Thanks to Lord Glenconner’s vision and hard work, Mustique showed up on the jet-set radar as the world’s first island resort. Now he sets his eyes on neighboring St. Lucia with a plan to turn it into an intimate piece of paradise
When Princess Margaret was presented with two choices for a wedding present—something wonderful from Aspreys or a 10-acre lot in Mustique—she chose the latter, had the land cleared and built Les Jolies Eaux, which became her favorite retreat. The gift came from the Right Hon. Colin Tennant, 3rd Lord Glenconner, whose family had a long involvement in the Caribbean. “I rebuilt the village of 120 to its current location, and then with Princess Margaret making her home there, we set a new standard, a fantasy place which I financed—the first resort in the world,” recalls Tennant.
It takes a Lord Glenconner to impose civilization on a place whose very attraction is its natural state. As a young man working for his family company, Tennant oversaw their estate in Trinidad, sold it in 1953, and used the proceeds to buy the island of Mustique five years later. Back then Mustique was nothing more than a 1,400-acre outcrop, but under Tennant’s visionary guidance, its infrastructure was developed, elegant homes were constructed, and its reputation as an exclusive destination grew. Consequently, property on the island became the most sought after and most expensive in the world. It also became very exclusive, and for that reason, somewhat unnatural.
The party somehow ended for Lord Glenconner, who found himself looking again for that virgin territory where tropical warmth was more than a line from a travel brochure. “The situation in Mustique changed and it was time for me to move on. I spent several years looking for a new home and decided on St. Lucia,” he says. He first bought an estate on the other side of Soufriere, and when his son Henry told him about the Jalousie Estate, he bought the site unseen, knowing instinctively how beautiful and rare the situation was. “The Pitons are St. Lucia’s national symbol and biggest attraction in the Eastern Caribbean. I first came to the land by canoe from Soufriere, located on a bay the other side of the Petit Piton. There was no road, just a goat track and pier from which the local farmers transported their mangoes; it was paradise but in a more intimate setting.”
Nowadays, Lord Glenconner lives in St. Lucia permanently, although he visits England and Scotland regularly. “One of my happiest times in St Lucia was when we lived in my old chattel house, which I brought up from Vieux Fort. I ran my restaurant Bang—so called because it was bang between the Pitons—with my daughter and her husband. Everyone came, including Steven Spielberg and Nicholas Cage who came twice, with his new bride”. Bang was open every night—it was a fully working restaurant and bar.
Life on a new island suits Lord Glenconner. “My fondest memories are of Bupa, this little elephant who I bought from Dublin zoo in 1983 and transported to St. Lucia. She roamed freely all over the estate and was an attraction in herself: 10,000 St Lucians came to see her in the first month alone. She was loved by everyone,” beams Lord Glenconner.
Lord Glenconner is spearheading the development of Glenconner Beach, an exclusive development of seven luxury five- and six-bedroom villas located on the white sand beach situated in the most iconic location in the Carribean—the Val de Pitons of St. Lucia, on a property he owned previously. Located in the southwest part of the island, Glenconner Beach lies within the Pitons Management Area surrounded by the natural beauty of tropical rainforest and spectacular dive sites.
Three of the villas are frontline from the beach, while the other four are positioned on higher ground to ensure uninterrupted sea view. All seven villas have been designed for outdoor/indoor living, incorporating as much of the tropical rainforest that surround them, and making maximum use of natural resources found in St Lucia. Award-winning architect Lane Pettigrew, who has designed over 60 luxury homes and resorts all over the Caribbean designed the architecture and interior of the villas. In order to personalize their home, each purchaser at Glenconner Beach will be allocated an amount of Pettigrew’s time to help them create bespoke property through adapting the interior layouts for their own use. Pettigrew will be available for meetings wherever the client chooses, whether in St. Lucia or abroad.
Owners of Glenconner Beach have direct access to a quarter mile stretch of sans as well as a private jetty and eight mooring buopys in the bay below. The plots range in size from 13,340 sqft to 26,852 sqft.
“I have an active interest in Glenconner Beach. Glenconner Village was my idea and I expect to run an art gallery in the village with my daughter-in law. The development of part of the Jalousie Estate to include local St. Lucians has been a vision of mine since I bought the property.”
The Val de Pitons, where Glenconner Beach, and Tides, Sugar Beach are located is very secluded, accessed via private road or from the sea. “While privacy is important we do not want the area to be too exclusive; visitors are welcome, there will be little local shops along the jetty, and my home is 100 yards away. My doors are always open if visitors would like to call on me,” he says.
Lord Glenconner concedes that “Mustique was a very different enterprise”, having developed at a different time and under different circumstances. “While the whole island of Mustique is a resort, Glenconner Beach is intimate and diverse with a greater variety of experience.” But he admits to bringing some of the principles that guided his earlier development. “I have brought with me the vision of what people expect from their Caribbean homes. Space, a blend of inside and outdoor living, access to a pristine white sand beach and the crystal-clear sea, a jetty from which to board their yachts.”
It differs from Mustique because St. Lucia is an independent country with its own government, tourism body, and two international airports with daily flights to the US and UK. The island also has an excellent brand new marina, which has been extended to provide facilities for super yachts.”
At Glenconner Village this vision will create a forum for local people to sell their goods to tourists and visitors and to create a noteworthy destination in its own right for people holidaying on their yachts. “I’ve always maintained that everyone should have access to The Pitons, which are a UNESCO World Heritage site by establishing somewhere that is public. I would like the jetty at Glenconner Beach to be a place people want to get off at, to come ashore and look at the marketplace, eat at the restaurant or have a drink at the bar.”
Friday, August 13, 2010
ON A ROLL
The romance of Hollywood’s and Washington’s golden age was often played out in the backseat of deluxe cars
Aided by her loyal manservant (also her former husband and director Max von Mayerling), Norma Desmond re-turned to the studio convinced that Cecil B. DeMille was interested in film-ing her script for Salome with her in the lead role. In a scene that surpasses most cinematic illustrations of dramatic irony, Desmond found out that the studio had been calling, not to discuss her long delayed comeback but, to borrow her Isotta-Fraschini—a vintage 1929 Tipo 8A Castagna Transformable. Sunset Boulevard, and a handful of other classic American films, illustrates how cars bookmark the pages of the passing of an era. Filmed in 1950, Sunset Boulevard references movie stars’ fascination with luxury automobiles. Both Clara Bow and Rudolph Valentino drove Isotta-Fraschinis, a marque that was also featured in 1934’s Death Takes A Holiday, the basis for 1998’s Meet Joe Black.
Spotlights were trained on such vintage deluxe automobiles at Bonham’s June 7th auction held at Greenwich Concours d’Elegance. Among them was Jay Gatsby’s yellow 1928 Rolls-Royce 40/50hp Phantom I Ascot Dual Cowl Sports Phaeton, driven by Robert Redford as Gatsby, in The Great Gatsby. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, the car was a symbol of excess and materialism that gripped America in the early 1920s, between the graveyard that was the Great War and the precipice of the Great Depression.
The car literally advanced the plot: it created a bridge between the East and West Eggs, the fabled play-grounds of the blued-blood establishment and the ascendant middle class; it also traced the routes between the disparate lives of the privileged Bu-chanans and the working class Wilsons. In the end Daisy Buchanan hit and killed Myrtle Wilson, her hus-band’s mistress, while driving the Rolls-Royce. Tom Buchanan then misled Myrtle’s husband George by claiming that Gatsby was on the driv-er’s seat when it happened. Seeking revenge, George rushed to Gatsby’s mansion and shot him dead. What could have been a denouement led to an undoing: ties were severed, friend-ships hastily abandoned, and dis-tances stretched to where the yellow Rolls-Royce cannot go. In the 1974 movie, the car was featured prominently, often as harbinger of liberating truth or fatal blow.
A Hollywood Pedigree
Another stunner at the auction was Clark Gable’s Packard Darrin—a 1938 Packard Eight Business Coupe that Howard ‘Dutch’ Darrin transformed into a Convertible Victoria. Sources claim that little was left of the original Coupe after Darrin and his team were done with the refurbishment. Auction notes describe the car as a traditionally built coach with ash frame and aluminum-paneled cowl. Since it left the Gable estate, the car has changed hands a few times: a military officer had sold it to Earnest Sulek sometime in the 1960s. Sam Broadhead acquired it from Sulek in 1962. A careful restoration was done on the car, including a close duplication of the cowl’s wooden frame.
During the bodyworks, the car was identified as one of two Convertible Victorias that Darrin had made. Ted Leonard acquired the car in 1982 and was its owner until the recent Bonham’s auction. Documents accom-panying the sale attest to the car’s illustrious provenance. The Bonham’s auction featured other lots from the Ted Leonard collection, which is dis-tinguished by fine motorcars with ce-lebrity pedigree.
A Statesman’s Stately Car
Although without a Hollywood lineage, President Woodrow Wilson’s Roll-Royce Silver Ghost also drew at-tention from the crowd. President Wilson received the automobile as a farewell present from his supporters when he left office. The range was produced from 1906 to 1926 and col-lectively named 40/50 hp, with one particular model, Chassis 60551 registered as AX 201, christened Silver Ghost. The press picked up this catchier moniker and the original name of the line was eventually dropped. The Silver Ghost is the predecessor of the Roll-Royce 30hp and the successor of the Phantom I. Some models from the range still run today, a testament to the line “Best Car in the World” that influential publication Autocar bestowed upon Rolls-Royce automobiles in 1907.
Other crowd pleasers included the Le Mans Special once owned by racing legend Fitch Whitmore, and rarities such as a 1963 Porsche 356 Carrera 2 Convertible — one of only 28 built, a 1953 Jaguar XK120 Roadster, refinished to a very high standard in its original colors of pastel green with a suede green interior.
The sale totaled USD5 million, the largest ever realized at Greenwich Concours d’Elegance. It also comprised the biggest number of lots. Among the top sellers were 1963 Porsche 356 Carrera 2 Convertible, which fetched $381,000; a 1953 Jaguar XK120 Roadster sold for $106,470. Gable’s Packard Eight Con-vertible Victoria sold for $282,000 to a private collector, beating four bidders who were present. The Gatsby Rolls-Royce was sold to another telephone bidder at $238,000. A bidder in the room secured President Wilson’s 1923 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Oxford Touring Car for $161,000.
Peripheral Collections
Scott Hanson’s Plates, circa 1998, headline the automobilia section of the auction. The Carmel California sculptor created a map of mainland America from license plates of each state. It sold for $3,965. Bidders eagerly snapped up automobile related posters, artwork, models and parts. (Bonhams offered the first edition of Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, printed in 1925 and with the original dust jacket, at their Madison Avenue gallery on June 10, as part of the Books, Maps Manuscripts sale. With estimates between US$80,000 and US$100,000, it was a chance to own a Gatsby memorabilia if the Rolls-Royce was slightly out of reach.)
“Collectors recognize that it is rare to see cars of this caliber, and history assembled in one sale, and the bidding action certainly demonstrated keen interest from around the world,” Rupert Banner of Bonhams Manhattan Motorcars department said after the sale. “The sale also demonstrates that in this market, cautious pricing provides the best results.”
The top lot of the sale was a 1934 Bugatti Type 57 Stelvio Drop-head Coupe, which sold for $419,500. The crowd literally held their breath as intense bidding for this lot from collectors assembled under the tent and those on the telephone ended with the car going back to Europe. The highlight of the event though, was when racing legend John Fitch, aged 92, took the podium to give background information on his 1952 Fitch-Whitmore Le Mans Special, which lead a “charmed life” he said, to a standing ovation from the crowd. The car fetched $403,000.
“It was amazing to have this living legend join us at the event, and the crowd was thrilled to see him hop into his Le Mans Special – illustrating the spirit and sprite of someone far younger than his 92 years!” Mark Os-borne, Bonhams west coast motorcar specialist said. “A one-of-a-kind event certainly, and we are proud to add the excitement of the auction to the enjoyment of the famed Greenwich Concours d’Elegance.
Up Next: Cadillac
What will draw attention next would probably the staple of Hollywood’s top garages, the Cadillac.
Perhaps the most avid collec-tors of such cars among celebrities was rock ‘n’ roll king Elvis Presley, whose first car was the famous pink and white Cadillac—remembered in the Aretha Franklin hit Freeway of Love. Presley gave Cadillacs to friends and associates from his ka-rate instructor to his then wife Priscilla.
At his funeral, a bright white 1977 Miller-Meteor Landau Traditional Cadillac carried Presley’s body to the Memphis cemetery, followed by 16 Cadillacs bearing the bereaved family and mourners.
Adulations have been sung to that American icon from the Dreamettes in Dream Girls who rhapsodised:
I got me a Cadillac car
Cadillac, Cadillac
Look at me, mister, I’m a star!
To the Puerto Rican ladies who proc-laimed America the land of promise, in West Side Story, with an exuberant:
Skyscrapers bloom in America,
Cadillacs zoom in America,
Industry boom in America!
Aided by her loyal manservant (also her former husband and director Max von Mayerling), Norma Desmond re-turned to the studio convinced that Cecil B. DeMille was interested in film-ing her script for Salome with her in the lead role. In a scene that surpasses most cinematic illustrations of dramatic irony, Desmond found out that the studio had been calling, not to discuss her long delayed comeback but, to borrow her Isotta-Fraschini—a vintage 1929 Tipo 8A Castagna Transformable. Sunset Boulevard, and a handful of other classic American films, illustrates how cars bookmark the pages of the passing of an era. Filmed in 1950, Sunset Boulevard references movie stars’ fascination with luxury automobiles. Both Clara Bow and Rudolph Valentino drove Isotta-Fraschinis, a marque that was also featured in 1934’s Death Takes A Holiday, the basis for 1998’s Meet Joe Black.
Spotlights were trained on such vintage deluxe automobiles at Bonham’s June 7th auction held at Greenwich Concours d’Elegance. Among them was Jay Gatsby’s yellow 1928 Rolls-Royce 40/50hp Phantom I Ascot Dual Cowl Sports Phaeton, driven by Robert Redford as Gatsby, in The Great Gatsby. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, the car was a symbol of excess and materialism that gripped America in the early 1920s, between the graveyard that was the Great War and the precipice of the Great Depression.
The car literally advanced the plot: it created a bridge between the East and West Eggs, the fabled play-grounds of the blued-blood establishment and the ascendant middle class; it also traced the routes between the disparate lives of the privileged Bu-chanans and the working class Wilsons. In the end Daisy Buchanan hit and killed Myrtle Wilson, her hus-band’s mistress, while driving the Rolls-Royce. Tom Buchanan then misled Myrtle’s husband George by claiming that Gatsby was on the driv-er’s seat when it happened. Seeking revenge, George rushed to Gatsby’s mansion and shot him dead. What could have been a denouement led to an undoing: ties were severed, friend-ships hastily abandoned, and dis-tances stretched to where the yellow Rolls-Royce cannot go. In the 1974 movie, the car was featured prominently, often as harbinger of liberating truth or fatal blow.
A Hollywood Pedigree
Another stunner at the auction was Clark Gable’s Packard Darrin—a 1938 Packard Eight Business Coupe that Howard ‘Dutch’ Darrin transformed into a Convertible Victoria. Sources claim that little was left of the original Coupe after Darrin and his team were done with the refurbishment. Auction notes describe the car as a traditionally built coach with ash frame and aluminum-paneled cowl. Since it left the Gable estate, the car has changed hands a few times: a military officer had sold it to Earnest Sulek sometime in the 1960s. Sam Broadhead acquired it from Sulek in 1962. A careful restoration was done on the car, including a close duplication of the cowl’s wooden frame.
During the bodyworks, the car was identified as one of two Convertible Victorias that Darrin had made. Ted Leonard acquired the car in 1982 and was its owner until the recent Bonham’s auction. Documents accom-panying the sale attest to the car’s illustrious provenance. The Bonham’s auction featured other lots from the Ted Leonard collection, which is dis-tinguished by fine motorcars with ce-lebrity pedigree.
A Statesman’s Stately Car
Although without a Hollywood lineage, President Woodrow Wilson’s Roll-Royce Silver Ghost also drew at-tention from the crowd. President Wilson received the automobile as a farewell present from his supporters when he left office. The range was produced from 1906 to 1926 and col-lectively named 40/50 hp, with one particular model, Chassis 60551 registered as AX 201, christened Silver Ghost. The press picked up this catchier moniker and the original name of the line was eventually dropped. The Silver Ghost is the predecessor of the Roll-Royce 30hp and the successor of the Phantom I. Some models from the range still run today, a testament to the line “Best Car in the World” that influential publication Autocar bestowed upon Rolls-Royce automobiles in 1907.
Other crowd pleasers included the Le Mans Special once owned by racing legend Fitch Whitmore, and rarities such as a 1963 Porsche 356 Carrera 2 Convertible — one of only 28 built, a 1953 Jaguar XK120 Roadster, refinished to a very high standard in its original colors of pastel green with a suede green interior.
The sale totaled USD5 million, the largest ever realized at Greenwich Concours d’Elegance. It also comprised the biggest number of lots. Among the top sellers were 1963 Porsche 356 Carrera 2 Convertible, which fetched $381,000; a 1953 Jaguar XK120 Roadster sold for $106,470. Gable’s Packard Eight Con-vertible Victoria sold for $282,000 to a private collector, beating four bidders who were present. The Gatsby Rolls-Royce was sold to another telephone bidder at $238,000. A bidder in the room secured President Wilson’s 1923 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost Oxford Touring Car for $161,000.
Peripheral Collections
Scott Hanson’s Plates, circa 1998, headline the automobilia section of the auction. The Carmel California sculptor created a map of mainland America from license plates of each state. It sold for $3,965. Bidders eagerly snapped up automobile related posters, artwork, models and parts. (Bonhams offered the first edition of Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, printed in 1925 and with the original dust jacket, at their Madison Avenue gallery on June 10, as part of the Books, Maps Manuscripts sale. With estimates between US$80,000 and US$100,000, it was a chance to own a Gatsby memorabilia if the Rolls-Royce was slightly out of reach.)
“Collectors recognize that it is rare to see cars of this caliber, and history assembled in one sale, and the bidding action certainly demonstrated keen interest from around the world,” Rupert Banner of Bonhams Manhattan Motorcars department said after the sale. “The sale also demonstrates that in this market, cautious pricing provides the best results.”
The top lot of the sale was a 1934 Bugatti Type 57 Stelvio Drop-head Coupe, which sold for $419,500. The crowd literally held their breath as intense bidding for this lot from collectors assembled under the tent and those on the telephone ended with the car going back to Europe. The highlight of the event though, was when racing legend John Fitch, aged 92, took the podium to give background information on his 1952 Fitch-Whitmore Le Mans Special, which lead a “charmed life” he said, to a standing ovation from the crowd. The car fetched $403,000.
“It was amazing to have this living legend join us at the event, and the crowd was thrilled to see him hop into his Le Mans Special – illustrating the spirit and sprite of someone far younger than his 92 years!” Mark Os-borne, Bonhams west coast motorcar specialist said. “A one-of-a-kind event certainly, and we are proud to add the excitement of the auction to the enjoyment of the famed Greenwich Concours d’Elegance.
Up Next: Cadillac
What will draw attention next would probably the staple of Hollywood’s top garages, the Cadillac.
Perhaps the most avid collec-tors of such cars among celebrities was rock ‘n’ roll king Elvis Presley, whose first car was the famous pink and white Cadillac—remembered in the Aretha Franklin hit Freeway of Love. Presley gave Cadillacs to friends and associates from his ka-rate instructor to his then wife Priscilla.
At his funeral, a bright white 1977 Miller-Meteor Landau Traditional Cadillac carried Presley’s body to the Memphis cemetery, followed by 16 Cadillacs bearing the bereaved family and mourners.
Adulations have been sung to that American icon from the Dreamettes in Dream Girls who rhapsodised:
I got me a Cadillac car
Cadillac, Cadillac
Look at me, mister, I’m a star!
To the Puerto Rican ladies who proc-laimed America the land of promise, in West Side Story, with an exuberant:
Skyscrapers bloom in America,
Cadillacs zoom in America,
Industry boom in America!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
CRIMES OF FASHION
What becomes a legend most? Try outlawed outfits
Brooklyn politician Eric Adams’ US$20,000 campaign against low-slung jeans tosses yet another garment to the infamous heap of clothing that authorities have deemed inappropriate. But he may have unwittingly helped extend the trend’s popularity. Similar campaigns in the past merely drew attention to the article in question, immediately transforming it into a statement piece and then a requisite fashion item. Let’s rifle through the cast-off bin.
The Zoot Suit
Provenance: A roomy, exaggerated silhouette defines the zoot suit comprising a pair of high-waisted, wide-legged and tight-cuffed trousers and a long coat with wide lapels and padded shoulders. It was popular among Latin immigrants in the US, particularly the Mexicans, and jazz musicians in the late 1930s and 1940s.
Transition: The LA murder of a young Latino fuelled tension between Mexican-Americans and some members of the US Navy eventually erupting into a string of clashes that became known as the Zoot Suit Riots in 1943. Mexican-Americans and their sympathisers were mostly zoot-suited, prompting official ban on the garment.
Reboot: Zoots resurfaced briefly on MTV in the 1990s but did not survive for long, but its baggy profile and flamboyant details continue to influence designers today.
Famously Worn by: Flashy fops Prince and The Revolution, Jim Carrey in The Mask, Lou Bega, Jan Lynch in Glee
Leather Jacket
Provenance: Aviation and motoring made leather jackets ubiquitous in the early 20th century, but the modern version as we know it was introduced in the 1940s as part of military uniform. Strength, durability and practicality – think aerodynamic design and multiple zip pockets, the latter an invention of American manufacturer Schott – are common among all styles, while details like tab collar (biker) or shearling lining (bomber) are specific to intended usage.
Transition: In the eyes of authorities, however, they mean trouble – a perception stirred up by youth delinquency in 1950s USA – when it was banned from the school system – and bike gang violence in the late 1960s.
Reboot: By the time The Fonz wore one in Happy Days, leather jacket was a short-hand for cool. By now a classic, it reappears on the runway regularly.
Famously worn by: Outsiders Marlon Brando, James Dean, Elvis, Indiana Jones, Wolverine
Steel-toed Doc Martens
Provenance: Dr Klaus Maertens designed a pair of the boots for himself in 1945 after injuring his foot while skiing. Made with car tyre but cushioned with air, his invention caught on and the brand was eventually launched. Today, there’s a DM for every occasion in different colours, finishes and styles.
Transition: Steel-toed Doc Martens are closely associated with late 1960s youth group Skinheads comprising working class English boys and Jamaican immigrants who sported close cropped hair. The bi-racial group ironically degenerated into a racist gang; white supremacists and football hooligans were among those identified with it. Its uniform of stovepipe jeans, suspenders and DMs were eventually outlawed.
Reboot: As ska, the skinhead’s music of choice, became popular throughout the world, its fans appropriated the skinhead look – without irony. Celebrities have also taken to wearing DMs.
Famously worn by: Sid Vicious, Pete Tonwshend, Kurt Cobain, The Pope <150 words>
Hoodies
Provenance: Although the hood has been part of monastic and cold weather garments throughout the world – from monks’ cowl robe to hooded riding cape – the hooded jacket we know today likely begot its shape and construction the Siberian deerskin parka. Intended as protection from harsh weather, its fabrication evolved to include zip-front and pullover styles.
Transition: To avoid detection by omnipresent surveillance cameras, hooligans, thugs and criminals hide their faces in hoods of jackets. In some high crime urban areas hoodies are often prohibited.
Reboot: Designers have taken out weatherproofing from a hoodie’s multiple tasks. The all year wearable comes in sleeveless styles, some in gossamer fabrics, for summer.
Famously worn by: Eminem (sports hoodie), Missy Elliott (sleeves), Rihanna (boxing hoodie robe)
Brooklyn politician Eric Adams’ US$20,000 campaign against low-slung jeans tosses yet another garment to the infamous heap of clothing that authorities have deemed inappropriate. But he may have unwittingly helped extend the trend’s popularity. Similar campaigns in the past merely drew attention to the article in question, immediately transforming it into a statement piece and then a requisite fashion item. Let’s rifle through the cast-off bin.
The Zoot Suit
Provenance: A roomy, exaggerated silhouette defines the zoot suit comprising a pair of high-waisted, wide-legged and tight-cuffed trousers and a long coat with wide lapels and padded shoulders. It was popular among Latin immigrants in the US, particularly the Mexicans, and jazz musicians in the late 1930s and 1940s.
Transition: The LA murder of a young Latino fuelled tension between Mexican-Americans and some members of the US Navy eventually erupting into a string of clashes that became known as the Zoot Suit Riots in 1943. Mexican-Americans and their sympathisers were mostly zoot-suited, prompting official ban on the garment.
Reboot: Zoots resurfaced briefly on MTV in the 1990s but did not survive for long, but its baggy profile and flamboyant details continue to influence designers today.
Famously Worn by: Flashy fops Prince and The Revolution, Jim Carrey in The Mask, Lou Bega, Jan Lynch in Glee
Leather Jacket
Provenance: Aviation and motoring made leather jackets ubiquitous in the early 20th century, but the modern version as we know it was introduced in the 1940s as part of military uniform. Strength, durability and practicality – think aerodynamic design and multiple zip pockets, the latter an invention of American manufacturer Schott – are common among all styles, while details like tab collar (biker) or shearling lining (bomber) are specific to intended usage.
Transition: In the eyes of authorities, however, they mean trouble – a perception stirred up by youth delinquency in 1950s USA – when it was banned from the school system – and bike gang violence in the late 1960s.
Reboot: By the time The Fonz wore one in Happy Days, leather jacket was a short-hand for cool. By now a classic, it reappears on the runway regularly.
Famously worn by: Outsiders Marlon Brando, James Dean, Elvis, Indiana Jones, Wolverine
Steel-toed Doc Martens
Provenance: Dr Klaus Maertens designed a pair of the boots for himself in 1945 after injuring his foot while skiing. Made with car tyre but cushioned with air, his invention caught on and the brand was eventually launched. Today, there’s a DM for every occasion in different colours, finishes and styles.
Transition: Steel-toed Doc Martens are closely associated with late 1960s youth group Skinheads comprising working class English boys and Jamaican immigrants who sported close cropped hair. The bi-racial group ironically degenerated into a racist gang; white supremacists and football hooligans were among those identified with it. Its uniform of stovepipe jeans, suspenders and DMs were eventually outlawed.
Reboot: As ska, the skinhead’s music of choice, became popular throughout the world, its fans appropriated the skinhead look – without irony. Celebrities have also taken to wearing DMs.
Famously worn by: Sid Vicious, Pete Tonwshend, Kurt Cobain, The Pope <150 words>
Hoodies
Provenance: Although the hood has been part of monastic and cold weather garments throughout the world – from monks’ cowl robe to hooded riding cape – the hooded jacket we know today likely begot its shape and construction the Siberian deerskin parka. Intended as protection from harsh weather, its fabrication evolved to include zip-front and pullover styles.
Transition: To avoid detection by omnipresent surveillance cameras, hooligans, thugs and criminals hide their faces in hoods of jackets. In some high crime urban areas hoodies are often prohibited.
Reboot: Designers have taken out weatherproofing from a hoodie’s multiple tasks. The all year wearable comes in sleeveless styles, some in gossamer fabrics, for summer.
Famously worn by: Eminem (sports hoodie), Missy Elliott (sleeves), Rihanna (boxing hoodie robe)
AGAINST THE GRAIN
Inhabit The Other Store profits from a design that deliberately goes counter to retail common-sense
It appears that the designer of Inhabit The Other Store picked up a retail design bible and decided to go against everything in it. And for that masterstroke the upscale boutique on the second level of the Mandarin Gallery is at once fresh, witty, and given the type of clients that the original store draws to its Palais Renaissance precinct, highly appropriate.
The corner unit is obscured partly by its neighbour and partly by a pillar – a dire situation that calls for all manners of bells and whistles to extenuate. One is rewarded with a prospect of two small apertures on a dark timber wall instead of cheery, gaping show windows enthusiastically filled with this season’s merchandise. Don’t even look for mega-watt floodlights trained on a platoon of mannequins or a marquee spelled out in neon – the store’s name appears in white letters above a list of brands and again carved on a wall by the entrance.
But wait. The angled entrance suddenly flashes a view of the interior. You see a framed art on a wall and a mannequin clad in a long jersey dress seemingly in conversation with someone you can’t see. Within the darkened space a white canted structure glimmers, a light beam shoots out from a brown box towards the ceiling, and more dark timber strips arranged in herringbone pattern tie up the randomness. A familiar club music track is playing. You’re hooked.
There’s no denying the voyeuristic pleasure you derive from such chance encounter. And when you’re drawn inside, your eyes immediately adjust to the darkness, picking out a group of chairs huddled in a circle, wall recesses filled with clothes hanging from a rack, niches stacked with jeans, a cashier’s counter with a display of small accessories. Cool artworks, such as the ones you would hang in your own pad, share wall space with a singular cocktail dress on a hanger or a wrap on a peg. You get it: art to wear.
All Louboutin-padded footsteps lead to Inhabit and The Other Store’s opening is unsurprising given its broadening clientele. It has been clothing seriously fashionable women – and, increasingly, men – who have developed a taste for cult brands of rare, artisanal apparel and accessories. Its rise in the collective consciousness of the fashion set is uncanny, having survived and grown mostly by word of mouth endorsements.
The present space reflects the ethos of the company: intimate and sophisticated and yet never off-putting. This is a place where like-minded clients hang out as they try on clothes and accessories or discuss the minutiae of certain labels. In other words, it is a cross between an exclusive club and a home – the antithesis of a McMall outlet where a hundred pairs of hands go through thousands of minutely differentiated products.
The dark timbre sets a sophisticated tone; its herringbone pattern, repeated on walls, floor and fixtures, is a double play on both clothing and handcrafting. Wooden cubes become display tables and light boxes – among the original touches in the store. On it may be a vitrine displaying a collection of accessories arranged like surgical tools, or a metal-beaded blouse picked out by a soft-glow of a pin light. On it as well is a free-form light chute from which a beam of mottled light partially filtered by gobo is directed at the ceiling.
Three dressing rooms are suspended from the ceiling and tubes stuck on their walls provide a two-way peek – an arthouse-worthy bit that explores the dichotomy of what is inside and outside. A large mirror fixed on the outside wall, echoing what is inside, extends this conceptual riddle.
Although illumination is evenly and judiciously applied, the white ceiling helps distribute them. Its colour also alleviates the space’s lack of height and provides a balance to the otherwise sombre, if sensual, interior.
In the midst of such leisureliness, albeit a manufactured one, retail does become a form of therapy. You feel wise and deliberate about your purchases, making it easy to drop a mint on a bauble.
It appears that the designer of Inhabit The Other Store picked up a retail design bible and decided to go against everything in it. And for that masterstroke the upscale boutique on the second level of the Mandarin Gallery is at once fresh, witty, and given the type of clients that the original store draws to its Palais Renaissance precinct, highly appropriate.
The corner unit is obscured partly by its neighbour and partly by a pillar – a dire situation that calls for all manners of bells and whistles to extenuate. One is rewarded with a prospect of two small apertures on a dark timber wall instead of cheery, gaping show windows enthusiastically filled with this season’s merchandise. Don’t even look for mega-watt floodlights trained on a platoon of mannequins or a marquee spelled out in neon – the store’s name appears in white letters above a list of brands and again carved on a wall by the entrance.
But wait. The angled entrance suddenly flashes a view of the interior. You see a framed art on a wall and a mannequin clad in a long jersey dress seemingly in conversation with someone you can’t see. Within the darkened space a white canted structure glimmers, a light beam shoots out from a brown box towards the ceiling, and more dark timber strips arranged in herringbone pattern tie up the randomness. A familiar club music track is playing. You’re hooked.
There’s no denying the voyeuristic pleasure you derive from such chance encounter. And when you’re drawn inside, your eyes immediately adjust to the darkness, picking out a group of chairs huddled in a circle, wall recesses filled with clothes hanging from a rack, niches stacked with jeans, a cashier’s counter with a display of small accessories. Cool artworks, such as the ones you would hang in your own pad, share wall space with a singular cocktail dress on a hanger or a wrap on a peg. You get it: art to wear.
All Louboutin-padded footsteps lead to Inhabit and The Other Store’s opening is unsurprising given its broadening clientele. It has been clothing seriously fashionable women – and, increasingly, men – who have developed a taste for cult brands of rare, artisanal apparel and accessories. Its rise in the collective consciousness of the fashion set is uncanny, having survived and grown mostly by word of mouth endorsements.
The present space reflects the ethos of the company: intimate and sophisticated and yet never off-putting. This is a place where like-minded clients hang out as they try on clothes and accessories or discuss the minutiae of certain labels. In other words, it is a cross between an exclusive club and a home – the antithesis of a McMall outlet where a hundred pairs of hands go through thousands of minutely differentiated products.
The dark timbre sets a sophisticated tone; its herringbone pattern, repeated on walls, floor and fixtures, is a double play on both clothing and handcrafting. Wooden cubes become display tables and light boxes – among the original touches in the store. On it may be a vitrine displaying a collection of accessories arranged like surgical tools, or a metal-beaded blouse picked out by a soft-glow of a pin light. On it as well is a free-form light chute from which a beam of mottled light partially filtered by gobo is directed at the ceiling.
Three dressing rooms are suspended from the ceiling and tubes stuck on their walls provide a two-way peek – an arthouse-worthy bit that explores the dichotomy of what is inside and outside. A large mirror fixed on the outside wall, echoing what is inside, extends this conceptual riddle.
Although illumination is evenly and judiciously applied, the white ceiling helps distribute them. Its colour also alleviates the space’s lack of height and provides a balance to the otherwise sombre, if sensual, interior.
In the midst of such leisureliness, albeit a manufactured one, retail does become a form of therapy. You feel wise and deliberate about your purchases, making it easy to drop a mint on a bauble.
PITCH PERFECT
The Link Home’s new boutique at Paragon is a heaven-sent for the ambivalent and the downright design-challenged
Although homes acquire their own personality with time, it is perfectly fine to nudge the process along. Save precious waiting time for the young Cabernet Sauvignons to mature in your cellar – when it comes to homemaking, personality should be hanging on the door by the time you move in.
There is, mercifully, a lot of professional help in this area and one of the best places to get it from is The Link Home. The uber tastemonger re-opened its doors at Paragon in February after a successful reign at Palais Renaissance and then Nassim Hill. Pitch-perfect furnishings and accessories complement an array of furniture in the new 2,200-sq ft shop. And the impeccable taste of style doyenne Tina Tan, CEO of The Link and creative director of fashion label Alldressedup is apparent in every item and expertly coordinated merchandise setting which one could purchase in their entirety to furnish a small corner or a dedicated sitting, dining or sleeping area.
Together with her team, Tina has culled the world for the 40 leading home and lifestyle labels including home textiles by Sabina Fay Braxton, porcelain from Bernardaud, exotic accessories by Augousti, tableware and complements from L’Objet, leather organisers and picture frames from Pinetti, and decanters and glasses from L’atelier du vin. A Diptyque scent bar also commands a prominent spot in the shop. Although these brands are accessible among trendy global nomads, The Link Home provides focus by sifting through thousands of samples to assemble the few that eventually make it to the shop.
Furniture suggests rooms in the open-planned space and appropriate accessories are incorporated in these settings. An unerring eye for luxurious details guides the seemingly haphazard organisation so that a fur throw casually tossed on a Chinese four-poster bed seems highly appropriate.
The shop also offers exclusive services such as gift registries, A Little Something hampers, gift certificates and interior styling of show apartments and private residences.
Although homes acquire their own personality with time, it is perfectly fine to nudge the process along. Save precious waiting time for the young Cabernet Sauvignons to mature in your cellar – when it comes to homemaking, personality should be hanging on the door by the time you move in.
There is, mercifully, a lot of professional help in this area and one of the best places to get it from is The Link Home. The uber tastemonger re-opened its doors at Paragon in February after a successful reign at Palais Renaissance and then Nassim Hill. Pitch-perfect furnishings and accessories complement an array of furniture in the new 2,200-sq ft shop. And the impeccable taste of style doyenne Tina Tan, CEO of The Link and creative director of fashion label Alldressedup is apparent in every item and expertly coordinated merchandise setting which one could purchase in their entirety to furnish a small corner or a dedicated sitting, dining or sleeping area.
Together with her team, Tina has culled the world for the 40 leading home and lifestyle labels including home textiles by Sabina Fay Braxton, porcelain from Bernardaud, exotic accessories by Augousti, tableware and complements from L’Objet, leather organisers and picture frames from Pinetti, and decanters and glasses from L’atelier du vin. A Diptyque scent bar also commands a prominent spot in the shop. Although these brands are accessible among trendy global nomads, The Link Home provides focus by sifting through thousands of samples to assemble the few that eventually make it to the shop.
Furniture suggests rooms in the open-planned space and appropriate accessories are incorporated in these settings. An unerring eye for luxurious details guides the seemingly haphazard organisation so that a fur throw casually tossed on a Chinese four-poster bed seems highly appropriate.
The shop also offers exclusive services such as gift registries, A Little Something hampers, gift certificates and interior styling of show apartments and private residences.
THE LIGHT CATCHER
Narrow and deep, shophouses have long challenged architects’ imagination and resources to open them up to light and air. But with just a simple device, Teh Joo Heng worked out an incredibly artful solution
Until a few years ago, an airwell, a skylight and a bank of windows were the only antidote to the poorly lit and ventilated interiors of a shophouse. Strict regulations covering their renovation were often thought to impinge on creative solutions to problems inherent to the structure. Those who work around the problem invariably impose a climate-controlled environment that effectively diminishes the shophouse’s true character and charms.
But continued interest in shophouses as alternative dwelling spaces, for practical and sentimental reasons, goads architects to find ways to harness light and air in a more personalised and spirited manner.
For Teh Joo Heng, principal and founder of the self-named architecture firm, one solution lies in a device that is so simple and ubiquitous it should not have escaped attention for so long. Called the light scoop, this architectural device draws in light, bounces it off several curved planes and distributes it to specific areas within the enveloping structure. The resulting illumination is nuanced and soft, changing character as the sun crosses the threshold. Its successful application in shophouses on No. 26 and No. 63 Emerald Hill anticipates progress in bringing natural light into challenging structures.
Besides the brief from the owners, Teh had to work with the Urban Redevelopment Authority regulations that prevented him from rebuilding the enveloping structure including the façade and the front half of the roof. He had freer rein in the back structure, often a later addition to the original, and has decided to demolish and rebuild it in one of the shophouses.
Inside No. 63 the system is articulated around the airwell like a swath of cloth unfurled from the ceiling all the way down to the first storey where it disappears into the walls. Another part of it looks like faceted cathedral doorways, perhaps a Gaudi study in white stucco. It draws the eyes towards the lofty ceiling whose summit has been opened up with a pitched skylight. As it spirals downwards, it passes through glass stairs and glass footbridge dragging the eyes towards the sparse space on the first storey where the line of sight goes beyond immediate physical boundaries.
“We like to describe it as a sculpture in space – because it does look like a piece of art in a room – but it is also a space in sculpture because it forms a structure that helps define and configure a room,” enthuses Teh. The design – including the revamp of an identical property on No. 65, which Teh revamped in a more traditional manner - bagged the 2005 URA Architectural Heritage Awards and an honourable mention at the SIA Architecture Design Awards in 2006.
Howard Wee, director of 7 Interior Architecture, stepped up to the challenge of designing the interiors with light and thoughtful touches that do not interfere with the stunning architecture.
Teh first installed a light scoop in the shophouse in No. 63 Emerald Hill. Its reappearance in No. 26 was in fact requested by its owner who, while shopping for ideas for his own shophouse, chanced upon it. In this second version, however, the device is more elaborate and enormous – a virtual organism that dominates the second storey where it pierces the roof into skylights, melds with the walls that enclose the private domain and swings all the way to the back where it terminates like an umbilicus on the rear wall. “We can replicate the idea behind the light scoop because it is based on the same principle, but it will always be artistically integrated each time – depending on the location and the requirements of the owner,” Teh explains.
One should be forgiven for thinking that the light scoop is architectural gimmickry. It is after all flamboyant, encompassing and painstakingly wrought. Built with timber and metal frames, its undulating surface is covered with wire mesh and layers of plaster. As it is meant to catch light, it is primed and coated with layers of white paint. “But this has very serious underlying principle,” Teh qualifies. As reflected sunlight moves across voluptuous, wavy surfaces and dim recesses, a dynamic effect is created. They create false surfaces, coating the stark white planes with texture. Instead of hitting just one a spot for several minutes, as it would through an ordinary fenestration, light through the scoop is distributed on several surfaces at once in uneven, dramatic intensities.
Its incorporation into the walls of the master bedroom in No. 26 is serendipitous. Although the owner asked for light and a general sense of openness throughout the domain, he also requested for a very private sanctum, and Teh obliges with a free-form brooding chamber that is enclosed by curved walls and sliding doors. With all openings closed the space turns pitch dark. The structure is evocative, recalling archetypes of primal condition from the collective unconscious. “Childhood fantasies of living in a cave, a nest or under a canopy of trees are powerful inspirations. They reside in our memory bank waiting to be retrieved and reused. In this particular room, we wanted to create an organic form – a womb or a cocoon – instead of the rectilinear,” explains Teh.
“We spend our days in places dominated by rectilinear structures, boxes, 45-degree angles – and there is nothing wrong with that. But I feel that we also crave for exciting spatial treatments and configurations; we search for a balance and this space is a response to that need,” he theorises.
The NUS and MIT alum claims his practice is driven by passion for design, particularly for the tropics. “But we prefer the fun, exciting and unusual route towards these,” he says. The firm is a laboratory that churns out myriad ideas, which partly explains its lack of one signature stroke to push it to the forefront of the market. “I’ve not thought about creating a signature look; maybe I should,” he says with a laugh. “But we’re more interested in design principles that come through our experimentation. And we want to grow with these principles, not to be limited by them.”
Until a few years ago, an airwell, a skylight and a bank of windows were the only antidote to the poorly lit and ventilated interiors of a shophouse. Strict regulations covering their renovation were often thought to impinge on creative solutions to problems inherent to the structure. Those who work around the problem invariably impose a climate-controlled environment that effectively diminishes the shophouse’s true character and charms.
But continued interest in shophouses as alternative dwelling spaces, for practical and sentimental reasons, goads architects to find ways to harness light and air in a more personalised and spirited manner.
For Teh Joo Heng, principal and founder of the self-named architecture firm, one solution lies in a device that is so simple and ubiquitous it should not have escaped attention for so long. Called the light scoop, this architectural device draws in light, bounces it off several curved planes and distributes it to specific areas within the enveloping structure. The resulting illumination is nuanced and soft, changing character as the sun crosses the threshold. Its successful application in shophouses on No. 26 and No. 63 Emerald Hill anticipates progress in bringing natural light into challenging structures.
Besides the brief from the owners, Teh had to work with the Urban Redevelopment Authority regulations that prevented him from rebuilding the enveloping structure including the façade and the front half of the roof. He had freer rein in the back structure, often a later addition to the original, and has decided to demolish and rebuild it in one of the shophouses.
Inside No. 63 the system is articulated around the airwell like a swath of cloth unfurled from the ceiling all the way down to the first storey where it disappears into the walls. Another part of it looks like faceted cathedral doorways, perhaps a Gaudi study in white stucco. It draws the eyes towards the lofty ceiling whose summit has been opened up with a pitched skylight. As it spirals downwards, it passes through glass stairs and glass footbridge dragging the eyes towards the sparse space on the first storey where the line of sight goes beyond immediate physical boundaries.
“We like to describe it as a sculpture in space – because it does look like a piece of art in a room – but it is also a space in sculpture because it forms a structure that helps define and configure a room,” enthuses Teh. The design – including the revamp of an identical property on No. 65, which Teh revamped in a more traditional manner - bagged the 2005 URA Architectural Heritage Awards and an honourable mention at the SIA Architecture Design Awards in 2006.
Howard Wee, director of 7 Interior Architecture, stepped up to the challenge of designing the interiors with light and thoughtful touches that do not interfere with the stunning architecture.
Teh first installed a light scoop in the shophouse in No. 63 Emerald Hill. Its reappearance in No. 26 was in fact requested by its owner who, while shopping for ideas for his own shophouse, chanced upon it. In this second version, however, the device is more elaborate and enormous – a virtual organism that dominates the second storey where it pierces the roof into skylights, melds with the walls that enclose the private domain and swings all the way to the back where it terminates like an umbilicus on the rear wall. “We can replicate the idea behind the light scoop because it is based on the same principle, but it will always be artistically integrated each time – depending on the location and the requirements of the owner,” Teh explains.
One should be forgiven for thinking that the light scoop is architectural gimmickry. It is after all flamboyant, encompassing and painstakingly wrought. Built with timber and metal frames, its undulating surface is covered with wire mesh and layers of plaster. As it is meant to catch light, it is primed and coated with layers of white paint. “But this has very serious underlying principle,” Teh qualifies. As reflected sunlight moves across voluptuous, wavy surfaces and dim recesses, a dynamic effect is created. They create false surfaces, coating the stark white planes with texture. Instead of hitting just one a spot for several minutes, as it would through an ordinary fenestration, light through the scoop is distributed on several surfaces at once in uneven, dramatic intensities.
Its incorporation into the walls of the master bedroom in No. 26 is serendipitous. Although the owner asked for light and a general sense of openness throughout the domain, he also requested for a very private sanctum, and Teh obliges with a free-form brooding chamber that is enclosed by curved walls and sliding doors. With all openings closed the space turns pitch dark. The structure is evocative, recalling archetypes of primal condition from the collective unconscious. “Childhood fantasies of living in a cave, a nest or under a canopy of trees are powerful inspirations. They reside in our memory bank waiting to be retrieved and reused. In this particular room, we wanted to create an organic form – a womb or a cocoon – instead of the rectilinear,” explains Teh.
“We spend our days in places dominated by rectilinear structures, boxes, 45-degree angles – and there is nothing wrong with that. But I feel that we also crave for exciting spatial treatments and configurations; we search for a balance and this space is a response to that need,” he theorises.
The NUS and MIT alum claims his practice is driven by passion for design, particularly for the tropics. “But we prefer the fun, exciting and unusual route towards these,” he says. The firm is a laboratory that churns out myriad ideas, which partly explains its lack of one signature stroke to push it to the forefront of the market. “I’ve not thought about creating a signature look; maybe I should,” he says with a laugh. “But we’re more interested in design principles that come through our experimentation. And we want to grow with these principles, not to be limited by them.”
AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE DIVINE
The launch of Gucci’s flagship boutique in Singapore revives obsessive interest in one of world’s leading luxury brands
For those who find spiritual solace in, ahem, shopping, the Frida Giannini-masterminded Gucci boutique launch in Paragon signals a renewal of faith. Its grandeur is expressed in dimension (10,000 sq ft), spatial configuration (areas dedicated to specific merchandise) and adornment (old Midas comes to mind). It is vintage Gucci, i.e., unblinkingly opulent with just a smidgen of decadence, but it is also a departure from the overt sensuality that distinguished its boutiques previously. The underground VIP club touches are mostly gone, replaced by an open plan bathed in natural light. The most important innovative touches, however, lie in the assemblage of materials such as ribbed glass, warm polished gold, smoked mirrors, smoked bronze glass, miles of marble tiles and even cracked lacquer.
Official communiqué suggests it “recalls the elegance and richness of Art Deco”, but there is also a latent medieval quality to it by way aged gilding. That and a sense of timelessness.
Launched in February this year, the Gucci shop announces its new location, just across its old precinct on the ground floor of Paragon, with a five-storey façade, although the boutique actually occupies just two. A row of golden rods wraps a corner of the building on which Gucci logos are emblazoned in signature burnished golden hue. Beneath this prominent signage are rows of show windows coinciding with the first and second storeys.
Gucci’s creative director since 2006, Giannini has been receiving plaudits for her design oeuvre as well as successful brand-building activities. She has also worked with top auteurs Chris Cunningham and David Lynch to produce ethos-defining advertising campaigns, even getting involved in UNICEF and Raising Malawi campaign. Rolling out her design for the Gucci flagship stores worldwide brings an element of fullness to her body of work for the brand.
“My objective for the new concept is to bring light into the interiors of the store,” Giannini explains. “The Singapore store is awash in both natural light from the large windows, as well as for the golden hues I have chosen for the interiors.”
Inside, dynamic straight lines created by the black marble strip on the floor, the repetitive shelves on the walls and even the trenches on the ceiling hurtle and converge at a vanishing point, deepening the space even further. From one of the two gilded entrances they seem to terminate at the staircase – the shop’s sculptural focal point and an access to the rarefied second storey.
The ground floor, where the latest handbags, luggage, fine jewelry, watches and other accessories pull in a steady crowd, is efficient and well-stocked with merchandise. Although a crowd three deep settles around the counters, there is enough space to stand back and peruse the pin-lit articles.
On the second level, meanwhile, women’s evening wear, runway looks, men’s ready-to-wear, suits and accessories are displayed in salon-like areas. Here deep banquettes and commodious couches are at the disposal of those deciding between the classic Gucci loafers or the sombre lace-ups. The environment is decidedly more genteel, the merchandise arrayed artfully in a few corners or assembled as looks on mannequins. On any reflective surface, from polished vitrines to mirrored walls, one encounters his image, making life-changing choices about neckties much easier to execute.
Over 30 stores have received the same gilded treatment including New York and Rome, London and Shanghai, ensuring familiarity and consistency in encounters with the divine.
For those who find spiritual solace in, ahem, shopping, the Frida Giannini-masterminded Gucci boutique launch in Paragon signals a renewal of faith. Its grandeur is expressed in dimension (10,000 sq ft), spatial configuration (areas dedicated to specific merchandise) and adornment (old Midas comes to mind). It is vintage Gucci, i.e., unblinkingly opulent with just a smidgen of decadence, but it is also a departure from the overt sensuality that distinguished its boutiques previously. The underground VIP club touches are mostly gone, replaced by an open plan bathed in natural light. The most important innovative touches, however, lie in the assemblage of materials such as ribbed glass, warm polished gold, smoked mirrors, smoked bronze glass, miles of marble tiles and even cracked lacquer.
Official communiqué suggests it “recalls the elegance and richness of Art Deco”, but there is also a latent medieval quality to it by way aged gilding. That and a sense of timelessness.
Launched in February this year, the Gucci shop announces its new location, just across its old precinct on the ground floor of Paragon, with a five-storey façade, although the boutique actually occupies just two. A row of golden rods wraps a corner of the building on which Gucci logos are emblazoned in signature burnished golden hue. Beneath this prominent signage are rows of show windows coinciding with the first and second storeys.
Gucci’s creative director since 2006, Giannini has been receiving plaudits for her design oeuvre as well as successful brand-building activities. She has also worked with top auteurs Chris Cunningham and David Lynch to produce ethos-defining advertising campaigns, even getting involved in UNICEF and Raising Malawi campaign. Rolling out her design for the Gucci flagship stores worldwide brings an element of fullness to her body of work for the brand.
“My objective for the new concept is to bring light into the interiors of the store,” Giannini explains. “The Singapore store is awash in both natural light from the large windows, as well as for the golden hues I have chosen for the interiors.”
Inside, dynamic straight lines created by the black marble strip on the floor, the repetitive shelves on the walls and even the trenches on the ceiling hurtle and converge at a vanishing point, deepening the space even further. From one of the two gilded entrances they seem to terminate at the staircase – the shop’s sculptural focal point and an access to the rarefied second storey.
The ground floor, where the latest handbags, luggage, fine jewelry, watches and other accessories pull in a steady crowd, is efficient and well-stocked with merchandise. Although a crowd three deep settles around the counters, there is enough space to stand back and peruse the pin-lit articles.
On the second level, meanwhile, women’s evening wear, runway looks, men’s ready-to-wear, suits and accessories are displayed in salon-like areas. Here deep banquettes and commodious couches are at the disposal of those deciding between the classic Gucci loafers or the sombre lace-ups. The environment is decidedly more genteel, the merchandise arrayed artfully in a few corners or assembled as looks on mannequins. On any reflective surface, from polished vitrines to mirrored walls, one encounters his image, making life-changing choices about neckties much easier to execute.
Over 30 stores have received the same gilded treatment including New York and Rome, London and Shanghai, ensuring familiarity and consistency in encounters with the divine.
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