In our weekly series, we bring you the latest in luxury news around the world. This week’s highlights: LaQuan Smith brings old-world opulence to Louis XIII, Urwerk travels at lightspeed, and Fred’s heart of pink gold
Aurélien Giraud gets on board with Dior
Dior just signed on another athlete as one of its brand ambassadors, who will join the ranks of surfer Kauli Vaast, gymnast Mélanie de Jesus Dos Santos and wheelchair tennis player Pauline Déroulède. Aurélien Giraud, a pro skateboarder and contender for gold at this year’s Olympic Games Paris, is a 26-year-old from Lyon who was world champion in 2022. Also a longtime fan of Dior menswear designer Kim Jones, one can expect Giraud to always bring some swag to the skate park, in comfort and in style. After all, he is one who “embodies the spirit of Dior style, where sportswear, heritage and reinvention converge,” as the brand said in a press statement.
The Edition’s Punch Room is finally here
The Singapore Edition is now home to the first Southeast Asian outpost of Punch Room, the brand’s signature bar concept that first debuted at The London Edition in 2013. As one of eight venues across the world, with each paying homage to its city’s culture, Punch Room Singapore will dedicate itself to the spices and flavours of Southeast Asia, bringing the Asian trade routes of the 17th century to life. It will also be the first bar in Singapore to focus exclusively on punch, the father of cocktails, and guests may look forward to concoctions like the whisky-based Merlion Punch, made with Macallan Double Cask 12 Year Old, local tea and plum. There’s also afternoon tea to be experienced on Fridays and Saturdays. Make your reservations here.
LaQuan Smith brings old-world opulence to Louis XIII
LaQuan Smith, founder and designer of his namesake brand that’s popular for its skin-baring womenswear, is now in a yearlong partnership with Louis XIII and he is thrilled. “I’m creating for a woman who wants to be the centre of attention,” Smith says, bringing old-world glamour and fun to the brand and complementing The Drop with an exclusive collection of accessories. The Drop, a fashionably small bottle of Louis XIII, can sit neatly in The Drop Chain Pouch, a purely silver carry-on inspired by vintage flasks that held semi-precious jewels and metals. There are also the Boudoir Gloves, opera-length and designed with mesh and velvet, that combines the ritual of using white gloves with Smith’s signature sex appeal.
Shop Mytheresa on the Apple Vision Pro
Want to shop the streets of Paris, but from your couch at home? Sure, you can totally do that with the new Mytheresa: Immersive Luxury App, brought about by Mytheresa and Obsess on the Apple Vision Pro. As one of the first luxury brands to champion this new platform, one can consider it a pioneer of a new era in digital retail, merging tactile beauty with all the possibilities of digital innovation. For Mytheresa’s best customers, this doesn’t stop at exclusive collections and capsule launches, but personalised styling sessions and other immersive experiences to keep them happy and engaged.
Urwerk travels at lightspeed
Will it ever be possible to travel the speed of light? We would say no, but it is a theory worth exploring and physics worth defying. Until we can, if ever, Urwerk’s UR-100V LightSpeed is the realisation of such a dream, bringing time, space and light together on your wrist. Built on a self-winding UR 12.02 movement, it features a power reserve of 48 hours and houses a 3D planetarium that showcases eight celestial bodies from our solar system, with eight points of reference. “Wearing this creation is like having a piece of the universe on your wrist, a vision of the cosmos in miniature,” says artistic director and co-founder Martin Frei. Yours for CHF 65,000, excluding tax.
Heart of pink gold
Here’s a last-minute Valentine’s Day idea: Fred’s In My Heart pendant, the latest addition to the playful and joyous Pretty Woman collection. The pendant comes in pink gold outlined with a row of diamonds, with a 0.3-carat heart-cut pink sapphire as its “beating heart”—which if you didn’t already know, pink sapphire symbolises love and happiness, and we hope that’s ultimately what you’re going to give and get.
In case you missed it:
The essence of opulence
Amaffi elevates olfactory art with exclusive and emotive fragrances that embody luxury, history and extravagance.
Maduro at Sofitel Sentosa pairs rare whiskies with jazz
Maduro blends the upscale allure of a whisky bar with the soulful essence of a jazz club.
Piaget brings back the 1980s glamour with the Polo 79
The full-gold limited edition watch is the first of many to commemorate Piaget’s 150th anniversary.
