Today, luxury refers to everything from designer burgers (blame Daniel
Boulud, who kick-started the pricey ultra-gourmet burger phenom in New
York in 2001 with his $27 combo of foie gras, black truffles and
red-wine braised short ribs served with a side order of attitude) to
Bentleys.
Luxury means not taking public transit. Conspicuous consumers have the
driver and the Bentley; a limo is too P. Diddy.
Big spenders live large in residences like one of the new condo/hotels
springing up in the city faster than celebs in rehab. Entry level in the
Ritz-Carleton Residences is $1.595 million escalating to over $11
million; Shangri-La is $550,000 to over $13 million; Trump International
Hotel & Tower is $885,000 to over $14 million; and at $30 million,
the West Penthouse at the Four Seasons Hotel Private Residences is the
most expensive condo in Canada.
Even if it’s pie in the sky, odds are they won’t be baking it themselves
from scratch. Some condos are deliberately designed with minimal
working kitchens: “Hello, room service.” All the condo hotels have
restaurants attached and there is always upscale take-out from
Pusateri’s Fine Foods or The Shops at Summerhill, formerly known as The
Five Thieves because of their outrageous prices.
DECOR
The opulent nest still has to be feathered and that’s where high-end
decor stores come in. Preferred destinations include Studio B, Klaus by
Nienkamper, italinteriors, Teatro Verde, Ministry of the Interior, Art
Shoppe, South Hill Home, Hollace Cluny, Living Arts Design, ELTE, Avenue
Road, Powell & Bonnell, Industrial Storm, Ridpath’s Ltd., Stanley
Wagman & Son Antiques Ltd., and Robert Noakes International Ltd.
How welcoming to have home base smell like money. Noor at 176 Cumberland
St. carries Terra Cotta amber balls, gourd-like globes perforated and
stuffed with amber resin. They are available in five sizes; range from
$90 to $550; make for popular hostess gifts and are exclusive to Noor.
FASHION
A girl can never have too many shoes, cashmere, chocolate, champagne or
black. They are all easily assessable at the Mink Mile, the rarefied
strip of surreal estate bordering Bloor and Yorkville and home to
big-ticket names from Prada to Escada.
Consumers are targeted from infancy. Trust-fund babies would love the
ride ’em farm boy life-sized sheep ($495) at Auggie Boutique next door
to big sister Augustina at 138 Cumberland St. in Old York Lane. Their
$45 leg warmers for little tykes aged 1 to 6 are bargains compared to
the $795 Alexander McQueen leggings for the grown-up girls around the
corner at 119 Corbo, 119 Yorkville Ave.
Yorkville is a centipede’s delight. High-end footwear is everywhere,
including Holt Renfrew (50 Bloor St. W.), Davids (66 Bloor St. W.) and
George C at 21 Hazelton Ave.
George C’s most expensive number is a pair of Rocco P. snakeskin booties
at $1,595 and his best seller is Le Silla’s 5 ½ inch spiked-heeled
platform bootie with stretch leather which flew off the shelves at
$1,295.
Well-heeled men are wild about Harry and Sydney.
Hipsters blow their trust funds at Sydney’s at 795 Queen St. W. on Rick
Owens’ drop-crotch cotton shorts for $895, his $3,995 kangaroo leather
jacket or a pair of five-pocket linen trousers with hem cut on the bias
from edgy line M.A.+ from Rome for $1,695.
Although women do shop at Sydney’s for Rick Owens tees ($290), they are
heading over to R.A.D. (which stands for Research and Development) in
the new über cool section of town at 899 Dundas St. W., carries the
women’s version of Owens’ legendary black waxy Detroit-cut jeans that
sell for $450.
Harry Rosen at 82 Bloor St. W. is the go-to for deep-pocketed gents who
have no problem dropping $2,495 for a spring/summer Dolce & Gabbana
lightweight suit, $350 for a shirt and $215 for a tie.
Rosen’s is appealing to the younger demographic with rugby shirts priced
from $98 to $200 that are ringers for the ones at the GAP.
For Madam, The Room at The Bay’s Queen Street location (176 Yonge St.)
is one-stop label-shopping.
All the high-end, hot lines are there including Halston, Armani, Rochas,
Erdum, Moschino, Sonia Rykiel, Ungaro, Roland Mouret, Proenza Schouler,
Matthew Williamson, L’Wren Scott, Alberta Ferretti and Jasmine De Milo,
daughter of Mohamed El Fayed, whose $3,500 black beaded cocktail dress
is a big seller, though not quite as huge as Wayne Clark’s army-green
ruffled silk gown that has sold out at $2,495.
Clark has only enough fabric for three more gowns, and then it is
finito!
The ruching at the waist makes Clark’s creation forgiving for most body
types and ruching is also prominent in Tomas Maier’s bathing suit,
reminiscent of Norma Kamali’s glam-girl suits in the ’80s. It can be
snapped up for a mere $740.
Egads, don’t get it wet.
The $1,175 Balmain military booties in khaki canvas are to drool over as
is the must-have line’s military motorcycle jacket priced at $5,925.
And it sells, even at the price of a trip to Italy. “There is always a
customer for it,” we are told.
A Balmain “not your squeegee kid” cargo camouflage pants for $1,950
might be a harder sell.
Mama’s always gotta have a brand new bag. The Hermès Birkin, wait-listed
at Hermès 130 Bloor St. W., is “the holy grail of handbags” and can go
to $15,000.
BEAUTY
But does Mama want to buy a bag or look like one? Never mind putting on a
happy face. Women want to put on a tight one.
Will women spend $1,000 on a face cream? They’ll spend $1,200 on one,
according to Tracie Chiarella, skin-care buyer at Holt Renfrew, whose
luxury brands are La Prairie, Sisley, Creme de la Mer, Cle de Peau,
Amore Pacific, Revive and Darphin.
Top of the line is La Prairie Cellular Platinum Rare priced at $1,200
for 2 ounces; White Caviar Illuminating Cream at $570 for two ounces;
and Cellular Radiance Cream for $725 for two ounces. The Platinum Rare
provides hydration and adjusts to temperatures, which makes it ideal for
hot flashes.
Are women buying into it? You betcha. In 2009, Holt’s sold 296 pieces
of Platinum Rare at $1,200 a pop. The jar lasts four to six months.
Sisley Supremya is $850 for two ounces and is a night cream. They sold
94 units from August to January when it was first launched so it is
considered performing well. The jar lasts two to three months.
Crème de la Mer, formulated originally to heal scarring, is $300 for two
ounces and Holt’s top performer in the luxury line. In fact, Chiarella
says that in 2009 despite a shaky economy, La Mer, Sisley and La Prairie
beat their sales figures from the previous year.
These skin care
lines are topical. And now for the knife styles of the rich and famous,
where plastic surgeons do the nip and tucking. An alternative for the
knife phobic are the non-surgicals performed by dermatologists like Dr.
Lisa Kellett of DLK on Avenue at 108 Avenue Rd., who “refresh” skin
without slicing and dicing.
DLK is a skin-care facility dealing with everything from birthmarks to
stretch marks. Be gone unsightly wrinkles,
acne,
cellulite, sagging
skin and tattoos.
The most popular procedure says Kellett, is Botox:
“Fast, simple and easy with no down time.” Botox for crow’s feet is
$300 and lasts three to four months.
A summer tune-up of cellulite treatments is $800 for a series of eight —
just the thing for that new $740 swim suit. Injectible
filler in crow’s feet and cheeks is $5,000, still less than a
Birkin or a pair of Christian Louboutin boots, and lasts six to eight
months.
For overall pampering, the money baggers luxuriate in spas like Vikaspa
at 88 Avenue Rd.; Stillwater Spa at the Park Hyatt, 4 Avenue Rd.;
Clarins Skin Spa at 87 Yorkville Ave.; and Guerlain Spa & Institute,
110 Bloor St. W.
WINE
Skin plumped up and glowing, it’s time to rehydrate with a glass of wine
at Opus, 37 Prince Arthur Ave., where owners Mario and Tony Amaro
preside over a wine cellar of more than 50,000 bottles. Their priciest
bottle of wine is a 1961 Petrus magnum for $45,000.
The most expensive wine recently sold was a 1989 burgundy Romanee Conti.
On a routine night, Opus sells $300, $900 and $1,000 bottles of wine
without any fanfare. After the nightcap, Madame can settle in at home
in her jammies from Avec Plaisir Lingerie & Swimwear at 136
Cumberland St. and shop online at Net-a-Porter.
The Balmain military wool jacket is going for $9,235 – but it comes with
hardware including brooches and badges, beaded fringe epaulets and an
embellished hanging cross. All free with purchase. Who can resist such a
bargain.
From Toronto Star Luxury Guide - May 5, 2010 - Written by Rita Zekas
