God save McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition celebrating Alexander McQueen comes home February 19, 2015 Duck feather dress from McQueen’s 2009 Horn of Plenty show A world beholden to mercantile concerns, where in follows out with bewildering arbitrariness and where genius gets distorted, compressed and subsumed into the commercial vortex that is the retail industry – fashion is no place for an artist. But an artist is what Alexander McQueen [...]
Return to Utopia: The desire to live where you work harks back to the industrial towns of yesteryear February 19, 2015 On frosty, damp mornings like the ones London has seen of late, the morning commute is worse than ever. Biting winds followed by packed, sweltering trains, followed by more wind – it’s as if the commute was specifically designed to make you as ill-prepared as possible for the day ahead. Yet it’s accepted by millions [...]
A room with a view: Why Brits are flocking back to Italy’s Lake Como February 19, 2015 It was the Romans who discovered Lake Como, and built their villas overlooking its stunning scenery. Today, the Mediterranean microclimate created by the lake’s waters is enjoyed as much as ever, though many now prefer an apartment in place of a villa. Aside from the views across the lake, and the uniquely benign climate it [...]
A very big house in the country: Whitestaunton Manor is a Grade-I listed estate with a very textured history February 19, 2015 Nestled in a quiet country village on the outskirts of Somerset lies a house with architecture so rare the only other place you’ll see anything like it is in the Houses of Parliament. In fact, most of Whitestaunton Manor, listed Grade-I for architectural or historical interest, is older than that venerable institution; it’s even namechecked [...]
Life on the edge: The luxury properties on the outskirts of the City February 19, 2015 Life on the City fringes is set to get a lot more glamorous. Developers are already lining up to capitalise on postcodes in east London that are set to soar once Crossrail arrives in 2018. An area that’s sure to see the benefits is Whitechapel, whose prime addresses will sit 262ft above Aldgate East station. [...]
Home movie cinema: The ultimate addition to the basement of wealthy film buffs February 19, 2015 Home cinemas look deceptively simple. Big screen, carpet and a few plush chairs. What is there to get wrong? In fact, there’s a fine art to designing the perfect media room. Comfort is paramount, but nothing is more effective at dampening the sound of your expensive surround sound system than soft furnishings. And how do [...]
Reasons to whine: After the Bordeaux wine market collapse, optimism is creeping back February 19, 2015 Imagine a financial market where prices have collapsed by more than 30 per cent in the past three years, where a hatful of investment companies have gone to the wall and investors are reportedly nursing losses of more than £100m. It sounds like a full blown crisis, doesn’t it? But this isn’t Chinese equities or [...]
My House: Ricardo Cervera, First Soloist with the Royal Ballet February 19, 2015 Look out of the windows of my flat and you see leaves – it’s almost like living in a treehouse. Five years ago I moved to Canonbury from Westminster. Living in such a central location was convenient because it was so close to Covent Garden where the Royal Ballet practices, but all the concrete and [...]
Chelsea race row fans face jail sentence February 18, 2015 CHELSEA fans who pushed a black man off a Paris Metro train and chanted racist songs could face three years in prison, five-figure fines and bans from football matches if found guilty. French and British police yesterday both launched investigations into the incident, which took place before Chelsea’s Champions League 1-1 draw against Paris Saint-Germain [...]
Clarke banks on feel-good factor in Ryder mission February 18, 2015 OPEN winner Darren Clarke has vowed to place enjoyment at the centre of his strategy for retaining the Ryder Cup after the Northern Irishman was yesterday confirmed as Europe’s captain. Clarke also plans to seek advice from previous skippers before next year’s contest at Hazeltine in the United States, despite a chequered history with his [...]