Hospitality is a woman's business.
The Stanza turns 2.
Hello everyone, happy Friday.
Yesterday was the two year anniversary of The Stanza. “Stanza” means “room” in Italian, and I started this newsletter with the intention of making my readers feel like they’re in the right room. Throughout my real estate investing career, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to work for giants who allowed me to be privy to conversations in board rooms that you’d only imagine in movies. Something that is unique to real estate investing is that you can be an entrepreneur competing in an institutional arena, in which you could potentially develop the stomach to take on 8 or even 9-figure risk. The characters, places, and stories that are engraved onto my frontal lobe have inspired me to tell stories about deals and all the emotions that come with them…
It’s been an eventful week and I’m truly feeling the pre-August summer rush.
On Monday, I met with Francesco Ragazzi at the office of the fragrance brand he co-founded with Pietro Ruffini, Reservation Parfums. If those names sound familiar, it’s because Francesco founded Palm Angels, which was part of New Guards Group, the fashion holdings company that also comprised Off White and was sold to Farfetch for $675M in 2019. I also shared the Reservation launch party during fashion week back in February:
Francesco, who sports an Ibizan tan and orange-tinted glasses, explained to me in a thick Italian accent that the premise of the collection is inspired by the stages of entering a hotel. With fragrance names such as “Suite 909”, and “Chambre Secrete”, I can appreciate the narrative-first approach. My personal favorites are Feu de Rose and Late Night, the latter of which I can see as being their winning fragrance. If you’re in LA, you can smell the collection at Violet Grey, or if you’re in Milan, you can check it out at Antonia.
I had the pleasure of attending the launch of a collaboration between Sveva’s Home and Duggan Society in a stunning apartment filled with Renaissance art and frescoes in the middle of Rome. Sveva Clavarino produces beautiful tableware, all made by Italian artisans. Some of her ceramics have cheeky sayings - like this ashtray that says “I never repeat gossip so listen carefully”. It was an elegant summer evening that made me feel like I was in a Whit Stillman movie. Guests wore “jungle-themed” cocktail attire (I wore a pastel sage green Y2K Cavalli gown), and enjoyed a Roman feast that included caviar, zucchini flowers, bucatini alla Nerano, and watermelon gelato. As a finishing touch, we were gifted a fragrance from Acqua di Parma, just in time for the summer holidays.
The title of this newsletter is inspired by my meeting with Marie-Louise Sciò at her office in Rome yesterday. Pellicano Hotels is one of the few independent hospitality groups doing business with creative integrity. She was fresh off a plane from London and greeted me wearing a black Pleats Please top, hair pulled back in a ponytail, and 3 earrings on each lobe. Everyone knows Marie-Louise for her impeccable taste, but what stood out to me in our meeting is her shrewd sensibility, one that can only be developed from being a woman in a male-dominated business. That’s all I can say for now :)
Thank you to Madeleine Schulz at Vogue Business for including me in this article about millennial luxury shopping habits.
Thank you to everyone who shared their feedback on my interview with Amar Lalvani. I think this interview will resonate with several of you who are investment professionals that have paid their dues at institutional funds and are thinking about next entrepreneurial steps.
In today’s newsletter: Aman’s latest unexpected fashion collab, fashion tech but make it wearable, McResorts in America, and more…
