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Author name: Natalia Muntean

Art

“A Race Against Time”: Ryan Koopmans on The Wild Within

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“A Race Against Time”: Ryan Koopmans on The Wild Within Text by Natalia Muntean Ryan Koopmans and Alice Wexell have spent the better part of a decade turning abandoned buildings into something else entirely. Their project, The Wild Within, started in Tskaltubo, Georgia, in the ruins of former Soviet sanatoriums, and has since taken the duo through Armenia, Lebanon, Italy, Poland, Mexico and beyond. Each piece starts as a documentary photograph of a real, decaying space, then is rebuilt in the studio with digitally sculpted vegetation, light and motion, part archive, part invention. Ahead of their solo show at Leila Heller Gallery in New York this September, Koopmans talks about ruins, revival, and the blurry line between what’s real and what isn’t. NM: What do you look for in a building?RK: It doesn’t need to be old, but it needs deterioration, moss, water damage, some marking of time and human presence, even just where pipes have been ripped out. In Georgia, the Soviet-era buildings aren’t even that old, built in the ’40s, ’50s, ’60s; we’re not looking for ancient ruins. We look for buildings that are unique and strange, geometric, symmetrical, a good, balanced, straight-on composition, and ideally with openings between interior and exterior that let us emphasise that boundary. And we look for places that haven’t been overly photographed already. NM: Has a building ever surprised you, looked right on paper, then turned out not to be, once you got there?RK: All the time, every trip. Often you find images online and by the time you arrive, the building’s gone, or fully renovated, or partially torn down, or the roof’s collapsed. Sometimes one usable location is enough to justify the whole trip. Other times, you travel for one specific building, don’t end up using it, and instead stumble onto something completely different. Every country, every trip, has some huge challenges and some amazing unexpected discovery. NM: Do you usually shoot the interiors, rather than the exteriors?RK: Yes, usually inside, that’s the core of it. We have shot facades and exteriors before, but mostly we’re looking for interior spaces with doorways or windows, which we later remove to create depth between interior and exterior. We shoot the inside and often use photogrammetry to scan it; instead of a single picture, we shoot 360 degrees of a space, then combine it in software into a three-dimensional, navigable model. You can walk under a balcony because you’ve shot from so many angles. Back at our studio in Stockholm, we reconstruct those photographs into a 3D space using software like Cinema 4D. Then we build and model the overgrowth, the floor, the plants, the flowers, the light, and add motion. The final piece is a single-point-perspective video work, though it exists in two forms: video and large-format prints. More recently, we’ve added a third layer, physical mosaics of these scenes. It came full circle, in a way: in Georgia, there were mosaics on the walls of these buildings, and an old post office full of postcards people had sent from the sanatorium town. Seeing those floral postcards scattered on the ground was actually one of the early sparks for thinking about colour and flowers inside these decrepit spaces. Now we’re making hand-cut glass mosaics; some recreate the postcards directly, others are our typical architecture-and-nature pieces rendered physically. They take months to make. NM: How do you choose the plants and flowers you add?RK: It depends on the piece. Sometimes it’s purely aesthetic: colour, shape, scale, composed around the architecture. Most of the plants originate from photographs of real flowers that we bring into 3D and manipulate, and over time we re-adapt them until they become almost a fantastical, non-existent species. That points to a relationship we like exploring: what’s real and what isn’t. People often assume the architecture is the fake part and nature is real, when actually it’s the reverse: the architecture is human-made and real, and nature is the artificial layer. Other times the plants are more literal: the national flower of a country, or for a piece from an old psychiatric facility in Italy, every plant was medicinal, used for treatment in some way. But composition, scale, and colour are always a big part of the decision, alongside whichever concept we’re working with, including researching and rebuilding species that are genuinely endemic to a place, like a recent piece in Cyprus using five or six native species. NM: You started in Georgia, then moved through Armenia, Lebanon, Italy, Poland, and now this new chapter spans Italy, Poland, Lebanon, Mexico, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and India. What connects all these places?RK: After Georgia, we realised this phenomenon exists in so many places. Armenia came next, then Lebanon, then Western Europe, Italy in particular, which has an enormous history of interesting architecture and sociocultural reasons for abandonment, and southern Poland. For a while our interest shifted to the Levant and the Gulf. India is fascinating too, though we’ve only spent a bit of time around Mumbai, but there’s so much to explore that it’s actually been daunting. And we recently shot in Mexico, which has a completely different history and lineage behind its abandonment. The locations end up scattered because it really comes from personal interest, real life bringing up an interest in a place. NM: Is there a deeper thread connecting them, beyond the buildings themselves?RK: It’s abandoned buildings that are actively decaying, not being protected or preserved, almost a race against time. A lot of these countries are also going through exponential transformation and redevelopment, so there’s a high concentration of change happening as a country modernises, and that’s often what pulls our interest to a place. It’s not an infinite resource, either; it’s more like an existing stock that slowly disappears. You can’t manufacture a new abandoned building. NM: Was there a site that changed how you think about the project, or was harder to document than most?RK: Tskaltubo was the most impactful. I had never seen buildings designed quite

Opiates

aim’n Highlights Its Signature Black Tights

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aim’n Highlights Its Signature Black Tights Swedish activewear brand aim’n is putting the spotlight on three of its signature black tights, Shape Seamless, Sense and Ribbed Seamless, highlighting timeless design, considered fit and functionality designed to move seamlessly between workouts and everyday life. Black tights have long been a staple of the active wardrobe. aim’n is now bringing three of its established styles into focus, with an emphasis on pieces designed to last beyond seasonal trends. The collection features Shape Seamless, Sense and Ribbed Seamless. While each style has its own construction and material, all three are designed around a high-waisted, supportive fit and comfortable fabrics that move with the body. Shape Seamless features aim’n’s body contouring technology, designed to create a naturally shaping effect, together with a discreet invisible scrunch detail. Sense Tights are made from a soft, moisture-wicking fabric with a second-skin feel, alongside laser-cut finishes and a squat-proof construction. Ribbed Seamless is made from a soft, flexible four-way knitted ribbed fabric that follows the body’s natural movements while providing a supportive shaping effect. Across the three styles, the focus is on versatility. Designed to work both during training and throughout the rest of the day, the tights are intended to move seamlessly from the gym or a walk into everyday life. aim’n was founded in 2013 by childhood friends Tekla Acs and Helen Van, with the ambition of inspiring women around the world to lead an active lifestyle. The Swedish brand focuses on multifunctional activewear combining fashion and function and now has customers in more than 150 countries. Together, the three styles represent the core of aim’n’s tights offering, built around the idea of investing in fewer, well-considered pieces that combine fit, quality and long-term wearability.

Fashion Articles

Stockholm Consolidates Its Role as the Nordic Fashion Hub with Fashion Week Trade

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Stockholm Consolidates Its Role as the Nordic Fashion Hub with Fashion Week Trade Fashion Week Trade returns to Stockholm Fashion District from 10 to 14 August, bringing together over 700 brands, thousands of buyers, a Ukrainian fashion delegation, and a conference on AI and new business models. Hosted at Stockholm Fashion District, this year’s Fashion Week Trade takes place from August 10 until  August 14, welcoming over 700 Swedish and international brands alongside thousands of buyers, distributors and decision-makers. Spanning 21,000 square metres across Stockholm Showroom, Stockholm Shoe House and Nacka Strandsmässan’s two halls, in partnership with Alecta Fastigheter, the event positions Stockholm as the primary trade gateway to the Nordic market. Among the brands showing are Björn Borg, GANT, Jennifer Blom, and Rock and Blue, meeting buyers from independent retailers, department stores, and e-commerce platforms. Timberland and Ilse Jacobsen are also opening permanent showrooms in the district during the week. Sweden’s fashion industry generates approximately 178 billion kronor annually, employs 41,000 people, and exports fashion worth 41 billion kronor, according to the 2025 Swedish Fashion report.  “Sweden is a fashion nation with real weight. We export fashion to the whole world, and at the same time, more and more international players are choosing Stockholm as their entry point to the Nordic market,” says Helena Waker, CEO, Trade Partners Sweden and Stockholm Fashion District. For the first time, a selection of Ukrainian fashion companies will participate in Fashion Week Trade, with the aim of building new business connections and raising the profile of Ukraine’s fashion industry internationally. The initiative frames trade as a tool for resilience and reconstruction alongside commercial opportunity. Sweden’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Aid, Benjamin Dousa, will visit the event during the week as part of the government’s work with cultural and creative industries. Running parallel to the trade fair is the Transformation Conference, organised by Scandinavian Mind, bringing together more than 150 decision-makers from the fashion and technology sectors to discuss AI, digitalisation, circular solutions, and new business models. “For the fashion industry, the task is to translate AI, digitalisation, and circular solutions into concrete business outcomes,” says Waker. “The Swedish fashion industry can and wants to transition, but it requires fair conditions, coordinated policy, and free trade on equal terms.”

Opiates

Refreshing Powder – a new addition by Maria Nila

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Refreshing Powder – a new addition by Maria Nila The Swedish vegan haircare brand Maria Nila has launched the Refreshing Powder – a product designed for those whose lives are on the move. This weightless, non-aerosol dry shampoo provides an instant feeling of freshness between washes. The Refreshing Powder is formulated with ingredients that deliver visible results while being gentle on the skin. Rice Starch swiftly absorbs excess oil for a clean, refreshed sensation; Tapioca adds lightweight volume while keeping hair fresh and airy; Tiger Grass (Centella) helps calm and rebalance the scalp; and Aloe Vera hydrates and soothes for lasting comfort. What also sets it apart is the compact 15 g handbag-friendly container and its innovative puff applicator, which helps absorb excess oil at the roots and enables precise application, without leaving visible residues or coating the hair with aerosol particles. The powder has a floral, fruity scent with soft notes of peony, gardenia, plum and pink pepper, shared with the brand’s beloved Floral Drift Hair Mist. Refreshing Powder is dermatologically tested, vegan, and free from sulphates, parabens, silicones, talc and alcohol.

Opiates

Byredo Extends Its Offering With a Car Diffuser

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Byredo Extends Its offering With a Car Diffuser This summer, BYREDO introduces a new product in their offering – the Car Diffuser, bringing aromas from the Home collection into the car environment. Crafted from black, cream, or brown leather, with replaceable fragrance refills, it easily clips onto the vehicle’s air vent and spreads fragrance via a cold diffusion system that activates with airflow. The Car Diffuser is available in three iconic scents: Bibliothèque, Summer Rain and Coin Laundry. After being opened, each refill can last for as long as three months and can be replaced whenever necessary. SUMMER RAIN: Experience a refreshing summer downpour with notes of basil and spearmint leading the way, complemented by green fig and ginger, and grounded by sandalwood and tonka as the rain fades. BIBLIOTHÈQUE: Escape into the velvety essence of paper, marked by notes of plum and cinnamon, with a heart of leather accord and violet, finished with birch woods, patchouli, and vanilla for comfort. COIN LAUNDRY: Relive a Sunday at the laundromat with crisp scents of aldehyde, pink pepper, and white rose, layered over a heart of neroli and peony, resting on blonde woods, musks, and sandalwood. The launch campaign of the Car Diffuser was photographed and directed by Jim Mangan, and it is inspired by his long-standing interest in the landscapes and communities of the American West. Mangan takes an ecological and sociological approach to explore how people interact with place over time. His work combines documentary detail with cinematic atmosphere, depicting desert landscapes, motion studies, and portraits of historically shaped communities. In the campaign, the Car Diffuser becomes integral to the journey, using heat, dust, resin, and distance to create images that explore movement and scent. The Byredo Car Diffuser will be available in Byredo stores worldwide and online at Byredo.com from July 16th, 2026

Opiates

Satisfyer Designs Sexual Wellness for Every Body

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Satisfyer Designs Sexual Wellness for Every Body Since 2016, Satisfyer has built its product range around anatomical diversity, varied forms of intimacy and the principle that pleasure should be accessible to everyone, regardless of gender identity, body, age, or preference. With a range of over 300 products intended to work across different anatomies, relationship structures, and levels of experience, the sexual wellness brand has sold more than 100 million products globally. Nowadays, it’s distributed in over 100 countries, becoming one of the world’s bestselling brands in its category. This summer, Satisfyer is articulating what has guided its product development from the start: that inclusive design in sexual health is not a niche consideration, but a fundamental one. “Inclusive sexual health means taking people seriously in all their diversity, regardless of how they experience their body or who they love. It is about knowledge, safety, and the freedom to explore one’s own pleasure without shame,” says Melanie Eichhorn, Sexual Education and Diversity Lead at Satisfyer.  That philosophy shapes every product decision, according to Senior Industrial Designer Valeria Lambrecht, who points to the particular responsibility that comes with designing objects for intimate use. “Our products accompany people in a very personal area of life, so they must not only be functional, but also create trust and evoke feeling,” she says. The product range reflects a concrete desire to develop products for different anatomies, preferences, and forms of intimacy. The Pro 2 Generation 3, a pressure wave and vibration device, is designed with an opening that accommodates different anatomical variations, including various forms of clitoral and penile anatomy. The Elastic Game Multivibrator uses a flexible band that adapts to different bodies and can be worn in multiple configurations, regardless of anatomy or gender identity, with over 14 possible uses. The Plug & Play 1 takes a similar approach: a long, elastic band that can be adjusted to stimulate a wide range of areas and used alone, with one or several partners. Accessibility in a broader sense also informs the range. The Easy Lover’s elongated handle and extended opening make it easier to use for pregnant people, those with limited mobility, and those with larger bodies. The G-Spot Flex 5, slim and highly flexible, is described as a gentle option for those with vaginismus or heightened sensitivity, and for those post-gender-affirming surgery once healing is complete, in consultation with medical professionals. The Rotator Plug 2+ Connect App can be controlled remotely by a partner through an app, which the brand notes is particularly useful for people with limited mobility. The commitment to inclusive design is not a Pride campaign, but the underlying logic of how the range has been built since its founding.

Beauty Articles

Lenoites’ Laila Högfeldt on Clean Beauty, Confidence and What’s Next for the Brand

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Lenoites’ Laila Högfeldt on Clean Beauty, Confidence and What’s Next for the Brand Laila Högfeldt has a simple test for whether a beauty product is any good. “You use it,” she says. Not saved for a special occasion, but reached for every morning. Since founding Lenoites in Borås in 2021, that conviction has taken the brand from direct-to-consumer sales to shelf space with some of Scandinavia’s biggest retailers, with formulas that can take years and over ten rounds of samples to get right.  Natalia Muntean: You started as an influencer before founding Lenoites in 2021. What gap in the market did you feel wasn’t being addressed?Laila Högfeldt: I noticed I’d split my products into two piles. The beautiful, high-performing ones were expensive, so I saved them for special occasions — they’d sit on my shelf barely touched. Then there was everything I actually reached for every day, which was cheaper, uninspiring to use, and didn’t really deliver. It struck me how backwards that was. Why should the products you use most be the ones that bring you the least joy? Lenoites exist to close that gap, something that performs, feels special, and still earns its place in your everyday routine. NM: What does “age-independent” beauty mean in practice when you’re developing a product?LH: It means we formulate for the concern, not the age on the label. Take a powder designed not to settle into fine lines, blurring the skin and enhancing your features: mature skin benefits from that most, but a 25-year-old isn’t worse off — if anything their makeup looks better for it, because the product lays down more evenly and smoothly than most. The need is what guides us, not a birth year. So much of beauty is marketed as “anti-age” or “for young skin,” and that framing quietly tells people what they’re allowed to buy. We’d rather just make something that works, and let you decide if it’s for you. NM: The Silky Blurring Powder Bronzer uses a baking process rather than pressed powder. Why was that technique important enough to build a product around?LH: Because you can feel the difference the second it touches your skin. Baking gives you a powder that behaves like a cream — it’s lighter, silkier, and melts into the skin instead of sitting on top of it. You get that soft-focus, blurred finish and a natural warmth, never the flat, powdery look pressed formulas can leave. It also means it flatters skin rather than settling into texture or lines. It’s a slower, more expensive way to make a bronzer, but the payoff is right there on your face. We think the result earns it. NM: The setting spray came out of “close dialogue” with your community. What does that dialogue actually look like in practice?LH: Honestly, our community is in the room far earlier than people assume. The setting spray started because so many customers asked us to make one — so instead of just doing it, we asked them what they were missing. Two things came back again and again. Either a spray held their makeup all day but left their skin dry, broke them out, and felt awful by evening. Or they’d chosen a “kinder” formula that was gentle on the skin but didn’t actually keep the makeup in place. They were being forced to pick. On top of that, alcohol-free and fragrance-free really mattered to them. So we built one that does both — it holds all day and is genuinely good for your skin, with no alcohol and no fragrance. That’s the gap we closed. When the same request keeps appearing, that’s not noise — that’s a brief. NM: Both products lean on “clean” formulas. How do you decide where to compromise, if you do, between clean formulation and performance?LH: Performance is non-negotiable — full stop. Clean is the goal, but a clean product that doesn’t perform isn’t clean, it’s just useless. So we start with what actually works, then push to make it as thoughtfully formulated as possible. And I mean push — a single product can take years to develop, with samples going back and forth more than ten times. We don’t settle until it’s exactly right. When a cleaner option performs just as well, it wins every time — but it has to earn its place first. NM: Do you see physical retail as the next phase of growth or will Lenoites primarily remain direct-to-consumer?LH: We’re already both, and that’s deliberate. You’ll find us in Kicks, Åhléns, Lyko and Matas, to name just a few, alongside our own direct channel. Selling direct lets us stay genuinely close to our customers — it’s where we learn the most. Retail gives them something online never can: the chance to touch it, feel the texture, test the shade, or simply pick it up on the spot. You need the intimacy of one and the tangibility of the other to build something that lasts — so it was never really an either/or for us. NM: FSC-certified, recyclable packaging is a stated commitment. Where has that been hardest to deliver without pushing up cost or changing the product experience?LH: When I started, I wanted packaging with no plastic at all — that was the dream. But retail taught me it’s not that simple. Some stores need a window in the packaging so the customer can see the product, otherwise you lose your place on the shelf. So we’ve had to meet both our customers and our retailers halfway on certain products. The hard part is refusing to let those compromises pile up. It would be easy to end up with packaging that’s either sustainable but feels cheap, or premium but wasteful, and we won’t accept either. It often means longer development and higher cost on our side. But I’d rather fight for every detail than pretend the trade-offs don’t exist. NM: Lenoites’ messaging ties beauty closely to self-confidence and well-being rather than just appearance. Is that solely a

Fashion Articles

Agda Studios – the Scandi brand rethinking swimwear

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Agda Studios – the Scandi brand rethinking swimwear Text by Natalia Muntean “I just want to make the best garments, because that’s what I’m best at: something that makes you feel good and sits well, with my own aesthetic,” says Caroline Beckman, founder of Agda Studios. Launched in 2023, the Swedish brand offers swimwear designed to move beyond the beach, occupying the space between swimwear and evening wear – versatile, timeless pieces made to last. Produced in small batches in a factory in Portugal, the collection spans bandeau, wrap, cheeky Brazilian, and ’90s high-leg styles, crafted from premium recycled fabrics such as ECONYL® (made from ocean waste like fishing nets) and SEAQUAL®. Beckman’s philosophy is that good garments require time and attention to detail. “I don’t push things out before they’re at 100%,” she says. Natalia Muntean: Was there a moment when you felt like the industry was missing something, and that Agda Studios would fill that gap?Caroline Beckman: I worked as a designer for many years, as a lingerie designer and a swimwear designer, and swimwear was by far the most fun and inspiring category for me. They’re small garments, but there’s a lot of expression in them. Then, when I became a mother, I started to shift how I thought about my time and energy, what I wanted to do with my life. That was definitely what made me take the step to start my own business, to create something of my own after gaining all that knowledge from years of working for other brands. NM: What is the difference between designing swimwear and other types of garments?CB: There’s a lot of expression in this small garment: colour, quality, detail, it all has to fit in. It’s also such a special garment because you’re basically naked, with this tiny piece of fabric, and you’re supposed to feel natural. You go from being fully dressed to almost naked, so it’s so important how the garment makes you feel. There are so many different styles for women to choose from, but for me it was important to design something that made women feel they could be themselves. I also think something is missing in the market: swimwear can be more than a small, colourful bikini that just speaks “resort.” It can be elegant, almost ready-to-wear. It can blend into daytime, even if that’s a bit of a design challenge.  NM: Tell me about the name – does it mean anything to you or is there a message behind it?CB: It’s very personal – it was a nickname of mine from when I was a swimwear designer, and that’s also when the idea was born that if I ever started my own brand, it would be swimwear. I didn’t want to put my own name on the brand, and I didn’t want something typically “resort” or strongly tied to swimwear, because I want to keep the brand open. I can see it growing into a little universe, maybe ready-to-wear eventually, or staying with summer pieces. I just wanted to keep it open, like a creative space.  NM: You have quite a variety of designs and silhouettes – is it different women you’re designing for, or one woman across different moments?CB: Definitely a mix of both, different women, and different moments, but all within the same aesthetic universe. Silhouette is the number one thing I work with, and I think it’s the most important thing in swimwear, because it’s what sits next to your body. It can look beautiful on a hanger, but if it doesn’t feel right on the body, you’re not going to wear it, no matter how good it looks in a photo. So I think it’s important to offer different silhouettes, because we’re all so different. NM: When you imagine that one woman, who is she?CB: I would say a strong, independent woman who follows her own path. Not necessarily super trend-driven, but she loves style and wants to feel good in what she’s wearing. She likes quality and understated luxury. NM: Where’s the line between swimwear and pieces you could wear to lunch or dinner?CB: The only thing that really separates swimwear from ready-to-wear is that it has to be technical – it has to function in water and sit properly on the body. Otherwise, I think a swimsuit can work just as well as a bodysuit, or a bikini top can work as a top under a shirt. I lean in that direction, but I never want anything to feel generic. I like pieces that feel special, that are versatile. A garment you can wear for more than one occasion is a bonus.  NM: Scandinavian minimalism is such a recognisable design language. How do you maintain that identity in a world of fast fashion and micro-trends, while still running a business that needs to turn a profit?CB: I think it comes down to the fact that I’m Swedish, and I have a certain way of designing. It’s about making sure there’s quality, proportion, and fit in place, that’s where the design lives, and it doesn’t change depending on colours or fabrics. It’s not about trend for me, it’s a focus on function, on silhouette, on a clean aesthetic, but also a lot of warm, Mediterranean feeling. Almost like Swedish meets a Mediterranean soul. So it’s more aesthetic than trend-driven. NM: How do you find the balance between wanting to turn a profit without falling into the trend cycle?CB: It comes down to believing in a slow way of creating – developing garments properly takes a long time. When I started, my vision was: begin with a few silhouettes, and if they’re received well, build them out: more colours, more qualities, rather than moving on just because a new season has arrived. Of course, I want to expand the collection over time, but every piece should be considered and have a place that’s worth it. NM: What is Agda Studios’ most successful piece?CB: I would say

Culinary

Culinary Icons at Puente Romano: A Feast for the Senses

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Culinary Icons at Puente Romano: A Feast for the Senses Text by Natalia Muntean Puente Romano is not easy to summarise. Named after a first-century Roman bridge at its centre, the resort began as an apartment complex before opening as a hotel in 1979, and has since grown into something closer to a self-contained village. Comprised of whitewashed houses named after local Andalusian towns, subtropical botanical gardens, a long gold beach, its five pools, spread across the resort’s grounds, each offer a distinct atmosphere, true to its moniker of Mediterranean Playground, and enough ground that guests require a map to navigate it, Puente Romano is a kaleidoscope for the senses.  What sets the resort apart gastronomically is not the number of restaurants, more than twenty, but the relationships built that help them thrive. Nobu Marbella, GAIA, Leña, and the recently opened La Petite Maison are not simply tenants. They are the result of two decades of deliberate curation by Daniel Shamoon, who took over the resort from his father in 1995 and has since built something closer to a culinary ecosystem than a dining programme. Culinary Icons is where that ecosystem becomes visible. “It started as an idea to celebrate the chefs whose restaurants have made this resort what it is today,” Shamoon said. “It keeps getting better.” On June 2nd 2016, Puente Romano hosted the second edition of Culinary Icons, gathering five of the world’s best chefs. Two hundred and thirty-five guests had gathered in La Plaza, the resort’s open-air square that can function as something between a piazza and a stage set. SIPS Barcelona, named the World’s Best Bar in 2023 and Best Bar in Europe three years running, is now in summer residence at Bar La Plaza and welcomed guests with a Paloma Santoni Spritz created exclusively for the occasion. In its second year, the event’s format has sharpened considerably. Where the first edition brought together three chefs, this one expanded to five. Nobu Matsuhisa opened the afternoon, followed by Izu Ani with a dramatic Salt Crusted King Crab; Dani García brought his Nitro Tomato with green gazpacho and Motril shrimps, a dish first created at Puente Romano over twenty years ago that has since followed him to kitchens across the world; and Yiannis Kioroglou presented Rigatoni aux Truffes and Caviar Pissaladière, rooted in the French Riviera culinary tradition. Albert Adrià closed the afternoon with dessert. All the proceeds raised from the ticket sales were given to the Spanish Red Cross, the event’s charity partner, in support of their humanitarian work.  Chef Nobu Matsuhisa presented two dishes on stage: Tuna Tataki Tosazu and Seabass Kombujime Oshi Sushi, the latter a pressed rectangle of rice and fish so precisely calibrated it looked closer to architecture than lunch. When asked what he hopes guests notice when they watch him cook live, he said that foremost, he is enjoying himself. “I like to introduce my Nobu style, my sushi, with more passion,” he continued. For a chef with sixty restaurants across the world, the pleasure still appears to be genuine. That pleasure has its roots in a creative rupture that occurred more than forty years ago, when a young Japanese chef arrived in Peru and found an entirely different logic of cooking. “In Japan, fish is sashimi: fresh fish, wasabi and soy sauce. But in Peru, the same fish is cooked in a completely different way, with lemon juice, garlic, chilli, cilantro, onions. Ceviche is what changed my mind. It gave me more freedom to use fish in a different way.” The word he returned to was freedom – the permission, discovered in another culture’s kitchen, to treat Japanese cuisine not as a fixed set of rules but as a foundation. That foundation now supports sixty restaurants worldwide. When asked how he maintains consistency or intimacy across that scale, his answer reframed the question entirely. “The history is the team. A lot of people have been working since the beginning. They know everything. That’s why I’m a very lucky person.”  “My food is very simple,” he continued, “and maybe one misunderstanding people still have is that they think about sashimi in a traditional way. My way: no wasabi, instead jalapeño and different spices. Maybe some people say: This is not sashimi.” And that is the whole point of the Nobu cuisine – to disrupt and bring together different worlds.  If you were wondering what a chef of his calibre reaches for in need of comfort, the answer is simple. “Anything my wife cooks. She’s like my private chef at home.” Albert Adrià closed the afternoon with dessert, presenting two dishes: the Cork Stopper, disguised as a wine cork, and a Chocolate and Yuzu Waffle that balanced richness with the brightness of Japanese citrus. Adrià is sixty-one years old, forty of those years spent in professional kitchens. “Sometimes I believe I don’t know. You always need to learn more and more because I always think about the customers, not about me. People pay a lot of money to eat. So when the plate is empty, and the faces of people are happy, I don’t need to know more. The plate doesn’t lie.” His thoughts on dessert’s place in fine dining were direct. “The dessert is the end of the party,” he says. “It’s the last thing you remember when you go back home.” He has been making that finish for four decades, and his impatience with how little the category has evolved was evident. “I don’t see too many changes in dessert compared to twenty years ago. Of course, we talk about the reduction of fat, of sugar, better balance, but people still like sugar.” On legacy, Adrià said that it is the young chefs who worked with him. “The most famous chefs around the world worked at El Bulli. This is our school.” And the feeling he wants to leave with guests? “ La cocina es felicidad. Cooking is happiness,” he says.  Culinary Icons will return with a Third

Travel

Ruby Frida Opens in Stockholm – Ruby Group’s Scandinavian Debut

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Ruby Frida Opens in Stockholm – Ruby Group’s Scandinavian Debut Ruby Group, the Munich-founded hotel brand known for its Lean Luxury concept, opened its first Scandinavian property on 15 June. Ruby Frida is the brand’s first hotel in Sweden and a significant moment in its international expansion.  The choice of the Kungsholmen area in Stockholm is rooted in the neighbourhood’s own musical history. In the decades that shaped Sweden’s outsized influence on global pop, this part of Stockholm was home to influential recording studios and creative spaces. Just steps from the hotel stood the legendary Cheiron Studios, which became one of the world’s most influential pop music operations and a home to some of the era’s most significant producers and songwriters. That legacy is the conceptual heart of Ruby Frida. The design draws on Scandinavian modernism and the unconventional creative energy of the 1960s – warm timber, geometric forms, vinyl culture references, tactile materials, layered lighting, and intimate lounge areas that feel simultaneously nostalgic and contemporary. The building itself is a converted 1960s property, now transformed into a mixed-use destination where the hotel shares the block with offices, restaurants, and retail. “Ruby Frida has a strong connection to Stockholm’s creative soul, with a design and atmosphere shaped by the city’s music heritage. It’s created to feel genuinely Stockholm — open, social and full of character, where guests and locals can meet in a destination with its own clear personality,” says Michael Struck, CEO and Founder of Ruby Group. Music runs through the entire stay, from curated sound experiences and live performances in the evenings to Marshall amplifiers and Bluetooth speakers in every room, connecting guests to the city’s creative life beyond the hotel walls. The 187 rooms are divided across three categories: Cosy, Lovely and Wow, with select rooms offering private balconies overlooking Stockholm. The bar and lounge operate around the clock, with an Italian-inspired snacks menu and international breakfast. Self check-in and a fully digital guest journey keep the experience frictionless. “On Ruby, every hotel begins with the city it operates in. With Ruby Frida, Stockholm’s creative rhythm has been allowed to take form in the design — every detail draws inspiration from the city’s music heritage and cultural energy,” says Lauren Krostue, VP Global Brand Management of Ruby.   The hotel is well positioned for both leisure and business travel: ten minutes to Stockholm Central by public transport, around 40 minutes to Arlanda Airport, and walking distance to Gamla Stan, the waterfront, and the city’s growing creative scene. Rooms start from 1,100 SEK per night, excluding breakfast. IHG One Rewards members can book directly via the IHG app. Ruby Frida is the brand’s first step into Scandinavia, but not its last, with ambitions to grow to more than 120 hotels globally within the next decade and over 250 within 20 years. Founded in 2013 by Michael Struck, Ruby now operates over 20 hotels across Europe’s major cities, including London, Vienna, Amsterdam, Zurich, Rome, and Hamburg. Since early 2025, the brand has been part of IHG Hotels & Resorts, giving it access to IHG’s global distribution network and the IHG One Rewards loyalty programme.

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