Girlahead has long pushed for more integration between hotels and the arts, all forms of art. Take sculpture, with the Antony Gormley sculpture that wraps itself around a suite at THE BEAUMONT in London. And if we move to paintings, Stephen King really started his fledgling THE LOREN group because he had a fine collection of modern art he had been amassing for some 15 years and he needed walls to hang them on (a hotel component brought all the jigsaw pieces together, he says, talking about his two hotels, on Bermuda and Austin TX).
Fashion is well covered, with ARMANI and VERSACE hotels, as is jewellery, thanks to BVLGARI (see below). Now we also have beauty associated with hotels, thanks to AMAN.
Aman Essentials have been building up slowly for some years. Its Sacred Heart Balm, for instance, offers an almost ecclesiastical experience: spread the tiniest amount over one’s heels and cracked skin almost miraculously turns to smooth. And so on.
Kengo Kuma is a key partner in this beauty brand. His Kuma Lab, which has over 300 architects spread between Paris, Beijing, Shanghai and his native Tokyo, is constantly working on such mega-projects as Tokyo’s Japan National Stadium, completed for the 2020 Summer Olympics. They can also turn their creativity to the minutiae of packaging for Aman Essentials’ Balm and such other products as Arjan oil hair treatment (see image above). And of course before Aman Essentials launched in Harrods Beauty Hall, on the ground floor of that London institution, on 24th October, the Kengo Kuma team designed the stand. The range there consists of Aman Skincare, Aman Fine Fragrance and Aman Spa Candles, is available outside an Aman destination.
And now listen to the new podcast: