Monthly Archives: April 2011

Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi

Arabian fantasy for royal wedding

Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi

Luxury hotels in the United Arab Emirates are offering their guests an Arabian fantasy as Britain’s Prince William marries Catherine Middleton on Friday.

The Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE, promises “a majestic experience fit for a king and deserving of an emperor” and said it wants to make the day unforgettable for its guests too.

The Palace, which bills itself as a seven-star hotel, offered an overnight stay from a modest $450 to $1,500 (300-1,010 euros) with a royal high tea thrown in.
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2011 Pirelli calendar

Mario Sorrenti to shoot next Pirelli calendar

2011 Pirelli calendar

The illustrious calendar’s casting director, Jennifer Starr, has confirmed that Italian photographer Mario Sorrenti is 2012’s Pirelli man, Stylecaster reports.

Other fashion sites, including Fashion Copius and Fashionologie, had previously assumed that Steven Meisel would capture next year’s edition.

Karl Lagerfeld, Terry Richardson, or Patrick Demarchelier were chosen to shoot the calendar, which is commissioned by Italian tire company Pirelli, in past years.

Sorrenti, who is best known for his artful nudes in the pages of magazines such as Vogue, is expected to bring back a high-fashion feel following Lagerfeld’s timelessly elegant and Richardson’s sexually provocative pictures.

This year’s model cast, which regularly includes the freshest and most famous of faces, has not been confirmed.

Pirelli’s calendar gets released at the end of the year, but only to a handful of the company’s clients and business partners.

A more accessible option is French Vogue’s yearly calendar, for instance, which is just as racy and fashionable and which also enlists the world’s top photographers and fashion models.

WaterWorks park Carnival Magic

Carnival takes delivery of newest ship

WaterWorks park Carnival Magic

As guests on board cruise lines around the world prepare to toast the royal wedding April 29, Carnival Cruise lines has bucked the trend by announcing that it will be toasting its new ship, the Carnival Magic.

Guests on board all 100 of Carnival’s ships — some 227,000 in total — will be offered a complimentary champagne toast at dinner April 29, to recognize the delivery of the 3,690-passenger Carnival Magic.

Fiercely royal Cunard (itself Carnival-owned), for its part, released photos April 27 of its flagship Queen Mary 2 being loaded with Veuve Clicquot champagne and commemorative wedding cakes ahead of its “Royal Wedding Celebrations at Sea.”

Carnival Magic will set off on her maiden cruise May 1, leaving Venice for Barcelona before crossing the Atlantic to Galveston, Texas in the fall.

At 130,000 tons, she will be the largest ship ever to be based at Galveston and features some unique innovations, including an expansive open-air fitness complex with the first ropes course at sea (placed dizzyingly high above the water), a wraparound promenade with outdoor barbecue and the Waterworks Aqua Park.

According to reports in Australian publication eTravel Blackboard, she will also feature the largest show ever on board a Carnival ship, Destination: Unknown, starring stage magician and Las Vegas regular Jason Byrne.

A comedy club, 1970s dance show, entertainment restaurant (complete with singing and dancing wait staff) and on-board game show will also be offered to travelers.

Source: AFPrelaxnews

Carnival Magic

1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic

Ralph Lauren car collection goes on display in Paris

1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic

A selection of cars owned by fashion legend Ralph Lauren will go on display in Paris this week, in a unique exhibition of one of the world’s most distinctive collections.

Ralph Lauren, who famously described cars as “moving art” in his 2004 book Speed, Style and Beauty, owns an extensive collection of vehicles which is rarely seen by the public — until now.

Seventeen models selected from the 1930s until the present day will be on display, offering a unique glimpse at the tastes of a major name in the fashion world.
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Dior Exhibition

Moscow art museum honors Dior

Dior Exhibition

After the John Galliano debacle, Christian Dior can use all the positive publicity it can get, and a new retrospective of its history at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts sets out to bring back the fashion house’s magic.

Opening on April 28, the exhibit showcasing the brand’s 64-year history will not only present its collections over the years — designed by the founder itself as well as the likes of Yves Saint Laurent or Gianfranco Ferré — but also juxtapose them with works of art by Van Gogh or Klimt as well as photographs by Richard Avedon and Man Ray.
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Joel robuchon resorts world Sentosa

Top chef Joel Robuchon opens Singapore restaurants

Joel robuchon resorts world Sentosa

French celebrity chef Joel Robuchon on Wednesday announced the opening of two restaurants at a casino resort in Singapore, his first outlets in Southeast Asia.

L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, a workshop-inspired concept with chefs closely interacting with guests, and the more formal Joel Robuchon Restaurant will open on Thursday at the seaside Resorts World Sentosa complex.

Robuchon, 66, has received more stars from Michelin, the leading guide to fine dining, than any other chef in the world with a total of 26 so far.
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Kyoto Golden Temple

Gucci chooses Japan for anniversary celebrations

Kyoto Golden Temple

While fashion brands have recently turned to China to stage prestigious events, Gucci will fete its 90 years at Kyoto’s Golden Temple, Women’s Wear Daily reports.

The Japanese city being the sister city of Gucci’s native Florence, the Italian brand deemed it an appropriate place to showcase a selection of rare and unique items from its archive.

“the fact that Gucci is pressing ahead illustrates just how much life in Japan is slowly resuming its normal rhythms after last month’s massive earthquake and tsunami.”
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Range Rover Pol Roger Champagne

Pol Roger Champagne selected for royal wedding

Range Rover Pol Roger Champagne

When guests clink glasses in honor of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s nuptials on Friday, they’ll be sipping on Pol Roger bubbly, a champagne maker with a long history of serving British aristocracy.

According to UK wine magazine Decanter, they have it “on the highest authority” that the couple has chosen the family-owned winery to be the official champagne provider at their wedding. They also specifically requested a non-vintage.

Three hundred guests will toast with the champagne bubbly right before the sit-down meal hosted by Prince Charles, the magazine reports.
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2011 Rolls Royce Ghost

Luxury carmakers see golden age in China

2011 Rolls Royce Ghost

One of Rolls Royce boss Torsten Muller-Otvos’ most memorable auto show moments came last year in Beijing when a man walked through the crowd to the carmaker’s stand and set down a suitcase.

“Millions of renminbi,” the man said of the suitcase’s contents. “Really, that was amazing. He bought a Phantom,” Muller-Otvos said.

The Rolls Royce chief executive told AFP no cash buyers had come forward yet at the ongoing Shanghai auto show, but the exhibition has provided further proof for luxury carmakers that their future is in China.
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manchester united football club

Manchester United is world’s richest club

manchester united football club

Manchester United has been named as the world’s most valuable football club for the seventh year in a row by Forbes.

Real Madrid is again No. 2 with a value of $1.45 billion, followed by Arsenal at $1.19 billion; Bayern Munich at $1.1 billion; and Barcelona, with a value of $975 million.

It uses data on income streams such as broadcast rights, sponsorship and sales of tickets and merchandise.
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angelina jolie sexy

Angelina Jolie to star in Louis Vuitton campaign

angelina jolie sexy

The American actress has landed what is believed to be her most lucrative advertising deal to date.

According to E! News, French luxury house Louis Vuitton has tapped Jolie for a global, print-only campaign to be released in the summer.

Jolie joins other entertainment heavyweights including Jennifer Lopez and Madonna as Vuitton’s spokesmodel.
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Hilton new lobby design

Hilton unveils new lobby design

Hilton new lobby design

US hotel chain Hilton has unveiled a new lobby design intended for its global hotels and resorts.

The new lobby, which is being premiered in the chain’s hotel at McLean Tysons Corner, Virginia, is designed with distinct “zones” for guests and visitors and radically overhauls the brand’s current reception areas.

Instead of a desk-oriented approach, the new, modern design focuses on interaction and collaboration, with the centerpiece an 18-hour bar which evolves from coffee shop to cafe to cocktail bar as the day progresses.
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The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park

Royal for a day: London’s luxury hotels cash in

The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park

In a bid to stand out among the host of deals marking Prince William’s wedding, London’s luxury hotels are offering guests the chance to live like a royal for a night.

A red carpet and champagne reception awaits customers buying the “royal opulence” package at the Hyatt Regency London, which includes four nights in the royal suite, measuring 368 square metres (3,960 square feet).

For £36,000, the clients are promised a glimpse of “the ultimate royal lifestyle”; a chance to relax in marble bathrooms, a fully equipped gym and a baby grand piano.
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Balmain spring 2009

New Balmain designer named

Balmain spring 2009

Virtually unknown Olivier Rousteing will succeed Christophe Decarnin at the Parisian fashion house, Women’s Wear Daily reports.

According to the trade paper, Rousteing has worked under Decarnin at Balmain for the past three years after a six-year stint at Roberto Cavalli.

Balmain had announced on April 6 that it was parting ways with Decarnin.

His absence at the label’s runway show in March had already spurred speculation about his future at Balmain.
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Gucci Japan bracelet

Gucci Loves You Bracelet for Japan

Gucci Japan bracelet

Gucci have created a limited edition bracelet to help support the relief efforts in earthquake and tsunami ravaged Japan.

Featuring a white-red-white web that recalls the colors of the Japanese flag, the bracelet carries a medal with a message that reads, “Gucci loves you.”

The bracelet will go on sale in Gucci stores throughout Japan tomorrow, followed by worldwide distribution in Gucci flagships stores in Europe, United States and Asia.
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champagne auction

World’s Oldest Champagne to be Auctioned

champagne auction

Two bottles of 200-year old champagne recently salvaged from a Baltic Sea shipwreck will be auctioned off in June.

Finland’s autonomous province of Aaland “has decided that two bottles will be sold at an exclusive champagne auction held in (the capital) Mariehamn on June 3, 2011″.

One of the auctioned bottles will be from the house of Veuve-Clicquot and the other from the now extinct house of Juglar.
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floating golf course

Floating golf course to be built in the Maldives

floating golf course

The island nation of the Maldives is poised to build a floating golf course and convention centre in what could be the first of a series of futuristic off-shore developments designed to confront the threat of global warming.

The government has asked a Dutch firm to investigate the feasibility of developing a number of facilities that would be located among the 26 main atolls.

The artificial floating islands will incorporate technologies such as water cooling, water desalination, and the use of floating solar blanket fields.
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Scarlett Johansson DG 2011

Scarlett Johansson in new D&G beauty campaign

Scarlett Johansson DG 2011

Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana has released its latest summer ads starring actress Scarlett Johansson.

Channeling “Italian Summer Time,” the name of the brand’s summer beauty range, Johansson is wearing a floral bustier dress by the designers, matched with a classic light smoky eye and nude lip gloss.

The eye catcher of the ad is the actress’s magenta nail polish, named Passion, which is sure to become one of this summer’s hottest colors.
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One Hyde Park penthouse

Ukrainian tycoon buys Britain’s costliest apartment

One Hyde Park penthouse

Ukraine’s richest man has set a record for property in Britain, spending $213 million on two London flats.

The flats cover 2,323 square metres across three floors of a luxury development overlooking Hyde Park, and have been bought by Rinat Akhmetov.

The oligarch plans to combine them to make a penthouse, including a further $93.6 million in interior improvements, according to the London Evening Standard.
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Sapphire Superyacht

Sapphire Superyacht for Sale at $110 Million

Sapphire Superyacht

The super-luxe 73.5-metre superyacht Sapphire launched by Germany’s Nobiskrug last year has been listed for sale via Edmiston for $110 million.

The elegant steel displacement yacht with sleek exterior lines courtesy of Newcruise Yacht Projects of Hamburg is a pleasure craft fit for a billionaire with luxurious accommodation for 12 guests in six cabins along with 8 crew, with an emphasis on spaciousness throughout the well-appointed interior.

A hydraulically-retractable touch and go helipad on the aft deck provides the owner and friends a stylish way to arrive on board.
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