Candy Magazine SS11

The magazine from Candy & Candy S/S 2011

The arT of design

Boodles Blossom | T: +44 (0)20 7437 5050 | www.boodles.com

Not all top chefs use Gaggenau at home yet.

A fact that kept us busy.

Uncompromisingly professional. The 200 series ovens.

If you want to satisfy the world’s greatest chefs, you have to perform to the very highest standards. That’s why we keep researching and experimenting with new ways to improve our ovens until we’re completely satisfied. The 200 series ovens bring the most modern professional technology into private kitchens, with ovens, Combi-steam ovens and warming drawers that set new standards. Many international chefs who have been awarded three Michelin stars are already convinced – they don’t just use the range at home, but also in their restaurants. We take that as a compliment.

The difference is Gaggenau.

For more information and a list of partners, please telephone 0844 892 9026 or visit: www.gaggenau.co.uk.

Alternatively, visit our showroom at: 40 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2RX.

www.candyandcandy.com

eLCoME

to thE latEst Edition of CANDY magazine At Candy & Candy we strive to set new standards in delivering impeccable quality and uncompromising attention to detail in both service and design. From the smallest speciďŹ cation to the largest project, we deliver the ultimate in tailored design, style and quality while constantly providing innovative and unique solutions to keep us at the forefront of creating remarkable living environments. Our reputation in pushing boundaries in design and application is matched by our drive for perfection, which can be seen featured in the pages of this magazine as we highlight the exclusive services and facilities at One Hyde Park, with its dedicated 60-strong Mandarin Oriental-trained team. We describe how Ron Dennis turned McLaren into an international brand linked not just with successful racing cars, but road cars too – as the newest hits the streets; and watch Richard Branson pick up the torch of space technology and reach for the stars. Back on the ground, we admire the stellar beauty and crafsmanship of the most exquisite jewellery, and celebrate the award-winning chefs whose audacious menus have made it big in New York and are now the toast of London. We welcome you to the world of Candy & Candy and hope you enjoy reading this issue.

NICHOLAS CANDY

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c NT NTS 21 Dress: elie saab. clutch: gianvito rossi

PUBLISHED For CANDy & CANDy By SHoW MEDIA LTD 1-2 Ravey Street, London EC2A 4QP 020 3222 0101; showmedia.net

Cover photography ChrIS DUNLop Colour reproduction by fmg (wearefmg.com). Printed by Taylor Bloxham (taylorbloxham.co.uk). All material © Show Media Ltd, except where stated. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited

Editor Joanne Glasbey Art Director Martin Perry Art Editor Jonathan Bailey Chief Sub Editor Chris Madigan Picture Editor Juliette Hedoin Sub Editors Tanya Jackson, Thomas Calverley Associate Editor Henry Farrar-Hockley Project manager Zai Shamis Creative Director Ian Pendleton Executive Editor Peter Howarth Advertising Julia Pasaron +44 (0) 208 741 8967

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Eye Candy Style and security in an armour-plated Land Rover; a hi-fi amp as artefact; fine Italian jewellery and the ultimate bespoke gif service

The Final Frontier Rob Ryan investigates how close Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic is to putting the lucky few with tickets into space

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Studio Candy & Candy’s creative directors reveal the locations, historical periods, and the designers and thinkers who influence their eclectic style

Colour Clinic Daniel Galvin Junior has made a name for himself as a pioneer in hair colouring and organic product. He talks to Simon Mills

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Time Lords Bill Prince describes Rolex’s rise from its London origins to the world’s best known Swiss watch brand

Tour de Force We take a tour of the world’s most exclusive residences, in the company of James Medd, discovering One Hyde Park’s luxurious facilities and services, and its intriguing artworks Fast Forward Afer years of anticipation, the new McLaren road car is here. Simon de Burton traces the MP4-12C’s motor racing heritage

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Hail to the Chef New York’s star chefs have gone transatlantic.

William Drew asks Daniel Boulud and his fellow kitchen globetrotters why he sees London as the place to cook now

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Natural Selection Jewellery of the highest order, inspired by the shapes, colours and patterns found in nature

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House Style Candy & Candy took on the challenge of taking a Mayfair property from the 18th century to new glories.

Maria Yacoob explores the stunning result

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Making Waves The superyacht has been reimagined, with the next generation setting new standards in design

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View from the top Elegant evening gowns find their perfect luxurious backdrop at One Hyde Park

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Personal Passions Theo Fennell, the jeweller known for his quirky pieces, delights in portrait paintings

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The best of the best from around the world Welcoming the visitor to an enhanced and expanded arena in which to explore a myriad of delights, from fine and decorative art to classic cars, contemporary design and fine dining. More to find, more to enjoy. Reinvent with us the art and entertainment of collecting at Masterpiece London.

30 june – 5 july 2011 preview: 29 june Location

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Information maStErpiECEfair.Com | +44 (0)20 7499 7470

stone circle wiTH a HeriTage of more THan Two cenTuries, THe subLime crafTsmansHip of buccellATi uses TecHniques inspired by ancienT civiLisaTions

Beautiful creations become extraordinary when there is a story behind them, and this is one of the pleasures of owning any Buccellati piece. The jeweller’s legacy began in 1740, when Contardo Buccellati opened his workshop in Milan, near the Duomo di Milano. Almost two centuries later, and with the family tradition uninterrupted, his gifed successor Mario began founding the Buccellati style that is familiar now, using forgotten techniques from Ancient Greece and the Middle Ages. Mario sought to translate the properties of his favoured materials – fine damask and Venetian lace – into precious metals and sparkling stone. The results can still be seen today in the work of his grandson Gianmaria Buccellati, as he continues to design magnificent, historically inspired pieces such as this 18k white gold necklace, set with more than 750 dazzling 13.85-carat and 19.19-carat diamonds. buccellati.com

WORDS Tanya Jackson / PHOTOGRAPHY Tif Hunter

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HaRd TaRGeT

when secuRity is paRamount, an aRmouRed land rover is youR best hope of pRotection Anyone seeking the reassurance of a vehicle that can, say, withstand gunfire from an AK74 assault rifle, or even a hand grenade, need look no further than a Land Rover from Armourdillo. The company was founded by helicopter pilot Stuart MacTaggart as a one-stop shop for four-wheeled fortresses. Once his team has assessed your threat level, he will advise you on the right model (such as this Land Rover Discovery 4, above, or a Range Rover V8 Vogue) and train your chauffeur to execute the requisite evasive driving manoeuvres. Typical hardware tweaks include a rear-mounted escape hatch, run-flat tyres, bulletproof glass and an automatic fire-suppressant system, but perhaps the most impressive element of Armourdillo’s insurgent-resistant fleet is that none of these features are outwardly visible. ‘Discreet armour,’ as MacTaggart points out, ‘is the first line of defence.’ armourdilloltd.com

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WordS henry farrar-hockley tif hunter WordS Joanne Glasbey / PHoToGraPHY

WRaP STARS foR peRfect, individualised pResents, look no fuRtheR than the bespoke online gift library Most luxury brands have online shopping, but none offer the opportunity to purchase bespoke gifs across multiple brands. This is precisely what Gif Library delivers. Finely attuned to the tastes and requirements of today’s discerning consumer, former style consultant Caroline Stanbury, who founded the online company in 2008, trawls the world’s top boutiques, assisted by fashion industry insiders, to hand-pick niche gifs. It could be the Moser Bohemian crystal Cubism bowl (above) or a signed Damien Hirst artwork that you’re afer – or simply a jar of jelly beans. Stanbury happily responds to unique requests: ‘We want everyone to experience luxury,’ she says, ‘so we deal with experts who can embroider, paint or engrave almost anything we offer. Someone once ordered a table football set with each player carved and painted to represent a member of the family.’ gif-library.com

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WOrDS arabella dickie / PHOtOgraPHy tif hunter

absolute Power Dan D’agostino’s new momentum amplifier is a true powerhouse of sounD Dan D’Agostino is to ultra-audiophiles what Enzo Ferrari is to supercar aficionados. The co-founder and former chief engineer of Krell Industries – probably the most revered hi-fi marque in the world – has been at the bleeding edge of amplifier design for four decades. And now, once again, he’s resetting the benchmark for high-end audio, this time with the Momentum monoblock power amp – the debut separate from his newly formed, eponymous company. Costing around £40,000 a pair and utilising 28 power resistors, along with striking copper ‘sinks’ capable of conducting heat at 91 times the speed of aluminium, it is able to harness incredible power (300W into eight ohms) and finesse, despite its diminutive size. Fittingly, the aesthetic is inspired by another paragon of artisanal excellence – a rose-gold Breguet tourbillon. dagostinoino.com

WorDS henry farrar-hockley / pHotoGrapHY tif hunter

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STUDIO The CANDY & CANDY design Team Takes inspiraTion from around The worLd and cLose To home

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EMBROIDERY In RealIsIng a flawless InteRIoR, fIne detaIls such as bespoke needlework aRe key to settIng mood and chaRacteR An important element of the Candy & Candy design team’s repertoire, embroidery brings beautiful embellishment to furniture, curtains, cushions and robes, be it personalised or abstract. The work can be subtle or bold, but its main function is to provide a lustre, a slice of jewellery, to a home. Whether it’s a detail on the corner of a bedspread, an intricate pattern on a chair back, or delicate beading on a cushion, embroidery offers a different way of introducing layering, colour and detailing to a room. For example, Candy & Candy designers worked with bespoke crafsmen embroiderLUX to create a curtain leading edge trim inspired by the jewels of Cleopatra, with a pattern representing rows of wheat. Similarly, a cushion was influenced by the French Art Deco design of master crafsman, Jean Dunand.

A high level of perfectionism means that each piece stands out as a hero in design terms, a signature decoration.

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 I was introduced to the poetry of JoHn BeTJeman by my parents when I was quite young and grew to appreciate his words, which capture a world gone by. He was a master, and I was fascinated by his imagination, his use of language and its flexibility; I really like how he can be so precise, and knit sentences together. He was also the perfect gentleman, which I admire.

 The first films I saw were Sixties Bond films – Goldfinger and others. I was thrilled to be bombarded with imagery.

They wouldn’t have been the same without the sets designed

by Ken aDams, whose work has inspired me.

 As a teenager I was addicted to film noir.

Unconsciously I absorbed the lighting, photography, backgrounds and melodrama of the genre, particularly the work of the cinematographer CHaRles lang JUnioR. Sudden Fear, starring Joan Crawford and Jack Palance, is a favourite. I love the idea of light being used in design to create drama and shadows – as with colour which will change shade according to how much light is on it.

INFLUENCES

 When I lived in West Hollywood, a friend introduced me to the work of William Haines. He had been a silent film leading man who became an interior designer – with star clients including Gloria Swanson and the Reagans. Spectacularly elegant, he helped change design in middle America.

Candy & Candy CReative diReCtoR mARTIN KEmP on the designeRs and otheR CReative minds he admiRes

 When I was young, I always wanted to be a car designer. To me, the best can be works of art – if they didn’t have engines, I’d still love them. It’s all about the lines and their alignment, which, when done well, have connotations of style, elegance and glamour. The great Italian coachbuilders – Vignale, Giugiaro, Michelotti, Pininfarina and BeRTone, who styled this Alfa Romeo – are big influences on me.

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 Van DaY TRUeX had a key role in bringing civilised design to the US. As head of design at Tiffany and director of Parsons The New School For Design, he had a great eye for detail, colour and design. He was dapper, elegant and opinionated – a prized guest of many a celebrity dinner party.

joURNey Candy & Candy CReative diReCtoR mAT CARLisLE dRaws on the elegant, bold CitysCapes of south ameRiCa Since first visiting Chile, I’ve been continually drawn to the phenomenally eclectic aesthetic of South American city architecture. Each street throws up the unexpected, be it an intricate wall carving or stylish Art Deco facade detailing. My eye catches bold patterns – in the layered symmetry of balconies in Buenos Aires, and the monochrome pavement tiling in Bolivia’s La Paz – that would translate brilliantly onto leather wall panelling or cushion embroidery. The culture of elegant, illustrative graffiti reminds me of art’s ability to enhance any background, however drab; while the bold fusion of styles, beautifully displayed in the mix of Art Nouveau, neo-Gothic and neo-Romantic in BA’s Palacio Barolo dome, inspires me to merge designs and patterns outside the traditional boundaries.

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 There’s something about the Seventies which was all about hedonism, best exemplified in studio 54 which typified the ultimate in having fun and making a big statement. Frequented by high-profile celebrities such as Andy Warhol, Halston, Liza Minelli, Bianca Jagger, the famous club – with its Art Deco, funky graphic – propelled itself beyond hedonism to decadence during the following decade.

 I adore the patterns the Australian designer FLorenCe BroAdhurst was creating, towards the end of her life, in the Seventies.

Like Bridget Riley, she ofen re-intepreted nature, using repeat patterns. Her pale gold foil and glass-black wallpaper was iconic – reminiscent of a Jason King set.

 I first saw the work of artist Christo on TV in the Seventies and couldn’t get my mind round the scale of his projects. He had big ideas, made design an art form, transforming the way we perceive nature and scale. The idea of wrapping landmarks with fabric was very beautiful.

INSPIRATION

 AMAndA LeAr was a Seventies party girl who partied with Grace Jones and became Salvador Dalí’s muse. She was an It girl but also a classic disco artiste, much more famous for her work in Europe than the UK. The music she wrote, played and sang was extraordinary.

candy & candy cReative diRectoR mARTIN KEmP says the seventies aRe faR fRom the decade design foRgot

 When I was about 12, the Aston MArtin LAgondA was launched to save the company. Its razor-sharp design, like folded paper, was created by William Towns, and I love its rakish, sleek, simple lines, as if it had all been done with a ruler. The interior was refreshingly unfussy, modern and architectural – wrapped up in an amazing body. It was a real head-turner.

 I first encountered BiBA with my sister: it was a very feminine, iconic brand, cool but pretty, from its Art Nouveau-inspired logo to the restaurant with its amazing lighting and use of colours, all very original. Biba was an authentic Seventies fashion experience.

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Split-second Power Reserve Chronograph. The fusion between 18K King Gold, Ceramic, Carbon and Rubber.

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TOuR DE

WOrds James medd

With an on-site cinema and spa, aRtWoRks at eveRy tuRn, and a sixty-stRong mandaRin oRiental team on hand to attend to youR eveRy Whim aRound the clock, One Hyde Park has the best of all WoRlds at youR command

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Yo u m i g h t t h i n k that for the lucky few who call One Hyde Park home living in the most desirable residence in Europe would be enough. The architectural drama and ingenuity of the building itself, the beauty and luxury of the decoration, the views over Hyde Park and Knightsbridge – these are unlikely to leave anyone feeling that something is lacking. But One Hyde Park: The Residences at Mandarin Oriental is more than just a home; as that full name suggests, it’s a home with a five-star hotel built in. Integrated into the building is everything those fortunate residents might need, want or even desire, from nourishment to leisure to wellbeing, service and entertainment.

Everything has been thought of, probably before they even considered thinking about it themselves.

To find out more, let’s follow one of the residents on a tour of the communal areas of the building. We’ll start in the reception, for the very simple reason that this is the heart of One Hyde Park.

A glorious double-storey room, filled with light through the glass walls that constitute most of the building’s exterior, flower displays lining its two staircases, it is imbued with an atmosphere of calm, expertise and efficiency. This, it is soon obvious, emanates from the discreet concierge desk facing the entrance.

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Where other buildings have door staff and managers, this residence is served by a 60-strong Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group-trained team dedicated to One Hyde Park. As our resident explains, they have taken time to build up a knowledge of his requirements and interests so that they can anticipate his every desire. They are available 24 hours a day, not just when he’s in the building, but wherever he may be in the world. He can order a sandwich in his apartment or a private jet in Nepal with the same level of confidence.

As we’re taking this in, our attention falls on the chandelier that sweeps across the ceiling above us. Our resident tells us it’s every bit as intricate as it looks, made up of several thousand handmade, gold-plated glass pieces. He might also tell us it was inspired by leaves scattered by the wind in Hyde Park, and that its creator, Eva Menz, called it ‘Causing a Storm’.

This, it turns out, is very much the kind of place where chandeliers have names, and where art is part of everyday life.

Our resident points out another example behind us: two suits of armour, standing guard at the pillars, commissioned from artist Peter Oliver Davies in reference to Knightsbridge’s historical links. Just outside is the new Edinburgh Gate, a dynamic geometric structure of curves and bends by Wendy Ramshaw, and

previous page One Hyde Park has a florist who creates a new arrangement in the reception area every day this page, clockwise from above The gym and 21m ozone-treated pool in the Mandarin Oriental Residences Spa; letters from Bowater House, the building that previously occupied the site

Other buildings have managers and door staff; One Hyde Park has a Mandarin Oriental team of 60

DGrosmangin/MCMorazzani

Mémoires de Femmes . Mémoire du Monde

Masai Mara: Natural strength and elegance ready to conquer the horizon. adler, jewellers since 1886 GENEVE . GSTAAD . LONDON 13, New Bond Street +4420 7409 2237 . HONGKONG . TOKYO

www.adler.ch london@adler.ch

Lorenzo Quinn’s bronze ‘Finding Love’, a representation of hands meeting in a gesture of tenderness two-and-a-half metres high.

There’s also Jacob Epstein’s ‘Rush Of Green’, the 1959 bronze commissioned for Bowater House, which stood on the site of One Hyde Park until 2006. This is what our lucky resident sees when he arrives home, before he is greeted by the valet team who whisk his car away to the underground car park in one of the two vehicle lifs.

If it’s dark when we arrive, we will also see the spectacular bloom of colours playing on the canopy that covers this part of Edinburgh Gate, a section of the light installation created for One Hyde Park by James Turrell. As we make our way from where we lef our car to the reception, our resident might tell us how this American artist, whose work can be experienced in parks, a pyramid and even a volcano, employed LED lamps, controlled by a computer programme and meteorological clock, to create ever-changing shades of colour that sweep gently over the building from bottom to top and east to west.

Back in the reception, we decide to linger a while in order to soak up the character of the place. There’s no shortage of places for this, from a chaise to a quartet of deep armchairs by the

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self-playing grand piano and an alcoved area with more sof chairs. All are furnished to provide ease for both body and eye, and we could sit here and watch the world go by, just beyond the bustle of Knightsbridge, but our resident leads us into a glass-walled room off to the lef.

In here, formations of different purpose and mood – banquettes and low tables, deep armchairs, desks – and plush velvet, dark wood and leather give the atmosphere of an English gentleman’s club. This, our resident tells us, is the Park Library, where he can entertain guests or read the papers over coffee or brandy. For more formal appointments, he uses the two Business Suites just off the Library, where, around a circular central table, he can meet colleagues on home ground and with full service from that ever-attentive concierge team.

Later this week, we happen to know, our friend has plans to entertain on a rather grander scale. For this, he will use the Serpentine Suite, one floor down, so he gives us a sneak preview. Exclusively available to residents, this centres on a banqueting hall with a lofy ceiling and elegant suspended tube lights, rich panelling, polished plasterwork and antique mirrored pillars. Whether he wants dinner for 36 or more, or cocktails for up to 150 – he can’t decide – it’s all on hand,

CLoCkwise from above The elegant but relaxed meeting space of the Park Library; James Turrell’s light installation, created specially for One Hyde Park; the Lorenzo Quinn sculpture ‘Finding Love’

The Serpentine Suite has a banqueting hall with a lofty ceiling, rich panelling and antique pillars

DGrosmangin/MCMorazzani

Mémoires de Femmes . Mémoire du Monde

Masai Mara: Natural strength and elegance ready to conquer the horizon. adler, jewellers since 1886 GENEVE . GSTAAD . LONDON 13, New Bond Street +4420 7409 2237 . HONGKONG . TOKYO

www.adler.ch london@adler.ch

Lorenzo Quinn’s bronze ‘Finding Love’, a representation of hands meeting in a gesture of tenderness two-and-a-half metres high.

There’s also Jacob Epstein’s ‘Rush Of Green’, the 1959 bronze commissioned for Bowater House, which stood on the site of One Hyde Park until 2006. This is what our lucky resident sees when he arrives home, before he is greeted by the valet team who whisk his car away to the underground car park in one of the two vehicle lifs.

If it’s dark when we arrive, we will also see the spectacular bloom of colours playing on the canopy that covers this part of Edinburgh Gate, a section of the light installation created for One Hyde Park by James Turrell. As we make our way from where we lef our car to the reception, our resident might tell us how this American artist, whose work can be experienced in parks, a pyramid and even a volcano, employed LED lamps, controlled by a computer programme and meteorological clock, to create ever-changing shades of colour that sweep gently over the building from bottom to top and east to west.

Back in the reception, we decide to linger a while in order to soak up the character of the place. There’s no shortage of places for this, from a chaise to a quartet of deep armchairs by the

42

self-playing grand piano and an alcoved area with more sof chairs. All are furnished to provide ease for both body and eye, and we could sit here and watch the world go by, just beyond the bustle of Knightsbridge, but our resident leads us into a glass-walled room off to the lef.

In here, formations of different purpose and mood – banquettes and low tables, deep armchairs, desks – and plush velvet, dark wood and leather give the atmosphere of an English gentleman’s club. This, our resident tells us, is the Park Library, where he can entertain guests or read the papers over coffee or brandy. For more formal appointments, he uses the two Business Suites just off the Library, where, around a circular central table, he can meet colleagues on home ground and with full service from that ever-attentive concierge team.

Later this week, we happen to know, our friend has plans to entertain on a rather grander scale. For this, he will use the Serpentine Suite, one floor down, so he gives us a sneak preview. Exclusively available to residents, this centres on a banqueting hall with a lofy ceiling and elegant suspended tube lights, rich panelling, polished plasterwork and antique mirrored pillars. Whether he wants dinner for 36 or more, or cocktails for up to 150 – he can’t decide – it’s all on hand,

CLoCkwise from above The elegant but relaxed meeting space of the Park Library; James Turrell’s light installation, created specially for One Hyde Park; the Lorenzo Quinn sculpture ‘Finding Love’

The Serpentine Suite has a banqueting hall with a lofty ceiling, rich panelling and antique pillars

anxiety-free, via that concierge service and the Mandarin Oriental connection.

Perhaps, he says, he may invite a few friends over for a more informal evening in the private cinema. For anyone who loves the movies – so, pretty much everyone – this room is a dream come true. A four-metre microfibre screen, SIM2 HT5000 projector, 7.1-channel audio surround sound through seven speakers – if that doesn’t mean much, he says, trust him, it’s very good indeed.

The seats are easy enough to test: 18 velvet-upholstered motorised birch armchairs with a front row that can be converted into a sofa, on deep-pile carpet. Oh, and controls that manage air con and lights as well as the movie.

Before we can get into The King’s Speech or one of England’s rugby victories, our resident hurries us next door to show us more big boys’ and girls’ toys. This is the Virtual Games Room, where his children come to play Mario and Sonic or Grand Slam Tennis on a full wall screen, and he takes some time by himself for a round at St Andrews on the golf simulator.

Afer a couple of holes, we’re feeling pretty relaxed, but that’s nothing to where we’re headed next. Just across the hallway, it transpires, is a world of wellbeing of another kind, starting with the Mandarin Oriental Residences Spa. Here, our resident explains as we pass the waterfall feature and the scent of lotus fills our noses, that means he has a premier, indeed award-winning, team of spa professionals on hand to provide treatments from massage to facial and foot therapy – another unique benefit of the hotel-at-home relationship with the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group.

As we survey the two treatment rooms, each with an attached relaxation room and fitted out in relaxing brown timber and white stone, he considers a treatment to book for later. Maybe he’ll go for the Oriental Foot Therapy, combining exfoliation, massage and reflexology for an all-points-covered hour. Or, perhaps (a favourite afer a long plane journey) the Oriental Essence Massage, with ginger, mandarin and frankincense. Yes, that’s it, he decides, and then he can check in with his personal therapist to update his programme of nutrition and exercise.

For that, he doesn’t need to travel far.

Just around the corner is the swimming pool, 21 metres of low-lit, tranquil beauty.

It’s ozone-treated, he explains, which is why there’s no noxious tang of chlorine, and why the water is clearer, cleaner and feels sofer. Somehow resisting the urge to test that out, or the whirlpool bath to the side, we follow our resident through to the gym. Here, there’s a studio with all the latest equipment and two rooms for private workouts. Our friend, being a

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competitive fellow, prefers the squash court next door, though. We agree to a game, although when he tells us he’s been playing regularly with the Mandarin Oriental staff, the seats facing the court look ever more comfortable. More our style, we have to tell him, are the saunas and steam rooms attached to both men’s and women’s changing rooms.

As we return to the lifs, passing the salvaged Fifies-vintage letters that spelt out the name of Bowater House and pausing to admire the relief metallic mapscape of London by artist collective Based Upon, our thoughts turn to relaxation of another kind. Our resident tells us about the building’s impressive wine cellar – a temperature-controlled room, here on this floor, in which each apartment has a designated area. He mentions a particularly promising Bordeaux he can ask the concierge to root out. Back in his apartment, over the finest views in London, we’ll drink to a life of leisure.

Above In the private screening room, residents and their guests can opt to recline in an ultra-luxurious motoradjusted cinema seat

Each apartment has a designated area in One Hyde Park’s impressive climatecontrolled wine cellar

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those close enough to the top of the waiting list aRe about to take deliveRy of the most eageRly anticipated Road caR in yeaRs, the McLaren MP4-12C. an engineeRing maRvel itself, it has a gReat motoR Racing pedigRee Words simon de burton

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T h e w h o l e g a m u T of exotic supercars will scorch up the drive past Goodwood House during July’s Festival of Speed, but it is unlikely that anyone will make it to the end of the 1.16-mile course in less time than Nick Heidfeld did back in 1999, when he completed it in a record 41.6 seconds, at an average speed of 100.3mph.

The car he was driving was a McLaren MP4/13 – a machine that had wiped the floor with the opposition during the previous year’s Formula 1 season, clocking up nine wins and eight seconds out of 16 races in the hands of team drivers Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard.

Such achievements have helped the McLaren name reach legendary status in the car world since the team was founded by 26-year-old New Zealander Bruce McLaren in 1963. His parents ran a service station outside Auckland. His insistence on hanging around the workshop led to them giving him an Austin 7 to use in

hill-climb events when he was just 14. Within five years, he was runner-up in the New Zealand championship series, driving a home-tuned F2 Cooper-Climax.

McLaren’s talent was spotted by Australian driver Jack Brabham and, in 1958, he became the first person to be selected for the New Zealand Grand Prix Association’s Driver to Europe scheme, which gave him the opportunity to race with some of the top names in the sport. Afer that, he never looked back – the Cooper team signed him in 1959 and he immediately won that year’s US Grand Prix at the tender age of 22, established his own Grand Prix team in 1965 and won his first race in his own car at Spa in 1968.

Along the way, he clocked up records for being the youngest driver ever to score points in an F1 race, the youngest to set a fastest lap and the youngest to achieve a podium position.

But it was in the Can-Am series of sports-car races in North America that the McLaren name truly dominated, winning 11 out of 11 races in 1969 – and it was a Can-Am car in which he died the following year afer the rear bodywork of his M8D came adrif, causing the car to spin and hit a bunker during testing at the Goodwood circuit. He was just 32.

The McLaren team forged ahead, however, winning the F1 championship in 1974 and 1976 with drivers Emerson Fittipaldi and James Hunt before its performance waned and it merged with Ron Dennis’s

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previous page The new McLaren MP4-12C on its January 2011 launch at the Portimão circuit in Portugal this page, from top Bruce McLaren at the Spanish Grand Prix in 1968; the prototype of McLaren’s first attempt to launch a roadgoing sports car in 1970, the M6GT

Sutton ImageS

In 1959, McLaren won the US Grand Prix at the age of 22; just six years later, the New Zealander had established his own motor racing team

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Project Four Racing. Dennis and his partners went on to buy the team and it is under his influence that McLaren turned from just another car marque into an international, high-end brand, linked not just with racing cars – and drivers such as Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button – but road cars, too.

The most celebrated product of McLaren’s road-car division is the still-remarkable F1 that, according to legend, was dreamed up by Dennis and racing-car design engineer Gordon Murray while they were waiting for a plane following the 1988 Italian Grand Prix – the only race in that year’s F1 season that the manufacturer failed to win. The concept was relatively simple: to create an ultra-high-performance, road-going car that was replete with Formula 1 technology but would also be practical for real-world driving.

In 1990, the process of building the car began. BMW was commissioned to build a bespoke 12-cylinder,

non-turbo-charged, six-litre engine producing 627 horsepower, while a six-speed, fast-shifing gearbox was designed from scratch, and designer Peter Stevens set about creating a body shape the like of which had never been seen before.

Despite its compact size, the F1 had three seats, with the driver positioned in the middle. Formula 1-style down-force enhancement meant it was virtually glued to the ground, and its mid-engine configuration made for perfect front-to-rear balance. The overall shape was aerodynamically superb. Neither brakes nor steering was power-assisted, ensuring maximum driver ‘feel’, and, as a result of Murray’s obsession with lightness, exotic materials such as titanium, magnesium and Kevlar were employed. The body panels were made from carbon fibre and the engine bay was lined with gold foil in order to insulate the cockpit from heat.

The first F1 was delivered in 1992 and production ceased in 1998, afer only 106 had been built – but the F1’s place in automotive history was assured afer a street-legal example was taken to a record 240mph – a speed only ever surpassed by cars with turbo-charged engines. When new, an F1 cost around £540,000 (plus taxes) in the UK, but its status as a true ‘modern classic’ has caused prices to soar to around £2 million. Owners include stars such as comedian Rowan Atkinson, talk-show host Jay Leno, Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason and style doyen Ralph Lauren.

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The most paid for an F1 so far – publicly, at least – is £2,530,000, which is what RM Auctions achieved in 2008 for the car that for several years had been highly visible in McLaren’s showroom on London’s Park Lane.

But, with the much-anticipated arrival of the MP4-12C, it is now possible to take to the road in a McLaren hypercar for a mere £168,500. Capable of a claimed 205mph, it follows McLaren’s ethos of bringing racetrack technology to the road by featuring a lightweight but strong carbon-fibre tub; a V8, 3.8-litre, twin-turbo engine that produces 592 horsepower; a seven-speed gearbox; state-of-the-art adaptive suspension; and a 0-60 mph time of just 3.1 seconds.

Evo magazine, the performance-car ‘bible’, has already proclaimed the MP4-12C to be ‘the best sports car Evo has ever driven’ and, no sooner had the final

clockwise, from top McLaren’s previous road car, the highly regarded F1, produced between 1992 and 1998; the 2007 McLaren Formula 1 car of Lewis Hamilton; fellow British McLaren driver Jenson Button, who joined him in the McLaren team in 2010

Rex FeatuRes; coRbis

The McLaren F1’s place in automotive history was assured after a street-legal example was taken to 240mph – a record for a non-turbo-charged car

design been unveiled in late 2009, than the order book started filling up fast. Buyers can look forward to a car with blistering performance but which has also been developed for everyday use, with a range of instantly adjustable suspension settings and an unfeasibly comfortable, ergonomically excellent interior that also offers a level of visibility lacking in most supercars.

If you want something to keep you amused while you wait for the arrival of yours, TAG Heuer has created an MP4-12C Chronograph in a limited edition of 1,000 examples, available through MP4-12C dealers, starting with the flagship McLaren showroom on the ground floor of One Hyde Park. Costing around £6,000, it is replete with styling cues taken from the car, notably its cutaway carbon dial, which is inspired by the carbon MonoCell chassis, and strap stitching that echoes McLaren’s signature colour.

Just like the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren produced from 2003 to 2009, the first MP4-12C models are being

As well as speed, the MP4-12C has an unfeasibly comfortable, ergonomically excellent interior with a level of visibility lacking in most supercars hand-built at the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) in Woking, Surrey, where McLaren F1 racing cars are developed and assembled. In the summer production moves to the McLaren Production Centre, a brand new £40 million facility at the same site.

Home to the seven companies in the McLaren Group, the 57,000sq m MTC building – designed by Lord Foster and opened by the Queen in 2004 – is the sort of place in which a James Bond nemesis such as Dr No would have been most at ease. Clinically clean throughout, it represents the highest of high-tech: no food or drink other than water is allowed anywhere near a workstation and, according to Dennis, ‘The interior is maintained at the optimum temperature for human productivity.’

With its acres of glass and sweeping curves, the MTC incorporates soundproof windows behind which technicians work on components that will be used at grands prix several seasons hence. The centre also boasts a 145m wind tunnel and a multi-million-pound F1 simulator said to be indistinguishable from driving the real thing. There are also plans for an underground visitor and learning centre; and the whole place is cooled by 50,000 cubic metres of rainwater that circulates through a natural reed bed. Indeed, the building is so remarkable that many of the suppliers of the lavish materials that went into its construction provided their goods for free,

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just so they could say they had a part in it. However, the feature that is, perhaps, most indicative of McLaren’s decades of success is the private display housing dozens of F1, Can-Am, Le Mans and Indy Cars produced by the company since the Sixties. But even they don’t tell the story quite so well as the enormous cabinet that stretches the entire length of an extremely long wall.

It is literally crammed with trophies gleaned in races throughout the world, most of which are vast and made from silver or gold. The one everyone looks at, however, is tiny, insignificant and made from tin – but is probably the most priceless of the lot. It was the first cup Bruce McLaren ever won.

The new McLaren MP4-12C will be on display at McLaren’s flagship showroom at One Hyde Park and performing at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, 1-3 July

from top The McLaren MP4-12C emerges in Portimão, Portugal; detail of the back of the car

HAiL To H

THe CHEf

New york’s kitcheN commaNders-iNchief are crossiNg the atlaNtic, with stars like daniel Boulud becomiNg the toast of loNdoN’s diNiNg sceNe WoRdS william drew / illuSTRaTion brett ryder

To day, L o n d o n i s the most exciting city to cook in. The dining scene is so full of energy and people are passionate about their food and wine.'

That’s the view not of an Englishman, but of a US-based, French-born restaurateur and chef. And not just any old chef, but one of the global restaurant industry’s most feted figures, Daniel Boulud.

Boulud operates five successful restaurants in New York alone, including his three-Michelin-starred flagship restaurant, Daniel. But last year he brought a dash of his culinary magic to London in the form of Bar Boulud, a casual but high-end eaterie between the Mandarin Oriental Hotel and luxury residence One Hyde Park. And the 56-year-old is rapidly becoming as popular this side of the Atlantic as he is in his adopted home town.

This spring Boulud (pictured, below right) has been joined in London by fellow superstar chef – and another US-based Frenchman – Jean-Georges Vongerichten (above right). Vongerichten has opened a UK outpost of his Asian format, Spice Market, in the new W Hotel on Leicester Square.

Shortly, another grand fromage of the chef world, Wolfgang Puck, is joining the British invasion with his restaurant Cut on Park Lane. So inviting has London become that last year, Adam Perry Lang crossed the Atlantic to forge a culinary ‘special relationship’ with Brit Jamie Oliver at Barbecoa, a new take on meaty Americana, in the City. Established New York eateries such as Balthazar and April Bloomfield’s The Spotted Pig (partowned by Jay-Z) are set to follow suit by landing in London.

So what’s prompting this rash of high-profile (and expensive) openings in an already restaurant-rich city? The short answer is that it’s the major international hotel groups that are driving the influx. Boulud, Vongerichten and Puck are all in partnership with luxury hoteliers – the Mandarin Oriental Group, Starwood Hotels and The Dorchester Collection respectively.

‘I believe we’ve brought something new to London: a formula of service we developed in America,’ says Boulud Hotel operators are increasingly aware of the commercial draw of having Michelin-star collecting chefs on board.

In Asia, hotels have long been the places to head to for excellent and innovative dining experiences. Until recently the picture in Europe has generally been more mixed. But this is rapidly changing.

David Nicholls is the food and beverage director of the Mandarin Oriental Group worldwide. Having previously led the London operation, he was instrumental in bringing both Boulud and Heston Blumenthal into the UK capital for the first time. ‘Our strategy has been to change the way hotel restaurants are perceived, which is why we’re focusing on creating independent restaurants in hotels with extraordinary chefs – whether they are “celebrities” or not,’ he explains.

It’s a strategy that is undoubtedly paying off in London, with both Bar Boulud and Dinner by Heston Blumenthal huge hits with both critics and customers.

Boulud himself cites Nicholls’ vision and the specifics of the site as key to his decision to open a long-awaited UK restaurant. ‘I like the fact that we have our own entrance on Knightsbridge,’ says Boulud. ‘But the restaurant does not have a big façade – that is taken by the hotel itself – which also fits with our style.

The idea was to create a better definition of a “casual” restaurant – ofen in hotels, the restaurants are neither casual nor quite manage to be high-end. They can float in the middle with a lack of identity.

But I also like the idea of not being alone – when I knew Heston was coming, I said, at least we can keep each other warm!’

There’s little danger of loneliness at Bar Boulud, which is indeed redefining top-end casual dining in the city. It is a venue that attracts both drop-in drinkers and destination diners, local residents and international travellers, mooning lovers and hard-nosed business types. And it prides itself on serving them all swifly but in a relaxed and personal style.

‘I believe we have brought something new to London, with a formula of service that we developed in America,’ says Boulud.

‘You can just pop in for a glass of wine and a burger, or you can enjoy a lavish meal with a great bottle of wine.’

Vongerichten is also bringing a slice of American sensibility to the city in the form of Spice Market. The restaurant is a sister to the original in Manhattan’s Meatpacking district, which has been feeding New Yorkers’ appetite for Asian food since 2004. ‘In New York 15 years ago, people ate Italian food three times a week,’ says Vongerichten. ‘Now they eat Asian food three times a week. The flavours are very addictive.’

The Alsace-born chef evidently believes Londoners will follow a similar path – hence his return to the UK some eight years afer Vong, his acclaimed fusion restaurant in The Berkeley hotel, shut its doors. ‘People are open to new trends, they go out more than they did when I was here before, and it’s much more diverse,’ says Vongerichten. ‘Spice Market isn’t right for every city – I don’t think Paris would be suitable, for example. People in the UK grow up with an Asian palate, so London is a great place to open.’

Vongerichten operates restaurants across the world. Spice Market London is the fourth under that name, but the first in Europe. With dishes such as Crab Dumplings with Black Pepper Sauce and

Boulud's charcuterie plates, often eaten at the open kitchen's counter, have rapidly gained cult status Ovaltine Kulfi, Caramelised Banana and Spiced Milk Chocolate, the menu draws on Vongerichten’s early career cooking in Asia. It is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, capitalising on the trend for eating ‘out of hours’ that’s beginning to seep into London’s consciousness – similar to Bar Boulud’s all-day appeal.

‘I thought London was going to be more structured,’ adds Boulud. ‘But it lasts all day at Bar Boulud sometimes.’

The menu’s charcuterie plates, ofen eaten at the open kitchen’s counter, and the Piggie Burger (with pulled pork and green chilli mayonnaise) have rapidly gained cult status.

The upbeat vibe in the UK restaurant business can in part be ascribed to the Olympic factor. Hosting the Games next summer has attracted considerable investment in the hospitality sector. An impressive number of luxury hotels have opened or been refurbished over the last year; that first UK venture of AustrianAmerican superchef Wolfgang Puck will be at 45 Park Lane, opening later this year.

With London arguably establishing itself as the culinary capital of the world, its appetite for cutting-edge contemporary restaurants led by globally renowned chefs is only getting more voracious.

William Drew edits Restaurant magazine

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Natural Selectio oN PHOTOGRAPHY tif Hunter STYLING Georgina Hodson

takinG cues from nature’s intricacy, tHese creations are intelliGent desiGn at its best

'Antigua' platinum and diamond ring, cartier

Round and pear-shape diamond ower brooch with yellow 4.11 carat radiant diamond centre, Graff

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Oval 76.39-carat unheated Burmese sapphire and diamond ring, Harry winston

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'Boboli' white gold necklace with diamonds and rubellites, van cleef & arpels

'Spicy Candy' white gold necklace with fancy cushion-shape sapphires and diamonds, Adler

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The final frontier With pLans to offeR fuLLoRbitaL fLights and buiLd a space station, ViRgin galactic is shooting foR the staRs WORDS Robert Ryan

I wa s o n c e l u c k y enough to fly on Concorde and, in those days of innocence, I was actually allowed to sit on the jump seat in the cockpit of Speedbird One, en route to JFK. As it nudged past 60,000f, the pilot pointed out the curvature of the Earth and beyond it, the deep dark blue of nothingness. It was a privileged view — those confined to the cabin had to squint through Concorde’s famously tiny windows. I appeared to have the world laid out before me, like something from 2001: A Space Odyssey. That image, the cold beauty of the very edge of space, has never really lef me. I was a fan of the extraterrestrial before that; it turned me into something of an obsessive.

This year is, as many media commentators have noted, the 50th anniversary of a human first leaving the planet and entering that interface between the Earth and eternity that I glimpsed from the flight deck. It was Yuri Gagarin, of course, on 12 April 1961, who took

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FLIGHTS of IMAGINATION

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1903

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oRviLLe WRighT, WRighT FLYeR First recorded powered Flight, 11.1kph

Louis BLéRioT, BLéRioT Xi First crossing oF the english channel, 75.6kph

getty images; cody images; camera press

that particular step for mankind. But it was a close-run thing. Alan Shepard was scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral on 6 March; a problem with a fuel line postponed the launch, allowing the USSR to sneak in.

Shepard eventually escaped from the Earth on 5 May. In space, there are no certainties: but for a faulty LOX feed, the US could have claimed the first man in space.

Of course, Shepard got a last laugh of sorts: he walked on the Moon – something no cosmonaut ever managed.

It is difficult not to talk about such ‘space exploration’ in the past tense, as with Concorde: something we used to have, but lost. These are glum days for NASA, with the retirement of the shuttle fleet and no replacement lif vehicle in sight, the postponement of the manned Mars voyage and swingeing budget cuts. It looks as if, for those of us who still thrill to the spectacle of men and women in rockets, the next decade is going to be the era of slim pickings.

Or perhaps not. As I said, in space, there are no certainties. For example, nobody really expected, a decade ago, that the torch of space technology would be picked up by an Englishman or, even more surprisingly, that the Englishman would be Richard Branson. But it is looking increasingly likely that what initially seemed to be an unholy cross between a publicity stunt and a pipe dream will come to pass and Virgin Galactic will boldly go where no man has gone before (at least not in the same type of spaceship, anyway).

However, just before we unfurl the Union Jacks, it is worth noting that Branson has had a little help from the US, in the form of space’s very own version of Orville and Wilbur Wright, Elbert Leander ‘Burt’ Rutan of Scaled Composites. It was Rutan who, in June 2004, sent up SpaceShipOne, the first privately built, flown, and funded manned craf to reach space. Branson quickly announced that Rutan would design SpaceShipTwo, a reusable vehicle designed to take six paying passengers into sub-orbital pace.

As soon as it was unveiled, it was clear that Rutan’s SSTwo was a fresh way to approach the problems posed by space flight. Rather than use a big, dirty rocket to blast it away from Earth, the craf will be taken up to 50,000f using a mothership (The White Knight, aka Eve) and SSTwo will then detach, accelerate to Mach 3 and travel beyond the Kármán Line at 100km above Earth’s sea level – the boundary that marks the beginning of space. The clients then get five to 10 minutes of weightlessness, although SSTwo will not enter Earth orbit, like a Soyuz or Shuttle, but will ‘visit’ space and drop back down again. The clever, elegant design folds itself like a high-tech piece of origami into a sleek shape (based on

previous page Norman Foster’s design for Spaceport America, the base of Virgin Galactic operations this page, clockwise from far left Test flights of the SSTwo; Richard Branson; the original Philippe Starck concept for the spaceport

a shuttlecock) for re-entry before reconfiguring itself yet again for the 30-minute glide back to terra firma.

So far, so slick. However, we were promised this spectacular event would take place in 2009. Three years ago, Will Whitehorn, then president of Virgin Galactic, assured me that, despite a recent accident during engine testing that had killed three people at the Mojave Desert base, the first test flight would ‘definitely’ take place within 12 months. But space has remained untroubled by the celebrities (Branson and family, Victoria Principal, ad man Trevor Beattie, Professor Stephen Hawkins and Sigourney Weaver) who have signed up for the first flights. Will Whitehorn moved on in January this year; Burt Rutan has announced his retirement from Scaled Composites, although his protégés and design team remain in place.

There are now 500 passengers on the books, including Nicholas Candy. He says: ‘I’ve bought three tickets, one for me and two for my brother and his wife for their wedding present. I’m really looking forward to seeing Earth from space – It’s going to be an unforgettable experience!’

Most potential clients have paid their $200,000 per trip in full. They must be getting a tad impatient. Has Virgin Galactic stalled? ‘Not at all,’ says David Clark, Head of Astronaut Relations for Virgin Galactic, without hesitation. ‘Any delays were due to us testing

The SpaceShipTwo’s clever, elegant design folds itself like a high-tech piece of origami into a sleek shape (based on a shuttlecock) for re-entry the systems and testing them again. Soon we will glide her in from 50,000f. Then we’ll fit the rocket motors.

We aim to fly SSTwo into space by the end of this year, with passengers being carried by the end of 2012.’

We’ve heard similar claims before, but progress has certainly been made. Both Eve, the carbon-fibre mothership, and its baby spacecraf, VSS Enterprise, have been pictured in the clear-blue desert skies. Shots online show Enterprise gliding in to land, like a more handsome version of the Space Shuttle. And, Clark says, in the coming months, it will be taken alof to trial the ‘feathered’ or folded position essential to re-entry.

The futuristic Spaceport America (with an initial concept by Philippe Starck and final designs by Sir Norman Foster), too, has moved along rapidly, and it

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eRiCh WaRsiTz, heinkeL he178 First jet-powered aircraFt Flight, 598kph

ChuCk YeageR, BeLL X-1 First supersonic Flight, mach 1.26

andRé TuRCaT, ConCoRde First supersonic passenger Flight, mach 2.0

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now sits gleaming like a stainless steel-and-glass trilobite in the desert of New Mexico. In February, Branson’s of-stated promise that Galactic would provide commercial projects — as opposed to space tourism ‘joyrides’ — materialised, thanks to a contract with the Southwest Research Institute to fly two scientists into space, enabling them to perform microgravity, biology, climate and astronomy research. ‘Science flights will be an important growth area for the company in the years to come,’ predicts CEO and president George Whitesides, who has assimilated Will Whitehorn’s title.

‘There’s also the potential for affordable, commercial low-orbit satellite launches,’ adds David Clark. ‘We can put them up at a fraction of the price of a conventional rocket.’ Which, as recent failures have demonstrated, don’t always function as planned.

Hanging over all this is the question of safety. Just how foolproof will this version of space travel be? We have lost two space shuttles, one on launch and one on re-entry, and previous NASA programmes were not without disasters. I put this to Will Whitehorn shortly before he lef the company. ‘This won’t work unless we, and the public, are absolutely sure about the safety aspects. So, safety has to be our number-one priority.’

Would you go on it? ‘Absolutely. I still hope to.’

I ask Professor Colin Pillinger, the man behind the Beagle 2 Mars project, for his opinion on Virgin and its

Maximum planned altitude, before unpowered return to Earth

360,000 350,000

SpaceShipTwo passes the Karman Line to enter space

328,000

310,000

250,000

At the back of Branson’s mind is a plan to deliver passengers from, say, London to Sydney, using sub-space, a journey that would take a few hours

Rob Ryan is a novelist and a travel writer for, among other titles, the Sunday Times

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180,000

100,000

70,000

SpaceShipTwo de-feathers to glide home

60,000

Concorde

50,000

WhiteKnightTwo releases SpaceS Manned balloon

Commercial airlines

46,000 30,000

REACH for THE STARS

Altitude in feet

safety. ‘I’d be happy to go up. All power to Richard Branson. Burt Rutan proved it can be done – it’s just a matter of scaling up. That's what happened with Sputnik. They proved the rockets worked and things just got larger, until they were able to send people into orbit. I just hope they invite Stephen Hawking and me up to hold hands and see the Earth from space.’

Richard Branson has just announced he is working with partners to look at full orbital flights (the SSTwo doesn’t make a full orbit) and even a commercial space station. ‘Many people, including me, would love to take an orbital space trip in the future,’ he says, ‘so we’re putting our weight behind new technologies that could deliver that safely, while driving down the enormous current costs of manned orbital flights by millions of dollars. Our long-term goal is to lead an industry that opens up the huge potential of space to everyone, whether it be for the experience itself, for science research, for fast and efficient transportation around the globe or for delivering payloads to space safely, cleanly and cheaply.’

It’s that ‘transportation around the globe’ that I find most intriguing. He’s an airline man, and, at the back of Branson’s mind, is a plan to deliver passengers from, say, London to Sydney, using sub-space, a journey that would take a few hours. It also means that, one day, ordinary folks might yet again get to see the deep blue of space for themselves, just as I once did on Concorde.

Go, Virgin Galactic, is all I can say. Just make sure you put in decent-sized windows. virgingalactic.com

Colour cliNiC daniel GalVin jr, the woRLd-Leading haiRdResseR who speciaLises in coLouR, has a passion foR oRganic ingRedients and a ceLebRity cLienteLe WOrdS simon Mills

T h e r e a l ly i m p r e s s i v e thing about Daniel Galvin Jr isn’t just his expertise and his pioneering work in the world of ecologically sound hair colour, or the manner in which he has successfully stepped out of his father’s shadow and built up a globally acknowledged reputation on his own merit, but the calm and collected manner in which he goes about his business.

Walk through the door of DGJ’s Belgravia salon and you are immediately conscious of a considered and ambiently controlled environment. There is no acrid smell of bleaching agent, no noise-polluting blast of dryers on ‘volcano’ setting. Natural light is predominant, fixtures and fittings are clean, elegant and evidently bespoke. The result is serene, sophisticated, Dior-ish.

‘We had everything handmade,’ Daniel will tell you as he runs a hand over the polished edges of a mirror. ‘My wife Suzanna, who is an interior designer, and I designed the salon to look like a home more than a hairdresser’s.’

A huge photograph of Holly Valance looking luscious and honey-haired to perfection dominates the window to the right of the entrance, while a familiar television celebrity, all lips, white teeth and iPhone, sits in a black leather chair, talking through her latest hair-colour adventure with senior stylist Miguel Perez Martin. Kelly Brook is booked in for an appointment later on today.

Daniel – groomed, focused, tenacious – runs the show here with a calm and firm velvet touch. When he discreetly asks for a stylist to turn off the low hum of

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a hair dryer, she does so without any discombobulation or fuss and an alternative blow-dry station, away from earshot, is located.

Directly opposite the salon is the Belgravia branch of Waitrose, the store that Tatler magazine described as the poshest supermarket in the world, where you can find Daniel’s organic Duchy beauty products in the cosmetics aisle. But such a painstakingly holistic approach to super-luxe hairdressing services, accented by boldly maverick expertise, didn’t evolve overnight.

Aged 16, he threw himself into hairdressing, working in the salon six days a week, practising on days off and qualifying just before his 18th birthday Daniel Galvin Jr was educated at Millfield, a boarding school in Somerset. ‘I am probably the only hairdresser to come out of that school,’ he laughs.

As a boy he excelled at art, science and English, initially planning to study journalism. But a visit to his dad’s workplace changed everything. Tired of his young son continually asking for pocket money, top hairdresser Daniel Galvin Senior told Daniel Jr that he would have to work a few school holiday

shifs in the bustling Marylebone salon, sweeping up, making tea and washing hair.

‘I grew up having wonderful holidays, a privileged lifestyle and a great education, but I’d never really understood exactly where my father had come from and how much he had achieved,’ says Daniel. ‘So I didn’t know what to expect.’

Even though his father, his uncle, his grandfather and great-grandfather had all been hairdressers (soon to be followed by his brother, James), young Daniel was not particularly keen to carry on the Galvin family tradition. ‘But on my very first day a whole new world opened up to me. I saw what an empire my dad had built, all this amazing art… and, more than that, all these amazingly good-looking women! I thought, “Wow. This is actually a pretty good job.”’

Quickly, Daniel abandoned any ideas of a newspaper career and abruptly quit school. Aged 16, he threw himself into hairdressing, cramming a three-year apprenticeship into just 18 months, working in the salon six days a week, practising his craf on models two nights a week and on his day off, and eventually qualifying just a few months before his 18th birthday.

Almost immediately it was the craf of colour, not cutting, that piqued his interest. Young Daniel took the view that, just like make-up and cosmetics, the subtle art of hair colour was a way of enhancing a woman’s skin tone, features, moods and lifestyle. This sensitive,

JAKE WALTERS; KinnERTon STudioS

LEFT TO RIGHT The studio’s tasteful interior is lit predominantly by natural light throughout; Daniel Galvin Junior; the manicured salon front in Belgravia

flattering and esteem-building approach soon paid dividends and he was running the colour department in his father’s salon by the time he was 22, pioneering a technique called ‘bold movement’ that involves creating a detailed map of a client’s hair to create lowlights and highlights. ‘I don’t try to make my clients look beautiful; I show them that they already are beautiful.’

But being in London and working in his father’s shadow was not enough for ambitious Daniel. He moved to Los Angeles to work on glamorous Rodeo Drive. ‘I think it’s important to flee the nest and earn some respect for yourself. It was time for me to try new things.’ He was also on a mission to educate Californian women about hair colour. ‘Everyone was Baywatch blonde and I considered it a challenge to try and change the mindset,’ he laughs.

In LA, Daniel had a ball doing the Beverly Hills thing to the max: tending the hair of private superstar clients and absorbing the American hairdressing industry’s focus on meticulous, personal service by day. By night, however, he says he was ‘partying for England’.

Afer a while, the lifestyle grew tiring and Daniel returned to his homeland, although he still makes the odd jaunt out to loyal clients in Hollywood and around the world. He replaced nightclubs with running, motorcycle racing and boxing (afer winning five competitions he retired – ‘black eyes don’t look good in the salon’) and turned his back his on what he refers to

as ‘the chemical lifestyle’. He got married and, in 2000, fathered a son. (Daniel also lives with his stepson.) ‘For me, it represented a new life… a new beginning.’

This proved to be a turning point. ‘By this point I was very conscious of what I was putting in my body but not so aware of what I was putting on it,’ says Daniel. ‘When Rhett was born, suddenly, the idea of putting some nasty, harsh chemical on his baby skin – something that could be carcinogenic or promote eczema – was horrific to me. So, I started to do some research.’

Against the advice of many beauty editors, who saw no future in the idea, Daniel developed a highly successful line of organic products Against the advice of many high-profile beauty editors (‘they said there was no future in the idea’), Daniel developed his own line of organic products (including a gentle baby shampoo for little Rhett) utilising only top-level, ecologically sound ingredients.

In 2002 he was approached by Prince Charles to develop a range of Duchy beauty products. ‘Prince Charles is very passionate,’ says Daniel proudly. ‘He’s very involved in the product development.’ The royal

connection has gone further: seven years ago Daniel was appointed an ambassador to the Prince’s Trust.

Nowadays, Daniel divides his time between a London home in Regent’s Park and a Georgian Regency farmhouse in the more peaceful Malvern Hills in Worcestershire. Here, he goes fishing, grows his own vegetables and eats meat that was raised in the fields behind his paddock. Things are a little bit country, a lot less rock’n’roll.

Daniel is best known for styling the hair of local Belgravia women, American women, celebrities such as Holly Valance and Kelly Brook, royalty, Hollywood film actors and sports stars. But he proudly explains how he also takes a particularly measured approach to male clients’ hair, avoiding the telltale brassy look by reducing the grey in a guy like Louis Walsh’s famous tresses very gradually. ‘We weave colour back into the hair. First a 25 per cent reduction, then, very slowly building up to a 75 per cent reduction. If we do it really well, people hardly notice the transition.’

Light streams through the French windows in the DGJ basement and I am aware that my silvery temples are glinting rather unfavourably in the afernoon sunshine. ‘I mean, come on!’ says Daniel, playfully.

‘Nobody really likes grey hair… do they?’

Daniel Galvin Jr, 4 West Halkin Street, London SW1; 020 3416 3116; danielgalvinjnr.co.uk Simon Mills is a contributing editor to GQ

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ever coveted, it is a dedication to quaLity that puts ROLEX at the forefront of watchmaking, and on the ground fLoor at one hyde park WORds Bill prince

W i t h s u c h e m p h a s i s placed on provenance in the world of watches, it is perhaps surprising to learn that the Swiss brand with probably the greatest global recognition of them all is barely 100 years old and that its origins began with a young Bavarian in London. Hans Wilsdorf founded Wilsdorf & Davis in 1905, setting out to buck the trend for pocket watches with a plan to popularise the wristwatch, until then a timepiece viewed as unreliable, fragile and ‘effeminate’. Wilsdorf answered those concerns by producing the first wristwatch to achieve chronometer status from the exacting Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres, and going on to develop the

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world’s first waterproof watch case – the Oyster. The latter feature was tested on a cross-Channel swim in 1927 – as if to ask, tough enough for you?

Now based in Geneva, Wilsdorf set about achieving a series of further firsts: in 1931 he added the world’s first self-winding movement to the Oyster Perpetual; he created the first wristwatch with day and, subsequently, day/date functions; he made a wristwatch capable of achieving then-unheard of depths of 330m (the original Submariner of 1953); and in 1963 launched arguably the first ‘luxury’ sports watch, the Cosmograph Daytona.

However, it is Wilsdorf’s decision as early as 1908 to market his watches under a brand name that secured the long-term potential of Rolex. Notable patrons – not only paid ambassadors such as current world-number-one golfer Martin Kaymer – have helped. The Cosmograph Daytona became synonymous with motor racing in general and with one Hollywood hotshot in particular: Paul Newman, was a keen racer who wore a Cosmograph, a gift from his wife, the actress Joanne Woodward.

It wasn’t just Hollywood upping the brand’s sizeable ante with a well-heeled audience of watch connoisseurs.

Many of these will have already spotted Sir Edmund Hillary sporting a Rolex Oyster on the summit of Everest in 1953, or understood the importance of a deep-sea diving company such as Comex commissioning its own version of the Submariner with the hitherto-unavailable helium escape valve (now standard on all serious diving watches). And yet, all the while, Rolex has also been happy to play the ‘outsider’ in watch terms too, forgoing many of the opportunities exploited by other brands to focus, for example, on its own affiliations with the yachting and motor racing worlds. Rolex has also kept a tradition instigated by Hans Wilsdorf: never appearing alongside any other brand or story, by insisting upon (and paying for) full-page advertisements only. An ‘ever-changing, never changing’ approach, with regular innovations and upgrades, has protected Rolex’s twin pillars of excellence: robustness and reliability.

Now the ‘outsider’ watch company has a new boutique in the ultimate insider’s location. Nicholas Candy says, ‘We are very pleased to welcome to One Hyde Park what will arguably be Rolex’s flagship store. It will certainly be the largest of its kind in Europe.’

The boutique’s owner, David Coleridge, adds, ‘One Hyde Park has a natural synergy with a brand like Rolex.

Both are iconic, dramatic and luxurious. And aside from the boutique being an iconic, luxurious location of over 3,000sq ft, it will stock the largest range of Rolex watches in the UK and will benefit from an on-site expert watchmaker. Our ambition is to make this the most enjoyable place in the world to buy a Rolex.’

Having written the first chapters of the Rolex story in London, Hans Wilsdorf would certainly approve.

Bill Prince is the Deputy Editor of GQ

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THE TIMES / NI SYNDICATION

PREVIOUS PAGE Brilliant-cut diamonds and a casing of 18ct Everose gold characterise the new Oyster Perpetual Datejust Special Edition THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Sir Edmund Hillary reaches Mount Everest in 1953; the first Oyster Perpetual of 1931; the first waterproof watch case – the 1926 Oyster; Rolex founder, Hans Wilsdorf

candy & candy took an 18TH-CenTury MayfaiR pRopeRty and MaRRied its past to soMe ultRa-ModeRn designs C a n dy & C a n dy creative director Martin Kemp is no stranger to working miraculous transformations on properties.

But when a client asked him to renovate a six-storey Grade-I listed house in Mayfair, he decided to take on his most audacious challenge yet: interior time travel.

‘The property was built in the 1700s and had a distinguished history. But over recent decades it had fallen into a very sorry state, afer years of bad decisionmaking,’ admits Martin.

‘Our instinct as a business is of course to understand a client’s objectives for their project but we ofen surprise them by applying a solution quite apart from what they had considered to be Candy & Candy “style”.’ The company doesn’t only design the bachelor pads for which they are well known, but can work in any style: bohemian, eclectic, classical, contemporary… ‘We respect the architecture that we’re given,’ he continues. So, when the client asked, ‘What can we do here?’ the building itself provided part of the answer.

‘In period properties of this nature, the first floor is usually the grandest,’ explains Martin. ‘Here we found the highest ceilings, the longest windows, and some remarkable plasterwork.’

The client, a young philanthropist and businessman, respected the property’s history, and was encouraged by Martin’s idea to restore the drawing and dining rooms on the first floor to their former glory. But he wanted his bedroom suite and a basement swimming pool to be very modern. The challenge was how to bring 18th and 21st centuries together.

‘The brief for us was to join the two visions and create one seamless home,’

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WOrDS Maria yacoob

The ďŹ rst-oor drawing room was a challenge to restore, with the ceiling plasterwork and ďŹ replace the only surviving features. The formality of the space is sofened by curving sofas and a Fornasetti-pattern rug based on a huge eye

explains Martin. The breathtaking results are testament to over three years of devotion from the Candy & Candy team.

There is an effortless logic to the layout of the house. The ground-floor hallway, with its mix of antique (the fireplace and mirror) and modern (the asymmetrical lantern by Matt Stanwix) leads to informal entertaining spaces for welcoming guests – a dramatic games room and relaxing private lounge for example. The main staircase leads guests up to the first-floor drawing and dining rooms, which are for grand entertaining.

The second floor is home to the three en-suite guest bedrooms each naturally sumptuous and distinct. Then, beyond a door entered only via fingerprint-reader, a private, leather-clad staircase, curving around a jaw-dropping six-metre long wooden chandelier by Eva Menz, leads up to the amazing master bedroom suite.

This gives the owner a contemporary bedroom and informal reception on the third floor, complete with concealed kitchenette for midnight feasts, and an owner’s study on the fourth, mezzanine floor. From here, a door leads out on to the roof terrace. The main kitchen, laundry and cinema are on the lower ground floor, and the basement houses a futuristic swimming pool, hot tub, steam room, sauna and gymnasium. Staff accommodation and garaging for two vehicles is within the mews house behind, naturally.

When Martin describes the finished house, it’s clear the first-floor drawing room and the master bedroom suite hold a special place for the client.

‘Restoring the first floor was an enormous challenge,’ Martin reveals.

Apart from the ceiling and fireplace, all of the original features had been lost.

The floor was rotten and badly misaligned, the stone was cracked, the plasterwork damaged, and doors largely removed.

Quality was paramount in the restoration, from wonderful marquetry floor inlays to new panelling and plasterwork on the walls – all designed and applied with English Heritage guidance.

‘When it came to planning the furniture in the room,’ says Martin, ‘we had to think carefully. This is a formal reception room. It makes a statement to business associates as well as friends.

But I didn’t want it to look conventional or stifled, because I knew the client is not a formal man himself. So I planned a circular layout with curving sofas and loose armchairs, to sofen the space.’

A favourite feature in the room is the Fornasetti-pattern rug. ‘Initially it appears to be just a pattern, but it’s actually a huge eye. It’s stylish and a little

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bit fun, though subtle – very much reflecting our client’s personality.’

The top two floors, which house the master bedroom suite, are just as dramatic, but in a very different way. ‘When we initially viewed the property,’ says Martin, ‘the third-floor ceiling was below the wooden beams that are now such a prominent feature of the room. It made the room just two metres high, with a mean, slim letterbox shape. The client was reluctant to make this his bedroom.

But I knew the stunning effect that could

‘This is a formal reception room that makes a statement, but we didn’t want it to be conventional or stifled’ be achieved by taking the ceiling out and putting a new roof on.’

In undertaking these two major renovations, the height and unique nature of the space became obvious.

Martin’s designs allowed the roof beams to become an integral part of the bedroom.

‘All of the beams are upholstered in hand-stitched leather, and the bed is set in among the roof joists to make it a chunky, masculine, fitted four-poster bed.’ Martin commissioned Matt Stanwix to create a pendant light made from folded metal,

opposite, From top Unique items in the house such as this sculpture double as investment pieces; a precious 18th-century French book. this page The dining room has been restored to its former glory with a marble table and embroidered chairs

CloCkwise from left Eighteenth- and 21st-century features blend throughout.

A carriage clock adorns a mantlepiece, Roman busts spy from on high and an antique mirror in the ground-floor hall reflects a modern asymmetric lantern by Matt Stanwix

but based on the idea of crumpled paper, which is another highlight of the room.

The décor for the en-suite study is similarly rich and dark. It houses a handsome modern fireplace and another statement light – this one a floor-lamp by artist Ryan McElhinney. ‘It comprises hundreds of small toys, joined together, and then coated in gold,’ explains Martin. Like the other lights, chandeliers, and countless other items in the house, it is an investment piece.

‘Our vision for the master bedroom suite was a moody, masculine space which is completely self-contained. And the client is over the moon with what we have achieved. In fact, he seems thrilled with everything we have done to create a world-class home for him,’ says Martin.

‘Just as importantly, English Heritage and Westminster Council are pleased we have restored this Grade-I listed property, returning it once again to a residential dwelling with VIP status. I hope it’s what you call a win-win situation.’

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MAKiNG

WaVeS we look at two veRy diffeRent visions of the superyacht of the futuRe: one notably gReen, the otheR still a dReam

above A computergenerated image of how the Schwinge Trinity HYSWAS would look as it reaches 20 knots and the hydrofoil goes to work

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E v E r s i n c E s i l i c o n Valley rivals Paul Allen and Larry Ellison began their campaign of nautical one-upmanship, luxury yacht manufacture has been obsessed almost exclusively with scale. Which could explain why the word ‘yacht’ is seldom uttered nowadays without a suitably superlative-oriented prefix, or why the bespoke boats that rumble out of the Lürssen boatyard – a favourite of Roman Abramovich – are more akin to NATO frigates than conventional pleasure cruisers.

This fixation with size inspired London architect Jonathan Schwinge to embark on a radical rethink of boat design, a voyage that led to his boat concept, the Schwinge Trinity HYSWAS (Hydrofoil Small Waterplane Area Ship). ‘Yachts were getting bigger

and bigger,’ Schwinge explains, ‘but the Trinity is different: it’s designed around a minimal enclosure with six leading edges, which makes it a very pure and dynamic shape.’

His superyacht concept eschews the traditional ship profile for a floating tetrahedron, a four-sided composite superstructure that sits on three low-profile hulls – the largest of which forms the hydrofoil. When it reaches 20 knots, the yacht lifs clear of the water to give an illusion of flight. The Trinity’s geometry ensures it remains stable even in the most turbulent waters. ‘With waves of three metres or more,’ Schwinge continues, ‘it will simply glide over the top of the water.’ schwinge.co.uk

Below The latest Viareggio Superyachts 62m luxury craf, RoMa. Its upper sun deck features a bar surrounding a pool with jets to create a current for exercising

F o l l o w i n g t h e s u c c e s s of Candyscape II, RoMa (to be exhibited this year at the Monaco Yacht Show, 21-24 September) represents the extraordinary next chapter in the history of Viareggio Superyachts. RoMa brings together an efficient, top-of-the-range electronic infrastructure for ship automation and governance, a legendary dynamic positioning system and myriad environmentally friendly equipment.

Now Viareggio Superyachts is taking another definitive step forward, as the boatbuilder is busy completing its new 72m yacht. The project blends traditional elements of design and layout with new variations on a theme, such as staggered internal decks, high saloons and an innovative bow form.

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The yacht is equipped with a certified helideck, one deck exclusively for guests, a separate owner’s deck and saloons with finished heights of 270cm; it also offers the exclusive novelty of green landscapes at sea – with real houseplants crossing the decks.

Concepts of the internal and external space are interpreted in a highly unconventional way. For example, in the two most important saloons and the owner’s cabin, there are spectacular walls entirely of glass, instead of the usual rigid barrier.

This new 72m yacht is yet another example of VSY’s ability to interpret the ideas of an owner to create leisure craf where living at sea is an unimaginable pleasure.

VSY-Viareggio Superyachts, tel +39 0584 39671; vsy.it

Fuchsia chion dress, MaxMara. Fuchsia suede shoes with gold heel, Christian Louboutin.

Rose cut diamond necklace, Chopard. Photographed on a penthouse balcony at One Hyde Park

View FROM THe TOP PhotograPhy Chris dunlop / Fashion editor Michael dye

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Silver silk satin panelled dress, AmAndA WAkeley. Round ruby and round diamond necklace, GrAff diAmonds. Photographed in the lobby of One Hyde Park

Teal taeta dress, GhAdAh. Black suede shoes with gold heel and turquoise satin clutch, ChristiAn louboutin. White gold necklace with turquoise pearls and blue sapphires, ChopArd. Photographed in the Mandarin Oriental Residences spa at One Hyde Park

Yellow chiffon draped gown, Luisa Beccaria. Black and nude lace shoes, christian LouBoutin.

Photographed on the roof of One Hyde Park’s Pavilion B, overlooking Knightsbridge

Printed one-shoulder silk gown, Matthew wiLLiaMson. Photographed on the balcony of a penthouse apartment at One Hyde Park

Printed green one-shoulder dress, Lorenzo riva. Photographed at the Knightsbridge entrance to One Hyde Park

Nude fully embroidered dress, EliE Saab. Metallic clutch, Gianvito RoSSi. Photographed beneath James Turrell’s light installation at One Hyde Park, which illuminates Edinburgh Gate Hair Jonothon Malone at Models 1. Make-up Eli Wakamatsu at Emma Davies using Givenchy. Model Tabea at Storm. Photographer’s Assistants Chris Kennedy, Ben Reeves, Jonny Greenwood and Will Marsden. Fashion Assistants Huma Humayun and Nina Sobers

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 y v es d e lo r m e

 P h I l l I Pa l e P l e y

Yves Delorme is acclaimed worldwide for its exquisite European linens and home accessories. Part of the family-owned French company Fremaux Delorme, Yves Delorme has been at the forefront of luxury textile design for more than 160 years. Influenced by the heritage of French couture, Yves Delorme products are renowned for uncompromising quality and meticulous attention to detail, combining the latest technical innovations with the most beautiful traditional materials. The company presents fresh seasonal looks twice a year, alongside classic neutrals in timeless designs. Exciting future developments include the launch of Hugo Boss Home in Harrods and a new range of opulent candles by Yves Delorme designer Evelyne Julienne. yvesdelorme.com

Phillipa Lepley is one of London’s leading bridal couture designers. Celebrated for her sophisticated and romantic style, Phillipa creates ready-to-wear collections and offers a couture service from her Fulham Road store.

Using the highest quality couture silks and lace, Phillipa will design a unique wedding dress perfectly tailored to the bride. Each design is balanced with an expert eye for proportion, ensuring each gown is an immaculate fit.

‘Every bride wants to look at her most beautiful on her wedding day,’ says Phillipa, ‘and my dedicated team and I will try our utmost to help them to attain that dream. It isn’t about being a slavish follower of fashion trends – it is about elegance and simplicity and designs that flatter the individual bride’s figure.’ phillipalepley.com

Weldon

Boucheron

Commissioned for projects in the grandest houses and yachts across the world, Weldon has an unrivalled reputation for designing, manufacturing, supplying and installing top-quality hardwood floors. Specialising in parquet, marquetry and antique flooring, Weldon’s crafsmen work closely with the company's clients to create a finish that is right and fitting for the location, be it modern or historic. And Weldon floorings have worked in some pretty impressive locations, from the Victoria and Albert Museum to Windsor Castle. The company has even been awarded a Royal Warrant, in recognition of its work for HM The Queen and HRH The Prince of Wales. weldon.co.uk

The house of Boucheron was established more than 150 years ago, and legend has it Frédéric Boucheron chose 26 Place Vendôme in Paris for his first boutique as it resided in the sunniest corner of the square – where the exquisite diamonds nestling within would sparkle most brilliantly. Today, Boucheron is one of the most admired and respected fine jewellers in the world.

Equally well renowned as watchmakers, the house unveiled a brand new collection of timepieces at this year’s Baselworld, in addition to launching the sumptuous Ava Pivoine diamond ring and pendant, which take inspiration from the peony flower, as part of its bridal range. boucheron.com

Adler 020 7409 2237; adler.ch Amanda Wakeley 020 7590 9105; amandawakeley.com Bar Boulud 020 7201 3899; barboulud.com Boucheron 020 7514 9170; boucheron.com Buccellati 020 7629 5616; buccellati.co.uk Candy & Candy 020 7590 1900; candyandcandy.com Cartier 020 3147 4850; cartier.com Chopard 020 7409 3140; chopard.com Christian Louboutin 020 7245 6510; christianlouboutin.com Dan D'Agostino +1 203 227 9099; dagostinoinc.com Elie Saab 020 7173 6424; eliesaab.com Ghadah 020 7229 8772; ghadahparis.com Gianvito Rossi available at Joseph, 020 7235 1991; gianvitorossi.com Gif Library 020 3080 0530; gif-library.com Graff Diamonds 020 7584 8571; graffdiamonds.com Land Rover 0800 110110; landrover.com Lorenzo Riva +39 02 877872; lorenzoriva.it Luisa Beccaria +39 02 863807; luisabeccaria.it Matthew Williamson 020 7629 6200; matthewwilliamson.com MaxMara 020 7499 7902; maxmara.com McLaren mclaren.com Rolex 020 7292 0345; rolex.com Schwinge 020 7403 6298; schwinge.co.uk Spice Market 020 7758 1088; spicemarketlondon.co.uk Theo Fennell 020 7591 5000; theofennell.com Van Cleef & Arpels 020 7493 0400; vancleef-arpels.com

 B at h r o o m s I n t e r n at I o n a l Luxury bathroom outfitters Bathrooms International has launched three new collections this year. The Savoy range was developed with Cornwall-based sculptor Terry King, who has lent his vision and expertise to create some truly unique and glamorous pieces. The solid bronze-cast tubs are not only magnificent in appearance but have the added benefit of keeping the water warmer for a longer and more luxurious soak. In addition to the Savoy are the Daum and Siena collections. Daum takes inspiration from the Orient for the colour palette, including bright tones of orange, jade and silver grey. For a more natural scheme, the Siena bathroom furnishings are made from exquisite hand-crafed stone, each piece of which is unique. bathroomsint.com

Viareggio Superyachts +39 05 8439671; vsy.it Virgin Galactic virgingalactic.com

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THEO feNNELL jewelleR to staRs such as lady gaga and siR elton john, theo’s penchant foR poRtRaits has inspiRed a Range of figuRative fineRy What is it about portraiture that so fascinates you?

I have always found the human face, and indeed body, compelling; it can hide and reveal so much. The format is so adaptable – think of portraits by Picasso, Van Dyck, Gainsborough, and Lucian Freud: the variety is endless.

What can a portrait reveal about the subject?

A good portrait is exceptionally revealing. You can always tell when a painter is just flattering the sitter, merely doing a job, however skilfully. Portraiture can be the most contentious or the most commercial format – that is one of its delights. A great portrait has a level of insight that can be disturbing or uplifing, and ironically can make its artist very unpopular with the subject.

Main Theo Fennell in his Chelsea jewellery store LEft Hogarth’s painting ‘Shrimp Girl’

crafsmen to work with to get the effect I want. I draw every day, with a focus on the human head. I am working on some homages and jewelled reliquaries that I hope to exhibit next year. Our unique pieces are now so popular that most have been bought before we can display them, so I hope there will be enough to show.

Which paintings express this really well?

Velazquez’ portrait of Pope Innocent X shows a terrifying naked ambition that is very modern. Hogarth’s ‘Shrimp Girl’ is so good-natured that you immediately love the subject. I know which one I would like to hang out with.

How do you plan to develop this creative direction?

I felt that the tradition of jewellery that has a story – precious for the beauty of its design rather than the size of the stone – needed reviving. If you can have anything, why not something unique? We have the crafsmen, wit and skill needed, and portraiture is a perfect area in which to combine them. It is also very difficult to do well and so something our competitors avoid! We get copied so ofen that it is nice to find somewhere we might be lef alone. We are developing this concept and are already taking commissions.

Have you learned about past jewellery from portraits?

Yes, jewels in Elizabethan and Renaissance portraits,

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Who would you like to paint a portrait of?

I would love to have painted Elvis or Marilyn Monroe.

Warhol notwithstanding, they never got anything like a traditional painted portrait. I think it would have been interesting to have done them in quite a formal way and, of course, to have sung with Elvis while doing it.

‘Elvis never got a traditional painted portrait. I would have loved to have painted him in quite a formal way, and to have sung with him while doing it’ especially Holbein’s, are a mine of ideas – such as our current portrait lockets and enamelled miniatures.

Have you got an all-time favourite portrait?

No, but the Hogarth is up there, as is Hilliard’s miniature of a young man.

Can you tell us about the portraits you produce?

I work on portraits in different forms all the time. The fabulous thing is I can choose which incredibly talented

Which artist would you choose to paint your portrait?

I am tempted to choose a Sargent swagger portrait out of pure vanity but would love David Hockney to paint me; he has been a hero of mine since art school.

What do painted portraits capture that photos don’t?

This is a big question and impossible to explain without taking someone around galleries and shedding many tears and stamping one’s feet a lot. We live in a lazy time that baulks at the hours that crafsmanship entails.

Everyone has a theory but, as usual, mine is right!

Would you paint a self-portrait?

I might paint one when there is time, to see if I have any self-awareness at all. I should be tempted to make myself look very distinguished. theofennell.com

ALAMY

Does your love of portraiture influence your jewellery?

Very much so. We have a continuing series of Heroes and Villains portrait rings; small wearable busts of figures such as Mao, Gandhi and Beethoven. I have just created a skull portrait of Elizabeth I with a team of seven of the world’s best crafsmen. She is the first in a series of one-off portrait brooches. Next are Cleopatra, Sitting Bull, Marie Antoinette and then who knows?