Beauty beyond belief, and that’s just the Atlantic
● Take a party thrown by a hipster Polish billionaire in a lavish Bakoven pad, with guests ranging from a top supermodel to Princess Diana’s stunning niece. Throw in South Africa’s most glamorous couple, the land’s top couturier, scrumptious snacks and a knock-out view — and, dear readers, you have the A-Listers’ swish start to 2018.
It was a balmy Tuesday evening as I arrived at the sprawling six-bedroom Atlantic seaboard villa set between the Twelve Apostles and the deep blue ocean.
After being met by concierge Barak Tomlin and hostesses proffering tequila shots, I walked up a floating staircase and greeted the couturier I mentioned, Gavin Rajah (through whom I scored the invite), who introduced me to Theresa Phan, a head honcho at petroleum company Shell. She seemed obsessed that someone might nick her expensive Bulgari bag.
Mmmkay . . .
On the other side of the room I greeted that most glamorous of couples, Nicky “Is he or isn’t he still at The Ritz?” van der Walt and Lee-Ann Liebenberg, who arrived as usual with fragrance king Charles Priebatsch.
That’s the locals out of the way — how about the international jet set?
Someone who had just stepped off the beach was Kitty Spencer, niece of the late Princess of Wales, who was wearing a yellow and white Miu Miu sundress.
I congratulated her on landing the Dolce & Gabbana print campaign that was shot in Venice late last year.
“I have been walking for them for a few shows, and that’s how they asked me to do the campaign,” she explained.
Someone for whom the catwalk is like a second home is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful women in the world, English supermodel Jourdan Dunn, 27. She was in South Africa for the Afropunk music festival.
It’s close to a decade since Jourdan was last in the country, and it was heartwarming to see what a keen interest she’s taken in local culture this time around, telling me she’s a fan of Kwesta’s anthemic track Spirit, and gqom, the house music style emerging from Durban townships.
At the bar I spotted our host Sebastian Kulczyk, who, together with his sister Dominika, is reported to be worth the equivalent of about R45-billion.
Sebastian is in town with his Amazonian girlfriend, Janeta Samp, and friends, including New York doctor Priyesh Patel, who also celebrated his 40th birthday on the night.
Sebastian’s South African connection includes a 1.5% stake in SABMiller, which he sold in 2016 to finance the Polish IT company he’s building.
Food-wise, I was blown away by the canapés, including prawn tempura with avocado and jalapeño aioli, Greek lamb kofta with cumin-infused curd topped with puffed rice, and the most delicious tempura broccoli topped with aged cheddar, pumpkin seeds and a “secret sauce” from a caterer to note: Matt Manning.
I was less impressed, though, with the music on offer from Marcello Miele, the Italian DJ flown in for the party: bored by the doef-doef sounds that he was spinning, we did ask for a change but it turns out that his repertoire didn’t extend to hip-hop and house — and certainly not gqom . . .