Jumeirah April-May 2019

THE BEAUTY ISSUE April - May 2019

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baume-et-mercier.com

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Baumatic In-house self-winding Steel 40mm

DUBAI The Dubai Mall Boutique / Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons, Mall of the Emirates ABU DHABI Sowwah Square / Yas Mall / Marina Mall

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Jumeirah Corporate Dubai Design District, Building 5, Floor 5 PO Box 73137, Dubai, UAE, Tel: +971 4 3665000, Fax: +971 4 366 5001. www.jumeirah.com Jumeirah is a trading name of Jumeirah International LLC. A Limited Liability company. Registration Number 57869.

Share Capital Dhs 300,000 fully paid up.

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Editor-in-Chief Obaid Humaid Al Tayer Managing Partner & Group Editor lan Fairservice Editorial Director Gina Johnson Senior Art Director Olga Petroff Contributing Editor Conor Purcell Art Director Clarkwin Cruz Senior Editorial Assistant Cecilia D’Souza Contributors Daniel Benneworth-Gray, James Brennan, Edwina Langley, Gareth Rees, Trang Minh General Manager – Production S Sunil Kumar Production Manager R Murali Krishnan Production Supervisor Venita Pinto Chief Commercial Officer Anthony Milne Publishing Director Carlos Pedroza For Jumeirah Claire Hill

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Head Office Media One Tower, Dubai Media City, PO Box 2331, Dubai UAE, Tel: +971 4 427 3000, motivate@motivate.ae Dubai Media City Office 508, 5th Floor, Building 8, Dubai, UAE, Tel: +971 4 390 3550, Fax: +971 4 390 4845 Abu Dhabi PO Box 43072, UAE, Tel: +971 2 657 3490, Fax: +971 2 657 3489, editor-wo@motivate.ae London Acre House, 11/15 William Road, London NW1 3ER, UK, motivateuk@motivate.ae

Jumeirah International LLC its affiliates, parent companies and subsidiaries (“Jumeirah Group”) and the publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for errors or omissions contained in this publication for whatever reason, however caused. The opinions and views contained in this publication are not necessarily those of Jumeirah Group or of the publishers. Readers are advised to solicit advice before acting on the information contained in this publication which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the readers’ particular circumstances. Jumeirah Group and the publishers take no responsibilty for the goods and services advertised. All materials are protected by copyright. All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form (Including photocopying or storage in any medium by electronic means) without the written permission of the copyright owner, except as may be permitted by applicable laws.

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08.18am on Dubai.

N 25° 15’ 57’’ E 55° 17’ 29’’.

Diver Collection

The Dubai Mall 04 339 8883 - Burj Al Arab 04 348 9000 Mall of the Emirates 04 341 1211 - Atlantis 04 422 0233 seddiqi.com

The Edit Exploring the cultural goings on in Jumeirah cities (page 12); How Mary Quant changed the fashion world forever (page 16); We drool over the latest handbags (page 18); We spend 24 hours in one of London’s most interesting neighbourhoods – Marylebone (page 20); How one Dubai menswear shop is embracing nomadism (page 24); A book cover designer on how he creates his art (page 28); We focus on the real beauty of some very special UAE residents (page 30); The rise and fall of the supermodel phenomenon (page 36); How wellness took over the world (page 44); Michael Ellis and the beauty of food (page 50); Karl Lagerfeld and the death of an era (page 58) 12

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CONTENTS

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Index We talk to the man behind Jumeirah’s landscape designs (page 70); A profile of Jumeirah Living Guangzhou, our newest Chinese property (page 74); We pay a visit to the luxurious surrounds of Jumeirah Al Wathba Desert Resort & Spa (page 76); We take a neighbourhood tour around the Jumeirah Frankfurt (page 78); Explore our global hotel list (page 80); Last Shot: Port Soller Hotel & Spa, Mallorca (page 82) April - May 2019

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Avril, Dress, Haute Couture, Spring/Summer 1955, A Line Gift of Mrs. Philippe Hecht.

Dior Héritage collection, Paris

Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams In case there was any doubt that fashion is an important part of the cultural landscape, just witness the plethora of sartorial exhibitions that have taken place in recent years. From Azzedine Alaïa: The Couturier at London’s Design Museum, to Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination at the MET, there’s been a newfound acceptance of fashion as a serious artistic form. Indeed the V&A’s Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, was one of the museum’s most popular ever exhibits, attracting nearly half a million visitors. So it should be no surprise to see the V&A celebrating one of the 20th century’s fashion icons. Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams explores the history of the label, the man, and his relationship with Britain. Dior invented

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the ‘New Look’ and reimagined elegance in the middle part of the last century, and this exhibition chronicles his journey from parental disappointment (they wanted him to be a diplomat) to designer of choice for Hollywood and royalty. Indeed, one of the highlights is the dress he designed in 1951 for Princess Margaret’s 21st birthday. The exhibition is a reimagining of last year’s show in Paris that celebrated 70 years of the house, and the V&A version retains the sheer spectacle of a Dior production. There’s more than 500 items on display here, including 200 haute couture garments, and even on a surface level, it’s a visual feast.

The immersive sets take the visitor through the façade of Dior’s first store at 30 Avenue Montaigne, before moving through Blenheim Palace, all white columns and tiled floors. Up next is Dior’s family garden in Normandy, complete with paper cut-out wisteria attached to the ceiling.

That visual overload leads you to the ballroom gallery which displays dresses worn on the red carpet by the likes of Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lawrence and Rihanna. The final section of the exhibition showcases the work of the six creative directors the label has had since its founders death, from John Galliano’s flamboyance to Raf Simmon’s restrained minimalism. While some writers have criticised the exhibition for a lack of context, it seems rather churlish to expect too much cultural insight from what is essentially a collection of beautiful dresses.

But what dresses they are.

V&A, Runs until July 14th, www.vam.ac.uk

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Ramadan Celebrate this most sacred time of the year in Dubai and across the region as Muslims around the world fast from sunrise to sunset. After sunset, there are plenty of iftars at which to experience traditional Arab hospitality. All the Jumeirah properties in the Middle East will be hosting nightly iftars, so if you are staying with us, you are in good hands.

May 4-June 3

We're Feeling Cultural highlights from Jumeirah cities

Art Beijing The Chinese art scene has come a long way since the very first Art Beijing was held in 2006. The Chinese art scene is now arguably the most important in the world and sets the tone for the rest of the global market. The 14th annual event is based around four pillars: contemporary art, classic art,

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design art and public art. Expect to see a plethora of local artists spanning everything from more traditional landscape and portraits to experimental mixed media works.

A must-visit for art fans everywhere.

National Agricultural Exhibition Center, April 29-May 2, www.artbeijing.net

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We're Feeling Cultural highlights from Jumeirah cities

Shanghai Formula 1

Middle East Film & Comic Con Comic Con has established itself as one of the biggest dates on the entertainment calendar, and this Dubai spin-off attracts comic book fans from around the region. Expect signing sessions, meet and greets, workshops, live music, DJs and com-

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petitions during the three-day event.

With actors from Game of Thrones and Walking Dead among other shows, this is usually a star-studded affair, so get those cameras ready.

Dubai World Trade Centre, April 10-12, www.mefcc.com

The Formula 1 circus decamps to China for the third race in the 2019 season, which should prove to be fascinating. Will Lewis Hamilton be able to fend off the challenge from Sebastian Vettel and win his sixth world title? It’s hard to see anyone beating the Englishman, and the Chinese race is usually a good bellweather for the season ahead.

Shanghai International Circuit April 11-14, www.formula1.com

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Sofia Sanchez de Betak Creative Director, Maker of Beauty

Follow the conversation On Beauty at santonishoes.com #makersofbeauty Dubai Mall - Fashion Extension 2nd Floor - Dubai

Icon Mary Quant There are very few designers that create one iconic creation, never mind two. Yet Mary Quant created both the miniskirt and the hot pants as well.

That both were an integral part of the 1960s cultural revolution only add to her importance in the 20th century’s fashion story. Born in the unfashionable London suburb of Blackheath in 1934, she opened her first store, Bazaar, on the King’s Road before her 21st birthday. It was a smash hit, and she had added a second Knightsbridge outlet in 1961.

The provocative looks she stocked dovetailed perfectly with the women’s liberation movement and ushered in an era where what you wore reflected who you were. Quant was acutely aware of the ebb and flow of the 1960s and she started designing her own clothes: plastic knee-high boots to boxy shift dresses and clingy knits. Her crowning moment was the creation of the micro-mini which for many, was the iconic visual of the swinging sixties.

In another, less heralded way, Quant ushered in a revolution. Back in the late 1950s, ‘fashion’ was for well off grownups, the big design houses were too expensive for young people, and teenagers were still dressing like their mothers. So why did the mini-skirt become so popular? Well, it was simple, stylish, easy to wear and most importantly it could be made – and sold – inexpensively. And as the skirts got shorter, the hosiery got more playful.

Quant started making stockings with bold geometric patterns, turning the leg from something to be hidden to something to be shown off. Quant built a career out of understanding the zeitgeist and marketing it back to the youth of the day. As a designer – and a businesswoman – she had no peers.

The Mary Quant Me Package at Jumeirah Carlton Tower Embracing the 1960s heritage, The Rib Room will be reviving popular dishes with a contemporary three-course menu and retro cocktails. For added Mary Quant style, guests will be treated to a blow-dry from one of Sassoon Salon’s expert hair stylists. Complimentary tickets to the Mary Quant exhibition at V&A Museum are included in the package. The package begins from April 6, 2019. jumeirah.com/maryquantme

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Mary Quant at work in her flat in Dracott Place, Chelsea, 1967

Objects of Desire

FROM TOP: Olympia Le-Tan; Fendi White Zucchino Floral Jacquard Baguette; Prada Sidonie Bag

Carry On Handbags are back. Well, OK, they never actually went away, but this season’s crop is something special.

Let’s start with Fendi’s White Zucchino Floral Jacquard Baguette ($1,100) which features a floral jacquard body, flat leather strap, front flap with flat strap and interior zip pocket, oh, and Fendi’s unmistakeable élan. We are also fans of Gleneagles’ new leather range. Yes, that’s Gleneagles. The Scottish hotel and golf course has launched its own range of rather stylish accessories.

Its London Bag ($350) features that unmistakable silhouette, inspired

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by the glamorous hat boxes ladies used to carry to Gleneagles. Simple, but stunning. For something completely different – but equally compelling – take a look at Olympia Le-Tan’s range of playful handbags.

The Chinese New Year Book Clutch ($1,500) is particularly striking, and sure to turn heads at any time of the year. For something more conventional try Prada’s Sidonie Bag ($1,950) in a striking yellow.

Leather with metal hardware in the same finish as the logo on the front, it’s a wardrobe staple that will never go out of style.

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9.30am: Monocle Café Pop into The Monocle Café (18 Chiltern Street; +44 20 7135 20140) for a bowl of bircher muesli, a long black and a newspaper to start your day.

Pick up a copy of the latest issue of Monocle plus a handy tote bag while you’re at it. Filled with media, tech and artistic types, it’s a small, beautifully restrained space, that fills up quick. On sunny days it’s worth sitting on one of the tables out front and watching Marylebone’s great and good wander past.

24 HOURS IN MARYLEBONE Discover a hip central London borough with an almost village feel Words − Gareth Rees At once hip and well-to-do, Marylebone has an almost suburban feel, despite it being slap bang in the middle of London. Maybe it’s the beautifully-restored terraced houses, or the pockets of green space that dot the area,

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but there’s an almost village feel the area. It’s also littered with world-class restaurants, cultural venues and a plethora of independent retail brands.

All in all, it’s hard not to fall in love with this perennially fashionable enclave.

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11am: Trunk Chiltern Street is home to several of Marylebone’s most noteworthy boutiques. There’s Cire Trudon (candles), Club Monaco (men’s and women’s fashion) Cox & Power (jewellery) and Prism (beach-wear) – but the most impressive is Trunk Clothiers London (8 Chiltern Street; +44 20 3030 5100). The original home of menswear brand Trunk, founded by Mats Klingberg in 2010, this store stocks a carefully curated selection of men’s clothing from Italy, Japan, the UK, Sweden, the US and elsewhere.

Trunk Labs London, just up the road, specialises in accessories.

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12.30am: A&D Gallery Opened in 2000 by Pop Art enthusiast Daniel Brant and graphic artist Andie Airfix, A&D Gallery (51 Chiltern Street; +44 20 7486 0534) exhibits

work by both up and coming and established artists and sells authenticated prints, artist’s posters and other items “for all budgets”. For example, you could purchase an original poster sent as an invitation to American painter, sculptor and printmaker Jasper Johns’ exhibition at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York in 1968, signed by the artist, for £1,200, or a paper plate designed by Roy Lichtenstein, one of the leading lights of the Pop Art movement of the mid- to late-Fifties, for £325. The gallery is now presided over by Director Helen Clarkson, who has been there since the start.

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1.30pm: Ivy Café A more casual offshoot of The Ivy, The Ivy Café (96 Marylebone Lane; +44 20 3301 0400) offers all-day dining with a twist. You can expect everything from chicken liver parfait to lobster risotto to mini salted caramel bombs. The prices are reasonable (expect to pay £13.50 for shepherd’s pie) and while there are plenty of flourishes, the menu by and large sticks to comfort food. There’s a large wine list too, and diners are encouraged to enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail at the stylish, curved bar. While the original Ivy can sometimes feel more focused on the celebrity buzz, this more casual cousin focuses on the food and is all the better for it. It does fill up, particularly in the evening, so make sure to book a table in advance.

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3pm: Daunt Books James Daunt founded Daunt Books (83 Marylebone High Street; +44 20 7224 2295) in 1990, and it has been such as success that there are now six branches in London and Daunt himself has become Managing Director of

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Waterstones, reviving the high street bookshop chain’s fortunes since taking the helm in 2011. But the original Daunt Books, housed in the stunning Edwardian premises purpose-built for antiquarian booksellers Francis Edwards in 1910, is the bookshop of every bibliophiles dreams. We love the upstairs section, filled with everything from ancient maps to secondhand travel books. Cleverly organised by country, you can find everything from novels to Rough Guides in the same section, which is great for those wanting a 360 view of their next destination. Be warned though, you won't want to leave.

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7pm: Yosma Taste Yosma (50 Baker Street; +44 20 3019 6282) executive chef ’s Hus Vedat’s food and you will be tasting the authentic flavours of Anatolia.

To start, meze plates such as soft manti filled with succulent lamb and dipped in sour yoghurt and chilli butter; thick chunks of spicy sucuk served with crispy potatoes

and pickled red onion; and babaganoush, the aubergine coal-roasted and mashed into a smoky pulp ready to be scooped up with pide fresh from the oven. Then the main event, lamb kofte or shish, lovingly prepared with premium locally-sourced ingredients – the lamb is butchered in-house – and washed down with a few glasses of Turkish wine, raki or a cocktail from the menu created by Matt Whiley, founder of celebrated drinks consultancy Talented Mr Fox. If you have visited Turkey and fallen in love with the food, it will all be pleasingly familiar. If not, prepare to fall in love.

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5pm: At the Movies

Model Tamara Ecclestone and fashion designer Julien Macdonald were just two of the celebrity guests at the opening of Liza Tesei’s At The Movies (18 Thayer Street; +44 20 7486 9464) on Thayer Street a few years back. It’s that sort of place. Tesei and her team know their business, providing a bespoke service to satisfy the needs of even the nerdiest film buffs – but you don’t have to be a collector to enjoy browsing the gallery’s impressive collection of vintage film posters, film stills and celebrity autographs. Be warned: You won’t be able to walk away without spending a considerable sum – probably on a James Bond poster. It’s just a matter of whether you spend £10,500 for 1965’s Thunderball, or £225 for 1987’s The Living Daylights.

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08 9pm: Clarette There’s a lot to like about Clarette (44 Blandford Street; +44 20 3019 7750): the vaguely Art Deco-inspired interiors; the French wine list; the fact it’s (probably) the only place in London where you can pair a glass of

Château Margaux with a burger. Set in a restored pub, Clarette has managed to combine French chic with the charm of the Great British boozer. If you want to eat, head upstairs, and if you want to drink and mingle with the post-work crowd, stick to ground level. It’s gets very busy, particularly during the summer months, but that’s all part of the fun.

While in London, stay at Grosvenor House Suites by Jumeirah Living. jumeirah.com

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Words − Conor Purcell

Montroi An homage to nomadism in the heart of Dubai Design District.

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Dubai Design District has rapidly become one of the city’s most interesting areas since it was completed in 2015. A hub of creative industry and interesting start-ups, it is home to everything from impromptu film screenings and fashion shows to art galleries and fashion boutiques. Amid this eclectic hive you will find Montroi, a men’s boutique that sells everything from leather backpacks to photographic prints to fragrances.

The brainchild of Enrique Hormigo, a Spaniard who gave up his life as a corporate executive to pursue his dreams, the store reflects his own ethos on travel and life. “A lot of people around us have chosen to return to a nomadic life, to live travelling. We see nomadism as a cultural bridge, an educational tool, to connect, to grow, to learn through dialogue and shared experiences. Becoming a nomad, means leaving a more enlightened world for future generations.” And it was due to this ethos that Montroi was born five years ago.

“Montroi celebrates celebrates nomadism through curated city guides, objects that we manufacture (travel bags and accessories) and through events that we organise to promote nomadism,” he says.

The curated city guides are lovely objects – with more than a hint of Monocle or Wallpaper’s guides about them. So far there’s been guides on everywhere from Tunis to Beirut to Rio. “We started curating the guides out of a need to share authentic recommendations among friends, and while most city guides in the market are usually niche in terms of focusing on design or luxury, our community of nomads care more about the authenticity of a place,” Enrique says.

Given Enrique’s background, it is no surprise that he has come to inhabit the nexus between travel and luxury. “I come from a family of nomads. My grand-father served at the Spanish army, he was a nomad. My father was born in Africa and I was born in Barcelona, where I left 15 years ago.” He then travelled a well-worn path of corporate life, working in Paris, Dubai and Moscow for Chanel.

While many brand pay lip service to the idea of travel, it’s clear Enrique has thought about it deeply. “We were all nomads at one point, no matter from which country we come from. Returning to a nomadic existence means going back to the essential. A nomad travels a path of having less things in life; things that can be carried. Things that age well and tell stories. A nomad appreciates craftsmanship and collects beautiful things from specific places where there is still a certain expertise.”

That thought is reflected in the manufacturing process as well. “Our products are designed in Paris but we have our head office in Dubai from where we live the nomad life fully,” Enrique says. “Today we manufacture our products in Italy, France,

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ABOVE: A selection of Montroi's fragrances

Oman, Spain and Jaipur. It takes four months to manufacture one backpack – that includes preparing the leather, producing the made-to-measure zippers, the double anti-humidity treatment and the sewing. Altogether 21 craftsmen participate the in the process.”

For Enrique, Dubai made perfect sense. “It’s important that we are in a place between East and West at the heart of the modern Silk Route,” he says. “Also being in Dubai Design District provides the perfect ‘shell’ which supports creativity and entrepreneurship.” While the brand may be rooted in Dubai, the outlook is truly global. “As a brand, we travel the world looking for craftsmanship and we create beautiful objects to make nomad life easier,” Enrique says. “Our leather goods are manufactured in Italy and Spain. Our fragrances are made in Grasse (France) and our rose water is made in Oman. Our gold lucky charms are made in Jaipur at The Gem Palace.”

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Three destinations

Jaipur, India

Grasse, France

Marrakech, Morocco

Unlike most people my favourite time to visit Jaipur is at the end of the monsoon season. It's magical and purifying. We manufacture our lucky charms with The Gem Palace so we go to Jaipur often. It really is a very special place for us.

We manufacture our fragrances there and I enjoy the combination of creative work and pleasure that I always find there.

Trekking in the PrĂŠalpes d'Azur Natural Park and lunch at La Colombe d'Or for example are part of my ritual when I am in Grasse.

Marrakech is also a place that I have visited many times. We are currently planning a trip there to present Orange Blossom, a new fragrance that we are launching in the gardens of a Riad in La Palmeraie, which is owned by one of our contributors.

Montroi, Building 7, Dubai Design District; www.montroi.com

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How I Made It

As told to − Conor Purcell

Book designer Daniel Benneworth-Gray on influences, the creative process and designing the perfect cover.

When did you start in design?

I drifted into design while working for a professional educational body just over ten years ago.

It started with promotional bits and pieces, but I soon found myself working on all sorts – branding, web, editorial, covers, a bit of everything. I went freelance in 2012 (thanks to the push of redundancy rather than a leap of faith ) and was able to narrow my focus on the area I loved most, book design.

What should a book cover do?

There’s lots of philosophising about the role of the cover, and although the specific purpose changes from book to book, ultimately its job is to be picked up.

How does a book cover differ from say, a film poster?

A poster points you towards a film, but a book lives inside a cover. Perhaps that’s an oversimplification.

Posters and covers and record sleeves, these wonderful rectangular avatars for someone else’s art, have a lot in common. Their purpose has changed radically in recent years; they have to work well on screen as well as in print. This has of course had a massive impact on how they’re designed – they’re effectively all the same size now – so there’s now even more of an overlap.

It seems that literary fiction has the most creative covers, particularly in recent years, and other genres (crime, historical fiction) have a much more standardised design – why do you think that is?

There’s some stunning work out there right now.

Publishers responded to the threat of e-books by making physical editions more tactile, more attractive as physical artefacts, and it’s really paid off. As for trends within genres, it’s simply about targeting existing audiences with what they’re familiar with – again, the job is to be picked up.

There’s an art to designing variation within the bounds of that homogeneity.

Who are your design influences?

Oh so many. Just gazing across my bookshelf …

Saul Bass, Björk, David Carson, Ray Eames, Dave Eggers, Tom Gauld, Chip Kidd, David Pearson,

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Paul Rand, Ed Ruscha, Peter Saville, Cy Twombly, Massimo Vignelli…

Is the creative process different for every book?

Ideally, yes! But in reality you have to rely on a certain amount of routine – the trick is to know when you’re about to step into tired and safe shortcut territory. I’ll read the book, or as much of it as is available (with non-fiction titles, this can be little more than a synopsis), then start sketching ideas and doing image research. An awful lot of my job involves bad drawings and Google rabbit holes. Eventually I’ll put three or four rough ideas together on my computer, and then it’s up to the client to decide which direction they prefer.

How many iterations are there?

It depends. Sometimes it’s an immediate thumbs up, sometimes an idea can go back and forth several times for months. Sometimes it loops all the way back round to the original idea.

How, as a designer, do you take on board the client's input without being left with a cover designed by a committee?

As a freelancer, I’m shielded from a lot of the bureaucratic side of design. I generally only deal with one other person, the publisher’s art director. It’s their job to tackle all the meetings with authors and editors and the marketing department, and then digest all of that feedback into something useful rather than a lot of conflicting noise.

Is there any one cover you could describe as your favourite and why?

I think my favourite – not necessarily the best, that’s for others to decide – is Between Levinas and Lacan, simply because it took about five minutes between idea and finished design. I felt like I knew what I was doing that day.

Where’s one place that fans of graphic design should visit when in London?

The street! Whenever possible, avoid the tube and walk. Don’t even walk, wander. Amble. Figure out the approximate direction you need to be going and then get a little bit lost off the beaten track. Every side street is a micro-community, home to all sorts of design that is too often taken for granted.

RIGHT PAGE: A selection of Daniel’s most recent cover designs

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Fashion − Natalie Westernoff

Photos − Mazen Abusrour

Everywoman Five women. Five looks. Five lived experiences. Because we are all unique. This is real beauty

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Shan, 31, sales associate T-shirt Dh1,700 Y Project at Harvey Nichols – Dubai; Blazer Dh7,119 Vetements at net-aporter.com

THIS PAGE:

Malvika, 19, student

Dress Dhs3,640 Joseph at Boutique 1; Earrings Dhs50 Vintage at Audreyscat and Arte Market

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RIGHT PAGE:

Victoria, 59, Lawyer (LL.B), Yoga instructor, studio owner

Coat Dh4,875 Acne Studios at Boutique 1; Earrings Dh400 Vintage Christian Dior at Audreyscat and Arte Market

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Special thanks to Chez Charles restaurant at Dubai Design District; Special thanks to Sisters Beauty Lounge salon; Hair: Trevor Sorbie at the Dubai Mall; Makeup: Nadine Elias at nadineelias.com @nadine.elias

LEFT PAGE:

Georgie, 28, deputy editor

Shirt Dh2,050 A.W.A.K.E. at Harvey Nichols – Dubai; Jacket Dh1,617 Toteme at net-a-porter.com

THIS PAGE:

Yara, 25, communications manager Headscarf Dh400 Vintage Givenchy at Audreyscat and Arte Market; Roll neck Dh3,950 Balenciaga; Blouse Dh3,600 Peter Pilotto

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Words − Conor Purcell

Photos − Getty Images

Beauty Squared How six supermodels changed how we perceive beauty – and success – forever

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Their names are as iconic as their faces: Naomi, Cindy, Linda, Christie, Claudia, Kate – six women who changed the face of modelling forever. Yet their reign at the top of not just the modelling world, but the entertainment world, was as brief as it was remarkable. The very nature of their role and of the industry, meant it couldn’t be anything but. This was a group of women who, in a fashion industry dominated by men, earned far more than their male equivalents. Indeed, in 1989 Cindy Crawford earned $600,000 for 20 days of work with Revlon, out-earning even the highest paid movie stars of the day. As the women became household names, so their earning power increased, and as it increased, they appeared to almost be omnipresent: TV ads, billboards, magazine spreads; they represented everything that was beautiful and vulgar about America in the 1980s.

There are of course ‘supermodels’ that exist in 2019, the likes of Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid would surely qualify for that title, as would most of the Victoria’s Secret models. But it’s hard to see how they compare to the likes of Crawford and Campbell. Both Hadid and Jenner were born into wealth, and their celebrity derives as much from savvy marketing as it does from natural beauty.

There seems something purer about the journeys of the original supermodels. Cindy Crawford grew up in a tiny town in northern Illinois, and studied Chemical Engineering at Northwestern University before dropping out to pursue modelling full-time. Naomi Campbell grew up in a poor South London neighbourhood, raised by a single mother. Christie Turlington grew up in a middleclass Californian town, raised by a pilot father and air hostess mother. Linda Evangelista grew up in a working class Roman Catholic home in Ontario, Canada. Claudia Schiffer grew up in a middle-class Dusseldorf suburb, while Kate Moss grew up in a non-descript South London suburb. There was none of the inevitability about their success as there is about the Hadid sisters or Kendall Jenner.

These were six very different women, who, by dint of their beauty and ambition, would change the fashion landscape forever.

In order to understand how they did this, we need to go back nearly a century to New York City. It was there, in 1923, that the first modelling agency was opened by a man called John Roberts Powers. A decade later Powers had a thick book containing 500 names and photographs, which each model paid $25 a year to be a part of. Advertisers would choose the models they wanted to feature and by the 1930s, models could earn $65 a week for photographic modelling. That decade also saw the emergence of a strict divide between models who did runway shows and models who were

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LEFT PAGE: Supermodels and catwalk queens Christy Turlington, Kate Moss (she was the edgiest of the six) and Naomi Campbell PREVIOUS SPREAD: Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington

photographed for magazines and catalogues. It was only the emergence of 1980s supermodels that saw them flit between the runway and the magazine, something that has continued to this day.

There were of course, outliers, even before the rise of Linda, Christy, Cindy and co. Take Dorian Leigh, who graced the cover of seven issues of Vogue in 1946 alone, and got 50 covers in the following six years. She also was the first model to cross over from ‘mannequin’ to celebrity, partly helped by her five marriages and numerous affairs, many of which were made up by gossip columnists she was in league with. Yet most models before the 1980s were not celebrities, even if they were earning huge money at the time.

Another outlier was Lesley Hornby, better known as Twiggy. If there was a 1960s equivalent to the Kardashians, it was her. She launched her own clothing ranges, inspired a generation of girls to copy her hairstyle and even her makeup routine.

More worryingly, girls across Britain went on ‘starvation diets’ to mimic her 91 pound frame. “She was a marketing miracle, the first of a new breed,’’ says Pattie Boyd, an English model and photographer. “She was the first model to achieve genuine international celebrity. That was the beginning of marketing models that agencies all do now.”

As the 1970s arrived, fashion designers became brands, with the likes of Christian Dior farming out his name to homewear, accessories and beauty manufacturers, who could use the Dior name in return for paying royalties. It quickly became clear that for these brands to avoid becoming mere commodities, they needed symbols, something (or someone) that would become a byword for the glamorous lifestyle they wanted to sell, globally. And as globalisation arrived and brands began to sell around the world, they needed representatives that could cross cultural and national boundaries. Enter the supermodels.

The original supermodels are generally understood to include Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer, Stephanie Seymour, and Christy Turlington. Each broke boundaries in their own way. Schiffer signed the biggest deal in modelling history when she landed a three-year $10 million deal with Revlon. Naomi

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LEFT PAGE: Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell, Polly Mellon and Christy Turlington at the 6th Annual ‘Night of 100 Stars’ RIGHT: Claudia Schiffer, the suburban German girl who rose to superstardom BELOW: Linda Evangelista, Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington

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Campbell became the first black model to appear on the cover of French Vogue in 1988. Cindy Crawford released a Shape Your Body workout video which opened the floodgates for a range of cross-promotional products. Later came Kate Moss, who’s waiflike physique, and edgier feel, fitted perfectly with the mid-Nineties zeitgeist.

Then, slowly at first, their power began to wane. As the 1990s morphed into the 2000s, the likes of Crawford, Turlington and Campbell were seen as throwbacks, uncool relics of another era where it was socially acceptable to release a keep fit video. They also became victims of their own success – the mystery was gone. Witness Naomi Campbell’s disastrous forays into music and film, or Cindy Crawford’s ill-fated star turn in Fair Game; remember Claudia Schiffer trying to sell her fitness video Perfectly Fit Buns on late-night chat shows.

In short, people got bored. The Nineties also saw a return to the idea of catwalk models as blank pages, there to showcase the clothes, not the other way around. Androgyny was in, big hair was out.

But, interestingly, as their power waned, it wasn’t a new generation of models that filled the gap, but a new generation of actresses. Think of Halle Berry signing with Revlon, or Renée Zellweger landing the cover of Vogue’s September 1998 cover.

And while there are now models with the visibility that the original supermodels had in the 1990s, it’s a different type of fame, one where the

If Linda Evangelista wouldn’t get out of bed for less than $10,000, the new breed won’t post on Instagram for less than $100,000 lines between celebrity, model and businesswoman have become blurred. Would Kendall Jenner or the Hadid sisters have got anywhere if it wasn’t for their celebrity connections or the fact that Instagram has allowed them to connect with their fans in a way they choose? If Linda Evangelista wouldn’t get out of bed for less than $10,000, this new breed won’t post on Instagram for less than $100,000.

The original batch of supermodels haven’t completely faded away – each of them is still in the public eye, some more than others. But their heyday, and the era they represented is long gone.

TOP: Naomi Campbell, one of the fabulous six RIGHT: Cindy Crawford (the ultimate girl-next-door) and Claudia Schiffer.

OPPOSITE: Linda Evangelista and Claudia Schiffer at the peak of their fame

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April - May 2019

Words − Edwina Langley

Inner Beauty: How the Wellness Industry Conquered the World Edwina Langley examines the rise and rise of the wellness phenomenon 44

April - May 2019

The spa weekend on your anniversary, your daily vitamin supplement, the Fitbit sitting on your wrist, and a course of acupuncture. Your weekly yoga class, the off-site team building day, and a superfood salad with a coconut water to go. Wellness choices? Or just, life?

Our quest for wellness is a global phenomenon, so widespread and now ingrained it has woven itself into the fabric of myriad lives. What began as a selfcare movement in the 1970s has become, to many, second nature. Far beyond the occasional massage, wellness is part of our everyday life choices. Indeed, the Global Wellness Institute valued the wellness market at an astonishing $4.2trillion in 2017; an estimated 5.3 per cent of global economic output.

How on earth did we get here? And more pertinently, what lies ahead? To find out, let’s start at the beginning. What actually is ‘wellness’?

Although the word itself dates back to the 1650s, the first interpretation of what we might recognise as the ‘concept of wellness’ was put forward by Halbert L. Dunn – the American physician, widely regarded as the ‘father of the wellness movement’. In a 1959 article entitled What HighLevel Wellness Means he wrote, “Good health can exist as a relatively passive state of freedom from illness in which the individual is at peace with his environment – a condition of relative homeostasis.

Wellness is conceptualised as dynamic – a condition of change in which the individual moves forward, climbing toward a higher potential of functioning.”

Wellness was not limited to individual body parts, like the heart and nervous system, he added, but involves “the total individual, as a personality and in all of his uniqueness.”

Today, we might see it as health in mind, body and soul. And it is a concept that has slowly crept up on us in recent years, presenting itself now as the definitive 21st century goal. However old the word might be, wellness is a modern aspiration. Right?

Dissect a number of wellness practices and their roots can actually be traced back thousands of years. Take Ayurveda, for instance. The ancient Hindu health system based on the connection between body and mind, of which yoga and meditation are vital components, is believed to have originated as an Indian oral tradition as far back as 6,000 B.C.E. Traditional Chinese Medicine – also centred on the link between body and mind, and our interactions with the environment, encompassing acupuncture, massage therapy and feng shui – is similarly thought to date back millenniums, to around 3,000 BCE. It wasn’t until much, much later – the latter half of the first millennium later – that the world was introduced to such alternative medicines as homeopathy (brainchild of German physician

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Samuel Hahneman) and osteopathy (founded by Andrew Taylor Still, an American surgeon), in 1796 and 1874 respectively.

But it was in 1948 that wellness entered the global sphere; the World Health Organisation (WHO) was founded that year, and in the preamble to its constitution it defined health as ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’.

Health now meant wellness.

Ten years on, father of wellness Dunn published his book High-Level Wellness (1961) and whilst it received little recognition at the time, it was devoured a decade later by Dr. John W. Travis in 1972. So engaged was he, in 1975 he set up the Wellness Resource Centre in Mill Valley, California; an organisation offering self-care programmes to achieve that most coveted of states, ‘wellness’.

National fame came for the centre in 1979 when journalist Dan Rather included it in a CBS News 60 Minutes episode. Wellness was a movement “catching on all over the country” among the medical profession – “the ultimate in something called ‘self-care’ in which patients are taught to diagnose common illnesses, and where possible, to treat themselves,” Rather described.

“It’s recognising that there’s more to life than the absence of sickness,” explained Travis. “That health is simply not the absence of disease. It’s an on-going dynamic state of growth.”

From the Eighties onwards and into the new millennium, wellness initiatives gathered momentum as more and more people focused on healthy eating, fitness and meditation as a means to achieving well-being. Slowly but surely ‘wellness’ became part of the vernacular; by 2013, only 29 per cent of millennials defined ‘healthy’ as ‘not falling sick’ (far below the 46 per cent of baby boomers, a study by Aetna found). But why is it that wellness is so especially prominent today? Richard Watson, author of Digital vs Human: How We’ll Live, Love, and Think in the Future, says, “Where our interest in wellness has emerged more recently is through personal technology. On the one hand, fitness tracking has put more focus on physical well-being, but on the other hand, the individual mobile phone and the smartphone have focused more attention on mental health of late. Social media has accentuated this even more.”

Of course, there are other factors at play too.

Juxtaposed against our interest in self-care is the unsettling rise in preventable lifestyle illnesses.

According to the WHO, obesity has nearly tripled since 1975, with 650million people classified as obese in 2016, and the statistics on diabetes are similarly dire. 108million people were living with the disease in 1980, but by 2014, this had risen to 422 million – an increase largely attributed to a

ABOVE: The swimming pool at Jumeirah Nanjing

April - May 2019

surge in type 2 diabetes, of which obesity and being overweight can be factors.

Then there is stress, the ‘health epidemic of the 21st century’ as the WHO dubbed it. A 2018 YouGov survey by the Mental Health Foundation found that 74 per cent of adults in Britain alone had been so stressed at times in the last year, they had felt ‘overwhelmed’ or ‘unable to cope’.

With such serious conditions on the rise and with them, the cost of treatment, attention has turned other solutions: wellness solutions.

Of course, where there is demand, there is opportunity, and what opportunity has been seized. A casual glance at what makes up the umbrella term ‘lifestyle’ –diet, beauty, fashion, health, fitness and travel etc – and it’s hard to identify a sector well-

April - May 2019

ness hasn’t infiltrated. Has it become just another commodity? So it would seem.

Indeed, the GWI has identified an entire ‘Global Wellness Economy’, made up of no less than ten markets. These range from ‘Personal Care, Beauty and Anti-Aging’ to ‘Healthy Eating, Nutrition and Weight Loss’, ‘Fitness and Mind-Body’, and ‘Workplace Wellness’. One of the fastest-growing of these sectors was ‘Wellness Tourism’, up 6.5 per cent between 2015 and 2017. Yet faster-growing still was the ‘Spa Economy’, which leaped up 9.8 per cent, from $99billion to $119billion in the same timeframe, and is predicted to reach a whopping $128billion by 2022. Why so popular?

“Spas have become part of the language of hotels,” says Suzanne Duckett, spa and wellness ex-

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pert and author of Bathe: The Art of Finding Rest, Relaxation and Rejuvenation in a Busy World.

“Wellness and health are at the front of our minds as we are all more anxious and stressed than ever before. We have to have help now to slow down – it’s more of a necessity than a luxury… Without a spa, it’s as if the hotel hasn’t committed to your total relaxation, mentally as well as physically. Health and hospitality are more linked than ever before.”

Hotels around the world are stepping up to meet demand, and with competition rife, they are under pressure to create ever-more innovative ways to cater to customers’ wellness requirements.

“Our guests are typically looking to relax, disconnect and explore,” affirms Paloma Espinosa of Jumeirah Port Soller in Mallorca, home to the Talise Spa, which won Best Hotel Spa in Spain at the World Spa Awards for the last four years’ running. To accommodate to this, Talise Spa taps into ‘environmental wellness’– living in harmony with nature – offering unique experiences to bring guests closer to Mallorca’s natural surroundings: treatments based on ingredients grown on the island (almonds and olives) and a hydropool looking out over the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range, are two examples.

But it isn’t just holidaymakers that spas are hoping to attract. As Duckett explains, they are also appealing to locals. “I think in the future, big name hotels will bring in handpicked roving experts – more therapeutic therapists, like psychologists, and proper stress and sleep experts – so that the local community, as well as leisure and corporate travellers, will visit when they’re there.”

Spas and tourism are, of course, just two of the markets cashing in on our preoccupation with wellness. There are a number of others. Take a look at the food industry and that lucrative buzzword ‘superfood’. Although nothing more than a marketing term to describe foods with apparent ‘health benefits’, everything from quinoa to avocados, chia seeds and seaweed have found themselves attached to the label in recent years. Whilst the EU did its best to curb pseudoscientific claims – in 2007, banning the marketing of products made or sold in the EU as such, unless there was credible scientific evidence to support each claim – our appetite for superfoods has proved insatiable. By 2014, a YouGov survey for Bupa revealed 61 per cent of Brits alone revealed they had bought, eaten or drunk specific food because it carried a ‘superfood’ stamp.

Then, of course, there is beauty. The GWI valued the ‘Personal Care, Beauty and Anti-Aging’ sector as a $1trillion market in 2017. An examination into the impact wellness has had on the beauty industry would be a report in itself, and a lengthy one at that. But one need only look at current fads within the beauty sphere to see its impact.

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April - May 2019

LEFT PAGE: The sauna and the pool at the Jumeirah Port Soller Hotel & Spa THIS PAGE: Talise Ottoman Spa at Jumeirah Zabeel Saray

April - May 2019

As health and beauty move closer together – as awareness of how inner health can affect our physical appearance increases – we could see wellness’ influence over the beauty market develop at a faster rate. And so it seems undeniable: wellness is much more than a health goal or a lifestyle choice. It is an industry. One with so much clout, it is impacting all-manner of others, the world over. This leads to a pointed question: where is wellness going?

For a year-long forecast, we might look to the Global Wellness Summit’s 2019 Wellness Trends report. A number of these trends are predicted to develop over the coming year, and one of which is linked to the very trend-led of industries, fashion.

Think that means more athleisure? Think bigger.

Wellness is, in fact, expected to permeate the full cycle of fashion. From how our clothes are designed (via ‘slow fashion that transcends trends’, or clothes catering to gender fluidity or a greater range of body shapes), to how they are made (using crueltyfree and vegan fabrics, or those with ‘zero-waste sustainable fibres that decompose’, or those made from waste), to what we get from wearing them (smart clothes bolstering wellness or incorporating fitness tech), to how our clothes are cleaned (more ‘self-cleaning’ garments) to what happens at the end of the line – more recycling and ‘take-back programmes’ in stores – wellness is expected to permeate the fibres of what we wear. Literally.

Other areas the report looked at include how nature (specifically, time spent in it) might soon become a GP prescription, how we are entering into the ‘age of personalised nutrition’ – an era where science and tech will decide what diets are bestsuited to our health and well-being – and how wellness is even reaching into death… A contradiction in terms? More, based on a shift towards things like ‘greener burials’, and the exploration of death to lessen fear and therefore lead to greater mental well-being day-to-day.

So that’s in the next year. Beyond? A report released last year by the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute – Wellness 2030, The New Techniques of Happiness – looked a little further into the wellness future, at ‘a new era of wellness that will likely be shaped by the high-tech world of tomorrow’. Humans will merge with tech, it predicts, as digitalisation will influence ‘our habits, needs and desires’. Biohackers (people who ‘hack’ physiology in order to find better ways of functioning) will come to provide various fast tracks to wellness, and so-called data selfies – digital replicas of ourselves made-up of our personal data – will become ‘intelligible to machines and thus able to be coded for improved well-being’.

In relationships, algorithms will help us pinpoint partners best-suited to our health and happiness, and as for self-awareness, tech will be able to

read our emotions and behaviours so acutely, they will be able to provide comprehensive pictures of our health, in body and mind.

That’s where industry is heading. But what about us? Where are we going with our wellness journeys? “In the future, there is going be this phenomenal demand for ways to disconnect and relax,” says Watson. “We are seeing much more questioning of our use of tech. Not a luddite thing – ‘smash it up’ – it’s trying to seek more of a balance to switch things off occasionally. Expect more interest in sleep – better quality of beds and bedding, and beds and pillows using tech to aid sleep – and a shift in focus from the physical – ‘I want to look nice’ – to the mental: yoga, meditation, mindfulness, and beyond.”

Poignantly he adds, “Human interactions and relationships are increasingly being mediated and replaced by machines, so in the more distant future I think we’ll also see people wanting to reconnect with other humans – especially for those who live and/or work alone.”

Whatever the future may hold for wellness – the goal, the lifestyle, the industry – it seems clear it certainly has one. “Busyness, the increasing pace of life, feelings of fatigue, stress, burn-out and anxiety – due to globalisation, tech, de-layered organisations, unstable work and relationships, and errand angst – are all reasons we continue to turn to wellness,” Watson says. “And I don’t see any of that calming down any time soon.”

It’s taken thousands of years to get here, but wellness has truly arrived. And it appears it is here to stay.

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Beauty

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and the

April - May 2019

Feast Words − James Brennan

April - May 2019

How the idea of beauty has changed the way we think about food

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They say we eat with our eyes first, but just listening to Michael Ellis talk about food can make your mouth water. Jumeirah’s Chief Culinary Officer is waxing lyrical about the menu of a recent pop-up at Jumeirah Al Nassem’s Summersalt restaurant, where an Argentinean chef of Japanese heritage is exploring the flavours of two distinct cuisines: “He does a fantastic sea bass marinated with yuzu and miso. He also does a sashimi of yellow fin tuna and jalapeno, and there’s a shrimp tempura with a spicy wasabi mayonnaise.”

It’s easy to picture the light, crisply battered seafood being dunked in the creamy dip, which is apt, because Ellis is talking about the importance of food presentation. “Our chef Christian Goya’s presentation is very much in line with his philosophy of the beauty of the plate, but also the purity of the ingredients that he’s presenting,” says Ellis. “The same at Rockfish, which is our signature Mediterranean restaurant. We present the dishes in a visually attractive way to enhance the degustatory experience.

We’re not trying to run after trends, but we are trying to present our food in a way that prepares the guest for a great dining experience.”

Ellis knows a thing or two about great dining experiences. As the former global director of the prestigious Michelin Guides, he ate in almost 1,500 restaurants in 30 countries, and awarded hundreds of coveted Michelin stars to some of the world’s best restaurants. A trained chef, he has seen culinary movements come and go, but recognises the important contribution made by all of them to the way we think about food presentation today.

“It goes back to the late 1970s, early 1980s, when in France there was something called nouvelle cuisine. Chefs such as Alain Dutournier, Alain Senderens and Joel Robuchon began putting extremely large white porcelain plates on the table with very small, finely diced and sliced, colourful ingredients on them. So you could have a plate the size of a car tyre with three peas and a baby carrot on it. I’m exaggerating, but only slightly. I think that tendency started a revolution. It was often lampooned around the world, but it was the beginning of a kind of shot across the bough at how food was presented.”

He goes on to talk about the great Spanish chefs of the ‘90s like Ferran Adria, whose spheres and gases at El Bulli near Barcelona shaped a new era of molecular cuisine. Then there was the American farm-to-fork movement of the noughties, which stripped everything back to basics with unglazed crockery and rustic dining environments.

Next up are the Nordics, great chefs like Rene Redzepi at Noma in Copenhagen and Ebsen Holmboe Bang at Maaemo in Oslo. “It was like a foraging type of concept, where you had locally grown prod-

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ucts served on locally produced plates made out of 8-million-year-old volcanic lava or tree bark off an 800-year old tree.”

Ellis’s encyclopaedic knowledge of gastronomy conjures a list of names that have been instrumental in changing our perceptions of the food we see, as well as the food we taste. Heston Blumenthal, Grant Achatz at Alinea in Chicago, the Roca brothers at El Cellar De Can Roca in Spain, Paul Pairet at Ultraviolet in Shanghai. “It’s not just presentation,” says Ellis. “It’s restaurants as theatre, where food is playing a starring role, but there’s a spectacle built around the food. So many things have happened around the presentation of food, and it’s an on-going trend. The good thing is, there’s so much going on, and it’s up to the guests or diners to decide what they want.”

Personal preference plays a big role in what we like to see as we eat – not everybody wants their breakfast delivered on a shovel or an old roof slate, as the popular Twitter account @WeWantPlates demonstrates. But we all want food that looks attractive, and the reason for that is embedded in our genes. A recent Japanese study revealed that fish with a similar neuron network to humans are hardwired to want to eat food as soon as they see it. And food scientists at Cornell University in New York used virtual reality to show that people’s perception of food taste can be altered by their surroundings.

What works for some, though, won’t work for everybody. “It’s like with art or literature,” says Ellis. “Some people could love things that others with intelligence and good taste might hate. For me, the cardinal sins of presentation are anything that is smoke and mirrors, or serves no point other than to draw one’s attention almost away from the food.

Whenever I see anything that’s exaggerated or a caricature or parody, then I wonder about the food.

You can do things beautifully and cleverly – I’ve seen desserts presented like a box of detergent or a frog, or whatever it might be – and I think you can be playful without being ridiculous.”

One chef known for his playful dishes is Andoni Luis Aduriz of Mugaritz in San Sebastian. The ‘rotten apples’ and ‘blue bread’ served to diners at the two-Michelin-star restaurant are not what they seem. Neither is his ‘fake egg’ dish made with xanthan gum, agar agar and almonds, among other ingredients, which has inspired MIT to experiment with new techniques for making domes and aeroplanes. This trompe l’oeil approach to cuisine, where food is used to trick the eye into perceiving it as something else, is an important part of what Aduriz calls ‘techno-emotional’ cuisine.

“The trompe l'oeil began to emerge from our kitchen in 2005 with edible stones, where the guests could not distinguish if we were offering

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Charles Theret, Executive Assistant Manager – F&B, Jumeirah Al Naseem, Chef Cristian Goya; Executive Chef, Marco Garfagnini; Chief Culinary Officer, Michael Ellis

April - May 2019

OPPOSITE: Oscar Oliva THIS PAGE: Grant Achatz; Noma’s Rene Redzepi; José Luis López de Zubiria’s ‘An oyster’s frozen kiss’

April - May 2019

some little rocks or an edible bite,” says Aduriz.

“Since then, seeing that our guests had the same desire to play that we had, the trompe-l'oeil constituted a powerful vehicle through which we are able to provoke questions and contradictions.”

While these dishes at Mugaritz are designed to trick diners, they are never glib or flippant. “Our maxim in everything we do is that less is more,” says Aduriz. “We try to immerse our guests in a journey to search for the essence in each dish. That it is why you will not find more than two to three elements in each bite - there are no elements used purely for decoration. We try to guide our guests, so they can focus on what it is really important. Each element that we put on the dish has its function and among all of them they create a perfect combination that tells the story we want share with the diners or the questions we would like them to ask themselves.”

When a guest at Mugaritz regards a mouldy apple, they are surely aware that a Michelin-starred restaurant couldn’t possibly be serving up rotten fruit. Yet they are forced to ponder the state and composition of food, and the process of fermentation in particular. “When we use microorganisms as a path to tell a story, the result cannot be inside what we usually consider beauty,” says Aduriz. “But we consider it very interesting and challenging because we make the diner ask some questions: Is this alive or dead? Is this rotten or fermented? Is this beauty or decrepitude?”

The carefully considered approach at Mugaritz extends to its minimalist dining environment and tableware. Nothing distracts the diner from the

essence of the food, which is something Michael Ellis firmly believes in. “When a waiter spends more time explaining the plate than what’s actually on the plate, then that’s more information than I need,” he says. “I laugh sometimes when I go to certain restaurants. When you order a meat course and they bring out what looks like a Samurai sword. Other times the silverware is so thin it’s not comfortable to hold. I think flatware should be attractive and share the overall look and feel of the rest of the restaurant. It should also be effective.

“The same thing with glassware. When I get a red wine glass I could dunk my head into… I don’t want a fish bowl, I want a wine glass! When I see anything that has mechanical contraptions on it, like it has to ring a miniature bell or something, or has to roll a steel ball down a slide to hit something and then your food pops out, I think it’s something to be avoided.” Gimmicks can be an all too frequent feature in some restaurants that try a little too hard to impress. But in an age of Instagram and social media, it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd. While Ellis believes some gimmicks can work against a restaurant’s best intentions – the Internet is a merciless place, after all – it’s clear that social media can motivate chefs to up their game in terms of presentation. “Instagram is a hugely important part of the marketing, whether restaurateurs and chefs want it or not. If a chef is creating a dish to be visually attractive, which they’ve got to do anyway, then the fact that people are taking pictures of it should be seen as a compliment. It’s where we are today, it’s just the reality of life.”

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OPPOSITE PAGE: Beetroot salad at Jumeirah Al Naseem’s Summersalt THIS PAGE: Chef Ferran Adria; Dinner preparation at Chef Paul Pairet’s Ultra Violet in Shanghai

April - May 2019

The sheer breadth and diversity of Jumeirah’s food and drink offering means there can be no single overarching philosophy when it comes to food presentation. But Ellis aims for consistency of quality across the brand. “Whether it’s our room service, or our all-day-dining - the way we present a club sandwich, we want it to be the best club sandwich you’ll ever have. Our philosophy is that we are an icon and a national champion for Dubai.

We are really trying to elevate our guest experience to the highest level.”

One cuisine that puts presentation at the core of its overall philosophy is Japanese. Yoshinori Ishii is the executive chef at UMU, a refined Kyoto-inspired restaurant in London, which Michael Ellis was instrumental in awarding two Michelin stars to. UMU is grounded in the principles of kaiseki, the traditional Japanese cuisine that places as much emphasis on presentation and colour as texture and taste. “The main philosophy for kaiseki cuisine is ‘make the customer happy’. That goes for the total dining experience, including food, drinks, presentation, service, and interior,” says Ishii. “To deliver the kaiseki philosophy we always try to express the best of the ingredients, the plates we use, the story behind each dish, and so on. That makes presentation really important.”

Although kaiseki has its roots in the Zen Buddhism tea ceremonies of the 16th century, its influence has spread far beyond Japan, especially in the last few decades. “Kaiseki cuisine became popular in the restaurant industry fairly recently,” says Ishii.

“We use a lot of ideas for presentation - special plates, ceramics, porcelain, Japanese lacquer-ware, glass and so on. We use natural objects like leaves, flowers, wood and stone. It is standard in high-end restaurants around the world nowadays. If we can show the costumers both great food and presentation, we can amaze them more and more.”

For Ellis too, striking the right balance between food and environment is key, whether it’s fine dining or a poolside snack. “At the end of the day a restaurateur has to understand three things: What do my customers want to eat, how much do they want to pay, and what ambiance and environment do they want to be in?” he says. “Our philosophy here is that presentation of food is an important part of the experience, but so is the look and feel of the restaurant, the lighting, and the comfort of the chairs, and the attractiveness of the tableware, the flatware and the crystal.”

With Michael Ellis, what you see is what you get. Just don’t expect any fish bowl wine glasses at Jumeirah restaurants any time soon.

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K A Words − Vanessa Friedman

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Why the death of Karl Lagerfeld signals the end of an era April - May 2019

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The last designer April - May 2019

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PREVIOUS PAGE: Autoportrait Karl Lagerfeld, Courtesy of Chanel LEFT PAGE: A Fendi ad campaign from 1970, Courtesy of Fendi

April - May 2019

When most people think of the word “designer,” they think of Karl Lagerfeld.

They think of his dark glasses and his weird little white powdered ponytail and his stiff white shirts and his black jeans. They think, maybe, of his black fingerless gloves and his silver Chrome Hearts jewelry. They think of his outrageous or amusing pronouncements, his grand gestures and his obsession with his cat, Choupette, who is one of his heirs. They think of Lagerfeld’s silhouette, which appeared on everything from dolls to Coke cans. When it came to ubiquity, it wasn’t quite George Washington on the 25-cent coin, but it was close.

They probably think of all this even if they don’t know the Chanel or Fendi labels where Lagerfeld worked, or remember seeing Nicole Kidman and Pharrell Williams in his clothes, or realize that Anna Wintour wore custom-made Chanel each year when she hosted the Met Gala, in pictures that went around the world.

If they are fashion people, of course, they may think of more. They may think, perhaps, of the outrageous flower arrangements he used to send, bigger than anyone else’s (he did everything bigger than anyone else), and the scores of handwritten notes. They may think of his work, which ranged from the awkward (Chanel snowboards and boxing gloves) to the sublime (an “eco-couture” show that was an ode to the natural world, wherein he somehow managed to use wood as a fabric).

They may think, of course, of the show sets: the iceberg, trucked in from Sweden and then trucked back again; the supermarket; the rocket ship. If they have long enough memories, they may think of the fan that was once his signature accessory.

But whoever they are, there is little doubt that over five decades, through presence and attrition and volume and a willingness to put himself out there – through sheer force of mind, maybe – Lagerfeld became the emoji in everyone’s mind that stood in for the job. He died on Tuesday, February 19, in Paris, Chanel announced.

As much as all the work, and the model for how to revive a heritage house the way he did with Chanel, that is what he gave us: an image of what “designer” means.

Now, of course, the job has changed. Designers have become creative directors or chief creative officers, and they are fluent in ROI and SKU. But that wasn’t Lagerfeld. Rather, he was the man with the sketch pad, erupting with ideas in the ivory tower of material artistry, and we forgave him his trespasses in the name of the muse. Or muses.

Because, let’s be honest, he trespassed a lot.

He offended people right and left, making as much of an art out of the cutting aside as the perfectly cut double-face gown. He said mean things

about Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, whom he drew hanging out with Hitler; the actress Meryl Streep, whom he falsely accused of asking for money to wear a Chanel dress to the Oscars; and the singer Adele, whose weight he criticized.

Three years ago, when I ran into him not long after a Gucci show in which Alessandro Michele, deep into his much-heralded reinvention of the brand, had referenced the somewhat obscure French philosopher Gilles Deleuze, Lagerfeld rolled his eyes and snorted and said, “Do you think he knows Gilles Deleuze?” The implication being that he, Lagerfeld, did not think so – because “I know Gilles Deleuze.” Of course he did.

He spent what seemed like let-them-eat-cake amounts of Chanel’s money on his sets during the global recession (though he also helped preserve and show off the work of the specialty ateliers – like the feather and embroidery houses – which easily could have been lost to history and industrialization). He judged and knew he would be judged himself, but he didn’t care. Rather, he embraced it.

This was a man, after all, who invented the haute fourrure show for Fendi – one full of clothes that were mind-blowing in their intricacy and invention – when fur itself was going determinedly out of fashion. Let the animal rights campaigners drive blood-spattered vehicles outside the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées while, inside, he took three standing ovations. He had no interest in being politically correct. At least when he was upsetting people, they weren’t bored.

It’s a strange thing to say, in the context of the multiple collections, the insane productivity, the omnivorous curiosity, the endlessly erudite references and the acres of satin and chiffon made glorious over the years, but one of the most extraordinary things about Lagerfeld may have been that he never apologized.

In all the hagiography that happens after a death, it should not be glossed over. Not just because it was part of who Lagerfeld was, in fully resplendent and sometimes ugly humanity, but because it is part of what marked him as belonging to a different time.

It was a time in which proclamations were issued and edicts handed down from on high. It was before “dialogue” or “co-design” or any of the things we now consider the wave of the future, and before the constant stream of mea culpas issued on social media, where brands and individuals seem to be endlessly wrong-footing themselves. Lagerfeld didn’t want to go to business meetings or be bothered with quarterly reports or budgets. Often, it didn’t even seem as if he had a budget. Or if he did, he ignored it (which is partly why he was the envy of so many other designers).

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“A touch of humour, a bit of disrespect:

that’s what a legend needs to survive.�

© 2019 NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

He prized the “freedom” – his word – of being left in his own world, with his atelier and his muses and his books and his Birman and his imagination and his ideas. He may have been heralded as a paragon of fashion modernity with his iPhone and his 300 iPods (this is, after all, an industry in which some chief executives still don’t use email), but in this, at least, he was resolutely old-fashioned.

It may be what we really mean when we say that his death signals “the end of an era.” It is the end not just of his reign, or that of his professional generation (Yves, Valentino and Co.), but of a certain idea that has lived in the public mind, far beyond the fashion sphere, of what it means to be a designer.

He outlasted almost all of his peers, who were lost along the way to the pressures of the changing industry, or disinterest in the spotlight, or the current conventional wisdom that 10 years is the longest any person should be in charge of a brand not his own. But even though Ralph Toledano, president of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, called him “immortal,” soon we might all find that in fact, Lagerfeld really was the last of his kind.

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CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Lagerfeld and legendary editor Anna Wintour; One of his creations from 1969, Courtesy of Fendi RIGHT: Lagerfeld with Nicole Kidman; one of his final creations

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Words − Varun Godinho

BELOW: The Jacquet Droz Bird Repeater.

OPPOSITE: The Grande Second Moon Limited Edition

To refer to Pierre Jaquet-Droz as a watchmaker would not do the man justice whatsoever. Here is an individual who had mastered mechanical watchmaking nearly 300 years ago, and surrounded himself with enamellers, alchemists, mechanics, and gemstone manufacturers among other skilled craftsmen. This restlessness saw him open three manufacturers: in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1738, in London in 1774 and in Geneva in 1784.

While these businesses were set up to create clocks and watches, his expertise extended far beyond conventional watchmaking to that of creating extremely complex automata.

One of his most famous automatons is the doll-sized creation called The Writer (it reportedly served as the inspiration for the automated char-

acter in Martin Scorsese’s Hugo) that dates back to 1755. Its 600 components were programmed so that it could write any pre-defined text on a piece of paper. “These automatons were done to show Jaquet Droz’s expertise in mechanical miniaturisation and also to create emotion. At this time there was no electricity or iPhone or iPad. To see an automaton moving was just amazing,” says Christian Lattmann, CEO of the 281-year-old brand.

How does a brand nearly 300 years old continue to remain relevant? “What we take from our history is our values. We take this as the inspiration for a new product, but we don’t stay in the past.

We take the know-how from our past, but we use it in a new way,” says Lattmann. A case in point: this year’s one-off Dh1.9m Jaquet Droz Bird Repeater Falcon automaton wristwatch. The watch was launched at the brand’s Dubai Mall Boutique – one of only 12 boutiques in the world – earlier this year.

The Bird Repeater Falcon depicts a scene of falconry set among the dunes of the UAE. A pair of falcons tend to their two chicks in a red gold nest painted and engraved by hand. On activating the automaton, one of the larger birds bends down to feed one of the chicks, while the other bird spreads its wings. A chick also hatches from the egg inside the nest. The spectacular scene doesn’t end there.

In the background, a father can be seen teaching his son the art of falconry – both dressed in traditional Emirati attire. To the left of the dial, a mother-of-pearl disc carries a hand-painted image of an oasis. “We made this timepiece using a very high level of craftsmanship. It is a minute repeater which means it is the highest level of complications in the watch industry too,” says Lattmann.

The second watch the company released specifically for the UAE is the Dh68,000 Grande Seconde Moon Limited Edition. The moon-phase watch, limited to just 28 pieces, has a silver opaline dial. “The moon and stars are in gold, and in the background, we’ve used a special stone called Blood Stone which is green and pays tribute to the flag of the UAE. It is a limited edition in steel and so the price is more affordable,” explains Lattmann. While Pierre Jaquet-Droz may have left us, his memory – and his innovations – are still very much with us.

Innovation redefined A storied Swiss watchmaker is keeping the memory of its founder alive with two remarkable UAE-inspired watches 66

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Jumeirah Al Wathba

Index Designing Jumeirah Living Guangzhou Al Wathba Desert Resort & Spa Frankfurt Neighbourhood Port Soller Hotel & Spa

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Words − Conor Purcell

Renowned hotel designer Bill Bensley has worked his magic in the Jumeirah Al Naseem

The Art of the Feel

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THESE PAGES: Bill Bensley’s work on display at Jumeirah Al Naseem

Jumeirah Al Naseem; Tel: +971 4 366 8888

Bill Bensley is a man who knows a thing or two about disruption. Visit his website and it’s the first word you will see in large white font. So what exactly does that mean?

Bensley is an atelier of architects, interior designers, artists and landscape artists that reimagine what hotels can and should be in the 21st century. Although primarily focused on Asia (Bensley is based in a suitably stunning office in the centre of Bangkok), its work can be seen around the world. From the Shinta Mani Wild, a luxury tented camp in the wilds of Cambodia to a Malaysian Sultan’s Royal Palace, Bensley is nothing if not prolific.

He and his Thai partner, Jirachai Rengthong are behind more than 200 properties in 30 countries. That figure is all the more astounding when you consider the attention to detail he puts into every project.

To take just one example, witness the gardens of Singapore’s Twin Peaks, inspired by the late, great street artist Keith Haring. “He’s my favourite artist. He was an icon in America in the 1980s, and we took his design ethos and developed it in many different ways – in the pool tiles and the sculptures around us, and even the façade of the building. We took his idea of graffiti and public art and devel-

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oped it and that’s consistent of what we do in every project.” Indeed there is something rather cinematic about Bill Bensley.

Maybe it’s the clothes, maybe it’s the attitude, or maybe it’s his insistence on looking at the big picture. “Designing a hotel is akin to producing a Hollywood movie,” he writes. “Hotels and movies both need a strong, compelling storyline. The best movies and the best hotels can be experienced many times and both movies and hotels are fated by their opening night.”

Which brings us rather neatly to Jumeirah Al Naseem, a stunning 430-room hotel that hugs the Arabian coastline.

Bensley’s work, both the interiors at Rockfish restaurant and the landscape design around the hotel, were informed by the surroundings. “A landscape architect is a guardian of the earth,” Bensley says. “If I am given a project in a natural environment, the first thing I look at is how can I protect the environment. Because I know no matter what I do to the site, no matter how clever I am, it’s never going to be as good as what Mother Nature has given us.

My credo is minimal impact and try to be as sustainable as possible.”

Then, Bensley and his team weave a narrative, one that will bear repeated vis-

its. “I take my creative DNA and I tell my 200 designers [he has 100 in Bali, and 100 in Bangkok] and so when questions come up I tell them to follow the DNA. To go from architecture to landscape architecture to uniform design to menu design to graphics to signage, everything has to go back to the DNA so we have a clear story.” You can witness just one of his stories at Rockfish restaurant. This Mediterranean seafood venue is stunning. From the French windows that open out onto the terrace to the specially clad giant seashells that adorn the walls, this is no ordinary restaurant. Oh, and of course there's those views of the Burj Al Arab.

That attention to detail is reflected in the rest of the hotel. The entrance features the stunning sculpture of a caravan of camels running on water made of polished stainless steel by Emirati artist Mattar Bin Lahej.

In the rooms, along with the most comfortable king-size bed, guests will also find the plushest towels and a wealth of Amouage toiletries in the bathroom.

The whole property has the feel of a carefully curated boutique hotel, albeit one with world-class five-star service.

Disruption needn’t always be painful.

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JUMEIRAH LIVING

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GUANGZHOU

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One of Asia’s most vibrant cities, Guangzhou is a sprawling port metropolis of more than 14 million people. Known for its energy, entrepreneurial population and cutting-edge architecture, it’s third only to Shanghai and Beijing in terms of its importance to the Chinese economy.

And right in the heart of this teeming metropolis is the newly opened Jumeirah Living Guangzhou. Located in the city’s

The latest Jumeirah opening is in one of China’s most vibrant and historic cities. Jumeirah Living Guangzhou features 169 state-of-the-art residences with the renowned Jumeirah hospitality.

Tianhe district, the hotel features 169 residences, all with spectacular views of the city. The property is divided into two towers. The North Tower features a contemporary approach to luxury which is sure to attract Asia’s new breed of entrepreneurs. The South Tower takes a more traditional approach to luxury: the vibe is here is palatial and very indulgent, all neo-classical architecture, double-height ceilings and marble floors.

The rooms in both towers feature everything from an Illy coffee machine to a flat-screen TV to high-speed WiFi. The apartments also feature state-of-the-art cooking appliances, washing machines and dishwashers, to complete the home away from home feel. The hotel also features a stunning gym for those pre-meeting workouts and an outdoor swimming pool, perfect to unwind in after a long day at the office.

Anyone who knows Guangzhou knows it reputation as a culinary hub, and the birthplace of Cantonese cuisine.

You can sample just some of the region’s cuisine at the Ting restaurant and lounge on the 7th floor, which is perfect for a mid-meeting pit stop or some post-work drinks. For those in need of some retail therapy – or just something for your loved ones back at home – Winter Mall, connected to the hotel, is one of the city’s best luxury shopping destinations.

Jumeirah Living overlooks the beautiful People’s Park and is minutes’ away from the city’s business district. Whether for short or long stays, business or pleasure Jumeirah’s newest Chinese property is a welcome addition to the Chinese hotel landscape.

Jumeirah Living Guangzhou, No 14 Zhujiang East Road, Tianhe, Guangzhou Tel: +86 20 8883 8888

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JUMEIRAH AL WATHBA DESERT RESORT & SPA Relax in the stunning surroundings of the Arabian desert at the Jumeirah Al Wathba Desert Resort & Spa

Set deep within the mesmerizing desert landscape of Abu Dhabi, lies Talise Spa, the brand new wellness retreat at Jumeirah Al Wathba Desert Resort & Spa. This intimate destination spa is a hallmark of the resort and enjoys a setting as calming as the treatments themselves.

Nestled within an exclusive natural environment, the destination spa doesn't rely on looks alone to impress – the luxurious treatments promise the perfect experience for couples and groups of friends to escape the city, rebalance and embark on an individual wellness journey.

This intimate retreat features 90 rooms and 13 villas, all of which offer unparalleled views of the surrounding desert. The airy rooms ooze class: from the rainfall showers and state-of-the-art entertainment systems to the high-end coffee machines and world-class service.

There’s no better way to start the day then with a dawn dip in our pool – it stretches out into the desert and has plenty of inlets and coves from which to take in the morning views. There’s also a pool bar with in-water seating if you want a

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Jumeirah Al Wathba Desert Resort & Spa; Tel: +971 2 204 4444

sundowner with a difference. Not quite relaxed enough? Then pay a visit to our renowned Talise Spa. It offers 13 luxury treatment rooms and private terraces overlooking the desert. It also features male and female hammams, cryo-treatment rooms, hot and cold plunge pools, a Jacuzzi, a steam room and a crystal salt room. There is also a dedicated yoga platform, where you can perfect your downward dog in the morning desert light.

If you can manage to drag yourself away from the luxury confines of your villa, there’s plenty to do. How about fat-biking through the endless dunes, or a sunset trek across the desert? Every evening there are falcon shows, where local guides will demonstrate this

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traditional sport. Guests can also arrange a romantic meal in the desert – imagine enjoying some of our word-class cuisine surrounded by golden sand dunes?

The cuisine is inspired by Arabian flavours, rustic Italy and the Mediterranean. Poolside dining can be enjoyed at Panache, while the remote desert camp Al Mabeet has been inspired by Bedouin traditions and offers a traditional desert dining experience. A rooftop bar is also on the premises for that postmeal glass of wine. While the property may be splendidly isolated, it’s only 40-minute drive from Abu Dhabi and 90 minutes from the Burj Al Arab. But whether you are coming from near or far, this is one hotel you won’t want to leave.

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Words − Conor Purcell

Illustration − Trang Minh

Frankfurt Neighbourhood Guide Explore Germany’s financial hub Located in the heart of this surprisingly vibrant city, the (1) Jumeirah Frankfurt (49-69-2972370) is just a few minutes walk from the city’s main sights, including the ever popular Zeil shopping street. You may want to put your retail therapy on hold however and indulge in a spot of actual therapy at the Talise Spa. Or enjoy a glass of something light and refreshing at the Ember Bar and Lounge. If you want something more substantial, there’s a choice of two world-class restaurants: The Max On One Grillroom and El Rayaan, a Lebanese restaurant.

If you do manage to drag yourself away, you can wander through the financial heart of Europe at the (2) Boerse Frankfurt (49-69-21111515), which is open to the public. View the financial workings in one of Europe’s biggest stock exchanges and watch the controlled chaos of the trader’s floor from a safe distance. The exchange also has a rather impressive art collection in the lobby, and a photography foundation headquartered at the Cube next door.

Europe is not known for its skyscrapers, but Frankfurt has a rather impressive skyline. Chief among its visual highlights is the (3) Main Tower, a 240 metre tall building that dominates the skyline. There are two public viewing platforms which give wonderful views of the city and surrounding countryside. Keep an eye out for the art installations in the lobby: Bill Viola’s video installation and the spectacular wall mosaic by Stephan Huber are both Instagram-worthy.

If you want more culture, a few minutes walk through Gallusanlage Park is (4) The English The-

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atre (49-69-24231620), which is, somewhat surprisingly, Germany’s largest English-speaking theatre.

The range of shows that the 300-seat space hosts is vast: everything from classics to comedies to musicals will be on show depending on when you visit.

Head east towards Willy-Brandt-Platz, which comes alive during the summer, with tourists, buskers and all walks of life. It’s also something of a transport hub, where you can get a subway or a tram.

Head up Neue Mainzer Strasse and you will arrive at (5) MMK 2 (49-69-21230447), a home to the city’s ever expanding collection of modern art. There is always fascinating temporary exhibits on show as well as a the permanent exhibitions.

If that’s not enough culture, head to the (6) Goethe House (49-69-138800) writer's house museum, in which the writer lived until 1795. Not only does the museum give an overview of the writer and poet’s work, it is a wonderful way of seeing how people lived in 18th century Frankfurt. Filled with period furniture and paintings, it also provides a window into Goethe’s work as an artist.

You are going to need some refreshment after all that walking, which is why (7) Bitter & Zart (4969-94942846) should be your next stop. Choose from the luscious chocolate pralines, lemon cake, or the Frankfurt butter-creams. Don’t forget to try the locally-roasted coffee either.

Walk it off at the rather lovely Main river, dotted with parks, cafes, rowing clubs and winding paths that hug both sides of the river. At night the glistening CBD towers are a sight to behold.

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Our Hotels DUBAI Burj Al Arab Jumeirah This iconic sail-shaped hotel redefined luxury when it opened and still offers the finest in service and experience.

Jumeirah Beach Hotel With ocean-view rooms and suites, restaurants, cafés, bars, swimming pools and a private beach, this is the ultimate family hotel with its recent refurbishment is looking fresher than ever.

Jumeirah Al Naseem at Madinat Jumeirah This sprawling five-star property features lush gardens, generous terraces and stunning views of the Arabian Gulf.

Jumeirah Al Qasr at Madinat Jumeirah Designed in the unparalleled opulence style of a Sheikh’s summer residence, Al Qasr offers the ultimate in Arabian luxury.

Jumeirah at Saadiyat Island Resort

Jumeirah Creekside Hotel Offers wonderful views of the Creek and the Dubai skyline. It’s perfect for business travellers who need to unwind.

Jumeirah Emirates Towers Jumeirah Dar Al Masyaf at Madinat Jumeirah Understated luxury is the byword here as this intimate yet generous property.

Jumeirah Mina A’Salam at Madinat Jumeirah Located in the heart of Madinat Jumeirah, Mina A’Salam is a luxury boutique hotel. Take an abra though the canals that surround the hotel and soak up the atmosphere.

These two towers are icons of Dubai’s skyline. The hotel offers 400 rooms, eight meeting rooms, 11 bars and restaurants and lots of business and meeting facilities.

Jumeirah at Saadiyat Island Resort A resort that redefined luxury in the capital, this property, situated on a 400-metre private beach offers a host of leisure activies.

Jumeirah Al Wathba Desert Resort & Spa Nestled in the spectacularly beautiful Arabian Desert, this boutique resort offers unrivalled tranquillity and views.

Jumeirah Living World Trade Centre Residence Executive living reaches new heights at these serviced apartments in the heart of Dubai’s business district.

ABU DHABI Nestled in the serene environs of The Palm Jumeirah’s West Cresent, this property exudes Ottoman-era charm and stunning views to bask in.

Jumeirah at Etihad Towers

Jumeirah Zabeel Saray Royal Residences

Jumeirah at Etihad Towers Residences

Set amid lush tropical gardens and facing a magnificent lagoon pool, the Royal Residences set a new bar for luxury accommodation in the city.

Redefine the idea of home at these fully serviced luxury residences in heart of Abu Dhabi.

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These five dramatically sculpted towers have become an Abu Dhabi landmark, an they are as spectacular inside as out.

Jumeirah Royal Saray Bahrain

Jumeirah Zabeel Saray

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View of Nanjing

Jumeirah Vittaveli Maldives

BAHRAIN

LONDON

MALLORCA

Jumeirah Royal Saray

Grosvenor House Suites by Jumeirah Living

Jumeirah Port Soller Hotel & Spa

There’s nowhere quite like Mayfair, and this Park Lane property exudes oldworld charm and understated service.

Nestled amidst Sóller Valley and the UNESCO World Heritage Tramuntana Mountain range, the Port Soller offers understated luxury in the heart of one of Europe’s hippest destinations.

Situated on a private beach in Bahrain’s new Seef district, the Royal Saray marries Arabian opulence with world-class service.

FRANKFURT

Jumeirah Carlton Tower

Jumeirah Frankfurt

Tradition and luxury meet in this Knightsbridge property offering cuttingedge elegance in the heart of the city.

Experience discreet luxury in the heart of the continent’s financial hub at this 218-room five-star property.

GUANGZHOU Jumeirah Living Guangzhou Located in the heart of Guangzhou, this already iconic building offers 169 luxurious residences, a temperaturecontrolled outdoor swimming pool and a host of F&B options.

Jumeirah Nanjing Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel Located in the heart of Belgravia, and perfectly located between Hyde Park and the West End, Lowndes offers a boutique townhouse experience with the unrivalled hospitality Jumeirah is renowned for.

MALDIVES Jumeirah Vittaveli

KUWAIT Jumeirah Messilah Beach Hotel & Spa Go for the huge private beach, seven world-class restaurants, kid’s club and a comprehensive fitness centre.

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NANJING

The Vittaveli mixes island charm with world-class service. Enjoy the views, watch the sunset or cycle one of the complimentary bikes out to a deserted spot. Bliss.

Designed by the legendary architect Zaha Hadid, this hotel is a stunning piece of design.

SHANGHAI Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel From the 16-metre high lobby to the artwork that adorns the walls, the Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel is an eclectic fusion of new and old.

COMING SOON Bali – Jumeirah Bali Oman – Jumeirah Muscat Bay

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The shot

Jumeirah Port Soller Hotel & Spa, Mallorca

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YOUR

PALACE AWAITS Feel like royalty at the newly refurbished Jumeirah Al Qasr. We’ve primped, polished, and are ready to welcome you.

jumeirah.com/alqasr

NICOLE KIDMAN’S CHOICE OMEGA Boutiques: Dubai: BurJuman • Deira City Centre • Dubai Mall • Dubai Festival City • Mall of Emirates • Mirdif City Centre • Sahara Center • Wafi Abu Dhabi: Marina Mall • Yas Mall. Rivoli stores across UAE. Toll Free: 800-RIVOLI