Great British Brands 2018

GREAT BRITISH

BRANDS 2018

150 British

success stories

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Contents Regulars 8 10 12 408

FOREWORD EDITOR’S LETTER CONTRIBUTORS INDEX

Features 16

20

26 32

36

40 44

48

52

56

60

63 66

A CAPITAL FOR THE 21ST CENTURY Tristram Hunt on culture FASHIONABLY FLEET OF FOOT Alexandra Shulman on fashion A FASHION FAIRYTALE Alice B-B meets Alice Temperley HOW TO BE A MODERN GENTLEMAN Dylan Jones on men’s style WELLNESS: THE NEW SHOPPING Lucia van der Post on wellbeing THE LONDON EYE Olivia Falcon on beauty RESETTING THE PAST Francesca Fearon on jewellery A FISTFUL OF CHARACTER Amy Bradford on interiors THE HUMAN TOUCH Emma Crichton-Miller on craft GET UP AND GO Simon de Burton on design and engineering REINVENTING THE REEL David Sexton on film A TASTE OF THE LAND Alice Lascelles on drink FACES OF THE FUTURE

by Stephen Bayley, Lucy Cleland, Emma Crichton-Miller, Jonathan Margolis, Kit Peel, Lucia van der Post, Jonathan Prynn and David Sexton

ABOVE: Mulberry BELOW: Alexander McQueen

The Brands 72

Fashion (High & Classic)

100

Jewellery & Watches

128

Iconic Destinations

140

Beauty & Wellbeing

158

Men’s Style

188

Shoes & Accessories

210

Sporting Season

224

Land, Sea & Sky

242

Designers

270

House & Home

304

Art & Culture

316

Property, Legal & Investment

330

Hotels & Travel

354

Food & Drink

386

Brands to Watch

ON THE COVER Laura Bailey wears bespoke dress by Alice Temperley and earrings by Jessica McCormack Photographer: Jon Gorrigan Stylist: Nicole Smallwood Photographer’s assistants: Harry Serjant and Joe Murphy Fashion assistant: Daisy Bryson Make-up: Sarah Reygate @ David Artists using Vichy Dermablend Hair: Diana Moar, using Evo Location: The Beaumont Hotel, London W1

Editor Lucia van der Post Editor-in-Chief Lucy Cleland Chief Copy Editor Charlotte Metcalf Copy Editors Emma Love, Kamin Mohammadi, Maggie O’Sullivan, Martin Plimmer, Kate Patrick, Anastasia Bernhardt Retail Editor Rosalyn Wikeley Creative Direction & Production Parm Bhamra Junior Production Designer Ioulia Zoukova Production Coordinator Chloe Smith Online Editor Rebecca Cox Digital Assistant Clementina Jackson Technical Manager Hannah Johnson Marketing Manager Gemma Cowley Sales Executive Olivia Milligan Credit Controller Penny Burles Operations & Accounts Manager Millie Mountain Associate Publisher Maya Monro-Somerville Finance Director Jill Newey Publisher Julia Carrick Managing Director Jeremy Isaac

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Copyright © 2018 Country & Town House Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. All prices are correct at the time of going to press but are subject to change. While every care is taken to ensure all information is correct at the time of going to press, it is subject to change, and Country & Town House Ltd. takes no responsibility for omissions or errors. Country & Town House, Studio 2, 115 Harwood Road, London SW6 4QL, +44 (0)20 7384 9011

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Foreword

I

n a year of global political turmoil and uncertainty over Brexit, there is one good reason to be resolutely cheerful. The resilience of Britain’s greatest businesses.

Great Britain continues to shine out as a thriving creative force in terms of craft, design, technology, engineering, fashion, luxury services and manufacturing.

In this third edition of Great British Brands, we are delighted to showcase 150 of our most innovative, versatile and talented companies.

We are especially pleased to be working this year in collaboration with Number 10 Downing Street and the GREAT Britain campaign, a brand that itself now carries a lot of value for British business. This will ensure that Great British Brands flies the flag globally, spreading this incredibly upbeat message throughout 2018.

British brands bring with them a strong sense of heritage and an ability to inspire. Our Britishness and all that it stands for; integrity, high

ethical standards, outstanding service, invention, creativity and a rich cultural CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Ettinger, Hackett, Sipsmith, diversity, has helped to catapult Jimmy Choo, Pendennis brands like Burberry and Jimmy Choo onto the global stage. Many are also invigorating their products and giving them a sense of depth and authenticity by returning to traditional British crafts – witness Sipsmith distilling its London Dry Gin in a copper pot or Gladstone employing retired artisans to use their knowledge of hand-stitching to embellish contemporary leather goods. We’re recognising more than ever that the skills of our nation’s craftsmen and women underpin our finest brands.

Today’s Britain, and especially London, are increasingly the destination of choice for global shoppers. Tourists from all over the world flock here for our world-class hotels, restaurants, culture and iconic stores. In spite of this, our brands have realised that the luxury sector is changing fast and it is turning its back on the notion of disposable stuff and hectic consumerism.

Today’s discerning shoppers aren’t just spending their hard-earned money on recognisable labels. They want brands that tell a story, are rooted in history and are of such quality that they can be passed down to the next generation. They also want to know that workers are well treated and that brands are committed to doing all they can to protect the environment and to give back to local communities – it’s no coincidence that Positive Luxury, the sector’s watchdog, was conceived and is now booming in Britain.

The 150 brands celebrated here are the antithesis of a throwaway culture of convenience. They are tomorrow’s heirlooms, brands that make Britain great, give us a proud identity and a sense of buoyant certainty in turbulent times.

Welcome to Great British Brands 2018 and discover some of world’s most brilliantly conceived and coveted products that are helping us to forge our identity as a global cultural powerhouse.

Julia Carrick OBE, Publisher 8 | COUNTRYANDTOWNHOUSE.CO.UK /GBB

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Editor’s Letter

W

ell, here we are with our third bumper edition of our Great British Brands – with Laura Bailey, dare we say a Great British Brand in her own right, looking divine in a bespoke dress by one of our wonderful British fashion designers, Alice Temperley, on the cover.

When it was but a twinkle in the eye of Country & Town House’s founders, little did any of us think that it would make such a mark. But since the very first edition we have found that many of our readers, as well as industry leaders, movers and shakers, have come to look on it almost as an annual health check on the state of the nation’s luxury goods industry. For each year we invite an array of specialist writers to give us insights into what it is that our brands are good at, what it is that makes them peculiarly British and how they compare with their counterparts in other parts of the world.

As I write Brexit still hovers like a great big unknowable entity, still dividing the country, families and friends, but what is clear is that while almost everybody longs for greater certainty, it hasn’t stopped our best British companies from getting on with doing whatever it is that they do best. As Tristram Hunt, who we are thrilled to have writing our lead feature this year (p16), points out in an essay on London’s future as a centre of culture post Brexit: ‘At each challenge in its history, London has pulled through.

It will do so again thanks to its incredible diversity, resilience and stores of creativity.’

Alexandra Shulman, former editor of Vogue and better placed than almost anybody to pronounce on the health of our fashion industry, CLOCKWISE FROM declares it to be in robust shape (p20), TOP LEFT: Jaguar, New & Lingwood, Asprey, while Dylan Jones gives us a witty take Martin Kemp, Nyetimber on what it means to be an English gentleman today (p32).

David Sexton gives an erudite summing up of just how versatile and influential our film industry is today (p60), while Emma Crichton-Miller discovers just how deeply interwoven into the world of luxury are the craft skills that many in this country are so good at (p52).

Francesca Fearon looks at how history and craftsmanship are key to the success of modern British jewellers (p44), Olivia Falcon points out that the British beauty industry is thriving, growing by some 5.7 per cent last year alone (p40), and I have had a look at the rise of the whole ‘wellness’ industry and how it is forcing retailers to rethink what it is that they should be doing if they want to keep pulling the punters in (p36).

Our New Faces section, in which we ask our writers to identify some stars of the future, was a great success last year and we have continued with it this year looking at landscape designers, authors, artists, young techy entrepreneurs and the growing breed of travel concierges and financial advisors (p66).

All in all we think it’s a rich and varied read and we hope that, as in years past, it may well come to be seen as a definitive guide to all that is happening with our Great British Brands.

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018

Contributors LUCIA VAN DER POST Great British shop: Guinevere Antiques. I’ve spent many a happy Saturday afternoon ogling everything from rare carpets and ancient glass to Chinese ceramics.

Great British designer: Phoebe Philo – I loved her when she was at Chloé, loved her at Céline and will no doubt love her at Burberry (if the rumours are true).

Great British meal: A really scrumptious cottage pie.

TRISTRAM HUNT Great British shop: The V&A’s shop – an absolute treasure trove of objects. all inspired by the museum’s collection and exhibitions.

Great British designer: Juliet Thornback and Delia Peel, who create screen-printed homeware.

Full disclosure: Juliet is my wife.

Great British meal: Staffordshire oatcakes with a pint of Joule’s – a British classic.

ALEXANDRA SHULMAN Great British designer: Erdem for feminine party dresses that make you feel special and glamorous.

Great British museum: The National Portrait Gallery has such a wild and unexpected collection of portraits that you always discover something new.

Great British meal: Roast chicken and roast potatoes – something I cook ridiculously often.

ALICE B-B Great British shop: Liberty – it makes shopping magical... like buying clothes at Hogwarts.

Great British designer: Rose Uniacke – I could happily live in her shop, or better still, her dreamy house.

Great British museum: Unlike an intimidating museum, at Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge, the art collected by former curator of the Tate Jim Ede and his wife, Helen, continues to be shown in their home. It’s so intimate.

DYLAN JONES Great British shop: Fortnum & Mason as they’ve just upgraded their menswear offer.

Great British designer: Richard James, celebrating 25 years on Savile Row. Great British museum: The V&A and Tate Modern, for all the obvious reasons.

Great British meal: Anything in one of Mark Hix’s restaurants.

OLIVIA FALCON Great British shop: The newly revamped Panzer’s in north London.

It has the best smoked salmon.

Great British designer: My dear friend Lisa Redman, who makes the most elegant party dresses.

Great British meal: Roast beef with all the trimmings. We uphold the tradition of Sunday lunch in our house – it’s a highlight of the week.

FRANCESCA FEARON Great British shop: Dover Street Market for its refreshing viewpoint on fashion and jewellery.

Great British designer: It’s impossible to narrow it down to one as we have so many talents who inspire me.

Great British view: London from Waterloo Bridge, the history and architecture makes me feel proud.

AMY BRADFORD Great British designer: William Morris – I’ve just bought his Acorn wallpaper for my study.

Great British museum: Dennis Severs’ House in Spitalfields, an original Huguenot house.

I dream about owning it.

Great British hotel: Hazlitt’s – a little piece of the 18th century hidden in the heart of Soho.

EMMA CRICHTON-MILLER Great British designer: Jonathan Anderson, for his easy to wear mockneck dresses.

Great British museum: The Fitzwilliam Museum for its superb ceramics collection.

Great British view: From Carlton Hill in Edinburgh, a 360-degree view taking in the whole city. Exhilarating.

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018

SIMON DE BURTON

JONATHAN PRYNN

Great British shop: Connolly. It’s like

Great British shop: Liberty, for

being in a lovely Mayfair home where nice things happen to be for sale.

Great British designer: Giles Taylor of Rolls-Royce – the man tasked with designing ‘the best cars in the world’.

No pressure there, then...

Great British view: The missus mowing the lawn in a flowing summer dress on a warm Dartmoor evening.

the fantasy lifestyle it lets me live, however briefly, every time I walk through the door.

Great British designer: Paul Smith because he still makes me feel younger and thinner when the reality is heading in the opposite direction.

Great British meal: It has to be Christmas lunch, just for the mad joyous conviviality of it and the fact you have waited so long to get your teeth into it.

DAVID SEXTON Great British shop: David Mellor, kitchen heaven.

Great British designer: Not merely a designer but a maker: Richard Batterham, whose ceramics are an everyday pleasure.

Great British meal: The first partridge of the autumn – game birds are one of the great British delights and bargains.

ALICE LASCELLES Great British museum: Tate Modern – it gives me butterflies every time I enter that place.

Great British hotel: Zetter Townhouse (Clerkenwell or Marylebone). Drinkssmith Tony Conigliaro has made both of these natty hotels world-famous destinations for cocktail lovers.

Great British meal: Toast and Marmite with a cup of builder’s.

STEPHEN BAYLEY Great British shop: Emmett. Robert Emmett has great taste: very English (because he’s Australian), but with enough Italian influence to be stylish.

Great British museum: I can find delight in the Sir John Soane’s Museum.

Great British meal: Chicken pie and chips, but done the Quo Vadis way by Jeremy Lee.

KIT PEEL Great British designer: Arne Maynard, for his timeless, romantic gardens.

Great British museum: The V&A, for its incredible Islamic and Indian exhibitions, library and events.

Great British hotel: Before I die I’d love to go to Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons for a snowy weekend.

Just the wife, no kids and with an unlimited budget.

JONATHAN MARGOLIS Great British shop: The Conran Shop. Their product selection is just incredibly good.

Great British designer: Thomas Heatherwick, a bonkers genius like no other.

Great British hotel: Hotel Tresanton, Olga Polizzi’s Cornish outpost at St Mawes, is not overwhelmingly fancy and doesn’t even have a pool, which would normally be a dealbreaker for me, but it’s perfect and beautiful.

JON GORRIGAN Great British shop: M&S for underpants and jumpers.

Great British designer: Private White V.C. for the best trench coat.

Great British museum: Grant Museum of Zoology, part of University College London, it’s always a spooky and interesting day out.

Great British view: Rydal Water from Loughrigg fell. Best in the world.

Great British hotel: Walpole Bay in Margate. It’s like The Grand Hotel Budapest of Britain!

NICOLE SMALLWOOD Great British shop: Hamleys, what’s not to love about the oldest and largest toy shop in the world?

Great British designer: Thea Bregazzi.

Preen is my go-to label of choice.

I’m blown away each season.

Great British hotel: The Pig, its attention to detail is second to none and I love its home-grown produce.

It’s somewhere I can truly relax.

Great British meal: A roast. I would eat roast potatoes every day if I could.

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A CAPITAL FOR THE 21st CENTURY

If London is to keep its pole position as the leading capital of the world in the face of Brexit, it needs boldness of vision and to play vigorously to all its strengths, says Tristram Hunt

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES; REX FEATURES

‘L

ondon Bridge is falling down’ has been a familiar Brexit happened and how it can reconnect with the rest of the UK. refrain in the capital since at least the 12th century.

With falling economic growth, stalled investment and fears Down the decades, London, the ‘infernal Wen’, over a flight of talent from Brexit Britain, London’s pathway as William Cobbett christened it, has grown used to becoming the capital of the 21st century has stalled. For that to having its death sentence read. is certainly where we were heading. With a population nearing ‘It was astonishing to see what immense stones the heat had nine million, the capital in 2015 surpassed its previous peak in a measure calcined, so that all the monuments, columns, friezes, in 1939 when it stood at the heart of a global empire. capitals... flew off even to the very roof, where a sheet of lead was Just prior to 2016’s referendum, the leading business consultancy totally melted,’ wrote the diarist John Evelyn Deloitte declared London the ‘soft power At each challenge in its of the Great Fire of London – the chief merit and high skills capital of the world’. London of which was, in fact, to eliminate the preceding history, London has pulled could boast the most internationally mixed year’s plague. In the 18th century, it was the through. It will do so again executive community globally, all attracted bursting of the South Sea stock exchange by the strength of the city’s diverse businesses, thanks to its incredible bubble that sent London into financial freethe quality of its universities and the vitality diversity, resilience and fall. ‘Work stopped on half-finished ships and of its creative and digital scene. ‘This flow partly-built houses... Unemployment and food of skills and leadership, and the connections stores of creativity riots were a serious possibility.’ In the 19th and networks they form, is the true lifeblood century, there were fears of East End insurrection and the of a global city,’ the management consultants declared albeit horrors of the Blitz in the 20th. Now we have Brexit. in slightly less poetic language than Samuel Johnson.

At each challenge in its history, London has pulled through.

The data backs them up. Urban history has always shown It will do so again thanks to its incredible diversity, resilience and stores that centres of business, trade, finance and politics are typically of creativity. ‘The happiness of London is not to be conceived but also centres of energy for entertainment, art and culture. Modern by those who have been in it,’ asserted Samuel Johnson in 1773 (a man London can boast over 32,000 theatrical performances a year; never tired of London). ‘I will venture to say, there is more learning some 20,000 music performances per year; 215 museums; 850 and science within the circumference of ten miles from where art galleries; 860 cinema screens; and over 350 public libraries. we now sit, than in the rest of the world.’ We will need all that learning We share with Washington DC the accolade of museums and and science if we are to manage a successful exit from the European galleries capital of the world.

Union. What is more, London will need to learn the lesson of why The emergence of London as such a leading global city 16 | COUNTRYANDTOWNHOUSE.CO.UK /GBB

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CULTURE

is the product of numerous historical forces. Principally, economic. For alongside the financial hub of the City of London, the capital has long been an enormously important manufacturing centre. The watchmakers of Clerkenwell, the shipbuilders of Millwall, the chemical workers of Stratford, the rubber manufacturers of Hackney and the calico printers of Wandsworth comprised a vital industrial hub which underwrote London’s financial dominance. London was also the centre of prodigious and conspicuous consumption: it was a port, a capital market and where parliament, palace and high society came together. In one single city, London has combined the kind of economic, political, legal, cultural and educational excellence usually spread across multiple urban centres.

In modern economic parlance, London has been supported by myriad commercial clusters. The roads leading into Cheapside – Bread Street, Milk Street, Wood Street, Ironmonger Lane – give some indication of the businesses at work. In Spitalfields, the arrival of Huguenot refugees from France turned this district of the East End into ‘weaver town’.

In Bermondsey, the tanners of Southwark would come to produce one third of the UK’s leather by the end of the 1700s.

It is these clusters that time and again have helped to provide London with much-needed insulation against economic shock.

Accompanying commerce has been culture and education.

From Chaucer’s taverns and Shakespeare’s Globe to Handel’s Mayfair and Virginia’s Woolf’s Bloomsbury, the success of the capital was always intimately linked to its creative capacity.

And crucial to that was multicultural diversity: London was a

FROM ABOVE: London panorama of St Paul’s cathedral and Millenium bridge; Shakespeare’s Globe; Huguenot houses in Spitalfields

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The Sackler Courtyard at the V&A designed by Amanda Levete

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES; ©HUFTON+CROW; REX FEATURES

Much of the populist nationalism surrounding the Brexit debate national and then international magnet for talent. Cobbett decried the makes attracting talent to the capital, and positioning London capital as a ‘wen’ (or, cancer) for sucking up all the skills and wealth of as an open and enterprising city, much harder – which makes the England’s regions. Sherlock Holmes was even more damning, thinking his smoggy London, ‘the cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers role of culture even more important. As the British Council argues, ‘Cities with a vibrant cultural heritage and entertainment scenes of the Empire are irresistibly drained’. But come they did. By 1901, are attractive places for the increasingly international workers Councillor Sidney Webb, the lead municipal socialist, could describe of the global financial and business sectors to come to work.’

London as ‘more than a city: it is a whole kingdom So, let us begin by exploiting our strengths. London’s network in itself... the three next largest cities in the world could almost of free national museums – supported by government subsidy – be combined without outnumbering its millions.’ is essential to the capital’s cultural power. More than that, the One of these hubs for global talent and skills remains Exhibition National Gallery and Tate Modern are centres Road, location of the Victoria and Albert Museum. of research and innovation. They support the In the aftermath of the Great Exhibition, Prince ‘Cities with a vibrant broader ecology of private galleries, art fairs, Albert and his aide Sir Henry Cole sought cultural heritage and artists and design festivals. Having some of the to build a permanent legacy to the ideals of 1851 entertainment scenes are world’s most stunning collections of art, design, and its ambition to raise the quality of British attractive places for the antiquities and fashion free and open to all is manufacturing, design and innovation. To the south of Hyde Park, Albert pioneered London’s increasingly international a great selling point that we need to retain.

Sitting alongside this is our array of higher first cultural quarter: from Imperial College workers of the global education institutions. From University to the Natural History Museum and the Royal financial and business College London to Central Saint Martins College of Art, a design and innovation accelerator to the London School of Economics, London came to life where once market gardens had stood. sectors to come to work’ boasts more top 50 ranked universities than Today, at the V&A, we continue to honour that legacy as we consciously deploy our collections and exhibitions any other city. They are the engine rooms of our knowledge-driven economy and another magnet for talent. In Brexit-Britain, we will to inspire the next generation of architects, artists and innovators. need a visa system that allows the best and brightest to study and From Thomas Heatherwick and Erdem Moralioglu to Amanda teach here; a new research funding framework which makes up the Levete, we stand as a storehouse of creativity and inspiration for lost money from the European Union and an effective tax code that so many of today’s great, creative minds. encourages designers and entrepreneurs to spin-out their research But we can no longer assume our urban advantage is secure. insights into successful businesses.

From Paris’s rough wooing of the City and Berlin’s rebuilt Museum Even better, we should be thinking about building new creative Island to New York’s consolidation of Fashion Week, London clusters for the coming global economy. Where once we had the is now in a global race for soft power and cultural leadership.

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CULTURE

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES; ©HUFTON+CROW; REX FEATURES

tanners of Southwark and weavers of Spitalfields, today institutions like the British Library, the Medical Research Council and Googlespin out DeepMind are building a new ‘Knowledge Quarter’ around King’s Cross. Within a one-mile radius of the Eurostar terminal, an incredible concentration of over 75 cultural, research, scientific, business and academic institutions are working together on collaborative projects and creative innovation – from biotechnology to architecture. Not far away is Silicon Roundabout’s ‘Tech City,’ another booming cluster of start-ups and social enterprises flourishing around Old Street roundabout.

The capital will also need some brave leadership. Mayor Sadiq Khan has powerfully made the case that ‘London is Open’, and is a committed supporter of the city’s creative economy. He has sought to expand capacity for film and TV production in the capital; energised the night-time economy with 24-hour Tube openings; protected live music venues; and sought to plan more artists’ studios. But this is the time for boldness of vision and, on the site of the 2012 Olympics, he must soon set out his plans for a new cultural and educational district that promises to transform East London’s creative capacity.

On the grounds of the Olympic Park, a modern South Bank is set to rise, bringing the likes of Sadler’s Wells, the BBC, the London College of Fashion, the British Council and other partners (including, potentially, the V&A) to Stratford. This is exactly the visionary civic intervention that London will need to show it retains its creative edge.

At the same time, there is basic housekeeping to do. The expansion of Heathrow Airport should go ahead. The opening of Crossrail Two is much

anticipated. The Underground requires further investment to cope with rising demand. Our schools have to keep pace with changes in technology and learning. And, above all, there is a crisis of affordable housing in the city. To be attractive to young, creative talent, London has to be a place where artists, designers and engineers can afford to pay the rent or put down a deposit. If Britain is to be Brexit-ready, London needs its physical infrastructure to be match-fit.

For all these internal reforms, the capital also must appreciate its place within the UK with greater humility. Yes, it is the nation’s engine of economic growth and political power. But part of the drumbeat towards Brexit was a sense of London loosening its moorings from the rest of England: its cultural energy and creative capacity was too focused on the rest of the world with little thought for those non-metropolitan communities feeling left behind by globalisation. We need London to be a success in these Brexit times, but the capital requires much better mechanisms for sharing its incredible pool of talent, innovative ethos and, indeed, philanthropic wealth.

Few in the creative industries see much of an upside to Brexit.

But, as with past crises, we will rise to the challenge and work to ensure that London holds onto its mantle as the capital of the 21st century. There is energy, radicalism and brilliance here that can’t be bargained away by political horse-trading. As Percy Bysshe Shelley once put it, ‘You are now / In London, that great sea, whose ebb and flow / At once is deaf and loud, and on the shore / Vomits its wrecks, and still howls on for more / Yet in its depth what treasures!’ n

FROM ABOVE: The British Library forms part of the ‘Knowledge Quarter’ around King’s Cross; London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s mantra is that ‘London is Open’ in the face of Brexit; a modern South Bank is set to rise on the grounds of the Olympic Park

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PHOTOS: REX FEATURES

FROM LEFT: Roksanda, Erdem and Burberry on the catwalk

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FASHION

FASHIONABLY FLEET OF FOOT Despite Brexit looming, Alexandra Shulman believes in the British fashion industry for its notable nimbleness FROM LEFT: Jigsaw’s thought-provoking advertisement; Princess Diana and Bruce Oldfield; a Catherine Walker dress worn by Princess Diana

PHOTOS: REX FEATURES

T

he other day, as I wandered down the labyrinthine tunnels of Regent’s Park Tube station, I noticed a large advertisement from the clothing brand Jigsaw. Instead of the predictable images of a pretty model in a pair of navy culottes and slim woollen coat or professional looking mid-calf length dress and ankle boots, the space was solely occupied by black type on a white background Heading for the Bakerloo line is not the best place to take in a polemic by a fashion label, or by anyone, but I was intrigued by what they might have to say and so stopped and read the whole thing. To paraphrase, the general message was one about the nature of British fashion; Jigsaw, it pronounced, was proud to be a part of this collective notion and further, it went on to say, that the company believed that British fashion should not be insular in its outlook and instead should celebrate multiculturalism.

I found it both brave and extremely pertinent. Brave, because advertising is costly

and how many people will actually read a fairly long message like this as they charge along desperate not to miss the next train to Elephant and Castle; and pertinent because it made me consider what, in this increasingly global world, is the real state of British fashion at the moment. Jigsaw’s message was an ode to immigration and, unquestionably, the ability to employ talent from around the world has been of great benefit to the industry across the board.

In the light of the dangers of the impending Brexit this is of course under threat and, given the prospect of a narrowing of our talent pool, it’s worth looking at what the strengths currently are.

Over the past 25 years during which I edited British Vogue I felt that a vital part of that magazine’s remit was to support the British fashion industry. If we didn’t, then how could we expect others to support it? When I started in 1992 I think it would be fair to say that, in the eyes of the outside world, the most well-known players were independent designers producing upmarket clothes for what was probably still considered the London Season – designers such as Bruce Oldfield, Catherine Walker, Bellville Sassoon, Jasper Conran.

In the Princess of Wales the nation found the perfect mannequin for promoting British fashion on an international stage and with every more brutal and compelling twist and turn in the marital warfare between her and her husband, her visibility grew and her wardrobe became more scrutinised. As a result, traditional ‘posh’ style became further ingrained into the popular view of what British fashion was mostly about. Pearls and tweeds. Knitwear and ballgowns.

The chief focus was on these, our hardy perennials.

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epicentre of youth style, with designers like Mary Quant, Barbara Hulanicki, Bill Gibb and Ossie Clark painting the town in rainbow colours with their breakaway designs that were such an essential part of the age. Or even of the midEighties when Bodymap, Rifat Ozbek, Vivienne Westwood and Pam Hogg were staging interesting shows under the banner of London Designer Collections.

London Fashion Week was a dwarf compared to the big guys of New York, Milan and Paris. With the exception of the odd entrepreneur, such as Joseph Ettedgui or Stephen Marks providing a clever middle ground via Joseph and Marks’ backed Nicole Farhi, British fashion was largely stuck between the two poles of posh ‘occasion wear’ and crazy, uncommercial art school fantasies that would never, in several million years, grow into businesses.

When I became editor I remember somebody telling me in the first months that I was meant to be a leader in the fashion industry. So, depressed and somewhat

PHOTOS: REX FEATURES

CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Vivienne Westwood, a fashion trailblazer; Kate Moss and Erin O’Connor in the Nineties; Vivienne Westwood S/S’18; Alexander McQueen S/S’18; Mary Quant

mystified by the negativity around Fashion Week at that time, I called a summit of the leading designers in a meeting room at Vogue House. Surely we could do something to make London a more must-see destination in terms of Fashion Week? Were we going to let British fashion get gobbled up and spat out by giving up on Fashion Week (then, in reality, Fashion Two Days). I could see the gathered crowd, including Stephen Marks, Paul Smith, Betty Jackson, and Joan Burstein of Browns looking at me with the ennui of old timers tolerating the naïve enthusiasm of the inexperienced. They’d heard this all before and had pretty well concluded that it was every man for themselves. British fashion as a notion was not particularly relevant either one way or another.

Combined with the economic recession taking hold, the future was not looking particularly bright.

But, demonstrating as always that the future often defies expectations, within a year or so the fashion scene in Britain changed again, and I would argue that, certainly for the past 20 years, the trajectory for British fashion has been determinedly upwards and increasingly collective in its approach. Sometimes there have been more visible spikes, such as in the mid-Nineties when Alexander McQueen took centre stage as the theatrical visionary that no one could ignore; again when designers like Stella McCartney and Matthew Williamson put on their shows with pretty clothes shown to best advantage by a casting of the new cool British models such as Kate Moss, Liberty Ross and Erin O’ Connor.

Or a decade later, when a new generation of exceptionally talented new designers began to gain wider recognition, such as Erdem Moralioglu, Christopher Kane and Roksanda Ilincic, who now have their own Mayfair stores, viable businesses and consistently

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provide lustre and allure to Fashion Week, alongside the slightly younger Jonathan Anderson and Simone Rocha.

On the High Street there were the heady days when Philip Green’s Topshop appeared an unstoppable force and unmissable destination on anyone’s visit to London, and his extravagant activities helped to boost London’s retail image.

And, at the other end of the spectrum, who could ignore the activity at the heritage luxury house of Burberry?

Once an unloved brand whose famous checks had for years loitered unattractively around the dull corners of duty free zones, it was picked up and polished to diamond status, firstly

by Chief Executive Rose Marie Bravo and then by the double act of Angela Ahrendts and Christopher Bailey.

As a result of all this, British fashion is now established as one of the key pillars of the global industry, no longer the enfant terrible or a new kid on the block. Instead it wields a clout similar to that of Paris and Milan and arguably more so than New York, which struggles to find a contemporary identity outside of the historical successes

FROM TOP LEFT: Christopher Kane S/S’18; Erdem Moralioglu; Erdem S/S’18; Burberry September 2017 collection; Roksanda S/S’18; bag from Anya Hindmarch’s S/S’18 collection; Jimmy Choo suede shoes

PHOTOS: REX FEATURES

of long-term power houses such as Ralph Lauren, as their mass brands like Gap and J Crew flounder.

While British brands are gaining traction at the higher end of the market – especially in the accessories areas with designers such as Jimmy Choo and Anya Hindmarch, one of the industry’s greatest strengths is in the many different levels on which it operates. For a small country, we pack a lot of punch.

Visiting Milan or Paris, Los Angeles or Berlin, there is simply no competition in terms of the richness of the London shopping experience.

Whether you head for Erdem’s exquisite, dusty blue carpeted gem of a boutique, or drop by a Reiss store for some affordable tailoring, or are indulging in a payday splurge in a Topshop or Miss Selfridge, there is a wealth of choice. British brands may not be known for the huge temples of luxury such COUNTRYANDTOWNHOUSE.CO.UK /GBB | 23

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FROM ABOVE: Me & Em has just opened a second space in Notting Hill; mail order brand Boden has just opened a bricks and mortar shop in Chelsea; Matches Fashion retail space; founders of Matches Fashion Tom and Ruth Chapman

as the flagship stores of Louis Vuitton, Chanel or Dior, or the massive global accessory houses of the Italians like Gucci and Prada, but in London we have an unbeatable range of fashion to indulge in.

So how important is that? In a world where e-commerce is steadily growing; where a local boutique business like Matches has become a billion-pound property combining stores and digital technology under the banner of Matchesfashion.com, where we can find anything we want on a smart phone without leaving our house, is British fashion’s diverse range of bricks and mortar shops of any relevance?

Almost certainly, yes. Talk to any of the big department stores, for example, and they are in complete agreement as to how they view the physical shop and the e-commerce as complementary rather than as rivals. Look at the figures for e-commerce at the very expensive end of the spectrum and you can see that, although it is growing, online is still a relatively small percentage of the total revenue. Consider the fact that every large international brand in the world is still fighting over key money for retail sites to position their

stores in the centre of London, and this despite the undoubted wobbles that Brexit is generating.

One of the least appreciated areas of fashion is the direct mail business and in this the Brits have form. It is interesting to see how many companies who were mail order only, are investing more in their online sites and services but are also choosing to experiment with physical stores. Boden, a very successful British brand, has taken this leap and opened a store opposite Peter Jones on Duke of York to showcase their vision and add a new layer of interest. Me & Em, known for its clever take on a contemporary working wardrobe, has just taken a second space in Notting Hill.

As the catalogues that come through the letter box and gather on the kitchen table increase in number, a store is a differentiator and a great marketing tool. Everybody knows that physical experiences are now where the consumer pound is going – festivals, concerts, theatre, talks – and the stores provide a venue where the brands can tell their story and attract customers to their site. The number of pieces sold might be small but stores can be used as advertising vehicles across the board, and of course in many companies bricks and mortar stores are a convenient place where online orders can be collected at the customer’s time of choice.

Taking these factors into account, the robust and attractively widespread British scene is one of the most interesting in the world. Brexit is almost undoubtedly going to throw a number of major difficulties into the equation but the current corporate buzz word is ‘nimble’ and with our track record for creativity, our relatively small scale and our puckish delight in innovation and imagination, nimble is certainly ours to claim. n

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Alice Temperley’s sketch of the one-off dress to be auctioned for Women for Women International

A FASHION FAIRYTALE

Alice B-B meets Alice Temperley, the designer behind the one-off dress worn by Laura Bailey on the cover, who believes that storytelling is British fashion’s forte

PHOTOS: TOMO BREJC

C

reeping up the spiral staircase into Alice Temperley’s West London design studio and I have a flashback...

Seventeen years ago, working as an eager stylist at Tatler by day, dancing in clubs by night. Out one night and queuing for the loo, I pounced on a girl wearing a Victoriana-inspired high-neck blouse, great cut, exquisite beading, ruffled sleeves. I needed to know where this beauty was from. ‘She’s this cool girl in Notting Hill called Alice Temperley.’ I didn’t need to be told twice. Next day I was clambering up endless stairs above a pub on Ledbury Road.

Temperley London S/S’18

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brands in Britain; Temperley London operates five standalone stores (including Dubai and Qatar), is distributed in over 30 countries and is a red carpet favourite for stars including Penélope Cruz, Elle Fanning and Rita Ora. ‘Storytelling for a British brand is one of the most important things,’ says Alice, smoothing down her black sequin palazzo pants and Bardot-style knotted shirt as she takes a seat in her bustling office. ‘That’s why we’ve created this book,’ she points to a glorious Rizzoli-published hardback tome, entitled English Myths and Legends. Within the book, Temperley sets out the label’s manifesto, her core design beliefs and how embracing Britishness is at the beating heart of the brand. Turning pages, and her love of Great Britain shines through, specifically Somerset, where the four Temperley siblings grew up in bohemian bliss at Burrow Farm, her parents’ cider farm. ‘Authenticity is so important for a brand, and we are authentically British,’ declares Alice. ‘So the first chapter is called The Holy Grail, and it’s about what exactly makes us British; the way we combine lace, tattoos, frogging and florals.’

Also key to the brand’s success is Alice’s coterie of glorious fans... her ‘muses’ include Poppy Delevingne, Lily Cole and Arizona Muse, many of whom have loyally worn, partied and danced in Alice’s clothes since the label began. These girls are part of the story, part of the carefree Temperley life that breaks down fashion’s fourth wall.

Alice doesn’t simply design clothes and send them out into the world.

Instead she brings the wearer into her world.

Alice is a renowned and effortless hostess, whether entertaining in London, wild dress-up parties at the family farm in Somerset THIS PICTURE: Alice Temperley or gathering a gang to help out RIGHT: S/S’18 at the Somerset Cider bus at

PHOTOS: TOMO BREJC

When I reached the garret at the top – the most beautiful world unfurled before me, like the fanciest fortune teller’s lair; silks and patterns and print, hanging against texture and leopard and sparkle. And walking towards me, an enchanting gypsy girl padding barefoot across wooden floorboards... Alice Temperley, all dancing eyes, red lips, wild pony mane and a wicked laugh – I liked her immediately.

Cut to 2017 and, with an MBE under her studded belt, Alice is the creative director of one of the most successful and celebrated

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Glastonbury Festival. Being one of Alice’s muses means being embraced and immersed into the Temperley way – and there’s always a creative Beaton-esque element to the parties with photographer friends on hand to document the insta-ready happenings.

One of the most loyal members of Alice’s gang is Laura Bailey. ‘Laura is a muse, friend and collaborator,’ says Alice. ‘She perfectly embodies the Temperley style... Laura walked in my first ever show.’

For this Great British Brands cover, Alice called upon her beloved friend to model a unique dress. ‘When I first tried on this magical dress swanning around in a suite at The Beaumont,’ says Laura, ‘I had one of those rare old-fashioned fairytale epiphanies – “you shall go to the ball” kind of moments. The silhouette, the combination of strength and fragility, embellishment and simplicity.

A fantasy gown for dancing and dreaming in.’

The gown is set to be auctioned for Women for Women International, a charity that, since 1993, has helped support 462,000 of the poorest women survivors of wars throughout the world, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Yezidi women refugees in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The charity aims to give women the job skills needed to earn a living – including tailoring or breadmaking as well as teaching women’s rights on key issues including voting, divorce and domestic abuse.

‘We’ve supported Women for Women for the last two years,’ says Alice. ‘And during that time we’ve sponsored two women through the global sisterhood programme – one from Afghanistan and the other from Kosovo. Knowing that my support has given these women the opportunity to learn new skills and break through the isolation caused by war and conflict is very meaningful.’

The magical dress would also sit elegantly within Alice’s bridal collection, another Temperley success story, with dresses sold in over 11 countries, for brides who aspire to a bohemian British wedding. The bridal flagship store is equally romantic and very British; hidden away in a quintessential Notting Hill mews, while the house’s entire façade is painted with the Union Jack flag.

Once inside, Alice’s bridal world is delivered from the zebra skin rugs, to the velvet

FROM TOP LEFT: ‘It’s English fairytale,’ says Alice of the dream white dress.

‘Really romantic with artisancut mirror and crystals throughout the velvet.’

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boudoir changing areas and a champagne cocktail made with her father’s Somerset cider brandy is offered at all hours of the day.

Meanwhile, over in Mayfair at the flagship store on Bruton Street, a chic immersion into Temperley land is delivered thanks to the rich aubergine carpet, golden palm tree lights and a disco glitter ball. ‘It’s really important for people to come and see, touch and try the clothes with the help of our private dressers,’ explains Alice. ‘To see it – not just online or some rail within a department store – but to see the collection all together within the context of the Temperley world.’

Being creative director at the helm of the company for 17 years means that, while Alice has seen huge media change and weathered recession storms, she continues to adapt positively and with enthusiasm. ‘It’s an exciting time at the moment,’ Alice explains. ‘In 2017 all our channels have shown double digit growth and we’re about to expand into lifestyle products. Because one of the things I find so frustrating about the fashion industry is that it’s so seasonal – three months at a time. We work incredibly hard and we’ve got all this amazing

intellectual property that can be used in so many other ways that aren’t so fast and won’t just end up on rails... things that can be around forever.’

It’s a natural progression – Temperley’s narrative is about lifestyle, so creating a 360-degree world available to the customer is an appealing option. And it’s this level of truthful storytelling that makes the brand so desired and admired... knowing that whatever Alice makes – be it a dress or a plate or a bedspread – every client knows that Alice, her family and her gang of muses really will be wearing, eating from and snuggling under her designs.

And as I trot down the spiral staircase, I realise that Alice Temperley’s design values and aesthetics, that first enchanted me 17 years ago, haven’t changed.

The only difference is rather than being alone in her garret, Alice is surrounded by a vast and talented team. The wicked glint in her eye is still there... so too the unswerving conviction for what she likes and doesn’t like.

And an overwhelming pride at being British... ‘Best taste in the world,’ says Alice. n

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CRAFT Modern gents frequent Gieves & Hawkes

HOW TO BE A MODERN GENTLEMAN

Today’s British man is a little more international, says Dylan Jones, editor-in-chief of GQ and the chairman of London Fashion Week Men’s

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MEN’S STYLE

FROM ABOVE: There are members’ clubs for every type, including Dover Street Arts Club; Foster & Son wingtips; The Wolseley is the place to see and be seen

I

n days gone by, you could spot a gentleman from one hundred paces. He’d be galloping up Dover Street, fresh from a breakfast meeting at one of his clubs in St James’s, sporting a beautiful Huntsman bespoke pinstripe suit, a pair of highly polished Foster & Son wingtips and a furled umbrella, just in case (a true gent would appreciate that as we are living in the UK, it could conceivably rain on any occasion, so best be prepared). He would be making his way to a meeting at his bank, and then would stop off at his tailor (Anderson & Sheppard or New & Lingwood, perhaps), before disappearing back into St James’s, possibly to have lunch (a long one) at White’s. Once there he would order a pink gin, some sort of game and a good bottle of heavy red, before rushing for his train (or being picked up by his driver) in order to make it to his Wiltshire country house in time for supper with the family. And the day after that?

Well, he’d be shooting, wouldn’t he, and probably wouldn’t be back in London for at least three days.

This is the traditional idea of the Great British Gent, a man who, until fairly recently, hadn’t changed that much since the 1950s, when the surest sign that you were leaving the ranks of the gainfully employed and (metaphorically at least) joining the gentry was throwing away your bowler hat. In those days, if you wore a bowler you were a worker bee; if you were a gentleman, you probably had someone to hold your umbrella for you.

Today, though, the modern gentleman is a very different animal indeed. He might still belong to a members’ club, he might still commission bespoke suits and he might still spend an inordinate amount of time in fancy restaurants, but the parameters have

changed, almost beyond all recognition.

To wit: while there are still those who think that joining an old-fashioned members’ club, such as the Garrick or the RAC, will give them some muchwanted kudos, there is now a raft of private members’ clubs that will give our modern gent a far bigger buzz. He could join the Dover Street Arts Club, the new Annabel’s, Nick Jones’s The Ned, or even The Ivy Club. But then he can choose his club according to how he feels on the day (assuming he can afford to belong to as many as he likes).

If he’s looking for the genuine arty crowd then he will nip along to the Groucho Club in Soho, or else he’ll mill around in Mayfair, slipping into Little House just off Shepherd Market (where he’ll bump into lots of people he owes money to in Hollywood), George on Mount Street (where he’ll no doubt be sitting next to the person he’s meeting for lunch), or he’ll head down to 5 Hertford Street, where all the international money is (and boy is there a lot of it there).

Lunch is different for the modern gent, too. He no longer wants or needs to spend two or three hours in the middle of the day, killing time with people he can simply email or text. He will want to eat well, eat healthily, and he will want to be seen. Which means he will eat at The Wolseley (the prime location for anyone who wants to let the rest

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of London know what he is up to), Scott’s or possibly the Chiltern Firehouse. Many feel the Firehouse feels a little too much like a nightclub, although that mantle appears to have been taken

by Isabel, the very trendy and very noisy new Italian in Albemarle Street.

At lunch he won’t be ploughing through the expensive reds or whites come to that. He might have a single glass of prosecco, sauvignon blanc or a bellini, but more than likely he’ll stick to water. In the evening he will like to be seen to order an expensive bottle of very good chablis, or maybe a Tuscan red, but he isn’t going to get ‘stuck in’; drinking to excess these days is not really cool anywhere, at least nowhere you can be seen.

As for his clothes, well, the modern gent can now go one of two ways. He might still want to parade around in lovely bespoke threads from Savile Row, although he is far more likely to be spending his money in Richard James, Gieves and Hawkes or Orlebar Brown. He might still want to commission benchmade Edward Green shoes and custom shirts from Turnbull & Asser, but he is just as likely to adopt the international mode of modern dressing. Today, if our modern gent works in Mayfair then he almost certainly works in private equity, the hedge fund industry or in some form of private finance, and one of the ways in which you show off in this world is by not dressing up. You go to work looking like an Italian, with slip-on loafers, white jeans, an expensive wool jacket and no tie. You are basically telling the people you are doing business with that you don’t have to dress up for anyone. So you are damn well not going to.

Brands are still incredibly important, however, in fact more than they have ever been.

The traditional gentleman would have been suspicious of anything that wasn’t British, especially anything originating on ‘the continent’, but these days the modern British gent is as attuned to hot brands as his wife, his mistress or his children. He likes his Tod’s, his Bottega Veneta, his Comme des Garçons and his Valentino. He understands James Perse, Lanvin and Angelo Galasso, and he also understands the importance of monolithic brands such as Dolce & Gabbana, Boss and Zegna. The modern gent doesn’t like to be caught out, doesn’t like to be embarrassed in this respect and so he keeps up, by reading the right magazines, and by keeping his eyes and ears open. Nothing gets past our guy.

Now, being a modern gentleman, in the summer he will be encouraged to go to some kind of festival.

Not the kind where you stand in a field and fend off drug dealers and marauding teenagers, but the kind where you can sit in the green room and quaff champagne while chatting to celebrity chefs and random racing drivers. He will avoid the places his children pester him to buy tickets for, and instead go glamping at Glastonbury or Wilderness, attend talks at the Hay Festival or Port Eliot, or – more likely – pitch up at the Groucho pop-up at Alex James’ brilliant The Big Feastival. Here you can sit on hay bales and drink vintage plonk without having to actually step outside and see any bands, which I know for many modern gentlemen is the perfect way to ‘do’ a festival.

And the chances are, the music he would have to listen to probably wouldn’t be the kind of music he plays in his car, or at home (whether that’s his London home or his country house). Our chap likes his Adele and Ed Sheeran, but likes to keep ‘with it’, and so will regularly play Kendrick Lamar, Alt-J,

PHOTOS: REX FEATURES; GETTY IMAGES; FANATIC CREATIVE, DAVID LOFTUS

FROM LEFT: Orlebar Brown, Dolce & Gabbana, Bottega Veneta and Zegna

Hanging out at Alex James’s The Big Feastival

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PHOTOS: REX FEATURES; GETTY IMAGES; FANATIC CREATIVE, DAVID LOFTUS

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Your modern gent will keep up listening to acts like Kendrick Lamar; at least six holidays a year range from Mustique at Easter to Formentera in summer

or people such as Badbadnotgood, Daphni, Todd Terje, Thundercat, Malibu and Women, anything to keep his annoying teenage children from patronising him any more than they already do. He still occasionally goes to gigs, but he will want to see the big groups at the big concerts and he’ll want to stand on the mixing desk with the rest of the celebrities, the friends of the band and the kind of people he regularly does business with.

Half a dozen times a year, our modern British gentleman will also be required to go on holiday, which is not as simple as it once was. Back in the day, the old-style British gent would simply crawl off to his country pile for three months, and then eventually come back to work sometime in September when the mood took his fancy.

But these days you have to be everywhere, all the time.

If your Instagram feeds infers that you haven’t been on holiday for six months then no one is going to talk to you ever again. So, roughly, the modern gentlemen’s holiday plans look something like this: in February he will be required to go skiing, probably in Austria, and almost certainly staying at the brand spanking new lodge built

by a Russian associate of his. Come Easter he will be taking the whole family to Mustique or the Maldives, and then, in the summer, it’s a week in the South of France before spending another two in Majorca, on a Greek island or in a large private villa on Formentera. In the autumn, during the final half term of the year, he again will be required to fly off to Utah or another Caribbean island, before disappearing to his country home for Christmas and New Year. These days it is important to have a full holiday programme, one that is visible on all forms of social media.

In essence, the modern British gent isn’t quite so British anymore; These days you have he is far more of an international to be everywhere all creature, and actually all the better the time. If your Instagram for it. He is more sophisticated, feed infers that you haven’t more worldly, more culturally and sexually emancipated and – been on holiday for crucially – no longer only comes six months then no one from one social class. These days is going to talk to you you don’t have to be born into ever again money to be a modern gent, nor do you have to be well bred. The old-fashioned ideas of class, and even those of meritocracy, have changed quite substantially in the last 20 years, as these days being modern, cultured and sartorially and emotionally liberated have as much to do with a man’s attitude as where he went to school, or how much money he has in the bank.

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WELLBEING

WELLNESS: THE NEW SHOPPING

People are seeking more than a retail hit; they’re seeking a wellness one. Lucia van der Post reports on the 21st-century health explosion and how retailers are now reinventing their offering

Y

FROM ABOVE: Today’s fashion is to eat well and look after mind and body; mindfulness and meditation

of shoes or carry another bag.’ He wanted instead a trip to a distant exotic beach in Uruguay that nobody else had ever heard of.

And since shopping is no longer the aspirational activity it once was, it follows that shops need to think of fresh ways to give their customers reasons for visiting them that go way beyond stuffing their bags full of goods.

And that reason, it turns out – in many instances – is wellness. Those who manage our most successful stores and hotels aren’t fools, and they’ve observed that a huge chunk of money that used to be spent on handbags, silken scarves and other gewgaws these days goes into the pockets of those who look after the health and

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

ou only have to look at the depressing figures for retail chains in the United States (Neiman Marcus just posted its tenth straight quarterly sales decline and at the same time announced that it is downsizing its projected store in Manhattan’s Hudsons Yard development by ten per cent) to realise that even in the land of the free – and the most prosperous consumers in the world – shopping ain’t what it used to be. The malls of America, once abuzz with evidently happy seekers of retail heaven, once the focal point of much local community activity, seem to be dying. This year alone, more than 8,600 stores are predicted to close in the US. While things aren’t quite as bad in the UK – partly because we were never quite so over-supplied with shops in the first place – retailers on this side of the pond have long realised that unless they get their act together they, too, could be facing very tough times.

One of the problems is that many of us have more than enough stuff, thank you very much. A survey a few years back

by American Express asking people what they wanted for Christmas elicited the fact that almost every celebrity or high-flying business person declared that they wanted nothing material at all. Typical was the late wonderful interior designer David Collins who said, ‘I really can’t wear another pair

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PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

FROM ABOVE: Yoga at Harrods’ new 10,500 sq/ft Welness Clinic opened in 2017; Annalise Fard, Harrods’ health and beauty director; make-up brands like those of Charlotte Tilbury oversee instore classes at Harvey Nichols; the Hemsley sisters have a cafe in Selfridges

beauty of its customers. According to Euromonitor International, some $686bn was spent on health and wellness in 2016 and it is expected to grow at a 3.5 per cent CAGR, to $815bn, by 2021.

No wonder many of those who just used to sell goods have seen the light and decided that they would follow the money. Looking great, feeling good and sleeping well (sleep clinics are an ever expanding arena of interest for therapists and patients alike) are no longer optional extras, they’re what millennials seek over and above a great new handbag, and even though they don’t come cheap, they’re increasingly prepared to pay for them. The young woman these days is probably spending some of her disposal income on gym membership, yoga classes, learning to glide or going on a series of glamorous long weekends with her girlfriends. It’s not that millennials don’t spend money – it’s just that they spend it differently. It’s why, for instance, sales of organic and natural food and drinks and health supplements are growing; why, too, products, devices and apps that help sleep, that monitor health or fitness are selling fast and why athleisure is one of the quickest growing sectors of the clothing industry.

And all this helps explains why Harrods, one of London’s most successful stores, has given its wellness offering a complete make-over. Its Urban Retreat had long been an oasis for its pampered customers, a place where a whole range of (mostly) beauty treatments could be had but, ever up there with the trend, it recently opened its 10,500sq/ft Wellness Clinic, which is much more ambitious. As Michael Ward, Harrods CEO, told me recently, when they decide to invest in a particular category –

in this case wellness – they aim to do it with what he calls ‘real authority’. This turns out to mean that there is a whole host of experts, ranging from dietitians to dermatologists, chiropractors to personal trainers, each and every one of whom is a proper expert, as well as a range of cutting-edge treatments.

A qualified doctor sees every customer before the appropriate treatment is devised.

The approach is what Annalise Fard, Harrods’ health and beauty director, calls ‘integrative’ or ‘holistic’, which means that the whole person, inner and outer, is taken into account.

But Harrods isn’t alone. At Harvey Nichols, too, they have observed the trend and glossed up their health and beauty offerings.

Its Beauty Lounge not only offers lots of delicious pampering treatments but also goes in for the very latest trends such as vitamin injections, LED facials and cryotherapy, which plunges you into a temperature of -90˚C and is primarily designed to help athletes reach peak fitness, while its makeup classes, overseen by big names such as Charlotte Tilbury or Laura Mercier, are not only a lot of fun but a brilliant way for it to sell more of its creams and lotions.

It’s why a store like Selfridges, ever at the forefront of making itself the leader in what is now called ‘experiential retailing’, offers more than just a spa – it has talks discussing issues such as the radical idea that perhaps all this talk of wellness is... er... unhealthy?

This doesn’t preclude them from opening a Hemsley & Hemsley café, where those high priestesses of the cult of healthy eating indulge your tastes for raw foods and chia seeds.

And it’s not just stores. Hotels – think the Corinthia, The Lanesborough and Claridge’s – too, now feel the need to give over vast areas to what we now call ‘wellness’ (Claridge’s is digging five floors below ground, one of which will be dedicated to a new spa, pool and COUNTRYANDTOWNHOUSE.CO.UK /GBB | 37

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CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Cult therapist Anastasia Achilleos practices at The Lanesborough; James Duigan offers his Bodyism concept at The Lanesborough; ESPA Life at The Corinthia offers a holistic approach to wellbeing, including Bodyspace, with experts such as pilates guru David Higgins (pictured bottom left); the Aman resorts now offer what they call ‘Individual Wellness Immersions’

gym). This can encompass anything from a facial or a massage to an appointment with a ‘body oracle’ for a bespoke treatment (The Lanesborough hotel) or even (at the Corinthia) a consultation with a neuroscientist to help boost brain power. Both of them have enormously comprehensive offerings that cater not just to those who stay in their hotels but offer private membership to many of the city’s more frazzled high-flyers. Both The Lanesborough and the Corinthia (whose gym is open 24 hours a day) have each developed a wide range of therapies to deal with the ‘burned-out’ syndrome which besets so many high-achievers. At The Lanesborough they have gone in for four main areas of ‘wellness’ – offering James Duigan’s Bodyism (a holistic approach to health and fitness which aims to inspire people to be the best, happiest and healthiest versions of themselves), products from much-loved

British spa brand ila and from the uber-luxe Swiss La Prairie range and, finally, facials, craniosacral therapy and massage from the cult therapist Anastasia Achilleos.

When Dr Tara Swart arrived as the in-house neuroscientist at the Corinthia hotel in London at the beginning of 2017 (her tenure has now ended but expect more expert names to take up residence in 2018), it created quite a stir (it is she who offers to boost one’s brain power). The hotel has long made it its mission to offer as comprehensive and cutting-edge an array of treatments as anywhere in the world. Physical wellbeing isn’t enough – these days mindfulness is the new goal, and search the Corinthia’s website and there you will find it – mindfulness is on offer just as much as a great (Chinese) massage or a facial. Personal and spiritual transformation is also part of what millennials seem to be seeking and it’s instore talks on things like travel, spiritual development, literary salons (Selfridges has just started a lunchtime one – and very good it is too) that stores are developing in order to give their customers a reason to come and – even more crucially – to tarry awhile.

Mindfulness, too, is now so key that all the spas at the Aman resorts, now owned by Vladislav Doronin – a Russian entrepreneur who is a selfconfessed follower of both qi gong and meditation – are offering ‘Individual Wellness Immersions’, programmes that focus on four principles: cleanse and detox, awareness and spiritual awakening, weight management and fitness. Like all those with acute antennae for changing trends, he has sensed that the trend away from ‘stuff’ is not just about spoiled first-world consumers having too many things, it is also about a search for meaning and for some sort of spiritual life beyond the accumulation of money and objects.

What is clear is that this is a trend that is certainly here to stay, and for the luxury goods companies themselves, as well as for the stores that purvey them, it means that they’ll have to keep reinventing themselves if they want to hang on to their share of the retail pie. n

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THE LONDON EYE

Olivia Falcon travels the length and breadth of London to uncover how British beauty brands take their cue from our capital city

ABOVE: Jo Malone Basil & Neroli cologne RIGHT: Gallivant London eau de parfum

Sniffing out success, Azzi Glasser, founder of The Perfumer’s Story (a cult brand loved by the likes of Kylie Minogue and Johnny Depp), has not only been busy creating signature ‘mood’ scents for the city’s social hot spots – Chiltern Firehouse, Annabel’s and David Linley’s eponymous furniture store – but she also celebrates some of London’s most

PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

U

ndaunted by the economic uncertainty of Brexit, the British beauty industry’s feel-good factor continues apace, with a reported 5.7 per cent growth last year, topping revenues over the £4bn mark to make it the country’s fastest growing industry. At the centre of this boom is the ‘London effect’, a phenomenon championed by a gang of British beauty creatives drawing on both the city’s rich cultural heritage and its tomorrowland technology to bring some instantly pick-up-able products to beauty counters worldwide.

Starting in the perfume hall, Londoncentric hits abound; from the mainstream appeal of Jo Malone’s Basil & Neroli (£90. jomalone.co.uk), which was inspired by London’s leafy squares and gardens, and its Bloomsbury Set collection (referencing Virginia Woolf and her Fitzrovia social circle) to new, indie perfume brands such as Gallivant, whose recent London fragrance (£65. roullierwhite.com) captures both the glamour and grit of Columbia Road flower market.

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PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Roja Parfums London; The Perfumer’s Story Kingsman TGC; St Giles The Writer – are all scents inspired

by British sensibilities

stylish addresses. Her recent launch After Hours (£95. theperfumersstory.com) is an homage to Harrods, with a glamorous blend of freesia and neroli, underpinned by patchouli and musk, which she says captures that magical, mystical netherworld of the department store behind closed doors.

Glasser has also recently collaborated with Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn to create Kingsman TGC (£95); a modern take on old-school vetiver cologne, it has notes of earl grey tea and tobacco flower, a nod to the dapper English gent and impeccable tailoring of Savile Row. The bottle itself is designed to slip effortlessly into a suit pocket. ‘British fragrances have been quite oud heavy in recent years, catering more to Middle Eastern tastes,’ explains Glasser, ‘so I wanted to bring back some raison d’être to our identity and London was an obvious reference point as it is one of the loves of my life. I create all my fragrances in my studio in Camden. I love the mixture of heritage and cutting-edge cool. I think it’s this sense of character and depth that makes the British beauty industry stand out. It is our ability not to follow the trends but to create them.’

Echoing this sentiment, fellow perfumer Roja Dove, says, ‘London has always been fabulously non-conformist, we are boundary pushers, which I don’t believe is true of every European city. I am very proud that I’m a Londoner and so I created Roja Parfums London (£225. selfridges.com), the last of three perfumes that was inspired by my Britishness. It’s an ode to the city’s long history of perfumery and I used unexpected floral notes, such as rose and jasmine, as a nod to the 17th-century pleasure gardens of Vauxhall, where women were not allowed to walk unaccompanied for fear they would be overcome by the sexual scent of the jasmine. I also used lavender as London used to produce some of the world’s finest crops, which were grown from the 18th century right through to the Second World War in Mitcham, just outside of Croydon.’

Dove attributes his standout success – the brand currently sells in 182 stores in 42 countries and, according to Harrods’ CEO Michael Ward, has become the store’s most successful fragrance launch to date – to a strong, original voice and not being constrained by marketing briefs. ‘The appeal of many

British brands is that you feel the personality and voice of the person behind the brand,’ he says.

A case in point is St Giles, the new fragrance brand just launched by Michael Donovan, owner of Roullier White perfumery. Named after Donovan’s birthplace, the ancient parish of St Giles (now better known as Camberwell), this unisex collection celebrates five different personalities: The Mechanic (a growly, sexy musk), The Actress (a creamy floral), The Writer (a mood sharpening scent with a rosemary note to stimulate the memory), The Tycoon (a sparkling citrus), and The Stylist (an extravagant opus of bitter orange, frankincense and cedarwood) – all £130 and exclusive to Selfridges. ‘Everyone needs to be these people at some point in their life, so the aim of this brand is to be very inclusive and appeal as much to the guy in Texas as the lady in Paris. British perfumery is very innovative as we think outside the box and take risks. I like Marmite fragrances and things that stick out.

My fragrances last on the skin for 20 hours and I’ve formulated them so the top notes don’t fade in the dry down, so the thing you loved when you first sprayed it on stays with you throughout the day,’ says Donovan.

Standing the test of time, makeup brands such as Rimmel London, which started life as a perfumery on Regent Street in 1834, remains popular and relevant nearly 200

Rimmel London uses London’s top and upcoming models, such as Cara Delevingne to front its campaigns

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CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Sarah Chapman; Sarah Chapman Skinesis Ultimate Cleanse; Oskia Citylife Booster; Oskia founder Georgie Cleeve; Soveral developed the Spotless Gel

years on by plugging into London’s wealth of multi-generational talent from iconic cover girls such as Kate Moss to next generation London It-girls Cara Delevingne, Maddi Waterhouse (Suki’s younger sister) and Cora Corré (Vivienne Westwood’s granddaughter), who, as Rimmel London’s newest ambassadors, are ‘living the London look’ wearing products such as new Lasting Finish 25H breathable foundation and concealer (£8.99. boots.com), which is predicted to become this season’s high street bestseller.

At the luxury end of the market, savvy businesswomen such as Victoria Beckham recognise London’s fashionable, forward-thinking pull. Beckham’s second capsule make-up collection with Estée Lauder features a prominent seven step London ‘look’ – think smoldering grey, graphite eyes with a modern, nude matt lip. ‘I fell in love with London, the city is my heart and soul, always inspiring,’ she explains.

‘It’s the perfect blend of culture and edge, London is just cool.’

While consumers undoubtedly are buying into London’s cool girl (and boy) credentials, they also want answers for a fast-paced city life and this is something British skincare brands have recognised and run with. Leading the way top facialists Alexandra Soveral and Sarah Chapman take a ‘face to formula’ approach when creating products, addressing specific skin conditions and needs rather than being led by marketing hype. Soveral’s Spotless Gel (£23. alexandrasoveral.co.uk) was designed as a response to seeing countless breakouts caused by city stress on the couch of her Maida Vale clinic. Her new Super Hero Potion (£95), a plant-derived hyaluronic acid and skin prebiotic serum that contains inulin, an extract of fermented endive leaves that feeds healthy bacteria on the skin to balance its PH, was designed as a morning after repair to plump and soothe the effects of late London nights. Similarly, Chapman initially developed her Ultimate Cleanse (£44. sarahchapman.net) as an answer to the drying

effects of London tap water. ‘I formulated this cleanser with oils to help balance the PH of skin thrown off by the chalkiness of London’s water but it seems to have struck a chord globally.

As I expand my business into territories such as the Middle East and Hong Kong, it continues to be one of our top-selling products.’

Likewise, Chelsea-based brand, Oskia, has a new Citylife range created as an answer to increasing concerns over London air pollution. The hero product is the Citylife Booster (£110. spacenk.com), a serum which can be dropped into any foundation or moisturiser and has cuttingedge ingredients such as EUK 134 (a manganese derivative) and Camellia Japonica, which has been proven in clinical trials to protect against 98 per cent of free radicals and 98.7 per cent of particulate matter (tiny particles such as iron and nickel from car exhaust fumes) that can penetrate pores, causing inflammation, DNA damage, increased sensitivity and accelerated skin ageing.

Summing up the secret of her success, Oskia founder Georgie Cleeve says, ‘With faceless corporate goliaths armed to dominate the beauty market and the massive growth of online sales, shopping for beauty can often feel rather impersonal and unemotional but I very much feel part of a new wave of British beauty brands that is the antithesis to this experience. We take a founder driven approach, sharing both our passion and personalities, which I think helps to make consumers feel much more connected to the brand.’

Indeed from the energy of East End hipster brands such as Curlsmith and Skin and Tonic to the immersive experiences of the West End salons (Lyn Harris’s Perfumer H in Marylebone being an exceptional address to note), London is indeed both home and inspiration for many of the beauty world’s most engaging storytellers. n

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PHOTOS: © NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON; PAUL RAESIDE

Queen Elizabeth I, The Ditchley Portrait

by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (1592)

RESETTING THE PAST

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As in fashion, jewellery designers look to these illustrations of the past for inspiration today.

There are fabulous historical photographs and a rich record of the sumptuous jewels once owned by Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia in the archives at Garrard. In 1874 the Grand Duchess married the second son of Queen Victoria, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh. As the new Duchess of Edinburgh, she continued to build on her already magnificent collection with new pieces commissioned from Garrard. The collection was famously housed at Clarence House in a heavily guarded walk-in vault organised by stone colour. Intrigued by this arrangement, the trove sparked the idea for the Jewelled Vault, a new collection of unique pieces from the house, inspired by the Duchess’s jewels.

Creative director, Sara Prentice’s designs echo the motifs and finer details of the Duchess’s collection and are set with gemstones – royal blue sapphires, pigeon red rubies or Colombian emeralds – grand enough anging in the National Portrait Gallery is a magnificent to catch the eye of Maria Alexandrovna, were she still around. portrait of Elizabeth I at her most majestic. Painted in The Belle Époque, an era rich with spectacular jewels 1592 by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger and dubbed the as historical photographs attest, sparked Boodles’ Vintage ‘Ditchley Portrait’ it presents one of history’s most powerful Lace suite, now one of the jewellery house’s contemporary rulers in her prime. Resplendent in her virginal white classics, with its beautifully scrolled motif spinning its circles gown, embellished with pearls, precious jewels and the Tudor red rose, around not just the neckline but five luscious red rubies. you cannot help but be inspired by the exquisite detail.

It was the era of Art Nouveau, an intense and flamboyant This was William Asprey’s reaction when he and his team at William period in the visual arts, its graceful, swirling, stylised and & Son set about designing the Gala jewellery collection to celebrate their arabesque forms as popular with gold and silversmiths partnership with the gallery. ‘It is the most important painting in the as they were with architects and furniture makers. collection and really highlights love and female empowerment,’ he explains.

Hamilton & Inches, founded in 1866, was well situated Comprising a necklace and a pair of earrings set with beautiful to make the most of that era then, and now. ‘The tide of Madagascar aquamarine centrepieces and surrounded by a frill design carries with it all of history and its influences,’ of baguette cut diamonds, William & Son’s design says Jilly Pollard, valuer at the Edinburgh-based echoes the Elizabethan ruffs that were symbols jeweller. ‘In Hamilton & Inches’ jewellery of power and status, and in portraiture served and silver there has been evidence of to channel the light to the Queen’s face, the whiplashes of Art Nouveau, the or in the case of the jewels the ethereal angles of Art Deco and the fine colour of the aquamarines.

Portraiture illustrates millegraining of the platinum Portraiture illustrates how how jewels have always Belle Époque jewellery.’ jewels have always been symbols been symbols of power Platinum, she points out, was of power and wealth, but also tricky to work with, needing of opulence and creativity, and and wealth, but also high temperatures in order to so museums and art galleries opulence and creativity, and get the best out of it, ‘but once are a treasure trove of ideas so museums and art galleries that was overcome, very delicate and inspiration for designers are a treasure trove of ideas jewellery could be made that today. As jewellery passed down had the strength to carry stones through the generation, it is for designers today in a way previously inadvisable.’ so often broken down and a re-used The romantic vintage vibe of in new designs, very early examples some of Stephen Webster’s work over of period jewellery rarely survive, and the years is rooted in the Belle Époque so portraiture is a valuable historical and Victorian Gothic periods, such as the document of style through the eras.

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: William & Son’s Gala jewellery collection; Garrard’s Jewelled Vault necklace; Boodles’ Ruby Vintage Lace necklace

PHOTOS: © NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY, LONDON; PAUL RAESIDE

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thorn diamond bracelets in blackened gold he was designing ten years ago.

The results, of course, were much more rock chick than dowager duchess.

Making essentially Victorian-inspired jewellery was how he learned his craft and since those early days: ‘I’ve always found it easy to draw inspiration from the various incarnations of gothic,’ says Webster, citing architecture, colour (shades of black, red or purple) and storytelling, for ideas. ‘So many writers from the Victorian or Victorian Gothic Revival periods wrote of fantasy or real-life circumstance which have remained relevant or can be reinterpreted – but I combine my preference for the romantic and gothic with a sense of fun and, even, irony.’

The Magnipheasant collection colourfully exploits another favourite motif of the era, the feather, for sleek tremulous pavé set earrings and pendants. There is also his opulent Belle Époque collection of dramatic earrings, cocktail rings and statement cuffs featuring bright emeralds and sapphires embedded in a blanket of dark black diamonds.

History is an important resource to any designer: ‘We are naturally influenced by our surroundings and in London there is evidence of our history everywhere,’ says William Asprey, who explains how a grill on an old townhouse in London’s West End inspired an angular chain motif for William & Son’s London collection of diamond jewellery.

‘As a patron of the arts, I feel strongly about maintaining our British heritage... it’s what makes us who we are.’

Although new technology and materials are modernising jewellery, the heritage of craftsmanship is integral. The exhibition of the Cheapside Hoard of Elizabethan and Jacobean jewellery in 2014 revealed that the traditional goldsmith’s bench has changed very little since the 1500s, and that fine jewellery is still the fruit of individual master craftsmen.

Although not a goldsmith herself, Jessica McCormack makes a point of supporting that heritage and using Victorian and Georgian techniques to make her resolutely modern jewellery.

‘They have become my trademarks,’ she says. ‘This period produced jewellery of unique and unparalleled beauty.

Georgian goldsmiths always used gold alloys of 18kt and higher and each piece of jewellery was entirely handmade, ensuring that every millimetre was carefully considered.’

The daughter of an auctioneer in New Zealand, McCormack grew up surrounded by piles of precious objects ranging from Maori carvings to Georgian and Victorian jewels and naturally inherited her father’s passion for interesting and unusual antiques.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Stephen Webster’s Belle Époque earrings; You are Braver pendant by Cassandra Goad; the art deco-inspired Hamilton & Inches Signature lariat; Elizabeth Gage’s Templar ring; Jessica McCormack’s The Fan ring

The techniques she learned in her formative years are now her trademark, such as the cut-down settings used by the Georgians, which she might use to set a pair of emerald-cut diamond earrings in oxidised silver, and the Victorian Doublet which provides a sleeve of yellow gold applied to the back of white gold. Having an in-house workshop means that she can train up a new generation of craftsmen to preserve these precious techniques.

Elizabeth Gage is another jeweller to walk in the steps of others from the past, learning from Tudor and Renaissance jewellery, until she could walk alone with her own vision. One of the very first pieces made in the 1960s was her Agincourt ring set with amethysts and peridots. The idea came to her as she was wandering around the British Museum and wanted to make a ring for herself. The gem-set Agincourt, Charlemagne and Templar rings became her signature designs, their history steeped in French history.

‘I make them using techniques of the period, but changing them where I need to,’ says Elizabeth Gage.

A lot of her ideas come from her imagination, ‘but having spent so long in museums, what I do has become second nature. None of them are copies, merely enlarged possibilities that have stimulated me.’ The sun, the moon, the acanthus and other historic motifs are conjured up in so many different ways. They might be created with enamels, or gemstones set in the traditional way on the Templar rings, with rub-over settings, as opposed to claw, which makes a statement of the stones.

Posy rings and message pendants inscribed with sentimental words, sonnets and quotes in beautiful gothic script are also experiencing a revival. The original designs were particularly popular between the 15th and 17th centuries in both England and France as lovers’ gifts. Originally, they would be written in Norman French or Latin, but in English too since the Victorians.

Drawing on this tender slice of jewellery history, Cassandra Goad has come up with a series of quote pendants with phrases like ‘Be Brave my Heart’ and ‘Love the Life’.

Cassandra Goad’s designs tend to be a witty play on 18th and 19th-century architecture found on her travels, such as her St Xenia of St Petersburg gold cross or earrings based on the wrought ironwork of a Sicilian cathedral, so the quote pendants are a charming departure for her. Nevertheless, these designs and those of peers are all examples of how history and craftsmanship are still among the tools of our contemporary jewellers. n

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A FISTFUL OF CHARACTER

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hen, in 1922, Syrie Maugham launched her career as Britain’s first female interior decorator, she put herself in competition with a coterie of ‘drapers’: male decorators known for their exacting craftsmanship, but not for their stylistic flair.

The drapers, trained for practicality, dealt in genteel but unoriginal spaces. Suddenly, they were faced with a new breed of feminine rivals emboldened by Maugham’s example. Interior design was one of the few professions open to respectable women at the time; using their own homes as showcases, these fledgling tastemakers relied on their innate sense of style rather than on formal education. They mixed unconventional furniture – old with new, expensive with modest – to create eye-catching, individual rooms. They dealt in contrasts.

More than anything else, it is this sense of contrast that continues to shape British interior design today. Not just in terms of aesthetics, but also influence, for in a globalised world, many of Britain’s most

successful interior designers hail from far more exotic climes than ours.

A quick glance at the London scene reveals John Stefanidis (Egyptian born), Martin Brudnizki (pictured) and Beata Heuman (both Swedish), Peter Mikic (Australian) and Paolo Moschino at Nicholas Haslam (Italian), to name but a few.

Our small island is a melting pot of influences in other ways, too. At one end of the style scale, we have Kelly Hoppen, with her universally recognised brand of contemporary luxury; at the other, there is Faye Toogood, a maverick whose cuttingedge approach to furniture and space has as much in common with conceptual art as it does with domesticity. The dominant mood in interiors right now, though, is different again. It could be described

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PHOTOS: HOUSE OF GREY

What British interior design excels at is giving personality to product and place, says Amy Bradford

INTERIORS

PHOTOS: HOUSE OF GREY

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Martin Brudnizki’s interiors at the The Beekman, New York; Rose Uniacke exemplifies the quietly beautiful style at this project in Battersea; Kelly Hoppen is known for her take on contemporary luxury; Louisa Grey uses grey and brass details to lift a bathroom

as ‘the new traditional’: a fusion of the old and the new in the simplest, most refined style. Key elements include time-worn country furniture and handmade crafts from around the world, brought up to date with unusual colours and subtle touches of luxury, such as burnished brass. This look is the opposite of ostentatious; it celebrates comfort, functionality, a cosmopolitan outlook and the beauty of imperfection. It is surely a sign of the times, for in an uncertain world, excess never feels quite right.

Designers championing this quietly beautiful style include Rose Uniacke, Beata Heuman, Louisa Grey and Maria Speake at Retrouvius. Uniacke’s design for a Battersea home, which contrasts old-fashioned Howard sofas with Scandinavian-style bleached floorboards and unexpected colour pairings, is a prime example, as is Speake’s placement of salvaged wood cladding and 1970s curtain fabrics in an old Dorset rectory. Grey’s combination of antique country furniture with modern grey paintwork and brass detailing sums up the zeitgeist to a tee.

Furthermore, recent hotel openings, especially those by the Soho House group, have helped to popularise this laid-back, traditional-meets-modern look: The Ned in London, for instance, is a masterclass in fusing old and new.

A straw poll of established and up-and-coming interior designers reveals just how much we value tradition right now. Oft-cited influences include the Bloomsbury Group, Georgian homes (with their unexpectedly offbeat colours) and the work of John Fowler, master of country-house style in the last century.

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Perhaps in our collective imagination the stately manor has always been the ideal home.

Even young designers in the heart of London have been seduced by it excelled at the latter, says Martin Brudnizki, who takes inspiration from Fowler’s ‘layers of different colours and patterns, mixed in with playful elements and personal objects’. Why do we remain so in thrall to country elegance? Perhaps it’s because, in our collective imagination, the stately manor has always been the ideal home. Even young designers in the heart of London have been seduced by it, such as Luke Edward Hall, who shares Cecil Beaton’s sense of bucolic charm and whose Camden home mixes antiques with modern colours and romantic flourishes.

For in demand designers such as Hall, a love of tradition dovetails with a very British passion for eccentricity. New talent Rachel Chudley employs artists as well as designers in her studio to create her painterly, Bloomsbury-esque interiors.

Brudnizki’s new interior for Annabel’s nightclub in Mayfair boasts a restaurant with a characterful trompe l’œil mural of an English garden.

The work of the new traditionalists also exudes a sense of informality and comfort. For Kit Kemp, co-founder of Firmdale Hotels and the decorator behind elegantly convivial venues such as Ham Yard, ‘comfort is beauty in itself’. Chudley goes a step further.

‘It is only after being adapted for living in that an interior succeeds aesthetically,’ she argues. Perhaps thanks to the rise

ABOVE: The Ned fuses old and new BELOW: Peter Mikic and his bright Islington drawing room design

PHOTOS: HOUSE OF GREY; THE NED; FELIX CLAY; KATE MARTIN

Rachel Chudley and her painterly interiors

of social media platforms like Instagram, where imperfect, unstyled interiors are perpetually on view, formal rooms have gone completely out of fashion.

‘I don’t think people like spaces that intimidate anymore,’ muses Brudnizki.

This relaxed attitude is linked to a freer use of colour, something that, according to stereotype, the British can be inhibited about. The work of top designer Peter Mikic – who has decorated an Islington drawing room in a surprising mélange of pink, turquoise and lime green – represents a new strain of colour confidence not seen since the 1970s, when David Hicks celebrated ‘vibrating’ combinations of vermilion, shocking pink and red. Hicks is also an inspiration to current high flier Tom Bartlett of Waldo Works, a master colourist who can bring a classic timber kitchen to life with the addition of sunflower-yellow shelves. Thanks to brands like Farrow & Ball and Little Greene, this creativity finds its way into the popular consciousness, too. Their Instagram feeds show Britons not only how to transform a room at the drop of a hat with paint, but how to contrast colours with flair.

A whole new generation of decorators, including Luke Edward Hall and Louisa Grey, have come to prominence under the ever-watchful eye

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PHOTOS: HOUSE OF GREY; THE NED; FELIX CLAY; KATE MARTIN

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Beata Heuman and her interior project at Dering Hall; Gucci S/S’18 – fashion can provide inspiration for interiors; yellow shelves add drama to Waldo Works’ classically timber kitchen; Luke Edward Hall’s Greek Key drinks table

of Instagram. It’s fascinating how this social media platform is shaping tastes in interiors. ‘People are now aware of every aspect of design and current trends, and I think this has made them braver and more willing to experiment,’ argues Kemp. ‘We are growing bolder with layering, print and colour – maximalism, I suppose you’d call it,’ adds Hall. As the Swedish-born, London-based interior designer Beata Heuman points out, social media has also led to a growing cross pollination between fashion and interiors. ‘Ideas trickle down from brands such as Gucci, which you can see in the move towards more colourful palettes,’ she says.

All of this means that interior design is more visible, and in demand, than ever before. ‘Design is one of the fastest growing creative industries in the UK economy,’ says Charles Leon, President of the British Institute of Interior Design (BIID). ‘It has the highest employment rates both nationally and locally.’ Instagram and style blogs have not only normalised the idea of employing a decorator – something that may once have seemed possible only for the very wealthy – but have also given rise to new innovations in the field. The launch of online interior design services such as Decology and Homewings, which allow customers to book affordable, virtual consultations from a pick-and-mix menu of services,

is a natural evolution of the Instagram design experience.

Arguably, it’s a good thing: evidence that the industry is thriving and becoming more democratic. But some insiders do have reservations. Bartlett points out that the increased exposure for designers on social media platforms has not been matched by an improved awareness of their specialist skills. ‘The revolution in choice can only be good, but I think there is still a lack of understanding about what interior designers actually do,’ he says. ‘Interior design has become a blanket term for a lot of different disciplines, from architecture to cushion piping. I’m not sure that even the industry itself really knows what it means.’

Even if the job description of an interior designer is becoming more abstract, it’s unlikely that the new wave of online services will ever replace them. The unique and intimate connection clients can form with a reallife decorator isn’t something that can be replicated online. And the individuality that the British prize so highly can hardly be bought off the peg. ‘What we as a nation excel at is expressing character, whether quietly or loudly,’ says Bartlett. ‘We borrow from the world and make something else out of it.’ What could be better than that? n COUNTRYANDTOWNHOUSE.CO.UK /GBB | 51

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CRAFT

THE HUMAN TOUCH Craft has reclaimed its rightful position as the true ingredient of luxury, says Emma Crichton-Miller

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ABOVE: Finishing touches on a Burberry coat LEFT: Burberry’s Christopher Bailey is a true champion of craft

luxury business, to reposition luxury as the guardian and champion of craftsmanship, rather than as craft’s glamorous and triumphant rival. Partly this makes economic good sense. As the once-lucrative market in Asia, where brand names still have cachet, has slowed down, it makes sense to court the cosmopolitan London audience, for whom The New Craftsmen’s refined wares are a badge of sophistication.

Of course it also confirms how definitively craft has been swept up and adopted by the luxury market as a guarantee of authenticity, quality and rarity. Now that brand names are everywhere, how else to justify the enormous price tag on those Gucci shoes or Prada bag than to explain that highly skilled hands devoted hours

PHOTOS: REX FEATURES

olders of a hot ticket to Christopher Bailey’s 2016 London Fashion Week show, were greeted with a surprise.

The then creative director and CEO of Burberry, who recently announced his departure, launched the S/S’17 collection in a pop-up space, a disused Soho warehouse, renamed Makers House, its courtyard enticingly decked out with plants and statuary. On the top floor fashionistas could admire the brand’s first straight-toconsumer collection in its entirety. But to get there you had first to navigate a multi-room installation dedicated to craft, curated by upscale craft shop, The New Craftsmen.

There were live demonstrations of silver casting and traditional Japanese lacquer techniques; one artist demonstrated silk-screen printing for scarves; another embroidered visitors’ handwriting onto cloth, while a pop-up concession of Thomas’s café served tea in slipware made by Devon craftsman Douglas Fitch and Scottish potter Hannah McAndrew. Aimee Betts and Harriet Stiles made a one-off hand-embroidered velvet bolster cushion, Marlène Huissoud decorated vessels made from bee resin while artists from the Royal School of Needlework hand-stitched insects to linen cushions using the Elizabethan technique of blackwork embroidery. Everywhere there were examples of the exquisitely made and scarily priced home goods to be found in the Mayfair shop.

The statement could not have been louder that craft and craftsmanship are core values, intrinsic to the Burberry brand. Christopher Bailey’s father was a carpenter and Bailey has long been a vocal champion of people who make things by hand. This display was not just an exuberant personal indulgence but a carefully choreographed piece of marketing, celebrating a marriage between superior craftsmanship and highend commerce. Far from being a singular flight of fancy, it is emblematic of a larger movement, common throughout the

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to their creation? There are echoes here of the Hermès travelling pop-up show, launched in 2011 and titled Festival des Métiers, which showcased artisans demonstrating how they make the famous brand’s bags, saddles, silk squares, ties, watches and gloves, and which arrived in Paris last November.

Or think of Louis Vuitton’s December 2015 exhibition at the Grand Palais, called Volez, Voguez, Voyagez – Louis, now travelling the world, which included displays of the many crafts employed across its products.

Other high-end names flaunting their craft credentials include Alexander McQueen, under creative director Sarah Burton, who took her team to Scotland’s Shetland Isles to inspire their spring 2017 collection. They later fielded an array of fine-spun knits, narrative embroideries and heraldic leatherwork.

The Northamptonshire shoe manufacturers Edward Green, Church’s, Crockett and Jones, Joseph Cheaney & Sons, John Lobb and Tricker’s, among others, parade their ancient bearded ancestors on their websites and vaunt the traditional skills of their crafstmen. Alongside the value

Shoemakers Crockett & Jones

LEFT: Alexander McQueen S/S’17 BELOW: Louis Vuitton’s Keepall 55, part of the Volez, Voguez, Voyagez – Louis exhibition

Glass artist Michael Ruh is one of the New Craftsmen

of handwork is the allure of story – the rich background narrative which gives depth and meaning to the product.

At its most perfunctory, all this rhetoric of heritage and craftsmanship has become so ubiquitous that we no longer hear it. We deride the hand-crafted sandwiches and heritage tomatoes we are offered. But it is in truth a remarkable reversal in values. One-hundred and fifty years ago luxury and fine craftsmanship were indivisible.

When, in 1837, Thierry Hermès first established a harness workshop on the Grands Boulevards of Paris, providing incomparable saddles and bridles to European noblemen, the only mark of excellence was craftsmanship: the quality of the chosen materials, the quality of the design and the quality of the workmanship. Similarly, the great jewellery and watch marques won their reputations by combining the finest materials with ingenious design and meticulous handwork.

This intimate connection between craft and luxury was slowly eroded throughout the 20th century. First modernism offered a different set of values to those which had sustained the luxury market, championing mechanisation and a simplified aesthetic. Then, after the Second World War a democratic spirit relegated luxury to the past: the future was to be bright, plastic and mass manufactured.

At this point, as Guy Salter, Chairman of London Craft Week, puts it, the western world experienced the roller coaster of ‘the discernment curve. Consumers joined the luxury market without having enjoyed the experience of fine craftsmanship. Small family businesses grew into large businesses catering to a much bigger market, requiring them to abandon their small-scale, hand-crafted processes.’ Luxury became a matter of marketing, a signalling of prestige, rather than a quality that could be appreciated. ‘There was a huge dip,’ Salter says, ‘in the level of discernment.’ In the 1970s and 1980s, the craft world also seemed often at odds with mainstream society. While there were fine potters and glass makers COUNTRYANDTOWNHOUSE.CO.UK /GBB | 53

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and lobbying they have emphasised the role that craftspeople of all kinds – from amateurs signing up for pottery evening classes and artisans employed in hand manufacture to artists such as Grayson Perry – play both in our cultural life and in the national economy. In the summer of 2016 a report written by KPMG for the Crafts Council concluded bluntly: ‘Craft makers are the “hidden heroes” of the UK’s innovation economy, and government and business must better understand and better invest in the sector or risk losing a £3.4bn industry to global competitors in Europe and Asia.’

Salter’s London Craft Week has also done its bit since 2015, inviting audiences in London to experience the backroom brilliance of London’s artisan community, as well as the creative dynamism of individual artist-makers, all in one crowded week of events, exhibitions and workshops. Artisanship has become cool and amateur crafting is a growing activity.

And if the craft world has been a little wary of this attention – anxious that its unique contributions will be reduced to ad-speak,

ABOVE: Henry Poole’s Keith Levett specialises in hand-making ceremonial costumes RIGHT: A Halcyon Days trinket box

ABOVE: London Craft Week BELOW: The V&A’s 2015 exhibition posed the provocative question What is Luxury?

PHOTOS: VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM

or goldsmiths and textile artists creating beautiful work, craft more generally was a niche interest with little impact on contemporary design or fashion, which were more interested in exploring new materials and new technologies to reach new consumers.

Keith Levett, a master tailor and director of Savile Row company Henry Poole & Co, who specialises himself in the meticulous hand-making of bespoke ceremonial and livery costumes, remembers those days well. ‘By the late 1980s/early 1990s, apprenticeship was a dirty word. There were comparatively few people coming into the trade. Companies were not thinking about the future.’ He remembers reading a series of articles in Country Life in the 1990s about Living Treasures of Craft, ‘a glorious survey of incredibly talented people’, he says, but written ‘as if these crafts were on their last legs’. Then there was the recession of the 1990s, when luxury brands, in the words of Salter, spent ‘all their money on rent and marketing, and very little on craftsmanship and quality’.

Giorgio Riello, historian and co-author of the recent book Luxury: A Rich History, comments, ‘At this point craft was seen as being very western and based on an idea of heritage.

It became part of a package, along with imagery from the 18th and 19th centuries – very Downton Abbey – to sell commodities.’

Big brands would make flamboyant but cynical claims about tradition and artisanal practice when in fact all it meant was a little hand-finishing to products mass produced through advanced methods of production. Anything that would tempt consumers to pay over the odds.

Over the last ten or 12 years, however, the tide has turned.

Organisations such as QEST, the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust, set up in 1990 by the Royal Warrant Holders Association to offer scholarships to talented craftsmen and women, and the Crafts Council, have worked hard to support crafts skills, and boost their profile. Through exhibitions, fairs such as Collect 54 | COUNTRYANDTOWNHOUSE.CO.UK /GBB

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Savoir Beds makes its product by hand

time apprentice. In 1997, Savoir beds took over the bespoke, that it is simply Cinderella being dragged out for show – so it has hand-made bed-making business of The Savoy Bedworks, saving also staged its own challenges.

In 2015 the Crafts Council and the Victoria and Albert Museum skills that had been passed down without break from 1905, while in 1970 Halcyon Days rescued the 18th-century art mounted the provocative exhibition What Is Luxury? Instead of enamelling on copper from extinction, building a business of a series of branded handbags, visitors experienced combs in hand-painted enamelled boxes and bangles which thrives constructed from human hair by Studio Swine, the exquisite to this day. Meanwhile William Asprey, scion of the venerable Golden Fleece Headpiece of master goldsmith Giovanni Corvaja, Bond Street store, Asprey, set up his own luxury brand, William intricately woven from 160 kilometres of superfine gold threads & Son in 1999 and, in 2010, sealed his over 2,500 hours and some remarkably commitment to British craftsmanship by buying beautiful plastic tables created by Chinese ‘Craft makers are the up and expanding three British factories that designer Gangjian Cui through a hand“hidden heroes” of the produce leather, tweed and cashmere. operated extrusion machine. The show asked: UK’s innovation economy, Finally LVMH-owned Spanish brand Is luxury about materials? Is it about time? and government and Loewe, under creative director Jonathan Is it about rarity of resources? Is it about skills?

Anderson has taken luxury’s love-affair with Annie Warburton, Creative Director of the business must better craft a step further, by becoming a patron.

Crafts Council, reminds me too that there understand and better A connoisseur and collector of British craft, is a luxury in having the time and resources invest in the sector or risk who has displayed studio ceramics in his to perfect a skill: it is this luxury you are also losing a £3.4bn industry’ stores, Anderson was behind the launch buying when you acquire a beautifully handof the Loewe Foundation’s Loewe Craft crafted object. She is hopeful that luxury Prize in 2016, stating ‘Craft is the essence of Loewe. As a house, brands have moved away from their flashy image to promote we are about craft in the purest sense of the word. That is ‘something much more subtle, to do with connoisseurship’. where our modernity lies, and it will always be relevant.’ The She also sees in the public an eagerness to ‘have objects with inaugural 2017 winner of the €50,000 prize was the magnificent a story behind them’ – not one spun from the candyfloss of cliché German wood artist Ernst Gamperl. As with Burberry’s ongoing and nostalgia but stories of real makers and real places. collaboration with The New Craftsmen, it seems luxury has at last In turn, the luxury brands have responded. Mulberry has embraced craft as an equal twin: to be nurtured, celebrated and invested heavily in the training of leather workers, Linley supports sprinkled with the dust of glamour. talented cabinet makers and the Savile Row Bespoke Association, For the sake of both, let us hope it is not just a gesture. n founded in 2004, requires its members to take on at least one fullCOUNTRYANDTOWNHOUSE.CO.UK /GBB | 55

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Gilo Industries’ Mako Slingshot is a motorised surfboard

GET UP AND GO

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raftsmanship, rarity and outstanding design are undoubtedly the keywords of modern luxury – and, when it comes to ‘things that go’, from high performance watches to motorcycles, cars to personal aircraft, the UK is a veritable hive of activity.

Giles Cardozo

GILES CARDOZO Founder of Gilo Industries

Giles ‘Gilo’ Cardozo could be described as a real-life Q. The 37-year-old is the irrepressible boffin behind the Gilo Industries Group, which comprises six individual companies making everything from ‘Parajet’ powered paragliders to small capacity ‘Rotron’ rotary engines that are sold to defence organisations around the world.

Based in the Wiltshire village of Semley, Gilo Industries employs 78 people ranging from recent university graduates to highly experienced engineers and fabricators aged 60-plus. They all work together to create

Parajet Maverick Paramotor

products such as the recently launched Mako Slingshot motorised surfboard and the Skycar – the world’s only fully operational flying car.

Rumour has it that Gilo is also well underway with testing a vertical take-off personal aircraft intended for mass production.

So what is it about the UK that he finds so inspiring? ‘The amazing thing is that it is a small island that still benefits from being the foundation of the Industrial Revolution,’ he says. ‘Somewhere in the UK you will always be able to find someone who is capable of making the thing you want because we have a unique density of engineering talent. It’s also an incredibly efficient country to do business in, because it’s possible to get virtually anywhere in the space of a few hours.

‘Britain is an endless source of talent thanks to the fact that we have some of the world’s best universities on our doorstep. ‘ giloindustriesgroup.com

PHOTOS: FREDERIC ARANDA

Simon de Burton speaks to six niche makers of goods based in Britain whose products are in demand around the world

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DESIGN & ENGINEERING

Roger Smith trained under the late Dr George Daniels

GERRY LISI Owner of Métisse Motorcycles

ROGER SMITH

PHOTOS: FREDERIC ARANDA

Founder of Roger W Smith Watches

Roger Smith is the only person to have been granted an apprenticeship by the late Dr George Daniels, regarded by many as the greatest watchmaker of the 20th century. Following the death of Dr Daniels in 2011, Smith has carried on his legacy of traditional English watchmaking, producing around ten pieces each year that sell to connoisseurs around the world for prices in excess of £100,000.

‘Roger W Smith is the only existing company to continue the art of making watches in the traditional English way, which means incorporating features such as frosted main plates and solid gold chatons,’ he says.

‘Britain has a history of innovation in watchmaking that dates back more than 300 years and, while the Swiss have dominated the industry, the Coaxial escapement invented by George Daniels, and now used by Omega, is still considered to make for one of the most accurate mechanical movements available.

Collectors are drawn to owning a truly English made watch.’

Smith’s comments are upheld by the fact that he has recently been forced to enlarge the business with a £750,000 investment in new workshops and aims to grow his team of watchmakers from eight to ten within the next year.

But anyone who thinks the expansion might make Roger W Smith watches too ‘common’ has nothing to fear. ‘We might increase production to 14 or 15 watches a year – but we’ll never make more than that,’ he says. ‘Our main aim is to reduce the current three-year waiting list.’ rwsmithwatches.com

Roger W Smith Series 4 watch

Métisse was founded in 1959 by successful motocross racing brothers Derek and Don Rickman. It specialised in making hand-built racing frames that came to be regarded as the ‘sine qua non’ among discerning riders from around the world – including Hollywood star Steve McQueen, who, in the spring of 1966, ordered a now celebrated Triumph-engined ‘desert racer’ from the company.

In 1999, engineer Gerry Lisi acquired the firm and re-established it by offering exact replicas of the McQueen machine, a move that drew orders from around the world.

Métisse, based in Oxfordshire, now lists four different models in its range and produces around 40 motorcycles per year costing from £17,940 for the McQueen bike to £31,200 for the MK 5, an entirely bespoke, twincylinder road bike with an in-house designed engine.

According to Lisi, there is simply no other country in which Métisse motorcycles could be built. ‘The company was hatched here and has remained in its country of origin,’ he says. ‘It might be a French word, but it is known throughout the world as being an English make, and making it abroad using foreign parts would degrade it.

‘There is a definite kudos to owning a British-made motorcycle, which is why Steve McQueen chose to buy from Métisse in the first place. Making replicas of his bike pushed our company along, but now it is once again recognised as a builder of great British motorcycles that are made entirely from British components. We export everywhere from New Zealand to Canada, Romania to South Africa – but we’d never consider building our bikes anywhere else.’ métisse-motorcycles.com

Gerry Lisi at his Oxford HQ and his Steve McQueen Desert Racer

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Sven Cycles use the best British materials

DAVID BROWN Founder of David Brown Automotive

David Brown is a talented engineer and serial entrepreneur who began his career working for his father’s firm, Peterlee-based DJB engineering. Brown junior developed an articulated dumper truck and other innovative plant vehicles that helped to make DJB an internationally renowned company.

During the 1990s, it was bought by American machinery maker Caterpillar, leaving Brown to pursue a range of business ideas, from running a Harley-Davidson dealership to opening a chain of nightclubs.

In 2013, however, he launched David Brown Automotive to produce the Speedback GT, a sleek and luxurious grand touring car which is entirely hand built and carries a price tag of almost £600,000. More recently, he has expanded the range with the introduction of the Mini Remastered, a modern-day take on the classic British Mini.

‘Retaining our British manufacturing and utilising the best of British talent is very important to me,’ says Brown. ‘I founded David Brown Automotive out of a passion for timeless styling, British handcraftsmanship and low-volume engineering and manufacturing techniques. Both the Speedback GT and the Mini Remastered are built, assembled and trimmed from start to finish at our new headquarters at Silverstone It’s a huge facility at the home of British motorsport, which is also recognised as the national hub for automotive engineering.

‘Our cars are sold globally, and we’re confident of the opportunities that will arise from a successful Brexit.’

The Mini Remastered davidbrownautomotive.com

DARRON COPPIN Founder of Sven Cycles

Sven Cycles might sound as though it’s based in the far north of Europe – but it’s actually to be found on the south coast of England, in Weymouth.

The ‘Sven’ comes from the middle name of Darron Coppin, who is of English descent but was born in Sweden.

From a good, old-fashioned workshop that ‘smells of oil’ and isn’t a ‘flashy showroom with £20,000 worth of lights hanging from the ceiling’, Coppin and three colleagues build hand-made, traditional-looking bicycles using only the best British materials.

Prices start at around £1,700 and rise to as much as £15,000 for extensively bespoked creations, with all the bikes being assembled using renowned Reynolds tubing, Brooks saddles and Hope hubs.

‘There was a time when the UK was the largest producer of bicycles in the world,’ says Coppin. ‘I know of several small bicycle firms in the UK that have their machines made overseas but would love them to be built here – and our aim is to reach a position within the next couple of years where we can manufacture for such companies. I’m totally confident that the market for good quality bikes, that aren’t subject to currency fluctuations or problems with parts availability or supply, is set to grow,’ says Coppin, who prefers to describe his machines as ‘modern bikes with a classic sensibility’ rather than ‘retro’.

‘What we’re hoping to do is to make people realise that while a bike built in China might cost 30 per cent less than a Sven bike, a Sven bike is made to last for generations. It’s something to be handed down.’ svencycles.com

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Nigel Irens designed the 35m trimaran Adventurer

NIGEL IRENS World-renowned yacht designer

Nigel Irens is celebrated for creating the 75-foot trimaran B&Q Castorama in which Dame Ellen MacArthur set a solo circumnavigation record by sailing around the world in 71 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 33 seconds in 2005.

Devon-based Irens also designed the record-breaking 35-metre trimaran Adventurer, and is known for the versatility that enables him to create efficient and attractive sail and motor boats of all sizes.

‘It’s true to say that Britain has always been at the forefront of yachting activity which, in part, must be a consequence of being an island nation. Indeed, the country is so well known for its nautical background that it’s probably true to say that “British boat building” is regarded as a brand in itself.

‘But when Napoleon said “Britain is a nation of shopkeepers”, I think he pinpointed the fact that we have always been very good at micro industry – and making a yacht requires many different skills, all of which are available here.

‘We’re also recognised for doing a lot of our boat building work through inspiration as much as calculation, and that means we’re good at producing interesting designs. My boats, for example, may appear to be very different from one another, but there is a common theme running through all of them – and that is driven by the fact that I have always been fascinated by “easily drive” or “slippery” hulls.’

Irens-designed boats are bought by private clients and official organisations from around the world, with recent creations including the Vantage 86 ‘adventure catamaran’ – which was designed to carry two, full-sized motorcycles so its owner could access remote parts of distant places – and the futuristic-looking Xplore 70 and Origin 575 trimaran explorer superyachts. nigelirens.com n COUNTRYANDTOWNHOUSE.CO.UK /GBB | 59

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REINVENTING THE REEL The British film industry is thriving both here and abroad, reports David Sexton, thanks in part to the country’s brilliance at reinvention

gave them a dominant position in the industry. Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) and Love Actually (2003) followed.

Working Title prospered mightily into the new millennium, keeping faith with Hugh Grant and Colin Firth, for that special British allure. Rivalling them and ultimately outdoing everybody, in 2001, David Heyman began producing the world-conquering Harry Potter franchise, bringing gothic boarding schools and plucky British kids to global renown in a way that could never have been imagined before JK Rowling pulled it off.

Meanwhile the monarchy is also an easy and potent association for British film, from The Madness of King George (Alan Bennett and Nicholas Hytner, 1994) to The Queen (Peter Morgan and Stephen Frears, 2006), culminating in the triumph of Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech in 2010.

So, yes, let’s concede that British cinema has consistently been a good deal about being British, about our history and manners, our dramatic and literary heritage.

But so far from reducing our influence internationally, that depth in tradition has

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ot so long ago, it seemed that British cinema’s greatest strength lay in trading on our heritage and supplying comforting masterpiece theatre.

Chariots of Fire had enormous impact in 1981; Richard Attenborough’s Oscarwinning epic Gandhi followed a year later.

The path ahead for British cinema seemed clear: period films, lavishly cast and superbly costumed. Perhaps the most characteristic British films through the Eighties were the splendid literary adaptations by producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory adapting Henry James and EM Forster and, maybe the best of them all, in 1993, Kazuo Ishiguro’s butler tragedy, The Remains of the Day. This was also the decade of deft writers and directors frankly weaponising British charm in more contemporary settings, above all for Working Title films.

Founded in 1983, Working Title scored early successes with the Hanif Kureishi adaptations My Beautiful Laundrette and Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, before Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and Notting Hill (1999)

FROM ABOVE: JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and Michael Bond’s Paddington pull in big audiences

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continued to prove ever more attractive internationally, successfully showcasing our culture and identity to the world.

BFI statistics show that of the top 200 global box office successes of 2001 to 2016, 38 films were based on stories and characters created by UK writers – think not just JK Rowling and JRR Tolkien, and of course Ian Fleming, but also Rudyard Kipling (The Jungle Book), CS Lewis, and now Michael Bond (Paddington).

Together, these films earned $29bn (£19bn) at the worldwide box office.

Moreover, 32 of the 200 highest grossing films at the global box office between 2001 and 2016 were helmed by British directors, a figure of course helped

by Harry Potter but not to forget directors like Christopher Nolan and Sam Mendes.

We score just as highly in acting talent too. Over 60 per cent (121) of the top 200 films at the global box office since 2001 have featured British actors in either lead/

FROM TOP: Working Title’s Bridget Jones traded on British sensibility; Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk and Spielberg’s Ready Player One used British production facilities; Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour was made with BFI and Lottery investment

title roles (52 per cent) or in the supporting cast (69 per cent). Andy Serkis is the star mo-cap performer of them all, featuring in Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Planet of the Apes and Star Wars.

Our production facilities also continue to be worldleading. In 2016, the spend on film production in the UK reached the highest level on record, at £1.6bn, a 13 per cent increase on the previous year, with £1.35bn being spent as inward investment – including on such major projects as Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk, Zack Snyder’s upcoming superhero movie, Justice League and Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One. There’s continued high demand for UK crews, VFX and production services, locations – and the supportive fiscal environment created by the UK’s creative sector tax reliefs. (It has been calculated that for every £1 of tax relief given for film production, £12.49 is returned to the economy.)

Meanwhile our own independent filmmakers continue to be actively supported by the BFI and Lottery investment: 129 domestic UK films were made last year, whereas back in the 1980s there were only 40 or so a year.

They included such titles as Andy Serkis’s directoral debut Breathe, Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver, Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour and Stephen Frears’ Victoria and Abdul.

So this is a thriving business, as can be seen even when it’s just stated in stark economic terms.

An Oxford Economics report a few years ago calculated that the core UK film industry was directly generating 43,900 jobs.

The industry’s indirect impact is even greater, of course, although harder to assess. It has been estimated that around a tenth of UK tourism can be attributed to film, a figure therefore worth a good deal more. It’s not just specific shoot site visits either, although they can have startling effects (tourism in New Zealand went up 17 per cent the year after the first Lord of the Rings film, shot but not set there, was released in 2001).

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increasingly including countries, the Far East for example, that have had little previous direct knowledge of us. Sometimes it’s almost comically specific – Kingsman: The Secret Service of 2014 sold lots of Savile Row (or Savile Rowish) suits round the world.

But the more profound the influence, the harder it is to quantify. Films affect our own sense of national identity, in a critical as well as celebratory way (Trainspotting as well as The King’s Speech), and our identity abroad too.

Film helps make us who we are: it’s determining in both how we see ourselves and how others see us. And if many of the best British filmmakers take their careers on to Hollywood, the essence of their creativity remains British nonetheless, wherever they are working. And often they return.

Daniel Day-Lewis’s journey, for example, is one familiar with British actors: make a splash in your homeland (in 1985: Merchant Ivory’s A Room with a View and Frears’s My Beautiful Laundrette), then find worldwide acclaim after choice collaborations with Hollywood titans, such as Scorsese and Spielberg. Now Day-Lewis, is returning for, apparently, his very last film, Phantom Thread, a London-set tale of Savile Row in the ’60s, another collaboration with the American director Paul Thomas Anderson, with whom he made one of the century’s instant masterpieces – 2009’s There Will Be Blood.

British directors have long followed suit, travelling to Tinseltown if they possibly can, but many have chosen to return home at some point, to make the films that define them. Take Sam Mendes: enormous success with his two James Bond films (2015’s Spectre, and Skyfall from three years earlier), but a much more mixed reaction to the American movies he has made: a traumatic adaptation of Revolutionary Road (2008), and a grating road movie in the form of Away We Go (2009).

Christopher Nolan, having comprehensively conquered Hollywood with the Dark Knight trilogy, Inception and Interstellar, came back this year to make a stunningly original film about one of the great turning points in the British narrative, Dunkirk, deliberately using very young British actors and bringing his unique sensibility, apparently best suited to science fiction, to a real life, historical story

PHOTOS: REX FEATURES

FROM TOP: Kingsman led to worldwide sales of Savile Row suits; British film-maker Steve McQueen made the epic 12 Years a Slave about slavery in the United States; Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri takes on the Coen Brothers

for the first time, bringing together both extreme authenticity and high conceptualisation.

And there’s an interesting reversal at work at the moment too. A new wave of British directors are going stateside and embracing Americana.

Globalism alone cannot explain the way that the Brits have been beating the Yanks at their own game.

Lynne Ramsay first emerged with the bleak Scottish films Ratcatcher and Morvern Callar but then found international success with We Need to Talk About Kevin. Her new film, a brutal New York-set thriller called You Were Never Really Here, starring Joaquin Phoenix, won her best screenplay and him best actor at Cannes this year, as well as a prolonged standing ovation.

Andrea Arnold, likewise, emerged with films about hard lives in the UK, including a visionary version of Wuthering Heights, but her latest, American Honey, is an epic, made up as it goes along, American road movie, about kids scratching a living across the Mid West.

Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which won the people’s prize at Toronto Film Festival this year, takes on the Coen brothers at their own game and outdoes them.

And it is a black British filmmaker, the Turner Prize-winning artist Steve McQueen, who has made by far the greatest film about the entire experience and legacy of slavery in the United States, 12 Years a Slave (2013).

British film may still be turning to the past, to our incomparable literature and history, but it is constantly finding new ways to take that story on. n

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DRINKS

A TASTE OF THE LAND Three cheers for the Great British drinks renaissance, says Alice Lascelles

Cory Mason and Tom Nicholson from TOAD craft distillery, which makes its spirit from scratch

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FROM TOP: Michael Kaplan launched a British vermouth made with English wine and local botanicals; Sacred’s vermouth is made in north London; The Cambridge Distillery’s Dry Gin is made from locally grown and foraged ingredients

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hanks to its mercantile past, modern-day Britain boasts one of the richest and most diverse drinks markets in the world. While our continental neighbours have always tended to drink what’s on their doorstep (and when that’s the likes of bordeaux, chianti and champagne, who can blame them?), the Brits have, over the centuries, enthusiastically quaffed South American rums, German rieslings, Italian vermouths, French wines and fine cognacs by the shipload. It makes for an exciting mix, but the downside is that a lot of Britain’s more historic drinks, ingredients and methods have got lost along the way.

Now, a new generation of artisans is helping to revive them, creating British-born drinks that really speak of the land that they came from.

One of those is The Oxford Artisan Distillery (TOAD). Unlike most gin distilleries, which buy their base spirit in bulk from industrial suppliers, TOAD makes its spirit from scratch using heritage grain varieties all harvested within 50 miles. ‘What we wanted to do was make a spirit with unshakeable provenance,’ says founder Tom Nicholson. Along with its flagship gin – which is flavoured with foraged meadowsweet – TOAD is also creating a gin in collaboration with the University of Oxford Botanic Garden inspired by medicinal preparations of old. ‘Every botanical in that will either come from the Botanic Garden itself or be mentioned in the garden’s 400-year-old seed list,’ says master distiller Cory Mason. TOAD also has a whisky on the way aged in English oak casks (rather than the usual American or Spanish ones), made by England’s last-surviving cooper, Alastair Simms.

Making a gin that’s 100 per cent homegrown is tricky, since very few of the classic botanicals – which include citrus peels, coriander, orris and liquorice – are cultivated on any scale here. Gin’s key ingredient, juniper, is also seriously endangered, which makes sourcing it locally on a large scale very difficult (having said that, Hepple, Crossbill and Beckett’s all use a proportion of native juniper in the mix, and duly run re-planting schemes to off-set each harvest).

At the state-of-the-art Cambridge Distillery in Grantchester, they produce a twice-yearly seasonal gin which is, aside from the juniper, made entirely from locally grown and foraged ingredients. Instead of citrus peel, they use homegrown lemon verbena and lemon balm. Viburnum, mint, lavender, mahonia, hawthorn, brambles and even nettles make it into the mix too, ‘often foraged during dog walks on Grantchester Meadows,’ says distiller Will Lowe. It sounds like a recipe for disaster, but these gins are beautiful – picked and distilled the same morning, the botanicals create an aromatic snapshot of English landscapes.

Vermouth is probably best-known as an Italian or French drink thanks to brands like Martini, Cinzano and Noilly Prat, but there is a long tradition of drinking wine flavoured with wormwood in the British Isles, too, going back at least to the days of Elizabeth I. And British vermouth is now making a comeback. The Sacred Distillery in north London does a superb, bitter sweet red vermouth made with English wine and a mix of 24 botanicals including citrus peels, thyme, plum stones and Somerset wormwood, a recipe inspired, says creator Ian Hart, by ‘Tudor pomanders, Elizabethan herb gardens and English orchards’ (try it in a Negroni with their English answer to Campari, the Rosehip Cup).

Up in Scotland, historian Michael Kaplan also recently launched Wermod Great British Vermouth, made with English wine and local botanicals including nettles, elderflower and goose grass. He tells me this last ingredient was used back in the day to make a cordial a bit like dandelion and burdock. ‘We wanted to prove that you don’t have to go far for remarkable flavours,’ he says. Fresh, herbal and very dry, Wermod is a delicious aperitif straight from the fridge, or in a Dry Martini.

English sparkling wine may be touted as the hot new thing, but history suggests that the Brits were actually making fizz hundreds

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DRINKS

FROM LEFT: Ben Branson launched Seedlip, an non-alcoholic gin to keep the family farm going; Restaurateur Mark Hix is a great champion of the British drinks industry; Oliver’s Fine Perry is back on the sophisticated drinker’s menu

English sparkling wine may be touted as the hot new thing, but history suggests that the Brits were actually making fizz hundreds of years ago, possibly even before the French of years ago, possibly even before the French. Dom Pérignon often gets credited with inventing the Champagne method, but the first person to actually document the process was the English physician Dr Christopher Merret. He presented his findings to the Royal Society in 1662 – several years before Dom Pérignon was even in situ at his HQ, Hautvillers Abbey. The trophywinning South Ridge Cuvée Merret sparkler, from Sussex winemakers Ridgeview, is named in his honour.

Recipes of yore have also helped to inspire some of today’s most pioneering new drinks – not all of them alcoholic. It was a receipt for a herbal elixir in a distilling manual from 1651 that gave Ben Branson the idea of creating Seedlip, a ‘non-alcoholic gin’ that’s now taking the cocktail world by storm. After playing around with homegrown herbs and a tiny copper pot still, he eventually came up with the formula for Seedlip Garden 108, which sees spearmint, rosemary and thyme married with fresh peas and hay grown on the Lincolnshire family farm.

‘Sitting in a combine, playing around on the yard, eating peas – growing up on a farm was like an adventure playground,’ says Branson. ‘My family’s legacy and keeping it alive is very important to me, as is highlighting just how wonderful English produce is, and the need to continually champion those working within the industry.’

Thanks to cool craft brand Gosnells, mead is now having an overhaul, while craft brewers like London’s Kew Brewery are banging the drum for British hops, a hop variety that has long been overlooked. And perry, once the butt of jokes, is now re-claiming its status as a properly classy drink thanks to artisans

like Tom Oliver, the Herefordshire cider maker widely credited with rescuing the perry pear from extinction. A sip of Oliver’s Fine Perry Keeved Sweet Season 2016 makes it plain why Napoleon once described perry as the ‘English champagne’.

One of the great champions of British drinks has been restaurateur Mark Hix – you can find many on the list at his restaurants, with a particularly good selection at Mark’s Bar in Soho. ‘Just a few years ago, the choice of homegrown drinks was quite limited, but now there are so many to choose from,’ he says. ‘I think we can now confidently say that we make drinks as good as anything you can find on the Continent.’

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FACES OF THE FUTURE Our panel of experts highlight the creative trailblazers to keep our eyes on

Architecture

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PHOTOS: © HÉLÈNE BINET; © KEVIN MEREDITH; EDMUND BLOK FOR MODERN ART OXFORD

BY STEPHEN BAYLEY

A generation ago there were very visible leaders of the architectural profession. James Stirling, Norman Foster and Richard Rogers sat not so much on the shoulders of giants as on the long-suffering shoulders of the entire profession. But that has changed. Stirling died young and the other two are in their eighties. We have lost the idea of leadership.

The moral certainties of Modernism seem less irrefutable today and have settled down into an easy-going language. The bravura aggro of Brutalism is history and PoMO has been exposed as architectural transvestitism. Meanwhile, Minimalism has entered the vocabulary of estate agents whence nothing recovers. Architecture today is less polarised, more diverse and more conversational than rebarbative.

Egos are less monumental and monuments are less egotistic.

Still, there have been some outstanding recent buildings illustrative of, depending on your point-of-view, either fascinating eclecticism or directionless promiscuity: Peter Salter’s Walmer Yard houses in Notting ABOVE: Peter Salter’s Walmer Yard house Hill: the bizarre result of in Notting Hill BELOW: Marks Barfield’s an unedited imagination. i360 in Brighton Marks Barfield’s i360 in Brighton: techno-futurism is not a thing of the past.

Wilkinson Eyre’s Dyson Campus in Malmesbury: high-concept purism in rural Wiltshire.

Caruso St John’s Liverpool Philharmonic: the good architects don’t disdain refurbishment, here on a heroic scale for this Art Deco masterpiece.

6a Architects’ Studio for Juergen Teller in Ladbroke Grove: with ingenious design, uninhibited concrete can be charming.

Are these avant-garde?

‘Avant’ to exactly what?

In 2018, almost anything is possible in British architecture.

NEW FACES

Country Sports

Le Rodeur: The Exchange, 2016 by Lubaina Himid, who is on the Turner Prize shortlist

BY LUCY CLELAND

Art

PHOTOS: © HÉLÈNE BINET; © KEVIN MEREDITH; EDMUND BLOK FOR MODERN ART OXFORD

BY EMMA CRICHTON-MILLER

It’s all change at the Turner Prize awards. No longer do you have to be under 40 to win one of its prestigious prizes – it’s talent alone that matters. And a very Lubaina Himid good thing too, since the making of a great artist sometimes takes years to accomplish. So Lubaina Himid, born in 1954, who has been making complex work about race and gender since the 1980s, suddenly hit the radar with two outstanding solo shows, and has found herself on the Turner shortlist, alongside artists decades her junior. Another older artist deservedly finding the spotlight is Michael Simpson, born in 1940. He has been quietly exhibiting his large-scale enigmatic paintings of singular objects – a series ‘Bench’ (1989–2009) has been followed by the series ‘Squint’ (2009 ongoing) – for many years. In 2016 he won the highly regarded John Moores Painting Prize and now the swanky Hanover Square gallery Blain|Southern has taken Squint to Berlin – Simpson’s first solo exhibition in Germany.

For a true young blood, however, you might look to Rachel Maclean, who represented Scotland in 2017 at the Venice Biennale with a surrealistic, slyly political video about Pinocchio; or recent Royal College of Art graduate Jamie Fitzpatrick, who makes gloriously outrageous mechanised sculptures. Others to look out for include Jack Otway, creator of meticulous abstract paintings on gesso, or Korean-born Tae Eun Ahn, winner of a prize this summer at Charlie Smith gallery in London for his performance piece with clay.

Each is utterly different from the others, reflecting the enormous Untitled, 2016, Clay Performance, diversity of art two hours by Tae Eun Ahn in Britain.

The line between country and city dressing has never been more blurred. Gentlemen have always been well catered for, of course. But what about the women? As lifestyles are now merging more seamlessly than ever, a new raft of brands has risen to the challenge of providing clothes that sit happily in either wardrobe.

At the vanguard of this was Really Wild, founded by Natalie Lake, who spotted a gap in the market for chic, well-tailored classic garments with a modern twist, in 2002. More recently, it has been the very women for whom country sports course through their blood who have launched their own labels in this last year alone.

Take Lady Melissa Percy’s brand, Mistamina. Missy, as she’s known to her friends, daughter of the 12th Duke of Northumberland, whose home Alnwick Castle, known for its astonishing shoot days, says of her debut collection: ‘I have aimed to create a range of outdoor performance clothes that are also feminine.

In addition, they are fresh, practical, contemporary and edgy. I’ve designed pieces that I would wear myself and which combine elegance with an active outdoor lifestyle.’

This is key also to brands launched by similarly wellplaced women; Lady ‘Missy’ Percy launched Annabel Tyrwhitther own label Mistamina Drake’s Miller & Drake, AnneSofie ‘Fie’ Lucan’s eponymous label Lucan and Troy London, founded by upper-class sisters Rosie van Cutsem and Lucia Ruck Keene.

Their wax parkas, tweed capes with cosy fur collars and fitted hunting jackets all appeal to the modern woman for whom both country and town are Jacquetta Wheeler their natural models Troy London way of life.

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Country garden design

by Jonathan Snow

Garden Designers

BY KIT PEEL

Royal Bank of Canada Garden 2017 by Harris Bugg

Travel Concierges

BY LUCIA VAN DER POST

While some travellers trot down to Trailfinders or scan the Thomas Cook website, when they want to go a-roaming, there are some who turn to an elite group of travel planners who hold their hand every inch of the way, who know exactly which room you should book in any given hotel, who know the most discreet table in the best restaurants and who are on to the newest destination before the rest of the world has woken up. They are the high-end travel concierges. They are so sought-after by the rich and famous that most only take new clients if they come recommended by existing ones.

Take Earth is run by Glen Donovan, who looks after a small, discreet group of Anthony Lassman and travellers, most his wife Elaine run Nota Bene of whom are high

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PHOTOS: © MARIANNE MAJERUS; GETTY IMAGES

Former army office Jonathan Snow retrained as a garden designer ten years ago, first working for industry stars Arne Maynard and Tom Stuart-Smith before setting up his own London practice. His style is traditional and high quality, with Dutch and Belgian influences such as espalier and topiary.

Jonathan particularly enjoys large country gardens and London courtyards. Thoroughly professional and utterly charming Precocious design team Charlotte Harris and Hugo Bugg are among the Chelsea Flower Show’s youngest gold medallists, with studios in both London and Exeter. Current projects include luxury London residences, a hospice garden in Surrey, a 220acre Highland estate, a hotel in Ibiza and the new Royal Botanic Gardens Jordan. ‘We combine a rigorous consideration of the singular spirit of the place with bold geometry and eloquent spatial planning, paying close attention to the emotional experience of the space,’ says Harris.

Ben, Chris and the team at Innoscape specialise in traditional landscaping with a modern edge. Expect intricate drystone walling with copper details, rills and collaborations with artisan contractors. Book well in advance. Ply them with good coffee.

NEW FACES

Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency

Investment

BY JONATHAN PRYNN

PHOTOS: © MARIANNE MAJERUS; GETTY IMAGES

An Indonesian adventure with Based on a True Story

spenders but, more importantly, Donovan stresses, are ‘spirited, adventurous and don’t just want to go where the posh crowd go’. Today he takes on new clients by invitation only or those who come with cast-iron credentials. Ditto Joanna Davies, whose Joanna Davies Private Travel company caters to the privileged few for whom personally curated travel is the only way to go.

Then there’s Nota Bene run by Anthony Lassman, with his wife Elaine, who have the most fastidious taste and who never recommend anything that they haven’t tried personally. Also in there among those who look after the select few of highly sophisticated punters, is Alice Daunt of Daunt Travel, whose lucky customers know she can get them the best house, the finest guide and the most discreet room in any destination. For adventurers, many swear by Based On A True Story, while Dennis Wilde of Wilde Private Travel is Dennis Wilde is the ultimate fixer the ultimate fixer.

Who would be an investment adviser in these turbulent, unpredictable times? With interest rates still on the floor and stock markets likely to be close to peaks, what are the new exciting areas where investors might hope for a fat return? Bitcoin may be old hat now but there are other less-known so-called ‘cryptocurrencies’ or ‘alt coins’ out there that many still believe have potential for huge gains. They have names like Ethereum, XRP, Ark, Siacoin and Xtrabytes that sound more like slang terms for drugs than mainstream investments.

Be careful though. Although cryptocurrencies have delivered huge gains for investors in recent years they are much more volatile than conventional cash currencies – the Wild West of 21st-century investment. They are not for the faint-hearted but could offer a lot of fun for financial thrill seekers in 2018.

Another area that is forecast to grow hugely in 2018 and could represent ‘the next big thing’ for investment is so called ‘heat not burn’ cigarette technology. These are products that warm up but do not ignite tobacco and are said to provide a more authentic experience than e-cigarettes but with reduced health risks. The big cigarette manufacturers have invested hundreds of millions of pounds in this technology and expect a fat return.

The batteries used in electric cars are another sector where technology may deliver huge increases in share prices in 2018.

Electric cars are still limited by their relative short range and the long recharging time of their batteries. Any breakthroughs that lead to improvements in ‘next generation’ batteries are likely to turbocharge the shares of the companies involved.

In an uncertain world where Donald Trump and Kim Jongun both have itchy fingers on nuclear triggers, some pessimistic advisers suggest highly portable physical investments could be a good tip for 2018. Forget heavy sculptures, gold and Old Masters, instead think small Modiglianis or anything that can be rolled up and put in a suitcase in a hurry.

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NEW FACES

Fiona Mozley, a shining new talent

Literary

BY DAVID SEXTON

Flare Audio earphones have shaken up the industry

Technology

BY JONATHAN MARGOLIS

In east London, Zimbabwe-born entrepreneur Lisa Armstrong is about to launch an app that could help women in rural Africa.

Her Ugogo Africa will enable craftswomen to sell their art products worldwide.

Another new face in technology, Davies Roberts, based near Worthing, has invented radical new earphones for music lovers; his Flare Audio is already gaining plaudits from music industry gurus.

Remember the pocket Psion computers from the 1980s? London academic and inventor Dr Janko Mrsic-Flogel and his company Planet Computers is about to launch an updated, web-connected version of the Psion. Buyers across the world are queuing up to buy the Gemini.

Behind a coffee shop on London’s Mile End Road, Alex Klein, a young Londoner brought up in Seattle, is bringing coding skills to the next generation of computer scientists; his colourful Kano electronic kits are already in stores globally.

In a very different field, but also with impact around the world, London-based Aussie Leanne Kemp’s award-winning Everledger is making it possible to ‘fingerprint’ diamonds and other valuables to eliminate fraud and sale of stolen goods. n

Sally Rooney was just 26 when she wrote Conversations with Friends

A web-connected Gemini

by Dr Janko Mrsic-Flogel

PHOTOS: © JONNY L DAVIES

This year’s Man Booker Prize threw up a welcome surprise – the shortlisting of Elmet, the debut novel of Fiona Mozley, at 29 the second-youngest writer ever to be so distinguished. This piece of rural noir, set in Yorkshire, about an overpowering father who builds a house on land he doesn’t own, is both ‘timeless in its epic mixture of violence and love’ and ‘timely in its shadowy metaphor of doomed resistance to the encroachment of an ever more faceless world’, according to one of the Booker judges.

It takes most writers time to find their way – and the bar for being considered young as a writer tends to be tactfully set at 40. But when a new voice emerges, it’s unmistakable – and this year, the big discovery for many has been 26-year-old Sally Rooney, whose novel, Conversations with Friends, about a 21-yearold student in Dublin trying to find her way, suddenly seemed to be more truthful about how people of her generation live in the digital age than anything that has come before: nothing less than a new style of storytelling. ‘Salinger for the Snapchat generation,’ her editor announced – and the enraptured reviewers agreed.

David Szalay was shortlisted for the Booker last year for All That Man Is, and didn’t win – perhaps because the book is a collection of interlinked stories, rather than a novel – but over the last year, the status of this book has grown steadily among its readers, looking now like a definitive picture of male disorientation across our changing Europe – nothing’s more timely, right now.

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FASHION

HIGH FASHION Alexander McQueen p74 Aquascutum p76 Burberry p78 DAKS p80 Mackintosh p82 Mulberry p84 Pringle of Scotland p86 Temperley London p88 Vivienne Westwood p90

CLASSIC FASHION Barbour p92 Brora p94 Johnstons of Elgin p96 N. Peal p98

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HIGH FASHION

ALEXANDER McQUEEN

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Synonymous with modern British couture

Founded in 1992 by the uncompromisingly talented designer ince her appointment in 2010 as creative director, Lee McQueen, Alexander McQueen became one of the most respected Sarah Burton has produced critically acclaimed fashion houses in the world in less than ten years. McQueen began collections, showing an ability to marry the design his career as an apprentice for Savile Row codes of the house with lightness tailors Anderson & Sheppard and Gieves & and her own feminine touch Integral to the McQueen Hawkes. From there he moved to theatrical and creating a new personal aesthetic culture is the juxtaposition of costumiers Angels and Berman’s, gradually and a blueprint for the future. contrasting elements: fragility mastering the pattern-cutting techniques Burton received global recognition and razor-sharp tailoring that became the as the designer of HRH the Duchess and strength, tradition and signature of his house. McQueen completed of Cambridge’s wedding dress in April modernity, fluidity and severity a masters degree in fashion design at Central 2011, the same year she was named Saint Martins, where his graduate collection Designer of the Year at the British Fashion was bought in its entirety by the British Awards. In 2012 Time magazine listed The Alexander McQueen AW17 Collection fashion editor Isabella Blow. her as one of its 100 most influential Alexander McQueen’s A/W’17 collection people and she was awarded an OBE for was inspired by the pagan landscapes and services to the British fashion industry. ancient traditions of Cornwall, in particular In 2011 the Costume Institute organised the ‘Cloutie’ trees, seen as spiritual places the retrospective Savage Beauty at of pilgrimage. The trees’ branches are the Metropolitan Museum of Art adorned with colourful ribbons, representing in recognition of McQueen’s talents the hopes and dreams of those who tied and achievements. In 2015, the them. Characterised by fluid, elongated Victoria & Albert Museum silhouettes, raw edges, patchwork, in London hosted the exhibition, embroidery and cross-stitching, the adding a brand new ‘London’ collection has a medieval feel – even gallery. It was to become down to the gold and silver eyelets that the most visited exhibition reference Queen Guinevere’s soft armour. in the museum’s history.

The collection’s detailing was carried Alexander McQueen through into accessories like the box shows are known for their bag, inspired by antique luggage and emotional power and raw treasure chests. Here ‘Cloutie’ ribbons energy. The label, with its were reimagined using colourful leather romantic, contemporary lace fringing and a braided strap; other collections and unbridled versions were finished in tweed shot creativity, has become through with brightly synonymous with coloured twisted yarns. modern British couture.

Having expanded Integral to the McQueen internationally through culture is the juxtaposition wholesale and retail channels, of contrasting elements: Alexander McQueen has fragility and strength, strengthened its position tradition and modernity, in the luxury sector. fluidity and severity.

Through a network McQueen’s collections of 48 stores worldwide combine an in-depth and an e-commerce knowledge of British operation that ships to tailoring, a profound over 100 countries, fans are respect for the arts and crafts xxxxxxxxxxxxxx able to access and shop tradition, fine workmanship the brand literally and the impeccable finish anywhere in the world. of Italian manufacturing.

ALEXANDER MCQUEEN 4–5 OLD BOND STREET, LONDON W1S 4PD

+44 (0)20 7355 0088

ALEXANDERMCQUEEN.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HIGH FASHION

AQUASCUTUM Fine craftsmanship, tailoring and technical innovation are behind this pioneering bastion of British style

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and Aqua Five. The latter uses an exclusive process that impregnates et up by John Emary in 1851, Aquascutum opened cotton for rainwear, eliminating the need for re-proofing, and was as a Mayfair tailor. After only two years, Emary had hailed as the ‘greatest technical advance in rainwear’. created and patented the first waterproof textile The brand has never lost its relevance, responding to each (‘aquascutum’ means ‘water shield’ in Latin), setting the decade’s demands in its inimitable way. 1976 saw it celebrate course for the company to become purveyors of stylish, its 125th birthday with a special feature in Vogue magazine. weather-resistant, comfortable clothes for country and leisure In the same year, the highly successful and distinctive Club pursuits. From the beginning, the brand has been defined Check was introduced into its men’s ranges. The look symbolised by technical innovation and fine craftsmanship. a return to fashion consciousness, offering a new style without Before the century was out, the company had gained its first compromising the elegant simplicity of the traditional British Royal Warrant from King Edward VII, the start of a long period look. In 1987, when British prime minister of patronage by the royal family. Broadening Margaret Thatcher paid a visit to the USSR, its appeal, Aquascutum introduced showerproof From the Aquascutum supplied her wardrobe. In 2003, fashionable coats for women in 1900. beginning, as the brand began to win legions of Asian In 1914, the belted and double-breasted ‘trench the brand has devotees, the first flagship store opened in Tokyo. coat’ was created for military use during the First Taking to the catwalk in 2005 at London World War. Later it became an integral part of the been defined Fashion Week, Aquascutum confirmed its respectable gentleman’s – and woman’s – wardrobe by technical standing as a brand that sets trends while and an icon of British style. The Aquascutum trench innovation and continuing to define timeless elegance. Following coat was again used by the military in the Second World War and, afterwards, the classic military fine craftsmanship its debut menswear show at the 2012 London Collections Men, Aquascutum triumphantly Aquascutum raincoat became a sartorial essential returned to the West End with the opening of its Great for Hollywood stars like Humphrey Bogart and Cary Grant.

Marlborough Street store in 2013. This was followed by a shop on Always innovative, Aquascutum’s research resulted in many Jermyn Street a year later. In 2015, its made-to-measure tailoring historical ‘firsts’ during the 1950s. These included the high-tech service was re-launched at both stores. In 2016, the Jermyn Street (wind and waterproof) Wyncol D711 – worn by explorer Edmund store was transformed into a newly extended space that showcases Hillary and his team during their first ascent of Mount Everest – the shorter raincoat, the ‘Oscar’ winning showerproof Evening Coat the best of both menswear and womenswear collections.

Made-to-measure service

AQUASCUTUM 24 GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET, LONDON W1F 7HU

+44 (0)20 3096 1864

AQUASCUTUM.COM

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Aquascutum’s classic trench coats

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HIGH FASHION

BURBERRY A global luxury brand with a distinctive British identity

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coat was worn by officers in both world wars, and has evolved over urberry has a pioneering and adventurous past.

100 years to represent timeless British style and innovation.

In 1879, founder Thomas Burberry (1835–1926) Today, Burberry’s runway shows continue to channel that original, invented gabardine, the innovative weatherproof pioneering spirit through critically acclaimed collections, innovative cotton fabric that revolutionised rainwear. Gabardine digital partnerships and live musical performances. In February has since protected a long line of pioneers, helping 2016, Burberry unveiled plans to launch the ‘see now, buy now’ show them to realise their ambitions. format, replacing the previous calendar of four shows per year with The polar explorers of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration two mixed-gender shows; from September that year, collections were chose Burberry gabardine to accompany them to some of the most inhospitable regions on earth. Pioneering explorers such as Sir Ernest made available to purchase immediately after the show. All Burberry shows feature products to suit all four seasons, Shackleton, Captain Sir Robert Falcon Scott catering for its global audience; but the brand and Roald Amundsen favoured Burberry Burberry’s digital loses sight of its British roots. Its gabardine clothing and, at times, tents for mindset is a fundamental never September 2017 runway show was a melting their lightweight and windproof qualities. characteristic of the brand, pot of colours, textures and silhouettes Burberry also provided motoring kit reflecting the eclectic nature of the British for some of the most intrepid motorists and underpins the way of dressing: tartan over lace, homespun of the early-20th century. Record-breaking in which it connects with way knits and cagoules with everything. racing drivers, including Malcolm Campbell its customers globally Burberry’s digital mindset is a and Selwyn Edge, were among the brand’s fundamental characteristic of the brand, patrons, as were several aviators in the and underpins the way in which it connects with its customers formative days of aviation. In 1937, Burberry sponsored a recordglobally. One of the most connected luxury platforms on social breaking return flight from London to Cape Town, when a plane media, Burberry has over 48 million followers across its array called The Burberry was piloted by Flying Officer Arthur Clouston, of social channels. The company has also invested in an industrywho wore an all-in-one Burberry gabardine flying suit. His co-pilot leading approach to artificial intelligence technology across its digital Betty Kirby-Green also wore a bespoke tailored Burberry ensemble. platforms, and in 2016 launched a Facebook Messenger chatbot, Since then, the Burberry trench coat has become synonymous combining artificial intelligence and human assistance in customer with the brand. It was patented by Thomas Burberry in 1912 as the service. Since then, Burberry has continued to roll out this strategy Tielocken, when its design featured a belted closure without buttons. across key messaging platforms including Line, Kakao and the However, during the First World War, Burberry adapted the design Burberry app, allowing the technology available on each platform to meet the needs of the military: the epaulettes, gun flap, storm to be leveraged to its full potential. shield and D-rings were all designed to serve a purpose. The trench

Flying Officer Arthur Clouston in The Burberry

BURBERRY HORSEFERRY HOUSE, HORSEFERRY ROAD, LONDON SW1P 2AW

Burberry’s iconic trench coat

+44 (0)20 7806 1328

BURBERRY.COM

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The Burberry September 2017 Show

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HIGH FASHION

DAKS It’s a little-known fact, but each time a man puts on his trousers, he has DAKS to thank

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concessions globally. The company has a strong reputation riginally founded in 1894 by Simeon Simpson, in the Far East markets, having been sold under licence DAKS is recognised internationally as one in Japan for more than 30 years, and in Korea it is the of the UK’s foremost fashion brands, specialising number one non-domestic brand. Standalone stores in fine tailoring and accessories for both men and in Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan confirm women, continuing to uphold the values of quality, DAKS’s strong position as a truly global player. reliability and innovation established by its founder. Simpson The flagship shop on Old Bond Street encapsulates managed to mass produce quality tailoring for the first time, DAKS’s discreet elegance. The menswear producing ready-to-wear garments of the collection provides a range of tailoring same standard as bespoke tailoring. This DAKS is recognised options, as well as wardrobe essentials remains unchanged and is paramount internationally as one such as knitwear, trousers, shirts and to the brand’s identity. The name of the UK’s foremost outerwear. Womenswear features DAKS was created by the founder’s son, Alexander Simpson, and fashion brands, continuing contemporary tailoring, outerwear and knitwear. Creative director Filippo Scuffi, is a combination of ‘dad’ and ‘slacks’. to uphold the values who has been with the company since Better known than the self-supporting of quality, reliability and 2005, develops both collections. trouser is DAKS’s unique house check.

The DAKS accessory collection It was introduced in 1976 and has innovation established marries British style with Italian become an international symbol, featuring by its founder craftsmanship, using the best Italian throughout the clothing and accessories ranges. Nor is it just the house check that is a brand identifier, the Latin phrase ‘Aspice Semel’, as seen on the DAKS coat of arms, is an approximation of ‘at a glance’, highlighting the fact that the style, quality and design of DAKS products are instantly recognisable.

DAKS proudly holds three royal warrants. These are a hardearned reflection of excellence of product and service. DAKS’s success is not limited just to the UK; it is distributed worldwide and the brand is sold in speciality shops, department stores and

DAKS S/S’18

DAKS S/S’18

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Flagship at 10 Old Bond Street

leathers while upholding a British aesthetic. In addition, each season DAKS shows its womenswear and menswear collections on international catwalks. The trench coat has always been an iconic DAKS silhouette, becoming a fundamental component of every collection, with contemporary updates made to the classic piece from season to season.

For 2018, its women’s trench coat has been subtly reimagined as the ‘Made DAKS Tina Trench in England’ Tina Trench.

Made in North London, the trench comes in a classic double-breasted design available in four colourways: navy, beige, khaki and bordeaux. It’s an iconic transseasonal staple due to its versatility, making it the perfect layer for all seasons.

DAKS 10 OLD BOND STREET, LONDON W1S 4PL

DAKS S/S’18 Milan Menswear Show

+44 (0)20 7409 4040

DAKS.COM

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MACKINTOSH Makers of the fabled Macs now storming the catwalk

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as a luxury brand,’ says Andrea Austoni, Global Commercial Director. hen chemist Charles Macintosh developed a way While Mackintosh embraces new technology and trends, a traditional to rubberise cotton, the iconic waterproof fabric Mackintosh coat is still made by hand from start to finish by the same and Mackintosh raincoat were born. Suited coat-maker, so each coat can be traced back to the individual who made to the vagaries of the weather in its native it. Coat making is a painstaking process which takes up to three years Scotland, Mackintosh is still being handmade to learn, and this artisanal aspect is what sets the Mackintosh apart. The in its Scottish factory 200 years after it was first created.

Today Mackintosh is a firmly established luxury name that combines product was, and still is, a revolutionary design, continuing to honour the rubberised, bonded cotton pieces in updated technology with traditional techniques, its own collections. The most crucial element heritage and craftsmanship. When the company While the company the fabric – two layers of cotton, bonded with first began, the emphasis was on practicality, embraces new technology, isrubber that is dyed to match the outer cotton so Mackintosh created leg straps in some of its a traditional Mackintosh layers perfectly. The gluing process allows earlier coats, allowing the wearer to ride a horse while keeping the outerwear close to the rider’s coat is still made by hand for a seamless garment that is completely – Mackintosh still uses the same legs. To stop rainwater running down the coat from start to finish by the waterproof process in its Scottish factory. This fabrication between the top buttons, many of the original same coat-maker, so each is unique to the brand and its clients take style trench coats were made with a ‘gun flap’.

Mackintosh fabric has been such an one can be traced back great pride in its durability. What’s more, Mackintosh has evolved in terms of colour integral part of British life that, in the late to who made it palette, pattern, hardware and style to create 1960s, the company made the uniforms for British Rail staff. Since then, the brand has worked with some of the best and most fashion-forward houses in the world such as Céline, Balenciaga, J.W. Anderson, Porter Bags and many more.

Mackintosh also collaborated with Vetements for a number of seasons to create new, edgy styles, and for Spring/Sumer 2018 they have partnered with Maison Margiela.

‘We do not want to move away from our core values, such as quality, heritage and craftsmanship, however, we are also focusing our efforts towards our contemporary evolution, while maintaining our identity

New York, Madison Avenue shop

Vetements collaboration

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ever more luxe pieces.

Flagship stores are located on London’s Conduit Street and in Aoyama and Tokyo Ginza Six in Tokyo. Most recently, its first US flagship opened on New York’s Madison Avenue. With these stores, further global stockists and the launch of a new e-commerce site, the British brand brings the world of Mackintosh to a global clientele.

Mackintosh’s popularity extends beyond its loyal customers to appeal to a younger audience, attracted initially by the more fashion-forward pieces. The launch Classic coat of a new designer collection, helmed by Kiko Kostadinov, further establishes the brand at the forefront of fashion. After all, there are not many luxury heritage brands who have some of the world’s biggest stars clamouring to visit their factory to pursue collaborations.

MACKINTOSH 19 CONDUIT STREET, LONDON W1S 2BH

Factory pattern cutting

+44 (0)20 7493 4667

MACKINTOSH.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HIGH FASHION

MULBERRY Le Style Anglais

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odern heritage,’ is how Creative Director Johnny Coca describes his collections for Mulberry, the leading British brand founded in 1971 by Roger Saul in the small village of Chilcompton, in Somerset.

‘It’s about taking archetypal British style and sensibility and making it feel right for today.’

Britishness is at the heart of Mulberry’s identity. The story began around the kitchen table in the Saul family home in Somerset, when Roger’s mother gave him £500 to start his business. Roger had an instinctive flair for knowing what would be fashionable, and his leather accessories soon became popular in London’s Notting Hill and Carnaby Street. He found a great mentor in Bea Miller, editor of British Vogue (1965–1983) and Mulberry became well-known for its traditional British design labelled ‘Le Style Anglais’, which brought together the stylish elegance of the city with the functional practicality of the countryside.

Mulberry soon developed an international cult following with its timeless leather organisers and hard-wearing Scotchgrain leather suitcases. Mulberry’s bags and briefcases were seen as being perfect for everyday life with robust ‘leather for all weathers’ and guaranteed longevity.

As time went by, talented British designers evolved the brand’s signatures and the creation of much-loved icons, the Alexa and the Bayswater came into being. ‘The Bayswater is such a British icon,’ explains Coca, ‘I want to ensure we protect its legacy and keep it as relevant as possible for modern women’s lives.’

Today Mulberry is the largest manufacturer of luxury leather goods in Britain, with two factories in Somerset, employing over 600 craftsmen

The new Amberley bag

The Rookery, one of Mulberry’s factories in Somerset

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A/W’17 Collection

‘Modern heritage,’ is how Creative Director Johnny Coca describes his collections.

‘It’s about taking archetypal British style and making it feel right for today’ and craftswomen who produce over half of the brand’s bags.

In order to nurture talent and hand down the traditions of the craft to future generations, the company founded the Mulberry Manufacturing Apprenticeship Programme in partnership with Bridgwater College in 2006.

Since his appointment in 2015, Johnny Coca has created strong ready-to-wear collections, shaped by leading stylist Lotta Volkova and shown as part of the international Fashion Week schedule.

Of the most recent collection, entitled ‘Future Reminiscence’, he says: ‘It’s essential to make things to pass down. We are always creating our own heritage.’

This year, Coca has also introduced a new Mulberry hardware signature – the Rider’s Lock. Inspired by the brand’s emblematic Postman’s Lock, this slender lock is a key feature of the new Amberley bag. Once again referencing British tradition, the Amberley collection was inspired by equestrian pursuits and Mulberry’s roots in the English countryside, as well as highlighting Mulberry’s renowned leather craftsmanship.

With over 120 stores worldwide selling in 19 countries and a digital flagship delivering to 190 countries, Mulberry is a truly global company with a thoroughly British soul.

MULBERRY 50 NEW BOND STREET, LONDON W1S 1BJ

+44 (0)20 7491 3900

MULBERRY.COM

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HIGH FASHION | GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018

PRINGLE OF SCOTLAND The inventor of the classic Argyle pattern and the iconic twinset continues to innovate nearly 200 years after its inception

THIS PICTURE AND LEFT: Pringle A/W’17

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Another important part of the brand’s visual heritage is the n 1815, Robert Pringle founded Pringle of Scotland in Hawick, iconic Pringle lion, first introduced on garment labels in 1934. on the Scottish Borders, making it one of the oldest fashion brands Also referred to as the ‘lion rampant’, the emblem traditionally in the world. In 1956, HM The Queen awarded the company a Royal symbolises bravery, nobility, strength and valour, hence its use Warrant and one of the most treasured notes in the brand archives on the coat of arms of royal heraldry throughout Britain and Europe. is from Clarence House simply requesting ‘New cardigan, please’.

Despite its 200-year history, Pringle has always been a thoroughly The Pringle lion still features on both the men’s and women’s knitwear, interpreted in different ways for the latest collections. modern, pioneering company, with an impressive list of ‘firsts’ But it’s not just about referencing an illustrious past, it’s also to its name. Not only was it the first to coin the term ‘knitwear’, about innovating for the future. The new it was the first to use the intarsia design that womenswear collection showcases an example became the Argyle pattern so beloved by the Despite its 200of this inventiveness: printing designs directly Duke of Windsor in the 1920s. It was also the year history, Pringle onto knitwear, giving a contemporary, sporty finish. first to produce the twinset, which featured has always been Wallace Shaw, Pringle’s Head Designer on the cover of Vogue in 1955 and was widely a thoroughly modern, in the 1960s, first introduced the technique adopted by British and Hollywood royalty. and, as Fran Stringer, Womenswear Design Today, Pringle continues to pioneer British pioneering company, knitwear and champion British heritage. with an impressive list Director, comments, ‘Finding Wallace Shaw’s archive designs introduced us once again to Each season the company also looks at new ways of ‘firsts’ to its name Pringle as an innovator – applying print techniques to reconnect with its iconic Scottish past. to knitwear in a way that had never been The Duke of Windsor’s adored Argyle pattern done before. I always want to balance pride in our heritage with is one such example, and both the women’s pre-fall and men’s a celebration of the advancements in fashion and manufacturing.’ autumn/winter ’17 collections celebrate and reinterpret this For its 200th anniversary in 2015, Pringle worked with classic pattern. For women’s knitwear it is mixed with another National Museums Scotland to curate an exhibition charting traditional pattern, Fair Isle, for a statement knit presented the company’s long history and celebrating the relevance on classic cashmere in contrasting colours. of knitwear in contemporary fashion. The show also demonstrated In the men’s collection the relationship between Argyle an irrefutable truth: it’s thanks to Robert Pringle that knitwear and traditional tartan is explored, combining the two for has such a prominent place in the lives and wardrobes of men a new hybrid pattern. Classic Argyle is also reinterpreted and women around the world. to create a ‘broken’ diamond effect.

PRINGLE OF SCOTLAND 94 MOUNT STREET, LONDON W1K 2SZ

+44 (0)20 3011 0031

PRINGLESCOTLAND.COM

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TEMPERLEY LONDON The label that continues to thrill with its inventive spirit

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lice Temperley founded her label in 2000, a year after graduating from the Royal College of Art. Within ten years she had been awarded an MBE for services to the fashion industry.

Now, entering its 18th year in business, Temperley London continues to grow, this year dressing fabulous muses such as Penélope Cruz, Elle Fanning, Madonna, Arizona Muse, Laura Bailey, Freida Pinto, Karolina Kurkova and the Duchess of Cambridge.

The brand’s alluring flavour is modern bohemianism with a confident, free-spirited lilt. Alice champions timeless, artisan skills and intricate, hand-worked embellishments. She mixes prints, patterns, hues, themes and genres in ways that work, even when they shouldn’t. Classic, playful, effortless, eclectic and romantic at the same time, Alice’s creative voice is clear and uncomplicated.

Her newly published second book, English Myths and Legends (Rizzoli), is a lavishly photographed celebration of her aesthetic, highlighting the inspirations and processes behind the creation of her collections and revealing personal moments that have shaped the brand.

PHOTOS: © AMELIA ALLEN

Temperley Bridal Winter ’18 collection Isabel Dress

Temperley London launches four collections each year, with a comprehensive range of spirited day wear and effortless yet decadent cocktail and evening wear. The S/S’18 collection conjures the sartorial mood of an escape to the Riviera – long days spent poolside, followed by golden hour martinis. It’s a contemporary take on the world of glamour photographer Slim Aarons and the sense of voluptuous ease he captured. Easy palazzo pants, ankle-skimming cardigans and stretch cotton jumpsuits come in playful striped fabrics and knits echoing the candy-coloured parasols of the Cote d’Azur. The collection transports us to the Temperley Riviera, where the summer never ends.

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S/S’18 catwalk show

PHOTOS: © AMELIA ALLEN

Temperley London’s alluring flavour is modern bohemianism with a free-spirited lilt. Alice champions timeless, artisan skills and hand-worked embellishments Last year also saw an exciting new venture with social media app Vero, whereby three pieces from the September 2016 catwalk show could be purchased immediately via the app. Temperley London was one of the first brands to engage with the ‘see now, buy now’ model, using social commerce as its platform.

Temperley Bridal offers two collections a year to complement the main range, both characterised by ethereal silhouettes and the romantic decadence of a bygone era. ‘Each dress has to be the perfect blend of functionality and fantasy,’ says Alice. ‘A bride must

never feel overwhelmed by her dress but allowed to be the ultimate version of herself.’ The Winter ’18 Camelia Bridal collection was launched in October and will be available in store from February 2018.

It has five standalone stores, and collections are distributed in 28 countries with 150 wholesale accounts. In the last quarter of 2017 Temperley London stores in the Dubai Mall, Dubai and the Gate Mall in Doha, Qatar re-opened with a new store concept to show off the ready-to-wear collections in an ambiance of kaleidoscopic reflected light designed to immerse customers in a romantic and dramatic feminine universe.

Alice is also an ambassador for Women for Women International, helping vulnerable war survivors. ‘I am happy to help in any way to make life-changing differences to women whose situation is often unimaginable to the western world,’ she says.

TEMPERLEY LONDON 27 BRUTON STREET, LONDON W1J 6QN

+44 (0)20 7229 7957

TEMPERLEYLONDON.COM

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VIVIENNE WESTWOOD

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A fashion icon of our age

ivienne Westwood is an icon and living legend. She is a fashion designer, activist, co-creator of punk and a global brand.

Westwood began designing in 1971 with her then partner Malcolm McLaren in London, when the capital was at the forefront of global cultural trends.

They opened a shop at 430 King’s Road to showcase their ideas and designs. In 1976, to reflect their changing ideas about fashion, they altered the shop’s décor and renamed it Seditionaries, turning the shop into a landmark and simultaneously claiming the street culture of punk as their own.

By the end of the Seventies, Vivienne Westwood was already considered a symbol of the British avant-garde. For Autumn/ Winter 1981 she showed her first catwalk presentation at Olympia in London. Pirates was a unisex collection of clothes, inspired by historical costume, for swashbuckling

Vivienne Westwood has always used her collections and catwalk shows as a platform to campaign for positive activism

Andreas Kronthaler and Vivienne Westwood at the S/S’18 runway show in Paris

heroes – highwaymen, dandies, buccaneers and pirates. The clothes were sold from the King’s Road shop which was renamed World’s End and redesigned to resemble a ship, complete with a slanting wooden floor.

Westwood later turned to 17th and 18thcentury art for inspiration and adopted traditional Savile Row tailoring techniques, using British fabrics such as tartan and tweed.

These elements continue to inform her collections today. In 2004, London’s Victoria & Albert museum hosted a Vivienne Westwood retrospective exhibition to celebrate her 34 years in fashion. Back then, the exhibition was the largest ever devoted to a living British fashion designer. In 2006, her contribution to British Fashion was officially recognised when she was appointed Dame of the British Empire by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Vivienne Westwood met Andreas Kronthaler in 1989. He would later become her husband and long-time design partner, as well as creative director of the brand.

In 2016, Westwood’s semi-couture Gold Label collection was renamed Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood, an acknowledgment of Andreas’ commitment to the house and influence over the Gold Label collections of the past 25 years. The iconic collection, which draws on luxurious and couture techniques, stands alongside the mainline Vivienne Westwood unisex collection with a focus on traditional British fabrics, tailoring and the iconic Westwood silhouette. The house also offers bespoke made-to-measure and bridal services, cocktail dresses and evening gowns from its Davies Street, Mayfair boutique.

Vivienne Westwood has always used her collections and catwalk shows as a platform to campaign for positive activism.

She has spent many years tirelessly speaking out about the effects of climate change and overconsumption, and has mobilised international attention around ecological crusading.

Today, Vivienne Westwood is one of the last independent global fashion companies in the world. Recently adding New York and Paris flagship stores to its portfolio of boutiques in London, Milan, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong and Shanghai, Westwood continues to capture the imagination on an international stage.

With a design record spanning over 40 years, Vivienne Westwood is recognised as a global brand and as one of the most influential fashion designers, and activists, in the world today.

VIVIENNE WESTWOOD 44 CONDUIT STREET, LONDON W1S 2YL

+44 (0)20 7439 1109

VIVIENNEWESTWOOD.COM

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Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood S/S’18

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BARBOUR Makers of iconic waxed jackets and everything a modern wardrobe needs for town or country

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country people to urban festival goers, and it is as popular ervice means doing all in one’s power to oblige in town as it is in the country. And it isn’t just for humans – this a customer.’ So wrote Malcolm Barbour in the year Barbour became the first brand to introduce a Dog Loyalty introduction to the Barbour Catalogue of 1919. scheme. Called ‘It’s a Barbour Dog’s Life’, the scheme invites J Barbour & Sons was founded in 1894 in South customers to provide information on their dogs to receive Shields by Malcolm’s father, John Barbour, exclusive dog content, free gifts, birthday messages and invitations to supply seamen with oilskin coats to protect them from to dog-friendly events. The brand’s human fans include the royal inclement weather. Malcolm produced the first Barbour family, musicians, TV and film celebrities. catalogue, receiving orders from as far afield as Chile, South Africa, Hong Kong and the Now over 120 years old, Scottish actor Sam Heughan is Barbour’s Brand Ambassador and as well Falkland Islands. By 1917, mail order accounted Barbour is an authentic Global as having his own Signature collection, for 75 per cent of Barbour’s business.

British brand. It is worn by he is also the face of Shirt Department, Now a fifth generation, family-owned business, Barbour is one of Britain’s besteveryone from traditional a range of smart casual checked and shirts in a choice of styles and fits. known and loved brands, holding three Royal country people to urban plain Now over 120 years old, Barbour is an Warrants and sold in 40 countries worldwide. festival goers, and it is authentic British brand, which still keeps Today Barbour encompasses everything a modern wardrobe needs: shirts, knitwear, as popular in town as it its family feel, with Dame Margaret Barbour as Chairman and her daughter Helen as Vice trousers, footwear and a range of accessories is in the country Chairman, while employing over a thousand for men, women, children and even dogs.

The iconic waxed jackets remain at the heart of the brand and are still handmade at Barbour’s factory in South Shields.

Remaining true to Malcolm Barbour’s dedication to customer service, a Barbour waxed jacket can be returned at any time to be rewaxed, repaired or altered.

There are now two standalone brands – Barbour is inspired by the British countryside and Barbour International by the motorcycling heritage established in 1936 by Duncan Barbour, Malcolm’s son. Barbour is now worn by everyone from traditional

Barbour’s factory in Simonside, South Shields

Barbour International, inspired by the brand’s motorcycle heritage

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The country inspired Beaufort and Beadnell

people worldwide. The people who work there are passionate about the brand and many have worked for Barbour for over 20 years.

In 2019, Barbour will celebrate its 125th anniversary. Its core values of service have never changed.

A Barbour waxed jacket will last a lifetime if waxed once a year, and becomes part of its wearer’s life, as evidenced by the paraphernalia that has been found in pockets of jackets that come back for repair: cartridges, phials of monkey’s blood, love letters, jewellery and even the keys to St James’s Tarn crew jumper Palace. Barbour’s oldest jacket is affectionately called ‘Uncle Harry’ and dates from 1910, passed down through three generations. Marie Claire magazine summed up the company’s unique position in 2016: ‘Barbour, a brand that is basically the fashion embodiment of true British grit.’

BARBOUR SIMONSIDE, SOUTH SHIELDS, TYNE & WEAR NE34 9PD

Global brand ambassador Sam Heughan wearing a Barbour Moss shirt

+44 (0)191 455 4444

BARBOUR.COM

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BRORA Britain’s best-loved cashmere brand

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Brora is 100 per cent privately owned. Victoria Stapleton, ince its inception in 1993, Brora has become one Brora’s founder, owner and creative director, studied interior of Britain’s best-loved cashmere brands with pieces design at the Inchbald School of Design and then read history designed for and worn by all ages. Brora produces of art at the University of East Anglia. In 1990, her family timeless knitwear made from the finest Scottish bought Hunters of Brora, a 100-year-old tweed mill in Scotland, cashmere and with up to seven shades being used and put Victoria, with her visual eye, in charge of the mill’s to create each colour, their depth and range of tones are retail venture. This sowed the seeds of the Brora customers unique to the industry. know and love today.

Initially a Scottish cashmere brand, Brora Brought up in an entrepreneurial is now a fully-fledged fashion label, evolving There are over 50 family, Victoria proved to be a keen new collections every season. However, it is processes involved businesswoman, opening Brora’s first not about ‘fast fashion’. Instead Brora creates in making a Brora British boutique in 1995, just two years beautiful designs made to last from high after starting the business. Today there quality fabrics and yarns. cashmere jumper and are 14 stores across Britain, including Every season, only the best cashmere fibres this attention to detail Edinburgh, Bath and Oxford, and are selected from the finest producers and taken gives every garment a store on New York’s Madison Avenue. to Scotland where the coarse ‘guard hairs’ are Each year since 2011, Brora has removed. Only the superior, longest fibres make a luxurious finish and created an exclusive London Fashion it through to the next stage, to ensure the end fabulous feel Week collaboration. For 2017, it partnered product is as soft and luxurious as it can be.

Brora is proud to work with one of the oldest mills in Scotland, which turns these fibres into the beautiful knitwear seen on the shops’ shelves.

Continuous investment in the latest technology, combined with skills and techniques passed down through generations, ensure the quality and longevity of each Brora piece. There are over 50 processes involved in making a Brora cashmere jumper and this attention to detail gives every garment a luxurious finish and fabulous feel.

In addition, a dedicated team of highly skilled hand-knitters produces much of Brora’s babies’ and children’s knitwear and accessories.

Skilled craftsmen and women weave their magic every season

Cashmere Fair Isle tank

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Mohair Icelandic jumper in silver

with Woolmark Prize-winners, design duo Teatum Jones, to create a collection inspired by artist and gilder Issy Tennant.

Previous collaboration partners include Scottish designer, Louise Gray, London-based designer, Michael van der Ham, Sophie Dahl and Eudon Choi.

This year marks Brora’s 25th anniversary but Victoria’s business philosophy has not changed since she started her brand, with a conscientious approach and sustainability Hand knitters produce much of held as core values since day Brora’s babies’ and children’s knitwear one. Brora cashmere is ethically sourced from the native goats of the Mongolian plateau, and Brora has bought its fibre from the same farms for many years. The company buys British where possible and all its cashmere pieces are made in Scotland to the highest possible standards.

BRORA 6–8 SYMONS STREET, LONDON SW3 2TJ

Cashmere hanks

+44 (0)3456 599 944

BRORA.CO.UK

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | CLASSIC FASHION

JOHNSTONS OF ELGIN From Scotland to Savile Row and the catwalks of Paris and Milan, these traditionally woven yarns travel far

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offers apprenticeships, further nurturing Johnstons’ investment itting proudly on the banks of the River Lossie in Scotland is one of the last vertical woollen mills in Britain. in the future of manufacturing in Britain.

And it continues to innovate, just as it did when the brand Johnstons of Elgin’s mill has presided over the river in Elgin since 1797; the only one in the country to oversee pioneered cashmere and vicuña in Britain, acclaimed with a medal for their ‘superb vicuña stoles’ at the Great Exhibition all processes, from raw material through to finished of London in 1851. Its creative vision is grounded in timeless, article, be it accessories, knitwear, woven fabrics or a cashmere classic references that are constantly redefined for contemporary throw. As Alan Scott, creative director, explains: ‘Johnstons culture through design, craft and has sourced, washed, dyed, milled, spun, woven, finished and produced the garments They may originate in the innovation. An example is its Estate which pioneered the concept in a truly vertical process. Our mill is one heart of Scotland but they Tweeds of camouflage and received the Royal of the very few left in the world to do this.’ appear at the couture Warrant of Appointment to His Royal And it has been doing it for over 220 years.

Highness The Prince of Wales in 2013.

A family-run business spanning two houses and catwalks A flagship leader in the Scottish textile centuries, the brand’s production takes of Paris, London and business, Johnstons of Elgin continues place in two mills, one in Elgin, the other Milan, the sartorial to elevate the brand, further building in Hawick, where products are created for Johnstons and some of the world’s most excellence of Savile Row on the enormous potential of its vertical manufacturing capabilities. Firmly established coveted designer brands. They may originate and the world beyond in the luxury market, today Johnstons leads in the heart of Scotland but they appear at the couture houses and catwalks of Paris, London and Milan, the sartorial excellence of Savile Row and the world beyond.

Johnstons of Elgin is absolutely rooted in its traditions and expertise, its impeccable credentials stemming from a mastery of the yarn and how its craftspeople handle, finesse and manipulate it in ways impossible for any other manufacturing brand to match.

This is down to the brand’s investment in a community of highly skilled textile craftspeople, employing around 1,000 staff, some of whom can claim 50 years’ service. The training centre in Hawick

Short puff sleeve shimmer sweater

Gauzy Breton stripe cashmere sweater

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Curtain and sofa in Luna sateen fabric with extra fine merino throw

the way in technical innovation, using state-of-the-art techniques and tools, such as Shima Seiki whole garment technology, digital knitting, ultra-fine jacquard weaving and 3D design to create fashion-forward collections.

Longstanding partnerships with some of the world’s leading fashion brands enhance the brand’s reputation further, while its own flagship store is in the very heart of the capital’s luxury fashion quarter at 77 New Bond Street.

With a global reputation for Jacket in wool/silk/linen heritage, craft, style and luxury, with lightweight merino scarf Johnstons of Elgin attracts consumers who appreciate quality, innovation, authenticity and longevity. After all, there is nothing like the artistry and romance of over 220 years of traditional weaving combined with modern sensibilities and technology; values that are priceless.

JOHNSTONS OF ELGIN NEWMILL, ELGIN, MORAY, SCOTLAND IV30 4AF

100 per cent vicuña accessories with tailoring in cashmere/linen

+44 (0)1343 554000

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | CLASSIC FASHION

N. PEAL The cashmere experts with a modern, playful approach and a uniquely British personality

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colour, fineness and length of the fibre it collects. It knows at Peal founded the eponymous cashmere brand every process of production, from sorting to scouring, dehairing, in 1936, opening a store in London’s historic Burlington dyeing, spinning, twisting, knitting, linking and finishing.

Arcade. Having found success in Britain, Nat began N. Peal’s contemporary designs and sophisticated detail create making regular visits to East Coast America in the luxury cashmere products with an elegant timeless appeal, its early 1950s, taking a hotel suite and advertising his modern, playful approach giving it a distinctive British personality. presence in the local papers. Many famous faces from the booming And if you can’t find exactly what you want in store, you can have Hollywood film industry of the time became regular customers. it made. Remember the grey roll neck worn As retirement beckoned for Nat, N. Peal

by James Bond in Spectre? It was created was sold in 1968 to Debenhams, then N. Peal prides itself for him by N. Peal’s bespoke London’s premier department store. on setting the standards specially sweater service, which invites customers In 1986 it was bought by Chuck Feeney, for cashmere. It can to select their favourite style from the readythe philanthropic billionaire who pioneered the concept of duty-free shopping, who in trace its cashmere right to-wear collection and have it made up to their exact measurements. They can choose turn sold it to its current owner and managing back to the individual the colour from a yarn palette of more than director, Adam Holdsworth, in 2007. herders who tend 30 shades. The sweater is then knitted by Adam’s vision has always been for N. Peal to remain true to its origins as a cashmere their goats on the vast hand and is delivered between six and eight weeks later. There is no additional charge specialist, but to regain its former worldwide steppes of Mongolia for the bespoke service. fame as the leader in cashmere knitwear.

‘I have been in the cashmere industry for over 30 years,’ says Adam, ‘as a trader buying and selling raw cashmere from the plains of Mongolia to designing and retailing luxury cashmere.

Cashmere – and now N. Peal – is my life and my passion. I intend to see the brand reach its potential on a global stage.’

N. Peal prides itself on setting the standards for cashmere.

It can trace its cashmere right back to the individual herders who tend their goats on the vast steppes of Mongolia. It understands the regional variation in quality and it sets strict standards for the

N. Peal postcard from 1956

Cashmere collection

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The A/W’17 collection

N. Peal’s strategic vision is to have a minimal store footprint in key global locations, backed by strong online and digital presence.

It already has five stores in London and plans to open a flagship shop on Manhattan’s Madison Avenue in the near future, followed by a move into SoHo. The N. Peal store in ‘At N. Peal we London’s Burlington Arcade talk about style and substance,’ says Adam.

‘We create beautiful products that men and women want to buy now and own forever and we also truly believe in service. So not only do we sell beautiful, amazing pieces, we also deliver to the customer on every level.’

N. PEAL 37–39 BURLINGTON ARCADE, LONDON W1J 0QD

Daniel Craig as 007 in N. Peal

+44 (0)20 7499 6485

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Boodles p104 David Morris p106 Elizabeth Gage p108 Fellows p110 Garrard p112

JEWELLERY & WATCHES

Annoushka p102

Hamilton & Inches p114 Lucas Rarities p116 Pragnell p118 Roger W Smith p120 Simon Wright p122 Tateossian p124 Theo Fennell p126

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | JEWELLERY & WATCHES

ANNOUSHKA One of Britain’s leading fine jewellery companies is empowering women along the way

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ewellery designer, creative director and entrepreneur, Annoushka Ducas MBE, is one of Britain’s leading figures in the world of fine jewellery, designing and creating for over 25 years. She founded Links of London with her husband John Ayton in 1990 and ran it while raising four small children. After she sold the company, Annoushka wanted to take time out to spend time with her family but in 2009, after only 18 months, her eponymous fine jewellery brand Annoushka was born.

Half-Russian, Annoushka grew up in London, studied at the Sorbonne and travelled the world, spending time in Hong Kong and the Philippines.

It was in Hong Kong that she first started designing jewellery and met her husband: her art-deco

18kt white gold, mother of pearl and diamond Flamenco earrings.

inspired engagement ring was one of her first designs. She has recently opened her first boutique in Hong Kong, a personally meaningful addition to her existing shops in London’s Cadogan Gardens and South Molton Street.

Inspired by her extensive travels and fuelled by a collector’s passion for the exotic, Annoushka’s designs are the culmination of a lifetime’s obsession with the timeless romance and sensual magic of jewels. Her rich Russian heritage is also a strong influence. ‘I love colour and am not frightened to experiment with it in my own wardrobe,’ Annoushka explains. ‘My jewellery reflects this.’

Annoushka believes that there should be no boundaries to wearing diamonds with jeans, and that each item should be timelessly elegant, an expression of one’s identity. She focuses on luxurious jewels, with each piece suitable for both formal and informal occasions. Her philosophy is that a piece of jewellery should have meaning, represent a memory, a pivotal life moment, or be a significant object of art passed down through generations. ‘It is very personal – I design what I like to wear,’ explains Annoushka. ‘It must be comfortable, versatile, unfussy and yet also tell a story.’

As impressive as she is inspiring, Annoushka is an advocate of supporting and mentoring women in business: she runs a series of events called ‘Inspirational Women’ that celebrates brilliant and accomplished females across a spectrum of industries.

She wants her designs to encourage women to celebrate their individuality and experiment with their personal style.

‘I have tried to remove the feeling of reverence that so often surrounds the whole experience of buying and wearing fine jewellery,’ Annoushka explains. Nearly 80 per cent of her clients are women buying for themselves. These include everyone from the Duchess of Cambridge and Queen Rania of Jordan to Gigi Hadid and Rihanna. Annoushka’s

Mythology alphabet pendant

Inspired by her extensive travels and fuelled by a collector’s passion for the exotic, Annoushka’s designs are the culmination of a lifetime’s obsession with jewels

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Annoushka 18kt gold, diamond and gemstone Dusty Diamond rings

A selection of chains, pendants and charms

contribution to British contemporary jewellery was acknowledged when she was awarded an MBE by The Queen for her services to the industry.

Her enduring success is built on an instinctive understanding of the zeitgeist, the needs of the market, the dreams and desires of her clients, and her dedication to continual innovation and ingenuity, from design and manufacture to marketing, packaging and communications. ‘I absolutely love what I do,’ she says.

‘It doesn’t really feel like going to work.’ An ethos that literally shines from her creations.

ANNOUSHKA 41 CADOGAN GARDENS, LONDON SW3 2TB

18kt yellow gold, diamond and ebony Touch Wood earrings

+44 (0)800 138 1659

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | JEWELLERY & WATCHES

BOODLES Six generations of passion, creativity, drive and perseverance have made Boodles one of the best-loved jewellery designers in Britain today

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he Boodles story began in Liverpool in 1798. At the helm today are Nicholas and Michael Wainwright, along with their nephew, James Amos, and Nicholas’ son, Jody Wainwright.

Two hundred and twenty years after its inception, Boodles has nine showrooms in Britain, including a new shop in the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane, and one in Ireland. In 2010, one of its designs – the Boodles Raindance ring – was chosen by the Victoria & Albert Museum as an example of ‘iconic British jewellery design’, while, in 2017, Boodles celebrated 25 years of partnership with prestigious Swiss watchmakers Patek Philippe.

What drives this exceptional company forward is its determination to do things differently. Boodles’ chairman Nicholas Wainwright, says: ‘For us, luxury is about having the freedom to be yourself in this unique and wonderful world.

We believe that our customers deserve all the attention we can give them. Our Britishness is also something that makes us stand out – we channel this country’s inventive spirit, quirky nature and innovative craftsmanship.

We have our own special character.’

Part and parcel of that special character is the fact that all Boodles pieces are designed in house, something that is extremely rare these days. Head of Design Rebecca Hawkins has been the company’s fountain of ideas and inspiration for nearly three decades, blending classic and modern influences in fresh and inventive ways.

For the company’s stunning new Poetry of Landscape collection, for example, Rebecca took inspiration from the British countryside, weaving together new themes and insights alongside influences from past creations.

The Raindance Watch, featured in the recent Arizona Muse campaign, is Rebecca’s tribute to the original Raindance design.

As Nicholas Wainright points out, at Boodles the customer really is king: ‘We will do anything to please a client, from flying around the world to hand deliver a piece of jewellery or helping to arrange a unique marriage proposal. We spend time getting to know our clients, treating them to a bottle of birthday champagne, an anniversary dinner or indulging them with tickets to Boodlessponsored theatre performances or sporting events.’

Sponsored events are very much part of the Boodles DNA, ranging from The Boodles, a boutique tennis tournament

ABOVE: Ashoka necklace BELOW: The Tide collar

‘We believe that our customers deserve all the attention we can give them.

Our Britishness is also something that makes us stand out – we channel this country’s inventive spirit, quirky nature and innovative craftsmanship’

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BELOW: Sophie earrings RIGHT: The Raindance watch

at the Stoke Park Club in Buckinghamshire, played as a warm up to Wimbledon, to glamorous black-tie galas and in-store receptions, attended by VIP fans of the brand, which include Emma Thompson.

And that signature shade of Boodles pink?

It was inspired by the candy hue of an incredibly rare diamond discovered by Nicholas Wainwright during one of his first trips to source stones and is, he says, very special to him.

BOODLES 178 NEW BOND STREET, LONDON W1S 4RH

+44 (0)20 7437 5050

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | JEWELLERY & WATCHES

DAVID MORRIS

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The jeweller to some of the world’s most pre-eminent collectors celebrates its emerald anniversary

a 60-carat white diamond set in a bracelet crafted with pink vintage Aston Martin is bowling down The Mall, diamonds en tremblant; a 45-carat cushion sapphire among taking the newly married Duke and Duchess of white diamonds, sapphires and Paraiba tourmalines.

Cambridge to Clarence House. Mounted on the It’s a skill that David’s son, Jeremy, who was appointed managing car’s bonnet is a small silver dragon, a 21st birthday director and principal designer in 2003, undoubtedly shares. ‘For present from HM The Queen to HRH The Prince me, it’s about the stones’ inherent beauty,’ says Jeremy. ‘I seek only of Wales, created by David Morris. the very best stones that possess a magical quality. I recently acquired The dragon wasn’t David Morris’s first brush with royalty. an important Burmese no-heat sapphire, which boasts the deepest Having graduated as a goldsmith from London’s Central School hue of blue. I created a necklace which features this 46.10-carat of Arts and Crafts (now part of the Central Saint Martin School cushion-cut sapphire set among vividly of Design) in 1959, David Morris and his design intense Paraiba tourmalines and white partner successively claimed the ninth and tenth What attracted such diamonds – the combination of stones De Beers Diamonds International Awards. a loyal clientele was is utterly stunning.’

In 1962 David Morris opened his first store David’s ability to show In Jeremy Morris’s own words, in Hatton Garden and, just five years later, ‘a world without coloured gemstones was commissioned by the Government precious stones at their be achromatic like a white diamond’, of Lichtenstein to create a bespoke sapphire absolute best, an unerring would so it’s no surprise that stepping into the and diamond tiara for Crown Prince Hans talent for intensifying David Morris Bond Street universe is akin Adam to present to Countess Kinsky of to entering the royal court of a sumptuous Austria on the occasion of their marriage. colour with the most beyond-rare gemstones abound By the time he opened his Mayfair showroom suitable cuts and settings wonderland: in a wide range of seductive shades, forming in 1969, David Morris’s clientele constituted some of the world’s most pre-eminent collectors, including Elizabeth Taylor, Queen Noor of Jordan, Empress Farah Pahlavi of Iran, HRH Princess Margaret and HRH Princess Anne.

What attracted such a loyal clientele was David Morris’s ability to show precious stones at their absolute best, an unerring talent for intensifying colour with the most suitable cuts and settings.

A Drexel pearl mounted as a 33.80-carat black pearl drop;

Colombian emerald and diamond necklace and ring

Pirouette collection diamond bangle and eternity band

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a dazzling array of bold yet feminine designs.

What is most striking is not just the broad spectrum of colours, but also the fact that each chosen colour has always been the best of its kind for the type of gem selected.

Does Jeremy Morris have a favourite gemstone? He admits that if he had to pick one above all others, Pink and white it would be the diamond Palm ring emerald, the stone so beloved of Cleopatra.

Which is apposite as this year just so happens to be David Morris’s emerald anniversary: 55 years of working with some of the world’s most beautiful natural wonders.

DAVID MORRIS 180 NEW BOND STREET, LONDON W1S 4RL

Black opal, paraiba tourmaline, sapphire and diamond earrings and ring

+44 (0)20 7499 2200

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | JEWELLERY & WATCHES

ELIZABETH GAGE

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Newly honoured with an MBE, the artistic designer creates bold and beautiful jewellery

rought up in an artistic, cultured household – her mother captivated by Roman and Egyptian jewels. ‘They have always fascinated me and I adore the rich colour of their gold and was an art lover and her grandmother owned a gallery the practical way they were made,’ she says. in New York – Elizabeth Gage’s journey to jewellery Elizabeth was the first to coin the phrase ‘day into night’, design began as a child, when she amused herself making following her philosophy that the same piece of fine jewellery dolls’ houses and clothes and other items to play with. can be worn on any occasion. ‘The Templar ring, for example, As a teenager, she loved history and studied painting in London, can be put on first thing in the morning but also hold its own before switching courses and training for six years as a goldsmith at a very grand dinner,’ she explains. and diamond-setter. Her first major commission Few contemporary jewellers have had such was in 1968 for Cartier in New York. It was Like an artist an impact on the industry. Her avant-garde a resounding success and Elizabeth went with a palette, designs have won her awards and her Agincourt on to launch her own business. From her Elizabeth combines ring was described as ‘an engineering central London boutique, she soon established masterpiece’ when it won one of the coveted herself as one of Britain’s finest and most her gems with De Beers Diamonds International Awards original contemporary goldsmiths. brightly coloured in 1972. Her Agincourt ring and Kiss pin now Collected and worn by women and men enamel and detailed form part of the permanent jewellery collection worldwide (the pieces’ substantial sizes at the Victoria and Albert Museum. This often appeal to men), Elizabeth’s jewellery is goldwork to create summer, Elizabeth was given an MBE by the admired for its imaginative use of colour and bespoke pieces Queen’s Birthday Honours List, in recognition gemstones. She selects exquisite stones, ancient bronzes, beautiful carvings and Baroque pearls according to their individual beauty and whenever the shapes or colours inspire her. Like an artist with a palette, Elizabeth combines her gems with brightly coloured enamel and detailed goldwork to create bespoke pieces. Not governed by tradition, her jewels are an unorthodox expression of her creativity.

Elizabeth’s theatrical designs are rich in history, like her yellow gold, diamond and enamel Zodiac band, decorated with mythical figures, or her Templar ring with its faceted pink sapphire. She has dedicated her sun ring to the Sun King Louis XIV and other designs recall the banners of 14th-century pageants. She is also

Templar rings can be worn seamlessly from day to night

Elizabeth Gage jewellery is worn by both women and men

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Elizabeth’s love of history is evident in her designs

of her artistry and contribution to the industry.

All jewels featuring the Elizabeth Gage insignia are handmade in Britain by highly skilled goldsmiths.

Elizabeth no longer works at the bench but dedicates herself to creating beautiful wearable designs that are Elizabeth Gage timeless statements of tradition and individuality. ‘I feel so privileged to have been able to make my career doing what I love – making beautiful, unusual jewellery,’ she says.

ELIZABETH GAGE 5 WEST HALKIN STREET, LONDON SW1X 8JA

Elizabeth’s pieces triumph colour and detailed gold work

+44 (0)20 7823 0100

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | JEWELLERY & WATCHES

FELLOWS An auction house that has as much enthusiasm for its markets as its expertise

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he prospect of visiting an auction can provoke anxiety in a first-time bidder but, thankfully, the reality of buying from a reputable auction house such as Fellows – one of the oldest and most respected firms in the UK (established 1876) – comes complete with all the reassurances of certified expertise and detailed condition reports.

In fact, Fellows benefits from an exceptional diversity of specialisms. They have 15 full-time jewellery experts, boasting a host of qualifications in gemology and diamond grading between them. Not to mention experienced horologists, watch connoisseurs and several highly regarded antique and fine art pundits.

Formalities aside, if you were to peep behind the scenes of this fascinating establishment, you couldn’t help but be suitably inspired. The sheer enthusiasm for all things antique and individual is palpable.

The team consider themselves to be a small Rolex ‘Paul Newman’ Daytona part of the ever-evolving story of artifacts that have existed far longer than they have, and it’s quite clear that they’re honoured to be a part of that special journey.

The company holds upwards of 100 sales per year, more than half of which are of jewellery, ranging from

ABOVE: Colombian emerald five-stone ring BELOW: A late Victorian silver and gold diamond tiara, circa 1880

fortnightly events to glittering monthly antique and modern jewellery auctions. The others specialise in niche markets, from vintage and modern wrist watches to antiques and collectibles, such as designer handbags.

A specialist watch sale is held monthly and never fails to be a tremendous success for all involved.

Not least because significant savings are possible when you buy a ‘new’ watch at auction, with rare and limited-edition pieces appearing, alongside a roll call of famous makers. Known for its range of highly collectible, vintage watches offered for sale each month, Fellows made headlines in November 2016 when they sold a Rolex for a staggering £96,000.

Lots range from £100 to over £100,000, meaning that Fellows entertains a diverse audience, from casual buyers to serious collectors.

The head office is based in Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter, with a further office in Mayfair, London, providing free no-obligation valuations, plus Antiques Fellows holds Roadshow-style upwards of 100 days at various sales per year, more locations across England. Thanks than half of which to the high quality are of jewellery. The of online images, others specialise in customers can niche markets from view 360-degree pictures from the watches to antiques comfort of their sitting rooms.

In fact, the quality of Fellows’ jewellery attracts an increasingly global online clientele, from Germany and the USA to China and Singapore.

A quick search of their comprehensive site brings several beguiling treasures to light. What better way to immerse yourself in the romance of a bygone era than to collect treasures endowed with their own distinct heritage?

All in all, Fellows offers the opportunity to bid on (and hopefully win) a large number of these one of a kind rarities, a refreshing departure from the mass consumerism of today. In the end, what you’re actually purchasing is a little piece of history and the chance to become a part of the storytelling yourself.

FELLOWS AUGUSTA HOUSE, 19 AUGUSTA STREET, BIRMINGHAM B18 6JA

+44 (0)121 212 2131

FELLOWS.CO.UK

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An early 20th century 18ct gold Burmese spinel and diamond four-stone ring and a diamond three-stone ring

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | JEWELLERY & WATCHES

GARRARD The Royal Warrant jeweller creating timeless designs

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ounded in 1735, the House of Garrard is the longest-serving jeweller in the world. Its first royal commission – an ebony teapot handle for Frederick, Prince of Wales – came only a year after opening and, in 1843, Queen Victoria appointed Garrard as Crown Jeweller. Since then, the jewellery house has served each subsequent monarch, making Queen Mary’s consort crown, many iconic tiaras and the sapphire engagement ring now worn by the Duchess of Cambridge.

The flagship boutique, which was built especially for Garrard, is in the heart of London’s Mayfair. The brand also has a sister flagship home in Shanghai, along with a presence in many locations around the world, including Europe, America, Russia and the Middle East.

Creative director Sara Prentice places storytelling at the heart of Garrard designs, believing that the inspiration behind each piece is as precious as the stone that brings it to life. From bespoke tiaras and engagement rings to major sporting trophies for Royal Ascot, Prentice looks back at Garrard’s historic designs when creating new ones.

The brand’s latest collection, Enchanted Palace, is inspired by the Great Exhibition of 1851, a celebration of innovation in manufacturing and design in the Victorian age. Prentice explains, ‘Enchanted Palace takes inspiration from an important moment in Garrard’s history and celebrates the fun and quirky side of design,so embraced by the Victorians. Each piece has a beautiful simplicity to its design, but is incredibly technical in its construction and, in this way,we have captured the spirit of the era perfectly.’

Alongside the new Enchanted Palace collection are well-known Garrard classics, which include Marguerite, a unique take on an iconic cluster, where sapphire, ruby and emerald take centre stage, surrounded by diamonds, and Evermore, characterised

by a light and delicate halo of diamonds, echoing the shape of the centre stone, either as a ring, FROM TOP: pendant or earrings.

Enchanted Palace Aqua necklace; Other collection pieces include Enchanted Palace the innovative TwentyFour, the perfect Aqua earrings; designing the statement for everyday modern living, Enchanted Palace and Entanglement, a powerful symbol collection of eternal love inspired by the infinite knot motif. The brand’s signature design, the Albemarle collection, is based on a tiara found in the House of Garrard’s archives and which is named after the prestigious address of the flagship boutique.

The House of Garrard is world-renowned for its high jewellery pieces – exceptional one-off creations, including tiaras, headdresses Creative director Sara and Prentice places storytelling brooches.

As wearable at the heart of Garrard as they are designs, believing that the elegant, inspiration behind each many of piece is as precious as the the high jewellery stone that brings it to life pieces are designed to be worn in multiple ways, each one a labour of love created in the London studio by a skilled in-house team.

In keeping with this heritage comes a new suite entitled Jewelled Vault, creations inspired by the Duchess of Edinburgh’s personal jewellery collection from 1874. The creations will evolve over time, with pieces featuring either a Royal Blue sapphire, a Pigeon Red ruby or a striking emerald from Columbia, surrounded by diamonds. Each one is individual in size, cut and setting so no piece can be replicated; every piece is truly one of a kind.

Prentice says, ‘The joy of these creations is the harmonious blend between precious gemstones and Garrard’s aesthetic. The gemstones are striking in themselves but thoughtful design elevates them yet further.’

HOUSE OF GARRARD 24 ALBEMARLE STREET, LONDON W1S 4HT

+44 (0)20 7518 1070

GARRARD.COM

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Marguerite 1735 ring

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | JEWELLERY & WATCHES

HAMILTON & INCHES

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Combining heritage and innovation in Scotland’s foremost jewellery house

customers’ children and grandchildren step through n Monday 28 May 1866, James Hamilton opened its famous doors to mark special moments in their lives.

Hamilton & Inches with his nephew Robert Kirk In 1952, Robert Kirk Inches’ grandson and owner, Ian Inches. For the first two years, Robert slept under Hamilton Inches, purchased 87 George Street, a former a counter in the Edinburgh shop as they could not Edinburgh residence, designed by celebrated architect David Bryce afford a night watchman. in 1855. The showroom is an iconic Georgian structure, boasting A mere 21 years later, in 1887, the company was awarded original cornicing and pillars as well as a rare Adam fireplace its first Royal Warrant and was appointed as ‘His Majesty’s dating back to 1787. Situated over five floors, the workshops are Clockmaker and Keeper and Dresser of His Majesty’s Clock, housed in the three floors above the showroom.

Watches and Pendulums in Palaces and Houses in his Ancient Since the beginning, Hamilton & Inches has run its own silver Kingdom of Scotland’, a post said to date from the reign workshops, one of the last of their kind in Britain, alongside with of Stuart King James VI (James I of England). Over 130 years the retail side of the business. This allows later, Hamilton & Inches holds the Royal company to handcraft most of the silver Warrant as ‘Silversmiths and Clock The company is delighted the in the showroom and to create unique Specialists to Her Majesty The Queen’. to be a jeweller down the commissions on the premises. The most The ethos from the beginning was that notable feature of Hamilton & Inches’ Hamilton & Inches’ jewellery and watches, generations and happy is that it is designed to last for several whatever their price, should be of high to see customers’ children silver lifetimes, created in a structurally sound quality and good value and that the company and grandchildren step name would stand proudly for service and craftsmanship. This philosophy still exists through its famous doors today, as manifested by a very loyal customer to mark special moments base: the company is delighted to be a in their lives jeweller for generations and happy to see

Hamilton & Inches silver tableware

Flora collar necklace

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Hamilton & Inches prides itself on being a jeweller for generations

gauge of silver that can withstand future repairing and cleaning. They also source sustainable coloured gems of magnificent quality.

Hamilton & Inches’ prestigious reputation has been established over more than 150 years Paul Kirkos’ sterling silver candle holder of craftsmanship, quality and heritage. While the master craftsmen remain the linchpins of the workshops, a new generation of skilled experts is evolving among the goldsmiths, silversmiths, engravers, showroom and service people and the collection continues to reflect new generations of consumers.

This year Hamilton & Inches was proud to make the most significant announcement by the Scottish jewellery industry for generations: they will be the jewellery retailers of the first refined batch of Scottish gold and will be developing the 22 karat yellow Scottish Gold, from the Cononish gold and silver mine near Tyndrum, into a prestigiously designed collection.

HAMILTON & INCHES 87 GEORGE STREET, EDINBURGH EH2 3EY

The Edinburgh showroom

+44 (0)131 225 4898

HAMILTONANDINCHES.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | JEWELLERY & WATCHES

LUCAS RARITIES Purveyors of antique jewellery in intimate surroundings

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to its existing collection, it offers consultations for clients looking here’s no shop window. There’s no shop counter either. for particular items, and commissions from those looking for Instead, the sales experience at Lucas Rarities harks individual pieces. Not only does the company have a large range back to the days when jewellery was sold in the intimate of outstanding diamonds, precious gemstones and natural surroundings of a private salon, rather than in the pearls, but it also has access to the best workshops in London. hurried atmosphere of a busy store.

Lucas Rarities will make acquisitions and is always looking for Lucas Rarities was launched in 1999, though its pedigree exceptional pieces to add to its collection. can be traced back to 1693: its director is the 11th generation Running Lucas Rarities on a day to of his family to work in the antique jewellery, natural pearl, diamond and precious stone Lucas Rarities specialises day basis is Sam Loxton. At the relatively age of 38 he is a young gun in an business. Given that the 12th generation has in rare and exceptional tender industry which, he says, is lacking in ‘young now joined the company, the long-standing pieces of period blood’. Sam has worked in the jewellery family tradition looks set to continue. world since he was a teenager and trained Lucas Rarities specialises in rare and jewellery and objets as a gemologist with the Gemmological exceptional pieces of period jewellery and d’art, with a particular Association of Great Britain. Despite his objets d’art, with a particular focus on signed focus on signed pieces traditional training and his penchant for pieces from the Art Deco era to the 1970s. period jewellery, he is attracting a number Its collection includes a range of jewellery from the Art Deco era of younger clients with more contemporary that fully captures the stylistic shift during to the 1970s pieces from designers such as Solange the first half of the 20th century, when jewellery design evolved into an art form.

A highlight of the Lucas Rarities collection is a breathtaking 1930s French, 18 karat yellow and white gold, jade and chalcedony, coral accented bracelet by George L’Enfant. But while there is a host of designers represented, the company maintains that it’s not just the names or signatures that matter – it’s as much, if not more, about the quality, history and craftsmanship of each piece.

Lucas Rarities believes that jewellery collecting should be an intimate experience that retains traditional values. In addition

French 18kt yellow and white gold, jade, coral and chalcedony bracelet by George L’Enfant (c.1930s)

Pair of sapphire and yellow gold Branche clips by Suzanne Belperron

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Lucas Rarities at Lapada London 2017, by Plinth Creative

Azagury-Partridge and JAR. The company, which sells to the trade as well as to private clients, exhibits at the annual LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair where past set-ups have included a large birdcage assembled over the display area and a mock-up of a 1920s Parisian apartment – the point being to put customers at ease and encourage them to enjoy the jewellery and share A gift from Her Majesty Queen their knowledge with others.

Elizabeth II, 9kt yellow gold Royal Away from the jewellery cipher pendant by Cartier (1956) world, Lucas Rarities is proud to sponsor the Patrons Club JDRF, the world’s leading type one diabetes research charity.

It is also sponsor of young golfer Harry James and both a boys’ and a girls’ grassroots football team.

LUCAS RARITIES FIRST FLOOR, 47 MADDOX STREET, LONDON W1S 2PG

French 18kt yellow gold, sapphire and emerald ring by René Boivin (c.1950s)

+44 (0)20 7100 8881

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | JEWELLERY & WATCHES

PRAGNELL A new chapter for a jeweller renowned for its broad expertise and exclusive designs

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ven before George Pragnell established his family-run jewellery business he had a royal connection. From the early 1930s, while apprenticing, and later running the jewellers Biggs of Maidenhead and Farnham, he was fortunate, on occasion, to look after Queen Mary. She died in 1953 and a year later he took over a small jewellers, based in a Tudor cottage in Stratfordupon-Avon, built by carpenter Abraham Sturley, a friend of William Shakespeare. The company still owns the building today.

Over the years Pragnell expanded and acquired other jewellery companies including Philip Antrobus of Bond Street. In 1946 Philip Antrobus was commissioned to design the Queen’s engagement ring and a bespoke bracelet for the royal wedding. To provide diamonds fit for a queen, Prince Philip’s mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, gave her son one of her magnificent tiaras, which was dismantled to create a three-carat brilliant round diamond engagement ring, flanked by four smaller pavé-set diamonds. Princess Elizabeth wore the Antrobus bracelet and engagement ring on her wedding day, along with jewellery from her grandmother, Queen Mary.

Fast forward to the royal platinum wedding anniversary this year and Pragnell has ‘re-imagined’ the Queen’s diamond Antrobus bracelet. This bracelet is not a replica but pays homage to the Queen’s iconic original, with three identical 2.5-carat diamond centrepieces referencing the Antrobus’s geometric style, and over 320 modern brilliant cut diamonds. Each diamond is hand-selected by managing director Charlie Pragnell, George’s grandson, to ensure that the bracelet showcases diamonds of the finest cut and highest quality.

The Pragnell family has also become synonymous with Shakespeare’s memory, owing to its role as founder of the Pragnell Shakespeare Birthday Award. The Pragnells joined in last year’s commemorations marking the 400th anniversary of the playwright’s death. A collaboration between Pragnell and Swiss watchmaker, Patek Philippe, culminated in a fitting tribute to the Bard – a dome clock created using the ancient technique of Limoges painted enamels.

Pragnell has vast expertise in antique silver, gemology, valuations, design, watchmaking, goldsmithing and trophies; boasting a greater diversity of related goods and services under one roof than any other fine jeweller in Britain. Acquiring the finest rare gemstones

TOP RIGHT: The new Mount Street showroom RIGHT: 8ct Colombian emerald and diamond ring

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The ‘re-imagined’ Antrobus bracelet

is a labour of love, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the Masterpiece collection. Gemstones are hand-selected by a member of the Pragnell family and pieces are designed around the stone in order to highlight its unique quality, before it is passed to a master goldsmith for finishing.

What’s more, all items in the Pragnell Masterpiece collection are individually numbered, so their owners become part of the Pragnell story. ‘Important jewellery should be unique,’ says Charlie Pragnell, ‘and any unique creation requires artistry to tell a story and create an emotion when someone observes it. To us, jewellery is art, not fashion.’ More than just a superb jeweller, Pragnell is a storyteller.

Excitingly, in November 2017, Pragnell opened a shop in Mayfair (14 Mount Street; 020 7409 2845), showcasing its complete collection of British handcrafted jewellery masterpieces, alongside 5ct brilliant luxury Swiss watch brands Patek cut E colour Philippe and Rolex. diamond ring PRAGNELL 5 & 6 WOOD STREET, STRATFORD-UPON-AVON CV37 6JA

Pink sapphire Kingdom ring, sapphire Kingdom ring and diamond Kingdom ring

+44 (0)1789 267072

PRAGNELL.CO.UK

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | JEWELLERY & WATCHES

ROGER W SMITH Watches that give much more than the time of day

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good enough. Roger then spent the next five years making and re-making his watch, in the process perfecting the 32 trades necessary to do the job.

This time his mentor approved and invited Roger to work with him on the now iconic ‘Daniels Millennium’ series in his Isle of Man workshop.

This was the perfect foundation for Roger to set up his own studio in 2001, to create his ‘Series 1’, comprising nine rectangularcased watches fitted with a retrograde calendar complication. The first watch to be made completely in house by hand, however, was his Series 2, which was launched in February 2006 after a complicated three-year development period. It was the first production watch hand-built according to the Daniels’ Method.

The Series 2 established Roger as the absolute master of his time. It is a The GREAT Britain watch mechanical embodiment of his watchmaking ethos: to create a means of telling the time that is also a work of art, and will last forever.

When Daniels died in 2011, he left his Isle of Man workshop to Smith, including rare machines dating back to the 1820s.

Three-hundred years ago Britain made the best watches in the world.

Roger is reclaiming that distinction for the nation. In 2013 he created a standard bearer in a one-of-a-kind watch, the GREAT Britain, for the GREAT campaign, which celebrated the best of the nation and was displayed by ministers and diplomats on trade missions overseas.

It has the most complex dial ever made by hand. Another marvel, his Open Dial watch, is transparent, revealing the intricate workings inside.

Now, after a four-year development cycle, Roger has completed the first range of all-British watches for ABOVE & LEFT: decades. The revised Series 1 and 2 watches are joined The Open Dial masterpiece and

by Roger’s first new production watches for a decade, The GREAT Britain the Series 3 and 4, which include calendars.

Series 2 is a mechanical embodiment of Roger W Smith’s watchmaking ethos: to create a means of telling the time that is also a work of art and will last forever

ROGER W SMITH PO BOX 67, RAMSEY, ISLE OF MAN IM99 4LN

+44 (0)1624 897943

RWSMITHWATCHES.COM

PHOTOS: FREDERICV ARANDA

oger W Smith is the only watchmaker in the world who can create a watch entirely by hand.

It’s a long and painstaking process in which every small component is crafted with an attention to detail unheard of in modern manufacturing.

Would-be customers need almost as much patience as the watchmaker himself. He and his staff of seven turn out only ten watches a year, and though it may cost up to half a million pounds, there’s a four-year waiting list to buy one.

Roger’s career is an astonishing epic of dedication, not to mention skill. As a 17-yearold student at Manchester School of Horology, he attended a talk by Dr George Daniels, then considered the best watchmaker in the world, and one of the few to build complete watches by hand.

One of these, his ‘Space Traveller’ pocket watch, he unboxed to show the class. Roger knew instantly that here was greatness and, just as surely, that his life’s calling was to hand-make watches.

His first took him two years of work in his spare time. He took it to Daniels, who said it wasn’t quite

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | JEWELLERY & WATCHES

SIMON WRIGHT Old meets new for artisanal perfection at Simon Wright Jewellery

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such as 3D printing. This approach ensures that people leave imon Wright Jewellery can be hard to find – and that the studio with a piece that is as beautiful as they imagined, is entirely the point. Tucked away down a small alleyway and, sometimes, even more so. in Clerkenwell, this is no high street shop. Entering the In addition to creating bespoke jewellery, the Simon Wright studio reveals walls lined with cricket bats and craftsman’s team is often entrusted with bringing new life to heirloom tools on the bench. Simon Wright creates bespoke pieces pieces. By employing this combination of old and new techniques, that reflect the distinct personalities of their wearers. The team it is able to maintain the integrity and original feel of a piece that prides itself on ensuring each client walks away with a beautiful might hold generations of memories. and one-off piece of jewellery plus a story that The importance of making memories will last a lifetime.

The importance is something the Simon Wright team The experience of finding the studio of making memories believes is integral to the small part they and working with the designers and jewellers is something the Simon play in its clients’ major life milestones, to bring an idea to life is the first chapter especially when it comes to engagements. of the Simon Wright story.

Wright team believes It recognises that a proposal can be Company founder and master artisan is integral to the small daunting, and has an elegant solution Simon Wright started with a passion for the part they play in for those who find themselves unsure arts, originally intending to study sculpture about choosing a ring on their own. The before being drawn to jewellery-making at its clients’ major Perfect Proposal™ allows hopeful romantics university. He brings years of international life milestones to propose with a carefully selected diamond experience to his work, and today the company reflects his original philosophy of providing high-end bespoke jewellery, while putting the client at the centre of the process.

The Simon Wright team is often asked to create pendants and earrings, in addition to the beautiful engagement rings it is renowned for. With every piece, the customer is closely involved in the design process, right from the first spark of an idea.

The team sources the very best materials from all over the world, then marries finely honed, age-old handcrafting techniques with Computer Aided Design (CAD) and innovate technologies

Vintage style emerald and diamond ring

Crafting a Triptych collection pendant

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Diamond engagement ring

in a beautiful package. Couples then come to the studio to cocreate the perfect engagement ring, taking away a wonderful story at the same time.

The Perfect Proposal™ concept can also be extended to other jewellery, whether it is a pendant, earrings or an eternity ring. This is a charming option for future anniversary gifts and special occasions – perhaps the arrival of a first child, or maybe one day that child’s graduation.

For the Simon Wright team, Perfect proposal that’s what it’s all about: the personal touch, long-lasting relationships and the seamless blend of old and new techniques that lead to the creation of a timeless piece of jewellery. A piece that will carry with it a story for generations to come.

SIMON WRIGHT 6 ST JOHN’S PLACE, LONDON EC1M 4NP

Yellow diamond drop earrings

+44 (0)20 7490 0665

SW-JEWELLERY.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | JEWELLERY & WATCHES

TATEOSSIAN Beautiful handmade jewellery with which to express individuality and personal style

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gold and gemstones. Such unusual pairings result in unrivalled, n 1990 Robert Tateossian founded his eponymous brand, beautiful pieces for men and women, which will undoubtedly aspiring to offer men and women a distinctive way of expressing become future heirlooms. their personalities and style through meticulously crafted and Tateossian delivers uncompromising quality. With his design original accessories. A sense of playfulness and free movement team, Robert personally scours the globe to source the best is intricately intertwined with the brand’s DNA and reflected materials before passing them on to the finest craftsmen and in its exquisite but wearable designs. Tateossian’s ability to apply women to work their magic. Tateossian has spent many years personality to design has seen the brand adopted by a long list identifying the best workshops around of venerable dignitaries, from heads of state and royalty to actors and musicians.

Every collection released the world so, for example, bracelets are in London and one-of-a-kind Robert Tateossian was born in Kuwait to pushes the boundaries handmade gold pieces are crafted by artisans in Milan.

Lebanese-Armenian parents and educated at of jewellery design, Robert has always been keen to champion French schools in Rome. Robert, who is fluent in seven languages, studied international utilising unusual and rare and support global charities fighting to a difference in the world. For example, finance at the prestigious Wharton School of materials, including little make Tateossian’s collaboration with the Elton Finance in Pennsylvania, before embarking chunks from the moon, John Aids Foundation (EJAF) dates back over on a successful career with Merrill Lynch on 15 years and reached its peak in 2015 with a Wall Street and in the City of London. After dinosaur bones and special project to coincide with Tateossian’s dedicating seven years to the world of banking, gold nuggets 25th anniversary. Thirty per cent of the his natural creative flair, love of luxury and retail proceeds of its evolving Pill collection are donated to the keen eye for detail led him to jewellery and accessory design. foundation, contributing towards EJAF’s vision of creating an AIDs Tateossian’s approach to design embodies the brand’s core free future. The brand’s philanthropic endeavours are inspirational values of innovation, creativity and quality. Customers keep and include working with the Terrence Higgins Trust for over two returning to Tateossian because of its ability to follow catwalk decades and supporting Breast Cancer Care, among dozens of other trends and inject novelty into its collections, season after season.

Every collection released pushes the boundaries of jewellery design, utilising unusual and rare materials, including little chunks from the moon, dinosaur bones and gold nuggets, skilfully combined with more traditional elements like diamonds,

Stonehenge sodalite diamond bracelet

18kt skeleton pave cufflinks

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Pop Rigato bracelets

notable charities over the brand’s 28 years.

Tateossian has five retail stores in London and a presence in over 70 countries around the world, with more than a thousand points of sale in the most prestigious boutiques and department stores – Tsum in Moscow, Harrods in London, Saks in New York and Isetan in Tokyo, to name a few. The brand also has an extensive private collection distribution network, working closely with Lucky Me cufflinks some of the fashion industry’s most respected brands.

Additionally, Tateossian is available in Duty Free and on board some of the world’s leading airlines, including British Airways, Emirates Airlines, KLM and Cathay Pacific Airways.

TATEOSSIAN 27 CONDUIT STREET, LONDON W1S 2XZ

Combination ring and carbon fibre ring

+44 (0)20 7499 9924

TATEOSSIAN.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | JEWELLERY & WATCHES

THEO FENNELL Bespoke jewellery and silverware from the master jeweller of Chelsea

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heo Fennell shines out as a beacon of originality and superb craftsmanship in a time when the dominance of global conglomerates is squeezing the character and brilliance out of the jewellery and silverware market.

This quintessentially British, design-led business has been inventing and making miniature works of art for nearly 40 years. Above the Fulham Road shop is a genuine atelier and customers can visit it to be inspired by seeing Theo Fennell craftsmen at work.

Theo himself is still the creative director of the company. He was at Eton during the Sixties and was one of their first pupils to go to art college – first to York and then to the Byam Shaw School of Art. He began his career in portraiture but, by chance, was offered a job at the great silversmith Edward Barnard. At the insistence of a greataunt, he took it and fast discovered a rare talent and a deep passion for silver and jewellery design along with a respect for the craftspeople and their skills. One morning, a 1920s 18-karat gold champagne flute arrived, engraved with ‘Good Morning Diana’. The romance of it enchanted Theo and came to underpin his own designs. He formed his own company in the late 1970s.

Theo Fennell designs are made for an extraordinarily broad spectrum of loyal clients who want something original, personal and exquisitely made. Having a piece especially designed and created, whether a ring or a trophy, a locket

Theo’s honeycomb pendant sketch

or a set of candlesticks, is a creative and satisfying experience, and this often becomes the only way clients will acquire jewellery and silverware from then on. However, there is also always a host of original ready-to-buy pieces in the store, many of which can have detail added to personalise them. For example, the six-stone pendant that spells out Semper (Latin for always), has a witty, secret tongue that slides out and can be engraved with a message. Many of Theo Fennell’s pieces, like the opening rings and lockets, hold surprises, but all have personality and emotional heft.

‘Unless jewellery has emotional weight it’s just a gewgaw,’ explains Theo. ‘Even when our jewellery is like Grand Opera it is still well-conceived and exquisitely crafted with wit.’

While never losing sight of its traditional values, the company has been able to adapt to its clients’ different needs and tastes, from classic and minimalist to the most outrageously theatrical, because it has always pioneered the use of new techniques and materials. Theo Fennell’s pieces

18kt yellow gold, diamond, blue sapphire, emeralds, Mandarin garnet, paraiba and ruby Semper Opening pendant

Having a Theo Fennell piece especially designed and created, whether a ring or a trophy, a locket or a set of candlesticks, is a creative and satisfying experience

18kt yellow gold, 0.44ct yellow sapphire large Honeycomb Art pendant

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Theo Fennell

18kt yellow gold, 22.91ct black opal, 2.13ct diamond Lily Pond hinged cuff bangle

become suffused by the character of their owners because Theo understands that, being the only art form to be worn, jewellery must suit the wearer and be practical as well as beautiful.

Likewise, great silverware needs to be both functional and handsome, useful while becoming redolent of the family that owns it and part of its heritage.

The authenticity and originality that runs through every Theo Fennell piece makes each one a timeless classic to be handed down to the next generation.

‘To capture people’s imaginations, jewellery must have depth and a story,’ says Theo.

‘All great jewellery is necessarily talismanic, a keepsake that transcends generations.’

THEO FENNELL 169 FULHAM ROAD, LONDON SW3 6SP

Sterling silver and gilt Wadi Wurayah cafetiere

+44 (0)20 7591 5000

THEOFENNELL.COM

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PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

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Cadogan p132 Harrods p134 Heal’s p136 Jermyn Street p138

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | ICONIC DESTINATIONS

ASPREY Innovation, elegance and fine craftsmanship – since 1781

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a younger generation to believe that such highly skilled jobs are as eautiful investment pieces, skilfully designed relevant today as ever. They learn that Asprey doesn’t rush things: that and impeccably crafted to stand the test of time exceptional products take time to create (the Pagoda cocktail shaker, and be passed from one generation to the next.’ for example, takes over 100 hours to complete in the silver workshops).

There can be few, if any, luxury brands with a history Today, as much as ever, Asprey’s clients tend to be sophisticated, as illustrious as that of Asprey. Founded in 1781, based well-travelled tastemakers from all over the world, with a penchant on core values of innovative design, understated English elegance and for entertaining and a love of British style. For red carpet events, the finest craftsmanship and attention to detail, it is still a force to be the company has provided fine jewellery reckoned with in today’s global luxury world. for Dame Helen Mirren, Angelina Jolie, It all began with handcrafted silver, crystal Asprey’s clients tend Rosamund Pike and Rita Ora among many and leather – and it was the leather goods that to be sophisticated, others. The Duchess of Cambridge has been attracted the attention of Queen Victoria, who well-travelled photographed wearing Asprey’s jewellery awarded the company a Royal Warrant in 1862 collections, too: the Woodland Charm and for supplying her with dressing cases. Her son, tastemakers from all the 167 Button pendant.

Edward VII, was so delighted with a monogram over the world, with Although Asprey’s backstory is the Asprey designed for him that he tried to have a penchant for envy of many luxury brands, the past it embossed on pillar boxes. He, too, bestowed is no guarantee of a successful future. a Royal Warrant in 1889, and the business has entertaining and So it’s a measure of this brand’s staying held one for every monarch since – as well as a love of British style power that it is still pushing the boundaries for several foreign heads of state.

By the early 1900s, Asprey had added fine jewellery and china to its repertoire, eventually incorporating timepieces and decorative objets for the home. The New Bond Street premises, which Asprey still occupies, became a place to see and to be seen, and also to receive the best service in London. Asprey became the go-to destination for heirlooms of the future – beautiful investment pieces that were always skilfully designed.

To reinforce this consistency, Asprey has retained its on-site workshops, and continues to nurture apprentices, encouraging

3.19ct and 3.10ct Fancy YellowGreen pear-shape diamond earrings with rose cut pink diamonds

1781 Pochette and the Woodland charm bracelet

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Woodland collection

of innovation – creating meaningful narratives that are captured in a series of short films devoted to each product category.

Spring/summer 2018’s leather handbag collection references Asprey’s famous 20-yearold boutique in The Beverly Hills Hotel, while its jewellery collection features rare coloured diamonds. In barware, Asprey has been carving out a niche since the art deco ‘moderne’ golden age of cocktail-making, and its playful cocktail shakers New Bond Street store – the Racing Car and the Pagoda – show how this company continues to define the meaning of ‘modern’. This year the company opens a flagship store in the most prestigious Ginza district, Tokyo, in partnership with the venerable Sun Motoyama.

ASPREY 167 NEW BOND STREET, LONDON W1S 4AY

+44 (0)20 7493 6767

LEFT: Woodland charm bracelet ABOVE: Pagoda cocktail shaker

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | ICONIC DESTINATIONS

CADOGAN The historic estate shaping a 21st-century Chelsea

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welfare. Over the years the Cadogan family has donated land and adogan is a property manager, investor and developer buildings around Chelsea for schools, social housing, churches, with a 300-year history that informs its dynamic and the Town Hall, fire station and a hospital. modern approach to estate management.

Duke of York Square was the first new public square to be The Estate’s 93 acres span an area that encompasses opened in London for a century as a massive undertaking Chelsea and Knightsbridge. One of London’s bestto redevelop Ministry of Defence land and buildings. The square loved neighbourhoods, Chelsea has a rich cultural heritage as now hosts a fantastic selection of shops and restaurants, alongside a haven for artists, authors, musicians and designers, from Dante a weekly Fine Food Market. The project also Gabriel Rossetti to The Rolling Stones. Turner created a new home for the Saatchi Gallery. and Whistler both settled here to paint the One of London’s bestOne of the most recent developments was picturesque riverside (the latter also founded loved neighbourhoods, the creation of a gourmet food haven on the raffish Chelsea Arts Club), while writers Chelsea has a rich cultural Pavilion Road, tucked away behind Sloane who made their homes here include Oscar Square, where you can find fresh coffee, fruit Wilde and Bram Stoker, creator of Dracula. heritage as a haven for vegetables, artisan bread baked in-store, Thanks in large part to Cadogan’s longartists, authors, musicians and a family butcher, cheesemonger and a fine term commitment to the management and and designers, from wine shop, all independently owned. success of the area, Chelsea remains a hive Chelsea has also become the epicentre of world-class artistic endeavour, home to Dante Gabriel Rossetti of high-end London shopping. Originally major institutions of contemporary theatre, art to The Rolling Stones commissioned by Charles, 1st Earl Cadogan and music, among them the ground-breaking Royal Court theatre and the celebrated Cadogan Hall, which Cadogan converted from a dilapidated church in 2000, creating a subsidised home for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The area is also renowned for its unique mix of international flagship designer stores, independent boutiques, high-end restaurants, cultural attractions, iconic hotels and stunning houses, all set against a backdrop of elegant streets and beautiful green spaces.

Stewardship and community are the watchwords of the Estate: both the family and the company take an active interest in its

Al fresco dining on Duke of York Square

Luxury flagships on Sloane Street

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Yoga at Duke of York Square, in front of the Saatchi Gallery

in the 18th century, Sloane Street has evolved into one of the world’s most exclusive retail destinations.

Here, impressive flagship stores – including designers Tom Ford, Alberta Ferretti, Valentino, Chloé, Emilia Wickstead and Giorgio Armani – line a highfashion catwalk stretching from Knightsbridge to Sloane Square.

In partnership with the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea, an enhancement of Sloane Street’s public area is proposed, which will give New gourmet it wider pavements and a greener, destination, Pavilion Road even more elegant streetscape.

For 300 years, Cadogan has been at the heart of Chelsea, contributing to a vibrant and inspiring area. Over the next 300, Cadogan aims to encourage its evolution, while preserving the rich heritage and identity that make the area so unique.

CADOGAN 10 DUKE OF YORK SQUARE, LONDON SW3 4LY

Chelsea Pensioners enjoy the BADA Art Fair

+44 (0)20 7730 4567

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | ICONIC DESTINATIONS

HARRODS

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Service continues to come first at this iconic Knightsbridge store

environment, investing heavily in the architecture and interiors hen, in the 1860s, Henry Digby Harrod reflected of what became known as the Terracotta Palace. on the ‘very nice counter trade’ of the grocery That service ethic and palatial ambience remain as the store shop run by his brother Charles Digby at 105 continues to evolve. At the forefront of current developments are the Brompton Road of ‘about £200 to £250 per week’, four historic Food Halls, which will be transformed over the next few he can scarcely have imagined the distinguished years into an unrivalled combination of skill, service and food, all in site under the same name today. the same Grade II-listed environment. Harrods’ 150 in-house chefs will The Harrods were the sons of Charles Henry, who moved his small make fresh dishes daily for customers to take Stepney grocery store to Knightsbridge in 1849, home or eat in-store, while the department will in anticipation of the extra trade generated For Charles Henry offer even more of the world’s greatest produce. by the Great Exhibition to be held in Hyde Park and his son, the The first phase of The Taste Revolution two years later. It proved to be a shrewd move. store’s most important was rolled out in November 2017, with By 1880, Charles Henry was employing 100 the opening of The Roastery and Bake people and had expanded to sell perfumes and attribute was its Hall, complete with in-houses baristas, tea medicines, confectionery, fruit and flowers. service, delivered by blenders and bakers; customers can also Indeed, according to the Chelsea Herald staff who went above create their own blends of tea and coffee. of 1884, shoppers could find such delights Also new this year is The Wellness Clinic, as: ‘breeches’ paste, blancmange, glycerine, and beyond customers’ in which practitioners recommend and lobsters, plate powder, sugar candy, boot top expectations conduct a wide range of therapies including powder, wax vestas, salt, prawns, phosphor paste, oysters, milk, knife polish, house flannel, dog biscuits, mustard and a thousand and one other articles of a heterogeneous nature but all of which meet in the store room of any well ordered household.’

That same variety prevails today – if with a little more luxury – but Harrods’ success has always relied on a philosophy that is broader than pure retail. For Charles Henry and his son, the store’s most important attribute was its service, delivered by staff who went above and beyond customers’ expectations. The Harrods family also recognised the value of creating a sensational The Wellness Clinic offers an array of spoiling treatments

The Sal Harrods’ Food Halls are being redeveloped

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The iconic exterior

The Salon de Parfums (and pictured right) cements Harrods’ place as a forerunner in bespoke fragrance

face and body treatments, cryotherapy, personal training, dietitian consultation, vitamin infusions, acupuncture, DNA testing for prescriptive skincare and chiropractor and posture services.

Meanwhile, at the very top of the store, the newly extended Salon de Parfums is underlining Harrods’ reputation as the world leader in bespoke fragrance.

Brands, including Chanel, Dior and Roja Dove, have been joined by names such as Burberry, Floraïku and Frédéric Malle.

Exclusive scents are available too: at Penhaligon’s, as well as composing their own signature concoction, customers can enjoy an exclusive fragrance – The Remarkable Success of Mr Harrod. Something else that Henry Digby probably wouldn’t have envisaged more than 150 years ago.

HARRODS 87–135 BROMPTON ROAD, LONDON SW1X 7XL

+44 (0)20 7730 1234

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | ICONIC DESTINATIONS

HEAL’S

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Championing both new and established designers, Heal’s remains at the forefront of the interiors market

Highlights from this season include Morten, a Nordic-inspired he story begins in the early 19th century, when John collection designed exclusively for Heal’s by John Jenkins, that sits Harris Heal headed to London to train as a feather beautifully within the broader Scandi-inspired homeware section. dresser. Innovative from the start, he quickly set up his A moody palette of deep burgundy, inky blues and dark greens own mattress business and introduced French-style, provides a sophisticated backdrop to brushed brass finishes and feather-filled mattresses to London’s homeowners, monochrome patterns. Within this collection is the new Richmond marking the beginning of the end for straw beds. Following his sofa and the Balmoral upholstered bed, which masterfully updates death in 1833, his widow, Fanny, and their son, John Harris Junior, the classic Chesterfield look. Also new is the renamed the business Fanny Heal & Son. Seven years later Fanny handed the reins over The lighting department ‘Designed by you’ service, which involves customers in the design process from the to her son and ‘Heal’s’ moved to its current is a destination in itself, outset, giving them the creative freedom premises on Tottenham Court Road. where established brands to design a sofa or dining table that is the Ambrose Heal Junior joined the fold in 1893. Having completed an apprenticeship such as Anglepoise and perfect fit for their style and space.

Alongside the Heal’s pieces are big as a cabinet-maker, he was ripe to pioneer Tom Dixon sit alongside international furniture brands such a catalogue of daring Arts and Crafts newcomers such as as Fritz Hansen, Moroso, Vitra, Ligne Roset furniture. Ambrose had faith that the store’s and Porada. These ‘Designer Collections’ customers would be open to this new territory Resident, Bert Frank brands have been curated by the Heal’s and so championed brave new designs, such and Vitamin buyers and present a stunning edit of some as Bauhaus’s tubular steel furniture. The company went from strength to strength and, in 1933, Ambrose Heal was knighted for his part in ‘raising British design standards’.

Fast forward to the present day and Ambrose’s mantra, ‘If in doubt, innovate’, remains the company’s driving philosophy. Today, Heal’s honours this commitment to craft through its range of handmade wooden furniture and a display dedicated to ceramics by modern designer-makers, such as Lyngard and Mia Sarosi.

The Morten bed designed

by John Jenkins

The Wallis armchair, designed by Russell Pinch

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The Richmond sofa

of the most iconic furniture pieces in the world today.

The lighting department is a destination in itself, where established brands, such as Anglepoise and Tom Dixon, sit alongside newcomers like Resident, Bert Frank and Vitamin.

Heal’s continues to support emerging talent, as evidenced by its annual ‘Heal’s Discovers’ collection, which has launched the careers of many young designers since 2004. Playing on its heritage and expertise, Scandinavian inspired tableware the company’s strapline, ‘The home of design since 1810’, clearly cannot be refuted. As much of a player today as it was 200 years ago, Heal’s continues to set the pace for the British interiors market through innovation, trendsetting and quality design.

Opulent glass pendant

HEAL’S THE HEAL’S BUILDING, 196 TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD, LONDON W1T 7LQ

+44 (0)20 7636 1666

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | ICONIC DESTINATIONS

JERMYN STREET Where fine quality, excellent service and top-notch craftsmanship are never out of style

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However, it wasn’t just gentlemen’s outfitters who set up ucked among the gentlemen’s clubs of Pall Mall and shop on Jermyn Street in the early years – the wealthy clientele St James’s, Jermyn Street has long been a bastion who frequented the street could also buy a whole a range of of good taste. Reflecting its strength of tradition goods from around the world, many of which were considered and heritage, a great many great British brands have exotic at the time. called this thoroughfare home for some 300 years.

Floris, the oldest independent family perfumers in the world, The history of the street dates back to 1661, when Henry and the only one with a Royal Warrant from HM the Queen, Jermyn, Earl of St Albans, obtained land from Charles II established itself at 89 Jermyn Street in 1730. to develop a residential neighbourhood.

Once completed, the area flourished, The history of the street The magnificent Fortnum & Mason, by appointment to both HM The Queen and becoming London’s most fashionable address, dates back to 1661. The HRH The Prince of Wales, has been at the dominated by the beautiful St James’s area flourished, becoming heart of life in St James’s since its foundation Church, designed by Sir Christopher Wren.

Just as Savile Row is synonymous with London’s most fashionable in 1705. Paxton & Whitfield, Britain’s leading cheesemonger for over 200 years, bespoke suiting, so Jermyn Street is where address, dominated by has had a base on Jermyn Street since the gentleman about town has always bought the beautiful St James’s the mid-1700s, becoming cheesemonger his shirts. All the best shirtmakers are here, including Turnbull & Asser, Harvie & Church, designed by Sir to HM Queen Victoria in 1850. In fact, so popular are the stiltons at Paxton & Hudson, Emma Willis, Hilditch & Key, Hawes Christopher Wren Whitfield today that, at Christmas, the & Curtis, Thomas Pink, Charles Tyrwhitt and Emmett London. But it’s not just about shirts: stores also hold customers’ fitting details for formalwear, gloves and even hats.

Britain’s oldest and most reputable shoe and bootmakers, from John Lobb and Foster & Son to Tricker’s and Crockett & Jones, have long-established bases on Jermyn Street, too.

Meanwhile, on Piccadilly Arcade, which runs between Piccadilly and Jermyn Street, you’ll find both Budd Shirts and Benson & Clegg, offering a staggering wealth of goods, including Benson & Clegg’s unrivalled collection of military, academic and club ties.

Paxton & Whitfield storefront

Harvie & Hudson

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The Ritz has a longstanding relationship with Jermyn Street

queue to buy them snakes all the way down Jermyn Street.

Gentlemen and women need to eat and Jermyn Street has a number of iconic restaurants: Wiltons, established in 1742, is famed for the finest oysters, wild fish and game; Rowley’s, at 113, is an institution known for its delicious steaks; 45 Jermyn St offers a glamorous but contemporary experience; while The Ritz on Piccadilly, with whom Jermyn Street has New & Lingwood and had a longstanding relationship, Wiltons restaurant serves the most famous afternoon tea in the world.

Jermyn Street has served world leaders, royalty, politicians, authors, poets, sports stars, film stars and rock stars alike, and it looks to the future knowing that although fashion and etiquette change, an appreciation of fine quality, service and craftsmanship never goes out of style.

THE JERMYN STREET ASSOCIATION 50 JERMYN STREET, LONDON SW1Y 6LX

Tricker’s shoes

+44 (0)20 7293 0922

JERMYNSTREET.NET

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PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | BEAUTY & WELLBEING

BOADICEA THE VICTORIOUS

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One of the first premium unisex perfumers

of Boadicea the Victorious fragrances are then made in Britain aking inspiration from the legend of the British by experienced craftsmen. It’s this combination of the exotic warrior queen who led the Iceni tribe against the and the irrefutably British that ensures that the brand stands out occupying forces of the Roman Empire in AD 60, as a leader of independent perfumes in a relatively crowded field.

Boadicea the Victorious is a gender-neutral fragrance As distinctive as the scents themselves are the instantly brand that launched as a worldwide exclusive recognisable fragrance bottles. Each one is crafted by a British in Harrods. The response was immediate with customers artisan: the pewter used for the front and back shields is pressed connecting not just to the scent itself, but to the idea and moulded by hand by one of the country’s oldest pewtersmith of buying into a small moment in history. Boadicea businesses. Some of the shields are dipped in 24 karat gold; others the Victorious quickly became one of the best-selling contain diamonds or precious stones. Many are designed especially brands within Harrods’ renowned Black Hall Perfumery, for a particular event or launch to ensure that and a year later saw similar success in Henri it’s not only the perfume itself that’s a surprise Bendel of New York and in Selfridges in Ingredients, whether but the beautiful bottle that contains it.

London, where it continues to be one of the sambac sourced from Along with an elite group of investors, top performing niche ranges.

Bhutan or oud from the David Crisp bought Boadicea the Victorious Owner David Crisp’s vision was in 2010 on what would have been his late to bring outstanding, original fragrances forests of Southeast birthday but his relationship to the discerning market on a global scale.

Asia, are of impeccable father’s with the brand runs far deeper than Ingredients, whether sambac sourced quality and feature a commercial enterprise and from Bhutan or oud from the forests of south-east Asia, are of impeccable in the highest possible he is committed to ensuring that Boadicea theVictorious continues quality and feature in the highest possible concentrations to flourish. The ‘Global Collections’ concentrations. All the components concept ensures that the brand offers something to suit all scent palettes within various perfume territories around the world. In recent years, this has aided the evolution of a client base that encompasses Arab, Russian, Chinese and British consumers of both genders.

Boadicea the Victorious is soon launching a fully bespoke service that will enable clients

Boadicea the Victorious fragrances are a celebration of timeless British craftsmanship

Elite duo

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The brand has become a best-seller at Harrods

to create a scent as individual as they are themselves. The brand’s access to the ‘best of the best’ will allow clients to dare to dream; the bottle shield, colour, and the perfume itself will all comprise a one-of-a-kind experience.

This latest chapter in the evolution of the brand is characteristic of a company that has built its excellent reputation by working with the finest ingredients, experienced perfumers and skilled craftsmen within Britain.

Boadicea the Victorious is a celebration of beauty, strength and nobility, brought to life through sublime scents.

The warrior queen herself Glorious fragrance would have been justly proud.

BOADICEA THE VICTORIOUS

Nebulous

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | BEAUTY & WELLBEING

CAROL JOY LONDON

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Providing the world’s most indulgent results-driven treatments

A natural progression for the brand was the introduction hen founder, Carol Joy Hatton, first set off in search of its heavenly body treatments, including a Caviar and Collagen of age-defying ingredients with which to create her Cocoon, Myofascial Body Work and Signature Massage. In own skin and hair care products, little did she know addition, the Caviar and Algae Detox is a definite favourite the impact Carol Joy London would have globally. delivering a ‘springy metabolism’, as praised by Tatler magazine.

Fast forward to the present day and the brand, The new treatments coincided with the launch of the Senses which started its impressive journey at The Dorchester, can be found Collection of body oils. These allow for the tailoring of treatments worldwide at the most prestigious locations, having attracted renowned to create a ‘Sense of Calm, Purity, Balance names including Burj Al Arab, Four Seasons or Happiness’ using the power of essential and Belmond. Carol Joy London can also be Carol Joy London oils. Each has the clinically proven and found in South Africa at the jewel of the Cape continues to deliver skin rejuvenating refined golden millet winelands, Delaire Graff Estate, and Cape Town’s bespoke treatments oil at its heart, conditioning the skin architecturally acclaimed The Silo, part of the while simultaneously treating the body Royal Portfolio. Heading to the Highlands, for the world’s most both a physical and emotional level Carol Joy London has partnered with the Spa discerning clients and a at through aromatherapy. at The Carnegie Club, Skibo Castle, the exclusive knockout product range The flagship hair salon is located and enchanting private members’ club that redefines the parameters of luxury and service. to match, raising the bar at The Dorchester, with a sister salon at Fairmont Monte Carlo, while The Luxury Carol Joy London attributes its success to in the world of spa Collection’s Parklane, Cyprus will soon the best of Switzerland’s manufacturing and Germany’s pioneering technology coupled with the unquestionably become home to the third Carol Joy London hair salon with spectacular floor-to-ceiling views over the Mediterranean.

British drive for excellence that formed the brand’s foundations.

Carol Joy London has approached wellness by creating a beauty Coveted ingredients like refined golden millet oil, medically solution that works from the inside out, outside in and top to toe. derived pure collagen, precious caviar algae and 24 carat gold play Hair treatments are inspired by spa techniques, body treatments central roles in products and services, combined with myofascial inspired by facials and coveted refined golden millet oil flows massage, diamond microdermabrasion, pure hyperbaric oxygen through their product range. and cellular vacuum massage. Having launched the world’s first The exciting journey continues for Carol Joy London, which pure collagen spray, Carol Joy London has cemented itself as an industry leader in Pure Collagen technology.

ABOVE: The spa at The Carnegie Club, Skibo Castle RIGHT: Pure collagen spray

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Treatments harness the properties of 24 carat gold

previously featured as one of Great British Brand’s 25 ‘Brands to Watch’. Further body product launches are in the pipeline and there are new treatments to look forward to. In the meantime, Carol Joy London continues to deliver bespoke treatments for the world’s most discerning clients and a knockout product range to match, raising the bar in the world of spa.

ABOVE: The Dorchester Spa relaxation room LEFT: The Senses Collection body oils

CAROL JOY LONDON THE DORCHESTER SPA, 53 PARK LANE, LONDON W1K 1QA

+44 (0)20 7319 7090

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | BEAUTY & WELLBEING

CHARLOTTE TILBURY BEAUTY

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The make-up artist beauty brand that sparked a revolution

are, she says, ‘easy to choose, easy to use and irresistible’. In short, harlotte Tilbury discovered the transformative power she has set out to revolutionise beauty. of make-up at the age of 13 and has been helping Her brand is now available through 77 well-known department others to look their most beautiful ever since. stores in Britain, North America, Canada, Ireland, Germany and Before she launched her award-winning makethe Netherlands, including Nordstrom, Bergdorf Goodman, up and skincare collection in 2014, Charlotte had Bloomingdale’s, Selfridges, Harrods, John Lewis, House of Fraser, a successful career as a make-up artist working in fashion, beauty Harvey Nichols, KaDeWe, Holt Renfrew, De Bijenkorf and Brown and Hollywood, and as creative director for a series of well-known Thomas. Products are also sold online via charlottetilbury.com beauty houses. Into her edited ‘all you need’ collection, Charlotte to 39 countries. In November 2015 Charlotte launched her first poured her best-kept secrets, gleaned from creating countless standalone Beauty Boudoir store in London’s Covent Garden and Vogue, Vanity Fair and other magazine covers with the world’s followed it with a second outlet at Westfield Shepherd’s A-list models, designers and photographers, and from working at the forefront of the beauty industry.

‘Give a woman Bush. A standalone store in Dubai is planned for 2018 stores in Kuwait and Doha were recently unveiled.

Her over-arching mantra is that when you look the right make- andMuch of the impetus for the brand’s success good, you feel good, project confidence and carry up and she can (she has won over 110 awards) has come from yourself differently; in turn, the world reacts to you the little black book of Charlotte Tilbury’s own in a different way. ‘Give a woman the right make-up conquer the career. She has co-created trends on the runways and she can conquer the world,’ runs the Charlotte world’ of New York, London, Milan and Paris in partnership Tilbury Beauty mission statement: a reflection of Charlotte’s own vibrant personality and her understanding of the power of make-up. She believes passionately in making every woman the most beautiful version of herself. Make-up, she says, is every woman’s secret weapon.

Having said that, she also understands that modern women are as likely to do their make-up on the run with a mobile phone in hand as they are to sit down at a dressing table. So, to accompany the products, she decoded her expertise into essential make-up tricks, tips and tools – shared via printed pieces, in-store beauty consultants, chatty advice on the website and online videos – that

Charlotte’s Magic Cream

Scent of a Dream campaign with Kate Moss

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Charlotte Tilbury

with the likes of Tom Ford, Donna Karan, Prada, Roberto Cavalli, Christopher Kane, Stella McCartney, Bottega Veneta and Dsquared2.

She has co-crafted game-changing beauty campaigns for luxury houses like Missoni, Burberry and Louis Vuitton and has worked with photographers, fashion editors and influencers such as Mario Testino, Katie Grand, Lucinda Chambers, Kate Phelan, Charlotte Stockdale, Hollywood Carine Roitfeld and Grace collection Coddington, to name a few.

Perhaps the most powerful endorsement has come from international beauties like Kate Moss, Penélope Cruz, Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez, Blake Lively and Salma Hayek, who have all walked the red carpet wearing a Charlotte Tilbury look – utterly confident and empowered.

CHARLOTTE TILBURY BEAUTY 11–12 JAMES STREET, LONDON WC2E 8BT

Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Wonderland in Westfield, London

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | BEAUTY & WELLBEING

D. R. HARRIS Chemist and perfumers by royal appointment

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henever Oscar Wilde had a heavy night he cracked skincare, shampoos and conditioners. The soaps are simply the best you can buy: all are triple-milled, a process in which open a bottle of D. R. Harris’s legendary Pick-Mewater is pressed from the soap mixture three times, resulting Up Hangover Cure. At least, we like to think in a denser, firmer soap that produces more lather and lasts he did: the popular playwright was certainly longer. Equally, D. R. Harris’s shaving soap is one of few a regular at the St James’s Street apothecary, available that still contains tallow, which creates a luxurious though history does not record what he actually purchased. lather. Need a new toothbrush? You can buy that here, too.

By then, D. R. Harris had already been established for the The days when D. R. Harris concocted best part of a century, founded in 1790 and given curatives on site may be long gone, but the its name by brothers Henry Harris, a surgeon, The company has company has a policy of sourcing as many and Daniel Rotely Harris, a pharmacist. Not a policy of sourcing British products as possible, cutting down such an unlikely combination since, in those as many British products on delivery miles and allowing production days, it was common practice for apothecaries in relatively small batches, which ensures to perform minor surgeries as well as prescribing as possible, cutting down freshness. Where possible packaging and dispensing medicines – handy for the on delivery miles and is recyclable and if you live within a mile members of the nearby gentlemen’s clubs who allowing production of St James’s Street, D. R. Harris will could combine lunch in town with a discrete trip to D. R. Harris. The brothers also in relatively small batches, deliver by customised bicycle.

To keep things current, D. R. Harris formulated toilet waters, colognes and English which ensures freshness regularly collaborates with relevant brands flower perfumes, which were hugely popular.

Fast forward 228 years, and while some things have changed – D. R. Harris no longer sells the Pick-Me-Up Hangover Cure – the original concept of delivering a high level of service and discretion, along with good quality products, prevails. And though the emphasis is very much on grooming, with an astonishing range of shaving soaps, creams, aftershaves and colognes, D. R. Harris dispenses NHS and private prescriptions, too.

While D. R. Harris is synonymous with men’s fragrances and shaving products, there’s much to tempt women too, including

D. R. Harris’s trusty delivery bike

Special edition ceramic bottle

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Natural horn-backed boar bristle brush

to produce unique products, including pottery with Burleigh, Caverswall China and Wade Ceramics. It has also partnered with Bunney, a London-based jeweller to create special silver editions of D. R. Harris’s iconic lip balm, while its partnership with Olivia Knox to make shoe horns showcases some of the best practice in husbandry and horn craftsmanship.

In 1938, D. R. Harris was awarded a Royal Warrant Badger bristle shaving brushes

by HM The Queen (later The Queen Mother), in 2002

by HRH The Prince of Wales and in 2012 by HM The Queen, confirming what its clients have always known: D. R. Harris really is a chemist and perfumers fit for a (future) king or queen.

D. R. HARRIS 29 ST JAMES’S STREET, LONDON SW1A 1HB

Leather-bound accessories

+44 (0)20 7930 3915

DRHARRIS.CO.UK

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | BEAUTY & WELLBEING

FLORIS LONDON British family perfumers since 1730

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n 1730 Juan Famenias Floris and his wife Elizabeth opened a barber as part of its bespoke service in its private perfumery. Floris still has the original formula and reference books dating back to the brand’s and comb maker’s shop at 89 Jermyn Street, selling fragrances, earliest days, so even when creating new fragrances for the main range accessories, beautiful handmade hair combs imported from Juan’s and innovating with the latest ingredients and ideas, Floris never loses native Menorca, as well as shaving brushes, hatpins, toothbrushes, its sense of tradition. Its expertise is rooted in centuries of experience fine-tooth combs and razor strops – all made on the premises. rather than artifice and, today, understated elegance is the brand’s Nine generations later, Floris remains in sole family ownership hallmark – Floris is a brand that whispers rather than shouts. and has scented the great and the good, royalty and Hollywood Bergamotto di Positano, the bestselling stars from Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn marine citrus fragrance launched in 2014, and Keira Knightley to Sir Laurence Olivier, Its expertise is rooted inspired by archive details of an Italian Sir Michael Caine and Benedict Cumberbatch. in centuries of experience was ancestor from Positano, who married Mary Its signature fragrance, No.89, was worn by Ian rather than artifice and, Floris in the second generation of the company Fleming and continues to be associated with and set up a hotel in Leicester Square. In James Bond fans globally. Created in the 19th today, understated 2015, Floris released the Fragrance Journals century for a Russian duke, Special No.127 elegance is the brand’s collection, inspired by the social history was worn by Sir Winston Churchill and Eva hallmark – Floris is a brand of various London districts in 1962, 1976 Perón. In 1820, the first of 17 Royal Warrants and 1988, drawing on period memoirs. was granted to J Floris Ltd as perfumers to the that whispers rather More recently, Floris has launched newly appointed King George IV. Ever since, than shouts ‘Chypress’, a confident floral chypre, and Floris has held at least one Royal Warrant and today holds two – as the only perfumer appointed to HM Queen Elizabeth II and as manufacturers of toilet preparations to HRH the Prince of Wales.

The Floris range is a combination of rare, original 18thcentury scents and much more recent creations, developed by the family’s perfumery team, led by Edward Bodenham, a direct descendant of Juan.

Until the 20th century, every fragrance was created individually for each customer and this tradition prevails today at 89 Jermyn Street

The shop at 89 Jermyn Street

Special No 127, as worn

by Sir Winston Churchill

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The Eau de Parfum Private Collection is exclusively produced in small batches

collaborated with its neighbours and royal shirtmakers Turnbull & Asser on a new fragrance named 71/72.

For the first time in 100 years, Floris has undertaken the renovation of 89 Jermyn Street.

The main aim was to illuminate the beautiful glass cabinets that were acquired at the Great Exhibition in 1851. The shop now combines a contemporary sumptuous visual display which manages to feel authentic and original. A visit there remains an antidote to the pace and clamour of retail in the 21st century. The Floris family’s overall aim is to lay A collaboration between Floris down their legacy as a temporary and Turnbull & Asser custodian of the brand so that their heirs can look back at this time as a period of confidence and energy.

FLORIS LONDON 89 JERMYN STREET, LONDON SW1Y 6JH

The Floris home since 1730

+44 (0)3301 340180

FLORISLONDON.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | BEAUTY & WELLBEING

JO MALONE LONDON Celebrating the unexpected

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imeless and elegant, but always infused with a charming dash of wit and whimsy. It is exactly these distinctly British qualities that have underpinned the heritage of Jo Malone London since its inception in 1994. From its Georgian townhouse in the heart of London, the Jo Malone London Studio is both inspired by, and immersed in, modern British culture.

When it launched its very first fragrance – Lime Basil & Mandarin – the use of unexpected ingredients was considered pioneering. To this day, each scent is characterised by a sophisticated simplicity with a surprising element.

This innovative approach continues to pervade every aspect of the brand, as the creators work with rare elements and notes, from sea salt in Wood Sage & Sea Salt to the unexpected inclusion of the suede note in Peony & Blush Suede. Scents are inspired by life in the surrounding city and beyond; British character, culture and history are intrinsic to each and every one. It might be the magic of the forest captured in The English Oak or childhood memories of hedgerow foraging in Blackberry & Bay. In this way, every scent has its own compelling story. Fragrance Combining™ is also at the heart of the brand. The clarity of the fragrances allows them to be worn either alone or with other complementary colognes and crèmes, to create a truly custom-made scent, from energising citrus and luscious fruits to spectacular florals, intense spices and aromatic woods.

It might be easier to think of Jo Malone London as the Savile Row of scent, where a distinguished clientele seeks a precise ‘fit’, or scented statement, that’s perfectly tailored to individual taste.

Boutiques are brought to life by immersive initiatives, such as the Tasting Bar™ where customers can explore ingredients, dabble with layering scents and experience Fragrance Combining™ – not to mention indulge in a complimentary Hand & Arm Massage.

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The clarity of its fragrances allows them to be worn either alone or with other Jo Malone London colognes and crèmes to create a truly custom-made scent Gifting is also a key part of Jo Malone London. Each product is exquisitely presented in the iconic cream and black box and tied with a black grosgrain ribbon. This charming wrapping ritual has become the embodiment of the brand and represents the tasteful, often subtle and elegant scents on offer. Synonymous with sophistication, a Jo Malone London gift is always received with pleasure the world over, before it has even been opened.

The global flagship boutique on London’s Regent Street takes personalisation to a new level. Here clients can customise their

purchase in real time, alongside highly skilled artisans and craftsmen. Cologne bottles and candles can be engraved and the Jo Malone London box can be decorated with the help of illustrators and calligraphers.

Aside from the brand’s triumphs in perfumery and design, Jo Malone London is committed to shining a light on mental health. Championing dedicated projects with inspirational charities, the brand supports specialist programmes to help raise awareness of mental health and help those living with the daily challenges and isolation it often brings. Each project is aided through the sale of Jo Malone London Charity Home Candles (a donation equal to 75 per cent of the retail price of £46 minus VAT), stamping out stigmas on mental health, one step at a time.

All in all, Jo Malone London is a model brand, representing all that is most coveted in British style and attitude.

JO MALONE LONDON 101 REGENT STREET, LONDON W1B 4EZ

+44 (0)370 192 5021

JOMALONE.CO.UK

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | BEAUTY & WELLBEING

MOLTON BROWN Challenging the norm since 1973

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n 1973 Caroline Burstein and Michael Collis founded Molton Brown on London’s fashionable South Molton Street. Ever since, London’s diversity and progressive attitude have rubbed off on the brand and given it a distinctive edge.

Over the decades Molton Brown has built up a reputation as London’s bath, body and beauty connoisseurs, known for its bright colours and bold fragrances. Its eaux de toilette, shower gels, body lotions, candles and haircare products blend exotic ingredients with a touch of London eccentricity. The brand is proud of its Mayfair roots and Molton Brown heritage, and also honoured to hold signature gift box a Royal Warrant for the supply of toiletries to HM Queen Elizabeth II. The brand has Molton Brown has always been about the sensorial rather than the functional, from its use remained true of fragrance to its tactile packaging. From the start, to its founders’ the founders rejected chemical-based formulas philosophy and in favour of natural organic bases with botanicals at the centre. Way ahead of their time, Caroline and continues to make Michael made the first Molton Brown products its products in by hand, using the best ingredients and developing England them with an in-house trichologist on the premises

Molton Brown gift concierge service

MOLTON BROWN 227 REGENT STREET, LONDON W1B 2EF

of the South Molton Street salon.

The brand has remained true to its founders’ philosophy of pioneering sensorial experiences with products made in England. However, it will go all over the globe in search of the rarest and finest ingredients to give their fragrances their potency, whether it’s white truffle from Alba, rhubarb from the Yorkshire Rhubarb Triangle or rose absolute from Lombardia.

A global reputation for quality, expertise and master perfumery is well deserved. Molton Brown has forged longstanding partnerships with some of its master perfumers, like Jacques Chabert, who has worked with the brand for 24 years and created more fragrances than any other. Black Peppercorn is his most popular example and one of the brand’s most iconic collections. Now Jacques’ daughters, Carla and Elsa, are working in partnership with them too.

Molton Brown gives its master perfumers total creative freedom when developing its fragrances. True to its roots, the brand aims never to conform or appeal to the masses but to create something very special and out of the ordinary for its customers.

Molton Brown’s customers are certainly no wallflowers – they are confident shoppers in search of a signature scent to make them stand out from the crowd. They are experimental, unconventional, openminded, forward-thinking early adopters, and the brand continues to explore new fragrances and products with which to delight and surprise them.

The founders’ guiding principle was to enable people to express themselves without having to conform to the dominant trends and, today, Molton Brown’s mission is to keep on challenging the norm. They continue to maintain a pioneering and unconventional mind-set that they believe sets them apart and informs everything they do. Molton Brown’s products will continue to be chosen by independent individuals who wish to make a statement and express themselves.

+44 (0)80 8178 1188

MOLTONBROWN.CO.UK

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Russian leather collection

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | BEAUTY & WELLBEING

ROJA PARFUMS The finest fragrances in the world, created by British master perfumer Roja Dove

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oja Parfums is globally recognised as the most opulent fragrance house in the world and ranks as the most successful perfume brand in Harrods’ history. Available in over 180 of the world’s most prestigious stores, spanning 42 countries, Roja Parfums has been embraced by scent lovers internationally and has become a byword for British luxury.

The scent brand was launched in July 2011 by British master perfumer Roja Dove on the foundation of his belief that ‘only the best will do’. His experience, passion and creative flair are evident in all his creations and Roja is renowned for working with only the world’s finest quality ingredients, without compromise, regardless of the cost. It comes as no surprise that GQ refers to him as ‘the greatest nose in the world’, or that The New York Times considers him ‘a master tailor of scent’ and The Financial Times has deemed him a ‘legendary figure in the world of scent’.

‘I believe a perfumer is a poet or a storyteller who creates the tangible from the intangible abstract images that strike at our core,’ explains Roja.

‘We are painting pictures but we don’t use paint.

We are telling stories but we don’t use words.

Instead we allow raw materials to express our ideas and our vision, using the language of perfume.’

This belief runs through each sumptuous golden elixir. The scents of Roja Parfums are stylish, contemporary and made to last, recalling the opulence of the past while anticipating the Available in over expectations of the future.

180 of the world’s The concept for Roja Parfums is simple: most prestigious to be the first ever to create a balanced palette of scents, allowing clients to discover their own stores, spanning perfect scent. The collection takes a bespoke 42 countries, approach, adapted for a commercial range, Roja Parfums has as an extension of Roja’s fundamental belief that there is the right perfume for everyone. become a byword Each scent is made in England, blended for British luxury

by Roja’s own hand in a process that takes an average of six to 18 months to complete.

Once bottled, a plaque bearing the Roja Parfums name is applied onto the flaçon by hand. An emblematic cap embellished with 14 Swarovski crystals is the final crowning glory on each perfume.

Roja believes that scenting your home is as important as the scent on your skin, so this quality and attention to detail extends to the Roja Parfums Pour Maison range of candles and reed diffusers.

Rolls-Royce, Champagne Laurent-Perrier, The Victoria & Albert Museum and The Macallan whisky are just some of the world’s most prestigious brands that have called upon Roja’s imitable style.

Such collaborations confirm Roja Parfums’ place at the forefront of artistic innovation in England.

The international success of Roja Parfums, combined with the creativity and relentless drive of its eponymous creator, led to Roja being appointed an ambassador for the GREAT Britain Campaign in 2013, a government campaign that celebrates and promotes the best of British craftsmanship and innovation.

Roja Parfums is a true testament to the beauty of British perfumery. They truly are the finest fragrances in the world.

ROJA PARFUMS 51 BURLINGTON ARCADE, LONDON W1J OQJ

+44 (0)20 7629 2510

ROJAPARFUMS.COM

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PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

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Budd Shirtmakers p162 Emma Willis p164 Favourbrook p166 Gieves & Hawkes p168 Hackett London p170 Henry Poole & Co p172 Huntsman p174 Kent & Curwen p176 Motoluxe p178 New & Lingwood p180

MEN’S STYLE

Anthony Sinclair p160

Oliver Brown p182 Sunspel p184 Turnbull & Asser p186

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | MEN’S STYLE

ANTHONY SINCLAIR Defining men’s style since Dr No

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brash, considered rather than contrived – the sartorial epitome ean Connery’s wardrobe in the first 007 movie, Dr No, of effortless elegance. defined James Bond’s style, and is as relevant today In the following scene, Bond rushes to the airport for his as it was 56 years ago. The man responsible for creating flight to Jamaica wearing a charcoal flannel suit with a sky blue the look was the film’s director, Terence Young, who was cocktail-cuff shirt and navy grenadine tie. Every gentleman tasked with polishing the Scottish actor’s rough-diamond should have such a suit in his wardrobe and it’s a joy to wear. edges to prepare him for the lead role.

Despite the tropical heat and the flannel’s soft warmth, Bond The film, which premiered at the London Pavilion in manages to remain looking cool.

October 1962, was produced on a low budget and expenditure For his first meeting in Jamaica, Bond changes into a lighteron the star’s wardrobe was limited. To complete Connery’s weight suit. It is tailored from a mid-grey Glen Urquhart (or transformation, Young took him to his personal tailor, Anthony Prince of Wales) check cloth. The four-season fabric is cleverly, Sinclair, who created a small collection of clothes that could and economically, coordinated with the same blue shirt, tie and take a gentleman anywhere. pocket square that had been worn with the flannel suit.

Bond’s original capsule wardrobe comprised three Sinclair To complete the set of 007 suits for all seasons, the third ‘Conduit Cut’ suits (named after the tailor’s location on Conduit Sinclair two-piece is cut in a mid-grey lightweight wool/mohair Street), together with a serge blazer and flannels, a selection of blended cloth. Mohair fabrics are generally more crease resistant ‘Cocktail Cuff’ shirts and a small number of essential accessories. than their equivalent weights in pure wool, However, it was the midnight blue shawl-collar making them popular for delivering sharpevening suit by Anthony Sinclair, worn by To complete Sean dinner suits and summer tailoring.

Connery in the opening scene, that became Connery’s transformation looking Finally, for more relaxed encounters, the blueprint for Bond’s timeless, classic look. into 007, Young took another of the secret agent’s sartorial staples Sinclair’s masterpiece looks bold and impenetrable, yet relaxed and comfortable – him to his personal tailor, very much like the character who is wearing Anthony Sinclair, who it. The suit is matched with a pearl-buttoned, created a small collection soft-pleated dinner shirt, diamond-tip bow tie, engine-turned gold cufflinks and a neatly of clothes that could take folded, white, linen pocket square. The look a gentleman anywhere is detailed but simple, confident without being

Midnight blue evening suit

Midnight blue evening suit in Dr No

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Mohair performs brilliantly in sticky situations

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Conduit Cut charcoal flannel suit

is revealed... his blazer.

Other than the midnightblue dinner suit, this example of bespoke finery is probably the most memorable article of clothing from the original 007 film.

Made from dark navy serge, with patch pockets and swelled edges, the gun-metal buttons are the final flourish. There are only two on the cuff, a small reminder – having created such a comprehensive wardrobe from a small number of pieces – that less is more.

ANTHONY SINCLAIR 34 MONTAGU SQUARE, LONDON W1H 2LJ

The Conduit Cut suit occasionally attracts unwanted attention

+ 44 (0)20 7437 7007

ANTHONYSINCLAIR.CO.UK

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | MEN’S STYLE

BUDD SHIRTMAKERS Cutting and making beautiful shirts by hand for more than a century

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for all occasions. Cut to Budd’s classic or tailored fit blocks, e it bespoke, made to measure or ready to wear, when the majority come with the Budd collar and there’s an allowance it comes to the perfect shirt, there are no short cuts. in the shoulder and cuff tuck for lengthening or shortening, Budd Shirtmakers, which has been cutting and making so even the ready-to-wear service offers a degree of personal shirts by hand since 1910, wouldn’t have it any other way. attention that is rare these days. The same details worked into Budd is one of only a handful of truly authentic its bespoke shirts are transferred to ready to wear too. shirtmakers in the UK today and, sooner or later, anyone But it’s not just about the fit of a Budd shirt, the quality and who cares about fit, cut, craftsmanship and quality makes craftsmanship of every garment are also a pilgrimage to its shop in the Piccadilly Arcade. Though the premises are tiny, Though its premises are paramount. Made-to-measure and ready-towear shirts are all sewn by hand in Budd’s they’re a veritable Pandora’s Box of shirts, tiny, they’re a veritable workshop in Hampshire by seamtresses with ties, dresswear, nightwear and gentlemen’s Pandora’s Box of shirts, unparalleled knowledge and experience. Budd haberdashery. If you can’t see what you’re sources its shirtings from top European mills, looking for, it’s probably down in the ties, dresswear and such as Alumo and Monti, and produces its stock room or hidden away in one nightwear. If you can’t own exclusive house stripe in six colourways. of the many cupboards. see what you’re looking Though first and foremost a shirtmaker, And there’s more: in the workroom above Budd is also known for its dresswear the shop are three of the best cutters for, it’s probably down accessories – in particular waistcoats for in London, who not only cut and make the in the stock room black and white-tie occasions, bows, bibbed patterns for Budd’s bespoke shirts, but fit them as well, ensuring that customers’ measurements and special requests are recorded directly onto their pattern.

The cutter who makes your bespoke shirt this time will be the same cutter next time; head cutter John Butcher has worked here for more than 40 years.

For customers not requiring the full bespoke experience, Budd offers made-to-measure shirts with a choice of eight collars – including the iconic Budd forward collar – and six cuffs.

Alternatively, there is an extensive range of ready-to-wear shirts

Silk gown, pyjamas and neckerchief

Soft brushed cotton checks

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shirts, gloves and studs, as well as haberdashery: everything from braces, pocket squares and sock suspenders to gloves, stiff collars and Birdseye socks. Nightwear in beautiful silk, Batiste cotton, linen and Cashmerello is another speciality, with the recent introduction of pyjamas for women.

Being the best at what it does has ensured Budd’s success for more than a century, but there is another reason for its longevity. Many of its loyal Original madder silk ties and dedicated staff have been with the company for decades and know everything there is to know about sartorial matters. Even Stephen Murphy, who took over ownership in 2013, can often be found serving in the shop – just as founder Harold Budd did more than a century ago.

BUDD SHIRTMAKERS 3 PICCADILLY ARCADE, LONDON SW1Y 6NH

Perfect kit for white tie

+44 (0)20 7493 0139

BUDDSHIRTS.CO.UK

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | MEN’S STYLE

EMMA WILLIS One of Jermyn Street’s most special female tailors specialising in bespoke and ready-to-wear shirts – with added heart

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PHOTO CREDITS: ANDY BARNHAM

devotion to the craft, defines Emma Willis. It also explains why she hirt designer Emma Willis has been specialising in bespoke has gathered a loyal following of discerning and international clients, and ready-to-wear shirts combining careful craftsmanship including HRH The Prince of Wales who attended the last Style for with the finest cottons, linens and silks, since 1990. At last Soldiers reunion party, and Barack Obama. In the last few years, Emma September’s London Fashion week, she launched her keenly Willis has become the chosen shirtmaker for top British film studios, anticipated S/S’18 women’s shirt and shirt dress collection with many great British actors – including Charles Dance, Colin Firth, in pink, blue and white striped, checked and plain linen and cotton, Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel Craig – wearing Emma Willis shirts. modelled by her daughter Hermione Corfield, who won hearts playing Her loyal team of exceptionally skilled hand Emma in ITV drama The Halcyon. cutters, seamstresses and fashion designers Yet beneath the façade of the beautiful Willis has become the the crème de la crème of the shirtmaking shirts there is the compelling story of a kind, chosen shirtmaker for top –world – work from Bearland House, an 18thupstanding woman who has not only thrived British film studios, with century townhouse in Gloucester. Customers in the male-dominated world of shirt tailoring, but has also chosen to share her talents with many great British actors are invited to visit for bespoke appointments.

Emma runs a continual earn and learn those less fortunate.

– including Charles Dance, Here sewing training scheme funded by Condé Nast In 2008, Emma Willis founded registered Colin Firth, and Benedict International, who wanted to support her in her charity Style for Soldiers with ambassador David Gandy. ‘I was very moved when I heard Cumberbatch – wearing determination to encourage and employ young people in the British fashion industry. stories about how life-changing the soldiers’ Emma Willis shirts The interiors of her elegant Jermyn Street injuries were... I was determined to do something to help,’ she explains. As a gesture of thanks, Emma offered the injured men and women a bespoke shirt and visited the military rehabilitation hospital to measure them herself. She also designed customised orthopaedic walking sticks – hand carved from black ebony, with a buffalo horn handle and silver band – engraved with the soldier’s initials and regiment.

So far she has donated a thousand shirts and over 500 walking aids, which is, as GQ magazine says, ‘a genuinely selfless act’.

This remarkably noble approach to life, as well as an unbending

ABOVE: Sky Bengal stripe linen Drew shirt RIGHT: White Swiss cotton bell top

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Sky and pink Bengal stripe ruffle shirt

PHOTO CREDITS: ANDY BARNHAM

Sky blue linen Jane shirt

shop emulate a relaxed, English drawing room; with antique furniture, fine art, chandeliers and English garden flowers.

Customers are welcomed as guests and have the option of filing their patterns for future orders placed online. Equally, her bespoke online service provides an array of cottons, silks and linens to choose from, with the option to alter design details and fit. Her range extends to dressing gowns, pyjamas, boxer shorts, djellabas and silk ties, David Gandy is an ambassador all made in highest quality Swiss for Style for Soldiers cottons; combining cashmere and silk for winter and linen and the lightest voiles for summer. No wonder Vogue has lauded Emma Willis as representing ‘inimitable English style’.

EMMA WILLIS 66 JERMYN STREET, LONDON SW1Y 6NY

+44 (0)20 7930 9980

EMMAWILLIS.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | MEN’S STYLE

FAVOURBROOK For people who want to dress up for a special occasion

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and style a particular piece – traditional yet forward thinking,’ avourbrook has had a presence on Jermyn Street and says Oliver. ‘If we can make people challenge the ideas of what Piccadilly Arcade for over 25 years until its recent move to Pall Mall. The company also sells exclusively to Mr Porter. formalwear is then we’re succeeding.’

In November 2017 Favourbrook opened its new flagship store In 1989 founder Oliver Spencer was making a living selling in an Edward Lutyens building at 16 and 17 Pall Mall. The shop second-hand clothes on Portobello Road, when he was houses many different types of velvet jacket, over 800 waistcoats given the opportunity to lay his hands on some Stephen Walters and a thousand bow ties and comprises a spacious area with parquet silks. He turned the leftover ecclesiastical fabrics into waistcoats floors and a marble service area. ‘It feels like and opened his Piccadilly Arcade store. With stepping into the modern country home a little help from a starring role in Four ‘Favourbrook is the that you have always dreamed of, Loulou’s Weddings and a Funeral, the Favourbrook place for old and new meets the Victoria and Albert Museum,’ says brand grew fast through word of mouth. rock ‘n’ rollers, romantics Oliver. ‘It’s somewhere to spend time and to Oliver set out to be the premier brand be properly looked after. I love shopkeeping, and authority on waistcoats and bow ties and those who want to in my blood and I’ve become friends with and in 1994 he added womenswear to the unleash their inner dandy it’s a massively diverse customer base. We want collection. Today Favourbrook provides or something a little Favourbrook to feel like a home from home.’ formalwear for anyone passionate about The lower-ground floor houses the vast gorgeous textiles. ‘We are the place to eccentric, yet traditional collection of fabrics that has been built go when you want to dress up for a special and beautiful’ up over the years, including sumptuous occasion,’ says Oliver. ‘We’re for old and new rock ’n’ rollers, romantics and anyone who wants to unleash their inner dandy or something a little eccentric, yet traditional and beautiful at the same time.

We appeal as much to 25-year-olds as we do to 80-year-olds.’

Favourbrook aims to make as much as possible in England and combines what Oliver terms ‘proper traditional shopkeeping’ with a strong focus on providing excellent service alongside beautifully textured and embellished fabrics. ‘We make our clothes with love and care. It’s all about the way we cut, shape

Favourbrook womenswear shop at 16 Pall Mall

Womenswear A/W’17

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Favourbrook’s menswear store at 17 Pall Mall

brocades from Suffolk, beautiful jacquard silks from Como and suiting from different mills in the north of England.

The shop aims to provide a new glimpse into a world of dressing up and fun, giving the customer a choice ranging from a £50 bow tie to a £1,200 evening jacket. ‘Waistcoats, bow ties, silk scarves – everything we offer has a slightly twisted version of tradition and fashion,’ says Oliver. ‘By instigating a vibrant love affair with Morning coat our Pall Mall store, over the next 20 years we aim to be the best in market for weddings, parties and all celebrations.’

FAVOURBROOK 16–17 PALL MALL, LONDON SW1Y 5LU

Velvet smoking jacket

+44 (0)20 7493 5060

FAVOURBROOK.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | MEN’S STYLE

GIEVES & HAWKES Gentlemen’s bespoke outfitters with an unrivalled and illustrious history

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the immortal words: ‘Dr Livingstone, I presume?’ Dr Livingstone was ne of the most famous names in men’s tailoring, Gieves wearing a Gieves consular cap, so that meeting represented the first & Hawkes is a company made of two very famous coming together of Gieves and Hawkes. halves. The brand’s history is, in reality, the story of two Gieves moved into Hawkes’ premises at No.1 Savile Row in 1974, separate houses which merged just 40 years ago. Gieves when the two companies merged. Home to Hawkes since 1913, was established in 1784 as tailor and celebrated supplier No.1 is now perhaps the most famous address in international of uniforms for the British Royal Navy. Hawkes, instead, supplied the menswear and the ultimate destination for men’s style. Formerly British Army from 1771. Their most famous customers, respectively, an 18th-century aristocrat’s home, the were Admiral Lord Nelson and Field Marshal building became the Royal Geographical The Duke of Wellington, the two most important Gieves and Hawkes are in the mid-19th century, and the commanders in British history, whose great inexorably linked with the Society walls still resonate with tales of adventure, victories at Trafalgar in 1805 and Waterloo distinction of the British exploration and gentlemanly endeavours. in 1815, against the French emperor Napoleon, With such a prestigious address it is established Great Britain as a major maritime military and Britain itself. no surprise that bespoke tailoring is at the and land power, and precipitated the growth Both companies have heart of the brand and is still handmade of the British Empire throughout the rest dressed ten generations on the premises. Clients visit from all over the of the 19th century. world to experience the luxury of a garment Through their services to the Royal Navy and of royalty, from King from scratch and entirely by hand, British Army, both Gieves and Hawkes played George III to the Queen made to their exact design and specification. Those a unique part in these battles and their histories are inexorably linked with the distinction of the British military and Britain itself. To further cement that alliance, both companies have dressed ten generations of British royalty, from King George III in 1809 up to the present day Queen Elizabeth II, her son the Prince of Wales and her grandsons, Princes William and Harry.

Through its long history, Hawkes also kitted out some of the great explorers of the Victorian era, the most notable being Sir Henry Morton Stanley, who famously discovered the whereabouts of another celebrated pioneer, Dr David Livingstone, in Africa, greeting him with

Prince of Wales checked made-to-measure suit

Ready-to-wear

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The Map Room, No.1 Savile Row

with less time (bespoke takes around three months) might opt for the made-tomeasure service that offers a menu of completely customisable options and myriad fabric choices. Orders take between six and eight weeks to complete. Of course, they also offer a complete wardrobe of ready-to-wear.

With many generations of venerable clients, Gieves & Hawkes is the go-to shop for occasion wear for men, trusted to meet the strictest codes and rules of dressing, from black tie, white tie and morning dress Bespoke driving jacket to the creation of unique garments for coronations and state occasions.

Perhaps just as important, though, is a gentleman’s everyday wardrobe which is also taken care of with the same military precision that is the DNA of this unique brand, whose history is woven into the fabric of Britain’s greatness.

GIEVES & HAWKES 1 SAVILE ROW, LONDON W1S 3JR

+44 (0)20 7432 6403

Military jacket made for Michael Jackson

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | MEN’S STYLE

HACKETT LONDON Accessible luxury menswear that epitomises British style and wit

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ackett London has become so synonymous with the quintessence of traditional British men’s style that customers are often surprised that the brand was only established in 1983. ‘Hackett is a brand that dresses men of all ages, in a style that is classic but not old-fashioned,’ says founder Jeremy Hackett. ‘Although I will not be around forever, the credibility of the name and brand will be – I hope.’

The menswear brand prides itself on being accessible luxury, with the unique Hackett signature. With a nod to the classic tailoring traditions of Savile Row, Hackett always takes a fresh look at what has gone before and provides for the needs of today’s well-travelled, discerning modern gentleman.

The Hackett customer ranges across the ages and also across the globe; stocked in over 65 countries, the Hackett gentleman invests in both tailor-made and ready-to-wear Hackett pieces alongside his art and classic car collection.

What began as a shop on the wrong end of the King’s Road, selling fine quality, second-hand, traditional British gentlemen’s clothing, Hackett soon started making its own new classic clothes that were immediately very successful. The brand was able to capture essential British style so perfectly that it soon expanded into Europe, opening flagship stores in London, France, Spain, Germany and Italy. Hackett most recently opened a new store in Aventura Mall Miami, further cementing the brand’s presence in the United States.

Hackett has diversified into sportswear, encouraged by the success of the now iconic Hackett polo shirt, worn both on and off the polo field. Partnerships with Aston Martin, London Rowing Club, The Hackett Rundle Cup and the Inter Regimental trophy have followed; collaborations that Hackett is very proud of. Last

The iconic 65B King’s Road – Jeremy Hackett’s first retail store

Henley Royal Regatta

Jeremy Hackett

Hackett, Sloane Street, London

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Hackett, Regent Street, London

With a nod to the classic tailoring traditions of Savile Row, Hackett always takes a fresh look at what has gone before and provides for the needs of today’s discerning gentleman year saw the start of Hackett’s partnership with Henley Royal Regatta, further cementing the brand’s relationship with the London Rowing Club.

Hackett has long been patronised by famous faces. Prince Charles has bought his stiff collars from Hackett on Sloane Street and Daniel Day-Lewis has also been a keen bespoke customer.

In more recent years, José Mourinho has bought the odd lambswool

half zip and Christian Horner, of Red Bull Racing, has been known to browse the collection at Hackett on Regent Street.

In a few short decades, Hackett has created an exceptional customer experience that has grown and naturally extended into the development of 65b, The Hackett Membership Club. The name was taken from the number of the first Hackett store at 65b King’s Road. The Club rewards customers for their loyalty to Hackett with exclusive invitations to sporting events throughout the year, courtesy of the brand’s many exciting partnerships. This could be a drive day at Milbrook with Aston Martin Racing, a seat at Jeremy Hackett’s table at the Inter Regimental Cup or attending the Henley Royal Regatta. Clients can sign up with the club both in-store or online but, of course, given the uniqueness of the benefits, this is a most exclusive club.

HACKETT LONDON 137–138 SLOANE STREET, LONDON SW1X 9AY

+44 (0)20 7730 3331

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HENRY POOLE & CO Tailors to the great and the good since the early-19th century

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Alexander II of Russia, Prince von Bismarck, Buffalo Bill, Sir ames Poole, a Shropshire lad, was Henry Poole & Co’s Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, William Randolph Hearst, founder. He began his professional life in London Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia and Emperor Hirohito of Japan. in 1806 as a linen draper, earning his stripes as a tailor Samuel Cundey took over the company after the death of by stitching military tunics during the Napoleonic wars.

Henry Poole and the firm is still guided by the Cundey family.

By the time of Waterloo, Poole had become London’s Angus Cundey, the current chairman, introduced trunk shows pre-eminent military tailor. in Europe and, in 1994, Simon Cundey MD did likewise across In 1846, James’s son Henry inherited the family business. the United States of America.

Capitalising on his charisma and a passion for A Henry Poole & Co suit is pure bespoke: the aristocratic world of equestrian and field A Henry Poole & Co measured, cut, fitted, sewn and finished sports, Henry Poole became a ‘celebrity’ tailor, suit is pure bespoke: entirely by hand in a process that involves receiving the Royal Warrant in 1869 as court measured, cut, fitted, three fittings and over 60 hours of work. and, latterly, livery tailor to HM Queen Victoria.

The company has proudly held the same sewn and finished entirely Every suit is made in the workshops below numbers 15 and 16 Savile Row, distinction with each subsequent monarch. by hand in a process and the majority of fabrics used in the In 1865, the Prince of Wales and future that involves three construction of such a suit are the finest King Edward VII asked Henry Poole to cut British woollen cloths. a short celestial blue evening coat for informal fittings and over Henry Poole accommodates the dinners. This royal evening coat was the 60 hours of work requirements of the modern man as part blueprint for what we know in England as of the bespoke tailoring process. A 21st-century suit is made not the dinner jacket and which the Americans merely for elegance and longevity but also for comfort. Henry christened a tuxedo. Today, the Henry Poole dinner jacket remains the standard Poole uses traditional methods to work the highest quality cloths into distinctive garments, without compromising on quality. for men’s eveningwear.

The company believes in passing on the bespoke tailoring Henry Poole & Co has occupied process to talented young tailors. Its programme of apprenticeships its current HQ at No. 15 Savile Row for new tailors ensures that the premium standards of cutting and since 1982. Famous customers have tailoring skills are preserved for the future. included Charles Dickens, The continuing success of Henry Poole bears witness to the Dr Livingstone, Tsar

THIS PICTURE: Paper pattern is laid out in the cloth and chalked around LEFT: Exclusive house cloth inspired by Churchill

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Dinner jacket displayed in their showroom at number 15 Savile Row

Hand-stitched button holes

company’s mastering of the art of embracing change while at the same time preserving the traditional values that make the London cut the gold standard of tailoring. At its core is a bespoke process like no other.

The results – men’s tailored suits, blazers and sports jackets, shirts, top coats, overcoats and dress wear – combine the best of what is modern with the core of what is classic, creating anew something as timeless as it is luxurious.

HENRY POOLE & CO LTD 15 SAVILE ROW, LONDON W1S 3PJ

+44 (0)20 7734 5985

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | MEN’S STYLE

HUNTSMAN Delivering impeccable style from London to Hollywood since 1849

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Huntsman’s appeal also lies in the fact that the house ntegrity, excellence, craftsmanship and style have defined the is one of the most forward-thinking tailors on Savile Row today.

Huntsman suit for generations. Founded in 1849, the house has In collaboration with Toshi, Hunstman has created a personal been patronised by high society from the outset, long enjoying a reputation as one of the most exclusive bespoke tailors in London. home delivery service for its London clients. It has expanded overseas, with a larger pied-à-terre opening in New York last Huntsman moved to its current location at 11 Savile Row year and now Huntsman has taken its exceptional bespoke in 1919, and Hollywood took note in the ’20s, when the tailor dressed Rudolph Valentino. From then on Huntsman was favoured tailoring service on the road, launching the Airstream Bespoke Mobile Tailoring Studio to bring the

by Hollywood’s elite; the likes of Clark Gable, brand’s legendary style directly Marlene Dietrich and Laurence Olivier were Founded in 1849, to American doorsteps, representing all clients, as was Gregory Peck, who ordered Huntsman has been the collision of classic British style over 160 suits during his lifelong relationship patronised by high with contemporary Americana. with the house. Other notable customers Hunstman understands perfectly its have included Queen Victoria and Edward society from the clients’ appetite for craftsmanship and VII, artists like Lucian Freud, David Bowie outset, long enjoying the care they put into every single garment. and Eric Clapton, and fashion designers, a reputation as one of the Its Tweed Creation Experience allows including Alexander McQueen. Hunstsman is also the inspiration and backdrop for most exclusive bespoke customers to design their very own tweed with Huntsman’s Creative Director. Clients the enormously successful Kingsman film tailors in London are flown to Islay in Scotland to see their franchise and Kingsman’s director Matthew Vaughn has been a customer of the house since he was 18 when his mother purchased him his very first bespoke suit.

The house’s iconic style, known simply as the ‘Huntsman cut’, is inextricably linked with this glamorous heritage. Characterised by a long coat with strong shoulders and a perfectly poised single button fastening, it is a timelessly elegant silhouette that lends itself to a comfortable yet sophisticated look – perfect for those in the professional arena or in the public eye and under the glare of the spotlight.

Huntsman’s New York pied-à-terre

Bespoke craftsmanship in process

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Unique archive garment

tweed being woven and, after a bespoke jacket is made to start them off, a 30m bolt of their exclusive cloth is stored at Huntsman. Their material can then be used for different garments down through generations, creating one’s own enduring Hunstman heritage and style.

Bespoke tailoring is about more than clothes, it’s a way of life; celebrating the very best that the human hand can make and that money can buy. It’s this dedication to extraordinary service that has long defined Lucian Freud’s pattern Huntsman’s relationships with its clients and their degree of authenticity and uncompromising sartorial ambition that cemented Huntsman as a British institution over a century ago.

HUNTSMAN 11 SAVILE ROW, LONDON W1S 3PS

+44 (0)20 7734 7441

Huntsman’s Savile Row premises

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | MEN’S STYLE

KENT & CURWEN A jewel of British menswear, reborn for the 21st century

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of British men across the decades. he romance between Eric Kent and Dorothy Curwen Just like David Beckham, Eric Kent had a distinctive style that started when they met on Savile Row in the 1920s inspired men around the world. When designing ties, he would and led to two partnerships: the founding of their throw flowers on the atelier floor to discover unexpected colour brand Kent & Curwen in 1926, and their subsequent combinations. Kent flaunted conventional dress codes and was marriage in 1932. fond of mixing sportswear with formal suits. His friendships and The company made its name with neck attire, supplying influence went transatlantic in the 1930s, with Kent & Curwen ties to universities such as Oxford and Cambridge, the finest dressing the likes of Cary Grant and the clubs in London, the country’s best schools, and British regiments throughout the Empire.

‘I feel that we should be Hollywood Cricket Club, whose members Errol Flynn and Laurence Olivier.

In 1932 Kent & Curwen went on to purchase proud of where we come included To continue the legacy of Kent & Curwen a knitwear factory in London to create the from,’ David Beckham in the 21st century, Kearns has drawn first ever cricket sweaters, a style that would on the authenticity of its legacy to rework solidify their reputation. Since then, the Kent explains. ‘I want to the classic hallmarks of British sporting & Curwen cricket sweater has become a global reinforce that sense of pastimes, mixing them with menswear standard. It is fitting then that the brand’s evolution in the 21st century has seen creative history and heritage which staples to form the foundation of the Kent & Curwen wardrobe. director Daniel Kearns team up with David we’ve had since 1926’ Kent’s presence in the brand lives Beckham to come up with a fresh take on in its logo, the insignia of the three lions, taken from his family on English heritage. Beckham is the archetypal Kent & Curwen crest. As an emblem adopted by English sporting teams since man, celebrated as much for his style as his achievements. His the 19th century, the logo offers an unbreakable link with intuitive sense of style is emblematic of the new British attitude the company’s proud British heritage. at Kent & Curwen. British sporting and regimental traditions To embrace the 21st century, Kent & Curwen has reimagined have been reimagined to present renewed pride in the roots the distinctive three lions and English rose logos to bring modernity of Kent& Curwen based on the charm and strength of character

Kent & Curwen flagship on Floral Street in Covent Garden

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S/S’18 show

S/S’18 collection

to heritage. The ambition is to create a modern lifestyle brand based on the authenticity of its legacy, exemplified by instinctively wearable clothes for men all around the world.

‘I feel that we should be proud of where we come from,’ David Beckham explains.

‘I want to reinforce that sense of history and heritage which we’ve had since 1926. The Union Jack, the English rose, the three lions... those things mean something to people.’

KENT & CURWEN 12 FLORAL STREET, LONDON WC2E 9DH

S/S’18 collection

+44 (0)20 7240 6618

KENTANDCURWEN.COM

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MOTOLUXE The original Teddy Bear coat

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problem, a group of Roosevelt’s attendants captured an American otoluxe was established at the dawn of the black bear and tied it to a willow tree. They called upon the President automobile age to design and create products to shoot the bear, but he refused, deeming it to be unsportsmanlike. that would keep winter motorists warm, dry The incident became the topic of a political cartoon by Clifford and comfortable.

Berryman in The Washington Post, and the story spread like In the early 1900s, motoring was a privileged wildfire throughout the US. Inspired by the episode, a Brooklyn activity and considered to be an outdoor sport. Most cars candy shop owner produced a toy bear and was granted use were open-topped, leaving the drivers and passengers exposed of the President’s name to promote the as they sped along tracks designed for horseproduct – which he named ‘Teddy’s Bear’. pulled carriages. It was therefore a necessity In 2016, following was how the popular children’s toy to wear protective clothing. more than half a century This was eventually christened.

In addition to the essential hat, gloves and in hibernation, it Back in England, the woven alpaca goggles, summer driving called for a long fur fabric continued to keep motorists double-breasted dust-coat, or ‘duster’, usually was considered time and comfortable well into the 1920s made from durable cotton or linen. During the to reawaken the beast, warm (efficient heating didn’t appear in cars until colder months, the materials changed to heavy and the Motoluxe the following decade). At some point, given tweeds, leather and fur – and, in the case that they were made out of the same alpaca of Motoluxe, it was deep pile alpaca fur fabric. brand was brought material, the fluffy double-breasted carMotoluxe utilised the warm, lightweight back to life coats became known as Teddy Bear coats. material to produce coats and travel rugs designed for use ‘on land, on sea and in the air’ and branded them with a distinctive triangular label.

A business named Schulte had begun to manufacture the woven fur fabric in Germany in 1901 and, within 12 months, fellow German company Steiff used the material to produce the world’s first stuffed toy bear.

In November 1902, United States President ‘Teddy’ Roosevelt joined a bear hunt along the Mississippi River. As the end of the day approached, the president had not made a kill. To remedy the

Alpaca Teddy Bear coat in grey and brown (opposite)

Mick Jagger photographed on the rooftop of his Marylebone home (1966)

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Jeremy Irons as Charles Ryder in Brideshead Revisited

During the post-war years, the demand for Motoluxe products had reduced to the point where the business could not be sustained, and the company ceased trading.

However, in 2016, following more than half a century in hibernation, it was considered time to reawaken the beast, and the Motoluxe brand was brought back to life.

Naturally, Schulte was called upon to provide the materials from which a new generation Churchill, Land Rover and Teddy Bear of Teddy Bear coats would be coat, three icons in one image born. Together with an extended family of unstructured alpaca sports coats, the Teddy Bear coat has laid the foundations for a modern collection of performance tailoring that is perfect for a contemporary lifestyle, and, of course, for travel – on road, on sea and by air.

MOTOLUXE 34 MONTAGU SQUARE, LONDON W1H 2LJ

Alpaca Teddy Bear coat in brown

+44 (0)20 7437 7007

MASONANDSONS.COM

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NEW & LINGWOOD Everything for the best-dressed gentleman about town

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and made-to-order tailoring, both made using traditional om Hiddleston and Hugh Laurie may have been the semi-canvas techniques, silk accessories and knitwear to one stars of the BBC’s acclaimed series, The Night Manager, of the most extensive ranges of plain and design socks in London, but the elegant peacock silk robe worn by Laurie as not to mention the largest selection of braces.

Richard Roper stole several scenes. It was made by New Its handmade shoes are all made on the company’s exclusive & Lingwood, a Jermyn Street bastion of British style lasts, with many of the styles unique to the brand, while its shirts and the first port of call for gentlemen in search of clothing with are still the best in London: bespoke, made-to-measure and readycharacter. Roper couldn’t have made a better choice. to-wear designs in the finest Italian cottons.

Both Old Etonians, Tom Hiddleston and And as Richard Roper demonstrated Hugh Laurie would have been familiar with The typical New so stylishly in The Night Manager, there’s New & Lingwood. The company was founded & Lingwood customer simply no point in looking anywhere else in Eton in 1865 by Miss Elisabeth New and tends to be a confident for a silk dressing gown, whether off the Mr Samuel Lingwood. Not long afterwards, peg or made to measure. they were appointed official outfitters to Eton man who is aware Not surprisingly for a company with College, a role New & Lingwood has retained of quality and craft such a long and illustrious heritage, for more than 150 years. and who expects there have been a number of ‘firsts’ In 1922 New & Lingwood opened a shop along the way, including the much-loved on London’s Jermyn Street and although the the best in fabrics, Eton Cord Slipper and the much-imitated premises were destroyed during The Blitz, tailoring and fit Butterfly loafer. the company re-opened after the war at number 53, at the top of the Piccadilly Arcade, where it became principally known for its exquisitely made bespoke shirts and shoes. Today, as well as its flagship store at number 53, New & Lingwood occupies premises on the opposite corner of the arcade, with both shops overlooked, appropriately, by a statue of Regency dandy Beau Brummell.

By the late 1990s New & Lingwood had evolved into the muchloved store it is today, catering to all the well-dressed gentleman’s sartorial needs, offering everything from the finest ready-to-wear

The Piccadilly Arcade shop

Silk dressing gown

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Who are New & Lingwood’s clients today? A mixture of Old Etonians who have grown up with the brand and wouldn’t dream of shopping anywhere else, City high-fliers who want to cut a dash and anyone else who appreciates the look and style of an English gentleman. The company also has a very strong clientele base in mainland Europe, America and Australia.

The typical New & Lingwood customer tends to be a confident man who is aware of quality and craft Shoes built to last and who expects the best in fabrics, tailoring and fit, including the Duke of Edinburgh, Tom Jones and, yes, Hugh Laurie – both off and on screen. New & Lingwood, flourishing since 1865.

NEW & LINGWOOD 53 JERMYN STREET, LONDON SW1Y 6LX

+44 (0)800 083 5102

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | MEN’S STYLE

OLIVER BROWN An aspirational British menswear label and bespoke tailoring house

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With each customer, Juan Carlos takes into consideration their wner and creative director Kristian Ferner Robson individual stature, balance and stance, to establish how the suit established Oliver Brown as a leading destination will be worn. All patterns are drafted by hand and constructed for traditional and contemporary ready-to-wear by using age-old tailoring techniques, resulting in an impeccable collections, bespoke tailoring, formalwear hire fit, precision and a clean-cut finish. Made-to-Order and Semiand accessories. The menswear brand specialises Bespoke services are also offered alongside Bespoke. in designing collections of the highest quality, manufactured in Oliver Brown also offers a full hire service for its traditionally England and using cloth sourced from some cut morning and eveningwear collections and is Britain’s most of the oldest mills in the North of England and Scotland. notable independent retailers of top hats, offering the largest Oliver Brown is best known for its classic tailoring, formal collection of original antique silk toppers morning and eveningwear, as well as its heritage in the world. Oliver Brown is also proud tweed collections. The brand’s mainstay is its Oliver Brown’s house the world’s biggest collection superbly tailored collection of off-the-peg suits. celebrated house style to of velvet smoking jackets.

Its celebrated house style is a combination is a combination In spring 2017, the brand was appointed of precise bespoke tailoring from Madrid, an Official Licensee to Royal Ascot, launching complemented by a more traditional Savile Row of precise bespoke a capsule formalwear collection designed in silhouette. The jacket features a high arm hole tailoring from Madrid, collaboration with the world’s most prestigious for a long waistline and a fuller, cleaner sleeve complemented by racecourse, as part of a five-year agreement. head. Around the fore shoulder there is a more Oliver Brown is the go-to brand for natural drape and stronger chest, thus delivering a more traditional Savile sartorially aware gentleman of every the perfect balance between style and comfort, Row silhouette generation, seeking traditional British with clean lines, balance and correct proportions.

For over 35 years, the home of Oliver Brown has been on Chelsea’s Lower Sloane Street. In summer of 2017 the shop was expanded to double the size, introducing a dedicated bespoke and formalwear department. The space allows for the in-house, third generation master tailor, Juan Carlos, to cut and craft each garment in the middle of the store. His artistry can even be viewed from the tree-lined street outside – the only tailoring house in London to showcase craftsmanship in this way.

Bespoke

City suits

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Royal Ascot morningwear

menswear and classic tailoring of the finest quality. Famous faces who have been spotted wearing the label include Damian Lewis, John Goodman, Gordon Ramsay, Rory Bremner and Sam Smith.

‘We are a customer-centric brand, dedicated to delivering an exemplary level of customer service,’ says Kristian Ferner Robson. ‘This extends right across the brand, from bespoke, ready-to-wear and hire in-store to our mail order and online channels. Once a gentleman Top hats shops with us, he will become a customer for life – there is something unique and incredibly special about Oliver Brown. I believe our unprecedented growth, recent expansion and prestigious alignment as an Official Licensee to Royal Ascot is testament to that.’

OLIVER BROWN 75 LOWER SLOANE STREET, LONDON SW1W 8DA

Smoking jackets and eveningwear

+44 (0)20 7259 9494

OLIVERBROWN.ORG.UK

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SUNSPEL The people who gave us Nick Kamen’s boxers and James Bond’s Riviera polo

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t was a game-changing, pulse-racing moment in advertising history when hunky Nick Kamen stripped down to his undies in a laundrette to get his Levi 501s washed.

But did you notice the boxers?

Behind these pristine white classics were not just Nick Kamen, but a 157-year history of British garment-making.

Sunspel was founded by Thomas Hill in 1860 in Nottingham – the capital of Britain’s hosiery and lace industry – to supply the British Empire with highquality underwear. Thomas Hill was one of the great early British industrialists and a fabric innovator, who developed fine cotton and wool jersey and introduced luxurious Sea Island cotton in 1885. Sunspel subsequently produced one of the world’s earliest T-shirts in an innovative, light, cellular fabric, designed to be worn as an undergarment. In 1947 John Hill, great grandson of the founder, introduced the American boxer short to Britain, innovating the design by introducing a comfortable back panel.

The factory moved to Long Eaton

Sunspel subsequently produced one of the world’s earliest T-shirts in an innovative, light, cellular fabric

in 1937, where the 19th-century redbrick mill remains Sunspel’s heart and soul.

A team of skilled seamstresses continues to handcraft its classic T-shirts in much the same way as they have since 1937.

The label was family-run until 2005, when it was acquired by Nicholas Brooke, who has continued to innovate without losing Thomas Hill’s vision of creating understated, versatile, essential clothing from beautiful fabrics. Shortly after he took over, Sunspel was Classic Sunspel commissioned to produce Daniel Craig’s T-shirt polo shirts, T-shirts and underwear for the James Bond film Casino Royale, released in 2006. ‘I thought it would be a perfect collaboration of quality and Britishness. He looks very sexy and happy in their clothing,’ said the award-winning costume designer Lindy Hemming.

The Riviera Polo Shirt – Classic Sunspel boxer shorts with its updated spin on an original 1950s design – became as much of a Sunspel icon as the original British boxers had in the 1980s, and helped to establish Bond’s new, modern image.

Sunspel’s philosophy is to create modern everyday luxury clothing in an understated aesthetic, paying rigorous attention to detail in both design and manufacture. Key pieces remain the perfect T-shirt (updated with a two-fold jersey fabric), the British boxer short (now in a variety of cuts and the finest, softest cotton) and the polo shirt. Apart from James Bond, other noteworthy clients include Eddie Redmayne, Liam and Noel Gallagher, Rufus Sewell, Alexa Chung, Sophie Dahl, Sunspel’s iconic Riviera Polo Shirt Dominic West and Sir Ben Kingsley. ‘We have a wide tailored for Daniel Craig range of customers,’ says Nicholas, ‘from older men who have bought Sunspel for years, to a younger, more fashion-conscious crowd. They all appreciate high-quality fabrics, precise fit, the utmost comfort and timeless, classic styles.’

Sunspel now has five stores in London, one in Berlin and three in Japan and stays true to its founding principles by continuing to explore fabric innovations, such as organic cotton. It has been working with the first new mill to open in England for over 50 years to develop a unique English cotton for an archive-inspired collection. Tradition and Sunspel’s flagship innovation, again working hand-in-hand, take this company Chiltern Street store striding into the 21st century.

SUNSPEL 11-15 CHILTERN STREET, LONDON W1U 7PG

+44 (0)20 7009 0650

SUNSPEL.COM

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The classic T-shirt, made in England

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | MEN’S STYLE

TURNBULL & ASSER Shirtmakers to discerning gentlemen since 1885

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he devil, they say, is in the detail. When you study a Turnbull & Asser shirt – whether bespoke or ready-towear – it is the attention to that detail that reveals why this gentleman’s outfitters has dressed the world’s most eminent men (and women) since it was established in 1885, and why it received HRH The Prince of Wales’ first ever Royal Warrant issued in 1980. From its flagship Jermyn Street home and locations in Bury Street and Davies Street, London, to its two Manhattan stores, Turnbull & Asser provides discerning gentlemen around the world with exceptional style, quality and craftsmanship.

With a clientele as illustrious now as it ever has been, Turnbull & Asser has dressed royalty, world leaders, captains of industry, entertainers and silver screen legends. Fictional characters dressed by Turnbull & Asser include Jay Gatsby, Heath Ledger’s The Joker and several James Bonds.

The brand notably tailored the iconic shirt for Sean Connery’s inaugural performance as 007 in Dr No, transforming Connery’s bulging body builder’s shape into the svelte silhouette required of an elegant spy.

Turnbull & Asser is proud of its 133-year heritage and ‘Made in England’ mantra. Shirts are hand-crafted at the house’s Gloucester factory and ties are manufactured at its factory in Kent. The heritage brand has expanded into suiting, sleepwear and accessories, and added a range of West Indian Sea Island cotton for ready-to-wear and bespoke. Its rare Sea Island cotton is just one of the brand’s unrivalled selection of over a thousand high quality fabrics, which all have excellent laundering and wearing properties, ensuring that shirts look and feel better over time. While many shirtmakers opt for fused collars for simplicity of construction, Turnbull & Asser has adopted a more organic method, which curbs discomfort while using a woven bias-cut interlining to maintain the collar’s shape.

The shirts are hand-crafted in Gloucester

Sean Connery wore a Turbull & Asser shirt for his inaugural performance as 007

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Turnbull & Asser received HRH The Prince of Wales’ first Royal Warrant

With a clientele as illustrious now as it ever has been, Turnbull & Asser has dressed royalty, world leaders, captains of industry, entertainers and silver screen legends The most recognisable signifier of a Turnbull & Asser shirt is the iconic three-button cuff. Quality is everything, so no plastic buttons are used. Instead, they use ecologically sustained mother-ofpearl, picking only the very whitest. The mother-of-pearl is graded, polished and given a smart double-ring edge, before each of the four sewing holes is individually punched through to prevent shattering.

Using 13 iridescent buttons and 34 individual pieces of cotton, the shirt is finished by inserting branded collar stays to maintain a smart, strong shape.

This year, Turnbull & Asser is leading the resurgence of the modern classic aesthetic and, with seasonal wear becoming increasingly niche, it is focusing its forthcoming collections on timeless staple pieces that transcend seasonality and trend-led fashion.

Not content to rest on its laurels, Turnbull & Asser continues to protect and nurture its 19th-century heritage, while looking to the future, an approach that truly sets the brand apart. It is no wonder that once a gentleman has tried on a Turnbull & Asser garment, he will never wish to venture elsewhere.

TURNBULL & ASSER 71–72 JERMYN STREET, LONDON SW1Y 6PF

+44 (0)20 7808 3000

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Church’s p192 Crockett & Jones p194 Edward Green p196 Ettinger p198 Foster & Son p200 Jimmy Choo p202 Tom Davies p204 Tricker’s p206 Tusting p208

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | SHOES & ACCESSORIES

BEGG & CO Weavers of beautiful Scottish scarves, stoles and throws for over 150 years

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alongside traditional mill machinery. riginally established in the Scottish town of Paisley, Cloth is still pummelled for a softer feel using the same Begg & Co has been at the forefront of weaving technology since 1866, when founder Alex Begg started wooden device created by Begg employees some 70 years ago.

The characteristic ripple effect seen on some items occurs after producing woollen shawls with a small team of trusted gentle brushing with specially cultivated Italian teasel plant heads, local weavers. Paisley had become a focal point for which are dampened beforehand with mineral-rich Scottish water. the progressive weaving community during Victorian times and was Once selected, the high-grade fibres are spun into yarns that are then synonymous with the iconic teardrop pattern used by Begg & Co washed, brushed and meticulously finished, to create some of the earliest surviving paisley before being stored in a strictly controlled, shawls. Only two examples remain – one has Commitment to quality humid environment in the Begg & Co mill. been carefully preserved by the Begg family, is what motivates the Finished products are pressed using the the other is on display in the Paisley Museum. workforce at Begg & Co. age-old method of brown paper infused with In 1902 the company relocated to Ayr strands of copper, which gives scarves and on Scotland’s southwest coast. It was a move A team of highly skilled stoles their signature glossy sheen. that allowed Begg the space to invest in new technicians is trained Every task, no matter how small, is given machinery and to start developing a range of cutting-edge, exploratory weaving techniques. in-house to perform every the care and attention it deserves, with teams of dedicated employees undertaking One-hundred and fifty years later, this procedure with fervour meticulous checks throughout the weaving commitment to innovation still stands and Begg and pride process, to safeguard the company’s & Co continues to be renowned for continuously pioneering new and highly sophisticated methods of production.

Commitment to quality is what motivates the workforce at Begg & Co’s Ayrshire factory. A team of highly skilled technicians strives to maintain exceptional standards and they are trained in-house to perform every procedure with pride. With industry experience dating back to the 1860s, the modern-day craftspeople at Begg & Co use a wide variety of weaving and finishing apparatus to create the brand’s inimitable collections. This dynamic approach champions the use of contemporary computerised equipment

Wispy superfine cashmere Hanover scarf

Variety of Arran cashmere stoles in neutral colours

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commitment to quality.

Begg & Co’s design philosophy follows the same principles, drawing inspiration from Scotland’s magnificent natural landscapes, in addition to the country’s diverse architectural styles. Geometric shapes are evident across the Begg & Co collection, referencing the angles and contours seen in the midcentury concrete buildings that the surrounding region is famous for. Bringing Brutalism to life with an invigorating palette of carefully curated colour and modern Wispy cashmere Hanover scarf texture, every product carries the hallmark of luxury and distinction.

With cinematic skies, and an abundance of local lochs, mountains and beaches, the mill’s immediate environment will no doubt continue to fuel the imagination of Begg & Co’s designers for many years to come.

BEGG & CO 17 VIEWFIELD ROAD, AYR, AYRSHIRE KA8 8HJ

Arran cashmere oversized scarves

+44 (0)1292 267615

BEGGANDCOMPANY.COM

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CHURCH’S A comfortable balance of tradition and innovation

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he Church family was hand-making gentlemen’s shoes as far she visited the Northampton factory and headquarters that year.

Since 1999 Church’s has been part of the Prada Group, a world back as 1675 in Northamptonshire, a county that had been leader in luxury goods, which has optimised the brand’s business the centre of a flourishing leather and footwear industry opportunities while still respecting its English identity. since the Middle Ages.

A strong expansion of the retail business at an international But it was two centuries later, in 1873, that Thomas level began in 2008, with new openings in Hong Kong, Geneva, Church and his three sons – Alfred, William and Thomas Jr. – founded Madrid, Singapore, Leeds, Edinburgh, Venice, Bologna, Turin the ‘modern’ Church’s company. They consolidated production and Paris. In 2011 Church’s opened its first that had traditionally been carried out in shop solely dedicated to ladies’ shoes and workers’ own homes, into a modern factory Church’s was the first accessories collections on New Bond Street, in Northampton, where the firm’s worldwide footwear manufacturer London, and opened outlets in Shanghai, headquarters are still based today. to introduce the concept Chicago and Tokyo.

Church’s was transformed from a craft All of Church’s men’s welted shoes are still workshop into a benchmark producer of left and right shoes, hand-made using traditional techniques, at the of top-quality footwear. It was the first footwear since most companies Northampton factory, by specialised craftsmen. manufacturer to introduce the concept of left at that time still sold It takes up to eight weeks to produce a pair, and right shoes, since most companies at that time still sold ‘straights’. This innovative style ‘straights’. This innovative since each undergoes more than 250 detailed operations before it is completed. was called Adaptable and it won the prestigious style was called Adaptable manual Church’s shoes are beyond fashion. The Gold Medal at the 1884 International and great men’s styles such as Oxfords and brogues never Universal exhibition at Crystal Palace. date, though colours and details may vary from At the turn of the 20th century, Church’s began season to season. Next to the traditional collection, exporting to new markets, such as the United Church’s offers a range of styles with a trend-driven States, Canada, China and South America, twist. This continuous development demonstrates appointing distributors in many European the brand’s ability to innovate, and ensures Countries. The company opened its first British its position as the world’s leader of top quality retail stores in 1921, followed by New York in 1929.

Goodyear Welted footwear.

The prestigious ‘Queen’s Award for Exports’ And for those who can’t bear to see a favourite put the official seal of recognition on Church’s pair of shoes wear out, Church’s provides the status as a leading international brand in 1965, traditional full refurbishment service at its and was presented by Queen Elizabeth II when Northampton factory, using the same quality materials and attention as in the original manufacturing process. This service considerably extends the life of each pair of Church’s shoes which, if properly looked after, will last a lifetime.

LEFT AND RIGHT: The production process at the Northampton factory ABOVE: The classic Shannon shoes (Derby black in polished binder leather)

CHURCH’S ST JAMES ROAD, NORTHAMPTON NN5 5JB

+44 (0)1604 751251

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CROCKETT & JONES Historic shoemaker since 1879 and awarded a Royal Warrant

by HRH The Prince of Wales

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London now boasts six Crockett & Jones stores, showing hen Sir James Crockett and Charles Jones were the largest collection of its shoes in the world. Having granted £100 each from the Thomas White shops on the most renowned streets globally has given Trust ‘to encourage young men of good Crockett & Jones an international platform, as has providing character... to set up business on their own’, shoes for James Bond in both Skyfall and Spectre. Yet this family they could hardly have imagined that Crockett business is still manufacturing shoes in Northampton, and & Jones, the business they founded, would still be going strong although the production process has evolved, much of the 139 years later, and in its fifth generation as a family business. factory looks as it did then, remaining Crockett & Jones specialises in manufacturing in the experienced hands of the founding good value, high quality English-crafted, Having shops on the family – Nick Jones, Jonathan’s brother, Goodyear-welted footwear – a centuries-old most renowned streets is on the factory floor 100 per cent of the construction that offers exceptional strength, across the world has time. ‘It is very important to us that Crockett durability and comfort. And although & Jones remains under the watchful eyes there are now 13 flagship Crockett & Jones given Crockett & Jones the founding family,’ says Jonathan. stores, including London, Paris, New York, an international platform, of ‘The fifth generation has already been Birmingham and Brussels, the company as has providing shoes a part of our business for ten years.’ gives the same attention to detail, quality and The company has three signature comfort that was the hallmark of its founders. for James Bond in both ranges for gentlemen: the Hand Grade Crockett & Jones’ Managing Director, Skyfall and Spectre collection, the Main collection, which Jonathan Jones – from the fourth-generation – has always been committed to offering top quality footwear that represents value for money. When he joined Crockett & Jones, exactly 40 years ago, his intentions were simply to save his family’s 100-year-old business from closure. Within 20 years, Jonathan had opened the brand’s first retail shop at 69 Jermyn Street. This year, the shop celebrates its 20th anniversary, just as the firm is awarded a prestigious Royal Warrant by HRH The Prince of Wales, a testament to the reputation the company enjoys as a worldrenowned footwear manufacturer and heritage brand.

Hand burnishing

Lottie in grey suede

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Coniston in dark brown scotch grain

features both classic and contemporary styles, and the Shell Cordovan collection.

There is also the women’s collection, a belt collection designed to match the footwear, and the accessories collection, offering essential shoe care products.

Crockett & Jones is an authentic company with clear values. ‘Suppliers, wholesale customers, factory and retail staff, and all the people close to Crockett & Jones are aware of the very active family aspect Hand clicking to our business,’ says Jonathan.

It is this winning formula of ongoing family involvement combined with the company’s dedication to the traditional English craft of shoemaking that makes Crockett & Jones a truly great British brand.

CROCKETT & JONES 92 JERMYN STREET, LONDON SW1Y 6JE

Westbourne in dark brown suede

+44 (0)20 7839 5239

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EDWARD GREEN The finest handmade shoes, epitomising English elegance

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The colour of the leather is only finished after the shoe is made, dward Green established his shoemaking workshop with much hand burnishing and polishing to produce a deep in Northampton in 1890 with a commitment to ‘making patina. This approach demands more attentive clicking (the the finest shoes, without compromise’. Determined industry’s word for cutting). to maintain the very highest standards, he put together Edward Green’s soles are tanned for nine months in a solution a team of the town’s most respected shoemakers and of oak, spruce and mimosa barks for unequalled comfort and sourced the best materials for them to work with. By the 1930s, durability. After being sewn to the shoe, the channel is closed Edward’s sons were running the company and it had become and the sole is bevelled to create a refined the biggest maker of high-grade military boots in the country. Post-war, the company Edward Green shoes are finish. Original lasts are returned to be re-crafted again and again – and sometimes shifted its focus to shoes, winning a legion made to age gracefully, last decades. No detail is missed. And of fans that included Ernest Hemingway gaining personality like it’s that combination of excellence and and Cole Porter. quintessentially English style that has served Respect for the tradition of shoemaking has handsome mahogany company well internationally. always been paramount, as evidenced furniture. The workshop theEdward Green is stocked by the world’s by the Dover – Edward Green’s most iconic focuses on quality, leading department stores from Isetan shoe. It is handmade with boars’ bristles, which in Tokyo to Bergdorf Goodman’s in New are carefully split and entwined into a thread producing just 350 York, with its own stores in Paris, Tokyo before the shoe’s distinctive U-shaped apron pairs a week and on London’s Jermyn Street, where is sewn. It takes a skilled artisan over two hours to hand sew the aprons – as well as years in training. Today the Dover, and other shoes such as the Galway boot and Chelsea cap-toed Oxford, are exported globally, prized for their supreme quality and distinctly English character.

Edward Green shoes are made to age gracefully, gaining personality like handsome mahogany furniture. Production is relatively small-scale – only 350 pairs a week are made – so that the workshop can focus on quality above all else. This starts with the antiqued calfskins, which are of exceptionally high quality.

Ladies’ Malvern brogue in redwood antique and clove suede

A craftsman inks the edge of a shoe’s sole

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The definitive black Oxford – the Chelsea on the 202 last

the flagship is just across from Beau Brummell’s statue – an arbiter of style in Regency London. The shop keeps an extensive range of sizes, widths and lasts, ensuring that customers can find their perfect fitting and, having established this, many customers will go on to have shoes made to order, specifying leather, last, fit and sole to create something truly bespoke. This year, the range also includes women’s styles.

If you are far from St James’s, Edward Green’s full range An upper is sewn of shoes is now available online, with free global returns.

Today, the workshop continues to make shoes according to the same simple philosophy Edward Green laid out – never compromise on the integrity of the craftsmen.

EDWARD GREEN 75 JERMYN STREET, LONDON SW1Y 6NP

The Galway in burgundy Utah and delapre

+44 (0)20 7839 0202

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Brand ambassador, Jessica Mendoza, with her Hurlingham Travel Bag

ETTINGER

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A leading small leather goods manufacturer for over eight decades

t takes at least five years to fully train an Ettinger craftsperson because each product requires around 50 stages to be mastered. This attention to detail partly explains why Ettinger has been the go-to British small leather goods manufacturer for over eight decades.

Ettinger has come a long way since Gerry Ettinger – the father of the current CEO, Robert – left a successful film career to pursue the business of luxury gifts. At a time when international travel was still considered exotic, Gerry used his extensive contacts in Europe to garner a global clientele.

Quality and innovation were at the heart of his company, and before long Ettinger products were gracing the shelves of London department stores, including Harrods, Asprey and Fortnum & Mason. Gerry’s vision never faltered and he continued to run the company well into his 80s, before handing over to his eldest son, Robert, in 1990.

Ettinger exports 80 per cent of its products

Like his father, Robert is multilingual and well travelled. Setting aside an ambition to work in the Alps, Robert joined the family business.

Initially he gained experience working for luxury companies in Canada and Germany before going on to build upon Ettinger’s tradition of craftsmanship and uncompromising quality.

The business is now an internationally recognised specialised leather accessories brand: today Ettinger exports 80 per cent of its products and is available in the Far East, Asia, Australia, the US, Canada and Europe. Robert has also mentored young, talented craftspeople through the Prince’s Trust, QEST (Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust) and the Walpole Crafted programme.

In 1996 Ettinger was appointed as a Royal Warrant Holder to HRH The Prince of Wales.

Given the hectic pace of modern consumerism, the notion of making products that are made to last might be considered oldfashioned, but the company’s timeless designs

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Jessica Mendoza

feel as current today as they did 82 years ago, a point proved at Ettinger’s debut at London Collections Men in 2016. Since then the brand has also attended trade shows in New York and Milan, confirming its status as a key men’s style accessories brand.

Current designs range from the contemporary TT Collection to classics like the best-selling Bridle Hide, to which a new colour, Ettinger Grey, has recently been added. The stationery portfolio has been expanded and, for the first time, women’s purses and keyrings are being stocked in Fortnum & Mason. The company has also appointed leading British show jumper Jessica Mendoza as its first global brand ambassador.

Living up to the strapline, ‘to each their own’, many of Ettinger’s products can be personalised and there is a bespoke corporate gift service. In the end, it comes down to the experience: when you touch an Ettinger product, you can sense its history, feel the quality and know that you’re holding a thing of beauty. But to see it is to believe it, so visitors are always welcome, by appointment, to the showroom in London to experience the world of Ettinger firsthand.

The notion of making products that are made to last might be considered old-fashioned, but the company’s timeless designs feel as current today as they did 82 years ago

Ettinger grey product range

ETTINGER 215 PUTNEY BRIDGE ROAD, LONDON SW15 2NY

+44 (0)20 8877 1616

ETTINGER.CO.UK

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FOSTER & SON The ‘shoemakers’ shoemaker’, offering bespoke refinement and sublime comfort for 177 years

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Katharine Hepburn and President Roosevelt but, as ever, he minute you walk into No. 83 Jermyn Street the firm’s staff maintain a discreet silence about their loyal you can tell it is the ‘real thing’. It may be the scent and discerning clients, who include heads of state and of leather wafting down from the craftsmen and Hollywood stars. Many clients come through personal women working directly above the shop; it may recommendation, but the firm travels to the USA and Asia be the fact that Foster & Son is London’s oldest twice a year and visits individual customers by appointment. bespoke shoemaker or it may be the delightful experience Foster & Son’s shoemakers have all been trained by revered of buying a pair of Foster & Son shoes. Whatever the case, master, Terry Moore, in skills and craft Foster & Son understands that, as the foundation of any well-dressed man’s wardrobe, your shoes Foster & Son understands handed down over almost two centuries.

Expert bespoke shoemaking requires artistic say more about you than anything else you wear, that, as the foundation flair and five to ten years of experience but so their design and quality are crucial. of any well-dressed man’s demand for work experience in the Foster Foster’s ‘West End’ house style aims to be elegant, refined and masculine. wardrobe, his shoes say workshop remains high.

If you don’t have the patience to wait The distinctive look dates back to founder more about him than or the budget for a pair of bespoke shoes, Mr W.S. Foster, who first created the subtly anything else he wears, Foster & Son has a ready-to-wear collection dropping toe that elongates the appearance of the foot. Today the Foster toe remains so their design and quality based on the firm’s extensive bespoke archives, so being part of its rich history a great classic. are crucial is not beyond reach. The ‘Newman’, for The Foster bespoke process, in collaboration with the customer to reflect his or her aesthetic, produces a sublimely comfortable shoe that becomes more beautiful Measuring bespoke shoe last for patterns over time. A wooden last is made to the customer’s design, and the shoe and all its decoration is built around the last by hand.

A trial fitting is usually held when the shoe is part-made, after which the outer sole is stitched on by hand and the shoes polished and finished to the customer’s requirements.

Foster & Son boasts an impressive list of past clients like Fred Astaire, Paul Newman, Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Clark Gable,

Store front at 83 Jermyn Street

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Polishing bespoke semi brogue Oxford shoe

example, is a new side-laced ready-to-wear shoe based on the shoe created for Laurence Olivier during the 1940’s.

Foster & Son’s also provides refurbishment services and offers quality bridle leather briefcases, luggage and small leather goods, and can make unique leather pieces, such as a case or wallet.

83 Jermyn Street is also home to Foster & Son’s sister brand Henry Maxwell, founded in 1750. Maxwell held warrants from every British monarch Hand-lasting bespoke from George IV to HM Peak Cap Oxford shoe Queen Elizabeth II and was immortalised as ‘Craxwells’ in Siegfried Sassoon’s Memoirs of a Foxhunting Man. Today Maxwell continues to signify the company’s country range, so it’s Foster & Son for town and Maxwell for the country.

FOSTER & SON 83 JERMYN STREET, LONDON SW1Y 6JD

Bespoke shoe-making

+44 (0)20 7930 5385

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JIMMY CHOO A 21st century accessories brand, with shoes at its heart, offering an empowered sense of glamour

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Monogram your favourite pair

PHOTOS: CHRIS FLOYD

Choo Made-to-Order shoes continue to have a steady presence. ounded in 1996, Jimmy Choo encompasses a complete For inclusion in the Made-to-Order programme, Sandra Choi luxury accessories business. Women’s shoes are at the has selected her favourite Jimmy Choo silhouettes, designs that brand’s core, alongside handbags, small leather goods, she feels represent the house signature style. These are shoes scarves, sunglasses, eyewear, belts, fragrance and men’s that are iconic, continually adored by clients worldwide and shoes. Creative director, Sandra Choi, possesses an innate sense of elegance and glamour and a sharp eye for detail, resulting perfectly suited for customisation. They include the Anouk, Romy, Lance, Emily and Ren in varying heel heights. in shoes that grace red carpets and the front rows of fashion Dream shoes become design reality shows, as well as catering to every aspect when clients start to be creative and choose of the modern woman’s busy lifestyle.

In 2014 Jimmy Choo colours and materials from a range In 2014 Jimmy Choo introduced its introduced its Made-to- their including delicate suede, lustrous satin, Made-to-Order service. This offers customers Order service. This offers sumptuous leather, glitter, crocodile and a tempting suite of signature styles that exotic snakeskin. Decadent and luxurious can be custom made in myriad colourways, customers a tempting velvet is a new addition to the line-up and textures and finishes. The Made-to-Order suite of signature styles comes in a palette of seven hues including offer has evolved with the introduction that can be custom made navy, bordeaux and bottle green. of evening bags that allow customers For the last word in personalisation, to have a personalised text engraved in myriad colourways, customers have the option to monogram on the interior metal plaque, featuring textures and finishes the sole of their shoes with initials or a name or a special date. In addition, customers can choose the colour of the bag and whether the hardware is finished in silver or gold.

The tradition of making shoes to order, using skilled Italian craftsmanship, can be traced back to the roots of the brand. This focus on quality has continued quietly throughout the company’s evolution as it has grown from a small London atelier to a global fashion brand. Occasionally, by request, a client would order a special fabrication, an exotic material or one-off colour for a one-off occasion, most notably on the red carpet, where Jimmy

Tools of the trade

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Made to order, Emily, Romy and Celeste

numbers to create an enduring bespoke memento of a special day, moment or gift.

‘Throughout the years at Jimmy Choo, we set out to maintain the same level of personalised service and attention to detail as when we were crafting shoes one pair at a time, for one client at a time,’ says Sandra Choi. ‘Bringing this Made-to-Order service directly to our customers in our stores means we are faithfully preserving our heritage of personalisation and allowing every woman to have Creative director a bespoke pair of Jimmy Choo Sandra Choi shoes and evening bag.’

The Made-to-Order service is ideal for brides selecting their wedding wardrobe or for any shoe aficionado looking to build a dazzling, stylish collection. It is available at select Jimmy Choo stores globally and online.

JIMMY CHOO 27 NEW BOND STREET, LONDON W1S 2RH

+44 (0)20 7493 5858

JIMMYCHOO.COM

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TOM DAVIES The only British brand to offer bespoke eyewear handmade in its own factory in London

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and the highest level of craftsmanship. Finally, all Bespoke frames t’s 15 years since British designer Tom Davies launched his Bespoke are finished with the name of the customer engraved discreetly eyewear service. From the very beginning, Tom identified a need for properly fitted frames that were exceptionally comfortable, supremely on the inside of the temple arm.

As any wearer of spectacles knows, how they fit is every bit elegant and meticulously made. By 2008, he started offering a full as important as what they are made of. Each Tom Davies Bespoke custom service through his global network of exclusive opticians. design consultation starts with getting to know the customer. What do In 2014 Tom took his eyewear brand a step further and opened they do professionally? What kind of lifestyle do they lead? Do they have the first Tom Davies Bespoke Opticians store on Sloane Square which any problems with their current frames? incorporates an eye clinic. There followed three more stores in Knightsbridge, Canary Wharf All Tom Davies eyewear Do they slip down their nose? And, crucially, their current frames actually suit them? and The Royal Exchange, and in August 2017 is made from the highest do A bespoke design consultant then takes a series he launched the company’s flagship store in quality materials. Frames of precision measurements and photographs, London’s revitalised retail and cultural quarter, which are sent off to the factory.

Covent Garden. In a boost for UK manufacturing are made by hand, so Equally crucial is customers’ eye health. and design, Tom is moving his production from every step of the process Every Tom Davies Bespoke Opticians eye China to the UK by launching his first Made is meticulously controlled, clinic is furnished with the latest diagnostic in England factory, where he will train a new equipment from ZEISS, a specialist in optics generation of spectacle makers, combining the which, in turn, ensures and optoelectronics. Normally only found latest manufacturing techniques and cloud based flawless quality in hospital ophthalmology clinics, this technologies with traditional hand-crafting skills.

All Tom Davies eyewear is made from the highest quality materials, including titanium, cotton acetate and Natural Horn. The last Acetate frame is a natural product, lighter than acetate, gentle on the skin and allergy safe. The sheets of horn used to make the frames are filed down to a thickness of 0.8mm and then laminated together for extra strength. Sometimes antique British silks or carbon fibre are laminated between the sheets to create different and striking effects.

Frames are made by hand, so every step of the process is meticulously controlled which, in turn, ensures flawless quality

Natural horn frame

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Titanium frame

equipment ensures that the highly qualified optometrists and clinical teams have the most advanced methods for examining eye health at their disposal and can provide the optimum prescriptions for their customers.

Tom Davies has created eyewear for a string of high-profile personalities, including Angelina Jolie and Ed Sheeran, as well as a number of Hollywood films, including The Tourist and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, in which Clark Kent sports a pair of black Tom Davies frames.

Natural horn plates As one of the only British brands to offer and design Bespoke eyewear, as well as the only private bespoke optician in Britain to have all the latest diagnostic equipment from ZEISS, Tom Davies not only provides a world-class experience for its customers but also sets a new bar for the eyewear industry.

TOM DAVIES GREAT WEST ESTATE, 983 GREAT WEST ROAD, LONDON TW8 9DN

Acetate frame

+44 (0)20 8392 0555

TDTOMDAVIES.COM

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TRICKER’S A reputation for shoemaking based on quality, comfort and character

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craftspeople can perform specialist work which many other welted t was 1829 when Joseph Tricker founded his shoe company – the manufacturers cannot. A Bourton brogue or a Stow boot, for example, same year Robert Peel established London’s first uniformed police involves 260 individual processes and takes eight weeks to manufacture. force, Abraham Lincoln gave his first political speech and Louis There is no less attention to detail when it comes to buying Braille invented a system of finger-reading for the blind. Queen your Tricker’s. The company has been resident on Jermyn Street Victoria’s ascent to the throne was still eight years away. Tricker since 1925, and offers the kind of experience where they recognise saw the birth of the modern world, a time of great enlightenment, you when you walk in at its current premises at number 67. A fully learning and social reform. This was the world in which the first bespoke, made-to-measure service is available, retail orders for Tricker’s shoes were secured. alongside made-to-order and ready-made.

Five generations later, Tricker’s is still Tricker’s established a also restore your favourite shoes – a family-owned business. All its footwear reputation for outstanding They’ll you never forget your first pair of Tricker’s. is made from start to finish at its Northampton manufacturing quality The shoes are available in 43 countries shoe factory and HRH the Prince of Wales including Italy, China and the US, with awarded the company a Royal Warrant in 1989. and durability. It’s no accounting for 30 per cent of its export From the outset, Tricker’s established accident that Sir Edmund Japan business. It also produces co-branded footwear a reputation for outstanding manufacturing quality and durability. The firm quickly became Hillary and his team chose for Margaret Howell, Paul Smith (for Japan) the maker of choice for farmers, estate owners Tricker’s for a Himalayan and Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons.

Describing the typical Tricker’s customer and the landed gentry, who swore by the expedition in 1961 as ‘self-assured, confident, non-conformist comfort, strength and practicality of its heavy, waterproof footwear. It’s no accident that Sir Edmund Hillary and his team chose Tricker’s for a Himalayan expedition in 1961 – the shoes and boots were virtually indestructible.

Tricker’s current factory in Northampton opened its doors in 1904 and has been the base for manufacturing ever since. (It was also used to film scenes from Kinky Boots, which tells the story of a familyowned shoemaking business.) Traditional production processes may have changed over time, but Tricker’s commitment to quality and uncompromising standards has remained the same. Its 90 skilled

The Stow boot

Tricker’s lasting room

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Tricker’s Norfolk brogue

and independent in thought and manner’, the company has a starry following that includes Dominic West, Daniel Craig, Orlando Bloom and Michael Fassbender.

Passionate about securing the future of England’s master shoemakers, current MD Martin Mason has invested in training to develop skilled craftspeople.

He has also introduced more apprenticeships, including the brand’s first female master shoemaker apprentice.

Mason has also secured exclusive use of an innovative Jermyn Street shop front product called Olivvia leather, which uses olive leaves in the tanning process. The new, ultra-light collection of half-lined shoes and boots, designed to be worn in warmer climes, is the result – ensuring that the Tricker’s name will remain at the forefront of luxury shoemaking for many years to come.

TRICKER’S 67 JERMYN STREET, LONDON SW1Y 6NY

Back in the day

+44 (0)20 7930 6395

TRICKERS.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | SHOES & ACCESSORIES

TUSTING Beautiful leather bags made to last a lifetime

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important to understand what is different about Tusting. Not t Tusting, luxury is not about opulence, excess or great only are its bags genuinely made in Britain, but only the best expense. It’s about leather bags made from beautiful, leather is allowed to bear the Tusting name – skins which will full-grain, unadulterated leather; about the artisanal age beautifully and gain a rich patina over the years. Mention craftsmanship invested in every stitch to provide the finest ‘corrected’ or plastic-coated leather, which you’ll find in even bags with personality; about quality, integrity and service. the smartest designer stores, and the team at Tusting shudders.

The Tusting story begins in 1875 when the great-greatThese are bags made to last a lifetime. grandfather of the current directors, brothers Alistair and William Something else that sets this company Tusting, founded a tannery to supply premium apart is that, rather than relying on masses leathers to England’s new shoe factories.

Not only are its bags glossy marketing, it has built its brand on A little over a century later, in the 1980s, the genuinely made in Britain, of the integrity of the product. Customers vary skills passed down through the generations but only the best leather from young adults making their first serious helped the company to survive a recession that bag purchase right through to an older closed the majority of British tanneries.

– skins that will age generation that has discovered that buying Having already started sourcing and beautifully and gain quality is always better than quantity. And trading leathers from all over the world, the a rich patina over the those customers are often quintessentially family sought to diversify further. Combining Tusting’s widely respected knowledge years – is allowed to bear British themselves (former Dr Who, Matt Smith, and members of the royal family are of leather with Britain’s global reputation the Tusting name past customers). Tusting also has a keen for top-notch saddlery and shoemaking, following in countries where British style is highly valued. not to mention access to a rich local supply of leatherworking The company understands how important it is to innovate. expertise, the company began to produce premium leather For example, it recently introduced a specialised service whereby luggage in its own name, all manufactured in the family’s customers can emboss a hand-written note into the bag’s leather workshop at Lavendon, near Northampton. as the ultimate in personalisation.

Of course, the world is full of upscale leather bags, so it’s

Full-grain leather hides

Holly handbag

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Aztec weekender bags

Tusting is considered to be one of the country’s finest manufacturers of leather goods. It enjoys long-standing partnerships with Aston Martin and Church’s shoes, and was selected by Marks and Spencer for its global ‘Best of British’ project, which saw the company collaborate with Britain’s finest clothing and accessories manufacturers.

Tusting likes to say that its customers get so much more for their money – more quality in materials and Marston briefcase manufacture, longer lasting designs, better provenance and, above all, greater commitment during their ownership, however many decades that may be. This all adds up to more happiness. And Tusting loves making people happy.

Explorer holdall bags

TUSTING THE TANNERY WAREHOUSE, 29–31 OLNEY ROAD, LAVENDON, OLNEY MK46 4EU

+44 (0)1234 712266

TUSTING.CO.UK

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PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

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Holland & Holland p214 The House of Bruar p216 Hunter p218 Musto p220 Really Wild p222

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | SPORTING SEASON

E.J. CHURCHILL Designed by shooters for shooters

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dward John Churchill established Churchill Gunmakers in 1891. Onehundred and twenty-five years on, E.J. Churchill continues to produce the highest quality shotguns and is the only privately owned company in Britain with its own gunmakers, shooting ground, sporting agency, country outfitters and events business under one roof.

In 1989 Sir Edward Dashwood created the shooting ground at his West Wycombe Estate in the Chiltern Hills, just 30 miles from London.

Six years later, a corporate and private events business, gun room and country outfitters extended E.J. Churchill’s business further.

The shooting ground has 150 shooting stands, six clay shooting disciplines, ‘The Pit’, three high towers and five purpose-built grouse butts and offers extensive practise and tuition opportunities. It is regarded as one of the finest facilities of its kind in the world and has played host to the World English Sporting Championships in 2014 and 2016 and will do so again this year.

Its gun room sells new and second-hand shotguns and rifles with a full range from Blaser, Beretta, Browning and Perazzi alongside the E.J. Churchill gun portfolio. Customers are encouraged to try the guns at the shooting ground before making a decision. E.J. Churchill’s skilled craftsmen offer a professional gun fitting service and undertake gun servicing, repairs and alterations, from simple overhauls to complete rebuilds, re-barrelling and re-stocking. There are secure on-site storage facilities and they can provide a personal carriage service throughout Britain.

The retail shop at the shooting ground and online, stocks a range of carefully chosen brands and E.J. Churchill’s own collection, comprising of a full range of shooting attire for game and clay sports, country fashion, outdoor footwear, shooting accessories, gifts and fine bronze artwork.

E.J. Churchill organises exceptional sporting experiences with exclusive access to some of the most prestigious sporting estates, from the A pair of E.J. Churchill Hercules over and under guns

E.J. Churchill shooting ground, 30 miles from London

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E.J. Churchill mobile charity shoot

In 1989 Sir Edward Dashwood created the shooting ground at his West Wycombe Estate in the Chiltern Hills, just 30 miles from London. It is regarded as one of the finest facilities of its kind in the world north of England and Scotland for grouse, to Spain for partridge and Hungary for wild boar.

With an unrivalled reputation E.J. Churchill also creates exciting events for private and corporate clients, from multi-activity days and product launches to family fun days and simulated game days. It is especially proud to have raised millions of pounds for charitable causes through its mobile charity shoots.

The Club membership allows individuals to enjoy the grounds,

extensive shooting, social facilities, country outfitters and a wide range of E.J. Churchill services and cartridges at preferential rates. Social events are held throughout the year, from shopping and Christmas carols to a members’ shoot and late-night shooting in the summer.

Led by passionate sportspeople, E.J. Churchill is designed for shooters by shooters, providing a superior service in a friendly environment that encourages participation at all levels, from Olympic hopefuls to beginners. E.J. Churchill is proud to keep the sport thriving and to introduce a new generation with Young Guns sessions during school holidays to encourage youngsters from as young as nine. It also runs novice days, parent and child, ladies-only, university and school events.

E.J. Churchill’s awards include the CPSA ‘Shooting Ground of the Year’ 2017 award, Shooting Industry Award ‘Best Shooting Ground 2017’ and the Rural Business Award for ‘Best Rural Business 2016’.

E.J. CHURCHILL PARK LANE, LANE END, HIGH WYCOMBE, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE HP14 3NS

+44 (0)1494 883227

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | SPORTING SEASON

HOLLAND & HOLLAND Nobody does it like the English – bespoke gunmaking since 1835

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Holland & Holland Shooting Grounds

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMIE HAWKESWORTH; CREATIVE DIRECTION BY RONNIE COOKE NEWHOUSE / HOUSE AND HOLME;

to gunmaking became known as one of the best in the world. n 2017 Stella Tennant and Isabella Cawdor took hold of the reins Harris Holland’s nephew, Henry William Holland was an at Holland & Holland clothing, applying their principles of luxury, ‘inventive genius’ with a similarly pioneering mindset and joined irreverence and resolute practicality to the collections they design, Harris as an apprentice in 1860. He became the company’s driving infusing them with the true spirit of English dressing. They sought force, and lodged his first patent within just one year of starting inspiration from anyone whose style celebrates individuality, from work. By 1950 the company had registered 51 patents and today their ancestors and historical figures to the local mole-catcher. it holds more patents than any other gunmaker. Henry William Key pieces in the collection now include lightweight cashmere Holland was made a partner in 1876, fluorocarbon parkas, black shearling capes, creating the Holland & Holland name. wide-legged herringbone trousers and In 1883, Holland & In 1883, Holland & Holland’s purity shearling-lined gilets with ribbon tie details.

Holland’s designs won all of design and beautiful artistry won all All translate seamlessly from Mayfair to grouse classes of The Field’s rifle classes of The Field’s rifle trials. From moor. ‘In England, you can’t be beholden to the weather otherwise you wouldn’t leave trials. From there it gained there it gained Royal Warrants from the of Italy and King George V and the house,’ says Stella. ‘This is the stuff that two Royal Warrants and King its guns were used by some of the world’s is in our blood.’ ‘It has to be weatherproof its guns were used by most notable figures, including Theodore but allow you to move around the landscape,’ continues Isabella. ‘It all comes from a real some of the world’s most Roosevelt, who was a great advocate of the ‘Royal’ double rifle. The firm had adopted understanding of the outdoors.’ notable figures the name ‘Royal’ for its best guns from Also in 2017, Holland & Holland’s shooting grounds, which have offered unrivalled sporting gun facilities since 1880, opened a new corporate facility and an underground rifle range with state-of-the-art cinematographic technology, the first of its type commercially available in Britain.

Holland & Holland’s founder, Harris Holland, was as unconventional as his successors. He wasn’t even a gunmaker when he began building guns to order in the 1840s. He was, however, a particularly fine competition pigeon shot, and without the constraints of a normal gunmaking apprenticeship, his innovative approach

THIS PICTURE AND OPPOSITE: All clothing by Holland & Holland

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PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMIE HAWKESWORTH; CREATIVE DIRECTION BY RONNIE COOKE NEWHOUSE / HOUSE AND HOLME;

Royal over and under shotgun

1885, and its first version of the shotgun, manufactured in 1883, is said to be one of the most widely imitated shotguns in the world.

In its own fully integrated factory, skilled craftsmen carve, cut, chisel, rub, file and fit the finest Turkish walnut to ensure the guns’ elements work according to the best gunmaking principles. A finisher ensures guns function perfectly and look immaculate.

It was once said that if Mr Holland couldn’t teach a man to shoot, then nobody could. That legacy lives on today as Holland & Holland continues to lead the way in the world of British field sports and country lifestyle.

HOLLAND & HOLLAND 33 BRUTON ST, LONDON W1J 6HH

+44 (0)20 7499 4411

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | SPORTING SEASON

THE HOUSE OF BRUAR

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From country clothing to fine food, Scotland’s premier retailer goes from strength to strength

nown as the Harrods of the North, The House of Bruar showcases the best in Scottish country clothing, fresh produce, fine art and homeware. At its 11-acre Perthshire site, ten miles north of Pitlochry, the company is a unique retail destination. Taking its name from the nearby Falls of Bruar, the company began in 1995 and offers something for everyone.

The range of products on offer at The House of Bruar is testament Heavy-duty pure new wool tweed shirt-jacket

Man: Technical shooting coat Woman: Knitted cardigan & tweed kilt

to its ability to continue adapting to meet the demands of its growing number of loyal customers. It boasts the largest Knitwear Hall in Britain, a Fishing Shop staffed by angling experts, an Art Gallery, featuring work by some of Britain’s greatest wildlife artists like Sam MacDonald and Jason Sweeney, a Food Hall, Restaurant, Delicatessen and award-winning Butchery, a Country Living Department and Present Shop stocked with everything imaginable for house and garden – they will even help to create a wedding list.

All this stems from humble beginnings. Founder Mark Birkbeck began his career selling sheepskin accessories from his car. Later, with his wife Linda, he opened Jumpers, a successful chain of clothing stores. Mark and Linda founded The House of Bruar after selling the business. Many questioned the wisdom of opening a store in such a remote rural location, but The House of Bruar’s position at the gateway to the Highlands has proven to be the perfect destination for sporting enthusiasts and lovers of country life. Today it welcomes more than 1.5 million visitors annually, and Mark and Linda’s sons, Patrick and Tom, both play crucial roles in the running of the business.

As well as stocking the best country clothing brands like Hunter, Barbour, Musto and Masai, The House of Bruar also has its own label.

The in-house development team has built strong relationships with Britain’s leading textile mills, including Johnstons of Elgin and Harris

Wax parka

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Suede parka and suede hooded bomber jacket

The House of Bruar’s position at the gateway to the Highlands has proven to be the perfect destination for sporting enthusiasts and lovers of country life

Tweed Hebrides, to produce beautiful fabrics from premium natural fibres.

Together they have created garments that bear the Bruar stamp of quality and which continually adapt to new trends while remaining true to the brand’s original aesthetic.

Country clothing has always been the backbone of the business – the Ladies Coat Hall launched last year to great success – but now The House of Bruar increasingly excels at food. Their gourmet Food Hall has everything from smoked salmon to homemade jams, while the Drinks Room offers own-brand liqueurs, champagne and wines, as well as premium Scottish spirits like Macallan whisky and Rock Rose gin. A newly-opened Fish and Chip Shop specialises in fresh lobster, bringing customers the ultimate in luxury comfort food.

For customers who can’t visit in person there are comprehensive mail order catalogues, and a new warehouse at the nearby mail order centre ensures that The House of Bruar is now even better equipped to take its distinctive country style to a new audience and build on its reputation as Scotland’s leading independent country clothing retailer.

THE HOUSE OF BRUAR BY BLAIR ATHOLL, PERTHSIRE, SCOTLAND PH18 5TW

Pure new wool pashmina coat

+44 (0)1796 483236

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | SPORTING SEASON

HUNTER Whatever the weather, whatever the terrain, you’ll feel at home in a pair of Hunters

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engaging with different parts of the brand. Sitting under ritain is a nation of sportsmen, explorers and yompers. the Original brand category, the Refined collection features Hunter is the brand that keeps them on track and their quintessentially British styles such as the penny loafer, feet dry. In every kind of weather, for every personality, Chelsea boot and the Hunter Signature Refined Backstrap there’s a Hunter style to make you look cool in the field, Tall and Short Wellington Boot. The collection infuses whether you’re talking turnips or Glastonbury. urban living with rural styling and its attention to detail Hunter has been making boots since 1856. Its Original and tailored silhouettes are designed boot, first introduced in 1956, and handcrafted for the urban customer. on a last from 28 parts for exceptional fit and Its Original boot Hunter Field is a technical collection, comfort, became a style icon that now holds became a style designed for advanced protection, whatever two Royal Warrants. Famously worn by everyone icon that now the weather and terrain, including the refrom Princess Diana to Kate Moss, the Original engineered Balmoral, Argyll and Norris continues to shield pioneers from the elements. holds two Royal boots, and a line of gardening clogs and Under the direction of Creative Director Warrants and short boots. The Tall Balmoral leather boot Alasdhair Willis, the Original has become continues is made from water-resistant leather, and lacethe inspiration for an entire Hunter Original up hiking versions, in tall and short styles, fashion collection of waterproof footwear, to shield pioneers include kickspurs for ease of removal and outerwear and rubberised leather accessories from the elements padded collars for comfort. The Balmoral in bold colours and patterns targeted at younger collection sits under Hunter Field’s umbrella, and is engineered people. Experiential is always at the heart of what to protect in both rural and urban environments.

Hunter does as they want to see different consumers

Margot Robbie wears Hunter Original coat and boots

Refined Collection by Hunter Original

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Hunter Field x National Trust

A collection of Hunter Field footwear, in collaboration with the National Trust, was launched in November 2017, in navy blue with a tonal acorn and oak leaf print from the Trust’s archive. Money raised from Hunter x National Trust sales will contribute towards the Trust’s conservation commitments.

Working from the archive of the family of the Duke of Wellington, Hunter Field has produced an equestrian range of technically reinforced historic boots which include details of the duke’s original riding boots, one striking feature of which is a scarlet red heel. The Hunter Field x Duke of Wellington collection includes men’s and women’s leather and rubber boots in riding and jodhpur styles, as well Hunter Field boot as outerwear made in England.

Alongside its flagship retail shop on London’s Regent Street and a store in Tokyo, Hunter has opened a third shop in Toronto, its first in North America. The store is designed as though the visitor were looking out onto a backdrop of the Scottish Highlands, where Hunter’s founder, Henry Lee Norris, made his original boot. The weather depicted in the scene will change with the seasons.

Hunter continues to develop footwear, outerwear and accessories that challenge the notions of technical design. Further collaborations are in the pipeline to drive the brand forward.

HUNTER 83-85 REGENT STREET, LONDON W1B 4EN

+44 (0)20 7287 2999

Hunter Field Men’s Balmoral boot

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | SPORTING SEASON

MUSTO

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Premium, market-leading technical apparel, footwear and accessories with an ‘inside edge’

and functional machine washable jacket. Melded with high-quality stablished by British Olympic sailor Keith Musto in 1964, GORE-TEX® liners, this jacket delivers unprecedented weather Musto creates technical clothing, footwear and accessories protection in a traditional aesthetic. We all know how worn tweed can for use in some of the world’s most extreme conditions. look over time, but the premium Lovat Scottish Mill tweed used in this Musto’s talented design and development team is design has undergone a rare plasticisation process that preserves the driven by innovation and an ardent desire to go beyond integrity of the thread, so the jacket looks newer for longer. the expected. In the 1990s, this disruptive ethos resulted The new Dersingham jacket boasts an equally lustrous construction. in a pioneering drysuit, which extended survival times Made from extremely durable oiled twill, the jacket’s in the world’s coldest waters from 15 minutes to two hours. Today, this life-saving design ensures survival Musto’s talented distinctively sophisticated style has been offset by a smart polysuede-lined high collar. times of up to three hours in waters as cold as 5°C. design and It isn’t just clothing that benefits from Musto’s It is precisely this level of premium fabrication development constant drive to innovate. To provide a rounded and precision-engineering, as well as a profound all-weather lifestyle solution with impeccable style, understanding of the conditions for which team is driven brand has introduced new footwear into it is designing, that makes Musto the market-leading by innovation and the its autumn/winter collection. Working with British brand it is today. And, having proven its an ardent desire world-class leather brand Pittards®, Musto expertise in hostile conditions, the company has is offering a range of fine leather boots with applied its visionary skill to the country and lifestyle to go beyond a weatherproof GORE-TEX® membrane: market, developing a number of multi-purpose and the expected the ideal mix of luxury and functionality. multi-terrain technical ranges that are as desirable as they are functional.

All Musto clothing benefits from the same exacting standards and high-quality construction, ensuring that every country lifestyle enthusiast has the brand’s definitive ‘inside edge’ which maintains comfort on the inside translates to improved performance on the outside, be it in the saddle, on the riverbank or on a shoot.

For example, Musto has just introduced its striking

Performance and durability are at the heart of Musto

Clothing for both on and off the sporting field

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Driving Musto’s innovative ethos is the knowledge that when you’re protected on the inside, you’re better able to perform on the outside.

Protection means safeguarding a wearer against weather but it also means a greater level of ergonomics and an understanding of the interactions between the wearer and the elements. Anatomical fits not only provide the freedom needed for enhanced comfort and performance, they also ensure the wearer is supported against the physical pressures of the environment.

MUSTO INTERNATIONAL HOUSE, ST KATHARINE DOCKS, LONDON E1W 1UN

+44 (0)1268 495824

MUSTO.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | SPORTING SEASON

REALLY WILD

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Tailoring that bridges country and city, classic and contemporary

leather and classic Scottish cashmere knitwear that can be worn omenswear brand Really Wild is known for together or apart to create two wholly different looks. Nor can you its confidence with colour – but far more forget Really Wild’s iconic Spanish boots. The original boots were besides. Natalie Lake, the company’s founder, created for the outdoors but, over time, they’ve been developed to designer and creative energy, has made sure be stylish and practical in any situation. Now there are more than that a soulful use of colour has been a part ten different Really Wild footwear designs, from of Really Wild’s collections from day one. Her palettes are always the heeled Chelsea boot in suede to the leather biker boot. inspired by the great outdoors, from the burnt oranges and Really Wild is also recognised for its golds of the fallen leaves of autumn to the exquisite yarns and mastery of sophisticated moss greens and subtle heathers of summer.

Designed to be lived women’s tailoring. Pure new wool, fluid This is no surprise really, seeing as Really in, Really Wild’s silks, sought-after Scottish luxury lambswool Wild’s heritage lies in the British countryside collections move and cashmere are but a few of the natural and Lake designs each of her garments with rural landscapes as her muse. effortlessly between town fibres that Lake favours. Textiles defined, then crafts each garment with a firm The company was launched in 2002 when and country, combining she understanding of what fine tailoring the prestigious Royal Berkshire shooting the best of British should look like; how it should flatter and school was looking to create a small clothing celebrate feminine silhouettes. Lake also line and brought in Lake to take on the heritage with the most how to bring in an element of sharp, challenge. Dissatisfied with the shooting attire enduring of British style knows contemporary design, be it in the iconic available to women, Lake decided to redesign the entire concept of fashionwear for outdoor pursuits. She began by re-imagining the original shooting trouser, giving it more of a tailored classic ‘jean’ cut that would still perform in the field but with a more comfortable, flattering and modern silhouette.

In 2004 Really Wild launched its very first collection and quickly established itself as a standalone brand with international acclaim.

Designed to be lived in, Really Wild’s collections move effortlessly between town and country, combining the best of British heritage with the most enduring of British style. Think London-made

Liberty print shirt

Reversible gilet

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Aston coat

The iconic Spanish leather boot

Liberty silk shirts, the tailored to perfection coats, or smaller garments, such as the outback hats or fur-lined mittens.

Another key element of Really Wild’s design ethos is a devotion to detail.

This brand cares about the smaller details as much as the overall aesthetic: turn up a collar and you’ll find a contrasting fabric, look at button holes and often the last one will be coloured with a different thread.

Really Wild is a heritage meets modernity brand that’s flying the British flag in understanding how to bring together flattering feminine lines and warming weaves, combining colours with textures to create a wardrobe that is exquisitely crafted, endlessly versatile and forever stylish.

REALLY WILD UNIT B1-B2, ACCESS TWELVE, STATION ROAD, THEALE, RG7 4PN

Ledbury jacket

+44 (0)1491 352600

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PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

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Capstar p228 Jaguar p230 Land Rover p232 McLaren p234 Pendennis Shipyard p236 Rolls-Royce p238 Victor p240

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LAND, SEA & SKY

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | LAND, SEA & SKY

ASTON MARTIN Crafting beautiful sports cars that are loved the world over

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hen Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin opened a small car workshop in London’s Henniker Mews in 1913, they could not have imagined that some of Britain’s most iconic sports cars would emerge from that humble setting. Aston Martin, as the company was named, has become a global automotive brand with an unrivalled British heritage. Founded on the passion, skill and creativity of talented designers, engineers and artisan craftspeople, the company now creates a range of beautiful cars that fuse graceful styling, high performance and the latest technology for discerning customers in over 50 countries around the world.

More than 100 years on from Lionel Martin’s declaration that ‘an Aston Martin must be a quality car of good performance and appearance; a car for the discerning owner-driver with fast touring in mind’, the company’s Second Century plan sets out to ensure sustainable long-term growth, while striving to continue creating the most accomplished automotive art in the world.

The brand’s philosophy, along with its passion for fine design and small series production, has earned many Aston Martin models global cult status.

None is more famous than the ‘DB’ bloodline, named after the firm’s former owner, Sir David Brown. The DB models have always been synonymous with the style, glamour and refinement of world-class grand touring – James Bond’s favourite Aston Martin is the DB5. Launched to worldwide acclaim in 2016, the DB11 continues this iconic lineage with stunning, distinctive design and pioneering aerodynamics. Powered by a choice of two advanced engines – either a sporting 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 or the potent 5.2-litre twinturbocharged V12; and built on a lighter, stronger and more space-efficient bonded aluminum structure, DB11 is the most dynamically gifted DB production model in the marque’s history.

Aston Martin Valkyrie

DB11 interior

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Aston Martin DB11 V8

The brand’s philosophy, along with its passion for fine design and small series production, has earned many Aston Martin models global cult status ‘It is the absolute embodiment of what an Aston Martin should be,’ says CEO Dr Andy Palmer. ‘We worked tirelessly to ensure that it combines both exceptional design with the latest technology throughout. Now, with the new V8 engine option we have broadened its appeal around the world.’

But if the DB11 places the company once again as a leading global automotive brand, the Valkyrie is the game-changer. Co-developed with Red Bull Advanced Technologies as part of Aston Martin’s Innovation Partnership with the leading Formula One team, Valkyrie is the

ultimate expression of hypercar design, engineering and performance.

Valkyrie combines the vision and skills of two world-leading brands to create a road car the like of which has never been seen before.

From its historic debut in the 1922 French Grand Prix to the DBRI’s 24 Hours of winning Le Mans in 1959, the belief has always been that racing helped to improve the breed, and some of Aston Martin’s bestloved cars have performed successfully at the highest levels of motor sport. A stunning victory for the V8 Vantage GTE in the 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans GTE Pro Class, plus the recent introduction of AMR, an exciting new sub-brand that amplifies race-inspired performance across the model range, demonstrate the importance of competitive racing – and sporting prowess – to Aston Martin.

By carefully nurturing its talents for design, craftsmanship and cutting-edge engineering, Aston Martin continues to create beautiful cars that are loved the world over.

ASTON MARTIN BANBURY ROAD, GAYDON, WARWICKSHIRE CV35 0DB

+44 (0)1926 644644

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | LAND, SEA & SKY

CAPSTAR Military-level security with civvy plush and polish

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he armed forces produce highly skilled and uniquely experienced men and women. It was this certain knowledge that prompted two British ex-army officers to set up Capstar in 2013. The company operates with two objectives in mind: the first is to provide sustainable employment for former service personnel and the second, to offer secure travel and lifestyle management services to corporations and individuals who seek enhanced comfort and safety.

Capstar prioritises client safety in all that they do, and the military backgrounds of their employees ensure they have the expertise to do so. All Capstar drivers are former servicemen and women, are Security Cleared and take great pride in the service they deliver. They are impeccably presented, security and first aid trained and understand the importance of punctuality and discretion.

In addition to the security focused approach, Capstar clients enjoy exemplary comfort and its fleet of Mercedes, Jaguars and Range Rovers ensure journeys are always completed in style. Whether providing a chauffeurdriven journey to the airport, delivering protective services or chartering a jet, Capstar plans and delivers secure travel and lifestyle services with military precision, discretion and meticulous attention to detail.

Capstar’s travel management services encompass end-to-end planning and delivery of executive and private client travel itineraries, including the provision of secure chauffeuring, the booking of commercial or private flights and the vetting and booking of carefully selected hotels and resorts. Former military close protection operatives deliver additional security where required.

Capstar also provides discreet lifestyle management services for corporate and private clients. The service is entirely bespoke, ensuring clients have the support and access they desire, whatever their requirements, whether at work or at home. Capstar provides former military household staff and Former servicemen work for Capstar

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Luxury and executive aviation services

Capstar is a unique company built upon the exceptional qualities of its employees, some of whom have been injured during their military careers security teams to run private residences. The delivery is effortless and discreet, bringing efficiency and order to the day-to-day management, maintenance and security of homes. Other lifestyle services include seasonal and sporting event booking, luxury and adventure travel, fine art, jewellery and car acquisition and property search.

Capstar’s travel and lifestyle management services are underpinned by its security offering, which includes close

protection, residential security teams, intelligence reporting, technical security, consultancy and discreet tasks.

Capstar has a training centre in London, running a variety of travel and security-related courses. It enlists its own staff directly from the top five per cent of its graduates and it provides a recruitment service to other employers seeking to hire veterans.

Through its network, Capstar is uniquely placed to recruit from military and government security services, providing clients with the best veteran candidates for a wide spectrum of roles.

Capstar is a unique company built upon the exceptional qualities of its employees, some of whom have been injured during their military careers. Their courage and loyalty to the brand and their clients create an extraordinary ethos that sits at the very heart of the company.

CAPSTAR SERVICES SYON PARK, BRENTFORD, MIDDLESEX TW8 8JF

+44 (0)20 8568 7902

CAPSTAR.CO

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | LAND, SEA & SKY

JAGUAR Grace, space, pace: the car closest to being alive

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hen Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons set out to design his first car in 1935, he wanted to create a vehicle that not only looked good, but also excited the senses of the driver behind the wheel. That was the origin for Jaguar’s current global reputation for building beautiful cars. Jaguar’s early sales slogan was ‘Grace, Space, Pace’, a slogan that is still embodied by its modern day vehicles.

In 1961, Jaguar launched the E-TY PE. Described by Enzo Ferrari as the ‘most beautiful car ever made’, the E-TY PE is widely regarded as one of the most important sports cars of all time. Due to the impressive performance of Jaguar vehicles, a natural path into motorsport followed. With seven wins and three consecutive victories between 1955 and 1957, Jaguar retains the title of the most successful British manufacturer in the Le Mans 24 Hours race.

In 2012 the F-TY PE was announced, heralding a new generation of Jaguar sports cars in the famous bloodline. A true Jaguar sports car, the F-TY PE became known for its exhilarating performance, confident handling and everyday usability.

The next chapter in Jaguar’s future unfurled in November 2016 when they revealed their first electric vehicle, the I-PACE Concept, in line with Jaguar Land Rover’s promise to offer either a hybrid or electric version of all vehicles by 2020. The production version of I-PACE is due to go on sale in the second half of 2018. I-PACE will continue Jaguar’s tradition of superb performance but with a fully electric engine. It is expected to have a range of around 310 miles on a single charge.

In December, reflecting Jaguar’s long sporting tradition but also its total commitment to electrification, Panasonic Jaguar Racing

I-PACE

E-TYPE

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E-PACE

Described by Enzo Ferrari as the ‘most beautiful car ever made’, the E-TYPE is widely regarded as one of the most important sports cars of all time returned for its second season in the Formula E championship, starting in Hong Kong.

As well as its rich sports car heritage, Jaguar is renowned for class-leading saloon vehicles. The XE, XF and XJ saloon cars maintain dynamic performance, while offering a calm and composed drive. The classic XJ was first produced in 1961 and regularly became the vehicle of choice for the Prime Minister.

It has sold 200,000 units worldwide. In 2015 the XF was added to the line-up to complement the classic XJ, and has sold 65,000 units.

Jaguar has always been the brand and vehicle chosen by the edgier driver. Although the vehicles have the comfort you’d expect, they never fail to carry an element of their sporting bloodline. Vehicles such as the practical F-PACE and the new E-PACE, have been engineered to handle like a sports car, with dynamic performance at their forefront. In a tribute to Jaguar’s superb design team, the F-PACE was awarded World Car Design of the Year as well as World Car of the Year at the 2017 New York International Auto Show.

‘The car is the closest thing we will ever create to something that is alive,’ said Sir William Lyons, and those words are still ingrained in the Jaguar ethos to this day. They will continue to shape the way Jaguar builds and designs its vehicles into the future, ensuring that every sense will always be excited when you’re behind the wheel.

JAGUAR LAND ROVER ABBEY ROAD, WHITLEY, COVENTRY CV3 4LF

+44 (0)370 500 0500

JAGUAR.CO.UK

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LAND ROVER Taking drivers further for seven decades

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n March 2017, the ‘next generation’ of Land Rover vehicles was unveiled.

Continuing Range Rover’s history of innovation, the new Range Rover Velar incorporates advanced technologies, revolutionary design and absolute attention to detail. Beyond its stunning design and its ultramodern interior, the Velar retains the on and off-road capability you’d expect from Land Rover and offers a nostalgic nod to the past – ‘Velar’ was the codename of the original Range Rover, taking inspiration from the Latin word velare, meaning veiled.

The founder of Land Rover, Maurice Wilks, came up with the idea for the car while on holiday, aiming to create a vehicle that was as suitable to life off the road as on it. He sketched his idea into the sands of Red Wharf Beach in Anglesey and the first Land Rover was launched in 1948. Ever since, Land Rover has been dedicated to taking its drivers further.

In 1970, after over 20 years of success with the Series I and II Land Rovers, the Range Rover was added to the Land Rover stable. Combining elegance and comfort with proven Land Rover capability, the two-door Range Rover was the first vehicle to feature permanent four-wheel drive.

Forty-seven years on from its introduction, the instantly recognisable and much-desired Range Rover continues to represent the pinnacle of design, luxury and performance. In October 2017, Range Rover Sport became the first Land Rover vehicle with Plug-In Hybrid Electric (PHEV) technology, a significant leap towards Land Rover’s target of offering an electrified version of all its vehicles from 2020.

The Range Rover Evoque is the smallest member of the Range Rover family and combines refinement with design. Its arresting looks and clever packaging won critical acclaim, notably winning World Design Car of the Year in 2012. The car has since claimed over 200 awards worldwide. In 2017 the Evoque Landmark Edition was announced

Range Rover Velar

Discovery

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Range Rover Sport

Forty-seven years on, the instantly recognisable and much-desired Range Rover continues to represent the pinnacle of design, luxury and performance to celebrate 600,000 units sold in just six years. In celebration of that success, the Evoque Landmark Edition had its debut at the 2017 Royal Windsor Horse Show.

Capability continues to be rooted in the Land Rover DNA. Just as the iconic Defender and Discovery models epitomise Land Rover’s ‘above and beyond’ spirit, the latest models have built on this heritage to deliver even more advanced systems.

Pioneering off-road technology is at the heart of every Land Rover.

Sophisticated systems such as All-Terrain Progress Control and Hill Descent Control, are just two of the innovative technologies Land Rover engineers have developed over nearly seven decades, helping people make more of their world and go further on or off-road than in any other vehicle.

Not only are journeys easier, they are also more comfortable.

Convenience and entertainment are high on Land Rover’s agenda, so the latest infotainment systems are capable of keeping even the most active of families engaged. Caravans, trailers and similar loads can also be conveniently towed, proving Land Rover to be the ideal all-terrain, all-purpose vehicle yet again.

With 80 per cent of its model range going to customers in more than 180 countries, Land Rover takes the very best of British design and engineering global.

JAGUAR LAND ROVER ABBEY ROAD, WHITLEY, COVENTRY CV3 4LF

+44 (0)370 500 0500

LANDROVER.CO.UK

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McLAREN One man’s passion – now a world-class sports and automotive technology brand

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by Gordon Murray in the early 1990s. Only 106 models of the three-seat ruce McLaren only lived for 32 years but in that short configured car were made and they now command a price tag of over time, he achieved an astonishing amount. Not just a £10m, being widely acknowledged as one of the greatest cars of the 20th Grand Prix-winning racing driver, McLaren’s vision century. Pioneering is a core value: it is seen in McLaren’s products, extended far beyond the driver’s seat. its philosophy and its building. The McLaren Production Centre An engineer, designer, inventor, and tester, Bruce was is unlike any other car factory and reinforces McLaren’s presence an automotive genius. One of only two men ever to win a Grand as a technology company as well as an automotive one.

Prix in a racing car bearing his name, the motor racing company In its short seven-year history, McLaren Automotive has created he started went on to become one of the most successful marques some of the most iconic and exhilarating in motorsport. ‘It would be a waste of life to do nothing with one’s ability,’ Bruce McLaren said, McLaren’s new business road cars the world has ever seen. Always at forefront of new technology and design, it and he certainly did not squander his. plan, Track22, sees them the most notably leads the way in the use of carbon Born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1937, investing £1bn in research fibre in vehicle production. Since introducing at the age of 22 Bruce was the youngest ever a carbon chassis into racing and road cars with Grand Prix winner – a record that stood for and development to 1981 McLaren MP4/1 and 1993 McLaren over 40 years. The following year he won the deliver 15 new models by the F1 respectively, McLaren has not built a single Argentinean Grand Prix and for the decade the end of 2022, of which car without a carbon fibre chassis – this is the that followed, he was one of the best drivers heart of the brand and at the heart of every car. in the world and founded the McLaren Formula at least 50 per cent will A good example is the McLaren P1™, the 1 team. Tragically, Bruce died while testing the feature hybrid technology world’s first hybrid ‘hypercar’ produced, which McLaren M8D Can-Am car at Goodwood in combines hybrid technology and shrink-wrapped design, illustrating 1970, however the McLaren marque continued in his memory, McLaren Automotive’s design language throughout their products – and today McLaren has become a world-leading technology breathtaking design that tells the visual story of their function. company, now famous for its uniquely engineered cars.

Mike Flewitt, McLaren Automotive’s Chief Executive Officer, has McLaren Automotive was founded in 2010, a company that shares been integral to the company’s success, and in 2016 he marked the its home with the McLaren racing team. A state-of the-art production introduction of the company’s new business plan, Track22, which sees centre was built as an extension to the famous headquarters in the company investing £1bn in research and development to deliver Woking, where the cars are hand assembled. However, before McLaren 15 new models and derivatives by the end of 2022, of which at least 50 Automotive was officially launched, the company had already set its per cent will feature hybrid technology. The first car launched under path when it created the iconic McLaren F1 road car, designed Bruce McLaren in 1969

McLaren Production Centre and McLaren Technology Centre, Global Headquarters

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McLaren 570S Spider

Track22 was the McLaren 720S in March 2017, which personifies the blend of extreme performance, crafted luxury and unparalleled driver involvement that McLaren 720S is the McLaren heartland. The second car introduced is new McLaren 570S Spider, which made its world debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July 2017. It is the first convertible in the McLaren Sports Series and offers a unique-in-class combination of carbon-fibre construction, mid-engine drivetrain layout and McLaren dihedral doors.

Engineering excellence and driving pleasure are at the heart of everything McLaren does, always driven by the relentless pursuit of perfection. Every car incorporates race-bred technology, pioneering innovation and an obsession with detail. It is how Bruce did it. It is how McLaren does it. It is how it should be done. As Bruce said: ‘Life is measured in achievement, not in years alone.’

MCLAREN TECHNOLOGY CENTRE, CHERTSEY ROAD, WOKING, SURREY GU21 4YH

McLaren 570GT and McLaren 570S Coupé

+44 (0)1483 261500

CARS.MCLAREN.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | LAND, SEA & SKY

PENDENNIS SHIPYARD Perfection is personal

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BOTH: Hemisphere, the world’s largest privately owned sailing catamaran

PHOTOS: JEFF BROWN

as a base during their recommissioning period, following a refit. lthough shored up in historic Falmouth Docks Then, of course, there’s the specialist craftsmanship that in Cornwall, Pendennis Shipyard is anything goes into every aspect of these impressive boats. Even the things but an old-fashioned yacht company. you can’t see, vital systems, are meticulously installed and mapped, Its specialism is the superyacht – we’re talking to ensure they can be easily maintained while a yacht is at sea. unique motor and sailing vessels from 24 to 100 metres Similarly, the way in which specialist paint teams lay gloss on long – and the projects it undertakes are of endless variety. At one the hull of an 80m motor yacht will create a seamless reflection end of the scale, there’s routine engine room down its side, as it manoeuvres into servicing to be carried out; at the other, Monaco’s Port Hercules. a shiny, individually commissioned new-build.

Every level of every Joiners use traditional techniques, In between, there may be a requirement project is a matter hand-finishing cabinets with dove-tail joints for a vessel to be rebuilt, or perhaps of personal pride and working alongside technicians to make a historical restoration. No project is the same, sure fittings are millimetre accurate. Engineers and there is no such thing as a ‘production for each member are well-versed in the latest technology, vessel’ – which makes Pendennis exceptional of the workforce – enabling them to optimise a yacht’s power among its global competitors. garnering it a welland efficiency when required. Accolades have The directors of this dynamic shipyard, founded 30 years ago, have built its success deserved clutch of ‘Best recently been received and awards won for the 44m Hemisphere, the world’s largest privately on thinking and planning ahead, constantly in the World’ awards owned sailing catamaran, custom-built by the evaluating how the industry is developing, assessing trends and then adapting the facilities and the workforce training in order to be ready for when those changes occur.

Pendennis has continually invested in its bespoke superyacht facilities to cater to the very particular needs of the industry. Immense 90m construction halls with cleverly integrated offices and workshops provide teams with instant access to their respective yachts. An 80m mast hall accommodates some of the world’s most impressive sailing yacht rigs, for when they need to be stored or painted; and a 7,564sq/m wet basin provides a safe haven for yachts when they arrive, as well

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PHOTOS: JEFF BROWN

THIS PAGE: 50m classic motor yacht Malahne

Pendennis craftsmen with interiors

by Michael Leach Design.

Every level of every project is a matter of personal pride for each member of the workforce – garnering it a well-deserved clutch of ‘Best in the World’ awards. Hand-in-hand with this goes the company’s approach to people, from new apprentices right through to owners and crew. Pendennis’s award-winning apprenticeship scheme has trained over 200 young people, some of whom have progressed into senior management and are now training the next generation.

Everyone who spends time at the shipyard in Falmouth is treated with respectful friendship. And the owners and their crews – accustomed to the very best quality and service in their dayto-day lives – are referred to affectionately as the ‘Pendennis family’.

PENDENNIS SHIPYARD THE DOCKS, FALMOUTH, CORNWALL TR11 4NR

+44 (0)1326 211344

PENDENNIS.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | LAND, SEA & SKY

ROLLS-ROYCE The oldest and still the most renowned name in automotive history

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has to be built in its own clean room to ensure that not a speck he House of Rolls-Royce seeks to serve those with a passion of dust can penetrate to the art behind. for heritage, quality and beauty, which are the cornerstones Now Rolls-Royce’s Bespoke Design collective has commissioned of true luxury. From its global centre of excellence artists and master artisans from round the world to interpret New in Goodwood, West Sussex, Rolls-Royce strives to deliver Phantom’s Gallery to inspire the marque’s patrons and prospective the vision of every one of its discerning patrons. buyers. The seven art works Rolls-Royce has commissioned include Rolls-Royce’s standing as the creator of the most celebrated and Helen Amy Murray’s exquisite sculpted, silken design and Based Upon’s beautiful automobiles in the world is informed by an understanding shimmering abstract work in aluminium, both that true luxury is personal. This philosophy inspired by the Spirit of Ecstasy. Porzellan drives the marque’s collective of designers, Since its creation in Manufaktur Nymphenburg has created artisans and engineers who continue evolving 1925, the very word a twine of black leaves with white porcelain roses the canvas on which its patrons can express their ‘Phantom’ has become of such fragile delicacy that the petals gleam personal tastes and lifestyle requirements. translucent. Thorsten Franck’s design presents Rolls-Royce Phantom stands as the oldest synonymous with the Soul’, an artistic interpretation nameplate in automotive history. Since world’s most influential aof‘Digital its patron’s DNA. Every artwork is as unique its creation in 1925, the very word ‘Phantom’ men and women and as a fingerprint and draws on computerhas become synonymous with the world’s most generated design, additive manufacturing, influential men and women, and embodies embodies greatness hand-craftsmanship and technology to allow greatness and success. Phantom has borne and success the use of complex materials not normally witness and stood as a stately presence at some of history’s most defining moments.

Now in its eighth generation, New Phantom aptly advances this extraordinary legacy, never losing touch with its patron’s ever shifting demands. At the heart of New Phantom’s design aesthetic is ‘The Gallery’, a contemporary reinterpretation of a motor car’s interior cabin. The Gallery is a glass fascia that runs the length of New Phantom’s dashboard and provides an unprecedented opportunity to mount an artwork behind it. It adds a beautiful, elegant dimension to the car, and even the glass that houses the art is a single pane that

ED, Artist Thorsten Franck’s New Phantom Gallery

Phantom’s opulent interior

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Rolls-Royce Phantom

viable in a car. Patrons can commission a similar Gallery or ask an artist of their choice to work with the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Design Team to create their own Bespoke Gallery. The only limit to what can be done is the patron’s imagination.

Rolls-Royce understands that today its patrons no longer want to be defined merely by a brand but by a unique and dazzling creation.

‘Our patrons know that New Phantom transcends its primary role as a means of conveyance, to become a meaningful and substantive expression Phantom’s inner sanctuary of art, design and engineering excellence,’ says Chief Executive, Torsten Müller-Ötvös. New Phantom is a creation of great majesty and power, a dominant symbol of wealth and human achievement. It is both icon and artwork and embraces the personal desires of every patron.

ROLLS-ROYCE THE DRIVE, WESTHAMPNETT, WEST SUSSEX GU28 9HP

Unmistakable presence

+44 (0)1243 384000

ROLLS-ROYCEMOTORCARS.COM

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VICTOR The charter marketplace that makes booking a private jet as easy as opening an app

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ictor makes chartering a jet as easy as booking an Uber.

Thanks to its hi-tech innovation and mobile app, booking and managing flights is quicker and easier than ever before.

Users are in control of an end-to-end booking process on either web or mobile, supported by a 24/7 high-touch customer service. Victor lets them speed from app to air in three hours flat, controlling it all from a mobile phone.

Before tech entrepreneur Clive Jackson launched the company in 2011, jet charter was a fragmented industry that obliged travellers to shop around in order to avoid excessive mark-ups. So convinced was he of the need for a transparent real-time marketplace, in which all aircraft details were available on demand, that he invested a significant amount of his own money to get the ball rolling.

Victor’s industry-leading technology provides this marketplace, enabling users to compare all the available aircraft, prices and operators side by side, so they can choose the right aircraft and the right operator at the right price.

It is the only service of its kind to disclose all the flight details, down to the name of the pilot, before payment. Customers can share the itinerary with other passengers at the press of a button.

Customers enjoy complete financial protection with no upfront commitments. They range from CEOs to F1 drivers and from Hollywood royalty to actual royalty – there has even been the odd canine client. What they all share is an appreciation of a no-nonsense, reliable service that saves them time, which is why 70 per cent of customers are repeat users.

Victor’s cutting-edge booking system is backed by an unbeatable level of expert personal attention. Free to use and free to choose, businesses and leisure travellers alike are electing to charter jets the Victor way. With no upfront subscription fees, it has made flying privately more accessible,

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Fancy weekend in New York?

A few taps is all it takes

With no upfront subscription fees, Victor has made flying privately more accessible, more affordable and more flexible than ever before more affordable and more flexible than ever before – customers can fly as and when they need to.

It’s no surprise then that Victor has become the world’s largest on-demand jet charter marketplace, with four-year growth of 946 per cent. Its success is proof that providing a transparent and personalised service creates customer loyalty.

Victor has ranked high in The Sunday Times Tech Track 100

three years in a row, and featured in publications like Bloomberg, Fortune and Vogue, where it has been recognised for reinventing the industry. This year the company successfully raised $20m of Series B investment, led by major institutional investor BP. ‘Victor’s business and ambition aligns with our priorities around digital innovation and low carbon,’ says David Gilmour, VP of BP’s Group Technology Business Development. ‘We are committed to being a long-term value investor and strategic partner whilst encouraging Victor’s entrepreneurial spirit and drive.’

Whether you’re hiring a Boeing 757 for a head of state, or a Diamond DA42 turbo-prop for a family ski trip, Victor puts 7,000 aircraft, based at 40,000 airports in 157 countries, in the palm of your hand. Private jet charter really is as a straightforward as tapping an app.

VICTOR 60 SLOANE AVENUE, LONDON SW3 3XB

+44 (0)20 7384 8550

FLYVICTOR.COM

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Dyson p248 Fiona Barratt Interiors p250 Helen Green Design Studio p252 Martin Kemp Design p254 Martin Moore p256 McCarron & Co p258 Nina Campbell p260

DESIGNERS

Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour p244

RWD p262 Smallbone of Devizes p264 Taylor Howes p266 Yiangou Architects p268

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DESIGN CENTRE, CHELSEA HARBOUR The ultimate design destination for international luxury interiors brands

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visitors come to see impeccable materials and finishes up close esign Centre, Chelsea Harbour is where great and seek out expertise in person. Many design houses also create design thrives and flourishes. At the heart of a bespoke pieces, providing clients a rare level of access inside highly globalised design community, it is renowned the creative process. as the place to discover world-class talent and share But that is not all: the showrooms are just the starting point. ideas with influencers, established makers, emerging There are cafés, a specialist bookshop and a personal innovators and luxury brands. With 120 showrooms shopping service to complete the Design Centre, Chelsea and over 600 international brands, it is the destination Harbour visitor experience. The private members’ of choice for all professional designers, architects Design Club – designed by Rabih Hage is a stylish and style-seekers from around the globe. Nowhere sanctuary in which to relax and recharge, with a stunning else will they find such design diversity or such bar and modern menu. Seating nooks and functional a high concentration of design’s biggest names work spaces also make it the ideal place to host meetings shaping high-end interiors today – all at one address. with clients, brainstorming sessions or even a second More than a design resource, it is a thriving platform, office. There is a design reference library with shelves both creatively and commercially, for an exceptionally full of the best in design, art and fashion titles, along dynamic industry. What is on offer at Design Centre, with an extensive back catalogue of the top interior Chelsea Harbour is beyond compare. From five-star consumer and industry magazines. hotels, bars and restaurants to superyachts, private jets Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour not only has and residences, this is where interiors come to life. its finger firmly on the pulse of global trends, The largest of its kind in Europe, it’s an astonishing it is setting them. It is a measure of its influence that treasure trove of fabrics, furniture, lighting, people fly in from all over the world to see what wallcoverings, accessories, kitchens, bathrooms, ‘Hobsont Pendant’, is on the style radar there. With access to the latest outdoor living, trimmings, leather, hardware, tiles Arteriors design directions and and carpets of exceptional quality and creativity. authoritative social With a reputation for providing imaginative media channels, design solutions for prestigious projects, the international enthusiasts can get showrooms on site are at the top of their game, and the inside track on all the pieces and people Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour making waves in the not only has its finger on the design world. design pulse of global trends, Keen to foster creativity and push it is setting them. People fly in artistic boundaries, from all over the world to see special projects what is on the style radar there are commissioned on a regular basis to work in harmony with the Design Centre’s famous architecture.

These have included a floral sky of 6,500 Top to bottom: Mini blue leather tassel and ‘Sakiori’ embroidered blooms by floral artist border (BT-57662), both Samuel & Sons. ‘Cupboard’ pull handle, Espresso Design. ‘Onyx’ tie-back (33074 - 9740), Houlès. Paint: ‘Como Rebecca Louise Law and Blue’ and ‘Koi’, both Zoffany and ‘Bonton’ (157), Sanderson, all at artwork by international Style Library. ‘Big Woven’ leather (BGW223), Whistler Leather. ‘Royal Velvet’ fabric (30640-700), Thesign at Altfield. ‘Ikko’ fabric (132395), fashion illustrator Anthology at Style Library. ‘Cuba’ fabric (2736-14), Sahco. ‘Hibiki’ fabric (132381), Anthology at Style Library. ‘Les Ondes De Jade’ (M164403), Megan Hess. In fact, ‘Icaro’ seat, Flexform Misia at Colony. ‘Shift’ hide, Kyle Bunting at Edelman Leather.

Design Centre, Chelsea

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(KBVB D15) coffee table, MKV Design at Decca (Bolier).

‘Collage’ wall light, Porta Romana. (SO103) lounge chair, Summit Furniture. ‘Sculpture Femme’ floor lamp, Charles of Paris at Rubelli/ Donghia.

‘Icarus’ rug, Tim Page Carpets.

Wallcoverings from front to back: ‘Segments’ (11682), Harlequin at Style Library.

‘Tartan’ (Tar-01), Innovations and ‘Cozy Nestle’ (MR-CZ2511-D), Maya Romanoff, both Altfield. Fabrics: ‘Cuba’ (273614), Sahco. Paint; ‘Como Blue’, Zoffany at Style Library

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‘Swn’ floor lamp and sculptures, both Christophe Delcourt at GMR Interiors. ‘Ray’ side table and ‘Anders’ chair, both Oly Studio at Gladee Lighting.

‘Stchu-Moon’ table light, Cattelani & Smith at Chaplins. ‘Diedro’ cabinet by Pietro Russo, Gallotti&Radice. ‘Griffith’ chandelier (87047), Arteriors. Wallcoverings (front to back): ‘Brasilia’ (FP1111), Flavor Paper at Arte, ‘Wicker Weave’ (T-72824), Thibaut at Jacaranda Carpets and ‘Domino Pyramid’ (WK801/05), Kirkby Design at Romo. Fabric drapes (front to back): ‘El Rais’ (ZFER-01), Zak + Fox at George Spencer Designs and ‘Prism’ (35121-1), Clarence House at Turnell & Gigon. Trimmings on wall: ‘Sticks’ borders (XB-75), (XB-200) and (XB-300), all Sutherland Perennials Studio. Paint: ‘Graphite’, Zoffany at Style Library

Harbour supports a broad spectrum of creative disciplines across the design agenda. Exhibitions have included ‘Marilyn Monroe: Legacy of a Legend’ and ‘Art & Interiors’, a curated display featuring photography, paintings and sculptures that have inspired 30 leading designers and ‘East Meets West’ celebrating Asian art and creativity.

Dedicated to inspire, inform and deliver the best, Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour has become an established commercial and creative platform and it plays a central role in Britain’s cultural landscape. Every year it hosts Focus and London Design Week, bringing the design world together for a dynamic fusion of immersive experiences, collection launches, bespoke installations and food and drink initiatives, unseen anywhere else. At its heart is an inclusive ethos of sharing ideas and generating a deeper understanding of design; from the Access All Areas showroom events to workshops, demonstrations and discovery tours to the acclaimed Conversations in Design 246 | COUNTRYANDTOWNHOUSE.CO.UK /GBB

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DESIGNERS | GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018

What began over 20 years ago as a spectacular building near the River Thames, has grown into much, much more. With strategic expansion on the horizon and a landmark building project, an exciting new chapter is unfolding programme. This has gained much momentum, too, with renowned names from the international stage eager to share their design knowledge. New initiatives are introduced constantly to offer specialist interest and inspiration. Dedicated events have included Superyacht Design Week, which saw international delegates gaining insights from the marine world and beyond. No one with even a passing interest in design and interiors could fail to find something new and inspiring; the events are not just for industry insiders by any means.

What began over 20 years ago as a spectacular building near the River Thames, has grown into much, much more. With strategic expansion on the horizon and a landmark building project, an exciting new chapter is now unfolding at Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour. Some highly influential names are moving in, so the sense of community – already one of the Design Centre’s strengths – is set to get stronger.

The spotlight is now on Design East with over 40 showrooms, many of which are new arrivals, and work has already started on a permanent atrium linking it with the domes.

With the creation of this Design Avenue, combined with additional showroom space on the third floor, a world of new possibilities is opening up with even more opportunities for visitors to connect with design connoisseurs, attend events and ‘Tilly’ chair, engage with experts. Design Centre, Porada Chelsea Harbour is bricks, mortar and beyond. It's no wonder visitors come back again and again. A single visit is rarely enough. n

Ground Floor, North Dome

From top to bottom: ‘Draco’ fabric (04), Wemyss. ‘St Marks Print’ fabric (17691), Schumacher at Turnell & Gigon. ‘Jeu De Signes’ (Mi16203) Misia at Colony. ‘Pinnacle’ fabric (5827-05), Brentano at Altfield. ‘Yacht Club’ wallcovering (4296) Phillip Jeffries. ‘Domino Pyramid’ wallcovering (WK801/03) Kirkby Design and ‘Danton’ fabric (W413/03), both at Romo. (DK-1037) handle, SA Baxter Architectural Hardware. Pull handles, DLV New York at Holland & Sherry.

‘Facon Cuir’ (32176-9901) Houlès. ‘Cambridge’ leather (3013/01), Jerry Pair Leather at Chase Erwin. Hide-on-hide, coral, Kyle Bunting at Edelman Leather. ‘Savana’ tie-back (PO87-03), Sahco

DESIGN CENTRE, CHELSEA HARBOUR, LOTS ROAD, LONDON SW10 0XE

+44 (0)20 7225 9166

DCCH.CO.UK

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DESIGNERS | GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018

DYSON At the forefront of British engineering for almost 25 years

THIS PICTURE: The evolution of Dyson Supersonic hair dryer rigs LEFT: A semi-anechoic chambers in Dyson’s Research, Design and Development facilities

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technology is the key to its powerful performance. Vacuum cleaner yson was founded in 1993 by Sir James Dyson manufacturers typically buy their motors from third-party suppliers.

OM, who remains Chief Engineer and Chairman.

But to make a machine that was ahead of the rest, James Dyson knew From its beginnings in cyclonic vacuums, Dyson’s everything needed to be better – including the motor. He wanted portfolio has grown to include battery-enabled and to develop a motor engineered specifically for Dyson machines. autonomous vacuum cleaners, hand dryers, lighting, So he did. Dyson now makes some of the smallest, fastest motors in the heating and cooling fans, humidifiers, intelligent air purifiers world. They power the majority of Dyson’s machines and have enabled and hair dryers, sold in 75 markets globally. entirely new categories, such as the cord-free vacuum cleaners, the When the Dyson Supersonic hair dryer launched in April 2016, Dyson Airblade hand dryers, as well as the Dyson Supersonic hair it propelled the company into the $80bn global haircare market – dryer. The motor is what sets the company apart an industry that was previously unknown territory and requires every engineering discipline for Dyson. It was a project fuelled by novel Dyson has pledged thinking, with Dyson’s engineers delving not a £2.5bn investment to achieve cutting-edge performance.

Dyson has pledged a £2.5bn investment just into the science of the machine itself, but in future technology in future technology and its Research into the science of hair. Technology and and its research and & Development interests are broad: artificial beauty may seem a surprising pair to some.

But understanding how hair reacts to heat and development interests intelligence, machine learning, hardware air, how it behaves when wet and dry, is integral are broad and include and software, robotics, fluid dynamics, vision systems, battery cells and super capacitors. to engineering an efficient, intelligent hair dryer. artificial intelligence To achieve this, Dyson has more than tripled Dyson spent four years and £50m the headcount at its British headquarters understanding the science of hair and the in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, in the last four years, and has recently problems with existing hair dryers, to develop a better way started work on a second Wiltshire technology campus – a machine that dries quickly, styles precisely and doesn’t at Hullavington, increasing its British footprint tenfold. Out permanently damage hair. And different user preferences and of a workforce of over 9,000, one third are engineers and scientists. styles were thoroughly examined – a crucial and constant learning Dyson has always strived to engineer technology that makes its curve. Dyson hair scientists studied over 1,010 miles of human hair products better and allows it to stay ahead of its competitors. Dyson’s across seven hair types, and watched 275 hours of people drying heritage in innovation and problem-solving is as relevant for its first their hair, better to understand the obstacles users encounter, foray into the beauty world as it was for the first bagless vacuum cleaner. and their preferred drying techniques.

And so it remains for future technologies and future machines.

Just like other transformational Dyson machines, Dyson’s motor DYSON TETBURY HILL, MALMESBURY, WILTSHIRE SN16 0RP

+44 (0)800 298 0298

DYSON.CO.UK

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | DESIGNERS

FIONA BARRATT INTERIORS Timeless interiors inspired by history and nature

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iona Barratt Interiors was formed in 2006 by the award-winning designer and entrepreneur Fiona Barratt-Campbell, one of Britain’s leading figures in the international interior design world.

Fiona’s fluid, elegant spaces are born of understanding the aspirations of her clients, the relevance of location and the potential of existing elements – all developed with imagination and vision. ‘The result,’ she says, ‘is an interior that tells a story and, most importantly, reflects the client’s individuality. A successful interior should enhance, not dictate, the way you live.’

Design is in Fiona’s DNA. Her inspiration was her grandfather, Sir Lawrie Barratt, who founded Barratt Homes in 1958. ‘My interest in property, architecture and interiors began with him, and a strong work ethic runs in the Barratt blood,’ she says.

Although confidently contemporary, Fiona takes inspiration from many sources. Bold, geometric silhouettes and intricate finishes and details are the handwriting of her brand, using materials as diverse as solid cast bronze, rustic reclaimed wood, polished concrete and woven leather to create texture and contrast. Sophisticated neutrals are interspersed with unexpected bursts of colour through artwork, silk rugs and antiques, particularly 20th-century pieces. Born and raised in Northumberland, Fiona also draws on the history and landscape that surrounded her as she grew up – often incorporating original architectural features within a scheme that, in every other way, epitomises modern luxury.

Fiona’s first project was a ski chalet in Verbier for Sir Richard Branson, and this Swiss debut set the tone for what was to follow. ‘At the beginning,’ she says, ‘it was just me, a laptop and some design ideas that really didn’t exist at the

Residential project, Mallorca

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Residential project, Harrogate

Fiona’s fluid, elegant spaces are born of understanding the aspirations of her clients, the relevance of location and the potential of existing elements time.’ Undaunted, Fiona has since gone on to design many prestigious private and commercial spaces, working with the leaders of FTSE 100 companies, international billionaires and global fashion entrepreneurs.

In 2013 she created the eponymous FBC London, with The Showroom on Pimlico Road, to create and sell luxury handcrafted furniture, artisanal accessories, feature lighting and wallcoverings.

Here you’ll find her signature ‘Armour’ armchair, with its handsculpted, cast bronze base, inspired by Roman jewellery and upholstery in contrasting turquoise suede. In 2015 she opened The Studio,

a 6,500 sq/ft retail flagship in a former post-office depot in Victoria: a burgeoning luxury design and fashion hub in London. ‘I see The Studio as the perfect industrial-luxe backdrop for my designs, with opulent materials and tactile finishes contrasting with the exposed brick and steel beams,’ she says.

Like all successful leaders, Fiona is backed by an exceptional – and growing – collaborative team. ‘For our work to stand the test of time, we remain true to traditional craftsmanship and we strive continually to achieve results that are individual to each client.’ Being involved at every stage, she believes, enables her to deliver the bespoke service that she describes as ‘the core of my being’.

With four businesses now under her belt – Fiona Barratt Interiors, FBC London, FBC Kitchens and The Studio – Fiona has been listed among Wallpaper* magazine’s top 20 globally recognised interior designers.

In this highly competitive sphere, she stands out as a formidable talent.

FIONA BARRATT INTERIORS 12 FRANCIS STREET, LONDON SW1P 1QN

+44 (0)20 3262 0320

FIONABARRATTINTERIORS.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | DESIGNERS

HELEN GREEN DESIGN STUDIO

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An overarching signature aesthetic demonstrating comfort and timelessness

project with an acute understanding of the client’s lifestyle elen Green Design Studio is an award-winning interior and tailor it to their needs.’ architecture and design practice, encompassing The company’s ambitious, international outlook has taken the furniture and product development, with a global brand to addresses well beyond prime central London and Britain’s portfolio of projects. country estates, as it propagates its own version of British heritage The studio of talented and highly skilled designers primarily specialises in tailor-made, classic-contemporary residential across cultures and continents. Projects in Europe and Australia have driven the brand in exciting directions and bode well for the future. schemes for an international, high-net-worth clientele. It also Helen Green Design was the first studio to design a one-off receives commissions from the hotel and hospitality industry and suite in the Heathrow VIP Lounge – home to transiting celebrities has recently designed suites for The Berkeley Hotel in London, and royalty. ‘We were chosen for our “innate sense of comfortable allocating each room its own identity while maintaining a cohesive glamour”, which the client found instantly elegance which flows from one room to another, appealing,’ says Sammy. ‘Heathrow is the through a design palette of calming tones with The company’s gateway to Britain, so it was natural accents of bronze and brass. ambitious, international iconic that Heathrow VIP wanted to work with Founded by the late Helen Green, a outlook has taken a brand dedicated to British design.’ celebrated force in the world of interior design, The studio recently worked with the in 2002, the Helen Green Design Studio remains the brand to addresses property developer Tenhurst on a project true to its original ethos of creating ‘liveable well beyond prime within The King’s Library, a Grade II-listed luxury’ through timeless designs that inspire. central London Victorian building in Chelsea, with soaring Today’s studio operates with the same passion ceilings and fine period features, enhancing and integrity on which the company was founded and Britain’s its architectural heritage with clean-lined, – including offering support to emerging talent country estates contemporary design. through the Helen Green Foundation and Green Ribbon Award – while allowing its creative direction to evolve.

‘At Helen Green Design Studio, we feel that there is an overarching signature style,’ says director Sammy Wickins. ‘Our aesthetic is about timelessness and comfort, layered textures and clever application of materials and colours. We approach each

THIS PICTURE & LEFT: Kensington penthouse living room and lobby

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Grosvenor Crescent bedroom

Away from interior design, the company’s catalogue of furniture, fabrics and wallpapers – viewable at the Knightsbridge showroom – is flourishing. It draws inspiration from the worlds of art, travel, culture, technology and fashion, and a dedicated multinational team attends all the major shows to develop its taste barometer of ‘what’s hot’, always with an eye to the evolving needs of Helen Green Design Studio clients.

Many products can be custommade and the team is often asked to build in cabinetry or devise bespoke lighting. ‘The service our clients ask for is always so nuanced,’ says Sammy. ‘Things are never the same, and this keeps us on our toes. We listen to our clients’ needs and desires, and seamlessly deliver them their dream home. Many return to us again and again.’

HELEN GREEN DESIGN STUDIO 29 MILNER STREET, LONDON SW3 2QD

THIS PICTURE & LEFT: The King’s Library dining room and bathroom

+44 (0)20 7352 3344

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | DESIGNERS

MARTIN KEMP DESIGN Highly original creative solutions for the world’s most extraordinary spaces

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While MKD is in demand from an in-the-know elite, hen it comes to lavish interiors – for elegant the company prides itself on working without ego. Discreet country homes, dynamic apartments, grand city and charming, Martin Kemp values his humble Welsh origins developments, sparkling yachts or sophisticated and keeps his feet planted firmly on the ground, even as he private jets – Martin Kemp Design Limited works on some of the world’s most dazzling, expensive properties.

(MKD) is the studio that discerning clients ‘Clients seem reassured by our values and ethics,’ he says. go to for something rather special.

‘We disguise the locations of their projects, refuse to divulge costs The company was founded in February 2012 by Martin Kemp and never disclose their identities. Divulging and the studio is highly creative, producing such details would be intrusive to the client some of the world’s finest design solutions Discreet and charming, so we keep them completely private.’ Such for some of the most challenging spaces.

Martin Kemp values his an approach has found favour with many Focus is largely on the super-prime residential of the world’s elite. market but the studio also embraces high-end humble Welsh origins and As well as private homes, recent projects retail, office and restaurant design. Proud keeps his feet planted have included a spectacular apartment of its leading sense of British originality, firmly on the ground, even within Monaco’s Hermitage hotel, London’s MKD sets out to dismiss any idea of a ‘house’ as he works on some of 77 Mayfair development and Albany for style or fixed aesthetic, preferring instead Luxo in the Bahamas, the Clarges Piccadilly, an open-minded design solution in which the the world’s most dazzling, the St Tropez Polo Club suites and members’ client acts as a catalyst. So whether designing expensive properties area and two private jets. architectural or interior elements, the MKD team can embrace any look, from minimalist to highly decorative, classic to futuristic and elegant to dynamic.

‘We are privileged to have worked on some of the world’s most extraordinary homes,’ says Martin, who has become globally recognised for attracting aspirational individuals and families seeking an extraordinary service in return. Clients have come to expect a rigorous eye for detail in all facets of design and an extremely high level of sophistication and finish, created by the best local and international craftsmen.

MKD designs can be found not just on land

A project in the Bahamas

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Martin Kemp’s designs provide creative solutions for challenging spaces

A listed home

The studio strives to maintain conviction in its design solutions, a strong sense of integrity, an approachable personality and a business philosophy always to be respectful, polite, flexible and accommodating.

Modern thinking but classically versed, MKD works as a family in the creative process, a relationship they are keen to implement with their clients. Inspired by unconventional thinking, the team challenges perceptions of how things might be seen, adding bold design twists to create distinctive, memorable and everlasting homes.

MARTIN KEMP DESIGN GREENCOAT HOUSE, FRANCIS STREET, LONDON SW1P 1DH

MKD dismisses any notion of ‘house style’

+44 (0)20 7183 3885

MARTINKEMPDESIGN.COM

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DESIGNERS | GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018

MARTIN MOORE Bespoke English kitchens for both traditional and contemporary homes

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designs featured clean, geometric lines and decorative materials artin Moore has been designing and building shaped by exceptional craft skills, the recently launched New beautiful kitchens for more than four decades, Deco Kitchen takes ‘classic contemporary’ into a different realm. creating classic English furniture for traditional It also marks an important milestone in the company’s journey and contemporary homes since 1975. as it’s the first kitchen to be wholly designed by Richard Moore, Forty years ago, kitchens tended to be either the second generation to work in the family business. modern German or Italian in style. But having just bought Though inspired by 20th-century design, Richard’s New Deco a Victorian house in need of renovation, Martin Moore and Kitchen is very much a kitchen for the 21st century, incorporating his wife, Barbara, wanted a kitchen that would complement ‘floating’ freestanding pieces and clever shadow lines in all the its period surroundings. So Martin, a design engineer, set cabinetry. Modern framing replaces traditional to work designing and making furniture that cornices and doors are either flush or simply would suit both their home and their family life.

Simply put, a Martin framed without beading, while feature materials, The Moores subsequently turned their passion Moore kitchen is a including marble, plain and decorative limestone, into a business and, today, the company has contemporary classic, porcelain, metallics and veneered timbers, are used seven showrooms across Britain, undertaking beautifully constructed for cladding and inset panels. commissions for kitchens and also for projects A Martin Moore kitchen isn’t only English in throughout the home, for private and trade from the best materials appearance and spirit: everything is custom-built clients, in Britain and internationally. and transcending fads in the company’s Yorkshire workshops; it also Simply put, a Martin Moore kitchen is a and fashions has its own stone company and mixes its own contemporary classic, beautifully constructed paints. Not only does this ensure a genuinely from the best materials and transcending fads English product, but it means kitchens can be installed astonishingly and fashions . The company understands that no two families are the same, so no two kitchens should be either: every project is a bespoke quickly, with most finished and painted within three weeks.

Naturally, the need for immaculate design and exemplary solution and while design themes are grouped into collections, they craft skills, combined with excellent service, doesn’t stop at the are intended to be inspirational rather than prescriptive. kitchen door and Martin Moore soon found itself turning As you would expect, Martin Moore’s designs are rooted in the its attention to other rooms in the house. From perfectly forms and conventions of English furniture. Their proportions, drawn appointed bedrooms and bathrooms to beautifully fittedfrom the classical order, can be seen in Georgian, Victorian and out dressing rooms, home cinemas and home offices: there’s modern architecture. In other words, they suit British houses. a lot more to Martin Moore than dream kitchens.

Inspired by architects and craftsmen of the 1930s, whose art deco MARTIN MOORE 176 WESTBOURNE GROVE, LONDON W11 2RW

+44 (0)1619 282643

MARTINMOORE.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | DESIGNERS

McCARRON & CO Furniture makers redefining bespoke

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cCarron & Co was established in 2009 by Andy McCarron and six colleagues with a wealth of experience and a burning ambition. Having worked together for more than 20 years, they set up McCarron & Co to fuse traditional design and techniques, such as veneering and marquetry, with a contemporary aesthetic, setting them apart from any other furniture maker in this market.

They were convinced that they could make furniture better, so by breaking down every minuscule process, not just of the craft but of the business as a whole, they put it back together again in a form that not only looks beautiful but works just as beautifully too. This restless desire to find new materials, try new techniques and create future classics continues to drive McCarron & Co. This has created an ethos that embraces change and evolution built on a strong foundation of traditional values. By remaining agile this has ensured that its design and service are second to none, and that its furniture is in high demand from interior designers and architects as well as clients throughout Britain and Europe.

Its first showroom and workshop opened in Bromham, Wiltshire in 2010. The second showroom opened in Chelsea four years ago and last year another opened in Notting Hill – it has certainly been an exciting time for the young company.

Every McCarron & Co product is custom-made at its workshops in Wiltshire. The company places a high value on the traditional skills of its designers, carpenters and cabinet makers but makes full use of technology wherever it can enhance or improve on the human eye and hand. So, it has a five-axis CNC machine, one of only a handful in the country and uses sophisticated CAD programmes. But you’ll also find hand-saws, planes and chisels in the workshop – and a lot

Classic, elegant Hampton kitchen designed to be in keeping with the traditional features of the property

All of the furniture is custom-made at the Wiltshire workshop

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Simplicity was key for this Holland Park town house kitchen using oak veneer

By remaining agile, McCarron & Co has ensured that its design and service are second to none, and that its furniture is in high demand throughout Britain and Europe of sawdust! When a client has witnessed at first-hand how much passion, precision and thoughtful craftsmanship is involved, they appreciate every last detail that little bit more.

As McCarron & Co has control of all of the production aspects of its clients’ projects it enables the company to deliver the exceptionally high level of service that they expect. There is a very big demand for unique furniture, which is what McCarron & Co offers, and clients can

add their own accent, from a metal, leather or fabric, which can make all the difference when creating a personalised piece of furniture.

As designers and makers of bespoke furniture McCarron & Co has a real thirst to innovate and views every project, client and architectural setting as a fresh start. Combining inquisitive minds with a wealth of experience it is constantly refining both aesthetics and ergonomics by exploring new materials and techniques. The company enjoys designing and fitting individual rooms, and loves creating one-off items of furniture. And a whole house assignment makes for a singularly satisfying project, which may encompass a wine room, library, dressing rooms and kitchens.

Since 2009, McCarron & Co has made bespoke furniture for every room in the home – each individual piece conceived with imagination, designed with enthusiasm and built with dedication.

MCCARRON & CO 84 FULHAM ROAD, LONDON SW3 6HR

+44 (0)20 7584 5736

MCCARRONANDCO.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | DESIGNERS

NINA CAMPBELL The doyenne of interior design for over 50 years

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to become her annual fabric, wallpaper and trimming collections, ina Campbell is one of the country’s most influential internationally distributed by Osborne & Little. interior designers. The disarming wit and warmth The brand might be a veteran of luxury British interiors of its founder, who is as elegant and charming as her but by evolving with its clients and adopting new techniques designs, is what has kept the rich, the famous and to create modern twists on traditional classics, Nina Campbell the royal coming back for her services throughout is as relevant today as she ever has been. her 50-plus years in the business.

In the past Nina has enjoyed commissions from the likes of Rod Beginning her design career at the age of 19, Nina worked Stewart and the Duke and Duchess of York, as an assistant to John Fowler at the prestigious who asked her to decorate their marital home, Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler Company. Her natural She’s adventurous Sunninghill Park, and today she continues talent was quickly apparent and she became and open minded, to attract a colourful and exclusive list of clients. known for her unmistakably rich colour palette, but a firm believer In recent years, she was commissioned which caught the eye of club owner, Mark Birley.

He asked her to redecorate his famous Annabel’s that you should ‘stick to design the interiors for The World, the largest luxurious residential sea liner on the planet, private members’ club, which marked the to what you know’. and other prestigious international projects beginning of a lasting relationship. They joined And this Nina does include the Hotel Parc Victor Hugo in Paris, forces once again in 1970, when they opened the Schloss Hotel in Switzerland, a chalet in Campbell & Birley, a shop in London specialising with no sign of Gstaad and a palazzo in Rome. Recent notable in ‘unashamed luxury’. Here, Nina introduced slowing down projects on British soil include Outlaw’s at The her signature ‘hearts’ design, a motif that is still available on a range of bone china today.

In 1972, Nina set up her own business, Nina Campbell Ltd, where one of her first commissions was to decorate the monumental Cullen House in Banffshire, Scotland. This ambitious project was a sign of things to come and there followed, in 1984, the opening of Nina’s shop and design studio on Walton Street in Knightsbridge. Here she continued with her fabric printing and expanded her business into the wider decorative arena, designing everything from matchboxes to bespoke furniture. In 1990, Nina launched the first of what was

Backgammon set on Pagoda coffee table

Marguerite wallpaper, Chopin bench upholstered in Loulou, Taymouth table in silver sycamore

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A Chelsea house drawing room

Capital Hotel, plus its bar and private dining room, a private room for Berry Bros. & Rudd, an English country house and a royal residence in London.

On top of this, Nina Campbell is not shy of a collaboration. She has designed carpets for Stark, Taymouth a finish of paint for Smallbone table of Devizes, and she has broadened her usual scope by designing fabrics for Ted Baker, although she insists she has no plans to move into fashion design at this stage. She’s adventurous and open minded, but a firm believer that you should ‘stick to what you know’. And this Nina does with no sign of slowing down, especially with the recent opening of her second London showroom in the prestigious Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour. The space provides clients with a further opportunity to view her latest collections and consult with her expert interior design team.

NINA CAMPBELL 9 WALTON STREET, LONDON SW3 2JD

Billy Bar by Nina Campbell for Oomph

+44 (0)20 7225 1011

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DESIGNERS | GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018

RWD Original British yacht design

ABOVE: Feadship MY COMO guest stateroom LEFT: MY FAITH

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pool; 69m MY SAMAYA, built by De Vries with interior WD is as synonymous with Britishness and integrity spaces developed by RWD; and the interior and exterior as it is with award-winning yacht design. The company design of Feadship’s much-lauded 96.5m MY FAITH. was originally launched in 1993 and based in London’s RWD currently has more than two kilometres of yachts Chelsea Wharf. in build or design development. It has also become increasingly Now, 40-strong and growing, the team makes up well-known for designing the most beautifully custom-crafted the biggest dedicated superyacht design consultancy in Britain, tenders, which are often seen onboard. encompassing such diverse disciplines as naval architecture, The team derives huge pleasure in the opportunities it has car design, interior architecture, photography, cabinetmaking, to design, commission and work with an extraordinary range furniture and product design. More often than not, members of makers. ‘We commission hugely talented artisans who are the of the team are also hardened sailors. very best in their field to ensure the quality The culture of the company – to whisper, of our interiors is world class. We also enjoy not to shout – is typified by the bucolic setting ‘Our work is not of its offices, in a string of restored historic outlandish — we look successful collaborations with world-renowned interior design companies,’ explains Redman. buildings on the banks of the Beaulieu River. for a cleanness of line This pursuit of excellence is one reason why ‘Our work is not outlandish – we look for and a beauty of form’ more than 35 per cent of the studio’s work a cleanness of line and a beauty of form,’ is repeat business. Another is RWD’s focus explains founding partner Justin Redman, on relationships. RWD believes in and strives to create truly citing integrity and quietness as the company maxims. original one-off designs for their clients, embracing their Yet the subtlety of RWD’s approach has certainly not left requirements in order to ensure an enjoyable time on board. it short of industry accolades and awards. To date, RWD has The aim is to make the process as engaging and exciting been involved in the design of no less than 75 yachts, ranging as possible, as evidenced by the feedback the company receives: from 35m to 155m, and is perhaps best known for the exterior ‘The years spent designing this boat were, for me, among the happiest design of 96m Vava II, the interior and exterior design of 78m of my life, it’s been a great experience,’ says the owner of SY Elfje.

Feadship Hampshire II, Amels 73m superyacht Ilona IV and No wonder then, that many clients seek RWD’s services for Royal Huisman’s 57.5m sailing ketch, Twizzle. design projects outside of their yachting interests. It is these This past year alone has seen the launch of several prestigious long, personal relationships that give the greatest satisfaction projects, including 73m MY HASNA, built by Van Lent in the to the RWD team.

Netherlands featuring an extraordinary eight-metre swimming RWD THE OLD ELECTRIC LIGHT STATION, BEAULIEU, HAMPSHIRE SO42 7YF

+44 (0)1590 611300

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DESIGNERS | GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018

SMALLBONE OF DEVIZES First on the list for British furniture design

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THIS PICTURE AND LEFT: Smallbone is a global purveyor of British cabinetry whose designs can be seen in the most prestigious addresses both in the UK and overseas

contributed to the breaking of Manhattan residential real estate price ith its bespoke fitted cabinetry gracing the world’s records. In the Arabian Gulf, clients include the top-end developer most luxurious addresses, this global purveyor of Emaar, which has used Smallbone cabinetry in numerous rooms. The handmade furniture continues to go from strength strong fusion of British hand-made products with design kudos ensures to strength. It has been yet another thrilling and that Smallbone is the name of choice for renowned architects and industrious year from the Wiltshire-based brand, designers, including the visionary Bill Sofield and Jean Nouvel, whose with a raft of projects in some of the most desirable international recently opened Abu Dhabi Louvre was met with critical acclaim. developments and exciting new product launches for the whole house.

Since its inception in 1978, Smallbone has been an innovator. It was Building upon its British roots, Smallbone of Devizes’ rapidly instrumental in the kitchen’s evolution from a space solely for cooking evolving and diverse portfolio of immaculately executed designs has to the inclusive entertainment hub of the home. seen its stock rising as a directional, international luxury lifestyle brand. Its significant growth Building upon its British Approaching its 40th birthday, Smallbone has been even busier rolling out an elegant new showroom in the UK market is matched by an impressive rise roots, Smallbone’s network, which will be spear-headed by the in overseas sales. It is an evolution that was recently rapidly evolving and opening of refreshed flagship spaces in London’s recognised when its parent company, Canburg, diverse portfolio has Knightsbridge and New York City’s Soho in 2018. was listed 28th in the Sunday Times HSBC International Fast Track 200 for export. seen its stock rising as a This launch will be complemented by an extension Major international projects featuring directional, international of its product line to include new, bespoke whole home solutions and collaborations with some Smallbone interiors are taking centre stage. Across luxury lifestyle brand of the most exciting names in fashion and design, the Atlantic, leading architects and developers including menswear designer Paul Helbers. have a keen appetite for Smallbone’s visionary With each piece still produced in the same Wiltshire workshop and contemporary designs and for the decades of heritage and and inscribed with the name of the joiner who created it, Smallbone’s craftsmanship that have shaped the company. This, coupled with exciting future is still informed by its past. The workshop is set within its distinct brand of Britishness, has cemented Smallbone’s name the honeyed hills of Devizes where, from the Bronze Age onwards, as the most desirable in the US luxury market. locals carved the outlines of horses into the chalky faces of the rolling Smallbone’s US success includes residences in New York’s topdownlands. Those mythical symbols are referenced in Smallbone’s flight developments, from One57 New York’s Central Park Tower and beautiful logo, which traces the outline of a horse’s head. The Walker Tower to 210 West 77th Street. Here, Smallbone’s covetable message is clear: this British trailblazer may be leading the charge, kitchens, elegant bedrooms, wine rooms, libraries and dressing rooms but it isn’t about to forget its roots. have added substantial value to these headline-hitting buildings, and SMALLBONE OF DEVIZES 6/7 THURLOE PLACE, LONDON SW7 2RX

+44 (0)20 7589 5998

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | DESIGNERS

TAYLOR HOWES One of Britain’s foremost design studios with 25 years’ heritage

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collaborated with some of the world’s best known luxury brands, rom its Knightsbridge studio, Taylor Howes has been including Christie’s International, US-based firm Urban Electric discreetly and determinedly designing interior projects and Superyachts.com. of distinction for 25 years, working for some of the world’s In celebration of 25 years of great interior design, the studio most influential individuals and developers. Breaking will launch its first book in 2018. It will include Taylor Howes with tradition, Taylor Howes has challenged the way projects never before documented and provide a window into luxury interior design is seen and the brand’s signature aesthetic the world behind the doors at its headquarters on Cheval Place has evolved to become unmistakable. in Knightsbridge. Simultaneously, the studio CEO Karen Howes founded Taylor Howes will reveal its new furniture collection. from her spare room in Pimlico and went Taylor Howes has Taylor Howes’ rich portfolio features on to build the company into one of Britain’s challenged the way projects from all over the world, including leading interior design brands. Over the past luxury interior an 86,000sq/ft house in London, a family two decades since, the practice has scooped beach house in Abu Dhabi and show up over ten awards, but if Karen were asked design is seen apartments in prestigious developments to say which she is most proud of, it would and the brand’s such as The Park Crescent and One probably be the group’s recent win for signature aesthetic Kensington Gardens.

‘Overall Business of the Year’ at the Business Each project designed by Taylor Excellence Forum Awards. has evolved to Howes reflects the practice’s core values: Karen is as passionate about business become unmistakable passion, honesty and kindness. The studio and the reputation of the profession as she is about design. She is an advocate for young interior designers to build knowledge of the business side of the industry.

She regularly lectures at KLC School of Design on the importance of teaching finance, alongside traditional subjects, to young wouldbe design entrepreneurs.

In 2016 Taylor Howes founded its industry networking event Business of Design and invitations to its monthly events and its bi-annual networking evenings are coveted. Through Business of Design and the studio’s work, Taylor Howes has

One Kensington Gardens

Ombre console table, Taylor Howes collection

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Lowndes Street, Knightsbridge

concentrates on giving its clients and their families a truly personal home, while achieving the timeless elegance that defines the brand’s ethos. Its distinctive signature lies in its use of bursts of colour and eye-catching artwork, resulting in spaces that are dynamic but a true reflection of the client’s wishes.

‘We are known in the industry for our willingness to embrace colour and challenge the traditional, as well as for our positive, professional approach to everything we do,’ says Karen Howes. ‘I am particularly proud of and inspired by the team we have developed here. Their enthusiasm and unyielding talent make us what we are. They have their finger on the pulse and keep us constantly evolving as a brand, always trying new techniques.’

TAYLOR HOWES 49–51 CHEVAL PLACE, LONDON SW7 1EW

Park Crescent, Marylebone

+44 (0)20 7349 9017

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | DESIGNERS

YIANGOU ARCHITECTS Award-winning architectural practice creating carefully considered, imaginative buildings, both contemporary and traditional

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of all on its great rapport with clients and builders alike. chance conversation on a beach some 30 years Given all this, it is not surprising in the least that the projects ago led to the establishment of Yiangou Architects, Yiangou takes on are fast becoming more prestigious in terms the award-winning practice based in the Cotswolds which is responsible for two of the largest neo-classical of context and scale and are increasingly included for publication in glossy interiors and architectural magazines. Yiangou is often houses to be built in the south-west of England called on for professional comment and its advice is sought out since the war. Since this typically quirky start, the architectural by property agents throughout the country. practice has grown substantially, and now has between The practice embraces eclecticism but 30 to 40 staff based in Cirencester. In fact, not at the cost of quality or commitment. it is now considered to be the go-to firm Yiangou Architects Typically, the projects on the company’s within the area and its geographical coverage is known for its great drawing board at any one time will vary has grown to include most of the country, sensitivity to the from ultra-modernist, contemporary from the Scottish Highlands to the far south-west. Known for its great sensitivity Cotswolds’ architectural interventions – sometimes within sensitive historic settings – to master-planning to the Cotswolds’ architectural vernacular vernacular and, of small towns, and extensions on large and, increasingly, for the ability to tackle increasingly, for the ability country estates. New house projects range large-scale, complex projects, including from the fairly modest to country houses master-planning and intricate and extensive to tackle large-scale, on an epic scale. As testament to the restoration work, the company has thrived complex projects practice’s excellence, it has won several since Peter Yiangou founded it three awards, including the Georgian Group ‘Best New Building in the decades ago.

Classical Tradition’ prize, for commitment to conceptual excellence Yiangou Architects’ philosophy is to strive for excellence and detail, and RIBA awards for some of its swimming pool within all aspects of its practice. It is very unusual in that it does not believe in identifying with either of the historical or contemporary polarities within the profession: its architects will design and execute buildings to the highest standard, be they contemporary, traditional or a high-quality restoration.

The dedicated staff, backed up by an excellent support team, are passionate about what they do and the firm prides itself most

New country house, Oxfordshire

Bespoke fireplace

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New country house, Gloucestershire

buildings. Nor are they limited to just architectural design, the practice also offers an interior design service.

Yiangou Architects is a friendly company – both to work for and to work with.

There are no great egos to massage here, and energy is instead poured into producing some of the most beautiful, useable and covetable houses in the country. Clients include well-known captains of industry, heads of banks, people within Garden room, Gloucestershire the entertainment industry, aristocrats and members of European royal families who all applaud Yiangou for its sensitivity, commitment to location and context, and the great usability of its houses.

The homes the practice creates are beautiful to admire and to live in – the perfect marriage of form and function.

YIANGOU ARCHITECTS DYER HOUSE, 3 DYER STREET, CIRENCESTER GL7 2PP

Music room, Worcestershire

+44 (0)1285 888150

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C.P. Hart p274 Deirdre Dyson p276 Elizabeth Marsh Floral Design p278 GP & J Baker p280 Indian Ocean p282 Loomah p284 Neatsmith p286 Neptune p288 Osborne & Little p290 Peter Reed p292 Rachel Vosper p294 Savoir Beds p296 Tetrad p298

HOUSE & HOME

Catchpole & Rye p272

Wedgwood p300 Zoffany p302

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HOUSE & HOME

CATCHPOLE & RYE Designers and manufacturers of luxury bathrooms, with a growing international reputation

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hand. It takes a highly skilled polisher a whole week to hand-polish atchpole & Rye may hail from a small English village one of the cast-iron baths to achieve its signature glimmering sheen.

– Pluckley in Kent – but this fine bathroom company ‘To create something original, you must first fully understand the has tapped into a niche market to become a major past.’ This is the maxim to which Catchpole & Rye stays true and that player in the industry and one of the UK’s most is why you will find a vast collection of timeless bathroom pieces on prestigious brands. offer that exude a classical style. Each Catchpole & Rye bath is treated The Catchpole & Rye story began many years ago, as a unique piece to be enjoyed and admired for many years to come. with a passion to sell, restore and maintain antique baths After something extra special? Because the and sanitaryware. The desire to preserve the team manufactures and produces the majority beauty of exquisite antiques inspired the firm ‘To create something of its products here in the UK – including the to make original copies by staying true to the original, you range of cast-iron baths at its foundry in Kent traditional methods used throughout history. must first fully – Catchpole & Rye is fully equipped to offer a It comes as no surprise then that owner Tony bespoke service for customers. For the ultimate O’Donnell is an expert in bathroom antiques understand in personalisation, baths and cisterns can be and Catchpole & Rye takes on a number the past.’ This cast with initials, dates, logos or even coats of of large restoration projects across the is the maxim to arms. This careful work involves hand-carving UK for stately homes, as well as working designs from wood before a dedicated pattern on prestigious properties across the globe which Catchpole is prepared. Sand moulds are manufactured with their opulent products. & Rye stays true and then cast onto the client’s bath or cistern.

The company prides itself on its commitment Always tapping into and setting new design trends, last year to British manufacturing, and is the reason why it produces its entire Catchpole & Rye launched two exclusive new products. A contemporary collection of cast-iron baths at its foundry in Kent. The baths are marble washstand, The Manhattan, featuring two surface mounted poured using the same techniques that have been employed for metal basins, and The Mayfair, a copper-based metal shower tray the past 100 years. For example, the original Bain de Bateau bath offered in silver nickel, brass or copper. Both have a modern feel that was made over 120 years ago, but the design and methods used to would add a wow factor to any luxury residential or commercial project. produce the piece remain the same today. They invest time and Equipped to assist with a complete bathroom overhaul, Catchpole effort into employing and training local craftsmen to work to the & Rye’s full offering includes beautiful copper baths, cast-iron highest standards possible, and many of the pieces are finished by

The Foundry, Kent

Nickel Bateau with brushed nickel exterior

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The Manhattan

French roll-top baths, elegant console basins, polished cast metal cisterns, marble washstands, wooden vanity units and a variety of bathroom taps and showers. The company also offers a design service, as well as site visits, to ensure a beautifully designed bathroom. The brand specialises in creative solutions for everyday problems – in fact, the team insists that many of its favourite ideas were created this way.

The full collections can be viewed at Catchpole & Rye’s large showrooms and workshops in Pluckley, the main flagship showroom in London on Fulham Road or the two-storey space in Royal Tunbridge Wells, situated in the heart of the design quarter on Calverley Road. Having said that, you won’t truly understand what it means to own a Catchpole & Rye bath until the first time you take the plunge.

CATCHPOLE & RYE 282–284 FULHAM ROAD, LONDON SW10 9EW

The Mayfair shower tray in brass

+44 (0)20 7351 0940

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HOUSE & HOME

C.P. HART Britain’s leading luxury bathroom designer and retailer

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The company’s most recent product launches, such as the Dama nnovation and inspiration are at the heart of all that C.P. Hart collection by Italian manufacturer, Artelinea, represent C.P. Hart’s does. As Britain’s leading bathroom designer and retailer, desire to humanise the bathroom. Dama’s bathroom vanity unit, C.P. Hart is consistently challenging the industry to take crafted from natural wood and Dualite glass, is a prime example a fresh look at bathroom design. of how C.P. Hart likes to blur the lines between bedroom and The company was established in 1937 by Charles Percival Hart, bathroom. Meanwhile, the introduction of Crittall-style shower who was later joined by his sons, Tom and John Hart. Since those early enclosures by Matki and Drench pays homage to the industrial vintage years supplying bathroom sanitaryware, plumbing products and tiles trend for utilitarian designs with fine detailing and luxurious finishes. to south east London, C.P. Hart has been responsible for launching C.P. Hart’s main customer focus market leading and innovative products – has always been on trade professionals household names like Duravit were first sourced Thanks to continuing and end consumers, supplying bathrooms by the Hart family. Thanks to continuing close close collaborations, to discerning clients across Britain. collaborations, some of the world’s most exciting some of the world’s More recently, it has been building its business manufacturers still choose C.P. Hart exclusively with institutional clients with noteworthy to reveal new designs in Britain. most exciting like the German Gymnasium London SE1 houses the company’s flagship manufacturers choose developments and bespoke projects like the Ham Yard Hotel. showroom, spread through the railway C.P. Hart exclusively C.P. Hart now has 14 showrooms, mostly arches under Waterloo station. The in the South East but with a strategy to expand extraordinary space was designed both to reveal new nationwide. The Manchester showroom will as a showcase for the widest possible collection designs in Britain soon be followed by more regional ones. of products and as an inspirational meeting place for trade professionals and their clients, led by architects and interior designers. Galleries run alongside a shared working space to encourage collaboration and partnership and the showroom displays the country’s largest collections of luxury bathroom products.

From John Hart’s innovative Waterloo shower valve in 1992, which went on to become the biggest selling valve of the decade, to the popular classic collection, the London range, C.P. Hart understands the needs of the bathroom market like no other. The products in these collections continue to be highly sought after.

Camden bath

Waterloo flagship showroom

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Winchester bath

The business is privately owned

by Richard Reynolds and Kevin Ohle. Reynolds comments, ‘C.P. Hart has huge growth potential.

What excites us most about it is its unerring commitment to design quality and the potential to take a wonderful British brand and grow it, here and potentially overseas. Online retailing has led us to embrace a whole new way of doing business and we believe it is a wonderful new channel to aid our expansion.

Our website makes it so much easier for customers to gather Artelinea Dama information and ideas – and to trade online if they want to. But in our view nothing quite beats the look and feel of a showroom visit.’

What is certain is that C.P. Hart will continue to be at the forefront of British bathroom design for many more years to come.

C.P. HART NEWNHAM TERRACE, HERCULES ROAD, LONDON SE1 7DR

Ex.t Frame

+44 (0)20 7902 5250

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HOUSE & HOME

DEIRDRE DYSON Creating beautiful, original carpets with a difference

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eirdre Dyson has had an exciting year, starting with the launch of her annual collection at Maison & Objet, which featured a visualisation of the transformation from concept to completion of her current collection.

Deirdre Dyson’s design theme this year was ‘Vista’, which showcases a more figurative side to Deirdre’s work drawing on her experience as an artist and graphic designer, and inspired by her love of landscape. Designs such as the round Lily Pond demonstrate a more playful side to her work, with silken waterlilies and gentle grading highlighting a touch of humour. Bulrushes also made news, winning the Carpet Design category of the 2017 International Design and Architecture Awards.

The demand for more interesting carpets, as opposed to single colour pieces, has been growing fast over the last couple of years, and so the studio has had a great response from this collection. They can still produce plain wool and silk options, which many interior designers prefer, but generally a client of Deirdre Dyson expects something more engaging, unusual and interesting.

A recent project involving the conversion of a five-floor Georgian townhouse to a commercial office in London enabled the studio to create a raft of designs to fit each room’s purpose, linked by colour across the entire project. This gave them the ability to demonstrate their full range of manufacturing capabilities – with tufting of fitted carpets, a graded stair carpet and

FROM TOP: Falling Leaves, Lilypond and Unravel, all hand knotted in wool and silk

DEIRDRE DYSON 554 KING’S ROAD, LONDON SW6 2DZ

hand knotted freestanding rugs in both silk and wool.

Deirdre Dyson is now permanently exhibited in a dedicated interior design space in Paris, allowing its growing French client base to be able to see its products in a lifestyle context. Meanwhile, a growing audience in the US is encouraging them to develop further international relationships, and opens minds to new design possibilities.

Deirdre Dyson has been working on a documentary describing how they collaborate with Nepal, giving an insight into the company’s production process. The film crew was in Nepal when the earthquake struck and the studio is extremely proud that its carpets help the communities of Nepal.

The Timothy Hatton designed gallery on the King’s Road continues to enable clients to view carpets in a contemporary and architectural context that opens their minds to new possibilities as well. The gallery has succeeded in attracting architects and specifiers, as well as inspiring its private clients, and has become an inspiring workplace, meeting venue and events space, providing a spectacular backdrop for its collections, both past and present.

Clients continue to be drawn to Deirdre A client of Deirdre Dyson’s work due Dyson expects to the fact that each something more product is tailor-made specifically to their engaging, unusual requirements. Size, and interesting shape and colourway are all customisable. The attention to the detail in the design process is mirrored in the production quality, with each rug made to an exacting, heirloom quality. Combined together, these processes make Deirdre Dyson’s rugs and carpets a central element in any scheme, and without doubt a piece to enjoy for life. +44 (0)20 7384 4464

DEIRDREDYSON.COM

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Scatter, hand knotted in wool and silk

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HOUSE & HOME

ELIZABETH MARSH FLORAL DESIGN Engaging with clients through imaginatively bespoke floral design

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lizabeth Marsh Floral Design’s philosophy is founded on the notion that a flower arrangement’s value lies in the impact it has on the people looking at it. Known for transforming spaces through bespoke floral designs, the company’s USP is the ability to bring its philosophy to life via natural decoration, styling and large-scale installations. Elizabeth Marsh Floral Design is expert at translating the client’s vision into signature bouquets, which demonstrate the brand’s distinction in a subtle, beautiful and powerful way.

Elizabeth Marsh Floral Design’s latest offering is aimed at market leaders who want to demonstrate their commitment to the wellbeing of their staff and clients. Tapping into the biophilia hypothesis, which suggests that humans have an innate tendency to seek connection with nature, Elizabeth Marsh Floral Design is transforming corporate office spaces by ‘bringing the garden to work’ and creating floral schemes designed to help workers to interact and engage with each other.

By reimagining areas like the reception, Elizabeth Marsh Floral Design gives the corporate office a soul. The company’s aftercare package also ensures that flowers are tended to once they are installed. In some cases the customer’s site is visited daily to maintain arrangements and ensure they contain nothing other than the freshest blooms.

Elizabeth Marsh was a linguist and tried her hand at journalism before turning to floristry without any formal training 20 years ago. In the 1990s she was one of the last independent artists to design and install the window displays for Harvey Nichols, alongside Mary Portas. She has also worked

Swedish themed wedding

Wedding at Syon Park

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Flock of birds of paradise

Elizabeth Marsh Floral Design is expert at translating the client’s vision into signature bouquets, which demonstrate the brand’s distinction with Le Caprice and The Ivy. Today Elizabeth Marsh Floral Design is a preferred supplier to The Science Museum, Rolex, Montblanc, Marcus Wareing, The Roux Brothers, Cliveden House, Spencer House, The Savile Club, Liz Earle, The Saudi Royal Embassy and members of the Hambro family, among others.

The company is constantly looking for new ways to communicate through flowers. Elizabeth has started to offer workshops to address the need for individuals to express themselves, de-stress and maintain a healthy work-life

balance. These range from teaching the basics of gardening to providing a platform for employees to grow their own fruit and vegetables, which can be sold through Elizabeth Marsh Floral Design’s forums.

The company has won many awards, including gold medals from the RHS judges at the Chelsea and Hampton in Bloom competitions. Elizabeth’s book, Petal Performance: the Art and Economics of Floral Design, has established her as a leading voice in the world of floral design for private clients and at the upper end of the corporate, retail and hospitality sectors in London and, increasingly, internationally.

Elizabeth’s continuing aim is to make an impact on people through flowers by always delivering that crucial ‘wow’ factor.

Whatever the arrangement, the company stays true to its strap line: ‘making magic happen with flowers’.

ELIZABETH MARSH NEW COVENT GARDEN MARKET, LONDON SW8 5EH

+44 (0)20 7738 8506

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HOUSE & HOME

GP & J BAKER Producer of sublime prints, weaves and wallpapers for over 130 years

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t all began in Constantinople (now Istanbul) in Turkey in the late 19th century, where an Englishman named George Baker worked as a distinguished garden designer. The entrepreneurial Baker also ran a successful export business and, in 1884, he sent two of his sons – George Percival and James – home to set up a base in London.

At the start, GP & J Baker concentrated on importing Persian, Turkish and Turkoman carpets to the UK, which they re-exported to Paris and America. However, the brothers gradually started to produce beautiful weaves and prints on home soil, employing some of the leading designers of the day.

Avid and discerning collectors of rare and iconic designs gathered over the years from their own adventurous travels, the brothers began what has become the largest and most exciting privately owned textile archive in the world. In the late 1890s GP & J Baker bought the renowned Swaisland Fabric Printing Company in southeast London, gaining most of its printing blocks and an archive of pattern books dating back more than a century. A few years later, George Percival added a further 400 antique block prints from the Holzach studio in Paris, followed by a further 250 rare Indian printed cottons.

In the early 1900s, the company’s most popular designs of naturalistic English garden flowers and florals became part of the enduring GP & J Baker style. Many of their exquisite prints are still sourced and adapted from its original archives: a number of which have been in production for 50 to 100 years, each re-issue adding another layer to their considerable charm. More recently, some of those exquisite prints have been re-imagined as woven fabrics, embroideries and wallpapers.

Of course, it takes more than an exceptional archive to maintain a successful heritage brand or, indeed, to retain a Royal Warrant from

Historic Royal Palaces collection

East to West collection

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East to West collection

The company has always worked with a highly talented team of people, all with exceptional knowledge and skill, while its specialist designers can undertake specific bespoke projects Her Majesty The Queen, as GP & J Baker has done for more than 35 years. The company has always worked with a highly talented team of people, all with exceptional knowledge and skill, while its specialist designers can undertake specific bespoke projects, either adapting an already existing product and design, or developing individual commissions.

Managing and Creative Director of GP & J Baker, Ann Grafton, says:

‘As a business we are constantly challenging ourselves, utilising the very best technological advances, providing exceptional individuality, as well as retaining strong links with artisanal craftsmanship.’

‘What I find so exciting,’ she adds, ‘is the eclectic mix of GP & J Baker collections; their extraordinary diversity, ranging from elegant silks and linens to printed vintage designs, chic geometries and textures. The inspired colour palettes across all the collections fit perfectly into any period and any style of architecture.’

With showrooms in London’s Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, as well as Paris, GP & J Baker’s declared philosophy is to lead the way in textile design excellence, creating beautiful products to meet customers’ desire for comfortable, luxurious living.

It is also setting its sights on the international market which, in a way, is where it came in.

GP & J BAKER CHELSEA HARBOUR DESIGN CENTRE, LONDON SW10 0XF

+44 (0)20 7351 7760

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HOUSE & HOME

INDIAN OCEAN Producers of outdoor furniture and cutting-edge design for outdoor spaces

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spaces including kitchens, outdoor lighting, electric sunshades he arrival of Indian Ocean on the furniture design and other accoutrements for modern outdoor living, all now form scene in 1990 coincided with a shift in the way we design, part of the collection, which can be viewed at Indian Ocean’s use and view our outdoor living spaces. Design that links two London stores (Balham and Hampstead) and at Harrods. indoor with out, via a series of seamlessly flowing spaces, Orders are fulfilled from a British-based warehouse, via a team has become de rigueur for stylish, affluent owners, that specialises in old-fashioned customer service. and Indian Ocean has played its part in this lifestyle change.

‘Each piece,’ says Hobbs, ‘begins with our desire to combine A privately owned British company, it designs and produces the pleasures of tradition with excellence luxurious outdoor furniture and creates design concepts for your balcony, country garden, Design that links indoor in design, comfort and practicality – based on how we use our outdoor spaces today. outdoor kitchen or superyacht. with out, via a series An initial concept can take up to two years Co-founder and managing director, of seamlessly flowing to perfect: from sketch to model, then on Jamie Hobbs, gave up his job in the City to the sample stage before it passes the tough aged 26 in order to start the business. spaces, has become de to become part of a new collection.

At the time, his father was the Honorary rigueur for stylish, affluent criteria We love pieces with “wow” factor too – just Consul to Madagascar, and Jamie had owners, and Indian Ocean to add a fun element to life outdoors.’ acquired an insider’s view of what this Having grown its expertise in shipping beautiful island nation had to offer. One has played its part in this overseas to clients’ second (or third) day he stumbled across a factory that made lifestyle change homes, in 2016 Indian Ocean embarked high quality, oversized teak parasols – unlike anything he had seen before. He launched as an importer of these, following up with a complementary collection of teak garden furniture, and named the business Indian Ocean in homage to its primary inspiration.

Elegant, comfortable ‘heritage’ pieces remain part of the core collection. So does a commitment to the finest quality materials, detail and high-spec finishes. But – over 25 years on from its simple beginnings – the brand has gone higher-octane.

Edgy, contemporary designs to furnish a variety of outside

Marina rectangular table

Olympia three-seater sofa

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Marina three-seater sofa

on establishing a network of international representatives.

The products now have a presence in Cannes, Cairo and the Algarve – with more locations to come. The company regularly exhibits at the must-do design trade show Maison & Objet, and is also showing at the Boutique Design Show in New York.

Numbering 30 staff in London, Indian Ocean is small and agile enough to be able to respond in a direct and personalised way to the special requests of its A-list client base.

Pimlico Club Someone from the design and planning service can be with you in a whisper, measuring up your garden and presenting innovative, bespoke design solutions. Just what the modern sophisticate needs, in other words, to be at the forefront of stylish outdoor living.

INDIAN OCEAN 155–163 BALHAM HILL, LONDON SW12 9DJ

Marina loungers

+44 (0)20 8675 4808

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PHOTO: STYLED BY LUCY GOUGH, PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID CLEVELAND

HOUSE & HOME | GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018

LOOMAH Beautiful carpets and rugs custom-made to fit each customer’s life and space

LEFT: Redloh ABOVE: Octavia

PHOTO: STYLED BY LUCY GOUGH, PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID CLEVELAND

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Whether for a large commercial project, yacht or residential ounded in 2001 by husband and wife Andrew and Natalie interior, the company can supply fitted carpets or loose laid rugs Cotgrove, Loomah is at the forefront of traditional and in any size, shape and colour. All the carpets are made to exact contemporary luxury carpet and rug design. room sizes and shapes, in one piece, avoiding unsightly joins.

Andrew cut his teeth in the industry when, aged Whether it is the simple opulence of an exquisite silk carpet 19, he joined a company and ran the contract for designing in a plain custom dyed colour or an intricate border design and supplying the carpets for public areas of the then just opened Lanesborough Hotel. He had initially taken the job temporarily before following the contours of an elaborate staircase, every project is designed to suit the specific requirements going to university. However, he quickly developed a passion for exquisite handmade carpets and Now with a showroom of each interior. Loomah also offers fabulous realised aged 30 he was not going to university in the heart of London’s custom machine-made carpets and they too can be dyed to any colour and supplied to exact and instead set up Loomah with his wife.

King’s Road, and room measurements, in one piece without seams.

Andrew and Natalie set the business up from with over 30 years of Loomah has established an eclectic portfolio their London home. Their vision was to create a brand focused on delivering an exceptional experience, Loomah is of both modern and traditional designs, all personal design service. Now with a showroom renowned for its service of which can be tailored to the client’s precise specifications. Alternatively, the team works in the heart of London’s King’s Road, and and exceptional quality with the customer to create something truly with over 30 years of experience, Loomah original from scratch. Whether it is a simple is renowned for its service and exceptional sketch, photograph or just an image in the buyer’s head, the quality. Today its client base is as diverse as Loomah’s design scope, with a portfolio that includes Madonna’s London residence, in-house design team is on hand to transform ideas into a oneoff design. Each carpet and rug is tufted to the most exacting a villa for the Emir of Qatar in Cannes and The Savoy hotel. standards by highly skilled craftsmen.

Loomah’s design service offers a personalised customer Andrew often says that while the company’s design capability experience, attention to detail and a team that goes the extra mile and product quality are recognised as the highest, the secret to ensure that the end product is the ultimate in design, elegance to its continual growth has been good personal service. And and indulgence. At the same time, Loomah continues to push it is this exclusive design service that allows customers to create the boundaries of carpet design, experimenting with new something that is truly perfect for their space. products and techniques.

LOOMAH BESPOKE CARPETS & RUGS 592 KING’S ROAD, LONDON SW6 2DX

+44 (0)20 7371 9955

LOOMAH.COM

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NEATSMITH Beautiful wardrobes with service to match

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in a wardrobe to make life easier: pull-out laundry baskets, folding eatsmith is a London-based company that has established shelves, pivoting mirrors and swivel hooks are just some of the itself as the premium wardrobe manufacturer and accessories that Neatsmith has dreamt up to make life easier, neater installer in the capital. Working in some of London’s most and tidier, and which clients often realise they cannot live without. prestigious addresses, Neatsmith has earned a reputation The Neatsmith range includes hinged wardrobes, sliding for selling beautiful bespoke wardrobes, ideal for both wardrobes and the Neatsmith Walk-In wardrobe. It is difficult old and contemporary homes. Neatsmith prioritises design and quality to put an exact price on such a bespoke product but, as a guide, but also prides itself on providing exceptional service, from the initial sliding wardrobes start at £1,300 per consultation through to the final installation.

Andrew Nagel founded Neatsmith in 2005 A Neatsmith wardrobe linear metre, hinged wardrobes at £1,500 per linear metre and a Walk-In with his sons, Philipp and Mathew. From the is entirely bespoke wardrobe from £1,000 per linear metre. first day the family agreed that the quality and every one is as Whichever style of Neatsmith wardrobe of the product should be matched and even you choose, you can be guaranteed that the exceeded by the company’s level of service. individual as the client devotion to quality is adhered to throughout ‘The ethos was simple: if people were happy who specified it. They the manufacturing and installation process. with our product, our price and our service, can fit anything in a Neatsmith can find the solution even in the they would recommend Neatsmith to their trickiest rooms where there might be chimney friends and family and our business would wardrobe to make life or a sloping ceiling, for example. grow,’ explains Andrew Nagel. easier, neater and tidier breasts Every wardrobe is manufactured by hand Neatsmith now has four standalone London shops in Hampstead, Hatch End, Teddington and Brentwood. In early 2018, Neatsmith launches its fifth and largest showroom to date – a brand new, purpose built, 4,000 sq/ft flagship store on King’s Road in Chelsea. A sixth shop, in southeast London will follow in the latter part of 2018.

A Neatsmith wardrobe is entirely bespoke and every one is as individual as the client who specified it. Whether you fold or hang your clothes, and no matter how many pairs of shoes you have, Neatsmith’s approach maximises your available space. Neatsmith can fit anything Heritage hinged wardrobe in Aftereight with silver mirror

Walnut Walk-In wardrobe with bronze reflex mirror doors and LED lighting

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Bespoke colour matt lacquer Shaker wardrobes with bronze antique mirror, island unit and dressing table

in Neatsmith’s north London factory and each component is meticulously checked before being delivered and installed.

Mathew, who looks after the manufacturing and installation side of the business, wouldn’t have it any other way and says, ‘All our staff, from delivery drivers to fitters, are full time employees and we never subcontract. This means we can guarantee that not only are the fitters a pleasure to have in your home, but they leave Linen Internals with decorative you with an installation that glass drawer fronts matches the quality you have seen in our showrooms.’

‘At the end of the day we are working in people’s most precious spaces – their homes,’ says Philipp. ‘Every member of the Neatsmith team – designers, delivery drivers and fitters – never forgets this.’

NEATSMITH 544 KING’S ROAD, LONDON SW10 0UB

Anthracite Walk-In wardrobe

+44 (0)800 1956 595

NEATSMITH.CO.UK

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HOUSE & HOME

NEPTUNE Beautiful furniture and homeware design that not only stands the test of time but looks better with age

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who is now Neptune’s Creative Director. ood design isn’t just about function, it’s about intuition But Neptune are far more than just designers. They’re a team and communication. You may not realise it, but the of thinkers, technicians and makers, which results in clever and choices we make within our homes speak every time we careful use of space throughout the home. Just as when building make eye contact with them. Good design strengthens a boat, John and Giles have always said the way something works ties between family. It brings people together, is as important as how it looks, so when Neptune creates a new it encourages them to relax, to sit by each other’s side, and to make product it thinks through every last detail. Their designs are memories, which is why Neptune has pledged to design and create both stunning and practical. Neptune’s furniture and homeware for lives well lived.

Neptune prefers to say everything it designs The company’s ethos that products are crucially underpinned by technical excellence and skill and the is safe ‘as boats’ rather than houses, because everything it designs is team never stops trying to think of ways it’s an indication of how it uses high-calibre as safe ‘as boats’, rather to create something to make people’s materials to create an enduring kind of elegance that can take a bit of rough and tumble, stand than houses, means using lives a little easier.

Take its larder cabinet, for example. Before the test of time and look all the better for it. high-calibre materials that doing anything else, the design team bought It’s perhaps no coincidence that sailing will stand the test of time, a whole list of groceries likely to be stored friends, John and Giles, founded Neptune 20 years ago when they sat at the kitchen creating an enduring kind in it. Next they considered all the variations in size and shape of the products. Only table and stitched together a hammock. of elegance then did they set to work. Today this level They were helped by John’s wife Emma, of dedication is reflected throughout the company and Neptune is fast becoming a lifestyle brand recognised by those who like their home to be both functional and beautiful.

Indeed, from kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms to bedrooms and living rooms, Hanbury & Bowsley tableware Neptune brings its expert eye for craft and detail to the fore.

Their service levels are as carefully considered as its designs. For example, kitchens come with a lifetime guarantee when they’re installed by one of the company’s certified fitters.

A bespoke cabinetry team in the Wiltshire Suffolk kitchen painted in Charcoal Details of Suffolk kitchen head office ensures

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Larsson chest of drawers, Arthur stool and Charles headboard. Seasonal paint in Chestnut and Fox velvet Penelope cushion

that the company never has to say something isn’t doable. Everything is do-able.

Neptune now has close to 30 retail stores across Britain and Europe, including the recently opened Chichester one with two planned for Chesham and Bath in early 2018. Each store is designed to make customers feel at home – this being key, since they’re laid out to look like homes rather than stores, with a calming ambiance.

Wardley chair and various There are many throws companies that make beautiful things. There are many who have wonderful customer service. There are few that do both. Neptune may have grown into a large business, but John and Giles are still at the heart of everything – and John and Emma still have that original kitchen table.

NEPTUNE

+44 (0)1793 427427

Eva chair upholstery detail

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Wallpapers and fabrics from the MANAROLA collection including PORTOVENERE

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HOUSE & HOME | GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018

OSBORNE & LITTLE Celebrating 50 years of creative, eclectic design

THIS PICTURE AND RIGHT: SPEED & FURY and VOLTE FACE

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of Nina Campbell since 1989 and those of Matthew Williamson since sborne & Little has been designing fabric and 2013. The brand also has an association with the Royal College of Art wallpaper for nearly half a century and is one and regularly commissions designs from talented young designers of the world’s leading names in design. Cherishing its reputation for innovation and quality, it has grown whose names will undoubtedly come to be well-known in the future.

Osborne & Little products can be seen in major hotels into one of the great British brands. around the world from Marrakech to Moscow. They also receive It was started in 1968 at the height of the Swinging Sixties by Peter commissions for special projects from international companies Osborne and Antony Little, when they launched their first collection such as Bacardi and Samsung, and are particularly proud to have of hand-printed wallpapers from their showroom on Chelsea’s King’s created a design for the launch of Heathrow’s Terminal Five and Road. Surrounded by hip shops, this was the place where trends British Airways lounges worldwide. began, and Osborne & Little was right at the heart ‘British Isles Damask’ includes, within its of it. This first collection won awards, broadened Such is the success all-over pattern, allusions to the four countries of design horizons and brought instant success. of Osborne & Little’s the United Kingdom – the rose of England, the Over the years, Osborne & Little has grown designs that many are thistle of Scotland, the daffodil of Wales and flax its distinguished product range in all directions; now housed in museum leaves for Northern Ireland. This design has been its collections now include silks and embroideries, printed linens and cottons, wools and velvets collections. Today, the reinterpreted as a damask wallpaper in metallic and chenilles, voiles and trimmings. brand is as inspired and colourways in the 2018 spring collection Manarola.

One of the centrepieces of the 50th anniversary Today the brand sells to more than 90 countries energetic as ever collection is typical of Osborne & Little’s individual throughout the world, with the USA its biggest and quirky style. Celebrating the British love of market with six showrooms, including New York Italy, the Portovenere design features a tumble of painted houses on and Los Angeles. Osborne & Little has supplied The White House the Italian Rivera interspersed with palm trees facing out to sea. The and numerous presidential and royal palaces around the world. journey through Italy continues to Venice, where the magnificent palazzi Its more typical client may not occupy a palace but nevertheless and art inspire opulent printed and woven velvets in Palazzo Velvets. craves the unusual in interior design without compromising quality.

Such is the success of Osborne & Little’s designs that many are now The company’s pioneering style of advertising established housed in museum collections like the Victoria & Albert in London, a very particular image for the brand, both witty and whimsical, the Cooper Hewitt in New York and The Art Institute of Chicago. reflecting the creative and eclectic character of their collections.

Today, the brand is as inspired and energetic as ever, creating Osborne & Little has worked with renowned names such as Zandra a constant stream of new collections that push boundaries.

Rhodes, Quentin Blake and Lorca, and has distributed the collections OSBORNE & LITTLE 304 KING’S ROAD, LONDON SW3 5UH

+44 (0)20 8812 3123

OSBORNEANDLITTLE.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HOUSE & HOME

PETER REED Luxury linens handcrafted since 1861, with unrivalled heritage, craftsmanship and quality

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eter Reed represents the pinnacle of English linen making, with a peerless reputation for quality based on 150 years of heritage and craftsmanship. For generations its bedding has been hand-crafted from the highest grade cottons.

The story began in 1861, when Peter Reed and his son, William, embarked on an original strategy in their quest to manufacture Britain’s highest quality bed linen on the slopes of Pendle Hill, Lancashire.

Instead of weaving the cloth locally, they decided to import the finest woven fabrics from Italian master artisanal mills, enabling them to concentrate their own craftsmen’s work on the high-end skills of cutting, sewing, hemming, embroidering and finishing.

The combination of the world’s best cotton with the most impeccable British craftsmanship was a formula for success, eagerly appreciated by a wealthy Victorian middle class. Then, as now, Peter Reed trades that priceless commodity – a luxurious and easeful sleep. A sleep fit for royalty in fact, as was confirmed in 2008, when the company was granted a Royal Warrant.

Peter Reed is no longer a family-run company, but that early idealism still drives it, and its bed linens are still made among the Lancashire hills.

While the rest of the world embraces mass production, Peter Reed offers a personalised service. Customers are able to create their own unique bedding using artwork, such as a family crest, a digital design created by a graphic artist, a photograph of an architectural feature, a swatch of fabric or a child’s drawing. In consultation with Peter Reed’s design team almost anything can be referenced or recreated in embroidery.

All designs can be made in any bed size, sheeting fabric, thread count and almost any thread colour – selected from hundreds in the Peter Reed library – and made within three weeks. Monogrammed towels are also available to match. There are no minimums – no order is too small (or too large).

Peter Reed has introduced the first luxury bed linen to have been made 100 per cent in the UK

Bespoke monogramming

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This combination of the world’s highest grade cottons and the most impeccable British craftsmanship ensured the success of the company The latest and most exciting news for Peter Reed is that, for the first time in many years, the company is introducing a collection made with cotton sheeting spun and woven here in England. Produced in collaboration with English Fine Cottons of Manchester, it is the only 100 per cent English-made luxury bed linen currently available.

Peter Reed’s general manager, Sean Clayton, is excited by the

potential. ‘As someone with a background in the weaving sector, I jumped at the opportunity to create bedding that is 100 per cent made in England,’ he says. ‘We have already had a lot of interest from retailers wanting to stock this product as it follows the current thinking of moving high-end manufacturing back to Britain. It’s a really exciting development and a proud moment.’

Another proud moment is the opening, in August this year, of a New York showroom. After several years trading in the USA, Peter Reed now has a showroom in the ideal New York location – Madison Avenue. All new and existing customers are invited to visit Suite 1804, 152 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 (opening hours 10am to 6pm).

PETER REED BUTTERWORTH MILL, LOMESHAYE, LANCASHIRE BB9 6RT

+44 (0)1282 616069

PETERREED.COM

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RACHEL VOSPER Deliciously scented handmade candles

by London’s leading chandler

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THG bowls

PHOTOS: JAKE CURTIS

to use something sentimental and old that has been brought ot many visitors to Barbados end up buying in by a customer – perhaps it has been tucked away in a cupboard a local candle factory. But after a chance encounter for years or inherited – and then give it a new lease of life,’ says Rachel. on a beach in 1994, Rachel Vosper did just that.

Not only can you have Granny’s antique soup tureen filled with scented As she built the business up, Rachel’s new-found wax, you can watch it being made in the store’s open-plan atelier. interest developed into a passion and, in 2011, As demand for bespoke scents increases, Rachel Vosper she opened her flagship store in Belgravia, selling deliciously has been commissioned by a number of property developers scented, hand-poured candles to a mix of retail customers, to create bespoke scent packages for corporate and private clients. their latest projects. She also provides Just as Rachel Vosper’s route into candleUsing only the finest corporate clients with personalised gifts making was extraordinary, so too are her European sourced and fragrances for exclusive private and candles. Using only the finest European ingredients, Rachel commercial properties. sourced ingredients, Rachel employs In addition, Rachel works closely with traditional methods to ensure the longevity employs traditional a number of high-end interior designers, of the fragrances and the optimum burn. methods to ensure recently filling Baccarat and Lalique glass Top tips: ‘Never burn a candle for less than an the longevity of the for a 16-bedroom house on Belgrave Square. hour, as that’s how dips form around the wick,’ Got an idea for your very own fragranced says Rachel. ‘Don’t keep them lit for more than fragrances and the candle? Rachel Vosper will make it for you. four hours and trim the wick to about 6mm.’ optimum burn ‘My clients are a constant source Not surprisingly, creating a candle that smells amazing is one of a chandler’s most difficult tasks. ‘I like to focus on balancing top, middle and base notes, approaching it in much the same way as an expert wine producer would,’ says Rachel. ‘When choosing a fragrance, I look for simplicity and don’t overcook combinations. It’s also important to consider the occasion and season.’

Equally unique is Rachel Vosper’s refill service which allows customers to bring back used votives from the shop or provide their own vessels. ‘I like being given the chance

Rachel Vosper studio

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Fragrance library

of inspiration,’ says Rachel, who participated in one of the four interactive areas at Decorex this year, ‘and I love meeting the people who buy my candles, some of whom are now old friends.’

Never one to rest on her scented laurels, Rachel Vosper updates her fragrance library every season. She introduced three new scents this autumn, including Scent 69, which combines elements of all her bestselling fragrances. She has Two wick candle also launched a diffusion range with packaging with one of Britain’s leading home furnishing retailers, which includes candles, diffusers and spa-inspired toiletries.

‘My real passion lies in the product development. I love creating things, especially bespoke products and fragrances for other people,’ she says.

RACHEL VOSPER 69 KINNERTON STREET, LONDON SW1X 8ED

Pouring ladles

+44 (0)20 7235 9666

RACHELVOSPER.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HOUSE & HOME

SAVOIR BEDS Tailor-made beds make Savoir the world’s most luxurious sleeping system

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provide the perfect support and will design a bed to fit each avoir Beds is widely regarded as the world’s most customer’s own style. They will literally take the measurements luxurious sleeping system. First created in 1905 for of customers as well as advising on fabric, bespoke headboards The Savoy hotel in London, the bespoke beds and an almost unlimited choice of upholstery. have become almost as legendary as the stars who Every year Savoir collaborates with designers to create an have slept in them, which include Winston Churchill, innovative range of beds. These have included Sacha Walckhoff, Marilyn Monroe, Elton John and Madonna.

Philip Gorrivan, LV Yongzhong, Nicky Haslam and Virginia White.

A Savoir bed can be made to any size or shape and each In 2017 Savoir collaborated with New York one is created individually at Savoir’s London bedworks or at its site in Wales. Every bed Every bed is hand-crafted fabric and interior designer, Madeline Korean lifestyle designer, Teo Yang, is hand-crafted from the highest quality from the highest quality Weinrib, and Paris-based artist, Arik Levy. In 2018, natural materials, including long, curled natural materials, including they are working with Hong Kong-based Latin American horse tail, Mongolian designer, Steve Leung, and British wallpaper cashmere and British lamb’s wool, to the exact Latin American horse tail, Fromental. size, shape, tension and finish requested. One Mongolian cashmere and specialist Savoir also makes beds for private craftsman makes each mattress and, like British lamb’s wool, to the aircrafts and superyachts and the team an artist, signs the label on each completed job. The relaxation that Savoir provides is all exact size, shape, tension will visit boatyards to make the necessary templates for the perfect fit. They even the more pleasurable for being personalised. and finish requested crafted and installed a circular bed to rotate In a hectic, high-tech world, real comfort is a natural and achievable aspiration. People indulge in cars, home cinemas and holidays but the bed in which we spend a third of our lives is often overlooked, and to our detriment a good night’s sleep is the fundamental pillar upon which our health and wellbeing depends.

The Savoir experience starts at any of its showrooms, which are around the world, from London and Paris to New York and Shanghai, with plans to open more in Europe, US and Asia in 2018. Each showroom has skilled consultants who will help

Crafting a Savoir bed

Hugo 01 bed

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Harlech 12 bed

A Savoir bespoke design

at the touch of an iPad screen, to enable the client to change the view from fireplace to the countryside outside.

Without correct support, muscles tire and REM sleep – the most restorative, moodenhancing part of the sleep cycle – is disrupted because people toss and turn to relieve pressure points. Savoir ensures its beds deliver the right support to every individual.

After a good night’s sleep on a Savoir, devotees awake refreshed and recharged, mentally alert and physically rested, ready for the day ahead. A Savoir bed is an investment that will pay off morning after morning and vastly improve quality of life.

SAVOIR BEDS 1 OLD OAK LANE, LONDON NW10 6UD

Savoy 01 bed

+44 (0)20 7493 4444

SAVOIRBEDS.CO.UK

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TETRAD Anything else is just a sofa

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of craftsmanship goes into the final finishing of the product, ith the tagline ‘anything else is just a sofa’ and that’s what distinguishes our products from the competition.’ comes the first clue that Tetrad is more than Tetrad continues to evolve. Its partnership with Harris just an ordinary furniture company. Now, just Tweed Hebrides will grow over the next few years. Aside as when it was founded 50 years ago, the company from this collaboration, the company plans to expand further is a pioneer in furniture trends, and continues into other markets, such as the Far East, Northern Europe to innovate and push the boundaries in both design and and Russia, exporting the excellence of British craftsmanship production. And today, just as in 1968, Tetrad champions all over the world.

British craftsmanship, nurturing apprentices Tetrad’s crucial difference from through its in-house scheme to inspire and As every piece of tweed its competitors is that the company makes teach young people the finest upholstery is different, the fabric 100 per cent of its products in Britain. When skills, supporting traditional workmanship. has to be cut by hand it comes to cutting fabrics for the furniture, Underlying this is the ethos of using the Tetrad uses French garment cutters. With best quality materials throughout every and pattern matched, Harris Tweed range, as every piece piece of furniture made. This dedication similar to the way Savile the of tweed is different, the fabric has to be cut to exceptional attention to detail has Row cutters prepare by hand and pattern matched, again rather remained unchanged from day one. similar to the way Savile Row cutters prepare Working rather like a gentleman’s a piece of fabric to a piece of fabric to be made into a suit. outfitters, Tetrad has one person responsible be made into a suit It is this innovation, attention to detail for each key aspect of making the chair, similar to the way Savile Row tailors operate with their cutters, trimmers, fitters and finishers. For instance, one person is responsible for the frame, another for cutting and sewing, and another for upholstering. In total there will be at least three specialists making each chair. ‘We don’t operate a production line,’ says managing director Janus Cooper. ‘We like to have full traceability in the making of our products. All of our furniture is hand-finished; for instance, in the finishing process we apply individual studs by hand, rather than strip studding. A lot

Nairn chairs

Bowmore petite sofa

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Bowmore grand sofa

and authenticity that make Tetrad’s furniture preferable to buying an anonymous, production line-made alternative and make fans of its customers, which include the Duchess of Rutland, David and Victoria Beckham, John Major, Stirling Moss and key retailers like John Lewis, Roche Bobois, Barker & Stonehouse and Sofas & Stuff.

‘We have people coming back to us after 40 years saying their sofas are still in great condition,’ says Janus Cooper.

MacKenzie chair ‘From a manufacturer’s perspective, you could say we’re shooting ourselves in the foot by making our furniture built to last for generations, as you’d probably rather people change their furniture every ten years. But that’s not what we’re about.’

TETRAD HARTFORD MILL, SWAN STREET, PRESTON, LANCASHIRE PR1 5PQ

Harris Tweed collection

+44 (0)1772 792936

TETRAD.CO.UK

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WEDGWOOD A shining testament to British entrepreneurial spirit

LEFT: Wedgwood Burlington Pot ABOVE: Wonderlust teaware

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Last year was Wedgwood’s first in a three-year partnership edgwood was founded in 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood, with the Royal Horticultural Society, which was founded by Josiah who was not only an astonishing potter but also an exceptional pioneer, philanthropist and marketer. Wedgwood’s son, John Wedgwood, in 1804. This association formed the natural launch pad for the Wedgwood Tea Conservatory, with With over 250 years of heritage, Wedgwood has a collection of six new blends created by its global tea curator, become a true British cultural icon and Bernadine Tay, which promote tranquility and wellbeing, and are is a testament to British entrepreneurial spirit. Now part of the based on the flora featured on the Wonderlust tea and giftware Fiskars group, with product and design development continuing in the UK, the Wedgwood stamp is a guarantee of English authenticity. collection. Then there was the Gold medal-winning garden – Wedgwood, A Classic Reimagined – designed by Sam Ovens for Wedgwood is undergoing a transformation to make the the inaugural RHS Chatsworth Flower Show. everyday extraordinary. Looking to the past to It is the first of the gardens to be relocated cement the future, collections and associations Josiah Wedgwood to the World of Wedgwood. are being revisited in a way that set great store by Ulrik Garde Due, President of Fiskars Living is evermore relevant to today’s lifestyle. quality and creation, Business says, ‘The partnership with the RHS Set in 262 acres, the World of Wedgwood in Barlaston hosts the Wedgwood Museum collection, and the same principles marks the first step in Wedgwood’s rejuvenation in becoming a global leader within British which is owned by the Victoria and Albert are reflected in Museum. It is next to Wedgwood’s factory, where everything Wedgwood lifestyle. It creates an important platform, allowing Wedgwood to provide interactive visitors can experience first-hand the artisans produces today experiences to an international audience at work, creating and decorating each piece in an authentic, unexpected way.’ by hand. Founded on the principles of design, The company has recently launched the Wedgwood Burlington quality and innovation, Wedgwood continues to make the highest Pot, designed with Lady Laura Burlington, the daughter-in-law quality fine bone china dinnerware, teaware and iconic Jasperware, of the Duchess of Devonshire. These pots, made at their Barlaston as well as beautiful ornamental pieces. factory, are a modern take on Wedgwood’s Jasperware, a technique Wedgwood’s philosophy was cemented while researching developed by Josiah Wedgwood. The new-look Jasperware will also its book, A Story of Creation and Innovation, published by be extended into further interior pieces and vases. As Ulrik Garde Rizzoli. Within the archives, a series of untold stories and Due continues, ‘Demonstration of craftsmanship and innovation associations came to the forefront and have created partnerships through re-imagining the iconic Jasperware is a great example where Wedgwood can be enjoyed by using all the senses of our Made in Britain strategy.’ as an experiential, social and educational proposition.

WWRD UNITED KINGDOM LTD BARLASTON, STOKE-ON-TRENT ST12 9ER

+44 (0)1782 204141

WEDGWOOD.CO.UK

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ZOFFANY The effortlessly sophisticated interiors brand combines artistic integrity with craftsmanship

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born out of Zoffany’s Alchemists’ Studio, which was set up to distil rt is at the centre of everything Zoffany does. colour back to its original essence and delve into its transformative The product offer comprises wallpapers, printed powers. Extracting natural plant dyes and crushing minerals and woven fabrics, embroideries, paint, trimmings, to create original pigments (which emanate the jewel-like colours rugs, a range of upholstery and lighting but Zoffany’s found in silk documents within the archive), they compose an artistic nucleus is the dedicated studio of young extraordinary diversity of rich, complex colours that they can dynamic designers, all with complementary artistic skills. experiment with across their yarns.

As part of the creative design process, each yarn, brush In 2018 a major focus for the brand will stroke and technique is meticulously considered and developed by hand.

The design team prides be the introduction of these new colours to the paint range. Renowned for its ultraThe design team prides itself on knowing itself on knowing matte finish, exceptional coverage and the provenance of every design created, the provenance depth of colour, Zoffany paint envelops a overseeing each one’s development from the spark of an idea to the final product. of every design created, room in a theatrical and artistic atmosphere.

‘These pure colours were first introduced Most of Zoffany’s wallpapers and prints overseeing each one’s through our wallcoverings and fabrics but are made in Britain, within its group development from the this is the first time we have transformed of sister factories. It has forged strong partnerships with a curated portfolio spark of an idea to the them into paint colours,’ says Peter Gomez, Head of the Zoffany Studio. of international mills to create its weaves final product ‘The development of the paints required and embroideries, choosing countries for meticulously blending tones to create authentic shades of new their particular expertise and skill – silks from Italy and France, neutrals, earthy greens and highlight colours. The rich, dark and embroideries and sophisticated contemporary weaves from India. more opulent tones that you are seeing are very much about how Zoffany constantly works with the mills to develop new techniques so that all its products are unique to the brand.

In its ongoing search for excellence and to achieve its particular handwriting, Zoffany seeks out new talent and collaborates with fine artists, muralists and other specialists. The company has curated a dramatic palette of pure colours known as The Alchemy of Colour, which transcends all its product categories. This was

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we see colour being used in contemporary interiors at the moment. People are definitely getting braver with colour and richer, deeper ones are in vogue, which is really exciting.’

Zoffany’s highlight colours, Tiger’s Eye, Lazuli, Poison and Koi Carp, are just four of a range of shades that can add drama to any interior, offset by their subtler, muted colours like Half Smoked Pear, Hessian Green and Taylor’s Grey.

As Style Library’s prestige brand, Zoffany is accessible through a global network of interior design companies and specialist shops. The state-of-the-art Style Library flagship showroom is in London’s Design Centre Chelsea Harbour and showrooms can also be found in Paris, New York and Dubai.

ZOFFANY STYLE LIBRARY, DESIGN CENTRE CHELSEA HARBOUR, LONDON SW10 0XE

Vine Black

+44 (0)20 3903 3700

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | ART & CULTURE

BONHAMS A British auction house with an international reach

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to the sale is an art in itself – and Bonhams is a master at it. fancy deep blue diamond ring under the hammer Bonhams’ New Bond Street headquarters is an award-winning for over £6m. A Fragonard portrait sold for over £17m (a world record for the artist at auction). A 1962 Ferrari building housing three technologically advanced auction rooms.

Its second London saleroom in Knightsbridge stages over 150 auctions sold in the US for over $38m (a world record auction annually, in fine art, jewellery and Asian art, as well as categories such price for a motor car). A 1954 Grand Prix-winning as fine books and manuscripts, entertainment memorabilia, arms and Mercedes sold at Goodwood for over £19m. A rare garlic-mouth armour, 20th-century decorative arts, furniture, silver and ceramics. vase sold in Hong Kong for HK$76m-plus... Asked what Behind the elegantly curved glass distinguishes Bonhams from other auction façade of Bonhams’ Madison Avenue houses, CEO Matthew Girling replies, The breadth of New York base, specialist sales are held ‘I could mention our innovative sales, its reach means in contemporary art, Impressionist and our world records or our Michelin-starred that Bonhams can Chinese art, jewellery and watches; while restaurant, but the true source of our Hollywood memorabilia and Californian strength is our specialists. We offer items offer items for sale wine are among the treasures sold at its in 60 categories – the broadest range for any wherever the works Sunset Boulevard location – California’s international auction house – and every single will attract the largest, with 58 resident specialists. department is fuelled by passion.’

In 2016 Bonhams held its first onlineFounded in Covent Garden in 1793 strongest interest and only auction, engagingly titled ‘Watches by print dealer Thomas Dodd, Bonhams keenest bidding and Wristwatches from the Collection of is the only international auction house privately owned and in British hands. Today Bonhams represents a breadth of choice for collectors, interior designers and anyone looking to furnish their home in a variety of styles. With a worldrenowned reputation for connoisseurship and service, it holds over 400 specialist sales a year at its flagship salerooms in London, New York, Los Angeles and Hong Kong. The breadth of its reach means that Bonhams can offer items for sale wherever the works – art, antiques, jewellery, motor cars and collectibles – will attract the strongest interest and keenest bidding. Matching the item

Ex-Scuderia Filipinetti – Ferrari Classiche certified 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB Competizione

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a European Nobleman’.

It sold out, 100 per cent.

Unconstrained by its 225year heritage, numerous mergers and even being bombed out in the Second World War, this is a business facing firmly forwards.

Of course it’s not always about being good businesspeople. Sometimes it’s about advising a buyer honestly as to whether a piece will fit with a particular collection, An important fancy deep or acting as counsellor blue diamond Trombino ring to a seller and empathising with the emotional difficulties of parting with something precious. Above all, says Matthew Girling, ‘Every one of our specialists recognises that every item bought and sold at auction is a special event.’

BONHAMS 101 NEW BOND STREET, LONDON W1S 1SR

+44 (0)20 7447 7447

BONHAMS.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | ART & CULTURE

GRANGE PARK OPERA One of Europe’s major opera houses has a new home, where it continues to be an essential part of the British Summer Season

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version of Roméo et Juliette, and Verdi’s dramatic tale of intrigue, magine a brand new opera house, built in a horseshoe shape Un Ballo in Maschera. reminiscent of La Scala. Yet this opera house is not in Milan, Grange Park Opera makes opera more accessible through but in sun-dappled woodland in Surrey, beyond a 300-yearits innovative ticket schemes for under-35s and for schools. old orchard. Welcome to The Theatre in the Woods, 21stAs Kani herself says, ‘You don’t need to know anything about century Britain’s first new opera house, the home of Grange opera to enjoy it. Just immerse yourself – 70 people in the Park Opera and unveiled to great acclaim in June 2017. The orchestra, 50 people on stage, all performing live, right in front new five-tier opera house in the grounds of West Horsley Place of you. There is no right or wrong on what was described approvingly by The Times: ‘Britain has a new opera house. The theatre Welcome to The Theatre one should feel. Just feel it.’

Grange Park Opera has become has excellent sightlines and clear supportive in the Woods, 21stan integral part of the English summer acoustics. Its potential is enormous.’ century Britain’s first season. The audience – invariably, but Indeed, more than 14,000 people visited not exclusively in black tie and cocktail during the inaugural 2017 season, which was new opera house, the dresses – arrive in the afternoon, have declared ‘outstanding’ by the press. ‘Like a home of Grange Park a glass of champagne at The White giant mushroom, the Theatre in the Woods Opera and unveiled Wisteria Champagne Bar, and then has soared from nothing, towering between explore the grounds of the Tudor house, the trees... with a tangible sense of excitement, to great acclaim which was lived in by Mary, Duchess the first ever audiences have clambered in with in June 2017 of Roxburghe, until her death in 2014. high expectations, but few will have imagined just how big a treat they were in for,’ wrote Culture Whisper.

Only 23 miles from London, close to the Surrey Hills, Grange Park Opera has become one of the major summer opera festivals in Europe. Founded in 1998 by Wasfi Kani OBE, the company has staged more than 50 operas, including acclaimed productions of Rusalka, Tristan und Isolde and Peter Grimes. Fiddler on the Roof with Bryn Terfel was staged as part of the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. On the list for next season is Rodgers and Hammerstein’s masterpiece, Oklahoma!, Gounod’s heartrending

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Joseph Calleja as Cavaradossi in the 2017 production of Tosca

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In the long, convivial interval, the audience can settle into one of the two restaurants, either inside the 15th-century house, where Henry VIII once enjoyed a 35-course luncheon, or in The Walnut Tree Restaurant.

Alternatively they can book one of the picnic pavilions in the CrinkleCrankle Garden, on the Croquet Lawn, or in the Rose Parterre.

Picnicking in the orchard Then there are those who just fling their rugs and unfold picnic furniture in the orchard and have a feast under the mulberry, damson, apple and pear trees. And once the opera ends, the audience walks out into magical English woodland, fit for the queen of the fairies.

OPERA HOUSE: THE THEATRE IN THE WOODS WEST HORSLEY, SURREY KT24 6AN

The Duchess Restaurant

+44 (0)1962 737373

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | ART & CULTURE

KENSINGTON PALACE The birthplace of the modern monarchy and the home of its young royals

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Princess Michael of Kent and Prince Edward. Its most famous ensington Palace was built in 1605 but it wasn’t residents, however, were HRH Prince Charles and Diana, Princess until the summer of 1689 that it became associated of Wales, who moved there after their marriage in 1981. Princes with the British royal family. William III and Mary II William and Harry both grew up in the palace and it remained bought the mansion and instructed Sir Christopher Princess Diana’s home until her death.

Wren to expand it, adding three-storey pavilions But you don’t have to be royal to at each of its four corners. For the next 70 experience this public palace and private years, Kensington Palace was the favoured You don’t have to be house. We can all walk in the footsteps residence of British monarchs, including royal to experience this of Georgian royals, making our way through Queen Anne, George I and George II. public palace and private the magnificent King’s Apartments.

George I enlarged the palace with lavish new royal apartments, as well as house. We can all walk in We can experience the state rooms, where received courtiers, ministers commissioning the then unknown William the footsteps of Georgian monarchs and foreign ambassadors, all vying for Kent to redecorate the state rooms. The final royals, making our way power and royal patronage. And we can additions occurred in George II’s reign, when Queen Caroline hired Charles Bridgeman through the magnificent stroll through the gardens to the historic Sunken Garden, much admired by Princess to create a landscape garden that formed King’s Apartments Diana, who loved the garden’s changing the basis of the modern Kensington Gardens.

After the succession of King George III, the palace became used for minor royalty, until, in 1819, the future Queen Victoria was born and raised there. It was at Kensington Palace that she was told she would be queen and where she held her first privy council. Queen Victoria then moved to Buckingham Palace, granting rooms in her old palace to family and retired retainers.

Kensington Palace has been home to many royal family members in the 20th century too, including Prince Philip, before his wedding to HM Queen Elizabeth, Prince and

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floral displays, a tradition which continues today.

Kensington Palace is also where you’ll find Diana: Her Fashion Story, an extraordinary display of the princess’ garments, from glamorous and glittering evening gowns to examples of her 1990s ‘working wardrobe’.

Beautifully curated, this exhibition allows you to follow the princess’ story Diana: Her Fashion Story exhibition through her clothes, from the demure, romantic outfits of her first public appearances to the more confident ensembles of her later life. It also explores the way in which she navigated her unique position in the public eye, learning to use her image to engage and inspire people and to champion the causes she cared about.

Such was the success of the exhibition when it opened last year, that it will continue for 2018 with a changing selection of exquisite outfits, including some items never before displayed at Kensington Palace.

KENSINGTON PALACE KENSINGTON GARDENS, LONDON W8 4PX

Cupola Room

+44(0)20 3166 6000

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RADA World-leading vocational training for actors, stage managers, technical theatre arts and theatre costume specialists

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MA Theatre Lab in Messene (2017)

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he Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) is the most prestigious drama school in Britain. Every year this world centre of excellence auditions thousands of potential actors, designers and technicians, and for those talented enough to win a place, there’s no better training. As Juliet Stevenson CBE comments: ‘I can’t even imagine having had a career without RADA. It is inseparable from who I am as an actress.’

RADA was established in 1904 by renowned actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree. One of its key strengths is that it has always maintained strong connections with the theatre and film industries, working with industry professionals to train the next generation. Many of the academy’s most celebrated graduates today still play an active part in their alma mater, from President Sir Kenneth Branagh to RADA ambassadors Ralph Fiennes, Sir Anthony Hopkins CBE and Dame Diana Rigg.

But RADA alumni don’t just sit on committees: in 2017, for example, the academy collaborated with the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company on a production of Hamlet. Directed by Branagh, it starred RADA graduate Tom Hiddleston in the title role, with a cast that included Nicholas Farrell, Lolita Chakrabarti and Ansu Kabia, as well as two 2017 graduates Eleanor de Rohan and Irfan Shamji. RADA alumni Paul Pyant and James Cotterill were lighting designer and set and costume designer, respectively, while current Technical Theatre Arts students took on many backstage roles, giving them the fantastic

Hamlet rehearsal (2017)

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What has always counted at RADA above all else is talent: more than 70 per cent of students on the core programmes receive financial support opportunity of working alongside some of Britain’s top talent.

What has always counted at RADA above all else is talent: more than 70 per cent of students on the core programmes receive financial support from the academy and, as a registered charity, RADA raises a minimum of £2m every year to sustain and ensure access to training.

It also prides itself on its inclusivity: between 2015 and 2016, 27 per cent of students on the BA Acting course were from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds; 39 per cent had a household income of below £25k and 54 per cent had a household income of below £43k.

While the academy’s core programmes accept fewer than 200 students a year, RADA works with thousands of people across the world, introducing them to acting and Shakespeare through a programme of short courses. Twenty years ago it introduced RADA in Business, a training arm that helps people outside the theatre world to develop core communication skills. The programme, which has been a huge success, works with a wide range of business clients, from CEOs to retail assistants, lawyers to lecturers, all over the world. The academy is also a pioneer in training women to hold their space and have their voice heard through its women’s programmes designed for a range of levels.

Even those with no theatrical pretensions or need to develop their communication skills can benefit from RADA: most of the academy’s productions are open to the public, covering everything from classic drama to rediscovered and new works. And, who knows? You could be applauding the next Kenneth Branagh or Anthony Hopkins.

ROYAL ACADEMY OF DRAMATIC ART 62-64 GOWER STREET, LONDON WC1E 6ED

+44 (0)20 7636 7076

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WELSH NATIONAL OPERA Presenting Wales on the world stage is at the heart of WNO

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Karah Son in Madam Butterfly, performed at Dubai Opera

PHOTO CREDITS: CLIVE BARDA, JEREMY ABRAHAMS

here is no better way to cross cultural divides than through the arts.

And it is in this, as well as musical excellence, that Welsh National Opera excels. As an experienced touring company, WNO takes opera from its home at Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff across Wales and England, and its travels don’t stop at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. WNO is a powerful creative force on the worldwide opera stage and a major player in promoting Wales and Britain internationally.

Alongside a programme of performances, youth, community and digital events, WNO forges artistic partnerships with opera companies and cultural partners around the globe, providing opportunities for internationally acclaimed singers, conductors and directors to work with the company. Partnerships have included co-productions with, among others, San Francisco Opera, Komische Oper Berlin, State Opera of South Australia and Grand Théâtre de Genève.

‘International partnerships enable us to reach greater heights of creative practice,’ explains Leonora Thomson, managing director. ‘Co-productions help us to play our part in taking the brand of Wales abroad and demonstrating that Wales as a nation punches above its weight culturally.’

WNO’s cultural globetrotting has been part of its DNA from the company’s first performances in 1946. Since then it has performed in Lausanne, Zurich, Barcelona, Lisbon, New York, Paris, Milan, Tokyo, Leipzig, Berlin, Porto, Hong Kong, Frankfurt and Dresden. Still pushing boundaries, in recent years WNO became the first British opera company to perform at the Royal Opera House Muscat, Oman, at Finland’s iconic Savonlinna Opera Festival, and has showcased the best of young operatic talent at the British Ambassador’s residence in Doha, Qatar, as part of Welsh

Pelléas and Mélisande – Jurgita Adamonyte and Jacques Imbrailo

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Pelléas and Mélisande – Jurgita Adamonyte and Christopher Purves

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Bringing the best talent from around the world to Wales, and presenting Wales at the peak of its creativity before an international audience Cultural Week. In 2017, WNO was the first British opera company to perform at Dubai Opera.

‘Opera is an international medium, so it is important that WNO acts as a two-way platform, bringing the best talent from around the world to Wales, and presenting Wales at the peak of its creativity before an international audience,’ says WNO artistic director David Pountney.

‘We are proud to represent Wales, but nationalism should never be a narrow focus, rather one that reaches out to the widest variety of communities across the world.’

In March 2018 WNO will take its highly acclaimed production of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande to the Hong Kong Arts Festival, marking the 2018 centenary of Debussy’s death. Performed in French with English and Chinese subtitles, the production, directed by David Pountney, has been hailed as ‘an enigmatic, pulse-racing production full of characteristic verve and edginess’ (Wales Theatre Awards 2016 ‘Best Opera Production’).

‘We are thrilled to be part of the Hong Kong Festival,’ Pountney says, ‘and look forward to imbibing that city’s vibrant energy as well as bringing to it a bit of Welsh passion of our own.’

The success of Welsh National Opera’s productions internationally has earned the company respect from global audiences as well as international partners. Through a shared belief in excellence and quality, the company links WNO to Wales, and Wales to the rest of the world.

WELSH NATIONAL OPERA WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE, BUTE PLACE, CARDIFF CF10 5AL

+44 (0)29 2063 5000

WNO.ORG.UK

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PROPERTY, LEGAL & INVESTMENT

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PROPERTY, LEGAL & INVESTMENT | GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018

COUTTS Providing private banking with a personal touch for over 300 years

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in, but the experts at Coutts make well-informed decisions based ith a client list that makes history and defines on carefully thought out investment principles. success, Coutts is renowned for its personal Coutts takes great pride in being much more than just a bank. approach to private banking and wealth It is a trusted adviser with a deep understanding of clients’ lives. management. The 326-year-old institution Its vast experience working with the wealthy underpins a unique provides brilliant banking, flexible lending understanding of their priorities, pastimes and passions. CEO and reliable investments to cater for all aspects of its clients’ lives.

Peter Flavel says: ‘Three centuries supporting wealthy clients The company’s rich history began in 1692 when a young Scot has given us unparalleled knowledge of their needs and the called John Campbell set up shop as a goldsmith on the Strand exceptional level of service they require. What defines us is in London – across the road from where Coutts’ iconic building that we go beyond banking and support our now stands. As well as supplying jewellery and clients and their families across all aspects other gold and silver items, Campbell offered From humble a banking service – discounting bills, making beginnings, Coutts has of managing their wealth.’

A good example of this approach is the loans and taking deposits. become the world’s bank’s ground-breaking biennial publication From these humble beginnings, Coutts best-known private the Coutts Index – a unique insight into passion has become the world’s best-known private assets and objects of desire such as fine wine, bank. It provides first-class day-to-day banking bank and offers an services such as current accounts, mortgages, exceptional service for classic cars and collectible watches. It captures these items’ changing value and shows clients credit cards and lending, but goes much further exceptional people what their most prized possessions are worth. to offer an exceptional service for exceptional Coutts also uses its extensive network people. For example, it provides a multiof Britain’s most creative and resourceful people to support currency debit card that reflects the international lifestyles entrepreneurs, investors and the wider economy. Through its of its clients, enabling them to use just one card when overseas Investment Opportunity Service, it can introduce people who without paying conversion currency charges. want to invest in fledgling businesses to entrepreneurs looking It is also an established investment house, helping clients for capital. And its award-winning Coutts Concierge service helps make the most of their money through a range of investment clients with everything from booking a hotel room to getting services. Its Coutts Invest service gives clients direct access coveted concert tickets. to its expertise online – they can invest in a few clicks. The For most people, banking is a necessity. But if you’re a Coutts value of investments can of course go down as well as up, client it can also be a luxury. so there is always a risk of getting back less than you put COUTTS 440 STRAND, LONDON WC2R 0QS

+44 (0)20 7753 1000

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | PROPERTY, LEGAL & INVESTMENT

FARRER & CO A modern British law firm combining a rich heritage and an international, forward-thinking ethos

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the highest quality of service to its clients. The firm is known 017 was an exciting year for Farrer & Co. In May it for its thoughtful, sophisticated and intelligent approach – the appointed its first female senior partner, Anne-Marie place people want to come when they have a really complicated, Piper, who brings three decades of industry experience, important, life-affecting issue to solve. strong leadership and a determination that Farrer & Co Well-known for acting for high-net worth individuals, the firm should continue to flourish as an increasingly flexible also offers a comprehensive range of legal services to its commercial and diverse workplace. Founded some 300 years ago, the firm has a deeply rooted culture of integrity, excellence and partnership, which clients, on issues ranging from corporate transactions, financial services, data protection, disputes, employment it uses as a strong base from which to innovate. and reputation management. It advises Farrer & Co is one of the few leading Farrer is known for its innovative corporate deals, such as the law firms which has remained entirely thoughtful, sophisticated on sale of the Duchy Originals brand to Waitrose independent and retains a clear sense and intelligent approach and is adept at navigating complex commercial of identity and collegiality. It prides itself on the trust it has built with its clients, – the place people want cross-border disputes, some of which have resulted in the formation of new who know that they can rely on Farrer & Co to come when they have recently law by the Supreme Court. 2017 also saw Farrer to be utterly discreet while offering expert a really complicated, & Co adapt to reflect client demands and the advice. ‘The role we play with many of our changing economic market by creating clients is that of trusted adviser. And that’s important, life-affecting a dedicated Brexit response team and expand about judgment,’ says Anne-Marie, who issue to solve into the areas of immigration and Fintech. understands implicitly that lawyers are often Farrer & Co has been in the heart of London’s legal district since called up on at times of great stress, in personal or business life.

1790, working from its iconic office, a former home of Prime Minister The 400 people in the firm today, including approximately 250 Thomas Pelham-Holles and the location for the sealing of the charter fee earners and 80 partners, are the firm’s greatest asset; a dynamic of the Bank of England. Illustrious clients through the centuries have community of talented individuals, united in its ambition to deliver

Farrer & Co’s iconic offices

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The welcoming reception at Farrer & Co

included Charles Dickens and Captain Scott, for whom the firm acted while he prepared for his expeditions to the Antarctic. The firm’s prestigious reputation and its knowledge and understanding of the luxury sector have earned the firm a strong standing in acting for luxury businesses, often with a global reach, as well as guiding its wealthier clients when making major investments in such companies.

‘Our heritage is terribly important and our ethos is one of stewardship, leaving the business in better shape than you found it,’ says Anne-Marie. Notwithstanding its distinguished past, adapting to its clients’ ever-changing needs has ensured Farrer & Co’s reputation as one of London’s most versatile contemporary law firms.

FARRER & CO 66 LINCOLN’S INN FIELDS, LONDON WC2A 3LH

+44 (0)20 3375 7117

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Holland Park villas

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PROPERTY, LEGAL & INVESTMENT | GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018

NATIVE LAND A leading London property development and investment company

Burlington Gate penthouse kitchen

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which between them will add over 320,000 sq/ft of office space ative Land is a privately owned property company to Native Land’s portfolio, will play a significant role in enhancing focused on creating exceptional mixed-use the company’s position as a leading mixed-use developer. developments in London. It was founded in 2003 Native Land focuses on putting imaginative design at the top

by Alasdair Nicholls and Jonathan Mantovani, of the agenda, working with award-winning architects and a small both formerly of Taylor Woodrow Capital group of leading studios (including Studio Reed, David Collins, Development. Since then, Native Land has garnered a reputation Studio Ashby and Collett-Zarzycki) to deliver its schemes. This for developing homes in thriving neighbourhoods and locations approach has led to the GLA praising two of its buildings for their undergoing transformation, using its intuitive knowledge exemplary design and awareness of surrounding infrastructure to determine which areas have the most potential and are requirements in its London Plan planning guidance document. likely to experience a rise in demand.

Delivering developments with strong Take Native Land’s pioneering regeneration environmental credentials is also work of Bankside on the Thames’s South Bank: Native Land focuses the Stirling Prize shortlisted NEO Bankside was on putting imaginative of importance to Native Land. The company strives to be sustainable wherever possible, designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and design at the top of both in the development methods used and opened in 2012, comprising 217 apartments and the agenda, working the long-term life of the building. For example, penthouses arranged over four ‘pavilions’. It has the Burlington Gate development features 50 become an integral part of establishing the area with award-winning as a cultural, residential and commercial quarter. architects and a small electric car charging points in the underground car park, an increasingly important specification Native Land also has a strong track record group of leading studios for buyers, given the surge in popularity of electric of supporting London’s arts scene and, and hybrid cars in recent years. through developing a strong relationship with For all projects, the in-house team’s commitment to detail Southwark Council, gifted land to Tate Modern which was used is clear: everything from the light switches chosen to the layout for the gallery’s extension. Similarly, the company’s Burlington Gate development, completed this autumn, will revitalise Mayfair’s of a car park and the planting for outdoor spaces, is carefully fine art heartland with new art galleries and the first public arcade considered. It’s just one reason why the company attracts both new and repeat buyers from Britain and abroad. built in central London since the 1930s.

Together with its network of international investment partners, Other important recent acquisitions include Regent House on Native Land currently controls over 1.75 million sq/ft of central The Portman Estate, which has planning consent for 43,000 sq/ft London residential accommodation and mixed-use space in the of offices plus 24 residential apartments, and Bankside Yards, a large planning pipeline. A key player in the property development sector, site in a prominent riverside location on the South Bank. Although Native Land aims to keep the capital a world-class city. most widely known for its residential developments, these schemes, NATIVE LAND THE PAVILION, 118 SOUTHWARK STREET, LONDON SE1 0SW

+44 (0)20 7758 3650

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | PROPERTY, LEGAL & INVESTMENT

NORTHACRE Twenty-five years of exceptional living

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or three decades Northacre has created some of London’s most treasured addresses, filling central London’s grandest period buildings, as well as exceptional new build schemes of distinction, with the finest modern interiors and facilities.

Its pioneering work has re-defined the standards for high-end living in one of the world’s most sought-after cities.

Founded by architect Klas Nilsson, who remains Non-Executive Chairman, and led by CEO Niccolò Barattieri di San Pietro, Northacre creates remarkable residences and is the undisputed master of technically challenging revival schemes. The company distinguishes itself through an intrinsic understanding of luxury, where passionate attention to detail is combined with craftsmanship, heritage and innovation.

In addition to developing areas such as Mayfair and Knightsbridge, Northacre creates new desirability for pockets of London that have fallen out of fashion, achieving exceptional return on investment.

Each Northacre property has been carefully and intelligently designed, sensitively incorporating the evolving requirements of its discerning clientele. Northacre recognises that security, space, scale and the seamless integration of technology are every bit as important to buyers as the postcode and the finest specification.

In Northacre’s hands architectural traditionalism and high-end living enjoy a symbiotic relationship. A fine example of what has become known as the ‘Northacre way’ is No. 1 Palace Street, set to complete in 2019. Occupying a magnificent island site in St James’s Park, this development will span nearly 303,000 sq/ft and house 72 impressive apartments within its architecturally imposing design. Merging five different styles – 1860s Italianate Renaissance, 1880s French Renaissance, 1880s French Beaux Arts, 1890s Queen Anne and contemporary – this scheme is a one-of-a-kind residence, offering outstanding views, lateral space, a grand interior scale and more than 10,000 sq/ft of unrivalled facilities and state-of-the art security.

No. 1 Palace Street

The Broadway

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The view from The Broadway at dusk

Northacre recognises that security, space, scale and the seamless integration of technology are every bit as important to buyers as the postcode and the finest specification If Northacre’s devotion to historical detail is rare, what the company can achieve with its new buildings is even more exceptional. Consider The Broadway, a new development of nearly two acres in the heart of Westminster, comprising six architecturally striking towers, a significant public thoroughfare and pedestrianised piazza. It will also offer unrivalled views of the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye and St James’s Park.

For the last 50 years this site has housed the HQ of New Scotland Yard. In Northacre’s hands it will offer 355,000 sq/ft of extraordinary residential space, turning one of London’s most famous addresses into one of its most residentially prestigious.

‘Today’s discerning consumer expects a level of service that goes far beyond the point of purchase’ says Niccolò Barattieri di San Pietro, adding that Northacre creates a club like experience for buyers. With its No. 1 Palace Street App, Northacre has launched a first – a content rich platform which provides buyers with a tailored up-to-the-minute window into the development, apartment-specific information and privileged access to exclusive events from the moment of exchange.

With the promise of exceptional design, some of London’s most phenomenal buildings and seamless service from start to finish, it’s a club that we all can’t help but aspire to belong to.

NORTHACRE 8 ALBION RIVERSIDE, 8 HESTER ROAD, LONDON SW11 4AX

+44 (0)20 7349 8000

NORTHACRE.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | PROPERTY, LEGAL & INVESTMENT

SAVILLS PRIVATE OFFICE Ultimate discretion and an unrivalled knowledge of the market defines this specialised client service

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f you have valuable real estate to sell in Europe, how do you let wealthy buyers in Asia, the US and the Caribbean know about it?

Being a global company certainly helps but, even then, how can you be sure your network is sufficiently connected to prevent those wealthy individuals falling through the net from location to location?

If you’re Savills you set up a unique one-stop service to act as a trusted adviser and single point of contact for your global ultra high-net-worth clients. You staff it with experts from right across the company, including your top specialists in residential business, British country estates, prime central London, international residential and new developments. You link it with your commercial business. And you call it the Private Office.

Which is exactly what Savills did. Launched by David Forbes in 2008, the Private Office has proved a resounding success, generating several billion pounds worth of business every year.

An example of how it all works in practice is demonstrated by Crispin Holborow, Deputy Chairman of the Private Office and its country house and estate specialist. He had been advising one client on the sale and purchase of a country property; a relationship that led to further advice; first on the purchase of London residential investments, then a head office for the family business in Mayfair, and now to commercial property investments in Europe and elsewhere.

Not everyone involved in the Private Office brings property expertise to the table. Associate Director of the Private Office Julien Ward, for example, is a former private banker. ‘My background gives me an excellent grounding in working with private clients, servicing and

Soley House, Wiltshire Offers in excess of £12.5m

Little Venice, W9 Guide price £25m freehold

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From left to right: David Forbes, Ned Baring, Julien Ward, Crispin Holborow, Barbara Allen, Rory McMullen and Alex Christian

‘Clients come to us because they like the discreet and confidential approach.

We offer a boutique service with the capabilities of a global business’ building relationships with them,’ he says. ‘I know from experience that when a business introducer makes a referral, they are taking a risk with their client relationship. If I can assure them we will handle their client like they would, it should make that referral easier to make.’

Of course, dealing with clients at this level is never simply a case of matching the right wealthy individual to the right multi-million pound property: discretion and privacy are equally important.

‘Clients come to us because they like the discreet and confidential approach,’ says Julien. ‘We offer a boutique service with the capabilities of a global business.

To ensure its continued success, the Private Office has to keep moving forward, extending its reach. To that end, it has added representation in more locations across the world over the past 18 months, with new appointments in Singapore, the South of France and Moscow.

The Private Office also has to follow the money, pin-pointing exactly who has it and where. ‘It’s no secret that the majority of the wealth generation in the world is coming from the emerging markets,’ says Julien. ‘I expect we will also see a large number of wealthy tech entrepreneurs established and more attention given to the issue of succession – the transfer of wealth to the next generation.’

SAVILLS PRIVATE OFFICE 33 MARGARET STREET, LONDON W1G 0JD

+44 (0)20 7824 9001

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | PROPERTY, LEGAL & INVESTMENT

WEATHERBYS PRIVATE BANK Modern private banking founded on a proud heritage of traditional values

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eatherbys is the private bank that combines and offers the best of new and old worlds.

The Weatherbys group was founded in 1770 by solicitor James Weatherby. He was originally employed by the Jockey Club in Newmarket to look after entry fees and prize money for the burgeoning ‘Sport of Kings’ that is horse racing.

The bank, which started in 1994, grew from this and is today part of a seventh generation British business, with a history of careful stewardship and responsible management rooted in family values.

Trust, integrity and service are the backbone values of the company and underpin Weatherbys’ strength today. Run by brothers Johnny Weatherby (Chairman) and Roger Weatherby (Chief Executive), the business is one of only two wholly family-owned, independent private banks in Britain. As well as providing all the services you would associate with a big modern bank – including lending, deposits and financial planning – Weatherbys’ clients receive the commitment to personal service and attention to detail of a small family business.

Rather than relying on the rigidity of credit scoring, Weatherbys takes a personal approach to lending and makes pragmatic, informed decisions based on direct knowledge of clients’ financial affairs. Unlike many lenders, it can take assets like investments, guarantees and land into account when considering lending applications.

For many banks, clients with investment needs are seen as a chance to push the bank’s own products. At Weatherbys, the only product available is advice, true to its vision of investment management as a reasonably-priced, impartial, professional service to meet its clients’ needs.

Weatherbys’ began as a stakeholder for the sport of horse racing

Weatherbys Private Bank builds enduring relationships

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Weatherbys offers the best of old and new

As well as providing all the services you would associate with a big modern bank, Weatherbys’ clients receive the personal service and attention to detail of a small family business At Weatherbys, reputation means everything. The majority of new clients are introduced by personal endorsements from existing customers, testament to the unrivalled levels of service and professional expertise that the bank’s clients enjoy.

As you would expect, Weatherbys has learned a thing or two about families along the way and knows the importance

of succession planning, patience and long-term thinking.

Weatherbys’ experienced Private Bankers build enduring relationships, supporting clients and their families with expert insights and bespoke advice at every stage of their lives.

Just because Weatherbys has been around for a while and is rightly proud of its heritage doesn’t mean the company has not embraced technology and a modern approach. Today it has all the contemporary tools to help clients manage their finances online and on the move, safely and securely. But it doesn’t stop here – even if you prefer to do most things online, the bank’s clients are assured that there is still someone at the end of a telephone or to talk to face to face. In the increasingly automated world of banking, such commitment to conversation is truly refreshing.

WEATHERBYS PRIVATE BANK 22 SACKVILLE STREET, LONDON W1S 3DN

+44 (0)20 7292 9029

WEATHERBYS.BANK

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HOTELS & TRAVEL

ABERCROMBIE & KENT Ensuring that your time away is the time of your life for more than five decades

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A&K’s commitment to creating bespoke adventures is what n 1962 Geoffrey Kent founded A&K in Africa with the sets it apart from other travel companies. The travel specialists motto ‘off-the-beaten-track safaris’ and little more than understand that while a palatial property might be the only option a refrigerated ex-Army truck and the best tents money for one client, another might want the intimacy of a boutique could buy. More than five decades later, a lot has changed, hotel. No request is too big or too small, whether clients want to but A&K is still dedicated to taking its clients way past the slip a few extra days into the itinerary or arrange a night sleeping guidebooks, devising one-off, meticulously planned journeys under the stars. It is this level of flexibility that is the secret to A&K’s into hard-to-reach wildernesses. ability to pull off one of a kind experiences for Today Geoffrey Kent remains at the helm, those who want to see the unseen. credited with having invented the modern Their mission is to A&K’s holidays are designed for people safari. He travels for 270 days of the year and encourage clients seeking to expand their horizons. The still leads select and exclusive trips to the world’s to take the road less brand’s formula is to provide a luxury final frontiers. These inspiring, pioneering, private jet journeys explore the most remote travelled, to discover cocoon from which to explore the globe from the Arctic to Antarctica and everywhere and spectacular lands on the planet. new experiences in between. Whether visiting rare historic The company now boasts a family of over and uncover local sites in China, touring through India, 2,500 travel specialists who have turned a passion for travel into a vocation. All are driven secrets beyond the seeing wildlife in the Galápagos or lying on a beach in the Caribbean, absolutely by wanderlust and an insatiable curiosity, and reach of most anything is possible. between them they have visited nearly every The Small Group Journeys, led by a tour director and local country on Earth. Their mission is to encourage clients to take guides, allow clients to explore the world in the company of no the road less travelled, to discover new experiences and uncover more than 24 like-minded travellers, staying in smaller, boutique local secrets beyond the reach of most. A&K opens doors properties and eating in locally owned restaurants that can’t to private palaces and arranges out of hours tours of museums, accommodate larger groups. On select adventures, A&K has added galleries or monuments when no other soul is there.

No two A&K tailor-made holidays are the same. They all start with a conversation with a travel specialist, who listens carefully, then builds a personal itinerary from scratch, tweaking it until the client is 100 per cent happy.

Egypt, Deir el-Bahri Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

India, Udaipur

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Overlooking the African plains

Peru

some special touches such as the Travelling Bellboy or the Traveller’s Valet.

A&K wins awards not just for its holidays but also for its philanthropic efforts to protect and preserve the places it travels to. In 2012 Geoffrey was inducted into the British Travel and Hospitality Industry Hall of Fame and in 2014 won a Travel Weekly Lifetime Achievement Award. Among the many awards it has already received, A&K was named 2017’s ‘Best Luxury Tour Operator’ by readers at The Times, Sunday Times and Sunday Times Travel Magazine Travel Awards.

Geoffrey Kent

ABERCROMBIE & KENT ST GEORGE’S HOUSE, AMBROSE STREET, CHELTENHAM GL50 3LG

+44 (0)1242 547760

ABERCROMBIEKENT.CO.UK

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The Balmoral exterior

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HOTELS & TRAVEL | GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018

THE BALMORAL An iconic landmark hotel in an unrivalled location

THIS PICTURE AND RIGHT: An Executive Room at The Balmoral and The Balmoral’s Palm Court

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One, is a culinary landmark, retaining its coveted Michelin star or over a century, The Balmoral has stood at Edinburgh’s for 2018 for the 16th consecutive year. From à la carte to a sevenmost prestigious address, No. 1 Princes Street. It began life course tasting menu, Number One presents modern Scottish as a grand railway hotel in 1902 and continues to respect cuisine by Executive Chef Jeff Bland and Head Chef Brian Grigor, the traditions of its founders, right down to the kilted accompanied by an extensive wine list. doormen. The hotel is one of Scotland’s most recognised For evening drinks, the hotel’s dedicated whisky bar, Scotch, landmarks and its majestic clock tower dominates the capital’s skyline, pays homage to Scotland’s national drink and is home to one while its castle views are some of Edinburgh’s most cherished. of Edinburgh’s largest collections. Dedicated whisky ambassadors Located in a prime position for exploring the city’s many oversee a continuously changing collection of 500 historical and cultural sites, this Rocco Forte hotel single malts, vintages and blends, and host regular is also the perfect base from which to explore Dedicated whisky Scotland. The hotel’s unrivalled concierge team ambassadors oversee a tasting sessions for the novice or connoisseur alike.

The Olga Polizzi-designed bar features a palette has all the expertise to create bespoke private continuously changing of whisky-coloured tones, creating a warm, tours of Edinburgh and beyond. collection of 500 intimate ambience. The centre piece of the room The Balmoral is famous for offering timeless grandeur with a contemporary twist. In 2017 Olga single malts, vintages – a hand-crafted oak panelled whisky cabinet – is complemented by the interior furnishings Polizzi, Rocco Forte Hotels’ Director of Building and blends, and host in natural fabrics like wool, cord and leather. and Design, undertook a significant restyle of the regular tasting sessions The Balmoral’s Palm Court is an Edinburgh castle view rooms and suites. Authenticity and institution that’s as glittering as its glass dome a strong sense of place are at the heart of Rocco and Venetian chandelier. This is the place to sample award-winning Forte Hotels, so some of the best suites and rooms in the hotel have afternoon tea or sip vintage champagne, while a harpist lays down the been enlivened with a décor scheme inspired by the woodlands perfect soundtrack. The walls are adorned with specially commissioned of Scotland, with touches of magic and whimsy throughout. A colour hand-painted de Gournay wallpaper, incorporating well-known palette of blues, greens, greys and purples evokes the lochs and Edinburgh follies into the landscape. heathers of the Highlands, helping to bring the Scottish landscape The hotel’s ten private dining rooms overlook Princes Street inside. Recessed window seats allow guests to reflect and take gardens and Edinburgh Castle, an elegant, intimate setting for a moment to enjoy some of the best views in the city. a special celebration. The Forte family’s style of service draws When it comes to dining, The Balmoral has a venue to satisfy every guests back time and time again. appetite and occasion. The hotel’s fine dining restaurant, Number THE BALMORAL 1 PRINCES STREET, EDINBURGH, EH2 2EQ

+44 (0)131 556 2414

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BELMOND Curator of extraordinary travel experiences across the globe

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Bamford Haybarn Spa to the train’s rake, meaning guests can enjoy rom its London base overlooking the Thames, Belmond a soothing treatment as they glide past pine-clad mountains, mirroroperates some of the world’s most celebrated hotels, river perfect lochs and ancient castles. cruises and trains, including Belmond British Pullman, Belmond Royal Scotsman offers a selection of itineraries, including sister train to the legendary Venice Simplon-Orientthe new five-night Clans, Castles and Isles tour, which plunges travellers Express, the Belmond Royal Scotsman and the all-new into Scotland’s wild and rugged west coast. For keen golfers there’s Belmond Grand Hibernian. a special itinerary accompanied by golf professional Sam Torrance Belmond Grand Hibernian is Ireland’s (departing 25 June 2018). While golfers first ever luxury sleeper train. Departing from tee off on three of Scotland’s finest courses, Dublin, this country-house-on-rails travels Belmond operates their non-golfing partners can visit a selection through the heart of the Emerald Isle on some of the world’s of magnificent castles and estates. Everyone a selection of carefully curated itineraries. most celebrated hotels, gathers together in the evening for a delicious Those keen to explore the north of the feast, lively entertainment and, naturally, country can travel up the east coast to Belfast river cruises and trains, a wee dram or two. and on to historic Waterford; travellers including the Belmond Belmond is equally renowned for its wishing to experience the south can journey British Pullman, sister train gastronomic day journeys around Britain to Cork, continue to the Lakes of Killarney and return to Dublin via Galway. There’s also to the legendary Venice- aboard the beautiful Belmond British Pullman. train has a starring role in the Paddington a six-night itinerary that covers the length and Simplon-Orient-Express The 2 movie and, on 16 February and 7 April 2018, breadth of the island.

Of course, there’s more to a trip on Belmond Grand Hibernian than geography, including the chance to enjoy local specialities, Belmond Grand Hibernian such as Galway oysters and Gubbeen cheese; to sample whiskey at the famous Jameson distillery; to make private visits to country houses and to experience the local craic. At the end of each day, comfortable cabins, all ensuite, beckon.

Another recent first for Belmond is to be found aboard Belmond Royal Scotsman, the historic sleeper train that departs from Edinburgh on journeys around the Highlands. In 2017, the company added the

Belmond Royal Scotsman, Bamford Haybarn Spa

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Belmond Royal Scotsman

it will be adding marmalade sandwiches to its afternoon tea menu in honour of the accidentprone bear. The journey will be steam-hauled and guests will enjoy Paddington-related activities.

For a more gourmet experience, Belmond British Pullman offers a Golden Age of Travel lunch, which gives diners the chance to appreciate the train’s unique art deco interiors on a trip through the British countryside. Other itineraries include tasting menus created by Michelin-starred chefs, Belmond such as a three-course lunch at Grand Hibernian Raymond Blanc’s Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, followed by dessert on the train and visits to great British cities and sporting events.

There really is no better way to see the British Isles in all their glory than aboard an iconic Belmond train.

BELMOND SHACKLETON HOUSE, 4 BATTLE BRIDGE LANE, LONDON SE1 2HP

Belmond British Pullman

+44 (0)845 077 2222

BELMOND.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HOTELS & TRAVEL

THE CALCOT COLLECTION Providing an informal, contemporary buzz and great food in idyllic, historic rural settings

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he Calcot Collection’s story might be said to begin in the refurbishment, the property opened in 2014 as a pub with a superb restaurant and rooms. Their latest purchase was The Painswick 14th century, when Cistercian monks built a tithe barn in 2016, its first restaurant-with-rooms or ‘feasts-and-the-rest’. near Tetbury. That ancient barn was originally on the From the start, The Calcot Collection has regularly broken site of Calcot, which first opened in 1984 as a countrynew ground. Steering clear of fashionable frippery, they sought a house hotel called Calcot Manor. more timeless appeal and so were soon setting trends rather than Today, The Calcot Collection comprises four highly distinctive following them. They know how to welcome families with warmth, boutique operations, representing a clutch of alluring manor strip away the taint of formality from the houses, cottages, restaurants, pubs, spas and gardens located in historic locations in the The Calcot Collection’s traditional country-house experience and offer relaxed dining without compromising Cotswolds, with a Northumberland outpost. pubs and hotels are on quality. They also know how to launch Set within 220 acres of meadowland, Calcot elevated into a class exceptional spas, how to embrace their is the flagship property, with 35 rooms, suites and cottages, two restaurants and an awardof their own, making a properties’ heritage and location with respect, how to update properties with snappy but winning spa, featuring an indoor pool and name for themselves as and appropriate décor. This means their pubs and a secluded courtyard witha hot tub and log fire. easygoing countryside hotels are elevated into a class of their own, In 2009 the company acquired the making a name for themselves as easygoing romantic, 17th-century Barnsley House, retreats with a rural retreats with a contemporary buzz. with its historic Rosemary Verey garden and contemporary buzz With more cost-conscious options having The Village Pub opposite it. Barnsley House now has 18 beautiful rooms, a quirky spa, The Potager restaurant, a pink-seated cinema and private space perfect for team meetings at the bottom of the famous garden. The Village Pub offers six inviting bedrooms in addition to a hearty, gutsy British menu and craft ales at affordable prices.

In 2012 The Calcot Collection took on the lease of the Lord Crewe Arms in Northumberland. Set in the North Pennine moors, the ‘Crewe’ was originally an 11th-century abbot’s guesthouse with original flagstone floors, vaulted ceilings and vast fireplaces. After

The Hearth at The Painswick

Delicious food at the Lord Crewe Arms

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Calcot Spa

been introduced alongside the higher-end choices, The Calcot Collection’s distinctive ethos of offering a sophisticated boutique experience in a rural context has been comprehensively extended. ‘Food and drink are key to defining what The Calcot Collection is all about and all our restaurants and pubs can be counted upon for a sense of fun, buzz and excitement,’ says Richard Ball, The Calcot Collection’s executive chairman.

‘Across all our activities, it’s The Lord Crewe Arms our warm, friendly staff who understand what our guests want and how to exceed their expectations that really helps them to stand out from the crowd.’ They call it ‘hospitotally’.

Barnsley House and its wonderful Rosemary Verey gardens

CALCOT & SPA NEAR TETBURY, GLOUCESTERSHIRE GL8 8YJ +44 (0)1666 890391 CALCOT.CO BARNSLEY HOUSE & SPA BARNSLEY, CIRENCESTER, GLOUCESTERSHIRE GL7 5EE +44 (0)1285 740000 BARNSLEYHOUSE.COM THE PAINSWICK KEMPS LANE, PAINSWICK, GLOUCESTERSHIRE GL6 6YB +44 (0)1452 813688 THEPAINSWICK.CO.UK COUNTRYANDTOWNHOUSE.CO.UK /GBB | 339

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HOTELS & TRAVEL

THE CAPITAL HOTEL A flagship of British style and genuine hospitality

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Capital has a repeat business of 60 per cent, with a high n a quiet cut-through street between Harrods proportion of British guests. At a time when the travel industry and Harvey Nichols lined by Victorian apartments is all about adventure, exploration and variety, this level of loyalty with pretty boxes of flowers outside, the elegant is particularly impressive, and goes to show that there is a real façade of the Capital Hotel is as discreet and appetite for the true traditions of British hospitality. charming as its interiors and loyal staff. It was The Capital Hotel’s best-loved characters include Head Concierge founded in 1971 by David Levin, a pioneer of the boutique hotel Clive. After 28 years at The Capital and with an impressive memory market and innovator of the gastro pub – The Royal Oak, for quirky requests, Clive still offers to outpace in Yattendon, Berkshire put him on the map.

Today his passion continues through daughter Their high level of care jogging guests around Hyde Park. Cesar da Silva started his career at the hotel aged Kate, who is the General Manager. and intimacy explains 17 and is now one of Britain’s most respected Discerning international travellers coming the fierce loyalty whisky experts, becoming Britain’s Youngest to London look for that famed, great British Keeper of the Quaich in 2011 – an honour hospitality and few places can still boast of staff and guests from the whisky industry. An hour at the bar a true sense of place as much as The Capital, alike; currently with Cesar on one of his ‘whisky and cheese Knightsbridge. The reassuring atmosphere 14 members of staff tours’ is, for many an enthusiast, a magical and excellent service of a gentleman’s home sweeps guests up on arrival. A true home have served 250 years experience, whatever their level of knowledge.

Into the mix of great hospitality comes from home, the hotel cleverly provides between them great food. An impressive roster of chefs a mixture of individually designed rooms and suites – including the two-level Penthouse – along with residential apartments to cater for longer independent stays.

Staff at The Capital exude a passion and enthusiasm that serve as a bastion against the increasingly faceless and impersonal style of many properties today. Their high level of care and intimacy explains the fierce loyalty of staff and guests alike; currently 14 members of staff have served 250 years between them and The

Superior junior suite

Cesar da Silva

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The Penthouse

have launched their careers at The Capital, including Éric Chavot, Brian Turner, Paul Merrett and Gary Rhodes.

Now, under the direction of Nathan Outlaw, Outlaw’s at The Capital is one of Britain’s most acclaimed seafood restaurants.

Refreshingly, the interiors at The Capital remain loyal to its heritage: not pandering to the latest fads, the hotel shuns the trend for a homogenised, global look in favour of something altogether a little more English. The use of antiques, The Eaton Suite heritage fabrics from acclaimed British designers such as Nina Campbell, and more contemporary details from William Yeoward, have anchored the hotel with an assured sense of place, one that will no doubt keep customers returning for many years to come.

THE CAPITAL HOTEL 22–24 BASIL STREET, LONDON SW3 1AT

Outlaw’s at The Capital

+44 (0)20 7589 5171

CAPITALHOTEL.CO.UK

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HOTELS & TRAVEL

HOTEL CAFÉ ROYAL A name with an illustrious past that will endure far into the future

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reviously the haunt of famed patrons, from royalty and celebrities to the creative and notorious, Café Royal, London, has been an established and iconic landmark on the British capital’s social scene for over a century.

In its recent reincarnation as a luxury hotel, Hotel Café Royal remains a firm favourite with locals, while becoming a global destination for the discerning traveller.

Located in the heart of London, with elegant Mayfair to the west and creative Soho to the east, the hotel is perfectly positioned within walking distance of London’s finest shopping destinations, culinary highlights and cultural attractions.

Paying homage to the illustrious history of the building, original and historic features, dating back to the 1860s and 1920s, have been sensitively restored, while the 160 spacious bedrooms, including 49 suites and seven incredible signature suites, have been created in a contemporary yet refined style, designed

by David Chipperfield Architects.

Created to feel like luxurious private apartments, the guest rooms and suites at Hotel Café Royal are some of the largest in London.

Contemporary yet serene, and designed with meticulous detail, the rooms feature rusticated Portland stone or fumed English Oak panels and beautiful bathrooms made in the hotel’s sleek, signature Carrara marble. All rooms feature Frette bed linen, a fully stocked butler’s pantry and British bathroom amenities from Floris London. Each one of the seven signature suites is a masterpiece of contemporary

The legendary Oscar Wilde bar

A landmark of a building Pool at the Akasha Holistic Wellbeing Centre

Chic and refined

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Splendid views from the rooftop terrace

Located in the heart of London, Hotel Café Royal is perfectly positioned within walking distance of London’s finest shopping destinations and attractions design mixed with architectural heritage, with bespoke furniture and sophisticated bathrooms set against restored original elements. With a passion for excellence, a butler, guest relations and an exceptional concierge team are available to ensure a seamless stay, both inside the hotel and throughout London.

Hotel Café Royal offers a selection of restaurants and bars including The Oscar Wilde Bar (formerly the iconic Grill Room, established in 1865), which has been exquisitely restored to its original Louis XVI décor and is now the place to enjoy the award-winning

afternoon tea. Papillon on Regent Street emulates the European tradition of café culture featuring both British and French influences and the finest seasonal ingredients. In addition the Green Bar with its botanicals and tonics is the perfect place to relax and unwind with a cocktail.

To complete the full experience, the Akasha Holistic Wellbeing Centre is an urban retreat spanning over 1,200sq/m. Offering a new concept and approach to holistic wellbeing, it is a hidden sanctuary deep underneath the bustle of Regent Street, featuring a state-of-theart gym, large lap pool, Watsu pool, sauna and private hammam.

Hotel Café Royal is a founding hotel of The Set hotels, alongside Conservatorium, Amsterdam and Lutetia, Paris, opening in the spring of 2018. These unique properties, in impressive locations, capture the hearts and minds of their guests and enhance the most vibrant destinations in the world.

HOTEL CAFÉ ROYAL 68 REGENT STREET, LONDON W1B 4DY

+44 (0)20 7406 3333

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HOTELS & TRAVEL

ICONIC LUXURY HOTELS Quintessentially British properties in one unique collection

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to the award-winning spa, leisure facilities and state-of-the-art very property in the Iconic Luxury Hotels collection has James Martin cookery school, you’ll find a huge variety of ways its own story, its own traditions and its own character. to revive the senses. The 130 acres of woodland, gardens and As well as all being quintessentially British, each has parkland meanwhile are home to a tennis centre, nine-hole something special that marks it out as unique and it’s golf course, heritage orchard, 70 working bee hives, walled this individuality that is the hallmark of the collection. kitchen garden and croquet lawn.

Staying at an Iconic Luxury Hotel is an experience you’ll never The Lygon Arms is a charming old coaching inn that sits in the forget: service as personal as it’s discreet; food that strives for heart of Broadway village – often called ‘the culinary perfection, served in a welcoming, jewel of the Cotswolds’ – and boasts a rich comfortable environment; and rooms which, Staying at an Iconic history, coloured by the many characters though undoubtedly grand, make you feel like Luxury Hotel is an who have stayed there, from Oliver Cromwell you’re staying with friends. experience you’ll to Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

Cliveden House, just 40 minutes from This Cotswolds bolthole offers a range London, is a sublime escape from the city. never forget, with of dining experiences, from Eggs Benedict Voted ‘Favourite UK Holiday Hotel’ in the rooms which, though brunches and late-night drinks at the Lygon Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Travel Awards undoubtedly grand, Wine Bar to a seasonal British menu in the 2017, this five-star National Trust property sits in 376 acres of magnificent Grade I-listed make you feel like you’re Lygon Bar & Grill. There’s a new spa tucked away in a tranquil corner of the hotel, but formal gardens and woodlands. Cliveden staying with friends to unwind in the fresh air, pull on your recently unveiled a glorious new spa, but for those looking to explore, there’s the option of a leisurely boat trip along the Thames, followed by afternoon tea in the main house. For a special dinner, the award-winning André Garrett Restaurant offers a menu of divine dishes, while The Astor Grill is perfect for a relaxed lunch with friends and family.

Chewton Glen, 90 minutes from London and a stone’s throw from the south coast, on the edge of the glorious New Forest National Park, is a true English original, offering all things to all people. From the 72 bedrooms, including 13 romantic treehouses,

Chewton Glen grounds

Cliveden spa

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Cliveden House

11 Cadogan Gardens

wellies and explore those beautiful rolling hills.

11 Cadogan Gardens is a boutique hotel that is the city cousin within the iconic collection and a British heritage property. Overlooking a quiet street behind Sloane Square in Chelsea, it’s the perfect London base for a shopping trip, romantic weekend away or a city break. Comprised of four townhouses, the hotel is an intriguing maze of corridors and staircases, with interiors that are as dramatic as they are elegant. Enjoy an indulgent afternoon tea in the lounge or treat yourself to a delicious cocktail in the bar or on the outdoor terrace.

ICONIC LUXURY HOTELS

The Lygon Arms

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HOTELS & TRAVEL

THE LANGHAM, LONDON Delighting guests since 1865

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London’s West End location in Marylebone, with Fitzrovia, Mayfair pened as Europe’s first ‘grand hotel’, The Langham, and Soho just minutes’ away. The hotel has 339 fully refurbished London has been delighting guests since 1865. rooms and 41 suites, including its supremely elegant signature suites.

Its opening was attended by the 23-year-old Prince of Wales, who commented to the Earl of Shrewsbury, There is also a 16m swimming pool and the recently relaunched urban retreat, Chuan Body + Soul. The Langham, London offers fabulous ‘You have, my lord, a fine hotel’. opportunities for drinking and dining, including Palm Court, To know some of The Langham, London’s history is to famed for its afternoon teas; and The Wigmore, a contemporary understand the unique position it occupies in today’s five-star take on the classic English tavern. Roux at The Landau, designed hotel landscape. After opening, it rapidly became a magnet

by David Collins Studio, will offer a refreshed, for London’s literati (Wilkie Collins and informal dining experience in 2018; and Oscar Wilde), opinion-formers (William Its elegance and Artesian continues to set the standard for Gladstone) and adventurers (Henry Stanley). splendour, combined innovative and sophisticated cocktails.

The hotel stayed open during the First with its state-of-the-art The Langham’s residences come complete World War, and guests were invited below stairs with provisions straight from Selfridges Food to sit out the Zeppelin raids on cane chairs with facilities and a vibrant Hall, and it also offers magnificent reception cushions, while light refreshments were served. cultural programme, space, including its Courtyard Garden, the In the ensuing peacetime, the hotel kept have ensured its place for social events of all sizes and styles. abreast of the times, creating the neoclassical Original art has always been in The foyer in 1920, adding hand-stencilled wallpaper as one of London’s finest Langham, London’s DNA. Today, its collection to the Drawing Room and installing lifts. luxury hotels contains photography by Norman Parkinson, It attracted the personalities of the day such as Noël Coward, who frequently took a suite.

During the Battle of Britain in 1940 the hotel was hit by a small The Sterling Suite drawing room bomb and the building was then used by the BBC until the mid1980s when the journey began to restore the hotel to its former glory. A multi-million pound refurbishment followed and since then its elegance and splendour, combined with its state-of-the-art facilities and a vibrant cultural programme, have ensured its place as one of London’s finest luxury hotels.

Today’s cosmopolitan guest will be attracted by The Langham,

Artesian

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The Langham, London

collages, paintings and lithographs by international contemporary artists, handpicked from the owner’s private collection. There are also frequent pioneering initiatives to host exciting cultural events within the hotel, as when Tennessee William’s Hotel Plays were staged in three bedrooms to wide critical acclaim.

The Langham, London has over the decades established itself as a West End destination for every type of social event.

Whether it is for an informal The tradition of afternoon tea drink, a discreet special was established at Palm Court occasion, a private dinner, an outdoor drinks party in the Courtyard Garden or large scale glamorous event in The Grand Ballroom, guests can be certain that everyone at The Langham, London will continue to welcome them with natural warmth, creating memories to treasure.

THE LANGHAM, LONDON 1C PORTLAND PLACE, LONDON W1B 1JA

Palm Court

+44 (0)20 7636 1000

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HOTELS & TRAVEL | GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018

RED SAVANNAH An authentic luxury travel company redefined for the 21st century

ABOVE: Villa Kairos, Antigua LEFT: Buddha sculptures, Cambodia

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been phenomenal. In addition to adding multiple destinations, a new t’s fair to say that George Morgan-Grenville has had his fair share division called Private Estates has been established – think uber villas of adventures. In 1990, he was the first westerner to travel by private fully staffed and capable of hosting milestone celebrations and large saloon rail carriage across Central Asia. He has accompanied HRH The Prince of Wales on a remote Himalayan expedition, set up gorilla parties. These include a stunning lake house in the Adirondacks in Upstate New York (once owned by the Vanderbilts), the most beautiful trekking in the Congo, served in the Falklands and Hong Kong estate on Lake Como, an outstanding Provençal château, Tuscan (as an officer in the Coldstream Guards), and in between all of this, estates and private islands in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean. This somehow gained a Fast Stream pass in the Foreign Office exam. is complemented by a hand-picked fleet of yachts and gulets that has But in 2010, on a cold, wet night in China, he decided to plug the been painstakingly created in the Aegean and Ionian seas, with the gap in the market for a luxury travel brand with a difference.

Adriatic to follow shortly.

Red Savannah was born. ‘I began to formulate Red Savannah likes to be at the cutting edge a plan for a travel company where every aspect ‘We recognise that and last year saw the launch of Zen Savannah. was underpinned by meaningful experiences but for today’s traveller, Focused on wellbeing, it has been divided into without the hackneyed travel jargon. In short, cost is paramount, Nutrition & Weight Loss, Yoga & Mindfulness, travel with depth, breadth and substance. No glitz, but it is actually value Detox and Beauty & Youth. Zen Gurus work with just the real thing, redefined for the 21st century by some of the most knowledgeable names in the for money that drives clients to identify the right retreat (they have business,’ recalls George. ‘We were not motivated satisfaction and repeat identified the top 22 places in the world) to meet achievable health goals. This is definitely not a oneby gold taps and Michelin-starred restaurants. business’ off holiday, but more the beginning of a journey Instead, we wanted to design journeys that would to rediscover core wellness against a background take our clients under the skin of a destination. of increasing lifespan and growing antibiotic immunity.

Nowadays, people don’t just want to see – they want to participate, Since the first booking in 2011, the philosophy of the company engage with interesting people and feel the rhythm of a place. Ubiquity has remained the same: to do things in a way that exceeds clients’ is everywhere and we spend a great deal of energy working out how expectations and always with a generosity of spirit. ‘It might sound to avoid it.’ One way he and his experienced team do that is by delving dated at a time when the web has tended to commoditise every into an unrivalled black book of extraordinary contacts which spans the world, from kings to concierges and, of course, the very best guides. aspect of travel, but it is the single most important ingredient in our success,’ says George. ‘We recognise that for today’s The company launched with two divisions: worldwide tailor-made journeys and safaris and a luxury villa portfolio that spans France, Italy, traveller, cost is paramount, but it is actually value for money that drives satisfaction and repeat business.’

Spain and the Balearics, Greece and the Caribbean. The growth has RED SAVANNAH EAGLE TOWER, MONTPELLIER DRIVE, CHELTENHAM GL50 1TA

+44 (0)1242 787800

REDSAVANNAH.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HOTELS & TRAVEL

THE SAVOY London’s most celebrated hotel continues to define the essence of contemporary glamour and chic

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Located a few paces away from Covent Garden, it is near the City, ot many hotels can trace their history back to the 13th as well as world-renowned museums and the chic designer shopping century, but the iconic Savoy Hotel can look back to streets of Knightsbridge and Mayfair. Back at the hotel, guests can kick 1246, when Count Peter of Savoy built the Savoy Palace back and relax in one of the 267 rooms and suites, all of which celebrate on the north side of the river Thames, given to him The Savoy’s dual historical influences with either English Edwardian

by Henry III. Fast forward to 1889 and theatre impresario or sensational art deco design. The Royal Suite and The Savoy Suite Richard D’Oyly Carte, having built the Savoy Theatre on the site are the jewels in the crown, offering guests a modern residential style of the old Savoy Palace to stage his successful productions of Gilbert of accommodation with floor-to-ceiling views and Sullivan’s operettas, opened a hotel to house the River Thames. This same view can be the tourists who flocked to London to see the The Savoy has become of enjoyed by those staying on the riverside of the Savoy operas. Five years under construction and part of London’s DNA, hotel. Those in suites will be looked after by the situated adjacent to the Savoy Theatre, The Savoy threw open its doors on 6 August, offering not the great and the good dedicated butler team, who pride themselves on combining the discretion of a traditional just luxurious hotel accommodation, but also have passed through English butler with the efficiency of a modern restaurants, bars, lounges, private dining rooms its art deco halls personal assistant. All guests have access to The and banqueting suites, tempting Londoners who Savoy’s Beauty & Fitness, an urban retreat with wanted to enjoy themselves in these glamorous a private pool, treatment rooms and 24-hour gym. new surroundings. The main restaurant was opened by noted hotelier Since Auguste Escoffier first set an unprecedented standard César Ritz, later general manager, who invited an old friend, Auguste at The Savoy’s restaurant, dining has been an inherent part of the Escoffier, ‘King of chefs and chef of kings’, to run the Savoy kitchen.

In the 128 years since, The Savoy has become part of London’s DNA, the great and the good have passed through its art deco halls. From Fred Astaire and Frank Sinatra to Marilyn Monroe and The Beatles, the world’s most luminous names have stayed, dined and danced here. The Savoy continues to strive for the same objectives it has always aimed for: to offer exceptional service, give guests an unrivalled experience of hospitality, to continue to be the place to see and be seen and to remain the venue for the Capital’s most glittering social events.

The Savoy Suite living room

Savoy Court

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Welcome to The Savoy

hotel’s identity, with Winston Churchill fond of lunching here.

Today Kaspar’s at The Savoy offers informal dining in a stylish art deco setting, while Gordon Ramsay’s Savoy Grill presents a British menu with a French touch. The recently restored Simpson’s in the Strand and Knight’s Bar remain at the top of every Londoner’s list for the best roast beef, and a new Bill of Fare featuring British classics.

Cocktail connoisseurs head to the American Bar, named World’s Best Bar 2017, or experience Kaspar’s at The Savoy cocktails that push the boundaries in the theatrical Beaufort Bar. The Savoy’s afternoon tea continues to be taken in the Thames Foyer and Melba is the hotel’s gourmet ‘to go’ counter on to the Strand. Whatever your experience, The Savoy continues to be the place where great memories are made.

THE SAVOY STRAND, LONDON WC2R 0EU

+44 (0)20 7836 4343

The newly restored Simpson’s in the Strand

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | HOTELS & TRAVEL

THE THINKING TRAVELLER The most outstanding villa holiday you’ll ever have

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This is thanks to the company’s core values: villas and houses are n unforgettable night on the volcanic Sicilian island rented out exclusively through The Thinking Traveller; extremely of Stromboli, followed the morning after by a descent knowledgeable staff proffer ideas that are meticulously tailored down a lava scree slope to dive into the limpid waters to a client’s preferences; expert teams on the ground act as partbelow, changed the lives of British engineer Huw concierge, part-guidebook, to direct you to the best local gelateria, Beaugié and Sicilian cell biologist Rossella D’Anna. taverna, doctor or secret beach; and then there are experiences That was in 2000, when the couple decided to give up their jobs such as guided tours of Mount Etna in a 4x4, cookery lessons, in Paris and relocate to Sicily with a plan. Struck by the lack private vineyard visits, yacht charters and in-house wine delivery. of high-end villa operators in all the island, they seized the This is joined-up service at its best. opportunity to create something above and It helps that The Thinking Traveller has beyond the typical villa rental company.

The Thinking secured some of the most fabulous rental The Thinking Traveller was born in 2002.

Traveller’s simple properties to be found in the Mediterranean, The couple began by persuading Rossella’s mission statement from 12-bedroom, fully-staffed palazzos and friends to open up their glamorous homes for architectural gems with infinity pools, holiday rental. They started with seven villas is to hear clients to luxurious trulli or idyllic countryside in Sicily, and now have nearly 200 across Sicily, say, ‘That was the and beachfront hideaways. Whatever a client’s Puglia, Corsica and Greece’s Ionian and Sporades best holiday we’ve predilection, The Thinking Traveller can islands. The company is widely regarded as one supply the best in the category. And clients of the best in the world, drawing repeat customers ever had. We’ll know that each property has been vetted and garnering the most prestigious awards. be back’ to ensure it upholds the high standards In September 2016, and again in 2017, it was awarded required to join the portfolio.

‘Favourite Villa Rental Company’ at the Condé Nast Traveller Feedback from The Thinking Traveller’s well-travelled, Readers’ Awards, lauded by voters for its ‘unshakeable consistency’. sophisticated clients shows that the company manages to exceed All this is built on The Thinking Traveller’s simple mission the highest expectations. ‘The easiest, most professional travel statement: to hear clients say, ‘That was the best holiday we’ve organisation we have had the pleasure of doing business with. ever had. We’ll be back.’ And come back they do, year after year.

Rocca delle Tre Contrade with Mount Etna in the background

Penio, the Ionian Islands

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Don Arcangelo all’Olmo, Sicily

We thank every one of you for providing us with a holiday that we will not forget,’ wrote one guest. ‘Your team in London was outstanding, extraordinarily competent and charming.

The local manager was simply wonderful. Personality, charm, knowledge all well beyond what one could reasonably expect,’ raved another.

The Thinking Traveller is a family-run company with a relatively small staff united in the passion for what they do. It has expanded thoughtfully The dining area at Masseria Acquadolce, Puglia in existing destinations and gradually transferred its core values to new ones – but only when the right opportunities to excite its clients have arisen. Perhaps not surprising for a dynamic company, whose birth was inspired by the energetic pyrotechnics of the volcanoes of Sicily.

THE THINKING TRAVELLER THE OLD TRUMAN BREWERY, LONDON E1 6QL

Trulli Andrea, Puglia

+44 (0)20 7377 8518

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Chase Distillery p358 The East India Company p360 Hildon Water p362 Home House p364 Johnnie Walker p366 The Last Drop Distillers p368 MARC p370 Nicholson Gin p372 Nyetimber p374 Prestat p376 Rococo Chocolates p378 Sipsmith p380

FOOD & DRINK

Berry Bros. & Rudd p356

Wilkinson Vintners p382 Wimbledon Brewery p384

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | FOOD & DRINK

BERRY BROS. & RUDD Raise a glass to Britain’s oldest wine and spirit merchant

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t doesn’t matter how much you know about wine, what your budget is, whether you’re buying for a special occasion or just a midweek dinner, it’s our job as wine merchants to find something that surprises and delights you.’

That’s a promise Berry Bros. & Rudd has been making to customers for three centuries. Its historic premises at 3 St James’s Street opened for business in 1698 and now houses two congenial consultation rooms, where customers can talk about their wine requirements surrounded by the history of the space, enjoying a glass of something delicious.

There’s a lot of history to take in. Berry Bros. & Rudd has supplied the British royal family since the reign of George III. Its wines were served on the Titanic and smuggled into prohibition-era America. A 1760s tradition, turned modern-day novelty, involves the shop’s large scales, on which customers are still sometimes weighed, joining a fellowship that includes Lord Byron, William Pitt, Beau Brummell and the Aga Khan.

These days, Berry Bros. & Rudd’s services have grown to include a wine club, a cellar plan, private wine events, a wine school, an online winebroking exchange, outlets in Hampshire, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan, and an award-winning website. There is a new state-of-the-art shop around the corner at 63 Pall Mall with enomatic wine sampling machines and hundreds of wines to buy, ranging in price from £10 to £10,000.

A large cellar space beneath the St James’s Street shop, where the exiled Napoleon III was once sheltered by his friend George Berry, now buzzes with wine tasting evenings and lavish dinners hosted by winemakers and famous names, and cooked by a team of in-house chefs led by Stewart Turner (previously of the Waterside Inn at Bray).

The company is still owned and managed by members of the Berry and

No.3 St James’s Street

The new Tasting Room at 3 St James’s Street, decorated with genuine cork and wine artefacts

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Berry Bros. & Rudd’s new store at 63 Pall Mall

Relationships set the company apart.

Just as wine develops over time into something special, so too have Berry Bros. & Rudd’s partnerships Rudd families. Lizzy Rudd has just taken over as the new chairman from Simon Berry, continuing the unbroken tradition of having a member of either family at the helm.

Relationships set the company apart. Just as wine develops over time into something special, so too have Berry Bros. & Rudd’s partnerships with wine growers and château owners been nurtured

over many generations. These close alliances allow it access to the very best wines all over the world, as well as the opportunity to discover gems that people have never heard of.

Berry Bros. & Rudd has been awarded two Royal Warrants and has six masters of wine. It offers a selection of more than 4,000 bottles, and its own-brand wines are crafted by some of the most accomplished winemakers in the world, among them the Burgundian stars Nicolas Potel and Patrick Javillier. Crucially, Berry Bros. & Rudd dismisses trends and pretension. It is keen to learn from its customers what they want to drink. It sees wine as an everevolving conversation, a fascinating learning journey, and it’s this refreshing, open-minded attitude that stokes the coals of its success.

BERRY BROS. & RUDD 3 ST JAMES’S STREET, LONDON SW1A 1EG

+44 (0)20 7022 8973

BBR.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | FOOD & DRINK

CHASE DISTILLERY Single-Estate award-winning gin and vodka from Herefordshire

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Chase now makes a wide selection of vodkas and gins but n 2008 William Chase, the man behind Tyrrells, founded is best known for its hero products, its original Chase Vodka Chase Distillery. Set in a 400-acre estate in Herefordshire and Chase GB Gin. Chase Vodka is of exquisite quality and (a county that boasts some of the richest farmland in the world) is made from home-grown potatoes and water from Chase’s Single-Estate Chase Distillery remains family owned. To this day own borehole. Two-hundred and fifty potatoes go into the the Chase family grows all its own King Edward and Lady Claire making of every bottle and it is distilled 114 times for a pure, potatoes for the distillery. rich taste. The vodka is so versatile that it can be paired with William prides himself on his family business virtually anything, but Chase recommends model and every batch of spirits is signed off by a family member. Today, his sons play a key William prides himself on combining with soda water, fresh lemon and Chase Elderflower Liqueur for role in the business. Harry, his eldest, runs his family business model. juice a refreshing tipple. the farm in Herefordshire while James, as the Today, his sons play a key Chase GB was developed to be aromatic, global brand ambassador, travels the world spreading Chase’s Single-Estate message. role in the business. Harry, full bodied and pack a punch. Its driest dry finishes is made by adding juniper ‘We’re one of the very few family-run and his eldest, runs the farm of buds and berries to Chase Vodka owned drinks brands operating in this very while James travels the in the belly of ‘Ginny’, the copper saturated market place,’ says William, ‘and this small operation keeps us from getting world spreading Chase’s carterhead-style still. Wild botanical infusions of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, lost in the corporate bubble.’

Single-Estate message almond, coriander, cardamom, cloves, The distillery is housed in a converted hopkiln barn. Chase adopts traditional methods, using a bespoke copper batch pot, Europe’s tallest rectification Chase Farm tower, which stands at 70 feet, and a beautiful carterhead-style still called ‘Ginny’. Unlike other distilleries, no neutral grain spirit is used in the production of Chase spirits. Chase uses a highly skilled, artisanal distillation process that has not changed since the 1900s. Each Chase bottle is hand-filled and sealed on-site, ensuring an entirely Single-Estate process from field to bottle.

GB Gin Cocktail

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Chase Martini at Dukes Hotel

liquorice and lemon give the gin its distinctive spicy flavour. Chase recommends serving it as a classic GB&T with plenty of ice and a slice of fresh ginger to enhance the natural flavour of the botanicals.

They now export their award-winning spirits to over 50 countries worldwide and in 2010 Chase won the title of ‘World’s Best Tasting Vodka’ and,in 2016, its Chase GB Chase’s rectification tower Gin was voted ‘double gold’ at The San Francisco World Spirits Competition ‘I truly believe it’s the rich, red Hereford soil and the Single-Estate mentality that have led to some of our spirits being named the world’s best,’ William says.

CHASE DISTILLERY CHASE FARM, PRESTON WYNNE, HEREFORD HR1 3PG

James, William and Harry Chase

+44 (0)1432 820455

CHASEDISTILLERY.CO.UK

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | FOOD & DRINK

THE EAST INDIA COMPANY The company that shaped the world’s trade routes champions specialist products from tea to gin

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or Napoleon Bonaparte’s beloved coffee beans from Saint Helena, he East India Company is a British business like which the company first imported to the island from Yemen no other. Linked with discovery and world trade, in the 18th century. All products sold by The East India Company it was created in 1600 when Queen Elizabeth I granted tell a story from every corner of the globe, whether they are a Royal Charter to over 100 English merchants, giving a delicate biscuit, jam or chutney, an exquisite silver-plated tea them the right to trade exclusively east of Cape Town. strainer or bone china tea and coffee cups.

The merchants, sailors and explorers of The East India Company Most recently, the company – which has a flagship store on found uncharted trading territory. In the process, the company London’s Conduit Street – launched London not only introduced commodities and goods such as tea and coffee, but also established The East India Company Dry Gin in 2016. ‘When I first took the helm, I wanted to develop teas, coffees, fine important trading posts like Hong Kong, celebrates the various foods and hospitality, but creating a spirits Singapore and Mumbai, which would origins of its speciality collection was also a serious ambition,’ says become burgeoning cities.

When the company was dissolved in 1874, and luxury products, be Sanjiv Mehta. ‘The obvious place to start was due to the original trade of botanicals it left Britain with an Empire, which included they precious teas from gin, and their historical connection to The East the subcontinent of India. From Chinese the slopes of Assam India Company. Our liquid is a true London tea planted in the uplands of Darjeeling Dry gin that embodies the pioneering spirit to chintzes in the Bay of Bengal, the company or the spring pick of of The East India Company.’ had opened up this part of the globe for trade Darjeeling’s first flush This year the East India Company is to and further shaped the world as we know it.

The next chapter began in 2000, when the company was revived. Today it is owned by Sanjiv Mehta but managed on the principles that those involved in its running are ‘custodians’ and look after a brand whose name is familiar to 2.2 billion people worldwide.

The East India Company celebrates the various origins of its speciality and luxury products, be they the precious teas from the slopes of Assam, the spring pick of Darjeeling’s first flush

Flagship Conduit Street store

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open its first flagship café/ restaurant in Saudi Arabia – the realisation of a long-term dream that includes branching out into hotels, fashion, silverware and jewellery.

New books on the company’s rich history and its impact on the financial markets mark a new chapter for its publishing arm too.

What else? Honouring its historic right to mint its own currency, the brand is issuing Mohur and Guinea limited-edition, proof-quality coins for collectors, further supporting The East India Company legacy in the precious metals world.

All of these ventures are part of The East India Company’s greater aim to honour the brand’s legacy while bringing together the best our world has to offer.

THE EAST INDIA COMPANY 7–8 CONDUIT STREET, LONDON W1S 2XF

LEFT: The East India Company Mohur coin ABOVE: Fine teas selection

+44 (0)20 3205 3380

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | FOOD & DRINK

HILDON WATER The connoisseur’s choice

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from where the water is finally extracted. To start with, rainwater n the heart of the idyllic Hampshire countryside lies the filters through porous rock, removing any impurities and 160-acre Hildon estate, the single source of the eponymous imbuing it with minerals and its distinct taste. The water is stored natural mineral water. Despite the state-of-the-art facility there, underground until it reaches the bottling plant and nothing visitors would be hard pushed to notice any commercial activity is added or removed except for a gentle blast of carbonation because the landscape appears virtually untouched: red kites for the Gently Sparkling range. wheel overhead, while deer, hares and wildlife roam freely.

With its iconic Bordeaux-inspired bottle and blue branding, And this is just the way that Hildon likes it, with environmental Hildon is instantly familiar to anyone who has conservation firmly enshrined in the stayed in the best hotels or eaten at Michelincompany’s ethos. Whether planting trees Hildon likens itself to restaurants, and it has won blind or investing in low-emission vehicles, the Montrachet of bottled starred tastings conducted by some of the world’s everything the company does is with waters. Like fine wine, most discerning palates. Hildon is available one eye on the environment. Equally, from top retailers including Harrods, Harvey Hildon is dedicated to making its mark its pure water is heavily Selfridges and Waitrose but the on the community and has established the influenced by the ‘terroir’. Nichols, majority of its sales – over 65 per cent – are Hildon Foundation to benefit a wide range The chalk hills of the Test to the premium hotel, restaurant and catering of charities, including local children’s sector. Hildon is the first bottled water ever hospice, Naomi House.

Valley provide its fresh, to scoop the Chef’s Choice award for the past Hildon likens itself to the Montrachet clean taste five consecutive years and has been singled of bottled waters. Like fine wine, its pure out by the Institute of Masters of Wine as its preferred bottled water. water is heavily influenced by the ‘terroir’, the land from A favourite with both Hampshire locals and connoisseurs which it flows. The chalk hills of the Test Valley provide across the country, Hildon has been a proud supplier to HM its fresh, clean taste, which is why it is so vital that the land is preserved as it always has been.

However, producing something so simple is not as easy as it might appear. And it’s certainly not a process that can be hurried – it can take over 50 years to filter into the underground aquifer

Alain Roux enjoys a glass of Hildon water

Hildon sponsorship at Badminton Horse Trials

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The Queen’s Royal Household for more than five years and the pinnacle of the company’s success was the appointment of the royal warrant in May 2017, celebrated with a redesign of its label.

From The Ritz to the Royal Opera House and in more than 33 countries worldwide, Hildon is chosen by those who value quality, provenance and sustainability. While many recognisable premium bottled water brands are European, research shows that British Rainbow over the Hildon Estate consumers prefer to support homegrown brands and are prepared to splash out on a water with guaranteed quality, purity and composition. Hildon fits that description perfectly and looks forward to another clear and sparkling year.

HILDON LTD BROUGHTON, HAMPSHIRE SO20 8DQ

St James’s Hotel

+44 (0)1794 301747

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HOME HOUSE A stylish oasis in the heart of London’s West End

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area designed by the late Zaha Hadid, with sumptuous detail ome House is a private members’ club on leafy added by the celebrated Candy & Candy team.

Portman Square, a stone’s throw from Hyde Park.

Today, just as in Lady Elizabeth’s time, it’s almost impossible Luxury, service and exclusivity are the club’s to imagine anything happening at Home House that doesn’t cherished hallmarks, but Home House is much involve the best food and drink. Think wholesome breakfasts more than an upscale private venue. Serving and nourishing mid-morning snacks, tempting brunches and as a hub for its members’ social and professional lives, it brings power lunches, champagne afternoon teas and elegant suppers together people from all walks of life. At Home House, famous – not forgetting al fresco dining in the faces from stage and screen mingle with Raj tent throughout the summer. captains of industry and tech entrepreneurs.

Today, just as in Lady Members can choose from two excellent While most private members’ clubs claim Elizabeth’s time, restaurants: with south-facing views over to be a home from home, Home House it’s almost impossible Portman Square, the relaxed and airy is one of the few that actually is. There Restaurant in House 19 is brasserie-style is no ban on mobiles and laptops, for to imagine anything dining at its best. Here, the great classics example, and no restrictive dress code. happening at Home of British cuisine are exquisitely prepared Nudity is ‘discouraged’ says the club, House that doesn’t and perfectly complemented by the club’s but naughtiness is de rigueur. extensive cellar. The Octagon Dining Room Its original owner would certainly approve. involve the best in House 21, meanwhile, is an intriguing The club is housed in three Grade I and food and drink mix of history and modernity, with dishes Grade II-listed Georgian town houses built in the late 1700s for Elizabeth, Countess of Home. Lady Elizabeth was known for her lavish parties and her home, considered to be one of Robert Adam’s masterpieces, was a veritable temple to entertainment.

Much of the original interior has been restored, though this is no dusty museum piece, offering as it does a dramatic fusion of the old and new: the neo-classical design of Nos 19 and 20 perfectly juxtaposed by the slick minimalism of No 21, which boasts a contemporary bar and reception

Enjoying champagne afternoon tea in the Grade I-listed drawing rooms

Al fresco dining in the Raj Tent

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Robert Adam’s iconic grand staircase rises to an ornate glass dome revealing the sky above

that reflect its eclectic nature.

But you don’t have to sit at a table: members can take things down a notch and tuck into a bento box in the peace and quiet of one of the club’s lounges.

Other facilities include three bars, an intimate garden, boutique gym, spa and a mix of suites and junior suites, club rooms and feature rooms, including one named for Lady Elizabeth, complete with an original fireplace and a reclaimed chandelier.

Home House is known for Elegant dining in the Restaurant its unrivalled social events, overlooking Portman Square including its legendary Halloween, New Year and Summer balls, and it will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this year with a series of decadent parties and soirées. Nobody knows why Lady Elizabeth, who had no heirs and was in her late sixties, built Home House, but we’re very pleased that she did.

HOME HOUSE 20 PORTMAN SQUARE, LONDON W1H 6LW

Dame Zaha Hadid’s bar in House 21

+44 (0)20 7670 2000

HOMEHOUSE.CO.UK

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | FOOD & DRINK

JOHNNIE WALKER Raising a glass to the world’s bestselling Scotch whisky

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starting with Johnnie Walker Red Label (which went ohnnie Walker is the world’s number one Scotch whisky on to become the world’s bestselling whisky) and Johnnie brand with its distinctive square bottles and iconic tilted labels – a familiar sight in bars across the world. For almost Walker Black Label. They also commissioned leading 200 years Johnnie Walker has been there each time people illustrator of the day, Tom Browne, to create the famous striding man logo. have raised a glass to actions and achievements, big and Johnnie Walker is a brand born of passion. The promise small, toasting the promise and potential each new day brings. of progress is what drives it and has done for nearly Like so many British brands with a strong heritage, Johnnie 200 years, the striding man motif Walker was born of humble origins. In 1820 is reflective of this. In 1934 John Walker John Walker opened a small grocer’s store The pioneering brand & Sons was granted a Royal Warrant in the Scottish town of Kilmarnock and has established itself

by King George V and, as the 20th began to blend whisky to create a better as part of the global century progressed, the pioneering consistency and richer flavours to sell in his brand established itself as part of shop. Walker’s blended whisky was a great culture, immortalised global culture. It has been immortalised success and after his death, his son Alexander, in song lyrics and on in song lyrics, on the silver screen took over the business, exporting whisky the silver screen, sipped and has been sipped by socialites all over the world (the square bottle design and statesmen everywhere. was created to reduce breakages as they were by socialites and But Johnnie Walker wasn’t transported to the four corners of the globe). statesmen everywhere just the preserve of the great It was Alexander who added the famous tilted and good: it quickly became the whisky for toasting labels, angled at precisely 24 degrees, distinguishing special occasions, big and small; raising a glass to today the brand from its competition. and the promise of the future.

In due course, the company passed to Alexander’s sons, Alexander and George, who began the tradition of naming the whiskies after the colour of the labels,

Jim Beveridge, Johnnie Walker Master Blender

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Johnnie Walker Blue Label Tim Dixon gift set

Over the years, there have been a number of additions to the brand’s range of awardwinning whiskies. The end of the 20th century, for example, saw the introduction of the Johnnie Walker Blue Label, an exquisite blend of some of Scotland’s rarest and most exceptional whiskies.

Neat or on the rocks? With a splash of soda or served with a glass of ice cold water? There is no ‘correct’ way to enjoy Johnnie Walker, just as long as long as you do enjoy it. Once considered something drunk solo and reflectively, Johnnie Walker whisky is now enjoyed at festivals and parties across the UK as groups relax and celebrate special moments with a Johnnie and Ginger.

Toast to every step forward. Keep walking.

JOHN WALKER & SONS GOLDEN SQUARE, LONDON W1F 9JE

Johnnie Walker Blue Label, perfect serve

+44 (0)20 3003 6469

JOHNNIEWALKER.COM

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THE LAST DROP DISTILLERS Hunting down hidden, rare and remarkable fine spirits with which to delight connoisseurs

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small but perfectly formed company, joining the quest to find old, magine three old friends, all with decades working in the rare and remarkable spirits that hark from a bygone distilling age. spirits trade under their belts, who decide that instead Vintage spirits – whiskies especially – are increasingly difficult of sinking into retirement, they would seek out rare and to find. The supply is dwindling, while demand from drinkers, remarkable whiskies. Like the Indiana Joneses of the spirits collectors and investors has never been higher, which is why trade, they would venture to distilleries all over Scotland the team at The Last Drop Distillers to find long-forgotten casks and bring these spend their days hunting out long-hidden, hidden jewels to connoisseurs of fine spirits.

Like the Indiana spirits. Since founding the This is exactly what happened in 2008, Joneses of the spirits superlative company, they have tasted hundreds when James Espey, Tom Jago and Peter business, they venture of samples and rejected all but the very Fleck combined their contacts and wealth best, with only ten releases to date, of knowledge to find the first of a series to hidden distilleries the youngest of which was 44 years old. of once buried casks. and warehouses in The Last Drop Distillers consider Out of this sense of adventure and a desire Scotland, and further themselves ‘rare spirits hunters’, and the to bring fine whisky to connoisseurs, The Last search is not limited to whiskies and cognacs.

Drop Distillers was born. Its mission is simple afield, to find longAny spirituous drink that has the capacity but not easy: to unearth remarkable spirits that forgotten casks to age beautifully has the potential have been thought lost if not forgotten. There to be included – James would love to have rum; Beanie would may only be a cask or two left, but as long as the taste is right, love to explore sherry; Rebecca is keen to pursue armagnac. They that’s enough for The Last Drop Distillers.

Inspired by the passion of their fathers, daughters Rebecca Jago describe themselves as ‘the world’s most exclusive spirits collection’, because this is all they do – their whole drive is to find rare, and Beanie Espey have since stepped into their shoes to run the

The Last Drop Distillers team

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A TLD event held at the Guggenheim Estate, Long Island, New York

old and exceptional spirits, while never compromising on quality. The support and investment of the company’s new owners, Sazerac, will now allow access to rare bourbons and Canadian whiskies, although Scotch whisky will always remain at the core of the brand.

The Last Drop Distillers is born of sheer passion and offers a small, personal alternative to big and sometimes faceless corporations. James and Tom regularly appear at tasting events, and the whole team is always available to answer consumer questions directly.

In the modern world it is almost impossible to own and taste a piece of history, to which only a handful of people around the globe has access.

That privilege is reflected in the brand’s slogan: ‘Before there is no more’.

THE LAST DROP DISTILLERS RIVERBANK HOUSE, LONDON SW6 3BQ

+44 (0)20 3705 5655

LASTDROPDISTILLERS.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | FOOD & DRINK

MARC Marlon Abela is the powerhouse behind London’s finest foodie establishments

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quality produce on the market. arlon Abela is a hero of British food and drink.

At Umu, it’s Yoshinori Ishii who garners all the accolades, He is the chairman and founder of MARC (the acronym with his refined Kyoto-style cuisine fused with European stands for Marlon Abela Restaurant Corporation), whose influences, again using nothing but the best ingredients. rapidly expanding portfolio includes three of London’s The company’s Corporate Chef is Yvonnick Lalle, who oversees not finest restaurants – the two-Michelin starred Umu, only Morton’s Club but MARC Patisserie & Bakery, which provides The Greenhouse, also with two Michelin stars, and The Square – breads and morning goods to most of the five-star hotels in London, as well as Morton’s private members’ club, MARC Patisserie including The Dorchester, The Ritz, Claridge’s, & Bakery, O. W. Loeb Wine Merchants and Rosewood, Shangri-La and The Connaught.

MARC Fine Wines. The company also has Seasonal produce and Lalle also seeks out and champions young several restaurants in the US. fresh ingredients have talent, so watch this space.

MARC was born out of Marlon Abela’s passion Something else to watch out for is Green’s. for gastronomy and fine wines, instilled in him by helped MARC restaurants his upbringing in the South of France. Growing to change the perception The legendary restaurant and oyster bar in St James’s was forced to close in 2016 due to its up, much of what appeared on the family table of fine dining from a landlord’s redevelopment plans, but owner came straight from the garden. And it’s this focus serious, elitist experience Simon Parker Bowles has since joined forces on seasonal produce and the highest quality with MARC to open a new Green’s in an as fresh ingredients that has helped Abela in his to one that is exciting yet undetermined location. In line with the drive to change the perception of fine dining and convivial group’s principles, MARC will transform from a serious, elitist experience to one that is exciting and convivial. While MARC restaurants are all different in concept, they share the same ‘classic meets avant garde’ approach.

Crucial to the success of MARC, naturally, is its staff. Executive Chef at The Greenhouse is Arnaud Bignon, who wins the praise of food critics, gourmands and wine-lovers alike. Bignon’s philosophy is based on finding perfect harmony and balance in all his dishes, combining his traditional French training with contemporary techniques. In accordance with MARC’s philosophy.

Bignon’s menus change seasonally and showcase the highest

The Greenhouse in Mayfair

Evolution of fine dining at The Square

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Howard Hodgkin in Morton’s restaurant, overlooking Berkeley Square

Green’s into a modern British restaurant with a fresh approach, handing it over to the next generation of Green’s fans.

Another recent acquisition for MARC is The Square, on Bruton Street which recently relaunched after a complete refurbishment.

Taking epicurean excellence to new heights here is Clément Leroy with ten years’ experience working under Guy Savoy, who joins the MARC family from Auberge du Jeu de Paume in Chantilly, France.

MARC Chairman Marlon MARC’s commitment to Abela with his wife Nadya quality, elegance and refinement is reflected in everything it does – not just in the food and wine it serves, but in ambience, design and service.

So it’s just as well that at its helm is a man whose passion for fine dining never wavers: the innovative and highly creative Marlon Abela.

MARC 14–16 BRUTON PLACE, LONDON W1J 6LX

+44 (0)20 7647 1888

Executive Chef Yoshinori Ishii at Umu

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NICHOLSON GIN A spirit from the past returns to shake up our cocktails

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n the summer of 2017, one of London’s oldest spirit brands, Nicholson Gin, was revived by two cousins, Nicholas Browne and Tim Walker, the descendants of the original founders. The Nicholson family began distilling in Clerkenwell in 1736 and became one of the great distillers of the Victorian age, pioneering the London Dry Gin style. In 1872 they acquired the Three Mills site in Bow, introducing innovative milling machinery and expanding distilling capacity to meet growing demand. Badly bombed during WWII, this site still stands today as a museum and film studio.

The revived Nicholson Original is a super premium London Dry Gin distilled in London and true to the original family recipe, combining ten botanicals sourced from across the globe – juniper berries, coriander, angelica root, orange and lemon citrus peels, cinnamon, orris root, cassia bark, nutmeg and liquorice and delivers a complex, classic dry gin profile. The palate is juniper-led with citrus

LEFT: Early 20th century label. ABOVE: Gloom Raiser cocktail RIGHT: A signature Nicholson gin and tonic

notes and a touch of spice, culminating in a long, dry and balanced finish ideal for today’s tonics and perfectly complementing both classic and modern cocktails.

In the 1920s and 30s Nicholson Gin was heralded as an essential ingredient of many cocktails at the best watering holes in London, Paris and New York, and was included in The Waldorf Astoria Bar Book, Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails, and the Savoy Cocktail Book, the ‘bar-tender’s bible’.

Today, Nicholson Original can be enjoyed within a series of new and creative The Nicholson family cocktails, many of which represent a modern twist began distilling in on the original cocktail 1736 and became one classics, including the of the great distillers Nicholson 66 (based on the French 75) and the Gloom of the Victorian age, Raiser, where a splash of pioneering the London raspberry syrup is added Dry Gin style for a modern frisson; 50ml Nicholson Original Gin, 15ml dry vermouth, two dots absinthe and 5ml raspberry syrup. Stir down and pour into a frozen glass and garnish with lemon ‘butterfly’ twist.

The new bottle and label were designed to reflect Nicholson’s eminence in the history of gin and its links to London and to cricket. In 1866 William Nicholson loaned Marylebone Cricket Club the funds to purchase the freehold of Lord’s Cricket Ground and later to build the pavilion (then nicknamed ‘The Gin Palace’). As a gesture of gratitude the MCC adopted the Nicholson ‘egg and bacon’ (yellow and red) company colours. Now instantly recognisable across the sporting world, the colours also appear in a ribbon on the capsule of the new bottle. Nicholson Original made its debut at Lord’s in time for the South Africa Test in summer 2017.

Staying true to its heritage and colours, Nicholson Original’s gin and tonic is garnished with a twist of lemon and a strip of English rhubarb. Available now in the best bars, hotels and select retailers, Nicholson Original London Dry is 40.3 per cent proof and is available in 70cl bottles.

W NICHOLSON & CO 1 HEATHCOTE GATE, LONDON SW6 3BH

+44 (0)7712 530235

NICHOLSONGIN.COM

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FOOD & DRINK | GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018

NYETIMBER The English sparkling wine producer beating champagne at its game

Nyetimber’s vineyards in West Sussex

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wine won a Gold medal at the 2017 International Wine and Spirit he English sparkling wine revolution is not about trying Competition. But, with five different styles to choose from, there to match the quality of champagne. It’s about blowing it is something to suit all tastes and occasions. Nyetimber Demi-Sec out of the water. Leading the offensive is the Nyetimber MV is a delicately effervescent wine with aromas of pure lemon, honey Estate in West Chiltington, West Sussex, which has been tones and a hint of tangerine – the perfect partner for a fruity dessert. producing England’s finest sparkling wine for 30 years.

And where would you be on a special occasion without a bottle Its recipe for success? An uncompromising approach to selecting of their sunset pink Rosé or the extra special Tillington 2010, which the location of its vineyards, only using the very best plots available is wonderfully toasty and intense. to grow grapes. Currently the producer has 220 It takes a particular kind of vision to hectares of vines, spread across eight vineyards To ensure quality, produce wines of this quality. ‘I don’t think – five in West Sussex, two in Hampshire and one Nyetimber’s wines, in years but in generations,’ says Eric Heerema, in Kent – each of which has had to meet the most most importantly, the owner and chief executive. It is his exacting criteria, including soil type, microclimate dedication and ability to conceive the longand aspect. Southern England has ideal conditions are only made term picture that has driven the business for grape production; the chalk seam that runs from estate-grown to rival even the most revered champagne under the lee of the South Downs is the very same grapes based on the houses. And while, in the wine industry, that supplies Champagne, providing the desired champagne holy trinity 30 years might sound like a short time, the greensand and chalk soil. The sites are also estate has its own rich and colourful history sheltered from the coastal winds, creating a climate that allows the grapes to ripen slowly to achieve the best possible acidity dating back to the Domesday Book in 1086. It’s most notable for the fact that Henry VIII gifted the manor to his fourth wife, Anne to produce complex wines. To ensure quality, Nyetimber’s wines, most of Cleves, following the annulment of their marriage in 1540. And importantly, are only made from estate-grown grapes based on the while nearly a thousand years has passed since their name was first champagne ‘holy trinity’: pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay. coined as ‘Nitimbreha’ (likely referring to a newly timbered house Their signature Classic Cuvee MV masterfully blends these grapes or small timber plantation), it is the developments of the past three using the traditional method and is best appreciated as an apéritif. decades that will leave the longest lasting impression.

A lovely pale gold with gentle, fine bubbles, this elegant sparkling NYETIMBER WEST CHILTINGTON, WEST SUSSEX RH20 2HH

+44 (0)1798 813989

NYETIMBER.COM

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PRESTAT ‘On Her Majesty’s Chocolate Service’

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do, so adore chocolate truffles as Prestat makes them,’ said the late, great Roald Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Indeed, in 1895 Prestat’s founders created the world’s first recipe or a chocolate truffle, consisting of butter, cream, a touch of sugar, tropical dark chocolate and a secret essence. That original recipe has remained Prestat’s inspiration, winning it global fans and earning it a Royal Warrant from HM the Queen in 1975, a further one from HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and prompting the Sunday Telegraph to coin the phrase, ‘On Her Majesty’s chocolate service’.

Prestat Rose and Violet Crèmes were handed out at the memorial service of the great fashionista Issy Blow, and its chocolates have featured in a Mario Testino shoot for Vogue and have travelled all the way to the South Pole with Prince Harry on his expedition for Walking With The Wounded.

Prestat has been established in London since 1902 and is owned by two brothers, Nick Crean and Bill Keeling. With its hand-crafted chocolates in highly distinctive, jewel-coloured, hand-drawn boxes, Prestat chocolates continue to delight discerning chocolate lovers globally.

The company makes more than 670 chocolate recipes, working with nearly 300 tonnes of chocolate a year. In 2017 it delivered 20 tonnes of chocolates to Trader Joe’s in the USA, and is proud of its ability to help build the reputation of Britain’s greatest chocolate brands. Though the core product remains largely the same, Prestat has always innovated, being the first to produce sea salt caramel truffles, London gin truffles, yuzu sake and red velvet truffles, which were inspired by the Shakespearean actor Adrian Lester and his wife the playwright Lolita Chakrabarti.

They are constantly monitoring food trends, like the growing move towards vegan recipes and chocolate with perceived additional ‘health food’ benefits. ‘We are obsessive about the quality of our ingredients and

Truffles

Rich chocolate wafers and milk chocolate with earl grey wafers

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Union Jack bars, Union Jack box and the London truffle box

With its hand-crafted chocolates in highly distinctive, jewel-coloured, hand-drawn boxes, Prestat chocolates continue to delight discerning chocolate lovers we only source the best,’ says Nick Crean. ‘On our team are some of the greatest chocolate innovators and recipe creators, all collaborating to produce superb chocolates.’

Prestat’s focus remains firmly on its beautiful sharing boxes.

‘Chocolates have always been about sharing and inspiring memories, and we like to think of Prestat as a brand that provokes memories of your childhood,’ says Nick. ‘I love it when people tell me our

chocolates remind them of their childhoods; of family occasions, birthdays or Christmas –times that are full of love and mischief.’

Prestat’s cocoa is scrupulously sourced. Ninety-five per cent comes from Africa and the brand is committed to working with African farmers under its bespoke Traded Fairly initiative. Prestat is also constantly on the look out for small, interesting producers, such as the St Vincent Cocoa Company on the Caribbean island of St Vincent.

Having previously worked as the Financial Times’ correspondent in West Africa, Bill Keeling is currently visiting the plantations there and Nick says, ‘We take our concern for sourcing very seriously. What really matters is helping to build better communities at the growing end, which can only lead to better products and greater enjoyment of the pleasures and delights which only the finest chocolate brings.’

PRESTAT 14–16 PRINCES ARCADE, LONDON SW1Y 6DS

+44 (0)20 8961 3399

PRESTAT.CO.UK

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ROCOCO CHOCOLATES

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A groundbreaking chocolate artisan

As a brand, Rococo stands for ‘pleasure and provenance’, ike many young children, after reading Roald Dahl’s a winning ethos that combines crafted, delicately nuanced Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Chantal Coady flavours using rare, organic cocoas with beautiful packaging dreamed of creating her own chocolate fantasy world. to create a visual feast for the eyes. On a mission to share Years later, while studying textiles at Camberwell chocolate with everyone, Chantal draws on the philosophy College of Arts, she met a friend for lunch who was of wine tasting, so that each chocolate is presented at its best yet working in Harrods’ chocolate department. By chance, a buyer remains accessible to all palates and purses. Chantal is passionate from the store was there too and Chantal was offered a Saturday about ensuring that quality remains at the heart job selling chocolate. of all of the brand’s products but is equally The knowledge she gained in this role, together ‘It was a time driven by ensuring cocoa’s sustainability, so she with her belief that there was room for a different of punks, has long established direct relationships with approach to chocolate, led her to open her first unemployment growers and has also invested in organic cocoa shop, Rococo Chocolates, on London’s King’s Road farming on the Caribbean island of Grenada. in 1983. It was an opulent paradise with cherubs and revolution,’ Over the years Rococo has progressed from and clouds painted on the ceiling after Botticelli’s recalls Chantal. curating chocolates from carefully chosen artisans The Birth of Venus, candyfloss pink stippled walls ‘There was a need to making its own ganaches and bars. Chantal’s that matched Chantal’s hair, gilded mirrors, groundbreaking contribution to the industry has a chandelier made from sugar and candelabras for a magical acknowledged with many awards and, three mounted on the walls. chocolate shop’ been years ago, she received an OBE in the Queen’s Chantal’s vision was clearly radically different from the approach of the more conservative, longestablished chocolatiers who dominated the market at the time.

It resonated perfectly with the rebellious, creative vibe in the capital. ‘It was a time of punks, unemployment and revolution,’ recalls Chantal. ‘There was a need for a magical chocolate shop.’

Her imagination and sense of fun immediately attracted fans, some of whom travelled miles to visit the shop. One early follower was the author Joanne Harris, and there have been rumours suggesting that Chantal was an inspiration behind Harris’s book Chocolat.

Chocolate cigars

Organic artisan bars

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Round selection boxes

Birthday Honours for Services to Chocolate Making. She won an award for ‘changing the way people think about chocolate’ from the Academy of Chocolate and recently the Academy awarded her team, led

by Karen Waller, the first ‘Chocolate Oscar’, the Golden Bonbon Trophy, for her Citrus Rooibos ganache, deemed the single best filled chocolate in the world.

Five shops and five books on the joys of chocolate later, Rococo Couture collection Rococo has been working with the Dahl family to create a range of chocolates inspired by the author’s titles including The BFG, Matilda and The Twits. It’s a partnership that epitomises Chantal’s innovative spirit as she continues to showcase excellence within the world of chocolate.

ROCOCO CHOCOLATES 321 KING’S ROAD, LONDON SW3 5EP

Choc-a-Porter collection

+44 (0)20 7352 5857

ROCOCOCHOCOLATES.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | FOOD & DRINK

SIPSMITH The multi-award winning London Dry Gin, bringing back the art of gin distilling to the capital

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a professional silversmith. ‘You guys do the same thing n 2009, when two childhood friends called Sam and Fairfax I do,’ he said. ‘I take something in its original state and, using decided to set up a gin distillery in London, there was nobody my specialised tools and craftsmanship, raise it to something else in the capital making gin the traditional way. Their mission intrinsically more valuable than it was before – like jewellery – was simple: to bring gin of uncompromising quality and only, in your case, a finely crafted spirit. That is what undeniably character back to the city where it first earned its name, makes you a smith. All you have to and make it with the reverence do is to find a word that you can and commitment of distillers past.

Sipsmith’s mission was put in front of smith that defines Their handmade copper pot still simple: to bring gin of your discipline.’ His son felt that – called Prudence – was the first uncompromising quality the word ‘sip’ truly conjured up of its kind in London for nearly 200 the notion of quality, treasuring, years. And so the first traditional back to the city where it lingering and enjoyment. copper pot distillery to open first earned its name, and And so ‘Sipsmith’ was born. in London since 1820 was born. make it with the reverence Passionate about experimenting, Jared Brown joined as Master Sipsmith has launched the Sipsmith Distiller, completing the Sipsmith and commitment Sipping Society (sipsmith.com/thetrio. A world-renowned drinks of distillers past sipsmith-sipping-society). Members can historian, bartender and spirits taste extraordinary experimental expert, he met the friends flavours sent direct from the just as they began their search for the perfect handcrafted distillery laboratory to their process and recipe. Jared was so taken by their commitment door. Sipsmith has pushed to handcrafting their gin in the time-honoured tradition, that the boundaries of what he set to work immediately to create the quintessential London is possible, with creations Dry Gin. He sought the perfect blend of ten botanicals that like Christmas Tree wouldn’t have been unfamiliar to an 18th-century gentleman Gin, Hot Cross Bun distiller, to forge the signature Sipsmith style. Sipsmith London Gin, Strawberries and Dry Gin has subsequently won over 30 international awards – Cream Gin and Lemon quite a testament to their dedication and passion.

Drizzle Gin. The name ‘Sipsmith’ was inspired by Fairfax’s father, Ollie Kitson, Head Distiller, comments: ‘Everything we make at Sipsmith is a celebration of tradition and exemplifies the creativity that goes into producing a gin of uncompromising quality. The Sipsmith Sipping Society brings together gin explorers who share our passion and want to experience the very best of our distillers’ experiments from the Sipsmith lab, made on our tiny batch still, Cygnet. It has truly been a team effort and we’re looking forward to another Award-winning Sipsmith London Dry Gin The Sipsmith Distillery

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The Sipsmith founders

year of sharing our creations with the Sipsmith Sipping Society members.

Sipsmith has always warmly welcomed people to the distillery. Every weeknight evening it swings open its doors, so gin lovers from across the globe can experience a real working gin distillery and see the Sipsmith copper ladies (Prudence, Patience, Constance and Verity) for themselves, while enjoying a tutored tasting of the delicious range.

ABOVE: The Sipsmith Lab LEFT: Sipsmith Sipping Society

SIPSMITH THE DISTILLERY, 83 CRANBROOK ROAD, LONDON W4 2LJ

+44 (0)20 8747 0753

SIPSMITH.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | FOOD & DRINK

WILKINSON VINTNERS Selling the finest wines to a global market

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Wilkinson Vintners focuses very heavily on the classic n 2017, specialist fine wine merchant Wilkinson Vintners wines of Bordeaux (including Lafite, Latour, Margaux, celebrated 25 years in business as a market leader, supplying Mouton Rothschild, Petrus and Le Pin), but also sells vintage first-class wines at competitive prices and providing worldport, Burgundy from the top producers (DRC, Rousseau, class advice to knowledgeable, discerning clients around Roumier, de Vogue), as well a wide range of great wines from the globe. Patrick and Fiona Wilkinson founded Wilkinson the four corners of the world. The company’s current stock Vintners in 1992 and in 1998 they were joined by Paul Bowker ranges from a case of claret at just £120 to 12 bottles of the as partner and co-director, who brought with him many years’ legendary Petrus 1982 at £50,000 per case. experience gleaned while serving as the head They also have an exceptionally rare case of the wine department at Christie’s.

All wines that are listed of Romanée-Conti 1988 available at £185,000.

In those 25 years, the company has never are owned by the Last year saw the sale of a super-rare changed the manner of its operation. All company, and at any time six-litre ‘imperiale’ of Château Latour 1961 of its wines are inspected and photographed prior to sale and kept in a state-of-the-art, stock can typically include at £55,000, one of the most expensive single bottles ever sold by the company. Sales temperature-controlled warehouse in east in excess of 500 cases rose to £30m in 2016/17 and are to a broad London, until they are ready for delivery of first growth claret and customer base, from British private clients in climate-controlled vehicles. All wines that are listed are owned by the company, and a total holding of fine wine to top restaurants, hotels and superyachts.

Recently the vast majority of wines sold are at any time stock can typically include worth over £8m heading East, particularly to Hong Kong, in excess of 500 cases of first growth claret and a total holding of fine wine worth over £8m.

The focus has always been on the careful sourcing and purchase of well-cellared, mature wines from private British cellars. This could range from buying from a traditional country house cellar, where the owner has stored his routine purchases of wine over many years, to buying from someone who has bought wine over a period of time purely as an investment. Such purchases from private owners vary from a single case to entire collections worth millions, and during 2017 the company purchased a single private cellar worth nearly £1.5m.

A wall of 240 bottles of Château Petrus 2006

An Impériale of Château Lafite 1982

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A case of Château Petrus 2000 in Wilkinson Vintners’ warehouse

Singapore and Japan, accounting for 75 per cent of sales.

Such is the buoyant nature of the fine wine market that the main constraint on the business is supply.

‘We spend 90 per cent of our time sourcing wine, and find that when listing the right wine at the right price, sales look after themselves with no need for a “sales” team,’ says Paul Bowker. ‘We are always happy to help and advise, but there is never a hard sell – just genuine, professional and expert advice.’

All wines are held in their Domaine de la Romanée Conti wines warehouse but Wilkinson purchased from a private cellar Vintners sees clients by appointment at its Marylebone mews headquarters in a building it designed and built in 2002. With 25 years already under its belt, Wilkinson Vintners looks forward to many more years of carefully purchasing and discreetly selling the world’s greatest wines.

WILKINSON VINTNERS 38 CHAGFORD STREET, LONDON NW1 6EB

An Impériale of Château Latour 1961

+44 (0)20 7616 0404

WILKINSONVINTNERS.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | FOOD & DRINK

WIMBLEDON BREWERY History in the making: brewing traditions combined with innovation are the key to this revived brewery’s success

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now is the most exciting time to be a brewer in the 40-odd years imbledon may be synonymous with tennis, but its that I’ve been in the industry.’ This excitement continues illustrious history as a beer-brewing hub predates to brew new products: the past year has seen several, including the the tournament by almost half a century. Founded launch of Copper North American Ale; Wimbledon 1889 – created in 1832 by William Cook, the Wimbledon Brewery for AFC Wimbledon; Windmill Pale – an oatmeal pale ale designed had given rise to the town’s tallest building by 1880: with Suffolk powerhouse Greene King and, most recently, a winter a five-storey tower built by new owner William Quartermaine. collection of ‘small’ and strong beers with a nod to the brewery’s Destroyed almost entirely by a fire in 1889, the brewery fell silent.

Victorian roots and beer styles.

Fast-forward to 2015 and local entrepreneur Wimbledon’s beers have found favour not and former banker Mark Gordon’s vision: ‘It’s not just beer: only with more than 700 pub venues, but also to resurrect the historic brand and establish it’s beer for the with some of Britain’s leading luxury hotels, a new Wimbledon Brewery worthy of its discerning drinker, private clubs, Michelin-starred restaurants and namesake. Launched on the site of Merton respected food columnists. ‘After all, it’s not Priory – a brewing stronghold from the Middle who appreciates just beer,’ says Richard Coltart, sales director.

Ages until its dissolution in 1538 – the company and understands ‘It’s beer for the discerning drinker, who chose a phoenix as its logo, reborn from the the subtleties and appreciates the subtleties and delights ashes of Quartermaine’s tower, clutching of great craftsmanship.’

English hops in its jaws. delights of great This is borne out by exciting gastronomic Similarly, the Wimbledon Brewery represents craftsmanship’ collaborations, including an exclusive beer for a renaissance in the brewing industry, inspiring a new generation of drinkers and brewers. A heritage custodian with a contemporary attitude, the brand’s philosophy is laudable: marry the best English brewing traditions with innovation and the finest ingredients. Starring roles are played by classic native varieties, with a supporting cast of new and old-world hops, a bespoke strain of yeast and Maris Otter barley selected by master brewer Derek Prentice – a brewhouse veteran honoured with SIBA’s Lifetime Achievement Award and The Guild of Beer Writers’ Brewer of the Year title in 2013.

Hugely knowledgeable, Derek’s passion is palpable: ‘I believe right

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Wimbledon Brewery at London Heathrow British Airways First Class lounge

Covent Garden eatery Margot; artisan bread by Millers Bespoke Bakery; and soft-textured beer cheese made by the Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company.

Adding to an already impressive roster of stockists – Langan’s Brasserie, The Ivy, the Hurlingham Club, The Queen’s Club, the All England Lawn Tennis Club, RAC, Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse and InterContinental London Park Lane – are Marks & Spencer and Waitrose; listings with The Wine Society, The Vintner and Haynes Hanson & Clark; a month-long showcase in British Airways’ first and concorde lounges at Heathrow; and being named Official Beer Partner to royal gunmaker James Purdey & Son. A few more phoenix feathers in the cap of a small craft brewery on the rise.

THE WIMBLEDON BREWERY PRINCE GEORGE’S ROAD, LONDON SW19 2PT

+44 (0)20 3674 9786

WIMBLEDONBREWERY.COM

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Coze p390 Fairfax & Favor p392 Gladstone London p394 Gordon Castle Scotland p396 Knomo p398 Maviada p400 Natalia Miyar Atelier p402 Raliegh Goss p404 Rugs of Petworth p406

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BRANDS TO WATCH

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | BRANDS TO WATCH

BOLD & REEVES A different approach to managing London’s finest properties

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ounded in 2012 as a joint venture between a Middle Eastern family office and the Sunley Group, Bold & Reeves is a high-end specialist property management company offering customers convenience, peace of mind and great value.

The philosophy behind the company is simple – your home is your haven in a busy city. It should be a place of calm, comfort and contentment, where you’re free to relax, free to spend time with your family and friends and especially free from any problems with maintenance and repairs.

Bold & Reeves’s approach to managing property means that it shoulders and solves all home maintenance problems. The service is bespoke, proactive, carefully planned, meticulously managed and expertly delivered to enhance the value of homes and the working life of everything within it. Clients need only ever make one phone call and their personal property manager will plan, organise and oversee every aspect of the service and deal with all expert tradespeople. Clients are provided with a property maintenance logbook, which records all activities undertaken, and provides valuable continuity enabling customers to see, check and change their schedule for complete confidence and control.

Commenting on this aspect of the service, Bold & Reeves’s managing director Bill Shipton observes, ‘We all service our cars regularly to avoid the cost and inconvenience of breaking down. In exactly the same way, we enable customers to look after their properties, probably their single most valuable asset. And with the rise in property taxes resulting in more people improving rather than moving, our service adds value to properties, by being better maintained, for when you do come to sell.’

At the heart of Bold & Reeves’s success is the concept of its electronic property management logbook, reduced outgoings on reactive on-

Electronic Property Logbook

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The philosophy behind the company is simple – your home is your haven in a busy city. It should be a place of calm, comfort and contentment demand/as required repairs, direct access to the company’s closely vetted specialist partner supplier network offering discounted wholesale rates and a demonstrable record of risk management for insurance benefits.

The Bold & Reeves service is flexible to whatever level of support you require, covering everything from maintaining to repairing right through to just providing access to the company’s expert tradespeople.

BOLD & REEVES 52 MOUNT STREET, LONDON W1K 2SF

Bold & Reeves operates its exclusive services in Central London’s most high-end districts for clients who include homeowners, investment landlords, leaseholders of super prime apartments and residential developers.

Bold & Reeves’s latest development is an iPhone app, targeted at homeowners in London’s 20 most prestigious postcodes, which offers instant access to Bold & Reeves’s proprietary network of specialist partners – all at the tap of a finger.

As Bill Shipton sums up: ‘Bold & Reeves’s carefully planned property management, preventative maintenance programme and proactive approach is valued by all our clients. The service means that not only do fewer issues become problems, reducing breakdowns and disruptions to their lives but in many instances, insurance premiums are reduced – and that’s a massive added benefit. +44 (0)20 7408 7590

BOLDANDREEVES.CO.UK

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | BRANDS TO WATCH

COZE Merchants of the finest linen and household textiles

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company grow to 50 members of staff with a turnover of family passion for textiles that can trace itself back four approximately £10m per annum. But it’s still very much a family generations lies at the heart of the fine linen brand firm. ‘My dad, brother and I are not only constantly training Coze. It was Ben and Dan Roston’s great-grandfather all our staff how to look after our valued customers,’ says Ben, who set up one of the first textiles businesses in the ‘but we are also always available for any of them to speak to us.’

East End of London, and the British company’s core And the family is not slow when it comes to searching out the value of putting customers first has remained unchanged even as the very best products the world has to offer. ‘Before launching Coze,’ business has transformed with each generation. The modern brand says Ben, ‘we literally travelled the world to pick the very best pieces springs from the present generation’s father, who set up the umbrella for our discerning customers. My brother company that now contains Coze, supplying and I are constantly jetting off to explore household textiles to the contract market for Customers staying new potential buying areas.’

35 years. Ben joined the company in 2006, looking at the hotels began Duvets and pillows are filled with Pyrenean after hotel clients, supplying beautiful pillows, contacting Coze duck down, the best in the world and the reason duvets, towels and bed linen to many of the UK’s why Coze is committed to its longstanding most famous five-star establishments, including to ask if they could partners in the foothills of the Pyrenean The Dorchester, The Savoy and The Ritz in London buy their very own mountain region. Coze’s linen is woven and Gleneagles and The Balmoral in Scotland. linen, enabling them in the Bay of Bengal, a relationship that has By the time Ben’s brother Dan joined the survived four generations. Towelling is made business in 2012, customers staying at the hotels to recreate hotel in the Aegean region of Turkey, where they began contacting them to ask if they could buy quality at home traditionally use a longer fibre, meaning fewer their very own linen, enabling them to recreate joins and an overall softer and stronger product. Coze’s wool hotel quality at home. This led the brothers to identify blankets are made in a Yorkshire mill dating back to 1783, and a gap in the market for a high-end brand specialising in skilfully woven to capture pockets of insulation, making them household textiles. So Coze was born to bring the very best light in weight but comfortingly indulgent. bedding and towelling to the retail market.

Relationships instruct the company’s commitment to It was a wise decision. Placing the customer first and sustainability and traceability too. All Coze bed linen has a concentrating on service, product and pricing has seen the traceability initiative. In other words, Coze actually knows the farmers who plant the seeds that the cotton is grown from and can follow the raw materials all the way through to the final product

Towelling fibre is sourced from the Aegean area of Turkey

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Coze supplies some of the UK’s best hotels with its fine bed linen

Coze’s blankets are made in a Yorkshire mill

the customer buys – rare in these days of mass consumerism.

As Coze is online only, they provide a free swatch service, offering the opportunity to order a variety of samples and feel the fabrics for themselves. The swatches come presented in a Coze folder with an information booklet explaining their story as well as the product.

‘Coze is a genuine labour of love for me,’ says Ben, ‘and I believe this is reflected in the customer experience and product.’ So when they hear that their pillows have helped customers conquer chronic back pain or have given clients the best night’s sleep in years, the family feels that its mission of service, quality and artisanship has been accomplished.

COZE ELSTREE DISTRIBUTION PARK, ELSTREE & BOREHAMWOOD WD6 1RU

Velour towelling robe

+44 (0)20 3866 3939

COZELINEN.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | BRANDS TO WATCH

FAIRFAX & FAVOR Innovative British footwear brand perfect for town and country

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t the age of 15, childhood friends Marcus Fairfax Fountaine and Felix Favor Parker, decided they would go into business together. Combining their middle names, the Fairfax & Favor brand was born.

After graduation, the friends set about creating an elegant fusion of country and town footwear. Marcus and Felix asked a Spanish factory to hand-make 400 pairs of beautiful boots and then showcased them at their local Holkham Country Fair in Norfolk. The event was a huge hit and enabled more successful shows to follow.

Today the boys’ personalities remain at the heart of all they do. ‘We are a young and vibrant label,’ say Marcus and Felix. ‘As we have evolved from a very personal venture, we have been sure to remain strongly connected to our values as a British-born lifestyle brand. The Fairfax & Favor personality is synonymous with us, we endeavour to combine fun, humour and the type of style that depicts sartorial elegance without looking like you’ve tried.’

Today, staying true to its Norfolk roots, the Fairfax & Favor flagship showroom is in Kings Lynn but boutique country brand it is not – Fairfax & Favor visits over 40 shows across Britain and Europe annually, and its collections are available in pop-up shops and in over 60 stores, including Harrods.

Three years on, Fairfax & Favor is now a sought-after brand with a multimillion-pound turnover – quite an achievement for the founders, who are still only in their twenties. The collections cater for men and women, with a country-living ethos reflected in every piece. The footwear, luggage and accessories blur the line between smart and

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The Monte Carlo Drivers

casual by moving effortlessly between the country and town lifestyle.

In 2018 Fairfax & Favor is to become the lead sponsor for the Rockingham Castle Horse Trials, reflecting its extraordinarily fast progression from start-up exhibitor to lead sponsor.

The brand’s consistent presence on social media has attracted 132,000 loyal followers across all platforms to date and it has featured in a variety of magazines from Country & Town House, The Telegraph and Tatler to The Rake, Cosmopolitan and GQ. Following its successful partnership with Breast Cancer Care in 2016, Fairfax & Favor continues its dedicated support for the cause by creating a special-edition product to raise money during Breast Cancer Awareness month. In 2016 they raised £14,000 and, in 2017, they created a pale pink suede leather belt, raising £15,000 and donating 100 The Amira per cent of the profits to the charity.

Fairfax & Favor continue to create and innovate with new products including The Monte Carlo driver, a hybrid taking the best features of a driver sole but styled as a classic loafer for men and The Amira, which shares the same qualities as their original Regina boot, but is styled over the knee, for women. The latest addition to their handbag range is the The Langley, a timeless but ontrend tote, handcrafted in the highestquality mahogany leather.

Fairfax & Favor is on its way to being recognised as a must-have brand for both The Langley metropolis and rural retreat. Marcus and Felix remain devoted to providing their customers with craftsmanship and style over Three years on, Fairfax Favor has a multi-million- fast fashion, cementing pound turnover – quite Fairfax & Favor’s reputation as the an achievement for the perfect brand founders, who are still in which to step only in their twenties between town and country.

FAIRFAX & FAVOR NARFORD HALL, KING’S LYNN, NORFOLK PE32 1JA

+44 (0)1760 338199

FAIRFAXANDFAVOR.COM

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The Amira, The Pembroke and The Sennowe Belt

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | BRANDS TO WATCH

GLADSTONE LONDON The go-to label for men who appreciate quality, design and functionality in equal measure

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hat could be more British than a traditional Gladstone bag named after William Ewart Gladstone, the four-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and designed and manufactured in a leather shop in the City of Westminster? Not many things, but the Gladstone bags we covet today are not the stiff leather portmanteaus of yesteryear, but rather the timeless leather accessories handcrafted by Gladstone London: stylish, contemporary bags which look just as good in the boardroom as they do on the city streets.

Founder and CEO John O’Sullivan launched Gladstone London in 2015. John had worked in the industry for more than 30 years, but it wasn’t until he started to question why the designs for so many beautiful bags became lost over time that he saw the potential for reintroducing traditional leather crafting elements, making them relevant for today’s urbanites and city slickers.

In just two years, the company has become the go-to label for those who appreciate quality, design and functionality. Fundamental to the Gladstone London ethos is the craftsmanship that produced those original Gladstone bags back in the 19th century. The world of leather artisans is steeped in history and tradition and the idea of a mentor passing down his tools to his apprentice is something that has always resonated with John. The old skills – the crafting practices and the hand stitching, for example – cannot be replicated by machine, which is why Gladstone London still works with retired artisans, who

FROM ABOVE: G21 tote; G4 briefcase; G3 laptop folio

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G21 tote bag

teach techniques of old, reviving lost crafting practices.

Take the G3 folio and G4 briefcase, which form part of the Gladstone London Business collection. They are created from exquisite vegetable-tanned leather, but these are not the skins available on the shelves of the primary used tanneries. John had wanted to craft them in something unique, so he set out on a journey, which ended in Italy, to unearth leathers of the past. Much like wood, leather gains a rich, warm patina over time, and the skins he eventually chose for the G3 and G4 had been stored in a darkened warehouse near Lake Como for over 30 years.

Of course, it’s not just about the exterior: a bag of quality also has to be pleasurable to use. Both briefcases have an interior lined with a sumptuous and cleanable alcantara, plus a double gusset, which is essential for keeping paperwork separate from a laptop.

Nevertheless, with heritage comes the need to innovate and Gladstone London’s S/S’18 collection, showcased at London Collections Men and at Pitti Uomo in Florence this year (the

company was accepted on first application), certainly does that. Evoking 1950s London, the collection features hand-painted curling monochrome smoke designs strikingly juxtaposed with iconic clean line dark silhouettes.

Speaking of the new collection, John O’Sullivan comments: ‘My lifetime’s career working with luxury accessories derives from my passion for quality design, heritage and genuine craftsmanship. Our modern designs are crafted to suit the ever-growing market of the understated, stylish gentleman.

The Big Smoke Collection leads new industry trends with our inspired vision of 1950s London.’ The company also offers a highly exclusive bespoke service (‘more than craftsmanship, it is artistry’), available by appointment only at the Shepherd Market shop.

All Gladstone London products are handcrafted in a small Italian factory near Lake Como to a quality matched only by the most renowned superbrands. The heritage and inspiration, however, are most decidedly British.

GLADSTONE LONDON 11 SHEPHERD MARKET, LONDON W1J 7PG

+44 (0)20 7493 0664

GLADSTONELONDON.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | BRANDS TO WATCH

GORDON CASTLE SCOTLAND A premium natural lifestyle brand inspired by one of Scotland’s oldest walled gardens

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of Europe’s largest kitchen gardens, encompassing a café, shop and t was 2008 when Angus and Zara Gordon Lennox, descendants of the Dukes of Gordon, took over the running of Gordon Castle visitor attraction, all built around 259 espaliered fruit trees growing across 2,550 feet of 16-foot high walls. and decided to restore the walled garden to its former glory.

Nothing in the garden goes to waste: the lavender and mint beds Used for many years as a commercial raspberry garden, before produce botanicals for the clean, crisp gin; the chamomile is the which it had been lying derelict, the decision was the beginning basis of the loose-leaf tea and fresh chillies go into the homemade of a long and on-going adventure which, along the way, has chutney. In the summer, all the café’s salads and vegetables are allowed the estate to diversify its activities and bring homegrown. The brand has gone from a touch of Scottish tranquility to the world. strength to strength and currently has over Built in the 1470s and enlarged in the 1770s Gordon Castle’s 250 product lines, each of which brings by the Duke of Gordon, Gordon Castle was one genius has been a little of the garden’s serenity to people all of Scotland’s largest houses and the spiritual to innovate by over the world. Gordon Castle Gin is a multihome of the House of Gordon, one award-winning spirit, sold at a thousand of Scotland’s oldest families. The estate drawing on its rich outlets throughout Europe, including Marks is located in the Spey valley in Moray and Scottish history, land & Spencer, Harrods and Fortnum & Mason. includes a stretch of the Spey River, its salmonand flora, and to The bath and beauty collection is as pure rich waters running through the estate. as it is effective, proving Angus’ statement It is the home and inspiration for Gordon collaborate with that ‘provenance doesn’t get any purer’.

Castle Scotland, an exclusive lifestyle brand other British brands From salt scrub to hair care, body lotion launched in 2014 with lines ranging from and hand wash, every item is fragranced with essential oils small-batch premium gin, bath and beauty, food and drink, captured from the garden’s herbs and flowers. And they are Scottish tweed, fine bone china and engraved glass, all inspired absolutely natural, with no added artificial fragrances, colours, by the eight-acre walled gardens. When restored, it will be one

Gordon Castle walled garden

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Relax with the irresistible fragrances from the Orangery Bath and Beauty range

parabens, glycols, sulphates, phthalates or petrochemicals, and are never tested on animals.

Gordon Castle’s genius has been to innovate by drawing on its rich Scottish Halcyon Days Antler Trellis history, land and flora, Collection Cup and Saucer and to collaborate with other British brands – such as Halcyon Days for fine bone china and Johnstons of Elgin for Gordon Castle tweed – where every single product has provenance back to the walled garden. As Angus says: ‘It’s so important to safeguard the future of traditional Scottish estates and, for us, using the walled garden as the inspiration for the Gordon Castle Scotland brand seemed a natural progression. Here’s to the future as we strive for world-wide recognition for the products, brand and estate.’ We will drink to that – with Gordon Castle gin, of course.

GORDON CASTLE FOCHABERS, MORAY, SCOTLAND IV32 7PQ

ABOVE: A dry gin martini served with scorched rosemary LEFT: Gordon Castle Gin

+44 (0)1343 612315

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | BRANDS TO WATCH

KNOMO Find freedom from the desk, take the office in your hands and ‘Live Free’

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while the range has expanded to include every style hen Pippa Middleton was photographed carrying of bag from backpacks to briefcases and carry on-board a Knomo laptop bag a few years ago, it quickly sold luggage, the purpose of each remains the same: to allow out. Not only did it bring Knomo to the world’s its owner to carry his or her laptop or tablet in style and comfort. attention, but for those of us who were already From the very beginning Knomo adopted a kaizen (Japanese fans of the brand, it also confirmed that for ‘change for better’) approach, updating and modifying bags we should be pronouncing the name with a silent ‘k’. according to customer feedback. Some of its products have had And the name is important: a combination of ‘kno’ more than 30 design tweaks. Every Knomo from ‘knowledge’ and ‘mo’ from ‘mobility’, the signature detail is constantly evolving, name Knomo sums up the brand’s whole ethos.

What was needed was and many of the bags now include The company was co-founded in 2004 a laptop bag that not integrated portable power packs by the current CEO, Howard Harrison. only looked good and and even offer wireless charging.

A former lawyer and banker, Harrison had Last year was a big one for the brand, noticed that a growing number of his friends protected portable opening its first shop in Fitzrovia (Studio and colleagues took their laptops with them devices, but in which all 83 on Great Portland Street), followed wherever they went. Yet they were toting those bits and pieces by a second, flagship store in Seven Dials their expensive, state-of-the-art devices in the ugly canvas carrying bags they came in. necessary to modern life (The Outpost on Neal Street), as well an outlet within Selfridges. Knomo Harrison and his co-founders saw that could be safely organised as also launched a collaboration with the what was needed was a laptop bag that not only Victoria and Albert Museum, creating a six-piece capsule looked good and protected portable devices, but in which collection from an original art deco print. Knomo took all those other bits and pieces necessary to modern life could its kaizen approach one step further last year with be safely organised. It needed to be a bag that appealed equally a campaign on Kickstarter, an online platform which to the digital nomad and the fashion-conscious urbanite – raises community funding helping everyone to ‘live free’, as Knomo puts it. for creative projects.

The six designs in Knomo’s first collection – three for men and The suggestion Knomo three for women – were named after the Wombles. Not so strange put forward was when you consider that Elisabeth Beresford’s furry creations were to create the themselves all named after exotic places around the world. And

The Outpost, 47-49 Neal Street

Live Free backpack

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Amesbury briefcase

Beauchamp backpack

perfect 24/7 backpack by combining its signature organisation and bespoke-designed hardware with Bluetooth GPS tracking and wireless charging. Not surprisingly, Kickstarter’s global community loved the idea and the result was the impressive #LiveFree Backpack, made from ultra water-repellent waxed canvas by Yorkshire-based Millerain and packed with cutting-edge technology. The ultimate companion for work, travel and play.

KNOMO 83 GREAT PORTLAND STREET, LONDON W1W 7LS

Berlin backpack

+44 (0)20 7462 0750

KNOMO.COM

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | BRANDS TO WATCH

MAVIADA The British jewellery brand inspired by the glamorous and chic Mediterranean lifestyle

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semi-precious stones, 18 karat gold and gold vermeil. Once he soothing blue-green sea; the silvery green hued Eda is satisfied with a design, each piece is hand-finished, olive trees; the bright, multi-coloured glow exhibiting centuries-old craftsmanship that has been of ceramic tiles; the glamorous hotspots; the sense passed down in workshops from generation to generation, of fun... such hallmarks of the Mediterranean’s which gives the pieces a human connection and emotional relaxed, chic sunshine lifestyle are the prime value. ‘Maviada is not a mass-produced jewellery brand,’ says inspirations behind Maviada.

Eda. ‘On the contrary, we want to give our clients something Launched in 2016, Maviada – the name means ‘blue with a special, personal touch.’ And it shows. island’ in Turkish – is the creation of Eda Elbirlik, Maviada’s first collection featuring who, though born in Britain, spent her summer contemporary classic pieces such as the St holidays growing up on the shores of the Aegean.

The jewellery drop earrings – a chic and versatile With a passion for beautiful objects and fine balances understated Tropez design set with a variety of beautiful coloured jewellery, as well as for the Mediterranean glamour with playful gemstones and a choice of three different 18 lifestyle itself, Eda brings her personal vision karat gold finishes – was an instant hit. The line and an astute attention to detail to her elegance, while was immediately picked up by the Four Seasons beautifully designed pieces. History, fashion, offering everyday Hotel in Geneva. Then came London Fashion architecture, design and nature all play their luxe to sophisticated Week’s Designer Showrooms: ‘A fantastic part in forming her aesthetic. introduction to the international fashion world Maviada’s designs are fresh and women for us,’ recalls Eda. Editorial coverage followed contemporary, perfectly pitched for the sophisticated, well-travelled woman seeking that elusive combination of everyday luxe, understated glamour and playful Tumbled turquoise necklace elegance. The woman who wears Maviada is one who knows who she is and what she wants. She is equally at home in St Tropez or Capri, Mallorca, Bodrum or Sardinia – all of which have lent their names to stylish but discreet pieces that will see her move effortlessly from lazy days on the beach to glamorous nights out.

Every design is carefully hand-drawn by Eda on paper, exploring combinations of ethically sourced precious and

Diamond hoops

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St Tropez drop earring

Double Curve bracelet

in ELLE UK magazine, The Times, The Telegraph’s ‘In my Jewellery Box’, Professional Jeweller and Jewellery Focus, giving the brand further solid recognition.

The brand’s non-stop growth has been boosted by e commerce: it is now stocked online at Harvey Nichols, La Maison Couture, Jewelstreet, Gothelist and 1stdibs.

The St Regis Hotel, Aman and other Four Seasons Hotels in Mauritius, Doha and London followed. Anticipating the feel-good factor that these sophisticated, contemporary designs will bring, Maviada is well and truly on its way to great success – watch this brand.

MAVIADA 1ST FLOOR, 236 GRAY’S INN ROAD, LONDON WC1X 8HB

Cavallo Cascade Midi

+44 (0)20 7736 7438

MAVIADA.CO.UK

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | BRANDS TO WATCH

NATALIA MIYAR ATELIER Miami luxe meets British craftsmanship at this boutique London studio, creating a powerhouse of creativity

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Natalia also embraces an effortless luxury in her interiors, conduit of creativity’ is what Natalia Miyar calls not shying away from embracing and loving beauty in all the Atelier that she set up in 2016, an international its forms. And no project is complete without well-chosen art interior architecture practice comprising architects, to bring an interesting narrative and personality to a space. interior and furniture designers and sourcing experts ‘I use my experience and personal passion to open up the art who provide a holistic approach to realising effortless world to clients,’ Natalia says, ‘and help to create a starting point comfort and luxury in the homes of clients. Using its international for their collections, which I hope will become a lifelong interest.’ experience in residential design, the team originate immersive, All of this speaks volumes about the sensory experiences to create homes that are Atelier’s relationships with its clients. as wonderful as they are liveable.

Natalia’s interiors As the name of the studio suggests, they Natalia Miyar herself is a trained are founded on her lean towards creative collaboration, architect, and she practised for six years deep understanding an integrated approach and devotion in Miami where she was brought up by Cuban-American parents. Her style reflects of space and reflect her to creating homes. The Atelier does not a house style because Natalia would her training – her interiors are founded passion for travel and her have rather help clients find their own decorative on a deep understanding of space and cultural heritage coupled identity. ‘It’s an intimate process,’ she reflect her passion for travel and her cultural explains, ‘and there’s no space more heritage coupled with an architectural with an architectural intimate than home.’ background and intuitive love of colour, craft, background Current projects include a private art and beauty. ‘Colour plays a key part in my work,’ explains Natalia. ‘It helps to anchor a project with an individual identity and sense of place.’

The natural world is another strong influence, and Natalia often works with earthy tones of sienna, ochre and black paired with sculptural works and organic shapes and materials to bring a grounded glamour to a scheme. ‘Where a project requires an injection of energy,’ she says, ‘we bring in my favourite bright blue shades of sea and sky with the bold, lush green of tropical plants and pops of playful keynotes, reminiscent of vibrant cityscapes.’

Master bedroom in contrasting apartment

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Living room in textured apartment

residence in Regent’s Park, a large home in Holland Park, two penthouses in Knightsbridge and a beautiful apartment overlooking the river in Chelsea.

Reflecting its international outlook, Natalia Miyar Atelier is also working on a stunning home on the coast in Miami and a secluded villa in the hills of Ibiza.

Projects may vary in style, size and location but they are bound together by an understanding of pattern and texture in a luscious Entrance in contrasting apartment interplay of layered materiality, tactility and proportion. Natalia Miyar’s interiors are infused with handmade, tactile objects to create serene, storied spaces. It’s no wonder then that the Atelier has gained such a big reputation in such a short time.

NATALIA MIYAR ATELIER UNIT 21 CHELSEA WHARF, 15 LOTS ROAD, LONDON SW10 0QJ

Bedroom in textured apartment

+44 (0)20 8629 5510

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | BRANDS TO WATCH

RALIEGH GOSS Making fine jewellery accessible

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hroughout her life the award-winning designer Raliegh Goss has travelled the globe drawing inspiration from different cultures, artists and designers, from Matisse to Agnès B. She spent her early childhood in Ibiza and the South of France and inherited a love of art and design from her mother, a designer. In 2008 Raliegh started her creative journey as a silversmith at the Sir John Cass Faculty of Art. By her 19th birthday a year later, she had already completed a year-long apprenticeship as a goldsmith at the bench of a reputable Notting Hill jeweller.

Raliegh went on to study at Central Saint Martins and at City Lit to sharpen her business acumen.

By 2011 she owned a private workshop in Geneva, making bespoke items for individual clients.

At Baselworld, she met Angus Law, her business counterpart, best friend and the man she now shares her life with. Angus began his career working at the Birmingham Mint, the oldest independent private mint in the world, before moving into 3D software, specialising in 3D CAD sculpting, Zbrush sculpting, 3D printing and casting.

The pair moved back to London in 2014 when Raliegh went to work for Star Diamond, a Mayfairbased fine jeweller. She went on to design and launch the Astraeus collection for them at The Arts Club on Dover Street, receiving critical acclaim from The Financial Times, The Telegraph, Vanity Fair and Tatler, among others.

FROM TOP: Astraeus 18k white gold large pendant, 3ct E VS1 diamond ring flanked with pink diamonds and Astraeus limited edition 18k yellow gold cuff

Raliegh and Angus joined their complementary creative forces and found a workshop in Hatton Garden and began making jewellery. In January 2017 they launched Raliegh Goss, predominantly creating jewellery for weddings. ‘I wanted to create a brand that people would want to return to time and time again,’ explains Raliegh. ‘We have formed a business that offers a bespoke service and one that is very human and makes luxury more accessible. We are wholesomely adaptable to our clientele and their needs and that is what we hope will set us apart from more rigid luxury brands.’

Raliegh was soon becoming the brand of choice for younger people who were willing to step out of the confines of the current luxury marketplace. ‘We will continue to keep our team small ‘I wanted to create and personal, with a brand that people individuals who encyclopaedic would return to time have knowledge in the and time again,’ industry,’ says Raliegh, explains Raliegh Goss. promising to keep introducing ‘chic ‘We have formed and fun and more a business that attainable’ fine jewellery collections. makes luxury Fashion influencers and more accessible’ well-known individuals, like Ellie Goulding, have already been seen wearing Raliegh Goss.

Talking about Raliegh Goss’s bespoke bridal service, Raliegh says, ‘We’ve seen an increase in the trend of young couples wanting a hand in designing their own bridal jewellery. An engagement ring is a lifelong piece and a big spend for many, so creating individual bespoke items with the couple adds an element of romance.’ Raliegh Goss is currently making an engagement ring featuring a rare natural fancy white diamond, which is snow white and opalescent in colour. ‘It’s wonderful to be able to guide people toward their choice with our in depth knowledge of gem stones and precious metals.’

RALIEGH GOSS 15 GREVILLE STREET, LONDON EC1N 8SQ

+44 (0)20 7242 5400

RALIEGHGOSS.COM

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Aquamarine cocktail ring (21.82cts) and Morganite cocktail ring (26.56cts)

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018 | BRANDS TO WATCH

RUGS OF PETWORTH Handcrafted, one-of-a-kind rugs and carpets personally sourced from across Asia

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are often unable to source elsewhere. Not only impressive in size, hen Alex Rees set up Rugs of Petworth nine the workmanship that has gone into each one and the individual years ago his aim was to bring a fresh approach decorative designs are just as outstanding. to an ancient industry that has its roots along The company prides itself on its approach to assisting clients. the Silk Road in China. Focusing on the gap Staff have in-depth product knowledge and understand how between heavily patterned, traditional rugs best to help someone find exactly the right thing for a room – and designer contemporary carpets, he opened a small shop especially by paying close attention to how much input they in the charming, historic West Sussex market town of Petworth might need in the furnishing process. selling one-of-a-kind decorative rugs and To ensure that customers are confident carpets handcrafted by the most reputable The company prides in their purchase, Rugs of Petworth offers producers across the Asian weaving belt. itself on a helpful a personalised home appointment service Each of these beautiful, handmade ‘modern approach. Alex’s for those in the UK who are thinking classics’ is personally selected by Alex, who of purchasing an ‘oversized’ carpet. regularly travels to Asia to meet the dealers staff have in-depth This gives potential buyers an invaluable and skilled artisans who often spend years knowledge and opportunity to see the piece in situ, on designing, weaving and meticulously understand how best in its real home environment. hand finishing a single piece.

The Rugs of Petworth showroom also Rugs of Petworth is a real rarity in that to help customers find offers a selection of handmade scarves, it offers rugs and carpets for the discerning exactly the right rug handbags, cushions, suzani embroidery, customer that enhance both period and modern homes where a little more character and soul is appreciated.

While honoring the history of the craft, the colours, patterns and styles are chosen by Alex for an audience that appreciates uniqueness, true craftsmanship and exceptional quality in timeless pieces with which to furnish their homes. While the company has built a reputation on selling rugs of all sizes, it is the large carpets that really steal the show. With sizes in stock up to 7m x 5m (23’ x 16’), these are the very special, wow-factor rugs that customers

Classic Tabriz carpet, hand-knotted in India

Nahzat carpet, hand-knotted in Afghanistan

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Classic Sultanabad carpet hand-knotted in Afghanistan

and kilim furniture.

All are individually selected with the same quality standards at the fore. Within the first five years, the showroom expanded twice and Rugs of Petworth is now an established but steadily growing business. It has the potential to tap into a wide audience across the country, both through its extensive range of shop stock, the expert team of consultants making Alex Rees in Badohi, India home visits and, of course, a easy-to-use website.

In the future, the company aims to expand its reach while still maintaining the personalised service and small shop charm that loyal customers have come to expect and delight in.

RUGS OF PETWORTH 19 EAST STREET, PETWORTH, WEST SUSSEX GU28 0AB

Fine Sheberghan carpet, hand-knotted in Afghanistan

+44 (0)1798 344027

RUGSOFPETWORTH.CO.UK

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GREAT BRITISH BRANDS 2018

Index E

A Abercrombie & Kent Alexander McQueen Annoushka Anthony Sinclair Aquascutum Asprey Aston Martin

332 74 102 160 76 130 226

B The Balmoral Barbour Begg & Co Belmond Berry Bros. & Rudd Boadicea the Victorious Bold & Reeves Bonhams Boodles Brora Budd Shirtmakers Burberry

334 92 190 336 356 142 388 306 104 94 162 78

C C.P. Hart Cadogan The Calcot Collection The Capital Hotel Capstar Carol Joy London Catchpole & Rye Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Chase Distillery Church’s Coutts Coze Crockett & Jones

274 132 338 340 228 144 272 146 358 192 318 390 194

D D. R. Harris DAKS David Morris Deirdre Dyson Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour Dyson

J

Jaguar Jermyn Street Jimmy Choo Jo Malone London Johnnie Walker Johnstons of Elgin

148 80 106 276 244 248

The East India Company E.J. Churchill Edward Green Elizabeth Gage Elizabeth Marsh Floral Design Emma Willis Ettinger

360 212 196 108 278 164 198

F Fairfax & Favor Farrer & Co Favourbrook Fellows Fiona Barratt Interiors Floris London Foster & Son

392 320 166 110 250 150 200

G Garrard Gieves & Hawkes Gladstone London Gordon Castle Scotland GP & J Baker Grange Park Opera

112 168 394 396 280 308

H Hackett London Hamilton & Inches Harrods Heal’s Helen Green Design Studio Henry Poole & Co Hildon Water Holland & Holland Home House Hotel Café Royal The House of Bruar Hunter Huntsman

170 114 134 136 252 172 362 214 364 342 216 218 174

I Iconic Luxury Hotels Indian Ocean

344 282

230 138 202 152 366 96

K Kensington Palace Kent & Curwen Knomo

310 176 398

232 346 368 284 116

M Mackintosh MARC Martin Kemp Design Martin Moore Maviada McCarron & Co McLaren Molton Brown Motoluxe Mulberry Musto

82 370 254 256 400 258 234 154 178 84 220

N N. Peal Natalia Miyar Atelier Native Land Neatsmith Neptune New & Lingwood Nicholson Gin Nina Campbell Northacre Nyetimber

98 402 322 286 288 180 372 260 324 374

O Oliver Brown Osborne & Little

182 290

P Pendennis Shipyard Peter Reed Pragnell Prestat Pringle of Scotland

294 312 404 222 348 378 120 156 238 406 262

S

L Land Rover The Langham, London The Last Drop Distillers Loomah Lucas Rarities

R Rachel Vosper RADA Raliegh Goss Really Wild Red Savannah Rococo Chocolates Roger W Smith Roja Parfums Rolls-Royce Rugs of Petworth RWD

Savills Private Office Savoir Beds The Savoy Simon Wright Sipsmith Smallbone of Devizes Sunspel

326 296 350 122 380 264 184

T Tateossian Taylor Howes Tom Davies Temperley London Tetrad Theo Fennell The Thinking Traveller Tricker’s Turnbull & Asser Tusting

124 266 204 88 298 126 352 206 186 208

V Victor Vivienne Westwood

240 90

W Weatherbys Private Bank Wedgwood Welsh National Opera Wilkinson Vintners Wimbledon Brewery

328 300 314 382 384

Y 236 292 118 376 86

Yiangou Architects

268

Z Zoffany

302

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