17.11.17
LUXURY EDITION
Modern luxury Elfie Reigate Starring
Plus: inside the capital’s art crime boom, Life as a millennial millionaire and how being ordinary just got extraordinary‌
EDITOR’S LETTER ‘Spending time’. It’s a phrase that we use without much thought — but it refers to the value of the greatest luxury commodity in the world. The way in which we spend what precious time we have is something that we’re becoming increasingly conscious of. It’s why I feel honoured that you are spending your time reading this luxury edition of ES Magazine. Maybe you do so because you’re like me and stolen moments are your new luxury, whether it’s taking 10 minutes to read a magazine in the bath (see Annabel Rivkin, page 79), finding the motivation to do a yoga class in the morning, or even just taking the time for a straight-up lie-in, served with a side of breakfast in bed. Family moments, amazing experiences, having a well-stocked fridge after the weekly shop — that’s luxury. It’s the everyday comforts with which we are becoming increasingly satisfied (says Ben Machell, page 36) in a world that doesn’t feel as safe as it once did. And with Brexit looming, we’re tucking in and dialling down, be it in perfunctory items turned saucy, as Laura Craik writes about on page 51, or the return of dressing down and the rise of Gosha Rubchinskiy on page 27. Of course there’s living like a millionaire (see how Samuel Fishwick did it on page 15) but that’s about ‘making memories’; money is transient but experiences endure. Or perhaps true luxury is rarefied youth and beauty — fleeting and precious. Elfie Reigate, The Kate Moss Agency’s first female signing, has these precious qualities in spades and is this week’s cover star.
Cover: Elfie Reigate photographed by Jane Mcleish-Kelsey. Styled by Martha Ward. CHLOÉ blouse, £1,600 (chloe.com/gb). ALBERTA FERRETTI jumper, £370 (albertaferretti.com). MON PURSE bag, from a selection (monpurse.com). HOUSE OF GARRARD ring set, POA (garrard.com).
Editor Laura Weir
Here are the ES team’s top five ultimate luxuries
1
2
THE STORE ‘An afternoon recharging with a good book and a delicious rose latte at Dover Street Market’s Rose Bakery is my idea of luxury.’ Jenny Kennedy, fashion editor
THE HOLIDAY ‘Is there any greater luxury than playing Robinson Crusoe on your own private island in the Maldives? Luckily Four Seasons has you covered, with its newly opened Voavah resort on the Baa Atoll.’ Dipal Acharya, commissioning editor
Visit us online: standard.co.uk/esmagazine • Follow us:
THE CLOTHING ‘Warning: once you pull on a pair of Johnstons of Elgin cashmere socks, you’ll never want to degrade your delicate toes with anything else, especially now that the cold weather’s hit. A new pair is the ultimate little dose of luxury.’ Frankie McCoy, features writer
4
3
THE ACCESSORY ‘A co-ordinating ‘Safari’ suitcase and vanity set from Globe Trotter is the ultimate in decadence. Famously elephant-proof (they’ve been put to the test in their 120-year history) their design was as elegant and sturdy then as it is now.’ Natalie Salmon, social media editor
THE TREATMENT ‘For me, true luxury is having a manicure, blowdry and pedicure all at the same time at 7am on a Monday morning in the comfort of my own kitchen. Beautii.co is my home beauty app of choice as all the technicians are super high-end fashion industry people.’ Katie Service, beauty editor
@eveningstandardmagazine
5
@ESmagofficial
@ESmagofficial
Editor Laura Weir Deputy editor Anna van Praagh Features director Alice-Azania Jarvis Acting art director Emma Woodroofe Fashion features director Katrina Israel Commissioning editor Dipal Acharya Associate features editor Hamish MacBain Features writer Frankie McCoy
Acting art editor Andy Taylor Art editor Jessica Landon Picture editor Helen Gibson Picture desk assistant Clara Dorrington
Beauty editor Katie Service Deputy beauty and lifestyle editor Lily Worcester
Social media editor Natalie Salmon Office administrator/editor’s PA Niamh O’Keeffe
Merchandise editor Sophie Paxton Fashion editor Jenny Kennedy Fashion assistant Eniola Dare Chief sub editor Matt Hryciw Deputy chief sub editor Nick Howells
Contributing editors Lucy Carr-Ellison, Tony Chambers, Richard Godwin, Daisy Hoppen, Jemima Jones, Anthony Kendal, David Lane, Mandi Lennard, Annabel Rivkin, Teo van den Broeke, Nicky Yates (style editor at large) Group client strategy director Deborah Rosenegk Head of magazines Christina Irvine
ES Magazine is published weekly and is available only with the London Evening Standard. ES Magazine is published by Evening Standard Ltd, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, Kensington, London W8 5TT. ES is printed web offset by Wyndeham Bicester. Paper supplied by Perlen Paper AG. Colour transparencies or any other material submitted to ES Magazine are sent at owner’s risk. Neither Evening Standard Ltd nor their agents accept any liability for loss or damage. © Evening Standard Ltd 2016. Reproduction in whole or part of any contents of ES Magazine without prior permission of the editor is strictly prohibited
17.11.17 ES MAGAZINE 5
Living the high life: Samuel Fishwick sets off on a private jet to the Bulgari Hotel in Milan, and top centre, at London’s Hotel Café Royal
Louise Haywood-Schiefer
T
he height of luxury is at 41,000 feet. It’s Friday night, I’ve finished work and I’m being whisked over the Alps to a five star hotel in Milan on a private jet, wearing a look of smugness that can only be described as insufferable. ‘This seems excessive,’ says my girlfriend, who’s sitting next to me. ‘Are you going to propose?’ The experience economy is booming. In Western countries, millennials, The Economist noted, are ‘keener on memorable experiences than splashing out on bling’, forgoing savings and traditional courtship such as diamond engagement rings in favour of #nofilter moments. We spend less on buying things and more on doing things — then telling the world about it online afterwards. The more exclusive the experience, the greater the payoff in followers. It was recently reported that a Moscow company is renting out a grounded private jet as a photography studio for aspiring travel ‘influencers’ to pretend they’re living the luxury lifestyle they’ve always dreamed of. Never has the expression ‘fake it till you make’ it seemed more relevant. Thanks to various apps and services styling themselves as the ‘Uber for experiences’, a luxury gig economy is arising, meaning that high living is becoming not just for the super-rich, but available on a pay-as-you-go basis. I wanted to see if I could use these to enjoy the kind of lifestyle my cashstrapped fellow millennials
Who wants to be a millionaire?
From private jets to the world’s most indulgent hotels, anything is within reach in the luxury gig economy — for a price. Samuel Fishwick spends a week living well beyond his means can only dream of (I am, odiously, trying these experiences gratis). So for the next week I will be an out-of-pocket millennial living, no, ‘experiencing’ life like a millionaire: two nights at Milan’s Bulgari Hotel, a personal trainer in Notting Hill, a state-of-the-art ‘millennial gym’ and being swaddled in 23carat gold in a luxury London hammam. ‘It’s the online equivalent of showing off around the water cooler,’ says Zia Yusuf, whose app, Velocity Black, provides a digital concierge service that ‘powers the ultimate lifestyle from your pocket’ and counts Gigi Hadid, Martha Hunt and Poppy Delevingne among its founding members. For £2,000 a year (plus a one-time joining fee of £700) you get access to a digital ‘membership community’, a Live to experience: concierge app Velocity Black
worldwide network that sets up experiences from restaurant bookings and all-access Coachella passes to days out diving with orca whales, driving Formula 1 legend Damon Hill’s old racing car and taking fighter jets to the edge of space. Prices for these signature experiences vary. ‘It’s very much of this generation because it’s both digital and completely frictionless,’ says Yusuf. ‘You never have to pull out a credit card or provide details once you’re signed up as a member. Our customers are busy and ambitious: they wish they had more time to do the things they love, they’re very focused on their careers and travel four times more than the average person. They live for novel experiences and to create memories. This solves that problem.’ While they’re not inclusive or affordable enough for many of us, apps have democratised and disrupted the high-threshold world of PJs
17.11.17 es magazine 15
Stealing
beauty
Art theft is the world’s third most profitable criminal enterprise, and London is a hotspot for it — as well as the people trying to put a stop to it. Kate Wills delves into the murky world of art detectives
I
t’s pouring with rain when I go to meet Charley Hill in the café at The National Gallery, and the sky is so moody one might be tempted to call it ‘Rothko grey’. He is waiting for me with a white paper envelope and a golf umbrella, and has greying curly hair, kind crinkly eyes and round tortoiseshell glasses. In contrast to Hill’s usual meetings with gangland informers and kingpins of the criminal underworld, all that’s in my envelope are three postcards he’s bought for me from the Sir John Soane’s Museum where, 30 years ago, he foiled an armed attempt to steal two Hogarth paintings. Once DCI of Scotland Yard’s Art and Antiques Unit, Hill has worked as a private detective since 1997 and has contributed to some of the biggest art crime recoveries in history. ‘I don’t break the law but I do deal with people you wouldn’t want to talk to,’ he tells me in his soft, mid-Atlantic accent. ‘Using informants is the only way to get these things back.’ The ‘things’ he refers to have included Goya’s Portrait of Doña Antonia Zárate, which he discovered rolled up in a sports bag, Vermeer’s Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid, retrieved from a multistorey car park in Antwerp, and Titian’s £5m Rest on the Flight into Egypt, stuffed into a red and blue striped laundry bag and found at a bus stop outside Richmond station. One of the best stories he tells me — over two prelunch Screwdrivers — involves accidentally bumping Munch’s The Scream on the headrest of his associate’s Mercedes sports coupé, having gone undercover at an Oslo hotel to retrieve the masterpiece. ‘It’s just on a piece of cardboard so it’s like carrying
30 es magazine 17.11.17
Art work: private detective Charley Hill
a big packing box,’ he says of rescuing one of the most famous paintings in the world, valued at the time at £35m. Whether it’s an elaborate forgery of a Damien Hirst Spin painting, a Banksy swiped from an Islington flat by Airbnb-ers, or ISIS’s looting of historical antiquities in Palmyra, art crime is happening every day. It is now ranked the third highest grossing criminal enterprise, behind drugs and arms dealing respectively. In 2013, figures suggested that thefts of art and antiques in the UK alone totalled more than £300m. ‘London is an ideal site for moving art because of its position as a centre of the art world and global art market,’ explains Lynda Albertson, CEO of the Association for Research into Crimes against Art. ‘The British Art Market Federation reported that there were 48,500 people directly employed in the art and antiques market, and the UK has a 21 per cent share of the $56bn global art market, which gives you an idea of London’s muscle.’ Yet in August Scotland Yard announced that it had seconded the three remaining detectives from its specialist unit to the Grenfell Tower investigation, and there are fears that its Art and Antiques Unit might well be closed indefinitely. ‘The loss would be felt across the globe,’ says Vernon Rapley, who was in charge of the unit for 10 years before becoming head of security at the V&A in 2010. ‘We dealt with everything, from ancient Assyrian reliefs to contemporary painting to vintage wine — all sorts of things came through that office door. It takes a long time to understand these crimes, so having a small, specialist team frees up other officers’ time when these cases do come in.’ The Metropolitan Police did not respond to our queries about the future of the unit, but with police funding tighter than ever there’s a sense that picture-napping isn’t the most pressing concern. ‘I’m sympathetic to the view that knife crime is more important than art crime,’ says Saskia Hufnagel, a senior lecturer in
17.11.17 es magazine 31
beauty Treasures of the Deep
by katie service
Set by Elena Horn. Coral bookend, £645, at uk.l-objet.com
Underwater beauty trinkets housing Estée Lauder perfume balms and pressed powders
Clockwise from back left, Shimmering Sea Urchin solid perfume, £300; Sea Goddess solid perfume, £300; Jewelled Starfish powder compact, £200; Dancing Starfish solid perfume, £300; One of a Kind Seahorse solid perfume, £300, all at Harrods (020 7730 1234)
PHOTOGRAPH BY aleksandra kingo STYLED BY lily worcester
17.11.17 es magazine 77
BEAUTY
You beauty!
ON THE SOAPBOX
Jet-setting facialist to the stars NICHOLA JOSS has recently added piercings to her treatment roster. She shares her tips on how to use them to help contour your face
D
id you know that the placement of your ear-piercings can help contour your face shape? For the past year I’ve been studying computer generated images of ear piercings — by moving the piercing around to various sides and positions of the ear you can see subtle alterations and lifts in the face shape. Equally, covering your ears with sparkly diamonds works like an optical illusion; the earring draws the eye out making the cheekbone seem more lifted. The effect is very subtle and unique to each person’s face shape, but these little tricks 100 per cent make a difference. If you want to lift the cheek area, draw an imaginary line from the cheekbone with your finger towards the ear. Place your ear piercing slightly higher than where the line ends on the outer rim of the ear. Sometimes people want to make their ears look smaller. To do this, place an earring in a position close to your face on the inner part of your ear, where it will draw the eye back in to the face as opposed to outwards to the edge of the ear. To soften a heavy jawline, keep any outer piercings about 3mm lower than the middle point of the ear, just at the top NICHOLA JOSS earrings, of the lobe. from £470 Nichola Joss has treatment rooms in Covent Garden (nicholajoss.com)
T Annabel Rivkin melts away in bath oil bliss
Josh Shinner; Natasha Pszenicki
HEADSPACE
Hotel Café Royal’s Poetry in Water treatment combines muscle stretching, joint mobilisation and Shiatsu massage in its heated private pool. These movements allow your spine to elongate, your body to unwind and your heart rate to drop, resulting in waves of relaxation. Poetry in Water, 50/90 minutes, £150/£210 (hotelcaferoyal.com)
his week we are all about luxury, but I’m going to leave the gold-plated face packs and milliondollar fragrances alone. We’re all weary; worn down by these troubled times. So, from where I’m sitting, you can keep your caviar serums. I’m not in the bloody mood. Let’s instead turn our limited attention to everyday luxury. Granular luxury. Democratic, accessible, nurturing luxury. The luxury of a bath. Your bath is your spa, your cave, your mountaintop. Your bath is your sacred space. Get a lock on the damn door and claim that space. I cry in the bath, I think in the bath, I read in the bath and — at this time of year — I eat satsumas in the bath. I add hot and cold and hot and cold, twiddling the taps with my toes. No candles. No whale music. Just me. Alone. It’s really hard to feel lonely in the bath because the warm water helps you to feel held. Oh, yes. The luxury of a bath. And, the bonus ball is a beautiful bath oil. Like Miller Harris’s Rose Silence. Rose is the red lipstick of the fragrance world. You love it or you can’t cope with it. And, if you do love it, one size absolutely does not fit all. So try this absolute sensation on for size. First of all it transforms bath water into a kind of nourishing milk, rich in vitamins A and E. But the smell, dear God, the smell. A modern rose, fresh and clear, enlivened with blackcurrant and mandarin but anchored with musk. I’ve developed a Pavlovian response whereby I only have to see the damn bottle and I start to feel melty. Now I think it’s time you just… left me alone for a while. In a loving way. Rose Silence bath oil, £38 (millerharris.com)
READ YOUR STARS BY SHELLEY VON STRUNCKEL AT STANDARD.CO.UK ⁄ HOROSCOPES ⁄TODAY
17.11.17 ES MAGAZINE 79