FIRST SEP2025

364 SEPTEMBER 2025

TENDER IS THE NIGHT

“Away! away! for I will fly to thee, Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards, But on the viewless wings of Poesy, Though the dull brain perplexes and retards: Already with thee! tender is the night.”

JOHN KEATS, ODE TO A NIGHTINGALE

Use Code FIRST20 at Botika.mt for an exclusive discount from 14th September - 18th October 2025

“Somewhere inside me there’ll always be the person I am to-night.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald

TENDER IS THE NIGHT

hey were still in the happier stage of love. They were full of brave illusions about each other, tremendous illusions, so that the communion of self with self seemed to be on a plane where no other human relations mattered. They both seemed to have arrived there with an extraordinary innocence as though a series of pure accidents had driven them together, so many accidents that at last they were forced to conclude that they were for each other. They had arrived with clean hands, or so it seemed, after no traffic with the merely curious and clandestine.”

F. SCOTT FITZGERALD

SEPTEMBER IS SUICIDE PREVENTION MONTH. The novel Tender Is the Night highlights the complicated dynamics of relationships and the harm caused by not offering support to a loved one in need. It serves as a powerful reminder that mental health challenges, especially depression, can impact anyone, no matter how things appear on the surface. Try to recognize signs of distress in yourself and others, as they can often be masked by smiles or external success.

ON THE COVER: Villa et Jardins Ephrussi de Rothschild, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France. THIS PAGE: Giardini Botanici Hanbury - Villa Hanbury, Capo Mortola near Ventimiglia, Liguria, Italy. Created by Sir Thomas Hanbury starting in 1867, the botanical gardens are famed for their collection of exotic and subtropical plants, and considered one of Europe's most important acclimatization parks. Photography Sean Gabriel Ellul. SALES AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR SEAN ELLUL SELLUL@INDEPENDENT.COM.MT

LA DOLCE VITA. CAP FERRAT, FRANCE. Landscape Poetry. Villa & Jardins Ephrussi de Rothschild. Photo Sean Gabriel Ellul.

INTERIORS. The Spell of The Maine House.

Photo Maura McEvoy, courtesy Vendome Press.

8

LA DOLCE VITA

Cap Ferrat, France. Landscape Poetry.Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild.

22 INTERIORS

The Spell ofThe Maine House. New England’s Rugged Coastline and Inland Towns.

35 YACHTING

Sailing South from the Riviera. The Cannes-Malta Race.

43 SPEED MACHINES

The Mdina Grand Prix. Four Days of Historic Motoring.

46 FRAGRANCE

A PHILOSOPHY OF SCENT. PART 13. NOLI ME TANGERE. Touch Me Not.

A look at CHANEL N°18LES EXCLUSIFS DE CHANEL EDP.

51 TRIBUTE

Giorgio Armani. The Perfect Cut.

56 EXHIBITION

Wens:ComfortableSilence. A Solo Exhibition by Rebecca Bonaci.

61 HEALTH & WELLBEING BREAST CANCER AWARENESS

The Pink Ribbon. Evelyn Lauder and the Colour that Changed Everything.

73 GASTRONOMY

Chef Massimo Bottura, Modena’s Wonderchild. Inside Osteria Francescana.

85 COCKTAILS

A Cowboy, A Count, And A Cocktail. The History of the Ever-Popular Negroni. ALSO: Negroni Week.

90 STYLE BLEUDECHANEL

L’EXCLUSIF. OlivierPolge Pushes the Boundaries.

South from the Riviera. The Cannes-Malta Race. Photo Cannes Bay, Jim Thirion.

Photo Sean Gabriel Ellul.

TRIBUTE. The Perfect Cut. Giorgio Armani 1934-2025. Photo 1994, AP File/Greg Gibson.

GASTRONOMY. Chef Massimo Bottura and Osteria Francescana, Modena. Photo Callo Albanese & Sueo.

BREAST CANCER AWARENESS. Evelyn Lauder and the Colour that Changed Everything. Photo Rob Rich, courtesy Estée Lauder Companies.

ENCHANTED GARDENS

LANDSCAPE POETRY VILLA EPHRUSSI DE ROTHSCHILD

Photography Sean Gabriel Ellul, Micheile Henderson, and Hugo Richard.

Overlooking the Mediterranean at Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, built by Baroness Béatrice as her Riviera retreat, delivers art, architecture and gardens in a magical composition. This is landscape poetry. This is the Côte d’Azur at its best.

ARiviera dream.“Sometimes since I’ve been in the garden I’ve looked up through the trees at the sky and I have had a strange feeling of being happy as if something was pushing and drawing in my chest and making me breathe fast. Magic is always pushing and drawing and making things out of nothing. Everything is made out of magic, leaves and trees, flowers and birds, badgers and foxes and squirrels and people. So it must be all around us. In this garden –in all the places,” writes Frances Hodgson Burnett, in The Secret Garden.

And so it is at Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild. Perched on the headland of SaintJean-Cap-Ferrat, this is one of the French Riviera’s most captivating landmarks. A living masterpiece, meticulously taken care of. At its centre, theBaroness Béatrice de Rothschild’spink villa, designed by Aaron Messiah between 1907 and 1912, commands sweeping views over the Mediterranean, framed by nine extraordinary gardens that really are among the finest in Europe.

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Born in 1864, Béatrice, the daughter of famed banker and collector Alphonse de Rothschild, turned her villa into a personal retreat and a showcase of exquisite taste. Its salons overflow with treasures: Old Master paintings, rare porcelain, antique furniture, and objets d’art from across time periods. For all the indoor grandeur, it’s the gardens that truly captivate at Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild. Every room in the villa boasts breathtaking interiors, tempting you to explore, yet the allure of the outdoors is irresistible.

“Agarden should make you feel you’ve entered privileged space,a place not just set apart but reverberant, and it seems to me that, to achieve this, the

gardener must put some kind of twist on the existing landscape, turn its prose into something nearer poetry,” writes Michael Pollan in Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education. And here you have just that. Landscape poetry that enraptures. The landscape architect

Achille Duchêne designed the gardens in the form of a ship, the villa as its bridge and the Mediterranean stretching endlessly to either side. Little do you realise, but walking through the gardens you are guided across a sequence of worlds.

LA DOLCE VITA

The French garden, the largest, opens onto a vast basin edged with palms, papyrus, water lillies and fountains, culminating in a replica Versailles’ Temple of Love. From there, paths descend into different spaces: a Spanish courtyard shaded by citrus, a Florentine stairway and grotto, a Japanese pavilion and bridge, an exotic landscape of towering cacti, a rose garden in shades

of pink, and a Provençal garden perfumed with native herbs. All along views ever more stunning just captivate and seduce.

Béatrice, who divided her time between Paris, Deauville, Monaco and Cap Ferrat, was a master collector and she wanted the same perfectionism for the gardens, directing the placement of ponds and flowerbeds with theatrical flair. In 1933, a year before her death, she bequeathed her villa and the entirety of its collections to the Académie des Beaux-Arts, ensuring her dream would survive. And survive it has.

Today Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild is classified as both a monument historique and one of- the Jardins Remarquables de France, continuing to embody Beatrice’s extravagant imagination. With its charming Venetian pink façades, rooms filled with masterpieces, and gardens that exude beauty and peace, the villa perfectly captures the essence of the Côte d’Azur. Memorable and sublime.

Main photography Sean Gabriel Ellul. Page 10 top right, page 12 bottom left, photography Hugo Richard. Pages 14, 15, 16, 18, page 20 bottom right, photography Micheile Henderson.

“Are we being good ancestors?”

Jonas Salk, Virologist and Medical Researcher

SPEND ANY AMOUNT OF TIME IN MAINE –A WEEKEND, A SUMMER, A LIFETIME –AND ITS IMPRESSION LASTS FOREVER.

THE SPELL OF THE MAINE HOUSE

THE MAINE HOUSE II –INTERIORS SHAPED BY PLACE AND TIME

In The Maine House II, published by Vendome Press, photographer Maura McEvoy, designer Basha Burwell and writer Kathleen Hackett return to New England’s rugged coastline and inland towns to capture 25 dwellings that embody the spirit of New England through preservation, restoration and thoughtful adaptation. With evocative photography and richly observed detail, the result is both a visual record and a source of inspiration for interiors that embrace vernacular architecture, natural materials and lived-in character, showing how design can honour history while remaining vital for the present.

Photography Maura McEvoy, courtesy Vendome Press.

This page: “Take a rugged piece of nature and build a dwelling to blend in with it (not dominate it). What a challenge!” wrote Emily Muir in her memoir.

Daphne’s Home Masterpiece

“We kept postponing getting the corridor done for years, until my husband and I had a vision, and chose to do it entirely ourselves. It’s quite a long corridor, but this colour choice coupled with the panelling makes it a lot warmer and more inviting. At first we only painted one side, but once it was done we loved the grey so much that we decided to paint the other side too.

Daphne Cassar Genovese

SIGMA VOICE OF COLOUR: LONGFUL GRAY

The houses of Maine have a unique charm.

Constructed from timber and stone, they often bear the marks of salt air and years of family life, embodying a strong sense of place. These homes reflect simple living, in harmony with the land and sea, and a culture that treasures both preservation and reinvention. It is this world that photographer Maura McEvoy, stylist Basha Burwell and writer Kathleen Hackett capture in The Maine House II (Vendome Press), a follow-up to their acclaimed first volume.

If the earlier book was a cri de cœur, the second feels like a mission. Across 25 homes, whether inland cabins, island cottages or lighthouses clinging to the rocks, the trio explore the ways Mainers live with history while allowing for change. “Are we being good ancestors?” they ask in the introduction, borrowing Jonas Salk’s deceptively simple question. “In five simple words, virologist and medical researcher Salk, who developed the first polio vaccine in 1955 (and declined a patent because he felt it should be held “by the people”), asks a question both potent and poignant.” It is a thread that winds its way through their journeys, “down rural roads, over mountains, around lakes and ponds, out to islands and through fields and forests,” in search of houses that embody what makes a Maine house endure.

Above: Local materials – pink granite, pine – and glass ease the transition from outdoors to in. Below left: Originally, the floors throughout this house were a mishmash of colours; painting them white was a quick fix.

Though the owner intended to eventually use Maine appropriate colours, he found the white envelope too seductive to give up. Below right: Paintings and sculptures by family and local artists fill this living room. The owner’s greatgrandfather carved the bald eagle that hangs over the fireplace. A three-hundred-pound wooden block pulley serves as a cocktail table.

Above left: It is a room for cooking, but it perfectly expresses the warmth and generosity that attracts friends and family. Here the dish cabinet was built using a pair of found sliding glass doors. Above right: Weathered buoys, washed ashore and collected over time, hung from the ceiling to fill the stairwell add colour and texture, and a sense of time. Left: To keep all the kitchen’s horizontal surfaces at counter height, the couple opted to stash the refrigerator in the pantry.

The photographs are poetic, but the book is also a meditation on design. These homes inspire beyond New England, showing that authentic and understated interiors have a unique charm. Readers can draw ideas for their own spaces, like painted floors with softened hues, hand-sewn coverlets, wood stoves nestled in stone hearths, and the natural patina of untouched rooms. There’s also a lesson in thoughtful change, sensitive additions or repurposed structures, like boat sheds, barns, and hotels, given new purpose without losing their essence. As the authors describe it, what they found were kindred spirits. Some families have refused to alter their houses for generations, living off-grid or installing electricity only when necessity demanded. “Old buildings can be used,” read a note torn from a newspaper and taped to the window frame of one 175-year-old farmhouse they visited, a sentiment that has become something of a guiding principle. For others, adaptation has been part of the story: when their numbers grew too large for the main house, they transformed a simple boat shed into a summer retreat, steps from the water.

Above: The morning view from Rock Camp, where sea fog and mountains meet.

Left: Here additions were kept simple, using generous amounts of glass to direct the focus to the outdoors. Below: The living room is a study in Usonian architecture: lots of natural light, open views on the private side of the house, and native materials.

Such choices are never purely aesthetic. They reflect a way of life rooted in practicality and reverence for place. One homeowner declined to cut down a tamarack that blocked his ocean view; another carried a handwritten list of possible upgrades– dishwasher, bidet, mattresses– for decades before conceding to modernisation. For Basha Burwell, returning to her family cottage to find a familiar coverlet replaced was unexpectedly disorienting. “There was a familiarity that was so comforting. And that won’t come back for fifty more years.” The remark encapsulates the delicate balance between preservation and change.

Above left: The traditional exterior of this home belies what’s in store inside. An exuberant European floor lamp sits in front of a trio of paintings of Monhegan Island. “There’s a bit of modernism here. I didn’t want it to be a salute to the 1800s,” says the owner. Above right: Installing a trio of six-over-six double-hung windows that mimic the originals found all over the house, brings light into what was once a dark bedroom. Left: This is a home filled with art and light. Art covers the walls in the hallway leading to the artists’ studios.

The range of houses is striking. A Colonial Revival that once welcomed Gilded Age visitors still retains its linoleum runner, room numbers and exit signs, while its exterior has been restored with precision. An island lighthouse shelters the painter Jamie Wyeth through all four seasons. These are not museum pieces; they are lived-in homes, imbued with memory and adaptation, speaking to the resilience of vernacular architecture.

But the book isn’t just about the buildings. It captures the enchantment of Maine itself.As Jamie Wyeth has observed, “I could live four lifetimes and not scratch the surface of what this place exudes.” McEvoy, Burwell and Hackett encountered this same feeling in their travels, a sense of belonging that transcends geography. “Spend any amount of time here– a weekend, a summer, a lifetime– and it gets under your skin and streams through your consciousness forever,” they write. That spirit infuses every page, making The Maine House II both a visual record and a sourcebook for design rooted in authenticity. In the acknowledgements, the trio confess that “we can hardly call it a job, this endeavour to create a record of Maine’s particular architectural beauty, because it is where our hearts largely live.” Their work has the immediacy of a love letter and the discipline of a survey, combining to create a portrait of homes that, as one acquaintance called Maine itself, occupy a ““thin place”, derived from the Celtic phrase caol ait, in which the boundary between heaven and earth is, yes, thin.”

This quality is what gives the book its universal appeal. Whether one dreams of weathered shingle cottages or seeks inspiration for blending historical charm with modern living, The Maine House II provides both enchantment and practical guidance. Its pages suggest that to design a house with integrity is also to answer Jonas Salk’s question with care: to be good ancestors, shaping spaces that endure.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS. Photographer MAURA MCEVOY has spent every summer of her life on the Maine coast, where she now lives year-round. Her work has appeared in House Beautiful, Town & Country, Condé Nast Traveler, Elle Decor, and Martha Stewart Living, among many other publications. She lives in Wells Beach, Maine.

Born and raised in Maine, BASHA BURWELL is an art director and stylist for several national brands. She contributes to various publications, including Wildsam, Elle Decor, and Maine Boats & Harbors. She lives in Brooklin, Maine, and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

KATHLEEN HACKETT spends her summers on the Midcoast. She has written more than two dozen books, including At the Artisan’s Table and Brooklyn Interiors, and contributes to Elle Decor, Architectural Digest, The World of Interiors, and Frederic magazine. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and Rockport Village, Maine.

THE MAINE HOUSE II By Maura McEvoy, Basha Burwell, and Kathleen Hackett. Published by Vendome Press. Hardcover, 296pages.

Above: For this entrance, an ancestor, along with a monster lobster claw, greets visitors on entering the front door. Top right: A fishnet curtain by textile artist John Krynick suggests a separate room where a bunk bed has replaced the weaving loom stashed there by the original owner.

THE CANNES-MALTA RACE

SAILING SOUTH FROM THE RIVIERA

FROM CANNES TO VALLETTA, A NEW OFFSHORE CONTEST CHARTS A DEMANDING MEDITERRANEAN COURSE

A new offshore challenge is set to unite two historic Mediterranean sailing hubs. The inaugural Cannes-Malta Race, a 600-mile course via Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily, begins this October from the French Riviera, offering crews a demanding route to Valletta and a natural prelude to the Rolex Middle Sea Race. The first confirmed entry: Black Jack.

This page: The 600-mile course, which begins on 8 October 2025, runs south from Cannes via the Strait of Bonifacio, skirting the eastern edge of Sardinia and the western flank of Sicily before the final sprint to Valletta. Cannes Bay, photo Jim Thirion.

When the Royal Malta Yacht Club and the Yacht Club de Cannes signed a reciprocal agreement last spring, it went beyond simply a gesture of goodwill. It marked the start of a new offshore challenge connecting two historic Mediterranean sailing venues and introduced the inaugural Cannes-Malta Race. Facilitated by Yachting Malta and Visit Malta, the agreement allows members of both clubs to share privileges and participate in one another’s events, while creating the conditions for a race that is set to take its

place alongside the great offshore classics.

The 600-mile course, which begins on 8 October 2025, runs south from Cannes via the Strait of Bonifacio, skirting the eastern edge of Sardinia and the western flank of Sicily before the final sprint to Valletta. For many crews, it will also serve as a perfect feeder to the Rolex Middle Sea Race, which begins ten days later from Grand Harbour.

“The Cannes-Malta Race will serve as a vital link between these two historical Mediterranean sailing destinations, offering crews the opportunity to journey directly from Cannes to the start line of the Rolex Middle Sea Race,” said Jean François Cutugno, President of the Yacht Club de

Cannes, and David Cremona, Commodore of the Royal Malta Yacht Club. The route is both challenging and captivating. The Strait of Bonifacio, dividing Corsica and Sardinia, is infamous for its powerful currents, hidden shoals, and rapidly changing weather. From there, the journey moves into the Tyrrhenian and central Mediterranean, waters that can turn from calm to punishing depending on the arrival of a mistral. Three gates, at Bonifacio, Isola Marettimo, and Isola Egadi, will mark the way before the fleet arrives in Valletta, where the Grand Harbour’s bastions provide one of sailing’s most dramatic backdrops.

Above and left: The first official entry for the 2025 edition of the Cannes-Malta Race, Black Jack, a striking 100-foot (30.48m) monohull designed by the acclaimed Reichel-Pugh naval architects. Black Jack is no stranger to Maltese waters, having competed in the Rolex Middle Sea Race before, and will return to its start line again in October 2025.

Photo Black Jack, Rolex Fastnet 2025, courtesy Royal Malta Yacht Club / Alex Turnbull.

Jérôme Nutte of the Cannes Yacht Club, who will lead the race committee alongside Georges Korhel, is keenly aware of the challenge. “We have planned three gates to ‘monitor’ the boats. We have a team that works well together, and it should be a great race. The feedback I’ve had is that the sailors are very excited and eager, even if we’re not expecting a record number of participants, because a first always has its share of unknowns…”

The inaugural race will be open to Class40 and IMOCA yachts, alongside others meeting the minimum hull length requirements under IRC and ORC categories. A minimum crew of two is required, ensuring the event maintains the rigour of offshore competition while allowing for a range of entrants.

In August, the first official entry was announced: Black Jack, a striking 100-foot monohull designed by ReichelPugh. Skippered by Frenchman Tristan Le Brun with a seasoned Franco-Dutch crew, Black Jack comes with serious pedigree, having secured Monohull Line Honours in the centenary edition of the Rolex Fastnet Race. She is no stranger to Maltese waters, having competed in the Rolex Middle Sea Race before, and will return to its start line again in October 2025. RMYC Commodore Mark Napier welcomed the news warmly: “We are delighted to see Black Jack leading the way in what promises to be an exciting inaugural edition of the Cannes-Malta Race. The event not only strengthens the sporting bond between the Royal Malta Yacht Club and the Yacht Club de Cannes, but also offers crews the opportunity to enjoy a competitive passage race ahead of the Rolex Middle Sea Race.”

Above: Cannes, a resort town on the French Riviera, is famed for its international film festival. This year, the inaugural Cannes-Malta Race is set to unite the two historic Mediterranean sailing hubs. Photo Jannis Lucas. Below: The Strait of Bonifacio, dividing Corsica and Sardinia, is infamous for its powerful currents, hidden shoals, and rapidly changing weather. From there, the race moves into the Tyrrhenian and central Mediterranean, waters that can turn from calm to punishing depending on the arrival of a mistral. Three gates, at Bonifacio, Isola Marettimo, and Isola Egadi, will mark the way before the fleet arrives in Valletta. Photo Bonifacio, Corsica / Benoit Debaix.

With its demanding route and proximity to one of the sport’s most prestigious races, the Cannes-Malta Race already carries the hallmarks of a classic. It draws on the tactical intensity of the Fastnet and the Sydney-Hobart, yet remains rooted in a uniquely Mediterranean rhythm: the

fast-moving channels, the long legs along historic coasts, and the final dramatic arrival in Valletta. For sailors, it is an irresistible new chapter in the offshore calendar, one that promises to challenge skill and stamina while forging new bonds across the Mediterranean.

The Cannes-Malta Race is sponsored by 20Twenty and Visit Malta, and supported by Yachting Malta and Camilleri Marine.

This page: For many crews, the Cannes-Malta Race will serve as a perfect feeder to the Rolex Middle Sea Race, which begins ten days later from Grand Harbour. “The Cannes-Malta Race will serve as a vital link between these two historical Mediterranean sailing destinations, offering crews the opportunity to journey directly from Cannes to the start line of the Rolex Middle Sea Race,” said Jean François Cutugno, President of the Yacht Club de Cannes, and David Cremona, Commodore of the Royal Malta Yacht Club. Photo Grand Harbour, Valletta / Mavroudis Papas.

Power Up with Schneider Charge

HISTORIC WALLS, VINTAGE WHEELS

THE MDINA GRAND PRIX

FOUR DAYS OF HISTORIC MOTORING AGAINST A TIMELESS BACKDROP

This October, the Mdina Grand Prix, a highlight of the classic car calendar, returns to Malta’s medieval city. The four-day celebration of craftsmanship and competition, brings together vintage speed, elegant design, and the drama of racing through terraced winding roads under Mdina’s walls.

Photography courtesy Malta Classic.

Each October, the fortified hilltop city of Mdina exchanges its usual stillness for the roar of vintage engines. This year, from 23rd to 26th October, Malta Classic returns, transforming the historic landscape into the stage for a celebration of motoring heritage. Now in its fifteenth edition, the event showcases pre-1976 cars, celebrating the timeless artistry, performance, and charm of classic automobiles.

The event programme unfolds across four days, beginning with

the Hill Climb at Mtaħleb, where drivers push their cars against the clock on a twisting incline that overlooks Malta’s dramatic western cliffs and Filfla beyond. It is a pure display of mechanical focus and driver skill, rooted in one of motorsport’s oldest disciplines. Friday is devoted to aesthetics with the Style and Elegance concours, presented by Mdina Glass. Pre-war and post-war classics, along with motorcycles of distinction, are judged not on pristine restoration but on character, patina, style and elegance. Points will be awarded for dress-attire of participants, and period style is encouraged, emphasising a visual dialogue between automobiles and the fashions of their era.

This page: Winner of the Mdina Grand Prix 2024, Gordon Vella with a 1930 Austin 7 Ulster. Photo Adrian Caruana.

The weekend culminates with the Mdina Grand Prix, fuelled by Enemed, where the true racing spirit emerges. The temporary circuit set just beyond Mdina’s bastions winds through a valley of vineyards and terraced hills, with sharp bends, long curves, and challenging inclines demanding concentration from even the most seasoned drivers. Saturday’s qualifying sessions decide the starting order, while Sunday hosts the races themselves: a sequence of heats categorised by era, speed and power, each a dialogue between man, machine and the unforgiving course.

Over sixty cars participated in last year’s edition, with entries drawn from across Europe, reflecting the appeal of an event whose history began in 2007, when French entrepreneur and enthusiast Thierry Giovannoni staged Malta’s first Classic Car Grand Prix along Valletta’s ring road. What began as a one-off led to the foundation of the Valletta Grand Prix Foundation in 2009 and the relocation to Mdina in 2011, where the event found its permanent home.

Today the Mdina Grand Prix has become a fixture on the classic car calendar. Under Mdina’s centuries old yellow limestone walls, these machines from an entirely different age feel entirely at home.

The Mdina Grand Prix –23rd to 26th October, sponsored by Enemed and Mdina Glass. Tickets and information: maltaclassic.com

Below: The Mdina Grand Prix brings together collectors and drivers from across Europe to compete on an evocative circuit. Photo Andrea Azzopardi, Mdina Grand Prix 2024. Bottom: Tom Robinson with a 1958 Jaguar Lister Knobbly. Photo David Axisa, Mdina Grand Prix 2024.

Top left: Alex Brundle with a 1953 Jaguar D-type.

Photo Adrian Caruana, Mdina Grand Prix 2024.

Above and left: 1960 Ferrari 250 Gt Berlinetta Competitione driven by Egon Hofer. Photography (above) Andrea Azzopardi, (left) Adrian Caruana, Mdina Grand Prix 2024.

A PHILOSOPHY OF SCENT. PART 13.

Noli me tangere Touch me not

“A truly living human being cannot remain neutral.”

Nadine Gordimer

A LOOK AT CHANEL N°18

LES EXCLUSIFS DE CHANEL EAU DE PARFUM

Not what you think, not how the world wants. Some battles are chosen for you, some chalices poisoned are forced upon your lot. In the grand scheme of things very little is of your own choosing; but what is of your own choosing is how you respond; how you embrace your fate, with how much heart, writes Kris Bonavita.

Photography Sean Gabriel Ellul.

The only thing keeping this world together are extreme acts of heroic charity; silently, anonymously, invisibly and with seeming insignifance. As for the rest, we are on tenterhooks saved by the skin of our teeth. Life is a becoming, a coming to terms with our being; our joint friendship and brother/sisterhood; our common cause for grief and joy; our coming to terms with our finitude and what that means or does not mean in the context of a belief or unbelief in a maker, our maker, your kind of maker. A becoming is laced with a fading away; beautifully, holily and with graceful dignity; and therefore always, heroically. No matter how sordid or splendid to other eyes it may seem.

And in those terms and conditions it is a gradual unveiling or coming face to face with a creator of sorts; one of truth and slow or quick self-forgiving. We have to be truthful to ourselves before we are to the world, if at all; because we will value truth above all else and not fall victim to lies of our own doing. We have to be truthful to ourselves because of the sanctity of the word. A word that can

save, heal and rise against what destroys; and is what defines sanctity itself. In that respect our blood is mixed, our fates intertwined. Pounded to a hair’s breadth of our lives, damaged beyond repair, caged however gilded, but shining forth triumphant, resilient and beaming with life; we are above all else bitter survivors as much as weary travellers, yearning for love, dreaming of gambolling hills, meadows of pleasing grass, fields of joy. You see a face, you see all of humanity writ large. Valleys of deceit and tribulation; peaks of heroism and hope; utter despair, pure joy; yet with what grace, with what nobility, how enshrined, imbued, endowed with beauty and force, other worldly one would say, however broken and weak. There is texture to light, our light; music to colour, our colour; colour to music, our music; weight to numbers, substance to words; our numbers, our words; movement and action to silence, our silence; and stillness and bliss in chaos despite itself, ourselves. Noli me tangere - do not touch me, do not take my joy away from me; do not besot me and endear me to not walk away, for I am entrapped and besotted enough already.

Facing page: N°18 is described by the house as an olfactory jewel, “a scent made in the image of precious stones: unique and intense. The warmth of ambrette seeds, enhanced with notes of white musk and geranium, unfurls to leave a vibrant trail.”

“tHERE'S NO ONE THING THAT'S TRUE. IT'S ALL TRUE.”

ERNEST HEMINGWAY

CHANEL N°18

LES EXCLUSIFS DE CHANEL Eau de Parfum

At number 18 Place Vendôme, under grand Parisian façades and the Ritz across the square, Gabrielle Chanel found daily inspiration. It was a place she crossed morning and evening on her way to Rue Cambon, and the octagonal geometry of the square would become imprinted on her imagination, shaping her jewellery, the architecture of her perfume flacons and even the dials of her watches. Today, at this prestigious address, the CHANEL High Jewellery boutique gleams, and it is this setting that gives its name to one of the most distinctive creations of Les Exclusifs de Chanel: N°18.

The Les Exclusifs collection captures the essence of CHANEL through a range of fragrances that break the mold and stand out from the ordinary. With 19 scents in the range, each one tells a unique chapter of the brand’s story, reflecting the qualities that define its timeless influence. The series is deliberately rarefied, designed for discovery, offering compositions that go beyond traditional perfumery to create something truly personal and rare. Among them, N°18 is one of the most enigmatic. Created by Jacques Polge, the house’s maître parfumeur for three decades, the fragrance takes ambrette seed as its central theme, a raw material derived from the musk mallow which is seldom given such prominence in perfumery. Ambrette is valued for its unique complexity: vegetal, fruity, musky, and faintly floral, with an animalic softness that lends both intimacy and radiance; and with N°18Polge allowed this unusual note to unfurl in all its facets, pairing it with rose, iris and geranium, underscored by white musk and delicate woods.

The result is a fragrance with an almost crystalline clarity. On first encounter, there is a silvery, fruit-tinted brightness, an almost hint of pear brandy or even the sparkle of white wine, that gives way to a translucent rose. This is not a lush, velvety bloom, but a green and slightly tart interpretation, accented by the cool herbaceousness of geranium. Iris lends a faintly powdery elegance, grounding the composition, while ambrette continues to hum, shifting from vegetal and nutty to musky and warm; there is a suggestion of earthiness, even something faintly grassy, before the scent

settles into a soft trail of musk, lightly tinged with wood. Worn on the skin, N°18 reveals itself in layers that are delicate yet persistent, ethereal, shimmering, almost otherworldly, yet anchored by its musky warmth. There are fleeting impressions of green tea, of ripe fruit, all folding back into the musky-rosy heart that remains its signature, capturing the fragrance’s lightness, movement and sense of abstraction.

This unusual balance gives N°18 a character that is difficult to categorise. It is at once radiant and subtle, transparent and intimate, equally suited to men and women. There is a wine-like quality in its fruity facets, a touch of powdered silk in its florals, and something almost mineral in its ambrette-driven structure. Where modern perfumes often lean towards being immediately declarative, N°18 speaks more softly, yet it leaves a distinctive impression, a refined presence that lingers close to the wearer.

The number itself is significant for the house; at 18 Place Vendôme, CHANEL’s High Jewellery boutique sits in the heart of an arrondissementlong associated with luxury, precision and artistry, and dedicating a fragrance to this address draws a parallel between rare stones and rare raw materials, between jewels that refract light and a composition that refracts scent into unexpected angles. N°18 is described by the house as an olfactory jewel, “a scent made in the image of precious stones: unique and intense”; the comparison is certainly apt: it is cut and polished in such a way that each facet catches the light differently.

For those drawn to Les Exclusifs, N°18 isa distinctive voicein the collection, and offers a new lens through which to view ambrette, magnified as a raw material capable of holding a composition in its own right, an object of fascination for its strange beauty and understated allure. Like Place Vendôme itself, with its symmetry, its quiet rhythm, and its play of light across stone, N°18 is precise and poetic. It captures a sense of refinement that feels deeply linked to CHANEL, to the world of jewellery and to the craft of perfumery, to the idea that a fragrance, like a gem, can be cut to reveal infinite depths.

CHANEL is distributed by Alfred Gera & Sons Ltd.

LES EXCLUSIFS DE CHANEL fragrances for women and men evoke various chapters of Mademoiselle’s story. Find LES EXCLUSIFS DE CHANEL exclusively at CHANEL Fragrance and Beauty Boutiques, and online at chanel.com

Facing page: The Les Exclusifs collection encapsulates the spirit of CHANEL in a series of fragrances that stand apart from the mainstream. With 19 scents, each evokes a chapter of the house’s story, embodying qualities essential to its enduring influence, including N°18. The number itself is significant. At 18 Place Vendôme, CHANEL’s High Jewellery boutique sits in the heart of a district long associated with luxury, precision and artistry. Dedicating a fragrance to this address draws a parallel between rare stones and rare raw materials, between jewels that refract light and a composition that refracts scent into unexpected angles.

the three palaces

“THE

THE PERFECT CUT

HUMAN BODY IS SOMETHING THAT I TRULY LOVE, ABOVE ALL ELSE.” GIORGIO ARMANI, 1934-2025

Giorgio Armani redefined elegance through effortless tailoring and timeless vision. Celebrated for soft suits, sharp tailoring and enduring glamour, his influence shaped the way generations dressed. Il Signor Armani as he was known to his staff, understood style across five transformative decades.

This page: Giorgio Armani, at the National Italian American Foundation, Washington, 1994. Photo AP File/Greg Gibson.

Giorgio Armani reshaped the way the world dressed and defined Italian elegance for over half a century. Mr Armani died this September. He was 91. His name was synonymous with refined effortless tailoring and muted palettes. “If you don’t know anything about fashion, you’ll still know Giorgio Armani. Mr Armani built a house synonymous with timeless Italian elegance and enduring style,” said Vogue’s Laura Inghamm. This captures the universality of his impact.

Armani’s contribution to menswear in the 1970s was seismic: the soft, unstructured suit that broke from rigid tradition and embodied a new masculinity. When Richard Gere appeared in American Gigolo in 1980, the world went WOW! His fluid silhouette became a cultural moment as much as a fashion statement. For women, Armani’s sharply tailored trousers and jackets gave confidence and authority, transforming workwear into a tool of empowerment.

He remained a constant presence until the end, even as his health faltered. Milan Fashion Week in June 2025 was the first he ever missed, but he had already set in motion plans to celebrate 50 years of his fashion house this September. “Indefatigable to the end, he worked until his final days, dedicating himself to the company, the collections and the many ongoing and future projects,” the House of Armani announced.

“Dearest Giorgio Armani –I cannot believe that you have left us,” wrote legendary British fashion critic and longtime friend Suzy Menkes. “Such a commitment to reality, yet, at the same time, producing dreams. And for both sexes. The life of ‘Mr Armani’, as he was always known, was symbolic for a certain part of Italy that was more gentle than showy.” She remembered their conversations, crossing language barriers: “Although my Italian is shaky and he always claimed not to speak English, only French, an Armani conversation was always interesting. Who could not admire the enthusiasm and commitment of Giorgio Armani right to the end?”

Top: Sophia Loren and Giorgio Armani at the reopening of La Scala in Milan, 2004. Photo AP File/Luca Bruno. Centre: Richard Gere, right, and Lauren Hutton, centre, who were both dressed in Armani in the film American Gigolo, with Giorgio Armani, left, at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, 2003. Photo AP File/Richard Lewis.

Left: Cate Blanchett, from left, Giorgio Armani, and Julia Roberts at the British Fashion Awards, London, 2019. Photo Invision/AP/Joel C Ryan.

Armani perfectly embodied his brand’s understated elegance. With his penetrating blue eyes framed in a permanent tan and early-age shock of silver hair, coupled with his signature look of dark trousers and a T-shirt, he became the personification of his own style. “I design for real people. There is no virtue whatsoever in creating clothes and accessories that are not practical,” he once said. Behind the disarming charm lay a shrewd businessman who combined creativity with an instinctive understanding of how people wanted to live, dress and move. And with this commitment, he shaped an empire.

Founded with his partner Sergio Galeotti in 1975, Armani’s label grew from a single unlined jacket into a multibillion-dollar enterprise spanning ready-to-wear, couture, fragrances, interiors, hospitality, and sport. At its peak his business was valued at over $10 billion, supported by 9,000 employees and more than 600 boutiques worldwide. Despite its scale, Armani managed to maintain full control of his empire, staying fiercely independent, never selling his company, and thoughtfully planning

its succession through family and trusted collaborators. While he was hesitant to discuss succession in interviews, he revealed plans for a foundation to prevent his business from being divided. In a 1999 interview with Paris Modes, when asked about succession, he said: “It’s quite a delicate question, because this work is not easy and the business empire is enormous to take care of. It’s a heavy weight to carry on one’s shoulders. So I wouldn’t want my niece, my sister, or those close to me to face the same challenges and exhaustion. It’s difficult.”

Armani’s impact extended well beyond the runway. He became Hollywood’s go-to designer, with credits in over 200 films. Each year the Oscars sparkled with his creations, worn by stars like Anne Hathaway, Sean Penn, Sophia Loren, and George Clooney. His iconic advertising campaigns, including the memorable Beckham underwear images of 2009, solidified his influence on both fashion and popular culture. Even museums recognized his legacy: the Guggenheim staged a retrospective in 2000, while his Armani/Silos museum in Milan celebrated four decades of his work.

Born in Piacenza in 1934, Armani dreamt of

becoming a doctor, but a part-time job as a window decorator at a Milan department store introduced him to the world of fashion. His early knowledge of anatomy and movement influenced the fluidity of his designs. Over five decades, he consistently focused on themes of ease, simplicity, and elegance, refining instead of reinventing. “I love things that age well, things that don’t date and become living examples of the absolute best,” he once said. On his death, Anna Wintour described him as a visionary whose influence extended well beyond his atelier: “Giorgio Armani had such a clear force of personality and vision that you knew his work instantly, wherever you found it. He understood power and attitude and elegance as well as anyone ever has in fashion, and he understood women too: how they wanted to dress and what message they wanted to send as they asserted themselves through his rise in the 70s, 80s, and beyond. He also never confined himself to one field or one discipline, and understood that fashion can’t exist in a silo. For him fashion wasn’t one thing: It was also film, music, sport, art, design, and architecture, and he left his mark in all these worlds and everywhere he went.”

Above left: Giorgio Armani, Spring-Summer Ready-To-Wear 1996. Photo AP File/Luca Bruno. Above centre: Giorgio Armani, Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2006.

Photo AP File/Francois Mori. Above right: Giorgio Armani, Prive Haute Couture Spring-Summer 2008. Photo AP File/Thibault Camus. Bottom left: Emporio Armani, Men’s Fall-Winter 2012/2013. Photo AP File/Luca Bruno. Bottom centre: Giorgio Armani, Men’s Fall-Winter 2010/2011. Photo AP File/Luca Bruno. Bottom right: Giorgio Armani bows to the audience at the end of his junior line Emporio Armani Spring/Summer 1999, Oct 1998. Photo AP File/Antonio Calanni.

SOLO EXHIBITION BY REBECCA BONACI

WENS: COMFORTABLE SILENCE

At Valletta Contemporary, Rebecca Bonaci presents a body of work that explores tenderness in the everyday, inviting viewers into a contemplative world where silence is connection.

Photography courtesy Valletta Contemporary.

In Wens: Comfortable Silence, Maltese artist Rebecca Bonaci invites viewers into a private, dreamlike sphere, where the ordinary becomes charged with tenderness. The exhibition, curated by Gabriel Zammit at Valletta Contemporary, unfolds across painting, drawing, sculpture, and installation, with each medium serving her exploration of intimacy and belonging.

The word wens, as defined in Joseph Aquilina’s Maltese-English Dictionary, describes “the feeling of peace of mind one experiences in somebody’s company.” Bonaci’s art embraces this concept as both its title and inspiration. Rendered in loose and glowing colour, her compositions offer an unhurried meditation on love, kinship, and the small, nourishing moments that make life whole. There is an underlying duality, an awareness of change and inevitable loss, balanced by a promise that solace and rootedness can be found in attentiveness to others.Bonaci’s previous solo exhibition, Ġuf, also explored questions of embodiment and memory. Her figures, often nude and unburdened, are surrounded by motifs like stars, flowers, and clouds, encapsulated by a timeless world where silence becomes presence, and familial bonds and shared memories take visual shape.

The sense of belonging her work evokes is grounded in relationships, in the collective landscape of remembrance that links past, present, and future.“I hope that one day, when I look back at my drawings, they’ll wrap my heart in the same comfort I felt while creating them,” says Bonaci, and her work carries an unspoken hope that this sense of solace will also touch us as we step into her gentle, utopian world.

WENS: COMFORTABLE SILENCE runs at Valletta Contemporary until 17th October 2025. vallettacontemporary.com

Above: Soft hours II, 2025. Earth pigment and soft pastels on paper, 17x11cm. Top right: Living within the bounds of now III, 2025. Earth pigment and soft pastels on paper, 11x13cm. Below: Bonaci's figures, are often surrounded by motifs like stars, flowers, and clouds, encapsulated by a timeless world where silence becomes presence.

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October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a reminder of the power of early detection and the lifesaving importance of screening. While women make up the highest percentage of those diagnosed, men too can be affected, underlining the need for awareness for everyone. The pink ribbon continues to call attention to vigilance, research, awareness and compassion in the fight against breast cancer.

THE PINK RIBBON

EVELYN LAUDER AND THE COLOUR THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

The pink ribbon, now a global symbol of solidarity, originated with Evelyn Lauder in the early 1990s. Her vision, alongside pioneering research, brought breast cancer awareness to the forefront, making early detection and screening everyday topics and turning a once-taboo subject into one of the most powerful and instantly recognisable health movements worldwide.

Main photography courtesy Estée Lauder Companies.

This page: In 1992, Evelyn Lauder and Alexandra Penney, then editor of SELF, created the signature pink ribbon, which has become the international symbol of breast cancer awareness. In 1995 when Evelyn asked Elizabeth Hurley to help with her breast cancer campaign, “she’d just recently co-invented the pink ribbon. And of course now young people have no idea that there was a time with no pink ribbon, and a time where we didn’t wear pink for October, and a time when we weren’t raising money for research, but that time was then and I remember it very well, when it was really pioneer work,” said Hurley in an October 2024 interview with New York Stock Exchange Floor Talk. Photo Estudio Bloom.

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with breast

1988,

placed

her into remission. Their partnership led to the founding of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in 1993, which today stands as the world’s largest private funder of breast cancer research, advancing treatments and saving countless lives. Evelyn H. Lauder. Photo Rob Rich, courtesy Estée Lauder Companies. Below: Elizabeth Hurley has served as the Global Ambassador for The Estée Lauder Companies’ Breast Cancer Campaign since 1995. At the time she had just lost her grandmother to breast cancer. In an 0ctober 2024 interview with New York Stock Exchange Floor Talk, Hurley said: “The campaign has evolved so much since Evelyn asked me to help her with her campaign. She asked me in 1995. She had very recently set up the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the Estée Lauder Company’s Breast Cancer Campaign and at that time I didn’t know anything about breast cancer, and she said that was the problem, no one did, and she was determined to change that and determined to have the world talking about breast cancer.” (Left to right) Elizabeth Hurley, Leonard A. Lauder, and Evelyn H. Lauder. Breast Cancer Research Foundation Gala 2006. Photo courtesy Estée Lauder Companies.

When Jo Malone spoke to Davina McCall earlier this year on Begin Again with Davina McCall, she discussed a moment that changed her life. “We had built our business and within five years, to the day, we sold it to Estée Lauder. I was 36, 37 years old.” Then a year after having her son, she began feeling unusually tired and unwell. “I was in New York shooting a catalogue and one day I felt so weak. It was a tiredness that wasn't normal. I was 38 and went back to the hotel, had a shower and found a lump. It didn’t hurt and it moved.” Returning to London, she had it checked and was diagnosed within days with an aggressive form of breast cancer. Devastated, she called Evelyn Lauder. “I came home that evening and called Evelyn Lauder. The wonderful late Evelyn Lauder.” Davina was surprised. “What made you call her?” Jo replied: “Because she headed the breast cancer campaign, she was the pink ribbon. I mean that woman.So many women are alive today because of the amazing Evelyn Lauder.” Evelyn’s voice on the other end of the line was decisive: “Remember, honey, you make lemonade from lemons.” Jo asked what she meant and she said, “Sometimes the sweetest thing in life comes with huge bitterness and a war you have to fight.” Jo jumped on a flight to New York the next morning and met Dr Larry Norton whose pioneering approach to treatment saved her life. “Thank God I did because I would not have survived on normal chemotherapy. On Evelyn’s advice I saw Dr Norton, he saved my life along with his team.”

Above: Diagnosed

cancer in

Evelyn Lauder

her trust in oncologist Larry Norton, whose pioneering approach helped

HEALTH & WELLBEING

That exchange carries the story of how the world came to know the pink ribbon, and how a symbol was transformed into one of today’s most recognizable and influential health campaigns.

Evelyn Lauder, born in Vienna in 1936, survived the turmoil of wartime Europe before arriving in New York with her family in 1940. She met Leonard A. Lauder, her husband of 52 years, on a blind date at the age of 18. She became a teacher, then joined the Estée Lauder Companies, where she rose to Senior Vice President and Head of Fragrance Development Worldwide. When in 1988, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, her husband Leonard sought out Larry Norton, a young oncologist then seen as a maverick. With his colleague Richard Simon, Norton had developed a radical theory that small tumours, if attacked early with intensive, closely spaced chemotherapy, could be contained before they reached the stage of uncontrollable spread. It was an approach that challenged medical orthodoxy but in Evelyn’s case, it worked. She lived for another 23 years, and turned her personal experience into work that has literally changed the lives of millions.

Lauder and Norton partnership fostered initiatives that altered breast cancer awareness and research globally. In 1992, together with Alexandra Penney, then editor of SELF magazine, Evelyn introduced the pink ribbon as the emblem of a new campaign. At Estée Lauder counters across the world, ribbons were distributed with self-exam cards, sparking conversations that had previously been hidden. Breast cancer, which for years had been a hushed private fear, became a subject to shout out loud about.

This page: In 2010, Evelyn Lauder and Elizabeth Hurley were honoured by the Guinness Book of World Records for the “Most Landmarks Illuminated for a Cause in 24 Hours” for their work on The Estée Lauder Companies’ Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign. The two switched on the Empire State Building’s pink lights, which was part of a global effort to illuminate over 40 iconic buildings in pink to raise awareness for breast cancer. Evelyn H. Lauder (left), Elizabeth Hurley, 2010 Guinness Book of World Records. Photo courtesy Estée Lauder Companies.

HEALTH & WELLBEING

Elizabeth Hurley, who became the Estée Lauder Companies’ Global Ambassador for the Breast Cancer Campaign in 1995, recalls vividly what the atmosphere was like at the time.

“The campaign has evolved so much since Evelyn asked me to help her with her campaignin 1995. She had very recently set up the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and the Estée Lauder Company’s breast cancer campaign and at that time I didn’t know anything about breast cancer, and she

said that was the problem, no one did, and she was determined to change that and determined to have the world talking about breast cancer. So she’d just co-invented the pink ribbon and of course now young people have no idea that there was a time with no pink ribbon, and a time where we didn’t wear pink for October, and a time when we weren’t raising money for research, but that time was then and I remember it very well, when it was really pioneer work.”

Hurley’s connection to the cause was also personal, as she had recently lost her grandmother to breast cancer. In an October 2023 interview with Sky News, Hurley shared

her grandmother’s experience: “When my grandmother was diagnosed in the early 90s she found her own lump and was mortified and embarrassed and didn’t tell anyone including her doctor for about a year by which time unfortunately it had spread. So that’s why this campaign was started to try and make breast cancer not something that was whispered but shouted about.”

From its early start in the 90s, the campaign grew into a movement, anchored by a fundamental belief: that research was the path to progress. In 1993, Evelyn Lauder and Larry Norton established the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF) around her kitchen table. They wanted to provide direct funding to promising ideas, bypassing bureaucratic obstacles that often slowed medical innovation. The model was simple and effective: grants awarded quickly to researchers with high accountability and minimal paperwork. With Evelyn’s marketing strengths and ability to galvanise support, the foundation expanded quickly, becoming the largest private funder of breast cancer research in the world today.

Her earlier efforts had already laid important groundwork. In 1989, Evelyn spearheaded the fundraising that led to the creation of the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the first of its kind to unite prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and research under one roof. It set a global standard that has been widely copied.

For Jo Malone, Evelyn’s determination translated toher own personal survival. On Evelyn’s advice, she came under the care of Dr Norton, who placed her on a then experimental “dose-dense chemotherapy” protocol. The approach reduced the intervals between treatments, overwhelming cancer cells before they could recover. It was gruelling, but it worked. “Dr Norton later told me that when I walked into his room he knew that if I’d had normal chemotherapy I wouldn’t have survived,it was so aggressive. He put me on a protocol called dose-dense chemotherapy: bombardment every seven days for 18 months. He chose 30 women worldwide who he knew would never survive and put them on this new protocol. Today every one of them is alive. If you’re diagnosed with breast cancer now, take hope in that: the chemo, the dose density, the therapies, people are surviving and going on.”

What began as an act of survival became a mission to transform the future of breast cancer treatment. After Evelyn perceived the need for a breast-cancer research nonprofit, she told a friend, “I need another job like a hole in the head. But if I can do it, it would be a sin if I didn’t.”Evelyn’s drive, Leonard’s support, Norton’s research, and the generosity of countless donors combined into a movement that shifted the conversation, accelerated scientific progress, and built a community of hope.

This page: In an October 2023 interview with Sky News, Hurley discussed her grandmother’s breast cancer diagnosis: “When my grandmother was diagnosed in the early 90s she found her own lump and was mortified and embarrassed and didn’t tell anyone including her doctor for about a year by which time unfortunately it had spread. So that’s why this campaign was started to try and make breast cancer not something that was whispered but shouted about.” Evelyn H. Lauder (left) and Elizabeth Hurley at The Breast Cancer Research Foundation’s 2011 Hot Pink Party, New York City. Photo Rob Rich, courtesy Estée Lauder Companies.

HEALTH & WELLBEING

Her passing in 2011 did not end her momentum. Today the pink ribbon is one of the most recognised health symbols in the world, and BCRF continues to fund groundbreaking research. For those diagnosed today, survival rates are significantly higher than they were when Evelyn first faced the disease. Early detection, advances in treatment, and awareness campaigns have saved untold numbers of lives.

What Jo Malone’s exchange with Davina McCall highlights though is how easily that history can slip from view. The instantly recognizable pink ribbon, now so familiar that it seems it has always existed, was once a bold and unfamiliar idea. As Hurley put it:

“Evelyn was determined to have the world talking about breast cancer.” That determination, first kindled around a kitchen table and carried into research labs and beauty counters worldwide, still shape lives today.

It’s worth repeating, early detection can save lives.

This page: When Evelyn passed away in 2011, the Empire State Building was lit up in pink to celebrate her groundbreaking philanthropy. Evelyn H. Lauder at Estée Lauder Companies Offices, 2004. Photo Barbara Alper, courtesy Estée Lauder Companies.

Starting from: €12,450*

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UNDER THE TABLE, INTO THE FUTURE

AT OSTERIA FRANCESCANA, MASSIMO BOTTURA’S PLAYFUL VISION HAS RESHAPED EMILIA-ROMAGNA’S CULINARY TRADITIONS FOR 30 YEARS.

In Modena’s Emilia-Romagna heartland, Massimo Bottura’s Osteria Francescana transforms the flavours of his childhood into a playful, art-driven cuisine that resonates worldwide. From reimagined Parmigiano to global projects tackling food waste, Bottura’s work celebrates tradition while pushing it forward, proving that Italian gastronomy can be both deeply rooted and endlessly inventive.

Photography courtesy Osteria Francescana / Francescana Family.

MODENA, ITALY

GASTRONOMY

Previous page: Massimo Bottura, is one of the most innovative and influential figures in global gastronomy. In 1995, he opened Osteria Francescana in his hometown of Modena, and over the years, he expanded his ventures to create the Francescana Family. In Italy, these include Franceschetta58, Cavallino, the guesthouse Casa Maria Luigia (also home to Acetaia Maria Luigia), Al Gatto Verde, and Gucci Osteria in Florence. Photo Callo Albanese & Sueo. This page: Osteria Francescana, the three-Michelin star and Michelin Green Star restaurant, was ranked number 1 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2016 and again in 2018. Since 2019 it has been part of the Best of the Best list, a category including all restaurants that ever ranked first in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.Within, its paredback contemporary dining room is framed by striking artworks.

In Modena, where cobblestone streets hum with history and the air seems scented with balsamic vinegar, one restaurant has become a reference point for modern Italian cuisine. Osteria Francescana, opened in 1995 by Massimo Bottura, occupies a discreet space on Via Stella, yet its impact radiates far beyond the EmiliaRomagna region. Within its pared-back, contemporary dining room, framed by striking artworks, Bottura stages a form of culinary storytelling that draws on centuries-old traditions while embracing the language of art, memory and play. “Osteria Francescana is a laboratory of ideas,” he says. “It is also an observatory where we look at the past in a critical way, not a nostalgic one. Tradition in Evolution means looking at our culinary traditions from 10 kilometres away, to bring the best of the past into the future.”

GASTRONOMY

celebrates its

anniversary, this

is

It’s a duality that runs through the entire Italian peninsula, a theme that has shaped the Italian kitchen for centuries. Italian cuisine has never drawn its wealth from luxurious ingredients, but from the simplicity of what was available, transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary, because the true nobility of Italian cuisine doesn’t come from the richness of the ingredients, but from the richness of the ideas. Photo Paolo Terzi Photography.

The city itself provides a rich backdrop for such an approach.

Modena sits in the heart of Emilia-Romagna, a region whose food culture is revered throughout Italy and beyond. This area is the birthplace of Parmigiano Reggiano, traditional balsamic vinegar, prosciutto di Parma, mortadella, tagliatelle and tortellini. The medieval and Renaissance history of Modena, once part of the Este Duchy, has long intertwined with its gastronomic identity; grand banquets and humble kitchens alike contributed to a repertoire that is both deeply regional and remarkably diverse. Bottura grew up in this landscape. “I grew up under the kitchen table. As my grandmother Ancella rolled out the pasta dough, I hid under from my older brothers with flour falling on my feet. At Osteria Francescana we look at the world with the eyes of a child, from under the table and upside down.”

This sense of perspective shapes dishes

that can seem at once intimate and iconoclastic. Classics such as ‘Five Ages of Parmigiano Reggiano’ and ‘The Crunchy Part of the Lasagna’distil flavours anchored in Modenese memory while bending form and expectation. His compositions often nod to music, literature and contemporary art, the latter a constant source of inspiration. “The artworks on the restaurant’s walls are not there for decoration,” Bottura explains. “They are windows onto the landscape of ideas that widen horizons and open up possibilities. Art leaves clues to our creative process and animates the dialogue between the dining room and the kitchen.”

Massimo Bottura’s journey began in 1986 with the acquisition of Trattoria del Campazzo, on the outskirts of Modena. Bottura consolidated his culinary bases on a combination of regional Italian cuisine and classical French training with the assistance of the traditional heritage of rezdora Lidia Cristoni –in Modenese dialect the lady who makes fresh pasta – working by her side in the Campazzo kitchen and a weekly

internship with French chef Georges Coigny at his restaurant in the hills of Piacenza. In 1994 Bottura sold Campazzo to leave for Montecarlo and work alongside Alain Ducasse at Louis XV.

This experience, recognized as one of the most valuable by the chef himself, led him to open Osteria Francescana a year later in his hometown of Modena. During the summer of 2000, Bottura left for the Costa Brava to complete yet another life changing experience cooking at El Bulli with Ferran Adria. In 2002, Osteria Francescana received its first Michelin Star followed by the second in 2006. By the time Osteria Francescana earned its third Michelin star in 2011, Bottura had forged a language of cuisine that balanced precision, wit and emotion. Twice, in 2016 and 2018, it was named the world’s best restaurant by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, and since 2019 it has been part of the Best of the Best list. In 2020 it received the Michelin Green Star for its dedication to sustainability, focusing on reducing food waste and fostering a fairer and more sustainable food system.

Above: MISERIA E NOBILITÀ. As Osteria Francescana

30th

year’s theme

Miseria e Nobiltà, Misery and Nobility.

Above: “The artworks on the restaurant’s walls are not there for decoration,” Bottura explains. “They are windows onto the landscape of ideas that widen horizons and open up possibilities. Art leaves clues to our creative process and animates the dialogue between the dining room and the kitchen.” Below: In 2016, together with his wife Lara Gilmore, Massimo Bottura founded FOOD FOR SOUL, a cultural project to empower communities, to rescue food otherwise discarded and to fight social isolation. “In the past eight years, we have supported the creation of 12 Refettorio in 9 countries, with still more to come. Every day, in our Refettorio we can create the change we want to see in the world, one meal at a time. Together we are the revolution!” Photo Marco Poderi.

The Francescana family has since grown to include Franceschetta58, a more casual Modena restaurant championing local producers; Gucci Osteria, with locations in Florence, Beverly Hills, Tokyo and Seoul; Cavallino, in partnership with Ferrari; and Casa Maria Luigia, a country guesthouse offering a curated dining experience built around Francescana classics. Each project refracts Bottura’s fascination with the dialogue between place, tradition and creative reinvention. The most recent, Al Gatto Verde, sits beside Casa Maria Luigia’s own acetaia, where balsamic vinegar ages in more than 1,200 barrels, and is guided by chef Jessica Rosval with a focus on fire and sustainability.

Beyond the dining room, Bottura has become one of gastronomy’s most articulate voices for social and environmental responsibility. His non-profit, Food for Soul, founded with his wife Lara Gilmore in 2015, began with Refettorio Ambrosiano in Milan during Expo 2015, turning food surplus into nourishing meals for those in need. The initiative now spans cities from Rio de Janeiro to London, Paris, New York and Sydney, saving hundreds of tonnes of food from landfill. “If we can use all of the ingredients to the fullest potential, we will reduce the amount of waste we are creating and shop more efficiently,” he says. “The act of cooking, as well as that of feeding oneself, must become an ethical choice, not just a question of taste.”

The Covid pandemic brought another form of outreach in the shape of ‘Kitchen Quarantine’, a nightly Instagram cooking session from the Bottura family kitchen, combining recipes, poetry and conversation with an audience scattered across continents. It was a reminder that even in a career studded with Michelin stars and global recognition, the impulse to cook for others remains rooted in home and community.

Emilia-Romagna’s food traditions are famously generous, shaped by fertile plains and the industriousness of its people. Bottura’s work celebrates and reframes them, applying the rigour of fine dining to ingredients that carry emotional as well as gastronomic weight. At Osteria Francescana, a plate of tortellini might be served swimming in a fragrant cream of Parmigiano, or appear reimagined in miniature, lined up like a string of edible pearls. A dessert can tell a story of accident and recovery, as in ‘Oops! I Dropped the Lemon Tart’. The point is not to shock, but to invite diners to see familiar things differently.

Above left: La Genovese. Left: La Contadina. Top: Dove vuole andare questa pasta e fagioli? Where is this pasta e fagioli going?

Above: Pane e Acqua. Photography Paolo Terzi Photography.

GASTRONOMY

Recent years have also seen Bottura honoured for his role as an advocate. In 2020 he was named Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Environment Programme, and in 2024 an SDG Advocate for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals outlined in the 2030 Agenda for a better future. These appointments recognize his humanitarian efforts through initiatives like Food for Soul and Tortellante, a therapeutic laboratory where young and adult individuals on the autism spectrum learn to make fresh pasta, as well as his unwavering commitment to combating global food waste. For anyone visiting Modena, the appeal of Osteria Francescana is clear. Emilia-Romagna provides the essentials: cheeses, vinegars, and cured meats, while Bottura brings the creativity to reimagine them in new ways. His work shows that innovation doesn’t have to erase tradition; it can enrich it, allowing it to flourish in surprising directions.

Top: Jazz Duck: improvvisazione sull’anatra. Jazz Duck: improvisation. Above left: Fast bees, slow honey Above centre: Sotto il sole Siciliano. Under the Sicilian sun. Above right: Surprise, Surprise! Below: Gelati. Photography Paolo Terzi Photography.

NEGRONI WEEK: SEPT 22-28, 2025

A COWBOY, A COUNT, AND A COCKTAIL

NEGRONI, THE MEASURE OF A CLASSIC

Born in Florence in 1919, the Negroni remains one of the world’s most enduring cocktails. Equal parts gin, vermouth and Campari, it carries more than a century of cultural intrigue, from its enigmatic creator, Count Negroni, to its modern-day cult following. A drink of balance and boldness, it is as timeless as it is bittersweet.

Photography Anto Grossolano and Francesco Liotti

the

by replacing soda water with gin. An influencer of his time, Count

was admired for his style and creativity, inspiring Florentines, who wanted to be associated with him, to order his drink. The drink’s rise mirrored the cultural pulse of its city. In the Florence of the early 20th century, cafés were gathering points for artists, politicians, and bankers.

This page: Created in Florence in 1919, the Negroni was created when Count Camillo Negroni asked his bartender, Forsco Scarselli at Caffe’ Casoni, to fortify his favourite cocktail,

Americano,

Negroni

Ordering a Negroni became a statement, a mark of belonging to a certain social milieu.

Photo Anto Grossolano.

COCKTAILS

NEGRONI RECIPE: 30ml Campari, 30ml Gin (Campari suggests BULLDOG London Dry Gin), 30ml Sweet Red Vermouth (Campari recommends 1757 Vermouth di Torino Rosso).

TO SERVE: Pour all ingredients into a rock glass filled with ice and garnish with an orange slice. USE GOOD GLASSWARE: Vintage glassware can be a visual treat and bring a touch of nostalgia. Photography this page Francesco Liotti.

There are few cocktails that carry the weight of a century with such effortless style as the Negroni. Created in Florence in 1919, it is said to have come about when Count Camillo Negroni asked his bartender, Forsco Scarselli at Caffe’ Casoni, to fortify his favourite cocktail, the Americano,by replacing soda water with gin. Scarselli added an orange slice as garnish, rather than the usual lemon twist, and with that small adjustment, a classic was born.

Luca Picchi, head bartender at Florence’s Caffè Rivoire for two decades, chronicled the story in his book Sulle Tracce del Conte: La Vera Storia del Cocktail Negroni (On the Trail of the Count: The True Story of the Negroni). His research confirmed the count’s existence and underlined his role in shaping the drink.

Count Negroni himself was a figure as enigmatic as the drink that carries his name. Half British and fluent in English, Italian, Spanish and French, he lived in the US for five years, working for a time as a cowboy in the American West before immersing himself in New York’s bar culture, absorbing an education in spirits and cocktails. Returning to Europe, he

brought with him the confidence of a man who had straddled continents, and in Florence his tastes and experiences crystallised into a drink that reflected both Italian elegance and English boldness.An influencer of his time, Count Negroni was admired for his style and creativity, inspiring Florentines, who wanted to be associated with him, to order the drink his new drink. Thanks to his British heritage, we owe the inclusion of gin in the cocktail, influenced by the spirit’s popularity in London at the time.

The Negroni’s structure is striking in its simplicity: equal parts gin, sweet vermouth, and Campari. The gin lends clarity and bite, the vermouth adds depth, while Campari, the sole bitter aperitivo available in Florence at the time of its creation, anchors the drink with its ruby hue and unmistakable bitterness. Without Campari, there can be no Negroni, its vivid red heart inseparable from the identity of the cocktail.

The drink’s rise mirrored the cultural pulse of its city. In the Florence of the early 20th century, cafés were gathering points for artists, politicians, and bankers. Ordering a Negroni became a statement, a mark of belonging to a certain social milieu. The timing coincided

with the spread of the artistic movement Futurism,and later with the glamorous tide of La Dolce Vita, which saw Rome transformed by Hollywood film productions. By the midcentury, the Negroni had moved well beyond Florence, embraced internationally by those who wanted a drink that carried both sophistication and a sense of daring.

Orson Welles, writing in 1947, remarked on the balance of the cocktail’s contradictions: “The bitters are excellent for your liver, the gin is bad for you. They balance each other.” Such equilibrium has always been its hallmark. The Negroni may appear straightforward, yet it rewards nuance, subtle differences in vermouth, choice of gin, or even the cut of orange can shift its character.

The drink’s endurance has also owed much to the vision of Davide Campari, who, at the time of the cocktail’s creation, was shaping his family’s company into an Italian powerhouse. From opening a new factory with its own tramline to make it easier for workers to commute, to ensuring Campari was distributed across Italy, he made the bitter aperitivo a symbol of aperitivo culture. The Negroni, with Campari at its centre, was perfectly placed to ride this wave.

Today the cocktail is recognised by the International Bartenders Association as one of its official classics. It is, in essence, unchanged: equal measures stirred over ice and served with an orange slice. Yet its influence is such that countless variations now exist, the Boulevardier, the White Negroni, the Negroni Sbagliato, each a reinterpretation of the original’s three-part harmony.

Its global following is celebrated each September during Negroni Week, founded by Imbibe magazine and Campari. From 22-28 September this year, bars around the world will mix their versions of the drink in support of Slow Food, raising funds to promote a fairer and more sustainable food culture. In the clink of ice against glass, a ritual continues that began over a century ago in a Florentine café, carrying with it the spirit of its cosmopolitan creator and the enduring appeal of a drink that remains both simple and profound.

The Negroni belongs to Italy’s aperitivo tradition, a pre-dinner ritual designed to sharpen the appetite, thanks to the bitter notes of Campari and the botanicals in the vermouth and gin, distinct from the digestivi reserved for reflection at the meal’s end.

COCKTAILS

CELEBRATING

NEGRONI WEEK 2025

IMBIBE AND CAMPARI –A DRINK FOR A CAUSE SEPTEMBER 22 TO 28

The 13th annual #NegroniWeek will take place worldwide from 22–28 September 2025, with proceeds supporting global charitable partner Slow Food. This September, Campari, Italy’s iconic red apéritif, and Imbibe Magazine once again unite to celebrate one of the world’s most beloved cocktails, the Negroni, with a global series of events across bars and restaurants. The initiative combines the art of mixology with

charitable giving, raising funds for the Negroni Week Fund, which supports programs promoting food education, biodiversity preservation, equity, and wellness within the hospitality community. In 2024, more than 13,000 venues in 90 countries participated, raising over $600,000 to fund 24 industry scholarships and 17 community-based projects worldwide. Negroni Week 2025 will continue this mission, inviting bartenders and consumers alike to celebrate, connect, and give back.

NEGRONI WEEK IN MALTA ThisSeptember, Malta embraces the spirit of the Negroni with celebrations unfolding across the islands. For an entire month, bars will pay homage to the cocktail, offering both the classic serve and imaginative bartender twists created for the occasion. A lively competition adds to the festivities, with bartenders capturing their craft in short reels. The most admired will be rewarded with a trip to Athens, where they will join an international gathering of peers for an exclusive workshop that celebrates creativity, skill and the enduring allure of the Negroni.

CHANEL

BLEU DE CHANEL L’EXCLUSIF

This is the story of the ultimate expression of BLEU DE CHANEL. With this fascinating new creation, Olivier Polge, CHANEL Perfumer Creator, pushes the boundaries of masculinity. With its remarkably potent amber-woody trail, BLEU DE CHANEL L’EXCLUSIF reveals its power, richness, and complexity. It is a bewitching fragrance that captures the attention with its depth. Majestic sandalwood fuels this creation’s intensity. Meanwhile, leathery and resinous notes of cistus labdanum reveal the more mysterious and enchanting aspects of its character. The precious sandalwood extract used in the composition of CHANEL fragrances, including BLEU DE CHANEL L’Exclusif, comes from an integrated supply chain on the island of Maré, in New Caledonia. This process ensures an ethical and sustainable sourcing of sandalwood that respects the environment, resources and local populations. Only the heartwood, rich in essential oils, is used and carefully transformed using a tailor-made extraction process. This proprietary quality of sandalwood extract gives CHANEL fragrances unique olfactory characteristics.

Photography courtesy CHANEL.

Olivier Polge, CHANEL’s in-house Perfumer Creator, describes BLEU DE CHANEL L’EXCLUSIF as “the final shade of blue before blue turns to black… a blue that evokes depth and density.” With this new creation, Polge adds another chapter to a lineage that began with his father, Jacques Polge, who first conceived BLEU DE CHANEL.

With L’Exclusif, Polge speaks of reinterpreting. “Like turning a kaleidoscope, we shifted the key components to reveal new facets, intensifying certain notes until new harmonies emerged.” The result is a fragrance with a textured signature, where woody and leathery-amber accords are sharpened into focus.

At its heart, BLEU DE CHANEL L’EXCLUSIF is “woody, ambery-aromatic.” Lavender opens with a recognisably masculine tone, followed by cedar, sandalwood, and the resinous facets of cistus labdanum. Each material has been worked with precision, but the sandalwood is given special reverence. “The sandalwood we select stands out, first and foremost, for its botanical variety, Santalum austrocaledonicum,” Polge

explains. “It is a particularly refined and dense wood that needs to be enhanced in order to reveal all its facets.” Through bespoke extraction techniques unique to CHANEL, this sandalwood offers subtleties that enrich the fragrance’s energy and depth.

For Polge, L’Exclusif represents an ambition “to go beyond perfume.” He wanted to express a masculine extrait that carries the intensity of traditional feminine extraits, yet deepens it through woody and amberleathery notes. “These notes in L’Exclusif offer a deep and mysterious expression of masculinity, revealing the complexity of this fragrance.”

The question of power, for him, is about the trail instead of the first impression. “Its power comes from the base. That is the great challenge of my craft: to anticipate the points of diffusion of a fragrance, to give it strength without weighing it down; and this case, for its power to rise from the base, yet contribute to the fragrance’s airiness.”

This evolution also reflects a shift in the way men choose fragrance. “It seems that men today are opting for bolder fragrances, genuinely seeking scents that stand out through their trail and lasting power. Discretion was once a prized

quality; today the approach to fragrance has become more emotional, more engaging.” That emotion extends to design. In collaboration with Sylvie Legastelois, Polge ensured the bottle echoes the fragrance’s intensity. “I find the shape of this bottle to be spot on. Sylvie has perfectly

captured the strength and intensity of this new fragrance, even in the shape of the bottle itself.”

BLEU DE CHANEL L’EXCLUSIF emerges, then, as a statement of density and sensuality, a blue that lingers on the skin as much as in the imagination.

CHANEL is distributed by Alfred Gera & Sons Ltd.

Above: Olivier Polge, CHANEL’s in-house Perfumer-Creator since 2015.