Virgin Active’s new Classic Club - Alice Lane

Working next door to Alice

The journey to Virgin Active’s new Classic Club, Alice Lane, began in 2003 with Virgin Active’s first Classic Club, Melrose Arch, which redefined what a health club could, and should, offer an increasingly discerning market.

The journey continues to establish the world’s leading collection of health clubs, where like-minded individuals can identify and achieve their personal health goals. They are also able to access a dedicated team of fitness and nutrition experts through inspiring and personally designed wellness programmes. The big idea is for executives to unwind in a club designed to deliver the ultimate Virgin Active Classic experience.

Virgin Active Alice Lane is due to open in August 2013 but such is the excitement around this exclusive Club that Virgin Group founder Richard Branson visited the building site to see how this extraordinary project was progressing on Wednesday 27 February. It will be the 108th health club to be opened by Virgin Active South Africa (VASA) and like the other two Classic club offerings, is designed for a discerning market.

“It represents an R150 million rand investment by Virgin Active South Africa,” says Managing Director Ross Faragher-Thomas. “This is a considerable commitment to what we believe is a project that will set a new standard in health clubs in South Africa.”

Virgin Active Alice Lane occupies a prime location in Sandton - the financial and premier business hub of Gauteng where companies such as Discovery Health, Nedbank, Investec and RMB have established their head offices and adjacent Sandton City offers a premier retail experience. Faragher-Thomas says, “With Alice Lane we have literally brought the health club to the target market.

Ten years after opening Virgin Active Melrose Arch, we have a different SA landscape. Well-travelled, cyber-smart, health-club members have moved from simply working out to wanting – and expecting – their health club to offer much more.

Virgin Active Alice Lane is in the epicentre of this discerning market and we are creating a club which aims to exceed their expectations rather than meet them. And a capped membership will ensure exclusivity.”

While Virgin Active clubs are considered ‘third spaces’ after work and home, Virgin Active Alice Lane is being described as a ‘fourth dimension’ in wellness, where members will be able to escape, network, relax, cocoon, unwind, as well as hone their bodies. Members’ needs will be met on a physical level through personal training and dietary preferences in a club that centres on heartfelt service.

The integral focus is on the life of mobile executives, which means the club is designed to offer a work space away from work, with networking and conference areas and breakaway rooms. For those executives who subscribe to the concept of ‘blue sky thinking’ in their companies, Virgin Active has taken a literal step up and designed a lift that takes members to a rooftop training area.

Here they will be elevated physically and psychologically and will be able to enjoy a ‘high fliers’ view of the Sandton skyline. It will also provide a safe outdoor space to train – a rare commodity in Gauteng. Innovative interior designers were commissioned to create mood and ambiance with everything from lighting to the colour scheme.

Materials used for walls and floors dampen sound without compromising on high aesthethic standards.
Aligned closely to the club’s service offering, is convenience. Joining Alice means tailored routines and bespoke programmes from a shoe-shine service to an in-club dietician who will create personal eating plans for members.

August is the launch date when business dynamos and discerning executives will all be wishing they worked next door to Alice! Membership enquiries can be made on www.virginactive.co.za/alicelane

Gucci Women’s Autumn/Winter Collection

The Gucci woman seduces with a dangerous femininity.  Juxtaposing a demure silhouette inspired by couture, with a subversive undertone. Elegant shapes, outlined in strong, signature Gucci materials, are contrasted with accessories inspired by the fetish aesthetics of Allen Jones. A noir atmosphere saturated by colour, envisioned on exclusive textiles and details.

“She is steely yet sexy – defining her discipline with femme fatale vices.” explains Creative Director Frida Giannini. “She wears sculpted dresses with pure graphics, all the while alluding to devious touches.” The models and makeup are reminiscent of Luc Besson's The Fifth Element complementing Gucci's extraordinary accessories in an out of this world collection.

The silhouette is constructed, while the perfection of couture lines is applied to ready-to-wear. Powerful and body conscious, the new tailleur with skirt was introduced. Jackets are caban style or small, either with softly egg-shaped shoulders or definition. The pencil skirt is meticulously below the knee but reveals an unexpected slit. Worn high for a new, delicate take on the waistline.

The little black dress inspires new interpretations, up to the neck or open to show the collar bone. Either embracing the body and employing strategic leather inserts or cut on the bias for languid lines in shiny satin. The coat takes on the form-fitting shapes of a bustier, recalling a robe-manteau.

The oversized overcoat is the only nod to the male wardrobe in a self-indulgingly ladylike collection. Even pants are feminine with tapering and short lengths. Sexy, irreverent touches finish each look: from t-shirts in leather and python to gloves and the collection’s leitmotif, fishnet tights with a back seam on every look.

The colour palette is purple wine, rust, moss green and cerulean blue tainting black. A wise and novel use of materials and treatments makes each piece precious; leather, both smooth and cracklé, patent, python, pony skin, Astrakhan, silk, bouclé, lace and wool, reworkings of pied de poule and Prince of Wales with shading and even lurex threading.

Evoking chinoiserie, tapestry effects with three-dimensional fern leaves see woven metallics interrupting the black dresses, tailleur and outerwear. A cape in goat hair with shading from black to green embellishes an Astrakhan skirt suit.

Every facet of evening, from the t-shirt and skirt to the pairing of pants and tops, through to cocktail dresses and evening gowns are cinematic. A black-out of lace followed by an outburst of color. Ethereal looks with netting and satin, embroidered with feathers, studding, and sequins – intersecting punk with couture.

The accessories are femme fatale. Shiny calfskin and exotic skins. Python and crocodile. Black or monochromatic. Structured bags with archival luggage locks for a retro hint. The iconic Bamboo handle characterizes a new style in two proportions. Booties, boots and sandals, all with sharp high heels, for a touch of fetish. By day, necklaces recalling willow leaves, along with leather lock cuffs. For evening, cuffs adorned with colorful stones evoking the nuances of the embroideries.

Gucci is available exclusively at GUCCI Boutiques in Cape Town and Johannesburg in Southern Africa. For further information please contact their stores on 021-421 8800 (V&A Waterfront, Cape Town) or 011-784 2597 (Nelson Mandela Square, Johannesburg) or visit www.gucci.com

Jenni Button Couture Summer 2013 Collection

Adding Glamour to the 2013 events season. The Jenni Button woman is sensual, strong and independent and celebrates all that is glamorous.

Focusing on sensual modern cuts and shapes to suit the strong independent woman, the Jenni woman’s insatiable love of glamour, opulence and pleasure find its ultimate expression in the Jenni Button Coutureline.

Inspired by the golden sand dunes of Morocco, white Bedouin tents, glass mosaics and soft silk curtains blowing in the breeze of a Marrakesh Summer, Jenni Button’s Summer 2013 Collection is sizzling hot. Creative Director, Warrick Gautier, uses only the finest silks, embroidery, embellishment, and beading in the range’s Couture line. French metallic laces and long flowy dresses in silk chiffon and rich satins are seen throughout.

Jenni Button, synonymous with glamour, elegance and sophistication takes the Couture Collection to exciting new heights this season, whether one-off pieces for formal evening wear occasions, beaded cocktail dresses for glamorous parties or even wedding dresses. Always reinventing, Jenni Button has become the benchmark of luxury in South Africa and are regularly flaunted by a host of A-list celebrities. 

View Jenni Button Couture at the Veuve Clicquot Polo Masters 2013

Jenni Button Couture is available at their exclusive Couture stores located in Hyde Park, Sandton City, Cavendish Square and Gateway. Selected pieces are also available in their other 9 stores nationwide. Their Cape Town Studio also provides one-on-one appointments for bespoke services. For more info, call Jenni Button’s studio on 021 461 1207.

Visit their Facebook page on https://www.facebook.com/JenniButtonSA

Patek Phillipe - Sparkling Swiss Timekeeping

The Grand Complications 5073P-00 by Patek Philippe

The new Grand Complications 5073P-001 is a Patek Philippe debut that benchmarks a significant trend in haute horlogerie. Connoisseurs are left speechless: not only due to its breathtaking sound quality, but also given the 103 baguette diamonds on its bezel and 55 further diamonds on the dial and clasp.

Ranking among the few manufactures that consummately master the orchestration of "cathedral" gongs, extra-long gongs which produce an inimitably voluminous and reverberant sound. 

Perpetual calendar and winding: totally automatic

To assure continuity in the displays of the perpetual calendar and moon phases, the movement is self-winding and completely automatic thanks to an off-center minirotor made of 22K gold; it is fully recessed in the plate.  Given all the repeater wristwatches produced by Patek Philippe since 1916, the manufacture's micromechanical virtuosity does not need to be further expounded.

True artistry shuns no effort

To adequately showcase the micromechanical brilliance of the Grand Complications 5073P-001, Patek Philippe also pulled out all the stops with respect to the case and exterior elements. With a diameter of 42 mm, the heavy case is fashioned on premises with the traditional cold-forming method from blanks made of 950 platinum, the precious metal that is most difficult to machine.


Then, the manufacture's master jewelers rely on their artistry to transform it into a breathtaking magnum opus for the wrist. 103 flawless Top Wesselton baguette diamonds totaling approx. 4.33 ct. adorn the bezel and the case lugs.

On the black lacquered solid-gold dial, 13 set baguette diamonds (approx. 0.25 ct.) serve as hour markers. And 42 further baguette diamonds (approx. 0.69 ct.) convert even the platinum clasp into a masterpiece of gemsetting prowess. 


As always at Patek Philippe, a discreet 0.02-ct. diamond between the lugs at 6 o'clock identifies platinum as the case metal. The sparkling fire of precious stones legitimately raises the question whether the adornment of a watch at this level should not count as a complication as well.

The watch is delivered with a solid platinum case back and an interchangeable display back with a sapphire-crystal window that reveals the meticulous finissage of the movement. Highlights that immediately meet the eye are the lavishly guilloched 22K gold winding rotor and, beneath the goldplated cap with the pierced Calatrava cross, the small centrifugal governor that controls the disciplined rhythm of the striking mechanism.

While the focus among women is shifting from the outward appearance of precious wristwatches to a greater appreciation of what is inside them, men with a penchant for complicated calibers are also beginning to attach greater importance to elements that adorn their micromechanical masterpieces. The directives of the Patek Philippe Seal explicitly specify that the art of haute horlogerie merits only the ultimate in gemsetting expertise. The Grand Complications 5073P-001 is a fine case in point

In Southern Africa, Patek Philippe watches are exclusively sold through The Watch and Jewellery Gallery located at Shop 33, Nelson Mandela Square, Sandton, Johannesburg. For more information please contact the store on 011-7842587 or visit www.patek.com.