Words Eddi Feigel
Photos Tiziano Niero

FOR FASHION DESIGNER TWINS DANIELA AND ANNETTE FELDER, collectively known as Felder Felder, their work has always been as much about rock ’n’ roll as anything else. “Music changed our lives,” says Daniela, so it’s perhaps not surprising that their rock-chick styles have already been championed by the likes of Rihanna, Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine and even Gwyneth Paltrow.

With studded leather sitting alongside flirty, feminine, tie-dye dresses as well as more elegant, but eye-catching, tailored jackets, the musical influence is plain to see in the twins’ collections. So it was probably only a matter of time before they attracted the rock sorority. Their client list is nonetheless impressive, especially for a 30-something design duo who only launched their debut collection at London Fashion Week in 2008. But then, thanks to their earlier career as real-life models, the pair boast an almost equally impressive list of fashion-industry contacts with some of the major names in the industry on speed-dial.

Through the contacts they made in the fashion industry, they moved to London and secured internships with milliner-to-the-stars Stephen Jones and avant-garde designer Robert Cary-Williams. Shortly thereafter, they gained places at Central St Martins College of Art & Design – the famous breeding ground for many of the big names in fashion from John Galliano to Stella McCartney. Their clothes have been shot by Vogue, Elle and i-D and top international photographers like Mario Testino.

From the start, music was not just integral to their collections but also their catwalk shows. With a helping DJ hand from Annette’s then boyfriend (now husband) Arthur Baker – the renowned American music producer of New Order, Afrika Bambaata et al, the pair staged their debut show at London celebrity hang-out The Met Bar, accompanied by a performance by hip New York pop-rapper Princess Superstar.

Since then the music for their shows has become almost as talked about as their collections, thanks to specially commissioned performances by singer and daughter of Sting, Coco Sumner, as well as New Order guitarist Peter Hook and Scottish indie band Mogwai.

So why has music always been so important to the twins? The answer lies in their childhood in the sleepy German town of Wipperfürth near Cologne. Perhaps because of growing up in this small-town environment, where, as Daniela explains, “pretty much nothing was happening”, or in spite of it, the twins were captivated by rock ’n’ roll from the start. With little local entertainment to distract them, they set about exploring their father’s extensive record collection and were soon smitten by both the sound and look of The Doors, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. Mixing these visual styles with the 90s grunge aesthetic of Nirvana and The Smashing Pumpkins, who they also loved, they started expressing their new-found tastes through eclectic, outré outfits that brought a punk mix-and-match sensibility to a look that they call “early 90s grunge-hippy”.

One outfit consisted of their mother’s purple velvet, gold-embroidered bathrobe worn over velvet flares with bare feet and an Indian bindi decoration on their forehead. “It was fantastic,” they tell me, amid peals of laughter. It was all a bit much, however, for the staid residents of Wipperfürth, who had probably never seen anything quite like it. “It was a nightmare,” says Daniela, or Dani, as she introduces herself in the hip London bar where the three of us meet. “Thinking out of the box and dressing differently. Now the people there are very supportive and fans, but back then they just thought we were not quite right. We were pretty much outsiders.”

If anarchic rebellion was their stance then, it is still very much an integral part of the Felder Felder look. The collections have clearly struck a chord with women who want clothes that are edgy but grown-up and elegant at the same time. “The typical Felder Felder woman has a certain attitude which she likes to express in her clothing,” explains Annette who, as the elder twin, strangely, does indeed come across as the slightly more circumspect and less ebullient, of the two. “She’s a free spirit who likes to be a bit wild too. Our clothes are about the right attitude, not about age.”

At 5ft 11in, with long blonde hair and saucer-like blue eyes, the sisters make a striking duo. When we meet, they are wearing the pair’s trademark brass- studded leather belts with co-ordinated separates – Dani in grey and Annette in black, combined with their own-design tailored jackets. The bond between the two of them is clear as they finish each other’s sentences and expand on stories like a married couple. So was there ever a possibility of them working separately?

“We didn’t ever think of another option,” laughs Dani. “Whenever Annette said she wanted to do something like go travelling, I wanted to do that too! Whatever it was, it always seemed like we just naturally wanted to do the same thing!”

On a day-to-day basis, they now each handle slightly different aspects of the design process, with Dani overseeing the draping and cut of the pieces, while Annette designs their successful accessories range and takes care of marketing. However, they always share final decisions.

“When you are twins, you cannot lie to each other,” says Dani. “Whenever the other doesn’t really approve of something, you know. And then there’s no way you’re going be happy with the result, so you question it and try for something better. That’s really important. There has to be complete approval from both of us, otherwise a piece won’t go into the collection.”

Theirs is clearly a shared vision and one that has already proved a hit internationally with their clothes stocked in top stores and boutiques from London, New York and Milan to Cologne and Moscow. They have also already started extending the brand.

In 2010, they designed the sassy-but-classy staff uniforms for the latest branch of London’s A-list eatery Nobu Berkeley ST (rapper Jay-Z was so impressed, he asked one of the waiters where he got his uniform). They also recently translated their upmarket punk vision into interiors with the design of a show flat in London’s new Henson Building in Camden.

The interiors project in particular sits perfectly with the twins’ plans for the future. “Our biggest goal is to build a lifestyle brand,” they explain. “That’s why this project was great. Eventually, we want to have our own store with clothes and furniture, where people can get the complete Felder Felder look. That’s the long-term plan. It might sound ambitious but you have to start somewhere.”

Indeed you do, and with Annette and Dani’s sophisticated mix of goth glam and unfussy good taste, it’s unlikely to take them too long.

WORDS | MARK HODGKINSON

BLONDE BUT NOT BLAND, CAROLINE WOZNIACKI might just be the only professional tennis player of modern times to have apologised for having a sense of humour. It was during January’s Australian Open that she joked the reason she had been playing with a plaster on her shin was that, while walking in Melbourne, she had been scratched by a kangaroo – which is akin to saying that she had been attacked by a Womble on the Common during the Wimbledon fortnight.

That was the afternoon in Australia that Wozniacki showed her creative side, and it was worth remembering that her hometown in Denmark, Odense, is also the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen. Wozniacki, the first Danish tennis player to hold the world number-one ranking, had imagined that everyone would realise she was only kidding about being set upon by a kangaroo. Just a little later she was horrified to see the international wire services were transmitting stories about the scuffle. So she gave a press conference, offering embarrassed smiles, apologies and the explanation that she had sustained the injury when she had “a blonde moment” in the gym and walked into a treadmill. Only the po-faced would have found anything to be angry about, given that many professional athletes have had much of the life and personality media-coached out of them.

Even when not discussing Australia’s marsupials, she has interesting stories to tell. Most tennis blondes would flick their ponytails in annoyance if anyone dared to compare them to the now discredited Anna Kournikova, yet Wozniacki, known in Denmark as “the princess of tennis”, has disclosed that as a kid she wanted to be just like Anna K. Although Kournikova never won a grand-slam tournament, one of the four biggest titles in tennis, Wozniacki would think how glamorous the Russian looked in her commercials, and would dream of one day having her own glossy endorsement deals.

These days Wozniacki has plenty, including being the only player on the tour who models Stella McCartney’s tennis clothes. At the US Open one year, she made the sort of cheeky remark about her skimpy skirt that you would have once expected of Kournikova: “I’m sure I’ll have some male fans now.” It would be wrong, though, to think of her as an Anna K clone, as there is every chance she will end up winning a grand-slam singles title.

Plus, and this is a telling point, Kournikova also never had the assistance of a prince. The story of how Wozniacki became world number one must mention Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark and how the heir to the Danish throne helped to pay for her tennis education. When Wozniacki was a child, Prince Frederik was so convinced by her talent that he gave her money to help cover her training and travel expenses. It is unlikely that he imagined, when he handed her that cheque, that she would ever be ranked higher than Serena Williams. “The Prince had heard that I had talent and could become a good player, and when I was 13, he helped me by investing in my career,” recalls Wozniacki, who this month plays two of the most important tournaments after the grand slams, one in California and one in Florida.

One consequence of Wozniacki becoming the world number one is that the paparazzi now follow her everywhere. “It’s quite funny and, if this is the worst thing that comes with being number one in the world, I’m fine with it,” says Wozniacki, who supports Liverpool football club.

Another consequence is that there have been snide remarks that she can’t be a true number one if she hasn’t won a grand slam. Though she reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open, which was the first grand slam she played as the number one, and she had a match point against Li Na, she would lose in three sets to her Chinese opponent. Perhaps it will happen for her at this season’s French Open, Wimbledon or US Open.

“People are always going to have opinions, but I’m proud of what I achieved. I’m only 20, so I have time to be a grand-slam champion,” says Wozniacki. “Serena [Williams] sent me a text congratulating me on becoming world number one, which was nice of her, and lots of other players have said, ‘well done’. It feels good to have my name at the top of the rankings, as that was always my dream. I know I can get better as a tennis player.”

bmi flies to two destinations from three UK airports. Fly to Copenhagen from Glasgow and Edinburgh, and to Esbjerg from Aberdeen. For more information and to book flights, visit flybmi.com

“LET’S GO INSIDE BECAUSE IT’S MUCH COSIER,” says Willie Harcourt-Cooze, as he unlocks the chocolate factory he built in a converted chicken shed in Devon almost five years ago. Inside the machinery noise is ear-splitting but the smell is fantastic. The rangy 47-year-old with wild black hair is raving about 20 kilos of Sierra Leonean chocolate in his conch refiner (a machine that heats and grinds cocoa solids). “I built the factory from scratch. It cost me just £3,000,” he says. “Normally I’m here by 7am. I’ve been roasting like billy-o all week. I am tested to my limits right now. I definitely need to find a more harmonious balance but it’s hard to stop because I love it.”

Today, he’s alone in the factory – the few staff he does employ don’t work weekends. Despite becoming something of a celebrity following the Channel 4 series, Willie’s Wonky Chocolate Factory, which traced his adventures from Venezuelan farm to Devonshire factory, Willie is very hands-on.

The temperature inside the factory reminds Harcourt-Cooze of his adopted homeland Venezuela, especially late at night when he puts on Latino CDs and dances around the hefty Victorian machinery. After several years travelling, Willie bought the 1,000-acre Hacienda El Tesoro in 1995 with his wife Tania. The farm is situated in cloud forest, part of the Henri Pittier National Park near the Caribbean.

On the land grow ancient Chuao cacao trees, the beans of which can be made into chocolate so good that gourmets’ choice Valrhona buy from the farm next door. In this romantic setting, the couple started making chocolate and having children – Sophia, now 12, and Willie, 10. The locals were seduced by the cute kids and smell of roasting cacao drifting down the valley.

However, when the economic climate changed with the election of Hugo Chávez in 1998 and the children approached school age, they reluctantly headed back to the UK but kept the farm. Little Evie, now seven, was born and Willie built the chocolate factory on a Devon industrial estate. He now produces nine 100 percent cacao Venezuelan black dark chocolate bars and five other chocolate bars, using beans from his farm and other sources, which he sells at his own online shop and high-end stockists such as Harvey Nichols. His quest for decent beans means he returns to Venezuela several times a year, for the harvest and to meet farmers. The Venezuelans love Harcourt-Cooze – two of his chocolate bars were given to dignitaries at the Independence Day celebrations at their London Embassy.

Harcourt-Cooze’s journey might seem intrepid, but he’s simply following his father’s example. His dad bought Horse Island in Roaring Water Bay off the west coast of Ireland when Harcourt-Cooze was three. “His dream was to create a self-sufficient idyll for my mother, my four sisters and me.” Every day they’d travel there from their farmhouse on the mainland in an 18-foot punt.

Harcourt-Cooze fished, foraged for oysters and kept bees for honey. “I never stopped; none of us did,” he says. “We were passionate about living off the land and living seasonally. Now everyone has gone back to local seasonal produce but that’s how it was when I grew up.”

Not only did this lifestyle give Harcourt-Cooze the skills he needed to revamp the farm in Venezuela but also inspired an evangelical passion for organic produce. “Everything should be organic and if you’re not, you should be licensed as non-organic. Things like trans-fats should never have been allowed into food. Of course, I realise things have to be brought to marketplace at an affordable cost, but there’s got to be a happy medium.” He’s applied the idea to chocolate by producing a high-quality affordable £3 bar sold in Waitrose, Selfridges and delicatessens. He says that some companies are cheaper because they compromise taste by reducing cacao content and adding higher quantities of sugar and fat, creating confectionery rather than chocolate. Their bars are a couple of quid, but when you look on the back you see they’ve swapped cocoa butter for milk fat. That’s a classic industry trick.”

Harcourt-Cooze is optimistic that he can convert the British palate. Marlena, one of his employees, has stopped bringing her daily bar of Dairy Milk to work and now eats his chocolate. “We’ve become more conscious about our food and what’s in it,” he says. And he claims that cacao is full of nutrients, vitamins and antioxidants, plus theobromine, a healthier version of caffeine.

His life may seem exotic, but it hasn’t been easy. During his A levels, he was stabbed by a gang on Portobello Road. “I remember hearing the sirens, then I lost consciousness. The blade had missed my lung, but only just. I was lucky.” In Venezuela he contracted meningitis and was hospitalised again. Anyone who watched the Channel 4 series will have seen him battling with his work/family balance, the breakdown of old machinery and financial pressures, plus a whole shipment of his beans went astray. He continues to worry about shipping beans safely because if he loses them, then he can’t maintain the line. Right now he’s in the middle of a stressful divorce – he split from Tania in May 2010 – and has been lumbered with all the roasting after his assistant left three months ago. “I’m roasting two tonnes a week. Every kilo you roast, you lift five times. That’s too much physical exercise for anyone, I’ve never been so fit.”

Fortunately, Harcourt-Cooze doesn’t have to look far for a pick-me-up, describing the hot chocolate he makes with 100 percent cacao as “rocket fuel. You don’t want more than two cups a day”. On top of that, he’s constantly tasting and eats about 200g chocolate a day. Suffice to say, he loves the stuff.

His latest book, Willie’s Chocolate Bible, sees him put cacao in everything from tagliatelli to Chinese belly of pork (made with pigs reared on cacao waste). While this might sound peculiar, Willie uses it like a condiment and swears the only thing it doesn’t work in is white sauce (and not just because it turns it brown).

There are plenty more conventional recipes in the book like Chocolate, Hazelnut and Espresso Cake and a soufflé recipe donated by Marco Pierre White. After Harcourt-Cooze’s dad sold the farm when he was in his late teens, he met Marco in west London – “he was the other big guy at the end of the bar in Pucci” (a west- London hang-out). They’ve remained friends: “Marco’s going through a divorce too, only worse. Bless him.”

Travel is very high on his agenda and he recently visited Sierra Leone, working with the aid agencies and farmers on the cacao plantations and helping them by buying beans. “The war stopped 10 years ago and the cacao plantations had grown out of control because all the youth had moved to the cities. It was too much for the old people. I’ve got some sexy ideas for Sierra Leone. I might take some South American

strains and hybrid them into existing plantations.” While South American beans are considered to be the premier cru, he’s keen to sample cacao from everywhere. “I need to be progressive about my bean ambition and go east next year, exploring places like Papua New Guinea and the Soloman Islands.”

He believes in building personal relationships with his suppliers and visiting his markets (he sells in South Africa, Germany, Sweden, Australia and Singapore). “I’ve just done a deal with farmers in north Peru. Previously I bought through a broker. Now I can meet them and they can taste the chocolate and tell me whether we should ferment the beans more. Other companies employ testers, but for me these unadulterated palates are invaluable.”

In future he thinks we’ll be sniffing chocolate like fine wine. “Haciendas like La Joya run by Doña Clara in Mexico have already gained great recognition. She commands $10,000 for a tonne of beans. Famous chocolatiers like Pierre Marcolini buy from her.”

And like viniculture, all Harcourt-Cooze’s bars name the bean variety and where it was grown. Cacao beans have distinct flavours and need treating accordingly. The Sierra Leone beans he’s conching at the moment have a malty profile, which he thinks might work with an added natural flavour (something he hasn’t tried before). However, only his family know about his Willy Wonka-like experimentation. “I get the kids every couple of weekends and we play around with chocolate. I have to be careful what I tell you – it’s secret work.” Willie’s Chocolate Bible is published by Hodder & Stoughton, £25

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WORDS | ANNA CHAPMAN
PHOTOS | TIZIANO NIERO

THERE’S A PRISTINE WHITE TAKEAWAY RESTAURANT on Islington’s desirable Upper Street called Ottolenghi and it’s a shrine to the sweet potato and mighty aubergine. Visible through the window is a shimmering crate of lucky Romano red peppers and jewelled couscous destined to appear on one of the platters of heavenly spiced salad. By the till are billowing nutty meringues and dreamy lemon polenta cakes that will be munched by a star-studded clientele – one half of the rock band Franz Ferdinand plus children are seated on the primary-coloured Verner Panton chairs, knocking elbows with North London hipsters at the communal table when we meet patron chef Yotam Ottolenghi.

“I love ballsy ingredients from the Middle East,” says the immaculately turned-out 46-year-old, gesturing at today’s produce, which includes courgettes and tomatoes livened up with mint and lemon on a bed of couscous and freekeh (cracked green wheat). “When we opened Ottolenghi we didn’t have a vision. We just said we’d cook fresh food every day. But I think subconsciously we were trying to visually emulate the souk where things are piled up and displayed in abundance.” It’s a formula that has worked well – there are now four Ottolenghi shops in London with a new brasserie, Nopi, opening in Soho this month.

Lean and lithe, the Italian-Israeli journalist-turned- restaurateur doesn’t look like a typical chef. Despite being the one with his surname above the door – “Alex the designer thought it sounded catchy and mysterious” – Ottolenghi started the business with financial whizz Noam Bar, chef friend Sami Tamimi and money from their friends and relatives.

Ottolenghi lives in Ladbroke Grove with his Northern-Irish partner of 10 years, Karl Allan. He opened the first Ottolenghi in Notting Hill in 2002 and revolutionised lunch by placing vegetables at the centre of the meal. “It seemed like a novel approach. Rather than putting vegetables in the background, we moved them into the foreground,” he explains. Thanks to a strong Middle-Eastern influence (Tamimi and Ottolenghi were both born in Jerusalem, Tamimi is of Palestinian- and Ottolenghi of Israeli descent), they were naturally drawn to creating punchy salads made from vegetables, seeds and spices. “It may sound like a cliché, but I love exotic food from places like the Middle East or India, where there is a lot of sunshine. You can see it in the food, the strong, fresh flavours.”

Situated near The Guardian’s former offices, the lavish food displays of the Islington Ottolenghi caught the eye of newspaper staff who commissioned him to write a weekly column called the New Vegetarian in 2006. On the back of this, he published Ottolenghi: The Cookbook in 2008 to a worldwide rave response. It was even translated into Hebrew, which made his parents proud, “To have someone do well in Europe is an achievement.”

Writing comes naturally to Ottolenghi. He grew up in 70s Jerusalem, following the ethnic divide of 1968, with very European parents. He was a studious child who was more interested in eating than cooking, and it was assumed he would follow his father, a lecturer, into academia. He financed his masters in philosophy with sub-editing shifts on the daily Israeli paper Haaretz and was all set to embark on a doctorate when doubts crept in. ‘I didn’t really like it. It was stressful, isolated.’ When his then partner moved to London, Ottolenghi followed him.

Inspired by his childhood passion for food, Ottolenghi enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu cookery school and fell in love with life in the kitchen. It wasn’t easy – he lasted only three months at the two Michelin-starred The Capital restaurant and didn’t enjoy the mass production lines at Maison Blanc. But he had better luck as a pastry chef at Launceston Place. The seeds for Ottolenghi were sown when he met Tamimi at the Knightsbridge deli Baker & Spice who offered to finance the project.

The timing was fortuitous because it coincided with a trend for healthy eating, which saw many Londoners reject stomach-bloating wheat, greasy meat and their staple office lunch: the soggy sandwich. However, unlike the Jamie Oliver crew, Ottolenghi is not preachy about healthy food. “People choose to eat less meat now or go vegetarian for ethical or environmental reasons because meat takes so much more energy to produce. If that interests you, that’s good. But I think you should make the choice yourself. Telling people what to do alienates them and I want to get people in, not push them out.” But like Jamie Oliver, he’s also had an impact on the nation’s eating habits. “I don’t want to be too presumptuous,” says Ottolenghi, “but I can take credit for the fact that everyone has meringues in their windows and that the Middle-Eastern spices I use in the book are now on supermarket shelves.”

Ottolenghi taps into our current obsession with artisan produce. Opening one of his takeaway boxes is akin to unwrapping a tissued offering from Net-a-Porter, another millennium success story. The white cardboard box is sealed with a flash of red tape bearing the Ottolenghi logo and inside is a similarly expensive gem, which looks gorgeous and will make you feel wonderful. No wonder Gwyneth Paltrow and co use his catering company for their dinner parties.

With all this success you’d think Ottolenghi would be opening everywhere. Not so, he says. “If I had a place in Manchester or Edinburgh I wouldn’t have confidence in the food that it produced because I wouldn’t be able to taste it often enough. Once you lose quality, the whole thing falls down.” So every day he hops into his hybrid Toyota Prius to sample the dishes in the different outlets – there are now also small branches in Kensington and Belgravia. Tamimi and Cornelia Staeubli, the general manager, share the chore, ensuring that everything on an Ottolenghi menu has been signed off.

They change the menu every month so that regular clients don’t get bored, but how many things can you do with a butternut squash? Plenty, it seems. Although he namechecks Marcella Hazan, Ruth and Rose from The River Café and Nigella as influences, he mainly finds inspiration by travelling. “I don’t take non-food holidays anymore. If you go to a place like Turkey or Morocco or Vietnam or Malaysia, they have a strong food culture on the street. There are a lot of secrets you can learn by eating a dish at the market, and this gives me ideas for nice flavour combinations.”

When Ottolenghi first started, he was responsible for the legendary hazelnut brownies, but these days his cooking is limited to his home kitchen in Ladbroke Grove, where he devises recipes for his Guardian column. He’s willing to share the tricks of his trade, however, and, along with Tamimi, teaches sell-out courses at Leiths School of Food and Wine. Inevitably a television show beckons, but his main concern right now is the new restaurant.

The Soho restaurant will ditch the winning Ottolenghi deli-cum-bakery formula of communal dining and food to go for an all-day, old-world-style brasserie, hence the new name. “It’ll look like a distant cousin of this place but a little bit more formal and comfortable,” says Ottolenghi. There will be napkins and tablecloths and altogether finer dining. With the launch scheduled for late January, Ottolenghi is in the process of creating menus and choosing serving dishes and cutlery. “It’s pure joy,” he says, although he admits there are long discussions and arguments between the creative team (as recounted on his blog). “You have freedom before a place opens as you have no obligations. We have the chance to do something different from what we’ve done before. It’s later on that the challenges will begin.”
Nopi, 21-22 Warwick Street, W1; www.ottlolenghi.co.uk

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Antwerp, Belgium

This tres-chic city has been bubbling away in the trend stakes for years, but it seems to be finally hitting the big time, thanks to the opening bijou boutique hotels, fashionable retailers and growing cafe culture. Imagine Paris meets Amsterdam, with a dash of Belgian savoir faire, and you get the idea. At just one hour from Brussels, this is the short break getaway that’ll astonish everyone from stylistas to families. Get to Antwerp by flying into Brussels, then it’s just one hour away by train.

Azerbaijan

Bordered by Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Iran and the Caspian Sea, this is one of those magical crossroads, where East meets West, geographically and ideologically. Although most people tick the Muslim box on forms, in fact, the majority of people in this secular state practise their religion as much as the Brits, which is to say, hardly at all. Until the 1990s war, Azerbaijan was popular with adventurous tourists, keen to see the country’s archaeological and geographical wonders, including the 6,000 rock engravings of Gobustan World Heritage Site, dating back to 40,000BC, vast, impressive mountains and architectural wonders. Now it’s no longer at war, it’s attracting huge international interest, from major political figures (US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has been visiting), to movie makers (Gérard Depardieu is starring in a film set in the country next year), to British footballers (Arsenal legend Tony Adams is now managing one of the country’s premier football teams). Fly with bmi to Baku in Azerbaijan.

Libya

After years on the blacklist, this country is making a comeback, inviting outsiders to rediscover its world-heritage wonders and scenic souks and old town. Roman and Greek ruins abound in the countryside, and cosmopolitan Tripoli is once again giving off an air of sophistication in its cafes, shops and nightspots. For the true explorer, this is one hotspot you won’t want to miss. Fly with bmi to Tripoli in Libya from February 2011.

Anyone who has been on a city break will have experienced this phenomenom at least once: aching feet from uncomfortable shoes. One innovative East London fashion company has provided some relief.

The stylish ballet pumps from Cocorose fold in half, to fit into the tiniest package, easy to tuck away into handbags or backpacks. In fact, they come within their own little self-contained wristbag, so if all you want to carry is the shoes, credit cards and cash, you won’t even need to take a full-sized bag. And when you slip off your blister-makers, Cocorose has helpfully provided a bag for those, too.

But how much pavement pounding can flimsy slippers take? A surprising amount. Unlike typical ballet shoes, these have relatively thick rubber soles, with some pain-relieving cushioning inside. While you wouldn’t want these to be your only shoes for a three-day city break, they’re stylish enough for nights on the town and robust enough to pound the pavements for an afternoon or two. And they’ll take up far less room in your luggage than evening shoes.

And if you’re gearing up for the party season, follow in the footsteps of female flight attendants, who totter through airports and greet passengers with their pretty heels on, then sneak off to slip on comfortable flats for the duration of the flight, with few people ever noticing the difference. So totter into that chic soiree for a showstopping arrival with your Louboutins or Choos, then sneak on the discreet Cocorose slippers once the party’s in full swing, and nobody will be the wiser.

Cocorose London, folding shoes from £30

Find them at stockists in Britain, or buy them online at www.cocoroselondon.com or  www.lovethoseshoes.com

1 – 5 DEC

ANY DAY NOW

For Ziggy Stardust fans, don’t miss Camden Proud gallery’s exhibition of David Bowie. The ‘Any Day Now’ – The London Years’ exhibition documents the music icon’s rise to fame before leaving the UK in 1974. www.proud.co.uk

2 – 5 DEC

MOTORCYCLE LIVE

Motorcycle Live is not just any motorshow – if it has two-wheels and an engine it’ll be here, and if you hav French multimedia artist Philippe Parreno uses sound, film and performance as he guides you through his astounding first UK exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in London. www.serpentinegallery.org

3 DEC – 9 JAN

DIOR ILLUSTRATED

London’s Somerset House celebrates the work of fashion illustrator, René Gruau. The creative mind behind some of the most evocative fashion images of the 20th century – including vintage sketches, perfume bottles and Dior couture dresses. www.somersethouse.org.uk

7 DEC – 2 JAN

DAZZLE

Fashionistas form an orderly queue as Dazzle, the annual contemporary jewellery exhibition, comes to Manchester. It showcases bespoke ranges of jewellery and exhibits from new designers. www.dazzle-exhibitions.com

14 – 15 DEC

BOOTLEG BEATLES

Being regarded as “the world’s best Beatles cover band” is pretty high praise, but with over 4,000 gigs around the world under their belt, they’ve earned it. Catch them at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall if you can. www.bootlegbeatles.com

17 DEC – 13 FEB

PHILIPPE PARRENO

French multimedia artist Philippe Parreno uses sound, film and performance as he guides you through his astounding first UK exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery in London. www.serpentinegallery.org

31 DEC

NEW YEAR’S FIREWORKS

If you’re going to do it – do it right. Every New Year’s Eve, Berlin hosts the world’s biggest free open-air party. Over a million people flock to the city’s Tiergarten to celebrate. Expect free concerts, laser shows and fireworks.

Beaufort Bar, Savoy hotel

British actor. comedian and Tweeter extraordinaire Stephen Fry was the first guest to check in, at 10:10am on 10/10/10 – weeks before the prince got a look in. Given that Fry spent six months living at the hotel in the 1980s and that he has long been a frequent visitor, it’s perhaps appropriate he got the royal treatment. “I have seen and heard things in this hotel that your eyes and ears would not believe,” said Fry. “My friends Hugh Laurie and Rowan Atkinson both had their wedding breakfasts here, where I gave the best man’s speech, so I will always have a special affection for it.”

Some of the Savoy’s new rooms will certainly require a princely income. You’ll need around £2,500 to book one of the suites that overlooks the River Thames. But book now to take advantage of early-opening rates of £295 per night.

If you can’t quite plump for the Savoy, check out these other new London hotels.