Faradays co-founder Constance von Dadelszen is blown away by the new
Maserati Grecale.
If you’ve followed the rise of Faradays co-founder Constance von Dadelszen, you’ll know she has impeccable taste. Whether she’s overseeing retail operations, on a buying trip to Paris or hanging out with her three-year-old son on a Saturday, the accomplished businesswoman who’s also creative director of New Zealand’s most luxurious department store always looks immaculate. What you may not know about her is that she adores cars. Specifically, luxury cars. So, she was suitably excited to test-drive Maserati’s new Grecale Trofeo. The Trofeo is one of four in the Grecale range, (alongside GT and Modena styles, and a Folgore electric version). The Grecale marks a new era for the iconic Italian brand, meeting increasing global demand for sporty yet affordable SUVs.
“I’m an aesthetically driven person,” says Constance, perched at Faradays’ chic marble-topped bar, where customers linger over caviar, truffle crisps and Champagne. “And the Grecale is a beautiful looking car.”
The Trofeo she drove had a special pearlescent Bianca Astro silver-white paint that glimmers in the light. It struck her as the picture of elegance, just as Constance herself is today, dressed in a cashmere singlet, leather trousers and sky-high Loewe heels embellished with rose petals.
Accustomed to driving a vintage car, Constance was also taken by the Grecale’s futuristic flat touchscreen, which made the drive along the motorway into Auckland’s CBD supremely comfortable. Meanwhile the powerful 530hp V6 Nettuno engine meant driving it on the open road was “so, so smooth”.
“It’s a really lovely car that balances the need for something quick and sporty with practicality,” she says. “It’s quite hard to get that balance with an SUV but I was blown away by how easy it was to drive.”
The Grecale alleviates any parking woes thanks to a sophisticated bird’s-eye-view camera and mirrors that angle towards the curb, and Constance had no trouble squeezing into a tight park at the Viva shoot. Having driven larger SUVs in the past, their unwieldy size proving off-putting when negotiating busy urban streets, the mid-sized Grecale Trofeo was ideal for getting to work on Parnell’s Faraday Street, without compromising on interior spaciousness.
“I popped everything that I needed for the shoot in the boot and there was oodles of room,” she says. “The design of the interior is really clever.”
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Advertise with NZME.Driving the car over several days she got to experience it in all the elements, from heavy rain to blazing sunshine, in automatic mode and manual (via the sporty paddle gears on either side of the steering wheel) and customising her driving experience to suit each environment. Along the way she drew the attention of many admirers, some of whom had clocked the car’s distinctive grille and Trident logo and were curious to see if this understated car was indeed a Maserati.
“The funny thing was that they all thought it was way more expensive than it is,” says Constance. “It’s a really good price point for a luxury vehicle. I would 100 per cent recommend it to someone who’s a bit of a car lover, someone wanting a practical but super sporty SUV that’s beautiful to look at.”
This was Constance’s first time driving a Maserati, a brand she’s always admired, having long ago set her sights on the Ghibli, a classic model produced by Maserati since the 1960s. Like the luxury brands she stocks at Faradays, Maserati denotes sophistication and quality, the same criteria she looks for when investing in key pieces of furniture or clothing.
“I look for a timelessness, a classicism to the design that is really unique,” she says. “The design of the Grecale struck me as having that classical balance with a sense of modernity. It didn’t look like it was trying to be anything other than a Maserati.”
Constance’s discerning taste was developed over many years. She grew up in Christchurch, inheriting her eye for beautiful things from her father, an antique dealer. Her dad also loved cars, one of the reasons she has the classic car she does now, as the family had a similar model when she was a baby.
“I grew up appreciating beautiful vehicles and I’ve always loved driving,” she says. The open roads, particularly the drive from Christchurch to Queenstown, provide many scenic memories from her youth.
After curating rare and vintage jewellery pieces through her business Love + Object, Constance soon looked to take her passion for design further with her husband, Edward von Dadelszen. The success of his eponymous tailoring line was all the motivation the couple needed to open a high-end department store. In 2021, they launched Faradays in the historic building that once housed Parnell’s Textile Centre, having enlisted Cheshire Architects to transform the vast open space into a stunningly serene home for some of Europe’s most fashion-forward brands, including Alaia, Loewe, Celine (and coming soon, German label Jil Sander).
“Luxury can get a bad rap where people think it’s just a price tag. But for the brands we stock, it’s the multitude of the parts that make up the price tag,” says Constance. “It’s the artisans making the product, it’s the provenance of the brand, the fact some of them have been in business for over 100 years.”
Faradays meets a growing local demand for luxury fashion and beautiful goods and provides a tactile, sensory experience you don’t get by shopping online. The business has won awards and garnered global admiration, cementing Constance’s reputation as an industry leader. Customers can touch, try on and purchase (and perhaps stay for lunch), in a beautiful setting, with service on par with a top maison on the Champs Élysées.
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Advertise with NZME.“New Zealanders are really well versed in what’s happening globally,” Constance explains. “It’s about seeking the best in show.”
It’s also about embracing brands renowned for pushing fashion ahead. This love for evolution and innovation was another reason Constance felt a synergy with Maserati. The Italian company famous for its classically beautiful sports cars has a rich design heritage dating back to 1914, yet it has continued to innovate, incorporating cutting-edge technologies into each new model.
“That’s what’s exciting about the Grecale,” Constance adds, “because you really do feel like you are in something that is obviously Italian and beautifully made but it feels very futuristic inside.”
Constance works with brands from across Europe, but says the Italians stand out for their “unbridled enthusiasm for beautiful craftsmanship,” something she appreciated about the Grecale’s leather interior.
While many of the feminine yet sleek and sporty pieces in the Viva shoot are by Dadelszen (the leather jacket and skirt, and the tan jacket), these are crafted in partnership with Italian ateliers. It’s rare to find brands dedicated purely to aesthetics, she adds, but when it comes to luxury Italian food, cars and fashion, beauty ideals are usually at the forefront.
“The Italians want things to be beautiful and part of your everyday life. They live by the belief that you can have something beautiful but functional at the same time.”
It’s a philosophy Constance lives by too.
“I’ve always been a firm believer that you shouldn’t save things for a special occasion. You’re supposed to wear them and enjoy them and make everyday a little bit more beautiful. Luxury to me has always been the ability to invest in something that brings you joy and will have longevity in your life, whether it be in your closet or your garage.”
Book a test-drive for the new Maserati Grecale Trofeo at Maserati.com
