© one leicester street - right in the heart of london's chinatown

london has not shortage of stylish lodgings, and the number of establishments that cater to design-conscious travelers is ever increasing. the latest opening to have caught our eye is one leicester street, a newly opened hotel + restaurant concept of singaporean entrepreneur peng loh and acclaimed chef tom harris. the 15-room propertry is situated in the heart of london's chinatown and is the first european outpost of the unlisted collection of boutique hotels and restaurants. one leicester street's interior design has been concocted by london-based universal design studio and features rooms in a clean contemporary style. walls and ceilings are lined in slats of white-washed timber, and the setting is complemented by carefully selected custom furnishings and high-end fixtures. obviously, they come with all the modern amenities, such as a flat-screen tv, a dvd player and free wireless internet.

heightening the sense of luxe are the range of complimentary bath amenities from penhaligon's, a classic british fragrance house. on the ground floor the property features a very stylish all day and late night bar and lounge, decorated in deep blues and grays. the colour scheme extends, albeit somewhat tweaked, to the restaurant at one leicester street, a relaxing dining space with black ash timber dining chairs, paired with pristine white tablecloths and bespoke-designed copper pendant lights. the place not only serves breakfast and brunch, but also lunch and dinner. offering the very best of british produce, harris presents the latter two in a daily changing menu and allows guests to share smaller and larger dishes and step outside the more traditional starter, main course and dessert format. an outside terrace, shielded by a victorian awning, allows al fresco dining while also offering passers by a proper coffee and bite pitstop location. location: 1 leicester street [chinatown].

© one leicester street - our kind of place

© études - cover of bryan dooley's new book

études is a design studio based founded in 2002 by aurélien arbet and jérémy égry. based in paris and new york, the venture is the successive merging of contemporary menswear brand hixsept and publishing house jsbj, and continues to produce men’s fashion, artist books while also offering creative services to third parties. études has had a book launch at colette earlier this month, introducing six new publications by paul kooiker, colin snapp, bryan dooley, nicolas hosteing, nicolai howalt and daniel everett. a related exhibition, featuring photo prints of these books can still be viewed at the store [on through jun 6]. location: 213 rue st.-honoré [st.-honoré].

© études - spreads from bryan dooley's new book

© semi-permanent - look who's on stage...

founded in sydney a decade ago, semi-permanent established itself as a leader in presentations and exhibitions throughout the creative world, and has become something of a fixture for the creative community across the planet. this year's edition kicks off at sydney's convention & exhibition centre on may 24-25. as a creative platform semi-permanent aims to spread art and design inspiration by bringing together a panel of exceptionally talented, globally renowned speakers. as always, the program is anchored by a conference, in addition to a slew of exhibitions, competitions, workshops and parties going on as well.

it’s pretty much a week-long celebration of all things design, from graphic design, film and art, to illustration, web design, photography, visual effects, animation, graffiti and more. invited speakers for the sydney edition include march studio's rodney eggleston and laure cavigneaux, saturdays nyc's colin tunstall, morgan collett and josh rosen, perks and mini, illustrator sandra dieckmann and claudio palmisano. click [here] to purchase tickets. semi-permanent's next event will be held in auckland on may 30-jun 1. sydney location: convention & exhibition centre, darling drive [darling harbour].

© semi-permanent - browsing the program

© différentes lattitudes - a black façade that signals a promise of minimalist chic

after establishing différentes latitudes, a distribution label for independent perfume brands, owner david froissart has opened up shop to cater directly to those in search of an olfactory sensation. called liquides, the boutique is tucked away in a quiet street of the upper marais area. a glazed black façade - featuring the boutqie's name in gold lettering - signals a promise of minimalist chic from afar, and this is fully redeemed when stepping inside. designer philippe di méo has stripped the compact retail space of superfluous features, creating a new décor of exposed wooden beams, white walls and a polished concrete floor.

a box-shaped perfume bar, constructed from shiny brass, mirrors and black lacquered wood forms the center piece and adds a glamourous touch. the myriad of bottled merchandise is reflected in a hall of mirrors and this play of light and reflections sets free the liquids’ glow and creates an additional kaleidoscope of gold and silver. the liquides boutique carries an exclusive range of men's and women's artisanal perfumes, including parfum d'empire, byredo, olfactive studio, fornasetti and arquiste. fancy a new fragrance? location: 9 rue de normandie [marais].

© différentes lattitudes - inside the store

in a city as compact as hong kong, you might think finding everything would be easy. well, it's not! hong kong is an epic hyperconsumeristic maze. there is so much packed into a few square kilometres that you can easily get sucked into certain shopping malls and get lost for weeks. as with all superfuture urban guides we aim to filter out the majority of destination options to give global shopping experts a heavily curated selection of the more interesting establishments. not only do we cover fashion and food, but also art, design, clubs, hotels and more. like our PDF superguides, this iphone app focuses on geographical city zones where interesting retail is clustered. to assist in your navigation, our custom offline gps maps mean you don't need to have your phone on data roaming to know where you are located. please note that this launch hong kong iphone app version 1.0 is a beta and we expect to have a revised version uploaded in a week or so to address some minor iphone 5 specific layout adjustments. you can purchase the hong kong iphone app at the itunes store and can get future updates whenever we upload them. if you happen to be in town next week [may 23 - 26] for art basel hong kong we'd like to think this will help you get around!

© experimental beach / photography: ana lui - can you picture yourself here? we certainly can.

after enticing savvy crowds in new york city, london and paris with a signature hospitality concept, pierre-charles cros, olivier bon, romée de goriainoff and xavier padovani take their experimental cocktail club to sunny mediterranean shores. appropriately dubbed experimental beach, this summer's place to be opens today on the party island of ibiza. similar to the previous set-ups, it's all about simple unpretentious service, exquisite decorum and a savvy blend of exceptional food and cocktails, basically all the ingredients for debaucheries of the fabulous kind. the resort-like setting of experimental beach - located just south of the tranquil ses salinas nature reserve - has been designed by dorothée meilichzon, the mastermind behind the group’s previous bars. the designer whipped up a stylish party environment that takes cues from the island's 1960s hippy chic and blended in elements of contemporary understatement, all captured in a warm palette of pastel and muted hues.

experimental beach is very much an ode to the good life and what's on the menu merely reflects this hedonist approach. chef gerard ortiz arlandis is a native of the island and as such his culinary expertise is a natural extension of his fisherman's a skills. expect to find plenty of tasty marine delicacies, matched with a list of no less than 150 spanish and international wines picked by a renowned sommelier. do we hear you say cocktails? check! expert bartenders inko garat and peter hanmer from the experimental cocktail club venues in paris and london, have concocted a special cocktail menu with a spectacular range of signature drinks that celebrate the summer season. and similar to the city venues, the fun doesn't stop at sunset. experimental beach will regularly host local and international deejays to spice things up in the evening, but you might as well opt to leisurely enjoy that sunset - which manifests spectacularly here... - while sipping your cocktail of choice. location: playa d’es codolar [ses salinas].

© experimental beach / photography: ana lui - beach bliss

© special request - cover of issue #1

special request is a new quarterly culture journal based in london. led by founder and creative director paul sethi and editor-in-chief thomas viney, the magazine minutely dissects contemporary culture and zooms in on the bits that make it up. well, obviously only the interesting ones. with this critical approach special request looks at the entire human experienc piece by piece, subjecting it to a revealing analysis by some of the planet's finest minds. special request's launch issue is dedicated to the culture of food, and featuring a series of essays, editorials, interviews and stories that revolve around food one way or another.

who's in it? a rather eclectic number of people, including john c. reilly, daisy lowe, coolio, sam lipsyte and florence welch. and to keep it real and tasty, it'll also feature contributions by british culinary mavens such as margot henderson of rochelle canteen, viajante's nuno mendes and brett redman of elliott's. the magazine has a circulation of 2,500 copies and will be available at select stores in the u.k. and abroad. mind you, to celebrate the launch of special request a related exhibition opens at mach schau gallery in soho on wed - may 22. location: mach schau, kingly court, second floor [soho].

© special request - spreads from the inaugural food issue

© nudie jeans

© tuomas uusheimo - dining room and open kitchen

located on the second floor of an industrial building in downtown stockholm that once belonged to the municipal electricity company, restaurant farang has caused somewhat of a stir in the city's hospitality since it opened. and the reason is simple: sumptuous food is being served in a well-designed contemporary setting. the restaurant is owned by chefs kim öhman, tomi björck and matti wikberg who had already opened an eponymous establishment in helsinki four years ago. the new venture in the swedish capital occupies an expansive space of no less than 700 sqm. [7,535 sq.ft.], designed by finnish design practice futudesign. the industrial character of the interior has largely been retained while refurbishments have been executed with materials such as wood, steel and concrete that are compatible and add up to creating a sleek yet welcoming atmosphere.

but the industrial foundation of farang's acquired splendour has wisely been kept very visible. while the dining hall is able to accommodate 160 guests, the separate bar + lounge section can accommodate another 60. farang meaning foreigner in the thai language, the restaurant's cuisine combines the rich palette of flavours and foods of not only thailand, but also vietnam, malaysia and indonesia. similar to tradion in southeast asia, the dishes served at farang are meant to be shared, hence the restaurant is void of any formal rigidity. and as good food requires matching drinks, these come in a selection of fine wines, cocktails and even a variety of asian beers. location: tulegatan 7 [norrmalm].

© tuomas uusheimo - dining room, bar + lounge [top to bottom]

© bwgh / photography: karl hab - the brand's first retail venture

contemporary menswear brand brooklyn we go hard has entered the retail arena for the very first time with a pop-up store in their homebase paris. the temporary retail space is located at cité de la mode et du design or informally dubbed les docks, a newly established creative hub along the seine river. the shop interior is basic with concrete walls covered in a deep shade of blue and utility pipes exposed overhead. furnishings are sparse but carefully sourced to both match the spartan surroundings and add a soft edge at the same time. so, what's on the shelves? all the american streetwear-insoired items from brooklyn we go hard's s/s 2013 collection [open through sep 30]. location: 34 quai d'austerlitz, ground floor [salpêtrière].

© bwgh / photography: karl hab - concrete and deep blue