Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2025 i Town & Country

MUSTIQUE It is no surprise that in carrying out his mission to capture “attractive people doing attractive things in attractive places,” Slim Aarons ended up on Mustique, on assignment for T&C, photographing the inhabitants of the most glamorously eccentric island in the Caribbean. It holds that title to this day—just look at this issue’s cover, featuring the island’s grande dame Tiqui Atencio Demirdjian, and the accompanying story on page 66, in which Mike Albo writes, “Mustique is, still, a rare refuge where the rich, the royal, and the rock star roam.” Mick Jagger, who was part of Aarons’s portfolio in T&C’s December 1989 issue, remains a fixture, as do members of the British royal family; the Prince and Princess of Wales were there recently with their children. But it was…

It wasn’t until Samin Nosrat began working at Chez Panisse that she was introduced to composting. Nosrat, whose cookbook Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking is the reason your friends brine their chicken in buttermilk, was 19 and had taken a job as a busser at the Berkeley, California, institution. She was tasked with separating out“green food waste” after service. Hauled to Chez Panisse’s farm, that cutting board detritus—cilantro stems, onion skins, lemon rinds—would be transformed into compost and added to the soil to grow produce for the restaurant. What Nosrat calls a “tidy, beautiful” closed loop process made an impression. Later she would take part in less aspirational versions of the same sequence: food scraps allowed to molder in a tub on the counter, municipal…

When the hammer came down at $125,000, closing the sale of a pair of Princess Diana’s violet Ferragamo heels, Renae Plant leaped in the air and then fell to the floor. The 53-year-old Australian lay face up on the black and gold carpet of the Peninsula Beverly Hills for a few moments, fluttering her knees triumphantly. Plant’s presence stood in stark contrast to her fellow bidders at the Julien’s Auctions sale last summer, most of whom remained anonymous at the other ends of phones or computer screens. The faceless, nameless collectors drove the prices for the late royal’s clothing and accessories far above the lowball estimates. In the room, however, Plant celebrated each purchase. Clad in a bright pink minidress, she stood at a high-top cocktail table with an iPhone…

On Manhattan’s Upper East Side they are everywhere. They can be seen at the dog runs in Central Park, and at Sant Ambroeus picking up tuna salad. They are even found at Rumble, discreetly tucked away before class starts. They go by a single name, like Madonna and Cher. They, of course, are the Kelly and the Birkin, the best and most popular handbags made by the French leather goods giant Hermès. There are many reasons for the breathless adoration they receive, starting with the craftsmanship of the purses and the beauty of their design. And then of course there’s the X factor, the diffculty of scoring one, which only tantalizes shoppers more. But there’s a certain kind of customer who doesn’t wish to have the bag everybody else is…

French silversmiths of the 1920s, Swedish design, the 1970s, Jean Després. Do you follow? If so you’d be perfectly at home joining the ongoing conversation between Reed Krakoff and Athena Calderone. Shared references are key, they say, to their new collaboration of jewelry for John Hardy. The dialogue began when Krakoff was Tiffany’s creative director and Calderone invited him to be a guest on her podcast. “I held him in such high regard,” she says. “I love to chase down how ideas are born, and Reed was so open to sharing his journey.” By the time they met again, Krakoff’s journey had led him to John Hardy, where he is currently creative chairman, and Calderone had become the phenomenon known as EyeSwoon, the digital diary of her personal style and…

A classic, of course, is something that has stood the test of time. The hotels in T&C’s eighth annual Hotel Awards may have opened only in the past year, but so impressed were we that we’re giving them their shout-outs now. (When you go you’ll see why.) For the methodology behind this list of 47 winners—which also includes old classics recently reborn—see page 64. And go online for more: hotels, photos, details.…

ROYAL MANSOUR COLLECTION TAMUDA BAY Morocco Few hotels deliver as strong a sensory hit—of decor, ambience, food—as the three Royal Mansours owned by King Mohammed VI in Marrakech, Casablanca (see page 61), and now Tamuda Bay. On the Mediterranean 90 minutes from Tangier, it is Morocco’s first truly high-end beach resort: 55 sand-colored villas, some with pools; restaurants by the Michelin-starred Eric Frechon and Quique Dacosta; walls inlaid with seashells (the king is a fervent patron of Moroccan craftsmanship); and all of it on the country’s most beautiful beach. How do we know? The king is said to have his own compound nearby. K.G. AREV ST.-TROPEZ France Any hotel opening in St.-Tropez faces the judgment of a tough crowd. This one, balancing old-school luxury with a cool vibe, has passed…

A friend once joked that if you want to shut down a conversation with a chatty airplane seatmate, just tell them you’re an abstract painter. That vocation is presumably so incomprehensible and off-putting to the ordinary person it guarantees no follow-up questions. The 79-year-old German art collector Reinhard Ernst finds himself similarly lost for words when encountering an abstract painting, but the speechlessness stems from an entirely different source. “It’s so hard for me to put into words how I feel about a painting, because it hits me on an emotional level,” he says. “I can tell within five seconds if I like it or not, and within 100 seconds if I would buy it or not.” We are standing in the enormous basement storage room of Ernst’s newly minted…

There are many versions of the dream of living well in Southern California. In 1928, when the house in our story was built, the movie colony was infatuated with historical styles, and Tudor Revival was right up there as coin of the realm. This house was one of the more successful medium-size manifestations of that dream, from a time that produced some very good ones—an image of picturesque life in the Cotswolds, a little instant history brought to a brand new town at the edge of the world. In the east, in Greenwich or in Maryland hunting country, this style would come to be known as Stockbroker Tudor; in the west, Late Silent Movie Star, Old English variety. Marion Davies would have loved it, and may well have visited. Cut…

Adull architectural uniformity is sweeping the globe. Walk into many a new building and a numbing sense of airport lounge creeps in. You could be anywhere except your destination. Some cities prove the exception to the rule. Milan, home to Mr. Armani and Ms. Prada, to Teatro alla Scala and the Duomo, relishes the history of its villas and palazzi, layering innovation on top of patrimony. It’s a form of design pentimento, where what came before informs what comes next. The furniture company Molteni & C knows something about this. For nearly a century the firm’s namesake family has worked to keep iconic designs by such 20th-century masters as Gio Ponti and Aldo Rossi in production. When they went looking for a new base in Milan, they chose a property…

WHERE ARE WE GOING? His name destined him for a career in jewelry (at which he excelled), but Louis Comfort Tiffany first blazed his own creative legacy in stained glass. With his trademark Favrile method and a cadre of artisans, he made windows, pottery, and, of course, lamps. Today the largest collection of them is at the Queens Museum in New York, which is fitting: His original workshop was in the neighborhood. WHAT ARE WE WEARING? The Wisteria remains highly prized among Tiffany lamps; one from the Getty collection sold at Christie’s for nearly a million in 2023. The lamp inspired this limited edition watch, which features an intricate technique that lets enamel mimic the opalescent mosaic of the glasswork. And lest we forget the maison’s other specialty, each hour…

Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres’s 1845 portrait of Louise de Broglie, Comtesse d’Haussonville, has always been a crowd favorite at the Frick Collection in New York City, but now, after the museum’s four-year renovation, it will hang in the gloriously restored (and newly opened to the public) second-floor galleries. The painting has had an unusual journey, acquired eight years after Henry Clay Frick, the robber baron/art collector who lived here, died in 1919. Here’s how it ended up in what was once his bedroom. 1840: The Comtesse d’Haussonville (née Louise, Princesse de Broglie) asks Ingres, already an indemand artist, to paint her portrait. The commission, which he begins in 1842, takes him three years but is an immediate sensation. The comtesse keeps the painting at her estate in Switzerland and bequeaths…

IN THEORY & PRACTICE TIP 1: LEARN THE LANGUAGE Sumerians wore gold chokers as protective talismans. In the 19th century the style was linked to sex workers (see: Manet’s Olympia)—until the royals took over. TIP 2: IDENTIFY YOUR IDOLS Queen Mary, a voracious collector of jewelry, often stacked so many rivières they resembled diamond turtlenecks. Mick Jagger, above, had a similar idea. TIP 3: EXERCISE GRAND GESTURES While a maximalist approach is always welcome, a single choker—whether in diamonds or leather, to top off a tee or black tie—sends a more pointed message.…

100 PRINCES STREET Edinburgh Once in a while a new hotel comes along with a splashy aesthetic that looks so good on Instagram you can’t help wondering how it could possibly live up to the hype. 100 Princes does not have this problem. The design of this 30-room gem is so sumptuous, its bar so well stocked (170 whiskeys line the private dining room), it would be easy to never leave. But do—you’re in the heart of the Scottish capital. At the very least, take a peek out the window (preferably at sunset). Leena Kim RAFFLES Jaipur “To have been young and had a room at Raffes was life at its best,” wrote James Michener after a 1949 stay at the original Singapore hot spot. Raffes’s latest in India has…

WILD HILL Kenya With its British colonial history and Out of Africa tropes, Kenya does not lack for smart retreats. But this one is a standout: a five-suite, exclusive-use “safari home” owned by a fourth-generation Kenyan family and positioned atop the Masai Mara’s highest hill. There is private everything, naturally: guides, game vehicles, cooks, spa therapists (the wellness facilities are myriad, in case safari isn’t balm enough). And the views, over Masai-owned conservancies, rival anything Denys Finch Hatton might have spotted from his plane. K.G. MARA TOTO TREE CAMP Kenya Never mind that Tarzan lived in a treehouse only in the movies. It’s still a classic wilderness fantasy. This camp, part of Great Plains Conservation’s Réserve-Collection (and described by co-founder Dereck Joubert as its “most ambitious”) has just four canvas…

ARIES MARCH 21–APRIL 20 April promises to be a turning point period for you. Delayed decisions and situations that have been unresolvable will begin to clear by midmonth, and you should be ready to take on and define new challenges. With Mars moving forward in Leo, it’s time to be creative and entrepreneurial. Crucial financial and personal choices demand action toward month’s end. DE BEERS, DEBEERS.COM TAURUS APRIL 21–MAY 21 Two retrograde planets have been holding everyone hostage, but with Venus turning direct midmonth, you will have a clearer sense of how to proceed. You seem to be on a rollercoaster ride, and as issues play out, clashes of will be diffcult to avoid. Lifestyle issues demand resolution, and the new Moon of the 27th promises to refresh the page.…