The UR-105 provides an analogue and digital display of the time

URWERK’s unique approach to high horology has established it as one of the most creative and desirable brands in the industry. URWERK’s watches are like nothing else on the market, reinventing the design of a timepiece to put function and artistry above conventional wisdom; and, despite their modernity, taking inspiration from the Huguenot tradition of clock making that once changed the world. LUX Editor in Chief Darius Sanai speaks with Felix Baumgartner about innovations and collaborative design

LUX: You grew up around English clockmaking rather than watches. Can you tell us a bit about your early education in the industry?
Felix Baumgartner: Absolutely, my grandfather worked at IWC, but my father didn’t really like the big company structures; he was more into history, antique clocks. So after working at IWC for a brief period, my father opened up his own atelier at home, where he still restores clocks. That was my school, it was where I learned about clocks, and also about watchmaking because it is similar. There’s a difference in proportion between clocks and watches, and watches are only 120 years old, before that you only had clocks.

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When I grew up in the beginning of the 90s I saw a watch industry which was very much focussed on watches with very traditional tourbillon, but all the time there were the same complications and the same approaches, which, for me, was not at all contemporary. From my mother, I learnt a contemporary open-mindedness (my mother loved, and still loves, contemporary art, architecture and music) and from my father I learnt the history, knowledge and mechanical passion. However, it was difficult to bring these two things together so I started working with Martin Frei (co-founder of URWERK). Martin isn’t actually a designer, he was working in film and painting at the time we met, but it was so interesting for me to work with someone from the artistic world to create a new concept for a watch, and to think about what a watch can be today.

Felix Baumgartner at work in the URWERK studios

LUX: Had anyone else taken this approach in high end horology?
Felix Baumgartner: I think in high end watchmaking we were the first. You have Audemars Piguet; in the 70s, they made the Royal Oak, and the Royal Oak as a case is very contemporary. It is a very, very nice watch but they concentrated on the case, and didn’t look at the movement. In traditional watchmaking, you always have a case and then you have the movement inside, it is very separate and what is unique about our approach is that we create one piece, in which the movement and case speak together. What we do is very pure, very minimalist.

LUX: Did you know that people would want something like this at the high end or did you just hope? How did you create the market for your watches?
Felix Baumgartner: We were very naive! I was 22 years old, Martin was a bit older, but we were both very young, we are still young… You have to understand everybody had these polished wooden cases with a nice golden watch and we wanted to disturb the old values. When you look at architecture, or cars for example, the design process moves on but the watchmakers in Switzerland still continue with the same methods.

A lot of other watch brands try to copy what was done 100 years ago, but it is changing. 20 years ago we were absolutely alone, apart from at the entrance level where you always had contemporary watches such as Swatch; Swatch was absolutely up to date. In the middle range you had Tag Heuer and Omega. But we’re not businessmen, I’m a watchmaker and Martin is an artist, we love what we do, it’s 100% passion. We showed up at 22 years old and some people hated it, others were astonished, they didn’t know what was going on.

Read more: Swarovski x Design Miami/ designers of the future

LUX: The mechanical movement in your watches is very advanced and sophisticated…
Felix Baumgartner: Yes, we are working with the latest materials and because most of our mechanisms didn’t exist in the past, we have to invent them, which is challenging.

The UR-210 is our most complicated watch today, but it still feels simple. It is a very nice way to tell the time, because you can read the time actually without having to turn the wrist. We only make 150 watches per year, it’s a very limited production. The parts are made in Zurich by a very specific professional team, and then in the town of Aarau there’s a team doing the research, the technical dossier, the engineers and prototyping and in Geneva you have final assembling and then the communication side.

The UR-210 in black platinum

LUX: The people who buy Urwerk what do they have in common? It seems that buying watches like yours is like collecting art or cars…
Felix Baumgartner: Yes, to me, the watchmaking of today is an expression of mechanical artisanal art. It’s a little machine that you have on your wrist, which you can understand, you can hear it, you can feel it and at the same time it tells you the time. But it also is kind of a jewellery, a “bijou” for men, also for women.

LUX: How does your collaborative design process work?
Felix Baumgartner: I’ve known Martin for 25 years, and we’ve worked together on URWERK for 20 years. We call our design process: ‘ping-pong’. We meet, but also speak on the phone almost everyday. Martin lives and works in Zurich, whilst I’m in Geneva most of the time so we play with ideas then he sends it over and I send it back, it’s a ping pong. Largely though, I’m still the mechanic and he’s the aesthete.

Read more: Luxury handbag brand Moynat opens with style in Selfridges, London

LUX: Unlike many luxury brands, you don’t do any kind of celebrity marketing. You say that the product speaks for itself, what do you mean by that?
Felix Baumgartner: We are lucky because we do not have to go the ambassadors, to the actors or to the important people in the industry, they are coming to us. For example, Ralph Lauren is a collector of several works, Jackie Chan wore the UR-202 in a film and basketball player, Michael Jordan. Robert Downey Jr has worn our watches in movies too. Usually companies like Sony Pictures ask a lot of money for product placement, but it was Robert Downey Jr who asked us, not the other way round!

LUX: What’s next for URWERK? Any big plans?
Felix Baumgartner: Let’s say it’s already happening, we are working on a new invention which we will present in a few months…

To view URWERK’s collections visit: urwerk.com

Swarovski Designers of the Future 2018: Study O Portable, Frank Kolkman and Yosuke Ushigome (from left to right)

Every year, the Swarovski Designers of the Future Award x Design Miami/ selects a group of promising designers and studios from across the globe who are seen to be pushing the boundaries of design culture through innovative processes and new technologies. Beyond pure product design, these are designers working in the realm imagination, concept and dreams.

Swarovski provides the winners with a topical brief and invites them to immerse themselves in the brand’s world at the mystical mountainside headquarters in Wattens, Austria.

This year, the designers have been presented with the theme of ‘smart living’, for which they will create works and environments that incorporate advanced Swarovski crystal technologies, considering sustainability, accessibility, interaction and future lifestyles. Their projects will form a single installation to be unveiled at Basel this June.

LUX meets the 2018 winners: Frank Kolkman, Study O Portable and Yosuke Ushigome

Frank Kolkman

Experimental Dutch designer specialising in robotic technologies

Frank Kolkmann

What he says:

“I’m interested in unpicking the social, economic and aesthetic dimensions of current and near-future technologies through design. By developing confrontational prototypes, experimental products and interactive installations that are subtly disruptive, I aim to instigate reflection on the processes, systems and values that underpin our technology rich environment.

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It’s really about trying to imagine, generate and test alternative ways of doing, seeing and understanding beyond what is familiar to us or what’s probable in the future. By making these alternatives tangible it allows us to collectively discuss their preferability in relation to what’s already there. In turn, it helps us gain insight into what we really desire or expect from the technologies we surround ourselves with daily – and how we might get there.”

What you can expect to see at Basel:

The ‘Dream Machine’, an immersive experience generating light and sound patterns from Swarovski crystals that synchronise with alpha and theta brainwaves to allow individuals to enter a state of deep relaxation or ‘artificial dreaming’. The project attempts to design a smart solution to help us cope with the cognitive demands of modern life.

frankkolkman.nl

Study O Portable

Research based Dutch-Japanese practice making objects about the designed environment

Study O Portable

What they say:

“We’re always interested in how we’ve been interacting with the designed environment throughout history; one of the most exciting things right now is the development of technologies that help us understand the past. In a way we know more about the past 1000 years now than we did 50 years ago, and it’s an exciting idea that the past is now bigger than ever before.

Read more: Moynat’s Artistic Director, Ramesh Nair’s guide to Paris

The access to a wider range of information is what drives our work; it allows us to form new connections between different fragments of information that previously might have not been so easily accessible.”

What you can expect to see at Basel:

An exploration into the blurring of light and colour created by crystals. The practice associates blurry and fading colours with nature (think sunsets and autumnal leaves) and are creating a series of surfaces that will be translated into home objects that may trigger emotional responses from the user.

studyoportable.com

Yoksuke Ushigome

Creative Japanese technologist specialising in emerging technologies

Yosuke Ushigome

What he says:

“My design projects often speak about possible and impossible future visions; I tend to draw references from fictional objects from films and unlikely events and human behavior throughout history. I like to do a thought experiment on how an emerging technology might play a role in a very specific scenario — taken from the references — and imagine how that might change our behavior in the future.”

Read more: Visions of Henri Michaux at the Guggenheim, Bilbao

What you can expect to see at Basel:

‘Can Crystals Interface Us to AI?’, an exhibition exploring the potential of crystal as an alternative interaction between human and machine intelligence that occurs within the Smart Home environment. As opposed to the voice-command capabilities of devices such as Amazon Echo and Alexa, the project utilises the  emotional quality of crystals to examine familiar behaviours between us and machine intelligence.

yosukeushigo.me

For more information visit: designmiami.com / swarovskigroup.com

Moynat’s shop in Selfridges, London

It was hand-painted handbags at dusk at the new, gallery-like Accessories Hall at Selfridges in London as Moynat, the uber-exclusive Parisian leather goods company, opened its new shop-within-a-shop in the most prime location in the area. Moynat’s urbane, intellectual CEO Guillaume Davin (who appears more like a perfectly-coiffed character out of a Michel de Montaigne essay, than a luxury brand CEO) was on hand to greet visiting journalistic and customer illuminati, as was creative director Ramesh Nair.

Moynat’s CEO Guillaume Davin, Creative Director, Ramesh Nair and LUX Editor-in-Chief Darius Sanai at the launch of Moynat in Selfridges. Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Moynat

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International Vogue Editor Suzy Menkes at Moynat launch party. Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Moynat

The star of the show, though, was surely the painter, Laure, who sat at a table in the centre of the shop painting motifs onto Moynat’s extremely expensive leather with special acrylic paints. One prototype bag featured a motif of Louis Bleriot’s ‘XI’, the first plane to cross the Channel, which appeared and disappeared with temperature fluctuations.

Artist, Laure, painting motifs onto Moynat leather. Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for Moynat

Moynat handbags. Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for MOYNAT)

Meanwhile Nair, wearing a black T-shirt and fizzing with ideas, told LUX about a couple of new concepts he is planning, including one so avant-garde he hasn’t yet dared run it past Davin. Watch this space.

moynat.com

Untitled, 1944, Henri Michaux. Private collection. © Archives Henri Michaux, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2018. Photo: Jean-Louis Losi

Belgian painter and poet, Henri Michaux stubbornly refuses to fall into any particular category and yet, or perhaps because of this, he remains a huge artistic influence on writers and artists alike – indeed during his lifetime, he was known as both as a “poets’ poet” and a “painters’ painter”, idolised by the likes of André Gide and Francis Bacon.

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‘The Other Side’ at The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a colossal exhibition displaying more than 200 works, divided into three thematic areas: the human figure, the alphabet and the altered psyche, including his works produced under the influence of hallucinogenic substance, mescaline. A fascinating audiovisual screening gives a deeper insight into these experiments, which were conducted with the assistance of  doctors and scientists.

Untitled, 1981, Henri Michaux, © Archives Henri Michaux, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2018. © FMGB Guggenheim Bilbao Museo. Photo: Erika Barahona Ede

Michaux sought the intervention of chance in his works as a way of collaborating with unknown forces, therefore favouring mediums such as ink and watercolours which naturally spill and overflow (see above). In his own words, he painted to ‘to surprise himself’- and walking through the gallery at the Guggenheim, it’s the undefined beings that seem to mysteriously appear (as if by chance) on the canvas that are by far the most intriguing, and haunting.

Read more: A different kind of Alpine luxury

A major section of the gallery is also devoted to Michaux’s writings – poetry, travel journals and short stories – including works by other authors who were closely associated with the artist, such as Jorge Luis Borges and Octavio Paz, revealing the Michaux’s close links with, and influence on the literary world.

Untitled, 1938–39, Henri Michaux. Private collection, Paris © Archives Henri Michaux, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2018. Photo: Jean-Louis Losi

The exhibition ends soon, be sure not to miss out.

Millie Walton

‘Henry Michaux: The Other Side’ runs until 13 May 2018 at the Guggenheim, Bilbao

Moynat’s Artistic Director, Ramesh Nair

Ramesh Nair worked under Martin Margiela and Jean Paul Gaultier at Hermès until luxury titan Bernard Arnault came calling in 2011,with his personal brand Moynat. The artistic director of the Paris-based luggage house tells LUX why Paris is his inspiration – and why London is Moynat’s hot destination this year

LUX: What role does Paris play in your creative inspiration?
Ramesh Nair: Paris is the city I have lived in the longest at a single stretch and I still find it amazing, creatively speaking. Inspiration comes from many things big and small – simply living here, walking the streets, observing the buildings and the people. The juxtaposition of the old and the new, the quality of the light and the depth of the sky, the architecture (always look upwards while walking through the city). And the unmistakable Parisian style.

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Paris is a unique city where the past is always with us even as we live modern lives. For me, this is perfectly captured by I.M. Pei’s pyramid for the Louvre with its Cubist inspiration and its determinedly modern use of materials like steel and glass, the perfect counter-balance to the classical architecture of the Louvre itself.

This is the ideal I hold in my mind when I create modern bags or trunks for Moynat: to strike an equilibrium between heritage and modernity, between traditional craftsmanship and contemporary design.

LUX: What’s your favourite part of the city?
Ramesh Nair: Each district in Paris has its own unique personality and flavour. On the left bank, I have a soft spot for the Beaux Arts neighbourhood. Across the river from the Louvre, this is a warren of old streets steeped in history. The profusion of art galleries, specialised boutiques with unusual products, and the presence of the Beaux Arts school helps keep the neighbourhood youthful and avant-garde. The hotel where Oscar Wilde spent his last days is located here, too.

Moynat Breakfast Trunk for the chef Yannick Alléno

On the right bank, I like the area from Trinité to the Montmartre neighbourhoods. I like the mix of art galleries and artists’ studios, theatres and cabarets, small-scale industries like printers, right next to open-air markets. The Théâtre Réjane was set up in this neighbourhood in 1906 and still functions under the name Petit Théâtre de Paris. There is some remarkable modern architecture to discover, including Adolf Loos’s house for Tristan Tzara.

Mini Gabrielle bag by Moynat

LUX: Ever feel the urge to reconnect with nature, away from the big city?
Ramesh Nair: When I have the time, I prefer to drive out of town in search of greenery. Every year, I take a few weeks to explore different parts of France, to discover the diversity of natural beauty in this country, not to mention the wines of the different regions or terroirs.

LUX: Your inside track on Parisian cuisine?
Ramesh Nair: Since I am vegetarian, I often have to ask restaurants to accommodate my choice and I have had some lovely surprises. One of my favourite places in Paris is La Bauhinia at the Shangri-la where chef Christophe Moret impressed me not just with the quality of his organic, locally sourced vegetarian ingredients, but also with the way he elaborates his choices, and of course the exquisite cocktails.

Read more: Luxury Leaders interview with Guillaume Davin, CEO of Moynat

I am also very pleased that so many great chefs are embracing the idea of vegetarian cuisine, from Alain Ducasse at the Plaza Athénée to Thierry Marx at his restaurant Camelia in the Mandarin Oriental.

For me, the fusion of different types of cuisine is really the wave of the future, but it has to be done with a lot of respect for the culinary traditions of each culture. I think chef Atsushi Tanaka has elevated this to an art form at his restaurant AT.

A Moynat Cabotin bag

LUX: Is eating out all about the cuisine?
Ramesh Nair: Not at all, I am very sensitive to the authenticity of any experience. From a very simple, home-style environment to a Michelin-star restaurant, truthfulness to one’s vision and passion will always make itself felt. Apart from the ambiance and music, the quality of the service, the contact between guests and staff, the effort made to share what the experience is all about, these are elements that feed all the senses.

LUX: What’s your cultural life in Paris?
Ramesh Nair: My two great loves are art and music. I try and catch as many concerts as possible (blues, jazz, rock…) when work allows me. I like the acoustics of the Olympia and the Grand Rex. Smaller venues like New Morning and La Maroquinerie are great if you want a more intimate setting or to discover rising stars, plus great acoustic quality.

Paris has so many art museums and galleries that it is hard to pick even a few… plus the museums are often breathtaking on their own. At the moment there are two simultaneous exhibitions showcasing the oeuvre of Martin Margiela, whom I had the privilege of working with during my early years in Paris.

Read more from the Image Issue: Gaggenau – the art and architecture of appliances

LUX: Where does a Parisian designer like you shop for clothes?
Ramesh Nair: Mostly at Yohji Yamamoto for clothes. I am obsessed with trainers, of which I have a collection of limited editions and rare models.

LUX: You travel a lot on work, what is the first thing you do when you get home?
Ramesh Nair: Relaxing with my cat is the perfect antidote for jet lag.

Moynat picnic trunk for a bicycle

LUX: What would you recommend all visitors to Paris to do?
Ramesh Nair: Paris is a city meant to be explored on foot. So, walk along the Seine, explore the Ile Saint-Louis with its historic buildings and bridges. If you walk through the Louvre courtyard at night, you can see the art through the windows and it gives you a whole new perspective.

LUX: London was the first city outside of Paris to have a Moynat store – why was that?
Ramesh Nair: Moynat has had historic ties with London since the very founding of the House. In the mid-1800s, radical advances in the way people travelled and experienced the world made it possible for houses like Moynat to reach visitors from the UK and to make their innovations and quality known. This was one of the keys to the reputation and success of Moynat. So it was a natural decision for us to make London our first store outside of Paris.

The Mount Street store is one of my favourites, for its architecture, its luminosity and its distinctive character. We will soon have a second store on the ground floor of Selfridges, which will showcase our House in a different environment and to a different type of customer.

Discover Ramesh Nair’s designs at moynat.com

Gaggenau’s Vario cooling 400 Series appliances such as this wine climate cabinet are designed to be as much part of the architecture as they are functionally capable

Kitchens were once the utilitarian core of the house. Now, leading manufacturers of kitchen appliances are more about architecture and design than just practicality, meaning they can enhance a home’s aesthetic. Emma Love meets the designer of German high-end manufacturer Gaggenau to hear how life’s all about the experience, and how kitchens can be design statements in themselves

Increasingly, design-led kitchens are an extension of the architecture of the rest of the home. Here, we look at how appliances fit in.

Two years ago, at the Venice Architecture Biennale, Japanese designer Kengo Kuma created The Floating Kitchen, which consisted of a series of shelves with ceramic bowls and plates, urns and vases that he had found in the Chinese city of Chengdu. It was part of a satellite exhibition, the Kitchen Home Project, which imagined what our living environments could look like in the future (the exhibition also included a fully transparent kitchen by Dutch studio MVRDV). And while this crystal-ball creative thinking is certainly a world away from manufacturers such as Gaggenau, whose global success is built on technological advances and an architecturally inspired design language, it does demonstrate that our notion of what a kitchen looks like is changing in all kinds of ways, from the kitchen utensils we use to the plates we serve our food on and to appliances.

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In the past few years, for instance, there has been a growing interest in knives made by specialist craftsmen. The Japanese Knife Company, which has stores in London, Paris and Stockholm, sells traditional handmade Japanese knives to chefs and home cooks. Equally, more and more chefs are commissioning ceramicists to make tableware for their restaurants, a trend which is also reflected in non-professional kitchens. And when it comes to appliances, gone are the days when refrigerators and freezers were an ugly but necessary addition to an otherwise beautifully designed kitchen.

Now, appliances are increasingly made to reflect the overall aesthetic of the room and the wider home – all clean sculptural lines that blend seamlessly with the rest of the cabinets and furniture – while still setting new standards in terms of function. In other words, the appliances themselves are a crucial part of creating a visually pleasing kitchen landscape.

“People want their kitchens to be both a purposeful and a beautiful space whilst being a seamless extension of the architecture of their home,” says interior designer Natalia Miyar. “The kitchens in our projects are always designed in context of the wider architecture of the home, often with clean silhouettes, grounded by strong, classical materials like stone and softened by interesting textures and warm metals. It is important that a kitchen is designed not as solely a utilitarian space but also to have a warmth and a relaxed feel.”

This, of course, includes the design of appliances, which Miyar says is key: “It is important that these elements tie the design together and do not jar with the rest of the scheme. There are more and more design-led functional appliances on the market but I also like to design joinery which conceals larger pieces and provides a further tailor-made aspect to the design.’

One such manufacturer leading the way with design-led functional appliances is Gaggenau, whose Vario 400 series is the first modular system of fully integrated refrigeration products that can be combined to form a cooling wall. Comprising a series of statement handleless pieces, the idea of the system is that it shifts the image of refrigerators and freezers from purely professional appliances to elegant design objects. In part this is achieved through the highest levels of craftsmanship but it is also down to the considered choice of materials (think dark anthracite aluminium, oak-wood and glass doors) and techniques used (the finer glass-bead blasting of the aluminium parts), all of which results in a super-sleek tone.

Read more from the Image Issue: Global entrepreneur Johnny Hon on promoting global exchange

“This new range for Gaggenau is the very essence of refinement in the luxury kitchen appliance market,” says head of design Sven Baacke. “We see extraordinary interior aesthetics as something that should be seen in all spheres of life, including the kitchen. Staged beautifully and with perfect illumination, you are no longer simply storing wine or refrigerating, you are making a statement.” And these days it seems that this architectural statement doesn’t end with the right placement of the cooking island or the finish on the worktops – it encompasses everything else in the kitchen too.

Gaggenau designer Lars Dinter takes inspiration from architecture

We talk to Gaggenau designer Lars Dinter about the architectural influences behind the Vario cooling 400 series.

LUX: How was the new Vario 400 series inspired by architecture?
Lars Dinter: It’s not inspired by any particular style but I’m always very interested in what’s happening in architecture in general. It’s higher than art in a way because it’s a big responsibility and architects create works that last for a very long time compared to product design, for instance. I’m always drawn to contemporary Belgian architects such as Vincent Van Duysen, Marc Merckx and CAAN Architecten. Their style is very minimalist but uses natural materials and textures so buildings still feel warm. One of my big idols is Piero Lissoni. He is a product designer who does lots of interior design and again he has a minimalist style but it’s combined with an Italian elegance.

LUX: Gaggenau regularly consults chefs, sommeliers, interior designers and architects. Did this effect the design of the 400 series?
Lars Dinter: Interior designers and architects often tell us that they wish the products would integrate better into dining rooms and kitchen. The input from sommeliers includes the fact that the LED lights that we’re using need to be free of infrared and ultra-violet wave lengths to make sure that we’re not harming the wine during long-term storage and that we need specialist storage solutions such as humidity controls for storing vegetables and fruit as people are eating more of these and less meat these days.

Read more: Geoffrey Kent on Millennials and transformational travel

LUX: What affects your choice of materials and how do you make them become part of the architecture?
Lars Dinter: It’s as much about the shapes as it is about the materials so we’ve tried to make the overall appearance of the appliances cleaner and more contemporary. With the materials, we have changed from a stainless steel anodising process to anthracite aluminium for components such as the support brackets for the glass shelves (the cavity is still clad in stainless steel). We’re using this to give the appliances a warmer, more elegant feel which we think will also integrate better into the architecture. We want the same warm atmosphere and emotional appeal to our appliances as there is elsewhere in the home without losing that powerful technical performance.

LUX: What technological advances can we see in this series?
Lars Dinter: The most important technical advancement is our opening-assist system for the doors which enables customers to have cabinet fronts without interruptions. In the past there have been handle-less kitchens but the refrigerator and freezer has always still had handles. As far as we know our opening-assist system offers the first fully complete handle-less kitchen – appliances included. You can use the system as a push-to-open device in a handle-less kitchen but it also has a second setting so if you have a more traditional kitchen and still want handles, the same mechanism can be used to support opening heavy doors.

Gaggenau designer Lars Dinter combines shape and material to create elegant solutions which match form and function

LUX: Tell us about the design of the wine climate cabinet.
Lars Dinter: We are using oak-wood because it has a warm colour, a good grain and fits in with our approach to authentic materials. We have also added new accessories including a serving tray and a bottle presenter. These also feature anthracite aluminium and oak, so they are finely aligned with the rest of the products. With these accessories, we are trying to add more quality and appeal to the pieces. We are trying to make a big step towards becoming more appealing on an emotional level.

LUX: Do you think that kitchens are increasingly seen as architectural spaces?
Lars Dinter: There are no boundaries anymore. Kitchen, living and dining spaces are all merging together in one big living space and our new line-up of kitchen appliances fit into this way of living. Traditionally, a kitchen might have an island or cabinets with an oven or coffee machine and the appliances are integrated into this. We are enabling customers to have a transitional zone with a cabinet wall that has wooden panelling on the front with no hint what is hidden behind. The appliances could be hidden into these cabinets. With connecting rooms, a nice solution is to take the same architectural aesthetic throughout so the wine cooling units for example, could stand in the background of your dining room. After dinner, you can set the lights so they give off a little glow and become part of the mood of the space.

gaggenau.com/gb/

In Kenya at Sanctuary Olonana, Abercrombie & Kent guests have the opportunity to go on walking safaris and take survival lessons led by Maasai warriors. Image supplied by Abercrombie & Kent

Luxury travel is evolving, but who’s driving the change? Millennials, says Abercrombie & Kent Founder Geoffrey Kent. Welcome to the age of transformational travel.

The first generation of digital natives, millennials, as defined by the Pew Research Center, were born between 1981 and 1996. This age group – which we increasingly need to recognise for their affluence and significant spending power – have led the way in redefining what the term ‘luxury’ itself means.

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Prior to late 2007, luxury was linked to ostentatious spending and opulence. Within the travel industry this equated to first-class flights, five-star hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants and designer souvenirs. After the global recession, a major shift occurred, and luxury has become much more experiential.

‘Experiential travel’, and its evolutionary step of ‘transformational travel’, are the industry’s biggest trends. Millennials have rejected the term ‘tourist’. They don’t want to visit a destination to trod well-worn tourist trails, eat at restaurants that cater to non-residents and have pictures on the menu, or meet the same type of people they see in their local coffee shop on the way to their 9:00 am meeting. Millennial travellers want total immersion in a destination and want to make connections with interesting local personalities.

The Ganden Sumtseling Monastery in the Yunnan Province, China. Image supplied by Abercrombie & Kent

In the last decade, as an industry, we have seen this generation beginning to travel in style despite economic uncertainty. Just-published studies reveal that millennials see travel as more important than buying a home, paying off debt or investing in a car. Wary of investing for the long-term, they spend freely on travel, seeing it as an investment in themselves.

Read more: An aesthetic adventure in India’s chaotic capital Delhi

The next step beyond experiential travel, which is becoming ubiquitous and therefore unappealing to millennials, is transformational travel. In an excellent article, Vogue magazine has called transformational travel, ‘experiential travel, but a step further – defined by a shift in perspective, self-reflection and development, and a deeper communion with nature and culture’. More than memory making, it is the type of travel that inspires an inner journey and leads to life changes when travellers return – and exactly the type of travel worthy of investment by these 20 and 30-somethings.

There is nothing new in the transformative power of travel, or young people looking to step out of their comfort zones as they develop and grow as global citizens. Think of the Grand Tourists (young aristocratic men touring Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries) or the Beat Generation on epic American road trips. Change – through the broadening of one’s horizons – is palpable when one travels.

Geoffrey Kent outside a safari tent in Manyara, Tanzania. Image supplied by Abercrombie & Kent

In 1958, when I was 16, I rode a motorbike from Nairobi to Cape Town. On this 3,000-mile journey of self-discovery along some of Africa’s most dangerous roads, the mantra that I would build my life and business upon came to me: adventure by day, security and luxury by night. More than 55 years after founding A&K, I still like to push my boundaries (by day) and like to encourage travellers to expand their horizons.

In southwest China, A&K guests meet with the ‘Living Buddha’ at the Songzanlin Monastery in Shangri-La in Yunnan province, a Tibetan autonomous region. This exclusive, one-to-one interaction gives A&K guests a profound understanding and insight into this traditional culture.

The Lion King is many children’s first introduction to Africa. At A&K, we’ve arranged for millennials and their young families to watch the film on a large screen in the middle of the bush, followed by walking safaris and survival lessons from Maasai warriors – the live-action version of “the circle of life.”

Do these kinds of experiences have the power to transform a person’s life… I think so.

To find out more about Abercrombie & Kent’s luxury travel experiences visit: abercrombiekent.co.uk

La Réserve’s outdoor pool area with sweeping views over the lake and the Alps

Why should I go now?

Switzerland’s lowland lake district has cast off its winter shroud of snow and ice, the sun is higher in the sky, and the green, flower-laden meadows by Lake Geneva contrast spectacularly with the still-white mountains lining the distance.

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La Réserve has the pleasant distinction of being a city resort hotel in the countryside. Ridiculously close to Geneva airport – a ten minute drive on average – it somehow escapes any aircraft noise, and is located in its own grounds on the edge of the city, with a big outdoor pool and garden area and a beautiful view across Lake Geneva towards Mont Blanc. It’s a 15 minute taxi ride to the centre of the city – or you can take the hotel’s own boat service along the lake, which is even quicker, and much more scenic.

La Réserve is part of a small, uber-chic group of hotels owned by the French entrepreneur Michel Reybier; other properties are outside St Tropez (with an unmatched view across the bay there) and two in Paris. Reybier also owns the legendary Bordeaux wine estate Chateau Cos d’Estournel, as well as numerous other businesses.

What’s the lowdown?

Michel Reybier has given La Réserve a contemporary, sexy opulence which is quite a contrast to Geneva’s traditional grande-dame luxury hotels like the Four Seasons; as you walk in, you are enveloped in oriental colours and a dark, mysterious vibe; it’s a hotel that makes you want to settle down immediately in the sprawling bar area (immediately in front of you as you walk in) with a bottle of Louis Roederer.

Read next: Global businessman Johnny Hon on promoting global exchange

Depending on when you make it to La Réserve, there is an extensive and thoroughly Cote d’Azur-like outdoor pool, bar, terrace and garden area with sweeping views towards the lake and the Alps. Geneva’s weather is not quite as reliable as St Tropez, but not to worry. The jewel in La Reserve’s crown is the huge, opulent spa area, with a significant indoor lap pool, and lots of space to relax – as well as the kind of super-gym you might expect from this kind of hotel, with a glass wall to ensure anyone walking past feels extra guilty.

The spa indoor pool

Did we say the spa and pool area was the jewel in La Réserve’s crown? Wait – we meant the Chinese restaurant. In keeping with the Oriental vibe, Tsé Fung is a Michelin-starred restaurant with an extensive Cantonese menu and wine list including, as one would expect, an excellent array of Chateau Cos d’Estournel vintages. (The spicy elegance of Cos would be one of the few Bordeaux wines to be able to match a number of dishes on the menu.) The cuisine and ambience could have been lifted out of Hong Kong, together with its moneyed beau-monde clientele whispering sweet nothings to each other. We witnessed a young gentleman and young lady who had plainly been set up by their (presumably significant) Swiss families on their first arranged date; modesty prevents us from revealing any of their conversation, but let’s just say that LUX expects an invitation to their wedding.

Michelin-starred restaurant, Tsé Fung

Getting horizontal

Rooms continue the super-chic, Oriental vibe; we had a suite (which really was a suite, unlike some: two separate rooms) whose living room and balcony were just begging for some marriage proposal action (see above). The bathroom was huge and lavish, and everything felt like Valentine’s Day.

A Junior Suite with a terrace overlooking the lush gardens

Flipside

La Réserve succeeds so spectacularly in being a resort hotel, relaxing all the senses and luring you to enjoy it, that if you are here on business (as we were) you might find it had to concentrate. Having said that, we just found it a fabulous tonic and a perfect concept for today’s always on, work/play traveller.

Rates: From CHF 550 (approx. €450/ £400 / $600 )

Darius Sanai

lareserve.ch

Dr Johnny Hon

Johnny Hon, founder of venture capital and investment company Global Group, is on a mission to lower cultural and trade barriers between east and west to encourage commerce, charity and cultural exchange. The entrepreneur and philanthropist, based in London and Hong Kong, speaks to LUX Editor-at-Large Gauhar Kapparova

LUX Editor-at-Large, Gauhar
Kapparova

LUX: The Global Group seems to have diverse interests and ambitious plans.
Johnny Hon: I founded the Global Group in 1997 whilst completing my PhD at Cambridge University. It has since grown to become a leading venture capital, investment and strategic consultancy with offices in London and Hong Kong. Over the past 20 years, the Global Group has evolved from financing high-yield technology companies to expand into private equity, angel investment and financial services. The company’s diverse interests and areas of expertise range from fine art to FinTech, biotechnology to entertainment and leisure. The future of the Global Group is exciting – we’re a rapidly growing company that responds to opportunities, rather than limiting ourselves to specific sectors. We are always looking for exciting, interesting opportunities, whether that’s a start-up in the UK or supporting the growing appetite for excellent quality wine in China.

LUX: You catalyse and facilitate trade between Europe and China. This seems to be important to you at what must be an essential time to be doing it.
Johnny Hon: We live in an increasingly global era and this is changing the face of modern business. The Global Group has always worked with European companies looking to enter the Asian market, as well as Chinese clients and high net-worth individuals with aspirations in the European market. I believe now, more than ever, it’s essential to encourage trade and mutual engagement between Europe and China and in particular to usher in a new golden era of Sino-UK relations.

In my opinion Brexit can open up vast potential as it will provide overseas investors with more opportunities than ever to enter the market. We have our European office in London, and I think it will always be the financial heart of Europe. I encourage Chinese clients to invest in the UK’s businesses and future, and vice versa, and feel optimistic about the future of global business.

Johnny Hon at the charity première of the stage show 42nd Steet with HRH The Duchess of Cambridge

LUX: You have a broad portfolio of business, philanthropic and diplomatic interests. Please tell us more – it seems you are in effect an ambassador between east and west at a very high level?
Johnny Hon: The main mission of the Global Group is, as our motto says, ‘Bridging the New Frontiers’. We work to remove barriers between the East and the West, and I am passionate about reflecting this in my personal and business interests.

I am British-educated but was born in Hong Kong, and I’m deeply proud of my roots and Chinese heritage. I have always felt like I represent both cultures and I have tried hard to act as an ambassador – a gateway – ever since I set up my company. The Global Group challenges expectations and concerns about doing business in China, and I also embody this role in my diplomatic work.

I am the Honorary Consul for Grenada in Hong Kong and the country’s Ambassador-at-Large. I take huge pride in the private consultancy and advisory work I do with state leaders, prime ministers and presidents from countries around the world.

Johnny Hon’s broad range of philanthropic and diplomatic work includes charitable fund raising

Philanthropy is a vital part of my work and an endless source of motivation and inspiration for the Global Group. One position that fills me with particular pride is my role as the first ever Diamond Benefactor of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award. I am responsible for growing the scheme throughout the AsiaPacific region and introducing Chinese students and young people to such exciting life skills as teamwork, enterprise and leadership.

I’m also a Founder Benefactor of London based think tank Asia House and Vice President of the 48 Group Club, which works to raise awareness of Chinese business and innovation in the UK and promote positive relations between the two countries.

In all areas of my life – business, diplomacy, philanthropy and personal – I take great pride and pleasure in my ambassadorial role.

LUX: Does the West have much to learn from China, and vice versa?
Johnny Hon: We can all learn and benefit from a global outlook. China is now a hub of technological advancements and entrepreneurial spirit. The West can learn from its productivity levels, dedication to innovation and broad acceptance of technology, especially regarding the fourth industrial revolution.

The West, and the UK in particular, is inspiring in the approach it takes to investing in future talent and it is the home of some of the world’s greatest educational institutions. It is also an outstanding provider of services, especially in the financial and legal sectors.

From East to West, I am passionate about education and how it is already changing the business landscape. Right now, over 300 million people in China are learning English and the UK has the world’s second largest population of Chinese students studying overseas. I think we should all look to China and how it is encouraging, supporting and inspiring a global outlook for the next generation.

LUX: Tell us more about your philanthropy and your plans in that area.
Johnny Hon: Philanthropy and social responsibility is at the core of the Global Group. It bolsters my sense of purpose and motivates me to work even harder.

I have always wanted to give back. When I was reading for my PhD at Cambridge, I realised that I would be able to have more impact as a businessman than a doctor, and this started my philanthropic career.

Amongst many philanthropic roles, Johnny Hon is the Vice President of the 48 Group Club

We’ve now donated to over 160 charities worldwide and my projects have ranged from setting up Oxford and Cambridge University scholarship schemes to sponsoring the first London production of the China National Beijing Opera Company at Sadler’s Wells through the Hon Foundation for Music and the Performing Arts.

It is particularly rewarding to be able to combine my passion for the arts with my interests in raising awareness of Eastern culture in the UK, supporting the Global Group’s mission to bridge the gap between the East and West.

LUX: Please tell us about other areas you are developing in your business that are exciting you right now.
Johnny Hon: Sitting at the helm of a rapidly expanding company that is growing in numbers, clients, countries of operation, and team members, is hugely exciting in itself.

Looking at investment opportunities and areas, right now, there is a fascinating trend for Chinese investors to look to British heritage companies. China has a growing consumer society with an increased disposable income and appetite for British luxury goods such as whisky and smoked salmon. There’s a huge market there for UK companies to work with China, and vice versa, to develop this and other opportunities.

This year, we are building on the sustainable side of the Global Group, with a focus on our shared global future. We are focusing on technology that sets out to tackle challenges posed by issues such as population growth and its environmental impact, including green technology, agricultural technology and biotech, for example.

Investing in something that could improve life quality and expectancy means that I have the potential to make a real impact and change the lives of many millions of people for the better, which is both exciting and awe-inspiring.

johnnyhon.com