Dave Chen, CEO and Chair of Equilibrium Capital

Dave Chen founded Equilibrium Capital in 2008 after seeing growing interest in how sustainability can help shape the basic economic sectors of the Maslow hierarchy of needs, which include food, water, resources, employment and security. He recognised that climate change was shifting perceptions of asset risk and value. Equilibrium continues to invest in environmentally beneficial companies. LUX speaks to Chen about the challenges of a future blue economy

Follow LUX on Instagram: @luxthemagazine

Equilibrium Capital has been involved in environmentally responsible investing for nearly two decades, including backing carbon transition infrastructure projects and the development of controlled environment food production such as indoor and greenhouse farming. But the firm isn’t involved in the blue economy as yet. “We are not participants within the ocean economy,” says Chen. The reason is structural rather than ideological.

Ochre starfish among the coral, God’s Pocket, British Columbia, Canada, 2016

“These markets are not ready, and people have to be comfortable with that phrase: it’s not ready,” he says. It’s a bold statement, but one backed up by years of experience: Chen joined McKinsey in 1984, spent nine years at OVP General Partners and is an Adjunct Professor of Finance at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. His starting point is to separate who deploys capital and why.

Read more: How Louis Roederer champagne leads in biodiversity

Government and philanthropic capital can be rewarded through social and ecological outcomes. But investor money needs monetary returns. And too often, he argues, “people just mash this all together.” That distinction becomes decisive at sea – what Chen calls the classic “commons”. And the blue economy struggles to prove its return on investment because it can’t decide on its unit of measure. Even the most mature environmental market, carbon, largely functions as fragmented regional compliance systems, not a single global market, he says.

‘Catalysing blue investment, in Chen’s telling, means basics first’

Chen believes that carbon also holds a lesson for oceans: that voluntary schemes underperform, so rules matter. “Successful examples of carbon markets tend to be highly specific, highly regional and regulated, using the law to create a market that thrives,” he says. He points out that there are some examples of that already in the blue economy, including in US watersheds such as the Mississippi River, where there are emerging traded market mechanisms.

For the rest of us, the future is dependent on investment – and investors need to see clarity on what’s being bought and sold. Catalysing blue investment, in Chen’s telling, means basics first. Governments need to set compliance-grade frameworks and standardise units. Banks can then underwrite and scale regulated pilots where rules, measurement and enforcement exist. Businesses can operate inside those regimes and prove their durability, project by project. It sounds simple, but it’s something that market participants in the blue economy have tried to duck to date, according to Chen. “Human beings don’t like being told that they have to do the basics,” he explains. “There’s no quick, easy answer.”

Photography for the UBS x LUX Blue Economy series by Cristina Mittermeier

eq-cap.com

“It is time for nature to be accounted for on balance sheets” – Karen Sack

Having held leadership roles at Greenpeace International, The Pew Charitable Trusts and previously served as CEO of Ocean Unite – which she co-founded with Richard Branson and José María Figueres – Karen Sack has spent the past three decades at the forefront of global campaigns to protect the oceans through conservation, law and policy. LUX speaks to Sack about her current role as Co-founder and Executive Director of Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance

Small skiffs or fishing boats rarely sail alone. It’s a notion that underpins a core strategy at ORRAA, which is working to build an effective capital market for the ocean. ORRAA’s Sea Change Impact Financing Facility – or Sciff – is a collection of financial instruments that work together “like a flotilla”.

Karen Sack, Co-founder and Executive Director of Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance

From providing a guarantee facility to de-risk investments, to building a robust and transparent blue bond market, these innovative products combine to address what Sack describes as the “missing middle” in the blue economy, where “so many amazing innovations falter as they try to bridge the gap between grant funding and return-seeking investment.”

Follow LUX on Instagram: @luxthemagazine

To grow this nascent market, Sack says, “we need to be patient with capital and impatient with action.” Sciff is just one part of a multi-pronged effort that reaches from “the boardroom to the beachfront”.

Ocean conservation action must reach from “the boardroom to the beachfront” – Karen Sack

In the boardroom, ORRAA is driving the #BackBlue Ocean Finance Commitment, a UN-backed campaign to ensure that a regenerating and sustainable ocean has a seat at the table in finance and insurance decisions. The cumulative value of assets under management by current endorsers of #BackBlue amounts to $3.45 trillion. “We are now focused on building out this work to identify the ‘red line’ no-go investment areas and ‘blue line’ opportunities for institutional investors to lean into,” says Sack.

Read more: How Louis Roederer champagne leads in biodiversity

On the beachfront, ORRAA is taking steps to catalyse investment flows into the communities that need them most. Its Innovation and Product Pipeline initiative provides early-stage grants to help incubate, innovate and accelerate the development of finance and insurance products that invest in coastal and ocean natural capital.

“Short-term profit does not overshadow long-term community health and Earth system vitality”

Since 2021, it has supported 50 projects in 30 countries through $20 million in grants. “Entrepreneurs in underserved countries often face limited opportunities to scale ventures,” says Sack. “Just tens of thousands of dollars – a relatively small amount of capital – can do big things.”

Sack is optimistic about the direction of travel, but is aware that the window for action is closing fast. She argues that integrating social returns, biodiversity-positive outcomes and climate resilience as fundamental elements of success can ensure that short-term profit does not overshadow long-term community health and Earth system vitality.

“Investors need to recognise ocean health as material to portfolios,” says Sack. “It is time for nature to be accounted for on balance sheets.”

Photography for the UBS x LUX Blue Economy series by Cristina Mittermeier

oceanriskalliance.org

The new Six Senses opening in the iconic Whiteley, London, fitted with 109 rooms and suites, along with 14 Six Senses Residences, spa, and fitness centre

As VP of the luxury portfolio of Six Senses owner IHG, Tom Rowntree is at the cutting edge of modern luxury hospitality. He speaks to LUX about how to keep the future both luxurious and Zen

LUX: Tell us more about the Six Senses in London and the members’ club?

Follow LUX on Instagram: @luxthemagazine

Tom Rowntree: The Whiteley is an iconic building, and we are delighted to be opening a Six Senses here. It will be landmark moment for both Six Senses and IHG. There will be a signature 109 rooms and suites, along with 14 Six Senses Residences, a signature Six Senses Spa, and over 325 square meter fitness centre, complete with a 20-meter indoor pool.

Tom Rowntree at the Regent Taste Studio premiere, which fuses fine art and culinary craft

Six Senses Place is a part of this and will be our first private members club. It is designed around ‘a new rhythm for the city’. A place where members and hotel guests can join a community to heal, gather, learn, and feel a sense of belonging.

LUX: How do you integrate art and food into your experiences?

TR: Regent Taste Studio is the perfect example of this. It is a series of pop-up culinary experiences inspired by art, design and culture. These are immersive experience where the chefs from our properties around the world collaborate with artists, designers and musicians to curate one of a kind extraordinary dining moments that engage our guests on a multi-sensory level that goes far beyond the realms of art or food individually.

A dining moment at IHG’s Regent Hong Kong

LUX: You are now catering to multigenerational travel. Tell us more.

TR: With the birth this year of Gen B, for the first time ever we are seeing 7 generations travelling. A key element of that is multi-gen travel and skip-gen, such as grandparents travelling with grandchildren.

Read more: A week of art in Jaipur

From a product perspective, we are looking at room, suite and villa configurations – a great example is Regent Phu Quoc that has four- and seven-bedroom villas and also the flexibility to connect villas, ensuring families have space but can come together.

The Six Senses opening this year at the Whiteley comes with a signature Six Senses Spa, and over 325 square meter fitness centre, complete with a 20-meter indoor pool

Additionally, we’re seeing growth in a younger, more experience-focused consumer. Millennials aged 30 to 44 years now comprise the highest penetration of luxury seekers, followed by Gen Z. Combined, Millennials and Gen Z now make up ~45% of luxury spend.

What this means is that when we design our brands and their guest experience, we’re designing for the guest of yesterday, today and tomorrow all at the same time. This makes things more inclusive and diverse than ever, a big challenge, but also an immense opportunity. It’s exciting.

IHG’s InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland: a luxury hotel located in Songjiang, at the root of Shanghai

LUX: You have a one week all expenses paid holiday in one IHG property with your partner. Which one do you choose and why?

Read more: Where art becomes ocean conservation

What a great question. It has to be Six Senses Vana, a dedicated wellness retreat in the Indian Himalayas. Day to day, Flavien and I are both so busy, operating on autopilot. We seem to live our lives in 30-minute diary appointments. I think we’d both benefit from the time to just be present with one another and within one of the world’s quieter corners. I’ve also always been curious about the principles of ayurveda, something Vana does especially well.

The Six Senses Kyoto, where the design is inspired by the Tale of Genji and ancient folklore

LUX: Six Senses is a powerful modern luxury brand. How do you ensure it retains that power under corporate ownership?

TR: It really is and we are working hard and focussed on ensuring we retain all that is special, whilst evolving for the future. Each of our brands is designed around a clear purpose and a unifying and unique set of hallmarks.

With Six Senses, we are considered and always intentional. It is a brand that has always been slightly maverick and quirky. That personality hasn’t changed, nor has its ethos and philosophy. Being part of the IHG family has enabled Six Senses to achieve even greater performance. The relationship is symbiotic, and it occupies a unique and special place in our luxury and lifestyle portfolio.

sixsenses.com

An installation by Natasa Galecic at the Gyan Museum for this year’s Jaipur Art Week

The Public Arts Trust of India has announced its 5th edition of the Jaipur Art Week, which takes place every year in the UNESCO World Heritage City. As PATI’s Founding Chairwoman, Sana Rezwan’s mission is to bridge the city’s timeless heritage with its ever-evolving contemporary art scene

Follow LUX on Instagram: @luxthemagazine

Edition 5.0 of Jaipur Arts Week will feature more than one hundred participating artists across multiple venues in Jaipur, in a city-wide programme that takes place within and throughout its historic landmarks and public spaces.

Poojan Gupta’s installation A Sacred Walk transforms one of the most overlooked materials of contemporary life: discarded pharmaceutical blister packs

17 emerging artists will be featured in a solo exhibition, selected from art schools across India. The final selection of artists, many of whom have come from art schools across India, was made by a jury of global art leaders: Anita Dube, Renu Modi, Wood & Harrison, and Aindrea Emelife.

Read more: Inside the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort

Selected artists were offered mentorship in creating their solo exhibitions by leading practitioners, including Vibha Galhotra, Gigi Scaria, Thukral & Tagra, and Shuddhabrata Sengupta.

Gigi Scaria’s Ascend Towards the Unknown in bronze and white metal, created over a year in Jaipur

Other highlights of the week will include a group show, Andha Yug, curated by Anita Dube; a new digital exhibition titled ‘Here and Now,’ curated by Sayan Sanyal; and a collaboration with New York’s Parsons School of Design.

Edition 5.0 of Jaipur Arts Week will be taking place from 27 January to 3 February, 2026

jaipurartweek.com

Boris Colin Alphonse’s What We Carry When We Cross, remembering the sea voyage of Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II of Jaipur to London

Momento, 2020, by FAHR 021.3, at Patina Maldives

Eleven global art patrons from two generations, chaired by one of London’s greatest art doyennes, steered by LUX, and anchored in the most groundbreaking luxury resort in the world. The Patina Art Residency brings together regenerative tourism, sustainability and support for contemporary art, like nothing else

Follow LUX on Instagram: @luxthemagazine

Regenerative tourism is a vision of the future: travelling to the world’s most beautiful places while not just making an impact, but making a positive difference. The Fari Islands in the Maldives, an archipelago of four pristine islands, were developed with sustainability and regeneration front of mind; at Patina Maldives, Fari Islands, there is a coral regeneration project, an education programme with respected Ocean Elder Jean-Michel Cousteau and a pervasive awareness of the need not to do harm.

Coral Alchemy (Acropora Grove), 2023, by Shezad Dawood, at Manar Abu Dhabi

Villas all have solar panels and were made with renewable materials from the area. The island filters its own water, and there are no single-use plastics: even the construction workers were not allowed them during the resort’s construction (it opened in 2021).

Read more: Head to Baku Art Weekend for a unique cultural celebration

As well as world-leading sustainability credentials, Patina Maldives is also a haven of thoughtfully curated art, with works by James Turrell, Jose Dávila, Hiroko Takeda and others in interplay with the sophisticated architecture. Meanwhile, at Patina Osaka, recently opened, there is a reflective collaboration with celebrated Osaka graphic artist Verdy.

Artist Shezad Dawood, winner of the inaugural Patina Art Residency

In sustainability and the regenerative economy, action is predicated on awareness, and Patina, in collaboration with LUX, has just launched its first art residency, rooted firmly in ocean conservation. This is a residency with a difference.

At its core is a jury of art patrons, both established and next generation, personally invited by LUX Editor-in-Chief Darius Sanai. At their head is Maria Sukkar, major patron, LUX Senior Contributing Editor and Co-Chair of the TATE Middle East North Africa Acquisitions Committee.

The jury chose from submissions by artists from all over the world, from India to Brazil. The theme? “Fluid Worlds”, with artists asked to demonstrate how their existing body of work shows a relationship with the planet and oceans, which, in a healthy state, are essential for our survival.

Ghost Reef I, 2025, by Shezad Dawood

After a long and fascinating deliberation process, a winner emerged: Shezad Dawood, an artist with a rich history of narrative about and support for the oceans: he appeared on the cover of LUX magazine in 2022 when he created a digital installation for Frieze London on oceans and the future.

Read more: Spirit Now London acquires works for National Portrait Gallery at Frieze

Dawood will travel to Patina Maldives, staying for up to one month as its first resident artist, creating a resonating work that will be showcased in the property. Meanwhile, the art and hospitality world’s most compelling residency will only grow, as will awareness of the need to protect our oceans.

patinahotels.com

Bulgari Hotel Milan, where you can enjoy the Mediterranean sun from the shade of Il Giardino

Bulgari has become one of the most celebrated luxury city hotel brands, and here we visit their flagship offerings in Milan and Rome

Anyone who is anyone knows that Milan is now the buzzing place in Europe. Yes, the city that previously was known only for its fashion shows and design week, whose residents spent each week planning how to escape for the weekend, is now the place for people too move to, eat in, and show off at.

Milan is still a club, though. People know each other, and it’s social death to be seen in the wrong places. That, dear LUX reader, is why we are taking you to the epicentre of the social scene – or one of them anyway. Specifically, to our dinner table at the Bulgari hotel’s Niko Romito restaurant.

The luxury yet comfortable lobby at Bulgari’s Milan flagship

Situated up a few steps from the circular bar and more casual dining area, swathed in dark light (if that makes sense), you sit here like an Emperor in Europe’s new capital of affluence. Across from us, his back to the banquette, was a well-known fashion elder statesman, who sat happily and purposefully through his piccata, pasta and bottle of Barolo, surveying the scene like a king, his eye never turning to his phone.

Follow LUX on Instagram: @luxthemagazine

We enjoyed an excellent wine also, from the nearby Alpine Dolomites region, along with some tortelli with ricotta cheese and black pepper beef. The food is brilliant, and B hotels somehow seem even more in their element in their ancestral homeland, more comfortable in their skin.

Speaking about comfort and skin, we had arrived in a state of slight discomfort as LUX had left a company laptop on board the British Airways plane we arrived on a couple of days previously – we had spent the intervening time at the country house of a reader, contacting British Airways and the airport to absolutely no avail – each referred us to the other.

The spa offers guests a retreat in the midst the bustling streets of Milan

On arriving, we had been introduced to the Bulgari hotel Butler, available 24/7 on WhatsApp. The WhatsApp Butler is one of the greatest hotel inventions of recent times, genuinely adding convenience as you don’t need to worry about whether they will pick the phone up, whether they will understand you completely, whether they will note down the details of your requirements and hand them on to the next shift.

More in desperation than hope, we mentioned the laptop situation. “We will look into it straight away sir,” came the response and within half an hour we had a message that they had located the laptop, in an office at the back of the airport, and would we like them to send someone to pick it up?

Perhaps you should expect a luxury hotel concierge to be well connected with an airport but nonetheless the concierge service that was delivered is an enormous asset to the Bulgari.

The Bulgari Bar, a meeting place not only for hotel guests but for in-the-know Milanese

Our room itself was welcomingly quiet, looking over the courtyard garden where the hotel is located. This is an extremely quiet part of central Milan, and only a six minute walk from the golden triangle of luxury shops.

Read more: Inside the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort

Our suite was beautifully and intensely appointed in that signature Bulgari style, overlooking the courtyard garden. This is not a hotel that looks like any other and you feel like you are in the cossetting arms of a heritage luxury brand.

Room service breakfast was served with a flourish, with lavish extra bits and table decorations. This is a place that’s hard to leave, because, you know, it’s the place to be in the place to be.

Inspired by the Roman baths, the Bulgari Paris’ 25 metre pool is intricately decorated with mosaic of gold, emerald, jade, and malachite

Bulgari Hotel Paris review

If you thought Paris was all about traditional, grand – slightly chintzy – luxury on the one hand, or self-conscious boutique chic that isn’t quite delivering luxury on the other, walking through the doors of the Bulgari Hotel on Avenue George V will rapidly change your mind.

The doormen swing the doors open for you into a glossy dark wood and light marble temple to lavishness. The reception desk, small and understated, is to the left, and a lobby lounge with dim lighting and sweeping luxury is to your right.

The Bulgari Suite is accompanied with views across Paris

Our seventh-floor suite had a terrace half the length of a city block, with views out over the Paris rooftops: the Invalides, and the Bibliotheque Nationale, in the distance. On the marble coffee table was an artfully positioned box of huge Bulgari cigar matches. You know what you are supposed to be doing here.

Read more: How Louis Roederer champagne leads in biodiversity

The suite itself had deep pile-patterned cream carpet, and every detail touch showed that this is the creation of the masters of luxury themselves, Bulgari as owned by LVMH. The box for the creams, the box for the shoe shine, the box for the products you might have left behind – in all these cases, the containers with things you are very tempted to take home and present on a coffee table of your own. (We didn’t).

The Bulgari Hotel Paris’ Penthouse garden offers a natural retreat in the heart of Paris, where you can enjoy views of its landmarks away from the crowds

Presentation is everything in luxury, and the welcome presentation of champagne, chocolates, flowers, and three citrus fruit on three Bulgari plates was too good to touch or eat.

Room service breakfast was even more so; an exhibition of oatmeal, Goji berries, different nuts, seeds, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries, each one occupying its own dish ranged around the bowl like numbers on a clock face. Tasted good too.

At the Bulgari‘s heart downstairs is Il Ristorante, which looks out a little courtyard garden where you can sit in summer. Our weather was not suitable for terrace dwelling, but we enjoyed a long and indulgent dinner of accompanied by excellent bottle of Barbaresco from Piedmont, the service correctly Italian and perfect.

Il Ristorante, led by three-Michelin-starred Chef Niko Romito

And then there is the location: walk out onto George V and you can walk into the flagship or nearly-flagship boutique of every luxury brand in France and possibly the world. The Champs Elysées is five minutes one way, the Eiffel Tower probably 10 minutes the other (we didn’t go). If you’re there for Art Basel Paris, probably the best art fair in the world,  it’s around an eight minute walk.

Read more: A conversation with Sassan Behnam-Bakhtiar

Luxury reinvented in Paris? Close to it, for sure. The only thing we missed was being able to use our terrace, and a little garden. Paris does doesn’t always play ball with the weather, and even the gods of LVMH can’t change that. Yet.

bulgarihotels.com

Every morning I live with you, 2024, by Dennis Miranda Zamorano

Mexico-based artist Dennis Miranda Zamorano blends nature, humanity and dreamscapes in always surprising ways. Ahead of his new exhibition at Château La Coste, Provence, LUX invites Zamorano to be our artist in residence on these pages, and his gallerist Vanessa Guo reflects on what draws her to his works

Follow LUX on Instagram: @luxthemagazine

“The history of humanity has been marked by countless terrible events, surviving and overcoming them. However, today we seem to be less prepared and more scattered. I believe we need to strengthen our connections, our listening and our patience toward our surroundings. We must be smarter than those who deceive.” – Dennis Miranda Zamorano, artist, Mexico

Read more: Artist in Residence: Rex Southwick

“I’m drawn to how Dennis ‘excavates’ the canvas, scraping and sanding to peel back layers before reapplying paint to reveal hidden narratives. By upending norms, he urges us to challenge surface illusions and seek authenticity. His tactile, process-driven practice envisions renewal and discovery, resonating deeply amid our present collective uncertainty.” – Vanessa Guo, co-founder, Galerie Marguo, Paris

chateau-la-coste.com