OCTOBER 2020
GAL GADOT
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY
CHANEL .COM
IT’S ALL ABOUT SECONDS self-winding manufacture movement Highly resistant ceramic watch. Swiss made. 5-year warranty.
In nature, the falcon is a fierce fighter. In business, the Falcon 8X is just as powerful and agile. Every inch reflects its military DNA, with lean and mean aerodynamics and advanced Digital Flight Controls to get you to places others can’t. Nothing flies like a Falcon because no other jet is built like one. Fierce. Fast. Agile. Falcon 8X.
Contents
AIR
OCTOBER 2020: ISSUE 109
FEATURES Thirty Four
Forty
Stand By Me
Elle and Back
Forty Six
Fifty Two
Gal Gadot talks shedding tears and daredevil stunts as she reprises the role of Wonder Woman.
In a year that would have seen River Phoenix turn 50, Louis Chilton considers his cinematic legacy.
The inside story of how designer Elle Mambetov overcame scandal and prison to become a breakout star.
Known as ‘The Supers’, Naomi, Cindy, Claudia et al ruled the runway in the 90s. But why are they still in such demand?
Modern Marvel
4
Super Women
Contents
OCTOBER 2020: ISSUE 109
Credit: Š Andrea Fazzari
REGULARS Fourteen
Radar
Sixteen
Critique Twenty
Art & Design Twenty Two
Timepieces Twenty Six
EDITORIAL
Jewellery
Chief Creative Officer
John Thatcher
Thirty Two
Objects of Desire
john@hotmedia.me
ART
Fifty Eight
Art Director
Motoring
Kerri Bennett
AIR
Sixty Six
Illustration
Journeys by Jet
Leona Beth
COMMERCIAL
Sixty Eight
Managing Director
What I Know Now
Victoria Thatcher General Manager
David Wade
david@hotmedia.me
PRODUCTION Digital Media Manager
Muthu Kumar Sixty Four
Gastronomy AIR meets Andrea Fazzari, the award-winning author and photographer whose quest to gain a greater undertstanding of sushi saw him shadow 20 revered shokunin for his latest book
Tel: 00971 4 364 2876 Fax: 00971 4 369 7494 Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from HOT Media is strictly prohibited. HOT Media does not accept liability for any omissions or errors in AIR.
6
R AR E, IN DIGE NO US , CAPT I VAT I NG Experience the alluring, golden desert landscape, the captivating silence of nature, the free-roaming wildlife in the reserve, all enjoyed from your private suite and pool. Indulge in a luxurious desert adventure with camel treks, horseback riding, falconry, archery, dune drives and more.
HOTELS THAT DEFINE THE DESTINATION
FOR RESERVATIONS, PLEASE CALL +971 4 832 9900 OR VISIT AL-MAHA.COM
Gama Aviation OCTOBER 2020: ISSUE 109
Welcome Onboard OCTOBER 2020 Janine Tomb Managing Director Gama Aviation
Welcome to the new issue of AIR, Gama Aviation’s in-flight magazine. Gama Aviation’s started in 1983 as a bespoke aircraft manager and operator in the UK, and has since grown to be a leading, global, business aviation services organisation. With a fleet of over 230 aircraft, we have bases across Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Middle East. Our headquarters are located at Farnborough Airport, England, where we are listed on the London Stock Exchange (Gama Aviation PLC: GMAA). In 2009, we opened an aircraft management office in Dubai, and applied for a UAE Air Operating Certificate (AOC). The GCAA awarded Gama Aviation’s UAE AOC in 2010, after which we grew our managed fleet of charter and private jets in the UAE. It quickly became apparent that Dubai International Airport was becoming increasingly restrictive in terms of slot and parking availability, in addition to airspace and taxiway congestion, which is not conducive to business aviation operations. Our industry is geared towards saving time for our clients. This led to our Group CEO identifying Sharjah International Airport as an intelligent gateway to Dubai and the Northern Emirates for private jet users. In 2012, Gama Aviation was granted the concession at Sharjah International to provide VIP (‘FBO’) handling services, and in 2014 we opened the airport’s very first FBO facility. Sharjah International has since become a popular business jet hub – and fuel stop location – due to its ease of use and close proximity to the heart of Dubai and the Northern Emirates. We operate stunning passenger and crew lounges, with dedicated customs/immigration, along with providing line maintenance services and hangar/parking solutions. In a nutshell, we offer the highest levels of service delivery in our industry, for prices that are lower than the regional market rate. A very special service in Sharjah that also sets us apart is the fact we can arrange airside access for passenger vehicles to the aircraft steps on both arrivals and departures. Sharjah offers true door-to-door time savings for visitors and residents of Dubai and the Northern Emirates. An important component of Gama Aviation’s service offering in Sharjah is line maintenance and AOG (Aircraft On Ground) support in the surrounding region. In addition to our engineers holding US/FAA A&P licenses, our maintenance approvals include UAE/GCAA, UK/ EASA, Isle of Man, Bermudan and Cayman registered aircraft. Our maintenance capabilities cover the Gulfstream G650, Bombardier Learjets, Challengers and Globals, Embraer Legacies, Hawker 800/900 and KingAir types. Our group services include: • Aircraft management • Aircraft charter • FBO services: VIP aircraft and passenger handling • Line maintenance for business jets • Special missions support such as air ambulance operation and engineering modifications Thank you for choosing to fly with Gama, and for being part of our continuing success. We wish you an enjoyable journey.
Cover: Gal Gadot Tesh Patel/AUGUST
Contact Details: info.mena@gamaaviation.com / charter.mena@gamaaviation.com
9
Gama Aviation OCTOBER 2020: ISSUE 109
Gama Aviation’s Sharjah FBO assists transit traffic through the UAE Non-slot restricted FBO at Sharjah International Airport fully open and available
Gama Aviation, the global business aviation services company, is pleased to announce their non-slot restricted FBO at Sharjah International Airport is fully open and available to assist operators with transit traffic and crew stayovers operating through the UAE.
flights in the prevailing conditions. Fuel stop transient traffic ▹ H24 and zero slot restrictions ▹ Good fuel prices ▹ Line maintenance for minor technical items* ▹ Short, fuel efficient taxi times
The services have been created to assist in the management of transit traffic that require technical, transient fuel or crew duty rest stops. The services are provided with zero slot restrictions into OMSJ, allowing for the fluidity that is a requirement when operating such
Crew rest transient traffic ▹ H24 and zero slot restrictions ▹ Mandatory COVID-19 test on arrival ▹ Secure, police escorted transfer to nearby high-quality hotel ▹ Return, escorted transfer, post duty rest ▹ Line maintenance*
10
▹ Cleaning (external & internal) ▹ Fuel and catering for onward travel Tom Murphy, Commercial Manager, commented: “We have been working with the authorities to accommodate this transit traffic and crew rest flights, making the experience, in these times, as smooth and convenient to the crews as possible, allowing them to focus on their more important tasks. The situation is, of course, fluid and subject to change, but we would encourage any operator seeking to transit via the UAE to call us as we can help.”
An aircraft charter service that delivers. Whatever your charter requirement, our extensive global charter teams will; manage itineraries, maintain punctuality, deliver simplicity. If you are interested in our aircraft charter services please email charter.mena@gamaaviation.com or call +97165027704/3
Charter. Management. Maintenance. gamaaviation.com
11
Gama Aviation OCTOBER 2020: ISSUE 109
Gama Aviation commences HEMS operations in Scotland All SAS air ambulance missions now under the direct control of the company those in remote and rural areas through a network of delivery partners including Gama Aviation and the Scottish Charity Air Ambulance SCAA. We want to wish their experienced and professional crews safe flying and thank the Gama Aviation and SAS teams involved for their hard work in delivering the transition project to completion.”
Gama Aviation Plc, the global business aviation services company, is pleased to announce the full transition of HEMS operations supplied to the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) to its European Air & Ground division, placing all SAS air ambulance missions under the direct control of the company. The current health crisis has shown the importance of connected health services using streamlined, complementary resources, including those of the RAF and Loganair (delivering specialist COVID transportation), to deliver an agile service able to meet the current and future needs of the people of Scotland. The change, envisaged before the current crisis, delivers on that requirement, streamlining the operational control of all SAS flight activity into one entity. Crucial to this has been the purchase of three new Airbus H145 HEMS -quipped aircraft. Two of the three aircraft entered service on June 1, along with a highly 12
experienced pilot and engineering support team and a new, purposebuilt facility in Inverness. The Inverness facility complements Gama Aviation’s investments in Glasgow and Aberdeen, providing the infrastructure backbone to improve air/ground patient transitions and maintain aircraft availability across fixed wing and rotary operations. Pauline Howie, Chief Executive of the Scottish Ambulance Service, welcomed the new arrivals saying: “Gama Aviation have delivered consistent, high quality service for nearly three decades with the Scottish Ambulance Service as part of our emergency pre-hospital care response. Bringing fast medical care to patients as well as quick life-saving transport to hospital, these helicopters will continue to support the whole of Scotland when needed during these difficult times and into the future. “The air ambulance is vital and saves lives by giving access to the best possible emergency medical treatment available, especially for
Mark Gascoigne, MD, Gama Aviation, Europe Air, commented: “As the prime contractor we believed there were additional material service improvements that could be delivered using new facilities and a new team. With the permission and oversight of the SAS team, we’ve spent the last 18 months instituting a change that will improve the service to the people of Scotland. The gains will be marginal, but HEMS operations rely on a constant commitment to improve, and that is what we are focusing on with new aircraft, exceptional pilots and brilliant engineers.” Marwan Khalek, Group CEO ,commented: “We are delighted to have bought together all flight operations for the Scottish Ambulance Service under our direct control and to have commenced HEMS operations using our fleet of new helicopters in Scotland today. It is the product of 18 months’ hard work and demonstrates our ability to effectively and efficiently deliver our clients’ mission requirements within precise parameters. We look forward to greater participation in the UK rotary market.” Gama Aviation’s investment within the HEMS market represents a strategic shift towards the special mission rotary market, an area that is complementary to its existing fixed wing special mission capability. Current special mission clients include air ambulance, law enforcement and defence agencies.
Service and detail that shape your journey. Immerse in the luxury of rich experiences at the JW Penthouse Suite and Marquis Penthouse Suite, spread across two levels of impeccably designed space with a touch of traditional Arabic design. Each 624sqm suite features two separate bedrooms with two separate living rooms. Additional benefits include complimentary airport transfers, private check-in and check-out and access to the Executive Lounge on the 37th floor. Enjoy celebratory dining in 10 award-winning restaurants and bars, and pampering at the luxurious Saray Spa.
JW MarriottÂŽ MarquisÂŽ Hotel Dubai marriott.com/DXBJW Sheikh Zayed Road, Business Bay, PO Box 121000, Dubai, UAE | T +971.4.414.0000 | jwmarriottmarquisdubai.com
Radar OCTOBER ISSUE 109
14
Image: @ Giovanni Gastel
AIR
Acclaimed fashion photographer Giovanni Gastel has shot for the likes of Dior, Vogue and Vanity Fair, but it’s his remarkable portraits which are the subject pf a new exhibition at Rome’s MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Arts, until November 24. About 200 portraits are on display, featuring faces he has encountered during his 40-year career from the worlds of culture, design, art, fashion, music, entertainment and politics. People like architect and designer Ettore Sottsass, whom, as Gastel says, “have passed on something to me, taught me, touched my soul.”
15
Critique OCTOBER 2020 : ISSUE 109
Film The New Mutants Dir. Josh Boone Four young mutants held in an isolated hospital for psychiatric monitoring battle to make it out alive when strange occurrences begin to take place within the hospital. AT BEST: ‘Fox’s last X-Men movie is an unholy mess... Out of the wreckage, a cult classic has been born.’ – Charlotte O’Sullivan, London Evening Standard AT WORST: ‘A flat and pointless film we really need never concern ourselves with again’ – Paul Mount, Starbust
I’m Thinking of Ending Things Dir: Charlie Kaufman AIR
Trapped by a snowstorm on the farm of her new boyfriend’s family, a young woman begins to question the nature of everything she knew or understood about her boyfriend and herself. AT BEST: ‘Truly, an experience, Best watched with the lights off, in splendid isolation.’ – Harry Guerin. RTE AT WORST: ‘Despite the quality of the acting, I’m afraid I found [it] almost unendurably grim’ – Daily Mail
Antebelum Dir: Gerard Bush, Christopher Renz A successful author discovers herself trapped in a horrifying reality and must uncover the mind-bending mystery before it’s too late. AT BEST: ‘A nightmarish out-of-body experience.’ – Aaron Neuwirth, We Live Entertainment
Bill & Ted Face The Music Dir. Dean Parisot The return of the time-travelling duo, now middle-aged, sees them set out on a new adventure when a visitor from the future forewarns them of future peril. AT BEST: ‘A winningly silly jam sesh with two lovable lunkheads.’ – Charles Bramesco, Little White Lies AT WORST: ‘It’s basically the same shtick that we’ve already seen twice before.’ – Wade Major, FilmWeek 16
Credits: © 2020 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation; Matt Kennedy; Mary Cybulski/NETFLIX © 2020; Patti Perret
AT WORST: ‘Wants to act as if it has something deep to say about the state of racial issues in the world today but handles it in completely the wrong way.’ – Peter Gray, crpWrites
Wellness Haven at Saray Spa
A relaxing realm of quiet luxury, Saray Spa at the JW Marriott Marquis Dubai is an authentic wellness spa, where ancient healing techniques and locally sourced natural ingredients are combined to pay homage to its Arabian heritage. The spa features 17 treatment rooms, inclusive of two private hammam rooms and and two Private Luxury Spa Suites. Experience the wonders of the Middle East through Arabian body or hammam rituals, or benefit from anti-aging and hydrating facial treatments.
Luxury Facial and Massage Package Treat yourself to a relaxing top-to-toe retreat that begins with a customized Saray Spa facial and finishes with a complimentary massage of your choice. Starting from AED 680 for a 1 hour facial and a complimentary 1 hour massage.
Oriental Hammam Experience Relax and unwind with a special offer on all hammam treatments. Book the offer of your choice and pay 40% less. Valid until 31st October.
JW Marriott Marquis Dubai | Sheikh Zayed Road, Business Bay, PO Box 121000, Dubai, UAE T +971 4 414 6754 | mhrs.dxbjw.spa@marriott.com jwmarriottmarquisdubailife.com
Critique OCTOBER 2020 : ISSUE 109
Books omprising ten stories, Daddy, by Emma Cline, delves into the lives of characters whose daily lives are buckling under the weight of pressures. “Cline is reckoning with a post-#Me Too landscape: burrowing inside the minds of the sort of privileged men who assumed they’d always get away with it. Who believe they couldn’t possibly be one of the ‘bad’ ones. Who perhaps haven’t, technically, done anything wrong, but whose attitude to women, and controlling impulses towards their offspring, speaks volumes,” says Holly Williams, writing in The Guardian. “I’ll be interested in how convinced middleaged male reviewers are, but I found Cline’s insights persuasive, even if the territory does become repetitive.” Thinking along the same lines, Marion Winik, reviewing for The Washington Post, says: “I could not help feeling discouraged by the author’s coldness toward her male characters. Nonetheless, the book is so well-written – not to mention short – and just elusive enough that I find myself wanting to re-read the stories, to think about them, to talk to someone about them.” Though praising the stories as “Well
crafted”, Kirkus Reviews opines that, “Cline’s voice is understated; her pace is slow and steady. The reader arrives at the central conflict of the story obliquely – or, in some cases, not at all. The details of the misdeeds at the heart of [the stories] Menlo Park and Northeast Regional are never revealed. There’s a sameness to these stories, and a few read as if the moments in time they depict were chosen at random.” Impressed, however, was Esquire: “Daddy’s ten masterful, provocative stories confirm that Cline is a staggering talent.” Transcendent Kingdom is Yaa Gyasi’s stunning follow-up to her acclaimed national bestseller and tells the story of Gifty, a sixth-year PhD candidate determined to discover the scientific basis for the suffering she sees all around her. “Laser-like… A powerful, wholly unsentimental novel about family love, loss, belonging and belief that is more focused but just as daring as its predecessor, and to my mind even more successful,” writes Sam Sacks in The Wall Street Journal. Equally enthused was Ron Charles of The Washington Post. “A book of blazing brilliance… of profound
scientific and spiritual reflection that recalls the works of Richard Powers and Marilynne Robinson… A double helix of wisdom and rage twists through the quiet lines…Thank God, we have this remarkable novel.” “Elegant… burrows into the philosophical, exploring with complexity what it might mean for us to live without firm answers to the mysteries that wound us… The measured restraint of Gyasi’s prose makes the story’s challenging questions all the more potent,” says The San Francisco Chronicle, heaping further praise. Nick Hornby returns with Just Like You, a love story about what happens when the person who makes you happiest is someone you never expected. “In this age of lockdowns and social distancing, the novel asks timely questions about how people manage to connect when confronted with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Sometimes, this brutally funny novel suggests, the perfect match might be the person who’s utterly unlike you,” says The Millions. While the Library Journal agrees that this is, “A hopeful balm for our unsettled postpandemic times.”
Credit: Penguin Random House
AIR
C
18
Critique OCTOBER 2020 : ISSUE 109
Art
Portrait of Steve McQueen in Year 3 at Tate Britain
S
howing at Tate Britain until Jan 31 2020, Steve McQueen Year 3 is a celebration of multicultural London, shown through school photographs of Year 3 children. “Seven is a pivotal age, it’s when you start figuring out the world, taking it in and understanding your place in it,” says Eddy Frankel in Time Out London. “McQueen’s project is a portrait of that, of childhood’s slow morph into imminent adolescence. But way more obviously, it’s a celebration of this city’s [London] diversity, its vast variety of races, cultures and backgrounds, all played out and glorified on these walls. It’s census as art. And every day, the kids from these schools are being bussed in to see their faces on the walls of the Tate. Can you imagine how powerful that is?” Writing in The Guardian, Laura Cumming says, “There are schools with 32 pupils to a class, and schools with five children in a Georgian salon. There are home schools and sports academies, free schools and pupil
referral units, although not a single image is captioned. This is surely crucial, a principled egalitarianism. No seven-year-old is to be pigeonholed according to the kind of school their parents chose for them.” Not so easily won over was Harry Thorne, writing for Frieze. “McQueen’s intentions are good. Not only has he stated that Year 3 will not be sold (the pictures will be returned to the participating schools at the end of the exhibition), he is mounting a very visible defence of both innercity diversity and the necessity of safeguarding an education system that, as a result of ongoing cuts to government funding, is close to disrepair. Yet, while commendable, these views are anything but radical. Moreover, although McQueen raises these topics, he does little to provoke further discussion of them.” Also in London, at the city’s Hayward Gallery until the end of this month, Among The Trees shows how 38 artists
have displayed trees in their work. “Many of the works here inevitably suggest fragility,” says Ben Luke for London Evening Standard. “Simryn Gill’s photographs show plastic debris choking Malaysian mangroves. Roxy Paine’s diorama is all too familiar: a landscape reduced to ash. Steve McQueen and Sally Mann’s images feature landscapes scarred by white suprematism and war. At times, the show feels scattergun: it’s at its best when thematic groupings are tight or where there are several works by a single artist.” Writing for The Arts Desk, Sarah Kent comments, “Our relationship with trees is deep, long and often nasty and a survey of the topic is inevitably a mixed bag. Some of the work is irritatingly anthropocentric, but this alone is a useful reminder of the problem. We behave as if nature were largely a resource to be exploited, regardless of our inextricable links with it.” 19
Art & Design
AIR
OCTOBER 2020:ISSUE 109
A Rare Luxury Mercedes and Virgil Abloh team up to create a one-of-a-kind artwork
S
ome 40 years on from its birth, the design of the Mercedes G-Class has changed very little. Proof, perhaps, that style never goes out of fashion. It was with great intrigue, then, when Mercedes announced Project Geländewagen, a conceptual design collaboration between the brand and Virgil Abloh, chief creative director and founder of Off-White and men’s artistic director of Louis Vuitton, whose brief was to create a one-of-akind re-imagination of the iconic car. The reason? Charity, first and foremost
20
– the scale model will be auctioned by Sotheby’s this month with the proceeds (it has an estimate of $60,000$80.000) to be donated in support of the arts and the international creative community at what is a critical time. “Mercedes-Benz today is much more than a luxury carmaker; it is a design brand and luxury label. One major reason for our success story is our aesthetic soul and the unique style of our house.” says Gorden Wagener, the brand’s chief design officer. Project Geländewagen is certainly unique.
Its reference point was a racing car. Themselves owners of Gs, Abloh and Wagener were both keen for their imaginative creation to “maximise its Mercedes-AMG attitude.” As such, the G has been lowered and widened to show off a new sporty side. While outside everything has been pared back – no need for indicators, outside mirrors and the usual bumper bar here, but you will see racing tyres and body-cladding – inside it’s more a case that everything familiar to the G has been ripped out. The dashboard is removed and replaced with a set of analogue gauges (designed in the style of a classic car) with the steering wheel and seats intended to mimic Formula 1 styling. A safety frame and five-point harnesses are other overt concessions to the need for speed. “Mercedes Benz, for me, is a brand that embodies emotion,” says Abloh. “The initial idea was to question, to sort of make this twist on reality and speed. To have this car that is luxurious in a deconstructed way.” Deconstructed is a term you could easily apply to the model’s paintwork, which was partially sanded by hand to look like the typical underlining of a car. “The thinking behind the paint is so it runs away from the idea of perfection; to embrace the human touch,” explained Abloh. “We created a unique artwork that showcases future interpretations of luxury and the desire for beauty and the extraordinary. We turned an off-road icon into racecar. To me, this is a very progressive step towards the future of luxury,” said Wagener. A Charity Auction Collaboration with Mercedes-Benz, Gorden Wagener & Virgil Abloh, takes place on October 2 via sothebys.com
21
Timepieces
OCTOBER 2020: ISSUE 109
Time Honoured
High up in the Jura Mountains, Audemars Piguet’s newly extended manufacture casts the 145-year-old watchmaker in a new light
AIR
WORDS: JAMES GURNEY
D
rive into the Vallée de Joux, in the Jura Mountains above Geneva, and you’ll find a landscape that feels far more remote than an hour’s drive from the airport would suggest possible. Snow sits here long after spring has been and gone in the city below, creating a sense of apartness that tallies with the place’s reputation as the bastion of traditional high-end watchmaking. Even Genevan brands such as Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin maintain ateliers in the area to ensure access to its watchmakers. It’s a perception that is confirmed when almost the first building you face on entering the valley is Audemars Piguet’s manufacture in the village of Le Brassus. Built around the farmhouse in which Jules Audemars and Edward Piguet established their business back in 1875, the impression is of tradition, solidity and growth – a picture-book watch brand, but nothing that suggests this privately owned company has seen its turnover streak through the billionfrancs mark, or established a universe of friendships, fans, affinities and sponsorships that ranges from Jay Z to the Bolshoi via Lee Westwood and Art Basel, and works with partners as 22
diverse as the jeweller Carolina Bucci and Lausanne’s Institute of Technology. Step into the foyer, and the impression changes entirely: a recent addition casts a whole new light on the 145-year old watchmaker. As you walk through, you enter a glass drum with different levels accessed by ramps that reveal a double spiral, with floods of light (even on a winter’s day) and views across the floor of the valley towards Le Sentier. It’s elegant and calm, but full of energy. The glass walls and internal partitions were designed to maximise space and visibility, while maintaining an even temperature using as little energy as possible – quite a task with annual temperature ranges of more than 40C. The goal was to create the best possible environment for the watchmakers who work here. Designed by Danish practice BIG and realised by the Swiss architects CCHE, the walls are sheets of structural curved glass, which entirely support the steel roof, while a brass mesh runs along the external surface to provide shade in the summer. The view through to the landscape beyond is so open that only at second glance do you notice that the glass follows the spiral plan of the ramps. From the exterior, the
23
AIR
Credit: © Telegraph Media Group Limited 2020
The museum is far more about what ‘ Audemars Piguet is now than what it was in the past ’
24
All images: Musée Atelier Audemars Piguet, by Iwan Baan
museum seems to grow out of the slope below the original building. Entering the museum space, there are clever mechanical installations to demonstrate watchmaking, including an automaton by François Junod; a standing metal family tree (the interrelationships within the valley are byzantine); and a survey of the brand’s history, including a section on the Royal Oak, the 1972 sports-luxe design that’s still inspiring imitations today. It was decided to make the ateliers visible to visitors too, so they can see the work that Audemars does today. The museum also encompasses the old building, which has been restored and will form a counterpoint to the new. Audemars is not the first watchmaker to open a museum (Patek Philippe opened its back in 2001), but the new building has an impact that extends beyond its function. The museum is far more about what Audemars Piguet is now than what it was in the past. Although it makes watches in much the same way as its neighbours in the valley, such as Blancpain, Breguet and Jaeger-LeCoultre, it has a character entirely its own. Jasmine Audemars, the greatgranddaughter of founder Jules, is the affable but very sharp chair of the board who led the decision making behind the project. As she put it, “We wanted a museum to illustrate the soul of AP. We have the founders’ house, which is traditional (and which you see from the street), so with the extension we wanted something contemporary, very forwardthinking, which is also part of AP. “We decided to go ahead with the extension in 2014 so organised a competition, and, frankly, it was love at first sight. He [Bjarke Ingels of BIG] just got it: the shape; the glass so you can see the landscape through the building – we have our roots here in the Vallée de Joux, which is important. We knew it wouldn’t be easy though,” she said, referring to both the surrounding environment, which the brand is committed to preserving, and the challenges posed by the extreme climate.
Ingels said the design was inspired by the ‘intrinsic logic of the place’. For him, “Architecture is like portraiture: it’s for and about someone or something else; you try to capture the presence, character and potential of the subject.” François-Henry Bennahmias, Audemars Piguet’s CEO, took up his role just after the project got the green light, and has been closely involved ever since (not least to coax tardy suppliers to deliver). He also believes the museum reflects not just the history and character of the brand but the way it is evolving. “The museum adds to what we’re working on. It builds brand equity as we approach the 50th anniversary of the Royal Oak [in 2022] and the 150th anniversary of the brand in 2025, so it’s important for that, but I think it is our interpretation of what Jules Audemars would do today. “As a brand, we’re all about the client, which is why we’ve gone from 540 agents in 2011 to around 120 by the end of next year. We want to close the gap between client and watchmaker, which is also why we’re moving to our off-street, ‘house’ concept [an example being the brand’s new London home on Bond Street] and it is why we have watchmakers in the museum. “Once the hotel is open [Audemars is refitting the Hôtel des Horlogers in Le Brassus], we expect up to 7,500 visitors a year, triple what we see now.” Although Bennahmias emphasises the importance of clients coming to visit, that’s only part of the strategy for Audemars Piguet. “We’ll still go out to the world. Le Brassus isn’t London, New York or Hong Kong, and we’ll do big events, and I mean big; this is who we are.” There will also be more of Code 11.59, the watch that caused such sharply divided opinions over its looks last year, not least because half of those sold went to new clients mostly in the 25-35 age group. Against that, there’s something more academically pure coming, which is related to the museum. “We’re not done surprising you yet,” Bennahmias promises. 25
Jewellery OCTOBER 2020 : ISSUE 109
It Takes Two
AIR
Valérie Messika on working with Kate Moss to produce a thrillingly daring ten-part high-jewellery collection WORDS: JOHN THATCHER
I
t’s often said that the best things come in pairs. The Chinese even have a name for it: seng hei lum mun, which translates to ‘double happiness arriving at your door’ and celebrates two joyous occasions occurring simultaneously. The origin of this millennia-held belief dates to the Tang dynasty, which ruled China from 618 and is considered a golden age on account of the country’s creative flowering during that period. Today, another creative flowering, at the House of Messika Paris, has blossomed into a high jewellery collection made doubly delightful by the coming together of two style titans: Valérie Messika and Kate Moss. “It had to happen,” says Valérie of the collaboration, which sees the duo impart their singular personalities on a range of nearly 100 pieces (entitled Messika by Kate Moss) that beautifully illustrate flexibility and fluidity, something that also conveniently describes how, in the words of Valérie, the pair, “both
26
follow our natural instincts, as I love to call it. We don’t follow the rules and love to challenge ourselves.” Creating close to 100 pieces can certainly be labelled a challenge, but it’s one both women embraced from the moment plans for their collaboration were first mooted by Valérie during a meeting at the Ritz Paris. “We had real fun on set for my previous collection, Lucky Move, [of which Kate Moss was one of the faces] and I think everything came naturally, as I have always dreamt to work with Kate on a special creation. I took a chance and asked her if she would like to co-design a high jewellery collection with me: she said yes straight away.” It was at that same meeting that Valérie truly noted Kate’s fondness for jewellery. “She was wearing a lot of jewellery, and I became curious to know the various stories behind her jewels,” says Valérie. “She had fun telling me about moments in her life through her jewellery – her memories,
27
AIR
This is not my first collaboration but ‘every time I thrive from the challenge and especially love to challenge myself ’ moments of difficulties, moments of happiness – and it was great listening to her as a jewellery storyteller. I discovered a bohemian spirit and unconditional admirer of jewellery. I learned her preferences for yellow gold, and emerald and baguettecut stones. I discovered a travel lover who is particularly drawn toward tastes for Indian culture; which has provided much of the inspiration for our collection.” It’s not the first time Valérie has partnered with a supermodel muse to work on a collection – Gigi Hadid was the first – and it’s unlikely to be the last, with Valérie expressing her openness to future collaborations. Yet for someone who has otherwise worked independently on her creations since she launched Messika Paris back in 2005, surely there must be obstacles to overcome when sharing the creative responsibility? “I do find it challenging
to design alongside someone else, but not complicated,” she explains. “It was an exciting creative challenge to entwine Kate’s personal tastes with the key codes of Messika Paris. This is not my first collaboration but every time I thrive from the challenge and especially love to challenge myself through new design.” The collection was crafted over one full year (including many Zoom calls) and comprises ten sets. Yet the inspiration for the vast majority of the pieces can be traced to a single object – Kate’s jewellery box. “Everything started with it,” reveals Valérie. “When Kate showed me the box I saw many styles across vintage jewels, ornate pieces from India, etc., which initially seemed far from the DNA of Messika Paris.” However, the challenge readily accepted, Valérie infused the inspiration in myriad ways:
Opening pages, from left to right: Valérie and Kate by Chris Colls; Kate wears hoops and a necklace in behindthe-scenes shots, Nikolai Von Bismark for Messika, shot by Marin Laborde Left: Valérie and Kate captured during the creative process, shot by Marin Laborde Right: Kate wears spectacular pieces in behind-the-scenes shots, Nikolai Von Bismark for Messika, shot by Marin Laborde 28
29
had fun telling me about moments ‘inKate her life through her jewellery – her memories, moments of difficulties, moments of happiness – and it was great listening to her
AIR
’
“The colours, XXL motifs, large decorative head pieces across Aztec culture and Art Deco style.” Was there a set that proved particularly testing to create? “One of the most challenging was the multichain set, particularly the necklace. The challenge was to create a piece that appears both effortless and slightly in disarray.” It’s a good description of a contemporary piece which, as with the rest of the set – a personal favourite of Valérie’s and made up of earrings, a ring, nose jewellery, and an ear cuff – takes its design cues from Kate’s relaxed attitude and bohemian tastes. It’s Kate’s favourite colours that take centre stage elsewhere in the collection, which sees Valérie deviate from her usual use of only diamonds and gold to produce a vibrantly-hued set, with malachite to the fore. “It is the first time I’ve used coloured stones, such as malachite or turquoise, on a high jewellery collection. Using these stones gives a bigger and more colourful visual impact,” reckons Valérie. “Malachite felt like an obvious stone to select as Kate’s favourite colour is green and [she] is drawn to the combination with yellow gold. When I imagine these three colours (along with malachite, turquoise and mother of pearl also feature) set across Kate’s skin, I see fireworks bursting with colour.” 30
Did she learn anything new from working alongside a bona fide style icon? ”I noticed that she is quite particular, which was fun to see because I, too, am quite particular with jewellery design. I enjoyed seeing how curious and involved she was through every step of the creative process.” The results represent an incredible feat, bringing together two minds, multiple tastes and influences and various techniques to create one coherent collection. Little wonder, then, that both women were so thrilled: “Kate was so excited, and so happy to see the final results,” says Valérie. “It seemed like many emotions were felt in a matter of moments. We highfived! We were both incredibly proud of what we worked so hard to create together. A few moments after, she [Kate] began trying on the pieces. I was really pleased when she finally had the chance to feel the jewels.” For multi-talented Valérie, who designs from first sketch through to final piece, that buzz is something that’s always there, whatever she creates. “Every time I am so happy to see the final results. My team and I spend so many months working on one piece, it is a lot of emotions when a sketch comes to life.” Thrillingly inspired by twin talents, Messika by Kate Moss is tangible proof that the best things really do come in pairs.
Right: Kate wears a plastron necklace in behind-the-scenes shots, Nikolai Von Bismark for Messika, shot by Marin Laborde
31
OB JECTS OF DESIRE
OBJECTS OF DESIRE
Master craftsmanship, effortless style and timeless appeal; this month’s must-haves and collectibles
OB JECTS OF DESIRE
CHANEL
J12 PA R A D OX E Twenty years on from its launch, when its all-black look imbued the watchmaking world with the spirit of rebellion, the J12 was all-white for its next showing just three years later. Now black and white, dark and light, day and night are combined on the visually
striking Paradoxe. What appears to be a simplistic effort to combine the two tones is in fact a complex feat, the two parts of scratchresistant ceramic having to be precisely cut to avoid breaking the material and then fused to create one casing. 1
OB JECTS OF DESIRE
GUCCI
T H E J A C K I E 1 961 Having debuted in 1961, The Jackie – which adopted its moniker from jet-setting Jackie Kennedy, who was so frequently photographed with the bag on her travels – has been updated numerous times down the years, remaining a staple of the Gucci bag clan. Its latest iteration
walked the runway at both the men’s and women’s F/W shows, strutting a new pared down silhouette. Available in three different sizes – medium, small, and mini – the latter two offer the widest choice of colours, including neutral-coloured python. 2
OB JECTS OF DESIRE
HERMÈS
GR AND JE TÉ BR ACELE T As a harness-maker by birth, you may expect Hermès’ use of chains to express restraint through their design. Yet creative director Pierre Hardy’s 29-piece high jewellery collection, Enchaînements Libres, conveys a sense of absolute freedom. Nowhere is this
more apparent than on the Grand Jeté pieces – comprising a spectacular necklace and this eye-grabbing bracelet of rose gold, diamonds, pink opals, black jade, pearls, orange sapphire and topaz. All the pieces will be at Hermès’ Dubai Mall boutique from mid-October. 3
OB JECTS OF DESIRE
CON E S & RODS
ZAHA
Hailing from Riyadh, Cones & Rods’ intelligent designs honour inspirational people of Arab origin who have made an indelible mark on our world. That’s certainly true of the late architect Zaha Hadid, whose iconic designs are referenced in this style, which is available
in three colourways – black mirror, dusty/ yellow, and dusty/red – with frames crafted in Japan from 100% titanium. On a mission to facedown the environmental impact of fast fashion, Cones & Rods design only limitedpiece collections. 4
OB JECTS OF DESIRE
VA L E N T I N O
G A R AVA NI RO CKS T U D PE T Celebrating the special bond we have with our beloved pets (when they’re not scratching the couch, that is) Valentino is offering the opportunity to personalise any new purchase of its Garavani Rockstud bag with an image of your prized pet. From mid-October, illustrator
and artist Riccardo Cusimano will personally embellish the bag by hand, adding the owner’s initials and a joyful portrait of their chosen pet on purchases via valentino.com. Team yours with a matching Garavani Rockstud leash and dog collar. 5
OB JECTS OF DESIRE
PR A DA FOR A DI DA S
P R A D A S U P E R S TA R the inherently modern sneaker. Offered in a trio of new colourways: monochrome black, white with black, and chrome silver with white, the full-grain leather Superstar carries the dual logos of Prada and adidas Originals, alongside the Made in Italy stamp.
The adidas Originals Superstar sneaker debuted way back in 1969, yet it’s testament to its timeless style that the shoe does not need redesigning in any way as it steps into 2020. Instead, Prada brings to bear its respect for heritage and passion for sport on 6
OB JECTS OF DESIRE
BV LGA R I
AMBUSH X BVLGARI new shapes: a top-handle bag in quilted nappa leather; a heart-shaped minaudiere; and a multifunctional belt bag. At the heart of the design is Yoon’s interpretation of a snake’s natural beauty, hence the vibrancy of the colourways offered.
As part of a limited collection of handbags and accessories, Tokyo-based brand Ambush – co-founded by designer Yoon – adds its innovative design aesthetic on Bvlgari’s ever-stylish Serpenti Forever bag, visually loosening its silhouette for three 7
OB JECTS OB JECTS OF DESIRE OF DESIRE
GIVENCHY
ANTIGONA SOFT The sleek façade of the F/W Antigona Soft contrasts with its impressive practicality the medium and large styles boast an ample central compartment and dual zip closures, an inner card pocket and removeable shoulder strap. Available in myriad finishes, including
classic black and pearl gray, it’s the for-thisseason-only finishes which caught our eye. They include this graphic houndstooth version, which echoes the brand’s ready-towear looks, and a version in extra supple calf leather embossed with a crocodile finish. 8
OBJECTS OF DESIRE
34
AIR
Gal Gadot talks shedding tears and daredevil stunts as she reprises the role of Wonder Woman INTERVIEW : LUCY ALLEN
35
AIR
P
36
I can’t tell you ‘what happened in the movie that made me cry ’
eople did many things during lockdown, from learning how to cultivate sourdough starter to starting (and just as swiftly ending) fitness regimes, needlessly buying gym equipment that’s now stored away to gather dust. Not so Gal Gadot. In an admirable attempt to lift people’s spirts, Gadot rallied her Hollywood chums – the likes of Kristen Wiig, Natalie Portman, Will Ferrell and Cara Delevingne – to sing a rendition of John Lennon’s philosophical classic Imagine. It’s fair to say she wouldn’t have imagined such a bitter backlash. Viewed over one million times on Instagram, the video drew scorn across social and traditional media, at best branded ‘out of touch’ and at worst ‘incredibly insensitive,’ as celebrities sang lines such as ‘imagine no possessions’ from their vast mansions. Inciting online derision is, of course, common terrain for celebrities, Gadot included. When she was first revealed as the actress to play the part of Wonder Woman, keyboard warriors from the comic book community were up in arms, declaring her ‘too skinny’ and ‘lacking the muscle necessary to successfully portray the character’. In response, Gadot had the perfect putdown: “Wonder Woman is Amazonian, and historically accurate Amazonian women actually had only one breast. So, if I’d really go ‘by the book’...it’d be problematic,” she told a journalist. Gadot is tough. Before the first instalment of Wonder Woman was released in 2017, she embarked on a gruelling six-month fitness routine which occupied six hours of everyday – two hours gym work, two hours fight choreography, and two hours horseback riding (the latter described as “super hard’). When cast as Wonder Woman in the superhero ensemble Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Gadot was trained in swordsmanship, kung fu, kickboxing, capoeira and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, while prior to embarking on an acting career she served her requisite two years in the army as a combat trainer. In this month’s follow up to Wonder Woman, Wonder Woman 1984, Gadot is equally all action. “I do a lot [of the stunts and fight scenes]. I do have two stunt girls working with me because it is very extensive work and it’s extremely physical. But it’s like superhero, like we’re doing it for real. If we have to
choose, if it’s something that can be done [for real] or it can be CGI, we’ll go for the real version of it. But I do a lot of it. I get injured. We had wires, rigs for kilometres, so I can run at the same speed that Usain Bolt ran in the Olympics. So I was like, ‘Good for Usain Bolt. I mean, this is wow, what a great talent.’ But it was a lot of work and we’ve tried to make it our own, and do things that were never done before. That was really, really challenging for us in many different ways.” It wasn’t the toughest part about reprising the role, however: “The toughest challenge is just balancing between work and personal life. This movie is so demanding and it’s such an ambitious movie and we shot it for eight months. At the same time both Patty [Jenkins, the film’s director] and I are mothers and we have family, so I guess that was probably my personal biggest challenge. Because the other challenges that we face with the movie are most of the time pleasant and encouraging.” Less challenging was donning Wonder Woman’s golden armour suit for the first time in this sequel: “[It felt] amazing, amazing, amazing! There’s something about this suit that immediately puts you in character.” It’s a character Gadot says she now fully embodies: “It’s part of who I am now. I can’t imagine my life without Wonder Woman. It’s been so intense and it’s been so powerful and had such an impact on my personal life that yeah, I can’t imagine my life without this character.” Gal Gadot was born in 1985, the daughter of a father who worked as an engineer and a mother who made her way as a teacher. Prior to taking her first film role in the fourth instalment of The Fast and the Furious franchise, Gadot studied law and modelled, the latter on the back of being crowned a national beauty queen when aged eighteen. Her interest in acting was sparked following an ultimately unsuccessful audition to be cast as a Bond girl in 2008’s Quantum of Solace, though her big break was swift in arriving when in 2009 she won the part of Gisele in what would be the first of four Fast & Furious sequels she would star in. The big-ticket prize of Wonder Woman came in 2016, a character she has since played across the Marvel universe. “I try to keep focussed on my character’s journey,” Gadot says of having to play
37
‘
Diana Prince and her alter ego Wonder Woman across multiple films and storylines. “Obviously on the Wonder Woman films this is all about her and when I’m doing those ensemble movies it’s a bit different, it’s about the team. But I’ve got to say that I feel super grateful that we got the opportunity and we get the opportunity once again with this film to have this incredible platform that the fans care about, and to tell a story with a character that we love so much and we care about. It makes this movie meaningful and important and hopefully impactful.” Caring deeply for her character saw Gadot shed tears when she watched one of the film’s first cuts. “Yes, and I’m not an easy crier! I had such a strong reaction to this movie and it caught me off guard.” Though as to what caused the tears to flow, she’s remaining tight-lipped: “I can’t tell you what happened in the movie that made me cry, I can just say it was the very beginning. All of a sudden I wasn’t Gal, Wonder Woman, the actress, the producer [Gadot is also a producer of the movie] who was on set and there when everything was shot, I was that little girl from a suburb in Israel watching over myself in the cinema, which is in itself a surreal experience, watching this thing and seeing this amazing woman doing these amazing things. And I did not expect that. On the set, I didn’t even notice. It was very effective and that’s the moment where it’s like, ‘This is why it’s so fri-ckin’ important. This is why it’s not like any other movie.’ We’re doing something that we hope is going to have an impact but it’s very impactful on us already. So touch wood, it’s a good sign, and I hope the audience will have a similar reaction.” And what can the audience expect to see? “I feel like we got to establish Wonder Woman on the first movie and it was the ‘coming-of-age’ type of story and finally in this one we get to explore who Diana is, where she is, what she struggles with, and take it to the next level.,” says Gadot. 38
’
Can she tell us any tales from the set? “Wow, there’s plenty. So, one of them, we wanted to cast Kristen [Wiig] from the-get-go. We are huge fans of hers, she’s just super-talented and amazing and a great person. And because Patty [Jenkins] and I are so close, I used to tease Patty and I said, ‘So now that Kristen’s going to come, is she going to become your new best friend?’ And then we started to riff moments of her and Kristen as if they talk and I come in and I try to be a part of it. [laughs] No, but honestly, we had so many great moments. Kristen and I ended up being amazing, incredible friends. But every time between takes, Kristen and I would go to the side and we’d shoot something goofy. We have a band now, we have music videos that we’ve edited. We sing, like this is real. We’re going to release it when the movie comes out. But let me just say, as much as it was hard to shoot the movie – it was a lot of fun.” Was it obvious from reading the script that this was going to be a fun film to make, or were there some parts which you read with a little trepidation? “I think that, for actors, there’s always between one to three scenes where they know, ‘Okay, this is the goal. This is where the money is. This is the most important moments for my character.’ So those were the moments that I was really looking forward to shoot. And the, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe I have to do that’ [moments] would probably be the physical things because [Patty is] one of my very best, closest friends and it’s hard for me to say ‘No’ to her. Also, she has a great will, so I’ll find myself trying to negotiate my stance with Patty and she’d be like, ‘Yeah, yeah yeah, I see what you’re saying, I know. But don’t you think it’s going to be it’s so much better if…’ Those were the moments where I was like, ‘Ah, the physical moments’ because it is hard and I have found myself with many different spine injuries because of shooting this movie. But, at the same time it’s worth it. And watching the movie now a few times, I’m so happy with the way we did it.”
Credit: Lucy Allen / The Interview People
AIR
I’s had such an impact on my personal life that I can’t imagine my life without this character
39
AIR
In a year that would have seen River Phoenix turn 50, Louis Chilton considers his cinematic legacy
40
41
‘
[He was] this raw, emotional open wound all the time. He felt everything. It’s what made him such a wonderful actor
AIR
’
River Phoenix may have been destined to be a great actor, but he didn’t necessarily see it that way. When he first started in showbusiness – as a child of clearly precocious talent – his goal was to make it as a musician. He would enjoy a modest amount of success in that sphere with his band Aleka’s Attic, bolstered by the fame Hollywood brought him. To pretty much everyone else, however, it was clear his fate lay in the flicker and awe of a cinema screen. This year would have been Phoenix’s 50th birthday had he not died, tragically and publicly, before reaching even half that age. A death like Phoenix’s can be all-consuming; ugly sensationalism in the immediate aftermath has given way to a kind of shallow mythologisation. But the story of Phoenix’s death does not contain the story of his life. His work survives to speak for itself: there’s a reason that every young male actor from Leonardo DiCaprio to Heath Ledger has been held up to Phoenix’s gold standard. In a career that barely lasted a decade, he had inhabited a small handful of roles that touched countless people, and for generations to come. Phoenix grew up without a formal education. He was born in 1970 into an unconventional family of pseudohippies, who joined a cult in South America when he was just three years old. Leaving the cult (The Children of God, a highly controversial outpost of supposed Christians that was labelled a sect by the FBI) at the end of the decade, the Bottom family moved back to the US and, in a poetic statement of intent, renamed themselves Phoenix. They ended up in LA, where Phoenix and his siblings were spotted by talent agent Iris Burton while busking on a street corner. He would come to express unease with the work this initially brought – TV advertisements for products like Ocean 42
Spray cranberry juice – saying he had fallen into commercials for “financial reasons”. However, the commercials made acting in film and TV shows seem like an “attractive concept” and, at the age of 12, he landed his first TV gig as a regular on the short-lived reboot of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Phoenix’s first film role came in Explorers, an affably far-fetched sci-fi romp, opposite a young Ethan Hawke, who recounted how his co-star was “a serious young artist, even at 14”. Phoenix planned his characterisation to the smallest detail. “We’re doing this movie about kids going on a spaceship,” said Hawke, “and he’s trying to talk about what’s in his character’s pockets. You knew right away he was special.” Phoenix drew no small amount of acclaim during his time as a young actor, but nothing compared to his breakout role as troubled child Chris Chambers in the 1986 Stephen King adaptation Stand by Me. Chambers was a character who hid his pain behind coolness and bravura and Phoenix was tremendous as he finally breaks down; the rest of the roundly great cast were acted off the screen by the display of raw, complicated emotion. But the role clearly took its toll. The actor would later say: “I identified so much with the role of Chris Chambers that if I hadn’t had my family to go back to after the shoot, I’d have probably had to see a psychiatrist.” In his best work, River Phoenix revealed
vulnerability and dysfunction quietly, with a deeply affecting naturalism. His was a distinctly modern style of acting, less mannered than most of his forebears, such as James Dean, to whom he would often be posthumously compared. But that’s not to say he lacked discipline or dedication to the craft. Kiefer Sutherland, who played Stand By Me’s villain, remarked that Phoenix “was the one who would call you every night and go ‘do you mind running over lines for this scene?’”. Over the course of his short career, Phoenix worked with a list of directors that would be the envy of many industry veterans, among them Peter Weir, Sidney Lumet, Steven Spielberg, Peter Bogdanovich and Rob Reiner. He would share the screen with some of the biggest actors of the 20th century, including Sidney Poitier, Robert Redford and Harrison Ford, stealing scenes from many of them. When Phoenix was cast in 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade – as a younger version of Ford’s whip-cracking hero, no less – he was well on his way to becoming a household name. Such was his profile that Phoenix’s role was kept totally hush-hush; Young Indy was referred to in the script simply as “Boy on Train”. Once word of his involvement leaked, LucasFilm circulated a rumour that Phoenix was in fact playing the brother of Ford’s character. He won the admiration of many a big actor, too. John Baxter’s biography of Steven Spielberg suggests that during production of The Last Crusade, Phoenix was “warned never to imitate Ford’s mannerisms on screen”, a wise move, as divisive Solo star Alden Ehrenreich might attest. Baxter also claims that Phoenix was discouraged from suggesting “he had any interest in taking over the Indy role”, in order to “allay Ford’s fears that Phoenix might steal the movie”. These claims don’t chime with Ford’s public support
43
of Phoenix, however. The Star Wars star reportedly suggested him for the role in the first place, having worked with him previously in 1986’s The Mosquito Coast. After Phoenix’s death, when Hollywood was still in a state of shock, Ford was one of the first to pay tribute. “He played my son once,” he said, “and I came to love him like a son, and was proud to watch him grow into a man of such talent and integrity and compassion.” By the early 1990s, Phoenix was producing some of his finest work, as a young marine in Nancy Savoca’s 1991 film Dogfight, and as a narcoleptic sex worker in Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho that same year. The latter of these films proved a watershed moment for Phoenix, and the film a classic. Phoenix’s role was more than just acting; he was instrumental in shaping the character, and was largely responsible for the lauded campfire scene, in which his character confesses his unrequited love for his companion, “He was sort of like a Kennedy,” said Van Sant, while giving a talk on the movie in 2016. Like JFK, Phoenix was involved and proactive. “If he saw some trouble, he would get involved in the middle of it, and try and negotiate or try and help the situation. I think he was very excited that he could control the destiny of his character.” Phoenix was no method actor, but he spent untold time researching his roles. His preparation for My Own Private Idaho involved hours of interviews. Co-star Udo Kier recalled a time when Phoenix coaxed him into some with local gigolos while he covertly listened in. “River was sitting in a corner with 44
his sunglasses and his beautiful hair, just listening. I was interviewing the boy and of course I had experience, so it wasn’t difficult for me to ask: what was the worst thing he’d ever had to do? River needed it for his performance. He needed to know about this. For somebody to go that far... it was amazing.” Not only was Phoenix a talented craftsman, he was a teen idol whose good looks and sensitive, vaguely spiritual persona made him a perfect magnet for fandom. That sensitivity wasn’t an affectation: his Stand by Me co-star Wil Wheaton described him as “this raw, emotional open wound all the time. He felt everything. It’s what made him such a wonderful actor.” Weir, who directed Phoenix in The Mosquito Coast, said: “He was obviously going to be a movie star. People who know film – me, Harrison [Ford], my wife – could see that River had something else. It’s something apart from acting ability. Laurence Olivier never had what River had.” His output in the two years after My Own Private Idaho included the 1992 comedy Sneakers, which placed Phoenix alongside Redford, Ben Kingsley and Poitier (for the second time), and the poorly received The Thing Called Love. If the pressures of fame were starting to impact Phoenix’s wellbeing, he didn’t let it show: the picture painted by Sneakers’ director Phil Alden Robinson is one of professional diligence. “Phoenix cared deeply about his craft,” he later said. “He loved to take chances. He loved to dig deeper and push harder.” When Phoenix died, of a drug overdose
outside a Hollywood nightclub on 31 October 1993, the media was quick to fixate onto the lurid details. The fact that he had been able to shield his addictions from the public eye only made the disclosure more shocking; even now, his sad and public end sometimes tends to colour his legacy on the screen. But not always. The most potent tragedies are the ones Phoenix himself created, seen in the characters whose lives he imbued with such soulful torment. He rises above the ranks of the Hollywood might-have-beens because we could see exactly what he already was; even as a teenager, he shone with not just talent but application, that rare accomplished power that comes only with the Hollywood greats. At this year’s Oscars, when Joaquin Phoenix was collecting his Best Actor statuette for Joker, he fought back tears as he said: “When he was 17, my brother wrote this lyric. He said: ‘Run to the rescue with love, and peace will follow.’” Phoenix’s former bandmate Josh Greenbaum later told Rolling Stone that the full song, likely called “Halo”, was composed before Aleka’s Attic were formed. There is a “slim outside chance” that the song survives on an old cassette tape, piled among many in Greenbaum’s possession, but, he admitted, “even if it exists, I don’t know if it would play”. Halo is a song we may never get to hear, one small misfortune among myriad dismal others. But it is not forgotten – and neither are his onscreen performances, a small but solid body of work that touched on the bittersweet truth of what it means to be young, and struggling.
Credit: The Independent/The Interview People
AIR
Opening pages and right: Stills from My Own Private Idaho Previous page: Still from Mosquito Coast
In his best work, River Phoenix revealed ‘vulnerability and dysfunction quietly, with a deeply affecting naturalism ’
45
46
AIR
Just as her fashion career was taking off in London, Elle B Mambetov was imprisoned for a crime she didn’t commit. Two years on from her release, she is finally rising from the ashes as she rebuilds both her career and sense of self with a new collection WORDS: HAYLEY KADROU
L
ockdowns, travel bans, social distancing and working from home; these are the defining markers of the year to date. But not for Elle B Mambetov, as not only has she used this troubled time to create something innovative in the world of fashion, but she also doesn’t find the restrictions that 2020 embodies all that remarkable; “I have more freedom now than I did behind bars.” Two years on from her release from prison after being wrongly accused of fraud – in reality, it was her former friend and business partner who had scammed her out of money during a particularly vulnerable period – the fashion designer has launched a luxury modest clothing line, Elle B. Zhou. The first collection was showcased with a digital presentation with the help of supermodel Shahad Salman. 47
‘
In a cell, every freedom is stripped away from you – not just your right to walk outside freely. What you eat, where you sleep, what you wear
AIR
“I wanted to allow people to experience fashion again,” the 35-year-old designer tells us down the phone from her home in L.A. Not just the clothes, but the entire catwalk experience; the buzz of being caught in a particular space and time. With the collection showcasing in spring 2020 – when the USA had just gone into a nationwide lockdown – Elle aimed to give something back (literally and figuratively) at a time when people needed it most. As well as the show helping to raise funds for those impacted by Covid-19 with some of the proceeds going towards A Common Thread and Doctors Without Borders, Elle wanted to feed people’s hunger for creativity, excitement, imagination. As a society adjusting to being confined between four walls – scared about what’s happening in the present, anxious about what the future will bring, unsettled as life as they know it is put on hold – the Texas-born entrepreneur wanted to allow people to at least experience the joys of fashion again. It’s a feeling she knew all too well. “In a cell, every freedom is stripped away from you – not just your right to walk outside freely. What you eat, where you sleep, what you wear.” In a previous life, before the police turned up to her Tower Bridge apartment one November evening in 2016, Elle was a noteworthy designer living and thriving on the London fashion scene. She boasted her very own brand, Sophia Beckford, aged just 26, and was showcasing her designs at London Fashion Week – a programme she initially hoped to build her life’s work within because of the very freedom it offers. “LFW is known for new talents. As a new designer 48
’
back then, I was able to define my own aesthetic, free from pressure to be commercial or to fit in with the Tommy Hilfigers or Calvin Kleins of New York. And the British Fashion Council were always so good to me.” So great was her love of London, she even declared: “I wanted to be buried under Somerset House.” Yet the city later became the scene of where her entire life fell apart. After her initial arrest, a series of system errors and failures kept her incarcerated for two years, where she endured abuse in a myriad of forms. Elle was heartbroken. Behind bars, she described any creativity she ever possessed as “absolutely crushed.” Then unmarried and without children, beautiful garments and the art of textiles and design was her entire life. Raised by a single mum in Texas, Elle’s education and career was always her priority. Before heading to the UK, she moved to China to learn about the ins and outs of manufacturing methods. Every step of her life up until that moment had been dictated by her passion for fashion and drive to succeed. When Elle was finally released, she returned to her flat for the first time to reclaim her belongings – the physical things that were indications of her old life, her pre-prison identity – only to discover they had been destroyed beyond repair. “I dreamt of wearing my own shoes, my tops, my coats. I was so looking forward to wearing my own clothes and to feel like myself again.” A dream that quickly turned to dust as she realised her previous landlord had left her flat as a “free for all.” What remained was burnt or rotten with black mold. “Everything was destroyed. In so
49
Opening and previous pages: Elle B. Mambetov; pieces from Elle B Zhou 2020 collection Right: Elle B. Mambetov
‘
AIR
In so many ways my identity was completely stolen; not just by my former friend who scammed me but by the system many ways my identity was completely stolen; not just by my former friend who scammed me but by the system.” But now, four years on from that dreaded night, Elle finally feels as though the light is beginning to seep through the cracks the trauma left behind in her life. And that light is clearly projected in her latest work. Vibrant hues and dazzling prints, Elle B. Zhou couldn’t be further from the darkness its designer once endured. And not only does the project reveal a rebirth of her career, but a rebirth of her as a person; the new Elle has materialised. “It’s a process, but starting to build my collections once again has helped a lot,” she tells us. In late 2019, Elle converted to Islam and is now passionate about transforming the world of modest fashion. “These are clothes women live in. We want to dress modestly and be comfortable.” When she first converted, she described her wardrobe options as being a world away from her tastes and practical needs – heavy, dark and dull. The world of high fashion, the world she built a life and career around, was not designed for women like her. “People choose what they want to wear as a reflection of who they are. As a designer, I am experiencing firsthand that it’s about more than creating a collection, print or pattern that looks beautiful. It’s for that person we believe will wear it, and what it says about them.” Whether they realise it or not, people project their personality through what they choose to wear. Our identity is so closely intertwined with the colours, cuts, fabrics and brands we decide to adorn ourselves with. The same should ring true for women who desire to dress modestly, regardless of their background. Which of her latest creations is Elle most attached to? 50
’
“I love the silk crop-top. It allows me to be really transformable with pieces I already own. I can throw it over a dress to head to the shops – without the extra layering.” Now when she gets dressed, she can once again reflect externally who she is on the inside – or who she’s on a journey to becoming. While clothes can be our choice of external expressions, we’re often judged for our external appearance, for qualities we have no control over. This is something Elle experienced to her detriment throughout this painful episode. Her race, gender and, in moments, even her levels of intelligence were all used against Elle. “You know, I wasn’t raised to see colour or feel black. But the experience of being sent to prison made me realise that doesn’t mean that’s not how other people see me, how they’ll treat me or how they’ll label me.” First, she was stereotyped as being dangerous and uneducated. Later, as her obvious intelligence became apparent, she was stereotyped as crafty and manipulative. Elle couldn’t win. “It’s a lose-lose situation for someone like me.” But now, she is ready to reclaim all those labels – Black, Female, Muslim, Fashion Designer – and wear them as a badge of honour: “I am now able to say ‘yes’, I am those labels, but I am also so much more than those labels.” So, what’s next for Elle? Currently working on a Spring/Summer 2021 collection with plans to help those affected by the deadly blast in Lebanon in early August, she continues on her way up. “I feel like I’m just beginning. I am trying to pick up the pieces and work through the emotional and mental trauma. For now, I’m diving back into fashion by creating things that I hope make a difference for people who want to dress modestly – Muslim or not.”
51
Super e y th Wh
90 l 19 a n i orig
all nd t a t s ill s st del o m per s su
WORDS: CAROLINE LEAPER
AIR
E
very person in attendance at the Balmain show in February whipped out their smartphone as Helena Christensen, 51, took to the catwalk. The rare sight of a bona fide supermodel returning to her natural habitat prompts one of two reactions from even the most poised of fashion editor audiences – stunned silence or riotous applause. Always, these days, it’s an ‘I-must-get-a-picture-of-this’ moment. The last time the bulk of the original, mononymous ‘Supers’ – Naomi, Cindy, Claudia, Helena, Christy – were photographed in the same room together (only Christy was missing) was at the Versace spring/ summer 2018 show, creating an image so powerful, it received a standing ovation, went viral and secured money-can’t-buy exposure for the brand. Have they still got it? For these women, it never went away. Since the advent of fashion photography in the 1930s, when unnamed models first replaced illustrations on the cover of Vogue, modelling had been considered more like a performance-led sport than a strategy-led business. Its star players tended to bow out at around the age of 28, when their physique was considered ‘past it’. The fashion industry relentlessly championed the young – ‘hot new faces’ were scouted as pre-teens, names would launch, dazzle for a few seasons, and then
52
fizzle into obscurity. There was little work for an ageing model, no matter how in demand they had been at their peak. Until recently that is. Beauty is still every supermodel’s raison d’être. But the industry view on what counts as beautiful, and who is therefore employable, no longer excludes those who don’t boast wrinkle-free faces and prepubescent measurements. Personality is king, and age-diversity is now valued by brands that are increasingly waking up to the fact that women of all ages buy their products. Many older models have, in the last decade, been able to spin their dismissals as career ‘hiatuses’. It is, however, the ageing of the
53
AIR
original 1990s supermodels that has perhaps secured the new standard and prompted a more permanent change. The ‘girls’ now hitting their 50s represent the first generation of models who have worked non-stop for three decades, with no plans to retire. ‘We’ve seen a marked change in the last few years against the “perfect”, thin, young, airbrushed model, towards something that is closer to reality,’ says Natalie Robehmed, market analyst and former editor of Forbes’ annual wealthiest models list. ‘A lot of brands are embracing it. It’s coming from consumers who want to see their reality reflected in advertising, and from Instagram, which has democratised modelling for people who would have once not met model agency standards, yet who now have huge followings.’ Naomi turned 50 in lockdown on 22 May and celebrated virtually with her nine million Instagram followers, before announcing a new beauty campaign with Pat McGrath Labs and sharing previously unseen pictures from her latest Valentino shoot, in which she wears only a handbag. It is Claudia Schiffer’s 50th birthday later this month, which, she tells me, she intends to mark with close friends and family at her home in Oxfordshire. ‘I think age should be celebrated and revered,’ she says. ‘I am so happy to be turning 50 and have never felt more confident or happy in my life. I don’t try to look or feel younger, I embrace now.’ Cindy Crawford, 54, gets offers as impressive as those pitched to her 18-year-old model daughter, Kaia Gerber. Helena Christensen, Linda Evangelista, 55, and Christy Turlington Burns, 51, are all in high demand for magazine covers and interviews. All spin several plates – designers, beauty entrepreneurs, photographers, film directors – but all still model, occupying the advertising market, and taking turns as often as they fancy on the catwalk. Supermodel mania first peaked at the turn of the 1990s as fashion shows and ad campaign images became a part of pop culture. The then-rising star models became global celebrities; they were big characters 54
To this day, when ‘Naomi turns the
corner and comes out on a runway, boom! You feel electricity
’
with signature walks, commanding pay cheques to match their status. They advocated glamour at all times, quaffing champagne backstage before shows and attending exclusive redcarpet events at night. They appeared in movies and music videos, and dated actors and musicians. The Supers were no longer just faces for magazine covers, they had voices and were interviewed for the inside pages, too. ‘The supermodels were created in an era when fashion was larger than life,’ considers Derek Blasberg, head of fashion at YouTube and a journalist who has been friends with Naomi, Christy and Cindy for over a decade. ‘Who cared about actresses? The Supers were glamorous, gorgeous, over-the-top, fabulous. I look back on the pictures of the Trinity [Naomi, Linda and Christy] at the Versace shows in the 1990s and ask, “How could you not be obsessed with this?”’ Linda was only half-joking when, in 1990, she famously said ‘we don’t wake up for less than $10,000 a day’. Naomi’s former agent Carole White would later say it was more like £300,000 a job. The ‘money girls’ amassed fortunes and forged partnerships with the biggest fashion and beauty brands – Chanel and Revlon – but also Pepsi. ‘Forbes did its first-ever celebrity 100 list in 1999 and on it there were five models: Claudia Schiffer, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Niki Taylor and Kate Moss,’ explains Robehmed of how model earnings boomed. ‘Over the years some of those people dropped off, but some are still making big money. People like Naomi became iconic – she can speak to people across generations and she has a different kind of star power.’ Before it had really occurred to editors that they could endlessly
Photoshop a woman’s image, before social media and photo filters, or scripted-reality television shows, the supermodels exuded real, in-person beauty. Fashion shows were not shared all over the internet within seconds, they were savoured for months in newspapers and magazines. The fans, Claudia remembers, were as enthusiastic as any who would have pledged allegiance to the Backstreet Boys at the time. ‘It was insane,’ she says. ‘Like being a rock star. You couldn’t get to your car. We had security at every fashion show – even employed to guard my underwear! When I was out on the runway I’d come back and my underwear would constantly be gone.’‘’ Part of the appeal of the Supers was that they came as a gang. While they operated as individuals, they were also friends. Claudia was synonymous with Guess Jeans and Chanel, while Naomi was with Azzedine Alaïa and Yves Saint Laurent, and Christy with Calvin Klein. But they might equally be found doing group shoots for Vogue, joining forces for a Versace campaign or starring together in George Michael’s Freedom video. The unity made them at once likeable and untouchable – in terms of market domination (Kate Moss, 46, later managed to break into the pack) but also in the sense that brands, directors and photographers respected their collective power. ‘The group of girls I started modelling with and continue to over the years are unique in their physicality and mentality. Everyone came from different backgrounds and everyone worked really hard,’ considers Helena of the way each managed to find their own place in the industry. ‘We also are a very tight-knit and supportive group of girls, with each other and with our families.’ Claudia agrees with the sentiment. ‘We were on the cover of every magazine and in every campaign. We lived and breathed it and we developed unprecedented control over our careers. Although we could be competitive, there was a lot of camaraderie between us too. We looked out for each other and we weren’t afraid to speak up. If
55
somebody had a bad experience, we would call everyone and say, “By the way, this just happened.” We thought, “We have the power all together and we should use it, because this is wrong.” We made things change.’ As well as continuing to model over three decades, the Supers have continuously expanded and diversified their portfolios as businesswomen. Long before ‘influencers’ endorsed their own ranges on Instagram, they were experts at selling. Some ventures were less than successful (remember the ill-fated Fashion Café chain of 1995?). But others flew – such as Kate Moss’s ranges for Topshop in 2007 and Helena’s co-founding of the stillsuccessful Nylon magazine in 1999. ‘I don’t think any of us even considered the stigmas surrounding the business regarding longevity or staying power,’ says Helena, who also co-owns the fragrance company StrangeLove NYC, as well as the swimwear brand Staerk & Christensen. ‘We just found ways to evolve, explore and expand our minds and lives, with families and other job opportunities that might have sprung from our careers.’ The Supers have always been masters of their own PR. When the social-media era arrived in the early 2010s, it bore a new generation of ‘Insta girls’ – Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner, Karlie Kloss. These were models with digital personas, negotiating even bigger pay cheques thanks to having their own readymade audiences to post ads to. Their arrival changed the rules, filling the market with new personalities. Some 1990s names bowed out, but the biggest stars adapted to the change and seized the opportunity to amplify their own personal brands. ‘It’s impossible to talk about models and what’s happened in the last 30 years without talking about Instagram,’ says Robehmed. ‘Often 56
when we think of supermodels we think of them walking the runway, but that’s not actually where the money is for them. The biggest money-making campaigns now are the huge deals that are across print advertising, video and social media.’ Claudia lists current modelling, design and curation projects with Etre Cécile and Bordallo Pinheiro, in addition to being the face of Chanel’s new J12 watch. ‘I’ve never worried about being relevant,’ she says. ‘Nor have I been one that craved the limelight or to be the centre of attention and my husband is very similar. I love what I do, but I value my privacy and I’m in a very fortunate position to be able to concentrate on collaborations I’m passionate about. Fundamentally the industry is the same, it’s just grown enormously,’ she continues. ‘There are more collections, the pace is faster and social media has had a huge impact. It’s been great for marketing fashion and beauty products, as well as providing a very effective way to manage your own exposure, which you see particularly with the big models of today. What was great in the ’90s though was not to feel the pressure to share everything with everybody; you could still have a private life and create a mystique. I miss that clear line of the public figure versus the private one, however I do love sharing fashion moments of my life on Instagram.’ Last spring, Blasberg convinced Naomi to launch a YouTube channel, giving her the opportunity to put her own message out there and share glimpses of her unique, highly entertaining lifestyle with her fans. From her trolley dash at Whole Foods, to her ‘airport routine’ video, in which she thoroughly Dettol’d her first-class plane seat before take-off, her dry sense of humour has endeared her to new audiences,
clocking up over 10 million views. ‘Of course, Naomi has had other offers to open her life,’ says Blasberg. ‘But I think what appealed to her about YouTube was the ability to be in control. She is her own producer, director, editor. She decides what to post and when to post it. I reckon Naomi has always wanted to be a TV host but, being a supermodel and all, she’s never been in one place long enough. Until the Covid-19 crisis. For three weeks in April, she did a daily live show from her New York apartment. I should mention: Naomi was on time to every single live show.’ As much as people love to see new content created by the original Supers, there is also fresh appetite to look back at ‘major moments’ from the past. Instagram fan accounts, like @The90sSupermodels, with hundreds of thousands of followers, are like shrines to those 1990s Versace catwalk appearances and now-vintage covers. It helps, of course, that the Supers have aged gloriously. The legendary parties and champagne breakfasts have long since been replaced by expensive wellness movements – in keeping, really, with fashion’s overall switch to a cleaner image. Ask any supermodel their beauty secrets and they’d say they exercise every day, apply organic creams religiously (Schiffer’s choice is Bamford) and drink lots of water. But they’d also say that it’s about attitude, not age. ‘These women still suck the air out of the room,’ says Blasberg, a self-confessed, eternal superfan. ‘Christy Turlington is still the most beautiful woman in whatever room she’s in. Today, they’re still beloved because fashion loves reinvention and nostalgia, not to mention these women still look incredible. To this day, when Naomi turns the corner and comes out on a runway, boom! You feel electricity.’
Credit: © Telegraph Media Group Limited 2020
AIR
Opening page: Claudia Schiffer, Carla Bruni, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Helena Christensen at Versace Spring/Summer 2018 show Previous pages: Naomi Campbell at Roberto Cavalli’s 2012 Autumn/Winter show Right: Christy Turlington walks the runway for Marc Jacobs at New York Fashion Week 2019
‘
Christy Turlington is still the most beautiful woman in whatever room she’s in
’ 57
Motoring
AIR
OCTOBER 2020: ISSUE 109
The Midas Touch Having torn up the rulebook to design the McLaren F1, Gordon Murray does so again with a multi-million-dollar supercar he’s billing as better by far
58
59
AIR
N
ot content to have his name forever linked to the design of just the one truly iconic road-going supercar, Gordon Murray has returned with what he’s billed as the “logical successor” to his legendary McLaren F1 – The T.50, engineered to be the purest, lightest, most driver-centric supercar ever. It’s a car Professor Murray CBE rates as superior to the McLaren F1 “in every conceivable way”, which includes its price tag: £2.36m (before taxes), for what is one of only 100. Like the McLaren, however, it’s a car designed to still look fresh in the future. “Nextlevel aerodynamics allow us to avoid the current supercar trend for exaggerated wings, vents and ducts. I was determined to create a clean and pure shape that would remain timeless, ensuring the T.50 will still look fresh in 30 years.” Arguably the most dominant characteristic of the T.50’s design is its purity – its exterior showing Murray’s preference for simple, clean lines and surfaces. Not that the car is completely drama free – remotely-released dihedral doors rise up and forwards, creating a striking visual impact. These doors are joined by a pair of glass-topped gullwing rear openings that hinge along the spine of the T.50 to reveal the V12 powertrain, while running alongside the engine bay on either side of the car are a pair of 90-litre vertical-load luggage compartments. Luggage space may seem an odd consideration in a supercar, but for Murray, this is not a supercar to simply admire, but to use: “Comfortable, refined, spacious and easy to drive – not a typical description for a supercar with the capabilities, power or driver focus of the T.50. I’ve designed this car to be used every day, with almost 300 litres of luggage and storage space, a premium stereo, and excellent air conditioning. From its exceptional visibility and compact footprint to ease of ingress and egress, the T.50 rewrites the supercar rule book for usability.” Aiding the car’s clean design are aerodynamics which on the T.50 are taken to entirely new levels for a road car; Murray rewriting the rule book to significantly enhance the supercar’s ground-effect capabilities. To achieve
60
unmatched aerodynamic performance, the car’s rear-mounted 400mm fan rapidly accelerates air passing under the car, forcing it through active boundarylayer control ducts that form part of the rear diffuser. This same fan-assisted aerodynamic enhancement was first used for the road on Murray’s McLaren F1. Few realise that two fans had been employed to pull air from under the car as these, far smaller, fans were hidden beneath each of the F1’s rear haunches. The chassis and body of the T.50 are entirely constructed from high-grade carbon fibre, setting its weight at just 986kg, a full 150kg lighter than the F1, and making it the world’s lightest supercar. “The T.50 undercuts the average supercar weight by almost a third,” says Murray. “A heavy car can never deliver the dynamic attributes of a lighter car – even if it has the same power to weight ratio. While it is possible to disguise a heavy car’s dynamic capabilities with complex active suspension and sophisticated electronics, the agility, responsiveness and reward of a lightweight vehicle simply cannot be matched.” As such, Murray and his team were meticulous as they embarked on a weight-saving strategy, resulting in weekly ‘weight watchers’ meetings at which the weight of every component was scrutinised. Even the diameter and length of some 900 fixings were optimised to cut weight, taking account of the forces to which each would be exposed. No saving in weight was too insignificant. So, what lies beneath the sleek exterior to warrant such an extravagant investment? Well, a bespoke, 3.9-litre engine delivers maximum power (663PS) at 11,500rpm, on its way to a 12,100rpm redline. The Cosworth GMA V12 not only promises screaming high-end power, it is also extremely tractable for everyday driving. The maximum torque figure of 467Nm is produced at 9,000rpm, while the pick-up is a recordbreaking 28,400 revs per second. “To be truly remarkable, an engine needs to have the right characteristics: highly responsive, an amazing sound, engaging torque delivery, free-revving, and it has to be naturally aspirated. For all those reasons, the engine in the
T.50 was never going to be anything other than a V12,” outlined Murray. The T.50 has the highest power density (166PS-per-litre) of any road-going V12. It is also the lightest ever made thanks to a combination of exceptional design and lightweight materials (aluminium, steel and titanium) resulting in a total engine weight of just 178kg. It’s Murray’s view that a car’s engine contributes 50% of a great driving experience, and when an engine is this good, it’s only right that the driver gets to hear it roar its glory – the T.50 features Direct Path Induction Sound, a system pioneered on the McLaren F1 and refined on the T.50 to channel the sound of the throttleinduced induction growl into the cabin. In that 3-seat cabin, the driver is positioned centrally, like in the cockpit of a fighter jet, and surrounded by components that are entirely British made, an attribute Murray insisted upon to make the T.50 a true British sports car. Murray specified the driver’s seat to stand out in a vivid colour, while the two passenger seats that flank it are trimmed to blend in with the rear bulkhead. “Everything about the interior starts with the driver,” says Murray. ‘The central driving position is the clearest demonstration of this approach. Building on this starting point, every control is arranged within easy reach of the driver. Purity of design was our goal, with the utmost quality applied to every element. The cabin is spacious and refined, making the T.50 exceptionally capable of traversing continents in comfort.” Every T.50 customer has the opportunity to meet Murray to discuss their car and personalise it inside and out. Part of this process includes a seat, steering wheel and pedals ‘fitting’ session – personalised to every owner – that will ensure the T.50 is ergonomically perfect and individualised for each owner. “From the first touch of the titanium throttle pedal to the V12 screaming at 12,100rpm, the driver experience will surpass any supercar ever built. I believe no other company could deliver what we will bring to market in 2022, producing this British supercar will be my proudest moment.” Spoken by a man with a CV of myriad motoring highlights, we believe him.
‘
From the first touch of the titanium throttle pedal, the driver experience will surpass any supercar ever built
’
61
Gastronomy
AIR
OCTOBER 2020 : ISSUE 109
Raw Talent
A new book by award-winning photographer and author Andrea Fazzari charts her desire to gain a better understanding of sushi through revered shokunin
F
or a woman who has devoted so much of her time to discovering the ways of master sushi ‘shokunin’ – a Japanese term that roughly translates to ‘artisan’ – the journey of award-winning photographer and author Andrea Fazzari got off to an inauspicious start. Having contracted a tropical disease, Fazzari was instructed to change her diet, forgoing particular foods such as raw fish. Doing so while living outside of Japan didn’t prove much of a problem, but when Fazzari moved to Tokyo in 2015 sushi proved impossible to ignore. And so, a subsequent visit to the celebrated Nihonbashi Kakigaracho Sugita saw Fazzari have sushi again for the first time in years, something that would prove less a simple reacquaintance with a favoured food and more a transformative experience.
62
63
AIR
Opening pages, from left to right: gizzard shad (kohada) at Chikamatsu; fish box containing all cuts of tuna, from the leanest to the most fatty at Harutaka This page, from top to bottom: Takayoshi Yamaguchi brushing a nigiri at Mekumi; the facade of Ningyocho Kizushi at dusk; Junya Kudo
“My apprehension melted away as I encountered flavours more complex and virtuosic than I had ever known sushi to possess, and I basked in hospitality more affecting than I could have imagined,” remembers Fazzari in her new book, Sushi Shokunin; Japan’s Culinary Masters (out this month, published by Assouline). “I went on to dine at another outstanding sushiya, Sushi Saito. These mesmerizing meals fed my curiosity to learn more about sushi and its cultural significance.” Fazzari would further feed her curiosity by shadowing 20 shokunin, devoting a chapter of herexperiences to each. What she learned from doing so was that each entered their profession by way of “a calling”, the role becoming “a way of life, with the highest possible sense of purpose and mastery. “They are altruistic leaders, teachers, and artists of tremendous spirit and skill, who strive for excellence not only for themselves, but also for the benefit of others – their families, apprentices, customers, communities and regions,” Fazzari says of the shokunin. “This dedication to a lifelong pursuit of the highest level of mastery – spurred by an unwavering desire to constantly improve – affords all types of shokunin a respected and integral role in Japanese society, where the fruits of their discipline and talent have been enjoyed for centuries.” Back to the time when Fazzari stepped into Nihonbashi Kakigaracho Sugita, it wasn’t only the sushi that was so affecting, but the hospitality. “To me, Japanese hospitality – or omotenashi – is unparalleled in the world. Because of the characteristic 64
humble yet assured approach – which is also inherently elegant and inobtrusive – I always feel impeccably cared for. The kindest and most rigorous attention to detail is an immeasurable part of these two-and-a-half to threehour meals which I describe in the book. These masters are remarkably adept at reading and anticipating my needs and what I will enjoy, while crafting a sumptuous culinary and cultural experience. My time with them is not only an exceptional culinary adventure of texture and flavor, but also an adventure into design, art, seasonality, tradition, history, and Japan’s bounty.” Fazzari describes herdining experiences in engaging detail, with one – at Sugita, helmed by shokunin Takaaki Sugita, whom Fezzari had previously befriended via her work on an earlier book – leaving her “moved beyond words.” “Sugita’s way of making nigiri is distinctive and stirring,” says Fazzari, recalling the meal in the book. “As he slices the fish, with the knife’s blade gliding forward and back, he sways slightly and closes his eyes to better feel, and even hear, the ingredients. Then, when forming the nigiri he again closes his eyes, this time to feel and hear the grains of the shari (seasoned rice) with more precision. These acts demonstrate a sensory elegance and peaceful focus that impart Sugita’s own intentions and spirit into each of his culinary creations.” Nigiri preparation is at the heart of Edomae (Edo or present-day Tokyo) style sushi, which the book focusses on. Details Fazari: “Invented around 1824 by Yoshi Hanaya as a ‘fast food’, nigiri
usually consist of preserved or raw fish and seafood atop vinegared rice. Derived from the verb nigiru, meaning ‘to grasp or form with the hands, to shape or press,’ this pure and elegant creation embodies both the aesthetic of minimalism – the focus on the beauty of the essential – and the very masters who create them.” Throughout the book, themes of perseverance, resilience, purpose, and the influence of family are overtly apparent, as is sheer hard work. “A typical workday does start – for most – very early morning at Toyosu market in Tokyo or other regional markets throughout Japan,” says Fazzari. “The rest of the day is spent getting ready for service. Usually, together with apprentices, hours and hours are dedicated to cleaning, preparing and curing the fish and seafood – this includes techniques like drying, smoking, salting and pickling – and preparing the shari, which is seasoned rice. Dinner service likely ends around midnight – or when the last guest leaves – followed by a couple of hours cleaning the restaurant. Then the whole processes recommences the next day. The work day is long, so conviction and sense of purpose – or ikigai in Japanese – keeps shokunin motivated.” At the likes of Tokyo’s Toyosu market
‘
My apprehension melted away as I encountered flavours more complex and virtuosic than I had ever known sushi to possess
’
you’d expect competition for the best fish and seafood to be fierce, so how do shokunin ensure that they get the very best for their restaurants? “It is all about relationships and the trust which the shokunin have in their suppliers,” says Fazzari. “The top wholesalers at Toyosu ensure that the highest quality fish and seafood is passed on to their customers - who are the shokunin. Together they have built relationships, establishing expectations and clear communication in order to source the finest products. It is a team effort; each relies on the other for their discernment and expertise.” Just as important as the produce they serve, however, is the setting of a shokunin’s restaurant. “It’s integral to the feel of the Edomae sushi dining
experience,” details Fazzari. “It conveys the shokunin’s intent as much as the sushi itself. Shokunin spend much time planning the interiors of their sushiya within the historical context of sushi: different materials such as the wood, as well as the chosen colours are imbued with meaning. Simple yet refined, uncluttered spaces convey peace and serenity – they are the backdrop for the shokunin himself.” Having now eaten at some of the world’s finest sushiya, what is it that elevates them beyond all others? “The skill level of these shokunin and their ingredients are top tier: like in any profession there are those who are truly masters, and those who are not. The details and all-encompassing beauty of true masters cannot be easily replicated by those who have not dedicated their lives to their craft.” And Fazzari’s overarching takeaway from her time with the shokunin? “Simple is best. Ever present in the sushi world – whether in restaurant décor or the sushi itself – this disarming style of expression is, to me, more gripping than the flourishes of Versailles.” Sushi Shokunin; Japan’s Culinary Master, by Andrea Fazzari, is out now, published by Assouline assouline.com
This page, from left to right: P Harutaka Takahashi tying his apron; guests dining at Sushi Sho in Honolulu. All images by © Andrea Fazzari
65
JOURNEYS BY JET
Four Seasons Resort Seychelles at Desroches Island
AIR
Seychelles
D
uring the height of the pandemic, when only our thoughts were free to travel, they’d often venture to paradisiacal islands such as Desroches, a sliver of unblemished beauty in the outer islands of the Seychelles, where the only distraction to daily life is the morning birdsong. Protected, remote, and abundantly blessed by Mother Nature’s finest (diving here is an otherworldly experience), the adornments to this treasured island (on which you can land your own jet) come courtesy of Four Seasons – and are equally jaw-dropping. Elegant, expansive, multi-roomed (and reassuringly private on account of being spaced out across an island that’s ringed by some nine miles of beaches) the broad range of Villas, Suites, and Residence Villas are without equal in the Seychelles. Come here as a couple to be secluded in a Beach Pool Villa. Hidden away amidst towering palm trees, you’ll have a private plunge pool and furnished terrace, from which your lazy days will be soundtracked by gentle waves lapping at the shore mere metres beyond you. For groups and families, there are two- to five-bedroom Residence Villas, each served by a dedicated Residence Host. Located on the island’s picture-perfect north-west coastline, the Residence Villas are vast, featuring a full-sized kitchen, dining area, open-air living areas, an infinity pool, tropical garden and expansive sun terrace. Yet grander still is the Seven-Bedroom Presidential Villa, the pinnacle of the resort’s accommodations. Set up to house 16 guests, including up to eight children, the villa stetches its finery over 7,500 sq.ft, providing ample space for in-house spa treatments and one-on-one yoga sessions. To explore your private paradise (private, that is,
66
but for the magnificent Aldabra giant tortoises which you’ll thrillingly encounter around the island) each accommodation comes with bicycles, kayaks, and stand-up paddle boards. Take your preferred mode of leisurely travel to your own slice of sand – there’s enough for everyone – to enjoy an artisinal picnic oceanside, delivered by the resort’s excellent deli. The call of the ocean is deafening here, and whether diving or simply snorkelling, it begs to be explored. Take the plunge and your reward is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful sights on Earth - The Desroches Drop. So-named on account of being a sheer drop where the turquoise shallow waters of the lagoon suddenly give way to the sapphire of the Indian Ocean, you’re submerged into an aquariumlike world; caves, canyons, secret passages and spectacular reef walls all yours to explore alone. This is also one of the world’s foremost fishing spots – do it alongside the resort’s Executive Chef, who doubles as a seasoned fisherman and will cook your catch once back on shore. Such personal service comes as standard across the resort, whether a tailored relaxation experience at the spa, or a shoes-off, starlit dinner on the sand, best bookended by drinks at the Lighthouse Lounge, which towers majestically over the island to afford sweeping, unbroken views of your soul-stirring surrounds. This is paradise on your terms (each day in Desroches is fully customisable), a truly unique place that, once experienced, will stay in your thoughts forever. You can land your jet directly onto the airstrip at Desroches Island, or sail in on your yacht. Private transfers are also offered from Mahé.
Travel OCTOBER 2020:ISSUE 109
67
What I Know Now
AIR
OCTOBER 2020:ISSUE 109
Georges Kern CEO, BREITLING Early on I was told, ‘Trust your instincts and your intuitions; in short, if you have a gut feeling about something, you should act on it.’ This has proven to be great advice, not only in business but in every aspect of my life. I’ve been privileged to work alongside great and super smart people in all my jobs and was fortunate enough to always have had a connection to the top management: Nico Issenmann at Kraft Jacobs Suchard; Christian Viros at TAG Heuer; Franco Cologni and Johann Rupert at Richemont; and now Alexander Dibelius at CVC. Over time, I have come to understand the power of delegation. When I was first working in the industry, like so many young managers, I thought that I was Superman and could take care of every detail by myself. I know now the value of surrounding myself with talented colleagues. 68
My father, René Kern, was a jeweller in Düsseldorf, so my initial exposure to the world of luxury came very early. He taught me to walk through life with open eyes and to take inspiration from everything. To look at what’s going on in the car industry, the art, fashion and film industries. What are the trends? New technologies? Which materials are they using? The outside world and other industries inspire me daily. Personal success is defined in part by being able to find and follow your own passion, to feel truly committed to something. Another important aspect of personal success is being able to look at my family and tell myself that, ‘I must be doing something right!’ One thing I would say now to my younger self is, ‘Know that there will be time to do all the things you want to do. It doesn’t all have to happen at once.’
I’ve always been a big admirer of the film industry and I recently produced my first movie, which is called Mon Chien Stupide, or, in English, My Dog Stupid, and I am now working on creating a series based on this film. I had recently been promoted in a big corporation, the second largest luxury group in the world, when I received the call to work at Breitling. Suddenly someone was offering me the opportunity to become an entrepreneur and to be able to co-invest in a company, which was intriguing to me. Breitling has always been successful, so my challenge was to make it even more so; to develop and grow the brand and to explore new segments. I’m quite a happy man right now. But I will always want to do everything better and make an even greater impact. I would like to produce a new movie and take up a new sport. But I feel that so far, I have been very fortunate.
PRAETOR 600: CERTIFIED OUTPERFORMANCE. The Praetor 600 — the world’s most disruptive and technologically advanced super-midsize aircraft that leads the way in performance, comfort and technology. Unveiled at NBAA in October 2018 and now certified by ANAC, FAA and EASA, the Praetor 600 did not just meet initial expectations, it exceeded them. Named for the Latin root that means “lead the way,” the Praetor 600 is a jet of firsts. It is the first super-midsize jet certified since 2014. The first to fly beyond 3,700 nm at M0.80. The first with over 4,000 nm range at LRC. The first with full fly-by-wire. The first with Active Turbulence Reduction. The first with a cabin altitude as low as 5,800 feet. The first with high-capacity, ultra-high-speed connectivity from Viasat’s Ka-band. And all of this, backed by a first-placed Customer Support network.
Learn more at executive.embraer.com/praetor600.
L E A DING T H E WAY