fashion designers

The Wonder Boy of Watches - Swiss watch magnate Christian Bedat likes to heli-ski in Canada, relax in the Maldives and vacation with his family in Forte dei Marmi. We caught up with him between trips.

Spring 2006

IN the 400-year-old Swiss watch business, where legacy is practically a prerequisite, Christian Bedat has achieved enormous success in a remarkably short eight years. He launched Bedat & Co in 1996, and almost immediately it was heralded for its luxury designs (think handstitched hot pink alligator straps). Watchmaking is in Bedat's blood: His mother Simone, was a founding partner in the Geneva-based Ramond Weil.

A former Swiss army officer, Christian spent most of the 1980s in Hong Kong, manufacturing watches for United Colors of Benetton by Bulova. He returned to Switzerland to collaborate with his mother, first at Raymond Weil, where he led the design team, then in the launch of Bedat & Co. The company was purchased in 2001 by the Gucci Group. Today, the forty-one-year old is the vice president and creative director of Gucci Group Watches, as well as the CEO of Bedat & Co, whose signature, square faced watches are sold in the United States, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Japan, Hong Kong and Brazil.

Overseeing the prosperous company, Bedat spends his days traversing time zones, traveling frequently from his home in Geneva to New York, Hong Kong, Paris and Tokyo. He likes a bit of adventure - he's an avid scuba diver - as well as downtime with his wife, Diane and their five children. He's obsessed with design, whether of luggage or of an airplane's interior, and is always searching for unusual ideas.

What impact do trips have on your work?
The more you travel, the more you experience. I like to think about new designs when I am fully relaxed - in a quiet, remote location, away from my day-to-day life. Certain colors and shapes can be inspiring. Recently, my wife and I went to the Amanpulo resort, on a private island in the Philippines. It has just 40 casitas and is surrounded by very clear, blue water and there is a coral reef for diving. I started considering sporty designs and ended up sketching the No. 7 women's watch on a napkin. The turquoise water inspired a turqouise grosgrain silk strap.

Describe some particularly adventurous trips from recent years.
Diving in French Polynesia, in the Fakarava atoll on the south pass was amazing. During one dive, I could not believe how many sharks I saw. First there were five or six, then fifteen and finally, maybe three hundred. It was one of my most memorable dives, but was it daring? Not really. Have you heard of many divers eaten by sharks? The majority of them aren't very dangerous. I have also gone helicopter skiing in British Columbia: white powder, wild skiing and high speeds. I found it quite exciting. We explored the Monashee and Cariboo mountain ranges, skiing almost nonstop every day. I am planning a return visit this year.

Where have you always wanted to go?
The North and South Poles. I would love to see the icebergs. I'd like to visit the Galapagos Islands too. I have heard that the fauna there is incredible.

How do you find good local restaurants when you are traveling?
I always go with friends who will look after me. Hong Kong is one of the best places in the world for food. I eat mainly Chinese, in restaurants on hidden streets where there are no other foreigners. I go to Lucy's in the Stanley neighborhood, a small place that prepares Shanghainese dishes. In Geneva, I like the Auberge Communal d'Onex for excellent Italian food. In winter, it serves whhite truffles. For tasty chicken and fries, there's Carnivor du Centre, in the centre of the city. In Las Vegas, I'm fond of the Red 8 Asian bistro, at Wynn Las Vegas. The shark-fin dumplings were amazing and the dim sum reminded me of Hong Kong. The restaurant Noodles, at Bellagio, also has dim sum on weekends.

Have you had any especially memorable meals?
A most interesting experience was chicken sashimi in Kagoshima, Japan. I put a lot of sauce on it. And once when I was in Tokyo, I had beef tongue - cooked and raw.

What are some of your favorite hotels?
The Gora Kadan, outside Tokyo in Hakone National Park, at the foot of Mount Fuji, is serene and beautiful. It's the former summer residence of the Kan-In-No-Miya imperial family, and it has cypress baths. In France, I love the views, from the hills in Les Baux de Provence. Ousta de Baumaniere there is romantic and has good food. In Italy, Sardinia is appealing: The Hotel Cala di Volpe has excellent service and food, especially the lunch buffet.

What do you look for when booking a hotel?
I always request the least expensive room at the Four Seasons (or any other hotel for that matter) . It's worth asking, and I'm often rewarded. I think a fair price is $350 to $700 a night.

Where do go to undwind and be pampered?
When I'm on vacation, I like getting a facial, a massage, everything but nail polish. The resort town of La Baule, on France's Atlantic coast, is an ideal place for a reviving week of treatments. My wife and I like to stay at the Royal-Thalasso Barriere. At the Four Seasons at Kuda Huraa, in the Maldives, you can get a massage while looking at the ocean.

When you travel with your family, what do you like to do?
During the winter, we spend every wekeend in our chalet in Villars. We all love to ski. I like to cook (especially Indian curries) so we eat mainly at home, except for the occasional outing to enjoy traditional Swiss fondue or raclette. During the summer we go to Forte dei Marmi for a week. It's like the Hamptons for the Italians, who come from Florence or Milan. You can lead a simple life or that of a jet-setter. We stay at a family style hotel. Lunch is taken by the pool (at the Bagno Piero) and consists of traditional dishes, like penne pesto and Milanese. There are plenty of shops, but we prefer just to relax.

Any advice for traveling with children?
You need patience, organisation and big cars. We went on a tour of Switzerland in a minivan last year, visiting the Transport Museum in Lucerne. We stopped for a cheese fondue in Gruyere and walked by the lake in Lugano. The children loved it. Traveling really opens their eyes and creates memories for them.

Which airlines do you prefer?
In terms of first class, Japan Airlines is the best. British Airways, Air France and JAL have beds that are completely flat now and they supply nice pajamas. I am also in love with Cathay Pacific's first class lounge in Hong Kong. The bathrooms are clad in black marble, and the showers are out of this world. You can order from a real menu, and there is even Haagen-Dazs ice-cream.

Dou you have any packing tips?
Plan ahead and pack light. I never check my luggage, usually a small Bottegga Veneta or Hermes bag. I carry my laptop, two phones, my passport, my Ipod, my headphones and an Hermes accordian picture frame with photos of the kids. I pack the same amount for one night as I do for a week. I'll take three shirts and a jacket, and then use the hotel for laundry. I wear suits made by Frank Namani and Gucci shirts. Shoes have to be casual. I like Prada, Tod's, Gucci and John Lobb. And I'm never without my Bedat & Co watch.

What are your favorite travel gadgets?
I use Skype to speak over the internet with my family and friends. My newest device is the Archos AV 700, a mobile digital video recorder. It records television programs and movies, and you can watch them on the go. It stores 400 hours or 250 movies.

What have you recently bought back from a trip?
I jsut bought five robes (by Robeworks) from the Four Seasons and had them shipped home. The inside is made of terry cloth and the outside is brushed cotton. I make a purchase if I happen to see something and am tempted. Five years ago, Diane and I were staying on a Turkish junk with friends for a week. One of them bought leather necklaces with black stone pendants for everyone. Years later, I saw one made of jade with gold and diamonds. I got a plainer version. Now I always wear it, except when I do karate.

Las Vegas's latest colossus will be a slice of Barcelona: that's the vision of a larger-than-life developer with movie star mates.
Julie Earle-Levine reports
February 18, 2006


JORGE Perez's excitement is palpable when he is talking about his Las Vegas project Las Ramblas. It's a colossal Barcelona-inspired $4 billion hotel condo and casino complex he is building with the actor George Clooney.Unlike Clooney, Perez -- who speaks animatedly, hands outstretched to show just how big this project is -- is not a household name in America. Yet.

Perez is the largest residential condominium developer in the country, a Miami version of New York real estate developer Donald Trump without the bad hair and aggressive self-promotional skills.

In Miami, Perez has already built 55,000 units and his $13 billion Related Group has plans to build another 15,000 units in South Florida and Las Vegas in the next four years. Atlanta is another target.

It is a lofty ambition to build a "first" anything in Vegas, a city that is thought to have seen it all and where a new hotel or condo tower seems to be built every other day (even Donald's ex-wife Ivana Trump is building her own 82-storey luxury residential building called Ivana Las Vegas). But Perez believes his Las Ramblas project really will be unique.

In an interview in his headquarters in Miami, Perez, 56, who was born in Argentina to Cuban parents, outlined his vision for Las Ramblas, and shared his passion for building and fast cars.
Las Ramblas, just off The Strip, will spread across 11 hectares and feature 11 towers, including a five-star hotel, condos and bungalows -- that's more than 4000 units in total -- a spa and health club, nightlife, dining, shopping and, of course, a casino.

It will also have an open-air pedestrian promenade modeled after Las Ramblas in Barcelona, even though this is glitzy Vegas and residents may well be dodging drunk tourists armed with super-size, brightly coloured cocktails in plastic cups.

The project is due to be completed early 2008.

Perez has based the project on his favourite city, Barcelona.

"Sitting in a cafe having tapas, seeing the trees, flower shops and bookstores in Barcelona is a wonderful experience we are going to recreate," he says.

To do this, he's bringing together his dream list of architects, designers and entertainers including ubiquitous designer Philippe Starck on the interiors, and architect Keith Hobbs of United Designers Europe.

George Clooney and Rande Gerber (the nightclub owner better known as Cindy Crawford's husband) are involved.

Clooney is also talking to his friend Brad Pitt about "designing" for the project.

Both superstars famously love Vegas, and then of course there was the movie, Ocean's Eleven, where Clooney and Pitt, aka Dapper Danny Ocean and Pitt as a card ace, staged an elaborate heist at Las Vegas's Bellagio casino.

Perez says Clooney and Gerber will be "extensively involved in multiple aspects" of Las Ramblas, which is due to start construction in mid-2006.

More specifically, as investors and residence owners, they will contribute to the design and direction of the project, including the hotel, restaurants and entertainment and "the look and feel of the casino".

Clooney has said the project will be a "first class experience, with a five star hotel, the coolest bars and clubs and an exceptional spa", reflecting his personal taste and interests. "We're clearly putting more than just our names to this project."

Perez says he is negotiating with an up-market brand for the hotel, and is pushing forward with reservations.
Perez is hoping the project will create the kind of frenzy he is used to seeing in Miami.
While the market has recently cooled in that city, Perez recalls buyers were scrambling to buy and "flip" (resell) properties.

Some of Related's 1000 unit condos in Miami sold out within 36 hours of being announced.
On talk of the real estate bubble in Miami, Perez says he is certain there will be a short-term correction, and that development is peaking.
"It is red hot. There is a crane on every corner."

But he is confident strong local and international demand will create another boom. "I think Latin Americans continue to see Miami as their capital, and I can't think of another city in America that is better poised for growth."

He has seen strong interest in Apogee, his latest high-end project with 66 of 67 units sold, mostly to domestic buyers. Their average price is $5.3 million.

Miami's potential is greater than Las Vegas, New York and Atlanta, some of the other favourite cities for developers to be in, he says.
In New York, Related developed the Time Warner Centre, and also developed and owns the W Union Square and the Mandarin Oriental.
Atlanta is another growth spot where Related is looking to make its mark. "We have a piece of land and are trying to zone it into a great urban city, building around 4000 apartments and bringing in great restaurants, architecture and design."

But it's not all about buildings for Perez, who started out as building affordable housing in Florida. He set up Related with New York developer Steve Ross in 1979, and last year, Related had $4.3 billion in revenue.

"What really makes me tick is not just building a building, but changing a city," he says. Can he really change Vegas? "Las Ramblas is all about getting away from the glitz, The Strip and the casinos, and creating a more elegant environment."
He sees visitors strolling a tree-lined promenade, ice cream cone in hand, dropping into Gucci and other luxury retail shops and dining at up-market restaurants and cafes.

Perez does love the high life and owns a 2002 Ferrari 360 Modena Spider and a 2002 Mercedes S500 AMG, but his favorite car is much like him -- a low-key, fast-moving and nimble yellow Mini Cooper convertible.

Perez is swiftly and aggressively changing America's skyline, city by city.

The Weekend Australian
Julie Earle-Levine reports
February 18, 2006

SCOTT Andrews was paying $US2600 ($3450) a month to live in the top floor of a Greenwich Village building when he got notice that rent for his 74sqm apartment would jump to $US3000 a month.He was interested in buying, but escalating prices meant he would need at least $US1 million to secure what he had been renting, and moving into a smaller space was unappealing. He moved out, and on to the Hudson River.

Andrews, 30, who is a commercial property developer, bought a three-bedroom motor yacht, with a living room large enough to fit his two lounges, and now lives at a marina with postcard views of Manhattan. Several of his friends are now doing the same.

His new home is moored at Liberty Landing Marina in New Jersey, across the Hudson River from Manhattan. Andrews figures he has great waterfront views and pays a third of the cost of rent, after slip fees and maintenance.

"I thought, I can buy a tiny, second-floor walk-up in Manhattan with no light, and no views for half a million bucks, or spend half of that on a boat ($US250,000) and get a view of Manhattan." His neighbours include teachers, doctors, office workers and finance types.

'Liberty Landing, is the second-largest marina on the east coast of the US with 600 slips, and is part of Liberty State Park. The park is a bonus, a 8km bike path along the water, past Ellis Island and more green than you might see in the city walking for 10 blocks.

It is also favoured by liveaboards, because it is well protected from the sometimes choppy Hudson. Andrews' marina has showers, a laundry, and its own "pub", a dockside bar and grill.
He catches a $US5 water taxi to his offices at the World Financial Centre, splitting his time staying on the boat and at his girlfriend's house in the East Village.

The only downer so far is that the ferry stops running at 8.45pm, so he has to catch a train, which runs all hours, and a taxi to reach his boat. Still, he wakes up on board a light-filled, gently bobbing boat with views to die for. "I wish I'd done it sooner."

It sure sounds attractive, but there are catches.

Leasing a slip, as well as "liveaboard" fees for marina utilities can cost about $US15,000 a year, including expenses to haul the boat out of the water to paint, and for repairs. Then there is a lack of space on smaller boats, and the winter months can be brutal.

At the West 79th Street Boat Basin in Manhattan, about 50 people live on boats with names like "Freedom" and "Orca". Some have two bedrooms, and two decks, and simply hop on and off the island for work and play, buying groceries from nearby Broadway, or by having the food delivered to the boat.

The marina is a mish-mash of luxury boats, houseboats and yachts, many with children's toys, bicycles and everyday house stuff on the decks. When this reporter visited, the owners looked happy, mostly because the weather that day was perfect. "Usually in January, in any one of the past 25 years, it is seven degrees outside. Once it was below 20 degrees for a week," says one man. Owners heat their floating homes with a diesel furnace or electric heater.

But as soon as the snow melts, the marina is inundated with hundreds of phone calls from people who want to live there. They just want to know how to do it. A resident who has lived there for many years recalls that in the 1970s, it was "like the wild, wild west". "It was kind of a hippie community, people who wanted to live in an alternative way in the city. It was very crowded, with too many boats. Even now it is a different kind of person who lives here, someone who has a free spirit."

Freedom has its price. "Unless you live in the most dilapidated apartment building in Manhattan, you wouldn't be concerned about your living space," another liveaboard says. "But if you come home to a boat and it is taking water, well you might have a three-hour project ahead of you."

Liveaboards at 79th Street maintain their year-round status because they staked claims prior to 1997, when the city curtailed year-round dockage from April through October. Anyone new trying to live there permanently will find a four-year waiting list, unlike Liberty Landing, where there is no wait.

Linda Ridihalgh editor of LiveAboard magazine estimates there are 30,000 liveaboards in North America.
"It's a lifestyle that has wide appeal," she says. She grew up near the Mississippi River, and has spent her life on boats. Most people do it for lifestyle, she says, not to save money.

New houseboats cost anywhere from $US50,000 to above $US1 million.
Others buy smaller sailboats and are "transients" -- those who live on boats with V-shaped hulls that are more mobile than houseboats.

Many people buy a stunning, luxury houseboat and fit it out with designer everything. But they only last a week. Some people never get over motion sickness or they realise, it's not easy.

Layering is the travel trick
February 18 2006

February in New York. Grey skies, snow and wind so fierce it snaps your umbrella like kindling. Last week I saw a squirrel blown out of a tree by a freezing gust. No wonder, when a friend's invitation to a wedding in Sydney arrived in October, I pulled out my suitcase without thinking twice. Never mind the 24-hour flight, warmth was all that mattered. It took a while for the other flip-flop to drop.

Everyone in New York or London wants to go somewhere sunny in February, but what you don't want to deal with is the issue of what to wear. Sure, packing for a resort is a breeze - you just don a bikini and a sarong. But if you are travelling to a country with opposite seasons and have an itinerary that includes a wedding, work and visiting family and friends, what to pack? Especially if the destination, like Sydney, is having such a heatwave that even residents won't venture to the beach?

Although I flee the Manhattan winter each year for Australia, packing the right wardrobe never gets easier. It seems simple but is not. Beyond the idea of light clothing, I am at a loss. Would my silk chiffon pale grey dress work for the wedding? Would it look less "goddess" and more gritty in Sydney than in New York? I was unsure so I weighed up an eye-catching, floral Pucci dress. Then, I recalled a friend who went to a wedding in London wearing a turquoise halter, gold taffeta skirt, turquoise, gold shawl and strappy, gold Jimmy Choos.

"My New York autumn get-up, which would have been perfect at the Pierre, was not in sync with very simple suits and plain hats at awedding at a Regent's Park church," she said. Nor did she fare well walking on cobbled, wet and rainy streets in stiletto heels. Still, some hemisphere-traveller, somewhere, must know what they are doing.

Someone, for example, such as Gail Elliott, the New York-based British designer and former model who splits her time between New York and Sydney, not to mention Costa Rica, Hawaii and Malibu.

"I pack lightly and travel with the staples," Elliott says. "Jeans, boots and then layer." She favours tailored clothes, such as a smart jacket for meetings or events such as New York and London fashion week, and easy silk separates. Her 2006 spring collection will featurea pure silk "gypsy peasant dress" designed with travel in mind: rollit up, pack and, on arrival, steam when showering to freshen up the silk.

Layering is also a pet trick of Vera Wang, the designer best known for bridal wear. "You can create multiple looks depending on your mood and the weather," she says. Wang says leggings can do triple duty: on the plane, sightseeing and under a coat at night. And "a black shift dress or a fabulous skirt can transform any look from day to evening. Pack tissue-thin layers of cashmere and silk separates and accessorise with a gold bracelet."

When travelling to the European fashion shows, Kate Lanphear, a stylist in New York, wears silk-look thermals under pretty dresses. "Accessories weigh you down so I pack only the best of the best - an amazing pair of boots that can look gorgeous with skirts, dresses and jeans," she says. She also likes to buy clothes overseas to take home to New York. In Sydney, she buys select Australian designers including Scanlan & Theodore, Marnie Skillings and Josh Goot.

"If you can't get it into a nice Goyard bag overhead, then forget it," says Simon Doonan, creative director of Barneys New York. He says that even if it is snowing when he departs New York, he will leave his coat at home and wear just a woolly hat and scarf to the airport.

But wouldn't this overhead-only rule be a problem for those, for instance, attending a wedding overseas? "Wear the wedding outfit on the plane and take an extra pair of undies," says Doonan. "It's nice to see people glamorously attired on planes. Jeans topped with a glamorous Zandra Rhodes chiffon top or a Balenciaga jacket could work." It certainly could get you an upgrade. And isn't arriving in high style half the battle?