Country & Town House - Sep/Oct 2025

Contents

COLUMNS

24 THE GOOD LIFE Alice B-B ’s body and mind get some serious heat

26 THE RURBANIST Ekow Eshun

208 LAST WORD Michael Hayman muses on the importance of music with Cathy Newman

STYLE

29 CHECK MATE Holland Cooper’s style icons

30 THE STYLIST It’s all about craft

33 THE EDIT Fashion, beauty and jewellery news

36 COUNTRY FLAIR Look the part

38 MY STYLE Shoe queen Penelope Chilvers

40 THE MAGPIE All that glitters

44 GOING AL FRESCO Shane C. Kurup on style-worthy threads for the great outdoors

47 FIELDING STYLE e urbanisation of traditional country clothes continues apace

HEALTH & WELLBEING

51 SKINCARE SPECIAL Olivia de Courcy edits 11 pages of everything you need to know about skincare, from how to prep properly to not neglecting your body in favour of your face

66 BODY & SOUL e skinny on creatine

68 THE NUTRITIONIST Dr Federica Amati advises us not to neglect our brains

70 THE SCOOP Worried about dementia? ere’s a test for that, says Lucy Cleland

CHELSEA ARTS FESTIVAL SPECIAL

73 CURTAIN CALL Introducing London’s latest cultural must-see, Chelsea Arts Festival

75 HOT TICKETS Festival highlights

78 GREAT EXPECTATIONS Ed Vaizey on the importance of festivals in British culture

80 GIRL ON FIRE Matt Wolf talks to Sheila Atim about voice, vision and choosing wisely

88 BALANCING THE BOOKS e Women’s Prize for Fiction turns 30. By Charlotte Metcalf

90 TALKING HEADS Matt Haig and Jordan Stephens have a lot more in common than you may think, says Katie Glass

93 BETWEEN THE LINES Meet Jack Edwards, the internet’s librarian. By Olivia Emily

96 WHAT LIES BENEATH Yasmin Zaher is defying what it means to be a modern-day Palestinian writer, says Belinda Bamber

98 RIBBON OF CREATIVITY Dylan Jones takes a nostalgic walk down the King’s Road

101 PASSION PLAYS Now at the helm of the Royal Court, David Byrne is bringing back its rebellious spirit, says Lucinda Baring

106 QUICK ON THE DRAW David Shrigley tells Olivia Cole why he’s campaigning for creativity

108 WELL VERSED Poetry’s recent revival might be down to Instagram, says Tessa Dunthorne

PHOTO: CARLA GULER; STYLING NICOLE SMALLWOOD

Blazer, shirt, tie, skirt, boots, all Vivienne Westwood

Contents

FEATURES

111 WORTH THE WEIGHT In preparation for her 50th birthday, Lucy Cleland builds arms Lara Croft would be proud of

116 THE PARTY GOES ON ink your clubbing days are over? Tessa Dunthorne on the return to the dance oor, led by Gen X

118 TAKE A VIEW Fashion gets a bucolic stage

128 CALL OF THE WILDLAND Anders Polvsen has become Scotland’s biggest landowner. Annabel Heseltine travels to WildLand to witness his rewilding vision for herself

137 GAME CHANGERS Meet the landowners for whom shooting and conservation work hand in hand. By Eleanor Doughty

ON DESIGN

141 e artists and craftspeople behind our houses are often the unsung heroes of design. For this special section, Carole Annett goes behind the scenes and meets some very special makers

TRAVEL

173 ROMANCING THE RAILS Juliet Herd boards the Bernina Express for a breathtaking train ride

176 ROMAN HOLIDAY Four very spoiling ideas for an autumnal Italian weekend

181 SPACE INVADERS e last frontier comes ever closer, says Francisca Kellett

184 ROLLING IN THE DEEP Want your young o spring to nd their scuba feet? Head to Oman, says Lucy Cleland

187 THE ESCAPIST Travel news

190 JURASSIC COAST When the apocalypse comes, Lucy Cleland is heading to Louma

192 THE WILDIST Fee Drummond launches her own retreat on the wild island of Formentera

FOOD & DRINK

195 MEXICAN WAVE omasina Miers’ latest cookbook is inspired by her recent six-month stay in the country

198 SW3ET Tessa Dunthorne on the best spots to get fed and watered during Chelsea Arts Festival

PROPERTY

201 GOLDEN OLDIE Old Chelsea has lasting appeal for those seeking characterful properties and a close-knit community, says Anna Tyzack

206 FIVE OF THE BEST Chelsea homes with artistic appeal

REGULARS

12 EDITOR’S LETTER

17 CONTRIBUTOR S

170 PARTY PEOPLE

Ambika Mod, Ekow Eshun, Daniel Lismore, Marian Keyes, Ian McEwan CBE, Dame Zandra Rhodes, Rupert Everett, David Shrigley OBE and Elizabeth Day – alongside William Boyd CBE, David Morrissey, Lesley Sharp, Annie Macmanus, Sheila Atim MBE (who graces our cover), Sir Lenny Henry and June Sarpong OBE. Phew. Impressed? You should be. Head to page 73 for a glimpse of what’s in store, from comedy and lm nights to a celebration of the Women’s Prize for Fiction (p88); for a head to head with Matt Haig and Jordan Stephens by Katie Glass (p90) to an interview with the Royal Court’s creative director David Byrne, who’s bringing the theatre’s rebellious nature back with extra vim (p101). Chelsea has always been home to creatives, and this new festival will bring that creativity to life in a fresh, exciting and contemporar y way. For tickets, visit chelseaartsfestival.com. I look forward to seeing you there.

Editor’s LETTER

Now that the summer holidays are (sni ) behind us, do not fall into a pit of despair; we have the perfect antidote: Chelsea Arts Festival.

Partnering with Cadogan, this is a brand new event on London’s cultural scene and our team has been working their socks o for the past few months to curate a stonkingly good line-up of talent – all coming to the streets of SW3, from 18-21 September.

ere’s nothing for it but to namedrop here: our programme includes stars such as Sir Stephen Fry,

RETREAT

We’re launching our first retreat and you’re invited. It’s at Lime Wood this October – but hurry! See p172

WEAR Good basics are a nonnegotiable in a pulled-together wardrobe. The Park is your go-to label

How we steward our land is one of the most important things we can do; our demands on it are relentless – a nite resource is asked to feed us, house us, heal us, store our carbon, restore nature, produce our energy, and provide space for leisure – all at once, and all against a backdrop of a climate and nature crisis. One way to address it is to use the proceeds of your huge commercial success to buy up vast swathes of land and to set about restoring it. is is not without controversy, of course, but it’s what Scotland’s largest private landowner, Anders Povlsen, is attempting to do at WildLand. Annabel Heseltine pays a visit (p128).

Finally, you can’t avoid the reams of press pages and Instagram feeds dedicated to lifting weights, especially for women when they hit middle age. Its bene ts are countless and we’re just beginning to wake up to it and no longer think it’s just the preserve of men. To put it to the test – and in preparation for a big birthday – I signed up to three months training with Roar Fitness and the results were remarkable.

I have never felt so strong and powerful. With Lara Croft arms, I’m ready to face my second half-century (p111).

DRINK Training with Roar meant no alcohol but with Mother Root as an insanely good substitute, I missed it not a jot

SLEEP

Good sleep is so much a part of good health, so lying under an Ava Innes cashmere duvet every night is just good sense

CONTRIBUTORS

DYLAN JONES

This autumn, I’m going to LA with my younger daughter to see The Who at the Hollywood Bowl. We’re staying at Holloway House, currently my favourite hotel in the city.

The best book I read this summer was Who Knew by Barry Diller. It is the Hollywood memoir du jour. Everyone else on the beach was reading it.

My current cultural icon is contemporary British painter and draughtsman Craig Boagey, an extraordinary artist. By Christmas, I want to have resisted any weight loss jabs.

The most thrilling thing on the bill at Chelsea Arts Festival is Twiggy, although there are so many great things in the programme.

My favourite spot in Chelsea is Chelsea Arts Club, still the best members’ club in London. Guests who use their phones are ceremonially taken outside and never seen again.

MATT WOLF KATIE GLASS

This autumn, I’m planting bulbs in the garden of my Somerset cottage or escaping to somewhere exotic and hot. Romantic as it is to cuddle up by a fire, when you have to do it everyday you soon get sick of it. The best book I read this summer was The Body Keeps The Score, which changed my whole perception of trauma.

My current cultural icon is Sydney Sweeney. I love an unapologetic woman.

By Christmas, I want to have drunk at least a litre of mulled wine and been skating at Somerset House, the most beautiful ice-rink in London.

The most thrilling thing on the bill at Chelsea Arts Festival is Matt Haig and Jordan Stephens in conversation (of course).

My favourite spot in Chelsea is Albert bridge when it is lit up at night. Or the Royal Court theatre, which stages some of the best plays in London.

This autumn, I’m boning up on all things Paddington ahead of the West End premiere of Paddington the Musical The best book I read this summer was the new Letters of Frank Loesser. The theatre nerd in me was fascinated by this fresh appraisal of the composer of Guys and Dolls, for many the greatest-ever Broadway musical. My current cultural icon is theatre designer Tom Scutt. His work is effortlessly clever, whether bringing the prologue to life in Cabaret or anatomising the hardscrabble New England environs of A Moon for the Misbegotten at the Almeida. I can’t wait to see what he does this Christmas with Sondheim’s Into the Woods at the Bridge. The most thrilling thing on the bill at Chelsea Arts Festival is Rupert Everett: he is usually colourful and always candid. My favourite spot in Chelsea is obvious. The Royal Court.

OLIVIA DE COURCY

This autumn, I’m playing as much padel as possible. The best book I read this summer was Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan. It’s a stateof-the-nation novel, set recently in a post-pandemic world, and as an Islington resident it felt very close to home. I was gripped through its 650 pages.

My current cultural icon is Chloe Kelly. I am so proud of what she’s done for women’s football and every girl who wants to do something less conventional.

The most thrilling thing on the bill at Chelsea Arts Festival is the celebration of the Women’s Prize for Fiction. I’m looking forward to hearing the readings of not just fiction, but letters, speeches, and essays; there’s so much creativity and joy to be found in non-fiction too.

My favourite spot in Chelsea is Jak’s Café on Walton Street, a hidden gem for any time of day.

Ribbon Of Creativity, p98

Talking Heads, p90

Skincare Special, p51

Girl On Fire, p80

DEPUTY EDITOR LUCINDA BARING

EDITOR-AT-LARGE ALICE B-B

ASSOCIATE EDITOR CHARLOTTE METCALF

MANAGING EDITOR TESSA DUNTHORNE

SUB EDITORS KATIE BAMBER, ANDREW BRASSLEAY

LUCY CLELAND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

JUNIOR SUB EDITOR & PRODUCTION ASSISTANT EVIE CALVER

FASHION DIRECTOR NICOLE SMALLWOOD

BEAUTY DIRECTOR NATHALIE ELENI

INTERIORS DIRECTOR CAROLE ANNETT

CULTURE EDITOR ED VAIZEY

WELLNESS EDITOR CAMILLA HEWITT

EXECUTIVE RETAIL EDITOR JULIET HERD

MEN’S STYLE EDITOR SHANE C. KURUP

TRAVEL EDITOR-AT-LARGE FRANCISCA KELLETT

EDITOR-AT-WILD FEE DRUMMOND

SUSTAINABILITY EDITOR LISA GRAINGER

PROPERTY EDITOR ANNA TYZACK

MOTORING EDITOR JEREMY TAYLOR

ONLINE CONTENT DIRECTOR REBECCA COX

DEPUTY ONLINE EDITOR ELLIE SMITH

ONLINE CULTURE EDITOR OLIVIA EMILY

ONLINE STYLE EDITOR CHARLIE COLVILLE

ONLINE WRITER ISABEL DEMPSEY

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER MCKENZIE MULLANY

CREATIVE & PRODUCTION DIRECTOR PARM BHAMRA DESIGN & PRODUCTION MIA BIAGIONI

THE EDITOR editorial@countryandtownhouse.co.uk

ADVERTISING advertising@countryandtownhouse.co.uk

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER ELLIE RIX

HEAD OF FASHION EMMA MARSH

HEAD OF BEAUTY BANDI MANZINI

SENIOR ACCOUNT DIRECTOR PANDORA LEWIS

ACCOUNT DIRECTOR SERENA KNIGHT

ACCOUNT MANAGER COSIMA WOODARD

DIGITAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR JOEY GOLDSMITH

B CORP & PROJECTS MANAGER XA RODGER

MANAGING DIRECTOR, C&TH EVENTS LOUISE CLOSE

SENIOR EVENTS MANAGER, C&TH EVENTS JOSIE WILLIAMSON

MARKETING & PRODUCTION EXECUTIVE, C&TH EVENTS DOMINIC CHRISTIE

TECHNICAL DIRECTOR MARK PEARSON

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER GARETH MORRIS

FINANCE CONTROLLER LAUREN DELGADO

FINANCE ADMINISTRATOR RIA HARRISON

ACTING FINANCE ADMINISTRATOR KLODI SADE

HUMAN RESOURCES CONSULTANT ZOE JONES

CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER TIA GRAHAM

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER JAMES THROWER

MANAGING DIRECTOR JEREMY ISAAC

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

BELINDA BAMBER, STEPHEN BAYLEY, OLIVIA COLE, TIFFANIE DARKE, FIONA DUNCAN, OLIVIA FALCON, DAISY FINER, AVRIL GROOM, LAUREN HO, EMMA LOVE, MICHAEL HAYMAN, MARY LUSSIANA, CAROLINE PHILLIPS, JAMES WALLACE

ACCOUNTS accounts@countryandtownhouse.co.uk

SUBSCRIPTIONS subscribe@countryandtownhouse.co.uk

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The GOOD LIFE

Alice B-B on building biceps and shifting trauma

THIS MONTH I’LL BE...

SPORTING ‘consciousness raising clothing’ by Patrick Cox (Spiritual warrior jacket, £285. doorsofperception-ibiza.com)

DREAMING of sailing around the islands of Raja Ampat (silolona.com) DAUBING my face in Sarah Chapman’s brightening Vitamin C Power 2 (£115, sarahchapman.com)

BLOODY NORA. We moved house four times in six months. While I still have hair (just), perversely I lost my muscles. Among all the planning, negotiating, packing, bossing around – I had no time to train. My once t-ish body (boxing, Pilates, yoga) was now shrivelling like an old pot plant. With the dreaded word ‘sarcopenia’ (aka muscle wasting disease) chanting in my ears like a playground bully, the nal, ironic nail was that I wasn’t strong enough to heave packing boxes in the last move. I styled it out by doing a lot of pointing where things should go and making endless tea. But the mortifying truth was staring at me in the mirror – middle-aged and weak. A particularly (annoyingly) t and lean friend suggested something called Caroline’s Circuits (carolinescircuits.com), an online subscription to weight and HIIT training sessions live every morning and delivered by trainer and author Caroline Idiens. It’s genius. e sessions are just 30 minutes, you can do them on catch-up if you miss the live slot, you barely have to get dressed and there’s no time wasted going to and fro. No, ‘please arrive ten minutes early’. It’s just bounce out of bed, brush my teeth, grab my weights and pop Mrs Perky on the laptop. Also no chance of my old trick of passing the time by nattering with a trainer to lessen the actual work. And it gets better: it’s just £35 a month. THIRTY-FIVE QUID. at’s the price of one reformer pilates class in central London. So I’m a month in and it’s already a non-negotiable in my morning routine. Might need to move house again – just so I can show o my box-lugging biceps.

THE STRANGEST FEELING… like my hair was standing on end, my face was being stroked and electricity was crackling through the soles of my feet. But no one had touched me; not even a little nger laid upon me. It’s not really what you expect from the swanky Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park. But then hotels can be surprising; I was in the Molon Spa, with intuitive reiki master Shaylini giving me an energy healing treatment. First up, we chatted a bit; I told her about some old trauma stu that had recently cropped up. en I lay on the bed and she got to work, singing and chanting. I felt parts of my body heat up and then I conked out for what felt like two minutes, but was nearly an hour. I came to, thinking, ‘well that was a nice kip’. And that night I slept like a sloth. e days rolled by and I totally forgot about the treatment. But a couple of weeks later, something happened that previously would have bothered me, (I refuse to use the word ‘trigger’).

‘Hmmm’, I thought to myself, ‘I think it’s shifted.’ I felt di erent. Where before there was a tight ball of anger and resentment, now there was a softness, an understanding, a kind of forgiveness. (thesacredself.co.uk) n

The RURBANIST

Ekow Eshun on the crime that changed his life and turning curiosity into a career

QUICK FIRE FAVOURITES...

SCENT Blenheim Bouquet by Penhaligon’s. BOX SET The Underground Railroad CHOCOLATE Tony’s Chocolonely dark milk chocolate pretzel toffee bar. SONG Sometimes It Snows In April by Prince. DISH Aubergine with black garlic by Ottolenghi. GADGET Sony WH-1000XM6 noise-cancelling headphones. RESTAURANT Casa Fofò in Hackney. HOLIDAY Hydra, Greece.

What’s bringing you joy at the moment? Trying to meet the sometimes excessive demands for attention and a ection from our cat. It is both amusing and exasperating dealing with a creature with such an exquisite sense of entitlement.

What’s annoying you most right now? Bigotry and intolerance dressed up as arguments for free speech.

Advice you’d give to your 15-year-old self? e things that make you di erent now will become your strengths later.

What could you have been arrested for? I once stole a book from the library when I was 16. It was a set of essays on cultural theory that opened me up to a world of thinking I’d never encountered before and has been hugely in uential for me ever since. It was a crime that changed my life.

Best life hack you can share with us? If you’re feeling lost, read James Baldwin. He won’t give you easy answers, but he’ll help you nd better questions.

A moment that changed everything? I met my wife, Jenny, randomly at a party 20 years ago. No friends in common or previous points of connection. I felt something in me light up when we started talking. And every day since then has been de nitively better with her in it. Apologies if that sounds horribly sentimental. Where do you go to escape? Into my head.

What’s the best way to put a smile on your face? Being on top of a mountain or under the sea. I’m not a crazy adventure sports person or anything, but going snowboarding or diving and looking out across a mountain range or exploring some underwater realm brings with it a sense of beauty and expansiveness that makes me profoundly happy.

What does sustainability mean to you? It goes beyond the environment – it’s about sustaining culture, memory, community. Ensuring that what matters most endures beyond us.

How can we save the world? By valuing di erence rather than fearing it. By listening more than speaking. And by imagining futures bigger than the ones we’ve inherited. Your greatest failure? Too many to count. I’m not sure I’ve done anything I haven’t subsequently looked back on with embarrassment or at least a desire to start over.

Your greatest triumph? Turning curiosity into a career. Carving out a life where I get to work with ideas, images and stories that matter to me. Who knew being a nerd could pay o ?

Your epitaph would read... I was a bit stuck on this and turned to AI for help. An epitaph for Ekow Eshun, as suggested by ChatGPT, reads:

‘He tried to illuminate the dark places.’

What does a life in balance mean to you?

One where intellect, empathy and creativity sit at the same table.

Ekow Eshun will be interviewed by Katy Wickremesinghe at Chelsea Arts Festival on 20 September (chelseaartsfestival.com). n

An epitaph for British writer and curator Ekow Eshun, as suggested by ChatGPT, might read: ‘He tried to illuminate the dark places’

STYLE

Great tailoring steps out beyond the wardrobe in Holland Cooper’s Icons Collection, which spotlights trailblazers who embody confidence and purpose, with British supermodel, television personality and entrepreneur Jodie Kidd one of the fierce women fronting the campaign. In partnership with The King’s Trust Change a Girl’s Life initiative, ten percent of sales from the Belgravia Blazer in Westminster Tweed will fund programmes that help young women build skills and seize opportunities. The Holland Cooper Iconic Tailoring Campaign launches on 20 September. hollandcooper.com

The STYLIST

Tiffanie Darke celebrates the beauty of craft in British fashion

It was my d aughter’s prom, and her dress was a disaster. Adored from the distance of the internet, when it arrived it was so ill tting around the bust, it was unwearable. And yet it was the perfect colour and the perfect style, if a touch too long. With the mental health of a delicate mid-GCSEs teenager riding on it, I took no chances. I found the best dressmaker in the area, and we presented ourselves as a high priority case. e dressmaker was a maestro; whipping material o the hem, she reworked the corset to couture-level t. I could hardly believe her skillset.

Craft: there’s less of it around these days. Crochet, knitting, embroidery, goldsmithing, lacemaking –skills our grandparents had, which have all but died out. And we forget the social sustainability these disciplines support: local businesses and services that keep small communities alive and vibrant.

Tamara Cincik, founder and CEO of Fashion Roundtable, says: ‘In nearly ten years of activism in fashion, I feel like I missed the biggest trick: the local rural communities that once drove the backbone of Britain.’ She’s talking about wool; spinning, carding, nishing – skills that drove an industry that built Britain into a superpower. is is not lost on Irish designer Jonathan Anderson who, having ascended from Loewe to the throne at Dior, has made a lateral move with his own line, JW Anderson. What was once a brand of conceptual contemporary wear (and sometimes a very a ordable slice of top-notch design), has been relaunched as ‘a space for personal, playful and profoundly crafted fashion, objects and art’. Watering cans, tea towels, co ee and mugs now sit alongside asymmetrical coats and baggy, high-waisted trousers. As he proved with the Loewe Craft Prize, there’s nothing more beautiful than an object representing the extreme skill of its maker, whether it’s for watering your plants or clothing your legs.

We don’t support craft enough. e man hours it takes to rework a dress, embroider a shirt or handknit a beanie is never re ected in the price. But the love is always there. You can feel it in the fabric and the workmanship.

Whether it’s an O Pioneers tank knitted by the brand’s army of grannies, an Alice Temperley suit made from wool woven by the heritage cloth maker Fox Brothers & Co, or Herd’s new hand-dyed mud jacket, I urge you to seek out craft, value it and treasure it highly. n

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Alice Temperley Pinkney Stripe jacket and wide leg trousers in a fabric by Fox Brothers & Co; O Pioneers Alice ballet cardigan, £295; JW Anderson Button Sleeve Breton jumper, £825, and Fold Over trousers, £880.

TAKE A HIKE

Who better to launch Delta Roam’s new chestnut brown robe than Jodie Kidd? A longtime fan of the outdoor clothing brand (formerly named D-Robe), Kidd wears hers on repeat for country living. Beaufort D-Robe, £155. deltaroam.com

The EDIT

Get out and about this autumn, whether amid the elements or living it up, says Juliet Herd

BLURRING THE LINES

Le Rouge Velvet Matte seduces with its 24-hour plumping action and blurring e ect. Available in 17 shades. £38, givenchybeauty.com

SACRED SCENT

Containing one of perfumery’s rarest ingredients – 80-year aged oud, sourced from the Sylhet forests of South Asia – this spicy, woody scent is layered with bergamot, frankincense, ginger and rose. Oud Zarian, £350 for 50ml. creedfragrances.co.uk

BY ROYAL APPOINTMENT

One of Queen Elizabeth II’s most trusted designers, Stewart Parvin, is celebrating 30 years as couturier to the stars with the launch of his AW25 collection. Enjoy your own Mrs Harris Goes to Paris moment at his Motcomb Street atelier, where every garment is made by hand. £POA, stewartparvin.com

COASTAL CHAMELEON

With its calm earthy tones, Amy Powney’s collab with Finisterre is rooted in nature as knits, jackets and even socks blend both urban and coastal landscapes. e 17-piece conscious collection features Tencel fabrics, certi ed organic cotton and pure Merino wool. From £25, nisterre.com

NOUGHTIES NECESSITY

Prepare to form an orderly queue for the new Bayswater 9 to 5. Big enough to t your laptop, daily journal and even gym kit, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it. Bayswater 9 to 5 in oak, £995. mulberry.com

FULL BLOOM

Hyper-detailed oral prints, 3D petals adorning necklines, raw textures and sheer nishes – the Aje aesthetic of tough femininity is unleashed in the new Botanica collection. Alani gown in soft rose light, £610. ajeworld.com

FANTASY FOOTWEAR

Box pleats and velvet bows; brooches and buttons; powderpu pinks and candy stripes – et voilà, Manolo Blahnik’s new Marie Antoinetteinspired capsule collection. Some of the shoe maestro’s handcrafted homages to the French queen also feature in the new exhibition of her style at the V&A, including creations for So a Coppola’s 2006 lm (pictured left). manoloblahnik.com

RADAR

Chanelling countryside chic ON THE

WILD

Lochcarron check cape in cranberry, £200. reallywildclothing.com

ONLY IF Etta short nightdress in fern gingham, £120. ifonlyif.co.uk

TALIA BYRE Yellow knit beanie, £125; yellow knit hoodie, £345; yellow knit t-shirt, £315; wool check warm-up trousers, £335. taliabyre.com

LINDA FARROW X THE ATTICO Marfa sunglasses in military green, £220. lindafarrow.com

CORA SHEIBANI Skin Deep large silver double pearl strand necklace with cultured pearls, £POA.

Jewels by Yoko London

COUNTRY FLAIR

four

My Style

Penelope Chilvers pinpoints her wardrobe heroes for autumn

What’s your daily uniform? A crisp blue shirt with a collar, a full skirt and, of course, a pair of boots. It’s an e ortless look that works just as well for meetings in London as it does for life in the Cotswolds. I love a cowboy boot – they’re endlessly versatile. ey ground any out t with character, and they’re incredibly comfortable too. It’s my version of everyday ease. Who’s your style crush? Barcelonian Blanca Miró wears fashion so well. I’m loving the new young brands coming out of Spain at the moment, like Cordera and La Veste, and we stock two fabulous heritage brands exclusively in our stores – ‘planter’ Panamas from Oliver Hats in Seville and equestrian ponchos from Grazalema, the oldest wool mill in Spain. I have also always loved the enduring style and spirit of the Bloomsbury Group. eir artistic freedom, androgynous elegance, and non-conformist energy have deeply in uenced a bold new collection of shoes I’ve designed for autumn in tribute to their timeless, bohemian aesthetic.

What’s your go-to piece for early autumn? I named our early autumn collection Watercolour Landscapes after an amazing watery stripe I’ve made as an inspiration piece. It is on a shirt and a pair of trousers designed especially to be worn in September with our new velvet Flora pumps that have dip-dyed jute soles. ey come in marmalade, leopard, black and khaki. e palette is intoxicating.

What does country style mean to you? Colour and purpose: colour sympathetic to the landscape and footwear that gets you from A to B.

Favourite accessories for a finishing touch?

De nitely socks. I’m particularly into a ash of ruby red at the moment. I also love to wear a pocket square round my neck: polka dot, paisley or Provençal.

What do you wear on a night out? Depends on my mood. But some leopard print shoes work with most of my wardrobe. For autumn we have our bestseller, the In nity block heel, coming in leopard print velvet that I’d wear with vintage or repurposed Levi’s and a silk top by Soler. Favourite under-the-radar labels? I love to discover small brands with the same ethos as ours – we invite them to pop up in our Stow-on-the-Wold store. Our customers love to be surprised with new brands each time they visit. Interesting British brands like With Nothing Underneath, By Søren, Madeleine ompson cashmere and Smock London are a few we’ve hosted recently.

Do you go for timeless or trend-led pieces? Timeless, mostly. I’m a great believer in investing in well-made pieces that age beautifully and carry through the seasons. We will be stocking a collection of classic Guernsey sweaters this autumn, made specially for us. e historical design reminds me of my childhood – we had Guernseys handed down to each of my three siblings and they never deteriorated. But I love my clothes and can never quite resist a well-judged update – something with a fresh silhouette or unexpected detail that gives new energy to my wardrobe. It’s about balance: classic foundations with the occasional twist to keep things feeling current and personal. e key is knowing what suits you, then having fun with the rest. Go for longer term investments where you can.

Any style hacks? A polished riding boot or a scu ed-up cowboy boot can instantly take the edge o a silk dress or tailored look. It gives that borrowed-from-the-boys con dence I always love. n

PHOTOS: GOLDIE EM; LUCIA BELL

RE/DONE

Vintage 80s Levi’s 501, £400, shopredone.com

Grazalema

Virgin merino wool Tile poncho, €120, mantasde grazalema.com

Penelope Chilvers designed her first pair of boots when living in Barcelona in the 2000s Penelope Chilvers Gamine velvet shoe, £249, penelopechilvers.com

La Veste Mariachi dress, £340, lavestelaveste.com

Penelope Chilvers Bloomsbury Collection Charleston brogues in carmine, £299, penelopechilvers.com

SENSE OF SELF

Winning the Editor’s Choice Award at Couture Las Vegas was the icing on the cake for Robinson Pelham, as it marks the 10th anniversary of the brand’s iconic Identity collection. 18ct yellow gold Identity necklace with 1.50ct pearshaped diamond pommel, £47,340. robinsonpelham.com

The MAGPIE

GOLD LEAF

Hand-engraved using an ancient Florentine technique, this 18ct yellow gold bracelet (£2,300) and 18ct yellow gold and brilliant-cut diamond pavé ring (£2,650) are part of the Marco Bicego Lunaria collection. mappinandwebb.com

JOURNEY IN JEWELS

Royal-loved jeweller Kiki McDonough showcases her favourite gemstones through four decades with e Big Four 40th Anniversary capsule collection. Peridot and diamond earrings, £4,700. kiki.co.uk

Get in the mood for celebrating with these anniversary gems, says Juliet Herd 1

TUTTI FRUTTI

If you think these rings look good enough to eat, that’s because they’ve been synthesised from overripe fruit and veg. Jeweller Anabela Chan started innovating with the likes of beetroot, spinach and blueberries after learning that 40+ percent of all food produced annually in the west ends up in land ll. Fruit Gems™ jewellery collection, from £1,090. anabelachan.com

GOING AL FRESCO

Rambling up a tor? No need to let your style slip, says Shane C. Kurup

YAK IT UP

Alongside a devout sense of spiritualism and the Dalai Lama, Tibet is known for its abundance of yaks. Norlha, the Tibetan Plateau’s rst yak wool atelier, was founded in 2007 to bring employment to the local nomads and preserve their ancient techniques of yak- bre felting and weaving. While the wool – called khullu – has the same downy softness and warmth as cashmere, it has more heft, making it ideal for ckle climes. norlha.com

Reel in the catch with this prize kit

FLUID STYLE

For centuries, India has been a mecca of handspun textile craft, which is evident in Kardo’s Like Water collection – so named for the transparency in its production. It showcases the artisanal air of 32 craft techniques from across the nation, including Ajrakh block printing on Matka silk, Paiwand embroidery and Gond painting, which re ect the vibrant landscapes of the Deccan plain. kardo.co

TECHNICAL BENEFITS

Maharishi might have a distinct streetwear vibe, but its technical gear is built for greener pastures. Its latest line of foliage-camou age parkas, signature Snopants® and water-resistant cargo shorts are made from recycled performance fabrics and organic cotton and hemp, fusing a deep respect for Mother Nature with functional merit. It’s good for your style kudos – and for our green and pleasant land. maharishistore.com

1 TAG HEUER Carrera Skipper in steel, £6,500, tagheuer.com

2 KEEN Jasper Zionic Sneaker in safari/ sky captain, £150, keenfootwear.co.uk

3 HOUSE OF BRUAR Abu Garcia Sölv Spirr fishing lure in blue herring, £5.99, houseofbruar.com

4 FORÉT Carp cap, £53, foretstudio.dk

5 VICTORINOX Skipper Pro Swiss Army Knife, £95, victorinox.com

6 SNOWPEAK Field Barista Kettle, £135, uk.snowpeak.com

PHOTOS: NIKKI MCCLARRON

FIELDING STYLE

Just as sportswear has left the confines of gym and track, traditional ‘country wear’ has quietly moved into the urban man’s wardrobe, says Shane C. Kurup

‘Dressing for the occasion’ is an idea that the British have re ned over centuries of de ned codes that sartorially speaking, signalled a sense of time and place. But with life now shifting gear to a more modern beat, the lines of those hard and fast rules have become increasingly blurry as we expect our clothes to work harder for us, as we ourselves, work harder – in our 24/7 culture, function in fashion is the ultimate trump card. It explains why clothing once reserved for greener pastures has transitioned to the metropolis. ‘ e versatility and practicality of country clothing is central to its popularity in urban settings and the idea of country life as idyllic and aspirational,’ says Marcus Janssen, executive director of Schö el Country, famed for its ‘Chelsea lifejacket’ – aka the gilet. Once largely seen around stable blocks and shooting ranges, it’s now a rm xture of the Tech Bro and banker uniform. ‘ ey o er bulkfree breathable warmth and can be layered over shirts and knitwear, worn under a coat or jacket, or thrown over a T-shirt, regardless of the situation, or season,’ explains Jensen. e inherent functionality of ‘country garments’, with their surfeit of pockets, robust fabrics and weatherproof elements also make them suited to travelling light in the frenetic throng of the metropolis, come rain or shine. e eld and safari jacket – which inherit their functional merits from military dress – are prime examples, ever since Yves Saint Laurent made them a focal point of his collections in the 1970s, with the designer himself often sporting one on the streets of Paris. en of course, there was Princess Diana and later, Indie kids and festival folk that brought the classic waxed Barbour eld jacket to the King’s Road and Deansgate. ‘For those who don’t wish to have the added imposition of a bag, the many pockets of these jackets can carry almost everything – save for a laptop,’ adds Stephen Humphries, creative director of luxury safari out tters Westley Richards.

Daniel Fletcher – one of the UK’s most proli c young designers, who has his own label alongside roles as creative director of British-Chinese brand Mithridate and Royal Ascot – incorporated eld jackets styled with lightweight cotton boxer shorts for his preppy SS26 collection. For Fletcher, there’s an emotional appeal to country attire, which is in uencing young urbanites to adopt it. ‘ ere’s been a shift in fashion towards things that feel more real and meaningful. As city life speeds up and becomes more digital, we nd ourselves wanting something more grounded and I think country pieces give us that,’ says Fletcher.

Tweed has left the estate for more urban locales, too. Giles Deacon, who was recently appointed creative director of gunmaker and eld sports out tter, Purdey, made his name with his avant garde collections that broke the moulds of contemporary fashion. For AW25, Deacon has designed a signature house tweed woven in Scotland named after

FROM ABOVE: Jonathan Anderson sent a Donegal tweed jacket down the runway at Dior for his debut collection; Giles Deacon’s Tom Purdey tweed baseball cap has urban flair; a field jacket by Daniel Fletcher for Mithridate grounds the look

brand founder, Tom Purdey, which blends tradition and modernity. It’s also been used in accessories with a more youthful spin, like the Tom Purdey tweed baseball cap, which makes a solid pairing with a denim trucker jacket and a crisp white tee in town.

‘ e tweed is designed with both aesthetics and practicality in mind and o ers a robust, but re ned look. In a city setting, its subtle design feels authentic and well dressed, without being overdone,’ explains Deacon, who cites David Hockney’s habit of wearing tweed jackets over rugby shirts as a benchmark of how to wear it. Tweed also has natural virtues that make it ideal for wearing beyond a bucolic backdrop. ‘It’s hard wearing, selfcleans and doesn’t crease – all qualities that mean it can withstand the Northern Line as well as it can a thicket,’ says Justin Sumrie, menswear buyer at Cordings of Piccadilly, the country out tter co-owned by Eric Clapton, who likes to mix country outerwear with Japanese selvedge jeans. ‘And in lighter weights such as a 10oz, it has a uidity and breathability that competes with cotton.’

For Emmanuel Guegan, clothing and accessories manager of gunmaker and clothier Holland & Holland, the visibility of tweed in media and pop culture has played a big part in its rediscovery by young urbanites. ‘Series such as Peaky Blinders and e Gentleman have popularised the look for younger generations, while gures like David Beckham have made the country lifestyle acceptable and aspirational.’ ere’s also a more multifaceted wearability to tweed today, in a casual postCovid world, according to Guegan. ‘A tweed sports jacket in a 14oz cloth is your go-to. Paired with dark-wash jeans, a plain shirt and tie, you’ll be able to move from a business meeting to a dinner in town, while maintaining a distinguished active and sporting look.’

I f you needed further proof that tweed has shaken o its fusty image, Jonathan

If you needed further proof that tweed has shaken off its fusty image, Jonathan Anderson’s debut collection for Dior saw the designer dress his models in Irish Donegal and double-breasted tweed jackets paired with distressed denim, white tie dinner shirts and hi-tops. Gen-Zers in tweed? Stranger things have happened in fashion

Anderson’s debut SS26 menswear collection for Dior saw the designer dress his models in Irish Donegal and double-breasted tweed jackets paired with distressed denim, white tie dinner shirts, capacious culotte shorts and hi-tops. Gen-Zers in tweed? Stranger things have happened in fashion.

‘No brown in town’ was the mantra that dictated only black shoes – and Oxfords in particular – were acceptable in the city. Earthy shades and brogues with their brawnier, heavy-duty construction were for tackling country quagmires. But now that sneakers have conquered all walks of life, there’s license to switch up your smarter footwear – it’s more common to see brogues on asphalt rather than in a claggy eld.

ey’ve even made it onto the feet of professional men famed for their conservative weekday clobber. ‘Menswear has been undergoing a transition from smart to smartcasual for an entire century,’ says James Fox, marketing director of Northampton shoemaker Crockett & Jones. ‘City bankers and lawyers still have a “uniform” of sorts, but not all City boys wear suits these days. Broguing adds design interest and style.’

W hile wearing breeks to your o ce desk might be a step too far, taking your tweed sports jacket or brogues – styled for an urban setting – will see you through a day in the city. And doesn’t your hardworking ‘country’ kit deserve an outing in town, once in a while? Just remember to scrape the mud o your brogues before dinner at e Dorchester. n

FROM ABOVE: A gun check blazer from Cordings, the country outfitter co-owned by Eric Clapton; a Westley Richards Selous safari jacket is also ideal city wear

EMBRACE A MODERN RURAL WAY OF LIFE IN EFFORTLESS STYLE

HEALTH & WELLBEING

SKINCARE SPECIAL

In 2025, longevity is the new luxury. Discover wins for long-term skin health, and the importance of caring for your body from top-to-toe. Edited by Olivia de Courcy

THE HARD CELL

The secret to healthier skin? Working with its natural ageing process. Olivia de Courcy gets smart about cell senescence

Over the past few years, longevity has become the beauty buzzword. It’s a concept based on the simple principle: prevention is better than cure. And something that was once an in-clinic principle with its advanced devices and injectables to prevent the onset of core factors of ageing such as ne lines, skin laxity and pigmentation, has now extended onto our bathroom shelves.

e industry is embracing this evolution, with scientists rede ning the foundations of skincare longevity. ‘What excites me most about longevity science in skincare is how we’re expanding the conversation beyond just correcting signs of aging to proactively supporting the skin’s long-term health and function,’ shares Dr Annie Black, international scienti c director at Lancôme. ‘Skincare is becoming more adaptive, and more rooted in the biology of how skin ages, not just how it looks.’

For some, this is a complete reversal of long-held beliefs about how skin should be treated, as Joanna

New adaptive skincare looks beyond correcting signs of ageing, focusing on prevention rather than cure

AGEING BEAUTIFULLY IS A JOURNEY, NOT A FIGHT.

Ellner, ex-journalist and founder of skincare brand Reome, notes: ‘As a former beauty director, I wrote often about the perceived need to voraciously encourage cell turnover – the eternal pursuit of fresh, new baby cells to do away with the old, and ergo, look 10 years younger. Now, based on the growing body of research, I think completely contrary to that. Our cells – the ones we have now – should be protected, nourished, and preserved, slowing down the need for accelerated turnover, and in doing so, we extend the life and youthfulness of skin, right where it is.’

e problem that the longevity movement has emerged to solve, is that ‘our life span is continuously increasing, but our health span remains stagnant,’ says Professor Jacques Proust, medical director of Nescens Preventive Medicine Centre. He notes there are 15 factors of biological ageing, and one of the biggest culprits of premature ageing is skin senescence. ‘Senescence occurs when cells stop naturally dividing and become stagnant. Instead of dying, they start secreting in ammatory markers,’ says Proust. ‘ ey are known as “zombie cells” because they contaminate those around them.’ It’s not something that can necessarily be prevented; senescence is a natural part of ageing, but it can be delayed, and there are a host of buzzy ingredients that can help reduce the in ammation and contamination of neighbouring, healthy cells.

An area of the world notorious for long, healthy lifespans is the Japanese island of Okinawa, known as ‘ e Blue Zone’. Tatcha’s brand philosophy is based on the island’s lifestyle, including nuchigusui, Japan’s nutrient-rich diet. e Longevity Serum, formulated with Okinawa Cellescence Complex, ‘blends three potent extracts –shikuwasa lime, noni juice, and shell ginger, all popular in the Okinawa diet – to both increase cellular resilience against stress-damage to prevent the start of cellular senescence, and prevent the spread to surrounding healthy cells,’ shares Qiang Qiu, Tatcha’s head of global innovation.

What does the result of senescence on our skin actually look like? ‘Cellular senescence can begin as early as our 20s,’ says Qiu. ‘It contributes to visible concerns like dullness, rough texture, loss of rmness, and chronic in ammation, or what we call “in ammaging”.’ Using targeted ingredients, like the Okinawa Cellescence Complex, ‘reduces the build-up of zombie cells and defends the skin against future stress, helping to strengthen the barrier, restore radiance, and keep your skin feeling stronger for longer,’ says Qiu.

Elsewhere in the plant world, the humble rose is proving a hit with scientists for its e ect on reducing the e ects of senescence. In Reome’s rst moisturiser, Biogenic Melting Cream, bio-rosea stem cell (extracted from a biotechformed rose petal) speeds up the death of senescent cells so the body can eliminate them. It works in partnership with Telessence M3, a powerful botanical compound to delay the onset of senescence in the rst place. ‘It’s a skinlongevity changer,’ says Ellner.

At Lancôme, its newest scienti c breakthrough, Absolute PRDN – present in Absolue Longevity e Soft Cream

‘Senescence occurs when cells stop naturally dividing and become stagnant. Instead of dying, they start secreting inflammatory markers’

PROFESSOR JACQUES PROUST

– is extracted from a white rose grown in Korea. You may have heard of PDRN: Polydeoxyribonucleotide (also called polynucleotide), derived from salmon sperm. But at Lancôme, Dr Black explains that a new PDRN is ‘derived from trillions of rose DNA fragments, helping boost cellular metabolism and extending vitality,’ in exactly the same way salmon PDRN does.

FROM TOP: Lancôme

Absolue Longevity Cream, £130 for 30ml, lancome.co.uk. Reome Biogenic Melting Cream, £135 for 50ml, reome.com. Tatcha The Longevity Serum, £82 for 30ml, tatcha.co.uk. Loya

SupeReverse Serum, £210 for 50ml, loya.life; Noble Panacea Peptide8 Serum, £437 for 30 doses, noblepanacea.com

Ingredients-of-the-moment – peptides – are key in boosting skin longevity, acting as messengers that signal to skin cells to boost collagen, repair damage and enhance hydration. Copper peptides are known to chivvy cells to create more collagen and elastin –two vital building blocks of healthy, plump skin. Swiss longevity brand Loya’s transdermal delivery system ensures the copper peptides (and complementary ingredients) penetrate deep into the skin’s multiple layers. In its Supereverse Serum, copper peptides are joined by super peptide argireline, often called the botox of the skincare world, as it inhibits muscle movements (in a less extreme way than an injectable), preventing the formation of lines such as the elevens between the eyebrows. Loya clinical trials show argireline can reduce wrinkle volume by 20 percent in one week.

Many experts advocate for a good night’s sleep in the quest for better overall health, and the same goes for skin. Skin goes into hyper-regeneration mode as we doze, and Noble Panacea has tapped into our skin’s natural cycle of detoxing, repairing and hydrating, with a new timed release, peptide-rich innovation: e Absolute Peptide8 Night Serum. e rst phase releases althea rosea petal stem cells, a lab-grown biotech ingredient that targets and reduces existing senescent cells, and hexapeptide-11, delaying the onset of senescence in cells. en, at the renewal (repairing) peak, the 8-peptide complex stimulates cell renewal and regeneration, before rounding o with 4D hyaluronic acid to lock in hydration.

As research into senescence deepens, no doubt further ingredients and formulas will emerge focused on not just making skin look better, but helping it function better for longer. It’s clear the longevity movement is not a passing fad, it’s here to last. n

PREP LIKE A PRO

Long-lasting, seamless make-up doesn’t start with your foundation. The secret’s in the skin prep, says Nathalie Eleni

As a make-up artist, I spend a good 25 minutes with my clients before even touching a make-up product – because without the right base, no product performs at its best. e goodness doesn’t stop there. anks to the hybrid make-up/skincare revolution (formulas packed with skincare), we no longer need to choose between instant results and long-term rewards. Select your products with care and your glow becomes not just visible, but truly lasting.

1 Cleanse (even if you don’t wear make-up)

Cleansing does more than take o makeup, it clears grime, oil and dead skin so your products absorb better and make-up goes on smoother. Try Merit Great Skin™ Double Cleanse, (£28, meritbeauty.com), a bi-phase foaming cleanser with oat-derived surfactants and polyhydroxy acids to gently exfoliate and smooth the skin’s surface.

2 Multi mist

Modern mists hydrate, calm, and prep the skin in one refreshing step. Use post-cleanse, before moisturiser, and throughout the day to revive make-up without disrupting it. Keep Lisa Eldridge Skin & Make-Up Enhancing Face Mist (£37, lisaeldridge.com) to hand – its hybrid formula soothes and hydrates, boosting radiance and helping products absorb more e ectively.

THE FIVE STEP PREP THE HYBRID HEROES

3 Hydrate

Even if your make-up contains hydrating ingredients, a dedicated moisturiser or oil is essential – particularly for dry or mature skin. A light facial oil pressed into key areas (like crow’s feet, smile lines and forehead) creates a plump, supple base for foundation and gives extra bounce for your buck. I love Olverum Pure Radiance Facial Oil (£80, fortnumandmason.com) with natural retinol alternatives and brightening botanicals.

4 Shield

Nothing supports long-term skin health like daily SPF to protect against UVA/B damage (one of the main culprits of premature skin ageing) and blue light from screens. Try Raaie Sun Milk Drops SPF 50 (£85, contentbeautywellbeing.com), a lightweight mineral SPF with non-nano zinc oxide and blue light protection, leaving skin radiant without any heaviness. For oilier skin or a bronzed nish, go for Colorescience Sunforgettable Total Protection Brush-On Shield SPF 50 in bronze (£50, wigmoremedical.com), a mess-free powder SPF that protects while giving a warm, healthy glow.

5 Don’t neglect the eyes

e thin, delicate skin around the eyes needs extra hydration to prevent concealer and powder settling in ne lines. For prep, try ESPA Isotonic Hydra Gel Eye Masks (£46, espaskincare.com). Keep them chilled for a de-pu ng, hydrating boost before applying concealer.

Reeson Lid Elixir

A peptide-packed serum tint for eyelids that smooths, hydrates and adds a glossy wash of colour. Try ‘Toasted Cinnamon’ for a warm glow. £29, reesonbeauty.com

By Terry Hyaluronic Serum Concealer

Putting the time in: without the right base, no make-up looks its best

‘A body care ritual is a moment to reflect, and to celebrate the skin you’re in. Body confidence builds self-esteem and self-esteem creates a foundation for joyful living’ DR ALEXIS GRANITE

THE OTHER 96 PERCENT

Your face makes up just four percent of your body. It’s time to swot up on caring for your skin below the chin, says Olivia de Courcy

While niacinamide, hyaluronic acid and peptides may be common in your facial skin routine, when did you consider those in your routine for the other 96 percent of your body? We expect our skincare to work hard, and so it’s time for body care to step into the spotlight.

e category is booming – and the stats speak for themselves. In January to June 2024, body care grew 32 percent more than skincare according to insights platform Circana, and for the rst time body care brands were topping retail league tables: in 2024 Sol de Janeiro was Sephora’s bestselling brand across their entire o ering. Plus, Pinterest reported a mega 1,025 percent increase in searches for ‘body skincare routine’ compared to the previous year.

e shift is in part due to consumers becoming smarter with their body skincare. With more access to knowledge (thanks, TikTok), we’re seeing a lot of ‘skini cation’ of key categories – which is essentially to say that we are considering our broader beauty categories in the way we do our skin: targeted formulas to solve problems. In body care, that might mean Alpha Hydroxy Acids – or AHAs – for keratosis pilaris (bumpy skin on the backs of the arms) or peptides for loss of collagen.

If you’re wondering if you can slather your actives-packed facial skincare on your legs, the answer is you could – but aside from it being rather expensive, it won’t work as well. ‘ e skin on the body is naturally thinner and contains fewer sebaceous glands, so it requires a more sophisticated, multi-dimensional approach, with formulas that combine multiple high-performance complexes,’ says Dr Jérémie Soeur, chief science o cer at Cellcosmet.

So if it is so clear that – scienti cally –we need to treat our body skin as seriously as our face, why has it taken us so long to cotton on? According to Dr Alexis Granite, dermatologist and founder of Joonbyrd, longevity culture has something

to do with it. ‘Traditionally there has been a focus on the face as it’s the most visible and so much of our identity is wrapped up in its appearance and skin. Body care has often been viewed either as an indulgence or as simple hygiene – cleansing and deodorising,’ explains Dr Granite. ‘But when we think about longevity, body care doesn’t just bene t our skin, it bene ts whole body health.’ Which makes total sense, given skin is our body’s largest organ and rst-line of defence to the outside world.

Joonbyrd features a body care line-up of formulas packed with active ingredients to target key skin concerns, as well as support skin microbiome, barrier function and DNA repair. If rough, bumpy skin is your nemesis, velvety Kaleidoscope Smoothing Body Serum (£78) has some impressive clinical trials on keratosis pilaris, with smoothing shikimic acid and brightening azelaic acid. Or, if it’s skin laxity, Daydreamer Firming Body Serum (£78) is clinically proven to improve the appearance of crepey skin and stretch marks thanks to its biomimetic peptidesapphire complex.

On the rming and tightening agenda, Alpha H puts its faith in peptides, speci cally Acetyl Hexapeptide-8, a targeted, oil-soluble peptide shown to prevent and minimise the appearance of ageing by inhibiting the muscle contraction involved in the formation of lines and wrinkles. You’ll nd it in the new Firming Peptide Body Oil (£31.99).

For a more natural treatment, transdermal supplementation is a great way to support skin and body health. Magnesium has long been known for its health benefits on improving sleep, soothing aches and aiding digestion, and Eyeam’s Magnesium Bi-Phase Body Treatment Spray (£49) contains an innovative transdermal delivery system to deliver 45mg of pure magnesium per six sprays, alongside super-antioxidant reservatrol (in an ingredient called reservatrox) and antiinflammatory chlorophyll.

And while acids to slough away dead

skin cells and magnesium can pep up tired limbs, one place you don’t want to be concentrating all these actives on your body is your intimate areas. Luna Daily founder Katy Cottam created the brand with a mission to remove the taboo around women wanting care for intimate areas (that is vulva not vagina, which is a self-cleaning organ, she makes clear) while supporting our skin’s microbiome, which we know to have many e ects on our overall wellbeing when it goes o kilter. Its range features washes, sprays (to replace the dreaded single-use wipes) and oils with pH levels suitable for all skin, even intimate areas.

Ingredients aside, there is something to be said about the feel-good bene ts of body care too. It is a core principle for Dr Granite, who uses the ritual of a routine to switch o and connect with herself after a busy day at the clinic. ‘A body care ritual is a moment to re ect, and to celebrate the skin you’re in,’ she says. ‘Body con dence builds self-esteem, and self-esteem creates a foundation for joyful living.’ And who wouldn’t want that? n

FROM LEFT: Alpha H Firming Peptide Body Oil, £31.99, alpha-h.com. Joonbyrd Kaleidoscope Smoothing Body Serum, £78, joonbyrd.com. Eyeam Magnesium Bi-Phase Body Treatment Spray, £49, eyeamworld.com. Luna Daily The Everywhere Spray-to-Wipe Cooling Water, £8, luna-daily.com.

Balcoon

DESIGN BY

PATRICIA URQUIOLA

Every layer tells a story

Natural colour shades and the layering of materials and textures create a long-lasting, warm aesthetic.

duravit.co.uk

HEALTH & WELLBEING|

LONGEVITY, BOTTLED

With the rise of longevity clinics comes a new wave of products focused on long-term skin health. Olivia Falcon shares her top ten

The First Moisturiser for Ozempic Face

As more women join the Mounjaro movement, the pounds may drop but skin laxity often follows. Enter VOL.U.LIFT, a high-performance formula designed to counter ‘Ozempic face’. At its core is XOSM technology, a patent-pending delivery system that drives antioxidants deep into the skin for lasting repair. It also includes line-softening bakuchiol, L-ornithine to restore volume and HA Silanol, a next-gen hyaluronic acid mixed with silicium for intense hydration. VOL.U.LIFT, £105, volulift.co.uk

The One And Done Cleanse

Tursian is a new science-centred brand with a tight edit of products packed with plant peptides and carefully dosed actives that really work to keep skin looking fresh. No double cleanse needed here: this intelligent formula removes make-up and grime with non-stripping exfoliators such as Australian lime caviar extract while leaving skin feeling as soft as cashmere and visibly brighter thanks to a generous dose of Vitamin C mixed with healing algae water.

Tursian Radiance Booster Gel Cleanser, £50, tursian.co.uk

The Eye Opener

The skin around our eyes is seven times thinner than the rest of the face and is often the first place to show the signs of age. To avoid that dreaded ‘you look tired’ moment, the Lauder team has sourced the most powerful peptides –hexapeptide-8 and tripeptide-32, which work to soften four eye areas: lids, inner corners, crow’s feet and under eyes. It’s also safe for forehead lines and nasolabial folds, making the Paris filter on Instagram semi-redundant.

Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair Lift and Sculpt, £65, esteelauder.co.uk

The PostMenopause Reset

After a 2019 Stanford University study revealed the greatest skin changes occur around the age of 60, Sisley’s scientists set out to deliver a formula to tackle thinning, dull and drier skin for this age group. The serum works to reactivate communication between the immune, vascular, and cutaneous systems. A new gingko plant extract strengthens the immune system and a red algae brightens the ageing yellowing tone, with palpable results.

Sisleÿa L’Integral Anti-Age Longevity Essential Serum, £435, harrods.com

The ProcedureLike Results

‘People say they have foetus-like skin after using my products,’ laughs Dr Macrene Alexiades, NYC’s celebrity dermatologist, who with three Harvard degrees and a PhD in genetics has some serious credentials.

‘I have translated Botox, fillers and every class of device into active ingredients that give immediate and long-term results.’ Her science-led skincare has landed at The Emory, where she’ll be in residence every six weeks. Dr Macrene High Performance Face Serum, £148, macreneactives.com, the-emory.co.uk

The Ultimate Booster

A new post-cleanse, pre-serum booster launches in October, designed to enhance your routine with short term radiance and long term structural repair. Vitamin C and biocellular collagen are delivered by plantbased exosomes, little messengers that whizz the core ingredients to your cells. Clinical trial results boast wrinkle reduction of 26.7 percent in four weeks, as the serum kickstarts your own collagen production.

Dr Sebagh Exo C Booster, £68 for 30ml, drsebagh.com

The Sunscreen That Lasts All Day

We all know we need to wear SPF daily, even on cloudy days, but getting the right dose can be hard to achieve.

Dr Emma Craythorne has created a savvy solution: an SPF that is released throughout the day providing up to eight hours of protection (when not swimming or sweating). This first of its kind sunscreen is blended with multiple actives and there are four different formulations to choose from to treat specific concerns, from sensitivity to hyperpigmentation. Klira subscription from £59, klira.skin

The Liquid Microneedling

Like the idea of microneedling but not keen on needles? This is for you. Crystallised hyaluronic acid sheets are shattered into tiny shards and suspended in a potent peptide gel that, when patted into skin, creates tiny microchannels. The power serum feels a little prickly as you rub it in but it delivers hyaluronic acid and other active ingredients, such as patented peptides and bakuchiol, a gentle plant-derived alternative to retinol. Lab31b MicroPeptide Needle Power Serum, £83, lab31b.com

The Wrinkle Disruptor

This lightweight serum is like Spanx for the face. It battles glycation, a process where sugar molecules bind to collagen and elastin to form advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), which are the baddies that expediate premature ageing like wrinkles and skin laxity. The magic ingredient? A large dose of pro-xylane, a hybrid molecule that originates from beech trees and works to firm skin. Skinceuticals AGE Interrupter

Ultra Serum, £140, skinceuticals.co.uk

The Steal Effective beauty products that won’t break the bank? Yes please. Extreme Cream has gone viral on social media with many calling it an Augustinus Bader Rich Cream dupe. As one of the most successful indie beauty brands to launch into Sephora, this is the holy grail for dehydration and it contains a bio-retinol alternative that firms crepiness. The brand invests an average of $150,000 per product on clinical testing and it shows – after a week you may feel like you don’t need make-up. iNNBEAUTY PROJECT Extreme Cream, £49, sephora.co.uk

‘People say they have foetus-like skin after using my products. I have translated Botox, fillers and every class of device into active ingredients that give immediate and long-term results.’

DR MACRENE ALEXIADES

BEAUTY’S NEXT FRONTIER

Skincare’s smartest breakthrough has arrived. OSKIA’s Midnight Elixir helps skin glow from within

Every so often, a breakthrough in skincare emerges that truly changes the landscape. Enter growth factors – naturally occurring proteins that regulate cell growth, repair and regeneration. Once confined to regenerative medicine, they are now at the heart of luxury skincare, promising to transform tired, lacklustre skin into firmer, brighter, more youthful complexions.

If hyaluronic acid was the hydration hero of the last decade and vitamin C the brightening powerhouse, growth factors are the next great frontier. Speaking the same biochemical language as our own cells, they are rewriting the rules of topical skincare.

Growth Factors: What They Do

Growth factors are like microscopic messengers, instructing skin to heal, renew and produce more collagen and elastin. Applied topically, they reactivate the skin’s natural repair process that slows with age. The result? Improved firmness, smoother texture, and renewed radiance.

From Medicine to Moisturiser

Originally used in wound healing and burn therapy, growth factors boast decades of scientific credibility. Harnessing this medical heritage, OSKIA, the multi-awardwinning British skincare brand celebrated for its nutritionally driven formulations, has created one of the most advanced complexes on the market.

Their Midnight Elixir blends five key growth factors – EGF, IGF-1, aFGF, bFGF and VEGF – in a sophisticated bioactive cocktail that mirrors the complexity of skin biology itself. Working synergistically, these actives stimulate collagen and elastin, accelerate cell turnover, and boost circulation for a brighter, more resilient complexion.

The OSKIA Difference

Unlike brands that rely on one or two actives, OSKIA’s multi-dimensional approach (the Midnight Elixir contains 32 actives) ensures results across

the spectrum of ageing concerns. With every application, skin is encouraged not just to look better, but to act younger.

A Defining Innovation

For skincare enthusiasts, growth factors represent the rare marriage of luxury and science. In an era where beauty is about longevity and skin healthspan, OSKIA’s Midnight Elixir feels less like another product, and more like a masterpiece of bioengineering.

The future of skincare isn’t about layering more –it’s about working smarter. With growth factors, and OSKIA leading the way, that future has already arrived.

OSKIA Midnight Elixir, £165, available at Space NK, Harvey Nichols and oskiaskincare.com

Clinical tests show a 36 percent increase in elasticity when using Oskia Midnight Elixir

THE BIOLOGY OF YOUTH

When it comes to skin ageing, products are just one piece of the puzzle. Camilla Hewitt explores how everyday habits can help slow the process

It was on a longevity retreat led by wellbeing pioneer Deepak Chopra that I discovered just how much our daily choices and environment in uence our health and, in turn, our biological age. In fact, it’s estimated that up to 95 percent of chronic diseases are caused by environmental factors or, in scienti c terms, epigenetics. ‘While we all have genetic predispositions, our health and ageing aren’t predetermined,’ Chopra explained. ‘By making conscious choices in our behaviour, we can alter gene activity and slow down biological ageing.’ Unlike chronological age, which counts the years, biological age re ects how well (or poorly) your body is ageing. e good news? It can be changed.

Joining Chopra on the retreat was Professor Augustinus Bader, whose research in cellular repair underpins his eponymous skincare brand. He explained that just as epigenetics shapes disease risk, it also in uences skin ageing. ‘Epigenetic science tells us that how we age depends not only on our genes but also on what we do with them. Lifestyle factors, such as what you eat, where you live, when you sleep, and how you exercise, can eventually cause chemical modi cations around the genes that will switch speci c genes on or o over time.’ ese changes impact how cells function and develop, and can lead to altered gene expression pro les associated with ageing, including impaired skin repair, weakened barrier function, and reduced resilience to environmental stressors. Bader added that ‘no beauty product can change your genetic blueprint; however, there is a possibility to in uence which genes are expressed’.

So, how do we activate these ‘youthful’ genes? According to Chopra, key lifestyle practices can help slow down and even reverse some of the biological markers of ageing. ese include meditation, moderate exercise, nutrient-rich foods, restful sleep, toxin elimination (whether physical or emotional), nurturing relationships, nutritional supplements, and vagal activation.

‘ e emerging eld of epigenetics is critical in determining not just how we feel, but how we age and how we look,’ says Sonia Spring, holistic health managing director at Swiss longevity clinic Clinique La Prairie. She warns that things like chronic stress, poor diet, lack of sleep, or smoking, can activate in ammatory genes, suppress repair mechanisms and accelerate cellular ageing. ‘A diet rich in antioxidants and polyphenols may activate longevity genes (like sirtuins), supporting skin renewal and mitochondrial health,’ Spring advises. She also notes that chronic cortisol elevation from stress can suppress regenerative genes, worsening signs of ageing such as wrinkles, thinning skin, and hair loss. Exercise, she says, is a powerful countermeasure, reducing the detrimental e ects of elevated cortisol and in ammation, while also promoting the process of autophagy (cellular ‘clean-up’), helping tissues regenerate more e ciently.

Functional medicine practitioner Rose Ferguson also emphasises the importance of a nutrient-rich diet for healthy ageing and radiant skin. ‘Foods rich in polyphenols and phytonutrients, like berries, leafy greens, and brightly coloured vegetables, help combat oxidative stress and support collagen production,’ she explains. ‘Plus healthy fats, like those found in avocados, nuts, and seeds, strengthen cell membranes, keeping skin hydrated and resilient.’ As for supplements, Ferguson believes they can play a supportive role. ‘Collagen, for example, supports gut and joint health, and a healthy gut improves nutrient absorption, which in turn bene ts the skin. While collagen won’t necessarily go directly to the skin, it does contribute to overall structural support, which will be re ected in a healthier complexion,’ she explains.

At Clinique La Prairie, supplements are designed to tackle the root causes of ageing and in ammation. According to Olga Donica, longevity innovation director, their formulations result not only in enhanced internal resilience but also in visible rejuvenation. ‘By addressing in ammation, a common factor in premature ageing, the formulas provide a comprehensive approach to skin health, strengthening your skin’s resilience from within,’ she shares. An example is the Holistic Health Age-Defy formula, which contains anti-in ammatory super botanicals such as hop blossoms, astragalus, ashwagandha and spirulina.

is ‘inside-out’ approach is also echoed in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Practitioner Ada Ooi explains that the skin is a highly responsive organ, often re ecting the body’s internal state. ‘Most adult skin concerns are rarely isolated surface issues,’ she says. ‘ ey’re often secondary manifestations of systemic imbalances, whether hormonal, metabolic, or linked to neuro-in ammatory stress, where the nervous system drives skin in ammation. is can trigger sensitivity, breakouts, and premature ageing.’ By treating from within, Ooi notes, we can address the root causes, optimising skin health at a cellular level rather than temporarily masking symptoms.

For healthy skin ageing, Ooi’s recommendations include prioritising deep, restorative sleep. ‘Poor sleep means slower healing, dullness, and early ne lines,’ she says. Similarly, it’s vital to keep on top of calming the nervous system. ‘Chronic stress drives neuroin ammatory stress, resulting in redness, sensitivity and slower barrier repair.’ Ooi shares that simple habits like humming, cold water splashes on the face, slow exhalations, and gargling, help stimulate vagal activity and can make a visible di erence in skin clarity and tone over time. Healthy ageing, Ooi concludes, isn’t just about targeting wrinkles, it’s about keeping the body’s repair systems active and e cient. Ultimately, our skin re ects not just what we apply to it, but how we nourish, move, and care for ourselves each day, meaning we have the power to in uence how we age, starting at a cellular level. n

Clinique La Prairie’s Age-Defy, £630 for 240 capsules ( johnbellcroyden.co.uk)

BODY& SOUL

Creatine in focus: the powerhouse supplement for women looking to stay strong, says Camilla Hewitt

For years, creatine has been associated with muscle-bound bodybuilders and gym-goers but that image is rapidly evolving and for good reason. Much more than a tness supplement for athletes, it’s considered a powerhouse for women looking to age well and stay strong.

‘Creatine is one of the most well-researched supplements we have,’ says wellbeing expert and long-time women’s health advocate Liz Earle. ‘During menopause and beyond, it becomes especially valuable. It helps support muscle strength, cognitive clarity, and energy production at a time when our natural stores begin to decline.’

SO WHAT EXACTLY IS CREATINE?

Creatine is a naturally occurring compound made from amino acids that plays a key role in cellular energy production. While our bodies make some amounts, we also get creatine from dietary sources, mainly animal products like red meat and sh.

‘Creatine acts like a cellular battery charger,’ explains Dr Jenna Macciochi, director of science and innovation at Ancient + Brave. ‘It helps regenerate ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which is our cellular energy currency and fuels nearly every process in the body, especially quick, high-intensity e orts, which is why creatine became popular to support physical activity and

exercise performance. But beyond performance, it’s also emerging as a powerful tool for other energy-demanding cells, supporting brain health, bone strength, and metabolic function, as well as ageing.’

Women tend to have lower natural creatine stores than men, particularly those following plant-based diets. ese stores diminish with age, making supplementation a smart choice across a woman’s life, but especially during and after menopause. ‘Consistency is key,’ continues Dr Macciochi. ‘Creatine works best when taken daily, as its bene ts come from building up cellular stores over time.’

ARE THERE ANY SIDE EFFECTS?

One of the most common misconceptions about creatine is that it causes weight gain or bloating. is belief comes from the bodybuilding methods of high-dose ‘loading’. Menopause tness coach Kate Rowe-Ham clari es that when used correctly, there’s no need for concern. ‘Some people may notice a bit of water retention at rst,’ she explains, ‘but that water is stored in your muscles, where it actually supports hydration and performance. It’s not actual weight gain.’ She also notes that if you combine supplementation with two to three strength sessions a week and stay well hydrated, any initial side e ects usually settle quickly. ‘What you gain in strength, energy, mental clarity, and con dence far outweighs any temporary changes.’

MUSCLE UP

Post-menopause, women can lose up to one percent of their muscle mass each year, which may lead to reduced strength, a higher risk of injury, and possible weight gain. Although creatine can support muscle maintenance, it shouldn’t be considered a silver bullet or shortcut. Instead, try combining supplementation with:

1

A balanced diet Consuming enough protein daily is crucial for muscle repair and growth.

2

Strength training

Regular resistance training, such as lifting weights or using resistance bands, is essential for building and maintaining muscle mass.

3

Sufficient sleep

Sleep allows the body time to rebuild muscle tissue and replenish glycogen stores, meaning you can hit the gym again. n

The Nutritionist

Dr Federica Amati pinpoints the cornerstones of a healthy brain

As you sit and read these words, your body is quietly at work: your breath is steady, your heart beats at a healthy rhythm, your temperature holds at 37°C and you have thoughts of the day rattling around your subconscious. All of this is controlled by the dense collection of wiring between your ears. As the seat of our personality, the home of our hopes and fears and the keeper of cherished memories, we should all pay a little more attention to the health of our brains.

Recently, I nd myself thinking about brain health more than usual. My colleague Professor Tim Spector visited Dr Sabine Donnai – founder of Viavi, a longevity clinic in Marylebone – to take the Cortex 360 cognitive health evaluation. Despite being one of the healthiest 67 year olds I know, his scan showed signs of in ammation and a buildup of environmental toxins.

You don’t need access to high-tech scans to start caring for your brain. Many evidencebased lifestyle changes can signi cantly support brain function as we age. Diet is one of the most powerful tools; according to the 2024 Lancet Commission report, around 45 percent of dementia cases could be prevented by addressing 14 lifestyle factors, several of which relate to nutrition and weight.

Our organs don’t operate in isolation and nutrients from our food reach every part of the body, including the brain. One important connection is the gut-brain axis, a communication pathway that explains why we feel nauseous when anxious or get irritable when hungry. Central to this axis is the gut microbiome and the trillions of microbes that train our immune system.

Why is this important? Because in ammation, while essential for defending the body against injury or infection, can become harmful if it persists. Chronic low-grade in ammation a ects the brain’s delicate structure and is linked to dementia and mental health disorders. Our lifestyle – especially diet – can help reduce excess in ammation.

Eating triggers an in ammatory response, but the type of food matters. Diets rich in plants and fermented foods have been shown to reduce in ammation by promoting a healthier gut microbiome. Adding foods like natural Greek yoghurt, kimchi or sauerkraut (with live cultures) can help. Avoid pasteurised or long-shelf-life versions, which often lack active microbes.

As the seat of our personality and the keeper of cherished memories, we should all pay more attention to the health of our brains

Omega-3 fats are also vital for keeping your brain and nerves in good health. Aim for a couple of servings of oily sh like salmon or mackerel each week. If you’re plant-based, include axseeds, seaweed or supplements. e typical western diet – low intakes of plants but high in re ned carbs, unhealthy fats and ultra-processed foods – fuels in ammation, so swap in whole grains and ditch white bread and processed meats.

Diet is just one piece of the puzzle – sleep also plays a critical role. Research shows poor sleep increases in ammation and risk of infection. During sleep, your brain takes the opportunity to clean up – the glymphatic system comes alive, draining metabolic rubbish from between cells that’s built up over the day. Most adults need seven to nine hours of quality sleep. We know what to do to support this: avoid screens in the bedroom, keep your sleep environment dark and cool and aim for consistent sleep-wake times.

Physical activity is another cornerstone of brain health. Regular exercise boosts brain blood ow, reduces in ammation and lowers the risk of vascular conditions that can impair cognitive function. It’s worth noting environmental factors, too. Professor Spector’s scan showed heavy metals and microplastics, likely from years of cycling in London. While we can’t eliminate pollution entirely, wearing an antipollution mask in busy cities may help reduce exposure.

If these tips sound familiar, it’s because everything is connected. Your brain is your body – so what’s good for the whole, is good for the part.

Viavi, 9 Devonshire Place, London W1 (viavi.com) n

PHOTOS: ALAMY; PEXELS/ MAKSIM GONCHARENOK

Staying active helps support our brains as we age

Take a Brain Check

As dementia becomes the biggest health threat in Britain, Lucy Cleland checks in for a brain MOT

As I was lying down for a recent MRI scan, I was thinking of my mother-in-law who would have passed away possibly precisely at that moment.

A vigorous, stoic and strong woman, she died of kidney cancer aged 83, a year after her diagnosis. Cancer, as we know, is one of the most common diseases that will force us to meet our maker, but – and this I didn’t know until I underwent Echelon Health’s Platinum Health Assessment, dementia is now the leading cause of death in the UK – outpacing heart disease and the big C.

‘And as our population ages, it’s only going to rise,’ con rms Dr Khan. He’s in the middle of checking my brain health with a series of nely tuned questions that can, in turn, along with the MRI and a blood test (which I’ve already had that morning as part of a series of the most extensive health assessments on o er – 18 in all, including CT scans, ultrasounds and a mole check), paint a picture of whether there’s need for concern.

Reassuringly, even when I fess up to often forgetting words and names, misplacing items or even missing the odd ight, despite sitting at the departure gate (don’t ask), this can be attributed to being a busy perimenopausal woman (at least for now). But the facts I’ve just learnt send a chill through me.

ere is good news though. ‘Up to 45 percent of the risk factors for dementia are modi able. And 98 percent of us can do something to reduce our personal risk,’ smiles

Dr Khan. As Dr Federica Amati says on page 68, what’s good for the body – not being overweight, a balanced diet, exercise, sleep and stress control – is good for the brain too. at gives us some semblance of control, therefore, and a test like this at my age (I’m 49) gives me my baseline and can pinpoint any actions that might need to be taken to stave o potential problems down the line. ‘Our approach looks at blood markers, brain imaging and cognitive testing,’ says Dr Khan. ‘It’s about understanding your baseline and where you can intervene.’

And medication is coming down the pipe too. e progress made in cancer and heart disease has hugely outpaced that of dementia, so far. But things are changing. ‘ ere are over 140 drugs in trial for Alzheimer’s right now,’ con rms Dr Khan. ‘Some target amyloid [the toxic protein found in Alzheimer’s], but others take a broader approach – gut health, in ammation, blood sugar. One recent treatment has been shown to slow progression by up to 40 percent. It’s not available on the NHS yet – but it’s been approved by the MHRA.’

‘ is is the next health frontier,’ he continues. ‘We’ll look back and wonder why brain health wasn’t prioritised sooner. In the not-so-distant future, we’ll be giving chemotherapy for dementia the way we do for cancer.’

BOOK IT: e Dementia Assessment costs £3,000. e Platinum Assessment costs £14,000. echelon.health n

MAKE YOUR LIFESTYLE MATTER

1

The MediterraneanDASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay – or MIND diet – is proven to lower dementia risk. More vegetables, nuts, berries, pulses, healthy fats, and less saturated fat and sugar.

2

Exercise is a game-changer. Especially leg strength, which boosts brain-derived growth hormones. We recommend 150 minutes a week – ideally with resistance training.

3

Sleep is critical for brain health. During deep sleep, the brain clears waste proteins like amyloid. Less than six hours a night is a serious risk factor.

4

Chronic stress raises cortisol, which damages the brain. And hearing loss is one of the biggest and most overlooked modifiable risk factors. If you can’t hear well, get it checked.

Top tips from Dr Khan

CULTURE

Sheila Atim will be at Chelsea Arts Festival, doing a reading in celebration of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, on Sunday 21 September at Cadogan Hall

Dress by Ahluwalia Earrings Annoushka

1 ALL THE WORLD ’ S A STREET

No tickets required: the King’s Road will come alive this weekend with a parade of live music and theatre. Expect walkabout acts, from Autin Dance eatre – which runs dance and movement projects that welcome and include everyone – and its towering 13ft puppet (right), to the Natural eatre Company’s brightly costumed Clockheads. Add to that the National Youth Jazz Orchestra on the bandstand, plus plenty more besides.

HOT TICKETS

Chelsea’s inaugural arts festival is here. Tessa Dunthorne has the inside scoop on what to book now

2 SO YOU WANT TO BE A WRITER?

Aspiring novelists should snap up a place on the Silk Road Slippers workshop, where publishing powerhouses Alexandra Pringle and Faiza Khan and author Alex von Tunzelmann provide instant, illuminating and instructive feedback. £25, 3.30pm, Sunday 21 Sept, Cadogan Hall

3 IN FULL SWING

Ronnie Scott’s presents funk and soul star Ashton Jones, who takes to the stage with a ten-piece horn and groove band. Expect reimagined classics, irresistible rhythms and serious swagger. From £12.50, 7pm, Friday 19 Sept, Cadogan Hall

4 IN CONVERSATION: SHEILA NORTLEY

5 BLUE PLAQUES TALK BACK

Sir Stephen Fry (above) leads a cast of performers and academics in bringing Chelsea’s Blue Plaques to life. From Oscar Wilde to Bob Marley, expect fascinating insights into how these icons lived, loved and left their mark on Chelsea. From £12.50, 10.30am, Friday 19 Sept, Cadogan Hall

6

Executive producer Sheila Nortley (below) – whose credits include Net ix drama Stay Close and the BAFTAnominated Supacell – joins Davina ForbesWilliamson, co-CEO of the Forbes Family Group, to discuss the realities of navigating today’s British TV industry. Expect candid insights. From £12.50, 2.45pm, Friday 19 Sept, Saatchi Gallery

BRITISH FILM & TV IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Film critic Anna Smith is joined by Dr Nitin Sawhney CBE, Sally Phillips and others for a lively panel on the best of the big and small screen. From £12.50, 4.15pm, Saturday 20 Sept, Cadogan Hall

The Streets Are Alive

Experience pop-up festival events hosted by local Chelsea retailers, eat your way through the much-loved Fine Food market, and browse the exciting new Chelsea Art Market on Sunday 21 September, hosted by Open Art Spaces in Duke of York Square.

CULTURE | Chelsea Arts Festival

7

THAT ’ S FASHION, DARLING

For fashion lovers, book in for an exclusive double bill of documentaries

Twiggy and Quant, followed by a Q&A with Twiggy herself and director Sadie Frost. £25, 11am, Saturday 20 Sept, Everyman Chelsea

8

HAVING A LAUGH

Saturday night is comedy night, with Lloyd Gri th, Sindhu Vee (above), Michael Odewale and Daniel Foxx taking to the stage. Ticket sales go towards e Nucleo Project. From £12.50, 7.45pm, Saturday 20 Sept, Cadogan Hall

9

AI AND THE IMAGINATION: PROMISE OR PERIL?

AI scientist Dr Shama Rahman, tech founder Suhair Khan and lmmaker Omar Karim debate whether AI o ers boundless promise or an existential threat to human imagination.

£12.50, 12.45pm, Friday 19 Sept, Saatchi Gallery

10

SECRETS & SPIES WITH WILLIAM BOYD

Prompted by C&TH 's Olivia Cole, William Boyd explores the dark allure of spycraft and the research, inspiration and imagination that fuelled his gripping new work, e Predicament, the anticipated sequel to spy novel Gabriel’s Moon From £12.50, 1.30pm, Friday 19 Sept, Cadogan Hall

11

ELIF SHAFAK: TALES WITHOUT BORDERS

WHAT’S ON

THURSDAY 18 SEPT

12pm Rupert Everett in conversation with Hannah MacInnes

7pm George Monbiot meets Ian McEwan

FRIDAY 19 SEPT

10am Bandstand opens

10.30am Blue Plaques Talk Back

12.45pm Machines vs creativity

1.30pm William Boyd

2.45pm Sheila Nortley

4.30pm Lucas Jones' poetry live

6.15pm BookBar with Elif Shafak

7pm Ronnie Scott's

SATURDAY 20 SEPT

10am Bandstand opens 10.30am The Value Of Culture: Darren Henley, Samira Ahmed and Lionheart 11am English National Ballet School performance 11am Twiggy screening

12pm The London Theatre Review: Live with Ambika Mod and David Byrne

12.15pm Ekow Eshun interviewed by Katy Wickremesinghe 2pm Zandra Rhodes and Daniel Lismore

1.30pm How To Art with Kate Bryan and David Shrigley

1.50pm Quant screening

4.15pm A Celebration of British Film & Television

5.30pm Allie Esiri's 365 Poems for Life

5.30pm Jack Edwards' literary salon with Yasmin Zaher

7.45pm Comedy gala

SUNDAY 21 SEPT

BookBar founder Chrissy Ryan sits down with Elif Shafak (below) to discuss her latest novel, ere Are Rivers in the Sky, a sweeping tale set across two continents and 2,000 years. Expect an evening of luminous storytelling, big ideas and re ections on how history and myth shape the world we live in today. From £12.50, 6.15pm, Friday 19 Sept, Saatchi Gallery

12

MONBIOT MEETS MCEWAN

Novelist Ian McEwan joins environmental activist George Monbiot to discuss McEwan’s new novel What We Can Know, a searing vision of a climate-ravaged Britain. Expect an evening of urgency, insight and, ultimately, hope. From £45, 7.30pm, ursday 18 Sept, Cadogan Hall

10am Bandstand opens 11am Matt Haig, Jordan Stephens and Annie Macmanus

2pm Elizabeth Day and Marian Keyes

3.30pm Silk Road Slippers 6pm 30 years of the Women’s Prize For Fiction

Need More Information? Visit the Festival Concierge in Duke of York Square, brought to you by Blacklane. Open daily, it will offer expert tips to maximise your festival experience, plus discounted Blacklane rides.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

As Chelsea Arts Festival transforms the streets of SW3 this September, Ed Vaizey considers why festivals play a pivotal role in the arts in this country

Given its vibrant history, it’s hard to believe that Chelsea has not, until now, had its own dedicated arts festival. Chelsea is home to the world’s most important cultural institution – Peter Jones – as well as the Royal Court eatre, Cadogan Hall, the National Army Museum and the Saatchi Gallery. Chelsea has hosted literary and artistic greats from Turner to Rossetti, Whistler to Morris, Wilde to Joyce. And the King’s Road, of course, was the birthplace of the Swinging Sixties.

So congratulations to this esteemed organ, Country & Town House, and Cadogan, Chelsea’s illustrious landowner, for putting on Chelsea Arts Festival this autumn. I’m particularly looking forward to the readings to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, as well as the deep dive into the blue plaques that physically mark out Chelsea’s heritage –Oscar Wilde, for example, whose blue plaque on Tite Street will be brought to life by Sir Stephen Fry, who played the playwright, novelist and poet in the 1997 lm Wilde. ere’s a whole range of fabulous and distinguished speakers, and I can’t wait to meet the artist David Shrigley. Every morning, I drink my freshly brewed co ee from a huge mug with one of his cartoonish illustrations emblazoned with the slogan ‘museums are full of crap’.

Although there is no question that Chelsea Arts Festival will become the world’s greatest, it does take its place among many successful festivals across Britain. In fact, we don’t really do enough to celebrate the fact that, as in so many areas, Britain has been somewhat of a pioneer. e Edinburgh International Festival, for example, is the rst and largest of its kind, established in 1947 to promote post-war healing through the arts. It was paid for by the winnings of a horse (Ocean Swell) owned by the Earl of Rosebery. e town council and the newly-established Arts Council also contributed. e Cheltenham Literature Festival, established in 1949, is also the longest-running literary festival in the world.

Apart from their sheer enjoyment, festivals play a hugely important role in the great mosaic of the arts in this country. It is no surprise that they have ourished over the last few decades. We are good at them, but more importantly, they show that there remains, in this dystopian, technological age, a huge appetite for human connection, stories and high-brow entertainment. We are a country of theatre and writing and painting, and it’s right that we celebrate it.

Festivals have important side e ects. ey have a huge impact on a local economy, bringing in people who spend at restaurants, hotels and retailers. Music festivals alone contribute almost £2bn to the national economy every year. Festivals also contribute to our soft power, bringing in performers and visitors from all over the world to see what our country has to o er – or they see what a good time we are having on their TV screens.

Chelsea Arts Festival takes its place in this pantechnicon. Conceived to celebrate great art and artists, designed to deliver pleasure over a few intense days, it will also boost the health of local retailers and gently remind the world what Chelsea has to o er. How wonderful. n

Festivals show that there remains, in this dystopian, technological age, a huge appetite for human connection, stories and high-brow entertainment

Storytelling and bringing people together plays a crucial role in our digitally-obsessed world

ON GIRL FIRE

As Sheila Atim takes to the stage at Chelsea Arts Festival, Matt Wolf meets a musical theatre actress catapulted to Olivier Award-winning success by her tangible realness and soulful, heart-rending voice

FASHION DIRECTOR NICOLE SMALLWOOD PHOTOGRAPHER CARLER GULER

Dress Lanvin Earrings Fope

Dress Valentino

Shoes Magda

Butrym Earrings Annoushka

heila Atim chooses her roles wisely and well. At 34, the former model who studied environmental science at King’s College London, has two Olivier Awards and an MBE to her name. She has also come to prominence on screen alongside the likes of Viola Davis in e Woman King and Halle Berry in the Oscar-winning actress’s directorial debut, Bruised is month, she’ll be up close and personal at Chelsea Arts Festival as the Women’s Prize for Fiction celebrates its 30th birthday. Atim will be on hand as one of a handful of readers, lending star wattage to a gala night that is sure to be enlivened by her innate elegance and style.

e Ugandan-British actress won her rst Olivier in 2018 for her supporting role as Marianne Laine in Girl from the North Country, Conor McPherson’s refashioning of the Bob Dylan songbook. She stepped up to the same podium to receive her second Olivier in 2022 for her part in the West End revival of the metaphysically minded two-hander Constellations by Nick Payne. Atim’s character in this production was also called Marianne. ‘I’m waiting for another Marianne,’ Atim, an open and easy conversationalist, says with a smile. We’re chatting over tea one blissfully warm August afternoon, the two of us ensconced outside a café in Islington, an easy commute from her east London home. Dressed simply but stylishly in a sleeveless top and billowy Michael Kors trousers, her hair cut the shortest she’s ‘ever had it’, she draws the attention of passersby as she elaborates on why she has recently undertaken fewer stage roles than might be expected from someone of her stature. ‘It’s been a combination of timing and the right thing coming in.’

A warm presence with a rm sense of both herself and her career, Atim is the rst to marvel at a career trajectory that included a stint as a model in her teens before pursuing biomedical work at university while singing the likes of

‘There was Sheila, with the company and a four-piece acoustic band, with no production around her. When she sang, it was pure, honest theatre and people responded beyond viscerally. She’s got a realness that I think is very special, and soon after, she was holding an Olivier’

HALE

Blazer, shirt, tie, skirt, boots, all Vivienne Westwood

Nina Simone and Sarah Vaughan in and around campus. ( e music, she says, helped pay some rent, ‘which was wonderful’.) e biomedicine might seem very much like a red herring, but Atim re ects on her time at King’s College as a chance to pursue a subject she enjoyed. ‘ e science part of my life always nds its way back,’ she says, ‘but even before I studied biomedicine, I knew I was going to be an artist by profession.’ University gave her time to think and hone her craft while broadening her education. Within three weeks of nals, she was rehearsing at Shakespeare’s Globe. It was here, in 2013, that I rst came across Atim in e Lightning Child – an adaptation of ancient Greek tragedy e Bacchae which also happened to be the rst musical performed at the Globe. She went on to intrigue audiences as the commanding, non-speaking presence –a shape-shifting emblem perhaps of Africa itself – in the National eatre’s 2016 revival of the little-seen Lorraine Hansberry play, Les Blancs.

But it was the Depression-era Girl from the North Country that was transformative – and not just, she says, because it allowed her to bring a wounding, sad-eyed quality to canonical entries from the Dylan songbook. ‘Conor [McPherson] is very organic in his process and has a very light touch, which is fascinating considering he was both the writer and director.

‘ e unusualness of the project required you to make sure all your chops were dialled up to ten,’ she adds of the show, which had a fourth run in London this summer (this time without Atim). ‘It was intriguing in both its tone and style, and had real rigour.’ So much so that it has spoiled Atim for the musical theatre conveyor belt that can snare some performers.

e British composer and arranger Simon Hale, who won a Tony Award for his orchestrations for Girl from the North Country on Broadway, speaks eloquently about what Atim brought to the show in its world premiere in London.

‘Sheila has got an utterly soulful, honest, communicative sound – never contrived or overthought.’ At the 2018 Olivier Awards, she performed live her standout number from the production, Tight Connection to My Heart, which Hale remembers vividly. ‘ ere was Sheila, with the company and a four-piece acoustic band, with no production around her. When she sang, it was pure, honest theatre and people responded beyond viscerally. She’s got a realness that I think is very special, and soon after, she was holding an Olivier.’

e hit show Constellations followed, exciting audiences with four separate casts that allowed for numerous perspectives in keeping with a prismatic 70-minute single act that itself tra cked in theories of the multiverse. ‘ e very nature of the play’s parallel universes meant that we could have multiple versions of the play, and it still worked,’ Atim says of the experience, which on her nights o also allowed her to see two other performers, Zoë Wanamaker included, playing her role.

Atim’s gathering prominence has allowed her to shift between art forms. She spent six months on the South African set of e Woman King and travelled to the American south to play the absent mother of the central character, Cora, in Barry Jenkins’ acclaimed TV adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s e Underground Railroad. At present, she’s working on a short lm of her own that she hopes to direct. Her deliberately individual career path has been encouraged all the while by her mother, who brought the infant Atim to the UK from Uganda aged ve months. ‘My mum has always delighted in my creativity and supported it.’ e opportunity to read at Chelsea Arts Festival for Atim, who recorded the audiobook for Bernardine Evaristo’s e Emperor’s Babe, speaks to the appeal of reading books aloud when she’s usually reading scripts. ‘ is is a di erent kind of storytelling.’ She confesses to a stack of unread books at home, thanks in part to the fact she pops into Foyles or Waterstones whenever she is passing. ‘ ere’s something about the energy you nd in a bookshop that beckons you in and invites you to pause. Look at all these worlds you could enter – all this stu you could learn.’

Looking ahead, Atim has the luxury that comes with being able to choose. Special warmth is reserved for the Old Vic, where she now sits on the board and is privy to the workings of a major theatre soon to get a new artistic director in Rupert Goold. ‘I want to work, but I’m not very good at working in things I don’t believe in. e price of jumping into something for the wrong reasons is too high.’ Far better, she adds, to ‘believe you have something to o er, and that something worth that belief is going to nd you’. In which case, Sheila Atim looks ready to make believers of us all.

Matt Wolf is theatre critic for e International New York Times and e Arts Desk and has spent more than 40 years covering London theatre.

Sheila Atim will read at Women’s Words: From Page to Stage, A 30 Year Celebration of the Women’s Prize For Fiction in partnership with e White Company, at Chelsea Arts Festival on 21 September (chelseaartsfestival.com). n

‘I’m not very good at working in things I don’t believe in. The price of jumping into something for the wrong reasons is too high’

Coat and shoes Erdem

TEAM Fashion assistant: Alice Dench

Photographer’s assistant: Joshua

Hippolyte

Hair: Marcia Lee using Babylisspro cordless super motor clippers

Makeup: Barrie Griffith using Gucci beauty, exclusively at Selfridges

Video: Remy Archer

Location: Sanderson Hotel

BALANCING the BOOKS

As the Women’s Prize for Fiction turns 30, giving women’s writing a platform and pulling them up to achieve parity with men is more important than ever, says Charlotte Metcalf

On a golden June evening, 900 people gathered in Bedford Square to celebrate a British publishing history milestone: the 30th birthday of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, founded by author Kate Mosse to highlight original, exceptional writing by women of all backgrounds. Mosse remembers being told ‘women don’t write literature’, but today, the Women’s Prize Trust is a UK charity creating equal opportunities for women in books and hosts the world’s biggest annual celebration of women’s creativity. Mosse still serves as founder director, and was awarded a CBE in 2024 in recognition of her contributions to literature and women’s writing.

e Bedford Square party also announced the winners of the Prize for Non-Fiction (now in its third year) and, as it was a big birthday, Bernardine Evaristo received a one-o Outstanding Contribution Award, recognising her transformative impact on literature.

When Dr Rachel Clarke was announced as winner of the Non-Fiction Prize for e Story of a Heart, she half-danced, half-ran onto the stage. Her book, which she’s adapting for television, is her account of a nineyear-old girl donating her heart to save the life of a boy the same age. ‘ at story could have died and disappeared, but now the two families are thrilled and proud that their story can make a di erence,’ Clarke tells me. ‘I don’t think a male doctor would have taken the same in-depth, emotional approach as I did. Women bring a particular perspective to storytelling. I care passionately about women’s voices being heard, valued, respected and ampli ed the way men’s are, so winning this prize is a dream. I don’t want my 14 year old growing up in a world where her voice might be trampled on or diminished.’

e Fiction Prize was awarded to DutchIsraeli teaching professor Yael van der Wouden, for her debut novel e Safekeep. ‘Last night felt unreal because I was just a professor of comparative literature at Maastricht University until about three seconds ago,’ she tells me the next day. ‘Whenever someone asked me how I saw my future, I’d always say, “writing”, and I’d see their look of concern. Winning this prize means I might be able to write full-time.’

‘Women aren’t just writing for women, but storytelling for all,’ says chair of the Women’s Prize Trust, Anna Ra erty. ‘What do we all want from ction? To explore the world through somebody else’s eyes and to understand something we hadn’t before. Yet, while women read a balanced diet of writers, just 20 percent of men read top women authors. It’s important men spend time in women’s heads.’

Ra erty says there has been an ‘unconscious but systematic’ failure in the publishing industry, giving women just 30 percent of the pie. She commissioned consumer research company Nielsen to investigate, with a focus on non- ction. ‘ ough men and women write about the same amount, women’s books are far less likely to be given an advertising budget, be sent out for review or submitted for prizes,’ she says of Nielsen’s ndings. ‘ e gender pay gap is 36 percent and growing. What the Women’s Prize is doing is shining a light on women’s talent and thought leadership to redress this balance.’

Beyond the big prizes, the trust is justi ably proud of its Discoveries programme – a grassroots initiative launched ve years ago for women who would like to write a book, but have no idea how to start. It provides practical, free online resources and has an outreach programme to prisons, refuges, hospitals, and communities in which women have less access. ‘Women can feel intimidated by the whole procedure, so we take away every barrier and demystify the process,’ Ra erty explains. Over the last ve years, the Discoveries programme has received over 15,000 submissions, with thousands more accessing the free materials. ‘ We’re discovering and mentoring new talent,’ Ra erty continues, adding that the programme includes a nancial award of £5,000. ‘Our sponsors [Bailey’s and Audible sponsor the Fiction Prize, and Findmypast the Non-Fiction Prize] are leaning down and pulling women up, which feels joyful,’ says Ra erty, ‘as we’re all about throwing down ladders so women can climb up behind you.’

e Women’s Prize is celebrating its birthday further with a literary salon at Chelsea Arts Festival, in partnership with e White Company, which is also celebrating its 30-year anniversary. Mosse is hosting, and extraordinary names including Sheila Hancock, Sir Lenny Henry and Sheila Atim, will be taking to the stage to read some of the most compelling women’s writing.

‘If men can’t see the world through women’s eyes by reading their stories, we all miss out on men being able to build empathy,’ Ra erty concludes. ‘Building empathy and understanding sounds a high concept, but why not build a better world and a stronger society by understanding one another and connecting?’ Why not, indeed.

Women’s Words: From Page to Stage, A 30 Year Celebration of the Women’s Prize For Fiction is at Chelsea Arts Festival on 21 September, in partnership with e White Company (chelseaartsfestival.com) n

FROM LEFT: This year’s prize winners: Rachel Clarke, Bernardine Evaristo and Yael van der Wouden

‘Though men and women write about the same amount, women’s books are far less likely to be given an advertising budget, be sent out for review or submitted for prizes. The gender pay gap is 36 percent and growing. What the Women’s Prize is doing is shining a light on women’s talent and thought leadership to redress this balance’

Thirty books have won the Women’s Prize for Fiction since it was founded by Kate Mosse in 1996, including this year’s winner The Safekeep

Talking Heads

Author Matt Haig and musician Jordan Stephens might be divided by age and career, but are united in their radical honesty about mental health –and their mission to change how men talk about it, says Katie Glass

Separated by a generation and by an art form, author Matt Haig and popstar Jordan Stephens appear, on the surface, to have little in common. One is a 50-year-old best-selling writer known for poignant books like e Midnight Library; Stephens, 33, is best known as one half of exuberant Brighton rap group Rizzle Kicks and partner to pop starlet Jade irlwall of Little Mix.

Yet over the years their lives have overlapped, both in their personal experiences and how each of them have spoken with radical honesty about their mental health issues, opening up a wider conversation for men. Haig, most famously in Reasons to Stay Alive, a memoir of his experiences of depression and anxiety, and Stephens, in his candid memoir Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak and Dogs, write provocatively and poetically about those subjects.

Stephens knew Haig’s reputation before they met. His best friend’s favourite book is Haig’s e Humans; ‘he has it tattooed on his leg’. e pair’s rst encounter was in 2015, the year Haig published Reasons to Stay Alive and Stephens appeared in the mental health campaign #IAMWHOLE. Since then, Haig grins, ‘our paths have crossed again and again’.

Stephens credits Haig with rst normalising openness around men’s mental health issues: ‘It was an important shift in a discussion around success and masculinity and mental health,’ he considers.

Haig, meanwhile, admires Stephens’ candour. ‘He talks from an honest place. When he’s talking about mental health, it’s all very personal. He has a kind of un ltered quality in the way he’s just genuinely thinking out loud, and he writes in a similar way. We share that.’

Both men began writing with radical honesty about their mental health at a time when such discussions felt shocking and brave. Haig, who experienced a breakdown at 24 in 1999, says at the time, ‘there wasn’t something that would be referred to as the “mental health conversation”’.

While Haig admits he didn’t feel brave writing Reasons, he started to when he began promoting the book and speaking aloud about something he never had before. ‘One of the reasons I wrote that book was to feel less alone,’ he explains. Stephens agrees: ‘I wrote Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak and Dogs because I felt that when I was heartbroken, there was nothing to help me.’

For both, the response to their work has been overwhelming. Stephens speaks of men messaging him during break-ups or when they go sober: ‘I think if people are spinning, the book can be an anchor of sorts.’ At Haig’s rst event for Reasons at a church in Glasgow, an older man came up to tell him he’d had depression for 40 years and had often felt suicidal. ‘He went to the pub every day with the same best mate, and he said they’d speak about everything, but had never once spoken about depression,’ the author recalls. ‘ en he read my book, and he’d spoken to his mate about his own mental struggles. I thought, that’s the point

Matt Haig says the response to his memoir Reasons to Stay Alive has been overwhelming

– you’re not the end point in yourself, you’re just starting the conversation.’

Both muse on mental health through the prism of manhood. Haig was shaped by traditional ideas of masculinity, having grown up in ‘a real working class, quite traditional small town in the Midlands. ere wasn’t an array of diverse role models. I really struggled,’ he admits. ‘I think a lot of my issues came about from feeling like I didn’t t in.’

For Stephens, emulating traditional masculinity impacted his intimate relationships – a lack of bonding that leaves men disconnected. He began glamorising drug abuse as a result, and now realises the celebration of intoxication in art is a real problem. ‘Pretty much all of my male heroes have been fucking wasted, and we thought that was really cool. I don’t think it’s cool anymore.’

Both have spoken frankly about their addictions; Haig considers addiction a particularly male crutch. ‘It was a socially accepted way of handling your problems, certainly 20 years ago. I didn’t have any self-esteem about anything, I wasn’t great at football, but being able to consume a lot of alcohol gets you respect. I’d be known as the person who can handle his drink. I’d have drinking competitions. It was very typically masculine in regard to mental health. It’s the glori cation of a problem.’

But Stephens and Haig do feel optimistic things will be di erent for a future generation of men. ‘ ings have shifted so dramatically in such a short space of time,’ Stephens considers. ‘I think we lose a sense of how quickly cultural conversation evolves; that’s around gender, around mental health. A decade ago, I literally did not understand what anxiety meant.’

He’s a gender optimist. ‘Considering I grew up in an era of women being paraded on Saturday morning football shows and rated out of ten, I think we’re doing alright. I see so many examples of men who are consciously wanting to break generational cycles and be there as fathers to their kids.’

While Haig recognises this cultural shift, he is more hesitant. ‘I see the same amount of problems; they’re just di erent problems,’ he explains. ‘Now, we’ve got men catching up to women with body dysmorphia, gym addiction and eating issues – obsession with protein, looks, Instagram photos. Social media has some good things, especially in terms of a mental health conversation, but it’s got a whole load of new issues that we’re having to work through.’ He worries about Trump, Andrew Tate and a sort of ‘cartoonish’ hypermasculinity he sees among some men online. As a parent to a 17-year-old boy who is ‘online a lot’, Haig says, ‘you don’t want to be the Victorian restrictive parent, but you also don’t want to be this foolish, over-liberal parent who’s just ne with anything’.

Stephens agrees: ‘I feel incredibly protective over boys. It’s our responsibility as adults to lead by example, not to plant the idea that a whole generation of children are these potentially violent adults. I really don’t agree with that. We’ve got to show boys the way, without making them feel like they’re bad people. Show boys how to love themselves.’

Stephens says the main thing that saved his mental health was ‘going sober’. Haig’s advice for anyone struggling is simple: ‘things change’.

Matt Haig and Jordan Stephens are in conversation with Annie Macmanus on 21 September at Chelsea Arts Festival (chelseaartsfestival.com) n

‘I feel incredibly protective over boys. It’s our responsibility as adults to lead by example, not to plant the idea that a whole generation of children are these potentially violent adults’

JORDAN STEPHENS

Jordan Stephens credits Matt Haig with normalising the conversation around men’s mental health

DECK THE HALLS

The Christmas Cotswold Fair Turns 40 this November

Though it feels like summer was only yesterday, our favourite time of year is just around the corner. Christmas: the ultimate time for gathering friends, sharing gifts and enjoying delicious food.

Where better to start getting into the festive spirit than the iconic Cotswolds, where The Christmas Cotswold Fair (10 to 13 November) this year celebrates its 40th anniversary.

Having started with just six stalls in 1985, The Christmas Cotswold Fair has grown to welcome over 220 hand-picked stallholders, 15 food and beverage outlets, over 25 celebrity authors and over 6,000 visitors annually. In the process, it has raised over £1.5m for national children’s charity WellChild, known for its incredible work giving seriously ill children, young people and their families across the UK the best chance to thrive.

The fair will be back within the estate of Todenham Manor Farm, the well-known 900 acre family farm that has been producing food for the local community for generations.

‘I can’t believe we’re already at the 40 year mark,’ says founder Lucy Greaves. ‘Since starting this incredible fair from the back of my car, so much has changed for the better. We are now a four-day super event, which is a whirlwind of excitement, incredible generosity and a few sleepless nights.

‘There have been so many incredible memories over the past 40 years. Not only have we raised an astonishing amount for charity, we have seen the beginnings of what have now become global brands – Holland Cooper,

Fairfax & Favor, Wyse London, Tilly Sveaas – all spent their first Christmases at The Christmas Cotswold Fair. It’s an honour to help them make their mark by creating an environment where small businesses can flourish as our fair goes from strength to strength.’

In addition to the myriad incredible stalls, visitors will delight in demonstrations*, exclusive workshops*, celebrity author book signings (including the Cotswolds’ own Alexander Armstrong), author ‘meet and greets’, a festive feasting area, hard standing parking* and of course, the ultra-luxurious VIP Lounge, with handmade canapés and delicious dishes from the esteemed Potted Goose Pub Co.

The 2025 Christmas Cotswold Fair will welcome over 220 stallholders, 40 percent of which are new this year, from across the Cotswolds and beyond, in three specially erected marquees. All profits will be donated to WellChild.

‘With the number of children and young people living with complex medical needs growing year-on-year, the fair has become critical in raising the funds needed for WellChild to give these families the best chance to thrive at home instead of hospital,’ says chief executive of WellChild, Matt James. ‘This is never more pertinent than at Christmas. A huge thank you to Lucy and her amazing team. What a 40th year it is set to be.’

‘We can’t wait to welcome everyone this November,’ Lucy concludes. ‘Let’s see if we can reach £2million!’

FAIR HIGHLIGHTS

1 Incredible complimentary workshops and cookery demonstrations

2 Pop-Up Festive Feasting

3 Café hosted by The Potted Goose Pub Co

4 VIP Area (VIP ticket holders only)

5 Luxury Meet and Greet Area and Central Coffee Bar hosted by Bohemia Canvas

And so much more…

* Please book in advance for hard standing parking & all demonstrations and workshops.

DATES & TIMINGS

Monday 10 Nov

Preview Evening: 5.30pm to 9.30pm

Tuesday 11 Nov 9am to 5pm

Wednesday 12 Nov 9am to 5pm

Thursday 13 Nov 9am to 4pm

TICKETS ON SALE

Early bird tickets are available from 1 September (£19)

General sale available from 1 October (£21)

To purchase, visit cotswoldfair.com

Supported by Knight Frank and in aid of wellchild.org.uk

Thanks to sponsors: Knight Frank, Pooky, Oxford Brush Company, Todenham Manor Farm, Woodchester Valley, Oxford Shirt Company, Hunt Bespoke Kitchens, The Kingham Plough, Aardvark Safaris, Manor Cottages, Bohemia Canvas and Gin In A Tin.

Between the LINES

Olivia Emily meets book influencer Jack Edwards – aka the internet’s librarian – as he takes on AI with his Insta-first book club

For the best part of a decade, Jack Edwards has been holding sway: from his days on EduTube (that’s educational YouTube) spurring a rise in applications to his Durham University college, to nudging his newer 750,000 TikTok followers to pick up the books he’s been loving.

Posting videos as a teenager (even opening his A level results on camera), Edwards’ rapid ascent coincided with his attention turning to university access. ‘No one in my family had been to university before,’ he tells me over tea in Hampstead. ‘I wanted to make other people feel less intimidated by that world. Especially being at Durham, where there’s an absurd overrepresentation of privately educated people.’

Edwards is one year older than me; we both studied English Literature. I remember tuning into his videos for an idea of what the future had in store for me, and later arriving at university spotting my peers unpacking the washing baskets and frying pans Edwards had recommended in his ‘university homeware haul’ video. ‘It was nice to be able to give people an insight, and to say, actually, you can thrive here.’

Graduating in 2020, Edwards’ channel eventually switched from EduTube to BookTube. ‘While studying literature, I weirdly very rarely spoke about the books I was reading,’ he recalls. ‘And when you graduate, you can easily fall out of the rhythm of being an active reader. But I wanted to keep at it, reading the books I wanted versus those on a curriculum. My YouTube videos documented my falling back in love with reading during the pandemic.

‘ I found my university curriculum quite pale and stale. Quite white European,’ he adds. ‘I think a lot of people resonated with a desire to pick your own syllabus. I started with Japanese literature – Haruki Murakami, Mieko Kawakami and loads more –which led me to Korean writers. Challenging my own notion of what storytelling was became the idea behind the channel. It transformed from accessibility, to education, to showcasing how you can create a lifelong education of your own accord.’

A lmost a decade later, though he posts less frequently, Edwards still boasts 1.5m YouTube

‘To lose that experience of poring over a book –gasping, sitting with a character, wondering what’s going to happen – would be devastating’

friction there. Some of my choices are di cult and challenging, but that’s a good thing. at’s why I feel con dent recommending them; even if you don’t love the book, you will have an intellectual, thought-provoking, maybe even galvanising experience.’

JACK EDWARDS’ MODERN CLASSICS

Forget AI summaries and BookTok algorithms, these modern classics will stand the test of time

subscribers. His videos – which almost always surpass the 20 minute mark – rake in hundreds of thousands of views apiece. Some capture the attention of millions and episodes – such as ‘tier ranking every classic book (so you know which ones to read)’; ‘i read tiktok’s most popular books (and lost my faith in booktok)’; and ‘books i’d sell my soul to read again for the rst time’ –have established Edwards as the internet’s resident librarian. And what better string in a librarian’s bow than a book club?

Edwards launched Inklings Book Club at the end of May. Within two months, 25,000 people had signed up; at the time of writing, the Instagram account (@___inklings___) is creeping up to 50,000 followers. In his introductory YouTube video, Edwards frames Inklings as opposing the ‘frictionless society’ that algorithms and AI have created for us, having noticed the uptick in apps encouraging a new wave of readers to never read again by peddling AI software that churns out book summaries.’

‘It’s heartbreaking,’ Edwards says. ‘I was just reading e Road by Cormac McCarthy, which AI would summarise as a post-apocalyptic walk between a father and son trying to survive. But what you miss in that one-line description is the essence of every line: the lyricism, the poetry, the rich tapestry McCarthy threads over the course of 300 pages. To lose that experience of poring over a book – gasping, sitting with a character, wondering what’s going to happen, waiting to pick it back up again, theorising –would be devastating.’

Inklings resists this. ‘ e books I’m choosing are cross-genre; they traverse boundaries of storytelling, geography, politics,’ Edwards says. ‘And I hope there is some

Inklings is a free-to-join, Instagram- rst community, but the reading action takes place on the Fable app, which creates spoilerfree chat rooms for each chapter of a book. Evenings and Weekends by Irish novelist Oisin McKenna is the club’s rst choice. ‘ is book feels complex but still accessible,’ Edwards explains. ‘ ere’s an ensemble of characters each with their own dilemma, and the writing is brilliant. It embodies everything I want the book club to be.’ Members can read at their own pace, or navigate to the ‘schedule’ page to nd the book broken down into digestible chunks with chapter milestones to reach by speci c dates. At the end of each month, Edwards shares a podcast interviewing the author and wrapping up the book.

‘ I have never been in a book club,’ Edwards admits. ‘I nd a lot of them quite intimidating or exclusive; I wanted to create an alternative that felt like anyone could get involved. And there are certain books that feel like book club books to me. As soon as I read Evenings and Weekends, I thought, “I would love to be able to discuss this with someone, chapter by chapter, line by line”.’

Jack Edwards hosts his rst live Inklings Book Club event as part of Chelsea Arts Festival on 20 September (chelseaartsfestival.com). He will interview Yasmin Zaher, author of e Coin, and the Inklings Book Club pick for September n

Evenings and Weekends by Oisín McKenna

Brilliant writing in a stateof-the-nation novel with moments of levity, triumph and comic relief that hold the book afloat. There’s a little bit of something in here for everyone. Fourth Estate, £16.99

Normal People by Sally Rooney

The Irish arts are thriving because they are being funded; Rooney is the apex of that. Watching her career in real time must be what it felt like to read Dickens when his chapters were serialised in Victorian magazines. Faber & Faber, £9.99

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

This has become a cultural icon – especially major for a book many might dismiss as children’s literature. It’s impressive to be able to shift and shape culture, and enter the lexicon the way this book has. Scholastic, £16.99

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

A polarising choice. It has caused such discussion in literature –but to me, that’s what a classic does. You don’t have to like every classic. This book is so beautifully crafted, but also incredibly weighty. Picador, £10.99

Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst

This feels like a book that will be studied and remembered for a long time. It’s about microaggressions, really: how over the course of a lifetime, these things that seem so insignificant can actually have dire consequences. Picador, £9.99

The Coin by Yasmin Zaher

To amplify a Palestinian writer on a stage like Chelsea Arts Festival feels important. Set in NYC, The Coin is really about sonder: the realisation that everyone has as complex an inner life as you do. Footnote, £14.99

For an interview with Zaher, see overleaf n

eu.baobabcollection.com

WHAT LIES BENEATH

Yasmin Zaher talks to Belinda Bamber about literary, political and sexual freedoms

What is the coin of the title? e narrator is a wealthy Palestinian woman who moves to NYC in search of reinvention and the American dream. On arrival, she remembers swallowing a coin as a child, and becomes convinced it is still stuck in her body, driving her strange, compulsive behaviour. Gradually, it becomes a symbol of her childhood and trauma, in ltrating all aspects of her new life: love, sex, money, debt and her work as a teacher. As I was writing, e Coin alchemised into a mystical novel, and I still nd all kinds of riddles and surprises in it.

Why is the narrator obsessed with cleansing rituals that never quite purify the ‘rot’ of her body beneath her McQueen dress? She goes through an existential transformation, from a put-together, puri ed, aesthetic persona to a human being moved by her animal nature. At the end she’s mad, uncivilised and unkempt, but free of beauty and class.

Did you enjoy creating this sweet-natured teacher with underlying American Psycho traits? It’s a pleasure to write an unexpected, somewhat unhinged character, enacting some of our deepest, most repressed fantasies.

The devotion of her lover, Sasha, doesn’t satisfy her. What does she need to feel fulfilled? Self-acceptance, I think. Her cleaning, grooming and dressing is a form of self-loathing.

How much of The Coin is based on your own life, given your childhood in Palestine? It came from deep places in my mind and soul, and in that respect it’s very personal. But it’s not biographical. It’s as if my life was the paint and I painted a picture of another life with it.

There are some hilariously sardonic lines. Would you describe yourself as a satirist? I don’t know how I managed to write these funny lines. I’m trying to do it again in my second novel and it’s a total failure. ere’s a kind of private freedom in writing your rst novel that allowed me to take risks and write outrageous politically incorrect things.

Is humour a defence against expectations of you as a ‘Palestinian writer’? ere are a

lot of expectations on ‘identity’ writers. I didn’t do it consciously, but looking back I was probably trying to ght my way out of the boxes. e Palestinian narrator of this novel is free, rich, sexually liberated, and above all, not a victim – she’s even somewhat of a perpetrator. She’s not that good or moral. ere is something humanising about not being perfect.

Your influences include Vonnegut, Houellebecq and Millet.What links them? ey’re all free. Reading is liberatory; it can transform you. I wasn’t the same person after reading Kurt Vonnegut aged 15, or Catherine Millet’s e Sexual Life of Catherine M., where she describes having group sex in the back of a truck. In my 20s I related deeply to Houellebecq characters who had awful thoughts about Arabs like me. It made me more open-minded.

There are a lot of expectations on ‘identity’ writers. The Palestinian narrator of this novel is free, rich, sexually liberated, and above all, not a victim

Congrats on winning the 2025 Dylan Thomas prize. Did you celebrate at McQueen? Interestingly, I lost all my desire for luxury and fashion in the process of writing this book, as if I’d purged it. It downgraded my personal style!

Favourite London haunts? A second-hand bookshop called Skoob, in Bloomsbury. London is also the best city in the west for Arab food.

Yasmin Zaher is at Chelsea Arts Festival on 20 September (chelseaartsfestival.com). e Coin by Yasmin Zaher (£14.99, Footnote Press). Read the full interview at countryandtownhouse.com/ culture/cth-book-club

WE’RE ALSO READING... What We Can Know by Ian

McEwan

The story opens in 2119, in the quiet days following a global apocalypse, when 2042’s ‘Inundation’ has turned Britain into a series of archipelagos and the Lake district is run by brigands. But libraries still exist and nerdy academic Tom Metcalfe is scouring one for the lost masterpiece of a 21st-century poet. In Part Two we return to 2014 and a pivotal dinner party hosted by the poet’s wife, Vivien. Deliciously sauced with ambition, betrayal and revenge, McEwan suggests that ‘what we can know’ is limitlessly deceptive. (Published 18 Sept, £22, Vintage) Ian McEwan is in conversation with George Monbiot on 18 September at Chelsea Arts Festival (chelseaartsfestival.com) n

PHOTO: WILLY SOMMA

Free Fine Art Valuations in London

Wednesday 10th September, 8th October & 5th November, 10am – 3pm

The London O ce, 40 St James’s Place SW1

Ribbon of CREATIVITY

Dylan Jones pens a love letter to the King’s Road

The King’s Road was everything I expected it to be. I arrived, looking like one of the Ramones, in drainpipe jeans, plimsoles and a plastic leather jacket, in the summer of 1977. It was the summer of punk, the middle of a glorious heatwave, and I was about to embark upon a foundation course at Chelsea School of Art. I was in my element, and I knew it.

At the time, the King’s Road was pivoting from a storied alternative theme park to an occasional battleground between punks and Teds. is was Swinging London Mark II, a time when the King’s Road yet again demanded global attention, and when the media was focused on what was still the most fashionable shopping street in London.

You had Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s Seditionaries at one end, and Boy at the other, with a host of trendy boutiques, pubs and restaurants littered between them, a ribbon of creativity that buttressed the real stars of the street – the people. e King’s Road wasn’t just where the young, the fashionable and the freshly minted would parade up and down; it also fostered an environment that appealed to bohemians both old and new. It was a little bit Bond Street, a little bit Carnaby Street and a little bit Camden Market, but what it had that none of those other places had was a genuine sense of joie de vivre. In leopard skin and uorescent pink.

I’d only been in London for two weeks before I went to see e Rocky Horror Picture Show at the King’s Road eatre (sadly demolished in 1979), which, at the time, was the default theatrical experience in London. I went to gigs at Chelsea College and Chelsea School of Art, ate Chinese food and pizza at the top of Oakley Street, and gawped at all the clothes I couldn’t yet a ord. And I loved every minute of it.

e street always reverberated to music pouring out of open-top sports cars or fashion boutiques. And in the summer of 1977, the most ubiquitous song was Donna Summer’s disco epic, I Feel Love at ‘summer of hate’ wasn’t just about anti-establishment rebellion over the Silver Jubilee celebrations, or the Sex Pistols’ God Save e Queen (banned from being played by the BBC and many radio stations, and not sold by major retailers); it also produced the most in uential dance record of the period, a great beast of a record as transgressive as it was innovative, that invigorated the burgeoning disco scene. When Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band had been released ten years earlier, if you had walked the length of the King’s Road, you would have heard it blaring out of every boutique – and if you’d made the same journey in summer 1977, the record you heard was I Feel Love, a song that made you feel alive.

And that, I think, is what has kept the King’s Road in our hearts and minds ever since, a sense of being alive. It makes all

of us – Londoners, blow-ins, tourists, visitors – feel as though we are experiencing something you can’t experience anywhere else.

Since then, the King’s Road has had many iterations. In the eighties, it became the home of designer fashion, mirroring the way in which pop culture and youth culture were becoming more visual, as every other shop became an emporium of clothes which were featured regularly in i-D, e Face and Blitz. By the decade’s midpoint, style culture had become the binding agent of all that was supposed to be cool. Fashion designers, stylists and catwalk models were no longer thought to be inconsequential iconoclasts; they were media celebrities. And having a store on the King’s Road was a window on the world, as important as an ad campaign.

Today, it continues to hum to the zeitgeist, although gentri cation has given the street more sheen, and a sense of style that feels new and international while still feeling homegrown and on point. I can eat at Rabbit, Bluebird or e Cadogan Arms; I can while away the hours in the Saatchi Gallery or visit the best interiors shop in London, Soho Home. I can cruise around Duke of York’s Square, walk up and down Pavilion Road, or, after dark, slip into e Rex Rooms. Currently the hottest club in the King’s Road, it’s a subterranean surrealist dreamworld conjured up by hedge fund guru Mark Cecil (popularly known as Mick Jagger’s best friend), nightclub wizard Piers Adam, and Marc Jacques Burton, the designer and nightlife innovator. e opening night reminded me of being back in that classic Kings Road haunt, Crazy Larry’s. e King’s Road also has two of the best independent bookshops in London. e rst, John Sandoe Books, encased in beautiful 18th-century premises, was founded in 1957 and is home to over 30,000 titles. e second, the World’s End Bookshop, has been around since 1986, and has some of the most esoteric titles in town.

When I rst arrived in London, I would go everywhere by bus, principally because I wanted to nd my way about and join the dots of this magni cent but occasionally unwieldy city. I would jump on the 11, the 22 or the 19, and take them as far as they went, sitting on the upper deck, experiencing the city as an urban novelty. As I developed a sense of urgency, I started taking the underground, and then for the next 30 years I went everywhere mostly by car, either driving or being ferried from meeting to meeting, my head down in piles of paper. And now, with slightly more freedom and a renewed sense of curiosity that every adopted Londoner must never lose, I nd myself back on the upper deck of those buses, cruising the Kings Road and feeling like I did back when I was 17. In love with London, and alive again on the greatest street in town.

Dylan Jones is the editor-at-large of the London Standard and C&TH’s Great British Brands n

Having a store on the King’s Road was a window on the world, as important as an ad campaign

People have always paraded up and down the King’s Road – an intoxicating meld of the fashionable, freshly minted and bohemian, united in a geunine sense of joie de vivre

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Passion PLAYS

Artistic director of the Royal Court David Byrne talks to Lucinda Baring about the future of theatre and why Chelsea is still culture’s frontline

New writing at the Royal Court includes Porn Play by Sophia Chetin-Leuner, which opens in November directed by Josie Rourke and starring Ambika Mod

David Byrne did not grow up going to the theatre. Raised in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, the son of a father in the armed forces and a factory worker, his was not an artistic family. en when he was 17, he went on a school trip to see a play – a touring production by physical theatre company Frantic Assembly – because he fancied one of his classmates and wanted to sit next to them on the coach. ‘I’d never seen anything like it. I just felt the walls in my brain completely fall down.’

With no industry connections, the career change of tack wasn’t easy. After studying drama at the University of Hull, Byrne was often signing on. His rst break came aged 22, when he got a job running the Rosehill eatre in Whitehaven in Cumbria. He lasted a year (no heating; manual ticketing; leaking pipes) and credits the experience – the hardest job he’s ever had –with teaching him everything about running a theatre.

Back in London, within ve years Byrne had founded the New Diorama eatre (NTD), an 80-seat studio theatre on the fringes of Regent’s Park, where success came thick and fast. In the decade that he was artistic and executive director, Byrne was responsible for creating one of the country’s most exciting theatres for ensemble

work and new writing, NDT winning e Stage Award for Fringe eatre of the Year in 2022. Smash hits included For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When e Hue Gets Too Heavy, which transferred rst to the Royal Court (2022) and then the West End (2023) along with a media storm around ‘black out’ nights, and Operation Mincemeat, which transferred to the West End in 2023. It was no surprise to the industry that the Royal Court came knocking, and Byrne was appointed artistic director – succeeding Vicky Featherstone – in July 2023, taking up his post in early 2024.

Byrne and I are sitting in his o ce at the Royal Court, the honking horns of Sloane Square drifting through the open windows. One of the rst meetings he had when he started was the mooting of the Chelsea Arts Festival. ‘It feels like we should have had an arts festival in Chelsea for decades. So many interesting cultural, artistic and theatrical movements have sprung from the King’s Road and I love the notion of a celebration that brings together arts organisations, residents and all those people who ock to Chelsea to nd inspiration and see where the future of creativity is going.’ Now the King’s Road is so polished, does Byrne still believe Chelsea – and the Royal Court – are the provocative boundary pushers they once were? ‘Chelsea moves with the times and the King’s Road is both a re ection of where wider culture is and a weather vein as to where things might be going next. e Court is, and always has been, a huge part of that. is is where really lively conversations are happening.’

If success is measured by sell-out shows, big name actors/directors/playwrights, and high-pro le transfers to other theatres, Byrne is o to a soaring start. e Court has been playing at over 90 percent capacity in both spaces in his rst year (that’s 90,000 audience members); 4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane (staged at the Court 25 years ago, and shown again in June with the entire original cast, creative team and video footage) transferred to the RSC in July; ECHO, by Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour, who guides a di erent unrehearsed performer every night by video link from Berlin, has seen queues at the stage door for Daniel Kaluuya, James Corden, Dominic West and Juliet Stevenson (this year) and Toby Jones, Fiona Shaw, Sheila Atim and Jeremy O Harris (last year).

Giant – by rst-time playwright Mark Rosenblatt, directed by Sir Nicholas Hytner and with US actor John Lithgow as Roald Dahl leading an exceptional cast – was the theatre hit of the year, transferring to the West End and winning three Oliviers.

‘David has immediately established himself as an inspirational artistic director with his shrewd and thrilling programming,’ Hytner says. ‘I couldn’t have had a better time working with him.’ Byrne modestly accepts the praise. ‘It feels like that energy and centre of artistic gravity is really with us,’ he says, while conceding he feels he’s aged a decade in this rst year.

‘If you want to provide the most exciting theatre you can, you have to really ght for it and work out how you’re going to really light a re into people.’

Take Giant, which is set in summer 1983 just after Dahl had written a contentious book review in the

In David Byrne’s first year as artistic director, the Royal Court has been playing at over 90 percent capacity

‘The aim is not to build one audience who come and see everything. We want to have the muscle and energy to ask, “Who is this play talking to? Who is the right set of people who need to come and see this work?” And then we have to go out and find them’

DAVID BYRNE

Literary Review railing against Israel’s recent invasion of Beirut. ‘ e play sounded like a conversation we needed to have as a society,’ says Byrne. ‘To look at those boundaries between where being critical of Israel and having a conversation around Palestine tip over into antisemitism.’ Hytner had the play, and when Byrne got the job at the Court, he asked to meet for lunch. ‘He emailed it to me after lunch and I sat on the wooden bench in Walthamstow tube station until I nished it. I couldn’t put it down.’

It was agreed Byrne would stage Giant at the Court, with Hytner directing, and then 7 October happened. ‘ ere was a real nervousness around putting on this play at this moment but I felt it was more necessary than ever.’ And ultimately that’s Byrne’s goal for the Court – to be just ahead of where taste is, and to provide the resources and the ambition for writers to produce ‘the most exciting and incendiary things they can’. It was also important to Byrne that Rosenblatt felt protected, so 15 minutes before the rst preview, he brought Rosenblatt into his o ce and commissioned his second play. ‘So he could go into the theatre and sit down knowing the building was not just behind him, but he has a proper artistic home here.’ Smart move: Rosenblatt is now one of London’s most in-demand playwrights.

Championing new writing has always been what the Royal Court is in service to – and something Byrne is keen to amplify. ‘ e idea that a new writer can send us a play and it might end up on a national stage is such an electric promise. Since Covid there’s been a fraying in the contract between writers and institutions, but not only do we read and consider everything, but the plays I’m looking at for my upstairs programme for next year have all come through this route.’

He has also ripped up the application process (in 2024, the Court had over 1,200 applications for only 30 spaces in its Introduction to Playwriting groups; a success rate of less than three percent). ‘Our team of readers will be looking year-round for new writers for groups who simply send us their plays,’ Byrne writes in an open letter to playwrights, with around 100 writers a year taking part. ‘ ere’s always a huge frisson in the building when we nd something really exciting.’ is autumn, the programming includes Porn Play by playwright Sophia Chetin-Leuner – her Court debut – starring Ambika Mod and directed by Josie Rourke (former artistic director of the Donmar), and a new play

by Nick Payne (writer of hit show Constellations) starring Nicola Walker and directed by Marianne Elliott. For Byrne, success is measured in providing a huge vista of fresh contemporary theatre – ‘lots of di erent avours and gestures’ – for a variety of audiences. ‘A lot of theatres have to lean into quite a small identity in order to build a regular audience and to have a sense of who they are.’ At the Court, he hopes to do the opposite. ‘ e aim is not to build one audience who come and see everything. We want to have the muscle and energy to ask, “Who is this play talking to? Who is the right set of people who need to come and see this work?” And then we have to go out and nd them.’ at is surely a harder proposition post pandemic and in the midst of a cost of living crisis. ‘To feel part of something and to engage in those cultural moments is still part of London’s DNA. It’s our job to work out what those really magnetic moments are.’

Certainly a big name actor helps shift tickets, but Byrne insists that is nothing new. ‘ e Court has always been somewhere the world’s most amazing creatives have wanted to come together and work on the rst production of something totally fresh – from Peggy Ashcroft, Laurence Olivier and David Hockney right through to John Lithgow.’

As the Court celebrates its 70th anniversary next year – with a special programme still under wraps – Byrne hopes it will continue to thrive. ‘ e appetite for theatre isn’t diminishing, and if we keep going to shows theatre will survive. But we’ve got to make sure that during the di cult moments, we’re putting our money where our mouth is and turning up and doing what we can.’

e Royal Court is a key venue for the Chelsea Arts Festival. Visit chelseaartsfestival.com for the full programme n

FROM ABOVE: The Unbelievers, a new play starring Nicola Walker, opens at the Royal Court this autumn; For Black Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Hue Gets Too Heavy transferred to the Royal Court from Bryne’s previous theatre NDT

QUICK ON THE DRAW

Olivia Cole meets British artist David Shrigley, best known for his consciously rudimentary line drawings and dryly humorous commentary

Some of David Shrigley’s answers to my questions could almost work as statements on his prints. ‘If you stick to a routine, the work will start somewhere’ is one. ‘I like lists,’ he says of what he likes to keep close by in his workspace. And what does he need to keep out of his space, whether that’s the studio or his headspace? ‘Seagulls,’ he says. ‘ ey eat all my dog’s food.’

S o, no seagulls inside the beautiful vicarage that is his studio space in Kemptown, Brighton – though the birds often appear in his work, in his menagerie of animals with helpful, or dry, aphorisms. ink seagulls talking about freedom, or seals promising to dive into the ocean to rescue your phone, or dogs explaining they’d like their ball to be thrown again and again…

Shrigley’s distinctive style, which pairs childlike drawings with sophisticated, often acerbic observations, has become instantly recognisable. In 2013, he was nominated for the Turner Prize, and in 2020, recognised with an OBE. In Copenhagen, fans seek out the Shrig Shop for his wares, and the online version is an art world phenomenon that reaches a

vast audience. His work is coveted as posters, prints and even tattoos in the shape of his characteristic lines.

W hile some artists have a neurotic relationship with their workspace, irrespective of their wordly successes, Shrigley believes in a structure, and in turning up. He works ten to six, however the work is going. ‘I’ll sometimes work from home, but I’d rather work from the studio. e studio is my happy place.’

He has joked that he still paints in the same way he did as a ve year old, with his poster colour palette and the at shapes of his depictions of animals, food and toys. But that sense of playfulness has a real power to it, too. Last year, reacting to the decline in students studying the arts in the UK, Shrigley spearheaded a campaign to get creativity back on the curriculum for children.

Rather than the vogue for prioritising STEM subjects, he argued that kids need STEAM subjects, adding in art. He installed e Mantis Muse (a monumental praying mantis sculpture) at his old college in Oadby, Leicestershire as an emblem of the threat of a narrow approach to education on imagination and creativity.

It’s a cause close to his heart. ‘ e current

situation is not encouraging, but we must persevere,’ he says. He doesn’t know how to get through to governments, ‘but my strategy is to make more projects that illustrate it’.

As a very young artist, Shrigley worked as a guide at the Centre for Contemporary Arts in his adopted home city of Glasgow. ough no one was paying him much attention as an artist, he used the museum equipment to print guides to his then-unappreciated work. Today, they are collector’s items. ‘Believe in yourself’ is Shrigley’s advice to artists. While he acknowleges that ‘delusion is part of it’, he adds: ‘I’m going to make the work whether I’m self con dent or not.’

Shrigley has created the illustrations for a new book, How To Art by Soho House chief art director Kate Bryan, which demysti es contemporary art so more people can harness its positive e ects on mood. From his own ‘happy place’ in the studio, Shrigley is an eloquent advocate for the magic of art for as many people as possible. Education ministers, listen up.

David Shrigley and Kate Bryan are in conversation on 20 September at Chelsea Arts Festival (chelseaartsfestival.com). How To Art is published on 18 September (£16.99, Penguin) n

WELL VERSED

Poetry has found an unlikely audience, says Tessa Dunthorne

Though some may sneer, today’s poetry lives on Instagram. Leading the charge is Rupi Kaur, whose collection milk and honey was chartbusting at its 2014 release after beginning life on the social platform. In 2023, BookScan reported poetry sales across the world had reached an all-time high of £14.5m, with younger audiences in particular driving sales – inspired, BookScan claimed, by so-called Instapoets.

British poetry anthologist Allie Esiri ( A Poem for Every Day of the Year) is no stranger to the golden touch of technology – it was the iPad that brokered her entry into the genre. ‘Poetry had always been my private passion,’ she says of a career pivot at 30. ‘I realised poetry worked perfectly for the iPad. It could t on the page; you could press a button to hear a well-known actor bring it to life, or another to record yourself reading it.’ e rest is history: her app segued to her books, and her books led to wildly popular live readings at venues like the National eatre, featuring performers such as Sophie Turner and Luke ompson.

‘Most poetry, until recently, was written to be read aloud,’ says Esiri. ‘If you were to take it back to medieval times, a balladeer would’ve sung it in the market square.’ And so it is, in a way, a homecoming for poetry to enter the medium of vertical video.

A mong poetry’s new balladeers is 29-year-old Lucas Jones, an actor-turnedpoet hailing from Cambridgeshire, who has amassed over half a million followers across TikTok and Instagram; 56 percent them are under 35.

Jones began making videos because – on producing his debut collection – he ‘didn’t get a look in’ with the legacy publishing houses. ‘ ere used to be a certain type of person who was allowed access to literary spaces,’ says Jones. is perceived barrier perhaps turned o younger people, too, from enjoying the work. ‘I couldn’t access it [at school],’ he says; ‘It felt like it was all in this old tongue.’ It was a teacher who introduced him to the work of current poet laureate Simon Armitage, which changed everything. ‘Even if I didn’t understand the exact context, it was my language. It didn’t have to sound like a “poem”.’

Jones believes social media is a means of

democratising access to poetry. ‘In the future, people might look back at this time as a renaissance period.’ Both Jones and Esiri also argue that younger people are today turning to poetry for political reasons. ‘I notice there’s increased viral demand for poetry in troubled times,’ says Esiri. ‘After 9/11, during Covid, in response to dreadful wars... maybe these poems help you feel less alone. e greatest poets of all time express things in extreme circumstances better than most of us can.’

Jones’ work – and those poems that perform the best online – tend towards a hopeful outlook, despite heavy themes or topics. is is possibly the appeal.

‘Without optimism, we’re done,’ he says. ‘I once received a message from a man who had been about to jump from a bridge. He opened his phone to wait for cars to go past, to look normal, and my reel popped up. He told me he’d seen my poem Some Good News If You Wish You Were Dead and messaged me the day after, feeling a bit better. When you hear something like that, it’s a deep reminder of how the genre might reach people.

‘ I think if you’re really honest in front of people, it can lead to a chain reaction that changes things.’

Catch Lucas Jones (19 September) and Allie Esiri (20 September) at Chelsea Arts Festival (chelseaartsfestival. com), with poems read by a cast including Susan Wokoma , David Morrissey and Lesley Sharp n

FROM TOP: Actor and poet Lucas Jones; Allie Esiri (middle) with Joanna Lumley (left) and Helena Bonham Carter (right) at the National Theatre; To be alive is to be chaos, a poem by Lucas Jones

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WEIGHT WORTH THE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY EMILY KROUSE

With her 50th birthday approaching, C&TH editorial director Lucy Cleland wanted to get fit and lean for her second half-century. After three months with Roar Fitness, the results were more than she ever thought possible

asn’t this basically what Hell was? People forced to endlessly lift and lower heavy things for no reason?’ I used to feel exactly the same as Miranda July’s nameless protagonist in her brilliant novel All Fours (2024), about a middle-aged woman hitting perimenopause – and a full-on identity crisis. But just like her, I came to nd the gym – and speci cally weight training – to be a route to something extraordinary. Not just to the most toned body I’ve ever had (causing my mother, on being shown a picture of my washboard abs, to comment worryingly, ‘Shouldn’t you stop now?’), but also to a strength and resilience that went beyond the physical. Just like my ctional counterpart, ‘the weight of my own body became less arduous. I oated around as if gravity was balanced by an equal and opposite lifting force’. I was changing.

With my 50th birthday looming, I had signed up for Roar Fitness’ Transformation programme. It’s a gloves-o scenario from which there’s no hiding. While it promises a staggering change in physique (just look at their socials or website – all those ‘Transformation’ pics are undoctored), there is a non-negotiable: you have to stick (almost) religiously to their plan. Almost because you don’t want to set yourself up to fail.

Before I got going, every inch of me was measured with callipers – from chin to knee and scapula to stomach – and I was photographed, mu n top and all, in my gym kit like a police mug shot. at was my baseline; accountability would come through three-weekly weigh-ins and measurements. If you’re not dropping weight, you’re cheating. Simple as that.

For me, the transformation was about the desire to be in good shape (and thinner, let’s be honest) – as well as strong for a world that demands us to be match t to cope with the polycrises happening all around us – for my second half-century. Losing weight, especially around the stubborn tummy area, had become a Sisyphean task. ere was the Mounjaro option if skinniness was all I wanted, and I can’t say I’ve never been tempted. But that wouldn’t bring me strength and power, along with the euphoric, endorphin-rich happiness and mental clarity that I experienced. No amount of Ozempic can give you that. And, despite all the people I know who are on it and loving it, I wanted to do it by myself. I didn’t want to cheat.

On day one, Jack – trainer and nutritionist – explained that the food bit was absolutely critical to the success of the programme. He mapped out my macros (the amount of fat, protein and carbs I should be eating daily), asking me in all seriousness whether I’d be getting some scales to weigh my food… as if. He then handed me a raft of protein-heavy recipes with a calorie count based on my bodyweight to use as a meal guide for the next 12 weeks. If you want to lose weight, you need a calorie de cit – exercise alone will never do it.

W hy protein? Because it supports three key functions: it helps you feel fuller for longer; it slightly increases your metabolic rate, so your body uses more energy; and, most importantly, it maintains and builds muscle tissue – vital when losing weight, as the body can otherwise break down muscle for fuel.

Out went alcohol completely, along with my daily cappuccino (dairy can

From the lat pulldown machine, James Haskell looked up at me and said, ‘Oi, Shreddy Krueger, you’re ripped’

There are muscles – and then there are muscles. Lucy feels small compared with James Haskell

cause in ammation), sugar and UPFs (obviously), and most carbs (bread, pasta, etc). In came three litres of water daily, black co ee, eggs, tofu, steak, salmon, turkey and veg, bulked out with a handful of good carbs (quinoa, brown rice, buckwheat).

As a fridge-raider with a broken satiety button, I was dreading this bit. Jack suspected my blood sugars were all over the place, and assured me that this regime would regulate them to avoid highs and crashes that perpetuate bad habits. I gulped and duly ordered the electronic scales (ditched after three days).

W hat helped was sometimes ordering meals via Calo, a new food delivery service where you plug in your macros and three really good meals chosen from an expansive menu arrive each night. is eliminated any deviations likely to occur if left to my own devices – or when I was particularly busy.

Because normal life continued – work dinners, a funeral, a 60th birthday party and a holiday were all in the diary – and I had to stick to my protein party as much as possible. I became obsessed with cottage cheese for breakfast (so good with black pepper, tomatoes and spring onions); hard-boiled eggs nicked from breakfast bu ets on holiday became lunch; packets of mackerel were piled high in the fridge.

Was I perfect? No. But I was 85 percent perfect. I grabbed handfuls of nuts (not on the food list); I dived into the Umm Ali pudding in Oman every night of my holiday; and I often stuck a spoon in my Pip & Nut peanut butter jar. But that was about the extent of it. ere was always the threat of the next weigh-in to make me close it again. Besides, within the rst three weeks I’d dropped almost ve kilos so things were working out as they were supposed to. I was ecstatic. e physical part of the programme, which shapes, hones and sculpts you as you drop weight, comprised three hours a week with a personal trainer, purely weight training. I was expected to get in my daily 10,000 steps (I didn’t achieve that every day) and a cardio session in my own time. Movement is critical for keeping energy expenditure high beyond the workouts, as well as improving blood ow, delivering oxygen and nutrients to muscles, aiding recovery and reducing soreness. Curiously, after a few weeks, I put on my running shoes again after a ten-year hiatus. I’d resigned myself to the fact that those days were well and truly over, but apparently not. Other things kept changing too… and for the better. My skin felt softer (better sleep? More hydration?), and niggles like the chronic athlete’s foot on my left little toe disappeared. A concave curve was beginning to form on the inside of my thighs, my boobs shrunk (no bad thing), and my bum didn’t look half bad in a pair of Paige jeans bought from Vinted a size smaller. For anyone interested in ageing well, weight training is critical – especially for women. Yet it’s only relatively recently that the spotlight has fallen on the dumbbells. ‘Women have been sold a disservice,’ said Abbie, Roar’s insanely toned COO. ‘We were told weight training was not for us, that we’d get bulky. But done right, you get lean and strong. It’s incredibly empowering.’ Hell, yeah. It tackles the key challenges of midlife: muscle and bone mass loss, slowing metabolism and increased risk of chronic disease. It also improves joint health, balance and overall strength (you’ll be striding up every Tube escalator with ease), supports better blood sugar control (goodbye 4pm sugar snack),

helps balance hormones and gives you a natural endorphin boost –meaning you’re just happier. Walking along, sometimes I noticed how good I was feeling: how energised, how light, how strong. Despite it being dark-lit, black-walled and full of bulky (some very) male trainers, the gym on Kensington High Street has incredible female energy – no doubt due to the fact that it’s run by women. e founder Sarah Lindsay is a three-time Olympian in short-track speed skating. Most of the clients at this branch (there are two others) are middle-aged women like me and the locker room chat was as far from lads’ banter as it gets. ey shared stories about nally putting themselves rst after years of child-rearing or husband-caring, or carving out time amid intense jobs. ey were nding their strength – inner and outer – through weights. Like me, they were emotional and grateful as changes took place. I’d never have thought I would feel at home somewhere as alien as a gym, but not once was it a chore to swing through the door. Not once did I feel like jacking it in or skipping a class.

Sessions with Alex, one of their most experienced trainers, were somehow – dare I say it – fun (but don’t tell him that), even as I swore, grimaced and hu ed my way through the sets of paired exercises to work opposing muscle sets. I tried to focus on spots on the wall or ceiling as I heaved, pushed, pulled and lifted, but the amazing thing is that you can pretty much do anything ten times. ere was always an end point in sight – although Alex would often shove some extra kilos on or go for the extra reps, just to keep me on my toes – and, most importantly, progressing.

‘Women have been sold a disservice. We were told weight training was not for us, that we’d get bulky. But done right, you get lean and strong. It’s incredibly empowering’

ABBIE, ROAR

From starting on a shoulder press weight of 7.5kg, he had me lifting 20kg within 12 weeks (the equivalent of lifting my 11-year-old son). From walking lunges with 5kg weights, I went to 15kg in each hand. He even got me doing a couple of the mighty pull-ups (lifting your own bodyweight) by the end – though with a slight jump on the rst one. roughout, he was supportive, funny, kind and a listening ear, because the sessions allowed me to bring up all the insecure, weight-related, female angst – as well as other worldly worries – that it’s good to get o your chest.

A s for the results? ey were pretty staggering – and noticed by one of Roar’s better-known clients. In my ninth week, James Haskell, the former Rugby Union player turned podcaster and DJ, looked up from the lat pulldown machine and said, ‘Oi, Shreddy Krueger, you’re ripped.’

He was right. By the end of my 12 weeks I had dropped 10kg, and my measurements were an impressive curve downwards; tummy fat had gone from 38mm to 7.6mm; chest from 18.4mm to 6.2mm. I almost couldn’t recognise myself in the ‘after’ photos which I hastily WhatsApped to my closest friends to gasps of ‘OMG’ and ‘WTF’. What really got me though was how simple it was in a world where food and tness has got so horrendously complicated. Cut down your calories, don’t eat crap, don’t drink too much, sleep more, move more and weight train. And then you might get arms that prompt your husband to say, ‘You’ve turned into Lara Croft’. Aged 49 and 11/12ths, you can’t get much cooler than that.

e three-month Roar Transformation programme costs from £4,874. roar- tness.com/body-transformations n

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PARTY

The GOES ON

Hedonism is back and it’s the older generation leading the charge. But there are some newfangled twists. Tessa Dunthorne meets the new (old) guard

ustainability guru and C&TH style contributor Ti anie Darke is no stranger to a party. As former editor of Sunday Times Style – for 12 years from the early 2000s – she has held one of the most covetable jobs in fashion, bagging front-row seats at fashion shows and invites to the hottest after-hours events. Yet even now in a new chapter in her life, with teenage children and her own business, it might surprise you to know that she’s still hitting the dance oor. And she’s far from alone.

After last year’s ‘Brat summer’, when Covid’s clean girl aesthetic (no makeup-makeup, green juice in hand) croaked out, hedonism is rmly back. But it’s the older generation leading the charge. While Gen Z have reportedly only just acquired a taste for the harder stu (a quarter of those born between 1997-2012 say they’re teetotal and enjoying earlier nights), Darke and her ilk can be found swinging through the door on a Friday night at 2am.

‘We’re the original hedonists,’ says Darke. ‘ ere was a massive drug culture in Britain in the 90s, precipitated by that big 80s “Heroin Screws You Up” campaign, where every drug was held up as a gateway to heroin addiction. We formed a strong countercultural narrative against it, which manifested through illegal raves and a whole music scene.’

And that scene never went away. Or, not fully. ere was a break for a bit, says Vassi Chamberlain, Vogue contributing editor and die-hard party girl. ‘In my 20s, I’d go out three times a week and now I’m out often for the music,’ she explains. ‘But there was a pause in my 30s and 40s because I became a parent. When you have children, you’re in the zone where all your attention lands on your growing child. Partying wanes during their early years, because you naturally have to be at home.’

It’s as the children grow up – and such hands-on care is relieved – that older ravers re-enter the scene. ‘ ey’re rediscovering the pleasures of their youth and sense of identity,’ says sociologist Dr Helen Holmes, whose area of study is what drives older ravers. ‘And they’ve got su cient income to be able to a ord what are often expensive nights out.’ Darke agrees: ‘My friends are de nitely out more now they’ve come out of the other side of family life.’ is challenges the common assumption that clubs are primarily for younger people. ‘Nightlife has often been seen as just for the young,’ says Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association. ‘But many of us continue to enjoy music, dancing and social events well into our 40s, 50s and beyond, especially as we live longer. Nightlife o ers a space for fun, freedom, community.’

CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE

Partying in 2025 might include a sauna rave at Shoreditch &Soul; Lío hosts club nights in Ibiza, Mykonos and Mallorca; Liam Gallagher is among a host of musicians to hold an intimate gig at KOKO in Camden

a 70s and 80s disco night, which, says executive chairman Julio Bruno, ‘is full of people over the age of 40, all keen to dance and meet people’. (And the consequence? An uptick in spend-per-person from this more a uent group of partiers.)

KOKO and Soho Mews House come up again and again. Both have exclusive memberships and a blend of conversation and dancing. ‘Soho House nailed the lifestyle zeitgeist,’ says Darke, ‘but a lot of my generation were turned o by the scrum that the main houses became, so Mews House was a clever answer for long-standing members. It’s more elevated but also deeply naughty, and has DJs, dancing and shenanigans.’

‘KOKO has beautiful design, a great atmosphere, and it’s quite licentious,’ Darke continues. ‘It’s full of big swinging executives but also cool, artistic types.’ Grammy award-winner and jazz legend Jon Batiste jammed for members this summer, and Liam Gallagher launched his album Knebworth 22 there in 2023.

Dancing at an intimate, small gig lies at the heart of it. Many older clubbers are passionate about music. ‘ ose kinds of dance oors – where you’d nd euphoria for four or ve hours – are hard to nd now,’ says Chamberlain. ‘Everything feels copycat. Social media has stripped the expression from going out.’ ere’s a deeper draw, too. ‘Aside from university or Tinder, where do you meet people – a partner – in life?’ muses Bruno. ‘ e club is a place for older people to form new, real, meaningful connections.’

‘Soho Mews House is more elevated [than Soho House] but also deeply naughty, and has DJs, dancing and shenanigans’

TIFFANIE DARKE

Clubs are cottoning on. While over 400 nightclubs shut in the UK between the start of Covid and the end of 2024, those that are thriving have reopened or been redesigned for an older, richer clientele. Boujis – the old haunt of Prince William – reopened in 2023 as B London; Chelsea’s fabled 151 Club, reimagined as e Rex Rooms, reopened this March. ey aren’t chasing Gen Z either. ey’re drawing back the original crowd.

Clubs now cater to this older audience from the ground up – e House of KOKO, for example, is designed by Pirajean Lees, who was also responsible for Chiltern Firehouse, and skilfully combines conversation corners with high-end sound systems and, of course, killer cocktails. Similarly, Lío Group (of Ibiza fame) has launched

You might wonder about the hangovers. ‘My best hangover cure? Not to have one,’ says Darke, who favours quality over sheer quantity. And balance: think top- ight tequila shots in the evening, IV drips in the morning.

At e Rex Rooms, drinks come with adaptogens – tequila is paired with lion’s mane in an Enchanted Shrooms cocktail. Soho House has partnered with CBD drink brand Trip, to help its punters reach a calmer state. Over in east London, an experimental social wellness space Shoreditch &Soul hosts regular ‘sauna raves’ –headlined by DJs like Louis Bekk and alcoholfree mixology brands like Karmaceuticals, as participants move between hot and cold rooms. e countryside is not immune, either. New members’ club, Long Lane – set to open in West Sussex next spring – is investing £6m into its teetotal campus that swaps negronis for nature. ‘As I approached 30, the hangovers hit harder,’ co-founder Louie Blake shared on LinkedIn. ‘In our culture, most connection still revolves around alcohol. So I asked: what if there was a better way?’ Sobriety, Bruno notes, doesn’t preclude other substances. ‘ ey’re not drinking alcohol, but they’re doing ketamine and mushrooms.’ Going out is also a barometer of where we’re at in this moment in time. ‘Resurgences in partying often pinpoint a particular need to let go,’ says Chamberlain. ‘It was the same during the roaring twenties. It’s a way to signal that it’s ok to release the stress of life. Covid had a big mark on society and it’s not by accident we’re seeking parties. People naturally look for outlets.’

‘Joy takes work,’ concludes Ti anie, ‘whether it’s going swimming in an outdoor pond or being adventurous and curious with your music or taste in art. It means not shutting o your fun channels because you think you can’t do that anymore.’

So, it turns out, age doesn’t dim the lights – it just brings the party into focus. n

TAKE a VIEW

Boots, breeches and bucolic backdrops

FASHION DIRECTOR NICOLE SMALLWOOD

PHOTOGRAPHER EKIN CAN BAYRAKDAR

Shorts BOA Bikini top

Eres Coat Dubarry

Vest Longchamp

Boots Burberry

Umbrella Holland & Holland

He wears: Trousers Giorgio

Armani Jumper House of Bruar

Bag Westley

Richards Boots

Purdey Belt Dubarry

She wears: Top, shorts and coat Dior Boots Malone Souliers Socks

Burlington

Jacket, jumper and skirt Louis Vuitton Waders stylist’s own

He wears:

Shorts Burberry

Burgundy jumper

Cordings

Green jumper

Holland & Holland

She wears:

Jumper House of Bruar Scarf Sabina

Savage Shorts

Magda Butrym

Hat Lock & Co.

Socks Dubarry

Wellies Le Chameau

Backpack Westley

Richards

Vest Really Wild Slip Intimissimi Boots Christian Louboutin Belts

J&M Davidson

Coat Oliver Brown

Cap Lock & Co.

Shorts and top

Simone Rocha Boots Crockett & Jones Socks Burlington

Coat Dunhill

Backpack Mulberry

Boots Crockett & Jones Socks Burlington

TEAM

Assistant

Assistant

LOCATION

Borde

He wears: Jacket and trousers Dunhill Jumper House of Bruar Boots Crockett & Jones

She wears: Skirt Vivienne Westwood Jumper Purdey Boots Fairfax & Favor

Fashion assistant: Alice Dench

lighting: Ben McManus

digi: Adriana Laffa

Hair and make up:

Ruth Warrior @ Ray Brown Represents using hair by Sam McKnight, MERIT and Sisley

Video: Hasan Bitirim

Production: Kerry @ Adrenalin Photographic

Model: Eden @ The Hive

Model: Tom @ IMG

Casting agent: Elizabeth Miles Casting

Hill, West Sussex bordehill.co.uk

On Location

Borde Hill’s botanical wonderland is the perfect stage for a country shoot

On a blue-sky day in early August, the C&TH team decamped to Borde Hill in West Sussex, where fashion director Nicole Smallwood had 2,000 acres of botanical gardens, parkland and ancient woodland to play with for our annual countrystyle shoot.

A Grade II*-listed Elizabethan mansion sits at the heart of the estate, which has been in the same family for 130 years, with managing director Jay Goddard the rst woman to take the helm. Visitors and members can explore the gardens and grounds – encompassing 383 acres of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – while plans for next year include a new eco lodge by the lake, a community garden and a glasshouse restaurant led by Chantelle Nicholson (owner of Michelin Green-starred restaurant Apricity), with fruit and veg from Borde Hill’s biodynamic farm. e focus here is the restorative power of nature – something fashion director Nicole Smallwood was conscious not to disrupt. ‘People like to come and contemplate near the ornamental pool, so we made sure we shot that look early in the morning,’ she says, adding that some of the pictures were not without their challenges. ‘ Lowering Eden into the water wearing Louis Vuitton and a pair of waders was interesting,’ laughs Smallwood ‘ But both models were very game and climbing a tree in a Westwood mini was all part of the fun.’

Borde Hill’s gardens and grounds are open to visitors from 15 February to 21 December (bordehill.co.uk) n

Chelsea | City of London | St James’s | Chester

Wild Call of the

WildLand in the Scottish Highlands is the largest conservation project in western Europe

Land

Returning to the rugged landscape that made such a mark when he was a small boy, Danish entrepreneur Anders Povlsen now owns one percent of Scotland, where his rewilding vision and verve for exquisite hospitality is breathing new life into both the ecology and the fabric of communities.

Annabel Heseltine pulls on her boots at WildLand

PHOTO: NICK LAW

It was a dreich afternoon in June and walkers were settling in for the night when I popped my head around the door of Ruigh Aiteachain bothy on my visit to WildLand in the Scottish Highlands, the largest conservation project in western Europe.

‘Come in. ere is always room for one more,’ they said, evoking an ancient code of Highlands hospitality, the same greeting that quite possibly welcomed a small Danish boy staying on the 42,000-acre Glenfeshie estate 40 years ago.

Anders Povlsen would become one of the world’s wealthiest entrepreneurs with, most importantly for Scotland, a deep passion for conservation. For all its beauty, wide-skies and wildness, the Highlands and ow lands, puddled with precious pools of blanket bog of some 400,000 hectares (only last year recognised as a world heritage site), are threatened by depleted biodiversity, tree scarcity and overgrazing by the red deer immortalised by artist Edwin Landseer’s painting e Monarch of the Glen

Unchecked by carnivorous predators (bears, wolves and lynx vanished several centuries ago) and encouraged as a source of hunting income on traditional sporting estates, deer have ourished alarmingly from a happy 2.5 per sq/km to a su ocating 10 per sq/km (as high as 25 per sq/km in some places) with severe ecological implications. Saplings can’t mature and Atlantic salmon cannot spawn in warming, unshaded rivers.

Devastated by the damage, and ahead of the rush to invest in nature capital by so-called ‘green lairds’, Povlsen – who has also invested in the creation of a new national park in Romania, and in initiatives in Tanzania and Botswana – returned in 2006 to buy not only Glenfeshie (close to Kingussie, one of the last train stops before Inverness) but also 12 more estates covering 225,000 acres, amounting to one percent of Scotland.

Shifting the emphasis from shooting to biodiversity, Povlsen’s 200-year WildLand vision of landscape-scale conservation covers three conglomerate estates, WildLand North Coast, WildLand Cairngorm and WildLand West & Ness. ‘ e regeneration of this wilderness will demand timescales more likely to be enjoyed in our children’s lifetime than by us in ours, but we can help create the conditions necessary to allow natural processes to gain a foothold,’ he says.

Forty conservationists are out at 4am culling deer, planting 6.5 million trees and removing old sporting tracks. Craftsmen are rebuilding 165 miles of dry stonewalls. Old cottages and manses have been restored so that aligned guests can connect with nature, enjoying the ecological and social regeneration of the Highlands while receiving WildLand’s rare alchemy of hospitality: heather sprigs on a white napkin; the thoughtful choice of cedar cladding in a redesigned boathouse to ward o midges; a re, co ee thermos and dry robe magically waiting after a brisk early morning swim; e-bikes and pony picnics; even bagpipes. Everything feels more warming, knowing that the end game, the bottom line, is not money, but natural and ecological wellbeing.

Regardless of whether they are staying in the 300-year-old baronial Aldourie Castle, with its ochre turrets and emerald lawns sweeping down to Loch Ness and the feel of an Edwardian house party, or in one of the Scandi-Scottish manses, cottages and bothies, all are invited to join a conservation walk. While they might hope to catch sight of a moist, black nose vanishing over a purple horizon, a red squirrel or a hairy Highland cow, WildLand wants visitors to understand the implications of conservation. It’s an important PR job, as not all of it is palatable to urban sensitivities.

‘ We have four large nature restoration schemes. It’s critical that we have no browsing, so we have zero tolerance. Deer are

PHOTO: RASMUS WENG KARLSEN

culled,’ says head of nature Steve Liddle, who sends venison boxes to local schools. Leading us through mu ed spruce forests and up tumbling burns, he points out old drovers or co n routes cutting through swathes of heather and stands of rowan, birch, bird cherry, larch and spruce.

‘Long term, we do want herbivores – roe deer and red deer who sculpt the habitat. And carnivores,’ he adds cautiously. An illegal lynx release – still under police investigation – went down very badly with locals recently. ‘Whether we have carnivores in my lifetime who knows? But if we have a resident roe deer population – ideal lynx prey – then we will be ready for them. Now we are looking at landscape-scale connectivity to help mix populations and gene pools of capercaillie and wild cat,’ says Liddle, who is preparing the next 25-year plan.

‘ Where our deer management is in hand, regeneration of habitat and woodland has been remarkable,’ adds Povlsen. ‘Nature is miraculous in its ability to recover as soon as arti cially high numbers of large herbivores are reduced. Seeds that have lain dormant sleeping in the ground for decades, wake and germinate. Saplings in check emerge. It is as if nature recognises a helping hand and somehow knows that this is its time.’

Not everyone agrees with what he is doing. Although his suggestion that turning estates over to conservation reduces employment may not be accurate, Tom Opre’s documentary e Last Keeper raises an important point. With UN gures predicting global urbanisation rising to 68 percent by 2050, nding ways to connect urban communities with nature is vital; 80 percent of Scotland’s electorate live in the urbanised central lowlands. Many support the 2024 Land Reform Bill.

Reducing land ownership to 5,000 acres ‘would cause Armageddon in the Highlands,’ says MFI heir Paul Lister, who turned his 23,000-acre estate Alladale over to conservation in 2003. His charity, e European Nature Trust, is a member of the Scottish Rewilding Alliance aspiring to make Scotland the world’s rst rewilding nation.

‘Landscape recovery is in everyone’s interest,’ says Lister, who wishes more HNW individuals would emulate Povlsen. ‘It’s

‘Nature is miraculous in its ability to recover as soon as artificially high numbers of large herbivores are reduced. Seeds that have lain dormant for decades, wake and germinate.

Saplings in check emerge. It is as if nature recognises a helping hand and somehow knows that this is its time’ ANDERS POVLSEN

amazing, buying up swathes of denuded, under-utilised land, and, instead of sticking up wind farms like every Tom, Dick and Harry, he is regenerating landscape, breathing back life, not only into the ecology, but the fabric of the communities, restoring lodges and cottages, creating jobs, opportunities, and bringing more people to the Highlands. Other billionaires should take a leaf out of his book.’

Eco-activist Ben Goldsmith applauds Povlsen’s ambition and courage. ‘Rewilding is the best and only pathway to social and economic renewal in Scotland’s remoter landscapes,’ says Goldsmith. ‘Victorian “canned” shooting estates [where animals are bred to be hunted] are a dead end.’

On the wilder shores of Tongue in Sutherland, the proof of Povlsen’s plan is in the black pudding now sold at Burr’s bakery on a heritage site restored in consultation with the community. ‘We wouldn’t have a petrol station or Burr’s if it wasn’t for WildLand,’ says local businesswoman Michelle Pia. ‘ ey bring in people who enjoy the countryside, bene tting the local community who now have jobs.’ Rewilding Britain’s 2021 report found that rewilding land increases job numbers by 47 percent and volunteering opportunities seven-fold.

Continuing their commitment, WildLand’s business investment arm has put money into the private-public partnership North Coast 500, the 2015 tourist circular route bringing business north of Inverness, where in 2026 it is opening a new nature-immersive hotel in anticipation of the buzz around Scotland’s rewilding vision. Other WildLand initiatives are run in collaboration with Cairngorms Connect (CC), which is restoring 60,000 hectares in partnership with NatureScot. e last hill-to-grill night hosted by conservation stalkers gave away 600 venison burgers. CC’s innovative

FROM TOP LEFT: WildLand owner Anders Povlsen; Killiehuntly is among the Scandi-Scottish manses, cottages and bothies available to guests; dry robes and hot coffee await those (including Heseltine, far right) braving a swim

Menstruation in the Mountains campaign empowering young female hikers hit local headlines. Its annual Willow Walk, when volunteers carry tree-seedlings into the hills for planting, was featured on Attenborough’s Saving our Wild Isles

‘ Perhaps one day,’ says Povlsen, ‘this process of rehabilitation will be such that animals long absent from these lands – lynx, bears and wolves – can return. While we will only support this if ways can be found for such species to coexist harmoniously with rural communities, exciting things are already happening,’ says Povlsen, citing rising numbers of hen harriers, goshawks and golden eagles.

On our last day, Liddle led us on a three-hour hike from Kinloch, the Duke of Sutherland’s old hunting lodge, to a meal foraged from nature and seasonal ingredients at Achiemore. Managed privately by WildLand, the bothy stands proud on a still loch overlooking Ben Loyal, Scotland’s wildest monroe; we hadn’t seen a soul.

O ver lunch, Finlay (19), WildLand’s youngest conservation stalker with an

impressive head of red hair, who spends his days shooting deer, told me passionately: ‘ ere’s no purpose creating a monoculture to support one species, to then kill it. It’s against ecology. I love deer so I honour them by hunting them correctly and here they are insanely wild.’

A fter lunch, we lie on the grass gazing at scudding clouds. A sandpiper skims white buds of cotton grass, wetness sinks through sphagnum and peat returning a healthy dampness to starving dry soil. My eye catches a sudden movement in a purple haze. Could it be? e antlers of a majestic red stag will always play a part in Scotland’s history, but now at WildLand it’s back in its place with lynx on a long horizon and wolves perhaps no longer just a fairy tale.

WildLand’s accommodation portfolio includes award-winning self-catered cottages from £275 a night, hotels from £525 a room full-board, and exclusive-use, fully catered lodges and castles from £3,000 a night. wildland.scot n

PHOTOS: FRAN MART

GAME CHANGERS

Shooting and conservation can – and should – work hand in hand, says Eleanor Doughty

In the decade since 2015, an almighty transformation has come to the Godmersham estate near Canterbury. Where there were once no barn owls, now there are ve pairs. Where the eld edges were bare of hare, now more than 100 spring around. Miles of new hedgerows have been planted, and beetle banks created; wild ower margins have been established, and more than 400 bird boxes built and erected.

Meanwhile, rare species – nightingales, grey partridges, tree sparrows – not seen there for decades have returned. is is the story of nature recovery, but one within a landscape that has long been home to a traditional pheasant shoot. ese two ideas might seem at odds with one another, but this is modern-day good, sustainable land management, an example of what old gamekeepers call the three-legged stool of conservation – combining habitat, food and predator control, with glorious results. It’s about ‘trying to get back to something that’s a bit softer,’ says Godmersham’s estate manager Ben Palmer. ‘As agriculture became more intensive, wild game su ered and the put-and-take system of incubatorhatched birds allowed for quantity without much concern for habitat quality.’ But now, he says, increasingly people are once again instigating the three key principles, ‘which is having a transformative impact on farmland diversity’.

Palmer isn’t the only one trying a new approach to land management: last year, the Value of Shooting report found that habitat management and conservation are carried out on 7.6 million hectares as a result of shooting. Various awards have been established to celebrate and promote good work in this area: joining the long-established Purdey Awards this year are the Schö el Countryside Awards, the judging for which concludes in October to recognise the best nature-friendly farm or estate alongside those individuals who have dedicated their working lives to conservation.

e most famous example of success in this area hails from West Sussex, where the Peppering Project has restored grey partridges on the Duke of Norfolk’s estate. In 2003, there were fewer than 40 grey partridges left on the South Downs and only 11 in the Peppering count area. With the birds at risk of going extinct, ‘the Duke said, “not on my watch”,’ says campaigner Roger Morgan-Grenville, whose book e Return of the Grey Partridge chronicles the project’s progress. e estate changed the way it farmed, dividing up prairie-sized elds and establishing hedges to give the birds a chance, seeded by nine pairs brought from Sandringham by Prince Philip.

By 2014, there were more than 2,000 grey partridges back at Peppering (a gure that remains more or less steady today) and the project has been an extraordinary success.

were only 11 grey

left in Peppering in the South Downs; today there are over 2,000, thanks to the Peppering Project

Morgan-Grenville credits this to ‘the Duke’s single-minded determination’, as well as those of the head keeper Charlie Mellor, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Dick Potts, and the farm manager, ‘who worked not in opposition but in absolute concert. And the Duke vowed,’ says Morgan-Grenville, ‘they would not shoot a bird until they had a shootable surplus – and that took seven or eight years.’ e Peppering Project has inspired a number of similar initiatives, but you would be forgiven for thinking it seemed exceptional. In recent years, the relationship between shooting and conservation has sometimes seemed a little confused. ‘We have allowed shooting to become a business,’ says Richard Negus, author of Words from the Hedge: A Hedgelayer’s View of the Countryside. ‘It’s now “the shooting industry” – all it was ever supposed to do was wash its face.’ Now, with luxury sporting experiences increasingly part of the top-end business, parts of the sport have been caught in commercialism’s sticky web. As Negus says: ‘As soon as you get commercialisation then greed kicks in and that’s where it’s gone wrong.’ at idea is summed up in the large bags of birds being reared and then shot. A number of those to whom I spoke for this feature cited days with bags of 600 or 700 birds being shot; one remembered how he had once loaded on a 1,000-bird day: ‘Bizarre’.

But the tide is turning towards Palmer’s idea of something softer. On the Earl of Leicester’s Holkham estate in north Norfolk, home to one of England’s largest nature reserves, head of conservation Jake Fiennes and the bowler-hatted head gamekeeper Mark Fitzer work in harmony. ‘ e game department carry out species management on the reserve and Mark loves going out on it,’ says Fiennes. ‘He loves that part of this role, protecting lapwings from rats – there’s no con ict.’ Recently the pair went out together surveying the scene: ‘We saw buzzards and harrier and kites and they’re just part of the landscape – we live with them.’

F iennes’ career on estates began in the late 1980s at Knepp Castle in West Sussex, and as a former keeper himself, he can see the changes that have come to the shooting environment. ‘In the 1980s people starting putting more and more birds down [to shoot] and the people that came shooting weren’t the country gent or the local vicar, but people from the City.’

‘The Duke vowed they would not shoot a bird until they had a shootable surplus – and that took seven or eight years’

is has encouraged the bigger-bagged days.

Fiennes moved to Holkham for his current role in 2018. ‘When I arrived I was told there were no stone-curlew at Holkham – now, we think we had eight territories this year.’ It’s a true team e ort and it must be. ‘It’s the keepers and the tractor drivers that are saying, “I’ve found another pair of curlews, I’ve found another pair of oyster catchers.” It’s getting everyone working in synergy but also with their own objectives.’ ings are changing elsewhere, too. On Lord Bolton’s estate in North Yorkshire, head keeper Ian Sleightholm’s job title is imminently to change to ‘head of conservation’, in re ection of his changing role. Another keeper on a grouse estate in Northumberland has taken to surveying his area on a mountain bike in a full North Face get-up, making him seem more approachable to the walkers he encounters. And on the Whitbread family’s Southill Estate in Bedfordshire, head keeper Paul Dunn has successfully removed non-native muntjac and in-so-doing attracted back grasshopper warblers and nightingales in the estate’s quest to restore nature. In time, Southill hopes to reintroduce beavers.

For the keeper, whatever his job title may be, is the lynchpin between eld sports and the natural environment. ‘I learned more about the Sussex countryside in a year and a half working with Charlie Mellor than I’d learned in the previous 62 years,’ says Morgan-Grenville. ‘ ese guys are country guys.’

Heirs and Graces: A History of the Modern Aristocracy by Eleanor Doughty is out now (£30, Hutchinson) n

The Holkham estate in Norfolk (far left) is one of England’s biggest nature reserves, where the head of conservation

Jake Fiennes (near left) works closely with head gamekeeper

Mark Fitzer

CLOTHING FOR THE COUNTRY

Our luxury Halkon® Jackets are made from rustle-free waterproof fabric, which mimics the action of mammal fur to keep you dry, warm and comfortable in any weather.

Edited by

ON DESIGN

Maddux Creative’s Shimmy stools, p160

CAROLE ANNETT

ON DESIGN

PARLEZ-VOUS FRANÇAIS?

Carole Annett checks into a chic new Parisian hotel

IN THE FRAME

Soho House’s global curator Kate Bryan on How to Art

ARTIST’S ANGEL

Brigitta Freund reveals the emerging artists on her radar

ALLIED FORCES

When design experts and master craftspeople collide

DREAM WEAVERS

Lucy Cleland uncovers

Swedish beds fit for a king

BURNING DESIRES

Tessa Dunthorne is fired up by Baobab’s candles

DESIGN NOTES

Rich pickings

CROWNING GLORY

A royal restoration at Arundel castle

TALE OF A TOILE

The writing is on the wall with a bespoke wallpaper

HOUSE PARTY

Celebrating Country & Town Interiors

Ed’s Letter

DIARY DATES

Join Carole at Focus/25 and Decorex for two inspiring conversations on smart storage and sustainable design

Box Clever at Focus/25, Design Centre Chelsea Harbour on 19 September (dcch.co.uk for tickets)

Designing For Life: Why Interiors

Must Declare at Olympia, London on 13 October (decorex.com for tickets)

It’s been fun putting together this special section. After the thrill of celebrating our Country & Town Interiors book (catch the party pictures on page 170), there have been a few weeks where things have been less frenetic, allowing me to be out and about seeing what’s in store for autumn. Some of my favourite nds are on Design Notes, from page 160, including Sophie Paterson’s new course where she shares her expertise, presented in a wonderfully down-to-earth style. Bravo to her for o ering her knowledge to budding designers or those who just want to know how she creates the re ned, inviting spaces that have become her trademark.

Stéphanie Coutas is another designer whose name is synonymous with timeless elegance. We love this ex-fashion stylist’s recent hotel project, Madame Drouot in Paris (p146). Located near a famous French auction house, Coutas takes inspiration from the local area and combines it with her own love of collecting. e result is an eccentric mix of curios, which give the hotel a distinct personality.

I love the contrast with our Crowning Glory feature (p166). Where Coutas opts for a restrained palette of creamy chocolate, natural wood and white, at Arundel Castle, it’s full throttle red, gilt and bronze in a bedroom t for a queen. Huge thanks to the Duchess of Norfolk for allowing us to tell the story of the renovation of Queen Victoria’s bedroom.

Beds and A-listers is a theme in Lucy Cleland ’s piece about her trip to the Hästens bed factory in Sweden. It is still the Swedish royal family’s bed of choice; nd out why on page 156.

Ever wondered how luxury candlemaker Baobab stays at the top of its game? ‘I always begin by writing a story,’ creative director Corinne Bensahel tells Tessa Dunthorne on page 158.

In honour of Chelsea Arts festival, Kate Bryan writes on how to frame art well (p148), while on page 151 Brigitta Freund of Spinocchia Freund o ers a collector’s view of bright new talent in art and craft.

So much going on this September – I look forward to seeing you out and about.

Limited to 2,000 numbered pieces, the Jack Ryde 100 Year Anniversary Limited Edition 2000T features blue saddle leather corner guards and matching leather lifting handles, embroidered signature, married with rich bronze accents and distinct signature plate celebrating Jack’s legacy. Discover more at hastens.com or visit your nearest Hästens store

What makes a design last generations? Is it exceptional craftsmanship? Is it honest materials? Is it timeless design? For us, it’s all of these. at’s what makes a Neptune home.

Over 30 stores across the UK and Europe neptune.com

Parlez-Vous Français?

Stéphanie Coutas has created a dialogue between curios and shifting textures at this new Paris hotel, finds Carole Annett

want to create a place where people are happy to come back,’ says interior designer Stéphanie Coutas, of the Madame Drouot hotel in Paris, a project which has just reached completion after four years. Located a few steps from Drouot, a famous auction house dating from 1852, and a short walk from L’Opéra, the hotel sits in the 9th arrondissement, the e ervescent heart of Paris. ‘ e proximity to Drouot is a very inspiring starting point for me,’ explains Coutas, who has a love of collecting. ‘It is such a unique location.’ Coutas spent 15 years as a fashion stylist before embarking on a career in interiors. She also owns an art gallery. e in uence of her fashion background and passion for texture are all evident as soon as you arrive at Madame Drouot hotel.

An elegant blend of wood, cream and chocolate with carefully chosen curiosities, the entrance hall sets the tone for the 33 rooms, spa and café. ‘I wanted to visit di erent eras with the decor,’ says Coutas. Entering from the narrow streets, the reception area has a welcoming, cosy ambience with architecture that plays with curves and height. A Coutas-designed brushed

oak replace catches the attention, drawing guests in. Displayed on top, a selection of statues and sculptures with no obvious connection. A similarly eclectic choice, a marble bust of an 18th-century noblewoman bought at auction a while ago, gazes down with authority.

‘I like objects that don’t automatically look like they go together,’ explains the designer. e same could be said for the combination of textures – brushed oak, nubby bouclé, embroidered lampshades and stone. A salt-crystal art-piece nicknamed ‘the Doughnut’ on the wall above the re subtly catches light with its angular facets. ‘It brings good energy,’ says Coutas. e African-inspired wallpaper behind the replace is by Arte. ‘I love this pattern. It has a Brutalist aspect and yet it’s completely soft. It’s all about contradiction,’ she says. ‘It has no connection with the heritage of the building but I wanted to choose something that brought a peaceful vibe that also plays with the balance of heights. is wallpaper design is perfect for this.’

Alongside the reception area is the busy all-day Café Monsieur. ‘We are in the heart of the narrow streets of Paris, and we are lucky enough to have a corner, so we put the café here to allow maximum light.’ Here Coutas continues the earthy palette, introducing terracotta and bringing touches of green on the ceramic tabletops, ‘I was inspired by the art of Japanese Raku,’ she says. A mix of banquettes and tables, it’s an iconic Parisian-style bistro.

Other Coutas touches include a leather-clad lift sweeping up to four varying room types o ering impressively high ceilings, views of iconic Hausmann architecture and a range of colour harmonies ranging from calm cream and pale grey to vibrant orange and blue. ‘Working on hotels as opposed to houses is complex’, says Coutas, ‘You have to mix the useful and the beautiful. e useful takes priority, of course, but I always try to design in ways that hide things like luggage storage and the practical side.’ Once that is nalised, the fun parts can begin. ‘I decide what I want the eye to catch. We allow ourselves to play with what you are actually seeing without noticing what has to be there.’ And it’s brilliantly executed at Madame Drouot hotel. n

The entrance hall at Madame Drouot hotel features mixed materials including brushed oak, nubby bouclé and stone; the hotel’s light filled Café Monsieur (left) is designed like a stylish Parisian bistro

In the Frame

Soho House’s Chief Art Director

Kate Bryan shares her frame game

Iwant to demystify framing. Learning which art you love and managing to buy some is a huge win, and the framing of it shouldn’t be a buzz kill.

I remember the rst time I went into a framing shop. It was in Hong Kong, and I had to brief the framer on what the gallery wanted for an upcoming exhibition of work by Sir Peter Blake. I was sent because I had previously worked at the British Museum, had an undergraduate degree in art history, and was about to receive my postgraduate degree. So, naturally my boss thought I was well equipped for what she saw as an ordinary gallery task. She was wrong. I felt overwhelmed by the choice and terminology. So I know how it feels to have framing malaise.

Twenty years later, I have framed thousands of artworks as an art dealer and curator for large collections, and I have also picked them out for myself. Here’s the inside track on how to make the frame the icing on the cake – as opposed to the reason no one eats the cake.

e general consensus is that the frame should be in sympathy with the artwork and not distract from it or undermine it in any way. e Peter Blake works in Hong Kong were pop art prints, mostly large in size so they needed mounts – to hold the work steady and create a visual interlude between the artwork and the frame. An alternative is to ‘ oat’ the paper. is is a more contemporary solution and works well with smaller artworks – larger pieces are often too heavy to oat.

e more creative decisions are to be made when choosing the frame. I much prefer frames that have an exposed wood grain, as they feel more natural and softer. For the same reason, whenever possible, I avoid black frames – I nd them so heavy and ‘ nal’, and prefer the feeling of the eye owing across a space with various artworks that look as if there is

an open-ended conversation between them.

An amusing example of how framing is an indicator of the taste of the owner was an exhibition at the Tate Modern of the photography collection of Sir Elton John and David Furnish. Before the visitor entered the exhibition, there was the usual wall text to set the stage for the show, at the end of which was what I can only describe as a disclaimer to convey that ‘the photography is being exhibited in the collectors’ frames’. Having been round the exhibition, to my mind it was as if the Tate needed to make it clear that they had not chosen the leopardprint or ornate gold frames for modern photography. ey might not have been neutral, but I loved the frames. e couple had assembled an incredibly strong collection over decades and were generous enough to share it with the public, and I felt that their occasionally amboyant attitude to framing was an extension of the passion of the whole enterprise – as if they had welcomed these artworks into their family and dressed them in keeping with the gang.

Extracted from How To Art by Kate Bryan, with illustrations by David Shrigley (interview with artist on p106). £16.99, uk.bookshop.org.

Kate Bryan is at Chelsea Arts Festival on 20 September (chelseaartsfestival.com) n

PHOTOS: RIO CARCIERO; EDVINAS BRUZAS; GINA SODEN PHOTOGRAPHY

FROM TOP: Art in Soho Farmhouse Ibiza; a Damien Hirst at Soho Mews House; Kate Bryan, art curator

Artists’ Angel

Interior architect and collector Brigitta Freund is a passionate supporter of emerging artists. She tells Carole Annett why commissioning new work is crucial to her schemes

‘Art brings me joy,’ says Brigitta Freund. Her own London home is lled with contemporary art, and at her eponymous design practice clients often entrust Freund with curating their own art collections. It’s why she keeps such a keen eye on exhibitions and fairs while often supporting as a board member and sponsor. ‘As consumers, we’re quite overexposed to the same sort of product all the time,’ she says. ‘When you go into foundations such as the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust and Cockpit Arts [the social enterprise scheme for talented makers], you’re seeing very fresh, new ideas. I go in with a very collaborative approach. What they’re producing may not be exactly to your liking or to your client’s liking but once you understand the potential of someone, and the quality that’s achievable, that’s what becomes interesting. I love their enthusiasm. For me, it’s like a dream come true: why wouldn’t you want to give that kind of work to an individual or collective who can create something wonderful? It’s championing voices and also quasi-mentoring them to do other projects.’ For clients of Spinocchia Freund, having a unique artwork or piece of furniture is what gives their project a DNA that none of their friends or contemporaries have. ‘It’s special. Working with artists deepens the narrative of design.’ spinocchiafreund.com

FIVE TO WATCH

DARREN APPIAGYEI

Wood Artist, Cockpit Arts

‘When I work with wood, highlighting its di erent textures and details feels like uncovering its hidden potential,’ says Darren, who came into woodturning by accident during a 3D design degree. Based at Cockpit Arts, he takes public transport to collect his wood and no longer uses any imported materials. He recently won the Collect Open Award following his presentation at Collect 2025, of which Spinocchia Freund is a key supporter. darrenappiagyei.co.uk

Freund says: ‘I rst saw Darren’s work during a visit to Cockpit and was immediately interested in how he let the material speak. His installation at Collect 2025 explored his mother’s illness, paying tribute to her strength and raising awareness of broids, all through the textures he created in each vessel, made using found timber from his local area. I was drawn to the narrative and the emotional honesty behind why he was making the work.’

Brigitta Freund finds sourcing new artwork gives her clients’ homes a special DNA their friends can’t copy

ON DESIGN | Emerging Talent

2

GRACE AYSON

Stained Glass, Qest Scholar

Grace embraces the painterly possibilities of stained glass, a lengthy process requiring both artistry and craftsmanship. She has become a specialist in interpreting the designs of other artists such as in a recent project the Damson Tree, commissioned by the Friends of Canterbury Cathedral in collaboration with Hughie O’Donoghue RA. Her background as an artist helps her interpret the initial design sympathetically and create a window that captures the spirit of the original drawing. graceayson.com

Freund says: ‘Grace’s work is rooted in traditional stainedglass techniques yet it feels very current. She makes careful choices in how she combines colour and form, which keeps her work focused and clear and very appealing. It’s the kind of craftsmanship I respect and want to support.’

ISABELLE DAVIES

Stained Glass, Qest Scholar

Isabelle runs Iota stained glass studio in Cambridge, which specialises in both the design and creation of new stained glass works as well as the conservation and restoration of historic pieces in private residencies and ecclesiastical buildings. She has a degree in Classical Archaeology from Oxford University and a passion for painting and drawing. iotaglass.co.uk

Freund says: ‘Isabelle’s work and process resonates with me. She sees stained glass as decoration and a way to capture a story. Her background in archaeology brings layers of context, and yet she maintains a contemporary sensibility. I nd that careful balance fascinating.’

JO GROGAN

Woodwork and Gilding, Sarabande Foundation

Jo followed a career in fashion and jewellery design before changing tack to study at City and Guilds of London art school. Her work is a celebration of craftsmanship and nature, exploring themes of nostalgia, social class, taste and humour, inviting viewers to re ect on how these in uence our understanding of art and tradition. She draws on past experience in fashion, and uses sustainable practices for each piece. jogrogan.com

Freund says: ‘Jo’s work made me pause. It’s playful and subversive and executed with such seriousness of her craft. She blends carving and embellishment in a way that feels original and relevant, and challenges assumptions about what furniture should look like or represent. ere’s real con dence in that.’

A furniture maker and sculptor who creates functional artworks intended to question perceptions of beauty, So a’s work uses both traditional and modern woodworking techniques to achieve a striking end result. Her pieces are intended to provoke a response from the viewer: is it grotesque or beautiful? Building on a passion for craft, she studied design at the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design and ne furniture making at Williams and Cleal school. so akarakatsanis.co.uk

Freund says: ‘I reached out to QEST to nd makers pushing boundaries and So a’s fearless approach stood out. Her work uses classical techniques but in a way that challenges our ideas of beauty and comfort. e curves and distortions are very raw and powerful, giving the pieces a strong physical presence.’ n

SOFIA KARAKATSANIS

Furniture, Qest Scholar

Allied Forces

Carole Annett curates covetable new collaborations from design creatives and master craftspeople

1 BISLEY X RISOTTO

British storage and furniture manufacturer Bisley and Glasgow-based Risotto Studio launch Tetris, named after the video game, which brings fresh energy to Bisley’s classic steeldoor functional designs. ‘This feels like a natural meeting point,’ says Risotto’s Gabriella Marcella, ‘for two very different practices that both celebrate colour, utility, and British manufacturing.’ From £145. bisley.com

2 BERNARD LONDON X JULIAN CHICHESTER

The Monterey cabinet by furniture maker Julian Chichester is one of four designs in a series of pieces blending iconic, mid-century design nuances with a modern twist made in partnership with design studio Bernard London. The collection features faux cork fabric with colour injections using glossy lacquer. Monterey cabinet in blue lacquer and fabric cork, £4,200. julianchichester.com

3 HOLMES BESPOKE X LUMI

Inspired by the Emirati desert, a new rug collection from Laylah Holmes of London rug company Holmes Bespoke and Alua Kul, founder of Dubai-based LUMI Interiors, captures shifting sands, layered ridges and warm earth tones through texture and form, while the addition of a metallic layer glints like the water of a desert oasis. Sand Dunes, one of four designs, from£1,000 per sq/m. holmesbespoke.com

4 SEBASTIAN COX X NAT MAKS

Tides by Brogan Cox and marbling expert Natascha Maksimovic is a love letter to the sea. Made at the Sebastian Cox workshop in Margate, each wooden table is hand-dipped in marbled ink in two colourways, pink and orange evoking a Margate sunset and greens inspired by tidal pools. Side table, £3,360, and coffee table £4,560. sebastiancox.co.uk

PHOTOS: BETH DAVIS

Dream Weavers

With royal seals, secret celebrity clients and a cult cameo in Emily in Paris, Hästens has quietly become the most coveted bed brand in the world, says Lucy Cleland

For a company that keeps its celebrity clients close to its chest, appearing in Emily in Paris in 2020 was not ‘business as usual’ for Hästens, the Swedish heritage bed company, famous for its blue-andwhite check upholstery. Appearing during lockdown in the cult show was a magical money-can’t-buy PR hit for this quietly luxurious brand that doesn’t trade on its stardust, although a quick Google reveals that A-listers such as Maria Sharapova, Viola Davis, Post Malone, Drake, Lily Allen, and Tom Cruise all sleep in a Hästens.

It was founded by Pehr Adolf Janson in 1852, a master saddle maker (hence the name Hästens, which means ‘of the horse’), whose craft was so exacting that he had to be approved by the king. Six generations later, and a pivot into bed-making with the third, the brand still has the Swedish royal seal of approval for its meticulously stitched, layered (upon layered) beds, which are assembled in Köping, an industrial area about an hour outside Stockholm, by master artisans whose bedmaking is an art form.

It was in the 1980s that Hästens began to transform into the international powerhouse that it is today. Hitherto, the company was beginning to struggle nancially, until fth-generation Jan Ryde took over in 1988 and set about revitalising it.

At the factory, I get to see the detail that goes into handmaking every bed, re ected in prices that range

from an entry level £3,640 to a staggering £1m for the most expensive (entirely bespoke). eir bestseller is the 2000T that comes in at a more reasonable – depending on how you look at it – £24,590.

Each bed is built from the frame up – beginning with Swedish pine, chosen for its density and strength. Next come layers upon layers of springs and natural bres: ve layers of horsehair – which has a hollow core that absorbs moisture and regulates temperature (given that we sweat a litre of water a night, this is particularly important), and comes in di erent grades depending on the bed –combined with cotton, wool and ax, carefully tufted to ensure compression and bounce. It’s a ‘hamburger’ of support, stitched by hand with obsessive precision. e nal touch is hand-side stitching (harder than it looks as I can attest to), followed by tufting to ensure long-term compression and durability.

e mattress itself consists of a bed frame, a middle mattress, and a topper, with springs calibrated for precise rmness levels – including extra-strong perimeter springs to support those who like to sit on the edge of the bed. Even the fabrics are left to hang for two weeks so gravity, not steam, smooths out the creases.

With this lesson in bed-making concluded, I’m minded that a Hästens bed feels more like a couture dress to be kept for generations, rather than ung out on a fanciful whim. And in this age of investing in ourselves and our environment wisely, and responsibly, that price tag begins to make a lot more sense...

hastens.com n

FROM ABOVE: The iconic blue and white check of a Hästens bed; Lucy giving hand-side stitching a try; arriving at the Köping factory

Burning Desires

Baobab Collection draws on heritage craft to create objets d’art – building a cult brand along the way, says Tessa Dunthorne

‘When I design a candle,’ says creative director Corinne Bensahel, ‘I always begin by writing a story.’ It might sound counterintuitive for a brand built around scent to begin not with the nose, but with narrative. For Baobab Collection, this is the very reason it has enjoyed the sweet smell of success.

‘For this year’s winter collection, I wanted to go in a mystical direction,’ Bensahel explains. ‘A modern fairytale with in uences of fashion, châteaucore and Game of rones.’ e trio of limited-edition candles draw from three legendary forests –Sherwood (which layers rosemary, cedarwood and vetiver), Brocéliande (elemi, vetiver and moss), and Risoud (cumin, plum and patchouli). e wax on each features vertical lines that evoke being among the trees.

Baobab was founded in the early 2000s and its cult following has built as scentscaping has in ltrated our home spaces. Its creations are far more than functional – these are candles to be admired and their vessels kept long after the wax has burnt. e tallest – at 35cm – would double as a vase; the smallest can be re lled (Baobab o er this service) or would make a lovely pen holder.

Key to Baobab’s success is a near-obsessive attention to visual and material design. Branding is intentionally discreet, but its work with artists on often colourful designs enchants its fanbase. Black Pearl, which has been copied over and over, is its most popular design, while Baobab was the rst to do leopard print on a candle.

One of its most striking par tnerships has been with photographer Serge Anton. ‘We collaborated with him on the Orientalist Collection last autumn, which used one of his portraits across the candle jar,’ says Bensahel, ‘and we’re excited

to work with him again for our winter campaign.’ Beyond artists, Baobab works closely with craftspeople to bring each collection to life. ‘Our glassware is hand-blown in Poland,’ Bensahel explains. ‘Ceramic vessels are produced seasonally in Portugal. And our ra a collections are handmade by a women’s cooperative in Madagascar. We have around 65 women working on those each year.’ After this, the candles are poured by Baobab’s in-house team. at precision is particularly evident in Baobab’s new Heritage Collection, which spotlights a fading craft: hand-engraved glass. Each candle features intersecting lines and stylised grooves, designed to play with light and depth. ‘When the candle is lit, it glows from within – like a jewel,’ Bensahel says. Indeed, many of the collections are designed to evolve as they burn. City-inspired designs, for instance, take on the hues of a sunset as the ame sinks lower.

Ev en the names are chosen with care. e Heritage Collection’s Cernay, Villers, and Fontenay candles are named after Cistercian abbeys in France. ‘ ere’s breathtaking beauty in how time has worn these buildings,’ Bensahel explains. ‘Nature has begun to reclaim the stone, and that only makes them more romantic. ey evoke a peace that stays with you.’ ese candles feature smells you might associate with such spaces – incense, cedarwood, leather. Exactly the kind of immersive storytelling that has allowed Baobab to become so covetable.

eu.baobabcollection.com n

PHOTOS: SERGE ANTON

FROM ABOVE: The Heritage Collection, is being relaunched this autumn; creative director Corinne Bensahel; glassblowing at work in Poland; the limited edition Sherwood candle, £165

HANG GLOW

Bamboozle wall light in antique brass, £68, with red Zaraband shade in fabric by GP & J Baker, £43. pooky.com

TIMELESS DESIGN

A quintessentially English drawing room by Colefax and Fowler featuring the new Belmont wallcovering, available in four colourways, £480 per roll. colefax.com

Design Notes

ROCK STAR

Marbella in Prunella marble is one of six new artisanal stone basins from Waterworks.

Available in two sizes, either pedestal or wall mounted, from £12,411. waterworks.co.uk

What’s caught Carole Annett’s interiors eye this season

NOSE FOR FRAGRANCE

Interior designer Laura Stephens loved Connock’s candles so much she gave them to clients at the end of every project. Now she has her own to gift. Verdant candle by Connock x Laura Stephens, £38. connockengland.com

AUTUMN PALETTE

Curtain: Margalla, £130 a metre. Chair: Karakoram, £130 a metre and Cordillera, £225 a metre. Wallcovering: Kanoko cork, £490 per roll. All from the Caraballo collection at Osborne & Little. osborneandlittle.com

ON DESIGN | Inspiration

CANDELABRA RE-THINK

Modern Heritage collection Kingston pendant, £6,950. laurahammettliving.com

STEP IN Hankering after Carrie Bradshaw’s walk-in closet?

People in the know head to Neatsmith for tailormade wardrobes available in a range of fi nishes and decorative glass. Rattan wardrobe, from £9,960. neatsmith.co.uk

JUST BEACHY

Chesil pebble table with handfinished resin and stone top inlay, £2,590. william yeoward.com

HOW TO ACADEMY

Over 12 hours of expert-led video tutorials from basics to brilliance with renowned interior designer Sophie Paterson. ‘The course I wish I’d had when I started out in the industry,’ says Paterson. £995. sophiepaterson academy.com

PICK ‘N’ MIX

Stylish new-season wallpaper

bertioli.co.uk

ROSS

BERTIOLI Carrot stripe wallpaper, £220 per roll.

STUDIO HOLLOND Strawberry Jazz wallpaper, £150 per roll. studiohollond.com

EMMA J SHIPLEY Wonder World velvet at Clarke & Clarke, Mythica collection, £116 p/m. sandersondesigngroup.com

MALABAR AT GEORGE SPENCER DESIGNS Chimichanga in cotton, £262 p/m. georgespencer.com

ISLA SIMPSON Garden pansy multi-colour sheer, £164 p/m. islasimpson.co.uk

promises

Most mattresses promise the perfect night’s sleep. But they can’t. Not when they’re made from synthetic materials that trap heat, restrict airflow and disrupt the very thing they promise.

At Naturalmat, we promise something different. All our beds, mattresses and bedding are made from natural, organic and sustainable materials. Handcrafted in our Devon workshop, offering you breathable, supportive, healthier rest that others try to imitate, but only we can deliver.

It’s a promise we’ve kept for over 25 years. And one we’ll continue to keep, because great sleep starts with what you’re sleeping on.

Knutsford

ON DESIGN | Inspiration

VINTAGE OVERHAUL

Upcycling supremo and Haines Collection founder Jules Haines teams up with printmaker Jessie de Salis for Reimagined & Repaired, a capsule of salvaged furniture and fabrics reworked into bold one-of-a-kind pieces to coincide with Second Hand September. hainescollection.co.uk

BASEMENT BEAUTY

This Ripples project features polished nickel brassware, vanity unit with Corian top, back-lit mirror and fully-folding shower screen. £12,200 excluding tiles and installation. ripplesbathrooms.com

WHIRLIGIG

Maddux Creative’s first collection, Maison, includes the fabulous Shimmy stool, £2,350. madduxcreative.com

FIRST DROP

Nuance ombre cashmere throw, £2,050, and Valatzu cashmere blanket, £1,100, by luxury Scottish brand Begg x Co’s new creative director Vanessa Seward. beggxco.com

BY ROYAL COMMAND

Hydrangea and Rose chintz, £112 a metre, and Annabel’s Suzani (on headboard), £174 a metre, both from Sanderson’s Highgrove Collection developed in collaboration with Highgrove, and in partnership with The King’s Foundation. sanderson. sandersondesign group.com n

Crowning Glory

After a two-year restoration project, Queen Victoria’s state bedroom at Arundel castle is back to its original splendour, says Carole Annett

Royal visits take a lot of planning and two centuries ago, it was just the same. So when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited Arundel Castle in December 1846, the 13th Duke of Norfolk had ample time to prepare. Not only had he remodelled parts of the castle in honour of the royal visit, but he also instructed George Morant & Co, one of London’s leading decorators, to create a sumptuous bedroom. ankfully the visit was a success, with the delighted queen writing how much she enjoyed her stay, commenting on the ‘beautiful’ castle and friendliness of her reception. e room she slept in was – from then on – known as Queen Victoria’s bedroom.

Zip forward to today and the current incumbent of Arundel Castle is Edward Fitzalan-Howard, the 18th Duke of Norfolk. In March 2023, the Duke and his wife – Francesca Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of Norfolk – decided it was time for the majesty of the queen’s bedroom to be witnessed by the hundreds of visitors who enjoy the castle and grounds each year. Alongside textile historian and consultant Annabel Westman, they embarked on a two-year restoration journey, bringing together some of the UK’s nest specialists.

First on the roster was Barry Ansell from R D Robins upholsterers, who has countless stately home and historic house clients under his belt. Ansell oversaw the re-covering of furniture and re screen banners as well as bed steps in a coordinating patterned fabric and velvet. Chyrowski Studio, which works with museums and private collectors around the world, carefully cleaned and conserved the gilded bed frame, re-carving some of the missing elements, including the distinctive Fitzalan family oak-leaf and horse-head motifs, and re-gilded them to match the original nish.

Humphries Weaving, who recreated bespoke silks at both Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace after serious res, reproduced the original four-colour brocatelle fabric – after no fewer than 24 development trials. ey also reproduced gold-coloured silk linings and white satin for the dome interior, all dyed to match the original tones found on unfaded fragments.

Charles Hesp & Co hand-applied over 9,000 stencils in the bedroom and 4,500 in the adjacent bathroom, including metres and metres of decorative border. And to achieve

‘It is not just a return to the past, but a celebration of craftsmanship at the highest level’

the room’s rich gilding, they got through 4,000 pages of 23½-carat gold leaf. e passementerie was hand-made by Sevinch, while J5 Interiors created the bed draperies, ensuring the hangings and treatments faithfully mirrored the historical designs in both structure and fabric.

‘It is not just a return to the past, but a celebration of craftsmanship at the highest level,’ Her Grace, the Duchess of Norfolk, says of the restoration. ‘Queen Victoria’s stay at Arundel Castle was a moment of local pride and historical importance, and it was vital to us that this room should be restored with the same attention to beauty and detail that marked her original visit. From the delicate reweaving of the brocatelle silks to the detailed carving and gilding of the bed frame and the stencilling work, this has been a true collaboration involving some of the nest conservators in the country.’ One wonders what the current queen thinks of the recreated bedroom. Perhaps she’s already scheduled a visit.

Arundel Castle & Gardens, including Queen Victoria’s bedroom, are open until 2 November. arundelcastle.org n

The restoration of Queen’s Victoria’s bedroom has brought together some of the finest conservators in the country; you can view the room by touring Arundel Castle

Tale of a Toile

Carole Annett discovers a bespoke wallpaper – complete with tiny moles and grand country piles – created for Britain’s oldest bank

When design studio Todhunter Earle was commissioned to create a wallpaper for C Hoare & Co, the UK’s oldest privately owned bank, they turned to a name synonymous with heritage and craftsmanship: Watts 1874. Run by Marie-Séverine (a fthgeneration descendent of one of the company’s three English architect founders) and her husband Jean de Caraman Chimay, the British family rm has been supplying fabrics and wallpapers to royalty and aristocracy for over 150 years. For a bank founded in 1672 and steeped in tradition, it seemed a perfect t.

e brief was deceptively simple: a toile that honoured the bank’s history while complementing Todhunter Earle’s chosen colour palette based on Farrow & Ball’s Stourhead (a pale green). For design director Jean, the challenge lay in balancing three perspectives: the design studio’s vision, the partners at the bank’s personal stories, and his own artistic instinct.

e process began with research. Jean immersed himself in the bank’s archives, photographing historic paintings, watercolours, and documents. He also drew inspiration from family estates, buildings associated with the Hoares, and moments of national signi cance – from the Prince and Princess

of Wales’s wedding to a partner’s passion for y shing. Each element was meticulously hand-drawn before being scanned, vectorised, and re ned in Illustrator, ensuring every line and hue matched Todhunter Earle’s scheme. Creating a toile is as much about rhythm as detail; a repeating pattern must feel seamless so the eye can wander. To achieve this, Jean experimented with scale and placement, ensuring roads, rivers, and pathways were linked. Some motifs, like the grand façade of Stourhead (the Wiltshire Palladian mansion built by Henry Hoare in 1717) or a sherman mid-cast, took hours to perfect, only to be subtly repositioned within the nal repeat. Over ten weeks, the design evolved into a visual journey through Hoare family history, layered with wit and personality. Tiny moles peek from lawns, while country houses sit alongside churches once endowed by the family. e wallpaper was produced in England and installed in the partners’ dining room. Jean’s expertise and artistry has ensured that however many times it is viewed there will always be a new element to discover. One could say, for Watts 1874, creating a living tapestry that weaves heritage and history is simply a walk in the park, much like the nished result. n

A planning sketch (below) was crucial to the process of making a new toile wallpaper, according to husband and wife team Jean and Marie-Séverine de Caraman Chimay (below right) of Watts 1874 for C Hoare & Co private bank

House Party

C&TH gathered the glitterati of the design world at Nolita Social

This year’s Country & Town Interiors launch party at Nolita Social was a who’s-who of the country’s design-minded tastemakers. In the Bvlgari Hotel London’s party basement, guests mingled over utes of Ferrari sparkling wine and delicious canapés, with the promise of creative collaborations in the months that follow. Our cover – taken from Cole & Son’s Couture Carousel wallpaper, created in partnership with Harrods – wasn’t the only objet d’envie of the night, as our annual brand awards returned. ese recognised those who champion craft, collaboration and the planet, with candycoloured Lladro lamps for prizes. To our winners – Hästens for its commitment to craft, Spinnochia Freund for its artist collaborations, and Edward Bulmer for its sustainable product design – bravo! n

PHOTOS: MARCUS DAWES

Zainab Blessing and Tolu Adẹ̀kọ́

Urvashi Agarwal and Amy Paice

Jo Hamilton and Chris Henwood

Henry Parshall and Juliette Byrne

FROM LEFT: Marissa Annechiarico, Sarah Mariam, Diane Davids and Marie Karlsson

Daisy Watson and Stephanie Bobinger

Sophie Paterson and Sameena Singh

Brigitta Freund

David Hatchard

Karen Howes

Emilia Axelsson Portia Fox

Pandora Lewis

Carole Annett

Louisa Clayden

Chloe Willis

Georgia Gaitanos

Samantha Todhunter

HOTELS & TRAVEL

ROMANCING the RAILS

From thermal springs in the Swiss Alps to starry nights on Lake Como, Juliet Herd boards the Bernina Express for one of Europe’s most breathtaking train journeys – with grand dame hotels bookending the adventure in suitable style

Boarding the Bernina Express is like being teleported to the mythical world of Narnia. It is a ticket – literally – to a parallel, almost fantastical realm, o ering a slide show of snow-capped mountains, turquoise lakes, gleaming glaciers and swooping valleys as you cross the Swiss Alps from Chur in Switzerland to Tirano in Italy.

Travelling on the highest adhesion railway in Europe and one of the steepest in the world, the little ‘Red Train’ climbs to a dizzying altitude of 2,253 metres, navigates 196 bridges and passes through 55 tunnels before sauntering into tiny Tirano, with its swaying palms and temperate climate.

It is a rollercoaster ride unlike anything I’ve ever experienced –exhilarating, breathtaking and life-a rming. And it is impossible not to feel a child-like wonder as you dash from one side of the panoramic carriage to the other during the four-hour journey. e sights are simply breathtaking. Not least the six-arch Landwasser Viaduct, the Montebello curve and the Brusio Spiral Viaduct with its 360-degree views.

Running along the UNESCO World Heritage route of the Rhaetian Railway, the Bernina Express seamlessly connects the north of Europe to its south. It provides the perfect opportunity to sample two quite di erent historic properties – Grand Resort Bad Ragaz in Switzerland’s St Gallen Rhine Valley (near Chur, the country’s oldest city) and Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni in fashionable Bellagio on Italy’s Lake Como.

For both, water has played a profound part in shaping their identity for more than 150 years. And access to it has enabled them to keep their grand dame status while evolving to meet the demands of the modern traveller.

SWISS SPRINGS & HAUTE HEALTH

Situated in the heart of romantic Heidiland (named after the country’s most famous ctional daughter), Grand Resort Bad Ragaz is a vision of elegant modernism behind its mainly 19th-century façade. ere are three interconnected hotels, including the rebuilt original Grand Hotel Quellenhof; a sprawling spa – one of the largest in Europe; seven restaurants (boasting a galaxy of Michelin stars between them); and a world-renowned medical centre that counts tennis legend Roger Federer and Swiss Olympic athletes among its regulars.

e centrepiece of the resort is its magni cent 7,300sq/m thermal baths, harnessing the naturally hot spring waters of the mighty Tamina Gorge nearby, the healing bene ts of which were rst recognised by some canny Benedictine monks, who ran a ‘divine’ health spa in the area for centuries.

You can take your pick from a smorgasbord of pools of varying temperatures, both indoors and outdoors, designed to kick-start your circulation, metabolism and heart. ere is also ‘sauna world’, which includes the largest infusion sauna in Switzerland made of Kelo-wood, and treatments galore.

Healthy living is hard to avoid at the resort, where cuisine équilibrée is encouraged and menus come with a produce provenance list. You can work your way around the Michelin starred dining options from Verve by Sven (one star), serving sustainable and seasonal fare, to Igniv by Andreas Caminada (two), featuring sharing plates of regionally inspired creations, and Sven Wassmer Memories (three), rede ning Swiss Alpine dishes.

It is impossible not to feel a child-like wonder as you dash from one side of the panoramic carriage to the other during the four-hour journey

ITALIAN GLAMOUR & HOLLYWOOD GLITZ

Perched on the tip of a promontory dividing the two forks of Lake Como, the neoclassical Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni is a commanding presence. Opened in 1873, it is the co-oldest luxury hotel on the lake and has been owned by the same family for four generations – the half-Swiss Buchers, who took the helm in 1918 and transformed it into the place to be seen at the height of the Dolce Vita era. Once through the gates, you enter a tranquil haven that exudes old-school glamour reminiscent of the days when the likes of Winston Churchill, John F Kennedy, Franz Liszt, Sophia Loren and Clark Gable were in summer residence.

From the opulent lobby lounge with its frescoed ceilings, Murano glass chandeliers and Belle Époque furnishings, you can see through to the shimmering lake and Italian Alps beyond. It is a showstopper of a view. On warm evenings, the terrace roof is retracted and its glass panels lowered to allow guests, including the likes of Como habitué George Clooney, to dine under the stars.

Leading the way in the wellness stakes, the Serbelloni now boasts the largest spa complex on Lake Como following a major upgrade last year. e Luce del Lago spa o ers water-centric experiences, including hydro-pools, cold plunges and mineral-rich mud treatments; there’s also a new Hammam.

One of the few hotels with direct lake access, you can opt to relax poolside or by the water’s edge at the revamped Baci da Bellagio beach club. From there, you can swim out to a private pontoon or take a spin around the lake in the hotel’s wooden speed boat.

Nothing epitomises the Serbelloni’s mix of old-world charm and modern vigour more than its ne dining terrace restaurant Mistral. Pioneering molecular chef Ettore Bocchia’s seven-course tasting menu, featuring foraged ingredients and dry ice drama, makes for an unforgettable experience. He also oversees La Goletta restaurant, showcasing regional avours. e best time to explore the cobbled streets of the ‘real’ Bellagio, according to locals, is before the holiday hoards descend around 10am. I’d also recommend an early ferry ride to the lake’s west side – the botanical gardens of the 17th-century Villa Carlotta in tiny Tremezzo are simply out of this world. A bit like Narnia, in fact…

BOOK IT: Grand Resort Bad Ragaz, doubles from £296, resortragaz.ch. Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, doubles from €850 B&B, villaserbelloni.com

Swiss Travel Pass for the Bernina Express from Chur to Tirano, from £229 for three days, second class. Point-to-point tickets from £40 one-way, travelswitzerland.com. For more information, visit switzerland.com

Swiss International Air Lines ies direct to Zurich from London, Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh. One-way fares from £76, swiss.com

Juliet ew from Heathrow to Zurich and from Milan to Heathrow, which has a carbon footprint of 260kg CO2e. ecollectivecarbon.com n

Grand Resort Bad Ragaz in Switzerland has multiple pools, inside and out (left); Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni (far left and below) sits on the fashionable shores of Lake Como

Roman Holiday

Now the children have returned to school, it’s time to plan a sojourn of Italian delights – without the crowds

1. CAPE OF SENSES, Lake Garda

BEST FOR A SOULFUL RETREAT

Perched in the hills above Lake Garda, this is a haven of calm where glass-fronted suites frame cinematic views of water and mountains. Book in for a Senses Retreat, designed to help guests unplug and rediscover presence in a hyper-connected world. Led by life coach Constanze Spagnolli, the programme blends mindful hiking, yoga, and sensory meditations with soul-soothing spa rituals. A silent walk through autumn woods – no chatter, no phones – might feel strange at rst, but soon the rustle of leaves and birdsong tune you into nature’s rhythm. Afternoons unfold in the spa’s Finnish sauna and relaxation rooms overlooking rosemary-scented gardens, or with expert massages easing hiking-weary muscles. Meals are as thoughtful as the retreat: delicate minestrone at La Pergola, artful plates at Al Tramonte, all rooted in local produce. Between sessions, take a cold plunge, journal on your terrace, or watch sunrise tint Lake Garda pink. You’ll leave with a calmer mind, restored body, and a notebook of insights to savour long after you’ve left. Upcoming in November is Rest & Reset, a transformative yoga retreat. Amelia Windsor BOOK IT: Retreats from €2,790pp. capeofsenses.com

3. LA PERLA, The Dolomites BEST FOR ALPINE

ACTIVITY

La Perla’s connection to its alpine surroundings is heartfelt in everything from its cosy wood-panelled walls to its dishes of fresh ravioli packed with nettles and spinach, foraged earlier from surrounding meadows. In the heart of the Dolomites, the 51-bedroom, ve-star hotel is just over two hours from Venice, yet here, unique local Ladin culture (a mix of Italian and Bavarian in uences) prevails. Founded by the Costa family in 1956, it is managed today by their sons Michil and Mathias. In winter there’s skiing from the front door; in summer, with temperatures in the blissful mid-twenties, you can hike over icy streams and through buttercup-studded valleys, with e-bikes another option. Later, muscles can be soothed by alpine- ower oils in the newly-renovated spa (nothing traditional here), which includes a pool, two saunas and a hot/cold Kneipp bath. Despite its boutique size, the hotel boasts ve superb restaurants: one Michelin-starred; all highlighting hyperfresh local produce (think gelato from cows milked that morning). Rooms feature quirky antiques juxtaposed with ultra-modern bathrooms and bedding, ensuring the sweetest of mountain sleeps. Julia Llewellyn Smith BOOK IT: Doubles from €520 B&B. laperlacorvara.it

2. LA POSTA, Tuscany

BEST FOR SLOWING DOWN

e thermal pools bubble away excitedly as if telling the story of everyone who has passed through. Romans and Etruscans, popes and kings, even pilgrims on the Via Francigena have made the journey to bathe in the mineral-rich waters of this Tuscan hilltop village. For today’s batch of travellers, the attraction lies in slowing down, settling in and breathing to the local rhythm: a medley of activities that include apéritivo by the village’s centrepiece spring, bike rides through the vineyardspeckled landscape of the Val d’Orcia and visits to neighbours like Pienza, where every second store sells shapely wheels of pecorino cheese. Once a relay station, the property has a cinematic view towards the towering peak of Rocca d’Orcia, whose presence is felt while savouring tiny buttons of bottoni pasta exploding with cacio di fossa cheese and fresh asparagus, playing a hand of cards in the evening games room, or sipping a negroni in the emerald-green Bar Verde. Each of the 35 rooms has been recently refreshed in an eclectic, vintage styling, enhancing the feeling of nding yourself somewhere suspended in time. Chrissie McClatchie BOOK IT: Doubles from €295 B&B. lapostahotel.it

4. ANANTARA CONVENTO DI AMALFI GRAND HOTEL, Amalfi

BEST FOR MINDFULNESS

e 13th-century Capuchin monks knew they were onto a good thing when they set up residence in a cli side convent high above the glittering Amal coast. What they lacked in luxury, these early mindfulness pioneers made up for in therapeutic pursuits such as gardening, cooking and reading, interspersed with moments of quiet contemplation. Reimagined two years ago as the ve-star Anantara Convento di Amal Grand Hotel, the property may have had a dazzling upgrade (it rst became a hotel in the 19th century), but the original ethos remains the same: you come here for peace and wellbeing. A highlight of any visit is the Pace & Bene experience with local Franciscan Friar Marcus, who will show you the Arab Norman cloisters and adjoining chapel and join you for a stroll along the bougainvillea-covered monk’s walk. ‘Try to be at peace with yourself,’ he says. ‘Everyone here will help you stop.’ e Dei Cappuccini restaurant is as ‘o-km’ as it gets, with produce plucked fresh from the restored convent garden. For ultimate serenity, there are breathwork sessions in the cloisters. Juliet Herd BOOK IT: Doubles from €511, B&B. anantara.com n

Nestled in ancient woodlands on the edge of Exmoor, our character-filled cottages offer peace, adventure, and connection.

Unwind in the pool and sauna, wander wild trails, or join a wildlife safari adventure.

Every stay helps the land breathe again, restoring the wild to Mornacott.

So, when you leave the Estate, you carry more than memories; you’re leaving a legacy.

BEST OF BRITISH

PoB Hotels has curated the best getaways on our shores

For a flight-free getaway, PoB Hotels has you covered. Its collection of over 50 independent British getaways comprise vetted, privately-owned luxury hotels dotted across the British Isles, with every member property offering strong regional identity. From historic estates and riverfront lodges to boutique countryside escapes, each destination is rich in character and designed for creating memories.

STRESS-FREE ITINERARY BUILDING

Central to PoB Hotels is PoB Breaks, a thoughtfully designed platform that makes planning your next getaway easy – from the interactive map to the curated breaks for inspiration. Think wellness routes through Yorkshire, County Durham and the Lake District, or the ‘Hedonist’s Dream’ food-centric escapes traversing London and the South East, these breaks allow guests to discover the UK one exquisite stay at a time.

A standout example is the Northbound Wellness break, taking you from spa sanctuary Rockliffe Hall to remote wild swimming in Yorkshire, and then onwards into the timeless beauty of the Lakes at Armathwaite Hall and Gilpin Hotel & Lake House. Another favourite is the Cotswolds Allure itinerary, which includes iconic villages like Castle Combe, garden treasures at Westonbirt Arboretum, and peaceful stays at Calcot & Spa, Whatley Manor, and The Painswick.

PoB Hotels is not just a directory. It’s an invitation to explore Britain through beautifully crafted journeys, each rooted in place, personality and possibility. PoB Hotels should be your go-to source for the best independent British getaways.

Be inspired at pobhotels.com

WHY

and regions

BOOK WITH POB HOTELS?

1

Exclusively independent hotels: Every member property is privately owned with a strong regional identity, not part of a chain.

2

Build-your-own breaks: PoB Breaks offers themed, multinight journeys that align with your interests – be it wellness, family time, gourmet experiences or nature adventures.

3 Authenticity and charm: From historic estates and riverfront lodges to boutique countryside escapes, each destination is rich in character and designed for creating lasting memories.

PHOTOS: UNSPLASH/EWAN HARVEY; GEORGE HILES; ZACH PICKERING

PoB Hotels offers themed break ideas from mindful countryside retreats to culture-rich journeys across hand-selected hotels

SPACE INVADERS

As space tourism takes off – to a tune of $850m by the end of 2025 – so enters a new breed of stratospheric space balloons, says Francisca Kellett

It’s travel’s nal frontier: a place for the super-rich to boldly go where no super-rich have gone before. is is space travel, once the reserve of astronauts, now a billionaire’s game run by tech bros blasting o increasingly phallic-looking rockets.

It’s easy to mock. e all-female Blue Origin ight in April, where Katy Perry and Je Bezos’s now wife, Lauren Sánchez, shot into space with matching blow-dries and Space-Barbie out ts, caused derision around the planet. What got less air time was the fact that also on board was a lm producer, a former NASA engineer and a civil rights activist and researcher. And then there was the claim that the ight had zero carbon emissions and the only by-product was water vapour. Was the mission a massive PR stunt or was it furthering science and a more carbon-friendly way of exploring our planet’s outer reaches?

Space tourism has been around for a while, but 2025 seems to be the year that it’s taking hold. e rst tourist to make it to space was Dennis Tito, an American businessman who in 2001 shelled out $20m to spend eight days on the International Space Station. e starting gun was red: in 2021 Sir Richard Branson pipped his billionaire buddies on his rst suborbital ight aboard Virgin Galactic. ere followed blast-o s from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Bezos’s Blue Origin, and demand for all three – despite their eye-watering prices – are on the up.

According to Roman Chiporukha, founder of SpaceVIP (spacevip.com), which arranges ‘o -planet pursuits’, space tourism is projected to reach $850m by the end of this year and $8bn by 2030. ‘We’re seeing surging demand for trips including zero-gravity ights for $10,000 to ten-day stays on the International Space Station, starting at $50-60m.’

Sustainability, he says, is becoming more important to his clients, but it’s a little more complicated than emitting only water vapour. Most rocket engine exhausts contain gases and particles that can a ect Earth’s climate

and ozone layer, and even water vapour is a greenhouse gas that shouldn’t be in the upper reaches of the atmosphere. According to Eloise Marais, an atmospheric chemist at University College London, water vapour ‘alters the chemistry of the stratosphere, depleting the ozone layer, and also forms clouds that a ect climate’. As more rockets are launched, the risks of harming the ozone layer increases.

ankfully as demand rises, so too is innovation, and a new breed of stratospheric space balloons is launching next year, o ering slower, more sustainable ights thanks to hydrogen and helium. ‘Balloon technology is much more stable than rocket technology,’ explains Nick Davies, managing director of Cookson Adventures (cooksonadventures.com). ‘ ey o er a transformative journey that evolves over several hours. It’s also more accessible for most people, with similar conditions to being on an aircraft.’

Cookson is working with Zephalto (zephalto.com), which is engineering reusable balloons that can carry up to six passengers 25km above Earth. Founded by aerospace engineer Vincent Farret d’Astiès and costing from €170,000 per person, each passenger will emit 26.6kg of CO2 per ight, around the same as a car journey from London to Wolverhampton.

Space Perspective (spaceperspective.com), backed by Branson, will o er similar balloon journeys for $125,000, while Halo’s (halospace ight.com) €165,000 ights will focus on zero-emissions propulsion, helium and systems engineered for multiple reuses, reducing lifecycle waste.

It remains to be seen how much this new technology will be harnessed for the greater good. Davies from Cookson Adventures is hopeful that space tourists can contribute to reducing the climate crisis. ‘ e capsule’s ability to facilitate data collection and conduct scienti c experiments could help provide new solutions to how we can preserve our planet.’ is is the crux of it. Space travel can’t be treated as just another bucket-list experience for the super-rich. It needs to help nd solutions for that pale blue dot below. n

FROM LEFT: Zephalto’s space balloons can carry six passengers 25km above Earth; Blue Origin’s all-female flight in April provoked worldwide derision

A SPANISH TWIST

Five under-the-radar experiences in Spain

Seville, Barcelona, Madrid and Marbella will always have their allure – but seasoned travellers are increasingly drawn to Spain’s lesser-known corners. From the lush landscapes of Asturias and Cantabria to Galicia’s windswept vineyards, these regions blend heritage, gastronomy and slow travel in style. They invite visitors to journey more mindfully, support local communities and uncover authentic stories –all without compromising on luxury. Here are five ways to see Spain differently.

1

Bear watching in Somiedo Natural Park

The wild parklands of Asturias are home to the largest population of brown bears on the Iberian Peninsula. Follow Europe’s newest bear path in Somiedo and Fuentes del Narcea, Degaña and Ibias natural parks, accompanied by a local guide who knows the terrain. Stay in an off-grid lodge and witness the creatures up close in their natural habitat – an eco-luxury adventure you’ll never forget.

2

Culinary traditions with Asturian Guisanderas

Spain’s culinary tradition runs far deeper than tapas. On the northern coast, the Club de Guisanderas – a collective of female chefs – preserves centuries-old recipes passed from mother to daughter. Seek out their restaurants and cider bars for rustic dishes of slow-cooked meats and hearty stews, each plate a taste of culinary history.

3

Wine tasting by boat in Galicia

Move over Rioja – Galicia is stealing a quiet march. With roots stretching back to Roman times and perfected by monastic hands, the region’s wines are gaining a cult following. Explore them in style: hop aboard a mussel boat and glide along the estuaries while sampling crisp Albariños and mineral-rich Godellos – a tasting experience with a maritime twist.

4

Discover Galicia’s new hiking trails

Galicia’s Senderos Azules network has expanded with seven new routes, offering everything from circular coastal walks with sweeping Atlantic vistas to tranquil paths along inland rivers. Immerse yourself in Spain’s natural splendour at your own pace.

5

Discovering Gaudí in León

Just under two hours away from Madrid by high-speed train lies a hidden architectural gem: León. This elegant city in Castilla y León offers a rare opportunity to admire the genius of Antoni Gaudí, without the crowds of Barcelona. At the heart of León stands Casa de los Botines (pictured left), a striking example of Gaudí’s early work, and just a short distance away is the fairytale-like Episcopal Palace.

To find out more, visit spain.info

ROLLING IN THE DEEP

Pristine reefs, calm waters and abundant marine life make Oman perfect for learning to scuba dive, says Lucy Cleland

It was either four legs or sea legs when I was growing up. Spoilt, I know. Ponies – and all the delicious paraphernalia that came with them, from hoof oil to supple tack – stole my childish heart. Hours disappeared in a haze of plaiting manes, brushing tails and tidying stables. e sea barely featured, apart from swimming in the grey swell o the South Coast. I could have learned to sail, had my father been more persuasive. I stuck to terra rma...

My children, 14 and 11, have chosen di erently. After snorkelling last summer and glimpsing turtles, eagle rays and parrot sh in Finding Nemo glory, they were hooked. ey wanted more – and that meant learning to scuba dive. I’d tried it once years ago and embarrassingly failed to equalise, so the hunt began for somewhere they could learn, with my husband alongside them, while I could have an equally good time pottering.

Enter Original Diving, part of Original Travel, the go-to for bespoke scuba diving holidays that combine rst-class stays with epic underwater adventures. Being May, our options were limited: the Far East was too far; the Maldives felt excessive for a week. en Oman appeared on the shortlist – a sliver of Arabia lapped by the Sea of Oman, fringed by rocky outcrops and still under the radar for most divers.

Unlike the crowded reefs of Asia and the Caribbean, many now scarred by bleaching and overtourism, Oman’s underwater world remains largely untouched. Calm seas, excellent visibility, dramatic rock formations and a dazzling array of marine life make it the perfect place for beginners. No jostling for space, no overrun dive boats – just sunlit waters to explore safely.

‘Oman is one of the most exciting destinations for novice divers,’ says Michele (Miki) Pedrelli, head of diving at Extra Divers Qantab, the dive school close to our resort, Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah. A man who has ticked o some of the planet’s most fabled dive sites, Miki says that Oman’s coastline o ers 20 of the best locations he’s seen. We were in the right place.

Preparation began long before we boarded the plane. Original Diving recommends SSI certi cation over PADI for a streamlined route to becoming a certi ed Open Water Diver – the golden ticket to dive anywhere. Completing the online theory at home meant no hot and wasted classroom hours on arrival, so after some bribery, cajoling and phone con scation, the children sailed through 100 pages of instruction, videos and quizzes.

While I holed up at Shangri-La Al Waha – the most family-friendly of the three hotels that make up the 124-acre Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah resort – arranging tours of Muscat, riding in the desert and enjoying the odd massage, the others headed to the dive school.

e training is meticulous, so a platform had been constructed

Shangri-La Al Jissah sits between the dramatic Hajar Mountains and Sea of Oman; Oman’s underwater world offers excellent visibility and dazzling marine life; there are three hotels at the 124acre Shangri-La resort

The training is meticulous, so a platform had been suspended 12 feet underwater from which dive drills could be practised safely

and suspended 12 feet underwater in the marina from which all of the dive drills could be practised safely and in a controlled environment. Miki carefully explained each of the drills that had to be followed and executed without mistake before anyone was allowed to move onto the next stage in the open water. is opportunity came early the next morning, when they all boarded the Qantab’s 38ft dive boat and powered out to sea.

And what a sea. Minutes after leaving the marina, a pod of dolphins anked the boat, cresting and diving at the bow. Over the next two days, the children completed four dives, each around 40 minutes, reaching depths of up to 12m (the maximum for under-12s). ey emerged wide-eyed and buzzing after glimpsing turtles – one huge one – moray and conger eels, stingrays and a crimson octopus curling like ribbon through the rocks.

ere was one dicey moment: my son succumbed to seasickness on the way out to a dive. e golden rule? If you vomit underwater, keep your regulator in, or risk inhaling seawater and drowning. ankfully, his green gills disappeared.

Finally, Miki announced they had passed all the practical elements of the course. Spirits soared – until he revealed there was

one last hurdle: a written exam. Fifty multiple-choice questions later, they emerged triumphant: three new Open Water Divers, complete with certi cates and a newfound sense of con dence and independence – both in and out of the water.

‘ ey’ve grown in stature,’ my husband told me later when I’d returned from exploring Muscat’s labyrinthine souks. Having the wits and con dence to assemble your own dive kit and plunge 40 feet below the surface, knowing full well that a small mistake can lead to a deadly safety problem, is no small feat.

Which is why I’m still sticking to two legs – or four – but I’m thrilled they’ve found their sea ones.

BOOK IT: Original Diving o ers ve nights at Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah, B&B, from £2,075pp (shangri-la.com/ muscat/barraljissahresort) including ights and a three-day SSI Open Water diving course (originaldiving.com). For more on Oman, visit experienceoman.com

Lucy’s return ights from London Heathrow to Muscat had a carbon footprint of 1,725kg CO2e. ecollectivecarbon.com n

PARADISE FOUND

The Datai Langkawi might just be the most natural luxury resort in the world – and the kindest, too

The Datai Langkawi, located on the northwestern tip of Langkawi Island, Malaysia, sits at the heart of a 10-million-year-old rainforest, set back from the rolling waves of Datai Bay. Known to travellers for its natural splendour, five-star luxury and canopy-covered villas, it has in recent years built up a reputation for something deeper: its meaningful work as a steward of the surrounding environment.

Since 2020, The Datai Langkawi has held itself accountable as a responsible tourism provider through The Datai Pledge – a framework that shapes its wide-ranging efforts to protect Langkawi’s fauna, flora and supports its community, while inspiring guests to carry the hotel’s ethos with them long after checkout. Its four pillars – Fish For The Future, Wildlife For The Future, Pure For The Future, and Youth For The Future – extend far beyond removing single-use plastics from rooms. Think a journey through the forests, or a UN-endorsed eco-schools programme that

empowers local students to protect nature in their own surroundings.

And then there’s the hotel itself. Designed by architect Kerry Hill, the concept is to invite nature into every stay. From rooms with verdant rainforest views and an open-air lobby that feels part of the canopy, to a permaculture garden where guests can roll up their sleeves and get involved, the outside is threaded through each encounter.

Experiences go further still: stroll the beach with resident marine biologists, take part in upcycling workshops at the on-site lab, or simply soak in the symphony of the forest from your villa. Through solutions-led storytelling, the resort offers not only a world-class luxury stay but also an inspiring look into its commitment to sustainability and real world change.

Natural splendour with an ethos to match. What’s not to love?

thedatai.com

2024 MILESTONES IN NUMBERS

253 coral nubbins planted in Datai Bay

96% solid waste processed at the resort

9,588KG used cooking oil converted into biofuel

192 students engaged in six UN-endorsed eco-schools projects

147 tonnes of food waste donated to local farmers as feed

187 metric tonnes of CO₂ avoided through waste management

10,862 recycled candles created by The KanshaLife Project

SAFARI OF THE FUTURE

From the team behind Few & Far Luvhondo, South Africa’s design-forward lodge that opened late last year, Solyrus is a fully solar-powered aerial cable car rede ning how we move through wilderness. e world’s rst silent, o -grid gondola system built for safari oats above the Soutpansberg canopy in open-air, weaverbirdinspired pods, o ering guests a new vantage point without roads, engines or emissions. Setting a new benchmark for low-impact mobility in ecologically sensitive regions, its scalable design has broader implications for rural transport, o ering access without infrastructure. fewandfarluvhondo.com

BALEARIC WELLNESS RETREATS

Conscious Being Retreats reach beyond surface-level wellness. Led by former nurse Satya, the retreats (27 September to 4 October in Mallorca; 10 to 16 November in Ibiza) combine traditional yoga, Pilates and mindfulness with neuroscienceinformed breath work and Buddhismbased somatic inquiry, blending science with spirituality. As well as re-grounding, the focus is on dismantling limiting beliefs, regulating the nervous system and creating lasting behavioural change – all set in a peaceful nca with organic vegetarian food. consciousbeingretreats.com

The ESCAPIST

Lauren Ho spotlights the latest travel news, from Indiana Jonesstyle tours in a refitted Dakota aircraft to a new safari cable car

SOUTH AMERICA IN 1940S STYLE

Best known for delivering luxury adventures in Antarctica, White Desert is now venturing beyond the polar regions for the rst time with its new Dr Jones collection. e rst itinerary is a 12-day journey that takes guests from cloud forests and ancient tombs in Peru to Atacama’s star- lled skies and Patagonia’s breathtaking wilderness. Travelling in a luxuriously re tted 1940s Dakota DC-3 aircraft that can land on remote airstrips, guests will visit some of the least explored locations on the continent, led by White Desert’s seasoned expedition crew. white-desert.com

NORWAY’S HUT-TO-HUT REIMAGINED

For those craving a slower, more connected way to explore Norway’s wild beauty, Up Norway is giving the country’s beloved hut-to-hut hiking tradition a contemporary twist. Long rooted in simplicity and connection with nature, these journeys now pair remote mountain cabins with boutique stays, foraged dining and meaningful cultural encounters. From glacier swims and oating saunas to Sámi storytelling, every trip is backed by deep local insight and a strong sustainability ethos, o ering access to places and people most travellers would never nd on their own. upnorway.com

LEADING EUROPE’S SUSTAINABLE TOURISM CHARGE

Croatia’s Green Coast is fast becoming a benchmark for eco-tourism in Europe. Stretching along the Adriatic, the region now has over 100 Blue Flag beaches, recognised for high water quality and strict environmental standards, and dive sites like e Cathedral, a submerged cave near Premuda, o er access to superb marine biodiversity. Initiatives such as the Green Sail programme are guiding local marinas towards renewable energy and eco-certi cation, with travellers also encouraged to take part. SeaStar Hero kits (seastarhero.com) provide snorkellers with biodegradable bags for collecting marine litter, while Fratarski Otok and other Croatian islands are adopting zero-waste policies, using solar power and o ering pared-back stays that prioritise natural surroundings. Even boat races in the region are now powered by electric engines.

THREE HOT NEW OPENINGS

WILDERNESS USAWA, Serengeti, Tanzania

Wilderness Usawa, the mobile camp that follows the Great Migration, is adding two new sites: Grumeti and Lamai. Designed with Luxury Frontiers, the solar-powered tents continue the brand’s signature low-impact style, offering front-row access to the Serengeti’s most dramatic wildlife moments without sacrificing comfort, privacy or sustainability. wildernessdestinations.com

LES TERRES BLEUES, Hautes Vosges, France

New in the Vallée des Lacs, Domaine les Terres Bleues offers two architect-designed chalets set on a private forest estate. With a mirrored sauna, natural spring water bath, heated outdoor pool and wellness rituals from yoga to guided hikes, it’s a refined, nature-led escape designed for stillness, reconnection and slow living. domaine-lesterresbleues.com

THE MALKAI, Oman

A first of its kind, The Malkai offers a memorable journey across Oman’s coast, mountains and desert. With just 14 tented pavilions at each site, guests travel in a private Defender with a personal guide. The year-round, all-inclusive trip is immersive, design-forward and rooted in sustainability and Omani heritage. themalkai.com n

DOMAINE

SAFARI NJEMA!

A Steppes safari isn’t a ‘tick-box trip’. It’s a deliberate, immersive journey into wild spaces that speak not to the senses but to the very heart of you

We don’t chase sightings or share them with strangers. We secure you space, and – in a world that rarely offers pause – we offer something rare: time.

Time to watch the dust rise behind a migrating herd. Time to follow leopard tracks without another vehicle in sight. Time to move at nature’s pace. Time to notice. To sit in stillness as elephants meander across ancient routes, to hear the low rumble of lions at dusk, to witness, and to be – not just see.

This isn’t about exclusivity for its own sake. It’s about intimacy. Our longstanding relationships unlock access to private conservancies, family-run camps and deeply rooted guides whose knowledge can’t be downloaded. With over 30 years of experience, we know not just where to go, but how to be there. In fact, we’d be so bold as to argue that our Africa travel team are the best in the business.

Your safari should reflect you. Whether it’s your first or your fifth safari, we tailor everything, from when and where to travel, to how best to move through the landscape. Will you walk? Canoe? Ride? Planning becomes part of the pleasure, a conversation rather than a transaction.

Whether travelling with children, seeking solitude, craving a deeper connection to conservation – we match people to places, not packages. We craft moments where everyone, regardless of age or ability, can feel a part of something vast and untamed, matching you with guides who instinctively know how to bring the bush to life for every age.

This is conscious luxury: offering enrichment rather than opulence. A new perspective. On a Steppes safari, you’re not a tourist. You’re part of the wild. You move quietly, respectfully and by invitation. You’re not just looking at wildlife, you’re learning how to see it.

And when you return, you’ll carry something more than memories. A renewed sense of clarity. A deeper connection to the natural world. A shift in how you see yourself, our planet and the biodiversity we share it with.

Safari Njema! Which means ‘have a good trip’ in Swahili. So go beyond the checklist. Travel not just further, but deeper. Experience Africa as it deserves to be seen.

JURASSIC PARK

When the world feels like it’s teetering on the brink, you’ll want to head to Louma, a new breed of restorative hospitality on Dorset’s ancient coast, says Lucy Cleland

Lucy (above) and her children Romilly (left) and Hector (top) go animal crackers; the beautiful indoor swimming pool (above left); the main building and barn (above and right)

There’s something very few people know about me. I have prepper tendencies. Lurking in the cupboard beneath the stairs is my survival starter kit: a wind-up radio, a torch, batteries, bottled water, energy bars, iodine tablets, even tinned macaroni cheese (though frankly, I’d need to be very hungry to contemplate eating the stu ). Should climate catastrophe – and with the Doomsday Glacier melting faster than predicted, who’s betting against it? – or social breakdown reach the streets of W3, I like to think I’d eke out a week or two longer than most.

But where I’d really like to be when the s**t hits the fan – and I calculate it would take under a week to walk the 140 miles from west London, following the A30 – is Louma, an enchanting, magical new breed of restorative hospitality tucked up on a hillside overlooking Charmouth Bay and the wild Jurassic coastline in Dorset.

ere is nothing not to fall in love with about the place – apart from maybe the tra c-clogged drive from London on a Friday night, but at least the enemy won’t be looking for you once you get there (you’re far too hidden). Besides, I shouldn’t complain because I was driving a sleek, quiet Polestar 3, which makes any journey that much more bearable.

I wouldn’t need to pack my tinned goods either, because there is bounty aplenty at Louma. Organic beds supply much of what lands on your (stunning) plate, menus bending with the seasons: lamb in spring, honey-glazed carrots pulled that morning, tomatoes bursting with summer sweetness. Anything they can’t grow comes from neighbouring regenerative farms. ey even tend their own biodynamic vines – so you won’t have to forgo alcohol in the apocalypse.

Louma’s story began in 2019 when South African-born Louis Steyn and his wife Emma set out to nd a family home (Lou–ma, geddit?). ey weren’t looking to open a hotel, but when they found 100 acres of Dorset farmland for sale, they fell in love and a bigger vision took hold: to create a sanctuary of sorts, not just for them but also for others seeking to soothe themselves – but stylishly, natch – in nature.

e farm was managed conventionally when they bought it, with depleted soil and grass addicted to fertiliser. e couple began the slow work of regeneration – ditching the chemicals, replanting herbal leys to improve soil health, nurturing biodiversity and learning, gradually, how to restore balance. ey tried growing hemp for wellness products (it failed spectacularly thanks to the wrong climate; it needs lots and lots of sunshine), then brought in livestock and chickens; now, Poll Dorset sheep graze the hills, and 90 free-range hens – in the biggest run you’ve ever seen – supply eggs. ere are pigs and cows, too.

It would be easy – and lazy – to compare Louma to Soho Farmhouse, the razzle-dazzle, crowd-drawing and country lane-choking membership club in the Cotswolds. Yes, it’s beautiful – in both design and location – and yes, it’s an escape for well-heeled urbanites. But Louma isn’t about performative country chic. It’s exclusive to residents, so no locals popping in for Pilates; no imposters competing for loungers by the (exquisite) indoor pool (an outdoor one is due to open soon). If you’ve schlepped down the A30 from London, you can breathe easy: this is your refuge – there are only 17 rooms. And exclusivity doesn’t mean pretentiousness. Quite the opposite. ere’s no need to book tables weeks in advance; no pressured timetabling. Guests can do absolutely nothing (bliss) – and feel not a hint of guilt. Or else, there is a programme of Pilates, breathwork, yoga, horse riding, foraging walks and farm tours. Your choice, your pace.

Inside the buildings, Louma is all about tactility and light. Interiors – by designer Anna Bond, a family friend –feature natural plasters, raw timbers, heavy linens and tonal palettes that echo the Dorset landscape. e main barn, once a utilitarian tin shed, is now a central hub: wood-burning res, shelves stacked with books and board games, a bar lined with biodynamic wines. In winter, storms lash the coast and guests huddle by the re with a glass of Syrah; in summer, swallows dip and dive over sun-dazzled terraces.

Louma’s approach to wellness is as down to earth as its hospitality ethos. Yes, you can do yoga – albeit overlooking a herd of cows – and get an excellent deep-tissue massage, but equally just being there and decompressing among the bees, the birds, the ora and the fauna is wellbeing in itself. Just hold onto that feeling as you hit the A30 in reverse on a Sunday night.

Louma will keep evolving; it’s just under a year old. But as long as it hangs onto its very tangible integrity and doesn’t try too hard, I’ll meet you there in the apocalypse.

BOOK IT: From £530 for a Single Shepherd Hut, inclusive of breakfast, lunch and dinner for two guests. loumafarmandretreat.co.uk n

The Wildist

Fee Drummond leads her own retreat amid the untamed beauty of Formentera

The idea of creating my own retreat has been with me for many years. It comes from my own long health journey – two decades of dealing with chronic illness, rst in myself and then in my family. I tried many things, but it was through food – understanding it as medicine – that I found the greatest change. Over time I developed an approach I call ‘nutrient dense living’, which became the foundation for the programme – both digital and retreat-based – that I now share with others.

For our rst in-real-life retreat – with a focus on food (nutrition), ow (movement) and tribe (our community) – I chose Formentera, for its wild forests, rugged coastline, crystalline waters and barefoot privacy. We gathered at Teranka, a Marbella Club hotel well-known for its rustic luxury and e ortless style, for four days to slow down, take stock, and look honestly at the habits that drive our health and our state of mind.

Each morning began at dawn with breathwork led by meditation master Chris O’Connor, an immediately anchoring presence with his Yoda-like calm. We then built a gently layered daily practice of meditation, movement and mind work, immersing ourselves in nature, journalling – and having ‘wild’ conversations over brunch on topics that are often taboo in daily life.

Later, we walked the coastline with adventurer Mattias Måhl and his reassuring ‘Viking’ presence: bare feet on rock, the sound of wind in the pines, the sand under our toes.

We owed between shaded shalas and the sun-drenched yoga deck, rode on horseback to the sea, swam, and took part in group work as well as one-to-ones, gently opening up channels to new ways of living, based on ancient wisdom and inner knowing. Food is central to everything. Every dish being drawn from the principles of ‘nutrient dense living’: seasonal, unprocessed, restorative. It is the approach that helped me manage my coeliac disease, hormonal imbalance, PTSD, and long post-viral fatigue, and I continue using it to guide my family’s health every day.

On the nal evening we danced together freely under a sky alive with shooting stars, glowing in the darkness with candles and headsets, lost in our own movement.

For four days, we committed to the serene wilderness around us, showing up, being vulnerable, sharing and learning. Supporting minds and bodies with ancestral practices, nutritional food choices and the gift of space and time to rewild our tired minds, and recalibrate. is was a beginning of how we can start to thrive – not just here, but in our daily lives back home. wildingtribe.com

ICE BATHING

Our resident Viking Mathias leads the group in the energising ice and cold immersions. We align our breath and body with intentions seated in ‘the nest’, a bamboo shala designed to light our resting faces lattice-like while also giving shelter from the midday heat. Entering a wooden cask of ice one by one, the entire group delights in the newfound results of our refreshing daily routine.

HIKING

We start by sitting cross legged in on a carpet of pine needles at the far end of the island and then walk from the woods to the sea, inviting those who wish to feel nature to the fullest to walk barefoot. Everyone in the group chose to abandon their shoes and to feel the sensations of rock edges, needles and white sandy cli s through the soles of their feet.

RIDING

Horses have been part of my life since my childhood in Arabia, and they are part of every trip I take. Exploring this small island was no di erent and we ride at a walk through pine forests to the salt ats, catching peeps of azure between the branches on our way.

RESTORATION

Each day begins with meditation, tuning the body back into balance with our intuition. is is a remembering of our root wisdom –that deep seated knowing that has become suppressed and is often now hard to feel or nd. I have realised that my time spent healing in nature has become a prayer, and that has turned into a much-loved meditation.

NOURISHMENT

Our generous meals deliver a full-spectrum of nutrients as we relearn how to listen to our bodies, eating consciously and when truly hungry. We discuss how to connect with food while enjoying locally sourced, whole ingredients.

A new club with historic roots in the heart of Chelsea

FOOD &DRINK

MEXICAN WAVE

Cook and restaurateur Thomasina Miers shares recipes and cocktails inspired by the six months she spent in Mexico with her family last year

Toast with lemony ricotta and mushrooms al mojo de ajo

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4

250g (9oz) ricotta

zest and juice of 1 lemon

3 tablespoons good

olive oil

20g (¾oz) butter

500g (1lb 2oz) mushrooms, sliced ½ bunch of tarragon, leaves picked and roughly chopped

4 slices of bread

For the mojo de ajo:

2 large garlic bulbs, cloves peeled and finely chopped

1 chile de árbol, chopped, or 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes (optional)

1 heaped tablespoon

chipotle en adobo

2–3 tablespoons

thyme leaves

250ml (8½ fl oz/1 cup)

olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

FOODIE TALES

Mojo de ajo is a soothing, unctuous garlic oil made by gently poaching garlic until soft and sweet with a hint of smoke from chipotle chillies and a touch of dry, toasty heat from chile de árbol. It is good spooned over grilled chicken or, like here, over mushrooms, making a citrussy, garlicky plate of deliciousness.

METHOD

1

To make the mojo de ajo,combine ingredients in a medium, heavy-based saucepan over a low-medium heat and warm gently until the oil starts shimmering and the garlic begins to sizzle. Turn the heat to its lowest setting (bubbles should barely break the surface) and cook for another 25 minutes, or until garlic is soft. Careful: if the garlic burns, it will become moody and bitter.

2

Meanwhile, drain the ricotta through a sieve, then transfer to a bowl and beat in lemon zest and half the juice, saving the rest for the mushrooms. Stir in two tablespoons of olive oil, season generously and set aside.

3

Heat the butter and a tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Add the mushrooms, working in two batches, sautéeing for 5-6 minutes to release some moisture before adding a few tablespoons of the mojo and a little sea salt. Continue to cook for another 4-5 minutes until mushrooms take on some colour. Repeat with the next batch, then toss together.

4

Stir in the chopped tarragon and season with the remaining lemon juice and a pinch more sea salt, if needed. Toast the bread, spoon over the lemony ricotta, top with the garlicky mushrooms and tuck in at once.

My food philosophy is easy. Seasonal. Mostly local. Mostly vegetables. Nature for me has a divine, cosmic power and I try to celebrate and preserve it this way. The first dish I learned to cook was profiteroles, because I had a crush. My father had a glamorous friend who would visit us from South America. I remember toiling for hours to bring out piles of profiteroles on one of his visits. I love courgette and pumpkin at this time of year. They originate in Mexico and are incredibly versatile. I never tire of the yellow- and green-fleshed summer squashes or the deep ombre tones of the slightly sweeter winter ones. Have them in soups. Stuff them or braise them in olive oil. They scoop up flavour and give you bang for your buck.

For last minute dinners, I keep certain ingredients in stock. Cod’s roe for taramasalata; a mouth-watering chicken liver pâté I make in batches; beans for a white bean and confit garlic dip; green chillies in the freezer; a quince jam to put on a cheese board to make it feel special.

If you're in Oaxaca, don't miss chef Thalía Barrios’ restaurant La Cocina de Humo. The spectacular regional Mexican food will blow your mind. I always come back to Delia's cookbooks. Other than that, I love the recipes of Alice Waters, Diana Kennedy, Nigel Slater, Mark Diacono, Ed Smith, Yotam Ottolenghi, Jane Grigson and Marguerite Costa. My home-made sourdough is my ultimate comfort snack, toasted and lavished in butter and peanut butter and a scrunch of sea salt

Mexican Table by Thomasina Miers is out now (Quadrille, £28).

THOMASINA MIERS, COOK & WAHACA CO-FOUNDER

FOOD & DRINK | Chelsea Dining

SW3ET

Tessa Dunthorne shares where to imbibe and indulge during Chelsea Arts Festival

Chelsea’s role in food history is rich (and delicious). It is here, after all, that the Chelsea bun was born – a sticky spiced creation baked in a square, laden with currants and brushed with a buttery glaze. First baked and sold at the Chelsea Bun House in the 18th century, the treat has long enchanted palates high and low: our Hanover royals were said to favour it for its likeness to the dainty bites they enjoyed in Germany; today, it remains a pilgrimageworthy nibble for tourists.

Chelsea is also where some of the country’s most celebrated chefs have chosen to plant their flagships; the threeMichelin-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay still presides over Royal Hospital Road, setting a gold standard for ne dining. Claude Bosi’s Bibendum has been in SW3 since 2017, too, earning two Michelin stars.

remarkable 70 percent rise in food and drink openings, against the backdrop of a hugely challenging time for hospitality.

But Chelsea’s culinary scene isn’t all heritage. Since 2020, there has been a

Recent arrivals have quickly won hearts: Ottolenghi’s caférestaurant on Pavilion Road; the Mediterranean glamour of La Maison Ani; seafoodforward Azzurra; and the stripped-back elegance of Cafe Linea. Jason Atherton has brought his convivial touch to ree Darlings, e Fuji Grill has quietly slipped into the Michelin Guide with its sake-led Japanese o ering, and the hotel At Sloane (on Sloane Gardens) has transformed its rooftop into an elegant destination dining room.

So ahead of this month’s Chelsea Arts Festival, check out the local food scene that proves SW3’s impact on food didn’t just start and nish at the bun.

FILL YOUR BOOTS

Your itinerary for the perfect foodie day out during Chelsea Arts Festival

9am

Ease into the day at Cafe Linea, where you’ll pick over its pastry selection that are as pretty as they are indulgent. Opt for the Chelsea Arts Festival special. Take a seat out front on the Saatchifacing terrace to sip a silky flat white and watch SW3 wake up.

12pm

Snack time at the Fine Food market, curated by the team at Partridges (which, despite departing its Chelsea postcode, still has a tug on locals’ hearts). Sample truffle-laced cheeses, freshly baked loaves and tangy jams and pickles.

3pm

Take a well-deserved mid-afternoon pause at the Soho Home store, where you can enjoy a flat white from the vantage of its vintageinspired armchairs. Love the mugs and glassware? Everything you see, you can buy.

6pm

Settle in for pre-show dinner at Tom Kerridge’s The Chalk Freehouse (with his trusted lieutenant Tom De Keyser manning the stove). Expect elevated comfort food and wrap just in time to head over to Cadogan Hall for the evening’s entertainment.

Custard soft serve at Three Darlings

Temaki at The Fuji Grill at Beaverbrook Town House

Ottolenghi’s cult following will love the café’s sweet treats

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PROPERTY

GOLDEN OLDIE

Old Chelsea is regaining its foothold as one of London’s most charming and historic neighbourhoods as buyers fall for its characterful homes and close-knit community, says Anna Tyzack

Two semi-detached cottages form the centerpiece of a new garden courtyard

created by John Simpson Architects at Painter’s Yard on Old Church Street

Hidden behind walls and trees, e Old Rectory in Chelsea is a Georgian country estate in the heart of London with a ballroom and a two-acre garden. For the past 24 years, it’s been home to Norwegian billionaire John Fredriksen and is now reported to be on the market, discreetly, for £250m. ‘ ere is nothing better in the Royal Borough,’ says Alex Woodleigh-Smith, founder and managaing director of property nders AWS Prime Property. ‘It has the ultimate scarcity value, a true one of one.’

Fredriksen, however, will not be looking to cut a deal: in 2004, when former Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich o ered to buy the house for £100m, he was quickly rebu ed. But much has changed since then. London has evolved, and the wealthiest buyers don’t necessarily ock to Chelsea. Mayfair and St James’s are now more obvious addresses: in London’s super prime property market (homes priced at £10m plus), these neighbourhoods now account for 18 percent of annual sales, up from eight percent a decade ago. Chelsea’s share is also 18 percent, having fallen from 33 percent in 2019.

Old Chelsea still has a close-knit, vibrant community and a healthy dose of old-school British quirk

e Old Rectory is in Old Chelsea, an ancient riverside village with narrow streets and buildings that are often wonky rather than grand or imposing – which, according to Woodleigh-Smith, has its own particular cachet. Purists de ne Old Chelsea as the maze of streets between Beaufort Street and Oakley Street, with the river to the south and the

King’s Road to the north. But many agents also include Cheyne Walk, where Henry James and Mick Jagger used to live, and the streets south of the Royal Hospital, home to Oscar Wilde, John Singer Sargent and now the luxury property developer Nick Candy, whose house there is almost as large as e Old Rectory. ‘ e area is compact and not as grand or buzzy as other parts of Chelsea, but the houses are large and they have gardens, and the streets aren’t cut-throughs, so you have plenty of privacy,’ explains Jamie Davidson, associate director of John D Wood & Co.

In terms of history, Old Chelsea blows other parts of prime central London out of the water. Henry VIII owned Chelsea Manor in the 16th century, having fallen for the area while visiting omas More, and four of his wives lived there at di erent times. In the 19th century, artists Turner and Whistler lived on Cheyne Walk, while historian and essayist omas Carlyle had a townhouse on Cheyne Row, where he entertained Charles Dickens and Ralph Waldo Emerson. is house is now a National Trust museum.

In the sixties and seventies, Old Chelsea was considered cool and bohemian, an image that stayed with it long after the Rolling Stones had moved out. Americans, in particular, loved its bijou townhouses and old-school boozers. More recently, though, Old Chelsea has drifted o the radar –even for buyers speci cally searching in Chelsea. According to William Duckworth-Chad, director of Savills Private O ce, they

The streets around Chelsea Old Church are at the heart of this ancient riverside neighbourhood; a Georgian estate (below right) with a two-acre garden is on the market in Old Chelsea for £250m

have been more interested in the garden squares o the King’s Road – Markham Square and Chelsea Square, for example – and streets north of the King’s Road, such as Mulberry Walk.

‘ ese houses are less historic but more practical for modern living,’ he says. ‘ e houses in Old Chelsea are higgledy-piggledy; the staircases wobble. Many of them are Grade I listed, which means they’re very di cult to change.’

A s a result, houses have been taking longer to sell in Old Chelsea, and since the pandemic, prices have dropped by as much as 25 percent. ‘ e value proposition is unbelievable,’ Woodleigh-Smith says. ‘Deals are being done but it’s very much a buyers’ market. ere are some phenomenal opportunities out there, although for the best in class you’re not going to be the only buyer in town.’ He points out that across the Royal Borough, certain properties are now achieving the same pound per square foot as houses in Clapham and Wandsworth. ‘ e last time this happened was in 2005,’ he continues. ‘It’s very rare that parity is reached between the premium prices south of the river and parts of a desirable prime area such as Chelsea.’

British buyers who have been largely priced out of this part of London for the past decade are relishing the more a ordable prices and are making a comeback – along with buyers from Europe, many of whom have young families and want to put down roots. ‘With their wooden panelling and creaky oors, you feel as if you’re walking into a country house, which appeals to these buyers,’ DuckworthChad explains. ‘ ere are also historic pubs, the shops of the King’s Road and great schools, including Garden House and Francis Holland, within walking distance.’

Crucially, he continues, in contrast to other prime parts of central London, Old Chelsea still has a close-knit, vibrant community, with some families living there since the sixties. ‘It’s got a

healthy dose of old-school British quirk,’ he says. Christian Lock-Necrews, director of Winkworth Marylebone, Knightsbridge and Chelsea, describes Old Chelsea as a way of life rather than simply a location. ‘It’s one of London’s most charming neighbourhoods, with a historic soul and sense of belonging,’ he says. New-build properties are few and far between, but when new developments do come up for sale in the area, they tend to be tasteful – and y o the shelf. Cheyne Terrace by Native Land, a development of 26 apartments with a pool on Chelsea Manor Street, sold out quickly when it launched in 2014. And there is only one apartment remaining at e Glebe, a gated development of eight residences o Glebe Place, with their own pools, gyms and underground parking, despite asking prices topping £45m. ‘It’s incredibly discreet and completely secure, which suits buyers looking in this area,’ says Richard Osborne-Young, director of residential development at Savills. Last year, a former convent on Tite Street was bought by developers London Square for £54m with a view to creating new homes with studio space for local artists.

Andrew Dunn, founder and CEO of property development company Finchatton, whose London o ces are on Royal Hospital Road, agrees that Old Chelsea is undervalued from an investment perspective – prices aren’t likely to stay this low. ‘It’s demonstrated remarkable resilience over time,’ he says.

What is good value in Old Chelsea will still be o limits to most of us, however. A four-bedroom house costs at least £4m, with the larger, more historic houses selling for more than £7m. A pied-à-terre in Cheyne Row recently sold for £2.6m; a house on Cheyne Walk sold for £27.5m despite having an underwhelming garden.

To buy in Old Chelsea is to become a custodian rather than an owner, WoodleighSmith believes. ‘You’re committing to a certain type of ownership – a footprint in history – and there is a certain audience who is attracted by that,’ he says.

In the case of e Old Rectory, it’s an eye-wateringly expensive commitment, though. Will Fredriksen achieve his asking price? ‘We can safely say it’s one of the best houses in central London,’ Duckworth-Chad con rms. ‘But the air gets pretty thin at that price level.’ Its sale is likely to cement Old Chelsea back on the map. n

2

4

3 CHEYNE WALK, £2.95m

four-bedroom lateral triple aspect flat with a lift, on the second floor of Shrewsbury House. This property has a reception room with a balcony overlooking the Thames; views from the kitchen are over the communal garden. Shrewsbury House has a day porter and off-street parking. johndwood.co.uk

CHELSEA EMBANKMENT, £2.5m

mansion flat with river views from the balcony of the main reception room. There are two bedrooms (with space to create a third) plus a lift and residents’ parking. Chelsea Physic Garden is a short walk away, as are the shops and pubs of the King’s Road. winkworth.co.uk

SECRET GARDENS

Academy Gardens combines top amenities with a coveted sense of history and character

Aspecial apartment has come up for sale in a historic building in the heart of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Academy Gardens sits on Duchess of Bedford Walk, a quiet and leafy residential road at the confluence of Notting Hill, Holland Park and Kensington. The entrance to Holland Park – with its orangery restaurant and summer opera – is a short stroll away, as are the charming independent shops lining Holland Park Avenue and the new buzz of Kensington Roof Gardens.

‘To me, this is the number one apartment block in Kensington,’ says Sami Robertson, founder and CEO of Harwood Advisory. And he should know: of the 67 luxury apartments in Academy Gardens, Robertson has sold 24. ‘This is the nicest two-bedroom one in the building.’

Each of the apartments in this neo-Georgian, Grade II listed building is different, but all share a sense of character and history. ‘Residents

The team at Harwood Advisory, pictured at Academy Gardens

love the sense of arrival,’ Robertson says, of the sweeping circular entrance around an immaculate garden square, the spacious lobby known as The Refectory, with its period features, and the landscaped gardens, which are set back from the road and offer a peaceful haven.

Other shared amenities include a swimming pool, a gym, an on-site handy man for all those niggling jobs, valet parking – and an excellent 24/7 concierge. ‘Everyone loves the concierge,’ Robertson laughs. ‘Nothing seems to be too much trouble, from watering the plants to walking the dog.’

This particular apartment offers two bedrooms – unusual within Academy Gardens – and has a double south-facing reception room with a ceiling height of 3.4m; each bedroom has doors opening onto a terrace overlooking the gardens. As with many apartments in the building, it benefits from period detailing and a highly coveted sense of space.

‘Notting Hill, Kensington and Holland Park remain key residential areas for people looking to buy property in London, but this has an added sense of history,’ Robertson says. ‘It is fully gated and secure and comes with all the perks , but people choose Academy Gardens for its charm and character. It’s not like anywhere else.’

Harwood Advisory was founded in 2020 and has established itself as a leader in London’s prime property market. The boutique firm specialises in the discreet acquisition and sale of homes in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. harwoodadvisory.com; @harwood_advisory

ACADEMY GARDENS, W8

MADE in CHELSEA

Isabel Dempsey picks five charming houses with artist connections

Mallord Street, £6.95m

Built in 1911 by Chelsea-born architect Ralph Knott for watercolourist Cecil Arthur Hunt, this property later became home to renowned Hungarian-British pianist Louis Kentner. knightfrank.com

Radnor Walk, £4.45m is four-bedroom townhouse sits on Radnor Walk, which has hosted a wide range of sculptors, artists and designers since the 19th century, including Terence Donovan, John Frances Kavanagh, Francis Derwent Wood and Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill. johndwood.co.uk

Cadogan Square, £POA is Grade II-listed townhouse and connecting mews house was formerly owned by composer John Barry, the musical genius behind 11 Bond lms. To honour his achievements, the house features as the exterior of M’s home in Skyfall. valouran.com

Avenue Studios, £2.695m is former artist’s studio is set down a quiet avenue that once allegedly served as Henry VIII’s stables. In 1850, the building was converted into the workspace of Carlo Marochetti, Queen Victoria’s favourite sculptor. e space was later divided into smaller studios, attracting creatives such as artist John Singer Sargent. russellsimpson.co.uk

Cheyne Walk, £19.95m

Built in 1717, this Grade II* townhouse incorporates sections of the garden wall from Henry VIII’s Chelsea Manor. It was once home to engraver Henry omas Ryall as well as landscape painter Cecil Gordon Lawson. Other notable past residents of the street include George Eliot, Henry James and Mick Jagger. sothebysrealty.co.uk

GRAND FINALÉ

Ballymore unveils The Capston, the final chapter for Embassy Gardens

The Embassy Gardens development by Ballymore has been central to the regeneration of Nine Elms, and now its crowning glory is revealed. The Capston, a prime collection of 247 riverside residences, marks the culmination of nearly two decades of development. Ballymore founder, CEO and chairman Sean Mulryan has guided every detail, from brickwork to interiors, describing the result as his legacy to Embassy Gardens.

Art is central to The Capston’s identity. To this end, Mulryan has commissioned artists from around the world to produce works that will be exhibited throughout the building.

The development itself spans two buildings linked by Japaneseinspired gardens and a pavilion, clad in stained glass and Cipollino marble. The architecture take cues from Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, while the interiors are inspired by Mulryan’s personal love of the Art Deco movement. The amenity spaces reflect the same attention to detail: the library, drawing room, artists’ parlour, private residents’ lounge and dining room are all furnished with pieces from specialist makers.

If design gives The Capston its character, service defines its experience. A porter’s lodge and 24hour concierge will provide the level of care more often found in leading hotels – from household support to securing private chefs and sought-after dinner reservations.

Residents also benefit from the wider Embassy Gardens destination, whether that’s swimming in the iconic Sky Pool or enjoying the many cafés, bars and independent restaurants in Nine Elms. With Battersea Power Station and the King’s Road nearby, the location offers excellent shopping.

Offering panoramic views across the Thames and residences ranging from studios to penthouses, The Capston completes a vision that has shaped the vibrant identity of today’s Nine Elms. With completion scheduled for 2028, it is set to become one of the capital’s most soughtafter new addresses.

Prices from £750,000 to £7m. @thecapstonlondon thecapston.com; sales@thecapston.com

Tales of our Time

For journalist Cathy Newman, a love of music informs the rhythm of live broadcasting and political interviewing, finds Michael Hayman

You might raise an eyebrow to hear that Cathy Newman is on the ddle – but in this instance it’s not a scandal, it’s a symphony.

Newman is best known for her incisive political interviews on Channel 4 News and for her investigative journalism. is year, she won the Woman of the Year award from Women in Journalism UK for her work on the historic sexual abuse of children by British barrister John Smyth – the investigation that resulted in Justin Welby’s resignation as Archbishop of Canterbury.

W hen Newman and I meet, it is me who takes the interviewer’s chair as she joins me for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s Journeys of Discovery podcast – and from the start, it’s clear music isn’t just part of her story; it is a thread running through it.

‘I’ve never regretted playing the violin,’ she says. ‘It’s portable, it’s unaccompanied, it becomes part of you.’ Her relationship with music began in childhood during a bout of chickenpox, when her father, a chemistry teacher, brought home a spare school violin. ‘It was totally random but I just loved it.’ at early spark never faded. ough journalism became her stage, music never left the wings. And she draws a direct line between the two. ‘ ere’s a rhythm to interviewing,’ she said. ‘You listen, you anticipate, you respond. It’s musical.’

Newman and I nd common ground in this. I admit I go weepy at the sound of strings. ‘Some pieces carry memory,’ she nods, recalling how she couldn’t listen to Méditation from aïs for years after performing it at a university memorial service. In that moment, we weren’t interviewer and guest, just two people recognising the quiet emotional charge music can hold.

We meet at the Royal Albert Hall, one of the Philharmonic’s two London homes, the other being Cadogan Hall in Chelsea. Our room looks out across the streets and elegant architecture beyond, and as we speak, I nd myself thinking about Dirk Bogarde’s

A Short Walk from Harrods. It’s a book I’ve always loved for its gentle but observant tone, clarity of thought and lived experience. Bogarde wrote about learning to ‘come to terms with the past, make peace with inner demons… become sensitive, caring human beings’. at line comes back to me, as it mirrors Newman’s drive to understand the world and change it.

ough she once auditioned for e Yehudi Menuhin School and dreamed of life as a professional musician, her path took a turn and journalism became the platform. Today, she plays in a quartet of political friends and champions wider access to music education through her work with Music for All. ‘Music used to be for everyone,’ she says. ‘Now, it’s a privilege. at’s heartbreaking.’

Her relationship with music began in childhood during a bout of chickenpox, when her father brought home a spare violin. ‘I just loved it’

Just as Bogarde found space in Chelsea to re ect, absorb and live with greater feeling, Newman’s relationship with music feels like something quietly powerful – not a retreat, but a return. And like any great musician, she’s not done playing quite yet.

NEWMAN’S NOTES

1 Collaborate with people outside your bubble. Newman plays second violin in the brilliantly named Statutory Instruments, a string quartet made up of MPs and journalists – proof that shared passions can bring unlikely collaborators together.

2 Dust off an old passion. Violin practice shaped Newman’s focus and discipline. She never turned professional, but the mindset stuck, and it still powers her journalism and on-air confidence.

3 Treat conversations like music. Newman sees interviews as duets, not battles. Listening, anticipating, pausing – it’s a musical rhythm she brings to live broadcasting and political dialogue.

4 Give someone else the chance to begin. Through Music for All, Newman champions access to music in schools. She’s proof that early exposure can shape a life and that access still needs defending. n

Cathy Newman reporting live from Kyiv