Portfolio | April 2017

ISSUE

136

PINEL & PINEL

HOW TO MAKE IT IN THE MLS

Luxury Paris trunk makers

The business of America’s soccer industry

GENE EDITING

INVESTING IN FORESTRY

The future of healthcare

Why it’s the smart choice

THE RISE OF THE NEW BUTLER 21st century servants for the super-rich

April issue 136

The business of life & living

Exclusive to Emirates First Class and Business Class

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Obaid Humaid al Tayer MANAGING PARTNER & GROUP EDITOR ian Fairservice EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Gina JOHnsOn GROUP EDITOR mark evans marke@motivate.ae sENIOR ART DIRECTOR sara raFFaGHellO sarar@motivate.ae DEsIGNER ralPH mancaO ralph@motivate.ae sUb-EDITOR salil kumar salil@motivate.ae EDITORIAL AssIsTANT lOndresa FlOres londresa@motivate.ae GENERAL MANAGER – PRODUCTION sunil kumar sunil@motivate.ae PRODUCTION MANAGER r. murali krisHnan muralik@motivate.ae PRODUCTION sUPERvIsOR veniTa PinTO venita@motivate.ae CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER anTHOny milne anthony@motivate.ae GROUP sALEs MANAGER micHael underdOwn michael@motivate.ae sENIOR sALEs MANAGER micHelle Quinn michelle.quinn@motivate.ae

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April issue 136

contents uPFront

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Forestry

Why trees could be a great investment

living

76

18

clock oF ages

The timepiece ticking for 10,000 years

Hotel

A luxury hotel for winter sports fanatics

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WHat to Pack

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ProPerty

A stunning modern villa in Singapore

From Rome to Tokyo, we’ve got you covered

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Food & drink

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most Wanted

The best products money can buy

We interview a Scottish chef who has taken Australia by storm

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exHibition

MoMA takes a look at cutting edge design

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column

An FBI hostage negotiator on how to get what you want

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37,415 copies July - December 2016

April issue 136

contents FeatUres

38

Can YoU KICK It?

Why Major League Soccer is proving a profitable investment in the US

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Geneva Motor sHoW

The latest trends and models from the world’s leading car show

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MY Man Jeeves

The super-rich reinventing the role of the butler

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daMIen HIrst’s CoMebaCK

The artist makes a much-awaited return – but will he be welcomed with open arms?

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venICe

A peek into the city of romance and intrigue from one of its lifelong residents

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APRIL / Finance

Issue 136

The wood for the trees Lauren Razavi explores the investment opportunities in the forestry sector

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oney might not grow on trees but it can certainly be stored in the woods. What is more, investing in the woods is increasingly popular. Between 1990 and 2010, the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries’ Timberland Index, which measures forestry investment performance in the US, logged a 10.7 per cent annual return. And in the UK the Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) annual forestry index recorded a comparable nine per cent annual total return in the country’s forestry investments from 1992 to 2015. According to 2012 records held by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation, institutional investors held $50 billion in forest assets.

One reason for this trend is the stability offered by forestry.

Although timber is a crop, like maize or sugarcane or spinach, trees don’t turn from saplings into towering conifers in a single season. Forest owners must wait decades before felling them and earning a profit. During that time, a forest gains value as it grows

and if the price of timber falls or demand shrinks, trees can simply be left standing until favourable market conditions return.

“As trees grow to the point of harvesting maturity, the value stored on the site increases because the volume of timber of the site has increased and the time to maturity decreases,” explains James Adamson, head of forestry investment at Savills, a property firm in the UK. “Investors capture this value either by selling the asset or harvesting timber.”

While the timber industry is still recovering from the effects of the 2008 recession, demand predictions look positive for investors. Global consumption of industrial roundwood, or wood in its natural state, was still roughly three per cent below prerecession levels in 2015, according to forestry investment firm FIM Services. Meanwhile consumption of industrial roundwood in Brazil, Russia, China, India and Indonesia increased by 39 per cent between 2005 and 2013.

FIM’s Global Timber Outlook report also estimated global sawn wood consumption could rise by 39 per cent between 2015

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Forest owners in the UK pay no capital gains tax for growing timber and no income tax for selling it. They also pay no inheritance tax

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to 2020 as developed economies recover from recession and timber consumption skyrockets in developing countries.

“With market volatility over the past few years, there are a lot of people who’ve decided they might like a more diverse investment portfolio,” says Raymond Henderson, a forestry expert at Bidwells, an agribusiness and property consultancy. “It’s not like investing in stocks and shares.

There’s actually a massive chunk of solid land with trees growing on it, which a lot of people find quite attractive.”

One group of investors showing interest is high net

worth individuals and institutions which place their money in private equity schemes in search of high returns. But the hunt for high returns inevitably means investors exposing themselves to greater risk.

“Private equity managers have been promising and sometimes delivering 12 to 15 per cent annual returns,” says Olivier Lebleu, head of nonUS distribution at Old Mutual Asset Management. “Then along comes forestry, which says: ‘You know, eight to 10 per cent is pretty good’. As the promise of private equity is shown to be a misery in terms of returns, people turn to other categories.”

Looking at unfamiliar investment categories is one thing but knowing how best to invest is another. “A lot of investors aren’t aware of forestry as an accessible asset class or how they would go about investing,” says Richard Davidson, fund manager at Gresham House Forestry, an asset management firm based in the UK. “Single investors might not have enough capital to buy a whole forest for themselves.

Therefore the availability of forestry funds and different investment vehicles can make quite a difference.”

If an investor does have the funds and commercial woodland is available and in the right jurisdictions, simply buying a wood can bring tax advantages.

Forest owners in the UK pay no capital gains tax for growing timber, for example and no income tax for selling it. They

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can also pass the land on to heirs without incurring inheritance tax. In France, forest owners are entitled to income tax deductions, depending on the size of their investment.

One route to purchasing woodland is to liaise with timber investment management organisations (TIMOs), who act as brokers for forestry investments. But before buying, would-be forest owners looking for regular revenue rather than long-term growth in value should remember that only annual tree harvests – feasible solely on large

tracts of forest – will deliver annual income.

The buy-your-own-forest option is not for everyone. Individual investors can put smaller sums into specialist forestry funds and can look to exchange-traded funds (ETFs), such as the Guggenheim Timber ETF and the iShares Global Timber and Forestry ETF, to gain access to the worldwide forestry market.

Looking ahead, one of the most significant drivers of demand for forestry products are biomass fuel plants, which burn organic materials such

64%

Amount of renewable energy in the EU generated through biomass in 2013

issue 136

as wood pellets and scrap lumber to produce carbon neutral electricity. Government policies are shifting in favour of renewable energy and in 2013, nearly two-thirds of renewable energy in the European Union was generated through biomass.

The International Renewable Energy Agency estimates that by 2030, biomass could account for 60 per cent of total global renewable energy use.

So the future looks bright for the forestry sector but one significant question remains: where are the opportunities?

While North America dominates the global commercial forestry industry, investments elsewhere are becoming easier to access. According to RISI, a global organisation with data on forest products, 40 per cent of the top 30 TIMOs are based outside North America, with 10 per cent in Brazil and three per cent in Asia.

“Where to invest depends on your budget, objectives, attitude to risk, investment requirements and need for income,” says Adamson.

“In the developed markets, we are likely to see some hardening of yields as the attractiveness of the asset class stimulates competition for property.”

So competition for investment-class forestry land is likely to heat up but perhaps the key concept here is one that is a watchword for professional and individual investors alike: a diverse portfolio. Investments in commercial woodland do not depend on favourable short-term economic conditions and so can be an excellent component part of an existing portfolio. A forest investment might not be as sexy as a bond issued by a disruptive tech start-up but the promise of stable returns and enduring value should be enough to turn many a hardened investor into a tree-hugger.

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upfront

The 10,000year clock Emma Woollacott investigates the Texas clock that aims to keep time for the next 10 millennia

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eep in Texas’ remote Sierra Diablo range, a team of engineers have been hollowing out a mountain.

The chamber they are creating is hundreds of feet high and will one day house an extraordinary object: a clock designed to keep time for 10,000 years. It will tick once a year, have a century hand that advances once every 100 years and feature a cuckoo that pops out on the millennium.

The 10,000-year clock – also known as the Clock Of The Long Now – is the brainchild of inventor and engineer Danny Hillis. He started work on the concept back

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in 1989 – or in 01989, as he prefers to put it. With the world at the time counting down feverishly to the millennium, he felt that there was a perceived “shortening” of the future and a decline in longterm thinking.

Meanwhile, the world is facing problems that are arguably bigger than ever before, from global warming to political upheaval – and dealing with threats on this scale, he thinks, needs a historical perspective.

“I wanted a symbol of the future in the same way that the pyramids are a symbol of the past,” says Hillis. “Everybody wanted to do things faster and faster. I needed to slow down and stretch it out, think on a different timescale.”

Hillis managed to secure a total of $42 million in funding from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, bought the remote mountain site and got construction underway.

Eventually, the clock will be open to the public – although it will not be an easy trip. The site is several hours’ drive from the nearest airport and the chamber can only be accessed via a long climb 2,000 feet up from the valley floor. As the project’s executive director Alexander Rose says: “Access is a fairly strenuous hike.”

On arriving at the site, visitors will be faced with an airlocked double-door system, one made of jade, the other of steel. They

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Amount in millions Amazon’s Jeff Bezos donated towards the project

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will then have to walk down a tunnel a few hundred feet long, in total darkness, until they reach the bottom of a 500ft-high spiral staircase that has already been carved out of the rock by robots created specially for the job.

Only when they have ascended this, passing the massive stone counterweights and gears on the way, will they see the face of the clock: a disc about eight feet in diameter that displays the natural cycles of astronomical time, the pace of the stars and the planets and the galactic march of the Earth’s procession.

Visitors – even those whose trip does not coincide with a yearly tick – will also be rewarded by hearing a unique chime. One of the many luminaries to become involved in the project is musician Brian Eno, who has created an automatic chime generator based on 10 bells that will produce a different sequence of musical notes at noon every day for the next 10,000 years.

Other highlights will include five large anniversary chambers, each hollowed out of the mountain to commemorate the first, 10th, 100th, 1,000th and

Issue 136

10,000th anniversaries of the clock’s beginning.

The one-year anniversary chamber is a special orrery, or model of the solar system, which will include the interplanetary probes launched during the 20th century as well as all the planets.

The clock will activate and run this orrery once a year on a predetermined date.

The face is a disc about eight feet in diameter that displays the pace of the stars and planets The designers say they have not yet decided on the contents of the 10th anniversary chamber but are looking for ideas from the public. They are not planning to design the contents of the other anniversary chambers, preferring to leave those to future generations instead. They are providing an interface for the clock’s future builders, giving them power and the correct clock-triggering mechanisms.

As you might expect, given the long-term philosophy behind the project, the team has not set a completion date for the clock, nor is it in any particular rush.

But construction is continuing steadily, says Rose.

“We are nearly done with creating the underground space and are nearing completion on the clock components,” he says.

“The next stage is to complete the clock parts and install it.”

It is an ambitious project – if not a hubristic one. Anybody who has read Shelley’s poem Ozymandias cannot help but be reminded of the “colossal wreck”, all that is left of a now unknown king.

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Very few human artefacts have lasted half as long as the planned 10,000-year lifetime of the clock and the builders are taking great pains to ensure it has the best possible chance of survival. The location – high and dry – was picked to minimise corrosion and decay and temperatures within the chamber are relatively stable.

The site’s remoteness, say the designers, was also a draw.

Anything could happen over the

upfront / technology

next 10 millennia, including the possibility of looting.

It’s this fear that is also leading them to try and ensure the parts are made of cheap, readily available materials that would not ever – they hope – be worth stealing. Most components are made of a marine grade 316 stainless steel with others made of high-tech ceramics and even stone.

And to last this long, the clock has to be relatively simple: the

Most of the clock’s components are made of marine grade 316 stainless steel

team says that its gears, levers and other parts are all tools that Galileo would have understood.

“We are testing all the components and wear surfaces to the number of cycles that they have to do but of course there may be surprises – and there is no way to know how future generations will regard it,” says Rose.

As for powering the clock, this is managed through thermal energy – the difference between day and night temperatures on the outside of the mountain. It is a technique that has been used before, although never on this scale.

While this is enough to keep the clock going, it is only through human visitors winding the mechanism that the correct time is displayed. The chimes might play when no one is there, depending on how much energy has been stored up.

But so far, everything is going according to plan, with components steadily emerging from machine and assembly plants in California and Seattle. An 8ft-tall prototype already exists, having been completed on New Year’s Eve 1999, just in time to strike twice to mark the last millennium. It is now on display in the Science Museum in London.

There are plans for a second fullscale clock, this time in Nevada and the team hopes there will eventually be many more.

None of this, of course, guarantees that the 10,000-year clock can last anything like its projected lifespan. However, there is an argument that, even if the clock does eventually fall into ruin, the mere fact of its existence serves its purpose: to remind the world that, if we handle the problems facing us wisely, the future could be very long indeed.

“We believe as long as it starts a conversation about long-term thinking, it is doing its job – so in that sense the clock is already working,” says Rose.

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April / ProPerty

issue 136

Singapore swing The Copper House is a slice of luxury in the tropical paradise of Sentosa

D

ubbed The Copper House, this twostorey home sits on more than 18,000 square feet of land with approximately 9,500sq ft of living space.

Nestled in Sentosa, a paradise island half a kilometre from the main island of Singapore, the house enjoys a massive 40-metre frontage overlooking a panoramic sea view. Six spacious ensuite bedrooms are highlights of the home and are all located on the first floor facing the pool. The

tastefully decorated living hall, dining room and entertainment area are situated on the second and third floors, ideally located to give a sunset backdrop. Given the price, you can expect all modcons to be taken care of, from the private elevator to a huge wine cellar. Equally impressive is the huge underground parking, the long, minimal pool and the dining room with spectacular sea views.

Perfect as a main family home or a seaside retreat, this is one of the most impressive Asian properties on the market right now.

Singapore

Price

From $33 million

23 christiesrealestate.com

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1

Standing Bureau A stunning take on a design classic, this bureau is made from American walnut and pre-aged copper. Fold the lid back and it turns into a freestanding table. $7,582, mannmadelondon.com

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APRIL / SPEND

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ISSUE 136

LOCKWOOD UMBRELLA Made at its north London site, Lockwood’s umbrellas are a byword for quality. Made from sustainably sourced oak and sewn by hand, they are a chic way to style out spring showers. $348, lockwoodumbrellas.com

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PENDANT LIGHT Small with beautifully simple design, this pendant is perfect for a hall or to hang over a dining table. The London-based design duo manage to combine elements of industrial design with an artisanal eye for detail. $242, bertfrank.co.uk

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IPHONE CASES

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This Stockholmbased company creates wonderful hand-crafted leather cases and covers for Apple products and for passports. Enjoy the playful elegance of its animal skin iPhone covers. $88, thecasefactory.com

BALLOON DOG Jeff Koons has collaborated with the French manufacturer Bernardaud to create this stunning porcelain piece. $10,807, bernardaud.com

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CIPRIANO MARTINEZ RUG The Venezuelan artist Cipriano Martinez has collaborated with rug producer Vanderhurd to create a number of graphic rugs that demand your attention. This cream and burnt orange piece is made of silk and handwoven – a wonderful addition to any room. $15,200, vanderhurd.com

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Illustrations: Ralph Mancao

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APRIl / Technology

Issue 136

Human after all?

Marianne Guenot explores the possibility of genetically modified humans and the moral questions such technology poses

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ill the 21st century be the time of genetically modified humans? A new technique, CRISPR/Cas9, has revolutionised the biotechnology world and brings us closer and closer to the possibility of correcting genetic defects before they are passed on to our children. With it comes a myriad of ethical considerations and experts around the globe have been gathering to decide whether editing the genome, or genetic make-up, before it is passed on to future generations, will ever be acceptable.

The concept of gene editing in humans is not new. Our bodies have fantastic tools to cut, paste, duplicate and repair our genomes and every cell in our body carries the same genetic information. But they sometimes make mistakes and a genetic mutation can arise, which can cause people to develop genetic disorders and pass them on to

their children. Scientists have been working for years to harness naturally occurring tools to correct these genetic disorders, and until now, these techniques were cumbersome and costly.

The difference now is that the new technology is accelerating developments in the field.

The CRISPR/Cas9 system was first identified in the 1980s. However, that research was quickly forgotten by the scientific community. It was only five years ago that scientists confirmed bacteria use this system to edit their own genome and CRISPR/Cas9 was catapulted to the forefront of biotechnology.

Shortly afterward, with a couple of tweaks developed by enterprising biotech companies, this technology evolved to the point where it could be used as a treatment tool for humans.

“The system’s precision, its ease of use, its convenience and its lack of expense offers a considerable potential for making

$2.8b

Value of biotech development market in 2016

much more precise alterations to the human genome than any previous technology,” says Karen Yeung, director of the Centre for Technology, Ethics, Law and Society at King’s College London and chairwoman of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics’ working party on genome editing and human reproduction.

This technique is thought to have such potential that it was elected Science magazine’s 2015 breakthrough of the year and is now a considerable part of the biotechnology development market, worth $2.84 billion last year.

The technology can be used in one of two ways. The first option is to edit human somatic cells, meaning any cell of the human body that is nonreproductive. Editing these cells affects only the patient and is usually a last line of defence against aggressive disease. Using CRISPR/Cas9 in this context would simply be an extension of existing gene therapy protocols, which boast successes such

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UPFRONT

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as the treatment of immune deficiency disorders.

Clinical trials to edit somatic cells are already underway. Last November scientists in China started injecting CRISPR/Cas9 to treat cancer in patients by disabling a gene called PD-1, which causes cancer cell growth.

The problem arises when considering the possibility of editing the genome of germline cells, which would then be passed on to future generations, correcting a genetic defect carried by one or two of the parents.

“There is a sense in which in many ethical frameworks, germline intervention is completely off limits,” says Yeung.

This ethical prohibition goes back to the Second World War. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was thought improving the genetic make-up of the human population by applying scientific knowledge to reproduction was commendable, an approach called eugenics. This was widely accepted and programmes were carried out in the US, Canada and European countries.

“The ethical prohibition tends to emerge out of World War II due to the atrocities of the Nazi era,” says Yeung. “The attempts to engage in systematic eugenic practices were deeply inhumane and unethical.”

After the war, international regulations were drawn up prohibiting any intervention that would influence the future of the population’s genetic make-up, sparked by “a sense that this must never be repeated. Expressing that in terms of a moral prohibition of germline editing was one way of demonstrating a political commitment and ethical commitment to this”, says Yeung.

Until recently, this prohibition was mainly theoretical as there was simply not the technology to carry out such modifications.

Today the need to monitor technology is ever-prescient and brings with it many important ethical considerations.

Many view germline editing as crossing an “ethically inviolable” line, but germline genome editing could provide some parents who are carriers of genetic diseases with the best or most acceptable option of having genetically related children born disease-free.

Preliminary research conducted by Chinese scientists shows we are a still a long

way from being able to safely implement this approach.

“There are two really big studies where attempts were made to edit the genome of embryos,” says Yeung. Importantly, in both cases, the embryos were never meant to be brought to term.

“In both cases,” she says, “they found considerable off-target effects,” meaning genes that were not intended to be affected were modified. However, technology is evolving very quickly in this area and it ia possible scientists will

APRIL / TECHNOLOGY

Many view germline editing as crossing an ethical line, but it does provide hope for parents of diseased children perfect this approach in the next couple of decades.

Moreover, says Yeung, “the fact is that legal coverage about this question is patchy”. There are some countries where germline editing of embryos for implantation would not be deemed illegal because officials

have not implemented laws yet concerning the issue.

Experts, bioethicists, lawmakers and scientists are gathering information to guide policymakers around the world in their decision to permit germline editing. Entering the world of germline cell editing would mean

ISSUE 136

exploring uncharted territories.

“If we were going to go there,” says Yeung, “we could be intervening in the lives of future generations, [people] who have certainly not consented because that would be impossible.”

On the other hand, “if we could get over this huge [technological limitation], if you failed to undertake this intervention you would somehow be acting unethically toward your future children.”

Care must also be taken to ensure the notion of ‘correcting’ genetic disorders does not unfairly prejudice against people with disabilities.

In a historical report released this February by the National Academy of Science, experts opened the door to germline editing in the US, making it a feasible preventative approach in the future, albeit with some important restrictions. These include “absence of reasonable alternatives, credible pre-clinical and/or clinical data on risks and potential health benefits, comprehensive plans for longterm multi-generational follow-up and continued reassessment of both health and societal benefits and risks, with wide-ranging, ongoing input from the public”.

In the UK, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics is planning to release its report later this year. Yeung says the council is “watching the results of the NAS report because if the US decides [germline editing] is ethically acceptable then it sends a very powerful signal to the rest of the libertarian world”.

She adds: “These are very difficult things to try and reconcile and in some ways, they are not really reconcilable in any theoretically coherent way.

We have to do what we do with public policy, which is to muddle through and come up with some politically and ethically acceptable compromise.”

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upfront

Pinel & Pinel Elena Berton discovers a Parisian trunkmaker putting his heart and soul into each product

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red Pinel, the self-taught Parisian craftsman who has turned the world of bespoke trunks upside down with his playful, candycoloured creations, believes his trunks are objects of contemplation.

“They are also selfish objects because you do not know what is inside when they are closed,” he says. “Only the owner and of course we who make them know what is inside. Opening your trunk and showing its content to others is like opening up your heart.”

Whether they are meant to house a priceless collection of Chateau Petrus or a 1980s arcade video game, Pinel’s bold creations are

best approached with a mix of awe and lightheartedness, since they are the stuff dreams are made of.

And like a favourite uncle, Pinel is eager to make your most outlandish wishes come true, whether your budget can only stretch to $73 for a crocodile lighter cover or if money is no object and you can splash out on a bookcase-sized trunk for your 200-strong watch collection.

“We create emotions,” he says.

“That is how we work. I need clients to share their innermost feelings with me so I can better respond to their expectations.”

To illustrate the lengths he goes to, Pinel mentions the indiscreet question he asked a North African

April / The Business

princess who had commissioned a large bag with 17 compartments to neatly store her clothes.

“I asked her: ‘I need to know the size of your bra otherwise I won’t be able to make a pocket with the right dimensions.’ She laughed.”

The place where Pinel conjures the magic that makes dreams come true is hidden behind a nondescript door on a busy road in the eastern reaches of Paris.

It all started 16 years ago with an old suitcase in an attic. Pinel was helping clear his grandparents’

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and have them assembled in another workshop before getting them back for finishing. The whole business was so homegrown that friends would help him out in the evening.

The owner of a cigar shop in central Paris, who had bought a few cases, suggested Pinel contact Colette, the Parisian concept store famous for its edgy selection of fashion and accessories. The international showcase provided

by Colette eventually helped raise the profile of the fledgling accessories designer.

Pinel was helping to clear his grandparents’ country home when he found a suitcase with compartments that dated back to a bygone era country home when he found a suitcase with compartments that dated back to a genteel age of meticulous luggage-packing.

“It was an epiphany,” he says.

At the time Pinel was running his own advertising agency and was dabbling with small accessories like make-up bags as a sideline.

He took the suitcase with him and began reassembling it in his spare time. A chance meeting with a leather craftsman, who was impressed with Pinel’s work, was the encouragement he needed.

“I thought: ‘If I am able to do this, I can do more,’” he says.

However, sourcing components as the first French trunkmaker in 150 years was far from easy as the high end brand Louis Vuitton had a monopoly on the market.

Pinel opted to start small and began working on cigar cases in a rainbow-coloured range of fuchsias, greens and blues and with unusual skins like ostrich and alligator. He would prepare the skins, cut them

“People had seen the pieces at Colette and thought they were something special. Still, my objective was to make trunks,” says Pinel. “I was making accessories to help finance the development of the trunks.”

He moved closer to that goal in 2004 when Joseph Ettedgui, the London-based Moroccan entrepreneur behind the Joseph fashion retail group and Connolly Leather, asked Pinel to design a trunk to store a Brompton folding bicycle. He later placed an order for three large ones.

The orders were the catalyst that helped put the brand on the radar, according to Pinel. More orders followed for his audio, video and office trunks, which convinced him to move to a larger workshop in Paris, hire craftsmen and find a suitable showroom.

Pinel also took the decision to discontinue the accessories line to focus entirely on trunks. He was proved right the following year

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APRIL ISSUE 136

UPFRONT / THE BUSINESS

Michael Jordan ordered a trunk for his 23 pairs of Nike Air trainers

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when Krug, the iconic champagne house, asked him to design the ultimate picnic trunk as part of its image revamp.

Pinel let loose his imagination to create a trunk worthy of the ultimate epicurean feast, equipped with esoteric gourmet accessories like a truffle grater, caviar spoons, a guillotine sausage slicer, chopsticks, handmade porcelain plates and a cigar cutter.

“It was out of this world. It took us two months from the initial design to delivery,” says Pinel. “It was a major challenge.”

Unsurprisingly, the trunk made a splash in the media, which prompted Krug to order 20 more – the first major order for Pinel.

A large order from Swiss watchmaker and jeweller Piaget followed, as did highly publicised commissions from French businessman Francois Henri Pinault and Michael Jordan, who wanted a trunk for his 23 pairs of Nike Air Jordan sneakers.

Wealthy individuals, high-flying executives and movie and music artists have also succumbed to the charm of Pinel’s fanciful trunks.

But he demurs when pressed for names: “It is very important to remain extremely discreet to protect our clients. We only mention those who talk about us.”

Still, there must be a lot of talk about Pinel and Pinel behind the scenes, since the company does not advertise and only relies on word of mouth to get new business.

Pinel’s coyness is partly due to the fact the price tags on his most

outlandish creations can reach seven figures. Yet he likes to stress that he does not cater exclusively to the fabulously rich. The nature of the made-to-measure business means customers can propose a budget and he works within the confines of what they can afford.

To emphasise his point, Pinel mentions an executive at SNCF, the French state-owned railway operator, who had saved to treat his wife to a customised Pinel bag for her 40th birthday. “We have people who appreciate what we do and do not want to have the same things as the rest of the world so we come up with something

special for them, which can match what they want to invest in a project,” he says, adding the firm does not push its customers to spend more than they can afford.

Such an approach for a luxury brand is down to the personality of its founder. The 47-year-old father of two teenage sons, who grew up in a modest household on the outskirts of Paris, comes across as refreshingly affable and unstuffy – an oddity in the rarefied world of French luxury.

Of course, at Pinel and Pinel the sky is the limit for wealthy dreamers who can afford it.

The Soprano trunk, an off-thewall creation that houses a

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Bang and Olufsen audio system and enough space for 480 CDs, or the Kibako, which contains a real bonsai tree, are just a stepping stone into Pinel’s playful universe.

He has worked with architectural firms on what he calls “crazy” projects that have involved decorating entire apartments, including tables and chairs, as well as yacht interiors.

At the same time Pinel refuses to rest on his laurels. His latest undertaking, which he hopes to introduce later this year, is a “panic trunk” – a made-to-measure armoured trunk equipped with an armchair and satellite telephone to be used as a panic room in case of a robbery or break in. “It was an idea that just came up,” says Pinel.

He admits he has not always been afforded the luxury to focus entirely on the creative side of the business. As the company began to expand, Pinel opened up to

uPfront / the Business

other investors who did not share the same vision, prompting him to take back control before finding a new minority partner who is supportive of his plans.

“It is easier to be creative when you do not have any pressure to achieve results or targets. If I had kept 100 per cent control I would not have been able to maintain our story and support our development,” he says.

There are plans to open an office in Hong Kong to cater to growing Asian demand. Among the shipments ready to leave the warehouse is a $212,000 order from a client in Shenzhen, who is awaiting the delivery of a trunk to store her camera collection, a trunk-cum-safe for her jewellery and a cigar case.

After Hong Kong, the Gulf region is set to become the next step for expansion, thanks to the enthusiastic following that Pinel’s

creations have gained there. As part of a recent interior decoration project, the craftsmen worked non-stop to produce covers made of shagreen, lacquer and gold foil for the tissue boxes that are traditionally placed in every room of the palaces in the region.

Dealing with such a volume of orders would have been impossible two years ago, says Pinel. The number of employees has tripled to reach 36, of whom 20 are artisans, busy cutting and sewing to the tune of pop music.

They work a few steps away from the storage area where the trunks ready for shipment are carefully wrapped in thick foam before being placed in wooden crates and flown to far-flung destinations, where eager customers are waiting to unpack them.

Pinel & Pinel, 22 Rue Royale, 75008 Paris, France, Phone: +33 9 67 07 58 39, pineletpinel.fr

APRIL ISSUE 136

UPFRONT / CLASSIC READ

The New New Thing

By Michael Lewis

Clark’s real passion, however, was for a boat. Not just any boat, but the Hyperion, the world’s largest computerised sailing boat. Lewis chronicles the making of the boat, its illfated first voyage and Clark’s obsessive need to build it.

It is the boat that provides Lewis with the insight, the metaphor for American capitalism at the tail end of the 20th century. The boat represents the titular “new, new thing”, the next product, the next idea that keeps rich entrepreneurs like Clark getting out of bed every morning.

Lewis is always aware of the utter absurdity of much of what passes for insight in Silicon Valley

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ichael Lewis is the best in the business when it comes to exploring the corporate world.

From Moneyball to The Big Short, he effortlessly translates the jargon and insider dealing of everything from baseball to futures trading, eschewing cliche and always delivering insight.

In The New New Thing, Lewis trains his sights on a larger-than-life tech entrepreneur named Jim Clark. Lewis portrays Clark – who founded internet giant Netscape – as a modern-day outlaw, a man who lives on the edge, betting it all on huge tech businesses such as Silicon Graphics, Healtheon and the aforementioned Netscape.

Clark’s businesses might not initially make money but he earns billions when they go public.

Lewis has a light touch with material and he is always aware of the utter absurdity of much of what passes for insight in Silicon Valley. At the tail end of the 1990s, the technology industry was growing at a massive rate. Everyone who was anyone was going public; the sheer scale of the figures involved was mind-blowing and, ultimately, unsustainable.

Luckily for Lewis, Clark is a mercurial, charismatic figure. He turned the web into something for everyone by inventing the first mass market browser with Netscape. He then invented Healtheon, a programme which aimed to regulate the chaos of the US healthcare system. This was a high-school dropout who built himself from nothing into a billionaire and his belief in the future is, understandably, unassailable.

The best bits of the book chronicle Clark’s relationship with his boat and Lewis, playing it straight, watches on in wonder as Clark attempts to navigate the boat from Europe to the Caribbean.

Lewis is sceptical (as all good journalists should be) without being cynical and represents us, the reader, as he delves deeper into the world Clark has constructed.

Clark, then, is the modern-day equivalent of the prospector, the men who voyaged into the West centuries ago to discover the American frontier.

The fact that the late 1990s technology bubble would burst spectacularly (wiping out billions of dollars in the process), is neither here nor there. Men like Clark would get up, dust themselves down and do it all over again – because just over the horizon is the next new, new thing.

As Lewis writes about Clark: “As a practical matter Clark had no past, only a future. That is when he really came alive: when you got him on the subject of what was going to happen next.’’

Whatever travails America currently finds itself in, men like Clark will continue to keep looking forward. It is this optimism that sums up American entrepreneurship in the 21st century.

THE SOCCER BUSINESS David Rudin examines why America’s Major League Soccer is suddenly big business for investors

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n a sunny afternoon in August 2016, members of the District Ultras football supporters’ group marched through Los Angeles’ Exposition Park neighbourhood in support of their chosen team. Most of them wore black hats with Los Angeles FC’s golden-winged logo. The flares they carried dissipated yellow smoke to match their yellow flags. They crashed cymbals and held up banners proclaiming “this is LA”.

In the grand scheme of football fandom, the sight of fans marching to a stadium with banners and scarves, chanting as they go, is hardly a rarity.

It is a weekly sight in Cordoba, St Petersburg, Soweto, Nagoya. In this case, however, the fans were marching towards Los Angeles’ old sports arena, which was about to be demolished so that a new soccer-specific stadium could be erected in its place.

In 2018, when construction is hopefully completed, the new Banc of California Stadium will become the home of Los Angeles FC. As the District Ultras marched, the club had yet to play a match or sign a player. Nevertheless, it already had fans willing to spend an afternoon, all kitted out, to cheer on a groundbreaking ceremony.

Without a game to watch, the main draws were the celebrities in the nascent team’s ownership group.

The comedian Will Ferrell proudly proclaimed that the club would go undefeated in its maiden season before trying his hand at operating the construction equipment. “People can now live and work and come to enjoy a great soccer game and soccer team right in their own community,” said Magic Johnson, the legendary Los Angeles Lakers guard.

Ferrell and Johnson, along with the business guru Tony Robbins, were the event’s most public faces but were joined by Major League Soccer (MLS) commissioner Don Garber, US Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati and Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti to usher in this new era.

Photos of the occasion focused on the famous faces trying to bring this new team into existence but their undertaking also has international financial backing. For instance, the Malaysian businessman Vincent Tan is one of the club’s 27 owners. He owns a number of clubs around the world, the most notable of which is Cardiff City FC, formerly of the Premier League. In February, however, rumours circulated that Tan might be divesting from his sports teams. While Bloomberg

reported that Tan was likely to have lost money on his European football investments, there was no suggestion that his stake in LAFC had depreciated.

If anything, some observers speculated that it had only grown more valuable.

That, in a nutshell, is where MLS currently stands. It is a league where teams can find untapped fanbases seemingly overnight and investors might see profits before their inaugural kick-off.

Owning a sports team will never offer the soothing security of, say, putting your money to work in exchange-traded funds. But not everyone wants that experience when investing. For those who fall into the latter camp, it often comes down to what sport in which to invest and where. Increasingly, the answer to both of those questions is MLS. The US and Canada are not traditionally thought of as footballing hotbeds. Football is neither country’s national sport. Moreover, football leagues have to compete with well-established competitors in American football, baseball, basketball and hockey. MLS only celebrated its 20th anniversary during the 2016 season. A celebratory post on the

The Soccer BuSineSS

league’s website noted that Friends was a hit TV show and Netscape was the internet’s foremost search engine when the first MLS match was played. By way of a comparison, England’s Football League was founded in 1888, the year when Jack the Ripper is believed to have committed his first murder and the Financial Times sold its first issue.

That history, however, does not tell the full story of soccer in these countries. In America, youth soccer is now more popular than its softball, baseball and tackle football equivalents. MLS is now a more popular league with American teenagers than the National Hockey League or Major League Baseball.

Since 1998, government surveys in Canada have shown that more children play soccer than hockey.

Investment in MLS, then, is in no insignificant part a bet on the persistence of these generational trends.

While waiting for those teens to turn into adults, MLS is already seeing gains. According to Forbes’ franchise valuations, the league’s teams gained 80 per cent in value between 2013 and 2016. Of

even more interest to potential investors in MLS, that value is not concentrated among the league’s earliest franchises. The Seattle Sounders, which joined the MLS 15 seasons in for the modest expansion fee of $30 million, is now reported to be worth $285 million and the league’s most valuable team. Orlando City SC and New York City FC, which started playing in 2015, are already among the league’s five most valuable franchises. Expansion fees have steadily grown since the days of Seattle’s $30 million but so too have franchise values.

Travelling Europe by train, one can usually get off at any station and find the catchment area of a local football club and a community of diehard fans. Not all of these clubs will be top-flight performers but the weight of history is firmly stacked against newly formed clubs.

For interested parties, then, the path to success in Europe usually involves buying an existing club that has seen better days. The owners of Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and RB Leipzig have all followed this route over the past decade. The case for buying an MLS franchise, on the other hand, is not solely rooted in the value captured by existing markets. Rather, there is reason to believe that many American and Canadian markets are currently underserved.

This geography has resulted in an unusual collection of job opportunities and skills in demand.

America is one of the few places where knowing how to build a soccer club from scratch remains a valuable skill. Consequently, a cadre of experts has spent the past 20 years crossing the country putting in place the local infrastructure needed to support thriving clubs.

Peter Wilt is one of those experts. In 1997, he was hired to lead the construction of MLS’ Chicago Fire. Like the gestation of a baby, that process took nine months. The club, one of the league’s oldest, debuted in the 1998 season and is still playing. “There are not too many places in the world where that can be done because historically that’s already been done,” he said on the phone from California, where he was working to lay the groundwork for a second division team in San Diego. So far, Wilt has started teams in six

Investors looking to Europe usually buy an existing club with potential that has seen better days

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Previous pages: David Villa playing for New York City FC and MLS president Don Garber at the groundbreaking ceremony for Los Angeles FC. Above: Chicago Fire coach Dave Sarachan (left) and general manager Peter Wilt pose with their first round draft pick Nate Jaqua during the MLS Super Draft at the Convention Center in January 2003 in Kansas City, Missouri

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different American soccer leagues, many of which have gone on to be leaders in attendance.

In Wilt’s estimation, American soccer has two types of markets that are ripe for further investments. The first sort will be familiar to fans of other American sporting leagues. Traditional sports cities that are often home to basketball, baseball, American football or hockey franchises – and often some combination – do not all have professional soccer teams. Cleveland, for instance, is home to the reigning National Basketball Association champions and a baseball team that came within a few pitches of winning this year’s World Series.

AFC Cleveland, on the other hand, plays in a 2,200-seat stadium in the National Premier Soccer League, American soccer’s fourth division.

Wilt’s voice rises when it occurs to him that Cleveland’s biggest soccer team plays in the same league as the youth teams of second-tier clubs. Other cities like Milwaukee and Buffalo also fit this description: traditional sporting cities ripe for the

picking by potential soccer investors. His voice then gets even higher with indignation. “My goodness, who would think that in 2017 a market as diverse and passionate as San Diego would not have a soccer team,” he asks. “That’s mind-boggling.”

Those markets are not only obvious destinations for soccer franchises because they have welcomed other leagues in the past; they are also conducive areas because they represent America at its most diverse and cosmopolitan. While soccer is growing across demographics in the US, it is still largely associated with diasporic communities that have pre-existing affinities with the sport. That in part is the appeal of a place like San Diego. But Wilt’s argument is that metropolitan hotspots are no longer the only options for those seeking to invest in American soccer.

“There’s now interest in watching professional soccer in what has been called mainstream America or flyover,” Wilt says. Call them whatever you want, really; he can name 50 cities with half a million or more inhabitants that could support soccer teams.

Indeed, American soccer history is littered with cities between the coasts that have successfully drawn soccer crowds. Chattanooga FC, based in Tennessee’s fourth-largest city, managed to draw 18,227 attendees to what was effectively an amateur match in 2015. A year later, FC Cincinnati – then of the third tier USL – attracted more than 30,000 fans for a playoff match against Charleston. The club had previously attracted comparable crowds for a home friendly against Crystal Palace. In American soccer circles, this raises the question of which city might be the next Cincinnati: Las Vegas?

Tucson, Arizona? Austin, Texas? Calgary, Alberta?

Insofar as a third of the American and Canadian markets with more than a million residents lack professional soccer teams, these options might not all be mutually exclusive. “As the Chattanoogas of the world are showing,” Wilt says, “the interest in the sport is no longer limited to large diverse cities.”

Soccer in America is a curious hybrid of different sporting traditions.

While the on-field product used to be distinctly American – MLS started with penalty shootouts where players dribbled the ball from midfield, like in hockey – it is now easily recognisable to viewers from around the world. The league structure, on the other hand, continues to resemble that of other North American sports. MLS operates in a manner largely indistinguishable from Major League Baseball or the National Football League.

“The interest in soccer is no longer limited to large diverse cities but to Middle American cities too”

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MLS is what is known as a single entity. The league owns its teams and all of their players while owners are shareholders in the league with an exclusive franchise to operate their teams. The expansion fee paid by new entrants in the league therefore serves to compensate other owners for the dilution of their shares. Spreading resources in this manner, while arguably less advantageous to the most successful teams, minimises the risks faced by any team owner.

The single entity is a particularly American structure that does not exist in much of the sports world. If one buys a top-flight club elsewhere, there is always the risk that successive poor seasons will see that club plummet down the league table. Ten years after paying for an elite team, then, an owner can be saddled with a lower-league team that is as close to outright amateurism as its former heights and there is no guarantee of ever returning to the top flight. Most markets offer opportunities to buy low and hope for promotion, which is not currently a possibility in America. On the flip side, an investment in an MLS club does not carry the

same risk of European or Latin MLS owns its teams and American equivalents. all of its players while Investors have so far proved owners are shareholders willing to accept this trade-off.

The idea for Los Angeles FC given a franchise was reportedly gestated at the annual Global Sports Summit in Aspen, Colorado. The club’s eventual ownership group, which spanned multiple sports and league structures, was united by this security. Henry Nguyen, a venture capitalist and one of the franchise’s instigators, told Sports Illustrated soccer reporter Grant Wahl that this system was crucial in bringing other partners on board: “They were like: ‘Wait a second: First of all, there’s no relegation? All right, you got me!’”

Faced with the risky business of promotion and relegation in other leagues, the premium of paying an expansion fee definitely has its appeal.

Late last autumn, in an overcrowded conference room, MLS commissioner Don Garber presented his latest state-of-the-league address. It was his second trip to Toronto in less than a month and

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The growth of the MLS will come from a combination of expanding audiences and new teams across North America

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on both occasions he had stressed the growth of the game. A decade after the club’s formation, Toronto FC iconography covered public transit vehicles and billboards. When visiting the locker room, the team’s players could regularly be heard discussing how they saw support all around Canada’s largest city.

“We remain very focused on building a league that can be among the very top leagues in the world,” said Garber. “Our business in 2016 was our best yet and it continues to show growth.”

That growth will come from a combination of expanding audiences and new teams. The night after his state of the league, Garber mingled at the same pre-game party as Nick Rogers, the president of Minnesota United FC. At the time, the club had yet to play a single MLS match. Along with Atlanta United, it has now made its league debut, bringing the current league total to 22. Two more clubs – Miami and the aforementioned Los Angeles FC – are working towards their first matches. A variety of markets and ownership groups have also spent the last year developing their bids for future expansion spots.

“I think everyone would agree that the quality of MLS is higher today than it was years ago when there were fewer teams,” said Garber, adding: “As we apply and invest more resources in our rosters, we are able to attract better players.” Indeed, a league that was once a retirement home for immobile big names now boasts exciting young players such as Nicolas Lodeiro and Sebastian Giovinco. The league is still at a point where expansion is not a synonym for dilution.

At what point, then, will it be enough?

Garber has previously discussed expanding the league to 28 teams and only once that happens, considering something larger. That plan alone offers investment opportunities for new owners but would fall well short of the number of markets Wilt has identified that are ripe for soccer investment. Whether a single league could ever accommodate 50 teams is unclear. This is one of many reasons Wilt predicts that American soccer will eventually install a traditional league

pyramid. For now, however, the safest bet is that MLS will grow beyond 28 teams while leaving some markets underserved in the process.

When foreign players come to MLS, they are often surprised by the amount of travel involved.

Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, during his brief tenure with the Los Angeles Galaxy, was notorious for his comments about the unfamiliar amount of weekly air travel. Geography in American and Canadian soccer is a visceral reality for players and fans, but an undervalued opportunity for investors. Tiny specks of light seen out of an aeroplane window while crisscrossing these countries often represent sizeable communities of potential fans who are currently ignored. MLS is mapping out a land of opportunity where new frontiers have yet to be explored.

Top: Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole and Robbie Keane were among the big names from England to sign up for LA Galaxy Above: Atlanta United fans show their support

Full ThroT Tle The Geneva Motor Show is perhaps the most interesting automotive show on the calendar. For one, it is not just about the big manufacturers.

From boutique companies to Chinese car-makers and auto-tuning firms, the expo plays host to a range of industry operatives. And unlike other expos, it attracts the ultra-rich looking to buy their dream machines.

Here’s a selection of some of the best cars on offer this year...

Geneva Car Show

Techrules Ren Price: $2.7 million (approx)

Aston Martin AM-RB 001 Price: $3 million (approx)

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Geneva Car Show

Bugatti Chiron Price: $2.7 million (approx)

Aston Martin Valkyrie Price: $3.7 million (approx)

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Geneva Car Show

Pagani Huayra Price: $1.4 million (approx)

50 EF7 Vision Gran Turismo Price: $1 million (approx)

Bentley Bentayga Mulliner Price: $300,000 (approx)

Geneva Car Show

Ferrari 812 Superfast Price: $296,000 (approx)

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Geneva Car Show

Bentley Continental Supersports Price: $258,000 (approx) coupe $284,000 (approx) convertible

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Lamborghini Huracรกn Price: $210,000 (approx)

THE RISE OF THE NEW BUTLER David Whelan examines why the super-rich are reinventing the role of the butler

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hink of a butler and the mind immediately conjures up a tall, waifish man – probably balding, with white hair slicked neatly behind the ears – who is impossibly polite and frightfully wellmannered. This figure resides only in the most exclusive of residencies – the English manors resembling Downton Abbey, the far-flung homes of the super-rich and super-historied and, further still, in glamorous hotels across the globe. Butlers are, historically, a synonym for wealth; a living, breathing sign that money and order rule. But they are also on hand to make life easier. They open doors, run baths, drive cars and serve food. A butler is someone we all, secretly, would like to have: someone who would do all the menial work for us and leave us to get on with our lives. Just in terms of timesaving, the privilege of having another person pick out our clothes, prepare our meals and plan our diaries would free us up to direct our attention to what we really care about: living.

And living is just the word to describe a thriving profession. Despite its historical links, the profession is alive, well and modern. Thousands of butlers are employed throughout the world. Over time and as their responsibilities have expanded, their title has changed – to estate or household manager, say. They are – like all the best butlers – invisible but unsurpassably efficient, like the mechanisms of a clock beneath the face. The better a butler is at their job, the less you notice them. Think of them like a great stagehand at the theatre: if you cannot see the props and set changing, then you are never reminded that what you are watching is artifice. You can immerse yourself in the story. That is the butler’s primary role – to turn your life into play.

Susan Feigon and Gail Hamilton of Feigon Hamilton have provided the world with butlers for more than 20 years. Over this time, tastes and functions have drastically changed. “Nobody [in America] wanted a butler,” says Feigon. “They thought it was pretentious but there has been a shift.” According to Feigon, the shift is not that hard to trace. “All of a sudden, they saw how useful they could be – how they could run homes like no other.” And the modern butler is nothing like one might imagine.

“Butler and household manager are often interchangeable,” says Hamilton. “There are different types of butlers. This has come about as high-end hotels have become more competitive and guests want a more sophisticated service. Then there is the corporate butler.” Nor are they fusty old men but rather, spring from a variety of sartorial

“Twenty years ago nobody in America wanted a butler. They thought it was pretentious”

excellence: in Feigo Hamilton’s experience, butlers are “young”. Throughout our conversation, it is a word they keep returning to. “The contemporary butler is a cool, savvy, American,” says Feigon.

“He knows what he is doing, he can wear a suit.

He can do events. On a daily basis he is wearing a pair of very nice jeans, a great shirt. He will always look very polished. You will never forget that he is representing the family.”

Salaries can go from $50,000 to more than $200,000, with Boston, London and San Francisco commanding the highest fees in the West, Shanghai and Beijing in the East. Women and younger men are now a mainstay of the job.

Gone are the days of the cliched manservant.

“Butlers have traditionally been male and this remains the norm,” says Hamilton. “But today female butlers are preferred – in particular in Dubai and the Middle East.” Feigon goes on to tell the story of one ambitious female butler they worked with, who had her sights set on a particular employer and, after multiple years of moving between “private and corporate”, ended up “working her way up to the top part of the Forbes list and eventually got the job with the person she wanted to work for”.

Listening to Feigon and Hamilton talk, it becomes clear there is something newly aspirational in becoming a modern-day butler. “There are some people in this industry who think they are rock stars,” says Feigon. “We had one woman from 10 Downing Street. We helped her emigrate to America through us and she ended up working with a financial family in San Francisco. Then she got a fantastic job in New York in one of the largest townhouses in the city. Now, she is working in California taking care of a very prominent family with multiple homes and a lavish lifestyle. They treat her very well and she still remains humble.”

If a butler rises high enough, they will move from a single house to an entire estate that could span upwards of 20 homes. “Our clients will have multiple houses and multiple staff but not multiple butlers,” says Hamilton.

“I met this one gentleman who was at training school years ago,” she says. “He was sent to a client and they adored him. Originally he was a chef but went back to school as a house manager. Then he got a position as a butler down in Florida. He is now an estate manager. They have their own private jets, a 220-foot yacht and a penthouse in New York.

They travel constantly. He is in charge of all of it. He has every system in place, manuals on every house and he trains each member of staff to adhere to his standards. The family is into entertaining. They entertain up to 300 people at a time.”

Perhaps the butler’s re-emergence might have had something to do with the growing wealth gap across the world. With the lifestyles of a new superrich elite in extreme contrast to those of the working class, the idea of Upstairs Downstairs persists. In 2012 alone the number of millionaires increased by a sizeable 10 per cent – and with them came that great symbol of wealth, the help. Ian Hacking, the world-famous Canadian psychoanalyst, calls this “semantic contagion”. Wish for something enough – say, a butler to help around the mansion – and that thing will come to exist. The exact number of butlers in the UK right now is unknown but most estimates put them at more than 10,000, with a huge leap in numbers in the past decade. Bespoke Bureau, a staffing agency in London, claimed in 2014 that this was due to an increase in interest from China, with butlers morphing into a status symbol not

It is estimated there are more than 10,000 butlers currently working in the UK at the moment, a huge jump in numbers

just of wealth but also of culture. If someone looks and talks as if they are British, they are ripe for exporting. “This is the property manager butler,” says Hamilton. “They are primarily in China and do not have the same traditional duties as we do.”

Another company, the San Francisco-based ManServants, has taken the glamour of the job and made it entirely female-orientated.

Women can employ men to be their very own servants. “It started out as a joke,” explains Dalal Khajah, co-founder and chief operating officer of ManServants. “We asked ourselves: ‘What do women really want?’ And the answer to that was manservants – chivalrous gentlemen who provide entertainment and hosting services with the assured promise of keeping their tuxedos on.” Keeping it strictly above board was a major priority, as was bringing the ancient tradition back into fashion for a modern consumer base.

“In developing our training programme,” Khajah says, “we researched everything from Japanese hosts and the traditional English valet to concierge services at luxury hotels. ManServants, however, caters to modern women. We think of our services as chivalry in the age of Beyonce.

Less stuffy butler, more party entertainer – each trained to make our clients feel like queens.”

Top: Harold Brown, ex-butler to the Prince and Princess of Wales, in 1985. Above: Joseph Marcell as Geoffrey, one of television’s most famous butlers, in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air

Butlers can function in an exceptionally social way – there are stories, such as at The Lodge at Sea Island in Georgia, of butlers helping guest with a round of golf or even marriage proposals.

Most must also be trained in the latest security software and home protection devices. Standing before multiple television screens, observing the security feeds of the grounds, is normally an image reserved for the James Bonds of this

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world – but this is the realm of the modern-day butler. They are masters of the unpredictable, tamers of the wild: they make sure that the beds are made and the tea is served at five. They are great warriors against chaos, fighting the entropy. “Perfectly written response emails that show etiquette, polish, kindness, graciousness, imagination,” says Feigon, are “hallmarks” of the modern butler, using cutting edge technology with all of the traditional finesse.

The work is not all glamorous, however. With the evolution of modern living comes an increase in mundane tasks. While the Jeeves of the past might have been hard at work ensuring that the latest saddle fitted your favourite horse, a modern butler is more often seen shuffling through electricity bills or paying taxes. Jobs, clearly, no one wants to do – which is why someone pays for them. A butler is half concierge, half James Bond.

He must serve tea but never chink the spoon on the china. “What does this new butler look like? Well, he is no longer [like] a butler but he performs butler duties,” says Feigon.

The modern-day butler is in sync with both the human and technological aspects of the home.

Look around your own home and you will be able to trace the unmistakable invasion of wireless speakers, flat screen TVs and tablets thin enough to slip between floorboards. Look further still to the security systems that protect your doors and property. “A butler must know how to use all the computers, every handheld device – all the technology,” says Feigon. “They need to know how to use security technology and some of these compounds are 10,000sq ft. It is an extremely complex job.”

Butlers are masters of spinning multiple plates: often a day will see them organise everything from day-to-day chores to vast numbers of staff.

“They could be packing or unpacking,” says Feigon, “taking care of antiques, monitoring the community, telling people what to do.”

Everything remains “hospitality focused”, even down to the little details. “They will need to work with stylists, know what the man or lady of the house wants to wear. Some people do want them to pack their suitcase so they have got to do that.

You need to really know how to pack a suitcase.”

Sometimes, however, this becomes intrusive. “A lot of times the lady of the house does not want a butler packing her luggage,” adds Hamilton.

“Then the butler has to teach someone else how to pack for them.”

The question remains, however, of desire, not from the employers but the employees: what draws a person to the profession? Kazuo

Butlers are masters of spinning plates, from working with stylists to managing tax returns to packing

Ishiguro, the award-winning novelist, wrote his debut novel The Remains of the Day on just this topic. Stevens, a butler in the service of Lord Darlington, explores his conflict with servitude and independence and eventually concludes that what has drawn him to his career is not a lack of independence but a desire for control: “What is pertinent,” he writes, “is the calmness of that beauty, its sense of restraint.” There is something truly beautiful about running a house, of keeping order, even if we cannot see it. “A great butler,” says Hamilton, “loves what they do.”

Steve Ford, 51, for example, has served all types, from English royalty to Russian oligarchs to director Matthew Vaughn. He remained in command of all his life choices, he told GQ in 2014, thanks to “certain standards”. If his workplace had become unfulfilling or the boss overbearing, he would simply “move on”.

Feigon and Hamilton can tell immediately how one of their potential recruits feels about their chosen profession after just a few hours. “When we interview, we want to hear what someone’s weaknesses are,” says Feigon. “We do not want just CVs, we want the people.” Stiff formality – that stereotypical butler quirk – is not appreciated in modern-day service. Unlisted aides, says Hamilton, are used to working for the White House or the military and often perfectly trained but are rejected by potential homes for being “too stiff ”.

Feigon expands on this: “You could be wickedly intelligent but if you cannot communicate in the correct manner it is not going to work out.”

Traditional values are not entirely foregone, however; they are just repackaged. “Passion, patience, graciousness, proper decorum – these qualities are paramount,” says Feigon. “Picture a man who started in his very early 20s. He worked in service for 20 years. He is tech savvy. He knows his stuff. He is familiar with a wardrobe and a tax form. He knows who to call when things go wrong. He can wear a suit and a pair of shorts.

He corrects but is never too firm. He is extremely presentable and polished but also hip. And he loves his job. After all, it is an honour to serve.”

Can Damien Hirst make a comeback?

The UK artist’s star dimmed when he flooded the market with his work at a Sotheby’s sale a few years ago. As he makes a much-awaited return, will collecters and dealers once again welcome him with open arms? By Robin Pogrebin

Damien Hirst

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magine the Rolling Stones coming out with a new acoustic album or Christo preparing to wrap some remote island in parachute fabric. That is the kind of anticipation that surrounds artist Damien Hirst’s first new body of work in several years, to be unveiled in Venice this month, shortly before the Biennale there. The show, billed as a decade in the making, is also the first time the Pinault Collection’s two locations – the Palazzo Grassi and the Punta della Dogana – will be dedicated to a single artist.

As with previous Hirst extravaganzas, this project is being rolled out with the same hyper-vigilant level of control and fanfare. And hovering over the project is whether – given the precipitous drop in his prices after his all-Hirst Sotheby’s auction in 2008 – the celebrity British artist is still relevant.

Is the 1990s darling of the art world – one of the original Young British Artists, or YBAs, who became renowned for his $12 million shark in a tank – on the decline? And given that many buyers were bitter after Hirst flooded the market with his work at the Sotheby’s sale, bypassing his dealers, will collectors give him another chance?

“He has certainly confounded the market before.

It depends on how successful the work is,” says Marc Porter, chairman of Sotheby’s fine art division. “He is taking on Venice and that is audacious.”

The project, Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable, according to those who have glimpsed it, resembles jewelled buried treasure covered with coral as if just pulled out of the ocean, like relics from the lost city of Atlantis or Captain Nemo. It includes about 250 pieces in various sizes ranging in price from about $400,000 for small jade objects to $4 million for a malachite head of Medusa.

Clockwise from above: Death Explained, Papilio Ulysses and the Beautiful, Shattering, Slashing, Violent Picture

Damien Hirst

“He’s certainly confounded the market before. He’s taking on Venice, and that’s audacious”

Potential buyers cannot view the work in person nor can they receive images by email, a courtesy typically afforded top collectors. Instead, a representative from one of Hirst’s two galleries – Gagosian in New York and White Cube in London – visits with an iPad to flip through photographs of the work.

Hirst declined to comment, as did his dealers, Larry Gagosian and Jay Jopling of White Cube, who said all news media requests had to go through Hirst’s studio, Science UK Limited. The Pinault Collection’s owner, Francois Pinault, also refused to be interviewed. His museum has posted just a couple of tantalising photographs of Hirst’s coming show on its website.

The Venice show is the third prong of Hirst’s apparent stab at a second act. The first was his opening of the Newport Street Gallery in south London in October 2015, which presents exhibitions of work from his collection.

Then in April 2016, Hirst, 51, announced he was returning to the high-powered Gagosian gallery, having left it in 2012.

Already his market is showing signs

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Credit: Prudence Cuming Associates

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of strengthening. One of his large butterfly canvases sold at Christie’s in November for a respectable $1 million, given the estimate of $900,000 to $1.2 million.

Just about everyone in the art world agrees Hirst has some healing to do. While he pulled off the unthinkable by selling work worth $200 million at the Sotheby’s sale on September 15, 2008 – bypassing the usual gallery channels and on the same infamous day that Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy – the result was a surfeit of Hirst pieces on the market, which hurt his prices.

“In many ways that auction marked the beginning of the end,” says dealer Helly Nahmad.

Where his pill cabinet Lullaby Spring sold at Sotheby’s in 2007 for $19.2 million, for example, his pill cabinet Lullaby Winter sold at Christie’s in 2015 for $4.6 million. More recently, one of his spot paintings sold in Sotheby’s contemporary art day sale in November for just $396,500, considerably lower than the $1.7 million they sometimes fetched in 2013.

“People inexplicably bought into that sale, precipitating a downward market death spiral that took us all down with them,” says Adam Lindemann, the collector and dealer, referring to the Sotheby’s auction. “His market collapsed and has not really revived since.

Damien Hirst

Clockwise from left: Gone But Not Forgotten, a gilded skeleton of a woolly mammoth; Hirst in front of his artwork I Am Become Death, Shatterer of the Worlds; For the Love of God, which consists of a platinum cast of an 18th century human skull encrusted with 8,601 diamonds

“Now he is back like Arnold,” he adds, referring to a line from the Terminator films. “Remember the old saying: ‘Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.’”

Because Hirst is so prolific, there is the growing sense that his works are ubiquitous, an impression that would be countered, collectors say, by a catalogue raisonne that offered a full accounting of his work.

“As an investor, which I am, before undertaking such an investment you have to really make sure that the production is somewhat under control,” says Nahmad. “The market does not like chaos and confusion. If Hirst came out with an extensive catalogue raisonne, people could see an order to his body of work. How many units exist? How many butterflies? How many spot paintings?”

At the same time, art experts say, Hirst is the real deal – not just a flash in the pan or a relic of the past but an artist with exceptional talent and staying power.

True, he had the temerity to charge $100 million for a diamond-encrusted skull in 2007 and to take over all of Gagosian’s galleries in 2012 (11 of them at the time) with a retrospective of his spot paintings. But Hirst, say collectors, dealers and auction executives, is worthy of attention, as

“People inexplicably bought into that sale, precipitating a downward market death spiral that took us all down with them”

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Damien Hirst

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Damien Hirst

Credit: Christoph Gerigk

This page: Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable.

Hirst’s latest project has been 10 years in the making Opposite page: A visitor at the Relics exhibition in Doha

evidenced by the Tate Modern’s decision to devote a retrospective to his work in 2012.

“He is still one of the greatest artists of this century,” says property developer Aby Rosen, who described himself as “long on Hirst” in his art collection, calling the new Treasures work “stunning”.

“He will produce till he dies because he has so much [going on in his] brain. He is so deep,” he adds. “And this guy is not going away.”

As to whether collectors unable to sell their Hirsts had a right to be frustrated, Rosen says: “If you want to be a collector, you have to collect wide and deep and within your portfolio things will go up and down. If you buy two stocks, for example and one goes down, [you cannot] be angry at

“The true diehard Damien Hirst collectors, if they love what he is doing now, will buy into it”

IBM [International Business Machines].”

There are those who say Hirst’s coming shows in Venice are inextricably linked with Pinault, who owns Christie’s auction house and has avidly collected Hirst’s work. Does he want to jumpstart the Hirst market out of self-interest, art experts ask, to raise the value of his own holdings?

Whatever the case, most agree Hirst – with an estimated net worth of $350 million – does not need the money.

“I do believe Damien Hirst – especially early Hirst – will have an important footprint in art history,” says Nahmad. “The true diehard Hirst collectors, if they love what he is doing now, will buy into it and disregard the fact this guy has overproduced so many times in the past.”

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Venice forever Interior designer and Venetian Chic author Francesca Bortolotto Possati describes the city’s magic

Venice ForeVer

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Venice ForeVer

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was born and grew up in Venice in a home along the Grand Canal, surrounded by the lagoon, a place that was exotically stunning.

I sailed a boat before I could even ride a bike. I learned to swim on the Lido with the Adriatic lapping at my toes. I was taken to school, to dance class, to the mercato and to visit friends via the waterways that traverse our city. For as long as I can remember, those aquatic passages presented us with an entirely different perspective on city life. Quite apart from the relationship to our urban surroundings afforded by the streets, we had – and still have – a world of hidden entrances, chance encounters and new opportunities, underscored by a wonderful sense of blurred boundaries as architecture literally gives way to the sea.

The water’s spiritual symbolism is constantly fluctuating and deeply nourishing, yet should never be taken for granted. As a result, this connecting force has always been at the heart of my understanding of the world as well as my very intuitive personal aesthetic. I tend to turn definitively to either the sun or the shade whenever I am designing for hotels and residences – Il Palazzo, Il Palladio, Villa F – or for gardens or even simply planning a dinner party. It is always with an appreciation of the fleeting moment as well as a need to create a sense of harmony.

There is a depth of feeling attached to that pursuit of harmony and appreciation of spontaneity that I have always believed to be born directly of my Venetian heritage. In many ways, Venice was founded on the magic of transience – a fragile, beautiful jewel. It is important to remember this city is in constant peril from the threat of erosion, a fact that generates an immaterial sense of intensity.

Immersed in the wonders of a city on the edge, it is impossible not to live in the moment, to embrace the thrill of precariousness and to be charmed by the idea – indeed, almost the promise – that anything can happen.

There is an unbreakable thread of excitement that runs through every part of this city. It is in the fibres of private homes, palazzos and tiny familyrun eateries, continuing right on into the decorative

“The city is in constant threat from erosion, which generates an immaterial sense of intensity”

Opposite page: The Santa Maria della Salute church

arts, ornamental masks, art galleries, theatres and opera houses for which Venice is understandably so well-known. It also creates an ebb and flow of highs and lows that, as any of the legions of creatives who have been inspired by Venice can attest, provides a rich springboard for artistic engagement. While the beautiful days are undeniable, even the darkest lows serve to feed the creative soul. It is no surprise that a wealth of fictional genius has been based on the pull the city exerts, including many of my favourites: The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon, Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, Don’t Look Now by Daphne du Maurier and Death in Venice by Thomas Mann, to name just a few.

One of the most special times on the Venetian calendar for me is the 10-day Carnevale, when, each year, we select a theme celebrating a period in fashion history, for which our guests prepare with costumiers and wigmakers, often months in advance. Other favourites include Christmas Eve and the very last September evening at dusk, when summer draws to a close and the Lagoon is completely flat and still, to witness the most incredible of sunsets. But it is in winter that Venice is really at its best. The city holds such mystery and uniqueness that one becomes almost giddy with anticipation. Venice is often misconstrued as having an ambience of pure romance but the real ambience is intimacy. Imagine that it is 11 o’clock on a November morning as you stroll across the Piazzo san Marco. There are no cars, no honking of horns – just a cool, light, misty fog and you can perceive every moment around you in stark detail as you walk about as if in your very own private twilight zone.

Indeed, in Venice, when you are not on a boat, walking is everything. Venetians feel the outdoors as an intrinsic part of their lives. They walk and they take drinks standing. Cafes with seats are really for the visitors. Venetians don’t sit: they wander and meet by accident and then they walk and talk together and discover their destination by

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chance. For Venetians, the outside is an extension of the home. Everything blends together, which is why details are so important for us. My childhood memories are full of my parents’ glittering parties in the ballroom, of soft cushions in the sitting rooms made of velvet, silk and brocade, of candles and mirrors and, at the end of each day, the feeling of floating in a bathtub made with a thousand gold mosaic tiles. But strolling through the market or silently motoring through canals I have never experienced are equally as important. While Venice does boast a famous skyline, unlike Rome, Paris or London, it is never about just one building. It is about absorbing a multitude of tiny details, both inside and out and exposing oneself to the riches of the architecture – and, of course, the glorious light.

That sense of promenading extends naturally to fashion. In Venice when it comes to style, there is neither pattern nor formula and certainly no logo. One very rarely sees two people wearing the same thing. By day, discreet luxury – driven by a long history of handmade goods and familycommissioned craftspeople – is our default setting.

Venetians largely do not shop for fashion in their own city. We are a tailor-made tribe. Most Venetians will have two shoemakers, a couturier, a seamstress or a tailor and even someone to custom-make handbags.

Some of my favourite heritage artisans and their

Above: A gondolier plies his trade Right: The Grand Canal at dusk

“Like many of the city’s most peaceful places, the best gardens, parks and retreats are accessible only by boat”

handiwork include the jewellers Laboratorio Orafo and Marina e Susanna Sent, the millinery and glove specialists Serena Vianello and Daniela Vianello, the bespoke leather bags and accessories by Pietro Mazzon and the lacework and embroidery by creatives L’Estrosa and Jesurum. That is not to say that style is hidden. One walks everywhere so there is always time for seeing and being seen. The intention is to be admired but not too much – the profile is low but the detail must be true and exact, which is why you will always see Venetians in sunglasses. But at night the city becomes like a ballroom or a natural film set that commands an aura of glamour.

Innovation is also locked deep into Venetian style, a natural accolade for a legacy grounded firmly in historic necessity. Endowed like no other with an ability to adapt to the ravages of nature, wartime invasion and centuries as a hub of trade between East and West, we have always been aware of the need to seduce curious audiences over and over again. It is a need for Venice to preserve herself. My grandfather Arnaldo Bennati – with whom I travelled extensively as a child and from whom I inherited my own drive, discipline and desire to challenge limits – was a pioneering shipbuilder and a visionary entrepreneur. When building on the Bauers hotels, he created a rooftop terrace for dancing as well as the city’s only

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underwater nightclub. He was also renowned for his keen eye for detail. As a Mecenate, a patron of artists, he had an appreciation for sartorial quality and workmanship, including beautifully tailored vests, shoes made from fine Italian leather and handmade hats. From the spice traders of the mid-13th century to the glassmakers of the 21st century, Venetians have always traded on feats of creative brilliance.

There are innovators of the old guard who remain incredibly important to my family such as the Seguso family, who have been integral to famous glassworks on the island of Murano for centuries. In 1950, the family created the glasswork sign that still serves as a beacon for the Bauer hotel. This craftsmanship has translated to the modern era with the architects-turned-accessory designers Arnoldo and Battois, the avant-garde jewellery of the Attombri brothers, the modernist brooches of Gualti, the punchy eyewear designs of Ottica Carraro, the furniture of Venetia Studium, the haunting contemporary ceramics of Massimo Micheluzzi and the linen and lace of the stylist Cristina Linassi.

Beyond the buzz of customised design, my Venice also comes alive with the vitality of sanctuary, as seen through the lens of nature. Like many of the city’s most peaceful places, the best gardens, parks and retreats are accessible only by boat and many are insulated behind ancient 12ft walls, heightening their status as true havens. For a complete spiritual refuge in any season, I take time to lose myself in the privacy of the three-acre gardens of Villa F and Il Palladio on Giudecca island, both of which I have restored in full for our hotel guests. While less renowned than our canals or grand hotel facades, these gardens are essential in illustrating the city’s transformational power. They reference Venice’s unique geographical sweet spot as a melting pot of international influences and cultures and create a synthesis of its many colours. An Italian orchard is mixed with flavours of a classic English country garden. Enormous hydrangeas, tulips and historical olive, magnolia, fig, apricot and cherry trees add bucolic charm while wisteria vines, native grasses and a pergola of Isabella grapes give both structure and a wild frisson of excitement. Like the sea surrounding us, these gardens, with their magic and beauty, show us nature’s uncontrollability, never ceasing to surprise and delight.

A second sanctuary, ripe for indulging my love of the culinary, is my own home. When I am at the Bauer I love to have breakfast on the rooftop terrace Settimo Cielo, which translates as seventh heaven, so named for its location on the seventh floor of the

“If Venice was a person, it would be strong, exotic, powerful and filled with wisdom. And a woman”

hotel and its heavenly views of the city. But during the weekends, particularly on Saturday evenings, I like to entertain at home with dinner parties for friends from all over the world. My grandfather was as much an ambassador for the city as a hotelier and when we rebuilt the Bauer in the late 1990s, it was as a place for regeneration and innovation, an intimate home away from home where our guests could connect, have discussions and digest the world around them. This was effectively an ongoing homage to the many brilliant visitors and residents who have left their creative mark on Venice, including Giuseppe Verdi, Henry James, Ezra Pound, Sergei Diaghilev, Igor Stravinsky, Peggy Guggenheim, Ernest Hemingway, Giacomo Casanova, Antonio Vivaldi, Jacopo Tintoretto, Giovanni Canaletto and Filippo de Pisis.

Venetian Chic is published by Assouline

Venice ForeVer

Venice ForeVer

In many ways, my dinner parties are an extension of the hotel. Conceived as a place to represent the inner soul and integrity of Venice, they attract creatives of all kinds, including writers, musicians, artists, actors and travellers. I enjoy the sensory rituals of choosing the flowers, the colour of the tablecloth and the always seasonal menu. I keep a record of what my guests had before, what I think they might be fascinated by and which hidden parts of Venezia I can perhaps reveal to them on that occasion. Food becomes like an accessory, a sensory greeting – a way to show how we Venetians are diverse, blessed in our cuisine with influences from regions of Asia as well as Europe. I consider myself as a painter: I try to create for a global, fartherreaching set of eyes so the experience is beautiful to me and to our guests. I want to nurture the world,

Above: The Royal Suite bedroom at Il Palazzo Opposite page: The intricate ceiling of the Chiesa di Santa Maria Assunta dei Gesuiti was painted by Ludovico Dorigny in the early 18th century

to ensure there is value and pleasure in the things I leave behind. For me, Venice is ultimately about the very first and the very last seduction.

Venice is the city people think they know but in truth it is about duality. It has been there long before us but it remains new because it is constantly in flux, showing its residents and visitors things they simply had not noticed before. No matter who you are, Venice will work its way into you like a spa for the mind. Your experience here will let you become a little more yourself. This is a place to be cherished like the last evening of summer. If Venezia was a person, I would use the description cortigiana – sensual, exotic, tranquil, strong, historical, rich, powerful and filled with wisdom. And she would be a woman of course.

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APRIL ISSUE 136

Cheval Blanc Courchevel Celebrating 10 years in the St Tropez of skiing, the Cheval Blanc hotel in Courchevel is still the most luxurious way to hit the slopes

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living / hotel

CHEVAL BLANC, COURCHEVEL

Where to stay

France

PRiCE From $1,790 per night

courchevel. chevalblanc.com

 GVA

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i

t is not a hotel, it is a maison.

Yes, that might sound a little pretentious but somehow it is the perfect description for this 36-room residence with a five-star rating – one of only 16 in the country.

Courchevel – just two hours from Geneva – has long been viewed as the St Tropez of the ski set and the little town is a concentration of uber-luxury in the heart of a three-valleys ski resort in the Alps. But the Cheval Blanc – owned

by Bernard Arnault, chairman of Louis Vuitton Moet and Hennessy (LVMH) – has managed to combine an incredible place to stay with the practicalities of a ski trip together with a ski-in service.

There is direct access to the slopes from the hotel via a beautifully appointed area more akin to a waiting room in a spa than somewhere to put on your ski hat and goggles. They will even warm up your ski boots for you. From the door, you can glide out onto the snow, right in the midst of a huge complex of runs that cover all abilities.

Courchevel, a byword for luxury, has long been regarded as the St Tropez for the ski set

For those looking for an extra bit of excitement, there is a heliport nearby, from where you can take the 40-minute flight across the border to Italy for some heli-skiing – currently not permitted in France – and then be back at the hotel in time for evening aperitifs in the bar.

Upon returning, there is a spa with treatments designed for skiers to alleviate aches and pains to get you in peak condition for the next day

April issue 136

back on the slopes. If you prefer oldfashioned methods, there is a sauna, steam room and indoor pool or if you want a brief workout you can aquabike in the pool to loosen up. There is also a private chromotherapy hammam in your bathroom if you prefer to stay in your room.

The rooms themselves have large screen TVs, iPads to order in and a well stocked mini-bar but it is touches like the fur rug on the bed, comfy sofas and big bath with a range of products that make this a haven of luxurious relaxation.

The hotel’s signature scent of gentle pine wafts throughout and miniature atomisers are provided bedside for an extra pillow spritz to help you sleep.

For those really looking to stay in style, you can hire the Apartment with 650 square metres of space, a triple reception room with a grand piano, dining room,

EAT There are seven Michelin-starred restaurants near the hotel, three of them with two stars the rest with one, but it’s also worth going to one of the many local creperies for hot chocolate and sweet or savoury crepes – ideal French winter food.

FrOm THE HOTEl

bar, kitchen, private spa treatment room and fitness centre. It also has its own lift and access to a private ski salon opening directly out onto the slopes.

The attention to detail throughout is excellent but as with all great hotels, it is the staff who really make the stay memorable. There is a staff to guest ratio of more than three to one and all seem to know your name. If any needs have not already been anticipated, they are met swiftly. In the many five-star hotels we have stayed in, none have had staff quite as excellent as here.

Courchevel celebrated its 70th anniversary last year and has grown to become not only one of the great ski resorts but also one of the best places in the world for luxury. The Cheval Blanc is the epitome of that and not just the best hotel in town but one of the very best in the whole of France.

SHOP Gucci, Prada, Dior, Hermes, Bulgari, Louis Vuitton – the list of high-end designer stores in Courchevel is extensive and concentrated in one place, along with many top-end ski shops if you are looking to upgrade your gear for the slopes.

SEE

Onsite is the restaurant 1947 – Yannick Alleno’s two Michelin starred take on regional cuisine.

It is not only the best restaurant in town but one of the finest in France. Trust us, the desserts alone make it more than worth a visit.

SPA

Created in association with Guerlain, the spa has treatments created specifically for the cold climate and high altitude to help you relax. It also houses a pool, gym, steam and sauna rooms as well as a salon hosting the highly-acclaimed Parisian hairstylist John Nollet.

ADDED EXTRA

The hotel can arrange sled-dog excursions throughout the snowcovered scenery as well as snowshoeing trips – with light, modern snow shoes for hikes up into the mountains. Both are excellent alternatives to skiing.

SKI You are right in the famous Les Trois Vallees, the largest ski area in the world, which includes legendary runs, fun zones and forest skiing. The size, number and variety of slopes means queues – even at peak times – are near non-existent.

SEE If you’re looking for a new buzz then you can see the mountains from the sky as Courchevel offers skydiving from a helicopter, both more extreme and more comfortable than a plane. A unique experience for thrill seekers.

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living / style

What to pack ...for spring weather in Rome and beyond

Average temp

15°c

Barcelona Venice Athens Valetta

alsO WEaR in...

13°C 12°C 16°C 16°C

April

ROME

Chance of rain: 20%

What tO sEE

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Centro StoriCo The centre of Rome is home to a huge array of sights from the magnificent Pantheon (check out its amazing dome) to the Piazza Navona, a beautiful square lined with cafes and boutiques. The Trevi fountain is a must-see, despite the hordes of tourists while the Spanish Steps are

perfect for sitting on with a gelato.

Our favourite place, however, is the Piazza del Popolo, an oval-shaped square home to the Santa Maria del Popolo church, in which hang some of Caravaggio’s most beautiful works.

Go early in the morning if you want to avoid the multitudes of tourists that descend here daily.

APRIL ISSUE 136

1. Moncler hooded parka $1,380 2. Thom Browne tee shirt $340 3. Junya Watanabe sweatshirt $637 4. Lanvin jacket $1,750 5. Santoni trainers $765

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2

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ACCESSORIES

5

81 Common Projects backpack $917

Ebbets Fields cap $69

Kingsman tortoiseshell glasses $372

living / style

What to pack ...for spring weather in Tokyo and beyond

Average temp

12°c

London Paris Lisbon Budapest

also Wear in...

11°C 11°C 14°C 10°C

April

Tokyo

Chance of snow: 30%

WhaT To see

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SENSO-JI TEMPLE Tokyo is huge and it will be impossible to see all it has to offer in one trip.

That said, we recommend the Senso-ji temple in the Asakusa district. This is the city’s most famous shrine and is a remarkable ode to the Buddhist goddess of compassion, Kannon. Built in 645AD, it is a beautiful series of

buildings, which include the Kaminarimon gate with its 3.3m-high red paper lantern, the Incense Vat, said to help drive away ailments as well as the plethora of doves believed to be Kannon’s sacred messengers. The area around the temple is equally fascinating, a 50-acre warren of lanes harking back to ancient Japan.

APRIL ISSUE 136

1. Acne Studios wool and cashmere blend coat $1,381 2. MM6 Maison Margiela jacket $876 3. Acne Studios twill biker jacket $850 4. Nike Quickstrike Classic Cortez $100 All products available at net-a-porter.com

ACCESSORIES

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2

Moschino iPhone 7 Plus case $53

3

Prada round frame acetate and metal sunglasses $287

4

83 Smythson textured leather notebook $63

living / Food

Top Table James Brennan profiles the man behind one of Australia’s most exciting restaurants

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melbourne, australia

Y

ou know you have arrived on the culinary map when the World’s 50 Best Restaurants awards rock up on your doorstep. When this year’s list is announced at Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition building on April 5, all eyes will be on Australia and its gastronomic gifts. But if you thought that just meant a load of shrimps and ribs on the barbie, there is a chef who would like to put you straight.

Jock Zonfrillo might have been born and raised in Scotland but he is an Aussie at heart. A chance encounter with an Aboriginal street performer near Sydney harbour about 15 years ago inspired him to go in search of Australia’s true native cuisine. He set up the Orana Foundation, a not-for-profit group that works with indigenous communities to dig deep into Aussie culture and reclaim ingredients and recipes that are in danger of disappearing altogether.

“While a lot of it might have been lost forever, we knew there was a race against time to garner that knowledge from the elders before it all disappeared,” says Zonfrillo. When he tells stories about Aboriginal men in their sixties reminiscing about their fathers cooking with tin foil, it becomes clear how much knowledge has already been lost. But Zonfrillo is nothing if not determined, as any meal at his Orana restaurant in Adelaide demonstrates (opened in 2013, Orana means welcome in several Aboriginal languages).

A mainstay on the menu is Moreton Bay fig shoots. Zonfrillo’s first encounter with the tender green spears of foliage was memorable for all the wrong reasons. “I picked one off a tree and tried to eat it and it was vile,” he admits. But thanks to his dogged research with the Orana Foundation, there was a breakthrough.

 MEL

“I came across an anthropological note from Queensland, which led me to a community who picked Moreton Bay fig shoots and sat them on the edge of the fire. Then they dribbled seawater on top and mixed the ash over them. They kept turning it around and adding water. I saw them doing that and ate it and it had this coconut-like aftertaste. It was delicious.”

Zonfrillo’s version of Moreton Bay fig shoots at Orana is cooked in the same way but is given extra punch by the addition of pandanus puree. “We dip the fig shoot in that, then we dip it in a crumb of the outside of the fig shoot,” says Zonfrillo. “People eat that and they are just blown away.

Whether you are Australian, European, whatever, it is just something you have never eaten before.”

And that is the point. It is not only people from outside Australia who are unaware of the depth and richness of Australian cuisine – it is Australians as well. As such, Zonfrillo aims to create a database of the thousands of barely known native ingredients, charting all the cultural information that surrounds them.

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living / Food

“When I go into a community to learn about an ingredient and I start asking questions about how they used to use it, the six Aboriginal seasons and dreaming stories, it’s amazing,” he says.

“Some of the dishes I’ve created are so closely linked to what I’ve learned out there in the community that it’s crazy.

It has always disturbed me that all that information is not available. The database really brings that together and being open-source, it allows everybody to chip in and benefit from it.”

To reward Zonfrillo’s efforts, the Orana Foundation was recently awarded a $1.25 million state government grant.

It points to a wider recognition, not only of the diversity of native ingredients but of the role of indigenous people in preserving them for the country as a whole.

“Their relationship with the land is super-sophisticated and it is something that was misunderstood and overlooked,” says Zonfrillo. “There’s value in the community setting up projects that use and harvest those ingredients. If we talk about the impact of a successful project in a community, it is huge. There is a togetherness, a

sense of morale, a sense of pride. Young Aboriginal men and women who have left the community because there are no jobs would love to come back to their own land and reconnect with it.”

And it is not only young indigenous people who are becoming reacquainted with Australia’s native food. Some of the country’s top chefs are making great strides in changing people’s perceptions about real Aussie food. Ben Shewry of Melbourne’s Attica restaurant is determined to reinstate murnong as the Australian tuber of choice. Meanwhile, over at Brae restaurant in Birregurra, chef Dan Hunter is pointing the way forward with finger limes, hailed by Noma’s Rene Redzepi as one of the most versatile ingredients in the world.

“A lot more chefs are using native ingredients now than when I first started this and that is fantastic,” says Zonfrillo. “It means we are doing something right or tides have changed. Maybe it is a coincidence, I don’t know. What I can say is we have customers and the feedback we are getting is: ‘I feel like I got a real taste of Australia.’”

“A lot more chefs are using native ingredients than when I first started. It means we are doing something right”

The Clove Club

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Alex Atala

Eleven Madison Park

April issue 136

FIVE TO VISIT 1. DOM, Sao Paulo, Brazil Once counted among Time magazine’s 100 most influential people, Alex Atala is reinventing Brazilian food at DOM. The tattooed, bearded chef explores the Amazon rainforest in search of new ingredients, before taking them back to Sao Paulo where they get an innovative twist. Whether it’s canjiquinha white corn or the tongue-numbing jambu root, diners can expect truly new and exciting flavours that reflect the sheer diversity of Brazil’s natural larder. Ever-present on the World’s 50 best list since 2006, DOM will be undoubtedly be recognised again this year.

Gaggan

2. Jimbocho Den Tokyo, Japan Chef Zaiyu Hasegawa’s restaurant was named one to watch at the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2016 awards. The restaurant is tiny but what it lacks in space, it makes up for with invention and good humour (try the Den-tucky fried chicken). Alongside the big personality, there’s intricate food to match – from stuffed ants to sardines with liver paste and sesame rice – making Den a good bet for further success this year.

3. The Clove Club London, UK Isaac McHale’s restaurant was the highest new entry last year (at 26). The former supper club moved in 2013 to super-cool Shoreditch and the modern British food is equally hip.

Whether you opt for the five-course dinner or the nine-course tasting menu, the food has just as much substance as style. Dishes like the flamed Cornish mackerel with rhubarb and toasted oats make this a club you will want to be a lifelong member of.

4. Eleven Madison Park New York City, USA Daniel Humm’s Manhattan restaurant has three Michelin stars and occupies third place on the list. The food is modern European but there is an undeniably assured New York flavour to every dish on the 10-course tasting menu. Dining here is an unhurried affair with about three hours to savour dishes such as the honey lavender roasted duck or the asparagus in rosemary broth cooked sous-vide style.

5. Gaggan Bangkok, Thailand Such is chef Gaggan Anand’s ambition that three consecutive firstplace finishes in Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants awards isn’t enough. Only world domination will do for the chef whose Bangkok restaurant is reimagining Indian food. Taking inspiration from the seasonal ingredients and traditional recipes of the subcontinent, the Gaggan Experience is a 19-part drama that never seems overwrought.

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LIVING / CONSUME

Domestic bliss A new MoMA exhibition examines how we live

Untitled (Spread), from 1983

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new exhibition in New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) examines International Style, the school of architecture and design that emerged in the late 1920s and 1930s.

How Should We Live? focuses on the partnerships and processes that shaped the modernist interior, with a focus on domestic interiors and exhibition and retail spaces from the 1920s to 1950s.

It provides a glimpse into the lives of

certain classes during that period and the furniture they used. With more than 200 works from MoMA’s architecture and design collection, as well as the library, drawings and prints, painting and sculpture, film and photography collections, there is much to enjoy and to ponder upon.

Highlights include furnishings from Eileen Gray and collaborations between Lily Reich and Mies van der Rohe, Aino and Alvar Aalto, Ray and Charles Eames, Florence Knoll and Herbert Matter as

well as works from Charlotte Perriand, Pierre Jeanneret and Le Corbusier.

These were the biggest names in design during the first half of the 20th century and it is fascinating to see how their work has endured. Interestingly the exhibition features often overlooked areas such as textiles, wallpaper, kitchens and promotional displays. MoMA has a track record of championing visual design and this exhibition does not disappoint.

The exhibition runs until April 23 moma.org

APRIL ISSUE 136

Clockwise from top left: Untitled, photograph of Robert Rauschenberg’s Pelican, Retroactive II, Monogram, Stop Side Early Winter Glut, Triathlon, Bed. All artwork © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, New York

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APRIL ISSUE 136

LIVING / COLUMN

The psychology of anger

By Chris Voss

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abelling is a tactic, not a strategy, in the same way a spoon is a great tool for stirring soup but is not a recipe.

How you use labelling will go a long way in determining your success. Deployed well, it is how we negotiators identify and then slowly alter the inner voices of our counterpart’s consciousness to something more collaborative and trusting.

First, let’s talk a little about human psychology. In basic terms, people’s emotions have two levels: the ‘presenting’ behaviour is the part above the surface you can see and hear; beneath, the ‘underlying’ feeling is what motivates the behaviour. Imagine a grandfather who is grumbling at a family dinner: the presenting behaviour is that he is cranky but the underlying emotion is a sad sense of loneliness.

What good negotiators do when labelling is address those underlying emotions. Labelling negatives diffuses them; labelling positives reinforces them.

As an emotion, anger is rarely productive – in you or the person you are negotiating with. It releases stress hormones that disrupt your ability to evaluate and respond to situations. And it blinds you to the fact that you are angry in the first place, which gives you a false sense of confidence. That is not to say negative feelings should be ignored. That can be just as damaging.

Instead, they should be teased out. Labelling is a helpful tactic in de-escalating angry confrontations because it makes the person acknowledge their feelings rather than continuing to act out.

Early in my hostage negotiation career, I learned how important it was to go directly at negative dynamics in a fearless but deferential manner. It was to fix a situation I had created myself. I had angered the top FBI official in Canada when I entered the country without first alerting him, a procedure known as country clearance. I knew I needed to

call and assuage him to straighten out the situation or risk being expelled. Top guys like to feel on top. “Bless me father, for I have sinned,” I said when he answered the phone.

“Who is this?” he said.

“Bless me, Father, for I have sinned,” I repeated. “It’s Chris Voss.”

Again there was a long silence.

“Does your boss know you’re here?”

I said he did and crossed my fingers. At this point, the FBI official would have been completely within his rights to tell me to leave Canada immediately. But by mentioning the negative dynamic, I knew I had diffused it as much as I could. “All right, you’ve got country clearance,” he finally said.

Whenever I was dealing with the family of a hostage, I started out by saying I knew they were scared.

And when I make a mistake – something that happens a lot – I always acknowledge the other person’s anger. I have found the phrase “look, I’m an idiot” to be an effective way to make problems go away.

Let’s go back to the cranky grandfather. He’s grumpy because he never sees the family and he feels left out.

So he is speaking up in his own dysfunctional way to get attention. How do you fix that?

Instead of addressing his behaviour, you acknowledge his sadness in a non-judgmental way. You head him off before he can really get started.

“We don’t see each other all that often,” you could say. “It seems like you feel we don’t pay any attention to you and only see you once a year, so why should you make time for us?” See how that acknowledges the situation and re-labels the sadness? “For us this is a real treat. We want to hear what you have to talk about.” Research shows the best way to deal with negativity is to observe it without judgment. Then consciously label each negative thought and replace it with compassionate, solution-based thoughts.

“Research shows the best way to deal with negativity is to observe it without judgement.

Then label each negative thought and replace it”

90 From Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss © 2016. Reprinted courtesy of Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

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