THE SPEAR’S LUXURY INDEX

From hoteliers and horologists to tailors, interior designers and jewellers, these are the 50 innovators, tastemakers and leaders at the forefront of luxury today 2020 By Edwin Smith, Alec Marsh, Rasika Sittamparam, Arun Kakar, Anna Solomon, Timothy Barber, Ben Griffiths, Andrew Harris, Gareth Herincx and Caroline Phillips Profile numbers for illustrative purposes only Peter Lürssen Elle B Mambetov 4 Prince of the waves 6 Modestly does it The family-owned German yard In May, fashion designer Elle B. Lürssen did it again this year with Mambetov relaunched her luxury ‘Project Opus’, another astonishingly womenswear brand, Elle B Zhou. The impressive ‘gigayacht’ – stretching to move was symbolic, marking triumph 142 metres (465 feet) in length, with over adversity. Born to a single mother two helipads and a retractable hangar in Texas, Mambetov’s journey has taken among the features. It also sleeps 36 in her from being homeless to 20 state rooms and looks stunning, sponsorship deals with Toni & Guy and having been designed by the Italian Evian – as well as being celebrated at studio Nuvolari Lenard. The Bremen London Fashion Week. But it also takes shipyard also gave the world Azzam in the confines of a British prison. (180m) in 2013, owned by UAE In 2016, she had become a London president Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan Fashion Week designer at just 26. and still the second-longest superyacht However, when police arrived at her flat in the world. After that came the 156m that November to arrest her on Dilbar in 2015. When it comes to suspicion of fraud, Mambetov’s fashion megayachts, the Lürssen family, in dreams unravelled fast. First a friend Brice Partouche business for 145 years, is still leaving had defrauded her before skipping bail. 1 High stepping everyone else in its wake. Then she was convicted for fraud and imprisoned for two years before the US Endurance sports had never really been ‘cool’ before. That was until the 2010s, when Rapha came intervened to free her. along and transformed cycling with tasteful, minimalist clothing and moody photoshoots. Running’s Since then, Mambetov has rebuilt ‘Rapha moment’ took longer to arrive – but it has been worth the wait. It comes courtesy of the her life – and her luxury fashion brand. Paris-based running brand Satisfy, the brainchild of Brice Partouche, a fashion entrepreneur. The Her collection is influenced by her aesthetic is often redolent of low-fi Eighties punk, but incorporates luxurious fabrics such as its identities as a modern African-American ‘Justice’ shorts lining, ‘made with an experienced French silk-maker and inspired by medical bandaging’. and a proud Muslim, and pioneers the Satisfy claims the material is 35 per cent lighter, making its shorts, which cost up to £273, ‘the practice of ‘modest fashion’. ‘This lightest in the industry’. They also dry 60 per cent quicker – another detail that shows Partouche’s collection is my brain, heart and soul commitment ‘to remove distractions’ in order to help runners pursue what he calls ‘The High’. stretching to collide two worlds of fashionable existence,’ Mambetov has KLAUS JORDAN JORDAN KLAUS said of her work. It is ‘representative of my own journey into dressing modestly; Jeannette Ho Barbara Broccoli each cropped top, short-sleeved shirt 2 Grand dame 5 The real Bond girl and pair of trousers have been repositioned to fit within this new world A producer of the last 11 Bond films, When London gets a new grand hotel, as I seek to redefine modest fashion.’ including No Time to Die, which is now it’s big news. When the hotel in question Her line was revealed in a high- out next year, Barbara Broccoli, also is in one of that capital’s iconic energy virtual presentation in co-owner of EON Productions with buildings – one garlanded with rich collaboration with supermodel Shahad Michael G Wilson, is one of the leading associations with individuals like Salman. Everything about it was big women not just in film, but in luxury. Churchill and Lord Kitchener, then it’s and bold, from the colours and patterns After all, which British icon has done really big news. Step forward Raffles to the unapologetic personalities of more to promote well-heeled London at The OWO, one of the capital’s Mambetov and Salman, a Saudi model masculine style than 007? And most audacious hotel reincarnations, with vitiligo. The industry couldn’t help where would Bond be without created from the reborn Old War Office but to take notice; since launching her his Aston Martins (eight films on Whitehall and opening in 2022. Clément Robert collection the designer has been and counting), Rolex or With interiors designed by Thierry Good taste merchant featured in Vogue Arabia, Glamour UK 3 Omega watches, Bollinger, or Despont – the New York-based French and Vogue Australia. Along with the Members of the five Birley Clubs – Annabel’s, Tom Ford clobber? Tom Ford architect who transformed the Ritz opening of her flagship store in Los Harry’s Bar, Mark’s Club, George, and Bath & returns for Bond 25, Paris – then you can expect the 125 Angeles, the collection proves beyond Racquets – now have a new club to enjoy, as do Omega and rooms and suites, and the nine bars and doubt that she has returned. one offering them access to a range of shoe-maker restaurants, to be seriously top-drawer. As well as protesting her innocence online tastings, food pairings, tours and Crockett & Jones. Part of Raffles’ rapid global expansion in her case, she is also turning her investment advice from the world’s top ‘I could not be (it’s opening in Boston next year, too) experience towards writing and wine, spirits and cigar producers and happier to be overseen by global chief Jeannette Ho, advocacy, and has been vocal on the experts. Perhaps unsurprisingly, 650 dressing Daniel if the OWO is half as good as the part that she says racism and members signed up for the recently Craig as James 133-year-old flagship hotel in discrimination play in the British launched Birley Wine Club ‘within 48 Bond again,’ Ford Singapore, it promises to be a criminal justice system. ‘ For anyone hours’, according to head sommelier said. Luxury seriously hot ticket. struggling with injustice, or struggling Clément Robert. ‘The idea was to keep lovers and to be heard, I just hope you don’t give up our members connected with the best shareholders too soon, because in my case I came out vineyards and the best people in the couldn’t agree the other side stronger,’ she has said. world in this industry,’ he says. more. 55

Torsten Müller-Ötvös 7 Mr Rolls-Royce Torsten Müller-Ötvös, CEO of Rolls- Royce Motor Cars since 2010, has overseen the transformation of the 116-year-old marque. Owned by BMW since 1998, the Goodwood-based luxury brand delivered a record- breaking 5,152 vehicles worldwide in 2019, and the range now consists of five models. The latest addition is the second-generation Ghost, the replacement for the biggest-selling car in Rolls-Royce’s history. It may not look radically different from its predecessor, but the 2020 Ghost is new from the ground up and the most technologically advanced model yet to sport the iconic Spirit of Ecstasy mascot. The original car was launched in 2009 in response to younger customers who wanted a model that was slightly ‘smaller’ and less ‘ostentatious’. The new version is built on an aluminium space frame architecture, gets four-wheel drive and all-wheel steering for the first time, and features Rolls-Royce’s unique Adaptive Planar suspension, which uses miniature cameras to read the road ahead, delivering the famed magic carpet ride. Inside the cabin, the dashboard has been semi-decluttered, but there are still some familiar switches, buttons, dials and shiny organ-stop air vent controls. On the passenger side, there’s a new illuminated fascia featuring a glowing Ghost nameplate surrounded by more than 850 tiny stars. Exterior features of note include Rolls-Royce’s hallmark Pantheon Grille, which now includes subtly illuminated vanes. Cruise along and the driving experience is near silent, thanks to the car’s 100kg of sound-proofing. The mighty twin-turbo V12 only becomes vaguely audible when the car is driven in a more spirited fashion. Naturally, the Ghost is at its best serenely gliding along, but it’s also the most driveable Rolls-Royce ever. For a big car it hides its size well – it’s surprisingly agile, with sharp steering, while the grip and traction out of corners are outstanding. The more you drive it, the more your confidence grows. So, the new Ghost is a triumph of design and engineering. Seductively stylish, whisper-quiet, powerful, and offering an awesome road presence and dynamic drive, it’s a sublimely luxurious treat. But then with a starting price of £250,000, it should be. THE LUXURY INDEX

Alex Eagle Frank Akinsete 11 Where Eagles dare Manuela Hauser & 8 Upcycling upstart Alex Eagle is the effortlessly cool 12 Iwan Wirth creative director best known for Frank Akinsete’s Portobello Market Art and the art of hospitality Alex Eagle Studio on Lexington Street, boutique is a West London institution. a 360° take on curated retail with an Stories of successful entrepreneurs’ He stocks an exceptional array of offbeat aesthetic. Her remit spans earliest endeavours are legion. But vintage clothing and accessories that fashion, lifestyle, art and furniture, setting up a commercial art gallery at attracts not only market-goers but also with all pieces hand-picked by 16 years old? Who does that? Iwan designers, stylists and clients from far Eagle herself. Wirth does, in the Swiss canton of and wide. So Akinsete’s collaboration She is also the woman behind St Gallen, where he lived with his with British brand Connolly presented ‘The Store’, an innovative retail, parents. Thirty-four years later, he and a pleasing collision of worlds: Akinsete’s creative and social experience his wife Manuela are universally urban retro with Connolly’s classic collaborating with some of the world’s acknowledged as the art world’s most aesthetic. For September, the legendary finest artists, designers, craftsmen, powerful couple, operating Hauser Portobello stand sold old Connolly chefs and creatives. & Wirth galleries across the globe. collections upcycled by Akinsete. Taking But Eagle has something new in The combination of brazen inspiration from Connolly’s summer the pipeline. She has been floating a confidence, love of art and commercial exhibition, ‘Something Old, Something mysterious new concept for some nous that propelled the teenager out of New, Something Borrowed, Something months: Alex Eagle Sporting Club the starting gate just kept going and Blue’, the vintage-connoisseur breathed was due to open in autumn, but the going. An early collaboration with new life into old pieces, using colourful launch was postponed until winter Manuela’s mother – retail heiress dye to transform jackets, trousers, due to Covid-19. A characteristically Ursula Hauser, herself a keen collector shirts and liquettes. The collaboration aesthetic Instagram page shows a – placed a firm financial footing under is timely with the fashion industry selection of vintage images of Iwan’s aspirations. In 1992 they opened under fire for its wasteful habits. Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan and the first Hauser & Wirth gallery in High-end upcycling is an elegant Christy Turlington wearing boxing Zurich. With Manuela joining and solution, in more ways than one. gloves. What does it all mean? We’ll subsequently marrying Iwan, a find out this winter. formidable family-bonded art was locked and (thanks to Ursula) fully loaded. In the culture wars, though, Hauser & Wirth march to their own beat. Kostas Sfaltos Jonny Fowle Based in the UK, where Iwan is a 9 Suite talker 10 Spirited fellow trustee of the Royal Academy, they are conducting the cultural conversation Athens-born Kostas Sfaltos enjoys the When Jonny Fowle was hired as Sotheby’s’ first spirits specialists in 2019, it along previously unexplored pathways. privilege of managing one of the finest confirmed in business terms what the auction world had known for a while: that In 2007 they moved, initially in a motor hotels in town, the Bulgari Hotel demand for the best drams and casks was more than a passing fad. Fowle – whose home, with their four children to Bruton London in Knightsbridge. Appointed Instagram is full of artful spreads and bottle selfies at @wanderingwhisky – has in Somerset, eventually selling their general manager of the Portland Stone- taken on the task of building a global spirits auction business with brio. In a short Holland Park mansion to the fronted Sloane Street icon in 2017, this time he’s helped the house to set new auction records for single malt (£1.5 million Beckhams. While that all sounds very veteran of One Aldwych and the Hotel for a 1926 Macallan) and a Cognac (a $144,525 Gautier 1762), and that’s all before Swiss Family Robinson, Swiss Family Café Royal has guided it through the launching its largest ever online auction of ‘ultra-rare’ whiskies this summer. That Wirth was soon operating a new gallery choppy waters of Covid-19 with a flair sale, which raised £1.2 million, was also notable for the fact that 47 per cent of and arts centre, a guest house, for innovation. Since reopening in buyers were new to Sotheby’s and 40 per cent of bidders were under 40. This Fowle restaurant and nearby pub. September it has introduced B.Business is just beginning to take flight. Their latest recalibration of the – a luxurious ‘workation’ offering day artistic landscape targets hospitality. In access to its prestigious suites for 2018 they opened (well, Prince Charles groups of up to six or solo guests. (It did) the Fife Arms in Braemar in the includes use of the hotel’s pool and Scottish Highlands. Its 16,000 artworks gym, as well as lunch, refreshments, encompass Lucian Freud, Picasso, and drinks in-suite or at the Sette Bar.) Louise Bourgeois and Brueghel. Hauser It has also introduced a trio of & Wirth artists also created work ‘staycation’ offers, including B.Beautiful, specifically for the restoration. for those keen to enjoy the spa, and B. The planned renovation of Bretton Private, where you can enjoy private Hall, an imposing 18th-century listed parking, in-suite personal shopping from mansion in the Yorkshire Sculpture Harvey Nichols, hair appointments and Park, could deliver the most a private dinner party for your bubble. spectacular manifestation yet of this arthouse meets front-of-house concept. If a hotel’s traditional role is making people feel at home, the Wirths’ perspective is clear: home is

SIM CANNERT-CLARKE where the art is. THE LUXURY INDEX 59

Sir Paul Smith HRH The Prince Andrew Stembridge Britain’s Ralph Lauren of Wales Man about town 13 17Warrants approval 18 Half a century ago in Nottingham, a stone’s throw away from Cliveden is an extraordinary place. The the National Justice Museum, Paul Smith opened his first ‘Is it the same coat?’ asked someone on estate has been home to a Prince of shop, Paul Smith Vêtements Pour Homme. The name Twitter recently. They were referring to Wales, two Dukes and an Earl. The suggests haute couture, but the man has since come to two photos of the Prince of Wales. One Italianate mansion that sits there now embody the style of the modern British gent: affable, smart, looked very recent, while the other must was home to Nancy Astor and the imaginative and perhaps just a little bit quaint. have been taken in the late Seventies or Cliveden Set of the 1920s and 1930s. With 166 stores in more than 60 countries, the word early Eighties. In both, however, he In the 1960s it was the scene of key ‘pioneer’ is overused, but it applies in this case: ‘He celebrates appears to be wearing an identical encounters in the Profumo affair. colour as if it were about to be made illegal,’ writes former overcoat: a double-breasted affair, Staying in the house (which is now a Apple design supremo Jonny Ive in a new monograph. which looks as smart today as it did hotel), having dinner in the long dining Smith is perhaps to Britain what Ralph Lauren is to the US. then. Can it be? room or lounging around the pool where Stripes and suits in particular have been redrawn under his ‘I’m a huge admirer of that coat,’ John Profumo clapped eyes on maximalist, poppy vision, and he’s consistently been in the says Aleksandar Cvetkovic, menswear Christine Keeler seems… forbidden. right place at the right time with the right people. Clients have writer and keen observer of Charles’s And all the more fun because of it. included David Bowie, Daniel Day-Lewis and Jimmy Page, for wardrobe. ‘It’s a stunner. Tailored by So when the man behind the group whom he made trousers when he was just 18. Anderson & Sheppard (HRH’s tailor of that runs the hotel at Cliveden House choice) about 40 years ago. He still announced a new establishment in wears it today.’ This ‘proper tweed polo Mayfair, it caught our attention. Andrew Samantha Drummond coat’ is ‘exactly what Savile Row is all Stembridge is the executive director of about,’ adds Cvetkovic. ‘Proof of the Design tiger Iconic Luxury Hotels, which has a small 14 mantra, “Buy less, but better!”’ With portfolio that includes Chewton Glen, the Australian luxury visionary Samantha warrants granted to Gieves & Hawkes Lygon Arms and 11 Cadogan Gardens. Tom March and Ede & Ravenscroft, among others, Add to that list the Mayfair Townhouse, Drummond is a veteran designer who Capitalising on luxury founded the Habitus Design Group and is the Prince is a great supporter of the which opens this autumn. Something 20 a dominant figure in luxury hospitality in capital’s tailors, and obviously it’s a very tells you it’ll be the sort of place where Tom March, formerly a partner at Asia. Her projects include the astonishing ecologically friendly approach as well. you could have rather a lot of fun... wealth management firm Smith & Marina Bay Sands in Singapore – where Williamson, is one third of the team she worked alongside architect Moshe behind Redrice Ventures, a seed stage Safdie and artist Antony Gormley to investor focusing on the luxury sector. create one of the world’s most Along with partners Robert Senior and recognisable luxury buildings. She also Jonathan Heilbron, former CEOs of worked on the Solaire Resort and Casino in Manila and the Saatchi & Saatchi and Thomas Pink Cotai Central in Macau, while her firm has advised on projects respectively, this is a venture capital worth $35 billion. ‘Our clients trust us to deliver world-class firm with a purpose. The underlying idea destinations – and we always exceed their expectations,’ is that consumers are now ‘buying into’ says Drummond. Her firm promises ‘bespoke interior design rather than ‘buying from’, and one of the where an international sense of luxury is combined with criteria for becoming a Redrice start-up authentic local character’ and hails Drummond’s ability to is that ‘you are driven by a cause beyond ‘translate her clients’ vision and objectives into reality’. With the numbers’. studios in Hong Kong, Singapore, Denmark and the March has boosted such brands as Philippines, Habitus plans to expand further. Castore, a fully digital brand endorsed by Andy Murray, and War Paint, a make-up brand for men. At the Emma Deterding heart of these brands is the new value Undeterred brilliance system defining consumer culture, 15 William Woodhams according to Redrice: ‘More conscious, Founded by Emma Deterding in 2006, Norfolk and Chelsea- You can bet on it more mindful, more sophisticated, based Kelling Designs has made a name for itself in the 16 better informed.’ private client residential field and the commercial sector, If 5 Hertford Street were reincarnated as a sports bar, it would come back as notably with the luxurious refurbishment of the Jockey Club Fitzdares Club. But this newly opened Mayfair bolthole has a history all of its Jessica McCormack Rooms in Newmarket. Deterding, who formerly worked in the own. The private members’ club is a physical manifestation of the bookmaker sales and rental market, also redesigns London and country of the same name, which has been ‘taking the world’s largest sporting wagers’ 19 Mayfair’s Kiwi diamond homes for private clients – as well as their rental properties since 1882. These days it has an app (and a good one at that), but after Diamond jeweller Jessica McCormack champions centuries-old craftsmanship – in addition to working on their properties in Alps and further several ‘pop-ups’ the new, permanent club represents a decision by CEO techniques, which are applied to modern and wearable designs inspired by afield. She is described by The Times as a ‘specialist in William Woodhams to zig as the rest of the world zags. ‘While most bookies everything from Maori carvings to Japanese fairy tales. The resulting aesthetic is staging irresistible rentals’, and her commercial clients are closing their doors or just going online, we believe that the future of beautifully distinct, full of personality and symbolism. Her pieces can be viewed include Knight Frank, Chestertons and Stutt & Parker. The bookmaking is not algorithms or bombarding customers with mass through home visits and virtual appointments and at her Mayfair boutique, ‘The interior designer says her reputation for not shying away from advertising,’ he says. ‘It is the connection between the bookmaker and the Townhouse’. McCormack moved to London from her native New Zealand to take up colour and pattern – evident in her stunning portfolio – sets sports fan that really counts.’ With comfortable surroundings, 4K streams of an internship at Sotheby’s. Shortly after she opened her Clerkenwell workshop in her apart in the market. ‘She’s super-well connected and the biggest events, an excellent menu (try the beef Wellington) and an 2008, Rihanna became a customer. The rest is history. more than just a high-end interior decorator,’ notes a pal, extensive wine cellar amassed by former bar director at Sketch, Dom Jacobs,

MARTIN KAUFMANN MARTIN who also praises her property market business savvy. there could scarcely be a better place for that connection to be made. THE LUXURY INDEX

Arne Glimcher 21 Setting the pace Having turned 60 this year, Arne Glimcher’s Pace Gallery is showing no signs of slowing down, much like the man who founded it. Already boasting ten Mario Dedivanovic locations worldwide (including at the Royal Academy 24 Contouring conjurer in London), Pace has announced plans for a new No one knew who Mario Dedivanovic eight-storey, 75,000 square feet gallery in its home was when he became Kim Kardashian’s town, New York – a testament to its ability to push make-up artist in 2008, but it’s not an the envelope of with an exaggeration to say that, together, the oracle-like consistency. pair have changed the way the world Mega-dealer Glimcher, who famously sold thinks about beauty. Jasper Johns’s Three Flags for $1 million 1980 to Dedivanovic is the man behind the Whitney Museum of American Art, is renowned Vanessa Jacobs the ‘soft glam’ look that countless for his taste and the important relationships he Restorative justice celebrities now sport: skin that seems fosters with his artists, including David Hockney. 23 airbrushed, sculpted cheekbones and From Rothko to Rauschenberg, a look back at Pace’s Don’t lob those much-loved Louboutins dewy highlighter, and a ‘matte’ finish. exhibitions reads like a history of Contemporary art in the bin just yet. CEO Vanessa Jacobs’ Makeup by Mario is credited with – as does its roster of artists, who include Picasso, expert team at The Restory can work inventing ‘contouring’ – the practice Hepworth and de Kooning. wonders on pre-loved shoes and bags. of using highlights and lowlights to They’ll have them picked up by courier emphasise bone structure – igniting and whizzed off to their South London a trend that has been going strong atelier, where they quarantine them for for a decade. 48 hours before sending a quote for He has also worked with Jennifer mending and refurbishing. Shoes tend Lopez, Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, to cost around £250 and bags £300, Mary J Blige, Katy Perry, Ciara, Kate but more extensive overhauls can cost Bosworth, Chrissy Teigen, Tyra Banks much more and take several weeks. and Chanel Iman. Having begun as a They’ll clean bag interiors and exteriors, make-up artist at the ground zero of re-edge, remake handles. And restore internet beauty culture, Dedivanovic is colour, smooth that deep scratch on a now one of the most influential people Kelly bag, or change a lining. working anywhere in If inspiration hits and you want a new showbusiness. colour or design, bespoke initialling or a different strap, your wish is their command. Plus they’ll buff brogues until you can see your face in them, cheer up Balenciaga trainers and restore suede evening shoes so you can dance again. After restoration, items are returned in a dust bag, looking almost new: beaten-up favourites resurrected. So before John Romain Claire Choisne coming to terms with sending Fit for the fighter 22 Rock star your beloved items to shoe 25 or handbag heaven, High jeweller Boucheron’s latest presentation is an Few places on earth share the ambience or allure of the Aircraft the Tiger Moth biplane basic trainer, via the radial-engined Harvard give them a call. exquisite range entitled ‘Contemplation’, which Restoration Company. The family-owned firm’s workshops at the and – if you’re skilled enough – eventually onwards to the aircraft that demonstrates amply just why this Parisian maison is historic Duxford Airfield near Cambridge boast a global reputation for won the Battle of Britain. so well regarded. Creative director Claire Choisne, in restoring vintage flying machines, with a particular expertise in As a pilot, Romain is highly experienced, with dozens of aircraft types post since 2011, has created 67 pieces dedicated to rebuilding Spitfires. Company owner, pilot and engineer John Romain is in his logbook, including more than 1,000 hours in Spitfires alone. His ‘capturing the ephemeral so that it doesn’t fade away’. regarded as the pre-eminent restorer of Supermarine’s iconic Second company also undertakes maintenance on privately owned aircraft, They reflect ‘the consistent feeling of detachment from World War fighter. For any pilot or potential Spitfire owner worth their as well as looking after those operated by the RAF’s Battle of Britain the daily hustle and bustle’ she feels while at her home salt, ARCo is the first port of call for advice and assistance to source an Memorial Flight, including the famed Lancaster bomber, one of only in Portugal, or the ‘flocks of flying birds’ you encounter aircraft, whether for personal use or for investment purposes. two still flying anywhere in the world. during contemplative moments. To lend one piece an The company once took the wreckage of a pair of Mark 1 Spitfires Most recently Romain’s personal Spitfire, a stunning blue machine ethereal touch, she obtained a substance called which had crash-landed on a French beach in 1940 and rebuilt them to that was used as for wartime photographic reconnaissance, has been aerogel, which Nasa has used to capture stardust, flying condition, with one reportedly being sold for a cool £3 million. a regular sight around the UK. Flown overhead hospitals as a tribute to to produce a moonstone-like effect. The aircraft became film stars too, being flown by Romain and his the NHS during the coronavirus pandemic, the response to the flights Rare materials aside, this was also one of the most team during the filming of Christopher Nolan’s movie Dunkirk. Such has uplifted members of the public, who view the Spitfire as a symbol technically complex collections to complete but also skilled craftsmanship has meant Spitfires and other rare classic of hope – just as they did back in the 1940s. draws on Boucheron’s archives for inspiration. ‘The aircraft have gradually been gaining popularity for investors seeking Romain has turned this into a fundraising drive for NHS charities, jeweller’s art is about stopping time in its tracks, new asset classes. with donors asked to nominate a name to be inscribed on the aircraft’s making instants eternal when, by their very essence, Romain’s team can also train pilots to fly these historic machines, skin in tribute or as a thank you to those who have died, loved ones or

THE RESTORY they are not,’ she has said. using the same pathway followed by the fighter pilots of yore, taking in simply a friend or kind neighbour. LEWIS ROMAIN GEORGE 65

Mark Weston Bruce Jones 26 Dunhill’s music maker 30 The real Captain Nemo Formerly under Christopher Bailey at Submarine-maker Bruce Jones has recalls Jones. ‘He was buying a new Burberry, Mark Weston joined Alfred more than 33 years’ experience in the yacht from Trinity and thought, “Well, Dunhill in 2017 as creative director and underwater transport world, where he if I’m going to spend $30 million on a has been credited with breathing new first started as a consultant in the yacht, I probably will have a submarine life into the brand after a run of tourism industry. Back then submarines to have some fun with.”’ Another successes that was crowned with his could take up to 48 passengers and dive customer is Bridgewater founder autumn-winter 2020 collection, shown to around 50 metres. He co-founded his Ray Dalio, who owns two Tritons, one in Paris in January. Fashion critics own submarine firm in 1993 before of which was used by Japanese hailed the collection, which celebrates going into business with Patrick Leary, a broadcaster NHK to film the first ever the firm’s automotive heritage, passion professional deep-sea explorer, setting recorded encounter with the giant for tailoring and excellence in leather up Florida-based Triton in 2007. ‘We squid, the largest invertebrate on earth, goods, as a highlight of the season and really went from one model to where we which is about the length of a bus. a welcome return to form for the are now – 12 models of deep A Triton buyer, says Jones, is a 127-year-old icon. submersibles and six models of tourist superyacht owner who can come from Weston was brought in by the CEO submarines,’ recalls Jones, Triton’s CEO. anywhere in the world, from the US to of the Richemont-owned firm, Andrew One model stands out. The company the Middle East and Russia. ‘I’d say to [a vehicles with shiny metal-oxide veneers Maag, also late of Burberry and the describes Triton 36,000/2, which can new client] that we are so confident and hand-stitched seats. Buyers can man who recruited Weston there, too. dive more than a kilometre, as ‘possibly you’re going to love your Triton that I’ll access the British carmaker’s ‘Q Apparently the two have a ‘hive mind’, the most impressive tool for human give you the name of every single Triton division’, which offers ‘the ultimate according to industry watchers – part exploration and scientific endeavour buyer in our history,’ he says. level of personalisation’. of the reason that great things are since Apollo 11’. It was aboard one of The ‘epigenome’ of the luxury Jones is looking forward to launching happening at North Audley Street. these that Prince Albert II of Monaco submersible, for Jones, is the Project a ‘deso-electric’ submersible-yacht Once a sleeping giant of British luxury, became ‘the deepest diving head of Neptune models which Triton created hybrid capable of diving to 300m. ‘If you Dunhill has woken up. state’ when he took a dive in the with Aston Martin through a ‘creative build a big one of those, you can even Mediterranean in 2019. collaboration’. ‘There were some carry a deep-diving submarine on board. Triton entered the luxury market in pretty significant limitations on the Even if you’re underwater, you can crawl 2007, says Jones, when mining exterior look of the sub, but they really into your 10,000-foot capable acrylic billionaire Chris Colne became a managed to make it sort of sexy,’ he submarine, leave the mother sub and

NICK VEROLA customer. ‘He was a terrific fellow,’ says of the $4.4 million limited-edition dive. It’s the stuff of science fiction.’

Mark Cavendish David Franks 27 The dream catcher 28 King of trainer bling 29 Prada’s northern soul ‘We don’t just build yachts,’ declares Dutch firm Former e-commerce guru and Raf Simons – formerly of Jil Sander, Heesen Yachts. ‘We turn dreams into reality.’ If that’s self-confessed ‘sneakerhead’ David Christian Dior and Calvin Klein – took what you want, Mark Cavendish, its sales and marketing Franks turned his tech talents to on the co-creative directorship at Prada director, is the man to talk to. Founded in 1978, Heesen trainers when he founded Kick Game in in April. His first collection designed in has brought 170 ‘dreams’ to life and in so doing earned 2013 with his brother Robert. Posting a collaboration with Miuccia Prada, in an unrivalled reputation in the business for aluminium 48 per cent revenue increase last year, September, was met with great acclaim. construction and innovative propulsion systems, giving it now sells trainers to a clientele that The Belgian designer began his career clients faster and more efficient ships with longer ranges. includes Saudi and Qatari royalty. Its in furniture before launching his own In 2021 it is due to deliver ‘Project Cosmos’, at 80 metres store has a ‘variety of high-value stock’, menswear label in the mid-Nineties. the longest motoryacht ever built in the Netherlands. The Franks tells Spear’s. That includes a His latest work is characterised by a astonishingly beautiful yacht (exterior by London-based £12,000 pair of Air Jordan 1 x Dior certain Flemish cool, which contrasts Winch Design) will also be capable of 30 knots, making sneakers and a Louis Vuitton leather with Prada’s Italian warmth. At the her the fastest aluminium yacht the yard has built. Also bag worth £10,000. ‘They command time of his appointment she noted coming next year is the fast displacement 50m yacht such a premium because of the luxury that the new partnership was ‘born ‘Project Altea’, which promises ‘unparalleled fuel brand collaborations, and ultimately from a deep reciprocal respect and efficiency throughout the full spectrum of speed’. the scarcity of the items.’ an open conversation’. THE LUXURY INDEX 65

Ben Dalrymple Dr Mohammed Enayat Emma Willis 31 The hatter 35 The age reverser 37 Cutting class With its wares being modelled by style Dr Mohammed Enayat is a pioneer in In St James’s, opposite Franco’s, resides maven Jack Guinness (described as ‘the ‘biohacking’ – the practice of ‘taking Emma Willis, bespoke shirtmaker and coolest man in Britain’ by GQ, no less), control of your biology’ through Jermyn Street mainstay since 1999. Lock & Co – the world’s oldest hat maker nutrition, technology and therapies. Willis, who is the first and only female – has a spring in its step. Counting Along with his sister Dr Shawana Vali, bespoke shirtmaker with a storefront in Oscar-winner Sir Mark Rylance among who oversees the aesthetic treatment, the storied postcode, counts Daniel its customers, the family-owned hatter Kristina Blahnik ‘Dr E’ co-founded Chelsea’s LMS Clinic, Craig and David Gandy among her has been going strong for 344 years and Best foot forward an invitation-only wellness spa that discerning clients. Willis’s process remains in fine fettle. In no small 33 claims to ‘prevent and reverse ageing, starts with measurements: collar, waist, measure that’s down to managing Kristina Blahnik’s childhood was both externally and internally’. chest, hips, front yokes, back yokes, director Ben Dalrymple, who joined four wrapped up in the world of Manolo How do they do this? LMS Clinic sleeve, cuff, biceps, forearm and tail years ago from Bang & Olufsen and still Blahnik – a brand immortalised by conducts a screening process of 455 length. Discussions on style, fit and considers himself a new boy. With past Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City. markers of health and creates bespoke fabric ensue before a sample shirt is clients including Churchill (as well as Kristina would spend her days watching strategies for correcting the areas that created. She then makes adjustments, Gary Oldman playing him in Darkest her uncle, the founder and designer, need it. It also offers personalised and once she and her client are Hour), Oscar Wilde and Lord Nelson (he sketch new collections and grew up ‘immune support programmes’ as well satisfied with the prototype, the rest of was wearing one of the firm’s bicorns at wanting nothing more than to continue as ‘health wearable monitoring’. the order can be created at her factory Trafalgar), Dalrymple tells Spear’s: ‘We the family business. Now she’s CEO, and Clients are given an ‘Oura ring’ in Gloucestershire, where a team of are extremely proud of our heritage, but Kristina is steering Manolo Blahnik in a which tracks the body and feeds cutters and seamstresses make shirts we do not rest on it.’ Hats off to him. new direction. ‘I never had shoes to fill,’ back to a control centre at the first from luxurious Swiss and West Indian she has said. ‘I came with my own shoes.’ sign of infection. LMS also offers an sea island cottons. Willis has also Her uncle was always vehement array of therapies, which range from launched various charitable initiatives, about keeping the brand low-key; vitamin infusions to ground-breaking including manufacturing luxury cotton Kristina, however, understands the IV laser therapy. scrubs for NHS workers. importance of the name and believes growth is possible without Anabela Chan compromising its identity. So far she Georges Kern Stones meet science has grown the head office from six to 32 more than 80 – and gone from one shop 36 The man to watch Having arrived in the world of jewellery in London to outposts in Burlington Back in April, the Swiss watchmaker Breitling launched a limited-edition diving via architecture, fashion and art, Arcade, Harrods, Selfridges and Liberty. watch with multi-coloured hour markers that made an unusual rainbow effect Anabela Chan has found her niche. Her Manolo Blahnik is expanding – with around a black dial. Though long planned, it came just as the rainbow was being eponymous business is a fine jewellery Japan as a huge emerging market – but adopted as a symbol of support for those at the front line of pandemic healthcare, brand pioneering in the practice of its soul is in safe hands. laboratory-grown gemstones. Although and it proved a surprise hit. The 250 watches sold out in three hours, and Breitling’s some may always favour what they CEO Georges Kern moved fast: the next month a second version with a blue dial was regard as ‘the real thing’, the fact is this Dustin Dryden launched, this time for charity. From a run of a thousand watches, Breitling raised sustainable practice is gaining ground, Giving it a whirl $500,000 for healthcare workers in the worst-affected countries. Cannily, it added an 34 extra $1,000 for the first 100 watches sold through its own website. and with the likes of Chan pairing lab-grown stones with high-jewellery Throughout his career, South African- It’s three years since Kern, who used to run rival brand IWC before being promoted design, the trend only looks set to born aviation entrepreneur Dustin to oversee the entire watchmaking division of its owner Richemont Group, walked continue. If you needed further proof, Dryden has been a disruptor. His latest out on that plum role and swept into Breitling’s HQ carrying a very big broom. The Chan’s stones have found their way onto tech business, AVIAA, was founded in company, founded in 1884 and known in particular for its pilots’ watches, had just the necks, wrists and fingers of the likes 2016 and boasts a membership of more been sold by its family owners to private equity group CVC Capital Partners for of Beyoncé, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Anne than 1,500 aircraft in Europe and the around $1 billion, and was seen as something of a sleeping giant sorely in need of Hathaway, Julia Roberts, Lupita Nyong’o US. He’s also the founder of Oxford- new vision. Kern duly brought it, streamlining the collections, cutting out tired and Taylor Swift. And, of course, the based Volare Aviation, which has a designs and creating handsome new models that capitalise on Breitling’s history. pieces are beautiful. Chan begins by reputation for excellence in full A part-time movie producer with an impresario’s fondness for the spotlight, he hired hand-carving the designs in wax before refurbishments and new avionics on Brad Pitt and Charlize Theron as the faces of the brand and launched Apple-style casting in parts. Every stone is Hawker and Challenger jets, as well as summits in which he paces the stage himself, microphone attached, introducing painstakingly selected for its brilliance executive helicopters. the latest products. and colour; then cut, faceted, polished Dryden’s newest venture is My Heli, In 2020, despite the summits moving online, Kern’s project of turning Breitling into and set by hand by skilled artisans. a helicopter charter service with a luxury brand for the 21st century has really taken wing. Successful launches have ambitions to soon allow its users to included the redesign of the brand’s popular Chronomat as a versatile sports-luxe book their next helicopter flight by app. timepiece on a terrific bullet-belt bracelet; the beautifully retro Top Time Testament to his ability to drive new chronograph, which is the first new wristwatch to be launched with certificates of ventures forward at pace, the UK’s authenticity stored digitally in the blockchain – a potentially game-changing Civil Aviation Authority issued My Heli development that Kern says he intends to roll out to the entire Breitling catalogue; with its air operator certificate in and the ultra-lightweight Endurance Pro sports watch, for which stylish coloured September, allowing its fleet of six straps are made from salvaged nylon fishing nets. stylishly refurbished Leonardo AW109s Naturally, less than a month after launch, Kern was already working his magic: the to begin charter operations throughout Endurance Pro was on the wrist of 22-year-old Tadej Pogacar as he secured his the UK and Europe. surprise victory at the Tour de France. THE LUXURY INDEX 79 Mohamed Hadid 42 New caviar king Adrien Meyer Joanne Evans Perhaps it tells you something 38 Christie’s privateer 40 Skin in the game about Palestinian-American property mogul and entrepreneur Adrien Meyer is global head of private sales and co- London’s best-kept skin secret is hidden behind a door in a residential street. ‘It’s so Mohamed Hadid – whose offspring chairman of the Impressionist and Modern department discreet,’ enthuses Joanne Evans as she welcomes Spear’s to the Holland Park include modelling royalty Bella and at Christie’s. ‘Auction houses are not necessarily well flagship of Skin-Matters, the UK’s first ‘skin health house’. Gigi – that he describes himself as known for private sales,’ he tells Spear’s from New York. It feels like an exclusive, members-only club frequented by the beauty ‘the second-most famous person ‘But it meets the needs of or clients in a very cognoscenti. When Evans, a medical aesthetician, launched it nine months before from Nazareth’. The businessman, complementary way to the auction.’ The arrival of the pandemic struck, it quickly made its way on to speed dial for celebrities. who also notes that he’s the only Covid-19 has heralded a ‘new era for the art market’, Hollywood actress Naomi Watts enjoyed her visit so much that she announced person to have represented Jordan especially in terms of digital adoption. she would take Evans back to the US with her. at the Winter Olympics, has turned ‘The change of collector habits has Not only a skin specialist and facialist, Evans is also the queen of laser, has to haute cuisine and this summer accelerated within three months what 30 years’ experience and boasts an alphabet soup of qualifications. For sun released a brand of caviar with the should have otherwise taken three damage, scarring or stretch marks, she’s deft at collagen stimulation therapy. aim of ‘revolutionising the world of years,’ says Meyer. For rejuvenation and banishing wrinkles, she offers micro-needling. Rosacea is fine food’. Hadid Caviar is produced treated with pulses of light and laser. exclusively from farmed sturgeon There’s something instantly healing about crossing the threshold into her world, boasting roes of ‘100 per cent with its fern-green walls, armfuls of fresh hydrangeas and upcycled refectory table. traceability’, and comes in a She’s dimmed the pendant lamps; the music is meditatively chilled. Even the niche portfolio of flavours includes Black beauty products – for which she’s scoured the world and which she displays in a (Imperial), Gold (Royal Oscietra), barrister’s vintage bookcase – speak of calm. ‘This is Esse’s probiotic, plant-based Black Diamond (Beluga) and moisturiser, perfect for soothing lockdown-stressed skin,’ she explains. ‘This is Sultan’s (Almas). The company says Nue Co’s “Mood” with Ashwagandha [Indian ginseng] root, great for cortisol part of its mission is to support the management and relaxation.’ Aids charity amfAR and research Evans leads me downstairs past the 20-foot curved Chesterfield sofa where to end the Covid-19 pandemic. clients can have their IV infusions. Then into the Germolene-coloured treatment room with its homely reclaimed brass towel rail, massage couch with duvet and ozone-filtered air. ‘My facials,’ she says from behind her mask and eye shields, ‘are bespoke and highly personalised.’ She gives me a deep steam cleanse, extraction, exfoliation, vitamin infusion using ultrasound, a gloopy mask plus galvanic, deep tissue facial massage, and shoulder massage followed by reflexology. She uses either organic products or cosmeceuticals and finishes my treatment with laser (good Phoebe Saatchi Yates Simon Cotton for thread veins). It’s more than a facial: 43 Chip off the old block 45 Ready cashmere she offers a total skin health check. ’s 26-year-old daughter Cashmere king Johnstons of Elgin has I leave glowing, with wrinkles softened. sent chins wagging around the art been making the finest Scottish cloth, Evans has also hand-picked a world when it was announced that she knitwear and accessories for 220 years. crack team of expert facialists, a would be opening her own, massive Since 1797 the business has produced naturopathic doctor, a cosmetic and face acupuncturist, massage therapists 10,000 square feet gallery in Cork exquisite woven products from the Jim Beveridge (specialising in lymphatic drainage and cellulite reduction), and an aesthetic doctor Street, Mayfair. Launched with her finest of fibres. The first bale of Chinese Gold blends for Botox and vitamin injections. It’s just as well, because for appointments with the 39 husband Arthur Yates and with her cashmere to make it to these shores woman herself there’s a six-month waiting list. The aptly named Dr Jim Beveridge OBE father on board as an adviser, the was imported by Johnstons of Elgin in knows a thing or two about drink. He Saatchi Yates Gallery aims to promote Andrew Winch 1851, where it made its way to the joined Johnnie Walker as a ‘flavour emerging, ‘unknown’ artists at a time Soul man company’s mill in Elgin in 1851. Today, chemist’ four decades ago and has Mark Harvey when the purpose of physical gallery 44 the mill is the only remaining vertical spent his career at spirits giant Diageo Fizz is England spaces are coming under question. The Thomas Heatherwick of HNW mill in Scotland, using the gentlest honing his understanding of the art and 41 ‘What we’re trying to do with the design, Andrew Winch founded Winch manufacturing processes to take raw science of whisky. Earlier this year he Three years since the Kent winemaker Chapel Down launched its fizz in France, the gallery is start something that’s Design in 1986. He is established as fibre through to the finished product and spearheaded the launch of ‘Prima & firm is still on a roll. Despite the trials of Covid, the company announced ‘a strong hopeful and a new way of looking at one of the world’s top yacht designers produce exquisite goods from luxurious Ultima’, a limited-edition collection of set’ of half-year results in the summer, with revenues up 20 per cent. And with things,’ Phoebe Saatchi Yates has said. and his business is flying high, having scarves and throws to historic Estate rare single malts comprising such English winemakers hailing a bumper harvest this year, conditions are set fair for ‘It’s quite nice in a way to be doing scooped a top prize for its recent tweed. It’s a British success story that sought-after liquids as a 1979 cask of Chapel Down – widely regarded as a trailblazer in English viniculture and, of course, something really positive after the 80-metre superyacht Excellence at the has long flown under the radar, having Port Ellen and a 1984 Caol Ila. There an official supplier to Number Ten – to blaze ahead into the 2020s. strangest year we ever experienced.’ Monaco Yacht Show. The firm branched supplied many of the top fashion houses, were only 238 of the eight-bottle sets Mark Harvey – a Frenchman selling English sparkling wine – is the firm’s The new gallery has opened with out into aviation 20 years ago and has including Hermès. But now Johnstons’ available, which fetched £20,000 each. managing director and joined the company after 12 years at Moët Hennessy and an exhibition of Swiss artist Pascal also moved into architecture. A natural own name is gaining renown – thanks But he’s rumoured to be working on LVMH before that. Harvey foresees ‘significant export opportunity’ for Chapel Down Sender’s work, and with Saatchi empathy and listening are at the core of to a beautiful range of cashmere more collections. Whisky aficionados in the US, where the firm will ‘scale up significantly’ in the next five years. Let’s senior in the wings it’s sure to be Winch’s approach: One client told him: products that bear its brand and the

will raise a glass to that. hope they leave enough for us to drink here. ANDREA ROSETTI watched closely. ‘You have read my soul.’ industriousness of CEO Simon Cotton. 69

Roman Goronok Max Foulkes Axel Dumas Thierry Stern 46 All the right notes 47 Heir of cigars 48 God of luxury 49 For the next generation Only about 600 Stradivarius violins Having grown up around the blue Axel Dumas, CEO of the Paris fashion A year ago, Patek Philippe cemented its were ever made, Roman Goronok smoke of Cuban puros, it is no surprise colossus Hermès, is a sixth-generation place at the top of Swiss watchmaking’s explains to Spear’s over coffee in the that Max Foulkes – son of cigar-smoking member of the billionaire Hermès- tree when a unique watch it had made covered courtyard of 5 Hertford Street. Nick Foulkes, the Spear’s columnist and Dumas family and nephew of Jean- sold at auction for $31 million, by a A third have been lost or destroyed, chronicler de luxe – should be drawn to Louis Dumas, chairman from 1978 distance the highest ever price for a mainly by the ravages of plague and the cigar world. Now a Master of Cuban to 2006. timepiece. In 2020, despite a brief revolution. Another third are in private Cigars no less, Foulkes Jnr can be found A Harvard graduate and former BNP Covid-induced closure of its factories, collections and ‘will never be sold’. at London’s premier cigar emporium, Paribas banker, he took over the reins in Patek marched on with the completion That leaves around 200 that might one Davidoff, where he advises customers 2014 and he has steered the company of a new manufacturing base in Geneva, day be available – if you’re willing to old and new. He admits he’s younger through the challenges of Covid-19, whose ten floors and 2,000 square part with millions in exchange for a than many of those working in the keeping it in good health – analyst metres of space expand facilities not wooden box and a few strands of catgut. industry and relishes the opportunity to Luca Solca from Exane BNP Paribas just for current production, but for Both Goronok’s parents were spread the word to a younger crowd. described it as one of the most anticipated growth over the next decade. successful professional musicians, and ‘It reassures me when a customer my ‘resilient’ players in luxury goods. Notably, as lockdown fell, president in his youth he was on a similar age smokes a cigar I have suggested The brand is eagerly preparing for a Thierry Stern – the fourth of his family trajectory. But in his early twenties he they try and they come back for more!’ post-pandemic world and has recently to run the 181-year-old company – suffered a serious accident that forced declares Foulkes. ‘It’s such an elegant opened a workshop in Auvergne to train authorised the brand’s dealers to him to re-order his priorities. He hobby that is now being enjoyed by the next generation of leather artisans. transact online for the first time. An realised then that he would not become young rappers and skateboarders alike During the Spanish flu epidemic, important move, perhaps, but a one of the very best musicians in the and I’m incredibly happy to be involved Dumas’s predecessors moved from symbolic one more than anything: world. But he could become one of the in the movement.’ Of the St James’s making saddlery and harnesses to waiting lists for the brand’s most very best at something else. shop, his father notes: ‘I brought Max luggage in response to the switch to desirable watches are reported to be In 2000, he set up the business that here when he was about six weeks old cars – and then eventually to fashion. longer than ever. In other words, the he runs today. He describes himself as a and he liked it so much he came back In the future, we hear the brand watchmakers filling those gleaming ‘relentless detective and matchmaker’ to work here when he completed his will focus more on ecologically new ateliers are going to be furiously who spends his time finding ‘great formal education.’ conscious products. busy for a long time to come. masters’ violins and quietly putting them in the careful hands of renowned musicians’. He works with professional players to establish the kind of instrument they’re looking for – and Andrew Zobler then he uses his connections to find it. A NoMad in London He describes his customers as ‘kindred 50 spirits’ who understand both the Andrew Zobler is the storied importance of preserving these hotelier behind the New York-based beautiful, historic objects, and their Sydell Group. He was responsible ‘undeniable high-performing for opening the Ned in partnership investment qualities’. with Ron Burkle and Soho House, Fine and rare stringed instruments and is making another contribution (or ‘FRSI’, in the argot) have numerous to London’s unrivalled hospitality strengths as an alternative asset, scene: this time, in partnership with Goronok explains. They can be insured Doha-based investment firm BTC to for 110 per cent of their value; they are launch NoMad London. The NoMad very difficult to sell on the black market hotel collection lures travellers of (and therefore not especially attractive the highest calibre in the US, but to would-be thieves or burglars); they London is its first international can be authenticated with a high outpost. Opening in December, the degree of confidence; and they ‘never’ NoMad London iteration occupies lose value. This is because they are a the former Bow Street Magistrates ‘finite resource’, says Goronok. More Court opposite the Royal Opera violins are being made, of course, but ‘it House, and will join Zobler’s will take 300 years for us to know if they portfolio of what National are really good’. Geographic has described as The most expensive ever sold is ‘today’s coolest hotels’. The 91-key thought to be the Vieuxtemps Guarneri building is designed in Violin, which is rumoured to have collaboration with the firm Roman fetched $16 million. It’s a complicated and Williams, and will combine field to enter, of course. So what should NoMad’s trademark playfulness be the first step for a would-be with the historical significance of investor? That part is straightforward, the Grade-II listed structure.

DAVID HARRISON DAVID says Goronok: ‘Come and see me.’