See inside Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady’s new $14 million high-rise condo

Super couple Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady are reportedly spending $14 million on a New York condo on the 47th floor of the One Madison Park glass tower. The home is a three-bedroom, full-floor condo crafted by Danish designer Thomas Juul-Hansen. It features some of the most stunning views of the Big Apple available.

Some highlights of the residence include white oak plank floors, oversized doors, a master bedroom with his and hers closets, and a master bath with a soaking tub and custom double vanities.

Supermodel Bundchen and New England Patriot quarterback Brady reportedly made over $80 million last year. They have two children together.

In addition to the New York home, the couple recently built an eco-friendly mansion in Brentwood. They also are looking to build a mansion near Boston.

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Mercedes-Benz unveils Silver Arrows Granturismo yacht

The design of the Silver Arrows Marine Granturismo, a motor-powered mini-yacht created by the Mercedes-Benz design team, will be on display at the Monaco Yacht Show September 25-28.

Silver Arrows Marine called upon the design expertise of the German car manufacturer to come up with the concept for this 14-meter luxury yacht. To create the futuristic and sophisticated look of a seafaring sports car, the Mercedes-Benz team applied techniques from the automobile industry. Sea trials of prototypes were conducted to confirm the maneuverability and handling of the design.

It took the designers 12 months to finalize and perfect every detail, and the result is an innovative and elegant concept that brings to mind the brand’s GT roadsters.

The design — which Silver Arrows Marine president Ron Gibbs sees as the blueprint for “an absolute world-class motor yacht” — includes a spacious cabin that opens onto the exterior, as well as a pool with a terrace giving direct access to the water. The curves on the hull and the materials used inside and out are more reminiscent of a luxury car than of a yacht.

Ahead of the production phase, full details on the Silver Arrows Marine Granturismo will be presented in late September at the next edition of the Monaco Yacht Show.

Previous Mercedes-Benz Style projects include a cabin fitout for a special run of Eurocopter EC145 helicopters, and designer furniture pieces.

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Hello Kitty jet flies into Los Angeles

The most famous cat in the world will be making its maiden voyage into the US this month, when Taiwanese airline Eva Air sends its first Hello Kitty-emblazoned jet into Los Angeles.

After accompanying passengers on Asian routes to Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, China and Guam for years, the cartoon kitten that has become fetishized for generations the world over will make her first North American journey later this month on a B777-300.

Three times a week, passengers traveling between Taipei and Los Angeles will fly on a Hello Kitty jumbo jet, where everything — and we mean everything — is emblazoned with the remarkably simple but iconic image: a bow-tied, three-whiskered, mouth-less white cat.

If the American Hello Kitty experience is anything like the program in Asia, it’s not for the faint of heart or cute-averse, as the journey starts at the check-in counter where passengers are given baggage tags and boarding passes stamped in her image.

Planes are similarly kitted out with Hello Kitty-themed seats, soap and toilet paper. Should you suddenly feel nauseous or OD on the cutesy motif, you’ll be looking straight into the bottom of a Hello Kitty sick bag. Need something to cut the nausea? Tuck into your bag of Hello Kitty mixed nuts or rice cakes or take a sip of water from your Hello Kitty cup.

Currently Eva Air flies five Hello Kitty-themed A330 aircraft including Magic, Apples, Music, Around the World and Speed Puff within Asia. The flights into LA start September 18.

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Where the rich like to vacation

The dynamic, sun-soaked Land Down Under has emerged as the top dream destination for the third year in a row among the world’s most affluent globetrotters.

According to luxury travel magazine Virtuoso Life, Australia, Italy, New Zealand, Ireland and France emerged as the top “dream destinations” overall among travelers for whom money is of little object.

The Travel Dreams Survey found that Australia was popular among a demographic of travelers Virtuoso categorizes as ‘The Go-Getter,’ defined as active, adventurous globetrotters, and ‘The Trendsetter,’ early adopters who have their finger on the pulse of the latest travel trends and destinations.

For culinary escapades, meanwhile, readers named the usual suspects, with Paris taking the top spot, followed by Rome, Florence, New York City, and New Orleans.

And when it comes to bucket list travel among the well-heeled, taking a cruise around the world topped renting a European villa and going on an African safari and photographing the ‘Big Five.’

Travel preferences among readers delineated clear groups of travelers, says Virtuoso, which identified five different types of travel personalities.

Along with Go-Getters and Trendsetters, there’s also ‘The Connoisseur,’ the sophisticated traveler who seeks out luxury, top-tier experiences, be it food, wine art, and hotels.

Classic Travelers are defined as being loyal to the places they love, returning multiple times to their favorite destinations, while the Relaxationist seeks out restorative, rejuvenating vacations that offer reprieve from everyday life.

Luxury travel network Virtuoso is made up of 340 agencies in 20 countries in North and South America, the Caribbean, Australia and New Zealand and publishes Virtuoso Life for top-tier clients. The Travel Dream survey was conducted between February 1 and March 31 and surveyed nearly 8,000 readers.

Consultancy group Resonance, meanwhile, found that wine country tours through Italy and France were the most coveted types of luxury travel, followed by cruising on a luxury liner.

Here are the top 10 Dream Destinations in the Travel Dream Survey:

1. Australia
2. Italy
3. New Zealand
4. Ireland
5. France
6. South Africa
7. The Caribbean
8. Greece
9. England
10. French Polynesia

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Jeremy Scott named Moschino creative director

Moschino has announced Jeremy Scott as its new creative director. Scott takes over from Rosella Jardini, creative director since 1994, who succeeded the brand’s founder Franco Moschino.

Born in Missouri, USA, Jeremy Scott trained in fashion design at the Pratt Institute in New York City, before moving to Paris where he launched his namesake brand.

Returning to the US in 2002, Scott relocated his label to Los Angeles, where he has worked with sportswear company Adidas on the cult ‘Jeremy Scott for Adidas Originals’ line. The designer will have his Milan runway debut with the upcoming Fall-Winter 2014 show in February 2014.

The brand also thanked the outgoing Rossella Jardini for her 19 years with the company: “her creativity and tenacity drove the brand on and Rossella Jardini will always remain a crucial part of our history.”

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Has McLaren just broken the Nürburgring Ring record?

A video posted to YouTube shows the UK supercar company’s latest flagship, the P1, setting an unbelievable lap time of just 6 minutes 47 seconds.

If true, then that would make the P1 the fastest street-legal production car in history to lap the historic and terrifying circuit, known in the trade as the Green Hell. The 12.8-mile (20.6km) undulating track has in recent years become the proving ground for any car with sporting aspirations.

As a result, those that know base their supercar and hypercar buying decisions not on acceleration or top speed, but on that all-important lap time.

Currently the production car lap-time record is held by the equally rare and exotic Porsche 918 Spyder. In September it became the first such car to lap the circuit in less than seven minutes, posting a confirmed time of six minutes, 57 seconds.

To put that into perspective, the 2012 Chevrolet Corvette C6 ZR1 managed it in seven minutes 19 seconds and the mighty Ferrari Enzo in seven minutes and 25 seconds. All of which would make the McLaren time — it shaves a whole 10 seconds off the record — even more remarkable.

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BMW unveils the 2-Series Coupe

BMW has released pictures, specifications and pricing of its latest compact sportscar ahead of its official global debut at the Detroit Motor Show in January.

Continuing its new nomenclature whereby coupes take even numbers and four- or five-door cars odd numbers, the BMW 2 Series is essentially a curvy, angular, two-door version of the 1 Series, but one with impeccable road-holding and a massive amount of performance despite its diminutive proportions

The M235i, which will make its global debut at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in January, is a massive attempt by the German manufacturer to crack the US ‘sub-compact’ market in the way that it already has the premium executive sedan sector.

So should potential US customers get excited? The simple answer is that if they love driving and want something that’s as exhilarating on a track as it is easy to drive along a chronically congested highway and that offers bulletproof reliability and build quality, yes.

There are currently a number of great-driving, inexpensive two-door coupes on the market, not least the incredibly entertaining Toyota GT 86. But with its 50:50 perfect weight distribution and twin-turbo in-line six cylinder engine (322 hp and 332 lb-ft of torque), good for a 0-60mph (100km/h) time of 4.8 seconds, the BMW raises the bar.

At $44,000 it is on the expensive side, but as well as the ferocious engine, prospective owners will get a specially tweaked suspension set-up, serious brakes and a host of electronic gadgetry — including dynamic traction control, cornering and dynamic brake control — to keep the car pointing straight and true even as grip levels reach their limits.

Serious drivers can also go crazy with the options catalogue and choose adaptive suspension, electronically controlled shock absorbers and even specify a 10-20mm lower ride height.

BMW also offers a slightly more diluted and civilized 228i coupe with a four-cylinder twin-turbocharged 240hp engine which is still good for a 0-100km/h time of 5.4 seconds. It will be priced at $33,000.

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Robert De Niro invests in Shanghai property complex

A US consortium that includes famed actor Robert De Niro plans to develop a huge property project in a historic area of China’s commercial hub Shanghai.

“Project 179″ near the city’s waterfront Bund district will transform four vacant buildings into an 850,000-square-foot complex. The four existing buildings mainly date from the 1920s and 1930s.

Set to open in 2016, the complex will include a boutique hotel, retail stores, a cinema and a performing arts centre, the statement said. The project will also construct a new building.

“By ensuring a design that reflects the vibrant history of Shanghai, Project 179 can serve as a jewel in its crown: ushering in a bright future while paying homage to its rich and storied past,” De Niro said.

Shanghai’s Bund is a strip of land along the river that cuts through the city, lined with grand buildings that once housed the city’s biggest banks and companies.

The project participants include Tribeca Enterprises, a diversified global media company set up in 2003 by De Niro and two other partners. Commercial terms were not disclosed.

The US consortium is cooperating with the government-backed Shanghai Bund Investment Group, which won the right to develop the property in 2011.

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