Crans-Montana sits on a south facing shelf and is one of the one of the sunniest ski resorts in Europe

Crans-Montana was one of the destinations for skiers in the 1980s looking for Swiss chic, extensive pistes, high quality dining and spectacular views. It was overtaken in the fashion stakes by the likes of Courchevel, but is now coming back with a bang into the consciousness of high-end winter sports visitors. Darius Sanai visits, and likes what he sees

7:30 am at the LeCrans hotel in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Wandering the considerable distance in our wood panelled room between the bed and the glass door to the balcony, past the living area, I draw back the curtains. A sea of white and blue floods in. We are on a south-facing shelf high above a broad valley far below. In front of me, far away on the other side of the valley, is a jagged range of peaks. The view extends for 40 km in either direction.

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I step onto the balcony. It snowed all night, before clearing at dawn. My bare feet crunch through the powder. I wonder about spending the day in the spa, pool and jacuzzi. I could admire the view, go for a walk, progress effortlessly from lunch through dinner in the classy, intimate dining spaces in this uber-chic boutique luxury hotel in a forest above Crans, the old-new (more on that shortly) swanky destination in Switzerland.

Terrace with a view at the hotel, Le Crans

But that would be wrong. I order room service: some home made Bircher muesli, green juice, an oat latte, taken inside with a view onto the whole of Switzerland, so it seems. So many resorts in the Alps are buried deep in valleys: you need to take the lift up for the views. Or they have featureless views of anonymous mountainsides with endless motorway pistes. Here I am gazing from Mont Blanc to the St Bernard Pass, through the Zermatt valley and the sabre-tooth shaped Weisshorn, to the peaks above Andermatt, looking at the full range of the highest peaks in Switzerland, the focus of Alpinists through the generations, without moving from my room. Below (way below) are the vineyards of the Valais.

Le Crans hotel sits in a forrest above a village

I have to move. I squeeze on my boots, walk out of the ski room and across a snow covered lane, and clip on my skis. There is a shuttle to the lift station in Crans, visible below through the woods. But where’s the fun in that. Skis on, I follow a track made by a couple of other skiers across the woods, gently downwards, close to the trees, and shoot down a little vertical section, turning smartly onto the piste. I am on the main run into the resort, before anyone has had the chance to explore it.

Contemporary alpine chic at Le Crans 

It’s an old-fashioned piste, in the nicest way. It weaves and turns and flattens through real scenery, forests and glades and past lakes. Not a motorway with slip roads and parallel pistes leading to the same place. There’s a fun chicane near the new Six Senses Resort, and then the lift station appears.

Le Crans spa has a heated outdoor pool

Crans-Montana is having a moment. Prominent in the 20th century as a ski/golf resort, a year round destination before that was fashionable, it lost social kudos to places like Verbier (across the broad Rhône valley) and Courchevel more recently. Now, it has rediscovered its own qualities. Its sunshine and views are exceptional, as it is on a high shelf above the deep Rhône valley, facing south. It has a good, if not exceptional, vertical drop for skiing and both high and tree-lined pistes. Being less than a kilometre (vertically) from some of the best vineyards in Switzerland guarantees excellent wine and, not coincidentally, some very gourmet focussed resort and mountain restaurants – it has four Michelin-starred restaurants.

The top slopes at Crans-Montana are at around 3000m altitude

It also has good snow: at 1550m, it is at a good altitude, with top station at just under 3000m. On the one hand, the south facing, sunny aspect means warm spring days create early melt, but being high above a deep valley in the west of the Alps means relatively high snowfall during the winter, when fronts come in either from the west or the southwest, as a counterpoint. When it snows in Switzerland, it really snows in Crans.

The Michelin starred restaurant Le Mont Blanc at Le Crans

The last couple of years have reflected this revival: where previously it was the domain of smart middle class families from northern Europe, Crans is now seeing more LUX-type people move in. The Six Senses opens this February, with Residences being snapped up by ultra high net worths. We hear of the Swiss elite snapping up apartments near the resort centre. It’s not as expensive to buy property in Crans as in Verbier or Gstaad, and it may lack the ski breadth of the former and the social kudos of the latter, but it is sunnier and less hectic than Verbier and higher than Gstaad. Locals say prices are heading up: but as a counterpoint, there is a lot of property in Crans and its neighbour, Montana, and parts of the resort are a bit 20th century modern for some tastes.

Sunset with a view of Mont Blanc

I ponder all this while in the gondola up to the top station. I spend the day shooting down an array of high and low runs, all of them interesting in a classic kind of way. I don’t know enough about ski resort design to analyse why Crans, like Lech or Klosters, seems classic in the way you ski. There’s something about the shape of the pistes, shaped to the mountain rather than trying to conquer the mountain; compromised but interesting, unpredictable. It seems organic and classical, somehow, compared to skiing at Courchevel or Val d’Isere, which have bigger ski areas, but also many runs that look like each other. The runs below the tree line here are gorgeous, wide and curving through the forest.

Winter morning view from the hotel Le Crans

Getting back to the hotel from the main run down, you have to know which section of trees to turn off at, and then whiz along a flattish forest path which finishes at the hotel’s doorstep. It’s not officially a piste, but it’s a lot of fun. (You can always ski down to the end of the piste and the hotel will collect you).

Read more: The serene beauty of little-known Alpine resort Drei Zinnen

That evening, I dine at Le Crans. The hotel is snuggled in the forest above the resort. There are a few other chalets dotted around, otherwise only trees. The design, a reworking of a 1960s hotel in contemporary wood and stone, is both relaxing and striking. The restaurant, with its Michelin star, is quite minimalist and relaxed in feel, with plenty of space and broad views. The menu is poetry: dishes called They Flutter in the Light Wind (Jerusalem artichoke, fig, hay, lime and shimeji) or Like A Melancholic Garden (chestnuts, chanterelles, salsify, broccoli). The wine is also poetic: I try a Cornalin, made from a Swiss red grape, from a vineyard in the valley below. It is spicy, with autumn berries and a soft, velvet length. The best Swiss wines are worthy of shining on the international stage, but are prevented from doing so by the Swiss, who know that and have the means to buy them all themselves.

Views extend over the deep Rhône valley to the mountains above Zermatt

The next evening, after skiing the length of the resorts runs to above Montana, a considerable horizontal and vertical distance, I go for room service along with a bottle of Heida, made with another Swiss grape, from a terraced vineyard below Montana. The Heida is full of lemon-herb creaminess, and stands up to a very high quality grilled chicken salad. I sip the last glass on the balcony; the snow has melted a little during the day and now refrozen under the stars. A gentle wind blows the scent of pine cones from the woods and the silhouette of 100 kilometres of Alps stands out in the moonlight in front of me. Whether or not Crans’s new moment has truly come, I, like many others, will certainly be coming back.

Find out more: https://lecrans.com/

Liza Essers and Durjoy Rahman in discussion at Goodman Gallery, Mayfair, London

In the first of our series of online dialogues, Liza Essers of Goodman Gallery and South South speaks with philanthropist Durjoy Rahman about the western eye on art, and the future of culture in the Global South. With an introduction and moderation by Darius Sanai and created in association with the Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation

History is always written by the winners. Whether or not that is true, there is more than an element of truth as far as art history is concerned. The West, home of most of the world’s wealth for most of the past millennium, is where the biggest auction houses, collectors, galleries, institutions, and market-makers are based. When the average LUX reader thinks of art history, they are more likely to think of Michelangelo or Monet than Khmer sculptors or 12th century Chinese visual artist Zhang Zeduan.

The art fair is now a global phenomenon, and Art Basel and Frieze, the two biggest players, have editions in Hong Kong and Seoul, as well as London, Paris, Basel, New York, Miami and Los Angeles (note the weighting there between East and West). But they are American and Swiss-owned organisations driven by legitimacy from heavy-hitter galleries in New York and London. When Abu Dhabi wanted to gain instant credibility in the art world, it opened a Louvre (with a Guggenheim coming soon).

Yet art did not start in the West, and is unlikely to end in the West. One of the most significant organisations seeking to loosen the western grip, and accompanying neo-Orientalist viewpoint, in the art world, is South-South. Co-founded by the esteemed Johannesburg-based gallerist Liza Essers, owner of Goodman Gallery, who represents William Kentridge, among many others, it bills itself a resource for artists, galleries, curators and collectors across the global south.

Liza Essers. Photographed by Anthea Pokroy. Courtesy Goodman Gallery

For the first in our series of online dialogues, we brought Liza together with a growing force in the rebalancing of east-west art relations, Durjoy Rahman. Founder of the Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation, Durjoy is a multifaceted collector and philanthropist supporting artists and institutions across South Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. The foundation supports a residency at Amsterdam’s Rijksakademie, is launching a new partnership with India’s Kochi Biennial and London’s Hayward Gallery, and supports the esteemed Sharjah Art Foundation, among many other initiatives.

The dialogue between two intriguing leaders in art in the Global South was moderated by LUX Editor-in-Chief Darius Sanai, himself from Iran, in Essers’ Goodman Gallery in Mayfair, London.

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LUX: Liza, you set up South South as an organisation which does not just promote dialogue and art action, but additionally serves as a way to provide artists and galleries with a new way of interacting and selling work.

Liza Essers: Absolutely, it goes back much further than I think most people realise. South South started in 2010 after visiting Brazil and being completely inspired by walking through the streets of Sao Paulo and thinking about Johannesburg. These two places I felt had shared histories and realities of their current situation. South South then started as a curatorial initiative that I began with Goodman Gallery. There were two strong curatorial initiatives; South South and another project called In Context, that was looking at the dynamics and tensions of the place. I was really interested at the time in the term the ‘Global South’ which was very much established by Lula da Silva, as an economic term around foreign policy. I suppose my background in economics got me thinking about seeing these real distinctions within the Western art market and The Global South, in a context of underlying political and economic realities. Over the last 12 years, there have been big multi-place projects with galleries around The Global South.

Samson Kambalu, Beni Flag- Sovereign States (this is not what I meant when I said bang bang), 2019

LUX: Durjoy, do you see any parallels between the work of your foundation which is focussed around supporting south Asian art, artists and organisations, and the work of South South?

Durjoy Rahman: Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation (DBF) was founded in 2018 and our mission was to support artistic, socially-activated practices. Not only do we promote South Asian artists, but also all across The Global South. There are many similarities between artists living in Asia, Africa and even South America with a lot of their work being interwoven as they live in similar social positions and environments. We also work with artists from Africa whose practices are aligned with social contexts that exist in South Asian countries like Bangladesh. For example, we hosted an artist from Ghana whose work we collected back in 2017 and his practices are very similar to those that we see in Dhaka. When I found his work and I realised the similar socio-economic environment, we started working with him and donated his work to a museum in the Netherlands for his first show in 2018, which is now in their permanent collection.

LUX: As part of the driving force behind the gathering momentum and support for artists from The Global South, is there a need for more organisations like yours?

LE: I feel that there is a need of course, but more importantly, we need collaboration. Instead of everyone trying to individually reinvent the wheel, the whole art world needs to shift together. Collaboration is so much more powerful if people work together to achieve better things for the arts.

DR: I agree, but I also believe that we need to make these artists more visible in their role throughout European history. A lot of South Asian or African artists came to Europe in the 50s and had shows alongside Picasso or Miro, there was a real cultural exchange. Unfortunately, due to the economic situation right after the end of colonial history, in Asia we became less visible and prominent. There is an urgency to work together to establish the position of the global south so that we are equally important in the development of modern art.

LE: Absolutely.

SP-Arte 2022

LUX: Is there a challenge for people to become artists in some countries in the global south, due to the lack of recognition of an art as a viable career? My father, who was Iranian, was a huge art lover and collector but he would have been aghast if I had wanted to actually be an artist.

LE: You are spot on. It is much better than it was, as there are more museums and contemporary art spaces, but there is still a long way to go concerning cementing arts and culture as central to education. For example, in our school system in South Africa, it isn’t part of the mainstream education system, so it is not something that kids are even growing up with. People who are struggling and are below the breadline want their kids to go and become professionals rather than artists due to the perception that they would be unable to make a living.

DR: Regardless of which class, middle or upper, the concept of your child having an arts career, has always been looked at with scepticism from the parents. Every family wants their children to be prosperous and this is not something that has traditionally been considered with an art career, as it is a high-risk option. I think, however, that the times are changing with the increase of museums and art spaces. I think more and more people will be interested in creativity and artistic practice because of the larger income generation.

LUX: Let’s talk about the Western Eye on the Art world. People might say “I’m going to go to an African Art Fair” or “going to look at some Asian Art” but they wouldn’t talk about a “European Art Fair”. Should that change and how important is it?

LE: I think it is of critical importance and one of the main reasons why I felt that it was not constructive or positive for Goodman Gallery to associate with the term African Art Fair. I do think we have to move away from the confines that come with these labels, and consider art as a global language, which is about the human condition globally. I think it is too driven by economics and markets in the West.

Yinka Shonibare CBE, Un Ballo in Maschera, 2004.

DR: I agree! Art is global – it’s not about Asian, African, American. I also think that it has a lot to do with the influence of a lot of organisations that have a ‘South Asian Sale’ or ‘Asian Art Week’. It doesn’t matter how much we think that the art is global if the branding or wording pushes us further into the corner that we want to come out of. This seems to be shifting as the West is looking more at the East. Of course, it will take time, but eventually one day art will be global, and for now we must work together to create global branding rather than regional.

LE: I will say that where it has been useful, if one thinks about a counterpoint, is something like the Johannesburg Art Fair. There has been a benefit of this as it becomes an educational opportunity to build a local collective and for artists to make money. I think we need give a little bit of credit as these regional fairs help to build art markets within our particular communities where there is an absence of cultural institutions and big museums.

Read more: Alan Lo On The Next Asian Art Hotspot

We also encourage these regional fairs to focus on quality and moments, bringing international art into the programme. That’s why for the Johannesburg Art Fair this year, being on the advisory board, South South have an interesting role in creating this shift. We included a video program with international galleries showing artists within the art fair context. It would be too expensive for galleries to show up at international art fairs, but it is an interesting way for audiences to experience international artists and galleries through the South South platform. This has been successful at art fairs this year as audiences can see international art.

LUX: Do you think there is a form of colonialism within the art world, whether conscious or unconscious, from major galleries and auction houses?

LE: I do feel so, although this is probably a bit controversial. We have all got a broader responsibility within our lifetime that I think we generally don’t necessarily take seriously enough and many of the big galleries will colonise or take the artists from the galleries in the Global South. They could be supporting artists and the community in a more productive way. Many galleries want William Kentridge, for example, but how many of them have actually shown up in Johannesburg and understood the context. It just becomes about brands and markets.

Nolan Oswald Dennis, notes for recovery (touch), 2020

DR: In these galleries the financial aspect is a very big factor and a lot of emerging galleries are not able to participate in the big fairs. I think it is more about the financial strength of certain galleries and their ability to dominate space rather than colonialism.

LUX: Looking to education and the consideration that many people who move in the Western art world have Art History Degrees, a.k.a an education dominated by the teaching of the European History of Art and 20th Century US history. Does there need to be a shift in the way the history of art is taught and its many origins and truths?

LE: Definitely – I think that is one of the fundamental pillars of South South. It is much more about the curatorial aspect and the archive than it is around the selling of art. We have a whole archive section on the website where we are looking to gather in one central place and repository of the history of art from The Global South. It is amazing how all of these histories or particular moments in The Global South are not written into the history books, so the idea is really around gathering all of them into a central space.

DR: Information, which is a big factor, was not available or generated in our part of the world – it always generated from Europe, for example there was a huge printing industry in Germany. Due to the fact we, politically and financially, relied on the Western world, they became the authority of information through their dissemination. That is where a lot of things have been influenced, it is not because of colonialism but because of the financial strength they had, that they told their own story, rather than The Global South.

Installation at FNB Art Joburg

LUX: Liza, Durjoy, what would you like to ask each other?

LE: For us at South South, we are now in a place where we want to recognise that post-covid we are returning to ‘business as usual’ with exhibitions and art fairs. I suppose what I am struggling with is how to make South South post-covid meaningful in the art world going forward, when we have to deal with the art world in its old form which is being on the road every few weeks for another fair. I am interested to know if you have any ideas while we are in a moment of reflection on how to move forward and make a success out of it?

DR: The South South platform must be balanced between commercial and non-commercial activities, because ultimately no activities can be successful long term if the business is not culturally sustainable. I think that covid has given us all a realisation of what the world needs, but I always say that art is an object too. We need to ensure its commercial viability. But on the other hand, what we have seen pre-covid at the art fairs is everything attached to the commercial sense. If we can encourage all the stakeholders and beneficiaries associated to work together to create a programme that is designed to give The Global South a stronger presence, I think that would be brilliant and give more representation and visibility to these artists.

Find out more: 

durjoybangladesh.org

south-south.art

One of the hottest tickets in Rome this month was ‘The Art of Conversation’ arranged by Deutsche Bank and Frieze with renowned artist, Karin Kneffel

The event was hosted amid the baroque opulence of Palazzo Barberini. Archrivals of the Medici family, the Barberini produced generations of wanton spendthrifts, nepotist popes and, consequently, bequeathed Italy a legacy of extraordinary art and heritage.

The discussion around art played-out in the Salone Pietro da Cortona, beneath the aptly-named fresco, “Triumph of Divine Providence”

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Hosts were Federico Scrocco [Vice Chairman International Private Bank Italy, Deutsche Bank] and Nathan Clemens-Gillespie [Director of Frieze Masters] who introduced the evening. Skilled probing from moderator Nicholas Cullinan, Director of London’s National Portrait Gallery, drew insights from artist Karin Kneffel about her use of perspective, scale and layering in her work.

A favoured student of Gerhard Richter, Karin Kneffel has a fascination with the super-real. The effects she produces with distanciation techniques were vividly shared through a curation of images that produced animated questions from the audience.

Read more: An Interview With KAWS

International guests drawn from art cognoscenti, government ministers, and leading entrepreneurs adjourned to the terrace to continue thoughtful conversation around the alignment of wealth with responsibility and the purposes of art in the 21st century.

Find out more: art.db.com

A portrait of the multitalented Lily Cole

The model and campaigner talks to Ella Johnson about environmental action, NFTs and how fashion can never be truly sustainable

1. What was your first piece of eco-activism?

Without it being intentionally connected to environmentalism, I guess it was campaigning against fur and turning vegetarian as a kid.

2. Why are you an “accidental entrepreneur”?

I’ve never resonated with the idea of business or entrepreneurship. I just have ideas and business has been a good vehicle for executing them, so it’s “accidental”. Perhaps “incidental entrepreneur” is a better way of saying it, as it’s an incidental by-product of following ideas.

3. What is the aim of your 2020 book and ongoing podcast, Who Cares Wins?

To draw attention to climate solutions and to foster a culture of diversity, dialogue and collaboration.

4. Who would be your ultimate guest for the podcast?

Thich Nhat Hanh. Aware it is too late for that.

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5. Why should we take an intersectional approach to environmentalism?

Because all our issues are interconnected and interwoven, both social and environmental. And because the key to embracing biodiversity involves embracing diversity on all levels, such as cultural diversity and diversity of thought.

6. The Queen asks you what to do. What do you tell her?

I ask her to listen to, support and champion indigenous voices. 

7. What was your greatest revelation while researching your book?

That we could halt global warming, draw down more than 15 years of carbon emissions, enhance global biodiversity and essentially stop the sixth mass extinction through a very simple, and technically possible, action: stopping most animal farming.

Cole, aged around 10, with an early activist fashion statement

8. Can we really stop global heating?

As above, and through many other solutions I look at in Who Cares Wins. Although it might not be possible to stop global heating in the short-to-medium term, we can potentially stop it in the longer term. And we can lessen the extent at which it accelerates, so it’s not too late to do something.

 9. Fashion can never be sustainable. True or false? 

If Adam and Eve swapping out fig leaves for, say, maple-tree leaves, was fashion, then yes, it can be. If most fashion remains made up of petrochemicals – 70 per cent of new fabrics are composed from plastic – and using non-circular business models, then no, probably not.

10. Why did you move to Portugal?

My daughter’s father is Portuguese and it felt like a good move to be closer to his family during the pandemic. Then I fell in love with the country: good nature, weather and people.

11. Have you ever bought an NFT?

Interesting question. I nearly did, as one was originally attached to a tapestry artwork I bought by Éva Ostrowska.

12. What’s your favourite building?

Sant’Ivo in Rome. The floor plan has a weird shape, like a bee. When Borromini drew the plans, he had to put the centre of the compass outside the ecclesiastical space to make it, which some interpret as a nod to the new idea that Earth was not the centre of the universe.

13. Tate Modern or Pompidou?

Tate Modern.

14. Is success about talent or effort?

It takes both, I’d think.

15. Which fictional character would you most want to have dinner with, why, and where?

Ada, from the novel by Nabokov. To pick her brain and play her games. On a sun-kissed beach.

Read more: An Interview with KAWS

16. What next, creatively?

Writing, writing, writing more.

Season 2 of Lily Cole’s Who Cares Wins podcast is available to stream now: lilycole.com/podcast

The Bentley Continental GT Speed

In the first part of our Driving Force series from the AW 2022/23 issue, LUX’s car reviewer gets behind the wheel of Bentley Continental GT Speed.

In this era of speed cameras and efficiency, the idea of a 12-cylinder car expressly made for two people touring the continent and called Speed, seems so impossibly incorrect that we had to try it. Our Bentley Continental GT Speed came in Damson, a rather tasteful purple close to black. The interior was also a deep purple, not of the heavy-metal kind but more what you might expect in the drawing room of the mildly wayward youngest son of an Italian count.

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Considering it is one of the faster models in a powerful car range beloved of footballers, as well as a wealth of a variety of other types, the Speed is remarkably un-blingy and understated. The engine hums: a tuneful moderate hum around town, a more purposeful hum on the highway and a “tuning up at the opera” hum when accelerating hard, when it is accompanied by a tasteful “whoosh”. It never makes any other noises, though; that would be out of keeping.

The standard Bentley Continental GT is such a good car of the type – comfortable, beautiful, powerful, fast and exclusive in feel – you need a good reason to choose the Speed, with its extra horsepower, instead. Driving around town, the difference is marginal. It picks up with a tad more vigour and turns corners more sharply, but this is a heavy luxury car and you can’t throw it around little bends as if it were a go-kart.

 The Speed’s significance becomes apparent on long stretches of empty rural roads. Here, if another car is impudently driving in front of you, shoot past by twitching the gas pedal: the car surges forward, stable whatever the road surface or weather conditions, due to its four-wheel-drive, to obtain its rightful place at the head of the traffic. For more drama when overtaking a line of cars, put the accelerator to the floor and it storms past, attaining a three-figure speed.

The Bentley Continental GT Speed combines all the understated elegance you might expect with the assurance that the driver is truly in the driving seat of the ride

It does all this with an air no other car, even its siblings, can quite achieve: effortless and muscular, yet the right side of involving. Bentley’s engineers have made sure that you, the driver, are not a passenger, as you are in some fast luxury cars. A Bentley driver likes to drive.

The quality of materials in the interior is as good or better than anything else on the road, perhaps barring Bugatti and Rolls-Royce. Even the Alcantara, the man-made suede stitched on the dashboard to give a sportier feel, seems of a lusher, thicker grade than in supercars. The controls feel as if they have been personally machined for you and have haptics familiar to owners of expensive watches.

Read more: LUX Car Review: Ferrari F8 Tributo and F8 Spider

Crucially, the Speed is easy to drive. If you wanted to drive it around Mayfair or Beverly Hills, it would be no problem. Visibility is good, the controls are light and straightforward, and you can get in and out easily. The seats are comfortable in the front, although with limited room for rear-seat passengers, in GT style. If you want a Bentley for four, there are other models in the range – less sexy, but more practical.

Is there anything missing? Objectively, no. Subjectively, while the car offers all the speed you would expect, we think there is room for a Bentley that offers an even more sporty driving experience, even at the expense of some comfort. When that comes, we will certainly want one.

LUX rating: 18.5/20

Find out more: bentleymotors.com

Will and Amanda Harlan

Will and Amanda Harlan have taken over an American icon. The siblings are now running Harlan Estate, the legendary wine estate created by their father Bill Harlan, who famously set out in the 1980s to prove that America could create the equivalent of a Chateau Lafite. Included in the family’s holdings are two other top-end California wine estates, a luxury resort, and one of the world’s most exclusive private members’ clubs. Darius Sanai speaks with the new generation about succession, family harmony, and plans for the next 200 years

Chatting with Will and Amanda Harlan, you wouldn’t think they were royalty. Will, Amanda’s elder brother, is thoughtful, gentle in his mannerisms, philosophical but focussed in his thinking. Amanda is, ostensibly, more outgoing, more cheery and chatty, although plainly her social vibe hides plenty of deep intent – she was, earlier in life, a professional dressage rider who won gold and silver at the junior OIympics.

And although neither Will nor Amanda are actually royals, even in a my-great-uncle-was-a-Hapsburg, European extended way, they are royalty in an important sense. Their father, Bill Harlan, founded Harlan Estate in Napa Valley in 1984. A real estate developer (among other things), Harlan Senior set out to create a wine estate near California’s Pacific Coast that would rival the great names of France – Château Lafite, Cheval Blanc, Romanée-Conti – for both quality and reputation.

Harlan set himself a monumental task, but achieved it remarkably quickly. His fourth vintage was rated a perfect 100/100 by the uber-wine critic Robert Parker; his British counterpart Jancis Robinson of the Financial Times labelled Harlan one of the ten best wines of the 20th century. Harlan Estate then rode on a wave, partly of its own making, of enthusiasm and glamour for the top wines of California. The wave was fuelled by the 1990s dot com boom that minted thousands of new millionaires in the area: if your home was in Pacific Heights, why would you only champion wines from across the world in France?

Harlan Estate is on the west side of the fabled Napa Valley

Harlan Estate rapidly became a near-mythical wine, family owned, hard and very expensive to get, desire and scarcity fuelling each other. Part of it was a lust for the new, among the newly rich, that created the contemporary art boom of the era that has never stopped since; part of it was that Bill Harlan made exceptionally good wine, a true match for the great names of the old world, in a style that was more rich and less bitter than a classic Bordeaux. Harlan Estate was a top-level wine that didn’t need an instruction manual to be properly appreciated.

Harlan Snr contributed to his revered status by announcing a 200 year plan for the estate, to gain a long-term reputation equal to the world’s greatest chateaux. Napa Valley was turning from a beautiful area, between two mountain ranges, with some wine farms, to some of the most desirable real estate in the US. The area’s private members’ club, Napa Valley Reserve, part-owned by the Harlans, is one of the most exclusive in the world, with a $165,000 entry fee. Billionaires are left on waiting lists for the top Napa wines, led by Harlan and other names like Screaming Eagle.

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I first met Bill Harlan and his wife Deborah at an event in France in 2015. The division I headed at Condé Nast had just been asked to take over a wine and luxury magazine run by a Hong Kong wine writer, and the Harlans, along with other celebrated names in wine, were at the publication’s lavish launch party. They were incisive, distinguished, curious.

I then spent some time with Will and Amanda in Napa in early 2022. It was wintertime, but the ongoing drought and days of blue sky and uninterrupted sunshine made for a spectacular backdrop as we toured the Howard Backen-designed buildings and high vineyards, bordering forests, at Promontory. Promontory is another of the family’s properties: situated on a mountaintop separating Napa with neighbouring Sonoma, much of it is wild woodland, interspersed with vines, making wines with a cool, stony complexity.

We also visited Bond, another property of the family, another intellectual project, this time with the aim of making distinctive Cabernet Sauvignon out of single vineyards chosen to be distinctive. While much of the Harlan vision is inspired by Bordeaux, Bond has a vision rooted in Burgundy, where individual vineyards, and even areas within vineyards, are identified as the best of the best.

St Eden Vineyard

And we tasted The Mascot, the brainchild of Will: a wine they would hesitate to call entry level, as the price of a bottle is more than a meal for four in a family restaurant in Europe, but which is aimed to be more accessible, both in terms of price and style. The Mascot’s raison d’être is that it is made from younger vines of all three properties (Harlan Estate, BOND, and Promontory). Initially, it was a blend made for the family table, but Will and Amanda convinced their father and the winemakers to let them offer it on its own. The Mascot is a delicious red wine that is both fresh and deep: a more playful Miu Miu to Harlan Estate’s architectural Prada.

One of the most striking aspects of the trip was a visit to the Napa Valley Reserve. This is part super-exclusive wine estate, part hyper-exclusive members’ club, on the eastern side of Napa Valley with views of the Mayacamas Mountains. Members pay very high fees to join, and as well as access to some quite sublime restaurants and spaces, they get to create their very own blend of top-level Napa wines.

I was amazed so little has been made of Napa Valley Reserve globally – a similar club in France or Tuscany would have attracted reams of magazine pages and petabytes of digital coverage, and would have hosted numerous fashion shoots and art shows. But royalty is discreet. Too discreet, I wondered, as I wandered around, thinking idly of who might create something at a similar level in Europe. Bernard Arnault of LVMH would make it a Cheval Blanc and commodify it. François Pinault of Kering has the pedigree in Chateau Latour (and Christie’s) but no hospitality experience. Michel Reybier of La Reserve group? Soho House? Sharan and Eiesha Pasricha of Maison Estelle?

Finally, I caught up with Will and Amanda together, over Zoom, to speak about succession and what it feels like taking over such a carefully assembled portfolio of estates and properties – the family also own Meadowood, a luxury hotel resort in a wooded valley on the edge of Napa – with a view to the next 200 years.

Will, ever thoughtful, sometimes philosophical, never predictable, tended to take the lead, as elder sibling and managing director. Amanda, with a smile in her voice, would defer but sometimes come in and make her point, enthusiastically and with an articulacy and economy of words.

The spa at Meadowood, the family’s luxury resort on the east side of Napa Valley

The impression was of the next generation, in a family succession, taking over from a powerful and charismatic father, who are taking the reins thoughtfully, respectfully, and with the same determination shown by their parents: and with the confidence to do what they wish, within the context of a 200 year plan.

LUX: What is it like to be part of a succession?

Will Harlan: That’s not a word we have internally used, but it is a succession at the end of the day. And this transition of generations, I think the most important word we find ourselves using is continuity. Being able to provide that structure and environment in which we can pass along the most amount of experience and wisdom and everything from the previous generations, not just of the family but of the team as well, so I think we find ourselves thinking more in terms of continuity.

LUX: Taking over a family business, do you ever feel daunted, ask yourself, what if I mess it up?

WH: I mean, there’s always going to be an element of that and I think it’s important to have an element of that, because without feeling that it’s daunting you might be missing, first of all just how much potential there, is, and I think you’d be missing a certain aspect of humility, and without that I don’t think you’re open minded enough to grow and continue to improve and evolve. As Amanda says, we’ve been doing this for a little bit and my learning curve feels vertical, it feels like we’ve been drinking from a fire hose, for me, a little over ten years and it doesn’t seem like the fire hose is turning off any time soon. So, there’s that element, but at the same time, I’m now building up a bank of things that I’ve now gotten the hang of, and some familiarity, enough that there is a little more balance between the comfort and discomfort of the daunting nature of the role.

Amanda Harlan: I was going to say, Will is a couple years ahead of me and I think in a very different way has been working very closely alongside my father, there was a very crucial passing of the baton the last few years, and on the visionary, philosophical side, has been a lot closer to it than I have. The first five or six years of my joining the business, I was out in the market, so for me, I think it was very exciting and maybe the daunting part is just setting in a little bit. But I do have to say, maybe along with the inevitable rollercoaster of emotion that comes day to day, I’d say the most exciting and maybe solid part for me is that I’m not doing it alone, and that I have my brother and Cory [Empting, Managing Director of Wine-growing] and a really solid team around us, that is arm in arm with us as we climb this proverbial mountain. But I can’t speak for my brother.

Promontory, the Harlan family’s newest property, has a winery designed by Howard Backen with long, organic sightlines

LUX: What are hardest things that you have to do day-to-day in the business?

AH: I mean I would say, a lot for me of this steep learning curve… my studies took me to other places, studying psychology, studying sociology, being very close with people and human behaviour and I think as I delve deeper into leadership and management and learning from our team and my parents and with Will and Cory, I think a lot of the thing I’m learning most is how businesses run, how finances run, a lot of these behind the scenes inner workings, of opening the hood of the car and recognising you’ve driven this whole thing but you didn’t really understand how it worked. So maybe the most challenging thing for me right now is really trying to get up to speed with my contemporaries within the company. And I think, time. I find myself on a day-to-day basis challenged with how can I maximise the time and I do my best to prioritise but when you’re so close to something and so passionate I find myself challenged with time to get everything done with intent and great focus. That’s what I would say my greatest challenge is.

WH: I think maybe the thing that hasn’t come as naturally to me, while I love the wine business, is the management of people aspect. It is just such a different kind of role and I think that is the place where I’m really trying to put in the work to improve: management, leadership, as we go through this generational shift, I think that’s the place where I find myself feeling it every day.

LUX: Will, is there pressure being your father’s son?

AH: I mean, in some ways. There’s an expectation, whether or not that’s what the world expects or what the team expects, there’s always going to be, at least for me, this drive and dedication to go further and beyond and always attempting as a team to realise our potential and go beyond anything the first generation could have.

LUX: And with the wines themselves, obviously you want to keep things on track, everyone wants to improve what they already have, but is there room for improvement?

WH: I feel really strongly about this. Yes, of course. There’s room for improvement. It takes generations to really understand a piece of land and you take Harlan Estate, no one farmed the land before us, we’re the first people to farm this plot and to think we’ve got it figured out would be almost hilarious.

LUX: We spoke about the 200-year plan, so it’s now 200 years’ time from now, and my successors are creating a book on 200 and something years of Harlan and they’re speaking to your successors. What are they going to write about the second generation? What will you have done by the time you hand down to whomever you’ve have handed down to?

A reception at the Napa Valley Reserve

WH: I feel like they may recount that the first generation was able to identify the land, and able to put the elements together to form the foundation, and the second generation was really able to build on top of that and understand the character of the place, understand the latent identity of this place, and really was able to refine the translation of this into the wine so that by the end of our tenure, people see each one of these, Harlan Estate, Bond, Promontory, as really independently deserving of being at the table among the really fine wines of the world. And at the end of that fifty years in front of me, we will have had the benefit of having wines that are now 50,60,70 years old that can show, that can prove that not only are these compelling when they’re young, but they take on and can achieve these facets that we see in some of the old wines after some serious ageing.

AH: To add to that, I think really doubling down on having our internal organisation be somewhere that’s really committed to great human capital and flourishing in a lot of ways, and us being a place that people hope and dream that maybe they’ll also have children that will be inspired and want to also join our family business. So, those are the only other two little things I would probably add on that I would love to be remembered and recognised as our generation was part of.

LUX: Do you ever disagree about anything?

WH: In general; I might make the general statement that our family is fairly aligned in terms of feeling strongly that the direction and vision that we’re on is the right one. For instance, I don’t think there’s ever been a case where my dad and I were misaligned on the vision, maybe we disagree on how to get there, but we’re totally there on what the potential is, what the opportunity is, and where we feel we can take things. I think our default setpoint, even with Amanda and I, I think is that we’re pretty aligned. Amanda and I are very complementary in terms of our skillsets and the things that we can bring to the business, so I’ve at least never felt that competitive nature that could come and maybe misalign priorities or intent.

AH: I totally agree. I’ve always felt very grateful to have a brother that was really solidly great at all the gifts that weren’t bestowed upon me.

WH: And vice versa!

Meadowood Fitness Pool

LUX: What are those gifts? What are your complimentary skills?

AH: I mean, I feel very very grateful that I have a brother who is also very much like my father in being a visionary who also comes at life with a very philosophical view, who is very thoughtful and intelligent and brilliant, but is also not afraid to go beyond and dream big, but is also very fair and very kind and I think is very strategic, and able to be a problem solver in a way that I was never able to. But I think as a leader and someone who constantly has his finger on the pulse of what’s happening, globally, not just in the world of wine, but I think across many different platforms and fields, it is very settling for me knowing that someone, especially my brother, is able to see beyond the scope on which we are focused every day.

WH: Well first of all, thank you Amanda. And again, vice versa. Amanda’s natural setpoint of just being someone that cares deeply and can connect with people, I don’t care who it is on the planet, from celebrities and royalty, down to really pretty much anybody that she comes across. And connect in a very real, authentic, and caring way, and the relationships that she builds effortlessly, I think, are things that I’ve found myself oftentimes having to work very hard at. We have to engage and bring people into what we’re doing, not just from an intellectual standpoint but from an emotional standpoint, and there needs to be some connection on a human level, that comes to Amanda very naturally. She accomplishes at a very high level, but also very authentically and in a very caring way.

AH: Making me tear up over here Will. Thank you.

LUX: Is the focus then to take what you already have to another level?

WH: It certainly is from my perspective and the word focus, is really important, to me but also to where we are. In the evolution of our family business, we now have three wine growing endeavours here in Napa Valley: Harlan Estate, Bond, and Promontory, in addition to Meadowood and the Napa Valley Reserve. We have these three pillars, we founded each one of these in the same 25-year period of time, and I think we all feel and believe so strongly in the potential of each one of them. In that we are just barely scratching the surface today of the potential of each one.

The vineyards at the Promontory property are set high in the hills amid wild woodlands

As we understand the land of each of them, really elevate our ability to translate the instinct and latent character of the land into the wine, we see a much more exciting and compelling potential by retaining a certain focus and going deeper and deeper and deeper and bringing our wines to the next level, next level, next level. That to us is more in line with our culture and our philosophy and our vision, rather than expanding the other direction, broadly and trying to grow more in size or in breadth, or in diversity of different business, ancillary or lateral moves. That’s how I look at it, but it’s not for lack of belief in potential, evolution, and growth. But the growth for us is more this deepening than size or breadth.

LUX: Amanda, you are responsible for Meadowood [the luxury resort] and also Napa Valley Reserve [the private members’ wine club and estate]?

AH: Indeed, it’s under one umbrella. We are diving deeper into the next iteration of what Meadowood is and will become, as well as the Napa Valley Reserve and the generational shift that is occurring.

LUX: And with Meadowood and Napa Valley Reserve, isn’t that a completely different business to making great wines? And is your membership becoming more international?

WH: Well, the Napa Valley Reserve has a wine growing element to it. We have vineyards, a winery, that’s part of the concept. In terms of membership, I would say about half of our new members that are coming in aren’t necessarily local members. We have a much broader group of folks that are interested in what we’re doing at the Napa Valley Reserve. So when they do come to Napa Valley, from, let’s say Hong Kong, once or twice a year, they are able to create tradition within their family and have their family come and spend time in the vineyard, really work closely with our team, creating their own blend and maybe tweaking it a little bit each time they’re here, year after year. We have a couple of events that are the pinnacles of bringing our membership together a couple of times a year.

Wanting to be closer to nature was accelerated during the pandemic, and I think creating new tradition within the 21st century has been a big part of bringing family together that may live all over the world, but come together a few times in the year, predominantly around flowering, when the vines are flowering, and then harvest time. So, I would definitely say that with the current international members we do have, we have had a huge upswing since the pandemic happened and folks really wanting to be closer to nature.

Napa Valley Reserve Entrance

LUX: With the wines – you could sell everything you produce several times over in the US alone. Yet you enjoy selling worldwide.

WH: From a very early age, we were brought up with this very long-term vision, this 200-year plan that my dad talked about quite a bit. Part of this is that we have got to think quite far down the road, oftentimes outside the span of our own lifetimes, which takes a while to get used to, really with the vision of feeling that, first of all Napa Valley, as a region has the potential to be considered among the fine wine regions of the world. We’re a younger region, but I think we’ve made some pretty good strides in that direction. And on top of that, the particular interest within the Napa Valley is identifying those plots of land that aren’t just of the highest quality, but have that very specific and differentiating and distinctive character, that we can produce wines ourselves that deserve to be among the finest in the world.

Read more: Lamberto Frescobaldi on 1000 years of tradition and wine

And I think in order to create the strongest foundation for this family business in the long run, we felt it was pretty important to have an international scope, not just from a business perspective, being able to be very diversified in our audience, but also in terms of credibility. There’s a huge amount of significance of being able to say that not only are we a great wine in America, but we can really gain this credibility with the international trade, critics, collectors, etc, and having that international presence that positioning outside our home market was really important as we build this very long term foundation, being considered really among the fine wines of the world.

LUX: Is there a snobbery among old world collectors, that they look down on wines from from Napa, or are we over that?

WH: No, of course you still find a little bit of that, and I don’t think that will ever totally go away. Maybe a hundred years from now it’s a little bit more economical, but no, I think there’s still a lot of work that we need to do, being out in the world, building relationships, telling our story, but more importantly showing the wines. Not necessarily just the wines from this year, but showing the wines that we made thirty years ago and showing that these can age and can actually develop and evolve into really elegant and compelling wines, that’s on us, we’ve got to be out there doing the work to build that understanding.

Promontory Fermentation Room

LUX: For me, Promontory is on a level with Chateau Cheval Blanc. But how do you achieve that sort of brand equity for Promontory when there isn’t that much of it around?

WH: We just need to be in the market, building these relationships internationally. What Cheval Blanc has that we don’t have is time. They’ve got a storied history. They’ve been doing this for multiples of the amount of time that we’ve been doing this, and so I think there’s just a market presence because of that historical awareness for Cheval Blanc, and at this point there’s a pretty big delta between that and us. Can we diminish that gap, of course. That’s what we’re going to be trying to do, that’s what time on its own will do, I don’t think we can circumvent that completely. Even just to be mentioned in the same realm as some of these great wines of the world, for us is inspiring, and it feels like an honour to be considered among these.

Find out more:

harlanestate.com
www.promontory.wine
www.bond.wine

Dr Oxana Mulholland

Dr Oxana Mulholland is the Investment Director at the London Technology Club, a space for investors and tech professionals to network and exchange ideas within the industry. Here, Dr Mulholland speaks to LUX’s Leaders and Philanthropists Editor, Samantha Welsh about women in the tech industry and the future of the tech world

LUX: With your background in strategic investment advisory, what drew you to specialise in tech investing and VC?
Dr Oxana Mulholland: The simple answer- I love it! Right now, the old industrial platform is collapsing, and we can’t quite make out what’s coming next. Flows of information are fuelling vast networks of knowledge, allowing us to tinker with everything from the building blocks of life to technologies that behave more like natural biological systems. We’re entering a period of increasing human-tech collaboration.

This shift from one platform to the next is likely to create massive amounts of obsolescence, but also opportunity. I see this as a thrilling opportunity for our investments to help shape the future and with the London Technology Club we can bring savvy investors along with us.

LUX: What are the barriers to entry (if any) for women entering this field and how did you deal with these?
OM: The data is compelling. Wage inequality, entrenched views about women’s and men’s roles, a lack of industry role models, and negative stories like Elizabeth Holmes are among the barriers identified by women thinking of entering the field.

Barbara Fredrickson from the University of North Carolina discovered “the positivity ratio” or the fact that it takes three positive thoughts to counter a single negative thought. For me, this “three-to-one” ratio plays out. Even though the roles are there, the data tell us there simply aren’t enough women applying.

I think it’s time we flipped the script. I think it’s time we adopted a growth mindset and reframed these negative data points as rocket fuel. Spend any time with the extraordinary and inspirational women transforming the industry and you’ll experience this first hand. In my experience, these women echo author John Irving’s blunt and straightforward advice on persistence: “Get obsessed, stay obsessed.” Of course, early-stage passion looks very different to late-stage passion. Early-stage passion is multiple curiosities coupled with a few successes. While the goal may be to “get obsessed, stay obsessed,” my advice to women entering the field is “get curious, stay curious.”

LUX: What would you advise other talented women aspiring to join the tech and VC industry?
OM: It is such an important question. It also raises a more fundamental question: We are on the threshold of a new era of human-tech collaboration, so what skills will the next generation of talent need to thrive?

History tells us that in times of rapid change, success favours those who can make big leaps of imagination, courage, and effort. And the faster the world changes the more fluidly you need to adapt. It reminds me of a quote from the renowned futurist Alvin Toffler who wrote, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”

So, here’s my advice to the teams I mentor: Instead of expecting traditional business schools to do what they can’t do, take your learning into your own hands. Use traditional courses for what they can do – introducing you to what’s well-known – and in parallel, explore other ways to discover what’s less well-known, what’s special to your own interests, and what’s of real value to you. This could be anything from an apprenticeship to a personal project, or a self-prescribed reading program. But when you shift your focus from results to gaining understanding, you set yourself on the road to mastery. You learn how to learn.

LUX: Which women-led tech businesses are consistently outperforming their markets?
OM: When Ayumi Moore Aoki founded Women in Tech in 2018, I was honoured to join her Web Summit launch event. Since then, Ayumi has turned Women in Tech into a global movement to help women embrace technology. The event was also a pivotal moment for me as I spent time with game-changing trailblazers like Canva’s Co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins. With her blend of laser focus, drive, and humility, Melanie and Canva’s meteoric rise come as no surprise.

Blockchain and real estate are a potent combination. But only the team at Propy, led by Founder and CEO Natalia Karayaneva are truly disrupting and reshaping the real estate market with automated transactions and the world’s first settlement on smart contracts.

LUX: Where are the most promising areas in the tech landscape right now?
OM: From an investment standpoint, I’m most excited by technologies that increase the opportunities for human-tech collaborations. At a macro level that means AI and Blockchain. While both technologies have always shown potential, it is only now that we’re beginning to understand what they are capable of.

I can see AI reaching a tipping point soon. As massive amounts of information meet quantum processing power it will open new worlds of possibilities. One of the most exciting predictions is the potential to break language barriers, enabling AI to understand and interpret different languages simultaneously.

Right now, someone is creating a blockchain solution to disrupt a traditional business model. Blockchain-enabled business models present a seismic shift to how business is conducted in the future. But navigating dated rules and age-old playbooks is the greatest challenge to its universal adoption. As blockchain becomes more widely and systematically understood I can only see its rapid proliferation into our everyday lives.

LUX: Does your evident passion for discovery spin out to interests beyond tech?
OM: I’ve always believed that travel is the best investment you can make in yourself. Whether it’s an impromptu weekend in the Cotswolds, catching the perfect wave on the Moroccan coast, or exploring the spiritual heart of Bali, leaving my daily habits behind allows me to see things differently. As writer and avid traveller Henry Miller once said, “One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.”

Closer to home, there’s nothing I enjoy more than pottery. While spinning clay the world seems to melt away and I lose myself in my creative bubble. Perhaps it’s the elementary combination of earth, fire, air, and water with pure imagination, or just an excuse to get messy, but the transformations are magical.

LUX: So how important is it to achieve a work-life balance?
OM: I have a superpower: I love what I do. And as a tech entrepreneur, my husband loves what he does too. Perhaps it’s why we’re so comfortable blurring the lines between our work life and our home life. It could also be because I feel there’s more value in finding the similarities in things than seeing the difference between them. I’ve always found that while there are two opposing sides to balance, there’s no possibility of progress, only compromise.

The common ingredient when I’ve tried to “do it all” and find I can’t even “do a little” is how well I manage stress. A little stress can be a great motivator, but out-of-control stress can be overwhelming. But I’ve discovered a secret: Stress isn’t about bad experiences; it’s about how much control you have over the bad experiences.

LUX: What pearl of wisdom would you give to your 18-year-old self?
OM: Nothing! I was having so much fun at 18. I’ve always enjoyed having fun. I’ll continue to enjoy having fun. All the choices I’ve made have made me who I am, and I don’t regret a single moment.

Find out more: londontechnologyclub.com

Aino Grapin is CEO of Winch Design, an international design studio for luxury planes, homes and most famously, yachts. Here, Grapin speaks to Samantha Welsh about the increased focus on sustainability in yacht design and the special requests of next generation yacht owners

1. What was the founding vision for Winch Design 36 years ago?

Drawing inspiration from Andrew’s own passion for sailing and the sea, Winch Design first began in 1986 by focusing its creativity on sailing and motor yachts. With a 36-year heritage in superyacht design, our studio is now creating projects across land, air and sea.

The challenge we set ourselves for each day is to realise the dreams of our clients. Their aspirations are, in themselves extraordinary in their sophistication and scale, inviting a creative response that has to be both unique and full of imagination.

2. Deeply embedded at the outset in environmental and social responsibility, how is the company working to meet UN sustainable development goals at studio level?

Andrew had a genuine interest in sustainability very early before it became such a hot topic and has driven that passion into the business. We have created our own ‘Life Worth Living’ plan to care for people and the planet through four key pillars: protecting our air, land and sea, caring for our communities, leading our industries and transforming our business. We have also partnered with the Water Revolution Foundation and signed their Code of Conduct, committing to prioritising sustainability throughout our entire supply chain.

Follow LUX on Instagram: luxthemagazine

At studio level, we have a dedicated sustainability specialist whose responsibility it is to research, source and test, not only materials, but suppliers too. They manage a resource matrix of sustainable suppliers that analyses and tracks their methods of sourcing, manufacturing and application of each material to check it meets the correct criteria.

3. Data shows the average age of a boat buyer has decreased by over ten years since the pandemic, what does this new generation want from a luxury fit-out?

We are seeing an increase of younger owners, who are typically more in-tune with the effects of climate change and ocean pollution and are more likely to request or be open to innovative and sustainable yacht design.

In terms of interiors, younger clients do not like the high-gloss and dark wood finishes which are typically associated with traditional yacht interiors. Natural textures and experimental finishes are more popular with younger clients.

Younger clients are also asking for more informal social spaces, a step away from formal dining and entertainment styles traditionally found. This is showing that guests really want to switch off when they’re at sea. Clients are staying on board longer and require more multi-functional spaces.

Explorer yachts are also gaining popularity with the younger crowd. Clients want to be able to navigate around the globe for extended periods of time in a 7* environment. Their yacht must be able to thrive in any environment, no matter how harsh.

4. At project inception, how do you persuade clients to make sustainable choices?

We make sure to introduce all of our clients to sustainable options right at the start of the process. The choice of sustainable materials becomes a part of the narrative of the project and we educate our clients to understand that sustainable options don’t mean you have to compromise on luxury.

5. Where are you focusing your design energies?

Alongside sustainability factors and the increased popularity in explorer yachts, we are seeing an increased focus on the use of glass on yachts. Huge expanses of glass are being used, to bring the outside in and allow clients to feel immersed in their surroundings. This yearning for a connection with nature has also led to the increase in more refined, natural interiors, with open grain woods, soft, light furnishings and even living walls of greenery.

Read more: Markus Müller on Nature Economy

We have no set house design style and as a result each project we complete is totally unique. Currently we are working on a variety of projects across our yacht, aviation and architecture studio. These include VIP submarines, the world’s largest twinjet plane and the OWO (Old War Office) penthouse.

6. What do clients most want from their time at sea?

Our clients want time to switch off, enjoy time with their family and friends and explore new destinations in complete privacy.

Find out more: winchdesign.com

Charlize Theron wearing Chopard’s responsibly mined diamonds at Cannes

The new buzz phrase for business is “profit with purpose”. So how are leaders in the luxury and consumer industries facing the need to adapt to increasingly stringent sustainability criteria? Interviews by Ella Johnson and Candice Tucker

For brands, ensuring that consumer and luxury products comply with standards for Environmental, Sustainability and Governance (ESG) factors can be tough. How much water pollution do your steel suppliers create? What is the carbon footprint of your distributor in South America? How does the main supplier of your fasteners treat its staff?

These questions are becoming paramount for any company expecting to survive and thrive in the coming decades. Consumers are increasingly asking if products are sustainably created, if brands treat their staff and suppliers ethically. A company may still make profits on the back of a high-carbon footprint now, but it is far less likely to be able to do so in 10 or 20 years time.

We spoke to industry leaders across sectors for their insights into succeeding in a new era.

JEWELLERY
CAROLINE SCHEUFELE
Artistic director and co-president, Chopard
In 2013 Caroline Scheufele launched Chopard’s Journey to Sustainable Luxury, an in-house programme that committed the Swiss luxury jeweller to responsible sourcing. The brand has also forged a philanthropic relationship with the Alliance for Responsible Mining, helping gold-mining communities achieve Fairmined status.

LUX: Chopard’s engagement with ESG predates that of most jewellery houses. How did it start?
Caroline Scheufele: As a family-run business, ethics have always been at our heart. More than 40 years ago, my parents developed a vertically integrated in-house production system and invested in mastering all crafts internally. This means the full traceability of our gold supply chain is guaranteed through our operating model. It is based on a closed-loop system that also enables us to recycle pre-consumer gold scraps or “production waste” in our gold foundry.

LUX: How do you ensure responsible sourcing?
CS: In 2018 we became the first jewellery and watch maison to commit to using 100 per cent ethical gold for our watch and jewellery pieces. It is a bold commitment, but one we have to pursue if we are to make a difference to the lives of the people who make our work possible.

LUX: How does research help?
CS: Our R&D works to make our raw materials and production practices more sustainable. One example is the creation of ethically produced Lucent steel, which took four years research. It’s an alloy made from 70 per cent recycled metals and is 50 per cent harder than other steels. It also helps minimise our carbon footprint.

LUX: Does your model help or hinder creativity?
CS: Working with responsibly sourced material stimulates my creativity. The Insofu emerald, which we presented in Paris Haute Couture Week 2022, was discovered in the Kagem mine in Zambia and is one of the most important gems found for weight, quality and traceability. By buying a raw stone, we can follow its entire journey to final creation. Our craftspeople will cut the raw emerald and collect all the cut gems. We will then incorporate sustainability into our creations through eco-design thinking.

LUX: What does it mean for the future of luxury?
CS: True luxury comes only when you know the handprint of your supply chain.

chopard.com

AUTOMOTIVE
MARKUS SCHÄFER
Chief technology officer and member of the board of management, Mercedes-Benz Group AG

Mercedes-Benz’s Vision EQXX, its most energy- efficient car ever

Under Markus Schäfer, Mercedes-Benz has embarked on an electrification plan that will see battery electric vehicles (BEV) in every segment by the end of 2022, and an all-electric fleet by 2030. It is the first premium automobile manufacturer whose climate objectives have been verified by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI) in line with the Paris Agreement.

LUX: What are the challenges of sustainability in the automotive sector?
Markus Schäfer: Our main ambition has always been to build the world’s most desirable cars. At the same time, our framework is changing dramatically, so we are rethinking our entire business model, with sustainability as our guiding principle. Our goal is to take the lead in electric driving and car software. And we will make our new car fleet CO2-neutral by 2039 – along the entire value chain and life cycle. It is a giant challenge, but for our brand it is also exciting.

LUX: Are luxury and sustainability compatible?
MS: Luxury has different meanings for everyone. In essence, it is simply about being completely at ease. Now it includes knowing your products and services helps reduce our footprint. For us, luxury is linked to setting new technological standards, and the age of sustainable and software-driven mobility gives us opportunities to do so. We think it will also make us interesting for new, younger customers who live a mindful-luxury lifestyle. At Mercedes-Benz, we want to combine our traditional strengths – innovation, safety, design, and comfort – with mobility that is sustainable and utterly intuitive. Luxury has always been a part of our DNA, and a driver of innovation.

LUX: If everyone moves towards electrification, what will differentiate your products?
MS: We think digital and sustainable innovations will be the top USP in luxury cars. With our Vision EQXX technology-programme prototype, we achieve more than 620 miles (1,000km) on a single battery charge. We are also increasing the use of recycled materials and researching new sustainable materials – we will use almost totally CO2-free steel in various models from 2025. With innovative car software we can offer customers the gift of time: we were the first car manufacturer to gain approval for conditionally automated Level 3 driving, without any safety compromises.

mercedes-benz.com

FASHION
MARIE-CLAIRE DAVEU
Chief sustainability officer, Kering

Kering’s Material Innovation Lab, the brand’s sustainable- materials hub in Milan

It was in 2011 under Marie-Claire Daveu that French luxury-goods group Kering introduced its innovative Environmental Profit & Loss (EP&L), an initiative to quantify environmental impact across the company’s operations and supply chains. It is now standard practice elsewhere.

LUX: Can collaboration help green transition?
Marie-Claire Daveu: Even a big company is not big enough to change a paradigm – it has to cross-fertilise with peers. For us, collaboration is in the DNA of our sustainability strategy. When we speak about sustainability, it includes being an open source and sharing our best practices. It is also about working with other sectors. It’s why we’re part of the One Planet Business for Biodiversity (OP2B) coalition, which includes food companies and the likes of Unilever. You may question why we have joined it, but regenerative agriculture is as important to us as it is to the food industry. Both of us take our raw materials from nature. We have the same origin.

LUX: Why did Kering invest in the vintage fashion platform Vestiaire Collective in 2021?
MCD: We were quite disruptive to go into vintage. It was our way of proving that purpose and profit go together. For us, it is interesting to have a seat on the Vestiaire board and see how we can develop a green e-commerce. There are new challenges with packaging, transportation and how we engage with customers. We are only at the beginning, but I think the idea of a second life will evolve in luxury and beyond.

LUX: Should leadership come from the top?
MCD: Sustainability is becoming more important to consumers and shareholders, but there is so much to do that, unless leaders prioritise it, you won’t do it. Luxury leaders must push for it both inside and outside their direct ecosystems.

LUX: Can fashion ever be sustainable?
MCD: You have to give people hope and solutions. I believe in a circular economy, upcycling, recycling – a 360 approach. With nature it’s about equilibrium. You have a problem if you take too much. But if you give nature the possibility to regenerate itself, there is no issue.

kering.com

TRAVEL
SVEN-OLOF LINDBLAD
Co-chair and founder, Lindblad Expeditions

A moment on Lindblad Expeditions’ Antarctic humpback observation trip

Sven-Olof Lindblad is an Ocean Elder whose work combines marine conservation, education and eco-tourism. Lindblad Expeditions has been at the forefront of environmentally sensitive expedition travel since its founding in 1979, raising more than $19m for conservation and scientific research and forming a strategic alliance with National Geographic.

LUX: Are there opportunities in sustainability?
Sven-Olof Lindblad: The more people think about sustainability, the more valuable the natural assets become that travel companies need to run their businesses. If you place more emphasis on protecting coral reefs, companies that want to incorporate coral reefs as part of their travel offering will have something that is more valuable and meaningful to travellers. But there are economic impacts to sustainability which makes things expensive. Some businesses don’t care enough yet because they think their audiences don’t, particularly in mass tourism where every dollar spent becomes significant. So companies have to believe, as I do, that sustainable behaviour is important, otherwise they are making decisions that, on the surface, do not make economic sense in the short term.

LUX: Do the wealthy have a responsibility to travel more responsibly?
SOL: I’m not that black and white. I might be sitting on my own private yacht now, but I’m on a research mission in Panama for a month interacting with Panama’s government to figure out how to evolve responsible tourism there. One of the most effective ways of doing that is by taking a boat, exploring the coastlines. Is that bad? I think it is using a boat to positive effect. There isn’t technology at the moment that allows us to eliminate burning carbon entirely, so we offset everything we do.

LUX: How do your expeditions ensure meaningful action in sustainability?
SOL: We take a lot of action in a variety of forms. We have a fund where we raise and distribute approximately $3m per year to conservation, activities, education and exploration. But it is also meaningful to engage people, making it possible for them to have experiences in the natural world that inspire them to think differently about natural assets. They can then change behaviours in their own lives or even create certain changes of action in their spheres of influence. That’s important, too.

world.expeditions.com

YACHTING
JAMIE EDMISTON
Chief executive, Edmiston; chair, Levidian
Yacht brokerage firm Edmiston has collaborated with climate-tech business Levidian to bring its LOOP decarbonisation technology to yachting. The device is expected to deliver significant benefits to battery technology, paints, coatings, and desalinisation systems in the maritime sector.

LUX: What are the biggest barriers to the decarbonisation of yachting?
Jamie Edmiston: Nearly all yachts burn diesel in their engines, so, until someone comes up with a suitable alternative engine, short-term innovations have to be in cleaning the emissions before they enter the atmosphere. Medium-term, we have to find other fuels than diesel, whether powered by battery or hydrogen.

LUX: How is Edmiston innovating in the sector?
JE: We have become involved with the climate-tech business Levidian, which has developed a LOOP device that takes methane, the main constituent of natural gas, and turns it into carbon, graphene and hydrogen. Around 40 per cent of the carbon is removed just by that one process, which means that all the gas being used is already decarbonised by 40 per cent. That makes a big impact. The LOOP device will not necessarily power a yacht, but the application we see is producing hydrogen at the source where it is needed. You can put that reactor in a factory, or a shipyard, where you’re taking methane and burning it, to decarbonise the gas that comes in. Moving hydrogen is complicated, but this way you can convert the natural gas into hydrogen at the source, where it is required, and then put it straight into whichever vehicle needs it.

LUX: How can yachting innovations benefit the maritime sector as a whole?
JE: Yacht owners are prepared to invest money, time and resources into developing new technologies – whether that be diesel- electric propulsion, or hydrogen-ethanol battery technology – within the maritime space, and this can ultimately find its way into commercial shipping. Yachting is the crucible of innovation for the maritime industry.

edmiston.com
levidian.com

SPIRITS
KIM MAROTTA
Global vice president of environmental sustainability, Beam Suntory

Pioneering low water-usage agave fields, for Beam Suntory tequila brands

In 2021 spirits behemoth Beam Suntory – which counts Courvoisier and Sipsmith among its repertoire – launched Proof Positive, a holistic, $1bn commitment to promoting positive endeavours in nature, consumer and community across its businesses.

LUX: Where do the challenges lie in decarbonising the spirits sector?
Kim Marotta: The main issues in the sector are in water, transport and packaging. Water presents an enormous opportunity for positive environmental impact, and we have established water sanctuaries in Kentucky at Maker’s Mark and Jim Beam. We’ve also set out an extensive programme of peatland water sanctuaries in the Scottish Highlands, not to mention our pioneering work in the tequila industry, where our Casa Sauza brand has the lowest carbon footprint and water usage. With transport, there is a fantastic opportunity for the sector to influence and partner with logistics groups to ensure everyone is working together for more sustainable methods of transport. Brands around the world are also looking at how to make their packaging more sustainable, whether that is in conducting a lifecycle analysis on every piece of packaging, as we are doing, or prioritising right weighting to minimise materials usage and waste, or even the total redesign of bottles, which we did this year with Courvoisier.

LUX: How can companies move their ESG agendas beyond reporting and compliance towards business enablement?
KM: Companies should not be afraid to set out the most ambitious targets they can, even if the specific road map isn’t totally clear. Whether they are unsure if the technology is there or what the commitment to R&D might be over the next few years, the solution is simple: set aggressive targets, make the necessary investments in technology to hit those targets and commit to accountability and transparency, showing evidence of progress along the way. If companies aren’t setting aggressive targets, they aren’t going to make the impact they can.

beamsuntory.com

CONSUMER GOODS
REBECCA MARMOT
Chief sustainability officer, Unilever
When consumer-goods giant Unilever introduced its Sustainable Living Plan in 2010, it became a benchmark for corporate sustainability. Under Rebecca Marmot, the company has also made interventions in the Paris Agreement and in the creation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

LUX: What is essential to the success of a company’s ESG agenda?
Rebecca Marmot: Success relies on everyone being on board. We need to draw on the ingenuity and experience of experts and peers across the globe to meet our sustainability targets. We know that pioneering new practices requires partnership, so we also need to shun silos in favour of systems thinking. For example, at Unilever we take a holistic approach across both climate and nature, because we recognise that action to solve one crisis can help to address the other.

LUX: How is Unilever working to eliminate Scope 1 and 2 emissions – those generated by your operations?
RM: One of our biggest challenges is that the lion’s share of our emissions are outside our direct control. About 60 per cent come from raw materials and packaging. To reach our target, we are working across our value chain and engaging suppliers, partners and consumers in our decarbonisation journey. We can’t control how long consumers spend in the shower or how they source their energy, but we know consumers do increasingly want to align their purchasing power with their values. We want to make it easy for them to choose our trusted brands, knowing that they are made with respect for people and the planet.

LUX: Is there a risk that those who are last to take on the costs of a green transition will be winners in the short term?
RM: Without action to make supply chains sustainable, companies won’t be able to source the raw materials they need, and operations will be stalled by floods and extreme weather. Laggards will also be hit by taxes on carbon and virgin plastic – these are coming down the line.

unilever.com

CLIMATE TECHNOLOGY
HEATHER CLANCY
Editorial director, Greenbiz; co-host, Greenbiz 350 podcast
GreenBiz 350 is a weekly podcast delivering stories on sustainable business and climate tech. Co-host Heather Clancy specialises in chronicling the role of technology in enabling corporate climate action and the transition to a clean, inclusive and regenerative economy.

LUX: How should companies be balancing the ‘E’ and ‘S’ of ESG?
Heather Clancy: Corporations are not spending enough time thinking about how environmental justice is embedded into their corporate sustainability strategies. There is still a huge disconnect between a company’s corporate perception of what environmental justice means and how it acts as a business.

LUX: What role can early-stage climate tech play in decarbonisation?
HC: Small, innovative companies have the opportunity to really innovate and become the new suppliers for larger companies – for example by producing alternative materials, such as mushroom-based packaging to replace plastic or Styrofoam. It is not coincidental that there are so many corporate venture funds now that are focused on climate technologies, because these corporations are going to benefit from that innovation when the company goes public down the line. The digitisation of sustainability is also really important, because it is becoming part of the financial infrastructure of the companies themselves. These kinds of tools can help people make investments in other climate technologies more easily.

LUX: What’s the biggest barrier to scaling up climate technology?
HC: If there’s one thing that we really are lacking from corporations, it is their voice on supporting sustainable policy.

LUX: What should the wealthy be doing?
HC: They should model better behaviour and put their money where it counts. The wealthy can help small businesses get on the ESG bandwagon, for example. Buying from these companies will enable them to make the vital shift to greener practices.

greenbiz.com