HTSI editor’s letter: make your escape

The annual Escape issue comes at the end of a long spring run of HTSIs – and most of the team are straining for some much-needed holiday. Putting together a magazine dedicated to gorgeous houses, fashion and food is tantalising enough. Working on an issue dedicated to escapist fantasies can seem like torture while sitting in the rain in EC4.

This year, our escapes take in all sorts of adventures, starting with our cover, a hike around Madeira with models Kiki Willems and her boyfriend Jonas Glöer. The pair went on a walking holiday around the island early in their relationship and this trip has found them revisiting the same paths. I had not realised Madeira was so verdant, or so mountainous, and this shoot has put the destination top of the list of places I would like to visit next. The landscape is a glorious backdrop for the season’s fashions; admittedly, I might not choose to hike in full runway styles, nor in what appear to be lederhosen, but the looks here are generally in keeping with the moment’s outdoorsy leanings. Respect to Kiki, Jonas and the creative team lead by photographer Ola Rindal and stylist Anastasia Barbieri for getting up at sunrise to march along the majestic mountain peaks.

Stefan Giftthaler is a longtime contributor to HTSI: the half-German, half-Italian photographer is a master of interiors imagery and has shot all sorts of palazzos, hotels and homes for us in the past. This week, he shows us a more personal project, capturing the totems of Italian culture and the profusion of this iconography across all aspects of life. From the “ancient statuary” that decorates cafés and the most basic accommodations, to the ubiquitous Mona Lisa, whose face is reproduced on everything from matchboxes to pizza trays, the series makes for a charming portrait of tourism, Italian-style. (Incidentally, this is only a fraction of the full edit: I hope that one day we see more of them produced in a dedicated book.)  

Other escapes are more a state of mind. Writer Jay Cheshes, for example, heads to Paris via the wealth of French fine-dining restaurants that have emerged lately around his New York home. Haute cuisine has become seriously endangered in NYC in the past decades, nudged out by the Italians and other more exotic cuisines. Now, however, sees the comeback, with a rush of new establishments and old favourites being revived. Jay eats his way through the landscape. Be warned, it’s heavy: a world of lavish pâtés, rich jus and, of course, foie gras.

Lastly, have you heard of the Ama, the female freedivers who work in Japan’s Mie Prefecture? With their distinctive white robes and expertise in pearl diving, the Ama have taken on an almost mythic status in popular culture – there was even a Bond appearance – but climate change and industrialisation have contributed to a reduction in their numbers in recent times. Our intrepid duo David Coggins and James Harvey-Kelly travelled to the prefecture to watch the women working and taste the food they catch and serve to guests. The experience is a tremendous privilege to share in, and another story that makes me yearn for a trip back to Japan. 

@jellison22

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