The arT of design

The magazine from Candy & Candy S/S 2011

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

Not all top chefs use Gaggenau at home yet.

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perform to the very highest standards. That’s why we keep

researching and experimenting with new ways to improve

our ovens until we’re completely satisfied. The 200 series

ovens bring the most modern professional technology into

private kitchens, with ovens, Combi-steam ovens and

warming drawers that set new standards. Many international

chefs who have been awarded three Michelin stars are

already convinced – they don’t just use the range at home,

but also in their restaurants. We take that as a compliment.

The difference is Gaggenau.

For more information and a list of partners, please tele phone

0844 892 9026 or visit: www.gaggenau.co.uk.

Alternatively, visit our showroom at: 40 Wigmore Street,

London, W1U 2RX.

A fact that kept us busy.

Uncompromisingly professional. The 200 series ovens.

www.candyandcandy.com

17

eLCoMEto thE latEst Edition

of CANDY magazine

NICHOLAS CANDY

At Candy & Candy we strive to set new standards in delivering impeccable quality and uncompromising attention to detail in

both service and design. From the smallest specification to the largest project, we deliver the ultimate in tailored design,

style and quality while constantly providing innovative and unique solutions to keep us at the forefront of creating remarkable

living environments. Our reputation in pushing boundaries in design and application is matched by our drive for perfection,

which can be seen featured in the pages of this magazine as we highlight the exclusive services and facilities at One Hyde Park,

with its dedicated 60-strong Mandarin Oriental-trained team. We describe how Ron Dennis turned McLaren into an international

brand linked not just with successful racing cars, but road cars too – as the newest hits the streets; and watch Richard Branson

pick up the torch of space technology and reach for the stars. Back on the ground, we admire the stellar beauty and crafsmanship

of the most exquisite jewellery, and celebrate the award-winning chefs whose audacious menus have made it big in New York

and are now the toast of London. We welcome you to the world of Candy & Candy and hope you enjoy reading this issue.

Editor Joanne Glasbey

Art Director Martin Perry

Art Editor Jonathan Bailey

Chief Sub Editor Chris Madigan

Picture Editor Juliette Hedoin

Sub Editors Tanya Jackson, Thomas Calverley

Associate Editor Henry Farrar-Hockley

Project manager Zai Shamis

Creative Director Ian Pendleton

Executive Editor Peter Howarth

Advertising Julia Pasaron +44 (0) 208 741 8967

21 Eye Candy Style and security in an

armour-plated Land Rover; a hi-fi

amp as artefact; fine Italian jewellery and

the ultimate bespoke gif service

29 Studio Candy & Candy’s creative

directors reveal the locations,

historical periods, and the designers and

thinkers who influence their eclectic style

38 Tour de Force We take a tour of the

world’s most exclusive residences, in

the company of James Medd, discovering

One Hyde Park’s luxurious facilities and

services, and its intriguing artworks

46 Fast Forward Afer years of

anticipation, the new McLaren

road car is here. Simon de Burton traces

the MP4-12C’s motor racing heritage

54 Hail to the Chef New York’s star

chefs have gone transatlantic.

William Drew asks Daniel Boulud and his

fellow kitchen globetrotters why he sees

London as the place to cook now

58 Natural Selection Jewellery of the

highest order, inspired by the shapes,

colours and patterns found in nature

Colour reproduction by fmg

(wearefmg.com). Printed by Taylor

Bloxham (taylorbloxham.co.uk). All

material © Show Media Ltd, except

where stated. Reproduction in whole

or in part without written permission

is strictly prohibited

Cover photography

ChrIS DUNLop

PUBLISHED For CANDy & CANDy By

SHoW MEDIA LTD

1-2 Ravey Street, London EC2A 4QP

020 3222 0101; showmedia.net

2121

c NT NTS64 The Final Frontier Rob Ryan

investigates how close Richard

Branson’s Virgin Galactic is to putting

the lucky few with tickets into space

70 Colour Clinic Daniel Galvin Junior

has made a name for himself as

a pioneer in hair colouring and organic

product. He talks to Simon Mills

73 Time Lords Bill Prince describes

Rolex’s rise from its London origins

to the world’s best known Swiss watch brand

76 House Style Candy & Candy took

on the challenge of taking a Mayfair

property from the 18th century to new glories.

Maria Yacoob explores the stunning result

82 Making Waves The superyacht has

been reimagined, with the next

generation setting new standards in design

86 View from the top Elegant

evening gowns find their perfect

luxurious backdrop at One Hyde Park

98 Personal Passions Theo Fennell,

the jeweller known for his quirky

pieces, delights in portrait paintings

Dr

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: gia

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8686 585858

Location SouthGroundS,thEroyalhoSpitalChElSEa,

londonSw3

Information maStErpiECEfair.Com|+44(0) 074997470

The best of the best from around the world

30 june–5 july 2011 preview: 29 june

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

Beautiful creations become extraordinary when there is a story behind them, and this is one of the pleasures

of owning any Buccellati piece. The jeweller’s legacy began in 1740, when Contardo Buccellati opened his workshop

in Milan, near the Duomo di Milano. Almost two centuries later, and with the family tradition uninterrupted, his gifed

successor Mario began founding the Buccellati style that is familiar now, using forgotten techniques from Ancient

Greece and the Middle Ages. Mario sought to translate the properties of his favoured materials – fine damask and

Venetian lace – into precious metals and sparkling stone. The results can still be seen today in the work of his

grandson Gianmaria Buccellati, as he continues to design magnificent, historically inspired pieces such as this 18k

white gold necklace, set with more than 750 dazzling 13.85-carat and 19.19-carat diamonds. buccellati.com

WORDS Tanya Jackson / PHOTOGRAPHY Tif Hunter 21

wiTH a HeriTage of more THan Two cenTuries,

THe subLime crafTsmansHip of buccellATi uses

TecHniques inspired by ancienT civiLisaTions

stone circle

22

when secuRity is paRamount, an aRmouRed

land rover is youR best hope of pRotection

Anyone seeking the reassurance of a vehicle that can, say, withstand gunfire from an AK74 assault rifle, or even a

hand grenade, need look no further than a Land Rover from Armourdillo. The company was founded by helicopter

pilot Stuart MacTaggart as a one-stop shop for four-wheeled fortresses. Once his team has assessed your threat

level, he will advise you on the right model (such as this Land Rover Discovery 4, above, or a Range Rover V8

Vogue) and train your chauffeur to execute the requisite evasive driving manoeuvres. Typical hardware tweaks

include a rear-mounted escape hatch, run-flat tyres, bulletproof glass and an automatic fire-suppressant system,

but perhaps the most impressive element of Armourdillo’s insurgent-resistant fleet is that none of these features

are outwardly visible. ‘Discreet armour,’ as MacTaggart points out, ‘is the first line of defence.’ armourdilloltd.com

WordS Joanne Glasbey / PHoToGraPHY tif hunter

HaRd TaRGeT

WordS henry farrar-hockley

24

foR peRfect, individualised pResents, look no

fuRtheR than the bespoke online gift library

Most luxury brands have online shopping, but none offer the opportunity to purchase bespoke gifs across multiple

brands. This is precisely what Gif Library delivers. Finely attuned to the tastes and requirements of today’s

discerning consumer, former style consultant Caroline Stanbury, who founded the online company in 2008, trawls

the world’s top boutiques, assisted by fashion industry insiders, to hand-pick niche gifs. It could be the Moser

Bohemian crystal Cubism bowl (above) or a signed Damien Hirst artwork that you’re afer – or simply a jar of jelly

beans. Stanbury happily responds to unique requests: ‘We want everyone to experience luxury,’ she says, ‘so we

deal with experts who can embroider, paint or engrave almost anything we offer. Someone once ordered a table

football set with each player carved and painted to represent a member of the family.’ gif-library.com

WRaP

WOrDS arabella dickie / PHOtOgraPHy tif hunter

STARS

27

Dan D’Agostino is to ultra-audiophiles what Enzo Ferrari is to supercar aficionados. The co-founder and former

chief engineer of Krell Industries – probably the most revered hi-fi marque in the world – has been at the bleeding

edge of amplifier design for four decades. And now, once again, he’s resetting the benchmark for high-end audio,

this time with the Momentum monoblock power amp – the debut separate from his newly formed, eponymous

company. Costing around £40,000 a pair and utilising 28 power resistors, along with striking copper ‘sinks’

capable of conducting heat at 91 times the speed of aluminium, it is able to harness incredible power (300W into

eight ohms) and finesse, despite its diminutive size. Fittingly, the aesthetic is inspired by another paragon of

artisanal excellence – a rose-gold Breguet tourbillon. dagostinoino.com

Dan D’agostino’s new momentum amplifier

is a true powerhouse of sounD

WorDS henry farrar-hockley / pHotoGrapHY tif hunter

Powerabsolute

29

STUDIOThe CANDY & CANDY design Team

Takes inspiraTion from around

The worLd and cLose To home

STUDIO

30

An important element of the Candy & Candy design team’s repertoire, embroidery brings beautiful embellishment

to furniture, curtains, cushions and robes, be it personalised or abstract. The work can be subtle or bold, but its main

function is to provide a lustre, a slice of jewellery, to a home. Whether it’s a detail on the corner of a bedspread, an

intricate pattern on a chair back, or delicate beading on a cushion, embroidery offers a different way of introducing

layering, colour and detailing to a room. For example, Candy & Candy designers worked with bespoke crafsmen

embroiderLUX to create a curtain leading edge trim inspired by the jewels of Cleopatra, with a pattern representing

rows of wheat. Similarly, a cushion was influenced by the French Art Deco design of master crafsman, Jean Dunand.

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

In RealIsIng a flawless InteRIoR, fIne

detaIls such as bespoke needleworkaRe key to settIng mood and chaRacteR

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32

Candy & Candy CReative diReCtoR

mARTIN KEmP on the designeRs and

otheR CReative minds he admiRes

INFLUENCES When I lived in West Hollywood, a friend introduced me

to the work of William Haines. He had been a silent film

leading man who became an interior designer – with star clients

including Gloria Swanson and the Reagans. Spectacularly

elegant, he helped change design in middle America.

Van DaY TRUeX had a key role in bringing

civilised design to the US. As head of design at

Tiffany and director of Parsons The New School For

Design, he had a great eye for detail, colour and

design. He was dapper, elegant and opinionated

– a prized guest of many a celebrity dinner party.

When I was young, I always wanted to be a car designer. To me,

the best can be works of art – if they didn’t have engines, I’d still love

them. It’s all about the lines and their alignment, which, when done

well, have connotations of style, elegance and glamour. The great

Italian coachbuilders – Vignale, Giugiaro, Michelotti, Pininfarina and

BeRTone, who styled this Alfa Romeo – are big influences on me.

I was introduced to the

poetry of JoHn BeTJeman

by my parents when I was

quite young and grew to

appreciate his words, which

capture a world gone by. He

was a master, and I was

fascinated by his imagination,

his use of language and its

flexibility; I really like how he

can be so precise, and knit

sentences together. He was

also the perfect gentleman,

which I admire.

The first films I saw were

Sixties Bond films – Goldfinger

and others. I was thrilled to

be bombarded with imagery.

They wouldn’t have been the

same without the sets designed

by Ken aDams, whose work

has inspired me.

As a teenager I was

addicted to film noir.

Unconsciously I absorbed the

lighting, photography,

backgrounds and melodrama

of the genre, particularly the

work of the cinematographer

CHaRles lang JUnioR.

Sudden Fear, starring Joan

Crawford and Jack Palance,

is a favourite. I love the idea

of light being used in design

to create drama and shadows

– as with colour which will

change shade according to

how much light is on it.

INFLUENCES

34

joURNeyjoURNey

Since first visiting Chile, I’ve been continually drawn to the phenomenally eclectic aesthetic of South

American city architecture. Each street throws up the unexpected, be it an intricate wall carving or

stylish Art Deco facade detailing. My eye catches bold patterns – in the layered symmetry of balconies

in Buenos Aires, and the monochrome pavement tiling in Bolivia’s La Paz – that would translate

brilliantly onto leather wall panelling or cushion embroidery. The culture of elegant, illustrative graffiti

reminds me of art’s ability to enhance any background, however drab; while the bold fusion of styles,

beautifully displayed in the mix of Art Nouveau, neo-Gothic and neo-Romantic in BA’s Palacio Barolo

dome, inspires me to merge designs and patterns outside the traditional boundaries.

Candy & Candy CReative diReCtoR

mAT CARLisLE dRaws on the elegant,

bold CitysCapes of south ameRiCa

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36

candy & candy cReative diRectoR

mARTIN KEmP says the seventies aRe

faR fRom the decade design foRgot

INSPIRATIONINSPIRATION

I first saw the work of artist Christo on TV in the Seventies and

couldn’t get my mind round the scale of his projects. He had big ideas,

made design an art form, transforming the way we perceive nature and

scale. The idea of wrapping landmarks with fabric was very beautiful.

When I was about 12, the

Aston MArtin LAgondA

was launched to save the

company. Its razor-sharp

design, like folded paper, was

created by William Towns,

and I love its rakish, sleek,

simple lines, as if it had all

been done with a ruler. The

interior was refreshingly

unfussy, modern and

architectural – wrapped up

in an amazing body. It was

a real head-turner.

AMAndA LeAr was a Seventies party girl

who partied with Grace Jones and became

Salvador Dalí’s muse. She was an It girl but also

a classic disco artiste, much more famous for

her work in Europe than the UK. The music she

wrote, played and sang was extraordinary.

I first encountered BiBA with my sister: it was

a very feminine, iconic brand, cool but pretty,

from its Art Nouveau-inspired logo to the

restaurant with its amazing lighting and use of

colours, all very original. Biba was an authentic

Seventies fashion experience.

I adore the patterns the

Australian designer

FLorenCe BroAdhurst

was creating, towards the end

of her life, in the Seventies.

Like Bridget Riley, she ofen

re-intepreted nature, using

repeat patterns. Her pale gold

foil and glass-black wallpaper

was iconic – reminiscent of

a Jason King set.

There’s something about

the Seventies which was all

about hedonism, best

exemplified in studio 54

which typified the ultimate in

having fun and making a big

statement. Frequented by

high-profile celebrities such

as Andy Warhol, Halston,

Liza Minelli, Bianca Jagger,

the famous club – with its

Art Deco, funky graphic –

propelled itself beyond

hedonism to decadence

during the following decade.

Split-second Power Reserve

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Hublot TV on: www.hublot.com

38

With an on-site cinema and spa, aRtWoRks at

eveRy tuRn, and a sixty-stRong mandaRin

oRiental team on hand to attend to youR

eveRy Whim aRound the clock, One Hyde Parkhas the best of all WoRlds at youR command

WOrds James medd

DE

TOuR

Yo u m i g h t t h i n k that for the

lucky few who call One Hyde Park home

living in the most desirable residence

in Europe would be enough. The

architectural drama and ingenuity of

the building itself, the beauty and luxury

of the decoration, the views over Hyde

Park and Knightsbridge – these are

unlikely to leave anyone feeling that

something is lacking. But One Hyde

Park: The Residences at Mandarin

Oriental is more than just a home; as

that full name suggests, it’s a home with

a five-star hotel built in. Integrated into

the building is everything those

fortunate residents might need, want or

even desire, from nourishment to leisure

to wellbeing, service and entertainment.

Everything has been thought of,

probably before they even considered

thinking about it themselves.

To find out more, let’s follow one of

the residents on a tour of the communal

areas of the building. We’ll start in the

reception, for the very simple reason

that this is the heart of One Hyde Park.

A glorious double-storey room, filled

with light through the glass walls that

constitute most of the building’s exterior,

flower displays lining its two staircases,

it is imbued with an atmosphere of calm,

expertise and efficiency. This, it is soon

obvious, emanates from the discreet

concierge desk facing the entrance.

40

Where other buildings have door staff

and managers, this residence is served

by a 60-strong Mandarin Oriental Hotel

Group-trained team dedicated to One

Hyde Park. As our resident explains, they

have taken time to build up a knowledge

of his requirements and interests so that

they can anticipate his every desire. They

are available 24 hours a day, not just when

he’s in the building, but wherever he may

be in the world. He can order a sandwich

in his apartment or a private jet in Nepal

with the same level of confidence.

As we’re taking this in, our attention

falls on the chandelier that sweeps

across the ceiling above us. Our resident

tells us it’s every bit as intricate as it

looks, made up of several thousand

handmade, gold-plated glass pieces. He

might also tell us it was inspired by

leaves scattered by the wind in Hyde

Park, and that its creator, Eva Menz,

called it ‘Causing a Storm’.

This, it turns out, is very much the kind

of place where chandeliers have names,

and where art is part of everyday life.

Our resident points out another example

behind us: two suits of armour, standing

guard at the pillars, commissioned from

artist Peter Oliver Davies in reference

to Knightsbridge’s historical links. Just

outside is the new Edinburgh Gate,

a dynamic geometric structure of curves

and bends by Wendy Ramshaw, and

Other buildings havemanagers and doorstaff; One Hyde Parkhas a MandarinOriental team of 60

previous page One Hyde

Park has a florist who creates

a new arrangement in the

reception area every day

this page, clockwise

from above The gym and

21m ozone-treated pool in the

Mandarin Oriental Residences

Spa; letters from Bowater

House, the building that

previously occupied the site

DG

rosm

an

gin

/MC

Mo

razzan

i

s .Mémoire du MondeMémoires de Femme

GENEVE . GSTAAD . LONDON 13, New Bond Street +4420 7409 2237 . HONGKONG . TOKYO

www.adler.ch

london@adler.ch

Masai Mara: Natural strength and elegance ready to conquer the horizon.

adler, jewellers since 1886

42

Lorenzo Quinn’s bronze ‘Finding Love’,

a representation of hands meeting in

a gesture of tenderness two-and-a-half

metres high.

There’s also Jacob Epstein’s ‘Rush Of

Green’, the 1959 bronze commissioned

for Bowater House, which stood on the

site of One Hyde Park until 2006. This is

what our lucky resident sees when he

arrives home, before he is greeted by

the valet team who whisk his car away to

the underground car park in one of the

two vehicle lifs.

If it’s dark when we arrive, we will also

see the spectacular bloom of colours

playing on the canopy that covers this

part of Edinburgh Gate, a section of the

light installation created for One Hyde

Park by James Turrell. As we make our

way from where we lef our car to the

reception, our resident might tell us how

this American artist, whose work can be

experienced in parks, a pyramid and

even a volcano, employed LED lamps,

controlled by a computer programme

and meteorological clock, to create

ever-changing shades of colour that

sweep gently over the building from

bottom to top and east to west.

Back in the reception, we decide to

linger a while in order to soak up the

character of the place. There’s no

shortage of places for this, from a chaise

to a quartet of deep armchairs by the

self-playing grand piano and an alcoved

area with more sof chairs. All are

furnished to provide ease for both

body and eye, and we could sit here

and watch the world go by, just beyond

the bustle of Knightsbridge, but our

resident leads us into a glass-walled

room off to the lef.

In here, formations of different

purpose and mood – banquettes and low

tables, deep armchairs, desks – and

plush velvet, dark wood and leather give

the atmosphere of an English gentleman’s

club. This, our resident tells us, is the

Park Library, where he can entertain

guests or read the papers over coffee or

brandy. For more formal appointments,

he uses the two Business Suites just off

the Library, where, around a circular

central table, he can meet colleagues on

home ground and with full service from

that ever-attentive concierge team.

Later this week, we happen to know,

our friend has plans to entertain on a

rather grander scale. For this, he will use

the Serpentine Suite, one floor down, so

he gives us a sneak preview. Exclusively

available to residents, this centres on

a banqueting hall with a lofy ceiling and

elegant suspended tube lights, rich

panelling, polished plasterwork and

antique mirrored pillars. Whether he wants

dinner for 36 or more, or cocktails for up

to 150 – he can’t decide – it’s all on hand,

The Serpentine Suitehas a banqueting hallwith a lofty ceiling,rich panelling andantique pillars

CLoCkwise from above

The elegant but relaxed

meeting space of the Park

Library; James Turrell’s light

installation, created specially

for One Hyde Park; the

Lorenzo Quinn sculpture

‘Finding Love’

DG

rosm

an

gin

/MC

Mo

razzan

i

s .Mémoire du MondeMémoires de Femme

GENEVE . GSTAAD . LONDON 13, New Bond Street +4420 7409 2237 . HONGKONG . TOKYO

www.adler.ch

london@adler.ch

Masai Mara: Natural strength and elegance ready to conquer the horizon.

adler, jewellers since 1886

42

Lorenzo Quinn’s bronze ‘Finding Love’,

a representation of hands meeting in

a gesture of tenderness two-and-a-half

metres high.

There’s also Jacob Epstein’s ‘Rush Of

Green’, the 1959 bronze commissioned

for Bowater House, which stood on the

site of One Hyde Park until 2006. This is

what our lucky resident sees when he

arrives home, before he is greeted by

the valet team who whisk his car away to

the underground car park in one of the

two vehicle lifs.

If it’s dark when we arrive, we will also

see the spectacular bloom of colours

playing on the canopy that covers this

part of Edinburgh Gate, a section of the

light installation created for One Hyde

Park by James Turrell. As we make our

way from where we lef our car to the

reception, our resident might tell us how

this American artist, whose work can be

experienced in parks, a pyramid and

even a volcano, employed LED lamps,

controlled by a computer programme

and meteorological clock, to create

ever-changing shades of colour that

sweep gently over the building from

bottom to top and east to west.

Back in the reception, we decide to

linger a while in order to soak up the

character of the place. There’s no

shortage of places for this, from a chaise

to a quartet of deep armchairs by the

self-playing grand piano and an alcoved

area with more sof chairs. All are

furnished to provide ease for both

body and eye, and we could sit here

and watch the world go by, just beyond

the bustle of Knightsbridge, but our

resident leads us into a glass-walled

room off to the lef.

In here, formations of different

purpose and mood – banquettes and low

tables, deep armchairs, desks – and

plush velvet, dark wood and leather give

the atmosphere of an English gentleman’s

club. This, our resident tells us, is the

Park Library, where he can entertain

guests or read the papers over coffee or

brandy. For more formal appointments,

he uses the two Business Suites just off

the Library, where, around a circular

central table, he can meet colleagues on

home ground and with full service from

that ever-attentive concierge team.

Later this week, we happen to know,

our friend has plans to entertain on a

rather grander scale. For this, he will use

the Serpentine Suite, one floor down, so

he gives us a sneak preview. Exclusively

available to residents, this centres on

a banqueting hall with a lofy ceiling and

elegant suspended tube lights, rich

panelling, polished plasterwork and

antique mirrored pillars. Whether he wants

dinner for 36 or more, or cocktails for up

to 150 – he can’t decide – it’s all on hand,

The Serpentine Suitehas a banqueting hallwith a lofty ceiling,rich panelling andantique pillars

CLoCkwise from above

The elegant but relaxed

meeting space of the Park

Library; James Turrell’s light

installation, created specially

for One Hyde Park; the

Lorenzo Quinn sculpture

‘Finding Love’

44

anxiety-free, via that concierge service

and the Mandarin Oriental connection.

Perhaps, he says, he may invite a few

friends over for a more informal evening

in the private cinema. For anyone who

loves the movies – so, pretty much

everyone – this room is a dream come

true. A four-metre microfibre screen,

SIM2 HT5000 projector, 7.1-channel

audio surround sound through seven

speakers – if that doesn’t mean much, he

says, trust him, it’s very good indeed.

The seats are easy enough to test: 18

velvet-upholstered motorised birch

armchairs with a front row that can be

converted into a sofa, on deep-pile

carpet. Oh, and controls that manage air

con and lights as well as the movie.

Before we can get into The King’s Speech

or one of England’s rugby victories, our

resident hurries us next door to show us

more big boys’ and girls’ toys. This is the

Virtual Games Room, where his children

come to play Mario and Sonic or Grand

Slam Tennis on a full wall screen, and he

takes some time by himself for a round

at St Andrews on the golf simulator.

Afer a couple of holes, we’re feeling

pretty relaxed, but that’s nothing to

where we’re headed next. Just across

the hallway, it transpires, is a world of

wellbeing of another kind, starting with

the Mandarin Oriental Residences Spa.

Here, our resident explains as we pass

the waterfall feature and the scent of

lotus fills our noses, that means he has a

premier, indeed award-winning, team of

spa professionals on hand to provide

treatments from massage to facial and

foot therapy – another unique benefit of

the hotel-at-home relationship with the

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group.

As we survey the two treatment

rooms, each with an attached relaxation

room and fitted out in relaxing brown

timber and white stone, he considers a

treatment to book for later. Maybe he’ll

go for the Oriental Foot Therapy,

combining exfoliation, massage and

reflexology for an all-points-covered

hour. Or, perhaps (a favourite afer a

long plane journey) the Oriental Essence

Massage, with ginger, mandarin and

frankincense. Yes, that’s it, he decides,

and then he can check in with his

personal therapist to update his

programme of nutrition and exercise.

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

Just around the corner is the swimming

pool, 21 metres of low-lit, tranquil beauty.

It’s ozone-treated, he explains, which is

why there’s no noxious tang of chlorine,

and why the water is clearer, cleaner and

feels sofer. Somehow resisting the urge

to test that out, or the whirlpool bath to

the side, we follow our resident through

to the gym. Here, there’s a studio with all

the latest equipment and two rooms for

private workouts. Our friend, being a

competitive fellow, prefers the squash

court next door, though. We agree to

a game, although when he tells us he’s

been playing regularly with the Mandarin

Oriental staff, the seats facing the court

look ever more comfortable. More our

style, we have to tell him, are the saunas

and steam rooms attached to both men’s

and women’s changing rooms.

As we return to the lifs, passing the

salvaged Fifies-vintage letters that spelt

out the name of Bowater House and

pausing to admire the relief metallic

mapscape of London by artist collective

Based Upon, our thoughts turn to

relaxation of another kind. Our resident

tells us about the building’s impressive

wine cellar – a temperature-controlled

room, here on this floor, in which each

apartment has a designated area. He

mentions a particularly promising

Bordeaux he can ask the concierge to

root out. Back in his apartment, over

the finest views in London, we’ll drink

to a life of leisure.

Each apartment has a designated area in One Hyde Park’simpressive climate-controlled wine cellar

Above In the private

screening room, residents and

their guests can opt to recline

in an ultra-luxurious motor-

adjusted cinema seat

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46

those close enough to the top of the waiting list aRe

about to take deliveRy of the most eageRly anticipated

Road caR in yeaRs, the McLaren MP4-12C. an engineeRing

maRvel itself, it has a gReat motoR Racing pedigRee

Words simon de burton

T h e w h o l e g a m u T of exotic supercars will

scorch up the drive past Goodwood House during

July’s Festival of Speed, but it is unlikely that anyone

will make it to the end of the 1.16-mile course in less

time than Nick Heidfeld did back in 1999, when he

completed it in a record 41.6 seconds, at an average

speed of 100.3mph.

The car he was driving was a McLaren MP4/13 – a

machine that had wiped the floor with the opposition

during the previous year’s Formula 1 season, clocking

up nine wins and eight seconds out of 16 races in the

hands of team drivers Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard.

Such achievements have helped the McLaren name

reach legendary status in the car world since the team

was founded by 26-year-old New Zealander Bruce

McLaren in 1963. His parents ran a service station

outside Auckland. His insistence on hanging around the

workshop led to them giving him an Austin 7 to use in

48

previous page The new

McLaren MP4-12C on its

January 2011 launch at the

Portimão circuit in Portugal

this page, from top

Bruce McLaren at the

Spanish Grand Prix in 1968;

the prototype of McLaren’s

first attempt to launch

a roadgoing sports car

in 1970, the M6GT

hill-climb events when he was just 14. Within five years,

he was runner-up in the New Zealand championship

series, driving a home-tuned F2 Cooper-Climax.

McLaren’s talent was spotted by Australian driver

Jack Brabham and, in 1958, he became the first person

to be selected for the New Zealand Grand Prix

Association’s Driver to Europe scheme, which gave him

the opportunity to race with some of the top names

in the sport. Afer that, he never looked back – the

Cooper team signed him in 1959 and he immediately

won that year’s US Grand Prix at the tender age of 22,

established his own Grand Prix team in 1965 and won

his first race in his own car at Spa in 1968.

Along the way, he clocked up records for being the

youngest driver ever to score points in an F1 race, the

youngest to set a fastest lap and the youngest to

achieve a podium position.

But it was in the Can-Am series of sports-car races in

North America that the McLaren name truly dominated,

winning 11 out of 11 races in 1969 – and it was a Can-Am

car in which he died the following year afer the rear

bodywork of his M8D came adrif, causing the car to

spin and hit a bunker during testing at the Goodwood

circuit. He was just 32.

The McLaren team forged ahead, however, winning

the F1 championship in 1974 and 1976 with drivers

Emerson Fittipaldi and James Hunt before its

performance waned and it merged with Ron Dennis’s

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

Su

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50

clockwise, from top

McLaren’s previous road car,

the highly regarded F1,

produced between 1992 and

1998; the 2007 McLaren

Formula 1 car of Lewis

Hamilton; fellow British

McLaren driver Jenson

Button, who joined him in

the McLaren team in 2010

Project Four Racing. Dennis and his partners went on

to buy the team and it is under his influence that

McLaren turned from just another car marque into an

international, high-end brand, linked not just with

racing cars – and drivers such as Lewis Hamilton and

Jenson Button – but road cars, too.

The most celebrated product of McLaren’s road-car

division is the still-remarkable F1 that, according to

legend, was dreamed up by Dennis and racing-car

design engineer Gordon Murray while they were

waiting for a plane following the 1988 Italian Grand Prix

– the only race in that year’s F1 season that the

manufacturer failed to win. The concept was relatively

simple: to create an ultra-high-performance, road-going

car that was replete with Formula 1 technology but

would also be practical for real-world driving.

In 1990, the process of building the car began. BMW

was commissioned to build a bespoke 12-cylinder,

The most paid for an F1 so far – publicly, at least – is

£2,530,000, which is what RM Auctions achieved in

2008 for the car that for several years had been highly

visible in McLaren’s showroom on London’s Park Lane.

But, with the much-anticipated arrival of the MP4-12C,

it is now possible to take to the road in a McLaren

hypercar for a mere £168,500. Capable of a claimed

205mph, it follows McLaren’s ethos of bringing racetrack

technology to the road by featuring a lightweight but

strong carbon-fibre tub; a V8, 3.8-litre, twin-turbo

engine that produces 592 horsepower; a seven-speed

gearbox; state-of-the-art adaptive suspension; and a

0-60 mph time of just 3.1 seconds.

Evo magazine, the performance-car ‘bible’, has

already proclaimed the MP4-12C to be ‘the best sports

car Evo has ever driven’ and, no sooner had the final

The McLaren F1’s place inautomotive history was assuredafter a street-legal examplewas taken to 240mph – a recordfor a non-turbo-charged car

non-turbo-charged, six-litre engine producing 627

horsepower, while a six-speed, fast-shifing gearbox

was designed from scratch, and designer Peter Stevens

set about creating a body shape the like of which had

never been seen before.

Despite its compact size, the F1 had three seats, with

the driver positioned in the middle. Formula 1-style

down-force enhancement meant it was virtually glued

to the ground, and its mid-engine configuration made

for perfect front-to-rear balance. The overall shape was

aerodynamically superb. Neither brakes nor steering

was power-assisted, ensuring maximum driver ‘feel’,

and, as a result of Murray’s obsession with lightness,

exotic materials such as titanium, magnesium and

Kevlar were employed. The body panels were made

from carbon fibre and the engine bay was lined with

gold foil in order to insulate the cockpit from heat.

The first F1 was delivered in 1992 and production

ceased in 1998, afer only 106 had been built – but the

F1’s place in automotive history was assured afer a

street-legal example was taken to a record 240mph – a

speed only ever surpassed by cars with turbo-charged

engines. When new, an F1 cost around £540,000 (plus

taxes) in the UK, but its status as a true ‘modern classic’

has caused prices to soar to around £2 million. Owners

include stars such as comedian Rowan Atkinson,

talk-show host Jay Leno, Pink Floyd drummer Nick

Mason and style doyen Ralph Lauren.

RR

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oR

bis

52

design been unveiled in late 2009, than the order book

started filling up fast. Buyers can look forward to a car

with blistering performance but which has also been

developed for everyday use, with a range of instantly

adjustable suspension settings and an unfeasibly

comfortable, ergonomically excellent interior that also

offers a level of visibility lacking in most supercars.

If you want something to keep you amused while you

wait for the arrival of yours, TAG Heuer has created an

MP4-12C Chronograph in a limited edition of 1,000

examples, available through MP4-12C dealers, starting

with the flagship McLaren showroom on the ground

floor of One Hyde Park. Costing around £6,000, it is

replete with styling cues taken from the car, notably its

cutaway carbon dial, which is inspired by the carbon

MonoCell chassis, and strap stitching that echoes

McLaren’s signature colour.

Just like the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren produced

from 2003 to 2009, the first MP4-12C models are being

just so they could say they had a part in it. However, the

feature that is, perhaps, most indicative of McLaren’s

decades of success is the private display housing dozens

of F1, Can-Am, Le Mans and Indy Cars produced by the

company since the Sixties. But even they don’t tell the

story quite so well as the enormous cabinet that

stretches the entire length of an extremely long wall.

It is literally crammed with trophies gleaned in races

throughout the world, most of which are vast and made

from silver or gold. The one everyone looks at,

however, is tiny, insignificant and made from tin – but is

probably the most priceless of the lot. It was the first

cup Bruce McLaren ever won.

The new McLaren MP4-12C will be on display at

McLaren’s flagship showroom at One Hyde Park and

performing at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, 1-3 July

from top The McLaren

MP4-12C emerges in

Portimão, Portugal; detail

of the back of the car

As well as speed, the MP4-12Chas an unfeasibly comfortable,ergonomically excellentinterior with a level of visibilitylacking in most supercars

hand-built at the McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) in

Woking, Surrey, where McLaren F1 racing cars are

developed and assembled. In the summer production

moves to the McLaren Production Centre, a brand new

£40 million facility at the same site.

Home to the seven companies in the McLaren

Group, the 57,000sq m MTC building – designed by

Lord Foster and opened by the Queen in 2004 – is the

sort of place in which a James Bond nemesis such as Dr

No would have been most at ease. Clinically clean

throughout, it represents the highest of high-tech: no

food or drink other than water is allowed anywhere

near a workstation and, according to Dennis, ‘The

interior is maintained at the optimum temperature for

human productivity.’

With its acres of glass and sweeping curves, the

MTC incorporates soundproof windows behind which

technicians work on components that will be used at

grands prix several seasons hence. The centre also

boasts a 145m wind tunnel and a multi-million-pound F1

simulator said to be indistinguishable from driving the

real thing. There are also plans for an underground

visitor and learning centre; and the whole place is cooled

by 50,000 cubic metres of rainwater that circulates through

a natural reed bed. Indeed, the building is so remarkable

that many of the suppliers of the lavish materials that

went into its construction provided their goods for free,

HAiL ToTHe CHEfHAiL ToTHe CHEfHAiL ToTHe CHEf

New york’s kitcheN commaNders-iN-

chief are crossiNg the atlaNtic, with

stars like daniel Boulud becomiNg

the toast of loNdoN’s diNiNg sceNe

WoRdS william drew / illuSTRaTion brett ryder

T o day, L o n d o n i s the most

exciting city to cook in. The dining scene

is so full of energy and people are

passionate about their food and wine.'

That’s the view not of an Englishman, but

of a US-based, French-born restaurateur

and chef. And not just any old chef, but

one of the global restaurant industry’s

most feted figures, Daniel Boulud.

Boulud operates five successful

restaurants in New York alone, including

his three-Michelin-starred flagship

restaurant, Daniel. But last year he

brought a dash of his culinary magic to

London in the form of Bar Boulud, a

casual but high-end eaterie between the

Mandarin Oriental Hotel and luxury

residence One Hyde Park. And the

56-year-old is rapidly becoming as

popular this side of the Atlantic as he is

in his adopted home town.

This spring Boulud (pictured, below

right) has been joined in London by

fellow superstar chef – and another

US-based Frenchman – Jean-Georges

Vongerichten (above right). Vongerichten

has opened a UK outpost of his Asian

format, Spice Market, in the new W Hotel

on Leicester Square.

Shortly, another grand fromage of the

chef world, Wolfgang Puck, is joining the

British invasion with his restaurant Cut

on Park Lane. So inviting has London

become that last year, Adam Perry Lang

crossed the Atlantic to forge a culinary

‘special relationship’ with Brit Jamie

Oliver at Barbecoa, a new take on meaty

Americana, in the City. Established New

York eateries such as Balthazar and April

Bloomfield’s The Spotted Pig (part-

owned by Jay-Z) are set to follow suit by

landing in London.

So what’s prompting this rash of

high-profile (and expensive) openings in

an already restaurant-rich city? The

short answer is that it’s the major

international hotel groups that are

driving the influx. Boulud, Vongerichten

and Puck are all in partnership with

luxury hoteliers – the Mandarin Oriental

Group, Starwood Hotels and The

Dorchester Collection respectively.

‘I believe we’ve broughtsomething new toLondon: a formula ofservice we developed inAmerica,’ says Boulud

Hotel operators are increasingly

aware of the commercial draw of having

Michelin-star collecting chefs on board.

In Asia, hotels have long been the places

to head to for excellent and innovative

dining experiences. Until recently the

picture in Europe has generally been

more mixed. But this is rapidly changing.

David Nicholls is the food and beverage

director of the Mandarin Oriental Group

worldwide. Having previously led the

London operation, he was instrumental

in bringing both Boulud and Heston

Blumenthal into the UK capital for the

first time. ‘Our strategy has been to

change the way hotel restaurants are

perceived, which is why we’re focusing

on creating independent restaurants in

hotels with extraordinary chefs – whether

they are “celebrities” or not,’ he explains.

It’s a strategy that is undoubtedly

paying off in London, with both Bar

Boulud and Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

huge hits with both critics and customers.

Boulud himself cites Nicholls’ vision and

the specifics of the site as key to his

decision to open a long-awaited UK

restaurant. ‘I like the fact that we have

our own entrance on Knightsbridge,’

says Boulud. ‘But the restaurant does not

have a big façade – that is taken by the

hotel itself – which also fits with our style.

57

Boulud's charcuterieplates, often eaten atthe open kitchen'scounter, have rapidlygained cult status

The idea was to create a better definition

of a “casual” restaurant – ofen in hotels,

the restaurants are neither casual nor

quite manage to be high-end. They can

float in the middle with a lack of identity.

But I also like the idea of not being alone

– when I knew Heston was coming, I said,

at least we can keep each other warm!’

There’s little danger of loneliness at

Bar Boulud, which is indeed redefining

top-end casual dining in the city. It is a

venue that attracts both drop-in drinkers

and destination diners, local residents and

international travellers, mooning lovers

and hard-nosed business types. And it

prides itself on serving them all swifly

but in a relaxed and personal style.

‘I believe we have brought something

new to London, with a formula of service

that we developed in America,’ says Boulud.

‘You can just pop in for a glass of wine

and a burger, or you can enjoy a lavish

meal with a great bottle of wine.’

Vongerichten is also bringing a slice of

American sensibility to the city in the

form of Spice Market. The restaurant is a

sister to the original in Manhattan’s

Meatpacking district, which has been

feeding New Yorkers’ appetite for Asian

food since 2004. ‘In New York 15 years

ago, people ate Italian food three times

a week,’ says Vongerichten. ‘Now they

eat Asian food three times a week. The

flavours are very addictive.’

The Alsace-born chef evidently believes

Londoners will follow a similar path –

hence his return to the UK some eight

years afer Vong, his acclaimed fusion

restaurant in The Berkeley hotel, shut its

doors. ‘People are open to new trends,

they go out more than they did when I

was here before, and it’s much more

diverse,’ says Vongerichten. ‘Spice Market

isn’t right for every city – I don’t think Paris

would be suitable, for example. People in

the UK grow up with an Asian palate, so

London is a great place to open.’

Vongerichten operates restaurants

across the world. Spice Market London is

the fourth under that name, but the first

in Europe. With dishes such as Crab

Dumplings with Black Pepper Sauce and

Ovaltine Kulfi, Caramelised Banana and

Spiced Milk Chocolate, the menu draws

on Vongerichten’s early career cooking

in Asia. It is open for breakfast, lunch

and dinner, capitalising on the trend for

eating ‘out of hours’ that’s beginning to

seep into London’s consciousness – similar

to Bar Boulud’s all-day appeal.

‘I thought London was going to be

more structured,’ adds Boulud. ‘But it

lasts all day at Bar Boulud sometimes.’

The menu’s charcuterie plates, ofen eaten

at the open kitchen’s counter, and the

Piggie Burger (with pulled pork and

green chilli mayonnaise) have rapidly

gained cult status.

The upbeat vibe in the UK restaurant

business can in part be ascribed to the

Olympic factor. Hosting the Games next

summer has attracted considerable

investment in the hospitality sector. An

impressive number of luxury hotels have

opened or been refurbished over the

last year; that first UK venture of Austrian-

American superchef Wolfgang Puck will

be at 45 Park Lane, opening later this year.

With London arguably establishing

itself as the culinary capital of the world,

its appetite for cutting-edge contemporary

restaurants led by globally renowned

chefs is only getting more voracious.

William Drew edits Restaurant magazine

'Antigua' platinum and diamond ring, cartier

PHOTOGRAPHY tif Hunter

STYLING Georgina Hodson

Natural SelectioN

Natural SelectioN

takinG cues from

nature’s intricacy,

tHese creations

are intelliGent

desiGn at its best

Round and pear-shape diamond flower

brooch with yellow 4.11 carat radiant

diamond centre, Graff

59

Oval 76.39-carat unheated Burmese sapphire

and diamond ring, Harry winston

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'Boboli' white gold necklace with diamonds

and rubellites, van cleef & arpels

'Spicy Candy' white gold necklace with fancy

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63

WORDS Robert Ryan

I wa s o n c e l u c k y enough to fly on Concorde and, in those

days of innocence, I was actually allowed to sit on the jump seat in

the cockpit of Speedbird One, en route to JFK. As it nudged past

60,000f, the pilot pointed out the curvature of the Earth and beyond

it, the deep dark blue of nothingness. It was a privileged view — those

confined to the cabin had to squint through Concorde’s famously tiny

windows. I appeared to have the world laid out before me, like something

from 2001: A Space Odyssey. That image, the cold beauty of the very

edge of space, has never really lef me. I was a fan of the extraterrestrial

before that; it turned me into something of an obsessive.

This year is, as many media commentators have noted, the 50th

anniversary of a human first leaving the planet and entering that

interface between the Earth and eternity that I glimpsed from the

flight deck. It was Yuri Gagarin, of course, on 12 April 1961, who took

Thefinal frontier With pLans to offeR fuLL-

oRbitaL fLights and buiLd a

space station, ViRgin galacticis shooting foR the staRs

65

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FLIGHTS of IMAGINATION

Louis BLéRioT, BLéRioT Xi

First crossing oF the english channel, 75.6kph

oRviLLe WRighT, WRighT FLYeR

First recorded powered Flight, 11.1kph

19091903

that particular step for mankind. But it was a close-run

thing. Alan Shepard was scheduled to blast off from

Cape Canaveral on 6 March; a problem with a fuel line

postponed the launch, allowing the USSR to sneak in.

Shepard eventually escaped from the Earth on 5 May.

In space, there are no certainties: but for a faulty LOX

feed, the US could have claimed the first man in space.

Of course, Shepard got a last laugh of sorts: he walked

on the Moon – something no cosmonaut ever managed.

It is difficult not to talk about such ‘space exploration’

in the past tense, as with Concorde: something we

used to have, but lost. These are glum days for NASA,

with the retirement of the shuttle fleet and no

replacement lif vehicle in sight, the postponement

of the manned Mars voyage and swingeing budget

cuts. It looks as if, for those of us who still thrill to the

spectacle of men and women in rockets, the next

decade is going to be the era of slim pickings.

Or perhaps not. As I said, in space, there are no

certainties. For example, nobody really expected, a

decade ago, that the torch of space technology would

be picked up by an Englishman or, even more

surprisingly, that the Englishman would be Richard

Branson. But it is looking increasingly likely that what

initially seemed to be an unholy cross between a publicity

stunt and a pipe dream will come to pass and Virgin

Galactic will boldly go where no man has gone before

(at least not in the same type of spaceship, anyway).

However, just before we unfurl the Union Jacks, it is

worth noting that Branson has had a little help from the

US, in the form of space’s very own version of Orville

and Wilbur Wright, Elbert Leander ‘Burt’ Rutan of

Scaled Composites. It was Rutan who, in June 2004,

sent up SpaceShipOne, the first privately built, flown,

and funded manned craf to reach space. Branson

quickly announced that Rutan would design

SpaceShipTwo, a reusable vehicle designed to take six

paying passengers into sub-orbital pace.

As soon as it was unveiled, it was clear that Rutan’s

SSTwo was a fresh way to approach the problems posed

by space flight. Rather than use a big, dirty rocket to blast

it away from Earth, the craf will be taken up to 50,000f

using a mothership (The White Knight, aka Eve) and SSTwo

will then detach, accelerate to Mach 3 and travel beyond

the Kármán Line at 100km above Earth’s sea level – the

boundary that marks the beginning of space. The

clients then get five to 10 minutes of weightlessness,

although SSTwo will not enter Earth orbit, like a Soyuz

or Shuttle, but will ‘visit’ space and drop back down

again. The clever, elegant design folds itself like a

high-tech piece of origami into a sleek shape (based on

67

ChuCk YeageR, BeLL X-1

First supersonic Flight, mach 1.26

andRé TuRCaT, ConCoRde

First supersonic passenger Flight, mach 2.0

eRiCh WaRsiTz, heinkeL he178

First jet-powered aircraFt Flight, 598kph

1939 1947 1969

a shuttlecock) for re-entry before reconfiguring itself

yet again for the 30-minute glide back to terra firma.

So far, so slick. However, we were promised this

spectacular event would take place in 2009. Three

years ago, Will Whitehorn, then president of Virgin

Galactic, assured me that, despite a recent accident

during engine testing that had killed three people at

the Mojave Desert base, the first test flight would

‘definitely’ take place within 12 months. But space has

remained untroubled by the celebrities (Branson and

family, Victoria Principal, ad man Trevor Beattie,

Professor Stephen Hawkins and Sigourney Weaver)

who have signed up for the first flights. Will Whitehorn

moved on in January this year; Burt Rutan has

announced his retirement from Scaled Composites,

although his protégés and design team remain in place.

There are now 500 passengers on the books,

including Nicholas Candy. He says: ‘I’ve bought three

tickets, one for me and two for my brother and his wife

for their wedding present. I’m really looking forward

to seeing Earth from space – It’s going to be an

unforgettable experience!’

Most potential clients have paid their $200,000 per

trip in full. They must be getting a tad impatient. Has

Virgin Galactic stalled? ‘Not at all,’ says David Clark,

Head of Astronaut Relations for Virgin Galactic,

without hesitation. ‘Any delays were due to us testing

previous page Norman

Foster’s design for Spaceport

America, the base of Virgin

Galactic operations this

page, clockwise from

far left Test flights of the

SSTwo; Richard Branson; the

original Philippe Starck

concept for the spaceport

The SpaceShipTwo’s clever,elegant design folds itself like a high-tech piece of origamiinto a sleek shape (based on a shuttlecock) for re-entry

the systems and testing them again. Soon we will glide

her in from 50,000f. Then we’ll fit the rocket motors.

We aim to fly SSTwo into space by the end of this year,

with passengers being carried by the end of 2012.’

We’ve heard similar claims before, but progress has

certainly been made. Both Eve, the carbon-fibre

mothership, and its baby spacecraf, VSS Enterprise,

have been pictured in the clear-blue desert skies. Shots

online show Enterprise gliding in to land, like a more

handsome version of the Space Shuttle. And, Clark

says, in the coming months, it will be taken alof to trial

the ‘feathered’ or folded position essential to re-entry.

The futuristic Spaceport America (with an initial

concept by Philippe Starck and final designs by Sir

Norman Foster), too, has moved along rapidly, and it

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328,000

350,000

360,000

60,000

250,000

100,000

68

now sits gleaming like a stainless steel-and-glass

trilobite in the desert of New Mexico. In February,

Branson’s of-stated promise that Galactic would

provide commercial projects — as opposed to space

tourism ‘joyrides’ — materialised, thanks to a contract

with the Southwest Research Institute to fly two scientists

into space, enabling them to perform microgravity,

biology, climate and astronomy research. ‘Science flights

will be an important growth area for the company in the

years to come,’ predicts CEO and president George

Whitesides, who has assimilated Will Whitehorn’s title.

‘There’s also the potential for affordable, commercial

low-orbit satellite launches,’ adds David Clark. ‘We can

put them up at a fraction of the price of a conventional

rocket.’ Which, as recent failures have demonstrated,

don’t always function as planned.

Hanging over all this is the question of safety. Just

how foolproof will this version of space travel be? We

have lost two space shuttles, one on launch and one on

re-entry, and previous NASA programmes were not

without disasters. I put this to Will Whitehorn shortly

before he lef the company. ‘This won’t work unless we,

and the public, are absolutely sure about the safety

aspects. So, safety has to be our number-one priority.’

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

I ask Professor Colin Pillinger, the man behind the

Beagle 2 Mars project, for his opinion on Virgin and its

At the back of Branson’s mindis a plan to deliver passengersfrom, say, London to Sydney,using sub-space, a journey thatwould take a few hours

safety. ‘I’d be happy to go up. All power to Richard

Branson. Burt Rutan proved it can be done – it’s just a

matter of scaling up. That's what happened with

Sputnik. They proved the rockets worked and things

just got larger, until they were able to send people into

orbit. I just hope they invite Stephen Hawking and me

up to hold hands and see the Earth from space.’

Richard Branson has just announced he is working

with partners to look at full orbital flights (the SSTwo

doesn’t make a full orbit) and even a commercial space

station. ‘Many people, including me, would love to take

an orbital space trip in the future,’ he says, ‘so we’re

putting our weight behind new technologies that could

deliver that safely, while driving down the enormous

current costs of manned orbital flights by millions of

dollars. Our long-term goal is to lead an industry that

opens up the huge potential of space to everyone, whether

it be for the experience itself, for science research, for

fast and efficient transportation around the globe or for

delivering payloads to space safely, cleanly and cheaply.’

It’s that ‘transportation around the globe’ that I find

most intriguing. He’s an airline man, and, at the back of

Branson’s mind, is a plan to deliver passengers from,

say, London to Sydney, using sub-space, a journey that

would take a few hours. It also means that, one day,

ordinary folks might yet again get to see the deep blue

of space for themselves, just as I once did on Concorde.

Go, Virgin Galactic, is all I can say. Just make sure

you put in decent-sized windows.

virgingalactic.com

Rob Ryan is a novelist and a travel writer for, among

other titles, the Sunday Times

Concorde

SpaceShipTwo de-feathers to glide home

SpaceShipTwo passes the Karman Line to enter space

Maximum planned altitude, before unpowered return to Earth

WhiteKnightTwo releases SpaceS

Commercial airlines

Alt

itu

de

in f

ee

t

Manned balloon

REACH for THE STARS

68

Colour cliNiC

70

T h e r e a l ly i m p r e s s i v e thing about Daniel

Galvin Jr isn’t just his expertise and his pioneering work

in the world of ecologically sound hair colour, or the

manner in which he has successfully stepped out of his

father’s shadow and built up a globally acknowledged

reputation on his own merit, but the calm and collected

manner in which he goes about his business.

Walk through the door of DGJ’s Belgravia salon

and you are immediately conscious of a considered and

ambiently controlled environment. There is no acrid

smell of bleaching agent, no noise-polluting blast of

dryers on ‘volcano’ setting. Natural light is predominant,

fixtures and fittings are clean, elegant and evidently

bespoke. The result is serene, sophisticated, Dior-ish.

‘We had everything handmade,’ Daniel will tell you as

he runs a hand over the polished edges of a mirror. ‘My

wife Suzanna, who is an interior designer, and I designed

the salon to look like a home more than a hairdresser’s.’

A huge photograph of Holly Valance looking luscious

and honey-haired to perfection dominates the window

to the right of the entrance, while a familiar television

celebrity, all lips, white teeth and iPhone, sits in a black

leather chair, talking through her latest hair-colour

adventure with senior stylist Miguel Perez Martin. Kelly

Brook is booked in for an appointment later on today.

Daniel – groomed, focused, tenacious – runs the

show here with a calm and firm velvet touch. When he

discreetly asks for a stylist to turn off the low hum of

Aged 16, he threw himself intohairdressing, working in thesalon six days a week, practisingon days off and qualifying justbefore his 18th birthday

a hair dryer, she does so without any discombobulation

or fuss and an alternative blow-dry station, away from

earshot, is located.

Directly opposite the salon is the Belgravia branch

of Waitrose, the store that Tatler magazine described

as the poshest supermarket in the world, where you can

find Daniel’s organic Duchy beauty products in the

cosmetics aisle. But such a painstakingly holistic approach

to super-luxe hairdressing services, accented by boldly

maverick expertise, didn’t evolve overnight.

shifs in the bustling Marylebone salon, sweeping up,

making tea and washing hair.

‘I grew up having wonderful holidays, a privileged

lifestyle and a great education, but I’d never really

understood exactly where my father had come from

and how much he had achieved,’ says Daniel. ‘So I didn’t

know what to expect.’

Even though his father, his uncle, his grandfather

and great-grandfather had all been hairdressers (soon

to be followed by his brother, James), young Daniel was

not particularly keen to carry on the Galvin family

tradition. ‘But on my very first day a whole new world

opened up to me. I saw what an empire my dad had

built, all this amazing art… and, more than that, all these

amazingly good-looking women! I thought, “Wow. This

is actually a pretty good job.”’

Quickly, Daniel abandoned any ideas of a newspaper

career and abruptly quit school. Aged 16, he threw

himself into hairdressing, cramming a three-year

apprenticeship into just 18 months, working in the salon

six days a week, practising his craf on models two

nights a week and on his day off, and eventually

qualifying just a few months before his 18th birthday.

Almost immediately it was the craf of colour, not

cutting, that piqued his interest. Young Daniel took the

view that, just like make-up and cosmetics, the subtle

art of hair colour was a way of enhancing a woman’s

skin tone, features, moods and lifestyle. This sensitive,

Daniel Galvin Jr was educated at Millfield, a boarding

school in Somerset. ‘I am probably the only hairdresser

to come out of that school,’ he laughs.

As a boy he excelled at art, science and English,

initially planning to study journalism. But a visit to his

dad’s workplace changed everything. Tired of his

young son continually asking for pocket money, top

hairdresser Daniel Galvin Senior told Daniel Jr

that he would have to work a few school holiday

daniel GalVin jr, the woRLd-Leading

haiRdResseR who speciaLises in coLouR,

has a passion foR oRganic ingRedients

and a ceLebRity cLienteLe

WOrdS simon Mills

JAK

E W

ALT

ER

S; K

inn

ER

Ton

ST

ud

ioS

71

LEFT TO RIGHT The studio’s

tasteful interior is lit

predominantly by natural light

throughout; Daniel Galvin

Junior; the manicured salon

front in Belgravia

Against the advice of manybeauty editors, who saw nofuture in the idea, Danieldeveloped a highly successfulline of organic products

flattering and esteem-building approach soon paid

dividends and he was running the colour department

in his father’s salon by the time he was 22, pioneering a

technique called ‘bold movement’ that involves creating

a detailed map of a client’s hair to create lowlights and

highlights. ‘I don’t try to make my clients look beautiful;

I show them that they already are beautiful.’

But being in London and working in his father’s shadow

was not enough for ambitious Daniel. He moved to Los

Angeles to work on glamorous Rodeo Drive. ‘I think

it’s important to flee the nest and earn some respect

for yourself. It was time for me to try new things.’ He

was also on a mission to educate Californian women

about hair colour. ‘Everyone was Baywatch blonde and

I considered it a challenge to try and change the

mindset,’ he laughs.

In LA, Daniel had a ball doing the Beverly Hills thing

to the max: tending the hair of private superstar clients

and absorbing the American hairdressing industry’s focus

on meticulous, personal service by day. By night,

however, he says he was ‘partying for England’.

Afer a while, the lifestyle grew tiring and Daniel

returned to his homeland, although he still makes the

odd jaunt out to loyal clients in Hollywood and around

the world. He replaced nightclubs with running,

motorcycle racing and boxing (afer winning five

competitions he retired – ‘black eyes don’t look good in

the salon’) and turned his back his on what he refers to

as ‘the chemical lifestyle’. He got married and, in 2000,

fathered a son. (Daniel also lives with his stepson.) ‘For

me, it represented a new life… a new beginning.’

This proved to be a turning point. ‘By this point I was

very conscious of what I was putting in my body but not

so aware of what I was putting on it,’ says Daniel. ‘When

Rhett was born, suddenly, the idea of putting some

nasty, harsh chemical on his baby skin – something that

could be carcinogenic or promote eczema – was

horrific to me. So, I started to do some research.’

connection has gone further: seven years ago Daniel

was appointed an ambassador to the Prince’s Trust.

Nowadays, Daniel divides his time between a London

home in Regent’s Park and a Georgian Regency

farmhouse in the more peaceful Malvern Hills in

Worcestershire. Here, he goes fishing, grows his own

vegetables and eats meat that was raised in the fields

behind his paddock. Things are a little bit country, a lot

less rock’n’roll.

Daniel is best known for styling the hair of local

Belgravia women, American women, celebrities such as

Holly Valance and Kelly Brook, royalty, Hollywood film

actors and sports stars. But he proudly explains how he

also takes a particularly measured approach to male

clients’ hair, avoiding the telltale brassy look by reducing

the grey in a guy like Louis Walsh’s famous tresses very

gradually. ‘We weave colour back into the hair. First a

25 per cent reduction, then, very slowly building up to a

75 per cent reduction. If we do it really well, people

hardly notice the transition.’

Light streams through the French windows in the

DGJ basement and I am aware that my silvery temples

are glinting rather unfavourably in the afernoon

sunshine. ‘I mean, come on!’ says Daniel, playfully.

‘Nobody really likes grey hair… do they?’

Daniel Galvin Jr, 4 West Halkin Street, London SW1;

020 3416 3116; danielgalvinjnr.co.uk

Simon Mills is a contributing editor to GQ

Against the advice of many high-profile beauty

editors (‘they said there was no future in the idea’),

Daniel developed his own line of organic products

(including a gentle baby shampoo for little Rhett)

utilising only top-level, ecologically sound ingredients.

In 2002 he was approached by Prince Charles to

develop a range of Duchy beauty products. ‘Prince

Charles is very passionate,’ says Daniel proudly. ‘He’s

very involved in the product development.’ The royal

73

ever coveted, it is a dedication to quaLity that

puts ROLEX at the forefront of watchmaking,

and on the ground fLoor at one hyde park

WORds Bill prince

W i t h s u c h e m p h a s i s placed on provenance in the world of watches, it is perhaps surprising to learn that

the Swiss brand with probably the greatest global recognition of them all is barely 100 years old and that its

origins began with a young Bavarian in London. Hans Wilsdorf founded Wilsdorf & Davis in 1905, setting out to

buck the trend for pocket watches with a plan to popularise the wristwatch, until then a timepiece viewed as

unreliable, fragile and ‘effeminate’. Wilsdorf answered those concerns by producing the first wristwatch to achieve

chronometer status from the exacting Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres, and going on to develop the

74

world’s fi rst waterproof watch case – the Oyster. The

latter feature was tested on a cross-Channel swim in

1927 – as if to ask, tough enough for you?

Now based in Geneva, Wilsdorf set about achieving

a series of further fi rsts: in 1931 he added the world’s fi rst

self-winding movement to the Oyster Perpetual; he

created the fi rst wristwatch with day and, subsequently,

day/date functions; he made a wristwatch capable of

achieving then-unheard of depths of 330m (the original

Submariner of 1953); and in 1963 launched arguably the

fi rst ‘luxury’ sports watch, the Cosmograph Daytona.

However, it is Wilsdorf’s decision as early as 1908

to market his watches under a brand name that secured

the long-term potential of Rolex. Notable patrons – not

only paid ambassadors such as current world-number-one

golfer Martin Kaymer – have helped. The Cosmograph

Daytona became synonymous with motor racing in

general and with one Hollywood hotshot in particular:

Paul Newman, was a keen racer who wore a Cosmograph,

a gift from his wife, the actress Joanne Woodward.

It wasn’t just Hollywood upping the brand’s sizeable

ante with a well-heeled audience of watch connoisseurs.

Many of these will have already spotted Sir Edmund

Hillary sporting a Rolex Oyster on the summit of Everest

in 1953, or understood the importance of a deep-sea

diving company such as Comex commissioning its own

version of the Submariner with the hitherto-unavailable

helium escape valve (now standard on all serious diving

watches). And yet, all the while, Rolex has also been

happy to play the ‘outsider’ in watch terms too, forgoing

many of the opportunities exploited by other brands to

focus, for example, on its own affi liations with the

yachting and motor racing worlds. Rolex has also kept

a tradition instigated by Hans Wilsdorf: never appearing

alongside any other brand or story, by insisting upon

(and paying for) full-page advertisements only. An

‘ever-changing, never changing’ approach, with regular

innovations and upgrades, has protected Rolex’s twin

pillars of excellence: robustness and reliability.

Now the ‘outsider’ watch company has a new boutique

in the ultimate insider’s location. Nicholas Candy says,

‘We are very pleased to welcome to One Hyde Park

what will arguably be Rolex’s fl agship store. It will

certainly be the largest of its kind in Europe.’

The boutique’s owner, David Coleridge, adds, ‘One

Hyde Park has a natural synergy with a brand like Rolex.

Both are iconic, dramatic and luxurious. And aside from

the boutique being an iconic, luxurious location of over

3,000sq ft , it will stock the largest range of Rolex watches

in the UK and will benefi t from an on-site expert

watchmaker. Our ambition is to make this the most

enjoyable place in the world to buy a Rolex.’

Having written the fi rst chapters of the Rolex story

in London, Hans Wilsdorf would certainly approve.

Bill Prince is the Deputy Editor of GQ

PREVIOUS PAGE Brilliant-cut

diamonds and a casing

of 18ct Everose gold

characterise the new

Oyster Perpetual Datejust

Special Edition

THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE

FROM TOP Sir Edmund

Hillary reaches Mount Everest

in 1953; the fi rst Oyster

Perpetual of 1931; the fi rst

waterproof watch case – the

1926 Oyster; Rolex founder,

Hans Wilsdorf

TH

E T

IME

S /

NI

SYN

DIC

AT

ION

76

C a n dy & C a n dy creative director

Martin Kemp is no stranger to working

miraculous transformations on properties.

But when a client asked him to renovate

a six-storey Grade-I listed house in Mayfair,

he decided to take on his most audacious

challenge yet: interior time travel.

‘The property was built in the 1700s

and had a distinguished history. But over

recent decades it had fallen into a very

sorry state, afer years of bad decision-

making,’ admits Martin.

‘Our instinct as a business is of course

to understand a client’s objectives for their

project but we ofen surprise them by

applying a solution quite apart from what

they had considered to be Candy & Candy

“style”.’ The company doesn’t only design

the bachelor pads for which they are well

known, but can work in any style: bohemian,

eclectic, classical, contemporary… ‘We

respect the architecture that we’re given,’

he continues. So, when the client asked,

‘What can we do here?’ the building itself

provided part of the answer.

‘In period properties of this nature,

the first floor is usually the grandest,’

explains Martin. ‘Here we found the

highest ceilings, the longest windows,

and some remarkable plasterwork.’

The client, a young philanthropist and

businessman, respected the property’s

history, and was encouraged by Martin’s

idea to restore the drawing and dining

rooms on the first floor to their former

glory. But he wanted his bedroom suite

and a basement swimming pool to be

very modern. The challenge was how to

bring 18th and 21st centuries together.

‘The brief for us was to join the two

visions and create one seamless home,’

candy & candy took an 18TH-CenTuryMayfaiR pRopeRty and MaRRied its

past to soMe ultRa-ModeRn designs

WOrDS Maria yacoob

The first-floor drawing room

was a challenge to restore,

with the ceiling plasterwork

and fireplace the only

surviving features. The

formality of the space is

sofened by curving sofas and

a Fornasetti-pattern rug

based on a huge eye

explains Martin. The breathtaking results

are testament to over three years of

devotion from the Candy & Candy team.

There is an effortless logic to the

layout of the house. The ground-floor

hallway, with its mix of antique (the

fireplace and mirror) and modern (the

asymmetrical lantern by Matt Stanwix)

leads to informal entertaining spaces for

welcoming guests – a dramatic games

room and relaxing private lounge for

example. The main staircase leads guests

up to the first-floor drawing and dining

rooms, which are for grand entertaining.

The second floor is home to the three

en-suite guest bedrooms each naturally

sumptuous and distinct. Then, beyond a

door entered only via fingerprint-reader,

a private, leather-clad staircase, curving

around a jaw-dropping six-metre long

wooden chandelier by Eva Menz, leads

up to the amazing master bedroom suite.

This gives the owner a contemporary

bedroom and informal reception on the

third floor, complete with concealed

kitchenette for midnight feasts, and an

owner’s study on the fourth, mezzanine

floor. From here, a door leads out on to

the roof terrace. The main kitchen, laundry

and cinema are on the lower ground floor,

and the basement houses a futuristic

swimming pool, hot tub, steam room, sauna

and gymnasium. Staff accommodation

and garaging for two vehicles is within

the mews house behind, naturally.

When Martin describes the finished

house, it’s clear the first-floor drawing

room and the master bedroom suite hold

a special place for the client.

‘Restoring the first floor was an

enormous challenge,’ Martin reveals.

Apart from the ceiling and fireplace, all

of the original features had been lost.

The floor was rotten and badly misaligned,

the stone was cracked, the plasterwork

damaged, and doors largely removed.

Quality was paramount in the restoration,

from wonderful marquetry floor inlays to

new panelling and plasterwork on the

walls – all designed and applied with

English Heritage guidance.

‘When it came to planning the

furniture in the room,’ says Martin, ‘we

had to think carefully. This is a formal

reception room. It makes a statement to

business associates as well as friends.

But I didn’t want it to look conventional

or stifled, because I knew the client is

not a formal man himself. So I planned

a circular layout with curving sofas and

loose armchairs, to sofen the space.’

A favourite feature in the room is the

Fornasetti-pattern rug. ‘Initially it

appears to be just a pattern, but it’s

actually a huge eye. It’s stylish and a little

‘This is a formalreception room thatmakes a statement, butwe didn’t want it to beconventional or stifled’

bit fun, though subtle – very much

reflecting our client’s personality.’

The top two floors, which house the

master bedroom suite, are just as dramatic,

but in a very different way. ‘When we

initially viewed the property,’ says Martin,

‘the third-floor ceiling was below the

wooden beams that are now such a

prominent feature of the room. It made

the room just two metres high, with a

mean, slim letterbox shape. The client

was reluctant to make this his bedroom.

But I knew the stunning effect that could

be achieved by taking the ceiling out

and putting a new roof on.’

In undertaking these two major

renovations, the height and unique

nature of the space became obvious.

Martin’s designs allowed the roof beams

to become an integral part of the bedroom.

‘All of the beams are upholstered in

hand-stitched leather, and the bed is set

in among the roof joists to make it a chunky,

masculine, fitted four-poster bed.’ Martin

commissioned Matt Stanwix to create a

pendant light made from folded metal,

78

opposite, From top

Unique items in the house

such as this sculpture double

as investment pieces; a precious

18th-century French book.

this page The dining

room has been restored to its

former glory with a marble

table and embroidered chairs

80

but based on the idea of crumpled paper,

which is another highlight of the room.

The décor for the en-suite study is

similarly rich and dark. It houses a

handsome modern fireplace and another

statement light – this one a floor-lamp by

artist Ryan McElhinney. ‘It comprises

hundreds of small toys, joined together,

and then coated in gold,’ explains

Martin. Like the other lights, chandeliers,

and countless other items in the house,

it is an investment piece.

‘Our vision for the master bedroom

suite was a moody, masculine space which

is completely self-contained. And the client

is over the moon with what we have

achieved. In fact, he seems thrilled with

everything we have done to create a

world-class home for him,’ says Martin.

‘Just as importantly, English Heritage and

Westminster Council are pleased we

have restored this Grade-I listed property,

returning it once again to a residential

dwelling with VIP status. I hope it’s what

you call a win-win situation.’

CloCkwise from left

Eighteenth- and 21st-century

features blend throughout.

A carriage clock adorns a

mantlepiece, Roman busts spy

from on high and an antique

mirror in the ground-floor hall

reflects a modern asymmetric

lantern by Matt Stanwix

82

above A computer-

generated image of how the

Schwinge Trinity HYSWAS

would look as it reaches

20 knots and the hydrofoil

goes to work

we look at two veRy diffeRent visions

of the superyacht of the futuRe: one

notably gReen, the otheR still a dReam

MAKiNGWaVeS

E v E r s i n c E s i l i c o n Valley rivals Paul Allen and Larry Ellison began their

campaign of nautical one-upmanship, luxury yacht manufacture has been obsessed

almost exclusively with scale. Which could explain why the word ‘yacht’ is seldom

uttered nowadays without a suitably superlative-oriented prefix, or why the bespoke

boats that rumble out of the Lürssen boatyard – a favourite of Roman Abramovich –

are more akin to NATO frigates than conventional pleasure cruisers.

This fixation with size inspired London architect Jonathan Schwinge to embark on

a radical rethink of boat design, a voyage that led to his boat concept, the Schwinge

Trinity HYSWAS (Hydrofoil Small Waterplane Area Ship). ‘Yachts were getting bigger

and bigger,’ Schwinge explains, ‘but the Trinity is different: it’s designed around a minimal

enclosure with six leading edges, which makes it a very pure and dynamic shape.’

His superyacht concept eschews the traditional ship profile for a floating

tetrahedron, a four-sided composite superstructure that sits on three low-profile

hulls – the largest of which forms the hydrofoil. When it reaches 20 knots, the yacht

lifs clear of the water to give an illusion of flight. The Trinity’s geometry ensures it

remains stable even in the most turbulent waters. ‘With waves of three metres or

more,’ Schwinge continues, ‘it will simply glide over the top of the water.’

schwinge.co.uk

84

Below The latest

Viareggio Superyachts

62m luxury craf, RoMa. Its

upper sun deck features

a bar surrounding a pool

with jets to create

a current for exercising

F o l l o w i n g t h e s u c c e s s of Candyscape II, RoMa (to be exhibited this

year at the Monaco Yacht Show, 21-24 September) represents the extraordinary next

chapter in the history of Viareggio Superyachts. RoMa brings together an efficient,

top-of-the-range electronic infrastructure for ship automation and governance, a

legendary dynamic positioning system and myriad environmentally friendly equipment.

Now Viareggio Superyachts is taking another definitive step forward, as the

boatbuilder is busy completing its new 72m yacht. The project blends traditional

elements of design and layout with new variations on a theme, such as staggered

internal decks, high saloons and an innovative bow form.

The yacht is equipped with a certified helideck, one deck exclusively for guests, a

separate owner’s deck and saloons with finished heights of 270cm; it also offers the

exclusive novelty of green landscapes at sea – with real houseplants crossing the decks.

Concepts of the internal and external space are interpreted in a highly unconventional

way. For example, in the two most important saloons and the owner’s cabin, there are

spectacular walls entirely of glass, instead of the usual rigid barrier.

This new 72m yacht is yet another example of VSY’s ability to interpret the ideas

of an owner to create leisure craf where living at sea is an unimaginable pleasure.

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

View FROM THe TOPView FROM THe TOP

Fuchsia chiffon dress, MaxMara. Fuchsia suede shoes with gold heel, Christian Louboutin.

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

PhotograPhy Chris dunlop / Fashion editor Michael dye

87

Silver silk satin panelled dress, AmAndA WAkeley. Round ruby and round diamond

necklace, GrAff diAmonds. Photographed in the lobby of One Hyde Park

Teal taffeta dress, GhAdAh. Black suede shoes with gold heel and

turquoise satin clutch, ChristiAn louboutin. White gold necklace with

turquoise pearls and blue sapphires, ChopArd. Photographed in the

Mandarin Oriental Residences spa at One Hyde Park

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

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

Printed one-shoulder silk gown, Matthew wiLLiaMson. Photographed on the

balcony of a penthouse apartment at One Hyde Park

Printed green one-shoulder dress, Lorenzo riva. Photographed

at the Knightsbridge entrance to One Hyde Park

Nude fully embroidered dress, EliE Saab. Metallic clutch, Gianvito RoSSi.

Photographed beneath James Turrell’s light installation at One Hyde Park,

which illuminates Edinburgh Gate

Hair Jonothon Malone at Models 1. Make-up Eli Wakamatsu at Emma Davies

using Givenchy. Model Tabea at Storm. Photographer’s Assistants Chris Kennedy,

Ben Reeves, Jonny Greenwood and Will Marsden. Fashion Assistants Huma

Humayun and Nina Sobers

96

W e l d o n

Commissioned for projects in the grandest houses and

yachts across the world, Weldon has an unrivalled

reputation for designing, manufacturing, supplying and

installing top-quality hardwood floors. Specialising in

parquet, marquetry and antique flooring, Weldon’s

crafsmen work closely with the company's clients to

create a finish that is right and fitting for the location,

be it modern or historic. And Weldon floorings have

worked in some pretty impressive locations, from the

Victoria and Albert Museum to Windsor Castle. The

company has even been awarded a Royal Warrant, in

recognition of its work for HM The Queen and HRH

The Prince of Wales. weldon.co.uk

P h I l l I Pa l e P l e y

Phillipa Lepley is one of London’s leading bridal couture

designers. Celebrated for her sophisticated and

romantic style, Phillipa creates ready-to-wear collections

and offers a couture service from her Fulham Road store.

Using the highest quality couture silks and lace, Phillipa

will design a unique wedding dress perfectly tailored to

the bride. Each design is balanced with an expert eye

for proportion, ensuring each gown is an immaculate fit.

‘Every bride wants to look at her most beautiful on her

wedding day,’ says Phillipa, ‘and my dedicated team and

I will try our utmost to help them to attain that dream. It

isn’t about being a slavish follower of fashion trends –

it is about elegance and simplicity and designs that

flatter the individual bride’s figure.’ phillipalepley.com

B o u c h e r o n

The house of Boucheron was established more than 150

years ago, and legend has it Frédéric Boucheron

chose 26 Place Vendôme in Paris for his first boutique

as it resided in the sunniest corner of the square – where

the exquisite diamonds nestling within would sparkle

most brilliantly. Today, Boucheron is one of the most

admired and respected fine jewellers in the world.

Equally well renowned as watchmakers, the house

unveiled a brand new collection of timepieces at this

year’s Baselworld, in addition to launching the

sumptuous Ava Pivoine diamond ring and pendant,

which take inspiration from the peony flower, as part

of its bridal range. boucheron.com

y v e s d e l o r m e

Yves Delorme is acclaimed worldwide for its exquisite

European linens and home accessories. Part of the

family-owned French company Fremaux Delorme, Yves

Delorme has been at the forefront of luxury textile design

for more than 160 years. Influenced by the heritage of

French couture, Yves Delorme products are renowned

for uncompromising quality and meticulous attention to

detail, combining the latest technical innovations with the

most beautiful traditional materials. The company

presents fresh seasonal looks twice a year, alongside

classic neutrals in timeless designs. Exciting future

developments include the launch of Hugo Boss Home in

Harrods and a new range of opulent candles by Yves

Delorme designer Evelyne Julienne. yvesdelorme.com

97

Adler 020 7409 2237;

adler.ch

Amanda Wakeley 020 7590 9105;

amandawakeley.com

Bar Boulud 020 7201 3899;

barboulud.com

Boucheron 020 7514 9170;

boucheron.com

Buccellati 020 7629 5616;

buccellati.co.uk

Candy & Candy 020 7590 1900;

candyandcandy.com

Cartier 020 3147 4850;

cartier.com

Chopard 020 7409 3140;

chopard.com

Christian Louboutin 020 7245 6510;

christianlouboutin.com

Dan D'Agostino +1 203 227 9099;

dagostinoinc.com

Elie Saab 020 7173 6424;

eliesaab.com

Ghadah 020 7229 8772;

ghadahparis.com

Gianvito Rossi

available at Joseph, 020 7235 1991;

gianvitorossi.com

Gif Library 020 3080 0530;

gif-library.com

Graff Diamonds 020 7584 8571;

graffdiamonds.com

Land Rover 0800 110110;

landrover.com

Lorenzo Riva +39 02 877872;

lorenzoriva.it

Luisa Beccaria +39 02 863807;

luisabeccaria.it

Matthew Williamson 020 7629 6200;

matthewwilliamson.com

MaxMara 020 7499 7902;

maxmara.com

McLaren

mclaren.com

Rolex 020 7292 0345;

rolex.com

Schwinge 020 7403 6298;

schwinge.co.uk

Spice Market 020 7758 1088;

spicemarketlondon.co.uk

Theo Fennell 020 7591 5000;

theofennell.com

Van Cleef & Arpels 020 7493 0400;

vancleef-arpels.com

Viareggio Superyachts +39 05 8439671;

vsy.it

Virgin Galactic

virgingalactic.com

B at h r o o m s I n t e r n at I o n a l

Luxury bathroom outfitters Bathrooms International has launched three new collections this year. The Savoy range

was developed with Cornwall-based sculptor Terry King, who has lent his vision and expertise to create some truly

unique and glamorous pieces. The solid bronze-cast tubs are not only magnificent in appearance but have the added

benefit of keeping the water warmer for a longer and more luxurious soak. In addition to the Savoy are the Daum

and Siena collections. Daum takes inspiration from the Orient for the colour palette, including bright tones of

orange, jade and silver grey. For a more natural scheme, the Siena bathroom furnishings are made from exquisite

hand-crafed stone, each piece of which is unique. bathroomsint.com

98

ALA

MY

What is it about portraiture that so fascinates you?

I have always found the human face, and indeed body,

compelling; it can hide and reveal so much. The format

is so adaptable – think of portraits by Picasso, Van Dyck,

Gainsborough, and Lucian Freud: the variety is endless.

What can a portrait reveal about the subject?

A good portrait is exceptionally revealing. You can

always tell when a painter is just flattering the sitter,

merely doing a job, however skilfully. Portraiture can be

the most contentious or the most commercial format –

that is one of its delights. A great portrait has a level of

insight that can be disturbing or uplifing, and ironically

can make its artist very unpopular with the subject.

Which paintings express this really well?

Velazquez’ portrait of Pope Innocent X shows a terrifying

naked ambition that is very modern. Hogarth’s ‘Shrimp

Girl’ is so good-natured that you immediately love the

subject. I know which one I would like to hang out with.

Does your love of portraiture influence your jewellery?

Very much so. We have a continuing series of Heroes

and Villains portrait rings; small wearable busts of

figures such as Mao, Gandhi and Beethoven. I have just

created a skull portrait of Elizabeth I with a team of

seven of the world’s best crafsmen. She is the first in a

series of one-off portrait brooches. Next are Cleopatra,

Sitting Bull, Marie Antoinette and then who knows?

How do you plan to develop this creative direction?

I felt that the tradition of jewellery that has a story –

precious for the beauty of its design rather than the

size of the stone – needed reviving. If you can have

anything, why not something unique? We have the

crafsmen, wit and skill needed, and portraiture is a

perfect area in which to combine them. It is also very

difficult to do well and so something our competitors

avoid! We get copied so ofen that it is nice to find

somewhere we might be lef alone. We are developing

this concept and are already taking commissions.

Have you learned about past jewellery from portraits?

Yes, jewels in Elizabethan and Renaissance portraits,

crafsmen to work with to get the effect I want. I draw

every day, with a focus on the human head. I am

working on some homages and jewelled reliquaries that

I hope to exhibit next year. Our unique pieces are now

so popular that most have been bought before we can

display them, so I hope there will be enough to show.

Who would you like to paint a portrait of?

I would love to have painted Elvis or Marilyn Monroe.

Warhol notwithstanding, they never got anything like

a traditional painted portrait. I think it would have been

interesting to have done them in quite a formal way

and, of course, to have sung with Elvis while doing it.

Which artist would you choose to paint your portrait?

I am tempted to choose a Sargent swagger portrait out

of pure vanity but would love David Hockney to paint me;

he has been a hero of mine since art school.

What do painted portraits capture that photos don’t?

This is a big question and impossible to explain without

taking someone around galleries and shedding many

tears and stamping one’s feet a lot. We live in a lazy

time that baulks at the hours that crafsmanship entails.

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

Would you paint a self-portrait?

I might paint one when there is time, to see if I have

any self-awareness at all. I should be tempted to make

myself look very distinguished.

theofennell.com

jewelleR to staRs

such as lady gaga

and siR elton john,

theo’s penchant

foR poRtRaits has

inspiRed a Range of

figuRative fineRy

Main Theo Fennell in his

Chelsea jewellery store

LEft Hogarth’s painting

‘Shrimp Girl’

especially Holbein’s, are a mine of ideas – such as our

current portrait lockets and enamelled miniatures.

Have you got an all-time favourite portrait?

No, but the Hogarth is up there, as is Hilliard’s miniature

of a young man.

Can you tell us about the portraits you produce?

I work on portraits in different forms all the time. The

fabulous thing is I can choose which incredibly talented

‘Elvis never got a traditionalpainted portrait. I would haveloved to have painted him inquite a formal way, and to havesung with him while doing it’

THEO feNNELL