London Fashion Week is an increasingly unmissable item on the global style calendar. With the help of Tom Ford and friends, DARIUS SANAI celebrates its unstoppable rise

For decades, it was a curious anomaly. London, the creative hub of the globe, the capital of the country that gave the world Alexander McQueen, Dizzee Rascal, The Clash, Damien Hirst, Jonathan Ive, Michael Caine, Vivienne Westwood, Anna Wintour, The Beatles, Corinne Day and Jessie J, had no fashion industry to speak of.

There were plenty of brilliant designers – who, like McQueen, were snapped up by big houses from Paris or Milan or New York, because that’s where the industry and the money was, and where the shows were. London was somewhere you went when the fashion shows were over.

Wander through the shows and the parties at London Fashion Week this February and you would be forgiven for wondering if London, not Paris or Milan, is now the engine of the global fashion industry. The shows – scattered around the centre of a city so bursting with creativity that Fashion Week is always just one of lots of things going on simultaneously – have an energy, panache and confidence that looks sharply to the future. Parties are not just attended by the requisite beautiful, glamorous and wealthy, and the nowmandatory celebs (from A to G list, depending on the party) but by an–everrotating phalanx of creative types who make their own fashion, sometimes literally. London has the buzz: Paris, immediately afterwards last September, felt a little sedate by comparison.

The numbers don’t lie and despite the tide of brands showing in London, Paris and Milan are still the fashion industry powerhouses: London is still dwarfed in terms of its commercial clout. But for creative buzz allied with a rising commercial significance, London, once ignored, is now a destination.

What catalysed the change? Alexandra Shulman, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue in the UK, tells me, “London Fashion Week is an example of how successful something can become when you can combine great talent with first rate organisation and support. British designers are currently playing a major part in the international fashion world and the collections they are showing are both inspiring and successful on a commercial level.”

Meanwhile Tom Ford, the thinking man’s style guru, and a designer who made significant waves when he decided to show in London, says, “I am so happy to be showing my menswear and womenswear collections in London. It is one of the most influential cities in the world for fashion. The design schools are exceptional, and the street style and youth culture have started some of the most important global trends ever. My design studio is based in the UK and I am pleased to help support the British fashion industry.”

But you don’t need to take their word for it: just wear it instead. London doesn’t have a constricting style; Erdem, Simone Rocha, Nicholas Kirkwood, Burberry or Tom Ford? All of them? Or get a ticket to a show or a party: at the last LFW in September, I bumped into Erin O’Connor, Poppy Delevingne, Roland Mouret, Antonio Berardi and Philip Treacy at the Claridge’s ‘preparty’, amid a buzz of anticipation rarely seen anywhere else in the world. Meanwhile at the Browns Focus party the next day, where the high-octane mood was fuelled by high-octane tequila cocktails, the guests were not famous, just brilliantly and creatively put together, a perfect walking, dancing uber-street-style Instagram. A hop and a skip away at Longchamp’s dazzling opening party, Kate Moss, Georgia May Jagger, Lily Cole, Mick Jagger and Otis Ferry created a kind of pop-up Studio 54 on Regent Street.

London has always known how to party. Now, everyone’s paying attention.

londonfashionweek.co.uk

Christa Dichgans – Peru, Lithograph

Art is becoming a luxury good for the elite: but if it does so, it will die. R.J. MALONE takes the view that we need more ventures like the House of Fairy Tales, aimed at redressing the balance

Gavin Turk

Art is expensive these days. And that’s a problem if you’re young, or not one of the global hyper-wealthy, or both. Cue a tide of initiatives by philanthropists, collectors, and sometimes artists themselves, aimed at getting art to a wider audience.

But what about participating, rather than just appreciating? Few do it better than the London-based House of Fairy Tales, which has the active backing of blue-chip names like Gavin Turk, one of the enfants terribles of the Britart movement, Sir Peter Blake, and Jarvis Cocker, lead singer of 1990s cult arthouse band Pulp, among many others.

Based in a part of East London that was once ‘gritty’ and is now ‘edgy’, House of Fairy Tales, run by Turk and his wife Deborah Curtis, uses the money it raises by selling fabulous artworks to fund activities from circuses to workshops.

Turk tells LUX, “Working with the House of Fairy Tales gets me collaborating with ‘young unknowns’ from an array of different backgrounds in many diverse ways; I’m able to share my experiences and at the same time learn a lot about myself. I’ve travelled all over the country from Shakespeare’s Theatre in Stratford to Newlyn Art Gallery in Cornwall via numerous festivals including Glastonbury and Edinburgh. In the future, I’m looking forward to seeing the Art Circus in Canning Town and working on influencing various public housing and social developments.”

Cornelia Parker, one of Europe’s leading sculptors and another key figure in House of Fairy Tales, tells us, “Since I have had my daughter, I realise how important it is to invest in the future of her generation’s creativity. Cultural capital, after all, is our biggest export.”

While Cocker, of ‘Let’s All Meet Up in the Year 2000’ fame, says simply, “The House Of Fairy Tales is the most magical place. I wish I had been able to go there when I was a lad.”

Perhaps the last word should go to Matthew Slotover, co-founder and director of the Frieze Art Fair, who has done more than anyone to raise the profile of contemporary art while simultaneously maintaining its credibility. Taking a break after the latest Frieze, Matthew tells us, “The House of Fairy Tales is an extraordinary project. It engages young people in the arts with a level of imagination that could only have come from artists. It is truly exceptional and I fully endorse their work.”

houseoffairytales.org

Stephen Walter – A Night on the Isle of Everyday Nightmares, Lithograph

Nigel Peake – The Night the Wanderer was Misled, Lithograph

Susan Stockwell – Red Road Butterfly, Screenprint

Heidi Whitman – Tink’s Night, Lithograph

Josh Knowles – (Sketch for) Industrial Dream Mandala, Lithograph with hand finish

Andrew Rae – Map of the Inner World, Lithograph

While Hollywood stagnates, Bollywood is thriving. CAROLINE DAVIES charts the exciting progression of an Indian film industry that is going global

In India, cinema is more than just weekend entertainment. Producing roughly 1,000 films a year, the industry is projected to be worth US$4.5 billion by 2016. Its stars are filtering into LA; Amitabh Bachchan appeared in The Great Gatsby, Irrfan Khan as the baddie in The Amazing Spider-Man and Priyanka Chopra, or rather her voice, appeared in Disney animation Planes. Other names and faces are also seeping into the international consciousness: Aamir Khan, Anil Kapoor, Freida Pinto and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are but a few. Hollywood may still have the lion’s share of the global film market, but Indian film makers are snapping at their heels. Slumdog Millionaire, Laagan and most recently, Three Idiots, the highest grossing Bollywood film to date, drew big audiences at home and abroad, and with it, new international investors.

But Bollywood is more than a business. It has, after all, been bringing a sub-continent together for decades. Its all-singing, all-dancing and mostly Hindi language films captivate billions, watched everywhere from rural village screens erected on cricket pitches to massive urban cinemas crammed with city workers on a Friday night – not to mention among expatriates the world over. In India, the songs are hummed in fruit markets and blasted out in nightclubs.

Bollywood is taking risks. The stars, the structure, the stories and even the songs are starting to stray from the tried and tested formula of the past. This is a brave new India and it is demanding more.

“Eight or 10 years ago we thought that cinemas would close down,” says Rakesh Roshan, a Bollywood actor, director and producer. “They were very bad; the sound system, the seating, the toilets.”

“The upper middle class had stopped going to the cinema. They watched films on DVD,” says director and composer Vishal Bhardwaj. “Until the multiplexes arrived.”

India’s huge economic growth over the past decade has nurtured the middle and upper middle classes, predominantly based in the major cities. In the early 2000s, multiplex cinemas sprang up in the urban hubs of India. Unlike the pre-existing single screen cinema audiences, the new, airconditioned, well-maintained complexes offered multiple smaller screens.

“Previously, if you couldn’t make a film that filled a hall of 1,000, then it wouldn’t get made,” says writer and director Sriram Raghavan. “But multiplex screens have 200 seats. People will come and fill that.”

The audience packing out these smaller screens does not necessarily have the same taste as the masses in the halls.

“I think cinema audiences have matured,” says Vikas Gulati, a film and music director. “They are looking at films with a little more meaning. They have seen international ideas and storylines.”

But director and producer, Rohan Sippy begs to differ. “I think that audience was always there. They were always open to good content,” he says. “But still, certain types of film are still not going to have more than a 30 million audience, which is pretty small when you consider the population density.”

Thirty million may be a small percentage, but it is still a sizable demographic. Targeting different audiences has given film makers a new freedom to experiment.

“Indian cinema used to be split into commercial and art house,” says Bhardwaj. “Art house was dying, almost dead. Before, being ‘art house cinema’ meant that no one would watch your film. Since then the line has been blurred.”

As concepts have developed, songs have been squeezed. “Every film used to have eight songs,” says Roshan. “Then it came down to six, then five, now three. Now you have songs playing in the background without lip sync. Now people have less time so we have to make shorter films.”

“Songs used to be patches in the narrative,” says Bhardwaj. “Seventeen years back, if the song was not good, people used to go out and smoke. That doesn’t happen now, because directors are trying to incorporate it in the narrative.”

A new generation might also not have as much need for a musical interlude to help the story along. “In Hollywood, they express love by having an intimate scene,” says Roshan. “Because of the sensitivities, we used to have a song. All that can be explained in Hollywood in 30 seconds, we have to show in five minutes. Now the censors are becoming more liberal and we can convey it in a shorter way too.”

But songs are in no danger of disappearing altogether. “When they are badly done, they are a detour,” says Dr Rajinder Dudrah, Bollywood academic and Head of Drama at Manchester University. “But Bollywood song and dance sequences are crucial. When done well they act as narrative accelerators. If you cut out a particular song you would miss a crucial element of the plot.”

“It is the way the audience has been conditioned for more than 100 years,” says Bhardwaj. “There is a song for every occasion in our life and every region has their own in a different language. Marriage, coming of age, death; when we laugh we sing, when we cry we sing, so it becomes a part of our culture.”

It is also a part of the commercial culture. “Songs in Bollywood music are a very big promotional tool,” says Gulati. “It gives you free play on music channels. From the producer’s point of view it makes a lot of sense, because you play a video for three minutes for free rather than for a 30-second advert.”

“I think that the need for songs in Bollywood films is slightly a self-fulfilling prophesy,” says Sippy. “Conventional wisdom says you need a song and the films don’t get made or promoted without, therefore you don’t know how to do without the song. It seems unlikely to completely change; music is still a big reason why people come into movies.”

Storytelling has also changed. “Previously when you were writing a film that you wanted to do well across India, you wouldn’t root it in one city,” says Raghavan. “We often wouldn’t have surnames so you couldn’t tell which part of India they were from. That is changing. Last year there was a film set entirely in Calcutta which used local language and actors. Rootedness is being accepted.”

Not all stories were easy to introduce to India. While casting his Bollywood version of Macbeth – Maqbool – Bhardwaj approached a big Bollywood star. “He read the script and said he enjoyed it,” he says. “But then said ‘he is a loser’. I laughed and told him ‘that’s Shakespeare’s fault not mine’. He couldn’t get what I was trying to do.”

Some contend that the stories themselves are not that new. “It is more the treatment, not so much the story that has changed,” says Sippy. “Maybe some ways of storytelling have changed.”

The huge success of the 2012 film Vicky Donor, a romantic comedy about a sperm donor, was seen by some as a sign of India’s growing acceptance of new lifestyles. “Ideas are global,” says Kishore Lulla, Executive Chairman of the film studio Eros International that created the film. “There is no such thing as ‘just for Bollywood’. It depends how you package it. We are in talks with an American studio who would like to remake Vicky Donor in the US.”

Hollywood may be borrowing from Bollywood, but it is a symbiotic relationship. “From 1997 to 1998, India begun to be liberalised,” says Dudrah. “The government opened the borders and allowed foreign investment. The opening up led to Bollywood partnering up. There were new forms of business and filmmaking opportunities.”

Eros are also due to partner with HBO to create a Bollywood-based version of Entourage, the popular US TV series following a Hollywood film star and his friends. Scripts are not the only thing India has adapted and adopted from the States. Studios, rather than individual producers, are now funding the projects.

“Bollywood today is where Hollywood was in ’40s and ’50s,” says Lulla. “Studios have the financial muscle and distribution. What Hollywood achieved in 50 years, Bollywood will do in 10.”

“The corporates mean that the industry has become more organised,” says Bhardwaj. “When it was just independent producers, it was a mess.”

While Hollywood studios are now notorious for pushing re-runs and re-makes, Indian studios seem to be more open-minded, able to spread the risk.

“Many smaller films with young actors are being made because the corporates support it,” says Roshan. “It is easier now that the corporates have come. The new directors, writers, actors get breaks and a chance to work.

“On the flipside it has become so easy that people are not working hard. That’s why you see short films that come around for a few weeks then disappear. If I’m putting my own money in the film, I will see to it that I get my returns back. But if I am making a film for someone else then I don’t have that pain. I just think ‘let’s do it, we’ll see what luck has got’.”

While the West is playing it safe, Bollywood is testing its boundaries.

With thanks to Eros, Reliance, Sobo Films and Media and Entertainment at The Confederation of Indian Industry

It’s the combination of history, hospitality and a superb location in the heart of South Kensington that makes Cranley Hotel the ideal home away from home in London. Explore the neighbourhood with ANDREA SEIFERT

There are few hotels that make you feel instantly at home from the moment you set foot through the door, but The Cranley is one such place. Tucked away on Bina Gardens, a quiet side street in elegant, historic South Kensington, it is an intimate hotel more akin to a friend’s grand home. It is perfectly placed for exploring the myriad of charming shops, legendary auction houses and world-class museums that the area has to offer.

Distinctly British, with the nostalgia of yesteryear evident in the classic fit-out of antiques, grand oil paintings and gilded mirrors, The Cranley is comprised of three intimate Victorian townhouses that date back to 1869.

Each of the 39 well-appointed bedrooms is comfortable. The focal point of mine? A Beaudesert four poster canopied bed with handstitched Irish linen – certainly a decadent cocoon to slip into at night. Modern amenities are not forgotten – a contemporary limestone bathroom houses Penhaligon’s toiletries and all rooms boast LCD flat screens and complimentary WiFi.

The inviting sitting room with its Regency blue palette is a relaxed setting to indulge in the champagne and canapés that the hotel serves each evening. During winter, sink into an armchair and enjoy the roaring fire. The terrace is heated, but I had the luxury of languorous mornings in the sunshine with numerous cups of tea and freshly baked pastries.

The Cranley is well-served by Gloucester Road station just a few blocks away, and the shopping areas of Knightsbridge and Kings Road are also close by. But for those who would like to really feel like a local resident, the staff can let you in on the gems that are but a few steps away.

You really don’t have to venture far to enjoy the riches of London; you’ll find a vibrant neighbourhood teeming with things to do, right on your doorstep. Read on to explore some of the highlights

EVOLVE WELLNESS CENTRE
Holistic Healing

I try to maintain a consistent yoga practice whilst on the road, and a brisk eight-minute walk to a dear little leafy mews off Old Brompton Road brought me to Evolve Wellness Centre. A vine-clad façade opens up into a tranquil haven from the busy London streets. Evolve offers not only superlative walk-in yoga classes and Pilates instruction, but also integrative holistic medical therapies. Acupuncture, massage, craniosacral therapy and osteopathy by well-regarded practitioners are heaven-sent for weary travellers.
evolvewellnesscentre.com

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
Science and Nature

Take in nature’s wonders at this impressive free museum: there are over 70 million specimens to view from botany, entomology, mineralogy, paleontology and zoology. The Diplodocus dinosaur model and colossal 1,300-year-old sequoia tree are worth the visit alone, but one should also explore The Vault, home to extraordinary treasures, gemstones and meteorites.
nhm.ac helpful hints.uk

© Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London

HEXAGON CLASSICS
Motoring Marvels

Car buffs will enjoy a visit to this fine showroom, exhibiting vintage racers and roadsters. Established in 1963, Hexagon has a storied 50-year history in car dealership, having traded just about every type of fine motor. They also deal in historic racecars and truly exotic models such as the Aston Martin DB4 Zagato, DB3S Coupé and the Ogle-designed Aston Martin DBS V8. Hexagon can source rare models, restore them and ship internationally.
hexagonclassics.com

AUX MERVEILLEUX DE FRED
Pastry Perfection

Frédéric Vaucamps’ London outpost of this decadent homage to the meringue is a veritable parlour of sugary sin. His creations come in six flavours and three sizes, beautifully displayed underneath a gleaming counter. The eponymously named Merveilleux consists of a marvelously more-ish meringue base, encapsulated in lightas– air chocolate whipped cream and hand-rolled in shavings of dark chocolate. Enjoy your treats alongside a cup of coffee or tea. So simple and yet so divine.
auxmerveilleux.com

THE LIBRARY
Menswear Chic

Peter Sidell is the owner of this luxury multilabel menswear boutique. He has an exacting eye for selecting edgy threads, and this is a good thing for the fashion-forward gentleman customer. Expect heavy weights like Alexander McQueen, Saint Laurent Paris and Lanvin alongside cult labels Carol Christian Poell, LGB, The Label Under Construction, Lost and Found, Lumen et Umbra and many others. They also carry a selection of accessories, shoes and books, and a small women’s range.
thelibrary1994.com

STAR OF INDIA
Upscale Indian

Feast like a Maharaja at this world-renowned Indian stalwart. The family-owned restaurant has been going strong since 1954, attracting a loyal following of locals and visitors alike who come for their favourite dishes from all around India. Light and crispy poppadums, tangy chutneys, fiery curries and sizzling tandooris are on the menu alongside a good wine list. The ambience is cosy with an Italian-style frescoed ceiling complementing an otherwise simple décor in slate grey and earthy, muted beige.
starofindia.eu

BUMPKIN
Brit Bites

The rustic environs of Bumpkin channel country-chic, with the open-plan kitchen adding a convivial and relaxed atmosphere to the Brit-centric eatery. Their seasonal menus use only the freshest of UK produce sourced directly from farmers to ensure sustainability and quality. Enjoy quintessentially British dishes like lightly spiced cured Highland venison with beetroot relish and foraged leaves, british beef pie, award winning English cheeses and sticky toffee pudding. Beverages are similarly patriotic – try Bumpkin’s house ale brewed in Kent.
bumpkinuk.com

SLIGHTLY FOXED
Rollicking Reads

With the advent of the digital age, bookshops large and small have been under pressure. That makes a place like the Slightly Foxed bookstore even more special. Luckily there are enough bibliophiles that agree. What could be better than browsing the shelves of antiquarian, out-of-print and secondhand tomes for hours on end? There is also a curated selection of new reads, and “The Sly Fox”, their resident bookworm and literary advisor is available to answer all your bookish questions. Email him at [email protected].
foxedbooks.com

CHRISTIES
Arty Endeavours

Founded in 1766 by James Christie, the world renowned private sales and auction house has enjoyed an illustrious reputation for dealing in all areas of fine and decorative arts, jewellery, photographs, collectibles and wine. Over 450 auctions in more than 80 categories are held here annually. Prices range from a prosaic $200 to a cool $100 million. Don’t let that put you off though. Browse the lovely South Kensington showroom for a slice of history and you just might see a thing or two you’d like to bid on…
christies.com

ECLIPSE
Lounge Lover

This mainstay of the South Kensington bar scene is not the newest kid on the block – far from it – but it has maintained its reputation as a happening spot. The bijou, dimly lit art deco setting is perfect for pre- or post-dinner sips from a stellar cocktail list. Later, adjourn to their subterranean club for a gander on the dance floor. It also happens to be right opposite The Cranley; very handy for stumbling home.
eclipsebars.com

Mother and Daughter Olivia (left) and Andrée shared similar design sensibilities

Head to central Paris and you might just catch a glimpse of Olivia Putman. CAROLINE DAVIES speaks to the designer who left her partying past behind her and became a highly respected interiors guru

“I was very wild,” Putman says. We are sitting in the French designer’s apartment and show studio overlooking Place de la Madeleine, the thrum of traffic muffled to a distant hum by the heavy cream drapes and no doubt rocket proof window. In here, amongst the elegant, clean-cut furniture, the Lalique chandelier and in the company of the composed Putman, the hectic streets of Paris seem another world.

Putman is the head of Putman studios, considered to be the epitome of clean, French product and interior design. The studio was established in 1984 by Putman’s mother Andrée Putman, a fiercely glamorous designer, known for her straight posture – she was said to have appeared as though she were always walking a tightrope, the result of a bike accident at 20 – and her flawless taste.

Images of Putman (junior) in her early 20s show a bright young thing of the Parisian artist set; A Bardot-style sweep of brunette hair, a careful flick of black eyeliner and immaculately worn Breton striped tops. Today, she is dressed sharply in a black pencil skirt, white shirt and a well-chosen lipstick that compliments the splash of her red sole Louboutin shoes. It is an unsurprising choice of accessory. Christian has been her partner in crime for over three decades. “We were bad little boys and girls,” says Olivia.

“We went out a lot. I met Christian at La Palace, a night club in Paris. It was an incredible place where you could bump into Yves Saint Laurent and Andy Warhol. At that time, there was no VIP area, it was just a melting pot. There were no rules about whether you should dare speak to anyone. True, we were very young, which makes things easier because you aren’t shy about anything.

“We used to go shopping in the flea markets in Paris for old shoes; he wouldn’t care if there was only one shoe, which I always thought was stupid. We went to Morocco when we were 15 with no money. I was so wild that I was put in boarding school for a year and a half on Bexhill-on-Sea. I learnt to appreciate authority there, it gave me some security.”

Today Putman’s mane may be tamed, but she still has a gleeful twinkle about her. On returning to Paris, a reformed 16-yearold, she finished school and studied History of Art at the Sorbonne. She spent a few years transforming old buildings into artist studios before she decided to follow her passion for horticulture and trained as a landscape gardener, a pursuit she owes to Christian.

“I was Parisian; I didn’t realise you could plant a little thing in the ground and it would become big,” she says. “Christian showed me that. He and I toured England looking at the wonderful gardens there.”

Putman’s skill took her around the globe, but she eventually returned to Paris in 2007 to become the Art Director of Putman Studios.

“I have no interest in going back to landscape gardens,” she says. “Today, I am more impatient. Even now, about 20 years after I designed my first garden, I still don’t think I have seen a garden as I hoped it could be. It takes time. It did teach me some patience. You can’t have a garden within an hour.” Putman continued to work alongside her mother for a couple of years. Andrée died in January 2013, aged 87.

“She wasn’t the cold woman you believe she might have been if you look at photos. She was warm and funny. We had a wonderful relationship. She left me to be free. Even at the age when you rebel in a dramatic way, she was free enough to think it was great to have someone expressing themselves as they wanted.”

Anything Putman did could hardly have surprised or shocked her mother. In her 20s – in an act of self-discovery – Andrée stripped her room bare, furnishing it with an iron bed, a chair, white walls and a Miro poster on the wall. Possibly one of the few minimalist acts of youth rebellion.

Elegant Lines Nina Ricci’s L’Air du Temps perfume is an example of Putman’s inclination for timeless design

“We used to think we had very similar sensibilities,” Putman says. “I prefer timeless design, not creating something that no one has ever seen before. That was something that my mother believed. She didn’t think you should be revolutionary. She thought that people who wanted to invent something entirely new were daydreaming because everything is almost nearly discovered. You have a wonderful vocabulary of forms and things that are already available and you can express yourself through that rather than think you can create an entirely new way.”

Putman’s work with Nina Ricci for the L’Air du Temps limited edition bottle is a good example. The swirling edges have been striped with blue, as have the entwined doves on the bottle top. It is clean, elegant and unobvious.

“It is a very simple addition, very subtle,” she says. “But it makes a difference. I tried other more complicated designs, but ultimately it was the simple one that worked the best.” Rather sweetly, this perfume is also the first Putman was given by her husband and the one she wears today.

“I like perfumes that have a floral smell. I was always aware of making scented gardens. You have 200 roses but only a few that smell incredible. Why bother with ones that don’t smell at all? I think flowers are the most magic, most natural perfume.

“In France this is the first perfume for a lot of girls. It’s important for many people, although it smells different on everyone. I kept it because I like the idea of scent being part of your identity; I like the idea of having this as my personal smell. You can leave a room and your perfume follows you. The people in my office say that they know whether or not I am already in as they say they can smell me in the elevator. I remember my mother by her perfume too.”

You can hardly forget the presence of Putman senior. Her studio, her taste and her creations surround Olivia, down to the chairs we are sitting in.

“An armchair is an armchair,” says Putman. “You can find nice details and nice wood, you don’t change the essential purpose. But I love these chairs, I always have. They are half round, partially protective, but you can’t slouch.”

She smiles. Perhaps among the many gifts Putman left her daughter, the teenage rebel, a chair where you have to sit straight, is the most maternal reminder of all.

studioputman.com
Stocked at www.harrods.com

Heir to the tailoring dynasty, Luca Rubinacci is a regular on blogs around the world

Our columnist is renowned as one of the world’s most inspiring dandies; and he says wintertime can combine flair with practicality, whether your February is spent in Mayfair, Moscow or Manila

LUCA RUBINACCI

To be unique, you don’t have to be fashionable; you just have to build your own style. It is your profile, your message to the world. It isn’t about wearing the most glamorous clothing, it is about making your own mark and you shouldn’t be afraid of asking for inspiration if you need it.

In winter, heavy cloths, unlined, are always a good bet. Colours appear much warmer because the materials – cashmere, wool and heavy tweeds – give a deeper tone.

Pick your colour palette carefully. Black and brown are a very gentlemanly combination look at these guys. Red, green and mustard yellow worn during the day give a rural impression. Colour will almost always make you feel a little happier. I tend to prefer darker colours in the winter for the city, but lighter colours do look good when skiing. It brings a countryside ambience to the slopes.

With 45 tailors in the studio, Rubinacci is arguably the largest handmade tailor company in Europe

I have recently created ‘Dandy Pashminas’. Closed, you just see a dash of colour, but when you open them up you see a cartoon of ‘La Toilette du Dandy’, an image I discovered in a vintage book of my father’s from the thirties. It captures the dandies as they are primping and preparing. Only you know what’s inside your scarf, it’s your secret. I like to parody fashion, which is why I created the ‘Happy Skull’ pashminas, a play on the reams of skull motifs that emerge from designers’ studios. We don’t use characters like Superman; we are tailors, not a fashion brand.

Winter shoes can be difficult. This season, I was inspired by Knickerbocker shoes, but tried to create something warm. The shoes have a formal shape, so I used tweeds in grey, green and brown, with a splash of colour on the inside. They have a thicker sole than our winter shoes and double canvas to protect from the rain. They are not boots. They are the sort of shoe worn by a gentleman who walks a few paces from the car to the restaurant, or from the hotel to the meeting room.

An image taken from a vintage book, ‘La Toilette du Dandy’ is a secret known only to its owner

I personally don’t like carrying an umbrella, so I replace it with a flannel hat. People have a tendency to think they are oldfashioned, but with a little colour they can be made more modern. Forest green, tobacco or blue are popular with younger customers and it’s better than a baseball cap. There’s something quintessentially English about it.

I noticed that whenever men arrive at a dinner or at their friend’s home, the first thing they do is remove their coat. They feel constrained by it. It is stiff, you can’t stretch your arms – it isn’t comfortable. If they are wearing a jumper, they keep it on. However, if you remove the lining from the coat and use softer materials, it changes how you behave in the coat. It won’t only be the man that notices; any woman he is accompanying will also feel the difference when she touches his arm.

There is a misconception that work clothes mean you must be conventional. I created a Korean style jacket pullover in cashmere for my friend with a painted silk Thai lining. You can be smart and retain your individuality and humour. I’m always wary of a customer who arrives in the store and asks for the most fashionable item. It may well be a red jacket, but there’s no guarantee that it will suit them. They might look like a clown. If it doesn’t look good, I won’t sell it to them. They may not like, or be used to hearing no but it shouldn’t be about fashion. It needs to be about you, what you feel comfortable in. That’s when you receive admiring looks, in summer or winter.

marianorubinacci.net

Robert De Niro and Nobu Matsuhisa

It is a quarter of a century since Nobu Matsuhisa first teamed up with Robert De Niro to open a restaurant in LA that would change the way the A-list eats. DARIUS SANAI sat down with Nobu recently to talk taste, celebrity, and hotels

Everyone remembers their first visit to a Nobu. Mine was quite a few years back, in London, accompanied by a number of hard-worn journalists determined not to be star-struck either by the other guests or the food. After chatting to Queen Rania of Jordan, exchanging hellos with Uma Thurman and tasting the original black cod that made Nobu famous around the world, it was hard to remain skeptical.

Nobu himself is an intense, modest man, with huge presence but little noise. As his empire, still owned in partnership with De Niro, has expanded, to 22 restaurants around the world and now hotels in Las Vegas and Riyadh, with others coming soon in London and Bahrain, he is no longer spending his days in the kitchen but remains very involved with the creation of the dishes. Nobu-style food, while Japanese influenced, with hints of South America, is as distinctive and original as the highoctane, dazzling service and venues.

As a brand, Nobu envelops a highly contemporary concept of healthy, expensive, minimalist dining and socialising that is the polar opposite of the traditional Escoffier-influenced fine dining experience; it speaks of the casual yet highly stylised living experience of today’s image-conscious high net worths. Which is why celebrities from Kate Moss, Elton John and Brad Pitt to Naomi Campbell, Tom Cruise and various royals remain regulars. And every slick Asian-fusion restaurant in the world, from Zuma to Sushisamba Las Vegas, owes a debt to Nobu, the man, and his restaurants.

What are the most exciting things you are doing at the moment?

You know, I’m a chef, and I now travel every three or four days, seeing the different restaurants in different cities. I see the chefs, I see the managers, and then I talk to the chefs about creating something; about creating new dishes; about cooking. That’s exciting. It used to be that I was much more involved with training, but now we have four teams around the world – two in America, one for the European restaurants, one for the Asian restaurants, and we’re opening the Nobu hotels, so everyone’s excited about getting involved in the new projects.

When you started out did you ever think it would come to this?

No, no, no. My first restaurant opened in 1987, I was so happy and it was only a 38-seat restaurant. I didn’t think at all about the future, I just like to try my best day to day. And then here I am, opening restaurants all over the world…

Nobu Berkeley ST – Located in the heart of Mayfair, the lounge is located within the twostorey restaurant

Do you still work in the kitchen?

The first time I create something I have to show to them how to do it, so then I teach one chef, so this chef can teach all over the restaurant. Recently I went to Dubai, we created one dish, so this Dubai chef then taught this recipe [to his colleagues]. Then we went to Moscow, and did the same, and London. These days I teach them how to do things. I don’t stay in the kitchen all day any more.

When you started in 1987 the world was very different to now…

It’s good because I appreciate it when people understand my food and also when they appreciate quality. When I first opened in LA, we were using frozen fish: yellowtail, eel, shrimp, mackerel, a lot of frozen produce. Now it’s all fresh produce, and that means I know that people now appreciate what fresh fish tastes like.

But you have a lot of competition now.

The competition is very good because it means people understand. We have a lot of new restaurant openings, but each restaurant has its own character. I don’t want to say we are the best, because each restaurant has its own character. I try to do my best, make new creations, and customers come because it makes them happy. When new restaurants open they can compare, they can think, I love this restaurant but Nobu is better. The competition means, we always have to try our best.

Restaurants come and go – how have yours stayed up there for so long?

It’s a passion, I think any kind of job requires this: writing, movies, music. If you try your best, at least you’ll make one plus one equals two. But my way, I like to make it one plus one equals plus one hundred. Without passion, that is impossible.

How important is everything apart from the food? Service, ambience, décor?

It’s all about food and service, because the restaurant business is hospitality, people are spending money not just for the food, they have to enjoy the experience from the beginning to the end.

Interior design?

Number three for me.

Is your celebrity clientele important?

I’m very happy celebrities come, and regular customers also. Regular customers come and spot celebrities. But celebrity people are very sensitive about what they eat. People like Victoria Beckham and David Beckham come because they trust our food, which is very important.

How much has the food changed over the last 25 years?

I create sushi and fish dishes. It used to be that people were wary of fish; they thought the smell was off-putting. But fresh fish does not have any smell, or “fishy” taste, it has clean flavours. More people have understood this over the past 25 years. And a lot of people like fish now because it is healthy.

Does cooking come from the heart?

Yes. If I see a beautiful girl I want to approach her with my cooking. To show off what I can do.

Is your food becoming technically more complex?

Everything in Nobu has a Japanese background. Best example: the burger uses bread, but you know in Japanese cooking we never use bread. So we made a tofu bun, very good and very healthy. So this is like a Nobu style: I like to keep the Japanese concept of food. It would be easy to make pastas or sausage or ham, but the Nobu restaurants have a background in Japanese cooking.

Do you overrule your chefs in your restaurants?

Yes. Yesterday a chef showed us one of his new dishes. It was with turbot, which has a very nice white meat. He did a smoke, but too strong a smoke so you couldn’t taste any other flavours. So the chef asked how was it, and I said, “I didn’t like it, please remove it.” Sometimes, when you work too hard on something it doesn’t work. My way is simple, but with heart and detail.

How important is being on TV to a chef like you?

Actually, I don’t like being on TV.

Is it necessary?

To do interviews about the cuisine, yes, because a lot of people watch it. You are starting hotels now. Tell me about that.

We had a lot of restaurants in hotels, all over the world. My partner, Robert De Niro, has his own hotel, the Greenwich in New York City. Then one day he said, “Wait a minute, we do restaurants in hotels, why don’t we do hotels ourselves?”

How important is the Nobu food element in the hotels?

In the Las Vegas hotel, you can have 24- hour room service of anything from the Nobu menu. Anytime you like.

Will Smith and son, Jaden The restaurant regularly attracts an A-list clientele, including celebrities such as Smith

What irks you when travelling?

When you go to a restaurant you are excited about, and the food is good, but the service is so slow, or they don’t pay much attention, it is so disappointing. Training staff for watching tables is so important.

What is your service philosophy – Nobu is not formal like traditional fine dining restaurants?

We are not looking to be a Michelin-star restaurant. I like to show energy, and also, not too much service. Too much service means that the customer gets tired. But if the customer is looking for something then the waiter is immediately there, then that is my perfect service.

Any new types of dish you are creating?

I like to stick to my Japanese concept. We don’t use creams, we don’t use butter much, and no cheese. Food has fashions, but I want to keep my concept, my ingredients.

Black Cod with Miso

What do you think of all the imitators?

I opened in 1987 and a lot of chefs said it’s not a Japanese restaurant. Now after 27 years, there are a lot of restaurants with a ‘Nobu influence’, with the black cod; a lot of people have copied us. Some restaurants even call it “Nobu-style black cod”, and we complain. People want to use our name, and I don’t like this. There is a cookbook, they can copy my food, but no one can copy my heart. Nobu is cooking with a heart. Now black cod is all over the world, the price of black cod used to be 70 cents per pound, now it is US$8 dollars per pound, the price has gone up but I support this: Japanese produce is growing in popularity all over the world, which is very good.

What’s your latest creation?

I have created soya salt. Try some.

Wow. It’s… like nothing else. Does it come from Japan?

No. I created it a couple of years ago. I’ll be selling it.

How do you define your food? What would you call it? Japanese? Japanese-influenced?

Nobu-style food.

Where do you experiment to make this? Do you have a laboratory?

We talk to customers and they give me homework to do!

Nobu London

Umami is very important to you?

Yes.

In everything? Are there different types of umami?

Japanese umami has no calories, so that is why Japanese food is very healthy. So the basics are umami, then you work out how much salt, how much sugar, how much sour, all the different combinations, then comes the perfect balance and it automatically tastes good.

Is umami one taste, like salt? Or is it a range of flavours?

Soya sauce has umami because of the glutamate, miso too. It is a balance, it’s about deliciousness. It is a balance in the whole flavour. Spain has ham, Italy has cheese and tomatoes, China has dry seafood, you know, each country has its own umami. Japanese umami has no calories. You know the mother’s milk for the baby after it is born, this is also umami. All over the world, the kids have the taste of umami, it is the mother’s milk, no salt, no sour, no bitter, no sweet, just umami.

noburestaurants.com, nobuhotels.com

Planning a holiday en famille? Kids and parents, know now that kids’ clubs are very 2013. Caroline Davies outlines eight proper children’s activities for the imaginative and adventurous

1. RUN OVER ROOFTOPS

The practical way to teach look before you leap. Sign your child up to learn parkour, the art of ‘overcoming’ obstacles, progressing from a frog leap to full blown urban exploring. You can tell your child it’s good exercise and great for their balance, but they’ll be doing it to look like Spider-man.

Where to do it: Baltimore, USA
Age range: 6-14 years
Top tip: The phrase bouncing off the walls might take on a new meaning.
urbanevo.com/kidsparkour

2. BUNGY JUMP

Fresh air, great views, a heartstopping plunge… Even the thought of watching your child jump from a great height, tied only to a piece of elastic, can cause sweaty palms. No longer the preserve of the gap year student, bungy jumps are available even before they hit the tweens in New Zealand.

Where to do it: New Zealand, find a good gorge
Age range: Certain bungy jumps are possible from 10+
Top tip: Buy the video. You might not want to watch it live.
bungy.co.nz

3. LEARN TAXIDERMY

Some children love animals. Some love gore. There’s something for everybody at a taxidermy class. Death Warmed Up specialises in anthropomorphic taxidermy: animals engaged in human activities. Starting with baby rats and progressing to the advanced stage of foxes, you may end up with an entire menagerie. Try to find an iPad app which teaches anatomy and creativity in the same hands-on way.

Where to do it: Death Warmed Up, Stockport
Age range: 9-17 years (under 16 needs adult permission)
Top tip: Don’t bring your own pet.
deathwarmedup.co.uk

4. RIDE AN OSTRICH

Camel rides are so 2010. To guarantee that your child comes back with the best holiday diary, let them ride an ostrich. For those of you who haven’t read National Geographic in a while, ostriches can’t fly, but they can sprint. Up to 43 miles an hour. Just watch out for their legs; a single swipe can kill a lion.

Where to do it: Cango Ostrich Farm in Oudtshoorn, not far from Cape Town, South Africa
Age range: 6+
Top tip: Don’t grab their neck. It’s their throat, not a joystick.
cangoostrich.co.za

5. SWIM WITH SHARKS

You’ve made the mistake of showing your 8-year-old ’Jaws’. Perhaps the only way to confront the fear you have instilled in your child is to face it head on. Deep Sea World in Scotland offers scuba diving with sand tiger sharks. Around 3 metres long with rows of ragged teeth, they look vicious but are known to be docile “unless bothered”.

Where to do it: Deep Sea World, Scotland
Age range: 8+
Top tip: Keep your hands inside the cage.
deepseaworld.com

6. DO A BOBSLEIGH RUN

One of the most risky of the Winter Olympic sports, groups of four squeeze into a fibreglass sleigh and set off on their steel runners down an icy track for over a kilometre, reaching up to 100km/h. A step up from sliding down the stairs on a cushion.

Where to do it: Innsbruck, Austria
Age range: 12+
Top tip: Hold on tight.
innsbruck.info/en

7. RECORD AN ALBUM

Is your child a mini Mariah or a budding Kanye? Set your small songbird’s sights high and rent out an entire studio for them to “find their sound”. Villa RockStar at Eden Rock has an inbuilt slick studio, Grammy award winning producers and the console used to record John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ to tease out a hit. Beware; once you let your child near a mic, you’ve no idea where it might end.

Where to do it: Rock Star Villa, Eden Rock, St Barths, Caribbean
Age range: If they can hold a note…
Top tip: Think twice before putting it online. Remember Rebecca Black?
edenrockhotel.com

8. BECOME A HORSE WHISPERER

Life isn’t all about digging in your spurs and cracking the whip. Teach your child the art of equine deliberation. Horses are pretty picky about who they listen to; highly strung conversation causes them to panic, too quiet and they don’t consider you a leader. Lessons for life…

Where to do it: Monty Roberts, California
Age range: You can start learning a language at any age.
Top tip: Horses’ ears are their tell. Not all lessons translate to the boardroom.
montyroberts.com

When the photographer ANNA SKLADMANN returned to her parents’ homeland, Russia, she discovered a generation of privileged, sophisticated children. She thought of them as little adults, and has devoted a book to shooting what will become the next generation of Russia’s economic rulers. We publish some of her images from “Little Adults” on these pages, and Skladmann speaks about her experiences to LUX below

LUX Why did you decide to shoot these very privileged children?

AS I was born in Germany to Russian parents. The first time I came to Russia was for the millennium where I accompanied my parents to a masquerade ball. At that event there was a table with children who held themselves, talked and behaved in the manner of Little Adults. Even though I was very young, these images never left my memory.

LUX Did anything strike you about them in general?

AS I started working on the project while graduating from university (Parsons School Of Design in New York) and finished the project two years later. I, as a visual artist and photographer, grew up and shaped myself with these children. They taught me many things and motivated me. My plan is to rephotograph them 10 years from the time the project was finished.

LUX Who was the most interesting?

AS All of them had their interesting facets and stories but there were a couple of striking surprises. For example with Jakob (‘Jakob Shooting at Ballerinas’, Moscow, 2009) I had a planned photoshoot with his sister who was fourteen at that time. She was very ahead of her age and I started to realise that she was actually “too mature” for my project. After the shoot we sat down for tea and she started to show me around the house and in one of the rooms sat Jakob, her younger brother. He was sitting on his bed casually shooting at ballerinas on the TV screen with a Kalashnikov. The Cultural Channel was playing on TV because his grandmother turned it on a few minutes before.

What was the most compelling part of this project?

AS Again, every part of the project had its own appeal. Starting from the simple act of photographing Nastia, my muse for this project, to generating the idea and up to its realisation. Every single chapter and story has shaped my critical and creative thinking. It was the nature of these children which evoked such a desire to create, perfect, and bring this project to life.

annaskladmann.com

Roof Terrace – A state-of-the-art stage boasts elaborate pyrotechnics and laser shows

The new Ushuaia Tower brings a whole new dimension of rave to Ibiza’s party scene, observes DARIUS SANAI on a flying visit to his favourite summertime island

It’s midnight on a July Friday night in Ibiza – the night is just getting going – and a thousand people are waving their arms and tanned bodies in front of uber-DJ David Guetta, who is on stage playing Swedish House Mafia’s “Don’t You Worry Child”. The crowd has shaped itself around an enormous swimming pool, which is cordoned off for the night; beyond them, another crowd of onlookers is swarming on the beach; in the distance are the lights of Ibiza Town.

I can see all this because I am at a party of my own, on the roof terrace of the just-opened Ushuaia Tower Beach Hotel, where a competing DJ plays equally vibrant music. The crowd downstairs, where I have just come up from, is young, Hoxton-chic boys and girls delighted to get into the pool party, dressed in a mix of designer and carefully picked fast fashion: it feels like being in the moving heart of a particularly snappy Instagram feed: #gowildbaby.

Upstairs on the roof, it’s a little cooler, in every way. Brands have been pushed together with foresight. Partiers are a little older, a little more restrained: their wild days, you feel, are either behind them, or a couple of hours ahead. The moon reflected in the smooth Mediterranean would be almost romantic, if the DJ weren’t pumping out Avicii at the highest octane.

Welcome to the Ushuaia Tower. I have been invited as a guest to see the opening of the party island’s coolest new club, which sits atop a new luxury hotel tower between Ibiza Town and the airport, built for a new generation of highenergy, high-tolerance, new-gen guests-cum-ravers.

Pool Party – The Tower hosts renowned, exclusive daytime parties featuring top-notch live performances

Room categories sum it up: there’s the Anything Can Happen Suite, the Anything Can Happen Suite with Stage View (offering the same view I was catching), the Fashion Victim Suite, and the I’m on Top of the World Suite.

I was slumming it in a mere luxury double, with views of sea, beach, and mountains, a suggestive minibar, and a minimal-chic bathroom. Unlike some hotels, the room is just an accessory to your experience: a place to spend the morning and early afternoon recovering from everything you have come to Ibiza to do.

You don’t necessarily need to venture outside the hotel’s boundaries to do so, either.

The amorphous giant pool which is a backdrop to the likes of David Guetta at night is the pool terrace of the Ushuaia Beach Hotel – part of the same complex, and already in existence before last summer. The brand new Tower next door has a pool of its own; step onto the beach from either and you are greeted with an array of sun loungers and a beach bar belonging to the hotels. Here they serve an excellent club sandwich made with Jamon Iberico, as I discovered the next morning when indulging in my recovery brunch.

It would, however, have been a little coarse not to drop in on other favourite spots in Ibiza, and here the hotel also came into its own. The cool will tour Ibiza on a 1960s Moto Guzzi motorbike, raven-haired brunette hanging on, vintage Hermès headscarf pulled tight over vintage Cartier, shouting directions and admonishments from behind. I had no such option and opted for what must be the next best thing: a two-seater micro-Smart car, dressed in the hotel’s colours. I headed off for lunch to Cala Jondal, a hidden beach only accessible by a more or less unmarked side road, just two cliffsides away from the nearby airport but a different, secluded world of Ibiza.

The Ushuaia Tower Hotel with its poolside stage is a new concept on Ibiza’s Playa d’en Bossa beach

At Blue Marlin on Cala Jondal, I ate grilled local sea bream with a glass of Ibizan rosé. A supermodel I can’t name was having a discreet birthday lunch with some mutual friends at the next table, and I spent a relaxing afternoon with them before tearing myself away back to the hotel, where a symphony of DJs was warming up for the evening. I slipped into some light Margiela and Lanvin for the evening and made my way over to Lio across town – now an established joint but, with its live Cirque du Soleil shows, still the most glamorous restaurant on the island. The friend I dined with had a family engagement afterwards – only in Ibiza can someone go to their aristo mother’s 60th birthday party in a club, something I just didn’t have the mental range for – and I headed back to the Ushuaia.

Hotels as self-consciously cool as the Ushuaia Tower need to employ striking looking staff to keep themselves on brand. And it’s no secret that striking staff tend not to be excellent staff, as they are naturally en route to a career in modeling, acting, or headlining at the O2 in London, and have limited patience for the day job. It’s been a problem since Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell first opened the Morgans in New York and eye-candy staff of both sexes became the equivalent of contemporary art for a hotel.

Maybe I just caught them on a good day, but the Ushuaia Tower’s staff had plainly been drawn from a different modeling agency. The ravishing (male) concierge had almost burst out of his designer uniform in trying to get me a good table for two at almost no notice at Lio; the (female) receptionist was patience and efficiency personified in dealing with various airline bookings and IT tasks; even the housekeeping staff were fluent and efficient.

There is one proviso for anyone wishing to have the ultimate urban-Ibiza-clubbing experience at the thrilling Ushuaia Tower; no, two. First, while the views are striking, don’t expect gentle romance or trad luxury: this is the hotel equivalent of a Shoreditch superclub. And, if you expect peace and quiet after midnight, or indeed, more or less anytime, then you should probably be getting yourself to another part of the island: or, better, to another island altogether. Otherwise, get there while it’s hot – and while you are, honey.

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