sleep like drake

Drake-loved luxury mattress maker brings $1 million bed to Houston showroom

Ever wonder why Drake, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, and Swedish royalty always look so fresh and glowing? It could be their mattress. Although the complete list of A-list customers is a closely guarded secret, they are reportedly a few who have bought luxe European brand Hästens' splurge-worthy mattresses, which begin at an indulgent $30,000.

Hästens made headlines when they opened their newest outpost in River Oaks District in March, and now the 172-year-old Swedish bedmaker has debuted the Grand Vividus bed set, which retails for a jaw-dropping $1 million — yes, it's the one Post Malone name checked in "Wasting Angles."

Created in collaboration with internationally acclaimed designer Ferris Rafauli, the River Oaks District showroom is the first in North America to carry the brand's most opulent and expensive product to date.

Hastens Grand Vividus The River Oaks District showroom is the first in North America to carry the bed.Photo courtesy of Hästens/Instagram

Photo courtesy of Hästens

The Grand Vividus bed set in North America retails for a staggering $1 million.

Handcrafted in Sweden, Hästens beds are made with all-natural cotton, wool, flax, and horsetail hair — all Hästens' horsetail hair is ethically and sustainably sourced during the grooming process, they say.

What makes the Grand Vividus collection different is the headboard, which is upholstered in ultra-soft mohair and padded with horsetail hair. In press materials, Hästens touts that it features the finest leather, polished wood, suede, and brass detailing while offering four color choices: Black Shadow, Phantom Charcoal, Natural Shale, and Traditional Blue.

The Grand Vividus mattress is available in soft, medium, and firm tensions and contains a much higher volume of hand-layered horsetail hair, cotton, wool, and flax than a standard Hästens mattress.

Bradley Belen, managing director of Hästens for MadaLuxe Group's home division, says the typical Hästens customer prioritizes health and is willing to invest in it, no matter the cost.

"The perfect night's sleep is really important in achieving optimal health. From the physical benefits to the mental benefits, sleep is one commodity you can't afford to go without. The foundation for a great night's sleep starts with the right mattress and the right pillow. It's now cool to prioritize bedtime," Belen says. "Gone are the days of 'I'll sleep when I'm dead.' That's why several of the world's top-performing entrepreneurs, investment professionals, health professionals, artists, and athletes sleep on a Hästens mattress."

$H\u00e4stens Grand Vividus bed set$ The Grand Vividus bed set in charcoal. Photo courtesy of Hästens

When asked how many $1 million bed sets the 3,000-square-foot boutique expects to sell, Belen says he is confident in its Houston customer base.

"Business has been great since opening our River Oaks District showroom in March. Many of our customers are investing in their first Hästens mattress," says Belen. "The Grand Vividus is our most elevated and exclusive collection to date, and we are proud to carry the only bed set in North America. There's been a lot of excitement around the vast product line, including the Grand Vividus. We're confident the bed set will be well-received by the Houston community."

river oaks district hastens bed drake drake matress one million dollar bed hastens mattress hastens million dollar bed

gold pony club

Inside the creation of the rodeo cook-off’s most over-the-top tent

Courtesy of Cotton Holdings

The Gold Pony is the ultra-private VIP lounge behind the stage.

The Cotton Q Club is arguably the glitziest and most exclusive tent at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s annual World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest. Hosting nearly 800 invited guests-per-night, the 5,000-square-foot space includes a 50-foot bar, a new pop-up martini bar by Sophie Cocktail & Terrace Bar called “The Stirrup,” the ultra-exclusive “Gold Pony Club,” and a full stage for private concerts. This season, county music acts include Gabby Barrett, Sammy Kershaw, Josh Turner and Braxton Keith.

Aside from the obvious, what sets the club apart from the rest is the sheer magnitude of its operation. Once inside, guests are encapsulated by velvet-draped ceilings illuminated by crystal chandeliers, three-layer tartan-topped carpeting, richly-colored wooden-paneled walls, plus thousands of red roses swathed acrobatically throughout.

To coincide with the year of the horse, five enormous ponies made entirely of red roses have been suspended from the ceilings. The second additions this year hang on either side of the bar in The Gold Pony, the club’s even more exclusive VIP area. The kinetic artworks were created by Houston artist Sneha Merchant —all for a three day fête. This begs the question: how do they do it?

Cotton Holdings and its subsidiaries are well positioned to carry out the entire project themselves — so they do. Never bothered or besmirched by the possibility of running into issues with rental companies, everything at The Cotton Q Club is procured, purchased, and stored in-house. As one would expect from a company that provides disaster relief around the world.

“There is a lot of love and care put into this because we’re not in a hotel, we’re not in someone’s home,” Cotton Holdings chief marketing officer Zinat Ahmed tells CultureMap. “So for us to be able to create this entire infrastructure under a tent — down to the walls and chandeliers — it is much more than throwing a party. It’s about the details that make people feel that they are at a hotel, they are in an extravagant room, they are at The Polo Bar.”

Ahmed notes that a lot of the company’s culture is mixed into the tent, such as what Cotton does as a disaster relief company (including providing food by Cotton Culinary).

“Cotton Logistics puts up tents during a natural disaster. Seeing the Cotton team, whether it’s cleaning or moving things around, welcoming everyone, that’s part of our Cotton GDS — we restore communities after natural disasters. Our synergies in different parts of our day-to-day are here,” she says.

Ahmed’s team has complete creative control over the interior aesthetics of the club. Always sourcing anything that cannot be made in-house to local vendors is something she feels is important. Nothing is rented, not even the furniture or accessories.

“Every single thing, unless it was done by a local vendor, was done in-house: design, signage, execution — even the embroidery,” she explains

Everything is checked over during the summer months so there won’t be any surprises when the cook-off comes back around. Every item is organized, labeled, and stored either in Cotton’s warehouses, Conex boxes, or in special climate-controlled safes — down to the matchboxes.

“We are always prepared and ready to go,” explains Ahmed. “It’s not chaotic at all because we’re used to it — it’s a normal day at Cotton.”

When asked for her favorite parts of the tent this year, Ahmed readily answered that it has to be the five rose ponies in the main area of the club. Secondly, the two commissioned works by Sneha Merchant. Sprinkled in diamond dust, one is a female mallard wrapped in a boa, champagne flute in hand, while the other is a smartly-suited jackalope complete with cowboy hat and martini.

Both pieces are lit by antique sconces Ahmed sourced from Round Top, while the taxidermy Zebra heads are on loan from the Columbus, Texas ranch of Cotton Holdings’ Chairman Pete Bell.

“Every detail, down to the swatches of velvet has been thought of with a lot of love and care,” says Ahmed. “You use that mindset with something like this. So, if you have a mindset like before you deploy to a hurricane, you can do it for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.”

Courtesy of Cotton Holdings

The Gold Pony is the ultra-private VIP lounge behind the stage.

houston livestock show and rodeo home-design cotton holdings