'It's a free education, for everyone'
John Loring, the design director of the jeweller Tiffany, is the kind of man you want to sit next to at a dinner party. At 66, he is a fount of fabulous personal stories peppered with household names; also a designer, an artist (his works are in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum of American Art among others), the past holder of numerous academic positions and author of 20 books on design, style and entertaining (he is currently working on number 21, for Tiffany). He has an unerring eye for detail and design and is not shy of making his opinions heard, which makes him both a diverting companion and a faultless shopper.
"My life is a Tiffany shopping experience," says the New York-based Loring, who has come to London to oversee the Bejewelled by Tiffany, 1837-1987 exhibition at Somerset House, the most comprehensive exhibition of Tiffany jewellery ever mounted. As it happens, London is a place Loring knows well. He grew familiar with it in the 1960s. "I lived in Paris at the time, but my best friends lived here and I had a room." He made it his second home and his memories of the place are fond and varied: getting oriental carpets made into cushions at a shop owned by Michael Crawford (of Phantom of the Opera fame) and his wife; trawling the fashion boutiques of the day with style guru Anna Piaggi (one of his best friends since he was 20 years old); hanging out with Paloma Picasso (he met her when she was 16 at Peggy Guggenheims' place in Venice - his mother had a house nearby).
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Later, he kept a house in Tamworth Street, "the only street in London named after a pig. Who could resist?" he jokes. Now he is staying at Browns. "I like my bedroom," he says. "Although it's missing a chair, which means you can't have a friend over for a drink. And that's in a hotel where they don't let you leave without serious financial damage . . . "
On a tight schedule before heading to the airport, he goes first to James Lock & Co, the hatters. "I shop randomly and impulsively," says Loring. "I wander with intent but no particular goal. If you're looking for something specific, you won't find it. I like the element of surprise." Once through the door, he goes straight to the main hat display and immediately picks out a white linen hat. "I have a house in Florida where the sun is brutal. You have to have a hat for the garden. This is the perfect Palm Beach hat." Within two minutes, the hat is fitted, advice is given (the hat can be folded and the ribbon bears no military or old school significance - "It's the house band," says the assistant), and Loring pays cash and leaves. Smiles all round.
"That was the perfect shopping experience," he says, back in the car. "Short and sweet. I hate wasting time and after all these years I do have a vague suspicion of what I can and can't get away with. Lock is the best hatter in London and they're so nice in there. Did you notice the assistant put it on me exactly as it should be worn?"
Another store that gets top marks for swift service is the Irish Linen Company.
"These are irresistible," he says, pointing to a stack of folded linen tea towels. He takes six glass cloths, reduced from ￡66 to ￡47.50. Expensive? "Why not spend a few quid more and have something that's agreeable?" he asks. "It matters what you live with day-to-day; you should have marvellous bed linens and tea towels and such. It's much more important than having a second- rate impressionist painting on the wall.
"You're not wasting your time going to the great art dealers and museums. If you look at great art - and you can do it for free - all the time, you will recognise it when you see it. It has a family resemblance. Similarly, shopping is a free education, available to everyone. Good merchants are happy to explain things."
Bad merchants are, however, a menace. "I hate it when sales assistants pounce on you. But what I hate most is when a sales assistant says 'no problem'. Why would it be a problem? I'm here to buy, you're here to sell. It's a win-win situation."
On to Mount Street and the personal, informal service of Hayward, where tailor Doug Hayward has outfitted everyone from Sammy Davies to Roger Moore and Michael Caine. Behind the sitting-room arrangement of sofa, desk and armchair in which the semi-retired Hayward sits, tailors are on view working away in the background. "Will you let me in wearing an Armani suit?" Loring jokes from the door. He has been shopping here since the 1960s.
Next is World's End Nurseries. "All the components of the English garden are here," says Loring of the garden centre on King's Road. "Isn't the jasmine wonderful? Look at the size of it. Take it home and it's a whole new lifestyle." He hovers over some clematis and the "very English cosmos" but is not impressed with petunias in general. "They get leggy and scraggly." He should know, he also designs gardens. He recently created The Tiffany Family Garden for the New York Restoration Project, a charity founded by Bette Midler to beautify New York and has an English-style garden back at his English-style Row House.
"My father was from Yorkshire," says Loring. "Everyone thinks that because we speak the same language, Americans and the English are the same. We're not. We speak, eat, decorate and dress differently. That's where Stephen Long comes in." Long is a shop that has stood 40 years in the same spot and is best described as a mish-mash of wares - largely pottery with some textiles that date from before 1830 - or by its eponymous owner as "an old fashioned junk shop - the last one left in London".
"You cannot find better of its kind," says Loring. "Great English charm and style. People should know about this place. It's not chi-chi'd up, but you get what you get and it's quality. There are places where you know things are perfect; you don't need to spend time. But at Stephen Long, you need to rummage - it's the natural instinct to hunt. Eleanor Lambert, Paloma Picasso, even Jackie Onassis, we all loved Stephen Long. Stephen Long is the one person in London who has perfect taste."
"Haven't seen you for a while," says Long, getting up from behind the counter.
"We have 160 stores around the world," says Loring, explaining his absence, before cutting short and pointing to a plate. "Is that a Mason's No 1, a Davenport dish?"
"Is that what it's called?" says Long. Loring lauds the detail before picking up a plate with stripes around the edge. "It looks so modern but it's a Wedgwood design from 1800."
Before heading to the airport, Loring makes a last stop at Swann's Way, a shop devoted to all things Austrian. The co-owner is an old friend. Loring tries on a denim jacket with a stand-up, Mao-style collar that looks surprisingly dashing with the rest of his rather more conservative attire. "The architect I'm meeting with tonight in Copenhagen will appreciate this," he says, smiling, thinking ahead to the Danish capital, where he is designing the winter season of the Tivoli Gardens, as well as working on a book capturing the spirit of Tivoli with photographer Harry Benson.
和TIFFANY设计总监一起购物
洛
林的传奇经历
约翰?洛林(John Loring)是珠宝品牌Tiffany的设计总监，他是那种你在晚宴希望坐在他旁边的人。66岁的他充满传奇经历，其中穿插着若干家喻户晓的名字。他还是个设计师、艺术家（他的一些作品被现代美术馆(Museum of Modern Art)与惠特尼美国艺术博物馆(Whitney Museum of American Art)等机构永久收藏）；他曾拥有诸多学术职务，写有20本有关设计、时尚与社交应酬的著作（现正为蒂凡尼撰写第21本书）。他具有对细节与设计的精准眼光，并且敢于陈述自己的观点，这使他成为一位令人愉快的同伴和完美无缺的购物者。
“我的生活是一段蒂凡尼购物经历，”常驻纽约的洛林说。如今他来到了伦敦，负责在萨默塞特宫(Somerset House)举办“蒂凡尼珠宝展”(Bejewelled by Tiffany)，这次1837-1987珠宝回顾展是蒂凡尼最丰富的一次展览。凑巧的是，洛林对伦敦非常了解。他在60年代就熟悉了这座城市。“那时我住在巴黎，但我最好的朋友住在这儿，我也有个房间。”他把这里当作第二个家，对这里有深切多情、丰富多彩的记忆：在迈克尔?克劳福德(Michael Crawford，因出演《歌剧魅影》(Phantom of the Opera)而声名大震)和妻子拥有的店铺里，把东方地毯做成垫子；与时尚大师安娜?平姬(Anna Piaggi，20岁起和洛林就是至交好友)一起扫荡当时的时装专卖店；跟帕洛玛?毕加索(Paloma Picasso)约会，她16岁时与洛林在威尼斯的佩吉?古根海姆美术馆(Peggy Guggenheims)邂逅――他母亲在附近有一套房子。
后来，他在坦沃斯大街(Tamworth Street)搞了一套房子，“伦敦唯一一条以猪的名字命名的街道。谁能抗拒？”他笑言。现在他住在布朗斯酒店(Browns)。“我喜欢我的卧室，”他说。“虽然里面少了把椅子，所以没法邀请朋友过来喝一杯。而且在这个酒店，你不大出血他们是不会放你走的……”
从帽子店到私人裁缝店
他去机场前的日程安排得很紧。首先他直奔帽子商店James Lock & Co。“我购物随意而冲动，”洛林说，“我逛街有目的，但并没有特定目标。如果你要找某样特定的东西，你不会找到的。我喜欢惊喜的感觉。”一进店门，他径直走向主要的帽子陈列区，一下子就挑中了一顶白色亚麻帽。“我在佛罗里达有一座房子，那里的太阳很毒。呆在花园时必须带顶帽子。这是顶完美的宽边沙滩帽。”两分钟之内，店员拿出了尺寸合适的帽子，并给了建议（这顶帽子可以折叠，上面的丝带没有军队或老牌学校的意义――“它是品牌饰带，”店员说），洛林付了钱走人。店员们笑脸相送。
“这是段完美的购物经历，”他回到车上时说。“短暂而甜蜜。我痛恨浪费时间，毕竟这些年，买哪些东西好，哪些不好，我有时概念模糊。Lock是伦敦最出色的帽店，店员如此友好。你有没有注意到，那个店员给我戴上帽子时，就应该这么戴？”
另一家因服务快捷而获得好评的店铺是爱尔兰亚麻公司(Irish Linen Company)。
“这些东西不可抗拒，”他指着一叠折起来的亚麻茶巾说。他买了六块玻璃布，这些布从66英镑减价到47.50英镑。贵吗？“多花几个英镑，买些令人舒心的东西，有什么不好？”他反问，“日常用品很重要，你应当购买绝妙的亚麻床单和茶巾等物品。这比在墙上挂一幅二流的印象派油画重要得多。”
“去参观伟大的画廊和美术馆绝非浪费时间。如果你总是接触伟大的艺术品，而且不花钱就可以这样做，那么你看到伟大的艺术品时就能认出来。它有一种一脉相承的相似之处。同样，购物是人人都能享受的免费教育。好的商家乐于解说他的商品。”
但糟糕的商家却令人讨厌。“我讨厌售货员突然靠上来。但我最讨厌的，是售货员说‘没问题’。怎么就变成问题了呢？我是来买东西的，你是卖东西的。这是个双赢局面。”
洛林接着来到山街(Mount Street)上提供非正式私人服务的海沃德(Hayward)裁缝店。裁缝道格?海沃德(Doug Hayward)为许多名人设计过服装，包括塞米?戴维斯(Sammy Davis)、罗杰?摩尔(Roger Moore)和迈克尔?凯恩(Michael Caine)等。穿过客厅的沙发、桌子和扶手椅，可以看到裁缝们在后面工作，半退休的海沃德则坐在扶手椅上。“你会让我穿一件阿玛尼(Armani)西装进来吗？”洛林在门口开玩笑道。他自20世纪60年代开始就一直在这家店购物。
洛林心中的英式风格
下一家是世界尽头花圃(World's End Nurseries)。“你能在这儿找到英式花园的所有元素，”洛林如此评价这家国王路(King’s Road)上的园艺中心。“那茉莉花漂亮极了！看看它有多大。把它带回家，你马上就会开始一种全新的生活方式。”他端详着一些铁线莲和“非常具有英国风味的波斯菊”，而他对矮牵牛花类植物并不感兴趣。“它们会长出又细又长的藤蔓，有些凌乱。”他应当知道，因为他也设计花园。他最近为纽约重建计划(New York Restoration Project)设计了Tiffany家庭花园(Tiffany Family Garden)，该计划是由贝蒂?米勒(Bette Midler)创立的慈善项目，旨在美化纽约环境。而洛林在他的英式联排别墅后院，还有一座英式花园。
“我父亲是约克郡人，”洛林说道。“每个人都认为，美国人和英国人说着一样的语言，因此我们没什么差别。但是我们不一样。我们说话、吃东西、装饰和穿衣服的风格都截然不同。史蒂芬?隆恩(Stephen Long)就是为我们这样的英国人服务的。”隆恩这家商店，40年来矗立在同一个位置上，人们贴切地形容它是一间器皿杂烩店――主要经营陶器和一些要追溯到1830年以前的纺织品――或者用店主的话来说，这是一家“老式旧货店――伦敦仅存的一家。”这家店以其店主的名字命名。
“你再也找不到比这更好的旧货店了，”洛林说道。“无与伦比的英式魅力和风格。人们应当知道这个地方。它的装修并不精致，但你会找到你想要的东西，质量没的说。你知道有些地方的东西很好，你无需花太多时间。但在史蒂芬?隆恩，你需要到处翻腾――这是人搜寻的天性。我和埃莉诺?兰伯特(Eleanor Lambert)、帕洛玛?毕加索，甚至还有杰姬?奥纳希斯(Jackie Onassis)，都喜欢史蒂?芬隆恩，他是伦敦唯一一位拥有完美品位的人。”
“好久不见，”隆恩从柜台后面站起来打招呼。
“我们在全世界有160家店，”洛林说道，解释着他好久没来的原因，然后打断了寒暄，指向一个盘子。“这是梅森(Mason)1号吗，达文波特(Davenport)盘？”
“它叫这个名字吗？”隆恩问道。洛林赞叹它的做工如此精细，然后又拿起一个边缘带有条纹的盘子。“它看起来相当现代，却是1800年韦奇伍德(Wedgwood)的设计。”
在赶往机场之前，洛林最后来到了Swann's Way，这是一家专营奥地利商品的商店。店主之一是洛林的老朋友。洛林试穿了一件中山装式样立领式粗斜纹棉布夹克，与他身上其它更加正统的服装搭配起来，看上去竟有种出奇效果。“我今晚要在哥本哈根见的建筑师一定会很欣赏这件衣服，”他笑着说，思绪已经飘到了丹麦首都。在那里，他正在为蒂沃利公园(Tivoli Gardens)设计冬景，并与摄影师哈里?班森(Harry Benson)一同创作一本展现蒂沃利精神的新书。
伦敦淘宝去处：
■W1区伯灵顿市场街(Burlington Arcade)35-36号爱尔兰亚麻公司
■W1区山街95号海沃德
■SW1区圣詹姆士街(St James’s Street)6号James Lock & Co
■SW10区国王路441-457号世界尽头花圃
■SW10区荷里活道(Hollywood Road)55号Swann’s Way
■于萨默塞特宫举办的“蒂凡尼珠宝展”，展出时间至2007年1月7日，
www.somerset-house.org.uk
