Globetrotter | Jacinto Solivellas de Oleza Corsini

Jacincto Solivellas de Oleza Corsini has a glamorous and exotic background with homes in Italy, Spain, London and New York. He is the result of a Spanish father and an Italian mother who grew up in Spain. His parents were avid travelers and always encouraged their children to spread their wings and see the world. As adventurous traveler with a non-stop schedule of luxurious locales for both business and pleasure, Jacinto is an aficionado of all things refined and decadently beautiful, particularly those with a rich historical past. Here he shares with us his musings on life?s mandatory pleasures.

Jacincto Solivellas de Oleza Corsini has a glamorous and exotic background with homes in Italy, Spain, London and New York.  He is the result of a Spanish father and an Italian mother who grew up in Spain. His parents were avid travelers and always encouraged their children to spread their wings and see the world.  As adventurous traveler with a non-stop schedule of luxurious locales for both business and pleasure, Jacinto is an aficionado of all things refined and decadently beautiful, particularly those with a rich historical past.  Here he shares with us his musings on life?s mandatory pleasures.

 

I am fascinated with your lifestyle, can you tell us a little about your international background?

Italy and Spain are my roots, Tanzania is where I grew up, but London is home to me. I arrived in England when I was 9 and I have been there ever since. New York has an important place in my heart. I have been coming here since as early as 5. Professionally, I run a Family Office business out of London, New York and Geneva of which the main focus is Alternative Management.

 

 

I would love some tips on traveling luxuriously. What are your "rules" when planning your itinerary and deciding where to stay?

 

In general: Trust your instinct. Follow your heart....and ALWAYS pamper yourself.

For myself, my rule is fairly simple: go for the best or the simplest ONLY, do not do mediocre. And wherever I go, I need to feel at home.  My grandfather always used to say " if you cannot travel in the grandest of ways, just stay safely at home and make your mind take you to the places where your legs and hands cannot go." Obviously he was born in another era when people travelled in the most spectacular manner. Today this has changed, and travelling has become fairly democratic, which is good.

 

 

Traveling is so much about culinary culture. Can you share a few of your most memorable dining experiences while globetrotting?

 

Extravagant and magical was a candlelit dinner for twelve held at Al Khazneh, the Treasury, in Petra, Jordan to commemorate my grandmother?s 85th birthday. It was a long process to get the permit, but it was worth it, the affair was really out of a movie set with gentlemen in black tie and ladies in white long dresses. The food, Jordanian delicacies cooked by local Berbers and served by Abercrombie Kent exquisitely behaved guide experts, was exquisite.  Also memorable are dinners in Ariant, my mother?s summer home in Mallorca. Her cooking is unbeatable!

 

 

You love to design in your spare time.  What excites you more: home design or fashion design? What design credo do you live by?

 

Both disciplines excite me. They are intertwined. But home design and architecture fascinate me deeply because I consider them closer to the Art Form. I feel in ecstasy before a beautifully built house, inside of a marvelous room. Clothes are different. They let us express ourselves, and what we want to project, yet they obey daily tempo rather than posterity.

My credo is as simple and as topical as "less is more ...with a hint for detail". Understated and classic, I would say.

 

 

You are redecorating your London flat, a protected estate in London, and a real gem. How did your vision come about?

 

The Square I live at is subject to numerous architectural rules and regulations. Hardly anything can be touched, retouched or modified.....and permits take forever! But after 12 years it was certainly the time for a change. I am going from an intimate, seductive, grandly put-together, red Venetian stucco jewel box to a more subtle approach to dwelling allowing me to enjoy the contemporary art I have acquired throughout the years.  I want a more simplistic environment with less heavy fabrics and a more of a curatorial approach. I want each piece of my inherited family treasures to be appreciated individually in contrast with my contemporary art including my sublime " Flames of Fire to Heaven " by Adam Ball.  A Swedish console coming from a royal residence in Sweden will be a marvelous focal point as well.

Three things have inspired my vision.  Spanish Old Masters Zurbar?n and his use of white, on oil on canvas, and Vel?zquez?s white light amongst the darkness, the incredible approach to simplicity in d?cor as applied by Bill Blass and Hubert de Givenchy, and, in my opinion, the most beautiful set of rooms in the planet: Cy Twombly?s residence in Rome. I dreamt of a big white cloud embracing me, with splashes of bright color canvases decorating the walls.

 

This is a women?s site, but we love a menswear point of view.  What will you be wearing this Fall/Winter on your travels?

 

I love the autumn and winter seasons. I am fairly classic when it comes to what I wear. Suits for work namely flannels, tweeds for the country and jeans, peacoats and boots when spending weekends in the city. And of course, scarves, loads of scarves! They are my favorite accessory, which I design myself, and have made at a mill in Kashmir in the chicest of colors and textures. Ikat this winter, loads of Ikat.

 

Your Mum is exceptionally chic.  What 5 items would you chose from the L-atitude site suited to her discerning taste?