This article titled "Tilda Swinton: We need to talk about eccentricity" was written by Andrew Anthony, for The Observer on Saturday 14th May 2011 23.05 UTCThe word last week in Cannes was that Tilda Swinton is perfectly cast in We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lynne Ramsay's film of Lionel Shriver's novel that is one of the favourites to win the Palme d'Or. The news comes as no surprise because Swinton is one of those rare actresses who never leaves an audience wondering what another actor might have been like in a part she has played. As soon as you see her, it's impossible to imagine anyone else taking her place.This is due in part to the way she looks – like no one else. A whole thesaurus of adjectives – haunting, androgynous, ethereal – has failed to describe her singular appearance. Better to imagine the offspring that would result if David Bowie's ...

[caption id="attachment_1204" align="aligncenter" width="365" caption="Bespoke Burchells Zebra "Percival" Wing Chair"][/caption]   Benedict Wormald, connoisseur of British bespoke and artisanal luxury , decided to share his passion and resources of this niche British luxury  by becoming a purveyor founding the Fine English Company in 2009. Wormald supports British craftsmanship using traditional artisanal skills and materials with a modern, yet classic design.  Fine English Company's products are clearly inspired from traditional British sports, past times and history, with references to the military, architecture, automotive, aeronautical, hunting and polo to name a few. The bespoke Burchells Zebra "Percival" wing chair, named after famous British safari hunter Philip Hope Percival, was conceived to combine the best of African safari furniture with English refinement.  Using the finest Burchells zebra, aniline hides, black walnut legs and beechwood frames, along with immaculate artisanship reflected throughout the chair, especially in the life-like ball and claw carving the "Percival" chair is quite an impressive conversation piece. A ...

  Brando wanted Tetiaroa to 'remain forever a place that reminds Tahitians of who they are and what they were centuries ago'. Photograph: Douglas Peebles/Corbis   This article titled "Marlon Brando's Tahitian idyll to become luxury eco-resort" was written by Dalya Alberge, for The Observer on Saturday 14th May 2011 23.06 UTCMarlon Brando would flee to the South Pacific idyll of Tetiaroa when the glare of the international spotlight became too much. Now, seven years after his death, his eight surviving children have united to build an eco-resort on the atoll in his honour, complete with a 0m (£90m) luxury hotel called "The Brando".Construction has begun on an environmentally sensitive complex which the film star's friends and family believe he would have wanted for Tetiaroa, a 2.5 sq mile, 13-islet chain encircled by a coral reef, the name of which in translation implies its remoteness.Brando leased Tetiaroa for 0,000, having fallen in love with ...

Liu Wen became the first Asian to appear in the Victoria's Secret fashion show. Photograph: Startraks Photo/Rex Features This article titled "Chinese models stride the catwalk as the west eyes China's rich fashion market" was written by Tania Branigan, for The Observer on Saturday 14th May 2011 23.05 UTCAs a young girl growing up in Wenzhou, southern China's "capital of capitalism", Sui He had a dream: to become a self-made businesswoman.At 21, she is approaching the top, living in New York and flying around the world. But instead of becoming a hard-nosed entrepreneur, she is rising through the ranks of an equally cut-throat industry – as one of a new breed of Chinese models strolling the catwalks of London, Milan and New York."Editorial look and natural poise all the way," gushed one fashion blogger; "a delicate air that shifts to hard edge in a blink," raved another. Designers are equally enthusiastic: ...

[caption id="attachment_1193" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Richochet by Roberto Mollá"][/caption]   On May 12th, Spain-based artist Roberto Mollá will be opening his first major presentation of art on canvas in the US at Christina Ray gallery in Soho, NYC.  Mollá's exhibition "Richochet" will consist of a new series of paintings, along with large-scale drawings on graph paper.  Mollá's new body of work consists of abstract, geometric compositions with a tightly limited color palette of grey and black. Early 20th century, American graphic designer Edward McKnight Kauffer,  who's best known for his posters for the London Underground, was a major influence in Mollá's latest series.  The "Kauffer" inspired clusters of intersecting triangles operate as abstract explosions or, as the artist describes them, "vorticist blasts." American artist Shepard Fairey, who created the famous Barack Obama "Hope" poster is a collector of Mollá's work,has written of Mollá, “the tension between all these elements is fascinating. At a glance they are graphically powerful, but then they ...

DINNER-PARTY conversations about house prices, newspapers packed with ads for glitzy show-homes and properties changing hands for twice their price three years ago: recently Brazil’s business capital, São Paulo, has felt a lot like pre-bust London or New York. The property fever there and in other Latin American countries makes some fear that the region’s economic renaissance may have become over-exuberant. But the housing boom is grounded in rising prosperity rather than excessive debt. In select parts of Brazil’s big cities, property prices are certainly racing ahead. IBOPE Inteligência, a research firm pioneering the country’s first statistically sound house-price index, says that in 2010 the average price of a new apartment in São Paulo rose by around a quarter and by much more in the poshest areas. Estate agents claim prices in such choice locations are up by 80% in three years; and that in similar parts of Rio de Janeiro, boosted by the ...

  (Reuters) - France granted a few top hotels the right to call themselves a "palace" on Thursday, a label which distinguishes them from rivals and is designed to boost the country's profile as a luxury destination. The eight winners of the accolade include Paris hotels Meurice and Plaza-Athenee, both owned by the Sultan of Brunei, as well as the Bristol hotel, owned by Germany's Oetker family. "We expect significant commercial and notoriety boosts from this accolade," Didier Le Calvez, head of the Bristol told Reuters. Continue reading France doles out new palace label to top hotels | Reuters. Related posts:Orient Express Hotels Ltd. Sells Luxury Hotel for $44.2 Million …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Orient-Express Hotels Ltd., owners and part owners of over... The 5 Top Luxury Hotels in the World Indulgent Stays for the Luxury Traveler From swanky to traditional... Russians Overcoming Economic Hardship in Paris ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. The fourth largest luxury buyer in the world, Russia,...

For a common man it could seem like just another bill of currency, but for a connoisseur like Ghoolam Mohammed it was a goose that could lay a golden egg. A numismatist (collector of coins, paper currency or medals), philatelist and an art collector, Ghoolam Mohammed from Mauritius, was on holiday with his family in Dubai recently. Apart from the usual belongings a tourist would have with him Mohammed had in his possession a British five-pound bill, which, he claims, is unique. A glance or two would suggest nothing unique — the usual design, the normal paper and the good old queen with her benign smile. But look closer and something would strike you. One would feel there is something amiss, rather something that is weird. Look at it again; there is this very familiar face smiling at you but there is something especially different about it. No, it’s not the lips, neither ...

Jean Paul Gaultier, the French designer whose fashion house has been in partnership with Hermès since 1999, said Tuesday that the Puig Beauty and Fashion Group, a Spanish company whose primary focus is perfumes, was acquiring a controlling 60 percent share of the company. Hermès said it had agreed to sell its 45 percent stake in Gaultier to Puig for 16 million euros, or about $24 million, and the Spanish company will also assume 14 million euros in debt. Hermès said last month that it was in talks with several potential buyers for Gaultier. “I am delighted with this move for a house that is dear to our heart,” Patrick Thomas, the Hermès chief executive, said in a statement. “I am convinced that the alliance between Jean Paul Gaultier and the Puig family will take the house to new highs.”   Read more at Hermès Sells Gaultier Fashion House Stake to Puig - NYTimes.com. Related posts:Hermès Handling the ...

NEW YORK — “When I saw her sitting in the car, I knew it was McQueen and for the first half hour I couldn’t stop crying — it brought home how much I miss him,’ said Alexander McQueen’s sister Janet McQueen of the “bittersweet” experience of watching the royal wedding last week. Members of the designer’s family are in New York for the posthumous celebration at the Metropolitan Museum of Art of Mr. McQueen, whose British team, led by Sarah Burton, created Catherine Middleton’s bridal gown. The sweet serenity of that pristine lace dress is a far cry from the work shown in the exhibition, which celebrates Mr. McQueen’s wild, unfettered and dark imagination: gothic Victoriana, dresses tufted with blood-red feathers, decorated with dying flowers or rattling with clamshells. The weird, wonderful accessories alone send a tingle down the spine — especially when horns appear as protuberances from the shoulders, or platform shoes seem ...