As AIRE Ancient Baths becomes the latest wellness brand to recruit an illustrator to capture the magic of its thermal bathing experience, we discover why art and wellness are becoming more intertwined than ever before…
Have you ever thought about the fact that one of the defining characteristics of a traditional spa experience is that you can’t often photograph it?
After all, the irony of modern wellness is that the most exclusive spaces are often the least visible online. Just like members’ clubs, use of cameras and phones is actively discouraged in many communal spa spaces and your focus when lying on a treatment bed should be on relaxing, not trying to capture the moment to share it with others.
That means, even in our increasingly digital age, and unlike restaurants, hotels and even galleries, many of our most memorable wellness experiences still exist almost entirely in our minds. In fact, popping your phone away in the changing room lockers is almost part of the ritual, helping you leave the outside world – and all its stressors – behind.
In partnership with AIRE Ancient Baths
However, that raises an important question for modern wellness spaces: how do you make an experience tantalisingly tangible to those on the outside looking in, without losing that sense of exclusivity and privacy?
One approach that is being pioneered by thermal bathing experience AIRE Ancient Baths – which is renowned not only for its candlelit baths but its totally phone-free environment – isn’t another treatment or piece of technology to shout about on their website. Instead, it’s focused on capturing the soul of its Covent Garden-based sanctuary through art, specifically the illustrations of the celebrated British illustrator Jo Bird.
It’s actually a tried and tested formula in other industries. Hotels have long embraced the idea of artist residencies and artistic collaborations, not only as a way to decorate their walls but to bring a sense of place and personality to their locations.
That includes the art’otel group, a hotel concept built fully around the idea of ‘signature artists’, which shapes the architecture, interiors, exhibitions, and programming; and The Mandrake in London’s Fitzrovia, which is known for its Artist in Residence programme, which invites artists of persuasions to work on-site, with guests often able to watch the creative process unfold.
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Within beauty and wellness more specifically, brands have always enticed us into their stores with decorative window displays, and leading luxury names such as Diptyque have become well-known for building entire visual worlds around illustration, proving that hand-drawn artistry can often communicate an atmosphere in a way that even photography often can’t.
Indeed, as an illustrator, Bird is already well-known for bringing her colourful designs into the worlds of beauty and fashion. Her previous clients include Chanel, Marc Jacobs, Jo Malone London, Lancôme, Bvlgari and Harrods.
Now, she’s partnered with AIRE to bring the essence of its thermal bathing experience to life through art as well.
Her bespoke illustrations are inspired by AIRE’s world, heritage and atmosphere, which are in turn rooted in Ancient Greek, Ottoman and Roman bathing traditions, as well as AIRE’s historic London setting. There’s also a specific focus on capturing the transition from the energy of the capital’s busy streets to the calm, candlelit sanctuary hidden beneath them in a way that’s been difficult to capture before.
“There is very much an outside world and an inner world at AIRE, so I led with that,” explains Bird. “Our visitor leaves behind the London skies and, as you slide away the outer wrap, reveals a space all of her own.”
“When I was first presented with this project, I started by looking at AIRE’s photography,” Bird continues. “As so often in life, things differ wildly in person, so I took myself off for a visit and immersed myself in some downtime. Sketching with pencil and paper in the baths offered a completely different perspective and really helped me capture the atmosphere of the space.”
Bird’s artwork has now been used to decorate AIRE’s first-ever limited-edition gift box, with each box containing a selected experience from the brand’s menu. When given as a gift, the designs offer a tantalising peek at the relaxation to come at AIRE’s signature hydrothermal circuit, which features seven thermal baths including the Flotarium salt bath, eucalyptus steam room and Frigidarium. Without spoiling any of the in-person surprises, of course.
Ultimately, it’s a partnership that feels entirely of the moment. Because while luxury wellness once competed on treatments alone, today’s most compelling brands are building worlds that seek to delight guests on a deeper level. And increasingly, artists like Bird are helping to tell those stories.
Becki Murray is Citizen Femme’s Beauty and Wellness Director. As one of the only UK journalists to hold a Distinction-grade diploma in cosmetic science, she combines her unique knowledge with an editor’s eye to help you make smarter choices about beauty, wellbeing, and aesthetics. Becki also heads up CF’s spa guide so you could say she’s an expert in the science of relaxation too…
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