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News! Darren Criss wins an Emmy Lady Gaga wows in Venice India overturns anti-gay law Janet Jackson is back & much more
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Fitness & Nutrition Is sugar the world’s most popular drug?
Style Profile Colton Haynes: Style Evolution
60 YEARS OF MADONNA CELEBRATING AN ICON
MEN’S FASHION WHITE TRAINERS: Here to Stay
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NEWS
bites& happenings
Lady Gaga Dazzles at the Venice Film Festival
Lady Gaga arrived at the Venice Film Festival and set hearts racing with an impressive entrance. Aren’t there any awards for best film festival entrance? Well, there should be. The Joanne singer arrived in black on a boat waving a red flower at the crowds as her legs dangled off the
Darren Criss wins best actor as The Assassination of Gianni Versace picks up three Emmys
side. She attended the glamorous festival for the premiere of her upcoming movie, A Star Is Born. Festivals like Venice and Cannes are great sighting opportunities for celebrities looking their best. Remember Kristen Stewart taking her shoes off on the Cannes red carpet? Well Gaga certainly didn’t disappoint her fans.
Josh Jackman
Darren Criss won an outstanding lead actor award and Ricky Martin
She’s Back: Janet Jackson releases new single “Made for Now”
missed out on his first Emmy as The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story picked up three honours at the ceremony on September 17th. The third season of Netflix’s true-crime anthology documented Versace’s murder by Criss’s Andrew Cunanan, with its director Ryan Murphy winning the award for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special for the first episode of the season, “The Man Who Would be Vogue.”
In an emotional speech, Murphy dedicated his fifth Emmy win to LGBT+ people who have suffered hate crimes, calling on legislators to create stricter laws to stop attacks. He told the audience: “The Assassination of Gianni Versace is about a lot of things, it’s about homophobia, internalised and externalised. “One of out of every four LGBTQ people in this country will be the victim of a hate crime,” he added. “We dedicate this award to them, to awareness, to stricter hate crime laws, and mostly, this is for the memory of Jeff and David and Gianni and for all of those taken too soon.”
Criss thanked Murphy after he picked up his first-ever Emmy. The former Glee actor told the audience at Los Angeles’ Microsoft Theatre: “Oh, my god, you guys are witnessing the most extraordinary moment of my life thus far. Actors are only as good as the moments they’re given and granted. I’m so profoundly indebted to my friend Ryan Murphy for entrusting me with this opportunity of a lifetime and for believing in me,” added the 31-year-old, who last year opened up about appearing in gender-defying Broadway musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch. “I am so very privileged to be in this room among so many people that inspire the living crap out of me. And I am so honoured to be nominated. A lot of you guys I have been a fan of for such a long time.”
Ricky Martin, who missed out on the outstanding supporting actor award for his role as Versace’s partner Antonio D’Amico, spoke out
India’s Anti-Gay Law Finally Overturned by Supreme Court Despite PM Modi’s Hardline BJP Party
earlier this year to urge people to accept open relationships as normal
Janet Jackson has released her most upbeat and well-promoted single
and healthy.
in years. Her collaboration with Daddy Yankee in Made for Now features a bright and colourful video that pays homage to African Gay sex is considered taboo by many in socially conservative India, and
The 46-year-old gay icon, who would have been halfway to an EGOT with the award, said he wanted the show’s depiction of Versace and D’Amico’s 15 years as partners to “normalise relationships like this. It’s good for the world; it’s good for me as a gay man with kids,” added the father of two. “It’s important that we shed some light on power couples like this.” Martin married his partner Jwan Yosef earlier this year, in a secret wedding which was only revealed to the public when a reporter
culture and has already racked up 28 million views on YouTube.
was reinstated as a criminal offence in 2013 after four years of decriminalisation. PM Modi’s hardline BJP party has been a strong supporter in bringing back the ban in 2013. However this year, a five-judge bench in India's Supreme Court was unanimous in overturning the ban. Gay sex had been punishable by up to 10 years in jail. Activists and the LGBT community welcomed the ruling, celebrating in many parts of India and around the world.
Jackson and Daddy Yankee performed Made for Now for the very first time on television in August. The pair took their own advice and moved their bodies with the upbeat song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Fallon welcomed them with an enthusiastic introduction, calling out Jackson's place as a "global icon and one of the best-selling artists of
questioned the “Livin’ La Vida Loca” singer on the red carpet for the TV
all time." Jackson arrived on her rightful throne before joining Daddy
show
Yankee on the stage's main platform, surrounded by dancers who brought on the party vibe.
That report has prompted attorneys general in New York and New Jersey to open their own investigations into whether institutions
Bangladesh appoints first transgender human rights official
covered up sexual abuse, and prosecutors in Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska and New Mexico have said they plan to do the same. In Germany, Spiegel Onlinewrote on Wednesday that it had seen a report commissioned by the German bishops’ conference detailing 3,677 cases of abuse by at least 1,670 clergymen from 1946 to 2014.
The Catholic Church’s Unholy Stain It’s long past time for penitence and promises on clerical pedophilia. Pope Francis must act.
This is not some flaw to be healed through spiritual renewal. This is a pattern of widespread and gross violations of the power a man of God has over a child, and of cover-ups stretching from Pennsylvania and Boston to every corner of the United States and the world.
By the NYT Editorial Board
Pope Francis has summoned senior bishops from around the world for the first global gathering of Roman Catholic leaders to address the crisis of clerical pedophilia. The action is long overdue, and the outcome cannot be yet more apologies and pledges of better behavior. The
The crisis has been further complicated by a scathing public letter from
How have so many pedophiles been allowed into the priesthood? How
a former Vatican envoy to the United States, Archbishop Carlo Maria
could so many bishops have so consistently looked the other way or
Viganò, accusing Francis of lifting sanctions against Cardinal McCarrick.
worse, paid off victims or foisted predatory priests on unsuspecting
The accusations are tainted by Archbishop Viganò’s open hostility to
parishes elsewhere?
Pope Francis, and his bigoted view that homosexuality is at the root of the sexual abuse.
unending revelations of clerical sexual abuse and cover-ups demand radical, public, convincing systemic change.
The latest barrage of revelations and developments — including a gut-wrenching report by a grand jury in Pennsylvania detailing seven decades of sexual abuse of at least 1,000 children, and probably thousands more, by more than 300 Catholic priests — has left no question that Pope Francis’ legacy will be decided by how he confronts
celibacy imposed on Catholic priests; the elitism, careerism and clericalBut the Viganò letter, the culture wars it reveals within the church, the
ism of the church hierarchy; the lack of transparency or accountability
McCarrick affair and even the Pennsylvania grand jury report must not
among bishops.
deflect attention from the core of the crisis. They are only the latest in All that must be addressed by the pope and his bishops, but not only
Globe first shed light in 2002 on the systematic cover-up of pedophilia
by them. Cardinal DiNardo and his delegation of American bishops
among Boston priests by the late Cardinal Bernard Law, forcing his
intend to demand not only a full investigation into questions surround-
resignation and unleashing a torrent of similar accounts.
ing Cardinal McCarrick, but also better mechanisms for reporting abuse
meaningful, any further response must include openly addressing allegations that the pope was himself party to a cover-up.
The president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, met with the pope on Thursday to demand a full investigation into how the former archbishop of Washington, Theodore McCarrick, rose to high rank despite a long and apparently
by bishops, and for resolving complaints. Critically, the bishops have The Pennsylvania report on abuse of children ran to 1,400 pages, and it
The first transgender human rights official in Bangladesh is hoping to transform attitudes towards trans people in the country. Tanisha Yeasmin Chaity, who was appointed to Bangladesh’s Human Rights Commission, said she was “excited” and added “it was a new beginning for the entire transgender
a string of scandals and revelations in the 16 years since The Boston
this crisis. It is devouring the Roman church — erasing trust in its hierarchs, dismaying the faithful and blackening its image. To be
Many explanations have been offered: the all-male priesthood and the
listed“substantial leadership by laity” as one of their goals.
is sickening. “Priests were raping little boys and girls, and the men of
community.”Hijra is an umbrella term which refers to a third gender in south Asia and is sometimes used to describe transgender people. Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Chaity said: “Hijras should lead lives as normal people. The attitude and mindset of society has to change in order to ensure that hijras do not have to do what they are forced to do for money.” In 2013, hijra were officially recognised as a third sex which enabled the, to identify their gender in documents such as passports.
God who were responsible for them not only did nothing; they hid it
That is essential. Pope Francis has made strides in changing the culture
all. For decades,” the grand jury wrote.
of the papacy and in making the Catholic Church more inclusive, and he seems now to have grasped the gravity of the sickness afflicting the church. But for what is sure to be a defining struggle of his papacy, he will need to look beyond the cardinals, prelates and priests — indeed
Gay American man could be sent back to the US despite being married to a UK citizen
beyond himself — for answers and solutions.
well-known history of sexual predation. As if to underscore the importance of the meeting, it coincided with an announcement that Pope Francis had accepted the resignation of a bishop in West Virginia, Michael Bransfield, and ordered an investigation into allegations that he had sexually harassed adults. The current archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, was also en route to the Vatican to discuss his own possible resignation over a former posting in Pittsburgh.
Patrick Kelleher
Any credible effort at reforming the clerical culture of the church, restoring trust, instituting accountability and eradicating the cancer of
A man from North Carolina in the US could be at risk of having to leave the
sexual abuse will require the full participation of experts, prosecutors,
UK and return to the States, despite the fact that he is married to a UK citizen.
victims and many others outside the clergy and the church — women
Brian Page had his latest appeal to the UK Home Office for an extension of
as well as men. If that runs against tradition and practice, so be it.
his visa refused earlier this month, and was told that he must either leave the UK within 14 days, or apply for permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal, the next stage of the process.
He and his husband have been “cleaned out” by the legal fees up until
They also estimate that, if they were to attempt to return to the US,
now, having already spent over £16,000 on the application. They are
legal fees there could cost up to $15,000. Ben’s position in the country
now appealing to the public for help to cover the legal costs of their
is currently uncertain and would require a lawyer to clear it up, as when
appeal to the Upper Tribunal. If they are granted permission to appeal
they were last living in the US, he was told that his husband couldn’t
to the Upper Tribunal, they expect the legal fees to cost in the region
sponsor him to work as marriage equality was not yet a reality in North
of £1,500-£3,000. Brian said that they had considered returning to the
Carolina, meaning their marriage was not recognised there. Instead, he
US – however, this process would also require a lawyer and extensive
was granted an opportunity to stay and wait for his case to be seen by
legal fees.
a judge. However, before he had the chance to have his case adjudicated, his mother became ill, forcing the couple to move to the UK.
Speaking about the situation, Brian said that he would be heartbroken if they were separated. “We don’t know where we’re going to be in a
As his immigration process was never completed, he was subsequently
few months time. I’m afraid to leave Ben because I don’t know what’s
denied an ESTA. Ben says that he never stayed in the US illegally, but
going to happen.” Brian and Ben’s story began in 2012 when they met
doesn’t currently have the funds to hire a lawyer in the US to clear his
on a train in London when Brian was visiting the UK. They ended up
position in the country. The couple now say that they are in a bind –
talking and decided to stay in touch. They got married two years later
they cannot return to the US together because of the uncertainty
in New York after spending a period of time living together in the US.
surrounding Ben’s position in the country. They cannot stay in the UK
However, tragedy hit the couple when, shortly after they got married,
together, as Brian’s applications to remain have been rejected.
they found out that Ben’s mother – who was still living in the UK – was terminally ill.They returned to the UK, with Brian on a six month visa, to
In the most recent rejection letter, the judge suggested the couple
spend her final months with her.
could relocate to a third country, and gave Canada as an example, while trying to settle their immigration dispute. The rejection letter also says
As his six-month visa came to a close, Brian’s mother-in-law’s condition
that during the case, it was put to Brian that he could “return to the
was continuing to deteriorate. He then applied for an extension to the
USA to apply for entry clearance to re-enter the UK as a spouse.” Brian
visa, which was ultimately rejected. They now say they have been
says that if he were to do this, the process could take up to two years.
fighting the UK government to allow Brian to stay in the UK for a
Brian said that he was worried about leaving Ben alone in the UK as he
number of years. They have now applied for permission to appeal their
suffers from depression and anxiety. “It really scares me. I’m really
case to the Upper Tribunal, however if they are granted permission,
scared right now about what the next couple of months are going to
they do not have the money to pay for legal representation.
be like,” he added.
EDITORIAL
UNACCEPTABLE: US Ends Diplomatic Visas for UN Same-Sex Partners
Trump’s America reveals yet another step in dismantling LGBTQ rights
So in theory you could have been someone’s life partner for the last
by discounting same-sex relationships of all international diplomats
35 years and your status would mean nothing unless you were ‘married’
stationed in the US. The US has announced it will deny diplomatic visas
in a way that is acceptable to the Trump administration. Given a large
to same-sex partners of foreign diplomats and United Nations employ-
number of countries that do not recognise same-sex marriage, this
ees. This is a reversal of progressive and forward thinking rules that
clearly breaches the notion of equality the government is trying to
were introduced in 2009.
trumpet. The Former US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power decried the policy, calling it "needlessly cruel and bigoted".
Although seemingly innocuous to some, the underlining notion behind this change underlines the government’s belief that same-sex relation-
The UN-Globe, advocates for LGBT equality in the UN, said the
ships are not real and do not matter. It dehumanises same-sex relation-
Trump administration's new policy was "an unfortunate change in
ships by making them appear illegitimate under the law and therefore
rules".
unreal. Yes, those who approve the change will say partners can get married or otherwise leave the US. But the truth is a lot more complex,
"Couples already inside of the United States could go to city hall and
as LGBTQ activists are well aware of. Currently, 25 countries have
get married. But they could potentially be exposed to prosecution if
recognised same-sex marriage. Homosexuality remains illegal in 71
they return to a country that criminalises homosexuality or same-sex
countries. Many of those diplomats come from countries where
marriages." After the end of this year, unmarried same-sex partners of
same-sex relationships may trigger serious if not dangerous
diplomats and UN employees will be expected to leave the US within
consequences. Even if they are able to be open about their relaton-
30 days if they remain unmarried and without a visa status change.
ships, gay marriage may not be legal or accepted in their respective countries or in those of their partners.
Akshaya Kumar, the Deputy UN Director of Human Rights Watch, wrote that the change "will have an insidious impact on same-sex
The new Trump administration policy update was circulated in a United
couples".
Nations (UN) memo.m The memo states: "As of 1 October 2018, same-sex domestic partners accompanying or seeking to join newly
"The US government should recognise, as it had for almost nine years
arrived United Nations officials must provide proof of marriage to be
until today, that requiring a marriage as proof of bona fide partnership
eligible for a G-4 visa or to seek a change into such status."m G-4 visas
is a bad and cruel policy, one that replicates the terrible discrimination
are granted to employees of international organisations and their
many LGBT people face in their own countries, and should be immedi-
immediate families.
ately reversed."
C
olton Haynes burst onto American TV screens on the Teen Wolf series and quickly developed a massive teen
following due to his All-American boy-next-door looks. He went on to star in the Arrow series where his chiselled face and athletic boy earned him a whole host of new fans. It’s evident now that all that attention from female fans brought an element of pressure with it as well. “People want you to be that GQ image that you put out, but people don’t realize what it’s like to act 24 hours a day. I’d go home and I was still acting…People who are so judgmental about those who are gay or different don’t realize that acting 24 hours a day is the most exhausting thing in the world.” He later admitted in an interview after coming out.
Colton Haynes: S T Y L E
EVOLUTION When the All-American Boy Next Door Came Out
33
From safe tried-and-tested looks to edgy, bold here-I-am ones
Haynes’ looks quickly earned him attention from fashion brands. Brands including Abercrombie & Fitch and Diesel were quick to sign him. It’s interesting to see how his personal style changed and evolved through the years as he grappled with how he should be
From safe tried-and-tested looks to edgy, bold here-I-am ones
perceived to being comfortable in his own skin. Looking at the pictures, you can clearly see safe, almost conservative, looks toward the beginning of his career transition into more experimental ones. It was rumoured that Haynes’s PR would leak stories to the press to test the waters on how the public would react upon his coming out. It seems his fashion continued to test the waters in the same way. He now feels comfortable enough to rock up on the red carpet with platinum blonde hair or even a pink flamingo coloured suit for his first film premiere opposite Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Most recently viewers saw Haynes play his first gay character with some steamy scenes in the latest season of American Horror Stories. He now owns his sexual identity and is unafraid of any backlash. Last year, Haynes tied the knot to Jeff Streatham in a star-studded wedding ceremony in Palm Springs.
Men's Fashion By now you realise it’s not actually a trend at all, right? White sneakers are so entrenched in almost all aspects of men’s fashion that they are part of the establish-
W H I TE T RA IN E RS :
Here to Stay
ment. Ubiquitous. A pair of pristine white feet, cosy under menswear’s top table.
It’s a sartorial paradigm shift few could’ve predicted, but it’s been the norm now for a number of seasons. Crisp white sneakers have become the 21st century’s Oxford brogues – a does-it-all footwear option that can be dressed up or down accordingly.
The relaxing of dress codes over the past few years blessed the plain white sneaker
If you thought it was just a trend, think again. White sneakers have become the new brogues for men. By FashionBeans
with an almost-peerless versatility. The type of shoe that would once have seen you denied entry to even the most questionable of nightclubs is now a common sight accompanying high-end tailoring on the red carpet and beyond.
It goes without saying, then, that a pair of fresher-than-a-pillow-with-a-mint-on kicks is one of the most important items a man can have in his wardrobe. The perfect fuss-free option to pair with anything and everything you own.
At hlei s u re A S e l e ct ive Histo r y Of Th e W h ite S n eaker For a long while, ‘athleisure’ was the industry’s most prolific It may have changed the way men dress for good, but the story of how the humble tennis shoe took over the world and became
buzzword, tossed around by fashion editors like a stylish hot potato.
an essential for anything but sport is not one that occurred overnight. Despite relatively new entries to the market from Common
While this tends to mean something that is going to be short-lived,
Projects (2004), Alexander McQueen (2012) and Tom Ford (2014) — who previously swore he would never make sneakers — the beginnings of the trend can be traced back through menswear for more than 80 years.
T hree Key Ways To Wea r Whi te S nea kers
a few seasons at best, here we are several years later with the sporty, casual style still very much a thing, and white sneakers have a big part of play. “The booming trend of athleisure has long been taking over
One of the earliest examples of an athletic sneaker to cross over into the mainstream was the white Converse Chuck Taylor, which debuted at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. In the years and decades that followed, crisp white styles from brands like Spring Court, Adidas and Superga found themselves on many a famous foot, Steve McQueen’s included. Fashion types went crazy when, in recent years, Savile Row tailors started styling their suits with white sneakers, but John Lennon was doing it on the cover of Abbey Road back in 1969. Of course, like any other area of menswear, sneaker trends come and go. And though minimalist trainers — typified by models like the Achilles Low and Stan Smith — have reigned supreme since the turn of the millennium, in recent seasons the trend has broadened to include both chunky styles and retro sneakers, rendered in a range of materials from luxury Italian leather to run-of-the-mill mesh. However, they all remain linked by their ability to symbolise off-duty cool in a way few menswear pieces have managed to achieve.
For all their versatility, white sneakers still require a dash of styling nous to obtain best results. Someone who has plenty of that is Harriet Byczok, a stylist who has dressed A-list celebrities for everything from magazine covers to red carpet events and has worked for leading brands including Levi’s. Below is a clean sweep of her best tips. Smart Back in 2004, Justin Timberlake appeared in the music video for Signs, footing his already misguided white-suit-yellow-shirt
weekend wardrobes,” says Byczok. “Get even more wear out of your white sneakers by adding a pair of knitted luxe joggers, a crew neck jumper and a dressier jacket or coat into the mix. Balancing out sports pieces with classics gives a look that is neither too smart nor casual.”
Ca s u a l
combination (shudder) with a pair of Adio skate shoes. At the same time, self-respecting men everywhere swore a silent oath never to make the same mistake. However, it’s since been proven that, when done right, sneakers and tailoring can be rocked to glorious effect. “Teaming a suit with sneakers is a great way of being smart without it being a chore,” says Byczok. “Try a textured suit in a navy or grey and enjoy being comfortable. Add a white T-shirt tucked in with a belt for a look that’s become borderline iconic in the modern day.”
White sneakers are, by their very nature, casual, whether you chalk it up to their beginnings in the world of athletics or their adoption by the hip-hop scene in the 1980s. In either case, it makes sense to wear them as such. “Any casual outfit should be effortless,” says Byczok. “Throw on a pair of jeans or chinos, then add a neutral sweatshirt or T-shirt depending on the weather and finish with an overshirt or casual jacket. Ultimately the aim is to let the sneakers speak for themselves.”
“what’s hot” Dolce & Gabbana with Embroidered Bee
Dolce & Gabbana Royal
Adidas Stan Smith
Gucci Ace
Vans Authentic
Maison Margiela Replica
Grooming Essentials:
REFRESH. RENEW. REVIVE. This season’s essentials for your grooming trousse.
Dior – Dior Homme Dermo System Repairing Moisturising Emulsion The Dior Innovation Centre presents its first dermatological treatments designed to preserve the youthful look of men’s skin. Created with an internationally renowned research centre, Dior Homme Dermo System comprises the latest in skincare technology. This quick-absorbing soothing fluid moisturises, matifies the skin, and instantly refines its texture. The complexion is left uniform and bright. Plus the packaging looks quite sexy on your
Dior – Dior Homme Dermo System Anti-Fatigue Firming Eye Serum
counter. Restructuring action on the eye contour thanks to a tensing effect: the tissues are reinforced, eyelids are retightened and the opening of the eye appears build up. Action against dark circles and puffiness is ensured by the Cafexyl™ complex: the pigments involved in the development of dark circles are neutralised*. Puffiness caused by built-up fat is
Czech & Speake – No 88 Silver Tip Badger Shaving Brush
diminished. Immediately, the eye contour is relieved and dark circles are lightened. Day after day, the look is enhanced and puffiness is reduced. Texture: A barely emulsi-
To bring back the retro charm of old-school barbering techniques, you can’t go
fied gel-serum that melts away immediately without leaving
wrong with Czech & Speake’s luxurious No. 88 brush. Looks impeccable with the full
the skin shiny. * In vitro tests
Shaving Set & Stand.
Narciso Rodriguez - Blue Noir
Kiehl’s – Lite Flite Shave Cream
Woods and spice and all things nice come together in this
Kiehl's lightweight shaving cream goes great for a
modern fragrance. Narciso Rodriguez’ Bleu Noir is the
traditional shave. This unique formulation combines the
very picture of refinement, with its opaque deep blue
emollient feel of a brushless shave with the smoothness
interior promising something magical. The scent is just as
of a brush shave formula for a very close, yet comfort-
elegantly modern as its vessel, promising fresh, spicy notes
able shave. Skin is left feeling smooth and soft.
of nutmeg and cardamom combining with deep, sensual woods for a superbly sexy masculine vibe. Users commend its daily wear-ability, which tends to be pronounced without being overpowering.
Clarins – Active Hand Care While the warmer weather comes in and out, you’ll find that most places tend to continue to keep the heating on
Le Labo – Bergamote 22
until flashbacks of winter have well and truly gone. The drying heat plus the inevitable rain can wreak havoc on your skin. Your hands are at the mercy of the elements all day long. Clarins Active Handcare protects and nourishes the skin so the next time you shake someone’s hands they don’t recoil at your peeling dry skin. The cream forms a semi-matte protective barrier, boasting nutrient-rich Bison Grass, Ginger and Purslane, which instantly eradicates any signs of dryness, leaving the skin on the hands plumped and
Fresh, sweet & sensual: oozes modern sophistication. Eddie and Fabrice, the founders of Le Labo, describe Bergamote 22 as, “ your white T-shirt. You always look good in one and it’s not a hassle to wear.” Its original code name, "Fire Cologne", illustrates its spirited qualities – a delicate floral character of petit grain sharpened by the bitterness of grapefruit. The scent is a dazzling elixir of freshness, sweetness and sensuality with an unstoppable acrobatic energy.
with a healthy shine.
Comme des Garcons Parfums Amazingreen
Givenchy – Le Soin Noir Lotion
A dazzling fusion of organic and mineral. In a blast of green energy, the unisex Comme des Garçons Amazingreen perfume seizes the senses. Organic greenery
Givenchy Le Soin Noir Lotion Essence is the first essential
meets with the explosive elements of smoke and flint. A
step in the Le Soin Noir skincare regime. The Givenchy
juxtaposition of air and earth, freshness and depth. Verdant,
Laboratories have combined algae extract and natural vital
natural top notes of palm tree leaves, green pepper and
marine water to plump the skin and smooth fine lines
jungle leaves are paired with dew mist for a crisp and vital
caused by dehydration. After application the skin appears
opening, before settling into an elemental heart of flint and
plumped and is prepared to receive the energising ingredi-
coriander. Amazingreen culminates in surprising volatility,
ents in the next step of the Le Soin Noir skincare collec-
with the smoky depths of gunpowder, smoke, vetiver and
tion. Leaves the skin feeling refreshed and soothed. We
white musk. To finish it off, the Amazingreen pebble-like
recommend the full range for the full anti-ageing benefits.
bottle comes tucked inside a 100% recyclable green bag that challenges the perception of luxury.
Cryo-slimming procedures have been making headlines recently, so for this issue we thought we would explore the trend in more detail—and what better place to try it than in the hands of trained and experienced doctors at the Dr. Dray clinic who have developed the unique THERMOSlim treatment. When considering any sort of cosmetic procedures, it’s always important to choose doctors that are qualified, experienced, professional and have the artistic vision to deliver to beautiful results. The Horizon team have come to love visiting Dr. Dray’s clinic in London where we find the best doctors who have an eye for bringing out the best version of you.
The slick new clinic just close to High Street Kensington in London is modern and minimalist and welcomes you with a spa-like feeling with white furnishings and subtle coloured lighting accents. Our procedure was carried out by the talented and handsome Dr. Calmon (follow him on Instagram @drantonicalmon), who practices at the clinic in Paris as well as London.
THERMOSlim – How it works Dr. Calmon explained the THERMOSlim therapy and what sort of results patients can expect. Despite having a healthy diet and exercising regularly, often, men and women have stubborn areas where fat accumulates and is difficult to eliminate without intervention. The most common areas are the love handles, lower stomach, saddlebags, arms, thighs and hips. The THERMOSlim is a unique treatment that is offered only at Dr. Dray’s clinic in London and Paris. It’s essentially a combination of two thermic treatments: FIRE of a deep radio frequency treatment to fragilise the fat cells and then ICE of a crylipolyse to kill the fat cells.
TH E R M O S L I M:
S CULPTING P ERFECTION Explo r ing t h e re vol utio nary ne w pro c e dure a t D r. Dray ’s C l inic in L o ndon. @clinic.dr.dray
@drantonicalmon
Aftercare
Step 1: “Fire Stage”
After the procedure you can return to your normal daily activities. You might have some light bruising, swelling or reduced sensation The new generation radio frequency treatment can now
may appear in the treated area after a few hours, however these
fragilise and target deep fat that wasn’t reachable before. In the
affects are temporary. To activate the natural elimination of fatty
first stage, the machine raises the fat cells’ temperature to 42
cells it is important to stay well hydrated by drinking at least 1 litre
degres. At that temperature the cells or die or get really fragile
of water a day, having a healthy lifestyle with balanced nutrition
and then more sensitive to the Cryolipolyse treatment that
intake, and of course exercising daily (a minimum of 30 minutes of
comes straight afterwards. It might sound intimidating but the
walking a day).
procedure is painless and gives a warm feeling in the skin. Combined with the Cryolipolyse the efficiency of the treatment is improved permanently.
Results and Our Verdict The first thing they do is measure the area that will be treated (for example your belly if you want to sharpen up your abs or love handles) so you will be able to see the across your sessions. The results of the THERMOSlim are not immediately visible as the fatty
Step 2: “Ice Stage”
cells are progressively eliminated by the immune system. After 4 to 6 weeks, you will be able to see the results, but you will continue to eliminate the cells for 3 to 4 months after the treatment. The results vary from patient to patient. In general you would see a fat loss of 30 to 40% of the fat in each zone from one session, which
Then comes the next stage—the Crolipolyse-- the cold way to
is usually sufficient for small areas.
eliminate fat! This stage targets areas with extreme cooling. Fatty deposits or adipocyte cells are sensitive to low tempera-
But this is the incredible thing about this treatment—you can see
tures, and the system reduces the temperature to -9 degrees
real and measurable results. Will it turn you from Harvey
where up to 40% of the fat cells are destroyed and then
Weinstein into Adonis, of course not. But if you are in generally
subsequently eliminated by the body in a few weeks.
decent shape and have certain areas that you want to target or ‘sharpen up’ then this is the perfect procedure for you. After a series of sessions, we saw real results in places we always found it difficult to shift the fat, and were amazed at the measurable evidence.
THINGS Photography by Joan Crisol
This season Horizon explores the playful world of Joan Crisol. In the artist’s own words, the male form represents a number of things. “It’s beauty, strength, sensuality, light, sweat, darkness, attraction… It is everything…” The Play Things play with the senses. It’s a strong figure against candy pink backdrop. It’s the distracted gaze that may dare to make contact. It plays with emotions. It plays with desire. It’s a game of attention and of affection. It’s a game of power and of dominance. Like a matador and a beast. The game can be innocent or risking high stakes. Angles of the body shimmer under the lights, highlighting strength. Raw power hidden under the crafted exterior. The shadows expose depth to hidden facets and layers. There is always so much more to discover in the Play Things of Joan Crisol.
Now based in Madrid, Spain, the talented photographer received his degree in photography from the Institute of Photography school of Catalonia. Since graduating, Crisol’s career as a professional photographer took off. His work has been featured in international publications from Spain through to France, Germany, Switzerland and as far as Argentina, Australia and Brazil. He has worked commercially with international brands and has even lent his eye to serve as the Director of Photography in more than 50 music videos.
Crisol always had a passion for photography and the male form. His love translated into his art. Of the representation of the male form, Crisol says “It is everything… That’s why I decided to dedicate to look [at it] every day in my life. I can’t feel more lucky and happier in my work.”
Extended Feature:
IS SUGAR
the world’s most popular drug? It eases p a i n , seem s t o b e a d d i c t i v e a n d s h o w s e v e r y sig n of ca u si n g lon g- t e r m h e a l t h p r o b l e ms . Is i t t i me to q u it s u g a r f o r g o o d ? by Gary Taubes
Imagine a drug that can intoxicate us, can infuse us with energy and can be taken by mouth. It doesn’t have to be injected, smoked, or snorted for us to experience its sublime and soothing effects. Imagine that it mixes well with virtually every food and particularly liquids, and that when given to infants it provokes a feeling of pleasure so profound and intense that its pursuit becomes a driving force throughout their lives.
Could the taste of sugar on the tongue be a kind of intoxication? What about the possibility that sugar itself is an intoxicant, a drug? Overconsumption of this drug may have long-term side-effects, but there are none in the short term – no staggering or dizziness, no slurring of speech, no passing out or drifting away, no heart palpitations or respiratory distress. When it is given to children, its effects may be only more extreme variations on the apparently natural emotional rollercoaster of childhood, from the initial intoxication to the tantrums and whining of what may or may not be withdrawal a few hours later. More than anything, it makes children happy, at least for the period during which they’re consuming it. It calms their distress, eases their pain, focuses their attention and leaves them excited and full of joy until the dose wears off. The only downside is that children will come to expect another dose, perhaps to demand it, on a regular basis. How long would it be before parents took to using our imaginary drug to calm their children when necessary, to alleviate discomfort, to prevent outbursts of unhappiness or to distract attention? And once the drug became identified with pleasure, how long before it was used to celebrate birthdays, a football game, good grades at school? How long before no gathering of family and friends was complete without it, before major holidays and celebrations were defined in part by the use of this drug to assure pleasure? How long would it be before the underprivileged of the world would happily spend what little money they had on this drug rather than on nutritious meals for their families?
There is something about the experience of consuming sugar and sweets, particularly during childhood, that readily invokes the comparison to a drug. I have children, still relatively young, and I believe raising them would be a far easier job if sugar and sweets were not an option, if managing their sugar consumption did not seem to be a constant theme in our parental responsibilities. Even those who vigorously defend the place of sugar and sweets in modern diets – “an innocent moment of pleasure, a balm amid the stress of life”, as the journalist Tim Richardson has written – acknowledge that this does not include allowing children “to eat as many sweets as they want, at any time”, and that “most parents will want to ration their children’s sweets” But why is this rationing necessary? Children crave many things – Pokémon cards, Star Wars paraphernalia, Dora the Explorer backpacks – and many foods taste good to them. What is it about sweets that makes them so uniquely in need of rationing? This is of more than academic interest, because the response of entire populations to sugar has been effectively identical to that of children: once people are exposed, they consume as much sugar as they can easily procure. The primary barrier to more consumption – up to the point where populations become obese and diabetic – has tended to be availability and price. As the price of a pound of sugar has dropped over the centuries, the amount of sugar consumed has steadily, inexorably climbed.
In 1934, while sales of sweets continued to increase during the Great Depression, the New York Times commented: “The Depression [has] proved that people wanted candy, and that as long as they had any money at all, they would buy it.” During those brief periods of time during which sugar production surpassed our ability to consume it, the sugar industry and purveyors of sugar-rich products have worked diligently to increase demand and, at least until recently, have succeeded. The critical question, as the journalist and historian Charles C Mann has elegantly put it, “is whether [sugar] is actually an addictive substance, or if people just act like it is”. This question is not easy to answer. Certainly, people and populations have acted as though sugar is addictive, but science provides no definitive evidence. Until recently, nutritionists studying sugar did so from the natural perspective of viewing it as a nutrient – a carbohydrate – and nothing more. They occasionally argued about whether or not it might play a role in diabetes or heart disease, but not about whether it triggered a response in the brain or body that made us want to consume it in excess. That was not their area of interest. The few neurologists and psychologists interested in probing the sweet-tooth phenomenon, or why we might need to ration our sugar consumption so as not to eat too much of it, did so typically from the perspective of how these sugars compared with other drugs of abuse, in which the mechanism of addiction is now relatively well understood. Lately, this comparison has received more attention as the public-health community has looked to ration our sugar consumption as a population, and has thus considered the possibility that one way to regulate these sugars – as with cigarettes – is to establish that they are, indeed, addictive. These sugars are very probably unique in that they are both a nutrient and a psychoactive substance with some addictive characteristics. Historians have often considered the sugar-as-a-drug metaphor to be an apt one. “That sugars, particularly highly refined sucrose, produce peculiar physiological effects is well known,” wrote Sidney Mintz, whose 1985 book Sweetness and Power is one of two seminal English-language histories of sugar. But these effects are neither as visible nor as long-lasting as those of alcohol or caffeinated drinks, “the first use of which can trigger rapid changes in respiration, heartbeat, skin colour and so on”
Mintz has argued that a primary reason sugar has escaped social disapproval is that, whatever conspicuous behavioural changes may occur when infants consume sugar, it did not cause the kind of “flushing, staggering, dizziness, euphoria, changes in the pitch of the voice, slurring of speech, visibly intensified physical activity or any of the other cues associated with the ingestion” of other drugs. Sugar appears to cause pleasure with a price that is difficult to discern immediately and paid in full only years or decades later. With no visible, directly noticeable consequences, as Mintz says, questions of “long-term nutritive or medical consequences went unasked and unanswered”. Most of us today will never know if we suffer even subtle withdrawal symptoms from sugar, because we’ll never go long enough without it to find out. Sugar historians consider the drug comparison to be fitting in part because sugar is one of a handful of “drug foods”, to use Mintz’s term, that came out of the tropics, and on which European empires were built from the 16th century onward – the others being tea, coffee, chocolate, rum and tobacco.
Its history is intimately linked to that of these other drugs. Rum is distilled, of course, from sugar cane. In the 17th century, once sugar was added as a sweetener to tea, coffee and chocolate, and prices allowed it, the consumption of these substances in Europe exploded. Sugar was used to sweeten spirits and wine in Europe as early as the 14th century; even cannabis preparations in India and opium-based wines and syrups contained sugar. As for tobacco, sugar was, and still is, a critical ingredient in the American blended-tobacco cigarette, the first of which was Camel. It’s this “marriage of tobacco and sugar”, as a sugar-industry report described it in 1950, that makes for the “mild” experience of smoking cigarettes as compared with cigars and, perhaps more important, makes it possible for most of us to inhale cigarette smoke and draw it deep into our lungs. Unlike alcohol, which was the only commonly available psychoactive substance in the old world until they arrived, sugar, nicotine and caffeine had at least some stimulating properties, and so offered a very different experience, one that was more conducive to the labour of everyday life. These were the “18th-century equivalent of uppers”, writes the Scottish historian Niall Ferguson. “The empire, it might be said, was built on a huge sugar, caffeine and nicotine rush – a rush nearly everyone could experience.” Sugar, more than anything, seems to have made life worth living (as it still does) for so many, particularly those whose lives lacked the kind of pleasures that relative wealth and daily hours of leisure might otherwise provide.
Sugar was “an ideal substance”, says Mintz. “It served to make a busy life seem less so; it eased, or seemed to ease, the changes back and forth from work to rest; it provided swifter sensations of fullness or satisfaction than complex carbohydrates did; it combined with many other foods … No wonder the rich and powerful liked it so much, and no wonder the poor learned to love it.”
learned how to refine their essence into concentrated forms that heighten the rush. Coca leaves, for instance, are mildly stimulating when chewed, but powerfully addictive when refined into cocaine; even more so taken directly into the lungs when smoked as crack cocaine. Sugar, too, has been refined from its original form to heighten its rush and concentrate its effects.
What Oscar Wilde wrote about a cigarette in 1891 might also be said about sugar: It is “the perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied. What more can one want?” Children certainly respond to sugar instantaneously. Give babies a choice of sugar water or plain, wrote the British physician Frederick Slare 300 years ago, and “they will greedily suck down the one, and make Faces at the other: Nor will they be pleas’d with Cows Milk, unless that be bless’d with a little Sugar, to bring it up to the Sweetness of Breast-Milk”. One proposition commonly invoked to explain why the English would become the world’s greatest sugar consumers and remain so through the early 20th century – alongside the fact that the English had the world’s most productive network of sugar-producing colonies – is that they lacked any succulent native fruit, and so had little previous opportunity to accustom themselves to sweet things, as Mediterranean populations did. The sweet taste was more of a novelty to the English, and their first exposure to sugar occasioned a population-wide astonishment.
This is speculation, however, as is the notion that the taste of sugar will soothe distress and stop infants crying, or that consuming sugar will allow adults to work through pain and exhaustion and to assuage hunger pains. If sugar, though, is only a distraction to the infant and not actively a pain reliever or a psychoactive inducer of pleasure that overcomes any pain, we have to explain why, in clinical trials, it is more effective in soothing the distress of infants than the mother’s breast and breast milk itself. Research literature on the question of whether sugar is addictive and thus a nutritional variant on a drug of abuse is surprisingly sparse. Until the 1970s, and for the most part since then, mainstream authorities have not considered this question to be particularly relevant to human health.
The more we use these substances, the less dopamine we produce naturally in the brain. The result is that we need more of the drug to get the same pleasurable response, while natural pleasures, such as sex and eating, please us less and less. “There is little doubt that sugar can allay the physical craving for alcohol,” the neurologist James Leonard Corning observed over a century ago. The 12-step bible of Alcoholics Anonymous recommends the consumption of sweets and chocolate in lieu of alcohol when the cravings for drink arise. Indeed, the per capita consumption of sweets in the US doubled with the beginning of prohibition in 1919, as Americans apparently turned en masse from alcohol to sweets.
The very limited research allows us to describe what happens when rats and monkeys consume sugar, but we’re not them and they’re not us. The critical experiments are rarely if ever done on humans, and certainly not children, for the obvious ethical reasons: we can’t compare how they respond to sugar, cocaine and heroin, for instance, to determine which is more addictive. Sugar does induce the same responses in the region of the brain known as the “reward centre” as nicotine, cocaine, heroin and alcohol. Addiction researchers have come to believe that behaviours required for the survival of a species – specifically, eating and sex – are experienced as pleasurable in this part of the brain, and so we do them again and again. Sugar stimulates the release of the same neurotransmitters – dopamine in particular – through which the potent effects of these other drugs are mediated. Because the drugs work this way, humans have
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For those of us who don’t reward our existence with a drink (and for many of us who do), it’s a chocolate bar, a dessert, an ice-cream cone or a Coke (or Pepsi) that makes our day. For those of us who are parents, sugar and sweets have become the tools we wield to reward our children’s accomplishments, to demonstrate our love and our pride in them, to motivate them, to entice them.
Sugar and sweets inexorably came to saturate our diets as the annual global production of sugar increased exponentially. By the early 20th century, sugar had assimilated itself into all aspects of our eating experience, and was being consumed during breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Nutritional authorities were already suggesting what appeared to be obvious: that this increased consumption was a product of at least a kind of addiction – “the development of the sugar appetite, which, like any other appetite – for instance, the liquor appetite – grows by gratification”. A century later still, sugar has become an ingredient in prepared and packaged foods so ubiquitous it can only be avoided by concerted and determined effort. There is sugar not just in the obvious sweet foods – cookies, ice creams, chocolates, fizzy drinks, sodas, sports and energy drinks, sweetened iced tea, jams, jellies and breakfast cereals – but also in peanut butter, salad dressing, ketchup, barbecue sauces, canned soups, processed meats, bacon, hot dogs, crisps, roasted peanuts, pasta sauces, tinned tomatoes and breads. From the 1980s onwards, manufacturers of products advertised as uniquely healthy because they were low in fat, or specifically in saturated fat, took to replacing those fat calories with sugar to make them equally, if not more, palatable – often disguising the sugar under one or more of the 50 names by which the combination of sugar and high-fructose corn syrup might be found. Fat was removed from candy bars so that they became “health-food bars”, in spite of added sugar. Fat was removed from yoghurts and sugars added, and these became “heart-healthy snacks”. It was as though the food industry had decided en masse that, if a product wasn’t sweetened at least a little, our modern palates would reject it and we would purchase instead a competitor’s version that was.
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The common tendency is, again, to think of this transformation as driven by the mere fact that sugars and sweets taste good. The alternative way to think about this is that sugar took over our diets because the first taste, whether for an infant today or for an adult centuries ago, is a kind of intoxication; it’s the kindling of a lifelong craving, not identical but analogous to the effect of other drugs of abuse. Because it is a nutrient, and because the conspicuous ills connected to its consumption are benign compared with those of nicotine, caffeine and alcohol – at least in the short term and in small doses – sugar remained nearly invulnerable to moral, ethical or religious attacks. It also remained invulnerable to attacks on grounds of damage to health.
on the eating habits of a population that had come to rely on sugar and sweets as the rewards for the sufferings of daily life. So how do we establish a safe level of sugar consumption? In 1986, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded that most experts considered sugar safe. And when the relevant research communities settled on caloric imbalance as the cause of obesity and saturated fat as the dietary cause of heart disease, the clinical trials necessary to begin to answer this question were never pursued. Sugar and sweets inexorably came to saturate our diets as the annual global production of sugar increased exponentially. By the early 20th century, sugar had assimilated itself into all aspects of our eating experience, and was being consumed during breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Nutritional authorities were already suggesting what appeared to be obvious: that this increased consumption was a product of at least a kind of addiction – “the development of the sugar appetite, which, like any other appetite – for instance, the liquor appetite – grows by gratification”.
From the 1980s onwards, manufacturers of products advertised as uniquely healthy because they were low in fat, or specifically in saturated fat, took to replacing those fat calories with sugar to make them equally, if not more, palatable – often disguising the sugar under one or more of the 50 names by which the combination of sugar and high-fructose corn syrup might be found. Fat was removed from candy bars so that they became “health-food bars”, in spite of added sugar. Fat was removed from yoghurts and sugars added, and these became “heart-healthy snacks”. It was as though the food industry had decided en masse that, if a product wasn’t sweetened at least a little, our modern palates would reject it and we would purchase instead a competitor’s version that was. For those of us who don’t reward our existence with a drink (and for many of us who do), it’s a chocolate bar, a dessert, an ice-cream cone or a Coke (or Pepsi) that makes our day. For those of us who are parents, sugar and sweets have become the tools we wield to reward our children’s accomplishments, to demonstrate our love and our pride in them, to motivate them, to entice them. The common tendency is, again, to think of this transformation as driven by the mere fact that sugars and sweets taste good. The alternative way to think about this is that sugar took over our diets because the first taste, whether for an infant today or for an adult centuries ago, is a kind of intoxication; it’s the kindling of a lifelong craving, not identical but analogous to the effect of other drugs of abuse.
Nutritionists have found it in themselves to blame our chronic ills on virtually any element of the diet or environment – on fats and cholesterol, on protein and meat, on gluten and glycoproteins, growth hormones and oestrogens and antibiotics, on the absence of fibre, vitamins and minerals, and surely on the presence of salt, on processed foods in general, on over-consumption and sedentary behaviour – before they’ll concede that it’s even possible that sugar has played a unique role in any way other than merely getting us all to eat too damn much. And so, when a few informed authorities over the years did indeed risk their credibility by suggesting sugar was to blame, their words had little effect on the beliefs of their colleagues or
Because it is a nutrient, and because the conspicuous ills connected to its consumption are benign compared with those of nicotine, caffeine and alcohol – at least in the short term and in small doses – sugar remained nearly invulnerable to moral, ethical or religious attacks. It also remained invulnerable to attacks on grounds of damage to health. A century later still, sugar has become an ingredient in prepared and packaged foods so ubiquitous it can only be avoided by concerted and determined effort. There is sugar not just in the obvious sweet foods – cookies, ice creams, chocolates, fizzy drinks, sodas, sports and energy drinks, sweetened iced tea, jams, jellies and breakfast cereals – but also in peanut butter, salad dressing, ketchup, barbecue sauces, canned soups, processed meats, bacon, hot dogs, crisps, roasted peanuts, pasta sauces, tinned tomatoes and breads.
Nutritionists have found it in themselves to blame our chronic ills on virtually any element of the diet or environment – on fats and cholesterol, on protein and meat, on gluten and glycoproteins, growth hormones and oestrogens and antibiotics, on the absence of fibre, vitamins and minerals, and surely on the presence of salt, on processed foods in general, on over-consumption and sedentary behaviour – before they’ll concede that it’s even possible that sugar has played a unique role in any way other than
60
Metabolic syndrome ties together a host of disorders that the medical community typically thought of as unrelated, or at least having separate and distinct causes – including obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar and inflammation – as products of insulin resistance and high circulating insulin levels. Regulatory systems throughout the body begin to misbehave, with slow, chronic, pathological consequences everywhere.
merely getting us all to eat too damn much. And so, when a few informed authorities over the years did indeed risk their credibility by suggesting sugar was to blame, their words had little effect on the beliefs of their colleagues or on the eating habits of a population that had come to rely on sugar and sweets as the rewards for the sufferings of daily life. So how do we establish a safe level of sugar consumption? In 1986, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded that most experts considered sugar safe. And when the relevant research communities settled on caloric imbalance as the cause of obesity and saturated fat as the dietary cause of heart disease, the clinical trials necessary to begin to answer this question were never pursued.
Once we have observed the symptoms of consuming too much sugar, the assumption is that we can dial it back a little and be fine – drink one or two sugary beverages a day instead of three; or, if we’re parenting, allow our children ice cream on weekends only, say, rather than as a daily treat. But if it takes years or decades, or even generations, for us to get to the point where we display symptoms of metabolic syndrome, it’s quite possible that even these apparently moderate amounts of sugar will turn out to be too much for us to be able to reverse the situation and return us to health. And if the symptom that manifests first is something other than getting fatter – cancer, for instance – we’re truly out of luck.
us certainly find it easier to consume no sugar than to consume a little – no dessert at all, rather than a spoonful or two before pushing the plate to the side. If sugar consumption is a slippery slope, then advocating moderation is not a meaningful concept. In my own mind, I keep returning to a few observations – unscientific as they may be – that make me question the validity of any definition of moderation in the context of sugar consumption. The roots of the modern discussion on sugar and disease can be traced to the early 1670s. Thomas Willis, medical adviser to the duke of York and King Charles II, noted an increase in the prevalence of diabetes in the affluent patients of his practice. “The pissing evil”, he called it, and became the first European physician to diagnose the sweet taste of diabetic urine – “wonderfully sweet like sugar or hon[e]y”. Willis’s identification of diabetes and the sweetness of the urine happens to coincide with both the first flow of sugar into England from its Caribbean colonies, and the first use of sugar to sweeten tea.
The authorities who argue for moderation in our eating habits tend to be individuals who are relatively lean and healthy; they define moderation as what works for them.
Michael Pollan, author of books on food, agriculture and drugs, has memorably called “food-like substances”, and if they were healthier, there would now be a host of poss ble reasons why. Maybe they ate fewer refined grains of any type, less gluten, fewer trans fats, preservatives or artificial flavourings? We would have no practical way to know for sure.
This assumes that the same approach and amount will have the same beneficial effect on all of us. If it doesn’t, of course, if we fail to remain lean and healthy or our children fail to do so, the assumption is that we’ve failed – we ate too much sugar, or our children did.
The traditional response to the how-little-is-too-much question is that we should eat sugar in moderation – not eat too much of it. But we only know we’re consuming too much when we’re getting fatter or manifesting other symptoms of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome.
If it takes 20 years of consuming sugar for the consequences to appear, how can we know whether we’ve consumed too much before it’s too late? Isn’t it more reasonable to decide early in life (or early in parenting) that not too much is as little as possible?
Insulin resistance is the fundamental defect present in type 2 diabetes, and perhaps obesity too. Those who are obese and diabetic also tend to be hypertensive; they have a higher risk of heart disease, cancer and strokes, and possibly dementia and even Alzheimer’s as well. If sugar and high-fructose corn syrup are the cause of obesity, diabetes and insulin resistance, then they’re also the most likely dietary trigger of these other diseases. Put simply: without these sugars in our diets, the cluster of related illnesses would be far less common than it is today.
Any discussion of how little sugar is too much also has to account for the possibility that sugar is a drug and perhaps addictive. Trying to consume sugar in moderation, however it’s defined, in a world in which substantial sugar consumption is the norm and virtually unavoidable, is likely to be no more successful for some of us than trying to smoke cigarettes in moderation – just a few a day, rather than a whole pack. Even if we can avoid any meaningful chronic effects by cutting down, we may not be capable of managing our habits, or managing our habits might become the dominant theme in our lives. Some of
We have to acknowledge that the evidence against sugar is not definitive, compelling though I personally find it to be. Let’s say we randomly assigned individuals in our population to eat a modern diet with or without sugar in it. Since virtually all processed foods have sugar added or, like most breads, are made with sugar, the population that is asked to avoid sugar would simultaneously be avoiding virtually all processed foods as well. They would dramatically reduce their consumption of what journalist
Other observations that resonate with me when I wrestle with the concept of moderation include one of Frederick Slare’s comments in 1715, in his article “Vindication of Sugars Against the Charges of Dr Willis”. At a time when sugar was just beginning to be more widely consumed in England, Slare noted that women who cared about their figures but were “inclining to be too fat” might want to avoid sugar, because it “may dispose them to be fatter than they desire to be”. When Slare made his observation, the English were consuming, on average, perhaps 5lb of sugar a year. The US FDA research suggests we now consume 42lb a year.
Other observations that resonate with me when I wrestle with the concept of moderation include one of Frederick Slare’s comments in 1715, in his article “Vindication of Sugars Against the Charges of Dr Willis”. At a time when sugar was just beginning to be more widely consumed in England, Slare noted that women who cared about their figures but were “inclining to be too fat” might want to avoid sugar, because it “may dispose them to be fatter than they desire to be”. When Slare made his observation, the English were consuming, on average, perhaps 5lb of sugar a year. The US FDA research suggests we now consume 42lb a year. We have to acknowledge that the evidence against sugar is not definitive, compelling though I personally find it to be. Let’s say we randomly assigned individuals in our population to eat a modern diet with or without sugar in
it. Since virtually all processed foods have sugar added or, like most breads, are made with sugar, the population that is asked to avoid sugar would simultaneously be avoiding virtually all processed foods as well. They would dramatically reduce their consumption of what journalist Michael Pollan, author of books on food, agriculture and drugs, has memorably called “food-like substances”, and if they were healthier, there would now be a host of possible reasons why. Maybe they ate fewer refined grains of any type, less gluten, fewer trans fats, preservatives or artificial flavourings? We would have no practical way to know for sure. The research community can certainly do a much better job than it has in the past of testing all these questions. But we may have a very long wait before the public-health authorities fund such studies and give us the definitive answers we seek. What do we do until then? Ultimately, the question of how much is too much becomes a personal decision, just as we all decide as adults what level of alcohol, caffeine or cigarettes we’ll ingest. Enough evidence exists for us to consider sugar very likely to be a toxic substance, and to make an informed decision about how best to balance the likely risks with the benefits. To know what those benefits are, though, it helps to see how life feels without sugar. Former cigarette smokers (of which I am one) will tell you that it was impossible for them to grasp intellectually or emotionally what life would be like without cigarettes until they quit; that through weeks or months or even years, it was a constant struggle. Then, one day, they reached a point at which they couldn’t imagine smoking a cigarette and couldn’t imagine why they had ever smoked, let alone found it desirable. A similar experience is likely to be true of sugar – but until we try to live without it, until we try to sustain that effort for more than days, or just a few weeks, we’ll never know.
This is an edited extract from The Case Against Sugar, published by Portobello Books (£14.99). To order a copy for £12.29 go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846.
Art & Culture
YEARS OF
MADONNA
CELEBRATING AN ICON
As the Material Girl turns 60 this year, we take a look back at some of Madonna’s most iconic looks.
Always one to push the envelope, Madonna was the first artist to reinvent her style and evolve into a radically new version of herself with every new artistic project. Her theatrical opera-inspired tours set the prototype for what most pop artists now consider as a format for tour performances. She set trends in everything from fashion, to photography, music, videos, art and even in the realm of health and fitness and popular spirituality. Madonna brought yoga and eastern mysticism into the mainstream before most people in America even knew what yoga was.
mainstream cinema. People didn’t know what to make of it. But Madonna brushed off her critics and became a force to be reckoned with, all the while taking the LGBT world out of the shadows and into the mainstream light. Now turning 60, the icon has still been selling out record-breaking tours Madonna supported and championed the LGBT community before it became “cool”. She was one of the first artists to provide a platform from which to offer a window into the LGBT world and she suffered a lot of backlash for it. Her Truth or Dare film (known as In Bed with Madonna in Europe) featured the first ever gay kiss in a piece of
around the world and to this day continues creating controversy. Today her target is ageism and she is set to challenge society’s obsession with how women of a certain age are expected to behave.
THE CULT M A N & L E G AC Y A j o u r n e y i n t o t h e h e y d a y o f Ve r s a c e As the TV drama American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace successfully captured public consciousness with a high profile cast including Penelope Cruz playing Donatella Versace and Ricky Martin playing Gianni’s lover, we take a journey back through time to the heyday of Versace.
Martin playing Gianni’s lover, we take a journey back through time to the heyday of Versace. Gunned down outside his opulent luxury villa in Miami, Versace was synonymous with Princess Diana, Naomi Campbell and all the glamour and glitz of the nineties. Some of the world’s most recognizable celebrities gathered to mourn him including Sting, Princess Diana, Elton John, Carolyn Bessette, Naomi Campbell, Carla Bruni, and designers Giorgio Armani and Karl Lagerfeld.
OF VERSACE
Penelope Cruz incarnates the persona of Donatella Versace
“Erased from History”
Gianni adored his niece over all others. “I like to talk to Allegra” he said. “Allegra tells me the truth about Donatella.” Considered one of the emblems of ’80s and ’90s tough-sexy fashion, Gianni used studs, chain mail and classical Roman symbols, and practically invented the term “bodycon” with his sleek shapes.
Ricky Martin as Gianni’s partner, Antonio D’Amico
Interestingly, one central character that has been erased from the series. Sitting in the front row at his memorial weeping among the celebrities was his beloved niece Allegra, daughter of Donatella with American model Paul Beck. She was not just his niece but also his top heir: set to inherit 50 percent of his massive company upon her 18th birthday. Her uncle Santo, Gianni’s older brother, owned 30 percent, and her mother, the remaining 20 percent. At the age of 11, Allegra was poised to one day become one of the most powerful women in the fashion industry. But you won’t see a hint of her in the series, as Donatella insisted she not be portrayed in the show. When probed about this, the family has since put out a statement claiming they have had not involvement with the show. This may be because of her protectiveness over her daughter who at the age of 31 is reportedly worth $800 million and has suffered from debilitating eating disorders.
He had a huge hand in making Naomi (Campbell), Cindy (Crawford) and Claudia (Schiffer) one-name supermodels; dressed rock stars; and always had celeb friends such as Madonna in tow. Elton John is said to have given Allegra her first piano. To this day, sadly, a family source believes that Allegra’s development was stunted by the profound effect of Gianni’s murder.
Rarely seen in public, Allegra is notoriously reclusive and is rarely seen at the office in which she supposedly “works”. A former employee revealed that her body dysmorphia is so severe she is “utterly insecure and frail”. She would panic at images or representations of herself, which is why her mother Donatella has become the much-parodied face of the company with her tan skin, platinum dyed locks and deep raspy voice laden with a heavy Italian accent.
MAN ABOUT TOWN
Mr. Anonymous asks:
What Happened to the LOVE?
I
t used to be all about rainbow flags, acceptance and creating a space where everyone felt welcome. But lately as I look around at the gay community around me, I notice a big change. The buzzing gay
neighbourhoods of yesteryear are getting gentrified to the point that yet another Prêt or Starbucks continues to replace enigmatic staples of the past. As the industry reports, many gay venues are closing down simply because people don’t need to meet each other in person anymore. Most guys are so busy with their Grindr or their [insert latest gay app here] they no longer need to see a stranger across the room to go and say “hi”. To make matters worse, most people are looking for a quick hookup rather than real intimacy or anything that lasts or matters. I can’t help but notice the growing number of disillusioned and, dare I say, deeply lonely people around me. While technology has opened up so many new avenues for people, has the plethora of choice killed the magic? Has everyone’s obsession with “what else is out there” taken away the joy of getting to know someone profoundly? A recent study showed that a phone alert releases the same pleasure responses in the brain as consuming an addictive drug. Has the rush of receiving a message made people forget the ones around them? As I see more and more lonely men trying to find their place in the meat market I find myself forced to ask: what happened to the love?
Honouring a Legend HUBERT DE GIVENCHY Hubert de Givenchy, the acclaimed French designer and aristocrat who founded the House of Givenchy, passed away recently at the age of 91. He will be remembered as a true fashion great whose i n fl u e n c e t o t h i s d a y c o n t i n u e s t o b e f e l t i n t h e c h a n g i n g t r e n d s . H e b r o u g h t s e p a r a t e s t o t h e w o r l d o f women’s dressing His creations became iconic and have won their place in history. He will perhaps be best remembered as the man who created almost each of Audrey Hepburn’s notable and iconic l o o k s , w h i c h e a r n e d h e r t h e t i t l e o f a b o n a fi d e f a s h i o n i s t a . W e r e m e m b e r t h e a r t i s t , t h e g e n i u s , t h e revolutionary and yet kind and caring man behind the empire that is Givenchy.
Hubert de Givenchy:
THE MAN
Givenchy was best known for his work dressing actress Audrey Hepburn, who owned a vast wardrobe of Givenchy pieces and wore many of his legendary designs in her movie roles in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Sabrina and Funny Face to name a few.
Colleen Kratofil In 1952 Givenchy launched his own brand after working under designers, Robert Piguet, Lucien Lelong and Elsa Schiaparelli, and one year later, he was tapped by Hepburn herself to create pieces for her 1954 film, Sabrina. According to Vanity Fair, she came up with the idea to travel to Paris herself to buy original pieces from Givenchy for the film. “Clothes are positively a passion with me,” Hepburn said on the set of Sabrina. “I love them to the point where it is practically a vice.”
Subsequently, he designed pieces for seven more of her films, including the most memorable little black dress in movie history, the one worn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, above. Before her death in 1993 Hepburn left more than 25 Givenchy dresses in her personal collection to the designer and he loaned many pieces to various museums ever since. “It was a kind of marriage,” Givenchy told The Telegraph in 2015. “Little by little, our friendship grew and with it a confidence in each other. There [was never] any criticism of the other person, no upsets.” He dressed other notable celebrities including Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman, Empress Farah Pahlavi of Iran, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who frequently wore his pieces. She wore a sleeveless embroidered Givenchy
gown to an event at the Palace Of Versailles with French president Charles De Gaulle in 1961 and in a two-piece tailored suit in 1961, below. The brand released a statement on Instagram. “The House of Givenchy is sad to report the passing of its founder Hubert de Givenchy, a major personality of the world of French Haute Couture and a gentleman who symbolized Parisian chic and elegance for more than half a century. His enduring influence and his approach to style reverberates to this day. He will be greatly missed.” Bernard Arnault, the chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH, the owner of the brand also released a statement, according to WWD. “He was among those designers who placed Paris firmly at the heart of world fashion post 1950 while creating a unique personality for his own fashion label. In both prestigious long dresses and daywear, Hubert de Givenchy has brought together two rare qualities: to be innovative and timeless,” Arnault said. Since his retirement in 1995, his brand has been helmed by some of the top designers in the industry. John Galliano took the reigns after Givenchy stepped down, followed by Alexander McQueen, Julien Macdonald and Riccardo Tisci before Clare Waight Keller assumed the role in 2017. Fittingly for a designer who realized the value of dressing the Hollywood A-list well ahead of his time, Givenchy is still a go-to for many leading ladies including Madonna, Beyonce, and even Kim Kardashian West who wore a Givenchy design by Tisci to her wedding.
Hubert de Givenchy: THE VISIONARY WHO BROUGHT DIVERSITY TO THE RUNWAY Pamela Keogh
The designer broke from French couture tradition when
After Givenchy saw the models—including Pat Cleveland,
he hired a group of nonwhite models in the early 1970s.
Bethann Hardison, Billie Blair, Alva Chinn, China Machado, Jennifer Brice, and Ramona Saunders—he tossed his
Hubert de Givenchy is remembered for, among many
old way of presenting couture out the window, and
other things, his great friendships, most famously with
decided to use music and a range of models to present
Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy but including
his fashions.
pretty much every notable woman of the latter half of the 20th century. Marella Agnelli, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid
Was this radical for the time? Certainly. And for a French
Bergman, Marlene Dietrich, and Diana Vreeland were all
couture house? Absolutely. According to Banks, Givenchy
clients;.
“got a lot of push back when he decided to use black models—some of it from his own customers! But this is
He also had a huge impact on the lives of the women he
what he wanted, he saw this as the future. So he persisted
hired in the 1970s, becoming the first designer to use a
and kept at it and finally his customers fell in line, and the
diverse group of models, and with far greater representa-
house didn’t suffer.”
tion than is seen on today’s runways. As designer Jeffrey
Model Pat Cleveland first met Givenchy at the fashion
Banks remembers, “At one point in the 1970s, his entire
show at Versailles. “I remember walking down the Hall of
cabine
Mirrors with him—just the two of us, he was walking
was
almost
exclusively
African-American
girls—and no one was doing that then!”
beside me, with no one else there, it was really magical.”
Givenchy first saw this possibility when he participated in
“After Versailles, he hired all the black girls from Ameri-
what became known as “The Battle of Versailles,” a
ca—we were all so skinny and tiny next to him! I remem-
fashion show held in November 1973 between French
ber him putting bows on all the dresses we wore. We
and American designers, to raise money for the Palace of
had such fun together.
Versailles’s restoration. It was set up as a clash of couture
“He was so tall, like a basketball player . . . but he was so
titans—Yves Saint Laurent, Pierre Cardin, Emanuel
elegant. He had the most beautiful hands, he could create
Ungaro, Christian Dior, and Hubert de Givenchy versus
the most delicate things with his hands. And he was so
the upstart American designers: Oscar de la Renta,
kind and generous to everyone. He was such a secure
Stephen Burrows, Halston, Bill Blass, and Anne Klein.
and peaceful man. I’m sure he’s in heaven, creating more beauty.”
Hubert de Givenchy:
HIS IMPACT
If a woman simply pairs a skirt with her favourite shirt, then her life has been affected by the work of the late
Dena Silver
designer Hubert de Givenchy. While Coco Chanel might be credited as the creator of the Little Black Dress, Givenchy’s boatneck frock—paired with long black gloves, a towering updo and a thick strand of pearls—for Breakfast at Tiffany’s is deserving of the title of most recognizable LBD of all time. In fact, it was the designer’s close relationship with Audrey Hepburn that turned him into a household name. The two first met on the set of Sabrina in 1953 and continued their on- and off-set friendship for 40 years to come. Givenchy went on to whip up the costumes for a number of Hepburn films, including Charade, Funny Face, How to Steal a Million and Paris When It Sizzles. But he wasn’t only creating iconic looks for Hepburn; Jackie Kennedy Onassis was also a big fan of Givenchy’s touch. The First Lady wore his designs for a number of public appearances, often opting to finish off her outfits with one of the designer’s pillbox hats. She even wore a black Givenchy suit to John F. Kennedy’s funeral. Grace Kelly was also a big fan of Givenchy’s designs, having worn one of his tasteful green frocks during a visit to the White House. Givenchy debuted his own brand in 1952, after years of apprenticing for a number of other labels: Jacques Fath, Robert Piguet and Elsa Schiaparelli. Not long after striking out on his own, Givenchy produced a collection that was revolutionary in its own right. By pairing blouses with light shirts, he presented the concept of “separates” to the world. A departure from the rigid and constricted lines of Dior’s New Look—with cinched waists and over-emphasized curves—these simpler, more comfortable styles were quickly embraced by the elegant women of the world.
According to the Givenchy website, it was the “[s]pare lines, slender hips, slim silhouettes and swan-like necks” that brought prominence to the designer’s creations. And that’s also what won him the adoration of the world’s top actresses of the time. LVMH acquired Givenchy in 1988 and the designer remained onboard until he retired in 1995. Following his departure, the leading role at the maison was taken on by a rotating cast of bold names, including John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Julien MacDonald and Riccardo Tisci. Clare Waight Keller, the brand’s first-ever female designer, stepped into the top job in May 2017. She took to Instagram to pay her condolences to the late designer. “Not only was he one of the most influential fashion figures of our time, whose legacy still influences modern day dressing, but he also was one of the chicest most charming men I have ever met,” she wrote, alongside a black and white photograph.
Anthea Hamilton
Artin London Exhibitions
Imagine you’re a squash – as in, a butternut squash. Now imagine what kind of art you would most like, based on your squashy-brained characteristics. Hamilton’s takeover is a brilliant and irreverent response to basically everything the Tate, as the grand old dame of establishment art, represents and displays. This is the attitude that makes the whole thing so much fun. The mishmash of sculptures shoves the modernist curves of Henry Moore against the mega-trad Frederic Leighton. They’re chosen because they look like nice, squidgy things to grab, not because of art history or theory. Hamilton crashes through the stuffy barriers
The Must-See selection from what’s on now
of art-with-a-capital-A. It’s like the best experiences of walking around big, free galleries. You pick and choose what you look at,
Where: Tate Britain, Westminster Until: Sunday October 7, 2018
not worrying who created it or why. Hamilton’s creation is a shot of tequila in the white wine spritzer world of Tate: it’s massively fun and makes you want to touch everything, love everything.
Alex Prager: Silver Lake Drive Michael Jackson: On the Wall You get an eerie sense of déjà vu in this show of American artist Alex Prager’s photography. Seeing the drunken parties, suspicious HIs every crotch grab sent jolts of ecstasy across the globe, his
faces and elaborate beach scenes she meticulously stages, you’re
every spasmodic hip thrust left the world reeling. That’s an
certain that each scenario is familiar – is it a classic American film
inhuman level of power for one human to have. It ended up being
you’ve seen a thousand times but can’t quite remember? Is it an
too much for Michael Jackson, and maybe too much for the rest
old 1970s Coke ad? A vintage sitcom? It’s none of these things, it’s
of us too, which may explain how the National Portrait Gallery
all fake. Prager is precise and dedicated, setting up each shot with
can put together a whole show of art inspired by MJ and without
countless extras and finicky precision. A group of girls conspire in
it being mega-cheesy or ultra-dull. As a whole, this exhibition is an
their swimsuits beneath an onrushing plane, three men hover
incredible example of using art to decode, uncover and reveal
over the viewer as if you’re a corpse they’ve just discovered, a
myriad concepts and ideas. This is a show about fame and obses-
woman flees from a flock of pigeons. You, the viewer, see the
sion, about how desperately we seek idols and how remorselessly
crowd at a cinema as if you’re the screen, you see a beach from
we consume them. It’s also about how much impact one person
up high like you’re an airborne beach ball. Prager sticks you in it.
can have on the world. That’s the true power of Michael Jackson:
You’re a character in these familiar yet totally alien scenes. Are you
the way he makes you feel.
Where: National Portrait Gallery, Leicester Square Until: Sunday October 21, 2018
the director of these fake movies? Are you complicit in Prager’s fictional crimes? Are you the audience? All you can know for sure is that Hollywood is a really weird place.
Where: Tate Britain, Westminster Until: Sunday October 7, 2018
Mika Rottenberg
We’re a gluttonous species, us humans. All we want is stuff. Stuff to fill our flats with, stuff to wear, stuff to stuff our faces with. The whole world is geared towards making stuff, selling stuff and buying stuff. Pretty sure that’s the first thing you learn in economics class. Argentinian artist Mika Rottenberg knows all about stuff, capitalism, consumerism and all that business. Her show here at the brand new Goldsmiths Centre for Contemporary Art is rammed full of videos and installations that needle, twist and poke at economics, consumerism and commodities. Rottenberg has created a body of work that’s funny, surreal, confrontational and has a point. What a combo! It’s brilliant.
Where: Tate Britain, Westminster When: Sunday October 7, 2018
Yayoi Kusama
The Queen of the polka dots is back in London. The last time Victoria Miro held a Yayoi Kusama exhibition (2016), the queues stretched around the block and back - something, it's fair to say, that doesn't happen with many contemporary art exhibitions. This time, the Japanese artist's works are being shown in the gallery's two spaces, plus its waterside garden. Expect all the things that have made Kusama's artwork so beloved to fans: pumpkins, flowers and endless dots. The REALLY BIG DEAL, however, is a brand new infinity mirror room involving paper lanterns.
Where: Victoria Miro, Hoxton When: Wednesday October 3, 2018 - Friday December 21, 2018
A Moment in the Reeds
ARTS & CULTURE
CINEMA HERE’S LOOK AT FILMS ON THE HORIZON
Director - Mikko Makela Writer - Mikko Makela Stars - Janne Puustinen, Boodi Kabbani, Mika Melender
Having been studying in Paris, Leevi returns home to Finland for the summer where he helps his father renovate their summer house. An extra pair of hands is required so Tariq, a Syrian asylum seeker is hired. However, when Leevi’s father head back to the city, the two boys develop a closer friendship that offers a summer of love. Previously, writer/director Mikka Makela has been an actor in such films as How To Talk To Girls At Parties, and has worked on The Coven and Fallen Soldiers. It stars Janne Puustinen (Tom of Finland), Boodi Kabbani and Mikka Melender. With echoes of God’s Own Country, A Moment in the Reeds places the long marginalised voices of sexual ethnic minorities centre-stage in this intensely heartfelt drama about the search for freedom, acceptance and a place to call home.
Reinventing Marvin Mario Director - Marcel Gisler Writer - Marcel Gisler, Thomas Hess, Frederic Moriette Stars - Max Hubacher, Aaron Altaras
When Leon joins Mario’s football club, an immediate tension brews between them; both players are talented, driven and prepared to fight for their spot on the first team. When the pair are moved into a flat with one another, the competitive tension turns sexual. As their relationship intensifies, the pair become inseparable, yet Mario is desperate to hide their love from his teammates. As rumours of their relationship begin to circulate, the boys are forced to make a choice; their careers, or each other.
Director - Anne Fontaine Writer - Anne Fontaine, Pierre Trividic Stars - Finnegan Oldfield, Gregory Gadebois, Isabelle Huppert
Reinventing Marvin tells the true story of Marvin Bijou (rising star Finnegan Oldfield), a young boy from a working-class family in a small village, suffers constant bullying at school and home for being ‘different’ – too sensitive and too feminine. A chance encounter with a drama teacher opens the doors to a world that offers him the chance to escape his situation. Following Marvin into his mid-twenties as a theatre student in Paris, Fontaine presents a richly layered tale about identity building and transformation. With an exquisite cameo from Isabelle Huppert and great performances from the reliably excellent Vincent Macaigne and Charles Berling, Reinventing Marvin packs a powerful punch.
The Wound Director - John Trengove Writer - John Trengove, Thando Mgqolozana, Malusi Bengu Stars - Nakhane Touré, Bongile Mantsai, Niza Jay
Shortlisted for 2018 Academy Awards® for best foreign language film, and selected for the Raindance Festival, The Wound is an exploration of tradition and sexuality set amid South Africa’s Xhosa culture. Every year, the tribe’s young men are brought to the mountains of the Eastern Cape to participate in an ancient coming-of-age ritual. Xolani, a quiet and sensitive factory worker (played by openly gay musician Nakhane Touré), is assigned to guide Kwanda, a city boy from Johannesburg sent by his father to be toughened up, through this rite of passage into manhood. As Kwanda defiantly negotiates his queer identity within this masculine environment, he quickly recognizes the nature of Xolani’s relationship with fellow guide Vija. The three men commence a dangerous dance with each other and their own desires and, soon, the threat of exposure elevates the tension to breaking point.
Discreet Director - Travis Mathews Writer - Travis Mathews Stars - Jonny Mars
A journey into America’s dark heart. From the acclaimed director of I Want Your Love and Interior.Leather.Bar. comes this eerie and powerful psychological thriller that offers a disturbing insight into the dark heart of Trump’s America. Filmmaker and recluse Alex lives in a van. He sets up his camera in rural areas in the US, in the no-man’s land near highways. During a rare visit to his distant mother, she reveals a dark truth hidden since his childhood that threatens to unravel him. Confused and unstable, Alex sets out to confront the looming shadow he has been running from all his life. But as he delves deeper in search of answers, Alex’s grip on reality becomes increasingly more tenuous and before long he finds himself unable to determine right from wrong.