British Vogue - 12.2019

W

hen contributing fashion director Kate Phelan

returned to Mexico City with the Vogue team

in tow – photographer Tim Walker and model

Kesewa Aboah among them – she was

delighted to rediscover the modern design scene at the heart

of this capital. The group repaired to Hotel Habita, from

Mexico-based luxury collection Grupo Habita, in the city’s

chic Polanco district. Constructed like a glass box by eminent

design firm Ten Arquitectos, it made for a stylish base for

this month’s fashion story Way Out In Mexico, on page 214.

Phelan and Walker wasted no time scouting locations for

the shoot – the first to bring together teams from British Vogue

and Vogue Mexico – amid the vibrant boulevards and baroque

palacios that dot the urban centre. “A favourite

memory of the trip is the expert riding of the

escaramuza,” Phelan says of the all-female

equestrians who feature in Walker’s images.

Back in Polanco, reflexology treatments,

body aligning tuina and hot-stone massages

were a highlight at the Hotel Habita spa

between shoot days, as was the view from the

rooftop pool. The team had just enough time

left over to wind through the city’s lush gardens

and covered markets scattered nearby. Q

Stay at Hotel Habita from £180 a night;

Hotelhabita.com

URBAN ESCAPE

Following their lavish shoot in Mexico

City, the Vogue fashion team tells Timothy

Harrison where to stay, visit and shop

Model Kesewa

Aboah on set. Below:

escaramuza riders in

traditional dress

DESIGN DIARY

Left: Hotel

Habita’s

restaurant

provided the

perfect relaxed

atmosphere

for post-shoot

meals. Below:

the hotel’s

rooftop pool

JESSICA GERARDI; JAIME NAVARRO; MARIE TAILLEFER; GETTY IMAGES

FASHION TRAVEL

Contramar Chef

Gabriela Cámara

serves coastal

favourites at

this Mexico City

mainstay. “They

do amazing

seafood, and the

best tuna tostadas

I’ve ever eaten.”

Páramo An under-the-radar

cantina in Roma Norte that’s

great for cocktails. “Pretty bar

• the best mezcal margaritas.”

Travel essentials

WVintage favourite Trouvé

recovers midcentury objects from

designers such as Clara Porset

and Pedro Friedeberg.

A network of Mexican artisans

make the exquisite textiles

and playfully traditional home

accessories on offer at Onora.

VFrench-born designer

Emmanuel Picault’s gallery,

Chic By Accident, stocks a

treasure trove of folk pottery

and paintings.

V

Below, from left: hat, £75, Ganni.

Luggage case, from £510, Rimowa

Left: bag,

£1,450, Loewe,

at Matches

fashion.com

KATE PHELAN’S

TOP PICKS

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