PHOTOGRAPHY, JENNA MARIE WAKANI Viia Beaumanis on the chicest Viia Beaumanisonthechicest champagne—in her fave style herfavestyle champagne—in haunt, bustling Marrakech. places to shop—and sip places toshop—andsip
YOUR GUIDE TO THE GOOD LIFE LIFESTYLE
YSL’S MARRAKECH A NEW MUSEUM HONOURS THE DESIGNER’S SECOND HOME.
Still under the radar when Yves Saint Laurent fell in love with it in 1966, Marrakech offered him boundless inspiration. A hedonistic escape and creative retreat where the designer JEAN PAUL GAULTIER, SERGE SHOP In addition to traditional local vend could relax and Lutens, the Hermès family, the Bransons, the ors, there are lots of fashionable expats drawn recharge, it became Bulgaris—every stylish globetrotter seems to by Marrakech’s design flair. Isabelle Topolina, his second home. He have a place in Morocco these days. Where a couture pattern maker from Normandy, now and his partner, Pierre Europe meets Africa at the Strait of Gibraltar, in fills a trio of eponymous shops with her vi- Bergé, bought Dar Es Saada (“house of a sublime fusion of the elegant and the exotic brant textiles and well-cut dresses and counts happiness in serenity”), Plum Sykes among her fans. Sarah that is by turns antediluvian and achingly overlooking the Jardin chic, Marrakech is a magnet for fashion Marrakech is divided into three main districts—the HAGGLE Suffice it to say that the city is not a Buchan, from London, launched Majorelle, in 1974. Six buffs. It’s hard to name a label that hasn’t 12th-century walled-in medina; Ville Nouvelle, which healthy place for impulse shoppers with no self- Kaftan Queen seven years ago, while years later, the couple squeezed Africa’s most stylish city for cre- edges it; and the tony Palmeraie, on the town’s desert control. While GPS has made navigating the souk Bordeaux native Laetitia Trouillet’s also acquired the ative juice. A few recent collections by Tory outskirts—but its heart is the bustling main square, (market) easier, hiring a guide—at $50 per half gimlet eye led Sarah Jessica Parker garden—a one-hectare Burch, Mara Hoffman and Kate Spade Jemaa el-Fnaa. At night, it transforms into a not-to-be- day—is worth it. Guides can save you time and and Gwyneth Paltrow to hire her as oasis of cacti, bamboo, come to mind, while Matthew Williamson, missed food court, and the slender laneways that snake money by quickly getting you where you want to a personal shopper before she opened orange blossoms fresh off Poppy Delevingne’s Marrakech off of it twist through a dazzling mazelike bazaar. Each go and, if you like, helping with bargaining (so her handbag and accessories bou- and water-lily ponds created by painter wedding, drew his pre-fall 2015 collection time I return here, I’m armed with a mental list of you pay about 50 percent of the initially offered tique, Lalla. Dispatched to Morocco Jacques Majorelle in price). Mustapha Chouquir is the insider favour to oversee production for brands like from its architecture, mosaics and decora- everything I didn’t buy on my last foray. Having al- the 1920s—and kept tive techniques. And for spring/summer ready amassed a collection of lanterns, bedspreads, ite. For serious spending, book Cobblestone, Kenzo and Lacroix, Ludovic Petit it as a public space to 2018, Anthony Vaccarello opened his carpets, handbags, jewellery, slippers and embroidered owned by Michael Diamond, a Morocco con- debuted his own showroom, Lup 31, prevent it from being show with a boho parade inspired by the velvet coats, this time I was on the hunt for curtain noisseur who coordinates flawless itineraries in 2015 to retail his signature take on razed by a developer. city loved by Yves Saint Laurent. tie-backs (hammered silver discs so lushly tasselled tailored to any interest, from culture and design North African design. On the home- (After Saint Laurent’s Clockwise, death in 2008, they’re like drop earrings for your drapes), hand- from top: to shopping, cuisine and camel trekking. decor front, you’ll find Alessandra ira (glam woven blankets banded with sequins Musée Yves Lippini, former style editor for Vogue Bergé installed a and plush fringe) and, oh yes, a six-metre python Saint Laurent From top: Furniture Italia, behind the heavy wooden doors memorial here.) Marrakech; shop Ministero Fittingly, the new skin (that would look marvellous pressed under blankets and of her by-appointment-only furni- del Gusto; the Musée Yves Saint glass on my dining-room wall). Never been? pillows in the Sahara Desert, ture emporium, Ministero del Gusto. market; the Laurent Marrakech, just outside the Valérie Barkowski, a Belgian former Never mind: With these picks, your Marrakech main square, city; accessories which opened Jemaa el-Fnaa to-do list will match any style maker’s. COURTESYPHOTOGRAPHY, YVES SAINT LAURENT SAINT LAURENT (Y. & MUSÉE YVES SAINT LAURENT MARRAKECH), JENNA MARIE WAKANI (JEMAA EL-FNAA), GETTY IMAGES (SAHARA DESERT & BLANKETS AND & CÉCILE PILLOWS) PERRINET LHERMITTE (LALLA) boutique Lalla creative director, now produces h in October, sits
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adjacent to the Jardin Majorelle. Elegantly contemporary—4,000 square metres of burnished brass, mosaic tile and gleaming terrazzo A junior suite at designed by the au fait El Fenn; Trésor des Parisian firm Studio Nomades (below); KO—the building will Riad Dixneuf la Ksour (bottom) house a permanent retrospective of the designer’s work drawn from the vast archives of the Fondation sumptuous home accessories for her V.Barkowski Pierre Bergé-Yves store. Filled to its lantern-strung rafters with fur- Saint Laurent. niture, fabric, pouffes, urns, antique doors and With its sun-splashed carpets, Trésor des Nomades is the treasure trove café, auditorium, Naomi Campbell mines for bohemian decor. gallery and event Meanwhile, Sidi Ghanem, an industrial zone 20 space, revolving minutes from town, has been revamped into a art exhibits and thriving design district filled with bistros, galleries, 5,000-volume research library workshops and retail spaces. TASTE The city’s great design devoted to fashion, aesthetic stretches to dining botany and Moroccan design, it’s as much STAY While you may go broke trawling the city’s venues too. A short list of chic Clockwise, from a cultural centre as souk and boutiques, you can check into a stylish hot spots includes Le Jardin, top left: The courtyard at it is a museum. Its riad (a historic villa wrapped around a courtyard) a garden courtyard swathed boutique hotel opening coincides without spending a fortune. Staying in the medina in bottle-green mosaic tile; the El Fenn; L’Hôtel with the renovation whitewashed La Famille, which Marrakech; offers the richest cultural experience, and, given must-visit dining of a complementary the deluge of sophisto expats revamping historic looks like it was lifted straight spots Le Jardin sister museum in the properties into small hotels, this is where the gems out of Ibiza; the airy rooftop at and La Famille designer’s Avenue are found, as sheer volume keeps prices down. trendy Nomad; and the veranda Marceau atelier. With its six rooms, indoor pool and easy-to-find of long-time local favourite Grand Café de la Poste. “Paris represents creation, while location (essential), I’ve loved Riad Dixneuf la Of course, with wow style and a splashy Euro Marrakech symbolizes crowd, nightlife is golden in Marrakech. Azar, Le Ksour since it opened in 2009. It’s practically next inspiration,” says door to El Fenn, Vanessa Branson’s 28-room bou- (EL LOFTUS DAVID FENN COURTYARD) Palace and the Bill Willis-designed Dar Yacout are Marrakech museum tique arts hotel, which is a cool spot for dinner the spots for glam dinners. Buzzy Comptoir Darna, director Björn and drinks—and my recommendation if cost isn’t Kechmara and Pointbar are all favoured watering Dahlström. Sadly, an issue. Merging fashion and hospitality, British holes. Saturdays, it’s late-night dancing at Theatro Bergé passed away designer Jasper Conran’s recently opened five- in a blizzard of confetti. Friday evenings, there’s in September, just suite L’Hôtel Marrakech gives a glam ’30s spin only one place to be: Bô-Zin. I finish a late supper weeks before both to a 19th-century riad. Valérie Barkowski’s Dar with friends here on our last evening in Marrakech. sites were poised for their autumn Kawa takes the opposite tack with four rooms The dinner crowd rolls in for drinks, and the bar debuts. But, having turns into a midnight dance floor. I’ll be tragically in the textile designer’s former home done in an overseen every detail understated palette of black, grey and white. hungover for my morning flight to a wedding in of the museums, he the South of France, but who cares? I’m more surely knew what concerned about the extra baggage fees. n masterpieces they’d
PHOTOGRAPHY, MATHIAS ONDRACZEK MATHIAS PHOTOGRAPHY, (EL FENN SUITE) & turn out to be.
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