Monthly Archives: July 2011

burberry store

Burberry to open flagship store in Hong Kong

burberry store

The shopping landscape in Hong Kong is about to be expanded once again with news that luxury brand Burberry plans to open its Asian flagship store in the city.

Burberry will take up residence over two floors and 21,000 square (1950 sq m) feet of space and that the new store will open in the second half of 2012.

It will be the British retail giant’s largest store in the region and the second largest in the world, behind its 57th Street, New York outlet which spans 24,000 square feet.
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ferran adria

World’s best restaurant El Bulli set to close

ferran adria

elBulli, the beachside Spanish restaurant repeatedly crowned the world’s best, will close Saturday after pushing the boundaries of cuisine for more than two decades under chef Ferran Adria.

The remote eatery in Cala Montjoi will re-open in 2014 as a non-profit culinary think tank that will investigate new cooking techniques and develop new flavours.

The elBullifoundation plans to grant between 20 and 25 scholarships annually for chefs to spend a year working with elBulli’s core staff.
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pierre balmain first look

First look: Balmain’s lower-priced line

pierre balmain first look

The brand that famously sells t-shirts for $1,600 is adapting to the rougher economic climate, launching a more affordable line called Pierre Balmain next spring.

While the fashion crowd hopes the new label will stay true to Balmain’s signature rock’n’roll feel established by former designer Christophe Decarnin, its creative direction will take place outside the fashion house

the entire production will be overseen by Italian licensee Ittierre SpA, which already has similar agreements with lines like Just Cavalli.
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Claudia Schiffer Cashmere Fall 2011 Lookbook

Claudia Schiffer’s cashmere collection hits the web

Claudia Schiffer Cashmere Fall 2011 Lookbook

The German supermodel’s 30-piece knitwear range debuted on Net-à-Porter on Wednesday.

Including cardigans, dresses, sweaters, and a cape in mainly beiges, greys, and dark blues, the collection is priced from £295 to £435 (around $483 to $713).

Schiffer joins a long list of supers that have branched out into designing clothes like Elle Macpherson — whose lingerie line Intimates has proven very successful.
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1925 Rolls-Royce New Phantom

Maharaja”s ”Tiger-Car” Rolls-Royce on auction

1925 Rolls-Royce New Phantom

One of the world’s most unique Rolls-Royce adaptations is set to go under the hammer next month, with the sale of a model equipped specifically for tiger hunting.

The 1925 Rolls-Royce New Phantom was originally commissioned by Umed Singh II of India, the Maharaja of Kotah, for use while tiger hunting.

This led to some additions such as a mounted Howdah double-barrel shotgun, a rifle stand in the passenger compartments and a mountable Lantaka cannon.
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Abu Dhabi city view

Abu Dhabi posts record tourist results

Abu Dhabi city view

A fall in Abu Dhabi‘s hotel prices has prompted a record year for the Emirate so far, according to figures released July 27.

The first six months of 2011 showed the best hotel results in the history of the country, with the number of visitors climbing 11 percent to just over one million.

Authorities hope to break the two million visitor target for the first time this year.
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emporio armani fall winter ad 2011

Emporio Armani Fall/Winter 2011 Campaign + Video

emporio armani fall winter ad 2011

Photographed by Mario Sorrenti, the Emporio Armani Fall/Winter 2011 Campaign features models Iselin Sterio and Simon Nessman.

To bring the campaign to life, Mario Sorrenti has shot a short film starring the two models.

Drawing on Giorgio Armani’s love of cinema, this narrative references the aesthetic of film noir, and features an EA couple in a contemporary, urban, industrial setting.
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Bentley Continental GT

Bentley considering a luxury SUV

Bentley Continental GT

Bentley could add an SUV to its lineup. The automaker is said to have discussed plans for a sports-utility vehicle with Volkswagen, its parent company.

Such a model would satisfy appetite for luxury models, reports Automotive News.

An analyst suggested that an SUV bearing the famous Bentley badge may be able to fetch in excess of €120,000, such is the demand among drivers.

Bentley could well be eyeing a gap in the Chinese market, where the popularity of the brand’s handmade €154,000 Continental GT and €250,000 Mulsanne helped it to post a 20 percent rise in sales during the first half of this year.
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Eccleston Square Hotel flat screens

London’s new high-tech hotel

Eccleston Square Hotel flat screens

A new hotel in London billed as among the world’s most high-tech is gearing up for its grand opening next week.

The Eccleston Square Hotel is set to open its doors August 1, promising an urban cocoon with cutting edge technology inside a central London Georgian building.

It is set to be the first hotel in Europe to offer guests access to a 3D Blu-ray library, films that can be enjoyed in the property’s 39 rooms kitted out with 46-inch Panasonic Neo Plasma high-definition 3D televisions.
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Christian Vanneque

World’s most expensive white wine sold for £75,000

Christian Vanneque

A 200-year-old vintage from Bordeaux set a new world record for the most valuable bottle of white wine Tuesday when it was sold in Britain for £75,000 ($117,000).

The bottle of 1811 Chateau dYquem was bought by French private collector Christian Vanneque, for his new restaurant in Bali, Indonesia.

The standard-sized, 75 centilitre bottle of wine was sold at London’s Ritz hotel by rare wine specialists The Antique Wine Company.
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parking

Australia has some of world’s most expensive parking

parking

Sydney and Melbourne have some of the most expensive parking rates in the world as both cities try to encourage people to leave their cars at home.

The Colliers International Parking Rate Survey has Oslo as the priciest place to park at $US89.04 a day, followed by Copenhagen at US$73.11, then Melbourne on US$69.53 and Sydney at US$67.42.

The Indonesian capital Jakarta has the cheapest daily parking of the 156 cities surveyed at just 92 cents.
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ESPA Spa Hirsch Bedner Associates

The Highest Spa in the World Opens in Hong Kong

ESPA Spa Hirsch Bedner Associates

Hirsch Bedner Associates (HBA) have designed the highest spa in the world on the 116th and 118th floors of the Ritz-Carlton in Hong Kong.

Featuring nine deluxe treatment rooms and two couples’ suites, every treatment room offers floor-to-ceiling windows with panoramic views.

The Ritz-Carlton spa by ESPA is more that 1,000 feet above the frenetic streets of Hong Kong.
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Porsche Spyder 550 James Dean

Porsche Confirms 550 Spyder Resurrection

Porsche Spyder 550 James Dean

Porsche is mulling a reissue of the iconic 550 Spyder model owned by US actor James Dean, boss Matthias Mueller said on Thursday.

“I can well imagine that a modern version of James Dean’s famous Porsche would please our clients”. “I am fascinated by the idea of reviving this technical legend.”

The 550 Spyder was built between 1953 and 1957 and was the car Dean was driving at the time of his fatal crash in September 1955.
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Tropical Island Paradise

Tropical Island Paradise superyacht

Tropical Island Paradise

This superyacht – dubbed the ‘Tropical island Paradise’ – has been designed by British boat builders Yacht Island Design.

The 90m Tropical Island Paradise design has a theme that is centred around a secluded island paradise, with elements inspired by the islands of the Caribbean.

The main exterior deck is a private beach “cove” with a voluminous ocean view swimming pool located forward that is fed by a stream emanating from a cascading waterfall on the volcano further aft.
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Yvan Rodic Armani

The Face Hunter’s new eyewear ad for Armani

Yvan Rodic Armani

Yvan Rodic, the street style photographer behind the Face Hunter, has released a new video as part of Armani‘s ‘real people’ campaign.

For the debut of its new Heritage Frames glasses last month, Armani previously enlisted some of Rodic’s colleagues.

Tommy Ton shot print ads for the Frames of your Life project, designed to showcase the collection on people on the street, not professional models.
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Bottega Veneta perfume ad

Nine D’Urso Is Bottega Veneta’s First Fragrance Face

Bottega Veneta perfume ad

Nine d’Urso is the face of the luxe label Bottega Veneta‘s eponymous perfume in the just-released commercial.

She appears to be madly in love with a shirtless companion, frolicking on a beach in the signature all-American romance of director Bruce Weber.

“The challenge was to picture the soul of a fragrance…Weber possesses a unique and uncanny ability to capture the authentic moment. He sees more than others see, and so produces striking images of innocence and sensuality.”
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Maison Martin Margiela 11 Phone Holder

Maison Martin Margiela 11 Phone Holder

Maison Martin Margiela 11 Phone Holder

The Maison Martin Margiela has released this two-piece smartphone holder for autumn/winter 2011 – seen here in brown.

Made from two pieces of richly-coloured leather, the phone holder is lined with a soft and fluffy shearling, mirroring pieces from the Margiela mainline collection.

The holder is the perfect size for an iPhone (both 3 and 4) or a Blackberry, so it doesn’t matter which camp you belong to.
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miu miu muta

Miu Miu’s “Muta” by Lucrecia Martel

miu miu muta

In the second installment of its Women’s Tales series, Miu Miu collaborated with director Lucrecia Martel on a film noir titled Muta.

“Muta” follows Zoe Cassavetes’s “The Powder Room” and depicts a crew of faceless and voiceless models aboard a spooky ship in the middle of a tropical sea, clad in Miu Miu’s fall and Noir sunglasses collection.

Two more short films by female filmmakers are to be released as part of the Women’s Tales series.
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Truffles luxury delicacy

Climate change may make truffles a German delicacy

Truffles luxury delicacy

Truffles, a luxury delicacy in French and Italian cuisine, may soon be adding flavour to blander dishes, as it migrates further north amid climate change.

Ulf Buentgen, a climatologist, told AFP that a rise in average temperature observed during 20th century may be shifting the natural habitat of the delicacy about 100 kilometres north, from France and Italy to Germany.
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Makepeace Island photo

Sir Richard Branson’s paradise island for rent

Makepeace Island photo

Holidaymakers can now rent Sir Richard Branson‘s private leisure haven, Makepeace Island, located 20 minutes from Noosa in Queensland, Australia.

Once a muddy patch of land floating in the Noosa River, this 9.2 hectares heart-shaped island has been transformed into an ultra-luxurious Balinese-style retreat.

Since buying Makepeace in 2007, Branson’s reserved his Balinese-style retreat for private parties with friends and staff.
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