The lobby in the new Castiglione addition to the Hotel Costes in Paris

In the third part of our luxury travel views column from the Spring 2022 issue, LUX’s Editor-in-Chief Darius Sanai checks in at the Hotel Costes in Paris

My first encounter with the Hotel Costes was in the early 2000s, when I was meeting a Vogue photographer for a drink in the bar, on an evening a fashion house was also having a small gathering there. Despite being well turned out, and spending my working days at Vogue House, itself then a kind of office catwalk, I endured scrutiny by the beautiful boys on the door and by the beautiful girls inside before being let in, to a bar and lounge space, designed by Jacques Garcia, which gave the impression of sitting inside the bloodstream of a human being.

Jean-Louis Costes, the hotel’s owner, whom I interviewed in the last issue of LUX, is an iconoclast and an original. He created the velvet womb of the Costes and decorated its rooms with 19th-century oil paintings in the minimalist, contemporary-art obsessed 1990s.

A hallway and marble staircase

He has now opened a new wing to the hotel, or more precisely a new Hotel Costes adjoining the old one, making the second stroke of an L shape on the corner of Rue Saint-Honoré and Rue de Castiglione – without doubt the most desirable address in Paris. To check into the Costes, you now enter a grand, light, high-ceilinged lobby in the Rue de Castiglione.

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If you are staying in the old Costes, you can walk through the lobby and pull back a curtain, like passing through a looking glass, and voila. I, however, was sampling the new Costes: up on the second floor my suite was designed with the whimsical perfection of an obsessive and talented owner. A white carpet, like walking on a Persian cat, a bed with the black stained outline of a four-poster; a blood-red ottoman, a purple sofa and a lot of empty space. The bathroom had chandeliers and glass wardrobes: the message here is that your clothes had better be great, because they’re all on show. The walk-through shower and bath in light marble were immense: there is scale here that the original, boutique Costes, adjoining, never had. From the balcony you look out to Place Vendôme. From some of the suites, you have a view across Paris to Montmartre and Notre-Dame.

One of the new luxury suites

There will be a resort-style pool in the basement spa, currently being completed, and at the moment you still dine in the original and excellent courtyard restaurant of the original Costes. Another courtyard restaurant is being built at the Castiglione wing.

Read more: Paris Revisited: A Diary of Art and Culture

Every detail is both original and edgy: the Costes is the hotel that invented the hotel DJ and soundtrack, and bespoke hotel scent (both hard to believe now, as all the greatest and most pervasive inventions are). Twenty-seven years on, Jean-Louis hasn’t lost his touch.

Find out more: www.hotelcostes.com

This article appears in the Summer 2022 issue of LUX

Lost at the Beach. Image courtesy of the artist

New York-based architect-turned-artist Erin O’Keefe plays tricks with our perceptions with her photographs that look like graphic paintings. The Deutsche Bank Lounge Artist for Frieze New York 2022 speaks to LUX about the transition from being an architecture professor to an artist, how the disciplines are interconnected, and her inspirations from the original Bauhaus art school in Weimar Germany. Interview by Darius Sanai

LUX: Was your dream when you were younger to be an architect or an artist?
Erin O’Keefe: I always wanted to be an artist. Although I guess what that actually means is an open question. Architecture provided a way of supporting myself that felt super interesting, and teaching meant I could explore theoretical issues that have turned out to be relevant to my art practice.

LUX: Were you always fascinated by the crossover between architecture and art?
EOK: Thinking about how architecture is represented in painting and photography has always been a source of fascination. I particularly love the wrongness of space in early Renaissance paintings – it actually feels pretty liberating. And I’m interested in the fact that most of what I know about architecture has come through images rather than visiting the actual buildings – that seems perverse, but it’s true. So you need to become a good translator to make a bridge between a picture of the thing and the thing itself, but I think it’s actually impossible to get the two things to align.

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LUX: Are we right in seeing influences of the Bauhaus – the physical school itself and its teachers – in your career and your works?
EOK: Yes, absolutely – it’s a kind of touchstone for me, and the development of my practice. The sense of interconnectedness among the disciplines, and the primacy of making, were both things that feel relevant. I did the Albers colour exercises with my architecture students, which was really the beginning of thinking about the spatial impact of colour in my work.

Fever. Image courtesy of the artist

LUX: How do you set out to create your works: what is the process of conception and execution? Are you looking for a particular effect on the perception of the viewer?
EOK: I am always looking for a condition of uncertainty in the images. Something that operates in multiple ways and is a bit destabilising for the viewer. I’m interested in the friction between the ordinary tactile objects and the unreality of the image.

My studio process is quite open-ended, lots of trial and error. Small shifts or alignments in the still life can transform the reading of the image, and that moment feels like magic to me.

Colour and light play a huge part in how the objects are perceived, and what they are capable of spatially. The objects themselves are made with the awareness of how they will operate in the photograph – although it’s always a very rough guess, and most of the time I discover possibilities that I couldn’t have anticipated.

One Day Soon. Image courtesy of the artist

LUX: Please tell us a little about some of the works at Frieze NY.
EOK: The consistent focus of my work is the gap between the real condition and its representation in the photograph. For the work at Frieze, I became interested in perspective correction – meaning I can paint shapes on the ground and back wall of my still-life set-up that appear very differently in the image – a trompe-l’oeil situation in reverse. I’m also using paint in these photographs as a kind of camouflage to confuse or amplify a spatial condition.

LUX: What kind of a visual artist do you describe yourself as?
EOK: At this point, a photographer, as a way of underlining what these images are. People often mistake them for paintings, but the fact that they are photographs that utilise the language of painting feels like an important distinction.

Read more: Uplifting New Paintings by Sassan Behnam- Bakhtiar 

LUX: Do you still teach and if not, will you ever teach again?
EOK: I really loved teaching, but I’m glad to have the time and attention to devote to my practice. I do miss the studio interaction – architectural education is pretty unique. I have no plans to teach in the future, but who knows?

Find out more: erinokeefe.com

This article appears in the Summer 2022 issue of LUX

The new Bentley Bentayga Hybrid is a lighter-feel luxury SUV that’s a wonderful mix of refinement and muscle

In the third part of our supercar review series, LUX gets behind the wheel of the Bentley Bentayga Hybrid

If you need an example of how the attributes of heritage luxury car brands have to change in the new world of sustainability and electrification, look no further than Bentley. This is a company that has been making cars that are primarily distinguished by their immensely powerful and vocal petrol engines for more than 100 years. Taking the petrol engines out of Bentleys would be like taking the leather out of a Chesterfield.

This latest model we drove is not electrically powered, but it’s a halfway point. The company’s luxury SUV is typically distinguished by its massive 12-cylinder engine (although there are models available with a V8). Here we have a hybrid version, with a six-cylinder petrol engine accompanied by an electric motor.

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Does it work? That depends: if you’re listening for that V12 ‘whoof’, and expecting the distinctive power characteristics – speed and responsiveness to increase in tandem – you may be disappointed at first. In fact, the sound is the most notable characteristic of this car, as going from a Bentley V12 to this is rather like going from wild to farmed beluga. Still good, but not what you’re used to. But, given that in a few short years no engine will make any sound at all apart from a faint hum, this is really a moot point.

One other characteristic a traditionalist will welcome is the lighter feel: there is less engine in the nose of the car. It feels quite alive around corners on country lanes on the way to one’s architect-redesigned Oxfordshire manor house.

That is the kind of lifestyle this car is aimed at and it does an excellent job. The interior feels like sitting in a well-appointed bank vault with windows onto which the outside world is projected. Unlike some very powerful SUVs, it doesn’t feel like it wants to race every car from the traffic lights. It’s not exactly serene – it’s a Bentley after all – but it’s a wonderful mix of refinement and muscle. If you’re an enthusiastic driver, you won’t complain about the relatively agile handling, excellent roadholding and responsiveness at speed. You may wish for a little more feedback and involvement, though, as this car is set up more at the luxury end of things.

Read more: Why You Should Get Your New Car Ceramic Coated

Your passengers will enjoy the crafted feel of the interior, which really does feel a cut above almost any rival. It may not feel as passionate as the SUV offerings from Lamborghini or the Mercedes G 63, but it aims to do a slightly different job, rather more grown-up. It is also a car you could get in to drive from the Cotswolds to ski in St Moritz in one day, and arrive refreshed and ready for the slopes. And the fuel savings from the new electric-petrol engine will pay for a couple of drinks at Pavarotti’s.

LUX rating: 17.5/20

Find out more: bentleymotors.com

This article appears in the Summer 2022 issue of LUX

Jean-Michel Cousteau and his father, Jacques, onboard their wind ship, Alcyone. © Jean-Michel Cousteau Private Collection

Darius Sanai speaks to Jean-Michel Cousteau, the French ocean explorer, film maker, educationalist, philanthropist and founder of the Ocean Futures Society, about how he is connecting with people globally to make a difference; and about his celebrated father, Jacques Cousteau

LUX: What are the objectives of the Ocean Futures Society?
Jean-Michel Cousteau: I set up the Ocean Futures Society to honour my father after he passed away. His philosophy – now our philosophy – was that if you protect the ocean, you protect yourself. We are a not-for-profit company, but if we have the resources to do it, we will get specialists from all over the world to go and do everything to preserve and protect the ocean.

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LUX: What are the greatest challenges that the oceans face today?
JMC: Acidification, and the impact that it has on every species. CO2 emissions are contributing to rising temperatures and ocean levels, and it is affecting nature’s ability to protect itself. Controlling our acidification depends directly on the consumption of oil and gas, which we are now recognising as a mistake and working to stabilise. We have an opportunity to ensure that we are using and creating other energies to replace those things.

Cousteau dives with a hammerhead shark in the Caribbean Sea. © Richard Murphy, Ocean Futures Society

LUX: How are biodiversity and climate resilience linked?
JMC: When I was diving in the Maldives, I was surprised to see the number of dead corals. Corals are a very important part of the protection of the coastline, because they help to feed and protect thousands of species around the Maldives.

The diversity of our species on land and in the ocean contributes to the stability of the entire system on the planet. Every species, plant and animal, is capital. Every time we lose that capital the system gets weaker, because other species are dependent on that particular species for survival, for food, for protection. It is our responsibility to ensure they don’t disappear. We now need to take advantage of our capacity to learn new technology, which can be used to help every one of us.

Jean-Michel Cousteau with Amazonian children at the Pilpintuwasi Butterfly Farm and Amazon Orphanage in Iquitos. © Nan Marr, Ocean Futures Society

LUX: What innovations are you seeing?
JMC: There are people analysing the difference in temperature between the shallow ocean and the deep ocean, and using that difference to create energy. I used to be worried about the currents these technologies were producing, but not anymore. Water is not compressible, and the propeller only rotates three times per minute, so the fish can go right through it.

LUX: How is your work with luxury resorts driving ocean conservation?
JMC: The Maldives is a treasure to me. The Ritz- Carlton Maldives is working with my Ocean Futures Society, and we want to make sure that this structure and space and knowledge is being preserved. We have to do everything we can to protect the coastlines, and that means stopping whatever goes into the ocean. We often talk about plastics, but that problem has been mostly addressed in the Maldives. What I am most concerned about are the chemicals and heavy metals, which we never talk about. When you take an aspirin for your headache, that chemical goes right into the ocean. What does that do to the environment? If we protect what’s around the Maldives, we will protect the people who are on the Maldives.

Jean-Michel Cousteau with his mother, Simone Melchior Cousteau, in 1945; a family dive; Cousteau’s father, Jacques, helps him strap on a tank. © Carrie Vonderhaar, Ocean Futures Society. Courtesy of the Jean-Michel Cousteau private collection

LUX: How important is a just transition?
JMC: We need to stop consuming nature like we have been doing. We need to convince the president of Brazil to stop destroying all these beautiful forests, which are critical for our environment. We never talk about the thousands of local people who live in those rainforests, and who have no identity or land ownership. Stopping deforestation is not only in the interest of those people in the Amazon, but it’s in the interest of every one of us, because every species out there depends on those rainforests.

A family portrait, including Jean-Michel, second from left; Simone on the family’s research vessel, Calypso. © Carrie Vonderhaar, Ocean Futures Society. Courtesy of the Jean-Michel Cousteau private collection

In order to slowly stop industries like this, people involved in that kind of production are going to have to learn to switch from what they were doing to what they can do next. There are a lot of people willing to do that, and it is fascinating to see all this progress taking place today.

LUX: How do we bridge the gap between research and policy creation?
JMC: There are many things we are learning that we didn’t know 20 years ago, and we need to pass on the message to decision makers and young people. When I started the society, I was doing 10 or 20 lectures a year all round the world, but now that is not enough. I decided that I needed to sit down with the decision makers. It is critical – as long as you don’t criticise. I want to sit down with these people and try to help them ensure that our children have the same privileges that we have had.

LUX: Which policies should we prioritise?
JMC: To manage the ocean properly, we need to sit down with leaders in the fishing industry. Cargo ships consume a lot of oil, which ends up in the ocean, evaporates, and creates the CO2 that drives ocean acidification. There are many solutions to the problems we have created. We need to have more protected marine areas, in order to preserve wild populations and biodiversity. In 2006 we convinced President Bush to protect 1,200 miles of a north-western Hawaiian Island [Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument], President Obama then agreed to multiply this by four. It is now the largest marine-protected area on the planet. This is not just about the survival of life, but also for us to discover and do better. There are thousands of species in the ocean that we don’t know about. How can we protect them if we don’t know they are there?

Cousteau became the first person to represent the environment in an opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, 2002. © Carrie Vonderhaar, Ocean Futures Society. Courtesy of the Jean-Michel Cousteau private collection

LUX: Is it the responsibility of individuals, corporations or governments to take the lead in protecting oceans?
JMC: I never point a finger. It is everybody’s responsibility: to ensure the preservation of these places, we need to have movement on a global level.

We need to approach each group differently, however. Young people are amazing. They are the ones, today, saying that we need to be careful. We want to educate young people by showing them that it is in their best interest to preserve every species on land and in the ocean.

Business people are there to make money, but if we eliminate species, there will be no money coming in. We warn them about the importance of making sure that capital is not destroyed, to think about their children and grandchildren. We have to build the bridge between what we are doing now and our responsibility for the future. Likewise, if you want politicians to build a bridge for future generations, then you have to tell them what they can do with their responsibility – whether it is in their own country, or in partnership with other countries, to make a difference. I’ve done it with the presidents of the United States, Mexico, Brazil and France. “e public will often want to keep them and that’s what it is all about.

Working with the Ritz-Carlton on his Ocean Futures Society. © Nan Marr, Ocean Futures Society

LUX: How do you educate people without being didactic?
JMC: For me, it’s about just sitting down with someone, whether it is a truck driver or a pilot, having a conversation, and helping them make better decisions. Reach for the heart instead. Because we didn’t know the damage we were doing then, but we have learnt along the way, and we need to do better than what we have done up to now.

Education is number one, but it can be fun and entertaining. Film is great because our primary sense is vision, and it enables you to connect with thousands of people in an instant. I produce films to get people to sit down for 20 minutes and hear stories and understand how everything is connected; then, if they want to, they can show the film in schools or online. (See bottom of the page for a selection of some of the groundbreaking and definitive films Cousteau has produced, directed and been involved with over the past five decades.)

Cousteau on Laysan Island, where debris litters the shoreline. © Carrie Vonderhaar, Ocean Futures Society. Courtesy of the Jean-Michel Cousteau private collection

LUX: How has your relationship with film evolved since you began?
JMC: The beauty of what’s happening today is that we have nearly 8 billion people on Earth, who are all connected with each other if they want to be. We have a communication system now that didn’t exist when I was a child, so we have no excuse to get away. We need to show, show, show.

LUX: Are you optimistic about the future of ocean conservation?
JMC: I’m totally convinced we can do it. The human species has the capability to do it. Let’s not forget that we are the only species that has the privilege to decide not to disappear. That’s our choice. I will do everything I can for the rest of my life to make sure that the next generation’s children have the same privileges that I had when I was their age.

Read More: Bridgewater Capital Founder Ray Dalio on Ocean Philanthropy 

I am the world’s most enduring scuba diver – I am celebrating 75 years [this year]. But I want to celebrate 100 years, so I have to continue diving for another 25 years.

Jean-Michel Cousteau’s filmography highlights

The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau (1968) Jean-Michel Cousteau was associate producer on this seminal television documentary series of which his father was the host

Cousteau: Alaska – Outrage at Valdez (1989) Frank Zappa was commissioned by Jacques Cousteau to write the music for this documentary on the environmental disaster by a leaking oil tanker, directed by Jean-Michel

Stories of the Sea (1996) Jean-Michel Cousteau starred in this docu-series on humans’ involvement, past and present, in the sea

Exploring the Reef with Jean-Michel Cousteau (2003) This animated short documentary film starred Jean-Michel Cousteau and featured the main characters from Finding Nemo

Coral Reef Adventure (2003) Cousteau contributed to this Greg MacGillivray-directed documentary on endangered coral reefs

Deadly Sounds in the Silent World (2003) Alongside Pierce Brosnan, Cousteau starred
in this underwater documentary

Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean Adventures (2006—2009) About 30 years after his father revealed the mysteries of the ocean to the world, Jean-Michel Cousteau and his team of oceanauts continued to explore global waters

Wonders of the Sea 3D (2017) With Arnold Schwarzenegger as the narrator, this docu-film follows Cousteau – who was also co-director – and his children as they learn about the threats the ocean faces

Find out more: oceanfutures.org

This article appears in the Deutsche Bank Supplement of the Summer 2022 issue of LUX

Sunil Gupta standing amongst his works from Arrival series, 2022

Photographer, writer, curator and activist Sunil Gupta has explored issues of racism, sexuality, migration and inequality in his art. Here, LUX explores our favourite bodies of work by Gupta and the call to action that each series projects

Gupta’s series Delhi: Tales of a City is a play on the old and the new. Gupta has explored and photographed historical sites in Delhi, primarily constructed between the years 1638 and 1739. During these years, the city was rebuilt by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. He  imposed his power and influence over the state to control cultural life and the urban economy.

Sunil Gupta, Delhi: Tales of a City: Humayun’s Tomb, 2003/2022

Centuries later, Gupta saw these historical sites, such as the Red Fort and Humayun’s Tomb, and noticed the range of age, religion, caste and sexual orientation of the people visiting these historic sites.

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He realised that, in turn,  people were unknowingly overthrowing the repressive heritage of these monuments and even more he could use them as a decorative backdrop to project their individuality.

Sunil Gupta, Delhi: Tales of a City. Red Fort – 3, 2003/2022

Christopher Street is possibly Gupta’s most important body of work. The idea of this series first came to Gupta when he moved to New York City in 1976. The aim of these photographs was not only a way for Gupta to focus on his passion for the freedom of expression but also to shed light on the momentous event in the LGBTQ+ community, known as The Stonewall Riots. This was a series of spontaneous protests by members of the LGBTQ+ community against a police raid that occurred on 28th June 1969 at the Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village.

Sunil Gupta, Untitled #42, Christopher Street Series 1976/2022

These demonstrations led to a fundamental switch in the gay liberation movement which led to an increase of openness and unparalleled acceptance within and towards the gay community in New York. These photographs display a community that shaped Gupta as a person and concreted his personal ambition to portray people who have been denied a space to be themselves.

Sunil Gupta, Untitled #43, Christopher Street Series 1976/2022

Arrival, is a body of work Gupta created in collaboration with his partner Charan Singh.

Read more:Durjoy Bangladesh Foundation: Layers of Meaning

In this series Gupta and Singh use elements of Victorian portraits that were known to project Victorian conventions and norms of behavioural identities.

Sunil Gupta and Charan Singh, Arrival series, 2022

However, Gupta and Singh change the narrative by creating an anti-colonial legacy through compassionate, poetic gestures to convey their sitters’ range of emotions, who are always anticipating when the process of their arrival will become complete.

Sunil Gupta and Charan Singh, Arrival series, 2022

The project also serves as a reminder that homophobia is an anti-humanist cultural affliction, that negatively effects nations beyond the Commonwealth.

‘Sunil Gupta: Cruising’ is on show at Vadehra Art Gallery in New Delhi Until Friday 16th September 2022

Find out more: vadehra.com/exhibitions

Traditional net fishing from a boat

80% of the earth’s biomass is concentrated in the oceans. But how do we put a value on the deep sea? As the concept of natural capital — putting a price tag on the services nature provides — enters the mainstream, ocean expert and activist Karen Sack tells LUX Editor-in-Chief, Darius Sanai, why valuing nature needs to encompass more than just the dollar sign

Sack has over three decades’ experience in ocean conservation, law and policy, and currently serves as Chief Executive of Ocean Unite (co-founded with Richard Branson and José María Figueres) and Executive Director of the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA). Here, she explains why the time has come to incorporate ocean measurements into sustainability metrics, and how nature-based solutions should be at the forefront of any ocean investment strategy

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LUX: The concept of natural capital — of nature having value in and of itself — has historically been ignored. Why is it important?
Karen Sack: I do think it’s important, but we need to be careful not to reduce nature’s value to just a monetary value. The reason we have to put a value on nature is so that we can understand and incorporate it into the economic system that we all exist within. While, for me, this in some ways runs contrary to what we want to do – we want to just value nature in and of itself — we still need to incorporate nature into our valuation system. If we don’t, we will very quickly have to pay the consequences. We already are seeing this in terms of what is happening with the climate crisis.

Fan Corals in Belize Barrier Reef

LUX: Can investment in ocean conservation be furthered by investment in the private sector?
KS: We need to blend together different types of finance to focus on the ocean’s protection. One of the issues that has arisen recently is how we account for the costs of marine protection. We’re focusing a lot on the question of what it costs in terms of potential revenue in terms of fisheries and other lost revenues. Yet we don’t apply that same standard when we think about providing a fishing company with a licence to fish; we don’t price those costs into that fishing licence. The private sector has been very involved in the extractive activities that take place in the ocean, and in some ways have been subsidised quite substantially by the public sector, so that those activities can continue.

The role of philanthropy in the ocean space is oftentimes to kickstart some of these discussions, to act as a springboard for investment from other areas. And oftentimes that’s what we need to paint the picture, so we understand the benefits of investment from the private and public sector.

Sri Lankan fisherman throwing a fishing net near Mirissa

LUX: When people speak of the blue economy, there might be an assumption that it is inherently sustainable. But the term can also encapsulate bottom-trawling and oil extraction.
KS: It has to be further defined. The Stockholm Resilience Centre has coined an interesting term: it talks about the development of the blue economy as a ‘blue acceleration’. If you look at different sectors of the economy that are investing in this space, you can see how lopsided and inequitable some of that development is. For example, small island developing states have protected something like 13% of all marine protected areas, which are in small island developing states. We call them ‘big ocean states’, because they have these amazing ocean real estate areas. That’s huge, yet the investment from other sectors of the economy, for example aquaculture, has been located within those small island development states.

Renewable energy is another example of where there has been a 500-fold increase in investment in offshore renewables over the past 20 years. Not one of those wind shore turbines have been located in a small island developing state. That is just so indicative of the lop-sidedness, because those countries require diesel fuel to be imported and yet are the most vulnerable to climate change.

A Humpback Whale

LUX: Does there need to be consolidation of a single set of rules and definitions for companies, investors and governments to follow?
KS: There needs to be a standardised accounting methodology that’s used, so that when you’re looking to invest in a space, you understand that that standardisation has happened. Otherwise, the opportunity for greenwash or bluewash is very high, and something that we have to guard against. It’s just too easy right now to argue that your investment is sustainable without those standardisations being in place to show that it truly is.

LUX: How does one measure the effect of either one’s donation or investment in sustainable terms?
KS: Right now, it’s very difficult to say there is any kind of comparability between, for example, one scheme that invests in seagrass to capture carbon and promote biodiversity, via another one in coral reefs. It’s what people are most interested in investing into at the moment. We understand the difference between the level of impact from a storm surge that a healthy coral reef can deflect versus a mangrove. But comparing ecosystems with one another is really difficult: it would be the same as comparing the carbon sequestration potential of the Savannah to a cornfield in Montana.

A fisherman holding a shoal of big Common Silver Barb

LUX: What needs to happen in terms of legislation and the way large institutional investors behave?
KS: We need to incorporate ocean measurements into some of the tools the financial world now uses when they measure their sustainability metrics. We don’t want to have some completely separate ocean-based metrics. For initiatives like the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TFNFD), we need to incorporate the ocean into that. We need to look at some of the taxonomies that are being created for example by the European Union, and ensure that it is not completely different from whatever is created in the US or in other countries around the world, or in China. And then a focus on innovation, and the types of KPIs that need to be developed. So this is all beginning to happen, it’s a very fast moving space, but right now it requires certainly scientific advice and a lot of listening.

LUX: Will blue economy investment always be a kind of blended opportunity, or is it something that is seen as a P&L play?
KS: With the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance, one of the initiatives that we are working on is the development of what we are calling a Sea Change Impact Financing Facility (SCIFF). When, a couple of years ago, we started doing some work on financing, we asked some partners to look at what was needed to increase investment. We found that we needed a whole new ocean finance ecosystem. Spaces that are particularly important include the coastal ecosystems, the seagrass beds, the coral reefs: places that are helping to both be nurseries for biological diversity, sequestering carbon and providing food security for coastal communities. So if you don’t have that surrounding ecosystem, that is literally money down the drain. That will probably require blended finance, and looking at things such as the development of blue carbon credits. Then we need to look at how to drive the big investments into the space, and ask what type of equity capital we need to drive big investments. I mentioned offshore renewables, an amazing opportunity for investment that is still seen as quite risky.

A mangrove tree in clear tropical waters near Staniel Cay, Exuma, Bahamas

Thinking about greening shipping, it is a huge emitter of CO2 but 80% of our trade in the world travels by ship. So how do we transform our ports and harbours, so they both have the infrastructure for green shipping? The third piece is what we call the ‘risk wrappers’. These are the public sector guarantees that can lower the risk of some of those opportunities for investment and drive public sector capital into the space. But if we’re looking at developing countries, and small island developing states, that’s not where the private sector is going. So how do we drive investment into some of those projects, and reduce transaction costs? Those are some of the issues we need to tackle as we move this new ocean financial ecosystem forwards.

LUX: Should nature-based solutions be the most important focus of investment currently, or one of many?
KS: From my perspective, nature-based solutions should be at the core of an investment strategy when it comes to the ocean. We’ve got 80% of the biomass, 80% of life on earth is held within the ocean. It doesn’t cost a lot, but the returns are incredible. We should be supporting, particularly for small-island developing states, and developing countries, investments into nature again for the reasons of resilience, food security, biodiversity positive outcomes, and also carbon sequestration. The more life we have, the stronger the carbon carrying capacity is. We also know that these are tested, as nature has been adapting for millennia. We need to learn from nature, and this is where we are seeing the results of that investment into nature being so significant.

Local women working in a fishing village

LUX: Do you see abating ocean industries as all part of the same investment parcel? Is it better for an institution to invest $500 million in a scheme that makes ships more hydrodynamic, or to invest in mangrove planting?
KS: The thing that is impacting the ocean the most right now is our CO2 emissions. So, any kind of investment that gets us to net zero as quickly as possible is helping the ocean. That is key. We must then look at the risk multipliers, for example pollution, whether it’s wastewater or nutrient runoff. These are not sexy things to invest in, but a sewage treatment plant can make the difference between a coral reef that survives and one that does not.

Read more: Melissa Garvey On Saving The Oceans

Bottom trawling is a fundamentally destructive fishing practice. Investments into things like bottom-trawling should just not happen. Offshore oil and gas is another one. So: stopping some investments to begin with. Next, investing in getting to net zero as quickly as possible. Third would then be looking at investments, particularly in coastal areas that are biodiversity positive in terms of their net result, so that we can rebuild those ecosystems.

It’s interesting to look at some of the work that’s now being done on technological solutions to address the climate crisis. We know, for example, that in a marine protected area that’s fully protected, the increase in biomass over 10 years can be 400% or even higher than that. I can’t think of a bank where I would put an investment in and get a 400% return on that investment, but nature gives us that. So, looking at those kinds of investments is really impossible. And that goes back to the question of valuing nature and understanding that that value isn’t just in the dollar value.

Karen Sack is Chief Executive of Ocean Unite and Executive Director of Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA)

Find out more:

oceanriskalliance.org

oceanunite.org

Exterior view of the new Maybourne, Beverly Hills

In the second part of our luxury travel views column from the Spring 2022 issue, LUX’s Editor-in-Chief Darius Sanai checks in at The Maybourne, Beverly Hills

The most curious thing about the Maybourne Beverly Hills is its tranquillity. Here you are at the new US flagship of London’s swankiest hotel group (Claridge’s, The Connaught, The Berkeley), in LA, metres from Rodeo Drive, and yet the overarching feeling is one of peace. How does that happen?

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The first impression of a curious quietude was from the hotel’s rooftop pool terrace. In cities, these are often rambunctious things, squeezed in, next to a spa and a restaurant, a few sun loungers and a square of blue with a highway of guests and staff running through. Not so here: rows of loungers, immaculate staff waiting to serve, a big, blue pool, and a view across rooftops to the Hollywood Hills. You could come here for a week and not feel agitated by noise. Sure, there’s a terrace restaurant but the vibe is more Ibiza chill than urban thrill.

The Maybourne pool

Our suite was all pastel shades and 20th-century modern furniture, rethought for the 21st century. A kind of Hollywood-meets-resort feel, with some gorgeous photography and art. Maybourne’s owners are significant movers in the art scene, and you can tell: even the lift lobby on our floor featured an Idris Khan edition.

Downstairs, the Terrace restaurant seemed to be a breakfast, lunch and dinner hangout for the Beverly Hills crowd and the Beverly Hills chihuahua (along with a nice variety of other breeds). Opening out onto a public garden, it was also very quiet: no fumes, no traffic noise, no honking horns. All the more interesting because the hotel was originally built in the grand style of iconic US palace hotels (think Boca Raton resort): but here, the style is everywhere, and the noise nowhere.

The hotel’s rooftop pool

The food was also consistently brilliant: sunny and fresh, like pan-roasted dayboat scallops with girolles and sunchokes, and an absolutely vivid, meaty whole grilled branzino with Napa cabbage and basil. The Terrace is a people-watching place, and if you want to watch people more closely, and with a slightly different lens, just move to the Maybourne Bar or the Cigar and Whiskey Bar. What’s the difference between the two? Same as the difference between the Blue Bar at the Berkeley and the Fumoir at Claridge’s (with additional cigars in the case of the Cigar and Whiskey Bar).

Read more: Luxury Travel Views: Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid

It was a bit of a mystery to me how Maybourne expected to create a global brand, given that its London hotels are so distinctive, unified by a crossover in clientele and a certain appeal to the fashion crowd through their louche artiness in their public spaces. Here they are in LA, and they have done just that. Quite an achievement.

Find out more: maybournebeverlyhills.com

This article appears in the Summer 2022 issue of LUX

Mangroves protect coastlines from erosion and flooding, sequester carbon and provide a home to species not found elsewhere

If human beings are going to create a sustainable economic system, we must recognise the true value of living ecosystems and the services that they provide to society, and price this into our financial decisions. In the long term, the benefits will far outweigh the costs, says Markus Müller

Markus Müller

Our enthusiasm for economic development has detached us from nature. With our focus on the production of goods, we have forgotten that there literally is a natural limit to our endeavours. If we value nature purely in terms of the raw materials it provides, we fail to appreciate the many ‘ecosystem services’ that living creatures and plants provide to society, and research suggests the markets would price these at about $140 trillion.

The world is fast-approaching a point where its natural capital is so depleted that it can no longer provide us with these services. As a species, we are acting rather like a company owner who operates their machinery 24/7 without maintenance, then acts surprised that their production line is no longer able to deliver the goods. The difference with nature is that there is no option of buying a new machine.

Humans, economy and society are embedded in the environment. This applies to food, but also to areas such as medicine. We know, for example, that many of the organisms living in the sea have contributed to the development of cancer treatments and other crucial drugs. It is reasonable to suppose that similar discoveries are waiting to be made in the world’s most biodiverse habitats such as rainforests and coral reefs, and if we kill our planet’s biodiversity then we will undoubtedly kill many such opportunities.

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What does this mean for us in our daily lives, for companies, and also for the economic and financial markets? If we look at the numbers alone the issue of sustainability may appear to already be centre stage. Around the world we see growing regulation, not only in creating transparency but also guiding money flow. Now accounting for more than 36 per cent of funds under management globally, environmental, social and governance (ESG) investments have established themselves as mainstream.

However, while the ESG concept divides up current business activities into three specific categories, making the transition to truly sustainable business practices requires more than just an appreciation of financial risk and return. The ultimate objective must be to promote the health of planet Earth for the benefit of generations to come. As Gro Bruntland, the former Norwegian prime minister, said in 1987: humanity has the ability to make development sustainable to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

When discussing the economic opportunities around biodiversity, I always provide a caveat. What we are dealing with is a global common good. We can’t deal with it in the same way as a private good, which is a product we can manufacture. In terms of business opportunities, we need to be careful when we speak of a global common good – like biodiversity, clean air or even the ocean – as there is a risk of doing business as usual, and exploiting these fundamentals of our wellbeing.

The good news is that with the right governance, we can move quickly from over- exploitation to repair and rejuvenation. Take mangroves, for example: they are difficult to plant, but can be reinvigorated easily. And when they are healthy they act as an effective natural carbon sink, as well as lifting the ground level by collecting and storing soil. They represent a cost-effective ‘nature-based solution’ to both climate change and rising sea levels – and, therefore, a potential business opportunity.

Simultaneously, broader economics must be considered. ESG-based investments are increasingly being incorporated into governmental social and economic policies, and should boost economic growth by encouraging more responsible management of the world’s natural resources. The concept of natural capital – valuing living things like other assets, in order to conserve them – is gaining ground with economists, and when industrial leaders begin to realise its significance then it will completely change the way they do business.

As the awareness of biodiversity loss grows, it should become an increasingly important part of corporate strategy and political policy, drawing more attention to shortcomings in existing evaluation approaches while also prompting solutions. Biodiversity loss gives rise to risks (physical, transition, and liability) for companies in myriad ways. Any decision, be it in investment or finance, therefore needs to encompass the entire product life-cycle and examine the whole supply chain.

Read More: Gaggenau: The Calming Influence of Biophilic Design

The framework we use to evaluate biodiversity preservation is likely to evolve, which will have direct implications not only for investors but also for policymakers and economists. Also, the question of property rights will need to be considered in the context of local political and cultural priorities – a tension that may be difficult to resolve. Solving the geopolitical dimension is likely to be even more difficult, as this will require the financially strong First World to demonstrate the will to obtain goods from sustainable production. All this will come at a cost, but it’s most definitely a cost worth paying to ‘protect our portfolio’. The concept of natural capital could herald the beginning of a big story – one of an innovative and equitable economic model – that is worthy of the 21st century. To reiterate my opening message: if all things were similar then there would be no development. The outcome, instead, would be destruction. Let’s embrace this challenge and adapt to a new future, embedded in nature.

Markus Müller is Global Head of the Chief Investment Office at Deutsche Bank’s International Private Bank

Find out more: deutschewealth.com/esg

This article appears in the Deutsche Bank Supplement of the Summer 2022 issue of LUX

Rudolf Nureyev and Eva Evdokimova in Sleeping Beauty. Image courtesy of Francette Levieux

On 5th-12th September, the celebration of the life and work of Legendary dancer, Rudolph Nureyev will be presented in London at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. This event, supported by the Rudolf Nureyev Foundation, fuses 22 international dancers, alongside live music from the Royal Ballet Sinfonia conducted by David Briskin from the National Ballet of Canada. LUX speaks to some of the renowned ballet dancers performing in the show, Yasmine Nagdhi, Oleg Ivenko and William Bracewell, as well as the artistic director of the gala, former Royal Ballet Principal, Nehemiah Kish about the importance of this gala and the legacy of Rudolph Nureyev

Emma Hawes, Francesco Gabriele Frola, Nehemiah kish and Elena Glurjidze preparing for the Flower Festival in Genzano. Image courtesy of Andre Uspenski

LUX: How much does it add to the celebration, that the performance is taking place where Nureyev made his London debut?
Nehemiah Kish: I love that everything in the production has a wonderful story attached and a purpose in being as it is. Rudolf Nureyev’s first performance in London was at Theatre Royal Drury Lane by invitation of Dame Margot Fonteyn to perform in her Gala Matinee of Ballet for the Royal Academy of Dance in 1961. Nureyev had defected from the Soviet Union a few months prior and was in Copenhagen training with Vera Volkova and another leading male dancer of his time, Eric Bruhn. As the story goes, Nureyev insisted on partnering Fonteyn in the performance and also insisted that Frederick Ashton choreograph a solo for him. The supreme confidence Nureyev displayed in demanding to dance with Britain’s Prima Ballerina and have a solo choreographed for him by Britain’s leading choreographer is characteristic of the force of nature that took the world by storm.

Vadim Muntagirov, Yasmine Naghdi. Photo by Andrej Uspenski, courtesy of the ROH

Theatre Royal Drury Lane is the oldest theatre site in continuous use in the world and has a great ballet history including performances of the Ballet Russe and of course Nureyev’s meteoric London debut. It has been many years since ballet has been presented at the Lane. The theatre recently underwent an ambitious restoration to the highest standard. 60 years have passed since Nureyev’s first performance in London, and it is with great pleasure that we are bringing ballet back to the Lane with our celebration of Rudolf Nureyev.

Natalia Osipova with artists of the Royal Ballet. Photo by Andrej Uspenski, image courtesy of the ROH

LUX: Five different ballets are represented in this performance, what are the benefits of these collaborations?

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Nehemiah Kish: We are presenting nine highlights taken from eight ballets, all of which Nureyev performed. Each highlight represents moment from Nureyev’s life and work from his very beginnings in dance to his work as a choreographer and his famed partnership with Dame Margot Fonteyn. We are also presenting classics Nureyev introduced to the West. He was famously eager to absorb new ideas and work with choreographers. We are thrilled to present a very special excerpt from John Neumeier’s Don Juan that hasn’t been seen in London since Nureyev last performed it nearly 50 years ago.

Francesca Hayward and William Bracewell behind the scenes of training for Giselle

LUX: How important is it that ballet reaches out to those who cannot access it conventionally, and how is this performance aiming to do this?
Nehemiah Kish: We are thrilled to partner with Marquee TV as our exclusive streaming partner. Nureyev Legend and Legacy will be available to stream on demand from the 16th September. Marquee TV is the gold standard for arts streaming and is known as the “Netflix for the Arts”. The partnership with Marquee TV makes it possible for us to make the performance available for free to NHS and care homes in the UK. It’s exciting to share our performance widely outside of London from the Midlands to the American Midwest. Having come from a rural part of North America myself with limited access to the arts, I know how inspiring it can be to watch ballet from the comfort of your home.

Vadim Muntagirov. Photo by Andrej Uspenski, courtesy of the ROH

LUX: How has ballet evolved since Nureyev was performing?
Nehemiah Kish: Nureyev popularised ballet with new audiences and accelerated the evolution of ballet. His legendary stage presence, charisma and technical ability combined to set a new standard. His televised appearance introduced this exciting new standard to millions. His work as a producer of full-length ballets is also important with the fabulously lavish set and costume design and his technically demanding choreography. He also set a new standard as Artistic Director during his time directing the Paris Opera Ballet nurturing a generation of international stars including Sylvie Guillem and commissioning ground-breaking works by visionary choreographers including William Forsythe. These are only a few examples of Nureyev’s influence on the evolution of ballet.

Nehemiah Kish, Elena Glurjidze, Marcelino Sambé, Yuhui Choe, Marianna Tsembenhoi and Daichi Ikarashi behind the scenes training for Laurencia. Photo by Andre Uspenski

All the dancers performing in Nureyev Legend and Legacy share this magical combination of presence, charisma, and ability. Many of them were trained by Nureyev’s partners and protégés who occupy leaderships roles in the great theatres and professional academies around the world. Nureyev’s impact on the evolution of ballet will be on full display this September through the performances of the incredible star dancers.

Nehemiah Kish, Zenaida Yanowsky and artist of the Royal Ballet. Photo by Trisram Kenton, image courtesy of the ROH

LUX: How do you think Nureyev’s history influenced his dancing?
Yasmine Nagdhi: The very harsh conditions of his childhood combined with the support of his mother greatly influenced Nureyev, and this set him up to become the glorious dancer he ultimately became.

LUX:What about Nureyev inspires you the most?
Yasmine Nagdhi: His unshakable self-confidence, his great passion for the Art of Ballet, his charisma and colourful personality. I am truly honoured to be closing the Nureyev Gala performances dancing the Pas de Deux from Le Corsaire, with my dancing partner Cesar Corrales, a Pas de Deux made famous by Nureyev and Fonteyn.

Xander Parish. Image courtesy of Carmen Mateu

LUX: Having previously portrayed Nureyev in The White Crow, how excited are you about the opportunity to once again play him?
Oleg Ivenko: I’m so excited to be coming back to London, I have wonderful memories of last time I was there. It was a true privilege to play Rudolf Nureyev on the big screen on The White Crow, and so I was very happy to be asked to participate in the Nureyev Legend and Legacy Gala. I feel a similarity in spirit with Nureyev and am looking forward to paying tribute to his legacy on stage. Nureyev brought a special energy to his dancing and I hope to embody that in my performance.

Read more: 6 Questions: Darcey Bussell, Ballet Dancer

LUX: What have you learned from collaborating with representatives of different ballets?
William Bracewell: For me collaboration is key. Be it the partner you’re dancing with, the designer of the costume or the pianist playing for the rehearsal, those relationships are vital to creating successful performances. I learn something new every time I work with someone and love discovering how people think and understand dance.

Francesca Hayward. Photo by Andrej Uspenski, image courtesy of the ROH

LUX: Why do you think Nureyev has left such a strong legacy in the world of dance?
William Bracewell: Nureyev is indeed quite unique in the legacy he left. It’s hard to pinpoint why but perhaps it’s because he transcended the dance world into modern culture and bridged a gap that not many other people have.

LUX: What is the significance of collaborating with such prestigious dancers from around the globe, some of whom you have never worked with?
William Bracewell: I love the experience of meeting and seeing other dancers from around the world. I’m a very visual learner so seeing someone rehearse or perform is an invaluable tool in my development as an artist. It’s quite the line up of dancers in the gala so I’m excited to learn from them and share the stage.

Tickets to the gala are available to purchase here:  lwtheatres.co.uk/nureyev-legend-and-legacy/

Temperley children and friends reading Clara and the Magic Circles in Diana’s log cabin. Image courtesy of Maryam Eisler

Cavan Mahony, author of Clara and The Magic Circles children’s book, collaborates with photographer and LUX’s Chief Contributing Editor, Maryam Eisler to bring to life the picturesque Temperley family cider farm in bucolic Somerset, set on ancient grounds

“Legend has it that King Arthur is buried right here!” I turn around to see an enchanting Rapunzel-like lady pointing out Burrow Hill to two children. The children gasp with delight, “King Arthur?! There must be TREASURE buried there, and swords with rubies and golden shields!!“

Burrow Hill, legendary site of King Arthur’s grave. Image courtesy of Maryam Eisler

Burrow Hill, located on the Pass Vale Farm of the Somerset Cider Brandy Company, stands out in a mythical way, with one proud, lone sycamore tree just at the top. Adding to the local legend of the location of King Arthur’s tomb, the nearest town has the telling name of Kingsbury Episcopi.

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The children run on ahead crossing the street into the official entrance of the cider farm. The sun catches the little girl’s hair as it bounces about her shoulders. Wearing a tulle ballet skirt and pink t-shirt covered in sparkles, she looks ready for a starring role. The boy, who I imagine is her brother, is running along-side her laughing. His hair is long and floppy and he is already half covered in mud from some previous adventure that morning.

Diana surrounded by her ducks, her dog Sally and her friend August. Image courtesy of Maryam Eisler

Upon entering the cider farm, I am awestruck by the rows and rows of apple trees in bloom stretching across 180 acres of the apple orchard. I continue to walk through this cathedral of white blossoms until I reach the meadow where the Temperley’s, owners of the cider farm, have set up picnic blankets and cushions. There are other families sprinkled about under the apple trees, children running along-side wandering ducks and chickens. A horse or two flick their tails contentedly chewing on grass.

Cider Bus, the Temperley’s Apple Cider. Image courtesy of Maryam Eisler

Cider has been made on the land of the Somerset Cider Brandy Company for over 300 years and for the last 55 years under the ownership of Julian and Diana Temperley. Julian was the first to commercialise cider brandy in the UK, reviving an ancient craft that had disappeared hundreds of years ago. Julian and Diana raised four children on the farm, with their daughter Matilda, now head of operations as Managing Director of Burrow Hill and Somerset Cider Brandy Company.

Matilda and the Temperley cider bus. Image courtesy of Maryam Eisler

Children are excitedly shouting to each other, “The cider bus is serving tacos today!” Fox and Phoenix Temperley, sons of Mary and Alice, are already sprinting through the orchard, up the hill to reach the cider bus. Parked in the central courtyard of the farm is the eggshell blue Temperley cider bus.

Tiny, Alice’s horse amidst the cider farm orchard. Image courtesy of Maryam Eisler

Every year the family piles into the bus to set up camp at Glastonbury. For the rest of the time, Matilda organises fabulous weekend events at the farm inviting musicians and performers to entertain guests while serving cider and different foods by local providers.

Lola, Mary Temperley’s daughter on the cider farm. Image courtesy of Maryam Eisler

I lay out a picnic blanket and a basket full of local treats. Next to me, Mary Temperley, mother of four children and founder of skin care and home décor brand, Love from make, is in serious discussion with her sister Alice, mother of Fox and founder of iconic fashion label, Temperley. I can feel the ancient history of this extraordinary place and the magic of deep family ties mixed in with individual creative expression.

Diana at her log cabin. St Julian always near. Image courtesy of Maryam Eisler

Off to the left of our picnic area is an old wooden gate. Swing open the gate and walk along well-worn mud tracks grooved from trucks and farm vehicles and you will happen upon Diana’s log cabin. The log cabin is situated on a lake with a massive weeping willow tree, built by Diana to serve as an artist studio and another option for the family to congregate with friends and to enjoy the farm.

Mary Temperly and husband Jake checking the best barrels for the Somerset cider spirits. Image courtesy of Maryam Eisler

The Temperleys plant new hedges and orchards every year, keeping copses for wildlife and planting wildflowers and lavender for bees and butterflies as part of an impressive sustainability program. Apples, pears, quince, cherry and various plums are all grown on the farm for the production of cider and their range of spirits.

Alice and Clara and the Magic Circles at tea on the cider farm. Image courtesy of Maryam Eisler

Half of the cider is distilled in their copper stills named, Josephine, Fifi and Isabelle. The distilled clear spirit, or “water of life”, is placed in oak casks to mature into apple cider brandy over 3 to 20 years. With extraordinary long-term vision, the Temperleys are now also growing their own oak trees so they may be used for barrels in 130 years time.

Julian on the farm distillery with the copper stills. Image courtesy of Maryam Eisler

On this day under the apple blossoms and on many happy subsequent visits, there is a sensation of having stepped into the pages of a fairytale, where time stops and anything is possible. I half expect to catch a glimpse of Tinker Bell and see The Lost Boys running out into the orchard brandishing swords

From left to right, Matilda holding her daughter Isabelle, Mary and her daughter Lola, Diana, Alice and Tiny the horse enjoy tea. Image courtesy of Maryam Eisler

Having entered this other-worldly place surrounding Burrow Hill, I lie back on our picnic blanket staring up at clouds of apple blossom and think: What if…, what if, some day, I could write a children’s book…

Read more:Beam Suntory’s Kim Marotta On Sustainable Spirits

May the creative inspiration that the Somerset Cider Brandy farm and the Temperley family have given me, inspire all those who visit this magical place and may they wonder as I did, if the final resting place of King Arthur lies beneath the lonely Sycamore Tree on Burrow HIll.

By Cavan Mahony, Author of Clara and the Magic Circles. Out now.

Photographer, Maryam Eisler, captures the magic of the Temperley farm and the family in a series of photos taken one fine Spring day.