‘Director of ambience’ Arman Naféei’s LA pad is a crucible for cool

He sets the mood for some of the world’s hippest spaces. And his tiny LA apartment, filled with vinyl, disco glitz and Persian elegance, is the mother ship

Before you even reach the bright yellow front door of podcaster and DJ Arman Naféei’s Los Angeles home, the mood is set by an exquisitely restored 1980 Fiat 124 Spider 2000, in a grey-green metallic Grigio Fumo. It feels on brand for the “directeur d’ambiance” for clients including Giorgio Armani and Moncler. Inside, Naféei is at the sunny yellow La Marzocco machine making an espresso. He pours water from cult wellness destination and grocery store Erewhon into Svenskt Tenn glasses.  “I wanted a mid-century home, with light and space — and beautiful, expansive sunrises,” he says of the one-bedroom, one-bathroom home just off Mulholland Drive, at the edge of the Santa Monica Mountains. Its panoramic views take in the Hollywood Sign, the Griffith Observatory — and the chaotic 101 freeway. Was that the ambience he was after? “I get a sense of the city’s energy,” he smiles.

Naféei’s podcast Are We On Air?, launched at the start of the pandemic, invites high-profile cultural names to tell their life stories through playlists. Now in its sixth season, and with 120 episodes and 1.2mn total listens, guests have included David Byrne, Marina Abramović, Dua Lipa, the late Jane Birkin, Sir Paul Smith and Patti Smith. The eclectic line-up speaks to Naféei’s roots. “I grew up in a very political, left-leaning family, where culture and literature were a part of daily life,” he says. “I was surrounded by poets, musicians, intellectuals — and Farsi was spoken at home.” Naféei’s Iranian parents had fled Tehran and settled in Cologne after the revolution in the late 1970s. Here, his father became a journalist for Deutsche Welle — the German state-funded international broadcast service. 

But it was in the UK that Naféei’s own cultural identity blossomed. He moved there in the early 2000s to study business, French and German literature at Queen Mary University of London and went on to become assistant to curator Sir Norman Rosenthal at the Royal Academy. But his “stomping ground” was Erol Alkan’s nightclub Trash, and he also started to DJ across the city. West end clubs “paid better than the east end parties,” says Naféei. But the east end was what he “loved” — “cooler and more culturally interesting”. That kudos landed him DJing events at museums, galleries and art fairs — the Venice Biennale, Art Basel and the Vitra Design Museum. Then he met Jay Jopling, founder of gallery White Cube. 

That meeting proved fortuitous. In 2009 Jopling introduced Naféei to hotelier André Balazs, who hired him as “director of ambience” for Boom at The Standard hotel, New York. Curating the bar’s events, he booked names including Lady Gaga, Blondie and Erykah Badu, and went on to become music director for Balazs’s other locations, including London’s Chiltern Firehouse and Sunset Beach in Long Island, where he finessed what he describes as “a 1960s St Tropez, world music, Balearic sound”. The historic Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood was next — and the west coast stuck. As has that early title. “Director of ambience sounds flimsy,” he admits, “but it’s about creating an experience and an environment: music, light and the mix of people. It actually sums up what I do quite well.”

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Architect Omar Gandhi’s guide to Nova Scotia

Why the Toronto native made wild, windy Halifax his home

I grew up outside of Toronto and came to Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, in 2001 to study architecture – and fell in love with the place. There’s something very special about historic cities like this one, with a scale that you can hold in your hand, surrounded by nature. At the same time, Halifax is very dynamic, with a population of 500,000 and multiple universities. There is always a buzz in the air.

Nova Scotia is a truly diverse part of Atlantic Canada. There are African Nova Scotians who came up here from the US after the civil war, as well as larger Korean, Lebanese and Indian populations – all living with the original Indigenous communities. There’s an intense pride in and respect for everyone and that’s reflected in the mix of food, art and festivals you’ll find here. People are hardworking and kind – not to mention hardy, especially in the outer areas where the weather can be challenging.

My work is heavily inspired by the rugged, mountainous landscape; it is something to respect because the climate will win the battle every time. The weather is fierce enough that buildings need to be very resilient; it’s the wind that really gets you. You build for the elements, and you embrace them.  There’s also a strong shipbuilding culture here and an abundance of lumber, so we use a lot of locally sourced white cedar, pine, spruce and red oak. The houses are still primarily clad in wood, even in downtown Halifax, and many are painted in vibrant colours: a tradition that goes back to when sailors and fishermen used them to help navigate.

In the centre of Halifax you’ll find one of the nicest hotels in the country, Muir, which is right on the waterfront. For something more laidback – and very small – I recommend Brewery Park Hotel in the North End of the city, where I live; it has a great energy. There’s a culture of rentable architecture throughout Nova Scotia so definitely check out places such as Shobac, a collection of modern cottages and historic buildings by architect Brian MacKay-Lyons. The campus is set just south of Halifax, near the coastal town of Lunenburg, a picturesque Unesco World Heritage Site. We are very food-focused – maybe not quite as much as in Montreal, but there’s no shortage of interesting cafés and restaurants. It’s all about farm-to-table food served in intimate spaces with local wines. For great coffee and baked goods, Suda Table is owned by a Korean family and hand-makes outstanding dumplings and French pastries; everything is beautifully presented. And there is a pair of restaurants less than a minute away from each other in North End that are both very cool. Magnolia does great cocktails and Highwayman serves Spanish-inspired seafood and tapas. 

Bar Kismet has been one of the most awarded restaurants in Canada for the past 10 years, with spectacular small dishes such as fresh raw scallops and tuna tartare. Another place that’s very special – but a bit of a drive – is Table Doucet in coastal Chéticamp. It’s very French-Acadian: everything on its tasting menus has been locally foraged, including the seafood.  In the 1970s, this part of Canada drew in lots of artists, many of whom taught at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Richard Serra lived here, and Philip Glass and later Ethan Hawke found refuge here too. Architecture and design have flourished. One standout architect is Keith Graham, a masterful modernist who designed the most beautiful public projects in Halifax, including the Nova Scotia Archives, the Halifax police station and the North End Library.

The Museum of Natural History is also wonderful, as is the Halifax Central Library, which is like the living room of the city. Libraries are magical places where people go to hang out: old people, young kids – it’s comfortable for all ages. The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia on the waterfront has objects from all over the country including Indigenous art, as well as a large collection of Annie Leibovitz photographs. And for Titanic enthusiasts there’s the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, which has a vast collection of the ship’s memorabilia because Halifax was the closest major port to where the ship sank in 1912. 

For an adventure, I recommend driving the scenic Cabot Trail to Inverness in Cape Breton, where you’ll find Cabot Links, one of the best links-style golf courses in the world (at Cabot Cape Breton resort). It’s not just gorgeous, it’s intense; there’s wind, so it’s tricky – just like being in the Scottish Highlands. Or head south of Halifax to Chester, a fun sailing centre where you can rent a boat and spend a day on the water. Be sure to visit Peggy’s Cove, a quaint fishing village and lighthouse that’s set on a granite outcrop on St Margaret’s Bay. It’s an iconic spot for kayaking and eating lobster rolls with rocky coastal views.

I have lived here more than half my life at this point, and I’m also raising my son here. I feel deeply ingrained in the place and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Halifax isn’t trying to become a big city, so I hope it just continues to embrace its historic fabric. Moving here changed my life, so I share it with everyone I can. 

BARS, CAFÉS & RESTAURANTS  Bar Kismet barkismet.com Highwayman highwaymanhfx.com Magnolia magnoliahfx.com Suda Table sudatable.com Table Doucet tabledoucet.com

THINGS TO DO  Art Gallery of Nova Scotia agns.ca Cabot Cape Breton cabot.com Chester Yacht Club chesteryachtclub.ca Halifax Central Library halifaxcentrallibrary.ca Maritime Museum of the Atlantic maritimemuseum.novascotia.ca Museum of Natural History naturalhistory.novascotia.ca Neil Depew Gallery neildepew.com

WHERE TO STAY

Brewery Park Hotel brewerypark.ca

Muir muirhotel.com

Shobacplaces2b.ca/shobac

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Born to give – the philanthropic urge of Phoebe Gates

The youngest member of the Gates clan is following her family’s calling. But her healthcare mission comes with a uniquely Gen Z edge

Born into one of the most philanthropic families in the world, Phoebe Gates has inherited more than just wealth. Her parents, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, have distributed more than $100bn to address global health, equity and education issues since launching their Foundation in 2000. French Gates has since committed a further $1bn to bolstering women’s rights through her investment company, Pivotal Ventures. When the US Supreme Court ruled to overturn abortion rights in 2022, French Gates asked her youngest daughter a critical question: “What are you going to do about it?” Three years later, Gates, 23, has used the crisis to try to find the answer. Her most public focus is Phia, the AI‑powered shopping app of which she is co-founder and co‑CEO; behind the scenes she has donated millions of dollars to charities that support women’s reproductive health (although, when asked, her team do not disclose a precise amount). Last year she was recognised as a Rising Reproductive Freedom Champion by pro-choice non-profit Reproductive Freedom for All (RFFA). 

Gates was on a pre-med track at Stanford University when she graduated a year early to pivot to a career in tech. The youngest of three, she grew up outside Seattle in a home with more square footage than the White House. Gates was always interested in fashion: when she was 20 she interned at British Vogue, and was a regular on the international show circuit. On Phia she partnered with designer and sustainability advocate Stella McCartney (until recently Gates was in a relationship with McCartney’s nephew, Paul’s grandson). Even at 7.30am and battling a cold, she is fresh-faced, perfectly coiffed and talks at 110mph.

“Being a CEO takes up 99 per cent of my time, six days a week,” says Gates from her light-filled office near New York’s Union Square. She wears a second-hand Prada jumper and generic sweatpants – both purchased on Phia, which she founded with her Stanford roommate, Sophia Kianni, earlier this year. Kris Jenner and Spanx founder and part-owner Sara Blakely were early investors, and the app, which aggregates searches from 40,000-plus sites globally, has had more than 700,000 users and – as of December – a $180mn valuation. “The throughline for my work,” says Gates, “is democratising access – to sustainable shopping options, to accurate information and, most importantly, to healthcare.” The pair’s “career survival” podcast The Burnouts has had more than 100mn views and guests including Jenner, Paris Hilton and biohacker Bryan Johnson. The tone is ambitious, aspirational and, at times, irreverent: in one episode Gates recalls a friend who flew to San Francisco to drop off a proposal telling a company how to improve their business after being “ghosted” following a job interview. In another, she tells Morgan Housel, author of The Art of Spending Money, that women her age call Ferraris “little-dick cars”. 

Gates has been involved with the Gates Foundation for as long as she can remember, travelling as a child with her mother to Ethiopia and Rwanda, where she returned as a teenager to volunteer at a pre-school. While at college, she also spent three weeks with the non-profit Partners In Health at a health clinic. After the decision to overturn Roe vs Wade was first announced – thereby imperilling the right to an abortion for millions of people – she sought out organisations including the Repro Legal Defense Fund and Just The Pill, a Minnesota-based non-profit that provides access to medication abortions with home pill deliveries and mobile clinics. “Reproductive freedom underpins everything,” says Gates, who lives with her two ragdoll cats in a lofty Manhattan apartment with stark walls and white bouclé seating. “Having choice is foundational to successful communities,” she continues. “It allows for educational and financial opportunities.” According to the Guttmacher Institute, 58 per cent of women of childbearing age in the US live in a state that is now hostile to abortion rights, with 74,490 women – many living below the poverty line – forced to travel out of their state in the first six months of 2025.

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Auctioneer Phyllis Kao talks taste

The Sotheby’s star on stage presence, the San Francisco Giants and selling a $45mn stegosaurus

My personal style is eclectic and imaginative. Depending on my mood and the occasion, I might wear contemporary, vintage, masculine or very feminine clothes. If I’m on the rostrum, jackets are everything. My go-to is a navy wool double-breasted YSL jacket with gold buttons – very military-style – and I also love the silver Armani jacket that I wore for the sale of Apex, an 11ft-tall stegosaurus skeleton, in 2024. I always want to be sensitive to the items in the sale – the clothes I wear for a Modern & Contemporary auction are different to those I’ll wear for fossil or manuscript sales. One exception is my hair, which I always wear in a ponytail. When I was auditioning to be an auctioneer at Sotheby’s in 2016, Hugh Hildesley, who was then a senior auctioneer, advised that my hair was hitting the microphone and was a distraction. I’ve tied it up ever since and never have to think about it during a heated auction. The last thing I bought and loved was a lime-green vinyl Prada purse. It’s lightweight and harks back to the ’90s, though it’s from a recent collection. I use it for everything, from running errands to an evening out. 

The place that means a lot to me is my family home in Berkeley, California, where my parents emigrated to from Taiwan in the early ’80s. I had such a happy childhood – safe, educational and full of intellectual stimulation. I was also surrounded by natural beauty: the nearby Berkeley Hills are beautiful for hiking and views of the San Francisco Bay, and the food scene is an embarrassment of riches, with greats such as Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse. The best souvenir I’ve brought home is a 19th-century carving of the Hindu god Garuda. It was made in Tibet, but I bought it from a shop on Portobello Road in London that’s now closed. The figure is winged and has talons but also has beast-like elements. He’s fierce but good.

I’ve recently rediscovered how fortunate I am to be an auctioneer. I get to work with Old Masters, contemporary sculptures, photographs, jewels, books, rare fossils and more every day. And I am paid to learn about so many incredible things. I fell into the auction world by accident: the owner of the auction house where I got my start working as a cataloguer asked if I wanted to take on the next sale. I immediately said yes. I enjoyed it and just kept going. 

There is no set formula for being a good auctioneer, but there are a few elements that will make it easier – having a stage presence, a facility with numbers and a quick reaction time are all helpful. I change my auctioneer style depending on the type of sale – an Old Masters auction at the Breuer, the Sotheby’s outpost on Madison Avenue, requires a different finesse to a charity auction with a partying crowd. That said, I always try to be entertaining. I’m there to raise the hammer price, and I want everyone to enjoy the process.

The auction lot that changed everything for me was the Apex stegosaurus skeleton [which sold for $44.6mn]. That sale got so much attention, it blew the auction world open. The general public is now more interested in different kinds of art and the sale process. As with any sale, it was a dance of applying pressure to keep it moving but not too much. You want to keep the rhythm going for as long as possible, to keep everyone in the groove. I prepare by learning as much as I can about the works beforehand. I also think about the personalities of the category’s sellers and bidders before I enter the saleroom. We knew Apex would do well, but we didn’t know it would do that well.

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Fashion designer Ulla Johnson talks taste

The founder of the clothes brand loves Ruinart champagne, loathes minimalism and ‘lives for Christmas’

My personal style signifier is my jewellery. I possibly wear too much, but I change it all the time and have an ever-evolving group of favourites. I collect antique Belperron, Verdura, Cartier, Hermès, Edwardian rose-cut diamonds, angel skin coral, snake rings, tennis bracelets and anything in the shape of a heart or a shell. I like to mix fine jewellery with pieces from my costume collection that features baroque pearls, sea creatures, turquoise, carved wood and gemstones. I wear my jewellery all the time and don’t consider anything “special occasion” or precious. I joke with my family that I want to be buried with all of it.

The last thing I bought and loved was a museum-quality antique Serbian folk dress made from hand-loomed silk and covered in embroidered bullion thread, sequins and lace. I bought it in Belgrade, where my mother is from. She collected folk costumes and Victorian lace, and I inherited her passion. I get palpitations when I find something uniquely beautiful. I believe in the emotional weight of objects that have been made by hand, as they carry the spirit of the maker.

The best souvenir I’ve brought home is a Carlo Bugatti chair from the Paul Bert Serpette flea market in Paris. I had been looking for one for years and this one was perfect for me; it’s upholstered in parchment and illustrated with a bird, and it has his signature inlaid pewter and hammered copper with a silk fringe. A dream!

The best book I’ve read in the past year is Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata. I don’t typically go for science fiction, but I love Japanese sci-fi. This book was excellent. It’s a dystopian novel about a future with controlled reproduction, and an upended vision of marriage and family. It left me feeling something I hadn’t felt before – that’s the hallmark of a great book.

My style icon is my mother, Jasmina Draskovic-Johnson. She had a very personal and recognisable style – mostly black or camel tones, a strong shoulder and chunky silver jewellery that she collected in the Near East when she was working on archaeological excavations. She was also a fan of opulently embroidered shawls – and always a red lip. She knew what she loved and was committed to it. Having a singular point of view and confidence without arrogance are the things I admire in other women.

The best gift I’ve received is a Victorian bloodstone locket with a trifold pullout – very rare as they mostly have space for just one or two images. My husband gave it to me with baby pictures of our three children. It is my most cherished possession. The best gift I’ve given recently was an embroidered sweatshirt, to my son, the night before he left for college. He was always sketching weird characters as a child. I recently unearthed a detailed drawing he had made of a headless boy holding a large balloon and a drooping lollipop. I had the image embroidered on the sweatshirt. He was quite surprised. 

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Master pâtissier Cedric Grolet talks taste

The pastry chef Cedric Grolet loves his tattoos, snowboarding in the Alps and Tahitian vanilla

My personal style signifiers are tattoos, Nike sneakers, and oversized T-shirts, often with a lot of colour because that reflects my personality. I think a casual style – and being comfortable in the kitchen – is the way to go. The tattoos serve as special souvenirs from the places I’ve been. I started getting them when I was younger whenever I went on a trip – such as my sleeve, which is in the Māori style, from Tahiti. I also have tattoos that reflect my work, such as the rolling of dough or the fruit trees that inspire my creations.

The last thing I bought and loved was a special birthday dinner for friends in Bali. We ate delicious burgers on the beach with our feet in the sand. The best souvenir I’ve brought home are vanilla beans from Tahiti. These beans are so floral, and I’ve developed several new pastries for my bakery Cédric Grolet Opéra and Le Meurice. I like to use one main ingredient – for example, my Vanilla Flower cake is a mix of vanilla ganache, vanilla almond biscuit, vanilla milk jam and vanilla cream. And my Vanilla Bean is a trompe-l’oeil pastry that you cut into to reveal a variety of textures.

The best book I’ve read in the past year is Les Lapins Ne Mangent Pas De Carottes (Rabbits Don’t Eat Carrots) by journalist Hugo Clément, which looks at climate change and biodiversity. I also published my own book this year, Flowers. It took me more than a year to complete, so it’s been incredible to see it come to fruition.  In my fridge you’ll always find water and fresh fruits and vegetables. I’m very careful about my health and what I eat, so I tend towards unprocessed things. I like to have fresh juices in the morning, especially pineapple juice, so I always have that on hand. If I’m in London, working at my patisserie at The Berkeley, however, I’ll usually just wait until I get to their kitchens, as the juice there is amazing.

My style icon is the New York-based artist Daniel Arsham. I love his art, film and architecture work – and his subject matter, which is often in a state of decay. And then his personal style – the way he wears workwear clothing, and even his sneakers… it all just works. The festive tradition I most look forward to is returning home to my family for the holidays. Once we’re all together again, we just chill out for four straight hours and eat bread and drink hot chocolate. It’s a delicious and simple time, but it’s about connection. It’s also when we like to have the special bûches de Noël cakes of my childhood. 

I don’t listen to podcasts because I am very focused on my work and, although I know that TV, social media and podcasts are great sources of knowledge, I prefer not to be influenced by other people’s ideas.

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