< Previous10 FORTE DEI MARMI THE GREAT ESCAPE Haute on the heels of the first summer pop-up in Dubai – where else? – jet-setters can enjoy Bagno Annetta’s Valentino Escape bedecked gazebo in Forte dei Marmi and shop the collection of archival motifs from the ‘60s and ‘70s in boutiques in sun-drenched European destinations of St-Tropez, Capri, Mykonos, Porto Cervo, Puerto Banus, Cannes, Madrid, Galería Canalejas and Barcelona. Waves cropped shirt VALENTINO ESCAPE Waves cape VALENTINO ESCAPE Waves tote bag VALENTINO GARAVANI ESCAPE Waves multicolour print swimsuit VALENTINO ESCAPE Round Rain headband VALENTINO ESCAPE Round Rain shorts VALENTINO ESCAPE Flat nappa leather sandals VALENTINO GARAVANI ESCAPE Round Rain Dress VALENTINO ESCAPE Round Rain embroidered swimsuit VALENTINO ESCAPE 11 CAP-FERRAT DOLCE&CABANA Guests at Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat have a Sicilian-style treat in store this summer. Not only does the chichi Club Dauphin boast a private, majolica-themed Dolce&Gabbana cabana – but the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat also features a decadent Dolce&Gabbana designed pop-up boutique celebrating the Italian designer duo’s delicious Blu Mediterraneo and Capri Collections. Capri Collection bucket in printed canvas and wicker DOLCE&GABBANA Capri Collection printed T-shirt in jersey with knot DOLCE&GABBANA Capri Collection midi bustier dress in citrus print poplin DOLCE&GABBANA Blu Mediterraneo Collection majolica print poplin top DOLCE&GABBANA Capri Collection kaftan in twill pasta print DOLCE&GABBANA Capri Collection printed swimsuit DOLCE&GABBANA Capri Collection top in charmeuse and vegetable print DOLCE&GABBANA Blu Mediterraneo Collection Kendra straw bag DOLCE&GABBANA Capri Collection espadrillas in printed canvas DOLCE&GABBANA Capri Collection sandal with DG pop heel DOLCE&GABBANA12 MARINA IBIZA SUMMER OF LOEWE The doors of Loewe’s seasonal store are open in the White Isle’s Marina Ibiza from May to October but thanks to a newly expanded Eclectic fragrance, bath and body line, the riot of colour and joy that is Paula’s Ibiza is fast evolving from every party girl’s best-loved beach-to-bar pieces, into a hedonistic lifestyle in its own right. LOEWE Peace cropped T-shirt in Cotton LOEWE PAULA’S IBIZA Palm shorts in denim LOEWE PAULA’S IBIZA LOEWE PAULA’S IBIZA Eclectic Body Lotion Cropped jacket in denim LOEWE PAULA’S IBIZA Platform mule in lambskin LOEWE PAULA’S IBIZA Anagram basket bag in rainbow iraca palm and calfskin LOEWE PAULA’S IBIZA Flower sunglasses in injected nylon LOEWE PAULA’S IBIZA Strappy dress in viscose LOEWE PAULA’S IBIZA Crochet top in cotton LOEWE PAULA’S IBIZA Crochet hat in cotton and calfskin LOEWE PAULA’S IBIZA LOEWE PAULA’S IBIZA Electic Eau de Toilette 13 FARAGLIONI ISLAND LAZY, HAZY, PAISLEY DAYS Faraglioni Island in Capri was the maiden voyage of the Etro Liquid Paisley Beach collection’s summer celebrations thanks to its new flagship boutique on Via Camerelle. Catch the Etro Liquid Paisley Beach pop-ups while you can in Dubai, Forte dei Marmi, Forte Village Resort, Pesaro, Palermo, Milano Marittima, Munich, Mykonos, Ibiza, Nicosia and Izmir, and Mandarin Oriental, Bodrum. Sarong skirt with graphic print ETRO CROWN ME platform sandals in green ETRO Liquid Paisley Beach bucket hat in yellow ETRO CROWN ME Liquid Paisley handbag in pink ETRO Jacquard cardigan with geometric print ETRO Mandala print cropped T-Shirt ETRO Liquid Paisley one-piece beach costume in pink ETRO Geometric print short-sleeved shirt ETRO Liquid Paisley Beach bikini in light blue ETRO Liquid Paisley Beach cotton silk dress in orange ETRO14 PORTOFINO J’ADIOR LES VACANCES Not content with Dioriviera summer pop-ups from Mykonos to Bodrum, Capri to Ibiza, all the way to Portofino, look out for Dior Maison deck chairs, parasols and cushions strewn across the InterContinental in Hua Hin, Thailand, the Dior Tea House in Chengdu, the pool – renamed Dioriviera – at the Jimbaran, Bali Four Seasons’ Sundara Beach Club, and in Tokyo, Japan, and Sanya, China. Dioract sandals DIOR Dioriviera Toile de Jouy towel DIOR Dioriviera Toile de Jouy knitwear DIOR Dioriviera Toile de Jouy denim jacket DIOR Dioriviera Toile de Jouy Lady D-Lite bag DIOR Dioriviera Toile de Jouy skort DIOR Dioriviera Toile de Jouy scarf DIOR Dioriviera Toile de Jouy mitzah DIOR Dioriviera Toile de Jouy bucket hat DIOR J’adior woven bracelet DIOR PHO T OGR APH: KRIS TEN PEL OU Dioriviera Toile de Jouy dress DIOR15 T H E N E W R E N A I S S A N C E ISABELLA SULLIVANWORDS BY16 Previous page: Window & Ladder by Leandro Erlich This page: Villa San Michele, A Belmond Hotel’s arresting hillside location In the corner of a manicured terraced lawn, a ladder ascends to what looks like an open shutter suspended in the sky. The view could stop time – the inimitable Florence skyline: Brunelleschi’s terracotta-topped Duomo, the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio and the gentle curves of the Arno River, all perfectly framed. “This window gives us the chance to see through human history, the birthplace of the Renaissance is behind,” implores Argentinian artist Leandro Erlich, who, amongst the perfectly polished Italian gardens of Villa San Michele, erected the almost incongruous piece of art. After years in the making, this year marked the debut collaboration between luxury hotel group Belmond, a group behind some of Italy’s, and the world’s, most iconic properties, and Galleria Continua, a global contemporary art gallery born in the hills of Tuscany. Named Mitico, the collaboration saw Belmond work with Galleria Continua to install unique and thought-provoking art pieces across four of its most revered Italian properties: stretching from the hills of Tuscany to Sicily and Venice. Since its conception in 1990, Galleria Continua’s roots have spread far from Tuscany, with destinations like Beijing, Rome, Havana and Sau Paulo, and now, Dubai, with a pop-up exhibition at the iconic Burj Al Arab hotel. But the gallery’s roots are just a short drive from Florence in the hilltop villa of San Giminiano, sandwiched between Belmond’s Florence property and its countryside retreat in the hills of Siena. It’s here, under the Tuscan sun, that one of the most exciting luxury hospitality and art collaborations this season was born.1718 VIEWING THE WORLD Villa San Michele, A Belmond Hotel, is as elegant as a Renaissance painting – a work of art in itself. Carved into the hillside of the leafy Florentine suburb of Fiesole, the former monastery-turned-private- villa-turned 44-room-hotel is one of the most exclusive spots in the city. Its Mitico installation is aptly named ‘Viewing the World’, playing on the hotel’s dramatic position and unrivalled vantage point in the city. Window & Ladder, the installation’s focal, large-scale piece, depicts a ladder leading to a shuttered window and challenges viewers’ concept of reality – embracing ideas of universal beauty through differing points of view and almost enticing them to clamber up and take a peek. “A window is always something that we are attracted to see through, it’s such as symbolic element,” says artist Erlich, who was inspired by the hotel’s legendary views. Of course, there’s no climbing, but one can see the view from the hotel’s terraced gardens and sweeping pillared balconies. See the brilliant blue sky illuminate the ochre-hued city, or come at golden hour to see the entire skyline bathed in yellow amber. “It’s a great view,” chuckles Erlich. A great view indeed. Guests ascend to the property via a winding, cypress-tree-lined road cut in the hillside, soon surrounded by forested hills where Leonard di Vinci tested his first flying machine. As with all Belmond properties, Villa San Michele’s rich history and heritage as a former monastery are truly embraced and palpable. Once admiring the façade designed by the school of Michelangelo, check-in happens via the former chapel, ornate with frescoes and alter, still used for ceremonies and blessings to this day. Interiors reflect its role as a grand Florentine manor house and guests breeze between the handful of rooms as if it were their home. From the chapel, it’s a winding walk through flagstone floored rooms to find the cloisters, now covered with a glass ceiling and home to a sumptuous drawing room with ivy-clad walls, a sweeping terrace home to two restaurants transfixed on that same view, a seductive indoor bar and various Tuscan-style living spaces. In the old refectory of the monastery is where Galleria Continua’s second piece can be found. Unlike Window & Ladder, Erlich’s The Cloud is far more abstract: what appears to look like plumes of smoke or clouds in the shape of the United Kingdom crafted from multiple panes of glass. “Like an idea, The Cloud is both totally real and an illusion,” explains Erlich. It’s a superb contrast to the poignant fading fresco above – a magnificent scene of The Last Supper. “I’m interested in perception because I believe it is a way to access knowledge,” continues the artist. “It’s really moving for an artist to be able to share the space with such a painting , where everything becomes part of the same story, which is a story of art.” The piece itself appears as a floating three-dimensional sculpture and asks the viewer, what is reality and what is an illusion? Rooms at Villa San Michele are dotted around the main historic building and intertwined with the terraced gardens. Understated and filled with beautiful original architecture and features like window panes, period furniture and vaulted ceilings, some come with terraces and gardens. Tiered gardens hide platforms of roses, an organic herb garden and a newly transformed alfresco bar area following the hotel’s early 2022 refurbishment where aperitivo comes with a front-row view of golden hour and the sweet fragrance of lemons, rosemary and lavender. At the top sits a pale blue swimming pool where guests position their sun loungers towards the view and enjoy bites from a striped gelato car and woodfire pizza oven. Launched in 1990 by three friends, Galleria Continua’s journey has led it around the world, but its latest collaboration was closer than you’d think. The original museum lies in the small Tuscan hilltop village of San Gimignano, south of Florence in the province of Siena. Encircled by 13th-century walls and a maze of cobbled lanes, travellers leave their cars at the gates to traverse its medieval towers and charming gelato shops. Galleria Continua’s spaces are dotted around the town in abstract and unassuming places – the top floor of an unassuming hotel, a cellar and the headquarters in the town’s old theatre. It’s bold and stark modernity against the Tuscan hilltop village surrounded by patchwork hills and vineyards. This page: The Cloud by Leandro Erlich Facing page: an elegant drawing room in the monastery’s former cloisters THE PIECE ITSELF APPEARS AS A FLOATING THREE- DIMENSIONAL SCULPTURE AND ASKS THE VIEWER, WHAT IS REALITY AND WHAT IS AN ILLUSION? 19Next >