Inside Milan Fashion Week
More skin, loose-fits and added elegance from Brioni, Prada, Fendi, Zegna and more.
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Brioni
“The softness puts the wearer in a good mood, and I want the clothes to bring out the personality, without overpowering the individual or shouting designer label,’” Brioni’s design director Norbert Stumpfl said about the spring collection, which was made with the most sophisticated materials. A trained tailor himself, Stumpfl highlighted the craftsmanship of Brioni’s artisans, who succeeded in creating a lineup that had a nonchalant and relaxed attitude, for men “who don’t spend too much time in front of the mirror.”
The designer underscored the importance of lightness, emphasized by the fabrics, which ranged from blends of linen, cashmere and silk to Sea Island cotton and double-layered knitwear crafted from Escorial wool, cashmere and silk blend. A trench in nubuck was treated to be water-resistant. Shapes were looser as the designer wants the Brioni man to be comfortable — and cool, too, hence the linen sleeves on a suede jacket, all finished by hand. A jacket was made from the same nylon used for women’s hosiery, which makes it extremely light, a quarter of the weight of a regular jacket, said the designer.
Stumpfl also created pyjama-style shirts and pants crafted from unused samples of silk necktie fabrics which are re-dyed, so that each piece is unique. Brioni’s eveningwear was stunning as the designer presented the Veronese jacket crafted from a brocade hand-woven on a late 19th-century jacquard loom, in a process that takes five months from start to finish. It’s clearly a garment for those in the know — and with deep pockets — as the floral embroideries are made with gold and silver threads, bumping up the retail price to 50,000 euros. Another showstopper was a dinner jacket in faille ombré silk carefully dyed by hand using 50 shades of black and greys with an iridescent effect in a “workintense” technique that Stumpfl said had “not been used since the times of Christian Lacroix and Roberto Capucci.” Further pointing to Brioni’s craftsmanship, the brand also introduced silver jewellery hammered by hand. — Luisa Zargani
Prada
Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, intellectual designers both, have come up with a clever response to these turbulent times: simplicity, joy and the human touch. Their codesigned spring 2022 collection had a light spirit, and it felt honest and effortless, while still brimming with that edgy coolness that is quintessentially Prada. “The world is so complicated — so overcomplicated — we can lose the essence of human life,” Prada said in the notes sent to reviewers after the show. “This is an idea I have been interested in for a number of seasons, and which we have been exploring in different ways. We come from previous collections that were all about technicality, machines, that reflect the necessity of technology. Now, we are thinking of the opposite. Human, real. Our interest in technology came from its place as a communication tool for humanity. But this expression is much more direct.”
According to Prada, the collection was very much about portraying the joy of the everyday. “The notion that living your life can be a euphoric experience,” she continued. “Much joy can come out of something so simple: when times are complicated, we are searching for simple, direct joys. An innocence.” What’s more innocent than childhood? Cue the key item of the season, the romper, shown with rolled-up cuffs and presented in different variations, from solid options to printed designs, including a couple featuring irregular vertical stripes. The collection’s summer vibe was amplified by the video, which combined the concept of human artifacts and nature.
A red tunnel installed inside a warehouse at the Fondazione Prada in Milan, became a portal to the natural environment, leading to the sandy beaches and crystal clear water of Sardinia. “The show represents a transition — between a tunnel, an urban space and the sea. We don’t feel it should be complicated — the story is pure, direct. A move from indoors to outdoors. After constriction, the power of that feeling of infinity, an endless horizon. It gives you the feeling of freedom again. It’s human nature,” Simons said. “What we are interested in is: How can these two moments, these two environments, fuse together? A contrast between the system of the fashion industry — the runway — and nature.
We started in the previous autumn show to introduce these moments of different behaviour from the cast, and here, you see the models in another context, another environment, a different reality. You see them be totally free, in reality. It’s natural.” The collection fell somewhere between fashion utopia and everyday reality. Unfussy silhouettes were repeated across the lineup, adapting to the urban or beach environment. For example, the romper became a metropolitan uniform in a dark navy version styled with polished brogues, or exuded a carefree chic vibe when rendered in a white cotton printed with sea motifs, including anchors, and layered under a boat-neck sweater with crisscross details.
The precise outerwear, spanning from minimal trenches and car coats in joyful colours to leather jackets with a lived-in look, anchored the lineup in an elevated, everyday practicality. Elsewhere, tank tops with squared necklines were matched with relaxed pants, while charming hoodies in surfer prints were paired with rolled-up short pants. While Prada and Simons focused on simplicity and timelessness, there was plenty for hype beasts. The short shorts that resembled miniskirts, the bucket hats with the triangle pouch on the back brim, and the striped knits with a naif-like look were all items that will influence the season, at a both creative and commercial level. — Alessandra Turra
Ermenegildo Zegna
What can digital add to the experience of the physical show? Storytelling, according to Ermenegildo Zegna artistic director Alessandro Sartori. While the company expects to return to the live format in January, the designer thinks that digital will continue to play a key role to reach a wider audience and share the story behind the clothes. For Sartori, the pandemic didn’t only showcase the power of digital, but strongly accelerated a process of transformation in consumers’ approach to fashion. “I think we are going through a very exciting moment, where we are radically changing the way we design and sell the collections,” said Sartori.
While he thinks that classic formalwear will continue to be relevant in the luxury world of bespoke and customisation, ready-to-wear has to adopt to meet the new needs of today’s consumers. His spring 2022 collection pointed to a new path for the brand, and Sartori questioned the traditional idea of suiting. “The suit now becomes a combination of separates,” he said, explaining that the brand will now give retailers and consumers the chance to create their own suit combining pants with a range of matching tops. This new approach to suiting was the main theme of the beautiful video that the company created to present its latest collection.
Filmed in different locations across Italy, the video showed models running across a labyrinth in the huge park surrounding the castle of Masino in Piedmont and then they are suddenly catapulted into a more industrial space where they walk down the stairs of the new building of Milan’s IULM university. The distinctive architecture of the Monte Amiata housing complex in another Milanese district, which was built by Carlo Aymonino and Aldo Rossi in the late ‘60s, offered another impressive backdrop for the runway show that ended with a waterside dinner in the Rho Fiera area. Fashion-wise, the collection felt like an ode to comfortable elegance with a relevant cool factor.
Utility uniforms from the 1940s and 1950s served as starting point for the lineup’s overall spirit, merging urban sophistication with practical functionality. Baggy or slightly roomy pants were paired with boxy jackets with kimono sleeves. They featured a range of details, including straps and inside buttons to allow multiple fits. Over shirts, rendered in a wide selection of materials, from linen and stretch knit to supple leather, stood out, as did charming sweaters with 3D effects.
The overall sense of lightness and relaxed elegance was heightened by the delicate pastels, such as lilac and pistachio green, alongside refined neutrals, including tobacco brown, blue and military green. Softness and comfort also defined the accessories. Bags with multiple pockets were crafted from kangaroo leather, that was also used for padded chunky loafers and slip-ons with elastic inserts. With this collection, the Ermenegildo Zegna brand made a bold statement, in tune with the times and its legacy of textile experimentation and elegant dressing – Alessandra Turra.
Fendi
In a world that necessarily got much smaller for all us, Silvia Venturini Fendi found inspiration in her work environment. “I strongly believe that what is close and familiar can be as much as inspiring as what is far and exotic,” she said during a preview on the set of the short movie by artist Nico Vascellari that portrays the Fendi’s men’s spring 2022 collection. Palazzo Della Civiltà Italiana, that houses Fendi’s headquarters in Rome, served as the grand set for the video. It also offered Venturini Fendi the privileged point of observation on the Eternal City that deeply influenced the creation of her latest collection.
Looking at her native city from the top of the palazzo, one of the tallest buildings in Rome, she started thinking about proportions and perspectives, that, along with a study of the changing colours of the Roman sky across the different seasons, became the focal points of her beautiful lineup. While sticking to uncomplicated clothes that reflect the needs of the real life, the designer developed an exciting wardrobe that was luxurious, but also light and playful.
Colours played a key role. Neutrals were juxtaposed with lemon yellow, lime, ice blue, lilac, pistachio green and peony pink, sometimes mixed and matched on abstract patterns. A sense of adventure and exploration, combined with practical functionality, informed the lightweight, precise outerwear, the suede over shirts and the short pants featuring multiple patch pockets. Trenches dabbed with leather and jacquard denim jackets were roomy, while Fendi’s new, fun suit for the season featured pants and shorts with elastic waistbands matched with cropped double breasted boxy jackets.
They added a touch of fun and fashion frivolity to the collection, as did the adorable accessories, spanning from bags cut in the shape of bucket hats, Plexiglas mini Baguettes, table tennis rackets case holder and swimming goggles developed in collaboration with specialist Arena. Putting the accent on her top view, Venturini Fendi also splashed a range of pieces, including a languid silk pyjama set, with an archival maps of Rome, and abstract patterns inspired by the views of the globe from space. The short film depicted the models walking by the arches and on the rooftop of the Palazzo Della Civiltà Italiana hit by the light of the Roman sun at the different hours of the day and ends with the Fendi fashion parade taking over the facade of the palazzo at night. A woman designing for men, Silvia Venturini Fendi gave her clothes a practical romanticism and a graceful attitude. — Alessandra Turra
Etro
With his spring 2022 collection, Kean Etro paid tribute to the Italian musician and artist Franco Battiato, who died last month. For his lyrics, often containing culturally exotic, philosophical and religious references, Battiato was nicknamed Il Maestro, and he deeply influenced Etro’s own vision and life since their first meeting back in 1985. To the soundtrack of Battiato’s music, Etro’s men’s wear creative director unveiled the collection at Milan’s former railway station Scalo Farini — one of the three live shows in Milan this season. Models walked on the train tracks in the open air, which seemed to Etro “to have no beginning and no end,” surrounded by wildflowers, which all contributed to the sense of freedom and joy the collection telegraphed. The tracks were an additional reference to globetrotting — always an inspiration for the designer.
This time, Etro wanted to “explore the nomadic spirit.” (Incidentally, “Nomadi” is also a 1988 song written by Battiato.) To further convey the idea of wanderlust, the designer also cited travel writer Bruce Chatwin and Agatha Christie, not for her detective novels, but rather for her trips accompanying her husband, archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan, on his excavations in the Middle East. Etro’s inspiration, however, was not literal — no cargo pants or trekking shoes in sight. Instead, Etro’s collection was all about offhand fluidity and colours that transmit “energy and optimism.” To wit, the first part of the show hinged on modern suits, silk shirts and Bermuda shorts in bright orange, yellow, fuchsia and metallic green — at times tie-dyed.
Models paraded in silk cadi caftans, knitted vests with silk georgette inserts and fil coupé shirts lit up by golden threads. The brand’s unmistakable paisley prints alternated with archival patterns on silk pyjamas. Earthy colours infused the second part of the collection, on bombers and shirts embellished with patterns inspired by petroglyphs, or rock carvings, but these were not literal, either. “I wanted clean and graphic symbols, as if they were memories of the past,” Etro said. He paid attention to the accessories, too, ranging from colourful and functional pouches and cool sneakers to large and soft backpacks and saddlebags in washed leather. The collection had a rock ‘n roll vibe running throughout — after all, Etro has been dressing the winners of the Eurovision music contest, Italian rock band Måneskin. — L.Z.
MSGM
Once again, Massimo Giorgetti proved that he understands youths and their codes like no other. For spring 2022, he channelled their desire for freedom in a poetic fashion film evoking the sun-drenched atmosphere in the photography of San Diego-based artist Stephen Milner. Cantered on a group of boys spending a day at the seaside, the short movie showcased a more contemplative mood compared to MSGM previous digital presentations. “I noticed there’s this desire to reveal the skin but not in a sexy way, rather more delicately, with romanticism,” Giorgetti explained. Connection with nature played a big role in the fun and spirited collection. Literally, the underwater theme — which charmed also Prada’s co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons this season — informed the bold prints splashed on the garments. An artisanal feel ran through a charming intarsia cardigan with shell motifs, a mohair sweater depicting a mermaid and structured sweatshirts handwoven using strips of recycled organic cotton. (Attention to recycled fibres and natural techniques was heightened throughout the range.) The ‘90s-inspired range included workwear jackets and cargo pants dyed naturally for a watercolour-like effect. Sharks motifs and prints of crabs and shells outlined with piercings popped up on knitwear, raw-cut hoodies and bowling shirts. Pastel tones with energizing orange and vibrant green gave everything a joyful zing. Sport references, including wetsuit tops and leggings, nodded to the Californian surf scene portrayed in Milner’s images and punctuated another fresh and cool collection from MSGM. — Sandra Salibian
Tod’s
Tod’s creative director Walter Chiapponi can’t wait to return to a physical show, but once again found a way to present his collection with a video that in sync with his sensibility and the brand spirit. He chose to portray an eclectic and diverse group of young men — actors Saul Nanni and Meledeen Yacoubi, musician Lorenzo Sutto, singer Theo Isambourg and model Yonghong — enjoying a day in the sun at the Petra vineyard in Suvereto, Tuscany. The striking and avant-garde design of the building by Swiss architect Mario Botta is a recognizable landmark in the country and Chiapponi said he was seeking “a place immersed in nature with a modern architecture.” That it is, with its sectioned cylinder in pink travertine and a stairway running the height of the hill in the Maremma countryside.
Inspired by the adventurous images of artist Peter Beard, Chiapponi delivered a collection that was more nonchalant than usual, with a touch of sensuality. Chiapponi made a statement with the new canvas Jack Biker jacket with leather gommino pads — the brand’s signature pebble motif — as patches on the elbows. Developing an urban safari theme, the designer offered canvas shirts or field jackets worn over Bermuda shorts; quilted jackets; nylon shorts; suede hoodies and a shirt jacket with contrasting patch pockets in leather — a signature material for Tod’s.
There were trenchcoats in light nylon in bright hues and soft chambray trousers. Chiapponi mixed different checkered patterns on cotton gauze shirts and jackets. All garments were light and deconstructed as the practical pants in parachute canvas with drawstrings at the ankle. With John F. Kennedy Jr. as another inspiration, it’s obvious that Chiapponi never strays from elegant and sophisticated designs, even when he veers toward more casual looks. Accessories, always key for Tod’s, were strong, ranging from the new Dots Run sneakers in nylon and leather in contrasting colours with expanded gomminos on the soles, to camera bags and soft, ruched moccasins. An expanded lion head appeared on several items as a crest. — Luisa Zargani
Brunello Cucinelli
Brunello Cucinelli’s take on things is generally an upbeat and optimistic one. This was once again the case on Saturday, when he spoke of rebirth after the pandemic, which is leading men to rediscover a taste for elegance and dressing well. As a consequence, at the physical presentation at Cucinelli’s headquarters in Milan, there was a strong focus on the suit, “synonymous of elegance, but not the Wall Street kind of business suit” of yore. The fit must be “relaxed and contemporary,” he noted. Case in point, the traditional pinstriped suit was revisited with more understated, almost faded patterns; deconstructed jackets, and feather-light natural fabrics.
The fabrics were also practical, such as Tasmanian wool, which allows for high performance without wrinkling, he noted. Blends of linen, wool and silk contributed to the summery ease of the suits. Cuffed ankle pants with front pleats were slightly longer than in previous styles. Adding a sportier touch, Cucinelli showed cargo pants, either short — Bermuda style — or elasticized at the ankle. Mismatched blazers also contributed to the easy style as did the range of soft unlined suede bombers, which were also presented with lasered chevron patterns or quilting motifs. The palette was neutral, with delicate pastels, from yellows, pinks to azure, alternated with a range of greys, off-white and panama or sand. Jeans were shown in the traditional indigo hue — among the bestselling pants for the company, Cucinelli said. “Simplicity in Elegance,” summed up the brand’s look book, but the former at Cucinelli is achieved through skilled craftsmanship and extensive research and development of fabrics. — L.Z.
Canali
A fuchsia suit worn with a plain white T-shirt was unexpected but stood out in its simplicity in the Canali spring 2022 collection, which was filled with relaxed silhouettes and lightweight fabrics. The Italian brand showcased the Canali 1934, Exclusive and Black Edition lines, underscoring to the label’s versatility in catering different customers and demands beyond its roots in tailoring. “The pandemic accelerated a trend that was already present: The need to break the rigid schemes that separate formalwear from the informal one.
Fusing these two dimensions enables customers to easily mix and match the pieces,” said the company’s president and chief executive officer Stefano Canali, explaining that, overall, the collection was inspired by the natural landscape in Los Angeles and 1990s cinema. Neutral tones dominated the Canali 1934 line, which focused on reinterpretations of the trucker jacket — including a white denim version with geometric tobacco suede pockets and a chic aquamarine suede option — as well as on knitwear, often styled with pleated pants. The laid-back attitude took a bolder turn in the Black Edition line, with vibrant suits and a bowling shirt splashed with floral prints.
Sportier garments such as a black anorak and a hooded jacket with black and-white graffiti graphics veered toward a more functional and urban direction that was a stretch compared to the rest of the collection. Although these two lines made for eye-catching items, the Exclusive section best exemplified the Canali ethos and the effortless mood it wanted to convey this season, thanks to pieces such as a taupe buckskin blazer and a green suede jacket with details in napa leather. Among the three souls of the collection, this was definitely the most authentic and truthful to the brand’s signature elegance. — Sandra Salibian
Originally published by WWD.
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How the Most Rare and Valuable Watches Are Traded Among Elite Collectors
Some of the world’s most interesting watches spend decades being traded privately before we learn about them.
Before social media became the lingua franca of the watch world, there were forums. And on those forums, collectors—especially collectors of vintage Rolex—often traded timepieces amongst each other.
The advent of Instagram in the early 2010s, coupled with the explosion in interest in vintage timepieces, drew attention to this corner of the watch world, and with that attention came increased competition for the finest examples. In the case of six- and seven-figure watches, high-end dealers, like James Lamdin, founder and vice president of vintage and pre-owned watches at Analog:Shift, became trusted intermediaries, negotiating sales for pieces not once or twice but often multiple times as they made the rounds of the collector community.
“There are watches out there that may not be massively rare by reference, but are by example,” Lamdin tells Robb Report. “Tropical patina, ghosted bezel, or celebrity provenance—it’s that watch. When those watches go into a collection, usually it’s with the implicit understanding that they’re valuable and people will want them from you and will make you a profit when you sell them.”
The best dealers have built relationships with collectors around the world and often have first right of refusal when those pieces come back to market. But even still, the most coveted models can still slip through their fingers.
Eric Wind, of Wind Vintage in Palm Beach, Fla., has lost and found some of the world’s most storied watches. In 2015, when he was vice president, senior specialist at Christie’s in New York, Wind came across a “super rare” 1957 Audemars Piguet Ref. 5516 perpetual calendar that had languished in rural Florida until the nephew of the original owner consigned it to Christie’s. The first perpetual calendar wristwatch to feature a leap-year indicator, the piece was one of just nine made by Audemars Piguet in the 1950s. Wind considers it “the one in the best condition.”
He showed it to one of Christie’s better-known clients, Patrick Getreid, owner of the OAK Collection, who purchased it in 2015 for $545,000. In 2023, Getreid consigned it to Christie’s in Hong Kong. That’s when Wind decided to give the piece another shot.
“I had registered to bid on it but at the last minute, I got cold feet,” Wind continues. “It was starting kind of high compared with what Getreide had paid for it. I was bidding remotely from Florida, but when no one else is bidding, you’re kind of wondering if you’re a genius or a fool. Is there something everyone else knows that I don’t? The question was about market value. The watch ended up passing and I purchased it via private sale—or private treaty, as it’s known—after the sale. I had two clients who really wanted it. I offered it to both, but one was more ready to pull the trigger and he got it. It never saw the light of day.” That Audemars Piguet perpetual calendar, Wind says, “remains one of my top five watches on the planet.”
As he reflected on the piece’s winding journey, Wind considered his own role in its comings and goings. “It was fun to be part of the lifecycle of that watch, from when it was discovered in rural Florida and consigned to Christie’s, and then sold to a great collector, who sold it again,” he says. “I imagine it will come back to me at some point. I don’t know if it will be two years from now or 40 years.”
Another grail watch that Wind helped shepherd to a client was an exceptional Paul Newman Rolex Daytona Panda reference 2623 with a full set and a tropical dial that was sold by a small Swedish auction house just under a decade ago. “Another dealer got it,” Wind explains. “I was still at Christie’s, and I fell in love with the watch. This dealer who had it for a year then sold it to an Italian dealer, who then sold it to a collector in Asia. I was tracking the watch on Instagram and saw the collector post it. By that time, I had become a dealer.
“I made an offer to the collector to purchase it on behalf of my client,” he adds. “It had been owned by a Swedish boat captain and had been given to him by the family he worked for, the equivalent of the Rockefellers in Sweden. We had to arrange shipment to the U.S. by Malca-Amit armored transport. Whenever these high-value watches move around, you have to deal with armored shipments, customs, proper transportation, and a lot of paperwork. It takes some time but it’s well worth it.”
Both the AP perpetual calendar and Daytona were original and unpolished—“the kind of watches I look for,” Wind says. “It’s funny how watches circle around. Within the high-end watch world, we’re not talking about thousands and thousands of watches. We’re talking about a relatively small amount of great watches.”
Eric Ku, a high-end vintage dealer in Northern California, certainly knows the drill.
About 15 years ago, he was offered a first-of-its-kind 1996 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona “Rainbow” reference 16599 in white gold on a leather strap.
“I’ve been hunting jeweled Rolexes for a really long time, before it was a cool thing,” Ku, cofounder of the online auction site Loupe This, says. “The watch first surfaced to me around 15 years ago. It was offered to me by a dealer in the Middle East and was coming from, allegedly, a member of a royal family. At the time, the pricing was completely different than it is today. After going back and forth, I offered $130,500 and the seller wanted $136,462. I lost the watch. I was gutted. I’d been stalking the watch. But at the time, relative to the market, it didn’t make sense for me. It was a really tough time, might have been around the financial crisis. I felt confident it would come back to me, but it didn’t.
“Then, in 2012, Rolex introduced its new rainbow Daytona,” Ku says. “I had no doubt about the authenticity of the watch I’d lost out on, but seeing the new rainbow Daytona completely validated me and erased any scintilla of a doubt that I had about the watch. Fast forward a couple years: The watch was offered to me again privately, by a different person in the Middle East at a significant multiple of the original offering—let’s say in the mid six-figures. I bought it.”
In 2017, Ku sold the watch to an important collector based overseas, “a person of very high taste and connoisseurship who appreciated the rarity of that watch,” he says. The collector, by Ku’s reckoning, also appreciated the story of its journey. “Dealers and old collectors always like trading war stories,” he says. “What’s the one thing that got away and then it came back? The collector got sold on the story.”
Now, the watch is coming back to market on Nov. 8 at Phillips Geneva, where it’s being offered in a sale dedicated to neo-vintage timepieces (Reloaded: The Rebirth of Mechanical Watchmaking 1980-1999) and is estimated to fetch in excess of $5.93 million.
“It’s probably the sexiest watch of the season,” Ku says.
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Champagne Bollinger Just Released a Limited-Edition, James Bond–Inspired Bubbly
The Champagne Bollinger 007 Goldfinger Limited Edition comes with its own carrying case and glasses.
When it comes to drinks, James Bond may be best associated with a martini—shaken, not stirred, of course. But the secret agent has been known to enjoy a glass or two of bubbly as well.
Champagne Bollinger has long been the Champagne of choice for Bond, and now the house is honouring that relationship with a special-edition bottle that commemorates the 60th anniversary of Goldfinger.
Whether you’re a Bond fan or a Champagne connoisseur, the $5,950 Champagne Bollinger 007 Goldfinger Limited Edition package is meant to appeal to both sensibilities.
The star of the show is the Champagne, of course: Here, Champagne Bollinger is offering a 2007 vintage Magnum, made from hand-picked grapes and aged 17 years in the house’s cellars. Spicy aromas on the nose are contrasted with notes of fruit, brioche, and honey. The Champagne has been packaged in a bespoke Globe-Trotter Air Cabin Case and comes with four Champagne Bollinger 007 glasses in which to enjoy the bubbly. Limited to just 200 individually numbered pieces, it’s a true collector’s item.
Champagne Bollinger has enjoyed a lengthy relationship with the James Bond franchise, dating back to when Roger Moore popped the first bottle in 1973’s Live and Let Die. Since then, the two have become almost inseparable, and Champagne Bollinger is proudly being served at the very first official James Bond bar, which just opened in London. If you can’t snag the limited-edition set for yourself, you can at least imbibe in a glass of the good stuff at the 007 at Burlington Arcade.
That bar and the special Champagne Bollinger package are all part of the festivities celebrating 1964’s Goldfinger. The film and Bond’s ensuing legacy have established him as one of the biggest (fictional) names in the luxury world, with his love of expensive watches, fast cars, and fine spirits.
While it’s unlikely that many of us can channel the special agent when it comes to his escapades and hijinks, we should delight in the fact that we can embrace our inner Bond by sidling up to the 007 bar or throwing back a glass of the Champagne Bollinger 007 Goldfinger Limited Edition. It’s exactly how our favorite M16 agent would want us to honour him.
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Golden Touch
Discretion is the better part of glamour at the glittering Maybourne Beverly Hills.
Los Angeles does not want for star wattage, but for years now, the city’s hotel scene has been a little lacklustre. So news that the beloved Montage hotel has been completely redone under the Maybourne brand (the British powerhouse that operates Claridge’s, The Connaught, and Berkeley Hotels in London, and the recently opened Maybourne Riviera on the Côte d’Azur) should come as a boon to Australians looking for a new Tinseltown bolthole.
Situated within Beverly Hills’ famous Golden Triangle, just north of Wilshire Boulevard and Four Season’s Beverly Wilshire, and one block from the world-renowned luxury retailers, restaurants and celeb-spotting of Rodeo Drive, The Maybourne Beverly Hills offers a chic retreat from the designer flexing at its doorstep; a rare escape in the heart of this storied enclave that flies under the radar like a cap-wearing celeb dodging the paparazzi.
Set amid the manicured, Mediterranean-style Beverly Cañon Gardens plaza, which unfolds from the hotel’s west entrance, the new incarnation of Montage Beverly Hills (55 suites and 20 private residences, each with a balcony or patio with a courtyard or city view) still evokes the grand estates of Old Hollywood while feeling like you’re in a European mainstay.
Revealing a restrained new guestroom and suite design by Bryan O’Sullivan, a blue-chip art collection and some of the most solicitous staff in town, the Maybourne speaks in a laid-back Californian accent but still holds true to the luxury touchpoints of five-star service for which one of the world’s most exclusive neighbourhoods—and hotel brands—is known.
“It’s reassuringly British when it comes to service—it’s a culture of yes,” says Linden Pride, the Australian restaurant and bar owner behind the award-winning Caffe Dante in New York and Bobbie’s, the new speakeasy opening this month below Neil Perry’s new Song Bird restaurant in Sydney’s Double Bay (page 40). Pride should know; he lived at the Maybourne for almost a year while he and his partner, Nathalie Hudson, set up Dante, the stunning new restaurant and bar on the hotel’s ninth-floor rooftop. “Looking out from the roof onto lemon and olive trees, it’s easy to forget that you’re in Southern California, not Europe.”
Opened last year, Dante has quickly become one of the hottest reservations in town, luring in celebrities from Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin to the entire Real Madrid soccer team. Like its sister outposts in New York (besides the Greenwich Village original, a West Village location opened in 2020), the focus here is on non-threatening antipasti and aperitivi in a produce-driven menu of fresh familiar stalwarts, with the addition of wood-fired dishes from a giant pizza oven at the heart of the room. Just as it does in New York, a negroni cart does the rounds, and each afternoon is welcomed with a martini happy hour.
It’s all fittingly Cali-chill. The only drama in the place is a striking ceiling fresco by Los Angeles artist Abel Macias, which dominates the 146-seat room. “Nathalie and I had just been to Europe when we decided to open up here,” Pride recalls, “and the Sistine Chapel blew us away. When we saw the domed ceiling in this room it was a no-brainer.”
Dante joins a string of newcomers in the area, including New York transplants Café Boulud, Marea and Cipriani. Don’t look now, but with arrivals like the Maybourne and Dante, one of the world’s stuffiest cities—yes, Beverly Hills is its own 14.8 km² metropolis—might just be entering a new golden age.
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Hibiki 40 Year Old Resets the Bar for One of Whisky’s Most Exalted Names
The legendary blender reasserts itself in the industry’s uppermost pantheon with its oldest and rarest blended release ever.
Over the last decade, whiskies from Suntory’s famed Hibiki stable have gone from a top-shelf staple to the new byword for luxury in the increasingly rarefied world of Japanese whisky. As stocks of its famed age statement blends drew ever lower, the air of exclusivity around the distillery grew and grew – something that has stuck around even as the brand’s new flagship blend, Harmony, became more readily available once more.
It’s becoming clearer, however, that Hibiki still has a few exceptional tricks up its sleeves. Twenty-one and 30-year-old age statement whiskies have released in the past few years to critical acclaim, confirming that Suntory still has some particularly rarefied output yet to unveil. Now, in the brand’s boldest move yet, a 40-year-old blend is set to hit the market in extremely limited quantities, taking Hibiki’s already lofty benchmarks of rarity and lineage to new heights.
As with Hibiki’s other blends, Suntory’s Chief Blender, Shinji Fukuyo, has spent years perfecting a blend that brings some of Japan’s oldest and finest spirits into perfect harmony – achieving a smoothness and complexity that takes the brand’s hallmark qualities to a new plane. Single malts from Yamazaki, Hakushu, and Chita all feature, having been individually aged for four decades to form a true expression of the place they were made, before making their way into the final blend.
Truly a multi-generational blend, Hibiki 40 Year Old is designed not just as an expression of the skills and expertise passed down through generations of individual distillers, but that of Fukuyo’s forebears, legendary Suntory blenders Shingo and Shinjiro Torii.
The result is a final liquid rich with sweet fresh fruit, light citrus zest, and spice, supported by a luxurious undercurrent of acacia honey and dried fruit. Each crystal bottle is adorned with a mother-of-pearl inlay and decorated with a handcrafted label from Japanese washi artist Eriko Horiki.
While age statement single malts in the four- and five-decade category have become increasingly the vogue in recent years, never before has a blended whisky been attempted with such old stock—a unique challenge for its maker.
“Behind the elegance and bloom that is typical of Hibiki, there is a sense of subduedness,
like that of an old temple, and a wabi-sabi patina due to the long aging process,” says Fukuyo. “I would like people to enjoy the pure and pure aroma that has been sharpened over the years; the tranquility of old temples and storehouses and the nostalgic warm feeling that accompanies them.”
Limited to just 400 bottles, Hibiki 40 Year Old will release on October 4th, with bottles retailing at $75,000.
Australian fans of the brand will have the unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the Hibiki 40 Year Old experience, including a taste of the exalted liquid, at an exclusive event at Clare Smyth’s Oncore on October 24th, 2025. Tickets are available for $1,800 per person.
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White Lotus-ing? How Hit Films and TV Shows Are Inspiring Elite Travelers to ‘Set-Jet’ Across the Globe
It’s not just The White Lotus. Prestige TV and blockbuster films set in far-flung destinations are driving bookings like never before.
“As seen on TV” may have lowbrow connotations, but the recent glut of award-winning shows and films set in alluring, far-flung locations is causing an unprecedented run on the world’s best hotels. Call it set-jetting: planning your vacation around a destination featured in a popular series or movie. And while romantic suites and beloved characters have gotten people on planes since the golden age of film, what has changed is how central beautiful venues have become to plots.
“The way that The White Lotus used the destination to tell the story was really unique,” says Misty Belles, an executive at the global travel-adviser network Virtuoso. It also made its settings—the Four Seasons resorts in Maui and Taormina, Sicily—nigh un-bookable. And it’s hardly the only example: “Paris wasn’t hurting for eyes, but Emily in Paris showed the city in a more playful way,” Belles notes. “And people weren’t exactly flocking to Richmond before Ted Lasso.”
Giulia Parmigiani/Netflix
The trend is so strong that a property doesn’t even need to be connected to a show to benefit from its boom. Henley Vazquez, cofounder of the New York–based travel agency Fora, points to Bridgerton’s impact on English estate hotels.
“Heckfield Place [used to be] a hard sell,” she says of the five-star Georgian mansion in Hampshire. “Now, people are dying to go there. It wasn’t featured in Bridgerton, but it’s just that kind of place.”
Others insist on the real deal. Jennifer Schwartz, managing director of Authentic Explorations, works with one family to build trips based on the Game of Thrones universe.
HBO
“They went out of their way in Portugal” to visit Monsanto, the setting for Dragonstone in House of the Dragon, she notes. “It’s definitely a criterion on which they choose where they want to vacation.”
For travelers who want more than simply to follow in their favorite character’s footsteps, London’s Black Tomato takes things several steps further. Since 2023, it has planned high-octane itineraries based on the James Bond franchise and works with the films’ producers, Eon Productions, to make you feel like an MI6 agent. (Some trips even offer lessons with Daniel Craig’s stunt double, Lee Morrison.)
The 007 success has inspired more such trips. “We’ve just recently launched itineraries inspired by Yellowstone and Ripley, focusing on Montana and Wyoming and Italy, respectively,” says cofounder Tom Marchant.
Netflix
Still, it’s important to remember that sharp camerawork—and editing—accounts for a lot of the on-screen magic. Schwartz, of Authentic Explorations, notes that “the White Lotus hotel” in Sicily is “not super accessible, but it’s filmed as if the beach is right there.” In reality, the shore club from the show’s second season is 133 miles away. “People go to the place and they’re like, ‘You have to get in a car to go to the beach? What do you mean?’ ”
So where shouldn’t you go? Netflix’s The Perfect Couple will likely send hordes to Nantucket next summer, and The White Lotus’s third season, set on the Thai island Koh Samui, has already caused a local spike—and it’s not even on the air yet.
Bookings of Virtuoso’s properties in the region are up 38 percent since the show was announced. Luckily, Belles says, the effect doesn’t linger. “We typically see a good two-year impact on a set-jetting destination.”
