Luxury London Magazine Spring 2021

SPRING 2021 £8.00

MAGAZINE

Charlie Siem

KIM

JONES

HITTING THE HIGH NOTES WITH THE VIOLIN VIRTUOSO

When Dior Men’s artistic director met Ghanaian painter

Beata

Heuman

Amoako

Boafo

ON CREATING UPLIFTING LIVING SPACES

Phoebe

FOX

WHAT NEXT FOR THE REAL STAR OF THE GREAT ?

SISTER

SISTER

Introducing Francesca Kelly and Marianna Doyle, the English-Sicilian siblings injecting some Italian style into sustainable jewellery ALSO INSIDE: DAVID YARROW, MICK ROCK, EMMA WILLIS, JACK BLUMENTHAL, MARK WESTON & EDWARD SEXTON

The Modernist Collection by Smallbone

Smallbone Brompton Gate Flagship Showroom, Knightsbridge, London. Opening Spring 2021.

15,000 sq ft of the next generation of immersive retail experience.

smallbone.co.uk

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02/11/2020 02/11/2020 11:18 11:18

CONTENTS UP FRONT 10 Editor’s letter

CULTURE

COUTURE

46 The Agenda

68 Man about town

David Hockney returns to the RA

13 The Briefing

Edward Sexton returns to Savile Row and Emma Willis turns tailor to the NHS

What’s new in the world of luxury, from hotel-branded residences to virtual members’ clubs

36 Phoebe Fox

he star of the The Great on T conquering stage and screen

38 Charlie Siem

The It boy of classical music talks sonatas, suits and soulsearching during lockdown

52

IN THE PICTURE

David Bowie’s former officlal photographer Mick Rock on shooting music’s biggest stars

CONNOISSEUR 60 Hot plates

72

WHEN KIM MET AMOAKO

The creative director of Dior Men’s, Kim Jones, on his SS21 collection, and the Ghanain-born artist who inspired it

he exciting new restaurants you’ll T want to book a table at now

62

LIKE FATHERS, LIKE SONS

COVER IMAGE: Solus Jewellery founders Francesca Kelly and Marianna Doyle (p.84)

Jack Blumenthal and Scott Perkins on their pandemic-driven roast dinner business

78

IN WITH THE NEW, OUT WITH THE OLD

The solution to fast fashion lies in rental services – and these brands are leading the charge

COLLECTION

84

MADE IN KIND

DRIVE

98

SPEED FREAKS

he hottest supercars set to hit T the road this year

Meet the British jewellers putting sustainable and ethical production methods first

HOMES & INTERIORS

110

EVERY STEP OF THE WAY

London’s most uplifting staircases

116 Space Modern

88 The best new watches of 2021

Otherwordly design by Smallbone

The latest lauches from Piaget and Vacheron Constantin

92

AHEAD OF THEIR TIME

eet the father-son duo who’ve M been seeling vintage Rolexes in Burlington Arcade for 25 years

102

A CAT MAY LOOK AT A KING

Jaguar unveils a limited-edition F-Type to mark the diamond anniversary of the E-Type

122

A HOUSE OF ONE’S OWN

eata Heuman shares her interior B design tips in a new book

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

FROM THE EDITOR

Richard Brown DEPUTY EDITOR

SPRING 2021 Issue 24

Ellen Millard EDITOR-AT-LARGE Annabel Harrison

W

DIGITAL EDITOR Zoe Dickens

hat’s the old joke? It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future. Ba dum tss. Hmm, yeah, that went well. The last time I sat down to write this page, towards the end of November, the Oxford–AstraZeneca jab had just been declared 90 per cent effective – good news, given that we’d already ordered millions of the things. The R number had dropped below one – the first time since August – and gyms were reopening. So were stadiums and Selfridges.

A barber was going to be allowed to cut your hair, and we could all see our families over Christmas. Bubbles in our bubbles among the baubles. The tide was turning.

Whisper it, I wrote, but it looks like we’re almost out of the woods. The home run, the last lap, not quite yet, but soon.

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Jeremy Taylor Josh Sims HEAD OF DESIGN Laddawan Juhong GENERAL MANAGER Fiona Smith PRODUCTION MANAGER

I won’t tempt fate this time around.

Alice Ford

So, what’s up this issue. Things to get you through the twilight zone – books (p.18), podcasts (p.24), music (p.38), virtual members’ clubs (p.32) – and places to consider visiting once we’re sunning it in the upland pastures on the other side: restaurants (p.60), exhibitions (p.46), a fancy hotel on the shores of Lake Geneva (p.20).

There’s also a piece on London’s most spectacular staircases (p.110), which we’d love to claim was planned as a metaphor for our collective circumstances looking like they are on the up. Something about stepping out and feeling the spring in our step, after a year in which it’s felt like we’ve been taking one step forward and three steps back.

Actually, we just thought it would make for a bit of an artsy picture story. And that the headline would write itself. One Step Ahead; One Step at a Time; Every Step You Take, Every Move You Make...etc. etc.

MANAGING DIRECTOR Rachel Gilfillan CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Eren Ellwood

And so, with Puff Daddy’s cover of The Police’s aching power ballad providing a particularly pertinent backing track, we say ‘enjoy the issue, watch your step, mind how you go, see you in the summer, surely.’

PUBLISHED BY

RICH ARD BROWN Editorial Director 6 SALEM ROAD, LONDON, W2 4BU T: 020 7537 6565 LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

WWW.LUXURYLONDONMEDIA.CO.UK

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A little human connection goes along way.

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T H E B R I E F I NG T H E L AT E S T N E W S F R O M T H E W O R L D O F L U X U R Y

A Rolls-Royce Cullinan takes part in the marque’s ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ off-road experience in the Arabian desert. One in a series of dramatic images in the new, limited-edition coffee-table tome, Rolls Royce Motor Cars: Making a Legend, out now and published by ACC Art Books, accartbooks.com

14 The Property The luxury hoteliers turning their hands to homes 18 The Book Marking 150 years of Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc 20 The Hotel Inside Lac Léman’s historic Royal Savoy Hotel Lausanne 24 The Podcast David Yarrow on his most famous photographs 26 The Car An iconic F1 motor is recomissioned 28 The Members’ Club Twenty-five years of The Carnegie Club 32 The Virtual Social Will apps like Clubhouse mark the end of traditional members’ clubs?

34 The Exhibition Es Devlin’s thought-provoking Somerset House installation

01 THE PROPERTY

Are hotel-branded residences the future of luxury developments?

LONDON’S LATEST WAVE OF HOSPITALITY-BACKED PROPERTY SCHEMES ARE OFFERING GUARANTEED RENTABILITY ALONGSIDE FIVE-STAR SERVICE Words: Ellen Millard

I

magine a home that runs like clockwork. The rooms are always clean, the fridge is full, dinner is on the table and the wine, tailored to your personal taste, has already been poured. The dog has been walked; tickets to that sold-out theatre show have been secured; the cinema room is ready for you to press play on that latest Christopher Nolan thriller; the swimming pool has been warmed to just the right temperature; and the masseuse is waiting for you in the treatment room.

This is the dream being offered by an increasing number of ‘branded’ residences.

According to Savills’ 2020 Spotlight: Branded Residences report, the number of developments created in partnership with a hospitality or lifestyle company has increased 170 per cent since 2010. In 2021, around 100 such schemes are expected to complete approximately the world.

In Florida, you’ll find Residences

by Armani/Casa, a 198m skyscraper with 260 apartments dressed with

furniture from Giorgio Armani’s interior design brand. Elsewhere in Miami, the Porsche Design Tower uses a Dezervator car lift to deliver owners and their vehicles to their front doors, while the Aston Martin Residences, in the same city, feature fixtures and fittings modelled on the marque’s signature aesthetic.

Soon to join them on Miami Beach is Missoni Baia, a series of luxury condos where sunbeds and soft furnishings will be upholstered in the designer’s rainbow prints.

OPPOSITE THE RESIDENCES AT MANDARIN ORIENTAL MAYFAIR THIS PAGE MAYFAIR PARK RESIDENCES

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“Seventy per cent of all luxury hotel developments now include a residential component” Jumping on the branded residence bandwagon to an even greater extent, perhaps unsurprisingly, given the synergies that exist between the property management and hospitality industries, are luxury hotels.

Hoteliers account for around 85 per cent of the completed branded residence schemes so far, and 88 per cent of those in the pipeline.

“The prestige that is associated with best-in-class hotel brands – such as Raffles – appeals to the world’s high-net-worth individuals, who are looking for something completely unique,” says Ian Pidgeon, partner of Knight Frank’s Prime Central London Developments team, which is working on Raffles’ first UK hotel and its first branded residences in Europe, The OWO. Opening in 2022, opposite Horse

Guards in Whitehall, The OWO will be housed in the Grade II-listed Old War Office. Along with 85 homes and 125 hotel suites, there will be nine restaurants and a world-class spa.

Residents will have privileged access to “a truly seamless, five-star hotel service that they can access 24 hours a day,” says The OWO’s head of marketing, Jenny Naylor, as well as a host of private amenities, including a cinema, games room and exercise studio.

“Such properties offer the charm, service and amenities one would expect from a six-star hotel,” says Pidgeon, “but which at the same time are private spaces that feel like home.”

Take Twenty Grosvenor Square, the first standalone private residences

by Four Seasons, which launched in London in 2019 with prices starting from £17.5m for a four-bedroom

apartment. While there is no hotel directly attached to the Finchattondesigned property, the residents in each of the 37 homes have access to an exclusive Four Seasons team, offering housekeeping, valet parking, grocery shopping and a range of other services.

Expected to complete this year is The Residences at Mandarin Oriental Mayfair, a Clivedale London development of 80 residences and a 50-key hotel located on Hanover Square, with apartments starting from £2.95m. Along with health and wellbeing amenities and access to the hotel’s roof terrace bar and restaurant, residents will enjoy a private lounge, in-residence dining, housekeeping and a 24-hour residential concierge.

The Residences at Mandarin Oriental is the second such development steered by Clivedale London, which is also the developer behind Mayfair Park Residences, the Dorchester Collection’s first private homes. The development of 22 apartments and townhouses is hidden behind a Georgian façade. From the exterior, you’d never know it was

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OPPOSITE THE OWO THIS PAGE, FROM LEFT EXTERIOR OF TWENTY GROSVENOR SQUARE; APARTMENT AT TWENTY GROSVENOR SQUARE; APARTMENT AT THE RESIDENCES BY MANDARIN ORIENTAL MAYFAIR

linked to the neighbouring 45 Park Lane hotel, which provides access to a series of services, amenities and a huge health and wellbeing facility.

Prices start from £4.25m.

Next year will also see the completion of the Belgravia-based The Peninsula, which, along with a five-star hotel, will be home to 26 residences designed by award-winning firm Peter Marino Architect. In Mayfair’s Grafton Street, meanwhile, a £500m 83-bedroom hotel under LVMH’s Cheval Blanc umbrella will open with six Cheval Blanc Private Residences – one of which will have its own private pool.

According to Savills’ Spotlight: Branded Residences report, such is the appeal of a branded residence that they achieve an average premium of 31 per cent above

similar, non-branded residences.

Riyan Itani, head of Savills’ International Development Consultancy department, says not only is the concept a win for developers – who can sell properties for a premium off-plan during construction – but for hoteliers, too.

Says Itani: “As the hospitality sector has suffered through the pandemic, the reliance on the more stable income of branded residences – not just sales, but

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rental and management fees – has meant that 70 per cent of all luxury hotel developments now include a residential component.”

The pandemic, it seems, has also incentivised buyers. “The comfort, rentability and quality assurance, when it comes to facilities and services, of a branded residential development are real attractors to buyers in the trophy, investment and investmentuser categories,” says Itani. “That those facilities and amenities are accessible within your own home makes the prospect even more attractive at a time like this.”

Pidgeon also believes that the past year has only served to drive demand.

“As a safe haven for global wealth, second homes in London will always be highly sought-after,” he says.

“Pent-up demand is building due to the ongoing travel restrictions; once the vaccination programme is fully rolled-out and international travel can resume, we anticipate prime property being in high demand. When this happens, those buyers will gravitate towards the best-in-class – in terms of service, amenity offering, quality of design and craftsmanship.”

The developers behind branded residences, it seems, are on to a winner.

02 THE BOOK

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Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc A NEW BOOK CHARTS 150 YEARS OF THE MOST FAMOUS RETREAT ON THE FRENCH RIVIERA Words: Ellen Millard

“W

e are in Eden… A paradise for poets,” wrote author George Sands on her visit to Cap d’Antibes in the south of France in 1888. She wasn’t the only one who thought so. Hippolyte de Villemessant, owner of the French newspaper Le Figaro, was so enamoured with the region that he chose it as the setting for his writers’ retreat, Villa Soleil, which opened in 1870. The sanctuary didn’t last long; by 1887 the building was abandoned and taken over by a new hotelier – but De Villemessant’s vision wasn’t in vain.

Famously known as Hotel du Cap-EdenRoc today, the resort has served as a source of inspiration for creatives and high society for the past 150 years, a home-away-from-home for generations of artists, authors, royalty, politicians and Hollywood stars. Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald (Tender is the Night is set at the hotel), Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and Claude Monet have all stayed at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, which is set in a craggy cliff face overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. During the 1950s and 60s, photographers including Jacques Henri-Lartigue and Slim Aarons were drawn to the retreat, capturing picture-perfect moments around the seawater swimming pool.

To mark the hotel’s 150th anniversary in 2020, a new book written by historian Alexandra Campbell, with an introduction by former Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Graydon Carter, explores the enduring appeal of the French Riviera’s most famous retreat, and the stars who have sought solace within its walls. The 312-page Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc: A Timeless Legend on the French Riviera presents a complete history of the hotel alongside archive photographs – many of which have never been publicly released.

‘Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc: A Timeless Legend on the French Riviera’ will be published on 28 April, £65, uk.bookshop.org

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OPPOSITE HOTEL DU CAP-EDEN-ROC SWIMMING POOL ABOVE FROM TOP ERNEST HEMINGWAY IN A TOP HAT ON THE HOTEL PLATFORM WITH THE WRITER ANITA LOOS; EDEN-ROC PAVILION 1920

03 THE HOTEL

Royal Savoy Hotel Lausanne IN A BOSKY NEIGHBOURHOOD ABOVE LAC LÉMAN, ONE OF SWITZERLAND’S GREAT HOTELS IS TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF Words: Richard Brown

T

he sequoias of Lausanne are having a tough time with a particular type of botryosphaeriaceae. The pathogenic fungus has already claimed a 100-and-something-year-old giant in the gardens of the International Gymnastics Federation. It would be a tragedy if the disease were to make the short distance down the Avenue de la Gare to the leafy, upmarket neighbourhood of Ouchy and the Royal Savoy Hotel.

The Savoy’s own soaring redwood – the sort to which Byron might have dedicated a verse, though the tree would have only been a seed when the firebrand poet was ensconced in the neighbouring Hotel d’Angleterre (more likely T.S. Eliot, then, who composed most of The Waste Land while under the care of a psychiatrist in Lausanne: ‘By the waters of Leman I sat down and wept’) – stands sentinel between the hotel’s historic Art Nouveau-style main building and its slick new Park Wing.

Like an artist’s pencil held up to provide a sense of scale, the towering conifer frames an aspect that stretches from the shores of Lake Geneva – Lac Léman, s’il te plaît, this is French-speaking Switzerland after all – to the shark-toothed silhouette of the Savoy Alps and the belle époque spa town of Évian-lesBains, where, if you’re willing to queue, you can fill up your water bottle with the famous mineral water for free.

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You can sit and wonder at the towering American immigrant while sipping coffee on your private balcony, if you ask for a south-facing room.

Down there on the lawn, on 14 July 1791, a local nobleman, renouncing his own seigneurial privileges, threw a banquet to celebrate the second anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. The following day, fearful that festivities might ignite rebellion within their own wobbly fiefdom, some jittery authorities in Bern sentenced the aristocrat to death (he survived, for a time, by legging it to France). The event helped kick-start Switzerland’s own kind of quasi revolution.

Overlooking the spot is the sun-flecked terrace of the hotel’s La Brasserie du Royal. You can picture the ancient Vaudois patriots frolicking in their morning coats and breeches as you tuck in to the restaurant’s signature Lac Léman pike and roasted cauliflower.

A little more history. The Royal Savoy opened in 1909 and boomed a decade later when the Orient Express started operating a second route, via Lausanne and Milan, rather than Munich and Vienna, on its way from Paris to Istanbul.

Holed up within the hotel during the Second World War was the Spanish royal family. Joining them was King Bhumibol of Thailand, though the reasons behind his own lie doggo are a little less clear.

For the best part of a century the Royal Savoy existed as one of Lausanne’s three great hotels, alongside Beau Rivage, down there on the lake, and Lausanne

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Palace, up there on the hill. The Royal Savoy hosted Joe Cocker and Phil Collins, and other musicians on the bill at the nearby Montreux Jazz Festival, during the nineties, before falling upon harder times in the noughties.

In 2009, Qatar-based Katara Hospitality, proprietors of The Savoy in London and The Plaza in New York, stepped in with the pockets and patience to return the hotel to its original standing. The refit lasted six years, burnt through £80 million and, according to one manager with whom we spoke, turned into the refurbishment from hell (the manager, who’ll remain nameless, had to be persuaded back to their job having jacked it in halfway through the overhaul).

Part of the update included the completion of the new Park Wing, a contemporary, low-rise annexe of sleek rooms and jagged corridors that had to be kinked at dogleg angles to avoid the giant roots of the redwood. It’s in the Park Wing that you’ll find the hotel’s slick steel-and-glass spa, with its indoor and outdoor pool.

The rest of the facilities – restaurant, lounge bar, cigar room, panoramic rooftop bar – are in the main building, where original features – gilt-edged paintings, antique floor tiles – clash artfully with dramatic modern chandeliers and bright velvet upholstery. Best to visit the rooftop bar later in the evening; it’s commandeered by a corporate crowd between 6-8pm.

Rooms, 196 in total, are as luxurious as a cabin on the Orient Express, only roomier. Those in the Savoy Wing have LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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televisions set in the wall above the bath.

Some people might find that tawdry. Pass the remote.

Having breakfast on the terrace of the brasserie during our visit was the CEO of a major Swiss watch brand whom I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing on several occasions. Let’s call him Mr P, because that’s the first letter of his surname.

Several years ago, Mr P was headhunted by Apple to help launch its first smartwatch in the UK. Mission accomplished, Mr P returned to Geneva to become one of the youngest chief executives in the mechanical watch industry. He’s revered for his dynamic management style and for his habit of pairing a tailored blazer with jeans and Common Projects sneakers. When he’s not thinking of innovative ways to launch watches, Mr P enjoys free-diving, backcountry skiing and practising the deadly martial art of krav maga. (That could be his sadomasochistic Tinder bio, if he wasn’t married with kids.)

There’s a reason I bring up the presence of Mr P on the patio that morning. When Katara Hospitality commissioned London-based MKV Design to oversee the Royal Savoy’s overhaul, you get the impression that this was exactly the type of stylish, young, bootstrapping future patron they had in mind.

Wandering the hotel’s tastefullymodern public spaces, its glass-winecellar-lined corridors and its pristinely manicured gardens, you have to say, the result is bang on the money.

Rooms from £320, royalsavoylausanne.com

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04 THE PODCAST

In Focus with David Yarrow THE BRITISH PHOTOGRAPHER REVEALS THE STORIES BEHIND HIS MOST MESMERISING IMAGES Words: Zoe Dickens

E

ven if you don’t know the name, you’ll recognise David Yarrow’s photographs. His powerful black-and-white shots of giraffes charging across Africa and tigers stalking through undergrowth are as celebrated as his images of model Josie Canseco driving Thelma & Louisestyle through Monument Valley with a wolf in the passenger seat, or Cara Delevingne being shadowed by a lion for a TAG Heuer campaign.

Now, the British photographer is offering fans the chance to go behind his most famous images with a new podcast, In Focus with David Yarrow.

“I’m a storyteller and I think pictures without a narrative can leave people in a bit of a vacuum,” Yarrow explains. Here, the photographer details the behind-the-scenes story of his famous 2018 image Africa.

“That’s Tim, the biggest and most famous elephant in the world, and that’s Kilimanjaro behind him. So you’ve got Africa’s biggest elephant and Africa’s biggest mountain in one photograph.

Tim was huge, one of only 20 big tuskers left in the world, but sadly he passed away from old age in 2020.

It looks like he’s charging me; the image has a lot of dynamism to it. I got out of the car and lay on the ground to get this shot but I could only do that because I knew Tim’s behaviour.

People on safari should not be getting out of the car to photograph elephants.

It’s only because I was so familiar with him and I had a good team of locals with me that I could. It’s quite a dangerous thing to do.

This was in Amboseli in Kenya.

I work with the local Maasai there and early every morning they would go out on motorbikes to see if they could find Tim. Up until Covid I was going there about three times a year.

I was there last summer and it was quite empty, I don’t want to see other photographers, and I’m not there on holiday, so the fact it was empty suited me. We got amazing access and a little bit more serenity.” davidyarrowpodcast.com LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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British Racing Motors recommissions three replica Type 15 MK1 BRM V16s THE SINGLE-SEAT RACE CAR WILL BE RECONSTRUCTED BY HALL & HALL TO MARK WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN THE FORMULA 1 TEAM’S 70 TH ANNIVERSARY Words: Ellen Millard

05 THE CAR

1 . 5 LITRES

600

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W IT H 1 6 C Y L IN D E R S P R O D U C IN G 6 0 0 B H P, T H E V 1 6 C A N AC H IE V E U P TO 1 2 , 0 0 0 R P M

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D R IV E R J UA N M A N U E L FA N G IO R E AC H E D 1 9 0 M P H IN A V 1 6 AT T H E 1953 ALBI GRAND PRIX

35,000+ T H E N U M BE R O F IN DIVID UAL PARTS R E QU IRE D TO BU IL D AN E X ACT RE PL IC A

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B

ritish Racing Motors is one of only two manufacturers that has won a Formula One World Championship with a car designed and built completely in-house.

The other is Ferrari.

Founded in 1947 by Lincolnshire-born racing driver Raymond Mays, the marque was established to boost British prestige following the Second World War with a Grand Prix car designed and manufactured

on home turf. The result, the Type 15 MK1 BRM V16, made its debut at Silverstone in 1950. It went on to scoop its first Formula 1 win three years later, with Juan Manuel Fangio in the driving seat.

To mark what would have been the F1 team’s 70th anniversary in 2020, the current owners have commissioned the construction of three Type 15 replicas.

Historic automotive restoration specialist Hall & Hall will use 20,000

hand-drafted drawings to manufacture each car piece-by-piece.

One of the models being made is due to join the hill climb at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July (pandemic willing), and will also appear at the Goodwood Revival.

The second and third cars will be available for sale to collectors. The price, as you’d expect, is available on application. britishracingmotors.co.uk LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT JUAN MANUEL FANGIO AT GOODWOOD IN THE BRM V16 IN 1953, ©GPL; JUAN MANUEL FANGIO RACING THE P15 BRM V16 AT SILVERSTONE IN 1953, ©GPL; SIDE VIEW OF THE TYPE 15 MK1 BRM V16, ©GPL; REAR VIEW OF THE TYPE 15 MK1 BRM V16, ©BRM LTD

06 THE MEMBERS’ CLUB

The Carnegie Club at Skibo Castle HOW SCOTLAND’S MOST EXCLUSIVE RETREAT BECAME ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST FÊTED PRIVATE MEMBERS’ CLUBS Words: Mhairi Mann

A

ndrew Carnegie, once the richest man in the world, could have lived anywhere on earth. Yet he chose Skibo Castle – a 8,000-acre estate overlooking the Dornoch Firth in northern Scotland.

Acquiring the property in 1898, the Scots-born industrialist wanted to give his daughter, Margaret, a proper Highland childhood, while entertaining visitors including John D. Rockefeller, Woodrow Wilson and John Pierpont Morgan.

Today, Skibo Castle continues to honour the Scotsman’s legacy with The Carnegie Club, one of the most exclusive

private members’ clubs in the world, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2020. Twenty per cent of visitors arrive by private jet, while others make their way by helicopter or chauffeur-driven Land Rover from Inverness Airport. The estate is privately owned by American businessman Ellis Short, founder of private equity fund Kildare Partners (and owner and chairman of Sunderland Football Club from 2008 to 2018), a longstanding member who loved the club so much that he bought it in 2003. He has since spent several million pounds refurbishing and expanding this elite Highland retreat.

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Entering the castle’s Great Hall is like stepping through time. Skibo’s enchanting drama and grandeur has been painstakingly preserved since Carnegie’s time, with many original features still intact – from the stained-glass windows to the unusually low door handles, positioned to accommodate Carnegie’s diminutive 5ft 2in frame.

A sweeping staircase leads to 21 bedrooms, each of which is uniquely furnished with ornate dressers, fourposter beds, roll-top baths and original 19th-century bathroom tiling. There are also 12 dog-friendly lodges on the estate, with more modern furnishings.

Don’t, however, make the mistake of thinking there is anything remotely stiff about Skibo. The charm of this magnificent castle is its modesty. It is a delightfully social place brimming with character, and characters.

While this Highland home gained notoriety in the 90s for hosting the wedding of Madonna and Guy Ritchie (it has subsequently hosted a number of famous names), pomp and ceremony is not the thing at Skibo. The majority of members are wealthy businessmen.

Almost half are American, though, during my visit, I met Scandinavians, Scots and plenty of English.

“There is little success where there is little laughter,” Carnegie once said.

Appropriately, visiting Skibo feels like dropping in on an Edwardian house party. Courting business is frowned upon, while joining a group singalong around

A ndrew Carnegie bought Skibo Castle in 1898 and lived there until his death in 1919. His wife, Louise, continued to live at the castle until her death in 1946.

Carnegie spearheaded the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century, becoming one of the richest people in history.

He gave away almost 90 per cent of his fortune.

Fewer than 4,000 rounds of golf are played on Skibo’s links course each year. The course is so quiet, that club members do not need to book tee times before they play.

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“Our members live in the fast lane and the club is all about allowing them to switch to a slower pace”

the piano at the end of the evening is emphatically encouraged.

Members are awoken each day by the resident bagpiper and a live organist accompanies breakfast, which, like every meal at Skibo, is generous and executed using local Highland fare.

Guests travel by foot, bike or golf buggy to the smartly-furnished clubhouse, where they can choose to take in the view with an endless stream of champagne and lunch offerings or venture out to lower their handicap on the championship golf course. There is also clay pigeon shooting, horse-riding, off-road driving and a fashionable pool and spa, where visitors pad about in white dressing gowns beneath a striking glass-paned roof.

Dinner is either an informal affair in the clubhouse or, the pièce de résistance at Skibo, a formal dinner in black tie or highland dress, which is hosted by the flamboyant ‘in-house storyteller’ Alan Grant, whose striped trousers and joke

collection could rival Billy Connolly.

A lively feast is followed by a raucous evening of ceilidh dancing, or you can retreat for a nightcap by a roaring fire.

It is astonishing how quickly one adapts to life at Skibo Castle, cocooned in The Carnegie Club’s unique brand of historic luxury. Membership is priced at £9,500 per annum, in addition to a £30,000 joining fee, and nightly charges start from £1,400, inclusive of all food and drink. Membership is capped at 400 and, with the club almost at capacity, it will be closing its book imminently.

“Skibo is not about turning a profit,” comments owner Ellis Short. “It is about keeping the unique atmosphere and feeling we have created here. Our members live in the fast lane and the club is all about allowing them to switch to a slower pace. The aim is to make it feel like Andrew Carnegie left the day before.”

It is a warmth and heritage that you simply cannot fudge; an alchemy LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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of glamour, eccentricity, humour and Highland spirit, rooted in extraordinary history, against a backdrop that is unquestionably one of the finest, most peaceful in the world.

The Carnegie Club at Skibo Castle, Clashmore, Dornoch IV25 3RQ, carnegieclub.co.uk

INSIDE HOME HOUSE, WHICH HAS LAUNCHED A PROGRAMME OF VIRTUAL EVENTS DURING THE PANDEMIC

07 THE VIRTUAL SOCIAL

Is it time you joined an online members’ club?

A HOST OF ONLINE MEMBERS’ CLUBS OPENED DURING THE PANDEMIC – BUT ARE THEY WORTH THE EFFORT OF GETTING YOURSELF THROUGH THE DIGITAL DOOR? Words: Zoe Dickens

E

ven if you’re not on Clubhouse, you’ve almost certainly heard the name. The audio-only members’ club app appeared in the Apple store – sorry Android fans, this one’s iOS only – in April 2020 to fill the pandemic-initiated void for those who usually spend their weekends celebrity spotting at Soho House.

Incredibly, it worked. Early adoptees include Oprah, Drake, Jared Leto and Virgil Abloh. Unlike Soho House, where a certain level of courage is required to approach your favourite celeb, in Clubhouse, no-one is off limits. Users gather in ‘rooms’ where they can start or join conversations, and everyone is welcome to raise their virtual hand and ask a question. Crucially, no conversations are ever recorded, which, the app’s designers say, creates a safe space for all users to speak openly. Reports that recent Clubhouse debates between famous faces have become quite heated is only fuelling the FOMO for those not on the invite-only app.

Which begs the question: is it worth pleading with your sister’s workmate’s cousin, the one who opened for Drake in 2009, to get an invite? Can apps like Clubhouse really fill the need for human connection?

According to Sarah Hyde, marketing consultant at members’ club Home House, the answer is, not really. “I’m on Clubhouse and I think it’s incredible, but the one thing it does lack is that personto-person feel,” she says. “It’s more like listening to a podcast in a sense, you’re in a room listening to experts and it’s LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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great, but one thing we want more than ever is real human connection.”

Hyde likens the experience to online dating – a modern necessity, especially during the pandemic, but one that will never replace the feeling of meeting someone face-to-face. That said, she notes that one of the triumphs of the pandemic for Home House has been its programme of virtual events, which have allowed the club to reach members on a more intimate basis. “During lockdown we’ve all been really isolated and, now more than ever, we’re really realising how important community is,” she says. “With small virtual events we’ve been able to create sub-communities within our wider community and made every member feel like they have somewhere they belong.”

Glorious is a new digital members’ club focused on women’s sport, where everything, says editorial director Alison Root, “is done through the lens of art and culture because so much of that, like fashion and music, is intrinsically linked to sport.” Like Clubhouse, Glorious takes a content-driven approach to virtual socialising. Early collaborations are already in the works with Miquita Oliver, Coco Capitan and Al Greenwood.

If you’re craving stimulating conversation with new people it really does seem like these apps and clubs can offer something a Zoom call simply can’t, but it remains to be seen whether interest in online-only offerings will fade after the pandemic. Although Clubhouse, if you’re reading, we wouldn’t turn you down...

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THE BRIEFING

Es Devlin to plant a forest in Somerset House THE INSTALLATION WILL BE PART OF THIS YEAR’S LONDON DESIGN BIENNALE

08 THE EXHIBITION

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or the 2021 edition of the London Design Biennale, artistic director Es Devlin has chosen the theme of ‘Resonance’ and asked designers to respond to the question: “How can design provide solutions to major challenges of our time?” Her own contribution will be Forests for Change, an installation of 400 trees in the centre of Somerset House’s courtyard designed in response to the United Nations’ Global Goals for Sustainable Development, a plan to eradicate poverty, fight inequality and tackle the climate crisis. The installation LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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was designed in collaboration with landscape designer Philip Jaffa and urban greening specialist Scotscape, and will include 23 species of tree local to the UK and northern Europe. In the clearing of the forest will be an interactive Global Goals installation that will encourage debate around climate change, inequality and post-pandemic recovery. Elsewhere in Somerset House, designers from 50 countries and territories will answer Devlin’s call to action with installatons and presentations.

From £16, 1-27 June, somersethouse.org.uk

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PHOEBE FOX IN THE GREAT, MRC TELEVISION

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REGULARS

ON LONDON TIME

PHOEBE FOX

T H E B R I T I S H A C T O R , R E C E N T LY S E E N O N S C R E E N I N C O M E D Y D R A M A T H E G R E AT , O N P E R F O R M I N G AT T H E N AT I O N A L T H E AT R E , T H E L U R E O F S O H O A N D H E R L O C K D O W N E N T E R TA I N M E N T O F C H O I C E

Interview: Annabel Harrison

Phoebe Fox accomplished her scene-stealing turn in The Great – a Golden Globe-nominated comedy drama charting the rise of Catherine the Great, played by Elle Fanning to Fox’s handmaiden Marial – with “such a deftness you’ll struggle to remember anyone else”. High praise indeed from The Sunday Times. The play that made Fox a breakout star was 2014’s A View from the Bridge at the Young Vic. More recent silver screen credits come courtesy of The Aeronauts and Intrigo: Samaria.

in London. We very much adhered to the lockdown stereotype of Googling houses outside of London but we both do theatre in the capital regularly so practically it doesn’t make sense to move out.

PHOEBE FOX (RIGHT) & TAMSIN GREIG IN TWELFTH NIGHT

You’re currently filming season two of The Great. How different is life on set?

They’ve gone to extraordinary lengths to get it off the ground. Lots of people are in masks – that’s the giveaway – but there’s a wonderful energy of gratitude; everyone is so pleased to be working, when many are not. It’s the first time people have worked since we wrapped season one. Returning to a familiar group of friends is a real gift.

National Theatre. How was it playing Olivia, alongside Tamsin Greig as Malvolia? It was great fun. The cast were so funny. A lot of actors dream about acting on the Olivier Stage and it’s exhilarating. I remember that first moment when I went on stage to do a scene that ends with a direct address to the audience. I stood there facing more than 1,000 people, alone. It’s like a shot of adrenalin straight into your veins.

But doing that kind of comedy on such a big stage is draining. It takes about five minutes to get on stage, let alone perform at a level that reaches the back of that theatre; it needs a lot of breath and energy. It was amazing. I loved it.

You won rave reviews for your 2017 performance in Twelfth Night at the

Where’s home? My husband and I are moving from Crouch End, but will stay LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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Where do you like to eat out? After this insane period of lockdown, I just long to go into town. We’re big foodies so more likely to go to a restaurant than a club.

We love Duck Soup and our special occasion place is Bocca di Lupo.

What did you watch during lockdown?

I got majorly into The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I loved that. It was incredible. I also went through a phase of wanting to watch extreme acts of perseverance. A lot of SAS: Who Dares Wins, which I found oddly calming. I can say with absolute certainty that I wouldn’t get in. I’d need about five years’ notice to build up to it.

What will we see you in next? Everything stalled at the beginning of last year.

So… season one of The Great, and if you wait long enough, season two of The Great!

The Great is available to watch now on All 4, and on DVD.

RENAISSANCE

MAN

He’s fronted fashion campaigns for Armani and Dior, graced the pages of Vogue and Vanity Fair, and been photographed by Karl Lagerfeld, Bruce Weber and Mario Testino.

Yet for London-born Charlie Siem modelling is a side hustle.

The Cambridge-educated 35-year-old makes a living performing alongside the likes of Bryan Adams, Boy George and Miley Cyrus.

Following the release of his sixth album, Luxury London schedules a date the violin virtuoso making classical music cool Words: Richard Brown

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©GILLES-MARIE ZIMMERMANN

©SIMONE DONATI

“I think this whole period has actually made it possible to connect with people on a more individual basis, on a more intimate level”

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INTERVIEW

Charlie Siem

is the sort of man you bring home to your parents.

A smartly turned-out (those double-breasted blazers are tailor-made by a military outfitter in Piccadilly), pedigree-educated (Eton and Cambridge, seeing as though you’re asking) man-about-town (London, Florence, the South of France, mainly) with matinée-idol good looks (he’s modelled for Armani, Chanel and Dunhill, you’ll drop in over dinner), a Calvinist work ethic (he landed his first gig aged 15 and has been working pretty much non stop ever since) and a few quid in the bank (you won’t mention the Norwegian oil-and-gas billionaire-tycoon father but it won’t be hard to connect the dots).

Sure, pads in the playboy Meccas of Monaco and Gstaad will raise suspicions with Daddy, but then the six-foot-plus professor (the UK’s youngest ever Professor of Music, now that you bring it up) mentions, in eloquent baritone RP, that he once performed onstage with The Who and all that papa can think about is VIP tickets and backstage access and who is he to turn down a week in Monte Carlo in early May anyway?

Charlie, it will come to light as the evening progresses, was a friend of the late Karl Lagerfeld.

He modelled for the designer’s Dior campaign back in 2016, the same year in which he was photographed on the front row at Paris Fashion Week (arm-in-arm with Wendi Deng, Rupert Murdoch’s third wife, but you won’t mention that; mother will read about it later on the MailOnline).

Anyway, modelling is something Charlie does on the side. Charlie plays the violin. He’s really rather good. ‘The James Bond of classical music’, didn’t someone once say? With The Royal and Moscow and Israel and Czech and Oslo Philharmonics.

China, Australia, North and South America, you name it. He’s performed for the Queen of Denmark. And Lady Gaga.

‘Yes, yes,’ your parents will say, leading Charlie through to the drawing room, ‘we’re huge admirers of your work, fantastic stuff, please, do take a seat, make yourself at home, there’s more Chablis in the fridge, or would you prefer red? Now, about this place in Monaco…’

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Hello Charlie, lovely to meet you. You recently released your latest album, Between the Clouds, with your long-time pianist sonata partner, Itamar Golan. Tell us about the project.

Lovely to meet you too, and yes, the idea was a collection of fairly light and fun pieces that are really integral to the core canon of the violin repertoire – a kind of encore repertoire of accessible violin and piano pieces by the likes of Kreisler, Sarasate, Paganini, Elgar and Wieniawski that Itamar and I had played together in recitals. It’s not by any means a commercial album but it’s something that hasn’t been done all that much before.

Covid-19 has had you holed up in Florence.

How has the pandemic affected you both professionally and personally?

I went to Oslo for a festival last summer but otherwise I’ve basically been pretty much out of it since March 2020, when I played in Lebanon. It’s been quite devastating from a career sense, and I’ve not been booked into the future because of all the uncertainty. The festivals that are booking aren’t until 2022. But the effect the pandemic has had on me as a human being in some ways has been quite positive; I would never have taken a sabbatical, I would never have taken a long break; I lived from concert to concert; in many ways I was dependent on being invited to come and play somewhere so that my life had structure and meaning and progress. And because that’s been stopped, I’ve had to re-evaluate, on a fundamental level, my own identity, in what it is I find meaning.

Has the lack of live music events forced you to consider different ways of connecting with fans?

Yes, I think this whole period has actually made it possible to connect with people on a more individual basis, on a more intimate level. I’m aware that I need to explore ways of doing so, which is why I’ve been developing a TV-type concept, being based in Italy, travelling from one city to another, exploring the cultural stories in each place, and then performing in each city. It’s a sort of documentary, or reality TV show, based on a group of orchestra players and how they interact and engage with the music they’re playing.

You should reach out to ITV2, perhaps they’ll commission it. Maybe not. Shame. What’s the biggest misconception about classical music?

I think people assume that it’s difficult to connect with. A lot of people assume it’s something that might be beyond them – that it’s for people who have a pre-existing education in classical music.

People think it represents something elitist, which

“I think anyone can find meaning in classical music if they are willing to try” is a complete misconception. It’s true that to a certain extent one needs a little more patience, a bit more of an investment to connect to some aspects of classical music – but certainly not all. I think anyone can find meaning in classical music if they are willing to try.

Which pieces of music would you suggest offer a gateway for complete classical novices?

I think Bach is the foundation of so much of the classical canon; it’s not necessarily the easiest thing to listen to but if you can take the time to, if you can get into a sort of meditative state to be able to listen to the solo Cello Suites, for instance, I think there’s something so spiritually relevant and easy to connect with. The Bach keyboard works and the Goldberg Variations, again, are something so pure and integral to the human experience. Mozart’s Requiem is something that people recognise that they can relate to from its references in cinema and pop cultural contexts. Bach’s St Matthew Passion is the same sort of thing. The Mozart symphonies, the Beethoven symphonies, the Brahms symphonies – you’re talking about the foundations of all subsequent music-making.

You perform with one of the rarest instruments on the classical stage – a 1735 Guarneri del Gesú violin previously owned by the King of Prussia and the great Yehudi Menuhin. Would you ever swap it in?

I’ve played with this violin for almost 15 years; everything I’ve done has been done with this violin.

It’s not because I think it’s wonderfully sounding or because it’s easy to play because actually it’s quite the opposite. It’s not the most reliable instrument.

It’s very temperamental. I’ll arrive at a concert, pick it up and it just doesn’t want to play. At one point I was going to sell it, but, as I began the process, I realised that actually there was no way I could. I guess I’m pretty faithful. I’m a passenger in its life more than it’s a passenger in mine.

I stalked you on Instagram. It looks as though you’re nearly as into your clothes as you are your music?

Ha, not quite but I’ve always been fascinated by the little things, the small details, not just in clothes but the accessories of life, whether it’s a lighter or a glass. All these things extenuate your experience of life. Since I was a child, from watching movies and observing people, those who took more care on the details of their lives inspired me. Some people can sit on a plastic chair and wear a t-shirt and be fine. I realised that wasn’t the case for me. I need a bit of artistry to feel that I am getting the most out of life.

Who are your favourite tailors?

I’ve only ever had one and its very random how I ended up with him. When I was at school, my best friend’s father was a colonel in the Grenadier Guards and had all of his clothes made by Meyer & Mortimer, which is a military tailor that used to be on Sackville Street that is now on Piccadilly. My friend had a lot of hand-me-downs from his dad and he’d wear them to school. We always wondered who this Meyer & Mortimer was and so we went there when we were about 18 and we found this dusty old tailors. I decided I was going to get an overcoat made to see what this whole thing was all about. And I just never really went anywhere else.

Presumably they’ve snapped you up as an ambassador?

Ha! No, they’re not that progressive in that sense – although they certainly haven’t changed the price!

Watch guy?

Not really. I got a Cartier Tank when I was 21 which I wear not on a daily basis. I bought a Rolex Submariner after I played a few

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concerts when I was about 20, but I gave it as a gift to my sister years ago. I think they look better on women than men to be honest.

IMAGES ©SIMONE DONATI

You chose to study Music at the University of Cambridge rather than enrol for a violinfocused conservatoire. Why was it important for you to have a broad understanding of music rather than concentrate solely on your technical training?

I didn’t grow up in a musical family and they weren’t necessarily that supportive of me and my obsession with playing the violin. Even by the age of 12 I was pretty convinced about pursuing a career as a solo violinist. I was pretty convinced of not going to school and just following that onetrack path – surprisingly, my parents weren’t really sure about that.

They managed to persuade me that staying in a broad-based education would be beneficial to me and by the time I was 18 I realised I didn’t want to go to conservatoire. I thought being in a university environment, being on a campus and being able to engage with people who did all sorts of things would be inspiring on a human level. Even if I wasn’t going to get the kind of intense violin-focused study you get with a conservatoire.

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Most memorable performances?

Playing with Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in China was incredible, partly because I’ve always been such a huge fan of Zubin Mehta. It’s always been a dream to play with the Israel Philharmonic, one of the iconic orchestras. Playing the Royal Albert Hall is always special as I grew up next to it.

Which venues are particularly spectacular to perform within?

I remember the Sala in São Paulo being a surprisingly great venue. It was in this pretty run-down part of town, and out of nowhere came this incredibly grand concert hall. We had to ride in bullet-proof cars to get there, but once inside it was a fantastically larger-than-life venue to play.

Tell us that travelling the world to do what you love isn’t as fabulous as it looks?

Well, over the past year, I’ve realised how much I can’t stand travelling. I was getting on a plane almost once a week and if you do it regularly enough you become numb to it, but I think travelling is very uncivilised now. The way you are greeted at airports, the queues, it’s almost unbearable. I now find the thought of going to an airport almost impossible – which I guess could mean the end of my career!

Lucknam Park Wiltshire, England

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To book: call + 44 (0) 1225 742 777 or visit www.lucknampark.co.uk.

Culture MUSIC, MUSEUMS

AND MASTERPIECES

Mick Rock’s photograph of Debbie Harry is regimagined in rainbow pop art prints as part of a new collaboration with street artist Fin Dac (p.52)

46 The Agenda What’s on in London this summer, from a new David Hockney exhibition to an immersive Yayoi Kusama installation 52 In the picture Photographer to the stars Mick Rock on capturing rock music legends

T H E A G E N DA YOUR CURATED GUIDE TO CULTURE IN THE CAPITAL

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Words: Ellen Millard

Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirror Rooms, Tate Modern

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David Hockney: The Arrival of Spring, Normandy, 2020 Royal Academy of Arts Some have found this period of self-isolation to have encumbered their creativity, while others have flourished. David Hockney is certainly in the latter camp.

The artist’s upcoming exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts is dedicated to a series of iPad sketches – his now-preferred medium – drawn during the pandemic from his home in Normandy. The 116 works, which were digitally ‘painted’

before being printed onto paper, chart the unfolding of spring and the changing landscape of the French countryside as the season progresses.

Those who missed Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room – Filled with the Brilliance of Life when it debuted at the Tate Modern in 2012 as part of her retrospective will be pleased to hear it is returning in all its dazzling glory to London this spring. The immersive installation is one of the artist’s largest works to date, and will be shown alongside Chandelier of Grief, a room that creates the illusion of a boundless space filled with rotating chandeliers. Instagram feeds at the ready. £10, spring 2021, official dates to be confirmed, Bankside, SE1, tate.org.uk

From £19, 23 May - 26 September, Burlington House, W1J, royalacademy.org.uk

Above David Hockney, No.125, 2020, ©David Hockney

Right Yayoi Kusama, Infinity Mirrored Room – Filled with the Brilliance of Life, 2011/2017, ©Yayoi Kusama

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The Making of Rodin Tate Modern

You may expect an Auguste Rodin retrospective to be filled with bronze and marble sculptures, but the latest EY Exhibition at Tate Modern presents a first: a show dedicated to the sculptor’s plaster works.

The Making of Rodin will be designed to evoke the atmosphere of the artist’s studio, showcasing more than 200 small and large-scale plaster casts, many of which went on to influence some of his most famous creations. The Musée Rodin has given the Tate Modern unprecedented access to its collection, meaning Londoners will have the chance to see many works that have never before been shown outside of France. £18, 17 May - 31 October, Bankside, SE1, tate.org.uk

From left Jules Richard Rodin dans son atelier (Jules Richard Rodin in his studio) ©Musée Rodin; Auguste Rodin Les Trois Ombres, before 1886, ©Musée Rodin

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Epic Iran, V&A

Iran has a rich and diverse culture, yet its artistic achievements remain relatively unknown in the Western world. Epic Iran, a new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, aims to correct that, with an exploration of 5,000 years of Iranian art, design and culture. Bringing more than 300 objects from ancient, Islamic and contemporary Iran together, including sculptures, ceramics, textiles and photography, the show celebrates the country’s vibrant historic culture, architecture and literature. £18, until 12 September, Cromwell Road, SW7, vam.ac.uk

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Clockwise from top left Woman’s jacket, blouse and skirt, 1800-50, ©Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, Untitled, 1974, ©Estate of Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, photography by Peter Kelleher/Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Royal bust, about 439-57, ©The Sarikhani Collection; Sirak Melkonian, Veiled Woman, 1957, ©Sirak Melkonian, photography by Peter Kelleher/Victoria and Albert Museum, London

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Art in the Age of Now Fulham Town Hall

Left derelict for a decade, Fulham Town Hall will be revived as a temporary art and exhibition space when lockdown restrictions ease, before the building is redeveloped into a community hub and boutique hotel in 2022. Art in the Age of Now will be a free event for the local community, featuring a programme of installations, guest exhibitions, and live music, talks and readings.

Overseen by curator Ben Moore and hotel operator Lamington Group, the exhibition will include a number of works that have been created during lockdown.

20 May - 6 June, 553 - 561 Fulham Road, SW6, fulhamtownhall.com

Clockwise from top Abigail Fallis, Banana Splits, 2021, photography by Tom Medwell; Ben Moore, The Henge, 2021; LUAP, Pink Bear, 2021

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C U LT U R E

Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street Design Museum

A-COLD-WALL x Converse Chuck Taylor Lugged

From technically-innovative shoes to highly-coveted collectors’ items, Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street explores the rise of the humble trainer from sport-specific footwear to cult-like fashion statement. Alongside icons and collaborations that have shaped the sneaker scene – think Nike’s Air Jordans and Kanye West’s Adidas Yeezys – the exhibition will delve into the lucrative resale market, which is currently valued at $6bn. £12, 18 May - 24 October, 224-238 Kensington High Street, W8, designmuseum.org

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The Art of Banksy, Earlham Street The world’s largest touring exhibition of Banksy artworks comes to London this spring, showcasing pieces donated by private collectors and rarely seen in the public. In a 12,000 sq ft space in Covent Garden, visitors will be able to enjoy a selection of the artist’s sculptures, prints, limited-edition works and iconic pieces such as HMV Dog and Girl With Balloon. Curated by street-art specialist Chris Ford, the show has toured in Tel Aviv, Toronto, Melbourne and Miami, and has so far attracted more than 750,000 visitors around the world. £21.50, 20 May - 21 November, 50 Earlham Street, WC2H, artofbanksy.co.uk

Banksy, Kissing Coppers, 2004

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IN THE PICTURE HIS IMAGES HELPED DEFINE THE R O C K ‘ N ’ R O L L E R A . N O W, 5 0 Y E A R S AFTER PICKING UP A CAMERA, D AV I D B O W I E ’ S F O R M E R O F F I C I A L PHOTOGRAPHER, MICK ROCK, C O L L A B O R AT E S W I T H S T R E E T A R T I S T FIN DAC TO REINTERPRET SOME O F H I S B E S T- K N O W N S H OT S

Words: Josh Sims

©MICK ROCK ARCHIVE

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“

t’s not as though I’ve made it up or something,” laughs the photographer Mick Rock. “Lou Reed would always say ‘I know your name’s not really Rock.

It’s Rockheimer and you’re from Long Island’. But my name is just the way it turned out. It’s not like I had much to do with it. It’s not a showbiz name. It just works.”

Not only does Rock – London-born but now living in New York – sound the part, he also looks the part: dark layers, arty scarf, shades and, even at 73, big hair.

“I don’t think it would have worked for me to be bald.

I think I’ve always needed a bit of hair to frame my boat race,” says the man who looks like a 21st-century take on those rebel poets – Baudelaire, Coleridge – who have proven something of a role model for him.

“Hair is part of the things that define a generation and I do think I’m very much a child of my generation. It’s odd but you can’t quite picture Bowie or Iggy without hair and still being ‘Bowie’ or ‘Iggy’, either.”

Rock isn’t some inveterate name-dropper: these rock gods were his subjects, but also his friends. Rock, in fact, isn’t mad on the soubriquet that has followed him for the last few decades – ‘the man who shot the 70s’ – not least because he hasn’t stopped working.

Snoop Dogg and Daft Punk have faced his lens. Last year, he shot the cover for Miley Cyrus’s album Plastic Hearts. He’s now collaborated with the street artist Fin DAC on the Midaro project. As well as graphically reinterpreting some of Rock’s best-known shots, the project will see the release of four previously unseen photographs, all of which will be available in limitededition prints. There’s also Shot!, a book of Rock’s greatest hits, due out later this year.

Rock does, however, concede that it is for the images he shot during the glam decade that he is best known: of Lou, Iggy and Bowie, not to mention Debbie Harry and Talking Heads, Bryan Ferry and Syd Barrett. It was Rock who shot the video for Life on Mars and Space Oddity; who created album cover work for the likes of Reed’s Transformer and The Stooges’ Raw Power; who took that shot for the cover of Queen’s Queen II album, which was recreated for the Bohemian Rhapsody video.

“Yet I didn’t set out to become a photographer,” says Rock, who studied Medieval and Modern

“I just pointed a camera and talked, and that worked. I gave out the right energy. But I can’t think of how it could have been any other way”

OPPOSITE DAVID BOWIE SAX, 1973; ABOVE LOU REED; BOTH ©MICK ROCK 2021

Languages at Cambridge, where he first got the buzz of being behind a camera, albeit one, he later found, with no film in it. “Professionally, I just pointed a camera and talked, and that worked. I gave out the right energy. But I can’t think of how it could have been any other way. I was never going to get a proper job, and that way of thinking wasn’t so easy in 1970.

“Photography was considered fairly low down the list [of respectable occupations]. My mother certainly didn’t think it was a proper job. You had to hustle your way. But all these characters kept tumbling in front of my lens. I don’t think that means it was luck that I was in the right place at the right time. I think these things are written somewhere. And then you end up becoming some kind of character yourself – ‘that rock ‘n’ roll photographer called Mick Rock’.”

Certainly, rather than the voyeur’s sense of distance that many photographers maintain, Rock became integral to the world he documented. He was right in there. With that came a prodigious indulgence in

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“I nearly died – and, well, that seemed to change things...

It was a tap on the shoulder” drugs – cocaine, LSD, “whatever would jump me up a little bit” – which he mixed with cigarettes, nominal sleep and minimal food – “because food was just a drag”. Plenty, too, of what were then the esoteric practices of yoga, breath retention and the like.

“Those altered states definitely helped me develop my eye,” says Rock. It also gave him some unusual experiences – like the trip during which he saw Lord Byron walking down the high street, gimpy leg and all, and chased him around the corner where he disappeared. “I do believe that kind of thing happens because I believe in the metaphysical. To me it’s all so obvious,” he says. “Sure,[the creativity of the 70s] was a lot about the drugs, but not just about the drugs, so much as about the wider culture. And probably that era wouldn’t have been what it was without [those mind-bending drugs and practices either]. But then I nearly died – and, well, that seemed to change things...

It was a tap on the shoulder. ‘Oh, it’s him...’.”

A quadruple heart bypass, and later a kidney transplant, and it’s remarkable that Rock is still rockin’ ‘n’ rolling. But then, as he points out, both of his

ABOVE DAVID BOWIE, ©MICK ROCK 2021; RIGHT DEBBIE HARRY, FIN DAC X MICK ROCK FOR MIDARO, ©FIN DAC 2021; OPPOSITE DEBBIE HARRY, ©MICK ROCK 2021

parents lived well into their 90s, so maybe he’s just got the genes for survival. What’s more, he’s lived to cash in on his work-hard-play-hard approach. He’s lived through wild changes in the perception of photography – from jobbing work (in his early days, Rock would actually turn up to interview these acts, and just took some pictures while he was there to save the publication money) to attaining the status of art. One idea he did embrace faster than many photographers was to retain his copyrights. Society’s current fascination with 70s icons is now paying dividends. It’s payback for long periods of his career – a decade or more – when he didn’t get to work at all.

“It amazes me how in demand images from that [1970s] period are today, how fertile it is. Though I shot other stuff [at that time too], I’m lucky to have my [equivalent of the] Mona Lisa. In fact, I have three of four Mona Lisa’s, although the Mona Lisa is in the public domain, so anyone can have a bit of it – if you have a bit of my stuff I’ll sue the living daylights out of you,” Rock laughs.

“I’ve been offered millions for my archive. So why not cash in and do a Bob Dylan? Well, if it was worth that much I might be tempted, because that’s just unbelievable,” adds Rock. “I have thought about it but it’s not going to happen right now. When it does I plan to leave some to the yogis and some to my college, because that’s where I learnt all my mischief.”

It’s a life of such mischief that the idea that Rock also liked to compose and shoot traditional still life pictures on the side somehow just doesn’t ring true, though he insists he did, and that they’re all part of that archive that he’s slowly working his way through.

“It lives with me,” says Rock. “It’s like a wife”.

Rock knows there are some good shots of Madonna hidden in there somewhere, if he can ever find them.

Others of Motörhead and Kiss, sans make-up; of Johnny Rotten and Mick Jagger; some more of Freddie Mercury. In fact, if you rocked in rock music’s golden era, it’s likely that Mick Rock took your photo. He’s part of rock history.

“Oi,” he says, “less of the ‘history’. Part of the rock story maybe.

And I’m still here.”

The Fin DAC works and Mick Rock’s limitededition not-seen-before prints are available from west-contemporaryeditions.com

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60 Hot plates From NoMad to Salt Bae, discover the exciting new hotels and restaurants opening in the capital this summer 62 Like fathers, like sons How the lockdown project of chefs Jack Blumenthal and Scott Perkins turned into a thriving business

Words: Nick Savage

HOT PLATES As social distancing restrictions ease, hoteliers and restaurateurs are regaining confidence, with a number of top-shelf operators flocking to London to open new ventures. Lifestyle concierge compnay, Innerplace, suggests where you should make reservations

NoMad London The NoMad hotel is one of the finest places in midtown Manhattan to revel and refuel and almost singlehandedly revivified New York City’s lounge bar scene. As part of the Sydell Group, NoMad finds itself in the same stable as Eleven Madison Park and The Ned in London, and will undoubtedly hold sway as one of the heaviesthitting launches of 2021. For the London site, the group has chosen the Bow Street Magistrate’s Court, a Grade II listed building in Covent Garden. The word on the street is that the group has enlisted Eleven Madison Park alums Ian Coogan and Leo Robitschek to head up the restaurant, so expect Michelin-level cuisine.

28 Bow Street, WC2E, thenomadhotel.com

NoMad London atrium, rendering by Roman and Williams

Gaia Every so often we get an imported restaurant concept from another city that makes a huge splash, and Gaia could very well be London’s next tidal wave arrival. Helmed by sought-after chef Izu Ani, who formerly rattled the pans at La Petite Maison and La Serre, Gaia

will open in Mayfair this summer (exact date and location TBC) and will draw on Greek inspiration to create a modern taverna worth its salt. Diners will be treated to fresh Mediterranean cuisine, all served within a light interior with white painted woods and cream walls. gaia-restaurants.com

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Maru Those who were impressed with Taiji Maruyama’s kitchen work when he opened a second Taka in Marylebone last autumn will be pleased to hear the master itamae will be opening an exclusive sushi counter at the site of

the first Taka, on Shepherd Market.

Named Maru (after the chef), the venue will seat just 10 diners and serve a 20-course farm-to-table omakase menu.

18 Shepherd Market, W1J, takalondon.com

Nusr-Et Steakhouse

Roketsu

There’s been a ton of chatter around the opening of Nusr-Et Steakhouse, which will see Turkish restaurateur Nusret Gökçe open his inaugural British venture at Park Tower Knightsbridge Hotel. If you don’t recognise the name, you’ll likely know him for his sobriquet and alter ego Salt Bae, with which he took Instagram by storm. Guests will be able to enjoy his theatrical and unorthodox approach to seasoning and serving meat in the flesh, which perhaps should be taken with a pinch of, er, salt.

Thanks to Gökçe’s celebrity following, there’s no doubt droves of steak lovers will be flocking to Nusr-Et when the restaurant opens its doors on 17 May.

London has seen its fair share of quality Japanese restaurants, but is lacking in truly excellent Kaiseki eateries, which specialise in ceremonial Nipponese tasting menus. Roketsu looks to right this wrong when it officially opens its doors this summer (exact date TBC). Helmed by Daisuke Hayashi, a protégée of seven-Michelin-starred chef Yoshihiro Murata, Roketsu will craft the finest produce into finely-wrought works of art in a dining room built

by Sotoji Nakamura. Until then, the restaurant is serving takeaway bento boxes (pictured below).

12 New Quebec Street, W1H, roketsu.co.uk

101 Knightsbridge, SW1X, nusr-et.com

Innerplace is London’s personal lifestyle concierge. Membership provides complimentary access to the finest nightclubs, the best restaurants and top private members’ clubs. Innerplace also offers priority bookings, updates on the latest openings and hosts its own regular parties. Membership starts from £100 a month, innerplace.co.uk

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L I K E FAT H E R S , LIKE SONS

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I N T R O D U C I N G H O S P I TA L I T Y ’ S N E X T B I G T H I N G — R OA S T E D, B Y CULINARY POWER DUO JACK BLUMENTHAL AND SCOTT PERKINS

“I

Words: Rachel Ingram

LEFT SCOTT PERKINS (LEFT) & JACK BLUMENTHAL

’ve been having nightmares about Maris Pipers,” says Jack Blumenthal, from his kitchen in West London. Jack and his business partner, Scott Perkins, are in the middle of preparing 100 orders for a roast dinner service they are due to deliver a couple of days from now. What the pair started as a short-term pop-up during lockdown in April 2020 has turned into a fully-fledged catering business with its soon-to-launch private-dining experience.

When Jack Blumenthal, 28, launched into a career as an independent chef, he was always going to be compared to his father, Heston. But while his father’s critically-acclaimed, Michelin-star restaurant, The Fat Duck in Bray, was closed through much of last year, 2020 turned out to be the making of his son.

While on furlough from The Fat Duck, Jack saw an opportunity to team up with his long-term friend, Scott Perkins (32). Both Michelin-trained cooks and sons of high-profile chefs – Scott’s father, Neil, has worked with Raymond Blanc and Gordon Ramsay – the pair shared an instant connection when they met at the University of West London. At the

time, Jack was studying culinary arts and management while Scott was doing a parttime culinary management degree while working as head chef at Harrison’s catering.

Theirs was a natural chemistry in spite of, or perhaps because of, polar opposite personalities. “I think we’re strong together because we’re each other’s Yin and Yang,” says Scott. “We’re at other ends of the spectrum, like our fathers. I’d say Jack’s the extreme glass over-spilling, pumping water down the street person while I’m the glass half full person saying, ‘let’s pull it back a little bit, let’s look at the cost and profit margins.’”

“I get very over-excitable,” admits Jack.

“But that’s why it works. Even when we’re menu writing, I’ll say ‘let’s do this’, he’ll say ‘let’s do that’, then we bring it together and change it around. What we’re doing here doesn’t feel like work. We can be here for up to 18 hours a day so we might get tired and groggy, but we love it.”

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Jack teamed up with the Café Globe in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, to raise money for the NHS. The eightweek Sunday roast initiative raised £8,000 for the NHS and received overwhelmingly positive feedback. He

realised the concept had legs and teamed up with Scott to create a new brand, Roasted by Jack & Scott, through which the duo deliver ready-to-cook roast dinner kits to addresses across London, Buckinghamshire and, from this year, the entire country every Sunday.

“Scott and I set up our company in my mum’s kitchen in June,” says Jack, admitting this arrangement came to an end when she caught him washing hundreds of scallop shells in her dishwasher. In Autumn, they moved to a shared kitchen in Park Royal, West London, quickly outgrowing that space and moving into their own kitchen in the same building in January 2021. “We’re quite laddish so it’s good to be locked away out of peoples’ sight,” Jack jests.

People who order a Roasted box can rest assured that everything has been made by Jack and Scott. “We do all of the work because it is our product,” says Scott.

“That means hours making gravy, cooking sirloin, prepping potatoes… we make everything from scratch. You’re getting love with your food.”

As well as Roasted, the pair launched a catering service – one of their first clients was a special needs school in Hammersmith – and private dining experiences at addresses within a

90-minute drive of their base. “Private dining was going through the roof and we had about 100 bookings before December but unfortunately, because of Covid, we had to hit pause,” says Jack. “We offer a set menu package or, if you pay a bit extra, we can create a bespoke dinner.”

Each meal is prepared and hosted by the duo – a source of interest in itself.

“People often have expectations of me and expect me to come in, feathers out, but that’s not who we are,” says Jack.

He admits that their offering is a far cry from what some may expect from the son of Heston Blumenthal, who is famed for his multi-sensory dining concepts, unusual flavours and flamboyant persona, but this is exactly the point. Jack doesn’t want to emulate his father, although he says he’s “very, very proud” of what Heston has achieved.

Instead, Jack and Scott focus on British dishes done extremely well.

“When we started, we tried to do fine dining with really intricate details, but we realised that people just want really good, simple food cooked at home,” Jack says.

“We want to put our personality into the food, so we add our own twist here and there to keep it exciting and give people something special. So, if we’re going to make steak and chips, we’ll make it the

“I hated cooking for a long time.

Every Sunday Dad had me stirring cream at The Fat Duck, which I hated because I wanted to play football”

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best steak and chips you’ve ever had.”

They do this by embracing and updating traditional cooking techniques and sourcing quality ingredients from “the best” suppliers in the UK, many of whom they’ve cultivated relationships with over years of working at some of Britain’s finest restaurants, including The Fat Duck, The Hand & Flowers, L’Ortolan and Pétrus.

Ironically, considering his upbringing, Jack initially rebelled against the idea of working in a restaurant. “I hated cooking for a long time,” he says.

“Every day, Dad would come back stinking of garlic and onions and on Sundays he had me stirring cream at The Fat Duck, which I hated because I wanted to play football.” At 15-years-old, Jack worked at another of his father’s famous establishments, The Hind’s Head in Bray, to “pay off an iTunes credit card debt” he’d racked up.

As he grew older, Jack tried out

marketing, sales and admin roles but could never settle. “Every time I’ve tried something else, I’ve sat there thinking ‘I wish I was in the kitchen’. Eventually I thought, ‘why keep fighting it?’ My dad always said to me ‘don’t become a chef because you’ll lose your mind’, but I love doing what I do.”

Scott, meanwhile, always had his sights set on a career in the kitchen – and a Michelin star, which he’s hoping they can achieve with their new Chef’s Table concept. Above their current kitchen is a dining room where Jack and Scott plan to host 12-person dining experiences as soon as rules allow it.

“We’re going to take the tasting menu and start building that up,” says Jack.

“Scott wants a Michelin star.”

“I want us to be known as the ‘Kings of the Royal’,” jests Scott. “I’m a big believer that you can be as busy as you want to be. Even during lockdown, there were LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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opportunities. I think one of our biggest threats to people is that we will always take a negative and turn it into a positive.

Like Gordon Ramsay says, ‘you can’t be a three-star chef sat on your arse all day.’”

And the pair are prepared to work for it, even if that means preparing 100 portions of potatoes every week. “We wanted to become businessmen first before chefs,” says Scott. “A lot of chefs open restaurants and go bust because they don’t know how to run a business, so we’ve gone the other way and started a catering company so we can learn how to work out food costs and manage people, and so on, and then implement the restaurant into that business. We’re putting all the foundations in place now so we can have a Chef’s Table and focus on being creative.”

Roast dinners are priced at £28.50 per person.

Order by 9pm Tuesday for Friday delivery, roasted.jackandscott.com

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“Over the last 30 years, my main goal has been to achieve face and neck lifting using cosmetic medical procedures rather than surgery,” says Sebagh, who divides his time between his clinics in London and Paris. “During this time, there has been a surge in new technologies, which allows us to achieve an almost identical and more natural result than when using surgical procedures, with considerably reduced risks and side effects.”

One such technology is the Thread Lift, a highly effective treatment that readjusts sagging in the face or neck.

The doctor uses a pre-threaded needle to pick up the platysma (the muscle either side of the neck that drags the lower face down) and reposition it, reducing jowls and sharpening the jawline in the process. The type of thread used depends on the intensity of lift required: for very moderate cases, Sebagh uses special Korean dissolvable threads; for more advanced cases, the surgeon opts for Silhouette Soft threads, which last up

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For those who are just beginning to see the signs of ageing in their skin, there may be an even simpler solution.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT DR SEBAGH; DR SEBAGH’S CLINIC ON WIMPOLE STREET; DEEP EXFOLIATING MASK; SERUM REPAIR HYALURONIC ACID

at any age should try the Dr Sebagh Advanced Ageing-Maintenance Skin Care line. From the patented Pure Vitamin C Powder Cream to the Deep Exfoliating Mask, each of the innovative products targets a different problem. Whatever your skin concern, Dr Sebagh will have the solution.

From £400 for a brow/eye Ultralift therapy treatment; from £1,500 for a Thread Lift, 25 Wimpole Street, W1G, drsebagh.com

Couture CUT

FROM

A DIFFERENT

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Having spent much of the past year at home with his trusty canine, it was to man’s best friend that Mark Weston, Dunhill’s creative director, turned to for inspiration for his SS21 collection. (p.71)

68 Man about town Vegan suits and short-sleeve statement shirts 72 Kim Jones Dior Men’s artistic director on growing up in Africa and channelling art into his collections 78 A new way to shop Fast fashion be gone: the sustainable way to own designer clothes

Edited: Richard Brown

MAN ABOUT TOWN From Savile Row to the grasslands of Mongolia, the latest style trends and sustainable initiatives shaping men’s fashion

Sexton returns to the Row The legendary tailor is back with a new ready-to-wear collection With footfall down and formalwear becoming increasingly superfluous, Savile Row could do with a shot in the arm. Good news all round, then, that 30 years after swapping W1 for a studio in Knightsbridge, the tailor who helped revolutionise the street in the 60s and 70s is back with a pop-up store and new readyto-wear offering.

Indeed, it’s difficult to work out who’s got the better deal: Edward Sexton, who’s managed to secure a discounted lease – recently extended into summer 2021 – at Number 36, or The Pollen Estate, Savile Row’s principal landlord, which has scored the return of the original rockstar suit-maker at a time when the beleaguered menswear destination could do with all the help it can get.

As well as getting hands-on with Sexton’s first ever off-the-peg suits, visitors will be able to see a collection of never-before-seen images taken

by David Nutter, the photographer brother of Sexton’s original business partner Tommy Nutter. RB 36 Savile Row, WIS, edwardsexton.co.uk

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Prince Charles’ shirtmaker turns tailor to the NHS

Emma Willis launches Style for Surgeons

JAMES BOND SHOEMAKER STEPS ONLINE You can now order a pair of Crockett & Jones’ penny loafers like you do your favourite pizza – through your phone.

More than 140 years after the company was founded in Northampton, the Royal Warrant holder, and 007’s go-to bootmaker, has launched an ecommerce site. Don’t know your Lasts from your Scotch Grains? A library of ‘Guides’ will ease you through the purchasing process. crockettandjones.com

While the previous 12 months have been disastrous for some traditional shirtmakers – Pink has reportedly been put up for sale by parent group LVMH – shirtmaker Emma Willis has been “weathering the storm” by relocating from her store on Jermyn Street to her factory in Gloucester, and swapping ready-to-wear for made-to-order.

“With the shop being shut, we have changed to making to order, which means everything is bespoke,” says Willis. “We may well continue with this model when we can operate normally again.”

Willis, who has seen sales of nightwear increase by 80 per cent during the pandemic, has also launched the charitable initiative Style for Surgeons.

Staff that aren’t making shirts and luxury pyjamas have been producing scrubs in soft cottons for medical staff at several intensive care wards in hospitals around the UK. “We started raising funds to cover the cost of the Swiss cotton used for the scrubs

and one day I had a call from Benedict Cumberbatch, for whom we make shirts and nightwear, saying he was filming in New Zealand and had read about our initiative.

He was keen to support the NHS at home and gave an amazing £11,000.”

Willis is planning on reopening her Jermyn Street store as soon as restrictions are lifted and hasn’t let the pandemic dampen her enthusiasm for her next project: opening a shop

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specifically for the sort of women who currently buy her products through Matches Fashion and Net-a-Porter.

“There’s a definite new appreciation and demand for well-made and long-lasting clothing, the opposite of fast, disposable fashion,” says Willis.

“I think people are more and more responsible and aware of the provenance of the clothes they are buying, both for the sake of our planet and for the pleasure of wearing good things.” Susan Bradley

Introducing Tengri: the yak-fibre brand steering a sartorial revolution

Championing an alternative to cashmere The increasing demand for cashmere is having a devastating effect on land in Mongolia. Step in Nancy Johnston, founder of Tengri, who realised that yak hair, previously discarded by herders who rear yak for milk and meat, provides the same qualities as cashmere but at a far less environmentally-crippling cost.

By connecting nomadic herders with British craftspeople in Yorkshire and Savile Row, Johnston has helped farming families increase their income (by as much as 18 times in some cases) while protecting their nomadic way of life.

“Our first tailoring collaboration was with Huntsman,” says Johnston.

“Campbell Carey, the creative director, couldn’t believe the quality of it. We sold out our first fabric exclusively to Huntsman.”

Where Huntsman led, others have followed. Ask your tailor about Tengri when you next commission a suit. Ellen Millard

BOLD

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(and literally no one wants to do that)

Marni Floral Print Shirt, £480, farfetch.com

Etro Geometric and Floral-print Linen Shirt, £435, matchesfashion.com

Kapital Camouflage-Print Woven Shirt, £370, mrporter.com

The Vegan Suit by BOSS

For the past few years, BOSS has been demonstrating that its commitment to sustainable fashion goes beyond virtuesignaling soundbites. This season, the brand’s focus falls on tailoring. Launched in March 2021, BOSS Menswear’s traceable wool capsule collection comes with the assurance that the entire manufacturing process can be tracked, ensuring that animal welfare, social responsibility and environmental protection practices have been met. Elsewhere, the brand’s vegan suit (seen here) is crafted from Italian linen and made in Germany without the use of any animal-based materials. Order yours now in time for summer. hugoboss.com

Jacquemus Jean Bowling Shirt, £221, farfetch.com

Pierre-Louis Mascia Aloe Patchwork Shirt, £413, farfetch.com

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F E AT U R E

DOG DAYS ARE OVER

Dunhill Rediscovered Since becoming creative director at Dunhill in 2017, Mark Weston has been on a mission to make the brand’s distinctly British sensibilities relevant. “I knew it was a house with a little-known history that needed exploration and re-contextualising in a fresh new way,” says Burberry’s former senior vice president of menswear. “My collections since then have been a development of tradition and subversion.”

With his SS21 offering, Weston hopes to “define and underscore what we’re about.” How? With a collection that is not simply about deconstruction, but construction.

“It’s about the joy of making clothes and the emotional investment in them, which feels particularly resonant at this time.”

There’s a notion of utility and elegance about the collection, an evolution of ‘high 1980s’ style, and a fusing of New Romanticism with relaxed Japanese and Italian tailoring, blended with Dunhill’s distinctive Britishness.

“We’re re-contextualising tailoring,” says Weston, “ripping the guts out and using the components in a different order – amplifying the materials in their own right; the beauty of function, with function becoming decoration.” Chris Anderson dunhill.com LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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F I G U R AT I V E - PA I N T E R A M OA KO B OA F O

ENLISTS THE HELP OF GHANIAN-BORN

DIOR MEN’S ARTISTIC DIRECTOR KIM JONES

F O R H I S L AT E S T A R T- I N S P I R E D C O L L E C T I O N ,

When Kim met Amoako

Words: Chris Anderson

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DIOR MEN SUMMER 2021 BACKSTAGE © OSCAR CHANG ANDERSON

I TOP RIGHT KIM JONES, PORTRAIT BY NIKOLAI VON BISMARCK LEFT AMOAKO BOAFO © FRANCIS KOKOROCO

f you follow the world of men’s fashion, the name Kim Jones will be familiar to you. The British designer has held senior positions at both Dunhill and Louis Vuitton, and has been the artistic director of menswear at Dior since March 2018. He is known for his love of blending streetwear with high fashion (his latest Air Dior high-top sneakers, a partnership with Nike, is a case in point), and his focus on immaculate tailoring.

In September 2020, Jones was asked by Dior’s parent company, LVMH, to simultaneously cast an eye over another of its brands, Fendi, acting as the artistic director of womenswear – a role previously held by the late Karl Lagerfeld. His first Fendi collection was revealed to critical acclaim in February 2021. Since joining Dior, Jones’ impact has been spectacular – his decision to switch the name of the line from Dior Homme to Dior Men demonstrating that this wasn’t going to be business as usual.

The shapes, techniques and materials for which the house is known are still evident, but Jones has made them relevant, adding his own signature touch.

Often, the designer’s love of art, and his willingness to collaborate with others, has dictated his collections.

© OSCAR CHANG ANDERSON

The clothes themselves are extraordinary. In some cases, Boafo’s portraits have been transported onto the pieces themselves For Dior Fall/Winter 2020, for example, Jones found inspiration in the work of the late London designer, and punk iconoclast, Judy Blame. There are many similarities that could be drawn between Jones and Blame, not least their work with premium brands and celebrities: Blame art-directed Boy George, Massive Attack and Neneh Cherry; Jones has styled David Beckham and worked closely with Kanye West.

For Summer 21, Jones has another muse: up-andcoming Ghanaian painter Amoako Boafo, who serves as both influence and chief collaborator.

For Jones, the collection feels personal, evoking memories of a childhood spent in Africa, where his father worked as a hydrogeologist. He recalls the people he met, from Afar tribesmen to Maasai warriors, and the vibrant clothes they wore. “Growing up in Africa, living with little lizards, snakes and elephants or being chased by baboons – it never really goes away,” Jones recently told The New York Times.

Jones met Boafo in 2019, when the artist had a residency at the Rubell Museum in Miami. Jones was in town with a show to unveil the Dior Men’s Fall collection, and the two were introduced by museum owner Mera Rubell. For Jones, who had long been fascinated by African culture and art, it was the ideal partnership.

“It’s really a celebration of Amoako Boafo’s work,” says Jones of the collection, which is accompanied by beautiful campaign imagery shot by Rafael Pavarotti.

With the bold freshness of Boafo’s emblematic paintings, transposed onto Jones’ silhouettes – punctuated by flowers that reprise motifs from the

Ghanaian artist’s wallpapers – a captivating dialogue between art, fashion and photography is created.

For Boafo, the collaboration was just the latest project in a meteoric rise to fame. Only a few years ago, he was selling artworks in Accra, Ghana, for £70 apiece, trying to support his mother and grandmother.

Now, he headlines art festivals, with one of his works achieving almost £700,000 at auction. A 2008 graduate of Accra’s Ghanatta College of Art and Design, where he was named Best Portrait Painter of the Year, Boafo moved to Vienna with Austrian artist Sunanda Mesquita, whom he later married. It was here that Boafo became influenced by the twisted figures of Vienna Secession, a movement closely related to Art Nouveau. He subsequently traded his brushes for paint-dipped fingers.

Then, in 2018, Boafo suddenly found himself on the world stage. New York-based artist Kehinde Wiley, known for his highly naturalistic paintings of African Americans – he’d just created a portrait of Barack Obama for the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery

– discovered Boafo by chance on Instagram. Tipping off several prominent art galleries, Wiley helped Boafo secure a number of exhibition offers across the US. Boafo became the art world’s hot new thing. He met Jones in Miami the following year.

Owing to the pandemic, there could be no catwalk show last summer, so to exhibit the fruits of the collaboration a more creative solution was sought. The result was a short film, Portrait of an Artist, presented in two halves and available to watch on Dior’s website.

British surrealist video artist (and famous Aphex Twin collaborator) Chris Cunningham and visual artist Jackie Nickerson each directed a segment.

Cunningham’s half presented a documentary-style studio visit, and images of London, where Jones draws up all of the Dior collections (from an office on Harley Street), and Boafo’s studio in Ghana; Nickerson’s offered a soft-focus fashion clip that highlighted the nuances of the creative collaboration.

“I really love his work, and I’ve wanted to work with an African artist for a long time, because I grew up in Africa, and African art is always something that has been important to me,” says Jones, in Cunningham’s video.

The clothes themselves are extraordinary. In some cases, Boafo’s portraits have been transported onto the pieces themselves, with powerful hues of yellow, blue, coral and green, and Jones even echoing the textures of canvas and paint. There are also instances where Jones has captured a motif, such as an ivy print worn by a figure in a specific Boafo piece, and reproduced it in exquisite embroidered detail. Jones has similarly replicated details onto suit linings, leather jackets and turtlenecks.

Florals, marinière stripes and Dior Oblique embroidery have also made their way into the collection. And there are material innovations, such as leather Bermuda shorts, a black crocodile-leather-andwool safari jacket, and a white silk marching band coat.

There are high-waisted shorts, vibrant jumpsuits, berets and thick, striped elastic belts.

It would be amiss to discuss the collection without mentioning the new Dior Atlas sandals and the Maxi Saddle bag. The sandals, which Jones recommends wearing with Dior Oblique socks, are available in three versions – featuring Dior Oblique canvas with black or beige suede, or black neoprene with khaki suede, and a sole of woven rope with mesh sides. The Maxi Saddle bag, meanwhile, is a Dior icon newly reinterpreted by Jones, and worn as a cross-body, over the shoulder, or as a messenger bag. Available in black or khaki grained leather, or in your choice of Dior Oblique canvas, it includes a removable case for your smartphone.

Given Boafo’s current standing, and the interest surrounding his work, you wonder whether pieces from his partnership with Dior might have the

potential to be as collectable as his paintings. It would certainly be a more affordable, less conventional way, of obtaining his work.

Jones, meanwhile, is already eying up his next partnership, this time with more established painters – from the US, Kenny Scharf for Fall 21, and Scottish artist Peter Doig, for the follow-up Winter 21 collection. Scharf has designed a series of prints and embroideries, showcasing a vibrant neon palette, inspired by pop-culture and sci-fi influences.

Doig – who saw his 1990 canvas, Swamped, sell at a Sotheby’s auction in 2017 for £20 million – will see his work transposed directly onto Jones’ silhouettes, coupled with animal-print motifs and enthused with a militaristic feel.

Elaborating on the Scharf collection, Jones explains via the LVMH website: “When we started the collection, we were coming out of the first lockdown [in the UK], and I wanted to spread some joy, happiness and hope.”

If the aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance, then, with the help of Boafo, Scharf and Doig, Jones’ collections are achieving just that, in vibrant, technicolour detail. dior.com LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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old,

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NEW A S T H E WO R L D W I S E S U P TO T H E S H O R T FA L L S O F FA S T FA S H I O N ,

A N E W WAV E O F R E N TA L S E R V I C E S A R E P R O V I D I N G A M O R E S U S TA I N A B L E – A N D E C O N O M I C A L – A LT E R N AT I V E T O S H O P P I N G

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hanks, it’s rented” flashed the neon pink sign above Hurr’s concession stand in Selfridges, which opened in between lockdowns last summer.

Launched as part of the department store’s sustainable Project Earth initiative, the pop-up offered the opportunity to shop a vast range of designer clothes – but there was a catch. Once you’d worn your chosen item, you had to return it so somebody else could wear it, too.

Welcome to the world of rental fashion, a new wave of predominantly digital services that exist to extend the lifecycle of clothes and accessories, and stamp down on fast, throwaway fashion in the process. Launched in 2018, Hurr was the first peer-to-peer fashion rental platform in the UK, allowing users to not only borrow other people’s clothes, but also lend out their own treasured items. To avoid encouraging fast fashion, the website only stocks items that have a retail price of £150 or more and as such brands run the luxury gamut from Ganni and Alexa Chung to Balenciaga and Saint Laurent. Once signed up, users can browse more than 7,000 items, book rentals up to six months in advance and create mood boards of potential outfits.

In a world where we rent out other people’s homes, borrow their dogs, drive their cars and share their workspaces, it seems only natural that the access economy would eventually reach our wardrobes – and conversations surrounding the shortfalls of fast fashion have only served to spur the trajectory. The UK textile industry, for example, contributes 1.2 billion tonnes of carbon emissions a year – more than international flights and maritime transport combined.

“Rental is a critical part of the future of fashion and our planet,” says Georgie Hyatt, co-founder of rental platform Rotaro. “Our ideal vision of the future of fashion is onethird rental, one-third resale and one-third responsibly-made fashion. Rental is a great way to extend the lifespan of a garment and to offer our community access to beautifullymade luxury garments at a more accessible price point. If someone falls in love with a garment but knows they won’t wear it more

than three times they should absolutely consider renting.”

Sustainability is at the core of Rotaro, which not only offers an alternative to fast fashion, but promises to be as environmentally-friendly as possible in the process. All orders are packaged in a biodegradable box, which can be returned to the brand to be recycled, and are delivered by a carbon-neutral courier. All items are cleaned using an ozone cleaning method that requires minimal energy and produces zero waste. And for every rental, a new tree is planted through partner brand Ecologi. Rather than users renting from one another, Rotaro has developed a number of partnerships with labels such as Ganni, Rixo, House of Sunny and Jacquemus, meaning all clothing is handled directly by the brand itself – allowing for a wide range of sizes (6-18), next day delivery and a try-on-at-home service.

“Sustainability is a key pillar of our business and the whole reason we started Rotaro,” Hyatt explains. “We realised a criticism of fashion rental is the carbon footprint it leaves, and so we took every step to make our carbon footprint as light as possible.”

Subscription service Onloan is equally committed to environmentally-friendly shopping methods, so much so that it only partners with sustainable-first brands, all of which are fronted by female creative directors.

The website offers a rotating designer wardrobe, with the option to rent two or four items a month from 24 designers such as Shrimps, Stine Goya and Hayley Menzies.

Part of the appeal of using a fashion rental service is also having access to clothes and accessories that are exceptionally rare, limited edition or old season. Handbag subscription service Cocoon offers an extensive collection of new season, pre-loved and vintage designer totes – including limited-edition Fendi Baguettes, the Loewe Puzzle and the Gucci Horsebit.

Other services have capitalised on the increasing popularity of influencers, partnering with celebrities and Instagrammers to give users the chance to shop their clothes. My Wardrobe HQ, which launched in 2019 and has more than 500 designers on its books, doesn’t just source clothes from brand partners, but

CLOCKWISE FROM RIGHT ROTARO CAMPAIGN; HURR CAMPAIGN; ONLOAN CAMPAIGN; BAGS AVAILABLE FROM COCOON; CLOTHES AVAILABLE FROM

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“Rental is a critical part of the future of fashion and our planet” also from celebrities and influencers such as Arizona Muse, Poppy Delevingne and Olivia Buckingham. Similarly, By Rotation positions itself as a social app rather than a shopping service. Users have the opportunity to follow their favourite ‘Rotators’, make mood boards of future rental looks, see how many people are viewing their item and search for new and popular listings in their area.

Famous fans include Stacey Dooley and Lady Amelia Windsor.

Fashion rental services have been useful tools during this period of uncertainty. For those tentatively planning for occasions that may-or-may-not happen, renting an outfit seems a considerably more economical option. Rather than investing in a £1,349 rainbow sequin dress from The Attico, for example, users can borrow it from My Wardrobe HQ for up to two weeks at £23 a day. In a recent Grazia article, By Rotation reported a 600 per cent increase in rentals between November 2020 and January 2021, while Rotaro reported a 200 per cent increase in the run-up to Christmas, as shoppers who wanted a festive outfit but were wary of a January lockdown looked to rentals as an alternative.

One of the best bits about the fashion rental industry is that it isn’t shaming those who love to shop – rather it’s doing the exact opposite. These services give you access to more clothes and accessories than you could ever need; they’re simply encouraging a more considered approach to fashion in doing so. Onloan’s tagline puts it best: “Welcome to wardrobe freedom”.

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DISCOVER THE

BEAUTY

HEALTHCARE . PHARMACY . SKINCARE . WELLBEING

Collection HIGH

JEWELLERY

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HAUTE

HOROLOGY

Space-age material pioneer Hublot continues its mission to introduce high-tech compounds to watchmaking with the launch of the all-white Big Bang Integral, a timepiece engineered almost entirely from scratch-resistant ceramic. £19,100 (p.88)

84 Made in kind The British jewellery brands putting sustainability first 88 The best new watches of 2021 Introducing the most exciting timepieces of the year so far 92 Ahead of their time The Burlington Arcade boutique with the world’s largest collection of vintage Rolexes

T H E U K- B A S E D B R A N D S M A K I N G O U R C O N S I D E R E D J E W E L L E R Y C H O I C E S T H AT B I T E A S I E R

Words: Annabel Harrison

When you’re next browsing through sparkling treasure troves, virtual or otherwise, in pursuit of something stylish, subtle or joyously extravagant, you might want to apply the same mindset to your jewellery as many of us already do when choosing our clothes. Fast fashion and accessories, be gone; in with beautiful pieces designed to do no harm and outlast their wearer.

According to Taylor & Hart’s 20/21 Engagement Trend Report, searches are on the up for jewellery which is sustainable, ethical and made from recycled gold, and it’s easier than ever to find brilliant jewellery brands with (genuinely) virtuous credentials, and ambitions. These are some of our favourites...

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Tada & Toy

THE LOOK: earrings to suit all styles; your new go-to for pairs that are gem-set, heart-shaped and star-spangled

It takes a special kind of friendship to survive running a business. Given that London-based Tada & Toy has been going since 2015, Tansy Aspinall (Tada) and Victoria van Holthe (Toy) must be getting on better than ever. They mainly design earrings, produced in carefully chosen artisan workshops in Jaipur, India. “We’re committed to the ethical sourcing of our products and work closely with suppliers to ensure that they are aligned to our beliefs,” say the pair. Five per cent of profits are donated to a wildlife charity.

The brand’s playful designs combine Indian embellishment and a ‘SwedishScandinavian’ style, sported by fans including Emma Watson, Maisie Williams and Poppy Delevingne. The company’s 9 Gem Collection was inspired by the Sanskrit word Navaratna and the Black Sand Collection features motifs from natural ocean treasure – from emerald green seaweed to bejewelled lobsters. tadaandtoy.com

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Pippa Small

THE LOOK: mostly 18ct gold designs, often collaborative, and inlaid with bold and beautiful gemstones

Not many jewellery designers have a Masters in Medical Anthropology. Pippa Small’s interest in human rights and the diversity of our world’s cultures existed long before she opened her first shop in Notting Hill 14 years ago, and her travels and passions have since been inextricably bound to her creative output, as well as earning her an MBE. As a company, Pippa Small has been working with arts foundation Turquoise Mountain in Kabul, Afghanistan, to create and sustain jobs and revive crafts for more than a decade. pippasmall.com

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PIPPA SMALL TURQUOISE MOUNTAIN PHOTOGRAPHY BY TIERNEY GEARON

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Georgina Boyce

THE LOOK: understated, geometric, metallic and monochrome

We’ve fallen for these geometric, metallic creations, which strike the perfect balance between interesting and go-witheverything. A true perfectionist, Boyce has released just two collections since launching her brand in 2015: GEO and KIN. The rest of her time is taken up with handcrafted, British-made bespoke commissions. A Gem–A and GIAtrained gemologist, Boyce specialises in refashioning jewellery into new pieces and repairing old favourites – a sentimental, sustainable way to update your jewellery box. Her works range from unsubtly spectacular engagement rings to bracelets that adapt existing charms and treasures. georginaboyce.com

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Creature Jewellery THE LOOK: ethically-minded jewellery by former Made in Chelsea star Lucy Watson

Using recycled metals for new collections, and introducing them to old collections.

Committing to eco-friendly, recyclable packaging, and biodegradable giftwrapping. Offering a minimal packaging option at checkout. These steps might seem obvious but are by no means commonplace. Creature Jewellery aims to make ethical jewellery as covetable as it is affordable. “All of our jewellery is produced ethically in the UK and Thailand. Both factories use safe and fair labour practices and are committed to internationally-recognised human rights.” creaturejewellery.com

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R I S I N G STAR

Natalie Perry

THE LOOK: delicate gold, silver and bespoke jewellery with Indian and natural world influences

After cutting her teeth designing for one of Jaipur’s top diamond houses, Perry founded her brand in 2017 and has won Professional Jeweller’s Ethical Collection of the Year since. Her pieces are all cast using British suppliers, made in Perry’s London studio and marked with the Fairtrade gold stamp. UK-based suppliers relay the origin of gemstones and, when she’s not using Fairtrade gold in designs, where possible Perry uses 100 per cent recycled gold and eco-silver. The Floral Fragments collection, below, was inspired by disintegrating murals in Rajasthan. natalieperryjewellery.com

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SI ST ER SI ST ER

Soru Jewellery

THE LOOK: everyday statement pieces with a serious dose of Italianate style

The Duchess of Cambridge and Rita Ora have both been seen in Soru jewellery; often colourful and always joyful, it has signature cosmic embellishment and Italianate detail. English-Sicilian sisters Francesca Kelly and Marianna Doyle – Soru means sister in Sicilian – founded their jewellery brand in 2013 and they believe in keeping it in the family. Their

designs are brought to life by hand, in small family-run workshops in Italy and Turkey, and materials are ethically sourced from all over the world.

Francesca and Marianna grew up near Birmingham and would stay with their nonna (grandma) in Palermo each summer. “The stark contrast between our life in Birmingham and holidays in Sicily left a great impression on us,” say the sisters. “We were surrounded by strong, passionate women who were always draped in bijoux jewellery. We take our inspiration from them, our memories and love for the passion of Sicily itself.” sorujewellery.com

Jewellery is made by hand in the vicinity of Alighieri’s Hatton Garden studio – a commendable ‘walkable supply chain’

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STO RY-TE LLER

Alighieri

THE LOOK: impactful, talismanic, mostly gold ‘modern heirlooms’ with a story to tell

A Heap of Broken Images bracelet; Flashback and Unbearable Lightness rings; a Forgotten Memory necklace: Alighieri, inspired

by Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, will sweep you up into its unique world.

Rosh Mahtani, obsessed with melancholy and imperfection, has created a brand “rooted in literature and travel – that tells a story of whirlwind adventures, battered creatures, scraggy landscapes and passionate mistakes”. Jewellery is made by hand, in the streets around Alighieri’s studio in Hatton Garden – a truly commendable ‘walkable supply chain’. alighieri.co.uk

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROSH MAHTANI

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ABOUT TIME A F T E R T H E PA N D E M I C F O R C E D P R O D U C T I O N L I N E S T O G R I N D T O A H A LT L A S T Y E A R , 2 02 1 H AS A L R E A DY D E L I V E R E D A S L E W O F E XC I T I N G N E W T I M E P I E C E S .

I N T R O D U C I N G T H E H OT T E S T WATC H E S TO D R O P S O FA R

Words: Richard Brown

T

he annual watch calendar used to follow a well-trodden timetable.

The Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH for short) went first, showcasing the latest creations of brands belonging to the Richemont group as well as a smattering of independent watchmakers every January.

A few months later, press and buyers made their way to Baselworld for the newest wristwear from the rest of the big hitters.

With Baselworld canned, SIHH in a phase of transition, and the internet meaning that watchmakers are no longer tied to traditional trade shows, brands have been launching their 2021 collections according to their own timetables. We’ve been keeping time…

BIG BANG INTEGRAL CERAMIC, HUBLOT There’s a lot to like about this new Hublot – the integrated bracelet (new in 2020), for starters. Then there’s the singlematerial architecture (everything except the lugs and rubber elements on the crown

and pushers is made from ceramic), and the fact it’s more than twice as scratch-resistant as steel. Mostly, though, it’s about the colour – a polished-then-satinfinished grey-meetsmidnight-blue. We’re thinking a solid-dial version might look even niftier. £19,100

Vacheron Constantin revives one the most avant-garde timepieces in its extensive back catalogue

OCTO FINISSIMO S CHRONOGRAPH GMT, BULGARI The cult status of the Bulgari Octo Finissimo continues to gather pace. Seven years and six world records since its 2014 launch, the eightsided ultra-thin is quickly becoming the watch face of Rome’s leading luxury conglomerate. New for 2021 is this polished-steel-meets-blue-sunray-dial Octo Finissimo S Chronograph GMT. Equipped with a larger screw-down crown than former sandblasted models, the new GMT is now good to a depth of 100 meters. Whether you’d pair the watch with a wetsuit is another matter. £13,800

CHRONOMASTER REVIVAL A385, ZENITH More than a sepia-tinted throwback, Zenith’s latest Chronomaster is a genuine reissue of a stainless-steel chronograph from 1969.

The tonneau-shaped A385 featured a brown gradient dial – possibly the first ‘smoked’ dial ever made. This year’s A385 uses the original production plans from the initial model, to wit: a 37mm case, pump-style pushers and, if you opt for metal over calf leather, a stainless-steel ladder bracelet. £6,700

HISTORIQUES AMERICAN 1921, VACHERON CONSTANTIN RFU 150, BREMONT The Henley-on-Thamesbased watchmaker marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Rugby Football Union with a red-white-andblue chronometer engraved with a rose on its case-back. £3,995

WHITE BIRCH FOREST HIGH BEAT, SEIKO Forged in Grand Seiko’s manufacture in Shizukuishi, this dial has been made to resemble the birch trees that grow in the surrounding forests.

The watch is accurate to an impressive +5 to -3 seconds per day. £8,500

POLO SKELETON, PIAGET Piaget has two specialisms: skeletanisation and ultrathin movements, fortes writ large in the new Polo Skeleton. This model is 30 per cent thinner than existing Polo watches, with a 42mm case that’s been slimmed down to just 6.5mm thick. £26,500 LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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‘Classic with a twist.’ That’s the theme Vacheron Constantin is running with in 2021.

So it stands to reason that the storied horologist would choose this year to revive one the most avant-garde timepieces in its extensive back catalogue. It also helps that the diagonal-dial Reference 11677 is celebrating its centenary.

Three faithfully reinterpreted versions have been revealed, including this 40mm white gold edition. True to the original, it features a manually-wound movement. £32,700

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PREMIER HERITAGE CHRONOGRAPH, BREITLING Pistachio green. That’s what Breitling is calling the dial colour of its new stainlesssteel Premier Heritage Chronograph. It’s 40mm wide, manually-wound and also available with a silver dial and red-gold case. But, as you can see for yourself, it’s the pistachio green number for which you want to opt. That’s the head turner, that’s the conversation starter – a conversation in which you can subtly point out the tone-ontone stitching on the watch’s semi-shiny alligator strap.

And the sapphire crystal on its case-back, through which you can observe that authentically-retro, handwound movement. Yes, yes, that is a vertical clutch. COSCcertified, too. £6,200

Yes, yes, that is a vertical clutch chronograph movement. COSCcertified, too.

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BR 03-92 DIVER RED BRONZE, BELL & ROSS The case and bezel of Bell & Ross’s new dive watch are made of satin-polished CuSn8 Bronze, an alloy combining 92 per cent copper and eight per cent tin, which is used in the production of deep-sea dive helmets.

Only 999 examples will be made, each going on to develop a unique patina. £3,800

H08, HERMÈS There’s a lot going on with Hermès’ new H08.

Circles in squares, matt on gloss, orange on black, vulcanised rubber on DLC-coated titanium, a weird numeral font, and a tiny date window at half past four. It works. Tactile. Graphic.

Multifaceted. Mathematic, even.

The more you look, the more you see, the more you love. £4,480

CARL BRASHEAR CAL. 401 LIMITED EDITION, ORIS The third watch in the partnership between Oris and the Carl Brashear Foundation is the first to be powered by the watchmaker’s in-house Calibre 401 movement. Translation: the perfectlyproportioned 40mm automatic dive watch will now run for five days from a fully-wound state. £3,350

LUMINOR MARINA 44MM GUILLAUME NÉRY EDITION, PANERAI Elsewhere, Panerai has come up with a strap made from recycled plastic resin. The strap seen here is not that strap. This strap is made from white rubber. A pretty bold style statement in itself, we’re sure you’ll agree, but this strap goes even further. The words ‘Officine Panerai’, printed on its side, have been coated in a luminescent paint – meaning they’ll glow in the dark. Pretty cool, aye?

Switch between the recycled and lumescent straps with the use of a mini Panerai screwdriver.

Also seriously cool. £17,100

EXCALIBUR DOUBLE FLYING TOURBILLON, ROGER DUBUIS The skeletonised star on this updated timepiece no longer forms part of the base movement, instead criss-crossing between two bridges set at different levels. By reducing the weight of the watch’s two tourbillons, Roger Dubuis has also been able to up its power reserve to 72 hours. £162,000 in pink gold

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1968 18CT YELLOW GOLD OYSTER COSMOGRAPH DAYTONA, NICKNAMED THE ‘JOHN PLAYER SPECIAL, WITH ‘EXOTIC’ BLACK DIAL

Ah e ad of t h eir

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F O R 2 5 Y E A R S — B E F O R E P R E - O W N E D WAT C H E S B E C A M E B I G B U S I N E S S — FAT H E R - A N D - S O N T E A M J O H N A N D D A V I D S I LV E R H A V E B E E N S E L L I N G V I N T A G E R O L E X E S T H R O U G H T H E I R S T O R E IN BURLINGTON ARCADE. A NEW BOOK CHARTS THEIR STORY IN 1,800 TIMEPIECES

Words: Josh Sims

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avid Silver needs a very large safe.

Every evening, when the family business in Piccadilly’s Burlington Arcade closes, he puts away a few hundred Rolexes that are valued in the millions. But then the Vintage Watch Company, a business founded by his father 25 years go in 1995, probably owns the world’s largest collection of vintage Rolexes, dating from the 1940s through to the 90s.

“Funnily enough, I’m not really a watch guy,” Silver chuckles. “None of us [in the store] can get particularly excited about tourbillons, for example. But we do love the designs of these watches. We’re retailers first and foremost. We just happen to sell old Rolexes.”

The business came about when John Silver, David’s father, realised the potential of focusing on one

product. He had owned a chain of jewellery stores, which he sold to Debenhams, for whom he then worked briefly as a director.

“Debenhams would speak of ‘critical mass,’” says David.

“If they launched a handbag line, they didn’t do five styles, they did 55. And my dad thought he could offer critical mass with vintage Rolexes, to offer genuine breadth of choice. It also meant the pressure to sell the watches was off – much of our stock is steadily appreciating.”

When John Silver first turned to the fledgling vintage market, selling old jewellery and watches from a booth in Bond Street Antiques Centre, Rolex simply outsold everything else. Even back then, Rolex had something of a cult following.

“Rolex is regularly talked about as being one of the top five brands in the world,” says Silver. “Not just

TOP LEFT DAVID SILVER WEARING HIS 1966 OYSTER GMT-MASTER WITH FADED ‘PEPSI’ BEZEL MIDDLE RIGHT A PLATINUM PRINCE FROM THE 1930S MIDDLE 1982 18CT YELLOW GOLD OYSTER DAY-DATE WITH DIAMOND, SAPPHIRE, RUBY & EMERALD BEZEL BOTTOM RIGHT 1970 18CT YELLOW GOLD OYSTER SUBMARINER DATE WITH TROPICAL PURPLE DIAL AND MERCEDES HOUR HAND ALL PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRUCE MACKIE AND CHARLIE SAWYER

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“Some people get very excited about idea of ‘pumpkin’ lume or a ‘tropical’ dial” among watch brands, but up there alongside the likes of Kellogg’s or Coca-Cola. Ask anyone anywhere in the world to name a watch brand and the majority will say ‘Rolex’. The company is simply brilliant at marketing. Early in its history it was building association with high-profile events and achievements that gave the name credibility.”

Not that Rolex devotees have merely been suckered in by clever advertising. Rolex can count among its output more than a few bona fide design classics – watch designs that are by some distance the most copied and counterfeited in the world.

That’s why Silver has to vet every watch he buys in person, checking serial numbers and for the kind of sophisticated fakery that forgers use to try and pass off a valuable Daytona as a very valuable Daytona. The difference is often the subtlest of dial details. Silver will also politely decline any watch that isn’t 100 per cent original – that has had a dial replaced, for example, even if Rolex replaced it itself.

At the end of 2020, the Vintage Watch Company turned 25. It celebrated by publishing Vintage Rolex: The Largest Collection in the World. A catalogue of 1,800 watches that have passed through the company’s story, the coffee-table book is one of the largest pictorial records of vintage Rolexes ever printed. The Deluxe Edition (£125) is housed in a cloth-covered presentation box and ribbon.

In December 2020, a Rolex Daytona owned by Paul Newman – a gift from his wife with the inscription ‘Drive slowly, Joanne’ on its caseback – sold at a New York auction for $5,475,000. The most expensive Rolex ever sold – another Daytona bought for Newman by his wife – sold in 2017 for $17.8 million. What exactly is it about vintage Rolexes that makes them so sought-after?

“Rolex has had this ability to focus on a very clean style and functionality,” says David. “It’s not about complications. It’s about simplicity and usability. I think most people buy a Rolex for its classic styling, for the outside rather than the inside – though Rolex might well be horrified by that idea.”

Rolex itself has been an occasional customer of David’s, filling gaps in its archive. Most customers, David admits, tend not to be diehard horophiles and opt for a classic Oyster, often one produced in the year of their birth. “It’s a rite of passage purchase, something you keep for life,” says Silver.

Occasionally, however, someone is after something rather more special.

“I remember selling my first Cosmograph, a gold

pre-Daytona model,” Silver recalls. “It was coming up to Christmas and this guy paid £19,500, which back then was a serious amount of money. It was the most expensive watch we’d sold up until that point. I was physically shaking as I packaged it up for him.”

Alongside the Oysters, which start from around £4,000, and which the Vintage Watch Company buys from private sellers and the dealers around the world, are plenty of early Rolexes – “the kind of designs that most people wouldn’t typically even think of as being Rolex, the kind of thing we get excited about but not everybody does,” says Silver.

While some people are looking for a vintage watch in mint condition, other collectors, says Silver, prefer those that are showing signs of age – patina, fading and discoloration. “Some people can get very excited about idea of ‘pumpkin’ lume or a ‘tropical’ dial and love how distinctive and pretty a patina it can be. And, truth be told, some people are horrified by it – the idea of paying three times the normal rate for something that’s distressed makes no sense to them at all.”

Silver is cautious of holding any Rolex stock that is too rarefied for the broadly mainstream customer. As he stresses, he’s a retailer – he buys to sell. So while on occasion he may be offered a Rolex valued at, say, a cool £250,000 – “the kind of watch that invariably has to live in a safe,” he notes – he’s unlikely to buy it.

“That’s a lot of money to invest when we don’t know who might buy such a watch or when,” he explains, “and when for the same money we could buy 25 GMTs. We’ve never set out to be ‘the proud owner’ of a certain incredibly rare model. Never mind how rare the watch is – can we sell it? We don’t get emotional about the watches – there are plenty that on paper we shouldn’t have sold because of their subsequent increase in value. But that’s not retailing. And that’s my father’s discipline there.”

It’s why the company also keeps a close eye on what Rolex is doing with its new models – because where Rolex leads, the vintage Rolex market follows; if Rolex introduces a new Submariner, for example, there’s nearly always a demand for vintage Submariners soon afterwards. In part, Silver explains, that’s to do with Rolex’s distribution. Just because it has launched and advertised a new model, doesn’t mean you’ll be able to find one to buy.

“And in a world of instant gratification, that’s a problem for some customers,” laughs Silver. “But a new launch by Rolex also inspires interest in the original version, and powers demand for vintage models.

Besides, there’s a certain character to vintage Rolexes.

We’re a blip in the huge Rolex market, but I think we’re also a glorious representation of what Rolex has produced, of what is an amazing company.”

‘Vintage Rolex: The Largest Collection in the World’, Deluxe Edition is published by Pavilion, £125, pavilionbooks.com

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Drive HYPERCARS,

HOT

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Despite COVID-19 pressing pause on production last year, the Lotus Evija is back on track to launch in summer 2021 (p.98)

98 Need for Speed From the Aston Martin Valhalla to the Tesla Roadster, these are the most hotly-anticipated supercars set to hit the road this year 102 Here’s looking at you kid To mark the E-Type’s 60 anniversary, Jaguar unveils a souped-up F-Type in Sherwood Green th

SPEED FREAKS THE MOST EXCITING SUPERCARS SCHEDULED TO LAUNCH IN 2021

Words: Jeremy Taylor

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espite Covid-19 causing delays in production, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Maserati and McLaren all have high-performance hybrids slated for release later this year. From the awesome Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA to the futuristic Aston Martin Valhalla, these are supercars your teenage self would have Blu Tacked to your bedroom wall…

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LOTUS EVI JA

Production of the all-electric Evija was badly delayed by the pandemic but Norfolk-based Lotus appears to be back on track. The £1.5 million, quad-motor hypercar deploys 1,972bhp and will return monster performance – if you can find anywhere safe enough to enjoy it.

The car is scheduled to be ready for the summer and, with Chinese auto conglomerate Geely holding the Lotus purse strings these days, it looks like exciting times are ahead for the famous British marque. The Elise, Exige and Evora ranges are all scheduled for updates by the end of 2021.

From £1.5 million, lotuscars.com

LAMBORGHINI SIÁN FKP 37

Not just a supercar but a hybrid hypercar loaded with an electrified V12 engine, the Lamborghini Sián FKP 37 looks similar to the Aventador but packs even greater performance – if that’s possible.

The Italian marque’s first proper venture into battery power features a 48V electric motor producing a modest 34bhp but ups the overall output to a massive 808bhp.

The two-seater will storm to 60mph in under 2.8 seconds and keep going to over 220mph.

A regeneration system harvests electrical power under braking, while the raucous Lambo exhaust roar will, thankfully, still possess the power to fell a tree. Only 63 units will roll off the production line.

Approx. £1.5 million, lamborghini.com

A L FA R O MEO GI ULI A GTA

What’s a relatively humble Alfa Romeo doing on a list of supercars? Well, the GTA is not your average Giulia. It will cost £153,000 and feature a delightful 2.9-litre, twin-turbo borrowed from the Quadrifoglio.

Power is increased to 532bhp and the sound is amplified via an Akrapovic titanium exhaust system that is centre-fixed at the rear. Production is due to start soon but if the standard version is not enough, opt for the more hardcore, £158,000 GTAm version, with extra carbon fibre, including a curvy rear spoiler.

From £153,000, alfaromeo.co.uk LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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TESLA ROADST ER

Elon Musk’s electric brand proudly proclaims that the forthcoming new Roadster will be the ‘quickest car in the world’, with a top speed of 250mph+ and an exceptional 200 kWh battery range of 620 miles. The 2+2 also claims to have a 0-60mph time of just 1.9 seconds and can already be reserved for £189,000 online. There are, however, reports that the car might now be delayed until 2022.

Key features include a lightweight, removable glass roof, four-wheel drive and styling that closely resembles the prototype Musk unveiled back in November 2017. The original Tesla Roadster model was launched in 2008 and based on the Lotus Elise.

From £189,000, tesla.com

MC L A R E N A R TU R A

McLaren embraced hybrid technology years ago with the sensational P1. The new Artura will replace the current 570S, utilising a hybrid V6 powertrain on an all-new platform. As usual, the Artura will be built around a McLaren carbon-fibre tub and share the aggressive front-end looks of the company’s Speedtail model – although no proper imagery of the

car has yet been released.

A full reveal is expected in the next few months, with a price of around £160,000.

McLaren believes the supercar will be a key rival to the Ferrari F8 Tributo and the Lamborghini Huracán Performante.

From approx. £160,000, cars.mclaren.com

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P ORSCH E 9 11 GT 3 R S

Naturally-aspirated, nonturbocharged supercars are rapidly falling out of favour.

Porsche is having one last stab at it the with the hotly-anticipated GT3 RS. Using the same 4.0-litre flat-six engine as the Speedster, the new RS will produce 500bhp+, with massive downforce from a retro-looking outsized spoiler.

No word on exact costs yet but expect prices to start around £140,000. And, given that fanatical Porsche fans will have paid their deposits months ago, the hottest 911 money can buy is a guaranteed sell-out. A rocksolid investment.

ASTO N M A R TI N VA L H A L L A

The slippery-looking Valhalla is so futuristic that when I stood next to a prototype version at Silverstone last year I couldn’t even find the door handle.

Under the bonnet is an all-new, turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 – the first engine Aston has designed in-house since the 1960s – which has been mated to a plug-in

battery pack that will feature in future models.

Performance and price details have yet to be revealed and, again, production might be held up until next year. This mid-engine hypercar looks like no Aston I’ve ever seen before.

Approx. £1 million, astonmartin.com

From approx. £140,000, porsche.com

MASERAT I M C 20

A Maserati supercar has been a long time coming but the MC20 looks well worth the wait. First examples will feature a twinturbo V6 petrol unit but, later, a fully-electrified model will smash 0-62mph in under two seconds.

The lightweight, tri-motor car will combine a single motor on the front axle and a pair at the rear. It will be 100kg heavier than the petrol MC20 but that only boosts the car’s performance. V6 models will arrive later in the year and cost from £187,000.

From approx. £155,000, maserati.com

M E R C E D E S -A MG P R OJ E C T O N E

Project ONE is the closest you can get to driving Lewis Hamilton’s F1 car. Powered by a 1,086bhp hybrid powertrain, the difference is that this Mercedes can be driven on the road.

Its top speed will be around 220mph and Mercedes promises 0-124mph in under six seconds.

Remarkably, all that power comes from a 1.6-litre single turbo V6, just LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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like the one found in Hamilton’s Formula 1 race car.

Project ONE should be here later this year with a few tricks up its sleeve – like a reversing camera on the roof, adjustable foot pedals rather than driver’s seat, and wheels cut from magnesium alloy.

Only 275 units are being produced. £2.4 million, mercedes-amg.com

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R AT I N G :

Words: Jeremy Taylor

W

hen Frank Sinatra visited the New York Auto Show in 1961, so smitten was he with the new E-Type that he insisted Jaguar let him buy the sports car on the spot. In the decade that followed, Jaguar’s sleek two-seater became almost as famous as the celebrities driving it, which included everyone from Richard Burton and George Best, to Tony Curtis and The

Beatles’ George Harrison.

The E-Type celebrated its 60th anniversary in March, a milestone Jaguar seized upon to create a special edition in the car’s honour. The F-Type Heritage 60 is based on a top-of-the-range F-Type R but dressed in evocative retro paintwork.

Dark and moody Sherwood Green has not been seen on a Jaguar since the 1960s. Priced from £122,500, the special edition F also boasts ‘heritage-inspired’

chrome trim, a 60th anniversary badge and 20-inch, gloss-black alloy wheels.

The Sherwood paintwork really sets this Jaguar apart. Grey in some light, green in others, the retro hue of the Heritage is so subtle it’s eye-catchingly different.

It feels about as British as British can get. And while the F-Type will never hold a candle to the E-Type’s elegant design profile, the coupé version in particular still looks as fresh as it did when it was launched in 2013 as the E-Type’s ‘spiritual successor’.

Inside, an E-Type-inspired aluminium console and door treadplates – with discreet 60th lettering – identify this as the new Heritage model. The extended leather trim is cut from sumptuous hide coloured in Caraway, posh speak for beige.

The F-Type range was upgraded in 2019 and the Heritage benefits from a raft of new technologies, such as a 12.3-inch TFT instrument cluster, touchscreen infotainment system and Smartphone Pack with Apple CarPlay.

The limited run model – only 60 are being produced – also features an E-Type anniversary logo embossed in the seat backs, plus Caraway-edged luxury floor mats. It all looks wonderful but remember, these purely cosmetic changes increase the price of the heritage by some £22,000 above the F-Type R model on which it is based. A pricey collector’s piece then, the Heritage has been created by Jaguar’s SV Bespoke division and is available as either a convertible or a coupé.

The real joy of the Heritage, however, is what lies under that long, low bonnet.

It shares the same, glorious 5.0-litre,

This mighty V8 will one day be consigned to the scrap heap... but, for now, it remains a wonderful piece of machinery

supercharged V8 engine as the F-Type R, producing a heady 567bhp and bags of old-school charm.

Such enormous grunt will catapult the roadster to 60mph in 3.5 seconds, racing on to a supercar-like top speed of 186mph. This mighty V8 will one day be consigned to the scrap heap as hybrid and electric power take over but, for now, it remains a wonderful piece of machinery.

Jaguar has fitted revised dampers and anti-roll bars to heighten the driving experience in the V8, which is more hairy-chested than the current trend for smaller, turbocharged engines.

Consequently, the power delivery is less instant in the F-Type but instead winds up faster and faster and keeps going through eight gears.

While the steering feels tight and the suspension set-up uses parts from the now defunct, high performance F-Type SVR, most drivers with be thankful the traction control system and all-wheel drive are on hand to help keep the Heritage on the highway.

Like the F-Type R, the special edition features all-wheel drive for improved grip and four pompous, oversized exhaust pipes. Slip into ‘sport’ mode and a wild banshee wail will follow your every downshift and blip of the accelerator.

And yet, despite all this, the driving experience is nowhere near as precise and rewarding as many rivals in the £120,000+ bracket. You really have to love Jaguars to want to shell out this much on a special edition.

Jaguar’s Bespoke director, Mark Turner, explained why they built the car: “Celebrating 60 years of the iconic E-Type is the perfect moment to create our firstever SV Bespoke limited edition – and the rarest F-Type ever built.

“We’ve worked closely with Jaguar Design to develop a theme for the 60 Edition that pays homage to the E-Type in a contemporary way. It’s testament to Jaguar’s sports car design lineage that the 1960s Sherwood Green colour looks as though it could have been designed for today’s F-Type.”

He’s right – the F-Type R exudes a rare charm which is only amplified by the Heritage revisions. And compared to the class-leading Porsche 911 Turbo,

The Car of the Stars The sleek lines of the E-Type made it a hit with film and TV makers around the world. On the big screen, the E-Type was one of three cars crushed by the Mafia in The Italian Job. Michael Caine’s character, Charlie Croker, could only look on as his team’s Jaguar is destroyed by a bulldozer.

A scene that’s still painful to watch even now.

An E-Type could have been Roger Moore’s car in 1960s TV series, The Saint. However, when programme-makers approached Jaguar, the Coventry company was reluctant to become involved. Volvo, on the other hand, were more receptive, offering a P1800.

Twiggy later drove an E-Type in The Blues Brothers; actor Mike Myers had one painted in Union Jack colours for the 1997 spy spoof Austin Powers; while Uma Thurman wore a catsuit in hers for the film version of The Avengers.

Land speed record holder Donald Campbell was also an owner.

He drove the coupé version around the Lake District in 1967, as TV cameras followed him preparing for what would be his final, ill-fated record attempt on Lake Coniston.

Yet while the E-Type has a rich film heritage, it somehow missed the biggest film franchise of them all – James Bond. Back in 1964, Jaguar was too hesitant. Instead, Aston Martin owner David Brown provided two DB5s and the rest, as they say…

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JAGUAR F-TYPE HERITAGE 60 PRICE: FROM £122,500 0-60MPH: 3.5 SECONDS MAX SPEED: 186MPH ENGINE: 5,000CC SUPERCHARGED V8 TRANSMISSION: 8-SPEED AUTO POWER: 567 BHP TORQUE: 700 LB FT EMISSIONS: 243 G/KM ECONOMY: 26.4MPG

the special edition Jag offers a boot load of character.

Technology-wise, it lags behind the competition and the price premium over a ‘standard’ F-Type R is hard to justify but collectors and serious Jaguar enthusiasts should get in the queue.

If you prefer something a little more ‘E-Type’, Jaguar’s Classic department is currently building six matching pairs of restored E-Types – coupé and convertible

– selling for around £600,000 a set.

The ‘new’ E-Types are restored cars built around an original shell. Some of the mechanical features have been upgraded to modern standards, but it’s essentially the same as a 1960s E-Type.

Much like the F-Type Heritage, the new models will no doubt thrill hardcore Jaguar collectors – but for those who can resist the draw of the big cat, these may be motors to admire from afar.

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LUXURY LONDON

PROMOTION

D Why owning the supercar of your dreams is a lot easier than you think T H A N K S T O S H O R T-T E R M S U P E R C A R L E A S I N G C O M PA N I E S LIKE PB SUPERCAR HIRE, THE WORLD’S MOST EXPENSIVE VEHICLES CAN NOW BE RENTED BY THE MONTH

espite the nation having spent much of last year in some state of lockdown, Andrew Calf, operations manager at PB Supercar Hire, reports that 2020 saw a spike in the short-term leasing side of his business.

In fact, Calf believes the economic uncertainty created by the pandemic has caused would-be supercar owners to reevaluate their options. Faced with an ambiguous outlook – and with the high maintenance costs, extortionate insurance fees, and rapid depreciation rates of supercar ownership that are well documented – supercar owners are opting to lease short term, often on monthly rolling contracts, rather than buy.

Calf says: “We have been in the supercar hire business since 2006, and up until a few years ago this primarily focused on one-off weekend wedding hires, with more hardcore supercar enthusiasts also using the cars during the week. Towards the end of 2017, however, we started to see a rise in the number of clients requiring cars for longer periods – in some cases up to 12 months.

“It was clear that, in uncertain times, clients wanted the flexibility of monthly rolling contracts rather than being tied to traditional three-year leases. It also enables our clients to switch cars on a regular basis, effectively enabling a different supercar every month.

“We also took on a number of clients who had sold their cars early last year LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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in advance of a work placement abroad only to find their intended move was postponed due to the pandemic. Our approach to supercar use seems to be very popular not only among clients who want to change cars often, but with clients with fluctuating incomes. More than 70 per cent of our clients are self-employed, so our leasing options allow them to use cars when they feel it’s affordable to do so.”

Where standard supercar leasing companies require clients to commit to a minimum of either 36, 48 or 60 months, usually with non-refundable deposits or upfront payments, PB Supercar Hire allows you to arrange short-term leases for anywhere between one and 12 months.

All that’s required is one month’s lease fee in advance and a deposit, which is refunded in full at the end of the lease.

There are no checks other than at the DVLA. This means that a short-term, three-month lease on a top-of-the-range Mercedes AMG GTS, for example, will cost from £2,916 a month, with a deposit of £1,500. If you fancy the more exotic Lamborghini Huracán, prices start from £4,833 a month.

So far, more than 7,000 clients over 15 years have taken advantage of PB Supercar Hire’s flexible gateway into supercar ownership. So, what will it be – a Ferrari 458 Coupé or an Audi R8 V10 Spyder?

For more information, contact pbsupercars.com, telephone 0207 241 6854, or email info@pbsupercars.com

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Homes & Interiors I T ’ S W H AT ’ S I N S I D E T H AT CO U N T S

Rejoice, anyone who’s ever marvelled at Beata Heuman’s colourful interior designs on Instagram! The designer is sharing her pearls of wisdom in a new book (p.122)

110 On the up London’s unsung staircases and why you should pay them a visit 118 Space modern The Knightsbridge-based interiors brand revolutionising our homes 122 Get the look Beata Heuman on why interior design should always be personal

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I N C E L E B R AT I O N O F LO N D O N ’ S M O S T S P E C TAC U L A R S TA I R C A S E S

Words: Charlie Thomas

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f you like looking at concrete and metal, appreciating the intricacies of good design and the consequences of hard labour, London is a city for you. Like New York, Paris and Tokyo, the variety of architectural styles in England’s capital is quite staggering. Whether you’re into Tudor pubs or 1960s brutalist monoliths, there are building styles to inspire every sort of armchair architect.

Sometimes, though, the most interesting parts of a building can be found on the inside. Forget fancy façades, often it’s staircases that constitute a structure’s crowning glory.

In London’s most successful buildings, staircases are transportation vessels, static vehicles that make a journey feel special – even if the destination is only ten steps away. Much of London may remain closed, but these staircases promise to take you places once the city is back up and running.

HI DE R E STAU R A N T, P I CC A DI L LY

One of the most interesting-looking staircases in London features not in a historic landmark, nor a state-of-theart skyscraper, but a restaurant. Ollie Dabbous’ Hide restaurant in Mayfair may have received rave reviews for the food when it opened in 2018, but the star of the show may well be the Gaudi-esque staircase that dominates the interior.

Part of a build that cost a reported £20 million, its swirling, hypnotic design was penned by Atmos Studio, and it’s a beauty from all angles.

TATE M O D E R N B L AVATN I K B U I L DI N G , B A N KS I DE

Perhaps London’s most photographed staircase, the curved concrete wonder located on the ground floor of the Blavatnik Building is reason alone to head to the iconic Bankside gallery. Part of the 2016 Herzog & de Meuron-designed extension to the former power

TATE BRITAI N , M I L L BA N K

The Tate galleries, clearly, aren’t shy of a fancy staircase. The original Tate, the Britain, boasts its very own, built as part of a £45 million refurb of the famous Millbank landmark that completed in 2013. Located in the centre of the rotunda, an elaborate entrance hall replete with ornate pillars and a circular balcony, the staircase is as Insta-friendly as it gets. This is in part thanks to the patterned terrazzo floor and the pleasing geometry of the design, which is almost too perfect. Descend into the bowels of the Tate and enjoy a coffee or two, then head back up and admire the domed glass ceiling above.

ALL IMAGES CHARLIE THOMAS

station, its impossibly smooth, cold surface begs to be touched as you walk under it, the staircase’s intimidating mass suspended impossibly above you. There’s something undeniably satisfying about the long continuous line that connects from the ground floor to the storeys above; it draws the eyes upwards towards the many galleries that are housed in this vertical maze of a building.

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R OYA L N AT I ON A L TH E ATR E , SOU T H BA N K

Depending on who you speak to and whether or not they have any taste, the National Theatre may come up in conversation as one of London’s best or worst buildings. It is, of course, the former, and one of the jewels in the Southbank Centre’s crown. Finished in 1976, it’s a perfect example of why brutalism is such an infamous style of architecture – its use of vast swathes of concrete, sharp lines

and harsh angles makes it stand out among the many buildings that line the Thames. It also has one of the city’s best staircases.

You have to walk up another set of steps and across a small walkway to get the best view of it, which is incidentally the best view of the theatre.

The staircase is open to the elements and is quite small, and from this particular angle gets lost among the sharp strips of grey of the rest of the building. Its bulbous, rounded section gives it away though, and is representative of a time when the future was concrete.

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C I TY H A L L , S O U T HWARK

Variously nicknamed the ‘Helmet’, the ‘Glass Testicle’ (by Ken Livingstone), and ‘The Onion’ (by Boris Johnson), City Hall is certainly one of the more distinctive structures located along the River Thames. Designed by Norman Foster, its bulbous shape makes it instantly recognisable, especially against the backdrop of the neighbouring Tower Bridge. While its exterior divides opinion, few can argue against the spectacular staircase within – an endlessly winding orange peel of a design that you might recognise from productions as varied as The Apprentice and the 2015 James Bond film Spectre.

ABOVE, FROM LEFT THE STAIRCASE IN CITY HALL, SOUTHWARK, PHOTOGRAPHY BY ELENA CASTALDI VIORA/ SHUTTERSTOCK.COM; AERIAL SHOT OF THE STAIRCASE IN CITY HALL

BELOW THE STAIRCASE IN QUEEN’S HOUSE, GREENWICH, PHOTOGRAPHY BY YAZBERY AND SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

OPPOSITE PAGE THE STAIRCASE IN BEVIN COURT, FINSBURY, PHOTOGRAPHY ©CHARLIE THOMAS

QUEEN ’S HOU SE, GREENWICH

A monumental name for a monumental building. Named after Anne of Denmark, King James I’s queen, who commissioned it in 1616, Queen’s House is one of the UK’s most important architectural landmarks. Designed by Inigo Jones, it’s noted as the first example of classical architecture to be built in the UK. It’s a Grade I listed masterpiece and, of course, it has a great staircase. The Tulip Stairs are an original part of Jones’s design, and they were Britain’s first self-supporting spiral stairs, quite the achievement back in the 1600s.

You can ordinarily visit them for free and marvel at their geometric perfection from virtually any angle, although the view from the bottom is arguably the best.

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B E V I N CO U R T, F I N S B U RY

Bevin Court may house the coolest staircase you’ve never seen. A modernist post-war housing solution completed in 1954, Bevin Court was designed by lauded architect Berthold Lubetkin, who chose a bomb-destroyed site in Finsbury for his vision (which has since been Grade II listed). While not open to the public, arrange permission to visit and you’ll see why. Connecting all floors is a vortex of a staircase that looks straight out the mind of graphic artist M.C. Escher, with walkways veering off at all angles and a striking red paint job, restored to the original 1950s spec. It showcases the ingenuity of Lubetkin and how interesting design shouldn’t be solely reserved for luxury apartment complexes.

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HOMES & INTERIORS

L LOYD ’S BU I L D I N G , C I T Y OF LON D ON

Richard Roger’s masterpiece is what a utopian future looked like in 1986

One of the most distinctive buildings in the City of London, the Richard Rogers-designed Lloyd’s Building is as innovative as it is polarising. Its Marmite exterior is a signature of Roger’s. Built in the ‘bowellism’ style, its design features the building’s innards on its outside – its intestinal network of tubes, lifts, wiring, pipes and electrical ducting are visible, saving room for an uncluttered, highly adaptable interior. The Centre Pompidou, Roger’s masterpiece, is designed in the same way. Inside, the vast atrium is dominated by a series of criss-crossing escalators, connecting all floors as light floods in through the glass ceiling. Yes, they are not staircases in the traditional sense, but this is what a utopian future looked like in 1986. Walking up stairs is overrated anyway.

L I B E R TY, W E ST E N D

LEFT LLOYD’S OF LONDON REMEMBRANCE SERVICE ON ARMISTICE DAY CENTENARY, 9 NOVEMBER 2018

Liberty is a respite from the usual department store of the 21st century. Far from gaudy or brash, it’s a classy establishment and one that’s enjoyable to spend time in. Oscar Wilde was a regular, going as far to say, ‘Liberty is the chosen resort of the artistic shopper’. There are no DJs playing obnoxious music here, or integrated skate LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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bowls like its rivals. It’s instead pleasingly old fashioned, with more dark wood, both inside and out, than a St James’s’ member’s club. Its main staircase is a case in point, winding up through the store in glorious fashion. The timber used throughout was actually sourced from two dismantled ships, the HMS Impregnable and HMS Hindustan. Liberty’s nautical pedigree runs deep.

Words: Annabel Harrison

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MODERN W H E R E C A N YO U F I N D T H E WO R L D ’ S L A R G E ST 8 K S C R E E N , W R I N K L E - B A N I S H I N G

W A R D R O B E S A N D E V E R Y K I N D O F I M M A C U L A T E LY - C R A F T E D C A B I N E T R Y Y O U C A N I M A G I N E ?

SMALLBONE’S FLAGSHIP SHOWROOM IN KNIGHTSBRIDGE, WHICH OPENS ITS DOORS IN APRIL

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fter a year in which cinemas have remained largely closed – and our only exposure to the industry’s newest films has been via the unsatisfying options of TV or laptop – a six-metre-wide screen packs a sizeable punch. Especially given that this photographic quality screen is one you can order to enjoy from the comfort of your own sofa.

The Smallbone Flagship is home to the world’s largest 8K screen; this Samsung marvel of technology, reasonably known as ‘The Wall’, stretches from floor to ceiling and visitors to the new showroom have the exclusive chance to experience it. If this immersive, cinematic screen is just what your media room needs, choose one ranging from 85 inches (2.15m) to a remarkable 292 inches (7.4m) wide.

You might associate Smallbone with kitchens before tech wizardry, and with good reason; the British brand, founded 43 years ago, is known globally for its bespoke cabinetry, which is handmade in Wiltshire to this day. Lux Group Holdings acquired Smallbone in 2018 and, because the craftsmanship inherent in its kitchens extends to designs for the rest of the home, this is to where the company’s designers and craftsmen have turned their attention.

“Seamless living now extends far beyond the kitchen,” explains Smallbone’s Ideation Director Iain O’Mahony. “It’s natural that handcrafted kitchen cabinetry might be complemented by an impactful floor-to-ceiling media console, or that bespoke dressing room storage can subtly lead the eye toward a marble-encased bathroom vanity.

The result is personalised design underpinned by a consistent, creative signature.”

Every inch of Smallbone’s new showroom – all 15,000 sq ft of it – has been designed with a high-end retail experience in mind. Each of the four floors is dedicated to showcasing the potential of our homes, from personalised, hand-made fittings and furniture, to the many benefits of integrated technology.

Customers who visit – by appointment only – can browse installations of iconic Smallbone designs as well as brand new collections, for every space from wardrobes, work stations and wine rooms to bathrooms, home cinemas and, of course, kitchens. On the first floor there’s an area within a showcase of Smallbone’s most recognisable kitchens that has been designed for special events, and there’s a spectacular bar, too.

If you find yourself admiring the seamless flooring in various finishes as you wander, you’ll be pleased to know you too can have natural, recyclable resin Senso flooring in your home. Smallbone has teamed up with a number of luxury partners to create a completely shoppable experience.

Samsung’s AirDresser, the star of Smallbone’s Icarus walk-in wardrobe, can sanitise clothes and coax out wrinkles at the touch of a button. And yes, it can be remotely controlled by the clever Samsung SmartThings app – I have my washing machine and dryer hooked up to it, and it’s brilliant.

There’s covetable art too, curated on a rotating basis by Maddox Gallery. The hand-knotted rugs and seriously smart kitchen fittings you’ll spot are

The more challenging the brief the better; if you’ve got a tricky under-stair space, why not transform it into a wine store?

by Rivere and Officine Gullo, respectively, and you can buy them all. Lighting comes courtesy of KAIA; all of its products, from sculptural brass chandeliers to distinctive clear glass spheres, are handmade in Vienna.

McQueens – founded in London 20 years ago – is Smallbone’s florist partner of choice and delighted that its expert team “will be available to hold appointments in this inspiring new space, whether to discuss sending a birthday bouquet to a friend in New York, consult for show-stopping wedding flowers or to arrange weekly deliveries of fresh, seasonal flowers”.

Realising that home offices have become far more important to us all over the past year, and that WFH will, for many, continue to be part of our lives, the Smallbone team has turned its attention to our studies. The company’s integrated work space offerings are imbued with as much creativity as they are functionality; yes, we do want screens and smart lighting and neat storage for paperwork but we also want to be working in an environment that feels like part of our home, not somewhere to which we’d commute. Natural timber is stained for impact and durability; printers and folders and all those miscellaneous cables are squirrelled away in bespoke cabinetry; desks, often in oak or walnut, are given pride of place.

Despite the showroom’s size – there’s even a penthouse-style apartment in the basement

– and potential as a fantastic event space, it’s quietly luxurious, especially the range of stealthy storage solutions. O’Mahony and his design team particularly love bespoke pieces, which “allow the imagination to take flight”. The more challenging the better; if you have a tricky under-stair space, it can be transformed into a wine store and if your bedroom layout presents challenges, enjoy tailormade bedside tables.

The pride in their new showroom is evident across the whole company. Ron Shemesh, President of Lux Group Holdings, is delighted that clients will have the opportunity “to see and experience Smallbone collections in a whole new format. They will embark on a multi-sensory experience, customising their lifestyle through a culmination of traditional craftsmanship, innovative design and cutting-edge technology. We look forward to welcoming our clients into our new home”.

Smallbone Flagship Showroom, 197-201 Brompton Road, Knightsbridge, SW3 1LA. By appointment only at present. Please call 020 7589 5998, or email enquiries@smallbone.co.uk, smallbone.co.uk LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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THIS PAGE THE LIVING ROOM AT FULHAM PALACE GARDENS; OPPOSITE PAGE THE HALLWAY AT FULHAM PALACE GARDENS, BOTH IMAGES FROM EVERY ROOM SHOULD SING BY BEATA HEUMAN, PUBLISHED BY RIZZOLI; PORTRAIT OF BEATA HEUMAN

A Home of ONE’S OWN

B E ATA H E U M A N ’ S C O LO U R F U L I N T E R I O R D E S I G N S A R E T H E E N V Y O F I N S TAG R A M , E AC H O N E A R E F L E C T I O N O F H E R K A L E I D O S C O P I C S T Y L E . N O W, T H R O U G H A N E W BOOK, HEUMAN IS INSPIRING OTHERS TO INJECT SOME P E R S O N A L I T Y I N TO L I V I N G S PAC E S O F T H E I R OW N

Words: Ellen Millard

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hen she was growing up on a secluded farm in rural Sweden, Beata Heuman would seek escapism in books. Her world revolved around a tiny hamlet in Skåne, and she would go weeks without seeing anyone but her family. She grew to understand the importance of home and the power one’s environment has to ground and shape them.

With pen and paper she would emulate this sense of place for her favourite fairytale characters, imagining where they would live and bringing their houses to life through illustration. Today, as an interior designer, she continues to create beautiful environments, this time for real-life characters whose visions of eclectic and colourful rooms are realised by Heuman’s limitless imagination.

Her designs are charming and homely, never cluttered but far from minimalist, a mismatch of styles, colours and textures that should, in theory, never work together. But do.

Walls are wrapped in raffia weaves, cushions upholstered in red-and-white seersucker stripes and lines curved and undulating. One powder room was inspired by Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums, with scarlet walls peppered with prancing zebras; while a predominately white bedroom is brought to life with colourful Matisse prints and a grassy green rug. They’re not just homes to admire, but homes to be lived in – where a stray mug or newspaper won’t upset the oeuvre, but rather enhance it.

“Mixing styles, mixing different types of furniture and mixing high and low makes a home much easier to be lived in,” says Heuman, over Zoom. “It is going to be messy, we will want to add stuff to it, so if you have this singular look where everything is pristine – I just can’t really see how you can live there in a relaxed way. You want to be able to add to it, and it needs to be able to take being messy because that’s just the reality.”

It’s one of a number of tips Heuman shares in her new book, which details 10 of her favourite projects interwoven with discussions on her design philosophy, and the steps to take to apply it to your own home. She jokes that when publisher Rizzoli approached her she thought it “seemed quite early, actually”, given her design studio is only eight years old, but her years in the industry stretch well beyond having her name on the door.

Heuman fell into interior design “by chance”, landing a job with the eccentric designer Nicky Haslam through a friend and “realising quite quickly that it was the perfect thing for me to do”. She stayed for nine years before founding her eponymous studio in 2013.

Now 37, and with a team of eight, she creates whimsical

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BEATA HEUMAN’S LIVING ROOM IN HAMMERSMITH, IMAGE FROM EVERY ROOM SHOULD SING BY BEATA HEUMAN, PUBLISHED BY RIZZOLI

“We all have to live somewhere and it doesn’t have to cost a lot; you just have to spend time working out what means something to you” FROM LEFT A CORNER OF THE SNUG IN ROSE COTTAGE; THE BATHROOM IN ROSE COTTAGE; THE BEDROOM AT WESTBOURNE TERRACE; THE KITCHEN AT WESTBOURNE TERRACE; ALL IMAGES FROM EVERY ROOM SHOULD SING

BY BEATA HEUMAN, PUBLISHED BY RIZZOLI

worlds from her studio in Hammersmith, designing private residences in London, New York and Rotterdam, as well as commercial sites for brands such as Chelsea’s Farm Girl. Her influences are wide and varied, ranging from the Swedish artist Carl Larsson to the Austrian designer Josef Frank, from Italian palazzos (she studied fine art in Florence), to, of course, her mentor Haslam, and “the English tradition of decorating” that she has picked up during her years living in London.

Through the book, Heuman seeks to inspire others to be creative with their homes; she doesn’t necessarily think they should copy her – “I’m by no means saying this is the right way to do it” – but simply encourages readers to inject their personality into a space.

“I think if you spend time working out what’s important to you, gathering images of things that you like and then combining it in a way that’s personal, you will get a lot of joy and happiness from that,” she says.

“Of course, it’s a luxury in a way, but we all have to live somewhere and it doesn’t have to cost a lot; you just have to spend time working out what means something to you.

I think it’s very rewarding when you do, because it just makes you much happier at home.”

She recommends trawling eBay, Facebook Marketplace and antique markets for unique pieces that don’t cost the earth; her pet peeve is when people

buy everything from one shop, and she has a particular dislike for cookie-cutter property developments (“They’re so flat”).

Her own home, a stone’s throw from Hammersmith Bridge, is a reflection of her signature aesthetic with the dials hiked up to the max. Here, she had no client to answer to (“except maybe my husband,” she laughs) and she was able to let her imagination run wild.

Antiques and bespoke furniture pieces are mixed in with her own designs, many of which are available to buy through her online boutique, Shoppa. Every detail is precise, considered and complementary: a curved chaise longue in the living room (one of her own, dubbed the Wave Longue) marks the start of an oscillating line that continues in the lyre detailing on a cabinet, across to the ornate fire guard and along the scalloped edge of a rattan chair. In the breakfast room, the pop of a pink picture frame is emulated in a terracotta plant pot; the sky blue radiator covers toned with a bespoke cabinet that conceals the fridge.

The entire house perfectly encapsulates Heuman’s design philosophy, and the name of the book: Every Room Should Sing.

“It’s very personal what that means, but to me it’s just when I feel like we got it right,” she explains. “You walk into a room and all these different things create a

sort of tension and it feels very inspiring, and you feel in the moment because of the environment you are in. My heart lifts and that’s when I think it sings; this combination of colours, styles, movement and textures that can mean different things to different people.

It’s not just comfortable or beautiful but it actually feels invigorating. It doesn’t happen with every room,” she adds, with a laugh, “but we try.”

The refreshing takeaway from Every Room Should Sing is that interior design doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive, it just takes time. And, as Heuman writes in the book, putting in the effort to create an environment that reflects your personality and style will not only create a sense of “fulfilment and wellbeing” but will allow your home to become what she believes all interiors should be: “truly life-enhancing”.

‘Beata Heuman: Every Room Should Sing’ by Beata Heuman is out now, £45, published by Rizzoli, rizzoliusa.com

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Left CGI of No.1 Palace Street exterior; Above CGI image of No.1 Palace Street reception room

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ake a glance at the properties for sale in JLL’s Prime Collection and you’ll discover a portfolio of homes in some of the most exclusive and coveted postcodes in London. There’s the Dorchester Collection’s first foray into private homes, Mayfair Park Residences (W1). There’s 9 Millbank, a collection of riverside apartments located moments from the Houses of Parliament (SW1). There are also a host of heritage homes located on some of the capital’s most exclusive streets: Onslow Square and Montpellier Terrace (both SW7), and Cadogan Gardens (SW3), to name but a few.

The fact that the capital’s largest land estates and wealthiest inhabitants consistently entrust JLL to sell their properties speaks volumes. Founded more

than 250 years ago as Jones Lang LaSalle, JLL is one of the largest property brands in the world, with offices in 80 countries and a legion of expert agents. Core to the business’s success is the quality of service it offers its clients and the stringent process with which it vets properties.

Only the finest homes, for example, are accepted into the company’s Prime Collection, and the result is a portfolio of incredible developments, apartments and townhouses that are available to let or buy in London’s most exclusive boroughs. Understanding that every property and homeowner is different, the Prime Collection service is designed to be bespoke. Each property is assigned a specialist agent as a key contact, providing homeowners control over how their home is sold – LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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whether the property is listed publicly, or managed privately.

JLL can also use its network of contacts to help clients find their next home or property investment. It helps that the company has access to some of London’s most spectacular and sought-after homes.

Take No.1 Palace Street, arguably the most exciting new development in London. This collection of 72 homes is housed in the former Palace Hotel, which has been lovingly restored to the highest of standards. Set behind an original 19thcentury façade, the apartments have been designed to complement the building’s myriad architectural styles, with Italian marble and brushed copper features, a soft colour palette and the latest light and heating technology. Residents here can enjoy a range of amenities, including a 6,000 sq ft landscaped internal private garden, wellness facilities, a library and cinema. As for the neighbours? You’ll be in good company – the building overlooks Buckingham Palace.

For more information about JLL’s Prime Collection, visit jll.co.uk/primecollection or scan the QR code

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I TA L I A N J O B N E W T O T H E M A R K E T, T H I S I TA L I A N - S T Y L E V I L L A I N T H E B O LT O N S C O N S E R VA T I O N A R E A H A S B E E N E L E G A N T LY D E S I G N E D A R O U N D A C E N T R A L C O U R T YA R D

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n 1966, John Lennon sat at his piano preparing to write what would be the final song on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. As he scanned the room for inspiration, a copy of the Daily Mail propped up against the keyboard, and a news story about a coroner’s inquest, caught his eye. The article told of the tragic and untimely death of Irishman Tara Browne, the 21-year-old Guinness heir who, under the influence of alcohol and drugs, had crashed his Lotus Elan into a parked van on the cross junction between Redcliffe Square and Redcliffe Gardens. Moved by the story, Lennon wrote the first two verses of A Day in the Life with Browne in mind, unknowingly catapulting the incident, and the area, into the musical hall of fame.

Today, this charming corner of the LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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Boltons Conservation Area is still and quiet, with its sequence of stucco-fronted terraced houses offering a lesson in peaceful uniformity. Tucked behind a gated entrance is one property that strays from the street’s architectural convention.

Currently on the market for £2.3m, Villa Blanca is arranged around a romantic, Italian-style courtyard tiled in a monochrome mosaic. It makes for a pleasant view from the large drawing room upstairs, where unusual metallic panelled walls complement the white marble stone of a 19th-century Louis XV-style fireplace and a Regency fire basket. The marble theme continues in the Bulthaup-designed kitchen, where statuario countertops, a balcony and a generous dining area create an elegant space for entertaining.

Downstairs, the principal bedroom suite is served by a steam spa and bespoke walnut wardrobes, while a second double bedroom features a separate shower and utility room. Across the courtyard, a guest bedroom and en suite bathroom provide a private space for visitors. Each of the main bedrooms is equipped with a builtin Sonos sound system. £2.3m, SW10, knightfrank.co.uk

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