Luxury watch brand TAG Heuer has opened the first new-style flagship store in Westfield’s £1.6 billion shopping centre in west London. This is the prestigious Swiss watchmaker’s second London venture, and follows its UK debut in 2001 with a flagship store in Brook Street in London’s West End.

After its landmark design of the TAG Heuer 360 degree Museum in Switzerland, the Swiss watchmaker invited Paris-based Carbonale to create a unique shopping experience with a new boutique concept. The new 120 square-metre store, which can be seen from afar thanks to the vast exterior made of brushed and bronze-lacquered steel, is the eye-catching result.

The new style boutique model will be used next in Singapore, and then in several other world cities where the brand has a presence. TAG Heuer describes the Westfield flagship store as a new shopping experience but whether or not it will be enough to draw in the shoppers as life gets tough for retailers only time will tell.

This year the champagne house Laurent Perrier has taken the somewhat unusual step of choosing a landscape garden designer for their prestigious Show Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show who has never ‘not ever’ gardened with flowers.

But first time Chelsea designer Luciano Giubbilei, whose work is characterised by simple, clean symmetrical lines, is adapting his style a little to fit more into the Chelsea tradition – there will even be the odd black iris or two – although his design will still be a “slightly more formal than previous Laurent Perrier gardens.”

The 2009 show garden will be a peaceful, contemplative garden that relaxes and draws the viewer in through a series of composed and visual axes. Framed within tiered evergreen hedges and trees, a monolithic stone wall displays an ethereal work of art by artist Nigel Hall.
Laurent Perrier has gained an enviable reputation for their designs at the Chelsea Flower Show, last year winning the sought-after Best Show Garden award with a design by Tom Stuart-Smith, as well as winning a coveted Gold medal for the past two years running.
No pressure on Giubbilei then.

Five things you never knew about dishy Doctor Matt Smith

He is the new sensation on the BBC, having just replaced David Tennant as the new Doctor Who. Although relatively unknown – his West End debut was in Swimming with Sharks alongside Christian Slater in 2007 – Matt Smith has caused a stir in the acting industry as he becomes the eleventh doctor of the series.

He was supposed to be a footballer. He did not go to drama school and only took up acting after hopes of making it as a footballer (he played professionally for Leicester City and Nottingham Forest youth teams) were dashed with a serious back injury. It was only after his teacher, Mr Hardingham, made him join the National Youth Theatre that his career as an actor was sealed.

He is intelligent. He was a former head boy at his local comprehensive, Northhampton School for Boys, and has studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia.

He is the youngest ever Doctor Who. At 26, he is three years younger than Peter Davison who signed up to play the part in 1981. Former Doctor Who star David Tennant reportedly said of his replacement: ‘As I begin the end of my connection to all of this, I do feel a bit of jealousy of Matt who’s just about to start and has got all of this ahead of him, and it’s a very exciting journey to go on.’

He’s sensitive. In his spare time he plays the piano and flute and reads a lot of poetry. Favourites are Carol Anne Duffy’s Rapture, which documents the highs and lows of a sexual relationship.

His Doctor will be cheeky. Expect a fresh interpretation of the lead part from this whipper-snapper. He has spoke with delight of ‘the sense of mischief’ he got when he found out he’d been cast as the Doctor.

Brace yourselves fashionistas; the unflattering fashions of the eighties are making a comeback. And if flashbacks of stone washed denim and Dr Martens don’t make you recoil in horror, then this summer could be your season. 

We’ve already seen (and sampled) the rise of the skinny jean so all you’ll need now to complete the throwback is a batwing jumper, a garish hair band and a set of sturdy shoulder pads.

But for those of you too young to remember other statements that made the decade so memorable, here are a few of the trends that will be enjoying a resurgence this Spring/Summer; leg-warmers, ripped jeans, head bands, jelly shoes, non matching earrings (think Pretty in Pink), Spandex leggings, polka dots, parachute trousers (think Mc Hammer), blue eyeliner, lashings of pink lipstick and cycling shorts under ra-ra skirts.

And of course, all of this must be worn while Bananarma blares on the stereo, Cyndi Lauper posters adorn the wall and re-runs of Dallas and Dynasty play on your television. 

Enjoy.

A new painting of boxer Ricky ‘The Hitman’ Hatton by accredited artist Lee Jones will be on display next month at The Arts Club in Mayfair’s Dover Street. The painting is part of a series of edgy real paintings titled Beyond Human where athletes are shown as superhuman beings with their vital body parts transforming into Terminator-esque limbs.

Limited editions of the paintings (there are only 100 available prints) signed by Hatton and Jones are now available at www.2050sports.com for £15 each, with a percentage of all sales donated to Hatton’s charity of choice. Other prints in the series include Olympic cycling gold medallist Victoria Pendleton and 2008’s Sport’s personality of the year Chris Hoy. In both paintings the cyclists’ forearms and legs have been morphed into metallic appendages.