Eco-aware travel gets fauna-friendly.
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Sailing the jagged coastline of Indonesia’s Komodo National Park, David de Rothschild was stunned to see 20 giant manta rays gliding alongside his boat—an otherworldly presence with a sobering effect. “You realize we really are just one of many incredible species on this planet,” de Rothschild says, “and we’re so systematically and aggressively ruining it.” With a new trip conceived for luxury travel agency Black Tomato, de Rothschild hopes to instill this sense of wonder and environmental urgency, particularly for the threatened giant manta ray population. As something of a 21st-century Jacques Cousteau— he once embarked on a journey from San Francisco to Sydney on a catamaran constructed from 12,500 recycled plastic bottles—de Rothschild knows the power of an intimate Walk With the Animals . . . Eco-aware travel gets fauna-friendly. REEFER MADNESS THE KOMODO ISLANDS IN INDONESIA. TRAVEL encounter with nature. His five-day itinerary sets sail from the Indonesian island of Flores, coasts through the Makassar Reef—a manta “cleaning station” located among the Komodo Islands—and ends with four nights at Nihi Sumba resort ($11,000). On the way, passengers work with scientists from the nonprofit Conservation International to tag rays and collect data that may help ensure their protection. But de Rothschild is betting on a broader benefit as well: “If you can make it tactile, then you’ve created an ambassador for nature.” . . . TALK WITH THE ANIMALS Nestled in Australia’s Greater Blue Mountains, Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley resort (from $1,412 per night) educates guests with hands-on activities like wombat surveying and water-quality testing. Abercrombie & Kent is launching a family-focused 20-day Antarctica journey in 2020 ($24,995), with climate change programming that includes up-close whale and penguin observation. The Earthwatch Institute’s latest expedition involves eight days in the evergreen rain forest of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula ($2,095), where participants record birdcalls and measure tree growth to assess conservation efforts.—ELLA RILEY-ADAMS Anyone who had forgotten Versace’s enduring presence at the fragrance counter got a reminder during its fall show. There, Kaia Gerber wore a black tee printed with Richard Avedon’s 1995 campaign image for Blonde, the brand’s best-selling perfume fronted by a glamorous Donatella. But its latest launch—a collaboration between Versace herself and a suite of perfumers—is scent-making at its most luxurious. “As much as women like to get their dresses made to measure, it’s even more true when it comes to fragrances,” Versace says of her couture studio’s first-ever olfactory endeavor, which distills the exceptional craftsmanship of the Atelier Versace salon on Via Gesù in Milan into six different scents. Intense infusions of vanilla, fig, or Sri Lankan sandalwood arrive in twisted deep-black glass bottles, while a trio of fresher blends—an incense- inflected rose, jasmine softened with honey, and Cédrat de Diamante, which captures the effervescence of Italian lemon—comes in corresponding clear flacons. Each bottle is topped by a gilded Medusa medallion, the omnipresent symbol of the fashion house, with its intrinsic nod to femininity and forbidden desire. “We all want to find that fragrance that really represents who we are,” says Versace, who hints that the Cédrat and rose are her personal picks: one to sparkle, the other to seduce.—AMY VERNER FRAGRANCE Haute Topic Donatella Versace bottles the artistry and creativity of her couture atelier. HERBAL ESSENCES THE FRAGRANCES FEATURE HIGH-QUALITY BOTANICALS IN HANDMADE PACKAGING. TRAVEL: COURTESY OF BLACK TOMATO. VERSACE: ALESSANDRO GRASSANI/THE NEW YORK TIMES/REDUX PICTURES. ROSE: COURTESY OF VERSACE. JASMINE: NARCISA/GETTY IMAGES. FIG: JARREN VINK. BON APPETIT, 2014. V LIFE 62 NOVEMBER 2019 VOGUE.COM
Transcript of Eco-aware travel gets fauna-friendly.
Sailing the jagged coastline of Indonesia’s Komodo
National Park, David de Rothschild was stunned to see 20 giant manta rays gliding alongside his boat—an otherworldly presence with a sobering effect. “You realize we really are just one of many incredible species on this planet,” de Rothschild says, “and we’re so systematically and aggressively ruining it.” With a new trip conceived for luxury travel agency Black Tomato, de Rothschild hopes to instill this sense of wonder and environmental urgency, particularly for the threatened giant manta ray population. As something of a 21st-century Jacques Cousteau—he once embarked on a journey from San Francisco to Sydney on a catamaran constructed from 12,500 recycled plastic bottles—de Rothschild knows the power of an intimate
Walk With the Animals . . .
Eco-aware travel gets fauna-friendly.
REEFER MADNESS
THE KOMODO ISLANDS IN INDONESIA.
TRAVEL
encounter with nature. His five-day itinerary sets sail from the Indonesian island of Flores, coasts through the Makassar Reef—a manta “cleaning station” located among the Komodo Islands—and ends with four nights at Nihi Sumba resort ($11,000). On the way, passengers work with scientists from the nonprofit Conservation International to tag rays and collect data that may help ensure their protection. But de Rothschild is betting on a broader benefit as well: “If you can make it tactile, then you’ve created an ambassador for nature.”
. . . TALK WITH THE ANIMALS Nestled in Australia’s Greater Blue Mountains, Emirates One&Only Wolgan Valley resort (from $1,412 per night) educates guests with hands-on activities like wombat surveying and water-quality testing. Abercrombie & Kent is launching a family-focused 20-day Antarctica journey in 2020 ($24,995), with climate change programming that includes up-close whale and penguin observation. The Earthwatch Institute’s latest expedition involves eight days in the evergreen rain forest of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula ($2,095), where participants record birdcalls and measure tree growth to assess conservation efforts.—ELLA RILEY-ADAMS
Anyone who had forgotten Versace’s enduring presence at the fragrance counter got a reminder during its fall show. There,
Kaia Gerber wore a black tee printed with Richard Avedon’s 1995 campaign image for Blonde, the brand’s best-selling perfume fronted by a glamorous Donatella. But its latest launch—a collaboration between Versace herself and a suite of perfumers—is scent-making at its most luxurious. “As much as women like to get their dresses made to measure, it’s even more true when it comes to fragrances,” Versace says of her couture studio’s first-ever olfactory endeavor, which distills the exceptional craftsmanship of the Atelier Versace salon on Via Gesù in Milan into six different scents. Intense infusions of vanilla, fig, or Sri Lankan sandalwood arrive in twisted deep-black glass bottles, while a trio of fresher blends—an incense-inflected rose, jasmine softened with honey, and Cédrat de Diamante, which captures the effervescence of Italian lemon—comes in corresponding clear flacons. Each bottle is topped by a gilded Medusa medallion, the omnipresent symbol of the fashion house, with its intrinsic nod to femininity and forbidden desire. “We all want to find that fragrance that really represents who we are,” says Versace, who hints that the Cédrat and rose are her personal picks: one to sparkle, the other to seduce.—amy verner
FRAGRANCE
Haute TopicDonatella Versace bottles the artistry and
creativity of her couture atelier.
HERBAL ESSENCESTHE FRAGRANCES FEATURE
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62 N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 9 V O G U E . C O M
