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THE VISIONARY & DESIGN Cover
SUMMER ISSUE
Lenny Kravitz: Enter into his creative world
Business
Cannabis & Canada: Trailblazing CEOs and company founders revealing the business of cannabis in Canada
Cars
The Hottest Smart, Sustainable, & Hybrid SUVs Italian Formula 1 Racer Antonio Giovinazzi
Cinema
The best in films from the Sundance Film Festival 2019
Culture
Thierry Mugler: Exclusive interview with the iconic fashion designer about his creative evolution and recent Montreal exhibition
PAMELA BERNIER BY RICHARD BERNARDIN
Design & Art Shifting through the mind of a millennial artist Alexis Vaillancourt Curator-at-Large Mathew Israel: A new approach to the art market Stockholm Design Week: The best in Scandinavian design Ligne Roset: A family story in interior design & living Interior Influencer: Marcel Wanders
Desire
International model Pamela Bernier chats with photographer Richard Bernardin
Gastronomy
Future Food Studio: Turning food into edible clouds Marcus Samuelsson and his restaurant in the new Four Season’s Hotel in Montreal
2019 MERCEDES G-CLASS
Grooming
Put your best face forward: Elevate your self-care routine
Music
New vinyl to put on your record player AVID Pulsare II Phono Stage: The preamp perfection that your sound system is missing
Style
A Suit Story: A modern twist on a classic style New Work Rules: Workwear gets a whole new meaning Notting Hill: Mix utilitarian cool with activewear to look your best Discover the new Sarah Pacini Man collection
Sports
Free solo climber Alex Hannold tackles mountains and cheats death
Travel
Small Retreats: A curated guide to understated luxury getaways Five travel destinations for the athlete in you
Tech
Flying Cars and AI Assistants: A look into the future at the CES festival Tech Assassin: Alexandre Amancio
Watches NEW WORK RULES BY JEAN-CLAUDE LUSSIER
Cover Credits: Photographer MATHIEU BITTON
Watch the Sky: Pilot watches Solid Gold: Craftsmanship with the finest materials Hamilton CEO Sylvain Dolla on his company’s historical connection to Hollywood
DTK MEN - SUMMER 2019
AG E N T M
T H E O F F I C I A L WATC H O F T H E M E N I N B L AC K © 2019 COLUMBIA TRISTAR MARKETING GROUP, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
SUMMER 2019 N ̊ 11 Editor-in-Chief: Sylvain Blais President: Kathia Cambron C.E.O.: Shervin Shirvani Editorial Directors: Sylvain Blais, Kathia Cambron Director of Marketing & Communications: Brenna Dixon Senior Content Editor: Jason Gorber
PRODUCTION
Content Director: Rebecca Kahn Copy Editing and Proofreading: Brenna Dixon, Rebecca Kahn
ART DEPARTMENT
Creative Director: Sylvain Blais Art Director: César Ochoa Graphic Designers: Marjolaine Blouin, Robin Westfield
ART AND DESIGN
Design Editor: Sylvain Blais Writers: Azamit, KW, Stephane Le Duc
BUSINESS
Writers: Jason Gorber
CARS
Cars Editor: Shervin Shirvani Writers: Braydon Holmyard, Benjamin Yong
CINEMA
Cinema Editor: Jason Gorber
CULTURE AND LIFESTYLE
Lifestyle Editor: Marie-Ève Venne Writers: Stéphane Le Duc, Marie-Ève Venne
DESIRE
Writers: Richard Bernardin
GROOMING
Grooming Editors: Steven Turpin Grooming, Makeup, and Hair Artists: Michael Goyette, Richard J, Paco Puertas, Steven Turpin
MUSIC
Writers: Jason Gorber, Stéphane Le Duc
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Richard Bernardin, Jean-Claude Lussier, Neil Motta, John van der Schilden Assistant Photographers: Adam Coish
SPORTS
Writers: Braydon Holmyard
STYLE
Style Editors: Mark John Tripp Stylists: Fritz, Corey Ng, Mark John Tripp Writers: Brenna Dixon
TECHNOLOGY
Writers: Aaron Cunningham, Stéphane Le Duc
TRAVEL
Writers: Azamit, Braydon Holmyard
WATCHES
Watch Editor: Shervin Shirvani Writers: Jason Gorber, Akeem Johnson-Pierre
COMMUNICATIONS
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WEB DEPARTMENT
Creative Director: Shervin Shirvani Editors: Akeem Johnson-Pierre Social Media: Yani
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CONTRIBUTORS
Jason Gorber
Jason Gorber is a film journalist and member of the Toronto Film Critics Association. He is the Managing Editor for ThatShelf.com, the Senior Content Editor at DTK Men, and a critic for HighDefDigest.
Richard Bernardin
Richard Bernardin’s signature style in creating breathtaking visuals has resulted in the global diffusion of his work with international acclaim. Having collaborated with a variety of fashion brands, top models, and celebrities, Richard continues to capture rarity and elevate unique aesthetics through his keen eye and photographic skills. After 23 years in the industry, he continues to seek out inspiration worldwide to produce captivating images.
SENIOR CONTENT EDITOR
PHOTOGRAPHER
Stéphane Le Duc CULTURE WRITER
Azamit
VISUAL STORYTELLER, IN TOTO / FOUNDER, SOUK @ SAT
Mark John Tripp FASHION EDITOR
Braydon Holmyard SPORTS WRITER
This culture and fashion enthusiast is now happily collaborating with DTK Men. Stéphane Le Duc is the host and commissioner of conferences at the Fashion and Design Festival in Montreal. This platform allows him to put forward his creative abilities when it comes to fashion and design, both locally and internationally. He also shares his vision by teaching at the École Supérieure de Mode at UQAM.
JASON GORBER
RICHARD BERNARDIN
STÉPHANE LE DUC
Azamit is a Montreal style icon, brand builder, and creative connector. With a distinct background in fashion, curation, and events, she creates unique design encounters that transcend the senses and imprint revelation for the viewer. Her multi-layered interests in the design world has led her to create In Toto – a visual storytelling firm with an invitation to elevate and celebrate contemporary design and aesthetics. The firm curates captivating moments with unique visual worlds that epitomize enduring style and effortless elegance. Her constant quest and relentless pursuit of incubating new ideas has led her to become a champion of localness, wherever that may be. Canadian-born stylist and fashion editor Mark John Tripp is known for his understated, straightforward approach to fashion. With a background in Fashion Design from Ryerson University and over 15 years of design and styling experience, Mark is a favourite among advertising and editorial clients. While his day job is with the Toronto Star, Braydon has been writing sports features for DTK over the last three years. He likes to showcase the community and humanity in sports through his writing. You can usually find him standing in a field with a baseball in his hand.
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
AZAMIT
MARK JOHN TRIPP
BRAYDON HOLMYARD
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EDITOR’S NOTE
PHOTOGRAPHER MATHIEU BITTON
I am passionate about many things in life: art, fashion, history, culture, society, and, of course, design. This summer, the Design & Visionary Issue is a natural extension of my keenest interests. We shine the spotlight on visionaries: particular individuals who are graced by otherworldly talents and who utilize them for the greater good in hopes of bettering our world.
Sylvain Blais, Editor-in-Chief
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Since I was a teenager, I have been a huge fan of Lenny Kravitz’s music, style, and entire universe; I was infatuated with his rock ’n’ roll attitude. A few years ago, I discovered his interior design work and furniture design collaborations, which perfectly aligned with my aesthetic: full-fledged ‘70s rock glamour. When we had the chance to meet with him in New York, there was no doubt he was perfect for the cover of this issue.
Besides Kravitz, we explore diverse artists within their niches, from tech innovators to culinary masters, and the latest in sports, seasonal styles, and adventure destinations for summer. Focusing on business, this issue is also dedicated to the cannabis industry. For over a year, cannabis has been a hot topic within Canadian society, and today, after its legalization, some major companies have emerged as definite game-changers. We interviewed the industry CEOs and key individuals behind the most promising cannabis enterprises, revealing an exciting future for this sector in Canada. I hope this issue will inspire you to follow your dreams and stay passionate and stylish, at least for this summer.
DTK MEN | THE VISIONARY & DESIGN
G-STAR RAW STORE TORONTO 328 QUEEN STREET WEST
CARS
POWER OF SUVS THE WORLD IS ABLAZE RIGHT NOW WITH SUV FEVER, AND THERE IS NO SIGN OF THIS PHENOMENON SLOWING DOWN. A TREND AS OF LATE HAS BEEN THE MOVE TOWARDS MORE SUSTAINABLE, EFFICIENT ENGINEERING, EVIDENCED BY SMALLER DISPLACEMENT TURBOCHARGED MOTORS AND THE USE OF HYBRID TECHNOLOGY. WE’VE ROUNDED UP A FEW OF THE HOTTEST EXAMPLES FROM THREE WELL-KNOWN LUXURY BRANDS.
By Benjamin Yong
2019 LAMBORGHINI URUS
Even Lamborghini couldn’t resist the lucrative opportunity of entering the SUV arena. Thankfully, the Italian luxury automaker hasn’t at all watered down the styling of the Urus, which is named after the aurochs, a wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. The exterior is classic Lambo, wearing slim LED headlamps, an aggressive front bumper, up to 23-inch wheels, and blacked-out valences all around. Engineers put lightweight aluminum to good use during construction that helps improve handling and lower fuel consumption. For the first time, Lamborghini didn’t shoehorn a 12- or even 10-cylinder mill under the hood as per usual but, like Mercedes-Benz, chose a twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8. Go-fast junkies need not fret, as it’s no slouch, pumping out a massive 650 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of torque. Thanks to clever aerodynamics and tech, like the ability to shut down unneeded engine cylinders at cruising speeds, the Urus manages a very respectable figure of 12.3 L/100 km for both about town and on the freeway.
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DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
CARS
Vintage Yoji Yamamoto Jacket YVES SAINT LAURENT.
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
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Cars
2019 MERCEDES G-CLASS Many contemporary utility vehicles share a similar curvaceous, wind-tunnel shape but not the all-business Mercedes G-Class, affectionately known as the G-Wagen. Redesigned last year, it doesn’t simply appear rugged but is built for offroading, boasting three locking differentials and low-range gearing to get unstuck out of almost any situation. The 270 millimetres of ground clearance and 70 centimetres of water-fording depth ensure the SUV can go anywhere. A bi-turbo 4.0-litre V8 engine is found under the hood of the G 550 variant, generating 416 horsepower and 450 lb-ft of torque. Managing the output is a 9G-TRONIC automatic transmission, which, taking advantage of a wide gear ratio, provides a quieter ride and reduced gas guzzling. While the combined 17.9 L/100 km rating isn’t anywhere near the Cayenne’s, the company has hinted that plans are in place to eventually electrify the lineup, G-Class included.
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DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
Cars
2019 PORSCHE CAYENNE E-HYBRID Porsche’s Cayenne just entered its third generation, although even the keenest enthusiast would be hard-pressed to spot the changes. It’s a little bigger all-around, measuring 71 millimetres longer and 29 millimetres wider than the outgoing model, while sitting 20 millimetres lower, giving a sportier stance. At the back, the taillights are connected via a thin light bar reminiscent of the 718 Boxster and 911. Inside, the Porsche Communication Management infotainment system replaces most of the numerous physical switches found previously on the centre console. Unlike the other two vehicles discussed here, the Cayenne is the only make currently available in an electrified format. The E-Hybrid features a combination 3.0-litre V6 and 100-kilowatt electric motor, mated to a Tiptronic S eight-speed automatic gearbox, producing a total of 462 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque. Up to 44 kilometres can be travelled in zero emissions mode, and the fuel economy is rated at a thrifty 3.4 L/100 km in mixed city and highway driving conditions. The powertrain was inspired by the 918 Spyder supercar, allowing the energy stored inside the large 14.1 kilowatt-hour battery to also be used for boosting performance rather than just efficiency, which is activated when either the Sport or Sport Plus buttons beneath the shifter is pressed.
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
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Watches
Vacheron Constantin Overseas Dual Time The spirit of travel is at the heart of Vacheron Constantin’s philosophy. The Overseas collection, reinvented in 2016, brings together casual elegance and comfort along with interchangeable quick release straps. The case and hour indicators are made of 18k 5N pink gold. This watch has a six-sided bezel inspired by the emblematic maltese cross and a dual time zone indication thanks to the 5110 DT calibre, as well as a 60-hour power reserve. ($50,500) / 41mm diameter case / 150m water resistance
TRUE WATCHMAKING HOUSES INVEST HOURS INTO CRAFTING WATCHES THAT STAND THE TEST OF TIME. THE DESIGNS GIVEN TO THESE TIMEPIECES ARE A CULMINATION OF WISDOM, KNOWLEDGE, AND SKILL GAINED THROUGHOUT THE YEARS. WATCHES ARE MADE OF MANY MATERIALS BUT FEW EMBODY TIMELESSNESS LIKE PURE GOLD.
Edited by Shervin Shirvani Text by Akeem Johnson-Pierre
WOOD TEXTURE © ДАРЬЯ ЯКОВЛЕВА
SOLID GOLD
Panerai Luminor Due
Seamaster Planet Ocean Chronograph Ceragold™
Omega
Monsieur Watch
Chanel
Inspired by the Luminor 1950 case, the Panerai Luminor Due embraces the iconic look of the brand through a sleeker, thinner case, resulting in the versatility of being worn to special occasions. The high-grade 5Npt gold used to craft the watch has a percentage of copper that lends a red hue to the case. The P-4000/10 calibre is the thinnest from Panerai and grants a threeday power reserve to the wearer. ($32,100) 45mm diameter case / 30m water resistance
As if the incredible 2000ft water resistance was not enough to win fans over, Omega went the extra step and created the gold counterpart. The Ceragold edition features an 18k red gold case and a polished black ceramic bezel ring. The lacquered black dial provides an intuitive reading experience, powered by the Omega Co-Axial calibre 8501, proudly visible through a clear case back. ($31,500) / 45.5mm diameter case / 600m water resistance
The Monsieur Watch by Chanel is the first men’s timepiece made by the French brand. Excellently crafted, Monsieur embodies the elegant design Chanel is known for. Both the case and crown are made of 18k beige gold. The dial is made of ivory opaline, with a 240-degree retrograde minute display and a separate hour indicator at 6 o’clock. (Price upon request) / 40mm diameter case / 30m water resistance
Santos de Cartier Chronograph Watch
Cartier
Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Tribute Duoface Large
Oyster Perpetual GMT-Master II
Alberto Santos-Dumont designed over 22 aircrafts and was brave enough to put his life on the line with every flight. This is why, in 1904, he ordered his friend Louis Cartier to design the first wristwatch on record. The newest Santos de Cartier Chronograph is lightweight, features intentionally visible screws on the case, and captures the true essence of the original gold timepiece. It is fitted with the 1904-CH MC Cartier manufacture movement and an updated folding buckle for comfort. ($30,700) / 35.1mm diameter case / 100m water resistance
The Reverso was created out of a challenge. British officers wanted a watch that could withstand the intense polo matches of the 1930s in India. JaegerLeCoultre succeeded by reversing the case to reveal a back that would fully protect from mallet strokes. This limited series of 100 editions has ruggedness that does not take away from its elegance as the Reverso in rose gold is offered with a Fagliano Limited strap in two-tone cordovan leather. ($29,400) / 7.4mm thickness / 30m water resistance
Rolex’s commitment to excellence begins at the source. The GMT-Master II has only the purest of metals selected while creating its Oystersteel and gold alloys. This craftsmanship happens in-house and is applied throughout, including the robust case. The unmistakable dial is also made in-house and is responsible for the model's excellent legibility. Rolex’s reputation of reliability is shown through the heart of the GMT-Master II with the 3285 movement, allowing for a second time zone to be read simultaneously. ($42,150) / 40mm diameter case / 100m waterproof
Rolex
ELVIS PRESLEY ON THE SET OF BLUE HAWAII VENTURA
watches
HAMILTON On the Big Screen
THE CONNECTION BETWEEN CINEMA AND TIMEKEEPING IS AS OLD AS THE MEDIUM. CASE IN POINT, THE LUMIERE BROTHERS WHO WERE PIONEERS OF THE ART OF MOVING PICTURES WERE WATCHMAKERS WHO TOOK THOSE SKILLS TO BUILD THE FIRST MOVIE CAMERAS. AS A BRAND, HAMILTON WATCH HAS PLAYED A MAJOR ROLE AS WELL, FOR ALMOST 90 YEARS APPEARING ON SCREEN TO PROVIDE SOMETIMES SUBTLE, SOMETIMES OVERT CALLS TO CHARACTERS’ CHOICE OF WRISTWEAR.
By Jason Gorber
DTK spoke exclusively to Hamilton Watch International's CEO Sylvain Dolla about his company’s historical connection to Hollywood and how their deep connection to this community has resulted in the “Behind the Camera” awards show. For many years, there’s been a strong connection between the Hamilton and Hollywood. How did this connection begin, and how is it integrated into your brand? What I love about this story is that it’s genuine, it’s authentic, it’s a very long-lasting relationship. The first time that Hamilton partnered with a movie was back in 1932 for the Marlene Dietrich movie Shanghai Express. We have partnered on more than 500 films. Our connection is based on relationships we have with prop masters, designers, and directors. They come and ask us to give a special character to the character. We have a very long history, so if they need watches from the ‘50s or ‘60s or whatever, we can provide watches from these years.
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Do you have a team that will help assist in picking out watches? We have one assistant that takes care of shipping watches to the prop masters, and we have one gentleman based in L.A. that also liaises with them. Usually, they know exactly what they want. So, it’s usually not a creative thing - it’s more of a ‘we can provide this’ thing. Depends. I’ll give you two examples. With Stanley Kubrick, he mandated Hamilton to create a watch for 2001: A Space Odyssey. For Interstellar, Christopher Nolan wanted to make a special watch, the Khaki Murph. The watch itself plays a major role in the movie, the hands helping connect Matthew McConaughey’s character with his daughter. That was a creation with Nolan’s input – the dials, the hands, the shape of the case, the straps. So, in most of the cases, the filmmakers know what existing model they want, and sometimes they want a new creation.
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
watches Are there any that you’ve made that are strictly exclusive, or is it one of those things that when you make a watch for a film, you can then sell it as part of your collection? Usually, we make an edition because people really want it. There were some cases where we did the watch just for the movie, and we are open to that. It depends. One of the things you’re doing is you’re helping provide character through a fashion or pragmatic choice through the timepiece they choose. How would you describe the character of a Hamilton watch as opposed to one of your competitors? We have the American spirit in the brand – that’s something quite unique. We have a very strong character in the different designs that we have. For example, the Khaki is inspired from the military watches that we have been doing for many years. With Hamilton, everything is coherent, but we have a diversity in design. And, of course, there’s the famous triangular watch that Elvis Presley wore. The Ventura was a revolution – the first electric watch! It was a Hamilton innovation. The design is contemporary and modern and is more than 50 years old. What is the connection between the United States and the Swiss watchmakers? The company was acquired back in the 1972. In terms of today’s technology, Swiss production is really the highest standard in the industry. We have a tagline that summarizes the company: “American spirit, Swiss precision.” Maybe for you, coming from North America, it will sound a bit weird, but for us, there is something special when we come here. When you land in New York or in L.A., this wide landscape, the energy, the entrepreneurial aspect – this is the American spirit, and this is what we want to keep in our brand! What do people misunderstand about watches? Everyone has a phone in their pocket now that can tell time. On the other hand, it might be simply a gratuitous fashion state-
MEN IN BLACK VENTURA SOLDIER
ment, so it wouldn’t matter about the mechanism and the intricacy. Do you think the watch has continued to have a hold on people as simply objects of fascination, or is it something more than that? I think, more and more, we need traditional handcrafted watches. We are surrounded with commodities, and commodities are meant not to last. The manufacturer wants you to replace them as soon as possible. When we develop a Hamilton watch, we want the people to be proud to wear it in 10 years because the design hasn’t aged. We want them to be able to give them to people they love. There are not many items around that people can wear, that people can use to reflect their personality, and that people can keep and will last. So, it’s more an icon than it is jewellery. It’s something to actually hold on to. It’s something you have an emotional link to. It’s something you wear. It’s something that reflects your personality, and, for men, it’s one of the only things that you buy that will last and can reflect your personality. The “Behind the Camera Awards” seems fitting for a watch company. Here, you have famous people giving awards to less famous collaborators. It’s like when you turn over a beautiful watch face and see the mechanism that the craftsperson has made, the behind the scenes work suddenly exposed. You summarize it perfectly well! What I love about this event [is] the speeches [of] the honorees are very touching; it’s genuine and it’s authentic. The celebrities are coming to honour their friends from behind the scenes. How did it begin? We started in 2006 on a rooftop in New York on a very small scale. The costume designers, the prop masters, the screenwriters – these are probably the most passionate people within the screen industry! This is what we love; they are really great inspirations for us.
PILOTS RECEIVING HAMILTON WATCHES - 15 MAY 1918
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
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Watches
MOUNTAINS © ILYESSUTI
Watch
THE SKY
IWC
Chronograph Spitfire Named after the Royal Air Force single-seat fighter aircraft, the IWC Chronograph Spitfire is the first pilot watch from the brand to have a movement from the 69000-calibre family. The timepiece features the iconic olive spitfire colouring on the strap and houses a 69380-calibre movement in a sleek 41mm diameter case. The movement allows for totalizers with individual hour and minute displays at 9 and 12 o’clock. Bidirectional pawl-winding grants the watch a power reserve of 46 hours. Owners will wear the watch’s inspiration on their wrist, with the Spitfire plane engraved into the case back. ($7,500) / 41mm diameter case / 60m water resistance
PILOTS ARE HELD TO A HIGH STANDARD. FOR THIS REASON, THEY HAVE A LONG-STANDING HISTORY OF DEPENDING ON THE MOST RELIABLE TIMEPIECES. LUCKY FOR US, PILOTS TEND TO HAVE A GREAT SENSE OF STYLE AS WELL. THESE FEW WATCHES FLIRT BETWEEN THE LINES OF STYLE AND FUNCTIONALITY, BRINGING THE THRILL OF AVIATION TO YOUR WRIST.
Edited by Shervin Shirvani Text by Akeem Johnson-Pierre
Pilot Type 20 Extra Special Chronograph
Zenith
Khaki Aviation X-Wind GMT Soldier
Hamilton
Bell & Ross BR 03-92 Nightlum
Locle, the third smallest city in Switzerland, is the centre for Swiss watchmaking and the home of Zenith. Last year at Baselworld, the historic watch manufacturer unveiled a blue version of the Pilot Type 20 Extra Special Chronograph, a watch previously solely in bronze. The watch still has the same desirable traits as its brown counterpart, with a 50-hour power reserve, a 10 ATM water resistance, and, engraved in the case back, the Zenith flying instrument’s logo exclusive to the brand’s legendary aviation watches. ($8,500) / 50mm diameter case / 100m water resistance
The Red Bull Air Race is a sport of precision and pressure. Hamilton, involved in the sport since its inception, provided this year's champion pilots with a timepiece that can meet their needs. The new Khaki Aviation X-Wind GMT combines pilots' demands with Swiss movements and technologies to deliver a must-have for urban aviators. The watch features two time zones on the dial, an H-30 automatic movement that allows for an 80-hour power reserve, and many more complications specific for flying. (Price upon request) / 46mm diameter case / 100m water resistance
Fighter jet pilots have a very limited amount of watches they can count on. A watch consistently on that list is the BR 03-92 by Bell & Ross. With its square case inspired by the dials and meters found in a fighter jet cockpit, it's even sleeker in all black. Nicknamed the ‘Nightlum’, this version features a matte black ceramic case and dial. Telling time is never an issue thanks to prominent hands and numerals coated in green superluminova. The watch is powered by the BR-CAL 302 automatic movement. ($4,990) / 42mm diameter case / 100m water resistance
Bremont U-2/51-JET
Ulysse Nardin Marine Torpilleur Military
Exospace B55 Yachting
Bremont has a prominent history with military aviation. For 50 years of the past century, they were the official supplier to the continental air force. Recently, the watch manufacturer helped usher in RAF’s 100 Squadron centenary with the Bremont U-2/51-JET. The 51-JET borrows its stealthy appearance straight from the 100 Squadron bomber planes, which were virtually undetectable at night. Heat-treated steel blue hands have been coupled with the trademark vintage 51 lume to deliver its new look. (£3,995) / 43mm diameter case / 100m water resistance
The Ulysse Nardin brand is founded on marine chronometers. These specific watches were the brand’s specialty since its beginning in 1846. A few years ago, Ulysse revisited the Marine Torpilleur, giving it a neat new look in the process. Staying true to the brand’s reliability, this timepiece maintains all the qualities the Marine Collection is known to possess. Legibility is effortless thanks to a classic dial with both large numerals and separate dials indicating seconds and a power reserve. (Price upon request) / 44mm diameter case / 50m water resistance
The Exospace B55 Yachting takes a technological approach to functionality. By ushering in their third connected chronograph, Breitling also welcomes a slew of advanced complications. The watch features an electronic tachymeter, a countdown/count-up system, and a ‘chrono-flight‘ and ‘chronoregatta’ device for recording flight and regatta times, while memorizing departure and arrival times. All these new features are possible thanks to the B55 calibre that is manufactured in-house. ($8,895) / 46mm diameter case / 100m water resistance
Breitling
Technology
A Look into the Future at CES THE CES FESTIVAL TOOK PLACE IN LAS VEGAS FROM JANUARY 7TH TO 10TH, BUT IF YOU’RE INTERESTED IN THE LATEST ADVANCES IN CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY, THEN YOU ALREADY KNEW THAT. THE FOUR-DAY EVENT ATTRACTS THE WORLD’S BUSINESS LEADERS AND MOST INNOVATIVE THINKERS. FROM FLYING CARS TO ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) ASSISTANTS AND SMART WINDOWS TO ROBOT SUITCASES, THIS YEAR DID NOT DISAPPOINT.
By Aaron J. Cunningham BELL - NEXUS
WILL YOU BE TAKING A FLYING CAR TO WORK SOON? As kids, many of us read sci-fi books and dreamt of a not-too-distant future where everyone would have a flying car. So, now that we are in that future, where are they? Well, maybe the little kid in you is closer than you think to taking a ride in that flying car.
first responders that need to navigate through difficult terrain. A concept rendering showed the Elevate assisting a person in a wheelchair up the steps and into their home. The Elevate shows what is possible if robotics and self-driving technologies combine in the right way.
Uber has partnered with Bell, not the phone company but the aviation company, to create the Nexus. During CES, they showed off the second-stage MASS ADOPTION OF AI ASSISTANTS So, now that you may soon have your flying car, prototype of their flying car that they plan to begin where’s your robot butler? They’re already here – testing in 2020. The full-scale model at CES claims well, sort of. AI digital voice assistants have seen a it will have the ability to fly up to five people over major move toward widespread adoption. 240km at a speed of 240km/h on a single charge. Initially, the product will be aimed at executives Google claims that four times more people are uswho want to fly across the city and avoid traffic ing Google Assistant, with over one billion active jams, perhaps one day replacing the corporate he- Google Assistant devices. So far, the two biggest licopter, then eventually making its way down to players in AI assistants are Google and Amazon, with Apple following closely behind. the rest of us. While the prototype on display at CES did not actually fly, it is being taken very seriously by industry insiders. Why? Because Bell has a long-standing track record with aviation and is currently employed by the military to design the propulsion technology behind the V-22 Osprey, one of the military’s most advanced (and expensive) helicopters. A NEW TAKE ON FIRST RESPONDER VEHICLES Hyundai revealed the Elevate, their vision of a wildly futuristic vehicle that has four wheels and four legs. The vehicle was designed specifically for
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During CES, Samsung threw their hat into the AI ring, with their new AI assistant Bixby. They also revealed four new robots designed to help with various tasks. Samsung brought one of these robots, the Samsung Bot Care, on stage to demonstrate its health-tracking capabilities. “It’s a partner for everyday tasks to help keep you healthy,” according to Gary Lee, Samsung Senior Vice President and head of the company’s AI efforts. "[Family members] can check on your wellbeing, even from far away."
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
Technology
Samsung also revealed a retail robot that allows you to order and pay for food, as well as delivering it, which would be perfect for food courts. They also revealed some exoskeleton mobility suits, which could help elderly or disabled people who have mobility issues. The exoskeletons can drastically reduce the effort it takes to walk or climb stairs. TVS OF THE FUTURE From displays that spanned entire walls to interactive projections, CES was chock-full of ways we might see our content in the future. LG definitely stole the show at CES with its flexible OLED screens that they showcased on the small-scale TV, which expand and retract from a sleek bass. They also created, on the large scale, a massive installation called the LG OLED Falls, a 6m tall x 20m wide display made up of 260 flax, convex, and concave screens. Another standout product at CES was Samsung’s The Wall, a new way to create displays out of modular microLED tiles that can be installed onto any surface in any size, shape, or orientation. Imagine a world were instead of buying a bigger TV, home owners can buy a few more microLED tiles to add onto their existing units. BELL'S CES BOOTH
LG
SMART WINDOWS HELP US SEE THE FUTURE EMD Performance Materials showcased some amazing new glass. Their smart windows are made with liquid crystal, the same material that makes the LCD screen on your phone and most TVs. The windows can instantly change their opacity, with just a tiny zap of electricity. Quickly adjusting the tint could help homeowners save on heating and air conditioning costs, while another minor adjustment could make the windows white, allowing for total privacy. R2-D2-LIKE ROBOT SUITCASES Perhaps this next invention won’t have the most profound effect on our society, but it was definitely one of the most charming and coolest new pieces of tech showcased at CES. The Rover Speed smart luggage autonomously follows its owner around the airport or down the street. Its handle is equipped with a camera and AI system that can identify you and follow you as you walk around. If you travel a lot and get lonely, maybe this new robot luggage can keep you company as it buzzes behind you at the airport.
ELEVATE - HYUNDAI MOTOR COMPANY LG R2-D2 SUITCASE
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
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Technology
Tech Assassin
ALEXANDRE AMANCIO IN THE VIDEO GAME WORLD, WE COULD SAY THAT ALEXANDRE AMANCIO IS A CELEBRITY, AS HE IS ONE OF THE SUCCESSFUL CREATORS OF THE ASSASSIN’S CREED REVELATIONS AND ASSASSIN’S CREED UNITY GAMES. HE IS NOW THE CO-FOUNDER AND GENERAL MANAGER OF REFLECTOR ENTERTAINMENT, A DIVISION OF LUNE ROUGE, WHOSE FOUNDER IS NONE OTHER THAN GUY LALIBERTÉ.
By Stéphane Le Duc
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DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
Technology
Amancio took on the huge task of assembling a versatile team in Montreal in order to create a multi-platform universe. This was the perfect challenge for such a creative mind to express his vision of this international project with outstanding intelligence and clarity. What made you decide to create Reflector? Was there a need for it or did you see it as a challenge? It’s a little bit of both. As a creator myself, I saw that the world of entertainment was evolving – it was shifting. I had begun seeing this in my career in the video game industry, even in the way that fans were perceiving the work that we were doing. They were beginning to see it more as a universe rather than just a video game – the way that entertainment and every single medium has been decentralizing. There is a democratization of content where there’s now so many channels [that] you can’t possibly control everything unless you are one or two of the largest conglomerates. Audiences have already begun pulling content. They like searching, going from one to the other organically, and I found that no company was approaching content in that way. So, I started to think, ‘What if a company, rather than putting the medium at the apex of his business model, just put a world, a universe, and then just used every single medium?’.
“WE ARE BECOMING GODS
IN SO MANY ASPECTS, FROM GENE MANIPULATIONS TO CLIMATE MANIPULATION ”
Do you feel we are at a time where it is more challenging to create that kind of universe or mythology? I don’t think it is harder now [than] it has been. I think creating a world is always challenging. I found that a lot of the worlds that are exploited today come from a past century. When they were created, they resonated; they were symbols, metaphors. The reason our company is called Reflector is because I always wanted to remind myself and the audience that the role of any entertainment is to reflect culture back at itself. It is very difficult for society, when living it, to judge itself. The job of entertainment is trying to do that in real time but making it more accessible by making stories that are analogies to it. That is why we invented theatre – it was a proxy of what people were going through at the moment. At one point, we forgot that, and it became more about money. Can you give me an example of how you achieve doing that at Reflector? Every single one of the universes that we are working on at Reflector starts with one very simple idea, and that idea has to be the Zeitgeist of the moment. The best example is our first universe called Unknown 9 (U9). It is about self-actualization. It’s about the maturation of the human species. We are now at a point where we are becoming gods in so many aspects, from gene manipulations to climate manipulation to overpopulation and resource control-
ling. We are at a very critical time now. It’s either we go over that hump and, as a species, we transcend what we are today, or we run the real risk of obliterating, annihilating what we are. It is not a depressing [Intellectual Property (IP)] because it’s all about hope, because it is in our hands. We just have to stop looking everywhere else for answers. We have to look at ourselves. That is engrained in the DNA of this IP. We are not preachy because whenever you put a message before the quality of the content and the characters, the audience reacts badly to it. It’s story first, characters, and then the underlying message is encoded into the DNA. Some people will see it, [and] some don’t, but that’s OK. With Lune Rouge and Reflector, you are really building a new company with a new team. Is it an exciting time for you? I like that kind of challenge. Building something from the ground up is almost like bringing a plant to life in a harsh climate. It will grow into a large and strong tree that will resist any storm, but, before it gets there, it’s a fledgling. It’s very delicate, and any strong breeze or sharp dropping temperature will kill it. I think it needs a special kind of nurturing, and the decisions that you make at that point will have repercussions [on] how that tree will grow. So, I like that challenge and that concept of taking care of something that will grow. The major thing that I have been trying to be very careful about is the culture. I really believe in candor - creating an environment that is free of politics and where everybody has that ability to speak. This is how you create a family and you create belonging and people start seeing the work as collective.
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Cinema
BeST OF
SUNDANCE 2019
THE WINDS BLEW CINEPHILES INTO PARK CITY ONCE AGAIN LAST JANUARY, DRAWN BY PROMISES OF NEW DISCOVERIES AND WELCOME ADDITIONS TO THE FILM CANON. WITH HUNDREDS OF FILMS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD, THIS SKI-TOWN FESTIVAL HAS GROWN STEADILY TO BECOME ONE OF THE MOST DEFINITIVE, A-CLASS SHOWCASES ANYWHERE ON THE PLANET.
By Jason Gorber This year continued to mark considerable change in the industry, with the VOD companies like Amazon and Netflix dominating the feeding frenzy for content, when, in decades past, such behaviour was the stuff of the brothers behind Miramax. With a continued focus on giving voices from all over the world attention, Sundance continues to help lead the way in bringing to light projects that shape our year in film.
From the humble origins as an excuse for Robert Redford and friends to show off the best of what was being left out of the cinemas, there’s now a feeling that the festival has moved well beyond the founder’s direct involvement, this year the iconic performer making a bit more explicit his intent to step back even further. There were many films that lived up to the high expectations – these being the cream of this year’s crop.
MEMORY: THE ORIGINS OF ALIEN
Directed by Alexandre Philippe
Sundance has several key dramatic entries every year, but it truly is the home of documentaries, showcasing many of the major contenders that help define the year of non-fiction cinema. Alexandre Philippe follows his previous ruminations on the Psycho shower scene (78/52) with a deep dive into our collective unconscious and how it helped shaped Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi film. Beyond looking at Alien’s chestburster scene, the film goes further to explore how we understand films in general and how deep-seeded obsessions and pathologies shape our myth-making. It’s cerebral stuff and easily could have devolved into pompous nonsense, but Philippe’s inquisitive nature is inviting rather than off-putting, drawing audiences into the world of O’Bannon, Gieger, and Scott as we explore the darkest crevices of our fears and experiences.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF SUNDANCE INSTITUTE
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DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
Cinema
LUCE
Directed by Julius Onah A film that flew under the radar for many, this extraordinary work by Julius Onah tells the tale of a well-respected high school student of African descent (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) who is nearing graduation. Raised by his white parents (Tim Roth and Naomi Watts), Luce is confronted by one of his teachers (Octavia Spencer) when she believes there may be something beyond his impeccable reputation. J.C. Lee’s script is based on his play, yet the resulting film is bravely cinematic. Bravura performances buttress a script that’s searing and deeply provocative, its intelligence and refusal for easy answers exactly the kind of rich, intense, unforgettable discoveries one can hope for from festivals like this.
THE LODGE
Directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala With the “secret” screening of Get Out in 2017 and 2018’s genre hits like Mandy and Hereditary, Sundance has proven of late to showcase many of the year’s most thrilling films. The Lodge is a creep-tastic family drama that proves, above-all, the most horrifying things aren’t found in the supernatural but in the base instincts of humans as they behave badly with one another. Richard Armitage, Alicia Silverstone, Riley Keough, Jaeden Martell, and Lia McHugh join directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala (Goodnight Mommy) on this dark trip. Shot in and around Montreal, this frigid film gets under your skin yet is told with such precision that it can’t help but hearken to the likes of Kubrick’s style.
THE NIGHTINGALE
Directed by Jennifer Kent Jennifer Kent upended horror films with her 2014 film The Babadook, and her latest film that premiered at Venice is in many ways more harrowing. The Nightingale is a period piece, a jet-black tale that uses the tropes of the American Western to look at Australia’s dark past. Owing to the revenge films like The Searchers, this film is not an easy watch, the violence realized in a way that’s profoundly affecting. Yet, Kent’s talent lies in having every brutality be narratively significant – there’s no fat to trim here, and nothing verges on the gratuitous. More than that is Kent’s insistence on never letting the tale get away from her, finding the actions of all believable even as they shine a light into the darkest corners of humanity.
Vintage Yoji Yamamoto Jacket YVES SAINT LAURENT.
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TECHNOLOGY
Phono Preamp
PERFECTION
THIS AVID PULSARE II IS EXACTLY WHAT YOUR SOUND SYSTEM IS MISSING TO ELEVATE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL, ELIMINATING NOISE INTERFERENCE TO REVEAL THE TRUE SOUND OF YOUR MUSIC. AVID Pulsare II Phono Stage MSRP $7,500
By Jason Gorber
Analogue playback can be quite bewildering due to the myriad of ways that sound can be shaped by the system’s equipment. With digital, save for some highly subtle vagaries, it’s plug-and-play. You get a decent presentation with subtle sliding degrees, from the cheapest to the most esoteric equipment. Go to the dark side of vinyl setups, and you’re in for a world where people go to the most outrageous extremes to squeeze the smallest bit of musical goodness out of the grooves pressed onto a disc. All of the bits for playback (the cartridge, the arm, the table, the amplification) ‘colour’ the sound in various ways. It makes sense that the effect is so much greater – we’re talking micro-signals that have to go from very, very tiny to very, very big to drive your speakers. This is especially true if one is using a moving-coil (MC) cartridge. The ‘needle’, rather than the common moving magnet, is significantly lighter and arguably provides a more accurate read of what’s on the record, while generating a far smaller current that cannot be simply pumped up by the ‘phono’ input circuitry on your
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DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
TECHNOLOGY
receiver. One needs a dedicated phono preamp to make that micro-voltage rise to line level, and this is where things can get funky indeed. There are inexpensive options running around $100 and others that run northward of $100,000 that basically do nothing more than take in a signal and send it out slightly louder. The insanity of this hobby knows few bounds, and the goal of any mildly rational player in this space is to find a unit that hits the sweet spot, giving you the absolute best possible with the least expenditure possible. This leads us to talk of Pulsare II, the top of the line solid-state system (read: no vacuum tubes/ valves) from the British company AVID Hifi. Under the guidance of Conrad Mas, the company has produced a sterling unit that looks as pretty as it sounds. With its two boxes joined by an umbilical, the power unit is meant to be situated away from the main module with all the switches. The boxes do what they’re supposed to (take a signal and spit it out) with a fully balanced design that allows you to use RCA or XLR input/output. I was suspicious of what a jump up in quality from an already positively received Pro-jekt RS Phono would provide. The previous unit was battery powered, allowing my system to be free from any AC line noise interference. With such micro-signals, even my cable TV coming into the house resulted in hum in other units! Again, score one for digital being far less a pain. The Pulsare also exhibited a lot more hum than I was comfortable with, only to discover that stacking the units was the cause – perhaps better shielding is required, but moving them apart takes advantage of the design philosophy at any rate, and, immediately, I was treated to a more-thansatisfying result. What, then, do you get from jumping from a $2,000 pre-amp to one costing eight times more? Immediately, one gets a remarkable sense of space in the music – what’s dubbed ‘imaging’. With nothing else changed in the system, albums that previously sounded good now were fantastic, while others that were satisfactory actually sounded a bit worse. This is the trade-off, where the more revealing a system, the more both good and bad elements are brought to the fore. With a piece like the Pulsare, there’s nothing to hide behind, but equally there’s nothing to hold things back from truly shining. Listening to the likes of Paul Simon’s You’re the One record, a rare find on vinyl, one could easily hear the way the Pulsare opened up the soundstage with far more precision in the location of the various instruments. The 45 RPM MoFi release of Miles Davis’ classic Kind of Blue had the timbre of the instruments come alive. There are dials to set capacitance and input, none of which I’m prone to futzing with. The model below, the Pellere, was in my system for a short period and uses dip-switches on the bottom. I was convinced to give the Pulsare a shot as it uses relays for the circuitry, and the difference was indeed evident. The addition of a subsonic filter and a mono button are also advantageous, the latter knocking out redundant signals when playing back monophonic recordings, an effect that’s subtle but palpable. In the end, does it make sense to spend this much on a single component for your system? In my case, the answer is yes – the Pulsare has done as much to bring my system closer to audio nirvana as almost any part of my signal chain. It’s a set-it-and-forget-it piece, one that handsomely sits beside my turntable, doing nothing other than its best to get out of the way and provide what’s baked into the media. The best thing to be said about this upgrade is that it’s giving so much pleasure that my music ingestion has increased dramatically. I’m digging out records I’ve had for decades just to see how they hold up, finding surprises, both good and bad, along the way. With dramatically changing technology, it’s rare to find something that feels like it’s here forever; there will be plenty of other things to tweak, but this part is the culmination of everything one wants from a part of the larger audio puzzle. Thanks to some clever British engineering, with AVID’s Pulsare I’ve got a piece of gear that truly is something meant to last a lifetime – a bit of kit that makes you love the music you already listen to that much more.
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
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Music
Veritable
VINYL
WANT TO FIND THE NEXT BEST THING TO PUT ON YOUR RECORD PLAYER? WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED.
Vinyl Me Please Subscription
By Jason Gorber
Subscription record services aren’t new – if you’re old enough to remember Columbia House, I’m talking to you! What sets VMP apart is their exceptional curation and exclusive releases. Working in tandem with major and indie labels alike, their three streams (Essentials, Classics, HipHop) provide a nice, if not inexpensive, surprise treat once a month. Their releases range from the esoteric to the popular-yet-exceptional, often reviving releases that haven’t been seen on 12” discs in decades, if ever. The Classic record-of-the-month stream is a personal favourite, including many albums that I cherish but never
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would have picked out while digging through crates. Take the recent release, Oriental Jazz by Lloyd Miller, a Persianinspired assemblage of experimentation where the original runs in the hundreds of dollars. Each Classic release includes a small book of informative liner notes, while the Essentials includes a custom cocktail recipe to enjoy with the music. With limited editions, numbered releases, and some terrific finds, VMP is addictive to be sure but a welcome monthly shot in the arm to any vinyl addict. www.vinylmeplease.com
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
Music
Jenny Lewis
ON THE LINE
The Music: 3.5/5
Given the decapitated, cleavage-adorned front cover, it’s probably no irony that the first track on Jenny Lewis’ fourth album is dubbed “Heads Are Going Roll.” Her California pop with echoey-drums, jangly guitars, smattering of strings, and melodic hooks evokes the Beatles-esque forays of Aimee Mann or Susanna Hoffs (Ringo Starr himself appears on the record!). Yet, Lewis’ sweet voice and introspective lyrics manage to make this a refreshing listen given the armies of aimless electronica goons. Ryan Adams aids with production (recorded before the allegations levelled against him) as does the likes of Beck. Tracks like “Red Bull & Hennessy” feel like Tom Petty with a chorus by Kate Bush as if they got Stevie Nicks to sing backup. That’s not to say it’s all retro revisionism but a reminder that catchy tunes, driving beat, and melodic structure can still work in 2019 in the pop idiom.
Marvin Gaye PHOTO COURTESY OF VINYL ME PLEASE
WHAT’S GOING ON
There are few records as relevant today as Marvin Gaye’s masterpiece What’s Going On. Released in the spring of 1971 amidst political, social, and environmental turmoil, Gaye presented a vision simultaneously angry and hopeful, looking to a future that still felt just out of grasp. With intricate production and the stellar assistance of bassists James Jamerson and Bob Babbit, as well as other key members of Motown’s studio band The Funk Brothers, this concept album is constructed out of numerous layers, resulting in Gaye’s multitrack voice shining with choral precision, each song evoking messages as powerful today as they were a half century ago.
(Mobile Fidelity, UD1S 2-008) The Music: 5/5
Having already been produced numerous times, this limitededition version is likely the best we’ll ever get from this recording, managing to sell out its run before it actually shipped. Cut using MoFi’s new proprietary “One-Step” method for playback at 45rpm for higher fidelity, this is truly the definitive release of this pivotal recording. The opening title track was always a bit convoluted, a factor of the master rather than the release, but as soon as the rest opens up, the listener is lifted into Gaye’s recording space, transported in a fashion rarely achieved. The pieces that previously occupied an entire side needed to be split, but the added fidelity more than makes up for this inconvenience. Part time-capsule, part message for the ages, this sublime record receives the presentation it demands, with Gaye’s plea for hope and understanding as prescient and profound in today’s troubled times as it’s ever been.
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NOTTING HILL ATHLEISURE WEAR IS IN THIS SEASON AND BRIGHTER AND BOLDER THAN EVER. IN THE BRITISH STYLE OF SLICK FABRICS, BRIGHT SHADES, AND INTERESTING PATTERNS, YOU CAN UNLEASH YOUR INNER CONFIDENCE.
 Photraphy John van der Schilden Fashion Editor Mark John Tripp
Style
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
Jacket ($850), Shirt ($168), Pants P.33BOSS. ($298), and Shoes ($550)
Style Jacket ($749), Pants ($399), and Shirt ($249) TIGER OF SWEDEN. Coat ($3,440) JIL SANDER at HOLT RENFREW. Belt ($335) ANDERSON’S.
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DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
Style
Burberry
LIGHTWEIGHT NYLON TRENCH COAT
($1,780)
Rick Owens
Helmut Lang
LARGE SIGNATURE TOTE
($650)
RECYCLED HOODED RAINCOAT
($495)
Kiehl’s
MUSK SHOWER GEL
($27)
Utilitarian Cool
ELEVATE YOUR EVERYDAY OUTFITS WITH A HIP AND MODERN TWIST. THESE BASICS ARE EVERYTHING BUT BORING, OFFERING THE PERFECT BLEND OF RELAXED SOPHISTICATION.
Edited by Mark John Tripp
H&M
SHORT-SLEEVED JUMPSUIT
($79.99)
Balenciaga
TRIPLE S CLEAR SOLE TRAINER SNEAKER ($995) AVAILABLE AT NORDSTROM
Alexander Wang HIGH TWIST LONG SLEEVE T-SHIRT
($110)
Tiger of Sweden FORWARD SHIRT
($299)
Hermès
FLAMBOYANT WEB SCARF
($1,000)
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
Bell & Ross
BR-X1 CARBONE FORGE
($23,000)
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Style
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DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
This page: Shirt ($595), Vest ($1,195), and Pants ($875) BRUNELLO CUCINELLI at HARRY ROSEN. Sweater ($3,600), Bag ($6,500), and Shoes ($1,130) HERMÈS. Eyewear ($550) ROBERT MARC at JOSEPHSON OPTICIANS. Opposite page: Coat (Price upon request) LOUIS VUITTON. Shirt ($2,120) and Pants ($2,120) VALENTINO at HOLT RENFREW.
Jacket ($1,835), Shirt ($830), and Pants ($1,190) GIVENCHY at HOLT RENFREW. Shoes ($220) ECCO.
Style
Hermès
NEOBAIN CASE
($300)
Coach
REXY PATCH POLO
($175)
Louis Vuitton
Clinique For Men
BRICK ROAD JACQUARD HOODIE
($2,140)
MAXIMUM HYDRATOR
($47)
Get a move on
THIS SUMMER, YOU CAN GET INSPIRED TO STAY ACTIVE SIMPLY BY DRESSING UP IN SOME OF THE BEST ATHLEISURE WEAR OF THE SEASON.
Edited by Mark John Tripp
Lacoste
KEITH HARING COTTON T-SHIRT
($95)
Adidas
GRAPHIC WIND JACKET
($100)
Michael Kors Mens KENT LOGO TAPE NYLON CONVERTIBLE DUFFEL
($425)
Burberry
CHEQUER COTTON TRACKPANT
($470)
Hugo
Acqua Di Parma COLONIA ESSENZA EAU DE COLOGNE ($210) AVAILABLE AT HUDSON’S BAY
SNEAKER ($298) AVAILABLE AT HARRY ROSEN
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
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Style
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DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
This page: Jacket ($4,945), Pants ($2,120), Sweater ($1,415), Shirt ($825), and Shoes ($855) GUCCI. Eyewear ($425) BARTON PERREIRA at JOSEPHSON OPTICIANS. Opposite page: Jacket, Shirt, and Bag (Prices upon request) MICHAEL KORS MENS. Eyewear ($1,000) CARTIER at JOSEPHSON OPTICIANS. Photography JOHN VAN DER SCHILDEN. Fashion Editor MARK JOHN TRIPP Model ROBBIE BEESER at ELITE. Hair & Makeup RICHARD J using DYSON SUPERSONIC and ORIBE. Photographer Assistant ADAM COISH.
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DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
STYLE
Introducing Sarah Pacini’s new casual-cool menswear line
A NEW ERA
OFFERING THE PERFECT BLEND OF EASY SOPHISTICATION, THE SARAH PACINI MAN COLLECTION TAKES YOU FROM THE OFFICE TO DRINKS AND THEN INTO THE WEEKEND; EVEN PACKING IS SIMPLE AND STYLING A BREEZE WITH UPDATED CUTS, INNOVATIVE FABRICS, AND MORE. INSPIRED BY THE POWER OF CHANGE, THE ASSORTMENT SUBTLY BLURS THE LINES BETWEEN COMFY AND COOL.
By Brenna Dixon Nearly thirty years ago, “the business casual” shift in style started, which “came from Silicon Valley in the ‘80s and then became mainstream in the ‘90s,” relayed Sarah Pacini’s Brand Manager, Marcel LaFrance. Today, looking cool in the office is no longer taboo, actually now seeming to be quite the norm. The concept of “casualization” has definitely allowed the majority to swap a button-down for a tee and successfully dodge looks of disapproval in the office. Long gone are the days of starch pressed shirts and tie-looping every morning, as the concepts of “going to the office” and “office attire” today have fundamentally changed.
outerwear and accessories. “The versatility of textures and cuts are in the details, which underscore the simplicity and elegance behind the complex art of creation.” With a focus on interchangeability, all the pieces are suitable for any occasion: work, business meetings, dinner, travel, etc. The clean lines, subtle sportswear references, and layering of diverse fabrics and knits highlight the modern approach to urban style. The collection plays with the juxtaposition of composed yet unstructured looks with a common denominator of style and comfort.
THE POWER OF CHANGE IS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE NEW MEN’S COLLECTION, WHICH “SPEAKS TO MEN IN SEARCH OF A MODERN NONCONFORMIST ALLURE.”
The grip of formality and stuffy work-wear has loosened in 2019, as style is innately subject to evolve and naturally reflect the times. “Change enables us to see a new tomorrow; it ensures yesterday is not our only frame of reference,” states the Sarah Pacini’s brand philosophy. The power of change is the inspiration behind the new men’s collection, which “speaks to men in search of a modern nonconformist allure.” Style for the Sarah Pacini man manifests itself in individualism and confidence as well as with “the perfect balance and harmony between nonchalance and metropolitan energy.”
Founded in Belgium nearly 30 years ago, Sarah Pacini is primarily manufactured in Italy and internationally renowned for its global approach in uniquely amalgamating fashion, art, and design with distinctive style, coming together to create innovative collections. Utilizing an array of fine materials, the garments are created with natural fibres such as cotton and linen, varying between 100% versions and exclusive blends for that added excellence and comfort throughout the entire line. The collection is composed of innovative knitwear and woven blends which extend into
The feel-good factor is what gives this collection the right kind of appeal, from the contemporary classics to athletic-leisure pants in varying lengths. Luxe fabrics are evident and make for easy dressing. A draped jersey t-shirt is elevated by perfectly constructed outerwear – think a stretch linen mandarin collar jacket or a bomber over tailored linen trousers. Emphasizing individualism, the collection hosts diverse categories from a charcoal base to indigo-hued colour palettes and from integrated stretch fabric-blends to ‘business casual’ styles, which are all compatible and complimentary. With a forward-focused design approach, the brand understands the necessity of comfort without sacrificing sophistication. Having tapped into the lifestyle of their male consumer, the Sarah Pacini Man collection embraces materials of the finest quality and innovative tailoring, which together honour comfort and practicality, all the while maintaining an impressively smart sense of style. SARAHPACINIMAN.COM
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DESIGN
MARCEL WANDERS The Influencer
BEAUTY, INTELLIGENCE, BOLDNESS, AND HUMOUR CAN BE USED TO DESCRIBE THE WORK OF THIS ICONOCLASTIC DESIGNER WHO KEEPS SURPRISING US EVER SINCE THE CREATION OF HIS STUDIO IN AMSTERDAM IN 1996. MARCEL WANDERS COLLABORATES WITH SOME OF THE BEST COMPANIES SUCH AS ALESSI, BACCARAT, CHROSTOFLE, AND ROCHE-BOBOIS. IN 2001, HE FOUNDED THE LABEL MOOOI TO ENSURE THE PROLIFERATION OF HIS WORK WHILE OPENING DOORS FOR A NEW GENERATION OF EXCEPTIONALLY TALENTED DESIGNERS. WE HAD A CHANCE FOR A RARE DISCUSSION WITH A TRUE DESIGN INFLUENCER.
By Stéphane Le Duc
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DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
DESIGN
MARCEL WANDERS POUR ROCHE BOBOIS © DIDIER DELMAS
Is there very often humour in your work? Why is it important for you? There are different emotions that you want to share, and I am doing that in the context of design. In design, I try to share and multiply what is good and beautiful. There is a sense of humour, but it is never a joke because a joke is only good for a moment. There is a lightness in the work. We don’t think that everything in design has to be a geometric reproduction of functionality. There are more interesting ways to look at products.
“THERE IS A LIGHTNESS IN THE WORK. WE DON’T THINK THAT EVERYTHING IN DESIGN HAS TO BE A GEOMETRIC REPRODUCTION OF FUNCTUNALITY. THERE ARE MORE INTERESTING WAYS TO LOOK AT PRODUCTS.”
In order to become a great designer, you have to create your own universe. You need to find your own personality. Were you different from other kids growing up? My dad was a proud man, and, as a kid, he said to me and my brother and sisters, “You are a Wanders.” For some reason, it meant something, even if we did not know what it meant. Later in life, it gave me a sense that we were able and allowed to maybe do things differently than was expected from us. It allows us the freedom that maybe other people did not have. It’s the way I felt all my life.
Amsterdam seems a great city for design - why is that so? I think, for hundreds of years, we have been a culture that is more open minded than other ones. It’s a country that people have fled when they were in trouble elsewhere. I made a large book called Amsterdam Creative Capital, and I investigated on 700 years of creative findings, and I should one day calculate, but I think 30 or 40% of the big new ideas made in Amsterdam were from people not native to the city. It has always been a haven for people that have ideas.
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DESIGN
MW BACCARAT LE ROI SOLEIL CI
One of the first iconic pieces you created in 1996, called the Knotted Chair, had an amazing impact in the world of design. Did you expect such a reaction? The first year when I was part of Droog Design, the results and the reactions were overwhelming because we were just a bunch of kids doing some prototypes. We were looked [at] as a group of people doing something different. I was sure that for the second year, that people would come and show up for our presentation in Milan. I knew if I could make something really important, then it would make a difference, or, at least, it would be seen. I was fortunate enough to make something special. You do many collaborations with great brands like Alessi, Louis Vuitton, and Christofle, to name just a few. One that I find really impressive was the Le Roi Soleil chandelier that you did for Baccarat. We started working with Baccarat 10 years ago in a very humble way. We just did a few little things that were beautiful but took so much time to get it right. It is wonderful to work with such a company that respect traditions. They asked us to do a chandelier that is the center of their existence. We were super excited about that. We wanted to use the heritage of the company but also
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something that is contemporary, different, and modern, otherwise, why would we be involved? We did not want to lose the structure or the fibre of this crystal rain forest. At the end, we found a way. Instead of changing the fibre and the structure, we only cut out the shape in a very different way. We adapted the original design to a geometric form that can adapt more easily to modern architecture that can be identified as a Baccarat icon. Almost 20 years ago, you co-founded Moooi, which means ‘beautiful’ in Dutch, with Casper Vissers. What does it represent? Well I wanted [to work] with my good friend to represent more than just my work but also other talented designers. For three years, we suffered; we had to sell our houses and had no income - it was ridiculous. We fought our way through, and we thought it was important. Today, we have a company that made its mark through time and a little bit on the history of design. It has launched about 20 designers that are now well-known. That is beautiful! It has made me a stronger designer and made me tougher on myself. Moooi is my school, and I learn from it everyday. It is probably my biggest project and maybe one of my best.
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
Culture
MARCEL WANDERS POUR ROCHE BOBOIS © DIDIER DELMAS
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Gastronomy
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
Gastronomy
Turning Food into Edible Clouds
FUTURE FOOD THE FIRST THING WE LEARN AS KIDS IS NOT TO PLAY WITH OUR FOOD. IT IS ONE OF THOSE ABSOLUTE RULES THAT WE NEED TO FOLLOW AND BEWARE OF THOSE WHO DISOBEY. THANKFULLY, SOME CHILDREN GROW UP WITHOUT FULLY REPRESSING THEIR CREATIVE EXPRESSION. SUCH IS THE CASE FOR IRWIN ADAM, FOUNDER OF THE FUTURE FOOD STUDIO, WHERE HE WORKS TO REDEFINE THE FOOD EXPERIENCE WITH LARGE FOOD AND BEVERAGE CLIENTS, HOSPITALITY GROUPS, AND EMERGING FOOD CONCEPTS.
By Marie-Ève Venne
He’s worked with companies from Kraft to Campbell and General Mills to Stella Artois on everything from flavour trends and eating habits to large-scale public exhibits. He even currently holds a Guinness World Record for the world’s most layered sandwich, something that doesn’t come as much of a surprise when you learn a little bit more about Future Food Studio. In the one-of-a-kind laboratory, projects can range from developing new experiential retail concepts in China to studying the physics of grain milling. The objectives are always to create unique products and experiences which are grounded in science and research; as much as they pursue creative practices, their experimentation has always evolved from scientific study.
The question is, how does someone with a master’s degree in chemical engineering and a PhD in biomedical engineering end up working in the food industry? Coming from a Georgian background, food has always been at the centre of what Irwin Adam does in his family, as a way of continuing a cultural memory. With a mother in design and an engineer father, he grew up in a home where connections between art and science were naturally made, something that later become fundamental to the development of his career. “As I was progressing through my academic career as an engineer, I was continually working on food-related passion projects on the side. As those became more and more involved, I realized that I wouldn’t be able to afford to bring them to life solely on a graduate student stipend and started to look for new ways to support these projects. That eventually lead a good friend and mentor to bring me onto a consulting project with a major global beverage brand, and it’s there that I realized that my hobby could become my career.”
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Gastronomy
He now spends most of his days doing research, whether it’s reading scientific literature, meeting with farmers, hunting down new tech in Silicon Valley, or going to experimental art exhibitions. “By seeking out and exploring everything being created in the world, we are able to define signals in the environment that signal future trends. As a food futurist, it’s my role to understand [how] the impact of today’s signals will translate into a tomorrow of eating. My inspirations come from experience – books, music, art, travel, science. Often ideas and concepts appear in the middle of the night, and I quickly run to my drawing board and sketch them out or write them down.” Generally, the arc for any of his projects begins with research and understanding the world of the problem that Future Food Studio is searching to resolve. That can include anything from travelling the world for insight to building electronic prototypes in the studio. Once they’ve explored the space, they begin by stretching their concepts beyond reality, envisioning a world that isn’t constrained by the laws of physics or technologies that currently exist. This process allows them to understand the complete plane of possibility, which they then pair back in order to create a concept that is executable but also pushes the boundaries of how we understand the world around us. “In my work, I’m envisioning a world that does not yet exist and creating for it. We are at an inflection point in food today where individuals are realizing both the impact of what they consume on themselves and, for the first time, that their choices are impacting the world around them.
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Every contributor to food, whether the consumer or the chef, farmer or manufacturer, is playing a role that will determine the future of life on this planet.” He goes on to say, “I also strongly believe that flexitarian diets are the future. The diversification in protein consumption happening in the average diet today is going to transform how we live on Earth moving forward. The link between diet and global climate change is incredibly apparent, as agriculture is one of the leading causes of greenhouse gas production.” With so many technological transformations happening in food today, artificial intelligence is starting to create new recipes that can include everything from personal preferences to sustainability. Robots and drones are taking over farms to make up for the labor shortages we have in agriculture. Cellular agriculture is positioned to lead the way to a world of animal-free milk and dairy. “I’m very much looking forward to the further developments of augmented reality [AR], embedded microtechnologies, [and] artificial intelligence. AR will completely transform how we experience and engage with our physical environments, inevitably transforming how we experience food and drink. Embedded microtechnologies will empower us to make physiologically relevant decisions when we consume, giving individuals greater power and control over what they consume and why they consume. Artificial intelligence [AI] has the ability to open a completely new world of food experience to us by making connections that have not been possible [with] the human mind. The world that AI will soon present us with is completely unimaginable.”
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
Gastronomy Visit futurefoodstudio.com or bevlab.co to get information on workshops where you can explore food thought and culture with individuals and corporations alike.
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ART
Artsy: A New Approach to the Art Market
MATTEW ISRAEL
MIRO HAMMONS INSTALL
THE MORE YOU LOOK INTO IT, THE MORE IT SEEMS LIKE A TRADITIONAL ART MARKET, ESPECIALLY WITH SMALLER GALLERIES BECOMING A THING OF THE PAST. THE PACE AT WHICH NEW DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES ARE BEING LAUNCHED IS ACCELERATING, AND THEY’RE CHANGING THE WAY WE CONSUME AND APPROACH ART.
By Marie-Ève Venne The predominance of the internet has transformed buyers’ behaviour, resulting in more and more buying from galleries online instead of from shows. While the growth in the traditional art market has flatlined, the online world of art sales is currently rising at a fast pace. This new situation is one of the reasons behind the success of Artsy, a New York City company offering an open and approachable way to consume art. Every piece is available through a search engine that can filter by style, time period, or price. The service uses
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algorithms to understand what kind of art appeals to users and then recommends other works they might enjoy. The website is so user-friendly that some people have already compared shopping for art on Artsy with looking for a date on Tinder. As the Artsy Curator at Large, Matthew Israel has already delivered many talks about the future of contemporary art. Before working for the online art dealer, he had already taught adult education classes at the MoMA, something he feels prepared him for his current position.
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
ART
“Trying to create a narrative around art and artists might have been the most challenging thing I have ever done and the most comparable to the educational work we are trying to do at Artsy and with The Art Genome Project.” This Art Genome Project is Artsy’s ongoing, evolving study into the characteristics and connections between artworks and artists. It comprises 20 experts with art-historical backgrounds who “genome” (research and analyze) artists and artworks on Artsy; to date, they have “genomed” over 220,000 artworks and 22,000 artists – and counting. “I truly believe that The Art Genome Project is the future of the art market. It enhances the art learning experience, as it is an altogether new pedagogical experience that is self-motivated and non-linear, quite unlike the traditional tools of art education. Art historians have always been primarily concerned in mapping out historical connections between art and artists and exploring new ones.” Speaking of new ways to explore art, he feels like the impact of social media goes way further than what we might be able to perceive now. “This part of the art world involves artists represented by galleries well beyond international centres, artists who do not involve themselves in the larger gallery and museum system, and people who make work via nontraditional definitions or choose not to make art their main profession. This democratization of art definitely offers dramatic new opportunities for artists trying to make a living independent of the gallery system.” Giving new opportunities to artists is something that Artsy definitely believes in, hence their participation to Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series. Launched in 2010, this series is an annual arts competition committed to fostering up-and-coming visual artists by providing a national platform to showcase their work. Since its creation, the Artisan Series has received more than 47,000 submissions from inspired artists across the U.S. and Canada. This annual emerging arts competition has precipitated the sales of artwork to musicians, collectors, and film moguls – a testament to the exceptional caliber of talent receiving exposure from this series. Last fall, Artsy curated the star-studded grand finale celebration at the iconic Villa Casa Casuarina in Miami for the second year, where actress Tessa Thompson hosted an illustrious mix of artists and celebrities. After careful consideration by this year’s esteemed panel of judges, including Head
Curator of Artsy Matthew Israel, SCOPE Vice President Daria Brit Greene, and Artisan Series National Curator Andre Guichard, Thompson took the stage to announce the Montrealer Erik Nieminen as the grand prize winner. As part of his winning prize, Nieminen received a $10,000 cash prize and will collaborate with Artsy on an immersive public art project in New York City next summer. “It was very exciting to see the diversity of work presented at the competition. From figurative and abstract painting to sculptures and photography, everybody had their own unique vision. Personally, I like artworks that make you question your assumptions of what art is - something that surprises you... That kind of competition is an incredible opportunity for any artist to break into a world that is still difficult to have access to, even with the digital democratization of the art market. It allows your work to be seen by art critics and important key players in the industry.” The more you look into it, the more it seems like Artsy has made it its mission to act as a bridge between the artists and the art consumers, perfectly meeting the needs of both entities. Maybe that comparison to Tinder wasn’t too far from reality after all.
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Culture
A Look to the Future
THIERRY MUGLER
SINCE ITS INAUGURATION IN MARCH, THIERRY MUGLER’S EXPOSITION, COUTURISSIME, HAS BEEN ALL OVER SOCIAL MEDIA, AND IT’S BEING HEAVILY PRAISED BY INTERNATIONAL PRESS. THIS IS NOT SURPRISING GIVEN THE BOLDNESS AND THE VERY IMPRESSIVE RESUME OF THIS PHENOMENAL CONTRACTOR WHO HAS BEEN ABLE TO REINVENT HIMSELF TIME AND TIME AGAIN. HE HAS GONE FROM DANCER TO FASHION DESIGNER AND FROM PHOTOGRAPHER TO PERFUME CREATOR, ALL THE WHILE DIRECTING SHOWS AND LEADING A VERY UNUSUAL LIFE. HERE’S A FANTASTIC ONE-ON-ONE DISCUSSION WITH A FASCINATING MAN WHO IS ALWAYS LOOKING AHEAD.
By Stéphane Le Duc
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DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
Her
MANFRED THIERRY MUGLER, CREATOR. © MAX ABADIAN.
Vintage Yoji Yamamoto Jacket YVES SAINT LAURENT.
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Culture
VIEW OF THE EXHIBITION THIERRY MUGLER: COUTURISSIME. MONTREAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS. © NICOLAS RUEL.
You’ve been receiving an exceptional amount of love this past week. How do you deal with this wave of affection? It all depends on the place and context. In certain countries, it almost seems hysterical, whereas in others, it’s more anticipated. However, when it feels genuine, like here in Quebec, it becomes touching and motivating. It really gives you wings, but you need to stay true to yourself because sometimes people put you on a pedestal and perceive you in their own way. That can be dangerous since it’s not always easy to remember who you truly are. I take it as an opportunity to be better next time. I want them to be even more ecstatic because that’s what I do: I make people dream.
© DAVID LACHAPELLE, LONDON SUNDAY TIMES, MAY 1998. OUTFIT: THIERRY MUGLER, JEU DE PAUME COLLECTION, HAUTE COUTURE SPRING/SUMMER 1998. SEQUINED FISHNET “ANGEL” CATSUIT EMBROIDERED WITH SWAROVSKI CRYSTALS. MODEL: DANIE ALEXANDER. ALIEN MEN FRAGRANCE
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DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
Culture
MANFRED THIERRY MUGLER © MAX ABADIAN, 2018.
Are you afraid of losing your identity? Yes, and that’s why I quit fashion design. Even though it’s great to sublimate others, you can’t put yourself down or worry too much about glory and legacy. It’s important to take care of yourself and to empty the drawers, so to speak. If you want to fill them up again, you need to empty them first. When we look at how many of your creations are displayed in this impressive exposition at the Museum of Fine Arts – overseen by commissioner Thierry-Maxime Loriot – what strikes us first is the relevance of your work. Is that your reward for all those years of hard work? It is, although, it’s a double-edged sword. Having too many ideas and propositions has always been a problem for me, but it gives me confidence when I find out I was right all along. However, my goal has never been to provoke. My goal is to express myself. I have still stayed the same through all those years; when I was little, I was always busy writing poems and scenarios, drawing comic books, dancing, dressing up, and doing pantomimes, and I still want to have fun.
“MY GOAL HAS NEVER BEEN
Photography is a big part of your life. You have produced fascinating photo series in the ’80s and ’90s in connection with architecture. How did photography change the way you create? It gives me an outside view and completes me as a [creative] director. That’s an art in itself! I like photography, but I also like the layout and the rhythm of the series. It’s an outlook on the real world. In my photos that are displayed at the exposition, there are no touch-ups and no post-production. It didn’t exist back then, so everything is genuine. It’s a point of view, a poetic outlook, because so many things go unnoticed. I’m always very touched by architecture [and] same thing for any type of construction, whether it be for a garment or for the body itself.
TO PROVOKE. MY GOAL IS TO EXPRESS MYSELF. I HAVE STILL STAYED THE SAME THROUGH ALL THOSE YEARS.”
Another fascinating aspect of your career is perfume creation. Aura is your latest fragrance for women. Is that a name that you’ve had in mind for a while? Yes, I had kept [it] aside to finalize the trilogy: Angel, Alien, and now Aura. A person’s aura represents the astral body. When I was a vegetarian, I did some research on mental and psychic constructs with yoga, special diets, [etc.] Since my years in Amsterdam were quite ‘acidified’, so to speak, I had a hard time getting back on track. I picked myself up, and in an attempt to cleanse myself, I often went to conferences given by the philosopher Krishnamurti. I saw that his aura was purple, which is the colour
of holiness. His aura is just like a neon light; it’s absolutely magical, since it’s imperceptible. It’s a light that doesn’t exist, which we can vaguely compare to neon. So, Aura is the true, deep essence of a person. Alien Men is the latest fragrance for men. Is it a bigger challenge to create for men? It’s a bit more complex. There are many restrictions that exist because of marketing. It’s interesting. You have to know how to play with them, how to go around them, how to Mugler-ize them. It just so happens that I’m the only one who knows how to do it… For men, you have to stay back, like an actor who does less but succeeds nonetheless. It’s very subtle but very interesting. What’s so wonderful about your story is that the adventure lives on, thanks to a very important project with some of the best dance studios in the world. It’s a very nice gift because it’s a return to dancing. It’s very touching to think that the little dancer who used to hold props and entertain the crowd is now going to collaborate with the Bolshoï Ballet, La Scala in Milan, and the Royal Ballet in London.
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GroominG
FACE FORWARD
MALE GROOMING HAS UNDERGONE SOME DRAMATIC CHANGES OVER THE YEARS. AS TABOOS ARE RAPIDLY FALLING TO THE WAYSIDE, MORE MEN ARE EMBRACING ELEVATED SELF-CARE ROUTINES. TAKEÂ A LEAP FORWARD IN YOUR DAILY ROUTINE WITH THESE KILLER PRODUCTS.
Grooming and Text Steven Turpin Photography Neil Motta Art Direction Randy smith P.58
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
GroominG
Shape Up WHETHER YOU KEEP IT CLEAN-CUT FOR THE OFFICE OR A FIVE O’CLOCK SHADOW ON THE WEEKEND, THESE TOOLS WILL KEEP YOUR FACIAL HAIR IN TIP-TOP SHAPE.
Aesop
Gillette
MORCCAN NEORLI SHAVING SERUM ($49 / 60 ML, $77 / 100 ML)
SKINGUARD ($18)
This very low-foaming botanical alternative for everyday facial shaving is designed to provide maximum slip rather than an abundance of foam, which can strip the skin and leave it feeling raw. It’s boosted with skin-softening and hydrating aloe vera, sandalwood, and neroli blossom extracts.
This razor is specifically designed for men with sensitive skin and razor bumps. The razor shaves hair and protects the skin thanks to its unique SkinGuard positioned between the blades. It works to minimize tug and pull and cut hair at skin level, helping to prevent irritation.
Complexion Perfection MEN’S SKINCARE HAS EXPANDED TREMENDOUSLY AND NOW INCLUDES COMPLEXION PERFECTERS SUCH AS TINTED MOISTURIZERS, CONCEALERS, POWDERS, AND BRONZERS. FACE IT, WE ALL WANT TO LOOK MORE RESTED, AND NOW THERE ARE PLENTY OF OPTIONS GEARED TOWARDS MEN’S SKIN.
Chanel Boy
War Paint
Chanel launched its first makeup line for men, Boy de Chanel. This line offers men a more polished version of themselves and helps improve their self-confidence, composed of three essential products: a foundation, a lip balm, and an eyebrow pencil. These three confidence-boosting makeup products erase imperfections.
Boasting six male make-up products which include foundation, bronzer, and concealer, the collection comes in very masculine packaging and is encased in black matte jars/compacts. The collection also features a couple of great looking accessories.
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
Clé de Peau
CORRECTEUR VISAGE ($95 / 6G)
This pen-shaped concealer covers spots, freckles, and dark circles to create a beautiful, even-toned complexion. Enriched with a skin-renewing formula, the moisturizing, delicate texture gives a smooth and soft finish to skin and perfectly blends for a long-lasting result.
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GroominG
Flawless Face
SKIN IS IN. KEEP YOUR SKIN GLOWING AND HEALTHY BY FINDING THE RIGHT SKINCARE ROUTINE WHICH INCLUDES LOTS OF MOISTURIZATION, EXFOLIATION ONCE A WEEK, AND A DEEP CLEANSING MASK A COUPLE TIMES A MONTH FOR IDEAL RESULTS.
Tom Ford
TOM FORD FOR MEN EXFOLIATING ENERGY SCRUB ($62)
Specially formulated for normal to oily skin, this scrub contains crushed apricot seeds to help remove dead skin cells and unclog pores for clean and polishedlooking skin. Tom Ford’s skin-calming and purifying complex leaves a soothed, clear complexion.
Origins
CLEAR IMPROVEMENT ACTIVE CHARCOAL MASK ($33)
Lather up, and let the bamboo charcoal deep clean daily build-up, dirt, and debris. The minty-fresh aroma of clove and wintergreen leaves you invigorated and your skin feeling crisp, clean, perfectly pure, and totally refreshed.
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SkinCeuticals
CE FERULIC ($180 / 30ML)
This serum provides advanced environmental protection by neutralizing damaging free radicals. The visible anti-aging benefits improve the appearance of lines and wrinkles and the skin’s complexion and firmness.
Aveda
Dr. Dennis Gross SKINCARE PORE PERFECTING CLEANSER ($48)
This facial cleansing gel exfoliates, removes impurities, and washes away bacteria while toning and smoothing skin. Dr. Dennis Gross uses alpha and beta hydroxy acids plus state-of-the-art cleansing ingredients to create a rich, cushiony lather to ensure that the skin feels deeply cleansed yet soft and balanced.
Fresh
UMBRIAN CLAY PURIFYING MASK
BOTANICAL KINETICS EXFOLIANT ($39)
($70/100ML)
This non-abrasive liquid removes dull cells from the skin’s surface, revealing a smoother, clearer, more refined complexion and leaves pores primed for maximum moisture. Aveda’s own pure-fume™ aroma is made with certified organic lime, geranium, eucalyptus, and other pure flower and plant essences.
In need of a skin detox? This three-in-one mask can be used as a deep cleanser for impurities that clog pores or as a spot treatment for imperfections. The lifechanging ingredient is centuries-old Umbrian clay, exclusive to Fresh, which balances and clarifies without over-drying.
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
GroominG
Photography NEIL MOTTA. Art Direction RANDY SMITH. Grooming and Text STEVEN TURPIN using ORIBE. Model SAMUEL TRÉPANIER.
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TRAVEL
© BAREFOOT SURF TRAVEL
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DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
TRAVEL
Designing his Destiny
DESTINATIONS WANT TO DO SOMETHING A LITTLE MORE INTERESTING WITH YOUR TIME OFF THIS YEAR? HOP ON A PLANE TO ONE OF THESE TOP DESTINATIONS WHERE YOU CAN STAY ACTIVE, EXPERIENCE SOMETHING NEW, AND STILL RETURN REFRESHED.
By Braydon Holmyard
THE BEACH BUM
Bali, Indonesia has quickly become one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations. A good chunk of visitors are still drawn to its diverse surfing scene, which offers a little something for everybody. Never stepped on a board in your life? Head to the lagoons. Consider yourself a pro? The outer reef breaks of the southern Bukit Peninsula can be your playground. The point is, surfing is cool, and anyone can try it. So, go out and ride some waves, dudes.
Barefoot Surf Travel offers a 12-day camp in Bali. When you’re not learning how to surf from the pros, you can hang out in your luxurious clifftop villa. It’ll cost you around $3,500, for starters
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TRAVEL
CHILE LAKES, DUVINE CYCLING + ADVENTURE CO © GWEN KIDERA
THE FITNESS GURU
If you take joy in hopping on a bicycle and commuting to work, then maybe it’s time to consider upping your cycling game. Taking a trip through Chile should do the trick. Peddle as hard as your heart desires as you pass through the Patagonian rainforest, up and down the volcanic terrain and around pristine Chilean lakes. This cycling adventure really is everything you would imagine it to be. DuVine cycling offers a couple of different bike tours through Chile. The Lakes + Volcanoes trip features extraordinary sightlines. It is a seven day trip at about $6,000 and has everything except airfare included.
THE SPORTS FAN
HOKKAIDO NIPPON HAM FIGHTERS STADIUM
If you want to take a baseball road trip to the next level, grab your foam finger and head over to Japan. Baseball is the most watched and played sport in the country, and the rambunctious crowds offer a unique viewing experience for fans. Japan is home to 12 professional teams scattered across the country. From the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, who play at the Sapporo Dome in northern Japan, to the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks on the southern island, the country is full of rabid baseball fans who feed off the high-energy of the bat-flipping Japanese players. JapanBall offers a wide variety of baseball tours. $3,600 per person will get you to Japan and back on The Main Tour. It features plenty of baseball, food, and even a sumo wrestling tournament.
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DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
TRAVEL
THE THRILL SEEKER
What better way to spend a vacation than by plunging yourself into unforgiving rapids? If danger is your thing, the Colorado River in the United States is home to the most famous stretch of whitewater as it passes through the Grand Canyon.
COLORADO RIVER, © WESTERN RIVER EXPEDITIONS
You could save a chunk of time to check out the Canyon on foot, too, because this rafting adventure can be anywhere from one day to two weeks, depending on how brave you are.
A three-day trip with Western River Expeditions starts at just south of $2,000. It includes everything from food to camping. You just have to fly to Las Vegas first – and not get distracted along the way.
© ST. ANDREWS LINKS
THE NOSTALGIST
Feel like walking in the footsteps of legends? Step up to tee off at St. Andrews Links in Scotland, where golf was born. The historical courses have challenged golfers for over 500 years. This trip is the definitive bucket-list item for all golf enthusiasts and is surprisingly playable for most skill levels. The world-famous Old Course is only available from January to April, and you’ll have to book months in advance to have a shot at it. But the walk up to the final hole is enough to make the trip worth it on its own. Just ask Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, or Tiger Woods. St. Andrew’s offers packages starting at $235 for a round at the Old Course. Don’t forget to factor in flights, accommodations, and scotch.
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ASHLEY GALES & BROOK BELL - GRAND SENTINAL - LAKE LOUISE, ALBERTA (PHOTO BY PHILIP QUADE)
SportS
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SportS
NOWHERE BUT UP
FEARLESS. CRAZY. INVINCIBLE. FOR THOSE WHO WATCHED ALEX HANNOLD CHEAT DEATH ON THE BIG SCREEN, THESE ARE THE WORDS THAT COME TO MIND.
By Braydon Holmyard He climbed 1,000 metres up a treacherous rock wall in Yosemite Valley without a rope or any protection. Just him and his thoughts – desperate for perfection, as if his life depended on it. The only people to witness the unfathomable feat in real-time were his friends, who doubled as an exceptionally talented production crew lead by Jimmy Chin. They all watched anxiously as Hannold scaled the Freerider route on El Capitan in three hours and 56 minutes. Even those who’ve encountered him would have a hard time disagreeing with the traits portrayed in the documentary. “I think they do a good job of depicting the personality in the film,” said Philip Quade, a rock climber and photographer from Calgary, Alberta. “He’s a quirky guy. He’s a bit strange, but he’s a super nice dude.”
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SportS
Quade developed a climbing interest while spending time in Australia and has been chasing and shooting summits for about seven years. He met Hannold at the Banff Mountain Film Festival in 2015. Already a renowned free solo climber at the time, Hannold was a main attraction at the event, and Quade had looked forward to meeting him.
“TO BE FAIR, NOBODY ELSE IS PUSHING THE LIMITS IN CLIMBING QUITE THE WAY HE IS.” Philip Quade
“I feel like anything I had preconceived about him was pretty accurate,” Quade said of the introduction. “He was a bit of an awkward guy. He even admitted that he felt a bit out of place there. At that time, he was still really trying to get used to the media attention; it wasn’t really his thing.”
On the other hand, indoor climbing has quickly swept across the northern nation. Sport climbing will make its Olympic debut at the Tokyo Games in 2020 and feature three disciplines: lead climbing, speed climbing, and bouldering. The invitation to the world’s premier sporting spectacle has only added to rock-climbing’s increasing popularity.
Since then, the attention surrounding Hannold has increased exponentially. The film, Free Solo, won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in February. He’s appeared on just about every talk show in America and has surpassed 1.4 million followers on Instagram.
“That kind of kicked the doors down and shot climbing front and centre,” said Quade. “You’re seeing this whole new wave of purely gym climbers. The community of new people getting interested has definitely shot way up.”
The danger that comes with free soloing is what has captivated such a wide audience. Rock climbing thousands of feet up granite walls in Yosemite with proper equipment can challenge even the world’s most talented climbers. Free solo climbers like Hannold tackle these mountains without any safety gear. No harnesses. No ropes. No lifelines. It is quite literally an activity with two outcomes: live or die. Hannold’s hard-to-believe endeavour has catapulted rock climbing into the global spotlight. While rock climbing in general has been around for ages, the free solo concept is something only a few brave souls dare to dabble with, especially in Canada. “Even on a global scale, it’s definitely a pretty niche concept,” said Quade, who has climbed coast-to-coast across Canada and through the United States. “In Canada, it’s not a common thing. I know a lot of the free soloing in North America happens in Yosemite Valley. It’s just more popular in the States right now.”
Rock climbing gyms have been popping up all across the country to help feed its growing fanbase. Twenty-five million people climb regularly, and it's estimated that between 100 and 150 people are trying climbing for the first time each and every day in Canada. Most major cities are home to at least one climbing gym, where anyone from beginners to experts can become members for a monthly fee. Films like Free Solo (2018), Meru (2015), and Valley Uprising (2014) have all had a hand in inspiring new climbers. None have had the reach that the former has, and the Oscar win is evidence of that. It’s not just those without climbing experience who were blown away by the Honnold’s accomplishment and mesmerized by the risk. “A lot of people in the climbing community know the name Alex Honnold, and a lot of people think he’s insane,” Quade said, reflecting on how he and his peers view the king of free soloing. “To be fair, nobody else is pushing the limits in climbing quite the way he is.” And, perhaps that quirky, sometimes awkward but still “super nice” vibe Hannold gives off allows him to be perfect when he needs to be: when his life is hanging in the balance and there’s nowhere to go but up. Quade sums it up perfectly: “He just connects with rocks better than people sometimes.”
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DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
SportS
PHILIP QUADE - CHRYSLER CRACK - RED ROCK, NEVADA © IRENE YEE
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
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BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
ROOFTOP VIEW OF 7ACRES HYBRID GREENHOUSE FACILITY IN KINCARDINE, ONTARIO. PROPERTY OF THE SUPREME CANNABIS COMPANY, INC.
HEXO CORP
NOAH '40' SHEBIB PARTNERING WITH ROBES CANNABIS OF EMBLEM CORP.
KOLAB SURFACES YELLOW PLEXI PAPER, AUXLY
THE GREEN ORGANIC DUTCHMAN
BUDS, APHRIA INC.
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CANNABIS STATE OF THE U NION
CONSORTIUM, TRAIT BIOSCIENCES
An industry at a crossroads
ON OCTOBER 17, 2018, CANADA BECAME THE FIRST NATION IN THE G7 AND THE SECOND IN THE WORLD (AFTER URUGUAY) TO LEGALIZE CANNABIS FOR RECREATIONAL USE. THIS FOLLOWED THE 2001 POLICY FROM HEALTH CANADA THAT FEDERALLY MANDATED MEDICAL USE. SEISMIC POLICY SHIFTS BROUGHT ALONG ENTREPRENEURIAL OPPORTUNITY, MAKING FOR A KIND OF “GOLD RUSH” THAT RESULTED IN BILLIONS OF DOLLARS BEING INJECTED INTO COMPANIES VYING TO GRAB A PART OF THIS NASCENT MARKET.
By Jason Gorber
PHOTO PROVIDED BY PROVINCE BRANDS OF CANADA
LIFT & CO.
Regulation has resulted in the creation of some sectors and restrictions of others, making for a push/pull between the companies looking to break new ground and politicians tasked with doing things deliberately and rationally. Given cannabis’ long-term black-market connection, the balance between those wanting a libertarian, anarchic attachment to weed are being drowned out by even larger forces in consumer, medical, political, and legal realms. Canadian companies have an opportunity to be at the forefront of a seismic shift in both perception and product. Some are striving to upend multibillion-dollar paradigms from pharma, alcohol, and tobacco, using this humble green plant as the focus. This, of course, leads to rampant hyperbole not only from those wishing to cash in but also from those that elevate anecdotal evidence to near certitude. The cream of this cannabis crowd wants it done right. They want regulation but smart strictures that foster rather than prevent growth. Some want to hold onto the sanctity of “dried flower” and smoking culture while others look to edibles or drinks as a new vector. The future is still very much yet to be written, but the enthusiasm demonstrated by all who we spoke with is infectious. Whatever transpires, our country and its companies are engaged in work that may well be fundamentally transformative to enormous aspects of our life and culture.
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BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Peter Aceto CEO, CannTrust Vaughan, Ontario
What does your company do? CannTrust is one of Canada’s leading cannabis licensed producers. How do you see the industry changing, and how have you seen it change over the last several years? It’s changed tremendously. Cannabis became legal for medical purposes five years ago. CannTrust was one of the early players in that time of legalization, starting in 2013. The five years that followed were interesting and good from a medical cannabis perspective. What you’ve seen since October 2018 is a whole different level of change where cannabis became legal for the adult-use recreational market. I think now cannabis is on the radar screen of every Canadian and of the world. This is now front page news that every household is talking about today. People are recognizing it as gigantic, international businesses that will generate hundreds of millions in revenues from around the world. Canadian companies in many ways have the privilege to be early players in that industry, which is certainly very exciting. What would you like to see change further, and how are you contributing to that change? If I had to pick one thing, I would say education and understanding. I think we all looked at cannabis and cannabis users a certain way throughout our lives. In my time in the industry, I have learned so much about cannabis, the cannabis plant, the cannabinoid molecules, the benefits and implications they have for humans on the medical side, and how people have been using cannabis. CannTrust wants to be at the forefront of removing the stigma so that it really just becomes a part of our everyday lives. We’re doing clinical studies and research to try and build the body of work. What do you see as the biggest challenge or roadblock to achieving that goal? I think that there are years and years and years of stigma based on a lack of understanding and ignorance that is really not based in fact. There’s been a lot of ignorance from the public about the negative effects of cannabis, but there’s
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certainly been a lot of unfounded semi-scientific claims by those within the previously illegal cannabis community. The blind faith in the curative powers of cannabis might also be something that is a challenge worth discussing. Not everybody in the cannabis space has behaved very well, which has put question marks on the entire industry. You’re asking us questions in many ways as the ambassadors of the industry, but I’m not sure I deserve to be in that spot. I am certainly the ambassador for CannTrust, and we were founded by pharmacists. Our work is founded in science; we’re very conscious about not making any claims until they are proven. We are investing in clinical trials to build the body of evidence about these things, and we’re certainly investing in the education of physicians and healthcare practitioners and citizens about how people use cannabis and are being very thoughtful about certainly not over-representing any of these claims. What do you see the industry looking like in five years? The industry is very young. I see this is a massive global opportunity that Canadian companies do have an opportunity to be winners. Cannabis and cannabinoids have the opportunity to be disruptive to many different verticals and to be a vehicle for business, whether it’s medical, whether it’s overthe-counter products, whether it’s natural healthcare products, recreational products like drinks and chocolates and coffee, and tea to help you to go to sleep at night. I mean, we have a joint venture with Grey Wolf. The endocannabinoid system that humans have is shared with many pets like cats and dogs. The same reasons why humans are using cannabis can be used in pets as well – pain, anxiety, a variety of things like that. Five years from now, I see there being significant global companies who have very exciting partnerships and products being in every household around the world, having a positive effect on our lives. I hope that Canadian companies can be at the forefront of that and really be global winners.
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Danny Brody Vice President Customer Relations, The Green Organic Dutchman Toronto, Ontario
What does your company do? We are the largest cultivator of organic cannabis globally, and we are the largest funded, raising 450 million dollars to date to build out over 1.6 million square feet of facilities globally. We started in 2016, and I’ve been here from day one. How did the name come about? The original founders started the company in 2012, and we bought it from them in 2016. They were of Dutch descent, and green, obviously, is relative to cannabis and also sustainability for the environment. When the industry was in its early phases, we really didn’t know what all of the advertising restrictions would be like, so we wanted to make sure that we kept a name that kind of encompassed all aspects of the business. How have you seen the industry change over the last several years? It’s been incredible to watch the change. I started in the business in 2013 when Health Canada had announced new legislation, and we’ve seen a whole slate from those days all the way through ACMPR and now the Cannabis Act. We’re starting to move away from things like funded capacity… [and move to] revenue generation and traditional valuation metrics like discounted cash flow and earnings. I’ve also seen people care more about what they put in their bodies today than they ever have before, especially the millennial generation. It’s a trend that we see growing and continuing to grow, and that is part of the reason we are organic. In a recent poll, recreational consumers in the 60th percentile prefer organic. We’ve also seen a huge push from traditional cannabis culture to more mainstream higher seasoned management teams focused on consumer packaged goods, consumer products, and the brand vs. the traditional “stoner culture” you would typically see five years ago. How would you like to see things change further, and how are you and your company contributing to that change? I’d like to see even more of a push towards organic. I’d like to see more happen to create higher standards of growing in our community. We’ve invested a significant amount towards research and development. We’re starting to see some hard evidence coming out that cannabis actually works and it’s not just something that people use to get high.
Non-anecdotally? Exactly. We’re investing heavily in [the] research and development side. We’re also trying to give back more to the community. We had a zoning amendment approved by Hamilton City Council to build a community farm. We’ve donated over 6,000 pounds of vegetables and meat to local foodbanks and charities. The word green in our name goes a lot further than just cannabis. What do you see as the challenges and roadblocks still ahead? The biggest challenge is there’s still a stigma associated with cannabis use. Canada is kind of paving the way for legalization around the world. People don’t necessarily understand all of the health benefits that cannabis offers, and I think that’s one of the things that will come with time. When I started in the business in 2013, I mean I was even worried to tell my mom that I was working in the cannabis space. Now, my mom’s coming to me asking me for different advice related to CBD! What’s the biggest misconception? With the big companies, obviously there’s profits and things that matter, but we’re not all evil giants, especially TGOD. Everything we do is geared towards a healthier product and a lifestyle associated with it. We don’t want to just have snake oil comments out there about it; we want to actually invest in it and actually prove that it works. What is the industry going to look like in five years? We’re starting to separate the winners from the laggards. It’s going to come down to management teams being able to execute on the business front and show shareholders that they can deliver on what they say they can. We’re going to see real value driven from earnings. I think we’re going to see real value driven from different products coming in. We’re going to see real value switching away from dried flowers and more towards products that have consistent flavoring, consistent dosing, and a consistent experience for the consumer. When you smoke cannabis, it’s typically the worst way to titrate a product. You never really see a doctor say, "Take two puffs in the morning and come back and see how you do!" At the five-year mark, I think we’re going to have up to 80% of the market that’s not smoked. It’s going to be through products that are similar to the beer and wine industry [where] consumers know and understand the effects and the experiences of what they’re getting.
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BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
PHOTOS PROVIDED BY PROVINCE BRANDS OF CANADA
Dooma Wendschuh
CEO/Co-Founder, Province Brands of Canada Cambridge Bay, Nunavut
What does your company do? We are an innovative beverage technology company with plans to significantly disrupt the adult beverage business, brewing the world’s first beers crafted from cannabis in place of barley. While others are brewing non-alcoholic beers from barley and infusing them with a marijuana oil, Province is unique in that we have developed a patent-pending process for mashing the stalks, stems, and roots of the cannabis plant so that we can extract fermentable sugars from which to brew premium cannabis beers. How have you seen the industry change? The biggest change is the focus on beverages and the involvement of some of the world’s largest beverage companies. I’ve been in the cannabis industry for almost six years. Something I’ve always thought strange was all the uncertainty about what the dominant delivery mechanism will be for consuming cannabis in the future. Many thought it would be pre-rolled joints or vaporizers. Some thought it would be edibles. But, really, should it have been any surprise that beverages will likely become the dominant delivery mechanism for cannabis in the future? When you think about it, there are three legal psychoactives in our world (excluding cannabis) – alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco. Two of those three are consumed almost exclusively as beverages and, the third, no one does anymore. Smoking was never going to win the cannabis format wars because no one wants
to step outside to smoke. I remember how shocked everyone was back in late October of 2017 when the first Fortune 500 company to invest in the cannabis industry was not a tobacco giant (as many had expected because cannabis has historically been smoked) and was not a pharmaceutical company (as many had expected because of medical marijuana) but was in fact adult beverage giant Constellation Brands. What would you like to see change further, and what are you doing to contribute to that change? It’s a challenging industry, and we have chosen to solve one of its hardest problems. I’m proud that we’ve already changed the industry in a substantial way. I can’t claim to be the reason Constellation Brands invested in the cannabis industry or the reason so many other beverage companies followed suit, but we’ve spent a lot of energy turning the discussion in this industry away from smoked formats and towards beverages. This is what has to happen if this industry is going to change the world. Cannabis will never truly compete with alcohol unless beverages become the dominant form. Just putting cannabis in a bottle is not going to compete with alcohol; there are all kinds of technical problems, which need to be solved. Cannabis beverages can take a long time to hit you – anywhere from forty-five minutes to an hour and a half. They take a long time to leave your system, and the feeling they give you can be all over the place, and, usually for
most people, it’s not as desirable of a feeling as alcohol creates. We’re solving those problems and creating something truly premium. That’s how we’ll change the world. That’s going to be our legacy. What do you see as a roadblock to this change? Nothing in this industry is easy, but that’s what makes it worth doing! Not too long ago, Health Canada announced that marijuana companies could not advertise in the same way which alcohol companies can advertise. I think a lot of others saw that as a challenge, but, to us, it’s a great opportunity. We’re on a level playing field with the biggest companies in the industry – they may have more money than we do, but they can’t use it to become top of mind with consumers by blanketing them with advertising. Without this advantage, things like word of mouth and product quality become much more important. The best product will win, and we have the best product. What’s the biggest misconception in this industry? Everyone, seriously everyone, refers to us as producing an ‘infused beverage’. Infusing is when you take something that already exists like a brownie or a soda pop or a non-alcoholic beer and ‘infusing’ marijuana into that already existing thing. Our beverages are actually made from cannabis. What is the industry going to look like in five years? In five years, there will be a lot of people kicking themselves for not getting involved in this industry five years previously. A few of those who have had the courage to jump in when others played it safe, those who have weathered the storm, will have become giants.
DISCLAIMER: DOOMA WENDSCHUH IS MARRIED TO ONE OF THE CO-FOUNDERS OF DTK MEDIA.
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BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Mike Goranstein
Chaiman/CEO, Cronos Group Toronto, Ontario
How would you describe your company? We are a global cannabinoid company based in Toronto. How have you seen the industry change over the last several years? Early in the industry, it was about getting the ability to operate and how to get acceptance for cannabis… How do you figure out just how to grow and break through stigma? Now, we’ve really got momentum on mainstream acceptance.
it’s really something you don’t see in Canada yet. You’re going to follow [a] more traditional consumer packaged goods model. Finally, with adult use, you can see how it works in the alcohol and tobacco industries. The biggest roadblock there [are] in Canada is the way the regulations are; it makes it very challenging to communicate to new consumers [and] to deliver things that don’t have excess packaging.
What do you want to see change, and how are you contributing to that change? With legalization, we’ve got the opportunity or the privilege to be able to finally unlock the potential of the plant. That means making sure that cannabis is classified and regulated in the right way. We don’t think that medical patients should be taxed, and so, in Canada, we absorb that excise tax. We’re really hoping this will drive that conversation forward, along with a number of others who believe strongly that medicinal patients should not be penalized by the government. There are many sectors that this particular product is wanting to occupy: medical, recreational, wellness products, and also wellness as a whole notion. How do you, as a company, navigate all of that? There are three main ways of being able to get the product, and they all should be treated and regulated differently. On the one hand, there will be product that you need a prescription to buy. I think that should be regulated closer to what we see in the pharmaceutical world, so you do have to certainly produce at a much more controlled and elevated standard, and I think that there should not be taxation, there should be access to insurance coverage, and we have to do research and be able to make sure doctors understand the benefits. For deregulated products, that’s a segment that we just haven’t seen yet, so
idea that the licensed producers are overcharging or aren’t environmentally friendly, using so much plastic. There is a misconception there [that] this is something that we want to do! In order to get the market going, these were the regulations that needed to be put into place. Why do you think those regulations were put into place? Was it simply a misunderstanding of the market? Was it them being draconian? Or was it them truly trying to do something better in terms of the safety of the product? Think about how historic this is for Canada to step forward and say this is the right thing to do at the federal level. This is the beginning of the ending of global prohibition. You didn’t have 100% support for that, so everything becomes a compromise, a negotiation. There were a lot of people that worried what would happen day one - we’d suddenly see everyone just smoking in the street if it’s legalized! I think going a little bit slower, being more conservative, waiting and seeing, is why there are all of these controls and restrictions [that] needed to be done to make sure that everyone would just be OK with the idea of a high level of legalization. Canada didn’t burn down when legalization hit.
What specifically would you like to see change in terms of not only the regulations but the industry itself, and how are you and your company contributing to that? In Israel, we’re working with organoid models to research different skincare methodologies for psoriasis, wound healing, and acne, laying the foundation there for precision medicine. It will certainly take time, but what we’re doing domestically, in the immediate relation, is really shaping the conversation around taxing patients. What do you see as the biggest misconception in the industry? From the consumer perspective, [what] they used to do is walk into a dispensary and have a jar of flower, pick what they want and walk out, and not pay [any] tax. It was quite easy. Because you have tax, you have excess packaging. There’s this
Is it fair to say that being first isn’t just a matter of just short-term advantage but, in the long term, dictating the way that the conversation moves forward? I think that’s right. One of the things you’ll see about us is our focus isn’t really on how much capacity can we build and how much can we grow because I think that to say that from a growing capacity that Canada will compete with, say, Columbia would be unrealistic. But that’s never stopped companies like Starbucks from being successful when they started in Seattle or Apple from being successful in California when they had their iPhones made in China. There’s a lot of technology, a lot of marketing and branding that can be built here, and I think that’s a long-term advantage that we should be aiming for. It actually will make the Canadian companies stronger to be able to leverage the global economy.
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BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Hugo Alves President, Auxly Cannabis Group Toronto, Ontario
What does your company do? Our company is a vertically integrated company with eleven cultivation projects that we either wholly own or we partner with other people on... We take that agricultural product and turn it into other derivative products, like chewables, chocolates, lozenges, capsules, things like that. We have some proprietary brands that we distribute those products under. To sum it up, we’re a cannabis products company that owns our own cultivation and our own manufacturing. How have you seen the industry change? It’s a highly dynamic industry, so there’s change all the time. The biggest change at a macro level is really the regulatory one that took this from being limited to medical use to being expanded to all adults for non-medical or recreational use. We’re really heading into cannabis legalization 2.0, where the government later on in the year is going to open up the market to derivative products.
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Was it a bigger jump from illicit to medical or from medical to consumer? I would say medical to consumer. From illicit to medical was really driven by really ill people that took it upon themselves to fight the government for what they believed was an infringement of their constitutional rights. You’re talking about [a] total registered patient base of about 350,000 patients. Now, you’ve got any adult in Canada that can access cannabis legally if they choose to. It’s also a much more complicated supply chain, logistically and technically speaking. The medical market is pretty easy – a consumer registers with you, they go through a small process, and then they buy, and you ship direct to them. Now you have provincial intermediaries inserting themselves at the wholesale level. You’ve got a myriad of different distribution systems from province to province and retail players from province to province. It’s a bigger jump, commercially speaking, operationally, and, I think also, socially speaking.
How would you like to see the industry change further, and how are you going to contribute to that change? There is a progress towards the concept of cannabis being a wellness product. Right now, it seems like there’s almost a dichotomy. If it’s medical, you need this because you’re ill. If it’s recreational, you want to use this because you want to get high. I think there is a massive middle segment of consumers in the health and wellness market. They’re not sick, they’re not trying to cure themselves or alleviate conditions, and they have no real interest in getting high, so to speak. What they want is they want added functionality, they want health maintenance, they want an experience. Research, I think, is going to be increasing in importance… The government is looking for industry and for academia to do further research so they can make real evidence-based policy decisions and eventually introduce those types of products to the market.
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
KOLAB RENDERS, AUXLY, © EMIL TELEKI, I V
So, rather than as a medical drug or drug to get high, what type of product would be equivalent? You’re not taking omega-3 to cure yourself of anything. You’re not trying to manage your pain through omega-3. You’re taking it because it’s been shown that it supports a healthy lifestyle and there’s some benefit to it. That’s where I see [the cannabinoids] market going. Why don’t we take other nutraceuticals that are out there that we know have some health benefit, whether it’s melatonin for sleep, whether it’s probiotics, whether it’s chamomile, fish oil, that sort of thing, and see if there are additional synergistic benefits that could be attained by the addition of cannabinoids and then put those out as a wellness product? What do you see as the biggest challenge or roadblock? There’s lots of them! The biggest challenge is really information. Canadians are very restricted in terms of what we
can say and do and offer to consumers by way of information on the products… I look at Canada’s current leading position and whether or not we can actually maintain it. Are we going to be able to differentiate our products sufficiently? In other jurisdictions, they’re going to be able to market and get information out in a much less restricted fashion... We’ve seen this in the tobacco industry. At some point, the regulators are going to really focus on how are people communicating their message, and, if they take the same type of rigor as they take with tobacco, it will be highly restrictive. What do you see as the biggest misconception of this industry? The biggest misconception is the notion that you can grow really high-end cannabis in large industrial-scale facilities. Cannabis cultivation is, in and of itself, difficult. Right now, you have supply shortages, so people get away with putting out whatever they can into the market.
Where do you see the industry in five years? The industry in five years will be like 30 years or more in a regular industry. With the market for dried cannabis, there will be tighter parameters about who can participate based on quality. I think, overall, you’ll [have] cannabis as a wellness product occupying the largest market share of its use. You will see derivative products eat into the dried cannabis market significantly, and I think the dried cannabis market will be much more competitive. I think the factory farms produce feed stock for derivative products, and the guys who produce cannabis not as a commercial endeavor but as a passionate, artisanal product, those producers will thrive. What’ll be interesting to see is will one of those producers or any of those producers be able to scale those operations in a way where they can supply the demand without losing the quality. To date, I can’t think of an example where they’ve done that.
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BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Myrna Gillis CEO/Founder, Aquilitas Brooklyn, Nova Scotia
What does your company do? We are a medical cannabis producer. We have a processing and cultivation license and, hopefully in the next week or two, have our complete unrestricted sales license. For us, our focus is on the value-added production. We’re looking forward to having products in the edibles, extraction, and topical markets as well. How have you seen the industry changing over the last little while? The most obvious is the reduction in stigma associated with the consumption of cannabis. I see a lot of activity in the value-added part of the sector around a lot of the specialty equipment with extraction and product research and development. What would you like to see in terms of changes, and, more importantly, what are you doing to contribute to that change? People are looking to us for leadership. The industry is seen as a huge energy consumer. It’s also seen as being somewhat wasteful in the use of its products. We do grow aquaponically, we don’t use pesticides in our process, we recapture our water, [and] we use LEDs, so we use 50% less energy and about 90% less water. That’s part of how we’re contributing to the ecosystem and the environment. We had a third-party energy audit of our facility, and we received the largest energy rebate that was ever awarded under that program in Nova Scotia. We also have a recirculating system, and we capture the transpiration off of our HVAC units to reuse that water as well. We have geothermal opportunities, and we also can burn our own biomass – it comes back to us in the form of steam. Relative to our competitors, we have a lot of areas that we are looking to for an environmental position. We are growing the greenest green in the world with our practices, and that’s something that we’re quite proud of. We also are looking at biodegradable packaging that’s more environmentally friendly, using the hemp for inside liners. We have a fully functioning lab at Acadia University, and we’re working with the A lab on product development. We’re doing a partnership on an FDA clinical trial with a company that is in the process of trying to develop cannabis drugs with a drug identification number, so those are some of the things that we’re working on. And then finally, from a corporate social responsibility, we try to do education and outreach about corporate respon-
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sibility in the areas of consumption, environment, diversity, and using renewable resources in our industry and practices. Another area of leadership is in the area of advocacy. My background was as a disabilities lawyer – I practiced for about 25 years, so that’s an area of personal interest to me but also a part of the value systems of our company. When it came to the excise tax, we certainly tried to do our part in lobbying our provincial and federal representatives and respective tax ministers. We did a lot of speaking on disabilities for different organizations. Like many industries, this one seems heavily male-dominated. You provide a refreshing differentiator there. We’re one of the few women-led companies. We have nine PhDs and three Master’s [and] two engineers in our scientific team. The majority of the STEM positions in our company are actually occupied by women. We’re trying to do our part for social responsibility and diversity in our workplace. What do you see as the biggest challenge or roadblock to your success? One of the biggest challenges is the speed with which producers are able to get licenses in the industry. Even for ourselves it takes several years, and so being able to access capital [is difficult], and we are not able to generate revenue because of the regulator. The market ebbs and flows with enthusiasm and some volatility, and so for companies that can be a challenge. Atlantic Canada is the highest per capita market in the country. We’re doing our first export in a couple of weeks, and we’ve got great proximity to the European market. The challenge to get to those markets is you need to have the resources to get there. You have to recruit and retain really quality staff because they’re critical to executing your plan. What do you see as the biggest misconception surrounding your industry? The biggest misconception is that it’s just a big gold rush for everyone. There are a lot of really principled and good people that are very much motivated by doing really good innovative work in research and development in medical, ancillary, and in adult-use products. Obviously, there’s people who see a good business proposition. Another misconception is about who the cannabis consumer is – with the reduction of the stigma, everybody is seeing the diversity of consumers is as broad as the diversity of our population.
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
James West Publisher/CEO, Midas Letter Toronto, Ontario
Tell me about your company. We invest in and operate assets relative to the cannabis industry across media, cultivation, extraction, consumer packaged goods, medical research. I’m a CEO of a few of the companies. I’m on the advisory board of some of them. I guess I’m the founder of several of these enterprises. I’m the CEO of Midas Letter Media Corp that produces Midas Letter Live on Youtube and midasletter.com, its companion website. How have you seen the industry change since you’ve been involved with it? Well, cannabis became legal! I’ve had a lifelong involvement with cannabis. I was such a cannabis enthusiast from a teenager forward, to the point where I was an active participant in commercial operations pre-legalization. Have you seen radical changes in terms of a complete shift of those who are participating, or are you seeing a lot of people such as yourself that were maybe involved pre-legalization continuing to ride the wave? There’s a tonne of people who are still involved who were involved pre-legalization. The biggest sort of funny, interesting, noteworthy change is that people who were formerly extremely vocal opponents to anything to do with cannabis are now suddenly actively advocating, investing, and/or operating assets. The best-case example would be former chiefs of police [i.e. Bill Blair, of Toronto’s Police Services] who are now senior management of cannabis companies. What would you like to see change in the future, and how are you personally and your companies contributing to that change? The Canadian situation is great, but there’s too much government interference in the industry. For example, it is absolutely untenable that cannabis companies are not permitted to advertise or sponsor events or promote themselves in any way, shape, or form while alcohol companies are. If cannabis is such a superior medicine to opiates and a superior recreational product to alcohol, how can we escape the hypocrisy that prevented us from recognizing these realities as long as we continue to cling to these hypocritical constructs? What do you see as other particular roadblocks? Bureaucracy is a primary limiter. Even more than negative perception? Perception has always been limited to the people who are in charge, government types or the elite. It first went legal in the United States for medical purposes because the young Charlotte Figi was having 200 epileptic seizures a day. It’s unfortunate that it takes the suffering of a child to pierce the veil of hypocrisy, especially in the context of all of the people who have died prema-
turely or had a less than stellar end-of-life experience because cannabinoids weren’t available. To play devil’s advocate here, you’ve already noted that there have been restrictions in terms of research. Should this literally be the Wild West? In other words, what do you see as appropriate regulation here? You’re contrasting it with alcohol, but maybe it isn’t that there should be cannabis advertising – maybe the answer is that there shouldn’t be alcohol advertising, for example. The lesson of cannabis prohibition should have been [that] it’s better to let people experiment with what works for them individually and then evolve policy from those experiences, rather than prohibit access to experimentation on moral or unscientific grounds. If that [were] the case, then we would have started with opiates and would have realized that, OK, these things are really bad, let’s make them harder and harder to get because people tend to become addicted to them. With cannabinoids, we should have said, let’s not restrict them, let’s learn from the people who are actively using them and study them, and we would have concluded that these things don’t make you lazy and unambitious. We should look to replace reliance on opiates with cannabinoids, which is where we’re going now. In the context of advertising, from the perspective strictly of what is fair, it’s either yes, no advertising for any intoxicant, or open season for all intoxicants that are deemed legal. What do you still see as the biggest misconception? I think there’s two misconceptions: on the pro-cannabis side, that cannabis is a miracle drug cure-all, which I think is extreme and not supported by science. There are actually clinical studies underway right now studying the costs, whether cannabis causes lung cancer when you smoke it all of your life. On the anti-cannabis side, there’s still reports drawing massively distorted conclusions from data suggesting that Colorado’s rate of traffic fatalities [are] a result of cannabis consumption [being] at an all-time high since legalization. There are institutions generating misleading data that is based on self-serving, self-interested interpretation of data. What do you see this industry looking like in five years? This is the second inning of a very long game. I think we’re looking at a future where every man, woman, child, dog, cat, and horse has a requirement over its lifespan to access cannabis for a wide range of reasons yet to be determined by science. I think that the largest exponential value creation exercises are yet in front of us, and it’ll make the last five years look like a warm-up for what’s to come.
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BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Sebastien St. Louis CEO/Co-Founder, Hexo Corp. Gatineau, Quebec
What does your company do? We are a cannabis technology company working on bringing branded cannabis experiences to people all over the globe. We are planning to be one of the top three global cannabis companies over the next 10 years. How have you seen the industry change over the last several years? It’s been really exciting! We landed a deal with Molson-Coors to build cannabis beverages, and we’re excited to launch those this coming October, pending the regulatory changes in Canada. The whole industry is moving towards advanced products. Flower will remain an important part of the industry, but, as we’ve seen [with] the numbers in smaller test markets, we’ve noticed that the clients are gravitating towards smokeless and [the] consistency of the experience that’s provided by brands. What would you like to see change further, and how are you contributing to that change? We’ve really started to build an absolute world-class team of people on the innovation, design, and engineering side. I want to see that change accelerate. We now have over 20 scientists on staff. I want to accelerate that to a team of over 100 people in the next 12 months, and I think that will help accelerate our knowledge of cannabis. I’d love to be able to get the concrete claims where we can prove to patients factually, in double-blind controlled tests, that yes, such and such product from Hexo will help improve your sleep experience from x to y, and here’s how it does it. I think that is on the near horizon, and I’m quite excited about that. What do you see then as the major challenges or roadblocks to the success? One of the biggest advantages that Hexo and other licensed producers can bring over the black market is quality control, consistency of products, clear labelling, and the absence of any substances other than cannabis. We’re in a state of constant flux where the regulations change almost on a monthly basis. There’s always a push-pull between the perception of wanting to do the right thing from a regulatory perspective in terms of putting restrictions on how this product can be distributed, but the
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push is the legal cannabis industry grow[ing] and [being] allowed to market to consenting adults everywhere and allowed to get interesting smokeless products. The paradox is [legalization] actually shrinks the bad health outcomes, shrinks the black-market, shrinks criminality, and we actually have seen youth use reduce. The challenge is in hitting that sweet spot. What do you see as the biggest misconception of your industry? There’s still a fair amount of stigma around the product itself. We’ve had a huge turnaround in terms of positivity and just generally people supporting the product. The biggest misconception is around the safety of the product, where cannabis is certainly not completely benign, but when you compare it to other products that are not benign, whether it’s tobacco or alcohol, even sugar – cannabis is regulated like nuclear waste! Whether it’s statistical, anecdotal, there’s nothing in our research that indicates that it’s that dangerous. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have to be responsible in the way we distribute it. In fact, we have evidence that it’s a bad idea for children to consume cannabis, so we have to keep it out of their hands. But we have solid evidence that it is reasonably safe when consumed in normal amounts by adults. Where do you see the industry in five years? Six years ago, there was no cannabis industry. Today, we’re lining ourselves up to be a top three company by market share in this country. In five years, we think there’s going to be three global cannabis players that will control about 70 percent of the market and certainly intend to be one of those. Those companies will look like technology companies, they’ll look like consumer packaged goods companies. I think, in five years, we will have cannabis in the U.S. in a fully legal fashion, and I think Hexo will participate there. This is going to be a 100 billion plus dollar industry in five years, going on eventually 300 billion beyond that. Cannabis will be bigger than alcohol, I believe. Obviously, you’ve grown to a very large company, but are you seeing the benefits of being that key player? In other words, by playing by the rules, are you actually seeing benefits, or would it have been easier in some ways for you to have not quite played by the rules and been in the same position? I don’t
HEXO CORP
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
think that’s a real choice. You’ve seen some licensed producers actually bend the rules and sometimes break them, and, in the short term, that can look like it’s advantageous. In the long term, it always blows up in your face. We made a promise to our shareholders, to our partners, to governance, that we don’t break the law at any level of government. I could bend the rules
and go into the U.S. tomorrow morning, but I would be breaking federal law. Good governance will fundamentally allow us to get better shareholders, lower cost of capital, get better partners, such as being able to land MolsonCoors, for example. I think that doing the right thing in the long run always, always pays off dividends.
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BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Ronan Levy Chief Strategy Officer, Trait Biosciences Inc. Vancouver, BC & Toronto, Ontario
What does your company do? Trait is a biosciences company that focuses on cannabis, hemp, and cannabinoids more broadly. We have developed a number of very innovative technologies, bringing the very best practices from big agriculture and plant science to really enhance yields in the cannabis and hemp industry and help develop novel products. How do you see the industry changing? All the excitement is on production and growing plants. I think you’re going to quickly see the industry go from looking at plants as being the relevant metric to cannabinoids as the real metric, with cannabinoids becoming an ingredient in other products as opposed to the flower of the plant itself. I think the companies that are focused on increasing yields and bringing down the cost of cannabinoids as opposed to the plants, they’ll be the ones that are extremely successful. What would you like to see change, and how are you contributing to that change? I’d like to see a little bit more discipline, a little bit more focus. It’s very much been a land grab – a race by the large companies to buy up as many of the assets as they can to maintain a competitive advantage. By and large, that has resulted in what looks to be a very haphazard strategy. If companies got more disciplined in their focus and realized where the opportunities are, you’d see a much healthier, more natural evolution of the industry occur. We are contributing to that change following exactly what I preach. We’re taking a disciplined approach and focusing only on technologies that we think enhance the plant or the products that can be derived from it. There’s always an opportunity to go out and actually become a cultivator or something along those lines, and we’re staying very much within our core competency, which is applying [the] best scientific practices and technology to the cannabis industry to develop new products. What do you see as the main roadblock to that change? The challenge is managing regulatory considerations in Canada. The regulations are more clearly defined, but they’re still pretty opaque and not well understood,
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which leaves companies and producers trying to figure out what is OK. In the U.S., the regulatory landscape is much worse; state by state it differs, and federally it’s entirely illegal! It creates a hodgepodge of regulatory environments, which I don’t think is conducive to either growing a business or ensuring that customers are getting the best products out there. It creates a hard environment in which to innovate and bring new technologies to market because you simply don’t know what’s going to be OK and what’s not going to be OK. That stunts the market and creates products that are probably more risky and not as high quality as they could be. Everybody loses in that situation. What do you think is the biggest misconception about your industry? I think people still think it’s being run by a bunch of cowboys with a lot of people who are just in a crazy race to grab as much land in a competitive environment as possible. In fact, the amount of intellect, business prowess, scientific rigor going into the industry now is actually quite remarkable. We’re attracting people from all industries all over the world who are interested in this, from the recreational considerations to the therapeutic applications. It’s just amazing. Where do you see the industry in five years? You’re going to see significant change from where it is right now, as the truly successful companies start to emerge. You’ll see the ones that have a focus on technology and [the ones] building the platforms on which the industry can grow be the ones that emerge over the next few years as the true leaders. The ones who may have got the first mover advantage won’t necessarily be around as newer, more nimble innovators come through with new products and new technologies that increase yield and bring down costs. [We need] new delivery mechanisms or new formulations that offer predictable, understandable, and repeatable experiences. I think right now, from one day to the next, you’re going to have very different experiences with the same product under the same brand, and I think that just doesn’t lead to a successful growing market.
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Matei Olaru CEO, Lift & Co. Toronto, Ontario
What does your company do? We are a publicly traded technology company on the Toronto Venture Exchange with a technology mandate to modernize marketing in this industry.
and slow-down gives us the first mover advantage. We love the regulations, the restrictions on advertising, marketing, lack of data – those are good for our business.
How have you seen the industry change? Our company is focused on the biggest change: the evolution of cannabis from its current post-prohibition format, to consumer packaged goods (CPG). It’s the evolution happening with the introduction of branded products – soon, higher margin value-added products like edibles and concentrates, distributed through retail channels to a consumer that’s increasingly starting to self-educate themselves.
What do you see as the biggest misconception of this industry? One of the biggest misperceptions on the consumer side is that cannabis is primarily a dried flower product: the bud. Look out 20 years, and you will have cannabis infused in all sorts of product formats, whether it’s topicals, patches, listerine strips, edibles, vape pens, all sorts of value-added products that we haven’t even conceptualized yet. As technology advances and these products become available, cannabis will not be the way we think of cannabis today. That only comes at the end of prohibition.
How would you like to see it further change, and how are you contributing to that change? We are in the business of helping that CPG evolution happen quicker. We are here to bring this ability to the industry through data and through connection to consumers, to retailers, to brands. I would like to see more product formats entering, more consumers, more distribution – that enables us to collect better data on the market and consumers and gives us better insight into how we can move this industry toward CPG. What do you see as your biggest challenge or roadblock? The biggest challenge for us as we scale the business is the slowdown of the market. For example, data collection is our main strategic initiative. The retail slowdown of licensing is hindering that ability because now there’s less retail points to be able to collect that data from – same with the regulations allowing for things like edibles and concentrates. Previously you had an illegal product, therefore you had no legitimate business space. On the other hand, you have regulations now which are, in some ways, inhibiting and, in some ways, carving out a niche for you to exist at all. Regulations have created the opportunity for businesses like ours to exist. Our business benefits from strict regulations on producers and retailers as it prevents them from advertising. It limits their ability to collect data, so in a sense, the strict regulations
Can you give an example of a product that has gone through this type of transformation? I think we see it in the disposable vaporizer pen. It looks like a cigarette almost, yet it completely changes the use case. Traditionally, you had to roll up your flower, whereas with a pen, you’re able to use it in all sorts of environments. [It’s] discreet, dose-controlled, interchangeable, more portable, easier to use. That’s opened up the market both to new types of consumers and to new use cases. It lowered the barrier to entry for dose, and it’s completely changed behaviour on cannabis. Where do you the industry in five years? I’m sure a lot of people have told you about consolidation? That’s definitely something I anticipate. Some people see consolidation; some people actually see fragmentation, so that’s why I’m curious where you’re at. At the ground level, I see consolidation. I think opportunities like the legalization of edibles, for example, might create a window of time where there’s fragmentation, but long-term, you’re going to move to consumer packaged goods, where a few umbrella companies own the majority of brands that consumers interact with, so I’m very bullish on that outlook.
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BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Irwin Simon
Chairman/Interim CEO, Aphria Inc. Leamington, Ontario
What does your company do? We are a grower and producer of cannabis that sells products throughout Canada and internationally. How have you seen the industry change over the last several years? I have seen where the industry has gone from a black market to a legalized market, with potentially a five to six billion dollar category just in Canada alone with regards to recreational, medicinal, and other ancillary products. What would you like to see further change, and how are you and your company contributing to that change? [We’d like to see] the legalization of vaping and edibles in Canada. We’re working on product lines, both on the vaping side and on the edible side, for when it takes place and it becomes legal. I think the biggest thing it has to ensure, too, is when you make claims for the product from a medicinal point, whether it’s sleep, whether it’s pain, that it’s not hocus pocus but that the products really work and really have [the] effects that you suggest they do. What do you see as the challenges or roadblocks to actually have the greater maturation of this industry? That’s the big thing, that it’s a real industry with real products, with real results, and that comes from investment into [Research & Development] (R&D), investments into clinical trials, investment into building brands, and investment into products that really have a purpose.
Are you seeing the better companies thriving, or is it still a ‘gold rush’ mentality? I think in every industry, there are always bad actors. It’s not our job to police; it’s my job to make sure that Aphria is known as ‘best in class’ in everything it does. Health Canada or consumers will ultimately decide who’s not real, who’s ultimately not coming out with the right products. So, regulation continues to be a double-edged sword, both setting the rules and providing fairness while also at times restricting innovation? Regulation is good because it forces those that are not going to comply out of the business category. It’s no different than food, with the FDA regulation out there. The big thing, out there, is the industry continues to gain credibility... If you drink a beer, you know you’re drinking 5% alcohol. If you’re having an edible, you [need to] know exactly what you’re ingesting or you’re inhaling or you’re using, and you’ve got to make sure that product information is correct. Is the advantage of the Canadian market simply that we are first or is there something specific about the nation's regulatory agencies and business community that actually promises in the future the country will continue to not only be a pioneer but a leading voice in the industry internationally? If Canada is allowed to continuously grow, continuously develop different products that are shipped in the U.S. or around the world, I think it’s going to be a big opportunity for Canada. If Canada, ultimately, is limited to everything Canadian, there’s going to be some ceilings on the growth because of your 36 million people and the size of the market.
GREENHOUSE, APHRIA INC.
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BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Thomas Gerstenecker Founder/ CEO, 3|Sixty Secure Corp. Mississippi Mills, Ontario
What does your company do? We provide customized security solutions to public and private sector clients across the globe, delivering security management, armed and unarmed guarding, transport, integrated security systems, executive protection, and consulting. How have you seen the industry change? As licensed producers increase production and strive to provide the best product possible, their security requirements are evolving. As strategic security management, technological security, perimeter guarding, and secure transport needs evolve, we’re meeting these needs by expanding our capacity to serve them. What would you like to see change further, and how are you contributing to that change? I would like to see more strategic partnerships. We already provide secure transport services for high-value, large volume cannabis and short-term cannabis storage services across the country. One of our many partners is Pineapple Express, providing same-day and expedited delivery services to retail and residential endpoints. This leverages the unique strengths of 3|Sixty, which brings expertise in seed-to-sale security for the cannabis industry and Pineapple Express, which has more than 10 years of on-demand delivery and real-time tracking.
What do you see as the industry’s major challenges/roadblocks? The cannabis industry is evolving at record speed. Seeing trends and being innovative is the only way to do business. We have an obligation to our customers, partners, and investors to stay on top of our risk-mitigation business, from ensuring our armed and unarmed guards are vetted and trained to taking advantage of the very latest in secure transport, like stateof-the-art, temperature-controlled, GPS-protected vehicles. We are obligated to stay ahead of the curve. What is the biggest misconception about this industry? The biggest is that Health Canada’s cannabis security regulations are no more than a prescriptive set of rigid rules. In fact, they are more of a framework. The government recognized, as we [do], that every business is unique. The highly regulated cannabis industry requires comprehensive and flexible suites of security and compliance solutions. We work alongside each client to provide holistic security and integrated risk-management solutions – solutions that meet all cannabis security regulations yet are tailored to individual business needs. What is the industry going to look like in five years? We’ll see an overall maturity in the industry, where everything won’t feel so experimental, and there will be more predictability in every space. There is so much opportunity out there! We are looking at targeted growth and expansion, offering fairly priced, proven security services across Canada, North America, and globally. Wherever cannabis is legalized, 3|Sixty Secure Corp will be there for clients, partners, and investors.
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BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Navdeep Dhaliwal CEO, Supreme Cannabis Toronto, Ontario
How would you describe your company? We are a diversified portfolio of distinct cannabis businesses, products, and brands globally. How have you seen the industry change over the last several years? Most recently, you saw a big change with legalization. Before that, you saw a big flood of enthusiasm from business and capital markets – a “gold rush” mentality. Given that most cannabis companies are financed in Canada and are listed here in Canada as well, you saw a lot of news and a lot of stocks skyrocketing. Before that, you had the emergence of the first really commercial cannabis companies in the world. Back even further, Canada’s been a global leader in cannabis regulation and discussion for a long time. You saw the emergence of the first commercial cannabis companies in the world in a highly regulated federal environment. Obviously, there’s pros and cons to the ‘gold rush’, depending on what stake you actually claim; can you talk about some of the challenges of living up to the hype? The biggest challenge is focus. That’s why you saw us very early decide to focus on a very specific aspect of the business, and that was regulated cultivation at scale. A company philosophy of ours is to be consumer-driven. We identified what we believe to be the largest market in the world today and for the foreseeable future and for a long time, and that’s the smoked dried flower market. That’s 200-400 billion dollars today, mostly black-market supplied. Our thesis is we’re going to figure out how to grow high quality cannabis at scale because no one’s ever done it at a commercial scale before. That’s what we’ve been successful at! Now, we’re going to move forward with exciting growth initiatives from a position of strength. What would you like to see change in the industry and how are you contributing to that? The cannabis consumer is highly discerning. The biggest challenge with fighting the black-market and bringing consumers into the legal market is understanding what the consumer wants vs. being driven by providing low
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cost or very flashy brands and a lot of marketing, etc. We are providing that consumer a high-quality product that they’re used to and they expect. The biggest complaint post-recreational legalization has been the sheer lack of quality in the legal market.
CEO, NAVDEEP S. DHALIWAL. PROPERTY OF THE SUPREME CANNABIS COMPANY, INC.
What do you see as additional challenges and roadblocks to achieving better acceptance and better quality within this industry? We are a company that’s very passionate about the plant. We see our role as advocates and educators. Cannabis has been prohibited for a long time, and, the fact is, there’s a lack of understanding around the product. There’s still stigma, and, while it’s becoming more normalized, we really see ourselves having a role in terms of respecting and being true, providing the best expressions of the plant. What do you see as the largest misconceptions that are still out there? The largest misconception is that cannabis is going to very easily be a commodity. We believe that this is a consumer product - it takes a lot of passion, care, and attention to produce a quality product that consumers will purchase over the long-term. More so, you’ve heard a lot of chatter about all
of these new products – oils, derivative products, drinks, etc. The biggest misconception is that you can take all of this poor quality cannabis and magically turn it into other high-quality products. There is no market in the world today where someone could take me and show me that drinking cannabis is a big market. There’s no consumer habit – there’s no human ritual about drinking cannabis. With edible product, you need a license to produce them, but there’s nothing really special about edible products. There are a lot of people in the world that know how to make candy bars and make edibles much better than us! We’ll produce a good flower, and that will also allow us to produce very high-quality concentrate products that will be desirable. What do you see the industry looking like in five years? In Canada, you’ll finally start to see what a real competitive market looks like. As of today, it’s not really a competitive market because most stuff is selling because of supply shortages. If we had a fully supplied market, the expectation of quality would be much higher. Within the next five years, you’ll see the U.S. market go federally legal. The ship’s sailed. It’s going to be absolutely the most exciting market in the world from an operational standpoint. Internationally, our thesis is almost every country in the world is going to go medically legal. There hasn’t been yet a catastrophic collapse like Nortel for weed? Not yet. Overall, we’re a very pro-market, pro-industry company, so we root for everybody… It takes a community to build an industry. You’ve seen some small hiccups with some small companies losing licenses. The Canadian market has a very rare opportunity from a global perspective. We’re the first to legalize federally, so we have a regulatory advantage in one manner. We’re one of the best capitalized nations for an industry. Also, in a very rare characteristic, our neighbours to the south can’t even participate. We have an advantage when it comes to capital and regulatory and operating experience, and now it’s using that intelligently to go create that in other countries.
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Max Zavet
Co-Founder/President, Emblem Corp. Paris, Ontario
Tell me about what you do. I’m a cannabis entrepreneur investor. I’ve been in the legal cannabis industry since 2012, investing and starting companies. I started Emblem Corp. that went public, and I helped to start other companies in the States that are public or are going public. I have a company called Robes Cannabis, and it’s partnering up with Noah Shebib [known as 40] who’s Drake’s Grammy award-winning music producer, to come out with a brand called The Bull Rider. It’s a very unique strain that Noah is a big champion and spokesperson for because it helps him deal with his MS and helps his creativity. The new business is very much about quality over quantity, high-end experience – boutique in a sense, artisanal in a sense that we don’t want to appeal to everybody, but we want to appeal to that small percent[age] of the market that really appreciates the process and the beauty of the dried flower. How do you see the industry changing? You’re going to have more niche businesses, especially as different products come on-line, like edibles and extractions, vape pens, that kind of thing. I think you’ll see more bifurcation where companies will start focusing on different segments of the market. Then you’re going to have your conglomerates like Canopy and Au-
rora that are going to try to buy up those pieces. There’s a market for everyone to play in, but I’m playing in that very specialized niche area. What changes would you like to see come along, and how are you contributing to that change? We’d like to see more access and better distribution, especially in Ontario, where it’s been limited to a license. Quebec’s been extremely limited as well, where it’s the public stores. We’d like to see a more robust model like they have in Alberta, with more options for delivery. More products will come on-line in the next year as regulations get passed, but, right now, they’re still working that out. It looks promising, but we have a long way to go. The best way we can help is by being active participants in the industry and communicating with Health Canada and trying to take advantage of various stakeholder discussions. It is challenging, as governments don’t think outside the box too often. What do you see as the main challenges and roadblocks, not only for your company, but for the industry as a whole? Achieving less red tape, freer markets – those are our big roadblocks. More licensing! California has issued over 4,000 licenses. While some are temporary, at least they’re creating a market and an industry and not a value for licenses. A
similar approach needs to be taken in Canada where the value shouldn’t be in the license; it should be in the business. I think there’s only 150 licenses in all of Canada, and we’re a similar size to California. What is the biggest misconception about the industry? I think it’s a weird industry because it’s the illicit market that’s been prevalent for so long. If you ask the hardcore cannabis advocate/user/consumer, his biggest conception of the industry is that cannabis is now corporate cannabis, and it’s awful, which they’re not too wrong about in terms of the quality of the product that’s out there right now. I think it’s a misconception that there can’t be competition or companies that can achieve quality and still compete. It’s a misconception that big cannabis has taken over, and that’s it – that it’s impossible to compete against these giants, and we’re just going to pack up and still continue doing it illegally or go home. Where do you see the industry in five years? I see a [more] dynamic and robust industry, for sure! People’s attitudes will change towards cannabis, generally – become a bit more relaxed. I think as people realize that the sky isn’t falling with cannabis legalization, then we can have more rational policies in place with respect to the whole supply chain. I am definitely optimistic, but hopefully the conservative government doesn’t get elected or something (laughs).
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This page: Zip-up hoodie (Approx. $1,390 USD), Sweatpants (Approx. $1,150 USD), and Tank Top TOM FORD. Sunglasses ($525) and Loafers ($2,370) TOM FORD at HOLT RENFREW. Necklace ($575) and Bracelets ($700 each) DAVID YURMAN at HOLT RENFREW. Opposite page: Shirt ($795) JIL SANDER at HOLT RENFREW. Coat ($3,095) SACAI at HOLT RENFREW. Trousers ($679) DRIES VAN NOTEN at HOLT RENFREW. Bandana ($225) HERMÈS. Belt SALVATORE FERRAGAMO. Necklace ($575) and Bracelets ($700 each) DAVID YURMAN at HOLT RENFREW. Photography JEANCLAUDE LUSSIER. Fashion Editor FRITZ. Hair & Makeup PACO PUERTAS at FOLIO using MAC COSMETICS and L’ORÉAL PROFESSIONNEL. Model PUKAS GAFFIE at DULCEDO.
HER
Pamela Bernier’s
MODEL BEHAVIOR PAMELA BERNIER CHATS IT UP WITH PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD BERNARDIN ABOUT HER START IN MODELLING, BEING BRAZILIAN, AND FUTURE PLANS.
Where did you meet your boyfriend? Well, it’s kinda funny, but my friend Jessiann (another model extraordinaire from Quebec) introduced us. I met him the following week, and I never left his side after that! That was almost a year ago. You are close friends with Jessiann and her husband Francesco Lachowski… Almost all the Brazilian models that I have worked with know each other and are actually great friends. I love that. Have you been to Brazil? Yes, many times now! I love Brazil. I’m even taking Portuguese classes. It’s amazing – [there’s] so much beautiful culture and great people and nature. I definitely recommend you go to Bahia. How and where did you start modelling, and how long have you been doing this? I started when I was 14 years old and then went to NYC at 16 with my mother and
had a great start. I did a lot of beauty campaigns but needed to take a break to finish school. After I finished, I started to travel a lot, especially to Paris and all around Europe. It really hasn’t stopped, and after 13 years, I’m still here and still loving what I do! Now that I say it, I hadn’t realized I’ve been doing this for so long! 13 years! It’s crazy how time flies, right? You know, I lost track of how many times we’ve worked together. How do you feel when working with a photographer that you’ve known for so long in comparison to a new, unknown photographer or team? Well, I definitely feel more comfortable with people I know really well. I don’t feel stressed and just know that I’m going to have fun, great people around me. That said, working with someone new is a great opportunity to make new connections, which is always amazing.
Interview and Photraphy Richard Bernardin
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Vintage blazer YOJHI YAMAMOTO.
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Her Tights WOLFORD.
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The comfort of working with models and artists is that you know it is reassuring, but there is also the exhilaration of meeting and collaborating with new and talented people, which helps to keep you on your toes because it is outside your comfort zone and helps you discover new things about yourself and your work. So, speaking of work and stepping out of your comfort zone, do you have any defining moments or a milestone in your career that you’re are particularly proud of? Well, yes, definitely! I am very proud of my career. I’ve been all over the world. I’ve learned so much and met so many amazing people. I will always remember at the beginning of my career how I went to a casting for NARS Cosmetics, met with François Nars, and was almost immediately booked for a shoot in Tahiti. It was an amazing week! Not only did we shoot beautiful pictures but also got to visit this enchanted island on the other side of the world. It was one of those truly amazing moments.
“I TRY TO DO THINGS THAT
WILL HAVE A POSITIVE IMPACT ON MY LIFE. I ACTUALLY SIGNED UP FOR UNIVERSITY TODAY!”
Travelling is definitely one of our work perks. Where would like to go that you haven’t gone before? Oh, I have a list! I would love to go to Patagonia. I have my own camper van and love road trips. I have driven across Canada, and I am now planning to do Highway 1 in California and then eventually get down to Chile. Sometimes when you travel for work, you don’t have much time to visit or see the country because you are only there for a couple of days, which is why road trips are the best. You really see and experience everything. These are obviously postcard-ready locations, which make for epic shoots. On a deeper note (and without getting too existential), do you have any wellness, meditation, and/or selfcare routines that you practice? If so, how it has impacted your life (both professionally and personally) and busy schedule? It’s very important to keep a calm mind with this busy lifestyle. I read this book on stoicism, and it really helps me to let go of things from
the past or worrying about the future because the only thing that really matters is the now. When a problem occurs, there are two ways to look at it and ask yourself, “Can I do something to change this or make this situation better or not?” If it’s out of your control, then why worry about it? Most of all, I try to treat all people as equals, with kindness and compassion. “Don’t do unto others as you wouldn’t want to be done to yourself,” my mother always said to me. It’s such a cliché, but it’s very effective. I also try to meditate and do yoga regularly, which helps keep me grounded. So, I know this is not Zen, but... pizza or burgers? Thin-crust Italian pizza, for sure! What crazy spontaneous thing have you done in the last 24 hours since you’ve returned to NYC? Well, I was just glad to be back home with my boyfriend, so we stayed in (it was raining), got mimosas and popcorn, and had a scary movie day! Might not sound too crazy for a Sunday, but it made me happy! Do you have any big plans for the next five years? Is acting in the plans? Because I think you’d be great at it! That’s so funny you said that! I always wanted to take acting classes because I was always curious to try, but I feel a bit shy. Otherwise, the plan is to be happy. I try to do things that will have a positive impact on my life. I actually signed up for university today! I will start studying interior design next fall. I will still continue modelling and travelling, of course, try to spend more time with my family and friends, and go to Brazil. Then, I will try to stay in one place for at least a month, which will probably be impossible, and then, who knows… Maybe eventually start a family!
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Her
This page: Tights WOLFORD. Opposite page: Top Left: Jeans LEVI’S (Model’s own) Middle Left: Tights WOLFORD. Bottom Left: Vintage Black tuxedo jacket YSL. Bra BLUEBELLA NIKITA BRA at ALICE KASS LINGERIE. Right photo: Vintage Gray pin-striped suit YOHJI YAMAMOTO. Photography RICHARD BERNARDIN. Model PAMELA BERNIER at MONTAGE. Hair & Makeup MICHAEL GOYETTE at FOLIO. Post-Production PATRICIA SINCLAIR.
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DESIGNING HIS DESTINY
LENNY KRAVITZ KNOWING THAT THIS CHARISMATIC MUSICIAN HOLDS RECORDS FOR NUMBER OF GRAMMYS WON AND ALBUMS SOLD DURING HIS THIRTY-YEAR-LONG CAREER, IT SURE SEEMS LIKE LENNY KRAVITZ HAS IT ALL.
Photographer Mathieu Bitton
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Design
THE RENOWNED ARTIST HAS AGENCY KRAVITZ DESIGN, IS A PRAISED ACTOR AFTER HIS PERFORMANCE IN THE HUNGER GAMES, AND NOW IS THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AND PHOTOGRAPHER FOR DOM PERIGNON. THE PRESTIGIOUS CHAMPAGNE HOUSE HAS ALLOWED HIM TO PUT TOGETHER A DREAM TEAM FOR AN OUTSTANDING PHOTOGRAPHY SESSION, THUS ENABLING HIM TO FULLY EXPRESS HIS CREATIVITY.
By Stéphane Le Duc It seems like music has always been a part of Lenny Kravitz’s life. When he was a baby, he lived in Bedford, New York with his mother who worked as an actress and his father who worked as a TV producer. Lots of big names such as Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Duke Ellington came to the house, and young Lenny quickly became a jazz enthusiast. He first showed interest for drums, then guitar, then bass, proving to be exceptionally talented with all instruments. Even though he had not quite found his style at the time, his first album Let Love Rule still gained attention when it got released in 1989, especially in Europe. However, it was with Are You Gonna Go My Way that Lenny truly achieved international success. Classics such as Fly Away and American Woman followed shortly thereafter. Raise Vibration is his 11th album, and, having sold over 40 million albums, he still has the same passion for music today. Kravitz tells us, “What keeps me going is the love of music, the love of humanity, and love itself. I still love making music. I still love performing as much as I did when I was in high school coming up, so I am not jaded, I am not tired of it. I am still very artistically hungry, and the joy is there. If the joy was not there, I think I would have a very hard time doing it. I would be faking it, and you would feel that. You would say, ‘He is just going through the motions’, and a lot of people who do things for a long time, at some point, get to that point where they are walking through the motions, and, for me, even though I do act from time to time, I am not that good an actor to be able to do that. The passion that you see is there because it is there; it exists, and I am always looking to grow and get better at what I do, so I am always striving, and so that keeps me going. The energy that I get from the audience is also really beautiful.”
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This multi-instrumentalist singer has a very versatile career, showing interest for art, furnishing, and architecture. In 2003, he founded the Lenny Kravitz Design Studio, which allows him to express his own vision of design and his taste for fine art. He cleverly blends vintage and modern, with a combination of textures that he outlines with a special attention to lighting. We can admire one of his latest projects in Toronto, where he and his team designed one of the floors of the Bisha Hotel, viewed as the most prestigious hotel in the metropolis. This passion naturally led him to photography, a world he knows inside and out since he has collaborated with the greatest photographers on the planet. “I was introduced to photography by my father. My father was a journalist – he worked at NBC News, and he covered the Vietnam War and came back with a Leica camera, and I used to play with it when I was a kid. I had no idea how to use it, but I was drawn to the camera itself. I thought it was very interesting, the design of it, the buttons… Then later on in life, my father gave me the camera when I was 21, and, at 24, I got a record deal, and I began to be in front of the camera. But I thought it was far more interesting what was going on behind the camera. So, I started to talk to those photographers, and they would invite me into their dark rooms to see the process." "People like Mark Seliger, Jean-Baptiste Mondino, and different people would show me how the camera works and techniques. I did not really understand at first, and one day I just got the bug, and I went out and bought my own Leica. I said, ‘I am gonna figure this out.’ because I am more into trying [things] out, like when I learned to play instruments. Get the instrument, put it in my hand, and figure it out. Then, by 2012, I started on tour to shoot."
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Cover Story
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Cover Story
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“WHAT KEEPS ME GOING IS THE LOVE OF MUSIC, THE LOVE OF HUMANITY, AND LOVE ITSELF.”
Lenny Kravitz
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Cover Story
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"I decided that on my days off I would start to shoot. That ended up being my first book and exhibition called Flash, about me shooting all the people that are shooting me, which was not what I intended on shooting, but every time I went out to shoot, I got chased down by paparazzi or by fans, so they ruined my pictures, and they ended up being what the exhibition was. It was the idea of Jean-Baptiste Mondino – not mine. He saw the photos, and he said, ‘This has not been done. You need to do this.’” Lenny Kravitz is a man of taste and an epicurean who travels a lot, so it comes as no surprise that he was seduced by the universe of the most famous champagne in the world, Dom Perignon. He developed a true friendship throughout the years with Richard Geoffroy, the cellar master of the illustrious champagne house. “He started to come to my concerts, and, then after one of them, he told me he had been inspired to create one of his vintages. In any art form, whatever you make: music, paintings, champagne, or writing a book, it is really the same process. It is a discipline! Then we thought that one day it would be interesting to do something together at Dom Perignon, and years went by.” Eleven years later, Lenny Kravitz become the Global Creative Director of the brand. He and his team developed their first photo exhibition concept, which they wisely entitled Assemblage. He achieved the feat of gathering an impressive group of celebrities in a Los Angeles home that he decorated himself. This included Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon, film icon Harvey Keitel, actress and model Zoë Kravits, fashion prodigy Alexander Wang, renowned choreographer Benjamin Millepied, one of the greatest Japanese soccer players in history, Hidetoshi Nakata, and Australian model Abbey Lee Kershaw, all of whom were celebrating in the festive spirit of Dom Perignon. “I was very much inspired by this book about Studio 54 by Ron Galella who shot all those great pictures of New York nightlife. I wanted it to be natural lighting inside, also in the dark with the flash. We had a dinner party and a dance party. My daughter Chloé was the cata-
lyst; she got everybody relaxed and talking. Whenever anybody has a party, and no matter how big is the house, everyone is in the kitchen. We started in the kitchen, and then we moved to the dining table, and we had a wonderful dinner party, and then we went downstairs to the club. We built a nightclub in the house. It is a house that Kravitz Design had just finished building in the Hollywood Hills, called Stanley House. It was just a real evening of those eclectic groups of artists just hanging out.” Surprisingly, one of the last aspects of creation which the charismatic singer hasn’t yet touched, is fashion. His boldness, his unique style that blends the vintage vibe of the ‘60s with the audacity of the ‘70s, and his avantgardism all impose themselves just as much as his music. He never stopped breaking the barriers of styles and genres. “I have been asked and offered so much. At the time, when that was happening, I could have made a lot of money, and I could have had a big business. It was like everyone was doing it. All the musicians had a clothing line, and I tend to run the other way when everybody is doing something because I like to be myself, so I started Kravitz Design. I went down the design/ architecture lane because it was something I was so interested in, but I had no idea how I could make that happen, and how I would get into it. I just took my own money to start the company and lost a lot just to figure it out. It’s been wonderful, and I have paid my dues. I got accepted into that world by spending time and going to Milan and being with all these people, and then Philippe Stark discovered me. I am very much into the design of clothing and style. One day I would like to do it, but I have to think how, what, and where I would manufacture it – how I would do it in a sustainable way and how it would be perfectly green and right because the world does not need another clothing line. It would be more a statement of how it’s being done and why it is being done and who is making it, and nobody is being armed and people are being paid fairly.” By the conclusion of this conversation, it’s clear that Lenny Kravitz’s style and charisma are inimitable and authentic. After all, there’s no need to imitate it when you already have the real thing.
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© ANDY LIFFNER AND MY RESIDENCE
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Design
© ANDY LIFFNER AND MY RESIDENCE
Design Week’s Finest
STOCKHOLM
STOCKHOLM DESIGN WEEK LAUNCHED IN 2002 AND HAS SINCE BECOME THE MOST IMPORTANT WEEK OF THE YEAR FOR SCANDINAVIAN DESIGN. ONE OF EUROPE’S LEADING SHOWCASES FOR FURNITURE AND LIGHTING, IT SEES HUNDREDS OF DESIGNERS, ARCHITECTS, AND BUYERS FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD MEETING AT OVER 200 EVENTS IN THE SWEDISH CAPITAL. COLLABORATIONS, SUSTAINABILITY, AND CRAFTSMANSHIP WERE THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND MOST INSTALLATIONS IN THE CITY. HERE ARE SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS YEAR'S EDITION.
By Azamit
The Fenix Palace
Exhibition by Ariake X and My Residence
An exhibition set in a former entertainment palace in central Stockholm, "The Fenix Palace" is the second collaboration between My Residence and Japanese producer Ariake. Designed by Hjalmar Westerlund in 1912, the venue housed a selection of restaurants, a bowling alley, a dance hall, and a theatre until 1940. The palace played a vital role in showcasing the selected Japanese furniture as well as the crafts of small producers and local artisans.
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Design
The Baker’s House
By Färg & Blanche
The Nationalmuseum
Duo Emma Marga Blanche and Fredrik Färg decided to showcase a 'personal exhibition' in Emma's great-greatgrandfather's townhouse from 1800. Inspired by Blanche family's history of the Knäckebröd (Crispbread) factory they once had, the designers dug deep into family photos, stories, and memories to create new and modern furniture designs and collections of objects.
Stockholm's 19th-century Nationalmuseum recently reopened after a five-year renovation. As part of its initiative to promote Nordic design, called NM& – En Ny Samling/A New Collection, the institution commissioned five Swedish designers to work with 21 local manufacturers to furnish the new spaces. The interior is now filled with a bespoke contemporary collection of furniture, light fittings, tableware, and other decorative objects created by contemporary Nordic designers.
© FÄRG & BLANCHE
© ALEX LESAGE — THREEFOLD
Spatial Sensibilities
Exhibition by Frama and Andreas Martin-Löf Arkitekter
Copenhagen-based design studio Frama highlighted its collection at the newly renovated house of Andreas Martin-Löf Arkitekte. Walking inside a modernist building overlooking the scenic Riddarfjarden waterway in Kungsholmstorg was an idyllic escape during the Stockholm design week. The interior was a carefully curated exposition of Frama’s latest pieces as well as some of its permanent collection. It provides a peaceful merging of architecture and design and a collaborative ideology for a poetic modern living space.
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© ALEX LESAGE — THREEFOLD
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Ligne Roset
A FAMILY STORY
IN 1860, A YOUNG 19-YEAR-OLD OPENS A SMALL FACTORY THAT MAKES CANES FOR UMBRELLAS. THE BUSINESS THEN SPECIALIZES IN MAKING CHAIR LEGS AND RUNGS BEFORE MAKING ENTIRE CHAIRS.
By Stéphane Le Duc Almost 160 years later, the family-owned business, active in over 60 countries, still creates exceptionally well-designed contemporary furniture in France. After working with the company for a long time in New York, Antoine Roset comes back to his homeland to act as the marketing director of the company, keeping the tradition of excellence and creativity alive for a fifth generation. Why do you describe Ligne Roset as a non-conformist business? Because we are lucky enough to be a 100% family-owned business, still to this day. The company is 160 years old, and we have always been doing what we love, not that we were expected to love what we do. That’s what allows us to have this open-mindedness when it comes
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to design. Let’s not forget that design comes from an existing product, which we then make better in terms of looks and quality. That is the true definition of design, and people tend to forget it nowadays. Few brands can pride themselves on being family-owned for so long. I guess our craziness is kind of endearing. I’m sure you’ve had some nice surprises along the way. The best example is the Togo, created in the ‘70s by Michel Ducaroy and my grandfather Jean Roset. We were right in the middle of an economic boom. In France, as elsewhere in the world, it was, ‘Say no to war!’ and ‘Peace & Love’, yet we still appreciated the Louis XIV and the Louis XV designs that our grandmothers loved so much.
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Design
Then comes Michel Ducaroy, a brilliant designer, who looked at his curved aluminum toothpaste tube and thought, ‘We should make a sofa like that’. When the Togo was presented at the Foire de Paris, our distributors came up to us, telling my grandfather, “Even though we like you, you are completely crazy! This is never going to work. Where are the legs? Where is the structure?” You have to understand that back then, the whole world was used to wooden structures with legs. We came in with a light, comfortable, and transportable sofa made out of foam. Two years passed before they started to sell. We could have put a stop to the project, which would have proved them right. The sofa became our best-seller, as well as the best-selling contemporary sofa in the world for any brand. It is now an icon in the world of design. How does the connection or relationship develop with a designer? There are two approaches for us. [First], it is in our DNA to work with young people, especially with fresh-out-of-school designers who are at the start of their career, since we believe they have a spontaneous approach to design and creation. We appreciate the freshness of their creativity. We work with close to ten new designers every year, whether it be for a single contract or a five-year period.
“WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN
There are [also] great encounters, such as Pascal Morgues, whom my father met about twenty years ago. They ended up building an outstanding professional relationship. His very artistic approach to design was absolutely perfect for the brand. He was more than a designer. He was a friend of the family. We could go grab a bite and talk about design. There is a human aspect, which we tend to forget nowadays. However, for us, the relational aspect is extremely important.
DOING WHAT WE LOVE, NOT THAT WE WERE EXPECTED TO LOVE WHAT WE DO.” The great designer Pierre Paulin has also been very important to you? We had the chance to meet Pierre a few years before he passed away. We were wondering if working with him would go against our work philosophy, since we usually work with younger people. However, he was so interesting and intriguing when it comes to design that it just came naturally. We had the opportunity to work on the Pumpkin Sofa, an order from Mrs. Pompidou for the Elysée Palace, which was a tremendous success. You seem very happy to carry on the family tradition? I did my studies at the Institut Supérieur du Marketing du Luxe, and after a short stay at IWC, I started working at the New York office at the age of 26. It’s interesting to work with your family. If we don’t talk about design, it means that something is missing or off- that's how I grew up. I remember having breakfast at my grandfather’s place on a Sunday morning, and the conversation would come naturally. We enjoy our work, so we’re always talking about design.
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ART
In the Mind of a
MILLENNIAL ARTIST ALEXIS VAILLANCOURT AT 27 YEARS OLD JUST RECENTLY COMPLETED HIS FIRST SOLO EXHIBITION, L’ENFANT DES ÉTOILES, WITH A VIDEO OF HIM WHERE HE LITERALLY PAINTED UPSIDE DOWN, HANGING FROM THE CEILING. THE PERFORMANCE RECEIVED A LOT OF ATTENTION AND CURIOSITY, FILLING UP THE OPENING NIGHT AT THE WIP GALLERY IN MONTREAL. By KW What is your exhibition all about? What’s your creative process like and what medium do you use? This series was created from montages of photos collected on the internet that I then reproduce in painting. It includes large format,
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mostly using acrylic, and some of them have a touch of aerosol. It’s an interpretation of our internet consumption and a reflection of the saturation of online information. I like working with eclectic images, and I try to create inter-
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esting contrasts and links between them. It is often a mixture of themes – textures related to urban pop culture mixed with elements of nature. It touches on the relationship between technology and the superficiality of our urban life, expressing a certain detachment from reality.
WIP GALLERY, EXPOSITION "L'ENFANT DES ÉTOILES," MARCH 2019, © ZACHARY BLEAU
The square formats are a reference to the image formats of Instagram. All this is unpretentious; my work is very intuitive, even naïve. I’m not trying to give any lesson out of my art. I actually like to keep it abstract and leave room for interpretation. The exhibition also had three stainless steel sculptures made of metal that I recuperated from the decor of an old store. There are a lot of chains in your painting and in your sculptures – what do you like about them? I started painting chains just because I liked the shape and the pattern. It is certainly a strong symbol that can be linked to oppression and confinement of many kinds. My chains are never closed. It’s more just fragments. The symbol of the chain is therefore relevant, reflecting the dependency and attachment to the internet and new technologies. How long have you been drawing? I started drawing as soon as I could hold a pencil. I do not remember when; I was too small, and I never stopped. Are you a full-time artist? I used to work from 9 to 5 and then going in for late hours at my studio. It was really demanding. It’s been a year [now] that I focus 100% on my art, and I think it proves fruitful. I’m really grateful for my years at Atelier Gris; they have an amazing team, and it’s where I have learned how to weld. What is art bringing to the community? Why is it important? I think it’s a great tool to release tension. Things tend to get too serious in life, and people think there is only one way for things [to] work. Art and creation make it possible to find other avenues and open minds. It’s also interesting that the work of a young artist is not generally motivated by the desire of making money, which leaves more room for exploration. I also find that life can be very abstract. We still don’t know the reason for our presence on Earth, and many things remain mysterious. I always keep this thought in mind. I do not always feel the need to explain every element of my works – like life itself, it can remain unexplained. How concerned are you with the environment, and does it impact your way of working? I often think about it, but I have to admit that I have trouble doing concrete things. It is not always easy to get out of the lifestyle of consumption, since everything works like this around us. When I make ephemeral installations, I try my best to recycle materials for other projects. I’m planning to get better at this. You are the son of one of Quebec’s most prolific artists – what motivates you the most about Armand Vaillancourt’s work? As an artist, I think that Armand is an incredible model to have. I am privileged to be so close to him; his energy and determination make me feel good. It is not always easy to be in financial instability and to have no assurance of long-term success. Many people who do not understand this environment may tend to discourage you to pursue an artistic career.
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ART Having someone like my dad around me helps a lot to be courageous and not to be defeated when things are not doing so well. At 89, Armand works and creates even more than many people much younger than him! I would like to have this same desire for life. You were raised in a beautiful house, full of creativity – would you share one of your favourite memories with us? I have thousands of beautiful memories in this house – old, recent, and others to come! Without mentioning one in particular, I think one of the most fantastic things about this place is that I’ve always been able to build everything that went through my head. This house is full of objects of all kinds collected from the street or collected over the years by my father. Using these objects and materials and turning them into something else really helps me to develop my creativity and ability to solve problems on my own. In your opinion, is it easier or more difficult to have a career as an artist nowadays versus in the ‘60s and ‘70s? It’s hard to say since I was not there! I think every era has its singularity. It is true that art is becoming more democratic and has evolved over time. The art forms are different, and many taboos have been broken. I believe there is more latitude in the theme and style you can use, so more freedom.
© ZACHARY BLEAU
“IDO NOT ALWAYS FEEL THE NEED
TO EXPLAIN EVERY ELEMENT OF MY WORKS – LIKE LIFE ITSELF, IT CAN REMAIN UNEXPLAINED.”
But at the same time, art democratization can make experimental genres more difficult to support and encourage artists to produce work that are more mainstream for financial reasons, and this could harm the creativity and innovation. Things are changing a lot with technology and fashion. I think artists of every era face different challenges and constraints. Just with digital art, we can question the relevance of old art forms such as painting on canvas and sculpture of materials such as wood, stone, and metal. I think they are still relevant. Well, at least I hope so (laughs). Have you already done a project with your dad, Armand Vaillancourt? We’ve often drawn together, obviously, and we participated in some live painting together, but we each did our own works. We are two very independent people, but we encourage each other a lot in our respective projects. I try to make my way as much as possible and create my own opportunities and contacts myself. I do not just want to be “the son of [Armand].” There is nothing sure yet, and I cannot give too much info, but we have possibly a common project that is coming! When you finish a piece, who is the first person to whom you present your work? I share a workshop with six incredible artists/friends from different fields! They see the process from beginning to end. It helps not to be isolated and to have the advice and comments of other people.
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Which city inspires you? I love Montreal! It’s a big/small city in constant evolution. It gives me the impression that I can really have an impact on what is happening. I also love to travel – Barcelona and Sao Paulo are cities that inspired me a lot with their architecture and street art. Gaudi in Barcelona and Oscar Niemeyer in Sao Paulo are two architects who really fascinate me. Of course, New York and Paris have an important cultural and historical background. I love going there and visiting the museums and galleries, but I’m not sure I would love to live there. What is your next project? I have many coming up! I’m going to make a sculptural terrace in front of the gallery WIP that will be there during the Mural festival. I have some projects for the Osheaga and Soniq festivals. I already have new paintings in progress and ideas of new works that evolve in my head. What are the books, movies, or artists that impress you? The Jungle Book, The Lion King, and Dua Lipa! There are a lot of artists that inspire me. Especially with Instagram, I realize there are so many talented artists in this world. I like the fashion designer Richard Quinn: he creates interesting floral patterns and colour mixes. Kanye West seems to reinvent himself perpetually. I think it’s fascinating when megastars keep on exposing themselves and take risks by trying new directions. Frank Stella – I knew of his work, but I discovered some of his sculpture work at the Montreal Museum of Fine Art and was really impressed and excited about his work.
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© MYRIAM MÉNARD
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TRAVEL
Curated
SMALL RETREATS
WHEN IN NEED OF A SIMPLE GETAWAY AND A QUIET WAY OF LIFE, LOOK NO FURTHER THAN THESE THREE ENCHANTING HIDEAWAYS THAT EMBRACE AND HIGHLIGHT NATURAL SURROUNDINGS, IMMERSING YOU IN A TRANSFORMATIVE SENSORY EXPERIENCE. By Azamit Ranging from 5-15 room establishments, these smallscale retreats provide a lifestyle of understated luxury. Whether restored, preserved, or newly constructed, behind each project is a passionate owner who is eager to share their love for the region and an architect who makes the concept a reality. The retreats all have gorgeous landscapes that combine rustic atmospheres with natural materials, neutral colour palettes, and minimalistic modern aesthetics that blend seamlessly into the natural sur-
roundings. Honouring tradition, details respect local materials and artisanal crafts while shedding light on the history and quintessential characteristics of the regions. Common areas and guest rooms are meticulously curated by engaging the past with the present. A dreamland and paradise for nature-conscious and design-savvy travellers, every space is uniquely created, allowing one to feel as if they are in a private home while maintaining the comfort and services of a hotel.
MASSERIA MOROSETA @ SALVA LOPEZ
MASSERIA MOROSETA Located amid olive trees in the heart of the Italian region of Puglia, 10 minutes away from Ostuni (La cittĂ Bianca), this all-white farmhouse is a long-time dream of owner Carlo Lanzini. Designed by Andrew Trotter, founder of Openhouse Magazine, the masseria is pure bliss and a perfect mix of both a traditional atmosphere and modern design minimalism. Don't miss out on the delightful locally sourced farm-to-table food by young chef Giorgia Goggi and the famous Moroseta dinners. masseriamoroseta.com
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DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
TRAVEL
CASA OLIVI Just beyond the medieval town of Treia in Italy, in the gorgeous Marche region, Casa Olivi is a 300-year-old dreamy farmhouse with breathtaking views where old meets new. Protected by the Cultural and Historic Heritage of Italy, the stone building and interiors were transformed by Swiss architects Markus Wespi and Jérôme de Meuron to combine the best of Italy, from tradition to modernity. casaolivi.com
CASA OLIVI, © WILSON SANTINELLI
LA GRANJA, COURTESY OF DESIGN HOTELS
LA GRANJA IBIZA Set on acres of well-tended farmland, the 16th-century farmhouse is nestled right in the middle of Ibiza Island. A joint project of Design Hotels and Friends of a Farmer, the centuries-old house was transformed into a hotel by Dreimeta Design Studio of Augsburg, Germany and led by Armin Fischer. The once-private residence was converted while preserving and highlighting the structure’s weather-worn imperfections, imbuing the space with an aching elegance. lagranjaibiza.com
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
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Gastronomy
Chef Extraordinaire
MARCUS SAMUELSSON
THE HOT NEW STAY IN MONTREAL COMES WITH AN EQUALLY EXCITING NEW RESTAURANT. THE FOUR SEASONS HOTEL IS WELCOMING WORLD-RENOWNED CHEF MARCUS SAMUELSSON, AND WE HAD THE PLEASURE OF SPEAKING WITH HIM BEFORE THE BIG OPENING.
By Marie-Ève Venne
Beautiful hotels have the ability to teleport you away from it all. Your escape from reality begins the moment you are greeted and continues upon entering the suite with a perfectly made king-size bed, a divine tub, and a spectacular city view. Every detail is intricately curated to offer you the most enjoyable experience imaginable. The Four Seasons Hotels are a shining example of this pursuit of excellence. For more than 50 years, the Canadian-based company has transformed the global hospi-
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tality industry by combining caring service with the very best in international hotel keeping. In the process, Four Seasons has redefined hospitality for the modern traveller. As a part of their expansion, they are set to open a brand-new location in Montreal. To add to the excitement of this new venture, they are bringing along internationally renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson as the head of a new-concept restaurant and bar that will bear both his name and his unique culinary perspective as he marks his debut in Canada.
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
Gastronomy Born in Ethiopia but raised in a small town in Sweden, Samuelsson says he has his family to thank for his love of food. “Growing up, my sisters, Anna and Linda, and I spent summers in Smögen, on the west coast of Sweden. Every morning, I went fishing with my dad, Lennart, and my uncles. We caught crayfish, lobsters, and mackerel and often smoked and preserved the catch. My grandmother, Helga, would gather us in the kitchen to teach us how to pickle fresh vegetables and make meatballs, gingersnaps, cookies, and apple jam.” These experiences taught him to love and appreciate fresh and local food. After studying at the Culinary Institute in Gothenburg, Sweden, he decided to do an apprenticeship in Switzerland to expand his culinary knowledge, before going to France as an apprentice at some of the world’s best restaurants. After moving to New York in 1994 for an apprenticeship with Aquavit, he realized he would have to find some way to work his way up. Armed with patience and passion, he eventually became the executive chef at only 23 years old. “I was nervous; I didn’t want to be the one to take a famous restaurant like Aquavit down. All my buddies in Sweden would know about that, but I also knew that if I worked really hard, I could do it. We just kept cooking and hiring cooks. Eventually, our tribe of misfits became our strongest weapon, and we developed this crew, and one day we got three stars from The New York Times. I couldn’t believe it! It was such an honour, especially since I was the youngest chef ever to win three stars from The New York Times.”
“Japanese cuisine has also influenced me a lot as a chef. My first restaurant, Riingo, served Japaneseinfluenced American food. They have an extremely refined technique that I admire a lot. You can actually see a huge Japanese influence in Montreal, too, which is one of the many things I love about this city.” He also tells us about being inspired by the community of where his restaurant is. “I challenge myself and my team to do the homework first - see how we can add value to the community that we work in. Then we say, ‘How can we add to that?’, ‘Who was here before us?’, ‘Who do we owe this place to?’, ‘What can we add?’, ‘Who are the fishermen?’, ‘Who are the writers/artists that inspired this place?’” Referring to this love of Montreal, he can’t help but express his excitement and enthusiasm regarding the food that will be served at MARCUS. “Local, seasonal ingredients will be prioritized on the menu. There will be a focus on sustainable seafood as well as a big raw bar - lots of vegetables from the market, vegetarian options, while also making sure the menu is delicious, of course, and local… Over half of the menu will be focused on sustainable seafood, and it will feature a lot of vegetarian options in an effort to create a space that is really green-forward, and then we’ll also feature a robust grill menu featuring prime meats, duck, and poultry for those that want to celebrate.”
MARCUS at The Fours Seasons is set to open at the beginning of June 2019.
It was in 2009, though, after he had the honour of planning and executing the Obama administration’s first state dinner celebrating Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, that his career finally shaped itself into the success that it is to this day. He then started opening restaurants in the US, Sweden, England, and Bermuda: Red Rooster Shoreditch (London), Marcus B&P (Newark), Marcus’ Bermuda (inside the Hamilton Princess Hotel in Hamilton, Bermuda), Streetbird Express (at the world-famous Madison Square Garden), and Eatery Social Taqueria (Malmö, Sweden). Speaking of his influences as a person and as a chef, he quickly refers to his multiple travels. “One of the main things that has influenced me a lot is all of the places I’ve lived and travelled to. I am from Ethiopia, but I grew up in Sweden, lived in Switzerland, Austria, Japan, France, and New York and travelled to many other places. This travelling has influenced me tremendously to grow as a person [and] as a chef too.”
Over the conversation, you can’t help but feel his love for Montreal and all it’s richness as a foodie metropolis. “I have family here. My cousins grew up in St-Bruno, so I visited them quite a bit growing up, and I really fell in love with the city. It’s important for me to mention this because Montreal is a place I already have a relationship with, and it started when I was very young. The food aspect here is also very similar to Sweden, when you think of specific techniques like pickling, preserving, or smoking. Montreal has such a rich cultural, [with an] artistic and culinary scene. These aspects are all very attractive to me. I’m looking forward to building my roots in Montreal [and] to learn and grow from the community, and to be a part of the food journey here.” Vintage Yoji Yamamoto Jacket YVES SAINT LAURENT.
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
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LIFESTYLE
DINING OUT
WONDERING WHICH NEW BAR OR RESTAURANT IS WORTHY OF YOUR PRECIOUS TIME? STOP LOOKING. THE FOLLOWING PLACES ARE THE ONES THAT THE CROWDS ARE FLOCKING TO AT THE MOMENT AND WHERE YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY STOP BY, WITHOUT THINKING TWICE.
By Marie-Ève Venne
The new venture of Barroco Group (Foiegwa & Atwater Cocktail Club) fully embraces the tiki revival while staying true to its neighbourhood bar essence. The menu offers cocktails from expert mixologist Christophe Beaudoin Vallières with the help of Jérémie Bourgeois and Kate Boushel. The most talked about (and most posted on Instagram) drink on their list is the Marine Dream (sherry, aquavit, Pimm's, prosecco, herbs, celery bitters, and raspberry), served in a giant shiny flamingo. The early '80s Miami decor is complete with a cosmo-inspired staircase, the green glass dome covered in plants, and pink accents. Milky Way is way more than just a buzzworthy name on your list.
MONTREAL
Milky Way – 1886 rue Centre #2
The new go-to in the city for great wines and snacks belongs to the same people behind Canis, one of Canada’s Top 100 restaurants. They offer a selection of small snacks and sharing dishes like Canadian oysters with house-made hot sauce, cured meat, beef tartare, braised ribs, a fried fish sandwich, and more. The major focus here is the wine, including many small-lot finds from places like Austria, Australia, and South Africa. The interior is all about clean minimalist design, offering plenty of communal seating if you’ve got the whole crew with you. Après, as its name suggests, is the place you go at the end of the night, for that one last glass of wine that you totally deserve.
TORONTO
Après Wine Bar – 1166 Queen St. W.
Vancouver’s St. Lawrence has been a customer favourite, thanks to their unapologetic take on classic French-Canadian cuisine, serving very typical but upscale Quebecois meals. The portion sizes are more than copious, and even the veggies are on the hearty side, like the ratatouille served with cheddar custard. The cocktails are heavy on booze and their spirits list is full of cognac, making you wonder if you are still in a city well known for its light Asian cuisine and green juices. It's generous and a little bit decadent, but you should leave your guilt at the door to fully enjoy the delicious experience.
VANCOUVER
St. Lawrence - 269 Powell Street
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CARS
BORN TO DRIVE
EVEN BEFORE HE COULD WALK, ANTONIO GIOVINAZZI LIKED TO GO FAST. IF YOU WERE TO ASK HIM AS YOUNG CHILD WHAT HE WANTED TO BE WHEN HE GREW UP, HE COULD TELL YOU WITHOUT HESITATION. HE WAS OBSESSED WITH DRIVING, AND THERE IS PHOTO EVIDENCE TO PROVE IT.
By Braydon Holmyard
On September 25, 2018, Giovinazzi posted a photo on social media. He was no more than three years old, dressed head to toe in Ferrari red with his hands gripping the steering wheel of a miniature race car. Below the picture was a caption he had written in the Italian language. “When, as a child, I was asked what I wanted to be when I was a big, the answer was always the same: a Formula 1 pilot. Today, my dream came true.” On that day last year, Giovinazzi became the first Italian driver the Formula 1 circuit had seen since 2011. He signed a contract to race for Alfa Romeo, an iconic Italian luxury car manufacturer who returned to the F1 as their own team this season. It was a perfect fit. “It’s a long way to get to where we are now and a lot of sacrifice and a lot of work,” Giovinazzi said in a phone interview days before the Chinese Grand Prix held in Shanghai. “Now finally, I’m here, and it’s a dream come true.” The 25-year-old’s ascent to the top racing circuit in the world has been efficient. Like many F1 drivers, he began competing on the grid by kart racing as a teenager in 2006, where he would spend six years making a name for himself. From there, Giovinazzi moved quickly.
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His single seater career began with a year of racing in China, then he moved to the Formula 3 European Championships before reaching the GP2 Series, a program built to prepare and nurture the world’s most talented young drivers as they make their way to Formula 1. And he didn’t have to wait there long. After an impressive debut season that saw Giovinazzi fall just short of becoming the first rookie champion in the GP2 Series since 2012, Ferrari came calling. The famous Italian F1 brand wanted him to be their test driver. The opportunity was much more than a foot in the door. “It was really good. The two years driving with Ferrari was a pleasure for me because I was part of one of the best teams of F1,” Giovinazzi said. “But, for a driver, the best thing is to be on the grid, and, finally, I’m here with Alfa Romeo Racing, and it’s fantastic.” Italy has always been rabid for racing. The Italian Grand Prix is held in Monza, a city close to Milan in the northern part of the country. It was introduced as a venue in 1921 and is one of the longest running events on the F1 calendar. The country has been home to 98 Italian F1 drivers but
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
CARS ANTONIO GIOVINAZZI WEARING CARRERA SUNGLASSES AT THE 2019 BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX FOR ALFA ROMEO RACING, © SAFILO GROUP
has seen a recent drought in competitors. Prior to Giovinazzi’s surprise appearance as a substitute in 2017, Italians weren’t represented in a race for five straight seasons. The gap in Italian pilots made building a fanbase — and a brand — quite easy for Giovinazzi upon his arrival. The Italian stallion is the face of Carrera Sunglasses, a renowned company that has been around since 1956 and is based in Padova, Italy. The country was hungry for a star, and they were more than ready to embrace him. “I’m just really proud of the support, and [there is more] race by race,” he said. The Chinese Grand Prix is just the third race of the season. “I’m really happy with the support from Italy, and I can’t wait to be in Monza to be with all of them.” But the homeland isn’t the only place where Giovinazzi will hear his name called from racing fans donning the green, white, and red. In Montreal, home to the Canadian Grand Prix held in June, lives a massive Italian community. The idea of fans from across the world chanting his name is motivation for Giovinazzi. “Unfortunately, I’ve been just one time to Montreal, in 2017, and I know there’s a lot of Italian people
there,” he said. “Of course, I was the third driver then, so I can’t wait to see the support from the Italians, and also the Canadian people, this time.” The gruelling Formula 1 season features 21 races. They come every two weeks, each one in a different country, with a different time zone. The car is demanding on its driver. Whipping around a grid at speeds of 350 kilometres per hour is no picnic. The competition is fierce, with the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes dominating the standings. The challenges for a young driver are endless. But Giovinazzi doesn’t see it that way. He looks at his rookie season as a learning opportunity. A chance to improve each week. To continue what he’s done since he sat in that red race car when he was just a child. The same method applies: Dream of where you want to go, work hard to make it happen, and watch it come true. And when the season is over? Well, life sounds a whole lot simpler. “After a long season with all the flights and everything, I will be sitting on my sofa eating some good Italian food, of course,” Giovinazzi said. “Then I’ll sit back and take a rest.”
Vintage Yoji Yamamoto Jacket YVES SAINT LAURENT.
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
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Style
Dior Homme ($700) SUNGLASSES AVAILABLE AT SSENSE
Celine
CLASSIC BIKER JACKET
Zara
($6610)
STRIPED T-SHIRT
Dries Van Noten
($35.90)
BY FREDERIC MALLE EAU DE PARFUM ($415) AVAILABLE AT HOLT RENFREW
Refined Rebel
CHANNEL INFAMOUS RULE-BREAKERS OF THE PAST WITH TODAY’S MOST MODERNIZED STYLES. CLASSIC BIKER JACKETS ARE A STAPLE OVER DARK INDIGO SLIM-FIT DENIM, PAIRED WITH A CONTEMPORARY SLEEK BOOT AND OTHER UNIQUE ACCESSORIES FOR A KILLER LOOK.
Edited by Mark John Tripp
Saint Laurent
DEEP VINTAGE BLUE “SL24” SLEEVELESS DENIM JACKET
($1,452)
Malin & Goetz
TOBACCO CANDLE ($71) AVAILABLE AT JACOB & SEBASTIAN
John Varvatos
Vitaly
($148)
($55)
SKULL & PAISLEY BANDANA
DASH RING
DTK MEN | VISIONARY & DESIGN
A.P.C.
PETIT STANDARD WAXED DENIM
($375)
Tom Ford
PYTHON WILDE ANKLE BOOTS
($4,660)
“One of the exhibitions of the year.” — Vogue Spain
A MONTREAL WORLD PREMIERE
A presentation of
In collaboration with
Official media partner
An exhibition initiated, produced and circulated by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, in collaboration with the Clarins Group and the Maison Mugler. The Museum extends its thanks to Quebec’s Ministère de la Culture et des Communications, the Conseil des arts de Montréal and the Canada Council for the Arts for their ongoing support. | Patrice Stable, Emma Sjöberg (detail), 1992. Les Cow-boys collection, Thierry Mugler prêt-à-porter spring/summer 1992. © Patrice Stable
