The Grand Tour
In the summer of 1809, a recently graduated English aristocrat from Cambridge decided to start his Grand Tour, the European adventure with which young people of his position completed their humanistic education, from Portugal. From Sintra, Lord Byron crossed the Spanish border towards the Sierra Morena and, accompanied by a friend and their respective servants, arrived in Seville at the end of July. In the city he had to reject the amorous attentions of a local girl, “Donna Josefa”, who had invited him to her bedroom at dawn. The man who would later go down in history as a stubborn libertine wrote to his mother, surprised by the girl’s “shameless attitude”.
The Magical Andalusia
A couple of centuries and as many stories of illustrious travellers later, Grace Burns (New York, 2003) declares herself “guilty” of having a “romantic and idealized” vision of Southern Spain thanks to literature and cinema. “And the time I just spent there only strengthened my opinion. To say it in one word, Andalusia is magical!” exclaims the daughter of US filmmaker Edward Burns (director of cult films from the 90s such as The McMullen Brothers and The Sense of Love) and supermodel Christy Turlington (Walnut Creek, California, 1969), two of the protagonists of the “equestrian experience” that Carolina Herrera recently organized between the mountains north of Seville to celebrate her garments made in the Leather Atelier of the maison and her equestrian-inspired bags.
The Private Paradise
Christy Turlington and her daughter Grace Burns. Photo: Georgina Preston. The event took place in an enclave that continues the tradition of foreigners who, in the last centuries, have gone to Andalusia in search of art, beauty and adventure: the Hotel Trasierra, managed by the Scott family, headed by Charlotte Scott, where the children Amber, Gioconda and George organize yoga retreats, promote the rich local gastronomy and offer horseback rides in the surroundings. In an area “apparently so vast and isolated that it made me feel like it was the only place in the world,” as Grace Burns describes it with an apt choice of words, celebrities such as model Kate Moss and musician Bryan Ferry have found their private paradise (something that the owners do not exactly shout from the rooftops). For the young woman, who has just finished her first semester at the University of New York and presents herself on her personal website as an “aspiring writer, photographer and model,” the visit was an opportunity to pose with her mother. Although she undoubtedly inherited her beauty and ease in front of the camera from her, until recently Grace Burns did not think of Christy Turlington as the fashion legend she is. Everything changed in February 2019, when her mother encouraged her to close the Marc Jacobs fall / winter show at New York Fashion Week. “There were about 800 people in the room, and I was standing on the stage, to be honest a bit overwhelmed, but I felt very proud of her,” says Grace. “At that moment I realized that there is nothing more beautiful than being a mother and daughter in the same industry.”
