Sometimes fashion designers continue to have influence even after they move on to dressing angels in the sky. Italy-born Australian Carla Zampetti is one such icon. She succumbed to a fall in 2021 but her brand, now led by creative director Karlie Ungar, made a triumphant return to IMG’s Pandora-sponsored Sydney Fashion Week this year. Karlie Ungar is a wide-ranging designer. She heads New South Wales-based Ungar.Co interior design, which can do everything from whole-house looks to a single cushion. The mind boggles at the thought of wearing an Ungar-designed frock, albeit with a Carla Zampatti label, and sitting on Ungar.Co cushions in an Ungar.Co home. To finish the look, ask your chauffeur to bring the Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo round to the front door (Porsche is currently partnering with Carla Zampatti the brand).
It brings to mind the fact that Singapore’s F1 Grand Prix also goes out of its direct niche to partner with Singapore Airlines, which undoubtedly helps both parties. The 2024 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix, to give it its official name, worked up during a multi-day programme of events to the grand finale on Sunday, 22 September. It started at 1 pm that day but activities went on far into the night, culminating in entertainment that saw over 100 hours of performances across 12 stages. The line-up included The Corrs, Kylie Minogue, and Lenny Kravitz among the big names.
This is a great time to try the new-look Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. The city-state’s logo, which looks like a giant “E” standing on its three legs, is, unbelievably, 14 years old (yes, time flies). Its three parallel 55-floor towers, containing in all 2,561 rooms and suites, are being upgraded to bring in even more luxury, say, additional executive lounges. Designers are Peter Silling & Associates and Steve Leung Design Group. Choose an upper-floor suite for better views and greater proximity to the rooftop’s SkyPark cantilevered pool. It’s 150 metres long, and an equally staggering 190 metres above ground.
Regardless of their lodging, many race enthusiasts will long ago have booked Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix hospitality packages, several of which include free-flow alcohol, including bubbles (it’s always a bit suspicious, to a sceptical mind, when “Champagne” is listed, with no mention of the brand). The most well-known of the hospitality venues is The Paddock Club, which here also includes, on a first-come, first-served basis, access to one of the 28 air-conditioned capsules on the city’s Ferris wheel, the Singapore Flyer. Watch the race as you and the 27 other passengers in your capsule slowly go through a vertical 360 degrees to allow different vantage points of the cars.
Paddock Clubs were always exclusively catered by Turkish master chef Attila Dogudan, but now others guest-chef. That quintessential English cook, Heston Blumenthal, for instance, featured a supposed taste of “ye olde Britain.” It’s perhaps difficult to imagine ancestors tasting Lapsang Souchong-smoked salmon with sour cream butter, and caviar and soda bread, followed by veal chop with celeriac purée, glazed carrots, and sauce reform. Call it culinary licence.
On the food front, Rosewood Hong Kong held a masterclass led by Sam Ward, managing director of England’s Cumbrian culinary leader Simon Rogan. An ongoing partnership with Rogan’s Academy saw dinners at the hotel cooked by academy apprentices on 2 and 3 September. Separately, the hotel opens a new restaurant, Marmo, this October—it will emphasise Southern European coastal cuisine. We hear that Rosewood Hong Kong will be partnering with a global luxury brand later in the year. Watch this space.
And, although Rosewood will not confirm at this stage, knowledgeable Californians say with absolute certainty that Rosewood will open in Napa Valley in 2026: it will be reached by a specially built Alpine-type road heading west of St Helena up into the Mayacamas mountains. The resort will be, they all say, spectacular.
