Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Andres Balazs Goes Barefoot For a Good Cause

Well, sort of.
If by "good cause" we mean a sleek speedboat designed by Marc Newson. Which is doing the world a service in some way, if we consider that there are wealthy people out there who may find themselves on the high seas in a vessel not designed by a cultural superstar.
But forget about the boat, which was gorgeous and arrived with much fanfare and then spent the night docked by the Standard's pool deck. Let's focus on the champagne, which was flowing and made by Dom Perignon. And let's get back to Mr. Balazs (the debonair fellow to right) and his impeccable smile. It takes a special kind of cool to pull off the barefoot-in-a-suit look and the hotelier, oozing relaxed charm and weaving his way through the crowd, certainly seemed at home. Because, in a way, he was. Now that he's given up the Raleigh, his bayfront Standard is his Miami crashpad of choice. And the place is still holding its own against the newbies like Soho House and the W. The key to maintaining its cool cachet? The man himself.

No comments: