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On EXPRESS YOURSELF

How to inject colour and creativity into your home FRESH TALENT

New floral superstars from around the world TRAILBLAZERS

The Indigenous women redefining contemporary art

the bright side

Award-winning Zaza Raising the benchmark in contemporary style, the Zaza features soft sensual curves, luxurious deep seats and sculpted adjustable arms and backs for a supreme comfort experience. Designed by acclaimed Australian designer Charles Wilson for King.

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L’ESSENCE FONDAMENTALE AND LE BAUME ULTIMATE REDENSIFYING AND REGENERATING DUO

Contents

55

A tactile arrangement crafted by The Colourblind Florist, one of the creatives in our showcase of new floral artistry talent.

40 THE VL EDIT

55 NEW BLOOMS

A curated hit list of new feature pieces and accessories that have caught our eye

Floristry today is more than just pretty posies. From Sydney to Antwerp, we meet a handful of the world’s most exciting floral artists who are cultivating arrangements and installations that will open your eyes to the possibilities and wonder of flowers as art

VLife Upfront 22 24 26 29

CONTRIBUTORS ONLINE NOW vogueliving.com.au EDITOR’S LETTER VL VIEW

VLoves 34 JUST FOR FUN Steeped in nostalgia with a dash of chic kitsch, Gucci’s lifestyle collection charms with whimsy and elegance in equal measure

46 MOOD ELEVATOR

65 ICONIC STYLE: OUT OF OFFICE

Avant-garde couturier Rolf Snoeren of Viktor & Rolf places his Amsterdam apartment in the hands of fellow boundary-breaker Studio Job’s Job Smeets to concoct this bright confection

Louis Vuitton reinvents an iconic 1929 bureau for today’s remote-work era

52 JOIE DE VIVRE The artistic director of Dior Maison and Baby Dior, Cordelia de Castellane understands the art of entertaining better than most. Her exquisite tabletop creations help transform any meal into a memorable event

68 EDGE OF GLORY Forget the macho posturing of white-boy art taking prime plinth in established Western institutions. The fresh face of best contemporary practice is Black, female and impervious to precedent

76 LEADING LIGHT Reinforcing an intrinsic link to the real value of gathering spaces has informed MAP Studio’s illuminating MPavilion Nov/Dec 2021

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HERMÈS,, BEAUTY IS A GESTURE

ROUGE HERMÈS,, SHADE 85 - ROUGE H

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P HOTO G RAP H E R: AN SON SM ART. FLOWE RP OT VP 3 LA MP BY V E R NE R PA N TO N FO R &T RAD I T I O N F RO M C ULT; CU LT DE S I GN .COM .AU. C US HI ON S FROM PON Y RID ER ; PON Y RID ER. COM. AU

152 106

116

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Our rugs lie lightly on this earth.

A R M A D I LLO - C O.C O M

Contents

The signature Martini served up with rakish style at Singapore’s Atlas bar.

VList 166 STRAIT AHEAD With a travel bubble on the horizon, Singapore slings to the top of our getaway plans. With top-notch restaurants and enticing bars, it’s time to rediscover the Garden City’s perennial attractions

170 THE VL EDIT A curated hit list of refined accessories for those who travel in style, from top to toe 18

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On the cover The living room of the Garcia House in Los Angeles, designed by John Lautner and currently the home of John McIlwee and Bill Damaschke.

Photographer: Roger Davies. Story, page 82.

Subscribe to Vogue Living: page 78.

Be part of the conversation: #VogueLiving #loveVL

172 SOURCES Contact details for the products, people and retailers featured in this issue On EXPRESS YOURSELF

VLast look 176 FOREVER YOUNG A modular favourite blurs the boundaries between inside and out in a new iteration ideal for all climes

How to inject colour and creativity into your home FRESH TALENT

New floral superstars from around the world TRAILBLAZERS

The Indigenous women redefining contemporary art

the bright side

P HOTO G RAP H E R: LAU RY N I SH AK

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Contributors

Leicolhn McKellar P H OTOG R A P HER For Darwin-based Leicolhn McKellar, a Budjiti woman from south-west Queensland, taking pictures is a way to channel her natural instinct for storytelling.

“My career has evolved alongside my confidence and identity as a First Nations woman,” she says.

“It’s evident in my pursuit of recording my people and their lived realities through a First Nations lens.” She documented the Yolngu women artists (page 68) for ‘Edge of Glory’. “The Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre is an emporium of cultural knowledge but the highlight for me is how lacking in pretence it is,” says McKellar. “I was especially charmed

by Djerrkngu Yunupingu chuckling in delight as she sang to me. These Yolngu Elders are incredible women with a wealth of knowledge and stories to share. I delight in being in their presence any chance I get.” @leicolhnmckellar_photography

Ceri David E DITO R A N D WR ITER Welsh-born, Sydney-based creative Ceri David calls herself a writer and editor. “It probably makes me sound ancient but the term ‘content’ doesn’t feel right,” she says. “It makes my career sound like the stuffing inside a cushion.” For our Optimism issue, David poured her 20 years of exceptional talent into crafting our lead VL View essay, ‘Reading the room’ (page 29), about the shifting concept of home.

Interviewing psychologist and associate professor Dr Kerry McBain about the impact our homes have on our wellbeing — and discovering her penchant for aquariums — was, she says, illuminating. “She’s named all her fish,” says David, “including one called Sigmund, who lives alone, pontificating about life.

I loved that.” ceridavid.com

Jody D’Arcy

P HOTOG R AP HER When Jody D’Arcy was contacted to capture the Marsala House — designed by the inimitable architect Iwan Iwanoff — in her hometown of Perth (page 128), it was a dream made reality. “The Iwan Iwanoff homes are design icons, all completely different and Marsala is one of his youngest homes, built in 1976, and heritage listed,” she says. “The highlight of this shoot was not only the home, but also hearing the story from designer Mariia Gabriel about the curation of its interiors.” D’Arcy began her career as a photojournalist for The Sunday Times (Perth) and has just launched Havenist, an online magazine showcasing the creatives behind Perth’s thriving design industry. “I love design, especially interiors and architecture,” she says, “and am very excited to be creating this community of incredible designers, makers, builders and retailers here in Western Australia.” @jody_darcy 22

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E DI T E D BY V E RI T Y MAGDA L I NO. P HOTO G RAP H ER : BE L LE V E RD I G LI O NE (J O DY D’ARCY )

Chris Pearson

EDI TOR A N D WR I TER Chris Pearson started his career as a business journalist but it wasn’t long before the New Zealand native and current Sydneysider decided to pursue his true passion, design. “Design draws on not just my passion for aesthetics but also the relationship people have with their homes — we shape and are shaped by where we live,” he says. “Language and design have always been among my greatest loves and this way I can combine the two.”

For this issue, Pearson wrote the story on the renovation of a 1916 Tudor Revival home in Sydney (page 152). It’s the debut interiors project for We are Duet, a brand-new practice helmed by designers Dominique Brammah and Shannon Shlom. “It was a pleasure to write about the first project of a new design team that’s definitely one to watch,” says Pearson. “They approach things in such a fresh way — nothing routine here. And no two projects are the same, so expect the unexpected.”

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Editor’s letter

In the living room of John McIlwee and Bill Damaschke’s John Lautner-designed home, the Garcia House in Los Angeles (page 82).

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PHOTO G RA PH ER S: G EO RG E S A N TON I (P ORTRA IT ), RO G ER DAVI E S (L I V IN G R O OM )

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nterior design has never been more popular. From homewares to home renovations, the whole sector has been booming over the past few months. And the reason seems fairly simple: so many of us have been stuck indoors, with little else to do but stare at all the things we want to change. But I think there’s something else to it, too.

After almost two years of chaos and confusion, our interior spaces feel like they are one of the few aspects of our lives we can control. Whether it’s a complete kitchen makeover or serving your morning coffee in your favourite mug, design has the ability to affect not just how a space looks, but how it makes us feel.

That’s what this issue is all about. We’re calling it the Optimism issue not simply because it looks like there might finally be some light at the end of what has been a very long, bleak tunnel, but because we wanted to celebrate the positive power of design. As Ceri David writes in VL View (page 29), great design is not just about surrounding yourself with beautiful things — although it doesn’t hurt. It is about considering our emotional connection to a space, the way it can help to lift our mood and offer comfort in an otherwise trying time.

What unites the homes featured across these pages is the way their owners have harnessed that ability of design to inspire and uplift, in a way that reflects each of their unique personalities.

Whether it’s the exquisite details in the London home of Bollywood star Sonam Kapoor Ahuja (page 106), the art-filled space of Sydney architect Nick Tobias (page 116), the fun-loving owners of the Iwan Iwanoff home in Perth (page 128), or the John Lautner-designed Garcia House, perched in the Hollywood Hills (page 82).

I’m excited to have this particular home on our cover. Besides the fact that it is such an iconic example of mid-century architecture and design, LA feels like a good fit for this issue. In many ways, it is a city built on optimism. The first time I visited years ago, I completed that requisite hike up the Hollywood Hills and I remember just being struck by that incredible panorama.

It seemed almost endless, stretching out across the whole city and on and on towards the horizon. Standing there, it was easy to see why LA has drawn so many people over the decades, many of them arriving with little more than the hope of one day making it big, and the conviction that bette d

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VLview a detail from the Soft Serve project designed by YSG.

T H IS PAG E

Reading the room P HOTO G RAP H E R: PR U E RU SCO E . ST Y LI ST: FE LI C I TY N G

After so long stuck in the one spot, can the four walls we call home ever be our happy place again? By Ceri David

A

nyone who’s witnessed their child building a fort out of sofa cushions understands the power of interior design. With just a blanket over the top and a ‘keep out’ warning in crayon, they’ve engineered the perfect space: bespoke, adaptable and invitation-only. While the form may be basic, its function is spot-on but even more important is how it makes them feel: cosy, independent, in control.

Our adult homes may be more complex of material and more ruinous of budget, but Yasmine Ghoniem, founder of Sydney-based design studio YSG, believes the desired outcome is no different. “For me, interiors are emotions. They’re not actual spaces with objects in them,” she says. “It’s that sense of warmth and safety that makes me feel at home. I think it’s the same for everybody, subconsciously.”

Of course, the concept of ‘home’ has undergone a monumental case of scope creep over the past 18 months, the original brief now scribbled with extra clauses (gym, classroom, DIY hair salon).

Worse: we’re held in captivity with our nearest and (fingers crossed, still) dearest. Home, it’s fair to say, has strayed a long way from cushion-cubby status.

“That’s a problem,” confirms associate professor Dr Kerry McBain, environmental psychologist and head of psychology at James Cook University. “Our day-to-day habitat has a huge impact on our mood, motivation, behaviour and how we feel about the world in general, so we have to embrace that.”

The likes of Feng Shui and Vastu Shastra have explored the impact of design and space on our energy and emotions for millennia.

Western society has been slow to join in, but now our hand has been forced. “Thinking ‘I’m stuck and I don’t want to be here’ doesn’t ›› Nov/Dec 2021

29

a closer look at the Fantales kitchen designed by YSG in collaboration with Laminex.

T H I S PAG E

“For me, interiors are emotions. They’re not actual spaces with objects in them.

It’s that sense of warmth and safety that makes me feel at home” ‹‹ get us anywhere,” says McBain. “The best way of dealing with it is to take control of what you can control, and that’s where you live. Our world has changed forever, and our home environments must adapt to suit.”

Right now, chez nous, we feel trapped, disorganised and crowded.

Can a spot of interior design really fix such a forceful trifecta?

Let’s see.

First up: feeling trapped. Granted, it’s not possible to design your way to freedom, Shawshank Redemption-style, but McBain says the next best thing is change.

“Humans like dynamic quality in their lives,” she explains.

Usually, we’d get that from things like travel, social interactions and eating out — but you can introduce this dynamic quality at home 30

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by deepening your connection with nature. Officially branded biophilia, it’s a desire to embrace Mother Nature via daylight, fresh air and organic materials to name a few examples, and is proven to boost physical and mental health.

Whether you do it with indoor plants, timber or a glimpse of passing clouds, natural elements bring notions of evolution indoors, disrupting your cabin fever. Chef Sean Moran of iconic Sydney beachfront restaurant Sean’s paints vegetables on his dining-room walls. McBain herself is drawn to fish. “I started lockdown with one tank. I now have five, and I’ve learned to landscape them, so they’re quite beautiful,” she details. “I can sit for hours watching fish. It’s so relaxing.”

And it even works in abstract form. “It can simply be a representation of nature,” says trend forecaster Philip Fimmano.

“A rounded edge that reminds us of a pebble, or the way some finishes mimic the texture of stone. It’s also about touch, because the more digital we become, the more we need tactility.”

As for pain point number two, the disorganised state of mind at home is due to being forced to multitask. With a little help, you and your home can rise to the challenge. Start by kicking out the kids and converting their rooms into a yoga studio and a workspace.

Otherwise, try zoning.

“Do an analysis of what happens at home each day for a week to see how your spaces are used,” says McBain. “From there you can work towards developing rotatable work/life stations. When the work day is over, elements can transition so an area turns back into a personal zone.”

Ghoniem’s designs often include sectioning, a design tool that works wonders on how a space feels as well as its utility. “We love screening devices that conceal something and open it back up again, or change the elevation of a room,” she says.

Consider finding a balance between positive and negative space; a middle ground that’s neither hoarder’s paradise nor forensic lab.

Tipping points vary wildly vis-a-vis to clutter; exceeding your own level of tolerance will induce anxiety, so box up anything unnecessary and store it for a few months to make space.

Next on the agenda: the sense that we’re being crowded, by having to share all of the above with other humans 24/7.

“We need time alone,” insists McBain. “Without it, your brain is constantly moving, observing other people, trying to figure out what they’ll do next and how it affects you. And it doesn’t matter how much you love these people.”

The design fix for this necessary me-time? Designated solitary nooks. (Crayoned ‘keep out’ sign optional.)

“People are creating areas that are like a small set,” says Fimmano.

“An interesting lamp, a chair or a daybed, a side table. It’s a harmonious composition that creates that little moment of ‘I’m going over there to be alone,’ whether you’re writing an email, reading, thinking about leaving your husband…”

Combine these last two solutions, and plan your day as you would in a real office, booking areas to avoid colliding with your colleaguesslash-loved-ones.

If all else fails, move house. It may sound like an extreme flex, but it does offer a semblance of choice and action during these, yes, unprecedented times. “We’re seeing a lot more of that with clients we’ve just finished significant homes for, where you’d think they might stay for five to 10 years,” says Ghoniem. “It’s drastic, but people want a new project. And it’s almost like travelling, moving to a new suburb.”

The point is, home is your cushion fort. Whether you find a way to fall back in love with your current one, or find a new one to nest in, think back to how it once made you feel — safe, warm, in control — and do whatever it takes to make that happen again. VL

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Herbarium sugar bowl, $730, cake stand, $840, and cups (part of cup and saucer set), $435, all from Gucci; gucci.com. Cake from Added Sugar; @addedsugar_.

Turn the page for the full story.

T H I S PAG E

Nov/Dec 2021

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Steeped in nostalgia with a dash of chic kitsch, Gucci’s lifestyle collection charms with whimsy and elegance in equal measure.

Photographed by Anna Pogossova Styled by Joseph Gardner

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ST Y LI N G ASSI STAN T: L AUR A ALE X AN D RA

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Herbarium teapot, $935; dice set with Interlocking G, $575; Herbarium cake stand, $840; cloche with hand and ring, $1575, and Geometric G pyjama set, $4045, all from Gucci.

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T H ESE PAG ES , O N S O FA , F RO M LE F T cushion with Tiger Patch, $1650, and Diana mini tote bag, $3300, from Gucci. O N F LOO R, F RO M L EF T backgammon set, $5695; Floral Interlocking G and Tartan cushion, $1205; and Radura card set, $425, all from Gucci; gucci.com. Cake from Added Sugar; @addedsugar_.

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Floral Interlocking G and Tartan cushion, $1205; Centennial mid-heel slingback with horsebit, $1320; Geometric G pyjama set, $4045; Herbarium cup (part of cup and saucer set), $435; Floral Interlocking G and Tartan cushion, $1205; and vase, POA, all from Gucci; gucci.com.

TH I S PAG E, C LO C KW IS E F ROM L E F T

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Nov/Dec 2021

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VLoves

AB OV E

The Hermès installation at Milan Design Week featuring the Sillage d’Hermès armchair

by Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai, POA, from Hermès; hermès.com

BE LOW

A BOV E

BE LO W

A curated hit list of new feature pieces and accessories that have caught our eye.

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A BOVE

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VLife TH IS PAGE, FR O M L E FT

a Playmobil-style door marks the entrance to the Amsterdam home.

Homeowners Rolf Snoeren, couturier and one half of Dutch fashion house Viktor & Rolf, and his husband Brandon O’Dell in the bedroom lounge.

Details, last pages.

DESIGN

Mood elevator Avant-garde couturier Rolf Snoeren of Viktor & Rolf places his Amsterdam home in the hands of fellow boundarybreaker Studio Job’s Job Smeets to concoct this bright confection.

By Mitchell Owens Photographed by Kasia Gatkowska Styled by Barbara Berends

A

musement parks are for the young.

At least that’s the conventional wisdom. Job Smeets, however, has never put away childish things.

For the founder of Studio Job, the provocative product-design firm, youthful recollections of Efteling — the largest theme park in the Netherlands — form the DNA of his defiantly kitsch creations. Imagine an armchair in the form of a hamburger, a punching bag that appears to be made of red brick, and a table lamp that mimics a half-peeled banana. “If I can visualise those memories, I can explore new shapes and forms,” explains Smeets, who launched Studio Job in the Dutch city of Tilburg, in 1998; it also has an outpost in Milan, is represented by New York City gallery

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R & Company while in Australia, its irreverent designs for Seletti can be found at Designcasa Australia. “Not everybody needs to live in a modernist white box.” That would include Rolf Snoeren, one half of Viktor & Rolf, the Amsterdam fashion house famed for surrealistic haute couture that would not look out of place in Efteling’s mock castle. “We try not to lose the inner child,” Snoeren explains of his and creative partner Viktor Horsting’s fantastical ensembles. “What they do in fashion,” Smeets adds, “I do in design.” The couturier’s American husband, Brandon O’Dell, the director of the Amsterdam Dinner Foundation, an NGO focused on the global fight against AIDS, calls the designers “cosmic brothers”. Born on the same day in the same year, Snoeren and Smeets grew up only 19 kilometres apart and likely crossed paths at Efteling, though they didn’t meet until they were in their 20s and working as interns at the same company in Paris.

Snoeren also happens to be the godfather of Elvis, Smeets’s toddler son with art and design consultant Rebecca Sharkey. So when he and O’Dell purchased a penthouse in an 1890s former bank building on the Keizersgracht, or Emperor’s Canal, Smeets was the only name on their short list, even though he’s conjured only a handful of interiors. “It’s not really something Job does,” Snoeren observes of his designer friend. “He makes things. But when we were talking about the apartment, he said, ‘I can do this.’ ” The results? Call it a temple to tomfoolery. After an 18-month renovation that was challenged by nightmarish permit mishaps and discussions largely conducted via WhatsApp, Snoeren and O’Dell ››

the couple’s favourite perch is a velvet daybed from Studio Job overlooking Amsterdam; sculpture

by David Altmejd; bronze table with integrated Eiffel Tower lamp from Studio Job. In the dining area, a mirror sculpture

by David Altmejd; chairs by Josef Hoffmann; table, wallpaper and carpet, all from Studio Job; silk flowers by Jim Jon. TH IS PAG E, FR O M TO P

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VLife TH ES E PAG E S, FR OM LE FT

‹‹ settled into a gleeful Gesamtkunstwerk where nearly every element — from chequered glass panels to the button-tufted daybed where Snoeren and O’Dell like to gaze across rooftops with their miniature dachshund, Little Rose — was conceived by Smeets.

“It’s a celebration of our friendship,” Snoeren says, noting that the apartment was finished in March 2020, days before Amsterdam went into lockdown.

“We moved in, and then we couldn’t leave.”

Given the wonderland that Smeets wrought, the couple were delighted to stay put. The front door is made of shiny brown resin textured with a generous three-dimensional wood grain, as if taken off the hinges of a Playmobil fort. The living area’s gas fireplace is fronted by a gaping bronze mouth, flames flickering behind bared teeth. A built-in cabinet resembles a grinning robot face, and, à la Studio Job’s punching bag, the kitchen appears to be made of cartoon brick. “It may not be the most functional kitchen, but for people who don’t cook, it’s a beautiful kitchen,” Smeets says. Walls are papered with a flagstone pattern that Wilma Flintstone would have adored, and a fabric bearing a Dutch artist’s scribbles of pneumatic nudes dresses Charlotte Perriand’s iconic chaise longue. The curved staircase adjacent to the dining area leads to a fireengine-red roof terrace shaped like a heart. ›› Nov/Dec 2021

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T H IS PAGE in the main bedroom, custom bed from Tréca, on turtle feet from Studio Job. OP POS I TE PAG E , TOP in another view of the bedroom lounge, wallcovering and cabinet from Studio Job; Balestra lounge chair with ottoman by Marzio Cecchi for Most; carpet from Claudy Jongstra; artwork by Kara Walker.

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‹‹ It’s invisible from the street, due to UNESCO restrictions for Amsterdam’s canal area; Snoeren wonders if it can be seen by planes passing overhead.

The wackiness is a purposeful rejection of the five-storey canal house, just down the street, that Snoeren called home for a decade. “It felt like I was living in a status symbol,” he recalls. This largely open-plan apartment, on the other hand, stretches across one floor (“I didn’t want any more stairs,” Snoeren says), is peppered with skylights, and offers city views that take in the late-19th-century church where the couple, who met at a yoga class, were married three years ago. Guests included human rights crusader Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau, who, at her own wedding to the Dutch king’s brother, wore a Viktor & Rolf dress bedecked with more than 200 crepe-georgette bows.

“I told Job we would give him carte blanche,” Snoeren continues, though he admits to having had second thoughts. The two designers can be equally stubborn, “so maybe it might not have been a good idea,” he gingerly allows. “Creating crazy and stunning is easy for him, but creating warmth, which Brandon wanted, is a bit more of a challenge.”

The process went much more smoothly than he expected. O’Dell got the comfort and softness

“I told Job we would give him carte blanche… Creating crazy and stunning is easy for him, but creating warmth, which Brandon wanted, is a bit more of a challenge” ROLF SNOEREN

he desired — “the lines are graceful; the forms are rounded” — but he remembers that as the project progressed, “there were a few moments of ‘Oh, my,’ to be very honest.” One was Smeets’s suggestion, swiftly rejected, that he design penisshaped light fixtures. Another surprise was a powder room tiled entirely in yellow — the colour of urine, Smeets informed them. The primary bath, on the other hand, is a seemingly message-free shade of salmon.

Smeets’s cheeky inspiration for the powder room’s colour scheme “never crossed my mind at all,” says Snoeren, still sounding a bit astonished. “All I could say is, ‘Oh, Job, thank you.’ It does make me laugh.

I’m not the happiest person in the world, generally, so when a house can bring you happiness, that’s really something.” VL studio-job.com

T HI S PAG E , F R O M AB OVE in the powder room, mirror by Studio Job for Ghidini 1961; porcelain axe (in hallway niche) from Studio Job. In the main ensuite, vintage sinks; custom ceiling light ringed with carnival lights. Details, last pages.

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T Joie de vivre PROFILE

The artistic director of Dior Maison and Baby Dior, Cordelia de Castellane understands the art of entertaining better than most. Her exquisite tabletop creations help transform any meal into a memorable event.

By Jake Millar Portrait photographed by Matthieu Salvaing

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his feature should probably come with a warning. If you don’t want to be filled with a sense of longing for the Before Times, then you should probably look away. Because even a cursory glance at the life of Cordelia de Castellane, the artistic director of both Dior Maison and Baby Dior, is enough to inspire an almost Proustian wave of nostalgia.

Just look at her Instagram. There, well over 66,000 of her followers are treated to a joyful parade of insights into de Castellane’s days at her countryside retreat in L’Oise — parts of which date back to the 15th century — north of Paris. There are photos of colourful tablescapes, images of food and family, and snapshots from de Castellane’s travels to Greece or Milan. None of this, of course, is meant to provoke any jealousy. It is simply that de Castellane might just be one of the world’s chief exponents for what the French call joie de vivre.

So sure enough, as the world began to grind to a halt, people turned to de Castellane’s Instagram account for inspiration — and they began messaging.

“I was creating my collection for Dior Maison and at night I would arrange plates on the table and take photos for Instagram,” she says. “Suddenly people were contacting me to ask where they can get things, or if they could have a contact to buy them — I was becoming a PR! And from that moment, it didn’t stop.”

In fact, de Castellane has never really stopped.

The designer began her career in fashion at just 15, when she landed an internship at Chanel, working alongside Karl Lagerfeld. “He had a total vision,” she says. “He was a genius. And I was so lucky to have such an experience in my life.”

From there, de Castellane went to work for legendary French designer Emanuel Ungaro, whom she counts as one of her greatest creative inspirations.

She stayed there for 10 years before branching out on her own, with the launch of her childrenswear line, CdeC. Then in 2012, Dior came calling.

“I had my little brand for children,” says de Castellane, modestly. “And shortly after, Delphine Arnault from [Dior owner] LVMH called me to say that she saw my line of clothes and she wanted to see if I could do something for Baby Dior. And that’s how I started with the house.”

She spent five years as artistic director of Baby Dior before being approached with a new proposition: her bosses had seen how much she loved collecting homewares. How would she feel about designing her own range for Dior?

“Suddenly I started to put my designs on plates and vases,” de Castellane recalls of her appointment to Dior Maison five years ago, “and I loved it!”

For de Castellane, the creative process always starts with history. “The one thing that leads me is the life and archives of Mr Dior. He’s a man who fascinates me, although he stayed just 10 years at Dior,” she says, of the designer who passed away in 1957 — just a decade after founding the house.

“He left nearly 100 years of archives. So I always start from there, and I pick something from his life, or a code of the house, and start my collection.”

T HI S PAG E, C LO CK W ISE FRO M L EF T candlesticks and vases from Dior Maison’s 7 Jules Sandeau collection.

The range of candlesticks and wine glasses. A detail of the collection’s plates.

T HIS PAGE , CLO CK W ISE F R O M TO P L E F T the wallpaper in Christian Dior’s Paris apartment informed Dior Maison’s 7 Jules Sandeau plates, named for the residence’s address. Flowers and birds adorn plates. Glassware draws on Mr Dior’s love of the family villa’s garden in Normandy. A beautifully detailed place setting from the collection. A striking carafe holds a glass flower at its heart. O P PO S IT E PAGE Cordelia de Castellane at her L’Oise retreat in France.

Whether tableware inspired by the wallpaper in Mr Dior’s Paris apartment or plates decorated with lily of the valley (the couturier was said to keep a sprig in his pocket as a good-luck charm before every show), de Castellane manages to find new ways to transport the iconic designer’s spirit into the present day. And while interiors have been booming lately, even de Castellane has been taken aback by the demand.

“I think people are really obsessed with everything about their homes,” she says. “We have had a huge uptick during Covid, and Dior Maison is completely flying — it’s been crazy!”

When she is not designing for Dior Maison and Baby Dior — or responding to her followers — de Castellane has found time to turn her love of style and entertaining into a book, Life in a French Country House, released by Rizzoli this year. And even though she is busier than ever, de Castellane says there is still a lot in store for Dior Maison.

“We are going to launch something for the garden — I’m obsessed with gardens — which is completely new,” she says, “and we’re working to make a small range of furniture in wicker. There is also a beautiful collection for Christmas that I can’t say anything about, but it is with a great artist who’s related to the big opening in Paris where we’re restoring the store.”

It’s not the only store opening on the horizon, either: Dior is set to unveil its new Sydney boutique early next year. While a selection of Dior Maison products was available when the brand launched its online store back in September, this will be the first Australian boutique to offer a dedicated range.

“I can’t wait to have Dior Maison in Australia,” says de Castellane. “I have many Australian followers on my Instagram and they’re always asking me how they can get things. So it’s great to be able to bring a bit of Paris to your beautiful country.”

It might be just what we need. After all, we can’t travel the world right now, so why not let the world come to you. VL dior.com; @cordeliadecastellane Nov/Dec 2021

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VLife Floristry today is more than just pretty posies — it’s a rich, creative and boundarypushing field. From SYDNEY TO ANTWERP, we meet a handful of the world’s most exciting FLORAL ARTISTS who are cultivating arrangements and installations that will open your eyes to the possibilities and wonder of flowers as art.

By Amy Campbell

New Blooms TH I S PAGE

a bounteous arrangement by Portland-based floral artist Manu Torres.

Nov/Dec 2021

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Manu Torres of Florescent. One of his hyper-toned floral creations.

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Louis Vuitton’s Secrétaire Bureau 2.0 (on left) with an original version of its storied predeccessor. A 1892 portrait of master trunk maker Louis Vuitton, founder of his namesake luxury maison established in 1854.

ICONIC STYLE

Digging into its archives, Louis Vuitton reinvents an iconic 1929 bureau for today’s remote-work era.

I MAGE S CO U RTE SY LO U I S V UI T TO N

By Dana Thomas

n July 1929 — when the Roaring Twenties were still roaring — celebrated British orchestra conductor Leopold Stokowski commissioned Louis Vuitton to design and produce a portable secretary. By then, the Paris luggage company, founded

by French master trunk maker Louis Vuitton in 1854, had produced an impressive, if curious, array of specialty designs. The Bed Trunk, which contained a folding cot, was favoured by 19th-century explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza; the Library Trunk was commanded by Encyclopædia Britannica to deliver its 29-volume 11th edition to customers; and the Shoes Trunk was requested by American opera diva Lily Pons for her ample collection of pumps.

Upon receiving Stokowski’s order, the design team — led by Louis’s son Georges at the company’s original workshop in the Paris suburb of Asnières-sur-Seine — set about reconfiguring

the traditional malle, or travel trunk, to meet Stokowski’s needs.

When opened, a desk swung up and perched on foldable legs.

There were bookshelves, a typewriter compartment, and drawers large enough to hold sheet music. (There was no need for a baton; Stokowski famously started the trend of conducting with his hands.) While the exterior was enveloped with the luxury house’s traditional Monogram canvas, an ecru–and–burnt sienna jacquard with geometric and floral motifs and the founder’s initials, the interior was lined with soothing gray swallow Vuittonite, a waterproof material introduced by Louis in 1854 and later popularised for automobile luggage.

For many years, the Stokowski, as it became known, was one-of-a-kind. But it was such a smart and enviable design that the company eventually made it available for special orders, adding a compartment for a folding stool. It has remained in production ever since. Versions now reside in the maison’s archives and in ›› Nov/Dec 2021

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‹‹ La Galerie Louis Vuitton, located at the Asnières-sur-Seine compound.

Coinciding with the 200th anniversary of company founder Louis Vuitton’s birth, the brand has introduced the Secrétaire Bureau 2.0, an update of the Stokowski with modern needs and a contemporary lifestyle in mind. The desk is larger, to accommodate laptops, as are compartments for storage. There is a cable passage for efficient wire management, a ‘smart top’ that keeps the trunk organised when closed, and a lid lining that can serve as a bulletin board. As with all Vuitton trunks, carpenters craft a structure made of three types of wood: poplar for framework; okoume — a light, resistant African wood — for the body and lid; and beech for decorative and reinforcing laths. The interior is available finished with varnished beech or straw marquetry. And like all specialty Vuitton trunks, it is made to order, price upon request. Delivery time: one year. At a time when remote working is increasingly the norm, this refined take is anything but ordinary. VL louisvuitton.com

TRUNK SHOW Louis Vuitton is celebrating its founder’s 200th birthday by inviting 200 visionary creatives to re-imagine the luxury house’s iconic trunk.

But it is far from the maison’s first collaboration over the years.

TH IS PAG E, F RO M LE FT Cocotte en Paille by Adam Goodrum and Arthur Seigneur of Adam&Arthur (2021).

Butterfly-adorned trunk by Damien Hirst (2009). Supreme Boite skateboard trunk (2017). Speedy 30 graffiti handbag by Stephen Sprouse (2001).

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P HOTO G R AP HE R: P IE R CARTHE W (ADAM & ARTH UR ) , I MAGES COURT ESY OF LOUIS V UIT TON

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VLife ART

EDGE

GLORY

Forget the macho posturing of white-boy art taking prime plinth in established Western institutions. The fresh face of best contemporary practice is Black, female, impervious to precedent, and painting on the perimeters of so-called civilisation.

By Annemarie Kiely Photographed by Leicolhn McKellar

PH OTOGR AP HER : (NON GG IRR NG A M ARAWIL I ART WO RK) CH RISTIAN MA R KEL / NAT ION AL G ALL E RY OF VICTOR IA. A L L WO RK S, CO URTESY O F TH E ART ISTS AN D BUKU -L AR RN GG AY MU LKA CEN T RE, YIRR KALA

TH ESE PAGE S, F RO M LE F T

one of the artists featured in the Bark Ladies exhibition to be held at the NGV later this year, Naminapu Maymuru-White, with her work Milngiyawuy.

Djapu (2020) by Nonggirrnga Marawili.

t the end of another turbulent year, as planet, pandemic and disenfranchised peoples continue to nuke all concept of ‘normal’, confusion over the what, who and where of culture is becoming the new culture. Gone is the group-think of a privileged few framing an ascendant view, and growing in its place is the furtive want for revolution from within and without the system. It’s a major conundrum for the modern museum, which must deal with the widening gap between old taxonomies and new art territories without disaffecting a donor elite or audience base.

But here’s the thing: the chasms created by seismic shifts in current thinking cannot be cleared in little jumps. They call for the big leap of faith that has formalised into Bark Ladies, the National Gallery of Victoria’s front-and-centre showing of works by Yolngu women artists from Yirrkala’s communitycontrolled Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre (Buku) at the tip of the Northern Territory.

Call it an axiom flip of the big-name, white-boy blockbuster, perhaps a timely redress of representation or a savvy pull from the NGV’s wealth of North-east Arnhem Land art at a time when fraught logistics favour local distances. Or call it exactly what it is — a blow-your-socks-off survey of world’s-best modern practice at the edge of the planet right now.

“I think this art is extremely important,” says Myles Russell-Cook, the NGV curator of Indigenous Art who, in collaboration with Buku, has honed two decades of acquisitions down to 11 Yolngu women whose masterworks will display, without resort to rationalising chronologies or kinship structures, in modernist grids and m fi ity rooms deserving of Japanese conceptua “The show is set on the ground floor a International, which, in itself, tells that th women are to be looked at on the international scale as among the best painters in the world.”

But more than that, he says of the survey’s trenchant start in Federation Court — where Naminapu Maymuru-White’s floor-based depiction, Ringitjmi gapu, (translating to river of heaven and earth) will stream a river of stars and spirit into adjacent galleries — it accords Indigenous creativity due status and recognition “as the oldest continuing tradition of art in the world; one entirely unique to Australia”.

Seeding out of the wild reception for Yolngu artist Dhambit Mununggurr’s immersive field-of-blue larrakitj (memorial poles) and bark paintings, which installed under the plaintive title Can we all have a happy life (2019-2020) in the NGV’s era-defining 2020 Triennial, Bark Ladies proves that brilliance has no coordinates or colour.

It can bubble up in backwaters, on the edge of the Arafura Sea which, part of the single, symbiotic life cycle and law under Yolngu Land, is a potent force in the art of women who only came to painting in the 1990s.

“For many years the men painted in a way that was very connected to ceremony, in a very ordered style,” says Russell-Cook of a tendency towards ethnographic documentation that likens to the Homeric epic — stories transmitted for the purpose of preservation.

“When First women started painting, we witnessed an incredible shift in innovation — a freedom of gesture and a spontaneity that sparked a whole new style.”

And then came the quake in colour; the palette challenge to the strictures of convention that determined all Yolngu art be created from materials found on Country. As Russell-Cook tells it, the Richter scale began registering after Mununggurr sustained critical injuries in a car accident in 2005.

“Wheelchair-bound and without the use of her right hand, she could no longer collect and prepare the essential ochres,” he says. “But Yolngu are a compassionate people, so she was granted special permission to use store-bought acrylic paints.” ›› Nov/Dec 2021

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AL L WOR K S, CO U RT E SY O F T HE ART I ST S AN D B UKU - LAR R NGG AY MU L KA C E NT RE, Y I R R KA L A

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TH E SE PAGE S Mulku Wirrpanda (left) and Nonggirrnga Marawili painting at Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Centre, an Indigenous community-controlled art centre in Yirrkala, North-east Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.

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A

‹‹ Leaning into her limitations and the lapping blue of the Arafura waters, Mununggurr dipped her vernacular into its ultramarine depths, producing barks with a Yves Klein-comparable transcendental intensity. Suddenly, her status as an art-prize refusée ramped up to star as global curators came calling.

“Her work is spectacular,” says Russell-Cook, advising that an important new piece will be included in the survey. “Just when you think you know someone, she goes and paints Julia Gillard in the midst of these limp-faced politicians delivering her misogyny speech. She cracks me up.”

Mununggurr’s radicalisation of palette was foreshadowed by the art of Nonggirrnga Marawili who, famed for her fluoro-pink punking of funerary poles and cross-hatched bark, sources her colours from discarded printer-ink cartridges found on Country. “A clever technicality,” says Russell-Cook of her subversion of protocol in pink. “She’s simply a star.”

And then there are works by the wildly talented Yunupingus, who count among that family who have produced musicians, community leaders and two Australians of the Year. “I don’t know what’s in their water,” says Russell-Cook, teasing out the intersections of exhibiting art by Nancy Gaymala, Gulumbu (Mununggurr’s late mother who left her starry marks on the ceiling of the Musée du Quai Branly), Barrupu, Nyapanyapa and Eunice Djerrkngu Yunupingu.

“Gulumbu’s younger sister, the late, superimportant Barrupu and painter of the Gumatj fire was the first to transcend past efforts, but her younger sister Nyapanyapa took it the next step,” he says in nod to her reductive recollections of being gored by a buffalo in a wild apple orchard in her youth. “The apples became emblematic, she painted them over and over again until the work reduced down to circles, painting for painting’s sake; a contemporary musing on rhythm, tone and shape.”

“But just when you thought no family could birth another superstar,” adds Russell-Cook, declaring that the barks by the youngest sibling, Djerrkngu Eunice Yunupingu, will be in the show. “She does this wild spiritual conceptualisation of her self as a mermaid; one stemming from the stories she remembers her father telling of spearing a fish when she was in utero.”

In light of the female-charged evolution of Buku’s ethnographic visuals into internationally acclaimed high art, the question asks about oestrogen being a catalyst? Russell-Cook laughs and leaves all art distinctions between women, the West, and the rest for others to argue and instead shares a casual remark he overheard when last at Buku.

“You know how growing up you’d hear that horrible insult, ‘You throw like a girl’,” he says of the put-down that frames female effort as never enough. “Well, in Yirrkala earlier this year, I heard someone say: “That boy paints like a girl,” which to Yolngu thinking is the biggest compliment that can possibly issue.

Don’t you love that?” VL Bark Ladies is on at NGV International from December 22, 2021 to May 1, 2022; ngv.vic.gov.au Nov/Dec 2021

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A DV E R T I S I N G F E AT U R E

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VERTUO NEXT AND AEROCCINO3 Help a loved one take their home coffee experience to a whole new level with the Vertuo Next machine and Aeroccino3 Milk Frother. With its intelligent extraction system, Vertuo reads the barcode on a capsule and extracts and brews a perfect coffee every time. Creating a baristastyle double espresso or latte has never been so easy.

VERTUO CARAFE SET Aspiring at-home baristas will love this new style of coffee plus the stunning carafe accessory designed

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VLife DESIGN

Leading light Reinforcing an intrinsic link to the real value of gathering spaces has informed MAP Studio’s illuminating MPavilion. By Annemarie Kiely

W

TH ES E PAGE S , F RO M LE FT Traudy Pelzel and Francesco Magnani of MAP Studio, the design duo behind 2021’s MPavilion.

MAP Studio’s restoration and renovation of the Porta Nuova Tower in the Venice Arsenale. The Apslund Pavilion at the International Architecture Exhibition of the 2018 Venice Biennale.

A render of MAP Studio’s MPavilion design for 2021.

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hen Covid-19 called halt to the 2020 MPavilion, the annual architectural commission conceived by the Naomi Milgrom Foundation (NMF) and birthed by big-note practices in Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Gardens, the question asked: does a temporary structure premised on congregation still cut it?

No one could have preempted a pandemic in the detail of the design brief that issued in 2019 to Traudy Pelzel and Francesco Magnani of Italy’s MAP Studio, the young Venice-based practice tapped by the NMF to ground their “deeply site-responsive” oeuvre in prime Melbourne parkland in 2020.

Back then, the constraining limits were measured out by building codes, budgets and respect for the land belonging to the Boon Wurrung people, not the growing rate of a contagion rapidly closing global cities. But suddenly what had framed for six years as a ‘cultural laboratory’ for the enrichment of community, slanted into the potential incubator of deadly pathogen as pavilions worldwide packed up their programs and reassessed the new ‘random’ as either a testing ground for Darwinian adaptation or the death of a species.

Naomi Milgrom AC, CEO of fashion conglomerate the Sussan Group, and the namesake foundation leader behind MPavilion, is somewhat practised in balancing risk with fashion randomness and the flock’s need to commune. She didn’t pivot — “I hate that word” — but forged ahead, eking the construct phase out to two years of deeper design engagement to the architecture of gathering.

“After all of this, we will really need to come together in environments that are not closed in,” she affirms. “Pavilions are the perfect step forward into a safe and social future; they are the testing ground of new ideas, new opportunities; they are the light of hope.”

And light, in both the physical and figurative guise ultimately gave form to MAP Studio’s lattice framework — a floating grid of painted tubular steel profiles propped with mirror-finish panels seemingly fallen from the sky. The grid’s snag and skew of these super-large ‘looking glasses’ — a matrix of reflection and deception that easily loads with metaphor about the vanities and virtues of man — makes surrealist vignette of clouds, corporate towers, garden beds, monuments and flaneurs while functioning as shading elements.

It shimmers with kaleidoscopic amplification of both its cultural content and wider context, rising in right-angled resistance to and reflection of surrounding nature above pre-cast concrete supports that facilitate the flow of foot traffic to an amorphous event platform and petite kiosk. Call it a poetic lucidity married to clinical permeability in a paradoxical construct that encapsulates Melbourne’s rigorous grid planning and contained personality.

Pondering this reading of their “urban lighthouse” during the longdistance Zoom into their Venice living room, Magnani and Pelzel, who partner in business and life, appear pleased that it loads with such civic reference but claim that not enough time was spent in Melbourne to build such a strong consciousness of city. There are always rules guiding structure towards the rational response, asserts Magnani, adding that for he and Pelzel, interest lies more in the liminal — the

PHOTO GR AP HE RS : CL AU DI O R OS SIN I (P O RT R AI T ), U DO MEINE L ( PORTA NU OVA TOWE R), FE DE RICO CE DR ON E ( ASPLU N D PAVIL I ON )

threshold between the rational, the emotional and the experiential, which no digital world can duplicate.

He bemoans the erosion of culture and community that comes from algorithms, declaring technology a wonderful thing when it’s not working to commodify every creative act. “We cannot lose this idea of meeting each other in a proper way — in this moment, it is very important to keep things live and communal,” Magnani says.

“But not only to meet; to exchange and to experience, because even for things like selling, I want to touch, measure, sit and feel,” interjects Pelzel, who describes a world craving physical sensation and healthy contrariness, not cancel culture.

“It is so important now to be able to go to a place and discuss and express opposing ideas, not like the net where no one takes responsibility for what they are saying.”

Identifying the pavilion as not only for innovative experimentation but a potent re-imagining of the town square, where life’s chaotic maze orders around the communal pause, MAP Studio add to the miscellany of MPavilion precursors including Sean Godsell (2014), Amanda Levete (2015) and Glenn Murcutt (2019).

The duo won acclaim for their Asplund Pavilion, commissioned by the Vatican’s Holy See, at the 2018 Venice Biennale. Designing to the theme of Erik Gunnar Asplund’s 1920 Woodland Chapel, they responded with a timber-shingled tour de force that abstracted the Swedish architect’s wayfinding beacon in a dark woodland.

Is there an uncanny symmetry of circumstance, the question asks of their hark-back to an austere architecture built during the Spanish flu and this follow-on pavilion produced during another pandemic? “There is a strange overlapping,” says Magnani. “But this is life, what it means to be human, no? It is wandering through the metaphorical dark woods towards the light of discovery.” VL MPavilion is on from November 23, 2021 until March 27, 2022; mpavilion.org Nov/Dec 2021

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homes

VLiving

actor Sonam Kapoor Ahuja in the drawing room of her London home, Knoll Florence Knoll sofa from The Conran Shop, enquiries to Dedece; rug from Reindeer Antiques; artwork by Jagdish Swaminathan.

Kapoor Ahuja wears robe and pants from Dundas World; slippers from Le Monde Beryl; vintage Chanel necklace from The Hirst Collection; rings, all from Elizabeth Gage. Turn to page 106 for the full story.

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THE SE PAGES the rear facade and exterior of the Garcia House designed by John Lautner in 1962, located in Los Angeles. A pool was added in 2008 in keeping with Lautner’s original vision.

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T H I S PAGE homeowners Bill Damaschke (left) and John McIlwee in the living room, with a view of the dining area beyond.

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t was pure good fortune that two visionaries with an appreciation for the arts and cultural heritage as ardent as John McIlwee and Bill Damaschke made the unique John Lautnerdesigned Garcia House in Los Angeles — also known as the Rainbow House, due to its multi-hued windows — their home.

McIlwee, a business manager who self-describes as a kind of “financial therapist” to his entertainment industry clientele, says he was in college when he first saw the eye-catching three-bedroom structure, on motorbike rides up and down Mulholland Drive. Damaschke, a former chief creative officer for DreamWorks Animation who now has his own production company — his Tony Award-nominated Broadway production of Moulin Rouge is, at the time of writing, slated to open in Melbourne this October — details seeing the 1962 masterpiece on frequent outings with McIlwee: “We didn’t know it was by John Lautner but every time we drove by we’d be like, ‘Who lives in that kooky house?’”

It was McIlwee’s birthday, “and we were discussing buying a house together and John said, ‘Yes, let’s do it but let’s look around and really find the right house for us,’” recalls Damaschke. “Then he opened the newspaper and there it was, the Home of the Week in the

in the living room, stained walnut cabinetry designed by Marmol Radziner; banquette, upholstered in fabric from Romo; purple cushions in fabric from Holland & Sherry, enquiries to Milgate; patterned cushions in Mohave fabric from Casamance, enquiries to James Dunlop Textiles; coffee table

by Charles Hollis Jones; Arco lamp by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for Flos, enquiries to Living Edge; photographic artwork by Terry Richardson.

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LA Times.” “I’m a huge fan of kismet,” adds McIlwee. “I think things happen for a reason. We went to see it and we bought it.”

That was in 2002. The pair lived in the Hollywood Hills home — originally designed for composer Russell Garcia and his wife Gina — for a year, familiarising themselves with its idiosyncratic quirks before calling upon architectural firm Marmol Radziner and interior designer Darren Brown for a full renovation. “John Lautner is both a blessing and a curse,” explains McIlwee. “He built these incredibly unique structures, which are completely custom but it means that simple things like changing a light bulb become a monumental task.”

After a meticulous 12-month restoration by Marmol Radziner, which stayed as true as possible to Lautner’s vision, and a detaildriven reworking of the interior by Brown — aside from the Hawaiian lava rock walls and some terrazzo flooring, the only ›› Nov/Dec 2021

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vogueliving.com.au TH ES E PAG E S in another view of the living room, Saporiti club chairs, ottomans and sofa; custom drum side tables designed by Darren Brown Interiors; coffee table by Charles Hollis Jones; vintage vase.

‹‹ original remnants left after years of overzealous makeovers by previous owners were the kitchen sink, a magazine rack and a toothbrush holder — the home was completed in 2004.

Brown moved onto other projects including McIlwee and Damaschke’s Palm Springs property, the Ford estate (featured in VL’s March/April 2018 edition), but the pull of Garcia House was magnetic.

After the addition of a pool then landscaping by John Sharp in 2019, interiors re-jig 2.0 came to life. “I truly love this house,” says Brown, who was introduced to the pair by way of Martha Stewart following a private tour of the home. “And frankly I was drumming up business.

I shamed them by reminding them it had been more than 10 years [since the renovation] and we needed a fresher look. And they handed over the keys… John and Bill are showbiz: they like to do things big and loud, and they take risks so naturally we click.”

McIlwee recalls that first meeting with Brown with equal appreciation. “We met Darren for our initial design presentation at the Mandarin Oriental in New York and — I’ll never forget this — he hands us a book, a kind of lookbook. I open it and the first picture is Halston and Bianca Jagger walking out of Studio 54.

And straightaway, he got the job.”

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the exterior stairwell, leading into the dining and kitchen area (at door), with original terrazzo floor and plant selection by Studio John Sharp. O P POS IT E PAG E in another view of the living room behind the original stone fireplace, the homeowners’ vinyl collection including Duran Duran’s Rio album with cover art by Patrick Nagel.

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While the brief for the initial interior design was loose — “they entertain a great deal so the house had to function and flow” says Brown — the next chapter unfurled when the interiors maestro introduced the art-appreciating duo to the ’80s-era works of Chicago-based artist Ed Paschke. For Chicago-born Damschke, it was a match made in hyper-toned heaven: “I love Paschke, not only because of his work but because his name is spelt the same as mine, which I don’t see that often.”

“Darren isn’t as fond of some of our art,” says McIlwee, who reveals a penchant for the work of Diane Arbus, Kirsten Everberg, Catherine Opie and Annie Lapin. “But we’re on the same page when it comes to late-’70s to early-’90s art, like Patrick Nagel who did the Duran Duran record covers and Ed Paschke.” This mutual enthusiasm soon dovetailed into the home’s interior aesthetic. ››

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vogueliving.com.au in the dining area with a view of the kitchen, custom dining table designed by Darren Brown Interiors; 1974 Saporiti dining chairs; original custom chandelier.

T HE SE PAGES

T H E SE PAG E S in the media room, custom sofa, upholstered in Great Plains fabric by Holly Hunt; armchair (at right) by Milo Baughman; Bronzeforms 4 SV cocktail tables from Silas Seandel; Labula (1980) artwork by Ed Paschke.

‹‹ “Everything came to a screeching turn as soon as we got our first Ed Paschke work [Labula (1980)],” says McIlwee. “It was definitely one of the pieces that drove this whole re-imagining.”

Brown’s first interior layering embraced a late-’70s feel with dark, earthy tones and plenty of timber surfaces. This time around, the focus was on editing down and lightening up. “To me, it’s early ’80s with a much more sophisticated, contemporary feel,” says McIlwee. “What’s interesting is that the house looks much more like a piece of art than it did before. It’s much more unique, but everything is very usable.”

“Darren really likes storytelling,” says Damschke. “We learned a lot from him. He turned us onto the Italian design company Saporiti. And now we have Saporiti dining chairs, which have that same kind of cantilever vibe that the house has. They feel like they were made for this house.” Brown describes the Saporiti pieces as a mastery of form, flow and engineering. “They feel like birds, which feels right, up here on Mulholland Drive in the sky.”

Indeed, it’s this elevated, open aspect and bird’s eye view, especially from the kitchen where McIlwee has stationed himself throughout much of the pandemic, and the second-floor guest bedroom where

Damaschke has set up as a work-from-home space, which holds much of the enduring magic of the Garcia House. Damaschke sums up the allure with what he calls the “custody lunch”, when he and McIlwee met with the home’s previous owner, actor Vincent Gallo.

“He said to us, ‘This home is going to change your life.’ John and I frequently reflect on that. We’ve met the most amazing people through this house and have gone on this journey of learning about architecture and design. It’s introduced us to parts of the world and people in the world that we never would have met before.”

McIlwee agrees. “So much of our Los Angeles history has been lost and I believe these structures have to be protected. It’s changed our lives. It’s made me a bigger thinker. It’s opened a world of architecure, art and interesting people.” VL @darrenbrownid @marmolradziner @lautnerfoundation

T HI S PAG E in the top-floor guest bedroom, Ligne Roset Uzume bed by Eric Jourdan; armchair and ottoman by Jean Gillon; artwork by Ricky Allman; custom rug from Stark. O PPO SI T E PAGE in the powder room, vintage vase; wallpaper from Phillip Jeffries, enquiries to The Textile Company; artwork by Raymond Pettibon. Details, last pages.

MAKING SOLID

Designer Lauren Tarrant has translated her passion for grand European buildings into a polished stone-clad Melbourne home of considered linear proportions for her ex-footballer husband and their daughters.

By Annemarie Kiely Photographed by Timothy Kaye Styled by Marsha Golemac

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s Melbourne snaps into lockdown 6.0 (at the time of writing) and snuffs out the real-life previews of new design, Lauren Tarrant swivels to the cloud-streamed capture of her latest handiwork and home — “an ode to marble ‘crafted’ in collaboration with Conrad Architects”. She is the boss lady and creative brains of namesake interiors practice Lauren Tarrant Design, a boutique firm that dabbles in high-end residential developments and does a bankable line in restrained beauty, the evidence of which is about to show through her phone’s eye.

It frames up the inscrutable walled frontage of her river-end Toorak property and follows the tight axis of engagement established by project architect Paul Conrad, who later posits his style as steeping centuries-old tectonic values in structures that tell of this time.

His rigour reveals in Tarrant’s walk-andtalk which, commencing at a gatehouse contrived for the stress decompress, releases into an open garden room that signals the departure from suburbia and the emotive slip into sanctuary. Its emerald serenity, palpable across the digital divide, directs passage up a ceremonial marble stair to a dramatic proscenium preceding double-door entry into one of two marble-clad monoliths.

The build of expectation is tightly managed and betrays no hint of the private world beyond; a white-out of sensory noise that dampens all speak when Tarrant pushes into its luminous atmosphere.

“This is my castle,” she whispers, with phone panning the full stretch of a corkscrewing stair that siphons sun from a rooftop skylight down the twist of its well.

“I could be anywhere in the world, but I always feel like I’m on holiday in here.”

Lines of sunlight hit crystals in the blueveined marble treads and turn polished plaster walls pearlescent. The effect is dazzling without resort to decoration and elicits smiles of delight from Tarrant, who tells of growing up in the brooding dark of Victorian-era architecture.

“I wanted my home to feel bright, solid, grand, timeless and have stature,” she says of a hankering for gravitas on a site with potential city views, a two-level slope and a surrounding building stock best described as confused. “I am the happiest person in the world when I am in Europe roaming through beautiful old buildings ››

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‹‹ and absorbing their detail. I wanted a modern version of that heritage and there is something about Paul’s work that condenses it and something about marble that communicates it.”

Conrad later recalls the written specificity of her brief; one tabling with magazine tear sheets of a modern European museum and a pool projecting over an Italian picturesque landscape.

The non-negotiables, he says, were living spaces looking over water to wider Melbourne, a surface toughness for two little girls (daughters Bella-Dita, four, and Mila, one) and a fitness facility for her husband Chris, a former Australian Rules footballer who remains corporately connected to his old club Collingwood and co-manages property developments with his wife.

“But it wasn’t so prescriptive that I couldn’t play,” Conrad says, thumbnailing his response to “both Lauren and local planning regulations”, as an asymmetrically massed fourlevel monolith burying its bulk down the slope of site and setting entry at street level on storey three. “I quite like the idea that you step up to a perch or look out and experience the view.”

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iting the musings of 19th-century English poet and Jesuit priest, Gerard Manley Hopkins, who touched on the complex tensions in life as told in the oak tree, Conrad confesses to liking the riches that emanate from contradictions rather than consumer objects. Think the play of light and shadow, opacity and transparency, solidity and fragility, denial and reward — all reaching an experiential zenith in a living zone that celebrates the spectacle of city not stuff. “I so love Melbourne,” says Tarrant, with a tracking shot of her slice of spires and corporate shards.

Both she and Conrad concertedly designed for the space between matter and mind, concurring on the flip of the conventional residential plan with the lift of further living space and study to level four and the drop of all bedrooms below street level — a logical descent in body and mind at day’s end. The base floor, level with the ground at site rear, became a fully kitted-out health facility.

Evincing a holism of stone and classical geometries, the house, it suggests to Tarrant, reminds of the BC temples built by the Ancient Greeks in honour of the gods who, in sports-mad Melbourne, might assume the guise of AFL players. Tarrant laughs and asks: “Did my husband put you up to that?”

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“No, my definition of ‘fit’ is finding the right finishes for his gymnasium and steam room,” she quips. “My health facility is shaped into the cellar — drinking wine is my pro-sport.”

Before any aspersions can cast from that statement, Tarrant declares herself a stem on the long family vine of Western Australian vignerons who gather under the Fogarty Wine Group. In short, she knows her rotgut from her hermitage reds and arranges accordingly in a tasting room lined in a punchier patterning of marble to the lighter cast upstairs. It raises the question of provenance and a single supplier of the stone.

“Well,” she sighs, in flag of a long story made short. “I know travertine is coming back, but it’s porous and I like a cooler base, so I approached Artedomus to suggest options not seen in every second fit-out and Yas [Behar of Artedomus] came back with Grigio Orsola — a cloudy grey-stone made leathery like travertine when acid-etched.”

It became the mainstay of surface inside and softened to a warmer tone on the facade with the select of rust-veined slabs. “And then, I started googling stonemasons around the world,” Tarrant adds, in reference to the cellar shelves, the powder-room basin and a plinth, at stair base, supporting a sculpture by Melbourne artist denHolm. “I found this particular shade of Dedalus on a favourite Belgian architect’s social media account and got Yas to track it down, but, of course, the quarry had closed.

Undeterred, she scoured the globe and voila!”

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he same obsessive quest to invest in idiosyncrasy applied to all furnishings, with Tarrant amusing the Swedish designers of the raw-form Horse chair, a boxy, Bauhaus-type stained baby blue, with a first-ever order from Australia. “I wanted to base the rest of the furniture palette around it,” she says, in proud show of the referential desk she designed. “I had fun doing that and it fitted so beautifully with the blue in the enveloping stone.”

Calling marble the material witness to time and place, Tarrant says that Covid has reinforced the soul-salving benefits of living with light and earthy textures; a sentiment with some echo of Eleanor Roosevelt’s belief that the pessimist’s stumbling block is the optimist’s stepping stone or entire shelter, as the effervescent Tarrant was determined to have it. VL laurentarrantdesign.com conradarchitects.com

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Intensely intimate and overflowing with art, the London home of Bollywood star Sonam Kapoor Ahuja is a little of Britain and a whole lot of India. Using wallpaper as a starting point, the vibrant home is the result of a collaboration between the actor and designer Rooshad Shroff.

BY FREYA HERRING PHOTOGRAPHED BY SIMON UPTON STYLED BY ISABELLE DUBERN-MALLEVAYS 106

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like the fact that it’s so multicultural in London,” says Bollywood star Sonam Kapoor Ahuja while discussing her recently redesigned Notting Hill home and Kensington office mews. “People who live here come from every part of the world — the fashion and art and music and culture and the gastronomy is all very global. I don’t think there is anywhere else like London.”

It makes sense then, that the two-bedroom, three-bathroom London apartment she shares with entrepreneur husband Anand Ahuja reflects Sonam’s multicultural appreciation, too. Architect and designer Rooshad Shroff worked with the actor to fuse internationally sourced design pieces to form a series of complementary spaces that sing with colour-drenched, kaleidoscopic vibrancy.

“Initially they thought it would be minor changes and I could just help them style a bit,” says Shroff, who is based in Mumbai. “I was on the next flight to London, and from there we decided to change everything — from it being a two-week exercise, it ended up being almost a year.”

Shroff is known for his appreciation for and advocacy of traditional craft, the wares of which he weaves into his pared-back interiors. But Sonam did not want a minimalistic interior. “His aesthetic and my aesthetic are actually very different,” she says. “But he knew what was important to me: colours, textures, fabrics and wallpapers, and a lot of layering.” She wanted her heritage reflected in this space. “I really love my Indian identity,” she says. “The handicrafts, the workmanship, the culture — it’s all very rich. I wanted that to be incorporated in a very modern but authentic way in my home.”

Each room began with wallpaper — and it had to be the intricate, elegant wallpapers of De Gournay. “We used De Gournay wallpapers as a starting point because they form a very strong language in terms of either colour or print,” says Shroff. “They command the space, are handmade, vibrant and beautifully painted.”

Objects were sourced everywhere from international antique markets and 1stDibs to vintage traders and contemporary designers — the living room’s layered bronze Calanque coffee table is a modern piece by Charles Zana for The Invisible Collecton, while the rug it sits atop was picked up at Reindeer Antiques on Kensington Church Street. In line with his practice, Shroff went to town with customisation. “We found the elephant lampshades in the kitchen and dining area in Alfies Antique Market,” he says, “and then we added shades, which were hand-painted as an extended story from the wallpaper.” Indian artisanal skills were applied to luxurious fabrics — from the bedrooms’ cashmere curtains to the silk ones of the living room. “We got all the soft furnishings specially done, so all the cushions, all the bedspreads and curtains — everything was hand-embroidered in India, taking motifs or elements from the wallpaper, in different Zardozi embroidery.”

With Sonam and Anand spending most of 2020 in lockdown, it became necessary for the couple to set up an office.

And so, a hop, skip and a jump over Kensington Gardens, the couple found a three-storey mews and spent the year transforming it. For this, they brought in Sonam’s stylist, Nikhil Mansata. “Nikhil is truly one of my best friends — we can literally finish each other’s sentences,” she says. “We have a very similar sense of style and design.”

The ground floor became what Mansata calls, “a multipurpose space where we could host meetings and exhibitions — a space for artists and creatives”. Sonam, a passionate patron of South Asian art (her enviable collection features throughout the apartment), has teamed up with Jhaveri Contemporary, with the dual purpose of the Mumbai gallery being able host events and exhibit works here for the overseas market, as well as Sonam being surrounded by ever-changing, inspiring artwork for her creative space.

The first floor is Sonam’s office — an open-plan space she shares with her team. “We thought about what it would mean to go back to an office space post-pandemic — we wanted it to feel very democratic and collaborative,” says Mansata. “So Sonam is perched at her Pierre Jeanneret desk and chair, over that beautiful floral Nanimarquina rug. Then there’s this large workbench where her colleagues can sit. I didn’t want to close it off; I wanted it to feel very like how you would sit at a large table at home.”

Upstairs on the top floor, skylights flood the whitewashed rooms with soft sunshine. It’s another shared space — two closed-off offices and one big, plushly designed room — but is mostly for Anand’s use. Colour abounds with the variety of bold statement furniture: a bulbous, two-toned Camaleonda sofa

by Mario Bellini for B&B Italia here, a diminutive Nomad stool by Charles Zana for The Invisible Collection there.

Sonam is known for her high-fashion looks, and can be found bedecked in jewels in any number of press shots, but she actually describes herself as “someone who thinks furniture is more important than jewellery — I would rather spend money on a chair than anything else”. VL rooshadshroff.com

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T H IS PAG E in a view of the corridor, antique Chinese chair; vintage lighting and 1940s Murano Plafonnier chandelier, all from Alfies Antiques Market; coat from Osman Yousefzada; circa-1900 Kurdish runner. OP POS IT E PAG E in the dressing room, doors carved by artisans in Mumbai, with inset vintage floral paintings from Antiquités Lahaye.

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T HES E PAG E S in the draw and dining area, Knoll Flo Store, enquiries to Dedece from The Invisible Collec Allegra Hicks; round ott silver gas lamp from 1 Besselink & Jones; Lian Pucci; Amazonia wallpap figurines, heirlooms fro

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T H IS PAG E in the guest bedroom, Louis XIV iron bed from Tara Shaw; throw from Hermès; lamps from Besselink & Jones; 1960s Italian wall sconces from Alfies Antique Market; Le Brésil wallpaper from De Gournay. O PPOS IT E PAG E , C LOC KW I SE FR OM TO P L E FT in Kapoor Ahuja’s studio/ exhibition space in Kensington, desk by Pierre Jeanneret; lamp from Viola Lanari; Censer incense burner from Apparatus, enquiries to Criteria; door panels in fabric from Fermoie, enquiries to Tigger Hall Design; Flora Bloom 2 rug by Santi Moix for Nanimarquina, enquiries to Mobilia; artwork by Prabhakar Barwe. In another view of the studio, cabinet designed by Rooshad Shroff; vase by Johan Swart from Evoke London; Lantern table lamp from Apparatus, enquiries to Criteria; artworks by Nicola Durvasula. In another view of the studio/exhibition space, chairs and stool, all by Pierre Jeanneret from Studio Bijlani; 190 sofa from Pierre Augustin Rose, enquiries to Alm; Louise Liljencrantz Mini Cloud table and Charles Zana Nomad stool from The Invisible Collection; Adnet mirror from Gubi (in dressing area), enquiries to Cult; NAB II (2019) textile artwork (left)

by Shezad Dawood; No. 982 Painting (2020) artwork by Rana Begum. Details, last pages.

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ust a 50-metre stroll from the slim, golden arc of harbourside beach named Camp Cove lies the newly re-imagined home of architect and art connossoisseur Nick Tobias. Set on a corner, the open aspect of the two-level house — originally dark brick — was just one feature in a list of appealing traits, which led Tobias to buy the four-bedroom, five-bathroom property at auction a little over 18 months ago. “Its proximity to the beach, north orientation, and the fact it has just one neighbour to the south — all of those things made it a good idea,” says Tobias who recently moved in with his two sons, Samson and Griffin, at the conclusion of the dwelling’s year-long renovation. “I do a lot of things by intuition and it just felt right. On one side it was so ugly, it felt like a funny, little ’70s school building — but there was also something quite cool about it. It felt charming and I could feel the potential.”

For Sydney-born Tobias, who’s known the Camp Cove area since childhood and has close friends living in the neighbourhood, the allure of this tiny enclave on the northernmost tip of Sydney’s eastern suburbs is a combination of social connection and seaside lifestyle. “The community down here is really beautiful,” says the self-described water obsessive, who has taken up ocean swimming alongside his usual windsurfing and paddle-boarding pursuits.

“It’s like living in a little country town where everybody knows each other and looks out for each other. There’s a lot of open doors and open arms. It’s not flashy in any way.”

Alongside this connection to community and a long-held passion for music — a collection of guitars and a Steinway piano bequethed by his grandmother are among Tobias’s most treasured posessions — art plays an important role in the architect’s life and his home.

His creative streak — first nurtured by his artistic grandmother — was further developed in his early 20s by a close friend who happened to be on the board of the Museum of Contemporary Art [MCA] in Sydney. “She thought I was partying a little bit too hard so decided that we’d go to art galleries on Saturday mornings to stop me from going out too late on Fridays,” he says. “She introduced me to Australian contemporary art properly and to the MCA.” It was here that the young Tobias was introduced to artist Neil Smith. A commission ensued and so began the start of a collection.

“I started buying things slowly, as I could afford it,” says Tobias, who is now Chair of the MCA Foundation. “Nearly all of it is Australian, which is in line with the MCA’s mandate to only collect the works of living Australian artists, which is a must for me. Other than that, there’s no curatorial theme.”

The corner house is equally relaxed and open in theme. Backing onto a park, with two sides facing the street, Tobias saw the property as an opportunity to create a home with a tangible link to local life. While external blinds, internal curtains and lush verdant landscaping by Myles Baldwin help control privacy, Tobias also enjoys the freedom of opening a window on a sunny day to chat with passing friends should the mood take him. “It’s all very connected from a community perspective,” he says. “That was something that I really wanted. I’ve only been here a few months but it’s been a really beautiful thing — especially in lockdown — to be in a house that has a great connection with the street. You’re not really ever lonely, although you can be alone if you want to be.”

Inside, he has extended the footprint a metre-and-a-half at both north and south ends, pushing out the upstairs bedroom level and the downstairs living area and expanding an underfloor space to create a sauna and cinema room. A penchant for natural, raw materials is evidenced throughout, spanning sandstone and timber, exposed stainless-steel plated benches and plywood joinery.

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Tiles are inspired by Japanese earthenware pottery while walls are polished plaster with a beeswax finish. Colours are earthy — oranges, terracottas and rusty pinks. “I had a bit of a vision, a bit of a palette and a bit of a feel that came to me right from the beginning,” says Tobias. “And I stayed pretty true to that. I definitely wanted something light. Light in terms of lumens, light in terms of colour, and light energetically.

“I didn’t want any heaviness — especially in the feel of the space.

I wanted it to be positive and I wanted it to feel like a home, not a sort of crazy design object.”

Many of the furnishings have been in Tobias’s life for quite some time and some are new, like the USM modular shelving systems and a robust leather chair — the legendary Spanish Chair by Danish designer Børge Mogensen — that the architect has always coveted, which now takes centrestage next to the fireplace in the lounge.

A “crazy” Edra sofa languidly sprawls alongside. “It’s like a piece of sculpture,” he says of the On the Rocks sofa. “You can turn it into a playpen for the kids, make it like a formal sofa, or push it into the corner and turn it into a huge banquette. And the fabric is so delicious. It kind of looks like the cat got to it, with small pieces taken out of it. It’s really kind of wild.”

The architect’s ability to infuse a space with an inviting sense of place is, he says, his greatest achievement when it comes to his new home. “I’m most proud of how it feels rather than how it looks,” he says. “I feel it myself, I hear it from my kids and from our friends.

It feels good and it makes people feel good. It’s not a statement. It’s really a home and a nice place to live.” VL tobiaspartners.com

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T HIS PAG E , F RO M LE FT in the staircase landing, Tom Dixon Jack lamp (on right), enquiries to Living Edge; Untitled (NHC2) (2013) artwork by Daniel Boyd. In a detail of the kitchen, Study for a Mirror #9 (2014) artwork by Coen Young; vessel from Ignem Terrae Ceramics; marble bowl from Greg Natale; Paros hand towel from Polite Society. O PPO SI TE PAGE in the kitchen and dining area, daybed upholstered in Argo fabric by Raf Simons for Kvadrat Maharam; island in Rosa Nuvola marble from Artedomus; Maxiply cabinetry designed by Tobias Partners, produced by Saltwater Joinery; splashback tiles from Academy Tiles; rangehood surround in polished plaster; tap from Zip Water; Wolf cooktop and oven, enquiries to Winning Appliances; vase from Ignem Terrae Ceramics; plates from Robert Gordon Australia; oak flooring from Tongue n Groove; Helioscreen external blinds from Simple Studio.

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“I didn’t want any heaviness — especially in the feel of the space.

I wanted it to be positive and I wanted it to feel like a home, not a sort of crazy design object” NICK TOBIAS

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T HI S PAG E, F R O M TO P in the main ensuite, Kaldewei bath from Bathe; vanity benchtop in Calacatta Vagli marble from Artedomus; Paros hand towel from Polite Society; marble dish from Greg Natale; terracotta tiles from Artedomus; artwork by Norman Lindsay. In another view of the main ensuite, SuperElastica chair from Bonacina 1889; towel rail from Hydrotherm; Mini Glo-ball wall light by Jasper Morrison for Flos from Living Edge.

O P POSIT E PAGE in the main bedroom, Chemise bed by Piero Lissoni for Living Divani from Space Furniture; USM Haller storage unit from Anibou; bed linen from Cultiver; bolster from House of Ise; cushion from Monmartre Store; Vitra Lampe de Bureau table light by Jean Prouvé, enquiries to Living Edge; Daphine Terra floor lamp from Lumina; carpet from Signature Floors.

Details, last pages.

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House

party From the light-up disco dance floor to re-creating 1970s light switches, not one single detail was overlooked in the immaculate restoration of Marsala House, the Brutalist work of acclaimed Bulgarianborn Perth-based architect Iwan Iwanoff.

By Jake Millar Photographed by Jody D’Arcy

homeowners Melissa Lekias and Stormie Mills in the living room of their Perth home, custom banquette and cushions upholstered in fabric from Tessuti + Moo; vintage Murano glass table lamps; Unexpected Pleasures artwork by Matt Doust; glass bottle artwork (on left of banquette) by Barry McGee. Details, last pages.

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TH I S PAGE in the main bedroom, lacquered sideboard by Jean Claude Mahey; 1950s Bitossi Plume ceramics; Boule vases (at centre) from Skultuna; Curiosa Langur wallpaper from Arte; Ghost Dog 2 artwork by Emma Margetts.

O P P O S I TE PAG E in the bar area, original bar and tiled floor; Venini black mirror; vintage glass drinking set found in Venice.

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here aren’t many homes whose reputations precede them quite like Marsala House.

But it’s not just Perth locals who know it as a glam party spot; it’s even in its official description on Western Australia’s State Register of Heritage Places: “Dianella’s Disco House”. So needless to say, the property — featuring a bar complete with light-up Saturday Night Fever-style dance floor — is not the place for quiet retiring types. Happily, its current owners more than fit the bill.

“I love a bit of theatre,” says Melissa Lekias, a former PR maven who owns the home with her partner, renowned artist Stormie Mills. “So there’s lots of wafting around in caftans with martinis.

And the disco’s amazing — we love it in there, even if it’s just the two of us. It’s just so much fun!”

The property is the work of Bulgarian-born architect Iwan Iwanoff, who arrived in Perth as a refugee in 1950 and went on to create some of the most iconic homes in the state, if not the country.

Working across the ’50s to the early ’80s, his unique Brutalist style has earned his projects a cult status that has only intensified since his death in 1986.

Located around nine kilometres north of the city centre, the 1976 property was once known as ‘The Lookout’ for its stunning views of the Perth skyline, but later adopted the name Marsala House, after original owners Tina and Sergio Marsala. And while many would recognise its distinctive facade, Lekias’s own connection to the home is far more personal.

“It’s quite a crazy story because all the time Stormie and I have been together, I would talk about this house that my uncle owned that had this incredible sunken lounge,” she says. “I remember going there as a child and I just thought it was amazing.”

When the couple were looking for a new place, Lekias and Mills set their sights on a home in Mount Lawley, only to find out it had already been sold. But the agent had another idea. There was a property that had just hit the market and offered to give the pair a sneak peek.

“When we walked in, I just turned and looked at Stormie and said, ‘Oh my God, this is my uncle’s house!’ And we went home that night and bought it.”

But at the time, both of their careers were flying. Mills had become one of WA’s most in-demand artists, and Lekias was running her own successful PR agency, Magenta.

“We didn’t even move into it for 12 months because we were just travelling too much with work,” she says. But once things slowed down enough for the pair to turn their attention to the home, it was clear it was going to need more than a fresh coat of paint. The previous owners had done some restoration of the heritage-listed property, but it still needed significant work to return it to its former glory.

“We’re both really quite obsessive people,” says Mills, “so when we want something, it’s got to be perfect.” “Where things were original, they’ve been restored and where they weren’t, we’ve taken them back to the spirit of the era,” adds Lekias. “We really drilled down to the details — every light switch in the house was changed so it was the proper light switch from the ’70s, and same with all the handles on all the doors.”

But it wasn’t a case of simply popping down to a one-stop hardware shop. Their electrician had to convince electronics company Clipsal to produce an entire run of ’70s-style light switches to ensure they were authentic to the originals. And rather than simply tearing out the old windows, the couple managed to find a tradesperson willing to lovingly restore each and every one.

“I found this amazing guy and I explained to him that it’s like having a Chanel jacket,” says Lekias. “If a button falls off, you’re not

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“Iwan Iwanoff was just an incredible talent.

He was just so visionary and ahead of his time” MELISSA LEKIAS

going to randomly replace it. And this guy totally got it — he spent a week restoring each window in the house. It was just amazing to watch him work.”

Once the original bones of the home were restored, Lekias and Mills worked with designer and stylist — and long-time friend — Mariia Gabriel, who assisted with the finishing touches.

Needless to say, they were not looking to turn Marsala House into a contemporary minimalist white box.

“We really love the interior work of Lenny Kravitz. It is both striking yet bohemian and we like that interesting blend of relaxation and glamour, which is quite hard to achieve.

It’s important for us that our home feels like you can live in it,” says Lekias of the couple’s style. “We are not the type of people that can have someone else’s aesthetic imposed upon us, which is why Mariia is so great to work with as a guide and collaborator.”

Far from rushing things, the collaboration between Gabriel and the couple has spanned several years. “Some clients will want everything done in six weeks, whereas Stormie and Melissa, their brief has always been: let’s just get it right,” says Gabriel. “Sometimes you dream about just getting to see inside some of these homes, so I think it’s everybody’s dream to work on something like this.

They really do live in that house in the way that it deserves to be lived. And I think that’s really quite special.”

“We have felt that living in Marsala is like living in an artwork,” says Lekias. “You are forever discovering new little details created by the way the light works in the house and the fine detail Iwanoff put into his work. You are constantly immersed in his incredible mind.”

In fact, the couple is so enamoured by the architect’s work, they have recently purchased another Iwanoff home, which they eventually plan to settle in, and pass Marsala onto new owners.

“Iwanoff was just an incredible talent,” says Lekias. “He was just so visionary and ahead of his time, and it’s so great to see that he’s beginning to be recognised now.”

Lekias and Mills might eventually be moving on from Marsala House. But regardless of whoever takes their place in the iconic property, you can’t help but feel that the party is far from over. VL @mariia.gabriel; stormiemills.com

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TH IS PAG E in the kitchen, cooktop from Westinghouse; oven from Miele; vintage 1970s yellow vase found in Venice; trays from iBride; Italian pewter sculpture (top shelf ) from Robi Renzi. O P P O SI T E PAG E in the dining area, Peg dining table from Matsuoka Furniture; 1960s Technosalotto dining chairs; 1970s pendant light by Goffredo Reggiani; oil sketch artwork by Quentin Blake; small study artworks by Matt Doust.

“The disco’s amazing — we love it in there, even if it’s just the two of us. It’s just so much fun!”

MELISSA LEKIAS

in the downstairs disco room, vintage Italian armchairs from Pamono; vintage Murano chandelier; vintage wallpaper found in London; artworks by Retna.

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in the pool room with a view of the stairs leading to the disco room, 1960s credenza found in London; 1970s Les 2 Potiers ceramic coffee table; stools with custom Moroccan fabric upholstery; vintage Alvino Bagni ceramics; 1970s lamp by Philippe Barbier for Maison Barbier, with custom lampshade from Tessuti + Moo; Self portrait artwork by Michael Peck; vintage artworks by artists unknown. OP PO S ITE PAGE in the main ensuite, stonework produced by Attica; candle from Diptyque.

T HIS PAG E

in the pool area, daybeds and Coral Reef parasols from Roberti; mid-century Russell Woodard spun fibreglass outdoor setting with custom upholstery; vintage elephant side tables. Details, last pages.

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Walking on sunshine This bold Mornington Peninsula property takes more than its name from a secluded bay in Florida Keys.

By Amy Campbell Photographed by Armelle Habib

T H IS PAG E designer and homeowner Kate Walker in the dining area of this Mount Martha home, Baxter dining table and Lodge dining chairs upholstered in Hermès Dune fabric from Boyd Blue; Westwood English Gold hurricane lamp (on mantlepiece) from Cromwell; Ralph Lauren Home Cara Sculpted pendant light from The Montauk Lighting Co.; Tunstall sisal rug from KWD & Co.; artwork by Zoe Young.

O PPO SI T E PAGE in the backyard pool area, original bench in Dulux Cooks Beach paint; Tectona 1800 sun loungers from Classic With A Twist; custom patio umbrellas from Lynch’s Window Fashions; pool in Amano Ice Blue Glossy mosaic tiles from Klay Tiles and Facades; Miami marble pavers from KWD & Co.; landscape design by Plume.

Details, last pages.

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here are properties that look straight out of Slim Aarons’ iconic that hangs in the den depicts Walker and her family Poolside Gossip series, and then there’s Biscayne. So it’s fitting, splashing around at the beach, while a trio of works if not a little coincidental, then that the name of the whitewashed

by Brooklyn-based artist Wayne Pate, whom the home was inspired by one of the renowned photographer’s designer has been following for some time, hangs favourite destinations to shoot: Florida. in the entrance foyer.

Yet ensconced on a quiet street in the sleepy hamlet of Mount “When it came to this home, I really wanted to Martha on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, Biscayne couldn’t be showcase how far we could take the design. And more geographically distant from the Everglades if it tried. The because I was my own client, I really had carte holiday state-of-mind however can be felt in each and every detail. blanche to do that,” muses Walker.

“It’s got that resort feel,” says designer and homeowner Kate Having bumped the entire family in, is she happy Walker. “It almost feels like compound living. You come through with the end result? “I am,” she says resolutely. the private gates, they close behind you, and you really do feel like you’re transported With a laugh, she quickly adds, “it was all well and someplace else.” good until the bill came in.”

Where other buyers found the home’s orientation off-putting — built to maximise Would she call Biscayne her dream house? the view at the rear of the block, the ‘back’ of the house actually faces the street — “Honestly, I don’t think I can have one,” she admits.

Walker saw immense potential.

“I’m forever searching for new projects, and I’m so passionate about finding homes and bringing “It was a challenge. The backs of houses aren’t normally as pretty as the front,” out their full potential. It works for our family now. observes the designer and founder of her eponymous studio, Kate Walker Design.

If this last year has shown us anything, “But I was immediately drawn to the colonial aesthetic; the home had all the it’s that things can change. But we’re living in the hallmarks of that design style, and it became all about articulating those features. moment, and it’s perfect for us right now.” VL “We closed in the old verandah and extended the front entrance to make it a real katewalkerdesign.com.au focal point, and we looked a lot at connectivity between inside and outside. With the landscape design, it became about creating outdoor rooms, similar to how all of these different moments and experiences can be contained within the grounds of a hotel.”

T H IS PAGE on the upstairs landing, Julie Neill Alberto single-tier Walker purchased the house with the intention of sharing it chandelier from The Montauk Lighting Co.; Sapphire Blue mirror with her two teenage children. But then she met her partner, from Cromwell; custom carpet from KWD & Co.; The Second Flowering (August’s Orchids) (2019) artwork by Sally Anderson.

Anthony, and suddenly, Biscayne’s occupancy doubled in size — two of Anthony’s children also spend time at the home.

“We’re a bit of a Brady Bunch,” says Walker. “It’s been interesting because I didn’t design it for all of us. But going from a house of three to six people, what’s saved us has been those outdoor spaces.” To help illustrate this, she recalls a vignette from the weekend prior. “It was the most beautiful, sunny August day, and two of the kids were in the pool — which is ridiculous! Another was playing on the tennis court, and another was with us, stoking the outdoor fire. It really made me stop and think: these different experiences outside are what connects us to the home.”

Inside, it’s the kitchen — and the island, specifically — that forms the nucleus of the home. The stately slab of Amazonia marble plays host to a school lunch production line and brekkie on the run in the mornings before it transforms into a homework bench from 4pm. By dinner, meals that are cooked in a palatial Ilve Majestic oven are served and devoured on the island’s surface.

Likewise, the bar also tends to change personalities as the day progresses. “The coffee end of the bar gets opened in the morning, and closed as the day goes on. And then come five o’clock, the ‘bar’ bar gets opened. It’s like a little speakeasy, and we might have a drink with friends — Covid allowing,” says Walker. “But yes, we move right along!”

This sense of exuberant energy extends throughout the entire home and up the stairs — a custom-made candy-coloured runner infuses this passageway with a sense of whimsy. In the powder room, a flock of pink-and-white herons dance along the walls (the wallpaper is Gucci, but it might as well be an artwork) while in the main ensuite, a bench-like basin stand that doubles as an exquisite piece of furniture subverts the notion of conventional joinery.

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T H IS PAGE in the main ensuite, tapware and custom Hawthorn Hill stand basin from The English Tapware Company; custom mirror from Outlines; Wideboard Biscayne European Oak flooring from KWD & Co.; Julie Neill Lucia Medium Tail wall sconce and Aerin Benit Wall Washer wall sconces (in hallway) from The Montauk Lighting Co. OPP OS ITE PAG E in the kitchen-dining area, custom bench table in Amazonia stone from Gladstones Granite & Marble; custom stools from KWD & Co. and Sorrento Furniture, upholstered in Vallan fabric in Sage from Elliott Clarke; candelabras from Lucy Montgomery; glazed green bowl and plaster bowl from Brownlow Interiors; Farmers Doors weathered oak joinery installed by DMA Kitchens; splashback in Zellige ceramic tiles in White Matt from National Tiles; Kew handles in Acid Wash Brass by Hepburn Hardware; Ilve Majestic oven, Qasair rangehood and Fhiaba fridge, all from Winning Appliances; Mauviel copper stockpot from Williams-Sonoma; Kelly Wearstler Bayliss table lamp and Cleo pendant lights from The Montauk Lighting Co.; A Single Rose (2020) artwork

by John Bokor.

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in son Charlie’s bedroom, throw from Polite Society; cushions in Lee Jofa St Tropez Print fabric, enquiries to Elliott Clarke; Jeffery Alan Marks Green Oaks pendant lamps from Boyd Blue; Ionian Sea Linen wallpaper in Tide from Ralph Lauren Home, enquiries to Designers Guild; rug from KWD & Co. O PP O SI TE PAGE in the downstairs powder room, Perrin & Rowe tapware and The Water Monopoly Paris basin on stand from The English Tapware Company; vanity in Cosmopolitan quartzite; Villeroy & Boch Architectura 2.0 toilet from Argent Australia; mirror from Nicholas & Alistair; Suzanne Kasler Juliette table lamp, Ralph Lauren Home Ella Woven Flush Mount ceiling light and Kelly Wearstler Melange Pill Form wall sconce, all from The Montauk Lighting Co.; Heron print wallpaper from Gucci; straight-cut Rosso Verona and Portagallo marble flooring from KWD & Co. T HI S PAG E

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in the laundry, Miele washing machine and dryer from Winning Appliances; tapware and Acquello sink from The English Tapware Company; Copacabana honed quartzite splashback from KWD & Co.; Lady ’79 lamp by Sarah Nedovic Gaunt; Botticino and Bardaglio tumbled marble cobblestone flooring from KWD & Co.; commissioned artworks by Edward Pope. OPP OSI TE PAG E in the rear terrace, Tectona 1800 sofas and footrests from Classic With a Twist; Stripes cushions from Lucy Montgomery; ceramic vase

by Giacomo Alessi from Fenton & Fenton; Ayere Cascais cups and tray from Greenhouse Interiors; gazebo in Dulux White Cloak Half paint. Details, last pages.

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PITCH

PERFECT Craftsmanship and exquisite detail have elevated this Sydney home into a striking showpiece, with a newly formed design duo’s diverse talents on full display.

By Chris Pearson Photographed by Anson Smart Styled by Megan Morton

T HE S E PAGE S in the formal lounge, custom sofa; velvet ball cushions designed by Duet; Etcetera lounge and foot stool by Jan Ekselius from Tigmi Trading; Elle Monument marble coffee table from GlobeWest; Pillar side table from House of Orange; Heat & Glo 3X enclosed gas fireplace from Jetmaster; ikebana bowl (on coffee table) from owner’s collection; vintage Venini vase and clam shell from Shapiro Auctioneers; vintage Bilia lamp by Gio Ponti for FontanaArte from Smith Street Bazaar; curtains in Zimmer + Rohde silk produced by Simple Studio; rug designed by Duet, produced by Tapetti; walls in Dulux Rice Crop paint; sculpture by The Visuals; flowers throughout by Sophia Kaplan.

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esigners Dominique Brammah and Shannon Shlom struck such a resonant chord in this handsome home in Sydney’s inner west that it became the prelude to a new business, called Duet.

In 2019, Brammah received a call from Shlom — the two had worked together at interior design firm Arent & Pyke.

“I have landed a large project I can’t do by myself. Do you want to collaborate?” asked Brammah. When Shlom saw that project was this generous 1916 Tudor Revival home, she couldn’t resist. That moment became the catalyst not just for the pair’s dramatic transformation of these spaces but also a creative partnership that led to the launch of a design studio earlier this year. Sharing a similar aesthetic, they proved a harmonious team, in chorus with a design-savvy owner.

Drawn by the stained-glass windows, arches, pitched roof and generous grounds, including a tennis court, the owner and his wife purchased the two-storey brick home for their three — now four —children in mid-2019. “It had so much history, having been featured in Decoration and Glass magazine in 1937 and owned by tennis champion Daphne Akhurst,” he enthuses. But a by-thenumbers renovation, embracing an open-plan layout at the back had stripped the home of its character. “While it was grand on the outside, inside there was no big moment,” says Shlom. “The interiors did not speak to the architecture and there was no flow,” adds the owner. “I wanted to adapt it for both family living and entertaining, with magical finishes.” Having long followed Brammah’s work, he knew who to call. “She and Shannon are true explorers, with no two properties the same. Like a DJ mixtape, they combine materials, colours and shapes and somehow they all work.”

The well-travelled owner presented the duo with captured Instagram moments from French and English hotels. Those images revealed recurring themes — wall panelling, moulded ceilings and cornices, ornate joinery, deep skirtings and sinuous curves, combining the Belle Epoque era and manor-house traditions. With these striking influences as a starting point, the new team instilled the ho-hum home with some serious je ne sais quoi.

“I wanted luxurious and warm, colourful and playful, and each room to tell its own story,” says the owner, and on a practical level, a functional family home that also opened itself up for generous entertaining. While he handled the project management, he gave the duo virtual carte blanche in a 16-month passion project.

“We stripped it back to the stud work,” says Brammah. A pivotal moment was moving the staircase from the entry to the open-plan area. Not only did the house instantly shed its old stuffiness — together with its varnished panelling and picture rails — the linearity of the old stair was swapped for a sculpted sweeping spiral.

“After we moved the stairs, the rooms arranged themselves,” she says. “We then played up the entry hall, making it grand and spacious.”

While the designers retained two formal rooms at the front, a living room and a study, the back was devoted to family living.

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A formal dining room reemerged as the children’s playroom beside the open-plan zone, attached yet also separate. Within the open plan sit two kitchens — one a showpiece, the other behind for daily use, robust and hidden away. At the rear, a games room replaced a home theatre. Beyond that, beside the tennis court, sits a freestanding apartment. Masterminded by architect Adrian Hernandez of AJH+, both those additions are crafted in brick, with the latter’s sweeping arches taking their cues from the home’s architecture. Meanwhile, five bedrooms occupy the reinvigorated property’s upper level.

While the formal living room is muted and sophisticated in its palette, deeper earthy and leafy hues adorn the informal living area and the playroom. “We wanted to keep things serene,” says Brammah, “but ramped things up in the kids’ playroom, with stripes on the ceiling for a playful space. It has both grandeur and joyfulness.”

Exquisite craftsmanship runs throughout. Oak parquetry and “Dominique and marble inlay floors rub shoulders Shannon are with a plethora of panelling and flowing curves expressed in the true explorers, stairway, mouldings and arches. with no two “The curves create flow and properties the movement,” says Brammah. For the same. Like a DJ custom bathroom and games room floors, the tiler chopped up slabs to mixtape, they combine materials, create unique patterns. “We worked with the artisans in the mouldings colours and and workshopped the internal shapes and doors. It was a labour of love, with somehow they everything so detailed.”

Furnishings, meanwhile, offer a all work” crisp counterpoint. “There’s plenty THE HOMEOWNER of ornamentation, but we bring in a twist with the contemporary furnishings,” says Shlom. “We did not want a European pastiche, so we respected the house’s original features and then moved it into something more appropriate for family living.”

The dynamic duo scoured the world for furniture. But plenty of what they wanted they couldn’t find, hence custom sofas, bedheads, pendant lights and carpet — including the signature harlequin checkered floorcovering in the main bedroom — were again meticulously handcrafted. Luxe finishes such as velvets, durable leathers, marble and gold highlights abound.

“It was a dream first project, showcasing all we can offer — we even sourced cutlery and tea towels,” sums up Shlom. “And, with seven bathrooms and four kitchens, it was what we might have designed over four projects, not one.”

“I love how each room has different textures, materials and colours, and I am in awe of the detailing. As you walk through, you start with a wow and keep wowing,” says the owner. VL weareduet.com.au ajh-a.com.au

TH I S PAG E, FRO M TOP

in the family living area, Joy chair from Jardan; Elle block angled coffee table from GlobeWest; Esedra pouf from Poltrona Frau, enquiries to Mobilia; custom sofa designed by Duet; vintage Venini bowl and vase from Shapiro Auctioneers; vintage Fabergé eggs on custom plinth; rug designed by Duet, produced by Tapetti; Stellar Grape floor lamp (at left) by Sebastian Herkner for Pulpo from Domo. The homeowner with his prized vintage Mercedes-Benz vehicle in the driveway with Luca Filetti natural stone pavers from Eco Outdoor.

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T HI S PAG E in the main bedroom, bedhead, bedside table, bed linen and pendant light, all designed by Duet; LagunaB tumbler from Pan After; carpet designed by Duet, produced

by Tapetti; grasscloth wallpaper from Ascraft.

OPP OSI T E PAG E in the children’s playroom, sofa designed by Duet; custom-upholstered Lobby bench from House of Orange; vintage mid-century Italian side table; cabinetry designed by Duet with drawers in Dulux Cuddlepot paint; candlestick from Kirsten Perry; Pomponette vase from Maison Balzac; B-4 table lamp from Gubi, enquiries to Cult; rug designed by Duet; Rex pendant light from Arteriors, enquiries to Boyd Blue; striped ceiling and wall detail in Dulux Rice Crop Quarter with Murobond Terracotta; artwork, stylist’s own.

T HI S PAGE , FR OM TO P in the kitchen and dining area, island, benchtop and rangehood surround in Calacatta marble; island benchtop in Verde Chambray marble; custom-stained crown-cut American oak veneer cabinetry in Porter’s Paints Half Dusty Mule and Triple Newport Blue; Perrin & Rowe tapware from The English Tapware Company; cooktop from Pitt Cooking; ovens from Gaggenau, enquiries to Winning Appliances; integrated fridges from Fisher & Paykel, enquiries to Winning Appliances; Iva bar stools from Grazia&Co; vase from McMullin & Co; Benjamin Ripple Oval dining table and Franklin dining chairs from GlobeWest; Drop System chandelier from Lindsey Adelman. In the guest bedroom, bed linen from The Stitching Project; artwork by S A S Veer.

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P HOTO G RAP H E R: LAU RY N I SH AK

Awe-inspiring escapes, need-to-know destinations and holiday essentials await.

TH IS PAGE a view across Singapore’s vibrant Chinatown to the central business district.

Turn the page for the full story.

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With a travel bubble on the horizon, Singapore slings to the top of our getaway plans. With top-notch restaurants and enticing bars, it’s time to rediscover the Garden City’s perennial attractions.

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of national progress. Ask for a table on its balmy alfresco terrace and devour time-honoured favourites such as chilli crab, caramel soy sauce prawns (har lok) and steamed tilapia doused in a tangy Nyonya gravy.

A meal at Candlenut, the world’s first Michelin-starred Peranakan restaurant, is always a treat. Chef Malcolm Lee makes an art of elevating Singapore’s most famous cuisine — an aromatic hybrid of Chinese, Indonesian and Malay flavours — with the best ingredients and Western techniques. The stylish eatery is part of Como Dempsey, home to a flock of restaurants at Dempsey Hill, along with Dover Street Market.

Once a haven for early Chinese migrants, Chinatown is now the setting for some of the city’s buzziest restaurants.

At Nouri, Brazilian chef Ivan Brehm investigates how foods of the world are connected with his “crossroads cooking”.

A recent tasting menu veered from pan-seared Hokkaido scallop to Vietnamese-style soy-glazed fish to French pigeon infused with Mexican flavours. Multi-concept space Appetite is one floor up, housing an art gallery, record lounge and an eight-seater open-galley kitchen.

Still on bustling Amoy Street, Cloudstreet remains one of the city’s most in-demand eateries. One-time Australian resident, chef-owner Rishi Naleendra draws on his Sri Lankan heritage to craft a unique culinary approach. His best-loved dishes include yellow curry of Western Australian marron, roasted lamb saddle with baby jackfruit curry wrapped in radicchio, and ‘Vegemite on toast’ petits four.

In the curvaceous dining room fitted with brass and stone at Restaurant Euphoria, Singaporean chef Jason Tan showcases his love for vegetables by re-creating the mother sauces of French cuisine using only botanicals. The results are impressive tasting menus full of flavour and texture, and the unexpected use of humble local ingredients such as patin fish.

Intrepid South Korean chef Sun Kim, a former sous-chef at Tetsuya’s in Sydney, heads Meta, the undisputed darling of the fine-dining scene. Huddled over blond brushed-wood tables, devotees gush over Kim’s contemporary cuisine that parses elements

he prospect of emerging from the depths of travel deprivation has energised us. Firmly in our viewfinder is Singapore, the verdant South-East Asian city-state adored by Australians, revered by food fanatics, and floated as the next potential bubble for quarantine-free travel.

Singapore’s diminutive size belies its bounty of experiences. The usual suspects abound — the charming shophouses of Chinatown, Marina Bay Sands’ many luxurious temptations – but the nation’s appeal lies in its constant evolution, its polyglot cultural mix, and its impressive efficiency— the gleaming MRT system, for instance, and masses of taxis that make scooting around town a cinch. Here, we take a closer look at the impressive and innovative bar and dining scene that reveals Singapore is more enthralling than ever.

E AT I N G O U T

From hawkers to haute cuisine Singapore’s culinary scene is legendary. Almost nowhere else in the world can you eat as affordably (or extravagantly) as this food-obsessed city-state where treats tempt at every turn. When in doubt, head to the no-frills hawker centres — any one of them, really — and odds are you’ll stumble on well-priced, mouth-watering food.

One of the most admired and renowned is Hawker Chan. For $3 you can enjoy an ambrosial dish of chicken poached in soy sauce and served on fragrant rice. Another culinary treasure, Hill Street Tai Hwa, is as famous for its hours-long queues as for its unrivalled bak chor mee, chilli- and vinegar-spiked minced pork noodles.

Spring Court, one of the city’s oldest restaurants, continues to draw a crowd for its distinctively Singaporean-Chinese fare. Succulent dishes such as roast chicken slicked with a layer of minced prawns and Chinese cabbage stewed with dried scallops offer a glimpse into the old food ways when migrants of every race contributed to the richer, piquant flavours of the island’s early Chinese food.

The family-run Hua Yu Wee, set in the last remaining beachfront mansion of its kind, is another window into a bygone era. Its entrance along Upper East Coast Road is really the back of the house; its true frontage, now shrouded by thick rainforest, once faced the sea, which has since been reclaimed in the name 168

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T HE SE PAGE S , F R O M LEF T satay is a staple at Singapore’s hawker centres.

Patrons at Manhattan come for the American-inspired cocktails.

Native’s Oolong Highball topped with a nori cracker, and the Mekong Cola with a lotus-stem straw.

of his native South Korean cuisine with classic European techniques.

Speaking of Tetsuya Wakuda, his gastronomic temple Waku Ghin recently reopened after major renovations and comes with even loftier price tags. Its entry-level tasting menu starts at S$550 before drinks and taxes, and takes diners on a memorable, meandering journey from bar to chef’s table to dessert alcove. Or take a seat at the no-reservations, newly expanded Waku Ghin bar, which serves inspired cocktails and exquisite small bites, from Spanish-style bikini sandwiches to Japanese wagyu tartare.

Burnt Ends, the Michelin-starred barbecue restaurant of Perth-born firestarter Dave Pynt, is still a sizzling-hot option. Lock in a reservation long before you arrive in the city to try Pynt’s sensational smoky fare, prepared in a custom-designed, wood-burning kiln.

WHERE TO DRINK

Toasting the cocktail capital Singapore is at the apex of Asia’s burgeoning cocktail culture, a swathe of its watering holes sitting proudly on the World’s 50 Best Bars list. Chief among them is Atlas, currently ranked fourth, which has the world’s

largest collection of gin, as well as cinematic Art Deco-inspired interiors worthy of Jay Gatsby. Meanwhile, Manhattan, ranked 14th, has its own dedicated rickhouse filled to the brim with aged spirits that lend delicious complexity to its menu of American-inspired cocktails.

Hong Kong import The Old Man has a compact list of 11 cocktails that pays tribute to Hemingway’s novels, all of which feature fat-washed spirits and original sous-vide infusions. The Sun Also Rises, for example, lends an Asian twist to the Negroni, with coconut oil fat-washed applejack, curry leaf-infused gin, pandan leaf, sweet vermouth and kaffir lime.

At the atmospheric Elephant Room, owner and mixologist Yugnes Susela has transported the scents and flavours of Singapore’s Little India district to his Chinatown bar fashioned with decorative elements such as russet Jaali vent blocks.

The inventive cocktails are made with spirits from India such as Hapusa Gin, with turmeric and mango among its exotic botanicals. The well-considered snacks are not to be missed – the string hoppers with chicken curry are among the city-state’s best.

Ever-popular Native lives up to its name with cocktails made from regional spirits and local ingredients, including ants, foraged by owner Vijay Mudaliar. The insects go into a tropical mix of Chalong Bay Rum, coconut yoghurt, salt-based tapioca and soursop.

For a breezy experience by the Singapore River, there’s Caffe Fernet, which looks out to the historic Collyer Quay. With tan-toned booths and knockout views, it’s a fabulous setting for enjoying Italian-accented cocktails such as nifty Negronis and flavourdriven spins on Spritzes. VL Nov/Dec 2021

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THI S PAGE Cloud Forest at Gardens by the Bay, Singapore.

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P HOTO G RAP H E R: ARME L L E HAB I B

Sources

VO GU E L I V I N G PROMOT I O N

POSTSCRIPT From the kitchen to the bedroom, update your home in style with these must-haves.

PERFECT CONDITIONS For those who prefer a more robust aesthetic for professional kitchen appeal, Fhiaba has created the X-Pro series of wine cabinets to house your collection of favourite, note-worthy drops.

Handcrafted in Italy, Fhiaba wine cabinets have been designed to store fine wines under ideal conditions addressing the impact of temperature, humidity, light and vibration. For more details, visit winningappliances.com.au

TOP OF THE MORNING Start the day off right with a cafe-quality brew at home, thanks to Nespresso’s chic Vertuo Next machine and Aeroccino3 milk frother.

Whether your preference is a double espresso latte or a cappuccino, this smart energy-efficient machine brings out the rich aroma of sustainably sourced coffee.

For more information, visit nespresso.com.au

HOMEWARD BOUND Bringing together Parisian elegance with modern appeal, The Amour from Webb & Brown-Neaves delivers on the promise of luxurious everyday living.

Outside, Juliet balconies recall boutiques along the Champs-Élysées while the chic monochrome palette is softened with warm parquetry flooring.

For more inspired residential home design, visit wbhomes.com.au

SIGNATURE STYLE Inspired by the controlled environment of wine caves, the LG SIGNATURE wine cellar adds technological advances to the equation. The InstaView panel illuminates the contents without altering the temperature while also blocking outside heat and light to ensure distinctive flavour profiles of all wine varities within are protected. For more details, visit lg.com

BEDTIME STORY Antonio Citterio brings his signature eye for clean lines and simple yet sophisticated form to the Gregory bed for Flexform. The contemporary piece is matched with superior craftsmanship in the leather detailing around the frame, while the generously plush headboard ensures comfort and support. For more Flexform pieces, visit fanuli.com.au

AHEAD OF THE CURVE Australia’s first fine jeweller Fairfax & Roberts presents the covetable No.19 Eclipse bowls. The innovative European-crafted range challenges convention, fusing mouth-blown glass with titanium or stainless steel.

For a further look, visit fairfax androbertshome.com.au

Get your skin summer ready with nontre.co’s Natural Bath Salts and our Miracle Glow Body Milk and Scrub. These tubs of goodness are packed with essential oils to smooth and hydrate your body whilst detoxifying and buffing away dry, dull skin. Say hello to glow and unveil your best self with nontre.co

INTERIOR DESIGN COURSE Learn from industry leaders.

Self-paced course by distance learning.

Postal and online options available.

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NERRIDAH & ROSS

AGOSCO

At Nerridah & Ross, we’re loving our range of refillable and sleek, teak Orbs from Only Orb. They are an aesthetically and aromatically pleasing addition to any space, and with five unique fragrances to choose from, you’ll be sure to find a mood to suit you. Also available in Ceramic and Glass varieties.

RRP $89.95

Whether you’re looking to transform your living room into the social hub of the home, or wanting to up the ante on your outdoor entertainment, agos—co’s humble bar cart is the epitome of variety.

Lightweight, weather resistant, and crafted from cast aluminium and FSC certified teak.

@nerridahandross

@agosandco

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ZAKKIA Part or our Tab Collection, featured here is the Tab Dish – Large White. A structural tab shaped base, creating a clean outline that is just as beautiful to look at as it is to use.

The large serving dish has been sealed with a semi-matte glaze. The finish of the ceramic is slightly textured and uneven, and because each dish is individually handcrafted its texture forms its own individuality.

This piece can be displayed in any home as an individual piece of carefully handcrafted art.

This is the beauty of buying handmade, your dish will be like no other.

@zakkiahomewares

zakkia.com

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@bamboohausau

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SHOP

Forever young A modular favourite blurs the boundaries between inside an

By Virginia Jen The return of Salone del Mobile (or Supersalone) to a world reeling from the aftershocks of a pandemic offered its usual heady blend of innovation and creativity. Arguably though, it showed that despite the exhaustive speed at which the market churns through trends, there will always be a place for true originality. Arflex turned to Mario Marenco’s shapely modular sofa conjured back in 1970. Its versatile, streamlined and rounded form has led to a re-imagining for the great outdoors. None of the inviting comfort or joyful charm it’s offered for five decades has been lost in translation; just flexibility and actual time in the sun added to the chic equation. VL 176

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JOIN US IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CANCER AT RALPHLAUREN.COM/PINKPONY