THE
REVIEW ‘LIFE. STYLE.’
THE URUS
HYPERCARS
YOU WANT THE BULL OR THE HORNS?
MARKET MAKERS Story by Ian Digman
Story by Aaron Edgeworth
ABSTRACTION
KUDADOO
LINCOLN TOWNLEY
MALDIVIAN MYTH
Story by Ben Mitrofan-Norris
Story by Peter J Robinson
STRESS TESTING
KATIE ORMEROD
SLEEPING TIGHT
THE MOUNTAIN MAVEN
Story by Naomi Lake
Story by Peter J Robinson
Mauro Colagreco HEAD OF THE TABLE Story by Laith Al-Kaisy
SS21
U N L E A S H YO U R I N N E R D E M O N
With an all-new 180PS, 1160cc triple engine the Speed Triple 1200 RS is the most powerful, highest torque and fastest accelerating Speed Triple ever, and at 12kg lighter, and with premium track specification equipment, it’s the most agile, precise, dynamic and responsive handling Speed Triple ever too. Add all-new TFTs, quickshifter, optimised cornering ABS and traction control, 5 riding modes and connectivity system as standard and it’s the ultimate performance naked sports ride.
Discover more at triumphmotorcycles.co.uk
For further information (954) 279-1220 • info@cwjbrands.com
Automatic, bronze, 42mm, hour & minute, date, small seconds corum-watches.com
From the desk of
THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF LAITH AL-KAISY PETER J ROBINSON JOHN STERLING MAT HAMILTON GREEN
Editor-In-Chief Managing Editor North American Editor Publishing and Technology Director
BOBBY REYES SARAH MORGAN
US Style Editor Global Travel Editor
KIMBERLEY SAWYER
Director, Finance & Operations Business Manager
DAVID MAHONEY SUSAN RICE CLAIRE TINDRED
Advertising and Marketing Coordinator Sales Director
Get social..
We were fortunate to have an easy lockdown. We weren’t furloughed, we had a nanny to look after our little one, and no one we know was badly affected by the virus. We even managed to sell and buy a house. Well, just.
lockdown market has been surprisingly resilient and positive – brilliant news for our readers with property portfolios, or those of you just looking to escape the city. Alex gives us a reassuring and eye-opening analysis, so be sure not to miss it.
We had to overcome five buyers pulling out, whilst having our kitchen ceiling removed due to rot in the upstairs flat, but we got there. We got here: Backwell, a pocket-sized village just 15 minutes from Clifton, Bristol, which I’ll miss terribly. I’ll miss its indie shops and delis, where things are bum-clenchingly overpriced but artisanal and delicious. I’ll miss its pretentious liberalism. I’ll miss its liberal pretentiousness. I’ll miss its twee, convivial gardens, tended to by the deferential locals with forensic care. I’ll miss being a few minutes’ walk from some of the city’s best restaurants, and its sprawling cafes and bars. I’ll miss its spirit of togetherness, which made living there feel so safe, so native, so neighbourly.
The flipside of lockdown has been particularly devastating – especially for a sector which butters our bread: hospitality. Many of our friends in the industry have taken an unimaginable hit. And some of our favourite restaurants, hotels, casinos and bars have seen their doors heart-wrenchingly close for the last time (unnecessarily, in my opinion – but that’s another article for another time).
Moving – packing, specifically – is an existential affair: a forced reckoning with your past, present and future, like some post-mortem of the person – the people – you used to be. Sifting through a lifetime of fool’s gold is a face-slapping reminder of how quickly and fickly we humans change; of the meaningless transience of owning ‘stuff’. ‘Be brutal’ is the mantra we tell ourselves when deciding what does or doesn’t hold enough mawkishness to make it to the next chapter. And while you may shed a few kilograms of material baggage, you’ll gain a lifetime’s worth of ‘What the fuck was I thinking?’ And you’ll stare blankly at your once-exciting living room and wonder exactly how many whiskeys it took to arrive at Deco décor, with a hint of Klimt, and a triceratops toybox. Anyway, it’s country life now – and a proper family home – where you step out of your front door into cow shit, and the nearest place to get your eggs is a hen’s vagina, just a few doors down. It’s like snorting a big fat line of English nostalgia: clean air, birdsong, bucolic pubs, a literary landscape, and a no-need-to-lock-your-door crime rate. Bliss. As you’ll read in our interview with Alex Christian, director of Savills private office, the
But one hasn’t: Mauro Colagreco has defied lockdown, defied logic, defied economics and defied Covid. This issue, he tells us how he dared to open a new restaurant in the midst of a global pandemic, and what the future holds for how we eat. Speaking of defying the times, our very own Peter J Robinson jets off to one of the most sumptuous destinations we’ve never covered: the Maldives. He also puts the Land Rover Discovery through its paces on a film shoot, and talks to Benjamin Bond about his new road movie, The Drifters. Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, explores if the recent trends that rocked the business world are here to stay. While Bain and Company round up their recent report on the future of the luxury market. Our cosmetics doyenne, Naomi Lake, looks at how the pandemic has impacted the beauty industry, as well as the best ways to conceal those weary signs of stress. The estimable Ian Digman weighs up whether we need another hypercar. And our curator of culture, Benjamin Mitrofan-Norris, sits down with celebrity artist extraordinaire Lincoln Townley, whose new collection, 100 Bankers, is a scathing meditation on the greed and manipulation of the financial industry. It’s a stonking issue – enjoy.
Laith Al-Kaisy Editor-in-Chief
THE REVIEW 2021 9
the agenda
INTERVIEW
MAURO COLAGRECO
P-20
FINANCE
SUSANNAH STREETER
P-28
MOTORING HYPERCARS
P-34
PROPERTY RESILIENCE
P-44
TRAVEL
KUDADOO
P-52
B
D
P
BEAUTY
ART
P-64
P-72
DR TUNC
AUTOMOTIVE
LAMBORGHINI LINCOLN TOWNLEY URUS
P-82
ESTATE
MODERN BUTLER
P-90
BEAUTY
THE SCIENCE OF STRESS
P-96
INTERVIEW
KATIE ORMEROD
P-106
THE REVIEW 2021 13
MARINE
TIME
ALPINA
INTERVIEW
MOTORING
P-162 P-168 P-172 P-140 P-124 P-114 TRAVEL
HURAWALHI
INTERVIEW BEN BOND
OYSTER
STACIA SUTTLES
DISCOVERY
BEAUTY
STYLE
SUNGLASSES
STYLE
SWIM & RESORT WEAR
MOTORING AUDI RS5
PHOTOGRAPHY
P-188 P-200 P-224 P-240 P-180 P-272 INDUSTRY PANDEMIC
ALBERT WATSON
ART
THE CURATORS
THE REVIEW 2021 15
1
Contributors
AARON EDGEWORTH FEATURES WRITER
Gregarious, opinionated, and a destroyer of cocktail menus, Aaron provides automotive content stemming from years of passion and work in the industry. A keen eye for design and a horder of factoids are combined with a love of architecture, good food and the occasional party. Mostly found avoiding public settings.
PAUL TAYLOR BIKING WRITER
These days, most often found tinkering in the shed or out wasting petrol. Paul endured a fruitful career in the travel industry, working for hotel and shipping companies and a number of tour operators. Happiest when combining travel with motorcycling, he has ridden, fallen off and broken down all over the world. Bored with writing travel brochures, he now concentrates on all things biking.
NAOMI LAKE BEAUTY WRITER
Lake is a makeup artist, hair stylist, model and creative director. She comes to the table with over a decade of knowledge in the industry. When she’s not on set or in a meeting, she’s in a yoga class, checking out a new restaurant or exploring the menu of a cocktail bar, in the pursuit of the perfect Negroni.
SARAH MORGAN
IAN DIGMAN
Sarah’s career spans three decades across travel, hospitality and leisure campaigning. When she’s not in the capital consulting for the travel industry, she’s working on launching a new travel series. With a firm belief in holistic therapy and healthy living (well, to a point), a yoga retreat in some exotic, far-flung place is never far away.
Automotive kingmaker Ian Digman’s illustrious career spans over four decades and includes senior roles at Ford, Volvo, Nissan, INFINITI and, most recently, McLaren. That’s when he isn’t giving guest lectures on engineering excellence. Digman will be writing a regular column for The Review on anything with wheels.
Robinson is The Review’s managing editor. Having spent the last decade spanning both visual and print media, he has filed interviews across the political spectrum with the likes of Sir David Frost and Donald Trump. Robinson founded the magazine’s sister company, Screaming Eagle Productions, in 2015 to deliver film.
IAIN BEAUMONT
EMILY SMITH
Iain Beaumont is the founder and managing director of Venues and Ventures. Since ditching the City, Iain has worked on some of the UK’s grandest country estates and leading luxury venues, refining his eye for new opportunities and helping businesses realise their potential.
Cleverly remodelled interiors in aesthetic buildings have always inspired Emily. That’s why after studying Interior Architecture, she pursued her London career with several high profile design studios. Today she deploys her decade of experience within the interior design market consulting on a range of transformational projects.
GLOBAL TRAVEL EDITOR
SUSANNAH STREETER BENJAMIN FINANCE WRITER MITROFAN-NORRIS FEATURES WRITER
Norris is a copywriter and journalist from Bristol, England. He works regularly with some of the world’s leading luxury brands, and splits his time between the UK, Germany and Hungary. Norris also has a penchant for Alsatian wines and dodgy 80s synthpop.
Susannah is a broadcaster and financial commentator who has anchored flagship news shows on BBC TV and radio and hosts major conferences around the world. She is currently the senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, the UK’s largest retail investment platform.
PETER J ROBINSON
CONTRIBUTOR
MANAGING EDITOR
FEATURES WRITER
DESIGN WRITER
THE REVIEW 2021 17
Mauro Colagreco
Meet the chef behind the world’s best restaurant Words: Laith Al-Kaisy
Mauro Colagreco was born in Argentina, where he fell in love with food and studied gastronomy. He moved to France in his twenties, working with the world’s most celebrated chefs, including Bernard Loiseau, Alain Passard and Alain Ducasse. Colagreco went solo in 2006, opening Mirazur on the Italian-French border. It was an overnight success. 2019 was quite a year for the chef. After ten years climbing the World’s Best Restaurants list, he was named Number One, and awarded three Michelin stars to boot. Here, he tells us about his rise to stardom, how he defied expectation by opening a new restaurant in the midst of the global pandemic, and what the future holds for how we eat.
C O V E R : M AU R O C O L AG R E C O
THE REVIEW 2021 21
We always like to start these interviews by asking how it all started. You were born in Argentina. Here in the UK, we’re not that familiar with Argentinian cuisine. What does it mean to you, and how does it influence your food today? Octavio Paz, the great Mexican writer, said “Mexicans are descended from the Aztecs, Peruvians from the Incas, and Argentines from the boats”. This is a good summary of the Rioplatense culture, my native region in Argentina – a culture and a cuisine very much influenced by migratory flows, Italian and European cuisine. On the other hand, if you go to the north of Argentina – and my father loved this region, where we visited quite often as a family during my childhood – the culture changes a lot and you find other preparations
my grandparents’ house in the country; simple and loving people who waited for us with lots of dishes and delicacies they had prepared for us. Afterwards, when I started my gastronomy studies, I started working in a friend’s restaurant and I still remember the first time I stepped into the kitchen in the middle of a service... I immediately understood that I wanted to do this and I was happy! All that energy, the vertigo of service, the concrete and ephemeral side at the same time, I fell in love with the job from the first day. How did you build on that inspiration – to the point where cooking would become your profession? In my family, everybody likes cooking. But nobody before me had done it professionally.
“From my family and my Italian roots, what has marked me the most is the sense of sharing around the table, the taste for discovering new flavours, the openmindedness towards other cultures.”
and other products more linked to the crossbreeding with the native peoples of the territory.
It was only after 4 years of university studies in economics and realising that this was not what I was really motivated to do that I started to study at a gastronomy school in Buenos Aires.
Is there a particular dish back then that you were most proud of creating?
You opened Mirazur in 2006. How did it feel to open your own restaurant and, so soon after, be showered with accolades such as ‘Revelation of the Year’? I was thrilled to open my own restaurant. It was a huge challenge, but I had such a motivation and such a fresh look at this place in the Mediterranean that allowed me to meet wonderful people who worked with such wonderful products. And of course I didn’t expect any recognition; I always lived it with a huge joy and a deep gratitude.
My professional training in Buenos Aires was purely inspired by European gastronomy, especially French cuisine, which is considered the Mecca of gastronomy. From my family and my Italian roots, what has marked me the most is the sense of sharing around the table, the taste for discovering new flavours, the open-mindedness towards other cultures. How did you first fall in love with cooking? What initially inspired you? I have very nice memories of my childhood, at
I was and I continue to be in love with this region and its products, especially because I was in the middle of nature. I came from Paris and the fact of going to meet the producers directly, and walking around and discovering the wild plants, I felt delighted. I made a lot of dishes to celebrate this plant world in dialogue with other products from our region, such as ‘the Foret’, for example, with different flavours and textures. What things influence your decision when choosing where to open a restaurant? Most of the time there is a human encounter, which is fundamental. The love of good things,
THE REVIEW 2021 23
the respect for the territory – all this opens a way. After that, it’s the possibility of exploring new products. And our philosophy is at the axis of all this – and Mirazur now sits at Number 1 on the World’s Best Restaurant list. What does something like this mean to you, and is there still pressure to hold on to awards like this and Michelin? The year 2019 has been full of recognition, on a personal level as well as for the Mirazur team. They have been well celebrated and thanked, because it has allowed us to have a huge visibility all over the world. But our work goes beyond all these recognitions. This allows us to be less affected by the pressures that come from it and to continue to evolve, even if we’re at the
top. In addition, with Covid-19, we now see how important it is to remain flexible and have deeper motivations in our lives. When opening a new restaurant, how do you maintain your philosophy while still making it a unique experience from your other restaurants? I prepare the openings with core members of my team who are very familiar with our philosophy and the way of working at Mirazur. They stay on site to train the teams and to study the local products. There is this backbone: respect for products, seasonality, proximity and the link with producers, and openness to local culture to inspire new ways of creation.
It seems unthinkable that someone could have successfully opened a restaurant during the pandemic. You not only did this but won a Michelin star in a record six weeks after opening. Congratulations! How did this feel and how did you navigate opening a restaurant in such uncertain times? We were all surprised and touched by this Michelin star. We didn’t expect it at all and it encouraged us a lot in these difficult times. I think that, when you love what you do, you always find new ways to express that passion and we had this proposal to open a Mirazur pop-up in Switzerland – and we said yes. Even if the context is complicated, we have to take
“We were all surprised and touched by this Michelin star. We didn’t expect it at all and it encouraged us a lot in these difficult times.”
the opportunity. How do you think the pandemic will affect the restaurant industry in the long term? Is the way we eat changing forever? I don’t think we can make any conclusions yet. We are hopeful that this health crisis will be overcome, even if it takes longer than expected. For the restaurant sector, this global crisis is very serious, and we have seen the huge network that is associated with the functioning of a restaurant: the different suppliers, the tourism sector, and so on. The conclusion we can draw is that, in this world, everything is connected. We have to change our habits, our way of acting, by
becoming more united and more respectful of our land. I read an interview where you, quite rightly, questioned the sustainability of the way we produce and consume our food – from supply chains to farming. Do you see, for example, a more plantbased future for our food? Or how else might things change? I believe that we are living in a rather particular moment, with a more marked sensitivity on all the areas to do with sustainability and the defence of biodiversity. We have understood very well how fragile our equilibrium and our health is, and how things can change overnight without warning. This is not something
theoretical; we have all experienced it, we have all felt anguish and fear for the future. Now we have to deal with it. If we, as humanity, do not change our way of life on a global level, the future will be more and more difficult to live. We still have time to react; this is our chance. And finally, if we could take you for a meal in any restaurant in the world right now, where would you choose? I would love to go to Argentina and eat a good hamburger with my children, my father and the family in Carne. It would be a moment of sharing again, with many beautiful memories.
TR
THE REVIEW 2021 25
Lockdown: A Year Later Are the pandemic trends that rocked the business world here to stay? Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, explains. Words: Susannah Streeter
F I NA N C E : S U S A N NA H S T R E E T E R
THE REVIEW 2021 29
A
s the UK locked down to try and stop the spread of the virus and the lights went out across the economy, many businesses went into hibernation. But companies that were geared up for the accelerated shift to digital sales, brought about by the crisis, went on to experience the euphoria of record share price hikes. The e-retailers catering for our stay-at-home fashion fixes, the IT giants supplying our working-from-home set-ups, and the restaurant delivery firms catering for at-home treats have been the big beneficiaries during the crisis. Many coped with a pace of change in ten months that they hadn’t expected for another ten years. The average weekly value of internet retail sales in the UK more than doubled, from just under £1.5 billion to £3 billion as lockdowns forced millions into clicking for groceries and supplies from their sofas as non-essential stores closed. Internet sales as a proportion of total sales peaked at just over 35% in November, up from 20% in January 2020. Even though the share price has fallen back since the start of the year, online electrical retailer AO World has still been the best performing London listed company in the
retail sector, seeing its shares rise by 325% since March last year. As our demand for e-commerce and parcel deliveries has soared, that’s boosted the share price of previously unloved stocks like Royal Mail which has seen a share price rise of 265.3% over the year.
“If more retailers drift out of town as looks increasingly likely, it could make the high street revival even tougher” Shoppers were locked out of most high street stores during lockdown, with footfall plunging below 20%, but even when restrictions eased and retailers threw open the doors once more, the number of shoppers has struggled
to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels. Retail parks, where parking is easier and social distancing rules are somewhat easier to keep to, have been more resilient. Footfall in retail parks has consistently risen above 80% out of lockdown, compared to the high street and shopping centres, where it’s languished at around 60%, even when non-essential stores have been allowed to open. Already many town and city centres are being left with great swathes of empty stores, with the collapse of Debenhams and Arcadia, as their brands go online only, under new owners Boohoo and ASOS. If more retailers drift out of town as looks increasingly likely, it could make the high street revival even tougher. The pandemic has inspired a reappraisal of commercial landlords estates but companies like British Land are emerging bruised but not broken from the crisis. Although a shakeup in retail is inevitable and will be painful, as the shift to online continues, higher quality assets and retail parks should continue to be more resilient, and we are likely to see investment refocused in those developments. Hospitality firms, travel companies and airlines plummeted in value as the global travel industry came to a virtual standstill. The numbers of international air passengers
arriving in the UK fell off a cliff in February 2020 and struggled to climb back up as renewed lockdowns and tough quarantine measures due to renewed spikes in infections have held back recovery. Domestic air passenger traffic followed a similar trajectory of disappointment, bumping along the bottom of depressed demand. Vaccine breakthroughs in the UK have brought a wave of relief to airlines and tour operators with hopes that another summer will not be cancelled. The worst London listed performer in the travel and leisure sector was British Airways owner IAG as it went through the toughest challenge in its history. Although it has recovered a little since the start of the year, its shares are still less than half the value they were in February 2020. The slow roll out of vaccines in Europe and the resurgence of new strains in parts of the world have added to fears recovery in the travel industry may not be as swift as hoped. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show travel agencies, hotels and other businesses offering accommodation still had more than 72% of employees on partial or full furlough leave in January 2021. Turnover for these businesses languished at 20% of prepandemic levels in November 2020, before
the third stricter lockdown was brought into force. Despite the rapid vaccine rollouts there is still a difficult road ahead for firms focused on the tourism industry. They are desperate to see pent up demand released so that they can start paying back debts and rebuilding their businesses. But these are steps they can’t take until people are confident to start booking once more.
with car use down to 20% of pre-pandemic levels before recovering in the summer. But once again as people have been urged not to leave home unnecessarily, car use has fallen back again to around 50% of the level of March 2020. As our working world has turned virtua,l it’s had a knock-on effect on the fortunes of the motor vehicle sector. In September to November 2020, the highest unemployment level across all industries was for those previously employed in wholesale, retail and repair of motor vehicles, at 209,000. Car sales experienced the biggest slump since the second world war, falling 29% to 1.63 million according to the SMMT. But the e-car revolution has revved up a gear over the last few months. In the UK, the BP Pulse network delivered almost 20% more energy to electric vehicles in the first 40 days of 2021 than during the whole of 2020 despite the ongoing lockdown, demonstrating the undercurrents shifting the transport industry.
As people swapped holidays abroad for staycations and home entertainment, the online betting industry has flourished. 888 Holdings, which owns an array of bingo sites and apps, was the best performing company in the travel and leisure sector, rising by 243% since March 2020. There are some signs that stay-at-home stocks, which saw huge gains during the crisis, are starting to fall back with the expectation that we will return to prepandemic habits. Just Eat Takeaway’s shares have fallen 11% since the start of 2021, as economies it relies on shift closer to opening up once more, with pent up demand expected As the pandemic slashed commuting costs and discretionary spending, many people have to be released for eating out. been in a position to squirrel away record amounts of savings with many dipping their Car use has fallen dramatically during toe into investing for the first time. With an the pandemic, as the working-from-home eye on building financial resilience, younger revolution unfolded. Many vehicles vanished investors have been coming onto retail from the roads during the first lockdown,
THE REVIEW 2021 31
platforms in droves. Hargreaves Lansdown welcomed another 84,000 clients in the six months to the end of December, and the average age of new clients has decreased from 45 to 37 years old since 2012. Lockdowns prompted bursts of investment activity and the busiest day of trading on the HL platform was on 9 June, with a peak of more than 160,000 trades in one day. News of vaccine breakthroughs brought fresh flurries of interest in November during the second lockdown. The Brexit deal prompted a fresh spate of buying in January at a time when people were confined to their homes once again. The wheels of the US tech stocks in particular were greased by the liquidity washing around the financial markets thanks to the huge dose of quantitative easing released by central banks. But the expectation of pent up
trends that rocked the business world are clearly here to stay. We may not rely on zoom quite so frequently, but the need to reduce the carbon footprint of households and businesses will loom large in the coming years, so virtual meetings are still likely to stay popular. Even when the pandemic subsides, many companies are still likely to allow staff to work remotely for some of the week at least, which will continue to cut commuting costs and help reduce traffic pollution rates. People of all ages have now been forced to adapt to the new digital world and have acquired a taste for the convenience and efficiency it brings. The high street shopping heyday may be over, but towns and city centres will be re-imagined as community hubs offering new services combining virtual and physical experiences. It has been a devastating shock to the system, but the crisis seems to have Although the world is desperate to resume some kind of normality, most of the pandemic accelerated a world already in motion. consumer demand being released twinned with higher oil prices have increased inflation concerns. That has caused bond yields to spike, tripping up the tech stocks’ trajectory. There are increasing signs investors are moving back into value stocks as concerns mount about the prospects for technology giants, given that higher rates would erode the value of their future earnings. The spectre of regulation is hanging over the sector and could prove to be the fright that could derail the juggernaut, especially if central banks take the monetary easing pedal off unexpectedly. But the dramatic shift to digital is not likely to fully unravel. So, although there is likely to be more of a correction, other investors may feel the fundamentals of the growth companies make them worth hanging on to for longer.
For further details, contact Hargreaves Lansdown W: www.hl.co.uk T: (0) 117 988 9880
TR
DO WE NEED ANOTHER
Hypercar? Words: Ian Digman
Automotive kingmaker Ian Digman considers the rarefied universe of the modern Hypercar from the McLaren F1 to the ‘Holy Trinity’ and beyond.
AU T O M O T I V E : I A N D I G M A N
THE REVIEW 2021 35
T
he story goes, after an all-conquering 1988/89 F1 season for McLaren the solitary blot on an impeccable record that was the loss to Ferrari in Italy frustrated the Technical Director, Gordon Murray, into action. At the airport on the way home, Murray pitched a plan to make a road car to the boss, Ron Dennis. Using all of his engineering knowledge and lightweighting expertise, gathered from decades pushing the boundaries with F1, the road car would be aimed at being the closest thing to a race car legally permissible on the roads. Other people had converted race cars to be road legal but this was a completely different concept. Using race car mentality, materials and processes, Murray was able to design a car that completed a 0-60
sprint in 3.2 seconds and a published top speed of 240mph. It is worth taking a moment to put that into context. Back in the 80s, when this car was conceptualised, for those of us with a mechanical leaning, the posters of dreams on the bedroom wall were of Lamborghini Countach and the Ferrari Testarossa. Eye-poppingly beautiful, unattainable, feats of engineering excellence, cars with off-the-scale performance, 0-60 times the good side of 6 seconds and top speeds at a dizzying 180mph. Despite the appeal, and the now substantial financial gains owners have enjoyed, the F1 was not an instant success with some reports existing of cars being sold below list price and that the fabled 106 units took 6 years to sell. However, with a top speed record and a Le Mans victory
later, a legend was born. The Le Mans victory remains unsurpassed as a motor sporting endeavour. McLaren won on its first outing, dominating the field, as it had done in that legendary 1988/89 F1 season, holding 4 out of the top 5 places. The top speed record was equally as impressive, a five year old prototype vehicle set out to ‘see what was possible’. What was possible was 240mph, some 23mph faster than the previous holder, the Jaguar XJ220. Such was the car’s dominance over everything else, and the performance a step change from any other car in existence, lumping it together with others seemed disrespectful - a new product category, the hypercar, was created to stamp dominance over mere supercars. Hypercars operate in a different universe to your standard sports cars or even supercars. They are
categorised by mind-boggling performance figures, hypercars: McLaren P1, Ferrari La Ferrari and a purchase price that can easily surpass 7 figures, Porsche 918 – three superlative vehicles, created with some eye-wateringly beautiful and expensive options and a very limited customer list. Although some recognise the McLaren F1 as the first, the fact that McLaren wasn’t ‘a proper car company’ at the time (the existing McLaren Automotive only came about in 2010) allows some uncertainty about the title. If a hypercar is seen as the pinnacle of corporate endeavour, where supercar manufacturers unleash their resources and engineering skills, then the car that took the speed record from McLaren, the Bugatti Veyron, could have a serious claim to the title of being first. Whoever you class as the inventor of the segment, the growth in participants has been increasing consistently for the last 25 years.
“Technology boundaries aren’t pushed, technology boundaries are redefined.”
year of each other. Technology boundaries aren’t pushed, technology boundaries are redefined. If the purpose of the hypercar is to redefine performance expectations, then we appear to be heading down a cul-de-sac; a road that has an end. No matter how inventive we humans are, we are bound by the laws of physics. The two main measures of performance are 0-60 times and top speed: acceleration, the indicator of how quickly power can be applied; top speed, the indicator of how efficiently and massively power can be produced and used. These measures increase at each iteration of hypercar, but the increments are getting numerically smaller, and infinitesimally harder to perceive.
The fastest of the holy trinity, the Porsche 918 set a 0-60 time of 2.4s back in 2014. According to In car circles, people talk about the holy trinity of independently from each other, launched within a Autocar, the fastest production car acceleration
THE SX0001
THE REVIEW 2021 37
in 2021 is delivered by two cars, the Ultimate Evolution Coupe and Dodge Challenger SRT Demon at 2.3s, neither of them hypercars, but manufactured back in 2015 and 2017 respectively. With 8 years of development, Porsche haven’t pushed performance upwards, but the cost of delivering performance downwards – the £84k Porsche Taycan Turbo matching the 2.4s delivered by the £2.5m Bugatti Chiron.
and tarmac ceases to function, no matter how much you pay for your car.
Acceleration is limited by a specific function of physics – namely friction. There’s a point of no return as to how much torque you can put through the wheels before the connection between tyres
In 2019 a modified Bugatti Chiron, driven by Andy Wallace (the same Andy Wallace who delivered that McLaren F1 record), hit a top speed of 304.77mph. At which point Bugatti
Top speed is governed by a different set of constraints. Top speed is essentially a war of attrition: car power versus air resistance. Hypercars have evolved in their ability to produce power and limit the resistance they offer as they pierce through the air.
politely bowed out of chasing top speeds in a mic-drop moment saying that they’ve proved a point. Smart move, as chasing these incremental gains is getting impossibly hard and, to be frank, irrelevant. That record was recorded under very precisely controlled conditions on Volkswagen’s Ehra-Lessien test track with a driver of uniquely exceptional talents. All of this avoids the fact that every country in the world has speed limits – even Germany has only a limited amount of its famously derestricted tarmac. There is, of course, a safe environment to enjoy your multimillion-pound investment: the race
track. As well as pushing the track credentials of your road-legal car there has been a glut of Track Day specials. These are track versions of the road car, being uninhibited by legislation that restricts the full suit of engineering prowess being thrown at the car. For those who were unlucky enough to miss out on the road going version, have a little more disposable income or even want to show off their Track Day special on the latest Cars and Coffee event, you can even get it converted back to road legal (Lanzante). The Bugatti top speed figure was achieved under strictly controlled circumstances, on a stretch of
road that only VW group are allowed to use, so a fair comparison will probably never exist. Understandardised conditions, the record is now held by SSC. After some very dubious initial claims of 311mph (the internet geeks exploded on that one) a fully ratified figure of 282mph was logged.
physical size. Up until recently a figure of 220PS/ litre seemed to be about the limit. Along comes Koenigsegg Jesko (who are beginning to make a real name for themselves as true innovators) with an incredible 317PS/litre – step changes may still be possible.
So, if acceleration has reached its limit, top speed becoming unrealistically difficult to achieve, and frankly unusable, the remaining headline figure is horsepower. Efficiencies have eked out ever more from the chemistry of petrol but the internal combustion engine will always have a limit and there’s the inevitable trade off between weight and
So the humble petrol engine may not be at its limit just yet. In 2030, the automotive landscape will change forever. For years, the automotive industry has been easy pickings for the environmentalists, highlighting how our cities are becoming choked, the era of ‘big oil’ will come to an end. An ever increasing number of cities and
THE SCUDERIA CAMERON GLICKENHAUS 007
THE REVIEW 2021 39
THE ZENVO TSR-S national governments are joining the movement to ban new vehicles being produced or used unless they have zero tailpipe emissions. For car fans of a particular era, this is going to be a dilemma. By definition, ‘petrolheads’ like petrol. If the core hypercar market is enthusiast petrolheads, then we have a problem. New technologies spur innovation so enter stage left: electric vehicles (EVs). From the incremental gains of optimised combustion flow, all of a sudden a gigantic leap was possible. 2000PS suddenly appeared easily deliverable. Newcomers like Rimac and Aspark joined traditional producers like Lotus and Pininfarina in seizing the opportunity. It seems that 2000PS is a magic figure that customers can cling to and EV technology of the 2020s can achieve. But at what cost? Standing start acceleration times are still limited by tyres and top speed by aerodynamics, but where EVs stand alone is their ability to provide maximum torque at any time – gone are the inefficiencies of being at the wrong revs at any particular time. If the purpose of hypercars is to deliver race car credentials in a road legal package, then enhanced lap times must be the way to go. Cars need to carry their power source with them at all times whether that be a fuel tank or a battery. Batteries have the ability to deliver a lot of energy slowly producing range or a lot of power quickly producing speed. With the desire to optimise power to weight ratio, the weight of the batteries means that one lap of Nurburgring is possible, but that’s all. A one lap race may have limited audience appeal. New regulations by the FIA and Le Mans
organisers, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, have created a new hypercar series starting in 2021 in an attempt to make the race more interesting and relevant, recreating a link between cars seen on the track and those you can buy – assuming you are a favoured multimillionaire. There’s a rush on to beat legislation and get the ‘last of a dying breed’, the ‘last naturally aspirated’, the ‘last non-hybrid’, the ‘last internal combustion engine’. The world will then look towards zero tailpipe emissions – alongside this, the noise, smell and feelings will change. The rumble of explosions, the growl of exhaust gases escaping, the smell of volatile fluids evaporating – all gone – replaced by the whirr of electrons, the instant, mindbending torque. Part of the definition of hypercars is about their limited availability. There is an economic model surrounding ‘Giffen products’ whereby the value is directly proportional to the rarity. Where hypercars have value in their engineering prowess and physical beauty we have seen that cheaper cars can have similar, if not better, performance metrics. Production runs of less than 500, less than 100 preferably, are the expected norm. Car producers around the world have recognised the benefit of hypercars to their brand value and balance sheets. Many businesses have been lured by the thought of creating 200mil revenue by just finding 100 customers with margins in excess of 30%. Throw into the mix a bunch of frustrated engineers, designers and race car drivers and you can see the appeal. The appeal has been bought into by many, from differing backgrounds. As a non-exhaustive example, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, McLaren (traditional sports car
manufacturers proving their prowess); Pagani, Glickenhaus, Gumpert (Geneva Motor Show staples in the business of making beautiful, extreme, or extreme beauty); Lotus, Aston Martin, Jaguar (heritage brands wanting to expand their worth); Brabham, Gordon Murray, AMG (race car credentials on the road); Czinger, Rimac, Aspark, Navran (disruptive tech innovators) Corporate growth and customer demand are interesting bedfellows. Unlike mainstream vehicles, hypercars come with a predefined volume to help support the value. The 500 La Ferraris were snapped up, with demand reported as far exceeding supply. Without upsetting the original customers Ferrari saw an opportunity: La Ferrari Aperta – 200 additional units created by chopping the roof off and slightly increasing the power, yours for an additional £1m Ironically, bearing in mind the overdemand of La Ferrari, the roofless version was only available if you had bought the original. The logic, therefore, seems to be that within this customer base, one hypercar isn’t enough and to be honoured with a Ferrari product you need to have shown exceptional previous commitment to the brand. Recent volte-faces from Aston Martin (Valhalla) and McLaren (Elva) have seen initial bullish volume predictions reduced for ‘the sake of customer value’ i.e. we don’t want to (or can’t) achieve the original volume. This suggests two possible issues, an insufficient product content or, more worryingly, an insufficient customer base. Do we need another hypercar? If ‘we’ is defined as the buying public, then it seems we have got to a point where market economics are shifting
the supply and demand curve. Although there is an increasing number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI) in the world, it appears that the number of car loving UHNWIs is growing at a slower rate than the number of available hypercars. An alarming trend for making extreme, even more extreme has recently come to the fore. Base car too tame? Take the roof off. Wind in your hair, open top driving not exhilarating enough? How about wind in your face? The same, but with no windscreens. Aston, Lamborghini, McLaren and Ferrari all seem to think this is a good idea: if hypercars are limited in numbers, we can create limited editions of limited editions. Bugatti is renowned for creating 1 of 1 specials, although personalisation amongst these vehicles create one of a kind versions for everyone. All of which adds to the total number of vehicles available to those willing UHNWIs. In an attempt to reinforce uniqueness and emotional appeal, there seems to be a sudden patriotic rush with there being a raft of ‘first hypercar from ...’ announcements. Whilst the national pride is commendable, it is hard to see in the global economy we inhabit that the first Polish hypercar (Arrinera) has any benefit over the first Lebanese hypercar (Lykan). Surely enough is enough? The posters adorning bedrooms around the world highlight the aesthetic appreciation of hypercars. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and whilst some designs are divisive there is no doubt that
hypercars are 3D sculptures. No matter how good the photographer is they need to be seen in real life. The relative proportions, curves, forms, the way they catch the light where one piece morphs into the next. Whilst you could suggest that the world doesn’t need another unusable, fossilburning, piece of machinery, I challenge anyone to suggest we have enough art in the world and that all the artists should immediately put their pencils down. Dave Brailsford at Team Sky made popular the law of marginal gains, whereby a percentage point improvement by itself is not important, but if you add up many small efficiencies they become worthwhile and necessary. The level of detail provided within hypercar design is mindboggling. Taking weight out becomes obsessive. New materials, new processes, new computing power. Airflow meticulously modelled using state-of-the-art systems gaining every possible efficiency. An oft-used comparison is with watches. Quartz technology allowed a previously unheard of precision within a consumer product and delivered this at a price point akin to a posh coffee. However, materials, artistry, precision engineering and visible mechanisms still push prices of analogue watches into small house territory, despite being inferior at actually keeping time. The difference between a Maruti Suzuki and a Pagani Zonda Barchetta highlights that we are not just talking about a means of getting from A to B To some, hypercars are excessive, unnecessary and wasteful. Playthings for the rich, either in
terms of business ventures or toys for grown ups. They are unable to be used anywhere near their full capability and, in fact, many are not used at all, stored to be looked at and, hopefully deliver a future pay day. Hypercars are seen as a balance sheet prop with manufacturers fighting for a small number of customers. Just look at the amount of deposits that are locked up in someone else’s business – in a short-supply situation, deposits only exist to help cash flow of the manufacturing company. Even these customers must reach the limit of their garage capacity and investment portfolio at some point. The world didn’t need a hypercar back in 1992, but it wanted one. Products like this sit stratospherically high on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, but I can guarantee that more will come. They represent an incredible blend of competitive spirit, human ingenuity, artistry and a splash of ego. With the glut of current offerings customers will need to think more about their investments – having a hypercar is no longer a guarantee of future profits, choosing the right hypercar becomes an informed decision. Which unique, standout feature appeals to you? F1 engine (AMG), Supercapacitors (Lamborghini), aerodynamic fan (Murray), 3D printing (Czinger) innovative engines (Koenigsegg), timeless beauty (Bugatti)... For me, if the hypercar market is too crowded and common-place. Bring on the megacar. TR
THE BUGATTI BOLIDE
THE REVIEW 2021 41
Resilience and Positivity An Expert View of Post-Covid Real Estate Words: Benjamin Mitrofan-Norris
A
lex Christian, the director of Savills private office in Central London, is missing the spontaneity and long lunchtime meetings of the pre-pandemic world. He begins our conversation by lamenting just how organised and scheduled everything has become. In doing so, he already speaks for the vast majority of us aching to chat business while sunk into a battered Chesterfield, with a bottle of something lovely from the Left Bank lubricating deals along the way. Ah, well. Maybe in a month or two. With back-to-back telephone and video meetings booked for the day, Christian is a busy man with a broad portfolio of properties to keep his expert eye upon, and an even broader international clientele to keep onside during these unpredictable times. Despite this, he’s clearly in the mood to chat, and exudes a surprising optimism throughout our conversation. This somewhat flies in the face of what we’ve been primed to believe about the property industry in the murky waters of postCovid Britain. Aren’t we supposed to be bracing for a crash, and preparing for a country beset by wind-blown high streets littered with empty shops and echoing office blocks?
Alex insists this dystopian vision is far from realistic, claiming that recent months have seen the high-end real estate market in London – and elsewhere across the country – buoyed by an infectious positivity and reinvigorated interest. A sense of stability has returned to the UK, according to Christian, and for those seeking to
“a short, sharp shock
to the system – and yet amid the panic, there was plenty of opportunistic buying.
”
invest in property, there’s plenty of good news on the scene – with even more to come. As somebody who’s been in the industry for over two decades, how does the pandemic compare to previous market challenges you’ve seen? Quite simply, it doesn’t.
P R O P E RT Y: A L E X C H R I S T I A N
THE REVIEW 2021 45
The most protracted downturn that I’ve seen, in terms of sales, was in the months following December 2014. The rapid changes brought about by George Osborne in stamp duty, inheritance tax, levies put onto foreign investors looking to purchase real estate in the UK, the mansion tax… all of this, compounded by the Brexit referendum and the sudden dip in the pound made London, for the first time in years, look relatively unattractive to investors. I was doing a lot of travelling at the time, and without exception, I was meeting people overseas who would comment that London appears overtaxed. We lost a lot of our top-end international buyers and mid-rate investors at that time, and they only just started returning to the fold as Brexit finally seemed to be sorting itself out. The credit crunch of 2008 was another difficult period, but essentially it was wrapped up within a year – a short, sharp shock to the system – and yet amid the panic, there was plenty of opportunistic buying.
The main issue of the pandemic – and why it stands apart from other market challenges – has been one of logistics. It’s not that foreign investors don’t want to buy in London, it’s that they simply cannot get here to do so. We’ve seen incredible demand building up since the election in 2019, yet people haven’t been able to come to these shores for almost a year to close their deals. In a nutshell, Covid-19 has restricted turnover, but it hasn’t done anything to impact prices at the top end of the market. In fact, in this sector, we’re anticipating a feeding frenzy. Have there been any new or unusual property-buying trends you’ve seen as a result of the pandemic? It’s not rocket science – we’ve seen those in the domestic market buying their way further up the property market. Prior to the pandemic, we were seeing domestic buyers invest between ten and twenty-five million pounds, whereas now it’s not
uncommon to see the same bracket of buyers putting in forty to fifty million. The private equity and hedge fund guys have done well throughout this period, and it shows in the figures and how they’re driving these top-end investments. Interestingly, those buyers seem to be migrating away from their typical heartland of Mayfair, Knightsbridge, and Belgravia, and opting for property in Chelsea, Notting Hill, and St. Johns Wood. They want the gardens, the space, the leafier more village-oriented spots, and this is a major trend that doesn’t look like it will reverse any time soon. The market has become propertyspecific rather than area-specific, and this is the result of trends that began at least a decade before COVID struck. What about outside of the UK – are the trends similar? Absolutely. People are taking a long, hard look at their lives and reassessing what they need
from their properties. The demand for homes in Hampshire and Wiltshire has been matched by demand in Somerset and Dorset; people want the space, the community, and they want more for their money.
like what was feared. It’s extraordinary – there are still really good deals being done in this sector, as people still see it as a fairly safe investment.
- these green, leafy areas that feature plenty of shops, independent eateries and bars have proven incredibly resilient.
When it comes to potential investments for Wider, low-built and spacious houses, especially detached family homes, have been in higher our readership, what type of real estate demand than I’ve ever seen. On the flipside, we’ve has proved popular and resilient during In terms of investment properties – what seen the classic London six-storey townhouse changes have you seen? Have, for instance, suffer, along with flats and apartments in some your clients who let properties been areas. Again, it comes down to that desire for impacted in any way? space, for gardens, and for the touch of greenery that has typified the market in these times. Rental demand is still very strong, as the rental market – especially among foreign buyers – is What about investment opportunities driven by taxation. However, the tide is showing overseas – which regions or properties are signs of turning, and a lot of investors who were showing market resilience? happy to let their properties in recent years are now looking to buy and sell property instead, and The locations that have fared well during the the same can be said for a lot of tenants, too. pandemic are those that are not reliant purely on overseas purchasers, and as such have strong We found that a lot of our clients weren’t able to domestic demand. Investors in Geneva are sell for the past five years at the prices that they snapping up property in Verbier, those in Madrid wanted, and as such, became almost accidental are investing in the Costa Brava, and the French landlords as a result of market dynamics. A lot of Riviera is benefiting from lots of Parisian interest. them have decided to sell in recent months, as this was what they always intended, yet they had no There has undoubtedly been a shift to larger choice but to wait for the right moment. properties as people seek space, especially second homes that people actually live in, rather than use With so many people now working from the pandemic, and what looks good for the as holiday homes. On top of that, we’ve also seen home, in what ways has this impacted a rise in branded residences off-plan and even site future? your commercial clients with offices and unseen. Powerful branding on a development – sites, and how has this affected that side Undoubtedly, the most resilient type of real estate such as W or Mandarin Oriental – gives buyers of your business? in these times has been houses and family homes. more confidence in their purchase, making them In London, it’s all been about houses with gardens strong investments throughout the pandemic. Logic states that this is a sector that was due a significant downturn, as there has obviously been within touching distance of the capital’s various villages. To give a prime example, we’ve seen huge Where do you see the property market this huge drop in occupied office space. While and property investment going from here there has been a dip in demand, it’s been nothing spikes in interest in Wimbledon and Richmond
“Investors in Geneva
are snapping up property in Verbier, those in Madrid are investing in the Costa Brava, and the French Riviera is benefiting from lots of Parisian interest.
”
THE REVIEW 2021 47
– have there been any opportunities being created by the pandemic?
London remains not merely an amazing place to have a home, it’s once again being seen as a great place to invest. This is especially true of our newly-moneyed friends in the Middle East and Asia, for whom London – especially a post-Brexit London – retains an amazing pull.
Well, it certainly hasn’t created what your average international investor expected after the first lockdown, which was value and distress. There’s been very little distress, and in fact, the post-Brexit What’s the one piece of advice to anyone and majority government situation we’re now looking to invest in property at the in has flooded the market with a really positive moment? sentiment. The UK is being seen once again as a stable country and a solid, safe-haven player. When you compare the other parts of the world from which we typically attract buyers – namely Hong Kong, the Middle East, and even the US – you’ll find plenty of turmoil which we simply aren’t experiencing here in Great Britain.
Property trends, as a rule, have the ability to change on a sixpence. One thing to bear in mind is that the foreign contingent of investors have their own tastes. And personally, I think that the Mayfair and Knightsbridge scene will take off again in the near future, as a result of these preferences and as a result of travel restrictions being eased.
If I had to choose, I would say that the one area due a serious uptick is the lock-up-and-leave new development – big lateral spaces in the West End or centre of town. There’s still plenty of good stock in these developments, where all the security and amenities are in place and ready to go, and where foreign buyers can spend a couple of weeks per year before shutting the door and heading elsewhere with peace of mind. Because this market sector has suffered a lot over the past year, there are bound to be plenty of good buys to look into. At the end of the day, what we’ve seen recently isn’t going to reverse in the near future. If you can invest in a property with a garden and that’s close to a park, you’re onto a winner. TR
ELYS
Words: Peter J R
T R AV E L : K U DA D O O
SIUM
Robinson
THE REVIEW 2021 53
W
as it all a dream? Some sort of abstraction from consciousness? Had delirium set in? It seemed so real. The colours so incredibly vivid, the sealife so lustrous. I felt incredibly lucid sojourning under the luminous morning sun, deep in the heart of the Indian Ocean. The heat instantly envelopes you when you’re a mere 380 miles from the equator. It was a stark contrast from the ashen winter morning that now sat before me. I needed to find the red pill and somehow get back - back to the pure shores of Kudadoo. I hadn’t departed England’s cold and frigid borders for over a year. A global pandemic had put paid to any notion of travelling to the far corners of the world for some time.
So, as our speedboat connection glided between the lagoons of Lhaviyani Atoll, the visceral culture shock was palpable. Kudadoo is a 45-minute flight from the capital, Malé. There are four international and 12 domestic airports dotted across the island nation, so you can put wheels down anywhere your captain is brave enough. On our approach to the two-hectare island, the Yamazaki designed ‘Retreat’ loomed into view. Although a great many journalists are guilty of making the exceedingly cliché Bond lair reference when faced with iconic architecture, I have a feeling Kudadoo is more likely to play host to James whilst he takes his obligatory break after all the killing for Queen and country. The Retreat is a two-story testament to sustainable design practices. Designed by renowned New York-based architectural firm Yuji Yamazaki Architecture PLC, it features a rooftop
solar panel system providing 320-kWp (kW peak) renewable energy which powers the whole island. During the day, the deliberate gaps between the cells allow for gleaming sunbeams to cut through the giant walls of cedar. It stands apart as the only fully solar-powered resort in the Maldives. As we approached the jetty, we were greeted by Miki, our Island oracle and all-around fixer extraordinaire. Each residence has its own dedicated butler, in addition to separate accommodation should you opt to bring a staff. On our brief tour of the island, I only spotted three other guests which is not surprising considering the resort only accommodates 30 people in 15 over-water residences. When the island was being developed, the decision was made to keep the same native plant palette of Coconut Palm, Sea Lettuce, Iron Wood and Beach Hibiscus. So, to preserve the flora and fauna
of the island ecosystem, all the residences were built out over the water on the sand lagoon. The exteriors of the residences themselves resemble a string of traditional wooden Machiya townhouses, and the boxed cedar in muted tones is briefly accented by the building’s simple fretwork. The interiors are sublime, airy, ordered, modernistic and filled with light. At 300 square metres, it’s a sizeable living space to retreat into without ever leaving and, though I personally find that odd, many do. Now, I should probably have mentioned earlier that after almost a decade of travel publishing and filming, whether I believe it or not, I am becoming ever more difficult to truly impress. “Jaded” seems a little harsh - let’s try “discerning” on for size instead. It’s not personal you understand; it’s not
even business. It’s the byproduct of being hosted by some biblically good hospitality establishments. So what of Kudadoo you ask? Well, it wasn’t too bad at all if you like phenomenal. I titled the feature ‘Elysium’ after all. Perhaps I should have titled it “Kudadoo, a love affair in the Indian Ocean”.
“Well, it wasn’t too bad at all if you like phenomenal.”
As we toured our residence, a bottle of Louis Roederer, Delamotte Blanc de Blanc chilled in a rather fetching ice bucket. I was enamoured by the wood and brass finishings and took great pleasure in chilling bottles from the separate and well-stocked wine fridge next to the minibar. If your palette requires something older, there is also the owner’s private cellar to choose from, which includes Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Pétrus amongst its limited and highly-rated vintages. But, in the 30° heat, I was more than happy to maintain my predilection for Taittinger Rosé and Ruinart. Kudadoo has an everything included approach. Anything, anywhere, anytime. Everything under the moon, if you will, from therapies to fine dining, water sports and beyond. The residences are, again, designed by Yuji
THE REVIEW 2021 55
Yamazaki Architecture and, as you might expect, they evoke a distinctly Japanese feel through the use of unpolished cedar wood, granite stones and a distinctly Ryokan aesthetic. All residences are surrounded by an internal walkway around the property promoting the flow of both light and air. What strikes me first is the carefully curated furniture and the marriage of light and dark wood. From the sustainable teak four-poster bed to the Tasmanian oak floors, nothing is an afterthought. All the wooden materials used in the construction originate from New Zealand, Canada and Indonesia, and have been sourced to ensure no damage to wildlife and land. The exterior roofs are made of cedar shingles with the internal roofs made of local coconut leaves in the traditional Maldivian way. In keeping with the sustainable approach, the residences are designed to promote a natural flow of air. Open the sea-facing sliding doors onto the 44 sqm terrace, and then the wall of frosted glass at the rear of the property to reveal a Zen cedar-lined indoor/outdoor bathroom. The calming breeze through the property once all doors are open is sublime, though we only realised this on our final day. What’s more, as soon as you open the sliding doors, the smart home system shuts off the air conditioning. Another big green sustainability merit.
In addition to the natural wood, you’ll find an abundance of solid, dark marble floors and andesite natural stone bathroom sinks and baths. Kudadoo certainly lives up to its eco credentials. No more so is this exemplified than by the sheer abundance of marine life that surrounds the island. Next to the considerable infinity pool, swing sofa and outdoor seating area, you’ll find a glass bottomed lower deck. It’s the perfect place to sit and spot the array of blue tangs and octopuses that appeared to favour our staircase down to the ocean floor. If I
“From the sustainable teak four-poster bed to the Tasmanian oak floors, nothing is an afterthought.”
could do nothing else, I would snorkel from morning to night. The bountiful array of corral, monochrome bannerfish, unicorn fish, buck-toothed parrotfish and occasional blacktip reef sharks remind me of Le carnaval des animaux. While I can claim to have dived in a number of different oceans, I somewhat regretfully have never secured my open water certification. I am told that there are unmissable dive sites in the Lhaviyani Atoll and one of the resorts Dive Butlers will be more than happy to create a bespoke schedule for you to see them all. Having spent the bulk of the afternoon peacefully listing across the pool, glass in hand, on what I can only describe as a floating day bed, it was time to visit The Retreat’s Sulha spa.You’ll find two double treatment rooms, each with an outdoor bath on a private sundeck overlooking the open ocean. If you prefer, your treatments can be arranged in-room or, as part of the AAA approach, booked on the beach. I am perhaps a little too reserved for a public beach-side massage. I say public; if you were to spot more than two people milling around the island that connects the residences and Retreat, I would be impressed. Having adorned signature Kudadoo robes, we ascended the cathedrallike stairs to the second floor of The Retreat.
“The bountiful array of corral, monochrome bannerfish, unicorn fish, buck-toothed parrotfish and occasional blacktip reef sharks remind me of Le carnaval des animaux.”
THE REVIEW 2021 57
“Kudadoo had managed to achieve something that usually takes me a matter of days. Real peace and tranquility. A calmed mind, if you will.” Here, you’ll be seated with a cup of hot tea and given a moment to contemplate and compose yourself under the Lunaria seed style light fixtures that sway gently in the breeze. I highly recommend visiting the Lonu Cave, a Himalayan salt stone or Halotherapy room with 1,000-year-old stones that are renowned for decreasing allergy symptoms, improving sleep and detoxifying the lymphatic systems. I opted for the Touched by the Ocean massage, a 75-minute signature treatment that works heated herbal poultices along the body. The masseuse then adds super-hydrating organic body balm and, within minutes, I am asleep. I’m not sure whether spa etiquette dictates that I should be present in mind and body, but I am notorious for clocking off during treatments. I remember drifting off in a Tibetan singing bowl workshop in Thailand, much to my chagrin. That being said, the instruction was to lay on the floor and take in the deeply calming sounds. The teacher even highlighted my slumber as the highest honour for a practitioner. We hear what we want to hear. Kudadoo also offers a Sound Shower which helps the listener access their theta brainwave state. At some point during the massage it felt as though the room was underwater - I was lucid but still sleeping as a wall of water reminiscent of The Abyss filled the room, sideways. If you think that sounds
sectionable, imagine what the therapist thought when I said it out loud. Once again, all treatments can be booked through your butler and are available morning, noon and night. Feeling restored and in a deep state of calm, I walked back to my residence through the island with its beach hibiscus, screwpine and palm tree lined walkways as the sun began to set. I perched on the edge of the terrace, legs swinging in the breeze with nothing more than the ocean soundtrack and a sunset reminiscent of Monet’s San Giorgio Maggiore by Twilight. All was right in my small microcosm of the world. I realised that in less than 12 hours, Kudadoo had managed to achieve something that usually takes me a matter of days. Real peace and tranquility. A calmed mind, if you will.
noting that not one pair of loafers or trousers were worn during the entirety of the stay. Air conditioned or otherwise, there would be no smart dining attire for me on this trip despite packing to the contrary. It’s a long way to bring a linen jacket only to have it air in the wardrobe for a week.
To my surprise, upon arriving at the restaurant, we were joined by some fellow dinner guests who had swapped the rarefied comfort of their residences for the company of sommelier Ilyas. The seasoned veteran will happily take you on a tour of the cellar which features over 80 labels and the owner’s private collection, all with a Wine Spectator rating of 88 or above. Personally, I couldn’t stay out of the adjacent cheese room. I haven’t honestly encountered anything like it since visiting the Chedi in Andermatt. The ‘Cheese Cave’ has 30 varieties of cheese in addition All that remained of the evening was to decide to a charcuterie that’s touched by the hands of god. It includes Saveurs de Maquis, Olivet where to dine. Would we lock ourselves away au poivre, a whole Pata Negra ham, pistachio in the residence and dine on the terrace Mortadella and more kinds of chorizo than or venture out to The Retreat? As a boardcertified foodie, there was no chance I would I was able to fit into my overly greedy face. Thank god for all the swimming and daily be able to leave the resort’s cheese cave and trips to the gym. wine cellar unbothered for even one night. So, I quickly donned the only acceptable In addition to the resort’s foodie highlights, outfit in 30°, a cashmere jumper and shorts, Kudadoo offers an off-plan dining approach. and headed out into the night. It’s worth
If you’ve a favourite dish or even an anally retentive diet plan, the kitchen team will be happy to oblige. However, the dining menu is sublime, so I encourage you to try the local dishes alongside the more traditional western options. I opted for sashimi and the scallop ceviche to start. Unless you are willing to get out there and catch your own fish at dawn, you won’t find fresher, I assure you. Somewhat uncharacteristically for me, I opted for the same dish twice during my stay. The Maldivian Wahoo fish curry was just that good, and I was raised with a penchant for all things spiced so I can safely say that I should know. Try the Nasi Goreng, Singaporean Chilli Mud Crab, Braised Wagyu Beef Cheek Tortellini, Tiger Prawn Toast and the Beef Tartare. Christ, just try it all and book a detox when you get back, okay? Guests can also use all the facilities at nearby sister resort Hurawalhi, including dining in its 5.8 Undersea Restaurant and Kashibo with its authentic, Asian-inspired dishes. With some fellow diners now in tow, we agreed to a digestif on the terrace by the Retreat’s bar. Cue the Hibiki and a cigar from the humidor. By this point, I wanted for nothing.. After a hard night’s gorging (lets call it what it was) on fine cuisine, I woke early to catch the sunrise over the Indian ocean, fresh coffee in hand. I had decided to maintain my workout plan during the trip, so I made my way to the resort’s gym, complete with a sea view, yoga instructor, personal trainer and life coach. I am not sure what the life coach might have been able to accomplish in the short time I was there, but next time I might well let them try, just to test their credentials. My cooldown was a morning beach walk around the small island’s pure shores. I spotted baby reef sharks in the shallows chasing bait fish as
the local grey heron stalked on, hoping for an easy meal. When I arrived back at the walkway to the residences, I could see a small army of staff waiting patiently outside the villa. I had thought that my partner might awake at the agreed time for breakfast, but no such luck. I smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, Miki, don’t you have a key?” But our unwaveringly diligent butler would never enter the room without being invited in, even when opening the door for us. Now, readers, I appreciate that the floating breakfast might have become somewhat of a social media novelty, but to be brutally honest, I couldn’t care less about your thinly veiled disdain. I have never personally had breakfast ‘afloat’. What arrived that morning was a incredible cacophony of delicious honey
mango, lime mascarpone smoothie bowls, pancakes, waffles, french toast, croissants, more raiding of the cheese cellar, smashed avocado, a croque madame, eggs benedict and a chorizo de rioja omelet. I had put in two hours at the gym to justify the magnificent, brunch-sized meal before me and I intended to dine and then lay motionless next to the pool for the remainder of the day. Or at least until 3pm, when we met Alex from the dive team and headed out to Kuredu Caves to spot sea turtles. As I said before, If nothing else, I could spend all day snorkelling and diving in these abundant waters. Alex, our dive leader, was originally from Bern and had started her diving career in Southeast Asia. As the slow moving current took us along the shoreline, our boat followed as Alex pointed out a number of sea turtles coming up for air. Kuredu Caves is also known as ‘Turtle Airport’; a series of overhangs starting at eight metres and dropping down to 20 metres make it perfect for spotting porcupine fish, moray eels, scorpion fish and lion fish. We even tried a little free diving, with Alex flexing her lung capacity as she dove down below the overhang. Going beneath the waves is a must at Kudadoo - the Lhaviyani atoll is renowned for its incredible snorkelling and diving, and is known to have some of the best dive spots in the Maldives. As usual, having spent most of the day in the water, I had entirely forgotten to top up my sunscreen, so the genuinely caring and attentive staff at the resort spa covered me in an aloe vera wrap before my massage. Did you even really travel if you didn’t come back a little burnt? Feeling good is real wealth. Looking good is new money.
THE REVIEW 2021 59
Arriving back at the residence to change for dinner, the incredible Miki and her team had prepared a beautiful bubble bath complete with floral arrangements and an array of nibbles. Cured fois gras, date purée, pickled peach and pink pepper were served alongside puffed choux with caramelised onion and chive mousse, toasted almond and beef bresaola. My continued tip of the cap to Executive Chef Edouard and Executive Sous Chef Harshal. Later that evening, having joined management team Bradley Calder and his wife Agnieszka, we were treated to a hearty tandoori grill on the restaurant’s terrace overlooking the house reef. I can tell you that the pork chops were incredible and the wine that Brad was choosing was well matched. But, after several glasses, I can tell you little else; I was clearly overserved. Maldivian hospitality is well known. The next morning was our final day on the island and perhaps the busiest yet. We had planned to take the Kudadoo mini catamaran sailing, but a lack of wind had put paid to any notions of gliding across the open ocean. Our planned destination was a remote sandbank near the sister resort, aptly named Dream Island. I suggested instead that we might Jet Ski there. Miki was all too happy to oblige and made the necessary arrangements in minutes. Soon after, we were flying across
the water at mach 10 trying to keep up with our guide. Dream Island is as you might expect, a beautifully desolate and romantic sand bar about half a mile off shore of Hurawalhi. By this point I was in full nirvana mode; clothes were a distant memory save for a rather effeminate sun hat and SALT sunglasses. We strolled the bar’s shoreline, taking the opportunity to bask in the sheer unbridled escapism of it all. Of the many Maldivian memories now ingrained in my consciousness, the views out to the horizon from this deserted, solitary island are some of my fondest. It’s as close as I was going to get to a Robinson Crusoe moment this year. I needn’t collect driftwood and fishing nets to ensure sustenance though. The sand bar’s beach cabana was fully stocked with a bottle of chilled Taittinger, fresh fruit and macarons. I know, macarons on a desert island - who goes anywhere without a pastry chef.? After a few hours of hermited bliss, we were collected by Taichi, Fadda, Rastey, Viju and Alibaba from the watersports team. The Maldives is one of the few places you can visit and get an aerial view of your immediate destination whilst on your arrival flight. You see the clearest blue water, occasionally populated by a desert island or string of villas extending out into the ocean. So what better way to truly appreciate the elysian
surroundings than by paragliding far above the ocean? The cool sea breeze hits you as you rise higher and higher and the rich tapestry of colour unfolds beneath you. You’ll spot dolphins and, if you’ve a keen eye, you might even be lucky enough to spot a manta ray, though these can very occasionally be seen from the residences, I am told. With the rest of the afternoon to kill, we spent the day taking in the views from the lower sun deck, stopping only to cool off and snorkel. I was starting to make my peace with spotting the occasional shark out of the corner of my eye whilst out in the water. If you dive regularly I suppose it’s commonplace, but it still raised my blood pressure when I tried to get closer. As the light began to fade, all that remained was to take supper on the beach. What an elegant setting, I thought, as I reached for my camera yet again. An array of multilevelled tea lights and lanterns were set up to illuminate the dining spot. This was a well choreographed ballet for the staff, I could tell. I imagine many a proposal has been or would be made from this shoreline. To say it was romantic is an insult to the combined works of Jane Austen - It was spellbinding. Any amorous thoughts were quickly extinguished by grilled octopus with smoked eggplant
“By this point I was in full nirvana mode; clothes were a distant memory save for a rather effeminate sun hat”
confit, pork belly, chorizo and watercress alongside crab cakes. This was followed by the ahi tuna burger and double-cooked pork belly. If there was even an inch of room, it was subsumed by the ricotta cheese cake, mango glaze and ice cream. Had we spent any longer on the island, I am quite sure I would have sunk. Kudadoo is a resort that’s setting a new
“anything, anywhere, anytime”
standard for modern, sustainable luxury. From the fine dining to the unspoilt surroundings, the resorts “anything, anywhere, anytime” approach is a market-leading breath of fresh air. It’s arguably setting the benchmark for all to follow. In a region sometimes too preoccupied with increased footfall, Kudadoo treads very lightly - barefoot luxury at its finest. TR
For further information, visit: www.kudadoo.com or call +960 662 2000 THE REVIEW 2021 61
I N T E RV I E W : D R T U N C T I RYA K I
inprofile
Dr Tunc Tiryaki is one of the world’s most preeminent surgeons specialising in pioneering techniques, such as the mini and micro facelift and regenerative cell treatments that will leave you looking luminous post-lockdown. He’s also known for his aesthetic surgery procedures, as well as stem-cell assisted mini facelifts, producing a young-looking and non-operated appearance. Dr Tunc is currently based at the Cadogan Clinic, Sloane Street, where he’s a specialist consultant. Words: John Sterling
THE REVIEW 2021 131
You graduated from Istanbul University in 1994, before working as a visiting surgeon at the plastic surgery department at the University of New York. Can you tell us how your formative years shaped your interest in stem cell therapies? The simple answer is that it’s a family business. My father is a professor of molecular biology and biophysics. When I became a young consultant for plastic surgery, I had the opportunity and privilege to work together with his teams at Istanbul University. That is why we became one of the first teams to start using autologous fibroblasts – a patient’s own skin cells – for regenerative purposes back in 2003. Once we were in the field, we pioneered things again in 2009, using fat derived stem cells for reconstructive surgery. Who are the best candidates for stem-cell assisted facelifts? Everybody over the age of 40 can be a good candidate for Stem-Cell Assisted Facelifts. How long would you expect the results to last? We know that, volume-wise, we’ll have 50% of tissue remaining for the rest of the patient’s lift. That alone is a great thing. But furthermore, we expect the face and skin to continuously get better in the months after that surgery. That means we’re not only reversing ageing, but slowing down, perhaps even preventing, the ageing process. What are the operating and recovery times of the mini facelift? Is this a same day operation? It is a same day operation, yes, and we’re able to send the patients home the same day too. We remove the drains the next day and get rid of all the dressing on the second day, when the patients can also take a full shower and wash their face and hair. That said, I wouldn’t advise agreeing to a social event until 2 weeks post-op.
What should a consultation patient expect when coming to your office for the first time? I want to always make sure the patient has a clear understanding of the facial ageing process, and all the options to prevent and reverse this process. That’s why, after listening to my patients and examining their faces, I explain all about the facial ageing process and why this occurs. Then we sit down and discuss their specific needs, all the options, along with their pros and
“I want to always make sure the patient has a clear understanding of the facial ageing process, and all the options to prevent and reverse this process.” cons. I always share examples of these options also. Finally, we decide together the best option for them right now – and also what we need to do in the coming years. Where do you see stem cell therapies going in next 10 years? Looking to the future, what are you most excited about? Regenerative medicine, in general, is the future. We’re learning how to get the most natural outcomes from our procedures, and naturally the best way is to use our own cells to keep ourselves young and healthy.
THE REVIEW 2021 67
What do you recommend as the best strategy for youth preservation or age maintenance?
abdominoplasty procedure works? And how you were able to reduce the recovery period and suprapubic scarring?
Lifestyle is extremely important. Training, non-smoking and other usual precautions. The second important thing is our hormone levels. I’m a great fan of HRT [hormone replacement therapy] for post-menopause. Then comes the care of your body, face and skin. Here, we have to think of ageing as a disease which can be slowed down, prevented, and even cured. This century’s plastic surgical interventions are not intended to change people – just the opposite, to keep them unchanged, even by the ageing process. Using cutting-edge techniques like mini-lifting and your own stem cells are our latest weapons in this fight.
Traditional abdominoplasty operations usually have three problems. First, they’re very long operations, usually over 3 hours. Second, the post-op period is very painful. And finally, the aesthetic result is not aesthetic at all: you have a flat abdomen, but not the natural curves of a fit and attractive belly.
Are you able to operate for clients privately in their own private medical facilities? I prefer to do the operations at our facility, since the preoperative preparation and postoperative care are inseparable parts of a successful and safe patient journey. Could you briefly explain how the inverse
Inverse abdominoplasty is solving all of them, reducing the operating time to an hour and a half, a totally painless post-op period due to new intraoperative numbing techniques, and most importantly we can achieve a very attractive six-pack belly due to the special techniques we described. All in all, in just one week’s time the patient is expected to be able to drive and slowly but surely go back to work. Are your stem cell treatments seeing particularly large uptake in those looking to treat hair loss and fragility? That is not my area of expertise, even though a lot of hair surgeons are successfully using stem cells.
We understand you partake in volunteer missions to countries including Syria, Sudan and Georgia, as well as leading rescue missions during the 1999 and 2011 earthquakes in Turkey? Yes, I used to volunteer missions even back when I was a resident, with Interplast Society, where we were treating children with cleft lip and palate. Since 2014, I’ve been the chair of the humanitarian programs of our world society, the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, where we did lead quite important missions to war zones and disaster areas. What is coming up on the horizon in the field of cosmetic and plastic surgery? Are there any new procedures or products to watch out for? I believe the regenerative revolution in aesthetic medicine has not yet revealed itself. We will hear more and more of stem cell treatments, but one more thing coming is the use of exosomes, which are the active messenger particles with which the stem cells do their regenerative work. These will probably be available for the market in the next couple of years.
For further details visit: www.tunctiryaki.co.uk
TR
Bankers, blockchain and hacking the art market An interview with Lincoln Townley Words: Ben Mitrofan-Norris
I N T E RV I E W : R I V E R H AW K I N S - H U M E N
NOT LINCOLN TOWNLEY
THE REVIEW 2021 73
Confrontational, disruptive, yet unmissable, Lincoln Townley’s paintings have placed him firmly at the front and centre of the British contemporary art scene for the past ten years.
that art creates. My work tends to be very visceral - it often features screaming heads, skulls, and elements of horror. It’s hard to look at, but it gets its message across.
Often outspoken when it comes to cryptocurrency and synonymous with high society and celebrity collector’s, Townley is no stranger to the world of money and its symbiotic relationship with art. His latest series of paintings – 100 Bankers – will feature at 2022’s Venice Biennale. It sees the artist delving into the world of international banking corporations, albeit via a collection of visceral portraits reminiscent of Francis Bacon’s Screaming Popes. Despite the often challenging nature of the portraits, gathered together they unmistakably display the confidence and vision of a unique artist at the peak of his powers.
Different things are created in different times for different reasons. Why is 100 Bankers so pertinent to 2020/21?
We caught up with Townley for a mid-morning chat to discuss the series, and despite the often dark and grotesque nature of his paintings, he is clearly in an affable and talkative mood. Lockdown has suited the artist, whose online savvy has seen his reach and sales figures rise as a result of the restrictions. The art world is changing fast, according to Townley, and he’s determined to place himself firmly on the cusp of its evolution. You’ve described your new collection, 100 Bankers, as exposing ‘the acceptable face of greed’ – what are you trying to unmask and why is it so important? Actually, I don’t see this collection, or the idea behind it, as controversial as many people seem to. In fact, I have an absolute fascination with greed, and this series is about seeing the banking community as one which thrives on greed and manipulation. I created one hundred portraits of banker’s heads, each one representing the world’s top banks, and the notion was to put a face to something that can’t be easily explained. Anyone who knows the banking system recognises what a labyrinth it is, and how traditional banking has this way of completely manipulating people without ever really letting them see the full picture. At the end of the day, this question is best answered by seeing the paintings themselves, and getting the impact
More than ever, we recognise that banks are so greedy, and they go to such an extreme when it comes to manipulating the whole of the human race. However, it’s all done so simply, and they manage to do it while hiding in plain sight. My
“Societal conditioning of what a man is considered to be teaches us to reject what has been feminised, including vital emotions, such as empathy, compassion and vulnerability.” aim with this series was to manipulate the image from that concept and that feeling – that’s why the paintings are what many people would consider horrific. We’re actually going to be showing this series at next year’s Biennale. The show will be set up with one side of the exhibition showing the paintings mounted on a wall, and the other side will feature a digital representation of them – the paintings as NFTs. People will be able to view the paintings with AR technology, blurring the lines between the two. Why do you think people are so oblivious – or indifferent – to the way banks get away with this? How do banks keep the wool pulled over people’s eyes?
LINCOLN TOWNLEY AFTER A STRAY CROW MADE ITS WAY INTO THE STUDIO
THE REVIEW 2021 75
RISHI SUNAK PRESENTS THE NIGHTLY CORONAVIRUS BRIEFING
Because people are preoccupied with survival. They don’t have the luxury of being able to slow down. What does this say about governments who quite evidently protect the banking industry? Be frank, what’s going on? The divide between the rich and the poor is the most extreme it has ever been, and this isn’t going to change any time soon. What’s more, those at the top – the bankers, the politicians, and the super-rich like Bezos and Musk – have absolute influence over people. They’re not going to act against their own interests, and they’re always going to do what they need to do to protect this status quo. Elon Musk, for example, has been creating his own NFTs. His branding is so powerful that people look at him, see that he’s a billionaire, and decide to buy into whatever he’s selling. Ultimately, people need to do what they’re doing to survive, and that means that most people aren’t going to ask too many questions, and those at the top aren’t going to start being more transparent. How does your fascination with these subjects feed into your approach to working? There’s a huge amount of opportunity for artists when it comes to blockchain – I’m working at the moment to launch a new project, Cryptoartists. I want to open up a democratic network for artists, who will be free to upload any images they’re creating digitally, and market and sell them via the blockchain. It’ll allow artists to reach a global audience instantly, and sell their work for a fair price. It’s about hacking into a whole new approach to buying and selling art, as the traditional model just isn’t working anymore. How does this body of work compare to others? This is a much more personal collection. They’re smaller portraits, but gathered together, they make a much more powerful impact.
When you look at all these faces together, there’s a personal connection – my other works, which tend to be much larger, have more of a distance about them. Even though they’re not self-portraits by any means, there’s a reflective quality to 100 Bankers. They have an essence of myself in them, they reflect my fascinations. What’s the response been like to this work? Have there been any eyebrows raised from those in the banking industry? It’s astonishing. The faces of the hundred bankers we’ve created have been made into NFTs, and we’ve just sold ten of the NFTs to a buyer in Singapore, who works in a financial institution. I was talking on Instagram a while ago about selling the art in NFT form, and pretty quickly I started hearing from people in the world of finance asking if I could represent them. There’s a real irony to this – we’ve digitally manipulated these portraits, turning them into their own assets, and they’re being sold to people in financial institutions. These aren’t paintings you can hang on the wall – there’s nothing tangible about them. They’re images in JPEG form that I’ve made on my iPad. Incredible. So, the very people you’re calling out might be the ones who typically buy your artwork? How does that feel? They are often literally the same people. Greed is a remarkable energy and an incredible driving force. I actually don’t see it as a negative energy, and I can’t get away from the fact that the people who buy my work are those who typically enjoy what we regard as greed. I sometimes feel that when my clients buy these smaller pieces, it’s as if they’re looking in a mirror. One of them sent me a selfie with one of these paintings in the background – that says it all! Aside from your work, how has lockdown been for you?
Very, very interesting. When the first lockdown started, I had a show booked in Los Angeles that we’d done a lot of work preparing for, and as soon as it was clear that it wasn’t going ahead, we had to be agile and find a way to sell the works online. I’ve always been very into using social media and various digital platforms, but last year proved that things had to be taken further. I spent the first three months creating a new type of digital gallery, and it garnered a huge amount of interest. The main thing I noticed was that I could just get more done. People suddenly had a lot more free time, and with that came more focus and an essence of survivalism. Frankly, I’m not a hugely social person anyway, so from my personal point of view, I was perfectly happy being at home. It raised plenty of opportunities, it helped me grow, and I’ve been content with it. The impact of lockdown on the world of art hasn’t received much press. How does it look from the inside? Firstly, I’m not what you would call an ‘arty’ person. I deal with creating my own art world, as there’s a lot of hostility towards artists who buck the trend, and very little support for those outside the traditional model. There’s no doubt that galleries have struggled, as nobody has been walking into them and buying art. However, in these situations you’ve got to be agile. I’ve found that my collector base has doubled throughout lockdown, and that’s come about as a result of being digitally imprisoned. In fact, my last show was at the Saatchi in October, between the lockdowns. Even then, more of my work sold online rather than via collectors coming into the gallery to see the work. This really made me think: why not channel the energy that goes into making these shows into a digital space, where things like cryptocurrencies can be embraced? I’ve managed to move forwards by embracing digital art, while many traditionalists have really struggled finding their motivation during this period. Art is a very financial world, and it’s driven by
THE REVIEW 2021 77
auctioneers who are only interested in money, and motivated by artists who want to sell their work. I decided a long time ago that I want to market my own work, deal directly with my collectors, and get out of that stuffy world of auction houses and the traditional system.
assets that collectors can hold in a digital wallet, and that can be traded. It really opens up a bigger world for artists and represents a huge opportunity. I honestly believe that if people embrace these new technologies and run with them, they’re going to get something from them.
You’ve been involved in cryptocurrencies for a number of years – but it sounds like lockdown has forced you to be more creative with digital currencies and technology to run your business and sell your work. How has this been, and has it changed your opinion on more traditional ways of reaching people and doing business?
It’s an interesting time for crypto, and the market has boomed primarily as a result of more people spending time online this year than ever before. There’s still a lot of naivety surrounding it, though, and that’s something I’m tackling in the art world. For example, I know that a lot of my audience uses crypto, but when I advertise a work for three Bitcoin, for example, there are always people outside of the crypto scene pushing me to tell them what it’s ‘actually’ worth. It’s worth three Bitcoin! We’re right at the very beginning of this new approach to finance, but there’s still a huge
I’m utterly fascinated by cryptocurrencies. It’s partly why I’ve been so keen to combine art with NFTs – it’s exciting to be able to create
amount of resistance from the banks, as crypto is unregulated, and this translates to the public. I believe it’s a matter of branding. As soon as the retailers start accepting crypto, and you have some trusted institution like Marks and Spencer saying it’s okay, people’s minds will change overnight. The world is changing faster than ever – do you already have inspiration for your next work? My next collection will be purely digital. It will be a journey of my ten years in the art world, from 2012 to 2022, and will cover all of my collections, manifested into a digital offering. It will be solely available to my collector base, so they won’t just be buying the work – they’ll be buying into the journey.
For further details please visit: lincolntownley.com
TR
INVITATION TO CONSIGN AMERICAN ART To find out more about our upcoming auctions or to inquire about a potential consignment, please visit our department page or reach out to our specialist William Haydock. CONTACT
•
William Haydock
•
whaydock@christies.com
•
+1 212 707 5938
FREDERIC REMINGTON (1861-1909) The Broncho Buster, modeled in 1895; cast in 1906 bronze with brownish-black patina 22 ½ in. (57.2 cm.) high Estimate: $150,000�250,000 Sold for: $399,000 American Art, New York, 20 November 2019
Auction | Private Sales | christies.com Sold prices include buyer’s premium; for full details see christies.com Please note that we will treat your data in accordance with our Privacy Notice, which you can see at christies.com/privacy Christie’s Inc. License #1213717
THE NEW NORMAL Words: Aaron Edgeworth
Photography: Roger Chan
‘If so-and-so jumped off a cliff, would you as well?’ My mother’s words were often heard by me when proffering some excuse for some misdeed or another. I suspect it was also a phrase used in R&D departments across the automotive world when Porsche first broke cover on the Cayenne, some 20 years ago. By the year end, we will have both a raging bull and a prancing horse on the bonnet of an SUV. Looks like everyone adopted lemming syndrome and took the plunge off that cliff.
AU T O M O T I V E : L A M B O R G H I N I U R U S
THE REVIEW 2021 83
To that end, I have in my possession for the next week, the Lamborghini Urus – not the brand’s first foray into the segment. For seven glorious years, the tractor boys of Sant’Agata shoehorned the Countach’s V12 into a front engine behemoth, the LM002. That was a car that was so unmistakably Lamborghini, it could probably have done away with any badges, and not one person would have been in doubt as to what it was. With their return marque, the Urus, I would wager that no one is in doubt as to what it is either. Design department: tick. There is sometimes a theme in automotive tests, where, for want of entertainment, a concept is
created, one that rarely showcases any usable information on the car in question. ‘We hooked a caravan to the Urus and entered the Harewood Hillclimb’. I mean, what in the hell is that telling the intended purchaser? Unless it’s an Airstream, and the hill climb is actually the Tete de Chien, it’s normally well wide of the mark. So, a week of the mundane beckons. Because if it doesn’t do the mundane well, then surely, it’s not replacing the weekend bull or horse. Anyway, stylistically – as mentioned before, to my eyes, it is without doubt a Lamborghini product. Translating that DNA into a product that shares
much across the VAG machine is no easy task. Many would say that the side-by-side models of various brands represent nothing more than more expensive clothing than the next. If the SUV is, say, a do everything jacket, what benefit is really seen in buying Moncler over Matalan? That argument does a disservice to how hard each marque goes to maintaining the identity, not only from an aesthetic point of view, but also in the dynamic makeup of the cars, despite sharing drivetrains, for example. Last issue I sampled Bentley’s wonderful new Bentayga, a car sharing the luxury SUV space with the Urus. They could not be more different. Step into an Audi RSQ8, different again.
“...if it mundane it’s not weekend
Now, I’m a huge fanboy of the brand. The Murcielago followed Diablo that followed Countach on my childhood bedroom wall. Were it not for an ‘adult’ relationship and the rolled eyes of my girlfriend, the Aventador would have no doubt followed suit. Live, laugh, love, indeed. So, it took fair effort to prise the rose-tinted spectacles from my wide eyes. Eyewear downed, the Urus retains the same jutting angular nose that we see across that Lamborghini range, and one that goes far to indicate heritage and intent. A high waistline and tapering roof add to the aggressive profile, continuing the two-thirds body, one-third window ratio seen in their sports cars. Add
swollen hips housing gargantuan rims and the pomp is turned up to 11, maybe even 12. Inside, the theatrical nature that one desires from a Lamborghini continues, and retains enough individuality that one is conscious that this is a standalone product, very much cutting its own cloth. The fighter jet-inspired, red metal flap housing the start button adds to this theatre. In configured state, the example supplied made the most of creating an internal environment that made for a spectacular place to spend time. Four seat configuration does reinforce the super SUV image and is the option that I would select. Front and rear cloaked in glossy
carbon fibre and a rather natty honeycomb stitching pattern create an ambience that hugs like a sports car would, but sat higher. With a large panoramic glass roof, it is by no means stifling, and many hours could happily pass before any discomfort or discontent set in. The best aspects of the group are used in that the infotainment is lifted from Audi and, really, is the benchmark for this generation of touch screen technology. A secondary screen that controls the climate and seat functionality works far better than when I first encountered the system in the current generation of Audi A7. The graphics remain bright, even in sunshine, and one is able to access functions easily and a
t doesn’t do the well, then surely, t replacing the d bull or horse.”
THE REVIEW 2021 85
satisfactory haptic response lets you know that it’s properly selected. Apple CarPlay makes for easy connectivity for music, messaging and the pretty standardised use of traffic application, Waze. Belt fastened, tumescence quelled, I lift the flap, depress the brake pedal and fire the start button. Guttural. Barking. Snarling. Cold starts are a joyous thing. As the heat cycle finishes and the revs slow to a trundle, a bassey tone takes over. One my girlfriend referred to as “like a tractor”. If only she knew. Added to the poster issues, this car makes me question a lot more than its dynamic ability. Though I digress. The car holds six preconfigured modes, selected through the ‘Tamburo’. This is a solid, tactile selector that engages with a satisfying clunk, and allows for modes Street, Sport and Corsa. Then off-road modes for sand, gravel and snow. A mirrored selector named ‘EGO’ allows for individual settings for drivetrain, steering and suspension; three modes for each. Street is the standard Tamburo setting, Sport opens the pipes somewhat and adds to the general ‘lol’ factor by about 873%. Corsa is ludicrous. In several ways. First gear is so long that, if sat in traffic, it’s loud and burns fuel like the jet fighter it emulates. Also, ‘Race’ in an SUV would seem somewhat of an anathema.
ELECTRIC PANORAMIC ROOF
BANG & OLUFSEN ADVANCED 3D HIFI
Essential Options FOUR SEAT CONFIGURATION
AKRAPOVIC EXHAUST
However – and this is the true attraction of the car – who cares? Really, who the fuck cares? It is hilarious. When in space to open it up, throttle response is razor sharp and the noise this thing creates is another level. ANOTHER LEVEL. Whoosh, bang, crack, pop. Laugh. Repeat ad infinitum. It’s brilliant, and exactly the visceral experience I want – nay, demand – from the car. Exhaust note is determined by engine speed, so as you get hyped, as does the car, creating an ever-revolving circle of amusement. It isn’t the most usable setting, but you have the others for that. God be damned if at least once a journey, let alone once a day, did I find myself sneaking the selector down two pulls, popping both front windows down and hunting tunnels like they were duck on 1 September. Then there’s the speed. Ohhhhh, the speed. A claimed 3.6 second sprint to 62 feels every bit that. No, it feels faster. In a car this size it feels hyperspeed. The drivetrain in this guise equates to 650hp and 850Nm or torque. Turned up to 12, as I said. Christ, maybe that’s actually 13? Gears are selected easily through rigid and well-formed paddles. They sit at good distance and provide good substance below the fingers allowing engagement. The eight-speed box is mated to a torque convertor developed specifically for the model to guarantee engine response. The familiar twin scroll turbo V8
plant runs those turbos side by side to reduce lag even further. Two separate exhaust flows further complement the engine by eliminating cross interference. The engine is sat low in the car allowing for a good centre of gravity. Occupants are kept very much straight and true by the use of torque vectoring technology, which translates to higher agility through less steering effort. Active torque vectoring through the rear differential means that power is instantly and individually sent to each wheel for supreme traction in all modes and road conditions. Roll is minimal, but in Strada, the chassis and damping are surprisingly compliant, without giving a soggy feel. The Urus is not short of technology. Rear steering that first premiered in the Aventador S, aids manoeuvrability by effectively shortening the wheelbase by up to 600mm, which also aids stability across the speed range. This all makes for strong nose feel and good corner speed. It isn’t rock-solid concrete, but it isn’t a race car. It’s a usable, comfortable, relatively practical car. That just so happens to possess a second, angrier face. Cylinder shut down adds to the practicality element and I managed to see 24mpg on a longish motorway run. An 85-litre tank means that driven vaguely respectably, fair distances can be covered, and
with an easily accessible 616 litres of load space, a weekend in the Alps wouldn’t be a chore. The adaptive air suspension that converts those Tamburo settings and electromechanical active roll stabilisation, a first in a Lamborghini, flattens road surfaces with huge effectiveness. The snow setting further convinces you of that Alpine journey. Bringing you to a stop are carbon ceramic discs, the front, all 440mm
“ Then there’s the speed. Ohhhhh the speed. ” of them are a thing to behold in themselves. Braking power in the Urus is mega. Though pedal feel can require a little adjustment, as can often be the case with ceramics. Housing those serving platters of discs are a range of alloy wheel options, ranging from the large 21 inch to the huge 23 – the largest available in the segment.
Hooliganism and hilarity aside for a moment – what the car actually does very well is wear each of its hats with aplomb. As described, should one want to decimate a B road, and fill the air with the sounds of a military tattoo, that’s the flick of a button. However, should you need to pop the kids and dog into the rear, fill the boot up with the accoutrements of daily life and pootle down to the shops, again that’s achieved with minimal issue. My own puppy was as impressed as I was – and judging by her behaviour since, a little annoyed at me for not owning one. It’s testament to how well Lamborghini has done, that the sheer breadth of ability is quite outstanding. I think it would take a better driver than yours truly to draw out major criticism from the chassis or dynamism of the car. I would add that it would genuinely surprise me if that was an issue levelled at the Urus. It’s an SUV after all, and to expect it to perform a la Huracan or Aventador would be folly indeed. But it achieves a lot of what those two cars offer, whilst bringing so much more to the party. I mean, you can bring two more people home from that party for a start. As a complete package that can be used as an accessible daily driver, whilst bringing the brand to a whole new demographic of buyer, it takes some beating. On the road, it has immense presence, but can be enjoyed with no more
THE REVIEW 2021 87
difficulty than a runamill Volkswagen Golf. As one samples through the various modes, the car comes alive under you, and dynamically provides more than enough response and direction for a lot of fun to be had where the road and visibility allows. The use of electronic systems that could be seen as nanny aids in a sports car, only help to create a product that can satisfy and secure the occupants in such a solid way. It is by no means small, with the aforementioned hips looming large in one’s side mirrors. Again, however, this only seems to add to the event that driving it inevitably becomes. Lamborghini have performed admirably in retaining their brand identity in a product that, at first glance, would seem out of their wheelhouse. The Urus retains enough of that DNA to bring a smile to one’s face and an increase to one’s heart rate. It says much about what they have achieved that I do feel they could have shoehorned their V12 into it, charged double what they do, and they would still have sold the number that they have. I guess that is the real pull of the brand. That despite German
parentage and restraint, the team at Sant’Agata have still been given enough free reign to make things we don’t need, but want so, so much. It is well made; it doesn’t have glitches. Not once in the week I had the car did anything go wrong. The leather, the carbon fibre, switchgear, and touchpoints, all are made with purpose and retain a tactility and style that is befitting the brand. I found myself reaching for the keys for the most pedestrian of tasks. Those where being a pedestrian probably would have made more sense. It allowed me to turn the everyday into what a day. And it did it well. Shopping, the dog walks, finding a reason to take the long route to buy stamps. All were completed with a maniacal grin, and each journey ended with me looking back at the parked car. Always a good sign. Ask me for a gripe. Go on, I have one ready, specially. I didn’t like the steering wheel. It reminded me too much of the wheel seen in the Audi range. That’s it. I have tried for a good long while to think of the negatives associated
with the car and it’s a difficult thing to do. Any issues with the car supplied came down to simple differences as to what I would or would not have specified from the option sheet. But it would still be an Urus. Many may say that it’s a bit of a sledgehammer to crack the daily driver nut. It’s not. It is bringing Thor’s hammer to crack the nut. But – and here’s the thing – if your end result is to crack a nut, why not do it in the most enjoyable way possible? TR
Specifications PRICE: £187.890 ENGINE: V8 Biturbo TOP SPEED: 305 km/h LENGTH/WIDTH/HEIGHT: 5112 L, 2016 W,1638 H. WEIGHT: 2,200 kg CAPACITY: 5 BRAKES: Carbon Ceramic GEARBOX: 8-speed automatic
I N T E RV I E W : T H E M O D E R N B U T L E R
in profile
From the everday family needs to world travel, real estate, entertainment planning and beyond. When your holdings and interests are a global affair, you need a management team that are beyond reproach. We sit down with Managing Partner & Estate Management Specialist Mario Seiler from The Modern Butler to see what it takes to service an A list clientele in 2021. Words: Bobby Reyes
THE REVIEW 2021 91
When was the company founded and why? The company was founded in 2011 as a comprehensive concierge service, a sort of one-stop shop to provide clients everything they need to actualise their lifestyle visions and needs. We understand the client’s style, preferences, and habits, and are able to centralise everything, so that staffing, travel, scheduling, billing all flows through a single manager: Modern Butler. Can you tell us a little about your background in the industry? My background is in luxury hospitality. I was in charge of guest relations, functioning as liaison between the hotel, the guests, and the city. It put me in direct contact with celebrities, Fortune 500 CEOS, politicians, royalty – truly the highest profile, affluent travelers in the world. Eventually I accepted an offer to work with one of the regular hotel guests to manage all aspects of their home and lifestyle. What services does Modern Butler provide? Modern Butler provides luxury lifestyle support – essentially, comprehensive personalised concierge services. That includes estate management – so day-to-day operations, maintenance, household manuals, drawer-todrawer relocation, staff hiring and training, chefs and menus, oversight of design and construction projects. It also includes event planning, real estate, transportation, travel, and security. Our clients also rely on us for referrals to an enormous variety of vendors and services. How has the pandemic affected your service offering? Naturally, we confronted the same issues as everyone, but on behalf of our clients. That meant dealing with disruptions in supplies, materials for construction projects, and staff and vendor management issues. It also meant that our work sometimes shifted from managing people and systems to managing emotions. And of course we had – and continue to have – great concern for the health and well-being of our clients, staff, and vendors. How do the majority of your clients find you? Word of mouth. What are your clients looking for in a management services provider? Our clients have a clear vision of how they want
to live – and they can afford to do so. They just need to find someone who understands them and their lifestyle and has the capabilities to help them realise their vision. Trust is central. When you’re so intimately involved with the life of a household, you know everything from financial status to dietary preferences and sock size. Discretion is absolutely critical. Is every client’s needs truly different or is there a standardised set of programmes? Everyone wants the house clean, the lawn mowed, and the TV working, but our operations are totally personalised to the client’s preferences. For example, some people like to see staff around and others don’t; some want to be involved in daily decision making while others would rather not. In addition, when it comes to estate management, houses and
“Modern Butler provides luxury lifestyle support – essentially, comprehensive personalised concierge services.” their occupants are unique. Some properties require a lot of maintenance; others need less care. These things are affected by house and household size, location – beach versus city, for example – age, materials used, and, of course, lifestyle: entertaining, travel, short- and longterm guests. At the end of the day, everyone wants to be understood and taken care of. How do you see the company growing in the future? Modern Butler has grown so organically, adding services as our clients’ needs and our own capabilities expanded. When we founded the company ten years ago, real estate wasn’t on our radar, but it was such a natural fit, we recently added it to our offerings. In the future, we anticipate expanding our services to places where a large number of our clients have property, such as Palm Beach, Miami, and London. We also envision a Lifestyle product line. Would you say that the Modern Butler offers more of a diverse arrangement of services than its competitors?
THE REVIEW 2021 93
In general, our competitors, if you can call them that, specialise in particular services, such as staffing, event planning, travel. Modern Butler handles all services, including household management, under a single “lifestyle” umbrella to streamline the client’s life. How would you describe your role in your clients’ lives? We wear many different hats, so our clients tend to see us as experts in all things home and lifestyle. We are the trusted butler, who can actualise their vision in a stylish and sophisticated manner. They can ask us anything, any time. Is the team familiar with the latest real estate trends? Definitely. We have an interesting approach to real estate: we understand it from the inside out. We know what works, where problems will arise, and the most effective way to solve them. We have managed construction, remodels, and moves. We work closely with an enormous list of very skilled and trusted vendors, and have a huge network of clients and colleagues. We’ve been staging homes for years without calling it staging. Plus, of course, we have deep local knowledge of neighborhoods and all their amenities. What are the most difficult aspects of the job?
Our clients’ lives are not 9-to-5, and this is not a 9-to-5 job; we are always on and always available, at least via phone and email. Being successful at what we do means that we are deeply integrated into our clients’ lives. If a pipe breaks in the middle of the night, they don’t call the plumber – they call us. So turning it off at the end of the day, coming back to your own life and leaving theirs, requires some skill. What do you love about it? Definitely the variety. One day we are kneedeep in the sewer basin and the next day we are sampling food at the The Royal Mansour Hotel in Marrakesh for an upcoming event we are planning. Let’s talk about security and background checks. Is there a Modern Butler security program in place or does it depend on the needs of the client? Everything is personalised to the needs of the client. Some clients prefer onsite armed security presence 24/7, while others rely on home-protection technology to keep them safe. If a client wants an armed guard, we can provide one. Of course background checks are very important to protect family and property, including collections of art, antiques, vehicles, etc. Every property we manage we stress the importance of having proper emergency supplies, from the correct fire extinguishers, to
earthquake kits, water supply, as well as first aid and AED training and equipment, and proper emergency plans in place – what to do in case of fire, medical emergency, earthquake, intruder, for example. How do you keep an active roster of staff available for your clients? We have an extensive roster of people we have worked with, from chefs and chauffeurs to landscape designers and housekeepers. We continually touch base with our favourite workers and interview new people to add to our capability network, so we’re able to respond quickly when a position opens. What are the advantages of using your estate management service compared to hiring a full-time employee? A household has many moving parts – each one needs to fit perfectly and function at a very high level. But on a day-to-day basis, even in a large household, most staff are required only part time. Few households need a full-time chef, gardener, or house manager. With our lifestyle management services, we put staff and systems in place to handle the household’s typical requirements, but we also have the resources in place to step up to full-time when needed. Also, most of our clients have multiple properties throughout the world and we manage the big picture to minimise disruption and facilitate their comfort wherever they are in residence. TR
Discover the Path Less Taken DISTINCTIVE ARCHITECTURE, RESIDENCES & HOMESITES GOLF CLUB • TENNIS • BEACH CLUB • EQUESTRIAN WINDSORFLORIDA.COM • 772 388 8400 OR 800 233 7656
B E AU T Y : S T R E S S
The Science of
S S E R T S Words: Naomi Lake
Let’s be honest. If I have to read, write or smile through another terse sentiment on how the last year has been, I might just throw my laptop out of the window. So let’s just jump straight into it. How are you sleeping?
THE REVIEW 2021 97
Y
es...me too. But we aren’t alone. Of everyone I have spoken to over the last few months, bad sleep, in whatever shape or form, is the most common complaint. Less sleep, broken sleep, trouble falling asleep or, for some, the most wildly vivid, incoherent dreams imaginable, playing through confused psyches each night. It seems like it might be a simple thing to fix, maybe with a bit of exercise during the day to burn off some energy, or a screentime ban before bed to better wind down? But there’s nothing more stressful to solve than the enigma of a good night’s sleep, after a night of barely any. With years of a complete lack of routine due to the nature of my work on set, I’ve long been a fan of valerian tea to help rebalance. But I found myself needing something more. That’s when I came across HUM Nutrition, specifically Mighty Night. The combination of valerian root, passionflower and hops eases tension and
“ Stress is the body’s response to potentially harmful situations – both real and perceived ”
assists with more forthcoming sleep – and even better, it helps you to stay asleep as well. Boy does it deliver! With a literal sigh of relief, I noticed a huge difference in sleep quality right from the first night. But with no muzziness the next morning. As a bonus, this blend, using a combination of ferulic acid and ceramides, look out for your skin as you sleep. Right before bedtime these two, small, soft-gel capsules, with their pleasant cocoa taste, were a huge turning point at the start of this journey to better sleep. So much so, it’s got a regular spot on my bedside table. I revisited HUM during my journey to the land of nod on a few occasions and enjoyed the experience, as well as the products themselves. Their wide range of supplements uses a mix of vitamins, minerals and bio-actives from botanical sources. More than just pills and online reading, each customer is connected to their own registered dietician for personalised help and guidance. My match, Gaby, recommended Über Energy too. This balancing daily pick-me-up contains L-tyrosine (clinically
proven to enhance physical and mental performance) and a mix of adaptogens, such as schizandra berry and ashwagandha, which all aid adrenal function and hormone balance. After finally getting that first night of better sleep, I started to think about what might be the malady if elusive sleep were a symptom. Sure, these last few months have been rather stressful, but how might that affect me day to day, apart from playing with my nerves? I came across ‘I Am Lovd’ by Nicole O’Brien. Since the public met Nicole through Netflix’s hit show ‘Too Hot To Handle’ (airing just as the UK went into lockdown) she has gone on to create Lovd as a welcoming online space, thoughtfully cultivated to improve our mental wellbeing. Perfect for the current climate of social distance and the difficulty of accessing face-to-face services, you will find support and coaching across a wide variety of topics through courses, programmes and interactive activities. I spoke to Tim Box, remedial hypnotist and
mind coach, and one of the experts on the Lovd platform, about what we might be dealing with. Tim explained, “Stress is the body’s response to potentially harmful situations – both real and perceived – it allows us to take action in an emergency situation, like slamming the brakes on when you nearly hit another car. But when stress continues for protracted periods of time it can harm our health.” I was interested in what physical manifestations this may bring us and, as if opening Pandora’s box, Tim continued, “Symptoms we might experience include: headaches, upset stomach, muscle tension and resulting aches and pains, chest pain and rapid heartbeat, insomnia... If symptoms persist over a longer period of time this can lead to issues, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, depression, skin problems and even hair loss.” I realised that so many new quandaries in my day to day could be down to increased stress, over which, unfortunately (as a freelancer amid a pandemic) I had very little control. Without
wanting to metaphorically put a band-aid on a broken leg, I continued my search to remedy the symptoms, whilst mentally banking Tim’s warning: “The human body was not designed to be in a constant fight or flight response for extended periods.” I looked at my skin: it was dull and with slight redness, overall, very unbecoming for a beauty writer. I turned to Advanced Nutrition Programme for a little help. Whilst already taking vitamin supplements elsewhere, I wanted something a little different. With four strains of body-loving bacteria and yeast, Skin Clear Biome more than delivered. Whilst being warned it may take six weeks to see results, I was really surprised that I noticed a difference in the first week. My skin was already seeming smoother and calmer, and after six weeks, clearer overall. Working on the idea that stress and other factors, such as the imbalance of your microbiome may be seen outwardly, their patent-pending biome technology works to right any disquiet between the gut and the skin. After all, your skin is your biggest organ.
THE REVIEW 2021 99
“ These flyaways may be young and carefree but, one day, they will fall in line ”
On taking a look at my hair, for example, I noticed that a particularly delicate area at my temple was looking rather bare, an unwelcome badge of honour quite literally displaying my distress. However, research by hair health advocates Kera Health suggests this isn’t uncommon. Over 50% of men in the UK and at least one in five women before the age of 65 suffer from hair loss. Post-65, a terrifying leap occurs, with 50% of all women affected. I’ve tried a vast number of hair growth shampoos over the years, but honestly, nothing has compared to my experience with Kera Health’s 360 Hair Health Plan for women (and the counterpart for men). You start your hair health journey from within, sounds introspective. However, on this occasion, I mean with a tailored nutraceutical supplement. Kera Health worked to create a solution based on bio-disposable naturally occurring ingredients. After years of research, ‘KerCysteine’ was the result, encompassing 18 amino acids that make up our hair, eight of which are not synthesised by the body, and therefore solely gained through our diets. Two formulas were developed following their research, based on the underlying causes of hair loss. The women’s supplement contains superoxide dismutase, a powerful antioxidant, and the men’s uses beta-sitosterols to reduce
the formation of DHT, a hormone associated with hair loss in men. In the rest of the system, we have the luxurious keratin and biotin infused Follicle Hero shampoo and conditioner, containing salicylic acid for a deep cleanse of the scalp and coconut and jojoba oils to nourish. As part of the process, we are encouraged to spend two rather heavenly minutes a day using the Scalp Energiser. This gentle massage tool provides a deeper cleanse to keep the scalp healthy and free of product build-up, whilst increasing microcirculation of oxygen and the active ingredients, the key to healthy hair. The clinical trial results are the impressive cherry on the cake. After one month of use, tests showed a 19% increase in hair protein content, meaning stronger hair. After three months, tests showed an impressive 73% reduction in hair loss. At just over three months myself, I won’t be moving on anytime soon. I now proudly sport a fuzzy crown of baby hair, not just at my temple, but all over. I have never been more proud of how affectionately unkempt my hair is looking. These flyaways may be young and carefree but, one day, they will fall in line, for this is a rate of growth unheard of for my hair.
If you’re simply seeking something nourishing for your hair with a rewarding moment of calm, look no further than Fable & Mane. Taking inspiration from traditional Indian Ayurvedic practise and naturally occurring botanicals, their range uses the sacred Dashmool herbal blend and ashwagandha extract to relieve stress and soothe inflammation. Try HoliRoots Hair Oil as a weekly treatment before shampooing, relaxing in scent yet fortifying in its ingredients, with castor and olive oils. Or try digging into HoliRoots Hair Mask, a pure delight for the senses. A buttery texture of coconut cream, with the dessert-worthy aroma of mango butter and banana, leaves your hair silky smooth and uplifting in scent, carrying you through the day. Thinking back to that ‘little bit of exercise’ mentioned earlier, it’s not all that easy. After another restless night, I forced myself into an online class. Whilst initially just savouring the Theragun Elite for its therapeutic support after (however minimal) exercise, this afternoon a new routine caught my eye on the accompanying Therabody App. In the wellness section of its guided massage programmes, I saw ‘Sleep’. Later that evening, half an hour before bed, I followed the guide moving from neck to forearms, lower back to quads, even gently sweeping over the shins and the soles of the feet. Just the rhythmic motion is soothing to even the most fast-paced of minds, but over the next few evenings, I was fascinated to discover how deeply relaxing the kneading action of the Elite could be. It’s six dreamy minutes to better sleep. But it wasn’t a fluke; in studies conducted by Therabody in conjunction with Biostrap Labs and their biometric health tracker, 70% of participants experienced less disturbance to
their sleep and 87% fell asleep quicker. Plus, with the new addition to the Therabody family, the Wireless Charging Stand, it’s even easier to have it on hand and always charged. Another evening, another dilemma. This time, the impasse of reading about limiting blue light for better sleep, whilst on my phone, in bed. Swiftly setting parameters for my screen time (because my iPhone has more control than I do), I made sure to grant myself unlimited access to one more necessary app for effortless control of the OOLER sleep system from Chilisleep.
Tossing and turning when trying to find the fresh cool spots at lights-out had been a nightly ritual for a while. Currently sleeping hotter than a furnace, I found myself inclined to keep my window open at night, even whilst it was snowing outside. So where does the OOLER come in? Simply put, we have a small control unit, attached to a mattress topper, circulating temperature-controlled water. The water system uses tubing narrower than a pea and, distributed across ample padding, even the most attentive princess wouldn’t feel the system below the top sheet. The overall effect is astounding. Lowering the
temperature to as little as 13°C, it works to constantly wick away body heat, keeping that fleeting perfect cold spot a permanent fixture beneath you and allowing you to better relax into an easy sleep. The effects of the bespoke chilled sleep have been studied throughout the night too. 25% of users woke up less often due to night sweats and 40% of people reported they were able to get back to sleep more easily if they did wake up during the night. The unit itself is about the size of a shoebox, small enough to slip discreetly under most beds. And it’s quiet too. Silent mode maintains the temperature and keeps a low hum at around 51-56 decibels, similar to the murmur of a refrigerator. But it is the scheduled auto-control within the app that is the true key to making the most of the system. Set the timer for your perfect temperature ready for you to tumble into bed, with the option to switch off after you drift off, run away into the night, or use the Warm Awake function (up to 46°C) to naturally rouse you from your slumber. I will admit, I dived deeper into creating the perfect sleep space and I have no regrets. I had read about weighted blankets and I was intrigued about the science and research behind them. As theory has it they offer ‘deep touch pressure’, gentle compression to the entire body similar to the swaddling of a baby or a long hug from a friend (remember them?). This kind of physical touch has a remarkable effect, encouraging the release of ‘happy hormones’ serotonin and oxytocin,
THE REVIEW 2021 101
both of which are associated with stress relief. Serotonin further helps with sleep by triggering melatonin production, the hormone that makes us drowsy. My search for this particular kind of comfort led me to try the Mela Weighted Blanket. At first use, I was amazed at its instant grounding and sedative effect. It was the middle of a busy day when I excitedly pulled it out of the box, seconds after it was delivered, yet its cocooning embrace offered a moment of instant calm before I reluctantly returned to my desk. I can honestly say each night since it’s arrival
“Mela’s blankets use glass quartz pellets which move without any sound”
has been dreamy. Its pressure is like a sigh of relief and I am now falling asleep faster, as well as feeling so much better rested each morning. In fact, across a variety of studies, blankets weighing more than 10% of the user’s body weight have been well documented to reduce the instances of waking after you initially fall asleep, increasing total sleep time and the overall quality of sleep. For its weight, it’s surprisingly slimline. Mela’s blankets use glass quartz pellets which move without any sound, encased within a soft filling for supreme comfort as it moulds to your shape, although it’s quilted design prevents any uneven dispersal of weight over time. Its standard cover is soft and snuggly but, for the warmer sleeper, swap to the Mela Chill Eucalyptus Cover made with beautifully cool, soft vegan silk. A king blanket might be smaller than you expect, but rest assured it is intended to fit the mattress, not the duvet, so as not to overhang the bed frame. Combining their weighted blanket with their Vegan Silk Sheet Set is more than just a treat, it is a necessity, and you owe it to yourself. If you’re aiming for the sweet spot of seven hours a night, that’s 49 hours a week in bed, so go make it the best place to be. Yes, it’s super stylish, and yes, it feels divine against your skin. Maintaining a cool feel and light touch, you move smoothly under the weight of the blanket until you settle into carefree repose. A little nightcap might be tempting from time to time and I’m the first to admit that lockdown has led to a new household motto of ‘It’s something-o’clock somewhere!’. I looped back in with Tim to see how alcohol might interact with us in times of stress, to help me make a more informed decision with my choice of ‘little helper’. Tim explained, ‘Alcohol is a depressant and therefore has a sedating effect on our stress response. However, as with all comfort strategies, over-indulgence can cultivate
dependency and leave us feeling unable to cope with the world without alcohol as our crutch. This ultimately has a long term damaging effect on our self-esteem and leaves us feeling more vulnerable than when we started.’ I remember the first days of alcohol-free beer and spirits for those opting for a different pace, and we have come a long way since the flat, metallic taste of today’s predecessors. For the spirit drinker, Atopia offers the depth of flavours expected without the alcohol top-up. Their Spiced Citrus low alcohol spirit gives the intricacy in character expected of something much stronger. A botanical blend of juniper, coriander, angelica root that wouldn’t be out of place in a gin, but at an ultra-low 0.5%, it’s a welcome distraction from its stronger counterparts that holds its own in the flavour profile. A more hop-driven alternative, Big Drop gives the beautiful depth of flavour of an IPA with the same alcohol-free benefits we have been looking for. When trying their Paradiso Citra IPA from their core range you might be tricked into forgetting its AF status. Their founder Rob Fink proudly shares, ‘when blind-tasted against full-strength beers, it placed UK Winner in the Specialty IPA category at last year’s World Beer Awards, beating 6% ABV rivals into second and third place’.
The key to the flavour is the brewing process, Rob explains, ‘We brew our beer naturally to 0.5% ABV, without the need to artificially extract alcohol like most alcohol-free offerings, but that means we’ve had to turn the rules of brewing upside down. We use a lazy yeast, which isn’t very good at converting sugar to alcohol, as well as brewing at slightly higher temperatures at various points to further inhibit alcohol production.’ The technical changes to the process don’t end there: ‘we also use less grain (which means less sugar), but we use far more types of grain than normal beer which helps amplify the flavour and brings complexity to our beers... barley, rye, wheat and oats and a number of different varieties of each.’ Being honest, I’ve not yet found the perfect alcohol-free wine. I have now officially reached the age where, if I am not careful, I might achieve a niggling hangover after just one glass. If you’re still hankering for a glass but not after the after-effects, Clean Wine eliminates the muzzy-headed effects of a glass of wine with a simple spray. I’ll admit, it felt strange spraying my glass before pouring, but tried and tested on a variety of different wines (for journalistic purposes of course), I was relieved each morning that followed that it really was making a difference.
But what is this magic? Simply put, Clean Wine removes the sulphites present using a chemical reaction that introduces extra oxygen atoms into the wine. These oxygen atoms bond with the sulphites and turn them into harmless sulphates, at levels similar to those found in tap water. The only byproduct of this alchemy is pure water but at a level undetectable in the flavour. For a completely alcohol-free drink, Quarterpast Fruit Tea Infusions are a versatile alternative that can be imbibed with hot water or tonic for a more refreshing twist. A favourite of mine, their Hibiscus, Ginger & Manuka Honey Infusion is packed with antioxidants. Warming, refreshing and soothing, it’s a welcome change to a simple tea. And so much easier than the faff of home infusion for a quick fix, with the added benefits of Turmeric too. It’s been a journey as always, one I have especially enjoyed, and so interesting too. With each day passed and each product tried, with a clearer head and a more restful night behind me, the words to share were more forthcoming. It’s a tough time for sure, but brighter days are ahead. I write with the hope that if even one part of this journey resonates, it may help you too. TR
THE REVIEW 2021 103
22
GO
With less than a year to go till the XXIV Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, we sat down with Crystal Globe winner and Team GB Big Air phenomenon, Katie Ormerod to talk lockdown training and going for gold.
I N T E RV I E W: K AT I E O R M E R O D
OALS Photography: Syo van Vliet & Ben Kinnear Words: John Sterling
THE REVIEW 2021 107
W
hen did you first strap onto a board and where?
I first strapped onto a snowboard when I was five years old at my local dryslope in Halifax, West Yorkshire. When did you realise that you were truly gifted on a board? I’ve been snowboarding for as long as I can remember, so it’s always been a huge part of my daily life. I went snowboarding as much as I could, had as much fun as possible, and
I loved learning, challenging myself and progressing on my snowboard. Soon enough, I started winning competitions both in the UK and abroad.
sports, so to have won it is the most amazing feeling, and I hope that this will have inspired many other thirteen-year-olds to continue following their dreams.
When you joined the youth squad, aged 13, could you imagine you would be lifting Britain’s first Snowboard Slopestyle Crystal Globe?
What does an average training session look like for you?
At thirteen years old, my dream was to become a professional snowboarder and compete in all the elite-level contests, and I made sure to do everything that I could to make that dream a reality. I’m extremely proud of everything I’ve achieved since then and all my hard work over the years, which led to me becoming the first British snowboarder to win the Slopestyle Crystal Globe. Winning a Crystal Globe is one of the most prestigious achievements in snow
My on-snow training usually consists of a full day snowboarding – 9am until 3pm – and I train both rails and jumps for both Big Air and Slopestyle. If I was doing a strength and conditioning training session, that usually consists of a lot of leg and core work to keep my body strong and powerful for when I’m snowboarding. I also do gymnastics training during the summer, which is very useful for maintaining spacial awareness and muscular strength – both of which are needed in snowboarding.
“Laax in Switzerland is my favourite mountain destination. I’ve been going there most years since I was nine years old” What’s your favourite destination to train, aprés and chill out? Laax in Switzerland is my favourite mountain destination. I’ve been going there most years since I was nine years old, so it holds many amazing memories and is also a great place for training, as well as just cruising around the mountain. Are there any methods you use to stay focused during competition? I’ve always been naturally focused during competitions. I put this down to competing since I was five years old, as both a snowboarder and as a competitive gymnast. I’ve always loved the
challenge, the excitement and the adrenaline that comes with competitions, so I try to have as much fun as possible and completely trust myself that I can do the best that I can do, after putting in years of hard work.
and get back on my snowboard as quickly as possible. I’ve always had the belief that I can overcome anything, and I knew that every day of rehab or every exercise in the gym was a step closer to being back on my snowboard.
Like all top elite athletes, you’ve had your share of injuries. You’ve broken both wrists, your shoulder and had surgery on your ACL ligament. That in addition to chipping off a section of your vertebrae. How do you continue to recover so quickly? What gets you through?
Has recovery been as much a mental challenge as a physical one?
Injuries do unfortunately happen sometimes, but I always remain as positive as possible and work as hard as I can to return to full fitness
Sometimes injuries can be just as mentally challenging as they are physically, which is why I always gave myself lots of short-term, as well as long-term, goals to keep myself focused, motivated and determined to reach them and come back stronger. I tried to remain as positive as possible and believe that, no-matter what or how long it would take, that I would get through it.
POINTS FOR GUESSING THE SPONSOR
THE REVIEW 2021 109
KATIE COMPETING AT THE LAAX OPEN 2021
THE REVIEW 2021 111
KATIE IN OBLIGATORY SUNGOD VANGUARDS
Snowboarding is one of the most popular sports at the Winter Games. Even people who don’t really follow or go snowboarding love to watch it. Why do you think that is? Snowboarding is such an exciting sport to watch. There’s so much progression in both women’s and men’s snowboarding right now, making it a fantastic show for spectators. With so much time spent in the mountains, where do you head for the off season? Or do you chase the winter? I usually chase the winter and go snowboarding in the southern hemisphere, such as Australia and New Zealand, although I do manage to have some time at home at the end of the European season, which is always really nice.
Lockdown: has there been any pros for you at all? Any room for personal growth?
“I definitely made the best of a bad situation in lockdown and committed to keeping myself productive and inspired.”
I definitely made the best of a bad situation in lockdown and committed to keeping myself productive and inspired. I got in the habit of giving myself daily checklists, consisting of strength training to keep myself strong for snowboarding, and also hosting live stretching sessions on Instagram to help get others involved in fitness as well. I also used lockdown as an opportunity to expand my knowledge and challenge myself even further by starting a degree. What’s the one piece of slope tech you can’t live without? Heated socks.
TR
Words: Peter J Robinson
T R AV E L : H U R AWA L H I
THE REVIEW 2021 115
T
o say Terminal 5 was quiet would be a dramatic understatement. I don’t particularly enjoy the airport process unless there is a private terminal involved. I appreciate that makes me sound a little elitist, but no one can honestly say they enjoy passport security and baggage drop off. I find flight incredible, whether it’s aboard a Sikorsky S-76 or a Bombardier Challenger 850. But no one relishes standing in line with the rampant hordes. The only elements that make it mildly bearable are prescriptiongrade narcotics and not having to queue two metres apart. Total Heathrow passengers in February 2020 totalled 5.4 million. That figure was down 91% in February 2021 to 461,000. Mile after mile of empty seats really is my kind of speed. It seemed the
only requirement for travel was that we submit a negative PCR test. We took ours with Concierge Medical Practice, an award winning private GP service that still makes house calls. Our British Airways flight had 56 souls on board, total. After over a year of being confined to quarters, the people watching, albeit rather vanilla, was profound. We touched down ten-and-a-half hours later in the Maldivian capital of Malé in 32-degree heat. I already felt galaxies apart from life in the UK. The Hurawalhi team of airport fixers are certainly deft when it comes to transfers. Once we’d made it through passport control, we were checked onto our connecting seaplane and into our transfer to the terminal in less than 10 minutes. As far as post flight operations go, it was certainly polished.
in the Maldivian capital of Malé in 32-degree heat. I already felt galaxies apart from life in the UK. The Hurawalhi team of airport fixers are certainly deft when it comes to transfers. Once we’d made it through passport control, we were checked onto our connecting seaplane and into our transfer to the terminal in less than 10 minutes. As far as post flight operations go, it was certainly polished. Seaplane is one of the most spectacular ways to arrive at Hurawalhi. The de Havilland Twin Otter is unpressurised and a rite of passage for anyone travelling to the 1190-island archipelago of the Maldives. The journey to the Lhaviyani Atoll takes around 40 minutes – enough time to either powernap or stare intently out of the window at the blueprint of the original 90s desktop background.
We touched down ten-and-a-half hours later
“The property has 90 villas in total: 60 over water and 30 dotted around the beaches of the island. It’s also distinctly adults-only”
Hurawalhi island is 400 metres long and one of the few Maldivian islands without a myriad of other resorts on the immediate horizon. The property has 90 villas in total: 60 over water and 30 dotted around the beaches of the island. It’s also distinctly adults-only, and whilst many people would now feign a deep adoration for children, I shan’t. Downtime is downtime, and I like my moments of zen to involve a soundtrack of my choosing. On arrival we were greeted by a fanfare of traditional Maldivian drums lining the jetty walkway known as Bodu Beru. This was perhaps the largest group of people I had seen in close proximity for 12 months and the general sense of joy was infectious. The resort’s architectural mastermind is the renowned Yuji Yamazaki of YYA New York.
The first design element to strike me was the vaulted ceilings in the welcome pavilion that feature a sculpture of a huge swarm of bait fish suspended over a weeping blackstone. Maldivian and Japanese iconography working in synergy. The communal areas are all incredibly elegant and calming spaces, providing respite from the midday heat. With the sun beating down, we were introduced to our butler, Rafa, who kindly showed us to our over water villa and ensured we had changed our watches to island-time. In short, the island put its clocks forward an hour to allow guests to get more done in daylight. The main bulk of the resort’s accommodation is set on an idyllic
walkway that snakes out over the ocean. It’s crowning glory, a chic pavilion located at the very tip, offering champagne and canapes alongside Maldivian sunsets. Kashmir is also always on hand to guide you in pursuit of the perfect bottle. The villas take a minimal and modernist approach to conventional Maldivian design. Each has the usual conveniences, along with a separate indoor and outdoor seating area, wine fridge, outdoor sundeck with infinity pool and, of course, a long set of stairs down to the ocean. The crowning glory is perhaps the sliding door out from the bathroom, next to the rain shower, proving a truly
THE REVIEW 2021 117
one-of-a-kind view. Every seated area within the property benefitted from having an ocean view out across the pool to the cobalt hued vista. Of course, each property has a smart TV, sizable selection of movies and bluetooth soundbar. To a certain extent, I can see why guests might want to watch TV in bed at night or the news in the morning over coffee. But if you’re not out there on the island soaking up every morsel of the experience, you’ll kick yourself – unless I can find you first. With a few hours to kill until our sunset outing, I took the opportunity to snorkel out across the flats. After 24-plus hours in transit and 12 months in lockdown, stepping out into the Indian Ocean felt exceptional. Having swum out to the drop off, I realised when I turned that I could no longer designate my villa from any of the 30-something others. Luckily, each has a small plaque detailing the number, otherwise I would have appeared on a honeymooning couples balcony holding a pair of flippers, dripping wet. As the sun began to set, we packed away the snorkelling gear and made our way to the island’s jetty for sundowners aboard one of the resort’s many boats. The stroll from the villa to the main island across the stilted walkway was a close second to
“The wooden path eventually gives way to manicured tunnels of foliage that twist and turn around the small island in Lewis Carroll fashion.” snorkeling 500 metres to the beach. The wooden path eventually gives way to manicured tunnels of foliage that twist and turn around the small island in Lewis Carroll fashion. I wondered why they didn’t opt to provide each villa with push-bikes to save ferrying people in buggies? Though I would give it a week before people were swerving off the walkway into the shallow waters below. The abundance of sealife in the Lhaviyani Atoll is a testament to the island’s sustainability practices and ongoing
conservation programmes. Our evening sunset cruise and dolphin safari was punctuated by the captain and crew pointing out pods of spinner dolphins off the bow. There are almost a dozen species of dolphin in the region, and many of the spinner dolphins can be spotted as near as the house reef over dinner. Though I do recommend heading out with the crew and sitting on the top deck, glass in hand, watching these majestic creatures up close. Indeed, get thoroughly stuck into the conservation programme with Lara, the resident marine biologist. The island’s Marine Biology Centre was set up together with Prodivers Maldives and Manta Trust. The dive team balances their time between diving and snorkelling excursions and rebuilding coral nurseries alongside several key conservation programmes. Book in for a snorkelling trip on the house reef with Lara when you touch down. She took us on an incredible journey around the island, pointing out reef sharks, eagle rays and just some of the 200 species of coral. The shallow channels around the island are also home to a manta ray population of some 300, with sightings frequently occurring. Rafa, our charming butler, was always on hand to offer advice on snorkelling spots, dinner requests, and to let us know if something
THE REVIEW 2021 119
mythical had been spotted offshore. After a relatively busy day of island life, my appetite was beginning to return, having been sedated by a myriad of in-flight snacks. In addition, lockdown had meant I hadn’t sat in a restaurant since October, so by this point craved that element of normality. The island benefits from four main restaurants. Canneli is the resort’s main buffet-style eatery, offering a variety of freshly cooked dishes from around the globe. Many of these are prepared and served at live cooking stations. If you try one thing at dinner, have the Maldivian fish curry. You will remain eternally spoiled for choice, regardless – and despite my best efforts, I still didn’t try everything I wanted on the menu in three days. The restaurant itself sits on the island’s northerly edge, so breakfast, lunch and dinner all have the most incredible views, whether sat outside on the wraparound terrace or inside amongst the sweeping wooden architecture. Junk Food Kitchen – JFK – speaks for itself, serving rather upscale favourites. Try the
“Rafa, our charming butler, was always on hand to offer advice on snorkelling spots, dinner requests, and to let us know if something mythical had been spotted offshore.” seared tuna ahi, confit duck nuggets, yellow fin tacos and vegan nachos. Again, I didn’t manage to try everything I wanted to, but then again, I don’t fancy a gastric band all that much. If I return, perhaps I’ll spend the days diving and the evenings adding ballast? One of my firm favourites very quickly became Kashibo, Hurawalhi’s contemporary overwater restaurant serving incredible Asian cuisine. From fresh sushi to teppanyaki, the minimalist seating set up on the restaurant’s outer terrace leaves you entirely immersed in the ocean around you. Try the delicious soft shell crab, the world’s actual best prawn toast, a variety of the freshest sashimi and sushi, and the gulab
jamun. It was my grandmother’s absolute favourite pudding. Make sure you order a selection of cocktails, starting with the lychee Martini and Thai sabai. If you order too late in your stay, you won’t have enough time to return day after day for afternoon cocktails or pre-dinner drinks, as they are sublime. I also found a particular barman (Mondy, in Kashibo) had probably the world’s most entertaining laugh. So I spent most of the time trying to get him into fits of laughter. Hurawalhi’s jewel in the culinary crown is
arguably that it has the world’s largest all-glass undersea restaurant called 5.8. No bonafide travel documentary or Maldives guide is likely to go without mentioning it at least twice. It’s single, 969-square feet of six-inch thick glass weighs in at 400 metric tons. It was constructed in New Zealand and shipped to the resort in one piece, taking over two years. It opened in 2016 and is still the largest underwater restaurant on the planet. It seats 10 couples across two lunch sittings and one dinner.
Kudadoo Private Island, before making his mark on Hurawalhi.
Outside the glass, the sustainability effort continues with continued programmes to rebuild and save more coral gardens near the resort’s house reef. You really get a clear idea of the engineering that goes into the conservation effort at almost six metres down.
With the kitchen team behind closed doors, the main face of the operation is Ramesh Kumar, the island’s sommelier. Ramesh cut his teeth and earned his credentials at the Mandarin Oriential and Intercontinental, and is perhaps one of the most personable and genuine human beings I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting. Which surprises even me, considering I met this charming individual 5.8 metres under the sea, in effectively another world. Not to mention we were both barefoot. Well, everyone was barefoot. I am sure there is a good reason for it, and had I known beforehand, I would have walked to the restaurant without shoes entirely.
You can also opt to do that without a glass of champagne and with flippers instead. The truly one-of-a-kind vista from beneath the water out onto Hurawalhi’s reef is fascinating. Not a course passes by without muted shrieks from fellow diners keen to point out the wonders of the ocean passing the glass. But don’t let this elaborate dinner-theatre setting fool you. It’s not a game of show, and it’s not a standalone party piece; the chef and the sommelier are not playing dress up. Executive chef Edouard Laurent Deplus was classically trained at the Paul Bocuse Institute in France and was at the company’s sister resort,
With a set, five-course lunch and wine pairing, you can look forward to an incredibly well balanced tuna tartare with wasabi mayonnaise and Beluga caviar followed by ponzu salmon belly, aromatic glazed scallop, wasabi gel, squid ink crumble, dashi mustard and scallop ceviche. With food this exquisite and a view as encapsulating, I was glad to have Ramesh there With a menu this heavy-hitting, I’m always intrigued by the chef’s dessert choice. In this to do the heavy lifting. case, it was a mango cheesecake with cocoa cracker soil, mango mousse and coconut ice The first two dishes were paired with an cream. The Moscato d’Asti, though light, was untouchable Ferrari Perlé. This was followed by a 100 Hills riesling from Philipp Wittmann, incredibly fragrant and really intensified the syrup of the mango. The dishes themselves one of the greatest German white wine
producers, which really cut through the richness of the pan seared red mullet with saffron, turmeric and beluga coconut broth. Ramesh then moved us onto an oaked Chardonnay for the duo of lobster tails, which was a triumph. The seared wagyu tenderloin with cheek confit and duck confit pommes was paired with a Marques de Casa Concha from Chile, which really opened up the accompanying pickled cherry beet and truffle jus.
THE REVIEW 2021 121
were ornately constructed, with a real effort to encapsulate the underwater world that the restaurant finds itself within 5.8, it’s kitchen team and Ramesh is a coup de maître in an already-enticing lineup of island eateries. As you might expect, with dining options this varied and considered, I had to keep moving for fear of beaching. The island’s gym is a properly effective set up, with an array of machines and weights facing out onto the open ocean. A view is never sacrificed at Hurawalhi. If you’re looking for a group affair, you can join a yoga or bootcamp workout on the schedule. If I’d had the foresight and the body mass index, I might have headed out with the yoga instructor to ‘dream island’, an isolated and relatively untouched sand bar a few hundred metres offshore. You can also arrange a private lunch or dinner on the decidedly escapist encampment.
Taichi. Even with a full briefing and safety gear, be aware, you’re heading up to 50 feet in the air if you’ve got the bottle. Falling in a semi-controlled fashion is still a fall. It requires a strong core and is certainly no time to have skipped leg day. Within a few minutes, I was hovering above the azure water, trying my best
“As you might expect, with dining options this varied and considered, I had to keep moving for fear of beaching.”
champagne pavilion and resorts hub, Coco Bar. It’s an incredibly relaxed venue that’s floating light fixtures roll like a calm wave above the sea of bottles below it. I spent many a cocktail transfixed by its warm and inviting lights. Bar manager Lalith was always on hand to ensure my glass never ran dry and to talk about the Six Nations in my kind of detail. One evening the team arranged a traditional Maldivian night, complete with BBQ and dancing, which was infectious enough to leave me a little worse for wear the following morning. Thank god I hadn’t been here when the bar used to be open 24/7.
Luckily, breakfasts at Canneli are the stuff of absolute legend. A morning never went by when I didn’t have full-on food envy from a fellow diner. I kept choosing the one that got away at breakfast the following morning, but only succeeded in adding further items to the list: the Sweet Stack, the chachouka, the to emulate a stone column, as Taichi did his best to photograph me in full downward facing chicken waffles, the shrimp wonton soup and If the island sounds like a foodie sanctuary, eggs...pretty much anything. Breakfast was one dolphin. Yes, I swallowed a decent amount of there are equal measures of activities, seawater and was totally and utterly spent after of my favourite times at Hurawalhi. including badminton, diving, jet skis, just a 30-minute session – but I would have wakeboarding and windsurfing. Not to And sure, come here for the exquisite dining mention the island favourite, padel tennis. For done it again after a quick refuel at Kashibo, experiences, it’s unparalleled sea life, stunning a number of years, I have watched fly boarding no questions asked. island architecture and barefoot approach to off the coast of Antibes and wanted to try my all things. But stay for the incredible team, hand at it. With more than a little trepidation, As the sun begins to set, so begins the who make it so much more. habitual flight of the residents to the island’s I headed out with watersports instructor TR
For further information, visit: www.hurawalhi.com or call +960 6622000
Word is Bond Words: Peter J Robinson and Liam Healey
“Ten years ago, even before the migration crisis dominated the political and media landscape in Europe, I was increasingly interested in ideas around freedom of movement,” says The Drifters Director Benjamin Bond. “I had spent some time in Senegal working on the music concert ‘Africa Live’ for PBS. I met a lot of West African musicians and spoke to a lot of local people, there were so many young people leaving Africa on foot. That’s a big story now but it wasn’t then. I became interested in the disparity between where I could go and what I could do versus people who couldn’t even leave their countries.” With Bond’s directorial debut now on release, we caught up with him to talk about the films production, casting and crew.
www.thedriftersmovie.com
I N T E RV I E W : B E N J A M I N B O N D
THE REVIEW 2021 125
Can you talk about the original idea for the film? The original idea was to make a romantic film which also looked at the issue of freedom of movement. I had been working on Africa Live for PBS – a huge African ‘Woodstock’ music festival, with my father in law, the film director Mick Csaky. There were about 100,000 people in the stadium in Dakar, and I talked to a lot of the local young Senegalese. Men and women were leaving home to travel to Europe in search of a new life. They weren’t all asylum seekers, many just wanted to travel and find opportunities and live life. They were willing to risk their lives. To me, this made them real life superheroes. Were there any specific people you met in Senegal who you worked into the story? There was no one in particular. I was inspired by so many people I met: musicians, fishermen, students – they all had drive, ambition, strength, laughter, and they were cool. Not downtrodden or beaten by life, which is the story we are often told. I saw a way to do this was through the lens of deconstructing two migrant archetypes and revealing the real people behind them. So if you watch the film, at first you will see two migrants from wildly different backgrounds, who may seem almost like cliches. Fanny is a French waitress who dreams of being an actress and, to begin with, it feels almost like she is acting in everything she does. It’s hard to get beyond the surface with her. Koffee is also a migrant. He’s from West Africa, he’s a Sufi muslim, who’s had a hard journey and, in contrast to Fanny, who’s very extroverted, he is something of a closed book. Then, through the film, we gradually deconstruct the characters through the choices they make, as they fall in love and reveal more of their true personalities to each other. This inevitably makes them more complex in some ways, yet simpler in others. I chose to do this through the medium of a bright and colourful love story. So, there’s a lot of dressing up and dancing in the film and this is meant to reflect the different aspects of their identities as they try to leave society’s ‘labels’ behind and open up to one another.
It is also a reference to cinema and romantic love in general. The film-making approach is intertextual both in terms of the screenplay and image, so it references lots of other films, too many to mention here, but hopefully spotting them is fun. Finally, it’s all meant to feel a little disposable, casual almost, and this is difficult to accomplish as a director. Like a beautiful dream that you have and then it’s gone. When did you start writing the piece and when did production start?
“I started writing the film with backing from the BFI and Creative England in 2016, and it took another 18 months to raise the money.” I started writing the film with backing from the BFI and Creative England in 2016, and it took another 18 months to raise the money. We shot in the summer of 2018. This was very fortunate because it was the hottest summer in England for 30 years, and we had four weeks of unbroken sunshine. I felt, at this point, that the universe was on our side – at least for the shoot. Who led the charge on casting, and did you have any talent in mind in advance? Isabella Odoffin is a wonderful and very talented casting director and she has to take a lot of the credit with my producer, Iona Sweeney. They both worked tirelessly to cast far and wide for the main roles. It’s an intimate film, a first time director with a modest budget, so in some ways we were free to cast the best people for the roles without too much outside pressure. They
gave me tickets to see Jonathan acting in The Brother’s Size, written by Moonlight’s Tarell Alvin McCraney. It was an amazing production and Jonathan immediately impressed me. He has great presence physically and mentally in that space. After the show, when I learned he was still studying at LAMDA, I was amazed. I didn’t ever feel I was taking a risk with him – I knew he had all the qualities and technical ability to be a leading man and hold the film. Lucie auditioned and she was full of the same energy I had in mind when I wrote the character: vulnerable, funny, but with attitude and some steel. You would never feel sorry for her or like she was a victim, and this was an essentially quality for me. She has been acting on French TV and in movies since she was a teenager, and I think both Jonathan and I learned a lot from her experience, craft and discipline. Together, they are a powerful team and without them and their level of performance, I think it’s fair to say the film would not work. How long was principal photography? Not long enough. I only had four weeks. I would have liked six to cover everything and allow for more improvisation, as Lucie and Jonathan bought so much in this regard. I would’ve liked to have improvised and experimented more. I gave them as much freedom as I could within the short time we had. Had you worked with Ben Moulden before? Yes, Ben and I work closely and very well as a team. We have shot many commercials together over the last 10 years or so, and we had an invaluable shorthand on set. It’s a mix of trust and knowledge of each other’s strengths and weaknesses and we’re good friends. It is a pleasure to shoot with him. He has a fantastic camera team. He has a photographer’s eye for beauty and detail, and is a magician with natural light. We made a decision to shoot mostly in daylight and, whenever possible, with available light, and I was very happy with the results. What size crew were you working with?
DIRECTOR BENJAMIN BOND
THE REVIEW 2021 127
LUCIE BOURDEU PLAYS FRENCH WAITRESS, FANNY
Our crew was light but big enough to do the job. I guess around 30 people on a light day, up to 60 on a more complex day. We had to keep it small because of the insane amount of locations – many of which we could only reach by boat. I didn’t make it easy for myself or for my producers! But I think they enjoyed having the sand between their toes while they worked. Can you speak to the lens and camera choice? We used an Arri Alexa mini that Ben Moulden especially adapted for the shoot and vintage Cooke prime lenses. I wanted a slightly softer image that felt like a film from the 60s. They give the image a warmth and a touch of pink that felt right for the nostalgic elements of the film, which are about cinema and Europe and not knowing what you’ve got until it’s gone. We only used two lens sizes during the entire film – 70mm and 50mm – again, a conscious choice to keep things simple. How was the production financed? A mix of tax credits: private equity from people who believed in me and the film; creative England/BFI network; my production company, Starcross Entertainment; and Smuggler which is run by the very successful US producer Patrick Milling Smith. They all invested in the film, for which I’m incredibly grateful. Can you tell us anything about the colour switch during the MG scene? This choice is to reflect the opening up of the world and the two lovers’ horizons as they leave the confines of the city and break out into the more open spaces of the coast. It heralds a psychedelic-psychic breakthrough for them both. But it also just looks cool – and I love colour blocking, as you can tell from the film. What was the choice behind characters breaking the fourth wall? Only Fanny breaks the fourth wall. Koffee never does. Except for one time near the end when he’s painted his face and it’s fun to break the rules, and I feel his character is saying “wake up” to the audience, just in case they’ve fallen asleep! But really you hear his thoughts only once, in a
conversation with Fanny in the MG car. But this is really her imagining his dialogue – an idealised fantasy for her. Fanny is telling the story of the film, right from the opening scene, where she breaks the fourth wall with a quote from the Sufi poet, Rumi, to speak to the audience. On other occasions she quotes Rimbaud (another poet who became an Islamic seer), Treasure Island, Sunset Boulevard and many other famous films or books. This is because her side of the story is her memory of the time she spent with Koffee. I’m not sure if people spot this or if it even matters but her narrative is a series of snapshots – a fantasy that ends abruptly – which explains some of the cutting choices in the film too. I think Fanny learns a lot about herself and how to be in the world from Koffee, who I don’t give a voice outside of what you see – his determination to live on his own terms says it all for me. Why Teignmouth? I grew up there and my family and many of my friends still live there, so that element is very personal to me. I knew I could make it beautiful because I know all the secret places and, given that we didn’t have much time or money, this is how I brought the production value to the film – or rather Devon did! Were you conscious of tackling certain stereotypes in the piece, such as Koffee’s aversion to swimming? Of course. This is the most important thing for me. The whole point of including these provocative statements – such as ‘black people don’t swim’ – and other micro-aggressions that Koffee has to deal with in the film, is that he can turn them into something positive without burning the world to the ground in response. I took a big risk with this element of the writing, but Jonathan Ajayi, who plays Koffee, the wonderful Ariyon Bakare, who has a cameo in the film, Isabella Oddofin, the casting director, and most of my investors, who are not white or British, all read the screenplay and saw what I was doing and why. Jonathan expanded it with his own words and improvisation, and I think that’s his power. Fortunately, the audience gets it and you can always trust them to be smart.
Specifically I wanted to write Koffee as a character who is here to enjoy life and who is not burdened forever by trauma, historical or otherwise. Some critics have been outraged by these choices, and one Guardian critic called the film ‘reprehensible’. But of course they’re wrong and have just exposed their own ignorance or misunderstanding of the narrative. Other commentators have also criticised the film because I didn’t explore a more complex or ‘deep’ narrative for Koffee, in particular, and I just laugh and think ‘fuck you’. You understand nothing about people, just because he’s a migrant! It all feeds into the central themes of freedom of movement and freedom of speech and freedom to love. I guess, ultimately, what I’m saying is I’ll defend your right to be offended by my film to the death! What has it been like entering postproduction during lockdown and were there any pickups shot during the pandemic? We didn’t have any pickups because I have awesome producers in Iona Sweeney and Theresa Larche, who run a very tight ship. Post took around a year and we premiered at the Sao Paulo International Film Festival, late in 2019, and then the pandemic hit. So we had finished the film but we had to delay the release until now. We felt like it needed a little bit of optimism and sunshine to return in the UK to take it to market. It’s that kind of film. Hopefully now it will have a good run over the spring and summer. I was hoping you could talk about the french new wave influence. I was certainly getting Breathless vibes. The film has many influences – it’s very intertextual – something of a collage, which of course is a style the new wave pioneered. So, it has been influenced by a diverse input – architect Le Corbusier provided inspiration for the palette, Powell and Pressburger and Technicolor also, Antonioni’s modernist film, Red Desert, Bertolucci, and also US filmmakers like Arthur Penn. But the French New Wave, especially Godard, Eric Rohmer and Agnes Varda are the most influential. How can they not be? This is where all modern films begin. I wanted to see if you could still make a film in this way – now that all their styles and tropes have been absorbed
THE REVIEW 2021 129
and done to death – how could you make it feel fresh? Perhaps this is even not possible, but that was the ambition. I think casting Jonathan and putting his character Koffee in this sort of film play a big part in moving it all forward in this respect. Anyway it’s the type of film I love to watch – that makes me want to make films – so it’s kind of me learning in camera, which is very exposing and you are a hostage to comparisons with the greatest of all time. But it’s also very liberating, because I made this film for me and if you don’t like it then, as Fanny says, fuck you! Finally, the film straddles two places throughout – the UK and Europe – and I wanted to make a British film in the European style that is a little bit nostalgic for times past, because I believe people don’t give a fuck about Brexit or borders, they care only about love, passion, nature, ideas, dancing, music, literature, movies, food and other people. Jonathan Ajayi and Lucie Bourdeu had wonderful chemistry together, which is so important for the film to work, was this discovered during pre-production after they had been cast or did you choose them after they read through together? Yes, it’s hugely important and, without them and their very committed performances, it wouldn’t work – it would be too self-conscious. I am indebted to them both. We tested them for chemistry – and for height! – during the casting
process. Really, though, it was discovered fully in a 5 day rehearsal period where they shared a lot with each other and became friends. After this, they made it look effortless, which is a testament to their skill as actors, but also to their enjoyment of each other and the process. I love how the colour palette really opens up once they escape to the seaside together, especially after starting with the almost clinical white walled rooms of London. How important to you was the colour scheme? The film started with two colours – red and blue – before I had anything else, any idea of the characters or the story. This is because, where I grew up, the sand of the beach is red – from the clay in the Jurassic Coast cliffs – and the sea is bright blue. So this was the vision and then I added a modernist palette designed by Le Corbusier, who knew very well how colours fit together naturally. I lived in a building called Highpoint in London, designed by the architect Lubetkin and the Tecton group, who were also inspired by Le Corbusier, and it uses the same scheme. The idea was precisely, as you say, to have a monochromatic feel. All interiors at the beginning in London where the characters are still archetypes - literally black and white - no nuances. As they travel and loosen up, the colour floods in and they get to know each other for real. Both Ben Moulden and I and Jodie Davison ,who coloured the film for us, and also worked on Phantom Thread and The Revenant, all agree this is our favourite aspect of the film language
employed in The Drifters. The film has a lovely spontaneous energy to it. Was it boarded – and if so, how strictly did you stick to it? I boarded the film myself, twice, and then ignored it completely! What’s next on the slate for 2021? I am writing a big TV drama series with the US director Marc Forster and his creative partner Renee Wolfe, which I’m incredibly excited about. We’re working with one of the most famous actors on the planet, so it’s a dream project. I’ve also written my next two films, which I will direct. The first is about a giant and his talent agent in the 18th century – we’re going to shoot it in a very modern way and it will have the same colourful approach as The Drifters. Then, after that, is a contemporary horror film set in Glastonbury, with the world’s best soundtrack, but I can’t say much more about that now, as it’s all under wraps. TR
The Drifters is out now on Sky Store, Virgin Media, Amazon, Google Play, You Tube, Apple TV/ iTunes. Press here to view available links.
JONATHAN AJAYI PLAYS THE ROLE OF KOFFEE, AN AFRICAN MIGRANT
3
S C R E E N
A C T O R S
G U I L D
A W A R D
®
N O M I N A T I O N S
INCLUDING
OUTSTANDING CAST BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
SACHA BARON COHEN
G O LBDE S TESN G L O BE AWA RD W INNER CREENPLAY (MOTION PICTURE) AARON SORKIN ®
ART DIRECTORS G U I L D AWA R D S
GUILD OF MUSIC SUPERVISORS AWARDS
2 GOLDEN REEL AWA R D S
CINEM A AUDIO SOCIE T Y AWARDS
N O M I N E E
N O M I N E E
N O M I N A T I O N S
N O M I N E E
EXCELLENCE IN PRODUCTION DESIGN
WRITTEN AND/OR RECORDED FOR A FILM
BEST SONG
BEST SOUND EDITING
BEST SOUND MIXING
(PERIOD FEATURE FILM) SHANE VALENTINO
“
“ HEAR MY VOICE” DANIEL PEMBERTON, CELESTE WAITE, PETER AFTERMAN, ALISON LITTON
FEATURE DIALOGUE / ADR
BEST SOUND EDITING FEATURE UNDERSCORE
MOTION PICTURE (LIVE ACTION)
THE BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR.” AN EXHILARATING THRILL-RIDE
“
through the halls of American history. Aaron Sorkin’s soaring words and deft direction are super-charged by an
ALL-STAR ENSEMBLE.” A TRIUMPH.”
“
FILM.NETFLIXAWARDS.COM
The Future of Luxury: Bouncing Back from Covid-19 Bain & Company’s Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study outlines the pandemic’s drastic impact on the industry and points to a path to recovery. So, what does the future hold for the high-end market?
T
Words: Bain & Company
he nineteenth edition at current exchange rates to €503 billion. of the Bain Luxury Study, published by Bain & Company for Fondazione Altagamma, the trade association of Italian luxury goods manufacturers, analysed recent developments in the global luxury goods industry, as well as its future outlook.
“Sales of luxury cars
continued to dominate the market, but declined by 8% to 10% at current exchange rates to €503 billion.
”
The luxury industry as tracked by Bain & Company encompasses both luxury goods and experiences. It comprises nine segments, led by luxury cars, luxury hospitality and personal Most luxury experiences (including luxury hospitality, cruises and fine dining) were luxury goods, which together account for disproportionately impacted (–56% at current more than 80% of the total market. exchange rates) and should be last to recover given their dependence on tourist flows. The luxury industry has been heavily Experience-based goods (including fine art, impacted by the Covid-19 crisis in 2020. The luxury cars, private jets and yachts, fine wines overall luxury market – encompassing both and spirits, and gourmet food) resisted better, luxury goods and experiences – shrank by declining by only 10% at current exchange 20% to 22% at current exchange rates, and rates. They should recover rapidly from is now estimated at approximately €1 trillion the 2020 shock given positive consumption globally, back to its 2015 levels. dynamics across most segments. Sales of luxury cars continued to dominate the market, but declined by 8% to 10%
F I NA N C E : T H E F U T U R E O F L U X U RY
THE REVIEW 2021 133
Personal luxury goods were severely impacted The market for personal luxury goods—the “core of the core” of luxury segments, and the focus of this analysis—contracted for the first time since 2009, falling by 23% at current exchange rates to hit €217 billion. This drop is the largest recorded since Bain has been tracking the industry. Uncertainty will hover over the industry for some months to come.
An accelerated shift to local purchasing, driven by China
Europe has borne the brunt of a collapse in global tourism. Consumption on the continent fell by 36% at current exchange rates to €57 billion.
The Americas experienced less impact—the market fell by 27% at current exchange rates The Mainland China has been the only region to €62 billion. In the US, department stores face an uncertain future, and the map of globally to end the year on a positive note, luxury consumption has been redrawn to growing by 45% at current exchange rates move away from city centers. to reach €44 billion. Local consumption has roared ahead across all channels, categories, Japan shrank by 24% at current exchange generations and price points.
rates to €18 billion. The rest of Asia also struggled, with Hong Kong and Macau among the worst performers globally. The region contracted by 35% at current exchange rates to reach €27 billion. The impact in the Middle East was mitigated by shorter lockdowns and repatriation of spending previously made abroad. In Australia, a slowdown from the wildfires was amplified by the halt of tourism. Overall, the rest of the world contracted by 21% at current exchange rates to €9 billion. The regional shifts mark an acceleration of a rebalancing of where luxury purchases are made as tourists shift to buy in their home markets. The share of purchases made locally reached 80%–85% this year, and in the years ahead we expect it to represent between 65% and 70% as domestic purchases regain relevance especially in China and the broader Asian region.
Online channel accelerates, while stores will be redefined The changes brought by Covid-19 increased the presence of online in every aspect of life. In the luxury market, online sales made up €49 billion in 2020, up from €33 billion in 2019. The share of purchases made online nearly doubled from 12% in 2019 to 23% in 2020. Online is set to become the leading channel for luxury purchases by 2025, fueling the omni- channel transformation. This dramatic increase comes at the expense of brick-and-mortar. We expect no growth in the number of stores operated directly by brands in 2020, and a possible decline in store footprints in 2021. Brands will need
to adjust their networks to the new map of luxury buying, evolve the store role and its ergonomics and maximise the customer experience. The wave of transformation will not leave wholesale distribution untouched: Perimeter contraction, polarised performance and entry of new players will lead luxury brands to increase their control on the channel. Meanwhile, the secondhand market for luxury goods rose by 9% to €28 billion.
All personal luxury goods categories have seen declines in 2020 Despite a strong deceleration, accessories remained the largest personal luxury goods category. Shoes and jewelry were the product categories that decelerated the least. Shoes were cushioned by demand in sneakers, falling by only 12% to €19 billion, while jewelry saw
THE REVIEW 2021 135
sustained demand in Asia and benefited from online sales. That category remains polarised with high jewelry and iconic, entry-priced items leading the recovery. Watches and apparel both declined by 30%. For watches, Covid-19 amplified secular consumption pattern shifts. In apparel, formal wear demand was in sharp decline and apparel players faced increasing competition from social media savvy, direct-to-consumer brands. Across product categories, entry-price items gained in relevance, reaching more than
50% of volumes sold in 2020. In the quest for pricing relevance, the rules of the game are rapidly changing accessible luxury as we knew it, due to increasing competition from new, insurgent brands with relevant purpose and innovative business models.
The turmoil of Covid-19 has been a catalyst for change for the luxury industry
According to our analysis, in 2021 the market with more purpose and dynamism than is expected to recover 50% of the profit loss of before. By 2030, the industry should be drastically transformed. We will not talk 2020 – but still remain below 2019 levels. of the luxury industry anymore, but of the market for “insurgent cultural and creative We expect sales recovery to gather pace over the next three years, with the personal luxury excellence.” In this new, enlarged space, winning brands will be those that build on goods market returning to 2019 levels by the their existing excellence while reimagining end of 2022 or early 2023. the future with an insurgent mindset.
Outlook for the future The industry should come out of the crisis
Luxury players will need to think boldly to rewrite the rules of the game, transforming their operations and redefining their purpose
It has been a year of profound change in the way global luxury consumers live and shop, and in what they value. Scenarios for 2021 are varied, and Bain forecasts growth that ranges from +10%/12% to +17%/19% depending on macroeconomic conditions, the evolution of Covid-19 and the speed of return to travel globally, as well as the resilience and confidence of local customers. The decline in revenue in 2020 should take a disproportionate toll on profitability – we expect operating profit to decline by 60% in 2020 compared with 2019 (i.e., from an average of 21% margin to 12% margin).
to meet new customer demands and retain their relevance, especially for younger generations, who are set to drive 180% of the growth in the market from 2019 to 2025. These generations place unprecedented emphasis on diversity and inclusion, in addition to sustainability and environmental issues. These “activist” consumers seek brands that align with their vision and desire for purpose. TR
M A R I N E : OY S T E R 1 2 2 5
RESCUER -INCHIEF Words: Peter J Robinson
The year was 1988. Cast your mind back to a time when the Berlin Wall was still standing, the £1 note was legal tender, and Jaguar released the XJ220. I, however, was shirtless and running around on the shipwrecked prop boat used in John Badham’s Dracula, starring Frank Langella and Laurence Olivier. How’s that for an abstract starter for ten? Though we aren’t here to talk about the fictional Russian schooner Demeter, as detailed in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. No, it was at that very same beach I encountered my first Oyster Yacht at the precocious age of 5.
THE REVIEW 2021 141
I
t was the late 80s and, as was commonplace, my mother had driven us in her Mini Cooper to the World of Music, Arts and Dance. WOMAD was a small music festival set up in 1982 by former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel. This was before the days of corporate sponsorship and
cell phones. A time when the only person who had ‘influence’ was Mikhail Gorbachev. This wasn’t your usual great unwashed gig either. It was on the site of Carlyon Bay, a Cornish Riviera Lido that housed restaurants, bars, a ballroom and, more importantly, an arcade, swimming pool and mini-golf. But its pièce de résistance was a 3,400-capacity venue called the Coliseum.
It played host to Thin Lizzy, The Ramones, The Clash, The Jam, The Police, The Cure, Status Quo, The Who, Black Sabbath. Christ Glen Campbell even recorded a live album there in 81. Whilst the revellers rested their Babychaminduced heads in their tents on Carlyon beach, I was swimming with friends – yes,
“It was a magnificent sight. The owners had moored up to watch (or at least listen) as Peter Gabriel took to the stage to belt out Sledgehammer, Big Time, and Don’t Give Up.”
at 5. My grandmother rather fittingly nicknamed me The Fish. About a hundred metres offshore, we spotted a sailing yacht and decided that would be our marker for a quick race. It might have been an Oyster 435 or perhaps an IOR One Tonner designed by Stephen Jones, the SJ41. All I know is that, as we swam closer, it loomed large in the water, its lofty mast towering over us.
It was a magnificent sight. The owners had moored up to watch (or at least listen) as Peter Gabriel took to the stage to belt out Sledgehammer, Big Time, and Don’t Give Up. Little did they know the 5-year-old splashing around in the water below them would be water skiing with him the next day, but that’s a different story altogether. It was perhaps my first experience of being
up close to a proper bluewater sailing yacht – even though I never stepped aboard. And that’s the rub here, readers: I never have. I came close at the Spetses Classic Regatta and again at Les Voiles d’Antibes. I might have thought that, given my family base on the Isle of Wight, I could have secured a seat at the Royal Yacht Squadron line just off Cowes. Sadly, to this day, no such luck.
THE REVIEW 2021 143
As such, I read on with intrigue in 2018, when the Dutch HTP investments announced they were no longer willing to consider Oyster an ongoing concern. 380 employees went overboard until software magnate Richard Hadida stepped in. Hadida started Evolution Gaming in 2006 and, as the company now enjoys a market cap of $31.16 billion, it was clear he could afford to take on the task of righting Oyster. And he would need it. In the coming weeks and months, he’d have to step back from the tech business to focus on the yard. “I firmly believe that we must save this prestigious British yacht builder and continue to nurture and grow the Oyster Group for the long term. My investment in Oyster is not merely a hobby. Oyster needs to be a sustainable business. Hard, quick decisions need to be taken,” Hadida told yet another yachting publication, vying for what little is left of the market.
Hadida was not strapped to a gaff-rigged schooner from birth as you might expect though. He, like I, found sailing later in life. Despite being a late starter, when the opportunity arose to acquire the stricken Oyster Yachts, Hadida struck. But it’s been three years since the company was acquired. Looking at the 37.65m sloop Archelon, you might fail to notice. Launched in 2019 and boasting a master stateroom in the aft and 4 versatile twins, it’s clearly got the pace and space. However, I shan’t deduce anymore in regards to the company’s ongoing stable of releases. Nor shall I speculate on the 27,000 nautical miles that will be covered in the 24-2025 Oyster rally from Palma to Antigua over 16 months. What I will do is bide my time from the house on the Isle of Wight, stare out of the telescope and await a 1225 in the distance. Until the phone rings, I shall leave you to admire the Oyster 1225, a very exquisite vessel indeed. At least by the looks of the photos.
“Hadida was not strapped to a gaffrigged schooner from birth as you might expect though.”
THE REVIEW 2021 145
C P THE
R
CR
M C Fex p re s s™ 2 . 0 T Y P E B | C Fa s t ™ 2 . 0 | S DXC ™ U H S - I I
V
MO ME N T
U N I V E R S A L LY C O M PAT I B L E MEMORY CARDS FOR YOUR C R E AT I V E P R O D U C T I O N . DESIGNED AND ENGINEERED IN AUSTRIA.
ANGELBIRD.COM
A
CFexpress™ and CFast™ are trademarks of the Compact Flash Association SDXC™ and microSDXC™ are trademarks of SD-3C LLC
R
H O R O L O G Y: T I S S O T
sign of
The Times Words: Peter J Robinson
Nothing reinforced my need for more time than when my grandfather passed some 10 years ago. There was little to do in those weeks and months but comfort my grandmother and mother, ensure my eulogy was well rehearsed and poignant, and mourn this titanic loss. My grandfather had marched in the Jarrow Crusade, served in the Merchant Navy and RAF during the second world war, and gone on to raise three children. He achieved more in his lifetime than I might ever hope to.
THE REVIEW 2021 151
D
uring my formative years, he taught me the art of photography and how important it is to keep time. In his darkroom, he kept a pocket watch that he would use to ensure correct emulation and exposure. As an impatient pre-teen, I would watch the seconds count down with trepidation. When my grandmother also passed last year, I was faced with the realisation that there would be no more stories of daring-do; no more anecdotes about life in the early part of the twentieth century. All that was left was precious memories and a few cherished items that were woven into the fabric of their history. One such item was my grandfather’s Tissot pocket watch.
AN EXAMPLE OF AN ART DECO PIECE WITH FLOWERS AND PRECIOUS STONES
It’s a rather unassuming piece; a stark contrast to the embellished creations produced by CharlesFélicien Tissot and Charles-Émile Tissot for Czar Nicholas II in 1904. Though none less precious to me for it, of course. Price, after all, only implies value. I didn’t really know where to begin in regards to finding out the watch’s origin story. Lockdown in the UK meant that any and all jewelers were shuttered, so the idea of strolling down to my local ‘loupe sporting’ horologist wasn’t going to work. I decided that I would need to reach out to the Tissot heritage and archive department to try and see if there was an archived order for the piece. Having been founded in 1853 as a comptoird’etablissage, I hoped that some record might remain at the company’s head office. As
a testament to Swiss precision, the fine people at Tissot were able to report back that my grandfather’s Tissot Antimagnétique had been manufactured in Le Locle on 22 December, 1937 with a 43B calibre. It’s a semi-flat movement that allowed Tissot to produce the rather robust and affordable watch in nickel. Had it been a 43A, it would still have had a Breguet balance spring, but without the three settings as was reserved for those pieces finished in gold and silver. Tissot introduced the world’s first anti-magnetic wristwatch in 1930. As major cities in Europe and North America began to electrify, Tissot saw their opportunity to corner a market segment. The company’s engineers replaced the steel in regulating organs by materials unaffected by magnetism and installed the chronoelectromagnet to generate magnetic fields of
“ Tissot introduced the world’s first anti-magnetic wristwatch in 1930. ”
A POCKETWATCH CREATED FOR FOR CZAR NICHOLAS II IN 1904
THE REVIEW 2021 153
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: A TISSOT SPONSORED SKI COMPETITION IN 1938; THE ORDER FOR A COMPLICATION PIECE, WATCH BOUGHT BY SARAH BERNHARDT IN 1900 AT PARIS UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION; AN EARLY POCKET WATCH MANUFACTURED IN LE LOCLE.
variable intensity to check the resistance of their watches. Some of the first examples featured a Tissot 21.7 caliber which was eventually replaced by the 27 caliber. You’ll find countless variations on dial, case, material and movement as the range extended in the 1930s.
more change of the Antimagnétique making its way into a waistcoat pocket than a pair of jeans, that much is for sure. Though, as an ardent timekeeper on set, it might serve as a rather eclectic accoutrement to pull from one’s pocket once in a while.
The question that now remains: should this classic timepiece be locked away in the hopes of preservation for future generations. If it were to be worn, how so should it be? As we know, pocket watches were first produced in the sixteenth century and were so awkward in shape that they were worn around the neck. It wasn’t until the eighteenth century that bejewelment became the norm for bearings along with embellishment in the form of diamonds, amongst others.
Ultimately, it’s the success of the pocket watch – and pendant watches for women – that allowed Tissot to grow and become a sizable factory, whose HQ is still on Chemin des Tourelles Street in Le Locle this very day. If you’re thinking of collecting, I rather appreciate the Art Decostyle cases that are indicative of the period. Of course, look out for redials, though I doubt you are likely to find many. As most of these pieces are likely to be over 70 years old, you can expect a certain patina to the dial. So, if it appears box fresh and hasn’t been kept hermetically sealed, it’s probably too good to be true.
Call me old fashioned, but the idea of wearing anything ‘diamond encrusted’ is gauche, even by today’s standards. Thankfully the timepieces of the eighteenth century were a much more refined affair. As a decidedly traditional dresser, I see
TOP MIDDLE: 1929, HERMETIC WATCH. BOTTOM: A SELECTION OF ACCOMPANYING ADVERTISING OF THE TIME.
TR
THE REVIEW 2021 155
DISCERNING TASTES Now, we aren’t going to tell you how to live your life. But if you absolutely must turn your liquidity into fixed assets, let’s see if we can direct you towards some of the finer things that will potentially hold their value. Or at least provide amusement.
THE LAST DROP Founded in 2008, the Last Drop has released 21 bottlings for a total of fewer than 9,000 bottles. From a 1976 Jamaican rum to a 1959 vintage grande champagne cognac, everything appears to be well lubricated. This 240 bottle release of bourbon from the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, will go fast. The 1980 bourbon whiskey was distilled by Gary Gayheart, and was uncovered by his apprentice, Harlan Wheatley, now the Master Distiller at Buffalo Trace. Once you’ve acquired a bottle, let us know how it tastes would you.
D I S C E R N I N G TA S T E S
62M CRN MY VOICE Built in 2020 by Italian shipyard CRN, this 62m yacht from the Ancona yard features an exterior design by Nuvolari Lenard. With a top speed of 16.0 kn and capability to sleep up to 12 guests, she’ll be available for charter soon enough. The upper deck has been designed for exclusive use by the owner or guest in the master suite. The en-suite is therefore placed aft, with the lounge on the bow for entertaining.
BRIONI EAU DE PARFUM There is no denying that that Italian menswear house of Brioni is one of the founders of modern tailoring. Brioni is responsible for the first menswear runway show in fashions modern age. We even covered their brand partnership with Brad Pitt last year. So what of their new fragrance created in collaboration with the renowned Master Perfumer Michel Almairac. If Brioni are to be believed, it’s the ‘ultimate signature of effortless Roman chic’. We’ll let you know if that holds true.
PELI 1465 AIR CASE Peli’s credentials as the world leader in protective cases is long established. Whether you are landing in hostile territory whilst taking enemy fire, or stowing your storage cards, camera and lenses in the overhead cabin, they have a case to suit all needs. Peli’s Air range benefits from double-step latches, automatic purge valves, watertight o-ring gaskets, rubber over-moulded handles and stainless steel padlock hasps. Every Air case is available with a pick ‘n’ pluck foam set, and most also have a compatible padded divider set and TrekPak divider set. We’ve been in love with Peli since their inception and that love is going nowhere.
THE REVIEW 2021 157
YEMA RALLYGRAF PANDA We covered the Yema Superman French Air Force in our 2020 editions and that came with Yema’s in-house movement beating at 28,800 vibrations an hour and had a power reserve of 45 hours. The Yema Rallygraf is clearly a thing of beauty and we can’t wait to get our hands on one for a proper review.
BLACKMAGIC POCKET CINEMA CAMERA 6K PRO When Blackmagic announced the 4K pocket cinema camera was coming, it took the pro and prosumer world by storm. The original BMPCC offered 13 stops of raw Cinema DNG video. To say it was a giant killer or at least rival puts it mildly. Had it not been for the unwieldy form factor and the need to rig it to death, it could well have set the market segment standard. The new pocket benefits from built-in NDs, a tiltable screen and Super35 image sensor. We’ve used it as a trust B and C cam to the URSA Mini Pro on numerous shoots in the last few months and it hasn’t put a foot wrong.
G-RAID G-Technology is an established Western Digital brand.This dual-bay 8TB setup is made up of two removable 4TB 7200 RPM HDDs. It supports RAID configurations and has two Thunderbolt 3 ports, along with a USB-C. The G-Raid party piece is an HDMI connection that can support Full HD to high-definition 4K output.
D I S C E R N I N G TA S T E S
RUFFS ONYX SIGNET RING Founded in 1904, Ruffs are the gold standard for old world craftsmanship and exemplary materials. Whilst the internet might have democratised the western world, we at The Review still believe in the importance of written correspondence. Preferably with a wax seal. Whether your family ring has been lost to the annals of time, or your thinking of creating your own heirloom, the good people of Ruffs will be happy to guide you onward.
FAWAZ GRUOSI RUBY BRACELET In December 2020, the charming founder of de Grisogono, Fawaz Gruosi, opened a boutique in Mayfair. Gruosi started his illustrious career at Harry Winston in Saudi before working for Gianni Bulgari and starting de Grisogono in 1993. His latest piece, Rubies in Motion, is an artistic and technical tour de force; the bangle of black rhodium-plated pink gold is lavishly pavé-set with rubies, from which appears to grow a tangle of rosegold branches, lusciously fringed with fully flexible marquise-cut rubies.
THE REVIEW 2021 159
Helping to create an equitable world where land, animals and people are cherished, nurtured and respected. tengri.co.uk | hello@tengri.co.uk | @houseoftengri
Cut from a different cloth
Uncompromising style. Our limited-edition fabrics are made with rare, sustainably sourced natural fibres. Available at selected tailors and makers worldwide.
T I M E : A L P I NA - S TA R T I M E R P I L O T
STARTIMER Words: Peter J Robinson
Film: Screaming Eagle Productions
Like many Swiss watchmaking dynasties, Alpina can trace its founding back to the nineteenth century – 1883 to be precise – by Gottlieb Hauser, a watchmaker in Winterthur, who also established the Swiss Watchmakers Corporation (Union Horlogère Suisse). Given I came into this world kicking and screaming in 1983, where exactly is the Alpina brand now, over 130 years on?
THE REVIEW 2020 163
A
lpina describe their modernday fans as Alpinists – be that on skis, board, skates, on deck or underwater. The brand focuses on producing sports watches that perform in challenging outdoor environments, whilst respecting and implementing the ‘Alpinist Principle’ in design, manufacturing and technological innovation. I was decidedly far away from the Alps when I first encountered the brand at a charity event in Bristol in 2013. Has ever a more effete occasion been put forth than the stalwart of all CSR events, the charity supper. You know at some point someone’s going to either invite you to the silent auction table
or wave raffle tickets at you, until you relent and spend over £100 with no godly idea what’s in the line-up. I opted for the direct route and took myself to the silent auction table solo. Amongst the usual suspects was a bright yellow dive tank. Too small to be real and too big for my action man, I decided to check the branding on the tank to get a read on what exactly it was. Perhaps by design, the vaulted cellar we found ourselves in had absolutely no wifi. Other than to take donations one expects, it was all rather Eyes Wide Shut. Upon further inspection, the dive tank contained a rather smart Alpina Extreme Diver watch. With the entrée on its way, I scribbled a figure on a piece
of paper, so not to appear rude, and placed it into the box beside the tank. Throughout the evening, I considered returning to up my bid, but by that point in the night’s proceedings, the crowd was no longer concerned with fiscal responsibility. I learnt the following morning that I hadn’t won the watch. No one had. It hadn’t met the reserve. Despite the brand’s lineage, it was a veritable unknown in the mass consumer market until it was acquired by Frédérique Constant in 2002. Despite the fact that the purchaser was only established in 1988 by Dutch entrepreneur Peter Stas and Aletta Stas-Bax, they had enjoyed rapid expansion and success.
STARTIMER PILOT CHRONOGRAPH DATE
Specification DIAMETER - 42MM THICKNESS - 11.45MM LUG : 21MM CASE - STAINLESS STEEL CASE AND BLACK NYLON STRAP CROWN - SCREW DOWN CROWN
BEZEL - FIXED CRYSTAL - CONVEX SAPPHIRE CRYSTAL WATER RESISTANCE - 100M/330FT CALIBER - AL-371 QUARTZ MOVEMENT DIAL - BLACK
What would this titanic change mean for Gottlieb Hauser’s Alpina brand? Well, I wasn’t aware of the company’s rich history in 2013. My interest in the brand was a result of the new owner’s efforts to release new designs, like the Alpina Extreme Diver. And work their efforts did. I called the organisers of the event the next morning and asked if I perhaps doubled my bid, might I be more successful? With luck on my side, the Alpina Extreme Diver became my day watch and has remained so ever since. Yes, I have been diving with it, though only to 12 metres. The remaining 288-metre capability remains untested for now. I’ve also been skydiving, surfing and sailing off the coast of Belize with it. The only element that has ever needed replacing has been the rather fetching mesh bracelet, which was human error when
tacking. Alpina launched their first dive watch in 1969 and branded it the ’10 Seastrong’. It had a selfwinding calibre, 17 jewels and you can likely find one on the market today for around €1000. The 10 Seastrong featured two crowns, one was responsible for determining the decompression time through a 60-minute rotating bezel. The other was used to adjust the time. As you might expect, both had waterproof seals, but the chronograph function did not work underwater. Having only visited a handful of Swiss workshops and no interest in window shopping, I had not seen another Alpina in the flesh. Enter the Startimer Pilot Chronograph. As you might
expect, Alpina has a rich history in the aviation space too. But to strengthen its modern day market position in 2017, it secured champion air racer Mike Goulian as its new ambassador, and became official timekeeper of Team Goulian in the Red Bull Air Race World Championships. I hadn’t planned to use the watch for anything near as daring. The Alpina Startimer Pilot series features a stainless steel 42mm case, with a fixed bezel and a scratch resistant sapphire crystal. It also comes in five different flavours covering three dial colours. We opted to test the all black version. The Startimer Pilot contains a Swiss-made quartz movement with a built-in stopwatch function. Each has a 42-mm steel case and tri-compax
EXTREME DIVER 300
dials with small seconds at 3 o’clock, a 30-minute chronograph counter at 6 o’clock, and a day of the week display at 9 o’clock, along with a date window at 4 o’clock. All of this atop a Caliber AL371. This piece has a water resistance of up to 330 feet/100 meters, suitable for a water landing from your plane presumably. As has become the staple, an engraved Alpina logo graces the solid, screweddown casebacks. The models with a sunray navy blue dial are available with either a matching blue nylon strap or a stainless steel bracelet. On an otherwise muted dial is the Alpina logo formed onto the second hand. The logo was developed from the Matterhorn mountain in
Switzerland, which is 4,478 metres above sea level and overlooks the Swiss town of Zermatt. Having visited several times, I can vouch that it is one of the most majestic mountains in the Aosta Valley. For me, the Startimer Pilot fell in line quickly, becoming another day watch I found myself pairing to understated outfits again and again. It even replaced the Extreme Diver in some cases. This is the second all black watch I have considered since acquiring the HotBlack made by British physicist and watchmaker, Richard Hoptroff. But without visiting the Alpina workshop, it is still hard to grasp a real-world idea of what the brand’s heritage means today.
Not to mention that, in May 2016, Alpina’s parent, Frederique Constant Group, was acquired by Japanese watch giant Citizen. This does nothing to dissuade me from being an Alpina brand fan. However, it does make me wonder whether some of the mid-priced range will hold their value. The Startimer Pilot is listed on Alpina’s website at £644.50, though I’ve found listings for half that. This is, of course, good news for those looking to invest, but perhaps not so much for those who purchased at the top of the market. Not to mention at the sub-£3000 mark – are you really concerned with a three-decade resale value?
THE REVIEW 2020 165
When Stacia Suttles turned 19, she stepped into a boxing ring for the first time. That mixture of adrenaline, anticipation and perhaps fear must have been palpable. It was during that first fight that the amateur realised she was exceptionally gifted in the combat sport. Stacia thrived and was a quick-learning outsider. After just one year of training at her local gym in the Bronx, she would go on to be named a finalist of the 2015 New York Daily News Golden Gloves at the Barclays Center. The event is still considered to be one of the most elite Golden Glove titles by many boxing aficionados. “It’s an achievement,” she says, “which wouldn’t have been possible without determination, grit and a dead set vision for success.” Suttles has already acquired two New York Daily News Golden Gloves, the 2016 USA National Championship, the 2016 National Golden Gloves silver medal and an International Gold and Bronze Medal in 2017.
Now she wants to bring home Gold for Team USA in the Olympic Games. “Visualisation,” Stacia says, has been key to her knockout journey. Rumble, young one, rumble.
I N T E RV I E W : S TA C I A S U T T L E S
Film: SCREAMING EAGLE PRODUCTIONS Photography: MATT-KORINEK
THE REVIEW 2021 169
SCREAMING EAGLE PRODUCTIONS ON SET WITH DAVID BIRTWISTLE AND THE MCLAREN GT
AU T O M O T I V E : D I S C O V E RY
DISCOVERY As spring arrives in the UK, it marks six months since we started to plan the fettling of our Discovery 3 into a daily workhorse. The winter months were beginning to thaw and other than the cold, stark realisation that some of the six glow plugs might need replacing, all was well. Words: Peter J Robinson
Photography: James Hudson
External Photography: Screaming Eagle
THE REVIEW 2020 173
T
he Java black Discovery had passed its first MOT without incident in darkest January. We had completed location shoots in Wales and North Yorkshire, so started to finalise our list of after-market and bespoke modifications and additions. These ranged from necessities to ideas that might need a more considered R&D budget. A roof tent is certainly an idyllic idea if you live in proximity to the Tropic of Cancer. However if your base is closer to the Arctic
“I was almost as enamoured by the £190,000 carbon fibre GT as I was by the £32,000 Discovery.”
ON LOCATION IN THE BRECON BEACONS
circle, I suggest an Airstream 534. As I said, some of the team’s more outlandish suggestions were vetoed in perpetuity. With GMT on our side, though, and the garage starting to become a little more habitable, it was almost time to set to work. In terms of on-the-ground research, we had only managed to run in 5,000 miles or so in six months. Being confined to quarters, unless on location, meant when we finally set off for the McLaren GT shoot, the 2.6 ton LR3 had been stationary for at least ten days. I often wondered how it might perform in cold weather
conditions. The sort of inclemency one might experience high in the Swiss Alps, for instance. To drop the tailgate and take a deserved seat in salopettes to watch the snow melt off well-powered skis, with a view of any alp, would indeed be the stuff of legend. Provided you let the Discovery’s plugs warm-up, cold starts were the only immediate consideration. We were shooting the McLaren GT on the Brecons and the temperature was about 9 degrees without wind, so there wasn’t much danger of getting stuck. As a tracking vehicle for follow and tracking
shots, the Discovery is up there with anything I have hired or retrofitted. I have seen cranes rigged on everything from the Porsche Cayenne and Macan to the gaffers tuned Golf GTI. Note: rigging a camera crane to a Macan or Cayenne makes you look distinctly over-budgeted by the way. This coming from a producer who once rode into Warsaw on the roof of a Twisted Defender to film fellow driver Tony Hawk. However, sitting up front in the Discovery with a checks monitor, heated seat and a hot coffee is certainly my preferred method.
After the obligatory conversation with the Brecon’s park wardens to ensure everyone’s seen to be earning their salary, we set off for some mid-speed tracking and passing shots. I was almost as enamoured by the £190,000 carbon fibre GT as I was by the £32,000 Discovery. Something about that early-noughties, blackedout, Diesel-swigging LR3 filled me with the sort of adolescent adulation I had for Jet from Gladiators. After two hours of farcically yet tactically moving leaves in and out of place for optimum slow motion takes, we packed the dolly, jib
and sticks back into the Disco. I was learning that, whilst the all season poverty spec tyres were doing the job for the mild off-road needs, something would have to be done in the longer term. With the DOP and sound engineer comfortable, we headed for our final location, which involved some low-budget pyro and the realisation that the Discovery, for some unknown reason, had a headlight out. The light faded incredibly fast despite being at 1,617-feet, and we were left packing down in the dark, head torches a plenty. This shoot taught us that more powerful lighting was needed inside and out of the vehicle to aid in night shoots and
SOUND ENGINEER ADAM BERTENSHAW AND DOP, ROLLING
THE MOTOCRANE ULTRA RIGGED IN THE USA
THE REVIEW 2021 175
pack down. Note, to those of you making your way to our hallowed Welsh shooting location: Snails Deli. Our second shoot was in North Yorkshire and typically included a snowstorm. It also meant more of a support role for the Discovery, as the MotoCrane Ultra we’d planned to install wasn’t available to demo until post-pandemic. As much as a short hop to Minneapolis to meet Zach Nelson, CEO at MotoCrane, intrigued me, we would have to wait for the all-clear. We did consider using a BRP Traxter, but the distinct lack of windscreen put paid to that idea. Though to have been able to pop it on a trailer behind the Discovery and tow it to the location would have been epic. Despite the Discovery being used more to move crew around, it was a welcome respite from the sub-zero temperatures in the Yorkshire Dales. It did give us time to consider whether an external and internal trim upgrade would be needed. Despite its age, the 2006 Discovery was actually faring rather well. Its cream S-grade interior was showing, let’s say, patina, but certainly was not dogeared. With little knowledge of what went into a bespoke interior refit, I looked back over some of the notes that our automotive writer Aaron Edgeworth had penned during a Goodwood roundtable on the subject. Possible seat and dash replacements could well be in order, as well as leather upgrades. Though I was lost as to what the options might be for the Discovery’s two jump seats in the boot. As for external styling: to colour match or not to colour match? That is a tough one. For a utilitarian vehicle, the wheel arches, bumper and door trims are made from a rather sensible, unpainted, textured plastic. When you do find yourself off-road, it will only be a matter of time before a bump or a scrape befalls you. It goes with the territory. But
“Each time one of the crew ambled over to see the rushes, beer in hand, I was impressed by the unbridled love of the Discovery.” replacing these low-cost plastic parts with gloss upgrade kits is quite popular. You can pick them up from a variety of vendors, but Powerfull UK offer a decent variety of kits. I am still not sold on account of the replacement costs, should we inevitably scratch them, but it’s an aesthetic choice.
Two low-cost items that have become beyond useful, a rather low tech bluetooth FM transmitter and a DC-AC power inverter. The Discovery’s ample six disk head unit might have been a triumph before the iPod was released, but we’re in a different time now. I have long since got rid of my CD collection whilst retaining the vinyl and cassettes, of course, and gone digital. The Discovery has not. Whilst the cubby came loaded with a variety of classic ‘NOW something-or-another’ CDs, this was not the place for an ageing infotainment setup. Not only did I need sat-nav and music for the more obscure pan-European journeys, but making a footage review and charging facility available was a must, really. The cigarette-lighter-sized bluetooth transmitter, whilst rather low tech and still giving off low-level feedback, did the job. But fundamentally, it was an insult to what appeared to be a pretty decent amp, considering its age. Yes, we certainly needed an AV upgrade. The 12V power output in the rear of the vehicle was perhaps the most appreciated asset, when it transpired I had forgotten to charge three of the V-Lock batteries for the day’s shoot. This is sacrilegious. On most large scale shoots, you can get fired for a shitload less, let alone rendering the entire production without the ability to film. Lucky for me, I had set up the production, the batteries were half powered from the day before and my DC-AC power inverter in the boot allowed us to run the cameras and charge the batteries on the move. This firmly added the need for a dual battery system to our growing list. With our final day shooting complete and all vehicles back to base, there was little left to do but offload footage and start the drinking. Each time one of the crew ambled over to see the rushes, beer in hand, I was impressed by the unbridled love of the Discovery. “Perfect truck, that. Ideal”. It’s a lot less impressive when someone chases you down in London to tell you that ‘your’ new McLaren is ‘banging’. “It’s a brand new car that I had zero to do with, mate”, but I will take the compliment all the same. It’s 50/50 whether I explain it is a press vehicle or launch into an elaborate story about how it’s stolen and I am leaving the country with it. FYI, if someone under the age of twenty gingerly approaches you all dewy-eyed whilst you are sporting a piece of engineering excellence, you owe it to everyone that worked on the marque to show it to them inside and out. You just do. What I didn’t show them was the curious noise that was now coming from the offside wheel arch. I had headed back up north on a pick-up shoot to capture a few additional shots and, after rather unceremoniously mounting a kerb, was now hearing a scratching sound at low
JOSH GWYNNE ON SET WITH TWISTED AUTOMOTIVE
PUSHING IN FOR A SHOT OF THE SPRAY BOOTH
GAFFER MICHAEL SIDES SETTING UP ASTERA TUBES
THE REVIEW 2021 177
speeds. The breaks seemed unaffected and I couldn’t see anything in the arch to be causing the sound or obstructing the tyre. No warning lights had lit up, so I resided myself to a return journey without having it checked out. All this despite being in the presence of Twisted Automotive, who could have diagnosed the issue in minutes. On my return journey, I encountered a stationary transit van and Ford Mondeo in the middle lane of the M5 southbound. There didn’t appear to be any debris or impact other than a lot of panicked looking faces and waved arms. As with everyone
else, I reassuringly planted my foot on the breaks and was able to thread my way through the impending fracas at a slow speed. It did give me cause to consider what my stopping distance was though. It’s something we often take for granted in our daily driver, even as the demand for 4x4 and SUVs continues to build. Thankfully, at the time, I was considerably less laden than I had been a few months previous. Three weeks later and I was looking at a bill for two brake disks, a front wheel hub and bearing assembly, a new sensor (of course), a new tyre and labour. I won’t tell you what my initial
response was, but like all Discovery users, we had accepted our fate. I had weighed up the hire cost of a van and tracking vehicle and we were still coming out ahead. So after six months of stationary anxiety, we were finally moving again. We had shelved our plans to shoot the Discovery’s fettling for The Review’s YouTube channel until the world had reopened for business and we were budgeted and ready. We look forward to seeing you all again in June, when we’ll have our first largescale development projects underway. TR
PRODUCER JOHN RALLS STANDS WATCH ON THE BUTTERTUBS PASS IN THE YORKSHIRE DALES
For further details on the suppliers worked with in this feature, visit: thereviewmag.co.uk/automotive
THE INDUSTR
PANDEMI
Words: Naomi Lake
I’ve spoken many times over the undulating course of the last year about Covid and its effect on the industry I not only work within, but love dearly. More than just survival, the stirring efforts made by so many across beauty and wellness to bring their customers closer to their brand is something that deserves celebrating in itself. To change a business model that hasn’t really changed in decades (and for good reason – a close-contact service does, by its nature, require close-contact), and so quickly, requires quick wits, ingenuity and (I’m very sure) a lot of effort and stress.
B E AU T Y : I N D U S T RY PA N D E M I C
RY
IC
THE REVIEW 2021 181
F
or the loyal customer, online consultation, video chat, and new products have granted some access to the, let’s say, ‘time-sensitive’ top-ups to regular specialist services. Enter Peacci’s Gel Removal & Nail Nutrition Kit for removal of salon nail finishes at home, carefree and safely. Or to help the time pass until the full salon experience, Fudge Professional’s Clean Blonde Damage Rewind shampoo and conditioner bundle, which I can recommend as, by far, the best home option to keep blonde tones fresh with longer spans between colour appointments. But if we take a closer look behind the curtain of this performance, removing any smoke or mirrors, how has the industry actually coped during this time? You may have missed a few barber appointments, a handful of waxes or a couple of lash infills, but overall beauty, hair and holistic businesses were closed for over 140 days in 2020 alone. Factoring in our ongoing lockdown in the UK, this has been catastrophic for some. The Local Data Company has estimated that 4,700 businesses in the sector closed their doors permanently during this time, equating to around 10% of the entire industry. For others, it has been nothing less than extremely challenging in other ways. The British Association of Beauty Therapists and Cosmetology (BABTAC) represents a sector that totalled £27.7 billion in consumer spending in 2018 – twice that of car manufacture in the UK. To better support the industry in its recovery, their most recent letter to Rishi Sunak, regarding the Spring Budget, called for a reduction in VAT to 5%. Particularly important, considering these businesses have had no sector-specific financial support from central government. One huge step forward in this period, following what BABTAC described as a “steadfast strategic campaign” is the success of Make Beauty Safe. Having worked alongside the British Beauty Council, the UK Spa Association and the National Hair & Beauty Federation, the movement has taken what has previously been an under-regulated industry concerning training, to a sector with governmental support. As previously warned by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, “the existing legislation
available to most local authorities in England and Northern Ireland to regulate this sector is no longer fit for purpose.” However, as of January 2021, the industry has the support of a sector-specific team within government, purely for personal care. Lesley Blair, CEO and Chair of BABTAC and Confederation of International Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology shared, “[it’s] a huge milestone and the direct result of the dedication, passion and cooperation of the four key industry organisations and BEIS [Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy] over the challenges of the past year. As one of the largest contributors to
“The British Association of Beauty Therapists and Cosmetology represents a sector that totalled £27.7 billion in consumer spending in 2018”
the UK economy, our sector deserves to have a strong dedicated voice in government… we look forward to the opportunities and credibility this will provide our industry going forward.” But overall, suffering from such a reduction in revenue for so long has hit the industry hard. As a backbone to the industry and a lifeline to many for their ongoing guidance and support throughout the pandemic, BABTAC’s research has shown that one in four businesses will be at risk of bankruptcy. Those at further risk include 12,300 VAT-registered businesses who, despite making 30% of the sector, employ half the workforce within the industry. This doesn’t include the 200,000 women whose businesses or sole-trader ventures do not meet the VAT threshold. So, while I sat desperately missing my colourist counting my ever-increasing greys on my behalf, and wishing my partner worked in massage instead of private investigation, I decided to reach out to a few friends and colleagues in the field to see how they have traversed the last year. Thinking about hair, I spoke to Matt Gebbie, director of the award-winning boutique London hair salon, Blue Tit, who took a moment to share some beautiful insight into life outside of the salon while juggling homeschooling. With ten shops across the city and the 12 April reopening date (as it currently stands) tantalisingly close, how has the last year changed business for them? “The start of the pandemic was incredibly hard – the toughest challenge we have ever had to deal with as a business. It was the uncertainty about not knowing what support we would get and it tested us a lot,” Matt explained. “The downtime also gave us the opportunity to look inwards at the company, restructure and give people new opportunities to grow. We implemented a Diversity Roadmap into the business and as part of that progress, hired an Afro and Textured Hair Educator, Sharley Butcher. We also hired a wellbeing manager, Harriet Franks, and honed in on our academy.” And how about online retail, or social opportunities? Matt went on to share, “With the salons closed, it also gave us more time to work on and launch our own products in partnership with Italian haircare brand,
BLUETIT, EASTVILLAGE
Oway, Superfluid and Next Day Cream and drive sales of these through our online shop. While online sales were boosted, our greatest achievement was the phenomenal feedback we received – from influencers and journalists, but also from the salons that it is stocked in. It has been so humbling.” Unlike some salons, Blue Tit retained all their staff throughout. “Overall I think our strongest lessons have been to put your staff first and have a positive mindset. We have stuck to our guns, kept our staff close and put positive thoughts out into the world and it has come back in our favour,” Matt mused. Taking positives from a tough year shows extreme resilience. But what about when you’re a fledgeling brand? I reached out to Shane Carnell-Xu and Jake Xu, twin brothers and the founders of leading men’s cosmetic brand, Shakeup Cosmetics, to see how the first year since their September 2019 launch had gone, in the wake of so much change. Jake explained, “I think it’s safe to say that it’s been a year that no one could have foreseen or predicted! The first lockdown happened
THE REVIEW 2021 183
only three months after we had spent three weeks travelling around the country to promote our brand in every Harvey Nichols store in the UK and Ireland.” But as a self-professed niche category, it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Jake continued, “We saw a sharp decline in demand in our category overnight. However, as lockdown went on, the interest in our products and sales gradually picked up, online of course.” Shakeup felt the effects of the exploration of self-care in the movement to working from home. Jake explained, “What better time to try a new product, or a new way to look and feel [your] best?”. Their newest launch, The Travelers Set, is the perfect bundle to try out their full range, whilst ensuring you’re ready at a moment’s notice to slip away for a break as soon as possible. But did the events of 2020 change the direction of their plans for the business, or launches? Jake shared, “One of our favourite sayings that was often quoted by our investor Sally Preston MBE, was that ’when the world zigs, you zag’. In business, there are many ‘oh shit’ moments. It’s how you deal with them that counts.” “We had our eyes set on international markets from day one, and Asia was a key market space for us, especially China. Being Chinese-British, we had a front-row seat in witnessing the
redefinition of men’s beauty.” Jake confided, “Launching into China can be very daunting, risky and expensive for many western brands, but with our language skills and deep understanding of the culture, consumer behaviour and the social landscape in China, we had the advantage that enabled us to move fast. So, while the UK slept, we launched our flagship store on China’s biggest cross-border e-commerce platform, TMall, a process that usually takes up to a year, took us only four months from beginning to launch.” Between that and their launch this year into Superdrug, their hero product Let’s Face It BB Tinted Moisturiser is currently selling at a rate of one every six minutes globally. With years spent face-to-face with customers at the counter under my brush belt, I was intrigued: from their point of view, what is the future for online beauty retail? “We actually don’t think the bricks-and-mortar beauty retailers are going anywhere. Products that have a certain texture, colour shade or fragrance will always sell better when the customer has had a chance to try them in person. Having said that, Covid has helped online businesses massively over the past few months. As they say, it takes 66 days for a new habit to take root. Having gone through
the past year, more people will be shopping online from now on, even after the lockdown is lifted.” With so many working at home, self-care moments have been at an all-time high. I was lucky enough to speak with Dr Bjorn, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of clean-beauty-pioneering, science-led skincare brand, BIOEFFECT. Based in Iceland, the brand’s range was built upon state-of-the-art bioengineering, involving the replication of EGF (epidermal growth factor, the body’s trigger to repair itself) using barley. As the first and only brand with plant-based growth factors, did the impact of Covid reach something so specialist? Dr Bjorn reassured, “Even though we have enjoyed the benefits of living on an island, the global pandemic has undoubtedly been a challenge for us.” Their EGF barley production uses an unparalleled geothermal system, noted Dr Bjorn, ensuring a constant supply throughout the pandemic. He explained, “It is a high-tech ecologically engineered greenhouse located in the middle of a lava field”, and as such, handily allows staff to socially distance with ease. Dr Bjorn continued, “Our complex nourishing system waters and monitors the barley plants.”
Their newest product, and a must for the skincare connoisseur, is their deeply moisturising, yet light-as-water Hydrating Cream which launched during the pandemic. “We developed and manufactured the product from start to finish in Iceland, like we do for all BIOEFFECT products.” Although he admits there were some challenges, the release went direct to online without significant delay: “This was made possible because of the total commitment and dedication of our BIOEFFECT team, from R&D to production and marketing, that lived by the motto ‘We are going to make this happen no matter what!’” But this wasn’t the only 2020 launch. Their first flagship store in Reykjavik was unveiled just weeks before the pandemic took hold. Dr Bjorn elaborated, “Luckily we have been able to avoid total store lockdowns here in Iceland and therefore we have managed to keep our store doors open for the public. We have hosted smaller events in the store whenever possible, strictly complying with Covid restrictions, where we have been able to treat our customers to expert advice”. So many brands have given generously to their community over this time, and continue to do so even over a year on from the start of our first lockdown. On seeing our nurses suffering from
“When it comes to success with online business models, consumer demand and pivoting, you can’t ignore the wellness side of the industry.” the drying effects of hand gel, Faith in Nature gave away hundreds of cases of products (including soaps and hand-creams) direct to hospitals and cancer centres across the country, and skincare brand Faace donated thousands of pounds worth of their skincare masks to NHS frontline workers. Meanwhile, London-based perfumers Miller Harris donated over £150,000 of stock to Age UK, to support some of the most vulnerable members of our society. And it didn’t stop there, with brands helping customers to give back too. As rainbows became
synonymous with our frontline carers, nail care brand Peacci launched their Rainbow Kit and donated £5 from every kit sold to charities supporting NHS workers. And right now, Legology has teamed up with the Greenham Trust on their Laptops for Lockdown Learning fund, supporting children’s education at home during remote learning. With every sale of their Limited Edition Holiday-At-Home Candle, Legology will donate £10 towards the purchase of digital devices for disadvantaged pupils, and the Greenham Trust will directly match this donation. When it comes to success with online business models, consumer demand and pivoting, you can’t ignore the wellness side of the industry. After all, who hasn’t picked up an online class over the last months? I spoke to Charlotte Holmes, whose diverse career in fitness I have followed, supported and admired for many years now. A professional model and former Miss England, Charlotte is a yoga teacher, group fitness instructor and personal trainer. She appeared in Britain’s Next Top Model (where she finished third after being told by one of the judges she wasn’t slim enough to be a model) and later appeared on MTV’s Ex On The Beach: Body SOS, as one of the lead personal trainers.
THE REVIEW 2021 185
“Pre-Covid, I was a freelancer, teaching weekly classes across London and filming classes for FiiT. I also hosted live classes on my IGTV about once a month,” says Charlotte. No stranger to the studio setting, she has worked across boutique studios in London including Lift, Psycle and Another Space, and has taught internationally at fitness festivals and retreats for many years. Fast forward to 2020 and she joined Virgin Active UK as Head of Yoga. “Now, I’m working full time. I have the most wonderful team and am so excited to be working with them to bring quality yoga classes and education to the commercial gym space.” But even with the ability to pivot, how might the fitness and wellness industry have suffered differently from any other area? “Firstly, like everyone else we’ve lost ‘human connection’. The ability to physically connect with clients and members of our gym community is something that, I believe, is vital for mental health and development. Not only is physical touch and connection a serotonin booster, but touch cues can help ensure movements are being executed properly. This method is key in promoting correct form and habits so that the most is gained from the movement, it also helps to limit injury. Secondly, teaching online is a totally different ball game from teaching in person. Your cues have to be specific and understandable – a lot of the time you can’t see who you are teaching!” With this in mind, I was intrigued to know how the industry has adapted. “I’ve found adapting to the digital space relatively smooth
and thoroughly enjoyable. I was one of the founding trainers with FiiT”, that is, way back in 2017, before all classes had to be online. “It’s been a really wonderful way to connect with my Instagram audience and give something back when people are at home going through potentially challenging and difficult times. Covid has forced us apart, but in some ways, the online fitness world has managed to keep us all connected and together.” So where does that leave the fitness industry now? Charlotte mused, “It’s going to be tough, as it is for many industries but I believe that we will bounce back. Many people have taken on new fitness regimes and picked up new habits with exercise and they will want to continue that when the gyms reopen. We are lucky to now have our Virgin Active Online+ Membership growing so even after the gyms open, people have the option to train with us at home or wherever they are going forward!” With new routines forming (and bad habits not far behind), I had already been looking at alcohol-free alternatives to some favoured at home tipples. I reached back out to Rob Fink, CEO and Founder for Big Drop, leaders in the AF craft beer market. Firstly, curiosity got the better of me. Was there a reason why they had taken the AF-only route when no other brewers had? Rob explained, “I quit drinking for 6 months after I had my first son in 2014.” But working in business development, his days often involved client lunches. “I ended up thinking
‘why should people not drinking alcohol, for whatever reason, be forced to drink a substandard beer?’” The idea for Big Drop was born: “Generally, if something’s never been done before, there’s a reason! However, I knew that there had always been a market for non-alcoholic beer – it just hadn’t been very good beer.” So, how about 2020? “Overall alcohol sales actually fell in 2020, while the AF category grew by a third and our volume pretty much doubled to 1.8 million cans and bottles.” Before the first lockdown, they didn’t sell to the home-drinker, but their online store now makes up a third of sales. It was a year of huge change for Rob: “Perhaps the biggest surprise of the year, however, was the level of interest for Big Drop via Milk & More. We began supplying the next-day doorstep delivery service at the end of 2019 and watched as demand sky-rocketed from the growing numbers of stay-at-home shoppers.” And so, as it leaves us parting ways once again, I can only encourage you to get back out to your local beauty community – when the time is right. Visit your nearest high-street counter, book your wax, plan your haircut and dream about your nails, massage and facial. Book in advance, let them know of any changes with as much notice as possible, and get back into your routine of regular appointments. I can safely say that, as an industry, we will be working hard and can’t wait to see you all as soon as possible. We have missed you!
HAND CRAFTED ICONIC EYEWEAR SINCE 1926
Solar Power Words: Florean Smout
If you’re like us, sunglasses ‘season’ is 365. And given that the eyewear market is expected to reach $157.98 billion in 2021, there’s even more reason to get the wear out of your favourite pair of shades. You’re going to lose them eventually – you know you are. Whether you lean towards the timeless wayfarer or something wraparound, ensure you always consider face shape. Leave the lens strength, polarisation and colour for when you’ve decided on that perfect shape. A triangular or heart-shaped face will be ever more accentuated by a solid pair of aviators. Soft curved or rounded frames work best for square faces, and those with rounder features might opt for rectangular or square frames to harden the features. Whatever the state of your boat race, we’ve compiled some of our favourite sunglasses for the season.
FA S H I O N : S U N G L A S S E S ANDY BY SALT OPTICS
@SALTOPTICS
THE REVIEW 2021 189
THE 1960’S-001 BY OLIVER GOLDSMITH
@SALTOPTICS
NETHERWOOD BY OLIVER GOLDSMITH
@SALTOPTICS
THE REVIEW 2021 191
HILLIER BY SALT OPTICS
EASTCASTLE BY CUBITTS
@CUBITTS
THE REVIEW 2021 193
AUDREY BY SALT OPTICS
LOPEZ BY SALT OPTICS
THE REVIEW 2021 195
CAMLEY BY CUBITTS
SOPHIA BY SALT OPTICS
ATTNEAVE BY CUBITTS
THE REVIEW 2021 197
CLIPPER INDIGO REGIMENTAL STRIPE BY HEMINGSWORTH
FA S H I O N : S W I M W E A R
SHORELINE
STYLE Words: Florean Smout
Whether you’ve been travelling to holiday homes or been stationary, it doesn’t mean there aren’t brighter days on the horizon. And who’s stopping you from wearing a bikini or speedo around the casa? The onepiece will always be a style staple, but as summer kicks into high-gear, there are a number of swimwear trends coming to the forefront. Whether it’s a 90s cowl neck, a stringy affair or, yes, even ribbed, here’s a selection of our favourites for him, her, they, them and anyone else heading for sunnier climates.
THE REVIEW 2021 201
PAT E R E T F I L I U S
PAT E R E T F I L I U S
HEMINGSWORTH
MORNING SEA STAR
BLACK IRIS
CLIPPER WHITE SOLID
This Swiss independent based in Zurich is renowned for its eco-conscious creations. Pater et Filius produce a range of men’s swim shorts, beach trousers and resort accessories. What started as a foray into the world of boxer shorts quickly became a push towards using sustainable production and materials. The brand uses econyl-regenerated nylon in its super-chic range of menswear. The inspiration for their range of unique prints and patterns comes from the ocean’s cacophony of sealife. Like Morning Sea Star, a flatfronted, fitted pair of retro shorties for a classic 50s silhouette. These are made from ultra-fast-drying regenerated polyamides.
These fitted yacht bermudas feature a low waist cut, side slash-pocket, single-back pocket with zipper, adjustable snap-tabs at the waist, and special covered slide-andsnap closure at the waistband. No summer wardrobe would be complete without a standard block colour pair of swimmers. The body-hugging darts on the rear give a shapely cut and the quick-dry micro-mesh interior lining will have you dry on deck in no time. Also, all shorts come in a fetching monogrammed waterproof pouch that can be used to carry your phone, keys, wallet and sunglasses to the beach.
We first heard of luxury British menswear brand Hemingsworth on the Pitti Uomo 96 olive vine. Founder Matt and creative director Henry wanted to create the most luxurious pair of shorts that could be worn all day whether travelling or relaxing without compromising on style, fit or comfort. The result was the Clipper. Inspired by seeing the crisp white sheets of canvas hauled into the rigging by sailing ships on the Cap d’Antibes, these shorts are impeccably crafted and exquisitely designed. They feature a sliding side bar adjuster buckle, Tahitian, Mother of Pearl buttons, a tailored six-piece waistband and are resistant to chlorine, salt water and fading from sunlight.
SUSTAINABILITY PIRATE @LUCHOJACOB IN THE PATER ET FILIUS YACHT BERMUDAS ‘BLUE URCHIN’
THE REVIEW 2021 203
MR MARVIS - THE SWIMS
HEMINGSWORTH
MR MARVIS
MR MARVIS
KULBIR STONE GURKHA
THE AQUARAMAS
THE BLOOMS
Kulbir Thapa Magar VC was the first Nepalese gurkha recipient of the Victoria Cross. His gallantry in the face of enemy fire is the stuff of legend. Let’s say that the Hemingsworth Stone Gurkha Kulbir swim short are, sturdy then to say the least. The distinctive double pleats are a stylish change to the traditional flat fronted approach. They benefit from a crossover belt fastening and are cut from lightweight poly/cotton end-on-end cloth.
In 2016, Mr Marvis set out to create a pair of smart casual shorts that you could wear from relaxing on the beach to lunching on the boulevard, right through to the night shift and after party. The brand now offers, in addition to the Originals, the Swims, and recommends their turquoise Aquaramas be paired with a vintage Riva. In which case, you’ll need to visit Bellini Nautica on Lake Iseo. All Mr Marvis shorts are handmade in Portugal and benefit from hidden zippered pockets, stretch mesh and a drawstring that can be worn inside or out.
This lustrous pattern is available from Mr Marvis – but beware, it’s limited edition. These floral swims might be too much for some, but every man should have a floral number in the wardrobe. We’ve been cooped up too long not to push the boundaries a little. If floral isn’t your thing, they also come in 30 other uniquely bold colours.
THE REVIEW 2021 205
LEMLEM
ANEMOS
ANEMOS
SOFIA STRING BIKINI
THE STRING TIE BIKINI BOTTOM
THE K.M. TIE ONE PIECE
LemLem was founded by supermodel Liya Kebede to not only preserve traditional Ethiopian weaving techniques, but also to create jobs for the local artisans. The brand’s collection consists not only of featherlight and breezy kaftans, and dresses made from handwoven natural cotton, but also incredible swimwear. This timeless Sofia string bikini set is a LemLem’s take on the classics with an Ethiopian inspired trim.
LA-based swim and resort-wear brand Anemos, known for its minimalist aesthetic and focus on sustainability, offers timeless and tasteful garments. Keeping its consumer and global impact at the core of its production, Anemos ensures sustainability throughout the process. From only using eco-friendly fabrics and packaging to manufacturing the collections locally at family run factories. For this year’s spring collection, cofounders Lauren Arapage and Joshua Shaub take a simplistic approach to swimwear. They draw inspiration from 90s minimalism combined with the influence of the 1970s. The String Tie Bikini Bottom embodies a 70s sensibility and the Jane Double String Bikini Top channels Jane Birkin’s iconic style. Pair the two and you may stand a chance to become Gunther’s muse for Teeny Weeny String Bikini Volume 2.
The K.M. Tie one-piece is the brand’s favourite so far, and is the swimwear equivalent of a LBD. The chic piece with square neckline and high-cut legs has slender straps that wrap around the waist, making it incredibly figure-flattering. If the K.M isn’t spicy enough, opt for the leopard print.
THE K.M. TIE ONE PIECE BY ANEMOS SUNGLASSES BY SALT HAT BY ASOS SANDLES BY ZARA
THE REVIEW 2021 207
SOFIA STRING BIKINI BY LEMLEM SUNGLASSES BY SALT WEDGES BY ZARA
CASA RAKI
CASA RAKI
MARINA MAILLOT NAVY
FLO SET STRIPED
Luxury boutique, resort-wear brand Casa Raki, founded by Argentinean-born fashion photographer Josefina Alazraki Theo, challenges the issues of sustainability and waste. Casa Raki devotes itself to sustainable and responsible manufacturing practices by working with like minded eco-conscious partners. The brand uses sustainable materials, such as econyl for swimwear, and 100% GOTS certified organic linen for resort-wear. By extending garment life, Casa Raki challenges consumers to reevaluate their relationship with clothing, encouraging them to change consumer habits. The collection contains elegant and timeless wardrobe staples. The refined Marina Maillot made from fitting, soft Econyl lycra is incredibly flattering. With its square neck and back line in contrasting colours, it resonates a more modern 50s vibe.
The striped Flo set is a classic maritime number with flattering Brazilian cut bottoms and playful top with a plunge neckline and bow on the back. This nautical number is a wardrobe staple for all seasons. The Flo set is double lined, has no metal accoutrements and is made with a textured and sustainable fabric with SPF50+. We recommend pairing it with Salt sunglasses and your favourite straw summer hat.
THE REVIEW 2021 209
FA S H I O N : R E S O R T W E A R
Resort Ready Words: Florean Smout
Maybe your vacation plans are looking a little different this year. Maybe they’re not. We can all agree that we’ve all got wardrobe staples that make you feel vacation ready, even if you happen to be staying put. Those of you who still hear swimsuit cover-ups, flip flops and big hats at the mention of holiday attire, beware: Resort-wear includes the casual to the very stylish, from breathable fabrics that require less ironing and maintenance to evening wear, including dinner jackets and dresses. Fundamentally, it’s your holiday. And whether you want to dress casual or formal for the duration, it’s your choice.
THE REVIEW 2021 213
THE D.K. MIDI WRAP DRESS IN CUPRO BY ANEMOS
DELFINA DRESS MIDNIGHT NAVY BY CASA RAKI
THE REVIEW 2021 215
FINE SILK-CASHMERE POLO BY LUCA FALONI THE WIMBLEDONS SHORTS BY MR MARVIS
CLIPPER WHITE SOLID SWIM SHORTS BY HEMINGSWORTH HAWAIIAN SHIRT BESPOKE
THE HUTTON SHORT SLEEVE BUTTON-DOWN SHIRT IN LINEN CUPRO BY ANEMOS
THE REVIEW 2021 217
HIWOT MINI DRESS BY LEMLEM
NATALIA TROUSERS STRIPED AND LULI TOP STRIPED BY CASA RAKI
THE REVIEW 2021 219
ELBA LINEN JERSEY POLO BY LUCA FALONI CATAMARAN SHORTS SEERSUCKER BY MR MARVIS
THE KEATON WIDE LEG PANT IN LINEN CUPRO BY ANEMOS
THE REVIEW 2021 221
AU T O M O T I V E : AU D I R S 5
Words: Aaron Edgeworth
Machine
Photography: Roger Chan
THE REVIEW 2021 225
T
here are a lot of new cars available nowadays. A lot of cars. Finding a new creative niche for manufacturers is probably given as much effort by R&D as Ferrari afford to their everingenious ways to part customer with cash via an options list. Due in part to these reasons, I have in possession, for a week, the newly revised Audi RS5 Sportback. I say that, as there was a time when Audi RS products were made one at a time. RS6 meant no RS4, and so on. Manufacturers, now, seem to make all the cars that they can, in full knowledge that enough people in enough places will buy them. Now, none of this is really
the car’s fault – but I find where it sits in today’s the squared arches and flared intakes that have become standard fare in Audi RS market an interesting proposition. products of late. In the revised guise, those The car arrives – sparkling clean and delivered arches are some 15mm wider, the vents gain in an abundantly professional manner by pentagonal cut outs and, on the model tested, Audi, direct to the house. The obvious first the carbon black pack, further reinforcing impression is the colour: sonoma green. Muted the aggressive intent. Inside, expected Audi in dull lights, it’s one of the most wonderful, continues – a familiar interior that still retains vibrant colours I’ve seen on a manufacturer many functional elements of more classical palette for a long time. None of your British architecture. By that, I mean buttons. Actual racing here. At a $675 option, it is in no way touch-me, feel-me, click – buttons. Should the one of those slightly gut-wrenching colours reader have encountered the higher-placed that adds 27% to the overall cost of the vehicle. Audi models, they will have encountered the new dual touch screen interface first seen in The colour works especially well, accentuating the second generation of A7 launched in 2018.
Whilst it certainly takes interior technology into a new phase, I find the tactile action of real buttons preferable, and therefore, found the set up in the RS5, a large efficient touch screen coupled with traditional buttons, a wonderful combination. The touch screen element is genuinely good: 10.1inches, bright and vivid colours. Receptive to inputs and easily navigated, but obviously easier if attuned to Audi interiors already. Apple Carplay adds further ease to the system. I once bemoaned Carplay as making things difficult to negotiate between the phone interface of the car. No such problems here. Connectivity is quick and as easy as any buyer wants to encounter.
The drivetrain is the now familiar 2.9 litre twin turbo V6 seen in the recent iterations of the RS4, coupled to the quite monumental Quattro four-wheel drive set up. A car for all seasons seemingly. As with any occasion where one is presented with a near-box-fresh car to sample and enjoy, I used it for a solid week in all conditions and for all needs. Quick pootle to the shops? Take the RS5. Seeing parents for lunch? Take the RS5. A spot of countryside antiquing? RS5. 150 miles back to Bristol to see the in-laws? Very much take the RS5.
Whilst back out west, we ventured down to Cheddar Gorge. Famed for its rock formations and imposing facades, it was aimed to present the best range of road types and possibilities to exploit the performance. What transpired was apocalyptic weather; weather designed to stifle and stymie most automotive progress. Not in this case. Not in this car. Rain the likes of which we see rarely outside of southeast Asia. I mean, fuck, a torrent, 23mph on the motorway. Heavy shit. That said, it did stymie progress for a significant portion of the day, but once the main deluge had dissipated, even on wet and water logged roads, confidence in what the chassis could do,
THE REVIEW 2021 227
and the adhesion that the car seems to offer, forward movement is swift almost – almost – all of the time. Grip is still present in the wettest of conditions, but comes in droves once the road starts drying. Unlike a slew of Audis before, one can’t level any complaint at front-end feel. It is tight and predictable, in a way that adds to that recurring theme of confidence. Approach corner, slow in, point to corner, car settles, plant foot as angle allows. Fire off into distance. Repeat. Ad infinitum. Engagement is, I guess, what you make of it. And by that, I mean, given the car’s poise and composure over a full gamut of conditions, you’d have to be driving it at 11 to unsettle or dislodge it over the majority of conditions. Therefore, it isn’t there to keep you white knuckle gripped to the wheel in fear of what type of ‘steer’ is incoming. But is that the point? This will get you wherever you want to be quickly, comfortably, and without higher blood pressure and that in itself represents a fair level of engagement when you contemplate how easy the journey that you just made was. What I took most from the car is the confidence that it builds in the driver. The Quattro set up helps reassure as grip is available in spades. In the dry, known corners are dispatched with plus-30% speed. At no time does it seem unsettled and the full breadth of chassis set ups return compliant, but ever more engaging responsiveness. The one issue I did encounter was what, I felt, was a slightly curious damping set up whilst in comfort. I noticed that across dips and bumps, most notably on motorway surface and speed, the rebound rate seemed quite long. That may not explain in the best way, but all I can say is the space between bottom and top of travel seems quite big and this created a slightly up down ‘wallow’ through dips. I will stress, this was in no way uncomfortable, in no way did I feel any loss of control or connection – but notice it, I did. Other than that, the chassis feel is refined and responsive, and whilst it may not provide razor sharp or edged performance, what it does do is relay its limits and reassures enough to make for steady progress and consistently clean undercrackers. Quoted 0-100km/h time is 3.9 seconds, which seems ludicrous for what is, in effect, a midexecutive performance ‘saloon’. Trumped in power by bigger siblings but outpunching what many regard as the benchmark for hot hatches in the RS3, to me it seems amazing that relatively accessible cars provide now the performance that we were given by supercars some 10 short years ago. It feels all of that speed as well, and continues that rate of acceleration through to a limited 155mph (though the press car supplied had a delimit to 174mph – oh for an autobahn). The twin
turbo set up keeps one in the power band particularly well, and it would be a fair misstep to put the system out of whack when pressing on. The 8 speed Tiptronic box responds well, with manual inputs delivered on well sculpted paddles and, when left to its own devices, progress is unerringly easy. All of this is delivered in a nice, relatively quiet package that is undoubtedly a lovely place to be. And perhaps therein lies the rub – It’s hard to disassociate oneself from the speed that is on tap, and as such it’s difficult to not want it to be somewhat more special. Now that’s a massively harsh semi-conclusion to come to, but I can’t be less than honest. I loved the car. Genuinely. As I said, it performed admirably with all that it was given, and the week passed in the best way possible: effortlessly. So maybe the issue harks back to the opening statement. Maybe we have too many models. Maybe speed is far too easily and far too cheaply accessed. I know that manufacturers are restricted in ever more ways, but there was a time that certain cars offered something in the bonkersness. Sticking the Gallardo derived V10 in the C6 RS6, 6.2 naturally aspirated V8 in the W204 Mercedes C63, even a 4.8 litre BMW V8 into a Morgan is somewhat of an amusement. However, as I have spoken elsewhere, those halcyon days are seemingly destined for memory. So, I guess a fairer reflection would be of the car it is, rather than the car it represents, and as I said, it’s a great car. That it lures you into suspecting supercar credentials is nothing to complain about. A well-made, well tested and ergonomic interior is a good thing for long term ownership that can’t be denied. And it connects to the road so well, maybe it doesn’t need to connect to the driver in ways that other cars do. Because other cars can’t carry four adults happily. Others don’t have infotainment and driver interface set ups that are easier than tying a shoelace. And others don’t make a mockery of estimated times of arrival in quite the same way. TR
Specifications PRICE: £83,360 as tested. ENGINE: 2.9 litre twin turbo V6 0-60: 3.9 seconds TOP SPEED: 176 mph with delimiter LENGTH/WIDTH/HEIGHT: 4783mm/2029mm1387mm WEIGHT: 1742kg
THE REVIEW 2021 229
LUXURY ENGLISH–MADE LEISUREWEAR
MADE IN ENGLAND
Words: Joh
My first piece of wearable tech came in the form ergonomically-challenged timepiece with every n brain. So much so that, when I lost it after a mere si one until she relented. Adjusted for inflation, tha Twi
It came with an infrared blaster, a calculator, was function. This combination all but made me a vir tenth birthday. No pub TV, takeaway, security gat switching the channels to those some might conside for a period I was the toast of the mildly delinquent At the time, it was somewhat naively branded ‘tec matter if it was a calculator or a pager. We’ve certa hoverboard, but Harpreet Singh Rai and his team h as a wear
TECHNOLOGY : OURA RING
hn Sterling
m of a Casio CMD 40 wristwatch. I adored that neuron I had pulsating through my nine-year-old ix months, I pestered my mother to buy me another at fine piece set my mother back £124.99 in 1992. ice.
water resistant to 30 metres, and had an IR learn rtual digital terrorist in my hometown before my te or family living room was safe. Not to mention er to be risqué in our local Dixons and Currys. Yes, t malcontents that I ran with at my primary school. chnowear’ by Casio and the media, and it didn’t ainly not cracked the Babel Fish and I still want my have managed to make the Oura ring as wearable rable gets. THE REVIEW 2021 233
W
hat made you get involved in wearable health tech post-Wall Street?
After working grueling hours in the finance industry, I began implementing major changes to regain control over my health – tracking diet and exercise, and improving my sleep with the first generation Oura Ring – and found that the connection between my sleep deprivation and health took on new meaning. While in college, I spent a lot of time in the wearables space studying engineering and became even more fascinated with sensor technology and how it could be used for the human body and health. On Wall Street, I learned how businesses were tackling this new field from publicly traded wearable and sensor companies. I happened to meet one of the Oura co-founders when the company was still in the early stages, and I decided to invest personally in their Series A and join the board. Being involved with Oura brought me back to what I was truly passionate about – the intersection of health and technology. And I was thrilled when asked to be CEO. What has wearing an Oura ring taught you about yourself and how has that led you to make changes in your life? My intense schedule in finance took a dramatic toll on my health, and after gaining 50 pounds I resolved to take better care of myself. I was tracking my food intake and workout schedule in a spreadsheet, but I was able to break through my plateaus when I started using the Oura Ring to analyse and improve my sleep data. At Oura, we believe that what can be measured can be mastered. Oura allows users to better understand changes in their data compared only to their own personal baselines. We then give users actionable guidance that informs their day-to-day habits. We exist to help people better understand how the right physiological insights, starting with sleep, can
lead them to improving their overall health and wellbeing. With partnerships with the NBA and UFC, can you see the Oura ring becoming an indispensable device for all athletes? Are you giving thought to any Olympic partnerships in the future? I can certainly see Oura as a go-to device for all athletes, since we know rest and recovery play a large role in athletic performance. We’ve been thrilled with Oura’s adoption
“We’ve been thrilled with Oura’s adoption this year, not just by the NBA and UFC, but with a host of leagues including WNBA, NASCAR, Seattle Mariners, and Aston Martin Red Bull Racing.” this year, not just by the NBA and UFC, but with a host of leagues including WNBA, NASCAR, Seattle Mariners, and the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing. While many of these organisations have looked to Oura for the ring’s potential illness detection capabilities, athletes have been using Oura Rings to support their training long before the outbreak of the pandemic. In fact, our new Health Risk Management (HRM) platform builds on our long-standing Oura Teams product, which allows individuals to share their data with a ‘Coach’ who works with them to better calibrate their workout and
recovery regimen. While we can’t disclose our future plans, we believe the ring can boost the training regimens of athletes at all levels, from Olympians to weekend ballers. What element helps the Oura Ring detect potential early Covid-19 symptoms? Oura is uniquely positioned to be an effective solution for illness detection with its accurate sensors and continuous body temperature measurement. Initial results are out from TemPredict, an ongoing study conducted by the University of California, San Francisco that aims to understand the role physiological signals can play in predicting the onset of illness symptoms that categorize Covid-19. These initial findings show that continuous temperature, heart rate, HRV and respiratory rate monitoring can be used to help identify the onset of Covid-19 and other flus up to three days in advance of users feeling symptoms. For example, Oura uses individualized baselines to determine when an individual’s patterns are deviating from their unique normal and were shown to identify a fever for the majority of the participants when symptoms were unreported or even unnoticed. Oura is also being used in a separate study at the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute (RNI) West Virginia University, which released early findings that said it can detect Covid-19 symptoms – for example, fevers, coughing, breathing difficulties, and fatigue – using Oura Rings three days in advance. What do you think the future holds for the wearable medical market, devices for all? Socks with sensors? Overall, we believe our healthcare system is focused on ‘sickcare’, but at Oura, we want to help people understand that great health starts with getting better sleep. This is now more important than ever. We are committed to ensuring that people have resources and information to make more informed decisions about their health. We are constantly evolving and think there’s an incredible opportunity for wearables to identify patterns for many types of illness early,
Harpreet Singh Rai CEO of Oura
THE REVIEW 2021 235
helping to keep people safe from a number of health issues. Take the TemPredict findings, for example. The study implies that wearables like Oura have the potential to capture personalized patterns and detailed rhythms that traditional tools, like spot temperature checks, cannot track. If people understood they were getting sick before acute symptoms manifested, they could take their health into their own hands, and we think this is the future we all need to work towards.
It seems that the question remains, with all that medical grade data, are we equipped to understand it in its fullness? I know the app will break it down for you, but what does the future hold from an analysis perspective? From the onset, we prioritised arming users with data and breaking it down into actionable insights to help them make informed decisions about their personal habits. We created a
For more details visit: www.ouraring.com
holistic score called ‘Readiness’ that makes it easy to understand all of this data. Education is really key to understanding how to use your data to make improvements, so we focus on sharing data in a way that is personalised and actionable. Looking forward, Oura is excited to be a part of ongoing independent research that has the potential to aid in public health around illness detection and monitoring. We’re also always looking to improve and expand the insights we provide our users, so we expect to
C U LT U R E : A L B E RT WAT S O N
Creating Photographs
Albert Watson I’ve had a very long journey in photography. It’s been a deep, endless passion for me. From the first minute I picked up a camera, I’ve had that passion and, when I was shooting last week, I still had that passion.
W
Words & Photography: Albert Watson
hen I moved to Los Angeles in 1970, I had only one connection there. He introduced me to the head of Max Factor, who looked at my port- folio and said that he noticed I didn’t have any shots of women (you know, it’s a cosmetics company). I said they’re on the boat coming over, which of course was a fat lie. And he said, ‘I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I’ll give you an hour’s booking with a model. We’ve got some dresses left over in the closet from other shoot- ings. You can take the clothing and do an hour’s shoot.’ I went to the modelling agency, and I picked a girl who I thought would be good. I said to her, ‘Would you like to do a long shoot- ing day, and I’ll give you some of the shots for your portfolio?’ She agreed. I went out with my only camera and lens and picked her up at 7.30 in the morning, and I shot until 7.30 at night. All of the money I had, I put into the
film. So here I was, going around, shooting her in long grass and on the beach, in adobe houses, et cetera. She brought along a male model friend of hers, and I did pictures of them together. Three or four days later, I went back to Max Factor for my meeting with all this film. The guy was astonished. He said, ‘Oh my god, how did you manage to do this in an hour?’ And I said, ‘Well, I actually talked the girl into doing a whole day, but she’s charging you for just an hour.’ He looked at the film, said to give him a minute, and went away with three of my rolls. He came back and said, ‘I’ve got good news for you. I’ve just sold three of these images. We’ll buy them from you. Let me know the cost of the film and the process- ing, and I’ll give you a PO.’ (In those days, I didn’t even know that a PO was a purchase order.) I got into the elevator, ripped open the envelope and, look- ing at the POs, I was
THE REVIEW 2021 241
thinking, $150 a shot. So that was $450 plus expenses, that’s fantastic! Later, my wife, Elizabeth, was typing out the bill on a school typewriter, when she said, ‘You know, it’s not $150. It looks like it’s $1,500.’ I thought, That is impossible. (At this point, Elizabeth’s salary was about $1,500 a year.) And we wondered if we should just bill it anyway and hope for the best? And I said, ‘We’re going to get deported, or something, for some sort of crime.’ I had a meeting with the Max Factor guy two days later, and said, ‘I just wanted to clarify the money that was on the purchase order. It was $4,500?’ He said, ‘Well, $4,500 is all we can afford at the moment, but I’ll get you more next time.’ Like I said before, that was my first large, decent-paying job. Although I was a young, inexperienced photographer, I was confident in my abilities and took the risk of agreeing to a project that was completely new to me when the opportunity presented itself. I also worked really hard on it, doing much more than was expected, which certainly helped me to succeed.
A
s a photographer, you have to stay alert and always be looking for shots. When you’re always looking for shots, shots will come to you.
For the 150th issue of The Face magazine, in 1992, I was approached about doing a fashion shoot inspired by the Black nationalist leader and human-rights activist Malcolm X. After a lot of research, I planned a shot with two people, one play- ing Malcolm X and one playing his protégé-turned-denouncer Louis Farrakhan, standing together, basically a portrait. I was in the location vehicle just before I was to do the shot and, on the television, the location driver was playing an old film noir. I looked up, and there were three people on the screen: one person was shouting at another, and the person in the middle was trying to prevent any violence from happening. When I saw that, I immediately got my assistant, put him in a suit and used him as the third person. In the shot, my assistant is on the right- hand side shouting at Malcolm X. So, my assistant became the new Farrakhan (some people suspect Farrakhan had Malcolm X killed), and the guy in the middle became a bodyguard of Malcolm X, as it were. The shot was created by something that I had seen minutes before in an old film. I was able to knit com- positionally something that I’d seen by chance, from a movie, and do an interpretation five minutes later.
MALCOLM X’ FASHION STORY, HARLEM, NEW YORK CITY, 1992
THE REVIEW 2021 243
Classic Nantucket: weathered- gray shingles on Nantucket harbor
I
n 1973, I was in my studio in Los Angeles when the phone rang. It was the head of Harper’s Bazaar. At that time, I wasn’t working for any magazine, so I was very excited that Harper’s Bazaar was calling me. The man on the phone asked if I’d photographed anybody famous before. I said, ‘Yeah, one or two.’ (Of course, I hadn’t photographed anyone famous.) He said, ‘We’d like you to photograph some- body a week from now, and we’ll call you tomorrow and let you know who it is.’ The next day, they told me it was the film direc- tor Alfred Hitchcock.
THE MAN HIMSELF, ALBERT WATSON
In my apartment in New York, there are four libraries of books. I like to surround myself not just with photography books, but with books on modern art, Pop art, Andy Warhol, ancient Japanese art, Vincent van Gogh, Jeff Koons. I can get just as much inspiration from a book about painting as I can from a photography book. I also enjoy reading biographies: my favourite is Henri Troyat’s Catherine the Great (1977). I have fashion books, too, but I’m not a big fan of coffeetable books. I prefer the fashion magazines, but I get so many of them that I have to get rid of them. That’s the nature of fashion, after all: you throw it out and move on to the next thing.
I was just out of film school, so I was both overwhelmed and very excited about photographing Alfred Hitchcock. As it turns out, Hitchcock was a gourmet cook. He was going to give the mag- azine a goose recipe for the Christmas issue, and they needed me to photograph him to accompany the text. They said they wanted Hitchcock to hold the plate with a cooked goose on it, but I was a little bit nervous that he might look like a maître d’. I called them back the next day and said, ‘I don’t mind doing the cooked goose, but I think it might be better if he’s holding the plucked goose by the neck, like he’d strangled it. I’ll put some Christmas decorations around the goose’s neck. It seems to me a little bit more Hitchcock.’ The creative director said he’d get back to me. He called back half an hour later and said the editor-in-chief loved the idea. They thought it was more fun, and, of course, it is more fun. The Hitchcock portrait is one of the most important shots that I’ve done, because it really changed my career at that point.
in between. I was fascinated by the diversity – landscapes, portraits, still lifes, reportage from all the great photographers. And they were not expensive. I recently found seven photographic catalogues for $20 on eBay – about 700 total pages of tremendous, beautiful, diverse photography. You can find lots of wonderful inspiration in there. I strongly recommend looking through as many as you can lay your hands on.
“if
you can ever get your foot in the door, the creative door, and then force it open, you can produce some very good stuff.
With both Max Factor and Hitchcock, even though I didn’t have the specific experience they were looking for, I took a risk and worked very hard to give the client something far beyond what they’d expected. It just goes to show that if you can ever get your foot in the door, the creative door, and then force it open, you can produce some very good stuff. Never let an opportunity pass you by, even if you think you’re underqualified. Just go for it.
”
I know that some photographers have a very hard time with the technical, and I commiserate with them. It was a real slog for me in the beginning too. To photographers who don’t enjoy the technical side, I often say that they have an advantage, because all of your concentration goes into the imagery.
B
ooks have played a big role in informing my work, and I’ve always surrounded myself with a lot of them. But, at the beginning of my career, I couldn’t afford a lot, so I would pick up photography-auction catalogues from Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips. I loved that they were so varied. You would have nineteenth-century photography, photography from a year ago, and everything
L
earning photography is like learning to drive a car: the first time you get in a car, you think, I’ll never manage this, I’m going to kill somebody. I’m going to hit a wall, or, even worse, kill myself. And, after a week of lessons, you feel a little bit better about things. Then, let’s go as far as two years later, you begin to drive almost automatically. You get into a car and you automatically turn it on, change gears, look in the mirror. Once you get over the hurdle of technical things in a car, you’ve learned to drive it. I like to use that as an analogy for photography. You learn to drive the camera, really know the camera inside out, study different kinds of lighting and under- stand what each can give you, and, when you’ve learned all of that, it opens doors creatively.
FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR TO PURCHASE, SELECT THE BOOK SLEEVE ABOVE.
Once you’ve learned to drive the car, however, it’s not how you drive it, but where you take it. The same thing should be applied to a camera. Get all the technical things in your back pocket so you can use them, but don’t let those be the driving force. Do not spend hours and hours, and days and days, looking
THE REVIEW 2021 245
MIKE TYSON, CATSKILLS, NEW YORK, 1986
“My father was a boxer, and he always said the strength of a really good boxer is in his neck.” at magazines for the latest lenses, the latest cameras, the latest software programs. Try to keep that on the back burner. Learn to drive the camera, and think about where you’re going to go with it.
I
did a shoot with a young Mike Tyson in the Catskill Mountains, in New York State. He was up and coming at that point, but he was clearly going to become an important fighter. I had already photographed a lot of good fighters, including Evander Holyfield, and I had this idea to do a boxer from the back.
My father was a boxer, and he always said the strength of a really good boxer is in his neck. If you have a weak neck, you’re a weak boxer, and if you have a strong neck, there’s a chance you can survive a punch. I had Mike Tyson work out for about fifteen minutes before I photographed him, so you can see the sweat beads on him.
LESLIE WINER IN YOHJI YAMAMOTO, LONDON, 1989
Like the one of Jack Nicholson, this shot was made with a Hassel- blad, but using a simple, on-axis strobe right above the lens. I didn’t use lights to either side of Tyson, but there’s one light on a canvas behind him, just to give him some vibrancy. So, it’s two lights – very, very simple. Of course, I did a portrait of Mike Tyson from the front as well, but this back shot was more unusual. I had always wanted to do a shot of a boxer from the back, where you could almost recognize who it was. And there were a lot of people who looked at that shot and said, ‘Is that Mike Tyson?’ So, that was a success. So, once again: preparation, preparation, preparation. Just think- ing about what you might do. Have a plan before you go into a shoot. Especially with a celebrity. Really familiarize yourself with their work beforehand. If you understand their work, you’ll make a better photograph,
and you’ll also know when to seize the moment and alter your plan – as I did with Jack Nicholson in the snow storm. If I hadn’t watched The Shining in preparation, I would MICK JAGGER IN CAR WITH LEOPARD, LOS ANGELES, 1992
THE REVIEW 2021 247
GIGI HADID IN IRIS VAN HERPEN DRESS, NEW YORK CITY, 2019
GABRIELLE REECE IN VIVIENNE WESTWOOD, PARIS, 1989
THE REVIEW 2021 249
never have thought of that shot.
I
have a great love of strobes, tungsten light and HMI lights but, every so often, I have a mad kind of love affair with natural light. I did a lot of my early work with natural light,
but I only began to reconsider using it at the end of the 1980s. In 1993, I did a shoot for a whole day with Kate Moss under natural light, at times with just a little bit of strobe. It was the only time I ever worked with her, and it made for some amaz- ing pictures. We did the shoot in a villa in Morocco called Dar Tamsna. She was an up-and-coming model at the time and flew down from London. It was for German Vogue, and they wanted it all to be beauty and skinorientated. We started the day at 7.30 a.m. and worked until 10 p.m. At the very end, she told me it was her nineteenth birthday that day. For one shot, we had a local henna artist come in, who painted a tattoo on to the palm of Moss’s hand. She held it up to her face to show me the tattoo, and I devised the shot from what she had given me. I used a very simple, clean light. It was sunlight. She just closed her eyes to the mid-afternoon sun. (Later, when I processed that shot, I decided that it would be a good candidate for solarization – reversing the tones through overexposure, which has the effect of a print that looks like a negative image.) We worked all day with natural light. When the sun went down, I built a small studio indoors and I shot her with a strobe light against a canvas. When you work with natural light, you have to ask yourself how best to use it. How could I shape it? How could I cancel some of the effects of the light? How could I increase light? How could I manage to work with it? Or how, sometimes, not to work with it at all, but just go ahead and shoot what is right in front of me? You should be thinking about the time of day you’re going to shoot. You want the light not to be sitting right on the horizon line, because it gets too chalky. If you want to shoot at sunset, you might want to start an hour earlier, so you work with the light as it changes. It’s an aware- ness of what’s going on, thinking about what the light is doing, and really looking. Photographers sometimes become obsessed by the camera and what they’re photographing, and they forget to think about what’s going on with the light. When you work with natural light, it changes and moves. You have clouds coming over, you have sun. You
ANDY WARHOL, NEW YORK CITY, 1985
KATE MOSS, SUN AND HENNA, MARRAKECH, MOROCCO, 1993
CHRISTY TURLINGTON, NEW YORK CITY, 1990
sometimes get lucky with a cloudy day with flat light. Natural light has its own beauty. In order to make the most of natural light in my photographs, whenever possible I travel with a minimum of four 8-by-4-feet boards, black on one side and white on the other. I find these invaluable, because you can create shadows with them, block light with them. You can put them in front of a subject to bounce light up on to them, or if there’s a white cement ground and you don’t want all of that light bouncing up, you can flip the boards and make a black ground. If you’ve got a vehicle to carry them, they’re really fantastic. I can do whole shoots with just these boards and no additional lights. So, with natural light, you really have to learn to capture it and try to control it, in a way. Whether using boards or thinking more about the time of day and the position of the sun, paying close attention to how natural light works in your shots outdoors is just as important as how you set up lights in the studio. Most of the time, in the studio, I use a lot of expensive lighting equipment, sometimes $70,000 worth of lights, but you can also get a decent portrait using just two
DIVINE, NEW YORK CITY, 1978
$10 bulbs, one on either side of the subject, just above the head. When you use bulbs like this, it’s obviously really high contrast, so you end up with a dramatic shot. You can soften the light a bit by using flags – black squares of stretched fabric or even just black cardboard – in order to block some of the light from the bulbs. If you move the bulb around, you can see how much the light changes the way a face looks and the shadows it creates. It’s a corny expression, but you are painting with light. You can create strange, unusual shapes with just these two $10 bulbs. Of course, there are limitations to this method. Your light sen- sitivity (ISO) has to be very high, 1600 or 3200 even. You’re increasing the ISO, because you have no shutter speed to work with, whereas the great advantage of an extremely intense light, like a strobe, is that you have shutter speed, greater depth and greater power. But working with two bulbs in this way provides an important learning experience and can teach you how to work later with a strobe. You can produce a whole portfolio of work with just the two $10 bulbs. There are limitations, but it’s a great, simple way to get started. TR
THE REVIEW 2021 251
CLIPPER INDIGO REGIMENTAL STRIPE BY HEMINGSWORTH
INTERIOR DESIGN : TILE EFFECT
TILE EFFECT Words: Emily Smith
Porcelain tiles choices are in abundance at present. There are some distinct and varied trends to invigorate and rejuvenate your spaces, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the infinite possibilities available to you. Shine or matt, colour or neutral, pattern and texture, shape and proportion, contemporary or traditional, textural and tactile or smooth and slick. But forget about getting it wrong or right, this process can be stress-free. Instead, think of it like going into the sweet shop – choosing tiles is all about having some fun whilst expressing your creativity to make a space that you love being in. Don’t forget, the tiles you choose have to complement every other element being designed into the space or completely contrast with it. Whatever statement you’re making, be sure to take some time picking the grout colour, as this can dramatically change the impact of the finished appearance. Clay, terracotta, glass, concrete, marble all come as tile too but here we focus specifically on porcelain and the diversity within that category, to help you choose the perfect option for you. Here are some of my favourite key trends and tiles from the best places to source high-quality porcelain tiles that I’m drawn to this season.
THE REVIEW 2021 255
SHAPE ON SHAPE I love the dynamic energy of the shape on the tile within the shape of the tile that creates a revived modernist look. Geometric but so much fun and very playful. These are strong and not for the fainthearted, but liven up bathrooms to generate so much movement in the space. Brilliant for small spaces where you spend short bursts of time in.
CA PIETRA – ROSA
CA PIETRA – NEW LEAF
CA PIETRA – LOUVRE BLANC
MANDARIN STONE – CASABLANCA MONO DECOR
MANDARIN STONE – HELIX BLUE
GRESTEC - CAPRA
SCALLOPS Normally associated with neoclassical architecture, the femininity of the scallop is a complementary element to soften a normally harsh tile finish in bathrooms. Opt for Ca Pietra’s particularly delicate option or a bold colour instead. These are excitingly unusual and a beautiful way to create gentle curves across walls.
C A P I E T R A – S WA N
C A P I E T R A – AT L A N T I S S C A L L O P
THE REVIEW 2021 257
HEXAGON
Go beyond the square and favour the hexagon instead. Super funky and perhaps a little bit tricksy when creating colourful patterns but this can also be kept really simple and plain. The vigorous pattern feels sharp but very aesthetically pleasing curated in the right colours. I particularly like the sideways rotation to add a twist. MANDARIN STONE – TRICOLOR CARAMEL
MANDARIN STONE – S T E L L A R N AV Y
CA PIETRA – PEARL WHITE
TERRAZZO
Whilst the real deal here from Diespeker is definitely making a 70’s revival, you can also find some porcelain effect Terrazzo options too such as Shard Blue from Mandarin Stone. I’m really charmed by the chips of colour dancing in cement and the random shapes feel like Modernist Art to me. Choose the right colours and this can be so sophisticated, especially if used as large wall tiles or panels. MANDARIN STONE – SHARD BLUE
DIESPEKER - TE007
COLOUR
White is a thing of the past as we choose to see more colour around us. This doesn’t have to feel like being in a rainbow shower storm. Smart, clean lines created from the small squares laid in a linear brick formation means the colour speaks for itself with these from Mandarin Stone. Opt for these beauties from Structural Skins which have been stunningly handcrafted and offer a plethora of depth to gaze into. Or even the pearly iridescent rectilinear tiles for abstract shine from Parkside for a more futuristic look. Whether you opt for contemporary lines or something a little more rustic, know that bringing colour in to your bathroom or kitchen is impacting your mood and wellbeing. MANDARIN STONE – OSKA JUNGLE
STRUCTURAL SKINS LUMIERE BLUE
PA R K S I D E - S P E C T R E
THE REVIEW 2021 259
Wanderlust Words: Benjamin Mitrofan-Norris
I’ve managed to undertake a whole lot of travelling through the various lockdowns. The problem? Aside from a couple of brief working jaunts to the Baltic states, it’s happened almost entirely within my imagination. Now that overseas travel is beginning to get back on everyone’s agenda, it’s the perfect time to start compiling holiday wish lists for the following year. The top-end resorts and hotels of the world have committed to coming back with a tour de force of extravagance, promising the wait has been more than worthwhile... and with eco-tourism, wellness retreats, and gastrotravel continuing to dominate the luxury hospitality scene, I’m far from alone in being all too ready for some serious downtime. Here are the resorts and locations that have caught my attention during this year of government-imposed landlocking. From sun-soaked tropical hideaways to timeless European glamour, here’s hoping these suggestions inspire your wanderlust and travel plans, too.
T R AV E L : WA N D E R L I S T SIX SENSES ZIGHY BAY
THE REVIEW 2021 263
Six Senses Zighy Bay, Oman For those in the know, the tranquil Gulf resorts of Oman have always been something of an antidote to the ostentatious glamour of Dubai, which sits a mere two-hour drive away. Six Senses Zighy Bay epitomises everything that makes this ancient and spectacular location special, providing wellness retreats (complete with yoga classes and Arabic cooking courses) against a backdrop of breathtaking mountain vistas, sandy beaches, and peerless Arabian hospitality.
Bulgari Resort, Bali What happens when one of the world’s most luxurious jewellery design houses opens a signature resort in Bali? Well, the answer is pretty much exactly what you’d expect – the utmost in exclusive tropical glamour coupled with meticulous attention to detail, promising an awe-inspiringly sophisticated escape from reality. With astonishing design features, haute couture-inspired villas, and the blissful dreamscapes that Bali is renowned for, this resort has been on my wish list since its launch in 2006.
THE REVIEW 2021 265
Il San Pietro, Amalfi Coast If, like me, you’re aching for a truly glamorous escape from the drudgery of lockdown, there are few locations worldwide which fit the bill quite like the Amalfi Coast. Il San Pietro di Positano positively drips with old-school Hollywood glitz, carved into the jaw-droppingly beautiful cliffs overlooking the sparkling Mediterranean. With a tempting emphasis on fresh, seasonal seafood, and with a design idiom straight out of a Fellini movie, it would be hard to drag me home again.
Arctic Treehouse Hotel, Finland With a host of high-end resorts planned for opening over the next two years, Finland is ready to join the luxury travel sector with all guns blazing. The Arctic Treehouse Hotel in Rovaniemi, just north of the Arctic Circle, encapsulates the bliss of traditional Finnish ‘forest bathing’, and brings guests closer to the stunning natural beauty of this underrated Nordic country. To unwind in a private woodland retreat beneath the shimmering northern lights – and to explore the on-trend gastronomic delights of New Nordic cuisine – would be the perfect way to leave the worries and cares of the year behind.
THE REVIEW 2021 267
Shangri-La Le Touessrok Resort and Spa, Mauritius Le Touessrok Resort and Spa in Mauritius feels like the ultimate expression of what Shangri-La does best – providing chic, relaxed, and attention-driven retreats in the most spectacular settings. Billed as an intimate tropical playground, this resort is all about Indian Ocean escapism, and features award-winning restaurants, some of the most beautiful golf courses on Earth, and (of course) exclusive access to a private island on which to live out your castaway fantasies.
7132, Switzerland Nowhere does wellness quite like Switzerland, and few places in Switzerland do it quite like 7132. Situated in the glacial landscape surrounding the village of Vals, this architecturally striking hotel promises to awaken guests’ senses with a combination of holistic treatments, world-class spa facilities, two Michelin-star gastronomy, plenty of mountain hiking, and the freshest air you’re ever likely to breathe. Sheer perfection.
THE REVIEW 2021 269
Six Senses Zil Pasyon, Seychelles Luxury hotel group Six Senses have done more than most in jumping on the ecotourism bandwagon, opening the jewel-like Zil Pasyon in the Seychelles’ exclusive Felicite Island. The resort promises an all-encompassing natural experience, combining indigenous spa and beauty treatments, the chance to participate in ecological projects, and the opportunity to get up-close-and-personal with the archipelago’s most fascinating wildlife.
The Curator
Artist: Sam McKinniss Title: Lake McDoland 2021 Medium: Oil and acrylic on linen Gallery: Almine Rech
FOR MORE DETAILS ON EACH LOT OR TO CONTACT THE DEPARTMENT FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, JUST SELECT THE IMAGE YOU WANT TO VIEW THE FULL CATALOGUE.
Artist: Dangerous Minds Title: Kaiten Medium: Acrylic on Canvas Gallery: RED 8
C U LT U R E : A R T
Artist: Bob Dylan Title: Sidewalk Café (2018) Medium: Set of 8 graphics, 70 x 56, Edition size 295 Gallery: HALCYON
Artist: Piero Dorazio Title: Senza titolo, 1964 76 x 56 cm Medium: Oil on canvas Gallery: Tornabuoni Art
THE REVIEW 2020 273
“I’m effectively playing Dungeons and Dragons with myself. I’ve got to have the set pieces and I’ve got to have the characters. And they have character sheets and they have narratives and there is a setting and there’s this and then that and it changes.”- Stephen Appleby-Barr
Artist: Stephen Appleby-Barr Title: Josefine Skomars, Correspondent, 2020 Medium: Oil on linen Gallery: Robilant + Voena
FOR MORE DETAILS ON EACH LOT OR TO CONTACT THE DEPARTMENT FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, JUST SELECT THE IMAGE YOU WANT TO VIEW THE FULL CATALOGUE.
Artist: David Yarrow Title: THE THUNDERING HEARD Medium: Edition of 12 Archival Pigment Print Gallery: MADDOX
C U LT U R E : A R T
“There’s a lot of trial and error and we do a huge amount of experimenting with aftershave in terms of scenting the camera to attract the animals.” - David Yarrow
Artist: J.Léo Title: Red Lips Medium: Photography - Original edition of 10 ex 47 x 47 Gallery: BEL AIR FINE ART
Artist: JULES NOËL Title: View of the Port and the Town of Fécamp from the Shore Medium: Oil on canvas Gallery: Didier Aaron
THE REVIEW 2020 275
SUNTORY WHISKY TOKI
L I B AT I O N S : S P I R I T S
Libations At The Review, we’re partial to a libation or six. We’re very clear on that. Drink responsibly, of course, but on your own terms. In this segment, new for 2021, we’ll be tasting some of the team’s most favoured spirits from around the world. When we sat down to make our first Q1 selection, a fierce, but sober, battle broke out over the weekly zoom call. It seemed, for once, every member of the editorial team had an opinion. So to avoid bloodshed, our managing editor decided to cover tequila, rum and whiskey in this, our first outing. À votre santé.
S
Words: The Editors
untory Toki blended whiskey
I
f you’re a whiskey drinker, you’ll have a selection of favourite Japanese releases. Those of you who still believe Japanese production is still a bit of a novelty should leave the room. Now. The Suntory Toki is a particularly young blend from Yamazaki Hakushu single malt and Chita grain whisky, three of Suntory’s distilleries. Suntory have been cleaning up at international awards for decades. They were originally founded in 1923 by Shinjiro Torii, when he opened his Yamazaki Distillery near Kyoto. If you’ve ever heard the term ‘gunboat diplomacy’, let us tell you where it originates. When Commodore Perry arrived with a fleet of American battleships in 1853, Japan was forced to accept outside trade. Traditionally the country had adopted a particularly isolationist approach, enacting policies and to minimise the
influence and control of foreign entities. That is until the early 1850s. Shinjiro Torii, already a successful wine importer in Osaka, took it upon himself to learn the Scottish process in the 1920s, adamant he would distil a Japanese version. The Japanese influence of soy sauce brewing and shochu distilling can still be seen in the end result even today. So what of the ‘Toki’. Well, it translates as ‘time’, an odd branding exercise when you consider it hasn’t been in the bottle all that long. This relatively young blend is ultra-smooth with a fairly gentle and easy going body. There is an initial strong sweet hit with notes of honey and cinnamon accompanied by some floral tones and lemon zest. On the nose, it’s incredibly pleasing. Cloves give way to soft fruits such as peaches, raisins and apricots. There is also an intrinsic earth note that works alongside the sweet nuts and barley. This one is rather moreish, if we do say so.
THE REVIEW 2021 277
“The Aberlour range is famed for the expertise of its old school cask selection team.”
A
berlour 14 YO double cask matured. Speyside.
S
liding in between the 12 and 16-yearolds is the Aberlour 14 year old. This new dram from Speyside also picked up Double Gold at the International Wine and Spirits Competition 2020, and Gold at the International Spirits Challenge 2020. Not to mention both accolades were scooped up prior to launch. Now, the Speyside region has some stiff competition as around 50% of Scotland’s distilleries call Speyside home. Dufftown, alone, has some six working distilleries generating an annual capacity of 40.4 million litres. The Aberlour range is famed for its double cask maturation and, of course, the expertise of its old school cask selection team, alongside master distiller Graeme Cruikshank. Aromatic oloroso casks and first-fill American oak casks are used to enhance the reassuringly rich flavour. The result is a well-balanced drop with a typical fruity base, ripe blackberry, aromatic spices, a caramel nose, vanilla, oak and heather honey. With a decent length finish and notes of toffee, apple and spice remaining. This is an incredibly balanced 14-year-old with a sweet fruity taste, bringing together notes of ripe blackberries and aromatic spice, and a finish of creamy complexity from the higher proportion of first-fill American oak casks.
M
erser rum
I
f you’re thinking the bottle of Merser & Co’s Double Barrel Rum has more than a hint of the colonial about it, you would be right. This blending house hails from the Hayman family, the same family behind Hayman’s gin. It’s a blend of rums from Barbados, Panama, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica. This heady mix is then combined and mixed in London for a further six months before the final bottling. Merser marks the first blending house to take up operation in the Big Smoke in over a century. You’ll also find that the finished article contains no additional colouring, or sugar in keeping with the seventeenth-century practices. The Merser is an elegant drop, understated caramel and tropical notes make it a great sipping rum. The pineapple is palpable, not to mention the coconut and chocolate notes on the finish. This fine bottle disappeared faster than anyone had expected.
“Merser marks the first blending house to take up operation in the Big Smoke in over a century.”
THE REVIEW 2021 279
T
he Duppy Share aged
“It’s certainly a big, bold, 100% pot still Jamaican three-year-old upfront”
D
uppies are Caribbean spirits, originating from Jamaica, and are thought to live at the base of cotton. The legend goes that Duppies go from island to island stealing Caribbean rum. Fairytale or folklore aside, if there is rum in it, we’re in. The Duppy Share is a rather unique blend of cask-aged golden Caribbean rums from Jamaica and Barbados. Specifically, a three-year-old Jamaican pot still rum and a five-year-old Bajan rum. The combination and balance of these contrasting island styles makes The Duppy Share a go-to rum for a range of drinks. It’s certainly a big, bold, 100% pot still Jamaican three-year-old upfront, and a five-year-old Barbadian at the back, giving a buttery finish.
T
wo Drifters Overproof pineapple rum
A
t 63% abv, the Overproof is the absolute finisher. Treat its tropical punch with respect or beware.
Two Drifters Distillery Ltd is run by Russ and Gemma Wakeham, who rather unsurprisingly love rum and their base of operations, Devon. Almost as much as they love the planet, given that Two Drifters was one of the first carbonnegative rum distilleries in the world. It keeps you guessing: there’s a hit on the nose of the tropics in the form of caramelised pineapple, which gives way to vanilla, followed by a slap of star anise to the face. The finish gives off a wonderful salted caramel tone with banana in full effect on the palate.
“Two Drifters was one of the first carbonnegative rum distilleries in the world.”
THE REVIEW 2021 281
O
jo de Dios mezcal
T
ranslated as ‘God’s eye’, they’re not pulling any punches. This artisanal mezcal is produced by thirdgeneration distiller Maestro Francisso Ortiz, with sustainably farmed Espadin agave from San Luis del Rio. A quick show of hands and only two of the four samplers around the table have visited Mexico. Does this mean we’re not qualified or that two now need to test for four?
“What’s it like on the nose? Light a cohiba and find out. Formidable.”
The Espadin agave is farmed on Ortiz’s estate in the region of San Luis del Rio and is harvested at full maturation. The agave hearts are cooked for up to 10 days in an underground oven, using local oak. These are then crushed with a tahona pulled by the estate’s donkey chicharito. If you can name the estate’s donkey in marketing material, you’re getting our vote for sure. The next and final phase is to let the juice and fibre naturally ferment and double distil in 250-litre copper pots. What’s it like on the nose? Light a cohiba and find out. Formidable. The initial charcoal smoke flavour is a little like barbequed fruit. Though there is a distinctive vanilla and pepper finish. The finish is dry giving way black tea and cashew flavors, all the while tipped by tobacco and leather. Intense is one way to put it. We think this could well make a dream of an Old Fashioned. It is also available exclusively through Mexgrocer.
L
a Dama tequila
C
reated by the Galindo family of Ninfa Raicilla, this organic, unaged tequila is distilled from blue weber agave. La Dama is also the largest sustainable agave
grower in the world.
The highland region in Jalisco was ruled thousands of years ago by the Chichimecas. They were fundamentally a people who felt a great connection to mother nature. Femininity was regarded above all else as the female form could give life. The Galindo family wanted to honor this heritage by integrating them in the name of their tequila. The company’s sustainability principles are also widely regarded going above and beyond land management. All their workers are paid fair wages and salaries. Their agave fields also don’t use clones or hijuelos. As you might expect, the nose is of cooked agave, with subtle fruit and spices beneath. The attack is intensely herbal, fruity and with almost caramelised agave. This gives way to chocolate and creamy notes and textures reminiscent of a good single malt.
“Femininity was regarded above all else as the female form could give life.”
Available from the renowned mexgrocer.co.uk, La Dama is a one-of-a-kind tequila that can be enjoyed over a large block of ice or mid-way through a zoom call in a teacup.
THE REVIEW 2021 283
C
asamigos reposado
“
When I finish a long day on set, I like to sip a glass of George Clooney’s finest tequila.” It was on location in Pennsylvania, on a T Rex tape shoot, that our DOP Liam Healey was handed a bottle of Reposado by the client. To say it went down well would be putting it mildly. No doubt one of the more mainstream additions to our list, but despite the brand’s age, it’s highly regarded. Especially by Diageo, who bought the fastest-growing brand in the US from founders Rande Gerber, George Clooney and Mike Meldman. Casamigos was added to the list by managing editor Peter J Robinson, who fervently believes it to be a tequila with which he has been able to turn more people to the spirit than any other. Tough to ignore. The reposado is aged for seven months in American white oak casks, originally used for fine whiskies. It’s made from hand-selected seven-year-old 100% blue weber agave grown in Mexico’s Jalisco Highlands. After the agaves are harvested, they are processed within two days to preserve the aromas. The complex production includes an extra-slow fermentation process. On the nose, you’ll find butter, caramel, vanilla and, of course, citrus fruit. The oak and vanilla meld on tasting for a short caramel infused smooth finish.
TR
“It was on location in Pennsylvania, on a T Rex tape shoot, that our DOP Liam Healey was handed a bottle of Reposado by the client”.