High life
Hillbillies
Taki
Beverly Hills In case anyone is wondering where all the rich Iranians have gone now that the Ayatollah has returned and is about to cut off the arms of those whose hands have been in the till, let me put their mind at rest. The very, very rich are here, among other rich exiles, and this small town of five square miles and 33,000 inhabitants is beginning to resemble a modern-day Noah's Ark for people worth more than a hundred million dollars.
Despite its size Beverly Hills does not suffer from an inferiority complex (although it seems that some of the denizens do, as there are more psychiatrists per head of population than anywhere on the planet). On the contrary, the town boasts the most outrageous, extravagant and superfluous spenders in the world. Rodeo Drive, a two-and-a-half block strip of southern California's choicest real estate, is the focal point of the conspicuous consumption practised here. It makes New Bond Street, Rue Faubourg St-Honore and Fifth Avenue look like Phnom Penh side streets after the Pol Pot takeover by comparison. It is a dazzling shopping area for sheikhs, stars and nouveaus, with one square inch of real estate estimated at more than £1.
Bijan Pakzad, an Iranian who got out while the getting was still good, spent fl million on decoration alone for his exclusive men's store (he sells items like a £15,000 black cashmere topcoat lined with chinchilla). By trade estimates, Rodeo's 70-odd stores gross £300 million per annum. And the rush has just begun. The Gucci-Pucci kind of store that caters only to the very rich is just starting to come west. And no wonder, since the cheapest item on the whole drive is a £100 silk shirt.
Look, the American weekly magazine that closed down in 1971, has just been revived as a glossy fortnightly, and its main feature in the current issue is an eight-page spread on Beverly Hills buying. One multi-millionaire, an American, recently spent £50,000 splashing his wife's picture on billboards all over town (she wants to be an actress). Real estate values have soared by more than 300 per cent and £1 million will not buy a house considered 'decent' — that is, it will be without an outdoor-indoor swimming pool, a flood-lit tennis court, or a servants' wing. Beverly Hills is redolent with 'anatomy asylums', as exercise parlours are euphemistically called here, and despite the caviar and champagne excesses there are no fat people anywhere in sight. There is also a very brisk and expensive trade in face-lifts, hair-transplants, wrinkle-removals and nose-jobs.
The only people besides the rich here are servants, police, and private security guards. They make up the bulk of the population. The only blacks are multimillionaire rock stars and the only industry is show business.
Given the above facts it is hardly surprising that expensive trinket dealers are falling over themselves to establish a foothold in the area. Teachers of Arabic are in such demand, in fact, that some unscrupulous souls have taken unfair advantage. A recent example was the enterprising young stockbroker who gave up his business in order to teach for higher profits. The trouble was that he only spoke Yiddish and that is the language he taught two Italian merchants. By the time they found out he was long gone.
This week the people of Beverly Hills were treated to a rare sight: they saw sullen, unkempt, bullying men swaggering around deserted factories and hospitals. Also rats and ten foot-high uncollected rubbish heaps. Some of them thought it was a science fiction film about the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust and the ensuing civil chaos. But it wasn't a film. Just satellite television pictures of London today. The outcome was predictable: in order to get over their momentary depression the money-mad locals ran out and did some more compulsive buying.
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