Helmut Newton - Philippe Starck & The Sahara Hotel

Diving into my November issue of Metropolitan Home I noticed that two of the featured residences in the magazine were proudly displaying copies of uber-photographer, Helmut Newton's gargantuan book, Sumo, published by Taschen. It is a larger than life volume of Newton's famous fashion and celebrity photography selected and edited by his wife. The book is so large that it requires it's own custom made stand to support it.


The stylish stand is designed by none other than super designer and over-achiever Philippe Starck. The volume is the grand daddy of all style books with a price tag big enough to match it's exuberant size. It originally sold in limited edition for $10,000.00!!! Rare copies go for around $15,0000.00 today, if you can find one on the market.



Above - a picture of Starck working on the design of the stand for the Tome.

Starcks designs can be seen all over the globe and are not restricted to interiors. He has designed cars, yachts, industrial goods, and even plastic silverware.


Recently he has signed a five year exclusive contact with SBE Entertainment Group, the restaurant, hotel and film empire currently being built by 31 year old investor Sam Nazarian. One of Starcks assignments for Nazarian is to rebuild The Sahara Hotel here in Las Vegas. Nazarian hopes to re-vamp the less than stylish Sahara into a mecca for the young and beautiful celebrities that frequent his other nightclubs such as Area and Hyde Lounge and restaurants, Abbey and Katsuya.

I can't wait to see what Starck is going to do with the property. I'm sure it will be super dramatic !!! I'm told by insiders that he is beyond eccentric and his vision is less than easily understood by those responsible for carrying it out. I will keep up with the gossip as the project progresses and share what I hear along the way. Should be a very interesting ride!