The Calendar Edit
While some may dismiss sunglasses as a minor detail, others see them as small but mighty. Unsurprisingly, we sit decidedly in the latter camp. As accessories go, a brilliant pair of shades makes for high-impact dressing at its most user-friendly. With summer finally blasting its way through this year’s skies of lockdown-grey, now, more than ever, it’s time to find our perfect pair.
In this line-up, we’re bringing you our Calendar edit of summer shades from the classically minimal to the wonderfully eccentric, all selected with the principles of sustainable and slow fashion in mind and all guaranteed to give you standout appeal. So whether you opt for off the shelf options, ideal for a speedy summer buy, or custom pieces that offer a truly collaborative experience, each pair is a go-with-everything face-framer you’ll never want to be without. HB.
Photo by @gilles_bensimon
World Environment Day
The past year has seen our connection with the natural world blossom. Whether you’ve sought solace in rewilding your city garden, or found yourself craving a brisk walk somewhere green, our reliance on the transformative power of nature has never been stronger. On World Environment Day, we’re feeling admiration for our natural world, and taking inspiration from the fact that, with small yet powerful actions, we can all do our bit to keep its beauty alive. HB
Be In The Now
This month, team Calendar has chosen Bharti Kher (b. 1969), as our Artist of the Month. Based between New Delhi and London and equally well-known for her mammoth sculptural works, Kher’s paintings are some of the most mesmeric we’ve seen. Challenging social taboos, her signature circle motif is inspired by the bindi – a cultural representation of traditional womanhood in India. These numerous circles of coloured felt are concentrated on painted board and transformed into a subversive riot of colour. HB
Object of Desire
While geometrically exact jewellery has its place, Completedworks founder Anna Jewsbury favours organically abstract shapes. Made from sculptural looping gold wires, Completedworks’ ‘The Lure of Civilisation’ hair pin is a pleasingly delicate example of Jewsbury’s unique design philosophy. Set with a row of freshwater pearls – all with varying profiles and sizes – the style references ancient, museum-worthy shapes, while simultaneously exuding an air of modern originality. When delicately woven through the hair, its glistening form will gently peek out, no matter your style or texture, to add a wonderfully subtle flash of gold. With a sustainable ethos at its core, the brand’s entire collection is made from recycled and Fair Trade metals. Its expert makers use gold vermeil to craft each of the brand’s signature hair pins – created using recycled silver, which reduces CO2 emissions by two thirds compared to mined silver. Handmade to order in Completedworks’ London studio, it’s a keep-forever embodiment of wearable art. HB
Gold Vermeil and Pearl Hair Pin, £385, available at completedworks.com
Take 5
Katharine Hamnett didn’t have to care about making fashion sustainable. The iconic London designer founded her label in 1979 and, by the late 1980s, she’d built up an extraordinarily successful business: she’d created the still-instantly-recognisable Choose Love slogan tees, was stocked by 700 stores in 40 countries around the world, and worn by everyone from Princess Diana and George Michael to Madonna and Mick Jagger. But then she commissioned a report into the environmental and human impact of the clothes that she was creating – confident that it would find next to nothing – and the evidence that came back was devastating. Confronted by the consequences of everything from pesticide poisoning to the vast water use involved in cotton production, she determined to make a change.
Fashion has been dispiritingly slow to catch up with her. Hamnett shuttered her label in the early ’90s in the face of overwhelming resistance and reluctance to do things differently from every area of the industry, only relaunching it in 2017 when enough fabrics and practices had evolved for her to produce her clothes responsibly. But even though so little has changed after 30 years of campaigning and conferences, Hamnett still has the tenacity and passion to really care about saving the planet. Her life-long love of nature endures – she chalks that up to her grandmother, the first woman in England to get a science degree and doctorate, who had an orchard that she would walk Hamnett round when she was small to stroke the flowers and see the bees. And she’s determined to educate the rest of us about how damaging the choices that we make can be – and how we can do better. She’s an inspiration, a fearless revolutionary – and, of course, she was right all along.
Emma Sells, Calendar Fashion
Be In The Now
Friday inspiration courtesy of Jean Cocteau.
Calendar Travel
Greenlisted Iceland, with all its geothermal power plants, natural hot springs, large wilderness areas and renewable energy policy that supplies almost every house with clean (and cheap) electricity and hot water, is one of the most environmentally switched-on countries on the planet. If you have been there already, it’s a safe bet you will have wallowed in the geothermal waters of the Blue Lagoon and slathered yourself in silica mud, a potentially epic experience if it weren’t for all the other tourists doing the same thing.
Far better, now, to check out its brand new rival, Sky Lagoon, also just outside Reykjavik, with its 70-metre geothermal pool set among the rocks, with an infinity edge that seems to blend into the North Atlantic ocean. Here, you can try out their traditional seven-step bathing ritual, a mix of hot and cold experiences, including the intriguing-sounding ‘cold fog-mist space’, and the sauna, with its huge window showcasing sea and mountain views. Book a time slot on skylagoon.com, and either a basic Pure Pass (from around £34), or upgrade to the Sky Pass (from £58), which gives you private – and fancier – changing facilities.
You can’t sleep here, so take a tip from us and head to Torfhus, just under 90 minutes’ drive east – an eco-retreat powered by more geothermal energy, with its luxury cabins built of reclaimed wood and living turf roofs.
Book through discover-the-world.com, which promotes responsible travel and recommends carbon offsetting with @worldlandtrust
worldlandtrust.org/carbon-calculator/individual/flights/
Designer Focus
Duran Lantink was 15 when he started making clothes by cutting and splicing existing pieces together, taking apart a pile of old Diesel jeans that his stepfather was throwing out, combining them with a tablecloth of his grandmother’s and making them into skirts. Instantly hooked on the process, he’s been repurposing ever since, building his label by collaborating with luxury brands and stores who hand over their deadstock and archive clothes for him to whip up into capsule collections of incredible, meticulously composed hybrid pieces. And while upcycling may be a buzzy, of-the-moment approach, for Lantink it’s instinctive; the sustainability an added bonus rather than the main motivation – his creativity is simply sparked by the challenge of working with existing rather than raw materials.
Lantink was never sure that he wanted to create solo collections but, thanks to the slow-down of the past year, he and his assistant found themselves in his Amsterdam studio, surrounded by a wild assortment of spare sleeves and discarded off-cuts left over from all his previous projects, and the time to play around with fitting them together in unexpected combinations. Unveiled with a drone-filled show at the former palace of Holland’s royal family, the collection is filled with the most revealing clothes that he’s ever created, his riff on the idea that sex sells.
Every piece is a one-off and he wants to make sure you want to wear them forever; so, buy a slinky dress or puffa coat and if, in a year or two’s time it doesn’t feel quite right in your wardrobe, you can return it to the studio to be refreshed and repurposed into something new, eventually creating a whole family tree from the original. “The moment you buy a piece, we’re connected, and we’ll start building a relationship to make sure that it’s always relevant for you to wear,” he says. “It’s kind of a jewellery approach: you get an heirloom, you pass it on and melt it and turn it into something new – but you always keep it in the family.”
Emma Sells, Calendar Fashion.
Artwork @siduations
Object of Desire
From that orange box (even this smallest version, made from recycled cardboard, oozes cachet) to the signature scent of sandalwood, arnica and angelica developed by Hermès nose, Christine Nagel, Rose d’Éte Rosy Lip Enhancer, £58, is truly lust worthy. In its Pierre Hardy-designed pink, gold and white striped tube to the protective canvas pouch (this is one lipstick you won’t want getting knocked about in the bottom of your handbag), to the pretty pink, matte balm effect, every beautiful detail has been considered. And because it’s refillable (for £33) there’s no guilt, it’s all pleasure.
Anna-Marie Solowij, Calendar Beauty.
Calendar Home
Originally launched in 2014 to celebrate Italian label Marni’s 20th anniversary, Market Marni became such a destination for fans of bold homeware that its unmissable events have popped up regularly ever since. The latest venue? 5 Carlos Place, home to @matchesfashion. This purveyor of design inspiration has teamed up with Francesco Risso’s label for an interiors extravaganza that will satisfy even the most colour-craving of aesthetics. Expect cheering hand-woven furniture, summer-ready striped basket bags, and decorative rugs, cushions and sculptures to suit every room. With each product made by Colombian artisans – a long-standing partnership for Marni – every item on the Market’s metaphorical shelves is expertly curated and one of a kind. Prepare for a visionary take on contemporary colour. HB
Calendar Travel
The Farmyard, Somerset
You’re going to have to be quick if you want to get in here, as everyone’s going to be scrambling to book this much-talked-about launch. The new addition to The Newt in Somerset, the Farmyard opens on June 1st, hidden away behind the cider orchards (or ‘cyder’ as they like to spell it). The 17 bedrooms and suites – along with a games room, pool and bar – are housed in converted honey-hued limestone buildings: Farm House, Cyder Mill, Apple Loft and Cheese Barns. These originally made up The Newt’s neighbouring Shatwell Farm, which Johnny Depp was rumoured to have had his eye on before The Newt’s South African owners – former Elle Decoration SA editor Karen Roos and husband Koos Bekker – snapped it up.
Named for the 2000 or so great crested newts that live there (and had to be protected during the six-year construction), The Newt is all about the orchards and their 260 apple varieties, the lakes, woodlands and landscaped gardens. To operate The Newt and the Farmyard as sustainably as possible, they use electric vehicles, and run the heating from a woodchip-fired biomass boiler – but most of their eco credentials come from what they have done with the land: planting extensive orchards, creating an organic kitchen garden and installing beehives.
The current incarnation of the spectacular gardens are the work of French architect Patrice Taravella, the talent behind Roos and Bekker’s first venture, Babylonstoren, the heavenly Cape Dutch winelands farm hotel 33 miles east of Cape Town that should be on everyone’s South African hit list.
Rooms at the Farmyard may be all laid-back rustic luxury but you’ll still want to be mostly immersing yourself in all things horticultural and outdoorsy, whether spotting deer, checking out the captivating Story of Gardening Museum, or taking a Bee Safari (yes really) though the ancient woodlands with resident beekeeper Paula Carnell. We can’t wait.
The Farmyard, The Newt Somerset, thenewtinsomerset.com. Two-night stays (minimum) from £850 for two people, B&B.
Be In The Now
We’re celebrating Pride Month at Calendar with this beautiful image lensed by pioneering American photographer Donna Gottschalk. Love is all we need.
Love Forever
We’re delighted to introduce the brilliant and inspiring Noëlla Coursarsis Musunka, founder and CEO of Malaika, as our Love Forever guest for June.
Noëlla is wearing her beloved pink and red Gucci bag, gifted to her by friends, and a piece that she plans to wear and cherish forever. She says:
My beloved Gucci bag was given to me by a dear friend and his wife who live there, it was a beautiful act of kindness for no particular reason. I’ve had it for about 5 years now and I’ve worn it to so many different events. I love the colour so much and I wear vibrant colours and patterns, so it goes with a lot of my own wardrobe. I will cherish this bag forever and the memory it conjures up of New York.
Brand We Love
When reworked pieces look this good, we start to wonder why we’d ever need to buy new. With her signature bright smocked dresses, shiny pastel puffas, and quilting galore, Freya Rabet has exploded the world of pre-loved fashion. Previously lead designer at sustainable womenswear brand Omnes, Rabet uses her creative know-how to craft wonderfully cheering garments under her freshly-launched label @freyasimonne. Deconstructing everything from second-hand clothes, to vintage quilts and curtains, she sees hidden potential in discarded items – and transforming them with her unique silhouettes. All made with a decidedly zero-waste approach, Rabet handmakes each one-of-a-kind design, even saving the thread from offcuts to use in future projects. Plus, having quickly grown a legion of devotees, Rabet launched an exclusive capsule collection on rental platform Hurr earlier this year. The chance to dose up on her joyfully colour-filled collection is yours. Available via @freyasimonne and @hurr. HB.
Calendar Travel
Madagascar, the world’s oldest island, may still be on the Amber List but Tsara Komba Luxury Beach and Forest Lodge is such a shining light of how to do hotels sustainably, and in a community-minded way, they deserve an early shout-out before we can actually go there. The ethos behind this luxury eco lodge on Nosy Komba (a little volcanic island off the north west of Madagascar), is sharing luxury: they believe you shouldn’t build a five-star hotel in a one star location: you should level up the area first, and they really put that into practice.
They provide free healthcare for staff, have built 25 new homes, an infant school, and have funded access to clean water for the local village, and started a nursery for the conservation of indigenous baobabs and pachypodiums (a type of succulent).
Many luxury hotels privatise beaches but, here, they share with the locals, so children can walk along the beach in front of the hotel to school, as they always did, but guests are screened by the trees and shrubs to ensure privacy. They run on solar power, use biodegradable detergents, have no phones or TVs, and ensure strict recycling compliance. Water comes from the spring, not pumped but driven by force of gravity, fish served in the restaurant has to be line-caught, they grow most of their own food, and employ almost 100% local staff.
The eight luxury lodges, built sustainably of local wood and ravinala leaves, are hidden among the papaya and mango trees between the forest and the white sandy beach. This is a gorgeous and really inspirational example of tourism for good, and we can’t wait to check in.
Tsara Komba Luxury Beach and Forest Lodge, Madagascar, can be booked through luxtripper.co.uk, experiential luxury holiday specialists who offset with @trees4travel, from September 2021 onwards.
Sue Ward Davies, Calendar Travel
The Calendar Edit
Summer scents with sustainable credentials
Fragrance is nature, bottled; it is portable therapy, triggering memories and emotions, enhancing moods and altering minds for millennia past – and to come. Unlike makeup, perfumery sales remained buoyant during the pandemic – fragrance brand Floral Street saw a 300% uplift in web sales, citing the feel-good, mood-boosting power of perfume.
The current mode in perfumery is indie, eccentric, outsider and, while embracing tradition, is mindful of modern consumer requirements for chemical-free, sustainably sourced and consciously packaged scent. Desirable new standards include vegan, cruelty-free, paraben-free, phthalate-free, organic, biodynamic or wildcrafted with creative, sustainable and non-toxic packaging solutions. But don’t expect all of these in one go: the responsible approach to fragrance production can be paradoxical with the repercussions of so-called ‘cleaner’ alternatives potentially more harmful somewhere else along the line.
It might, on balance, be better to buy a fragrance created using a synthetic (chemical copy) of the scent of a rare and exotic flower, than harvesting the plant itself, processing it to extract its aroma and shipping that around the world, especially if the grower is not part of a fair trade or sustainable coalition that promotes respect along the supply chain from grower to consumer. Or if you don’t want alcohol – the ingredient in which perfume oils are suspended – then you might choose a roll-on perfume oil, or a solid, but neither will deliver the sophisticated level of evaporation of a mist; with scent, it’s sometimes a case of ‘swings and roundabouts’. Also, different things matter to different people: you may prefer plastic packaging, especially if you use scent while on-the-go and have had a beloved handbag ruined by a broken glass bottle (me!). Making an informed choice is key to a successful outcome, so here are some fragrances for your further consideration:
Anna-Marie Solowij
Be In The Now
Thank you for joining us on our June journey and we’re signing off with these inspiring words from Stella McCartney. “Everyone can do simple things to make a difference, and every little bit really does count.” We couldn’t agree more.