The Luxe Chronicles

Gastronomy: Bistrot Bruno Loubet Deserves Its Buzz!

After hearing all the buzz, I finally got around to trying Bistrot Bruno Loubet this past weekend. Opened roughly five months ago, the restaurant is located in The Zetter, a Clerkenwell-based boutique hotel on St John's Square, a very pretty classical square in an otherwise gritty part of London. It serves what I would describe as updated classic French bistrot food and it does so rather well.

Art & Culture: Joan Mitchell and the Sexual Politics of the 1950's Art World

I was very excited to learn over the weekend that American abstract expressionist artist Joan Mitchell is to be the subject of a first U.K. solo exhibition at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (Inverleith House) this summer from July 27 until October 3, 2010. And it's about time too!

Fashion: "C" is for Carven, "D" is for Didier, "P" is for (...)

In case you were wondering what Guillaume Henry has planned for the newly relaunched Carven fashion brand this summer, I can tell you that it starts with "P" as in "Pop-Up". The young French designer whom influential Parisian retailer Maria-Luisa Pomaillou recently identified as one of five young designers to watch, launched last night amidst the Jardins du Palais Royale a pop-up store. His host for the summer will be none other than Didier Ludot, the éminence grise of Parisian haute couture.

Florentine Adventures in Fashion Styling With Luisa Via Roma

As I mentioned last week, I was invited to the Luisa Via Roma celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of its transformation from a strictly bricks and mortar fashion multi-brand boutique to online fashion emporium. The celebrations entitled Firenze4Ever took place in Florence and included among other things, a Styling Lab where bloggers were given access to the latest Fall/Winter 2010-11 collections (many pieces straight off the runway), a professional make-up artist, models, a photographer and some of the most beautiful settings across Florence to stage a photo shoot.

Cristóbal Balenciaga: A New Exhibit for Fashion's Picasso

Cristóbal Balenciaga in conversation with then Editor of U.S. Harper's Bazaar Carmel Snow.

Each time a new exhibit examines the work of one of fashion's great masters, I wince just a little. I wince because exhibits such as these serve as a reminder to current generations of just how impoverished modern fashion has become in comparison. A sense of loss and regret is precisely how I felt when I left the Yves Saint Laurent retrospective at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 2008 and I suspect I will feel the same when I see the new Cristóbal Balenciaga exhibit, BALENCIAGA: Spanish Master, at New York's Queen Sofía Spanish Institute scheduled to open in Manhattan this November.

Luxury: Goyard and Devambez' Ode to Artisans

Our notion of what constitutes "luxury" has changed dramatically in recent decades. So too have our notions of craftsmanship and heritage, terms we hear with increasing frequency since the downturn. What does it mean for a luxury brand to remain true to its heritage? Does it matter that a brand no longer crafts its wares in the manner of previous generations? As consumers, should we care how or where a luxury product was made? These are questions many within the luxury industry are grappling with today.

A Più Tardi!

Dear Readers:

By the time you read this brief post, I will already be on my way to Florence to attend the Firenze4Ever celebrations marking a decade of luxury fashion pioneer Luisa Via Roma's transition from bricks & mortar to online luxury fashion emporium. To think that ten years ago, the prevailing wisdom was that consumers would never purchase luxury fashion online ... I will resume posting next Monday. A più tardi!

Sincerely,

The Luxe Chronicles

Only Those In Search of Extreme Gastronomical Thrills Need Apply

French champagne house G.H. Mumm is launching an online photography competition to select participants for its next Mumm Explorer Experience, a series of gastronomic dinners organized in "unexpected" locations (a drifting iceberg in the middle of Sermilik Fjord (Greenland), a sandbar in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef, etc.). To get a chance to win a place for the next installment in the series, G.H. Mumm is appealing to your creativity and photographic skills.

Gastronomy: The Impact of Environmental Disasters on Local Cuisine

When one hears of terrible events such as the BP oil spill off the coast of Louisiana, what immediately comes to mind is the loss of wildlife, the long term environmental consequences and the loss of employment for the inhabitants of the region. Few stop to think about the more subtle impact on local culture of which cuisine is an important part, especially in a city like New Orleans which has a long, distinguished culinary history.

Beware The Sun. Beware The Sun Protection.

After one of the longest and harshest winters in recent history here in the U.K., the arrival of Spring and the impending bikini season makes it awfully tempting to throw caution to the wind and just soak up as many rays as possible. Before you do however, please read this post.