Robb Read: Recasting Retail In A Post-Pandemic Landscape

How the look and feel of shopping in stores is fast evolving in both temporary and permanent ways.

By David Moin & Wwd Staff 27/05/2020

Here’s the dilemma: Certain Covid-19-related adaptations to the retail setting might or might not be relevant in the future. It all depends on the impact of the pandemic on shopping behaviour and whether it lasts a year, two years — or much longer. That means retailers must be innovative, agile and resourceful to navigate the challenges posed by the global health crisis and its accompanying economic fallout.

In any case, the playbook for store design and the shopping experience is being rewritten by the coronavirus, forcing retailers to make immediate adaptations for social distancing and sanitising, while accelerating changes already in motion, such as buy online, pickup in-stores or curbside, and showrooming.

We asked experts in brick-and-mortar retail design to discuss their visions for the store of the future, whether it’s retrofitting for right now, or dramatically rethinking the space for the next generation. For many, it’s all about merging hospitality and retail, increased web functionality to link shoppers to inventory in local stores, easily cleanable surfaces, modified customer traffic flow, open spaces with less inventory on the selling floor, shopping by appointment, and flexible fixtures so product displays and shops-in-shop can be readily assembled and disassembled like stage sets.

Peter Marino

Peter Marino  Manolo Yllera/Courtesy Photo

Peter Marino, architect

“A condominium project I’m working on specifies an elevator with voice command, so you don’t have to touch anything metallic. It’s very eerie. It’s the touching aspect that’s questionable. The reason people go to stores is presumably to touch and try on the merchandise. I think it’s going to take a while to regain confidence in that.

“I think we’ll want everything more modern. I don’t want doorknobs to enter a fitting room — we should just be able to push the door. There will be a lot less touching of metal and small items, but architecturally the changes are not very much.

“After the Depression of 1929 and 1930, everything became simpler. All those gorgeous luxury apartments by Rosario Candela on Park Avenue were suddenly being built with no oak libraries, no oak trim around windows. There will be a significant drop in the use of luxurious finishes. It’s not appropriate in the face of so many deaths and so much monetary loss. Everything we’re doing or planning on will be much simpler, more elegant; we’re even sardonically referring to it as ‘coronavirus aesthetic.’

“I’ve always liked doing very sensual, textured walls. But you don’t want people touching walls anymore, and people don’t want to. There will be a much simpler approach. Certainly less sensual, potentially a little simpler for trends in the next three to five years.

“Recently, I’ve been using cheerful colours including yellow, orange and bright burnt amber for retail. I think that happiness factor will not change. People need to be cheered up.” — Miles Socha

Norman Roberts

Norman Roberts

Norman Roberts, design director, FRCH Nelson

“We are only partway into this so we don’t really know the long-term and short-term impacts are,” said Roberts. “But we do know that retailers will have to really satisfy customers when they come into the store. The hurdles to get people in become even greater than before.”

Roberts envisions retailers creating more space to give shoppers elbow room and easier navigation, adapting the brick-and-mortar experience to accommodate those shoppers who want to come and go quickly, and those who prefer to leisurely browse through.

“People will have different comfort levels,” observed Roberts, noting that some shoppers will be anxious in a large busy space and will want to get in and out fast; others will feel comfortable, and potentially shop like they did before.

“Part of this will revolve around communication and a lot of signage about express lanes, or full-service lanes — formats we have seen in gas stations and fast food. Retailers must have multiple ways to engage. You could easily drop a self-checkout into any shopping environment. But you have to do a good job of communicating. You will see a lot more overt signage in stores, around the health precautions being taken and informing people about shopping options. This will impact the aesthetics of the space.”

Roberts said retailers in the future will create more spacious environments, and retrofit by reducing the number of fixtures, displaying less merchandise, and even bringing some of what the store offers inside, to outdoor settings. “I could see retail starting to push out to the parking lots and sidewalks, restaurants extending outside, and stores opening up a little more to engage with consumers who don’t want to go into the stores.

“I can see fixtures coming out to the street, and pop-ups in parking lots, depending on the season and climate. People are going to want space and fresh air. One of the big unknowns is HVAC systems. What role will mechanicals plays in the store of the future? There is really not much information on the role they play in spreading the virus.

“Aesthetics-wise, retail is moving to a ‘less is more’ philosophy. Spaces will be minimal, simpler and flexible with open floor plans without designated aisles. An uncluttered, simple space feels comforting, from a cleanliness perspective, and it’s easier to clean. There are a lot of stores that have don’t have the right infrastructure. They need more flexibility.

“On a psychological level, for people coming out of their cluttered, chaotic homes, it’s going to feel very satisfying. You want a big, open floor plan so you can move around, and if you have aisles, you can add directional decals,” so people move in the same direction to facilitate socially distancing.

Furthermore, “A minimal, simple space will be a much better canvas to communicate information on safety, distancing, cleaning, how you check out, where to find men’s clothing, where to find the fitting rooms. There are a lot of new ideas retailers will have to communicate to people.”

With the fitting rooms, “Retailers must make them comfortable. It’s also all about sanitation. A lot of fitting rooms are not very well lit and feel a little icky.”

There’s also a bad feeling around cash, that it can transfer the virus. People no longer like to touch money, or stand at the checkouts where people interact in close proximity, Roberts said. “The use of self- and mobile checkouts is going to accelerate. But self-checkouts need to be easier to use.”

With the country in recession, “retailers are going to have to be very efficient with their dollars,” said Roberts. “A lot of what retail design firms do is retrofitting” rather than completely renovating or overhauling the box.

“We also have to keep in mind that with the recession in general, there is a self-consciousness around flamboyance and extravagance. We are entering a minimalist time. Ten years ago, we saw that happen. The merchandise radically changed. People became self-conscious about being too flashy about what they bought and wore. It’s like what happened during the Great Depression. It killed a lot of Roaring Twenties flamboyance.” — David Moin

Ron Radziner

Ron Radziner  Courtesy Photo

Ron Radziner, design partner, Marmol Radziner 

“Retail will become even more gallery-like. You see the item of clothing but there is only one piece, or one of each colour hanging, and if you want to try that on, the staff will go grab your size, and put it in the dressing room.

“My sense is the whole dressing room experience will also become more important. You could go online, to Tom Ford, and say, ‘hey I’d like to try on that suit, these shirts,’ and then you have an appointment and they have it ready for you, so there are fewer people in the same space at the same time. Maybe it’s your salesperson stepping into what the clothes look like on you, and you do your whole transaction from there.

“In most cases, when you go into The Row or Tom Ford, even James Perse, there aren’t that many people in the store anyway. So to imagine a transformation like this doesn’t seem that hard. The store doesn’t have to get bigger, there will just be a little less open shopping space, and a bit more on the dressing room side. You’d create a better fitting room experience that doesn’t have the narrow hall with a bunch of rooms, but is something more gracious. You may see another person as you go in and out but barely, you’re within your great room, maybe it becomes three to four times the size it is now.

“We did the first stores for Vince, and that’s different; it’s really nice stuff, but it’s more stuff. I wonder if stores like that or a bookstore are going to have to say the direction of traffic is this way, like Ikea. It will be about guiding people visually with how the shelving and the fixturing is set up. And certainly, in offices and restaurants, too, it’s about spacing between tables and counters. In L.A. we have lower density, but it will be especially difficult in a place like New York, where space is more of a premium.” — Booth Moore

OMA worked on the Galleria Gwanggyo, which opened earlier this year.

OMA worked on the Galleria Gwanggyo, which opened earlier this year.  Courtesy Photo

Chris van Duijn, partner, OMA

Shopping time slots. Open floor plans. One-way aisles. Less merchandise and subdivided stores for easier maneuvering. These are some of the adaptations stores are, and will be, making, according to van Duijn.

After the shutdown, people will be more inclined to enter stores with long sightlines and full overviews for a direct path to what they want, rather than going through narrow spaces putting people in close proximity to each other. Shopping malls and developers could incorporate social distancing by dividing one store into two to easily organize the goods on display.

“If you look at retail from where you are today, you could imagine less quantity, less occupancy [for shoppers], less physical interaction, less social, less vertical and maybe more quality and a more personal experience.

“How this works in the long term, I am a bit sceptical that people will really change their habits too much,” van Duijn said. “People are social animals and I can see them going back to their original habits.”

The OMA partner noted that in Asia, where shopping malls and stores have reopened, people wear masks and “that’s basically it.” Whereas in Europe, there will be greater physical change to stores, with layouts and how people circulate. “In Asia, the masks basically compensate for the social distancing. People are used to them. In Europe, it’s still very new. There is not that level of comfort with masks that there is in social distancing. It will be interesting to see how this behaviour affects the coronavirus infections again and whether there will be more waves.”

Given the need for social distancing, the social aspect of shopping is changing. Consumers may not bring family members or friends along. “It’s no longer a social experience that you enjoy and hang out,” van Duijn said.

Having designed The Galleria, a department store that opened in late March outside of Seoul in Gwanggyo, the OMA partner said changes have not been requested. At this point, the pandemic has changed consumer behaviour and the number of goods being produced and those factors may change retail layouts, he said.

“Brands will probably produce fewer goods. Some of the luxury brands have already said that for 2020, we won’t do any more. We will see you back in 2021,” he said.

With fewer designs and less production, developers, department stores, specialty stores and shopping malls will need to adapt, van Duijn said. “What’s interesting is the urge to buy things became much less in a very natural way. People, obviously, shop more online. That’s logical. But you shop for what you need and not so much for fun. Morally and ethically, that is good but at the moment that will not help our economic system. There will be many victims there.” — Rosemary Feitelberg

Glenn and George Yabu Pushelberg of Yabu Pushelberg

Glenn Pushelberg and George Yabu of Yabu Pushelberg  Courtesy Photo


Glenn Pushelberg and George Yabu, Yabu Pushelberg

Pushelberg: “As a result of social distancing, the scale of stores will remain large or grow larger, made possible by what will be affordable real estate. In a multibrand store, I believe there will be more compartmentalization, going from room to room in a graceful way that simultaneously controls traffic and creates intimate brand experiences. La Samaritaine, a department store we designed for LVMH in Paris, is by circumstance well suited for this new future of retail. The aisles aren’t deep, and they don’t have the traditional floor plates of a department store. Aisles are narrow as a result of the heritage atrium building that houses the store. Subsequently, traffic flows in an upward ring, moving guests vertically from one shopping area to the next.

“At the end of the day, retail is a form of entertainment. It’s an opportunity for something experiential, and I believe there will be a cautious movement back to retail as a form of entertainment.

“It won’t be the speed of shopping or the efficiency of it, it will be the form of it. There have been some retailers such as Maison Kitsune, for example — they’ve built a café, where they produced the music. To me, the next step is a place you can sit down and have lunch, buy the music, leisurely look at the clothes or have the clothes come to you in a larger restaurant.

“Restaurants in their traditional sense aren’t going to work well either because people will need to be spread out, but if you can add more experiences and add on to the purchases, you can actually make something that works. To me, there will be more blending.”

Yabu: “People want to return to stores and make purchases knowing how and why something was made the way it was. Perhaps at some point with the way real estate will be changing, allowing for more expansive retail spaces, the start-to-end experience can be a little more drawn out and people can also experience the craftsmanship behind what they’re purchasing in this multifaceted destination.

“Years ago, we were working on the VIP rooms for some of the Louis Vuitton shops and they took us through their workshops, and to us, the workshops were fascinating. I was almost expecting a store or restaurant to be part of the workshop. To me, that whole thing can be combined.

“We designed a store for Lane Crawford in Beijing for a family looking to essentially create their own small-scale shop in the sense that it would allow for semi-private shopping. Even though the store was open to the public, there were times the client wanted the option to invite friends to shop without other guests sharing the space. We created subtle ways of closing off shopping areas with the use of folding doors, similar to those which may be found in a graceful European home. You get a sense that there’s a room beyond where you stand; however, you must be invited to enter. A similar concept could be put in place moving forward to orchestrate traffic flow whilst still enhancing the shopping experience.” — M.S.

Robin Kramer

Robin Kramer

Robin Kramer, founder, Kramer Design Group

“Everything that would have happened in the next three to five years will be happening in the next three months. The health crisis is definitely causing people to be much more creative, to think outside the box, and not hold onto old thought processes. But what makes retail great are the simple things we need to go back to — great merchants, great assortments, edited fleets.

“My company has always been focused on the customer experience, and now it’s how you make the consumer feel comfortable going into a store, touching things, trying on things. You have to be incredibly creative to offer new solutions without losing your brand image, whether it’s curbside pickup or logistics, how do we stand out and do it through the lens of the brand? Curbside pickup at a grocery store needs be very quick and efficient. At Bottega Veneta, it might be very different, involving more customer service, a deeper thought process.

“With the beauty store for the future, how do you look at testing and servicing customers in something as intimate as beauty? We are working on a new concept for a multibrand retailer which will contain beauty, wellness and health.

“Even in ready-to-wear, the opportunity is service. Bergdorf Goodman can take high-end service and personal shopping to a whole new level.

“Jewelry is ripe for the next innovation. No one’s reinvented the jewellery store format. It’s something we are looking at — how you change the jewellery experience. It’s not enticing to go into a store and be limited by that caseline. It’s been too precious of an experience. High end needs to be more accessible without losing its sophisticated appeal.

“There is also an opportunity for merchants to bring travel to the consumer. Remember when it was a big event to go to Bloomingdale’s, and see how products from different countries, like India, permeated every department in the store? With less travelling now, merchants should be creative by bringing the world to you through their merchandising.

“We can already see as Europe reopens that people still want to shop in stores. Precautions like masks, hand sanitizer, distancing will be put in place, though people will still want to touch and try on.”

Among Kramer’s recommendations for the store of the future:

• Edit and focus assortments so shoppers don’t have to plow through tons of products.

• With checkouts, the more touch-less the better.

• For dealing with taking clothing off the selling floor for cleaning, keep more stock in storage and less up front, and have sufficient service for retrieving what’s requested in short order.

• “Inspire” customers to buy beauty online and encourage trying new products at home. Offering a discount on the next beauty product ordered would help.

• Create areas for service that provide privacy; fitting rooms must be as comfortable as  possible. — David Moin

Joan Insel

Joan Insel  Courtesy Photo

Joan Insel, vice president of brand strategy and customer insights, CallisonRTKL

“We are in the improvisation phase. This is a very dynamic and fluid environment.”

Retailers, she said, while beginning to adapt their store environments to new health requirements and precautions to reduce the risk of being infected and encourage shopping “also have to think about long-term strategies. Stores really need to be flexible and agile to be ready for a lot of change. From an aesthetic point of view, retail design will certainly have to make people feel safe and secure. Emotions are paramount right now. How do you make employees and customers feel safe?

“You are going to need more space, and to reduce the number of fixtures. We are starting to ask the question of what is the purpose of each space. In the past, we wanted people to linger and create a community.” Now, at least until there’s a vaccine for COVID-19, a degree of separation, social distancing, prevails.

“There is this whole idea of spatial repurposing — parking lots that transform some space into pop-ups or drive-in movie theatres, or event spaces where you stay in your car. Mall parking lots are huge and can repurpose a vast amount of space.” That could involve more personal service by employees greeting customers in their cars, at a distance, Insel added.

“With drive-through experiences, how can we make them more of an opportunity for a specific brand, whether it’s REI, Nike or Nordstrom,” among the retail clients that CallisonRTKL has been working with, along with Tiffany & Co., Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Target, Cotopaxi, böhme, Citi, Toys ‘R’ Us, and ABC-Mart Grand Stage. CallisonRTKL was a design partner for Nordstrom’s Manhattan flagship on 57th Street in Manhattan, working in conjunction with Nordstrom’s design team.

“Density used to be a good word. Now it’s a bad word. Who’s driving downtown anymore? Smaller stores is also where we are heading towards. It’s already been happening. Small is the new big, so you can go to where the customer is and not necessarily having the customer come to where you are.”

Among Insel’s other recommendations and considerations for operating and adapting the retail setting:

• Showrooming, so there’s more space and less inventory on the floor to facilitate social distancing.

• Have fixtures that can be lowered from the ceiling or raised, depending on the product display. Fixtures should be portable, and packable, to readily assemble and take down fashion presentations and exhibits  “almost like stage set design.”

• Flexible floor formats, without carpet pads, so areas can be easily enlarged or downsized depending on selling trends.

• Redirect traffic and customer flow, determine what occupancy levels seem safe.

• Integrate voice command like Alexa or Siri and mobile apps to get directions to the items or department you want, to limit meandering through the store. The technologies could also be used to request services, or adjust fitting room lighting.

• Virtual, augmented and mixed reality to see how you look in different outfits or cosmetics without trying anything on or applying any makeup.

• Contactless payments, such as Alipay.

• Automatic doors. — D.M.

Coren Sharples

Coren Sharples  Courtesy Photo

Coren Sharples, a founding principal, SHoP Architects

For the store of the future, establishing a sense of community and personalized experiences are increasingly important, said Sharples. “We don’t need a physical space to sell things. Obviously, we’re doing this all the time without a physical space. We can move volume online, through Amazon — anyone can do that. We need physical spaces to have the experiences. Stores are really going to be much more about places where you can connect and strengthen relationships and experiences.”

One of her projects, The Company Building at 335 Madison Avenue in Manhattan, is being renovated and repositioned as a tech hub for start-ups. Located a few blocks from Grand Central Station, The Company Building once housed the two-floor Daffy’s off-price store, which was “walled off from the rest of the building,” Sharples said. The new retail component, which is the next phase of the development, will be easily accessible.

Rather than target a big-box tenant, a marketplace is being created. “The idea is that this is an extension of the start-up community in the building,” Sharples said. “We completely opened it up to the lobby and added an extra floor, so it’s part of the experience of the building.” The space could be used by start-ups for product demos, focus groups or pop-up shops. “It’s about community, small-scale, adaptability and low-barrier entry,” Sharples said. — Rosemary Feitelberg

 

Mike Riggs  Riggs,Mike & Jenna

Mike Riggs, managing director of retail, IA Interior Architects

“From what we’ve heard from our clients, it’s not necessarily a revolution at retail. It’s probably going to be an evolution of those changes that were already needed. Most of the plans we’ve seen from retailers are table stakes — enhanced cleaning, no touch, identifying those who may or may not have the disease, social distancing, spacing, occupancy, how many people you can have in the store. Materiality will likely be more considered,” to identify what the virus lingers on. “I think [store experiences] will be driven less by regulations and more by consumer behaviour. “Concepts we have been talking a lot about leading up to well before COVID-19, I see it really taking hold now — retail brands connecting to the consumer within the physical store environment by evolving more from consuming goods to doing good — this brand altruism. For both Nike and REI, it does affect the design of the store. Maybe we find areas that speak to the community with some celebration of their guests in the locale or region,” who get involved in making a difference in the community. “Having these [aspects] in their environments allows consumers to embrace their tribal tendencies, the desire to be together, to do something good and to be able spread the word of that same goodness.

“There are some real positives that can come from this [pandemic] as opposed to how we are going to be six feet apart from one another in a bubble spraying our hands with bleach every five minutes.”

Also for the store of the future, “VIP experiences might be the norm. Appointment-based shopping and how that might extend and be less elite,” said Riggs.

And for those picking up online orders in the store or curbside, “It will be interesting to see how that all plays out. It’s growing but very slowly in my opinion. There is this idea of people still wanting social interaction and to see other people. The pickup at the curb I think will have a limited lifespan. There are a lot of specialty retailers dependent on impulse shopping. So how do you create an in-store experience that allows people to maybe surveil what is immediately adjacent to the entry and allows guests to see much of the store presentation, while picking up [online orders] in store. How do you make that bridge from pickup to browsing?”

With the retail box, “It used to be about big and small versions. I see extended versions in different, regionalized ways, connecting to different levels of interest in different formats. Focus on these five things that are really important” to a particular community, said Riggs. “I do think people in this COVID-19 current state, just need to be out and to connect. The more retailers create really unique, compelling formats, the more likely they will make that happen. Consumers are going to be really demanding, post-COVID-19, from an emotional standpoint.” — D.M.

Barbara Bestor

Barbara Bestor  Courtesy Photo

 Barbara Bestor, principal, Bestor Architecture

“We were doing retail concepts for big sports retailers, and they are seeing their stores less as stores and more as places you see sanitized samples, then go home and have the goods shipped to you. It also wouldn’t be hard for a smaller store and would allow you to not stock as much. The whole trend for larger retailers to stuff everything full, and always have 30 sizes of everything [displayed], that’s probably long gone.

“You will have a little more of a concierge aspect to retail, too, where it’s someone’s job to put the sample that’s been tried on away somewhere for 24 hours, so you would need space for racks that are time-stamped. There’s going to need to be more room for infrastructure for people spritzing down and cleaning, a little more like food retail where you have to obey certain retail codes.

“Another thing is materiality. We can do some things with terrazzo, and other surfaces that are more solid and cleanable than wood — stuff you can wipe down. A lot of the work we have been doing is third-wave coffee shops, that might translate into other retail. It would seem to be better in general for health if things are concrete and metal. There’s going to be an innate psychological aspect, the idea that your design looks safe, and feels clean and uncluttered. They say the roots of International Style and European Modernism was a reaction to the first Spanish flu, and the idea of the sanitized hospital as opposed to the slums of Paris, I would see how that would come back as a design style that reads as hygienic. One good example is the new Webster store in L.A. by David Adjaye. It’s all pink concrete and looks like it could be hosed down.

“Also, openness — it’s already a huge design trend. I don’t know how much indoor malls will survive, but I could see more tearing the roof off.  I could also see more local delivery, a local boutique could drive around the neighbourhood with a dress mobile! That’s something Amazon can’t do.” — B.M.

Shayne Brady pictured at Bob Bob Cité in London, which he designed last year.

Shayne Brady pictured at Bob Bob Cité in London, which he designed last year.  Courtesy of BradyWilliams

Shayne Brady, cofounder, BradyWilliams

“We are going to see a shift towards an even more personalized service with stores offering customers reassurance that their needs and concerns are being heard, while also offering a luxury experience to entice them to come into the store, not just shop online. Retailers will need to offer the usually exclusive one-on-one consultations to a broader audience in order to create a more customer-focused, brand-facing experience.

“We can imagine brands will offer a by-appointment-only service with slots allocated through mobile apps. This is where the digital and physical collide to allow people to immerse themselves in the brand, engage with customer service and experience the products.

“The introduction of private or semi-private rooms could be created through removal of traditional open floor plans, moving the product from the shop floor into individual categorized capsules. In our forward-thinking vision we have come up with perfectly spaced consultation rooms that allow customers and staff to be safely placed, while the introduction of partial screens means there is still a sense of interaction and personalization.

“As we come out of lockdown, an important factor is to strive for a greener, more sustainably aware world. The planet has started to slowly reset elements during lockdown and the need to continue this is of paramount importance. This is certainly something that brick-and-mortar retail destinations need to consider in our new world. 

“Locally sourced materials will be key; designers should be sourcing materials from accredited suppliers to ensure we are giving back and not further harming the planet, whilst also ensuring that we are careful that the emissions produced in the manufacturing processes of the materials is also not causing further damage. 

“Customers will likely crave interaction and the elevated service that only comes from shopping in real life. However, there will also be a sense of caution and safety that retailers will need to offer, whilst not making spaces feel clinical or losing the brand identity. The key to successful luxury retail is the total immersion of a customer within the brand. There are ways to do this through the addressing of all our senses, including smell, within the store, the careful choice of materials and a sense of craft to represent the overall ethos of the brand. 

“I’ve always been an avid fan of how a certain smell can immerse someone in a fond memory or evoke a certain feeling. Often brands will have their own synonymous smell and so by ensuring that using diffusers to permeate the air, a memory is created in the sensory brain of our bodies. This will also enforce the brand and elevate the overall experience, again encouraging people to step out from behind their screens and into the shop. 

“Retailers must vitally consider using materials that prevent the spread of germs. A key point in all our designs is the front-door handle which sets the tone for the design. Moving forward, we recommend using metal door handles in a copper alloy as this material helps to reduce the spread of germs, protecting customers. Also, we think nonporous and lacquered materials, that allow for frequent and more easy cleaning, will be key. 

“In our imaginary accessories store, we have developed a concept of personal shopping meets online shopping. Set in the likes of Dover Street Market, we have created the idea of an indulgent model of personalised capsule pods. Designed to allow a customer to safely experience all that a brand has to offer, these immersive pods would be filled with a thoughtfully chosen aroma and indulgent yet nonporous materials would be used. 

“We want to instil an old-school sense of craftsmanship. Retailers should look to turn their backs on the hype of mass purchasing whilst encouraging customers to buy key items. This needs to be reflected in the interiors, which should feel crafted and bespoke, using pieces that will be purchased as an heirloom. 

“Floor staff, whilst protected behind a privacy screen, will still have clear interaction as they assist customers in choosing items from the dramatic vertical conveyor belts behind — we love the idea of the machine at work juxtaposed with the craft of the capsule.

“We have imagined integrated safe-deposit boxes lining the walls, allowing customers to peruse sunglasses while the sales staff can safely unlock each remotely, allowing a customer to experience and try them on.

“In our forward-thinking approach to retail, we are elevating shopping to a piece of theatre, whilst keeping customers and staff safe and reassured.” — Samantha Conti

Silvia Kuhle

Silvia Kuhle  Courtesy Photo

Silvia Kuhle, cofounder, Standard Architecture

“It will probably look different for different levels of clients, depending on if it’s a store for a broader public versus a more high-end, couture or home store. If it’s broader, a lot of browsing would happen online, and inventory will be closer linked to your local store, so you don’t just browse online general merch, but make a basket of things to try on from whatever your local store has, then make an appointment. That could happen even in stores that exist now. If you cut out browsing, you can still service a lot of people in stores you have.

“While you have some stores that are completely open, others like to create rooms within the store, and each one has a different environment or decoration, so you are in an evening area or men’s or beachwear area. Maybe each area is just for one person or one group, to ensure safe browsing, and you’d walk in a circle through all the rooms —like Ikea but in a much nicer way. If you feel like you are by yourself, you feel OK browsing around.

“I could also see high-end stores becoming about personal shopper appointments where you are the only one in the store. Changing rooms have to be cleaned after every shopper. Everyone will need a washer/dryer in their space, and maybe you pick up your own personal mat or cushion (they already do that at the gym), in addition to a branded mask and gloves, when you enter the store.

“And the store experience will have to be linked in an intelligent way with the Internet, maybe with a chat feature that doesn’t just go to someone in a call centre, but a person in your closest store.” — B.M.

Pamela Shamshiri

Pamela Shamshiri  Dewey Nicks/Courtesy Photo

Pamela Shamshiri, cofounder, Studio Shamshiri

“I think people are going to consume less, but specialty and high end will continue and the retail experience will be more about visiting ateliers and studios by appointment. We were already moving toward everything feeling residential, at least I was, but it will just be that next layer of privacy and point of view that’s more curated and personal and has less volume of people.

“It may take longer to shop, for special orders and for things to arrive, but maybe that will make things more coveted. As for design elements, I think a kitchen and living room, more bespoke interiors, a whole world where you can spend hours and hours, then buy things, more like a merging of hospitality and retail, like an artist studio visit and by the way, the bread was so good. You can relax and take your time. I just finished [L.A. jewellery designer] Sonia Boyajian’s store and her concept was by appointment, where you can see everything being made. It’s like a small factory.” — B.M.

Torquil McIntosh and Simon Mitchell, cofounders of Sybarite in London.

Torquil McIntosh and Simon Mitchell, cofounders of Sybarite in London.  NOAH SHELDON

Torquil McIntosh and Simon Mitchell, cofounders, Sybarite

In the immediate aftermath of COVID-19, stores will need to initially allow more space per customer to anticipate…what they will need to feel comfortable in their own skins and secure within the given environment again. Retailers should consider social distancing within the stores and embrace it as a positive, change the store layout to create pockets, meaning that larger volumes of people can filtrate and shop at ease. You could really fly with this concept and create bursts of experiences along the way.

“Smart retailers [will] allocate time and funds to reevaluate and reassess store strategies and store experiences and make them more exceptional, more of a spectacle. If they are able to implement them in time for their reopening, they will reap the rewards. In addition, self-quarantining will bring a renewed passion for real-life experience and occasion rather than the comparable flatness of e-commerce. This will be a cue for visual merchandising.

“There will be a shift in the importance of cultivating homegrown support and celebrating niche producers. A sense of rediscovery is what lies ahead. The restrictions that have been experienced with global travel have resulted in an invigorated resourcefulness. There will also be newfound respect for the products themselves and the ability to view them in an environment away from ‘home.’

“Customers will, most likely, become more discerning post-COVID-19. Stores will need to work hard to offer something that is radically different to digital since the world has become accustomed to it during these pandemic days. Customer service will need to be on tap to match client expectations and over and above e-commerce levels. 

“Brands and retail designers are always looking at better ways of communicating their brand offerings, and it is likely that COVID-19 would have propelled them into looking into this with a heightened and more accelerated incentive. Seamless shopping experiences where hygiene and tech are expertly designed into the environment are always top priority, although the boundaries are always looking to be pushed. 

“Innovation and purposeful design will be front of mind and emphasized post-COVID-19, as will dedicating more surface area to a smaller edit of products that can be viewed in a different way, rather than packing in larger quantities of goods. Storytelling and sense of place can never be underestimated. 

“Luxury stores are always changing to create newness. COVID-19 will mean that retailers will look at how to future-proof environments. Agility in thinking, in business, in design and in luxury is the key to the survival of the fittest and the bravest. Luxury goods will continue to focus on experiences, the storytelling aspect around purpose and values, heritage and authenticity in order to remain relevant. 

“Customers will want to buy into something which clearly demonstrates source and accountability and responsibility amongst brands. The phenomenon and the intricate subtleties of experience, sensation, touch is everything. There will be a need for the experiential, with more space and fewer products. 

“Stores will be looking to curate an experience that is remarkable and that resonates well beyond the store itself. The store acts as a catalyst, a platform. 

“The allure of the brick-and-mortar experience is essential as the differentiator and acts to promote brand solidity. The goods and physical environment are designed to make one feel good and therefore hold more currency than ever, something to covet and look forward to.”

There will be “a blurring of boundaries between straight retail acquisition and retail acquisition surrounded by a level of theatre in terms of exhibition/art installations, dining, drinking and sleeping. Case in point is SKP-S, Beijing, a collaboration between Sybarite, SKP and Gentle Monster where art installations and Future Farms and space tunnels weave their way around the forward-thinking curation of products.

“Retailers should reveal what they would usually hide — prove that they are the best in air quality and ventilation with a filtering [system], for instance. Display the air renewal system in a glass box, akin to an installation, for all to see in plain sight as a focus point — make it part of the experience. 

“Allow people to be able to check and follow it — the ultimate in transparency. Air filtering should be a core consideration; this should be increased in line with the medical industry with the certification to boot. A small sacrifice in surface floor area which could be retrofitted into an existing A/C system. This could become the USP of a given store. Health is the ultimate luxury.” — S.C.

Geraldine Wharry

Geraldine Wharry

Geraldine Wharry, futurist, designer and educator

“There is a type of a state of panic right now. People want answers — immediate answers. There are no easy answers in terms of retail unfortunately and the gatherings of people. [Retailers need to] focus on the difference between short-term measures to prevent the spread of the virus and to protect consumers and workers, and then long-term solutions that would benefit the already struggling retail landscape. [That could] possibly be considering more sustainable solutions, experience and wellness.”

While heatmap cameras, motion sensors for doors and digital try-ons may be increasingly used for health precautions for shoppers, Wharry spoke repeatedly about how retailers need to also take a long view about the future of retail.

“The store of the future is a store that will hold stock in a very intelligent way. It will be highly personalized and focused on the social experience rather than just selling goods. Everyone can get that online,” she said.

She pointed to the customized selection made possible by Nike Live’s “Nike by Melrose,” a fusion of an online and offline store. Wharry noted how shoppers were required to sign up for the Nike Plus app to unlock services and perks in the store. By doing so, Nike learned about each customer’s shopping behaviour and preferences, and stock was adjusted accordingly, Wharry said. That eliminated the need for overstock or regular sales, she said.

Wharry also singled out, The Westfield London’s Trending Store, a pop-up that used AI to analyze social media data to extrapolate the top 100 fashion items. Each morning a team of stylists culled the trending items from retail stores in the mall. “Data and analytics will be really great to help have a real curation of a store. People are not going to want to spend hours in a store. They will want to know what they’re coming for — potentially in the beginning until things get back to normal.” — R.F.

Lewis Taylor, design director, David Collins Studio

“Retail spaces will inevitably need to work harder in terms of their design, materiality and the narrative that these things create to engage with their customers. Before the current pandemic, customers had become more demanding of brands and more critical of any perceived lack of authenticity, and this will continue.

“Customers will want to feel that their personal privacy, safety and security is continually being managed as the situation changes going forward, and again, what is the right fit in one territory may not work in another.  It goes without saying that very visible, and brand-appropriate hand-sanitizing stations should be available in all stores, and the measures put in place with regard to social distancing will need to be in line with local regulations. This will need to be managed with very well-considered, in-store customer services and ‘hospitality’ – not just the staff the customer engages with on their journey through the store, but potentially the visibility of temperature checkers, of hygiene staff, and how they are dressed, or re-positioned within the store experience. How does a brand express that cleaning is of paramount importance ensuring that it is brand-appropriate and not alarmist?  Similarly, how do you demarcate social distancing without destroying the design integrity of the store?

“There will inevitably be an increase in personal and private shopping experiences that may allow for use of VIP fitting changing rooms or private spaces within stores that can be managed with a well-considered hospitality strategy.  These relationships have always been key, and were a large consideration when David Collins Studio designed global retail roll-outs for brands Alexander McQueen, Jimmy Choo and de Grisogono, building the ceremony of service into the design and functionality of the store experience.  David Collins Studio designed a private bridal space for the Jimmy Choo Townhouse on Bond Street, and VIP fitting rooms at Harrods in both men’s and women’s wear departments at Harrods, and these stores that have the luxury of these spaces will be able to build them into their private shopping experiences.  Brands that already manage their brand story, store design, sales strategy, and have a robust CRM database will have a head start here.

“Pinch-points within stores will need to be considered in terms of the customer journey and managing the use of escalators and lifts.  A lot of these considerations will be easier to implement within luxury stores rather than in high street stores, which are potentially more dependent on high traffic.

“Beyond COVID, the retail landscape has been changing for a while, with a more demanding customer seeking more authentic and well-considered shopping experiences in return for their brand loyalty. This situation might further push forward the sustainability agenda as a heightened sense of risk or threat permeates society and the economy, but ultimately if brands stick to what they do well, collaborate with the best teams, deliver the best in terms of design, craft and operations, and continue to invest in building a community within their your client base, they will survive and succeed.”

ADVERTISE WITH US

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Stay Connected

You may also like.

Time Flies

Bugatti’s hybrid Tourbillon is the most powerful model in the marque’s history. And the coolest bit? An instrument cluster inspired by the finest Swiss horology.

By 30/10/2024

First there was Veyron. Then came Chiron. Now Tourbillon. Bugatti’s new 1,800 hp (1,342 kW) hypercar delivers even more shock-and-awe than its predecessors. Gone is the famed 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 engine. In its place is a new 1,000 hp (746 kW), 8.3-litre naturally aspirated V16 paired with a trio of electric motors delivering 800 hp (597 kW). That combination makes this the most powerful Bugatti ever.

While the design of the all-carbon-composite body is clearly derived from the signature lines of both the Veyron and Chiron, its roofline is lower, the body lighter and more aerodynamic, and that iconic horseshoe grille more imposing. Yet the likely headline feature will be the car’s all-new interior featuring a skeletonised, titanium-and-sapphire-glass instrument cluster inspired by Swiss watchmaking (for the uninitiated—“tourbillon” refers to the mechanical complication that increases accuracy in high-end timepieces).

The 1,800 hp Bugatti Tourbillon hybrid.
Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S

“Beauty, performance, and luxury formed the blueprint for the Tourbillon. What we have created is a car that is more elegant, more emotive and more luxurious than anything before it,” stated Mate Rimac, Bugatti Rimac’s CEO, to Robb Report during an exclusive preview at the company’s newly opened design studio in Berlin.

He explained that, four years ago, when the Tourbillon concept was on the drawing board, there were multiple suggestions for what an all-new Bugatti might look like. Options included an SUV, a coupe-like crossover and a luxury four-door sedan. Then there was the choice of either a hybrid or all-electric power train. “The proposal to make it electric was the obvious choice. We had our [Rimac] Nevera, that we could easily transfer our technology and re-skin the body. But I felt it was wrong for Bugatti,” said Rimac. “I wanted a successor to the Veyron and Chiron, a true hypercar with a combustion engine. Our customers agreed.”

Comprising more than 600 components, the skeletonized instrument cluster is constructed from titanium and features sapphire-glass faces and detailing that incorporates rubies.
Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S

To create it, Rimac teamed with Cosworth, a renowned British engine builder, to help develop the naturally aspirated V16 mill. Designed to rev to 9,000 rpm, the engine offers a similar output as the original Veyron’s quad-turbocharged W16. To heighten the performance, Rimac and his team used their proven expertise in electric propulsion to pair the V16 with twin electric motors driving the front wheels, with a third at the rear. For battery power, a 25 kWh, oil-cooled 800-volt pack is integrated into the chassis and located behind the passengers. It’s powerful enough to give the Tourbillon a usable electric-only range of around 60 km.

As you would expect, the Tourbillon has been developed to be blisteringly fast. According to Emilio Scervo, Bugatti’s chief technical officer, early prototype tests suggest a rate of acceleration from zero to 100 km/h in 2.0 seconds, zero to 200 km/h in 5.0 seconds, and zero to 300 km/h in 10.0 seconds. Flat out, the max-speed target is 445 km/h, though with a speedometer that reads up to 550 km/h, we expect there’s more to come. “For us, it was important that the car retained the pure and raw analogue feel of a naturally aspirated combustion engine, while pairing it with the agility and ability provided by electric motors,” said Scervo.

The engine itself sits low in the Tourbillon’s new, super-stiff body structure, which is formed using next-generation T800 carbon composites. It features a forged-aluminium, multi-link suspension—front and rear—that replaces the previous double-wishbone steel setup used in the Chiron. The 3-D-printed aluminium suspension arms and uprights, and AI-developed, 3-D-printed hollow airfoil arm at the rear, are nothing less than pieces of art.

The center console features crystal glass that’s formed over 13 separate stages to ensure strength and clarity.
Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S

For the exterior lines, Frank Heyl, Bugatti’s director of design, explained that styling influences came from three landmark Bugattis of old: the Type 35 racer of the 1920s, the long Type 41 Royale built from 1927 through 1933, and the storied Type 57SC Atlantic from the 1930s. “The design focus was on Bugatti’s iconic horseshoe grille. It’s significantly wider and lower than in the Chiron, and it’s from which all lines of the car originate. It defines the car,” said Heyl, who added that another signature element is “the new central windshield wiper, which continues the line that starts on the hood and flows back along the roof. Just like on the Atlantic.” Set back from the grille are twin rows of wafer-thin LED lights. Between them is a narrow panel on the hood that raises up to reveal a “frunk” big enough for a set of custom-designed luggage.

In profile, the sweeping “Bugatti line” around the doors—a defining feature of both the Veyron and Chiron—looks even more striking with the car’s lowered roofline. At the rear, huge exhausts, a Le Mans–style carbon-fibre diffuser (twice the size of that on the Chiron), and a rolling wave of LED lights featuring illuminated “Bugatti” lettering, add to the visual drama. And to allow onlookers to gaze at that V16 power plant—and for cooling purposes—the engine sits open to the elements.

This prototype example of the Tourbillon, previewed by Robb Report, shows the styling influences that came from Bugatti’s Type 35, Type 41 Royale, and storied Type 57SC Atlantic from early last century.
Robb Rice

Upon opening the dihedral “scissor” doors and entering the cockpit, you’re presented with arguably the new Tourbillon’s most dramatic feature; a skeletonised instrument cluster inspired by the art of Swiss watchmaking. Made up of more than 600 components, it’s constructed from titanium with sapphire-glass faces and detailing that incorporates rubies.

The three-dial cluster is fixed in place, with the twin spokes of the flat-bottom steering wheel rotating around it. The unit is constructed, in-house, to remarkable horological tolerances of 50 microns—the average cross-section of a human hair. The entire cluster weighs just 709 g. Cascading down from the middle of the fascia is the centre console featuring crystal glass that’s formed over 13 separate stages to ensure strength and clarity. The aluminium elements are anodised and milled from a single block.


A close-up of the Bugatti Tourbillon’s 1,000 hp, 8.3-liter naturally aspirated V-16 engine.
The Tourbillon’s 1,000 hp, 8.3-liter naturally aspirated V-16 engine is paired with three electric motors.
Robb Rice

To add a little theatre to firing-up that big V16, there’s a prominent center-console aluminium knob that you pull to start, and push to turn off. It’s another nod to Bugatti models of yesteryear. What you won’t see, however, are any touchscreens. Heyl believes that the primary element that dates a car is an oversized screen. “What was state-of-the-art 10 years ago, is now ugly,” said Heyl. “The Tourbillon is designed to be timeless.”

In Bugatti tradition, the Tourbillon will also be highly exclusive. Only 250 examples are planned, each starting at around $6.3 million. The first customer cars are scheduled to be built at Bugatti’s atelier in Molsheim, France, starting in 2026.

Production is scheduled to begin in 2026.
Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S

“Yes, it is crazy to build a new V16 engine, to integrate it with a new battery pack and electric motors, and to have 3-D-printed suspension parts and a real Swiss watchmaker instrument cluster,” noted Rimac. “But it is what Ettore Bugatti would have done.”

Bugatti

Buy the Magazine

Subscribe today

Stay Connected

For Dubai, the Time Is Now 

The bustling Middle Eastern city is emerging as an important hub for serious watch collectors

By Paige Reddinger 30/10/2024

Tucked away in a corner of the Dubai International Financial Centre, near the Ritz-Carlton, is Perpétuel Gallery, an unassuming 1,200 m² boutique displaying some of the world’s most important independent watchmaking. During Dubai Watch Week—a biannual event run by the Seddiqi family, the most prominent watch retailers in the UAE—the shop, just a few minutes’ walk from the fair in the DIFC, held its own exhibition that was filled to the brim with the watchmakers themselves, from Roger W. Smith to Simon Brette to Rémi Maillat of Krayon. There, holding court, was Hamdan Bin Humaid Al Hudaidi, a distinguished collector who founded Perpétuel in 2021, in the middle of the Covid pandemic. 

“I never thought I would take my passion professionally, ever,” he tells Robb Report. “Everyone was against the idea because they were very certain this would fail.” How wrong they were. Instead, Perpétuel has become one of the most significant global players in connecting and brokering deals between collectors and their indie idols. As a serious client himself, Al Hudaidi has unique relationships that allow him to create limited editions exclusive to the gallery—quite a feat when you consider the waiting lists for some of the watchmakers in question are a decade or more long. A recent collaboration of 15 limited-edition Krayon Anywhere watches with desert-orange accents sold out to clients—not just in the Middle East, but also in Australia, the US and South Africa. 

The Perpétuel Gallery in Dubai
Courtesy of Perpétuel Gallery

It’s proof positive of the area’s booming and influential watch scene. Many credit Dubai Watch Week—and by extension the Seddiqi family—for the fervent local interest in watch collecting. When the event launched in 2015, it was small, hosting just 15 brands, mostly independents. “It was really a project to give back to the industry,” says Hind Abdul Hamied Seddiqi, director general of the event and CMO and communications officer for Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons, “but also to educate the general public that the watch industry is not as intimidating as you think.” It’s a strategy that has paid off. Last year’s edition ballooned to 60 brands, including big-name players such as Rolex, Audemars Piguet and Van Cleef & Arpels, along with nearly 24,000 attendees, the largest crowd to date. 

Despite the draw, the five-day-long public event has an easygoing appeal that other watch fairs often lack. One can spot Philippe Dufour perched outside a pavilion smoking a pipe, Kari Voutilainen enjoying an alfresco lunch, or Rexhep Rexhepi in line for an espresso. It’s an exceedingly rare chance for collectors to mingle with the masters in a relaxed space where everyone is in a jovial mood thanks to the casual atmosphere and balmy weather—and Seddiqi plans to keep it that way. “I worry if we go bigger, we’ll lose this feeling of intimacy,” she says. “I have a lot of people asking me to commercialise the show, but it’s just going to ruin the whole vibe.” 

A Roger W. Smith Series 5 Open Dial watch at Perpétuel Gallery
Courtesy of Perpétuel Gallery

The explosion of interest isn’t just for new timepieces: vintage is also having its moment. Historically, the Middle East hasn’t been receptive to “used” goods, but recent years have reflected a shift in perspective. Tariq Malik, cofounder and managing partner of Momentum, also located in the DIFC, just a three-minute walk from Perpétuel, was an early pioneer in the area when he opened shop in 2011. In the beginning, he says, it would be common for someone to look at his wares and ask if he was selling “used” watches. “I said, ‘It’s vintage,’ and they said, ‘Oh, wow.’ When I would say ‘vintage’ they would start pulling out their camera and taking photos. We brought vintage to Dubai, so it was a new thing.” He’s now sought-after by clients both in the UAE and internationally for his allotment of rare Rolexes, with a specialisation in Day-Dates and hard-to-find Stella and stone dials. 

Al Hudaidi also dabbles in vintage, predominantly ultra-rare Pateks—one might walk into Perpétuel and find him casually pulling a full-set Ref. 2499 third series from a coffee-table drawer. Naturally, that watch has sold along with two other full-set 2499s, but a unique Patek Philippe Ref. 1491J chronograph from the ’40s is still up for grabs (at press time, anyway). It was made by the Stern family for Jimmy Powers, an American boxing commentator during the era. 

Philippe Narbel Skel-1 in steel.

“I got goosebumps when I heard his voice on YouTube,” says Al Hudaidi. “I was like, ‘Oh, my God—that timepiece was his. And his name is engraved on the back!”

Buy the Magazine

Subscribe today

Stay Connected

6 Ways Technology Will Transform Your Private-Jet Experience in the Next Decade

Extreme leisure or full-throttle engagement? The private-jet cabin of the future will offer both.

By Daniel Cote 30/10/2024

Within a decade, private-jet cabins could make even today’s cutting-edge interiors seem ancient by comparison. From digital skylights and smart seats to eye-tracking functionality and immersive soundscapes, the array of innovative amenities could transform even the longest flights into time well spent. Here, six areas in which technology will take the onboard experience to new heights.

Screen Time

Within three to five years, some private jets may have select windows replaced with curved, high-definition 4K OLED displays connected to live video feeds from the aircraft’s exterior. Imagine a cabin ceiling that morphs into a conservatory with a spectacular view of the moon, or full-height windows that present the landscape below with incredible fidelity. Information overlays are easy additions, but consider that these built-in visual portals could also double as insane gaming screens.

Seat Change

E-textiles will transform the next generation of jet seats into intuitive in-flight spa recliners. Sensors within the fabric will note your size, weight, pressure distribution, and body temperature, then rely on their A.I.-driven processors to, say, heat the seat before you realise you’re chilly or massage that kink in your back without being asked. Powering themselves by converting body heat into electricity, the chairs might also know to widen and recline when you nod off.

Seeing the Light

Chronobiological lighting to mitigate jet lag will comprise organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels, capable of creating 16.3 million different light combinations, to reset a passenger’s internal clock as they traverse time zones. Eventually, such panels will migrate from light fixtures to smart fabric on the ceiling, resulting in more diffuse illumination that allows for near-infinite options across the colour spectrum.

And there are many other applications. For example, OLED displays, as wide as a piece of paper, can be used to digitally transform the entire wall of the cabin’s colour, texture or scene. It is called projection mapping, and it will make changing the wall color from hot pink to a textured crocodile leather as easy as changing your computer screen saver. As Ingo Wuggetzer, vice president of cabin marketing for Airbus, explains, light literally creates spaces, giving cabin designers a highly versatile and easily customisable digital canvas.

Higher Management

The ability to access basic audio or video from your smartphone is here, but imagine faster, streamlined connectivity that lets you manage video conferencing, heating, mood lighting, window shades, service requests, even a steriliser—from a single app. According to Airbus’s Wuggetzer, next-gen digital architecture will turn personal spaces into individual “ecosystems” controlled by each passenger. Tim O’Hara, director of completions research and development at Gulfstream, notes that eye-tracking technology could allow you to interact with the app via virtual screen, meaning you don’t even have to lift a finger.

Breaking the Sound Barrier

Rosen Aviation has developed a new onboard audio system with Laurence Dickie, designer of the famed Bowers & Wilkins Nautilus loudspeaker. According to Rosen’s Lee Clark, the goal is to go from today’s audio equivalent of “a 1970s eight-track” to what he refers to as “Elvis, six feet away, singing to you”—a soundscape that only you will hear, delivered by headrest speakers and haptic drivers in the seat. Meanwhile, Bongiovi Aviation intends to employ transducers embedded in the jet’s interior side panels, eliminating the need for traditional speakers altogether. The advantages are numerous, and it allows airframers to reduce cabin weight and fully utilise space while eliminating traditional speakers from the design.

Bringing movie-theater audio quality to aviation is already available. Dolby Atmos puts you inside the movie or song as it is playing. In collaboration with Dolby, SkyCinema Aviation was the first to create an Atmos-enabled processor built for business jets to compensate for cabin altitude and jet noise. The result? You will clearly hear the car approaching from a half mile away in that famous scene of the 1959 Hitchcock classic North by Northwest, just as the director intended.

Hands Free

With full showers, skylights, and large vanities gracing the lavatories of the most luxe business jets today, what could be next? The smart lavatory is evolving into a nearly completely hands-free space by incorporating sensors to activate everything from faucets to showers. Using an AI algorithm, Diehl Aviation has taken it a step farther to add more functionality with voice-controlled commands for opening and closing the door, turning on lights, and activating water. Hologram light switches will eventually keep the lavatory completely hands free, while smart mirrors can multitask by providing an interactive display of digital content.

 

Buy the Magazine

Subscribe today

Stay Connected

George Hamilton’s Rules for Timeless Style

The Hollywood icon continues his conversation with Robb Report, touching on manners, tailoring, and La Liz.

By Caroline Reilly 30/10/2024

So riveting was my chat last week with George Hamilton and his tailor, Paolo Martorano, that I decided to continue my conversation with the actor in a second installment this week. Despite the grey sky and steady drizzle falling outside the windows of my New England home, Hamilton’s sunny demeanor had me feeling more like I was in Palm Beach, cool drink in hand and clad in a coral linen ensemble. And almost two hours later, it was apparent why he has earned the icon status he enjoys.

Hamilton is, by all standards, larger than life: a charming gentleman and a style legend who epitomises Hollywood at its most glamorous. Generously candid, his humour is rivalled only by his sincerity. Amid stories from his childhood, of his A-list costars and insights he’s gleaned throughout his life, Hamilton offers a masterclass in true masculinity, with a sharply attuned acuity for what women want and a practiced understanding of what makes a gentleman—with or without a bespoke tailor at one’s service.

“A man should look confident and capable, and those two things reside between the waist and the shoulder. Because if the waist is nipped in a little, it means he’s in good shape. If the shoulder is robust, he can handle the problem.”

George Hamilton

The Language of Suiting

The question is an all too common one: how does one define “gentleman?” It’s an elusive proposition and fodder for countless think pieces, none of which can rival Hamilton’s estimation: “I think a man should always look as though he’s able to handle the problem, if need be,” he says, though his mind can’t resist turning to tailoring.

“A man should look confident and capable, and those two things reside between the waist and the shoulder. Because if the waist is nipped in a little, it means he’s in good shape. If the shoulder is robust, he can handle the problem,” says Hamilton.

Hamilton, looking every bit capable and confident, in a suit.
Getty

We joke about the scourge of skinny suits and discuss the value of a good tailor, though he was adamant that a man does not need a bespoke bank account to pull off bespoke style, suggesting that young men look to the prep aesthetic and pair a smart made-to-measure sport coat with a gray flannel trouser. “It makes a young man look incredibly well dressed and without too much study.” It’s the prerogative of an older man, too, he says to keep yourself looking good. “When you finally get your head together, your ass is falling apart,” he says with a warm laugh.

No matter the age, he insists the principles of good dressing remain the same. In addition to proper jacket proportions, pants should serve to elongate the leg and be complemented by well made shoes. “What is it you’re selling? You’re selling you,” he says. “Not the suit. Not the shoes. Not the socks. A great tailor doesn’t make you look like you’re wearing a costume. It blends into you, it makes you look great. That’s the whole trick. They have to subordinate their ego a little bit to make you look better. But when they do it right, it makes everyone want to look like that. And then the tailor becomes the one who’s the architect.”

“When you finally get your head together, your ass is falling apart.”

-George Hamilton

Well Groomed

Grooming is also paramount, a show of respect for yourself and the people around you. The cologne Hamilton wears is one he’s spent sixty years getting just right. From taxi drivers to female companions, everyone is completely intrigued by it—and its name is the one thing in our conversation he demurs on. According to Hamilton, a man’s grooming routine should fit in a dopp kit and tend toward restraint. “Whether it be a manicure, a pedicure, or the right haircut, it must be simple and to the point,” he says. “We’re meant to be out killing dragons while the woman’s getting ready. But it doesn’t mean that it needn’t be sophisticated.”

Therein lies the other critical element of the equation: a lack of pretense and fuss which does not forsake sophistication. “If you’re too fastidious to a point where you don’t have the human quality, [your outfit] becomes something you look at rather than participate in or with,” he says. “You have to be able to break the rules but at the same time you have to understand what they are before you do so—and how to break them with a sense of humour to it. Because in the end, all of this is just, it’s window dressing, but it’s indicative of who you are.”
Hamilton with his mother, Ann Stevens Hamilton.
Getty

He credits his mother with much of his style instinct and one story in particular illustrates the precarious balance of intentional elegance and ease. “I remember the first time I was going out to dinner at a debutante thing in New York, and I got all dressed up. I stood at the door and she said, “What are you doing? You’re standing there like you’re a waiter.” You should get on the floor and play with the dog, with your tuxedo, with your dinner clothes.” So I got on and played with the dog. When I got up, she said, ‘Now, that’s the way you should stand. That’s the way you go.” I never forgot that.”

Manners Maketh the Man

It’s not just Hamilton’s style sense that hinges on balance. “Men can’t give up kindness to be strong,” he says. “Strength without kindness or kindness without strength—it won’t work. There’s a balance to it.”

Again, he attributes his upbringing for these values. “I was raised in an era that had manners, and those manners were the lubricant for all problems,” he says. “If you live long enough and you travel enough, and if you churn in the right company, civility is the ability to keep everything oiled and proper so that you don’t bump up against things.”

For Hamilton, manners are defined by what all people you encounter have to say about you once you’ve left their company: the compliments you pay people when you have nothing to gain, nothing transactional to incentivise you. “The way you treat people that the world might not deem important? That denotes or connotes who a person really is.”

Hamilton, not taking himself too seriously.
Getty

Hamilton also says humour is imperative. “I don’t take myself seriously, or any of it seriously. And most people do,” he says. “But life is over so fast – and it’s hard to have a sense of humour, but if you have that, it saves you. It’s the shock absorber for everything.”

And critically, despite a man’s station in life, humility is a defining mark of character. Put simply: no one likes a show off. “You don’t have to flaunt it,” he emphasises. “We all have to learn the basic rules of life and you don’t have to go around explaining to everyone that you know and you are better. I don’t think that’s attractive for a man or a woman really. But I think a woman appreciates a kind of quiet confidence.”

What Women Want

Those glints of humanity, of fallibility, are imperative when it comes to romance and seduction. “You have to have a human touch to it all, I think. Not always being perfect, it’s sometimes the imperfect that makes it a human quality that makes it. And sometimes, you can’t display it, you have to betray it,” Hamilton says.

Just ask Elizabeth Taylor.

When Taylor was playing Cleopatra, Hamilton says, they were in England shooting. The weather was horrible and the studio had already sunk millions of dollars into the production. Finally, they cast Richard Burton to play opposite Elizabeth Taylor as Mark Antony. “They were working on a scene where she’s supposed to say, “I haven’t dismissed you,” Hamilton recounts. “And Richard had been drinking for two or three days, and was exhausted. He had no sleep.” He told Taylor he needed coffee. They brought it to him, but he couldn’t bring the cup to his mouth. “So he asked her if she would lift the cup to his mouth so he could drink. And she said that’s when she fell in love with him.”

Hamilton and Elizabeth Taylor.
Getty

Taylor sought security her whole life—a product of growing up a child actress with others always reliant on her. “She wanted someone to take charge, because she never had that as a child,” he says, noting that it was Mike Todd, who he believes was her most compatible match in that regard.

But not to be outdone, Hamilton and his gentlemanly ways left their own imprint on Taylor’s life. “Elizabeth was extraordinary,” he says. “But she was like a little girl, kind of lost. And she always had a list of things she needed, ten or twelve things.” The two were staying together at a hotel in New York when George asked her to write down her list of “necessities” for him. “She sat down and lingered over the list for an hour, getting it together and worrying about it. And I took it downstairs to the manager of the hotel, Bernard Lackner. And I asked Bernard, “Can you take this list of things that Elizabeth Taylor needs and get them done?’ “Of course,” Lackner said. “15 minutes later, everything would be done.”

Very modestly, George tells me he didn’t so much manage the list himself, but he knew how to delegate. Still, it impressed Taylor all the same. Hamilton returned to their room, list completed and delivered the good news to Taylor.

“I’ve never met a man like you who incredibly took charge and handled everything,” Taylor said. Here’s to men who can get the job done.

Buy the Magazine

Subscribe today

Stay Connected

Meet the Women Who Run the World’s Most Iconic High-Jewellery Ateliers

Names like Nathalie Verdeille and Claire Choisne are giving decades-old designs a modern appeal. Here’s how.

By 01/11/2024

Men have dominated high-jewellery design for centuries, but no longer. Female creatives have now risen to the uppermost echelons of the world’s elite houses, bringing with them an unprecedented approach both technically and philosophically.

They are creating the jewellery of the future—thinking of new ways to wear pieces, working with innovative new materials, and going above and beyond the DNA of their houses while still incorporating those time-tested codes. Due in part to the massive investment required to make high jewellery, the category has rarely seen innovation until now. New technologies, forward-thinking minds, and a changing cultural landscape are allowing for a new era in the category. Meet the personalities upending the industry.

Boucheron | Claire Choisne

A tall, soft-spoken, and ethereal figure in a black column gown, Claire Choisne personally greeted guests as they entered a softly lit space within Boucheron’s Place Vendôme headquarters in June. They were there to take in the Parisian house’s latest head-spinning array of futuristic jewellery for its Carte Blanche collection as Choisne, the creative director behind the avant-garde pieces, detailed how they were made, gently explaining their extreme technicality. Her designs are so complex, she started a team dedicated solely to innovation research in 2018. “At the beginning, I was scared that people wouldn’t understand,” says Choisne. “And year after year, I understood: A woman who buys a nice couture dress with something creative doesn’t want something boring. She can be open to something more interesting.”

“Interesting” is putting it mildly; the room was filled with wearable art. Palladium-finished aluminium epaulets crafted like waves crashing over shoulders,  a nearly five-foot-long diamond-drop necklace evoking ice formations, and a collar necklace fashioned from rock-crystal discs adorned with 4,542 diamonds that glittered like ripples of water were just a few of the masterpieces on display.

If that sounds cool, it’s just a taste of what Choisne has been whipping up lately at the 166-year-old jewellery house. Unrivalled in her inventiveness—a sort of mad scientist of high jewellery—she has created necklaces made with holographic coatings more typically seen on aviation-runway lights as well as with Aerogel, a material used by NASA to capture stardust.

Clockwise from left: Boucheron Givre earring in 18-karat white gold set with Akoya pearls and pavé diamonds; Boucheron Cascade transformable necklace in 18-karat white gold with pavé diamonds. It can be shortened, and a pair of earrings can detach from the center; Boucheron Ondes necklace in rock crystal and 18-karat white gold with pavé diamonds; Boucheron Eau Forte cuff bracelet in 18-karat white gold set with diamonds, black ink, and airbrushed white lacquer. Courtesy of Boucheron

Carte Blanche translates to Blank Slate, which could be read as a reference to Choisne’s unorthodox approach. She grew up in the South of France in a family that didn’t care about jewellery. By the time she graduated the Rue du Louvre jewellery college, she was as interested in technique as in design. At 24 years old, she went to work for independent Parisian jeweler Lorenz Bäumer. “It was quite crazy, because at the beginning I was alone creating pieces for Chanel [under Bäumer], which I did for eight years,” Choisne says. He later enlisted her to help him design jewellery for Louis Vuitton for four years, and they also collaborated on fragrance projects. “It was really good training to create Chanel in the morning, perfume in the afternoon, and so on,” she says. “I was in charge of the studio, the technical parts, and buying the stones—almost everything.”

It’s that level of experience that has given her the know-how to turn her unprecedented designs into reality. The Ondes necklace alone took more than 5,000 hours to produce. And yet she works on four to five collections at a time, which means she’s designing four to five years ahead. But given how outrageously forward-thinking her pieces always feel when released, she’s probably much further along in her head.

Her latest mic drop? The Quatre 5D Memory ring, revealed in September in New York at a celebration for Boucheron’s new Madison Avenue boutique, uses 5D optical data storage—a nascent technology developed by Peter Kazansky, a professor at the University of Southampton and chief science officer at SPhotonix—that theoretically can preserve vast amounts of data for billions of years in a tiny space made of nanostructured glass. Choisne collaborated with the French Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music to use 5D memory crystal to encode a musical composition into the white-gold, diamond, and silica-glass ring. “It’s not for everybody,” she concedes. “It’s not the little black dress, you know? You already have the little black dress, and you need something else.”

Cartier | Marie-Laure Cérède

Nigel Buchanan

“One of my earliest memories of jewellery is a gold ring my parents gave me when I was 8 years old,” says Marie-Laure Cérède, creative director of watches and jewellery at Cartier. “I grew up in Africa, and gold jewellery was a part of everyday life—accessible and beautifully crafted.” Her father worked for the French government in Gabon, and though she lost the ring while swimming in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Libreville, she says its twisted golden thread has kept her dreaming of the perfect knot ever since. Of course, one of Cartier’s most recognizable designs is its Trinity ring—three intertwining bands in white, rose, and yellow gold—but Cérède says that, while it’s important to her to allude to Cartier’s history in its present-day collections, she wants to “be inspired by everything but Cartier.”

Her design philosophy certainly seems to be working: Cérède’s pieces simultaneously hark back to the storied house while being wildly imaginative. Take a diamond, onyx, and moonstone brooch (below) that cleverly forms the shape of a claw—a clear reference to the French house’s perennial Panthère mascot—with a single talon lifting open to reveal a secret watch beneath. Meanwhile, a carabiner covered in diamonds and accented with multicolored gems nods to late Cartier designer Aldo Cipullo’s fascination with hardware, while presenting an entirely new way of wearing jewelry; the piece, which also doubles as a clock, is meant to dangle from one’s belt loop.

Left to right: Cartier Libre watch in 18-karat white gold with rubies, sapphires, emeralds, chrysoprase, lapis lazuli, black spinels, turquoise, and diamonds; Cartier Libre brooch watch in 18-karat white gold with rubies, emeralds, chrysoprase, coral, onyx, black spinels, and diamonds; Cartier Libre TuttiTutti ring in 18-karat white gold set with chrysoprase, emeralds, and diamonds; Cartier Libre brooch watch in 18-karat white gold with moonstones and diamonds. Courtesy of Cartier

Rethinking how jewellery is worn is a pivotal theme in today’s changing landscape and a trend that’s due as much to our era’s casual dress codes as to its shifting gender norms. “The carabiner could easily be for a woman or a man,” says Cérède, adding that a male buyer attached it to his suit pants for a gala. She also notes that clients are now wearing jewellery not just for special occasions but also in everyday life—and it’s changing how she designs: “We have to think about the volume and the intimacy of the product in relation to the wearer.” This approach is most pointedly reflected in a pair of sunglasses she created for the Cartier Libre Polymorph collection, adorned along the frame and stems with coral, emeralds, diamonds, and onyx. Incredibly, the jewels can transform into a tiara or a pair of earrings. “I think there is a new segment where there’s so much space to do the kind of pieces which are not classic, not only in the design but also in the way they are worn,” she says.

Cérède cut her teeth in both the communications and the creative-product-development sides of the business at Cartier, which could explain her knack for dreaming up pieces that tell a story. Her rise to the top of Cartier’s creative kingdom started out like modern postgrad lore: After receiving a degree in business and marketing from the elite ESCP Business School, she attended a talk by a Cartier executive that so captivated her, she boldly asked for an internship. “That person’s love for jewellery sparked something in me, and I knew I had to be a part of it,” she recalls. Following an almost seven-year stint at Cartier, she spent 12 years at Harry Winston as artistic director before returning to the French house in 2016.

After decades in the industry, Cérède believes it’s the clients that have changed the most. “They have developed a sharper knowledge of jewellery, especially younger generations, partly thanks to social media,” she says. “I see this as very positive, as it makes culture—both iconic and creative—more universal.” It also makes competition much fiercer. Fortunately for Cartier, Cérède is proving that a leopard can indeed change its spots.

Louis Vuitton | Francesca Amfitheatrof

Nigel Buchanan

Francesca Amfitheatrof has an uncanny ability to create a hit. Exactly one year after her 2013 arrival at Tiffany & Co., she launched the hugely successful Tiffany T collection and was responsible for repositioning the Blue Book series to elevate the brand’s status in high jewelry. Her Midas touch soon caught the eye of Bernard Arnault, who poached her to lead Louis Vuitton’s watches and jewellery division as artistic director—a full three years before he would acquire Tiffany for almost $24 billion. Since 2018, she has been working her magic at Vuitton, deftly weaving its omnipresent monogram into high-impact and technically savvy jewellery that feels simultaneously edgy and regal.

It’s no small feat to make a 128-year-old logo look fresh season after season—particularly in high jewellery, where the monetary stakes are far greater than in clothing or handbags. “I think it is tricky, right?” says Amfitheatrof. “These pieces are meant to be masterpieces that will last forever. And how do you treat them in a way that they are beautiful in their own right, but they become recognisable as Vuitton?” She has achieved that equilibrium by approaching the LV and fleur-de-lis motifs in a graphic and sculptural way, so that they blend into the architecture of the pieces, balancing minimalism with maximalism—alongside bonafide expertise in metalworking and stones—to create jewellery that feels both serious and fun. Take, for example, the Splendeur necklace: a structural and transformable high collar crafted with a woven mesh of flowers carved in 18-karat yellow gold and set with diamonds and 52 rubies—the largest number ever used on a single piece at the house. With more than 2,400 elements, it required 17 gem setters, 30 jewellers, and 3,217 hours of work.

Clockwise from top left: Louis Vuitton Frequence bracelet in 18-karat white gold set with a 1.01-carat LV Monogram star-cut diamond and diamonds; Louis Vuitton Vision ring in 18-karat yellow gold and platinum set with a 3.80-carat octagonal step-cut yellow sapphire and diamonds; Louis Vuitton Perception necklace in 18-karat white gold set with two antique cushion brilliant-cut sapphires of 20.10 carats and 7.08 carats, one 2.51-carat LV Monogram star-cut diamond, and diamonds; Louis Vuitton Perception earrings in 18-karat white gold set with two LV Monogram star-cut diamonds of 0.56 carat and 0.51 carat, sapphires, and diamonds. Courtesy of Louis Vuitton

Her ability to tune in to the global zeitgeist could be attributed to her exotic childhood. Born in Tokyo, she spent parts of her youth in New York City, Moscow, and Rome, as well as at boarding school in Kent, England. “My mother is Italian, from Rome, and they are big jewellery wearers—they wear a lot of gold and they’re not shy about wearing jewellery,” says Amfitheatrof, perched on a rooftop against a vivid-blue Mediterranean backdrop in July. Her grandmothers on both sides, she says, also had nice jewellery. Her father, who served as the Moscow bureau chief for Time in the ’80s, had wanted his daughter to attend Harvard, but, she says, “I refused to take my SATs.” After she earned an undergraduate degree from Central Saint Martins and a master’s from the Royal College of Art, a gallery show of her silver vases and jewellery at Jay Jopling’s White Cube gallery led to her exhibiting jewellery at the Parisian trade show Tranoï, where major retailers including Browns in London, Maxfield in L.A., and Colette in Paris all picked up her collection. Soon she was designing jewellery for everyone from Balenciaga to Chanel to Fendi.

Within the workshops of these powerhouse names, she honed her approach to the craft. “I’ve made jewellery in America, I’ve made jewellery in Italy, and I’ve made jewellery in France,” she says. “Each country has its own traditions, and sometimes you have to push against those to say, ‘No, actually, we want to do it at this thickness,’ or ‘We want to do it at that height,’ or ‘I want the diamonds to have more light on them.’ ” She is said to be meticulous about details—expecting as much rigor from those who work for her as she does from herself. “When I interview my team, if they have a Pinterest board, they’re not going to be the right people,” Amfitheatrof says. “I think that real depth of knowledge comes from studying and from experience. It can’t all come from social media or an app.”

Tiffany & Co. | Nathalie Verdeille

Nigel Buchanan

Since joining Tiffany & Co. in 2021, when she was lured by Bernard Arnault from the house’s archrival Cartier, Nathalie Verdeille has preferred to remain behind the scenes. Notoriously press-shy, she has done very few interviews of any kind since being tapped to head creative design for the multibillion-dollar jewellery business acquired by LVMH in 2021. Even after agreeing to participate in this story, she declined to answer any questions about her formative years or how she landed in the industry.

But her work speaks volumes. In just three years, the Parisian designer has elevated the American house’s famous Blue Book collection of high jewellery through painstaking and highly technical work, amping up motifs established by the late Tiffany designer Jean Schlumberger. The famed jeweller’s ornate ’50s and ’60s pieces were favorites of the era’s “ladies who lunch,” but Verdeille and Tiffany have been putting a new spin on the aesthetic by pumping up the architectural volumes and the craftsmanship, as well as the stone selection.

Her riffs on well-known Schlumberger styles add a subtle edge that’s more powerful than prim. A highlight of this year’s Céleste collection, for example, is the Iconic Star necklace, set with free-form sky-blue aquamarines in an unusual array that resembles clouds, punctuated with cerulean-hued zircons and stars fashioned from diamonds and mother-of-pearl. Meanwhile, Verdeille has given Tiffany’s classic Bird on a Rock brooch—recently adopted as red-carpet attire by Robert Downey Jr., Jay-Z, and other sharply dressed men—a serious infusion of funky hues, such as a turquoise-headed bird with a diamond and pearl body perched on a vivid-orange fire opal. “Seeing things differently and pushing that vision to its full potential is crucial for me,” Verdeille says. “Often, a slight variation on a classic can make all the difference and infuse modernity into the design. Anchoring the signature motif in the hearts of those who appreciate our work is crucial.”

Clockwise from left: Tiffany & Co. Iconic Star necklace in platinum and 18-karat yellow gold with a blue zircon over 41 carats, aquamarines, mother-of-pearl, blue zircons, and diamonds; Tiffany & Co. bracelet in platinum and 18-karat yellow gold set with Sri Lankan sapphires totaling over eight carats, star sapphires, and diamonds; Tiffany & Co. Iconic Star ring in platinum and 18-karat yellow gold with a blue zircon over 26 carats, aquamarines totalling over 32 carats, mother-of-pearl, and diamonds; Tiffany & Co. Ray of Light earrings in platinum and 18-karat yellow gold set with red spinels totalling over five carats and diamonds
Courtesy of Tiffany & Co.

In other words, she’s no stranger to reimagining history. “My way of designing is inspired by the grand fundamentals of jewellery, a practice refined through training with the greats in traditional Parisian jewellery workshops,” she tells Robb Report. After graduating from the Haute École de Joaillerie in Paris in 1997, she went to work for Lorenz Bäumer (who also trained Claire Choisne of Boucheron), helping the independent designer create jewellery for many of the historical brands on the Place Vendôme, the centre of high jewelry in the City of Light. She landed briefly at Cartier before heading to Chaumet—a company known for creating jewels, particularly tiaras, for European royalty—for three and a half years. In 2005 she returned to Cartier, where she further sharpened her skills at refreshing centuries-old traditions through challenging craftsmanship, before landing in the U.S. to head America’s crown jewel, Tiffany.

In Verdeille’s case, a revamp doesn’t mean an entirely new visual language, but rather an elevation of workmanship that would have been impossible technically in Schlumberger’s era. Take the Wings necklace from the Céleste collection: It’s visually arresting without looking wildly out-of-the-box. And yet, it’s “among the most complex pieces we have designed,” Verdeille says. Each element of the necklace was crafted individually over 1,732 hours because of its intricate structure, varied diamond shapes, and the difficulty posed by the density, hardness, and high melting point of platinum. Collectors will recognise the wing motif from Schlumberger’s 18-karat-yellow-gold and diamond earrings that mimic the plumes of a bird’s wings, but Verdeille imparts the 2024 Blue Book necklace with high drama that leaves the old version in the dust. She may prefer to remain out of the spotlight, but her high-wattage pieces can’t help but shine.

Messika | Valérie Messika

Diamonds are deeply embedded in Valérie Messika’s roots. Her father, André, is a prominent stone dealer who supplies high-quality gems to some of the leading industry houses. But when she fell into the fold of the family business in 2000, she had a different vision: Instead of selling stones to be set by the heritage houses on the Place Vendôme, she wanted to dream up her own, much hipper jewellery.

“At the time, I thought there wasn’t any brand that could speak about diamonds in a cool way, in a very easygoing way for everyday that you can buy for yourself as a woman, not waiting around for an engagement ring,” she says. So, in 2005, still in her mid-20s, she founded her own namesake brand.

Messika set about creating the kind of pieces she wanted to wear. Starting with high fine jewellery, she developed her signature Move collection, based on a diamond-accented oval with a sliding diamond in the centre. In 2012 she debuted her first high-jewellery set, which showed off the calibre of stones that made her family a mint in the wholesale business, but in an arena that put the Messika name on a new stage. Recent collections have included everything from a disco-ready choker adorned with an offset 20.04-carat pear-cut yellow diamond next to a 9.07-carat cushion-cut diamond—modelled by former first lady of France Carla Bruni, in 2023—to a collar necklace set with 2,400 snow-set diamonds punctuated by a 3.55-carat pear-shaped yellow diamond and styled on supermodel Natalia Vodianova this year. Forget ball gowns: Vodianova appeared in the ad campaign wearing skintight black PVC leggings, pointed stilettos, and a casual cardigan to echo the necklace’s neo-’80s vibe.

Clockwise from top left: Messika Midnight Sun Opus 2 Lunar Diva necklace in 18-carat white gold set with a 5.10-carat emerald-cut puzzle diamond and diamonds; Messika So Move Max 3 Finger ring in 18-carat white gold set with diamonds; Messika Star Chaser brooch in 18-carat white gold set with diamonds; Messika Disco Pulsation earrings in 18-carat white gold set with Akoya pearls and diamonds
Courtesy of Messika

Messika’s penchant for fashion dates to her childhood, when she was enthralled by haute couture; she now gets involved in styling the advertising shoots. “I’m really obsessed by it,” she says. “It’s the perfect balance between the jewellery, the woman, and the outfit.” To that end, she has operated her business more like a high-octane fashion brand than a buttoned-up high-jewellery maison. She has even done collaborations, including two with Gigi Hadid and one with Kate Moss, who lent her bohemian eye to create diamond-encrusted headpieces, arm bracelets, and anklets.

But the name is catching on beyond paid endorsements. It seems that every cool girl in Paris has been seen in a Move bracelet, and celebrities from Rihanna to Irina Shayk have chosen to wear the high jewellery on the red carpet. Some are clients. (Beyoncé owns a custom-made choker with a 17-carat pear-shaped diamond from the French house.) Much of the fandom can be equally attributed to the modern designs and to Messika’s own exuberant personality. Now, with flagships in Los Angeles, Miami, and New York City, she has set her sights on conquering the U.S. market. “We have so many other steps to reach, because it’s a giant market,” Messika says. “But I can definitely feel that it’s our time. If we press the button, the market is ready to open, to be open to a newcomer in jewellery and high jewellery like us.” Consider it the Messika movement, in full swing.

 

Buy the Magazine

Subscribe today

Stay Connected