Robe by Ashiaa, sweets by Nile Ritz-Carlton Cairo
Why is that the whole of life is becoming increasingly complicated? For international travellers, only a couple of years ago checking in for a flight was just that. Check-in, at the airport or beforehand. Now, ahead of time you must give all passport and date of birth details and, if you are using a US-based airline, the emergency person to be contacted should something unexpected happen (and, of course, at the airport you and your silly-little 100ml bottles are subjected to humiliating searches).
It is the same with fashion. For centuries people in some parts of the world – see the image above – have worn flowing robes, comfortable to wear and stylish to behold. You can still get such simplicity. The photo on the left shows a 2018 robe by Ashiaa, its laced front making it one-size-fits-all (or at least nearly all, though if I were to eat all the delicious sweet things offered by Nile Ritz-Carlton Cairo the lacing might not reach…). And yet, look at haute couture fashion from London, Milan, New York and Paris and 99% of it looks a mess, and highly complicated.
I worry, too, that the world of luxury hotels is getting too complicated. Fortunately there are some bright sparks. I have recently revelled in the simplicity of the log-cabin approach at Iceland’s Hotel Ranga and, more recently in Arizona, more log-cabins at the ultra-well Canyon Ranch in Tucson, plus the Westroc duo of retro-hipster Valley Ho and the new-build Mountain Shadows, with its exposed concrete ceilings. Simplicity of luxury hotels and resorts gives a stage that allows you, the consumer, to create your own performance, unhindered by what is around you.
