Prada Nylon Farm
Prada Nylon Farm
Image: Supplied

RICHARD MILLE’S JEWELLERY FANTASY

It’s Wimbledon time and for watch watchers, it’s always a great off-court sport to watch the tennis players slip on their super precious time pieces in time for the photo calls. All in the name of very lucrative sponsorships, of course.

Except for Rafa. Nadal has been wearing his Richard Mille since 2010 and his newest model – the red and yellow one – was built to withstand up to 10000 G forces. That means he wears it on the court and off – and the watch is talked about for its looks as well as for its out of this world technology. Well Richard Mille is upping the game again – and this time it’s for the ladies, with a touch of tribal inspiration.

Although the luxury watch brand has made women’s watches before, the newest model is in a different league altogether.

The glittering RM71-01 is not only a timepiece – it’s a piece of fine jewellery featuring diamonds, mother of pearl, onyx and black sapphires, while at the same time incorporating an in-house automatic tourbillon movement that is slim, ultra-high performance.

The women’s watches designer at Richard Mille is Cécile Guenat, a jewellery designer by training – and it shows.

There are 10 variations of the RM 71-01 Automatic Tourbillon Talisman and in designing this collection, Ms Guenat says she drew not only on Art Deco, but on the tribal arts—masks and African sculptures — for inspiration.

“The contrasts, geometry, and sacred character of these objects fascinate me all the more because they prefigured today’s design through the fusion of content and form,’ says Cécile Guenat.

NYLON FARM AT PRADA

There is something oddly comedic about the Nylon Farm episodic film that is now running on the Prada website.

A stylised ode to the synthetic fabric that has contributed so powerfully to Prada’s modern identity, the film’s backdrop is the fashion house’s industrial headquarters in Tuscany – all sleek and modern with giant glass windows and perfectly suited to a futuristic, almost human-free, production environment.

WATCH | Prada Nylon Farm: 

TELOS BY TOKARA

Onto another kind of farming: the more traditional style of wine farming in the mountains above Stellenbosch where former banker GT Ferreira’s farm Tokara has just released its premium wine known by the name of Telos.

Tokara Telos
Tokara Telos
Image: Supplied

The culmination of an 18-year project to establish what has become one of South Africa’s best known and much-loved wineries, Telos is a superb cabernet sauvignon, merlot, malbec blend with an exclusive release of only 1000 bottles. Each is perfectly packaged in a high gloss wooden box and makes a super elegant gift for a serious collector.

The wine was launched in London and recently in Joburg, where Mr Ferreira himself joined some of the country’s leading wine experts in a tasting which pitted Telos against six Robert Parker 100 pointers. Fine company indeed, which gives you some idea of where this wine is pitched.

I’ll hazard a guess that much of the limited supply of Telos has already been snapped up by some of the top sommeliers to add to their wine lists. But it is up on the website, so best to get in while you can.

ADIDAS BY TREVOR STUURMAN

It still gives me a thrill when global brands turn to South African talents to showcase their design.

To mark the return of that most understated of sportswear icons, the adidas Samba – and just in time for the soccer world cup – adidas South Africa enlisted stylist Trevor Stuurman to bring to life a local campaign featuring photographer Uno Gondo and digital curator Lindiwe Ngubeni.

Stuurman says he decided to use handwoven Kente cloth from Ghana as a backdrop for the campaign as it represented time, technical skill and heritage – all values represented by the three stripes too.

“We felt that similar to fabric, soccer brings people together in an authentic and celebratory manner. It was also important for me to personally bring it back home to Africa and to celebrate our collective culture.”

The Samba has also had a bit of a design update: Look out for the platform sole version as well as the pretty rose colour which is right on trend for the coming summer.

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