It’s a Small World After All

Forty years and a fog of drugs later, Marianne Faithfull can still recall her first trip to Marrakech. “I went with Mick [Jagger], and we stayed at La Mamounia—later on I’d stay with Paul and Talitha Getty. But I remember I packed three saris, a swim costume, and books of Edmond Dulac illustrations, which looked fantastic on acid.” This past weekend, the English singer found herself in the Moroccan city once again, this time to celebrate the re-launch of the online social community ASMALLWORLD. Her friend, the musician Harper Simon, had brought her along so the two could work on songs together. And over the course of the three-day extravaganza, they also dined amidst snake charmers and belly dancers at Le Salama within the medina, danced under the stars and beside the olive groves at The Beldi Country Club, took a guided shopping tour of the souks, took a guided shopping tour of the souks, courtesy of L-atitude, and soaked up the sun poolside at the Taj Palace with an eclectic international crew that included Natasha Lyonne, Olivia Wilde, Lea Seydoux, Jasmine Guinness, Alison Mosshart, Theophilus London, Catherine Baba, Kick Kennedy, Waris Ahluwalia, Mamie Gummer, Josephine de la Baume, Elodie Bouchez and her husband Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk.

“More than just a launch party, this weekend is a metaphor for bringing people together from a lot of different countries,” said the site’s CEO Sabine Heller, who has overseen its transformation from a mere social network to an elite travel and lifestyle community. Launching today, ASMALLWORLD now offers its 250,000 vetted members access to everything from complimentary airport car service in Paris to VIP treatment at the nightclub Pasha in Ibiza; villa rentals in Sardinia to studio visits with Derek Lam in New York. “Being international is the new status symbol,” says Heller. “And ASW helps facilitate that. It allows you to go to any city in the world and feel like you belong and that you’re never really alone because there’s a community you can tap into.” To illustrate that notion, ASW enlisted Italian filmmaker Tommaso Cardile to capture members Hudson Morgan, an L.A screenwriter, and Janina Joffe, a London gallerist, as they each visited a city they had never been to before (for Morgan, Buenos Aires; Joffe, Tokyo) relying solely on the ASW community to get by. Check it out below:

Video: ASW Adventurers

Photos: Billy Farrell Agency