Luxury brands nurturing new talent

August 10, 2010 //
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Anyone lucky enough to have been invited to pop along to Walpole’s Press Day at Liberty back in July, might well have caught a glimpse of something quite remarkable.

Pride of place on the Ettinger stand, sat the beautiful ‘Ettinger Flowers’ – a sculptural leather piece designed and made by Bridget Bailey of Bailey Tomlin, commissioned for the event by Ettinger and made entirely from Ettinger leather.

'Ettinger Flowers' - Bridget Bailey (photo credit Gareth Davies)

'Ettinger Flowers' - Bridget Bailey (detail)

We love seeing collaborations in any sector, but this one is particularly special.  Robert Ettinger, CEO of Ettinger is mentoring Bridget through the Crafted mentoring programme, developed by Arts & Business in partnership with Walpole.  Generously funded by American Express, who were seeking to fund and create a bespoke initiative to support heritage, Crafted matches craft makers with leaders from the luxury sector, with the aim of growing a range of diverse and entrepreneurial craft businesses and to nurture an environment which values and appreciates the handmade.  Crafted’s main ambition is to increase self-sustainability & stimulate business growth amongst craft entrepreneurs by providing them with vital mentoring and business advice, while connecting luxury businesses with a new generation of skilled craftsmen.

Ettinger are one of the few remaining British luxury leather goods companies still manufacturing in the UK, producing the most exquisite leather items with a commitment to craftsmanship and heritage, and are a proud holder of a Royal Warrant to HRH the Prince of Wales.  Robert Ettinger’s involvement in Crafted has been invaluable – not only helping Bridget develop her business in a meaningful way, but also contributing his incredible expertise at two of the Crafted workshops series… You can download and listen to the recordings for free here, on the Crafted website.

With year one of the programme drawing to a close, Arts & Business will be announcing the second year of partnerships in the Autumn, drawn from an incredible shortlist of craft makers, and an incredible portfolio of luxury leaders.  Watch this space!

Rose Enright

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Categories cultural branding, culture, innovation, luxury

Sleep in a Gormley

August 9, 2010 //
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A rendering of ReardonSmith's proposed design for Corbin & King's new hotel in Mayfair

Corbin & King Hotels, aka Chris Corbin and Jeremy King, aka the management whizz team behind the wonderfully decadent luxury establishments The Ivy, Le Caprice and The Wolseley are to open a new luxury hotel in London’s Mayfair.  Ok ok, London’s not short of superluxe places to rest one’s head, but I’m pretty certain you can’t sleep in an artwork by a Turner Prize winner.

An inhabitable sculpture of a crouching man, entitled ‘Habitat’ and designed by Antony Gormley, will be a key feature of this new development, in partnership with Grosvenor.

Rather than an add-on or after thought, the integration of art, design and culture into the heart of hotel developments is rising in popularity.  The beautiful Andaz Liverpool Street – a member of Arts & Business – is no stranger to working in innovative ways with art and artists on-site; Damien Barr as reader-in-residence, official hotel partner for London Design Festival 2010 playing host to a wealth of world-class installations, and supporting Crafted – a mentoring programme developed by Arts & Business and Walpole which matched craft entrepreneurs with expert mentors from the luxury sector.

Jeremy King, speaking on working closely with art and culture on the new development on Balderton Street, Mayfair notes; “We believe that the art element will be symbiotic with the scheme rather than purely a decorative addition. This work by Antony Gormley is an exciting integration of a sculpture within the functions of the hotel, while providing a new landmark. The design has been developed so a unique guestroom can be accommodated within it.”

The new Corbin & King hotel is set to open in 2013.  We can’t wait.

Rose Enright

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Categories contemporary art, culture, luxury

Make your audience ‘Appy

August 6, 2010 //
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Joining the ranks of cultural smartphone applications, The American Museum of Natural History in New York has just released a fantastic iPhone App – The AMNH Explorer -  and it’s getting great reviews.

Social-media website Mashable notes that, out of the increasing catalogue of similar applications from cultural organisations; “This is by far the most robust we’ve seen”, Lauren Indvik, a Mashable assistant editor.

The YouTube video gives a little example of how the App works, or you can just go right ahead and download it for free.  The functionality is excellent, and allows the user to tailor their own visits, by collecting exhibit ‘cards’ which are then plotted in step-by-step directions, provided by a nifty GPS tie-in.  All the social-media sharing boxes are duly ticked, with easy sharing functionality with both Twitter and Facebook.

Visitors to AMNH can access the App via their own iPhone or iPad, or borrow one of the 350 the museum is making available, for free.  In addition, with an excellent example of reaching out to the local community, a crack team of 25 New York City high school students – the App Support Team – will be on hand at any given time to help visitors out with the technology.

This trend is an exciting development for both the user or visitor, and the venues.  The user/visitor can tailor the museum’s collection to create a bespoke, personalised experience, whilst the museum can gain a unique insight into how visitors navigate the museum and collection.

Linda Perry-Lube, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer at AMNH notes; “The task of building a system capable of mapping visitors’ locations inside of the Museum was monumental and has laid the groundwork for future development.”

For other great examples of cultural venues harnessing this new technology see:
Brooklyn Museum, New York (which we wrote about back in February)
Musée du Louvre, Paris
Museum of London, London
Graphic Design Museum, Breda, Netherlands

Rose Enright

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Categories contemporary art, cultural branding, culture, digital, innovation, mobile technology
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