Innehållsförteckning för June/July 2024 från Robb Report

THE INFLUENCER ALEX HIRSCHI FOR ALEX HIRSCHI, who grew up in a small town in rural Australia, taking the road less traveled was usually the only option, and so she realized early on that the automobile was her connection to the larger world. “Whenever we had to go anywhere, it was always a car ride for hours, even to the nearest city,” says Hirschi, who admits that her interest was initially “less about a passion for cars than a passion for driving.” It wasn't until hosting a local radio show led her to cover car launches, and Bentley loaned her a press vehicle for a couple of days, that she developed an obsession—one she shared with her husband, Nik. “The two of us went to every car event we could…

THE BIG IDEA ALONE IN A CROWD DON'T BOTHER BUYING A HOTEL. There's no need now, as it has never been easier to enjoy the feeling of your own private resort (if temporarily). Call it an owner's lodge, a royal villa, or the principal's home: The must-have of the moment is a mansion-size, hotel-run lodging that has access to all of the amenities but keeps you far away from fellow guests. This trend is influenced by a permanent shift in travel patterns. According to Black Tomato's Sunil Metcalfe, bookings for eight people or more increased by 35 percent in 2022 compared to 2019. Such group travel now makes up almost a third of the company's bookings. “The private-villa and private-staff trend that was massive during Covid is on the wane,…

THE BIG IDEA HIGH JEWELRY GETS HIP GEM-SET HOODIE tassels? A magnetic jeweled pocket that doubles as a cuff? A carabiner dripping in precious stones? If such adornments don't sound like haute joaillerie, get ready for the new French revolution. Rather than sticking to the standard fare (think opulent gala necklaces and earrings in classic motifs and familiar cuts), Boucheron, Cartier, Chaumet, and other establishment ateliers are devising entirely new-and often quite casual—ways to rock extravagant stones. At Boucheron last July, exuberant models danced to “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham! and other colorful ‘80s hits while decked in high-wattage jewels that ranged from the aforementioned hoodie tassels to a bejeweled Rubik's Cube–style necklace to a pom-pom hair tie sparkling with tsavorites. It was a far-out spectacle for…

THE BIG IDEA BACK TO THE EARTH THIS WHISKEY-WORLD arms race has accelerated in recent years, with brands taking big swings to make new bottles stand out. Most of the energy has focused on the aging end of things, using barrels made from nonstandard woods, for example, or creative cask finishes. Some distilleries have even blasted their whiskey with heavy-metal music or put it on board ships to sail the open ocean. There is, however, a small but growing group of whiskey makers tinkering with the very start of the process, using heirloom grains rather than commodity products in the mash bill. These rare cultivars of rye, corn, and barley were developed decades or even centuries ago and have fallen largely out of use. American craft distillers are reviving them…

THE BIG IDEA GIVING'S ROCKY YEAR THE DOWNFALL OF fintech mogul Sam Bankman-Fried not only upended the cryptocurrency market, it also raised concerns about the future of effective altruism—a school of philanthropy that he embraced and that reportedly contributed to his fraudulent ways. Effective altruism espouses the idea that instead of giving your money to causes that you have a personal connection to (a hospital where a relative was treated, an alma mater) or one that tugs at your heartstrings—say, an earthquake in a developing country—you fund projects that have the highest potential for immediate and widespread impact, such as supplying mosquito nets to fight malaria. The movement encourages “earning to give,” in which individuals pursue lucrative jobs—sometimes even predatory in nature—in order to dole out as much money as…

THE BIG IDEA WEARABLES GET BUZZY WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY dates back to the abacus rings of 17th-century China, early precursors to the modern digital iteration, the calculator watch, released by Pulsar in 1975. In 2009 the introduction of the Fitbit tracker ushered in an era of wearable machines—ones that could not only calculate but measure as well. In the intervening years, a host of competitors hit the market, from Whoop to Oura Ring to Apple Watch, and while the designs, interfaces, related apps, and target users differ slightly between each—some are more fitness-focused, others prioritize wellness or productivity—each remixes the same basic functionality: recording biometric data such as heart rate, bloodoxygen levels, sleep patterns, electrodermal activity, steps taken, UV exposure, and the like. Which is to say, all of these devices…

THE BIG IDEA ANALOG FOR THE AGES WHILE DIGITAL technology has introduced lavish advances in automotive comfort and convenience, it's also impacting notions of exclusivity and collectibility. Nothing ages a vehicle faster, for example, than an outdated infotainment system. Such inevitable obsolescence and the looming era of silent, sterile EVs are why a few elite manufacturers and restorers are embracing an unapologetically analog approach. “The automotive world is going through a paradigm shift,” says Rob Dickinson, founder of Singer Vehicle Design, known for transformative restorations of the Porsche 911. “Electric power means that huge speed is relatively easy to accomplish, so it's less of a differentiator. Perhaps there's a renewed interest in analog as a result— the emotional connection for an owner engaging with a bighearted flat-six and a three-pedal manual…

THE BIG IDEA BACK TO BASICS AFTER AN UNPARALLELED pandemic-era boom, an aura of reticence and safetyseeking has settled over the watch industry. Reasons include everything from shoppers having less disposable income to manufactures playing catch-up on early-Covid production delays to—most significantly— global economic uncertainty. The cool-off was made abundantly clear in April at Watches & Wonders, the world's largest horological trade show. The sector's biggest luxury brands largely played it safe, remixing existing models with minor tweaks—new dial colors, say, or swapping one metal for another. Rolex's most desirable releases were positively subdued compared to its colorful 2023 lineup. The Crown debuted a Day-Date in Everose gold with a slate ombré dial and a GMT-Master II in steel with a gray and black ceramic bezel—not the much hoped-for updated…

THE BIG IDEA A TALE OF TWO MARKETS WINE SEEMS TO be in a very confusing place right now. If you follow news at all, you've probably read plenty of gloomy assessments: Young consumers are drinking less alcohol than previous generations, and those who do are favoring spirits, ready-to-drink cocktails, hard seltzers—that is to say, almost anything other than fermented grapes. Such headlines might make you think the end is near for the wine industry, which is stuck in a doom loop and fervently hoping that the older members of Gen Z suddenly develop a taste for fine Bordeaux and Burgundy. And yet the top of the market is soaring. In 2023, Sotheby's Fine Wine and Spirits division had its best year ever, taking in a record $159 million—a million…

 THE BIG IDEA GENUINELY INAUTHETIC CHEF ERLING WU-BOWER, son of a Chinese mother and a Creole father, grew up in Chicago. Chris Jung, executive chef at Wu-Bower's new Chicago restaurant Maxwells Trading, was born in Korea and raised in New York and D.C. To build their menu, they didn't pinpoint a single cuisine from their pasts. Maxwells—No. 3 on our list of best new restaurants in America—serves tortellini that taste like soup dumplings and flatbreads that look like scallion pancakes, which diners use to scoop up hummus. If anything, the cultural mishmash on each plate is unapologetically inauthentic. As we sampled dishes across the country this year, it became clear that the most inventive chefs have stopped chasing the idea of authenticity. Some are even gleefully subverting it. These talented…

THE BIG IDEA THE RENTAL REVOLUTION BORED WITH ROTATING between your same two (or three or four) homes? Tired of searching for a reliable caretaker to handle the minutiae of maintenance? Join the crowd. The corps of high-end renters has grown steadily over the past decade, with the number of rental households with $1 million–plus annual incomes tripling between 2015 and 2020, according to the listing site RentCafe. Tight inventory and ballooning upkeep costs have only hastened the trend in recent years, with more and more affluent individuals forgoing ownership in favor of the freedom to quickly flit to different cities or neighborhoods, bypassing the headaches that come with owning a primary residence or buying a vacation home. Rising to meet the demand, white-glove boutique agencies, private clubs, and ultra-luxury…

THE BIG IDEA RESILIENT IN THE EXTREME PRIORITIZING SUSTAINABILITY in an effort to fend off climate change has become mainstream across the design industry. But what can architects do when the planet seems to turn against us anyway? The acceleration of global warming and its adverse effects—wildfires, droughts, flooding, and other natural disasters—is bringing to the forefront an approach to architecture that, while not new, is rapidly gaining a following around the world. Resilient design aims to mitigate the impact of external threats via inventive solutions. Think of resilient design as a cousin to sustainability: The two are linked, but not the same. “Sustainability is about how you establish something regenerative by using resources in an appropriate, ideally netzero, way,” says Seattle architect Robert Hutchinson. “Resiliency is the ability to…

THE BIG IDEA FILM-SCHOOLED WHO IS YOUR idea of an all-time-great style icon? The gunslinging Yul Brynner in The Magnificent Seven? An ice-cool Steve McQueen in The Thomas Crown Affair? Or perhaps no one has done it better than a tuxedo-clad Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca. No matter who springs to mind, there's a good chance one of menswear's top designers agrees with you. That's because today's sleekest collections are putting a fresh spin on yesteryear's sharpest-dressed film characters. Inspired by American Psycho‘s Patrick Bateman, Saint Laurent's fall ‘24 collection is built around imposing double-breasted suits, shirting, and ties. The suiting hews to 1980s proportions, with generous jackets and high-waisted, voluminous trousers; in the hands of creative director Anthony Vaccarello, the power suit has seldom looked chicer. Prada's tailoring, with plenty…

THE BIG IDEA SAILING TOWAED SUSTAINABILITY FOR A GROWING number of younger sailors, sustainability isn't just a buzzword but the chief driver behind their new builds. Designers and shipyards understand that their vessels must now be the bleeding edge of green technology. “The wonderful thing about sailing is that you can move a 50-ton vessel in style across the Atlantic without using fossil fuel,” says Anders Berg of Dixon Yacht Design, highlighting sailing's wind-harnessing advantage over powerboats. A younger, more tech-savvy clientele has emerged, with “different expectations that are catalyzing new technologies.” “Our demographics changed tremendously after we started building hybrid boats,” notes Seth Hynes, president of HH Catamarans, a producer of luxury sailing cats from 44 to 88 feet. “We're now looking at mostly younger buyers—families taking sabbaticals or…

THE BIG IDEA AN ART WORLD DIVIDED BEFORE OCTOBER 7, the contemporary-art world tended to be seen as a reliably liberal bloc, with shared values around issues of social justice including race, gender, and reproductive rights. But Hamas's attack on Israel that day and Israel's subsequent invasion of Gaza have divided artists, gallerists, curators, and other art professionals in an unprecedented manner. Across the art world, people traded accusations of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and censorship. Pro-Palestinian protests erupted at numerous institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Talks were disrupted; artists pulled works from shows. In one case, a group of Jewish anti-Zionist artists withdrew their pieces from San Francisco's Contemporary Jewish Museum, in part to protest funding from the Israeli government…

THE BIG IDEA NEXT-GEN PILOTING IS HERE THE FAST-APPROACHING era of electric aircraft will transform intracity and regional travel for passengers, but it will also fundamentally change the pilot experience. The new crop of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) craft are smaller than most helicopters and conventional planes, but also potentially more complex, with multiple rotors that tilt for hovering and forward motion. That's supplemented by the need to constantly assess flight conditions in what promise to be busy urban airways, all while managing prop and rotor pitch and adjusting ailerons, rudders, elevators, and landing gear. How does one lessen the pilot's burden without compromising safety? The answer, eVTOL leaders Archer and Joby agree, involves unified flight controls, adopted from military programs such as the F-35B fighter jet. The…

THE BIG IDEA A WELL-LIGHTED PLACE ON AUGUST 11, 2023, a group of likeminded guests in Santa Barbara, Calif., watched the Perseids meteor shower streak across the night sky. It was a stellar display that happened to coincide with the launch of the Cohiba Experience at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara. Fittingly, the event marked the reopening of a smoker-friendly venue that had been snuffed out by the pandemic. Call them cigar bars, terraces, or smoking lounges, these spaces—which first flourished during the cigar boom of the 1990s—are a modern (and more inclusive) answer to the chummy gentleman's clubs of the 19th century. While many shuttered during the Covid-induced lockdowns of 2020, the past year has seen an increase in highend debuts both in the United States and abroad. The spike reflects…