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FT editor Roula Khalaf selects her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The annual Escape issue comes at the end of a long series of spring publications. HTSIs – and most of the team are trying hard to enjoy a much-needed vacation. Making a magazine dedicated to beautiful homes, fashion and food is quite tempting. Working on a track dedicated to escapist fantasies can feel like torture sitting in the rain on EC4.
This year, our getaways include all kinds of adventures, starting with our cover, A walk through Madeira with models Kiki Willems and her boyfriend Jonas Glöer. The couple went on a walking holiday around the island early in their relationship and this trip found them revisiting the same trails. I hadn’t realized Madeira was so green or so mountainous, and this shoot has put the destination at the top of the list of places I’d like to visit next. The landscape is a glorious backdrop for the season’s fashion; True, you may not choose to walk in full runway styles, nor in what appear to be leather pants, but the looks here are generally in keeping with the outdoorsy leanings of the moment. I respect Kiki, Jonas and the creative team led by photographer Ola Rindal and stylist Anastasia Barbieri for getting up at dawn to march across the majestic mountain peaks.
Stefan Giftthaler has been a long-time collaborator with HTSI: This half-German, half-Italian photographer is a master of interior photography and has photographed all types of palaces, hotels and houses for us in the past. This week he shows us a more personal project, capturing the totems of Italian culture and the profusion of this iconography in all aspects of life. From the “antique statues” that decorate cafes and the most basic accommodations, to the ubiquitous Mona Lisa, whose face is reproduced on everything from matchboxes to pizza trays, the series constitutes a A charming portrait of Italian-style tourism.. (By the way, this is only a fraction of the full edition: I hope one day we see more of them produced in a dedicated book.)
Other escapes are more of a state of mind. Writer Jay Cheshes, for example, travels to Paris through the many fine-dining French restaurants that have recently sprung up around his New York home. Fine dining has been in serious danger in New York in recent decades, displaced by Italian and other more exotic cuisines. Now, however, the return is in sight, with an avalanche of new establishments and old favorites reviving. Jay makes his way through the landscape. Be careful, he is heavy: a world of splendid pâtés, delicious juices and, of course, foie gras.
Lastly, have you heard of the Ama, the Freedivers working in Mie Prefecture in Japan? With their distinctive white robes and pearl diving expertise, the Ama have acquired an almost mythical status in popular culture (there was even an appearance by Bond), but climate change and industrialization have contributed to a reduction in their numbers. in the last times. Our intrepid duo David Coggins and James Harvey-Kelly traveled to the prefecture to watch the women at work and taste the food they catch and serve to guests. It is a tremendous privilege to share the experience and another story that makes me long for a return trip to Japan.
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