Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines
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Hot style 20
Text Tabitha Lasley
Discover who to look out for in 2008, as well as the best of the new hotels, restaurants and spas opening across Europe
Carine Gilson
Brussels
Lingerie probably isn’t the first thing that springs to mind when you think of Brussels, but Carine Gilson’s sumptuous collection is set to change all that. Made with Chantilly lace and hand-stitched silk in beautiful jewel colours, it’s probably the most seductive underwear in the world.
The Franklin
London
In a district most often associated with ostentation, the understated elegance of the Franklin will come as a (discreet) breath of fresh air. Set to open in Knightsbridge this spring, the hotel’s 40 rooms will come complete with Italian linen, hand-tufted rugs and gorgeous Jo Malone goodies.
MObar
Geneva
The Mandarin Oriental’s new bar throws open its doors in June. Serving up the finest exotic cocktails in stylish surroundings conceived by acclaimed interior designer/ architect Adam Tihany, it’s set to put Geneva on the sophisticated drinker’s map, and should delight the hotel’s guests and locals alike.
www.mandarinoriental.com/geneva
Nimb Hotel
Copenhagen
Once the jewel in Tivoli’s crown, Nimb will be restored to its former glory this spring. The boutique hotel may be located in one of Copenhagen’s most charming quarters, but with a dairy, restaurant and delicatessen under its roof it’s doubtful you’ll feel the need to venture outside!
Aquavit Stockholm
Swedish chef Marcus Samuelsson is coming home this February to open the Stockholm arm of his renowned New York restaurant Aquavit. Housed in the new Clarion Hotel Sign, the restaurant will be dishing out accomplished Scandinavian cuisine alongside stunning views of the city.
Claire Morgan
Newcastle
University of Northumbria graduate Claire Morgan is fast becoming one of Britain’s most talked-about young artists. Having won the Royal British Society of Sculptors Annual Bursary and Milan’s Premio Fondazione Arnaldo Pomodoro, she was recently granted a much sought-after spot at Pia Getty’s prestigious Frieze Art Fair pre-party. And rightly so. In an industry dogged by the inaccessible, her breathtaking installations prompt visceral reactions from just about everyone who sees them. Gorgeous stuff.
Chedi Spa
Milan
Headed by Henri Chenot, whose anti-ageing treatments have made him a favourite with celebrities the world over, the eagerly awaited Chedi Spa finally opens its doors in April. Take-no-prisoners treatments such as the detoxifying phytomud therapy mean that, come spring, Chedi will be on the speed dial of every well-heeled Milanese.
Grims Grenka
Oslo
Oslo’s first five-star design hotel opens to much fanfare this month. Rooms will be decked out in warm-toned woods and rich colours, and will include huge free-standing baths and Bang & Olufsen stereos.
Antonakis Christodoulou
Athens
Already causing a stir in his home town, Athenian artist Antonakis Christodoulou draws inspiration from his country’s rich literary heritage. Imagine a modern take on local legends, old films and Greek soap operas and you’re halfway there.
Zoe McCarthy
Brussels
2007 was undoubtedly Belgian-based blogger Zoe McCarthy’s year. Her acerbic sideswipes at family life picked up Best European Blog at the Weblog Awards (or Bloggies) for the third year running, and were also published under the suitably straight-talking title My Boyfriend is a Twat. Not bad for a site that McCarthy readily admits is “mainly rants about my household”. She’s currently working on her second book, so watch this space.
Kempinski Hotel Dukes’ Palace
Bruges
Capitalising on the Belgian city’s strong sense of history, Bruges’s newest boutique hotel is in the newly restored 15th-century Prinsenhof. Opening in March, it intends to redefine palatial luxury – think Regency stripes on the walls and priceless paintings above the beds.
Fin Oslo
When Keira Knightley and Kate Bosworth start waxing lyrical about your clothes, you know your star’s firmly in the ascendant. This is the case for Norwegian label Fin, whose collection of carbon-neutral, organic and Fairtrade clothes has pulled off the double whammy of being both ethically sound and enduringly elegant.
L’Anima
London
Having left his indelible stamp on east London’s landscape during the 1990s, acclaimed Italian architect Claudio Silvestrin returns to the hinterlands of Shoreditch this January with L’Anima. The brainchild of Francesco Mazzei, the restaurant will serve classic Calabrian dishes such as zitoni with aubergine and mandarin soufflé with chocolate.
1 Snowden Street, London, tel.
Adam Tensta
Stockholm
Currently making waves in his native Stockholm, Adam Tensta’s brand of hip hop takes its conscious cue from similarly sentient rappers Common and Mos Def, touching on everything from teachers’ wages to immigration.
Roxane Mesquida
Marseille
When it comes to portraying darkly smouldering sirens, Marseille resident Mesquida seems to have cornered the market. Having won plaudits for her portrayal of ticking sexual time bomb Elena in À Ma Soeur! and sultry Eve in Sheitan, she’ll next be lighting up our screens in Une Vieille Maîtresse, released this April.
Maison Noble
Brussels
Belgium’s first gay guesthouse opens this winter. Set in a gorgeous 18th-century town house, the hotel has three large bedrooms, a gym and a steam room. Look for lots of art deco flourishes – and perhaps even singalongs around the piano in the public music room.
Mo*vida
Prague
The spiritual home of sturdy-legged girl groups and Cristalswilling City boys looks east this summer, with the opening of Mo*vida Prague in the city’s chic 7th district. What will Prague’s finest be drinking? The Mo*vida Flawless, of course – a Champagne-and-cognac cocktail that comes complete with an 11-carat diamond and a cool €35k price tag.
G13 Gallery
Budapest
Budapest’s newest gallery opens this year with the objective of fusing Hungary’s artistic past with its current creative output. Cue some of the country’s finest historical art hanging alongside its best contemporary work.
Peter Pilotto
Antwerp
Having gone down a storm at London Fashion Week, the Austrian-born alumnus of Antwerp Academy is preparing to unleash his spring-summer 2008 collection on an unsuspecting public. Expect plenty of colour, bold patterns and a dose of ‘baroque opulence’.
Emilio de la Morena
Alicante
Having started as a sculptor, Emilio de la Morena has been putting his training to good use, creating beautifully structured womenswear in abstract shapes. His talents haven’t gone unnoticed: last autumn he won a place on London Fashion Week’s New Generation sponsorship scheme. Definitely one to watch. emilio dela
FR Le top 20
Un certain nombre d’hôtels s’ouvriront dans toute l’Europe en 2008, parmi ceux-ci le premier hôtel design cinq étoiles d’Oslo, Grims Grenka (www.grimsgrenka.no). Au printemps, le dernier hôtel boutique de Bruges, le Kempinski Hôtel Dukes’ Palace (www.kempinski-bruges.com) sera inauguré dans le in Prinsenhof datant du 15e siècle, et l’hôtel Nimb à Copenhagen (www.tivoli.dk) sera restauré dans l’esprit de sa gloire passée. La première maison d’hôtes gay en Belgique, la Maison Noble (www.maisonnoble.eu), ouvre ses portes cet hiver à Bruxelles. Envie de cocktails exotiques ? Allez chez Mo Bar, au Mandarin Oriental de Genève (mandarinoriental. com/geneva), qui ouvrira en juin. Prague est le dernier lieu de clubbing de Mo*Vida (www.movida-club.com), tandis que le chef Marcus Samuelsson rentre chez lui, à Stockholm, en février pour démarrer l’Aquavit dans le nouvel Hôtel Clarion Sign (www.clarionsign.com). Les Londoniens peuvent savourer des plats calabrais à L’Anima (1 Snowden Street), le dernier établissement de Francesco Mazzei, et les bons vivants de Milan peuvent apprécier les plaisirs de Chedi Spa (www.thechedimilan.com), géré par Henri Chenot.
Dans un secteur fasciné par l’inaccessible, les installations extravagantes de la sculptrice Claire Morgan déclenchent immédiatement des réactions viscérales dans l’assistance. L’artiste athénien Antonikis Christodoulou crée également des remous avec ses travaux qui tirent leur inspiration du vaste héritage littéraire de la Grèce. A Budapest, les amoureux d’art peuvent voir les plus fantastiques œuvres historiques de Hongrie exposées à côté d’une sélection des meilleures pièces contemporaines à la Galerie G13 (www.g13.hu)
La marque norvégienne Fin (www.finoslo.com) propose une collection de vêtements carbon-neutral (avec une neutralité carbone). La dernière collection de lingerie de Carine Gilson (www.carinegilson.com), réalisée avec des lacets Chantilly et des agrafes cousues à la main sur la soie, est sans conteste la collection de sous-vêtements la plus aguichante du monde. Les autres designers à suivre incluent l’anversois Peter Pilotto (www.peterpilotto.com) et l’alicantais Emilio de la Morena (www.emiliodelamorena.com).
La bloggeuse basée en Belgique Zoe McCarthy continuera sur la lancée de son succès de 2007, lorsque son regard acerbe sur la vie de famille, www.myboyfriendisatwat.com, a reçu le Best European Blog aux Weblog Awards. Adam Tensta fait des vagues électro à Stockholm avec ses sonorités hip hop qui touchent à tout depuis les salaires des profs jusqu’à l’immigration. La résidente marseillaise Roxane Mesquida apportera son look super sexy à l’écran cet avril dans ‘Une Vieille Maîtresse’.
NL De top 20 van b.there!
Over heel Europa openen in 2008 een aantal nieuwe hotels hun deuren, waaronder Grims Grenka, het eerste vijfsterrendesignhotel van Oslo (www.grimsgrenka.no). In de lente is het de beurt aan het nieuwste Brugse boetiekhotel, Kempinski Hotel Dukes’ Palace (www.kempinskibruges.com) in het 15de-eeuwse Prinsenhof en wordt het Nimb Hotel (www.tivoli.dk) in Kopenhagen in zijn oude glorie hersteld. Vanaf deze winter heeft België ook zijn eerste gay gastenverblijf, Maison Noble (www.maison-noble.eu).
Voor exotische cocktails kan je vanaf juni terecht in de Mo Bar van de Mandarin Oriental in Genève (www.mandarinoriental.com/geneva). Praag is de nieuwste locatie voor Mo*Vida (www.movidaclub.com), terwijl chef-kok Marcus Samuelsson in februari terugkeert naar Stockholm om er Aquavit te openen in het nieuwe Clarion Hotel Sign (www.clarionsign.com). Londenaars eten voortaan Calabrisch in L’Anima (1 Snowden Street), het nieuwste project van Francesco Mazzei, terwijl gegoede Milanezen zich laten verwennen in The Chedi (www.thechedimilan.com), het kuurhotel van Henri Chenot.
Ontoegankelijkheid troef in de kunstbranche, maar toch laten de adembenemende installaties van Claire Morgan vrijwel niemand onbewogen. Ook Atheens kunstenaar Antonikis Christodoulou zorgt voor ophef met zijn werken geïnspireerd op de rijke literaire erfenis van Griekenland. Kunstliefhebbers in Boedapest kunnen de mooiste Hongaarse historische werken bewonderen naast de beste hedendaagse kunst in de G13 Gallerie (www.g13.hu).
Het Noorse kledinglabel Fin (www.finoslo.com) heeft een ‘CO2-neutrale’ collectie. De nieuwe lingeriecollectie van Carine Gilson (www.carinegilson.com), gemaakt met chantillykant en handgenaaide zijde, is waarschijnlijk het meest verleidelijke ondergoed ter wereld. Enkele designers om te volgen: Antwerpenaar Peter Pilotto (www.peterpilotto.com) en Emilio de la Morena uit Alicante (www.emiliodelamorena.com).
De in België gevestigde blogger Zoe McCarthy hoopt voort te bouwen op haar succes in 2007, toen haar cynische kijk op het samenwonen, myboyfriendisatwat.com, op de Weblog Awards werd bekroond als Beste Europese Blog. Adam Tensta zet Stockholm in rep en roer met zijn unieke hiphop waarin niets onbesproken blijft, van de lerarensalarissen tot immigratie. En de in Marseille wonende actrice Roxane Mesquida toont zich in april weer van haar meest verleidelijke kant in de film Une Vieille Maîtresse.
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