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82 Politics

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Editor’s letter Tate Modern welcomes back the GQ Men Of The Year Awards with (double-jabbed) open arms.

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Britain’s youth voters don’t want to change society – they want fairer access to it. Only if the left can harness that energy will it succeed at the polls.

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Details

102

Take your trainers technicolour; the GQ Car Awards wave the chequered flag on 2021; from Hull to London, graffitist Xenz on the art of ecology; the Style Shrink saves your black-tie season.

GQ Preview This month’s events, products and garms.

106 Watches As the Tudor Black Bay adds the Fifty-Eight Bronze to its celebrated roster, GQ’s Contributing Luxury Editor tips his hat to a brand within a brand that punches well above its weight.

52

Style Collab connoisseur Moncler scales the fashion summit with post-lockdown outerwear.

54

Comedy Bob Mortimer shares tall tales and home truths in his new memoir.

106

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Cars Celebrating its 50th anniversary, Lamborghini’s space-age Countach gets a 21st-century rebuild; plus, a daily drive triple threat.

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Luxury

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216 The thing Tommy Hilfiger on the personal connection between his private yacht and his flagship brand.

From Celine to Cire Trudon, GQ sheds light on the olfactory alchemy behind your new flame: scented candles.

72

Taste Niklas Ekstedt fires up Great Scotland Yard Hotel; Nocturne toasts the Roaring Twenties; Ollie Dabbous serves his essentials.

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OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 23

Photograph Will Crooks

Beeple wears jacket, £545. Shirt, £99. Trousers, £209. Bow tie, £55. Shoes, £279. All by Boss. boss.com

109

From masters of make-believe, such as NFT artist Beeple and actor Sir Anthony Hopkins, to the realest queens of 2021 (stand up, you vaccine heroes), welcome, live and in person, to the GQ Men Of The Year Awards!

OCTOBER 2021 GQ.CO .UK 25

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IN CINEMAS SEPTEMBER 30

Editor’s Letter

Bobby Gillespie, this year’s recipient of GQ’s Outstanding Contribution award

Photograph Sarah Piantadosi

‘Touch, I remember touch...’

I

t might, to some, seem a bit frivolous to be throwing an awards ceremony at a time like this. In truth, when we were putting together the GQ Men Of The Year Awards last year – with the vaccination programme but a moonshot and the autumn wave of the pandemic cresting in full grizzly style – we all agreed: go digital, cancel the parties, take the champagne off ice, hold the air-kissing and stop all that touchyfeely hugging.

Begrudgingly, we did just that. Twelve months ago, the scientists, doctors, nurses, school teachers and frontline workers all needed more time, more of our stoic patience (and more pay), to heroically wrestle this virus into submission.

Last year, the gongs and the speeches could – and should – wait. Stay home, mix a killer Negroni,

complete Netflix and leave another batch of hash brownies on the doorstep of your mother-in-law.

Of course, we still managed to produce a bombastic awards issue of the magazine last year, together with an incredible awards show that streamed live on YouTube. Hosted by the one and only Jack Whitehall (loved your ’fits in Jungle Cruise, by the way), we were, albeit somewhat more quietly, able to honour the likes of Michaela Coel (for her unparalleled creative tour de force I May Destroy You), Marcus Rashford (for his role in holding the government to account in regards to its atrocious decisions regarding free school meals), the artist Charlie Mackesy and, the late, great Captain Sir Tom Moore.

I remember being on a shoot with photographer Mariano Vivanco last summer, deep in the throes of putting together that issue, with another of last year’s winners, our Breakthrough Actor Of The Year, Paul Mescal. The young >>

This year, it did feel right to welcome our guests and throw one hell of a Covid-secure party OCTOBER 2021 GQ. CO.UK 41

EDITORÕS LETTER >> Irish star was collecting a GQ gong for his unforgettable appearance as Connell Waldron in the BBC adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People. I was fortunate enough to get to know him a little and interview him for the magazine.

That show with Mescal and costar Daisy EdgarJones was itself a welcome creative reprieve from all the failed homeschooling, the damned baking and teary, drunken sessions on Houseparty; one that helped get many of us through the pandemic’s earliest, darkest days and nights. On hearing that there wouldn’t be an actual awards ceremony, however, Mescal took a serious drag on his cigarette and gave me strict instructions: “Listen, next year [2021], when life is, hopefully, back somewhat to normal, you better promise to have a big, fuck-off party and you’d better be inviting me. OK, Jonathan?”

Well, Paul, I was taking notes.

By the time this issue of British GQ comes out, you should still be nursing a sore head from two nights prior; either that or we’re both still singing from the rooftop of Tate Modern, dinner suits drenched in sweat, with an endless caravan of Espresso Martinis and lots of hand sanitiser. Yes, distinguished guests (and readers), I am thrilled to say that the GQ Men Of The Year Awards, in association with Boss, returned like never before, live and in person. This time, it did feel right to welcome our guests and commercial partners (thank you to Maddox Gallery, Peroni and Deezer), clients and colleagues, award winners and prolific presenters and throw one hell of a Covid-secure party. We even had Sabrina and Idris Elba hosting – honestly, pinch me. (It went without saying if your name wasn’t vaxxed, you weren’t coming in...)

A

s ever, I need to congratulate the teams behind not only the awards event itself, but also this very issue; I merely stand on the shoulders of giants here. Our creative director, Paul Solomons, once again conjured the art across all platforms, be that the live event, the covers or our digital products. His vision has always been one of this magazine brand’s superpowers.

Associate Editor Stuart McGurk should also be thanked, not only for his writing and editing, but his skills as a talent wrangler have been invaluable; quite simply none of this would have happened without him.

I must also thank Condé Nast Europe’s Managing Director, Natalia Gamero del Castillo, and Deputy Managing Director, Albert Read, as well as our commercial team, led by the unflappable, everdashing Nick Sargent.

Special thanks must also go to Events Director Michelle Russell and Producer James Williams, whose perseverance and skills are some of this brand’s best-kept secrets. Also my thanks to GQ’s Art Director, Kevin Fay, Photographic Director, Robin Key, and GQ’s digital and social media crew, Robert Leedham and Hannah Blacklock, who have steered GQ.co.uk through a period not lacking in challenges.

Finally, I would like to extend my immense gratitude to our umbrella sponsor Boss, including the brand’s new CEO, Daniel Grieder, and its PR and marketing director, Taranjit Goodwin.

This year marks an astonishing nine-year partnership between British GQ and Boss, in which together we have managed to deliver an unparalleled number of zeitgeist-defining cultural moments. The reach and legacy of this event is down to Boss’ invaluable, unwavering support.

It’s been an incredible run and we can’t wait to sit down with Daniel and Taranjit to talk about how we can shape the GQ Awards, editorial and events for the next nine years. The future starts now.

Welcome back, everyone. Pop a cork and enjoy this very special awards issue. G

Men Of The Year has delivered an unparalleled number of zeitgeist moments

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s watch collection is as action-packed as you’d expect

We’ve taken a deep dive into the Predator and Terminator actor’s watch collection, from an ultrarare Panerai Pre Vendôme Luminor to a classic Audemars Piguet.

Furry shoes are all the rage

The world’s most important menswear designers seem to be going nuts for fluffy, furry, Big Footfriendly shoes right now.

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Jonathan Heaf

Chief Content Officer, British GQ Follow us

@britishgq 44 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Fifa 22 gives goalkeepers their long-overdue glory

The latest release in the franchise is a tale of small changes that add up to a more organic game and goalkeepers are finally getting their day in the sun.

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STORE_79 BREWER STREET_LONDON_W1F 9ZN

fall winter 2021

Contributors

Photograph Alice Zoo

Paul Solomons

Rebecca Myers

Danny Kasirye

This issue, GQ contributor Rebecca Myers, who covered the Olympics in Tokyo for the Sunday Times, wrote about why Team GB deserve to win Outstanding Achievement at the GQ Men Of The Year Awards 2021. “The Olympic Games is not usually an event where you hear ‘It’s the taking part that counts’,” says Myers. “In Tokyo, however, it was poignant and true.”

Ed Sheeran is GQ’s Solo Artist Of The Year and photographer Danny Kasirye shot him for the interview feature and one of this issue’s nine covers. “It was such a pleasure shooting Ed,” says Kasirye. “Funnily enough, I had actually taken his picture before, when I had first picked up a camera seven years ago. It was a nice little ‘full circle’ moment for me.”

Over the past few months, GQ Creative Director Paul Solomons has headed our art team for his 17th and final GQ Men Of The Year Awards, which culminates in this issue. “This portfolio has given me many of my fondest memories during my 20 years at GQ,” says Solomons.

“My deepest thanks go to all of the talent, contributors and staff who have helped me produce these issues. I hope you have enjoyed reading them as much as I have enjoyed making them.”

Sirin Kale

Stuart McGurk

John Phipps

To mark their Heroes win at this year’s awards, the scientists behind the Oxford/ AstraZeneca vaccine were profiled by GQ contributor Sirin Kale.

“Meeting Sarah Gilbert and Catherine Green, I felt conscious of the incredible significance of the work they’d done,” says Kale. “But they were so disarmingly modest that it almost seemed normal work to them.”

For this month’s special Men Of The Year issue, GQ Associate Editor Stuart McGurk oversaw the editorial portfolio of winners for his tenth – and final – time. “While we have some incredible winners this year, from Quentin Tarantino to Sir Anthony Hopkins,” says McGurk, “being able to honour the scientists behind the Oxford/ AstraZeneca vaccine is a career highlight.”

With the publication of his first novel, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino is our Writer Of The Year and GQ contributor John Phipps profiled the directorturned-author. “What’s more exciting than talking to someone who changed your life?” asks Phipps. “There’s a version of me somewhere in the multiverse that never saw Tarantino’s movies as a teenager. Poor guy.” G OCTOBER 2021 GQ. CO.UK 49

featuring sam claflin AVAILABLE AT FLANNELS.COM AND SELECT FLANNELS STORES

Edited by

Charlie Burton

+

Photograph Mark Clennon

Sing-rap is taking over... and Lil Tjay is leading the charge – p.89

This month: Why HBO’s The White Lotus could only be made in lockdown p.67 Enough with the Trump books already! p.68 The UK’s sceniest new restaurant p.72 OCTOBER 2021 GQ. CO.UK 51

Consider this your wardrobe apex Moncler’s new 1952 collection is peak post-lockdown activewear Story by

Teo van den Broeke Photographs by Elliott Morgan Styling by Angelo Mitakos

52 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Grooming Aga Dobosz Model Del W at AMCK Models Location London Fields Stronghold Climbing Centre

D E TA I L S Ð S T Y L E

GIlet, £775. Jacket, £1,055. Trousers, £405. All by 2 Moncler 1952. moncler.com. Vest, stylist’s own.

Opposite: Jacket, £1,105. Sweatshirt, £405. Trousers, £405. Shoes, £365.

All by 2 Moncler 1952. moncler.com.

Socks by Falke, £13. falke.com.

Vest, stylist’s own.

I

talian outerwear brand Moncler was one of the first luxury labels to harness the power of high-fashion collaborations to full effect. With its Moncler Genius project, the brand has teamed up with everyone from Pierpaolo Piccioli to Craig Green.

Now, for AW21, it has looked closer to home for its directional 2 Moncler 1952 offering, working with designer Sergio Zambon to create a collection that is part lockdown-inspired loungewear, part comfy urban outerwear, part outdoorsy climbing gear – the kind with which the brand first made its name back in the early 1950s. “Basically, the collection is a mix of the cosy stuff we used to wear during lockdown mixed with outerwear,” explains Zambon. “It is like going out in the street straight from your bed, with your pillow and a vintage version of pool slippers,” he continues. “The opposite inspiration is, of course, the longing for the thing I like the most: travel.”

OCTOBER 2021 GQ. CO.UK 53

D E TA I L S Ð C O M E D Y

‘Loads of people are funnier than me. I’m just lucky’

Bob Mortimer’s memoir reflects life and near death (with perhaps a few tall tales along the way)

Bob Mortimer went from Big Nights Out with Vic Reeves to quiet nights in watching TV, but his life hasn’t all been fun and laughter bars with peppermint cuddles. As he reveals in his autobiography, there has also been shyness, depression, grief and open-heart surgery... none of which have put him off ‘car meat’ Story by Paul Henderson

I

t is 19 February 1996 and Jarvis Cocker has been “arrested” by security at the Brit Awards for storming the stage during Michael Jackson’s all-kinds-of-wrong performance of “Earth Song”.

The normally mild-mannered Pulp frontman had been so enraged by Wacko Jacko’s act – the King Of Pop was suspended from a crane at the time, in full Messiah mode, surrounded by children – that he took matters into his own hands and protest-mooned the peak-Britpop crowd that included Oasis and Blur, David Bowie and Chris Evans. In the ensuing chaos, Jarvis had been roughly removed and detained in a Portakabin.

And just when you thought this story couldn’t get any more 1990s, here is the best bit. Oblivious to all the controversy, comedy royalty Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer are at the height of their Shooting Stars fame making merry at the backstage bar when someone asks the question, “Is there a lawyer in the house?

Michael Jackson’s goons have grabbed Jarvis.” A slightly bleary Bob snaps to attention and his legal training kicks in. “It was really intimidating and the atmosphere was terrible,” Mortimer, who had been a solicitor before answering the call of comedy, remembers.

“I’d had a drink but I was quite forceful and I convinced a police officer I was Jarvis’ lawyer, so I got in to see him and we managed to sort it out. Later that evening, Jim [Moir, AKA Vic Reeves] beat Liam Gallagher in an arm wrestle... But that’s another story.”

Mortimer laughs and flashes his boyish daft-lad grin. When it came to writing his autobiography, the 62-year-old explains, his attitude was to include all the most memorable stories that had the biggest impact on his life and then simply weave them together. Some are funny, some are sad and painfully poignant and plenty are delightfully and deliberately ridiculous (there is even one about how he came to squeeze the biggest spot of all time, but he may be taking the pus), yet together they make a wonderfully entertaining and surprisingly poignant tale. “I’m not a writer,” he says modestly. “I would describe myself as an usually melancholic, occasionally sprightly, sometimes-worth-listeningto TV-watching dad-next-door, but I wanted this to be my book with my voice. And most of the stories in And Away... are true...

There are only a couple of chapters where I put some lies in.”

As anyone who has seen him on the panel show Would I Lie To You? will know, Mortimer is a consummate fibber. He is also, as far as his career goes, half of one of the greatest double acts in

‘I convinced a police officer I was Jarvis’ lawyer... Later that evening, [Vic Reeves] beat Liam Gallagher in an arm wrestle’ 54 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

From staying in to, er, staying in the car, here are Bob Mortimer’s three favourite things in the world...

Watching TV

“Television is my best friend. I love it. My favourite TV show at the moment is The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills.”

Going to bed

“As silly as it sounds, I just love going to bed. Sometimes I spend the whole day just looking forward to it.”

Being on my own in the car

“I love a solo long journey, listening to a crime podcast and eating ‘car meats’ – particularly the Scotch egg, which is very vehicle friendly.”

comedy history (Vic & Bob), an enthusiastic but clumsy fisherman (Gone Fishing), a master podcaster (Athletico Mince) and a bona fide camp-a-choo-choo-drinking comic genius (all of the above).

He is also, as he reveals in his book, someone who suffered from crippling shyness for much of his early life, endured five years of debilitating depression in his early twenties, spent the best part of a decade battling “imposter syndrome” and a lifetime coming to terms with the impact of his father’s death when he was just seven. “I didn’t realise how important it was losing my dad until I was about 50,” he tells me. “That is what has defined who I am.”

And if all that wasn’t enough, in late 2015 he survived a triple bypass in which his heart was “dead” for 32 minutes and subsequently gave him a new lease of life. After the surgery, artist Damien Hirst visited and gifted Mortimer an ox heart in formaldehyde that “inspired me and gave me hope that I would be OK”.

But just in case you were thinking Mortimer is now living each day as if it were his last, he would like people to know that he really isn’t. “Honestly, I don’t go out that much,” he says proudly.

“Most nights you will find me at home, in front of the TV with the wife and our two cats, Mavis and Goodmonson.” However, about once a year he will go into London with his showbiz pals Matt Berry (Toast Of London) and Reece Shearsmith (The League Of Gentlemen; Inside No 9) for a gossip, a giggle and to discuss which of their “less talented but suddenly hugely popular” comedy peers have inexplicably found themselves dining at “the Lucky Table”.

And right now, Mortimer has no hesitation in admitting he is not only sitting at the head of the Lucky Table, but he is also perched on the Lucky Throne, wearing the Lucky Crown and occasionally scratching his Lucky Arse or adjusting his Lucky Balls. “That’s funny,” he says. “Because there are so many funnier people than me wherever I go. My friends, lads in the South Stand at Middlesbrough, even my brothers are funnier than me. I know they are. I’m not even the funniest person in my family. So, yeah, I’m lucky, lucky, lucky.”

AND AWAY... BY BOB MORTIMER (SIMON & SCHUSTER, £20) IS OUT ON 16 SEPTEMBER.

Anti-magnetic.

5-day power reserve.

10-year warranty.

The new Aquis Date is powered by Oris Calibre 400.

A new movement.

The new standard

D E TA I L S Ð H O R O L O G Y

You can have any colour you like. So long as it’s...

The new Omega Seamaster Diver 300M: so black they named it twice. Meet the Black Black Story by Charlie Burton

Crystal The sapphire crystal has been given a treatment on both sides to ensure that reflections don’t obscure the subtle contrasts on which the watch’s readability depends.

Movement The Calibre 8806 movement is a certified Master Chronometer, approved by METAS, resistant to magnetic fields reaching 15,000 gauss.

Lume Unusual dark SuperLumiNova means the indexes, hands, 12 o’clock dot and diving scale don’t detract from the blackness when they’re not glowing.

T

he watch world’s dark ages began very recently. Sure, since the 1970s makers have experimented with black cases and dials, but a watch where the indexes, hands, subregisters, bezel gradations – the whole shebang – is blacked out? This now relatively commonplace trend only began about 15 years ago – and not everybody does it well. See, handled badly, an all-black watch looks flat and is therefore completely illegible. How do you ensure at-a-glance readability when the colour palette is colourless?

That’s the challenge that Omega confronted

Ceramic To create the black ceramic, Omega takes zirconium oxide and cooks it with iron at 1,400C.

head on when designing its new Seamaster Diver 300M Black Black. This entirely black 43.5mm ceramic piece (yes, even the helium escape valve and crown are made from the material) has four different finishes, achieved with lasers, that heighten contrast between different elements of the watch. Look at how the smooth diving scale stands out from the ablated bezel, for instance. Or take the wave motif on the dial, which is something that comes as standard on a Seamaster Diver 300M but here serves to distinguish the handset.

Flip it over and you’ll see the only bit of the watch that isn’t black: the Calibre 8806 movement, a state-of-the-art Co-Axial Master Chronometer. While the advanced engineering inside a watch is often at odds with the more traditional design cues of the exterior, here the two go hand in hand. As with Omega’s allblack Speedmaster from 2015, the blackness defamiliarises the Seamaster’s design and recasts it as an object of the future. Bright idea, no? £7,410. OMEGAWATCHES.COM

OCTOBER 2021 GQ. CO.UK 57

D E TA I L S Ð F R A M E

E

rik Torstensson doesn’t want you to buy more of his stuff. “I want you to slowly replace your wardrobe with my stuff and for you to be able to keep it for longer,” he says with a grin. That’s the big idea behind Frame’s imminent menswear relaunch, the brand of which he is both founder and creative director.

“This new vision for us is all about form, fit and function – and about creating pieces that real men will want to wear.”

Torstensson is a fashion industry polymath.

For starters, he’s one of Business Of Fashion’s 500 most influential professionals in the world.

He’s also the cofounder of Wednesday Agency Group, Man About Town magazine and the person who launched Mr Porter with Natalie Massenet.

All this before he changed tack to found Frame in 2012. “For many years, menswear was like the forgotten stepchild,” Torstensson says playfully.

“Our womenswear took off and was very successful on a number of different levels, so our men’s was always on the back burner.”

If you’re familiar with the brand, this may come as a surprise. Over the past nine years, Frame has established itself as a go-to source of elevated wardrobe staples for both men and women, stocked by the likes of Mr Porter and Matches Fashion. Even so, Torstensson is determined to raise its game. “I decided last year that if I was going to put my name to it, Frame’s menswear had to be based on what I believe in: dressing a man’s character rather than following fashion.”

Shirt, £285. T-shirt, £75. Jeans, £305. All by Frame. frame-store.com. Shoes, model’s own.

Frame’s style hit squad T takes down fast fashion Erik Torstensson has assembled a crack crew to put more high-grade staples in your wardrobe… and keep them there Story by

Aleksandar Cvetkovic Rollneck by Frame, £505. frame-store. com. Sunglasses, model’s own.

o realise this new direction, during the first UK lockdown Torstensson pulled together a “menswear swat team” who were tasked with designing what a modern man’s “wearable” wardrobe could look like. Frame’s new CEO, Nicolas Dreyfus (formerly global CEO of The Kooples), also brought a wealth of experience to the table. “My strategy was to work with the team to propose a new system of dressing,” Torstensson continues. “I wanted a blueprint for men of all ages to be able to put something together.”

This blueprint underpins Frame’s new Fall 2021 collection, which features three tight sub-collections. The first is “Modern Classics”: “True staples that are perhaps just ten or 15 per cent more directional than you might find elsewhere, like the tailored overcoat or cashmere sweater you fall in love with and keep for 20 years.” Then comes “Smart Comfort”, Frame’s response to the “casualisation” of menswear that’s been accelerated by pandemic life; standout pieces include technical padded blazers, nylon gilets and tapered drawstring trousers with discreet cargo pockets. These two ranges are anchored by the third collection, “Denim”, comprising refined versions of those long-standing designs the brand has built its name on – truckers, jeans and cords – many of which use the same high-performing characteristics seen in Modern Classics and Smart Comfort. “We’ve got antimicrobial and biodegradable denim running through the collection,” Torstensson says. Other pieces feature stretch fabrics, breathable fabrications and the brand is experimenting with waterless denim for 2022 too.

At the heart of all of this, however, lies an emphasis on slow fashion – these are pieces designed to last for many years. It’s something Torstensson thinks other designers should embrace too, especially in a world where, postCovid-19, we’ve all had time for reflection. “It’s more important than ever for you to have a long-term view,” he says. “Social media, quickturnaround production and throwaway trends create enormous stress for fashion brands, but it can take 50 years to build a company or turn one around. I think it’s very healthy for brands to remember this, especially in today’s landscape.”

‘Frame’s new vision is about form, fit, function’

58 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

#ThisIsYourTime

TISSOT prx automatic.

A SWISS MADE THROWBACK TO A FLAGSHIP TISSOT DESIGN FROM 1978.

T I S S OT WATC H E S . C O M

The car that fell to earth Fifty years ago, the Lamborghini Countach arrived like a UFO. Now it is reborn in 2021 and it still looks out of this world Story by

Jason Barlow

N

ineteen seventy-one: this was the year that finally faced up to the huge legacy of the previous decade and said, “Now we do things differently.”

David Hepworth’s sublime book 1971 – Never A Dull Moment: Rock’s Golden Year dissects the year’s incomparable musical milestones – Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On and David Bowie’s Hunky Dory to name two – but there was creative fever in the automotive world too. At that year’s Geneva Salon, Lamborghini unveiled the Countach LP500, a design study that completely reset the coordinates for the coming decade.

Its creator, Marcello Gandini, had already sent car design spinning in a quasi sci-fi direction at Bertone with 1968’s Alfa Romeo Carabo and 1970’s Lancia Stratos Zero. This pair saw the Italian design house reject the curves and sensuality epitomised in Lamborghini’s Miura to create a spectacular new idiom. No one expected it to make the hyperspace jump to reality, but the still-young Bolognese supercar maker ran with Gandini’s vision for 1974’s production version. “This was a car that really shocked,” Lamborghini’s chief technical officer, Maurizio Reggiani, tells GQ. “It arrived in the world like a UFO.”

60 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Old and new design elements combine in the 50th anniversary Lamborghini Countach

Here was a rare example of a car that became a cultural phenomenon, which lit up the 1970s and bestrode the 1980s too, as it sprouted priapic wings and wheel arch extensions in a way that mirrored an egocentric new attitude (remember the Quaalude scene in Scorsese’s The Wolf Of Wall Street?), its mid-mounted V12 eventually gaining four valves per cylinder to make 414bhp.

So imagine the scale of the challenge Lamborghini faced when it decided to do a 50th anniversary homage. This could have been a zerosum game were it not for the people involved and the quality of the execution. Lamborghini’s design boss is a guy called Mitja Borkert, who has form in his past life at Porsche: he did the Mission E Concept that prefigured the Taycan and he also had the temerity to reimagine another automotive lodestar, the Porsche 917. That one didn’t make it, but the new Countach is alive and well,

D E TA I L S Ð C A R S

NEED TO KNOW Engine 6.5-litre 804bhp V12 Performance 0-62mph in 2.8 seconds; top speed, 221mph Price £2 million Contact lamborghini.com

will be produced in a run of just 112 units and is yours for somewhere in the vicinity of £2 million.

Its full name is Countach LPI 800-4 and its technical spec will be familiar to anyone acquainted with the recent Sián hypercar. The truth is, this isn’t a wholly new car but another spin on the hard points that underpin the hugely successful Aventador and its derivatives. But this is our kind of spin: the engine is a 6.5-litre V12 that produces 770bhp under its own steam, aided and abetted by a 48-volt electric motor that throws another 34bhp into the mix.

The “I” part of LPI stands for Ibrido (hybrid), indicating Lamborghini’s tentative first steps on a road that will eventually culminate in full electrification. Typically, there is a degree of Lambo wilfulness here: the e-motor is directly connected to the wheels and that extra power is there primarily to ride out the torque interruption during gear changes. It’s also fed by a supercapacitor rather than a lithium-ion battery and has a greater power density as a result.

But really this is about how the car looks. In difficult times there’s a tendency to raid the past for succour, but the car industry has thankfully weaned itself off retro. Like Land Rover’s latest Defender, the Countach envisions a car that never ceased production, instead cycling through the iterations it might have enjoyed if it had continued. The result is a car that is quintessentially Countach, without a hint of pastiche.

“The Countach went through a lot of versions during its life, so the idea was to have a clean, timeless design for this one,” Lamborghini CEO Stephan Winkelmann tells us. “We wanted to highlight the signature elements: the squaredoff wheel arches, the quad exhaust and the air intakes. We didn’t want to overload the car.

“This is a pure celebration of something that happened 50 years ago. I don’t like retro cars; I prefer to have a forward-looking vision. But the original didn’t just change Lamborghini’s DNA, it changed everything in the world of super sports cars. So this is a valid exercise. The Countach is always the reference car. It was the first of a kind.”

And now it’s back.

Car pool What else GQ has been driving this month...

DS 9 Oddly enough, being different in 2021 means rejecting the SUV and embracing one of the oldest car forms of them all – the saloon – and also swerving the tyrannous need to be sporty at all costs. DS Automobiles is a French brand that prioritises sumptuous interior design and remarkable refinement over handling smarts, although the 9 glides down the road with a pliancy and hush that chimes with the push for mindfulness in general. Go for “Opera” spec for maximum luxury, nappa leather and pearl stitching. If Louis Vuitton did cars, this might be the result.

From £40,615. dsautomobiles.co.uk

Audi R8 Spyder V10 Performance The legendary R8 Spyder should, by rights, feel like yesterday’s news. And yet, despite having turned heads (and turbo-rattled teeth) for more than a decade, this everyday supercar is still delivering shock, awe and shit-eating grins galore. The numbers alone are enough to get us hot and bothered: the 5.2-litre V10 produces 612bhp, 0-62mph in 3.2 seconds, a top speed of 204mph and the roof goes down in 20 seconds flat. But it’s the way it sounds that lives longest in the memory.

When electric cars eventually rule the world, GQ will miss the sonic soundtrack of the R8 Spyder more than anything.

From £163,580. audi.co.uk

‘The new Countach is a pure celebration of the original 50-year-old car’ Peugeot 508 Sport Engineered

The new Countach (left) alongside the original concept, first shown in Geneva in 1971

Related to the DS 9 but on a performance mission, this 508 builds out on what may well be the best-looking mainstream car currently on sale. It’s technically fascinating: its 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine makes 197bhp, but coupled to that are a pair of electric motors worth another 108bhp on the front axle and 111bhp on the rear, plus a 11.5kWh battery – except that it’s not all working at the same time, with peak power limited to 355bhp. It’s all about bandwidth, including a pure electric mode good for 26 miles, as well as more aggressive chassis configurations. Different, fast and desirable.

From £53,995. peugeot.co.uk OCTOBER 2021 GQ. CO.UK 61

D E TA I L S Ð E N T R E P R E N E U R

Ethan Brown has been conducting a lab-based quest for better plant-based meat alternatives since founding Beyond Meat in 2009. Today, foodies can order his products in 119,000 outlets in more than 80 countries worldwide.

Here’s what he’s learned...

Cross the streams When you take something from one field and apply it to another, and you’re the first to do that, you can be successful. I was working in energy for a company that was making proton-exchange membrane fuel cells. I was going to conferences with the [US] Department Of Energy and others, talking about hundreds of billions of dollars of investment necessary to set up a world that runs on renewable energy. So I was used to the idea that if there’s a global problem, you try to put together the best engineers and scientists in the world and let them do what they’re good at. Before we started doing this [developing plant-based meat alternatives], there were a lot of very talented people in the food business who were doing it, but they were approaching it as a culinary exercise that had some food scientists [helping them]. What we tried to do was take that mentality of the best engineers, best scientists, robust budgets, a big mission and bring that to food.

Hire people who build systems, rather than rely on them Let’s say we have 800 employees. You hire someone from Ford and they come in and they say, “Wait a minute, there’s not the right systems here. And I can’t believe it.” You’ve got to look them in the eye and say, “Did you expect it?

Why? You’re coming from a massive company [of 186,000 employees].” So we want people who come in here and take ownership of growth.

62 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

The

SECRETS of MY SUCCESS Ethan Brown, founder of Beyond Meat Story by

Thomas Barrie

a brand you could point to and say, “Look, we’re killing it at Walmart, at Whole Foods, etc.”

Lose the safety net A CEO is paid to take risks. People that start businesses but hedge too much just don’t get the growth they want to get. It’s crazy advice, but you have to remove the safety net if you really want to be successful. So trying to do it while you have another job [is a mistake]. I went through all my finances... then my mind started to focus!

The future isn’t necessarily remote

Don’t hide your failures

Profile Age 49 Born Washington, DC Lives Los Angeles Relationship status Married with two children

By the time someone has reached me [for interview], it really comes down to intangibles: how badly they want it; how they deal with adversity. Often, you’ll see something on their résumé that maybe was a failure – maybe someone took a turn in their career when they decided to start their own business and it didn’t work. They shouldn’t hide that. That’s a really great thing. I say, “Oh, tell me all about that and how you rebounded.”

Supply-side, name recognition still matters I started the business selling into restaurants, hospitals, hotels and universities. In 2012, the New York Times had done a front-page “Sunday Review” article on the quality of our then chicken product. I felt so confident in the quality of the product we had that I hired a nationwide sales team in food service. And it didn’t work. Basically, we hadn’t built the retail brand. People wanted to see if their customers wanted it and we didn’t have the level of awareness that you needed. Even if the consumer was heading this direction, the people I was talking to in the back offices were lagging behind. [We needed to] build

For my industry, you need to be here in the office, because what we’re doing is so full of challenges that require group connectivity. When you’re trying to launch a new product, it’s the moments in and out of meetings that matter so much and nonverbal cues and communications are so important.

Trying to rally a team and keep a team intensely engaged in a distributed workforce is hard. I think people’s expectations have changed [during the pandemic], but this is a very important part of our business.

Read lots of books at once For anyone who is interested in entrepreneurship and innovation, Steven Johnson is a terrific writer. One of the things he writes about, which I follow, is reading in quick succession.

Have four or five different books going [at the same time], keep notes about them in the same notepad and then your brain starts to make these connections across adjacencies. One of my favourite books is The Everything Store [by Brad Stone] and I think Loonshots by Safi Bahcall is a really good book on how to create a culture of innovation. I had him come speak to the company, I liked it so much. And I just sent Warren Buffett’s The Making Of An American Capitalist to a younger colleague here. I read a lot. I don’t understand how people generate new ideas without reading.

D E TA I L S – L U X U R Y

What does your scented candle say about you?

Actually it says a lot, the menace Teo van den Broeke

nce the preserve of the world’s snootier fashion boutiques, spas and madams’ boudoirs, scented candles have, over the past decade or so, risen to the same level of masculine must-have as a go-to fragrance or pair of lucky pulling pants. The truth is, however, that far from being a one-size-fits-all situation (that Yankee Candle you picked up in Sainsbury’s will not cut the wax, rest assured), there’s a specific art to figuring out which flaming fragrance disseminator will best suit your home. If you’re a Barolo drinker, for instance, and have a thing for ponyskin sofas, you’ll probably want to try Cire Trudon’s Ernesto for size. If, on the other hand, you’re a little fruitier by nature, Jo Malone London’s Pomegranate Noir might be the one for you. See, told you it was complicated.

If you want to look chic AF Celine’s new scented candle line is the embodiment of Gallic “look-at-me-don’t-lookat-me” elan. With one swipe of a match you’ll be as cool as Hedi Slimane and Serge Gainsbourg (left, with Jane Birkin) rolled into one. Promettre.

Tambour Noir by Celine, £75. celine.com

If you are absolutely fucking fabulous

If you ate too many penny sweets as a child

If you’re more of a summer person

If you’ve got a bit of a kinky side

An orgy of leather, lavender, sage and iris, this banging scented candle from the master of souped-up sexiness, Tom Ford, does precisely what it says on the tin (and then some).

Sweet and dense, not unlike a Black Jack, Jo Malone’s Pomegranate Noir is laced with notes of pomegranate (duh), guaiac wood and patchouli and smells good enough to eat.

As bright as orange peel and as rich as Campari, this summer-laced candle from Acqua Di Parma will transport you to the Amalfi Coast, even if it’s tricky to travel there right now.

Smoked through with notes of tobacco and leather, Cire Trudon’s Ernesto is also a favourite of Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing, so you know what you’re getting yourself in for.

Fucking Fabulous by Tom Ford, £98. tomford.co.uk

Pomegranate Noir by Jo Malone London, £50. jomalone.co.uk

Aperitivo In Terrazza by Acqua Di Parma, £55. acquadiparma.com

Ernesto by Cire Trudon, from £35. trudon.co.uk

64 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Photograph Getty Images

Story by

Three days of live, in-person interaction, conversation and entertainment with the world’s biggest names in business, fashion, technology, sport and culture

First speakers announced...

Guy Berryman Coldplay bassist and founder of the Road Rat magazine and fashion label Applied Art Forms.

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II American actor and star of The Trial Of The Chicago 7 and the highly anticipated Matrix sequel.

Ben Francis Entrepreneur and founder of fitness brand Gymshark, which in 2020 was valued at £1 billion.

Billie Piper Olivier Award-winning actor and star and cocreator of Sky Atlantic’s I Hate Suzie.

Riz Ahmed Actor, producer, director, musician and Oscar-nominated star of Sound Of Metal.

Griff Pop singer-songwriter and this year’s winner of the Brits Rising Star award.

Olly Alexander Singer-songwriter, LGBTQ+ advocate and lead of critically acclaimed drama It’s A Sin.

Matt Haig Journalist and bestselling author of Reasons To Stay Alive and The Midnight Library.

To register interest for tickets and accommodation, sign up now at

gqheroes.com

3 - 5 November 2021, Soho Farmhouse, Oxfordshire

D E TA I L S Ð T E L E V I S I O N

The White Lotus is dark, weird and completely brilliant But it would never have been commissioned were it not for Covid Story by

Stuart McGurk

for whom the quiet intimacy of vacation is a slow-burn torture of microaggressions and culture clashes (he’s from money; she is not). There’s the Mossbacher family, also of mismatched wealth (Nicole, played by Connie Britton, is a rich CFO; her husband, played by Steve Zahn, feels emasculated as a consequence), who spar with their sulkily woke daughter (Sydney Sweeney), who is against their own white privilege, just not enough to have stayed at home. There is Tanya, a woozy emotionally raw heiress (Jennifer Coolidge, whose performance deserves every award going), who has arrived to scatter her late mother’s ashes and who sucks everyone she can into her emotional orbit. And buzzing around them all is the tight-grinned hotel manager, Armond (Murray Bartlett), whose own battle to stay off the booze and the drugs... Let’s just say it doesn’t go well.

W

Mike White’s scathing examination of privilege features (right, from left) Sydney Sweeney and Brittany O’Grady

Photograph Home Box Office, Inc

L

The result is not only one of the darkest, ast summer, TV showrunner Mike White was cooped up at home and doom-flicking smartest shows of the year – the genesis of the the news channels like the rest of us when mismatched couple having expanded to be an acute social satire about wealth, privilege, power he got a call from HBO: the prestige US cable and sex that follows several of the resort’s guests channel was in trouble. The pandemic had caused – but also, frankly, one of the weirdest. severe delays to some of its productions and shut others down entirely. And while film companies The White Lotus starts with a typically splashy setup. We see one of the guests, an entitled douche chose to simply shift their major releases back a guy from a wealthy New York family, waiting for year, that was hardly an option for a subscription his flight home on his own after the holiday is cable channel: without any new shows, it ran over. He explains to fellow travellers that someone the risk of those subscriptions being cancelled. died during his time at the resort and And so it asked White, who had a rep Not a lot that he was there on his honeymoon. as a fast writer and is best known for He does not explain where his wife is.

Enlightened, if he had any Covid-safe happens...

So far, so murder mystery. Except, well, ideas up his sleeve. White had always but it’s not a murder mystery at all. In fact, wanted to make a show about a couple everything right up until the penultimate episode on honeymoon suddenly realising they matters – which contains the only moment of had wildly different values. And while genuine violence in the show – you almost forget he knew it would have to be more than that, he about the setup entirely. Instead, you find yourself also knew that, for once, he was holding all the sucked into a tense, tight series of interlocking cards. Maybe, he thought, he’ll just be able to go character studies that have more to say about our and do exactly the show he wanted to do. current anxieties and alienations than any other The idea was this: the production would essenshow on TV. It’s a biting social commentary in tially rent out an entire luxury resort (the Four Seasons in Maui, Hawaii, shut down at the time) which not a lot happens – they’re on an island, after all – but everything matters. and so create a Covid-safe filming bubble for all the cast and crew. White began writing in August There’s the aforementioned couple, Shane and Rachel (Jake Lacy and Alexandra Daddario), and they started filming in October.

atching TWL you wonder if there’s any way this would have been commissioned in a pre-Covid world.

Even by the standards of slow-burn TV, it’s distinctly action free and beyond the dead body MacGuffin there’s hardly a high-concept sell to speak of. But the tightly wound manager sets the tone: the realisation that it’s only on holiday, when the distractions of the everyday are no longer taking up our time, that we finally face everything that was festering all along. The result isn’t relaxation, but almost permanent agitation (even the show’s soundtrack is jumpy). And at the root of it all: wealth. It’s most obvious in the misguided marriage of the newlyweds, of course, and it’s clearly there in the Mossbachers, not least in their daughter’s college friend, Paula (Brittany O’Grady), the only guest who isn’t white and who embarks on an ill-fated liaison with one of the staff. And just as importantly it’s there in the disparity between the guests and the staff themselves, including the casual cruelty that privilege often provides. This is no better shown than when Tanya befriends spa manager Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) with the seemingly well-intentioned encouragement to set up her own spa... and maybe she could invest? This would be life-changing for Belinda, but we always suspect it’s never more than narcissistic manipulation: Tanya’s way of ensuring someone has to listen to her.

The show is only six episodes, but it’s a marvel.

Who knew what we were really missing in Covid times was the holiday from hell?

THE WHITE LOTUS IS ON SKY ATLANTIC NOW.

+ The GQ black book: life-improving contacts from our Rolodex of insiders Tim Pateman, hairstylist to the stars For a long time, the only way to have your hair cut by Tim Pateman (left) was to know someone who could introduce you. He didn’t have a salon, he didn’t have a website, he had a number – a number that was lodged in the phones of a good chunk of the “it” crowd. These were typically people whose hair he had cut on the set of photoshoots for brands such as Nike and magazines such as Vanity Fair (musicians, actors, sports stars) and who were so enamoured of the results that they wished to see him privately. Before awards shows, Pateman would find himself driving between hotels and residences to sharpen up the dos of attendees, who counted on him to make them look their best. Inevitably, his roster of clients became so great he had to open a permanent base. The result was his salon, The Lion & The Fox, near London’s Chancery Lane, where even mere mortals can book a haircut with the man himself. That is, if you phone well in advance...

28 HATTON WALL, LONDON EC1. THELIONANDTHEFOX.COM

OCTOBER 2021 GQ. CO.UK 67

D E TA I L S – L I T E R AT U R E already gave us A Very Stable Genius, return to the scene for I Alone Can Fix It: Donald Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year.

And that catastrophic final year is also the subject of a book by the Washington Post’s Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, out this month, and Betrayal by Jonathan Karl, out in November. The odds of any containing profound, paradigm-shifting new insights for the historical record are longer than the odds of Eric Trump becoming president in 2024, but each promises what really matters: the chance to revisit an excitingly chaotic story with fresh morsels of gossip.

Why are we still crazy about Trump books?

Readers remain agog for accounts of the Trump presidency – and, boy, is the publishing world delivering. But the reasons behind it aren’t political, they’re literary... Story by Sam Leith

I

t was the devoutest hope of many people around the world that, after losing power in the 2020 presidential election, Donald J Trump would vanish back into dignified or undignified semi-obscurity. Perhaps he’d eke out his remaining days shuffling about Mara-Lago with his tie trailing on the floor, glad-handing golfers and photobombing the odd wedding party. Perhaps he’d spend years mired in inconclusive legal proceedings or ranting on Gab about the stolen election. It didn’t even matter much what. He just needed to leave the national and international conversation and let nature heal.

That hope was nowhere more fervently held, I suspect, than in the Biden White House. You’ll notice that, like a Hogwarts press conference in which He Who Must Not Be Named is very much not named, the T-word never seems to pass the lips of a White House press spokesperson. You might get a prissy mention of “the previous administration” and Biden has been known to refer to “the other guy”, but you don’t hear the name of Trump all that often. It’s like they hope if they don’t say his name he’ll disappear. Sleepy Joe just wants politics to be boring again: technocratic, moderate, gradualist, competent and not more personality-driven than necessary.

Well, good luck with that. For, alas and alack, the media and publishing industries have other ideas. How can

Biden expect a clear run, a calm framing of a new era, when all anyone is really interested in is looking at the scratches and gashes left behind from the last guy chewing the scenery?

“I am not only witty in myself,” says Shakespeare’s Falstaff, “but the cause that wit is in other men.” To adapt the quote for another distinctively Shakespearean figure, Donald Trump is not much for books himself – but he is the cause of books in other men. You might imagine by now that there was no Washington journalist who had not written a book on the Trump administration, no unindicted co-conspirator or short-lived White House employee who had not shovelled out a tellall memoir. But my goodness, they keep coming. And they keep selling.

Two of the biggest names in high-end US journalism, Michael Lewis and Lawrence Wright, have just released accounts of the first pandemic year – which is to say, in large part, accounts of the Trump administration’s response to Covid-19. Another – Nightmare Scenario, written by a pair of Washington Post reporters – covers the same territory.

Many are returning for a second or even a third bite of the cherry. Michael Wolff is on his third Trump book – following Fire And Fury and Siege with Landslide, which taken together sounds like the elevator pitch for the Bruce Willis movie someone wisely declined to make.

Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, who

Trump’s ‘good copy’. And that’s the problem

68 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Trump still looms large in a slew of new books from major political writers

T

rump might no longer have juice – at least not outside the increasingly demented Republican Party – but he remains juicy. He is, in a way perhaps no other president ever has been, what we in the trade call “good copy”. And that’s the problem. I said he was “Shakespearian” and I did not mean it idly. Could you imagine Biden being, as Trump was, the inspiration for a controversial New York production of Julius Caesar?

Trump’s rise, Trump’s pomp, Trump’s fall and Trump’s sputtering attempts to create himself a fourth act amid circling legal problems, rumours of family betrayal and the ongoing insanity of QAnon... these things are not the stuff of regular Beltway reporting but of grippingly vulgar melodrama. Succession and Game Of Thrones are the comparators for which people reach.

Ordinarily, a reheated account of a year-old period of political history – a few fresh quotes here, a few extra details there – appeals to only a tiny minority of political obsessives. But the reading public clearly remains agog for new accounts of the last days of Trump and they are agog essentially for literary reasons rather than political ones. It’s all about the narrative.

That may seem to be to one side of politics, but narrative can have more impact on a nation’s fate than politics ever can. Storytelling feeds politics. It was, after all, Trump’s narrative charisma that got us here in the first place. If he hadn’t been so damn interesting, well, nobody would have been interested in him. And it’s damnably difficult to pull the spotlight away from him now by saying, “Look at me, over here, fellas! I’m soberly and sensibly getting on with the important stuff!”

Ironic, given all the evidence suggesting that he’s never read even his own books all the way through, that Trump has become a literary figure of sorts.

He is something more dangerous and compelling than a politician, now: he’s a myth.

Tr a n s f o r m t h e w o r l d y o u w a l k i n

Discover Spherica, the new Geox comfort concept that gives you an incredible cushion beneath your feet, thanks to its innovative Zero Shock system featuring ultra-soft sole spheres.

Find out more instore and on geox.com

Autumn Winter 2021 triumphmotorcycles.co.uk/GQ

Triumph Motorcycles Lifestyle Collection does not include body armour as does not provide the same CE protection as rider wear

Menswear Lifestyle Collection

Chef Niklas Ekstedt (bottom) brings his open-flame cooking concept to London

The Restaurant

A song of ice and fire Niklas Ekstedt brings the heat and a taste of Scandi noir to Great Scotland Yard Hotel Story by Millicia West

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his month sees Swedish chef Niklas Ekstedt bring his signature old Nordic style to one of London’s most historic buildings, Great Scotland Yard. But how can Ekstedt, whose Stockholm restaurant famously swerves conventional (and convenient) gas and electricity in favour of fire in all its forms, make the leap to a multiservice hotel restaurant?

“That’s the challenge,” he says, laughing, “but it’s all part of the fun.”

Whether three-pin plugs will feature on Ekstedt At The Yard’s floor plan remains to be seen, but it’s clear that the chef’s steadfast commitment to using “natural heat, soot, ash, smoke and fire” will carry forward to the capital. “They are my DNA, my philosophy,” he explains. “I’ve been researching techniques brought over by the Vikings in 1066, so I’m excited to see how we can explore and evolve those ideas.” As is Scandi-standard, pickles, ferments and cultures, alongside freshly churned butter and bread, will all be made in-house.

Though Ekstedt is keen for the London restaurant to forge a distinct identity from his flagship’s Michelin-starred formula, he has spent Sweden’s long lockdown revisiting menus and will use the most popular dishes of the past decade as a launchpad for his latest project. The dish he is most excited to debut? It’s a tie between oyster flambadou with smoked apple and beurre blanc nasturtium and the cep soufflé with birch ice cream and blueberries. As for the drinks offering, expect a curated lineup of low-intervention organic wines and a focus on foraged cocktails, which will nod to childhood memories of roaming the forests and fields of Järpen... just with a higher ABV. 3-5 GREAT SCOTLAND YARD, LONDON SW1. 020 7925 4700. EKSTEDTATTHEYARD.COM

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D E TA I L S – TA S T E The Bar

The Roundup

Lakes superior Three essential Cumbrian destinations

All night long Nocturne is bringing back Prohibition, but in a good way

“Prohibition” bars might be well covered on the London scene, but Nocturne in South Kensington – a collaboration between barman Steve Pineau and sommelier Xavier Rousset – proves there’s life in the old theme yet.

Where Pineau has created a killer cocktail list of “Vintage”, “Pre-Prohibition” and “Prohibition” serves, Rousset’s section of the menu champions winemakers from France and Italy, with wines at affordable price points and served by the glass. GQ recommends kick-starting your evening with the Leeds 1920s (a lemon- and lime-infused tequila cocktail topped with Champagne), before moving on to wine with nibbles.

As with the venue upstairs, artisan cheese and British charcuterie are the order of the day, with a rotating selection covering the likes of Cornish chorizo, venison, Golden Cross goats’ cheese and Montgomery cheddar. If you have a dinner reservation afterwards, do keep your eye on the time, because it’s easy to get lost in the glamour of this sophisticated, dimly lit spot.

The interiors are, of course, in keeping with the era, from charmingly mismatched furniture and antique mirrors to a piano and a bookable blackjack and poker room. At any given point, it feels like a gaggle of glittering flappers might just foxtrot right past your table. Kathleen Johnston 158 OLD BROMPTON ROAD, LONDON SW5.

020 7373 1367. NOCTURNEBAR.CO.UK

Rothay Manor

The Ro

Storrs Hall

Rothay Bridge, Ambleside, Cumbria LA22 0EH. rothaymanor.co.uk

Helm Road, Bowness-On-Windermere, Windermere LA23 3BA. therohotel.com

Storrs Park, Bowness-On-Windermere, Windermere LA23 3LG. storrshall.com

Fresh from a major refurb, this old manor house has been tastefully developed by new owners Jenna and Jamie Shail into an unmissable 21st-century boutique hotel with an award-winning restaurant.

The hotel formerly known as The Hydro has lost a few letters but gained a brand-spanking-new look thanks to an £8 million makeover, transforming it from uninspiring old school to 87-room style academy (with a pool and spa coming next year).

This adults-only Grade II-listed hotel sits right by Lake Windermere and is a quiet retreat for guests looking for impeccable service, surroundings and the chance to live out those William Wordsworth fantasies.

Eat: Head chef Dan McGeorge won this year’s Great British Menu, so order his locally sourced fivecourse tasting menu (£90) of the same name while you can.

Drink: By all means opt for a local G&T and then wine-pair your way through the menu, but we recommend a pot of Earl Grey (as part of the essential afternoon tea, £24.50).

Eat: Manned by the talented Marc Sanders, Lacu restaurant specialises in Tom Kerridge-style comfort food done very well. Think bao buns with duck (£7.50) and pork belly with savoy cabbage (£19).

Drink: Head for the glass-fronted bar and try the Ro signature cocktail (Lakes rhubarb rosehip, elderflower syrup, prosecco gin, £14.95).

Eat: The views from the lakeside restaurant are good, but the menu is worth paying attention to. Locally caught crab cakes (£12.50) are good, the pan-fried Chalkstream trout (£24.95) even better.

Drink: The Tower Bar is perfect for pre-dinner drinks. Try the local Lakes whisky (The Whiskymaker’s Reserve No 1, £22) created by master blender Dhavall Gandhi. Paul Henderson

The Bottle

We predict a Champagne riot Because Telmont’s Réserve Brut is one to shout about The Champagne Riots of 1911 might not have been in your school syllabus, but they were formative for France’s most famous sparkling wine region. Along with the key quality and classification systems of Champagne, their aftermath also saw the birth of another piece of history: the estate of Champagne Telmont. This fourth-generation family producer is still a true pioneer, aiming to convert all the estate vineyards to organic by 2025 and dedicating itself to biodiversity and renewable energy.

Its range is impressively diverse, from organic and low-sulphur editions to multiple vintage expressions, but the Réserve Brut is the perfect place to start. The large proportion of reserve wines at its heart (up to 40 per cent) lends a depth of fruit and rounded vanilla and the harmony Telmont pursues in the vineyard is echoed in this perfectly balanced Champagne.

Sustainability has never tasted so good. Natasha Britton £50. AT SELFRIDGES. SELFRIDGES.COM

OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 73

D E TA I L S – TA S T E The Book

Small Bites

The campaign for democratic luxury

Where GQ has been eating this month Top tips for hot bits...

Essential by Ollie Dabbous is a home-cooking manifesto for all Lobster thermidor macaroni cheese, from Ollie Dabbous’ new book

Ave Mario The Big Mamma Group serves up another OTT temple to Insta-friendly Italian food, this time in London’s Covent Garden, and it most certainly does not disappoint. Like.

Standout dish: Try a “biga” Alici In Wonderland pizza with ricotta, courgette flowers and anchovies.

15 Henrietta Street, London WC2. bigmammagroup.com

E

ffortlessly down-to-earth and easy-going, Ollie Dabbous (above) might be a warm interviewee but he remains a powerhouse in the kitchen. As executive chef of Hide in London’s Piccadilly, he won a Michelin star within six months of opening and his CV is peppered with culinary showstoppers such as Hibiscus and Noma. However, the recipes in the pages of his new book, Essential, are very much for home use.

“Restaurant dishes have to be exciting, theatrical and sexy,” he says. “The delight of home cooking often lies in the gentle, nuanced and subtle melding of flavours.” Inside his new book you’ll find his perfect croque monsieur (adorned with garlic truffle butter) and family-friendly recipes for meatballs, iced watermelon gazpacho and a simple but spectacular crispy coleslaw with caraway.

The recipe Lobster thermidor macaroni cheese Posh comfort food best served with a glass of chilled champagne...

Ingredients 4 dressed lobsters, shelled

500g whole milk

50g olive oil

plus 50g for the top

150g cheddar, grated,

50g cognac or whisky

60g parmesan, grated,

1 garlic clove, crushed

plus 30g for the top

300g macaroni

½ tsp ground mace

40g salted butter

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

40g plain flour

Pinch of fine sea salt

74 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Nothing complicated. That said, there are some dishes in there that would definitely impress if served up at a dinner party, including a lobster thermidor macaroni cheese (below).

Dabbous admits to being a dessert lover, so there is a hefty section dedicated to after-dinner treats. “The raspberry ripple and vanilla rice pudding is delicious and really not hard at all to make,” he enthuses. Dabbous’ love of food is evident, his relaxed approach infectious, but, more than anything, he wants readers to enjoy the whole process. “Good cooking,” he writes in Essential, “can be enjoyed by all, irrespective of income: it’s a true democratic luxury.” Cass Farrar

Seoul Bird Chef/restaurateur/TV personality/ force-of-nature Judy Joo’s new Korean fried chicken concept is a fantastic street-food franchise coming to a flavour town near you.

Standout dish: The fried chicken combo with tater tots and kimchi mac and cheese.

45 Bank Street, Jubilee Place, London E14. seoul-bird.co.uk

ESSENTIAL BY OLLIE DABBOUS (BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING, £30) IS OUT ON 16 SEPTEMBER.

Method Cut lobsters into large pieces. Heat oil in a frying pan over a high heat, salt lobsters lightly, then fry for 30 seconds. Deglaze pan with cognac or whisky, then transfer lobsters to plate.

Fry garlic lightly in a little oil, then pour over lobster.

Boil macaroni for 8-10 minutes in a saucepan of boiling salted water (10g salt for each litre of water). Drain.

Heat grill to its hottest setting.

Melt butter in a saucepan and add flour, whisking to combine. Gradually add milk, whisking until the sauce is smooth, making sure it comes to the boil. Add cheeses, mace and mustard and stir until melted, then mix in macaroni and lobster, reserving a few lobster pieces to scatter on top.

Transfer to gratin dish and top with reserved lobster and extra cheese. Place under a hot grill to glaze.

Tandoor At The Chambers Co-owners Vipan and Manisha Bagga, along with chef Vijay Singh Panwar, have turned this former bank into a superb Punjabi restaurant, where authenticity is spruced up with topnotch ingredients and modern flair.

Standout dish: Kale chaat (with chickpeas, pomegranate and mint) is a house speciality.

188 Queen’s Road, Buckhurst Hill IG9 5BD. tandooratthechambers.co.uk

Jacket by Barbour, £549. barbour.com

Coats of armour Join actor Sam Claflin in styling out the incoming cool weather with Barbour Gold Standard’s new Autumn/Winter collection

W

hen it launched its new premium luxury subbrand Barbour Gold Standard for Autumn/ Winter 2020, the British brand’s musthave collection wasn’t just eminently desirable, it quickly set a new benchmark for outerwear craftsmanship and quality. This should have come as no surprise, of course. It’s well known Barbour has been leading the way and setting new standards for top-of-the-line coats and jackets ever since it first started dressing fishermen in the North East of England all the way back in 1894. Its iconic wax jackets, meanwhile, have become staples of British cool that regularly receive the royal stamp of approval and are worn with pride by everyone from David Beckham to James Bond. Needless to say, then, an air of eager anticipation surrounded the arrival of Barbour Gold Standard’s second Autumn/Winter collection this September.

Naturally, the extensive new range more than lives up to the hype. Informed and inspired by the brand’s own historic archive, which contains original items dating back to 1910, the new Barbour Gold Standard Autumn/Winter collection is the stunning result of more than a

The Urban Pack is made for modern living

76 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

century’s worth of coat-making expertise, now updated and given a fresh modern edge. These are intelligently designed and engineered ergonomic pieces that speak volumes about Barbour’s painstaking attention to detail and look good doing it.

The new collection is split into two halves.

The first, the Heritage Pack, deploys an olive and sage colour scheme and takes inspiration from Barbour’s rich military heritage, with its premium corozo button detailing and leather trims. The second half, the Urban Pack, is the more contemporary part of the collection. As the name suggests, it is specifically designed for the needs of modern city living and features insulated coats presented in a timelessly stylish monochromatic black. These pieces are rugged and hard-wearing, yet sophisticated and refined at the same time.

internationally renowned star of stage and screen. The Moe also features luxurious leatherbound cuffs, classic hand warmer pockets and two spacious bellows pockets, which means there’s always plenty of useful places to carry belongings. Another standout from the new collection is the Barbour Gold Standard Hooke, which features an oversized baffle-quilted outer for a chunkier, urban look. It also comes with a detachable hood, making the jacket a versatile option for colder days, along with a cotton collar and Lycra-bound cuffs. Unbelievably comfortable to wear, it also features more modern detailing such as Velcro-fastened pockets and a stylish shine finish.

Such attention to detail runs through the entirety of the new Autumn/Winter collection.

Whether you find yourself tempted by the traditional colour schemes and vintage detailing of the Heritage Pack or are drawn to the modern cuts and understated style of the all-black Urban Pack, you can feel confident that when purchasing a Barbour Gold Standard piece you’re investing in the finest craftsmanship and quality available. So don’t sleep on it: the whole Barbour Gold Standard Autumn/Winter 2021 range is available now at leading luxury retailer Flannels and directly from barbour.com, as well as at Selfridges, Mr Porter and Harvey Nichols.

It has been 127 years since Barbour first got into the coat business and in that time it’s consistently proved that nobody else takes craftsmanship and quality more seriously. Take the fact, for example, that this year it’s celebrating its centenary of re-waxing, the brand’s longrunning sustainable service, which has helped customers extend the life of their wax jackets for the last 100 years.

Today, Barbour marries heritage with innovation and with the new Barbour Gold Standard Autumn/Winter collection it’s raised the bar yet again. That’s no easy feat after a centuryand-a-quarter in the game. Consider yourself lucky that all you have to do is wear it. G BARBOUR.COM

I

t’s hard to pick out favourites, but the Barbour Gold Standard Moe certainly catches the eye. The jacket is modelled here (far right) by Peaky Blinders actor Sam Claflin, who, before becoming the international face of Barbour Gold Standard, learned a thing or two about the sort of insulation needed for British winters while exploring the countryside around his family home in Norfolk. The Moe, which features a baffle-quilted outer and detachable faux fur hood, is the perfect choice to keep him warm and cosy while still looking like an

Jacket by Barbour, £219. barbour.com

GQ Partnership

The Heritage Pack takes inspiration from Barbour’s military heritage

Coat by Barbour, £399. barbour.com

OCTOBER 2021 GQ. CO.UK 77

ALL NEW

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5-year warranty and 2 years free servicing 2 The official combined fuel consumption figures in mpg (l/100km) for the all new arkana e-tech 145 hybrid are: 56.5 (5.0) and CO2 emissions are 112g/km WLTP figures for comparability purposes. Figures obtained after the battery was fully charged. Actual real-world driving results may vary depending on various factors such as accessories fitted after registration. UK spec may vary. 1 Offer based on All New Arkana E-Tech Hybrid R.S. Line, £7,193 deposit, 36 monthly payments of £249. Optional final payment of £14,743. Excludes metallic paint at £650. PCP Finance provided

by Renault Finance, Rivers Office Park, Denham Way, Maple Cross, Rickmansworth, WD3 9YS. Subject to status. Guarantees and indemnities may be required. You must be a UK resident (excluding the Channel Islands) and over 18. Offer based on 6,000 miles pa, excess mileage 8p per mile inc VAT. Terms and conditions apply. Offers cannot be used with other schemes or finance offers. 2 2 years free servicing available on Arkana E-Tech models. Retail finance customers at participating dealers only. Based on 10,000 miles per annum. T&Cs Apply.

See renault.co.uk/general-maintenance/service-plans. 5-year warranty – 5 years or 100,000 miles (whichever comes first). Exclusions apply visit Renault.co.uk/warranty. Renault UK reserves the right to withdraw or amend this offer at any time, without notice. Prices and offers shown are available on specified new vehicles when ordered by 30th September 2021, registered and financed by 31st December 2021.

D E TA I L S Ð T R E N D S

Hot wheels!

Bring a little joy to your feet with a bright, block-colour sneaker. Dreamcoat optional Story by Teo van den Broeke Photographs by Elliott Morgan Styling by

Angelo Mitakos

I

f you’re thinking about buying yourself a SAD lamp for the forthcoming misery months, don’t bother: they aren’t effective and they cost a bomb. You’d be far better off, in our humble opinion, investing in a pair of the brightest, boldest, block-colour trainers to hit the runways for the AW21 season. Perhaps it was a reaction to the greyscale desolation of the pandemic or maybe the designers were feeling for colour this season (if you don’t get this reference to 2009’s seminal The September Issue then we’re not friends any more), but either way, fully saturated technicolour hues are our call for fall. From Dior and Louis Vuitton’s punchy-hued skate shoes through to Christian Louboutin and Dolce & Gabbana’s coloured-in takes on classic shapes, there’s something to suit every palette.

Dior Trainers, £1,050. dior.com. Trousers by 120% Lino, £228. At matchesfashion.com

Dolce & Gabbana

Kim Jones unveiled a new line of blockcolour skate-cum-basketball shoes for Dior this year, no doubt inspired by his own enormous collection of Air Jordans and Nike Air Force 1 trainers. Taking a lace out of his shoes, you’ll want to collect the set.

Trainers, £695. Jumper, £1,550. Trousers, £895. dolcegabbana.com A souped-up take on a classic 1990s shape, this “Industry Baby”pink sneaker will prove surprisingly easy to wear if your wardrobe is dominated by blue, which, be honest, it probably is.

Louis Vuitton Trainers, £875. Trousers, £695. louisvuitton.com

Socks by Falke, £13. falke.com. Model Del W at AMCK Models

Under Virgil Abloh’s aegis Louis Vuitton has moved in a more bold and sporty direction.

Prime example: this pair of Tango-orange skate shoes, which feature coordinated laces and outsoles for a full-on, hell-for-leather colour-blocked-to-the-blockiest look.

Christian Louboutin Trainers, £575. christianlouboutin.com.

Trousers by Alexander McQueen, £620.

At matchesfashion.com Chartreuse shoes, is it? Well, yes, if the king of fun fashion footwear has anything to do with it. Keep the rest of your outfit muted or you’ll look like a children’s TV presenter.

OCTOBER 2021 GQ. CO.UK 79

The many faces of Andy Gotts In a new exhibition at London’s Maddox Gallery, ‘One Shot Gotts’ shows how to crack facades by cracking wise with the stars Story by

Charlie Burton

I

t was Paul Newman who gave Andy Gotts his nickname.

Newman had flown the photographer out to Connecticut to take his portrait, but within a few minutes of their session beginning, Gotts declared he had everything he needed and drew proceedings to a close. Newman was incredulous. Gotts explained that he had been planning the shoot in his head for months and the fifth picture he had taken was precisely the photo he had been imagining. “You’re ‘One Shot Gotts’!” quipped Newman. The moniker stuck.

The Newman shoot was no anomaly.

Having cut his teeth at press junkets, Gotts had become used to working to a 15-minute time slot – and to this day he never allows a shoot to run any longer.

Unlike many celebrity photographers, he doesn’t work with stylists, groomers or assistants either. No matter if he’s shooting Michael Caine, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro or Kate Moss, it’s just Gotts, a couple of lights and his subject – an approach that explains the candid mood of the portraits. “I try to capture the essence of what makes people ‘them’, not try to make them look beautiful or iconic. That’s not my job,” says Gotts, who is 50 years old and based in London’s Mayfair. “My job isn’t to show George Clooney as Danny Ocean or Harrison Ford as Han Solo. It’s to see what they’re like as human beings when they’re not in front of the camera.”

He has honed two methods for bringing out his subjects’ real selves. The first is simple: he invites them to embrace their inner child. “Ninety-nine point nine per cent of the time they want to be silly and pull faces,” he says. Walk around his new show, Icons, at London’s Maddox Gallery, and you’ll see what a signature this has become. Gotts’ second strategy is to tell “the walrus joke” right at the end of the shoot: “What is the similarity between a walrus and Tupperware? They both like a tight seal.” Whether it prompts confusion, shock or laughter, he’s ready with his finger on the shutter release.

The Maddox show will give you a sense of just how many people have heard that joke. When Stephen Fry wrote the foreword to the exhibition’s accompanying book, he calculated that Gotts has shot more famous people than Annie Leibovitz, David Bailey and Lord Snowdon combined. Gotts’ first book, Degrees, granted

80 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

George Clooney (2003)

him access into those rarefied circles because of its premise: inspired by the “six degrees of Kevin Bacon” theory (the idea that everyone in Hollywood can be linked to Kevin Bacon via their film roles in just six steps), every person he shot would arrange for Gotts to shoot one of their friends – Dustin Hoffman introduced him to Brad Pitt, who introduced him to George Clooney and so on. There was just one rule: if anyone recommended Kevin Bacon the project would be over. “I waited for years,” says Gotts. “One day I got Christian Slater, who was in London doing a play. He said, ‘Who do you need?’ and I said, ‘Do you know Kevin Bacon?’

He said, ‘Yes,’ and I said, ‘Please just say Kevin Bacon,’ and he did.”

Gotts doesn’t draw on the entertainment industry just for subject matter – it has also informed his style. “I’m a movie buff,” he says. “Even from a really young age I was an avid movie watcher.

We had a black-and-white television and on Sundays we’d sit down and watch a Western or a Hitchcock. Watching how black-and-white movies were lit inspired the way I do photography.” His portraits are characterised by shadow, contrast and, with that, a cinematic sense of drama.

‘My job isn’t to show George Clooney as Danny Ocean’

Andy Gotts and Harrison Ford (2014)

F

or Gotts, photographing celebrities is not just about making art, though, it’s also about the adventures. Take, for instance, the time he went to shoot Clooney at his villa on Lake Como. While Clooney was looking for a suitable room to shoot in, Gotts was unloading his equipment and accidentally knocked an encyclopaedia off a bookshelf. Unfortunately, it fell on a duck that had wandered in from the lake. “I had this corpse of a duck under a very heavy encyclopaedia and I was thinking, ‘What the hell do I do?’ So I squashed it behind the sofa and I put a cushion on top of it. Clooney then appeared at the top of the staircase and at that moment there was a muffled quack and a very dazed duck waddled out from behind the sofa. George said, ‘How the hell did that get behind there?’ I told him I had no idea.”

The core frequency of Gotts’ work might be levity, but not all his shots are like that. His favourite of his own pictures, a portrait of Tony Curtis, has an inherent poignance that is amplified by the tale behind it. The day before the shoot in Las Vegas, Curtis phoned to say he wasn’t feeling well but would honour the commitment. The actor just had one request: “Will you make me look like an icon one more time?”

Gotts came up with an idea: painting the flag of America across the actor’s face.

Curtis loved it. Once Gotts got home to London after the shoot, he selected a frame and emailed it to Curtis’ wife, Jill. “She emailed back straight away to say, ‘Andy, Tony collapsed this morning.

Is there any way you can send over a high-res version so I can print it out and show him in the hospital tomorrow to cheer him up?’ I said, ‘Of course,’ and emailed it over. And Jill tells this story where, the next day, she went to the hospital with this A4 picture of my photograph and gave it to Tony. Tony took it in his hands and his eyes were fixated on it for about two minutes nonstop. And he turned to her and said, ‘Jilly, this is the best photograph ever taken of me.’

And he died that afternoon. The last photograph ever taken of him. And it was his favourite.”

ICONS IS AT MADDOX GALLERY UNTIL 19 SEPTEMBER. 9 MADDOX STREET, LONDON W1S. MADDOXGALLERY.COM

D E TA I L S – A R T

Robert De Niro (2015)

OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 81

D E TA I L S Ð P O L I T I C S to bring about structural change – to challenge inequality, for example – is minimal. Support for Labour, which won 62 per cent of 18- to 24-year-old voters in 2019, seems predicated, for the most part, on an endorsement of Labour’s “values” and a protest against the perceived “values” of the Tories, rather than on economic programmes. There are no signs young people are flocking to the revolution.

“What a lot of young people are saying is not ‘We want to push over these structures’ but ‘We want a bit of them’,” says O’Hara. Anything can be co-opted by the establishment, including social liberalism.

Although right-wing politicians and the media that support them know not to alienate their base, they have time to evolve with the turning of society’s wheel. The market economy is forever tweaking its appearance so that its inner workings are protected.

Car adverts are particularly useful in revealing the myths of a society. Marketing is remarkably nimble (though not always subtle) in its appropriation of attitudes their clients have previously either

A ‘youthquake’ can’t save the left But it could redefine what ‘left’ really means Story by

Marcus Rashford after missing his penalty at Euro 2020, 11 July

82 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

George Chesterton

ignored or hindered up to the point when it became commercially expedient for them to change tack. In the 1980s car adverts sold aspiration and wealth; in the 1990s it was freedom and adventure. After the 2008 crash, safety and protection were fetishised, while now adverts reflect our obsessions with identity and self-determination. Who would have believed even five years ago that a campaign for Renault would include the sweeping narrative of a 30-year same-sex love story?

If the young want to opt in, not drop out, the biggest single threat to the status quo is the lack of affordable housing. “Anthony Eden and Margaret Thatcher were right,” says O’Hara. “You’ve got to have a property-owning democracy. Well, we’re not going to have one.”

youth turnout but to an increase in support across all ages, including the over-65s. It is the recurring dream of the old left that rickety Tories will keep dying off to be replaced by young progressives who will stay true to their beliefs as they age. That’s not how politics works.

Tony Blair simply won Tory voters – not the young or the old, but Tories in Tory seats. To a lesser extent that happened again in 2017. That was a matter of persuasion, not demographics.

So if not socialism, then what for our young idealists? “It’s a cliché, but the green agenda will become increasingly important,” says O’Hara. “Look at Germany. Now you look at the Greens in the UK and they are polling over five per cent. And that’s a problem for Labour, because now their left flank is turned.”

We are clinging to a Whiggish teleolog y of national selfimprovement. The footballers have seen to that. There is a presupposition Britain will become a better place. Germany may be a green paradise in the making, but there are other indications that enabling the youth vote is not a panacea for the left, with the right-wing AfD the largest party for the under-30s in 2019 state elections in Thuringia.

Whatever political landscape emerges for today’s millennials and gen Z, it will not be socialism or even social democracy as we have understood it. Never having known the pre-Thatcher nanny state, Britain’s young voters are as individualist and materialist as they are avowedly open on race, gender, mental health and sexuality.

“I think Labour will drop a lot of their more controlling elements,” says O’Hara. “We are seeing the last cry of that kind of very collectivist centralisation. I think a free-trade Britain will appeal to a lot of young people. Alongside that there are ideas such as tougher carbon taxes, community land-owning – but it’ll be local and regional, because it’ll be about their identity and where they live. We’re going to be surprised.”

The old left has lost its monopoly on morality and its claim to be the only alternative to capitalism.

If there is to be a new left – something unknown to us now – it will need to be driven by the young but welcomed by the old. That is the only coalition that really works.

Britain’s young want to opt in, not drop out

T

he other obvious source of dissatisfaction among the young is the electoral system, which denies the parties and policies they favour and rewards those of their parents and grandparents.

In the 2019 general election, 45.3 per cent of all votes were unrepresented (not for the winning candidate).

“First past the post” means there are too many safe seats, breeding more apathy. Younger voters live either in safe Labour urban seats, where their votes don’t change anything, or with their parents in less urban, safe Tory seats, where, you guessed it, their votes don’t change anything.

Young people are also a smaller demographic – yet another structural advantage for the Conservatives. Excluding the over-65s, there are fewer 18and 19-year-olds than any other age in the UK. That will change, but when you factor in low turnout in general elections (47 per cent for 18- to 24-year-olds, compared to 66 per cent for 55 to 64 and 74 per cent for over-65s) you can see why politics appears a game for the stale, if less so the male and pale. “We’ve got these fuddy-duddy parties who don’t have a clue how to appeal to young people,” says O’Hara.

The most common projection for escaping this bind is a progressive coalition standing on electoral reform, but it is just talk for now.

Research into the 2017 general election has shown that Labour’s decent performance (they still lost, after all) was due not to greater

Photograph Getty Images

J

uly 2021 may have been the most solipsistic month in England’s history. Gareth Southgate and his team were hailed by applause-hungry journalists as the embodiment of a previously elusive progressive patriotism and the footballers positioned themselves at the vanguard of a campaign for a militantly tolerant society.

Amid all the self-congratulation there was something odd about how England turned in on itself.

Although it felt like a “moment”, it also felt apolitical and not just because everyone was on the same side. It may seem counterintuitive, but a more tolerant culture does not mean a more left-wing politics.

When it comes to young voters, identity politics is a red herring.

“Young people are very liberal, but they’re libertarian,” says Professor Glen O’Hara of Oxford Brookes University. “They’re not particularly collectivist on economic and social policy, their politics don’t sit neatly on the traditional left/ right spectrum and they’re not very attached to the state.”

If young progressive politics is cultural, not economic, its capacity

GQ Partnership

Welcome to Britain’s most perfectly positioned hotel Set on the banks of glorious Loch Lomond, Cameron House has reopened after a sumptuous restoration. Now, this majestic 17th-century baronial mansion has an interior to match its setting

After a four-year renovation, the 17th-century mansion is now home to modern luxury

S

cotland has its share of iconic panoramas: the view over the Torridon Hills from the summit of Ben Nevis, Glencoe shrouded in the morning mist, Edinburgh from the top of Arthur’s Seat. None, though, can compete with Loch Lomond on a summer morning, its gorgeous blue waters ringed by the forest of The Trossachs, the area’s many Munros lined up moodily in the distance. You almost have to pinch yourself that it’s possible to wake up to such a stunning view, yet there it is, outside the window of your room at the five-star Cameron House, arguably the most perfectly positioned hotel in the whole of the UK.

Housed in a majestic 17th-century baronial mansion, the hotel has been closed for four years, during which it has undergone a root and branch overhaul, elevating everything from its suites to its leisure centre such that the interior now truly matches its incredible setting.

The hotel sits barely 100 metres from the water’s edge at the southern tip of the loch, in the heart of The Trossachs National Park, with its wild Highland romance. And it’s this romantic sensibility that’s been brought to the hotel’s redesign. The place is shot through with a very Caledonian kind of cool: paisley wallpapers, big, bold colours and tartan flourishes. Scottish artisans are very much at the fore, with throws from Johnstons Of Elgin and luxurious headboards made in collaboration with the hip Glasgowbased designers Timorous Beasties.

There are 140 rooms, including 24 suites in the Auld House. Our favourites are the Cameron and Tower Suites, both of which have grand views over the water, luxurious bathrooms and enormous spaces for entertaining guests.

Gorgeous as these suites are, we’d still spend most of our time working our way through the hotel’s six restaurants and five bars. The flagship fine-dining restaurant Tamburrini & Wishart is helmed by Paul Tamburrini and Martin Wishart, whose Restaurant Martin Wishart in Edinburgh holds a Michelin star. They’ll be serving a fivecourse tasting menu that will change every two

weeks with an emphasis on seasonality and the abundant natural larder on their doorstep.

Other dining options include the seriously smart Cameron Grill, serving a menu of contemporary fine dining, and The Boat House, on the shore of Loch Lomond, where you can order heaving plates of Scottish seafood. A grand afternoon tea is served in The Lobby Bar and the hotel even has its own pub, The Tavern, for big-screen sports and big, ballsy Scottish cooking. After dinner, whisky-lovers can beat a path to Great Scots Bar, which has more than 300 different drams on offer.

When it comes to activities, the hotel is blessed with abundant options. Jet- and water-skiing, paddleboarding and kayaking on the loch can all be organised and there are more sedate champagne cruises on the hotel’s handsome boat, moored at the 234-berth marina. The dramatic countryside around the hotel makes for thrilling mountain biking and off-road driving and there’s clay pigeon shooting and brilliant local hiking.

Inside, a comfy 29-seat cinema is perfect for winding down at the end of the day. The hotel also has its own 18-hole championship course, The Carrick, designed by the award-winning Doug Carrick, with glorious views across the water. Created in the traditional Scottish heathland style, it straddles the line between Highlands and Lowlands.

Within the hotel, the family-friendly Leisure Club is centred around a new 18-metre pool and water slide, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking The Trossachs.

As well as a steam room and sauna, there are 50 fitness classes every week and a brand new gym.

Guests can also make use of the Cameron Spa, a tranquil oasis three miles up the road, serviced by a regular shuttle. The spa has abundant treatment rooms, a couples suite, Rasul mud chamber and the Hydro & Thermal experience, with its famous rooftop infinity pool with views of Ben Lomond.

Sitting in the pool, staring out at this astonishing natural splendour, it’s like being in the middle of nowhere, which is something to be said of a hotel just 20 miles from Glasgow Airport.

Thrillingly, you can make this last leg of your journey in a seaplane, which touches down on the loch for a fittingly James Bond-style entrance. G

The hotel has a very Caledonian kind of cool

LOCH LOMOND, WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE, G83 8QZ. 01389 310 777. CAMERONHOUSE.CO.UK

OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 83

D E TA I L S Ð S T Y L E

Years after Del Boy and co drove their Robin Reliant into the sunset, the lewks have swung back into style Story by

Teo van den Broeke

Coat by Loro Piana, £6,205.

At mrporter.com

T

he final series episode of Only Fools And Horses, the Peckham-based sitcom charting the wheelings and dealings of the Trotter family and friends, aired on BBC One in February 1991 (though there were numerous specials thereafter). And although much has changed in the 30 years since (the average price of a flat in Peckham has increased by 800 per cent, for one thing), today pieces we associate with Del Boy, Rodney, Grandad, Uncle Albert et al look weirdly modish. From the lead character’s penchant for shearling coats and gold medallions (very AW21) to the elder’s penchant for sweater vests and duffle coats, the clothes are so on point that we like to think the show’s original costume designer, Robin Stubbs, would be proud. Here are the cushiest OFAH style lessons you should apply to your own wardrobe right now. And if you don’t then, well, you’re a plonker.

Blazer by Etro, £1,000. etro.com

1. Invest in a shearling overcoat

2. Buy a statement blazer now

Del Boy knew where it was at when it came to outerwear. A classic shearling coat, which not even the most highfalutin football pundit would snub, will form the centrepiece of your winter wardrobe for, well, the rest of your winters to come, which means you needn’t be a millionaire for it to be a worthy investment.

No one wore a statement blazer better than Peckham’s favourite halfwit, Trigger. From expanded check numbers, which wouldn’t look out of place on a Prada runway, to electric-blue suits and well-cut tweed jackets, Trigger is a surprise style superstar.

Vest by Polo Ralph Lauren, £219. ralphlauren.co.uk

Coat by Celine, £1,650. celine.com

3. A sweater vest is your best friend

4. You can’t go wrong with camo

We’ve been banging on about sweater vests for a while now and no one wore the style better than Uncle Albert. Team yours with a duffle coat and baker boy hat for full vintage effect. We’ll leave the beard and pipe to your discretion.

Rodney Trotter was rarely seen out of his trademark camo field jacket and neither should you be. Pick one up from an army surplus store or opt for an elevated take on the style from Celine, Aspesi, Polo Ralph Lauren or Saint Laurent.

84 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Photographs Alamy; BBC; Getty Images

Why the Only Fools And Horses crew are your unlikely 2021 fashion spirit animals

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D E TA I L S Ð E X P O S U R E

Jessica Tomson and Daniel Bailey

Life in the fast lane Last month we finally got to celebrate the GQ Car Awards and we partied like it was Freedom Day 2021...

Paul Henderon, Ed Byrne and Jason Barlow

Five months after we revealed the winners of this year’s GQ Car Awards, the easing of Covid-19 restrictions meant we finally got the chance to hand out some trophies in person at The Berkeley and catch up on half a year’s celebrating (don’t worry, we weren’t driving). With guests from Maserati to Mercedes, Volvo to Veloce Racing, a huge range of motoring manufacturers were represented and their award-winning creations – be they stone-cold classics, modern masterpieces or state-of-the-art concepts – comprised one of the most exciting line-ups of vehicles ever assembled. So, with thanks to headline sponsor Michelin, as well as The Berkeley, Laurent-Perrier, Daou and Savile Row Gin, allow us to present the GQ Car Awards 2021 winners in all their finery...

Ian Callum Stephen Lui and Steve Thornton

Photographs by James Mason SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM THE GQ CAR AWARDS 2021 AT BIT.LY/GQCARAWARDS21

Fred Atkins, Alex Babington and Tom Howarth

Thomas Reinhold

86 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Aston Martin and Brough Superior AMB 001

Mazin and Nabil Naamo

Simon Cundey, Ginny Buckley and Marek Reichman

Matt Dunnakey Margareta Mahlstedt

David Green and Richard Agnew

Porsche 911 Carrera S

Jeremy Townsend and Eurig Druce Ben Roth, Daniel Brennan and Graham Kilby

Nicki Shields and Michelle Roberts Paul Henderson, Richard Agnew and Jason Barlow

Mateo Notsuke and Charlie Jukes

The winner of

79

major awards

GQ is the only magazine in Britain dedicated to bringing you the very best in style, investigative journalism, comment, men’s fashion, lifestyle and entertainment.

GQ is the brand to beat 2021 2020 2020 2019 2019 2019 2018 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2017 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2015 2015 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013 2012 2012 2012

BSME Editor Of The Year, Digital PPA 30 Under 30 BSME Writer Of The Year PPA Writer Of The Year PPA New Talent Award Editor, GQ.co.uk PPA New Talent Award Engagement Manager, GQ.co.uk Comment Awards Popular Columnist Of The Year BSME Editor Of The Year Lovie Best Website For Lifestyle Digiday Publishing Awards Europe Best Use Of Facebook Live Digiday Publishing Awards Europe Best Branded Content Program PPA Writer Of The Year AOP Audience Development Team Of The Year CNI Best Brand Financial Performance In Native Advertising CNI Best Native Campaign Of The Year BSME Editor Of The Year Digiday Awards Europe Video Team Of The Year Shots Awards Brand Entertainment Of The Year - Series Ciclope Festival Finalist, Best Direction Lovie Long Form Or Series Video First Place Lovie Long Form Or Series Video People’s Choice DMA Men’s Lifestyle Magazine Of The Year FMJA Stylist Of The Year (GQ Style) BSME Digital Art Director Of The Year DMA Designer Of The Year TCADP Media Award FPA Feature Of The Year FPA Journalist Of The Year Amnesty International Media Award PPA Editor Of The Year FMJA Online Fashion Journalist Of The Year EICA Media Commentator Of The Year DMA Men’s Lifestyle Magazine Of The Year BSME Editor Of The Year FMJA Outstanding Contribution To London Collections Men PPA Magazine Writer Of The Year Mark Boxer Award BSME Editor Of The Year DMA Lifestyle Magazine Of The Year

2012 2012 2011 2011 2010 2010 2010 2010 2009 2008 2007 2007 2007 2007 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2006 2005 2005 2004 2004 2003 2002 2002 2001 2001 2001 2000 2000 1999 1999 1999 1995 1995 1995 1994 1991

Help For Heroes Outstanding Contribution Px3 Prix De La Photographie Paris Gold Medal Foreign Press Association Media Awards, Sports Amnesty International Media Award Amnesty International Media Award One World Media Press Award The Maggies Magazine Cover Of The Year P&G Awards Best Styling (GQ Style) PPA Writer Of The Year BSME Editor Of The Year BSME Magazine Of The Year BSME Brand Building Initiative Of The Year MDA/MJA Press Gazette Awards Best Cover P&G Awards Best Styling (GQ Style) P&G Awards Best Grooming Editor (GQ Style) P&G Awards Best Styling (GQ Style) MDA/MJA Press Gazette Awards Interviewer Of The Year MDA/MJA Press Gazette Awards Best Designed Consumer Magazine MDA/MJA Press Gazette Awards Subbing Team Of The Year PPA Writer Of The Year PPA Writer Of The Year Magazine Design Awards Best Cover Association Of Online Publishers Awards Best Website BSME Magazine Of The Year PPA Writer Of The Year BSME Magazine Of The Year PPA Writer Of The Year BSME Magazine Of The Year PPA Designer Of The Year Printing World Award Total Design Award Jasmine Award Winner Printing World Award Jasmine Award Winner PPA Designer Of The Year Ace Press Award Circulation Ace Press Award Promotion PPA Columnist Of The Year PPA Publisher Of The Year British Press Circulation Award Best Promotion Of A Consumer Magazine

D E TA I L S Ð M U S I C

The new wave of emo-rap sounds nothing like you would expect Exhibit A: Lil Tjay, who gives grim nihilism the veneer of tween pop

Story by

Thomas Barrie

T

ime was, a rapper might not have taken well to being nicknamed “the Bronx Justin Bieber”. But times have changed and Tione Jayden Merritt, AKA Lil Tjay, is one of the baby-faced rappers who have helped change them. The 20-year-old has spent the last three years redefining how hip-hop could – and should – sound, making it more emotive and melodic. So why wouldn’t he own the comparison?

The New Yorker grew up listening to the likes of Bieber and a young Ariana Grande on Nickelodeon. Along with Usher and R Kelly, they inspired Tjay to write verses and by 15 he was recording and uploading music to SoundCloud.

Lil Tjay earned his nickname when he sampled Bieber’s “Baby” on “None Of Your Love”, but if his earliest idols were sugary and innocent, his lyrics are the opposite; in 2018 he released “Brothers”, a perfect three minutes of melodic nihilism (“Bodies drop all the time I don’t feel nothing / Swear to God y’all gon’ make me go kill something”). This was definitively still trap music from the Bronx, written by a kid who did a year in juvie for robbery, it just sounded like Bieber’s tween pop, because Tjay sang like him.

Audiences, and critics, liked it: the video for “Brothers” quickly racked up 100 million views on YouTube, 179m plays on Spotify and led to Tjay signing with Columbia Records.

His first album, True 2 Myself, peaked at No5 in the US in 2019, while his follow-up, Destined 2 Win, featuring Tyga, 6lack, Offset and others, dropped in April. Now, he’s embarking on a tour that visits London’s O2 Academy Brixton in November.

Lil Tjay is just one of a class of young rappers reshaping the confessional hip-hop sub-genre “emo-rap”. This new generation is defined by how deeply they commit to singing lyrics and you might call their gospel- and pop-informed style of autotune vocal delivery “sing-rap”.

Rappers have sung their lyrics before (Drake’s Take Care; Kanye West’s 808s & Heartbreak), but Tjay and co’s style of sing-rap is different: it is wise beyond the years of its young creators, slightly sad for no definable reason and from the heart.

The demand for authenticity extends to admitting complexity, hence Tjay’s openness about watching Nickelodeon as a kid, even as he singraps about doing time. The result is a heady mix of R&B vulnerability and trap defiance unique to his cohort. On second thoughts, maybe that Bieber comparison was a little reductive...

Photograph Getty Images

Lil Tjay’s sing-rap is wise beyond his years

Lil Tjay bridges the gap between melody and traditional trap lyricism

OCTOBER 2021 GQ.CO .UK 89

MA D D OXG A LLERY.COM

NOVEMBER 2021 STREET ART

NOVEMBER 2021 DAVID YARROW

OCTOBER 2021 THE CONNOR BROTHERS AUTUMN CONTEMPORARY

SEPTEMBER 2021 SEPTEMBER 2021 ANDY GOTTS

Featuring cover stars from Michaela Coel to Sir Elton John, GQ Hype is your weekly digital fix of fashion, politics, sport, entertainment, health and travel

Cover drops at 7am every Monday at GQ.co.uk and @BritishGQ

GQ Partnership No two flacons of Bvlgari Man Terrae Essence look the same

Step into nature with Bvlgari With its latest fragrance, Man Terrae Essence, Bvlgari bottles our world and delivers the new jewel in the crown of its lively collection of scents

F

ounded in Rome in 1884 by the Greek silversmith Sotirio Bulgari, the luxury brand that still bears his name is best known for its fine jewellery and watches. However, since 1992, when it introduced its first scent, Eau Parfumée Au Thé Vert, it has also been at the forefront of the fragrance industry. And as in its jewellery empire, where Bvlgari prides itself on finding unique and natural beauty in its gems, the same approach is found in its fragrances.

Whether through the Le Gemme range, which harnesses raw materials such as saffron and

aventurine, or the Man line-up, each olfactory offering has become a synonym for the brand’s affiliation with nature. Bvlgari’s latest precious fragrance, Man Terrae Essence, is no different – an embodiment of the ground on which we walk.

Beginning with fire and representing the origins of man, Bvlgari unleashed its sensual power with Bvlgari Man In Black in 2014 and the brand has since released other variants inspired by the elements of wood and air: Man Wood Essence and Man Glacial Essence. The latest scent celebrates Mother Earth, paying tribute to the power of our planet’s richness and diverse fertility through a warm and effortlessly elegant signature.

The Latin term terrae translates to “of the Earth” and one spritz will take you back to your roots. Many mythologies claimed humanity was created from mud or clay and, today, the woody fragrance of Man Terrae Essence fuses ingredients including earthy geonol, masculine vetiver, subtle carrot essence, patchouli and oak moss. Combined with wood leather, this raw blend represents the vitality of life. This unique and confident accord ebulliently evokes the secrecy and intrigue of the ferny undergrowths and towering canopies of ancient forests the world over, in turn leaving you feeling grounded – as well as smelling exceptionally good.

The master perfumer behind the LVMHowned house’s hearty scent is the award-winning Alberto Morillas, who has worked with Bvlgari since 2000. As he explained to GQ, he wanted “to go back to the essential, to the true value to which the Bvlgari man aspires. It’s a tribute to the richness right under our feet.”

Accordingly, the fragrance is bottled in one of Bvlgari’s most sustainable flacons. Designed to improve our relationship with the natural world, it’s crafted from recyclable glass. Furthermore, it has a collar made of 95 per cent recycled plastic that carries a pattern that’s unique to every bottle. Thanks to a technique in which two colours are freely injected into the main material, each collar is a depiction of the power of nature to create inimitable beauty.

Alongside the launch, Bvlgari is partnering with John Lewis to donate to the World Land Trust.

For each fragrance sold over a set period of time one tree will be planted through WLT’s Plant A Tree programme that supports projects to restore tropical forests in Brazil, Borneo, Kenya and India.

After more than a year of being cooped up indoors, consider this a worthy way to reconnect with the outdoors. G

Man Terrae Essence pays tribute to our planet

£92 FOR 100ML. AT JOHN LEWIS. JOHNLEWIS.COM

OCTOBER 2021 GQ. CO.UK 93

Enjoy the vineyards and sample the regional cuisines in Spain’s gastronomic heartland

RAISE A GLASS TO RIOJA

If you know wine, you’ll already be aware Rioja is having a moment.

If you don’t know wine, even better... because there is just so much to discover Story by

94 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Paul Henderson

GQ Partnership

I

f all you knew about Rioja is that it is a region in northern Spain that produces great red wine, that would probably be enough. However, as discerning drinkers and travellers can testify, there is far more to the story. And with October being Rioja Wine Month – celebrated by retailers and restaurants across the UK with tastings, offers and events – we have the perfect excuse.

For a start, Rioja doesn’t just mean red wine. As Spain’s premier wine-producing region – and the first to acquire the country’s leading Designation Of Origin status (DOCa) – it is a wonderfully rich and vibrant area with more than 65,000 hectares of vineyards, 14,800 grape growers and 567 wineries.

Of course they don’t limit themselves to red!

Their expertise extends to whites (Rioja blanco is usually made from the local viura grape and can be fresh and zesty or rich and full-bodied), dry and fruity rosés (their increasingly popular rosados feature tempranillo and garnacha grapes and deliver intense, ripe berry flavours) and even sparkling varieties (the exciting and decidedly modern Espumoso De Calidad De Rioja), offering some delicious alternatives to the more familiar traditional and hugely popular tinto. And yet despite this diversity, the one thing they all have in common is that every bottle conforms to the quality and craftsmanship that makes Rioja such a special region.

The wine also has a fascinating history. Early Phoenician settlers first experimented with rudimentary winemaking here in the eleventh century BC, before the Romans conquered the region and wasted little time realising Rioja’s rich potential; archaeologists have discovered the remains of presses and wineries dating back more than 2000 years. Winemaking continued through the monasteries in the Middle Ages and by the 19th century, following the French Revolution, Rioja was so well developed it was considered to be a producer of some of the finest wines in the world – a reputation it continues to enjoy to this day.

The wines of Rioja are well known for their aptitude for ageing and the Consejo Regulador DOCa Rioja has a classification system that ensures the quality of the wines, all of which leave the winery perfectly aged and ready to drink. Starting with “Generico” (Generic), this category does not have any specific ageing requirements and the wines are usually joven (young) and tend to be fruity and bold. Next is “Crianza”, which are aged for a couple of years, with at least one of those in an oak barrel for red wine (six months for white and rosé), the rest in bottle.

These wines are more complex, fresh and juicy, often with a subtle note of spice. “Reserva” is where Rioja gets serious. With an ageing requirement of at least three years before release, this produces a balance of fruit and body, with layered flavours from spending longer in oak. “Gran Reserva” is the top of the line and wines must be aged for at least five years, with at least two in oak barrels. These are some of Rioja’s most spectacular wines.

And as a consequence of its enviable reputation, Rioja is also becoming a popular tourist destination for oenophiles looking to

‘Few wine regions have such a hold on the global palate as Rioja’

explore the area for themselves. Visitors are starting to explore the three zones – Rioja Alta in the mountainous west, Rioja Alavesa to the north, and the Mediterranean-influenced Rioja Oriental (formerly Rioja Baja) – to not only enjoy the vineyards, but also to sample the regional cuisines in Spain’s gastronomic heartland that pair so well with the local wines. If there is a more joyous experience than sampling a selection of vibrant, world-class wines alongside plates of croquettes, pan tumaca and chuletillas al sarmiento (lamb cutlets roasted on vine cuttings) with family and friends, we don’t know about it.

But don’t just take our word for it. Committed Rioja enthusiasts though we are, we will leave the last word on the subject to GQ Food & Drink Awards judge and one of the UK’s top sommeliers, Honey Spencer. Not only is she a fan of the region, she has also been blown away by the new breed of producers who are taking that most famous of wines to new heights.

“Few wine regions can claim to have such a hold on the global palate as the titanic Rioja,” Spencer says. “A new generation of winemakers are producing diverse styles that can now be found in many top restaurants and wine bars throughout the UK. It’s an exciting time for the region and opportunities to taste interesting wines from Rioja have never been better.”

For those about to Rioja, we salute you. G OCTOBER IS RIOJA WINE MONTH. BUYRIOJA.CO.UK

Rioja enjoyed alongside the lamb dish chuletillas al sarmiento; (left) a winery in Rioja Alavesa

OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 95

D E TA I L S – A R T

Clockwise from main: The artist Xenz at work in London; ‘Bottled At Source’ (2010); ‘Inflorescence’ (2021); ‘Light Beams’ (2020)

‘We didn’t have to do it like they did in New York’

X

enz’s street art has never looked like “street art”. When he started out, painting walls in Hull as a teenager, his crew delighted in coming up with experimental ideas: abstract compositions made of splashed paint, say, or lettering that looked like folded origami.

“We didn’t have a massive audience – it wasn’t like we were in London – so we felt we had a lot of creative freedom,” he says. “We didn’t have to go and try to do it like they were doing it in New York.” Crucially, he rejected the aggressive, hip-hop edge he saw in so much graffiti. “I thought that to stand out from that, I’m going to do the complete opposite and make something really ethereal that appeals to my enemies’ mothers and grandmothers and girlfriends.”

Back then, he called himself Sense – he liked drawing the letters S and E and there were two of each in that word. Today, the 46-year-old artist goes by Xenz (real name: Graeme Brusby), but that impulse to conjure beauty remains strong.

He often paints landscapes or trees, on top of which he typically adds birds or butterflies. These creatures don’t merely look delicate; their inclusion brings a literal vulnerability to the artwork.

“There’s something about painting over an almost finished piece. Because I do it with spray paint, I could damage it and make a complete mess of it. Or I could make it absolutely superb,” he says. “I quite like painting hummingbirds because they’re so small. I like the idea of going against the norm, which is usually to make things as big as possible.”

His genre-defying style has captured imaginations. His work has been exhibited everywhere from Basel to Miami, from Ibiza to New Delhi and from Sydney to New York. It caught the eye of Banksy’s former gallerist, Steve Lazarides – himself a keen bird watcher – who hosted a major show of Xenz’s work at the Outsiders gallery in London. And this month you can see his most recent creations in Paradise at Nelly Duff gallery on London’s Columbia Road.

‘I wanted to appeal to my enemies’ girlfriends’

96 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

As climate change has rapidly moved from the fringes to the centre of public discourse, there’s an increasing temptation to read Xenz’s work as political. Does he see it that way? “Even though the idea of painting a wall is talking about freedom, so there is that political element, I try not to be too political,” he says. Still, just occasionally, he does feel compelled to flex that muscle. “I did a painting called ‘Bottled At Source’ [above], because I was looking at the labels of bottled water, where they show the volcanic rock where the water comes from, and I found it to be kind of strange that they’re showing this perfect world but it’s on a plastic bottle. That inspired me to paint a mountain scene made of plastic bottles and then all the butterflies were made from the labels. So I learned I have the power as an artist to create something that can tell a message, but generally it’s just about trying to create a paradise.”

PARADISE IS AT NELLY DUFF FROM 30 SEPTEMBER TO 5 OCTOBER. 156 COLUMBIA ROAD, LONDON E2. NELLYDUFF.COM

Photograph Ian Cox

Forget slogans and stencils. The butterflies and hummingbirds of this Hull-born graffiti star tag in for a new London show Story by Charlie Burton

GQ Partnership Jacket, £70. T-shirt, £16.

Trousers, £45. All by River Island. riverisland.com

Stuck in a style rut?

Look no further River Island has dropped a 20-piece collection that makes choosing your everyday looks a lot easier

O

ver the past year, your wardrobe probably hasn’t ventured further than hoodie and sweats. Jeans, shirts and suit-and-tie combos were all out. Now things are opening up, you might be struggling to actually put some thought into what to wear each day.

Enter River Island’s latest drop. The British high street label has long been a go-to for easyto-wear essentials and it has now created a line of clothing that takes into account this newly remembered struggle. RI Studio is a collection of wardrobe staples with a smart edge, essentially a garment guide to getting dressed in the morning.

Consisting of 20 pieces, the largely monochrome line-up (although subtle hints of amber and rust also feature, for those who desire some colour) is shaped by classic design codes, rather than catwalk trends. Thus, nothing in the drop is dictated by a specific season and therefore can be worn on repeat, whenever you like. Knee-skimming overcoats in checkerboard prints and dove-grey hues, oversized car coats with colour-contrast back panels, boxy denim jackets and thick, sharply cut bomber jackets make up the outerwear on offer, designed to layer up or simply be thrown over a white tee.

Meanwhile shirts cut to within an inch of their lives come with graphic prints to add a refreshing edge to your suiting. Or perhaps you can team one with the hard-wearing, yet super-soft wide-leg utility trousers. In addition, knitwear comes in heavyweight fabrics, while T-shirts have been given chic high necks.

Designed for men with little time on their hands, the collection is a functional, budgetfriendly set of uniforms to see you through the rest of this year (and the next). G RIVERISLAND.COM

OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 97

D E TA I L S Ð A D V I C E designer’s line of monochromatic overcoats with oversized shoulders have a witchy aesthetic all their own and will very quickly make the public realise that something wicked is, in fact, their way coming.

Dear Style Shrink,

Style Shrink By

Dear Style Shrink,

Teo van den Broeke

The best of these batshit boots – let’s I’m still wearing a face mask most of the time call them “Move!” boots – can be found at when I’m out, but I also want to dress in a way Bottega Veneta. Last year, the brand released that keeps the public at bay. People have a habit the crowbar-toed Lean boot, which would of getting up close and personal, which not only have been challenging to wear even for the increases my Covid-related anxiety but also aforementioned bad seed. Now, Bottega has makes me want to punch them. Any and all unveiled a slightly easier-wearing take on recommendations gratefully received. the style. Titled, appropriately enough, Amol, Harlesden Chisel, the boots have all the “Stay away Personally speaking, I have found from me or I’ll eat your cat for breakfast” wearing shoes or boots finished aggressiveness you could possibly want, but with aggressively pointed or the shape of the toe is rounder, meaning chiselled-off toes works wonders they’ll work as well with a suit as they will to make people think I’m some with your black PVC chaps.

Boots by Bottega Veneta, £1,045. kind of latter-day Nick Cave Bottega’s boots don’t come cheap, bottegaveneta.com and that I may just follow them however, so for something a little more home and cough through their affordable look to Swedish brands Our letterbox if they don’t stay far Legacy and Eytys. Clothing-wise, look no enough away. further than Rick Owens. The American

98 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Dear Style Shrink, Which fragrances are your favourites at the moment and why? Daytime, evening, holiday and winter scent recommendations, please.

Mark, Seaton My favourite evening scent right now is Creed’s Spice And Wood. A dense mix of cedar, clove and apple, it’s one of the most grown-up scents I own. For daytime, Chanel’s Paris-Édimbourg contains notes of juniper berry and cedar (are you sensing a theme?) and is so light that it won’t overpower a space, which is important if you plan on wearing it to an office, on a plane or in a public loo. For holidays, my all-time favourite is Tom Ford’s orange leaf-laced Neroli Portofino, which smells as good when I wear it in London’s Burgess Park as it would, I imagine, on the Italian Riviera. And for winter Fragrance by Creed, £800 it’s all about Leather by Acqua for 250ml.

Di Parma, primarily because creedfragrances. it’s what I imagine Santa Claus co.uk would wear.

SEND YOUR MENSWEAR-RELATED STYLE QUESTIONS TO STYLESHRINK@CONDENAST.CO.UK

Illustration Joe McKendry

For the most coveted invite of the year, wear the most coveted DJ of the season

I need some recommendations for dinner suits. I’ve not been lucky enough to find myself invited to the GQ Men Of The Year Awards, Suit by but I have got a couple of Suitsupply, black-tie dos coming up £399. suitsupply.com and I need some options.

Robin, Little Haven At the more affordable end of the black-tie spectrum I would recommend giving Suitsupply a try. Dinner suits come in at around the £400 mark and a staggeringly broad array of sizes are available, so it’s easy to find something that will fit you properly.

At the mid-level, Boss is a natural choice. A full suit comes in at between £700 and £800 and the block is narrow. At the higher end of the spectrum, I would recommend heading to either Brunello Cucinelli, for something with a bit of personality, or Gieves & Hawkes, for a classic option that will last a lifetime. The ultimate choice, however, would be a bespoke dinner suit from Anderson & Sheppard.

Located on Savile Row, the storied house has produced exemplary suits for a more erudite breed of customer for decades. AA Gill was a fan and Fran Lebowitz wears A&S, so you know you’re in good company. Oh, and soz about the MOTY invite. If I can wangle you one I’ll let you know.

British GQ. Winner of 79 major awards. The world’s leading men’s magazine.

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Dave, August 2021

Nicholas Braun, July 2021

Burna Boy, June 2021

The Biden supremacy Inside the mission to rebuild America Story by Michael Wolff Joe Biden photographed by Christopher Anderson

MARCH 2021

Seth Rogen, May 2021

Tom Holland, April 2021

Joe Biden, March 2021

Captain Sir Tom Moore, Jan/Feb 2021

Rami Malek, December 2020

Michaela Coel, November 2020

John Boyega, October 2020

Paul McCartney, September 2020

Billie Eilish, July/August 2020

Autumnal heroes From a stripy jumper and a scent for on-the-go to a louder than life beanie, consider this edit a seasonal checklist for your next wardrobe upgrade Edited by Sophie

Clark

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1. Watch by Longines, £2,170. longines.co.uk 2. Jumper by Paul Smith, £395. At matchesfashion.com 3. Jacket by Saint Laurent, £1,740. matchesfashion.com 4. Coat by Aubin & Wills, £495. aubinandwills.com 5. Basilico & Fellini fragrance by Vilhelm Parfumerie, £68 for 20ml. vilhelmparfumerie.com 6. Boots by Grenson, £305. At matchesfashion.com 7. Gilet by Nobis, £545. nobis.com 8. Hat by Boss x Russell Athletic, £55. boss.com 9. Jacket by Bottega Veneta, £2,090. At matchesfashion.comm

102 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

GQ Ð PREVIEW Suitcase by Herm•s, £6,740. hermes.com

Keep on

ROLLINÕ Pack to perfection and glide your prized possessions around in style with Hermès’ RMS suitcase Sophie Clark Photograph by Colin Ross Story by

ight now, I’m sure you need little to no encouragement when it comes to getting away. Most of us have spent the past year (at least) stuck inside dreaming of escapism.

Whether it be a staycation or jetting off somewhere – anywhere! – chances are you’re more than ready for it. And with the launch of the RMS suitcase, so is Hermès. Sure, a suitcase needs to be functional, helping you navigate airport queues with ease and being small enough to squeeze into overhead lockers while still comfortably housing your expertly edited holiday wardrobe. But these days suitcases are a reflection of your personal style too and this contemporary piece is the perfect example.

Designed with the keen traveller in mind, the RMS is constructed from a Rilsan shell, a biosourced, recyclable and regenerable material that is both lightweight and shock resistant. In addition to the telescopic handle and curved zip, the luggage pays homage to Hermès’ traditional design codes, with leather-reinforced corners and wheels borrowed from the Hermès skateboard design of 2017. Choose from leather and canvas or all leather across a multitude of colour and print possibilities, as well as customisable wheels. And, when marked with the final touch of your initials, the Hermès RMS suitcase has your name written all over it.

OCTOBER 2021 GQ. CO.UK 103

GQ Ð PREVIEW

Good vibes only Step to a new beat and a fresh attitude this autumn with Etro’s launch of the Earthbeat sneaker Story by

Sophie Clark

I

t’s happened: autumn is here. And with a new season comes new opportunities, a chance to set new goals.

And, boy, are we ready. Aren’t we? Well, if you need a little added push (you’re only human) look to Etro’s Earthbeat sneakers for inspiration. Named to embody the spirit of life, they aim to offer more than just functionality: “The name of the shoe was created to evoke the heartbeat of the Earth and invites you to follow the rhythm while running, dancing and celebrating life,” explains creative director Kean Etro.

Crafted from a patchwork of suede, paisley, jacquard and printed fabrics and embellished with fringing, neon laces, turquoise studs and zigzag stitching, these trainers are guaranteed to have you smiling inside and out. Whether you’re a sneakerhead or a creature of comfort, trust in the Etro Earthbeats to get you off the sofa and laced into a positive, can-do mindset. They’ll put more than a spring in your step this autumn. G

104 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Trainers by Etro, £475. etro.com

D E TA I L S Ð M U S I C

Do we REALLY need yet another Bob Dylan box set?

You’re damn right we do

Off-White noise King of the collab Virgil Abloh has given a set of Pioneer DJ decks the Off-White treatment

Photograph Getty Images; Fabien Montique

Story by

Thomas Barrie

Successful streetwear labels live or die by their collaborations and nobody realises this better than Virgil Abloh (above) of Off-White.

Abloh’s brand has worked with everyone from Kanye West to homeware behemoth Ikea and the designer seems to be on a personal quest to apply his distinctive graphic style to every object he can think of. In that spirit, Abloh has announced a collaboration with AlphaTheta Corporation – the company that makes Pioneer DJ equipment – to produce a limited-edition DJ controller that you’re sure to see at every nightspot worth its Ace Of Spades Nebuchadnezzars.

The DDJ-1000-OW is a technically identical version of Pioneer’s DDJ-1000 controller decked out in Abloh’s trademark block colours. (For the uninitiated, a controller is what you plug into a laptop, allowing you to control the mixing of multiple tracks, as well as distorting them in various ways.)

AlphaTheta, which until last year was known as Pioneer DJ and whose equipment is still branded with that name, collaborated with Abloh before, on two sets of transparent “skeleton” decks. This time, though, Abloh has created an accompanying capsule collection, called Sound Engineering, which he says was “inspired by the technical files that describe the internal structure of the DJ controller”.

OK, Virgil. We’re sold. Now, can someone teach us how to mix? £1,549. AT SELFRIDGES. SELFRIDGES.COM

Story by

Patrick Humphries

Light bulbs pop on listening to Springtime In New York. Few would have argued on their initial release that the albums of that era – Shot Of Love, Infidels and Empire Burlesque – would stack up alongside masterpieces such as Highway 61 Revisited or Blood On The Tracks. But this glittering collection of outtakes, reworkings, even rehearsals, is as substantial as anything he has released in his extraordinary career.

Here are centuries-old ballads (“Mary Of The Wild Moor”) and country classics (“Cold, Cold Heart”) and Dylan energetically revisiting his own past (“To Ramona”). There’s swaggering punk of “Julius And Ethel” and “Straight A’s In Love”, while “Tell Me” would be ideal for Adele.

Then, of course, there’s the baffling exclusions at the time – “Blind Willie McTell”, “New Danville Girl” and “Angelina” – found here in new, majestic versions. Or how about the only ever performance of the rambunctious “Borrowed alf-empty venues, every Time”? Part of the appeal of the entire Bootleg Series, which began in 1991, is it offers the opporLP greeted with grudging reviews... Bob Dylan’s standing tunity to get inside that inscrutable Dylan head. in the 1980s was, at best, kneeA new “I And I” sparks memories of Leonard high. His trio of late 1970s and Cohen, after admitting he’d slaved for years over early 1980s religious LPs (Slow “Hallelujah”, asking Bob how long that one had Train Coming; Saved; Shot Of Love) taken him. “Oh, 15 minutes...” left fans baffled. As he approached For nearly 60 There are cover versions to marvel at, such as a poignant “Green, 50, Dylan was in danger of being years, Dylan seen as a rather quaint 1960s relic.

Green Grass Of Home” and the one has sparred How different today: sailing past with his legend that, once again, displays Dylan’s 80, Nobel Prize winner, every new perspicacity: “Sweet Caroline”. Move over, Gareth Southgate, and tell Neil Diamond the collection greeted rapturously, every sold-out news. After this avalanche, roll on The Bootleg show buoyed by ecstatic reviews. Part of the Series, Vol 17. reason for that revival has been the ongoing Bootleg Series, his period-specific collections of “unofficial” recordings. It’s the Tutankhamun’s BOB DYLAN – SPRINGTIME IN NEW YORK: THE BOOTLEG SERIES, VOL 16 (1980-1985) IS OUT ON 17 SEPTEMBER. tomb of rock’n’roll: some of Dylan’s best ever material is only now making its official debut.

What is remarkable is that we are up to volume 16 of The Bootleg Series, on top of Dylan’s 39 official studio albums.

That 16th volume is titled Springtime In New York and covers 1980 to 1985, the very period, most would concur, that was the nadir of Dylan’s career (and, boy, there have been a few of those).

It bulges with nearly 60 tracks, 54 of them previously unreleased in any format.

What is so attractive about Dylan today – in an age when celebrity mystique is stripped away even before it happens – is that he remains an enigma. For nearly 60 years, Dylan has sparred with his legend (“My real message? Keep a good head and always carry a light bulb,” was his advice in 1965).

H

OCTOBER 2021 GQ. CO.UK 105

D E TA I L S Ð H O R O L O G Y

On the wrist:

SUPER ICONS A personal safari through the big beasts of horology

Following the release of the Tudor Black Bay Fifty-Eight Bronze, Nick Foulkes asks how a relatively affordable watch became so covetable...

W

hen the history of the watch industry during the teens of our century comes to be written, at least one chapter will be devoted to the rebirth of Rolex’s sibling brand, Tudor.

Hans Wilsdorf, the far-sighted founder of Rolex, had the Tudor brand registered in 1926, but the marque only took off in the years after the Second World War, when Wilsdorf decided to democratise the self-winding, Oyster-cased construction of the famous Rolex and sell to the bluecollar worker. “Jarred beyond belief” read the strapline of an advertisement showing builders fixing rivets into the frame of a skyscraper. “Punished without mercy!” was the slogan of an advert that depicted a Tudor being worn by a flat-capped pneumatic drill operator. During the early 1970s, the brand even offered a sort of poor man’s Paul Newman: a two-subdial chrono called the Tudor Oysterdate “Montecarlo” with an even funkier dial design than its crown-wearing sibling.

But by the end of the last century the Tudor lustre was dimming and the brand was only really available in the Far East, where it ticked over (if you’ll excuse the pun) at a time before the PRC started flexing its shopping muscles. Elsewhere the brand was largely forgotten and until about 2009 the only Tudors I saw were in auction catalogues, but then – anticipating the retro-mania of the heritage watch boom – Tudor released the Heritage Chrono, which borrowed styling cues from its early 1970s models and applied them to robust watches with near-Rolex levels of build quality but using bought-in movements. It was a hit. Then in 2012 came the highly successful Tudor Heritage Black Bay: a steel diving watch with red bezel, high-vis, square-ended “snowflake” hands, black dial, gilt lettering and the Tudor rose motif. The watch recalled the early Tudor diving watches, which appeared in 1954 right after the Rolex Submariner and Blancpain 50 Fathoms. But the Black Bay

106 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Tudor Black Bay

was not a slavish copy of any particular model from its past (the snowflake hands did not make their first appearance until 1969). A few geeks – sorry, purists – delighted in pointing out what they saw as historical inconsistencies. The rest of us just couldn’t wait to get one on the wrist – it was drop-dead gorgeous and, for a watch of this quality and style, affordable (under £3,000 on bracelet and even less on a butch leather strap). The brand had stepped out of the shadow of the crown.

A

lmost overnight the internet was full of vintage Tudor experts ready to dilate on the use of milspec dive watches in the armed forces of Argentina, Canada, France, South Africa, Israel and the US. And, to use another pun, there is plenty of opportunity for deep diving into serial numbers, production dates, calibre changes and strap rub. There’s an entire subculture devoted to French Navy spec “MN” (Marine Nationale) Tudors, with collectors willing to trade their internal organs for examples with discharge papers – when retired from active service these pieces were sold by the French government along with documentation confirming their entry into civilian life.

The Black Bay has since developed into a brand within a brand, ransacking its own past for design inspiration on the one hand and embracing new materials (this spring saw the arrival of the Black Bay Ceramic) on the other. It has also uprated its calibres: the Manufacture MT5400 and MT5402 are sturdy, 70-hour power reserve tractors that claim higher than COSC levels of precision. This year Tudor released its first watch with METAS certification, prompting comparisons with Omega.

The genius of the Black Bay is that it conjures seemingly infinite variety from one model. One of the biggest steps came in 2018 with the launch of Black Bay FiftyEight. As the name suggests, this iteration brings it closer in feel to its midcentury antecedents and the introduction of riveted bracelets enhances the period feel.

But it avoids descending into pastiche,

The Black Bay has since developed into a brand within a brand

Strap

Bronze bracelet with “T-fit” clasp for rapid adjustment.

Also comes with a fabric strap.

Case

The 39mm satin-brushed bronze case will patinate over time.

Movement

The COSC-certified Calibre MT5400 has a 70-hour power reserve.

because in looking backwards Tudor is moving ever forwards, as demonstrated by this year’s Black Bay Fifty-Eight Bronze (available exclusively at Tudor boutiques).

Bronze is more than just a chic – and, let’s face it, affordable – alternative to gold: it offers “character” inasmuch as it assumes a unique patina depending on the habits and habitat of each individual wearer.

Moreover, it is the first Tudor to feature a bracelet entirely made from bronze. And with the sort of attention to detail one has come to expect from Tudor, its satinbrushed riveted links have been developed to patinate at the same pace as the case.

For nearly a decade the Black Bay and its numerous declensions has powered Tudor to the upper tiers of desirability.

We are not quite talking “Patek 5711 five times retail”, but anecdotally I know people with collections containing everything from Richard Milles to Paul Newmans who go to considerable effort to get the latest Tudor. Nor is it just a fashion thing; I have served on the jury of the Grand Prix of watchmaking for a number of years and I have lost count of the trophies that Tudor has won. It all neatly demonstrates that if designed with care, attention to detail and respect for the customer, a watch can be both affordable and covetable. £3,390. TUDORWATCH.COM David Beckham at Wimbledon, wearing a Tudor Black Bay Chronograph, 9 July

Photograph Getty Images Illustration Oriana Fenwick

No2

OFF GRID

russellandbromley.co.uk

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

Welcome to the 24th annual GQ Men Of The Year Awards

OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 109

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

LIFE IS NO O BACK TO AND WE DON’T YET KNOW WHAT

110 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

YET

O OT NORMAL. THE NEW NORMAL WILL LOOK LIKE.

SOMETHING IS TRUE: throughout all the struggles and hardship that everyone has been through these past 18 months, we’ll only get there if we make it happen ourselves. And so, for the 24th annual GQ Men Of The Year Awards, we celebrate both the people who are helping us reclaim the world we knew and those who have helped us along the way – because it’s just as important to celebrate what brings us joy as what brings us hope. The joy, for instance, of one of the bestselling music artists in the world, back with a brilliant new album. The hope of the fashion designer who rode out the worst of the pandemic while refusing to lay off a single member of staff.

The joy of the actor who became an instant superstar as we all watched him break down barriers in the steamiest Netflix show of the year. The hope of the manager and team that made us believe. The joy of celebrating a living legend who became the oldest actor to win an Oscar. The hope of the group of athletes that flew halfway across the world to lift up an entire nation back home.

The joy of an iconic director’s stunning debut novel, of an artist who broke new digital ground, of a man who is interested in one thing and one thing only and that’s catching bent coppers. And the hope, of course, of the two women and the team behind them who worked tirelessly in a lab to create a life-saving serum that would ensure a future for us all.

OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 111

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

QUENTIN TARANTINO WRITER

Story by John Phipps

Photographs by Eric Ray Davidson

Styling by Andrew Vottero

For one of cinema’s most distinguished directors, it started not with the silver screen but the written word.

Specifically: pulp fiction. Here, as the great American auteur turned author revisits a youthful obsession with spinner-rack paperbacks so intense it actually ended in arrest, we laud his debut novel – an adaptation of his own Oscar-winning hit Once Upon A Time In... Hollywood – and ask how he opened a new chapter on a long and celebrated career

112 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

‘I had a ball writing this book. I love writing. I write all the time’

Jacket, £499. Trousers, £209. Bow tie, £55. All by Boss. boss.com. Vintage shirt. At Palace Costume. palacecostume.com Opposite: Jacket, £499.

Shirt, £99. Trousers, £209. Tie, £69.

All by Boss. boss.com.

Sunglasses by Jacques Marie Mage, £500. At matchesfashion.com

OCTOBER 2021 GQ. CO.UK 113

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

Q

Quentin Tarantino knows when he likes something. He always has done. At 15, for instance, in the local Kmart, his eye came to light on a copy of a novel called The Switch. The book was about two ex-cons botching a kidnapping; the author’s name was Elmore Leonard. The young Tarantino thought, “Hey, that looks like it would make a pretty cool movie.” So he stole it.

It was with books such as this one, pulp paperbacks and movie novelisations, that Tarantino’s adult reading life began. As a young teen, he found a paperback called Badge Of Honour, by Dallas Barnes, lying on the family coffee table.

He read it and he liked it and he decided he wanted more. He remembers going to the drug store where there would be a spinner rack with comic books in it and, next to that, a rack full of pulp paperbacks. “I think the first time I actually bought one of those paperbacks from the spinner rack,” he says, “it was a movie novelisation.”

Legal tender wasn’t always exchanged. On this occasion – after he’d been arrested, processed and released by the Torrance Police Department – Tarantino had to face the parental music. His mother grounded him for the whole summer.

He spent it inside, thinking about movies and making plans for what he would do when he was free. Namely: get that Elmore Leonard book. “I was gonna be damned if I was gonna get into all this trouble and not get the book. So I went back to the same Kmart and I stole the book successfully.” He says he still has the copy somewhere.

There must have been some instinct at work there, some fellowship of insight and serendipity, because Leonard’s sequel to The Switch was a book called Rum Punch – the book that, five years later, became Tarantino’s richly conceived gangster epic Jackie Brown. Then, a few years ago, he found himself digging out his old collection of movie novelisations from the back of a cupboard and going through them. “I thought, ‘Wow, these are really fun!’” He was right about that. They are fun. And they are also the reason GQ is talking to him today.

It’s lunchtime on another gorgeous day in Los Angeles. Tarantino is sitting on a swing chair outside his house, sipping iced tea and looking out over his pool. He’s delighted with his life.

He’s delighted with his career. He’s got a young son, Leo, whom he has spent the past 18 months taking care of, sitting out the pandemic the way 114 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

he would have been spending time anyway, with his family. And today, GQ’s Writer Of The Year is delighted with his latest project.

After 34 years in movies – and you know all about that, so let’s not dwell too long on the nerdy twenties spent working in a video store, selling the scripts for True Romance and Natural Born Killers, the stylistic supernova of Reservoir Dogs, the triumphant Palme D’Or win at Cannes for Pulp Fiction, then Jackie Brown, Inglourious Basterds and all the rest of it, including two Oscar wins for Best Screenplay – 58-year-old Quentin Tarantino has put out his first novel, a pulpy adaptation of his last enormous hit, Once Upon A Time In... Hollywood.

The movie was a smash: an ultraviolent hippy noir about the movie business that starred Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie.

Not satisfied with the film’s ten Oscar nominations (including two wins), he’s written the book and, by all accounts, it feels pretty good. “I had a fucking ball writing this book,” he says. “I’m happy that people are reading it. And they seem to like it.”

In fact, they more than like it. One of the big surprises of the year, in literary circles, has been the enthusiastic reaction to Tarantino’s first novel, a self-conscious and clever piece of work that operates in what just might be the most sneered-at genre in literature. This isn’t just a novel, it’s a novelisation and it comes dressed like a trashy airport thriller, complete

Tarantino’s novel is a rude, unexpected, swaggering underdog, whose real twist is its sincere sweetness with technicolour stills from the motion picture on the front and a winking series of adverts for 1970s movies on the back – exactly the kind of book a young Tarantino might have stolen.

What’s more, the critics love it. “Entirely outrageous and addictively readable,” said the Guardian. “A bold, nimble, piquant, informative, often joyous piece of storytelling in the metahistorical tradition of Doctorow and DeLillo and James Elroy,” was the verdict of the New Statesman. To this august body of opinion GQ will add that it’s a rude, unexpected, swaggering underdog of a novel, one whose real twist is the sincere sweetness at its core. If Tarantino played with history in the film, letting the Manson Family get, variously, cut to ribbons, pummelled into oblivion and straightforwardly barbecued, then in the book he’s taken another turn again, dispensing with the bloody theatrics and unearthing the big-hearted redemption story that was hiding in among the bodies.

The move to fiction seems almost obvious, in retrospect. His films have always had literary flourishes: the two “volumes” of Kill Bill; The Hateful Eight, originally conceived as a novel, is divided into “chapters”. Tarantino’s inspiration comes from genre flicks and B-movies, but his ambitions have always been marked by a very

literary elevation. Giving the script for True Romance to friends, he would tell them to read it like a novel. (He has called it his “first novel” in interviews for years now.) And, of course, there’s that film: the one everyone has seen, whose poster everyone bought, whose soundtrack everyone played at parties and which everyone quoted and copied and ripped off to such an extent that it eventually became actively unhip to do this – that is, to make a big deal out of liking it or quote it or own the poster or play the soundtrack at parties – but which, before that, changed GQ’s life like it changed basically everyone else’s and whose title, it suddenly occurs to us, is Pulp Fiction.

I

n conversation, Tarantino is busy, excitable, stuffed with information. When not talking in references, Tarantino talks in italics.

Sometimes he does both at once.

“It’s a blast,” he responds when asked if he finds writing to be an agonising, doubt-ridden process. “I love writing. I write all the time.” If he’s not working on a project, most days find him notebook in hand, doodling, jotting, diagramming “some sort of fucking thing”. Whenever he reads a book, he says, he finds himself adapting it in his head, arranging shots and blocking scenes, casting the central characters (“All directors do that. You can’t help it”).

He was like that at 15, reading The Switch, and he’s still like that now. If his career has now brought him to adapt his own work, then his time as a writer began in a similar way. Tarantino started his creative life as a young guy going to acting class. Only, he wasn’t the kind of guy who’d bring in a scene from Hamlet. Working from memory, he would transcribe his favourite movie scenes onto paper to run through them with a friend. “And if I thought it needed anything,” says Tarantino, “I’d add it.”

This became his working method: take something you like, set it down, get inside it, find the rhythm of a scene, then follow the dictates of intuition. A few years in, he was having a beer with his roommate, Ronnie. “I was saying, ‘Oh, you know, I actually think this process, it’s kind of making me not bad at dialogue writing. I think I’m getting better and better.’ And Ronnie goes, ‘What are you talking about? You’re better than Paddy Chayefsky.’”

The two had recently been doing a scene from the famous screenwriter’s Oscar-winning film Marty. Tarantino had written out the script and given it to Ronnie to run the dialogue. As it happened, though, Ronnie actually had the original to hand. So he’d read Chayefsky’s script and he liked it. Then he’d read his roommate’s version and he liked it more. “After he said that, I started thinking to myself, ‘Well, maybe I should take this writing thing a little more seriously.’”

In Tarantino’s younger days he would write all day in cafés and restaurants, before pulling marathon all-nighters. In recent years, it’s been closer to regular working hours. He starts at about 10.30am and writes through to close. After finishing, he meditates on what he’s written in his pool, before towelling off and making notes for the next day’s work. Does that sound just a >>

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‘[My roommate] goes “You’re better than Paddy Chayefsky...”

After that I started thinking I should take writing seriously’

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Time In... Hollywood, learning his lines in a floaty chair? “That might be a little bit where I got it from.” Does he have the floaty chair? “I don’t sit in the floaty chair.” He giggles. “I sit in the water up to my neck.”

The first draft is a mountain of paper and ink, “ridiculously overwritten”, close to a stream of consciousness: “I’m just letting it rip.” It really is a mountain too: a screenplay is normally 95 to 125 minutes long, with the general rule being that each page is a minute of screen time. The first draft of Pulp Fiction was 500 pages; True Romance was the same length before Tarantino begun writing the third act. The spelling is atrocious, the handwriting too. It’s basically illegible, but that doesn’t matter: he’s the only one reading.

That disorganised, baggy monster gets stripped down at the next stage. Despite three decades writing movies, Tarantino has never learned to type. He used to ask people to type up his scripts for him, but these days he does it himself. Because all his drafts are inputted with just his right index finger, it’s a highly labourintensive process that helps clarify narrative priorities. “You’re thinking, ‘OK, I’m not gonna do this unless it’s good.’” From there, the movie gets worked over and hewn down over a long period of time. The final edit becomes the working script. Sometimes there is no working script.

With Kill Bill, Tarantino had blocked out the fight scenes beat for beat, but he directed from a composite document, half-screenplay, half-novel. “It was like going onto a set with a novel and adapting it every single solitary day.” That instinct to mentally adapt the pulp books he loved as a child became the daily alchemy of moviemaking.

With the novel, that process was reversed. He already had the visual language, the cadence of the characters’ voices. More than that, he knew exactly what they looked like. “When I wrote the book I saw Brad Pitt doing everything,” he says.

“I saw Leonardo DiCaprio doing everything.”

The film’s powerful visual aura has a hold on its own creator. When he wrote the screenplay, he was imagining Sharon Tate’s character as the real-life Sharon Tate; when he wrote the book, he was picturing Margot Robbie.

The end result is quite simply the year’s most unexpected literary pleasure. It’s playful, opinionated, inventive and, above all, far more character-driven than you might anticipate. The two leads are the same as in the movie. First, Rick Dalton, “an Eisenhower actor in a Dennis Hopper Hollywood”, subsiding into alcoholism and bitparts on network Westerns. Playing opposite Dalton is his stunt double, Cliff Booth. Booth is a former war hero-cum-wife murderer, sometime stuntman and present-day chauffeur whose damaged, impulsive, no-shit persona may be the book’s most compelling centre of consciousness.

In one bravura passage, the reader gets a 20-page rundown of Booth’s first experiences with foreign films after he comes back from fighting the Second World War to live in America and finds that foreign cinema has a reality he just can’t find in Hollywood movies. “When Paul Newman played a bastard, like in Hud,” writes 116 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Tarantino, channelling Booth’s POV, “he was still an enjoyable bastard. But the guy in Breathless wasn’t just a sexy stud prick. He was a little creep, petty thief, piece of shit.”

Does Tarantino agree with Booth? Does he also think that Seven Samurai is magnificent but with Red Beard Kurosawa started to fall off? That Fellini got dull when he decided that life is a circus? That Bergman is too boring, Truffaut mostly sucks, Antonioni is a fraud and Hiroshima Mon Amour is, frankly, “a piece of crap”? A brief pause.

“Well, OK, here’s the thing: I more or less agree with a lot of the things Cliff says, but I agree with him for different reasons.”

Spoken like a true obsessive. In fact, Tarantino can marshal a raft of citations for any occasion, including, for instance, when GQ asks: um, what do you make of people thinking you have a thing about feet? A pause. A sigh of disappointment that we would even think to ask such a thing.

“I don’t take it seriously. There’s a lot of feet in a lot of good directors’ movies. That’s just good direction. Like, before me, the person foot fetishism was defined by was Luis Buñuel, another film director. And Hitchcock was accused of it and Sofia Coppola has been accused of it.”

There are plenty of bare feet in the novelisation of Once Upon A Time In... Hollywood too, but perhaps it’s best not to dwell. Feet are, as the man himself says, for the screen, whereas the novel is richer in backstory and interiority. It

‘There’s a lot of feet in a lot of good directors’ movies...

Luis Buñuel, Hitchcock, Sofia Coppola’ goes deeper into the sadness of actors, the career paths of walk-on parts and the tangled contingencies of life in Hollywood. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is, at its heart, a book about the sadness and excitement of expectation: Sharon Tate, the next-big-thing actor with her unborn child; Aldo Ray, a washed-up alcoholic with his own kind of dignity; even Manson feels more like a relatable kind of loser, trying to make it big as a hippie folk singer, than the electromagnetic pulse powering a murderous sex-and-bullshit cult. At one point the book quotes the film critic Pauline Kael: “In Hollywood you can die of encouragement.”

It’s the losers, I think, who have Tarantino’s heart. Maybe that’s why Booth’s education in cinema feels so real. “I think it’s the solitary experience he ends up liking,” says Tarantino, turning ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD: A NOVEL BY QUENTIN TARANTINO (ORION PUBLISHING, £8.99) IS OUT NOW.

reflective. “Which, actually, is kind of interesting.

I hadn’t thought about it before – but that was, for the most part, you know, me. From, like, 14 to 22 or 23, I saw so many movies. But it was rare, unless the movie was a huge hit, that I saw something other kids in school saw or my family saw.

For the most part, I’m seeing a whole lot of movies and I’ve never talked to anybody about them.”

T

he man GQ is speaking to today sounds blissfully happy, revelling in the joys of new parenthood. (He says he does bath time, but not nappies.) It’s been a slow growth towards contentment from the “piss and vinegar”.

“I think that’s the goal,” he says, laughing, “and most of us more or less achieve it.” But the young Tarantino was alone in his obsession. “It was a completely solitary experience. Whatever I felt about it, and however much I liked it, it was unexpressed.”

After that electric loneliness in the dark theatre, Tarantino would cut out magazine clips from his favourite music and movie critics and stick them into organised scrapbooks. “So I’d have my Pauline Kael books, my Stanley Kauffmann book, my Michael Ventura book.” Kael remains a guiding light. He not only owns all her books, but he also buys every different edition he sees. Fans have long wondered if Tarantino would ever get round to some of the projects he’s teased: a movie about the Vega brothers; a Silver Surfer film; a third Kill Bill. There are a few ideas today – the most surprising being that he’d like to write a novelisation of someone else’s movie – but the great forthcoming Tarantino work, for my money, will be a book of film reviews, slated for release in the next few years. Who wouldn’t want to read that?

Beyond that, there are big books of essays that he has been adding to for decades and which he can never seem to finish, on the work of filmmakers such as Brian De Palma, Sergio Corbucci, Don Siegel and Robert Aldrich. “I don’t think I’ll finish them,” he says, laughing. “They’re sitting un-typed in a drawer.” He has other plans – not settled yet, but vague, floating enticements that might grab him. He says he can see himself doing a novelisation of True Romance or Reservoir Dogs. What about – it seems so obvious – making Pulp Fiction into pulp fiction? A pause. “Nah, that doesn’t interest me.”

The answer is immediate. Because he knows instinctively, by this point, how to listen to his instincts, the ones that took him to where he is today. Before the mountain of paper, the one-handed typing, the rewrites and edits and inevitable accommodations with practicality, every project starts with an idea, an interior excitement, something he’s wanted to do for a long time, something that sparks the same sense of momentum he felt as a young guy adding dialogue to other people’s movies – that pregnant sense of direction and certainty. So he sits down to write. Very quickly, almost immediately, he knows if he’s on to something.

“I know within the first couple of scenes: I’m gonna finish this. This is it. This is the next one I’m doing. I started doing it and I was right.”

Production Alicia Zumback at CAMP Grooming Simone at Exclusive Artists using Sisley Paris and Kevin Murphy Digital technician Jules Bates Photography assistants Jack Shelton; Ben Thomas Styling assistant Michael Vasquez

>> bit like DiCaprio’s Rick Dalton in Once Upon A

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‘From 14 to 23 I saw so many movies and I’ve never talked to anybody about them’

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OU TSTA NDING CON TR IBU TION

BOBBY GILLESPIE From his rocking 1991 album that shaped the decade’s party scene to a hip, contemplative collab record and memoir 20 years on, we salute the Primal Scream frontman, whose contributions to alternative music, politics and states of consciousness have already entered legend

Story by Dylan Jones Photographs by Sarah Piantadosi Styling by Katy England

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T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1 Reputations come easy in rock’n’roll. Tell someone you ate a live bat on stage and you’ll be forever called the prince of darkness. Turn your amp all the way up to eleven and you’ll be labelled the king of feedback. Stay up a bit late on a Thursday night and you’ll be pigeonholed as a drug fiend. Well, it’s fair to say that Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie has stayed up late on a Thursday quite a lot. In fact, his (former) reputation as one of rock’s wild men wasn’t won easily: Bobby certainly put the hours in. He isn’t so much a stereotype as an archetype, because when Gillespie came along they broke the mould. In fact, I think it’s fair to say that the mould broke itself.

Gillespie has had an insanely productive lockdown, finishing a critically acclaimed album of rootsy ballads (Utopian Ashes) in the style of Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris with former Savages frontwoman Jehnny Beth and penning the first part of his autobiography, Tenement Kid, for White Rabbit Books (which his editor had to cut down from 240,000 words). The book is Gillespie’s story up to the recording and release of the album many credit with “starting the 1990s”, Screamadelica, which contained such classic songs as “Movin’ On Up”, “Come Together” and “Loaded”.

These were the songs that, along with “Velocity Girl”, “(I’m Gonna) Cry Myself Blind”, “Kowalski”, “Darklands” and “Accelerator”, gave Primal Scream an undercurrent of potency almost unrivalled in their field. They went from baggy to punk-grunge and then, most successfully, to the dance floor, before melding it all into an unmistakably rich mix full of sonic petulance.

Born into a working-class Glaswegian family in the summer of 1962, Gillespie’s memoir begins in the district of Springburn, soon to be evacuated in brutal slum clearances. Leaving school at 16 and going to work as a printers’ apprentice, Gillespie soon has his head turned by first Thin Lizzy and then the Sex Pistols, causing him to drop everything and turn his attention to embroiling himself in the music industry.

Soon he was a rock star par excellence, a curious mixture of John Lydon and Mick Jagger, a frontman who took to drugs as enthusiastically as he took to rock’n’roll. He quit drugs in 2008, although his passion for music remains undiminished. Which is one of the many reasons GQ decided to celebrate him this year.

Did you write the book because you had the opportunity to or did it just feel like the right time?

At the beginning of last year, before the whole Covid hysteria, I went into the studio and I thought about what I wanted to do in 2020.

I didn’t want to write another rock’n’roll record, because I knew we had the Jehnny Beth record ready to go. I wanted to challenge myself creatively and I decided I would try to write a book.

Lee Brackstone had been after me to write a memoir when he was at Faber & Faber and I’d always rebuffed his advances. But I just felt the seed had been planted and decided to give it a go. Lee started White Rabbit and it seemed like a natural fit.

So what was the process of writing Tenement Kid like?

I wrote a few pages of themes I want us to discuss, like family, class, education, work, violence and depression. Depression is actually too strong a word, but the effects of early childhood on my personality and how it has affected my relationships and just the way I am with the world. I wanted to write about the journey of a workingclass person and the journey to becoming an 120 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

artist. I wanted to write about Glasgow, about the areas I grew up in and some of the characters I met when I was at school and even preschool, because my memory is quite good. I wanted to write about politics, as I come from quite a political background. I wanted to write about how class and place and environment affected me, so hopefully other people might read the book and relate to that. Music and art were a portal to another world for me and became the true way I was educated, as the education I received at school was lacking. I got an education through my interest in pop culture that I never received at school.

Did you enjoy writing the book?

Oh, yeah. It was very cathartic. I couldn’t wait to go back in the next morning and start working again, get the computer out and just see where it took me. It was a bit like therapy and the stuff I did when I cleaned up from drugs and alcohol.

I actually think I had a nice time as a kid.

Glasgow is a violent city, a sectarian city. It’s a hard city. It’s a very working-class city. But it’s also a very humorous and soulful and fantastic city. So I’m very much a proud Glaswegian and hopefully that comes across in the book. I am

seen in a particular kind of way by the media and I wanted everyone to know where I came from.

How do you think you and Primal Scream came to be seen by the media?

I think we were seen as a bunch of crazy drug addicts who just loved to party and get wasted and I think we were underestimated because of that. I think we’ve made a lot of really good artistic choices and there’s a lot of intelligence behind what we did, but maybe we didn’t help ourselves, because the image we gave out in the 1990s was very much hedonistic. The band prided itself on being able to take more drugs and harder drugs than any other bands. We just saw everybody else as lightweights. It was very, very macho; that’s very “West Coast of Scotland”, very working-class macho: “I can drink everybody under the table.”

I was never a good drinker – I get drunk very easily – but I liked powders and pills. That was my poison. [Previously,] people really had to hide their addictions, because there was a very high risk of going to prison. But somehow, throughout the 1990s, it became safe for people to talk openly in magazines and on TV about drugs. It was seen as a badge of honour, to the point where people like Robbie Williams were boasting about taking coke. Back in the day – jazz musicians in the 1940s, rock’n’rollers in the 1950s, psychedelic rockers in the 1960s and 1970s – drugs were for outsider hip people and in the 1990s they became normalised and, I guess, unhip. Suddenly there were just rivers of coke and ecstasy. Ecstasy that used to cost £25 a hit was suddenly a tenner and a gram of coke went from £100 to £50. I started to believe that maybe the authorities had seen how the acid house revolution, which at first they hated, was a way of keeping people together. You know, if everybody’s in a field off their heads with loads of drugs for three days, maybe that’s where we should keep them. Just like they did in the US, pumping cheap heroin into the big American cities.

You came to prominence in the 1990s. How do you look back on the decade? With fondness?

By the 1990s, the United Kingdom was a one-party state. [However,] I saw there was excitement about John Smith. My dad was still in the Labour Party and he was excited by him.

Then he died and I remember reading about this guy Tony Blair, the new leader, and I asked my dad, “Who is this guy?” My dad says, “No one really knows where he’s come from and what he stands for,” which is quite prescient when you know what came later. And, of course, I voted for Tony Blair. I voted Labour every time, [although] I didn’t really show too much interest in what was going on. I was just thinking, “It’s great: we got a Labour government.” I didn’t really understand they were really in many ways a continuation of Thatcherism, that they never broke the neoliberal consensus.

You didn’t embrace New Labour like others did?

I remember Alan McGee telling me he was going to go to Number Ten with Noel [Gallagher]. He said, “What do you think?” as he was really >>

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‘Primal Scream prided itself on being able to take more drugs and harder drugs than any other bands’

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‘[New Labour] were a continuation of Thatcherism, they never broke the neoliberal consensus’

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T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1 >> pleased and I think he thought I’d be pleased.

I said, “I’m not sure. I don’t know what it is, but I’m just not sure it’s the right thing to do.” I said, “It’s up to you, but I don’t think I would do it.”

If we learned anything from New Labour, it’s that third-way politics don’t work, because society is just too unequal and they never levelled up. You know, they kept the Thatcher neoliberal consensus going. Britain is more unequal now than it’s ever been and that is a failure of New Labour. I think if you radically want to transform society, third-way politics don’t work. You know, just like Bill Clinton in America and Tony Blair in Britain. It doesn’t work.

How do you look back upon Britpop?

At the beginning of the 1990s, the electronic music we were hearing coming from Detroit and Chicago sounded futuristic and you had this huge explosion of creativity, of black kids in South London and white kids in Sheffield making techno and jungle, making this music that was uniquely British but had been influenced by the energy flash of acid house and Detroit and Chicago techno and house, and that was something to be proud of. Then when the Britpop thing happened, it was very retro and then the Union Jacks came out and I was like, “Wow. This is not for me.” I knew the value of Oasis, and we were friends with Noel and Liam, but we kind of just stayed in the margins and did our own thing. You can’t discount that, because it was this explosion of guitar bands. I think we were just too old for it.

As an artist, how have your ambitions changed from when you started?

The ambition for me at the moment is to become a better songwriter and better lyricist and express myself in better ways than I’ve ever done and, hopefully, still have something to say, writing serious songs that feel or capture the moment and that are age-appropriate. And I hope that doesn’t sound horribly age-appropriate, but I just want to be a good artist. I’ve got a clarity in the last couple of years that I never had before and a lot of that is to do with experimentation and exploring things outside my comfort zone. If you stay in your zone then you’re trapped.

Why did you want to make a record with Beth?

Because of the arrangements of the songs, the pace of the songs, the amount of space in the songs and the instrumentation we used, it allowed me, as a lyricist and a singer, to breathe and express myself in a clear, open, raw, honest manner, as I was able to fictionalise events.

I’m doing things I couldn’t have done in Primal Scream, because in the past we’ve sometimes been guilty of making kind of high-energy rock’n’roll or high-energy electronic rock records that are quite claustrophobic and angry sounding. This record gave me the freedom to do something different. Which, as an artist, is basically all you want to do. You need to fly, to challenge yourself and do something different.

TENEMENT KID (WHITE RABBIT BOOKS, £16) IS OUT ON 14 OCTOBER.

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‘I’ve got a clarity in the last couple of years and a lot of that is to do with exploring outside my comfort zone’

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PROFESSOR DAME SARAH GILBERT, DR CATHERINE GREEN AND THE TEAM BEHIND THE OXFORD/ASTRAZENECA VACCINE HEROES

Story by Sirin Kale Photographs by Jooney Woodward Styling by Angelo Mitakos

Thanks to the foresight of an academic lab in Oxford, the race to develop a world-changing response to Covid-19 began weeks before the virus’ full devastation was unleashed. What’s more, that race was won astonishingly quickly and when the lead scientists announced their life-saving vaccine in November last year, it offered hope to every corner of the globe. They say not all heroes wear capes... These ones wear lab coats

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A

ugust 2020. The UK is eating out to help out, cocksure in the misguided certainty that the terrible travails of the Covid-19 pandemic are a thing of the past. Dr Catherine Green is on a camping holiday with her daughter, Ellie, and friends. Here, in a rural idyll beside a trickling stream, the Oxford University biologist hoped to get a respite from her punishing work developing a Covid-19 vaccine.

There was no phone signal or electricity. There were scarcely 20 people in the campsite. And then, in a queue for a pizza van, Green overheard a fellow camper talking about the Covid-19 vaccine.

The woman had valid concerns, but she was illinformed. “She was saying she didn’t know what was in it and she didn’t trust it.” For a moment, Green considered leaving her to it: she was on holiday, after all. But she couldn’t walk away. She took a breath, before introducing herself to the holidaymaker. “I can tell you what’s in it,” she said, “because my team made it.” The two women spoke amicably about how the vaccine was designed, before parting ways. Because when you’re creating a vaccine to literally save the world from a brand-new deadly disease, there’s no campsite in the world where you can get away from it all.

In just over a year, Green, 46, and her colleague, Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, 59, have become two of the most recognisable scientists in the world. (It is fair to say that Gilbert, with her distinctive red hair and trademark squarerimmed glasses, is the more widely known – not that Green seems the slightest bit envious.) The memoir they coauthored of the year they spent developing the vaccine, Vaxxers, is a bestseller.

Inevitably, there will be a movie adaptation down the line and inevitably Kate Winslet will be involved. There is already a Barbie doll.

You sense they want to slough off the celebrity.

At this year’s Wimbledon Championships, Gilbert

received a standing ovation, much to her visible mortification. “I didn’t know it was going to happen,” she says of the applause, “and would rather not have been filmed when it suddenly, unexpectedly did.” There are endless interview requests, unsolicited emails, constant encounters in the street. “‘Ooh, I know who you are,’” says Gilbert, mimicking one such interaction. “‘I want you to write a blog post for me!” She flinches. “Don’t give me another job.”

We are speaking via Zoom, Green from home, where she has worked throughout the pandemic, and Gilbert from her office. (The office – utterly drab and institutional – is instantly recognisable to me as the backdrop for the many media interviews Gilbert gave throughout 2020. When I observe this, Gilbert responds, “Because I’m always here.”) In person, Gilbert is more amiable than her slightly dour public image suggests, while Green is a wisecracking, exuberant presence – you sense she’d be good fun on a night out. The week we speak, Boris Johnson has removed all Covid-19 restrictions in England. Mask-wearing is voluntary. But her fame, Gilbert observes drily, is a good reason to “keep the mask on. Tie my hair up.

Then I’m a bit less recognisable.”

Gilbert and Green began working on their Covid-19 vaccine in January 2020, in those last days of blissful complacency before the country was upturned like an empty flask on a lab bench.

Gilbert was the one to get the ball rolling, having read about a “pneumonia of unknown origin” on an obscure medical news site on New Year’s Day. A few days later, it became apparent that these deaths were linked to a new Sars-like virus. Gilbert had previously worked to develop a vaccine for Mers-Cov, which is, like Sars, also a coronavirus.

In theory, a vaccine for Covid-19 could be developed in much the same way as the Mers vaccine, meaning Gilbert was one of very few people in the world who, at that time, might actually be able to help. Gilbert enlisted Green to help make a prototype vaccine, using an ultra-rapid technology Gilbert had been developing for years.

Within a year, the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine would achieve regulatory approval. Given that vaccines normally take years, even decades, to develop, this was an unprecedented feat. Gilbert was made a Dame, Green given an OBE. But what is clear from speaking to both women is that none of this, at any point, was a given. Throughout 2020, both women prepared themselves for the possibility that their Covid-19 vaccine would be a dud.

“The scientific process [means] failing quite a lot,” says Green. “You have to get things wrong and learn from them. So there was always the possibility that, for some reason, the coronavirus spike protein wasn’t the right target to use for a coronavirus vaccine... It’s biology. It’s complicated.

It wasn’t guaranteed to work.”

Gilbert interjects: “I’ve always said there should be multiple vaccines in development... You don’t know what is going to go wrong.”

Everyone who interviews them, Gilbert says, asks whether there was an “a-ha” moment, when things fell into place. “There wasn’t one,” she says crisply. “It’s all general development and lots of hard work.” What she is saying is that the >>

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

‘The scientific process [means] failing quite a lot...

[The Covid-19 vaccine] wasn’t guaranteed to work’

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W

hat becomes apparent from speaking to Gilbert and Green is that possibly we do not deserve the scientists that rescued us from the calamity of the Covid-19 pandemic. In this country, as in many developed nations, we treat our academics shabbily, pay them poorly and force them to perform a minstrel dance every year or so, begging for funding for their critical research.

“People don’t necessarily understand what a scientific career really looks like,” says Green.

“It’s lots of short-term fixed contracts. You might have a job for two years and then a job for three years and then you have to reapply for your job or move around between institutions. And that’s very challenging, especially when you’re in your thirties and trying to have a family.”

Gilbert is nodding furiously. It is the most animated I have seen the impeccably self-contained academic in our entire interview. “I got my PhD when I was 24 and I didn’t have a permanent job until I was 58,” Gilbert says. But surely, I say, people must be throwing money at the great Sarah Gilbert and Catherine Green now? I envisage them texting a government minister, who immediately disburses funds.

“No, no,” says Gilbert, faintly exasperated.

Her implacable mien slips for a second. “There’s no money. I don’t know what is going to happen after next March. Because the big picture is science-funding councils get their money from the government and the government hasn’t told them what money is going to be available next year.”

“We don’t know what we’re doing next year,” Green adds.

Both women worry constantly about how they will secure funding for their projects and pay the people who work for them. Covid has not changed that. “That’s a huge stress,” says Green. “You’re constantly having to find money to pay your team.” Did she ever consider leaving to work in the private sector? “It’s always in the back of one’s mind,” Green says, laughing.

Gilbert did leave the academic world, working for a private biotech company, Delta Biotechnology, for four years. “We were doing interesting science,” she says. But, by chance, the parent company of the firm sold it and Gilbert was left with not much to do, so she rejoined academia. Only through chance did the academic world regain one of its greatest minds.

All of which is to say that the life of a vaccine researcher in the Covid-19 pandemic was not necessarily that much more stressful than the life of a vaccine researcher in non-pandemic times. More 128 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

meals from vending machines certainly (“Thank God the vending machine saga is over,” jokes Green. “No more Bounty bars. I’ve got to lose all of those pandemic pounds!”) and more pressure, of course: the eyes of the world were upon them.

But at least during Covid, Gilbert and Green had the money they needed. “There were no international flights between the UK and Rome,” recalls Green, “so we had to charter a private jet to fly 500 doses from Rome to London. Madness!”

Now things are approaching normality, both women are back where they started: scrounging together money to continue their research. As we speak, Green is desperately trying to get funding to expand her manufacturing facility, where the vaccine prototype was first made.

You would think after a year in which scientists literally saved the world from a deadly virus, our government would finally recognise the importance of investment in research to protect us from other emerging pathogens, especially as most experts agree that a deadly influenza pandemic is basically inevitable. But apparently not.

“There’s always going to be another pandemic,” says Gilbert. “Everyone who works in pandemic preparedness has been saying this for years... I hope there will be better preparedness but, as we were talking about, it costs money – and we need the money to invest. And there are a lot of demands for money at the moment.”

T

he pandemic is not over yet – far from it.

The week we speak, cases are rising as the Delta variant runs amok. Hundreds of thousands of people are self-isolating, having been pinged by the NHS app. “It’s only a ‘pingdemic’ because cases are really high,” Green says irritably. “It’s not the app that’s doing it. It’s the fact that there are a lot of cases in the country.”

Many believe that booster shots will be necessary as immunity wanes. Gilbert is not generally in favour of booster doses in developed countries, when so many people around the world have yet to receive a first dose. (She makes an exception for those in older age groups with waning immunity, if the evidence showed it was useful.) “The most impact from the vaccine is with the first dose,” she says. “We get really high protection with the first dose, then it improves with the second. So if you want to think about getting the most protection across the world, vaccinate everybody once, rather than some people three times.”

Both women are concerned about the potential for further new variants to emerge, of course.

The Oxford vaccine in profile, the day after it was approved for use in the UK

“We do know that there is a lot of spread of transmission in many countries where people are not vaccinated yet,” says Gilbert. “And as that continues to happen, there’s always the risk that new variants will arise and that’s what we need to try to prevent from happening.”

AstraZeneca has pledged to make the vaccine available to the developing world at cost in perpetuity. “The details of the deal with AZ,” says Gilbert, “is something neither of us had anything to do with... [but] as a university and as a charity, we were always working for public health and public good and not for profit. The university was never going to just sell it to the highest bidder and try to make the most money.” Both women lobbied internally to ensure the vaccine would be affordable to low-income nations.

Working with the pharmaceutical giant led to a few surreal moments. “I make 1,000 doses maximum in my research team... and then people [from AZ] on the other side of the world are starting to say, ‘We’ll manufacture this and put it on this continent and there will be a billion doses,’” explains Green. “That was a penny-drop moment.”

‘There were no flights.

We had to charter a jet to fly 500 doses from Rome to London. Madness!’

A billion doses of a vaccine you manufactured in your lab, going into arms around the world – it is a remarkable, almost unimaginable achievement. Green permitted herself a moment of prideful self-satisfaction, taking a selfie when she received her first dose. “It was an emotional moment for me,” she says, “because I’m there along with other people receiving the AstraZeneca jab. And that meant a lot, because it was the culmination for us of the project that started back in January the year before.”

She thinks about the lives that have been saved due to the vaccine. “It’s now above 30,000,” says Green. “That’s real people, relatives that have been saved, 30,000 grandmas that wouldn’t be with us. That’s a humbling thing to have been even a small part of. And we are only a small part of it. But that’s something really important.”

Characteristically, Gilbert has not allowed herself such a feeling of accomplishment.

“We’re still working,” she explains. Their work to re-engineer the vaccine against new variants is ongoing and both are attending to the vaccine research they neglected in order to prioritise the Covid vaccine. (Gilbert is also trying to improve vaccine manufacturing capabilities around the world, particularly in Africa, where there is currently no local Covid vaccine manufacturing taking place.) Because when you’re a vaccine researcher, there is always a new clinical trial to evaluate or a paper to publish. Gilbert and Green cannot afford to rest on their laurels, because emerging deadly pathogens don’t take time out either.

“It’s not over yet,” Gilbert says briskly.

“We still have lots of different things to do.”

Hair and make-up Lucie Pemberton using Armani Beauty With thanks to Old Bank Hotel, Oxford

>> Covid-19 vaccine wouldn’t have been possible without the work that had been done to develop an ultra-rapid manufacturing technique prior to Covid and her work on Mers.

The Covid-19 vaccine was the culmination of a lifetime’s work: endless papers, interminable grant proposals, tedious conferences in anonymous hotels. Professor Gilbert has an h-index (the score used to assess the productivity and citation impact of a scholar) of 91, which is higher than many Nobel Laureates. Theirs was a steady, slow trudge uphill, not a steep sprint to the top.

parfums

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‘The universe has expanded...

I’m no longer in [the Bridgerton WhatsApp group]’ 130 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

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REGÉ-JEAN PAGE STA NDOU T PER FOR M A NCE

Story by Stuart McGurk

Photographs by Jason Hetherington

Styling by Luke Day

In case you and 82 million others have forgotten how we spent last year’s festive break, a one-word reminder: Bridgerton. As Netflix crowns the Regency romp its most-watched series, GQ bows to the man behind its dashing Duke Of Hastings, who rises next to meets the Russo brothers in the streamer’s biggest-budget blockbuster yet

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Regé-Jean Page talks like the spacebar is yet to be invented. He is mildly hungover – we both are; it was England vs Denmark the night before – and he. Is. Excited!

England won, of course, in extra time, and the match saw England playmaker Jack Grealish subbed on only to be subbed off. Page doesn’t so much have thoughts on this as a one-man radio play. It’s about England’s tactics, naturally, but also a cultural shift. It’s about the demise of lad culture. And the rise of feminism. And the fact that Gareth Southgate isn’t just a football manger, but also a cultural touchstone for... It’s best to let him explain.

“So-this-is-exactly-what-you-do-we-allgo-to-a-flat-back-five-we-all-agree-on-that?

Yes-OK.” (To be clear, he is answering himself here, presumably because I’d just slow the whole process down.) “We-want-to-bemore-defensive-we’re-not-looking-to-attackwithout-defensive-discipline? Yes-right.

So-who-do-we-take-off? Well-obviously-Jack-thejob-he-has-come-on-to-do-has-been-done-andthat’s-real-maturity-which-is-unusual-isn’t-it?”

I nod. “We-do-passion-and-blood-and-gutsbut-this-kind-of-quiet-maturity-it’s-an-alienlanguage. So-this-is-why-I-like-the-way-thesethings-intersect-with-the-culture-becauseif-we’re-talking-about-Euro-96-and-thatkind-of-lad-culture” – which we now are – “that-came-out-of-the-1990s-it-feels-likeSouthgate’s-brand-of-quiet-maturity-if-that’swhat-we’re-branding-it” – which we also now are – “would-be-viewed-as-suspiciously-continentialnigh-on-feminist-and-there’s-something-aboutall-having-grown-into-being-open-and-takingabout-your-feelings-that...”

The point he’s making – and it’s no less a point for being delivered in the style of someone telling you that a child has fallen down a well – is one of a broader shift in the culture. One in which, just maybe, we are learning to take a step back, Southgate-style, clear-eyed, and are no longer doing things just because that’s how they’ve always been done. Especially if how it’s always been done never make much sense anyway.

Which is how I knew we were really talking about Bridgerton before we’d even started talking about Bridgerton.

To say it was a smash for Netflix barely hints at it. The Regency-era drama, in which Page 132 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Regé-Jean Page as the Duke Of Hastings in Bridgerton, Netflix’s most-watched original series to date

agency that they’ve not been afforded before.

That’s what’s ridiculous. That we are not creative enough in the creative industries – that’s the failure. But the second you start doing that? It’s like, ‘This is so easy!’ Yes, it is, so keep doing that.”

He tells me a story, which his publicist later sends a link regarding, to ensure I’ve got it, about when Paris was recaptured during the Second World War. The French, he points out, were fighting with mostly black soldiers. But they didn’t want that imagery in the history books so shipped in white soldiers for the victory march.

His point is this: when people complain about political correctness when they see a black actor in, say, Dunkirk, they have it the wrong way around: “The reason you think history is white is because you’ve been lied to. It’s not that we’re being politically correct. It’s that we’ve been, very deliberately, politically incorrect.”

A

ll of the above is true. But while it accounts for Bridgerton’s cultural resonance and undoubted zeitgeist appeal, it doesn’t quite explain – how can one put this? – the eight-episode thirst-trap sex-plosion the show would reveal itself to be.

Page remembers visiting the production offices when everyone was still reading the book due to how racy it was. When he arrived for the first conversation about the role, the security guard had his head buried in it. When he checked in with the receptionist, she had to look up from it. A Slack channel in the offices was alive with nothing but chatter about it (“Girl, turn to page 38!”). When he went in for a chemistry read with Phoebe Dynevor – his costar and partner in thirst trapping – he remembers the receptionists blushing when they asked what bit they’d got to in it.

I tell him that I was a little shocked myself upon watching it to realise the plot for entire the series (spoiler alert) essentially revolved around if he, as the duke who had married Phoebe’s demure debutante, would either ejaculate inside her or pull out just before he came. (Her preference, as someone who wanted children, was pro ejaculation; his preference, for reasons too complicated to go into here, was pro pull-out.)

“Yes! That right there! And you’re blushing talking about it” – this can neither be confirmed nor denied – “Because we don’t write that!”

Predictably, the thing he got asked about in every junket interview was, “How did you watch it with your parents?” The response he never exactly gave but gives now to me is, “Mate, how do you think we got here? Everyone’s done it.”

The intimate scenes, he says, were not dissimilar to stunts in terms of how they shot them: “‘Like, if I move here, in what way? Does that shift our weight? What’s dangerous about here? Is it OK if we move in this direction?’”

They had a three-layer system: “So there’s a yoga mat, a little yoga ball and whatever else between you and the other person.”

Being labelled a heart-throb, he says, is “like a side dish really... The meal remains the same... and sometimes the side might complement it and sometimes you might over-dress the salad... and it’s just about knowing what the side >>

Photograph Netflix

R

played the dashing Duke Of Hastings, was the streaming service’s biggest series ever. Launched last December, 82 million households worldwide tuned into the show in its first 28 days online, almost half of Netflix’s entire subscriber base.

And it catapulted the 31-year-old from the guy you might have seen in the 2016 remake of Roots (in which he played the fast-talking – naturally – Chicken George) or the BBC school drama Waterloo Road (in which he played the smouldering – naturally – teacher Guy Braxton) into an instant A-list leading man, with an Emmy nomination to boot.

But more important than the figures were the faces. It may have been based on Julia Quinn’s novels and centred around the world of debutantes and dances, but this was no by-the-book Austen adaption: it was snappy, snarky and don’t-watch-with-older-relatives sexy.

During the initial table read of the scripts, Page remembers someone saying, “How do you read this? This isn’t what an Austen adaption looks like.” As he puts it to me now, “And it’s like, ‘No, it’s not an Austen adaption. That’s the point.’ It’s triple the speed!” He clicks his fingers. “The whole thing is a bit less precious and a bit more fun.”

But just as crucially, it was diverse. The very first shot of Page – essentially the show’s Darcy – saw him arrive on horseback. Finally, a period drama that showed black people with status. To moan about historical accuracy misses the point.

As Page says, “I think it becomes very obvious who was excluded from the game previously. It just became vaguely ludicrous that it was such an issue before. You know, ‘How will this work?’ Um, we’ll do the acting!”

While some black actors, he says, may have not even asked their agents about those period roles, believing they wouldn’t be considered anyway, Page looks at it the other way around: “I’d be twice as hard on my agent to get on the case.

Because I think that’s the only way you end up with Bridgerton. You don’t get there unless you’re knocking on the door.”

Hence the entrance on the horse mattered: “Being on a horse is literally lifting people into a position of aspiration, power, possibility and

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sauces you allow in the meal... and what quantity of...”. He stops. “I have a theory that I’m always hungry when I do interviews, as I always talk about food.”

T

o meet Regé-Jean Page is to meet a man who is living life with the volume turned up.

He is delighted by everything.

Mischief, naturally, is fun (“Mischief is fun!”).

The lady who looked after stage directions on Bridgerton is a genius (“Betsy, she lifts a table read like no one else in the world! I’ve never seen anyone else do a table read like she does”).

He talks about scheduling, when discussing his forthcoming blockbuster, spy thriller The Gray Man, like other people talk about their wives giving birth (“And so we’re aligning the schedules of Chris Pine, Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Michelle Rodriguez. And the second you’re putting that together, and you didn’t make the day here, we have a scene that we owe. It’s like you spend the summer doing a giant sudoku puzzle”).

More than once he will say, “Which I think was the question ten minutes ago, sorry.”

He’s incredibly endearing, a little bit dorky, and all the more likeable for that.

He grew up in Zimbabwe, the son of a preacher father and a mother who was a nurse.

He remembers, when he came to London for secondary school, being most confused when the sun was out: he’d never seen a sunny day that was cold before.

He always felt like an outsider, was always the weird kid from another country.

Classmates would ask, “Do you have telephones in Zimbabwe?” (“Yes!”) or “Are there lions wandering down the high street?” (“Yes!”) “Really?” (“No!”) To be clear, there were streets and phones and TVs, but only two TV stations, “So we had whatever cheap TV we could afford from the rest of the world”.

The result: Red Dwarf, but also Santa Barbara (a lurid American soap opera) and weird

136 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

European football roundup shows from which he would learn “about the academy system in Yugoslavia from Gillette World Sport Special”.

Yet, he says, “It was very valuable as an artist to grow up outside one of the centres of the world.” Being an outsider, he says, was key to making him an actor. He’d always had to think who he’d need to be in order to fit in.

“You know,” he says, “I was a loud kid” – this is not hard to believe – “so I’ve always been expressive and I would think to myself, ‘Why am I weird once I’ve come to the UK? What’s different about me?’” And so he realised, “If I was this guy, I’d get access here; if I was this guy, people will accept me in this way... It’s code-switching, but then taken into subcultures.”

He joined a punk band for similar reasons. For him, a self-confessed nerd and good boy, punk was socially acceptable rebellion, a way to play someone else, he says, one set at a time. Well, that and “it was the desire to yell at people. Like, you’re a teenager, you’re going to be irresponsible and unreasonable, and I was like, ‘What’s an acceptable way to slam the bedroom door that won’t get me into trouble? Ah, that’s what people do in rock bands! Excellent.’ So I joined a rock band instead of slamming doors. I jumped around on stage and yelled at people while I tried to figure out how the world worked for a while.”

When he lived in Los Angeles, in his twenties, he was an outsider again and so wanted to know the difference in language. Between Brentwood and Inglewood, say, or what Van Nuys meant, or the difference between the Eastside and the Westside. When he took LA Ubers he’d take different accents out for a spin with every ride.

“Generally I’ll stay undercover and put on a New York accent or a West Coast accent.” It is, he says, “like scales in the morning, if you’re a pianist. In the rehearsal room, actors give each other a lot of slack. But if you’re not confident ordering a coffee in that accent, in the place that accent is from, then that’s not good enough to go on screen.”

I

t was in LA that Regé-Jean Page would land the role of heart-throb assistant US attorney Leonard Knox on ABC legal drama For The People, produced by ubershowrunner Shonda Rhimes, the brains behind such American TV smashes as Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal. It was cancelled after the second series, but by that time Rhimes had signed a $100 million deal to make TV for Netflix and knew exactly who she wanted to play the lead of a new period adaption she was planning.

“And just as that show [For The People] wrapped up,” he says, “just as I was walking out the door, they were like, ‘Nope. You, hold on. Wait. We’ve got something. And now you’re not busy here would you take a look? It’s British and we need something like the energy you brought here.’”

To sum up: “We did the thing, people watched the thing and I’m talking to you now about the thing, many months later.” Which, it goes without saying, is a very good thing.

It also goes without saying that as soon as Bridgerton aired the offers came pouring in.

‘It was very valuable as an artist to grow up outside one of the centres of the world’ When I ask about this, Page mentions a YouTube video he once watched: it’s a Crufts-like dog show and the task at hand is essentially a discipline test. It’s a straight track, no jumps, but scattered along the way are various treats and sausages and squeezy toys to tempt them. The first dog: no problem. The second dog: easy.

The third dog, a golden retriever, to the accompaniment of Benny Hill music on the clip, “thinks it’s Christmas and just hits every single plate. The owner is so embarrassed.”

The point being: don’t be that dog. “The meals will come. Don’t grab at everything you didn’t have two years ago.”

The two projects he did sign up for aren’t bad at all: first up is The Gray Man from the Russo brothers, the directing duo behind Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, which will be Netflix’s most expensive film to date and which costars the aforementioned Ryan Gosling, Chris Pine and Chris Evans. After that, an adaption of Dungeons & Dragons, “which I’m very much still in the trenches with” and which, well, it’s Dungeons & Dragons: people are going to watch.

For both, he says, the meetings went roughly the same way: “The conversation was, ‘So my wife saw this [Bridgerton] and told me that I need to see it.’” There is, he thinks, “something super interesting [in] that powerful men had me recommended by the women in their lives, which I think says something about where the power actually lies”.

He has been linked, somewhat inevitably, to the role of Bond. And so, as I suspect it’s in my GQ contract, I ask what he makes of the speculation.

“Well, of all the things you’ll read about yourself on the internet, it’s one of the more pleasant and more flattering. But I take it and leave it at that, personally.”

The less pleasant things on the internet mostly came when it was officially announced that Page would not be returning for Bridgerton’s second series. Kim Kardashian summed up the public mood when she commented on Instagram, “Wait!!! What????”

He is not, he says, in the Bridgerton WhatsApp group any more: “No, the universe has expanded.

So I’m no longer in it.”

Did they... kick you out? He laughs. “No, I respectfully exited. I didn’t want to put them in an awkward situation where they had to kick me out.”

But Page doesn’t quite rule out a cameo or a guest appearance when I mention the possibility to him.

At first he is adamant: “You know I couldn’t tell you!” But after some light prodding he allows the following, a statement that could be as much about himself as about any possible return. He says, “Isn’t there’s something wonderful about being surprised by what you weren’t suspecting?”

Grooming Carlos Ferraz at Carol Hayes Management using Dior Backstage and Dior Capture Totale Super Potent Serum Photography assistants Gabor Herczegfalvi; Andrew Mayfield Styling assistant Poppy Norton Intern Maryia Bhard

>> dish is... and you have to be wise about what

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‘The meals will come. Don’t grab at everything you didn’t have two years ago’ OCTOBER 2021 GQ. CO.UK 137

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138 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

WOLF ALICE

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

As critics, fans and the Mercury Prize pile praise on their defining No1 album, it’s fair to say the four-piece pack have found their voice... and they’re not afraid to use it

OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 139

When Wolf Alice started work on their third album, Blue Weekend, lead singer Ellie Rowsell realised she had a problem. Maybe it was the pressure of following up 2017’s Visions Of A Life, which had won the 2018 Mercury Prize, a feat no guitar band had achieved for six years.

Or maybe it was the fact a relentless touring schedule had left her out of practice with making new music. But the songs she’d written and was about to share with her three band members, well, they just weren’t very good... were they?

Wolf Alice won their first Mercury Prize for sophomore album Visions Of A Life, 20 September 2018

140 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

“There was a bit of pressure,” Rowsell recalls.

“They weren’t fully formed at that stage, so when you show them to people you just hope they can see a song in the shit demo.”

It’s fair to say they could. Blue Weekend was released in June to a bombardment of five-star reviews and lavish praise for the way it deftly intertwined its intimate lyrics with a widescreen indie-rock sound. It became the band’s first No1 album in the UK and earned them a third Mercury Prize nomination, all of which made crowning them as GQ’s band of the year a somewhat easy task. As for the songs being no good? Perhaps such worries were to be expected from a band who have always swerved rock star swagger for an endearing combination of selfdoubt and social awkwardness, documenting instead the inner turmoil of growing up through your teens and twenties. Rowsell, after all, is a singer who once found it difficult to shout along to her own songs while recording early demos. “I remember saying, ‘But it’s just not me!’” she says today, making use of a comedic squeaky voice.

But Blue Weekend is the work of a band who have located their deep inner reserves of confidence. Ethereal and expansive, it breezes through folk, punk and indie stylings with a touch of the Cocteau Twins and Kate Bush for good measure.

It sounds perfectly engineered for festival headline slots – although, when we meet, the pandemic has prevented the band playing a single festival.

Instead their current live show is confined to a windowless rehearsal space in East London, where the band are beating their back catalogue into shape for a headline set at Latitude. The room is dotted with signs of their recent success: a glossy magazine with them gracing the cover lies on the sofa (“Oh, how did that get there?” says guitarist Joff Oddie with a touch of embarrassment), while a gigantic bottle of WKD Blue lurks in the corner (“That says it all... We’re fucking big time!” says a grinning Theo Ellis). But in person Wolf Alice don’t act like the megastars they’re becoming: they’re low-key, self-deprecating, slightly tentative at times. Even “Delicious Things”, Blue Weekend’s tale of popping pills in Los Angeles, is delivered with a sense of hesitancy: “The vibes are kinda wrong here / Scared to know just what goes on here,” sings Rowsell, who won’t be breaking any of Happy Mondays’ hedonism records any time soon.

Yet if they share a certain unstarriness, they’re remarkably different as people – four musicians you might not place in the same band. Oddie is the designated grown-up (carries the keys to the studio, dresses sensibly, volunteered at a food bank during time off ), while Ellis is the band’s joker, louder than the others both in volume and style (bleached-blond hair; a Justin and Britney T-shirt). Drummer Joel Amey is the band’s biggest musical obsessive and also the quietest. And then there’s the paradox that is Rowsell – shy yet steely, serious but with a dry sense of humour. She’s as likely to play live in a gothic ankle-length dress as grungy boots and jeans – today she’s in the latter, tugging at the denim while answering questions.

This album marks a turning point for the 29-year-old singer, in that she’s allowed herself to open up lyrically and share more. There are lyrics

about answering her critics (and fiercely: “Don’t call me mad / There’s a difference, I’m angry” is one choice line from “Smile”), but also crying in the bath to Amy Winehouse records (the stunning Fleetwood Mac-esque “No Hard Feelings”). The latter reference is a pointed one. “[Winehouse] was always unashamed about writing so many love songs, whereas I always used to feel, ‘Oh, God, not another one,’” says Rowsell. “But if I go through something personal, whether it’s good or a tragedy or whatever, I often become obsessed with music, art, literature about that thing. So if it’s a break-up I just wanna watch films about break-ups. It’s trying to make sense of something.”

Perhaps Blue Weekend’s most striking track is “Feeling Myself”, which critics bashfully described as “an ode to self-love”. Perhaps that’s because they’re not used to a woman writing openly about masturbation as an alternative to disappointing sex (“He’s had so many lovers / Don’t mean he’s been pleasing anyone”). “I didn’t mean it to be scathing of men,” says Rowsell, “but perhaps it is being scathing of how, as a woman, you grow up to not understand sex. Because no one really talks about it. Nobody at school goes there.”

That the London four-piece have become comfortable enough with each other to explore such themes is an unlikely triumph. Rowsell grew up in Archway, London, without friends who shared her various musical obsessions. To find someone like-minded she scoured internet forums with her father, looking at sites where musicians demonstrated their chops to potential bandmates. In 2010, they landed on Oddie, who was at teachertraining college in South West London at the time. The duo’s initial acoustic leanings grew into something heavier when Ellis and Amey joined.

But as befits a band who formed without any shared history, their music bounced around genres, making them hard to pigeonhole. Were they grunge, Britpop revivalists, indie shoegazers or something else? The A&Rs they met in those early days often had the same question, with some telling them they had to focus on a particular sound.

“You need to decide if you want to be Patti Smith or Florence Welch,” was one depressing response.

Did they ever think they might have to pick?

“Not collectively. Like, ‘Guys, I think we should be a punk band,’” says Rowsell. “But, in your head, of course you do think about it.”

“There was that feeling of ‘What am I?’” says Ellis. “But you do that in your life too. It’s easier if you define yourselves within certain parameters, because then you know how to fit in with the world, but one of the beautiful things about watching this generation that is 16 generations below me – or, at least, it feels like that – is that they cross-pollinate with all these ideas and the onus is on being an individual. I’m jealous of that.”

It was far from the only time Wolf Alice have struggled to convince the music industry of their worth. “One A&R man was like, ‘You don’t look like a band. You need a thing, like The Horrors have their thing,’” says Rowsell.

“We weren’t all wearing black and we didn’t all share the same drug addiction,” says Ellis.

It’s funny now, but it must have been demoralising at the time. >>

Photograph Getty Images

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

‘One A&R said, “You don’t look like a band.”

We weren’t all in black and didn’t all share the same drug addiction’

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OCTOBER 2021 GQ.CO .UK 141

Joff wears

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>> “It was really horrible!” says Rowsell. “Because,

‘One of the beautiful things about this generation is that the onus is on being an individual’

“That’s one of my favourite aspects of this whole thing,” says Oddie. “Seeing friendship groups that have formed because of us.”

“There’s a group of kids who keep tweeting me from Battersea Park,” says Ellis. “They keep getting smashed and listening to Blue Weekend in the park. I might go down and see them one day.”

They’re hoping to reconnect properly if scheduled US, UK and EU tours go ahead, but, even as one of the biggest bands in Britain, everything remains in flux, with changing coronavirus restrictions and the avalanche of paperwork involved post-Brexit. “It will put a chokehold on bands at a lower level than us, who have to pay triple the costs to tour,” says Ellis. “Normally we’d be giddy with excitement right now, caning it at festivals and European shows, but we’re going to have to put our heads together to figure out how to do it.”

“We’re actually looking into playing weddings,” says Rowsell.

“Yeah,” echoes Ellis. “If anyone’s got a wedding, shout us!”

Why weddings?

“Free booze,” says Rowsell. “Plus, they seem to be allowed even though shows aren’t.”

“If we can’t tour Europe then they’re the next best thing,” decides Amey.

Regardless of how many shows they play, Blue Weekend has already propelled Wolf Alice into a bigger league. It must have been strange for this modest group to see the rave reviews pouring in?

“It’s been mad,” admits Amey.

“And a shock, for me,” adds Oddie. “Because when you spend four years writing 40 minutes of music, you do lose all sense of perspective on how good that 40 minutes is. There was a point when we finished it when I was like, ‘I have no idea about this. It might be rubbish.’ And I thought that for quite a long time.”

Crippling self-doubt again? With Wolf Alice, that’s how you know you’re on to a winner.

on one hand, those things make you stronger.

Like, ‘I’ll prove to you that I don’t need this “thing”.’ But, on the other hand, you still go home and start thinking, ‘What can my “thing” be?’”

Y

et not being like a “typical band”, it turned out, was exactly what young indie fans were looking for at a time when guitar music had been declared dead by most critics. “It was that period when rock star culture was going through a transition,” says Ellis. “That option of being wayward and cool and trendy suddenly started to look... very not cool. There was a lot that wouldn’t go down well in the current climate.”

Earlier this year Rowsell found herself caught in a story that captures these rapidly changing attitudes around “rock star” behaviour: after Marilyn Manson had been accused of abuse, grooming and manipulation by several women, she decided to step forward with her own story.

She had been backstage at a festival when Manson approached her, singing the band’s praises. But, as his words became more and more effusive, she noticed he’d been recording upskirt footage of her on a GoPro (astonishingly, this seems to have been completely legal at the time). In a series of tweets, Rowsell wrote, “There were no repercussions for his behaviour. His tour manager simply said, ‘He does this kind of thing all the time...’

When will we stop enabling misogynists on the account of their success?” (Manson and his tour manager have yet to respond.)

What made her decide to speak out? “For me, personally, if you feel like you have something to add that could be in any way beneficial then it might be worth it,” she says. “But I don’t treat those things casually.” Is this type of behaviour a common experience for women in bands?

“There’s no one woman who has a collective experience, so I don’t know. What I will say is a lot of 142 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

my experiences, in a similar vein to that one, happened before I was ever in the music industry.”

“Society needs a reckoning, not just the music industry,” adds Oddie. “The music industry is just reflective of what’s going on in wider society.”

It’s not the only time Wolf Alice have made a statement. In 2019 they called for a boycott of Eurovision in Tel Aviv, accusing Israel of “weaponising culture” and of being “serial human rights abusers”. This band once afraid of shouting their own lyrics have certainly found their voice.

Now it’s a question of being able to share it again with their fans. Normally when writing material they road test it with smaller shows – that way they work out which songs work and where the peaks and troughs of a set are. This time they’ve been locked indoors. The pandemic struck while they were recording the album in Belgium, something they think might have helped them accentuate the finer sonic details. “Other than nipping out for a walk or run, there was no way to escape the record,” says Oddie with a grin.

But while the record itself didn’t suffer, the band have thought about how to maintain that close relationship with their fans.

“There’s people you start to miss,” says Ellis.

“When they come to shows all the time you get to know them, in a way, and see them grow up.” The other day he bumped into a longtime fan who is now the singer in her own band, Lemondaze, and he beams with a sense of paternal pride.

Hair Roxane Attard using Daimon Barber Make-up Jenny Glynn Styling assistant Mariya Bhad Hair assistant Karen Bradshaw

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

SACHA BARON COHEN ICON

Story by Jonathan Dean

Photographs by Steven Chee

Styling by Marina Didovich

As far as comedy disrupters go, few generate eyesthrough-fingers viewing better than the comic behind a famed trio of false-face farce acts. But it’s not just the fools’ game that gained acclaim: just ask the Academy, who this year recognised SBC not just for his Borat sequel but also a dramatic turn in The Trial Of The Chicago 7.

Now, he’s giving up the perilous undercover work and bringing new life to Ali G... on the stand-up circuit

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144 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

W

When Sacha Baron Cohen left England for the US, it was partly because the Queen Mother was able to do an impression of Ali G. “I realised, ‘OK, my work here is over and I can’t do the job any more,’” he recalls, laughing. He makes a good point: Ali G lampooned Establishment figures and how can that conceit work if the very top of the British Establishment know exactly who you are?

Yet, this past June, it was rumoured that Baron Cohen did a secretive set of Ali G stand-up at The Comedy Store in Sydney. We spoke in July, when he called me from Byron Bay, where he has been living during the pandemic. We were to talk about his best year yet, which boasted the double Oscarnomination heights of Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial Of The Chicago 7 (Best Supporting Actor) and his own Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Best Adapted Screenplay), which has seen him awarded GQ’s Icon gong. But this rumour of Ali’s return is rather exciting. Is it true? “Yes. I just wanted to get on stage and muck around and see what Ali G would be like with a crowd. It was really good fun.”

Is it something he will do again? “Yes, I think I would. Because the reason I became a comedian was that I loved people laughing at my jokes. To actually hear laughter is a rare thing for me. When I do the movies, I think it is funny, but I have to wait three months to hear an audience laugh.”

Baron Cohen’s finest year of his career has been achieved despite spending much of it in New South Wales, not doing much, with his Australian actor wife Isla Fisher and their three children. “Bloody hell. Jesus,” is what he gasps in obligatory opening Covid chat. “Bonkers.” Did enforced nothingness lead him to readjust his perspective and gain new insight into the meaning of it all? “Nothing deeply profound. My initial instinct wasn’t to reflect on the state of society, but rather ask if there was anything I could do to help. I spent >>

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‘Chicago 7 and Borat share a message: the importance of truth and the danger of lies’ OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 145

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1 Yet given a few minutes to work out his get them to start making ventilators. Then, when thoughts, he slowly admits to being inspired by there was a shortage of PPE in England in the Hoffman, a man ready to get his head cracked NHS, I got involved in shipping PPE to England.” open and get shot by the Ku Klux Klan: a very He is cheery, talkative, his London roots clear in funny and political icon. (Remind you of anyone?) his accent. Our small talk, though, is tiny. Famous “He understood the power of comedy to humfolk rarely want to discuss their personal lives, but ble the powerful,” states Baron Cohen. “And he Baron Cohen has an excuse: he gets death threats. realised an Establishment setting was a wonderful From Ali G (a white suburban Brit who imitates place to prick pomposity and undermine it. I may black urban culture) to Borat (Kazakh) and Brüno have realised that doing Ali G. I remember the (gay), he entertains as many as he insults. “You first crowd reaction on The 11 O’Clock Show: peostart feeling irresponsible when you have a fample just laughed at the image of me in a tracksuit, ily,” he said in 2016, when he announced he was next to a member of the Establishment in a tie. hanging up his outlandish outfits and putting pro“Also, the lesson of Abbie is that you cannot be tection before provocation. Understandably, then, a bystander. When Trump took office, many peohe would like people to know as little as possible. ple dealt with it by sending articles talking about how dangerous he was. But the lesson of Abbie Also related: he wants to move on.

“I mean, listen,” he says, “the idea, really, is was you’ve got to do your bit. And, listen, I have a revulsion of celebrities forcing politics down peoto give up all my undercover work now. I’d far prefer to work with Sorkin or people like Martin ple’s throats, but I couldn’t look at myself in the Scorsese or Adam McKay. It is a lot easier, more mirror on election day if I had not done everything pleasurable and you don’t have to wear a bulletI could to try to prevent Trump getting in again.” proof vest when going to work.” So some Ali G Surely most Borat fans would have voted for stand-up would be a way Joe Biden anyway – did to play one of his beloved the film really make a difcharacters – inspired by his ference? “I don’t know. But hero Peter Sellers’ knack small things make a big for accents and guises – but change and I just wanted not by putting himself, like to show that there was a a pigeon among the cats, dangerous slide towards into dangerous real-world authoritarianism and consituations? “Yes, exactly.” spiracies end in violence.

Yet, despite all that, If you believe that the despite saying five years election is stolen or the government is run by paeago that his disguise days dophiles who eat children, were over, last year Borat it becomes almost logical to came back, specifically say, ‘I’m going to stop this for Borat Subsequent by any means necessary.’

Moviefilm, Baron Cohen’s Chicago 7 and Borat share wildest film yet, considering it made enemies of a message, which is the Sacha Baron Cohen alongside Jeremy fans of Donald Trump who importance of truth and Strong in The Trial Of The Chicago 7 have a lot of guns (and, the danger of lies.”

Which brings us to the internet. Give Baron of course, one Rudy Giuliani). At one point in Cohen a chance and he will talk about this forever, filming, he was forced to flee a gun rally, hiding and yet clearly social media and its attendant out in a van wearing said bulletproof vest. Why damage is the key issue of our times – so why go through all that fear? Because Baron Cohen wouldn’t one go on about it? During the pandemic, wanted to show the misogyny at the heart of Baron Cohen assumed that when the government Trump’s government and remind people of the hate that would happen if he got in for a second realised a lot of misinformation about Covid term. To understand this deeper, though, you and its vaccines was spreading on social media and need to know about Abbie Hoffman, the activist therefore killing people, they would do someBaron Cohen played in The Trial Of The Chicago 7. thing about it. They did not. In November 2019, Hoffman was born in 1936 and, until his death in a speech to the Anti-Defamation League, the in 1989, pushed against the US political system, comic called social media companies “the greatest being arrested along the way, which is the story of propaganda machine in history”. In July 2020, he Sorkin’s film. Baron Cohen came across Hoffman helped mobilise Stop Hate For Profit, which was when he was 21, on his first big jaunt across the an advertising boycott that cost Facebook milUS, for a dissertation on Jews and the civil rights lions and led to the platform removing Holocaust movement. He says that Hoffman was brilliant denials and some Trump posts, while banning the and hilarious, with the ability to create change. He insidious conspiracy morons of QAnon as well. also says he was a lot braver than he is. “An exuberYet the continuous lack of action over Covid lies ant fool but underneath a very specific, brilliant, left Baron Cohen flabbergasted. intelligent activist,” he once said of the man he “Listen, I’m a comedian, so don’t take anything I say too seriously,” he says, very seriously. “But donned a wig and Boston accent for. Yet when if you think the fundamental responsibility of I say that people say similar things about him, government is to safeguard the lives of its people Baron Cohen squirms. “I mean, that’s very nice and there were powerful companies spreading and slightly worrying. If people do see me that way, they’d probably be extremely disappointed.” lies that killed people? Well, you would think 146 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

government would try to stop those lies, either by legislation or by fines. There were thousands of people dying from misinformation about Covid, but there were no penalties for social media.

“So,” he continues, “Facebook helped to facilitate a genocide in Myanmar, helped to facilitate murder of protestors in Kenosha, the attack on the US Capitol, however many deaths caused by the lies about Covid and vaccines. Yet you’re unable to sue.”

It’s an activism mindset that puts him ever closer to his hero Hoffman, even though he would baulk at such a comparison.

B

aron Cohen turns 50 next month, 25 years into a comedy career that is at a sort of crossroads of his own making. He has hitherto been best known for characters, not as himself. He used to hide behind them in interviews – he apologises when I say that years ago he answered my questions as Brüno – and while roles in Sweeney Todd, Hugo and Les Misérables showed a different side, he was always a support character. The Netflix miniseries The Spy, though, was different: he played the lead, 1960s Israeli spy Eli Cohen. The Trial Of The Chicago 7 was even more important: he stole a movie starring Eddie Redmayne, Mark Rylance and Jeremy Strong, which means he is now able to, as he says he wants to, leave the undercover work behind and become, well, a normal actor.

The offers must be rushing in. So, what’s next?

“I have honestly no idea.” Ah. “I’m quite a reluctant performer and the projects are such hard work for me that I get completely knackered by the end and often take a couple of years off. There are no plans. I know I should be more ambitious.”

Jerry Seinfeld once described stand-up comedy as being built to “psychologically destroy” those who do it and I can only imagine that the undercover comedy Baron Cohen does is ten times worse. The depths of character he went to for Borat, immersed as a fake Kazakhstani in, for instance, the home of far-right conspiracy theorists Jerry and Jim, make him like Daniel Day-Lewis with a death wish. But he disagrees.

“I mean, I find it invigorating when it goes well,” he says, rather buoyantly. “I don’t think it’s broken me. I’d be hard-pressed to find anything that invigorating. When it goes well, and I’m sure Jerry feels the same, there is an incredible high. But, yes, getting to that place is a lot of hard work. When I’ve spoken to Jerry about it, he is a craftsman: he looks at every line and placement of every word, every choice of comma. And that’s something that fascinates me as well.”

He explains how each character he creates uses their own syntax, accent and words.

Borat, for instance, is speaking out of the 1940s English-Kazakh dictionary. This is ridiculously time-consuming. No wonder he wants to revisit Ali G for stand-up, given how much effort went into that character all those years ago.

“I suppose it could break you,” he adds. “But I’m incredibly lucky I can do a job I love. I can’t believe it. When I grew up, I didn’t know anyone who was an actor or a comedian, so it’s sort of unbelievable I’ve managed to make a living out of doing it.”

And now? Now, he just wants to hear the people laugh.

Photograph Shutterstock

>> a bunch of time trying to call up rich people to

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

‘I love people laughing at my jokes. [But] when I do the movies, I have to wait three months to hear an audience laugh’

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OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 147

W

e know, of course, how it ended.

The collective breath we held as we faced defeat. The sight of Jordan Pickford telling himself, “No problem. No problem,” on the penultimate penalty, as he went on to save the spot kick from Jorginho, giving us that most painful of things: hope. And we know what happened next: not just the saved penalty taken by Bukayo Saka, the 19-year-old flying winger whose dancing feet and beaming smile had been one of the tournament’s most wholesome pleasures, but all the ugliness that was to come. The pile-ons online, the racism that had simmered when some decided to boo players taking the knee now bubbling over. The way, even if it was for just a day, England fans seemed to have slipped back a few decades: the rushing of barricades, the dashed-off violence, football once again as tribal war rather than the beautiful game.

A common saying in football is that the only thing that matters is the result. And it’s true that despite the one-sided final, which, if we’re honest, we know it was – the fact England only had a third of the possession against Italy, or offered only six shots to their 20, or the more basic fact that they tried to play an entire game as if it was injury time – a lucky win would have seemed anything but fortunate in the ensuing raptures.

But in this tournament, more than all others, maybe it was the final result that mattered the least.

You can look back with regret – that, just maybe, bringing on three players who were yet to kick a ball during the past 119 minutes to kick the most important ball of their lives in the 125th might not have been the best idea – but you can’t look back with anything other than pride.

Not just the fleeting pride that come with results – and of course there were those, via performances that steadily grew in the group stage, knockout results that started at the sublime (Germany) before swiftly getting ridiculous (poor Ukraine) – but a deeper, more longerlasting pride in the conduct of the players and the conduct of the man who led them.

L

ooking back, have we ever had a manager like Gareth Southgate? Some might have been better tacticians, others more gregarious, but have we have had someone so emotionally adept and socially astute?

Who other than Southgate could have given the following answer to the press before the warm-up game against Romania – no equivocations or ambiguities, but a stance eloquently stated, with a mild telling-off for the press to boot? “We feel more determined than ever to take the knee,” he said. “We accept there might be an adverse reaction and we’re just going to ignore that and move forward. I think the players are sick of talking about the consequences of should-they, shouldn’t-they. They’ve had enough, really. As far as I’m concerned they are not going to take more questions on this through the tournament... Their voices have been heard, loud and clear. They are making their stand.”

And who other than Southgate, in order to get the remaining England supporters onside, would even have thought to have written an open letter to all the fans? One that sought to cajole rather than hector, but tackled all the big issues, the players using their voices to highlight inequality, inclusivity and racial injustice and the abuse some received online as a result. And he made something else clear: “This is a special group. Humble, proud and liberated in being their true selves.”

You can’t look back with anything but pride in the conduct of the man who led the England team

Gareth Southgate consoles Bukayo Saka after the player missed the decisive penalty in the Euro 2020 final between Italy and England, London, 11 July 2021

That’s the other thing that was missed by those who booed: why was sticking to the football the more virtuous option rather than simply the easiest or laziest one? Maybe players didn’t care so much before, maybe they simply weren’t so engaged, but maybe also they had managers who told them not to speak out, who told them to stick to the football and do their talking on the pitch.

What is clear – be it the likes of Marcus Rashford proving a better opposition to the government than the actual government opposition to help feed Britain’s children or Raheem Sterling pointing out the inherent racism in the British press – is that England have a group of players to be genuinely proud of, regardless of the final score.

And Southgate didn’t just embrace them, but he embraced teams they played against too. A clip went viral that showed him putting his arm around Danish captain Simon Kjaer and midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg after England had knocked them out. One could only imagine what the Danish players had gone through (how they formed their circle around their stricken playmaker, Christian Eriksen, as the paddles were pressed to his chest; how they, somehow, played on, pulled through, only to lose to England in extra time of the semifinal), but Southgate knew enough to know that England’s victory over them was bittersweet, that some things are so much bigger than football – and always would be.

GARETH SOUTHGATE INSPIR ATION

Story by Stuart McGurk 148 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Photograph by Andrew Woffinden

Styling by Angelo Mitakos

Photograph Getty Images Grooming Paul Donovan at CLM using Bumble And Bumble and Vitruvian Man Photography assistant William Richards

This summer, as his team reached its first major final in 55 years, the Three Lions’ leader gave his country a reason to roar with pride – and not only for what happened on the pitch. Throughout the Euros, he backed his squad in taking a stand by taking a knee and consoled them, as perhaps only he could, when they fell just short of glory. For giving strength not just to his team, nor even just his nation, but to everyone watching, Gareth Southgate is GQ’s Inspiration Of The Year

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‘This is a special group.

Humble, proud and liberated in being their true selves’

Suit, £595. Shirt, £139.

Bow tie, £65. All by Boss. boss.com. Watch by Hublot, £15,000. At Bucherer. bucherer.com

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ARLO PARKS DEEZER BR E A KTHROUGH MUSIC A RTIST

Story by Kathleen Johnston

True, hotly tipped musicians don’t always deliver. But with fluidity, complexity, kindness and self-acceptance at the heart of this Brit Award winner’s affecting, genre-melding indie pop, behold a resonant voice worthy of the buzz

SPONSORED BY

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Photographs by Ryan Pfluger

Styling by Beoncia Dunn

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‘I’m just a person who has lived a very specific set of things.

I’m not a figurehead’

Suit by Henry Couture Paris, £290. henrycoutureparis.com.

Shirt by Zara, £26. zara.com. Earring by Rare-Romance, £30. rare-romance.com.

Rings, Arlo’s own.

Opposite: Suit by Kim O x J Bolin, £620. koxjb.com. Boots by Asos, £70. asos.com.

Necklace by Rare-Romance, £60. rare-romance.com

OCTOBER 2021 GQ.CO .UK 151

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Earlier this year, Arlo Parks received an Instagram DM from Patti Smith. The 21-year-old singer and poet had covered Smith’s reggae-rock classic “Redondo Beach” for a Parisian YouTube channel in April, but it had never occurred to her that Smith, now 74, might see her strippedback, piano-led take on the 1975 hit. “It was so unbelievably surreal,” says the West Londoner, wistfully recalling seeing the note, in which Smith remarked on how much she’d enjoyed the cover, pop up as a notification. “The fact that she’d listened to it and liked it was such a ‘wow’ moment. I’m a big fan of hers and Just Kids has always been a really important book to me.”

And Smith is not Parks’ only famous admirer.

Her first single, “Cola”, was shared by Lily Allen and Adwoa Aboah in 2018 while the then teenager was studying for her A levels. Recently, she’s been celebrated by everyone from Billie Eilish, who, when asked by Vanity Fair about her favourite artist in 2020, cited Parks, to Zadie Smith, with whom Parks started exchanging emails after her debut album, Collapsed In Sunbeams, was released in January of this year (the title is taken from a line in Smith’s 2005 novel, On Beauty).

Hotly tipped artists don’t always live up to their own hype, but Collapsed In Sunbeams proved Parks to be more than worthy of the buzz that has surrounded her since she first sent demos to BBC Introducing, the radio broadcaster’s talent discovery platform, landing at No3 in the charts and setting her up for a whirlwind eight months of award wins, press and promotional opportunities, including a Gucci campaign and her own Amazon variety show.

In broad terms it is an indie-pop record – Parks’ first love was guitar, after all – but one that mellifluously melds influences including triphop, R&B and neosoul. The titular opening track is one of Parks’ simple but always searing poems, which, like the rest of the record, has comfort and reassurance at its heart. Throughout, the production remains relatively stripped back, in order to give Parks’ extraordinary poetry the attention it deserves, with spoken word-style lyrics sung over soothing, incredibly catchy melodies.

Enchantingly empathetic and multifaceted, but also accessible, Collapsed In Sunbeams is by far the best British album of 2021, a debut strong enough to put Parks on the map in the same way that Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m 152 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Arlo Parks performs ‘Hope’ at the Brit Awards, London, 11 May

but I’m not a figurehead... Also, my generation is not just in London; it encompasses the whole of the world and I certainly couldn’t speak for the experiences of people everywhere.”

London looms large in Parks’ writing, though, with reference to places from Peckham Rye to Oxford Street. Born Anaïs Oluwatoyin Estelle Marinho in Paris, Parks grew up in London’s riverside borough of Hammersmith with her father, who is Nigerian, her mother, who is ChadianFrench, and her younger brother. She was privately educated and, before her music career took off, had planned on studying English literature at Sussex University. As a teenager, she had a kaleidoscope of influences, including Frank Ocean, Fela Kuti, Otis Redding, Jim Morrison, Allen Ginsberg and Kurt Cobain. “My dad was into jazz, so there was a lot of Thelonious Monk and Duke Ellington playing in the house, but also a lot of soul, such as Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald, while my mum liked Prince and Diana Ross.”

P

arks has an air of authentic intellectualism and is culturally astute without it ever feeling cultivated, even if she seems a bit like someone Sally Rooney might have met at university. Her writing is rich in reference (from Thom Yorke to Sylvia Plath) and, sonically, she draws a line from Elliott Smith to Erykah Badu. “Right now I’m reading Steppenwolf

by Hermann Hesse,” she says, “but I’ve just finished Funny Weather by Olivia Laing, which is a collection of essays about art figures, because I realised I didn’t know all that much about fine art.” In one of her beloved notebooks, she scribbled down Laing’s quote on the artist Chantal Joffe, “You can’t paint reality. You can only paint your place in it,” which feels indicative of Parks’ stance on the intersection of identity politics and art.

Prior to our interview, Parks’ publicist noted that she doesn’t talk about her sexuality, race issues or mental health. As an ambassador for Calm who has sung extensively about mental health, why has she made that decision? “It’s because, over the album cycle, I experienced a lot of questions that were invasive beyond what I was willing to talk about and despite me saying that I was uncomfortable, they just kept coming.

So I guess I wanted to just give myself a little bit of space and although it’s obviously something that is incredibly important to speak about, I wanted to narrow the focus to the music.”

Parks’ androgynous aesthetic is indicative of this refusal to be reduced to labels or, indeed, hot topics and makes her a fitting artist for this moment in time. Fluidity, complexity, kindness and self-acceptance are the pieces that make up Parks’ brand and will be centred in her future work, be that new music, the book of poetry she’s almost finished or even the acting career she wants to kick-start. If there was one defining thing she wants us to take from her album, it’s this: “Don’t let your past hold you hostage.

Know that you can move past things that have happened to you and that healing takes time.

Take the lessons you learned in the past and hold them close, but move forward and try not to get trapped in what was.”

Photograph Getty Images

E

Not did the Arctic Monkeys in 2006 (incidentally, the first record Parks ever bought).

Like Alex Turner’s, Parks’ songs are stories, “a series of vignettes and intimate portraits” that are unique and deeply personal in their specificity, but also tap into our collective, contemporary anxieties. “Eugene” is about secretly crushing on a best friend (Parks is bisexual), while “Hope”, which she performed at this year’s Brit Awards after winning Breakthrough Artist, is, fittingly for the era we find ourselves in, about isolation, reminding a friend that things get better with the refrain “We all have scars, I know it’s hard / You’re not alone like you think you are”. This candour and optimism, but also wise understanding well beyond her years, is typical of Parks, whose songs feel like a gentle hand on your arm, delivered in a honeyed voice that is somehow at once light and ethereal, but also weighty with clarity and conviction.

“Black Dog”, which came out as a single in May 2020, follows the same blueprint, where Parks sings about trying to lift a friend out of depression, opening with the lines “I’d lick the grief right off your lips / You do your eyes like Robert Smith”. It is Parks’ favourite from the album, she says, “because of the context it was released in.

Lockdown was such an unprecedented, chaotic and scary situation, so that the song brought light to so many people was really special and the fact that I managed to distil a really complicated feeling into a few lines. My favourite songs are the ones that are really ultra personal but manage to connect on a more universal scale.”

It’s hardly surprising, then, that Parks has been lumbered with the label “voice of generation Z”, particularly given the title of her 2019 EP, Super Sad Generation, but it’s one she feels ambivalent about. Is the pressure to speak for people just too intense? “That’s why I was reluctant to accept that term, yes,” she says. “I understand that I am a part of that generation and a lot of the things that I speak about can be related to by people who are around my age. But I think pulling back and being aware of the fact that, like, OK, I’m just a person who has lived a very specific set of things is important. Hopefully I provide representation,

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‘The fact that Patti Smith listened to it and liked it was such a “wow” moment’

Suit by Kim O x J Bolin, £620. koxjb.com. Earring, £30. Necklace, £60. Both

by Rare-Romance. rare-romance.com.

Ring, Arlo’s own.

Hair Ricardo Roberts Make-up Amber Amos

OCTOBER 2021 GQ. CO.UK 153

HARRIS REED

Story by Zak Maoui

Photograph by Jack Johnstone

The superstar British-American designer best known for dressing Harry Styles is pushing menswear in a radical new direction. Here, GQ celebrates the flamboyant and free-spirited mind behind his gender-fluid, eponymous label

F

ashion’s favourite clothes horse, Harry Styles, might be best known, sartorially speaking, for his Gucci-packed wardrobe, yet for his 2018 world tour the former One Directioner chose to wear a slightly more niche name. Looking like a modern mashup of Prince and David Bowie, Styles took to the stage in flamboyantly ruched and ruffled blouses, high-shine metallic shirting and Saturday Night Fever-style flares. It was camp, sexy and left us in as much awe of his tour outfits as his vocals.

But the man behind the looks? That would be the 25-year-old American-born, London-based designer Harris Reed, who met the singer’s stylist, Harry Lambert, at a model casting in 2016 and the rest, as they say, is fashion history.

After their initial meeting Reed and Lambert began working together on magazine editorials; months later, Lambert called Reed and suggested he would be perfect for a client of his.

“I had an inkling it was Harry Styles and it was,” Reed explains. “I put together a collage of work for his tour and he loved it.”

Lambert was instantly fascinated by the Harris Reed world. “He brings drama, excitement and beauty to menswear,” he says.

On the back of creating Styles’ brilliant tour outfits, Reed designed a look comprising a smoking jacket, wide-leg trousers and a cage-like hoop skirt for the star’s cover story in American Vogue’s December 2020 issue, for which the singer became the first man to appear solo on the magazine’s cover.

And yet his work with Styles only cemented an extraordinary year for Reed, one that saw him confirmed as the go-to designer for stars pushing the boundaries of gendered clothing and, in the process, redefining the very idea of traditional masculine styling for the rest of us.

It was no better encapsulated than when Olly Alexander slipped into a Reed-designed, crystalembellished lace two-piece and a floor-skimming cape to perform alongside Sir Elton John at the Brit Awards in May, another effortlessly iconic look. Elsewhere, Reed supplied a wide-brimmed hat for the UK cover of Selena Gomez’s EP, Revelación, launched a unisex jewellery collection with London-based label Missoma, created a gender-fluid make-up line with Mac Cosmetics

154 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

(a first for the globally recognised brand) and unveiled his debut demi-couture collection.

Stephanie Cooper, Reed’s former lecturer at Central Saint Martins, simply states that “Harris has created an oeuvre that defines a generation”.

Reed, who is gender-fluid, produces seasonal collections infused with femininity and theatricality; extra-exaggerated flares, frilled collars inspired by the Romantic era and double-breasted, waist-nipped suit jackets combined with taffeta bodices make up just a few of his perfectly polished design touchstones. You’ll also find him crafting extravagant, deconstructed business suits hand-attached to tulle gowns for his clients. “This is my version of a menswear brand,” says Reed. “It’s glam-rock androgyny with a fluid, romantic escapism that is also tinged with a 1970s aesthetic. It’s constantly evolving.”

Reed wasn’t always planning to redefine menswear in such a radical way. “When I started at Saint Martins, I was [making] traditional masculine clothing by way of suits and trousers and it didn’t work for me.”

We’re in Reed’s studio space at The Standard hotel in London, which is full to bursting with mood boards and colourful fabric swatches, and the designer, who looks like an elfin cross between Lila Moss and Saoirse Ronan, is draped in a semi-sheer black blouse.

“If we can bring Savile Row back to what it was in the 1970s, when we had all the magnificent over-the-top suits with in-your-face lapels and exaggerated trousers, we’d be in a good place. When tailoring is taken for what it is and regurgitated on the body, it remains in the past,” he says. “I started designing menswear for myself and that’s when it clicked. When Harris Reed dressed pop muse Harry Styles for the singer’s first solo world tour, São Paulo, 29 May 2018

traditional masculine forms – the suit, the trousers – are pushed and explored, it’s fabulous!”

Reed’s progressive designs, which, he tells me, are in part inspired by the work of Belgian designer Ann Demeulemeester (“She represents androgyny and her work, for me, is a beautiful play on classic tailoring”), are, perhaps unsurprisingly, particularly popular with the showier sect of the celeb crowd. In addition to Styles and Alexander, Reed counts Sam Smith, Miley Cyrus and actress Tommy Dorfman among his superfans.

“Fifty years from now we will look back on Harris’ work with immense gratitude,” Dorfman says. “It will have impacted the global understanding of gender fluidity, steering us into a more accepting world.”

Another of Reed’s most vociferous cheerleaders is the Messianic creative lead of Gucci, Alessandro Michele, whom the young designer met while studying. “I [applied for a placement] and immediately got a call from Alessandro’s team. The next day I flew out to Milan,” he tells me, excitedly. “Michele put me in his 2019 Resort show and a perfume campaign, but, for me, it served a bigger purpose. Alessandro used words like ‘creature’ and ‘weirdo’ to describe the people he admired and those names resonated with ones I had been called when I was bullied for being different at school. I realised that fashion has this unrivalled power to reclaim personal identity.”

It’s that same sense of taking ownership of his identity that Reed tries to reflect in all of his collections. “I think of my brand with a pendulum effect in mind,” he explains. “I swing so far to one side, which is extremely fantastical and over the top, in the hope that a more traditional man who swings to the other side will feel he can actually wear a blouse or pearls.”

His six-look demi-couture collection, which he unveiled in early 2021, is a case in point (think full-skirted tulle paired with “menswear” tailoring), but Reed isn’t expecting blokes to go down the pub wearing his pieces just yet. “I’m not pushing for a big fashion awakening,” he says, “but I want to ensure there is a comfortable space for any single person to be in. The mental freedom I feel from wearing genderless pieces is something I want everyone to have.

“I get up to 100 messages a day via social media from people explaining that they want to wear this or that, but fear being beaten up. It’s hard,” he adds. “I still walk to my studio and I get people who heckle me, even if I’m just wearing a black suit, because the more feminine blouse underneath scares them. Fuck it, I’m doing it anyway. I am part of the change.”

Photograph Hélène Pambrun Hair Terri Capon at Stella Creative Artists using Living Proof Make-up Joey Choy at Future Rep using Boy De Chanel and Chanel Sublimage Le Baume

PERONI NA STRO A ZZUR RO BR E A KTHROUGH DE SIGNER

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‘I’m not pushing for a big fashion awakening, but I want to ensure there is a comfortable space for anyone’

SPONSORED BY Harris Reed photographed for British GQ, wearing his own designs

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‘This record [is] =, but the tour next year could encapsulate all ten years and all five albums’

Jacket by Emporio Armani, £590. armani. com. T-shirt by Boss, £39. boss.com. Jeans

by Levi’s, £110. levi. com. Watch, Ed’s own.

Opposite: Jacket, £480. Shirt, £99. Bow tie, £55. Trousers, £209. All by Boss. boss.com. Watch, Ed’s own.

156 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

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ED SHEERAN SOLO A RTIST

This year, the bestselling artist behind history’s highestgrossing tour releases =, the surprise fourth record in his famous five-part plan. Now, as we celebrate the achievements of a young British legend, he’s ready to reveal the answer to the most famous sum in music Story by Jonathan Heaf Photographs by Danny Kasirye Styling by Luke Day

OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 157

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Over the past 12 months, or since becoming a father, Ed Sheeran has been on a wellness trip.

Look at him. It’s obvious: dude has lost a lot of weight, swapping regular takeaways – RIP that touring life – for a healthier regime. You know, kale shakes and burpees for breakfast rather than the usual (ours, not his) cocaine on one’s Corn Flakes.

Still, today, you could have fooled me. Having just pulled into a sweltering West London studio (cue soundtrack of gasping air-con machines the size of vintage Fiat 500s and the telltale rustle of a Nando’s takeout wrapper) with his tight, polite entourage – including Stuart, his long-term manager, and Liberty, his stylist/groomer/all-round aesthetic taliswoman – Sheeran is already regaling anyone within earshot of his previous night’s pop star antics.

“I didn’t go out out. I went out in, if you know what I mean?” he chuckles. Dressed in a plain white T-shirt and ink-black baggy jeans, his kaleidoscopic fully tattooed “sleeves” making his arms resemble a school leaver’s shirt graffitied by teary classmates armed with felt tips, Sheeran, now 30, still looks just as much like a Weezer fan who works behind the counter at Amoeba Music in Los Angeles on Wednesdays as he does GQ’s Solo Artist Of The Year, one of the biggest recording artists the world has ever seen.

“I was at Stormzy’s place,” he begins, all of us simply enthralled to hear of someone’s, anyone’s, ability to actually see, touch or experience IRL another human being at close quarters, let alone, you know, actual showbiz gossip. “We’ve been FaceTiming a lot over the pandemic; he was really intrigued with me having a kid and loved seeing Lyra [the name of Sheeran’s first daughter, whom his wife, Cherry, gave birth to in August 2020]. But yesterday was just good vibes, man. We just caught up and we talked. He played me some new songs and I played him some new songs. I sat down at 6pm and I didn’t get up until around 1am. We drank a lot of Hennessy...”

In certain circles – mostly earnest, chin-stroking circles where Centrist Dads in pink and navy Rapha cycling tops discuss the cultural significance of LCD Soundsystem’s final gig, in New York City on 2 April 2011 – cynicism attaches itself to Sheeran like an invisible fog. If you let it, it can colour and taint everything he does – or rather everything his critics see him do – every piece of music he puts out, every casual, postpandemic pop anecdote.

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We’ve been here many times before, people. Be it Robbie Williams in the 1990s or Chris Martin in the 2000s, this just happens to pop stars in Britain. We love an underdog, but we hate it when that same underdog succeeds beyond all our wildest dreams. As soon as they get big – or big enough for some folks to question their authenticity – every move is seen as some sort of surreptitious calculation. Suddenly these musicians are no longer artists: they’re empires with stanning armies in tow, hellbent on world domination, no matter how pleasing the sound of their battle cry.

Case in point: for some, even saying the names “Stormzy” and “Ed Sheeran” in the same sentence still feels like something of a trick; like, there must be money involved. If one assumes their core fan bases are vastly different – although there is inarguably overlap in that pop Venn diagram – then one might suspect the pair’s relationship is less about a friendship and more of a business partnership. Sheeran gets the cred through association and Big Michael gets a leg up and into some of Sheeran’s multibillionstrong global audience. Ker-fucking-ching.

Sheeran is sharp enough to get why some critics might think like this. It annoys him, actually.

But he totally gets it. The image of Sheeran as more of pop music’s chief marketing officer, a songwriting scientist who makes surefire chartshredding hits in a lab, rather than a humble singer-songwriter trying to express his creativity,

‘Stormzy is a true friend.

Even if we hadn’t made music together we would still be mates’ is one he has heard about innumerable times before. It’s something he’s (almost) made peace with: “I am very self-conscious about the way the world views me,” he admits. “You hear the hate way more when it is about you, trust me.”

But his friendship with Stormzy? Now, that’s as real as it gets.

“Stormzy is a true friend. Even if we hadn’t made music together [“Take Me Back To London”, from Sheeran’s No6 Collaborations Project LP, released July 2019, and “Own It”, from Stormzy’s Heavy Is The Head, released November 2019] we would still be mates. Same with Taylor [Swift]. You know me and Taylor have had a ten-year friendship now; we’ve seen one another evolve as people. I thought what she did with the two albums she put out during the pandemic is how albums will be released in the future. It’s how I’d like to do it.

“Taylor is just someone I would definitely call if things were truly fucked. This isn’t just an exercise in name-dropping and sounding like a c***; I remember being out in Los Angeles, two years into my career, and all my friends were just famous people and I was so... miserable. I got to this realisation where I said to myself, ‘No one here actually loves me.’ They loved the idea of me, but no one actually loves me. So I left.

For good.”

F

or Sheeran, a man who has gone around the world more than most, Suffolk is love. It’s the place he retreated to back in 2012, coming full circle near to the place he grew up as a boy, Framlingham.

He owns a house near there. Several houses, actually. There’s a four-bed treehouse. From above, his estate looks like Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch as reimagined by JRR Tolkien.

Sheeranland? Something like that.

There’s even a pub, the Lancaster Lock. “Yes, we still have the pub and I know it’s fucking weird to have a pub in your garden, but if my mates come round we can eat in the pub and then if they want to carry on I can just leave them there and go back to the main house. I like that separation. Especially as a father now. Also, look, it’s a lot nicer to eat without someone taking pictures of you.”

Although more under control, Sheeran in the past has been open about his near-crippling claustrophobia, not least when found in small, crowded public places. He once got caught – entirely alone, no mates or burly man mountain of a security guard – on an Easyjet flight back from Benidorm to London at two in the morning. Something about cutting short his own holiday to go work on a film set. He had on no hoodie, no sunglasses, no cap, just his flame-red hair and backlit blue eyes out there in the wild, in the air, for hours and hours for all to see, point at and poke. His accompanying passengers, as you might imagine, were well lubricated. “It was absolute hell. Worst experience of my life. I get really claustrophobic.”

So he did what any multimillionaire pop star would do: he built his own castle within which to freely roam, ergo Sheeranland. The musician has been in his own private Eden, pretty much, since he walked off stage in Ipswich in August 2019, the last gig of his herculean ÷ tour, a tour that consisted of a blister-inducing 260 shows and lasting very nearly two years. It’s the world’s highestgrossing tour ever, beating even U2’s mammoth 360 Tour of 2009 to 2011, taking £557 million, with Sheeran playing to very nearly nine million concert goers. (And you think you got sick of hearing “Shape Of You” coming out of every fashion store, kebab shop and cab around that time?)

It was a gruelling behemoth of a schedule that helped drive Sheeran’s total album sales well over 20 million. “I walked off the stage in Ipswich, aged 28, and I thought that was it. That was the top of the mountain and, you know, I’d never do that again. I thought it would be all downhill from here. The end of that tour hit me very hard. I went home, finally, decided to take some time away from my music; it had become this monster. I needed to find a different energy.

I started painting and then the pandemic hit.”

Of course, Sheeran might have taken a hiatus, but he still had “the plan”. This is a man, remember, who has known for at least ten years what his first five records would be. The first song to be put out was “Bad Habits”, released in June, and his next album will be named = (rather than -, as most had predicted), itself to be released at the end of October. >>

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‘There is a song about my daughter, almost a lullaby, but this is categorically not a dad record’

Jacket by Emporio Armani, £590. armani. com. T-shirt by Boss, £39. boss.com.

Jeans by Levi’s, £110. levi.com. Trainers and watch, Ed’s own.

OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 159

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1 >> “I’ve written around 230 songs over the past few years, hundreds and hundreds, and only now am I at the stage where all that hard work is being released into the world again. I finished = in January and I’ve been tweaking and finetuning it since then; production bits and bobs.

I’m actually going to master the record today.”

I

f you know Sheeran you know he likes his fine wine (and some seriously fine watches), always bringing up a special bottle from his spiral cellar for big occasions. In March, Sheeran and the music community as a whole heard the devastating news that legendary Australian promoter Michael Gudinski had suddenly passed away in his sleep. Since the pair met and bonded while Sheeran was touring Oz, Gudinski had been something of an industry father figure to him, taking him under his wing and, indeed, under his roof.

Sheeran sang a song from the new record, “Visiting Hours”, at his memorial later that month.

“Me and my wife got really close to him and his family,” Sheeran tells me. “When I was in Australia I would stay with him and vice versa when he was in the UK.” I tell Sheeran I was lucky enough to meet Gudinski when Kylie Minogue played the “legends” spot at Glastonbury in 2019.

“Yeah, he stayed with me that trip,” says Sheeran.

“He drinks, or he drank, this wine called Penfold 707. He would get through two or three bottles a day. I just assumed they were like ChâteauneufDu-Pape, something you could get for £30 down Tesco – that sort of all-day, drinking wine…

“I ordered 24 bottles for my cellar when Michael came to stay last and they’re, like, £400 per bottle! Jesus! When he passed away, I went down to the cellar and I had probably eight bottles left: I had one every day until I left for Australia, quite often alongside the full-sized brass statue that Michael got of himself for me. It’s now in my pub. I pour him a glass every so often...”

Sheeran, I notice, is close to tears at this point, looking away for a moment to catch his emotions.

“I thought I’d had enough of that wine, but then when I checked into quarantine on the other side for the memorial his brother had, sweetly, ordered me another 24 bottles of the stuff. For two weeks!

No more red wine after that…”

Along with becoming an oenophile, Gudinski also passed on to the singer the idea of marking an occasion with a bottle. You know it’s been a memorable night round at Sheeran’s if he opens a Château Mouton Rothschild and asks you to sign the empty bottle. Where some singers have photographs in silver frames on a grand piano, Sheeran has an empties shelf, drunk, but full of memories.

“For the mastering I’ve ordered a six-litre Opus One [retailing at around £4,000] to celebrate. That should feed eight of us tonight fairly decently.” And is the follow-up record done too?

“Not done done. Mostly. There may be a couple more I write next year to go on but I just need to get it to the stage where I’m as happy with it as I am with this new one. But there was a stage back at the end of last year when I thought I’d never make music again.”

Ed Sheeran quit? Surely he’s being overly dramatic. Nope, turns out it actually happened: he

160 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

retired towards the end of 2020. I mean, not officially, but in his head, which during that whole period was the only place any of us could ever go anyway. Well, there and the Houseparty app.

“There’s lots of ways of writing songs – riffs that spark an idea, a particular line or lyric you hear...

I also find that you need to just be in a constant flow of writing songs, so, just like training a muscle, I am always pretty much writing. It’s my daily practice if you like. I mean, until this year I never really lost my voice, because since I was a teenager I’ve been singing every single day.”

One day, however, he just stopped. “When my daughter was born I just said, ‘Maybe this is me now.’ It was such a switch in my life and, wow, it was bringing me so much. Joy, of course, but obviously parts of it were really difficult too. I can’t really explain it, but I felt so much life was coming at me, I thought, ‘Well, this is what I’m meant to do now.’ I stopped playing the guitar, stopped writing songs and I stopped singing.” Did he seriously think about quitting? “I actually convinced myself I was never going to sing or pick up the guitar again. I was like, ‘No. This is it. I quit.’”

Thankfully, Sheeran found a way to dig himself out of his existential wobble, absorbing the shock, terror and joy of having a child while also segueing into seeing his music creation, and life, with fresh, fatherly eyes. “After about four months of not doing anything musically at all, I was having a chat with a friend of mine, a musician who is also going to retire. He’s a lot older

‘There was a stage back at the end of last year when I thought I’d never make music again’ than me. I told him that I needed something, as after about four months I had lost all purpose.

Even though my new purpose was being a dad, if you asked me what I did I wouldn’t be able to tell you. My answer would be ‘Erm, I do fuck all’.”

Sensing danger, Sheeran reasoned with himself internally: “I asked, what’s more important for my daughter and my family? Is it being there 110 per cent of the time and not going to London for a day, like today to talk to GQ, see collaborators, friends and master the album? Or is it having a daughter that knows her mum and dad have a great work ethic and really love their jobs? I saw myself as technically being unemployed during that period of noncreation and, to be honest, I was fucking miserable. I wanted Cherry to see me happy and thriving.”

And he is, the Ed before us today is thriving once more. Although, even for someone so seemingly self-assured, the moment his new project seeps out into the world, song by song, stream by stream, is still somewhat anxiety-inducing. “I don’t think I thrive releasing music, to be honest.

This part is hard, always has been. It’s not fun.”

How come? Surely he’d be eager to get a reaction after years of toil. “Sure. But basically you’re opening yourself up again to the world. I go, ‘Hey, world. I wrote this song, I think it’s really good.’

And everyone goes, ‘Hey, Ed! It’s shit!’”

A

couple of days after sitting down with Sheeran I am invited to be the first person outside of the singer’s close circle to listen to the new record in full. I meet Ed Howard (Sheeran’s label boss and the man to first sign up the singer, all those years ago) at the Atlantic Records office in West London. Other than the two security guards at the ground-floor desk, the office is totally deserted; this is the first time, in fact, Howard has been into the building in more than a year.

We take the lift up to the top floor. To the left I can see a meeting room with a large, Jackson Pollock-style canvas adorning one wall – “Yep, that’s one of Ed’s...” Howard notes – and to the right is an empty boardroom with a long wooden table and hanging lights that wouldn’t look out of place in a Clerkenwell coffee house. Along the nearside wall are hundreds of bottles of the Heinz Tomato “Edchup”, the remnants of a condiment collab the singer did in June 2019.

Sheeran loves a condiment, you see. “Apparently, we need to remove these,” Howard says, smiling as he catches me glancing at the interior decor while cueing up the new record via a laptop. “A few are so old they’re in danger of exploding.”

Over the course of my interview, Sheeran spoke openly about the album, its themes and touchpoints. While listening to it, however, far more than any of his previous releases, one feels these songs are grounded in the autobiographical. Each moment is marked: fatherhood, life, death, the commitment to a lasting relationship.

As far as his songwriting craft goes, it’s easy to hear the time and labour spent on each track, not least on the lyrics. No matter what your taste in music, lyrically this is some of Sheeran’s most accomplished work. If the last album was built to take over the world through universal appeal and hooks, this, to me, is more like a memoir set to music. Although he wants to make one thing crystal clear: “Yes, there is a song I’ve written to and about my daughter, almost a lullaby, but this is categorically not a dad record!”

The opening song, “Tides”, sets out Sheeran’s stall of what is to come over the full 16 tracks.

Lines such as “I have grown up / I am a father now / Everything has changed but I am still the same somehow” act as lyrical canaries in Sheeran’s pop coal mine. On many of the tracks the production feels richer, warmer, more “up” than saccharine or trad. Of course, let’s not get carried away, this is an Ed Sheeran record, so each song is as catchy as crack, but you can sense the sweat that Sheeran has put into this. He has dug deep. Also, more than in any of his other albums, you can hear this is a man who is ready to acknowledge change in his life – and, thus, perhaps his music.

Everyone, of course, thought that this album would be called - rather than =; Sheeran himself had, it sounds like, first planned for this too. “I was making the record and I wrote a song called ‘Shivers’ [track two; a sexy, rocketing song that includes handclaps in the bridge and is music to dance to arm-in-arm with your best friends after three too many tequilas] and I was like, ‘This doesn’t really feel like -,’ same with another >>

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

‘I dream that I get shot in the head.

Every single night’

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by Boss. boss.com OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 161

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1 >> song called ‘Overpass Graffiti’ [track five; much like “Bad Habits”, this is an uptempo floorstomper that has echoes of 1980s disco and, if I’m not mistaken, is more than a little Haim-inspired].

And none of these songs fitted in with what would be, eventually. For me, - is going to be like Damien Rice’s O, David Grey’s White Ladder or James Blunt’s Back To Bedlam. It’s an acoustic record and these songs were big, upbeat things.”

S

uch is the method to how Sheeran’s idea-firing, songwriting infinity loop of a mind works, however, that all these sounds, themes and gears – whether quiet, plucky and acoustic or bone-rattlingly bombastic and bass heavy – will convene at some point to make up the grander plan. Just like the symbols that make up the individual records, eventually this series of five albums will distil into one, mammoth, continent-hopping conceptual live experience for his fans, a tour that is greater than the sum of their individual parts.

“I was out running in Suffolk actually” – see, he is keeping fit – “thinking about how this record would be =, not -, but then I thought how eventually the tour next year could encapsulate all of it, all ten years and all five albums. The idea for the tour would be that you start with the big venues, the arenas or whatever, and then you subtract, going down gradually, in size, so by the end you’re playing a church in Donegal. It doesn’t make sense to do a small tour – I have a big fanbase that wants to come and see the show – but it does make sense that towards the end of the tour it’s done by competition, not £500 a ticket for the small shows but done by a poll somehow. I would love to do the ever-decreasing tour.”

Sitting down and talking to Sheeran, he’s so affable that he makes such grand plans, such oil tanker-sized ideas, seem so achievable. Maybe that’s what it takes to be as successful as he is, to not sweat the small stuff. If Sheeran’s superpower is anything it is this: being undaunted by the sheer size of his popularity and appeal. Not that he doesn’t still remain ferociously ambitious.

“First and foremost I wanted this record to feel like a warm hug. In that way, ‘Bad Habits’ is the curveball in all this; that’s why it had to be the first single. But there is a high benchmark now. I get it. Every year there is a new artist who is more exciting, that everyone thinks is better, that has the hot new song out, and it has happened every single year of my career.”

Oh, yeah? Like who? “Oh I can name them...”

At this point Sheeran counts off the big artists over the past decade with his hand, ticking off the competition and years, one by one. “In 2012 it was Emeli Sandé. In 2013 it was Lorde. In 2014 it was Sam [Smith], 2015 it was James Bay, 2016 it was... I want to say Rag’n’Bone Man. [In] 2017 it was Stormzy, 2018 it was probably Billie [Eilish], 2019 was Lewis [Capaldi] and 2020 it was Olivia [Rodrigo]. Every year there’s a new person who is the biggest thing and me, being someone who has released a lot, you know, you are no longer exciting. So you have to find ways to make people more excited by you.”

It’s funny, I remark to Sheeran, I thought I’d 162 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

be meeting someone today, aged 30, a dad, a stratospherically successful singer-songwriter who had to a certain extent dialled down the ambition a touch. “Look, I want to make clear – and sometimes this can be the narrative about me – this is not a financial thing. At all. I want people to hear my music. Simple as that. I don’t like photoshoots. I’m not doing press because I want to make money; rather, I have grafted to create a body of work and I want people to hear this record and be excited about the forthcoming tour. I keep saying this record isn’t going to do what Ö did; it can’t. And in that sense I have mellowed; I’m not go, go, go like that any more. But, you know, I’ve been wrong before about my own stuff: I thought ‘Shape Of You’ would bomb…” To clarify, “Shape Of You” is still the most streamed song of all time. Of. All. Time.

So what does Ed Sheeran know about Ed

‘I’ve been wrong before about my own stuff: I thought “Shape Of You” would bomb’

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Sheeran, anyway? Sounds like he’s still trying to figure all that out. As bonkers or as sentimental as this might sound, listening to him and the way he talks about his music, it’s almost like he’s just getting started. Or started again. Don’t call it a rebirth or a reboot or even a reinvention. But maybe let’s call it a comeback. With a small “c”.

To finish I ask him what I thought would be a flippant question. One of those things one throws out to the interviewee, warming down, just trying to take the chat somewhere it might not have been previously, a pivot. I ask Sheeran if he has any recurring dreams. “Erm, yeah, actually...”

There’s a pause. He smiles a little nervously. “I dream that I get shot in the head. Every single night.” Silence. At first I think there’s a gag following, but after a beat it’s clear there isn’t one.

“I can’t explain it. Literally, I close my eyes, I’m falling asleep and then it happens. Every night.

Weird, huh? I don’t go to therapy, but if I did I’m sure the therapist would have a lot to say about that.” Therapy? Maybe. Don’t know about you, Ed, but sounds like there’s a song in that. = IS OUT ON 29 OCTOBER.

IRISH LACE MASTERCRAFT COLLECTION

ADRIAN DUNBAR TELEV ISION ACTOR

Story by Ben Allen

Earlier this year, acclaimed police procedural Line Of Duty returned for its sixth series, smashing viewership records in the process. It makes sense, then, that we’re interested in one thing and one thing only: celebrating the bentcopper catcher at the show’s heart, whose unwavering search for ‘H’ lit up the screen and legendary oneliners long lingered off it

‘[Line Of Duty’s evolution] is, for me, in my career, the defining moment.

And it’s pretty good’ 164 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Photography by Mads Perch

Styling by Angelo Mitakos

A

Adrian Dunbar laughs uneasily when I bring up the tattoo. The actor, who turned 63 in August, has done plenty of things in the back third of his 40-year career that you might not expect of a man his age. Since landing his defining role as bent-copper sniffer-outer Ted Hastings in Line Of Duty in 2011, he’s gone viral, busting moves on Instagram with his costars Martin Compston and Vicky McClure. He’s been branded a sex symbol, thanks in part to a steamy magazine shoot in which he wore a chunky Aran knit jumper, lying seductively on a couch with a gaze that said, “Draw me like one of your French girls.” (“I didn’t even know what a meme was,” Dunbar says. “I had to get my daughter to tell me.”) But getting his first tattoo in his sixties? “I... don’t know about that.”

I had reminded him that Compston (wee Steve Arnott) tweeted in May that he, along with Dunbar, series writer Jed Mercurio and McClure (DI Kate Fleming) made a pact that if the show reached 12 million viewers, they would all get tatted up with the words “AC-12 million”, after the fictional anti-corruption unit.

Remarkably, the divisive finale of series six – billed as the culmination of the six-series search for a corrupt officer once codenamed “H” – smashed that number to bits, with a final tally of 15.24m, making it the most-watched British drama of the 21st century, and, in turn, making Dunbar a no-brainer for GQ’s Television Actor Of The Year award. So... will he be making good on that pact? He laughs. “I’m not bouncing around hoping I’m going to get a tat soon,” he says, but allows, “If Martin gets one and then Vicky and Jed get one, I suppose I’ll get one.”

Your move, Compston.

It would be a fitting way to cap a decade of Line Of Duty. While megastars such as Stephen Graham and Thandiwe Newton have come and gone, the show’s success rests on the shoulders of its core trio of righteous plods. Dunbar is arguably the most important of the three, as

evidenced by the collective outrage across the nation when, for a brief stint during series five, Mercurio led us to believe that the man dubbed “Daddy Hastings” by thirsty fans was himself a bent cop. But he never could have been corrupt, Dunbar says: “The whole country would have been very upset if that was the case.”

In many ways, Hastings embodies everything that people love about the show: a dogged desire to root out wrongdoing and an innate silliness that somehow does not undermine its seriousness. His now-famous catchphrases – “Mother of God”, “Now we’re sucking diesel”, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph and the wee donkey” – have become a huge part of the cult around the show. When he repeated his famous line – “I’m interested in one thing and one thing only: catching bent coppers” – in an early series six episode, fans on Twitter celebrated with a collective ferocity typically reserved for goals in international football tournaments.

When the show began, Dunbar was coming in on the back of a relatively quiet period. He had worked steadily since his breakout roles in the 1980s and 1990s – in Irish Oscar winners My Left Foot and The Crying Game – but the early 2000s were filled with smaller film and TV parts.

Almost out of nowhere, he was offered Line Of Duty, the career equivalent of two jolts from the defibrillator. I remind him of something he said after series one of the show: “It would drive me mad to have something steady like a long-term TV series,” he told the Times in 2013. And yet here he is, eight years later, still very much in Line Of Duty mode. He laughs. “I think what’s changed is the quality of the show, the character I’m playing and the friends I have doing it,” he says. “This is, for me, in my career, the defining moment. And it’s pretty good.”

D

unbar was born into a Catholic family in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh in 1958. Growing up near the border between a “very polarised” Northern Ireland and the Republic in the 1960s and 1970s, he says, was stifling. “It’s only when you got out that you realised there was a lot of stress,” he says. As a gigging musician in his teens he travelled regularly and considers himself lucky to have avoided trouble. “It was quite dangerous crossing the border late at night and early in the morning.” He tried on a few different hats before he found acting. He played bass guitar and sang backing vocals for an Elvis impersonator. He worked in an abattoir, which he likened to being in prison. “It was a big square concrete building with one door and in the winter you didn’t see daylight at all. At lunchtime we’d go out and stand in the rain, watching the seagulls.” >>

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

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Trousers, £209. Shirt, £99. Waistcoat, £179.

Bow tie, £55. All by Boss. boss.com

OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 165

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

Northern Ireland contributed to the fleshing out of Hastings as a character. Hastings, a Catholic raised in Northern Ireland, took up a position in the police force in England after a colleague in the Royal Ulster Constabulary – a Protestantdominant force – had made an attempt on his life, due to suspicions about his allegiances. His history rarely figures in the plot, but it adds a richness to the character, as do the linguistic flourishes that Dunbar adds, the aforementioned catchphrases that are really just colloquial quips, many of which he took from his own father.

The skill required in the making of Line Of Duty is often underestimated. The show’s hallmark long interrogation scenes – sometimes ridiculously long; like, entire-episode long – are often shot through in single takes, a painstaking process that requires everyone to be at the very top of their game. Dunbar says his process has had to change over the course of his career. “I work harder now than I did when I was younger.

When you’re young, things come very quickly to you. It gets more difficult as you get older, partly because of the standards that you set yourself.”

Over the years, Dunbar has developed a strong bond with Mercurio, McClure and Compston.

When I interviewed them all last year about the show’s beginnings, they giggled and reminisced like school pals recalling their first holiday in Magaluf. But series six was different, Dunbar says. When they returned to Belfast to film the latter episodes in late 2020 (production had been shut down after two weeks in March) under Covid restrictions, they were in bubbles apart from the crew. “It was great to be able to do the work. But all the fun aspects are stripped out of it, sadly.”

W

hen it aired in May, Line Of Duty’s series six finale, which was built to conclude the entire show’s arc, drove fans wild, and not in a good way. They were particularly aggrieved about the big reveal, that the

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‘There are things in the storyline that could come together to make an interesting series seven’ 166 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Adrian Dunbar with costars Vicky McClure and Martin Compston in Line Of Duty

corrupt copper AC-12 has been looking for since series one has been right under their noses the entire time: the hapless, moronic Detective Superintendent Ian Buckells. It meant the show ended on a particularly murky note, with duplicity running rife throughout the force and our heroes stripped of all their power in the anticorruption game.

Critics were not kind, social media pundits even less so. Many were aggrieved that the reveal lacked the impact of the pursuit, which has been the show’s central mystery for several years. Mercurio, who has a reputation for responding poorly to criticism, posted positive BBC audience research about the episode on Twitter to prove his doubters wrong. But it did little to sway the apparent consensus that he had fudged it.

Dunbar understands fans’ frustrations, because he and his costars initially felt them too.

“We all had to get our heads around it. How does this make us look? We’re supposed to be this great team, forensically trawling through hours and hours of information, and here we are with this character who has been under our noses for so long, suddenly, appearing as the person who’s a kind of ‘H’-type character?”

But Mercurio eventually convinced them it was the correct move. “The idea is that it’s not an uber villain. It’s really just a person in a reasonably senior position within the force who just turns a blind eye to something because they got drawn in, they got a few quid here and there, and then it becomes a big part of the whole thing.”

With time, he says, some fans have come to realise that it’s actually a “more realistic” conclusion than they had initially realised.

Nonetheless, Dunbar is quietly confident there’ll be another series. “I’m sure the BBC want to do another series. We do, because we want to get together again.” It’s just a matter of coming up with a story that satisfies viewers without feeling like a rehash of the previous outings. “I have a couple of ideas – we all have ideas that we share – but I’d rather not say what they are.

There are things embedded in the storyline that could come together to make up a very interesting series seven.”

In truth, he’s just keen to spend some more time with his mates. “It’s a bit weird, actually, doing other jobs. It’s strange out there, without the Line Of Duty family.” They may well be inked up by the time their next shooting day comes around.

Grooming Paul Donovan Digital technician Tim Jobling Photography assistant Dan Cope Photograph BBC

>> Many of Dunbar’s experiences growing up in

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GA ME CH A NGER

DAME VIVIENNE

Since her first famous boutique, Britain’s rebel designer has made it her mission to tear down, well, everything!

Story by Teo van den Broeke 168 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1 Andreas and Vivienne wear Andreas Kronthaler For Vivienne Westwood and Andreas Kronthaler For Vivienne Westwood X Gina. viviennewestwood.com

WESTWOOD

Now, with her label in the care of her husband, punk’s grande dame has a plan not to disrupt but fix our ailing climate

Photographs by Wayne Hanson OCTOBER 2021 GQ. CO.UK 169

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

D

ame Vivienne Westwood doesn’t want to talk about fashion. “That’s for Andreas,” she says in her small, resolute voice, which is occasionally flattened by a Derbyshire vowel or two. “Andreas and I work together and he supports everything I do.” She gesticulates at her husband of almost 30 years, who is sitting next to her on the sofa of the Hackney studio where the pair just had their picture taken. Hairy and broad, at least double Westwood’s size and nearly 25 years her junior, Andreas Kronthaler seems a bit distant – his bright blue eyes are determined to look anywhere but at her – which I can only assume is because she’s doing most of the talking. “I’m going to talk and talk and talk, I’m afraid,” she continues. “Then I can stop, because I want to talk about the mission.”

Kronthaler has been the sole creative director of the Vivienne Westwood fashion line since 2016. He met Westwood in his native Austria in 1988, at the Vienna School Of Applied Arts where she was his teacher. His wife, who celebrated her 80th birthday in April, has recently taken on the impending climate crisis as her pet project, a cause she considers to be much more important than the business of creating dresses, shoes and suits.

“I know how to save the world from climate

change,” she tells me as we sit. “I’m the only person with a plan.” Looking me square in the eye, her bird-like hand, the colour of fresh toile, is pointing. “One of my slogans is, ‘Seven billion people don’t know.’” Westwood loves a slogan.

“What don’t they know? They don’t know shit.

That’s what they don’t know.”

Westwood is a born agitator. Where Tom Ford is known for selling his polished brand of hyper-smut and Alessandro Michele is beloved for his magpie-esque eclecticism, Westwood is world-renowned for being a rebel. Alongside her former partner Malcolm McLaren (prior to Kronthaler and following her first marriage to Derek Westwood) the designer became one of the early architects of the punk movement, selling make-do-and-mend clothing with an aggro edge from the pair’s shop, Sex, on London’s King’s Road. Latterly, Westwood’s fashion collections have helped perpetuate that rebellious spirit.

When designers such as Calvin Klein and Donna Karan went global in the minimalism-obsessed 1990s by selling satin slip dresses and straight-leg blue jeans, Westwood steamed in an entirely different direction, sending models down her runways in 17th- and 18th-century-inspired corsets and crinolines, cut with a couturier’s sensibility.

Similarly, Westwood’s menswear collections

‘I know how to save the world from climate change.

I’m the only person with a plan’

170 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

have long captured the imaginations, wardrobes and – importantly – wallets of a more creative breed of consumer. Sure, the designer’s orb-embroidered “out-out” shirts are beloved by boozy lads in provincial towns the UK over, but the mainline offerings that Westwood produces with Kronthaler continue to be infused with a buccaneering spirit entirely their own. There are pirate boots, asymmetric suits, buffalo hats, kilts. Westwood was putting men in dresses long before it was trendy and she has famous fans in all corners of the celeb stratosphere, including Sir Ian McKellen (“I always remember when Ian told me that he’d lost five pairs of the hearing aids we both use,” she says, laughing. “He wondered how I’d managed not to lose any of mine!”), George Clooney, Michael B Jordan and Harry Styles, to name a few.

But, like I said, Westwood doesn’t want to talk about fashion, which is fair enough, given she’s being awarded GQ’s Game Changer award for her work in the fight against climate change, and that’s what we’re here to discuss. “What we need to do is make the public supportive of my plan, of my website,” she tells me. “If we get people to go to the website then the message would spread and the interest would increase. It would make an impression. It would get through to people, because currently there’s no opposition [to the anti-ecological message being peddled by the government]. No opposition at all.”

The website Westwood is talking about is climaterevolution.co.uk. Established by the designer as a kind of digital diary – a multi-platform blog, for want of a better term – which charts the extent of the designer’s environmental activism alongside her day-to-day thoughts on climate change.

There’s a section called “The Big Picture” that features the videos and pictures she posted on Instagram during the multiple lockdowns (my suggestion that this makes Westwood something of an influencer is duly ignored), as well as her slogans, artworks and general musings (one of the most recent posts features a picture in which her face is covered with frosting from her friend Julian Assange’s 50th birthday cake) and, perhaps most importantly, there’s a section dedicated entirely to her climate change manifesto.

A 12-page e-book furnished with collages, drawings and texts, the key message of the manifesto, as Westwood explains, leaning toward me conspiratorially, is a simple one. “The one thing that would truly halt pollution is to stop war.

Don’t buy a bomb. All arms are sold under the pretence that they’re being sold for defence, but it’s just a complete and utter lie.”

And, yes, you could nitpick here; you could point out that arms manufacturers are probably fairly upfront about the fact their products are designed to go boom or that being eco-friendly is never really their USP. But that would miss the bigger point: Westwood is on a mission and she’s nothing if not ambitious. She’d like to halt war: “If we can stop war, that would be popular. It won’t be easy, but we need to find a way to close down the arms factories.” And climate change: “All our efforts must go into halting climate change.” And scrapping cars... sort of: “The only way we can

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1 Andreas and Vivienne wear Andreas Kronthaler For Vivienne Westwood and Andreas Kronthaler For Vivienne Westwood X Gina. viviennewestwood.com

survive is not to go back to normal, to not buy bombs but also to not buy electric cars. Keep your own car and, if possible, don’t use it. If you have to use it and it breaks down, then you buy an electric car, if you absolutely have to.”

A key element of Westwood’s manifesto is the “No Man’s Land” economy, her thesis being that if no one actually owns land then no one will be able to “rape” the earth. Production will be limited, crop farming (Westwood and Kronthaler are staunch vegetarians) would be promoted over heavy industry, the housing crisis would be solved and, hey presto, utopia. “Land cannot be owned; no one can own land; land belongs to no one,” Westwood says. “If you look at my manifesto, I

think there needs to be an official body, independent of the government, that can assess the cost of land and figure out whether they can use it or not, because it affects the livelihoods of, say, aboriginal people who have lived on it for thousands of years.” She adds: “They don’t want to move, thank you very much, and then you’re not allowed to take that land away from them. Simple.”

I

nterviewing Vivienne Westwood is like listening to four Ted Talks at once. During our hour-and-a-half together, a period for which I’ve been asked to interview Westwood and Kronthaler concurrently, I manage to ask a grand total of three questions. Much in the way

that the clothes on her runways take on lives of their own – bursting with ideas, techniques and influences – Westwood’s brain is a hot pan full of corn, popping out thought-kernels at random.

“Every world leader is anti-people,” she tells me at one point, in a sudden pivot. “I call them devils.

Whether he knows it or not, Boris Johnson has never, ever had an altruistic thought in his mind.

He’s always worked out of self-interest. He’s completely destructive. Completely. He’s a killer and that is my definition of the devil. I’ve written a poem about it.”

One of the questions I’m determined to ask is something I’ve heard several of my journalist friends posit – usually behind their hands on >> OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 171

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>> her front row rather than to her face – and it’s one I imagine Westwood won’t be keen to tackle.

How, I ask, can it be possible to justify creating clothes – all be they beautiful, extravagant, magical clothes – when the fashion industry is the second-largest polluter in the world? “We have to move to a craft-based industry,” Westwood says without pause. “What we’ve got to stop is all unnecessary production. We do not need bombs. Not everybody needs a car either. You can definitely manage with a bicycle or walk. I’m not saying get a horse and cart, either – that’s probably just as polluting, for all I know – but my target is war, because it’s such a big item. We just have to stop war, stop pollution.”

172 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

And fashion? I ask again. “Fashion is something we truly need, unless you think we should go around naked – we’re quite near to that at the moment, with vests and all that stuff. I think it’s incredibly important to maintain the fashion skills that we still have.” She continues: “The high street is the problem. All that mass production is just about cheap labour and death.

Couture is the only sustainable fashion – meaning you can’t get any more sustainable than couture. My answer is to buy less, choose well, make it last. And that’s the best thing for the ecology at the moment.”

The truth is that Westwood’s ready-to-wear clothes are as far from fast fashion and as close

to couture – the practice of making a garment entirely by hand to fit one specific body – as it’s possible to get, the wild and wonderful looks both she and Kronthaler wore for this GQ Men Of The Year shoot being a case in point. From the stripped-back Miss Havisham-style couture wedding dress, finished with an exposed and intricately embroidered crinoline, which the designer wore for her solo shot, to the towering stilettos and immaculately tailored doublebreasted suits with oversized lapels worn by her husband, these are clothes that are designed not only to be worn over and over again, in as many whacky iterations as possible, but also to be treasured. And when the designers themselves

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

Manicurist Cherrie Snow using Ethos Treatments by Bio Sculpture Make-up Isamaya Ffrench Photography assistant Tami Aftab

‘The high street is the problem.

Only couture is sustainable’

take such intense pleasure from not only creating them but wearing them too, it’s difficult not to be won over by the message.

“It’s the quality of the design that makes people choose it. It’s quality. Buy less, make it last. If you really like it, you’ll want to keep wearing it,” says Westwood. Kronthaler, who seems a little relieved that the topic of conversation has rolled into his wheelhouse, is more erect. His soft voice, which seems appropriately at odds with the Viking-esque frame from which it emits, has a singsong quality. “With the Vivienne Westwood line, we’re very careful with the fabrics. We try to source everything as near as possible to us, using up deadstock and reusing things that were done

before. All kind of things.” He pauses. “But more and more now I’m of the opinion that if your intentions are pure then you can do everything.

It’s essentially consumption that’s the main problem. We make too much. We make so much food that we throw half of it away and clothes are the same.”

As our time together draws to a close it strikes me that, for Westwood, her fight against climate change is just another opportunity for her to express her deep-seated rebellious nature. She clearly, truly believes everything she says and is both dedicated and determined to her cause, but she also realises that fashion is, by its nature, at odds with what she hopes to achieve. Which

is where Kronthaler steps in. By allowing him total creative control of the brand she worked so hard to build, she is free to fight the good fight against a crisis that will impact us all in its most horrifying iterations long after she’s gone. It’s a shrewd move and one I suddenly find myself having a deep sense of admiration for. It’s also a point that Westwood addresses naturally, without me even having to ask. “Andreas is doing a great, great job,” she says. “He gets me dressed, for this shoot too. I don’t have to worry about any of that, because I want to use every second I can to spread my message, to fight climate change.” A pause. “He’s helping me in every possible way.”

OCTOBER 2021 GQ. CO.UK 173

Back in 2013, Paul Bettany really, truly believed his career was over. After a run in the 2000s with starring roles in A Beautiful Mind, A Knight’s Tale and The Da Vinci Code, he was having a slow start to the decade. He hadn’t worked in twoand-a-half years – “I was down on my uppers,” he says. “I couldn’t get arrested” – and he made the mistake of pinning his last hopes on a meeting with a producer who, his agent had kindly informed him, “fucking hates” him. The producer, whom he won’t name, was 45 minutes late and when he did show up he told Bettany that not only was he not going to cast him in the project, but, as far as he was concerned, it was a wrap for him in Hollywood. “I said to him, ‘You should mind your manners.

This is a town that has second acts, third acts and fourth acts.’” As Bettany stormed out of the building, his knees buckled. “I’d been so tough and butch in this meeting, but secretly I was just devastated to hear this news. I went, ‘He’s right.

My career’s over. It’s done.’” Then his phone rang.

It was Joss Whedon, director of Marvel’s game-changing superhero event film Avengers Assemble, asking him to play the role of Vision, the big, lovable, purple synthezoid in its sequel, transforming his bit-part in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – as Iron Man’s AI companion, Jarvis – into what would become arguably the defining role of his career. Eight years and billions of dollars later, Bettany is once again a force to be reckoned with. Landing roles is no longer the mammoth task it once was; he was cast as villain Dryden Vos in Solo: A Star Wars Story by sending a tongue-in-cheek text to director Ron Howard asking for a part in the film.

This month, at 50, he’s up for his first Emmy, for his turn in the MCU’s first official television crossover, WandaVision, but first he’ll take home GQ’s Boss Leading Man award.

WandaVision represented a surprise second roll of the dice for Vision. As Marvel completists will know, the character was killed off in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War – and real dead, not “snapped back to life in Endgame” dead like the rest of them. But in the series, his lifeless, robotic corpse was magically reanimated by his girlfriend, Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), AKA Scarlet Witch, to play a part in a constructed reality that closely resembled classic American sitcoms such as I Love Lucy, Bewitched and Modern Family.

It was an illusion powered by her grief, one that 174 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Grooming Amy Komorowski Styling assistant Jena Beck Photography assistants Eric Bouthiller; Julius Frazer; James OÕBrien

B

slowly began to unravel as the episodes wore on and as outside forces began to bleed in.

Bettany understands grief in a way only those utterly changed by it can. At 16, his eight-year-old brother, Matthew, died in a tragic accident. Last year, while filming Uncle Frank – an indie drama in which he played a grieving son – he travelled to the film’s set in North Carolina with Matthew’s T-shirt in his suitcase. “I don’t think it’s a particularly healthy way of living, keeping the wounds fresh. How strange that I travelled with this artefact that allows me to go to this place that is not pleasant.” As he gets older, he says, it’s becoming harder and harder to tap in and out of that emotion. “As I hurtle towards my dotage, I’m more fragile than I was. I used to be able to sort of do those things and then go shoot another scene and now I can’t. I’ve got to go home, drink a six-pack of IPA, go to sleep and put that day away.”

In large part, WandaVision appealed to him because he could relate to Wanda’s journey and the way in which the show explored the thorny process of moving on after losing a loved one.

“What a clever thing to do with a superhero-genre show and to have this woman going through unspeakable suffering in grief, who also happens to have powers and can create her own world.

And then, suddenly, the reality hits and [she realises] ‘I need to let go.’ I really did connect to it.”

While the show is predominantly focused on Wanda’s journey, in the back half of the series Vision winds up becoming the emotional core, as he begins to realise that the life he’s living in sitcom-land is constructed. He delivers the most powerful line of the whole series: “What is grief, if not love persevering?” (a line that was workshopped by head writer Jac Schaeffer, her writers’ room and Bettany, but eventually perfected by her assistant, Laura Monti). You can’t avoid getting emotionally invested, Bettany says, even when dealing with supernatural entities. “You see it as a challenge. Like, I wonder if I can move people as a purple robot. I mean, you couldn’t be more covered in make-up and less accessible.”

He largely avoided social media when the show was airing – “That way madness lies” – so he missed both the emotional outpouring over that scene and the furore that followed an interview in which he teased a massive cameo in the final episodes as “someone I’ve always wanted to work with” that ended up being... Bettany himself, as an all-white version of Vision. When the interview came out, fan theorising hit warp speed and many were convinced that Al Pacino (yes, really) was going to turn up in the series as the villain, Mephisto. “I was like, ‘Oh, that’s a much better idea than it just being Paul Bettany.’” When the finale came and went with no Pacino, some gave Bettany credit for his exquisite trolling, but others were just plain mad. “Never have I regretted something more,” he says. And yet, there may come a day when the post-credit cameo is once again “just Paul Bettany” and they’ll undoubtedly be happy to have him. Because as we’ve learned, in the MCU no one ever really dies.

Might he return as Vision one day? “There were rumours about it. I don’t want to jinx anything yet. I have thoughts about what would be great to do for White Vision with a fresh start. We’ll see.”

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BOSS LE A DING M A N

PAUL BETTANY After surviving an attempted Hollywood blacklisting, the actor’s second act, as Marvel’s emotional core, is his most enchanting yet...

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T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

SIR ANTHONY HOPKINS From Ludlow to Lear, cannibal to cardinal, for 60 years and counting the great Welsh actor has been an inimitable presence on stage and screen. In the year he made history as the oldest actor to ever win an Academy Award (his second, no less), we’re honoured to add another accolade to his collection...

Story by Stuart McGurk

Photographs by Gavin Bond

Styling by Alison Edmond

OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 177

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1 The first thing Sir Anthony Hopkins wants to know is “What is it like, Stuart, having Covid?”

I had recently come down with a case (thankfully very mild, thanks in no small part to the vaccine) and Hopkins, who didn’t attend his own Oscar win for The Father due to the risk, was understandably interested.

I didn’t have much to tell him: some shivers and aches; runny nose; a bit like the flu. And while Hopkins was bemused that England was fully reopening despite skyrocketing case numbers (“That’s wacko!”), he finds anger these days slips through his fingers and what’s left is a late-career, late-life joy, one far more infectious than any disease.

He spent the pandemic engaged in two of his passions – piano and painting – but is eager to get back to his first love.

Next month he’s set to work again with the director of The Father, Florian Zeller, in a project called The Son, and has another film lined up after that.

At 83, he’s found himself in an Indian Summer, with his Bafta- and Oscarwinning turn as an ailing patriarch struggling with dementia in The Father coming on the back of Bafta and Oscar nominations the previous year for The Two Popes, costarring Jonathan Pryce.

As a young tyro at the National Theatre – despite being championed

by Laurence Oliver and others – he found it hard to fit in. He clashed with directors, drank, didn’t take instruction kindly, even, as he tells me, threatening to punch a director once, before fleeing to LA as soon as he could.

But, as he points out, “They’re all dead now anyway.”

Remarkably, it wasn’t until he came back to the UK to work on a couple of prestige BBC adaptations in the last decade (The Dresser in 2015; King Lear in 2018) that he finally felt at peace, that, in his head at least, he was not an outsider looking in.

“We’re not here for long,” he says.

“And the last decade or so it’s been a wonderful feeling of freedom.”

We start on The Father, the role that saw him become the oldest ever person to receive an Academy Award for acting.

‘I do speak in “bup-bup-bum”. It’s an aggressive punching out of words. That’s my nature, I guess’ 178 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Let’s begin, naturally, with The Father, the role for which you won your second Oscar at 83, making you the oldest ever person to receive an acting Academy Award. You didn’t attend, so what was it like to essentially sleep through it?

Well, it was a big surprise! I was with my wife and friends and we were on vacation. We were in Wales when the Bafta happened. I wasn’t asked to make any prepared speech in case I won, so I took it that it would go to Chadwick Boseman. I didn’t really want to watch the awards, because I have better things to do. Then suddenly, in the next room, I heard this scream. My wife and her friends said, “You won the Bafta!”

Then I went to where my father is buried, just to visit his grave and see an old friend of mine.

And it was on the Sunday evening, we’re staying in this hotel. The Academy had stipulated that the nominees would have to go to either London or Dublin and, at my age, the risk of Covid and all that, I had no intention of going. So I phoned my agent and he said, “Well, good luck.” I went to bed, then at about five o’clock in the morning my buzzer went off on my phone. My agent said, “Tony, you’ve just got the second Oscar!” I couldn’t believe it. We were all up and celebrating. So then I made a little speech and a tribute to Chadwick Boseman, sadly gone so young in his life. And that was it! I had no idea. No idea at all. And I can’t figure any of this stuff out. But it was wonderful.

It must have been slightly surreal to have an Oscar-celebrating breakfast...

It was. And we left that morning for Italy, because we were on a journey around Europe.

And so we still went to Italy and we came back. And that’s it. It’s hard to believe at 83.

Getting these awards is a state of constant surprise at my age, but what fun.

You always speak very practically when it comes to acting – that it’s no more than reading the lines – but you did say once that you still have to know to turn on “that electricity”. What exactly do you mean by that?

Well, actually, I don’t think there’s any such thing, but I think acting found me. I had no plan to be an actor. And I don’t make it sound so heavy that it’s destiny, but I think roles choose you, in a way, and that’s what happened with The Father. I’d heard about the play, I read the script and I phoned my agent and I said, “Yes, definitely do this!” This was one of those rare scripts: so well written, so well defined, so clear.

But the power is the word. You give flesh to the word – the great Peter O’Toole said that. So there’s no acting skill required, in a way. And not just vocal clarity, but clarity of thought, clarity of intention. You don’t need to dress it up in anything else. I didn’t have to go and visit old people’s homes to meet dementia patients.

And when you get the right combinations – like Jodie Foster in The Silence Of The Lambs or Peter O’Toole in The Lion In Winter or Olivia Colman and Olivia Williams in The Father – then life is easy. And I love the preparation. I

found my script [of The Father] just the other day. And I go over the scenes many, many obsessive times.

I’ve read you’ll read a script 200 times or so...

And more! The reason I do that is to... Talking about electricity, it gives my brain – or whatever this mechanism up here is – it gives me confidence and the reassurance that I know what I’m doing. Once you know what you’re doing, you can go on the set. You can relax. For example, the first morning on The Father, Olivia Colman comes into the flat and I say, “What are you doing?” Yeah, well, that’s easy! I say, “What are you doing here?” That’s the beauty. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out. And then you walk up to the script supervisor – a very kind woman is marking out all the continuity – and you say, “So what’s the next line? OK, got it, thank you,” then bup, bup, bup. And it’s like putting together a jigsaw before you know it.

Your own father didn’t have dementia, but did you draw anything from him in playing that role?

Yes, I did. My father was a practical, downto-earth guy. He was a baker, wasn’t impressed by the frills of the business I’m in, very blunt. I remember the very first day with the daughter [played by Olivia Colman] and he says, “What are you looking at? Everything’s all right, Anne.

The world is still turning... just like your mother.”

That was my father. He’d say, “What’s the matter with you? Come on. Wake up. You’re like your grandfather. I don’t know what’s gonna happen to you. It worries me.” And he was like that up until my late adult years, you know, and then he died. I can laugh at it now because he was sometimes cantankerous. He didn’t understand the wishy-washy stuff of my business at all.

Did you ever have to have that conversation when you said to him, “I want to be an actor”?

What did he think about that?

It was 1955, I always remember, around Easter, and my school reports had been pretty bad; I wasn’t very good at school. And I didn’t say it in any forceful or bad-tempered way, but I remember saying to him, “One day I’ll show you.” I was standing in the kitchen with my mother and my father and he looked at me and said, “Well, good.

I hope you do.” And it was a kind of little signal to him that said: back off a bit. Within a few months, I got a scholarship to the Cardiff College Of Music & Drama, having never acted before.

I left in 1957. And then I had to do two years of military service, then was fired from my job in a repertory company because I was incompetent as a stage manager.

I’d heard that! Why were you so bad at it?

Oh, I was terrible. I was impractical. I couldn’t concentrate on it. My mind... I just couldn’t figure things out. I’d get things wrong all the time.

But I had some small parts [as an actor], though I hadn’t figured out that you have to learn the lines. The director [David Scase] said, “I’m going to suggest that you go to a really good >>

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‘I had to punch a guy once and I did it for real on stage.

He was a big hefty guy, so it was fine’

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T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1 >> acting school, get some training, because you’ve got something. I don’t know what it is, but you’re dangerous on stage. You have no discipline.” He was right. I had to punch a guy once and I did it for real on stage.

You didn’t know you had to do a stage punch?

You did it for real?

Well, he was a big hefty guy, so it was fine. And then I went to the Royal Academy for two years.

Within five years after leaving I was in a film with Peter O’Toole. So go figure. I don’t understand how that happened.

Which was, of course, The Lion In Winter, which also starred Katharine Hepburn. What do you remember about that now?

I remember the first day in Ireland: we had our first shot with the three sons, John Castle, Nigel Terry and myself, with Katharine Hepburn.

Here’s this great, mighty American movie star.

And then I had my first scene with her, on my own, and somebody said, “Are you nervous?” I said, “No. What’s the point of being nervous? It’s just vanity.” And she was wonderful. I remember she said to me, “Don’t play to the camera, because I’ll steal the scene from you. Don’t do that. Don’t act. You don’t need to act. You’ve got good shoulders, good head, good voice. Just do the lines.” And it was the best advice. She watched Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart and I watched them too. I was canny, I think, observant. I knew what was what. Narcissism is the biggest enemy of all, I think, for an actor and it’s something you have to check all the time. Narcissism, too much ego, you have to watch it. And that’s fun as well, to watch the old ego.

Is that something you still have to keep a check on at 83?

Of course. When people start saying good things about you – great actor and all that stuff – of course. When you start believing that, well, that’s OK, there’s nothing wrong in believing in yourself and self-worth, but you have to check it every so often. You’re just a human being that happens to be an actor in a public sort of job, [you’re] no different from anyone else. And what I am very conscious of, and I don’t mean it in a self-conscious “Ah, shucks” way, is realising every day that I’m not making the movie. The camera guy, the sound engineer, lighting, DP, the props, the make-up people, the producers, director: they’re making the film. The guys there at four in the morning unloading the trucks are making the movie. I’m not.

It was a pleasure to rewatch The Lion In Winter.

That was also when you were still drinking, before you quit in the mid-1970s. Can one assume yourself and Peter O’Toole would have a drink or two after work?

Oh, yes. More than our share. He was an Irish hell-raiser. But he was a wonderful guy, a very smart, brilliant man. But the booze did something to me. I’m not an evangelist or anything, but I drank enough to get myself to a point to

think, “This is not working.” And so some years ago I thought, “Better stop this.” But O’Toole, in those days, the 1960s, they were the bad boys – Oliver Reed, O’Toole, Richard Harris. Wonderful actors, great personalities. All gone now, but they were fun to be with.

It was quite early on in your career that you moved to Los Angeles, wasn’t it? The mid1970s? Why did you leave?

Well, I came to New York to play and then I came over here [to LA] in 1975 to do a television play and then I just stayed. I’d felt like I was on the run. I was at the National Theatre, I had a great time and I was given great opportunities by people such as [Laurence] Olivier. But there was something in me that wasn’t settled. And I regret that and I’ve seen people since and apologised for my past behaviour. But I was restless and I couldn’t fit in somehow, so I scarpered. I did the big skedaddle. And when I left in 1973 I was told I’d never work again.

Really? Who told you that?

My agent at the time. He said, “Tony, what are you doing?” But that’s my past and that’s something I’m not proud of. I can’t undo it.

‘Narcissism is the biggest enemy of all for an actor and it’s something you have to check all the time’ Why was moving to LA considered such a bad move back then?

Well, at the time I was at the National Theatre and had some great opportunities, but for some reason – and the drinking didn’t help – I was a rebel, I was a fighter and I was insufferably dogmatic about certain things. And I realised that it doesn’t work for me [staying in London] and so I thought maybe I ought to just quietly slide away. And that’s what I did. But I did eventually go back to the National Theatre in the 1980s to do Pravda and King Lear and some other things.

But nevertheless, I never really felt I could fit in. That’s all. I just didn’t fit in comfortably. But then I had the great opportunity to recently work with Ian McKellen for The Dresser [in 2015], then King Lear [in 2018, both BBC adaptations] with Richard Eyre and a formidable cast, such as Jim Carter, Emma Thompson, a bunch of people, and I felt that it had been worth it. Those demons were long gone.

I’m surprised at that. You were an Oscar winner at the time. Why did it take so long to feel like you finally fitted in?

Well, you know, we all have our bugaboos, our paranoia, [although] mine is less now over the years, and I realised all that stuff in the past, about running about, not fitting in, maybe there was some truth in it. Maybe I didn’t fit in. Maybe I was a bit of a troubled character. But I’m old

now: I’d be stupid to walk around full of nettles and devils in me. We’re not here for long.

But the last decade or so it’s been a wonderful feeling of freedom and just doing the job and showing up. And then The Father comes along and working with Jonathan Pryce in The Two Popes [in 2019].

I want to talk about that. But we have to talk The Silence Of The Lambs first, the iconic role of Hannibal Lecter, for which you got your first Oscar in 1992. In terms of what wasn’t on the page, is it true you decided his voice would be close to Katharine Hepburn or that his eyes would not blink, like Charles Manson?

None of that was true. [Director] Jonathan Demme came to see me in London on the Saturday night – I was doing a play – and he said, “How do you want to play him?” I said, “Well, I think he’s very still.” And I did the voice from just one line. He said, [displays shocked look] “Oh, my God. Yes, that sounds... Yes.” We arrived in New York and we had a round table. Jodie Foster was the only other actor and the producers read other parts. I know there was some doubt with a few people, because on the Sunday before the first reading, I was taken out to dinner by Jonathan Demme, with three or four producers and their wives, and I thought there was a little bit of doubt, because I’m a British actor, not an American actor. I remember a producer called Ken Utt. He said, “It’s gonna be interesting tomorrow, Tony. Let’s see how you go.” I know he was thinking, “Why did they cast this guy?” Anyway, next morning we started the reading and we came to the scene with Jodie Foster and I said [adopting perfect Lecter voice that’s terrifying even over Zoom], “Good morning,” you know? “You’re not real FBI, are you?” and I remember Kenny uttered, “My God.” I knew that I got it.

Well, yeah...

I don’t know what acting is, but you know when you’re right. I remember I had a bit of an argument with the wardrobe designer because he’d put me in a baggy orange jumpsuit.

I said, “No. I want a slimline suit.”

“But how?” he said.

“Lecter would have paid somebody,” I said.

I knew exactly the inner attitude and the externalised drive of the guy. He knows how to scare people. One rule of naturalists when they’re confronting the great gorillas is don’t look at them. Because that’s a threat. So when Lecter doesn’t take his eyes off you, that’s frightening. And Charles Manson did stare like that.

You think that’s a disturbed person, because they have no reference point, they have no pity.

To get on to The Two Popes, for which you received your fifth Oscar nomination in 2020, you hadn’t worked with Jonathan Pryce before, had you?

No. We’ve met once before and I did the production of Under Milk Wood with George Martin. But we had such a good time and he had a wonderful sense of humour and it was awesome. And >> OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 181

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1 >> Jonathan’s got a different approach: I don’t mean he wings it, but he doesn’t learn way ahead; he just knows the scenes as they come up. I wish I could do that! It would save me a lot of work.

What’s the difference in doing something like that in the Vatican City and then playing Odin in the Thor films where it’s all green screen?

It’s strange, you know, big green screens all around you and they put a helmet on your head and armour and you speak the lines. And I think it was Ken’s [director Kenneth Branagh] first Marvel, but he knew what he was doing. It’s just about shots, like Alfred Hitchcock. So he’d say, “Do you mind just standing there? OK. Then you move up there.” I remember one famous actor was doing a film with Hitchcock and he said, “Mr Hitchcock, what’s my motivation?” He said, “I’ll tell you when you get there.”

If you’ve seen Psycho, all the great Hitchcock movies, they’re all so designed. I met James Stewart once and he said he never left the set when he was doing Rear Window because it was so fascinating watching Hitchcock setting up the rhythm of scenes, the close shots, all meticulously edited, that can create such tremendous tension in the audience. That is genius. And I think that’s what Kenneth Branagh has. He’s the captain and you feel confident. Sometimes you work with directors who don’t seem to have a clue and they’re all over the place, take after take after take, and you think, “Come on, what are we doing?” Clint Eastwood does two takes, if you’re lucky. Just shoot the damn film!

You worked with Woody Allen for You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger. He’s notoriously like that, isn’t he? Couple of takes, move on...

Yeah, well, he would say [Woody Allen impression], “Let’s just do one more take and this time let’s make it more real.” [Laughs.] Then... “OK, I think we got it.” The great Woody Allen. But that’s the way they do it, that’s the hallmark.

you, which is its own industry? Who does it best? What do you make of the Rob Brydon imitation on The Trip, for instance?

Oh, he does [William] Bligh from The Bounty, doesn’t he? Gary Oldman does a good one as me, Ben Kingsley also. Gary Oldman left me a message on my answer machine in London many years ago and I thought it was my voice!

I thought, “I don’t remember leaving myself a message!” He just said, “It’s Tony here, how are you?” When people do the impressions it’s all deep, all guughhh-raghhh, though I do speak rather quickly, so they get the rhythm. I do speak in bup-bup-bum... It’s like an aggressive punching out of words. I don’t know why. That’s my nature, I guess.

You mention you did study method acting briefly. Why do you think you were never drawn to it in the way that some of your peers have been?

When I was a young student, I read several books by [Konstantin] Stanislavski – An Actor Prepares; Building A Character; Stanislavski’s Legacy – then I read Method Or Madness? by Robert Lewis. And it’s all very interesting, but I don’t like the dictatorship of thought. I’m not very good with teachers, with instructors. I’ll say something that’s maybe a bit inflamma-

‘We have a wonderful brain but we’ve destroyed half the planet, so we’re not that smart’

Oh, well, I would wouldn’t mind looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger! Did he play the part?

tory, but somebody will say to me that they’re going to acting classes. OK, good. What are they teaching you? Don’t waste your money. They’re failed actors that set themselves up as gurus.

That’s one of the reasons I left the National Theatre – we had a particular director who was very picky. And that’s one of the reasons that I would be angry, that would get my back up.

This was in my days of raging paranoia and I warned one director, “You ever speak to me like that again I’ll punch your face in.” Obviously, I don’t do that any more. Most of them, they’re all dead now anyway. There’s one very wellknown actor with an acting class here in Los Angeles and he’s the star of the show! And all these other students sitting around paying their fees and he’s the star! He’s on stage with them, interrupting them, being rude to them. No, you don’t do that.

So that’s me. I do my own thing, and I say to young actors, “Don’t ever be bullied by anyone.

And if you find it difficult, doesn’t matter if you don’t act, but don’t be bullied.” That’s why I left years ago, because of two particular directors I really could not stand, because they were dogmatic pedants. Nasty.

He very much did. There were a lot of freezebased puns. Can I ask about impressions of

And have you ever come across anything like that since, in terms of film directors?

Are there any roles you’ve ever regretted missing out on?

I don’t think that’s ever concerned me. There’s no part I can think of that I wish I’d done, that I just wanted to say I’m in. I’m just very fortunate.

I have to ask about a casting rumour that feels outlandish and I desperately want it to be true.

I read that it was between yourself and Arnold Schwarzenegger to play Mr Freeze in Batman & Robin, which, if true, is, I imagine, the only time that you and Arnold Schwarzenegger have been vying for the same part.

Oh, I don’t know. No, I must look at that. I don’t know. I doubt it. I’ve never heard of that before.

Who’s Mr Freeze?

He’s one of the comic book villains who, well, he freezes George Clooney’s Batman.

182 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Well, one or two maybe, but I don’t listen to them, I just do my own thing. I go into silent mode, then they know not to bother me. I don’t want to deal with people like that. When you go into a film set, it’s not meant to be boot camp.

You’re not fighting a war. You make good money and it’s popcorn in the end.

You’ve said that you feel you’re more in touch with your emotions than you ever have before.

Does that come with age?

Yes. I find that I’ve found that contact with my most emotional life easy. My father didn’t give in to emotions easy. I remember the first time I ever saw him weep. It was after his own father’s funeral. I was so embarrassed by it I had to walk away. Because that had been borne in me as well: men don’t cry; men have to be strong. And that’s bullshit! It’s the men who cry who are smarter because they’re more in touch with themselves.

You were recently diagnosed with Asperger’s, something else people feel much more comfortable discussing now. How did that come about?

I think some doctor contacted me... I don’t know. I don’t, actually, I don’t believe in it. I don’t feel any different. I think these are dressed up. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I’m ignorant.

They call it neurodiversity. It’s a fancy label.

I’m very focused in one way. I notice when I’m in restaurants, but that’s my behaviour. I think we’ve ruined the human system by tabulating everything. There’s a wonderful saying, which is that we’re all screwed. We always have been and we always will be. The whole human race is screwed. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have had bloodshed and wars, century after century, if we are so smart. We have a wonderful brain but we’ve destroyed half the planet, so we’re not that smart. It’s funny how a little invisible virus has zapped us, so figure that out.

Well, I guess that goes back to what you were saying before about keeping one’s ego in check. Even when you win a golden statuette for acting, none of that matters really and I suppose there’s actually a kind of calm serenity to be had from that realisation...

Yeah, it’s fun, but finally nothing matters. And so I was asleep when the Oscar was announced.

But they didn’t come and arrest me! So what?

So I wasn’t prepared to fly to Los Angeles to sit like this [motions applauding], clapping while someone else won. I mean, awards are fun. They’re fun. Go on the red carpet [makes snoring noise]. But in the end it’s all meaningless. What about the nurses and the surgeons and the doctors in hospitals and the caregivers?

Where are their awards? They saved lives. We know nothing, actors, all of us. We think we’re smart. No. You look at people working so hard, serving in restaurants. Those are the heroes.

They’re working to maintain our whole grid system. Cleaning our garbage off the streets.

Do we give them medals? And that’s where my anger is now.

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Grooming Sonia Lee for Exclusive Artists Management Production Alicia Zumback at Camp Productions Digital technician Dale Gold Photography assistants Kevin McHugh; Paul Rea Styling assistant Margrit Jacobsen With thanks to Wilshire Ebell Theatre

OCTOBER 2021 GQ. CO.UK 183

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BEEPLE M A DDOX GA L L E RY A RT IST

Three letters: NFT. For this auction-smashing digital visionary, that was all it took to change how art is made and sold – and bank $69 million (for just one piece!) in the process Story by Jonathan Heaf

Photographs by Will Crooks

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This is a conversation you’ve had at least, let’s say, four or five times in the past ten months: You: “What’s an NFT?” A friend who has access to a smartphone: “Oh, it stands for non-fungible token. It’s a unit on a digital ledger, called a blockchain, that certifies a digital asset is unique and therefore not interchangeable.”

You: “Oh, right. Cool...

[Long pause.] What’s a blockchain?”

If you’re still trying to figure it all out, fear not, you aren’t the only one nodding and smiling but ultimately terrified. Simply put, blockchain is a permanent, non-hackable way of storing information (such as ownership) online. Think of it like your car’s V5C form or owner’s manual, but, you know, digital. And potentially way more valuable.

A man called Beeple got interested in blockchain and NFTs last autumn. Beeple, if you didn’t know, is a digital artist. He’s been an incredibly successful digital artist, in fact, long before the critics and the commercial art market started losing their greige cashmere Loro Piana pants about NFTs. NFTs can come in the form of many things: music, memes, collectible digital sports cards, even sneakers (see Nike’s “CryptoKicks”).

Whatever your level of scepticism, however, NFTs are a game changer in regards to digital art, allowing that most sacred of thing: to assign provenance, and thus value, to an otherwise transient medium. NFTs give, for the first time, individual digital artworks indisputable ownership. They are the artists’ fingerprints on the format’s otherwise invisible canvas.

Naturally, people, or rather already wellestablished artists, are cashing in. Damien Hirst, Jonathan Yeo, Kaws, all the usual suspects are treating the rise of the NFT as just another opportunity to urge the art lover to exit through the gift shop. But Beeple is different. He’s only ever made digital art. This matters. Beeple, in this way, is the Picasso of NFTs, though it’s not so much what his art says as how it says it that is significant.

Beeple, of course, is a tag, a pseudonym, a nom de plume. Beeple, really, is a 40-year-old man called Mike Winkelmann based in South Carolina, a man who is currently talking to me via Zoom from his brand-new football pitchsized art factory, located a short distance from 186 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

his house and main studio. No matter what you know about Winkelmann already, know this: he’s a highly entertaining raconteur.

Since May 2007, Winkelmann has made one new digital artwork every 24 hours, posting the artwork online, somewhere out in the dark, inky, digital ether, without fail, before midnight. Since he began, he tells me, he “has never missed a deadline”. He calls this project his “Everydays”.

Beeple’s art is, like all “digital art”, made using computer programs, most recently, in his case, a program called Cinema 4D. Although his art has evolved greatly since he began experimenting as a teenager using limited DOS software (flashing squares of colour, odd sounds), what he’s become famous for in the past year is making complex digital renderings – talking skulls, sci-fi-inspired interiors and buildings, zombie armies, desolate landscapes – set in a surrealist, dystopian future.

His art is more than a little influenced by the great pen-and-ink sci-fi artists that worked during the second half of the 20th century – the likes of Rafal Olbinski, Chris Foss, John Berkey, HR Giger and John Schoenherr, the latter of whom worked on art for Frank Herbert’s Dune.

These artists’ work, on films and concepts for the likes of Star Wars and Alien, have clearly had an impact on Winkelmann’s creations.

Every so often, Winkelmann throws a recognisable cultural figure into his art: Mark Zuckerberg naked on a foil board; Mickey Mouse lactating with vastly engorged breasts; Jeff Bezos’ head as the top of his Blue Origin rocket. Most figures are either doing something gross – in Joe Biden’s case, kneeling down naked while eating the severed, bloody head of Shrek – or having something gross done to them.

These works are, in some way, usually a response to the news cycle. “I am obsessed with CNN,” the artist admits. In his studio, the computer he works on faces a wall of around ten or so TV screens, all tuned into the news, all with the sound on mute. Winkelmann’s work is certainly arresting, often funny, sometimes disturbing and not without political satire. (Think Banksy via the Wachowskis’ vision of earth after you take the red pill in The Matrix and you’re three-quarters of the way there.)

M

uch like the rest of us, however, Winkelmann at first had no clue about NFTs. “Around October last year people kept coming up to me saying, ‘Hey, man, you gotta check out NFTs. You gotta check out NFTs...’ To be honest, I took no fucking notice at the time. I was like, ‘Whatever.

That sounds fucking stupid.’” An LA-based TV producer once described Winkelmann as both characters from Fight Club: he looks like Edward Norton’s character – blue-chip, white-collar worker from America’s conservative South; neat haircut, spectacles, wide smile – but talks (and makes art) like Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden.

“You have to remember, I was already a very popular digital artist, making a good living from commercial work for various clients, such

as MTV, and back then I didn’t know anything about NFTs. I didn’t know anyone involved in it.

But, after being pestered, I did look at it. And, sure enough, I immediately could see the potential for it to be massive. I could see other artists, artists not nearly as successful as I already was, making a shitload of cash. The potential was crystal clear.”

“Massive” doesn’t sound like it should be an understatement, but on this occasion it is. It was around the time of the US 2020 election and so together with a platform called Nifty Gateway – think Tate Modern combined with StockX specifically for the digital art market – three Beeple artworks were auctioned off.

The first was called “Crossroad”, a work that would change in regards to the outcome of the Biden vs Trump election, the results of which were due after the sale. Next was “Politics Is Bullshit”, an NFT showing a defecating bull (get it?) being showered in dollar bills while the blue Twitter bird sits on its back and tweets the smiling turd emoji. The third piece was called “Crypto Is Bullshit”. This last work was also a digital animation – moving rather than static – this time showing a naked, overweight white man sat astride a golden bull, while around him a landscape, patrolled by militants with machine guns, burns. So far, so WTAF. “It felt like a real experiment,” Winkelmann explains. “The Trump/Biden one I thought was really interesting – the fact the buyer wouldn’t know the state of the artwork before purchasing it. It took a second to wrap my own head around that, but the auction happened and, hey, it worked.”

‘I immediately saw the potential for NFTs to be massive. It was crystal clear to me’ Oh, it worked all right. Beeple’s Biden/Trump NFT sold for $66,666.66. Not bad for his first “NFT” drop. (In February, it resold via the secondary market for $6.6 million. Digital art buyers have a thing for odd numbers and prices, yet another indication of the gamification of investment, be that via share apps, crypto or NFTs.) This initial success got Winkelmann thinking about how he could respond to an issue that is right at the very heart of the NFT thing: “December came round and we decided to do another drop, but this time with a bit of a difference,” explains the artist, reaching one arm back and around to a large stack of boxes piled up high behind him. The boxes, which are all white, look like they could comfortably hold two pairs of Air Jordans.

“I understand people’s incredulity around the fact this artwork isn’t a physical thing. I don’t agree with it, but I get it. You can’t touch it, per se. So after the initial drop I had all these people moaning and saying, ‘What the fuck is this? Why would I buy something I can just get on Instagram?’ So I decided to add something physical with it to get those people across the >>

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

‘I don’t agree with people’s incredulity around the fact the art isn’t physical, but I get it’ Mike Winkelmann, otherwise known as Beeple, holds his framed ‘physical’ NFT ‘Abundance’; (below, left) ‘Jeff Bezos Inseminating Space’; (below, right) ‘Disney+’

OCTOBER 2021 GQ.CO .UK 187

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1 >> line. You know, those folks who can’t yet make the mental leap in regards to NFTs.” He’s right, some people just can’t grasp it.

The “it”, of course, gets right to the crux of what indeed makes this art so valuable. What value, for example, does an artwork have if you can’t touch it, hold it, walk around it? For his second “drop”, in December 2020, Winkelmann gave those NFT sceptics something they could actually hold in both hands – a frame.

He calls such extras “physicals” and the frames resemble those clear, block-style Perspex photograph holders you can pick up in Snappy Snaps – you know, the sort of thing successful YouTubers put ultrarare Pokémon cards in.

Winkelmann’s, however, come with added visual fireworks. Each one of these “physicals” costs around £350 to produce and carries a frontfacing QR code that takes the buyer to a website that lists the provenance of the artwork – a tally of all previous owners up to the present day.

“No one does these physicals,” he tells me, unpacking the latest version of these special Beeple “frames” as we continue to talk, “so this is a USB-C-powered polished-aluminium base with polished-aluminium outer detailing and customprogrammed LED lights.” As he opens the lid of the white box, the “physical” mounted inside flashes like a pinball machine in a dive bar.

‘I look at what we’re doing like a tech company. I’ve always had ambitious ideas’ “People went fucking nuts for them! My second drop happened before Christmas and the physicals really helped. This is one of the things that is really exciting about all this: an artwork that started in the digital realm can now be brought to life in the physical realm. If I don’t give people a way to view it, then all you can do with these NFTs is look at it on your computer or a phone. And that is going to look like shit.”

Looking at some of the highest bids on Nifty Gateway from that sale in December, it’s hard to disagree. “The Complete MF Collection” sold for a palm-scratching $777,777.77.

“Yeah, we broke a few records that day.” So thanks to blockchain technology, whose origins lie in the murky, messy invention of cryptocurrency, a digital artwork, such as a jpeg, can be sold for around the same price as a three-bedroom house in North London. It was at this precise moment that serious art buyers, gallerists and institutions began to take notice, both of Beeple and of NFTs in general. Stupid money has a habit of doing this. Wild? Sure. But for Winkelmann, history had only just started being made.

B

eeple wasn’t always an artist. Beeple was a soft toy made by a company called Carousel in the 1980s. These toys are chestnut brown and about the size of a domestic cat, but look more like a miniature yeti. “I think my grandmother had one when I was a kid and I just took it back from her one

188 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

day. Wait, I’ll go and find one for you to see...” says Winkelmann, laughing, disappearing for a moment into the labyrinthine studio. When he returns the artist has a “Beeple” in his hands. It’s cuddly looking.

“So this is what I am named after; I must have started around 2003. As you can see, this one is sort of shaved on the back.” As part of the authenticity drive – adding reality for uncertain NFT amateurs – extras included a small capsule with strands of real Beeple hair. “I am also throwing in some Beeple-branded Y-fronts for when the buyer shits themselves with overexcitement. It’s just a fun thing.”

So can you still buy a real Beeple doll?

“Actually, you can if you go on eBay and sites like that, probably for a couple of hundred bucks.

My brother, who helps me with the studio stuff, is endlessly scouring online to snap these things up. We have about 50 now and the toys are only going to go up in value.” Winkelmann gives a nervous yet somewhat gleeful chuckle. ”My fault again, probably.”

Winkelmann’s brother used to work for Boeing, the much-troubled plane manufacturing company. That was before the artist’s December drop went “bonkers”. “He was looking for a change of pace and I needed someone to help with all the physicals, the fucking laser

etching and all the manufacturing shit. So I was like, ‘Dude, come and help me build some crazy, fucking weirdo art!’ He’s been instrumental in working out everything else. I look at what we’re doing more like a tech company. I’ve always had these really ambitious ideas for my art but there was always the problem of, ‘Oh, well, that will cost a million dollars.’ Well, funnily enough, I now have a million dollars to do that shit.”

Winkelmann started making art aged 19, in his freshman year at university. What he calls art the rest of us might call programming. This isn’t pencil and paper work so much as code and console. “I was doing stuff on very early Windows, DOS, that sort of thing. I did computer programming at college but it was boring as shit, so I just spent all my time making this digital art – silly animations, flashing blocks of colour. Eventually, after a year or so, what I thought was my thing was combining light and sound and this is why I called myself “Beeple”. The toy doll made a giggling sound and lit up if you covered its eyes.

I thought I would do the same with my art. It was interactive.”

College in the States is expensive. Like, remortgage-the-house expensive. “I took a web design job on the side, but it was just a job – I never gave a shit about it. I just tried to get my college work done as fast as I could so I could go Jacket, £545. Shirt, £99. Trousers, £209.

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T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1 home and do my art.” Winkelmann’s earliest art was, by his own admission, clunky and basic.

“The technology just wasn’t up to anything particularly sophisticated. This is pre-YouTube, remember. I would upload my art to my very slow-running website, but to even view my art you had to download a piece of software. So you can assume that pretty much no one, other than friends and family, saw my work for many, many years. But, like others, I discovered Facebook and then I began entering film festivals, finding some like-minded folk along the way. But it was a total nerd fest, nothing remotely what you’d call ‘cool’.”

Come 2005 and Winkelmann got into his first film festival, the BFIs in London. “There were only around 100 of us there but I thought I’d made it!”

Come 2007 and he started making his “Everydays”, yet in 2009 his commercial work suddenly took off. “Alongside my art I was still making these little animated, looping, six-to-eight-second VJ clips for companies to use. Like, stock stuff.

They’d use them for their promotional films. I remember being in Hong Kong about a year after I began releasing those short animated videos and we were outside the Hard Rock Cafe in Macau.

Suddenly, I look up and there’s one of my fucking clips being projected onto the outside of the building! This blew my mind. Like, there’s my artwork, on the side of a nightclub, and I’m halfway around the world. Fuck. Me.” Shortly after this mind-blowing moment, the design and animation work picked up speed.

Winkelmann began making artwork for some big commercial players: Apple, MTV, various soft drink companies, even getting his art printed onto Nicolas Ghesquière’s Louis Vuitton Spring/ Summer 2019 womenswear collection. There’s a killer story about a commission he got from Elon Musk and SpaceX, though there’s an NDA to swerve before he can tell you that one.

Although he was unknown as an “artist” per se, Winkelmann became seriously successful in his own realm. “There’s some misconception that this is a rags-to-riches story, like I was some sort of starving, pained artist before now. This is not true in the slightest. Before all this NFT stuff I was one of, if not the highest-paid digital artist in the world. I was making good money. OK, not $69m good, but still enough.”

Yes, $69m. Or, to be precise, $69,346,250.

This is the price paid for one of Beeple’s NFTs, “Everydays: The First 5000 Days”, which went to auction at Christie’s in London in March earlier this year. “It was a big step up...” Winkelmann says, laughing, still dumbfounded at the final price. The work consists of 5,000 of Winkelmann’s everyday artworks – that’s 13-and-a-half years of his daily, intricate artistic creations. The sale marked two significant firsts: Christie’s being the first major auction house to offer purely digital work with a unique NFT and, secondly, the first to accept cryptocurrency, in this case Ether, in addition to standard forms of payment for the lot.

I ask Winkelmann to show me how he makes a work of art. Opening up his desktop and enabling screen sharing, over the next 20 minutes or so he creates one of his Beeple artworks in front of me. One striking thing is that it’s all

W

Mike Winkelmann, in his new studio space, creates a digital artwork for the GQ Men Of The Year Awards

about pulling from existing stock catalogues; there’s no actual drawing. “So if you want to use a bike, there are thousands and thousands of bikes to choose from.” So, wait, he doesn’t actually draw any of his artwork? “Are you kidding?

I can’t draw for shit. Everything I use is already done for me. I just throw it all together and fuck with it.”

‘It’s impossible to think about that sort money in any sane, rational way’ Much like Marcel Duchamp’s “Readymades” from the early 20th century – he’s the artist that hung a urinal upside down in a gallery, signed it “R Mutt” and produced an acknowledged masterpiece of modern art – Winkelmann’s art questions long-held assumptions about what art should be and how it should be made. This is right at the very crux of great art and is the reason why Winkelmann’s NFTs are as significant today as anything Duchamp did. You might not like it, you might not think much of it, but that’s missing the whole point. This art matters.

For Winkelmann’s pieces, everything is done at the press of a button and on a programmable axis. Sure, in some ways it’s less about being a technical, traditional draughtsman or painter and more about being able to curate the right aesthetic choices. “The options are fucking endless,” Winkelmann explains to me while altering the shape and texture of a skull he’s plucked from one of the files.

A couple of clicks and now the skull is floating in space. A few more and now it’s submerged in liquid mercury. “If I were trying to paint this sort of thing it would take me a very long time. And some other digital artists have said, ‘Oh, look, you’re not really making your art. You’re pulling it from catalogues.’ They say it’s cheating. Well, maybe. But I don’t want to spend two months drawing a fucking skull. I just want a skull in my picture. It’s called progress.”

hen the final sale went through for Winkelmann’s $69m artwork it could not have been more of an event. “Christie’s had a film crew there and I was on Clubhouse with around 2,000 people. It could not have been more public.”

Did he think the artwork would go for such a staggering amount? “I mean, it’s impossible to even think about that sort of money in any sane, rational way. People were throwing out all sorts of big figures on Twitter before the sale – ‘Oh, it’s going to go for $50m’ or ‘It’s going to go for $100m’ – but you don’t take any of it seriously.

It’s just impossible to.”

When the final figure came in, Winkelmann couldn’t really digest it. To this day he still hasn’t.

“I went outside and I was just fucking crying, man,” he explains. “And so much has happened since then that I don’t think I’ve really processed it.” The day after the sale, Winkelmann, his wife and a handful of family and friends flew down to Miami to celebrate. “We took a private jet!

I’ve never even flown in business before, you know?” The buyer, however – rumoured to be Vignesh Sundaresan, a programmer who goes by the name “MetaKovan” – wanted to get the trade done immediately.

“So we spoke after the sale. It’s a guy from Singapore, a big NFT buyer and someone who had bought one of the artworks in December. He was like, ‘Hi! It was me.’ I was just like, ‘Wow. What the fuck...’ The craziest thing is the sale happened on Thursday morning at 11am. By Friday 11pm, the next night, he had the artwork and I had the money. We landed in Miami, got, like, 16 lawyers to agree on timings and process and we did it. Literally the next day, I opened up my phone and I had $55m in my bank account.”

Of course, to begin with, he didn’t have $55m in cash. He had $55m in Ether. “You can cash out Ether,” he reassures me, “but if you cash out that amount of cryptocurrency that fast you will crash the price. So we took it out over two or three days. But, as you can imagine, the price of Ether goes up and down all the fucking time. So I would look at my balance in the club in Miami and it would be going up and down by a million dollars every time I hit refresh! Stressful. So I wanted to get my cash out pretty quickly and get off that particular ride.”

And what a ride. Where does an artist go after such a story? Once you’ve changed the course of art history, what should one do? “Well, I’m not going to listen to all the critics,” Winkelmann explains while pondering his next big moment.

“I only do what I want to do and if that resonates with people then so be it.”

Is there any sense of pressure to beat his own record? “No. I don’t think so. I think that would send me totally loopy. The next monumental artwork will be when I can sell ‘The First 10,000 Days’, but we’re a way off that.” About another 13 years, in fact. Until then, Mike Winkelmann, and Beeple, will continue to hit his creative deadline every single day, posting online, somewhere, for you or just for himself, sometimes for a buyer with millions to spend on a single jpeg. Why? Well, what’s stopping him? After all, it’s art. Isn’t it?

OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 189

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KINGSLEY BEN-ADIR BOSS BR E A KTHROUGH ACTOR

For scene-stealing portrayals as not one, but two icons of American history – Malcolm X and Barack Obama – we gild the head-turning year of a British star on the rise. Here, he tells GQ how he learned to escape the typecasters, why he wants a second chance to play the president, but seals his lips about a major new role...

Story by Thomas Barrie Photographs by Mariano Vivanco Styling by Luke Day

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Kingsley Ben-Adir could have played three of the four main roles in his breakout film, last year’s One Night In Miami.... The Regina King-directed adaptation of Kemp Powers’ play sees Malcolm X, Cassius Clay, NFL superstar Jim Brown and singer Sam Cooke assemble in a Florida hotel to celebrate Clay’s win over Sonny Liston in February 1964, shortly before Clay embraced Malcolm X’s invitation to convert to Islam and rechristened himself Muhammad Ali. And BenAdir has been slated to play all of them – except Brown – in various different projects.

In 2014, Ben-Adir was in talks to play Cooke in a biopic that would be produced by One Night In Miami... producer Jody Klein. “I got down to the last two or three,” he recalls. “I couldn’t sing, though. That was the problem.” Then, he was cast in a putative Ang Lee film about the “Thrilla In Manila”, as Ali, and spent two years screen-testing, chemistry-testing and even training to box in the Philippines, before the film fell through.

By the time he was put in touch with King to discuss One Night In Miami..., Ben-Adir had an uncanny sense of déjà vu. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘I’ve been here so many times over

‘We spent hours and hours on the phone, talking about Malcolm [X] and getting to know each other’ 192 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

Kingsley Ben-Adir as Malcolm X in Regina King’s One Night In Miami...

the last ten years. I’ve been right at the edge of playing really significant historical characters and none of them have worked out.’” But this time, something clicked. “We spent hours and hours and hours on the phone, talking about Malcolm and trying to get to know each other.”

Ben-Adir was cast as Malcolm X and his performance – of a man nearing his own assassination, increasingly isolated but as visionary and fiery as ever – earned him a shower of critical praise.

And then, remarkably, came another titan of recent American history. Midway through the Miami... shoot last year, on a rare weekend when King’s shooting schedule didn’t require him, Ben-Adir flew to Toronto to portray none other than President Barack Obama in the CBS miniseries The Comey Rule, alongside Jeff Daniels’ laconic FBI director James Comey and Brendan Gleeson’s gammony Trump. Ben-Adir stole the few scenes he was in, nailing Obama’s deep timbre and propensity to pause mid-sentence.

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etween the two real-life parts – Malcolm X and Barack Obama – BenAdir quickly caught the attention of his peers: the 35-year-old was nominated for a Bafta Rising Star award earlier this year and at Cannes he won the Chopard Trophy, which recognises emerging talent (previous winners have included John Boyega, Gael García Bernal and James McAvoy). Now, he can add the GQ award for Boss Breakthrough Actor to his trophy shelf. Malcolm might have been a long time coming, but he was worth the wait.

In One Night In Miami..., Ben-Adir’s Malcolm argues about the role of black celebrities – whether they could benefit silently in a racist system without becoming complicit. To get into the right emotional space to argue with Cooke – played by Leslie Odom Jr – he would listen to a specific speech Malcolm delivered in 1962 after the deadly shooting of a Nation Of Islam brother named Ronald Stokes in a Los Angeles mosque. “That was Malcolm at his most emotional and his most enraged, his most hurt,” says Ben-Adir. “There were parts of that speech that were constantly being repeated on set, some really profound and heart-breaking moments.”

At 35, meanwhile, Ben-Adir is almost 25 years younger than Obama, so to make up for the age gap, perfecting the president’s voice

was paramount. “Obama’s is one of the top five most recognisable voices on the planet,” he says.

“There’s something considered about him. He thinks before he speaks – it was my job to slow down, because he’s so grounded.” And, he says, he’s hopefully not done: “I’d love to come back and play Obama in my late forties.”

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s far as niches go, playing historical icons – one living, one dead – isn’t a bad place for a young actor to land in.

But for Ben-Adir – born and raised in Kentish Town, North London – he came close to finding himself typecast as what he calls “supportive, kind, understanding husbands and love interests to the lead lady” ever since he starred in Hulu’s High Fidelity alongside Zoë Kravitz.

Ben-Adir played Kravitz’s character’s ex-boyfriend, Mac, “the one who got away”, whose break-up with her triggers the romantic soul-searching that drives the series. High Fidelity was cancelled by Hulu after one series, but the chemistry between Kravitz and Ben-Adir garnered a lot of admirers; he’s still regularly offered similar parts and relied on advice given to him by none other than Mark Rylance when he played Borachio in Rylance’s 2013 adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing to avoid getting stuck. “He said, ‘What you’ll find in the business is that you’ll do something that’s good and then everyone will either copy it or try to make you do that same thing for the next ten years. Unless you fight it.’”

So he fought it. Instead, Ben-Adir has been strongly linked to the upcoming Marvel series Secret Invasion, for which various industry magazines have reported he’s been cast as the series’ main villain. But, as with all such projects, the secrecy about the details is almost oppressive (Emilia Clarke, who has publicly confirmed her involvement in the series, recently joked about having Disney agents parked in a car outside her house to make sure she didn’t leak any spoilers).

Instead, Ben-Adir confirms, cryptically, that he “got a phone call and someone pitched a really interesting idea that caught my attention”. Besides that, he says, “Nothing is confirmed.”

Still, even if it doesn’t happen, there’s plenty more where that came from. “The situation I’m in now and the roles that are coming in and the scripts that I’m reading? I feel like there’s at least ten years’ worth of fun to be had.”

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1 Jacket, £525. Shirt, £149.

Trousers, £219. All by Boss. boss.com.

Watch by Boss, £299.

At Beaverbrooks. beaverbrooks.co.uk. Boss Bottled Collector’s Edition eau de parfum by Boss, £78 for 100ml. At The Fragrance Shop. thefragranceshop.co.uk

‘I’d love to come back and play Obama in my late forties’ OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 193

DESIGNER

BRUNELLO CUCINELLI

For the high-fashion virtuoso, a brand is much more than the bottom line. From his chic new collection to his Umbrian commune, the Italian maestro sets the standard for a more humanistic post-pandemic style

Story by Teo van den Broeke Photographs by Gavin Bond

Suit, £4,050. Shirt, £590. Bow tie, £190.

Shoes, £860. Pocket square, £100. All by Brunello Cucinelli. brunellocucinelli.com

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‘There is a Cucinelli style. It’s not just in clothing, but a way of life, a way of behaving’ OCTOBER 2021 GQ.CO .UK 195

‘My staff need to breathe and absorb the Brunello Cucinelli look on a daily basis’ 196 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1 “In this company, if you offend someone you are fired on the spot,” Brunello Cucinelli tells me in his expressive yet sotto voce Italian.

The king of cashmere’s register is, if not quite as soft as his finest product, then at least as airy as some of the higher-quality wools with which he works and he’s speaking to me by way of his perpetually hard-working translator, Chiara. “Regardless of your position, you are forbidden to offend another human being. I saw my father being offended in his work and I don’t want that for anyone.”

Suit, £4,540. Shirt, £180. Tie, £160. All by Brunello Cucinelli. brunellocucinelli.com

We are sitting in Cucinelli’s expansive office, which is situated in the northwest corner of the main building of his headquarters in the Umbrian hamlet of Solomeo, and the designer is positioned opposite me on a small chair upholstered in chalky wool. His arms and legs are crossed neatly in front of him and his lithe frame belies his 68 years. He’s wearing a pristine white button-down poplin shirt (the collar buttons left undone) with a grey cashmere tie (the back portion left dangling intentionally longer than the front) and on his legs he’s sporting a pair of pale stonewashed jeans, ankles out. His sparingly lined face is tanned and his hair, which is short and the colour of one of the darker chocolate linen suits in his collection, is swept away from his face in a wispy centre parting. Cucinelli’s features – which are deep-set and positioned symmetrically around his nose, a softened version of the muzzle on the mythological winged creature that adorns his company insignia – have a kind yet determined aspect.

In 1985, Cucinelli purchased Solomeo’s 14thcentury tumbledown castle, which was where his original studios were based, before he moved, in 2000, to the existing facility at the foot of the hamlet that constitutes his current production compound. Arranged in a U-shape, like a series of giant Jenga blocks dotted around a flat, grassy square, bisected by water fountains, the headquarters are sheltered from the hot Italian sun by the shadow of the castle and they’re an impressive testament to Cucinelli’s success.

Indeed, in a year when tailoring sales took a significant hit and the global fashion industry attempted to claw back growth following the decimation wreaked by Covid-19, Cucinelli has come out on top. The designer made not one of his 2,000 global team members redundant during the pandemic and his company boasted an almost 60 per cent increase in revenues in the first half of 2021.

Inside, the pristine white walls of GQ’s newly anointed Designer Of The Year’s private lair are peppered with pictures of him hobnobbing with all manner of luminaries. There’s the famous shot of Cucinelli hanging out with all the world’s wealthiest tech billionaires, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman and Twitter CFO Ned Segal, whom he invited to Solomeo to eat pasta and talk philosophy in the summer prior to the pandemic (more on that later); there are manifold press cuttings of Cucinelli looking the very embodiment of sprezzatura (the uniquely Italian term that, rather excellently, translates into “studied carelessness”); and there are a series of framed pictures of him looking every bit the happy papa with his daughters, both of whom hold senior positions in the company. Carolina is co-president and co-creative director of the brand, while Camilla is the co-head of the women’s style office.

Born in 1953, Cucinelli, who at last count boasted a net worth of £1.7 billion, was raised in a poor family in the Umbrian village of Castel Rigone. It was the manner in which his father was treated by his bosses, in the factory where he worked when Cucinelli was a teenager, which he cites as the reason for his particularly >> OCTOBER 2021 GQ.CO .UK 197

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‘If you combine pain, focus and dedication you get success.

That is the truth’

Suit, £4,540. Shirt, £180. Tie, £160.

Boots, £590. All by Brunello Cucinelli. brunellocucinelli.com

T H E G Q AWA R D S 2 0 2 1

Photograph Brunello Cucinelli

>> tough stance on the culture among his 1,200-strong Solomeo workforce.

“When my family were farmers nobody belittled us. We had nothing but we were never hungry. It was great,” he tells me. “When I turned 15 or 16 it was everyone’s dream to work in a factory with a proper job. We moved closer to the city and my father would come home with his hands ruined because he was working with cement. But he never complained about the work or the wages; he complained about the constant humiliation and belittling.” He pauses. “I did not understand as a teenager why I saw my father with tears in his eyes because of his treatment. And it was then that I decided: ‘I don’t know what I want to do, but I definitely know that I want to work to foster human dignity.’”

Cucinelli started his eponymous business in 1978, when, after dropping out of engineering school, he realised there was an appetite for the dip-dyed rainbow-coloured cashmere jumpers he’d started producing on the back of a small loan (the equivalent of about €500 today). Over the course of the next four decades, Cucinelli transformed his once cottage enterprise into a thriving multinational company. In addition to fondlefriendly sweaters, which still play a key role in his seasonal collections (alongside books by Marcus Aurelius and Pliny The Younger, the blanched shelves of his office are lined by vases filled with raw cashmere fibres dyed in a riot of bold colours in homage to his beginnings), Cucinelli branched out into the soft-handled tailoring, squishy coats and down-padded gilets, which are today beloved by the world’s most tasteful plutocrats, in 2002.

And that’s just the menswear. Head into one of Cucinelli’s stores (he’s recently opened an airy London flagship on New Bond Street) and you’ll be met by rails of feather, fur and sequinclad womenswear. There are also picture frames and cushions and squared-off scraps of ribbonwrapped cashmere, which are as light as air but have no discernible use, earthenware platters and bespoke suits, enormous candles that look as though they’ve been hewn from great chunks of flint and, naturally, sweaters as far as the eye can see.

But beyond the waves of sumptuous products, none of which come cheap (you can expect to pay upwards of £2,500 for a suit and at least £4,000 for one of the designer’s cashmere coats), there’s more to Cucinelli’s offering than first meets the fingers. And it starts here, in his factory, where all of his staff, from “the lady who tidies things” (Cucinelli objects to the term “cleaning lady” because it does not imbue its carrier with “dignity”) up to the key players in the men’s style department (including his son-in-law, by way of Carolina, Alessio Piastrelli) are paid around 20 per cent more than their peers elsewhere on the Italian peninsula; where giant pictures of Renaissance artworks, such as Michelangelo’s “Pietà”, hang above the bright and airy factory floor (as visual reminders of the importance of “respecting beauty”); and where staff are not allowed to work or be online past 5.30pm because their boss, the beneficent Brunello Cucinelli, believes that to ask them to do so would be to “ruin their souls”.

“With any Brunello Cucinelli garment, 52 per cent is made with manual work, true manual work,” he tells me intently. “I wanted everything to be made in Italy, using the finest raw materials in the world. I’m not talking about taste – you might not like my taste – but the main thing was that I wanted my products to be top-notch quality,” he continues, gesturing at his lightly ripped jeans. “These are made from the finest Japanese denim... High craftsmanship, top quality, personal taste, yes, but I wanted something more. I wanted for everyone in the company to have their fair share of the profit. We are not a preposterously profitable company, but I wanted every step in the supply chain to make more money. I wanted the workers to work in better places and instead of making €1,400 a month, they make €2,000. In turn, their life changes.”

The medieval hamlet of Solomeo, in the heart of Italy, is the home of Brunello Cucinelli’s headquarters

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t is in Cucinelli’s Solomeo base where each of the garments that appear in every one of his seasonal collections are designed and the initial samples are created, before the patterns and finalised design plans are sent out to Cucinelli’s partner factories across Italy, the majority of which he has worked with for around 20 years. I’m being given a tour of the HQ by a pair of improbably elegant members of Cucinelli’s press team prior to my interview with the boss. It really is an extraordinary environment, so much so that when I joke to the greige-clad ladies that it’s somewhere I’d actually like to come and work myself, they both give me the sort of kind yet pitiful look that suggests I’m not the first visiting journalist to have expressed the sentiment.

The desks that are inhabited by the less practically focused teams – the finance bods, for instance – are the size of decommissioned limousines and the colour of icebergs, the factory spaces are quiet and light-filled, by way of the expansive floor-to-ceiling windows that line both sides of the building, and the entire place is so clean that even when I rub my finger along one of the higher surfaces in one of the enormous company (unisex) loos, I struggle to find any dust. The lady who tidies up things must feel very motivated to do her job, I joke to Cucinelli, when we sit down a few hours later.

“A few years ago we were about to go to Pitti Uomo, the menswear fair,” Cucinelli intones seriously in response. “We always have some kind of fun merchandise to show in the booth. I was in my office and the lady who tidies up things looked at all the footballs in my office and asked, ‘Why don’t you make a cashmere football?’ And in a single day we made it. It was a success. I did not come up with the idea; she did. Every human being has their own nature and power. I would like to be a coordinator of all this human genius. The fact that she dared to say that to me was because she has dignity and respect in her workplace.”

Arguably the most marvellous thing about Cucinelli’s Umbrian utopia is the enormous staff canteen, which runs perpendicular to his office, behind the company car park and in front of the football stadium Cucinelli built for the local townspeople. Each day, Brunello’s team of chefs turn out four-course lunches for each and every member of staff. I’m invited to try the menu for size after my two hours with the maestro and, from the buttery Parma ham that opens the show to the main event of tagliata di manzo (served with the best roasties I’ve ever eaten), I can safely report that the place is to a UK office canteen what Murano is to Bella Italia.

Although Cucinelli’s munificent approach (which he refers to as a practice of “humanistic capitalism”) may be part of the reason his brand is such a success, it is by no means the only one – after all, there are plenty of fashion brands who expect their employees to work all hours for pitiful wages and whose profit margins remain in rude health. The truth is that Cucinelli’s collections boast an aesthetic consistency unmatched by many of the labels that occupy the same category as his. Each collection follows a similar palette of muted burgundies, greiges, taupes and caramels, his cut is close (trousers are near-universally finished with pleats and double turn-ups) and his jackets are most commonly cut to his trademark one-and-a-half-breasted style: a less restrictive, arguably more youthful take on the double-breasted suits found in the traditional English tailoring houses that inspired Cucinelli’s look in the first place.

“I like to be unwavering, but also in keeping with contemporary silhouettes,” he tells me, looking up at the bright white ceiling of his office, as if in search of divine inspiration. “When I designed my original tuxedo, the shape had to be the English, classic shape, but what I did to make it different was to change the colour of the tuxedo. I only changed the colour, not the shape.”

He points at me, enfaticamente. “It’s a traditional English tuxedo but I added the double turn-up on the trousers. And I wore it with a pair of suede Church’s chukka boots. I am always very grateful to the English. With my work I want to combine colours that are slightly different to the traditional colour palette, something more Italian. It’s a painstaking job. Everything must be correct.”

It’s a didactic approach adopted by many of Cucinelli’s more successful contemporaries in the “haute fashion meets tailoring” space.

Giorgio Armani has his shades of navy, syrupy suits and Far Eastern influences; Ralph Lauren has nailed every facet of the American Dream, >> OCTOBER 2021 GQ.C O.UK 199

>> from arch prep to rodeo chic; and Cucinelli, I suggest, has taken ownership of ultra-expensive sports luxe (albeit with a strong Italian accent).

“I think you need to have a set of very basic canons and rules,” he concedes. “For instance, I’m passionate about Ralph Lauren. In 2019 I went to meet him personally in New York. I said to him, ‘Thank you, maestro, for everything you have taught us in visual merchandising.’”

He smiles, showing me a picture of Ralph – not Ralph and Brunello, just Ralph – which is framed in his office. “When I set up this factory, even though we were into sweaters back then, I’ve always aimed for something that would make the brand recognisable. Ralph Lauren was recognisable in every scenario. I know it’s difficult, but to my staff I show images of the look, the Brunello Cucinelli look. They need to breathe and absorb it on a daily basis.”

‘The shape of my tuxedo had to be English.

I want the colours to be different, more Italian’ At precisely the moment I begin to wonder whether Cucinelli’s singular approach makes it difficult for the other creatives who work with him to find their voice – not least son-in-law Alessio Piastrelli – Cucinelli cuts in with an answer. “The staff sometimes submit very creative proposals to me and [when] it’s not really in keeping with what we are, I’ll say, ‘It’s beautiful, but it’s not us.’” He smiles. “What Alessio does is great. He’s got all these references: James Dean, Mother Teresa, Ferrari. He’s a 39-year-old man and he doesn’t know many things, but his references are his dream of the world. In the pictures there’s a universal humanism and respect for everyone. He’s got an actor on his wall, a thinker, the young Steve Jobs – for whom I made 400 black turtlenecks to order in 1989 or 1990 – the young Michelangelo.”

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ucinelli’s obsession with the arts is palpable not only in his office, where portraits of Confucius and Leonardo da Vinci lock eyes with busts of Socrates and Marcus Aurelius, but also, perhaps more notably, in the pretty medieval hamlet that looks down on the factory. In 2012, Cucinelli floated his company on the stock exchange, which afforded him the financial freedom to expand on the creation of a Forum Of The Arts in the area, which had fallen into a state of disarray. Cucinelli not only established a successful boutique, but he also opened a tailoring school, an Aurelian library, a gymnasium and an impressive theatre, which he established in 2008.

Cucinelli lives in the settlement, opposite his 100-year-old babbo and next door to both his daughters (though Carolina is on the brink of moving to a larger property across the valley).

In addition to his Forum Of The Arts, at which the Solomeo School Of Arts And Crafts was established in 2013, Cucinelli, in 2018, unveiled a Palladian-style “Tribute To Human Dignity” (carved from gigantic blocks of travertine) and

200 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

a park featuring a plant nursery, an olive oil mill packages of our unsold luxury goods around the and a winery, the latter of which is situated, conworld to our contractors, who we then asked to veniently, in the basement of Carolina’s new digs. pass on to the needy. And then 9 November came.

“Solomeo is the hamlet of cashmere and harThe best day of my life – except for the family mony,” says Cucinelli, smiling. “There are all events, of course – was the day the vaccine came.”

He adds: “And then 15 days ago we came out with these schools for tailoring, gardening, music, the men’s collection, at Pitti Uomo.” arts and crafts. I wanted to create a place for excellence – the spiritual, moral, civil.” He adds: The collection the designer is referring to is as “This is an open-air monastery, open to the much a soft-edged paean to all things ivory – a world, for your mind, for studying, for your soul, fresh beginning, perhaps – as it is an archetypal for praying and for work, [with] the highest, Cucinelli offering. One-and-a-half-breasted jackutmost respect for the human being, regardless ets rub hems with peg-leg trousers in pearlescent of their religion or gender.” shades, collegiate shawl-collar cardigans are When Cucinelli invited Bezos et al to Solomeo worn over cashmere sweaters and with linen in 2018, he explained to me in a subsequent intertrousers in rich hues of clotted cream, while the view that he “wanted them to open up and show designer’s trademark chalk-stripe suits come me their hearts. ‘No one ever asks us what our paired with denim shirts and natty sand suede Derbies. “Everyone said it was the best collection sorrows are, what our feelings are,’ Bezos said.

‘They just keep repeating that I’m this billionaire. in our history.” He pauses. “If you combine pain, I know I am a billionaire, focus and dedication you but besides that I also have get success. I don’t know my soul and relationships.’ why, but that’s the truth.”

It was a great experience One colour you’ll never find in a Brunello Cucinelli to have them here. We collection is green. “When were all moved and emotional; they had tears in my family were farmers my mum bought me a pair of their eyes.” Considering green corduroy trousers.

Bezos’ continued purported tax dodging and I was eight or nine back his much-criticised recent then and she bought me mission into space, does them for Christmas,” he Cucinelli feel that his mestells me, leaning forward in sage was understood? his chair, his soft, slightly “When we toured the greying hair falling lightly over his forehead. “I took company, Jeff said, ‘I these green trousers to would like all my employees to work exactly like the field behind my house Inside Brunello Cucinelli’s Solomeo ‘compound’, which includes a suitably yours, in these conditions. and I buried them because delizioso staff canteen and football ground I know it is not easy.’ But I hated the colour.” He in his public statements of laughs. “When I was a child the past year he said he wanted to become one I was either wearing white bottoms or a grey of the best places in the world to work. So there jumper. My family were farmers, but I didn’t is an underlying feeling there.” He pauses. “But like green. So there’s something that’s born in it is true: there is a huge gap in terms of wealth.” you, I suppose.”

Cucinelli fared extraordinarily well through Given the precise, businesslike way in which Cucinelli approaches both his creativity and craft, the Covid crisis. In the most recent report to I’m intrigued to know what he thinks he might his shareholders, the designer explained, “This have done with himself for the past four decades year, 2020, closed ‘well’, especially considering had he not become a fashion designer. Cucinelli how things looked in the spring. The turnover was the chairman of Italian association football of these 12 months, what we have defined as a ‘year of transition’, saw a ‘small’ decrease of ten club Castel Rigone Calcio for a short number of per cent.” Revenues dropped from €607.8 million years and his passion for the sport is legendary, (£519m) in 2019 to €544m (£465m) in 2020. Yet but it turns out that “footballer” is way off the the picture this year has been somewhat rosier. mark. “I am a born-and-bred rigorous man.” A According to a report in the Business Of Fashion, pause. “I wanted to be a monk. Maybe a part-time “The company said revenues soared by almost monk, which is obviously difficult.”

60 per cent at constant exchange rates in the first Is he proud of his achievements? “I am proud half of the year to €313.7m [£268m] compared that I have done something serious,” he says, with the same period of 2020.” looking across at me earnestly. His hands are “February, March and April of 2020 were very resting in his lap and his fingers have formed painful,” Cucinelli tells me. “But on 12 March we a steeple at the tips. Perhaps he should have made three big decisions. We said: we will not lay become a monk after all. “Hopefully I have not anybody off, no redundancies. We will guarantee damaged mankind, hopefully I have respected all our workers their full wages for two years,” creation and hopefully I have developed a style, because there is a Cucinelli style, if you think he says, counting his fingers theatrically. “The about it. And it’s not just in clothing, it’s in second decision was that we would not ask for humanistic capitalism.” He pauses. “The way of discounts from anyone. This is not the way we work.” He pauses. “Our last decision was to start life, a way of behaving. And I feel, I hope, that ‘Brunello Cucinelli For Humanity’. We sent out this will not end for a long time.”

Photograph Brunello Cucinelli Photography assistants Giuseppe D’Amore; Mark Lincoln

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Suit, £4,540. Shirt, £180. Tie, £160. Pocket square, £180. All by Brunello Cucinelli. brunellocucinelli.com

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B

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OU TSTA NDING ACHIEV EMEN T

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THE OLYMPIANS

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hen Tom Daley spoke to the media after winning his second medal at Tokyo 2020, he marvelled at the fact he had been able to compete at all. “Every single Olympian should be extremely proud of the fact At a delayed Games that almost didn’t happen, it was not the exceptional medal that they made it here,” he said. The Olympics are haul that made an impact at home, but the athletes’ collective courage to compete not usually an event where you hear the phrase “It’s the taking part that counts”. At any normal Story by Rebecca Myers Games, Daley’s words might have seemed clichéd, corny, even insincere. In Tokyo, however, they were poignant and true. once, though, for a fortnight in but relatable in their struggles. Tired tropes on about triumphing over adversity and the nebuThe athletes competed to nothing but the Tokyo, it felt like it actually gt in h lous concept of the “Olympic spirit” had taken sound of the summer cicadas and the air filled did. Whether it was BMX on new symbolism. not with applause but with a powerful sense of rider Kye Whyte scooping Bethany Shriever Team GB delivered all of it, dazzling with 65 relief. Tears, always a regular feature at finish into his arms or the big medals from the swimming pool to the BMX lines, became sobs, raw, uncontainable emotion tears rolling down Tom that told of more than just the joy of winning. track and the baffling brilliance of the modI have interviewed Team GB athletes ern pentathlon, as many as were won at Daley’s cheeks into the material of his facemask, throughout the pandemic, from the London 2012.

It was, sport bosses Le e a n dT M at t y o m said, nothing short of a miracle.

Team GB offered us prefirst lockdown, when they were D a I felt invested in the athcious moments of joy and reeling from the news that letes’ performances in a way hope to share with them. the pinnacle of their careers I never had before. As a They also allowed us to see would be put on hold. I them as mortals. Gold medaljournalist, you feel bound Zoomed them from their sofas and kitchens as they winner Adam Peaty joined other to maintain a certain air talked about training seshigh-profile names, such as Simone Biles, in of neutrality, displaying speaking openly about the need to take a break sions in their garages and professionalism above for his mental health, while his swimming teamgardens. I felt I got to know national pride. With no mate and breakout star of the Games Tom Dean many of them better than I crowds, however, and after spoke movingly about fighting back from two ever had in years of interviews watching these athletes go through so much, it was hard to bouts of Covid-19, after which he’d struggled to and competitions. Their lives swallow a yelp or a gasp as I watched walk up the stairs. had become, suddenly, just like evetheir dreams dashed or, finally, come true.

With the last athletes now home, the medal ryone else’s, their fears of illness and pain When Jade Jones’ taekwondo fight went down to of being separated from loved ones the same. table will fade in the memory and the average the wire, I thought I was going to be sick on the Their task in Tokyo, however, was unique. member of the public will not be able to recall person next to me in the press tribunes; when whether we came third or fourth or beat another They were going to the most important compenation’s number of golds. They will remember, tition of their lives at the hardest time in recent Laura Muir sped past her rivals to claim silver and collapsed, sobbing into the track, I felt though, how they felt, how their stomach lurched history and, back home, people were the tears brimming in my own eyes. as they sat on their sofa or squinted at desperate for a good news Ad a m Joe Fraser I am often sceptical of imbutheir laptop in the middle of the story, for distraction durPe at y ing sport with too lofty a ing a summer in which night, and they will remember meaning, assigning it the everyone seemed to that, for that hour or minute, they didn’t think about Covid or grand task of transcendbe simultaneously ing everyday problems lockdowns or getting pinged. pinged. They had to and uniting humanity They thought only about the be superhuman in across the globe. For athletes, being both human their performances and superhuman, mortal and immortal, giving their all and giving us so much. G

202 GQ.CO.UK OCTOBER 2021

REBECCA MYERS IS A JOURNALIST FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES.

Photographs Getty Images

y le

Team GB’s 65 medals, as many as were won at London 2012, was nothing short of a miracle

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B R I TA I N | P R O P E R T Y

ART IN RESIDENCE As Frieze art fair returns to the capital this autumn, it’s time to explore the many new residential developments that place creativity firmly in the frame

HARCOURT HOUSE, W1

Occupying a prime spot just a short stroll from both Mayfair and Regent’s Park, this imposing Edwardian building is now a collection of 25 apartments, ranging from two to five bedrooms.

The 3.6-metre-high ceilings make them perfect for art collectors. From £5.85 million.

Knight Frank: 020 7861 5461

E

very October, London becomes a city d with art, as Frieze London and Frieze Masters attract dealers, collectors and artists from around the globe. Some of the capital’s most exciting new developments either have paintings or sculpture as focal points, or simply provide ideal blank canvases on which to curate a collection of your own.

One particularly elegant example is Harcourt House in Marylebone, pictured above, a collection of apartments with r plenty of unusually high ceilings that wall space for even the most monumental works. Overlooking Cavendish Square, the Grade II-listed property is subdivided into 25 spacious apartments, starting from 1,722 square feet.

Over in Bermondsey, creative types will be drawn to London Square, a landmark development that has art at its core, and spans three separate buildings. Next year will see the

relocation of the charity Tannery Arts to the site – a new gallery space, studios and an arts hub are in the process of being completed, and will attract a variety of painters, sculptors and mixed-media practitioners to the area.

Residents at London Square Bermondsey will have the opportunity to see the artists at work in the studios, as well as being able to attend exhibitions in the gallery spaces.

At Chelsea Barracks, the 19th-century former garrison chapel that sits at the heart of the 12.8-acre development is being transformed into a gallery and community space to

ONE CROWN PLACE, EC2

PHOTOGRAPH: Ingrid Rasmussen

Designed by Studio Ashby, the residents’ lounge of One Crown Place features a collection of artworks from local galleries and artists.

For those who work in the City and love the vibrancy of east London, this new development is an ideal base for both work and play.

From £995,000.

CBRE: 020 7205 2697

LONDON SQUARE, SE1

With an arts centre on your doorstep, there’s plenty of creativity afoot in London Square Bermondsey.

The development spans three buildings, including the Pickle Factory, a converted factory that has been transformed into a set of apartments brimming with original industrial features. From £640,000.

London Square Bermondsey: 0333 666 4343

TWENTY GROSVENOR SQUARE, W1

Overlooking one of London’s largest garden squares, these 37 apartments have been designed to a remarkably high standard. With service and amenities provided by Four Seasons, they represent the height of luxury, at one of Mayfair’s top addresses.

From £17.5 million.

Twenty Grosvenor Square: 020 3019 0630

100 SYDNEY STREET, SW1

The apartments at this brandnew development just off the King’s Road in Chelsea are bright and airy, making them perfect for displaying art. The eight residences have high ceilings, oak floors, and spacious dressing rooms with walnut joinery. POA. 100 Sydney Street: 020 7629 0239

CHELSEA BARRACKS, SW1

Chelsea Barracks is becoming one of London’s most sought-after residential developments. The former army barracks still retains its original chapel, pictured, which is being transformed into an art gallery and studio space to be occupied by The Prince’s Foundation. Apartments from £5.25 million.

Chelsea Barracks: 020 7801 3081

be occupied by The Prince’s Foundation, to promote arts, culture and education in the local neighbourhood. The Foundation, which focuses on heritage arts and crafts, will use the space to showcase its work and host workshops for the public. Chelsea Barracks is also participating in London Craft Week, which runs from 4 to 10 October.

In some high-end apartments, art can be bought already in situ. ‘The bigger developers tend to work with the r a collection for the show Mayfair galleries who apartments on loan until sold,’ says Sophie Rogerson of buying agency RFR Property. ‘We negotiate with the galleries direct, who agree to leave all pieces in situ for a lump sum.’ So if you’ve got the cash but not the time, you can move into a turnkey property, masterpieces and all.

250 CITY ROAD, EC1

Close to Shoreditch and the City, 250 City Road imaginatively combines low-rise and high-rise architecture. It’s enlivened by three larger-than-life sculptures by Ian Rank-Broadley, who also created the recently unveiled tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales. Prices from £815,000 for a one-bedroom apartment.

Berkeley: 020 3773 3990

Nr Fowey, Cornwall Fowey 4 miles, Par Station 2 miles, Bodmin/A30 8 miles, Truro 21.5 miles, Exeter 70 miles An elegant Listed grade II* Queen Anne house in a rural setting near the Fowey Estuary with 4/5 bedrooms and facing south over established gardens towards undulating countryside beyond. 3,251 sq ft Guide £1.65m 01326 617447

Nr Boconnoc, Cornwall Main A38 3 miles, Fowey (via Boddinnick Ferry) 7 miles, Bodmin Parkway main line station 8 miles, Liskeard 9 miles An exquisite, private property, with a long drive and set in 20 acres of gardens and pasture. 4 bedrooms, kitchen-dining room with AGA, guest suite, party barn and pool. 5,011 sqft, EPC E Guide £2.65m 01326 617447

JONATHAN CUNLIFFE

jonathancunliffe.co.uk

t 01753 316115 m 07734 210023 e natalie@kaicarterestates.com

C H A R T E R S E S TAT E S UN N I NG HI LL , B ER KS HI R E

“ Charters offers a unique lifestyle for discerning residents.”

L U X U R Y P E N T H O U S E A PA R T M E N T I N A S E C U R E , G AT E D 2 4 A C R E E S TAT E 24 hour security and concierge Extensive leisure facilities Exceptional golfing and dining nearby 20 minutes from London Heathrow 3 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms Entertaining suite and bar Wrap-around terrace Smart home technology £2,250,000

FOR MORE INFO

PROPERTY | PROMOTION

Dream Team From left, Chloe Leefe, Hannah Aykroyd, Edward Towers and Sophie Bonsor

IN PURSUIT OF PERFECTION

WARD & CO INTERIORS, RANDLE SIDDELEY

I

Leveraging their under-the-radar network with utter dedication to delivering for clients, Aykroyd & Co are independent advisors who act solely on the acquisition of top-notch residential property in Prime Central London

f you are looking to buy your dream home in Prime Central London, a buying agent is not so much a luxury as a necessity. “We are currently in a highly competitive seller’s market for best in class family houses and large apartments, and the result is the majority of these properties are not being openly marketed,” says Hannah Aykroyd. “More than 70 per cent of homes we are acquiring for clients are quietly off-market. We regularly end up in tense best bid situations against other buying agents. If you are not represented, you don’t stand a chance.”

As a case in point, Aykroyd tells of acquiring a property in Holland Park for clients who undertook an unsuccessful solo search for nearly five years. “They retained us three months ago and last week we exchanged on a beautiful family house. The education process is a key part of what we offer, writing comparable reports on properties, giving people transparency on market prices. Our role is not just about sourcing, it’s about giving clients the confidence to offer what they need in order to secure a property.”

Independent, experienced and forensic in deploying their due-diligence know-how, Aykroyd & Co holds an unparalleled reputation as a stellar boutique operation. They save

clients time, money and make the emotional experience of connecting to a new home as enjoyable as possible. So much so that the team has expanded to meet demand: Aykroyd, Sophie Bonsor and Edward Towers MRICS have been joined by experienced agent Chloe Leefe and associate Suzie Goodhew. Each agent works with only four or five clients. It is a time-intensive process uncovering and previewing properties, employing a tried-andtested team of professionals to assess all potential challenges, overseeing every element of a transaction until completion and beyond.

As a law graduate, Aykroyd herself is known for her attention to detail and a comprehensive understanding of the conveyancing process.

“Speed is critical. We usually offer five working day exchanges so we will work solidly until we have safely done so, with often a long completion. And we always encourage our clients to write a personal note to accompany an offer letter to create a human connection.”

Equally, as objective advisors, they can diffuse situations where emotions are running high and are not afraid of tackling complicated matters on behalf of private clients or investors. aykroydco.com

B R I TA I N | P R O P E R T Y

NOTEBOOK

RIVIERA LIVING

Monaco’s largest-ever residential development, Testimonio II, is currently under way, and at its heart is Bay House, which will comprise 61 spacious residences designed with families in mind. Built by the developers behind Tour Odéon – the principality’s tallest high-rise – the properties at Bay House include five rooftop villas of up to 2,500 square metres, which are incredibly rare for Monaco, where space is at such a premium.

In a place that’s home to more millionaires and billionaires than anywhere else in the world, these apartments stand out as the pinnacle of luxury. The development is set for completion in 2024. From €17.5 million.

For more information, visit www.bayhouse.mc

PHOTOGRAPH: Sim Canetty-Clarke

A round-up of the latest property news, at home and abroad

LATER LIFE LUXURY

Few retirement properties are as stylish as those in Auriens Chelsea.

The 56 apartments have light-filled interiors with smoked-oak floors, bookmatched marble and wood-panelled walls – they’ve also been designed for independent living and are intelligently future-proofed.

With on-site restaurants and bars, a cinema, a gym, a spa and a private garden, there’s plenty to do within the development, and the King’s Road is a short stroll away. ‘In everything we do, we believe in challenging the perceptions around age,’ says David Meagher, CEO of Auriens Group. ‘The people living here will be trailblazers for a new form of later life living.’

For more information, visit www.auriens.com

CREAM OF THE CROP

A MODERN CLASSIC

Enjoy contemporary comfort in the traditional environs of Chelsea’s Old Church Street with this spectacular semi-detached townhouse. Spanning 3,821 square feet, the newly built property is set over four floors, with four bedrooms including a generous main bedroom suite. The main living areas and kitchen wrap around an enclosed courtyard, which provides a peaceful haven in the heart of the city. With interiors by the award-winning designer Andrew Martin, it’s the perfect modern urban base for a busy family. £9 million.

For more information visit www.residential.jll.co.uk

If you’re seeking to rent a standout home in prime central London, Mark Tunstall Property is the place to go – the company lets and manages some of the capital’s most desirable residences. Currently on its books is a townhouse in Victoria Road, Kensington. At 5,792 square feet, it’s got everything you could wish for, including an indoor swimming pool. Another remarkable property is in Hanover Terrace, right next to Regent’s Park – a six-bedroom terrace house with a 52-foot garden leading to a separate mews house at the rear: a prize find indeed.

For more information, visit www.tunstallproperty.co.uk

1, 2 and 3 bedrooms apartments and penthouses available from £815,000*

Located in the heart of Zone 1 and within easy reach of Old Street, the City and Shoreditch, 250 City Road is a landmark development with five-star residents’ facilities, including a leisure suite with pool, rooftop gym, yoga studio and terrace along with a screenings room, reading room, games room and 24-hour concierge.

SCAN HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT 250 CITY ROAD

BOOK YOUR PRIVATE APPOINTMENT TODAY 250cityroad@berkeleygroup.co.uk

020 3930 4031

Sales & Marketing Suite, 250 City Road, London EC1V 2AB

Open 7 days a week 10am – 6pm (Until 8pm on Thursdays and 4pm on Sundays)

*Price correct at time of going to print and subject to availability. Computer generated images of 250 City Road are indicative only.

B R I TA I N | P R O P E R T Y

WEEKEND RETREATS

Now more than ever, a countryside bolt-hole is top of many people’s wish lists – here are five of the best, from S stershire

TILL COTTAGE, WILTSHIRE

T

here’s nothing like escaping the city at the weekend – especially if you’ve got a bucolic country cottage waiting for you. England is filled with charming rural spots – many of them within a few hours’ drive of the capital.

Since the pandemic hit, country cottages have been more in demand than ever, and tend to sell fast, so anyone seeking a second home will need to move quickly when it comes to securing the perfect place.

At the edge of the little Wiltshire village of Winterbourne Stoke, Till Cottage is tucked away down a long track, and is a particularly charming two-storey house made from cob and thatch. The interiors are as chocolatebox pretty as the exterior, with an Aga in the kitchen, an inglenook fireplace in the

Tucked away down a wooded track and surrounded by mature gardens, this 18th-century thatched property near Salisbury is the ideal rural bolt-hole.

At 2,108 square feet, it has four bedrooms and a separate annex for guests. £945,000.

Savills: 01722 426820

sitting room, and upstairs, a triple-aspect main bedroom with views across the River Till. The gardens, too, make the most of the riverside setting: the green-fingered current owners have created herbaceous borders that brim with roses, tulips and lavender. It’s also a haven for wildlife – you can spot herons, kingfishers and swans from your front door.

Meanwhile, Winkworth is selling a 16thcentury farmhouse in a tiny village near Ipswich. It’s been painted a traditional shade pink and is steeped in atmosphere, of S with flagstone floors and ancient beamed ceilings. The Grade II-listed house sits in a conservation area, and has views across

open countryside. There’s a walled kitchen garden, paddocks and two former garages that are currently being used as a gym but . could easily be converted into a home There’s also a vegetable garden, an orchard, a paddock and chicken pens, so there’s plenty of opportunity to try selfncy.

Down in Cornwall, there’s a very rent kind of weekend retreat for sale – an old chapel set on the Carclew Estate near Truro.

Surrounded by rolling countryside and located at the end of a tree-lined driveway, the Grade II*-listed building, with its high, arched windows and carved stone pediments, looks like something that’s sprung straight out of a gothic novel. Buy any one of these properties, and it’s likely that you’ll end up making it your full-time home.

COOPERS FARM, SUFFOLK

This 16th-century house comes with an acre of land, and is full of character. It has four bedrooms, with timber beams and vaulted ceilings, inglenook fireplaces and a kitchen that’s been recently renovated but retains its period charm. £875,000.

Winkworth: 01787 326740-

STABLE COTTAGE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE

In the charming village of Winchcombe, just a 10-minute drive from Cheltenham, is this threebedroom terraced house.

Built of Cotswold stone, it has a traditional period façade and is set well back from the road, with gardens to the front and rear. £550,000.

Knight Frank: 01242 246951

THE OLD CHAPEL, CORNWALL

Occupying a tranquil spot on the Carclew Estate near Truro, this architectural gem sits on 2.5 acres of mature grounds.

It has three bedrooms, and a soaring, high-ceilinged sitting room with views towards the nearby creek.

Offers over £700,000.

Lillicrap Chilcott: 01872 273473

TUMBLY, DEVON

This thatched cottage enjoys one of the best positions on Dartmoor, with complete privacy yet spectacular views that stretch for miles. Sitting on 1.6 acres of land, the Grade II-listed property has three bedrooms, a library and a number of outbuildings. Offers over £850,000.

Knight Frank: 01392 848842

Tommy Hilfiger on his yacht, Flag

The MVP (most valued possession) of fashion’s MVPs As told to Teo

van den Broeke

M

y most prized possession is my 62-metre Feadship called Flag. It was previously owned by Lawrence Stroll, who built another boat and sold this one to me. For the past four years I have been using Flag as my summer home, going from Saint-Tropez to Portofino, Sardinia and Capri. I’ve always loved going to the Mediterranean in the summer, but staying in one place can become a bit boring. The beauty of having a boat is that you can change locations. If the weather’s not good, or you’ve already enjoyed the restaurants and shopping in one area, you can go somewhere else.

I used to charter boats, but owning my own is the ultimate. It’s an undertaking – it’s like running a business – but it’s really enjoyable. If you experience places from the water you see them from a different viewpoint: you see the terrain, especially if it’s an island, because you can then circle it to find the best beaches, the most desirable port. We get off the boat every day to go hiking, dining and to basically explore.

When on the boat I most like to spend my time on the rear deck, because you see water on all sides.

The interior was done by a designer called Chahan [Minassian] out of Paris and he did such a beautiful job that we had to do very little, but we tweaked it slightly by putting accents of our red, white and blue into it. I would say that it’s “modern classic” in terms of aesthetic. There are Hermès sheepskin chairs, big comfy couches and one room is done in navy blue with mahogany trim, which I love.

The notion of a boat’s depreciation is always present, but when I’m not on the boat I charter it out, which offsets some of the cost. Look, it’s an expensive undertaking and you do lose value, but I’m very meticulous about keeping the boat in perfect condition. When we’re in Monaco, during the Grand Prix, it’s a lot of fun and usually Lewis Hamilton will join us.

During the GP we’ve had Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and A$AP Rocky on board. We’ve taken it to the Caribbean, but the best times are with family.

I spend the entire summer on the boat and then in the winter I love to go to St Barths. The beaches and water sports are fantastic: we go jet-skiing, waterskiing, paddleboarding, snorkelling – we’re always doing something! During the first four months of Covid the boat was a haven, because we were on it in Mustique. We couldn’t move around, but we could get off at Mustique as we have a home there. We couldn’t go to other islands because they were afraid to let other people in.

I also have a plane, which gets me across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean to meet up with Flag.

I guess the plane and boat are like gifts to myself for being in this business for more than 50 years.

I started my first store when I was 18, in 1969, so I started with nothing and I dreamed about living a great life and I’ve been able to fulfil those dreams.

When I started my Tommy Hilfiger brand in 1985 I created a nautical flag as the logo because I’ve always loved sailing – the whole experience and imagery of it – so I incorporated this nautical element into my design and the flag has been, I would say, the symbol of what the company has stood for. G

I created a nautical flag as my brand’s logo because I’ve always loved sailing

Illustration Kagan McLeod

THE THING

THE ALL-ELECTRIC

Search: BMW iX

Mpg (l/100km): Not applicable. CO2 emissions: 0 g/km. Electric energy consumption (combined): 20 to 21 kWh/100Km / 2.9 – 3 miles/kWh. The iX xDrive40 electric range: 246-257 miles.

The iX xDrive50 electric range: 366-380 miles. These figures were obtained after the battery had been fully charged. The iX is a battery electric vehicle requiring mains electricity for charging.

Figures shown are for comparability purposes. Only compare electric range figures with other cars tested to the same technical procedures. These figures may not reflect real life driving results, which will depend upon a number of factors including the starting charge of the battery, accessories fitted (post-registration), variations in weather, driving styles and vehicle load.