The Steeple Times asks the financier turned fashion designer Jax Martin: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

 

The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom.” What’s your guiding force?

Continue the thread

Two stories to keep beside you

Martin Higginson: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”
The same people in the Steeple archive

Martin Higginson: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

20 questions with entrepreneur Martin Higginson The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force? It has to be: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again”. “Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours? Failure is the grandfather of success.

Michele Caggianese: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”
The same people in the Steeple archive

Michele Caggianese: “What’s on your mantelpiece?”

The Steeple Times asks restaurateur Michele Caggianese: “What’s on your mantelpiece?” The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom.” What’s your guiding force? My family and my background. “Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours? We don’t know what we don’t know in life. Kerry […]

Love.

 

“Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

“If the glove don’t fit, you must acquit.”

 

Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2012?

Reality TV personalities are unacceptable in any year (but to be clear Kerry Katona is still unacceptable).

 

Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

Sleep.

 

What might you swap all your wealth for?

High quality education for all children.

 

Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank.” What’s your view on the banking crisis?

Advertisement

Bankers who created complex financial instruments should not receive the brunt of the blame. Let us not forget the inept regulators who permitted these activities to flourish, causing the crisis to become much worse than it might have been.

 

What phrase or word do you most loathe?

“Reaching out.”

 

In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home.” What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.” Plato. I anonymously support several charitable causes related to: education, medical research, the arts and women’s and children’s issues.

 

The judge in “Law Abiding Citizen” states: “I can pretty do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

Advertisement

You can’t live with them and you can’t live without them. But, I have no interest in listening to other people’s loud conversations on their mobiles.

If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

Oscar de La Renta, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Mao Tse Tung, Madonna and Ronald McDonald.

Fashion designer Jax Martin

If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

I LOVE to eat; I would have a very large meal comprised of chateaubriand with shallot sauce, Cajun chicken and fries from Le Bilboquet and a bacon cheeseburger with grilled onions from Corner Bistro. All of the aforementioned would be served with a bottle of Gevrey-Chambertin. For dessert, I would have a slice of mille-feuille with fresh cut strawberries on the side. If I were allowed to dine outside of death row, I would have the meal served in either Trancoso in Bahia, Brazil or José Ignacio in Punta del Este, Uruguay.

Advertisement

 

What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

This question makes the assumption that somehow one has stopped partying from the previous evening.

 

A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

A martini.

 

Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

It doesn’t matter who throws the party, it’s the company you carry that makes the party.

 

Who is the most positive person you know?

Lucy.

 

What’s your most guilty pleasure?

Can’t say.

 

If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

A phoenix.

 

If you were a car, what marque would you be?

A Koenigsegg Agera R.

 

Cilla Black presented “Surprise, Surprise.” Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

Advertisement

While I was in engineering school, I was also a professional dancer.

 

What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

An antique Buddha, candles and a couple of black and white family photographs.

British designer Jax Martin is a former financier and professional dancer. A graduate of Columbia University, Martin also has an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and began her career in the hedge fund business. She now creates “chic clothing for today’s woman” and states: “I live to make women feel great and look fabulous.

For more information about Jax Martin, go to: http://jaxmartin.co.uk