WHITE.20.INTERNATIONAL

20

H O M E T O B E A U T I F U L B R A N D S

01 titel 4 16.06.2011 14:24 Uhr Seite 1

03 editorial engl. 16.06.2011 14:27 Uhr Seite 2

e d i t o r i a lP

HO

TO

: IN

A Z

AB

EL

DEAR READER, WHITE Communications has now been in businessfor 20 years. This is a very special anniversary for both the company and me personally, and the fact that you are reading this means that Ican share the occasion with you. These last two decades have seen an incredible reshaping of our society. The new media have wrought far-reaching changes in our daily lives and these have happened with breathtaking speed. Who, in the early 1990s, would have dared to predict the triumphal advance of the personal computer, the web and the mobile phone? Were there any futurologists who forecast developments like iPads and apps?

But, in a scenario of rapid change, some things always remain constant. One of these is the key importance of quality. WHITE Communications attaches great importance to maintenance of high quality in its work and we believe this can only be achieved by an approach combining genuine creativity with absolute dedication.This is what enables us to offer our clients original solutions that awaken desires in their chosen target groups. And I am lucky to havethe support of highly professional and energetic staff to achieve this.

This magazine contains interesting information on our clients andtheir luxury products. I am proud to be associated with both them and the media with whom we have an intimate professional relationship.

Yours truly

03

Rupert Wild, Owner & Managing DirectorWHITE Communications HOME TO BEAUTIFUL BRANDS

03 editorial engl. 16.06.2011 14:27 Uhr Seite 3

20Munich is Fashion

Interview with Rupert Wild

Ferragamo: His Life, His Label

Fashion Drawings: Pictures of Elegance

Sunglasses: A Cult Accessory

A Small Price to Pay

The Most Beautiful Golf Course

Spotlight: WHITE News & Trends

08

1 2

1 6

20

26

32

34

38

c o n t e n t s

Publisher: WHITE Communications GmbH HOME TO BEAUTIFUL BRANDS Rosenheimer Straße 145E, 81671 MunichTel. +49 (0) 89 360 766 0 www.white.de Responsible for contents: Rupert Wild,owner & managing director Fact checking and coordination: Annett Brouwers, Julia Behm,Susanne Heiliger, Eva Schweder (assistant), Martin Wössner

Managing editor: Gudrun Thiel Editor: Andreas Odenwald Layout: Axel Ganguin

Contributors and editorial staff: Fred Baumgärtel, Marcus Schick, Bettina Krispler (copy editor)Rachel Kretz (responsible for translations)

Publishing company and editorial office:G.T. Verlag Kundenmagazine + Konzepte Gudrun Thiel Siegesstraße 13, 80802 Munich Tel: +49 (0) 89 383 296 55 Email: [email protected] www.verlag-gt.de

Print: Fibo, Neuried

Reproduction (of copy and images) permitted only

with the publishing company's prior consent.

I m p r i n t

04

04 inhalt/impressum engl. 16.06.2011 15:12 Uhr Seite 2

04 inhalt/impressum engl. 16.06.2011 15:12 Uhr Seite 3

06 anzeige burda 16.06.2011 15:15 Uhr Seite 2

06 anzeige burda 16.06.2011 15:15 Uhr Seite 3

08

FASHION SHOW 2011 AT THE BMW MUSEUM: Students of the Academy of Fashion and Designpresent their creations.

08 modestadt engl. 16.06.2011 15:16 Uhr Seite 2

The Bavarian capital is more radiant than ever. Some would even call it

the world’s most charming city. Munich's international reputation has been

greatly boosted by the renaissance of the Munich fashion industry.

Munich is fashion

W R I T T E N B Y A N D R E A S O D E N W A L D , P H O T O : 2 0 1 1 B M W A G

a l o c a t i o n d e f i n e d b y s u p e r l a t i v e s

MUNICH’S FASHION FOLK may well

have quaked in summer 2009 when they

read what the Süddeutsche Zeitung news-

paper had to say about their industry. The

headline “Fashion capital loses its lustre”

boded no good, and it got worse in the first

paragraph: “Escada’s bankruptcy has been a

big blow to Munich’s fashion pride. It marks

the end of pomp and eternal prosperity.”

The final bullet came later on in the article:

“This is the end of Munich’s greatly faded

nimbus as a fashion capital. The crisis has

stripped the city of its epaulettes.”

The fashion designers in their studios

in Schwabing and in the Glockenbach

district, the managing directors, the crea-

tive folk in their agencies in the Lodenfrey

Complex and in Haidhausen, all wrung

their hands, gazed at each other in perplex-

ity or reached for the phone. What the devil

had got into the otherwise so respected ne-

wspaper to make it lash out like that? Mu-

nich’s fashion soul was wounded. But then,

four weeks later, something very strange oc-

curred: a Berlin magazine, of all things, re-

stored the injured pride of Munich’s fashion

sector and the city’s creative scene.

“ZEIT Magazin”, stated a release issued a

few days prior to publication, “will be dedi-

cating an entire issue to Munich’s fashion

scene.” The news spread like wildfire. It

continued: “The eighties have just cele-

brated a grand comeback on the catwalks of

Paris and Milan. And where were the eight-

ies at their most glamorous in Germany? In

Munich. It’s probably no coincidence that a

new generation of designers, artists and

musicians are capturing the advent of a

new spirit in the city.”

The 72-page dose of journalistic TLC for

the sensitive souls in the city on the Isar ri-

ver couldn’t have been more loving and la-

vish. Opulent photo series from Munich’s

studios and workshops, reports and inter-

views with some of the city’s celebrities, in-

cluding top model Julia Stegner and Bayern-

Munich football star Philipp Lahm, both of

whom have home advantage, with the lat-

ter treating readers to a guided tour round

his city.

The magazine was firmly underpinned

with the heart-warming statement: “Berlin

is over, and Munich is back. Better parties,

more exciting people, so much on the cusp

of change.” And all of this written by an edi-

torial team located at the heart of the arch-

enemy, “Prussia”. It was obviously time for

Bavarians to reconsider their traditional en-

mities. How could anyone in Munich se-

riously sneer at the Prussians, the exact

same folk who were helping to rebuild the

city’s confidence and image?

Noted Prussians who had confessed a

love for Bavaria included Thomas Mann,

the great author from Lübeck. In his books,

Mann wrote literary tributes to the Bavar-

ian capital and its artists’ quarter, Schwa-

bing, as well as providing the theme for the

Munich Medal of Merit: “Munich shines”.

This is the first sentence of Mann’s master-

ful 1902 short story “Gladius Dei”, in which

he penned what is perhaps the most beauti-

ful and touching declaration of love the city

has ever received from an outsider. A good

half century later it was the Hamburg-based

magazine Der Spiegel that wrote that Mu-

nich enjoys the highest standard of living.

The magazine, arch-enemy of the conserva-

tive Bavarian politician Franz-Josef Strauß,

crowned the southern city “Germany’s

secret capital”.

09


10 The nineties brought a temporary lull

in the city’s appeal. After German reunifica-

tion, the Bavarian capital slumped into

what could truthfully be termed an identity

crisis. Overnight the city had suddenly slid

into the periphery of the larger, reunited

Germany.

And that wasn’t all: spurred by the new

German sense of excitement, many people

from Munich suddenly wanted out of what

was now perceived as the claustrophobic

constriction and sleepiness of the former

royal city.

One sentence was heard with particular

frequency in those days: “I’m leaving for

Berlin!” Many a smart aleck set off with the

intention of making a quick fortune in the

new German capital, leaving behind their

old home with the words: “Munich? This

place is dead!”

The majority of these self-acclaimed ad-

venturers and gold-diggers slunk back with

their tails firmly between their legs. Some

had severely miscalculated, others spent a

long time licking their wounds. The one

thing that the penitent returnees could

agree on with those who had stayed home

was that there isn’t really an alternative to

Munich.

And that holds true now more than

ever. Munich’s light shines strongly again,

and is visible from afar. Thomas Mann

would be delighted. The New York Times

wrote a paean to Munich, praising the city’s

art, food and all the things Berlin appar-

ently lacks. The international style maga-

zine Monocle even went as far as to declare

that the future of German design is to be

found in Munich.

There’s no getting away from the fact

that Munich is back in fashion. It’s equally

clear that fashion is back in Munich.

Fashion houses from Munich, such as

Bogner, Etienne Aigner and Escada (saved

from bankruptcy by Indian capital) have an

international standing. One of the best-

stocked and most exclusive fashion retail-

ers, “Theresa”, which was set up in 1987 and

is lauded as a “paradise for style”, is also a

respected player on the global online mar-

ket. In the top 100 of the best online shops,

the Munich company ranks at No. 31.

Inspired fashion newcomers, like

Adrian Runhoff, who previously studied

business management, or Johnny Talbot, a

former engineer, have taken their avant-

garde fashions all the way to Hollywood.

It makes perfect sense that most of Ger-

many’s major fashion glossies have set up

their headquarters in Munich, from Vogue

to Freundin, from Madame to Elle. And it is

equally natural that the fashion elite of the

future is being trained and honed in Mu-

nich at the Academy of Fashion and Design

or the Deutsche Meisterschule für Mode.

The catwalks of the big shows can stick to

the grand venues of Milan or Paris! Let the

world’s supermodels tread on each others’

toes on the red carpets in Rio de Janeiro or

New York! Munich does not need a catwalk.

Munich is a catwalk.

DIETER REITER HEAD OF CITY DEPARTMENTOF ECONOMICS AND LABOURMunich looks back on a longtradition as a fashion city. Thecity and its flair are inspiring for creative minds. Globally recognised fashion labels arebased in Munich. Seminal fashion events and trade showsset industry standards. The city is fast becoming Germany’s most important location for fashion orders.

PATRICIA RIEKELEXECUTIVE EDITOR BUNTE Hamburg is elegant, Berlin is trendy, Düsseldorf is chic, butMunich is the most fashionablecity in Germany. This is the city where women (and men)have the will and the money todress stylishly. This is particu-larly visible in the city. Lookingaround at the wittily, elegantly,edgily dressed women youcould almost think you're in Paris or New York.

NINA RUGE TV PRESENTERMunich is Maria Furtwängler,Senta Berger, Sunnyi Melles:trend meets elegance, caressedby a touch of timelessness. Iris Berben imported this distinctive style and look to Berlin, but the capital prefers tocelebrate the other side of the fashion coin: a love of experimentation, creativity thatranges from genius to madness right though to deformity ... it’s wonderful thatwe have both! Two poles – a brilliant fashion nation.

KATRIN RIEBARTSCHEXECUTIVE EDITOR MADAMEMunich is a city that offers anunparalleled choice when it comes to shopping; there are loads of locations and opportunities to show yourselfin chic outfits. Munich is alsohome to Germany’s best fashionmagazines. The top fashion and PR agencies are based here– and none of them want to leave because Munich has the three big “Ls”: luxury, lifestyle and life quality.

PH

OT

O:

JA

CQ

UE

LIN

E K

RA

US

E-B

UR

BE

RG

(N

INA

RU

GE

)

After German reunification, Munich went through a temporary identitycrisis. Today, there's no getting away from the fact that this south German city is back in fashion.


12

i n t e r v i e w

Agency head Rupert Wild talks about his passion

for showcasing premium products, his love of luxury

and pride in the agency’s high-carat clients.

“Making a brand shine”

I N T E R V I E W B Y M A R C U S S C H I C K , P H O T O : I N A Z A B E L

You launched your agency 20 years ago, and

much of your work now seems to focus on

luxury and premium brands.

Rupert Wild: Well, it’s always been like

that. From the very start WHITE has had a

very strong focus on luxury.

What, from the agency’s point of view, makes

luxury so special?

R.W.: It is an uncontested fact that luxury is

fun, and even for those who cannot afford it.

Either they dream of one day attaining this

lifestyle, or it gives them something to com-

plain about. Either way, it creates a certain

satisfaction.

And what satisfies you?

R.W.: As an individual, I simply love and

appreciate luxury, even products I would never

buy. For me, luxury is more than just an

expensive product, more than a lavish life-

style. It is more like a design for living. As a

business partner of luxury goods companies I

am full of admiration for the way their top

brands offer compelling alternatives to short-

lived, here-today-gone-tomorrow trends. And

I admire the fact that these premium pro-

ducts are rooted in deep-seated convictions,

values and beliefs.

So does that mean that you would never buy

“ordinary” products?

R.W.: Not necessarily. But I am quite willing

to admit that I take pleasure not only in the

quality of a product, but also presenting it in

a suitably dazzling way. I love to burnish it

and add to its appeal through the way we

showcase it. And don’t forget that many

cheap products are scarcely more than short-

lived sparklers, and as such I prefer to stay

well away from them.

These are quite high standards: how do you

deliver them?

R.W.: The keywords here are communica-

tion and professionalism. After more than

20 years in the arena of luxury goods and

premium products, I know that to assert

yourself here successfully you have to mas-

ter the rules perfectly. Our clients appre-

ciate this. They have faith in our proven

media power, PR expertise and international

network of publishing companies and opin-

ion leaders.

On the subject of communication: are there

any channels that are particularly effective?

Are modern media better than traditional

ones?

R.W.: We have no preferences, and we com-

municate through all channels: print, out-

door, online and TV. Classic print and out-

door adverts can be just as appealing and

compelling as television commercials or

cinema advertising. And there’s the explosive

growth of the online market, which offers a

wide choice of options, ranging from banner

ads to ecommerce and social media cam-

paigns.

Many of your clients are presumably still

fairly unfamiliar with this new world, and

may not know what you’re talking about

when you mention these options.

R.W.: That’s what they’ve got us for. Our aim

and commitment is to be a profoundly know-

ledgeable, expert navigator.

Your client list includes many high-powered

players. Is this something you are proud of?

R.W.: Absolutely. Extremely proud of, in fact.

The charisma and sheer presence of brands

12 fachartikel engl. 16.06.2011 15:20 Uhr Seite 2

like Karl Lagerfeld, Tommy Hilfiger, Eliza-

beth Arden, Luxottica and many others gives

us supreme pleasure, day in and day out.

These are fabulous brands, and it is a real

pleasure to work for and with them. At the

same time, they are also first-rate references

for our agency.

Is there a sure-fire recipe for success in adver-

tising?

R.W.: Unfortunately not. That famous quote

by Henry Ford still holds true ...

... the one about advertising being a waste of

money?

R.W.: Precisely. Ford said that half of his ad-

vertising budget was a waste of money, he

just didn’t know which half. However, that

didn’t prevent him from producing and ad-

vertising and, as we all know, he created a

global brand doing exactly this.

So how do you respond when a client throws

this quote at you?

R.W.: My line of argumentation is that if the

advertising budget is sufficiently big then

very little can go wrong. As long as only half

of the budget is wasted, and the other half

leads directly to the customer then at least it

adds up. That’s the theoretical part of my

reply. But in fact our work is so targeted and

precise that we are able to significantly

reduce that critical 50 per cent. In contrast to

the past, marketing today has a proven scien-

tific basis and it employs the tools of differen-

tiation and very clear positioning.

That still sounds very theoretical.

R.W.: The principle is very simple. Let me

quote you something from the 1980s, which

in our business is quoted just as often as

Henry Ford: “Don’t look for the solution to

the problem in the product or in your own

mind. The solution to the problem lies in the

14

“Marketing should not aim to win prizes for brilliant ideas, but to make the customer want to buy the product.”

WHITE provides solutions for the digital century. We help design and implement the

transition from mass communication to network communication. In today’s market-

ing, reach is no longer the measure of all things, and media and PR are no longer

entirely separate disciplines. In an age of short life spans, where one impression is im-

mediately ousted by the next, what really counts is delivering a sustainable experience.

This applies even more so for brands that distinguish themselves by their charm, their

elegance and their exclusiveness. WHITE develops campaigns that appeal to the con-

sumer as an individual, based on ideas that kindle passions and invite the consumer to

be a part of the brand world. Our campaigns showcase brands where they can best unfold

their appeal. We transform consumers into advocates and opinion leaders into fans.

PortfolioFASHION: Arrow, Karl Lagerfeld, Lagerfeld, Tommy Hilfiger

FRAGRANCE: Dsquared2, Gianfranco Ferré, Ferragamo Parfums, John Galliano,

Ducati, Sergio Tacchini, La Perla / La Perla Greco, Benetton, Ferrari, Iceberg, I Coloniali,

Bois, Trussardi, La Martina, Emanuel Ungaro

LIFESTYLE: Rimowa, Mizuno Golf, Mizuno Running, Burberry*, Chanel*, Miu

Miu*, Persol*, Prada*, Ray-Ban*, Ralph Lauren*, Dolce & Gabbana*

*Luxottica Eyewear Brands

HOME TO BEAUTIFUL BRANDS

mind of the consumer.” It’s a quote by the

advertising strategy gurus Al Ries and Jack

Trout. The “oversimplification” in the mind,

as they termed it, is the only form of protec-

tion against communication overload.

In our web-driven day and age this is probably

more important than ever.

R.W.: Yes, that message is as valid today as it

was 30 years ago.

How does this affect your work?

R.W.: It means that perfect positioning is the

key to successful marketing, regardless of

whether we’re dealing with a brand, a person

or a service. It is worth taking a very close

look when positioning a brand; you have to

isolate the essence of the brand as exactly,

clearly and unmistakably as possible and

then boost its emotional appeal. This is

essential if you want to stand out clearly and

distinctly against the white noise of commu-

nication overload.

How important is peer acclaim for you?

R.W.: It is important, we accept it gratefully,

it is flattering, but you shouldn’t overesti-

mate its value. Marketing today should not

aim to win prizes for brilliant ideas, but to

make the customer want to buy the product.


Salvatore Ferragamo: the legendary Neapolitan shoemaker

who devoted his life and his label to beauty and harmony.

The Italian who BeautifiedHollywood’s Legs

16

THERE ARE countless photos of Salvatore

Ferragamo. You find them online, on the web-

site of the company that bears his name or in

newspaper and magazine archives and lavish

coffee-table books. But in this wealth of pic-

tures you have to look very carefully to find

one that shows the famous Italian shoe de-

signer laughing. Even a faint smile is rare.

Mostly, his expression is deeply serious, con-

centrated, enquiring.

The dashingly handsome, well-built Ita-

lian with the thick, slightly wavy dark hair

had reason aplenty to pose for the camera, to

savour his moment in the spotlight, to pres-

ent himself as the glamorous star. His career

was stellar and women adored him; for most

men it would have been nigh on impossible

not to succumb to the contagious germ of

pride and self-importance.

But for Salvatore Ferragamo, born in

1898 near Naples, nothing in his life was ever

as important as his craft, with the exception

of his family. Craft in his particular case

meant creating artworks for the female foot.

There was simply no room in this artisan’s

life for personal aggrandisement or an

inflated ego.

As early as age nine, so the legend goes,

he created his first pair of shoes (for his sister)

and in doing so discovered his calling. He

completed an apprenticeship as a shoemaker

in Naples and opened his own little store.

Aged 16 he emigrated to America, following

in the footsteps of his brother, who worked in

c u l t b r a n d s

Stars like Joan Crawford entrusted their beautiful legs to Ferragamo. Despite the glamour, he never lost sight of his true calling: shoe design.

a shoe factory in Boston, Massachusetts.

Together, the two went to California, lured by

the up-and-coming film capital of Holly-

wood, where they opened a shoe boutique at

the beginning of the 1920s.

Italian men tend to worship at a beauti-

ful woman’s feet. It seems to be in their blood.

From now on, Salvatore Ferragamo spent

practically the rest of his life kneeling before

the world’s most glamorous and attractive

women – not to plead for their love, but to

adorn and embellish their feet with his

seductive creations. It is little wonder that he

made the hearts of even the haughtiest

women beat faster.

In the early years of Hollywood it was the

nascent screen goddesses, like Greta Garbo,

Gloria Swanson and Marlene Dietrich, who

allowed the creative Neapolitan to adorn

their divine legs. Decades later, his creations

graced the feet of film stars such as Audrey

Hepburn, for whom he designed iconic ballet

shoes, or Marilyn Monroe, who wore his

bespoke 11cm stiletto heels.

Between these two phases lay a return to

Italy in 1927, and one year later the founda-

tion of the company’s own shoe factory in

16 ferragamo engl. 16.06.2011 15:22 Uhr Seite 2

Today, the company alsosells perfumes, scents thatthe founder never even dreamt of. The adverts forthe perfume Attimo last year featured the US super-model, Dree Hemingway.

17Florence, which employed over 700 full-time

shoemakers and produced 350 pairs of shoes

daily. While this may sound like a lot of

shoes, it was far from mass production, of

which Ferragamo was deeply suspicious.

Each single pair was personally inspected by

the boss himself. The photos taken during

this phase show, as usual, a serious, thought-

ful man standing in the workshop with his

master craftsmen and shoemakers, deep in

conversation about miniscule details.

Ferragamo never saw himself as a big

industrialist or shoe tycoon, but more as a

painstaking innovator. For once, the word

visionary is no exaggeration. Each new

model had to be comfortable, otherwise it

was not permitted to leave the factory. The

natural anatomy of the foot always took

precedence over the shoe’s fashionable

appearance. A milestone in the history of

ladies’ footwear is Ferragamo’s invention of

the wedge style in 1936. The upper part of the

sandal, seemingly invisible thanks to the use

of thin strands of nylon, caused a temporary

sensation in the shoe industry, and was

assiduously copied by the competition. In

hard times, when leather was scarce, Ferra-

gamo again broke new ground by using cork

to make shoes. When Salvatore Ferragamo

died in 1960, he left behind his wife, six child-

ren and 350 patents.

The family continued to run the company,

and does to the present day. Stores have

opened all around the globe, and there are cur-

rently 500. The range has been carefully ex-

tended to include all types of accessories, bags,

watches – and perfumes. Ferragamo’s Attimo

scent, launched last year, was a worldwide suc-

cess. The face of the campaign is the US super-

model Dree Hemingway, the great-grand-

daughter of the legendary writer Ernest. We

can assume that Salvatore Ferragamo would

have liked the many beautiful things that are

being sold alongside shoes under his name.

“Free Time by Ferragamo reflectsthe feeling of freedom, and at thesame time has the elegant characterof the Salvatore Ferragamo brand.Free Time adds a facet of effort-lessly elegant freshness to the F byFerragamo pour Homme line.” Susanne Heiliger, WHITE PR

When Salvatore Ferragamo died in 1960, he left behind his wife, six children and 350 patents. Today there are more than 500 Ferragamo stores worldwide.

16 ferragamo engl. 16.06.2011 15:22 Uhr Seite 3

18 anzeige burda com 16.06.2011 15:24 Uhr Seite 2

18 anzeige burda com 16.06.2011 15:24 Uhr Seite 3

Pictures ofElegance

Fashion designers are artisans

of the moment, their drawings

fleeting sketches of creations

to come. Yet in retrospect,

their work reveals itself as art

in its own right, a genre to

which art dealer Joëlle Chariau

has dedicated her life’s work.

These illustrations are

from her private collection.

20

m a s t e r p i e c e s

F R A N C O I S B E R T H O U D , U N T I T L E D , 2 0 0 4 , C O U R T E S Y G A L E R I E B A R T S C H & C H A R I A U

20 modeillustrationen engl. 16.06.2011 15:26 Uhr Seite 2

21

C H R I S T I A N B É R A R D , L A N V I N , 1 9 3 7


22

C H A R L E S M A R T I N , W A L K I N G T H E A V E N U E , 1 9 3 3


23

A N T O N I O , P O R T R A I T O F P A T C L E V E L A N D , 1 9 8 3 , C O U R T E S Y G A L E R I E B A R T S C H & C H A R I A U


24

An opulent coffee-table book for fashionfans and designers: Drawing Fashion, published by Prestel, is a collection of fashion sketches and illustrations createdby artists – including Lepape, Cecil Beaton, Antonio and Mats Gustafson – for famous designers such as Chanel, Diorand McQueen. The book contains an inter-view with its editor, Joëlle Chariau, who owns the Galerie Bartsch & Chariauin Munich. In the interview, she describesher passion for this particular art formand how she came by her collection. (240 pages, 184 colour plates, 59 euros).

One Hundred Years ofFashion Drawings

M A T S G U S T A F S O N , L O N G S K I R T , 1 9 9 2 , C O U R T E S Y G A L E R I E B A R T S C H & C H A R I A U


26

e y e w e a r

Sunglasses stand for fashionable extravagance. They give

you the laid-back, inscrutable air of one of the big

players in the game of life. There’s nothing to beat them

if you’re looking for a quick way to stand out in a crowd.

Suddenly very cool

W R I T T E N B Y A N D R E A S O D E N W A L D , I L L U S T R A T I O N : M A R C E L A G U T I E R R E Z

NO ACCESSORY invented by modern

man has been diverted farther from its origi-

nal raison d’être than sunglasses. Nobody

really wants to know about all the research

and development work that has gone into

them, about efforts to improve their

intended function of shielding the wearer’s

eyes from harmful solar radiation, or to find

the best (and the worst) lens colour for mo-

tor-vehicle drivers. All this input from opti-

cal and ophthalmic specialists is actually ex-

tremely important for protection of what

Schiller described in his tragic drama Wil-

liam Tell as the “heavenly gift” of eyesight,

and the tragedy here is that nobody seems to

care.

The relatively few people who are look-

ing for sunglasses that will definitely protect

their eyes and their eyesight make an ap-

pointment with an eye specialist. And most

of them don’t even listen or really under-

stand when he or she switches to professio-

nal mode and gives them the standard spiel

on which types of solar radiation can da-

mage the retina; or the warning that some

types of sunglasses can actually do more da-

mage than not wearing any at all. Those

sorts of details tend to go in one ear and

straight out the other.

No, the explanation of modern man’s

(and woman’s) fascination with sunglasses

lies somewhere else entirely. Sunglasses give

the wearer a special aura – cool, laid-back.

They make you inscrutable. You can hide be-

hind them. That’s one aspect. The other is

that they enable you to take peeps at the peo-

ple around you without them noticing.

The reasons for the odd behaviour some-

times displayed by wearers of sunglasses are

about as irrational as they can get. Hyped-up

young men wear them in discos where it’s so

dark they can hardly see their partner. A

young man may decide to wear them in a

plane (economy class, of course) as part of

his poor man’s George Clooney act. Admit-

tedly, a racy woman using pushed-up sun-

glasses instead of a slide to stop her hair

falling into her eyes can look very fetching.

The sunglasses cult got off the ground in

the years following WW2. The lenses were

in most cases only coloured but, in rare

cases, they were genuine spectacles correct-

ing faults in the wearer’s vision. Maybe this

sudden predilection for sunglasses was to ce-

lebrate the fact that the sun had started to

shine again after six years of war, at least in

Italy and Spain, which were both experienc-

ing a tourist boom at that time. But it also

had a lot to do with idol worship.

There were plenty of idols around for

both sexes in those days. perhaps you re-

member the big dark lenses that Jacqueline

Kennedy used to hide behind when she was

First Lady. Or the ear-to-ear, wrap-around

Ray-Bans favoured by that fawn of the silver

screen Audrey Hepburn. Stars like Brigitte

Bardot and Claudia Cardinale liked to parade

wearing their favourite models. And when

beautiful Elizabeth Taylor finally gave up

the unequal battle against the ravages of

time, she used sunglasses to perpetuate her

image as a Hollywood goddess.

On the male side, it was young rebels

like James Dean and Marlon Brando who

made sunglasses compulsory wear for any

big boys and young men seeking to make it

into the big leagues. They had to look as un

shakably cool as Jean-Paul Belmondo in his

early years as a star in New Wave films. And,

even now, one occasionally sees a reproduc-

tion of that wonderful picture of very young

26 sonnenbrillen engl. 16.06.2011 15:29 Uhr Seite 2

27


Rolling Stone Keith Richards wearing sun-

glasses with mirrored lenses, which brings

back memories of the magical Swinging Six-

ties. He still looks pretty good when he wears

them now. And manufacturers of sunglasses

can say a big thank-you to John Belushi and

Dan Aykroyd for the free promotional sup-

port received from them as the Blues

Brothers in the film of the same name.

Idols seem to have gone a bit out of fash-

ion these days. Sure, you can still get a blast

from sitting around in a dimly lit bar wear-

ing sunglasses that make you look like a ma-

fia boss. And a secretary who has spent the

day satisfying the whims of a difficult boss

may be able to get a kick out of donning a

pair of way-out sunglasses in the evening

and hoping to be mistaken for Melanie

Griffith.

But, when you take a closer look at the

modern-day scene, it becomes only too evi-

dent that flesh-and-blood idols have moved

aside to leave room for the big brands that

now dictate styles in the designer sunglasses

scene. They are the ones who decide what peo-

ple should buy and wear nowadays. Sun-

glasses have become a decorative accessory, es-

pecially (but not only) for women. Choice of

the right model to wear is just as important as

choosing the right necklace, watch and hand-

bag. Although they can’t compete with Elton

John on quantity (his collection goes into the

hundreds), many young women have a dozen

or more pairs of sunglasses, just to make sure

that they have the right one for the right occa-

sion. The selection process may take in colour,

shape or brand name, but the acid test is: Does

it match the rest of my outfit?

Manufacturers have been quick to regis-

ter the market’s needs and this has brought a

veritable flood of competing brands, all of

which look very similar. Dior, Davidoff, Boss,

Givenchy, Armani, Versace – they are all in

there and, as brand-conscious ladies well

know, Dolce and Gabbana are in there with

them, too. The range of available colours is

just as broad – bright orange and all shades

of red, brown, green, blue and even jet-black.

Sunglasses with mirrored lenses have always

been a bit of an insult to fellow human

beings. They may still be acceptable wear for

an explorer on an expedition across the

Sahara (alone) but, thankfully, they have

now more or less disappeared from the

urban scene.

And it is to be hoped that people wearing

sunglasses with the sort of dark lenses that

make it impossible to see their eyes will

sooner or later get the message that it is sim-

ply common courtesy to take them off when

talking to someone.

A woman using pushed-up sunglasses to keep her crowning glory in place can look very fetching.


30 PERSOL The international film industry has great expectations of the

Magnificent Obsessions exhibition that opens at Center 548 in New York on 16

June. It will stay there for three years, after which parts of it will go to Europe.

The exhibition is being sponsored and organised by Italian spectacles manu-

facturer Persol, a member of the Luxottica Group. A total of 30 films (includ-

ing classics like Taxi Driver, Vertigo, La Dolce Vita and Marie Antoinette) will

be used to give visitors an idea of the vast amount of precise craftsmanship

and artistic fervour that are needed to produce great cinema. Persol will be

giving a special parallel presentation forming a link between this theme and

its own version of craftsmanship and optical precision, that is governed by

the same natural laws as those applying to films. With this exhibition, Luxot-

tica is continuing the series of presentations that have attracted a lot of atten-

tion over the past years. Last year’s presentation was the project A Work Of

Persol which was highly praised by visitors to Art Basel. Persol used a collec-

tion of objects to emphasise the links between manufacture of spectacles and

contemporary art. The project

also offered a communication

platform to up-and-coming

young artists from everywhere

in the world. Eight interna-

tional artists got their inspira-

tion from the chronicle of the

production process and sub-

sequent career of a pair of Persol

spectacles.

RAY-BAN The world’s first Ray-Ban came onto the market

in 1937 and quickly made a name for itself as the product of

choice for pilots. It soon became a cult item. Luxottica is now

the owner of the Ray-Ban brand and world market leader in

the sunglasses and eyewear sector. With its new, very original

NEVER HIDE advertising campaign the company has once

more succeeded in focusing public attention on the Ray-Ban

brand name. People from all social strata and professions are

portrayed in various situations holding a white frame bearing

the message NEVER HIDE in front of their faces – like this

drummer acknowledging the applause of his fans.

PRADA Prada’s new Minimal Baroque collection of sunglasses is a genuine eye-catcher.

Available in limited editions of 500, they come in three different colour combinations –

blue and white, black and white and honey-coloured and white. Prada describes the

collection as a homage to colour, fun and originality. The Italian fashion house is not

using any models for the advertising campaign. Instead, three artists have been commis-

sioned to make acrylic and watercolour illustrations of their interpretations of the sun-

glasses’ very unusual design (p. 27).

Luxury items from Luxottica –

cinema and campaigns

Seen throughartists’ eyes

s u n n y p r o s p e c t s


A Small Price to Pay

32 A LIMITED RUN of the

lightweight Lamborghini Sesto

Elemento is set to be launched

this autumn. The car can

rocket from 0 to 100 kph in 2.5

seconds and has a top speed of

300 kph. A prototype with a

570 HP V-10 engine and car-

bon structure cutting its

weight to a mere 999 kg empty

has been built, but has still to

pass road safety tests. That’s a

foregone conclusion, so put

aside the 1.9 million euros now.

t o y s

These items aren't exactly essential,

but they’re sure going

to put some sparkle into your life.

32 spielzeuge engl. 16.06.2011 15:31 Uhr Seite 2

LE PARFUM DE SÉVIGNÉ flat-

ters and accentuates an attractive

woman’s natural beauty like an

exquisite piece of jewellery. It sends

a message that will turn heads as

never before. Sévigné, a Munich

firm of goldsmiths and manufac-

turers of luxury articles knows that

such a high-value product needs a

suitably lavish presentation and has

designed a pocket atomiser hand-

crafted from rose gold and ebony

and studded with cognac-coloured

diamonds. The 9,500 euro price tag is

quite reasonable, all things considered.

THE NUMBER 81 in Montblanc’s latest

creation, the Prince Rainier III Limited Edi-

tion 81, refers to the limited number of pens

produced, but also to Rainier’s age when he

died in Monaco in 2005. This jewel-encrusted

writing instrument is made of 750 white

gold and embellished with brilliant-cut dia-

monds and rubies with an all-up weight of

over eight carats. Half of the proceeds from

sales will go to the Princess Grace Founda-

tion founded by the late prince to sponsor

the arts. Price: 200,000 euros.

TAKE A WOMAN OUT in shoes like these and you'd better

treat her right. Or she might decide to put a twist on the title of

the old Nancy Sinatra song and call it “These Boots Are Made For

Kicking”. Seriously, though: Christian Louboutin didn’t have self-

defence in mind when he designed Bridget's Back with its nearly

5-inch high heel and rows of sparkling studs and spikes. He was

creating wearable art. Price: 2,800 euros.

33

LIVE IN LUXURY on a Wally Hermés Yacht houseboat. 58

metres long and including its own helicopter pad, 25-metre pool

and 3,400 square metres of living area, this futuristic vessel puts

the competition in the shade. It's not so much a ship as a floating

island populated ideally by a crew of 20 and up to 12 guests.

Price: 60 to 100 million euros, depending on the extras.

32 spielzeuge engl. 16.06.2011 15:31 Uhr Seite 3

Of course, this is a highly subjective appraisal of the Teeth Of

The Dog course in the Caribbean, but with more and more

golf aficionados seriously claiming that nothing could possibly

beat it, there simply has to be some truth in the assertion.

The World’s Most Beautiful Golf Course

W R I T T E N B Y F R E D B A U M G Ä R T E L

P H O T O : D O M I N I C A N R E P U B L I C T O U R I S M B O A R D

34 PEOPLE WHO REALLY ought to know

claim that Teeth of the Dog is the Rolls-Royce

amongst golf courses, a course so beautiful

that golfers might almost forget to even

swing a club. Many even opine that it is the

most beautiful anywhere in the world, which

is why they will happily shell out the 154

euro green fee for an 18-hole round.

This magnificent course belongs to the

grounds of the 28-square-kilometre holiday

resort Casa de Campo on the east coast of the

Dominican Republic, right on the doorstep of

the famous sugar cane stronghold La Romana

– and far from where countless European

holiday charter flights land by the minute,

creating a kind of cheap Caribbean Majorca.

There’s no sign of mass tourism at Casa

de Campo, though. It’s in a world of its own.

The luxury villas of the super-rich are scatte-

red all over the vast site. It is almost an island

in its own right, with a marina for yachts up

to 390 feet long, as well as tennis and polo

courts, a historical museum, an amphitheatre

and, high above the sea, the artists’ village

Alto de Chavón. Casa de Campo’s 450-room

hotel is reputedly the best-known golf and

holiday resort in the Caribbean, where all

three golf courses were created by the legen-

dary US golf course designer Pete Dye.

In the early 1970s, Dye hired 300

machete-swinging labourers to clear a space

in the jungle high above the Caribbean and

named it Teeth of the Dog. That was what the

locals called and still call that particular

stretch of coast, where seven of the course’s

18 fairways follow the sharp coral cliffs that

really do resemble the teeth of a giant dog.

They’ve all played here, professional and

amateur golf fans alike. American presidents,

Hollywood celebrities, famous sportspeople

u n a d u l t e r a t e d l u x u r y

Casa de Campo resort on the east coast of the Dominican Republic attractswell-heeled holidaymakers,not mass tourism. Teeth OfThe Dog is the oldest of theresort's three golf courses.

34 golf engl. 16.06.2011 15:33 Uhr Seite 2

35


– they all flocked here in the 1970s, when

word got our that a “course created by God

himself” (as Dye modestly put it) awaited

them there. And Charles Bluhdorn came, too.

When he left Vienna and moved to the

United States his name was still Karl Blüh-

dorn. Once there, he proceeded to amass a

fabulous fortune as the founder of the Gulf &

Western Corporation and President of Para-

mount Pictures, which was for a long time

the biggest film company in the world.

At some point, Bluhdorn fell in love with

the Dominican Republic. He bought the

sprawling La Romana sugar cane plantation

and, enchanted by the beauty of the coun-

tryside, began to build Casa de Campo there.

First he made it his private ranch, then he ad-

ded houses to put up his famous friends, who

were always welcome guests – Elizabeth

Taylor and Richard Burton among them.

And lastly he commissioned his own golf

course.

In those days, a private golf course was

the ultimate measure of luxury for social

climbers. Old Andrew Carnegie, the Ameri-

can steel king, once remarked, “If someone

asks the price of a golf course, you know he

can’t afford it anyway.”

Charlie Bluhdorn could afford it, and car-

ried on building. Pete Dye laid down a second

golf course for him, this time away from the

“canines” on the coast and extending into the

hinterland. This was the Links, not quite as

spectacular as the dog’s teeth, but a dream

course nonetheless.

Bluhdorn had the artists’ village built

high above the Chavón river in the style of a

16th century Italian village as a birthday

present for his daughter.

An amphitheatre seating 5000 was the fi-

nal addition to the estate and Charlie’s friend

Frank Sinatra gave the inaugural concert.

That was in 1982. A year later, Charlie Bluh-

dorn was dead. His widow sold the entire

Casa de Campo hotel complex to the Fanjul

family, four brothers who had fled Castro’s

Cuba for Miami and today own the largest

sugar cane plantations on the planet. The

Fanjul sugar kings opened up Casa de Campo

to tourists – rich tourists, mind you, because

all the luxury is still there and somehow has

to pay its way.

Pete Dye added a final master stroke at

the beginning of the new millennium when,

at the new owners’ behest, he built a third

golf course in the complex. It lies atop a pla-

teau 300 metres above the jungle where

Francis Ford Coppola filmed his box-office

smash hits The Godfather Part II and Apoca-

lypse Now on the banks of the Chavón river.

This course is universally acknowledged

to be Peter Dye’s own personal monument;

hence the name, “Dye For” – an apt pun.

Casa de Campo’s 450-room hotel domi-

nates the complex. Prices for a standard

double room start at 283 euros; a small suite

will set you back 740. The hotel complex is

surrounded by gorgeous villas big enough for

the whole family – if you have the necessary

small change, that is. But there are also villas

complete with a private pool, a luxury car on

the doorstep and hired help to divine your

every wish provided you have the necessary

5000 euros a week. In this playground of the

rich, everything is designed to make life a

pleasure, and nothing is missing. In fact,

there’s a private helicopter pad for people in

a hurry, 20 restaurants – the most famous an

offshoot of Le Cirque in New York, 15 bars,

and a shopping arcade with 45 outlets, where

customers really can purchase anything from

a souvenir to a yacht.

And for those who prefer not to rent,

modest villas can be purchased from 380,000

euros upwards. More sumptuous dwellings

start at around two million. Luxury has its

price, after all. But in return, you get to spend

your holidays at the most beautiful and most

coveted golf resort in the world.

No need to bring your own clubs, either,

because here at Casa de Campo, you can hire

the latest and best in the world. Even the

latest Mizuno MP-60, for instance. And how

do you get to La Romana? No problem. The

resort has its own airport, too, La Romana

International, where golf courses flank the

runway.

The new Mizuno JPX-800 Balanced Performance golfclub benefits from out-standing Japanese technology. With features like higher fault tolerance, optimum ball control and longer hitting distances, it quickly puts its predecessors in the shade.

Francis Ford Coppola shot Apocalypse Now and The Godfather Part IIfar below in the jungle on the banks of the Chavón river in the 1970s.

36


Fashion, sport, beauty, new stores

and a prize award

KARL LAGERFELD His creative

urge and gifts are matched by his insa-

tiable appetite for tackling new chal-

lenges. Respectfully referred to in fash-

ion circles as “Karl der Grosse“ (the Ger-

man for Charlemagne), he is always

firing on all cylinders – with an extraor-

dinary collection for the Hogan fashion

label, with a safe for a German manu-

facturer of security systems, as presen-

ter for the Franco-German ARTE TV

network at the Prêt-à-Porter Show in

Paris, and as the creative genius behind

Paper Passion, a perfume with the

world’s most improbable composition

of aromas – and the scent of printed pa-

per. Not to mention three new designs

for the legendary Coke Light alu-

minium bottle or the ambitious Claudia

& Karl book project published with six

different cover pictures by teNeues Ver-

lag and dedicated to Claudia Schiffer,

the muse at whose feet Lagerfeld has

worshipped for the last 20 years.

s p o t l i g h t

WHITENews &

Trends

38

PH

OT

O:

KE

TC

HU

M P

LE

ON

, B

EL

GIU

M

38 spotlight engl. 16.06.2011 15:36 Uhr Seite 2

39

TOMMY HILFIGER The big interna-

tional 2010 autumn/winter campaign

in the print, outdoor, cinema and TV

media attracted a level of attention

which exceeded expectations that had

already been pegged pretty high. There

are even rumours that some cinema au-

diences rated humorous spots, like the

ones with the jolly picnickers and the

canine car-driver, “better than the main

film”. Commenting on the Feast Inter-

ruptus campaign, the media expert be-

hind all this, Martin Wössner of

WHITE, said: “It uses authentic and

transparent communication tech-

niques that make it stand out very

prominently from similar media activi-

ties. We are planning to stay with this

strategy in the 2011 spring/summer

campaign. Our objective is to further

enhance our clients’ reputations and

media presence.”

Hilfiger shows his paces – at the Munich Opera House (above) and on Berlin’sKurfürstendamm


BIOEFFECT OF EGF SERUM Ten years of dedicated research

have finally paid off. Scientists have developed an anti-aging

serum for the Icelandic company SiF Cosmetics. Company foun-

der Michael Shin (photo), who can look back on 20 years’

experience in the beauty business, had set himself the objective of

using green technology to set new standards in cosmetics manu-

facture. A tiny dose of between two and four props of the serum

applied nightly gives the skin everything it needs. It is claimed

that the Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF) contained in the serum, a

substance produced by plants, is capable of accelerating cell re-

newal. Research on EGF’s mode of action won its discovers the

1986 Nobel Prize for Medicine. Julia Behm of WHITE PR is full of

praise for the serum: “It makes the skin look healthy and robust.”

DSQUARED2 The new perfumes SHE

WOOD Golden Light Wood and HE

WOOD Silver Wind Wood from the

Dsquared fashion label reflect the pa-

triotic feelings of Dsquared2 designers

and inseparable twins Dean und Dan

Caten for their home country of

Canada. The fragrances used in these

formulations echo vital and sensual na-

tural elements like wood, air and water.

In the 1990s, the twin brothers decided

they wanted to make themselves a

name in the fashion world and that Mi-

lan was the place to do it. Their cool de-

signs now attract a fan club including

stars like Madonna and Christina Agui-

lera, and their designs are strictly con-

fined to garments which they would be

prepared to wear themselves: “They

should make people wearing them look

cool, not overdressed.” The designers’

typical style is a blend of American re-

finement and Italian tailoring skills.

s p o t l i g h t

40


41

RIMOWA goes on its travels: Suitcase manufacturer Rimowa

opened up its store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills on 16 May.

Hollywood starlet Jessica Alba compered the celebrations and

lost no time in proclaiming herself a Rimowa fan: “The suitcases

are chic and cool, timeless and indestructible.” WHITE was the

exclusive consultant for the opening ceremony and was able to

kindle the interest of high-end magazine Vanity Fair, which is

planning to publish an article on it. In the autumn of 2010

Rimowa opened its largest store with 250 square metres of show-

room space in Cologne at a premium location close to the

famous cathedral. There is a museum on the second floor where

visitors can see a chronicle of Rimowa’s corporate history.

Two impressive opening ceremonies:Rimowa boss Dieter Morszeckwith Hollywood star Jessica Alba inLos Angeles and with US actor Adrian Brody and German TV presen-ter Sonya Kraus in Cologne.

PH

OT

O:

CH

AR

LE

Y G

AL

LA

Y/W

IRE

IMA

GE

.CO

M


WHITE STAR AWARD This coveted award donated by Rupert

Wild is made to clients, business associates and deserving em-

ployees. Recipients of the fifth award included (by category):

Christian Heinrici, Advertising Sales Manager of Textil-Wirt-

schaft (l.) in the category Best Service Media; Lâle Aktay, Editor-in-

Chief of the magazine L’Officiel Hommes (3rd from left), in the

category Best Editor in Fashion Sector; Konstanze Grabmayr (3rd

from right) from the German edition of InStyle in the category

Best Editor in Beauty Sector; Hanna Renz (2nd from right) for the

blog Nahna Loves Fashion in the new Innovative Media category.

The employee awards went to Martin Wössner (r.), Media Mana-

ger (for excellent performance) and Eva-Maria Schweder (2nd

from left), Office Manager (employee of the year).

MIZUNO The new all-purpose premium

trainer from sports specialist Mizuno is

called Wave Enigma. It is designed to

appeal primarily to women looking for

a running shoe that enables high

sporting performance and is also com-

fortable to wear. Mizuno claims that its

technology meets both these require-

ments. A parallel wave plate extending

right to the front of the foot ensures per-

fect stability and optimal cushioning.

The shoe’s sole structure gives the foot

unique freedom of movement, plus

rebound and roll-off performance that

make running a new experience. On

your marks, get set, go!

ARROW The world-famous American shirt makers – they were in

there at the launch of the modern-day shirt as a men’s outerwear

garment 160 years ago – has never forgotten its legendary adver-

tising campaign featuring the “Arrow Collar Man”. In the early

years of the 20th century it was one of the leading advertising fea-

tures and brand symbols in the USA, and the brain-child of Joseph

C. Leyendecker, a young illustrator of German origin. He had his

Arrow Collar Man portrayed in the most unusual situations and

poses, but invariably togged out in an impeccably ironed and

buttoned-up shirt and tie. Modern-day shirt wearers are appar-

ently just as relaxed about being “carried off” by a cavewoman.

s p o t l i g h t

42


44 anzeige klamt 16.06.2011 15:39 Uhr Seite 1

WHITE.20.INTERNATIONAL

Documents

Transcript of WHITE.20.INTERNATIONAL