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G
/18
DEPARTMENTS 10
Letter from the Editor 12
GQHQ
FEATURES 64
Legend Singer, songwriter and actor John Legend is at the top of his game 70
Why SZA is more in Ctrl than ever 74
Go Away! You’ve had a tough year. It’s time to kick back in style at our handpicked holiday hotspots 80
Report The great Chinese art heist BY BA RTHOLOMEW COOKE
ESSENTIALS 17
Women we love Rapper Nadia Nakai 20
Man of the moment Reason 22
Tobacco-inspired scents 24
Human parasites How social media zombifies you Jacket, pants, shirt, waistcoat, shoes and accessories Mr.Slimfit
6 / NOVEMBER 2018
26
Essential spring style
GQ.CO.ZA
P H OTO G R A P H BY PAU L S A M U E L S
Smoky finish
GQ11/18 STYLE 86
Best Dressed Men of the Year 100
Wrist assured
ESSENTIALS
2018’s Best Watches – and the trends to copy
30
Modern Marble Recipes from chef David Higgs’s first cookbook. Plus, easy-drinking whites
106
Screen time
Destination
Sunscreens, summer scents and how to keep things cool down there
Jo’burg’s most delightful hotel
110
34
Directory 36
The people’s designer
WEALTH
Jeremy Scott’s collab with H&M
57
Advice 38
8 Books you
don’t have to read And what to read instead 41
Sound stroke
How the world’s biggest names in business got there 60
Business Class Why playing games can improve your career
The hearO speaker 61 46
How to follow up after a first date Resist the urge to sext
The case for curiosity We sit down with Justin Meade of Louis XIII Cognac
112
The best and worst film sequels
T H E C OV E R Eric Ray Davidson
DRIVE 48
Great drive The all-new Cayenne 52
The best supercar of our time
8 / NOVEMBER 2018
Styling by David Thomas. Groomer Dylan Chavles. Suit, shirt, bow tie, pocket square, shoes all by Boss. All prices quoted in this issue are approximate and subject to change.
G E N T L E M E N ’ S Q U A R T E R LY
EDITOR
Nkosiyati Khumalo
GET
Rust y Beukes FASHION DIRECTOR Leanne Botha AR T DIRECTOR Bernd Fischer CONTEN T EDITOR
45%
Mira Leibowitz FASHION EDITOR Lauren Manuel MANAGING EDITOR Ruby Parker COP Y EDITOR Lauren Williams SY NDICAT ION MANAGER Luke Ruiters JUNIOR FASHION EDITOR Keenan Jeppe JUNIOR DESIGNER CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Dieter Losskarn (MOTORING)
CONTRIBUTORS Matt Simon, David Higgs, Amy Campbell, Tim Ashton, Sophia Benoit, Jason Barlow, Douglas Kruger, Jonathan Heaf, Nataniel Goldberg, Alex W Palmer, Michael Christensen, Adam Hurly,
PHOTOGRAPHERS AND ILLUSTRATORS
READ ON THE MOVE
Paul Samuels, Karl Rogers, Austin Malema, Gabriel Alcala, Elsa Young, Cécile Dormeau, Eric Ray Davidson, Elizabeth Wirija, Paul Popper, Béatrice Lécuyer, Bartholomew Cooke
ACTING ADVERTISING SALES & BRAND DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Abigail Jacobs (CT) DEPUT Y SALES DIRECTOR Nokwanda Mhlambo (JHB)
ADVERTISING ACCOUNT MANAGERS Lorraine Bradley (JHB), Jacqui Erasmus (JHB), Wendy Robinson (JHB), Stacey Calitz (CT), Nadia Pereira (CT) ADVERTISING LIAISON Jamie Pillay (CT) ADVERTISING MANAGER Natasha O ’ Connor SALES REPRESENTATIVE ITALY Angelo Careddu (OBERON MEDIA)
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ISSNs: 1562-4366
INSIDE GQ L E T T E R F R O M T H E E D I TO R
Contributors
The real thing
I N T H E L AT E ’ 90 S ,
after they saw the huge commercial success that Jive was gaining with a young woman by the name of Britney Spears leading its roster, most record labels sought to create their own superstar who blended elements of R&B with bubblegum pop sounds. Everyone wanted a pop star who could sing well (although that part was negotiable) and deliver a sexy girlnext-door vibe.
10 / NOVEMBER 2018
hat set the stage for popsuperstardom for the likes of Christina Aguilera, Anastasia, Pink, and even a rat of semireligious singers trying to capitalise on the same sound (remember Stacie Orrico?) And so the majority of their debut albums sounded more or less the same – synthheavy pop anthems, big piano ballads, and a whole lot of sitars. Ater a few years and way too many Pepsi commericals that featured the same sound, however, the whole thing started to feel a bit tired. hankfully, so did those artists. While a few are still trying to ind exactly what their sweet spot is (sorry, Christina), Pink managed to break free from that irst cast and fully embraced her rock/neo-punk/ neo-country sound from her second album (aptly named Missundaztood) – and is all the better for it. She’s grown into an amazing performer and songwriter, without sacriicing any of the power behind her voice or presentation. Of course, the guys were no diferent. Try to name an artist who didn’t have Little John screaming ‘what’ or ‘okay’ somewhere on the track and you’ll likely come up short. Sisqó was asking to see thongs; Nelly basically turned himself into a singing thermostat; Usher didn’t even seem to own shirts. hank goodness John Legend emerged like the light in a dark tunnel – just a man, a piano and the perfection that is ‘Ordinary People’. He had all
PAU L SA M U E L S PHOTOGRAPHER
the magic of ’90s R&B and delivered his own brand of sex appeal, while truly keeping it real – even the video for his debut single featured ordinary people experiencing ordinary relationship problems. What we can learn from the stories of both Pink and Chrissy Teigen’s husband is the power of authenticity. John Legend hasn’t had to change his sound or his brand at all – because he’s always been the slightly nerdy, incredibly endearing fantastic songwriter and performer, and embracing that throughout his career is part of what’s enabled him to have such staying power today. And when you know who you are, you can easily ind new ways of adapting that into new collaborations, businesses or projects. here’s a reason why we ind those Google Phone adverts with Mr and Mrs Legend so wickedly funny – because both stars are playing themselves. And because those connections speak to us on a personal level, it’s no wonder John has been made the new voice of Google Assistant – or why he’s now achieved the elusive EGOT. It’s the same for everyone you’ll meet in this issue, be it musicians such as SZA, Nadia Nakai, and Reason; chef David Higgs, or even 2018’s Best Dressed Men of the Year – they’re all perfect examples of the power of authenticity. Because marching to your own beat is ininitely more powerful – and a whole lot more fun.
Page 86 Paul Samuels was born in Jo’burg in 1989. After high school, he completed a BA in Fine Arts at Wits. Samuels works mostly with portraiture, as he believes it best expresses individual and societal interests. His images explore identity and belonging within subcultures. He looks at the ways in which people present themselves, and how his photographs can tell the stories of young people in Africa today.
K A R L RO G E RS PHOTOGRAPHER Karl Rogers is super skilled when he shoots solo but throw him a crisis and the GQ team to work with, and that’s when you’ll really see the magic happen. You’ll see them at their best when they’ve lost all backdrops in a storm, yet they manage to make a plan, or when they create smoke without a smoke machine and the effect is extraordinary. That’s what makes a good team and a great photograph.
NKOSIYATI KHUMALO EDITOR
GQ.CO.ZA
L.U.C LUNAR ONE The 43 mm-diameter L.U.C Lunar One is a perpetual calendar model with a big date and an orbital moonphase. This 355-part self-winding L.U.C 96.13-L movement is powered by a micro-rotor. Proudly developed, produced and assembled in our Manufacture, it showcases the full range of watchmaking skills cultivated within the Maison Chopard.
GQ HQ Take a tour through a century of South African art at Sanlam’s Centennial exhibition. From Kentridge’s eerily abandoned Stadium to the #RhodesMustFall reference behind Mudariki’s The Model, curator Stefan Hundt has compiled a unique showcase of the nation’s history and transformation. The exhibition can be viewed from 5 September to 14 December at the Sanlam Art Lounge in Sandton, Johannesburg. Guided tours available by appointment.
The hit list What's on our radar this month
• Local hip-hop star Tellaman’s new album God Decides is dropping this month. Featuring collaborations with the likes of Shekhinah and Nasty C, as well as Nigerian artist Tay Iwar, it’s his most personal to date.
The travel essential Lufthansa is taking in-flight travel kits to new heights with its first-class offering. A practical organiser, the Windsor bag’s classic design means you’ll definitely want to re-use it in your everyday life. Sustainable and fashionable? Yes please. lufthansa.com
THE
BEAUTY t IN A MARRIAGE between Italian luxury clothing house Fendi and German premium luggage manufacturer Rimowa, comes a limited-edition suitcase that travel dreams are made of. he collaboration sees the iconic aluminium bag lightly inscribed with the ‘FF’ logo, handles and tags made of
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W O R D S B Y R U B Y PA R K E R . PA I N T I N G ‘ WA R R I O R O N A H O R S E ’ B Y L E O N A R D M AT S O S O . P H OTO G R A P H B Y D AV I D K O L O A N E . * N O T F O R S A L E T O P E R S O N S U N D E R T H E A G E O F 1 8 . D R I N K R E S P O N S I B LY.
The exhibition
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Herstory in the
making
We caught up with rapper Nad dia Nak kai to talk about her highly anticipated first album and being a woman in hip-hop GQ.CO.ZA
NOVEMBER 2018 / 17
• ‘I DON’T REMEMBER EVER SAYING that I wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer,’ Nadia Nakai says. And in music she deinitely belongs. Nakai has grown into a force to be reckoned with, both as a an individual and an artist. She credits all that she is to her mother, who was a strong support system and great inluence growing up. ‘I was raised to be an independent and Godfearing woman with strong values.’ But is hip-hop a good place to be, considering how its infamous for degrading women? Nakai says this question resonates deeply with her, because hip-hop has always been a misogynistic culture. ‘It’s good that I’m in the industry so that I can represent women instead of men telling us what they think women are all about, what we want and what we aspire to.’ his is why Castle Lite has become a huge success in the entertainment realm, pioneering projects that elevate women. From adding an extensive female line-up in Castle Lite Unlocks concert with Chance the Rapper earlier this year, to Castle Lite Herstory in August,
which united emcees from all over the globe, including Nakai. She explains that it was more than just a concert about performing – they got to share their journeys and learn about those of other legendary female rappers like Roxanne Shante. ‘hat shit was real inspiring.’ he artist fervently trusts her journey and believes nothing but hard work can lead to anyone’s success, no matter the industry. And thus far, she’s managed to build a recognisable brand without releasing a debut album. She works her butt of – her words, not ours. ‘Some people think I have an advantage, because I’m signed to Family Tree with someone like Cassper on my side, but he doesn’t give me songs or tell me to rap like this or that. It’s all pure hard work.’ he hard work is showing: her hit single ‘Naaa Meaan’ hit a million views, marking a irst for the artist. Asked to describe how this made her feel, she says, ‘I actually didn’t quite understand what was going on, because I’ve never reached a million views. hat’s a shitload
of people and I’m so appreciative, because the people that are supporting me literally saw me grow.’ At the time of our interview, Nakai said she was still trying to decide which song from her highly anticipated album will make it as her next single, and a few days later ‘Yass Bitch’ made waves on Twitter. She emphasises the pressure she is receiving from fans and the media, but wants to make sure that the album is released the right way and at the right time. ‘You obviously know that Cass scrapped my previous album, so I’m not trying to go to him with a second album so that he can say “scratch it again”. hat’s not happening. It is very emotional when someone says your album is not going to be released, try again.’ She still refuses to let me in on any collaborations on the album, but does provide a list of dream ones, which include Kwesta, Okmalumkoolkat, Beyoncé, Nicki, Kanye West, Lil Pump and the legends, Eve and Missy Elliott. he future looks bright for Nakai, as she clinched a clothing collection
with Sportscene’s Redbat fashion line. ‘I’m very excited for it, because I’ve always been a fashion person. For the longest time, I’ve been someone that custom makes my performance outits, because I always wanted to be groundbreaking and on-trend.’ She highlights her delight in working with a big brand like Redbat. ‘he team behind Redbat is so cool; so innovative, and creative. We travelled together to Madagascar and London to see the trends and what we should put in the line. ‘What I love about the collaboration is that I’m not just a face, I was involved in the production. I sat with them, we cut out fabric and took diferent textures, styles and put it together. I was very hands-on and I think they really respected that. It’s the biggest partnership I’ve had so far.’ Can we then expect her to tap into other industries in the future? But the artist blatantly states we won’t be seeing any of that. ‘Like what? Acting, presenting? Nah fam.’ – SIMAMKELE MATUNTUTA
For more on your favourite models and celebrities visit 18 / NOVEMBER 2018 GQ.CO.ZA
. PHOTOGRAPHS BY LASHSHOTS
‘IIt’’s good tha at I’m m in the indu ustry y so tha at I can reprres sen nt women in nste ead of me en te elling us wh hat th hey think wom men n are all about, whatt we want and what we as spire to’
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Reason The musician known for living a life in high definition shares the secrets to his longevity, why he’s wary of social media, and the power of being authentic
GQ: You’ve never been afraid to challenge trends – and haven’t been afraid of being seen as ‘failing to keep up’. Do you think musicians today, particularly in hip-hop, are focusing more on the competition than the artistry? Reason: Today’s era is based on
feeling in; there is a certain level of jewellery one needs to have, car one has to drive and clothes one has to wear to be considered a superstar. Even your videos has to look a certain way, in order for you to it in. And unfortunately – or fortunately – for me I don’t come from that era, I come from an era that is purely based on you wanting to enhance the best sides of you as an individual. here was a time where you could tell the diference between HHP, ProKid and ProVerb. Nowadays when you switch on the radio, you honestly don’t even know who you are listening to sometimes, you don’t even know who the artist is, everybody just sounds the same. You go on the internet and everybody just looks the same. For more on your favourite artists visit 20 / NOVEMBER 2018
GQ.CO.ZA
GQ: When you dropped ‘Wu Tang’, you tweeted about wanting it to trend naturally, as opposed to the social media promotional methods used today. How do yo approach social media and the need to be ‘seen’? Reason: I think this question
actually speaks to my career as a whole. here was once an era in American baseball where some of the players started taking steroids that made them stronger, faster and bigger and allowed those guys to get accolades and endorsement deals. And there were other guys who never used them, who always played with their natural strength. At the end of the day, you can choose to be the guy who takes steroids or the one who always ights with natural strength, and I have always kind of fought with my natural strength. I have come to respect that, when it comes to social media and the internet, it’s just the nature of the business – I think it’s like buying advertising space, paying for Nando’s, paying for people or robots for views. Whatever type of steroid out there, it’s always part of the business. My point is that I have always had the option of taking steroids or juicing up my work and I have always chosen not to, because I really believe in my natural ability.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY AUSTIN MALEMA
GQ: There’s a lot of honesty in your songs, whether you’re discussing relationships, your upbringing, whatever. Are they all first-person stories? Reason: Everything I write is
in irst person. he people that taught me how to write songs were Tumi, ProKid, Mawethu and so on. hey showed me how important songs are, about being honest and speaking about your experiences. When I wrote ‘No Sleep’, I was writing a song to inspire myself, to put down on paper what the motivation and the reason is for us to keep hustling. Five years later, I’m bumping into people who talk about how that song is the reason why they passed school, why they got over a friend who passed away. Being honest has always been a git of mine, and I always apply it because it’s the most authentic way to connect with people. GQ: How do you manage to remain authentic?
Reason: I think what people can
expect is a conceptual South African hip-hop album. he idea was to set a tone for South Africa or the world that I’m in a space right now where my outlook is as a member of a community – when I speak about love, I speak as a member of a community. Beyond that, you can expect great music. he producers on this album really gave me great music that helped enhance this vision. he album speaks about South Africans’ reality; not just Reason’s reality, but a South African reality from Reason’s point of view – this with the help of Swizz Beatz, Sibongile Khumalo, Mo-T, he Muinz, PH, Mick Jenkins. hat’s what this album is about: it’s about trying to tell an authentic South-African story and those are the chapters of the book that speak about ‘Azania’.
Being honest has always been a gift of mine, and I always apply it, because it’s the most authentic way to connect with people Reason: I studied advertising
and the thing about it is that in the creative world there’s nothing as respected as authenticity. If you bite something from someone it becomes a big deal. I hate lack of authenticity, I hate fakers, biters, copycats. Maybe that’s why I remain authentic, because I can’t for the life of me be okay with copying things and not coming up with original content. GQ: You’re also known and respected as a lyricist. How long does it take you to finish a song, from writing to a finished and mastered recording? Reason: here’s no real process –
every song is diferent, it needs its own ways of building itself. he most important part is picking the right beat then writing a song and that’s where you can choose to be easy, diicult, complicated. All the things that I do in a song, the punch lines, where I stop, where I repeat things – this is all driven by the energy of a beat, the melody of the beat, the drums of the beat, because that’s what happens when
people are listening to the song. he music comes on irst and then they react. GQ: What does making a SouthAfrican album mean for you? Reason: Personally I think I have
evolved when it comes to making a South African hip-hop album, because I have never made one before. I think my whole career I have tried to make a great Reason album. I think I have always put myself irst. I only now care about it being a South-African album, care about people overseas who are going to hear it and think this is SA hip-hop and the people here who can hear it and say the same. In terms of the country and music in general, South Africa itself has evolved, and that kind of forces the music to grow and change. We went from communities with people taking taxis to communities with people driving expensive cars. GQ: You dropped ‘Azania’ earlier this year. Tell us about what else we can expect from your forthcoming album.
GQ: How do you think our selfimage as South Africans and Africans needs to change, if at all? Reason: I think we don’t embrace
ourselves enough, looking at our idols who are in irst-world countries while we are here in Africa. We don’t embrace that enough, we always embrace it as a look, but when it comes to going out there, we don’t embrace it enough. We always wear our African gear one day a year on Heritage Day, but why don’t we do that every day? We lost ourselves because we were told that there’s something bigger and better. Maybe that’s because we were once a country that was colonised, sufered a strain of apartheid, so we don’t celebrate our image enough. GQ: Your collaboration with Swizz Beatz is historic. Tell us how that came about? Reason: I have always been a Swizz
Beatz fan. When I started making music the Ruf Ryders were the biggest artists at the time, and Swizz Beatz was behind a lot of the biggest hits that got me to really want to be a rapper. When he was coming to the country, I put a message out on Twitter in a freestyle and then out to Bugatti who were the ones bringing him down, and then took it as far as sending the message to Black Cofee. Luckily for me, he sent it to Swizz and put in a good word for me and made it possible. -NKOSIYATI KHUMALO
• F O R M O S T, T O B AC C O H A S A B A D R E P U TAT I O N and we get that. But just because heating it and then inhaling it has been proven to be bad for you, the plant shouldn’t be written off entirely. Masters of perfumery have utilised its rich, warm and sweetish qualities across countless of olfactory profiles and intensities. So, think less the stench of an ashtray, and more along the lines of cigars and whiskey after sex – especially if you’re opting for anything created by Tom Ford.
Dolce & Gabbana The One for Men Grey EDT Intense 50ml R1 095
Armani Privé Bleu Lazuli 100ml R3 942
Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille 50ml R2 950
Smoky finish Get the best of tobacco with these inspired scents that’ll have you addicted to smelling great without picking up any bad habits 22 / NOVEMBER 2018
Burberry London for Men 100ml R1 290
Gucci by Gucci Pour Homme 90ml R1 345
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WORDS BY BERND FISCHER. PHOTOGRAPH BY KARL ROGERS
Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb Extreme 50ml R1 566
How social media zombifies you
of breaking out of its prison. But the roach doesn’t. As the luids run dry, the larva burrows into the body to eat the organs one by one, hollowing out the roach’s abdomen while the thing is still alive (read: undead). Eventually it emerges as an adult wasp, inally killing its host. According to researchers, the wasp’s secret appears to be – wait for it – dopamine. he wasp loads up its venom with the neurotransmitter, and that cocktail alters the roach’s behavior in ways scientists are only beginning to understand. Whatever their strategy, zombifying parasites are hacking biology. And so, with their A/Btested, keep-you-permascrolling tactics, are the titans of social media. Like any living creature, we are manipulable – our brains are chemical soups, programmed to need and be needed. Prehistorically, it’s what helped us stick together to not get eaten. ‘It was clearly adaptive to be so sensitive to social stimuli,’ says UCLA psychologist Patricia Greenield. ‘But evolution never expected that we would be getting social stimuli from people we don’t even know.’ We’re not only vulnerable, in other words. We also lack defenses. here’s a good reason that more than half the organisms on earth are parasites: if you live of the nutrients and energy of someone else, you don’t have to run around and hunt for yourself. It’s a hell of an efective strategy. And one thing is clear: you don’t want to be the hunted. But there might be hope. Not every parasitic relationship ends in death. Take it from crickets. All around the world, threadlike critters called horsehair worms grow in the bellies of crickets, feeding on their juices. Once the worms get big enough, they persuade their hosts to do the unthinkable: leap into a stream or pond and risk drowning (or death by ish). In the water the worm makes its move, drilling through the cricket’s belly and swimming away to ind fellow worms to mate with. Amazingly, the cricket can survive a parasite many times its length squirming out of its body, provided it swims to shore aterward. Scientists know the horsehair worms are releasing a chemical concoction that instructs the crickets to go full kamikaze. But in this case, the cricket does well by putting its life in danger – if it can’t get rid of the worm, the body snatcher will die in its belly and kill its host. Biologists call this the maia hypothesis: give in to the bullying or die. So we don’t have to be the cockroach or the amphipod. We can be the cricket, with the power to purge our systems of zombifying parasites. When you uninstall Facebook on your phone or delete your Instagram account, you’re taking a leap into that pond. You might belly lop, but it’s unlikely you’ll drown. And you won’t get eaten by a ish. Probably. - MATT SIMON
If you live off the energy of someone else, you don’t have to hunt for yourself 24 / NOVEMBER 2018
GQ.CO.ZA
I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y G A B R I E L A L C A L A
Human parasites
• YOU’VE HEARD THAT SOCIAL MEDIA is screwing with your brain. Maybe you even read about it on social media. he neurochemical culprit, dopamine, spikes when you like and get liked, share and are shared. You’ve probably also heard scientists compare the aliction to drug or alcohol addiction. hat’s fair. he same part of the brain lights up. Scroll, scroll, scroll. It’s a phenomenon now so pervasive that it’s got a name: zombie scrolling syndrome. We are the undead of lore, shambling through the world, moaning and groaning with half-closed eyes. I’d like to be able to tell you this is a fantastical bit of exaggeration, that we shouldn’t be so hard on ourselves. I can do no such thing. he analogy, it turns out, has legs. Consider parasites. An astonishing number of them exist in nature, from worms to wasps, and some have the power of mind control. Or, said another way, zombiication. And these iends are doing it in – gulp – ways that bring to mind social media. Take the jewel wasp. She grabs a cockroach twice her size and drives her stinger through the poor thing’s neck and into its head, feeling around the brain before injecting nonlethal venom in two precise spots. Post-surgery, the cockroach just keeps grooming itself while the wasp drags it into a burrow by its antenna. he wasp then lays an egg on the cockroach’s leg, seals the tomb, and goes about her life. In a few days, the wasp egg hatches into a larva that latches onto the roach and drinks its bodily luids. Again, the bug doesn’t complain. It’s not paralysed; it’s fully capable
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We catch up with Aussie actor Chris Pang, who recently starred in the blockbuster Crazy Rich Asians
Essential spring style
26 / NOVEMBER 2018
GQ.CO.ZA
Jacket by Diesel Knit by Calibre Trousers by Van Heusen Belt by H&M
Sweater by Calvin Klein Jeans Pants by Topman
Jacket by Kenzo at Incu Racersuit by G-Star RAW
Backpack by Diesel Shoes by Adidas
• ‘ WE HAVEN’ T HAD AN ALLASIAN CAST COME OUT OF A HOLLY WOOD STUDIO IN 25 YEARS. Not since The Joy Luck Club in 1993.’ The film is Crazy Rich Asians, the adaptation of Kevin Kwan’s best-selling 2013 novel that follows the lives of an obscenely wealthy Singaporean family. ‘It’s an important film in that respect. It represents the Asian experience, but it’s not a drama. It packages something
meaningful into a format that’s fun.’ He’s not wrong. Being the first US film in a quarter century with an all-Asian cast makes it important, but it’s also genuinely hilarious. Pang plays Colin Khoo, an everyday guy trapped in a crazy rich man’s world. ‘Colin doesn’t get wrapped up in that high-roller life,’ he explains. ‘He doesn’t wear clothes that are loud or fancy.’ It’s a description that could apply to Pang’s own sense of style. ‘I like things you can get longevity out of, like a good
leather jacket,’ he says. ‘I like to get my leather jackets tailored, because I wear them to ride my motorbike.’ Pang is all about function, citing ‘a practical pair of shoes, that look good with jeans, but can also be styled with slacks’ as the item every man should own. Though there’s one key exception to his rule: no Crocs. ‘Never,’ exclaims Pang. ‘That’s the opposite of fashion in my books.’ Luckily, GQ’s stylist agreed. - AMY CAMPBELL
Coat by Topman Jacket, shirt, and trousers, all by Ben Sherman
‘Every Asian actor in the world auditioned for this film,’ says Melbournenative Chris Pang
Click through for the latest menswear trends 28 / NOVEMBER 2018
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P H OTO G R A P H S B Y T I M A S H TO N . S T Y L I N G B Y J A M E S DY K E M . G R O O M E R M A D I S O N V O L O S H I N AT V I V I E N ’ S C R E AT I V E
Turtleneck by Uniqlo
In his first cookbook Mile 8 , awardwinning chef and restaurateur David Higgs shares recipes from his culinary journey
Modern Marble *For additional recipes visit GQ.CO.ZA
← Ribeye, Beef Heart Tomato, Porcini and Peppers
P H OTO G R A P H S BY E L SA YO U N G
Mile 8 (R550) is available from leading book retailers nationwide
• EVERY THING AT MARBLE is either started on the ire or inished there – even the ingredients for the sauces and salsas. Some foods go to shit using this ierce element so we have had to tweak our tried and trusted recipes. It’s no walk in the park but it’s worth the efort. Fire gives food incredible lavour and adds another dimension to the cooking process. In the restaurant industry, you can become narrowminded about what a restaurant should be and how it should be run. Meeting Gary Kyriacou, now my business partner, was a refreshing experience. He is an entrepreneur who thinks outside the box. Many people fantasise about
opening a restaurant; few have a plan. Gary, however, didn’t only have a plan, he had the name, the concept, even the grill. He delivered the whole package. I don’t think he realised that cooking on ire was becoming a massive international trend. What he didn’t have, however, was a venue. A space on Keyes Avenue in the heart of Rosebank had been ofered to me six years earlier. I knew who to call. Gary had the concept. I had the place. It all came together. It’s diicult to pinpoint the typical cuisine of South Africa. But we all love meat and we enjoy cooking on ire. To celebrate both in the beautiful environment of Marble, with this prehistoric form
of cooking, is quite special and truly South African. In this context, it’s a standalone concept. I don’t think we it into a speciic category but I do hope we give our guests more than just a good meal. We try to deliver an unforgettable experience. People work hard for their money. When they go out they expect more than just a delicious plate of food. hey want to be entertained. From the irst greeting, the theatre of the grill, the plating, the smells and tastes, to the last good-bye. People don’t necessarily want to eat haute cuisine every time they go out. hey also want to eat food they recognise and feel comfortable with. I hope that this is what Marble delivers.
HOT SPOT:
SAINT
MARBLE The meat and tomato combination is always an absolute winner. Together with a crispy salad and the full flavour of porcini mushrooms, it makes for a memorable meal. FUNDAMENTALS › Basting sauce › Sherry dressing › Beef jus* RIBEYE › 1.8kg ribeye, off the bone › Basting sauce* › Maldon sea salt flakes TOMATO › 4 large beef heart tomatoes (about 400g) › Olive oil › Maldon sea salt flakes PORCINI MUSHROOMS › 8 large porcini mushrooms (about 400g) › Olive oil ROCKET › 24 rocket leaves › Ice water PEPPERS › 8 green peppers › 30g olive oil
› Zest of 2 limes › Maldon sea salt flakes
› 40g Parmesan cheese, shaved › 120ml sherry dressing* (15ml per serving) › 120ml beef jus* (15ml per serving) › Freshly ground black pepper › 8 sprigs fresh parsley, washed in ice water and dried on paper towels
1 » Trim the ribeye of excess sinew and cut into eight 200g portions. Brush the steaks with basting sauce and season with sea salt flakes. Place on the grill over hot coals to colour. Move the meat over medium coals and cook slowly to the desired temperature. Remove the steaks from the heat and rest for 10–20 minutes in a warm place. Flash back over the coals as the meat is needed and finish with more sea salt flakes. 2 » Top and tail the tomatoes and cut in half on the round side. Dress the tomatoes in olive oil and sea salt flakes. Place in a wood-fired oven until just soft and slightly blistered. Alternatively, roast in a 180°C oven until the same result
is achieved. Keep warm, but not for too long, as their texture deteriorates quickly.
3 » Peel the stems of the porcini mushrooms. Remove the gills. Slice the mushrooms into 3 and score the inside flesh. Brush with olive oil and grill, and then set aside.
4 » Wash and refresh the rocket in ice water, and reserve for serving. 5 » Brush the green peppers with olive oil and grill whole until the flesh is soft and blistered. Slice in half and remove the seeds and stem. Finish by mixing with lime zest and sea salt flakes to serve. Keep hot. 6 » To assemble, cut each ribeye steak into 5 slices and pair on a plate with a roasted tomato half. Separately, on each plate, make a salad with 3 leaves rocket, 40g porcini mushrooms, 7g peppers (kept hot), and 5g Parmesan shavings. Dress each plate with 15ml sherry dressing and 15ml beef jus, and garnish with a sprig of parsley and some freshly ground black pepper. Serves 8 main course portions.
Continuing the come-for-the-vibe, stay-for-thefood ethos as Marble, Saint’s the new jewel in the Higs-Kyriacou crown, with a much more low-key setting – but with the same behind-thescenes mastery (and gorgeous interior). ‘Our pizza and pastas are light (we’ve taken the cream out of the pastas),’ says Higs. ‘They’re Italian, but lighter and easier to eat.’ saint.restaurant
NOVEMBER 2018 / 31
Fram Dry White R150
Whalehaven Conservation Coast Chardonnay 2014 R360
Delheim Wild Ferment Chenin Blanc 2017 R125
NEED EXTRA HELP? Sign up for Wine Cellar Insiders, an online service that takes out the guess work. The panel tastes over 5 000 wines annually and will select six and deliver them to you monthly. winecellar.co.za
Don’t fear the clear Because it isn’t a great summer without a proper wine down 32 / NOVEMBER 2018
GQ.CO.ZA
PHOTOGRAPH BY KARL ROGERS
Beau Constantia Pas de Nom 2018 R110
• FOUR WORDS OFTEN STRIKE TERROR IN MY HEART: ‘You choose the wine.’ It’s like having playlist or aux cable responsibilities during a road trip – the pressure is on. What if you get the mood wrong? What if a song you love kills the vibe? Similarly, what if the wine doesn’t quite go with the meal? Can you even remember what a gooseberry tastes like enough make a decision conidently? In the season when the lines between weekends and weekdays start to blur, a) you should never show up empty handed, but b) you don’t want to show up with a bottle of some R29 wine, either. Our recommendation? White wine is the easy drinking crowd pleaser, and the Western Cape is full of farms that create wonderfully complex whites. Keep a few of these on a regular rotation and you can’t go wrong.
W O R D S B Y N K O S I YAT I K H U M A L O
Silwervis Smiley Chenin Blanc R165
61OK E&OE
Where we’re drinking:
Muse Champagne Room Good things are (literally) popping off from an estate founded in 1811. Perrier-Jouët’s Belle Epoque 2007 blends the freshness and elegance of Chardonnay and the complexity of Pinot Noir, and finishes it off with a hint of Pinor Meunier. Six years of ageing allows the character of the vintage to shine through. (Learning how to pronounce those grape varietals correctly will allow your character to shine through, and will do much more to impress than your skills with a sabre.) And the best place in SA to enjoy it? The Muse Champagne Room at Fairlawns Boutique Hotel & Spa. Created in collaboration with Perrier-Jouët, it’s a mix of elegant and contemporary touches, complete with an adjoining courtyard perfect for sundowners. Fairlawns.co.za
W O R D S B Y N K O S I YAT I K H U M A L O
POOR CHAMPAGNE. What other drink goes through as much abuse? Poured over athletes’ heads; hacked into pieces by that guy who thinks he can sabre the bottle open (but really can’t); and saved only for special occasions or decadent brunches. What did it do to us to deserve this, apart from being delicious, festive, there when we needed it? You see, around here we’re of the opinion that any moment that passes without Donald Trump starting World War III is a moment to celebrate. And while we don’t recommend drinking a bottle of champagne by yourself, if you’re going to choose anywhere to imbibe, the venue must suit the bubbly. One of our favourites harks
If you’re going to choose anywhere to imbibe, the venue must suit the bubbly
34 / NOVEMBER 2018
GQ.CO.ZA
The peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s designer Fashion Director Rusty Beukes speaks exclusively with Jeremy Scott, creative director of Moschino, about the labelâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s upcoming collaboration with H&M and designing for the Instagram age 36 / NOVEMBER 2018
GQ.CO.ZA
GQ: What was your first thought when you were approached to do the H&M Designer Collaboration this year? Jeremy Scott: I freaked out! I was so excited to hear that Moschino would be collaborating with H&M, it was the best news. I’m he People’s Designer, and I love the idea of more of my fans wearing my clothes and my designs. he wonderful thing about this collaboration is the ability to take my voice and to translate it to H&M’s price point, and to have it be accessible to so many more people around the world without having to dial down the designs. It’s a really wonderful rare treat and it makes me so happy. GQ: You’re best known for your comical and outrageous designs, so much so they’ve become a signature. Where does the inspiration for this come from? JS: It’s just the stuf that’s in my brain, the things that I love and that have always been my life. For me, fashion is about joy and pleasure and expressing who you really are. I always want to elevate what I wear because I’m a freak and I love to have fashion-show
moments every day. I want what I’m wearing to say everything about who I am, and I want people to know it. GQ: How does technology, social media and a digital mind-set play a part in what you do, and has your approach to social media affected the Moschino brand? JS: It’s so weird but in a way I think I’ve always been designing for Instagram, even before the internet existed. My work has always been colourful and bold, it’s immediate and got that pop energy, which is everything that works on a screen that’s smaller than the palm of my hand. I’ve always been that way and it’s like social media has caught up with me. GQ: Who is the Moschino [tv] H&M man? What does he do? Where does he go? What is the one thing he can’t live without? JS: I love the Moschino [tv] H&M men’s collection so much because it means that I get to be selish and think about what I want. here are pieces in the men’s collection like the baggy denims that I’m like, I’m going to need ten pairs of them because I’m going to wear them to death.
Q&A WITH
ANN-SOFIE JOHANSSON H&M’S CREATIVE ADVISOR
GQ: Why Moschino and Jeremy Scott? Ann-Sofie Johansson: They’ve been on our radar for some time, and there’s something about Moschino that feels so right for now. We love to give our customers something completely different with each collaboration, and after the beauty of Erdem, we now need this boldness, fun and also glamour. GQ: What’s your favourite piece in the collection and why? AJ: I have so many favourite pieces, and I love how Jeremy cared so much
about the men’s collection, too. There are some major statement pieces, like the padded coat that’s covered all over with sequins. I also love the Disney streetwear pieces and the MTV hoodies, and the men’s accessories are so much fun, from the oversized backpack to the beanie hat that’s shaped like an oversize glove. GQ: What makes the H&M and Moschino partnership work? AJ: I always love to discover what we share with the designers we collaborate with. Just like Jeremy, we believe that fashion should be available for everyone. We also believe that fashion should be for pleasure, and about personal expression. It’s been such a pleasure getting to know Jeremy, and we’re so excited for Moschino [tv] H&M.
8 Books you don’t have to read And 8 you should read instead (technically 9 books – Adventures of Huckleberry Finn did not fare well)
P H O T O G R A P H S B Y R YA N S E G E D I
WE’VE BEEN TOLD ALL OUR LIVES that we can only call ourselves wellread once we’ve read the Great Books. We tried. We got halfway through Ininite Jest and halfway through the SparkNotes on Finnegans Wake. But a few pages into Bleak House, we realised that not all the Great Books have aged well. Some are racist and some are sexist, but most are just really, really boring. So we – and a group of un-boring writers – give you permission to strike these books from the canon. Here’s what you should read instead.
2 The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger INSTEAD: OLIVIA: A NOVEL BY DOROTHY STRACHEY
OLD 1 THE MAN AND THE SEA by Ernest Hemingway INSTEAD: THE SUMMER BOOK BY TOVE JANSSON • My father loved he Old Man and the Sea, so I tried to love it. It let me unmoved. Mostly, I kept hoping the ish would get away without too much damage. (When my grandpa pushed me to catch a trout at a ish farm, I threw the rod into the pond.) I’d rather read Tove Jansson’s he Summer Book. his series of vignettes about a grandmother and granddaughter living on a remote Finnish island is not just heartwarming: in its views of both Nature and human nature, it teaches us what it is to be in sync with the world. All of Jansson’s adult iction is deeply humane and beautiful. – JEFF VANDERMEER, ANNIHILATION
I have never been able to fathom why The Catcher in the Rye is such a canonical novel. I read it because everyone else in school was reading it but thought it was totally silly. Now, looking back, I find that it is without any literary merit whatsoever. Why waste adolescents’ time? Alternatively, I’d sugest Olivia, the story of a British teenage girl who is sent to a boarding school in France. It is short and written in a kind of levelheaded and deceptively straightforward style. Olivia eventually falls in love with her teacher Mademoiselle Julie T, who in turn, and without reciprocating that love out loud, is equally in love with Olivia. Julie never takes a wrong step, but there are signs for those who know how to read them. I read Olivia many, many times, bought it for many of my friends, and consider it the inspiration for Call Me by Your Name. — André Aciman, Call Me by Your Name
BLOOD MERIDIAN by Cormac McCarthy INSTEAD: THE SISTERS BROTHERS BY PATRICK DEWIT T
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ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN BY MARK TWAIN
INSTEAD: NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS, AN AMERICAN SLAVE BY FREDERICK DOUGLASS • he worst crime committed by Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is that it makes irst-time Twain readers think Twain wrote tedious, meandering stories. He did, as is evidenced by this, his book of tedious, meandering stories – but he also wrote a lot of richly entertaining meandering stories that are not constrained by the ham-isted narration of a ictional backcountry child or sufused with his sweaty imitation of a slave talking. Alternatively, read Frederick Douglass’s irsthand account of slavery, which is equal parts shocking and heartbreaking. It’s also an invigorating revenge story: Douglass identiies slave owners by name and hometown, detailing their crimes with such speciicity that their descendants will be embarrassed forever. While Jim, the afable slave friend of Huck Finn, exclaims things like ‘Lawsy, I’s mighty glad…’ Frederick Douglass makes observations like ‘I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land.’ You were saying, Mr Twain? – CAITY WEAVER
INSTEAD: THE ADVENTURES AND MISADVENTURES OF MAQROLL BY ALVARO MUTIS Mark Twain was a racist. He was a man of his time, so let’s leave him there. We don’t need him. If you want adventure, or misadventure, read The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll, by Alvaro Mutis. It’s one of my favorite books: sad, poetic, philosophical, and funny, with some of the best writing I’ve read. – Tommy Orange, There There
• I’m a great admirer of Cormac McCarthy’s sparer masterpieces, but I’m ambivalent about Blood Meridian, the historical epic oten cited as his greatest work. Set in the Old West and written in an impenetrable style that combines Faulkner and the King James Bible, Blood Meridian is a big, forbidding book that earns the reader bragging rights but provides scant pleasure. If you’re looking for a more human-scaled, emotionally engaging novel set in the same time period, I’d recommend he Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt. It’s a dark, funny, brutal Western about a pair of hired killers, at least one of whom has a conscience. It covers some of the same ground as Blood Meridian and has a lot more fun along the way. – Tom Perrotta, Mrs. Fletcher
4 NOVEMBER 2018 / 39
6
7 Slaughter house -Five by Kurt Vonnegut
LIFE by Keith Richards
5 FREEDOM by Jonathan Franzen INSTEAD: TOO LOUD A SOLITUDE BY BOHUMIL HRABAL • Freedom is intolerably boring. The risks of frustration and asphyxiation while reading in bed are equally high with this huge, much vaunted American über-tome. But freedom is at the heart of this tiny Czech novel, Too Loud a Solitude. In around a hundred pages, it tells the story of Hanta, who has found wisdom in his job, compressing paper and books in a totalitarian state. The jokes are funny, and the stories lead us to ever richer revelations. The book is over almost before it has begun. – Richard Flanagan, The Narrow Road to the Deep North
INSTEAD: VERONICA BY MARY GAITSKILL
INSTEAD: THE WORST JOURNEY IN THE WORLD BY APSLEY CHERRY-GARRARD • I’ve nodded along – or maybe plain lied in agreement – when people extol Keith Richards’s memoir, Life. And I understand what’s to like: the life Life aims to represent has been an incredible one, and Richards afects a revelatory intimacy that, as you might wish, is both amiable and caustic. But his pettiness, and his cockiness and conceit about the wrong things, can be jarring at times; it’s a book that somehow makes me sympathise with Mick Jagger. And for all its great moments, the narrative sometimes seems a little lazy and fraudulent – as I read, I feel too aware of the eforts the ghostwriter has made in collecting ‘the greatest tales of Keith Richards’ and refreshing them at the source. If those stories are new to you, you’ll be well entertained, but I wonder at its status as a modern-day masterpiece. Instead, you might try he Worst Journey in the World, a book in which the author spends no time at all trying to convince the reader of his own greatness. Quite the opposite. In 1910, a 24-year-old Cherry-Garrard joined a British expedition to the South Pole. As the title of his book hints, it didn’t go well. heir leader, Captain Scott, was beaten to the Pole by a Norwegian explorer, and those who reached the pole died on their return. And that’s just a part of this story. For instance, Cherry-Garrard’s account of a month-long trek with two companions to collect some emperor penguin eggs is an unforgettable depiction of endurance and sufering in unimaginable conditions. hat such a book, nearly a hundred years old, would be a pleasure to read today might seem improbable. But the way Cherry-Garrard writes, without grandiose lourishes but with a stoic and dogged commitment to describe and explain his experiences, is gripping from its very irst line: ‘Polar exploration is at once the cleanest and most isolated way of having a bad time which has been devised.’ – CHRIS HEATH
GRAVIT Y’S RAINBOW by Thomas Pynchon INSTEAD: INHERENT VICE BY THOMAS PYNCHON
When men on dating apps list a book, they invariably list Slaughterhouse-Five. I’d rather not get a drink with a person who’s taking his cues from Vonnegut: the few women in Slaughterhouse-Five die early, are porn stars, or are ‘bitchy libbertigibbets’. Instead, read Gaitskill’s Veronica, in which emotions are so present and sensory they almost hold a physical weight. Gaitskill understands how you can sense a loved one’s mood radiating from the next room as clearly as rain out the window. his empathy drives her characters closer to cruelty than to kindness. – Nadja Spiegelman
• When young homas Pynchon was writing Gravity’s Rainbow, he was ixated on the Big hings (punishingly boring and confusing things) of a Big World War II Novel that would announce him as a Big American Writer in 1973. Fortunately for us, nearly four decades later he brought us his recollections of everything else that was swirling around him back then. he world Pynchon conjures in Inherent Vice (published in 2009) is the world he himself was living in while writing Gravity’s Rainbow, when he was shacked up in a small apartment in the real-life Gordita Beach. Inherent Vice is where you should start if you want to dine on a small plate of Pynchon’s stuf instead of a potluck platter. – DANIEL RILEY
GQ.CO.ZA 40 / NOVEMBER 2018
W O R D S B Y N K O S I YAT I K H U M A L O . P H O T O G R A P H B Y K A R L R O G E R S
Sound stroke How one speaker company gives new life to used gear
GQ.CO.ZA
• DID YOU KNOW THAT ROUGHLY 48 000 TENNIS BALLS ARE USED DURING THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN? To say nothing of the 300 million balls produced globally every year, or the 2.5 million square metres of material it takes to make them. Ater all the hoopla of a tournament dies down, though, where do they go? It seems sad that most tennis balls get relegated to a second life as bumpers for Zimmer frames or car-stops suspended from the ceilings of suburban family garages. Leave it to a South African to give these pieces of athletic history new tasks. Richard Moss teamed up with Wilson to put a 2018 spin on his hearO speaker. Packing a Bluetooth speaker into a tennis ball’s durable shell, the hearO sports a Fibonacci spiral patterned speaker grille for optimal sound projection. he 2018 Wilson collection features balls from this year’s Australian Open – the very tournament in which Roger Federer won his 20th Grand Slam – and 15 per cent of each sale gets donated to RecycleBalls, a non-proit which converts millions of tennis balls into sustainable products. Sounds like a win-win. R2 900 Hearospeaker.com
NOVEMBER 2018 / 41
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How to follow up after a good first date Resist the urge to sext
46 / NOVEMBER 2018
• A GOOD FIRST DATE IS A LOT LIKE TEQUILA: it makes you do stupid shit. It makes you want to throw any personal boundaries or social norms you intend to follow right out the window and send desperate texts at 4am. But you don’t have to fall into the trap of the post-good-date high. Instead, you can practice the subtle art of the follow-up text. When it comes to contacting someone ater a irst date, most people get hung up on when you can reach out. Don’t. he ‘when’ of the follow-up text is the least important part. As long as you don’t text your date seven weeks later, you’re probably doing ine. I once had a guy text me six months ater no contact with ‘Hey stranger, how are you doing?’ He only got one thing right: By that point, we were, in fact, strangers. You can wait too long, but you really can’t text too soon. Arbitrarily waiting to text someone because you don’t want to seem thirsty is weird; text when you have something to say. Guys only really mess up the follow-up text when they text too much, rather than too soon. As for what to text, unless there are some extenuating or scary circumstances that happened while you were on the date together, on a irst date you should steer clear of asking someone to text you when they get home safely. While some women will certainly ind this sweet, it can come across as kind of parental, which is the antithesis of horny. Additionally, do not ever text someone you just went on a irst date with ‘good night’.
While I’m positive there are people who ind this endearing, there are far more who will ind it weird and relationship-y, and it’s way too early to be relationship-y. Since you are neither a teenager nor Drake, you don’t need to be sending good night or – God forbid – good morning texts to someone you’ve gone on fewer than 20 dates with. A ‘good night’ tells someone that you have nothing else to say but are horny, or that you’re waking up and falling asleep thinking about them, both of which are red lags at this stage. A friend of mine got a text from a guy the very night of their irst date that said ‘goodnight [kissy face emoji]’ and she never talked to him again. It seems desperate, which is not the vibe you’re going for. Text when you have something interesting to say (and no, complaining about your workday is not interesting). Someday, you’ll get far enough along in a relationship to text boring shit, but for now your texts must be spicy. hat also means that a perfunctory ‘We should do this again sometime’ will not cut it. Nor will compliments – a compliment ater a irst date feels like a review. You’re trying to present your best self, and let me tell you, your best self is more creative than that. Instead, send texts full of New Fun Plans. Even if you initiated the irst date, don’t be afraid to do so again. Aim for at least three days between dates. You get bonus points if these New Fun Plans are something that you guys talked about on the date, but don’t get too tied up in planning. You aren’t on he Bachelor; most women would be thrilled just to have a guy suggest a restaurant and a day of the week to meet there. So throw out a casual ‘What are you up to on hursday? Do you want to go to Spur with me?’ and see what happens. Always tell her what you’re suggesting before you ask if she’s free on a speciic night. Don’t just ask if she’s free on Friday with no further information. She might be ‘free’ on Friday for drinks but not ‘free’ to go to your niece’s friend’s piano recital. Lastly, whatever you do, and no matter how horny you are, do not text anything sexual. One date is not permission to sext, even if you hooked up on said date. I had a guy I hooked up with text me while I was still driving home from his place. ‘Was my dick big enough?’ the text read. Which is a text no one should send under any circumstances, let alone if you’re trying to date someone. To the surprise of no one, he and I never saw each other again. - SOPHIA BENOIT
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I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y C É C I L E D O R M E A U
Since you are neither a teenager nor Drake, you don’t need to be sending good night texts to someone you’ve gone on fewer than 20 dates with
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Killer genes Âť The third-generation Porsche Cayenne comes even closer to the iconic 911 than its predecessors. Dieter Losskarn took the new S on a road trip through his homeland
48 / NOVEMBER 2018
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• WHEN YOU LOVE CARS, YOU WANT TO WAKE UP to the sound and smell of the most exciting ones, and there’s no better place to do so than the V8 Hotel in Stuttgart. Not only does the new addition share the lobby with a McLaren dealership, it also features more motor-themed bedrooms – definitely the best place to start a Porsche road trip through Germany. After a lekker breakfast in the new airy restaurant, I take a stroll through the adjacent Stuttgart Motorworld, where I spot one of the first Cayennes with its rather bulky appearance. »
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I remember the outcry in the fan community, when the irst Porsche SUV was introduced in 2002. Sports-car lovers feared the end of the company was near, but the opposite happened: they sold over 770 000 units. Strictly speaking, the new Cayenne waiting for me in the basement of the V8 Hotel is not entirely ‘Made in Germany’ anymore. Bodywork with driving mechanisms are produced in Bratislava, Slovakia, then delivered to Leipzig for inal assembly. But StuttgartZufenhausen is still where Porsche’s heart beats and that is where I inally start my road trip with the new, thirdgeneration Cayenne S. Currently there are three models available, all petrol. A powerful hybrid, the Turbo S E-hybrid will soon top the range with an incredible output of
PORSCHE CAYENNE/CAYENNE S/CAYENNE TURBO ENGINE
POWER
PERFORMANCE
PRICE
3.0-l. V6 turbo/2.9-l. V6 twin-turbo/4.0-l. V8 turbo, paired with a 8-speed tiptronic auto
250/324/404kW and 450/550/770Nm
0-100km/h in 6.2/5.2/ 4.1 seconds; top speed 245/265/286km/h
R1 131 000/R1 272 000/ R2 064 000
porsche.co.za
507kW. here is no news on the diesel front, though, despite the fact that Porsche’s sister company Bentley has recently launched a mighty tri-turbo V8 diesel with 320kW and 900Nm. he top
‘This SUV looks more 911 than ever, like the high-performance all-rounder it is’
Cayenne model is named the Turbo, but funny enough all three models are in actual fact turbos. he Cayenne features a V6 single-turbo, the Cayenne S a V6 twinturbo and the TurboTurbo a potent V8. In the almostperfect studio lighting of the V8 Hotel parking garage, the third-generation looks much like the previous model at irst glance. Until you
come closer: the 2018 Cayenne is 6cm longer and 1cm lower, and the wheels have grown from 19 to 20/21 inch. he new hypercool uninterrupted light band at the rear is already known from the four-wheel driven 911 4s. he wings are now more pronounced, with large vents in front featuring beautiful ins. A latter rooline enhances the overall sports-car appearance,
and the typical Porsche shoulders are clearly visible from the rear. his SUV looks more 911 than ever, like the high-performance allrounder it is, pairing genuine Porsche driving pleasure with luxurious comfort. And everything that has been introduced in the new Panamera recently is also featured in the new Cayenne, including the digital
landscape in the cockpit with a large touch-sensitive centre screen. he upwards-sliding centre console results in a much cleaner look and there is so much more space inside – both for passengers and luggage. It not only looks, but drives like a proper sports scar as well, impressively demonstrated on those narrow and windy German country roads. he sun is shining and I am thundering through medieval villages, thanks to the exhaust button, enhancing the aural pleasure. he new chassis is designed from scratch, just like the 911. New air suspension and rearaxle steering from the 911 add comfort and agility at the same time. You never feel like you’re moving a ive-seater through the countryside. Besides the e-hybrid, what could be next in the SUV segment? I think Porsche will join the former niche market BMW created a couple of years ago with the X6 and Mercedes perfected with the GLE. A Cayenne coupé version would be a killer addition to Porsche’s SUV lineup.
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Beautiful historic hotel in Würzburg. Easy walking distance into the old city. rebstock.com
V8 HOTEL A gasoline-infused Hotel with 26 motoring-themed rooms. A must in Stuttgart for petrolheads. v8hotel.de
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GQ’S MOST INFLUENTIAL MEN 2018 TRUE INFLUENCE ISN’T immediately visible, but rather tends to reveal itself gradually. Few brands know that better than Versace, whose inluence on fashion, art and pop culture spans decades and is nearly immeasurable – and expertly translated through its fragrance portfolio. Together with Versace, we set out to ind South Africa’s most inluential and most connected men of 2018 – the people who turn networks into net worth. Meet the second set next month. versace.com
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Is this the best supercar of all? Four years on from the hybrid supercar that proved there’s always a place for petrol engines, the new i8 Roadster is taking BMW’s electrifying vision even further down the road
52 / NOVEMEBER 2018
• THERE ARE FEW THINGS I ind more relaxing than hitting the open road in a fun car. On a random Sunday aternoon I’ll ind I’ve turned a moderately routine trip to the shop into a three-or-more-hour tour of the Cape. Oops. But pop the killer tunes on, open up the windows, toggle into sport mode and I’m gone, with a bigass grin on my face. hese days, however, the petrol
price and my decidedly expensive weekend hobby do not agree. As the Department of Energy ramps up the prices, I’m let to chase my thrills in other ways. Not to mention the environmental impact that such unnecessary driving adds – in the face of an ever-more-dire clarion call to address climate change, the whole thing just seems too frivolous. And God knows they’re incredibly fun, but unless you’re literally some kind of oil magnate, it’s getting harder and harder to justify roaring around in a thirsty 12-cylinder sportscar. Fortunately, the eco-friendly present doesn’t have to be so grim as to strip us entirely of driving fun. he styling of the refreshed i8 Coupé still awakens that inner sci-i/video game geek, with a (sorry) electrifying look that could have been lited from any number of dystopian tales. he newly released Roadster takes that a slight step further, with a roof that folds in 16 seconds thanks to a complex yet weightsaving 3-D printed mechanism. he most captivating detail lies just behind the doors, however, where a delightful gap between rooline and rear wheel
TECH AND SPEC ENGINE Three-cylinder 1.5-litre turbo petrol
POWER 275kW and 320Nm
PERFORMANCE 0-100km/h in 4.6 seconds; top speed 250km/h
PRICE R2 329 300
bmw.co.za
arch creates a beautiful visual origami. It’s a detail present on the Coupé, too, but in Roadster guise it’s all the more efective at underscoring the car’s just-droppedout-of-a-spaceship appearance. It manages to do all of this with a lot less pretence and arrogance than some of its competitors, but without sacriicing that sense of occasion that beits a supercar. he experience behind the wheel is just as fun; in
BMW tradition the whole setup is driver focused, and it’s relatively simple considering how much tech is present underneath, including a new touchscreen infotainment system. And in spite of its hybrid setup, there’s more than enough power on tap to earn the i8 an invite to the neighbourhood supercar AGM. he electric motor now produces 105kW, bolstering the 1.5litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine to deliver a total of 275kW. You’ll get up to 53km in pureelectric mode, too, if you fancy slinking silently around town. he energy management system has been enhanced as well, only activating the petrol engine when necessary, and features a new lithium-ion battery, up in capacity from 20 to 34Ah. Either way, this is a great ride at any speed. And if smart is the new sexy, consider this seduction on four wheels. – NKOSIYATI KHUMALO
If smart is the new sexy, consider this seduction on four wheels
IT’S THE (UPDATED) ELECTRIC RIDE Along with the i8 Roadster, we’ve also gotten an updated i3, which benefits from a fresh exterior, optional sports package, and an updated iDrive system. To soothe any range anxiety, opt for the REx, which packs on a petrol engine that functions as a generator when the battery nears depletion. From R637 300, bmw.co.za
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We’ve explored the idea of actively seeking recognition as a top performer in your sphere. Now, here is a potential danger inherent in that idea, embodied in a perfect little catch-22: the more you try to meet the exact criteria required to be the exemplar of an industry, the more you will look like everyone else in that industry, and the less likely you will be to stand out as anything formidable. ‘Similar but slightly better’ may not be enough. »
Different by design In this extract from What makes Them Great: 50 Ways to Become an Industry Leader, Douglas Kruger discusses the advantages of standing out GQ.CO.ZA
NOVEMBER 2018 / 57
W E A LT H ADVICE
Ironically, it’s often the noncompliant, rule-breaking, expectation-shattering mavericks who end up genuinely becoming the greatest in their game Ironically, it’s oten the noncompliant, rule-breaking, expectation-shattering mavericks who end up genuinely becoming the greatest in their game, and then receiving recognition for it. For starters, they are noticeable. Un-ignorable, even. But more than that, these people tend to be seen as mavericks on the strength of the facts that they think for themselves, have their own unique viewpoints, chart a new course, pioneer distinct and diferent ways of doing things, and stand for what they believe in, much more so than anyone who is trying desperately to it in. here is a certain energy to these qualities, a certain rigour. Distinction creates advantage. Diference is important. ‘All hail the maverick, our new king and standard-setter. His way is now the convention, and we all must follow.’ Just be sure to wash your hands when you’re done. With some degree of moral queasiness, I ofer a character named Julius Malema as a staggeringly efective example of this dynamic. I mention moral queasiness because, as his fellow countryman, I don’t agree with any of the viewpoints or politics he champions. Nor am I commenting upon his morality, merely his efectiveness. So, in the same vein that one might hold up Hitler as an exemplar of excellent public speaking (and he was), I ofer you Julius Malema as a terriic example of the standout maverick. (Which is also not to compare Malema to Hitler; that’s going too far the other way. It is
merely to say that you can disagree with someone’s politics while still noting their eicacy.) For many years since the dawn of democracy in South Africa – a legacy largely of our most enduring icon, Nelson Mandela – the politics of South Africa has been in steady decline. One of its recent presidents, Jacob Zuma, faced 16 charges of corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering, arising from 783 questionable transactions, while still in oice. Enter Julius Malema, a relative youngster in the world of politics, who started out with the Youth League of the ruling African National Congress (ANC). Malema was an outspoken public igure, instrumental in bringing president Jacob Zuma to power, but shortly thereater fell out of favour with the ANC and was evicted from the party. We might speculate that this was because his proile was already too high, and his inluence was becoming something of a threat. Either way, he roamed about in the political wilderness for a time, before creating his own party, an act that got him straight back into politics, and into Parliament. Malema did something that had not been seen in South African politics before. He dressed his new party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, in red overalls with red berets. he party unfailingly wears this uniform in Parliament to this day, standing out in stark contrast to the sea of sedate suits amid the benches of power. Malema is also known for his intentionally provocative and oten
lagrantly outrageous statements, on a variety of issues. Many of them propose seismic shits to the foundations of the nation. Many seem laughably juvenile and merely the stuf of camera-seeking sound bites (I think, for instance, of his 2010 threat to ‘shut down the whole internet’). But they nevertheless make news headlines every single time (so, who’s laughing?). Everything Malema says and does strikes a very diferent chord from the dull, verbose utterances and predictable safe-speak of the politicians around him. As a result, for better or worse, he has transformed himself into a formidable igure in South African politics. When we enter an industry, our heart’s desire is to it in. It’s not until we mature a little that we begin to see the advantage of standing out instead. Malema is diferent in the way he dresses. He is diferent in the way he speaks. He is diferent in his viewpoints, and he is diferent in his willingness to provoke. He takes a strong stand and never backs down. Try though the ruling party may, he cannot be subdued or ignored. All of this combines to ensure that he is a national personality, instantly recognisable and followed by many. How else might we describe an icon? Consultant and author Alan Weiss, who wrote Million Dollar Maverick: Forge Your Own Path to hink Diferently, Act Decisively, and Succeed Quickly, among some 60+ additional books on the world of consulting, attributes much of his own success to the notion of standing out by design. He is known for seeing the ‘lavourof-the-day’ corporate idea or buzzword term and actively going in the opposite direction. When the entire corporate world zigged in the direction of quality and became obsessed with programmes like Six Sigma, and even as all other management consultants were trying to ind a way to jump onto the bus, he zagged and championed diferent causes entirely.
Not only that, but he would oten speak out directly against the latest fad, identifying its weaknesses and proposing contrarian views. It worked in unexpected ways, too. As a result of his open dislike of HR departments (he would call them the ‘Hardly Relevant department’ and assert that they may not actually be the end of the world, but that you could deinitely see it from there), Weiss wound up being asked to speak at HR conferences in order to point out what they were doing wrong. Contrarian. Diferent. Provocative. Un-ignorable. An original viewpoint is diicult to dismiss. It can transform you from yet another ‘also ran’ into something truly original. It adds cause to your arsenal and singles you out as thoughtful. We shall explore the idea of contrarianism in greater depth. For now, let’s stop at the notion of being ‘unique by design’. Challenge: what could you do, this year, to be ‘diferent by design’? Which fads are currently popular, and are you also championing them? If you didn’t, what else might you do instead?
What Makes Them Great (Penguin Random House, R236) by Douglas Kruger is available from bookstores nationwide.
Head online for more wealth and career advice 58 / NOVEMBER 2018
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Professional geek Grant Hinds on the benefits of being a gamer
its competitive nature – all of us have grown up with gaming and have been competitive in it. We understand it, and to see our sibling rivalries materialise into monetary battles is exciting. GQ: How does the South African gaming market compare to the rest of the world? GH: Right now it’s
a small market in the eSports realm. I think that there is going to be a lot of improvement soon. A lot of people
are watching eSports not on TV but on platforms like Twitch. here are many eSports teams at the moment, like Ekasi, which is one of my favourite teams. It shows that the industry is growing, because it used to be a predominantly white male industry. Now those dynamics are changing. GQ: What do major conventions like Comic Con Africa mean for the gaming industry? GH: It creates a lot
of awareness and it’s great PR for the geek/ gaming culture. Rage and Rush are more gaming focused and we have had them for a long time. Rush in particular is eSportsdriven and this shows how that segment of the market needs its own event. So there is growth within the industry and the proof is in these major conventions now taking place in Africa. I’ve been in the gaming industry for close to 15 years, and it’s exciting to see that more people in SA are understanding it. GQ: Much has been said about the benefits of gaming. Would you go as far as to say that playing certain types of games can benefit certain types of careers? GH: here has been
research stating that team collaborative games help individuals in the real world with team collaborative projects, because they have worked and strategised as a team to reach a common goal in the game.
60 / NOVEMBER 2018
It used to be a white male industry. Those dynamics are changing Puzzle-solving games or Minecrat allow school kids in particular to learn how to code, as well as creative building. I think that gaming is very beneicial at a young age. GQ: How would you say gaming enhances strategic thinking and real-time problem solving in a corporate environment? GH: Strategic thinking
and real-time problem solving is a learned skill and it’s much better on a video game, because the stakes are low. he stakes are high in a corporate environment and people’s jobs are on the line, so it’s good to have had practise. It helps making these decisions much better. GQ: Does the same apply to creative industries? GH: As a creative that
has played games growing up, there is a lot of understanding when it come to art direction in the video game, hierarchy of information, how menus are designed and how user interfaces communicate with us. I ended up drawing all of my favourite characters in the games and I harnessed my illustrative skills. here are players that build outits and costumes that celebrate the fandoms that they look up to. It’s these little things that can inluence someone
to enter a career in fashion, graphic design, creative ilm directing and game development. GQ: Would you say there are other nonwork related skills that someone can gain from gaming? GH: Yes. I would
say relationship management, because some games are team based so you learn how to work with diferent personalities to reach a inal goal. GQ: Do you think the negative stereotypes surrounding gamers might put off potential gamers? GH: I deinitely think
that can happen. I sold my Sega-16 because I thought as a teenager that playing video games was a childish activity, so I gave up gaming and later on picked it up again. I think that there is a lot of peer pressure in certain groups to have certain games and people thinking that gaming is only a male space so therefore excluding women. Some people of colour think that gaming is a white thing to do, so this separates the community even further. People don’t see that gaming is an opportunity to unify. If you are interested in gaming then I advise that you discard all the stereotypes of what a gamer is, because we can redeine that narrative.
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WORDS BY BERND FISCHER. PHOTOGRAPH BY THE BANG BANG COLLECTIVE
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How playing games can help your career
GQ: Apart from technological advancements, what do you think has led to the rise and popularity in gaming and eSports? Grant Hinds: I think
W E A LT H PROFILE WORDS BY BERND FISCHER
The case for curiosity We sit down with Justin Meade, global marketing director at Louis XIII Cognac, to discuss what it means to leave a legacy, and how he manages to add personal resonance to global campaigns GQ.CO.ZA
• FOR JUSTIN MEADE, HIS CULTURAL UPBRINGING – and arguably, his inevitable taste for the iner things – would unwittingly set him on a career path in the spirits industry. ‘I remember that my irst glass of wine was with my grandpa and he would make me taste the Grand crus French wines – the Bordeaux and the Burgundy – so as to build my palate,’ he explains. Meade would eventually begin his career in Champagne. ‘I started developing this taste for terroir – something that comes from a speciic place in the world that is made by men and women that are passionate about what they do,’ he says, ‘and that’s a relection of their know-how that’s passed down from generation to generation.’ Working in Champagne gave Meade the advantage of unlimited access to the world of heritage spirits houses – from the cratsmen and women to the pioneers in the industry – where he quickly absorbed the daily ins and outs. ‘And then I met Baptiste Loiseau, cellar master at Rémy Martin, and we had this amazing conversation,’ explains Meade. ‘And when he told me what he was doing at Louis XIII, it was just so inspiring.’ Not too long ater that, an opportunity to join the team came about. ‘I was like, “Let’s do it!”’ Meade says. One of the more recent projects he was involved in was the ‘100 Years’ campaign with Pharrell Williams, with the core message of the initiative centred around environmental sustainability. Meade, along with Louis XIII and Pharrell, hopes that the message speaks to the broader culture of consumption and how we treat the environment today. ‘It’s something that’s beyond a single individual, beyond a single brand – it’s a worldwide situation and we can all take action to make sure we have something valuable to transmit to future generations.’ And, logistically, how does a project with a superstar like Pharrell actually come together? ‘We came together because we have shared values and we had a common message that we were committed to bringing to people, and once you have that synergy, you have both parties that want to move forward,’ says Meade. ‘So the behind-the-scenes was a lot less complicated.’
It’s something that’s beyond a single individual, beyond a single brand – it’s a worldwide situation and we can all take action to make sure we have something valuable to transmit to future generations Outside of his full-time commitment to Cognac, Meade has another big passion. ‘I’m an avid traveller,’ he reveals. ‘But not just any type of travel – what I look for is that moment where you’ve arrived somewhere and you’re completely lost. You don’t speak the language, you don’t have internet, all of your senses are suddenly in motion because you have to rely on them.’ But it’s not always easy to take time for yourself, as Meade admits. ‘I try to have discipline to be able to disconnect when it’s time. So my weekends are precious and I make sure that I’m able to have these moments where I can spend time reading a book or going to exhibits.’ Meade agrees that his personal experience has beneitted him a great deal, allowing him to get where he is, but that doesn’t mean that it all came together without hard work and determination. ‘Never believe someone that says that it’s not possible,’ he says. ‘People have told me this in my personal life but I think having determination, belief in yourself and perseverance are key.’ Meade also encourages those hoping to follow in his footsteps to stay curious. ‘Be curious all the time. Whether you’re shy or you’re outgoing, you can still be curious. Be on the lookout for opportunities because, if you are, opportunities will come. If you don’t, you might miss out, so you have to be open-minded.’
NOVEMBER 2018 / 61
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Words by Jonathan Heaf Styled by David Thomas Photographs by Eric Ray Davidson
Singer, songwriter and actor JOHN LEGEND has always been at the top of his game. Now, as the first black man to win a competitive EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) his career is becoming the stuff of, well...
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es, you are talking to the real John Legend. Why ask? Don’t worry, I’m not tripping out like some hysterical, competitionwinning John Legend superfan – the Legendries? – not yet anyway. You see, just before I speak to the first black man to win EGOT status, I learn that Legend has, in fact, been announced as the new voice of Google Assistant, essentially becoming to the tax avoiding search engine tech giant what the sonic avatar Alexa is to the Amazon Echo or what the monosyllabic Siri is to the iPhone.
Imagine the ear being your very where’s the closest place to home serving frozen Margaritas on a Sunday at 8pm?’ And then, in a voice as smooth as Jef Goldblum doing tarot card readings at a women-only event on Venice Beach, the ‘All of Me’ hit maker will ofer up suggested venues, directions and (quite possibly) rim garnishes. Not bad, huh? Yet, seeing as this interview is being conducted over the phone, how can I be sure I’m talking to the man himself, rather than the virtual, voice-activated subordinate? ‘No, it’s not my Google phone. Don’t worry,’ laughs Legend, tickled by the idea that he’d get his automated device to do the interview rather than answering the questions himself. It’s early morning in Beverly Hills and across the line Legend’s famously soulful voice, one that spreads like almond butter to mend broken hearts and lit lovebirds, sounds somewhat hoarse, as if he hasn’t quite shaken of the fug of the Cali dawn. It’s a shame we’re not doing this mana a mano, I explain, as he could take me through his walk-in wardrobe. (You can learn an awful lot about a man from how he hangs his pressed shirts, for example.) ‘Well, I don’t know what you’d ind...’ he tells me, sounding apprehensive about the state of his underwear drawer. (He needn’t worry: we all know John Legend keeps his briefs colourcoordinated and alphabetised by brand names.) ‘Although the clothing I have here in California would certainly be a slightly diferent vibe to the
clothing I have back in New York. I mean the weather here is better, obviously, so the fabric needs to be more breathable and a little looser. With a more relaxed vibe comes more colour, you know? Sometimes when I was living back in New York... the sleek, chic, in-control power thing messed with your sense of style a little too much. It’s so uptight! You could never be of duty, you know?’ One has to ask: when does John Legend’s wardrobe ever appear of duty? he singer is to style what Roger Federer is to the tennis court: he has an efortlessness, a grace, an elan that ensures even his most relaxed, holidayingon-a-super-yacht look appears to have been micromanaged by a team of savvy, urbane aesthetes – together, but not too try-hard. Take his new-dad look (Legend and his wife, Chrissy Teigen, had their second child in May): narrow beige chinos matched with a pair of ice-white fashion trainers and a loose Breton T-shirt. It’s To Catch A hief meets he Talented Mr Ripley, but with the modernity turned up to eleven.
hat about when he’s performing? Whether in a white tux or tailoring that’s a little bolder – ‘I love Gucci’s thing at the moment and Harry Styles rocks that whole troubadour thing so well’– Legend goes out of his way to ensure nothing looks too ‘showbiz’. here’s a pop, but it’s still elegant – not unlike the man’s music, of course. ‘I always make sure I’m in something that can be seen from the back of the arena,’ Legend explains in regard to what he likes to dazzle in. ‘I try to consider that clothes relect the person I am as an artist. I don’t want my style to scream “entertainer”. Fashion can be a really powerful visual shorthand. To be fair, any man that grew up as a teenager in the Eighties will have learnt this the hard way. I look back at the bagginess of my jeans sometimes and wonder,
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“What was I thinking?”’ So what’s the Hugo Boss Most Stylish Man’s cast-iron style rule? ‘Get yourself a tailor. Or ind a local tailor that can help you take in and modify your clothing to suit your body shape. It’s unreasonable to think that clothing bought from a store will it you perfectly; it’s rarely going to happen. My mother is a seamstress and my father went into business making hats, so I’ve had the notion of taking in and altering clothing – creating outits – around me my whole life. How your clothes it is the most important aspect of looking good. Oh, that and listening to your wife.’ As Legend acknowledges, looking sharp is an intrinsic part of what every international artist worth his own merch line needs to consider. Yet, while he’s aware of such supericial matters, you’d be foolish to think Legend’s acumen doesn’t run deeper. here is an unquestionable nobility to John Legend. Indeed, you can clearly tell he believes in being a role model: what he says and does matters and has impact, an issue he and his long-time friend and colleague Kanye West recently came to blows over. ‘Kanye was being Kanye; this wasn’t just some press stunt,’ explains Legend over the pair’s very public Twitter spat. his was back in April, when West made public private texts from Legend asking the rapper to consider ‘the harm that Trump’s policies cause’, as West continued to tweet his support for the Oros-hued president. ‘I was surprised he put my messages out there without asking me, sure. I wouldn’t say that was a good thing for a friend to do. But I wasn’t ashamed of what I said and I stand by it. Kanye and I still disagree with one another, although we are civil. But the issue can’t just be swept under the carpet. For me, I don’t believe politics is just purely about debate or about who wins the intellectual argument. Politics and policies impact real lives. Kanye’s got his own conscience to wrestle with; I have mine.’ A nice guy with integrity and killer style? John Legend for the win.
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‘Politics impact real lives. Kanye’s got his own conscience to wrestle with; I have mine’
Hailed by Barack Obama and BeyoncĂŠ, the American R & B s i n g e r â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s candid lyrics and velvety voice catapulted her debut album into the platinum s t r a t o s p h e r e. So what will she unleash on the world next? Nathaniel Goldberg Elizabeth Wirija
GQ.CO.ZA
NOVEMBER 2018 / 71
HEN SOLÁNA ROWE’S DEBUT ALBUM CTRL FINALLY DROPPED to universal acclaim
in June 2017, stellar reviews quickly turned into sales: by March this year, the album was certified platinum. With album sales came an international tour, which has seen Rowe traverse time zones the way most of us do subway stations on a morning commute. We had two private audiences with the 27-year-old between gigs on two different continents. First stop was New York for a photoshoot in a Greenpoint loft, before she sat down with us in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to bring us up to speed.
When we speak, Rowe, whom you will more likely know by her pseudonym SZA (pronounced scissor), is wearing her ‘Lara Crot Tomb Raider shit’ – cargo pants, a ‘tight-ass crop top’ and safari hat, having just returned from a ive-mile hike through the ancient Taman Negara jungle (environmental science is a long-time passion). Rowe has plans to travel as much as possible – not a vacation, she stresses, because there is ‘a lot of work to do’. Instead, her ambition is to glean everything she can from her adventures and take steps to be her ‘best self – as an artist, a woman, a human being,’ so in turn she can ‘regurgitate it out into some wax that makes sense’. Given Rowe’s inluence on the music industry over the past two years, whatever she comes up with is likely to continue pushing boundaries. Her impact has been so profound, it’s hard to imagine what an R&B playlist would sound like without her now. here have, of course, been the high-proile collaborations – with Childish Gambino on his number-one hit ‘his is America’ and Kendrick Lamar on the song ‘All he Stars’ for the Black Panther soundtrack, as well as co-writing credits on ‘Feeling Myself ’ by Nicki Minaj featuring Beyoncé and ‘Consideration’, the opening single for Rihanna’s album Anti. But what Rowe has achieved as a solo artist is equally trailblazing. hrough her unlinchingly honest lyrics, she is bringing a new level of transparency to the genre. Rowe’s candour is perhaps what has chimed most deeply with her audience – her songs lay bare her own vulnerabilities, desires and emotions as she traces the experiences that have forged her identity. From talking about not shaving her legs in ‘Drew Barrymore’ to admitting feelings of inadequacy in ‘Supermodel’, Ctrl plays out like a diary, with no subject of the table. Ater all, she says, ‘the black experience, the American
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experience, the human experience, is multifaceted and there are many avenues to be explored.’ A music industry without Rowe, though, was a very near eventuality. When it came to recording Ctrl, she was so wracked with anxiety and self-doubt that the initial release had to be delayed and she threatened to quit music altogether. hankfully, her record label coaxed her hard drive out of her grasp and put its contents into production, so she couldn’t keep titivating the tracks. It’s only been six years since Rowe started recording mix tapes in a makeshit basement studio with her ‘homeboy’, producer Matt Cody. Growing up in leafy, middle-class Maplewood, New Jersey, Rowe – the daughter of a Catholic, Pan-Africanist mother and orthodox Sunni Muslim father – was raised on a musical diet of John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. She loves Coltrane for his ‘emotive and prayerful’ quality. ‘I can’t tell if it’s sad or not,’ she says. She could, of course, be describing her own music – that duality is what inspired Donald Glover to cast Rowe in ‘his is America’. ‘She always feels very powerful, but vulnerable, to me,’ he explains. ‘I wanted that feeling in the piece.’ A friend of Rowe’s, much to her horror, played those early basement recordings to Top Dawg Entertainment’s president, Terrence ‘Punch’ Henderson. He soon signed her and she joined the ranks of Kendrick Lamar and Schoolboy Q. With such a rapid ascent, it’s perhaps unsurprising she was anxious about Ctrl. But for the purported second album, there’s no evidence of any uncertainty this time round. ‘I’ve grown up and realised what I need,’ she says. ‘I made my irst song for the second album in London actually, and that was pretty cool.’ Rowe was in the British capital in the summer to perform at Lovebox – the festival’s only female
headliner – alongside Skepta, N.E.R.D, Wu-Tang Clan and her one-time collaborator Childish Gambino. With festivals currently under ire for gender disparity, ater Pitchfork published a study last year that revealed only a quarter of artists booked for big festivals were female, Rowe is hopeful they will stay true to their pledge of getting gender-equal line-ups by 2022. ‘he time is now,’ she says. ‘Feminine energy is dominant, whether you throw it on a line-up or not. Everyone can feel it. We don’t need [men] to survive or be valid functioning members of society. [Women are] representing themselves in a new grown-up demographic that’s probably quite threatening to what we’ve always known.’ Among the women inspiring her right now, she cites those in Saudi Arabia who have campaigned for their right to drive, the mothers continuing to ight to be reunited with their children ater being separated by US immigration authorities, and black female entrepreneurs who have formed the fastest growing economic force in the US. So when it came to choosing a photographer for this shoot, Elizabeth Wirija was the perfect it. he Indonesian-born New Yorker focuses on shooting women of colour because the media is so ‘whitewashed’. In her words, she contributes to the world ‘through being an artist and creating my own narrative – work that I would like to see myself in, or relate to’. Just as she does with her lyrics, Rowe wears her heart on her sleeve when creating a look. ‘I like clothes to convey the way I’m feeling,’ she says, and so every day starts with the colour that she feels most drawn to. If she’s wearing yellow, she’s ‘happy and full of joy’; red means she’s ‘feeling grounded’; purple, she’s accessing higher states of consciousness or, as she puts it, ‘thinking about the crown chakra’. he pastel-pink Versace gown she wore to the Met Gala signiied that she was ‘thinking about love and sending [loving] energy out [there]’. Her look that night – angelic and multi-layered – was almost the perfect embodiment of her voice. While, as her debut album suggests, only Rowe is in control of Rowe, she seems to be enjoying the fact she doesn’t know exactly where she is heading. ‘Who knows what my talents are, who knows if music is the best way to share my git – I’m just gonna follow it for as long as I can,’ she says. Ater all, she never imagined she’d ind herself here – a certiied platinum artist, endorsed by Barack Obama (the former president included her in his favourite songs of 2017 list), with ive Grammy and three VMA nominations to her name. ‘I deinitely wanted to be in business – I didn’t want to be in music,’ she adds. ‘I thought I was going to have a really nice corner oice, a lot of respect and a power suit.’ Rowe seems to have tackled the hardest thing irst – respect she has in abundance. he power suit and corner oice would no doubt follow if she so wished – and if her impact on the music world is anything to go by, those holding up glass ceilings should be worried.
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Words by Nkosiyati Khumalo
GO AWAY
» Planning your holiday – or, more accurately, desperately counting down until those blessed few weeks when you can leave your phone off, when days of the week blend into each other, and when the horrors of a 2018 news cycle are all things of the past? We’ve scoured the country for the ideal getaways to make your base of operations this season
01 Best For: Living Like a King
Moondance Villa 50moondance.com
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→ James Bond is cool enough, and MI6 is always sure to kit him out pretty well, but have you ever noticed that it’s the villains who have the best hideouts? You can expect all
the drama of a breathtaking design and all the inspiration you need to take over the world without any of the evil at Moondance Villa. Nestled in Fresnaye, a quiet
residential neighbourhood (known for being wind-free), and in the shadow of Lion’s Head, Moondance was designed by architect Stefan Antoni to create
the ideal luxury homestay experience. Fully equipped with four en-suite luxury bedrooms, with an indoor cinema, spit braai, pizza oven, several outdoor entertainment »
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areas, an underground bar that looks into the swimming pool, a house-wide Sonos sound system, and even a Tuscan olive grove, it also makes the perfect place to entertain. The extensive collection of contemporary
African art includes works by Paul du Toit, William Kentridge, and Musa N Nxumalo, among others. If you can’t stay there, be sure to host a wedding/ birthday or other event – or at least make sure you’re on the guest list.
02 Best For: The Refined Adrenaline Junkie
Shishangeni Private Lodge Bonhotels.com/shishangeni
No matter what anyone may tell you, there’s nothing wrong with glamping – it’s been a long year and you’ve worked hard. That’s not to say you should abandon any sense of adventure – there’s something delightfully primal about connecting with nature that’s a great refresher from our urban lifestyles. For a fresh take on the Kruger, try out a Shishangeni Bush Walk, and try your hand at animal tracking at sunset. You’ll be led, single file, by two highly trained armed guides, who’ll also brief you on the best way to experience being so close to the action – wear neutral colours, no shiny jewellery, and almost no talking in favour of natural sounds – for a fully immersive experience. After your walk (or traditional game drive, if you so choose), relax in one of 22 individual chalets, each with a game-viewieng deck and outdoor shower.
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03 Best For: Peace and Quiet
Pezula Hotel pezulahotel.com
→ With a setup that’s less hotel and more super-scenic housing estate, this classic Knysna landmark has a fresh life thanks to new owners Village n Life (the same powerhouses behind
Cape Town’s Bay Hotel). You’ll get great proximity to all Knysna's attractions but without the crowds, as well as access to Pezula’s world-renowned golf course. If you’re playing Instagram
husband, there are tons of spots to get a great snap, even in the spa, which makes for an ideal hideaway from literally everyone. Try the Daka mud body wrap, or the Phumla Massage, which
includes stretching, deep kneading, reflexology and pressure point scalp massage – all orchestrated using a richly textured synergy of oil blends made on the premises. »
GUIDE/TRAVEL
04 Best For: Renewing Body & Mind
Santé Wellness Retreat and Spa
for optimising your health. As the bigest spa in the country, wellness is Santé’s entire focus; evident from the nutritious, indigenous ingredients used in their cuisine – all meals are created using only real, unrefined foods, without sugar, dairy,
gluten, preservatives, colourants and additives, an ethos extending to Santé’s treatment methodologies. Whether you pop in for the day or stay overnight, each visit is individually customised based on your health status. The spa
boasts a trademarked Vinotherapy treatment, which allows you to be exfoliated with crushed grape seeds and grape seed oil and later immersed in vino – in a hydrating bath which also assists in getting rid of free radical damage.
ADDITIONAL WORDS BY LAUREN MANUEL
santeretreat.co.za
Finding a luxurious getaway, where you can fully switch off, may be trickier than you think. Thankfully Santé Wellness Retreat and Spa has relaunched under new ownership. Located between the picturesque Drakenstein Mountains, Santé is the perfect escape
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05 Best For: The Cool Dad
Cliffhanger Plettvillas.co.za
This place has everything you’d want in a family holiday home with none of the hassle of actually owning one. It also comes staffed with a private chef, butler, housekeeper, chauffeur, private boat and concierge service, which means you have a much better chance of actually relaxing instead of chasing children around while trying to cook and not trip over their toys. Aptly named, the home’s location allows for prime views over Plettenberg Bay, and it follows the region’s emphasis on conservation, with a rainwater harvesting facility and a solar energy system for power and heating. Your booking includes access to whale watching and wine tasting excursions, and for the ultimate luxury experience, get there by sharing a chartered private flight to Plett (from Cape Town), run by Plett Air Safaris.
06
Best For: The Wine Lover
Lanzerac Wine Estate
lanzerac.co.za
→ After a devastating 2017 fire that gutted most of the estate, Lanzerac has been completely reborn. Rebuilding efforts allowed original walls, floors, beams and ceilings to shine through, that brings fresh vitality to the grounds – which includes buildings dating back to 1692. Here you’ll find five-star everything, from a range of 53 rooms that blend the estate’s history
with thoughtful (and plentiful) tech integrations. Visit the Manor Kitchen for dinner – we recommend the venison loin, paired with the estate’s Pinotage – which put the farm on the global map with its world-first bottling of the South African varietal in 1961. You’ll even find a Pinotagethemed massage treatment at the spa which makes use of grapeseed oil and natural botanicals.
A L E X W PA L M E R
BARTHOLOMEW COOKE
S T R A N G E H O W I T K E E P S H A P P E N I N G , H O W T H E G R E AT E S T W O R K S O F C H I N E S E A R T K E E P G E T T I N G B R A Z E N LY STOLEN FROM MUSEUMS AROUND THE WORLD. IS IT A CONSPIRACY? VENGEANCE FOR TREASURES PLUNDERED Y E A R S A G O ? W E S E N T A L E X W PA L M E R TO I N V E S T I G AT E T H E T R A I L O F T H E F T A N D T H E S T U N N I N G R U M O U R : I S T H E C H I N E S E G O V E R N M E N T B E H I N D O N E O F T H E B O L D E S T A R T- C R I M E WAV E S I N H I S TO RY ?
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heists were evident only later, but their audacity was clear from the start. The spree began in Stockholm in 2010, with cars burning in the streets on a foggy summer evening. The fires had been lit as a distraction, a ploy to lure the attention of the police. As the vehicles blazed, a band of thieves raced toward the Swedish royal residence and smashed their way into the Chinese Pavilion on the grounds of Drottningholm Palace. There they grabbed what they wanted from the permanent state collection of art and antiquities. Police told the press the thieves had f led by moped to a nearby lake, ditched their bikes into the water, and escaped by speedboat. The heist took less than six minutes. A month later, in Bergen, Norway, intruders descended from a glass ceiling and plucked 56 objects from the China Collection at the KODE Museum. Next, robbers in England hit the Oriental Museum at Durham University, followed by a museum at Cambridge University. Then, in 2013, the KODE was visited once more; crooks snatched 22 additional relics that had been missed during the first break-in. Had they known exactly what was happening, perhaps the security officials at the Château de Fontainebleau, the sprawling former royal estate just outside Paris, could have predicted that they might be next. With more than 1 500 rooms, the palace is a maze of opulence. But when bandits arrived before dawn on March 1, 2015, their target was unmistakable: the palace’s grand Chinese Museum. Created by the last empress of France, the wife of Napoleon III, the gallery was stocked with works so rare that their value was considered incalculable. In recent years, however, the provenance of those treasures had become an increasingly sensitive subject: the bulk of the museum’s collection had been pilfered from China by French soldiers
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in 1860 during the sack of Beijing’s Old Summer Palace. In the years since the Fontainebleau heist, the robberies have continued throughout Europe – sometimes in daring, cinematic fashion. The full scale of the criminality is impossible to pinpoint, because many heists never make the headlines. Security officials and museum boards are sometimes reluctant to publicise their own failures, both to avoid embarrassment and to save on the cost of security upgrades. But the thefts that were made public bear striking similarities. The criminals are careful and professional. They often seem to be working from a shopping list – and appear content to leave behind high-value objects that aren’t on it. In each case, the robbers focused their efforts on art and antiquities from China, especially items that had been looted by foreign armies. Many of these objects are well documented and publicly known, making them very hard to sell and difficult to display. In most cases the pieces have not been recovered; they seem to simply vanish. After that first robbery, in Stockholm, a police official told the press that ‘all experience says this is an ordered job’. As the heists mounted, so did the suspicion that they were being carried out on instructions from abroad. But if that was true, an obvious question loomed: who was doing the ordering?
F O R M U C H O F T H E 2 0 T H century, China’s leaders hardly seemed to care about the country’s lost and plundered antiquities. Art was a symbol of bourgeois decadence, fit for destruction rather than preservation. By the early 2000s, however, China was growing rich and confident, and
decidedly less Communist. The fate of the country’s plundered art was seized upon as a focus of national concern and pride. Suddenly a new cadre of plutocrats – members of the country’s growing club of billionaires – began purchasing artifacts at a dizzying pace. For this new breed of mega-rich collector, buying up Chinese art represented a chance to f lash not just incredible wealth but also exorbitant patriotism. But less conspicuous campaigns to lure art back to China were initiated, too. One of the country’s most powerful corporate conglomerates, the state-run China Poly Group, launched a shadowy programme aimed at locating and recovering lost art. Poly – an industrial giant that sells everything from gemstones to missiles – was run by a Communist Party titan who staffed the project with officials connected to Chinese military intelligence. The government, meanwhile, was sanctioning its own efforts via a web of overlapping state agencies and Communist Party-affiliated NGOs. In 2009, a year before the Stockholm heist, the efforts got more serious. Beijing announced that it planned to dispatch a ‘treasure hunting team’ to various institutions across the US and Europe. Museums were left clueless about the purpose of the mission. Were the Chinese coming to assess collections, to conduct research, or to reclaim objects on the spot? More importantly, who, exactly, were the visitors gathering information for? When an eight-person team arrived at New York’s Metropolitan Museum, it was led by an archaeologist and largely composed of employees from Chinese state media and Beijing’s palace museum. As the group poked around and asked about the art on display, one participant, a researcher named Liu Yang who had gained some notoriety for his zeal in cataloguing China’s lost treasures, sleuthed through the museum’s long corridors, looking for objects he might recognise. The visit ended without incident, but the shift in tactics was evident: China was no longer content to sit back passively and hope for the return of its art. The hunt was on. Soon, all across Europe, thefts began.
O F C O U R S E , N O T all of the art i nding its way home to China is being snatched of museum walls in the dead of night or wrangled back by aggressive bureaucrats. he country’s new elite are helping, too.
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P H OTO G R A P H BY PAU L P O P P E R / P O P P E R F OTO/G E T T Y I M AG E S
‘The Chinese don’t need a coordinating campaign,’ says James Ratcliffe, the director of recoveries and general counsel at the Art Loss Register. ‘There are enough Chinese collectors with a huge amount of money who want the pride of acquiring this art.’ In 2016, for the first time, China had more billionaires than the United States. Many of the country’s nouveau riche have taken to art collecting with a giddy enthusiasm. In 2000, China represented 1 per cent of the global-art-auction market; by 2014, it accounted for 27 per cent. The market for historical Chinese art is so frenzied that even seemingly mundane pieces of Chinese art can electrify the scene at auction houses. ‘Buying looted artwork has become high-street fashion among China’s elite,’ Zhao Xu, the director of Beijing Poly Auction, told China Daily. heir desires adhere to a nationalistic logic: the closer an object’s connection to China’s ignominious defeats, the more signiicant its return. In recent years, vases, bronzeware, and a host of other items from the Old Summer Palace have all sold for millions. Behind these purchases is almost always a well-connected Chinese billionaire eager to demonstrate China’s modern resurgence on the world stage. Huang Nubo has a similarly patriotic interest in China’s art. Huang made his money by building one of the country’s most powerful real estate conglomerates, a task he undertook after spending ten years as an official in the publicity department of the Communist Party. His passion for Chinese culture has helped make him famous, and through an effort called the National Treasures Coming Home campaign, he’s focusing on the reclamation of lost relics. After the second break-in at the KODE, Huang contacted the museum. He wanted to f ly to Bergen and tour the closed China exhibit. Once there, he was shown a collection of marble columns taken from the Old Summer Palace. Huang began to weep and told the museum director that the columns had no business being displayed in Norway. He donated $1.6 million to KODE, which he says was to upgrade its security. Soon thereafter the museum shipped seven of the marble columns back to China to be displayed at Peking University on permanent loan. (Huang denies any connection between his donation and the return of the columns.) The looting of the columns and their open display in a European museum ‘were our disgrace’, he told China Daily, and their
Beijing's Old Summer Palace was sacked by French soldiers in 1860
return represented ‘dignity returned to the Chinese people.’
I N T H E FAC E O F C H I N A’ S repatriation campaign – and the recent robberies – museums are now scrambling. Some have stood their ground, arguing the legitimacy of their acquisitions or touting the value to the Chinese of sharing
their culture abroad. Others have quietly shipped crates of art back to China, in hopes of avoiding trouble with either the thieves or the government. In 2013, for instance, two of the famed zodiac heads, the rabbit and the rat, from the estate of the French designer Yves Saint Laurent, were handed over after a planned auction was scuttled. Officials in China told Christie’s, the auction house, that if the heads were ever sold off, there would be ‘serious effects’ on the firm’s business. »
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Many of the treasures of the Old Summer Palace have ended up at the Château de Fontainebleau
Many institutions, though, have begun beefing up security. Certainly no museum has been more bedevilled by all of this than the KODE Museum in Bergen, Norway, on the country’s rugged southwestern coast. The twice-robbed KODE may not be a household name, but it’s apparently well-known to the people stealing China’s lost antiquities. Located on Bergen’s picturesque central square, the museum is just three blocks from the local police headquarters. After it was robbed for a second time, in January 2013, Roald Eliassen was eventually hired as director of security. Eliassen is a former cop. He’s brawny and compact, with a windburned face and messy gray hair. ‘I read about the thefts in the newspaper,’ he told me. ‘I thought, “How could this happen?” Once, okay. Twice…well, that’s not good.’ When I visited Bergen, the China exhibit was closed to the public for renovations
after a security upgrade, which included the installation of an imposing series of sliding gates and metal doors. A guard stood watch nearby. Inside the gallery, the space was mostly empty. Anything light enough to be carried had been moved into storage, and the heavy items – white marble statues and pillars and big-bellied Buddhas – were covered in clear tarp. At the KODE, there was a silver lining to that second heist. Amid all the unwanted attention, authorities got a lucky tip about a piece taken in the first break-in. They were told it had made its way back to China and was now on display at a Shanghai airport. But even this possibility came with its own frustrations: Bergen police lacked the power to follow up, and Norwegian officials, wary of upsetting a delicate relationship with China, did nothing. ‘If we say an item is in China, they say, “Prove it,”’ said Kenneth Didriksen, the head of Norway’s art-crime unit. So, he
told me, they stood down. ‘We don’t want to insult anyone.’ Eliassen believed that the best thing for the museum to do was to protect the art that remained. The pieces were probably never coming back. ‘The government in China doesn’t think they’re stolen objects,’ he said. ‘They think they belong to them. They won’t take it seriously, won’t follow the trail. That’s the biggest problem.’
O N A G R A Y D A Y in Beijing, I visited the grounds of the Old Summer Palace. Today the site is a popular destination for tourists and school field trips. It has not been rebuilt; the point of the park is its state of destruction. I’d come to meet with Liu Yang, who’d been a member of the treasure-hunting delegation to the Met in New York City.
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In his office, Liu keeps a lone photo on the wall â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an aerial shot of the park. In it, the site looks like a bombed-out war zone, with barren patches where statues and monuments once stood. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;It was a Chinese fairy tale,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; he told me, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;and it was destroyed by foreign armies.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Liu is mild-mannered and scrupulously polite. For 20 years heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a player in Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s battle to get its art back, but even today he feels his work is just beginning. He showed me a book heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d published, a comprehensive inventory of the palaceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lost treasures. The pages were filled with sticky notes and handwritten notations, and as he f lipped through, he pointed out photos of items held by some of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best-known museums. Of course, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d been to many of them, sometimes under odd circumstances. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;My most troublesome experience was at the Metropolitan Museum in New York,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Liu said. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Everyone was very nervous. They called a Chinese lawyer and gave me the phone so she could tell me that the museum had no items from the Old Summer Palace and that all their items were held via legal means.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Liu says curators in the UK were less defensive. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;When I told them these objects were taken, they barely reacted,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Liu said. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;They just showed me their records of which generals took what. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re very direct about it. They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t hide it.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Still, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not surprised when a museum clamps down once he begins sniffing around. After a visit to the Wallace Collection, in central London, he says, he noticed the museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website no longer listed the objects heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d asked about. It didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t much matter; Liu had a good idea of what was housed there. He knows the collections of foreign museums inside and out, and museum officials know him, too, even if they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have much enthusiasm for his research. A few years ago, he had visited the Château de Fontainebleau, and his book had been published right before the sensational robbery there. After the crime, he got a panicked phone call. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I was the first person to learn the news about the robbery there, about 30 minutes after it happened,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; he told me. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The museum staff contacted me in very broken Chinese. They said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;These items were stolen right after your book was published, and your book was the first catalogue of the Old Summer Palace. Do you see a connection?â&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;&#x2122; He says he politely suggested that they maybe tell other museums to improve their security.
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Liu seems ambivalent toward the plight of burgled museums, especially a place like the Fontainebleau, which he says holds more looted Chinese art than any other institution on earth and advertises the collectionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s origins as plunder from the sacking of the Old Summer Palace. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Displaying these objects in European museums is like a theft itself â&#x20AC;&#x201C; theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re just showing it off without concern,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Liu said. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I know that we wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get everything back in my lifetime,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; he continued. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;We will never give up, we will never stop â&#x20AC;&#x201C; no matter the effort. We need [the Chinese] people to see that everything that belonged to us is coming back.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;
E V E N A M O N G C H I N A â&#x20AC;&#x2122; S elite class of state-controlled behemoths, the China Poly Group is unique for its power and its varied pursuits. According to Fortune, last year it had declared assets of $95.7 billion, almost twice the GDP of Croatia. Its art-repatriation campaign â&#x20AC;&#x201C; begun by its former president, the military-intelligence chief He Ping â&#x20AC;&#x201C; is now run by an offshoot firm called Poly Culture, which manages the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s burgeoning antiquities collection. In 2000, the same year as Poly Cultureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s founding, Poly managed to buy back three of the Old Summer Palaceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s zodiac heads. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s since added a fourth, while a fifth and sixth are housed at Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Museum and a seventh is kept at the Capital Museum. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The heads represent our feelings for the entire nation; we love them and we weep for them,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; said Jiang Yingchun, the CEO of Poly Culture. We were sitting at a large conference table high up in the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Beijing headquarters, with a view of the
smog-drenched skyline. Yingchun was reclining in a black leather chair and smoking an e-cigarette. In the corner of the room, an air filter hummed quietly. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;We can try many ways to get the heads back,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; he told me without much elaboration. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The auction is just one method.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; It was not the technique that mattered, he seemed to be saying, but the result: the heads must return. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;We canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t ignore that the art was taken illegally,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; even if it was being well cared for, he said. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;If you kidnapped my children and then treated them well, the crime is still not forgiven.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; His e-cigarette depleted, Yingchun excused himself for another meeting and handed me off to a curator from the Poly Museum. She proudly offered to show me the recovered zodiac heads. At the entrance to the museum, I noticed a wooden plaque. Many items in the collection, it announced, had been â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;recovered from overseas and saved from being lost to the nation.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;The first time I saw them, I was so excited,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; the curator told me. She spoke in a low, reverential whisper. She was a student then and remembered how, on the day the heads were officially returned, her entire school had watched the ceremony on television. Students wept at their desks. I asked if she thought the rest would ever be returned. There had been nothing but fakes and false leads for years, and the best guess seemed to be that the remaining five were hidden away in private collections somewhere in Europe. She paused and walked forward to admire the growling bronze tiger head. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Their return is the deepest hope of the Chinese people,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; she said. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a very sad and hard history for us. When the heads come back, we will finally feel the power of our country.â&#x20AC;&#x2122;
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Best D Men Year Introducing you to the men whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve made the bestdressed cut for 2018. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re stylish, confident and deliver that little something extra
ressed of the 2018 IN ASSOCIATION WITH:
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Seth Shezi Creative director at Shezi.ink. Freelance content creator and contributing editor at Wanted magazine
Who is Seth Shezi? A slave to finer living. At the core of what I do – be it producing content for online, magazines or for brands on social media – my goal is to reflect lifestyles that are still perceived as merely aspirational, meaning with hard work they can easily be attained and should be accessible to other people who look like me. How do you define success for yourself? It’s impossible to measure your own success without a plan. So I ensure I set my own goals to achieve and derive success from achieving them. For now it is being able to open doors and gain access to the clients I want to work for, and write for the publications I want to write for. Soon it will be to develop platforms that others could use to share their creative narrative.
How has SouthAfrican culture influenced your style? In many subliminal ways, until recently I didn’t even realise it had influenced me. For instance, my love of hats and formal jackets is a direct sartorial reference from growing up in a very Catholic family, where going to church on Sundays was a big occasion. Both my grandfathers always wore suits, and my paternal grandfather never met a rabbit-hair felt trilby he never liked. My dad’s older brother, who lived in the township of Umlazi (considered the fashion mecca in Durban) was the original ‘Cotton Eater’. Back in ’93 he was prancing around in ostrich leather shoes, double mercerized golders and lived on a constant diet of retro-looking colourful viscose shirts. Today, I have several ostrich leather bags from Cape Cobra Leathercraft and I’ve been known to rock a retro flimsy shirt or ten.
Who is Fhatuwani Mukheli? I am a multidisciplinary artist who is passionate about business and growing my own to be one of the bigest South African blackowned advertising agencies/production houses. I love collecting sneakers and boots. If you could have dinner with three style influencers, who would they be? Vuyo Mpantsha, Thom Browne and Rick Owens.
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Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s your earliest style memory? When my late grandfather used to dress me and my twin brother for pre-school. I used to feel fresh when he did that. Âť
Fhatuwani Mukheli Co-founder @iseeadifferentyou, director and photographer
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Shirt Zara Pants Thom Browne Watch Daniel Wellington Sneakers Balenciaga
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Who is Theo Ngobeni? I am a child of God, a husband, father and a businessman. A modern gentleman, who lives a simple life, but enjoys the finer things. A former investment banker, who gave up his job to pursue his passion for style. A man who is in constant pursuit of living a life that inspires others. I love giving people hope and making them look and feel good about themselves. I believe that I was called for this ministry. What is the one piece of advice you’ll always carry with you? Whenever you’re faced with a difficult decision, choose the option that the future you will be proud of. If you could have dinner with three style influencers, who would they be? Sir Edward Sexton (Savile Row tailor), Fokke de Jong (founder of Suitsupply) and Roberto Raro (Founder of Mararo).
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Theo Ngobeni Founder and creative director of Mr.Slimfit
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Solo Hip-hop artist
Who is Zothile Langa aka Solo? Solo is a South African hip-hop artist, a lyricist and great storyteller. How has SouthAfrican culture influenced your style? South-African culture is something that has always been a part of my existence. It was in my adult life, however, when I gained a sense of pride in my culture. That continues to grow within me
and it now seeps in to all aspects of my life. I have started exploring colours and their deeper meaning and significance in my heritage – almost like a badge of honour. I enjoy celebrating this in fashion and music.
What’s your earliest style memory? My grandmother helping me getting dressed up for church. That was the peak of looking dapper for me. »
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What is the one piece of advice you’ll always carry with you? My mother used to always say, ‘Feel the fear and do it anyway.’ It is a reminder that things aren’t always going to be familiar. When you’re feeling out of depth in a situation, if it’s somewhere you want to be, get in there and make it happen. How has SouthAfrican culture influenced your style? South Africans are constantly evolving. We are always finding ways to do things better. Often we are driven by our want for an identity that is South African and feels good to us. My approach to style is exactly the same − I try not
to confine myself too much and I am always open to experimenting.
If you could have dinner with three style influencers, who would they be? John Legend, Nigerian men’s lifestyle bloger Igee Okafor and musician Tresor.
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Thabiso Makhubela TV host and entrepreneur
*Shirt Versace Jacket Hugo Boss Pants, shoes Zara
*Shirt and suit Tiger of Sweden Shoes Gucci
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Anele Papu Photographer, model and entrepreneur
Who is Anele Papu? I am Promise. Anele Papu is a promise to many young black South Africans who wonder how far they can go with their skill of photography. How do you define success for yourself? Success to me is deďŹ ned by effectively doing something that 100 per cent impacts the next person positively. If you could have dinner with three style influencers, who would they be? David Beckham, LeBron James and A$AP Rocky. Âť
Who is Hamilton Ngubo? Not to be clichéd, but I’d like to think I’m a progressive aspirant afropolitan guy. I know it sounds like I’m just quoting the SABC3 target audience psychographic, but it is unintentionally the more succinct way to describe the intricate mix of who I am. I’m a straight-talking, ambitious guy, who has achieved a lot in small period of time and is redefining social norms.
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Shirt TM Lewin Suit Custom Pocket square Zara Shoes Gucci
If you could have dinner with three style influencers, who would they be? I don’t really have people that have influenced me. I’ve always just been led by my desires or mood. Of late, I have taken a liking to Thapelo Mokoena for his authenticity and simplicity. I am also interested in Riky Rick and how he goes from street fashion to couture.
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Hamilton Ngubo Programming manager at SABC3
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Brian Lehang PGA professional and blogger
Who is Brian Lehang? I am a golfer by profession and a member of the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) of South Africa. I’m also a writer and bloger for fashion publications such as Renaissance Man, South African Fashion Handbook and, of course, Suitable Man blog.
How has SouthAfrican culture influenced your st yle? The culture of Kofifi played a huge role in my style DNA. The old-timers from Sophiatown didn’t need a special occasion to wear a suit – it was a lifestyle. What’s the toughest decision you’ ve ever made in your career? After a car accident at the early stage of my golfing career that injured my back, I decided to stop playing competitive golf and focus on teaching and fashion. »
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Who is Nkuli M? I’m a young man born and raised in a small township in Pretoria West called Atteridgeville. I’m a very passionate person and I fully apply myself in everything I do. Besides media, I’m an entrepreneur, too. How has SouthAfrican culture influenced your style? South Africa has a beautiful story to tell. We live in an electrifying country, bursting with creativity. Our culture is cultivated by colours, and that has influenced my sense of style. I’m the type of person who isn’t afraid to try funky or bold colours in my outfits.
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Nkuli M Actor and entrepreneur
*Blazer C-Squared Shirt Markham Watch Panerai Luminor Marina
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Zareef Mint y Lawyer, author and entrepreneur
Who is Zareef Minty? I’m an innovator, a visionary – someone who sees the biger picture. I am consistently trying to change the status quo, to motivate and inspire the next generation of fashionistas, entrepreneurs and the youth. I’m a lawyer, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, leader, politician and also a best-selling author. I was listed by Forbes Africa as one of their 30 under 30 for 2018 and also made the Mail and Guardian’s 200 Young South Africans. I am also the winner of SABC 1’s One Day Leader. What does best dressed mean to you? Best dressed means respect. It’s the perfect indication of how much selfworth a person has. Dressing well gives you a psychological
advantage. Being the best dressed means you are on the best confidence and psychological level to succeed. People are attracted to people who look and smell good. ‘Dress for success’ is the modern equivalent of ‘clothes maketh the man’ and it is statistically proven that people who dress well make more money, meet more people and then experience more happiness.
How do you define success for yourself? Success means different things to different people. For me, it is all about happiness and options. I want to be extremely happy and impacting people’s lives in a positive way gives me that happiness. Also, the concept of being in control of everything brings a lot of relief and happiness. Most importantly, I believe success is based on the ability to have options, like having the ability to purchase a Lamborghini, even if you don’t want one. The same thing with land, property or anything. Lastly, success means being self-sufficient.
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PROUD PARTNERS:
Photographs by Paul Samuels Creative direction, styling and words by Rusty Beukes Groomer Orli Meiri Fashion editor Mira Leibowitz
Yannick Ilunga Musician Langa Mavuso Musician Martin Magner Creative director Theo Kgosinkwe Musician Youngsta Musician Seth Shezi Lifestyle strategist/writer Theo Ngobz Designer Anele Papu Photographer Brian Lehang Pro golfer Zareef Minty Politician/entrepreneur Hamilton Ngubo TV producer Fhatuwani Mukheli Visual artist Thabiso Makhubela TV host Solo Hip-hop artist Nkuli M Actor Christian van Rooyen Doctor Donavon Goliath Comedian Matthew Rusike Rugby player David West Designer/creative director Kat Sinivasn TV host Faka Music duo Keenan Buchanan Soccer player Shane Eagle Musician MK Frash Founder Hunting for Kicks Jerome Cohen MD Offlimits Communications Yannick Konan Model/actor Nakhane actor/musician Ryle De Morny TV host Palance Dladla Actor Gemaen Taylor TV host Imraan Christians Visual artist/activist TP Pillay Entrepreneur Thato Mahapa Menswear & lifestyle blogger Matt Kieser Founder Sol-Sol Xzavier Zulu Art director Athi-Patra Ruga Artist Akim Jardine Stylist Heavy K Musician Ashley James Entrepreneur Quinton van der Burgh Entrepreneur Katlego Maphai Entrepreneur Patrick Madendjian Marketing & commercial director at Moet Hennessy Joy Komane Creative director Mawande Mdluli Founder of The Groomer SA BEST Cyril Naicker CEO Afrikan DRESSED TOP Soul Headquarters Productions Chris Jafta TV host/actor Vusi Thembekwayo Managing partner at Watermark Afrika Fund Kwesta Musician Nkululeko Legend Manqele Owner The Originals Luigi Vigliotti Owner Shift Espresso
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This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Best Dressed Men were selected by a panel of GQ editors with the assistance of previous winners Click through to read more about our Top Ten GQ.CO.ZA
Your daily update STYLE GROOMING WOMEN FITNESS ENTERTAINMENT SUCCESS LIFESTYLE
@GQsouthafrica
Our pick of the watch world’s coolest, craziest releases of 2018 CARTIER SANTOS DE CARTIER WATCH R97 500
WRIST ASSURED
36MM
39MM
SIZE MATTERS Panerai’s 38mm Due hree Days Automatic earlier in the year should have been a sign, but one thing we didn’t expect from Basel was the aptitude for the watch world’s key players to shrink down their pieces. Hublot’s smallish (still 42mm) Big Bang doesn’t quite count, but Oris’ 36mm Big Crown Pointer Date in bronze and the Tudor Black Bay Fity-Eight at 39mm do. Usually one to go big, Oris turned the form guide upside down here. he dial is combined with gold-plated cathedral hands and the display is classic with hours, minutes, seconds and the date hand on a central axis, while the date track is situated on the periphery of the dial – a Big Crown Pointer Date signature. As for Tudor’s slimmer, smaller case (39mm instead of 41mm and 11.9mm thick instead of 15mm), we’re big fans of this piece retracing its footsteps and going back to the original proportions of the ’50s Big Crown Submariners. Bravo to you both, stay small. Oris Big Crown Pointer Date watch R29 000, Bellagio Jewellers; Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight watch R46 500
As good as (ethical) gold
WORDS BY MICHAEL CHRISTENSEN
Given the year is 2018, there’s a strong argument to sugest everyone should have already woken up to the human and environmental cost of mining gold. Alas, we haven’t, but mini strides are being made in the right direction – namely, with Chopard’s pledge to using 100 per cent ‘ethical’ gold in all its creations, 40 years after it first started smelting its own gold. Actors Colin Firth and Julianne Moore were at Baselworld to hear the announcement and offer movie-star support to this timely initiative. If we were to pick out our favourite new Chopard ethical piece, we’d choose the new LUC Quattro limited edition. POR, Architects of Time
GQ.CO.ZA
NOVEMBER 2018 / 101
Tudor Black Bay S&G watch R71 300
Rolex GMT Master II Rolesor watch R182 500
TWO TONES A hit in the ’80s, steel and gold watches made a big comeback last year courtesy of the Tudor Black Bay S&G. And at Baselworld 2018, two-tone pieces were front of mind especially with the younger generation – Rolex, Tudor, Breitling and Gucci the pick of the bunch. Tudor’s 2018 Black Bay S&G is virtually identical to last year’s – except for the gold Champagne-coloured dial, which elevates the piece in the elegance stakes. With the Gucci G-Timeless two-tone pieces, the snake and cat motifs on the dials add a classy dose of fun – not pretending to
be mechanical watches, rather playful accessories to the fashion house’s range. Georges Kern said Breitling’s Superocean Héritage II B20 Automatic 44mm is one of its best sellers, and it’s easy to see why. his version in steel and gold with a black dial and an Ocean Classic stainless steel bracelet only enhances that claim. Saving the best until last – there’s the Rolex GMT Master II Rolesor in Everose and Oystersteel. A stunning piece, you really need to see it in the lesh to appreciate its weight and beauty. And did we mention its new-generation movement with 70-hour power reserve?
ORANGE REALLY IS THE NEW BLACK Whether or not Prince Harry made being ginger cool, we’ll never know, but we’re certain his infamous mop of hair has something to do with the watch world’s sudden obsession with the second colour in the rainbow. Two’s a coincidence, but we count at least four which, in our book is a certified trend.
BELL & ROSS BR V2-94
TAG HEUER MONACO
PATEK PHILIPPE
ALPINA ALPINERX
RACING BIRD WATCH
GULF SPECIAL EDITION
5968A AQUANAUT
WATCH, POR*
R72 000 AT BELLAGIO
50TH ANNIVERSARY
CHRONOGRAPH
JEWELLERS
WATCH R90 000
WATCH, POR*
Levi’s ‘Orange Tab’ jeans spring to mind.
AT PICOT & MOSS
We’re talking Hermès gift-bag territory.
Full-on unapologetic ginger, aka Ed Sheeran and Damian Lewis.
When you read Penguin Books.
W O R D S B Y M I C H A E L C H R I S T E N S E N , A M Y C A M P B E L L . *AVA I L A B L E V I A I M P O R T O N LY
Gucci G-Timeless watch R16 000
Breitling Superocean Héritage II B20 Automatic 44mm watch POR
DEEP DIVING
LONGINES LEGEND DIVER
Any rumours of the dive watch’s demise are greatly exagerated – on the contrary, the market is as popular as ever. To prove it, here are four handsome new examples
An icon in the Swiss watchmaker’s Heritage line, today’s Legend Diver is reimagined from the ’60s. While the design elements remain typical of the original, it draws modern expertise to add better legibility, waterresistance and practicality to the latest edition. Coated in black PVD, it succeeds at being both elegant and a performance piece. R35 000
BELL & ROSS BR 03-92 DIVER BLUE In 2017, the Frenchies surprised us by adding a dive version of the classic square piece. It was a shock because the combination of dive watch elements (hello round rotating bezel) and dashboard-like square case can prove difficult. Alas it ended up being one of last year’s coolest picks. The 2018 edition is blue with yellow accents. And yes, you heard correct, there is a bronze version available, too. R60 000 at Bellagio Jewellers
SEIKO PROSPEX DIVER 300M HI-BEAT SLA025
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe Day Date 70s Yes we know Blancpain’s iconic Fifty Fathoms Bathyscaphe is a ’50s-inspired watch, but for 2018 the brand decided to add a little funk to the party, to create some ’70s magic. Limited to 500 pieces, the new Bathyscaphe Day Date 70s exhibits a sexy gradient dial with a stylised minute track and a daydate complication. POR at Swatch Group
Last year saw Seiko’s remake of the 62MAS diver generate a worthy amount of column inches and embellished the brand’s great pedigree in the dive watch realm. Using the same recipe, Seiko reissued the Automatic Diver 300m Ref. 6159-7001 – its first ever hi-beat diver, with the aim to directly target loyal Seiko collectors (if you remember the original 1968 piece, you’re in the club). Updates include a calibre 8L55, specially designed for diving. POR
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ROTARY GREENWICH Founded in Switzerland in 1895, Rotary gained a big market share in the UK after becoming the official watch of the British army in 1940. While paying homage to its heritage, the Greenwich collection blends watch making dexterity with quintessentially British design, in an eye-catching skeleton setup that offers increased depth. R7 500 at Luxco
TAG HEUER CARRERA HEUER 02 CALIBER
THRICE AS NICE Hybrids aren’t just better for the roads anymore – Frédérique Constant thinks they’re great for your wrist, too. Combining three unique technologies for the irst time in Swiss watchmaking, the new Hybrid Manufacture 3.0 brings together an in-house calibre movement, swart watch functions (displayed via smartphone app), and caliber analytics to monitor the watch’s mechanical functions – and notify you if service or repair is needed. POR at Picot & Moss
TAG Heuer’s made a few iconic watches over time, but few as recognizable as the Carrera, now in its 55th year. The new the Carrera Heuer 02 Calibre sports the modern skeleton dial in a 43mm case and an in-house movement that honours the art of haute horlogerie. We’re especially fans of the carbon version. POR, tagheuer.com
Apple Watch Series 4 R7 999 at myistore.co.za
Michel Herbelin Newport Connect R13 950 at Luxco Inspired by The America’s Cup, the Newport adds elegance to the smartwatch experience.
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FRÉDÉRIQUE CONSTANT CLASSIC WORLDTIMER MANUFACTURE True to its name, the new Classic Worldtimer Manufacture allows you to track time in 24 cities worldwide, with a gorgeous world map etched into its dial. All functions are adjustable via the crown itself – a design which dispenses with unsightly buttons for a look and feel that’s made all the more luxe with its green alligator strap. R54 495 at Picot & Moss
W O D R S B Y N K O S I YAT I K H U M A L O
The world’s most popular smartwatch gets a remastered everything and all-new healthtracking tech.
GQ.CO.ZA
W H E R E T H E B E ST D R E S S E D, D R E S S. Khaliques is the destination for the best dressed. From luxury Italian fabrics to suiting style, to suit every taste. Renowned for quality, attention to service detail and outstanding value for money.
The Khaliques Group of Companies include:
SCR
TIME
» The summer sun is getting is part of the season’s Photographs by Karl Rogers
1 1. Nivea Sun Protect & Moisture Sun Spray SPF50+ 300ml R200 2. Piz Buin In Sun SPF30 Ultra Light Sun Spray 200ml R250 3. Eucerin Sun Face Oil Control Dry Touch SPF50+ 50ml R215 4. Caribbean Tan Tan in a Can Gradual Self Tan 200ml R100
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4 JUST LIKE YOU WOULD BE TAKING PRECAUTIONS where your other summer seasonal shenanigans are concerned, frolicking unprotected in the sun is no exception. Opt for sunscreens that offer both UVA and UVB protection. The sun isn’t only enemy number one in the fight against the most commonly occurring skin cancers, it’s also set on speeding up the signs of ageing. That’s a strong no from us for both of those. If you experience damage from prolonged sun exposure, have an after-sun on hand that’ll get straight to repairing, soothing and hydrating skin cells. For more of our favourite products visit 106 / NOVEMBER 2018 GQ.CO.ZA
hotter, and while that isn’t good news, we get that being outside celebrations. Here’s how to take care while you’re at it Edited by Bernd Fischer
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APPLYING SUNSCREEN MAY FEEL LIKE AN ADDITIONAL STEP to your already tedious grooming routine, but you’ll continue to hear us say it’s crucial. And manufacturers have made it easy for you: formulas have become super lightweight, water-resistant and with packaging including pumphandle sprays and sticks for hard-toreach places. And – for the more adventurous out there – why not ditch the sun altogether and fake it till you make it? We just have one more hard no from us: don’t overdo it like Trump. »
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5. Vichy Capital Idéal Soleil After Sun SOS Balm 100ml R235 6. Nivea Sun Protect & Sensitive SPF50 200ml R185 7. Optiphi Solar Shield SPF50 Sunscreen 100ml R424 8. Dermalogica Protection 50 Sport SPF50 150ml R600
1. Jimmy Choo Man Blue 100ml R1 110 2. Avon Attraction for Him EDT 30ml R255 3. Bulgari Man Wood Essence EDP 100ml R1 640 4. Narciso Rodriguez for Him Bleu Noir EDP 100ml R1 345 5. Hollister Free Wave 100ml R725 6. Dior Sauvage EDP 100ml R1 795 7. United Colors of Benetton Colors Man Green 100ml R515
While some may prefer to pack their bags and escape to actual nature, if the thought of leaving the confines of your city walls makes you shudder, now’s the time to trade in your corporate colognes for fragrances with aromatic and woody accords – it’s like being outdoors, without leaving your couch or comfort zone. Hey, we’re not judging.
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Strike the right accord When it comes to selecting a new signature scent this season, take it back to nature’s basics GQ.CO.ZA
The best 5 products for your nether regions right now How to keep things cool and dry this summer
W O R D S B Y A D A M H U R LY. A D D I T I O N A L W O R D S B Y B E R N D F I S C H E R . P H O T O G R A P H B Y K A R L R O G E R S
đ SWAMP ASS SETS IN DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS, but man-musk is perennial. (hat’s our polite way of bringing attention to the crotch-y smells that linger no matter the season.) here’s always a threat of funky dampness – whether from nerves, thermal underwear, or genetics. hat’s why we all need a year-round solution for staying cool and dry – but not dried out, a ine distinction – in the, cough cough, southern hemisphere. Here are a few products that will keep you fresh down there whenever.
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PINAUD CLUBMAN TALC POWDER
This is the time-tested classic, the old standby, the baseline on which all other talc powders are judged. You can’t get the same ROI on any other powder: for just seventy bucks, you get two hundred and fifty five grams of a two-centuriesold recipe, with zero frills. 255g R70
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It’s not the first time you’d be seeing this brand in our grooming pages and the reason for that is simple: they offer hassle-free yet consistent goods for the modern man. Expect a fine-textured talc-free powder, with green tea, cucumber and lavender extracts – the first two aimed at tackling inflammation and bacteria respectively, and the latter to soften and soothe skin. 170g R395
Real talk: until the ’70s, talcum-based powders were unregulated, and many contained cancercausing asbestos. Now, talc products used in the home are void of this carcinogen, but some people still prefer going talc-less, as a safety precaution. Realer talk: MenScience’s talc-free powder is made primarily with cornstarch and zinc oxide; you get the same freshness with none of the controversy. 100g R412
JACK BLACK DRY DOWN FRICTIONFREE POWDER
MENSCIENCE ADVANCED BODY POWDER
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You’re a dude, and you get sweaty all over. There’s no shame in that, just as there’s no shame in using your fresh-scented body spray all over your body to minimise sweat’s odour. After spraying your upper half, give your thighs a hit of this neutraliser before getting dressed; it’ll keep things from getting musky throughout the day. (Ed’s note: don’t spray it directly on your bits, though; just target the upper thighs.) 150ml R29
You might associate Johnson’s with babies. But, before you stop reading, think carefully: isn’t one of the first things people notice about babies how incredible they smell? Exactly. Also, as the name clearly sugests, this Hygiene Powder isn’t aimed to infantilise you. It just does its job, which is to absorb excess moisture and to keep the skin odour-free. It’s also an excellent aid where chaffing is concerned. 200g R40
OLD SPICE DEODORANT SPRAY SWAGGER
JOHNSON’S HYGIENE POWDER
G E N T L E M E N ’ S Q U A R T E R LY
Directory FASHION EDITOR’S CHOICE MIRA LEIBOWITZ
Kappa makes a comeback We’re so ready to feel the nostalgia with Kappa’s latest unisex designs. Integrating their core relationship with sportswear with 2018’s love of athleisure, the iconic ’90s brand feels more refreshed than ever; introducing wide-leg jeans, cropped jackets, and dungarees all branded with the classic logo that so effortlessly brings the brand back to its roots. ●
Available at Kappa Concept stores from mid-November
Alpina alpinawatches.com Bellagio Jewellers bellagiojewellers. co.za Breitling breitling.com Bulgari 011-883-1325 C-Squared 021-555-1905 Cartier cartier.com Chopard Boutique 021-421-4296 Gucci 021-418-2793 Hugo Boss 021-421-3052 Kurt Geiger 010-493-4120 Luxco luxco.co.za Patek Philippe patek.com Picot & Moss 021-421-8539 Rolex rolex.com Seiko seikowatches.com Spaghetti Mafia 021-424-0696 Swatch Group Swatchgroup.com TM Lewin 021-419-8766 Tiger of Sweden 021-418-1345 Tudor tudorwatch.com Versace 021-418-3051 Zara 021-446-8700
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110 / NOVEMBER 2018
CONDÉ NAST INTERNATIONAL CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE: JONATHAN NEWHOUSE PRESIDENT: WOLFGANG BLAU
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L as t Word
The best and worst film sequels Charting Hollywood’s biggest critical and commercial hits – and misses THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)
CRITICS LOVED
SPIDER-MAN 2 (2004)
BEFORE SUNSET (2004) THE GODFATHER (1974)
TOY STORY 2 (1999)
STAR WARS EPISODE VII: THE FORCE AWAKENS (2015)
BLADE RUNNER 2049 (2017)
NEIGHBORS 2: SORORITY RISING (2016)
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS (2016) EVAN ALMIGHTY (2007)
THE HANGOVER PART II (2011)
THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER’S WAR (2016) GREASE 2 (1982)
JOHNNY ENGLISH REBORN (2011)
HOT TUB TIME MACHINE 2 (2016)
STAYING ALIVE (1983)
SPEED 2: CRUISE CONTROL (1997)
ZOOLANDER 2 (2016)
SEX AND THE CITY 2 (2010)
CRITICS LOATHED 112 / NOVEMBER 2018
GQ.CO.ZA
WORDS BY AMY CAMPBELL. PHOTOGRAPHS SUPPLIED BY IMDB
BOX OFFICE FLOP
ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES (1993)
SHREK 2 (2004)
BOX OFFICE HIT
TERMINATOR 2 (1991)