Category: New York

The Art of Serenity

Menla Mountain Retreat
Nature Strikes the Perfect Balance
Imagine being in a place where your mobile service is deemed “unavailable” for the most time, and there is unlimited access to the rest of the world via the media, or internet. And guess what? It is all A-ok with you. Many such places exist around the world. How marvelous that this type of place exists just a few hours away from Manhattan, and that the experience left me with memories that are ones of the sweetest kind. Menla Mountain Retreat & Conference Center sits on 320 acres in the very heart of the Catskill Mountains of Upstate New York. It is a serene place where you can relax, enjoy your privacy, get in touch with nature and reflect on the importance of a peaceful and meaningful life. The facilities surrounding this retreat are also a place where one can hold their conferences, enjoy a variety of workshops that are convened by Tibet House USA. Menla is a seriously beautiful place that is well known for its Wellness Spa which incorporates Tibetan, Aryuvedic and Western healing arts.
This quiet and engaging place offers a variety of activities that make up the perfect recipe for an unforgettable weekend of R&R. During my visit, approximately three weeks ago, I indulged in the services of their superb, and beautifully designed spa by famed interior designer and architect, Clodagh. The retreat, which is owned by Robert and Nena Thurman, provides several incredible hiking tours to the impressive Giant Ledge-Panther-Fox Hollow Trail. They have a Yoga Studio, various wellness activities and let us not forget some of the most delicious, vegetarian food in the east side. The facility and surroundings are immensely serene, and it was truly magnificent to witness nature striking the perfect chord, as I enjoyed a weekend getaway that is sure to command many returns and lots of happy memories. 
Hiking










The Wellness Center




Robert Thurman, Clodagh, and Nena Thurman





The Conference Center at Menla
Healthy & Fine Cuisine
Menla’s Chef
Thank you Andrew Joseph for inviting me to one of the most beautiful places on earth
Interior Designer, Clodagh chatting with the press and the Menla chef
Shopping
Mahasukha Spa
Getting ready for my spa appointments
Exquisite details of an ancient Tibetan silk textile
Lodgings


The Grounds



Images by High End Weekly™
All rights reserved

Spring 2014 Ready-To-Wear Collection

New York Fashion Week: Day 1

RICHARD CHAI

The Mercedez-Benz Fashion Week in New York is a splendid time in the city. Editors, bloggers, models, and spectators brace the trip to the upper west side, all in the name of fashion. Fall is here, so we look towards the Spring Collection for 2014. So far, designers are serving a hot dish of black and white with a pop of color. The shows opened with a bang yesterday at Lincoln Center, and as usual BCBGMAXAZRIA spearheaded the event. On this blog post, we’re featuring eye catching looks from Richard Chai, BCBGMaxazria, Desigual, Marissa Webb, Tadashi Shoji, and Richard Chai.

Look for continuing coverage of the show throughout the weekend, into the following week. And don’t forget to check back periodically for the Mercedez-Benz live streaming videos.
BCBGMAXAZRIA
DESIGUAL
MARISSA WEBB
TADASHI SHOJI
All images courtesy Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week

Legendary Luxury Hotels to Fall in Love With

The Suite Life
Visit our Top 7 choices of the most glamorous places to stay this holiday season.
Signature Suite at Hôtel Metropole
The Bentley suite at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City
Bentley theme suite, St Regis, NY
The newly renovated Hotel Jerome, in Aspen Colorado has never looked better
English elegance at the Madarin Oriental, London
The lure and excitement of being in Tangier rises to the top at the Laurence of Morroco Hotel
One of the few places where great fashion ideas took shape: The Coco Chanel Suite at The Ritz, Paris
The Elton John Suite at The Ritz Hotel, Paris

NOTE: Please notify us directly, if you believe that certain images on this post are alleged to infringe upon the copyrights of others, according to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Thank you.

Not So Black & White

Fan Of The Hirshhorn (small)

I’m A Fan

Adrienne Moumin’s Epic Collages
New York-based artist Adrienne calls her handmade photo collages “Architextures”. They are fragments of what we see all around us – bigger than life skyscrapers that became synonymous for this city of steel. Her work is a combination of her lifelong involvement with both silver-based photography and collage, as discrete and separate practices. Architextures is also a combination of hand-printed B&W photographs with cut-and assembled handwork.
While I was at her studio last month, I noticed that at first, her works appeared to be digital montages, but upon closer inspection they revealed a texture and layering inherent in the handmade pieces. While you’re looking at these images on the screen everything appeared 2-D, but seeing them up-close will bring these multiple buildings alive, and your eyes will most likely be drawn to follow their hypnotic forms. As a modernist, I admired her work a great deal. Partly because of their originality, but mostly because Adrienne Moumin is following the path of such contemporary artists like: Dinh Q. Le, Ray K. Metzker, John Stezaker, and Annette Messager.
Kaleidoscope (Starrett-Lehigh), 37th dia. Hand-cut-and-assembled inkjet print photo collage, 2008
Snippetree
Fan Of The Hirshhorn (large)
Center Curves Squared 2012

Images courtesy Adrienne Moumin
All rights reserved

My Kind of Town

The Empire State Building
Illustrated by Ollywood
Deco City

New York, once again, took center stage in the world’s scene this week. Hurricane Sandy came, and left a devastating impact, not only in this great city but throughout the east coast. New Yorkers are no strangers to tragedy, and overall, they are to be saluted not only for the spirit they showed, but also for how they handled the latest dark chapter in their lives. This hurricane was the biggest storm that ever hit the big apple, and nothing can take away the tragic consequences that it left in the lives of so many whom were directly affected. But in the face of this horrible experience, I couldn’t help but notice the beauty that still surrounds us, whenever I walked down the streets of this whistle stop. I marvel at its famous skyline. The sheer size of it all is simply astonishing!

The prodigious Art Deco architecture that is now an intricate part of so many of our lives is a clear reminder that in a resilient town like this one, New Yorkers themselves have an uncommon knack of being survivors. In the face of adversity, they too can become a beacon of hope that is synonymous with these prominent buildings. Sandy baby, you can never take that away from us.

The Wonder City
Historical: The 1934 State Fair in the Big Apple
   
Never overshadowed: The Chrysler Building under fog. New York is arguably one of the most popular jazz cities in the world
Gotham City: Every town needs a hero. We love this poster of the 1989 film Batman 
Iconic: An Art Deco poster from the 1930s
The Chrysler Building
A stunning illustration of the new World Trade Center
NOTE: Please notify us directly, if you believe that certain images on this post are alleged to infringe upon the copyrights of others, according to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Thank you.

Luxury Redefined: Salvatore Ferragamo’s Renovated Flagship Store

UBER LUXURY
The reopening of the brand new renovated Salvatore Ferragamo store on 5th Avenue, this week, is one of the most exciting fashion news for April. With an area of approximately 20,000 square feet, the New York store is now the Italian Maison’s largest mono-brand store in the world!

Ferragamo 5th Avenue Store in New York City

Fashionistas would be pleased to know that the exhibition area extends over two levels, and offers the complete range of Salvatore Ferragamo collections. The ground floor is dedicated to women, as they shop for  handbags, shoes, accessories, silk , RTW and Creations. The fun continues on the ground floor, where they will find an exquisite jewelry collection – launched by Salvatore Ferragamo last fall – and exotic leathers, with a display designed to enhance and emphasize the preciousness of these products. To reduce the ecological impact, all the lighting of the store has been designed using LED technology.

 The interior of the store elicits characteristics of luxury and elegance, hallmarks of the Ferragamo style, offering a sober and refined atmosphere that reflects the concept of
Salvatore Ferragamo stores worldwide and that has been enhanced with special touches. 
Walnut wood, Alcantara, jute and stone in cream shades, white Venetian plaster, and dark oak, are the materials that characterize the walls and floors. The impressive central staircase that connects the two sales floors is made of walnut and stone with precious details in polished steel.
 The spring collection is not for the color shy consumer.
It’s all about self expression, rebirth, and vitality!
 The well appointment wardrobe. Another shot of the exhibition area, on the 2nd Floor
 The upper floor is devoted entirely to men and to collections including apparel, shoes, accessories, silk and fragrances for men, with an area reserved for custom made formal wear. 
“The store on 5th Avenue is a very important showcase for our brand, both for the American market as well as international customers, because it is located in a strategic position within one of the most important cities in the world.”
Michele Norsa, CEO of Salvatore Ferragamo
Also of note, the Italian luxury fashion house will open the first boutique in San Diego, California at the prestigious Fashion Valley, this month. An impressive boutique design is set to provide the luxurious Ferragamo shopping experience to San Diego’s Salvatore Ferragamo customer. The store will showcase the brand’s premier ready to wear collections: men and women’s shoes, handbags, luggage, belts, bijoux, silks, perfumes, eyewear, and small leather goods. This would mark the first time that the runway Ready-to-Wear collection designed by new Creative Director, Massimiliano Giornetti, will be available in San Diego. His new and exciting take on the Ferragamo history and DNA continues with the Spring Summer 2012 collections that will be highlighted in this boutique.