Heathrow travellers, now is your chance to be part of the story: bestselling author and journalist Tony Parsons has been appointed by London’s premier airport as its writer-in-residence, with a brief to write a book capturing the many stories and emotions of the airport’s transient population. From Wednesday 3rd August and for one week, the acclaimed author –best known for his Book of the Year novel Man and Boy- will live amongst passengers, who will provide the inspiration for his new book’s characters.

Departures: Seven Stories from Heathrow will be Parsons’ thirteenth book and his first collection of short stories. He hopes to resurrect the genre of airport fiction made famous by Airport, the 1968 bestselling novel written by Arthur Hailey.

During his residency, the author will roam the terminals to unearth the stories of the people that pass through its doors, with the events inspiring the plotline and the passengers its characters. The book will then go on sale through HarperCollins from October 2011. read more

It might not appeal to those who prefer their art abstract, provocative or complicated, but the superb new V&A’s spring exhibition should delight most others. Celebrating the 19th century British movement that centred on art for its own sake and on beauty valued for itself alone, it is the biggest exhibition ever staged on Aestheticsm. Expect a display of rich colours, exquisite details and portraits of languorous beauties: in one word, magnificent.

With beauty as its raison d’être, and an approach that combined sensual and luxurious colours and textures with an eye for exquisite details, the Aesthetic Movement was born as a reaction to the arts and ideas of the Victorian establishment. While it first developed from the romantic bohemianism of a small avant-garde in 1860, with a style characterised by a widespread use of motifs such as the lily and peacock feather, and sources as diverse as Ancient Greece and modern Japan, it grew to become a cultural phenomenon at the end of the 19th century, thus becoming the first artistic movement to inspire an entire lifestyle. read more

With a career spaning 50 years and a knighthood in recognition of his international status in creating furniture as a contemporary art form, John Makepeace (71) has long been known by collectors as one of the most original designers around, whose work is shown in museums around the world, including the V&A in London and the Arts Institute in Chicago. His first ever solo exhibition, which opens at Somerset House on 16 March 2011, brings together pieces from public and private collections in the UK and abroad, some not previously seen by the public. Here, the man known as “the father of British contemporary furniture” talks to Chic-Londres about his unique craft.

How do you compare yourself with other British designers such as Terence Conran and how would you define your style? Terence Conran and I have quite a lot in common as he was originally very involved in wood furniture making and I actually did many pieces for Habitat over the years. But my approach is very different, as most of my work is done on commission, with pieces of furniture conceived as an enduring object, made specially to be right for the person who is buying it. I am not a retailer: I treat furniture making as sculpture, so it takes me about eight weeks to create a chair and I only do 12 to 20 pieces of furniture per year. read more

It is not just the sporty types and party animals who will rejoice at the prospect of the Olympics: culture buffs will also have their fair share of arty pleasures, in the form of the London 2012 Festival. This celebration of British creativity, deemed to become the UK’s biggest ever festival, will feature leading names such as Cate Blanchett, David Hockney, Mike Leigh, Jude Law and Damon Albarn. Quite a line up indeed…

Yes, us Londoners will assiduously party the night away and feverishly watch the Games in 2012. But the Olympics will also be a chance to get a dose of more arty pleasures, in the form of the London 2012 Festival, with a line up that includes a Nobel Prize winner, a Brit Award winner, two Turner Prize winners, an Academy Award winner, a Golden Globe winner and three BAFTA Award winners- no less… Organised to celebrate London 2012 and British creativity through dance, music, theatre, the visual arts, film and digital innovation, the celebration will be the UK’s biggest ever festival, with 1,000 events organised -most of them free- and over three million people expected to attend. Its impressive list of participants, announced on December 7, includes big names such as actors Jude Law and Cate Blanchett, film director Mike Leigh, musician Damon Albarn and artist David Hockney. The 12-week UK-wide cultural festival -running alongside the Games from 21 June to 9 September 2012- will mark the finale of the Cultural Olympiad. This program started in 2008 and designed to give everyone in the UK a chance to be part of London 2012, has already become the largest cultural celebration in the history of the modern Olympic Movement. read more

Tracey Emin’s most provocative creations -like Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963-1995 or My Bed- might have come directly from intimate experiences, but the British artist’s work can also be quite cerebral, influenced by literature and philosophy. In “The Curated Shelf”, a temporary exhibition shown at the new Louis Vuitton store, the famous Royal Academician reveals a display of books that have contributed to her work: surprising.

After Marc Quinn last May, Tracey Emin (47) is the second artist chosen to create a “Curated Shelf”, a series of temporary exhibits shown at the new Louis Vuitton store in Bond Street where the customer can engage with the mind of the artist through the books that have contributed to their work, their thinking or their persona.

Rather surprisingly for someone whose most famous work is a dirty bed littered with condoms, Tracey Emin’s selection includes romantic novels such as Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, as well as French classic Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert and Ethics by Spinoza (a reminder maybe that she briefly studied philosophy). read more

Next week will see the return of Frieze, London’s most famous art fair. In the meantime, art lovers can visit Art London, which opens today on the grounds of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea. Relaxed and eclectic, it offers a mix of works by internationally renowned names and emerging artists, with pieces selling at every price range, from a few hundred pounds to over a million.

Over the last fifteen years, London has built reputation as one of the leading capitals of art, alongside New York and Paris. And while contemporary Frieze rightfully deserves its title of most prestigious fair, the less specialised (and less intimidating) Art London provides a larger public with access to modern art, combining blue chip historical and contemporary art in a friendly and relax atmosphere.

Now in its 12th year, Art London has got 70 art galleries from the UK and around the world exhibiting their works in a marquee at the Chelsea Royal Hospital. And while the works on display may appear slightly random, with a surprising mix of old and new, very famous and totally unknown, ultra conservative and shockingly brash, Art London has the immense advantage to appeal to a very broad spectrum of clients, both in terms of taste and finance, with interesting pieces selling from 300 pounds to over one million. read more

Groundbreaking light artist Chris Levine, who shot to fame in 2004 when he was invited to take 3D pictures of the Queen in Buckingham Palace, has collaborated with Grace Jones in a series of futuristic portraits of the singer, model and actress the exhibition Stillness at the Speed of Light. Check it out at the Vinyl Factory gallery in Soho …

Looking for an edgy alternative to the Grace Kelly exhibition at the V&A? Look no further than the Vinyl Factory in Soho, which is now showing a series of 3D, hologram-like portraits of this other Grace legend, the iconic singer, model and actress Grace Jones.

The Jamaican-born Jones (61), who has inspired artists from Andy Warhol to Jean-Paul Goude (with whom she has a son), met Levine in 2008 when he created some laser work for her comeback tour at the Royal Albert Hall. The show was such a success that they decided to collaborate on an exhibition together. read more

The first major exhibition of Vincent Van Gogh’s work to be shown in London for over 40 years, The Real Van Gogh: The Artist and His Letters features some of the great painter’s most famous masterpieces, as well as original letters and drawings: not to be missed! read more

Featuring live fashion shoots with leading photographers, new short films, experimental projects and video castings where members of the public can model themselves, Fashion Revolution, conceived by leading photographer Nick Knight, is Somerset House’s first major fashion exhibition.

Launched on 17 September at Somerset House to coincide with London Fashion Week, SHOWstudio: Fashion Revolution is the first in a series of exhibitions produced by Somerset House to focus on the subject of fashion. This exhibition is the brainchild of Nick Knight, considered as one of the world’s most influential fashion photographer and director of SHOWstudio.com, the award-winning fashion website he launched in 2000.

Knight’s advertising campaigns have included clients such as Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent and Lancôme, as well as award-winning photography for Vogue, Dazed & Confused and i-D magazines. His work has been exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Saatchi Gallery. Not to be missed is the live photographic studio located within the exhibition space, hosting regular shoots with Nick Knight and other leading fashion photographers, laying bare the process of image-making. read more

First published in 1949, Simone de Beauvoir’s groundbreaking study of women is the seminal work in the history of feminism, and the book from the existentialist movement that has had the most enduring impact. However, despite its cult status, this international bestseller had never until now been properly translated in English. To mark the 60th anniversary of publication, Constance Borde and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier, two American writers and professors who have lived in Paris for over forty years, have produced the first integral English-translation, complete and unabridged. Here, they talk to Chic-Londres about their work.

How did you decide to create a new translation of the Second Sex?

Because the existing translation, which was forty years old, was very bad. At the time it was done, the publishers at Knopf thought the American public wasn’t ready for such a long and complicated text, so decided the translation should be shorter and simplified. They also considered that its main subject was sex, hence their decision to hire a zoologist specialised in sexual reproduction to translate the book, despite the fact that this man, Howard Madison Parshley, knew nothing about existentialism and the Hegelian concepts at its core. The fact that he was a man might also explain his decision to erase the whole chapter on History, where Simone de Beauvoir wrote about thirty exceptional women -scientists, writers, army generals…- who never made it into History books. We discovered the translation in 1999, during an event to celebrate the book’s 50th anniversary. As American feminists living in Paris, a new translation immediately seemed to us like an obvious and exciting project, all the more that many American professors and journalists had already started to campaign for a new translation.
What can one learn from a book on women written sixty years ago, before their sexual and social emancipation? read more

The Hoerengracht, an installation artwork by American artists Ed and Nancy Kienholz, transforms the Sunley Room into a walk-through evocation of Amsterdam’s prostitution district: provocative, controversial and powerful.

A few reasons to go and see this exhibition…

The Royal Academy presents a major -and very impressive- solo exhibition of internationally acclaimed artist Anish Kapoor, winner of the 1991 Turner Prize and one of the most influential sculptors of his generation: an absolute must-see for Art lovers!

About Anish Kapoor:

Art lovers, take note: an international line-up of respected artists, filmmakers, designers, curators and cultural commentators -which this year includes acclaimed French filmmaker Agnès Varda and bestselling author Marie Darrieussecq- will form part of Frieze Talks 2009, a daily programme of keynotes lectures, panel debates and discussions during Frieze Art Fair. read more

Valentine Day is upon us again, with its abundance of commercial offers and overbooked restaurants. But for the romantic amongst you who’d rather avoid clichéd candlelight dinners and heart-shaped pink presents, Chic-Londres has asked Sam Hodges and Sophie Vickers, authors of the lovely and rather quirky London for Lovers Guide, to select some of their favourite spots. Perfect to get off the beaten track in London, and find romance in the most curious places…

For foodies: Lunch at Petersham Nurseries Set up by long term residents of Petersham House, Gael and Francesco Boglione, Petersham Nurseries is their very own little piece of Eden, with salvaged artworks, potted plants and beautiful kitchenalia from all over the world dotted amongst the herbaceous borders. Where else to eat food cooked by award-winning chefs overlooked by an Antony Gormley sculpture?  Richmond Park is a stones throw away to work off your lunch.www.petershamnurseries.com

For History buffs:  Dennis Severs House Dennis Severs, an American artist who moved in London in the 60s, was always eccentric: his first business venture consisted of running horse-drawn open carriage tours entitled “See Something Different Graciously” around Hyde Park. His 18th century candlelit house, which he described as a “time machine” recreating what life would have been like for a family of Huguenot silk weavers, is mindblowing, thanks to its attention to detail and emotional depth. www.dennissevershouse.co.uk read more

The Historic house, former home of Victoria and Diana, reopens on the 26th March following a £12 million major renovation project by independent charity Historic Royal Palaces. Chic-Londres went for a preview and the result is amazing: stylish, entertaining and interesting, with a new design that wittily blends historical features and contemporary touches. Expect a total transformation, with new public gardens and new exhibitions centred on Queen Victoria and Princess Diana, the Palace’s most famous residents, and a complete renovation of the State rooms. A great outing… and now it’s even free for children.

What to expect:

Theatrical installations Historic Royal Palaces has worked with theatre-makers Coney and the award winning set designer Joanna Scotcher to radically transform the magnificent State Apartments. Stories about some of the most interesting monarchs from the Houses of Stuart and Hanover have been brought to life through beautiful and intriguing new installations that explores different stages of the dynasty. Elements of the historic collection are displayed alongside specially created interactive pieces, original soundscapes, animation and beautiful lighting, with the addition of magic mirrors, whisper machines and a magnificent family tree rooted in the Queen’s bedroom. read more

Wizards’ lovers, rejoice! The 31st of March will see the opening of The Making of Harry Potter at the Warner Bros London studios, where the biggest film series in history was made over ten years. For the first time, fans will get the chance to set foot on the actual sets from the movies, as well as discover all the original props and costumes. This unique attraction, which takes about three hours to complete, gives its visitors a “behind the scenes” look at the creative process of production. There’s even an opportunity to get one’s photo taken riding a broomstick, which promises to be particularly popular amongst the little ones- although very fun too for the grown-ups. Chic-Londres visited the studio ahead of its official opening, and reveals below some of the film’s “secrets” discovered during the tour.

The Great Hall The ceiling in the Great Hall -one of the most impressive of all sets on display-was inspired by the arched timber ceiling of Westminster Hall and created using visual effects. During production of the first film, the heat from the flames burnt through the wires and the floating candles fell onto the tables- the floating candles were created digitally afterwards.

The Dormitory Originally constructed for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the beds were much too small for the boys by the latter films, and the actors eventually had to curl up to keep their legs and feet from hanging over the ends during shooting. read more

Remember the brightly painted elephants’ sculptures on parade in London last year? This year, they have been replaced by 209 giant eggs decorated by some of the world’s leading artists, architects, designers and jewellers, before being hidden in secret locations throughout central. Starting on Tuesday 21st February and finishing 3rd April, the Fabergé Big Egg Hunt is challenging the public to take on the world’s biggest Easter egg hunt- fun, beautiful and all for charity.

Easter egg hunts don’t come any more arty, glam or prestigious than that, with Londoners being challenged to find in their streets 209 giant sculptural eggs designed, embellished and decorated by the like of Sir Ridley Scott, Zandra Rhodes, Diane Von Furstenberg, Marc Quinn, the Chapman Brothers, Zaha Hadid and Polly Morgan.

Sponsored by luxury house Fabergé, this Big Egg Hunt is set to smash Guinness World Records for the “Most participants in an Easter egg hunt” and the “Most expensive non-jewelled chocolate egg sold at auction”, as designed by William Curley. A highlight of The Big Egg Hunt is the chance to win the Diamond Jubilee Egg, a Fabergé creation valued at over £100,000. Crafted from 500 grams of 18 carat rose gold, the design features 60 gemstones set in a quilted rose gold surface and comprising of diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires. read more

Horseracing should attract a whole new fan base this summer, thanks to a series of top acts performances organised over a three months period. For the second year running, the Jockey Club is hosting a series of concerts in ten of its courses, including Newmarket and Epsom Downs, which caters for all tastes, from pop sensation Eliza Doolittle, neo-disco band The Scissor Sisters and X-Factor darlings Rebecca Ferguson and Alexandra Burke, to old favourites like Tom Jones, The Beach Boys and Blondie. Not to be outdone, Goodwood is also organising its own top music nights, with DJs Chris Evans and Mark Ronson closing the meetings with evening concerts in June.

Horseracing might be the UK’s second most popular sport, but it can hardly be described as the most musically trendy one- although that might change, once the Sussex Downs are rocked by the sounds of top DJ Mark Ronson at Goodwood on the 17thof June and that charts’ favourite Scouting for Girls inject their own brand of dancy pop in Epsom on the 14th of July.

In total, the Jockey Club is hosting 31 top music acts combined with horseracing at ten of its courses over the summer. While Eliza Doolittle will perform the penultimate show on 23rd August at the Warwick racecourse, the three month season of music will also include Tom Jones, The Scissor Sisters, Boyzone, Blondie, X-Factor favourites Rebecca Ferguson and Alexandra Burke, James Blunt, Jools Holland, Texas and The Beach Boys, amongst others. Goodwood racecourse, while not part of the Jockey Club, will also have horseracing lovers in a spin with Chris Evans and Mark Ronson taking to the decks at the Friday nights races on 10 and 17 June. read more

Love is in the air, so why not make the most of next weekend -or of any weekend for that matter- to discover some of the most romantic houses, castles and outdoor places to be found in the English and Welsh countryside. Here, the National Trust lists for Chic-Londres its ten idyllic havens of love and romance.

Polesden Lacey (Surrey) This is the place where King George VI and the late Queen Mother spent part of their honeymoon, and still a favourite for new lovers, who will enjoy a walk amidst the beautiful landscape of the North Downs and its stunning rose garden.

Claremont Landscape Garden (Surrey) In 1816, this estate was given as a wedding gift to Princess Charlotte of Wales, the heir to the throne as the only child of George IV. She lived there until she died and the estate was later passed on to Queen Victoria. read more

Situated at 81 Fulham Road is Chelsea, Michelin House has celebrated its 100th anniversary on 20 January. Constructed in 1911 as the first permanent UK headquarters and tyre depot for the Michelin Tyre Company and now housing the Conran Shop, it remains one of the most recognisable buildings in London, and a fine example of French architectural craftsmanship in the British capital.

Did you know?

-Michelin House was designed by one of Michelin’s employees, François Espinasse. Although not a trained or qualified architect, Espinasse had been responsible for the design and construction of Michelin’s then headquarters in Paris in 1907. Conceived in an original style that borrowed from the Art Nouveau style while at the same time anticipating the Arts Decos movement of the 1920s, it was a radical departure from contemporary architectural ideas at the time.

-Michelin House was the first building in London to be built from ferro-concrete, a technique which made possible an innovative semi-open plan arrangement across all three floors. From start to finish the building took only six months to complete and was officially opened on 20 January in the presence of André Michelin. read more