Introducing the Soft Power 30

Let’s get the methodology out of the way first, shall we, so we can get on with all those delicious names you’ve been longing to drop. Soft power is, by its very nature, difficult to quantify and evaluate. It is ineffable and nebulous, and blown with the wind — you might as well try to pin down a cloud. More to the point, if you have to say you possess soft power, then you almost certainly don’t (to paraphrase Mrs Thatcher, who, by the way, didn’t.) Soft Power isn’t advertised, but felt — like charm, or style, or presence.

In compiling this list, then — the first of its kind, I should add, in that it deals with individuals and not nation states — we had to create some parameters, however porous. Candidates could not be principally involved in ‘big’ business — i.e finance, industry, big tech, pharma, energy, big media. They could not work principally in politics or governance, either, as this would constitute hard power, instead. And, most importantly, they had to have an something intrinsically ‘soft’ to their success, however hard it might be to pin that down: an artistic nature; a worldly charm; a dense web of interesting contacts; a creative approach to their job; a zest for life; a knack for connecting the dots. Or, in many instances, several of these at once.

Finally, in the cases where we remained uncertain, we asked ourselves a simple question: would we like to accompany this person on a long lunch? If the answer was yes — think of the stories, the wine, the doting affections of the maitre d’! — then they were in. And here, in no particular order (order, on the whole, is the concern of hard power), they are.

Juan Santa Cruz

Juan Santa Cruz, restaurateur

When men get to a certain age and fantasise about opening their own restaurant, it is because they hope that they might one day look like Juan Santa Cruz — the silver-flecked, double-breasted, silken founder of Casa Cruz et al. JSC is restaurateur-as-impresario — a charming string-puller can conjure scenes, dining rooms, honey-pots from nothing.

Matthew Freud

Freud’s position as the most influential man in PR — and his chummy connections with the Murdoch/ Downing Street/ Chipping Norton power nexus — means he floats dangerously close to the coasts of traditional hard power. But it’s his unique personality — famously self-assured and fiercely bright; a clever and effortless connector — that has created the potent, shimmering soup of his success: the nimble, soft power spider diagram of celebrity, brand, charity and culture.

Tim Jefferies

The man behind Hamilton’s Gallery in Mayfair, Jefferies has been a significant force in the rising commercial and artistic appeal of photography. Worldly, charming, and beautifully dressed, he is brilliantly connected and an exacting practitioner of that fading art: very good taste. Incredible office, too.

Nick Grimshaw

The ringleader, perhaps, of the new Primrose Hill Set, Grimshaw is both the social scene’s curator and its commentator — a fascinating pied piper of good times and famous faces.

André Balazs

The lantern-jawed hotel magnate has movie star looks of his own, and the coterie and backdrop to match. A trusted friend to the globe-trotting classes, Balazs is the man behind celebrity trap Chiltern Firehouse and party palazzo Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, which he restored to its former Golden Era glory after buying it in 1990.

Jeremy King

You head to Jeremy King’s dining rooms when you want to go to a restaurant. Not a theatrical production, or a scene-y hotspot, or an Instagram backdrop — but a restaurant. The gentle mastermind of big, generous, Continentally-minded brasseries — like Colbert and The Wolseley — King is fastidious and detail-obsessed, but calm and congenial to all; a towering, elegant totem of relaxed rigour.

Nick Jones

Nick Jones

The creative clubman has done more, perhaps, to colour the aesthetic and atmosphere of modern London than almost anyone else. Sometimes, it feels as if we’re all Soho House members, even when we’re not — a testament to the potent trickle-down of the brand and its lifestyle. Once the group attains its upcoming IPO, his understated influence will be cast in stone.

Charles Finch

The Evening Standard once described Finch as ‘social glue’ — but glue is far too mundane and stodgy. In fact, Finch is more like a social conjuror — his parties are the stuff of legend, orchestrated effortlessly by the producer/ brand man/ entrepreneur hybrid, where international stars pop up like rabbits from a hat. He is a true practitioner of The Good Life, too — whether aboard his boat, on some coastal tennis court, or simply from his flat in (where else) Albany.

Jack Guinness

Extravagantly connected, incredibly nice, and brilliantly creative, Jack Guinness is a beaming, bearded force for good in London and beyond. Beautifully-dressed, always invited, exquisitely mannered.

Jackson Boxer

Something of a philosopher-poet-chef, Jackson Boxer is a cook of the finest calibre and the old school. He works 24 hours a day, one feels, and would do 25 if he could — a whirlwind of black coffee, infectious enthusiasm and romantic creativity, whose restaurants (like Orasay and Brunswick House) never seem to put a foot wrong.

Victor Lugger and Tigrane Seydoux

Victor and Tigrane’s Big Mamma restaurants were concieved, originally, as a tonic for the Sunday blues — warm, big-hearted, energetic places with heady home cooking. Their empire now spans London, Paris and beyond, and their maximalist brand of cheek-kissing sociability is drastically needed in this new, fearful age. Go to Trattoria Gloria and have the carbonara immediately, if not before.

Henry Dimbleby

The Leon co-founder dreamed, once, of making ‘Fast Food from Heaven’ — a mission statement that reflects his literary upbringing as much as his love of food. Deeply connected across both media and politics (but thoroughly lovely and down to earth, at the same time) Dimbleby is now the champion of the National Food Strategy — a Marcus Rashford-endorsed initiative to feed disadvantaged children.

George Bamford

Tyler Brûlé

When Monocle first came out back in 2007, it looked like nothing else. In 2021, almost everything looks like Monocle. Publisher and tastemaker Brûlé has created and defined an entire corner of modern urban living: a clean, well-crafted Japano-Scandi-Continental-Chic aesthetic. That the brand and its look still feel so fresh is a testament to the clarity of his vision.

George Bamford

The connections here are familial and formidable, but Bamford — a playful, impish prince of modern luxury — wears them lightly. A scion of the JCB dynasty, he is best known now, perhaps, as the tinkerer-in-chief of the watch world, where his daring creations add some spice to a sometimes stuffy sector. Endlessly energetic and full of ideas, the entrepreneur also runs the popular Bamford Grooming Department with his mother.

Sir Rocco Forte

A force of nature in the hotel world — Sir Rocco is the brains and heart behind Brown’s in London and the Hotel Savoy in Florence, to name but two — the magnate is the charming, deeply-connected host that the beau monde turn to when they want to escape.

Ewan Venters

The former Fortnum’s frontman has all the class and pomp of the provender’s famous hampers, and just as many admirers. As of January, Venters is CEO of power house gallery Hauser & Wirth, the global glitterati’s new favourite art supplier.

Dave Benett

The ever present Dave Benett is often the first name on any decent guestlist, and his photography lends a hefty stamp of approval to any event he goes to. On first name terms with everyone who’s everyone, he has been an unofficial arbiter of social status for decades — and is charming and lovely to boot.

Rowan Finnegan and Paul van Zyl

The Conduit’s mission statement, effectively, is to put more care and conscience into clubland — and Finnegan and van Zyl’s handsome townhouse over in Mayfair has grown into a true petri dish of ethical business and socially-minded entrepreneurship. Connected, discerning, and possessed with immaculate taste.

Charlie Casely-Hayford

Francesco Pastori and Garrett Moore

Party planners to the social set, Pastori and Moore are renowned for their wild, imaginative, sometimes surreal bashes. They’re the de facto directors of fun over at 5 Hertford Street, too, where elaborate storylines and entire casts of actors are employed to create truly fantastical evenings.

Taz Fustok

The bohemian genius behind Notting Hill hotspot Laylow, Fustok is a fascinating and deeply connected string-puller in London’s ever-changing social scene.

Nicholas Coleridge

Chairman of Condé Nast Britain, The V&A Museum, Prince of Wales’ Campaign for Wool and the Gilbert Trust for the Arts, Nicholas Coleridge has his fingers in more pies than almost anyone else in the capital. Naturally, the debonair and immaculately tailored raconteur has a powerful network that spans media, business, fashion, the arts and philanthropy. His memoir, The Glossy Years, released at the end of 2019, is a juicy testament to his wide web of pals — and to his immortal knack for an anecdote.

Charlie Casely-Hayford

The softly-spoken tailor to so many of London’s most interesting people, Casely-Hayford’s shop on Chiltern Street is as much a Parisian salon as an outfitter — a place for exchanging ideas as much as taking measurements. Fascinating, charming, and with brilliant taste, he helps men hone in on their very own uniforms for life, which is no mean feat.

Gabriel Chipperfield

The designer has his fingers in many exciting pies — look at Shreeji news down on Chiltern street, or his new hush-hush hotel project in Margate — and pulls everything off with aplomb and swan-like ease. His influence extends into the homes of some of London’s most fascinating people, too, where his sleek, modern vision belies his relative youth.

Robin Birley

5 Hertford Street, the seat of Birley’s quiet empire, is London’s unofficial Soft Power HQ. Its country house sofas spill over with string-pullers, connectors and power players — and each plays against the backdrop of Birley’s exquisite taste and exacting preferences.

Ross Bailey

Charles Delevigne

Delevigne’s property holdings are centred around Brompton Cross, that oofy slice of Super Prime London that flirts with Chelsea, Knightsbridge and Kensington all at once. But his influence stretches far further than that, and the elder statesman of Clan Delevigne has many friends in high places.

Ross Bailey

Bailey’s Appear Here was always an ingenious invention — a way to turn vacant retail spaces into brilliant experiences, pop-ups and shops. But it’s his endless passion and sparkling eloquence that has transformed him into something much greater than just a founder-CEO — a brand guru, a retail soothsayer, a spirited mouthpiece for an entire industry.

Henry Wyndham

Auctioneer’s have to do more than just flog art — they are showmen, actors, confidantes and gatekeepers, all at once. Naturally, Wyndham — who laid down the gavel at Sotheby’s in 2016 — is a raconteur of the highest order, whose art advisory Clore Wyndham decorates the walls of London’s great and good.

Nicky Haslam

Tireless decorator, wonderful raconteur and arbiter of taste sans pareil, Haslam’s eccentric, star-filled life story will one day, surely, be made into a film. His most recent work captures the man’s outlook perfectly — a playful tea towel that lists all the things he thinks are common.

Francois O’Neill

The young restaurateur has a brilliant eye for detail — at Maison Francois in St James, his first restaurant, the waiters cut about in Drake’s work jackets, while the vaulted ceilings recall the heavenly industrial architecture of Ricardo Bofill. O’Neill has done what so many have tried to do — he’s created an instant society honeypot, which just works. Food’s lovely, too.

Peter York

The author of the Original Sloane Rangers Handbook — which turns 40 next year, by the way — has long had an exacting eye for detail and an incisive read on the changing social whirl. Possessed with one of the most wonderful speaking voices in the capital, there is not a single question of taste on which he does not have a fulsome, original take. One of a kind.

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