Moving Fast Under Sail
I am a dedicated monohull man. For the past thirty years I have progressed from being a delivery skipper (in my pre-resume days) to chartering a broad variety of bare boats all over the world.
(Category: Blogs: Doug Richard | Author: Doug Richard)
The Value for Luxury Market
There is a myth about in the world that luxury items are price independent. If something is primarily sold for its premium qualities, goes the myth, you are supposed to be insensitive to the price.
(Category: Blogs: Doug Richard | Author: Doug Richard)
Content Matching 'luxury' in Blogs: Patrick Gruhn
Global Economic Efficiency
We live in an ever accelerating, ever more challenging (business) world. The corporate society is captivated by technology as response times have to be decreased constantly. People become ever faster with their mobile phones, high speed internet, WiFi at the coffee shop and ultimately their “CrackBerries”.
(Category: Blogs: Patrick Gruhn | Author: Patrick Gruhn)
Private Equity. The Bubble That Wasn't
The world press is loudly debating a bubble in the private equity sector, yet this assumption is rather bold; I’ll tell you why… The jitters about the PE sector that have been expressed in the recent past rely on the fact that large private equity firms use “cheap money” to finance their big (leveraged) buy-out transactions (LBOs).
(Category: Blogs: Patrick Gruhn | Author: Patrick Gruhn)
An Introduction to Private Equity
Private equity is a wide sector. Those who don’t know it from up close may have the impression that it is only the biggest players who get to participate on this level. Today, the private equity sector is no longer closed to the average investor. Much has happened since the raiders of the ‘80s swept the lands and stripped businesses for their profits. In a way, private equity has simply become more civilized.
(Category: Blogs: Patrick Gruhn | Author: Patrick Gruhn)
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(Category: Company Information | Author: LM)
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(Category: Company Information | Author: LM)
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Please read these terms and conditions carefully, as using or purchasing from our website means you agree to them.
(Category: Company Information | Author: LM)
Content Matching 'luxury' in Features
Portuguese Strokes
Departing the UK on an early morning flight in January, it was just a couple of hours before the plane was descending on to the red-earthed landscape of the Algarve. Leaving a dreary, wet, dark England behind, green oases were now scattered across the sun stricken ground beneath, promising recreational treats for most of the airliner’s cabin.
(Category: Features | Author: Peter Rear)
The Boys of Bremont
For Giles and I, our interest in all things mechanical began as young children. Our weekends and evenings were spent with our father in his workshop, tinkering with balsa wood, cogs and wheels and any other ‘spare’ materials we could find lying around. Our father was an incredible engineer.
(Category: Features | Author: Nick English)
The Death of Luxury
The death of luxury has been overly heralded and grossly simplified. Some see the idea as provocative. Some see a certain karmic justice in the idea. And still others use a down turn in the economy as an indicator that the luxury world is superfluous and fluffy: that when in a financial pinch, the average luxury consumer will abandon his or her extravagant ways in favour of a solid rational purchasing habit.
(Category: Features | Author: Alex Ducksworth)
Unlimited Potential
Right now it’s an interesting time up at the top of the market – whether you are talking about supercars, private jets, luxury properties, investments or anything else on the radar of the super rich. Everywhere you look people are shouting out about the explosion of wealth, and how there are more people with more money than ever before.
(Category: Features | Author: Sam Elshafey)
London Hen Nights
As the years pass my bridesmaid CV is unfortunately becoming more and more extensive, each year though the level of difficulty increases with an advancement in responsibility. I found myself this December a Chief bridesmaid to my cousin Zara and in the tricky position of organising a ‘Hen Party’ for some pretty trendy girls about town and so the challenge began of organizing a ‘Luxury Hen’.
(Category: Features | Author: Grace Vane Percy)
The Barber of Seville
February may be over (as is the Ides of March and Easter too), but romance is still in the (Arctic!) air for Vanessa Threapleton-Horrocks, who left London behind for the heady heights of the Big Apple in order to bring Lusso readers the next operatic review in the series, (in what is fast becoming a global cultural mission!), direct from the stalls at the Met…
(Category: Features | Author: Vanessa Threapleton Horrocks)
Serenity in the Seychelles
Meditating upon the madness that is flying today, it’s hard to recall the beautiful things in life when withstanding the relatively restricted comforts of a 12-hour flight. But all this dissipates into thin air once the airbus begins its decent down towards the Indian Ocean, and glancing wistfully into the aeroplane’s familiarly meagre oval window, one proceeds to stare across into the heavens mid-flight or to smile smugly in childish awe at the Lilliputian-sized toy towns that seem to reside so peacefully beneath the wings.
(Category: Features | Author: Vanessa Threapleton Horrocks)
La Cenerentola
What better time is there than the festive season to embark upon a pilgrimage to London’s finest opera institution, where lofty tones and intricately-crafted songs are uttered with exacting dexterity and harmony, amidst the dramatic dome-like backdrop where audiences meet operatic stars in all their vocal glory.
(Category: Features | Author: Vanessa Threapleton Horrocks)
The Coast of Dreams
Looking out from the balcony of Noriega’s Punta Paloma show apartment in Manilva at the glass like Mediterranean Sea, you would almost think that the scene had been retouched in Photoshop. The sky is clear blue, matching the sea with its colour saturation, and with the sun burning at a very nice 75 degrees Fahrenheit, you would be mistaken for believing it was the height of summer.
(Category: Features | Author: Darren Laws)
Jenny Packham
Designer Jenny Packham has to be one of the UK’s most successful exports in the fashion industry. Internationally renowned for her fantastic collections of breathtaking dresses, Jenny’s designs have graced many red-carpet events, with a star fan base that includes Keira Knightly, Sarah Jessica Parker, Halle Berry, Beyonce and Helena Christensen.
(Category: Features | Author: Sarah Hardy)
Buying a Bugatti Veyron
It is no wonder HR Owen is such a successful dealership; not content with selling me two Lamborghinis and a Carrera GT in the last year and a half, more recently they decided I was a prime target for an even bigger fish. It was not long after I had taken delivery of the CGT when another phone call came through from them.
(Category: Features | Author: Arash Farboud)
Lost in Luxury
Bermuda’s breathtaking setting has inspired writers for centuries, from William Shakespeare, who used the island as an inspiration for “The Tempest”, to Mark Twain who once wrote, “You go to heaven if you want, I’ll stay here in Bermuda”. Breathtaking pink-sand beaches line the coastline, iridescent turquoise waters surround the island and lush tropical vegetation fills the landscape.
(Category: Features | Author: Peter Rear)
Indian Ocean Hideaway
The sun has fully set, leaving a cool breeze, warm air and crisp night. I left an air conditioned hotel room and wander past the flame-lit swimming pools and numerous restaurants wafting exotic flavours and live jazz into the warm evening air, a welcome environment to be in after a stuffy 12-hour Air Mauritius flight from London Heathrow.
(Category: Features | Author: Daniel Sharp)
The Luck of the Stylish
Irish fashion is on the boil right now thanks to champions of the cause, Enterprise Ireland, who are flying the Irish flag of fashion across the globe, working to promote an impressive number of innovative designers. Dublin-based Aideen Bodkin launched her label eight years ago after studying design at The National College of Art and Design, where she won several prestigious awards as a student designer.
(Category: Features | Author: Erica Compton)
Escaping New York City
As a boy, the impending departure for a holiday abroad brought great excitement and sleepless nights. The adventure wasn’t just about the destination and the promise of waterslides, swimming pools and meals with grown ups, I was excited about the travel aspect too. The drama of the airport, shopping in duty free and the chance to inspect the plane’s cockpit.
(Category: Features | Author: Brett Gregory Peake)
A Guide to Polo
The sport of polo is experiencing its greatest growth spurt since it ceased to be an Olympic sport after The Second World War. In its hey day, from the late Victorian era to the 1930’s, polo was revered as the “Sport of Kings”.
(Category: Features | Author: Johnny Lynn)
The Boodles Challenge
It was our first official visit to the Boodles Challenge this year, held at the prestigious Stoke Park Club in Buckinghamshire. We arrived at noon and made our way through the gates towards the tennis courts. Scattered across the grounds, the marquees transform the gardens of Stoke Park into an exciting and atmospheric summer event.
(Category: Features | Author: Daniel Sharp)
Interview: Sir Rocco Forte
LUSSO: "What defines a ‘Rocco Forte Hotel’?" SIR ROCCO: A number of things, but to start with a Rocco Forte hotel is never too big, this creates an intimate atmosphere so you can treat each guest as an individual.
(Category: Features | Author: Daniel Sharp)
Desert Pentominum
Sheikh Rashid’s audacious vision for Dubai surviving past the oil boom has seen the tiny city-state undergo a miraculous transformation in the past forty years. Propagated by an economic shift towards tourism, shipping, mass communications and finance, Dubai has become an oasis of political and religious moderation, blooming in the somewhat scary Middle East.
(Category: Features | Author: Matt Watkinson)
No Spain No Gain
I confess I’d barely heard of Noriega before I was posted off to sun-drenched Malaga to investigate. It wasn’t long before the world of Spanish-luxury-living unravelled itself before me. In Spain Noriega is a household name with an exclusive label attached to it; if your friends hear you’ve bought one of their properties they’ll soon be dropping by to check it out.
(Category: Features | Author: Tina Hillier)
Your Carriage Awaits
There’s a wonderful sense of freedom in leaving behind the concrete city skyscrapers and surrounding yourself with soaring mountains and calm lochs - something so definitive to the Highlands of Scotland as its history of warring clans.
(Category: Features | Author: Annemarie de Greef)
Hebridean Chic
Talk of ‘going green’ and reducing the carbon foot print is doing our home grown tourism the world of good. Suddenly, there is nothing more fashionable than popping down to Cornwall for a surf or borrowing a country pile from the Big House Company and filling it with a bunch of friends for the weekend.
(Category: Features | Author: Brett Gregory-Peake)
Floris. Part One
The renaissance of bespoke has been a gradual process, but as the century turned, with the elite looking for ever more unique ways of spending their disposable income, I suppose it was somewhat inevitable. Long established luxury goods providers have been looking to their well-planted roots for the means to move forward, flourish still further in their specialist sectors and mark their territory in the new millennium.
(Category: Features | Author: Grace Vane Percy)
Longchamp
Paris in 1948 was a city in post-war celebration. Soldiers crowded the city’s cafes smoking their pipes and it was Jean Cassegrain, a purveyor of smoking accessories, that recognised a gap in the market for a speciality product that would capture the celebration and luxury of the post-war era.
(Category: Features | Author: Sarah Hardy)
Classic Sailing
Recovering from my experience on XSMG’s monstrous XSR48 powerboat, I needed to get over my newfound fear of boating. What should fall through the letterbox the following week but an invitation for a few days on a luxury 80ft Bermudan yacht; that should do the trick.
(Category: Features | Author: Peter Rear)
City Quarter
City Quarter is the spectacular £200 million transformation of the historic Goodmans Field site in Whitechapel, former depot and sugar refinery, into a landmark development of stylish one, two and three bedroom apartments and penthouses.
(Category: Features | Author: Lusso Magazine)
Vanilla Spice
We had been invited to visit by the entrepreneur Peter de Savary – the man with a big history in developing and responsible for over 25 international resorts and private clubs including the St James Clubs worldwide, Cherokee Plantation in Carolina, Bovey Castle on Dartmoor, the Aboco Club in the Bahamas and, venue of Madonna’s wedding, the Carnegie Club at Skibo Castle, Scotland.
(Category: Features | Author: Al Fox)
Italy's Finest
Of all the countries in the world, Italy is perhaps the most magical. From the magnificent mountains and lakes of the north, through enchanted walled villages and splendid cities, to the sun-baked beaches and islands of the south, it really is the perfect European holiday destination.
(Category: Features | Author: Lusso Magazine)
Assoufid
In the ‘40s and ‘50s, Marrakech hit the headlines as Winston Churchill’s favourite hideaway. Sheltered from the sun by a parasol, the former prime minister could often be found hidden amongst the rose gardens of the Mamounia, indulging in his passion for painting. In the ‘60s and ‘70s the world watched as the city became the hedonistic playground for the artistic icons of the age, including The Stones, Warhol, Yves St Laurent and the Beatles.
(Category: Features | Author: Brett Gregory-Peake)
Dogfighting over the Baltic Sea
The tension conducts like sheet lightning through the pit crews and spectators as the drone of horsepower rumbles ominously above. The calm before the storm is suddenly broken by the crackle of the VHF radio “Pole leader, this is Air Boss...you have the green flag. Start the race.”
(Category: Features | Author: Jeff Zaltman)
Richard Raymond - Cannes Film Festival
Someone once told me that being a movie star was like walking on water – you can either do it, or you can’t. Taking this into context, funding the actual movie – from a young film producer’s point of view (mine) – is, most definitely, a hell of a lot harder! So thus brings me to the Cannes Film Festival, sixty years young with all the fantastically beautiful and somewhat deceiving glitz and sparkling red carpet glamour.
(Category: Features | Author: Richard Raymond)
From Greenville to Greenville
The junction signs here are split up into three sections; lodgings, gas and fuel... there’s a Waffle House every 3 exits and there are probably more “hotels” along this stretch of freeway than there are in all of central London. We can only be the ‘deep south’ - America’s southern states.
(Category: Features | Author: Daniel Sharp)
A Descent to Luxury
What do you think constitutes an expensive chalet? Would it be £10,000 a week for 10 people, or even £20,000? Well, if you are looking for chalets with Descent, then these kinds of numbers are pretty run of the mill.
(Category: Features | Author: David Walston)
The quintessential English hotel
As I approached the large Georgian House, slowly rolling up the private drive, I could sense the grandeur. Set in seven acres of immaculate formal gardens, with several wings of accommodation, my residence for the weekend had a distinct imperial feel to it. Booked in to the Jane Eyre penthouse suite, with butler service to suit, I looked forward to a retreat at this quintessentially English destination.
(Category: Features | Author: Peter Rear)
Modern Ancient Greece
Thessaloniki sounds rather like a lesser known Greek Island but it’s actually Greece’s second City, and one of Europe’s oldest. With a population of over one million it’s certainly a City full of surprises.
(Category: Features | Author: Al Fox)
Saint-Hill Couture - A Labour of Love
It may well come as a surprise in a market saturated with luxury ready-to-wear that the art of couture is thriving in the heart of Belgravia. Just a stone’s throw from Harvey Nichols lies Kinnerton Street, an elite enclave for royalty, writers and artists and home to the breathtaking work of Saint-Hill Couture.
(Category: Features | Author: Emily Jukes)
Liberty of London
One of our most famous and stylish stores in London has undergone a renaissance, marking this new era with the launch of their very own brand, a new bespoke tailoring service and the redesign of their breathtaking central atrium.
(Category: Features | Author: Sarah Hardy)
Designs for All Occasions
Interior designer Esther Bond is renowned for her bold use of colour, imaginative lighting and accent on luxurious textured patterns. Leading a 25 strong team from the Camberley head quarters of her company, ‘Designs For All Occasions’, Esther has been at the forefront of interior design for more than fifteen years.
(Category: Features | Author: David Walston)
Lux500
The luxury market is full of concierge companies who offer their services to the masses, or specific clubs which concentrate their efforts on one particular product such as cars or yachts. However consumers of such luxury services invariably have penchant for a wide range of such services, which can ideally be seamlessly interwoven.
(Category: Features | Author: Charles Bagshaw)
Windermere's Lakeside Retreat
Sweeping into the driveway late on a Friday night, we were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by doormen dressed in black tie. Not something all too familiar in the north of England. Our bags and car were taken around to the rear of the hotel to our lodge, whilst we were led through the main entrance of the hotel.
(Category: Features | Author: Peter Rear)
The G Hotel
For months I’d heard whispers about a fabulous new hotel in Galway so I became determined to find out more. The g Hotel has been recognised by Conde Nast Traveller’s Hot List 2006 as one of the best new hotels in the world so it was clearly something special.
(Category: Features | Author: Al Fox)
A Luxury Adventure with Holland & Holland.
On London’s Bruton Street, nestled amongst Stella McCartney and Matthew Williamson, lies the extraordinary store of Holland & Holland. Nothing could be further from the values of its neighbour Stella, than the company who embraces the world of hunting and shooting. Indeed, on entering the store you will come face to face with the head of a zebra, no doubt a prize possession of Harris Holland who founded the business in 1835.
(Category: Features | Author: Sarah Hardy)
Bamford and Sons
The Old Bank in Sloane Square houses the flagship store of the rapidly growing luxury brand Bamford & Sons. Their ambition to make beautifully designed, practical clothes that give lasting pleasure has been fulfilled and, in the space of three years, the business has acquired three stores, including its first in Notting Hill in 2004 and a boutique in Wimbledon this year. This autumn saw a concession opened in Harrods and the brand has also launched in the United States, exclusively at Bergdorf Goodman, NYC.
(Category: Features | Author: Sarah Hardy)
Life Support - Armoured Range Rovers
Whilst the Armoured Range Rover offers the pinnacle in protection on the road for those who require this kind of safety, I left the Brittany armouring facility understanding why it is chosen for so many other reasons.
(Category: Features | Author: Peter Rear)
Purdey
Enter the world of Purdey and you will enter a world of luxury, outstanding craftsmanship and remarkable attention to detail. This is a sporting brand internationally renowned for quality, innovation and excellence for almost two hundred years.
(Category: Features | Author: Sarah Hardy)
London Fashion Week Sept '07
London Fashion Week is upon us once more and ‘tis the season to be jolly for every fashionista heading down to the Natural History Museum and other hot venues around the capital. But what’s it all about and how can you get a piece of the action? Well Lusso is here to give you the low down on whose who, the ones to watch and how to get your hands on some designer bargains at the end of a fashion packed week.
(Category: Features | Author: Sarah Hardy)
The Haves and the Have-Yachts
The alarm clock explodes. It is 5am. I pull back the curtains to find a grey morning with a thin drizzle. Writing for Lusso is rough work – but someone’s got to do it. Shave, shower and a cup of AA Chagga coffee from H.R. Higgins (Coffee Man).
(Category: Features | Author: Oliver Walston)
Gastro Lombardia
The words ‘fly-drive’ are seldom associated with luxury and comfort. Instead they conjure up images of thrill seeking students braving the desert in a beaten-up Ford Taurus or a family of five cramped into a minivan smelling of nappies and baby wipes.
(Category: Features | Author: Brett Gregory-Peake)
Phantom of the Opera
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars kindly invited Lusso to its HQ at Goodwood in Sussex to tour the factory and take out a Rolls-Royce Phantom for the afternoon. Hey, who were we to refuse?
(Category: Features | Author: Al Fox)
The Bogus Fungi Man
If you go down to the woods today, you’d better go with a guide. Especially if today’s the day you decide to start picking, cooking and eating your own mushrooms. Because although only a dozen or so of the 4000 odd varieties of mushroom and toadstool littering Britain’s autumnal forest floors are properly poisonous, that malevolent fistful of fungi have, to a man, spitefully elected to perfectly mimic only the very tastiest specimens on offer.
(Category: Features | Author: Anthony ffrench Constant)
Time Honoured Tradition
Historically, Savile Row has been the dominant tailoring centre of the Western world. It has produced for many, if not all, the world leaders, diplomats, industrialists and financiers. Savile Row came into being some hundred years ago and, at its height, comprised of hundreds of individual tailoring firms which, in turn, employed thousands of tailors.
(Category: Features | Author: Darren Beaman)
A Century of Writing History
Conway Stewart has been creating luxury writing instruments for one hundred years. Perfectly balanced and a delight to hold, a Conway Stewart pen will enhance any handwriting style, while offering a supremely satisfying and pleasurable writing experience
(Category: Features | Author: Glenn Jones)
The Farmer, The Engraver and The Scottish Gun Maker
For a country bumpkin, who rarely crosses the parish boundaries let alone the county borders, an invitation to go to Scotland for a couple of days came as a bit of a surprise.
However the lure of visiting David McKay Brown, the famed Scottish gun maker, for a ‘shooting nut’ like me, was too much to miss.
(Category: Features | Author: Dick Arbon)
Collector's Item
Think expensive watch: think Rolex. Which may explain why nobody has ever had their hand cut off for a Patek Philippe or a Breguet. It also explains why the Rolex stand at the Basel Fair was at least twice as big as any other. The importance of Rolex to the luxury watch industry may also be seen from the fact that eighty five percent of all the officially-certified chronometers made in Switzerland come from the Rolex manufactory.
(Category: Features | Author: Barnabas Wilkinson)
Content Matching 'luxury' in Lusso Editions
Edition 7: January - March 2007
After beginning with the classic and all important luxury news, this edition of Lusso magazine launches straight into the product reviews and gift ideas section. With a variety of thought out gift ideas for everyone in the family, ranging from gadgets and gizmos for a few hundred pounds to a £5,000 bottle of Cognac and a £30,000 advent calendar.
(Category: Lusso Editions | Author: Lusso Magazine)
Content Matching 'luxury' in Lusso Magazine Media Center
Content Matching 'luxury' in Lusso Magazine Media Center: Profiles
Al Fox
With the term “luxury” being used to describe more and more travel experiences these days, Al feels his mission is to separate the wheat from the chaff and discover which destinations actually live up to their promise. Highlights so far include paragliding over Swiss mountains, dining on a millionaire’s super yacht in the West Indies, and sleeping in minus six degrees in Sweden’s Ice Hotel.
(Category: Lusso Magazine Media Center: Profiles | Author: Al Fox)
