Tod’s looks to the Kennedys – and their enduring mythology of effortless style – for its Marlin project.
Every few years, the culture machine dusts them off and presents them back to us as shorthand for a particular kind of aspirational living. Earlier this year, Ryan Murphy’s Love Story revived the romance – and mythology – of John F Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and now, another unlikely player has entered the conversation: Tod’s.
It’s Marlin project – a summer collection for both men and women – draws inspiration from the boat once owned by John F Kennedy (and later acquired by the Italian brand’s owner Diego Della Valle in 1998). It was designed by naval architect Walter McInnis, and was a mode of transport that became integral to JFK’s life (he apparently took presidential meetings with his cabinet from it while sailing with his wife, First Lady Jackie). Tod’s collection arrives just as fashion has rediscovered its appetite for the elegance the Kennedy family came to represent.
That understated sensibility runs through the entire collection, which leans into a very particular vision of leisure that combines New England with Italy. It’s very much a Hyannis Port over Monaco, sailing clubs over superyachts kind of energy. Its palette – creams and maritime greens lifted directly from the original vessel – are colors designed to age gracefully rather than chase trend cycles.
And unlike many brands currently strip-mining heritage for content, the Tod’s ready-to-wear line shows admirable restraint. There are, pleasingly, no obvious archival gimmicks in sight. The standout Marlin Bomber, for example, comes in technical cotton trimmed with nappa leather, with a sailor’s knot subtly attached to the zipper. The updated Marlin loafer – an evolution of the house’s signature Gommino – carries enough nautical coding to evoke a boat deck without veering into costume.
Nautical dressing is one of fashion’s few permanent genres, but what makes the collection feel especially timely is the industry’s broader return to understatement. The renewed obsession with Bessette-Kennedy – whose effortless wardrobe still circulates online today – speaks to a growing appetite for clothes that communicate taste rather than trend.
The irony, of course, is that ‘effortless’ style is usually the result of immense effort, good tailoring, and considerable money. But the Kennedy myth has always relied on hiding the machinery. And few collections currently package that illusion better than Marlin.
While carving canyons in Southern California, the new DB12 S displayed better responsiveness and composure at the same time. While carving canyons in Southern California, the new DB12 S displayed better responsiveness and composure at the same time.
The Ferrari racer added a bespoke bar to the flybridge and several other custom touches. The Ferrari racer added a bespoke bar to the flybridge and several other custom touches.
It’s Paloma month in London (allegedly), and our little black book of drinks experts reveal their favorite places to sample one.
May is, apparently, London’s Paloma Month, culminating in World Paloma Day on 22 May. A quick look behind the curtain, however, suggests no real historical or cultural link between the pink tequila-and-grapefruit cocktail and the month itself—making the ‘celebration’ feel more like a well-timed marketing invention than an established tradition.
Which is curious, given that tequila and its associated cocktails hardly need any help. According to consumer data recently reported by The Guardian, the agave-based spirit has now overtaken gin as the UK’s bestselling spirit, and is set to be the pour of the summer.
The Paloma cocktail (Spanish for ‘dove’) is typically made with tequila, lime juice, and grapefruit soda, served over ice with a lime wedge and, sometimes, a salt rim. Some bars swap the soda for fresh grapefruit juice, topping the drink with club soda instead.
For at-home mixing, there are plenty of good grapefruit sodas on the market. For a more traditional Mexican-style serve, Jarritos Toronja – now widely available in London – remains something of a benchmark, with its sugar cane sweetness pairing particularly well with tequila blanco.
At Los Mochis, the Mexican-Japanese restaurant with locations in the City and Notting Hill, the house Paloma has developed a loyal following, including World of Fine Spiritseditor-in-chief Alex Martin.
The team makes its own grapefruit cordial by blending grapefruit peel with sugar and citric acid, creating a brighter, sharper citrus profile. The drink is then lengthened with Wavelength Ruby – a non-alcoholic grapefruit kombucha – before being topped with Three Cents grapefruit soda.
The group’s Paloma obsession extends to Viajante87 in Notting Hill, its underground bar where Latin American ingredients and techniques shape the cocktail list. Both Tyler Zielinski, co-founder of Zest and author of Tiny Cocktails?, and spirits writer and judge Millie Milliken credited the venue as their favorite place in London to try the cocktail.
The winning drink, according to the experts, is the bar’s Coffee Paloma, one of the city’s more interesting takes on the classic. Milliken praises the addition of bitter grapefruit cordial and coffee to the usual mix of silver tequila and grapefruit soda, which gives the cocktail “more robustness and edge.”
Zielinski’s favorite is an off-menu version, made with fluffy grapefruit juice, creating what he describes as a silky, airy texture. “It was a subtle twist on the classic, but perfectly balanced, moreish, and quite impressive given its simplicity.”
For drinks writer Douglas Blyde, meanwhile, the best Paloma in London can be found in Mayfair, at Donovan Bar, inside Brown’s Hotel. There, Salvatore Calabrese and head bartender Federico Pavan mix Casamigos tequila with agave and fresh lime before topping it with grapefruit soda over ice.
What makes it stand out? Blyde credits Pavan’s precision. “The pour is exact, the dilution judged rather than left to chance, the ice doing its work without hurry. He handles it as if it matters, which it does.”
The result, Blyde says, is a Paloma with the right balance of citrus, sweetness, and tequila bite.
As the broadcaster and conservationist celebrates his centenary, we look at his impact on the luxury tourism industry around the world.
Sir David Attenborough has spent the majority of his life on Earth taking viewers to the furthest corners of the planet – from the depths of the Pacific to the ice shelves of Antarctica – while making generations of armchair naturalists desperate to see those places for themselves. Today, as the broadcaster and conservationist celebrates his 100th birthday, his influence still stretches far beyond television.
“Sir David Attenborough didn’t just bring the world into Brits’ living rooms, he made them desperate to get out and explore it,” Tom Orr, worldwide travel specialist at The Luxury Holiday Company, tells Elite Traveler. “For many travelers, their dream holidays started on the sofa, watching Planet Earth or Blue Planet. But over time, Attenborough didn’t just inspire trips – he changed attitudes.”
The so-called “Attenborough effect” ultimately became about more than wanderlust, forcing audiences and the travel industry alike to confront tourism’s relationship with fragile ecosystems and endangered wildlife.
To mark his centenary, we take a closer look at the hotels, safaris, and travel experiences shaped by the icon – whether through his visits, storytelling, or the environmental awareness he brought into the mainstream.
For many travelers, their first glimpse of East Africa’s wildlife came not on safari, but through Attenborough’s documentaries. Few luxury operators understand that connection better than Elewana Collection, whose lodges and camps stretch across Kenya and Tanzania.
“Sir David Attenborough’s work has made the public aware of the African continent and the dangers that Africa’s wildlife faces,” says the brand.
Attenborough and his team also stayed at Elsa’s Kopje in Kenya’s Meru National Park while filming naked mole rats – the curious underground creatures responsible for the tiny soil mounds scattered across the landscape.
Today, Elewana continues to champion the slower, wildlife-focused safari style Attenborough helped popularize, pairing intimate camps with conservation-led tourism.
“Borneo is the place I’ve visited most,” Attenborough told The Guardian in 2015. “Its rainforest is full of riches and secrets, but it doesn’t give them up easily.” He first visited the island in the 1950s to encounter wild orangutans, later returning in 2011 to film for the BBC while staying at Sukau Rainforest Lodge.
Perched on the Kinabatangan River floodplain, the rustic luxury lodge remains deeply proud of the connection. Photos of Attenborough line the walls, one villa bears his name, and the boat used by the BBC crew has even been repurposed as the breakfast buffet table. More significantly, the lodge named Attenborough one of its Conservation Fellows in recognition of his contribution to awareness around the Kinabatangan ecosystem.
Long before it became one of Australia’s most exclusive private island escapes, Lizard Island was already on Attenborough’s radar. He first visited in 1957, later returning to film Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough. Today, one of the island’s 24 beaches bears his name.
While not directly connected to the resort itself, guests at Lizard Island Resort can visit the nearby Australian Museum’s Lizard Island Research Station, a world-renowned coral reef facility that played a role in Attenborough’s reef research and now hosts around 100 scientific projects annually.
Though the island has evolved into a byword for barefoot luxury, Attenborough himself has long argued tourism and conservation can coexist “if they behave in a proper way.”
The predators of Zambia’s South Luangwa starred in Kingdom, the BBC wildlife series narrated by Attenborough that followed the lives of lions, leopards, hyenas, and painted dogs across the Nsefu Sector over four years.
For Robin Pope Safaris, the production was especially personal. The BBC crew stayed across the operator’s camps, including Nsefu Camp and Tena Tena, while the series also spotlighted the work of the Zambian Carnivore Programme, with whom the company has partnered for more than a decade.
South Luangwa still feels thrillingly raw, but Attenborough’s involvement helped place international attention on the region’s conservation-led safaris rather than high-volume tourism.
For Attenborough, Costa Rica has long represented one of conservation’s great success stories. Behind-the-scenes footage from The Green Planet revealed that he returned to one site three decades later to find former grassland transformed into thriving rainforest.
That same spirit runs through the country’s eco-tourism industry. “Guests aren’t only seeing incredible wildlife, they’re also seeing a country that’s made conservation part of its identity,” says Cassie Stickland, senior product manager at Saga Holidays.
One stop on Saga’s Wild Costa Rica tour is La Tirimbina Biological Reserve in Sarapiquí, home to Tirimbina Eco Lodge, a rainforest eco-lodge and research station dedicated to sustainable tourism and environmental education.
Attenborough once stayed at the reserve, a fact commemorated by a plaque outside his room – a small detail, perhaps, but one that still feels meaningful for wildlife lovers raised on his documentaries.
The actor and his wife, Kathryn, acquired the suburban Atlanta residence in 2020 and engaged design studio Pierce & Ward to give it a global feel. The actor and his wife, Kathryn, acquired the suburban Atlanta residence in 2020 and engaged design studio Pierce & Ward to give it a global feel.
New whimsical dining carriage Celia offers guests an experience akin to chartering their own private luxury train.
The British Pullman, A Belmond Train, has unveiled Celia, a new private dining and events carriage, set to launch in early summer 2026. The project marks the first collaboration between Belmond and filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, who, alongside Oscar-winning costume and production designer Catherine Martin, has put a cinematic spin on an original 1932 Pullman carriage.
The luxury train, sister to Belmond’s Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, comprises ten restored carriages from the 1920s and ‘30s, operating from February to December out of London’s Victoria Station. The train’s latest addition, Celia, will be available for private hire, with seats for up to 12 guests, and will feature a cocktail bar, lounge, dining, and entertainment space.
“Celia is in many ways the closest anyone can get to chartering their own train,” says Adam Baylis-Waterlow, British Pullman general manager. “As such, this is one of the most exciting additions to The British Pullman in a generation.”
Inside Celia, interiors echo the heightened theatricality Luhrmann is known for. The design concept is built around Luhrmann’s fictional muse, Celia – an imagined 1930s West End leading lady gifted her own Pullman carriage following an era-defining performance as Titania, Queen of the Fairies, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
“Stepping inside the carriage is like being transported into another world,” says Luhrmann. “Guests are invited to become part of the story. Celia, at its heart, is a magical mystery tour – a traveling dining experience for friends or an intimate celebration, filled with food, music, wine, laughter, and performance.”
The carriage hosts gentle nods to the Art Deco theme of the British Pullman, while incorporating Luhrmann’s creative concept: tri-color marquetry panels line the walls, depicting English pastoral scenes, as well as Celia, immortalized as Titania. Floral motifs, including pansies (Titania’s symbolic flower in the Shakespeare play), decorate oak-wood floors and furnishings, in a color palette of rich greens, yellows, reds, and purples, crowned with a fabric ceiling that has been engineered to enhance live acoustics for performances on board. Every element of the carriage is bespoke, even the signature scent, co-selected by Luhrmann and Martin.
For tableware, Catherine Martin made sure to lean on British artistry – collaborating with British china manufacturers, Duchess China, David Mellor for the cutlery, and Tom Dixon for the glassware.
Reflecting on her creative vision for the train carriage, Martin says: “Onboard, I imagine people eating, dancing, falling in love, taking photographs, and celebrating life’s great moments – all within a world that offers a pause from the chaos of everyday life.”
The dining cart will be attended by a dedicated team, where guests will be served a three-course meal, choosing from dishes inspired by traditional English dining, with beef wellington and chicken liver parfait all on offer.
They will also be able to enjoy the carriage’s exclusive cocktail list, created by Monica Berg, mixologist and co-founder of London cocktail bar Tayer + Elementary, and will be able to curate and stock their one bar with their favored drinks of choice. Live performances, including DJ sets, can be arranged for guests in advance.
Bespoke itineraries range from day trips to destinations like Oxford and Bath, visits to historic houses such as Blenheim Palace, journeys to sporting events including Goodwood Revival, and immersive theatre experiences like the Moving Murder Mystery lunches and dinners.
“Nothing about Celia is prescriptive,” adds Gary Franklin, senior vice president of trains and cruises at Belmond. “Celia is all about creating your own world, and that, thanks to Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin, is storytelling at its best.”
Weighing over 31 carats, the Azure Blue will be auctioned off at Christie’s this June. Weighing over 31 carats, the Azure Blue will be auctioned off at Christie’s this June.
Hoper’s on-demand flights have been connecting the Greek isles since 2024.
In the Greek islands, hopping by chopper is irrefutably the way to go. Santorini and Mykonos remain among the most popular, but traveling between the two via ferry can take over three hours. By helicopter, you’re talking less than 40 minutes according to Hoper, which launched in Greece in 2024, and began its US expansion in late 2025.
Where Hoper differs from its compatriot rivals (mainly Heli Air Greece and Ariston Aviation, both of which operate on a traditional private charter model) is that it offers transparent, instantly visible, per-seat (or entire helicopter) pricing via Apple or Google Play apps or mobile web, making chartering a ride as intuitive as hailing a taxi — no broker or phone call required. “It’s the ability to reclaim time, avoid friction, and turn what would typically be a complex journey into something effortless and enjoyable,” explains Demitris Memos, founder and CEO of Hoper.
Hoper operates a fleet of five Robinson helicopters across 50+ routes linking 15 Greek destinations, including Athens, Santorini, Mykonos, Milos, Sifnos, Folegandros, Paros, Ios, Tinos, Patmos, and Samos. New routes to Naxos are slated for summer 2026. Complementing the core network, alliances with luxury travel brands extend the offering. “As the preferred helicopter partner for hotels such as Mandarin Oriental Costa Navarino, Canaves Collection, and Domes Resorts, Hoper works directly with concierge teams to book flights on behalf of guests,” explains Memos.
For clients arriving into Athens via the commercial terminal rather than the private one, Hoper also provides a VIP fast-track service through the airport. With tour operators such as Scott Dunn, the collaboration is more itinerary-driven. Memos notes that Hoper is “integrated as a transport layer within curated, multi-stop journeys” from the outset, enabling travel designers to combine mainland and island destinations more fluidly, or to unlock harder-to-reach locations that would otherwise require complex travel logistics.
Beyond Greece, Hoper is extending its footprint in the USA with flights launching this September in the Big Apple around the US Open, connecting JFK, Manhattan, and the Hamptons. But Hoper will face stiff competition from incumbent helicopter charter brands already serving these lucrative metropolitan routes, notably Blade and Luxaviation One.
Blade aggregates third-party helicopters, combining scheduled seats with charter flexibility, primarily focused on urban transfers like airport routes and leisure corridors in the US. Luxaviation One, meanwhile, offers fully bespoke private charters with no seat sharing, where every journey is tailored via concierge-style service. Booking reflects these differences: Hoper and Blade emphasize seamless digital self-service via apps, while Luxaviation relies on personalized consultation.
Hoper’s European operations are expanding too, with new Italian routes linking the French Riviera to Milan, Florence, and Portofino. “Our ambition is to build a globally connected network of short-haul aerial routes that behave more like micro-airlines — structured, bookable, and predictable — rather than one-off charter experiences,” says Memos.
Looking ahead, Hoper’s future plans include the much-anticipated electric vertical takeoff/landing aircraft (aka eVTOLs or flying taxis). “What we’re building today is effectively preparing for eVTOL adoption,” Memos says. Yet for now, the company’s focus remains grounded in delivering a service that is as efficient as it is elegant: “We’re not just selling a helicopter seat — we’re upgrading the entire journey.”
