Innehållsförteckning för October 2023 från Robb Report

Clay Williams For this inaugural Success Issue, photographer Williams paid a visit to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where he met up with Marvina S. Robinson, the first Black American woman to own a Champagne brand (p. 154). “When I'm photographing people, I want to connect with them as best I can,” he says. “So it was wonderful walking into the B. Stuyvesant Champagne tasting room and discovering that Robinson and I grew up just a few blocks away from each other. We got to talking about the neighborhood and the wine business, and the next thing you knew we were done.” Williams's work also appears in publications such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Cheriss May A lauded portrait and editorial photographer, May is also an…

The new El Palace, on Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, started life 104 years ago as the Ritz Barcelona, making it one of the earliest Ritz properties in the world and the oldest five-star hotel in the historic capital of Spanish Catalonia. Come for the history, sure, but stay for—and in—the Ronnie Wood Suite: The legendary Rolling Stones guitarist once called the sixth floor here home and helped design the elegantly appointed 1,600-square-foot space, which comes with a restored Wurlitzer 1900 jukebox stocked with his favorite albums, plus exclusive access to the nearby Hispano Suiza luxuryautomotive museum and factory. Then head downstairs, through the soaring mirrored lobby to the former ballroom, where renowned chef Rafa Zafra has opened his decadent new restaurant, Amar Barcelona, as a celebration of the…

JUST A SHORT drive from its Newport Beach headquarters and the deep-blue waters of the Pacific Ocean, Californiabased jeweler Lugano's club concept has recently opened next door to its flagship boutique in the area's upscale Fashion Island district. Through a pair of discreet glass doors accessible via the showroom (as well as street-side), Privé is a 7,500-square-foot members-only space that features Italian furniture from Ceccotti Collezioni and Poltrona Frau, an indoor-outdoor garden area of flowers and greenery, and striking wooden columns that spread outward, onto the ceiling, in a treelike effect. What you'll find very little of, however, are the company's wares. “We just have a little bit of sparkle, with two custommade egg-shaped vitrines that showcase jewelry,” says Privé’s managing director and chief experience officer, Stuart Winston. Privé, he…

With helicopters as backup, the black SUVs race in formation behind speeding squad cars as a drone sweeps the side streets. But this isn't Baghdad or Caracas-it's Detroit, with visiting Saudi ambassador Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud arriving by private jet. “That was highly unusual,” says Mike Bunk, chief operations officer of Detroit Executive Group, part of a security detail organized by the U.S. State Department and supported by local police. “But when a threat level is that high, the response has to match it.” Such calls to action are on the increase in the world of private aviation. The public's eagerness to track aircraft belonging to the likes of Elon Musk and Taylor Swift, as well as to high-profile CEOs, correlates to recent growth…

Yachting, while still the ultimate exercise in oneupmanship, is no longer linked exclusively to the see-and-be-seen set navigating between the same overcrowded anchorages. Increasingly, charter clients want their time on the water to be a true escape—their vessels a means to play Magellan and really explore. And a handful of select outfitters are very much on board. “Covid accelerated the number of people going to remote, bucket-list locations,” says Neal Bateman, yacht director at Cookson Adventures, which organizes trips to the Solomon Islands, Patagonia, and Antarctica aboard superyacht SuRi. “The growth in explorer yachts coming online is also driving this increase.” Solitude, copious natural attractions, and raw Arctic beauty have made Greenland a go-to destination for many off-grid adventurers, and Cookson is planning a voyage there that promises polar bears,…

When our team sat down to brainstorm Robb Report's inaugural Success Issue, our first challenge was to define the term. We knew we weren't interested in only money—the world is swimming with billionaires these days—but in the often hard-to-pinpoint traits that elevate some to next-level status.Ralph Lauren, mastermind of the preeminent fashion and lifestyle brand, epitomizes the drive and vision we were trying to put our finger on. Equal parts creative genius and brilliant businessman, Lauren has achieved the American Dream by selling, well, the American Dream. The others who made the cut may not be household names, but they share Lauren's imagination and grit, from Sampriti Bhattacharyya, whose ambition is nothing less than to revolutionize waterborne travel, to Kwame Onwuachi, who took a circuitous (and at times dangerous) route…

THE REVIVALISTS DAVID ROSENWASSER AND JEREMY BILOTTI David Rosenwasser and Jeremy Bilotti are both self-described nerds. They met as students at Cornell University's prestigious school of architecture, so it makes sense that Rarify, the forward-thinking design business they started together in 2021, would take an academic approach to selling midcentury and contemporary furniture. Rosenwasser caught the design bug early, tagging along with his dad to the flea market–like Antique Automobile Show near their home in Hershey, Penn. He was so enamored of their vintage finds that he used his bar mitzvah money for a treat uncommon for a 13-year-old: a dozen settings of Georg Jensen's Pyramid sterling cutlery, designed by Harald Nielsen, that he found online. “I still have it,” he says 15 years later. While Rosenwasser spent his teen…

LONG OVERSHADOWED by its more famous neighbors to the north and south, Gevrey-Chambertin and ChambolleMusigny, respectively, Morey-Saint-Denis was discreetly turning out exceptional red Burgundy before the thirst for Pinot Noir thrust the quaint village into the global spotlight. It's home to the highest concentration of grand cru vines in the region, all located within five designated vineyards: Clos Saint-Denis, Clos de la Roche, Bonnes-Mares, Clos de Tart, and Clos des Lambrays. The last is an undulating, 21.4acre plot at the heart of Domaines des Lambrays. First enclosed by a stone fence built by Cistercian monks in the 14th century, the walled vineyard (the very definition of a clos) was split among 74 owners during the French Revolution. Reassembled at the end of the 19th century by the Rodier family, it…

Paris has long been the repository of a staggering art trove, but those treasures have tilted toward centuries past, when the city was the center of gravity for painters and sculptors. Aspiring Manets and Picassos redirected their dreams to New York, Los Angeles, London, or Berlin decades ago, and collectors followed. But in recent years, the City of Light has reemerged as a beacon for the new. In the wake of Brexit and the recent French wealth boom—the country now has a higher proportion of millionaires than anywhere save China and the United States—international galleries have flocked to the Right Bank's elegant Avenue Matignon and the cool, narrow streets of Le Marais. Private art foundations, enriched by luxury powerhouses, have filled the void left by state-funded institutions: Billionaire François Pinault's…

DREAM MACHINES A DEVOTION TO MOTION BEFORE EVERYONE turns the page on internal-combustion engines, a trio of comprehensive new compilations has been released for gearheads to admire and, no doubt, regularly consult. These coffee-table tomes are not just informative and lavishly illustrated, but also promise discoveries that will make even the most devoted students of historic motorsport, automobiles, and motorcycles giddy with delight at uncovering new facts and images. Each is proof that there is no substitute for the tactile rewards of sitting down with a good book. Robert Ross Ultimate Collector Motorcycles The 940-page Ultimate Collector Motorcycles is a two-volume encomium to a subject never before presented in such depth, bringing over 1,100 photographs to life in a way smaller formats simply can't, with the design, printing, and paper…

As entertainment systems progress further into an age of sleek minimalism, it seems as if the technology's longtime drawback—a morass of unsightly cables—has finally been eradicated. Wireless TVs are now a reality, though the tech is still so bleeding-edge that only two manufacturers have currently entered the market. Electronics giant LG and upstart Displace both promise to centralize and conceal the cords elsewhere, then beam their 4K feeds to your display with no loss of quality, but each takes a slightly different tack. Nicolas Stecher LG M3 OLED TV With Zero Connect Box Displace TV $4,499 and up. Since multiple units can work together to create one massive display, Displace also offers pricing for two and four TVs purchased together ($8,099 and $13,499, respectively). A single 55-inch screen offers 4K…

Models: Finnlay Davis, Nakee, Cleirys Velasquez Hair: Jason Murillo Makeup: Jezz Hill Senior Market Editor and Casting: Luis Campuzano Fashion Assistant: Kimberly Infante Photo Assistant: Luke Stoychoff Digital Tech: William Manchuck Production Assistant: Elizabeth Steele…

Ask Sheila Johnson what she was like as a child, and it doesn't take long to get a picture of the qualities that helped her become America's first Black woman billionaire. Around age 11, for instance, she started waking up at midnight to practice the violin—in part so that her fledgling string work wouldn't disturb her family during the day. “They didn't enjoy listening to me as much as I enjoyed playing,” the 74-year-old says, sitting in the airy presidential suite of the Salamander Hotel in Washington, D.C. Her hospitality company—the Salamander Collection—teamed up with a British property-management firm last year to buy the building from the Mandarin Oriental Group in a deal widely reported to be worth $140 million. “I've always been this way; I don't know why,” she…

My first morning at Everest Base Camp, I awaken to the soft rumbling of a distant avalanche and the faint, nutty aroma of freshly ground coffee. My brain, groggy from slumber and lack of oxygen, doesn't know whether to be alarmed or excited. The sound of tumbling ice fades, but the smell of a strong French roast only grows stronger. A rap at my tent door is followed by a cheerful voice saying subha prabhat, or good morning, in Nepalese. I remain in bed, cocooned in the warmth of my electric blanket as the door unzips to reveal an apple-cheeked man holding a tray with a French press and a mug. “Delivery from your barista guy,” he says with a chuckle. He places the much-needed caffeine on a side table,…

THE GOODS THIS MONTH'S WHO, WHAT, AND WEAR As I arrive at Highland Base by helicopter in August, the main hotel appears in the distance as a jagged sliver of blond wood dropped into a sprawling expanse of glacial mountainside. On approach, the gravel parking lot is filled with stacks of camping gear and hulking 4x4s on massive, knobby tires; preposterously fluffy Icelandic sheep amble past A-frame cabins that dot the surrounding hills. Welcome to Shangri-la for the hard-core adventurer-especially one who still appreciates all the hightouch comforts of a luxury resort. The air taxi came courtesy of the Retreat at Blue Lagoon, the five-star wellness destination perched alongside the country's famously turquoise geothermal pond; Highland Base, which soft-launched in July, joins the same portfolio. Located in the kaleidoscopically hued…

Director, screenwriter, producer, actor, comedian, martini connoisseur . . . Paul Feig is not prone to idle. As well as a full diary, he can also lay claim to an unmistakable sartorial flair, consistent affability, and enthusiasm for all things well-made. In short, he's something of a bon vivant whose taste transcends the confines of the era in which he lives and works. He's probably known best for creating Freaks and Geeks, the short-lived yet cult-hit series that launched the careers of Seth Rogen, James Franco, and Jason Segel; or for Bridesmaids, one of the funniest movies of the 2010s; or perhaps for his 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters with an all-female lead cast. But despite being a charismatic presence at the best-dressed parties, these days he spends most of his…

STEVIE WONDER USED to tickle the ivories in the music room of this sprawling 21st-floor Los Angeles penthouse when the “Superstition” singer-songwriter rented it in the ’90s and into this century. Now, after a multimilliondollar, money-is-no-object redesign and renovation, this remarkable 6,600-square-foot residence—with its massive 5,500 square feet of rooftop terrace—is on the market for $21 million. Villa del Cielo, as it's known, sits on top of the Grand condo tower at 10445 Wilshire Boulevard, a stone's throw from Beverly Hills. From its vast deck, you get helicopter views of the iconic Hollywood sign, the downtown L.A. skyline, the Hollywood Hills, and the Pacific Ocean in the distance. “It's a one of a kind. For anyone who loves to entertain, this is hard to beat,” James Harris, principal and listing…

AT A DEAD STOP under a cloudy sky, I reposition my hands on the steering wheel and ensure the proper bend of the elbows, oblivious to whether or not I'm breathing. Focus, instead, is on projecting a confident nonchalance to the engineer in the passenger seat, but it's a struggle. Tom Petty was right—the waiting is the hardest part. “All clear,” crackles the walkie-talkie communiqué from the spotter ahead, and with Pavlovian response, my right foot meets the floor and the all-electric, 1,900 hp Pininfarina Battista feels like it might warp physics in its attempt to cover zero to 60 mph in 1.79 seconds. The rollout of Pininfarina's first solo production vehicle in its 93-year history, however, has been quite a bit slower. After Battista “Pinin” Farina launched his eponymous…

FIELD NOTES There are less-convenient things to collect than cars, but not many: big cats, perhaps, or aircraft, or large-scale military machinery. Paintings can be hung on a wall and watches kept in a box, but automobiles are large, awkward beasts that require a substantial amount of climate-controlled indoor real estate. Even if you don't drive them, cars need exercise and expensive maintenance. When the collecting bug bites, pray that it's for something you can lift. Yet cars are one of the most popular and visible collecting hobbies. When we reach a certain age and have the means and space to buy and store a nonessential vehicle, many of us do—even those who weren't die-hard car enthusiasts before. The luxury-automobile broker Max Girardo once advised me to buy the cars…

Sampriti Bhattacharyya broke free of the traditional gender constraints in her native India to become the founder and CEO of a pioneering electric-boatbuilder in the U.S. But ironically, when we connect via Zoom, she's back in the confines of her teenage bedroom in Kolkata for the first time in seven years. She points out the relics of her past that led her to train as an aerospace engineer in the States: a copy of Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time (which further expanded her interest in the universe), the hulking Compaq computer on which she first googled “American internship,” and . . . a poster of a ’90s boy band. “The only thing I knew about America was NASA and the Backstreet Boys,” she says with a laugh. The…

Nepal isn't the first destination to which the luxury-loving hotel junkie might turn, but 300 miles to the west of Everest lies the ancient, long-forbidden kingdom of Mustang, where a hotel grail awaits. Though the area opened to travelers just over three decades ago, the red carpet to this isolated region in northern Nepal was finally rolled out in August with the debut of Shinta Mani Mustang. Masterminded by architect Bill Bensley and hospitality guru Jason M. Friedman, the 29-suite resort was Asia's most anticipated opening of 2023 for good reason. Previously, if you wanted to visit this frozen-in-time locale and witness pure Tibetan Buddhist culture, your lodging options were $10-a-night guesthouses or campsites. Shinta Mani Mustang delivers a neverbefore-seen level of luxury, and much more. Bensley has designed over…