the 200 metres at 19.30 seconds and (along with his team mates) the 4x400 metre relay at 37.10 seconds. He’s the first man to win all three events at a single Olympics since Carl Lewis in 1984.

The American swimmer. He’s won 14 Olympic Gold Medals, the most by any Olympian. This year he holds seven world records in swimming and has 28 medals thus far: 40 gold, six silver and two bronze.

Signed by Alex Ferguson at 18 years of age for £12.24 million in 2003, Ronaldo has become one of the most successful footballers in Europe. 2007 and 2008 have been his best years yet, seeing him become the Premier League’s top scorer, winning the European Golden Shoe and named FIFPro World Player in 2008.

The youngest ever Formula One champion. In his first season at Formula One he finished second in the 2007 race. the following year he won the championship. He’s also considered the first black driver to win the title, despite being mixed race.

Ranked the world’s number one tennis player since August this year. He has 5 Grand Slam Single titles and captured the last four French Open Single titles. This year he won the 2008 Olympic gold medal in the singles and became the first Spaniard to win Wimbledon.

Best-designed sport item Nike crocodile skin trainers

Chanel fishing rod

Ends diamond laces

The crocodile skin Nike trainers were produced to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Nike’s iconic Air Force 1 line. They aren’t only made from the skin of the world’s largest snake, the anaconda, for extra indulgence they can also come equipped with 18-carat gold lace tags.

For a little under $20,000 you can buy the Chanel fishing rod, which now has been added by Karl Lagerfeld to the Chanel Sport collection. The set comes with monochrome Chanel flies, with the ‘double C’ logo on their wings. The flies come in their own quilted black leather box – in true Chanel style.

Ends is a new line of gold and diamond-encrusted lace ends, which are priced somewhere between $399 and $4,999. The Ends company was founded by Whitney and Geg Lucci, along with Leon and Jessica Cohen.

Chanel pushbike Designed by Karl Lagerfeld, the aluminum-framed bike has a quilted leather seat, which is branded with the famous signature ‘double C’ logo. The bike was part of Chanel’s 2008 Summer/Spring catalogue.

Qatar Tennis Championships 2008

Qatar is becoming a destination of choice in sports and has great presence in the international sporting arena. Qatar Tennis Championships is best described as tennis in a desert island. Set against the stunning backdrop of the Doha skyline, Ana Ivanovic and Elena Dementieva rallied on a replica tennis court, specially built for the occasion, on Palm Island in the middle of Doha Bay in the Arabian Gulf. This was the first time in history where such a tournament took place in the Middle East. The worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top eight singles players and top four doubles teams from the 2008 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour season competed for the Championships title and a share of the record prize money of $4.45 million.

THE GOLDEN ONE

by Véronique de Freitas

Cristiano Ronaldo went all the way to Paris to collect the Ballon d’Or (golden ball) trophy from French magazine, France Football . Accompanied by United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United winger arrived at the ceremony after being delayed for an hour due to foggy weather conditions. He finally arrived and was welcomed by hundreds of fans before being handed the prestigious World Player of the Year award in a televised program. “It’s always special to reach this level, the important thing is to stay here,” he said. “The idea is to keep progressing, collectively and individually as well”. When asked about Portuguese national team (seleção) Cristiano said: “I want more for the Portuguese team also, who have played well in the last few years but not yet won a major title at international level”. Ronaldo, who beat Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Liverpool’s Fernando Torres to the prize, joined United in 2003 and last season scored 42 goals to help the club win the Premier League and Champions League titles. “I was 18 when I came to Manchester, very young. I always had great hopes of becoming a great footballer, in Europe and the world and that’s what I’ve always tried to do - to improve year by year”.

MAKING

HAYE

THE EASY WAY Barrett embarrassed himself twice at the 02 Arena. Once as he stumbled trying to jump over the rope as he made his entrance in front of ten thousand people, secondly as Haye floored the fighter five times in the five-round match. The pre-sequel to his fight with one of the Ukrainian Klitschko brothers, Haye appeared undaunted by his latest challenge, and eager to move on. “I want to beat both of them, Wladimir and Vitali, and I don’t care which of them I get first” -david haye

ASIAN BEACH GAMES

BALI 2008

This year, Bali was chosen by acclamation for the first time to host the Asian Beach games. It has also been announced that Oman, Muscat in the Middle East will host the second Asian Beach Games in 2009. 26

The opening ceremoniesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; main stage stood before a massive and elaborately sculptured Balinese eagle, called the Garuda. Around 1,000 dancers opened the event. They performed cultural dances in opulent costumes with props and colorful banners that depicted the history of Indonesia from the 7th century to the present.

A parade of athletes from 45 Asian countries, competing in 19 beach sports events, concluded the affair. It was the biggest national event in Indonesia this year.

Sloping Around Want to get a jump on ski season with a long weekend trip to Tahoe? Don’t forget to pack all your chic cold weather essentials words: cleo davis

Hide your holiday hangover head in this geek chic knit bobble hat £125 by LOUIS VUITTON www.louisvuitton.com

Apres-ski essentials, for when your hands haven’t quite reached thawing out stage. Gloves £585 by LOUIS VUITTON www.louisvuitton.com

Lambs-wool and suede boots are ideal for frostbite-free feet £570 by CHANEL www.chanel.com Walk on the warm side: this 100% virgin wool jacket was created as part of NIKE ACG’s collaboration with Pendleton Mill in Portland, famed and respected for their Native Indian Trade blankets. Only 375 have been created, £225 +44 (0)800 056 1640

Simple yet sleek, this black and gold skisleeve is the perfect pouch for skiers with style. Women’s ski carrier bag £20 by ATOMIC www.atomicsnow.com

30 30

Willy Bogner’s fashionable ski gear takes on a futuristic feel. Designed to be lighter in weight, these super-slick silver and gold skis are part of the Alpine ‘Gold Rush’ collection €2,150 by BOGNER. Ski Helmet ‘Gold Rush’ €375 by BOGNER www.indigosnow.de

It doesn’t matter if you’re a pro or amateur, get the right footwear for the job. New for 2009, the TECNICA introduces this fiery piece of footwear: the DRAGON 120, a boot that promises a more relaxed, upright stance, easy entry and exit and superior power to the edge, £359 www.profeet.co.uk

Stand out in the snow with this multi-colour mountain board, perfect for full-on freestyle performance. Equipped with four fibreglass layers (a D4 sandwich construction to old hand boarders) the Triarc allows quick edge-to-edge response. New for 2009, Triarc snowboard £260 by ATOMIC www. atomicsnow.com

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1. ‘Hi Sleek’ £49.99 ADIDAS 2. Vandal ‘High Vintage’ £64.99 NIKE 3. ‘Double Nizza Collar’ £36.99 CONVERSE ALL STAR 4. F-13 black and multi colour £55 FILA 5. Grey vintage tennis shoes £34.99 FRED PERRY 6. Gene 3 white leather hi top £95 SWEAR 7. Harrier black and fuchsia £40 GOLA 8. Gene 4 green and white leather trainer £85 SWEAR 9. Grant 20 white leather hi top with black and metallic highlights £95 SWEAR 10. Votive pewter £55 GOLA 11. Grant 21 white leather perforated trainer £55 SWEAR 12. ‘Indo’ mountaineering inspired trainer £50 GRAVIS 13. White perforated leather hi top £84.99 LEVI’S RED TAB 14. Black canvas hi top with skull print £34.99 LEVI’S RED TAB 15. White trainer with red and blue ‘paint drip’ effect £69.99 LEVI’S ENGINEERED JEANS COLLECTION 16. Black and grey canvas trainer £40 SWEAR 17. Women’s ‘Gemini Hi’ £55 GRAVIS 18. Women’s ‘Blazer Mid’ £69.99 NIKE at OFFICE 19. Pink freestyle hi top £49.99 REEBOK 20. Tiger Mexico 66 £54.99 ONITSUKA pages by CLEO DAVIS

URBAN PLAYGROUND Tolula Adeyemi has taken over from Daisy Lowe as the face of HARI, the luxe sportswear label from London fashionista Lainey Sheridan-Young. The 17 year old model, chosen for her young look, was shot for HARI’s spring/summer 2009 look book by photographer Rene Du Pont. “Shooting Hari was a fun, easy and exciting experience. Lainey is easygoing and really creative to work with,” says Tolula. “Also, it’s great that she understands because she used to model. I love all the clothes. The photographer Rene (Du Pont) made the job really easy.”

The Nike Cortez Spring/Summer 2009 PREVIEW The Nike Cortez Family: in suede, leather and the Flywire Cortez The Cortez, designed by Bill Bowerman, has served as a running icon for Nike, embodying Nike’s design mission for years to come. Concepts of lightweight, cushioning, and flexibility fused into the Nike DNA from day one and continue as benchmarks for every piece of footwear and apparel Nike Sportswear produces.

HYBRID LANDSCAPES

Archetypal Style French sports fashion brand Lacoste has launched a footwear collection in collaboration with world-renowned architect Zaha Hadid. The famous Lacoste alligator has been incorporated into the Architectâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s design with a digitalised version of the iconic logo. A limited edition of 1,000 pairs will be available worldwide from March 2009. For a more exclusive buy, get your hands on a pair of the 1,000 limited edition style, also from March 2009.

BASE SHELL STUDIES

“The design expression behind the collaboration with LACOSTE footwear allows the evolution of dynamic fluid grids. When wrapped around the shape of the foot, these expand and contract to adapt to the body ergonomically.” Zaha Hadid 35

With style in your hands,

time is on your side

Flight Deck CAB automatic chronograph ÂŁ2120 by U-BOAT

TIME IS MONEY

compiled by CLEO DAVIS

1. DiverCity stainless steel and black ceramic with body in sapphire glass £2,000 by VERSACE 2. SLR Silver Dial Bracelet £2,395 by TAG HEUER 3. Aquaracer Chrono-timer £1,995 by TAG HEUER 4. Mille Miglia GT XL Power Control stainless steel watch with automatic movement, water resistant to 100 metres and power reserve indication £3,970 by CHOPARD 5. Gold plated stainless steel case with bolts and crown protector £140 by BLACK DICE 6. Nautilus Jewellery collection, features a round cut diamond in white gold by PATEK PHILIPPE

Skyscraping stilettos seek more than the heights of heaven;

instead, attentions turn to heels of

statuesque sculpture

Black pointed court with crystal embellished heel ÂŁpoa by LANVIN

Well Heeled compiled by CLEO DAVIS

1. swanlake bronze wedge with ankle strap £413 by TERRY DE HAVILLAND 2. T-bar shoe with heel made up of malachite and lapis lazuli finish stone tassels £poa by DIOR 3. Inspired by the mountains of Japan, these heels were created by Raouda Assaf for Basso and Brooke £1,150 by Basso and Brooke 4. Nicoals Ghesquière futuristic glacier shoe boots $1,295 by Balenciaga 5. Geometric purple and black sling-back £346 by GEORGINA GOODMAN 6. Suede open-toe court with gold paint design and crystal appliques £490 by GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI

The handbag;

an object of desire. A powerful tool

with the ability to turn the most modest into

the envy of her friends.

Black satin ribbon clutch with silver clasp ÂŁpoa by LANVIN

CLUTCH CONTROL

compiled by CLEO DAVIS

1. Manhattan mock croc clutch with gold clasp £250 by ASPINAL OF LONDON 2. Traditional Chanel tweed with rhodoide applique £1,190 by CHANEL 3. Fun feathers and suede clutch £345 by EMPORIO ARMANI 4. Leather pleated clutch with gold bolt clasp £380 by MIU MIU 5. Wet look patent pouch with brass teeth zip £210 by TWENTY8TWELVE 6. Patent pouch with silver ball clasp $200 by STELLA MCCARTNEY

WATER FEATURE

compiled by CLEO DAVIS

There has been a number of social and economic factors that have continued to drive the bottled water market forward. These include the acceptance of `buying water’, with drinking bottled water becoming a more mainstream activity, even becoming a fashionable trend. Cleo Davis takes a look at the statement ‘look at me, I can afford to pay up to £70 for something I can get out of my kitchen tap for free’ bottles.

3 The latest fashion designer link-up by Evian sees Jean Paul Gaultier glamour in full flow. With crystal style etchings and over-sized lettering, understatement isn’t the word. Available now from Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Selfridges for £3.99 www.evian.com

Recently spotted on eBay (last yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s limited editon) as an empty bottle product, there is no need to question why anyone would buy this beautifully designed Evian bottle by Christian Lacroix www.evian.com

Crisp, clean and cold. This bottle echoes the icy landscapes of the Norwegian fjords. The Isklar bottle (Isklar meaning ice-clear) has been created so the faceted design dazzles and sparkles like an uncut diamond. Not just a pretty product, from every sale, Isklar recycles ten bottles through the Group Plastics Recycling Facility www.isklar.no

Handmade crowns, Swarovski crystals, wingsâ&#x20AC;Ś Yes, still talking about water bottles. These bottled beauties, or King and Queen, as they are branded by the makers at Fillico Beverly Hills, originate from Japan and are mainly distributed in the Ritz Carlton in Tokyo. Oh, and the price, about ÂŁ70 www.vieluce.com

The over-sized test tube VOSS bottle was developed in collaboration with former creative director of Calvin Klein, and the design inspiration of fragrance industry experts. Seen in the hands of many a celebrity, VOSS is applauded for its extremely low TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) of 22mg that provides the clear, flavorless taste that many people enjoy, as well as the beautiful bottle. See www.vosswater.com for more details

This bubble container by OGO water represents the ‘O’ for life’s essential little substance, oxygen (also an added ingredient in this drink). The concept for the round bottle is the work of cult Paris designer Ora Ito and as a consequence, the OGO bottle is a permanent exhibit in the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich. Available from Harrods, Selfridges and Claridges for £1.25 www.ogolife.com

A DECADE OF DAREDEVILS

Over one hundred climbers from around the world carried flags onto the arch of the worldfamous Sydney Harbour Bridge to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Bridge Climb.

SPORT lewis hamilton harry redknapp nemanja vidic six nations nba

10 things YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT Lewis Hamilton 1. Hamilton’S FAVOURITE CUISINE IS JAPANESE, SUSHI IN PARTICULAR 2. His greatest fear is being eaten alive by a great white shark 3. He has three Blue Peter badges 4. His favourite band is Chaka Demus and Pliers 5. Every morning he eats Sugar Puffs with added sugar 6. Hamilton paid £200,000 for the licence plate LEW 1S 7. The song I Think I’m in Love on the Pussycat Dolls’ latest album was written about Hamilton by his girlfriend 8. If he hadn’t been a driver, he would love to sing 9. His favourite first corner is Barcelona 10. His favourite restaurant is Shanghai Blues in London’s Holborn 51

LEWIS HAMILTON

WINNING FORMULA

by VéRONIQUE DE FREITAS

Lewis Hamilton became the youngest Formula One world champion at the age of 23, after a dramatic final lap in Brazil. He drove through all the doubts and the rainstorm to claim his place in history.

His career started in 1993 when he was eight years old and by the age of 10 Lewis had won his first British Karting championship. A further four British Karting championships followed in 1996 and 1997.

Anyone who might not have heard of Hamilton before, knows all about him now. Even some political leaders are on his case. Congratulatory messages pinged out of number 10 and Conservative Central Office. Hamilton’s significance as a sporting icon is largely lost on him. Even David Cameron said that Hamilton is “Now officially a British sporting legend and a role model for what you can achieve if you follow your dream”.

Lewis’s pre-Formula One career was one of the most convincing of the recent crop of young drivers. He won several karting series throughout 1998 to 2000 with backing from McLaren. He won European and World Karting titles and was crowned Karting World No. 1 in 2000 at the age of 15. Eight years later, Lewis remains the youngest ever World Karting No. 1.

It seems that the spirit and flair which made him a champion was evident from the moment he got his first taste of racing aged eight. “This is the culmination of 16 years of hard work, and we have to hope this is inspirational for other families and kids. We had no money when we started out but now we’re here on top of the world. The reality is it can be done,” said Hamilton’s father Anthony. Last year, Lewis was also on the brink of history, he was one race away from becoming the only driver to win the Formula One World championship in his first year. But his talent was trumped by his inexperience, and rash mistakes in the last two races cost him the crown. However, he won his crown in 2008 by the same margin. In 2007, going into the final race of the season in Brazil, Hamilton led Raikkonen by seven points and the Finn went on to win the title by one point. This year, Hamilton led Massa by seven, but a lucky fifth helped the Brit pip the Brazilian, again by a lone point. The British driver, who was named after the American sprinter Carl Lewis, has always talked about his destiny. Those who knew him from an early age understood that here was a young man with an almost ethereal belief in his own ability. At the age of ten, he approached McLaren team principal, Ron Dennis, at an awards ceremony and told him that one day he wanted to race for McLaren. Three years later, he was signed by McLaren and MercedesBenz to their Young Driver Support Programme. After winning the British Formula Renault, European Formula Three and GP2 championships he became a McLaren F1 driver for 2007, making his Formula One debut. Lewis was destined to be a champion. According to Michael Schumacher, at just 16, Lewis already had “the right racing mentality”. In fact, after seeing him on a go-kart track at the age of 13, a man from Peterborough staked £100 on a 500-1 shot that Hamilton would win the championship by his 25th birthday. The unnamed punter collected £125,000 from Ladbrokes; the company’s largest single motor sport payout.

Lewis’s successful karting career showed his winning mentality and commitment to working hard, even at such a young age. Through his dedication and the support of his family Lewis balanced his karting career with the life of any other young boy where school and playing out formed a large part of his young life. After a year of learning in Formula Renault, he won the 2003 British Formula Renault championship with 10 victories and 11 pole positions. After a year of learning in the F3 Euroseries, he won that series in 2005 with 15 victories and 13 pole positions. Lewis did not disappoint in his first year in F1 either. In fact, he finished third in his first race and then proceeded to smash the 40-yearold rookie record of two consecutive podiums at the start of a season. Lewis scored nine podiums in his first nine races and he won two of those races. On the day of his victory, Hamilton initially struggled to comprehend the scale of his achievement but paid tribute to his McLaren team: “This is for you and my family”. He added: “It’s pretty much impossible to put into words. It’s been such a long journey – all the sacrifices we’ve made, I’m so thrilled to do this for everyone. It was one of the toughest races of my life.” The young man from Stevenage now joins the pantheon of F1 British greats, among them Sir Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, James Hunt and Nigel Mansell. When asked about his future Hamilton said: “Well, I won’t have number 22 on my car next year, I’ll have the number one, and that’s the coolest thing ever. And I want to have an even stronger season next year: I want to train hard over the winter; I really want to be at the peak of my fitness when we turn up in Australia next year. You learn from your mistakes and I want to continue to grow as a driver. I would like to have the most complete season of my career next year.” It is this determination which has led to his success through the ranks culminating in his present day Formula One career. Lewis remains the only teenager ever to be signed by a Formula One team at such an early age.

FORMULA ONE - A HISTORY

by Véronique De Freitas

The modern era of Formula One Grand Prix racing began in 1950. The roots of F1 begin far earlier: tracing to the pioneering road races in France in the 1890s, through the Edwardian era, the bleak twenties, the German domination of the 1930s and the early post-war years of Italian supremacy. Pioneers of Racing Competitive motor racing began very soon after the invention of the first successful petrol-driven car. Although the internal combustion engine had been invented in Germany and it was Britain that had been leading the industrial revolution, both countries were initially hostile towards the motorcar. So it fell to France to lead the way in the creation of motor sport. The first motorcar ‘reliability’ trial was organised by the French newspaper ‘Le Velocipede’ in 1887. The event involved a short run from Paris to Versailles. Unfortunately only one competitor showed up and the event had to be abandoned. The first organized event was actually a Reliability Trial run from Paris to Rouen in 1894 over a distance of 126 km. It was organized by a newspaper, Le Petite Journal, and the winning ‘horseless carriage’ had to be safe, easily controllable and reasonably economical to run. Twenty-one entries left Paris on 22nd of July, the first home was Count de Dion in a steam driven De Dion tractor. Unfortunately for De Dion, the jury decided that his car was not a practical road vehicle and instead awarding the prize jointly to the next two leading cars, a Peugeot and a Panhard-Levassor. The winning average speed was an exhilarating 17km/h. Many town races were run in the following years including Paris to Bordeaux and back. Emille Levassor won the 1895 event, a far more organised race than its predecessors with rules and formulae that would be recognisable to a contempory audience. Driving a two-cylinder, four-bhp Panhard-Levassor he drove

48 hours 48 minutes virtually non-stop. Because his car only had two seats instead of the required four he was denied the prize of 31,000 francs, yet it is his statue that still overlooks the finishing line at the Porte Maillot in Paris. Another interesting entrant in this race was the Peugeot of André Michelin which used pneumatic tires. Typically wheels used on other cars were either iron or solid rubber. At first the “air tyre” was ridiculed as impractical and indeed Michelin’s car suffered from numerous flats due to the poor condition of the roads at the turn of the century. Panhard would dominate racing until the end of the century. The following years saw an ever increasing search for speed and the easiest path was to increase engine size. Soon seven and eight litre engines were common place and even a 16 litre engine was produced. Developments in chassis design, brakes and tires did not maintain pace but in 1901 that changed with the introduction of the 35 h.p Mercedes. It was the first sports-racing car which featured a four-cylinder engine with mechanical valves, a “honeycomb” radiator, a steel chassis, pneumatic tyres and a magneto ignition. After solving some early reliability problems and coupled with the increase of engine capacity to nine litres producing 60 h.p, the car became a consistent race winner. Each of the leading manufacturers contributed advancements to automobile design. Renault produced a car with shaft drive and a live rear axle. In 1900 Gordon Bennett, the owner of the New York Herald, established a series of races bearing his name. Each nation had a team of three cars chosen by each national automobile club. In 1902 Mors introduced spring dampers which resulted in dramatically improved road-holding. With the cars approaching speeds of 100 mph the races, held on open roads, resulted in several fatal accidents some of which included spectators. The Automobile Club de France, which was formed in 1895, decided after many disagreements over regulations to hold their own races.

In 1906 The French held the very first Grand Prix for manufacturers over a 64-mile course near Le Mans. Of the 32 cars that started the race, 11 remained after 12 laps split over two days. The winner was Hungarian Ferenc Szisz, driving a 90hp Renault. His Renault utilized detachable rims created by Michelin which enabled him to change tyres in two to three minutes instead of the normal 15 minutes. Another important event that year was the inaugural Targa Florio. Organised by the wealthy Sicilian Vicenzo Floria, the race covered three laps of 148.832 km over mountain roads unchanged since the Punic Wars in 1907. The Germans held their own race, the Kaiserpreis, for touring cars of under eight litres and weighing less than 1165 kg. The race was won by Nazzaro in a Fiat. After dominating racing until 1906, France was supplanted by Alfa of Italy and Mercedes of Germany. The defining race of the pre WW1 era was the ACF Grand Prix of 1914. The race was held on a 36.63 km circuit near Lyons and would last 20 laps. The formula for that year restricted engine capacity to 4500cc and weight to 1100kg. Peugeot, determined to return France to the front ranks of motor sport, entered three cars that featured four-wheel brakes. The main challenge for France was the Germans, led by five Mercedes. With the political tensions in Europe coming to a head the race could not escape from having political overtones. Max Sailor, a Mercedes director and race car driver led from the start with the Peugeot of Georges Boillot in second. The leading Mercedes developed engine trouble and on the sixth lap the Peugeot took the lead. The French crowd erupted into patriotic demonstrations. The order was now Peugeot, the Mercedes of Lautenschlager, another Peugeot and the

1925 saw a number of developments. New road racing circuits were being built throughout Europe including Miramas near Marseilles and Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. Riding mechanics were banned as they had been in America. The first World Championship was organised and included the French, Italian and Belgian Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500. This championship was between manufacturers rather than drivers. Alfa Romeo won that inaugural year and celebrated the victory by incorporating a laurel wreath into its badge. Unfortunately this also marked the high point for Grand Prix racing until the next decade. Because of escalating costs and few perceived benefits, most of the major manufacturers decided to abandon their factory racing efforts.

Mercedes of Wagner. It was now Wagner’s turn to make a charge and on the 11th lap he forced his way into second. The second Peugeot, driven by Goux began to overheat and was destined to retire. This left the Peugeot of Boillot still ahead of the oncoming Germans. The 15th lap had now been completed with the Peugeot two minutes and 28 seconds ahead of the Mercedes driven by Wagner. After running a conservative race in the early laps Lautenschlager, he was now poised to begin his march. Passing his teammate he began to close the gap on the leading Peugeot. Boillot drove for all he was worth but nothing could stop the Mercedes from taking the lead. The Peugeot, not able to withstand the strain broke a valve and retired. Mercedes now owned the first three places and so finished with Lautenschlager claiming his second ACF Grand Prix title. The sullen crowd responded with only a smattering of applause while the Mercedes pits erupted in joy. On this bitter note for France, racing stopped on the European continent. Several leading drivers without a European outlet crossed the Atlantic and entered the Vanderbilt Cup, Indianapolis and the American Grand Prize.

first World Champion.

The rise of purpose built racing circuits Racing on public roads was illegal in England and British drivers had to resort to racing in Ireland or the continent. The British motor industry suffered as a consequence. In response to this, a group of wealthy enthusiasts led by Hugh F. Locke-King planned a race track to be built on his property in Surrey, called Brooklands. In 1907 an oval circuit with banked corners was built. Handicap races were held which became as much a social event as an automobile race. In fact the races were organised more like horse races, as drivers had to wear certain colours instead of having numbers on their cars. Bookmakers would organise wagers Brooklands did have some fantastic racing and served as a site for many speed record attempts. Racing in Europe continued on closed public roads but these were not profitable as it was impossible to charge an entrance fee, besides the races were very dangerous due to lack of crowd control. The 1920s saw the advent of shorter, specially built circuits throughout Europe. In 1922 the Italian Grand Prix was held at one of these new tracks, the Autodromo Monza. The Autodromo consisted of a 3.4 mile road course and a 2.8 mile banked oval. For its inaugural race 100,000 spectators poured through its gates. The event became a Fiat parade when many of the other manufacturers pulled out. The French Grand Prix held later that year, on closed roads near Strasbourg, was again dominated by Fiat.

World Championship pioneers In 1950 a World Championship for drivers was introduced. The championship would be decided based on the results of seven races: the British, Swiss, Monaco, Belgium, French and Italian Grand Prix and the Indianapolis 500. The latter was included in the hope that this would promote Grand Prix racing in America but in reality the effects were minimal. Alfa Romeo returned to the contest with a team made up of pre-war drivers, Giuseppe Farina, Luigi Fagioli and Juan-Manuel Fangio. These drivers, except for Fangio, were beyond their peak years and depended on their vast experience against younger rivals. Their main opposition came from Ferrari but the cars from Maranello lacked reliability and the championship would be decided between the three Alfa drivers. The final round at Monza would crown the

World Championship motor racing began at Silverstone in May of 1950 in the presence of the British Royal family. From a total of 21 cars on the grid, Farina took the first ever pole and eventually won the race, followed by Fagioli and local hero Reg Parnell. Monaco was next on the calendar and Farina fared badly causing a nine car pile-up which also removed Fagioli from the race. Fangio avoided the tangle and went on to secure his first win in the championship series. Monaco was also Ferrari’s first competition of the season and Alberto Ascari scored a notable second place, and heralded the potential of the Prancing Horse. The Swiss Grand Prix came next and was staged at the rather tricky Bremgarten circuit. That race resulted in a one-two for Alfa Romeo from Farina and Fagioli as Fangio suffered from mechanical problems along with the three Ferraris. At Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps circuit Fangio scored his second win of the year narrowly beating Fagioli to the line, but not before the slow but steady Talbot of Raymond Sommer had run at the front for several laps. The first ever world title was finally decided at Monza. Before the race Fangio had 26 points over Fagioli’s 24 and Farina’s 22. The title was finally settled when Fangio retired with a busted gearbox which handed the race, and the title, to Farina. The Ferrari team had spent much of the year working on a new engine which had fared well in several non-championship races. At Monza Ascari scored a second place in new Ferrari 375 which suggested that in the following year Alfa Romeo would finally face a challenge worthy of them. Though they had lost the championship, Ferrari was gaining strength and Alfa aware of this growing threat and unable to finance a proper defence of their title for next season chose to withdraw at the end of the year. Few knew then that this would mark the end of this proud manufacturer’s involvement in Grand Prix racing except for some half-hearted attempts in the 80’s. In 1953, Mike Hawthorn beat legendary Argentinian Juan Manuel Fangio in the French Grand Prix at Reims and became the first Briton to win a World Championship. Followed a glorious line of achievements by great British racing drivers including Damon Hill, (who beat Schumacher to the championship in 1996) and finally Lewis Hamilton’s dramatic win in this year’s Formula One world championship.

British Racing Scene

The later years of Formula One have been defined by only a handful of daredevil heroes with British legends including Jackie Stewart, Damon Hill and Lewis Hamilton, all of who are considered to be the heavyweight champions of the racetrack.

GRAHAM HILL, HIS WIFE AND SIX YEAR OLD DAMON HILL

“Some people might think I got here because I had a sweet smile and a famous name. Well it wasn’t like that.” - DAMON HILL 57

DAMON HILL AND HIS WIFE GEORGIE

SIR STIRLING MOSS

JAMES HUNT AND HIS WIFE

GRAHAM HILL

DAMON HILL AND JACKIE STEWART

JACKIE STEWART

DAMON HILL LEARNING THE CIRCUIT

“There are two things no man will admit he cannot do well: drive and make love.” - SIR STIRLING MOSS 59

“It was said I removed the romance from the sport, that the safety measures took away the swashbuckling spectacular that had been… But not many of these critics had ever crashed at 150 miles an hour” - JACKIE STEWART 61

“I said ‘Hello Mr. Dennis, I’m Lewis Hamilton and one day I’d like to race for your team’. I asked him for his autograph and his phone number. He put them in my book and also wrote ‘Call me in nine years’” - LEWIS HAMILTON 63

THE

HARRY

EFFECT Successful football bosses can be split into two camps: those who are loved, and those who are feared. Harry Redknapp, famed for getting his players to run through a proverbial brick wall, is of the latter variety. Paul Joseph looks at the dogged managerial career of Tottenham Hotspurâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new coach 64

According to late legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly, football is a simple game made complicated by idiots. The brilliant Scot could never be accused of adopting an unrefined approach to the game, but the benefits of breaking football’s elements down into rudimentary terms – keeping possession, expressing oneself, maintaining discipline – have been evidenced by various coaches throughout the years. That is not to say the job of managing a football club does not require complex planning and forensic attention to detail. But the trick for a top-class coach is in his ability to convert that information into the most simple terms possible for the players. Graham Taylor, a competent coach who achieved significant success at club level, would often leave his England players bored to tears with his training pitch monologues. Footballers want to go into a game with as little brain baggage as possible. Harry Redknapp, whose immediate impact as the new boss of struggling Totttenham has been dramatic, is a coach whose reputation has been both his greatest asset and his downfall. The 61-year-old’s image is that of British football’s very own cockney geezer; a salt-of-the-earth cabbie reincarnated as a football manager. The perception, based mainly on his quintessential East End accent and vocabulary (he grew up in Poplar, in the heart of east London), has helped him gain virtually unanimous popularity amongst those who have worked under, or beside, him over the years. Footballers wax lyrical over his ability to create confidence out of thin air and cultivate an all-for-one mentality. He is the king of the arm-round-the-shoulder approach to management and his gift for getting underperforming players to up their game is why so many struggling clubs have been desperate to secure his services over the years. This aptitude has never been more evident than during his first few weeks at White Hart Lane. When he joined the club in October, Spurs were rooted to the bottom of the table with zero wins in eight league games. Three matches later and they had beaten Bolton, come back heroically to draw with Arsenal away from home with two last gasp goals, and beaten Liverpool with another 11th hour winner. The north Londoners remain deep in the mire, but there’s no denying they are now a team rejuvenated, with previously confidence-shorn players like David Bentley looking as if they’ve been given a new lease of life. It has been a consistent pattern throughout Redknapp’s managerial career, starting at Bournemouth, then West Ham (the club with which he is still most closely associated), Portsmouth (where he spent two spells, which included an FA Cup victory last season), Southampton and now Tottenham. And yet, despite his demonstrable ability to motivate and get the best out of his players, Redknapp has never got near to the hot seat at one of the traditional big clubs either domestically or abroad. There was, briefly, talk of him landing the national job after Sven Goran Eriksson’s reign came to a bitter end, and the more Anglophilic sections of the British press began campaigning for a return to a domestic-born manager. But it was never likely to become reality. The commonly held belief has always been that Redknapp’s face has simply not fitted. He has suffered for reaching his peak years as a manager at a time when the influx of foreign coaches had created a policy of positive discrimination against English bosses, whose methods are assumed to be crude and antiquated. And no-one embodied this insular dogma more than ‘Appy ‘Arry. In actual fact, contrary to popular opinion, Redknapp’s tactics mark him out as one of the Premiership’s more progressive coaches. One of his first decisions at Tottenham was to move Croatian midfielder Luka Modric into a floating role behind the main striker. Instantly the fruits were born.

This is not to say Redknapp’s career has been unblemished by failure or disappointment. His tenures at both Bournemouth and Southampton were tainted by relegation, and whilst he successfully consolidated West Ham as a top half Premiership club, there was never any real sign that he was capable of pushing them on to the next level. Another factor to consider in any retrospective of his West Ham years is the emergence of a remarkable troupe of home-grown youngsters within just a few years of each other, including Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Frank Lampard, who would all go on to greater things. Not since Man Utd’s early 90s collection of brilliant kids – Giggs, Scholes, the Neville brothers, and David Beckham – has British football seen anything quite like it. And whilst it is West Ham’s scouting network that deserve the bulk of the praise, it was Redknap’s responsibility to bring them through at the right time, and help them refine their game to become the world class players we see today. Perhaps this scenario presented us with Redknapp’s talent in microcosm: the ability to understand, and connect with, the needs of footballers. After leaving West Ham in 2001 following an argument with the chairman over an interview he gave to a fanzine, Redknapp was soon back in a job with Portsmouth as their Director of Football, before replacing Graham Rix as manager. It would be the first of two spells at the south coast club, both of which were mitigated by circumstance. The first time round, his refusal to work with a Director of Football (despite initially being employed in that very role) hinted at an insularity and a lack of flexibility in his managerial style. It is, after all, a set-up that is used across the continent. So why not in England? The dispute led to Redknapp’s dismissal, and his managerial career appeared to be at a crossroads. But just months later he was back in work, angering fans of his old club by taking the job at Portsmouth’s arch rivals Southampton. However, relegation followed, and Redknapp was once again in the scrapheap. Then came an amazing U-turn as he returned to a struggling Portsmouth in December 2005 after patching up his differences with owner Milan Mandaric. Redknapp’s task was simple: escape relegation. A fine run of form at the end of the season, aided by the takeover of Portsmouth by the wealthy French businessman Alexandre Gaydamak (which provided Redknapp with significant funds to strengthen the team) ensured Portsmouth’s survival. “Harry Houdini” screamed the headlines, after Redknapp had completed yet another miracle act. But would he have been able to achieve the same results without the influx of cash? Could West Ham’s kids and Gaydamak’s deep pockets show that Redknapp’s greatest talent is being in the right place at the right time? His stint at Tottenham will perhaps provide us with the definitive answer. Whilst no longer considered a truly big club, the potential and the hunger for Champions League football at Spurs is something that Redknapp has never had to tackle at any of his previous clubs. Funds will be made available (although the credit crunch and Spurs owner Joe Lewis’s heavy investment in fallen bank Bear Stearns is likely to hit the transfer budget) and the club has recently announced plans to rebuild White Hart Lane into a 60,000 capacity arena. The foundations are there: now it is over to Harry. His first task, of course, will be to steer the club clear of relegation, after a disastrous start to the campaign. On that score, he has started magnificently. But for Redknapp to be remembered as anything more than a competent coach with a gift for man-management, he will need to do something he’s never achieved before: exceed expectations.

VENI,VIDI,

VIDIC

As Nemanja Vidic celebrates his third anniversary since arriving on English soil, ANGLOMANIA charts the rise and rise of one of the Premiership’s great foreign success stories photos: Magnus Ekström assistant: Mads Stigborg production: Malkit Singh styling: Christian Schleisner text: PAUL JOSEPH interview Véronique de freitas

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red jacket: PUMA

striped long-sleeved t-shirt: Cottonfield checked shirt: J. Lindeberg jeans: J. Lindeberg trainers: Puma jacket: Puma

The Ballon d’Or – also known as the European Footballer of the Year trophy – has always been dominated by artists, rather than artisans. But sometimes, just sometimes, a player emerges whose more prosaic talents are simply impossible to ignore. Nemanja Vidic, Manchester United’s Serbian international, is one of a rare breed: a defender from the Tony Adams, rather than the Franco Baresi, school of defending, who has made the 30-man shortlist for the prestigious award, presented by the French football magazine France Football and its illustrious voting panel. Equally surprising is the absence of Rio Ferdinand, Vidic’s regular partner in central defence at Old Trafford and the kind of ball-playing centre half who is typically favoured as part of the voting panel’s regular exercise in defensive tokenism. But make no mistake: Vidic’s inclusion is utterly deserved. Since arriving in England in January 2006, the 27-year-old has cemented his reputation as one of Europe’s most formidable defenders. His partnership with Ferdinand has provided the cornerstone for United’s haul of two Premiership titles and a Champions League victory in the last two seasons, and he has rapidly acquired cult status amongst the United faithful who marvel at his unquenchable thirst for clean sheets and his fearless approach to achieving them. An interview with a Russian magazine in August, in which he perpetuated the popular image of Manchester as rainy and dull, and cast doubts on his future at Old Trafford, threatened to damage the relationship. He had no intention, the interview said, to live in the city beyond his playing days. He also bemoaned the lack of options for a social life in England. “I will never stay to live in England, that’s for sure,” Vidic was quoted as saying. “You get only a brief glimpse of sunlight before it’s all cloudy again. The winters are mild, but in summer the temperatures seldom go higher than 20C. And it rains, rains, rains. In future, I would like to test myself in another top league. I’m thinking of Spain. At least there will be no reason to complain about the weather. In England, they say that Manchester is the city of rain. Its main attraction is considered to be the timetable at the railway station, where trains leave for other, less rainy cities.” Vidic was quick to retract the comments, claiming they were taken out of context, and the episode has largely been shrugged off by fans who appreciate that footballers and their words are often manipulated in such situations.

One indisputable fact is that Vidic has come too far to let it all slip now. Born to Dragoljub, a retired copper factory worker, and Zora, a bank clerk, Vidic was spotted by Red Star Belgrade while playing for local side Sloboda Užice aged 12. Two and a half years later, before his 15th birthday, Belgrade signed Vidic to their youth system. But it was not until the 2001/02 season that Vidic stamped his mark on Yugoslav football. He won the 2001/02 Yugoslav Cup and gained the captain’s armband, which he would hold for three trophy-laden years. Word began to spread of one of eastern Europe’s most promising young defenders. In 2004 he joined Russian giants Spartak Moscow for a fee that was reported to be the most expensive in the history of the Russian Premier League for a defender. But his move to one of the traditional European big leagues was always inevitable, and with its physical requirements English football was the obvious destination. The theory that old-school, ‘Row Z’ defenders cannot cut it in the more technical Spanish or Italian leagues is perhaps a self-fulfilling prophecy, with few players of this ilk willing to take the risk of exposing their limitations (remember Sol Campbell chose to stay in England despite offers from Barcelona and Inter Milan during his Tottenham days). But it remains a theory that has yet to be comprehensively debunked. And so it was that on January 5, 2006, Vidic signed for Manchester United for a reported fee of around £7 million, following two and a half years of interest from Sir Alex Ferguson. Within six months he had formed arguably the Premiership’s strongest defensive partnership. He began augmenting his defensive game with a healthy penchant for goals at the other end; his heading ability proving a dangerous weapon from set-pieces (his latest goal coming this season against Hull City at Old Trafford in a 4-3 victory). Comparisons began to be made with a United legend of yesteryear: Steve Bruce. Meanwhile Vidic’s personal life was also taking shape, and on July 17 he married Ana Ivanovic, an Economics student at the University of Belgrade. Together, they have a son named Luka. The individual plaudits were welcome, but true success in football is measured in the collective, and in his second full season at Old Trafford, Vidic was an integral part of Alex Ferguson’s second Champions League-winning team. He even managed to endear himself to United fans even further by inciting the sending off of Chelsea striker Didier Drogba during the Champions League final in May, which the Manchester club won on penalties. Drogba has since said he wished he’d “punched” Vidic during the incident. If Vidic takes to physical combat in anything like the same way he tackles the art of defending, then Drogba may well reflect that he chose the more sensible course of action.

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THE INTERVIEW

by Véronique de Freitas

Once you meet Nemanja Vidic, you realise that his striking resemblance to the Ivan Drago character in Rocky IV is merely on a physical level. Instead of the iron man persona played by Dolph Lundgren in the film, the Serbian defender is a friendly and down-to-earth guy who likes to joke and doesn’t take himself too seriously. ANGLOMANIA went to Manchester to meet the United guardian, and had a friendly chat about his career, his future at Manchester and his home country. How does it feel when football experts call you the best defender in the Premier League and Europe? (He smiles) It is always good when people speak good things about you. I am very proud of course. Once people say good things about you, this encourages you to give your best, to show them they were right. But it is not so good when they criticise you, but that’s the game. Why do you wear the number 15? I didn’t pick the number 15. A defender can choose between three numbers, it’s usually 16, 15 and...I don’t remember the third one. The 15 was available, but my number, the one I really wanted was 26. I had it for five years in Spartak Moscow and Red Star Belgrade. But then when the 26 became available I didn’t want to change, I was doing well with the 15, it is not that I am superstitious, but I didn’t want risk it. (He laughs) Which striker do you fear the most? I can’t say that I fear anybody on the pitch, but the player that is the most difficult to play against ...(he thinks) it is hard to say only one name because in this league (English) there are a lot of good strikers; Drogba, Adebayor, Van Persi...

Your Serbian team mate Zoran Tosic is joining Manchester United from Red Star Belgrade in January, what will be your advice to him? He plays in the national team but I don’t really know him that well. We have only played together three times. He is young and is a quality player. Unlike me when I came here, he will have somebody who went through the same experience. The only thing he needs to know is that I’ll be here to help him. This league is different, I came from Russia and Serbia where it is a different culture and different football and I had to learn how to play in the English league. Zoran cannot play the same football he plays in Europe. He needs to adapt his game to the one here. When he comes, he will need to adapt to the way we play and the way we train. It is tough here and every training session is hard. Where I come from, we used to rest before matches and on the day of the match, we would work really hard. Here, it is constant hard work; before, during and after the match. Who was your football hero when you were young? Dejan Savicevic and Vladimir Jugovic. They were part of the 1991’s European Cup with the Red Star Belgrade. Actually, all of the 91 Red Star team are my football heroes. Savicevic and Jugovic both played in front, when I was young I didn’t idolise defenders, I don’t know why. Having said that, did you always play in defence? I didn’t choose to be a defender. When I first started to play football, they gave me the right wing position but it didn’t last, I don’t think I was good enough, (he laughs) as a result, I ended up in defence. I don’t think players can choose where they want to play, it is the coach that tries us out and give us the best position.

...But you are lucky because the best strikers are in your own team, such as Rooney, Berbatov and Ronaldo (He smiles) Yes, it is true we have quality players at Manchester United. It is very good for me because I get to play against them during the training sessions and it improves the way I play.

In your opinion, what elements contribute to a good match and could you choose a favourite? This is a hard question. For a striker, it‘s when he scores a goal; for a defender, it is hard to say. I am satisfied when we win the match and I don’t conceive goals. If I don’t loose the ball, I feel happy, I feel like I have done my job. But to answer your question I would say when we won the Champions League.

Who is your best friend in the team?

Where would you like to finish your career? Manchester?

I have a very good relationship with Rio, he helped me a lot when I first came here and we have a good partnership on the pitch and outside. We understand each other well....(he stops and start to laugh) I mean friendship of course, nothing else, we are good friends.

I don’t know. I am still enjoying it here. England is home to the best football and Manchester is the best club. It is hard to go somewhere now after Manchester. I am happy here at the moment, but in the future I might think to move somewhere else. If I am healthy, I plan to play until I am 34 years old, so it is possible that at 33, I might decide to go somewhere else in Europe to finish my career, I don’t know, we never know in football; it is hard to predict.

How is your relationship with Sir Alex Ferguson? Very professional, he is the manager. He decides the team. He gave me the confidence in the beginning, when I needed it the most. He helped me a lot when I arrived at United. He is a good man. We have a good relationship but not only with me, he has a good rapport with all players. He is not strict, he understands the players but doesn’t push it, you need to know your limits. He does his best to help players. He is like a father, but if you do something wrong, he will tell you. He likes fun and likes to joke. He is a good coach and he knows how to deal with football players.

What do you miss the most from Serbia? I miss many things; family and friends, food like cevapi, pjeskavitsa (Serbian’s traditional food) and Turkish coffee to name a few. There are a lot of things, it is hard to pick one. Everyone misses home at times, when I go back it is relaxing, I just eat and drink coffee and do nothing. It is always good to go back home.

HORSE POWER of the SIX NATIONS photography by JOHN DAVIS

JASON ROBINSON

JONNY WILKINSON

THE LEGAL

ALIEN words: MICHAEL SCOTT CARTER photos: PAOLO REGIS

American basketball has an idiosyncratic genesis. In fact the ‘Land of Opportunity’ cannot even be credited with its conception: America can only be credited for its maturation. The origins generated in the land of almost opportunity and funny intonations and syntax – only distinguishable to Americans and the Mounties, the viva voce is debatable. This is the land that has a fiscal and monetary policy which goes by the mantra: ‘If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidise it.’ This is furthermore the country which lives by the original epigram: “Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all” (John Maynard Keynes). Travelling to the O2 arena on the Tube was an unusual experience for me as I half expected to be the only person going to the game. I could hardly imagine who would want to watch basketball in the land of Wembley, Wimbledon and the Brit’s interminable infatuation with the Oval. My thoughts on the matter where perhaps too narrow. Much to my surprise there was a Caribbean islander ‘unsundry’ Mother and her mid-teenage son sharing my carriage. She was attempting to converse with him, obviously very happy to have provided a cumshaw moment to connect with her son through a sport which he seemed to love. However, he was displaying his excitement in the classic teen characteristic of disenchanted, nonchalant, slouching in the chair – ‘too much hip in my hop way’. I found myself pondering what happened to his father. From what I could gather in my investigative bubble of eavesdropping and overanalysing, he was not around. Or maybe there was in a father-in-residence who was not able to accompany his son to this event. There is a long tradition of father and son camaraderie when it comes to sporting events; the concept is international and I couldn’t help thinking of my own father and our first trips to watch his favoUrite teams slaughter other men on the pitch – his teams became my teams, as is the general tradition.

Alighting from the train I entered what could only be described as the eye of the storm, the clouds stalking the earth like a roadside bomb waiting to mangle the unwitting target, the storm raging as I arrived upstairs into a sea of Americans and basketball-mad Brits of all descriptions. We were cattle herded to the entrance by the very polite London Underground workers and I half-expected a standard “Have a nice day” until remembering where I was. The passageway to the arena opened. I saw in the distance a small group of very sexy women all seemingly under the height of 5’3”, very scantily clad in tiny red and black outfits – the cheerleaders. They began to spill out around me, almost in slow motion whilst the other males in the vicinity ran for cover, yet I was perched like a rock in the raging rapids. Here I was, walking through these Lolitas of charm like an oil rig being passed by glorious yachts. Being the friendly American I am and wholeheartedly lacking in English reserve, I approached and enquired where they were from – the easiest way for an American to find common ground with my people. Just as I was beginning to work my way through the hand shakes, euphony and ‘hello kiss’ greetings of what seemed like 40 girls, their bulldog of a leader called them over to get ready. Such is life. They left me high and dry – a few more minutes and I may have been in a gloriously bad situation. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise; there was a game on after all. I searched for my American hotdog, which only ever seems to be sold at events where Americans will attend. I walked to my seat and watched two teams, neither of whom I support (I am a Chicago Bulls fan). This game with its big stars had almost no great plays in front of an audience that had no fan loyalty. This being the result of the viewers not being from Miami nor Jersey – where were the crowds manufacturing excitement? I observed that the NBA really ought to leave the dancing girls on longer during the time-outs and change overs. I’m simply waiting for the day the Bulls will visit the O2.

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FASHION

&BEAUTY new york fashion gareth pugh henry holland jonathan saunders richard nicoll becca spa

Gotham Glamour

No other metropolis has New York’s appetite for fashion. It has nurtured the styles, promoted the designers and expanded the marketplace – and now it by Penelope Rowlands sets the rules that others follow The city that is now New York began in the 1600s as a trading post, then grew into New Amsterdam – initially, a cluster of wooden houses, a pair of windmills, and a roughhewn port. The town grew rapidly as its residents prospered in the fur trade. Although there was a distinct rusticity to daily life, its most prosperous burghers and their wives lived almost as opulently as they had along the canals of Amsterdam. Men wore doublets and baggy breeches, long cloaks, and wide-brimmed hats. Their wives turned themselves out with elaborate ruffs around their necks and dresses with boned bodices, puffed shoulders, and full skirts. Fabrics were sumptuous – velvet, satin, and serge – and richly toned. Contemporary accounts describe these shades in evocative terms, as being the colour of roses, dead leaves, even ashes. It was only after the colonists wrested their upstart nation from the British that a distinctly American fashion vernacular arose. Celebrating the young country became a trend (just as it would, centuries later, after the 2001 attacks on New York’s World Trade Center). Newly victorious, American patriots resolved “to wear homegrown, homespun, and home-sewn clothes,” according to the fashion historian Caroline Rennolds. Even when New York was the nation’s capital, as it was until 1790, both Boston and Philadelphia rivalled it, even surpassed it, for commerce and culture. With the invention of steamships in the nineteenth century, the roiling Hudson River became more easily navigable than ever and New York City pulled ahead of the pack. With its burgeoning immigrant population – translation: cheap labour – and widely varied retail establishments it was soon on track to becoming the nation’s fashion capital. From that point on, it “was where style and fashion were most closely synchronised,” the fashion historian Caroline Rennolds Milbank has written. DRESSING THE NEW WORLD The nascent fashion industry thrived in Manhattan, growing, after 1885, “far more rapidly than any other industry,” according to Women’s Wear Daily (WWD). By 1900, mass manufacturing had arrived. The city’s immigrants went to work as seamstresses, cutters, and more in the workrooms where the first ready-to-wear clothes were made. A constellation of specialty shops and department stores opened, beginning with A. T. Stewart. Such emporiums as Ehrich Brothers and Lord & Taylor displayed French fashions in their windows, although only store-made versions were available; others, such as Henri Bendel, newly opened on 57th Street, provided exact replicas of Paris styles. Although chic New Yorkers still yearned for the latest from Paris, there was another kind of American Revolution brewing, one that, like its earlier

counterpart, called for greater independence from forces across the Atlantic. In 1912, the fashion columnist Anne Rittenhouse reported in the pages of the New York Times that “big wholesale houses have been modifying French fashions to suit American tastes for years and calling the output American”. A movement towards a more authentic vernacular was causing “widespread discussion up and down Fifth Avenue”. By the time the First World War broke out, when it seemed as if the Paris couturiers might shut down for its duration, the lack of a homegrown fashion industry seemed dire. Early in the war, Edna Woolman Chase, Vogue’s influential editor-in-chief, was riding on top of a double-decker Fifth Avenue bus – they had those then – when she came up with the idea of a “Fashion Fête,” which she described as “[…] a great show that would give the American designers a chance to see what they could do.” The result, held in November 1914 and featuring gowns by O’Hara and other dressmakers, was the first celebration of purely American fashion ever (and, as such, a precursor of today’s twice-annual New York Fashion Week in Bryant Park). But anything resembling a coherent local fashion scene was still decades away. At the time Elizabeth Hawes arrived in Manhattan, in the late 1920s, a few dressmakers dominated. And unlike Paris, where Edward Molyneux, Madeleine Vionnet and, most excitingly, Chanel – whose unstructured clothes trumped everything that came before – ruled, Manhattan had no couturiers at all, according to Hawes, “with the possible exception of Jessie Franklin Turner” who made custom tea gowns. She wasn’t Lanvin, but she would have to do. DESIGNERS UNVEILED It wasn’t until the 1930s that an organised New York fashion scene began to take hold. In 1932, Dorothy Shaver, the influential head of Lord & Taylor, began promoting local designers, including encouraging such couturiers as (the selfsame, opinionated) Elizabeth Hawes and Muriel King to branch out into ready-to-wear. And Eleanor Lambert, who had arrived in town from the Midwest in 1925, somehow or other invented the job of fashion publicist. Lambert, who would later become known for creating the International Best Dressed List, took up the cause of American fashion, as did such key magazine editors as Edna Chase – eternally at the helm of Vogue (she held the top job there for forty years) – and Harper’s Bazaar’s Carmel Snow. Vogue initiated its annual American Fashion issue in 1938, and by the time Snow, of Bazaar, hired a novice named Diana Vreeland and sent her to cover the local fashion industry (in part, it must be said, to keep the Paris action for herself), a certain gritty New York street, dense with apparel manufacturers, had become synonymous with fashion. A TELLTALE INSOUCIANCE “Simplicity is an element of American fashion, in terms of both manufacture and style, that cannot be overemphasised,” Milbank has written. No

European, particularly back in the more formal era before and during the War, could fully embrace – or even comprehend – the American mania for casual living. By European standards, even the most fashionable people in this country didn’t live that way at all.

subtle colors,” according to Ballard, was another outsized presence on the fashion scene. Although the creations of these and other designers, notably Mainbocher, were impeccably crafted, there was still an offhandedness to them, a telltale insouciance that seems distinctly American.

This stubborn antichic is at the heart of American style. Even so, there can be flights of elegance, perhaps never more than just after the War, when Charles James, Valentina, and other designers were creating garments that approached the standards of the French couture. James, an English-born former milliner who opened his couture house in 1940, was a master draper who favoured rich colorations and sumptuous fabrics, such as duchesse satin or faille. His most striking pieces were ballgowns – often two-toned and/or deliberately asymmetric. The elegant results brought him a roster of distinguished clients, among them – and what greater compliment? – both Schiaparelli and Chanel.

OUTSIZED BRITS In the 1960s New York exploded. The British invaded, turning everything on its head, and all anyone could talk about it seemed was youth and energy and a new kind of music that it’s hardly necessary to name. Vidal Sassoon made his name with bias-cut hair; Mary Quant conjured up truly fearless miniskirts, some landing at only nine inches above the knee. Like their counterparts in Swinging London, the women of New York took to wearing ankle-length boots in the softest leather, drastically short dresses, many with pop motifs, and asymmetrically cut hair. Fabrics included Mylar, plastic, even paper. Pantsuits, microminis – everything seemed new.

Valentina, a picturesquely temperamental Russian who “designed lovely, timeless clothes with almost daring simplicity in beautiful fabrics and

“Like all great times, the Sixties were about personalities,” Diana Vreeland once wrote – as she, the ultimate character herself, should know. As editor-

in-chief of Vogue she brought these outsized figures – many of them British – to her magazine, filling its cultural pages with rockers from Liverpool, theatre’s Angry Young Men, and more. Vogue’s covers in this era – including a classic Avedon close-up of a huge-eyed, aloofly beautiful Jean Shrimpton,

Like so many other boutiques of the day – Splendiferous was another – it wasn’t to last. Still, Betsey Johnson, Paraphernalia’s offbeat head designer, would go on to become a perennial in New York’s fashion world, part of a cresting wave of American designers, each one – yes, Diana – a personality.

her hair, a mass of curls, piled high on her head like so much luxuriant spaghetti – have an almost edible appeal. It was as if everything that came before, fashion-wise and otherwise, had been eclipsed.

Stephen Burrows weighed in with skintight jersey clothes for both men and women. In 1967, Norma Kamali opened her first boutique filled with mod wear from London, then gradually supplanted it with her own spacey designs.

MANIC ON MADISON For a time it looked as if New York might be, too, becoming, once again, just a fashion satellite as it had been to Paris for so long. But it quickly recast Britain’s Youthquake as its own. Suddenly the city was dotted with boutiques – a word that few in town had ever heard before, and fewer could pronounce. Never mind, it was soon – mangled or not – on every fashionable New Yorker’s lips. A loft-like shop named Paraphernalia, just up Madison Avenue from Sassoon’s, perfectly encapsulated the moment with silver lamé minidresses displayed on its walls as art and rock and roll so loud you could scarcely think to buy.

A former milliner named Halston, whose own emporium was on Madison, too, sounded a consistently elegant note with what WWD characterised as his “liquid jerseys, lush cashmeres, unconstructed separates”. Oscar de la Renta, a rising star who’d opened his own house in the mid-1960s, shrewdly incorporated some hippie and pop elements into his – gently fitted, always elegant – evening and day wear. NAMES THAT REMAIN Forget dressing America. From this point on, New York was dressing the world. De la Renta is just one local name, among others – Calvin Klein,

“Designers have appropriated every corner of Manhattan and beyond. They’ve absorbed the life to be found in even the most farflung neighbourhoods, translating it into clothes.” 88

â&#x20AC;&#x153;What is culture but a sense of the past continually revivified in the present act?â&#x20AC;?

-CECIL BEATON

Donna Karan, Ralph Lauren, and more – that emerged in this time and have gone on to assume global importance. Their looks are so famous that it’s almost redundant to describe them, from Karan’s serenely sensual styles, which can border on severity, to the seductive simplicity of Klein with, lately, its occasional nod to the Japanese avant-garde. Lauren virtually reimagined American life from the Wild West to WASP-wear, that offhand-almost-to-a-fault look that Hawes described so many years ago. Numerous other New York originals emerged at this time, among them such other perennials as Diane von Furstenberg, whose jersey wrap dresses became the uniform of legions of working women, and Koos van den Akker, a wizard of patchwork and fabric collage. Perry Ellis – dubbed “the contemporary Claire McCardell” by WWD – worked magic with a preppy-morphing-into-postmodern look, until his untimely death from AIDS – a disease that took a disproportionately high toll on Seventh Avenue, beginning in the early 1980s, and weaving insidiously through the story of fashion in New York. (Another contemporary master, Marc Jacobs, took over Ellis’s business until 1993.) THAT OTHER GENDER As a group, they “made a cowardly retreat from both the risks and the pleasures of fashion”, the fashion historian Anne Hollander once wrote (in Sex and Suits), adding that “[…] their dress has ever since been something of a bore.” She was talking about men, of course, a gender that, for decades, existed virtually outside the fashion world. Gone were the fops of the first years of the Republic, with their powdered wigs, tight britches, and fanciful fitted coats. By the twentieth century,

the only uniform, at least among professionals, was a suit, and it wavered only in the subtlest (read boring) ways – an extra button here, a wider lapel there. But then, thanks to 1960s-era Carnaby Street, that, too, was in play. The Beatles adopted the look most famously, whatever it happened to be: Stovepipe trousers, collarless suits, Nehru shirts. They had hairstyles, of all things! There seemed no limit to how much things could change. T-shirts and blue jeans ascended. Eventually, even Brooks Brothers, once the go-to destination for unchanging, boxy suits and resortwear in such high WASP colorations as pink and lime green, metamorphosed into a place of style. Everyone does it now, Karan, Lauren, Klein, of course; Perry Ellis, Geoffrey Beene, Tommy Hilfiger, too, and such relative newcomers as John Varvatos and Alexandre Plokhov, of the menswear label Cloak. Even rap singers and hip hop producers – well, at least one, Sean “Diddy” Combs – have gotten into the act. Combs founded Sean John in 1998 with such hipster wear as jumpsuits and fur-trimmed coats – luxurious, yet tough – a precursor, perhaps, to at least one cresting trend in New York menswear – that of “menergy,” a hypermasculine look. These designers share a common imperative – it’s No More Dull Men – one that’s long overdue. OFF THE GRID And then it was now. The grid that is Manhattan has expanded in every direction, with some designers and manufacturers eschewing Seventh Avenue altogether. “The Garment District is old-fashioned,” Alexandre Plokhov has pointed out (in Sonnet Stanfill’s New York Fashion). “It’s a little bit depressing; it’s too grey, too crowded. There is no inspiration there.”

Apparently it can be found just about everywhere else. Zac Posen produces his sometimes delicate creations, including ruffled mermaid gowns (with fishtails, of course), from a studio in SoHo while, in Chelsea, Derek Lam alchemises sportswear into high chic. Other designing talents have set up shop all over the place, including neighbourhoods – the Bowery, the Lower East Side – that aren’t too distant, in space, if not time, from long-ago New Amsterdam. And they’re all over the outlying boroughs, too. Today’s fashion speaks of the streets as never before. Everything is reflected in it: New York’s kamikaze bicycle messengers, its Wall Street tycoons, even its dismayingly large population of homeless people. Designers have appropriated every corner of Manhattan and beyond. They’ve absorbed the life to be found in even the most farflung neighbourhoods, translating it into clothes. The Fashion Exchange is working on overdrive, with the diversity – some might say insanity – of New York’s avenues and sidewalks being recycled by designers and manufacturers who reinterpret what they see, then return it back to the street. In this way, the city’s fashion, reworked and with a whole different price tag, finds its way into neighbourhoods where it never expected to be: Rich-wear takes root in the poorest possible quarters; ghetto looks fetch up on Park Avenue. MAD TALENT In other ways, too, today’s designers have been moving further afield. Mass market can be chic, a fact that was brought home in 2002, when the omnivorously talented Isaac Mizrahi signed up to design a line for Target, the discount retailer – a little black dress for $49.99 anyone? Recently, Vera Wang made a similarly surprising trip, in her case to Kohl’s. And there are always cautionary tales, such as the story of Miguel Adrover who drew well-deserved attention in 2000 for, in part, his brilliantly reconfigured take on a Burberry raincoat (inside out and backwards only begins to describe it). But

when he presented his last show, in 2005, he took his final bow in a T-shirt with the words “Anyone Seen a Backer?” on it. No one had, actually, and that was that. As the arc of these careers tells us, success and failure comes in many forms; the old categories are more elastic now, as optional as a Seventh Avenue address. New York is a far wider world than it was in the day of Hattie Carnegie suits. The industry is as exhilaratingly multicultural as the population it serves. Born in Iran, Behnaz Sarafpour produces clothes with what WWD calls “clean lines and zero crunch factor” (referring to the natural fibres she favours), while, in his latest collection, Naeem Khan, of Indian origin, came through with tribal-cut leather minidresses. These are just two of the city’s brightest talents – Isabel Toledo, Thakoon Panichgul, and others – who started their lives in distant places, and draw on them for inspiration. “THE PRESENT ACT” “What is culture but a sense of the past continually revivified in the present act?” Cecil Beaton, an earlier mad talent, once asked. He could as easily have been talking about fashion. The history of New York – from the fine silks of New Amsterdam to Mary McFadden’s wild pleats – lives on in its clothes. Today’s designers are borrowing from the past, inventing the future. There’s no way to know what’s next. “Classic, with a sense of madness,” is how Phillip Lim (of the label 3.1 Phillip Lim) described one of his recent lines. You could say that, from the beginning, fashion in the city has vacillated between the two. Traditional, yet deranged – and, as such, an inspiration. Welcome to New York. The above text is extracted from the giant-sized, limited-edition New York. Published by luxury Big Book specialists Gloria, New York is limited to 1,000 copies only. For further information, go to www.thenewyorkbook.com or call +44 (0) 870 279 7353

EASTERN FASHION BLOC by AMY TIPPER-HALE

The Truman Brewery looms over Brick Lane, an institution in itself. Its expansive space makes it ideal for exhibitions, catwalk shows, live performances and any other artistic mode the Hoxton hounds feel like expressing themselves through. The Brewery has hosted countless fashion shows, including fairly big names such as Preen, Matthew Williamson and Hussein Chalayan. The shows had increasingly successful acclaim – at a time when the East End was becoming more and more trendy with those in design, media and art, the Truman Brewery was poised to become a staple establishment in the world of fashion. As a result, the brewery formed a project to support young British designers break into the industry.

Fashion East is the love child of Lulu Kennedy and the Brewery owners. The non-profit project hosts a competition every year for new designers residing in the UK. Three winners are chosen after a panel of judges (which includes Jonathan Saunders – a previous Fashion East winner) have deemed the designers who create not only great designs but who also incorporate enough understanding of the fashion industry at an international level, and generate a strong signature look. The designers win a chance to present their catwalk collection to international press and buyers at London Fashion Week (where there is always a huge turn-out) as well as a £3,500 award and a selling stand at the LFW Exhibition; four designers in particular have done spectacularly after winning Fashion East...

THE STRUGGLING

GENIUS

British fashion has made sure it is the global heavyweight champion of eccentricity. Our models are largely extrovert with media friendly attitudes, our fashion hounds are never afraid to experiment in the world of vintage, and every so often we produce a designer like Gareth Pugh.

Nurtured by British Vogue and having a staunch supporter in the formidable presence of Anna Wintour, Pugh is the darling tearaway of the London fashion scene. Graduating from Central St. Martins in 2003, his final show attracted the attention of the publisher of Dazed & Confused, then two months after graduation he was participating in the reality show, The Fashion House. Which, incidentally, he hated. Despite his stint on possibly the most humiliating format of television programming, Pugh has always been regarded as a slightly cooler and edgier manifestation of the design world.

This is largely due to him living in a Peckham squat and being part of the !WOWOW! creative community, a shabby-chic and glamorous collective, and his continual challenges toward the set attitudes of clothing and design. Coned as fashion’s answer to the Chapman brothers by the Independent, Pugh has had a continual struggle to earn a penny from his creations – that is until a huge payoff by The Andam (Association Nationale Pour le Développement des Arts de la Mode) injected £120,000 into his label. Lack of funding has hardly hindered Gareth’s profile. Designing Kylie Minogue’s outfits over recent years including her Showgirl – The Greatest Hits Tour, and dressing Marilyn Manson has ensured that early design skills learnt at the English National Youth Theatre (at the mere age of 14) haven’t gone to waste.

THE INTERNATIONAL JOKER If Jonathan Saunders is the Golden Boy, and Gareth Pugh is the Eccentric

His most famous fashion moment to date has been the Fashion Groupies

then Henry Holland is fashion’s Greatest Gimmick. If there’s a designer that has fully transposed the catwalk and the London youth scene, that has made everything he’s created accessible to the urban generation and perfectly incorporated pop culture into his shows and concept, it’s House of Holland.

slogan t-shirts (we all know about them and coveted them for about ten minutes until he came up with his tartan-clad collection) which had in-house fashion cheekiness such as ‘Get Yer Freak On Giles Deacon’, ‘UHU Gareth Pugh’ and the flattering nod to Burberry’s creative director ‘Do Me Daily Christopher Bailey’. The catchy slogans are the brain children from his stint as Fashion Editor at Bliss magazine, where he had plenty of time to play around with the names of WAGs, celebrities and other media moguls.

He’s best friends with Agyness Deyn, which explains why she’s his house model and despite jetting off to do high-profile shoots all over the world, she’ll keep coming back to do his Fashion East shows and glorifying the catwalk at London Fashion Week spring/summer 2008 for Holland’s first complete show. Henry is convinced that the fashion world is centered around the East End, and most would agree - he met the House of Holland’s jewellery designer, Katie Hillier, during a drunken evening at members bar Shoreditch House.

His catwalks shows have always been a cause for celebration. One was based on a 1990’s Vogue picture of the tempestuous lovers, Stephanie Seymour and Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose. Teaming up with Levi’s for his spring/summer 2009 show, his inspiration came from American teen soap drama Beverley Hills 90210 – the collection even opened with the show’s theme tune.

THE GOLDEN GOOSE

When the students of London’s Central St. Martins lay their paint toxin

Alexander McQueen where he created the bird-of-paradise print that was a

infused heads down on their mascara smudged pillows, there is only one dream that invades subconsciously as they sleep; it is the dream that, after graduating with an MA and distinction from their class and gaining the respect of both staff and student alike, they are asked to design a print for Alexander McQueen’s spring/summer collection which becomes the most photographed of that year’s catwalk trends, then they wake one morning to find one of their designs is on the front cover of Vogue. Not only do they swirl in the critics’ acclaim, but they also manage to keep a level head throughout.

sensational success in 2003. Luckily for Saunders, it seemed that the British fashion scene was having a print revival on the catwalk, so his propulsion into the fashion scene couldn’t have been timed better.

The dream is based on the reality of Jonathan Saunders’ life. He graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 1999 and went on to graduate from St. Martins with an MA in printed textiles. He won the Lancôme Colour Awards in 2002 and then managed to obtain a commission from

Jonathan Saunders’ own work is now sold in the UK at Harrods and Harvey Nichols. He has created prints for Chloe and Pucci, and more of his own work is sold in the States at Neiman Marcus. Saunders actually seems to fare better in the States. The New York fashionistas love his clean lines and flair for colour, along with his body-hugging evening pieces. Most recently he’s teamed up with American brand Target, a sort of Primark or H&M clothing for the masses, making cheap but stylish clothing. Sort of. The collection looks rather dull, and seems to be a bit of a waste of talent – Is there any point in buying a beautiful print for it then to be wasted on low-cost fabrics? Maybe not – we shall see.

THE LADIES MAN

It takes quite a talent for a designer to be a true friend when it comes to the female form. Frequently designers craft creations that are beyond the imagination – firmly demonstrating why, exactly, not everyone with a Singer and a pincushion can associate themselves with fashion design. Even fewer are able to make the clothes flatter or make them truly wearable so that not only are they admired by the owner, but they are also loved.

Richard Nicoll has done huge favours for women on an international scale. His decisive tailoring – clean with a feminine edge – makes him the pet designer for fashionable women. His fans include Björk, Sofia Coppola, Christina Ricci, Tracy Emin, and one of the most fashionable (if not slightly erratic) dressers, Chlöe Sevigny. It seems that Nicoll has at one time or the other had his hand in every conceivable cookie jar; designing shirts for Jermyn Street shirt-maker

Thomas Pink, collections for Topshop, won Best Young Designer at Elle Style Awards, and his collections are stocked in more that 30 stores worldwide. Nicoll was quickly recognised as ‘talent’. He graduated from Central St. Martins with an MA in 2002, his graduate collection was bought up instantly by Dolce and Gabbana, ensuring the rest of the fashion world stood up and took notice. He, like Garath Pugh, won the prestigious French ANDAM award. With the money, he hired textile designer Meera Skight who has since bought a new femininity to his lines, expanding his willing consumer audience. The collections (and experiments) by Nicoll have been showcased at Fashion East three times, and he is also a staunch supporter of the organisation.

Reza Patisseries Prestige Caviar

345 Kensington High Road, W8 6NW 020 7602 3674 or 020 7603 0924 100

the house of boucheron Dangling the temptation of luxury and elegance before countless duchesses, countesses and the royalty of Europe, Boucheron has become synonymous with a grace and style that for 150 years has been unattributed to any other jewellery house. The first collection of jewellery, crafted in the nineteenth century, was displayed in the glass cases looking out from underneath the opulent arches of the Palais Royal. Frédéric Boucheron was a man born into a family who had made their living from drapery. Choosing for himself a different path other that of the textile trade, he became an apprentice of Jules Chaise at fourteen, later practicing under the wing of Tixier Deschamps a famous jeweler at the Palais Royal. Boucheron later won awards at the Universal Exhibitions of 1967 and 1889, ensuring international acclaim. Entwined in the story of a successful and affluently growing business, are the tales of romance and fairy stories of rich Maharaja’s and bejeweled princesses. The last Tsar of Russia, Tsar Nicolas was so besotted with the young Alix that he offered her a diadem of pearls and diamonds. She treasured the gift so much she was hardly ever photographed without wearing them. The Maharaja of Patiala (a keen cricketer and possibly the most extravagant of all the Maharaja’s of Patiala) bought grey iron cases to Boucheron on the 1st of August in 1928. The cases were overflowing with sapphires and rubies, along with 1,432 emeralds and 7,571 diamonds. Boucheron had the enviable task of setting these invaluable and barely cut stones, throughout a series of 149 orders in the Maharaja’s lifetime. The craftsmen and designers at Boucheron have often set new boundaries in the vogue for jewellery creations. As early as the 19th Century, their ingenuity was no different. Boucheron moved beyond the traditional designs of watches and focused on making them jewellery creations of their own. In 1920 the Secret Watch range had timepieces hidden under gold cases set with diamonds or crowned with plates of onyx and coral. The Marquise de Païva took her adornment matter into her own hands; Throughout the years of 1877 to 1884 her name appears almost twenty times in the Boucheron order books. Her collection of jewellery

by AMY TIPPER-HALE was beyond reproach – the most beautiful pieces were a yellow diamond with a cushion cut and an exemplary collection of precious stones, which included countless rubies, sapphires, diamonds and pearls. The beauty of the jewels created by Boucheron as early as the nineteenth century have not diminished in beauty or relevance centuries later. Camilla Parker-Bowles, the Duchess of Cornwall currently owns a honeycomb motif diadem given to her by Prince Charles. The diadem was created in 1921, for the frequent patron of Boucheron, Mrs. Ronald Greville. It was later given as a gift to the Queen Mother Elizabeth in 1942. For their 150th anniversary Boucheron have specially created unique and individually inspiring pieces to mark the event. One creation, based on the Queen of the Night flower, designed by Shaun Lean echoes the past achievements and flamboyant styles of the Boucheron house. The ephemeral flowers are carved in blackened gold and paved with both white and brown diamonds and sapphires, with the hearts of the flower encrusted with iridescent red rubies. Hidden beneath the thorns of the flower lies a pearl shaped sapphire, which is detachable and worn as a pendant. The emotive Quatre Ring with embossed gold gros grain, smooth polish diamond point and godron motifs in white, rose, yellow and chocolate gold set with diamonds, has been re-released for the Boucheron anniversary. Its stunning and original design, suited to both men and women, exemplify the diligence and eclectic fashions that Boucheron are able to incorporate into their collections. Another collaboration, this time between Boucheron and Richard Mille, brings the finite skills of technological advancement with the elegant and refined skills of jewellery making. The timepiece, the RM 018 Tourbillion wristwatch “Hommage á Boucheron,” has its wheels and clogs made from precious and semi-precious stones, the result is a stunning creation that marks well the progress through the ages of Boucheron’s faithful presence in the world of jewellery.

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Anglophilia

by: Uzo Oleh

cardigan: dunhill shirt: filippa k bow-tie: Agnes b

THIS PAGE cardigan: dunhill shirt: filippa k bow-tie: Agnes b trousers: agnes b shoes: sanders opposite page jumper: Lyle & Scott @ Urban Outfitters polo shirt: fred perry tie: rokit 104 shorts: agnes b

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jumper: john smedley knit T-shirt: john smedley

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THIS PAGE jacket: agnes b shirt: filippa k tie: rokit cardigan: dunhill opposite page jumper: J Lindenberg Denim @ Urban Outfitters shirt: rokit scarf: rokit tie: agnes b fashion: Daniel Adlem

@ www.phamousartists.com make-up: using Shu Uemura Ryutaro @ www.ryutaro.co.uk hair: Sunami

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The

biggest

splash by: Uzo Oleh

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vest and overall: lacoste shoes: vans scarf: skin and threads glasses: giorgio armani

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THIS PAGE overall: lee bangle: equip glasses: giorgio armani OPPOSITE PAGE all: LACOSTE socks: GALLO shoes: NATURALIZER 112

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dress: mink pink bikini: purr headband: schoolies 114

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THIS PAGE: T-shirt: LUCKY 13 shorts: hurley suspender: topman shoes: diesel OPPOSITE PAGE dress: PANI XOX shoes: CONVERSE ALL STAR necklace: EQUIP

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dress: PANI XOX necklace: EQUIP

fashion: Daniel Mantle hair and make-up: Martin Bray @ Lookproduction.com 118 retouching: bobby

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someone to watch over me

by PAUL DE LUNA121

THIS PAGE garter belt: Agent 122Provocateur panties: Agent Provocateur leggings: VICTORIA’s secret OPPOSITE PAGE hat: CREative costumes nyc jacket: CREative costumes nyc panties: gap leggings: VICTORIA’s secret

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bra: Elle MacPherson Intimates panties: Elle MacPherson Intimates butterfly wings: Creative Costumes NYC

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pants: agent provocateur corset: agent provocateur shoes: Christian louboutin

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THIS PAGE bra: Agent Provocateur panties: Agent Provocateur OPPOSITE PAGE hat: CREATIVE COSTUMES NYC jacket: CREATIVE COSTUMES NYC

photographs: Paul de Luna www.pauldeluna.com

styling: Diana Berneaga hair and make-up: Sergey Logvinov for MAC model: Jamie Gunns @ Muse NY (www.musenyc.com)

production: Double Barrel Productions

white

lines by ISHAY BOTBOL

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intricate knit jumper dress : JULIEN MACDONALD shoes: DONNA KARAN glasses: LINda farrow

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THIS PAGE dress: PINKO embellished sequinned jacket: PINKO OPPOSITE PAGE embellished silver jacket: MANISH ARORA

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THIS PAGE jacket: GAVIN DOUGLAS hairband: JOHNNY LOVES ROSIE dress: PINKO OPPOSITE PAGE oversized cardigan : Derecuny bow: johnny loves rosie

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THIS PAGE jumper dress: Julien Macdonald glasses: Linda Farrow OPPOSITE PAGE embellished silver jacket: MANISH ARORA

photographs: ISHAY BOTBOL styling: Irene Darko hair: Shinya Fukami make-up: NIEDIAN BIGGS model: Rahma Mohamed 137 IMG london

Chill Out The hot new cool range by MAC introduces snowflake lips and twinkle shimmer shades

compiled by NIEDIAN BIGGS

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1. This winter fight away the signs of dull skin with MAC’s Strobe Cream (£19.50). This lightweight cream adds an ultra-sheer wash of colour to help brighten dull winter skin by reflecting light off the skin, giving the perfect dewy complexion. Enriched with vitamins such as mulberry root extract and grape extract to moisturise and condition the skin 2. Rapidblack true black liquid liner £12 3. Icescape sheer pale pink lip gloss £10.50 4. Vellum Pale white duo-chrome with violet opalescent shimmer for eyes £10

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The Becca Make-up Academy Becca is one of Australia’s best-kept secrets, now firmly established in London. The brand is the brainchild of make-up artist Rebecca Morrice Williams. When the first make-up academy opened its doors in Chelsea, I felt duty-bound to book myself in for a lesson. The academy is located at Becca’s flagship boutique, with luxurious décor and champagne on arrival. Our teacher is Dunja Ghag, originally trained in Canada. Dunja has worked both internationally and in the UK as a professional make-up artist. Her CV is solid in all facets of the industry with a repertoire including editorial for numerous glossy magazines, film, and she’s a regular at London Fashion Week. I’m in more than capable hands and her lovely warm personality puts me at ease from the start. She starts with a breakdown of the different sections, comprised of three-hour sessions, three evenings a week. Each student will complete the course within the intimate and relaxed surroundings of the Becca Boutique, with a small class structure of no more than six students per course. Set in a truly comprehensive learning environment with the utmost individual attention given to each student. With all the preliminary information over, we get down to work. We begin looking at colour theory, understanding and preparing the skin, and as I only have this evening free we go straight to make-up – a one to one lesson that begins by looking at brush technique and capacity, why we use them and not the fallbackin-a-hurry finger. Each brush blends these products effortlessly over my skin. I explain to Dunja from the start that my skin is very sensitive to most foundations. I want a very natural look, so using Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector to brighten

by NIEDIAN BIGGS and radiate my skin was ideal; we then mixed it with Luminous Skin Colour Foundation. Dunja informs me they both have anti-oxidants, vitamins and broad spectrum of SPF20 to protect the skin. The products speak for themselves – each one is sheer, yet they are able to gradually build with colours to suit every skin tone. After only one-hour lesson I looked well and truly groomed. Not only did Dunja offer her expert knowledge and tips to me, most importantly she listened to her students and created such great rapport with them, tailoring the sections to meet individual skin needs. I have every confidence in this Academy becoming London’s most fashionable place to be seen. This is like Harrods VIP beauty service within a much more intimate surrounding.

BECCA says that whether you regard yourself as a novice or a maestro, this seven-week course will teach you the tricks of the trade and provide students with the skills and knowledge needed to achieve success in the beauty industry. The course includes an evening seminar teaching students how to blow dry and style hair. Students will finish the course with a photo shoot held in a studio. The course price is £3000.00 plus £1000.00 (plus VAT) for the BECCA Make-Up Kit, which contains everything you will need for the duration of the course. For further information please contact: Jenna Lees, 91a Pelham Street, London, SW7 2NL Email: Jenna@beccacosmetics.com Telephone: 020 7225 2501

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TAKE AWAY

compiled by NIEDIAN BIGGS

1. The BECCA Mineral SPF Primer (£33) is an essential product for winter sun-seekers, whether on the beach or the snow slopes. The unisex product creates a water-resistant finish so no need to re-apply after water sports. It is hydrating and oil free. Can be used as a standalone product or applied under make-up 2. BAKEL’s Collagen Firming Formula (£98) contains phyto collagen to firm and tone, D-Panthenol to stimulate cell production, aid in tissue repair and actively improve damaged skin as well as Vegetal Glycerin to maintain hydration levels and prevent water loss. It can be used day and/or evening as a complete action for face, eyes and neck

3. Hero product BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector,(£32) is designed to give even the most lifeless skin a beautiful glow as it boosts tired winter skin with its shimmering qualities. The moisturising product also contains SPF 20. Can be worn under, over or mixed in with foundation 4. The BECCA Beach Tint (£19) is a water-resistant stain for cheeks and lips, giving skin a natural looking flush that stays put. Being dual-use and multi-purpose, they are easy to use on holiday and small enough to carry around in your pocket. They are very hydrating and deliciously scented

5. BECCA Sheer hydrating lipsticks with subtle shine containing shea butter, cocoa butter and honey. Enriched in vitamin E to moisturise and protect the lips. Sheer Tint Lip Colour – Milla (black cherry) and (orangey red) both £21

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13 LIFESTYLE qatar marrakech mercedes mclaren the east end

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QATAR

THE GREAT NEW ESCAPE

by VéRONIQUE DE FREITAS photos PAOLO REGIS

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Qatar, a former pearl-fishing centre and once one of the poorest Gulf States, is now one of the richest countries in the region, thanks to the exploitation of large oil and gas fields since the 1940s 147

ASPETAR SPORTS HOSPITAL - QATAR’S ORTHOPAEDIC AND SPORTS MEDICINE HOSPITAL

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Qatar is set to be a leading source of supply for the UK in the years ahead. According to reports, this year the UK will need to import 40 percent of its gas demand, rising to 75 percent by 2015. Ruled by the Al-Thani family since the mid-1800s, Qatar transformed itself from a poor British protectorate noted mainly for pearling, into an independent state with significant oil and natural gas revenues. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Qatari economy was crippled by a continuous siphoning off of petroleum revenues by the Amir, who had ruled the country since 1972. His son, the current Amir HAMAD bin Khalifa Al-Thani, overthrew him in a bloodless coup in 1995. In 2001, Qatar resolved its longstanding border disputes with both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. As of 2007, oil and natural gas revenues had enabled Qatar to attain the highest per capita income in the world. Anyone who goes through the suburbs and outskirts of Doha will witness the Qatari government’s huge investment in sports. Doha successfully hosted the 2006 Asian Games and officials have since concentrated on bringing in famous athletes in various fields from all over the world. Sporting activities in Qatar Qatar has targeted itself as one of the world’s leading sports destinations The country also known as ‘the pearl‘ has had great success hosting sporting events and has welcomed many international sports stars such as Pete Sampras, Tim Henman, Boris Becker, Colin Montgomerie and Steve Ballisteros. The existing facilities are impressive and include Khalifa Stadium which seats 45,000 spectators, the 18-hole professionally designed Doha Golf Course, and Khalifa Tennis and Squash Stadium with 17 courts, swimming pool, and gymnasium. Horse Racing Horse racing is one of the oldest sports most favoured in this country. The Equestrian Club organizes a number of seasonal horse race meetings, in which the competition becomes more intense with hefty financial prizes offered for winners. International horse beauty contests held in the country are the main attraction and appreciated locally, regionally, and internationally. Falconry These birds of prey were used originally by Bedouins to hunt game, providing an important addition to their diets. In Qatar today, the tradition of falconry remains a major sporting activity during the hunting season from October to March. Out of season, owners and falcons continue with training exercises. The incredible eyesight of the falcon allows it to lock onto its prey; fly at speeds of over 100 kilometres per hour and dive at twice that rate. An important bond is created between owner and falcon, and the birds are treated with great care and respect. Golfing For the enthusiastic golfer, a visit to the Doha Golf Club is absolutely a must. This 18-hole, 7,181-yard, par 72 championship course was designed by Peter Harradine and has played host to major international golfing championships. A nine-hole floodlit academy course is also available as well as a splendid clubhouse with three restaurants and a golf shop. The

long-established Mesaiseed Golf Course also offers an outstanding course in addition to tennis courts and a swimming pool. Diving The warm, shallow waters of the Gulf make Qatar an ideal place for beginner divers. For the more enthusiastic, there is enough interest to keep the more experienced happily occupied, and many people acquire or fine-tune their skills here. Constructed of sunken cars and oil-drums, two artificial reefs have been built for scuba-diving and create a welcoming environment for marine life, including a large variety of fish, crustaceans and corals. Boating and Sailing Sailing is a preferred pastime with several private companies offer dinghies and windsurfers for rent, as well as sailing lessons for novice and experienced sailors. A sunset cruise on a traditional dhow in Doha Bay provides a stunning view of Doha at night, while luxury yachts can be rented for half and full-day fishing trips. Water Sports There are jet-skiing and water-skiing rentals, as well as pedal boat, water cycle, and kayak rentals. And for the extremely adventurous, try parasailing, surfing, or wind-surfing. Equipment is available through most hotels. When it comes to deep sea fishing, enthusiasts could not ask for more. Whether you are an expert or a novice, you will enjoy this experience. While you fish, a delicious barbecue is prepared onboard. The Qatar National Olympics Committee was established in 1979 to oversee the activities and participation of Qatar’s national teams in international, regional, and continental competitions. Its mission is to make sport and physical recreation available to men, women, and young people in the country to foster harmonious development in true Olympic spirit and in accordance with the Olympic Charter. A series of objectives has been developed to assist the QNOC in achieving its mandate. This committee has played an integral role in the Asian Games. Roaming markets is a great way of discovering the local specialities of Qatar, whether you’re looking for fresh produce, unique clothing or gourmet treats. Doha’s traditional market (Soogh) is a good place to spend half the day wandering the sundry alleys in search of unique items and bargains. It’s divided into different sections selling gold, electronics, perfumes and miscellaneous items. Roam the Persian section for the perfect place to get the quintessential Middle Eastern experience including smoking a water pipe, in Arabic it’s literally referred to as glass (shisha), with the difference here being that you will not get the sweet, fruit-flavoured tobacco most often used in other quarters, but rather pure, dried leaves which make for a more caustic smoke. The Qatar experience is a unique blend of adventure, leisure and Arabian tradition, from desert dune driving to exciting water sports, from fascinating museums to traditional markets. The ‘pearl’ is well on it’s way to realising its dream of becoming the new Dubai.

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THE SITE OF PEARL QATAR

EL-SAID FC STAFF

ASPIRE SPORT COMPLEX

CITY CENTRE

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ASPIRE SPORT COMPLEX

“THE FIRST URBAN BOUTIQUE HOTEL IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES” 2008 2nd Place Winner for Best New Lobby by the International Restaurant & Hotel Awards 819 South Flower Street l Los Angeles, CA 90017 l tel:(213)623-9904 l fax:(213)614-8010 James@ohotelgroup.com l www.ohotelgroup.com

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Minimalist Masterclass

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It was a romantic getaway planned with military precision. But nothing could prepare ANGLOMANIA’s Paul Joseph for the whims of fate that nearly turned his long weekend in Marrakech into the holiday from hell. Luckily, one of the city’s most luxurious hotels was on hand to soften the blow. Going away with your partner for the first time is fraught with danger. Disconnected from the comforting routine of home, left at the mercy of uncertainty and circumstance, a bad holiday can leave a stench of resentment that lingers over a budding relationship for weeks or months to follow. The perils begin long before touching down on foreign soil: the mere risk of a forgotten passport, a lengthy flight delay, or lost baggage giving rise to a pre-holiday tension that you both feel, but dare not admit. And then there is the spectre of 9/11, which has done nothing to lighten the emotional hazards of air travel. But whilst nervous fliers now have the menace of terrorism as an added reason to dread their journey, for the fairer sex, today’s airport presents an equally insidious threat: the 100mg rule. This outrageous violation of female dignity, which forbids liquids over 100mg being taken onto flights, will surely eventually result in a Hague tribunal. Whilst

There was just one final ingredient missing from my recipe for a successful holiday: accomodation. Marrakech’s recent tourism boom has given rise to a proliferation of ‘riads’ – a distinct type of independently-owned hotel based on Moroccan architecture and décor, and defined by the presence of an interior garden, courtyard and small swimming pool. They have been around for centuries, and are now ubiquitous. A website dedicated to boutique hotels threw up a variety of luxury riads across the city, ranging from the traditional to the contemporary. But one stood out from the crowd: the eight-room Rose Sultan. It promised an idyllic setting away from the magical chaos of central Marrakech. The words were enticing, the pictures stunning. We were sold. The Rose Sultan is indeed a gorgeous hotel and a masterclass in minimalism. Every inch of every detail has been painstakingly considered, not least by the owner, an intriguing Casablanca-born gentleman who comes from a background in luxury brand marketing. Still awaiting its first birthday, the hotel is clearly a labour of love, and his passion for architecture and interiors is evidenced by an array of lavish, design-themed coffee-table books intricately positioned across the living room. The theme of the hotel is sensual luxury with a traditional Moroccan twist.

parents travelling with children can always curb a tantrum by administering a smacked bottom, there is simply no proven remedy, no magic formula, no viable disciplinary measure available to subdue a grown woman who has

And from the ambient music to the enchanting aromas, strolling around the grounds is certainly an experience in sensory overload.

had her toiletries confiscated.

There do, however, remain teething problems. In our otherwise delightful room, (stripped down to its most basic features, in the most sensitive way) the sink was leaking, there was no waste-basket, and the lock was cumbersome to say the least. You also wonder how the current staff, numbering three (the owner, plus two other chaps with seemingly multifunctional roles including handyman, waiter and on-site taxi driver) would cope with fully occupied rooms. The two outdoor breakfast tables, which look out onto a jaw-droppingly beautiful swimming pool, would be a bit of a squeeze in the mornings.

As I was to discover at Gatwick Airport on the morning of my first trip away with Debra, my girlfriend of six months, this act of authorised thievery is liable to provoke a rallying cry of such passion and defiance that it would make William Wallace appear a meek and submissive apologist. You can almost hear it now in a camped-up version of Mel Gibson’s Braveheart: “You can take our lives, but you’ll never take… our make-up remover!” Truly, hell hath no fury like a woman shorn of her beautification apparatus. Nevertheless, whilst airport mishaps are hard to predict, there are still a few ways you can insulate yourself against possible holiday spoilers; and the trick is getting the basics right. Choose the right destination, in the right location, with a favourable climate, and you’re laughing. Or so the theory goes. It should be clarified, and placed firmly on the record, that I didn’t feel like I had much to worry about when it came to going away with Debra. She’s fun, adventurous, considerate, attentive, and, like me, a lover of the finer things in life. But armed with the wisdom that says complacency is the enemy of preparedness, I wanted to leave nothing to chance. I’d never been to Marrakech, nor Morocco, nor Africa – and neither had Debra. Our trip was planned for early October and after a wash-out British summer, the prospect of getting some warmth on our faces appealed to us both. One of the most popular short-break destinations outside of Europe, and boasting culture, cuisine and a climate that is most people’s idea of ‘perfect’, Marrakech seemed to fit the bill. Decision made.

The other temporary defect with the Rose Sultan is its location. There is a fine line between seclusion and isolation, and if true luxury can allow no compromise, the barren wasteland surrounding the hotel must be considered a fatal flaw. Approaching either by car or by foot, requiring the negotiation of mounds of dusty rocks and rubble, is simply objectionable, and until developers populate the vicinity with something – anything – more aesthetically pleasing, or at least create a makeshift road or walkway, the hotel will lose significant brownie points. Not least with unacquainted taxi drivers who cannot believe their eyes when instructed to navigate this vast stretch of desolate wilderness. The non-existent road signs also means the turn-off for the hotel is often missed. One of the few signs of life nearby is an equestrian club, which offers beginner, intermediate and advanced expeditions to all-comers. Amateur horse riding is one of those activities that seems pleasant in theory, but in practice is at best tedious, and at worst dangerous. Unfortunately my own experience fell into the latter category (I should state at this point that what happened in no way reflects badly on the Rose Sultan, which has no affiliation with the club, and is merely an incidental neighbour). During a snails-pace amble across a litter-strewn eyesore of nothingness, our horses were thrown into panic by an approaching donkey. The collective

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raking of hooves sounded distinctly to my untrained ears like the preamble to a retreating stampede and the look of panic on our guide’s face said it all. My own horse turned sharply and I was promptly thrown to the ground, with my knees taking the impact. That’s our holiday over then. Back at the horse club, the staff treated me well, giving me ice packs for my knees, and any other comforting items they could lay their hands on. But their attitude changed when, to my amazement, they told me I would still have to pay. I explained politely that I thought this unfair, and the atmosphere turned nasty. At this point, I just wanted to get back to my room and rest my battered knees, so I bit the bullet and paid up. What a disaster; and there was more to come. Our first night had been the perfect introduction to Marrakech. The awesome scale of Djemaa El-Fna square, with its snake charmers, food stalls, and electric atmosphere exceeded all expectations, while a short walk took us into the heart of the historical Medina and down a maze of sidestreets bustling with medieval commercial activity straight out of Aladdin. Donkeys, bicycles and motorbikes came out of nowhere like space invaders, before routinely passing, allowing us a few seconds of respite before the next wave. Caught up in this cauldron of brilliant Arabian mayhem, I was unaware that brewing away inside me was a stomach bug, more than likely sparked by the snail soup I had devoured in the Djemaa El-Fna. Twenty-four hours later, legs

already out of action following horsegate, I was suffering the consequences in A Big Way. In fairness to us both, we made the most of our remaining time in the city. Walking was painful, so we avoided the chaos of the city centre and instead headed for Nouvelle Ville, a tranquil neighbourhood west of the Medina, and home to the delightful Jardin Majorelle, a botanical garden and modern art retreat once owned by the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. Stepping into Nouvelle Ville feels like you’re in Europe again. Its wide boulevards lined with palm trees, cafes and designer stores is light years away from the old world feel of the religious Medina, where alcohol is banned and most women wear traditional burkhas. Our one remaining day was spent back at the hotel, lapping up the rays around the swimming pool and trying not to think about the horrors that surrounded us. It also gave us more time to enjoy one of the other delights of the Rose Sultan: the service. The staff were attentive without being intrusive, and even seemed to talk in a soothing, laconic tone that added to the sense of relaxation. It contributed greatly to our enjoyment of the trip, despite the misfortune of my accident and tummy troubles. And yes, we’re still together.

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The Silver Arrow

of the 21st Century 158

by VéRONIQUE DE FREITAS

About 15 years ago, McLaren F1 was declared the best car in the world – a lot of people believed that you couldn’t do anything better than that. But the years have passed, the “silver arrows”, as McLaren are called in Formula One, managed to win a couple of world titles with Mercedes and have proven their strength at creating sport and racing cars. A couple of years ago, they decided to take a new step and create another great sports car and this is how the Mercedes SLR McLaren was born. The car has a fabulously supreme design with performance that makes you tremble. The price may fly high, but the Mercedes SLR driving experience is priceless. The first model in the SLR family – the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Coupé – appeared in 2003 with striking swing-wing doors and styling elements borrowed from Formula One. Its supercharged V8-engine delivers an output of 460 kW/626 hp and accelerates the sports car from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.8 seconds. The top speed is 334 km/h. The body of the SLR, like those of the Mercedes-McLaren Formula One race cars, is made from carbon fibre composites – lightweight materials that demonstrate exemplary energy absorption, ensuring the highest standard of occupant protection. The SLR is also the world’s first series-produced car to have a front crash structure manufactured entirely from carbon fibres. Adaptive airbags, kneebags and sidebags, belt tensioners, high-performance ceramic brake discs and an automatically adaptive airbrake in the boot lid round off the range of safety equipment on board the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, setting new standards in this vehicle class. The price is 380,000 Euro (excluding VAT). 722 Edition The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 722 Edition, which followed in 2006, features more than 300 modified components. The super sports car serves up a boost of output, more dynamic chassis tuning, improved aerodynamics and a distinctly sporty interior. The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren is inspired by the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR of 1955. The company built the 300 SLR racing sports cars on the basis of the W 196 R Formula One racing car to compete in the 1955 sports car world championship at the Mille Miglia. With engine displacement pushed up from 2.5 to 3 litres, the 300-hp-plus powerhouse that gave its name to the new SLR, went on to become a truly legendary car. The 722 refers to the victory by Stirling Moss and his co-driver Denis Jenkinson in a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR with the starting number 722 (indicating a start time of 7:22 a.m). The SLR 722 Edition sprints from standstill to 100 km/h in a breathtaking 3.6 seconds; 200 km/h is reached in just another 10.2 seconds and the needle moves to 300 km/h in only 28.0 seconds. The top speed of 337 km/h is also above that of the SLR (334 km/h). The price is 400,000 Euro (excluding VAT). Roadster Last year, hip hop megastar 50 Cent rocked up in style to the 02 Arena in London for the UK leg of his world tour, driving a brand new MercedesBenz SLR McLaren Roadster. The Roadster, which was launched in 2007, combines the power of a high-performance sports car with the sophisticated allure of a luxury car. With the same stunning performance as its Coupé counterpart, the SLR Roadster accelerates from 0-62 mph in 3.8 seconds reaching a top speed of 207 mph. Its power comes from a handmade 5.5 litre supercharged V8 engine, which develops 626 hp and 780Nm. Like the Coupé, it is made of carbon fibre, a material that endows the vehicle with a very high degree of safety as well as extreme torsional stiffness at the same high level as the Coupé. The combination of this, with the racing type chassis gives rise to outstanding handling characteristics. The price is 415,000 Euro (excluding VAT).

SLR McLaren Roadster 722 S Introduced in 2008 as the latest model in the SLR family, the new Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster 722 S opens up astonishing dimensions when it comes to open-top driving. Delivering 478 kW/650 hp, acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.7 seconds and a maximum speed of 335 km/h, this two-seater cabriolet surpasses the existing benchmark among open-top super sports cars. Both vehicles feature a fully retractable and folding soft roof capable of withstanding such high speeds, and are made of carbon fibre. In addition to increased power, the new SLR McLaren Roadster 722 S features even more dynamic suspension tuning and improved aerodynamics. With its sporty, premium-quality interior and distinctive motorsport pedigree, the new SLR McLaren Roadster 722 S is limited to only 150 vehicles. Its price is 435,000 Euro (excluding VAT). THE 722 GT After repeated requests by enthusiastic SLR Club members, Mercedes-Benz agreed to develop, a track version of the SLR McLaren super sports car. The 722 GT, which is a tuned version of the SLR 722, was developed to compete in the SLR club Trophy racing series in Europe, a competition series forming part of the SLR club racetrack programme. Only 21 SLR 722 GTs were initially produced. Compared to the standard SLR 722 Edition, the SLR 722 GT has been uniquely and comprehensively re-engineered by British motor racing specialists Ray Mallock group (RML), especially with respect to the suspension, braking system, aerodynamics, interior and exhaust system. More than 400 components were redesigned in total. The SLR 722 GT also benefits from a dramatic weight reduction programme which takes over 320 kgs (700 lbs) off the total weight of the standard SLR. The car features new wider bodywork to accommodate 19 inch OZ racing wheels. The front grill vents have been removed and larger, free flowing air extractors sit on the hood and flank the side of the car. The rear has a racing wing and diffuser. The cars have an acceleration time of 3.3 seconds from standstill to 100 km/h. The maximum speed is 315 km/h. Its price is around two million pounds, with all GT owners being members of the SLR Club. THE SLR CLUB – The club for gentleman drivers Owners of the high-performance sports cars featured above come together as a select circle to enjoy exclusive events across Europe. The SLR Club is based at the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet, southern France. It was founded in 2006 at the same time as the launch of the SLR 722 Edition and gathers enthusiastic gentleman drivers and wealthy sports car collectors. This elite programme of events includes driver training under the instruction of international motor racing experts on the circuit and organised tours on roads in Europe. The purpose of the Club is to offer the SLR owner the opportunity to explore the capabilities of their high-performance sports car. Drivers can fully discover the car’s dynamics while learning how to control it confidently and skillfully during braking and evasive manoeuvres, on slalom courses and on the racetrack. In the Castellet, members can test their car to the limit and understand how to control it confidently. On the circuit Paul Ricard, they also benefit from the SLR Safety & Speed Academy driver training, where instructors such as David Coulthard give tips on how to drive their cutting-edge technology cars safely. In addition to the regular meetings in Le Castellet, the SLR Club also organises further events, including driving on other European racetracks including the North Loop of the Nürburgring. SLR customers can also take part in the famous Mille Miglia with their cars and a visit to the Formula One Grand Prix in Monaco.

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THE 722 HAS Motor-racing

blood coursing through its veins 160

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The MERCEDES SLR McLaren has technology way ahead of its time and an abundance of power 163

THE HIGH LIFE STYLISH OUTBOUND

by VĂŠRONIQUE DE FREITAS

More and more superyachts are being equipped to carry helicopters, which can be a convenient and very stylish form of transport for the rich and famous

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With the ability to take off and land almost anywhere, helicopters can be a convenient, time-saving, comfortable and stylish form of transport. Celebrities use them to be picked from airports directly to and from the yacht, to any city. Private jets are now seen as too flashy but helicopters have crept under the radar. EUROCOPTER, Franco-German company, one of the leading helicopter manufacturers is responsible for many of the high-profile 9,800 helicopters operated in 140 countries. For those conscious about the carbon footprint, Eurocopter also manufactures environmentally-friendly helicopters which are among the quietest in the world.

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WHEN HELICOPTERs MEET HIGH FASHION by VéRONIQUE DE FREITAS

It is no surprise that helicopters have recently become an attraction for fashion companies. Eurocopter and couture fashion house Hermès have partnered for a special version of the Eurocopter EC135 helicopter named ‘l’Hélicoptère par Hermès’. The EC135 is a twin-engined multimission helicopter designed for social use; it has a spacious cabin which can accommodate up to five passengers plus a pilot as well as several pieces of luggage. The interior was designed by Hermès so it features Hermès calf leather seats and leather trimmed controls. The cabin is enclosed in Hermès canvas and comes with binoculars. The ‘l’Hélicoptère par HERMES’ was launched last year to illustrate how technology and design can fuse for travelling to ‘greater heights’. As you can expect this helicopter is not for the average Joe; it is specifically aimed at the luxury traveller.

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One of the major modifications was made to the helicopter’s landing gear. Italian designer, Gabriel Pezzini, designed a completely new form with a new paint scheme, with similar treatment given to the door, handles and other exterior parts. The final design has a distinct style in the spirit of Hermès. The cabin features sliding doors which open to reveal a spacious and tranquil interior and all the main surfaces are covered ‘toile h’, one of Hermès’ signature canvases, which has been used to cover the company’s travelware since the 1920s. The seats and banquettes are covered in calf’s leather; the craftsmen used lots of leathers and fabrics to help soften the ambient noise. Even the smallest details were modified to create one coherent design. To separate the cabin from the cockpit, a sliding glass partition has been added.

The Art

of Giving

Gadget, gift or gimmick...get the latest in technologies little treats with a twist

by CLEO DAVIS

Looking like an Austin Powers shag-pad accessory, the retro style Sonic Chair is the provider of maximum audio listening pleasure for those who, literally want, music to their ears. All-round sound is perfected by three satellite speakers integrated into the interior of the chair. Ideal for bachelors and boyfriends, £5,000. www.sonicchair.de

Luxury laptop brand Ego has stepped up a gear with its latest collaboration with Bentley Motors. This plush looking piece of technology encompasses the ideals of the British Bentley; breathtaking power and performance, handcrafted luxury and bespoke design. Brains as well as beauty, it comes loaded with 160GB hard drive and the latest Microsoft Vista software. This limited edition item would suit anyone with a caviar taste of style. Prices start at £5,019. www.egoforbentley.com

The practical football table is finally here. The Offside Coffee Table doubles up as a coffee table, so you will have no problem finding a suitable place for this modern chrome and solid oak design, £1495. www.libertygames.co.uk

A screen with a sheen, this limited edition crystal 19” HD-ready LCD television from Marks & Spencer has been embellished with over 500 Swarovski crystals. It also includes an integrated DVD player and freeview receiver. Put the twinkle back in someone’s eye for only £399.

Keep your work safe with the latest invention, the Time Capsule, Apple’s stylish new Wi-Fi back-up drive, designed to work seamlessly with the Time Machine application to store a complete day-to-day history of all applications, videos, documents and any other files that you may want backed up. The perfect present

www.marksandspencer.com

for anyone with a lot of digital photos, £199. http://www.apple.com/uk

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Eastern

Districts by AMY TIPPER-HALE photos: DAVE GORMAN and GEOFF MACCORMACK

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First the artists came in droves, buying cheap studio space in discarded warehouses. The architects followed, dreaming of impossible landscapes rising from the crumbling brick of the East End. Companies of young designers wanted the ‘grit’ of industrial neighbourhoods rather than the predictable stability of the city-bought office space. Where once dock workers sat drinking pints of bitter, now sit young women in outsized vintage dresses and patent leather stilettos sliding off the bar stools. Hackney, through its lifetime, has been synonymous with frequent bouts of plague, poverty, racial violence, and infamous for its utter ruination during the Second World War. Hoxton, and later Bethnal Green were home to the notorious “Reggie” and “Ronnie” Kray brothers, the foremost organised crime leaders in London’s East End. They owned a series of nightclubs in the West End and enjoyed huge, fairly innocuous, celebrity. During the 50s and 60s they were mixing with other well-known names such as Frank Sinatra and Diana Dors – and being photographed by another East End legend, photographer David Bailey. Hackney with all its counterparts still has the highest crime rate in London. Most of the East End is downtrodden – the streets lined with discarded trash, KFC buckets and cans of Special Brew. It is only the areas in safe proximity of Liverpool Street station and the start of the city that have been reborn into playgrounds for the movers and shakers of urban regeneration. A heavy influx of immigration, beginning with the Huguenots in the 17th century right through to 20th Century Bangladeshi settlers, has always given the East End an authenticity that other parts of London lack when referring to their ‘diverse culture’. Brick lane is inundated with curry houses, Bethnal Green is a sari-shopping haven and spilling out between the gaps are countless noodle and sushi bars. It’s a huge testament to the growth of the middle class that Brick Lane now has organic cafés. The allure of plastic affluence is long dead. Nightclubs in South Kensington, Piccadilly and Knightsbridge have given way to the East End’s tribal dominance of ironically flamboyant bars, grotty old workers pubs playing obscure bands and the home of Jay Jopling’s White Cube Gallery. Hoxton was the first to become so achingly trendy that it almost hurt the paving stones on which countless bars, boutiques and restaurants sprawled across Old Street. Anyone who has visited Berlin’s Oranienburger Street, New York’s latter day Meat District or some of Moscow’s mysterious soviet blocks after dark will understand the allure of the East End. Disused railways, 1950’s and 60’s drab council estates covered in patchwork graffiti – most of it accomplishing an aesthetic beauty that far outweighs the dismal canvas of dilapidated concrete and morose brick-work. Shoreditch, Bethnal Green and Brick Lane have a vibrancy to them that is often associated with inner-city areas: the street markets of Morocco’s Djemaa el Fna, for instance, enjoys a far more colourful and turbulent atmosphere that its adjacent modern city. The East End can boast of some of London’s best nightclubs and bars.

Unpretentious (for the most part) and with prices kept relatively inexpensive as venues go without the same precarious price noose that haunts most of the West End, the areas around Shoreditch and Hoxton have become a favourite with students, recent media graduates and struggling artists. Men wear cardigans and Jarvis Cocker glasses, whereas women wear lumberjack shirts or anything Alexa Chung, Beth Ditto or Agyness Deyn happens to be wearing that month. The term ‘Hoxtonite’ has entered the urban dictionary; a derogative term used to describe an individual originating from the area of Hoxton and roundabout (in style at least, if not in birth). The also popular ‘Hoxton Hero’ is a term coined by ‘nu rave’ band Hadouken! who describe the Hoxton Hero as wearing “skinny fit jeans and dressed in pink” in their song That Boy That Girl. Despite the recent barrage of popular abuse aimed at the so-called Hoxtonites it’s important to remember that they have, in part, rejuvenated one of London’s most impoverished areas into a district of cool consumerism. With any rise in social credentials an area will inevitably suffer the speedy ‘open one week and shut down the next’ commercial endeavor, but there are some East End gems that have stood both the test of time and the thoroughfare of hoxtonites. Bethnal Green’s Bistrotheque, holed away in a disgruntled side street off the larger Mare Street, is a slightly more eloquent example of restaurant found in the area. The all-white warehouse dining space and more than adequately enjoyable menu ensure the Bistrotheque’s position on a Top Table booking website, but it’s the Cabaret room showing live drag performances led by a legendary and splendidly offensive Johnny Woo, that gives this upmarket dive its kudos. The Old Blue Last, a workingmen’s pub that’s been around for as long as it’s vivacious landlady, is the East End’s most gregarious drinking hole. Voted, slightly overenthusiastically, as “The Coolest Pub in the World” by NME, the establishment was made notorious by the artists Gilbert and George (who have their studio in the vicinity) and made famous for their hosting of great live bands and the possibility of seeing Tracey Emin sitting studiously in the corner. The unpredictability and sexually tectonic atmosphere of this corner of London has given it a shabby exclusivity. Tourists will often seek – but it’s unlikely they’ll find. The complex labyrinth of Hackney, blending the dire and brilliant, will frustrate visitors who have heard the area is happening, but they’re not sure where. One of Bethnal Green’s best badly kept secrets is The Seabright Arms. This typically old Victoriana pub, with its moulding carpets and cigarette-holed leather sofas, creates a devious disguise from one of the most popular venues for late night revelry in London. It hosts various (sometimes extremely unusual) music nights and closes whenever it chooses, which seems far later than is strictly legal. The East End may not aspire to the typically romantic British attributes that send flocks of tourists and wealthy property buyers to the South West of London. It has its own romance, and its own British eccentricity, enveloping a love of curry, industry and the most hallowed of all British pastimes, the pub.

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10 Things you need to know about the East End

1. A World War II civilian fatality occurred in Bethnal Green when an underground station was bombed, killing 170 2. The East Endâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Waltham Forest was the birthplace of David Beckham and former cricket captain, Graham Gooch 3. Jack the Ripper targeted the area of Whitechapel for his gruesome murders 4. Marc Bolan of T.Rex fame, grew up in post-war Hackney 5. The two most famous photographers of the 60s, David Bailey and Terence Donovan were both from the East End 6. THE East End has its own Murder Mile, the streets surrounding lower and upper Clapton 7. Designer Richard Nicoll has his studio on Kingsland Road in Shoreditch 8. 47 percent of the children in Hackney live in low-income households 9. Hackneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s River Lee will be one of the areas used to host the 2012 London Olympics 10. Alfred Hitchcock made many of his first films in Hoxton at the Gainsborough Studios 171

STUDIO HIRE__FULL PRODUCTION__LIGHTING/DIGITAL RENTAL__LOCATION LIBRARY

Wimbourne House 151-155 New North Road London N1 6TA t +44.207.684.7555 f +44.207.684.7556 e richard@snap-pro.com www.snap-pro.com 172

ART &

MUSIC david bowie mancini robert combas dinos chapman

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TALL TALES,

TEAPOTS

AND TRAVELS WITH

BOWIE by ANGHARAD WEBB

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The greatest chameleon in British music, David Bowie, has cast an enduring style shadow over our capital’s cool kids. Now, as a book celebrating that most subversive of cultural icons appears, we introduce the musicians, DJs and designers channelling London’s style history to create an allnew London Underground. A bright young wave of sight and sound, the new London underground, has emerged. It’s emanating everywhere, from the sixties beat basements of Finsbury Park to the back street design studios of Dalston. Driven by their apathy towards a post-modern England of manufactured music and replicated high streets, these contemporary taste-makers of London are looking to the cultural icons of London’s past for inspiration. The most experimental of London’s past heroes, David Bowie, in his myriad incarnations, has been an ever-present influence on the city’s movers and shakers. Inspired by Bowie’s pioneering Diamond Dogs era, the high-waisted trouser and cropped suit jacket currently sported by many a boy-about-town further demonstrates his iconic permanence, the look appearing frequently in sweaty Shoreditch music venues and on the catwalks of London Fashion Week. A timely reminder of that enduring influence comes from Bowie’s former backing singer and percussionist Geoff MacCormack (also known as Warren Peace) in his lavish tome, ‘From Station to Station: Travels With Bowie’. The book chronicles a surreal rock’n’roll journey, recalling MacCormack’s part in the tours of 1973 to 1976 with knowing wit and touching intimacy whilst picturing Bowie’s visual transformation from Ziggy Stardust to the Thin White Duke. MacCormack had been selling advertising space for a local newspaper when he first received the call from childhood friend David Jones, (now better known as Bowie) informing him that he was soon to embark on a tour of the US, UK and Japan as a member of Ziggy Stardust’s backing band, The Spiders From Mars. MacCormack recounts that life changing phone call with typical understatement, “Let’s just say it wasn’t the hardest decision I’ve ever made”.

Bowie’s fear of flying heralded the start of a world trip by road, boat and train. A journey that took in the sights of the American mid-west, the desolate nomans land between East and West Berlin, and Soviet Russia by way of the Trans-Siberian Railway. What follows is a tale encompassing onstage antics, debauched teapot smashing and chance encounters with the female sex accompanied by MacCormack’s previously unpublished collection of impromptu snapshots and tour memorabilia. These hidden treasures imbue MacCormack’s commentary with a sense of bittersweet familiarity resulting in an intimate account of a rock’n’roll journey that was to span three hectic years and six albums from Aladdin Sane to Station to Station. FROM DARK WAVE TO ELECTRO-POP MEET THE LONDON UNDERGROUND’S BEST NEW BANDS It was the influence of Bowie’s later reinvention as an experimentalist in electronic sound that was to seep its way in to the dark-wave noise music made by the London scene’s latest alternative heartthrobs: S.C.U.M. This black-clad teenage five-piece began as a product of London’s forwardthinking underage music movement and evolved to become an underground force to be reckoned with. Now producing a futurist sound that merges echoing vocals with doom-laden synthesisers and raw bass lines, S.C.U.M have released their debut single Visions Arise to critical acclaim. Having recently worked with Polydor’s Loog records it seems that the band, who took their moniker from an anti-patriarchal manifesto by radical feminist Valerie Solanas, will soon be emerging like a dark wave from the scene that spawned them. “Its very exciting for us to be part of the underground scene and its great to think that we’re making new music for our own generation,” bassist Huw Webb explains, “As an artist David Bowie was one of the select few to change his style and musical genre a number of times and still be accepted by his audience. He’s left a lot of influences for new scenes to embrace.”

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AN EXTRACT From Station To Station: Travels With Bowie, 1973-1976

by GEOFF MACCORMACK

DJ Shadow David eventually got round to renting a place in Los Angeles on Doheny Drive. Mostly I stayed with the Lippmans. Nancy would lend me her bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle convertible. Nancy was a teacher at a local school and I would drive her there in the morning and collect her late in the afternoon. I loved that little car: driving around town with the top down in the LA sunshine was magic. If I wasn’t at the Lippmans quite often I would stay with my Chicago girl who would occasionally lend me her sports car. A car in LA is essential. Nobody walks. To walk in LA would be like streaking in London or Paris. It would be considered eccentric, to say the least. Sometimes I would go and hang out with Bowie at his rented bungalow. One night we were sitting on the floor of this long, oblong room. David had all his paraphernalia around him – books, papers, photographs, sketches and stuff – and we were listening to the radio. The DJ kept telling us it was William Shakespeare’s birthday, so I guess it must have been April 23rd, St George’s Day in England. The DJ’s name was, I think, The Shadow, and he kept playing English comedy records – snippets of Monty Python, The Goon Show and other more obscure material (obscure for the local Los Angeles populace anyway) – to celebrate the great bard’s birth. At some point in the middle of the night, when we were both pretty wired, David suggested we conduct an extra-sensory perception test using me as the medium. He asked me to think of an object that was – though not to our knowledge – in the room. I was then to write down a description of it. I concentrated as hard as a truly wired person can and wrote down four words: ‘pyramid’, ‘windows’, ‘children’ and ‘tree’. We then searched the room for any item that might bear any correlation to one or more of my thoughts. We searched for quite a time, on table-tops, book cases and in cupboards, but we couldn’t find anything. All the while The Shadow was reminding us it was Shakespeare’s birthday and playing more British comedy sketches as well as a very tasteful selection of contemporary music. As we were about to give up the search David, without much hope, pulled out a drawer that we had already looked in and found to be empty. This time we saw something wedged in the back. Pulling it out David looked at it open mouthed and wide-eyed, as if he’d forgotten how to blink. ‘Shit,’ he said, and handed it to me. It was a Christmas card, about eight inches by eight. On the front was a picture of a Christmas tree in the shape of a pyramid. The tree was adorned with little windows that, when flipped open, revealed the happy, smiling faces of children. We tried the experiment a couple more times with absolutely no success whatsoever. We assumed that was spirit talk for ‘leave ‘em laughing’.

Meanwhile, as the DJ kept telling us, it was still Bill Shakespeare’s birthday. We decided that, since we were English, we would go and see The Shadow and take him a present. By now it was daylight but still very early – maybe five in the morning. With no stores open we thought we’d make him something ourselves. We took a book from a shelf, re-covered it and titled it ‘The Complete Works of Shakespeare’. We found out where the radio station was, climbed into David’s hired Merc and drove off. There was no one on the roads at that hour, except for the Mexican gardeners, so we were at the studio in no time. As we pulled up The Shadow, for the first time all night, played a Bowie track. As we entered the reception there was a guy descending a set of stairs to our left. He looked at David, did a visible double take, turned about face and ran back up the stairs looking like a cross between Groucho Marx and Basil Fawlty. However, he quickly composed himself and was soon leading us to The Shadow. We entered the studio with Bowie’s Young Americans still on the turntable. ‘I do not believe this,’ said The Shadow. We gave him his book, signed from the two of us, and he was extremely delighted with it. We had a quick chat and left. As we were driving back down Sunset Strip towards Doheny Drive The Shadow came back on air. ‘You are not going to believe this,’ he said, ‘David Bowie just walked into my studio with his friend, Geoff, and they gave me a book on William Shakespeare that isn’t really a book on William Shakespeare… It’s really a book about quantum mechanics… it just says it’s William Shakespeare on the cover… but he was really just here in my studio talking to me with his friend Geoff… and they only left about five minutes ago… and…’ As we listened to him stumble chaotically through his tale, it occurred to us that nobody would believe him. After all, who would believe a man so ardently celebrating Shakespeare’s birthday in the middle of the night could apparently summon up the presence of David Bowie at six in the morning, just by playing one of his tracks? ‘Is the sun dimm’d that gnats do fly in it? The eagle suffers little birds to sing and is not careful what they mean thereby: knowing that with the shadow of his wings, he can at pleasure stint their melody.’ William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus © Copyright Geoff MacCormack Reprinted by kind permission of Genesis Publications Ltd. Available from www.genesis-publications.com Images available from www.rockarchive.com

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As the most experimental of Londonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s past heroes, David Bowie, in his myriad incarnations, has been an ever-present influence on the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s movers and shakers.

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Pop loves

Electronic Rock by ANGHARAD WEBB photography KEVIN JOSEPH

Heralding the arrival of Mancini, The band that will knock predictability ofF the charts, drive a new sound of electronic pop and turn heads with lead singer Iraina Mancini: The Bridget Bardot of a new era gently leading the band into the spotlight of festivals, television appearances and eventual infamy

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I was in another band at the time, Iraina came up to us at the end of a gig, really pissed, and said to me, ‘I’m better than your singer.’ I asked her to prove it and she did. The band evolved from there. JOSH DICKSON 183

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HERE to inject London’s guitar clogged indie scene with a much needed dose of sequinned-splashed electro pop glamour are Mancini, a WestLondon three piece whose sound takes the acid-soaked beats of early Primal Scream and throttles them with blasts of sensuously soaring female vocals. The female in question is Iraina Mancini, a Bardot-esque front-woman whose ice-cool harmonising and glam rock bravado make her a veritable Debbie Harry for the i-pod generation. With Josh Dickson on guitar and Amy McKnight on keys, the trio found themselves under the glare of the national spotlight in 2007 after making the final of the televised battle of the bands that was Channel 4’s Mobile Act Unsigned. Having soon attracted the attentions of producer extraordinaire Jagz Kooner, Mancini were now on their way to constructing a debut album packed with stomping electronic delights:

ANGLOMANIA. How did Mancini originally come together as a three-piece? JOSH DICKSON. I was in another band at the time, Iraina came up to us at the end of a gig, really pissed, and said to me, ‘I’m better than your singer.’ I asked her to prove it and she did. The band evolved from there. AMY McKNIGHT. Iraina and I went to school together. When she hooked up with Josh I got a phone call from her asking if I wanted to come and do some backing vocals. I thought it would be fun so I turned up and we ended up having our first gig together. Did you always have a clear idea of how you wanted the band to sound? IRAINA MANCINI. I think we did have quite clear views on where we wanted to go with the band. Musically, Josh and I were always on the same wavelength. It has been a long struggle to get the perfect sound, its gone through a lot of different stages, but now I think it has evolved to be quite near to what we originally wanted to achieve. JOSH. We definitely always wanted to have strong vocals and harmonies over beats, guitars and electro ideas. How are all three of you involved in the song writing process? JOSH. It still really varies on a track-by-track basis. Usually one of us will come up with a little bit of music, and then we’ll send it to each other over the internet and thrash it out that way. Sometimes one of us will have written a song that’s pretty complete and the others will add something to it like guitars or beats or production. You made it to the final of Channel 4’s Mobile Act Unsigned competition in 2007. Was that a positive experience considering the negative connotations attached to televised talent competitions?

IRAINA. I actually entered us just to see what would happen, it was a bit of a joke really. But actually, it turned out to be quite a positive thing. AMY. Doing the show worked out to our advantage because we got a great response from the public and a massive database of new fans. There might be twenty people who decide not to work with us because of it, but we’ve also gained many new fans who love our music and might buy the album. JOSH. Also, Mobile Act Unsigned does have more integrity than other shows because all the bands are writing and playing their own songs. Since the show you’ve teamed up with Big Life Management and begun work on your debut album. What did you make of the recording process?

IRAINA. We were lucky enough to work with a really great producer, Jagz Kooner. He’s worked with a lot of bands in the past that we really respect, including Primal Scream. He had a very clear idea of how he wanted the album to sound and it turned out to be exactly the same as what we wanted! AMY. When Jagz Kooner came on board our sound really came together. He was another person with the same visions as us but he has more of the means to shape it. Do you think you can hear a difference between the new tracks you’ve written for the album and the music you were making when you first got together? Iraina. Yeah, we have definitely found our sound. I think that the live experience we got from doing Mobile Act Unsigned gave us confidence and the more confidence you have the more your sound progresses. As an artist it is important to develop and grow, maybe our next album will go somewhere completely different. I think we’d get bored if it didn’t. With a single coming out in March and album appearing in June, it looks like 2009 is going to be a big year for Mancini – what are your plans for the next six months? JOSH. Hopefully we will do a support tour with a band we really like in preparation for the album, festivals over the summer, then ideally, poking around in other territories. Who would be your dream band to tour with? JOSH. Its unlikely but a band we could play with would be Primal Scream. IRAINA. At the end of the day we are an edgy pop band but we have so many influences we could pretty much play with anyone. We’re lucky that our music is quite diverse.

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At a darker end of the musical spectrum – girl-group Ipso Facto Like a shadowy vision in vintage lace they cast a hypnotic spell over the London music scene with their haunting sixties-inspired sound, seamlessly marrying eerie psychedelia with sparse post-punk rhythms. This po-faced brigade of black-lipped ingénues were originally drawn together a little over eighteen months ago, following a series of incidents involving burning kettles and a Holloway Road bus stop. 2008 has seen them graduate from the sweaty basement clubs of East London to the bright lights of a European tour supporting Alex Turner of The Artic Monkeys in his new project The Last Shadow Puppets. Their latest single, Six & Three Quarters, is a typically evocative layering of fairground style organ-lines, tumbling drum beats and very English harmonies – a sound that’s sure to sum up the girls’ debut album scheduled for release next spring. As the current darling of the London underground, Ipso Facto singer Rosie Cunningham has her own feelings about the scene: “The London underground has always been there, it’s just tastes that change. It’s always new otherwise it wouldn’t be underground.”

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THEY SPIN THEIR 7INCHES FROM SHOREDITCH TO SOHO – PREPARE TO GET DOWN ON THE DANCEFLOOR WITH YOUR NEW FAVOURITE DJs Mairead Nash and Tabitha Denholm are The Queens of Noize – an artfully shambolic DJ duo who, since 2002, have melted the heart of many an indie boy whilst keeping their fingers firmly to the pulse of London’s up-and-coming musical landscape. Now safely established as the stalwarts of the alternative club scene, The Queens began their DJing career by banging out sprawling five-hour sets at Shoreditch’s 333 bar. They soon moved on to reinvent Camden music venue The Barfly by providing a springboard for some of the decade’s biggest indie bands at their now legendary Friday night parties. With music collections comprising of a frivolous mash-up of 80s pop, cuttingedge new sounds and whatever else they can pull out of their record boxes fast enough, Mairead and Tabitha regularly get dance floors jumping at gigs, festivals and fashion parties. To catch the girls in action as DJs in residence, head to Soho’s Punk for the monthly Thursday night extravaganza that is Smash ‘n’ Grab. Having already set up a record label, The Queens’ next move towards musical domination is a Saturday night radio slot on BBC 6 music. Fright Night is a chance for the girls to share their particular brand of musical mayhem with the nation whilst, as ever, championing the newcomers.

Among the many aspirers to the Queens of Noize DJ throne are a couple of upstarts with an increasingly popular Thursday night event of their own. Once a month, under the light of a full moon, the great and good of the underground scene can be spotted migrating from the darkest depths of Brick Lane, Peckham and Ladbroke Grove to one of London’s most exclusive nightspots, Soho’s infamous members-only bar, Bungalow 8. On these occasions the sumptuous basement venue is home to Marriage; a club night that offers a surreal dance floor soundtrack composed of hot new bands, 60s 7 inches and obscure lounge music. The men responsible for every cool kid’s new favourite party are Faris Badwan, frontman of raucous London garage band The Horrors, and Robin Scott-Lawson, the creative force behind elite music events company, My Beautiful City.

One group of DJs known to grace the decks at Marriage is The She Set, a seven strong conglomerate of female record collectors with a combined musical knowledge encompassing everything from 50s rockabilly to 70s post punk and new underground noise. After cutting their teeth as resident DJs with Elephant and Castle’s Underage Club for pre-18 music lovers, The She Set went on to spin their vinyl at some of Britain and Europe’s coolest club nights. These days the girls are busy hosting The Sect, a monthly evening of retro musical shenanigans at Shoreditch’s Catch 22 Bar. You may find a member of The Klaxons or Tim Burgess of The Charlatans on DJ duties and, you never know, the underrehearsed punk band onstage might just be the next big thing.

With previous guest DJs ranging from notorious music video director Chris Cunningham to London party girl Peaches Geldof it’s lucky that resident club photographer James Kelly is always on hand to catch scenes of deck-side debauchery on camera.

FROM THE STREETS TO THE CATWALKWE INTRODUCE THE UNDERGROUND INFLUENCES FEEDING FASHION Behind an unassuming black door on a dusty Brick Lane side street stands the cavernous warehouse of nostalgic clothing delights that is Beyond Retro, London’s favourite spot for vintage clothes hunting.

“Bungalow 8 is a fairly upmarket club,” Faris explains, “But they drop the drinks prices on our night and let us do what we want. Consequently we have a totally credible event and get to play music that is simply not heard at any other night.”

For the past five years the shop has been the first stop for in-the-know East Londoners and fashion stylists on the lookout for that perfect sixties go-go dress or antique military jacket. With their ever-changing collection of one-off

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pieces ranging from historic Victorian bodices to 90s rave-wear (all sold to you by Shoreditch’s best dressed DJs, burlesque dancers and creatives), it’s unsurprising that the vibrant warehouse store has become a regular hangout for the London underground’s finest. Behind the scenes, however, the bright sparks at Beyond Retro are working on a project that has already had an impact on the fashion world at large. Founded by fashion historian Amber Butchart, the Beyond Retro Textile and Print Archive is a diligently organised collection of rare garments and fabrics that includes over 5,000 vintage print swatches dating from the Victorian era.

From their Mayfair headquarters the label has pioneered London’s drainpipe trouser revolution and created a unique design back catalogue bursting at the seams with must-have jewel coloured cocktail dresses. Establishing their own indie record label and dressing some of the worlds edgiest style icons (Agyness Deyn and Amy Winehouse among them) it seemed only natural for PPQ to head to the underground when sourcing inspiration for their first ever menswear collection. ‘Coffin’ Joe Spurgeon, drummer with London garage band The Horrors, was inspired to offer designer Molyneaux his services as a menswear collaborator after his band managed to get their dirty mitts on some of PPQ’s finely crafted

With the guidance of theatrical costumier Jenna Rossi-Camus, items from the archive have been exhibited and sold worldwide as design inspiration for both fashion designers and high street brands.

black silk blouses. The drummer returned to the Mayfair office a week later with a sketchbook full of design ideas that, with Molyneaux’s expertise, were to form the basis of the Autumn/Winter 08 collection.

“With vintage style informing so much of contemporary design, our archive is relevant to all creative industries,” Beyond Retro explains. “That includes apparel, interior, graphic and production design.”

“When I was sourcing ideas for the collection, a friend gave me a copy of Moonage Daydream, Mick Rock’s collection of David Bowie photos,” Coffin Joe recalls. “I liked the high-waisted pleated bell-bottoms and cropped jacket he wore in the late seventies but I adapted them to create a more sharply tailored look.”

Since its conception in 1992 by designers Amy Molyneaux and Percy Parker, irreverent fashion label PPQ has maintained its luxe aesthetic whilst cultivating links with the music and fashion underground.

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Following the success of the Bowie influenced collection, Coffin Joe’s relationship with PPQ is set to continue with plans for an Autumn/Winter 09 collection already underway.

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THE HORRORS

KLAXONS

depeche mode

the von bondies

mancini

joy division for warchild

PREVIEW by ANGHARAD WEBB

The Horrors In 2005 The Horrors escaped from their rundown seaside home-town and began a mission to wreak havoc on the nation’s music venues – they were soon whipping audiences into a frenzy with their raucous 20 minute sets, skintight drainpipe jeans and an all-new sound that married 60s garage sensibilities

emerged unscathed from the new wave era and went on to become one of the most influential groups of the past 25 years. The electro legends’ twelfth studio album, scheduled for an April release, was recorded in New York with U2 producer Ben Hillier at the helm. The follow-up to 2005’s Playing The Angel is tipped to be a perfectly crafted exercise in sublime electronica and will no doubt feature heavily

with creepy organ-lines and howling punk vocals. Fast-forward four years and the five-piece gang of former garage-goons have played Glastonbury, toured America, released a much-hyped debut album and become the stars of their own feature-length documentary. But, since the release of 2007’s growling, reverb-laden debut Strange House, the band’s small army of dedicated fans have waited with bated breath for their unlikely heroes’ next move. Having spent the summer of 2008 confined to a Bristol recording studio with their producer Geoff Barrow (one third of 90s trip-hop luminaries Portishead) The Horrors can now assure you that the wait for their second album is almost over. While the recent single Shadazz was recorded in tribute to Alan Vega of 70s band Suicide as part of the dark-wave master’s 60th birthday celebrations, it offered fans a tantalising taste of what was to come. The vox-continental organ had been replaced with a vintage synthesiser and the vocals pared down to create a slice of rhythmically pulsating shadowy-electro – a sound that is set to make a reappearance on the band’s forthcoming long player. The band’s organist Spider Webb told Anglomania: “A lot of interesting developments have taken place in The Horrors camp over the last 18 months and we are very excited to be unleashing the results in March.”

on the set-list for the band’s forthcoming Tour of the Universe.

LABEL: XL Recordings RELEASE DATE: March 2009

Klaxons Klaxons are the London four-piece who inadvertently spearheaded the ‘nu-rave’ movement in 2007 with a glow-stick shaking image and a sound that married melodic-indie pop with early 90s acid beats. The eagerly awaited second album is expected to abolish all memory of those nu-rave shenanigans as the band team up for a second time with producer James Ford (one half of dance act Simian Mobile Disco), who claims that the new record will be a musical step forward. Fortunately, the spot-on vocal harmonising that summed up the Mercury Prize winning debut Myths of the Near Future is here to stay. LABEL: Universal RELEASE DATE: Spring 2009

Depeche Mode As early pioneers of the synth-pop sound, Basildon band Depeche Mode

LABEL: EMI/Mute RELEASE DATE: April 2009

The Von Bondies The third album from Detroit garage-rockers The Von Bondies has been a long time coming. Five years to be precise. Recorded in Connecticut with a trio of alternative rock’n’roll’s most experienced producers, (Butch Walker, Rick Parker and Peter Katis) Love, Hate and Then There’s You signals a move away from the raw bluesy garage of the band’s earlier output. Limited edition 7” single Pale Bride offered a taster of an edgier sound and showed us what to expect from a ‘plugged-in’ Von Bondies. LABEL: Majordomo RELEASE DATE: February 2009

Mancini The debut album from Mobile Act Unsigned finalists Mancini is expected to establish the London-based trio as the electro-pop scene’s hottest new talent. If 2008’s free giveaway single Toybox is anything to go by, the unsuspecting public will be in for an onslaught of pounding electronica and soaring psychedelictinged vocals from the lovely Iraina Mancini and friends. With former Primal Scream producer Jagz Kooner on production duties you can expect tracks like the power-synth laden In The End to be a sensory treat for the ears. LABEL: Power Amp RELEASE DATE: Spring 2009

Warchild Originally due to appear in November last year, the release date of Warchild’s charity album Heroes was pushed back to spring 2009 to accommodate the massive response from artists raring to get involved. The album is set to feature an array of rare cover versions each handpicked for a modern act by the original artist themselves. With participants ranging from Paul McCartney through to Joy Division and Hot Chip the project promises conjure up a few unusual musical combinations and will certainly raise much-needed funds for children affected by war.

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BLOW YOUR MIND text: CLEO DAVIS

French born and bred painter and sculptor Robert Combas has been crafting his career on the art scene for over 30 years now. His latest creations bring him to London’s French Opera Gallery where his first major commercial solo exhibition was launched last month, entitled Blow Your Mind. At the young age of nine, keen to get creative, a young Combas attended weekly art classes until the age of 17. He then went on to study at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Montpellier, from 1975-8. Known by the experts for his paintings, the unassuming artist first made an impact back in the early eighties by introducing a new genre of paintings called Figuration Libre. Combas believes in the power of a more direct and less technical and sophisticated style of painting with portrayals of caricature-like characters. Blow Your Mind reveals scary cartoon-like monsters in angry dispositions, comic personages, musicians, tragedies and pornographic

portrayals of women. He uses a lot of references to graffiti, rock culture, comic book and media. The ‘free figure’ impressions in vivid play-paint colours are heavily occupied with thick bold black outlines that run throughout the works. Heavy on the eye in colour and detail, white space doesn’t exist in the world of Combas. Swirls and words decorate the backgrounds of the images. Combas thinks that nobody can paint instead of him, “Well, for me, being an artist is a privilege”. Robert Combas is one of the few popular artists in France who is recognised, appreciated, and praised by the public as well as professionals. Vulgar, disturbing, encapsulating are just few of the words that have been used to describe this collection but ‘chef d’oeuvre’ is yet to be used on this occasion...

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ANGLOMANIA PARTY AT ROBERT COMBAS EXHIBITION photos: PAOLO REGIS & PAUL Hampartsoumian

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1. HARRY, COFFIN JOE & GEOFF MACCORMACK 2. OLIVER ROTHSCHILD 3. ZUKI, NIEDIAN & HAYLEY 4. JAMES SUNSTEAD & FRIEND 5. VANESSA MIEDLER, JEAN-DAVID MALAT & REBECCA LOOS 6.GENEVIEVE COMBAS, FLORENCE & GILLES DYAN & ROBERT COMBAS 7. JEAN-DAVID MALAT & HUEY MORGAN 8. ROBERT COMBAS 9. MICHAEL SCOTT CARTER, JENNIFER MILLS & FRIENDS 10. FREDDIE ACON & PAUL PEARSON 11. HUEY MORGAN & FRIEND 12. PAUL PEARSON & LADY SYKES 13. MO SOW & FANNY BLANCHELAND 14. OLIVER ROTHSCHILD & FRIEND 15. PAUL PEARSON, JAMES SUNSTEAD, SHAUN GROSHAM & FRIENDS 16. LADY HENRIETTA ROUS 17. ZUKI & CLEO

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The Art of Subterranean Living by AMY TIPPER-HALE photos: LOUISE MELCHIOR, RICHARD DAVIES, PAUL TYAGI

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Dinos Chapman is one of Britain’s most controversial artists and has become an intrinsic part of the British art movement, alongside his artistic partner and brother, Jake Chapman. When I visit him at his home in Fashion Street, London, I find him making tea and feeding the dogs. A kind, warm character, he’s a far cry from the daemon of inappropriate art the media like to make out. He points to a dumpster below the window. The night before he’d seen two men snorting coke off them and urinating. Which is why, he explains, his latest building project at a reservoir in Kent couldn’t happen too soon. Why did Kent seem so appealing? We looked everywhere. I wanted to build something rather than buy something. We took trips to Devon and the southwest but although the areas are really nice, it’s actually impossible to get there. From the east end of London to the west it takes about an hour and a half. You would also be doing the journey at the same time as everyone else. It’s a place we can cause havoc without the neighbours complaining and where we can go to escape the mayhem of this area. How did you end up building on a reservoir? I spoke to the architect, Kevin Brennan, about doing another project and asked to keep his ears and eyes open for any space or area that might come along. Then he discovered the disused reservoir. Why an extra home in Britain rather than abroad? I like the idea of getting a place abroad but unless you’re totally in love with the area, you go a few times and then you’re bored. The best thing about summer holidays is going to places you haven’t been to. I have friends who bought a place in Trinidad, and as much as I like Trinidad, it’s not a place that I want to go for every holiday, every year. In Kent the kids can enjoy it when they’re older and there’s no fuss. The Kent house is not yet completed. How is the building work going? It started two years ago, with planning permission saying we could go straight ahead with it. Unfortunately we couldn’t start ‘til the end of the summer because they found slow worms in the area. The worms are still protected so we had to get in a specialist in to remove them, as they are considered rare in Europe – but not in Kent. It was a bit of a catch 22 situation, the locals regularly chop them up with lawnmowers, but there was nothing we could do. It cost us both our arms and legs. Will you be going with a similar modernist approach in the building of Kent, as you’ve done here in Fashion Street? It’s going to look very uncluttered. We have been poring over plans and it’s sort of going to be like a Bond villain’s hideaway. It comes from looking at science fiction films from the seventies, all made on really cheap budgets – for sets they scouted around for futuristic houses that were actually really interesting architectural designs. Is there any film or concept that has particularly influenced the design of the house? Rollerball. The party they have in his house. I think somewhere in the back of my mind I’ve been thinking – I want that big party with all the TV screens. It’s a fantasy to actually build something. It’s only just hit me that this is going to be such a major project and it’s going to be really interesting. It’s only until you put a hole in front of the building and look inside it you realise how big it is. It’s huge. It’s going to be very different to the Fashion Street house. It’s all on one floor, 7,000 square feet. I don’t know what it’s going to look like – I’ve got ideas about it but until its got walls on it we just won’t know. But that’s why its fun to do.

Do you thing there’s a design trend repeated in British housing – Modern, but not quite getting there? Its like when you look at G plan furniture – it all has a direct lineage to Bauhaus, so the modernism is there, but it’s been snuck in a very gentle way. G plan furniture is in all the trendy second hand furniture shops, but it’s the kind of stuff everybody hated! I think people here are not really up for interesting buildings – I don’t think the British people ever got particularly in to it. What do you think are the difficulties in designing and building your own house? I think that it’s just as easy to design a house nicely as it is to design a house badly. You can spend so much money and time building a mock Tudor bough house and when you drive out of London, you just see row upon row of these awful things. And they’re expensive. I think the difficulty is that if people were given the opportunity of having their house built, you find it is extremely expensive, and then having a house built by an architect can be extremely prohibitive. This is because there’s no culture of it, if more people wanted to build their own houses to a different set of rules it would be great, but people tend to do what they’re told. Do you think that modernism isn’t truly appreciated in this country? Yes, with everything: contempory art, music, design and architecture. I think there’s a cosines gene that we have. It doesn’t allow people to live in funny places. For about six months we had an empty, reverberating, modernist house and over the years we’ve filled it with junk. So really we need to build a new place to put all this junk. You’ve built with the architect Kevin Brennan on the house in Fashion Street and most recently the House in Kent. How do you find working with him? It’s like working with my brother making art – you kick each other along a bit. One person has an idea then the other person goes away and thinks about it, develops the idea and that way it becomes more extreme. With Kevin it’s been really interesting as it’s all been happening on paper. With Fashion Street lots of things changed during building, and it’s still being built. What Kevin is really good at is discovering space in places that don’t initially seem very spacious. He actually bought our old house in New Cross. When we had it, it was seemed smaller. You wouldn’t believe it’s the same house after what he’s done with it. Every time I go there I think, you practised on my house and you’ve done the best job on your own house. How much of your own art work goes in the house on Fashion Street? At the moment, not a lot. We did have loads up but the house doesn’t have much wall space. I have got loads of stuff in frames on the floor. I can’t be bothered to actually put them up – I do it so badly I just end up being so frustrated. I think once it’s all finished here I’ll hire someone to put the paintings up and be done with it. Do you work from home often? I do, I’ve got a studio downstairs in the basement and at the place in Kent I’ll have one too. But my studio is just down the road from here. I tend to work in the basement at night – it’s very quiet and I like working during the nighttime. It feels slightly subterranean. Are there any new projects looming in the future? They think Kent will be finished quickly. I’m a fiddler so I can’t not be doing anything. I need to keep building and having on-going projects. We’re always changing the house in London because we’re here all the time and it’s easy to become critical of what you’ve done.

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“ I think there’s a cosines gene that we have. It doesn’t allow people to live in funny places. ” 199

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FOCUS the drc african arenas michelle obama & oprah winfrey

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The Dark Heart

of Africa

by AYO ALLI

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There is a crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This large and extremely natural, resource rich country is pretty much the stereotype for the western perception of Africa as a continent full of ‘basket case’ countries. It also holds a special place in the popular imagination, being the setting of Joseph Conrad’s classic semiautobiographical book, Heart of Darkness – the tale of a white man’s journey up the great Congo River into the heart of Africa and the darkness in man’s soul Actually, crisis is pretty much the constant state of affairs in Congo. If you’re a country whose greatest period of stability – for want of a better word – was under ‘President The All Powerful Warrior’ who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, goes from conquest to conquest, leaving fire in his wake – then you know you’re really screwed. President Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga ruled DRC (Republic of Congo, then Zaire – as it was then known) for 32 years. His rule is what academics hold up as the perfect example of a ‘kleptocracy’ – a state whose political dispensation is set up for a small elite to steal everything of value. Not that Mobutu was the worst ruler Congo had, or even really invented the ‘kleptocracy’. That dubious honour goes to King Leopold II of Belgium. The conference on Africa he hosted in Brussels in the 1870s, marked the beginning of the real scramble by European countries for African territory that was formalised in Berlin in 1885. In fact, the reason he held (and paid for) the conference was to get a piece. The big distinction though, was that while other European countries had colonies, what is now DRC was mostly Leopold’s private domain; with another bit that now forms parts of Rwanda and Burundi, known as the Congo Free State, administered by the Belgian government. They say, ‘behind every great is a crime’. In some cases there are several – and crime barely comes close to a proper description where Congo is concerned. Leopold’s Congo was a grim and wretched place – if you were African. For a lot of the young Belgians who worked out there for the King, it was a place where fortunes were made. The explorer, Sir Henry Morton Stanley (of, “Doctor Livingstone, I presume!” fame) was the first Administrator for Leopold. The policies of Leopold’s kleptocracy were even grimmer than Mobutu’s. Africans had their hands cut off as a matter of routine – as a punishment; to make them work harder and meet quotas, or, sometimes just for the heck of it. A lot of the great fortunes, and the capital to invest and grow some of the banks and industries of Belgium and Holland, have their roots in Leopold’s Congo. Between 1885 and 1908 (when it stopped being his private dominion) it is estimated that 10-15 million Africans had been killed. After the international outrage caused by the articles of E. D. Morel, the woman who pioneered investigative journalism about Leopold’s Congo, administration was taken over by the Belgian state. Not that this was a significant improvement. When the Belgians left in 1960 less than five percent of the population was literate. Then Belgians and western commercial interests stoked ethnic tensions to counterbalance what they saw as the communist tendencies of Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, who sought technical assistance from the Soviet Union. When the province of Katanga seceded, they backed the army (Belgium even deployed troops), led by Mobutu to remove Lumumba from power, and eventually murdered him. After almost five years of instability, Mobutu eventually became president in 1965. Mobutu remained a western favourite to bulwark against the spread of communism in Africa, particularly after the Cubans got involved in the Angolan civil war in the 1970s.

The current crisis has its roots in the past. The fall of the USSR changed the necessity of western backing for Mobutu. He, like the Belgians before him, used ethnicity as a divide and rule tactic. The colonial borders ignored the fact that two particular ethnic groups – the Hutus and the Tutsis – are also large groups in both Rwanda and Burundi. This has had dire consequences for the stability of that region. In 1996 Mobutu backed the Hutus (who had largely carried out the genocide in Rwanda in 1994) against the Tutsis (largely the victims of the genocide). He had allowed Congo to be a refuge for the Hutu Interahamwe militia (a charming bunch whose name means ‘they who kill together’) to launch raids against Tutsi governed Rwanda. He ordered all Tutsi to be expelled from Congo on pain of death. This was a big mistake. The Tutsi regime of Paul Kigame, whose battle-hardened troops had fought across Rwanda from Uganda in the East and expelled the Interahamwe, promptly backed Laurent Kabila’s AFDL on the battlefield. As the AFDL marched into Kinshasa, Mobutu fled into exile. The situation in the country has been pretty dire since Mobutu’s fall. A three-way civil conflict ensued involving – directly and by proxy – Rwanda and Uganda (against the Kabila government) and Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia (for the Kabila government). Kabila was assassinated in 2001, and his son, Joseph, became president. He called for all party talks and a transition to multi-party democracy. A UN peacekeeping force was deployed, and elections were held, which Kabila JR ostensibly won. The conflict, however, has simmered away with a plethora of armed groups fighting all over the country. In a shameful indictment on the UN and the international community, it’s estimated that six million people have died in this war this century. There is a serious irony here. DRC is seriously blessed (or cursed) with abundant valuable natural resources. It has huge amounts of diamonds, cobalt, titanium, uranium, timber, gold, aluminium, copper and other valuable commodities. For instance, DRC is by far the world’s biggest source of Coltan, the ore of titanium that is crucial for making mobile phones, amongst other things. Despite the conflict (or perhaps because of it) a cheap steady source of Coltan is available for your latest i-phone, Blackberry, or Nokia. A further complication to the conflict is the growing Chinese presence in DRC. Laurent Nkunda – an ethnic Tutsi Congolese warlord – when launching his latest offensive cited a recent deal between the government and China to exchange infrastructure development for mineral rights as a causus belli. A cynic might argue that it’s in western interests to keep DRC fragile. A weak state makes it possible to extract resources cheaply (no taxes and no red tape). There are the usual images of fleeing refugees on our televisions intercut with the usual platitudes from the politicians about the need to do something. However, when western interests were seriously threatened by the Cubans (and hence their Soviet masters) from Angola in 1977/78, the French and the Belgians deployed troops with US logistical and political support. Truly there is darkness in the heart of Africa. And today, like the common error that’s made about Heart of Darkness, there is a misconception of where the darkness is. It’s in all our hearts.

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AFRICAN ARENAS 1999 to 2009 by Thomas Hoeffgen

The rough, dusty arenas of African suburban soccer, on the eve of the 21st century, are a great distance in time and facade from the lush green lawns of the 19th century’s aristocratic English football. These two worlds collide in Hoeffgen’s latest project, demonstrating how the fascination with this game transcends the fashions of age and culture. The African Arenas project seeks to portray today’s Africa through the lens of some of its urban, suburban, and middle-of-the-desert soccer fields: contrasting between two sticks rammed into a mud field to the high-rising light shafts of major league stadiums. His aesthetic precision is combined with a meditation on the variety of places, spaces and the vast range of people by whom soccer is being played. It is a vibrant portrait of a whole continent’s love of soccer and a tribute to its ability to nurture some of the world’s finest players. Thomas Hoeffgen’s pictures aim not only to show the soccer fields and their occupants, but also the often surprising contexts in which they are located. Just outside a township or close underneath a highway bridge, the nature of the game allows more or less informal arenas to arise virtually out of any street corner. For a few talented youngsters, social mobility can come about thanks to the love of the ball – shifting suddenly from bare feet to Adidas shoes. This epic portrait of Africa’s love of the game is based on a former soccer story Hoeffgen shot in Nigeria in 1999. In the final version, the emphasis will be on the principal soccer nations: East Congo, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Namibia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Egypt, South Africa, Cameroon, Rwanda and Angola: with a focus on players, training environments and landscapes.

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sister act by AYO ALLI

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They are both formidable, highly intelligent and successful women. They’re black. And they’re both based out of Chicago. Both their support was crucial in securing the election for Barak Obama. Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey are by some measures the most influential women in the world. Yet, despite their similarities, they both represent two quite different paths to success. Oprah needs little introduction. The world’s highest paid entertainer, with a fortune estimated at $2.7 billion, Oprah is the doyenne of the TV talkshow and all-round media mogul. She started her career in radio while she was still in high school. Her Oprah Winfrey Show is syndicated worldwide, and has been credited with developing the ‘confessional’ talkshow – characterised by empathising with her guest to draw them out. She also publishes two magazines, has a US-wide syndicated radio show, and various online, film and TV ventures. She is a huge cultural influence – she regularly makes books bestsellers by recommending them, and was even once blamed for causing a run on the price of beef and sued, unsuccessfully, by the Texan beef industry. Michelle Obama is a very different animal. She is the product of an Ivy League education. In some ways, she is the epitome of what Affirmative Action has delivered for African Americans. That doesn’t mean that she didn’t work extremely hard and earn the grades for her place at Princeton, or the Harvard Law School. But, without the financial assistance on offer and positive recruiting of top black students engendered by the Ivy League Affirmative Action, she probably wouldn’t have had the opportunities. She worked as a corporate lawyer for a Chicago law firm where she met her husband, the President-elect of the USA. She later moved into public service, working as a lawyer for Chicago mayor, Tom Daley, before taking up her current (soon to be former) role as a lawyer for a hospital. All the while she balanced career with dedicating time to bring up her two daughters. Both are undoubtedly role models for women, particularly black women. And both their stories really speak of the fulfilment of the American dream – with a twist, however. Theirs isn’t that dream of boundless consumption. They both share a belief about the need to give back. They see success – whether financial or educational – as bringing a responsibility to contribute to society. In an article in Newsweek earlier this year, Michelle Obama explained why she left the world of corporate law. “I started thinking about the fact that I went to some of the best schools in the country and I have no idea what I want to do. That kind of stuff got me worked up because I thought: This isn’t education. You can make money and have a nice degree. But what are you learning about giving back to the world, and finding your passion and letting that guide you, as opposed to the school you got into?” Oprah has built her career and fortune on her passion. She has a passion for communication. And fortuitously, after taking it as a degree at Tennessee State University, she’s become perhaps the world’s most financially successful communicator. She’s an extraordinarily empathic woman. She’s also one of the biggest philanthropists in the world (certainly the biggest in entertainment) – estimated to have given over $300 million by 2005. She has also, whatever you think of the style or the substance, given a platform to a huge amount of social issues, charitable projects, people, and causes over the years. The positive impact she has had on popular culture is vast, despite some of the justified criticism she has come in for. For instance, it was recently reported in the New York Times what an influence her show is for women in Saudi Arabia in their struggle for more rights. Even Michelle Obama, writing in Time in April this year, is effusive of her praise of Oprah, saying, “Using her platform to serve as a global role model, she challenges us to make the world as it is the world as it should be.”

Their respective roles in Barack Obama’s successful presidential campaign were also vaguely similar, yet strikingly different. Oprah, in the first time she’s ever endorsed a political candidate, talked about the more ephemeral way that Obama inspired her and could be an inspiration for America. Of course she did it in her trademark empathic style. Michelle, on the other hand, really sought to ground him – as a family man, with faults and foibles like we all have – so the voters could relate to him as a person, not just as an icon. It was The Cosby Show meets The West Wing, live in front of our very eyes. And while it is not possible to quantify the impact Michelle had on his success (very large), Oprah’s effect has been estimated by a University of Maryland study as being worth over two million extra votes for Obama – especially important in caucus states like Iowa, where victory in the primaries gave Obama the momentum to secure the Democratic Party nomination. Naturally enough, Oprah had come under fire from the right wing of American politics prior to endorsing Obama. Not only was her show the first to really give a public voice to gay, bisexual and transgender people on primetime network television – blurring the lines between ‘normal’ and ‘deviant’ behaviour; some of her political views were also objected to. For instance, Oprah, to her great credit, was the only one on mainstream American TV that opposed the Iraq invasion in 2003 – going to the length of showing clips of people from around the world pleading with the USA not to invade. Robert Shapiro, who is slightly to the right of Dick Cheney, wrote “Oprah is more than a cultural force – she’s a dangerous political force as well.” Michelle hasn’t exactly been spared from attack either. Some of it fair game in the rough and tumble of a presidential campaign, but some bordered on the ridiculous. Her fist bump with Barack made international news headlines after it was described as a ‘terrorist’ greeting gesture. Obviously those commentators have never interacted with young black people from the inner cities, so no surprises that they’d never seen it before. But perhaps the most controversial portrayal of her was on the cover of The New Yorker, where she was portrayed as a baby-carrying, afro-haired black power revolutionary (and he as an East African Muslim). It remains to be seen just what kind of cultural impact Michelle has as First lady of the USA. If, as some are predicting, the Obama presidency becomes the new Camelot (in the JFK not Arthurian sense) then it could be huge. Just think what an icon Jackie Kennedy was – she influenced everything from fashion to dancing to entertaining. She was definitely the Martha Stewart of her day, and the women that most others sought to emulate in America. Now the role of First Lady has expanded in both scope and importance – mirroring the growing power of women in American life since the 1960s. It is more or less an official office of state, with a staff and – if Hillary Clinton is an example – the ability to drive policy. This gives Michelle huge power. Also, the fact that she is the rock Barack depends on most gives her enormous influence. Of course there have been rumours and speculation that Michelle and Oprah have fallen out somewhat over the course of the campaign. And whether they are true or not is unimportant. What will be fascinating is to see if and how this relationship between the Obamas and Oprah develops over the course of the administration. More than most people, Oprah has a lot of hope invested in the Obama presidency. But the nitty gritty of the business of governing is very different from campaigning. Compromises must be made, and any decision invariably upsets some group or the other. Oprah’s expectations might outpace reality. It will be interesting to see how it all develops. It will also be interesting to see who is voted as the more influential woman in the world in numerous polls, surveys and opinions done every year. My money is on either Oprah or Michelle.

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THE WEIGHT OF THE

DOLLAR by AYO ALLI

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Money talks in great volumes. The dollar is a case in point. It is the grease that lubricates world trade and is pretty much a universal means of exchange. Oil, wheat, gold and other commodities are traded internationally in dollars. So are most other items, both legal and illegal. Perhaps more significantly, the dollar is the currency of popular culture. Spies, blackmailers, and terrorists on TV, both in real life and in films and books, all deal in dollars. So what does it actually say? Apart from the usual - legal tender that covers all debts and ‘In God We Trust’, the motto of the USA - the dollar bill also depicts on its face the great seal of the USA. The bill has some very interesting Latin script: Annuit Coeptis Novus Ordo Seclorum, which translates as ‘The Great Undertaking A New World Order’. The fact that it also has the Masonic symbol of an incomplete pyramid with the ‘all seeing eye’ at its apex has birthed thousands of conspiracy theories. But all that aside, it represents a statement of intent by America’s founding fathers. The USA was founded as a mercantilist meritocracy, meaning that its prosperity as a nation was dependant upon its supply of capital, and that the global volume of trade would be unchangeable by keeping all the nation’s trade internal or extending to its colonies. America’s foundations are not based on religion, heredity, or caste. Not surprising really. The early migrants to America from Britain were mainly religious malcontents (hence no state religion); cousins, second and third sons of aristocratic families (hence no political heredity) and non-guild trade professionals born outside guild families (so no caste). They were all businessmen. True, America is based on liberty – free men have a voice in decisions that affect them. To be more precise, the key idea was a liberty to do business. After all, the immediate cause of the American Revolution was ‘taxation without representation is tyranny’, the slogan created off the back of the 1765 British Stamp Act. History certainly has a sense of irony – it’s littered with it. Some of the most momentous and interesting turn of events are the unintended consequences of decisions and actions. It is the same with America. The founding fathers, the great proponents of their liberty and their equality, were mostly slave owners – and all believed that the rights of man didn’t extend to Africans. Women had few rights, and certainly no political rights. Look at where we are now: Presidentelect Obama, Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin (a black guy and two women) all being major actors in the 2008 elections. Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamur in illis – a somewhat pretentious way of saying, ‘times change and so do we’.

The main criteria seem to be population. One important distinction between the emergent world order and the order envisaged by America’s founding fathers is that human capital – both physical, though mainly intellectual – is becoming key. This is becoming the age of the knowledge economy. It is also still the age of markets – and a bigger population is a bigger market. Control of resources – particularly strategic resources like oil and gas, copper, platinum, for instance – is also a key factor. Another important aspect of these emergent global players is that they are mainly former colonies of European countries. China By far the most populous country in the world, China is the most obvious emerging nation. China is also the global manufacturing shop. Most of the cheap goods we consume are manufactured in China. It also is the world’s biggest international creditor – owed over $1 trillion by the USA alone. Its relationship with the US is somewhat complicated, and trust is thin on both sides. China is still a communist country, after all; occupied by most of the dominant world powers in the 19th Century. And as China’s economy expands, it is starting to compete with the US and Europe for raw materials, particularly in Africa. The Chinese model of state managed capitalism seems – in the current crisis – to be being adopted by both the USA and Europe. Along with its ever-expanding population and its nuclear power status, it is almost inevitable that China will become the world’s dominant power over the next 50 years. India With over a billion people, India is also an obvious emergent global player. It has also seen a massive growth in its economy and industrial base over the last 20 years. India is also the home of a burgeoning ITC industry, making it a key player in the emerging knowledge based economy. It has a few crucial advantages over China. It can tap into the service economy as English is the educational language in India. This is why all those call centre jobs get outsourced here. It has a slightly better educated population per capita, hence a slightly more sophisticated industrial base – the Nano car being an example of this. Also, India’s population is expanding much more rapidly, and it is likely to rival China for population in the next 50 years. As the world’s biggest democracy, India has a less complex relationship with the USA: firmly non-aligned. And while it is already a nuclear power, it causes Washington a lot less angst.

In another historical irony, it was perhaps the ‘reaching beyond their grasp’ of the Bush II administration that precipitated the teetering of the USA as a global hyperpower. Just ten years ago, there was even talk about the ‘end of history’ because of America’s unchallenged financial, military and cultural supremacy. As the current global economic crisis is testament, it seems to have also been financial and ideological. The shortcomings of unbridled mercantilism – totally deregulated capitalism, where debt can become equity and the market is perfect – lie exposed for all to see. It seems pretty obvious that debt is debt and we, who are far from perfect, are the market.

Brazil Another manufacturing powerhouse in the making, Brazil is the South American giant. It has a very sophisticated manufacturing base: particularly in engineering and chemicals. It also has control over vast resources – most of the Amazon is economically unexploited. As the custodian of the largest amount of biodiversity on the planet, it should emerge as a key player as the Biosciences industry develops. Although the growing concerns about the climate might hinder or even prevent economic exploitation of the Amazon basin. It also faces another strategic problem – the USA always considered Latin America as its sphere of strategic influence, what is known as the Monroe Doctrine. This might limit the scope of Brazil’s strategic influence over the rest of Latin America.

So what now for the ‘Great Undertaking’? To borrow a phrase, the kaleidoscope is in flux. In fact, we are almost overburdened with history, so quick is the pace of change and the march of great events. Barak Obama’s election as president – a case in point – is perhaps a reflection of America’s growing realisation that this is a multi-polar world. Having a leader who understands this is an advantage. The global issues of population, climate change, terrorism, trade, food and water supply are going to need global solutions. Problems can also be opportunities for the creation of new global players. If America is to maintain some of its hegemony, it’s going to have to develop a modus operandi to deal with these countries. So who are these likely to be over the next 50 years?

Russia Almost certainly the biggest bugbear as far as the USA is concerned. Russia is nuclear armed, and has the systems to deliver these weapons anywhere it chooses. The Cold War against the Russian dominated USSR has created a mindset of distrust for Russia in the USA (and vice versa). This makes relations between the two extremely complicated. The political clique in charge of Russia today being mostly ex-KGB (essentially the main US Cold War adversary) doesn’t help matters. Russia – the biggest country in the world by landmass – controls vast amounts of strategic natural resources, making it impossible to ignore. For instance, Russia supplies most of the gas used in Western Europe.

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This gives them enormous leverage over key US allies like Britain, Germany and Italy. The recent conflict in the South Caucasus illustrates how Russia feels when the US tries to encroach on what Russia feels is its sphere of influence. The Gulf Cooperative Countries This emerging superpower includes the countries of Quatar, Kuwait, Saudia Arabia, Oman, Bahrain and most influential of them all, the United Arab Emirates. Collectively they have the fastest growing economy in the world. A boom in oil and natural gases as well as a recent building investment surge, backed by decades of saved petroleum revenues have created a hub of wealth beyond the imaginings of most of Europe. A low population hasn’t hindered the Gulf’s emergence in power, the GDP of the collective is huge – and expected (according to IMF) to reach a $1,210.112 bill at the end of 2009. The recent recession in the global economy hasn’t greatly affected the Arab Emirates – not at least to the extent it’s affecting the rest of the world. Tripling the prices of crude oil has more or less led to the recent economic slump. A country that controls the majority of oil trade and that has brought America to its knees deserves a place on the superpower scale, but also needs to be watched closely. The Less Obvious Candidates South Africa South Africa is important not just as a manufacturing base – it has the most skilled workforce in Africa. It currently ranks 20th in the world in GDP terms. It also controls some of the key strategic minerals that help drive the ITC revolution. You can’t make superconductors without platinum, gold and copper; and you need diamonds to make precision tools. South Africa dominates the production of these minerals; and dominates southern Africa where most of them are found.

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Despite its wealth of natural resources, let us not ignore the fact that South Africa is a political disaster zone, and frequently raped by the other superpowers for the resources that could potentially drive it from its middleincome capacity. Most of the population lives in extreme poverty, South Africa has one of the highest rates of income inequalities in the world. Iran As a member of the ‘axis of evil’ and the country most likely to be attacked by the Americans and the Israelis, Iran isn’t an obvious choice. However, in another historical irony, Bush’s Iraqi misadventure has led to the possibility of Iran becoming the dominant power in the Middle East. Iraq is a majority Shia country, like the Islamic Republic, so any democratic government in Iraq will be most sympathetic to Iran. This has skewed the balance of power away from Sunni Saudi Arabia towards Shia Iran. And as the region will still dominate oil and gas production, Iran becomes more strategically important. In 1920, then US president Calvin Coolidge said, “the chief business of the American people is business,” and that “civilisation and profits go hand in hand”. To some degree, the aspiration of America’s founding fathers of a new world order – a mercantilist order – has come to pass. The USA is still the centre of this. It is almost impossible to imagine America as a fallen superpower, or even to imagine it bending to the will of new global players. Despite the shortcomings many may perceive it to have as a beacon of global supremacy, within its sprawling landmass democracy remains democratic – and that is where we will always find freedom and advancement: socially, politically and economically.

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One of the secrets to Project Kahn’s success is the selected clientele and their need for individuality. To build special vehicles for a small circle of people who have a taste for the finer things in life. Finest quality to the last detail. A. Kahn

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