005 ☼ St. Tropez Siren: Brigitte Bardot
☼ A Soprano Statue • Bombshell Bardot • A Pastel Porsche


ISSUE 005
Tropically Iced Passionfruit Daiquiri
With tasting notes of St Tropez, French glamour, the seaside, funky Berlin furniture, a Tony Soprano statue and the most coveted pastel-hued vehicles.
The good life beckons once more!

Hot Hyperlinks
☼ Growing up with Jean-Michel Basquiat
☼ An essay about sneakers by Hanif Abdurraqib
☼ An architect breaks down the details of "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
☼ 1989 Aston Martin Lagonda Series 4
☼ Click around Casa Migrante, a delightful home in Rio de Janeiro designed by João Panaggio
☼ The Tony Soprano statue at a Lithuanian train station
☼ One More Try — an experimental skate video
☼ The story behind Noguchi's playscapes in Atlanta
☼ Berlin-based furniture brand Bannach
SUMMER-ENHANCING PEOPLE
St. Tropez Siren: BRIGITTE BARDOT

Brigitte Bardot, the irreverent French blonde bombshell of the 60s and 70s quickly rose to fame as an actress. Nicknamed BB, she was already well-known in France and starred in 48 films and recorded over 80 songs throughout her career but it was one film in particular that not only put her on the map in Hollywood, but also St Tropez on the map more widely, elevating its profile to the exclusive, yacht-drenched A-lister vacation destination it remains today. Allegedly, a poster of her also ended up on the ceiling of John Lennon's bedroom.
The film responsible for so much commotion? "...And God Created Woman" in 1956, shot in the rustic fishing village of St Tropez. While artists like Picasso (who Bardot would meet) and Matisse frequented the French Riviera, it was Bardot who became its iconic figurehead, where statues of her remain today.
She was infamous for frolicking along the boardwalks in her modern bikini (and even donned it during Cannes Film Festival in 1953), thrusting the two-piece swimwear we know today into the mainstream — a bold move given the French Catholic backdrop.
Though Bardot never set out to be a rebel, her liberated style and mysterious demeanour set her up as not only a sex symbol but by "breaking the mould of bourgeois conservatism, she became the symbol of a new generation of young women who enjoyed life to the limit."

While St Tropez remains one of her legacies, Bardot also inspired a second St Tropez in Búzios, a beach town three hours away from Rio de Janeiro. Commonly referred to as the "St Tropez of Brazil", Bardot infamously vacationed there once with a Brazilian boyfriend. Fated to follow Bardot's "St Tropez effect", Búzios remains an upscale getaway destination for Brazil's finest with an additional statue of Bardot.
Perhaps one of the most alluring qualities of Brigitte Bardot is that she never particularly wanted to be a star. Pursued relentlessly, she abandoned her career prematurely and retired to her St Tropez residence La Madrague where she still lives a quiet life campaigning for animal rights, though her 15th century summer getaway mansion near the Cannes countryside is up for sale with an exceptional table that can seat 60.

Free from a computer, Brigitte still corresponds from St Tropez the old way, "writing in blue ink on blue sheets of paper that bear only the words “La Madrague, Saint-Tropez, 83990.”
She works by a window at a rustic Provence table with a checked tablecloth. To her signature she adds a little daisy.
SUMMER-ENHANCING VEHICLES
EXHIBIT A: Lamborghini LM-002 • EXHIBIT B: 1973 DeTomaso Pantera in perfectly terrible condition • EXHIBIT C: Pink Singer Porsche 911

SUMMER-ENHANCING PLACES
Racetrack Country: MONACO
Plus, Lewis Hamilton's hair-raising lap at Monaco 2011, why the world's most famous car race is in Monaco and Top Gear's tribute to King of Monaco (and known leisurist) Ayrton Senna.

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