Wanted Magazine: February Issue 2021 by SundayTimesZA

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ED’S LETTER

02 / 2021

Sarah Buitendach

EDITOR.

“I am going to try to find escape, joy, levity, respite, and a modicum of normality (what is that, even?) in the minutiae of life. ”

OU’RE DRIVING to Woolies and your mind wanders: “Perhaps I should do drinks with mates later.” Then — bam — it hits you! No, not a bad driver, but the most utterly wretched thought. There’s no booze for sale and you’d be insane to rendezvous with friends at all right now. Or you open your eyes first thing in the morning and there is a flash where you contemplate a regular day. It’s a brief moment before you see the headlines in your morning news emails and the full force of our current reality smacks you over the head.

Beyond actually living in a pandemic, is there anything worse than those nanoseconds where you forget about it, and then the bluntforce cruelty of it all comes rushing in? I’ve had this feeling a lot over the past few weeks. Lying in the garden, the sun distracts me. Reading the newest Craig Brown about The Beatles, I get consumed by the Fab Four. Banging out a column and I’m in the zone. And then I remember Covid. It’s sickening, truly, but it’s also forced me to realise that the only way I’m going to get through these presumably vaccine-less next few months is by concentrating on the small

stuff. The tiny distractions. It’s going to require some real mental fortitude and dexterity, but I am going to try to find escape, joy, levity, respite, and a modicum of normality (what is that, even?) in the minutiae of life. Like glimpsing the clever and upbeat design of the amazing adjacent houses in Cape Town’s Clarens development that we’ve featured in this issue. Or meditating on the dream of actually visiting Diana’s Point in Oman (pg 19) when it’s safe to do so again. There’s a glass of wine at the end of day (yes, miraculously, I still have some left). And long walks up Northcliff Hill with a friend, rating all the houses as we go. I’m also getting my kicks from the Duke in Bridgerton, my sister’s rescue Chihuahuas — they are a total tonic — and, hopefully, some more escaping into books will help, though frankly my concentration is currently patchy at best. I hope you will also find relief in a similar way. 2021 is proving to be pretty hideous for everyone, but I trust you’ll find the bright spots where you can — and that Wanted is one of the most constant and luminous of them all. Stay safe,

Cover credit M a l c olm Kluk and Christiaan Gabriël du Toit relaxing in the garden at their Clarens development i n C a p e T o w n . I m a g e : G r e g C o x / B u r e a u x

F O R

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16 What the cool kids are buying and wearing right now

20 Learning curve: We talk to advocate Ndumiso Luthuli

NAVIGATOR: Black Brick

A stylish spot for a Sandton stay ..............................

Imagining a new way of living in community and with style

Inhale... exhale: These retreats are a balm for the body and soul

48 Interior designer Donald Nxumalo shares his faves

WAT C H E S

02 / 2021

N THIS MONTH of romance, we look to the “artisan of emotions” for horological expressions of love and happiness. Launched in 1993, Chopard’s Happy Sport collection was the first to combine diamonds with a stainless-steel case. But the idea for the range dates back to 1976, when in-house designer Ronald Kurowski created the rather “disco” Happy Diamonds as a men’s dress watch. The diamonds floating between two sapphire crystals inside a round-cornered, square case were inspired by water droplets from a waterfall glistening in the sunshine. Kurowski had seen one on a forest hike. This one-off piece had no fewer than 30 gold-cuffed diamonds “dancing” on a black onyx stage. However, our featured 36mm Happy Sport “Happy Palm” for women takes its cue from an elaborate Métiers d’art piece created in 2018 as a limited edition of 25, which retails for around R1.3-million, to celebrate Chopard’s partnership with the Cannes International Film Festival since 1998 and the prestigious Palme d’Or award. With Pantone proclaiming 17-5104 Ultimate Grey and 13-0647 Illuminating (yellow) as its Colour of the Year selections for 2021, the two-tone steel and 18-carat yellow-gold case of the Happy Palm also seems a fortuitous pairing. According to Pantone, this is “an aspirational colour pairing, conjoining

deeper feelings of thoughtfulness with the optimistic promise of a sunshinefilled day”, and hope for a better year ahead, no doubt. These sentiments, I’m sure, will be shared by the manufacture with joie de vivre as one of its founding principles, as well as being a reminder of Kurowski’s original sparkling vision. This spirit is also so elegantly captured in the movement of the five mobile diamonds and gold palm leaf as they gracefully dance about the dial with each gesture of the wrist. Expressing love for the planet and humans, Chopard is committed to using only 100% ethical gold in its jewellery and watches. It is also working with the Swiss Better Gold Association to source gold from the Barequeros in El Chocó in Colombia. These artisanal gold miners, 46% of whom are women, use methods that also ensure the protection of the region’s unique biodiversity. Chopard has maintained Responsible Jewellery Council Code of Practices certification since 2012, ensuring respect for human rights, labour rights, environmental

Chopard Happy Sport “Happy Palm”

COLUMN.

QUALITY TIME

If you’re happy and you know it... text

protection, and full product disclosure. With water resistance to 30m and 42-hour power reserve, the Happy Palm is a practical everyday sports luxe timepiece. I’d have liked to see this piece presented on a metal bracelet, maybe even one of the original pebble mesh designs. But along with palm trees and setting suns, its white alligator strap plays into current ’70s revival themes and is just as suitably stylish. A yellow-gold bezel set with 38 white diamonds frames the motherof-pearl dial with its guilloché centre and bold, gold Roman numerals. The characteristically exaggerated lug screw heads and the crown are also crafted in yellow gold. Its self-winding, Sellitabased SW300 mechanical movement is on view through a sapphire caseback. Limited to 250, the Happy Palm retails for around R275 000. Visit chopard.com or call Boutique Haute Horlogerie 011 325 4119

Gary Cotterell

DISRUPTIVE DESIGN Bulgari reinvented the luxury sports watch in 1998 by combining unconventional materials such as aluminium and rubber in the bezel and strap. The new 40mm Bulgari Aluminium time-date (R55 000), and Aluminium Chronograph (R80 000) models reinterpret the firstgeneration Bulgari Aluminium with more durable aluminium alloy case and titanium caseback, and automatic mechanical movements. The Chronograph won the 2020 Fondation du Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève “Iconic Watch Prize”, awarded to a watch from an emblematic collection that has had a lasting influence for more than 20 years. bulgari.com or Bulgari Boutique Sandton 011 883 1325

GIANT LEAP The Omega Master Chronometer-certified co-axial Calibre 3861 is now in all standard production Moonwatches. In celebration, there are eight novelties in steel, Canopus gold or Sedna gold, all inspired by the fourth generation Speedmaster Moonwatch (reference ST 105.012) worn by Apollo 11 astronauts during the moon landing in 1969. The “new” 42mm Moonwatch retains the asymmetrical case and step dial but gets a new bracelet, and is available with historically accurate Hesalite glass or modern sapphire-crystal glass on both sides. The new manual-winding Calibre 3861 replaces the Calibre 1861 after five decades, offering higher precision, performance, and magnetic-resistance to 15 000 Gauss. omegawatches.com More at wantedonline.com

NEWS CITY SLICKER Roger Dubuis teamed up with Hong Kong-based neon master Wu Chi Kai to transform one of its iconic designs to capture the vibrancy of neon lights that make cities come alive after sunset. The Excalibur Blacklight features the maison’s innovative automatic skeleton RD820SQ calibre, but this model is distinguished by a web of crystalline UVreactive sapphire microstructures interwoven into its movement and a luminescent rubber strap. By day, the 42mm white gold timepiece is presented in more “subtle” white, grey, and black tones but at nightfall or under UV light it’s a rainbow of neon. Limited edition of eight. rogerdubuis.com

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02 / 2021

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DOWN TO BUSINESS

02 / 2021 Manelisi Dabata

W COLUMN.

AND THE BEAT GOES ON “Just as text

Lukanyo Mnyanda

depression about the state of the world threatens to consume us, relief can come from an unexpected source”

I TH every month that passes, it gets harder to write this column. It is, after all, supposed to be light-hearted. But the times are anything but. I thought that being privileged enough to travel between two countries at a time when much of humanity is pretty much trapped wherever they are might have provided some relief. But it’s been an exercise in comparing different degrees of misery. My last column of 2020 was written as I was returning from the UK, and it gave me an opportunity to speculate on how Covid-19 might develop in South Africa. At that point we were comfortably on level 1 of the lockdown. Things were looking grim in Britain, with the daily dashboard published by The Guardian reflecting about 20 000 new infections a day. While not a strict lockdown, restrictions in Scotland were already hitting the hospitality and tourism industry. Pubs had been closed and only restaurants and cafés that didn’t serve alcohol could remain open. That, unfortunately, proved

to be a harbinger of what was to come in South Africa as its own second wave arrived and the country’s lockdown was tightened again in December. The year ended with me wishing that that particular column hadn’t been so prescient. When I returned to the UK towards the end of the year, things had only gotten worse, infections having jumped to over 60 000 per day. I had arrived just as hysteria over the so-called “South African variant” was taking off. In addition to a 10-day quarantine, I was compelled to take a Covid-19 test. By then, things had really become so bad I had no desire to end my quarantine. But in the UK, despite the gloom, people were starting to muster something that qualified as a bit of optimism, driven by the country’s ramping up its vaccination programme. If only that part could be a harbinger of what’s to come locally. Unfortunately, the government completely mismanaged that process, and we are now reduced to living in hope that the late scramble for vaccines will yield results. But not all the news was gloomy — even if it was about

Brexit. While I was there, the UK finally left the EU, more than four years after that fateful vote. Britain is famous for its selfdeprecating humour and, for years to come, its comedians will have fun reminiscing about the first post-Brexit days, what with UK travellers being prevented from taking their ham sandwiches to the Netherlands and the likes. You see, the EU forbids meat products being brought in from outside the union for personal consumption. According to Dutch TV news, a bemused traveller, when met with police wishing to seize said snack, then offered to surrender the cold meat and keep the bread, to which the immigration official is said to have responded, “No, everything will be confiscated. Welcome to Brexit, sir, I’m sorry.” Just as depression about the state of the world threatens to consume us, relief can come from an unexpected source. Maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we just can’t see it yet. In the meantime, we can just try to find things that make us laugh. Ham included. Mnyanda is the editor of Business Day

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STYLE NOTES

02 / 2021

Nokubonga Thusi Thango Ntwasa

text &

Must-have Mdingi

While we aren’t quite sure how the month of love will pan out this year, we do know that we’re going to need some pretty little treats to get us by. Lovers of the original Byredo Lil Fleur’s oriental floral scent will adore this six-piece fragrance homage that trades the iconic Byredo black topper for brightly hued caps and highlights Damascena rose, cassis, tangerine, saffron, amber, and blonde-wood scents. Whether you take one or all, you absolutely must spoil yourself a li’l. Byredo Lil Fleur EDP Collection, 100ml, R3 715 each, skins.co.za

A LIL FLEUR AC T I O N

Lukhanyo Mdingi’s Relic collection features scarves that are ethereal, functional, and deeply desirable. Snap them up immediately. thefashionagent.co.za

ROCHA GOES MINI

emininity, strength, and modernity are the main inspirations in H&M’s latest designer collaboration with Irish sartorial star SIMONE ROCHA. This is a first for the designer, who aims to simultaneously introduce the world to her whimsical and subversively feminine designs and appeal to a broad cross-section of ages too. Signature pieces will include beaded headbands and bubble-hem dresses that are sure to be a hit with both fashion lovers and their mini-me counterparts. Simone Rocha x H&M

launches 11 March. hm.com/za

Claire Hill’s silky new eye gel contains caffeine to reduce puffiness, a muscle relaxant called GABA, squalane to reduce wrinkles and pigmentation, and stevisse, a plant-based alternative to retinol for smoother, tighter skin around even the most sensitive eyes. Expect a lightweight, quick-absorbing formula that leaves the eye area looking radiant and much-renewed from first application. Claire Hill WPC Eye Complex, 30ml, R1 865,

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02 / 2021

STYLE NOTES

WHEN THE GUCCI GETS TOUGH

e didn’t see it coming either, but we are 100% on board with Gucci’s latest collaboration with super outdoorsy brand The North Face. The collection combines The North Face’s performance gear with Gucci’s maximalist aesthetic and the result is brilliant ready-to-wear pieces, accessories, luggage, and even sleeping bags and tents. Has this changed our minds about camping? Don’t push it! The collaboration also features a series of art walls and “Gucci Pins”, which are locations of the motifs from the collaboration across the globe. gucci.com

IMAGES LUKHANYO MDINGI BY ULRICH KNOBLAUCH AND SUPPLIED

Chanel has opened its first fragrance and beauty flagship boutique in Cape Town — a standalone pop-up concept store, if you will. Whether you fancy immersive fragrance experiences with the likes of the iconic N°5 and Coco Mademoiselle, interactive makeup displays,

G E T LO S T I N C H A N E L or covering yourself with creams, serums and elixirs, prepare to indulge in the best that luxury beauty retail has to offer. Chanel Fragrance & Beauty Boutique, V&A Waterfront, 021 205 9637

J U S T B R E AT H E

2021 / 02

ESCAPE.

THE POINT OF NO RETURN text

Sarah Buitendach

IMAGE ANANTARA.COM/EN/JABAL-AKHDAR

Diana’s Point at the Anantara Al Jabal Al Akhdar Resort in Oman takes our breath away. So named because Princess Diana once stood on the exact spot, the platform is a bucket-list dining and stargazing destination of note.

02/ 2021

I N TI N E RT V E RI EVW IEW

2021 / 02

A GENTLEMAN AND A SCHOLAR

DUMISO LUTHULI has been described by colleagues and friends as magisterial. That is only the half of it. He has a discreet charm underscored by a presence of mind that belies his age. He has the gravitas of an elder statesman paired with a lightness of touch that makes him eminently credible and approachable. Basically, this is a man you want batting for your team. The advocate and national secretary of the Rhodes Scholarship in South Africa is the kind of level-headed leader any institution, never mind one as freighted with the heavy baggage of history as this one, could use. Luthuli’s path, from Ndwedwe in rural KwaZulu-Natal via Inanda — an informal settlement where his mother, a domestic worker, sought work closer to the city — back to the village for high school to avoid the violence of the late ’80s and early ’90s, and on to the University of Natal for his LLB, is impressive enough. As a young man, Luthuli did not fully appreciate what the Rhodes Scholarship, for which he had applied, was really about. So he gave up the final interview to take up the Abe Bailey Travel Bursary. (No handy Zoom technology in those days, which made the 2020 interviews and the entire scholarship process a remote experience.) “I had never been out of the country, or out of KZN for that matter, so I chose the three-week tour of the UK. It seemed a much more tempting prospect than the Rhodes final interview. I did not understand what it was all about until I was on the tour. We visited London, the Old Bailey, Stratford, Scotland, Cambridge, and Oxford. We met Rhodes scholars, and that is when it hit me — the mammoth opportunity I had given up.” It was a call from Dr Tim Nuttall, the then-secretary of the KZN Rhodes selection committee, wondering how his tour had gone, that cemented Luthuli’s next steps. Luthuli had not finished his first sentence when Nuttall, using some choice words, encouraged him to try again the following year. It is probably testament to the calibre of young man that Luthuli was that the second chance paid off — he went on to read for a bachelor of civil law and an MBA. It was an experience that Luthuli says is

Aspasia Karras sees real leadership in Ndumiso Luthuli, the national secretary of the Rhodes Scholarship in South Africa

portrait

Sarah de Pina

hard to convey in words: “It was intense but I managed to do quite a bit, to make friendships that will last a lifetime. I met Alisha (Wade, a Rhodes scholar from Barbados) — my future wife.” He played soccer and even a spot of very amateur cricket. “We cobbled together a business-school team that challenged Cambridge Business School. Great fun.” He says, “One of the things I try to encourage Rhodes scholars to do is to try to find some balance. The Oxford experience is not just about the classroom; it is such a fantastic environment where such a cross-section of fascinating people from all over the world coincides and you are exposed to such interesting debates, clubs, and societies. There is so much you can learn and allow you to forge an impact on the world outside of the classroom. I crammed in as much as I could, the experience is transformative.” His only regret is not taking up the opportunity to study for a further year, as family pressures brought him back. Before being admitted to the bar, he worked in investment banking and set up his own law firm in Durban. This path ensured a smooth and happy transition for him: “I came to it quite late, but I had accumulated a lot of experience that has helped me to a very quick start at the bar. It is such a pleasure to be working with some of our leading minds on some of our most interesting cases. I have really enjoyed the experience.” Full disclosure: I have been a member of the Gauteng Rhodes Scholarship judging panel for three years. The term is for five years and it has been a remarkable honour and a steep learning curve. I am struck, each time, by the astounding talent in our country and the huge issues raised by the very scholarship that presents so much opportunity. It is the irony of the Rhodes Scholarship that

it is both one of the most prestigious scholarships of its kind in the world — with alumni who span Nobel laureates, leaders of state, and marvellous minds that have altered the course of humanity — and that the endowment itself has its roots in the colonial enterprise and all that it entailed. Of this all, Luthuli is characteristically diplomatic. He tells me that, interestingly enough, Rhodes never chose to name the scholarship after himself. He had called it the colonial scholarship — which I feel grateful did not stick for very long. The name was settled on by the trustees. “The scholarship has established a global name for itself, it is separate to Rhodes. The trust is not a custodian or a supporter of his world view, the scholarship stands on its own. And the Rhodes-scholar community has been, globally, I believe, a force for good for over 100 years,” Luthuli says. He says it is fascinating that, around the world, many people don’t associate the Rhodes name other than with the prestige of the scholarship itself. Though, naturally, the sensitivity is understandable in Africa and Southern Africa in particular. Luthuli’s personal ambition for his tenure as the national secretary is driven by very practical pursuits. His first priority is to encourage the trust to assign more of the over 100 scholarships awarded annually to the African continent. In South Africa he is engaged in discussions to review the eligibility for the scholarships reserved for certain schools. And, most importantly, he is working on outreach. He would like to spread the word about the opportunity the Rhodes Scholarship presents and to encourage and find more young scholars to apply. Potentially without having to travel to Oxford first to realise what a wonderful opportunity the scholarship offers.

02 / 2021

LIVING LIVING

BOTH

SIDES NOW

Liz Morris

HOUSE

text

Two homes in a new Cape Town development are juxtaposing examples of the ways we’re living — or definitely want to

photography

Greg Cox

2021 / 02

MALCOLM KLUK AND CHRISTIAAN GABRIËL DU TOIT’S FASHION-FORWARD PAD

“W

E LIKE our homes to be layered and multi-dimensional. Inside talks to outside. Drama talks to charm. It’s almost like painting; there is balance and chaos working together.” Fashion designers Malcolm Kluk and Christiaan Gabriël du Toit are showing me around their double-volume apartment in Clarens, a head-turner of a development of nine condo-style units in Sea Point, Cape Town. Clarens combines a modernist, breeze-bricked façade with Guggenheim-esque curves and is the new star in the constellation of the duo’s KLÛK CGDT property portfolio. “It all started when we redid the design studio in Cape Town’s Bree Street,” explains Kluk. “We got so into it because, as with fashion, we liked tailoring the space, solving the practical problems, and producing something that was unmistakably our aesthetic language and really feel-good to live in.” Backtrack a couple of years prior to their move to the Bree

The entranceway, street façade, and roof garden of the Clarens development.

Christiaan Gabriël du Toit in the entrance lobby. The floor is crazy-paving slate and granite, with occasional marble insets.

The curvaceous interior stairway overlooks the entranceway and kitchen-dining area.

The couple’s dog, Yohji, runs up the interior stairway.

The living area leads out onto the garden and raised pool.

24 1.

LIV L II V N IGN G

02 / 2021

Yohji takes some time out in the kitchen and dining space.

A Tom Dixon lamp, an unsigned vintage bust, and a ceramic totem by Dianne Heesom-Green.

A ceramic container topped with a lion by Ceramic Matters.

In the master bedroom, the artwork above the vintage side table is by Krisjan Rossouw.

4. 1.

Street loft and the plot circles back to the exact same spot in Clarens Road. “The original house here was huge, ramshackle, and eclectic in a huge, ramshackle, and eclectic garden. I remember the estate agent being completely lost for words, and not in a good way, when we decided to put it on the market and move into town,” Kluk recalls. In the end, they didn’t sell, moved downtown anyway and, with Hours Clear architects, redeveloped the Clarens site. The process has taken it from a madcap-and-magpie way of living to plush, carpet-clad lifts, self-filtering raised swimming pools, and bespoke brickwork. It’s been a lengthy journey, but one constant has been the focus on eclectic

collecting and customising, which in turn has evolved into a unique style perhaps best described as pared-back exoticism. “The one thing I didn’t want was a building that looked like just another apartment block,” says Du Toit. “The point was to create an intriguing building that referenced the style, atmosphere, and aesthetic we admired and were inspired by on our travels. We wanted a narrative, so when people drove past they would ask, ‘What is that place? Could it be a gallery?’” An obvious inspiration for the exterior breeze-brick screening is the Studio KO-designed Musée Yves Saint Laurent in Marrakech, which Kluk reveres for its ability “to look like a lantern when lit up

from inside”. They also drew cues from the playful, retro glamour of Palm-Springs modernism, and even the constant-coming-andgoing social vibe of apartment living depicted on the ’90s TV series Melrose Place. The social aspect of Clarens is an interesting flex: the apartments all have gardens and the party-friendly pool areas — which all face away from the street towards a vista of Lion’s Head — feel connected on different levels, while still being very private. Kluk says, “Very rarely do we see indoor and outdoor spaces designed to work together. We wanted to integrate the outdoor space to extend the living area, so plants were really important. We wanted to be enveloped in nature, almost as if it was taking over the building.” With such edge-to-edge sensory abundance, the interior design of their apartment needed to strike a suitably complementary note. In retrospect, Kluk’s earlier comment about balance and chaos makes perfect sense. What could, at first, seem like a vigorous aesthetic clash reveals itself to be a flirty tension of styles. The colours tease a toasted-and-tan palette, the art pumps in extravagant swathes, and the furniture in the main living and dining area is a lean and serene hybrid of boxy modernist and sculptural pieces collected over the years and frequently repurposed, reupholstered or resprayed. You get the distinct impression that designing spaces is a moveable feast for the duo, a creative expression, a place of inspiration and experiment according to the way they feel they want to live — and inspire others to do so too.

2021 / 02

HOUSE

Signature textures and colour tones on display in the landing junction between the first and second floors.

Dawid Augustyn in the kitchen.

A sedum succulent in a glass and ceramic cachepot.

A colourful sculpture, made from steel with acrylic coating, by Gaelen Pinnock.

Double-ended pencil crayons.

DAWID AUGUSTYN’S SMART APARTMENT

APPILY FOR Dawid Augustyn, the chance to set up home in Clarens happened completely seamlessly. Augustyn explains, “I worked with the developers [Kluk and Du Toit] and Hours Clear as the project’s quantity surveyor, so I’d been watching its journey from an insider’s perspective from the ground up.” From the start, he adds, “their vision of a community lifestyle, based on a non-standard approach to the look and feel of the building and interiors, resonated well with me.” At street level, the four-storey building’s blush-pink, open-bond brick-screen façade and sculptural entrance portico are highoctane eye candy for Fresnaye, a toney neighbourhood on the slopes of Table Mountain and a minute’s walk from the Sea Point promenade. There is a lot going for the locale, and many of its elegant avenues are now fringed with new-build, off-plan boxy grey blocks that reinforce a generic real-estate trope.

LIVING

02 / 2021

“I appreciated that, architecturally, Clarens had character, and had been carefully considered and curated — plus the interior spaces had three compelling aspects that worked for how I enjoy living,” says Augustyn. “The strategic connection to the outdoors and nature was important.

Then the spaces, which although very crafted never feel heavy or energy sapping because they have a sense of openness, filled with natural light and charming to inhabit. And lastly, as a designer, I bonded big time with the colour palette of the interior shell.” As he suggests, the interior colour

Stairs leading down to the livng area.

2-3.

The façade of the apartments; A 3D metal prismic sculpture by Gaelen Pinnock.

The living area is anchored by a chunky loop rug and a three-seater sofa. The archshaped artwork is by Rosie Mudge.

palette is unusual but beautifully muted and easy to work with from an interior-design point of view. A feature wall in millennial pink is set off by other finishes in smoky, charcoal, stone, caramel, and maize shades — plus a lot of nude, buff, and cocooning tones. “It’s a very grounding ambience,” he says. Augustyn also owns a design company, Establishment, which represents a roster of leading design and lighting brands — including DCW éditions, Woud, and New Works, as well as its own range of bespoke pieces — all of which have an aesthetic that worked with the visual interior culture of Clarens. “How we live now,” he muses, “is very adaptive. We’re a generation of natural nomads and can detach

PHOTOGRAPHY GREG COX/ BUREAUX PRODUCTION SVEN ALBERDING/ BUREAUX

2021 / 02

A Jumbo desk/ dressing table, Paperclip chair, and artwork by Claire Johnson in the main bedroom.

The four-poster bed creates an open and spacious feeling in the main bedroom.

The pool is in the style of the sort of reservoir that is a common element on most farms in South Africa.

8-9.

The second bedroom and ensuite bathroom, with artworks by Claire Johnson and Dale Lawrence.

quickly from a setting or situation. I like the idea that a chair can be around a dining table one day and at your desk or even outside on the terrace the next. It’s great that you can take these designs on to your next home and use them in a different way. I think that’s the modern way to live now. Well, certainly for me,” he says, noting that his next personal projects, a house in Cape Town and a small villa in Italy, are already in the works. Nomad indeed. Furniture chosen by Augustyn from international and South African designers was selected with this exact modus vivendi in mind. He calls it “easy to be around”, and that it certainly is — but that’s the trick. It is easy to be around by design. As you enter the duplex apartment, the dining table in the living room is a focal point, with curved metal legs that echo the sculptural motif found in the interior architecture. The table’s terrazzo top echoes the stone crazy-paving floors of the building’s lobby and outdoor garden courtyards. Further into the room a chair of roughly mid-century lines and, as such, ordinarily made of metal and leather, appears in a modern iteration in a dandy green gloss wood and canvas, making it the perfect transitional piece between indoors and out. Upstairs, the main bedroom, which has views towards Lion’s Head over the pool, garden, and rooftops to the ocean beyond, has been mindfully appointed to avoid bulky forms on the floor. There are no chunky bedside cabinets or clunky bed bases here; instead, elegantly proportioned furniture that doesn’t block space. A four-poster bed lightly anchors the space, while one bedside table is almost like a server (or drinks trolley) with shelves that change width to accommodate what you need close by, while the other is a cleverly combined standing lamp and small table. Indeed, cohesive examples of witty flexibility are numerous in all the rooms, contributing to an emotive comfort that comes with spaces that are well planned — not just on paper, but in the real, everyday living of them, which feels contemporary, relevant, and expressive. klukcgdt.com; establishment. co.za; hoursclear.com

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READ ALERT

02 / 2021 Shannon Daniels

COLUMN.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EVERETT text

N THE PHOTOGRAPHIC section of this absorbing memoir is the famous picture of Rupert Everett and Colin Firth in the 1984 film Another Country. They were both at the beginning of their acting careers, long before they stole away My Best Friend’s Wedding and Pride and Prejudice respectively; long before the awards and the paparazzi, the klieg lights and deranged fans. In Another Country they portray public-school boys based on the characters of notorious spies Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean. Everett is bewitchingly beautiful, louche and attenuated, suffering the homophobia of his schoolmates. The Marxist in Firth’s character makes him an outcast too. The photograph underneath it in the memoir was taken 35 years later. Everett is playing the writer Oscar Wilde, dying in exile, cast out by his homosexuality. Firth is his good friend Reggie. The film is 2018’s The Happy Prince, written and directed by Everett, which tells the lamentable story of Wilde’s last years. It says a lot that Firth agreed to act in the film for nothing, as Everett’s financing had dried up. To The End Of The World (Little, Brown) is Everett’s third memoir, after the blisteringly funny Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins and Vanished Years. Subtitled Travels With Oscar Wilde, it is a story of obsession: Everett’s lifelong preoccupation with the flamboyant playwright, and Wilde’s own lethal obsession with his young lover, Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas. Everett remembers when he first

TO THE END OF THE WORLD Rupert Everett

ANOTHER COUNTRY

Michele Magwood

Actor Rupert Everett’s delicious new memoir is as much about him as it is an homage to his obsession, Oscar Wilde heard the name of Oscar Wilde. He was five years old and, as usual, crying for his mother in his bed. When she finally came up to him — “looking like Jackie Onassis” — she read him Wilde’s poignant children’s story The Happy Prince. It ended in tears. “I learn for the first time that there is a thing called love and that it usually has a price.” Decades later he is playing Wilde in David Hare’s searing play The Judas Kiss in the West End when, just before curtain up, he hears that gay marriage has been legalised. “Just a century ago a man, Oscar, could be imprisoned, ruined — killed off, basically — simply for being gay.” And now, he says, a homosexual stands on equal ground with the rest of society. He is suddenly, almost paralysingly, moved. “Oscar winks at me in the mirror and I apply more eyeliner.” After the play’s run he is more determined than ever to make a film about Wilde, but it will take more than a decade to get it onto the screen. He writes, produces, directs, and stars in the film. He dreamed of being at the Oscars, where, “receiving my second award of the night,

I would hold one glittering statuette up to each ear and scream ‘Are these earrings too garish?’” The dream, as we see, soon turns into a very bad trip. The “snakes and ladders” of making a film is maddening; how any movie gets made is a mystery. Everett is an exceptional memoirist who clads the main story in delicious details and detours: his dubious Aunt Peta introducing him to makeup — or “slap” — at age three; standing up a livid Joan Collins for dinner; failing to recognise his chatty first-class compartment mate on a train as Thierry Henry (he mishears “Arsenal” as “arsehole”). He has a vinegared eye for the lecturers who kicked him out of drama school and a tender eye for his close friend Lychee, a transgender Vietnamese “courtesan” who was murdered in Paris in her white sable fur. Madonna has stopped speaking to him, ever since he described her as a “whiny old barmaid”. We follow him across Europe as he struggles to set up finance for his film and hunts for suitable locations. Some of the best scenes in the book are about Naples. In the vast station concourse, “Builders’ bums and breasts are displayed with pride

as they scream down diamond-studded cell phones clutched in baubled, waterretaining claws.” He finds, and stays in, the crumbling villa that Wilde and Bosie eloped to, with a marble staircase leading down to the sea but without, mercifully, the rats that pestered Bosie’s orgies. The film The Happy Prince is finally made. It is well received and wins some respectable awards but is nowhere near the smash hit he had hoped for. There’s a plangent tone to the last chapters. Everett is feeling his age, reduced to recording auditions on his iPhone and sending them into the “virtual hell” of casting directors’ inboxes. He quotes Julie Andrews, who once noted that, “While you may love showbusiness with all your heart — dedicate your life and soul to it — showbusiness will never love you back.” Arch, bitchy, witty, at times dizzyingly camp and at others melancholy and wistful, a feeling of temps perdu, or lost times, imbues the work. But we know that, while Rupert Everett may be edging closer to the wings, he has proved himself over and again to be a glittering writer. I await a fourth memoir.

PA R T N E R S H I P

WINNER ALL IMAGE SUPPLIED

DISCOVERY BANK IS CHANGING THE WAY WE THINK ABOUT MONEY

NDER THE NOW ubiquitous three-ply face mask, Hylton Kallner is visibly fired up at the suggestion that banking has to remain the same as it has over hundreds of years. Ask any non-banker and they’d tell you that banking isn’t much more than taking money on deposit, offering credit, matching the risk, and making some money in the process. Surely that model can’t really change? “It absolutely can — that’s our point exactly,” says Kallner, the new CEO of Discovery Bank. He argues that the bank — now in its second year of operation — is “fundamentally different” to the way most financial-services organisations used to operate, “where everything was on averages. What’s quite unique is that there are very few players who can do this: monetise better behaviour”. This is the crux of Discovery’s “shared-value” model. In a nutshell, what’s good for the customer is good for the bank. It’s also good for the country. “To the extent that we can get people to save more, save better, and improve their finances, you have a lower burden on the state, ultimately,” says Kallner. The five tenets of Discovery’s banking philosophy are almost absurdly simple: spend less than you earn, save regularly, pay off your property, insure against adverse events, and, finally, invest for your retirement. And at the heart of it all is Discovery’s Vitality model — the same concept that has helped build Discovery Health into the country’s largest medical insurer. In its banking guise, it’s known as Vitality Money. In a nutshell, the better you behave with your money, the more rewards you earn. For the bank it means a lower probability that you’ll default on your loans, and that means better interest rates. And so the virtuous cycle repeats... The focus on the individual is what makes this all so different. As Kallner explains, historically, banking risks were pooled together. For example, if you were a professional you got a specific kind of account and you were

pooled with all other professionals. If you were a high-income earner, you’d be pooled with all other high-income earners. Same for lowincome earners. But, says Kallner, “behaviour in those pools is actually very different. They’re treated as homogeneous, but they’re actually very different individuals.” Discovery’s own research is explicit on this point: 35.9% of individuals with a personal income of between R500 000 and R1-million a year have missed repayments on their unsecured credit in the past 12

months. That’s only marginally better than those individuals earning less than R250 000 a year, of whom 37.3% missed repayments. “You’ll have low-income earners who are very low risk and high-income earners who are very high risk, but if you segment within that, you can provide rewards and benefits that are concomitant with the underlying risk of the individual,” says Kallner. The same insight applies to how long people are likely to leave money untouched in their accounts as part of their savings efforts. Traditionally, in order to encourage

Why Discovery Bank might just be what your finances need

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virtuous behaviour, banks would offer higher interest rates on fixeddeposit accounts. That way, they’d know they’d have a certain amount of money at hand, over a specified duration, against which they could make loans. Now, however, given enormous strides in technology (much of it in the past five years, let alone since Giovanni de Medici transformed banking in 14th-century Florence) banks know, thanks to real-time data, how a customer is likely to behave. “So we can understand whether you’re likely to leave your money (in the bank) and therefore we can treat you the same way as someone who’s prepared to commit money on a fixed-deposit rate.” In other words, your behaviour means you’re treated as an individual, and not as a pool of faceless risk.

PURE PROOF And it’s working: Since its launch, Discovery Bank has opened more than 500 000 accounts, with total collective deposits of over R5-billion. That growth in deposits is three times that of the average among its South African peers, and multiples ahead of fellow start-ups like TymeBank, and even UK peers Monzo and Revolut. As with Discovery Health, the Vitality Money model is based on different levels ranging from Blue (ahem, you need to work harder) to Diamond — where customers will earn 3.75% interest on any positive balance in their account, compared to zero in almost every other local bank. Twenty-four-hour notice depositors earn as much as 5.25% compared to an average of just over 3%, while Diamond-status borrowers can get prime minus 2% — borrowing costs that are almost as good as corporate treasury rates. “Diamond Vitality members just don’t default — they're almost like

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Giulietta Talevi

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Sarah de Pina

AAA rated paper,” says Kallner, referring to the highest level of creditworthiness amongst countries. “If you manage your money well and follow the Vitality Money programme, then the benefits you derive are clear. So there should be no scepticism. It may sound too good to be true upfront but the actual proof is in the experience.” So far, the bank’s customers have spent R15-billion through its systems. And the rewards earned, known as Discovery Miles, are considerable: more than 4-billion in 2020, which translates into R400-million. “Discovery Miles is the purest monetisation of better behaviour,” says Kallner. Customers are now using their rewards as a genuine currency: not for nothing does the Discovery Miles logo resemble an inverted Euro. For example, if you use Miles to buy data or electricity, you can get up to 20% off the cost. Using Miles to buy essentials means you pay less for basic services. Rewarding better behaviour is at the heart of a Discovery Bank account, so it makes sense that Discovery Miles is its own account on your mobile app — meaning you can see how you earned your Miles, and plan how to spend them. But as far as lending goes, you could argue that Discovery has been fairly tight-fisted since it set up shop: against R5-billion in deposits, the bank has lent out a conservative R3.7billion to date. Isn’t this to Discovery’s detriment? “No, not at all, because hopefully we’ll attract better risks — people who have lower likelihoods of defaulting,” says Kallner. “If you can achieve that you can offer much better borrowing rates so you can make the same amount of money but with better outcomes, and if you can do that then you can grow incredibly fast.”

Discovery Bank’s accounts range from an entry-level R10 per month to a R400 private-banking bundle with a full rewards stack. Savings accounts are free and if you behave well, your rewards earned will far exceed the cost of your account. The Bank also touts an invitationonly offering called Discovery Purple, aimed at high-net-worth customers. For instance, you get your own consultant and a rich seam of rewards from luxury spas to global travel, including up to 50% discounts on international boutique-hotel stays. The offering is taking the private banking incumbents like Investec and RMB head-on. Still, asked whether the Discovery brand is principally aimed at South Africa’s shrinking pool of well-heeled savers, Kallner says emphatically not. “If you look at the client base we’re attracting, it’s across the whole spectrum. I think the Discovery brand stands for innovation and quality, but not elitism.” After all, Discovery Health’s KeyCare product is by far the biggest low-income product in the market and, ultimately, it’s Discovery’s wish that its entire health member database will be drawn to its bank offering. The only hurdle is that any prospective customer needs a smartphone. According to Kallner, it takes 34 clicks to open an account. That sounds a lot but the whole process is less than five minutes. Perks include a fully digital card — so you’ll never misplace it (just don’t lose your smartphone) — the ability to pay anyone in your contacts list (whether you know their banking details or not), and the ability to control your entire card system: be it to change your pin, pause and unpause your cards, add accounts or allocate credit. None of this involves ever setting foot in a branch. Amidst a global pandemic, that might just be the biggest joy of all.

“If you look at the client base we’re attracting, it’s across the whole spectrum. I think the Discovery brand stands for innovation and quality, but not elitism”

02 / 2021

T R AV E L

AND

NOW If you’re already overwhelmed by the stress of 2021, you need to know about these recharge options

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eeling frazzled and horrified to discover it’s only February? Who could blame you, given all that 2021 has already thrown at us? The good news is that South Africa has no shortage of quiet spaces to rest, recharge, and reboot. Whether you plan to meditate in silence or soak up the healing power of the great outdoors, these spots will bolster your soul for the year ahead.

01 CEDERBERG: BLISS AND STARS What’s on offer at this chic, eco-minded escape a few hours north of Cape Town? The clue’s in the name. Daria and Heine Rasmussen swopped fast-paced urban life in Denmark for 1 350ha of rugged Cederberg wilderness with their brand-new escape (it only opened in December 2020), combining their respective passions: mindfulness and meditation, and astronomy. But this is certainly no lentils-at-dawn ascetic endurance test, with a contemporary

Richard Holmes

ZEN comfort approach to this rat-race escape. Experiences range from couple-minded getaways to silent retreats. Each experience is guided by Daria, with twice-daily meditation sessions focused on doing away with stress and anxiety, and a daily relaxation session. Come evening, Heine leads the astronomy sessions — there’s a permanent observatory on the property, with four telescopes — with a focus on exploring both inner and outer space. Accommodation is in glorious Afro-Nordic chalets, all sleek lines and

chic décor contrasting neatly with the otherworldly rock formations of the surrounding mountain wilderness. While each chalet provides perfect privacy, much of the Bliss and Stars experience is collective, with gourmet plant-based meals served at a communal familystyle table. “This is not a lodge, and it’s not a retreat. It’s our home that we want to share with people,” explains Daria. “We wanted to create a place where people really slow down, so we guide people in how to do nothing. Rest is a real act of rebellion in this world!” blissandstars.com

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02 KWAZULU-NATAL: BUDDHIST RETREAT CENTRE Alan Paton was perhaps the first to wax lyrical about the grasscovered hills of Ixopo, a landscape “lovely beyond any singing of it”. It’s the same lush landscape that cradles the Buddhist Retreat Centre, a restorative space that has become a soughtafter escape for souls in need of recalibrating. Set on a 120ha property overlooking the Umkomaas valley, the centre pairs quiet pathways through lush forests with an array of meditative spaces, both indoors and out. Structured weekend retreats encompass everything from yoga to Vipassana meditation, from reiki to mindfulness. On weekdays, independent “self retreats” are available for those preferring to reboot on their own. Accommodation at the centre ranges from simple single rooms with communal bathrooms to comfortable two-bedroomed lodges with en-suite facilities. The centre’s acclaimed restaurant serves an impressive menu of vegetarian cuisine, including organic vegetables and farm-baked bread. brcixopo.co.za

03 WINELANDS: TEMENOS RETREAT When Billy Kennedy first had a vision for a spiritual garden in the heart of the Cape Winelands village of McGregor, he was confronted with little more than a dusty hectare of bare veld. That was in 1996 and, my, how things have changed since then. Today, the garden at Temenos Retreat is an oasis in the truest sense of the word — a lush refuge of green against the summer heat that settles like a blanket in the Breede River valley. It’s equally an oasis for the soul, says Kennedy. “I wanted to create a place where people could come that was completely open and tolerant. It’s a place where people come to connect with themselves, and perhaps with their own sense of the sacred. It’s truly an open space with lots of beautiful sections to be still in.” Stillness is a word he uses often, but he’s aware

it doesn’t come easily to stressed-out city-folk. “Some people are not sure how to be in stillness, so we recommend that they have a meditation session or yoga session,” says Kennedy. Structured retreats are offered regularly, with an array of spiritual and wellness practitioners available on request to guide guests with everything from reiki to personal counselling. Each of the 14 cottages, set privately within the garden, is geared for selfcatering, or guests can book a table at the on-site restaurant, Tebaldi’s. A vegan and vegetarian menu is served daily, alongside a regular à la carte offering of country cuisine. From spiritual journeys to dealing with grief, a stay at Temenos is all about finding your own path — often literally, through the remarkable gardens where you’ll stumble on hidden libraries and labyrinths, swimming pools, and quiet corners for reflection. temenos.org.za

02 / 2021

F RFARGARGARNACNEC E

TO ADORE

NEW Nokubonga Thusi

SOMETHING

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The rebirth of a soughtafter flower signals the dawn of a new era for an iconic Dior scent

2021 / 02

introduced an exclusive partnership with the Grasse-based Le Domaine de Manon, a property headed up by Carole Biancalana, whose family has grown scented flowers used in perfumes for over three generations. What makes the flowers grown at Le Domaine de Manon special is the company’s unique geographical positioning between the land and sea. These climatic conditions give the flowers unique qualities.

IMAGES POL BARIL FOR PARFUMS CHRISTIAN DIOR

OT EVEN the world of perfume and perfumers has gone untouched by Covid-19. For Dior’s perfumer-creator François Demachy, perhaps there has even been a dash of serendipity to his pandemic experience — the native of French perfumery region Grasse got to go home. As the head honcho of the brand’s perfumery explains, “During this period of the

François Demachy and Carole Biancalana walking in the fields of Grasse.

quarantine, it was strongly suggested to me by the headquarters that I move to Grasse because I am in the category of people who are vulnerable. I went off to Grasse and I was all by myself for two months with no one to disturb me and I had the laboratory all to myself. I was able to do what I liked; I even came up with new ideas for projects that hadn’t seen the light of day yet. My family stayed in Paris, so I was really a free bird.” Ensconsed in the heady place in which he grew up, surrounded by fields of roses, jasmine, and the scent of perfume factories permeating the air, the alchemist made magic happen. He forged collaborations, helped introduce a lost flower to the region, and even put a magical spin on the ultimate Dior perfume, J’adore. When he took over the perfume reins at Dior in 2006, Demachy also

The house of Dior has long been known to champion the use of exclusive raw ingredients within its scents, even producing a particular signature rose that isn’t available to any other fragrance houses. In the instance of this particular partnership, it reserved 3ha of fields to grow centifolia rose and jasminum grandiflorum for its use entirely. From May to June, they harvest the roses daily and then do the same for the jasmine in the warm evenings from July to late October. Can you just imagine how intoxicatingly fragrant the air must be during these heady days? Little wonder that Christian Dior himself once said, “After women, flowers are the most lovely thing God has given the world.”

THE CLASSIC REVAMPED Since its release in 1999, Dior’s J’adore fragrance has been an icon of the

Demonstrating the “enfleurage” extraction technique used to preserve the exact fragrance of tuberose.

perfume world. Created to embody liquid gold in a bottle and named for Christian Dior’s signature phrase of enthusiasm “j’adore” — which he’d exclaim while reviewing garments — the scent has a fanbase the globe over. Now more than ever, in fact. At the end of last year, British perfume retailer The Perfume Shop released a list of its 10 best-selling fragrances (sales made during the UK’s second lockdown). J’adore made the cut — its timeless nostalgia, no doubt, a balm in unsteady times. Its devotees must also be thrilled that 2020 ushered in a new era for the heritage perfume, with the creation of J’adore Infinissime. Naturally, this new iteration had to offer something fresh without losing the essence of what makes J’adore what it is. With this in mind and aiming to create a scent that would embody the sexiness, liberation, and femininity of a woman who has her “head held high, no compromising”, Demachy turned to the power of flowers. J’adore Infinissime uses the signature bouquet of white flowers that makes it recognisable as a J’adore flanker, namely ylang-ylang, centifolia rose, lily of the valley, and jasmine. But, needing a flower delicate and seductive enough to convey femininity but not overwhelmingly enveloping, and heady to convey strength, Demachy settled on tuberose. And not just any tuberose, mind. Working with the Domaine de Manon team, he reintroduced the Grasse tuberose that had not been found in the region since the 1950s. Known for being a very difficult and timeconsuming flower to cultivate due to its lengthy replanting process and its reputation for exhausting the soil’s nutrients, tuberose was scarce in Grasse. “We had to wait three years to have the first flowers, so it takes a very long time to produce tuberose,” explains Biancalana. Says Demachy, “By incorporating Grasse Tuberose into the J’adore composition, I created a romantic encounter. It is as though J’adore seduced the tuberose, taking it on, showcasing it, colouring it and giving it light. J’adore Eau De Parfum Infinissime has a sensual charm thanks to this little white flower that is as intense as it is moving. It has an immediate, intact power that transcends trends. It is a genre of scent in its own right.” Now dressed in a golden bottle with the golden J’adore necklace unravelling down its curves, J’adore Infinissime is an ode to Grasse as much as it one to a unique flower and a winning partnership.

PROPERTY

02 / 2021

CLASSIC

H ITS These quintessential Joburg houses are currently on the market and definitely worth a squiz

URE, Jozi might lack the easy appeal of Durban’s warm ocean and laid-back lifestyle, or Cape Town’s raw natural beauty but the continent’s economic powerhouse is famous for a cosmopolitan vibrancy, temperate climate, and an urban legend that it’s the world’s largest manmade forest. While newer areas suffer from a proliferation of pastiche security estates and lack a sense of place, Joburg’s established suburbs offer tree-lined streets, public green spaces and many tasteful houses in large, well-tended gardens. These older homes range from understated midcentury bungalows (some of South Africa’s most notable modernist architects were based in the city) to stately stone mansions constructed by the randlords who founded the city. We’ve trawled the market and found Joburg classics that are currently for sale and should go onto your property wishlist right now.

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01 LYSTANWOLD ROAD, Saxonwold

At first glance, this Cape-Dutch Revival offers all the best aspects of a Joburg heritage home. Picturesque gables, an expansive garden, and character features such as timber floors and bay windows. An elegant and sensitive extension was added by acclaimed architect Sydney Abramowich in the 1970s for then owner and South African artist Hannatjie van der Wat. The modernist pavilion addition is a celebration of mid-century elegance that would

make even Mies van der Rohe proud. Typical Bauhaus-inspired design cues include expansive glazing, lithe linear roof planes, terracotta floor tiles, mosaic wall panels and even a conversation pit. It’s important that modern extensions shouldn’t overwhelm a heritage property and the understated ’70s extension forms a restrained and masterful counterpoint to the more traditional original dwelling. Asking price: R8 900 000 Fine and Country, Lieska Dieperink, 082 499 5564

Brian McKechnie

2021 / 02

HEARN DRIVE, Northclifft

Designed in the Spanish Mission style, popularised by 1930s movie stars, this sprawling villa is a decadent slice of

BARNTON ROAD

Greenside

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The perfect city bungalow. This appealingly modest house in the heart of “The Parks” has benefitted from a careful nip and tuck, bringing it comfortably into the 21st century. Whilst the original Marseilles-tile roof, parquet floors, and boxy bungalow proportions all remain,

the home’s interiors have been opened up and carefully modernised. The result is an easyliving, light-filled, family space that’s packed with old Joburg character and a beautiful stoep to collapse on come lazy Highveld afternoons. Asking price: R3 200 000 Byron Thomas, 076 987 9659

THE VALLEY ROAD, Westcliff

The Parktown and Westcliff area is renowned as one of Joburg’s premier heritage nodes; originally home to

mining magnates, captains of industry, and the city’s social elite. This contemporary property on the prestigious The Valley Road celebrates Westcliff’s stately

architectural lineage. The symmetrical façade is reminiscent of a classical Palladian villa, while koppie-stone terraced gardens and arched, colonnaded verandas

echo Herbert Baker’s influence on the suburb. Asking price: R27 000 000 Lew Geffen Sothebys, Beverley Gurwicz, 082 412 0010

old Hollywood, nestled on Northcliff’s green northern slope. Original features such as parquet floors, a timber-panelled bar, stone-clad fireplaces, and handmade

Italian roof tiles are all retained in this classic Joburg residence. A shaded veranda, made for afternoon G&Ts, spans the entire northern façade and affords views across the pool,

and the odd guinea fowl, all the way to the Magaliesburg. Asking Price: R4 999 999 Lew Geffen Sothebys, Gert Bekker, 082 570 0222

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I NGG MMOOT TOORRI N

Denis Droppa

THE HALO EFFECT

Denis Droppa peeks at the most enthralling prestige cars headed our way in 2021

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FEW “HALO” cars are headed for South Africa this year to attract buyers seeking the ultimate motoring experience. We take a look at four that push styling boundaries or represent the pinnacle of their segments in luxury, technology, and performance.

Rolls-Royce Ghost

As per tradition, Mercedes’ pinnacle luxury car arrives with a host of innovations and even greater luxury. The hi-tech excitement includes facial recognition, which identifies people as they step aboard and arranges everything to their liking, a heads-up display with augmented reality that shows animated turn arrows seemingly projected onto the road lane, and a digital light system that projects symbols onto the road surface to warn the driver of roadworks or traffic signs. The second generation of MBUX (Mercedes-Benz User Experience) makes its debut in the highly digitised cabin, offering up to five screens in the front and rear. Using cameras in the overhead control panel and learning algorithms, MBUX Interior Assist recognises the intentions of S-Class occupants. For example, if the driver looks over their shoulder towards the rear window, the car automatically opens the sunblind. Stuttgart’s new flagship sedan, internally dubbed the W223, also debuts the world’s first frontal airbags for rear passengers as part of a comprehensive safety suite. The Drive Pilot system gives the car level-three autonomous driving ability (the driver does not need to monitor the environment but must be ready to take over driving with notice). It’s pre-equipped and ready for the world’s first level-four system, which makes the car almost fully able to drive

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The “junior” Rolls-Royce — if you can say that with a straight face about a car of such opulence — arrives in its second generation after its predecessor spent 11 years on the market. The Ghost is no longer based on BMW 7 Series underpinnings and is built from the ground up on an all-aluminium body with what Rolls-Royce calls “Post Opulence” minimalism. Nevertheless there’s no shortage of grandiosity, including an illuminated pantheon grille — the first Rolls-Royce to offer this feature — and an illuminated fascia that displays a starry constellation on the passenger-side dashboard. The enlarged new Ghost offers more room inside a sumptuous cabin of understated elegance, though there are still lamb’s wool carpets to sink your feet into. It’s the most technologically advanced Rolls yet, featuring all-wheel steer and all-wheel drive, and a Planar suspension that features a damper on top of the traditional damper to all but eliminate road vibrations. The Ghost wafts along on air springs and adaptive dampers, and uses cameras to scan the road ahead and prepare the suspension accordingly. The luxury British car is briskly but silently whisked along by a 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 with 420kW and 850Nm. The Ghost goes on local sale in early 2021 and price is on application.

Mercedes-Benz S-Class

Main: Rolls-Royce Ghost

Top right: Mercedes S-Class

Bottom right: Audi RS Q8

Bottom left: BMW M4

itself (with an option for the driver to take over) once regulations allow. Luxury-wise the new S-Class offers up to 10 different massage programmes that can be summoned by voice control. Rear-axle steering gives the large sedan more agile handling and reduces the turning circle for easier parking. The powertrain lineup comprises sixand eight-cylinder engines and a petrolelectric hybrid. It is expected to arrive in the country in the first quarter of the year.

Audi RS Q8 Set to arrive locally in the first quarter of 2021, this dame holds the SUV lap record around the Nurburgring circuit, if that sort of thing floats your boat. Built on the same platform as the Lamborghini Urus, the RS Q8 is the halo model of Audi’s crossover SUV range, launched in South Africa in 2019 as a rival to BMW’s X6 and the Mercedes GLE Coupé. Laying down the power through quattro all-wheel drive, it’s scorched along by Audi’s most potent turbo engine: a 4.0-litre V8 petrol with outputs of 441kW and 800Nm — the same unit that powers the S8 super-limousine, which is also headed for our shores this year. The bulky SUV’s performance outguns many sportscars, blitzing the 0-100km/h sprint in a claimed 3.8 seconds and topping out at 305km/h.

BMW M4 No car has created more controversy in recent times than the 4-Series Coupé, with its outrageous kidney grille that looks almost large enough to inhale small children two at a time. Whether you love or hate the design, behind those notorious nostrils is a technological tour de force of a car, especially in M4 guise. The two-door 4 Series has already been launched in South Africa in 420i, 420d, and M440i xDrive variants, but they will soon be followed by the fire-spitting M4 (and its four-door M3 sedan cousin), which takes on the Mercedes-AMG C63 in the high-performance stakes. In Competition guise the M4 sends 375kW and 650Nm to all four wheels via an eight-speed M Steptronic auto transmission, promising a 3.9 second 0-100km/h sprint. Top speed is limited to 250km/h, or 290km/h if you specify the optional M Driver’s Package, and Adaptive M suspension offers electronically controlled shock absorbers. The BMW M4 Competition Coupé and M3 Competition Sedan will both be launched locally during the first half of 2021.

ART

02 / 2021

A new school of cool

Renowned artistpotter Hylton Nel is incubating a new generation of talent

text

Julia Freemantle

artwork

HE IMPORTANCE of mentorship in the arts cannot be overstated. And while artists are, by and large, solitary creatures, the concept of art apprenticeships goes as far back as the Renaissance. Not only is it a vehicle to hand down skill, but it also serves to nurture the next creative generation. Revered artist-potter Hylton Nel has, over the years, drawn together a collective of ceramicists in his home town of Calitzdorp. An entirely organic process, through which artists informally started to visit his studio and pick up a piece of clay to experiment with, it’s evolved into something of a community. “It came about by chance, out of the landscape,” he says. In his gentle guidance of Imeldo “Melvin” Wagenaar, Hannes “Basie” Gerhadus, Jacobus Frans, Mexicano Da Pointers, and Reuben Manuel, who have become members of the unofficial “School of Nel”, the artist has assumed the role of teacher (not for the first time — those in the know will be familiar with the work of his former mentee, the late Nico Masemola, who went on to great success as an artist). Nel’s work, which spans 50 years and is instantly recognisable for its distinctive but diverse visual language, encompasses figurines, small sculptures, plates, and bowls, and touches on everything from political commentary (Barack Obama has various pieces dedicated to him) to art history and literature (often expressed via text). He’s known for his whimsical depictions of everyday life — cats are a recurring theme — and irreverent humour.

1, 2, 3. Hannes “Basie” Gerhadus, A Large Hare; A Happy Horse; A Seated Monkey 4-5. Reuben Manuel, A Man Riding an Equid; A Man Waiting with his Dogs

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His unique style has made him wildly collectable, and now, at the height of his renown, he’s giving a space to this group of aspiring Karoo artists, each of whom has channelled aspects of Nel’s work into their own pieces. “Looking at the work of his protégés, you can definitely see the echoes of Hylton,” says Michael Chandler of Chandler House, whose Voorkamer Gallery hosted the first group show in January. The artists are self-taught for the most part, with Nel’s studio serving as a creative incubator for them to explore the medium. “My role is mostly practical and technical, advising them on the position of a handle, helping them make the glazes, things like that,” he says. “It’s a muddled and fairly chaotic enterprise, but it moves along,” he says. Nel has found witnessing the process rewarding. “For them it’s also a journey of discovery.” Additionally, for those who left school early, this endeavour presents an opportunity to earn an income. “I think they also enjoy the process of making something that didn’t exist before,” he adds. While the artists have been inspired by Nel, there is no doubt a unique approach apparent in each of their work. “Some artists tend to keep within a certain theme — for example, Melvin is fond of rabbits who are often absorbed reading books, Hannes creates celadon-glazed animals who always seem cheerful and alert, while Jacobus’ works all include little lizards,’ notes Chandler. Nel and Chandler hope that this will be an ongoing and sustainable initiative, with Chandler House hosting the works in Cape Town.

chandlerhouse.co.za

6. Imeldo “Melvin” Wagenaar, A Cross-Legged Hare - Green 7. Mexicano Da Pointers, commemorative mug inscribed with “Corona Virus Pandemic” 8. Hannes “Basie” Gerhadus, Two Seated Male Figures

NAVIGATOR 02 / 2021

D i sp a t ch e s o n a l l t h i n g s c ool , c ove t a bl e , a n d c onve r s a t i o n - wo r t hy

T H E L A T E S T E A T S , S W E E T S , C H I C S U I T E S , A N D W H I S K Y T R E A T S T O S E E K O U T R I G H T N O W

After the past 11 months of lockdowns and booze bans, restaurateurs could be forgiven for tying up their knife rolls for good. But chefs are nothing if not a hardy lot, and a handful of gutsy Cape cooks are bucking the trend with reinvented restaurants that deserve your time and money text

Richard Holmes

Local, Cape Town

IMAGES LOCAL BY CLAIRE GUNN; BEYOND BY PETER TEMPELHOFF; AND SUPPLIED IMAGES LOCAL BY CLAIRE GUNN; BEYOND BY PETER TEMPELHOFF; AND SUPPLIED

BRAVE CHEFS BUCK THE TREND

2021 / 02

Cape Town

LOCAL Cape Town

chefswarehouse.co.za/ local

BEYOND Constantia

ELGR

estaurateur Liam Tomlin has been one of the restaurant industry’s most vocal opponents of curfews and alcohol bans, and little wonder: with five restaurants to fill, he’s a chef with plenty of skin in the game. And now he’s doubling down as the driving force behind Local at Heritage Square, a large communal eating and retail space in this historic corner of the city centre. Downstairs, homegrown brands and producers reign supreme, from local charcuterie to cheese and ceramics. La Cantina offers fresh Italian fare, or look for great coffee and glorious cannoli and bigne pastries at Caffè Milano by Giorgio Nava. Finally, Tomlin adds to his menu with Mazza, a small-plate restaurant celebrating the flavours of the Middle East. Tomlin calls it his “homage to Beirut”. Opening this month, Local is most certainly lekker.

hef-patron Peter Tempelhoff’s latest foray into fine dining brings a longoverdue refresh to the restaurant at the Buitenverwachting estate in the Constantia Winelands. Tempelhoff and head chef Julia du Toit strip away (most of) the layers to focus the compact, à la carte menu on produce. It’s “simple, elegant food that’s still packed with flavour,” says Du Toit. A starter portion of burrata with organic beets is as silken and creamy as can be, while ostrich tataki is enlivened by a spicy chirizu sauce. It strikes just the right balance of comfort food with a flourish of fine dining, at localfriendly prices. The views alone are worth the spend, with floorto-ceiling glass walls offering panoramic views of vineyard and forest scampering up the Constantiaberg. The wine list focuses on Constantia cellars, alongside older vintages and rarities from the Buitenverwachting vinoteque.

beyondrestaurant. co.za

ichael Broughton’s much-loved Stellenbosch restaurant Terroir may have fallen victim to the lockdown of 2020, but in its place has risen a charming new Winelands eatery under the sharp knife of consultant-chef Nic van Wyk. While the al-fresco appeal remains, the understated fine dining of Terroir is replaced with an approachable “plat du jour” menu of pared-down bistro classics: think fillet béarnaise, moules frites and more. With a “plat” and a glass of estate wine for R245 you can’t go wrong. That’s not all Van Wyk has to offer though: the new space blurs the separation Stellenbosch between the winetasting and restaurant spaces, and the menu of creative tapas plates allows for a light lunch with a tasting flight, or a tasting experience paired with a plate or two to whet the appetite.

hef Jesper Nilsson brings a slick small-plate experience to buzzy Kloof Street, reenergising the space that once housed Janse&Co. In its warm charcoal tones and Scandi-chic furniture, this thoroughly urban, and urbane, space will feel familiar to fans of its previous incarnation, with the welcome addition of a revamped rear courtyard. The experience is built around small plates, with Nilsson bringing his local and international experience to bear on the menu. Start with the house-cured charcuterie before covering the table with a selection of creative plates and wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizza. It’s a large space, with plenty of room for distancing, but the best tables on a summer’s eve are in the courtyard. The cocktail selection and wine list, when the alcohol bans are lifted, offer an impressive collection from sommelier Mario Salvato. Until then, their mocktails will have to do. elgr.co.za

KLEINE ZALZE RESTAURANT

kleinezalze.co.za

NNAAVVI IGGAATTOORR

02 / 2021

(you might not know that Scandinavians love the stuff) and range from the sort of salty or sweet inky, chewy candies we know to the most astounding chocolate-covered liquorice bonbons. The latter include salted caramel versions and coffee ones too — but my real standout flavour has to be the passionfruit one. Liquorice plus white chocolate and passionfruit might sound a strange combo but you must give it a go. These little beauties make a great gift and are available from stores at the V&A Waterfront, Hyde Park Corner, and online at

SWEET

beautifulage.co.za

SURPRISE text

Sarah Buitendach

o you have bad associations with liquorice? Does it invoke allsorts of traumatic childhood memories of bitter bits left at the bottom of a sweet packet? Then might I suggest that you get off the therapist’s couch and try some Lakrids by Bülow goodies? Trust me — your hang-ups about the aniseed-y food (we’d call it a sweet but, well, sometimes it just isn’t) will evaporate. I gave them a bash and am a convert. The really fancy liquorice delights are the brainchild of Danish businessman Johan Bülow

A SIP OF THE QUEEN’S TEARS text

Richard Holmes

A new, limited-release single-malt whisky combines a dash of history and a dab of African art with a dram of peaty Islay malt

hen news of the British defeat at Isandlwana reached Queen Victoria in 1879, the monarch, so the story goes, wept into her whisky. Ever since, the Zulu phrase Izintembezi zenkosikazi — “The Queen’s tears” — has been a byword for quality Scotch whisky. Whether that’s fact or fable is hard to know, but you’ll probably not care much either way while sipping a dram of the singlemalt whisky it inspired.

What began as a passion project for veteran journalist and academic Anton Harber, and a few like-minded friends, has resulted in a must-have addition for any whisky collector with an eye for South African art. Harber and Co have been purchasing single casks from Scottish distilleries for years and, in 2004, stamped their names on a barrel filled with new-make spirit from Bruichladdich, on the Scottish island of Islay.

“Bruichladdich is a respected old distillery that was just reopening when we bought the barrel,” explains Harber. “It was good timing, and I’m particularly fond of peaty whiskies from Islay.” Their first-fill ex-bourbon cask then lay quietly in the Bruichladdich barrel store for the next 14 years, before being uncorked, bottled, and shipped to South Africa. Just 222 individually numbered bottles were produced, bottled at an undiluted cask strength of 54.3% ABV.

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hotel in Sandton that is not blingy or tacky or some kind text Sarah Buitendach of strange pastiche of grandeur is an uncommon and pleasing thing. Black Brick is one such exceedingly rare bird: lowkey in a hipster-eqsue, cool way. If you’ve ever stayed at an Ace Hotel abroad, you’ll know the vibe. This new outfit is, in truth, part hotel suites (all with kitchenettes), part residential space — the clever reinvention of one of the old South African Breweries office blocks on Fredman Drive. A black-painted brick exterior (geddit?), and some heavy interior remodelling later and what was once a space of corporate cubicles, and presumably lots of talk about hops, is now a really nice place to stay if you’ve got to work in Sandton — especially for an extended period. The rooms are simple, spacious and functional, there’s a delightful little rooftop bar and a Soul Souvlaki and Sésame Deli in the foyer to keep you fed and watered. Oh, and in non-Covid times, there’s a library and shared workspaces to set up camp in. In short, this is an unpretentious and friendly spot to stay in. More like this please. blackbrick.club

B L A C K

I N

F A S H I O N

Get the new tashas recipe book and pretend

you’re eating out

text

Graham Wood

But what’s outside the bottle is perhaps as striking as the dram within. It was, fittingly, over a whisky that acclaimed South African artist William Kentridge offered to illustrate the label — the first release in a series of singlemalt whiskies with labels by renowned South African artists. It’s certainly not the first time Kentridge’s work has graced a glass bottle. In 2018 he was selected to illustrate the label for the Château

MAKE FOOD AND MAKE BELIEVE Mouton Rothschild 2016 vintage; the first African artist to join a tradition of collaborations stretching back to 1945. His work, The Triumphs of Bacchus, shows a series of playful silhouettes inspired by characters from the European masters. But with Izintembezi zenkosikazi there’s a sociopolitical undertone at play: the mine-head and ledger a reflection of the goldfields, and migrant labour, that boomed not long after that famous Zulu military victory.

It was a societal shift soon to cause tears of a very different sort. There’s certainly plenty to ponder here, from the gloriously peaty Islay spirit in the glass to the chequered history at play in the name. Even Queen Vic herself would probably pour a dram.

R6 600 per 700ml bottle. Available at whiskybrother.com and artistswhiskies@gmail.com

fter more enforced (lock)downtime, having our wings clipped by the pandemic, and generally feeling as if our horizons have diminished, tashas inspired (Quivertree) provides some respite. The second cookbook by restaurateur Natasha Sideris — founder of tashas, the boutique cafés we love so much — is well timed to recreate something of the café experience that’s been denied us at home. “At tashas, we think about every single detail, and I would like to encourage home cooks to do the same,” says Sideris. Tashas inspired is divided into chapters, each dedicated to the café cultures around the world: from cities like Paris and New York to broader regions like Spain, Greece, and the Levant. There are even sections for traditions, such as the English picnic. Each section includes advice for table settings and décor, so you can recreate the particular café society ambience. The recipes (which are delectable) are illustrated with beautifully styled photographs and are presented with original artworks chosen to capture and convey something of the social spirit and creative flair that inform each culture. While the book undoubtedly helps to make it possible for us all to create a little of the café culture we all miss so much at home, it’s also a timely reminder of the social, cultural, and artistic life cafés feed, as much as our hunger! Available at tashas cafés and leading bookstores

DESIGN

02 / 2021

BOOKMARK THIS

Graham Wood considers whether the proposed Thabo Mbeki Presidential Library is kitsch or cool

text

Graham Wood

OO OFTEN, attempts to inject local flavour into contemporary architecture result in a kind of parody of identity. Good architecture responds to context, climate, culture, and so on, but that needn’t amount to a “look”. When architects try to invent regional or national design idioms, they seldom amount to anything more than sentimentality and kitsch. Add to that the potential pitfalls of metaphor in architecture — for example, the vacuous idea that a transparent government building might somehow embody (or even enhance) the transparency of democracy — and the design for the Thabo Mbeki Presidential Library (TMPL), unveiled by BritishGhanaian starchitect Sir David Adjaye at the end of last year, should be in hot water. It lands squarely in both danger zones. The library, to be built in the suburb of Riviera in Johannesburg, is intended to be the embodiment — as well as a generator — of the former president’s idea of an African Renaissance. “My vision for the new presidential library aims to encompass both an African past and an African future,” says Mbeki’s statement. “It will be a place where Africans uncover Above: Design of the reading room

their own history and identity. A place where we are empowered to script a brighter and more prosperous future.” It will include a museum, exhibition space, archive, research centre, auditorium, shop, and cafeteria. And its design needed not just to be functional, but also symbolic. Its most distinctive feature is a series of dome-shaped, rammed-earth structures inspired by granaries. The equivalency it draws between a store of nourishment and a store of knowledge might be a bit on the corny side. As far as its aesthetic inspiration goes, adobe domes are hardly a distinctly or recognisably South African thing. Adjaye’s design looks as if it has its genesis in West Africa, most obviously Niger. It might make a statement about the library being a more broadly continental resource, but comes a bit close to “Africa is a country” territory. And yet, there is something exhilarating about the design. The simple

Bottom left: A cross-section of the TMPL

Bottom right: Main Avenue entrance

fact that it looks so different from anything else in the city is hugely compelling. The way in which it isn’t surrounded by walls, opening up the space around it, is uplifting. The way in which the ferrous red of the rammed earth picks up on the red brick of some of the surrounding blocks of flats, subtly setting them on a new historical trajectory, is a deft architectural gesture. Despite its potential pitfalls, the TMPL presents a compelling vision of a future African city — an embodiment of African modernity — utterly free of either colonial tropes or the misguided yet alltoo-common impulse to mimic generic international conventions (steel-and-glass towers, for example) in an attempt to prove that Africa too can be “world-class”. It’s like a little piece of Wakanda… a fresh vision, a landmark, and hopefully a watershed. By sticking too closely to the rules — of taste, political sensitivity, or regional veracity — it would never have been so audaciously inspiring. And it is.

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N AV I G A T O R

2021 / 02

WHAT TO SIP ON NOW text

Wade Bales

Damascene’s second release is a sublime sémillon made from some of Franschhoek’s oldest, most revered bush vines. Planted over 60 years ago, the resultant wine is a complex buffet of salted caramel, just-toasted almonds, and citrus peel.

THE REAL WINNER

DRINKS.

DAMASCENE FRANSCHHOEK SEMILLON 2019 BIGHITTING SAUV BLANCS: TWO OF THE COUNTRY’S BEST SAUVIGNON BLANCS THAT ARE MAKING THE BIGGEST INTERNATIONAL SPLASH HAIL FROM GROOT CONSTANTIA AND GROOTE POST RESPECTIVELY:

Groot Constantia’s 2019 Sauvignon Blanc won the International Sauvignon Blanc Trophy at the 2020 International Wine Challenge (IWC) — one of the most prestigious competitions in the world. This is the first time in 10 years that the award for the best sauvignon blanc has not been won

by either the Loire Valley in France or New Zealand. With great complexity on the nose, dominated by ripe fruit such as white peach, passion fruit, and guava, there’s a distinct grassy, herbal undertone and a hint of lemon. The palate has intensity and length, balanced by fresh natural acidity.

This historic West Coast estate boasts the perfect terroir conditions for sauvignon blanc. With its 2019 Seasalter having placed at the 2019 FNB Sauvignon Blanc Top 10 competition, Groote Post’s much-anticipated latest vintage has just been released. Expect the elegance and purity

of fruit, vibrant acidity, oystershell minerality and a distinctly salty finish. Rich, layered, and long, the artful addition of sémillon adds intensity and balance. Best enjoyed alongside West Coast seafood, of course.

Journey’s End Vineyards’ Cape Doctor 2015 Bordeaux-style blend has been honoured with a five-star rating in the 2021 Platter’s Wine Guide. This follows hot on the heels of its mighty 97-point rating and a Platinum Medal — the highestscoring red wine from South Africa — at the Decanter World Wine Awards 2020. Expect cassis and rich fruitcake on the nose, accompanied by cinnamon spice and dark chocolate from generous oak ageing. Concentrated blackberries are complemented by a creamy texture, with soft, elegant tannins delivering a beautiful, long-lasting finish.

GIN UP

Ginato’s collection of gins are as unique as they are quintessentially Italian. They include Ginato Pompelmo, distilled from Italy’s finest grapes and juniper berries, which showcases bright grapefruit aromas and a tangy taste; Ginato Clementino, sporting clementine notes and a refreshingly zesty finish; and Ginato Limonato, expertly blended from pinot grigio grapes and Sicilian citrus.

LESS IS MORE T he Abstinence range offers a selection of nonalcoholic drinks distilled from some of the Cape’s finest indigenous flora. With no added flavouring or colouring (and no sugar), the trio includes:

HOW TO DRINK IT: Two tots of Abstinence with tonic water, a citrus twist and fresh rosemary.

Cape Citrus: Bold citrus notes are supported by delicate buchu, pepper, and fennel accents. Cape Fynbos: The fynbos-laden Table Mountain in full bloom and distilled into a drink. Abstinence Aperitif: A classic Italianstyle bitter with a dominant blood-orange citrus note, infused with natural botanicals.

With over two decades of experience in the luxury-drinks market, Wade Bales’ passion is sourcing really great drinks and sharing them with really great people

GIFTED

02 / 2021

most about Johannesburg? I love that there is so much to do — I can pick any activity based on my mood. Jhb is more than just restaurants and shopping: we have hiking, parks, and retreats that you can visit and feel refreshed before you head back into the city for work. I love that the city is developing and there is always something new to discover, like the BKhz Gallery that just opened at Keyes Art Mile in Rosebank. We are constantly moving. What is your all-time favourite place to eat out? La Boqueria in Parktown North. I always order the grilled whole fish and salad. To share, of course. How do you relax? I take long drives and listen to music. I find that music can be a powerful way to escape whatever is worrying me. I can literally change the frequency of the day. What is the one item of clothing you bought, instantly loved, and still have in your wardrobe years

ssential grooming products? Kiehl’s exfoliator and SPF50 sunscreen and Dermaplex face wash and night cream. Must-have tech? My AirPods for gym. Since lockdown began, I have gained an appreciation for running and workouts so they are now an essential. My pet peeve is walking out my door and seeing that they aren’t charged! Describe your design style in three words? Functional, beautiful, and dramatic. The building everyone should visit before they die? Forodhani House in Lamu, Kenya, for the vernacular architecture and the beautiful scenes surrounding the island of Lamu. Life slows down as fishing boats come in and out and total peace can be achieved. You can swim all day. It’s very simple but spacious; that is what I enjoy about it. Coffee or tea? Coffee. What do you love

later? Nothing that I owned in my twenties fits me anymore, but on a recent trip to Nigeria I bought a jacket by designer Kenneth Ize. It’s made from local fabrics and it’s bound to be a future classic. I loved it and am waiting for the perfect occasion to wear it. If money was no object, what would your dream purchase be? French châteaux that I can renovate and update. What a dream. Listening to? The Lijadu Sisters, an identical-twin duo from Nigeria who made music between the 1960s and 1980s. The visual artist you’ve got your eye on? Wonder Buhle. Your favourite room in the house? My bedroom. I have good sheets. Your design icon? Corey Damen Jenkins. What little luxury have you missed the most during the Covid-19 crisis? Being able to host a dinner party and having my guests linger longer. Are you a collector of anything?

I have an unusual amount of sculpted/carved birds around the house. I’m obsessed with flying, so birds symbolise that. Dream design project? To work on sea-facing villas in the Seychelles or Maldives. When travel resumes as normal, to where are you immediately booking a ticket? Maldives. I miss the ocean and beach and I hope to travel there for my birthday. Dream dinner-party guests? Nina Simone, Hugh Masekela, Trevor Stuurman, Zoë Modiga, Freddie Mercury, and Tyra Banks. What’s next on your list of must-have items? A Patek Philippe watch. It’s classic and bold. Fridge essential? Coriander, I think it makes every meal taste great. Whether you put it on a fresh salad or cooked stew, it makes a world of difference. What inspires you? Knowing that there is opportunity in South Africa for me to attempt to be who I want to be.

5. 3.

9. 11.

PROFILE.

DONALD NXUMALO

10.

The chic, thoughtful interior designer on his love for the sea, the sky, and the City of Gold 1. AirPods 2. A French château 3. Kiehl’s daily cleanser 4. Freddie Mercury 5. Afro‑Beat Soul Sisters: The Lijadu Sisters at Afrodisia, Nigeria 6. La Boqueria 7. Nina Simone 8-9. Wonder Buhle, Residual; Ezweni, both 2020 10. Patek Philippe Calatrava watch 11. Hugh Masekela

IMAGES HUGH MASEKELA/PHOTO BY LEON NEAL-WPA POOL; NINA SIMONE/PHOTO BY GETTY IMAGES 01;FREDDIE MERCURY/PHOTO BY FOX PHOTOS/HULTON ARCHIVE; FRENCH CHÂTEAU/ PHOTO BY IAKOV FILIMONOV/123RF; GETTY IMAGES AND SUPPLIED