A fragrance, once registered on the senses, can linger forever in the memory. It might evoke the warmth
of a grandmother’s affection, a yearning for a lost or unrequited love, or a fondness for an old friend. For every bottle of perfume made, a million memories are thus created – moments shared, hearts broken and adventures had. For Nick Smart, co-director of boutique fragrance emporium Libertine Parfumerie, herein lies the magic. For the shelves of his boutiques in West End and New Farm are not simply lined with bottles of perfume. They contain distinct moments in history – be it Grace Kelly’s wedding or Napoleon’s fervour for violets (and Josephine) – captured in liquid form as divine fragrances that allow such moments to remain eternal. Continue reading ‘local dreamer - nick smart’
Archive for the 'Luxury' Category
fearless fashion
Alexander McQueen Shoe
There’s only so much fashion designers can do for one head, two arms and two legs. We’re used to seeing ‘new’ trends emerge and remembering the last era they came from. So, it’s not often you come across a piece where your eyes sparkle with the sensation of seeing something fresh. This shoe may look more like the foot of a predator, than that of a fashion-forward female. Check out Alexander McQueen’s latest collection for some creative design inspiration.
the rough side of luxury
What is luxury? According to the creators of Rough Luxe, it’s not what you might think, especially when it comes to a hotel. To them, luxury is a moment in time rather than just part of an object of consumption. Luxury is an enriching personal experience and not only an ownership of an expensive object. It’s time for reflection, personal encounters with people, nature, architecture and environment as well as food and social and cultural experiences linked to geographic locations. It’s the intellectual solicitation, listening to one’s own feelings as well as comparing objects and time and thinking of their hierarchy. Suffice it to say that the Rough Luxe Hotel experience is about your surroundings, the intrinsic value of objects, art, culture and the people around you, as well as the ‘consumable’’ items that you encounter in the hotel itself. With hotels in London and Cape Town, the Rough Luxe Group aims to create an experience that will no doubt appeal to growing flashpacker market – one that is one part rough and one part luxury. While your room might be small and you might even share a bathroom, the wine will be exquisite, the bed linen luxurious, and the service unparalleled. For the Rough Luxe philosophy is simple: “You are staying with us in our home, so just ask.”
It’s that time of year when travel and holidays are soon to be on the cards, whether it be long Christmas jaunt, a summer mini-break or a rejuvenating New Year holiday. For those of us who haven’t booked anywhere yet, or are stuck for ideas, Tasmania’s The Winged House is a lovely notion. Standing over the cliffs of Table Cape in northern Tasmania, with unadulterated 180-degree views across the ocean, The Winged House features two bedrooms, a Japanese bath, gourmet kitchen and 2.3 hectares of secluded bliss. Complimentary wine, breakfast goodies and fruit and vegetables – alongside important phone numbers for ordering crayfish, a chef or a massage – welcomes visitors. Designed by well-respected Australian architect Richard Goodwin, The Winged House is part paraglider, part artwork, part architectural achievement and all luxury.
A friend of mine once said that she liked camping “except for the sleeping outside in tents part”. The luxury teepees from Perfect Earth Tours may just change her mind. Set against the pristine backdrop of the Yukon in Canada, the teepees are outfitted in hardwood floors, queen-sized beds, sustainable organic bedding and mattresses, two DVD players, a fully stocked bar, a central fireplace and wi-fi. When not luxuriating in the five-star camping experience, other activites include hiking, Caribou watching, soaking in the hot-tub, canoeing or partaking in a range of spa activities such as in-tent massage. There’s even a wood-fired outdoor hot tub to soak in as you watch the Northern Lights. For those still not convinced, Perfect Earth advocate organic sustainability and source local organic ingredients for all their cuisine, with the menu changing day-to-day to embrace the use of seasonal ingredients.
While Apple patriarch Steve Jobs made it abundantly clear that the only thing that you need to house the MacBook Air is a mere manila envelope (and let’s face it – it certainly drives the point home), paper isn’t the most trustworthy casing for such an awe-inspiring sliver of technology. Recognising this conundrum, aficionado of equally inspiring outer-shells Vaja created this: the ivolution case for the Macboook Air. If Batman were a laptop, this sleek suit is what he would be wearing. Hand-crafted from smooth full-grain Argentine leather and available in more colour combinations than you could ever imagine, the Vaja cases are a dream for those looking for a sleek way to cover their coveted gadgets. Take a virtual wander through Vaja’s range of cases for all things Apple (and for those who still haven’t been convinced to make the switch, everything else).
art of consuming culture
In this season of end-of-year sales and buying things you don’t really need, it seems timely that Theme magazine has a profile on the artist Tobias Wong. His provoking and ironic art works, explore the funny nature of consumerism and questions the value of art, design and everyday objects. He is known for using very high-end designer products and has played around with Burberry tartans, Issey Miyake clothes, Philippe Starck furniture, and used the extravagance of real diamonds, cash, crystal, and pearls. In the Christmas of 2002, one of his works even tried to sell original Andy Warhols as holiday gift wrap for up to $25,000. His work both annoys and influences the design world and this has made him one of Forbes Magazine’s Tastemakers of 2007.
eco barons spend up to save the planet.
Public-spirited billionaires are buying up ecosystems and turning them into conservation areas. Jonathan Franklin reports.
Sebastian Piera, one of the richest men in Chile, has a resume that includes introducing credit cards to Chile, ownership of South America’s most successful airline and large scale real estate developments. Now he has added what every chic billionaire needs - a private ecosystem.
Parque Tantauco, which Piera created last year, is 120,000 windswept hectares on Chiloe Island, near Patagonia. Piera has promised to make conservation of offshore blue whales and inland virgin forests a top priority.
From Patagonia to Montana, millions of hectares are being bought by business leaders and placed in private charities, conservation trusts, or handed over to governments as a gift.
“It is pretty hard for a country to turn down a gift of 300,000 hectares,” explains Douglas Tompkins, 64, the de facto dean of this new class of eco barons, who has spent the past decade and $US200 million ($238 million) spearheading a new movement called Wildlands Philanthropy. Tompkins has bought or organised the purchase of some 25 properties covering 891,000 hectares of Chile and Argentina. Continue reading ‘eco barons spend up to save the planet.’
if you need to get away
A simple weekend away can do the world of good. We could not be luckier in Brisbane to have real paradises about an hour away from us in any particular direction. As warm days and cool nights lull us into a spring-time reverie, head to Springbrook, just inland of the Gold Coast, for an opportunity to relax, reflect and respect the amazing natural world that grows high around us.
Accommodation-wise, just a few seconds on their website will tell you The Mouse’s House is one of the best rainforest retreats on the ridge - with cosy wooden chalets, simple yet stylish furnishings, fully equipped kitchen and big bbq, spa (and bathrobes!) all the thinking is done for you and eases you into a relaxing, stress-free weekend. Just don’t forget the champagne, because the closest bubbly can only be found in Nerang.
While listening to the sound of the stream that runs past your deck, lounging in your rainforest surrounds or borrowing the pushbikes available at Mouses House can easily fill in your time, Springbrook offers some other experiences worth investigating. Continue reading ‘if you need to get away’
Sitting in my home office with a throw wrapped around my shivering shoulders, downing constant pots of tea trying to keep my insides warm thoughts turn to more temperate weather. Don’t get me wrong, I am delighted and relieved Brisbane received a smattering of rain recently and this decidedly frosty snap introduces my rarely worn coats into the daily equation. Still I am prone to daydream and drift off to a tropical island…If soaking up the rays on the deck of an over-water bure is your sense of style yet the much-hyped (for good reason) Maldives is beyond your financial reach, Fiji’s most unique luxury resort may well be the answer. Opened in April, the Likuliku Lagoon Resort situated in the Mamanuca group of islands boasts the country’s first ever over-water bures. These havens feature a separate bathing pavilion for unparalleled privacy, and are resplendent in traditional architecture and materials using natural elements unique to the region.
From Toyota.com: In 1800, Alessandro Volta arranged zinc and copper discs in a column and invented the battery. 204 years later, Toyota has electrified automotive history with the first high-performance hybrid, named in his honor. The Giugiaro-designed carbon-fiber body seats three people abreast and features “drive-by-wire” controls, allowing you to position the steering wheel and pedals in front of any one of them. And the Volta’s 408-hp Hybrid Synergy Drive® (a 3.3-litre V6 with an electric motor for each axle) not only delivers 435 miles on a 13.7-gallon tank, but 0-60 (or 95.56 km/hour) acceleration in a mere four seconds. Somewhere, Count Volta is smiling.
To prove that hybrid technology can be used in a high-performance vehicle, the Volta can reach a top speed of 155 mph (249 km/hour). It won’t compete with Lamborghini or Ferrari with that top speed, but it uses a lot less gas. There’s no word yet on how much one of these sleek hybrids will set you back or even when it will be released, but it’s good news that being green is getting sexier..
I’ve found a new religion, well at least a guru that has me flying high with not a care in the world. Okay, so my new guide isn’t quite the Dalai Lama, but at certain times, my sage is my only saviour. You see, nothing is worse for me than boarding a long haul flight only to find myself stuck in a seat that drains away all my travel excitement and leaves me dreading the next 24 hours. I tense up at the thought of being positioned right near the toilets or squeezed into the middle seat where claustrophobia and the overwhelming sense of ‘no escape’ niggles my every (or lack thereof) movement. For these reasons and more, Seat Guru is my new best friend. It is the ultimate source for airplane seating, in-flight amenities and airline information. I religiously pay a visit to Seat Guru to ascertain the best seats in the sky and use that knowledge at check-in. Here I can request the ideal position or at the very least ensure I’m nowhere near my feared seats. All you need to know is the Airline you are flying with (eg. Qantas) as well as the type of plane (eg. Boeing 747-400 3 Class). From there a detailed seat map graphic appears with in-depth seat specific comments denoting seats with limited recline, reduced legroom, and mis-aligned windows. Continue reading ‘flying high’
heaven in a box
If you are a lover of chocolate and have a spare fifty dollars to spend then I have some good news for you. Dello Mano Brownies. Available at the Powerhouse Farmers Markets or by phone order, these are THE brownies of the brownie world. These gorgeous treats are hand-made locally by owners Deborah and Bien Peralta to a personally created recipe using the finest Belgian chocolate, ensuring they quite literally melt in your mouth. Each hand-cut brownie is then placed into an elegantly presented box, sealed with a chocolate brown ribbon and hand delivered. It doesn’t get much better than this. I recently had the pleasure of having a box of these brownies personally delivered to me, and let me tell you it took A LOT of convincing to get me to share with the rest of the map team. Not that I’m selfish, it’s just an opportunity like that doesn’t come across my desk very often. Don’t tell the map team, but I just might have one or two of these beautiful little delights still hidden under my desk…
The recent boom of everything mini – iPods, mobile phones, cars and even living spaces – means we all now live a slightly more minimalist existence. But the one exception, for women at least, is the laptop. While they’re a lot smaller than they used to be, portable computers are still that little bit too chunky to slip into your purse. Yes, it’s true – men now have the manbag (ahem, that is, the satchel), which is perfectly sized for housing your laptop while ensuring that you still remain rakishly styled, but for women, it’s still a bit of a challenge. Enter the Ultra Mobile PC – an attractive little laptop that puts even the cutest mac books to shame and folds up lithely into a CD-case-sized square. While this clever computer won’t suit everyone (its 7” OLED screen makes designing layouts a little cumbersome), it supports most professional applications and has a built-in DVD drive for entertainment and gaming. Its design, a collaborative effort between Antenna Design and Fujitsu, recently won an IF Product Design Award and marks the beginning of an entirely new wave of laptop design. Now the only thing to do is find a purse that matches…
Who can honestly say they’ve never dreamed of living in a tree house? Well, now there’s an opportunity to satisfy the little kid inside of you and it doesn’t involve you roughing it in a sleeping bag while your mum sends much-needed rations up the ladder every few hours. British architecture firm, Sybarite, has designed a modular tree house concept that they hope will encourage a more organic approach to country living. The eco-designed dwelling, which incorporates lightweight recyclable materials and wind-powered electricity, can be installed in under two weeks and sits serenely amongst the treetops. And its modular design can be adjusted to include anywhere from one to five bedrooms, so you can make it your own peaceful hermitage from busy city life, or the ultimate luxe party pad for you and your fellow sybarites. So, with a starting price tag of only £1 million, why not go ahead and satisfy that childhood dream?
see the world in style
If, in your travels, you find that the Lonely Planet and Rough Guides books seem to omit the things that fascinate you most about the city you’re visiting, then chances are you’ll be thrilled by the recently released Wallpaper* City Guides. Published by Phaidon Press (renowned international publishers of visual arts and design books), the guides remain faithful to the luxe ethos of their eponymous magazine, highlighting the must-see-and-do things for the design-savvy traveller in the world’s most stylish metropolises. Not only do they seek out the best bars, restaurants and shopping meccas (the ones the locals prefer to keep secret), but they also take you on an expert’s tour of each city’s most alluring architectural and design sites. The first 20 of the discreet pocket-sized guides were released in October last year and featured stalwarts of style, Paris, Barcelona, Milan and New York. Watch out for the next release in April 2007 for the lowdown on up-and-coming design destinations, Tel Aviv, Marrakech and Bilbao.
“It is never too early to start practicing generosity - and nothing is more beautiful or more touching than to watch children reaching out to other children.” These words have been brought to life through the association Reves (Dreams) in Europe through the Poulbot Charity Artwork event, now into its fourth year. Organised by CELINE, the Parisian fashion iconic institution, a selection of celebrity children customise CELINE’S famous handbag, the Poulbot, through artistic expression that only a child can create. With Madonna’s daughter Lourdes involved last year, along with other celebrity children, the amount of money raised was ‘jaw dropping’, and helped Reves fulfill the dreams of sick children. So if you don’t mind selling your car, or extending your mortgage, head over to Paris this winter and get that nod down pat to take on the who’s who in a bidding war for a one-off childhood masterpiece.
w opens in the maldives
One of my favourite hotels chains is the W Hotels from Starwood. They have put back the comfort in designer luxury hotels with a range of boutique W Hotels across the world. A new addition to the group is the W Retreat & Spa ? Maldives - a private island and luxury playground, where style flirts with soul in a wonderland of white-sand beaches, turquoise lagoons and breathtaking reefs. At over US$1200 a night, it comes at price! A lot of detail has been put into your stay with Bi-level beachfront and over-water retreats allowing the indoor and outdoor to mingle; roofs with views of the sky and glass-paneled floors that reveal the lagoon below. Mmmm and it’s only January!
aesop opens in paris
Australian skincare brand, Aesop, has landed in typically stylish fashion on rue Bonaparte. Using a medley of materials, most noteably leather and steel, Aesop, in collaboration with French architect Jean Francois Bourdet, has designed an ambient new store that matches the sophistication of its products and fits snugly in with the spirit of the surrounding neighbourhood. Bringing the number of signature Aesop stores to 17 worldwide, the Paris branch is the first to be opened in Europe. Alongside the complete range of Aesop products, expect suspended treatment beds to make you feel like you?re floating, brown leather floors and quotes from Luis Bunuel and Anais Nin on the wall.
