Issue link: https://www.balharbourdigital.com/i/1507768
Belmond, once k now n a s Orient Express, r uns 50 of the world's most glamorous proper ties. There are hotels, like George Clooney 's favor ite in Venice, t he Cipr ia ni– severa l cock t a i ls on it s menu a re his recipes –to A ng uilla's Cap Juluca; Belmond a lso operates a fleet of t rains, from the A ndean Explorer in Per u to the Venice Simplon i n Eu rope. Thou gh it 's su f f u sed w it h gla mou r, by t he 2010s , t he decades-old company was str uggling to stay relevant . Much needed were the deep pockets, and finesse, of LV MH, which spent $3. 2 billion to absorb the firm in 2019. It resolved to return Belmond to the top tier of luxur y travel. Five years later, the results of LVMH's stewardship are finally emerg- ing: Maroma was stripped to the studs and reimagined by London- based interior designer Tara Bernerd, while Splendido, in nor thern Ita ly, is undergoing an overhaul from glamour specia list Mar t in Brudnizki. As for the trains, Orient Express has introduced private, en-suite carriages replete with 24-hour burler service, lounge areas, and in-room dining. Most intriguing, though, is the new positioning for the properties, which treats them as more like a luxury brand or even a magazine than a pricey place to crash. "We want to be curators, capturing our legendary properties on an artistic journey," says the brand's marketing czar Arnaud Champenois of the Belmond Legends program, which invites one photographer (sometimes more) to capture the unique essence of each property. The program is meant to create an archive of dreamy, aspirational imagery. "We want to be a compass for modern culture." Talents tapped for the series include the quirky, Spanish-born Coco Capitán, best known for her work with A lessandro Michele – era Gucci, who chronicled the Venice-Simplon train—"it was super intense and very poetic," recalls Champenois of the night he accompanied Capitán onboard—to the French shut terbug Thomas Rousset, who brings a whimsical Alice in Wonderland perspective at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in the English countryside of Oxfordshire. Champenois says that this photographic series is just the start of the brand's intention to ent wine high fashion with contemporar y ar t . Patricia Conde is programming an artist-in-residence series, starting with La Residencia in Mallorca this past summer, where three di¤erent talents lived and worked for two months, generating pieces both to sell and to be displayed on the property after their departure. Conde also co-created the Mitico program in partnership with Galleria Continua, which brings art installations to Belmond properties around the world, including Nari Ward's Stallers, a group of oversize sculptures installed at Tuscany's Castello di Casole through November. As for the Legends series, the 300-plus images produced by the commissioned artists will eventually be brought together in a group show, likely in New York, and will be accompanied by a comprehensive catalog ue. It 's the perfect bookend for Belmond's new chapter. Nari Ward's Stallers, 2013, at Castello di Casole in Tuscany. 146 BAL HARBOUR