Author: Chris Mads

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    To Do @ 32

    Today I turned 32. I’m told (by my boss about two hours ago) that 32 is “a good one”. It’s like 27 apparently. I’ll keep you posted on that. Anyway, last year I posted my list of 31 Things I’ve Learned, so it only seems appropriate to fashion that into a set of principles going…

  • The Chinese are coming

    This column was originally published in DFNI* It seems almost lazy to write about the importance of Chinese shoppers for any section of the duty free industry these days. You can hardly move for hearing about how Asia Pacific is driving growth, or the Chinese shoppers are the key to success in the current market.…

  • Testing trends from fashion week

    Pics credit to Shannon Flanders, Topman, Rowan Row, KRXU and Oliver Spencer The great and the good of the fashion world are currently in the midst of a whirlwind tour which kicked off in London with #LFWM last week and has since rolled into Florence, Milan and Switzerland…and counting. As ever there have been a…

  • Donald Trump is trolling us all – and he’s winning

    The cameras pan through a palatial mansion into a vast dining room decorated in gold. In the centre stands a grinning figure with a mop of blonde hair and a badly-tied red tie, presiding over an enormous table piled high with burgers and pizzas. “I bought it all myself,” he declares proudly. This, dear readers,…

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    A tribute to Tintin at 90

    I love Tintin. My association with the Beligan boy-detective goes back to my youth. As a kid I used to grab the ‘Funday Times‘ out of my parents’ Sunday newspaper and devour the adventures which were serialised on the front page. Unwittingly, alongside my godfathers, he became my career idol, so much so that I…

  • Welcome to Bali

    We touched down in Bali 48 hours ago and it’s safe to say both S and I are in love. Not only is this one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, but the people are lovely and the food is to die for. Getting into Bali is not that easy – the…

  • Fremantle, Sunsets and Christmas Day in Oz

    So Christmas in the sun was a blast! On Sunday we headed down to Cottesloe Beach to catch the last of the sun and see it set over the horizon. It turns out the vegans had been out in force to spread the word in the area, so we put S in place for a…

  • Christmas Down Under – Part 1

    With the winter weather turning London and Surrey into a scene reminiscent of a post “Winter is Coming” Game of Thrones, S and I have escaped to sunnier climes for the festive season. We are spending Christmas with S’s family in Perth on Australia’s West Coast, where the temperature is currently tipping the mercury at…

  • Breaking news: James Bond drinks too much

    Sometimes news breaks of a scientific study or a piece of research which is truly groundbreaking. It is the sort of work which creates headlines around the globe and alters your perception of the world. And sometimes there are reports like this. ‘Licence to swill’ – James Bond declared ‘severe’ alcoholic by public health academics…

  • Avengers: Endgame is coming

    “Part of the journey is the end.” As ‘trailer-made’ lines go, that utterance from Tony Stark in the new Avengers film is pretty perfect isn’t it? The latest in Marvel’s pantheon of superhero flicks – it’s called Avengers: Endgame – unveiled its first trailer at the weekend and the internet has been – quite rightly…