How Unopiù Ushers Italian Riviera Into the Home

If there is ONE catalogue release that fills me with both excitement and anticipation, Unopiu's catalogue is it. Year upon year it comes up with a feast for the eyes, as much in terms of innovative product design and quality of materials, as in the photographic style and select photoshoot locations of geographical and architectural interest (Italian lakeside, Tuscany and seaside as appetizers, anyone?). We are talking the stuff of glossies, so if you happen to be an Architectural Digest aficionado, Unopiù is of that sleek calibre.

Therefore no dreaded dingy studio with zero art direction and snapshots on the cheap here! Everything is carefully thought out in its minute detail, and to the highest spec, from the products to the catalogue layout and quality of the paper itself. Talk about immersive experience, you got it right here at Unopiù!

Of course the catalogue's aim is not to detract, distract or deflect from the product ranges themselves. This is a retail company after all. The marketing material enhances what is to be expected when you shop from a place like Unopiù. Expect no-negotiable quality: weatherproof garden furniture, sturdy pergolas, homeware pieces that are made to stand out, and ingenious carports and greenhouses that become one with their surroundings.

All is delivered in style and originality and Unopiù shows us how it's done. I might be French and credit a little patriotic excellence in arts and design to my country where credit's due, there is however nothing like Italian design to tone that French chauvinism right down! Design italiano e bellissimo!

Source: All photography by Unopiù.

Palm Beach for Starters

How else to start up 2017 than on a high note? As President-Elect Trump celebrated the holiday over at his Mar-a-Lago estate with his family and friends, Mirabelle is taking over Palm Beach for the New Year! Throughout the coming weeks, Mirabelle's #TrumpPower series will boldly bring you lifestyle examples that make you unashamedly aim high. The mindset is setting the tone for the forthcoming Trump presidency, where everyone will be encouraged and incentivised to aim high for themselves and their families, not to content with little or expect from the State to provide that meal ticket for life.

The new presidency is heralding an era that I define as hope materialised. Hope materialised takes off where the Obama & Co. administration failed as it promised hope and delivered nothing but division and warmongering under a socialist regime, where the idea of a strong, hard-working, ambitious, successful, proud, independent and patriotic America was derided. Hope materialised means the American nation's return to full-scale employment and prosperity. Now I am no fool: not everyone will ever be able to afford the Palm Beach lifestyle, and we do realise that even Palm Beach has its fair share of social problems. Yet I chose the locale specifically for my post because of its overall symbology of success and prestige - and good design. Don't look at Palm Beach as a tall order, look at it as a high aim!

If you seek Coastalicious and prestige rolled into one, Palm Beach - a stretch of barrier island in southern Florida a hop away from the Bahamas - is sure to cut the mustard. I have gleaned a few pictures and thrown in some decorative elements for good measure. Palm Beach shall be unashamedly recreated closer to home, courtesy of a colour trio scheme of pink, white and dark green, a gold lining for good measure, and a tropical theme of palm décor and wicker... and a pink flamingo or two. Entertain a little flamboyance (Chinoiserie) combined with a little restraint (design balance, geometric patterns, treillis and planters) and voilà! the Palm Beach theme is demure and sparkles like a Cotton Candy Champagne Cocktail at the exact same time. I believe Palm Beach has that Gemini kookiness!

"It is this eclectic mix of old and new, of Spanish and Caribbean, of contemporary design and sun-faded WASP thrift, that makes Palm Beach chic." - The Vendome Press

 

Sources: (1) The Palm Beach architectural style and interior design coffee table bibles include Palm Beach Chic by Jennifer Ash Rudick, photography by Jessica Klewicki Glynn, published by The Vendome Press in October 2015. The book gives us a ravishing insight into 25 exclusive Palm Beach homes. Daydreams to your days and sweet dreams to your nights are guaranteed! Book cover photography via The Glam Pad. (2) The essence of Palm Beach is encapsulated in this very picture: design-led poolside lifestyle of showroom quality, overpowering striped awning, oversized luxuriant flora (here hibiscus), rattan furniture, pink and dark green colour scheme, and an overall sense of design formality having fun. Historic renovation and extension ('Windsong Too' pavilion) of Windsong (cf Pict. #7), a 1939 Georgian Revival Palm Beach property, by Thomas Kirchhoff & Associates, interior decorator Mario Buatta. Photography by Scott Frances for the 'Master of Ceremonies' article by Architectural Digest magazine, July 2013 edition. (3-4) More stunning photography by Jessica Klewicki Glynn for Palm Beach Chic, via The Palm Beacher. (3) Welcome to the garden of Eden: lush and evergreen. Better come prepared: your furry friend and you might get a close poolside encounter with a snake or gator! (4) The magnificent stucco veranda serves as an outdoor living room that is anything but stuck up! Tchin-tchin to the blue chintz and rattan! (5) Dahlia Porcelain Flower by AERIN, via Neiman Marcus. No stranger to Palm Beach or to the coastal lifestyle for that matter, Aerin Lauder has produced a range of stylish homewares that will find themselves at home in coastal environments - and elsewhere. If beauty is on your mind, Aerin has it covered too. More about Aerin's collections from a previous Mirabelle post.  (6) The banyan trees of yesteryear are still to be found today around Palm Beach. This one, 'The Banyan Tree' was immortalised by American artist Emile Albert Gruppe (1896-1978); image via The Athenaeum. (7) Talking of banyan, those in the background at Windsong (cf Pict #2), frame this side of the garden in their curtain-like embrace. The stately exterior of the distinguished 1939 property is there to remind us that Palm Beach has been here a while. Traditional exterior designer, Bunny Williams Inc. Photography by Oberto Gili for the 'Glory Days' article by the now-defunct Home & Garden magazine, March 2006 edition, via Architectural Digest. Check out The Glam Pad for more Windsong sassiness! (8) Escape the Palm Beach locale and stay chic; a few miles down the road, quench the thirst of the day with a snazzy cocktail and soak up the retro-vintage ambience at Marion Miami. Take a 360° virtual tour peek here. Take a sip: Sherry Cobbler cocktail photography by Nicole Franzen. (9-10) Playa Grande Beach Club by Palm Beach-based Kemble Interiors marries Dominican insouciance with Palm Beach exuberance in order to produce "a fantastical medley of historic Dominican Victorian architectural elements mixed with the whimsy of Palm Beach garden follies." (11) Mid-century style dinner served with a Hollywood drama of powder pinks, rhododendron luxuriance and chinoiserie chic... in San Francisco, CA! Leo's Oyster Bar may be on the opposite coast to Palm Beach but not poles apart in terms of Palm Beach flavour. Photography by Stacie Flinner.

The Hamptons Lifestyle with Aerin Lauder

Aerin Lauder might have inherited her grandmother Estée's surname, she has nonetheless carved a first name for herself (and in capital letters!) above and beyond the beauty counters and her remit as Estée Lauder's Global Creative Director (now Style & Image Director). She is an icon of East Coast elegance and sobriety of style, which the French in the know would aptly qualify of "bon goût" (good taste), with no fashion faux-pas or brash and erratic statements. Her lifestyle is measured and poised and timeless, with spot-on style decisions and loving consideration for heirloom pieces and heritage. Her brand, Aerin, launched in 2012 and positions itself within the global luxury lifestyle market.

Aerin has been on Mirabelle's radar for a few years now and it was high time to pay tribute to a young lady my generation who chose to make a career rather than sit back and capitalise on grandma's dynasty and legacy and play the wallflowers on the Lauder façade, overshadowed by its weighty limelight. Aerin stepped into the limelight for herself and has been stamping her mark on a wide array of areas under the World of Aerin umbrella, including a concept store in Southampton, NY. By becoming a staple of home design and lifestyle magazines, Aerin has demonstrated that beauty goes way beyond the realm of skindeep and cosmetics.

Sources: (1-2) Aerin's Manhattan offices were designed by Jacques Grange. (1) Office desk detail, part of the Office Studio Tour, photography originally sourced by Mirabelle from Erika Brechtel. (2) The entrance hall features a Paul Lange work. (3) Lineham Table Lamp in Alabaster ($714.00), part of the Aerin Furnishings collection. (4) 'The Ultimate Vanity' (as described by Aerin herself), features her sumptuous range of beauty products. (5) Aerin's beauty products take pride of place in her Southampton NY concept store. (6) Aerin's Rose de Grasse fragrance, presented by the lady herself (screen capture). (7) Rose de Grasse Parfum Spray ($185.00), part of the Aerin Beauty collection. "The hundred-petaled Rose Centifolia, hand picked in Grasse - the French capital of perfumery since the 16th century - is at the heart of this meticulously crafted fragrance. Enhanced by Rose Otto Bulgarian and Rose Absolute, and given further depth by warming Musk, this alluring scent perfectly captures the flower that symbolizes beauty and femininity." (8) Footed Deco Large Bowl ($425.00), part of the Aerin Entertaining collection. (9) Porcelain Gardenia ($150.00), part of the Aerin Home Decor collection. (10) East Coast beach babe of the stylish kind, Aerin features on the Summer Fashion 2013 edition of Hamptons Magazine. (11) "Beauty is the best incentive to self-respect." (Estée Lauder), from Aerin Lauder's book 'Beauty At Home', published by Random House in October 2013, page screen-captured by Mirabelle. (12) The Lauder family country home in East Hampton features an English knot garden. Landscape design by Perry Guillot. Photography attributed to Elle Decor (not formally authentified).

Poolside

If like Mirabelle you are blessed with Mediterranean living conditions, Summer's now just a stone's throw away and already you are able to enjoy what the sun has to offer. However if you live much further north, odds might be against you, so we thought you are due a little visual heart-warmer. Enjoy, this is just for you!

Sources: (1) Michael McLaughlin, 'Beach, Rio' (2002), via 1stdibs (Robin Rice Gallery Fine Photography). This is an open invitation to blue yonder! (2) Via Fancy: 'Naka Island Resort at Phuket'. (3) Emily Summers's California Desert Retreat, via Architectural Digest. Mid-century and Californian desert can only mean Palm Springs! (4) Fancy (via) and (5) Touzet Studio Design & Architecture. You can only feel 'vacational' once you picture this residential jewel on the waterfront. One of Miami Beach's latest additions, La Gorce Estate was designed with clean lines in mind. Le Corbusier springs to mind, but the brief couldn't be more eloquent: "There was a threshold restriction that the layout of the residence and its placement on the site were to follow those of a residence the client had once owned. That property was a 1926, Mediterranean-style estate built for Carl Fisher." (6) 'Moving with the Music' (2009) by Brian Auer, via Fine Art Photoblog: 'A shot straight into the sun capturing people dancing at a drum circle in Venice Beach, California.' (7) Sunkissed, but neither shaken nor stirred by the evening breeze: 'The Escape' by Rickard Sund via Agent Molly. (8) 'Another Day Ends...' (2008) by Brian Auer: Torrey Pines State Beach in San Diego, CA. (9) Via Tumblr, although the exact picture source remains unknown. The Boho Chic look complements admirably a poolside cocktail.