Joerg Koch; Gisela Schober

Marc O’Polo celebrated its 50th anniversary (hashtagged #MOP50 and #MOPxRobbie) at its flagship store on Theatinerstraße in München, with special guests Robbie Williams, his wife Ayda Field Williams, Mads Mikkelsen, and DJ Marcus Kavka. The four held a panel discussion that was live-streamed via Facebook.
   The Williamses had worked with Marc O’Polo on its Iconic Capsule Collection, and presented the 50th anniversary designs live at the store.
   The collection comprises 20 contemporary–casual pieces, including sweatshirts, a hoody dress and a bomber blouson for women, and a hoody, crew-neck sweater, and tracksuit top for men. Williams’s signature is embroidered on the sleeves, while the women’s sweatshirts feature the words ‘Love my life’ and ‘Come undone’, taken from his song titles.
   Williams has opted for pink for one of the men’s designs. Peter Lindbergh shot the campaign imagery.
   Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) has announced that it will open a second New Zealand retail store, in the country’s capital, Wellington. The opening is set for late 2017, and will be located at the Queensgate mall in Lower Hutt. No other details were on hand.
   The first store in the country, at Sylvia Park in Auckland, opened successfully in 2016.

Joerg Koch; Gisela Schober

Robbie Williams and Ayda Field Williams on Marc O’Polo by Lucire

Marc O’Polo celebrates its 50th anniversary by Lucire

Ross Brown

The most anticipated ballet of the year in New Zealand, the Royal New Zealand Ballet’s production of Romeo and Juliet, set to the music of Sergei Prokofiev and choreographed by the company’s outgoing artistic director, Francesco Ventriglia, has its world première on August 16 in Wellington. The sets and costumes have been designed by three-time Academy Award-winning designer James Acheson (who won for Dangerous Liaisons, The Last Emperor, and Restoration).
   Other talents behind the full-length, three-act ballet are dramaturge Mario Mattia Giorgetti, choreographic assistant Gillian Whittingham, and guest ballet master Frédéric Jahn. The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s associate conductor Hamish McKeith will conduct orchestras in Wellington, Christchurch, Auckland and Dunedin.
   The company’s biggest production of the year, there will be 13 scene changes and over 90 costumes.
   It is Ventriglia’s second full-length ballet for the RNZB, with work beginning in October 2016. His successor, Patricia Barker, has started as the new artistic director as the reins are handed over, noting, ‘It’s a very exciting time to have joined the RNZB—this production promises to be exquisite while it transports us to the heart of Verona. The energy in the studio is captivating. I have enjoyed getting to know the RNZB dancers and I’m looking forward to seeing them inhabit these iconic characters.’
   Ventriglia said, ‘To create a brand new classical ballet of one of the greatest stories and the most beautiful scores is so invigorating. I’m taking great care to respect Shakespeare and Prokofiev’s great works plus drawing inspiration from Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 multi-Academy Award-winning film. I’m also working with a dream team of collaborators and the very talented artists of the RNZB, who I’d like to thank for their incredible work.
   ‘James Acheson’s magnificent sets make me feel right at home, like I’m in Verona in the height of an Italian summer. All of the costumes are exquisite. We have been very true to the Renaissance period and I know audiences will also be transported to the time and place where our star-crossed lovers meet.’
   The production promises to be ‘epic’, with 22 performances scheduled from August 16 to September 24 in Wellington (with Orchestra Wellington), Christchurch (with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra), Auckland (with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra), Rotorua, Dunedin (with the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra), Invercargill, Palmerston North, and Napier.
   The season is sponsored by Ryman Healthcare. More information can be found at www.rnzb.org.nz.

Antony Jones

The third royal-connected polo match of the season took place on Sunday, June 18, at the Queen’s Ground at Guards’ Polo Club, Windsor Great Park, with RH Polo beating La Indiana 10–9 in the Cartier Queen’s Cup. It was Adolfo Cambiaso who broke the 9–9 tie. Most Valuable Player was Tommy Beresford, who celebrated his 21st birthday a few weeks ago; Best Playing Pony was Cataquena, owned and played by Cambiaso.
   HM the Queen and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh were in attendance. RH Polo were presented the trophy by the Queen, who has attended and presented the Cup since the 1960s.
   Cartier has supported polo for over three decades—this was its 33rd Queen’s Cup. This year’s event remained as star-studded as previous years’ events. Cartier champagne was served in the company’s enclosure, along with a lunch created by Cellar Society.
   VIPs included Lara Stone, Lily Cole, Geneviève Gaunt, Caroline Winberg, Jessica Hart, Skepta, Candice Lake, Nicholas Kirkwood, Marcus Wareing, Lady Kitty Spencer, Katie Keight, sisters Lady Alice Manners and Lady Violet Manners, Tori Cook, DJs Hugo Heathcote and Mark Ronson, Jilly Copper, Malcolm Borwick, Eduardo Novillo Astrada, and Facundo Pieres.
   The lunch consisted of goat’s curd with Wiltshire black truffle, zucchini flower beignets, Regent’s Park truffle honey followed by roast fillet of Hereford beef, chargrilled summer vegetables, minted peas and Anya potatoes, and finished on a sweet note with Hedgerow berry pavlova, whipped jersey cream and fresh mint.
   Heathcote performed at the close of the event, along with saxophonist Ben Barnett and percussionist Tom Carr, followed by Ronson.

Antony Jones

Gareth Cattermole; Anthony Ghnassia; Daniele Venturelli

The AmFAR Gala is traditionally the biggest do during the Festival de Cannes, and this year was no exception.
   The events had kicked off on Wednesday with a party for Persol, the Torino-founded eyewear brand, which celebrated its centenary. In partnership with AmFAR, the event took place on a yacht berthed in Port Pierre Canto, and was attended by Will Smith, Adrien Brody, Toby Maguire, Bérénice Béjo, Jasmine Tookes and Eva Longoria, with Dionne Warwick kicking off the celebrations.
   But all eyes were on last night at the AmFAR Gala, with support from Moët Hennessy, Harry Winston, Bold Films, Persol, Renault, and Harvey Weinstein, held at the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc. Celebrities and VIPs included Will Smith (who livened up the evening by carrying out one of the auctions), Diana Ross, Dustin Hoffman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicole Kidman (in Chanel), Christoph Waltz, Jean Paul Gaultier, Jessica Chastain (in Prada), Tobey Maguire, Chris Tucker, Bella Hadid (in a very sheer Ralph & Russo), Diane Kruger (in Alexander McQueen), Eva Longoria (in Elie Saab), David Beckham, Harvey Weinstein, Coco Rocha, former Miss France Laury Thilleman, reigning Miss Universe Iris Mittenaere, Nicki Minaj (in Roberto Cavalli), Adrien Brody, Uma Thurman and her Levon Roan Thurman-Hawke, Irina Shayk, Doutzen Krœs, Olivier Rousteing, Lara Stone, Petra Němcová, Karolína Kurková, DNCE, Lindsay Lohan, Cindy Bruna, Kiwi Victoria’s Secret model Georgia Fowler, Sophie Taylor, Millie Mackintosh, Maria Borges, Valery Kaufman, Carine Roitfeld, Elsa Hosk, Hana Jiříčková, Hailey Baldwin, Jon Kortajarena, Paz Vega, de Grisogono boss Fawaz Gruosi, Jasmine Tookes, Praya Lundberg, Sonia Ben Ammar, Leo Bahadourian and Anne-Sophie Bahadourian, footballer Juan Arbelaez, incoming Hennessy master blender Renaud Fillioux de Gironde, Jean-François Michel, Tommie Pegues, Hani Farsi, Alex Dunnet, Sylvain Ercoli and Dali Ercoli, Costadis Spyropoulos and Elmina Spyropoulos, Nathalie Normand, Camille Charriere, Kanako Sakai and Kouka Webb. Rocha presented the auction lot from Moët Hennessy, featuring a unique lot (no. 84 of 250) of Hennessy 8, a blend of rare eaux-de-vie and a unique companion sculpture signed by artist Arik Lévy, who also attended. Hadid, meanwhile, served champagne on stage, and the AmFAR fashion show, which featured, inter alia, Kurkova, Shayk, Kaufman, Baldwin, Hadid, Hosk, Tookes and Jiříčková, curated by Roitfeld, earned over €3 million for the dresses. Other performers on the night included Ross, Ora, Minaj, and DNCE.
   A Timothy White photo of Elizabeth Taylor went for €80,000. One successful bidder paid €350,000 to play soccer with Beckham, and another paid the same amount for a five-day trek to visit HH the Dalai Lama. A 1958 Jaguar XK150 sold for €600,000, beating a Richard Hambleton-painted van that sold for €250,000. A week in the Maldives sold for over €700,000 (note: it was for 60 people), as did a huge JR sculpture of an Olympic diver. A week on board a Serenity yacht for 30 guests went for €450,000. A Haas Brothers sculpture went for €500,000. A collection of George Hurrell Hollywood portraits sold for €2 million. Some €20 million (down on previous years’ dos) was raised at this year’s gala, the funds going to Aids research.

Gareth Cattermole; courtesy de Grisogono; Anthony Ghnassia; Cyrille George Jerusalmi; Daniele Venturelli; Tristan Fewings; Pascal le Segretain

Persol centenary









Antony Jones; Jacopo Raule

Jacovides-Borde-Moreau/Bestima; Dominique Charriau; Stéphane Feugère

You would be forgiven thinking there was a sense of déjà vu at day eight of the Cannes Film Festival, with Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell again. Adapted from the novel by Thomas P. Cullinan, a 1971 adaptation had starred Clint Eastwood, and is considered one of the actor’s best works.
   Coppola’s version has had generally positive reviews at Cannes (The Independent was a detractor) but mixed ones in earlier previews.
   Once again, it was red carpet-watching that earned more nods, as well as the L’Oréal Paris Cinema Club party, which commemorates the French cosmetics’ brand’s 20th anniversary at the Festival de Cannes.
   Swedish model Elsa Hosk wore Alberta Ferretti with jewellery by de Grisogono; and Hailey Baldwin wore Ralph & Russo with de Grisogono jewellery. Both ladies showed again that this year’s Cannes Film Festival is about how high the thigh split can go. Kidman chose Michael Kors, while Elle Fanning opted for Rodarte; Jasmine Tookes chose Georges Chakra.
   L’Oréalistas Emily Canham, Irina Shayk, Lara Stone, Maria Borges, Paola Turani, Doutzen Krœs, Ophelie Duvillard, Neelam Gill, Regina Todorenko, Stefanie Giesinger and Lena Meyer-Landrut represented the brand on one of its biggest days at Cannes.
   At the L’Oréal Paris do, Doutzen Krœs, Eva Longoria, Maria Borges, Cindy Bruna, Irina Shayk, Neelam Gill, Alexina Graham, Bianca Balti and Lara Stone all appeared in Balmain, as the two companies celebrated an upcoming Balmain Paris × L’Oréal Paris lipstick collection. Balmain’s creative director, Olivier Rousteing, was in attendance at both the première and the evening party.

Getting there







Gareth Cattermole

Red carpet























Pascal le Segretain; Neilson Barnard; Stéphane Cardinale/Corbis; Dominique Charriau; Gisela Schober

L’Oréal Paris Cinema Club party: photocall












































































Stéphane Feugère

Steven Herteleer

Joe Schildhorn/BFA.com; Venturelli

Day seven at the Festival de Cannes saw the film festival commemorate its 70th anniversary, with celebrities gathering for a group photo, and Isabelle Huppert kicking off the ceremony by singing ‘Happy birthday’. That evening, the festival also paid tribute to the victims of the Manchester terrorist bombing that occurred the night before with a moment of silence at the steps of the Palais des Festivals.
   Former Palme d’Or winners were on hand for the photo, including Jane Campion, still the only female director in 70 years to walk off with the top prize at Cannes.
   An official dinner followed, and some celebrities did double-duty attending that and the annual de Grisogono party at the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc on the Cap d’Antibes.
   Day seven celebrities on the red carpet included Bianca Balti (in Alberta Ferretti; jewellery by de Grisogono), Rita Ora (in a nude Elie Saab spring 2017 haute couture floor-length dress; jewellery also by de Grisogono), Lily-Rose Depp (in a white Chanel gown), Elle Fanning (in Vivienne Westwood), Monica Bellucci (in a Stella McCartney jumpsuit), Bella Hadid (in Dior, with a thigh-high split), Julianne Moore (in Givenchy), Susan Sarandon (in Alberta Ferretti), Jessica Chastain (in Alexander McQueen), Fan Bing Bing (in Elie Saab), Natasha Poly, and Eva Herzigova (in Roberto Cavalli; jewellery by Chopard).
   Balti’s fellow L’Oréalistas Barbara Palvin, Natalia Cabezas, Guan Xiaotong (關曉彤, a.k.a. Traey Miley), Patry Jordán, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Priscilla Alvarez Sánchez and Eva Longoria represented the French cosmetics’ brand as it celebrated its 20th anniversary at Cannes. Doutzen Krœs joined Longoria and Palvin on the L’Oréal Paris’s beach studio for more promotions. The company also issued a series of portraits and a video starring Palvin, showing make-up looks through the last seven decades.
   Palvin’s red-carpet look featured L’Oréal Paris’s True Match Illuminating Powder (in Icy Glow), two Matte Addiction lipsticks (in no. 633, Moka Chic, and 634, Greige Perfecto), Infallible Blush Paint Palette (in pink), Super Liner Perfect Slim (in Intense Black) and the Brow Artist (no. 106, Brunette).
   At the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc for the Love on the Rocks party, hosted by de Grisogono boss Fawaz Gruosi, were Elsa Hosk, Camila Morrone, Hailey Baldwin, Antonio Banderas, Dite Anata, Cindy Bruna, Rita Ora, Tomer Sisley, Natasha Poly, Amy Jackson, Ming Xi, Doina Ciobanu, Victoria Silvstedt, Chris Tucker, Tina Kunakey, Jenaye Noah, and Harvey Weinstein.

Gareth Cattermole; Pascal Le Segretain; Antony Jones; Venturelli; Stephane Cardinale/Corbis; Gisele Schober;

Anita Dykes; Venturelli, Gisela Schober; Dominique Charriau

Antony Jones; Joe Schildhorn/BFA.com

Barbara Palvin and 70 years

Barbara Palvin: 70 years of make-up by Lucire

Jonas Breslin

Stéphane Cardinale/Corbis; Olivier Borde; Gareth Cattermole

Monday’s screening of the Colin Farrell–Nicole Kidman starrer The Killing of a Sacred Deer at the Festival de Cannes—the Cannes Film Festival—saw L’Oréalistas Sonam Kapoor, Eva Longoria, Andie MacDowell, Caroline Receveur, and blogger Kristina Bazan, as well as Kidman herself, Juliette Binoche, Jourdan Dunn, Sara Sampaio, Jenaye Noah, and Kristin Scott Thomas.
   Kapoor chose a gown from the Elie Saab couture range on her first red-carpet appearance for the French cosmetics’ giant, Longoria wore a Marchesa tulle dress (from its pre-autumn 2017 collection), MacDowell wore Roberto Cavalli with a Roger Vivier clutch. Kidman chose Calvin Klein by Appointment for her Cannes première, and Binoche wore Balmain. Dunn also chose Elie Saab, from the spring–summer 2017 couture range, with jewellery by de Grisogono. Sampaio wore Francesco Scognamiglio from his spring–summer 2017 couture collection, complemented by Avakian jewellery. Scott Thomas wore Schiaparelli, complemented by de Grisogono jewellery; Noah, whose shoes were by Giuseppe Zanotti, also chose de Grisogono for her jewellery.

Gareth Cattermole; Dominique Charriau; Venturelli; Stéphane Cardinale/Corbis; Jacovides–Borde–Moreau/Bestimage; Olivier Borde; Gisela Schober; Antony Jones; Pascal le Segretain

L’Oréal Paris close-ups





Jonas Bresnan

UNICEF

© Danjaq LLC/United Artists

Top: Sir Roger Moore was a UNICEF goodwill ambassador from 1991 to 2017. Above: Moore on the set of Live and Let Die, his first James Bond film, in 1972.

Actor and UNICEF ambassador Sir Roger Moore has passed away in Switzerland, aged 89.
   His children by his third wife Luisa, Deborah, Geoffrey and Christian, issued a statement today, saying that their father had had a short battle with cancer.
   ‘The love with which he was surrounded in his final days was so great it cannot be quantified in words alone,’ they said.
   Roger George Moore was born October 14, 1927, in Stockwell, the son of George Alfred Moore, a policeman, and Lillian Moore (née Pope). An only child, Moore had a talent for art, one that he maintained through his life, and began in the film business as a trainee animator, joining the Association of Cinema Technicians’ union as a teenager. Through friends, he began doing work as an extra, and through that he was encouraged to join RADA. His father, an amateur actor, was supportive of this, and his fees were paid for by film director Brian Desmond Hurst.
   He married a fellow RADA student, Doorn van Steyn, in 1946. After World War II, he was conscripted for national service, and was commissioned into the Royal Army Service Corps. After three years in the army, Moore found himself unemployed, with Hurst soon hiring him for a tiny role in Trottie True. Television and stage work followed, as well as modelling for knitwear. His marriage to van Steyn soon fell apart. In 1952, Moore began a relationship with Dorothy Squires, the Welsh singer, who was 13 years his senior, causing a scandal at the time. They were married in Jersey City in July 1953. Moore eventually picked up a contract with MGM, beginning there on April Fool’s Day, 1954. Moore’s early films, where his highest billing was third, were unsuccessful, and after Diane, a 1956 film starring Lana Turner, flopped, he was fired, with five years remaining on his original seven-year contract.
   In 1956, the TV series Ivanhoe came Moore’s way, where he played the title role of Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe. As the series ended, Warner Bros. called Moore, and he returned to Hollywood movies, first with The Miracle (1959), but also found himself on TV series, first with The Alaskans and then, Maverick, where he took over from James Garner. In 1961, while filming The Rape of the Sabine Women in Italy, Moore left Squires for the actress Luisa Mattioli.
   However, it was The Saint, back in the UK, that made Moore a household name. Moore had tried to acquire the television rights for the Leslie Charteris books himself, but was unsuccessful. Producers Bob Baker and Monty Berman had managed to secure them, and offered the lead role of Simon Templar to Moore. The series ran for 118 episodes, and Moore was said to have been the first British television millionaire. Thanks to his membership of the Association of Cinema Technicians, he directed some episodes of The Saint as well. When Baker and Berman went their separate ways during production, Moore became Baker’s junior partner. Toward the end of 1968, Squires agreed to grant Moore a divorce and he and Mattioli were married.
   After The Saint, Moore starred in Crossplot, a spy caper that felt much like a longer episode of The Saint, made by many of the same crew. He also starred in The Man Who Haunted Himself, which critics usually say showed Moore’s true range as an actor. Moore himself tended to be self-deprecating about his acting abilities, which potentially limited the types of roles he was offered.
   Perhaps similar to his Simon Templar character was Lord Brett Sinclair in The Persuaders, a role that Moore played for one season in 1970–1, alongside Tony Curtis. The concept had been trialled in an episode of The Saint, called ‘The Ex-King of Diamonds’, with Stuart Damon as Templar’s sidekick. Grade had sold the series before Moore had agreed to do it, and convinced him to do it by saying, ‘The country needs the money. Think of your Queen.’
   The Persuaders, at the time the most expensive show on television (with much of the money going to the leads’ salaries) was successful in most markets but the crucial US one. It was during this time that Moore was shoulder-tapped to succeed Sean Connery as James Bond, and plans for a second season of The Persuaders, and talk of Noël Harrison taking over for Moore, came to nought.
   It is possible that an obituary for Moore would be far less significant if he had not risen to take on one of the most hallowed cinematic roles in British cinema, that of Ian Fleming’s James Bond, for Live and Let Die in 1973. Moore played the secret agent seven times for Eon Productions, and even spoofed his role in The Cannonball Run in 1981, a record number of times. Moore kept working in film outside of Bond, including Peter Hunt’s Gold in 1974, Shout at the Devil opposite Lee Marvin in 1976, The Wild Geese in 1978 with Richard Burton and Richard Harris, and as the cat-loving Rufus Excalibur ffolkes in North Sea Hijack (a.k.a. ffolkes) in 1979. Moore also played a post-plastic surgery Chief Insp Clouseau in Curse of the Pink Panther in 1983. In another dramatic role, one often overlooked, Moore played Dr Judd Stevens in Bryan Forbes’s thriller The Naked Face in 1984.
   Post-Bond, Moore made fewer films. Willy Bogner’s Feuer, Eis & Dynamit in 1990 featured Moore and his son, Geoffrey; Michael Winner’s romp Bullseye, with Michael Caine, followed the same year, and featured Moore’s daughter, Deborah. Younger audiences would know Moore from Spice World in 1999.
   Audrey Hepburn invited Moore to a UNICEF event in 1991. Hepburn had been a goodwill ambassador for the organization, and Moore eventually joined, paid the sum of $1 a year. It was for his work for UNICEF that Moore was knighted in 1999.
   Moore had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1993. After taking stock, he and Mattioli separated in 1993, and Moore set up home with Swedish-born socialite Kristina Tholstrup in Monaco soon after. Mattioli granted Moore a divorce in 2000, and he and Tholstrup married in 2002. Tholstrup had accompanied Moore on most of his UNICEF tours.
   As Sir Roger Moore, he had authored numerous books, including My Word Is My Bond, his autobiography, and his last appearance was on stage at the Royal Festival Hall in November 2016.
   A private funeral will be held in Monaco.—Jack Yan, Publisher