Celebrity Life

Watches of different sizes and styles are a must, but are special designs for men and women really necessary? We look at contemporary examples of brands trying something different

The post Are Gendered Watches Still Relevant? appeared first on LUXUO.

The post Photo Shoot: The Golden Era of Hollywood appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Whimsical, luxury wallpaper is going up in homes, and on clothes.

The post Wallpaper your home for some visual cheer in these trying times appeared first on The Peak Magazine.

Whimsical, luxury wallpaper is going up in homes, and on clothes.

For more stories like this, visit www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg.

When you’ve finished that home workout routine and that book you’ve been meaning to read, it’s natural to feel at a loss of things to do while trapped at home. But fear not, major fashion houses such as Alexander McQueen, Loewe, Valentino and Gucci all have something special to offer – from art to music, to podcasts and more.

Previously, you’ve read about Bottega Veneta’s Virtual Creatives platform, Bottega Residency. Similarly, Alexander McQueen has unveiled “McQueen Creators,” a new social media project that encourages followers to engage artistically with their favourite Alexander McQueen pieces. The creative theme changes each week and includes digital tutorials from the brand’s teams and collaborators. So far, there’s been 3-D creation to home-embroidery, with its most recent project encouraging followers to illustrate silhouettes from Alexander McQueen’s spring/summer 2020 womenswear and fall/winter 2020 menswear collections. For that, McQueen collaborated with artist Howard Tangye in order for him to share his drawing and painting techniques on film to inspired participants.

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Loewe has come to the rescue for art lovers who haven’t been able to visit galleries and museums during their stay at home period. Its “En Casa” initiative, a series of online workshops, tours and events, will be streamed through Instagram live on weeknights and weekends, uniting previous artistic collaborators of the brand and finalists of the Loewe Craft Prize to celebrate artistic expression.

 

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A post shared by LOEWE (@loewe) on May 1, 2020 at 2:21am PDT

Gucci, on the other hand, has collaborated with The Sex Ed, a sexual wellness podcast, for an exclusive episode featuring the house’s creative director Alessandro Michele and podcast founder, Liz Goldwyn. Filmed in the Gucci Hub after the fall/winter 2020 womenswear show in Milan, Michele discusses “his erotic relationship to nature, why Rome is his mistress, moving beyond the confining modes of masculinity, his passion for dressing like a 1950s granny and how he channels orgasmic energy every day.” On top of this, the brand has also started a new initiative called #GucciCommunity, which encourages followers to donate to the Covid-19 Solidarity Fund and saw musicians and artists contribute to the Gucci Instagram feed in order to start the ball rolling.

[caption id="attachment_206475" align="alignnone" width="629"] Gucci's Creative Director Alessandro Michele takes part in The Sex Ed podcast.[/caption]

Valentino has also created a hashtag #ChezMaisonValentino for its new series of performances that is streamed on their Instagram live. First to take place was Alicia Keys, who treated followers to soulful live renditions while poet Rupi Kapur was the most recent guest to perform. Anya Hindmarch has also launched a series of "Labelled Workshops" that the brand will stream on Instagram live featuring industry experts to help "de-clutter and organise your home, your inbox and your imagery."

 

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A post shared by Anya Hindmarch (@anyahindmarch) on May 1, 2020 at 5:58am PDT

The post Fashion Houses Bring People Together Through Social Media During COVID-19 appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Once the boy wonder of classical music, superstar pianist Lang Lang now tempers his flamboyant virtuosity with a new-found intellectual rigour, and is devoting more energy to his educational foundation.

One of the most famous classical musicians in the world today – and certainly one the best-known concert pianists – Lang Lang, who took up the instrument at the age of three and was performing and winning competitions just two years later, is, at the age of 37, something of a phenomenon. Named by Time magazine in 2009 as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, he’s played for princes, presidents and prime ministers, and has been repeatedly praised not only for his absolute mastery of his chosen instrument, but also for his tireless efforts as an educator and populariser of classical music, which can only be described as evangelical.
Born in the northern Chinese industrial city of Shenyang in 1982, as a child he was driven mercilessly by his policeman father, who’d decided that his son would become the greatest classical musician in the country. In the event
– and after one major hiccup when, at the age of nine, he was told by his then teacher that he’d never make it as a concert pianist – he achieved much more than that. In his mid-teens he and his father left the Beijing slum where they’d been living and moved to the United States. Lang Lang enrolled at the famous Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and, two years later, burst on to the international stage after standing in with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for a sick André Watts.
Since then he’s lived like a rock star, hobnobbing with rappers and superstars of sport, with whose lifestyles he often identifies. Known initially for his dazzling technique and deeply emotional interpretations of the romantic repertoire, including works by Chopin, Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky, he’s also collaborated with jazz musicians such as Herbie Hancock, the singer-songwriter Billy Joel and even the rock bank Metallica, as well as recording music for the video game Gran Turismo 5. An injury to his left arm in 2017 threatened to destroy his career and kept him from performing for more than a year; his return to the stage has seen him exploring the more cerebral side of his prodigious talent by focussing on rigorously intellectual works, such as Bach’s Goldberg Variations. And last year his life took another change of direction when he married the German-Korean pianist Gina Alice Redlinger; the couple divide their time between homes in Beijing, Paris and New York.
In Hong Kong for a private performance earlier this year, Lang Lang found time to sit for an exclusive photo shoot with Prestige, talking to everyone and delighting them with his easy charm and self-deprecatory humour. Although now nearer 40 than 30, he brimmed with an enthusiasm that can only be called boyish, revealing himself to be a born communicator and talking at length – and in an accent located midway in the Pacific between China and North America – about his educational foundation and its frankly inspirational aim to spread a knowledge and love of music to young people around the world.

[caption id="attachment_206439" align="alignnone" width="1346"] Watch and Tops Bruno Cucinelli | Trousers Zegna | Watch Hublot Big Bang Unico Rainbow King Gold[/caption]

The post Superstar Pianist Lang Lang’s Foundation Gives Youth Access to a Music Education appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

When it comes to luxury, you can rest assured that Prestige has it covered. But with the sheer multitude, let alone variety, released regularly on the landscape, it can become rather difficult to figure out the best from the rest or to even pick up the newest and most exciting. As luck would have it, our editors are forever on the look out: discovering on-the-rise labels, picking up new products from cult brands and the finding the most desirable items there are. So for those that are curious what that might be, keep scrolling to discover what made the cut in our weekly Most Coveted list.

The post Most Coveted: Panerai, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci and More appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

This season shows that designers are still wild at heart when it comes to spring/summer. Embracing psychedelic florals and stretchy earth tones, the new season looks are nothing short of maximum impact.

[gallery ids="205700,205701,205702,205703,205704,205705,205706,205707,205708,205709,205710,205711"]

Photography Issac Lam

Hair Winky Wong

Make-up Jenny Shih 

Photography Assistant Ivan Chan, Shawn Cheung & Sinyi Lau

The post Photo Shoot: Psychedelic Florals and Earth Tones for Spring appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.

Top 10 Most Expensive Gucci Products In this video we’ll try to answer the following questions: Which are the most expensive Gucci products? Which are [...]

The post Top 10 Most Expensive Gucci Products appeared first on Most Expensive Thing.

As the world battles global pandemic Covid-19 (the coronavirus), luxury companies are stepping in to make a change whether through donations or repurposing manufacturers to address the face mask and hospital gown shortage throughout the world. They are supporting medical workers on the front lines in several countries, and using their large global network to... View Article

The post Luxury Fashion Brands’ Covid-19 Efforts appeared first on Elite Traveler.

Food and fashion haven't always been the best of friends. Unless of course you are indeed Lady Gaga in 2010 and meat dresses are your thing. But those days are long gone, as this star-crossed partnership has blossomed into one that delivers some of the most incredible collaborations to date. Case in point: Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura.

[caption id="attachment_206482" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Chef Massimo Bottura (left) and Karime López (right) of Gucci Osteria[/caption]

This Michelin-starred restaurant was created by Gucci in 2018 with celebrated chef, restauranteur and innovator Massimo Bottura. It is located within the historic Palazzo della Mercanzia in Florence and lead by Mexican Head Chef Karime López, who cut her teeth at prestigious restaurants such as Chef Virgilio Martinez's Central Restaurante in Peru and René Redzepi’s Noma in Copenhagen, to name a few.

Due to the pandemic, the restaurant has had to temporarily close its doors but that doesn't mean you can't get a high fashion dose of fine dining at home. Ahead, Gucci and Chef Lopez has revealed two recipes from the menu for patrons to recreate -- as if it came straight out of the Gucci Osteria kitchen.

First Recipe: Lucky Fennel (Serves Two)

[caption id="attachment_206483" align="alignnone" width="1000"] “I thought of this recipe that uses fennel as a basic ingredient because it is a seasonal vegetable and because of all the stories and curiosities surrounding this vegetable. In Greek and Roman history, in fact, fennel was considered symbol of strength and vigour and they believe it brought luck. Some treatises on Ancient Rome reported how Roman gladiators added fennel to their dishes to be successful in the arena and, when they won the fights, they were crowned with a garland of fennel. This is also the reason why — for the Gucci Osteria menu — we called this dish Lucky Fennel.” — Chef Karime López[/caption]

Preparation

Fennel Cream

1. Fennel bulbs for the cream x 4
2. Extra virgin olive oil
3. Salt

Wash and cut the fennel coarsely, steam them at 90ºC for 2 hours. Drain the fennel once cooked and whisk them with extra virgin olive oil and salt until creamy. Pass the cream in the chinois strainer with fine mesh.

Wild Fennel Oil

1. Seed oil x 400g
2. Wild Fennel x 200g

Whisk 400g of seed oil with 200g of wild fennel. Then heat the oil in a saucepan and bring it to a temperature of 80ºC. Filter the oil in a sac à poche and then filter it with the chinois strainer with fine mesh.

Pistachios

1. Pistachios x 20

Toast the pistachios in the oven at 190ºC for 4 minutes. Grate them with a microplane.

Main Dish

1. Sliced fennel bulbs x 2
2. Red prawns x 2
3. Lemon x 1
4. Lemon Oil
5. Linguine Pasta x 100g

Cook the linguine pasta in well salted water for about 5 minutes. Drain the linguine and finish cooking in the pan for 3 minutes, adding the fennel cream and the lemon oil to make them creamy. Season the raw and finely sliced ​​fennel with the wild fennel oil. Season the prawns with extra virgin olive oil and the lemon peel and cut them into 6 pieces each.

Plating

Spread the grated pistachios on the base of the plate, and lay a nest of linguine on top, developing it in height. Add 6 pieces of prawn, other pistachio powder and finely sliced ​​fennel. Garnish the dish with wild fennel leaves.

*The fennel can be replaced with seasonal vegetables

Second Recipe: Pollock (Serves Two)

[caption id="attachment_206484" align="alignnone" width="1000"] “I chose this recipe, because it’s easy to make and it needs ingredients that we all have at home. Usually we prepare this dish without gluten, but all-purpose “00” flour can also be used. It is a fun recipe because you can vary the filling each time you make it using ingredients that you have in the fridge, such as vegetables or meat, and the color of each sauce can be changed according to the vegetables or herbs used. Even more colors can be added! When we created this dish, it looked like an artwork by Jackson Pollock, so we decided to call it exactly that. Enjoy the recipe!!!” — Chef Karime López[/caption]

Dish Components

Datterino Tomato Sauce

1. Yellow Datterino tomato (or local cherry tomatoes) x 100g
2. Spoons of extra virgin olive Oil x 2
3. Finely-diced garlic x 5g
4. Basil leaves x 2
5. Fine salt

In a saucepan, fry garlic and basil, add the tomatoes and cook for 20 minutes, whisk and sift, salt lightly.

Red Pepper Sauce

1. Red Bell Pepper x 100g
2. Spoons of extra virgin olive Oil x 2
3. Finely-diced garlic x 5g
4. Bay leaf x 1
5. Fine salt

Bake the seedless pepper for 40 minutes in the oven at 180 degrees, peel it and roast it in a pan with oil, garlic and bay leaf. Remove the bay leaf and whisk the pepper until it becomes a homogeneous sauce, salt lightly.

Chard sauce

1. Chard (or mature spinach/mustard greens/cavalo nero kale or large bok choy) x 100g
2. Cooking water
3. Fine salt

Blanch the chard for 2 minutes in salted water and cool in water and ice. One half must be cut with a knife for the filling and the other half must be blended with its cooking water until it becomes a homogeneous sauce.

Bechamel sauce

1. Milk x 250g
2. Corn flour x 15g
3. Butter x 25g
4. Macis (nutmeg) x 2g

Flavour the milk with the nutmeg and simmer it.

Separately prepare the base of butter and cornflour, then pour the milk while turning with a whisk until it becomes a homogeneous sauce, salt lightly.

Discs of Pasta

1. Gluten-Free Flour (or 00 flour) x 100g
2. Whole egg x 1

Mix the flour with the egg and leave to rest in cling film for 30 minutes. Spread to 1 millimetre thick and cut the dough to the desired size, cook the discs in salted water for 2 minutes.

Filling

1. Ricotta cheese x 50g
2. Cut chard x 50
3. Extra Virgin Olive Oil x 10g
4. Fine salt

Stir in a bowl and serve warm.

Plating

1. Put a disc of pasta on a preferably deep plate, add the filling and cover with a second disk of pasta.
2. Finally, cover the pasta disc with all the lukewarm sauces in an artistic way, Jackson Pollock style.

*Chard can also be substituted with seasonal vegetables

The post Cooking with Gucci: Recipes from Michelin-starred Gucci Osteria to Recreate at Home appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.