Churchill’s hotel inspires fashion line

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The Royal Horseguards is due to officially re-open in February 2009 following a £16m investment and refurbishment program. This landmark, famous for once housing Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s favorite bar-in its basement where secret passages link the building to Westminster and Whitehall-will be the central inspiration behind a haute couture fashion collection designed to bring some of London’s most iconic hotels to life.

Located on the river in Whitehall, The Royal Horseguards hotel is built in the style of a French Chateau and as a Grade 1 listed building has welcomed many Prime Ministers through its doors. It’s believed even the Secret Service used its eighth floor as a secret base during the Second World War and the building also boasts the largest free standing marble staircase in Europe.

As part of this grand unveiling, London-based fashion designer Aimee McWilliams, one of the UK’s leading young designers, will create the “capsule” bespoke clothing collection. McWilliams’ work is intended to convey the style, character and history of London’s most unique hotels: Charing Cross, The Cumberland (Marble Arch), The Tower (at Tower Bridge) and, of course, The Royal Horseguards. The effort will be unveiled in January and displayed at its namesake hotels before being auctioned for charity later in the year.
McWilliams set up her own label after winning the award for the best collection upon graduation and more recently won the Designer of the Year Award at the Scottish Style Awards 2007. She says that she has “been inspired by great interiors for most of my creative life,” and looks forward to “the opportunity to create high end luxury garments that reflected the diverse and stylish interiors of each of the hotels.”

Together, the four hotels will make Guoman Hotels, a new collection of deluxe London-based hotels each with an individual and unique history and character, brought together with a promise of exceptional service and customer experience.

How long before we’re able to travel in isolation?

by Abha Malpani on

It depends on my mood whether I want to chat to the person next to me when I travel. I’m quite happy reading my book, listening to music, gazing outside the window, or taking a nap on a train/bus/plane. Although not often have I had the misfortune of being stuck with an annoying chatterbox in the next seat, I have had many mental episodes of I-just-want-to-break-his-jaw-so-he-will-keep-quiet.

That’s when I wonder: how long before transport systems with private, one-person seats become a norm?

Australian designer Hamit Kanuni Kuralkan probably had his share of bad next-seat passengers in order to come up with this design(see image): a train with personal booths or capsules to sit in by yourself.

Although not a bad thought, I look at the design and the words that override everything possibly positive about the idea are “claustrophobia” and “depressing”. What if I pass out? And what happens if I want to travel with a friend?

I rather have some open space and an annoying neighbor.

[Via: Boing Boing]

Aesthetically pleasing: Travel + Leisure Design Awards 2008

by Anna Brones on

Travel definitely tops my list of interests, but coming a close second is design. Put anything with good lines and a sense of color in front of me and I am immediately thrilled. When I travel this turns into a lot of ogling at art and design inspired hotels and frequently visiting a lot of contemporary and modern art museums. Travel + Leisure seems to be on the exact same page this month with its Design Awards 2008.

As the chic travel magazine puts it, “Architecture and design shape every aspect of the travel experience.” I couldn’t agree more, and even though Travel + Leisure caters to a wealthier clientele, this still holds true when you are on a travel budget. Just because you can’t afford to stay in a well designed, modern hotel, doesn’t mean you can’t visit the lobby. And a lot of great architecture is best viewed from the exterior — a perfectly inexpensive way to pass an afternoon.

To showcase some of the best design, Travel + Leisure picked 15 different travel related categories and put together a slide show of the winners. Some of my personal favorite winners include the Nordpark Cable Railway Station in Austria, which won Best Transportation and the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle, which won Best Cultural Space. Other winners were the Beijing National Stadium, the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York City and the Town House Galleria, Milan. Take a minute to feast your eyes on some of the best in travel design here.

What are your favorite travel designs?

Hotels for art lovers

by Anna Brones on

Last time I went to San Francisco I was happy to come across Hotel des Arts, a well-priced boutique hotel. I am normally a hostel-goer, so anytime I can branch out and have my own room it’s cause for celebration. Despite Hotel des Arts being an actual hotel, I was even more excited about its use of art as interior design. The hotel hired a San Francisco gallery owner, John Doffing, to curate the hotel and he brought in work by every type of artist from graffiti taggers to professional illustrators. The end product is a hotel full of color and life, and a look into the local San Francisco art scene, all without even leaving the hotel doors; I was hooked.

Budget Travel just published their own list of Art Hotels; places to stay where you can rest assured that your room won’t be painted in white. On the list:

Hotel des Arts, San Francisco
The Winston, Amsterdam
Art Luise Kunsthotel, Berlin
Daddy Long Legs, Cape Town
Hotel Fox, Copenhagen

To read descriptions of these and other hotels and their artistic rooms and settings go here. You might be so inspired you won’t even make it to the surrounding museums.

Fashion Takes To The Skies

by Brett Atkinson on

The smart marketing team at Air New Zealand have been earning their salaries recently. Earlier this week we reported on the special gay-themed flight from San Francisco to Sydney (presumably via Auckland) that New Zealand’s national carrier is running in the week before Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.

Now the little airline that could has just run a special fashion flight from Sydney to Auckland. On board the three hour hop across the Tasman Sea were the cream of Australasia’s fashion media, and they were treated to a couple of catwalk shows at 30,000 feet. The flight was specially scheduled to launch Air New Zealand Fashion Week.

Apparently the first show was a little bumpy, but the turbulence subsided in time for the second outing of a few intrepid models. There’s no word if an aisle seat ensured a better goody bag and more champagne than those crammed in by the windows.

Via Stuff. Click here for pics and a video of the Blue Steel sky high shenanigans. Thanks to Stuff for the pic.