Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2017 i Tatler Singapore

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN German automakers Alpina and BMW began in the 1960s after an ambitious craftsman by the name of Burkard Bovensiepen decided to boost the horsepower of his own 80hp BMW 1500 by introducing a Weber twin carburettor. The souped-up 1500 eventually got BMW’s attention and in 1964, Bovensiepen’s subsequent creations were officially certified with its company warranty. The next year, Bovensiepen established Alpina, which he continues to run with his two sons today. Fast forward to 2017 and we have the new BMW Alpina B7 Bi-Turbo. From afar, the car looks nearly identical to the BMW 7 Series, but a closer look reveals it is in a league of its own. On the outside, the B7 Bi-Turbo sports front and rear spoilers as well as signature Alpina multi-spoke…

ASK MARTIN BERRY WHAT SPARKED HIS PASSION for cars and his answer is a simple “it’s just something I was born to love”. But unlike other motoring enthusiasts, the Singapore-based entrepreneur fans this fervour by taking on the 2017 Ferrari Challenge Asia-Pacific race series. “I’ve always wanted to race GT cars, and when I was evaluating the various race series around Asia, the Ferrari Challenge stood out for me. The series is run by Ferrari, and drivers get access to ex-F1 engineers and mechanics who support us in between supporting iconic races such as Le Mans and the FIA World Endurance Championships. Having access to this knowledge and experience is invaluable,” enthuses Berry. The Ferrari Challenge is a single-marque championship created in 1992 for Ferrari owners to race each other…

SOUL FOOD 1 ROKUKAKUTEI Japan’s Michelin-starred restaurant Rokukakutei (tel: 6266 1077) has opened its first outlet in Singapore and offers kushikatsu or deep-fried meat, veggie and seafood skewers. Head chef Hideyuki Tanaka recommends the omakase set, so you can try 20 premium ingredients such as angel prawn, Wagyu beef and octopus, flown in from Japan, dipped in a secret batter and deep-fried until they’re crispy, slightly golden brown and juicy. Give them a tangy lift with a squeeze of lemon juice. STICKS WITH A TWIST 2 CHIKIN Chikin (tel: 6910 2742) presents an extensive menu, but it’s the chicken skewers or yakitori that will catch your attention. Chef Jeff Lee uses all parts of the poultry, even uncommon ones such as the saezuri (windpipe) sprinkled with a bit of Szechuan…

What is your life motto? Pay attention to your inner happiness and if something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. Trust your instinct, and if something feels good, pursue it. Favourite lipstick shade? I would always wear the YSL Rouge Pur Couture in No 1 (Le Rogue). It’s a red lipstick that you can either apply on thick or wear sheer—it’s a classic. Who inspires you? I’m inspired by my roommate, whom I live with in New York. She’s a plus-sized model as well as a designer, and she’s taught me so much as a person. What are the beauty secrets you swear by? I try to have a pretty healthy diet, and not have too much sugar or gluten. And I drink a lot of water. I also wash…

CHRISTIAN DIOR IS CELEBRATING SEVEN decades at the leading edge of high fashion with a landmark exhibition at the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris. Curated by French fashion historians Florence Müller and Olivier Gabet, Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams includes more than 300 exquisite haute couture pieces as well as a range of the house’s iconic accessories, jewellery and perfume bottles. The show’s chronological and themed displays occupy 3,000sqm across multiple rooms. One particularly showstopping room is the Nave, which is transformed into a romantic ballroom full of exquisite bespoke gowns that were worn by famous friends of the brand. Striking images from legendary photographers reveal the brand’s rich heritage and its partnerships with some of the world’s most talented creatives. The show also highlights the fact Christian Dior…

IN HOW MANY WAYS CAN ONE manipulate fur? Left in its entirety as a coat? Or maybe as a trim on a pair of boots? How about hand-cut into 10,000 tiny pieces of pixel confetti and hand-stitched onto silk organza to create gradient mosaic, or shaved to resemble an opulent lace fabric to create collars and cuffs to accent tinted sable and pastel Persian lamb? For any other atelier specialising in fur, repeating the success every season might be no easy feat but for a visionary such as Karl Lagerfeld, Fendi’s head designer and creative director, it is no different from working with fluid fabrics such as silk. “For me fur is just like any other material; velvet or fur, it’s the same thing. You just have to use different…

LOUIS VUITTON Louis Vuitton's Nicolas Ghesquière aims to break frontiers and distort our idea of the future with his autumn 2017 womenswear collection. To Ghesquière, we are cultural nomads who never truly identify with just one place and no longer see the need to fit solely into one mould. This meant playing with juxtapositions within the confines of the collection—stiff fabrics versus soft materials, traditional crafts versus modern technology, and mixing the conservative with the provocative. This ethos is seen in the lingerie-inspired slip dresses of the season. At first glance, we see pleats, lace inserts, sheer panels and fabrics with contrasting patterns that might seem to have more similarities to traditional folklore styles than the sleekness of the future. But upon closer look, one notices the tech-infused details of…

HOW DOES ONE distil the achievements of a 262-year-old watchmaker into one timepiece? Take a pinch of its greatest technical innovations from its storied past, combine it with a striking aesthetic that hearkens to an important era in its history, and inject it with a contemporary twist. That was exactly what Swiss manufacture Vacheron Constantin did when it reintroduced its Overseas collection in 2016, 20 years after its launch. The story of the Overseas began not in 1996, but goes back to the very origins of the brand in the 1800s. The 1996 Overseas was a culmination of Vacheron Constantin’s technical breakthroughs, including the anti-magnetic properties of its 19th-century watches to its water-resistant 10-sided cases from 1977, presented in a sporty package. Vacheron Constantin continues its pursuit of the female…

As the official timekeeper of the 2017 Fifa Confederations Cup, Hublot has created a series of straps in tribute to the eight participating countries—Russia, Germany, Australia, Chile, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal and Cameroon. Besides Russia, which qualified as host nation, and Germany, the 2014 Fifa World Cup champions, the rest of the countries were winners of the Fifa continental championships. To be used on the iconic Big Bang Unico models, the straps feature the national colours of the participating teams. And with the patented One Click system, swapping the straps is a cinch—a depression of the pusher on the lugs loosens the straps and they can easily be changed. What better way to show your allegiance to your favourite team?…

MOTHER NATURE regularly takes centre stage in the collections of many jewellery houses, inspiring masterpieces of flora and fauna alike. Among those houses, however, there is one that stands out for its constant dedication to depicting the natural wonders of the world—Boucheron. Its vision of nature is not that of manicured gardens and tamed animals, but of them living wild and free. For Boucheron, there is beauty in the organic unpredictability of nature, demonstrated in the unruliness of its Nature Triomphante high jewellery collection, whose name translates to “triumphant nature”. The collection has been in existence for a few years, but is getting an unruly new addition this year. As the story goes, when founder Frédéric Boucheron opened his first store beneath the arcades of the Palais Royal in Paris…

“Ican’t believe that as a child I didn’t know it was there,” says British fashion designer Alice Temperley of Cricket Court, a heritage-listed Regency mansion that has been her country home since 2010. Set on 6ha of the quintessentially English rural landscape of Ilminster, Somerset, the house is just 13km from the cider farm on which she and her siblings, Mary, Mathilda and Harry, grew up. Yet, Alice spent her childhood completely unaware of its existence. “Weirdly, we knew every inch of the moors on the other side of the house,” she says, “but because it’s quite hilly and undulating, there are little pockets you just don’t discover.” After an idyllic childhood spent picking apples and helping with the lambing season (“we all had matted hair and rode horses bareback…

WE FIRST SAW Maserati’s concept of a luxury sports utility vehicle (SUV) in 2011 and its sketches a few years before, but the marque only released the Levante recently, making it a very late entry into the SUV game. To be fair, luxury sports car makers tend to have a hard time deciding whether they should delve into a genre they have little experience in, as the SUV is quite nearly the polar opposite of a gran turismo sports coupe. In the last decade, the SUV genre has gone from being niche to full-fledged mainstream, offering a wide variety of choices spanning small ones to gigantic ones, humble ones to luxury ones, family ones to sporty ones and even convertible two-door ones. Maserati is no automotive giant, but the Italian…

THE ART WORLD MIGHT BE FICKLE, but if there is one trait that has defined it over the past decade, it is its obsession with contemporary Chinese art. Since the late 2000s, the genre has experienced a buying frenzy, both internationally and in China itself, and continues its upward trajectory courtesy of blazing auction house sales, major worldwide exhibitions, hot press coverage, the avid attention of prominent collectors and the contributions of Ai Weiwei and others of his ilk, hailed as some of the greatest living artists of the 21st century. “Chinese art is hot” is the truism uttered around the world since the country’s artistic expression took the lead on the global stage. But it was the preceding two decades that paved the way for the boom. And it…

ASK JAVIER PEREZ WHAT DISH would best describe him and he won’t be able to pinpoint one. He can, however, give you a colourful description of what it would entail: “It’ll take a significant amount of time to prepare, but yet will be so simple that it’s underestimated,” says the 39-year-old, who co-founded Kilo restaurant in 2011. “Textures will be essential, and a smooth finish with a lingering taste will be the memory I’d like to keep.” We could say the same for the F&B spaces he and his team have conceived, all of which brim with energy, “engage people and offer them something to speak of and explore”. He has undoubtedly managed to achieve this with the first Kilo, which sits in an old warehouse building along the Kallang…

1 BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY Singapore made it into the Formula One hall of fame in 2008 for hosting the world’s first—and still the only—night race on the Marina Bay Street Circuit. The 2017 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix (singaporegp.sg), from September 15 to 17, sees top drivers race under lights, which require 3.2MW of power, at speeds of up to 320km/h. 2 ROOKIE ROAD F1 world champions Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg may have bowed out from this year’s tournament, but look out for three rookies on the grid: Canada’s Lance Stroll with Williams Martini Racing, Belgium’s Stoffel Vandoorne with McLaren-Honda and France’s Esteban Ocon with Sahara Force India. 3 FIRST APPEARANCES Off the track, Singapore’s largest entertainment stage at the Padang will see international headliners such…

The mechanical and artistic marvels of Jaquet Droz have long mesmerised collectors in Southeast Asia. For the first time ever, a group of Singapore Tatler guests and watch enthusiasts were given the privilege of painting their own dials under the tutelage of professional enamel painter Thanh Le Ngoc, who had been flown in specially from the Jaquet Droz manufacture in Switzerland. In a private room at Adrift by David Myers, guests became artists for the day and revealed their latent artistic talents as they unleashed their imaginations, spurred on by Jaquet Droz vice president Marc Aellen and Southeast Asia brand manager Natalia Bondarenko. MASTER PIECE Under heat, enamel paint tends to react in unpredictable ways and can change colour or create blemishes, so the painters often have no control over…

AUDI A5 COUPÉ / SPORTBACK BODY TWO-DOOR COUPE/FIVE-DOOR SPORTBACK ENGINE 2.0 IN-LINE FOUR-CYLINDER TURBOCHARGED PETROL ENGINE MAX POWER 252HP AT 5,000-6,000RPM MAX TORQUE 370NM AT 1,600-4,500RPM TRANSMISSION SEVEN-SPEED S TRONIC DRIVETRAIN QUATTRO PERMANENT ALL-WHEEL DRIVE ACCELERATION 0-100KM/H IN 5.8SEC / 6.0 SEC TOP SPEED 250KM/H FUEL CONSUMPTION 6.4L/100KM AGENT PREMIUM AUTOMOBILES, 281 ALEXANDRA ROAD, TEL: 6836 2223 CHARMER ON WHEELS Claudine Ho likes her cars sporty and fast, from the styling and the technical features, to the driving experience. During a recent drive trip with Audi traversing the snow-covered roads of the North Cape in Norway, the spunky events organiser and her husband Colin Chen would be ahead of everyone else in the convoy of Audi SQ7s. For a city ride, she prefers two-door coupes as “they have a sportier…

“I have very specific requirements for my skincare routine because my skin is prone to allergies. I like products that smell and feel natural on my skin. Many of those on the market contain a lot of chemicals and are so processed that they take a toll on your skin in the long-term. As I have to juggle many roles as a wife, mother and the social media ambassador of CornerStone Wines, I need products that are absorbed quickly, and provide hydration for a longer period of time, without leaving a lingering sticky feeling. And of course, they have to prevent my allergy-prone skin from acting up. This is why Sulwhasoo’s products are perfect for me. Not only do they improve my skin condition, they seem to make it more…

With its striking facade fusing sleek glass, lush greenery and abundant natural light, Le Nouvel KLCC by Wing Tai Asia is the newest upscale development within the prestigious Jalan Ampang district in Kuala Lumpur. Sitting on premium real estate, Le Nouvel KLCC faces the Petronas Twin Towers and the Suria KLCC shopping centre, and is well-situated amid other high-end shopping centres, top hotels and corporate offices. The RapidKL LRT is right at its doorstep, and the development is linked to the newly opened MRT and the upcoming Singapore-Kuala Lumpur high-speed rail, making it a convenient address for a second home within the region. Apart from its prestigious and convenient location, Le Nouvel KLCC is an architectural masterpiece conceived by principal architect Jean Nouvel, whose stellar works showcase his keen perception…

Dior perfumer-creator, François Demachy, created the latest iteration of the Miss Dior perfume. He took his inspiration from Christian Dior’s original intention in 1947—to create a fragrance that smells like love. “This is a renewed challenge,” Demachy says, “The composition of the scent has to be exciting and stirring, somewhat wild, yet accessible. To that end, I sculpted the floral facet by emphasising on the power of roses to make it sensual and suggestive. I also dotted it with extremely lively and exuberant notes, so that it would be instantly expressive and attractive. “Lastly, I eliminated any dark, earthy notes. It had to burst forth like love at first sight. A declaration of love, to love!” Natalie Portman, who fronts the campaign for the new Miss Dior eau de parfum…

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CALL OF THE WILD From top: Fuzzy, the Leopard Cat ring decorated with diamonds, emeralds and lacquer; Nara, the Doe ring featuring round diamonds, onyx and sapphires; Masy, the Chameleon ring set with tourmalines, sapphires and tsavorites; Nuri, the Parrot ring embellished with an aquamarine, diamonds, sapphires and tsavorites, all by Boucheron; Opposite, from top: Lierre de Paris ring, earrings and necklace in white gold and diamonds; Fuzzy, the Leopard Cat ring set with a tourmaline, diamonds and emeralds, all by Boucheron…

FAR FROM BEING JUST A BRITISH Secret Intelligence Service agent with the license to kill, the fictional James Bond also holds the rank of commander in the British Royal Navy Reserve. Incidentally, 2017 marks an interesting confluence of anniversaries of the James Bond film franchise: the 50th anniversary of You Only Live Twice, the 40th anniversary of The Spy Who Loved Me, and the 20th anniversary of Tomorrow Never Dies, which all featured Bond in his military uniform. This has inspired Omega to create the Commander’s Watch, based on the Seamaster Pierce Brosnan wore in GoldenEye in 1995—the very first time an Omega appeared on the wrist of Agent 007 following a decision by Lindy Hemming, the film’s costume designer. Unlike the original’s (incidentally, a quartz timepiece) predominantly blue colour…

RHYTHM OF THE NIGHT Can one capture an abstract concept? Cartier has tried to do just that. Its new Résonances de Cartier collection centres on ideas of fluidity, rhythm, cadence, frisson of energy, and undulating pulses—concepts that hint at movement and suggest shapes, but all without any specific concrete form. Such a style is somewhat uncharacteristic of Cartier, whose previous high jewellery collections have taken the form of cacti, panthers, and tutti-frutti confectionary. But we cannot deny that the results are, as expected, artful and elegant. The collection comprises pieces with similarly abstract names that somehow manage to capture the essence of the piece—the Hyperbole necklace-tiara has, for instance, a 140.21-carat square cabochon-cut Colombian emerald that looks like it has been exaggerated into being, while the Orbite ring takes on…

THERE IS MUCH TO LOVE about Thai cuisine, not least its melange of intense flavours that have charmed both royals and the masses, and that continue to woo an increasingly diverse community of diners across all levels. The cuisine is defiantly bold; food that has withstood the test of time and yet continues to evolve in the skilled hands of some of today’s best chefs such as Duangporn “Bo” Songvisava and Dylan Jones, the married duo behind Bo.lan in Bangkok, which ranked 19th on the 2017 Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list. The couple met while working at Australian chef David Thompson’s now-defunct Nahm in London, the very first fine dining Thai restaurant in Europe to earn a Michelin star. Fierce locavores and champions of authenticity, Songvisava and Jones are also…

When the Mid-Autumn Festival comes around every year, the one thing that gets everyone excited is the prospect of delicious, creatively crafted mooncakes made by talented chefs. Li Bai Cantonese Restaurant’s new offerings include two new fruity flavours within the snowskin varietal. The first is the mini snowskin white lotus seed paste with strawberry sea salt truffle, which is naturally sweet with just a touch of saltiness to balance the flavours. Next, the mini snowskin green tea white lotus seed paste with passion fruit truffle has the right level of tartness that makes it light, not cloying. But be warned that this variety is addictive, especially with the lip-smacking surprise in the middle—a bittersweet green tea filling that pairs well with the smooth and silky lotus paste. If you think…

THIS MONTH’S COVER SHOOT WAS even more of an epic logistical undertaking than usual, mainly because we set our sights on photographing eight luxury connoisseurs, to mark the eighth anniversary of luxury mall Ion Orchard. Countless WhatsApp messages flew back and forth as schedules were consulted, shoot dates confirmed, and our styling team secured clothes, accessories, watches and jewellery pieces from close to 20 brands. Besides our eight cover stars, two supportive spouses turned up for moral support, and they almost stole the show. Paulina Böhm not only helped to clear a spot in husband Thomas Welte’s diary for us, she also came to the shoot with her hair twisted in several little coils secured by colourful butterfly clips. There was such a cool Björk-like vibe to the do, but…

THE BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION (BCF) celebrates 20 years of the fight against the life-threatening disease that affects one in 11 women in Singapore. The non-profit organisation looks back on its achievements over the past two decades, which include the establishment of the Men’s Support League that emphasises the role of men in the battle against the disease, and the first-ever Pink Ribbon Parade on October 7, at the Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade, which is expected to draw a crowd of 5,000. A highlight of BCF’s celebration this year is the 20th Anniversary Pink Ribbon Charity Gala on September 29 at The Fullerton Hotel Singapore. Exciting performances planned include an empowering fashion show featuring six breast cancer survivors. There will also be an auction featuring the Double Ribbons Necklace specially designed…

1 BALLET UNDER THE STARS Singapore Dance Theatre presents contemporary works and classical ballets, including Nils Christe’s Organ Concerto (pictured) and the third acts of Coppélia, Sleeping Beauty and Don Quixote, over two weekends at Fort Canning Green. Till September 10. singaporedancetheatre.com 6 THE ROAD TO TAJIMA Chefs Christopher Millar and Florian Ridder of Stellar at 1-Altitude and The Summerhouse, respectively, join hands with Peruvian-born chef Alejandro Saravia of Melbourne restaurant Pastuso for two gastronomic evenings featuring Tajima Wagyu on the menu. Till September 8. 1-altitude.com; thesummerhouse.sg 13 WEST SIDE STORY This musical masterpiece of a pair of star-crossed lovers and two rival gangs in 1950s New York plays out with high-energy dance routines and classic songs such as Maria, Tonight and I Feel Pretty. Till September 24, at MasterCard…

What happens when you have a roomful of young, disruptive talents, Singapore Tatler friends and free-flowing Glenfiddich cocktails that have been specially concocted by the talented mixologists of Jigger & Pony? Arguably the hottest party of the year. The unveiling of the 2017 edition of the Generation T list saw a new batch of 50 passionate innovators, creative talents and big thinkers, aged 40 and under, in diverse industries such as technology, healthcare, F&B, as well as arts and entertainment, who were celebrated at a party at Lulu’s Lounge in Pan Pacific Singapore. But before the real party started, the 2017 Generation T listers were invited for a panel discussion with industry heavyweights who are also part of our Tatler 300 list, including Ron Sim, Richard Eu, Ho Ching Lin…

Cle de Peau Beaute The Foundation With a name like The Foundation, you can be sure that the new addition to Clé de Peau Beauté’s base make-up range won’t disappoint. The Foundation is formulated with the brand’s Illuminating Veil Infusion, a combination of rare extracts such as antioxidant chestnut rose and skin-conditioning chai hu. Unlike conventional foundations, which are designed to mask flaws with high levels of pigment, The Foundation’s gel formula penetrates the skin and helps to diffuse light to soften the appearance of any flaws, restoring a dewy and youthful smoothness to the complexion. Sisley Sisleÿa L’Intégral Anti-Âge Eye and Lip Contour Cream Fine lines are more likely to appear in the delicate eye and lip areas. Sisley’s new cream helps address these concerns with potent extracts of…

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FOOTBALL IS A UNIVERSAL sport with immense mass appeal. According to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or more popularly known as Fifa, the 2014 World Cup was viewed by 3.2 billion viewers, of which one billion watched the final between Argentina and eventual champions Germany. Its reach is definitely very attractive from a sponsor’s perspective, but many luxury marques believe that football is too mass a sport compared to tennis, sailing or golf. Hublot thinks differently. It is totally in love with the beautiful game—obsessed, if you will. For one, it will be the official timekeeper of the Fifa World Cup for the third edition running come 2018. The watchmaker also sponsors several other competitions including the Fifa Confederations Cup, Uefa Euro, Uefa Champions League and Uefa Europa League.…

When it comes to gifting, the Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel raises the bar with the limited-edition Wan Hao baked treasures premium gift set, which houses a set of four luxe mooncakes. Encased in charcoal skin and dusted with gold, the mooncakes offer a refined East-meets-West take on the traditional delicacy, featuring parma ham, pistachios and a single yolk embedded in salted white lotus seed paste. In that same spirit, the Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel forgoes the conventional Chinese tea pairing, and instead presents a bottle of Perrier-Jouët champagne to counter the richness of the mooncakes with the bubbly’s fresh acidity. Furthermore, the double-tiered golden satin chest doubles up as an elegant drawer for jewellery and keepsakes, while the top cover can also be used as a photo frame.…

HELENA BAY isn’t like New Zealand’s other luxury lodges, those stately, homely places, weathered by time and fortune, that cater to affluent travellers looking to fly-fish, hunt, feast on local produce or simply drink in the country’s stunning landscapes. It’s more contemporary, more reserved, more elusive. So elusive, in fact, that I drive right past the entrance as I wind down narrow Russell Road, a tiny byway that clutches the flanks of steep hills as it tumbles into the remote and impossibly beautiful bays of Northland’s east coast. Doubling back, I discover subtle gates and manicured lawns that look rather out of place, and I’m vetted by CCTV before making my way through thick forest to the shoreline of one of the region’s isolated slices of paradise, the lodge’s namesake.…

Maserati has a 102-year history with several ups and downs. It has survived a few ownership changes and eventually when Fiat took the reins, it handed stewardship to Ferrari. This marked the turning point for Maserati as Ferrari technology such as its engine and suspension was used in the 1998 version of its 3200GT, in an effort to revive the ailing marque. Since 1998, Maserati’s fleet has grown from comprising one model to five. The only direct descendant of the 3200GT is the GranTurismo coupe and its convertible sibling. The next project was to develop the fifth-generation Quattroporte, Maserati’s four-door saloon, which made its debut at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. This model is sometimes called Ferrari’s secret four door because of its Ferrari-made naturally aspirated V8 engine, gearbox, Skyhook…

TRAVERSING THE SPRAWLING French countryside and picturesque landscape, the glamorous participants of the Rallye des Princesses covered a gruelling 1,600km race across France over six days. This women-only rally brings together 90 teams from 12 countries across the globe. This year marks its 18th edition, and during the annual springtime affair from Paris to the Riveria, these women are challenged to test their driving and navigating skills while bonding with old friends and new acquaintances. This year, the Princesses’ Rally departed from Place Vendôme in Paris and arrived in Place des Lices in Saint-Tropez five days later. The competing women truly gave meaning tto the saying, “Focus on the journey, not the destination”, as they enjoyed the wondrous landscape of the French countryside in the front seat of vintage automobiles,…