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PHOTOGRAPHY: JACK WILSON WRITERS: JONATHAN BELL, ROSA BERTOLI

Photograpy: Erik Jutras

America’s West Coast is the home of individualism,

a landscape where freedom is often expressed in

wheeled form, be it four wheels or two. Untitled

Motorcycles SF is a small boutique engineering irm

catering to these desires. Founded in 2014 by RCA-

trained Hugo Eccles, it was set up to take California’s

motorcycle culture to another level, splicing minimal

design with elegant engineering. ‘Northern California

has a long history of motorcycling,’ says Eccles. ‘One

of my favourite rides is down to Alice’s Restaurant,

which featured in Hunter S Thompson’s book Hell’s

Angels.’ Clients come to the company in search of

the bike of their dreams, eager to own an example of

Eccles’ minimalist mantra. ‘My process usually involves

stripping the motorcycle down to the rolling chassis,

then designing custom bodywork, seat, controls and

so on,’ he explains. The company’s latest creation is

the Supernaturale, a commission from Simon Waterfall,

creative director at Airbnb’s in-house design studio

Samara. The Supernaturale is the epitome of the

minimalist café racer. Starting life as a 1975 Moto Guzzi

850T, the project is lighter than the original, with a

handcrafted aluminium fuel tank and raw leather seat

that will age and weather with use, but with state-of-

the-art electronics and a restored and enhanced

V-twin motor bringing the requisite performance.

untitledmotorcycles.com

HOUSE OF WAX

No doubt the micro-homes you

know and love are minimalist cabins

built in the boondocks. Less sexy are

their compact urban counterparts

whose ‘all-inclusive’ business models

make amenities, not architecture,

the heart of the sell. While touting

a tiny footprint, micro-apartments

are increasingly competing on

micro-luxuries. Who needs bike

racks, free gyms and laundry facilities

when New York’s Carmel Place is

ofering Hello Alfred butler services?

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, micro-

lats come equipped with ultra-

short-throw home projectors that

transform small walls into big screen

TVs. Expect jam rooms, pet spas and

golf simulators to become de rigueur,

too. After all, when your home is the

size of a pixel, the tiny perks count.

SMALL CHANGE

INCOMING JOHN WEICH

BORN AGAIN

A San Francisco-based motorcycle shop

can build the bike of your dreams

Louis Vuitton is launching its irst series

of candles, created by in-house perfumer

Jacques Cavallier Belletrud, who also

worked on the fashion house’s perfume

debut in 2016. The four fragrances,

developed to convey the feeling of

a gentle breeze bringing the outdoors

in, are inspired by seasonal landscapes

discovered by Cavallier Belletrud during

his travels: L’Air du Jardin distills a

Provençal garden illed with May roses

in spring, Île Blanche is all sea spray and

beating sun, Feuilles d’Or is the wet,

woody aromas of the forest, and Dehors

Il Neige is a snowy landscape infused

with festive notes. Marc Newson’s

containers for the scented wax nod to

voyaging. A leather handle over the

handcrafted ceramic vessels represents

the maison’s signature material, while

a thin, gold-inished lid also doubles as a

tray. The candles’ wicks are hand-painted

in Grasse with colourful pigments,

adding a pleasingly playful touch.

Scented candles, €175 each for 220g,

by Louis Vuitton, louisvuitton.com

Newspaper

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