As the driving force behind Chelsea-based interior designers, Intarya, Kamini Ezralow is something of an expert in undertaking jobs for London’s most discerning clientele. Formerly known as Lifestyles (interiors) Intarya combines the shortened form of ‘international’ and ‘interiors’, while ‘arya’ is a Buddhist term for someone who respects good character.

Ezralow’s projects have included overseeing makeovers of expansive private residences, as well as major commercial projects, including highly prestigious commissions such as the penthouses in Dubai’s World Trade Centre. Intarya’s design of Celestial Hope (a mega-yacht) won prizes at the Monaco Boat Show.

The Lancasters, a supremely chic residence situated on the edge of London’s Hyde Park, has also been the recipient of Intarya’s magic touch. This ‘revival’ building has retained its attractive historical features outside, but inside it has been completely transformed, traditional touches existing in harmony with contemporary design.

The basic theme throughout is that of the Grand Tour, a custom that thrived amongst the upper classes from about the 1660s until the 1840s, when wealthy young men would travel through Europe on a cultural pilgrimage. Their tendency to buy vast quantities of mementoes as they moved from country to country resulted in an increasingly eclectic style of interior design that showcased artistic trends from across the continent. (more…)

The name Roche Bobois is synonymous with quality and style, its position in the luxury furniture market as strong as ever, so the company’s 50th anniversary was the perfect moment to launch its latest manifesto: The 10 Commandments of Design.

Enlisting the assistance of France’s bad boy of design, Jean-Paul Gaultier, the 50th anniversary collection is a genuinely stunning blend of a classic furniture brand’s coming together with one of the main players in 21st century fashion.

Roche Bobois has a long history of working with designers from the world of haute couture, Emanuel Ungaro and Kenzo Takada being just two of the major names to be associated with this illustrious furniture company. One of the enduring traits of Roche Bobois has been the fact that it’s never been afraid to embrace new ideas, which probably accounts at least in part for its success and longevity.

Jean-Paul Gaultier started his career with a carefully cultivated reputation as high fashion’s clown prince, but with the passing of the years he has been embraced as a truly original creator of some of Europe’s most striking and unique fashion.

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Forever associated with the classical music inspired by the waters of the Danube River that flows through its heart, and the Baroque palaces and operas built to give those immortal tunes a home of their own, Vienna is also a wonderful city in many other ways.

One might be tempted to think of the Austrian capital as an open-air museum, where waltzes play to a backdrop of elegant classical buildings and handsome couples dressed in their finery, yet even though this is one of the best preserved cities in the world Vienna is very much a vibrant, modern metropolis too.

The imperial splendour of the past is cherished, but with a quarter of Austria’s population within its agglomeration this could only be a dynamic place. Inspired perhaps by the Parisian model, Vienna’s city centre retains a pristine homogeny of classical architecture, with the modern high-rise such as that of the United Nations complex concentrated on its periphery. (more…)

So you may be more accustomed to seeing car reports on Ferraris, Lambos, Bentleys, Rollers and 300k Mercedes, but if articles like this are to do more than allow us to salivate over cars that only a privileged few can really afford then maybe it’s worthwhile to discover that there is a lot of driving fun to had in the affordable price bracket too.

Which is why I decided to focus on the imminent launch of the Mini Clubman, expected to hit showrooms across Europe and America early next year. It seemed appropriate, too, as this pint-sized estate seems just the accessory to take shopping—it looks better on you than a designer handbag and it fits a hell of a lot more goodies too.

But seriously, the Mini Clubman builds on the immense success of the New Mini, as designed by American Frank Stephenson – whose mother was born in Málaga. Incidentally, the very same man who has created the new Fiat 500, also expected to hit showrooms early in 2008. As these two projects bear out, Stephenson is a designer of great ability; a master of retro design, a genre notorious as a minefield. Where so many have failed and created an ill-fated pastiche of nostalgia, Stephenson produced a modern classic with his New Mini, and he seems set to repeat this feat with the new Fiat. (more…)

The Grand Hotel Bellevue is a jewel of opulence, style and comfort in the millionaire’s playground of Gstaad. All around are the valleys and wooded slopes of a paradisiacal Swiss landscape, green in summer and white winter wonderland at this time of the year.

In keeping with its jet-set location Bellevue is indeed a Grand Hotel in the finest of traditions—a place where well-travelled people come to be pampered in unabashed luxury. No need to apologise for having a good time here, it’s understood that that’s what people come for, and with sumptuously styled suites, fine dining restaurants, jet-set night spots and one of the best spas in Europe, it’s exactly what they get. (more…)