A wonderful addition to the jet-setters notebook; the recent launch of the latest edition of the W boutique hotels - the W Hong Kong.
Located in West Kowloon, the hub of the buzzing financial district of Hong Kong, the new W brings a large dose of New York style to this cosmopolitan Asian business capital.
The area is right on the commercial waterfront, so instead of luxury yachts you are more likely to look out onto imposingly large freight and cargo ships. It works though, juxtaposing the designer, luxury environment with the gritty, functional realism of the hotel's location.
Funny interior details are the W signature in the form of butterflies and surprising contemporary art works such as a fiberglass seal holding up a grand piano.
Other standouts include the spectacular rooftop pool, featuring an incredible mega-scale mosaic of a butterfly graphic created by Australian designer Fabio Ongarato. The pool looks out over the whole island - one of the most breathtaking in the city.
Perhaps a short Christmas trip to Hong Kong ........
Everybody is going crazy about Mumbai's Blue Frog, opened at the beginning of this year. It's a 1,000-square-meter complex that includes a club, restaurant, lounge, sound stage, recording studio and sound lab, all encased within the massive walls of an old warehouse in Mumbai's mill district.
The Blue Frog Club interior may remind you of those delirious nights at the end-of-summer Exhibition with its midway games, roller coasters and dizzy-making rides.
Luckily, Blue Frog does its dizzying job in a way that is totally stylish - not a tacky thing or overdone costume in sight. And everyone's table is definitely on level ground, although it does not appear so first.
And before we forget, the bands and artists that perform in Blue Frog bring the house down with cool jazz, blues, hip-hop, drum ’n bass, dub, beatboxing, funk, latin and rock!
So put on your tailor-made cashmere & linen halflined summer-jacket for a night of swing in Mumbai. Check out the Blue Frog Mumbai
At the end of August the new spectacular fabric collections of our top weavers will arrive. Thus, for the fashion consultants of Possen Fashion it is time to pick up some vibes for fresh inspiration for the new season in a proper setting.
For us a proper setting means quality, style and beauty, with fine wine and dining, a healthy dose of sportivity and perhaps even a touch of machismo. The invitation for the Cartier Polo Gold Cup Gstaad in the beautiful Swiss mountains got to us just in time!
From 17th to 20th of August a delegation of Possen Fashion will attend to this prestigious event. As spectators mind you, because amongst the polo players there are the best worldwide (such as the Argentinians Matias McDonough and Milo Fernandez Araujo) and in that case we prefer to keep it to some downhill bikerides through green alpine meadows.
Rugged mouintain tops and spectacular panoramic views. Breezing poneys in full sprint. A glass of fine champagne surrounded by spattering mud. The gentlemen wearing a summercool tailor-made jacket. The ladies of course a hat (or better, a 'création de tête').
But work has to be done. In the evening at the gala-diner in the Cartier pavilion on the polo field we will perform a sharp inspection on fit and fabric choice of the handmade jackets of the leading industrialists as well as nobility from various European royal houses. Later that night we will join the polo players in the GreenGo Bar (Palace Hotel) for some more relaxing, but nevertheless undoubtedly robust digestives.
Of course we will report our experiences in Gstaad on this place (pictures included). Until then you can go to www.pologstaad.ch or listen to the stories of our fashion consultants, who think they are polo-experts already.
When Swiss artists Sabina Lang and Daniel Baumann brain stormed to devise an art project that looked at the juxtapositioning of the public space and exclusivity they came up with this concept for design expo in 2002.
Today, situated on the rooftop of the museum for contemporary art in Leipzig, this one room self contained mini hotel caters for its guests in all the usual fashion. In house cable, wi-fi, deluxe bathroom, lavish breakfasts and even a mini cooper on loan with parking. It's portability means that when it leaves Liepzig it can land itself in Paris.
From June 2006 until August 5, 2007 you can take a peek at Hotel Everland during the opening times of the Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst.
www.everland.ch
