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esquiresingapore.com
PRISCILLA
SHUNMUGAM
IS A WOMENSWEAR DESIGNER WE LOVE
Plus
HEDI SLIMANE
JOHN RAY
TOMMY HILFIGER
GIORGIO ARMANI
JAMES FERRAGAMO
RICHARD NICOLL
AND A GUY NAMED BOEY
And
LIFE CYCLE OF A TREND
POVERTY AND STYLE IN CONGO
STAY IN FASHION CITIES
BASEL REPORT
ISSN 2301-3397 SGD8.00
Por tugieser Perpetual Calendar. since. The movement itself is visible through a transparent sapphire
Ref. 5034: Real icons have a special story to tell. And what was glass back cover that provides an unimpeded view of the IWC-
true of the great Portuguese seafarers also applies to IWC’s own manufactured 52000 calibre’s impressive precision. The watch’s
Portugieser. After all, the history of its genesis bears the stamp of complexity is eloquently expressed by the perpetual calendar,
courageous innovation and watchmaking expertise at its best. whose functions can all be adjusted simply by turning the crown.
Seventy-five years ago, two Portuguese businessmen approached And just as observing the star-studded heavens can guide a ship
IWC requesting a wristwatch with the precision of a marine safely to harbour, a glance at the perpetual calendar and the moon
chronometer. In response, IWC’s watchmakers took the phase display navigate the wearer safely through the complexities
unprecedented step of housing a hunter pocket watch movement of time. This, in a nutshell, is how 75 years of watchmaking history
in a wristwatch case. In so doing, they founded a watch family became an icon of haute horlogerie. And how, thanks to its unique
whose timeless elegance, sophisticated technology and blend of perfection and timeless elegance, it has become a legend
unmatched complexity have been a source of wonderment ever in its own time. iwc. engineered for men.
iwc SchaffhauSen BoutiqueS: Shanghai i Beijing i hong Kong i macau i Singapore i taiwan i pariS i new YorK i geneva i Zurich
iwc.com
contents
SE P TE M B E R 20 1 5, vo lu m e 4, n o. 37
T H E FA L L FAS H I O N I SSU E
74
What I’ve learned:
James Ferragamo
Taking a break from walking,
the son of a show
designer speaks.
Interview by Janie Cai
76
What I’ve learned:
Daniel Boey
Find out if he’s as difficult as
they say (hint: he’s not but
read on anyway)
Interview by Lestari Hairul
80
The unluckiest man in
Hollywood
And Henry Cavill deserves
his winning streak.
Words by Piers Manning
88 96
A woman we love: Life cycle of a trend
Priscilla Shunmugam The circle of fashion
The trials and joy of life is cyclical.
the designer. Words by Joshua David Stein
Words by Lestari Hairul
100
The steward
John Ray, the Colony Club
and dunhill.
Words by Janie Cai
224
Esquire 10: What lies beneath?
Layers beneath layers beneath
more layers.
Continue on page 28
115
Manual
Before building a home gym—
Work whenever—Work when
you’re at work—Homemade
protein shakes; ew, gross, we’re
not talking about that—Workout
recovery tips—How to tennis—
Being aware of situational
awareness—Is your house a fire
trap?—How to trench—What the
army gave us—What to have and
to lose in your pockets.
124
Style: Fashion spread
Behind the curtain.
150
Style: Designer profile
Richard Nicoll, the evolver.
151
Style: How to wear
Bally heavy-duty jacket.
166
Style: Perpetual style
The curator of Boggi.
168
Style: Perpetual style
Tommy Hilfiger goes long.
174
Style: Perpetual style
Back to basics.
Continue on page 30
176
Style: Handbook
The jet set.
177 190
Style: Grooming Watches: Basel report
Fill ‘em up. Even more wonders.
179 208
Style: Grooming Drinks: Opener
No sweat. Rabbit Hole.
164 212
Watches: Perpetual motion Drinks: Perpetual taste
Asia: Watch this space. Going, going, gone.
166 216
Watches: Perpetual motion Machines: Opener
Last frontier. The sound of silence.
218
Machines: Apparatus
Made of sterner stuff.
220
Machines: Automotive
Fast and curious.
236
Travel: Wanderlust
Staying in fashion.
238
Travel: Perpetual escape
Into the lands of giants.
249
Travel: Last resort
Park Hyatt Sanya Sunny Bay
Resort, Hainan Island, China.
Continue on page 32
48
Funny joke from a beautiful
woman
As told by Alexandria Yeo.
50
MAHB: Film
Race in movies.
52
MAHB: Music
Japan rocks!
54
MAHB: Humour
Children are our future.
56
MAHB: Food
Cooks that eat together...
58
MAHB: Drinks
Fairplay drinks.
60
MAHB: Sex
Rise of the pansexuals!
62
MAHB: Health
What’s the story crowning glory?
66
MAHB: Sport
Fair play in games.
68
Continued from page 30 MAHB: Books
SG50-themed books.
34 78
This way in A thousand words
What you can expect and more. By Bill Lee.
44 250
The vocabulary This way out
Learn these words before Merkin for men.
l33tspeak takes over.
46
MAHB: Agenda
Fill your time courtesy of our
recommendations.
E SQUIR E UNI V E RS E
Back then, fashion constituted the raiment on naked ape bodies. Clothing was a little blah until
Charles Frederick Worth came along to change up the scene. The English designer got his start in
Paris during the mid-1800s with innovative changes to the fashion industry. He used live models to
promote his garments, sewed his own name onto his clothes, redesigned the silhouette of dresses
(Worth got rid of the crinoline [a bell-shaped skirt] and made hemlines shorter) and introduced the
concept of dress, design and fabric being made in one location. Worth is considered the father of
haute couture and the fabric of today’s fashion owes him a great debt.
V I D EO
Best way to view Hussein Chalayan’s "Afterwords", where furniture
transforms into outfits.
TW E E T at US
Are 140 characters enough to contain the shade thrown by models
and fashion designers? Answer: yes, and it can eclipse the sun.
W E BSIT E
Scott Schuman of The Sartorialist reinvented fashion photography
for the blog format. But if you can’t wait around to be featured on a
street style blog, you can opt for a more DIY approach, thanks to…
... INSTAG R A M
Where selfies are born, linger and die. That said, go check out our
Fashion Director’s: @janiecai
E d i to r i a l P ro d uct i o n m a n agemen t E S Q U IR E
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Esquire Singapore is available on
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Published by
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Mongoose Publishing Pte. Ltd.
(201129032K), 37 Ann Siang Road, Dan Mcalister, EK Yap, Elvina
Singapore 069715; Tel: (65) 6221 Farkas, Fu Zhi Lei, Jeri Chua,
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t h i s way i n
5 h y p e r- r e a l i st i c e r r at um
s cu l p t u r e s
1. Business cards
No time for networking.
Clue: unruly hair.
2. Diet Coke
Why can’t everyone just
stick to regular fat coke?
c e n s o rs h i p
g lossa ry g u i d e 3. E-cigarettes
We were warned for When you’re a model and
trying to be healthy, this
using adult language in a 1. The Order of the Skull and common passwords. armed guards, the police and
is the way to go. (Not
magazine meant for adults. Bones (above) Status: Sticking around? fighter jets patrolling the skies
recommended by the
To ensure the harmony in the Who: Accused of possessing There’s one right by the stamp overhead?
Health Promotion Board)
mindset of non-adults, we the stolen skull of Geronimo, museum! Status: Thriving on paranoia.
have utilised colour bars. Skull and Bones was founded
4. Chessboards
at Yale University. To think that 3. The Hashshashin 5. The Colony Room
Contrary to popular
a group of highly intellectual Who: One wouldn’t have Who: Basically every member
belief, models are
individuals had a skull fetish… wanted to be on their bad side. of this club loved getting high
Mildly offensive words, could actually pretty (and)
well, perhaps, they should’ve They left notes saying, “You on alcohol and ideas. If you
intelligent.
pertain to certain bodily considered being a boy band. are in our grip”, along with a think that you make the cut,
functions or unwholesome Status: Still craving heads. Hashshashin dagger on the don’t. Its doors closed forever
5. Books
attributes. pillows of their enemies. in 2008.
Sorry to disappoint, but
2. Freemasonry Status: Evolved into what we Status: Terminated—too drunk
you probably already
Who: The party animals of now know as Tooth Fairies. to function.
know that boobs are
Offensive words. The sort Freemasonry are called the
gonna be everywhere.
Shriners and they have a thing 4. The Bilderberg Group Aside from drinks, the Colony
uttered among friends and
for tiny hats and small cars. Who: No one really knows what Room also serves as an
coffee shop uncles. Above all else, Freemasonry is this group discusses during inspiration for this designer on
You might see all these
and more in this month’s
just a huge fraternity with “tu- meetings. What could possibly page 116.
fashion spread, on page
bal-cain” as one of their more leak out when you have
Naughty words. Very 140. No boobs though.
naughty words.
P r act i ca l i t y o f t h e ch eo n gsam
T i m e l i n e o f m e n’s s h o e s L a b e ls w i t h b i r d m as c ots
C o l l ect i o n
of terrible
1. Staple to u p e e s a n d
1990s to 2000s w i gs
That’s a minimalist pigeon
Everything and anything
representing a not-so-
New Balance to Grey by minimalist label. 1. Donald Trump
Ortenhill and everything else in
USD812,000 for a
between.
hairpiece made out of the
hair of the Brown Spider
Monkey. But here’s the
1980s trump card: pubic hair
Brogues, oxfords and loafers 2. Smirnoff from a water buffalo.
(all over again) Because, obviously, you’d be
more interested to know why
Seems like people finally 2. Twins from The Matrix
there are crowns on birds,
decided to be taken seriously Reloaded (2003)
rather than pay attention to
again. Obviously, the chalky
the flavour of your vodka.
make-up wasn’t enough.
They just had to have
1970s those white dreadlocks
Platform shoes as well.
The age of glam rock and the 3. Emporio Armani
disco scene called for over-the- 3. Romulus of The
The secret to Giorgio’s Caveman’s Valentine
top platforms. Anything goes, worldwide success? His
hippies. (2001)
soaring bird. Guess we could all look
past those dreadlocks
since it’s Samuel L
1960s Jackson. Why so hair-rible
Booties though?
Out with the conservative, in
with the radical. Ankle boots 4. Nestlé
4. John Travolta
with a square Cuban heel were Contrary to popular
Why doesn't he get good
the footwear of choice. And the belief, they don’t
hair like he did with
colours? They had it all. only make Milo. And
Nicholas Cage's face in
Nestum.
Face/Off- oh.
1950s
Tennis shoes 5. Johnny Blaze of
Slipping into a pair of black or Ghost Rider
white Converse tennis shoes Make it green and he
was the way to go. No one would have bird’s nest
5. Jack Wills fern riding with him
really cared about looking
Look who started the no- through a fiery blaze.
conservative.
arms-through-coats trend.
5 c o n t rov e rs i a l fas h i o n a ds
1910s
Pumps and sneakers
1. Tom Ford for Men
Spats were in the spotlight and Yes, of course, it’s only the bottle
well… they looked pretty damn that’s shoved right in our faces. Thank
good for formal dress. Along God, it looks like whisky.
came Keds in 1917 and stole all
the attention. 2. D&G 2007 ad
More than anything else, we’re
1700s interested to know if that guy at
Durable heels the top right-hand corner is really
Channing Tatum.
The shoes were medium-
heeled, but men sure 3. Gucci 2004 campaign (featuring
found other ways to get Carmen Cass)
high. “A-courting” and It might have been infamously
“a-frolicking” or “a-drinking” nicknamed “Pubic Enemy”, but one
weren’t uncommon. thing’s for sure: spotting the G is easy.
e d i to r’s l e t t e r
Zul Andra, Editor-in-chief
I wo u l d n’ t c o n s i d e r m ys e l f a m a n
o f fas h i o n . My broadest understanding of
the industry is that it offers a wealth of materi-
als for satire writers and human rights activists.
My knowledge of fashion is limited to what my
curiosity permits: fashion shows, store openings,
clicking by Fashion TV between channels, a GIF
of Tyra Banks screaming at models, et al. I’ve also
met fashion-is-my-passion types who’d only con-
verse in the language of Spring/Summer and Au-
tumn/Winter. I find the posture of fashion types
oddly sketchy. There are fashion bloggers who’d
die for a place in the front row. And then there
are the PR practitioners who wish they would.
(My appreciation for a strong scotch has re- Hairul, on the other hand (from page 88), caught
mained unchanged.) But I’ve always wondered: up with one of Singapore's finest womenswear
is there some sort of satorial promised land that designer, Priscilla Shunmugam, and discussed
fashion people are desperate to reach? Although problems the local fashion industry have faced
I do appreciate the kind of fashion that is driven with passion. This issue is as detailed and mature
by innovation; but how much is too much? And as a good suit. Thread through.
where is the embodiment of style in all of this? Throughout the issue, Fashion Director Janie
What is it all for? Cai reveals the spectrum of style and substance—
When I approached Warner Bros for images all vicariously through James Ferragamo carry-
of this month’s cover man, Henry Cavill (who ing the family’s name, Creative Director John
stars in The Man from UNCLE; story from page Ray retaining dunhill’s rich heritage and, specifi-
80), they asked if I wanted him in a costume or cally in this order, Hedi Slimane’s Saint Laurent.
out of it. Costume? It’s a three-piece suit, guys. In our 22-page photo shoot, we go behind the
What Superman wears is a costume. What he scenes of a fashion show and uncover the styles
wears out of that costume is an attribution of hidden in plain sight. And there’s more on Rich-
style (not the underwear.) However, they weren’t ard Nicoll, Giorgio Armani, Tommy Hilfiger and
entirely wrong—when does an archaic article of Daniel Boey. That’s a lot of style/fashion/cos-
clothing go out of style and turn into an avouch- tume stuff. If you don’t put down this issue with
ment of a costume? Joshua David Stein attempts a better understanding of what each of them
to answer this with nothing but a pocket square, means to you, there’s always scotch to fall back
as source material, and a microscopic look into on (or tequila and mezcal on page 212). And then,
trends as they come and go. (See page 96.) Lestari put on what suits you the best.
c o n t r i b u to rs o f t h e m o n t h
Elvina Farkas Angeline Tan Jeri Chua Vinita Ramani Hector Mediavilla
Photographer Hairstylist Photographer Writer Photographer
Aussie-born Elvina Farkas Known as the Hair-y A lover of bright colours Ramani's has published Beginning his photographic
is a Singaporean-based Godmother, Tan is also the and one of the fastest long- several nonfiction essays and career in 2002, Mediavilla
photographer, Creative Creative Director of FDP distance trail runners in short stories. A recipient of a aims to denounce injustices
Director and The Sims 4 Prestige Hair Care. You can Singapore. She isn’t black- National Arts Council grant, and understand the human
gaming addict. She's shot see her magic on page 124. and-white in real life; on page she is finishing her first novel. condition through the lens.
the Funny Joke on page 48. 124 her pictures Read her fiction piece on See his stuff on page 108.
have colours! page 106.
the
vo ca b u l a ry
Sesquipedalian terms and thematic ideas you will encounter
in the pages that follow. Great for conversation.
Metaphor: The act of covering up or even the censorship of unsavoury details concerning governments
or corporations.
Noun: A solution of cheap white paint or chalked lime that gives a good uniform basecoat before layers
of a chosen paint colour are applied.
Verb: To cast white actors in non-white film roles. Like spray tanning WASP-y blue-eyed actors and
making them wear brown contact lenses framed by kohl-lined eyes to magically make them Middle
Eastern. (See page 50)
Adjective: A descriptor for a person or a place of Noun: The fundamental qualities or principles of a thing.
disreputable, shady character. Basically anywhere (See page 56)
artists gather to drink. (See page 100) Adjective/Slang: The state of being stuck in the fundamentals,
French: Literal translation for cross-eyed. Poor cross- never graduating to anything requiring more sophisticated
eyed people; you will be louche even if you’re the brainpower or tastes. Like the fawning over pumpkin-spiced
saintliest of saints. Starbucks lattes.
Noun: 1. A colloquial reference to a 50-year milestone, even though it should technically have the word
“golden” as a prefix. (See page 76)
2. A Christian and Jewish concept where sins are pardoned, debts forgiven, and slaves and prisoners freed every
50 years. All of the SG50 kerfuffle in the most ridiculous of ways leading up to the past month was a major reversal
of this concept.
Euphemism: The one that turned the Bear Jew of Inglourious Basterds into the Nazi-killing machine of fame: the
“Jew-Bully”. We kid. Really. We’re just kidding Mr M Mossad Agent Sir. Really.
this month
THINGS TO DO:
1) Make a list.
2) Learn how to perform the strikethrough function on a Word document.
3) Do the following in the month of September.
1 hour
A L E XA N D R I A Y EO
A S M A L L- C H E ST E D G I R L entered a lin-
gerie store to shop for a bra. The sales lady
looked at her and said, “Sorry, we can’t help
you.” She went to another lingerie outlet
and received the same answer. Finally, she
went to Watsons, pointed to her chest and
screamed, “Help me!” With one look, the as-
sistant said, I know just what you need,” and
passed her a tube of Oxy.
With Alexandria Yeo, what you see is what you get.
She is surprisingly frank about the fact she isn’t in
the pink of health. “My dog is massive,” Yeo says.
“One day, when I was walking him, he started to
run, so I had to run too, but I ended up spraining my
calf.” The 24-year-old admits that the svelteness of
her figure is down to good genes. This is not a boast.
It’s a matter of fact, but there’s only so much luck-
ing out in the genetic roulette can do for her. While
she knows she could have it easy as a model, Yeo
also knows that “it can’t be a career”. Since gradu-
ating from Yishun Junior College, she has worked
as a Production Coordinator for Zalora and is wait-
ing to enrol in RMIT, where she’ll take up a course
in business marketing, but it’s her optimism that
convinces us she’ll go far. When quizzed about her
dove tattoo, Yeo says it’s a family tradition. “My two
brothers have it. I have it. My sister, who is the old-
est and the brainiest, says no. Our youngest sibling
is still too young to have one. Oh, my mum doesn’t
have one either.” But it’s not a family tattoo if only
three of you have it, we argue. “One day, it will be.
I’m looking forward to that,” she says, before break-
ing into a guffaw. We’re inclined to believe her.
48 ESQUIRE SEPTEMBER 2015 P h oto g rap h by E lv i n a Far k as/A n ue M a n ag eme n t. Sty l i n g by E u g e n e Lim.
Hair a n d M a k e- up by A l e x T usi n g YS L B eauty. assiste d by J er l i n To h.
P o lyami d e c oat by COS. S i l k bi k i n i by K.B lu.
Performance is
now available for
children’s parties.
MaHB / Film by Fin Carew
R ac e to t h e f i n i s h
Why is everyone obsessed with race (says the white person)?
H av e yo u e v e r been a straight, white west- W H ITE M EN gaporean, but that sounds like cultural separation
erner? I thoroughly recommend it. Besides get- CAN S P EA K to me. Singapore is identified by its combined
ting first pick in education, career and human In related news, a Tumblr cultures, but then why—when it comes to film—
rights, Hollywood freaking loves us. They love us site called Every Single are all the cultures standing in different corners
Word is showing how much
so much they’re injecting us into classic charac- face time a person of colour
of the room?
ters, as if to cure them of the unprofitable disease has on film. Dylan Marron, Movies have a lot of influence over behaviour.
of not being written white. who runs the site, edits When 16 Candles came out, the Korean charac-
out the lines spoken by a
The trailer for Pan came out recently, and Caucasian to reveal… well, ter Long Duk Dong created such a negative ste-
criticism began when Tiger Lily was cast as über- just how white mainstream reotype people shouted his name at Asians in the
movies are.
white actor, Rooney Mara. Tiger Lily is a Native street. In Singapore, the cultural divide in Indi-
American, as shown in the 1907 picture of her by We often get carried away an/Chinese/Malay mainstream cinema (and dis-
Oliver Hereford. Amazingly, Pan has managed to by the worlds presented in proportionate funding) could propagate the idea
the movies, but Every Single
be more culturally insensitive than the 1953 Peter Word points out that even that one culture is the alpha Singaporean.
Pan by Disney. in a world, where there is Wouldn’t it be great if all the cultures came
a tapestry of races, not
Native Americans aren’t getting the respect everyone will have his or her
together in one film? Where the true identity of
they deserve in Hollywood. In April, several in- time on the stage. Singapore could be represented accurately? I
digenous actors walked out of an Adam Sandler guess they’d all have to speak English, though.
everysinglewordspoken.
comedy/Western production over the offensive tumblr.com We’d better standardise the accents, too. Tell you
portrayal of “Indians”. The Ridiculous Six has Na- what; let’s just use white actors to play all the
tive American characters named Beaver’s Breath Singaporean parts. Problem solved!
and No Bra. You could argue that it’s a parody,
but assuming that level of sophistication from an
Adam Sandler movie is like assuming a durian can
be swallowed whole through the urethra.
Hollywood’s racial expectations have even be-
come their establishing character technique. In
animated movies, when you don’t have human
characters, the only way you can assure charac-
ters are interpreted as socio-economically disad-
vantaged is to give them a Spanish accent (Happy
Feet).
Singapore has an odd approach to racial sensi-
tivity. A while ago, I mentioned that Sex.Violence.
FamilyValues was banned for having a racist char-
acter in one scene. Compare this to the fact that
Django Unchained came out that same year. I had
previously assumed “racial remarks” were just a
cover because the censors didn’t like the sexual
content. But then Rubbers happened.
I never saw Rubbers because it looked ,
but the talent, while impressive, was almost en-
tirely Chinese. So now we’re left with the situa-
tion that either a local film is banned for racism
while a Hollywood film is not, or a multicultural
local film is banned for sexual content while a
Chinese Singaporean film is not.
I asked a friend why Chinese Singaporean ac-
tors almost always lead Singapore films. I was
told it’s because the target market is Chinese Sin-
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One of the many
abandoned plotlines
from WWE.
H ow to ru i n o u r f u t u r e
Or why your kid shouldn’t be just another brick in the wall.
C h i l d r e n a r e o u r f u t u r e . They have the V i sua l Ru l e : held to avoid offending their mascot Ronald)”. Of
potential to create a brighter tomorrow, instead of fac e pa i n t course, there’s a disproportionate, erm, proportion
keeping us in our comfort zone of a dysfunctional of the world’s richest and most successful people
but familiar world. That’s why we adults must con- who are college dropouts, such at Bill Gates and
dition children to think like us, instead of the crea- Mark Zuckerberg. But we don’t want our kids to
tive geniuses that they are. As Einstein said, “We create their own paths like those entrepreneurs. So
cannot solve our problems with the same level of they must be taught to tie their self-worth to fancy
thinking that created them.” So God forbid we al- pieces of paper from ivory tower institutions. Be-
low children to think outside our narrow boxes! a lways sides, those college degrees are useful. For exam-
They could end up solving the world’s problems, ple, while a school dropout might end up working
and we can’t have that, because how would we as a waiter, a liberal arts degree would qualify them
adults justify our own existence (and our obses- for a more impressive job title like “barista”.
sion with controlling our kids)? And schooling must always be emphasised,
So when children ask profound questions like, because it’s such an important part of limiting a
“Where do I come from?”, we must avoid telling child’s potential. As adults, we understand the
them the truth. Instead, make up some irrelevant sometimes truth behind sayings like, “It’s not what you know,
story about storks. Of course, eventually they will it’s who you know”. That’s why we send children
find out—but we must throw them off the scent for to schools where they’re taught to memorise and
as long as we can. regurgitate knowledge they’ll never use (except in
Unlike adults, children don’t have problems exams), instead of developing their people skills.
handling the truth. They’re always pointing out Formal schooling can make children lose inter-
the elephant in the room, like how a certain auntie est in any subject. Children start out with unbri-
has gained weight, or how that passenger on the never dled curiosity about the world—every child is a po-
bus smells funny. That’s why we must punish chil- tential scholar of science, geography, economics,
dren for saying such things. If we allow them to etc. But by the time they leave school, they want
call out reality (instead of telling comforting lies), nothing more to do with those subjects—their in-
where will our next generation of politicians come terest has shifted to alcohol and bad music instead.
Throwing the baby out
from? with the smelly bathwater. And that’s why schools don’t teach kids how to
Always tell your kids that they must “study fight wars. Otherwise, the next generation would
hard and go to college, or else they’ll end up work- lose all interest in violent conflicts, and we would
ing at (famous fast food chain whose name is with- finally have world peace.
T h e s e d u ct i o n
of simple
The appeal of the staff meal, and
why cooks like it fuss-free.
T h e r e’s n ot h i n g m o r e va lua b l e to
cooks than a meal prepared with love and at-
If the feeding gets
tention. Aesthetic flair and technical complexity out of hand, it'll be a
with ingredients are more commercially market- bankrupt kitchen.
able from a consumer perspective, but simple
food made with love is more than enough to earn MA K E MINE MACA
our respect. Kitchen staff recognise the effort that what you’ve been making all week.
Named after a root for its
goes into a meal, and it’s already magic that we A kitchen divides to conquer, during prep resilience, MACA takes up
get to eat food made by someone else, outside of time. Part of the team is assigned to make a meal residence at the basement
our kitchens. Let me tell you how we eat daily. for everyone else, and more often than not the level of Tanglin Post Office.
Chef Rishi Naleendra offers
On the tail-end of the scenario spectrum, we budget/raw ingredients provided require some an uncompromising take
don’t eat. If you have the good fortune of working creative skill to become food that you would feed of the menu—grilled beef
tongue with zucchini; grilled
in a sought-after, well-regarded restaurant, you’ll other chefs. The result is almost always a simple calamari with goat yogurt
probably be busy in the kitchen. You will forget meal. Few of the things that we feed our fellow (pictured); chargrilled
to consume anything proper and substantial. Re- cooks with are elaborate or fancy. Few chefs crave baby octopus with smoked
miso—disparate ingredients
petitively tasting the dish you are making tends to the same complex items that they make at work. that one normally wouldn’t
lower an appetite, and the amount of water drunk Sometimes, staff members prepare small put together but are able to
find harmony on the plate.
to cleanse the palate and hydrate oneself in front snacks for each other, feeding their colleagues Chef Naleendra admits that
of the stove will fill you up. We end up craving and testing ideas and modifications at the same his food isn’t for everybody
carbs after running on fumes all day, and large, time. There is some one-upmanship, a little swag- but everyone should try it at
least once. Equally impec-
greasy suppers are par for the course. ger to the nonchalant presentation of small metal cable are the service (during
The best-case scenario is the family meal for trays of food at each other’s stations amidst carrot the courses, a wait staff
asked if he could refresh
staff. If you have the extremely good fortune of peel and digital scales. There is also much heart. an ice-diluted drink that
working in a sought-after, well-regarded restau- To me, a kitchen with cooks who are con- someone was nursing) and
the interior décor (concrete
rant that is both organised and well run, you’ll stantly feeding each other is a happy kitchen. We tables and origami that fur-
probably get to enjoy a sit-down affair with your recognise the endeavours taken to make a decent ther enhanced the resilience
team. staff meal, in the middle of a busy kitchen full of theme). In an otherwise un-
inspired culinary landscape,
The affair may not be long-lived, but the ex- even busier staff. We also acknowledge the love MACA stands as a surprising
perience is no less significant. A large kettle of behind wanting to share food with someone, oasis.
slow-cooked pork-rib soup made early in the an act that validates what we do on a daily basis. Address: 56 Tanglin Road,
day before a hard service is wolfed down with a It’s hard not to feel affection for someone wanting Tanglin Post Office, #B1-01
bowl of hastily steamed rice in the scant breather to feed you. The next time you make simple food Operating Hours: Wednes-
day to Monday (12pm to
between shifts during prep time. There are few for a cook, trust that he or she appreciates 4pm, 5pm to 10pm), closed on
things more satisfying than hot food that isn’t the effort. Tuesday
P l ay i n g fa i r
“Hey, have you tried that new fair trade quinoa vodka?”
B e h o n e st. You’re either rolling your eyes or Th e We began with the aforementioned vodka, dis-
reassigning some money from your monthly cold- Ot h e r Ry e tilled from organic quinoa grown at altitudes of
brewed coffee budget to get a bottle ASAP. It’s a Canada makes a lot of
3,000m on the Altiplano plateau in the Andes. It’s
question that splits opinion on a spectrum be- whisky, almost all of which the only quinoa-based spirit in the world; the end
tween pretension and cynicism. it calls rye, no matter what product of a proprietary process that took two
it’s made from. Usually
And so it was with mixed feelings that I met that means you get a years to perfect. Distilled and filtered only once,
Paul Bungener, brand ambassador and sales light, smooth blend, such the vodka is smooth, sweet and spicy. It’s a cock-
as JP Wiser’s, but the rye
manager of FAIR. Based in the Cognac region of revolution is spreading, tail maker’s dream worthy of all the medals it’s
France, FAIR is a spirits company founded with and now we’ve got things been awarded.
three principles in mind. First, their spirits are like Crown Royal Northern Next, we moved on to their gin. For FAIR, less
Harvest Rye, an elegant,
made with certified fair trade products wherever lean and spicy straight rye is more. Their gin uses just six botanicals, includ-
possible. Second, their spirits meet quality stand- in the Lawrenceburg style. ing juniper berries from a nature reserve in Uz-
ards independent of the feel-good factor of their bekistan and spices from a farming cooperative in
origins. Third, their spirits offer something differ- Kerala, India. It’s quirky with a distinctive earthy
ent. I got to know them all over the course of a core of truffle, fennel and liquorice.
rapid-fire tasting. Then came a series of three rums—the high-
light of which was a rich, aromatic, five-year-old
expression from Belize aged in American bourbon
barrels. Starting with sugar cane that ticks all the
boxes—fair trade, organic and hand-harvested in
small farms—it is shaped by time-honoured Car-
ibbean traditions. One of the rums we sampled
was particularly indicative of FAIR’s stance. As
peculiar and appealing as it was, it was dropped
from their line-up because it no longer met the
certification requirements.
Finally, Bungener poured me a pair of liqueurs.
The Café, a melding of Mexican Arabica coffee
beans and Malawian sugar produced by farming
cooperatives, and the Goji, crafted with nutri-
tious goji berries grown by a group of 300 farmers
in the Tibetan region of the Himalayas. It was a
spellbinding conclusion to the tour.
Trends come and go in the world of alcohol,
but we always love our drinks to come with a sto-
ry. FAIR tells stories that give faces to fair trade.
There’s the one about the Bolivian quinoa farmer
whose kids can get a proper education. There’s
the one about the Belizean sugar cane cutter who
feels a sense of security in a country that the Unit-
ed Nations consistently ranks among the world’s
most dangerous. And there’s the one about the
Uzbekistani juniper harvester who can put food
on the table every day.
So ignore the proponents who are too pleased
with themselves and tune out the opponents
mired in their contempt. Drinking a fair trade
spirit means getting to experience something
amazing with the knowledge that we aren’t the
ones who gain the most from it.
The rise of the pansexual the supermarket and politely enquired, “Making
brownies?” when he noticed the ingredients in
Who are they, and have they got game? my basket. I turned in surprise, taking in his fitted
pants and slouchy pullover that were the epitome
of stylish insouciance.
As he spent the next three minutes advising me
to use olive oil instead of butter for a more refined
take on a typical brownie recipe, I was hooked.
Two hours later, we’d had dinner and drinks, not
to mention scintillating conversation as he took
me into his “world”.
Pansexuals, he explained, are attracted to any-
one regardless of their gender identity or sexual
orientation. Not to be confused with bisexu-
A p p e t i t e fo r
r e d u ct i o n
How to eat well and not pay for it later.
Bac o n F i l l e t st e a k Ch i c k e n M a rg h e r i ta p i z z a
c h e e s e b u rg e r a n d t r i p l e- c o o k e d ca e sa r sa l a d
chips • Calories 712
• Calories 920 • Calories 379 • Protein 32g
• Protein 51g • Calories 906 • Protein 37g • Fat 20g
• Fat 62g • Protein 88g • Fat 20g • Carbohydrates 119g
• Carbohydrate 40g • Fat 55g • Carbohydrate 12g
• Carbohydrate 38g Not the most calorific
The calorific content in this A great low-carb option as pizza out there, but still a
almost boggles the mind, The smart way to get the the standard salad without significant amount. So how
especially as there’s no fries best out of this meal is to dressing contains only 12g to run them off? A 15-minute
or drink and it’s just the one use the massive amounts of of it; an ideal rest-day lunch trot round the park is not
burger: we need serious protein in the steak to bulk for those looking to lose a going to cut it. An average
damage limitation for this. up. To build lean muscle, little weight. On the days man would need to run
This is an extra special, your body needs around 2g you’re not working out, eat 10km in around 60 minutes
once-a-month treat, so of protein per kg of body less carbohydrate as your to burn 880kcals, so we are
counterbalance it with an weight each day, so for your body doesn’t need the talking about some serious
extra special calorie-burning average 85kg man, the steak energy, but it does need distance and duration
workout, 45 minutes of hot is half a daily requirement. protein, and the 37g in the to burn this off.
yoga, followed by a 5km Hit this meal after a heavy chicken will aid in muscle
run, and then an 8km spin lifting session in the gym, repair.
session—all that should burn but add eight to 10 minutes
off up to 1,600 calories. of interval hill sprints on
the way to help boost
testosterone production
and burn some extra fat
beforehand.
ALDOSHOES.COM
ALDOSHOES.COM
themselves with the route, then they deserved to
lose.
I can see the logic in that argument, but I be-
lieve that Liew did the right thing in waiting. He
went on to finish outside of the medals, but if he
had won, I’m sure it would have eaten away at
him that he had not won fair and square, and this
would have put his result under a cloud. Wanting
to test oneself against the best opposition around,
and beating them on their best day, is the mark of
a true champion.
Liew also said he had been inspired by athletes
in a sport that has become better known for its
lack of fair play and integrity: cycling. It is a long-
held tradition in the sport that the leading pack
slows down if any of the top contenders are held
up for reasons that are beyond their control like
a crash.
This is also predicated on the desire to win not
because of someone else’s misfortune or bad luck,
but due to one’s own superior skills or abilities.
We see such examples in other sports as well, like
the golfers who call penalties on themselves, even
though they had inadvertently broken the rules
away from the eyes of the umpires or spectators.
And even as we condemn those who cheat to
win, we should by the same token celebrate those
who refuse to do so, and sacrifice their chances of
victory in the name of fairness and integrity.
Sports has much to offer to all of us—from a
MaHB / Sports by Nicholas Fang chance to get healthy and fit to an exciting spec-
tacle that can inspire and uplift the human spir-
Honour it—but it can also teach us many valuable lessons,
namely the merits of true sportsmanship.
a n d g lo ry So even as we cheer on the winners and cel-
Do the spoils really go to the victor? ebrate the victors, let’s never forget to applaud
those who play by the rules and place honour and
integrity above winning at all costs, for they teach
E v e ryo ne m ay lov e a w i nne r, but I’ve al- us a far more important life lesson.
ways believed that we should celebrate another
class of competitor: those who may not necessar-
Does anybody know E p i ta p hs yo u ca n y e l l
how to get rid of
ily win, but demonstrate the best values of sports- w h i l e d o i n g t he S pa rta n R ac e
a full back tat of manship, by upholding the rules of the game and
Lance Armstrong?
placing a premium on integrity and fair play.
At the recently concluded SEA Games, one
story that gained a lot of traction was that of local
marathoner Ashley Liew. During the men’s event,
he found himself in the lead when a pack of his
competitors went off course. Instead of taking ad-
vantage of the situation, he chose to slow down
and give those who took the wrong turn a chance • “TONIGHT WE DINE IN… MUD.”
• “My paleo diet made me do this!”
to catch up. • “Grass-fed BEEEEEEEF.”
He later said that he did so because he didn’t • “Brobrobrobrobrobrobro.”
want to profit from someone else’s error. While • *yell and grunt imitating the cries of a woman giving birth
because you too are giving birth.*
many applauded his sense of fair play, there were
those who also felt that knowing the course was Get your kicks, guts and muscles ready for the local chapter
of the Spartan Race on November 15 2015.
the responsibility of each and every competitor,
and that if they hadn’t bothered to familiarise Register at spartanrace.sg
B ot h s i d e s n ow
Writing about the good and the not-so-good.
M A N AT H I S B E ST AU G UST 20 1 5
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h i t t h e b e ac h
Tanjong Beach Club on a Saturday is packed to the hilt with beach lovers and beautiful bods, this was even more apparent
when we held our exclusive members-only Esky Club event there. Orlebar Brown and Esquire teamed up to give our guests
a little summer-lovin’ with sun, sand and surf-ready styling tips from our very own Fashion Director Janie Cai and her
posse of models from the First Asian Underwater Rugby Team. Dressed in their handpicked looks from Orlebar Brown,
our models were walking examples of how the brand had something to suit every physique. Guests lounged under the main
canopy sipping on ice-cold Mexican beers courtesy of WWW Concepts and partaking of the delicious bites from the TBC
kitchens. As the sun swung low, guests continued the party with a spontaneous game of beer pong.
1 2
3 4 5
6 7 8
1. TBC’s Christian Tan and friend, together with Ariela Soares de Oliveira and Lane Pitcairn. 2. Our models CH Khee, Darren Huang and Vincent Law together with
Esquire’s Fashion Director, Janie Cai. 3. Buckets of ice-cold beer thanks to WWW Concepts. 4. Vincent Law. 5. Beam Artistes actor Keagan Kang, together with
friends, Steve Duckham and Greg Hamilton. 6. Orlebar Brown Brand Manager, Kien Koh, together with designer Samuel Wong and Koh Jin. 7. Guests received a
special door gift, courtesy of Esquire and Orlebar Brown. 8. The First Asian Underwater Rugby Team on land, keeping hydrated with buckets of Mexican beer.
M o nt b l a n c X T h e E s q u i r e
F i ct i o n W r i te r P roj ect
Nothing was fictitious about the success of Esquire’s inaugural Fiction Writer Project. With the support of Montblanc, the
three-month short fiction campaign, which started in April, saw more than 50 entries. With the theme “Exploring New
Heights”, Esquire’s Editor-in-Chief, Zul Andra and Head Writer, Wayne Cheong, alongside Contributing Fiction Editor,
Amanda Lee Koe, selected the top 10 entries. The top three works—all published in Esquire with votes from Montblanc’s
Managing Director, Andreas Boesch—were revealed at the brand’s Mandarin Gallery outlet with food and drinks provided
by WWW Concepts. Also in attendance, Montblanc’s new Writers Edition pen that pays tribute to 19th-century Russian
novelist, Leo Tolstoy. It was a brilliant evening dedicated to the art of penmanship.
1 2
4 5 6
1. Although penmanship calls for solitude, a gathering of writers and readers always brings out spirited conversations. 2. Montblanc Singapore’s Managing Director,
Andreas Boesch (left), shares his insights on the project with a guest. 3. Did you know that you can get your own customised Montblanc nib designed to the way
you write? Now you do. 4. Esky Club member Jared Goh and Nicole Ann Lim enjoying a concoction of wine and brilliantly worded fiction. 5. Esky Club member
Timothy Ong and his guest, Rebekah Ng, viewing Montblanc’s latest collection of writing instruments. 6. Guests came in droves.
7 8
9 10 11
12 13
14
7. Montblanc Singapore’s Senior Marketing Manager, Katharina Ueltschi, sharing the stories behind the latest writing instruments. 8. Writer, Eldon Ooi, posing next
to his first prize story. 9. Listed in the top 10, writer Wan Phing Lim (right) is piqued by an instrument made from rich history. 10. Christian Barker keeping time. 11.
Tan Sihan (right) and a guest stand beside the former’s top 10 listed story. 12. Esquire’s Editor-in-Chief, Zul Andra, welcoming guests to the evening. 13. Zul Andra
and Fashion Director, Janie Cai, flanked by artists from Tribeca Management. 14. People actually enjoy reading and drinking—not necessarily in that order.
James Ferragamo
SALVATORE FERRAGAMO GROUP LEATHER GOODS DIVISION DIRECTOR, 43
Singaporean men are definitely much more casual when it comes to style. They enjoy the luxury of not having to wear ties, which I
envy. It’s conducive to the climate.
I travel once a month, more or less. Travelling to a particular market is a way to see what they need and find out how we can develop
the collection moving forward.
Joining the family business was something that I really wanted to do. Ferragamo is founded on craftsmanship, quality and attention
to detail.
Nowadays, it is really about renovating the product, but at the same time, [we need to] maintain our identity [and] recognise what the
brand is, and what it is founded on.
“Made in Italy” is synonymous with quality and a certain Italian style—an ability to really enjoy life and disorganisation. [laughs]
Brad Pitt is a good example of someone who has his own style; he comes across as a bit of a country boy. He seems down-to-earth.
I’m very involved in everything. I believe that if you don’t go through it yourself, you won’t really learn by asking.
I worked on the distribution line, packing shoes into boxes, when I was seven. At nine, I moved onto the production line. At 13, I made
my first pair of Vara shoes for my English grandmother.
My grandfather was one of the first to spearhead the concept of celebrity endorsement. He always had a camera ready when celebri-
ties were in the store and took some amazing images with the stars. I think that having a story that can be told, and then sharing it with
someone else, who has his or her own story/reality, can be very inspiring.
I don’t really consider myself a celebrity.
At our new exhibition in Florence, I was able to hear a recording of my grandfather’s voice. It’s funny. He spoke like an American be-
cause he spent so many years in the US; his fluency is impressive. The fact that he was such an international person really made him
understand the opportunities that were starting to open up in other countries.
I think he was a genius not only in terms of his creativity, but also his ability to always think ahead and stay positive.
I do marathons and triathlons. I get up very early in the morning to train. I did New York in November, and in April, I will be doing
Cannes, which is a 2km swim, 18km bike and 16km run.
If you can’t figure out something in four hours of running, you will never figure it out.
I went to boarding school when I was 13. It’s something that makes you grow up and understand the many different things that you
will encounter later on in life. It also makes you more of a team player.
I like London; the English are much more international in certain respects.
Luxury products should have an extremely long life, but we need to make sure how they are made is good for the environment, too.
Only three family members are allowed to work in an operational role [at Ferragamo] regardless of generation, but it’s a good way to
try and strike a balance. Having too many family members sometimes makes it non-competitive—there’ll be too much thinking of cre-
ating dreams that cannot be made into reality.
What’s important is creating innovation, understanding what customers would like and what else you can offer them; anticipate their
needs.
Shoemaking is a 3D approach, so [combining] the artistic and the creative together with somebody, who also has the same view, is very
interesting. We work with a lot of factories that have a multigenerational workforce, where every senior shoemaker has somebody
young under his or her wing who can grow within the organisation.
I spent five months backpacking around the world with my brother and sister. We did Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore… all of
Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Los Angeles and Mexico. This was in 1997, before I started working at Ferragamo.
I’ve always noticed that [Singapore] is extremely clean, orderly… but that this order and control was necessary to bring the country
forward [to its current state]. The person who was able to make such a huge change in 50 years had a clear vision and stuck to it for de-
cades, as did his successors. I think that’s really made a difference and put Singapore on the map.
Enjoy what you do.
Daniel Boey
Writer, Stylist and Creative, 50
I grew up in the East (side of Singapore), where I honed my fashion skills. That’s where I learnt everything.
With a Catholic education, you looked at how the teachers were dressed. When I went to primary school in the ’60s, there were teach-
ers dressed in miniskirts and bell-bottom pants. You remember all of this. When I went to St Pats (St Patrick’s School), some teachers
actually wore suits, and I thought that was so amazing.
[This year] marks my 25th year in fashion. I thought why not combine everything together, and write the story of my life [The Book of
Daniel], which is, like, the history of Singapore fashion.
I signed the contract, and then flew to London. I wrote the book when I was traipsing around London Fashion Week, [and then] Par-
is and Milan. It took about six months to write.
If not for my background in theatre, if not for my experience in music, I don’t think I would have been a good show producer. Essential-
ly, being a show producer is about telling a story, and instead of a script, you have the clothes to tell the story with.
I support local because I am local. If people hadn’t taken a chance on me when I started out, then I wouldn’t have this career that I do.
So, I think, it’s time to give back. But at the same time, I also realised that you had to go to a foreign country and make a name for your-
self before people would embrace you here.
But I don’t just blindly support local talent. I buy and support them because I believe in them. There are some great Singapore design-
ers, but there are also some really crap ones, so you have to be discerning. You don’t just put a model in your show because they’re from
Singapore. If you put a whole bunch of crap models, people are gonna say, “Singapore models are terrible; let’s not use them.” You gotta
use someone who flies the flag for the country. People have to go, “Oh my God, she’s really great. I didn’t know she was Singaporean!”
That’s the reaction you want to try and get.
Am I ready to do National Day? I don’t know, but I would love to be the Creative Director of National Day.
Fashionistas don’t need fashion advice; they just need to know what the latest trend to buy is. Sometimes, we really take [being in the
fashion industry] for granted; we walk into a store and know what to buy. It is a problem for people who are not in fashion.
Not everything I own is expensive, you know. I don’t money every day. It’s a matter of how you put an outfit together. Know
your fabrics and how to take care of them. Know how to mix and match expensive things with the cheap stuff. Fashion doesn’t have to
be expensive; it is how expensive people think your clothes are.
I have a certain style. I try to be versatile. But if you put me in a tutu and ask me to walk down Orchard Road, it’s not my thing. Some
people can rock it, but I can’t, you know?
I’m not built like Beckham, so I can’t dress like him, but I can fake it. I mean, how many models actually have perfect bodies? But they
know how to fake it; the fashion stylists know how to fake it.
Celebrities are built like super-humans. They already look good in clothes, so it’s very easy to make over a celebrity. I wanted to make
over a real person.
If you catch me at the wrong moment, yes, I can be a . Yes, I can be very difficult, but that’s just me at work. Does that represent
who Daniel Boey is? No. Because I think if I’m just a all the time or I’m just a nice person all the time, I’ll be very one-dimension-
al. There are many different sides to me—the good, the bad, the nasty.
I’d rather speak my mind and have you take me for who I am, rather than be plastic.
There was a time when I believed my own hype. You need to have really, really good friends who can tell you, “Don’t be an
.” That’s so important. The word “diva” is associated with me, but you must realise that there are certain times when you should be a
diva, and there are certain times when you shouldn’t let your ego get in the way. If you can’t make that distinction, hopefully, you have
people who can help you with that.
PA PA R A Z Z I W I LL E AT I TS E L F
By Bill Lee
“So I’m struggling off the train and down the every style-focused media outlet today.
railway platform in Milan, alone, with two full- As our man’s exasperated remark suggests,
size Rimowas, a wheelie bag and a Keepall, and I he’d be very happy to roll like the standard busi-
get into the elevator with Tommy Ton”—the man ness traveller and work a tight capsule wardrobe
widely regarded as the top street-style photogra- during the shows. But he knows that he has to
pher. “‘Wow,’ Tommy says to me, laughing at how play the street-style game, to some extent. It’s
much more stuff I’m lugging than he is. ‘Seriously, become important, from a “personal branding”
is all that yours?’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah man, and you standpoint, to be featured in a few of the right
know what? It’s your fault. If it weren’t for places by the paparazzo—papped candidly, natch,
you guys, I could probably get by on three suits!’” nonchalant and blasé to the sizzle of countless
This anecdote was relayed to me by a magazine Canon lenses snapping your carefully sprezzy
editor who’s a fixture at the menswear shows, and swag, as you stroll the streets of one fashion capi-
whose face, tailored attire and artfully flourished tal or another. Street-style prominence can boost
cigarette frequently appear in the street-style your profile, help your career—hell, there are
coverage shot by Ton and his countless contem- plenty of characters who have made their liveli-
poraries, competitors and poseurs for just about hood and built businesses on nothing but looking
U N l u c k i e s t
M a n
i n
H o l l y w o o d
The term “near misses” cuts both
ways. For Henry Cavill, the near
misses of being cast in franchises
like Harry Potter, Twilight, James
Bond and Superman (Bryan Singer’s
version) cut the deepest. But
recent years have been kind to him
as he’s bounced his way through
roles like Charles Brandon, the
Duke of Suffolk (The Tudors),
Theseus (Immortals) and Superman
(Zack Snyder’s version). Can Cavill
keep the hits coming with his
latest film, The Man from UNCLE?
Piers Manning / The Interview People
ESQ: Did you sit down with the box set then?
HC: I didn’t. I know Armie [Hammer; Cavill’s co-star
in UNCLE] and a few of the others did, but I felt like
we were doing something very different here and
wanted to stay true to that. The big attraction was
[director] Guy Ritchie for me. This story, it was… just
so cool. As is Guy, and putting the two together, it’s
going to deliver something very special. And the tone
he sets on set is all about fun. His thing was: “We’re I d o n ’ t kn o w i f thi s i s
making movies, we ought to be having a lot of fun.
We’re doing it wrong otherwise.” And that makes it
ri g ht. P e o p l e a re a l re a dy
so much more enjoyable. And if things got too seri- w e l l aware yo u ’ re E n g -
ous, he’d tell everyone to stop and snap out of it. l i s h , a n d i t ju s t s o u n d s
ESQ: Tell me more about Napoleon Solo... l i ke yo u ’ re ru b b i s h at a n
HC: He’s an with a heart. [laughs] Ameri- Ame ri c an ac c e n t.
can, bit of an Anglophile, with an Irish background.
His father was a janitor, but he managed to infiltrate
English high society. He loves it so much, dealing ESQ: I read earlier that because of UNCLE and
art on the black market, but ends up getting caught Superman, it’s quite hard for you to find clothes
by the CIA and being blackmailed into working for that fit because your body shape is constantly
them. And becomes one of their best—even though in flux. Unusual problem to have...
he’s still not one of them. HC: It’s not so much unusual as expensive. When I
bulk up, I can’t fit into any of my clothes, so I have
ESQ: Your accent, I read somewhere Clark Ga- to go out and buy a new wardrobe, essentially. And
ble was the inspiration? then, they’re all hanging off me when I’m smaller.
HC: That was my original aim, but Guy kept saying,
“I don’t know if this is right. People are already well ESQ: You were once known as “the unluckiest
aware you’re English, and it just sounds like you’re man in Hollywood” after coming very close to
rubbish at an American accent.” That was no good, a string of iconic roles. Do you feel quite so un-
so we just started introducing some Americanisms, lucky now?
elongated “Rs” and such, and it ended up as a Trans- HC: [laughs] Now that’s quite a title. [laughs] One to
atlantic twang, somewhat affected. A weird hybrid. be proud of. I see myself as incredibly lucky with ev-
erything right now. Incredible opportunities, living
ESQ: The role was originally meant for Tom the dream.
Cruise. Does that make it special for you, to
know you’re in the same league? ESQ: Did you see yourself as unlucky with the
HC: Well, firstly, I didn’t replace Tom Cruise… the loss of certain roles?
specifications of the character changed and I was HC: I see it more as timing. Timing has been every-
a suitable fit. And very nice of you to say, but I am thing for me and I’m grateful for that. Getting the
definitely nowhere near the same league. Very few chance to grow and evolve, take my time. I’m a firm
people are, in my humble opinion. believer in everything happening for a reason. Cer-
tainly when it comes to your career. And in this busi-
ESQ: The look of the film is achingly hip and ness, 99 percent is rejection. I’m no different from
cool, helped a great deal by the fashion. And anyone else.
you are rocking some awesome suits and
shades. It must have been a nice change from ESQ: But you were so close to Batman, Bond,
the red cape? Edward Cullen, Superman—did you ever think
HC: Definitely had more choice, [laughs] I love of quitting?
clothes, and I loved the classic, tailored suits I got to HC: See now, much of this is Internet rumours. Bat-
wear; real quality. What I love about the ’60s is there man, I didn’t even screen test so there was no disap-
was flair. That dash of colour, the sharp accent, it was pointment there. Twilight, there was talk, but I was
so interesting to see how they experimented with too old for the part by the time they started making
style back then. Probably more so than we do now. the film. Bond, yeah, I wasn’t thrilled.
I
t usually goes something like cented suits and is now Chief Crea-
this: we’ll notice it first on a tive Director of Men’s Wearhouse,
stranger on the street, or a it has been a constant companion,
friend from work, or a movie never out of style and therefore
star or sports hero on a screen large never in style. And yet, most Amer-
or small. It’s a tie bar. It’s a fedora, ican men do not dress with the
a gingham shirt, a velvet blazer. care and consideration and high
An insignificant detail, yet we no- Sinatraism of Joseph Abboud. Not
tice it anyway. And once we notice, too long ago, most men wouldn’t
we’ll start seeing it more and more have been caught dead in a pocket
often on men who don’t look ter- square. And then, well . . .
rible wearing it. We’ll see what it’s “Whenever there’s a trend, we
doing for whoever’s wearing it— have a desire to see a patient zero,”
namely, unlumping him from the says Jonah Berger, a professor of
rest of us—and either we’ll choose marketing at the Wharton School
to ignore it (not us) or we’ll see it in and author of The New York Times
a store or on a website and think: best-seller Contagious: Why Things
why not us? It’ll feel strange the Catch On. “But individuals are of-
first time we wear it, but over time, ten less important than we might
it’ll feel natural before eventually think.” Instead, a trend requires
feeling inevitable. Then we’ll start suitable conditions to thrive: be-
wearing it less and less, deliber- fore there could be any pocket
ately or just because, until we stop squares, there had to be pockets
wearing it altogether. Wear will in which to put them. The late-90s
eventually become wore, and one and early ‘00s caught the tail end
day, we’ll come across pictures of of the chino wasteland that was
ourselves in it and we’ll think, a lit- business casual. Beginning rough-
tle sheepish, Christ! ly in 2003, a sizeable number of
It was a trend, and trends never men decided to start dressing up
last forever. again. (The collapse of Web 1.0
and the recession of 2001 turned
“h ow d i d t h e pocket square many professionals off the “oppo-
become a trend?” asks the legend- sitional cool” of dot-com culture,
ary 65 year old designer Joseph so they repaired to higher sartori-
Abboud. “It’s not a trend. A pocket al ground.) Sales of men’s tailored
square is an iconic piece of men’s clothing jumped 23.7 percent from
wear that has always finished a 2003 to 2004, setting off a decade
garment.” He has a point, to a point. of year-on-year growth and coin-
The pocket square, often cotton but ciding with when Google Trends
sometimes silk, often patterned but started tracking a rise in searches
just as often plain, has been part of for “pocket square.” Ariele Elia,
a man’s wardrobe since the days of co-curator of the Museum at the
Richard II. In earlier times, it was Fashion Institute of Technology’s
called other names, was tucked into 2013 exhibit Trend-ology, frames
different garments, meant some- this as the pocket square’s incuba-
thing else. And for men of a cer- tion period. “Trends don’t come
tain age, like Abboud, who built out of thin air,” she says. “And even
his namesake brand in the ’80s and though the earliest adopters ac-
’90s on the back of Neapolitan-ac- count for just 2.5 percent of those
Tie bar
• Pocket square while the wagon is still accelerat-
50
• Monk-strap shoes
Indexed Search Interest
traditional, ”
focused perspective, and it’s easy to see how his
collections for dunhill have gone from strength to
strength without the need for hype or hyperbole.
says john ray, creative
director of alfred dunhill. For Alfred Dunhill’s AW15 collection, Ray
indeed, his collection centres has borrowed the paintbrush of the late Francis
on the inimitable spirit of the Bacon. Art by the honorary first member of the
british gentleman, his charm,
Colony Club was present at the runway show,
wit and quirks.
which was held at the new Phillips Gallery in
London. Very much in evidence was the artist’s
“we are a palette of burnt umber, burgundy and varying
Junk
Words by Vinita Ramani Edited by Amanda Lee Koe
T h e m a n ’ s f a c e w a s m a d e of three shards of of copper and amber glass from broken traffic stop signs. He
glass, two pieces of clay from a water pot and a tap. The tap worked at night with one flickering kerosene lamp.
was, of course, the nose. But it was too pronounced for an Nobody noticed the mountain of junk dwindling.
Indian nose; even a Punjabi nose. So Nek sawed off the tip The land was near the state-owned Kansal ki Khol
to make it shorter and used a thin sliver of copper to make reserve in the city of Chandigarh, Punjab. There wasn’t a
the septum. Now, the man had nostrils. Nek didn’t discard soul around for miles and no proper roads leading in or out.
anything. He used the rusting spout for the mouth. Nek made a hut with a thatched roof and began living there.
His head was transparent and at a certain angle, the skull Meanwhile, government officials were busy creating a new
looked like it was full of leaves, the branches of distant trees capital for the state of Punjab. Until the 14th of August 1947
curving and drooping where his brain might have been. He Punjab’s capital was Lahore. The next day, Lahore became
had flushed cheeks (that was the clay) and black tile eyes the capital city of a new country—Pakistan. Punjab had to
partially veiled by drooping aluminum lids. Nek made a reinvent itself.
sleeveless jacket with a Nehru collar for the man. The jacket Nek tried not to think about that day.
had been no mean feat. It was a mosaic of pottery, glass and Eventually, they made him the local roads inspector.
tile pieces. Nek had squatted on his haunches, hammer in “Inspector…” Nek thought, as he gathered another bag of
hand, gently breaking the slabs into smaller and smaller wires and broken bricks to put into the makeshift panniers
pieces. Then he began fitting the disparate fragments slung on either side of his bicycle. It was a grandiose title
together. The jacket took over a month to finish. By the for a mindless job.
end of it, Nek’s palms were covered with cuts, but the man He’d finished a fat cockerel that looked like a pterodactyl,
looked handsome, even regal. a tribal procession like the ones he’d seen in his village
Nek placed him on a hillock in the large garden where he growing up and a perforated montage of sockets when
stood like a zamindar with an advantageous view of finished Punjab was sliced again. There had been no war preceding
and half-finished sculptures, hoses lazily sputtering water it, but still, Nek imagined Chandigarh quivering. The city
into miniature water fountains. Because Nek had used the sat on the border of Punjab and the newly named state of
spout to make the man’s mouth, he had a curious expression Haryana. He worried for the city and for his garden. Instead,
on his face, like a languorous landlord who has suddenly it became union territory, the capital city of both states.
spotted something amiss on his vast territory, his mouth Sighing in relief, Nek made birds that bathed at an
making an “O” in surprise. artificial waterfall. He fell asleep at night listening to the
He was not the first man, not even the first sculpture in cascade, massaging his arthritic fingers and thanked Sukhna
Nek’s twenty-acre garden. There was a world here, which Lake for providing him with the water.
he’d been creating piece by piece for eighteen years. Nek
followed the man’s glassy gaze and chuckled. “He probably Ninety-year old Nek stands in the garden, almost blind.
saw the monkey panchayat council,” Nek said out loud to no But he can hear the waterfall and fountains. They remind
one. In that part of the garden, about twenty monkeys sat him of the fast-flowing river in the village he grew up in. He
straight-backed, tails up, arms balanced on bent knees with had never been back and he knew he would never return.
benign expressions on their faces. Somewhere in the garden, grey and white tile people
Behind the man on the hill, a bevy of brown tile-and- adorned in multi-coloured tile hats march grim faced with
glass children leapt holding hands, their upturned heads military precision. It could be a procession or a marching
glinting in the midday sun. band. Their arms are positioned in a ninety-degree angle
and the hands are empty. It is as if they are adopting a
In 1947, heaving, bloody births led to the creation of Pakistan defensive posture against an impending mob coming from
and Bangladesh. Nek was twenty-three years old when the the opposite direction.
family fled across the border, Hindus no longer accepted In their midst, Nek has placed a horse. It’s a riotous mix
in Muslim-majority Pakistan. But whenever Nek thought of yellow, green, blue, red and white tiles. Its neck is arched
of the partition, he just saw vast piles of junk—cement, and its eyes are half-closed as if it is about to trot or dance.
rock, glass, tile, metal, wires, sockets, bangles and bicycle Unlike the surging platoon moving towards an unknown
frames—the detritus left behind in the aftermath. landscape beyond the gardens, the horse faces the forest.
He cycled every night to haul as much as he could back Nek can’t see it anymore, but he knows how the horse
to a clearing near Sukhna Lake overlooking a dense forest. feels. There wasn’t anywhere he longed to return to,
There in the darkness, he imagined gods with bicycle chain nowhere new he wished to go. When he hears the waterfalls
garlands and metal arms. He saw porcelain men at a party and touches the rough edges and rounded shapes of his
pouring whiskey, which he knew he could make with swirls sculptures, he knows he belongs.
46.5 percent of Congolese live at or below the national poverty line, and yet,
there are some men who are determined to dress with exquisite style, even inside
the squalor of the capital, Brazzaville. They call themselves sapeurs, members
of the Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes (The Society of
Tastemakers and Elegant People). Spanish photographer Héctor Mediavilla has
been documenting the SAPE since 2003 and he explains: “At the beginning of the
20th century, when the French arrived in Congo, the myth of Parisian elegance
was born among the youth of the Bakongo ethnic group.” Some might think they
are merely copying the former colonial masters, but the sapeurs have a saying:
“White people invented the clothes, but we make an art of it.”
3 4
1 Despite working as a policeman and having been critisied by his superiors, 3 The sapeur Delagrace, also known as the icon of beautiful colours, in and
Ferolle Nguaby loves being a sapeur. He poses with his only sister in front of out of his rented room.
his family house, where he lives with his parents, his sister and some brothers. 4 Zenga Zenga and Aboubakar Massamba show off in front of the boutique
He is part of the Piccadilly group, which is the most innovative in the country. where they work as marketing agents. They are old sapeurs and make some
2 Basseka Kandza, a sapeur who was very active during his youth in the ‘70s, extra money with this part-time job. They give out flyers of La Sapologie
poses with his dog at the entrance of his house. boutique in the city centre.
Types of swamps
Freshwater Peat
This is the most common type of swamp. Rain hits the ground, creating Peat swamps contain an accumulation of all debris—leaves, branches,
a depression near rivers that traps sediment coming from higher ground. rocks and soil—from higher ground, creating a pitch black, acidic peat
Good examples of freshwater swamps are Tasik Bera in Pahang and low- soup. Beware: its flat terrain means you—yes, you with the poor sense of
lying areas of Kinabatangan in Sabah. direction—will get lost easily. Peats can be found in North Selangor,
Sarawak, Johor and Kalimantan.
Peat swamps are the hardest to navigate—dark, flat and after awhile,
everything starts to look the same. Best to know your location before
starting your trek, and leave markers along the way. Otherwise, pray.
Mangrove
Mangrove swamps are marked by sandy soil that morphs into a mud
Mangroves are located mainly along the western coastal areas of
flat made up of a sticky and sludgy grey soil, located right where sea
Peninsular Malaysia—their trees can be found soaking their long and
meets land. Turn back before you hit the mud flat, if you don’t want to
knobbly roots in brackish waters. Mangrove swamps have muddy, sludgy
get sucked in.
earth that will suck you in—fast—if you aren’t paying attention.
Branches/planks
to the rescue
Human chain
Mudskipper: A good source of food—if you know Fiddler crab: Easily recognisable for their Long-tailed macaque: Also known as
how to find and catch them. asymmetrical claws and tippy-toe mating dance crab-eating macaques.
ritual. Look for them near holes in the sand.
A d d iti o n a l facts t h a n ks to A be l Ne lso n Na n g o f B er jaya H ote ls a n d R eso rts. ESQUIRE SEPTEMBER 2015 117
Take your futsal to the next level
Five-on-five football has been great to all of us lovers of The Beautiful Game, especially if we’re too old (or fat) for 11-a-side
matches on full-sized pitches. But we know you sometimes embarrass—or injure—yourselves during a friendly kickabout with
your workmates. So we spoke to a professional trainer, a sports nutritionist and, of course, international footballers, on how
you can be the Cristiano, the Neymar, the Zlatan of your futsal centre. Joga bonito!
What to eat before your match What to eat after your match
Very simply: carbs. “Fill up your ‘petrol tank’ with carbohydrates,” Try to have a recovery meal within an hour of playing your guts out.
Teo says. “I recommend something that is low in fat and fibre, as they Teo recommends low-fat chocolate milk (no, really) to replace lost carbs,
both can slow down digestion. You could go for a slice of raisin bread protein, fluids and electrolytes. Even chicken rice is a good choice—low fat,
with jam, as it’s packed with easily digestible carbs—rather than a curry low in oil, and with a side of vegetables and fruit, of course.
puff.” You could also go for a banana, a serving of low-fat yogurt or a
small bowl of oatmeal. Eat no more than 30 minutes before you start To cut down on the fat even more, remove the fat and the skin from the
warming up. chicken, Teo recommends. Then, blanch or stir-fry your favourite green leafy
vegetables—such as kai lan or spinach—and have some fruit later. But if you’re
not the cooking type, you still have no excuse. “If you’re eating out, replace
the flavoured chicken rice with plain white rice, and request for more veggies,”
Teo says. “End the meal by buying fruit, not a sweetened drink or dessert.”
Ingredients
• 1 cup roasted unsalted nuts of choice, pounded
• 1 cup rolled oats
• ½ cup Rice Krispies
• ¼ cup raisins
• ¼ cup honey
• 5 tbsp smooth peanut butter
Method
1. Combine raisins, nuts, Rice Krispies and rolled oats in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
2. Add honey and peanut butter to the dry ingredients and mix well with a spatula.
The mixture should be sticky.
3. Roll the mixture into ping pong-sized balls. Serve or pack as a snack. Can be stored
in the freezer for up to a month. Makes 16 ping pong-sized balls at around 30g each.
iv. Just accept it if you’re the goalkeeper. Rare is the person who volunteers to iii. Plan ahead. “When I’m about to receive the ball, I’m already thinking
be the goalie, so if you’re forced in-between the posts, just do it. “It’s all about about what I’m going to do next—pass it, dribble or shoot,” Suhaimi says.
heart,” Thawikan says. “He has to love what he’s doing, because he has to “So that, as soon as I get the ball, I already know what to do, and I do it.”
defend and protect the ball. And be crazy!”
120 ESQUIRE SEPTEMBER 2015 Wo rds by L esta ri h a irul . I llustr ati o n s by L ipwei .
Getting properly comfy
It’s all in the test drive, lads—especially when it comes to the one thing that’ll make your life better: sleep. So here’s what you do.
Get comfy. “When you try a mattress, make sure Make sure it’s comfy. “The closer the mattress Now get reeeally comfy. Just to be sure, lie
that you get the same number of pillows under feels to your back and the smaller the space down for three to five minutes. Or longer.
your head as you would at home.” This can be you between your back—the top of your hips and the “People suffer from back pain because
watching TV, lying on your side or on your face— area across your shoulders—from the mattress they don’t pick a mattress that comes up to
get as close to whatever position you’ll end up in the better. A pocket-sprung unit allows the support the small of their back. If your back’s
for most of the night. mattress to come up to bridge the small of your floating in the air, it’s not gonna do you any
back because it works more independently than good at all.” And what better way to determine
an open-coil unit. In an open-coil unit, more this than to just lie there.
springs go down, probably a six-foot radius from
where you’re touching it because it’s pulling down
its neighbours as well.”
1-2: Best for these climes, if you sleep Cleaning: “You can buy a mattress vacuum, but it’s easier to use the attachment to your vacuum
using a fan only or au naturel. and just vacuum it off.”
3-4: Lightweight summer quilt in Europe. Airing: Airing it out is fine, but removing the bed linen, and then vacuuming it, is the best way to
Or air-conditioned Southeast Asia. suck up dust particles.
Moist mattresses: Strip off the bed linen and let it breathe. Always have a mattress protector. It’s
10-11: If you sleep in an air-conditioned
not just the black light that sees things. “Nothing’s more embarrassing than not using a mattress
room that’s attempting to emulate
protector, especially when you move house. When your mattress is taken down the lift, the marks
tundras.
and the stains will be there for the world to see! It’s best to get a mattress protector to avoid that,
especially if you spend a lot of money on a mattress,” says Church, grinning.
T h e R e n egad e Issu e
Ronda Rousey better be ready; this young’un just debuted. Introducing Angela Lee,
our Woman We Love, and all-around MMA goddess.
Jonno Davies, the lead in the theatre adaptation of A Clockwork Orange, gives us
the 411 on the all-male, all-violent, all-controversial play.
Every brooding rebel needs it and we’re here with a leather special. Expect leather
jackets, leather bags, a Berluti story, and everything you need to know about
keeping your leather well.
We can’t say that you’ll only live twice but if you’re under her majesty’s secret
service, tomorrow never dies and you’ll definitely die another day. Speaking with
the man with a licence to kill, it’s a story that’s for your eyes only.
At least for this month.
– B A L LY–
Elements of the film inspiration
The Royal Tenenbaums are
evident throughout the
collection—from turtlenecks
paired with camel suits to quirky
weasel fur. Keep an eye out for
their iconic hiking boots and new
“Moon over the Mountain” motif.
Wool suit, wool polo neck jumper and
leather sneakers, all by Bally.
–PRADA–
Dark and linear in design, there is a subtle military overtone to this collection.
Complement the uniformity of black-on-black with defiant sneaker-oxford hybrids that
carry a double-tone glaze.
Cotton blazer, cotton shirt, cotton trousers and leather shoes, all by Prada.
– CA LV I N K L E I N P L AT I N U M –
The suggestion that the tuxedo can be worn outside of black-tie events is not new to the brand, which champions
pared down classics worn in a modern and fresh way. The final look is always one of timeless elegance.
Wool tuxedo jacket and wool polo neck jumper, both by Calvin Klein Platinum.
–BERLUTI–
Though the reflective overcoats,
which covered the spectrum of
casual to formal, received the
most attention on the runway, we
applaud the silent heroes of the
collection: the unlined blazers that
are ideal for layering.
Wool jacket, wool and silk jumper, and
wool trousers, all by Berluti.
–DIOR HOMME–
Kris Van Assche believes in
dressing up when the occasion
calls for it. For your next big
occasion, don’t shy away from
going formal, complete with
a tailcoat, a bow tie and black
sneakers. Yep, you read that right.
Wool and mohair tailcoat, wool and
mohair vest, cotton shirt, wool and
mohair trousers, and silk bow tie, all by
Dior Homme.
–SAINT LAURENT–
Much has changed since the
reinstatement of Hedi Slimane as Creative
Director, but what has remained constant
is his fascination with all things rock ’n’
roll. This season is no different, as he pays
tribute to his project, Paris Sessions—a
celebration of a new generation of Parisian
musicians—with updated classics like
trench coats, leather jackets, skinny jeans
and beatnik stripes.
Wool jumper and wool scarf, both by
Saint Laurent.
–BOSS–
BOSS continues
to capture
masculinity in
impeccably crisp
sartorial suits that
empower. So even
if you may not feel
the part, you can
certainly look it.
(Left) Wool suit,
cotton shirt, wool tie
and leather shoes,
all by BOSS. (Right)
Cotton coat with
suede trim, wool suit,
cotton shirt, wool tie
and leather shoes, all
by BOSS.
–TOD’S–
Like a trustworthy
friend that you
can depend on,
Tod’s provides
classic staples
in respectable
pinstripes and
curated checks.
Finish off the look
with a pair of their
soft monkstraps.
Wool suit, cotton shirt
and leather sneakers,
all by Tod’s; silk tie by
dunhill.
–LOUIS VUITTON–
A tribute to the late Christopher Nemeth, the British artist’s print of intertwined threads casts its broad brush across
the collection. If you have never heard of Nemeth, fret not; Creative Director Kim Jones has ensured that the looks
remain loyal to the brand’s travel heritage. So either way, you’ll look good.
Wool coat, cashmere shirt and wool trousers, all by Louis Vuitton.
– SA LVATO R E F E R R AGA M O –
Creative Director Massimiliano Giornetti pays homage to forgotten folk art and the imaginative spirit for AW15, both
of which he has discreetly embedded in silk. Take a closer look and you might just spot wildlife hidden amongst the
intricate details.
Wool jacket and silk shirt, both by Salvatore Ferragamo.
–GUCCI–
The house of Gucci experienced
a complete style revamp after
designer Alessandro Michele
assumed the helm (think bohemian
romantics in ’60s Paris). Still, don’t
overlook some indispensable
pieces that will have you
reconsidering the possibility of
owning a silk shirt.
Wool blazer and silk shirt, both by Gucci.
–BOTTEGA
VENETA–
Smart-casual is always a tricky
dress code; after all, how much is
too much? Bottega Veneta’s relaxed
approach to daywear, however,
gives us hope. There’s no trumping
the cool nonchalance of roomy
coats and joggers deftly disguised
as trousers, all impeccably crafted,
of course.
Wool jacket, cotton shirt, wool and linen
trousers, and ostrich leather weekender
bag, all by Bottega Veneta.
–ERMENEGILDO
ZEGNA COUTURE–
Creative Director Stefano Pilati
draws inspiration from nature,
delving into its conservation and
protection for AW15. Metallic
elements in the collection lead to a
darkly lustrous finish, while textural
juxtapositions of leather, velvet
and tweed create riveting, detailed
highlights on the suits.
(Left) Cotton velvet jacket and plated
generated cashmere crewneck jumper,
both by Ermenegildo Zegna Couture.
(Centre) High density cotton velvet
jacket and tonal cashmere and silk turtle
neck sweater, all by Ermenegildo Zegna
Couture.
(Right) Double splittable century
cashmere jacket and cotton poplin shirt,
both by Ermenegildo Zegna Couture.
–DUNHILL–
Following the laidback style of the ’50s creative scene in London’s Soho, there is a sense of liberty in the dunhill
man’s personality this season. The predominant use of corduroy and the smart fit of shirts add the bookish
charisma of the intellectual to the collection.
Cotton corduroy shirt and cotton corduroy trousers, both by dunhill.
–PAUL SMITH–
Don’t be surprised by the subdued
palette. The brand’s iconic jocular
attitude isn’t missing; instead, it’s
expressed in geometric shapes and
tonal blocks, which are set against
the understated assurance of
perfect English tailoring.
(Left) Cashmere and wool coat, cotton
shirt, cashmere and wool trousers, and
leather sneakers, all by Paul Smith.
(Right) Wool pullover by Paul Smith.
–BURBERRY
PRORSUM–
Entitled Classical Bohemian, the
collection’s looks revel in the
dandyish extravagance of the
’60s: fringe, fur and ornate exotic
patterns. Standalone statements,
these rich textures are great for
adding individual flair to your usual
wardrobe staples.
(Left) Shearling jacket, and silk and linen
trousers, both by Burberry Prorsum.
(Right) Faux fur jumper by Burberry
Prorsum.
–EMPORIO ARMANI–
Comfort and structure might make strange bedfellows, but it becomes a judicious combination that we highly
approve of in this collection of form-fitting knitwear and, of course, luxe suits.
Wool suit and cotton shirt, both by Emporio Armani.
–DOLCE & GABBANA–
Dolce & Gabbana speaks the language of prestige with its lavish gold embellishments, such as the collection’s
embroidered crowned bee, which takes centre stage for AW15. Cue the ideal suit for your moment in the spotlight.
Embroidered wool three-piece suit, cotton shirt and wool tie, all by Dolce & Gabbana.
Welcome to autumn
Please dress accordingly.
Featuring Jason Atherton.
T h e m a n : The Michelin-starred chef behind 17 restaurants and bars around the world is taking his
Cool Britannia eats to the US for the first time with his new restaurant, the Clocktower, in New York.
For more on Atherton’s global tastes, go to esquire.com/atherton.
T h e c lot h e s : What we have here are four layers of high-quality autumn clothing, and if the
sweater and coat seem premature in late-summer days, we’ve got news for you: Autumn is on its way.
Over the following pages, we’ve got the best of what’s arriving in stores, so for stocking up, upgrading
and splurging, look no further.
146 ESQUIRE SEPTEMBER 2015 ILLUSTRATION BY T YLER TEE (ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH BY AARON RICHTER).
ST Y LE — T H E SEASO N U PGR AD ES
Jackets 1
Key words: Textured. Meaty. Not a ton of structure.
2. T h e m i c ro p l a i d: In smaller-patterned
jackets like this cotton-and-wool-blend two-but-
ton, a raised texture sharpens the colour and shad-
ing contrasts in the pattern and keeps things from
getting muddy. By Luigi Bianchi Mantova.
4. T h e a l l- p u r p os e b l a z e r: Hard to go
wrong with basic grey for your everyday blazer,
but a subtle herringbone (like the grey-and-black
pattern on this jacket) offers that much more char-
acter and depth. By Bonobos (SGD531*).
A G u i d e to
S p e ak i ng
Ita l i an
Ta i lo r i ng
2 3 4 5
So many good things
coming out of Italy
these days. Some so
hard to pronounce.
Piombo: Pee-um-bo
Ermenegildo Zegna:
Air-men-eh-jill-doh
Zen-yah
Cesare Attolini:
Chay-sa-ray Att-oh-li-ni
Finamore:
Feen-uh-more-ay
Boglioli: Bo-lee-oh-lee
Eidos: Ee-dos
Lubiam: Lou-bee-am
Isaia: Ee-sigh-ee-uh
2
a dv i sa b l e
sw e at e r
pat t e r n s
1
a dv i sa b l e
Aran
5
Argyle
Sweaters Snowflake
Key words: Patterned. Crewneck. Turtleneck, but only if it’s not beefy.
1. A t u rt l e n ec k? Yes. Choose black or dark ed with fine wool, as in this crewneck), acrylic can
blue for maximum impact; bonus points for a provide all the warmth and softness of wool with-
flecked Donegal pattern. By Oliver Spencer out the weight. By Saturdays NYC (SGD235*).
(SGD491*).
4. c o n s i d e r t h e wa f f l e : Most waffle tex-
2. T h e n e xt- g e n ca b l e- k n i t: There’s been tures show up in henleys and other layering items,
a quiet revolution in sweaters over the past few but a good waffle sweater, like this striped
years, owing mostly to innovations in print tech- merino-wool-blend crewneck from Banana Re- Cowichan
niques and 3-D printing, and the 200-year-old public, works as a stellar top note. By Banana Re-
Pringle of Scotland has helped lead the charge public (SGD121*).
with the likes of this multidimensional cable-knit
sweater. By Pringle of Scotland (SGD2,145*). 5. t h e n e w n e u t r a ls : Add to your arsenal of
navy-blue or heather-grey sweaters with this
3. T h e u p s i d e o f ac ry l i c : There is an obvi- striped geometric pattern, which combines all of
ous and just suspicion of nonnatural fibres in your favourite neutrals in one wool crewneck. By
sweaters, but in the right hands (and when blend- Paul Smith (SGD1,015*).
Cosby
T h e I n n ovat i o n : gass e d cas h m e r e
Created by Italy’s molto mad scientist Massimo Alba, this wool is slightly
i n a dv i sa b l e
burned to remove all the fuzz and flyaways, thereby leaving a cloth that is soft
and cashmere-like but totally flat. Sweater (SGD1,384.84*).
1
3
2
T h e au t u m n - C oat
Lightning Round
Lined or unlined?
1. T h e bas e ba l l jack e t: A down-filled to ensure a better fit around the waist and a Lined.
wool torso and contrasting cobalt-blue nylon convertible hood that pops up when the Hood or no hood?
sleeves: This ain’t the average baseball jacket, weather gets rough. By Gap (SGD132*). No hood.
and it’s fully reversible, to boot. By Herno
Zip or button?
(SGD1,311*). 4. r ega r d i n g the b lo us o n : Also Zip for functionality. Button for
known as a thin, lightweight windbreaker- looks.
2. T h e p e ac oat: This autumn staple like coat without a lot of bells and whistles. Patch or set-in pockets?
comes in all cloths and colours, but for some- When made of leather (e.g., this Façonnable Doesn’t matter.
thing closer to the original, go for this melton- coat), it’s all the more soft and supple. By Fa-
Black or navy?
wool coat from Woolrich. It’s naturally wa- çonnable (SGD7,060*). Navy. Or any colour, really,
ter- and wind-resistant and warm when you other than black.
need it to be. By Woolrich John Rich & Bros. 5. T h e s h e a r l i n g c oat: This is the big Wool or cotton?
(SGD874*). gun for when the weather gets serious. It has Wool for durability. Cotton for
versatility.
an olive suede body and contrasting charcoal
3. T h e f i e l d jack e t: Totally practical, shearling on the collar, and its manufactur- Wool or leather?
endlessly washable, and equipped with ers stipulate that it will wear well through Wool for warmth. Leather for luxury.
enough pockets for whatever ground war “at least two generations.” By Eidos Napoli Coat or no coat?
needs waging. Plus, there’s a drawstring cord (SGD4,027*). Coat.
The Evolver
How does a heritage brand avoid getting stale? Well, one way would be to
take the unexpected road and rope in someone irreverent like Richard Nicoll.
Words by Wayne Cheong
T hree
accessories
to m atch your
loo k
Acetate sunglasses by
Dior Homme
Leather belt by
Tod’s
E s q uire
e n dorses
Leather backpack
by dunhill
Left
Ruslan formal: Leather and wool jacket by Bally; cotton shirt by Uniqlo; cotton trousers by BOGGI; silk tie by dunhill; leather
double monk strap shoes by Magnanni.
Right
Ruslan casual: Leather and wool jacket by Bally; cotton T-shirt by Uniqlo; cotton denim jeans by Faculty at Supplies & Co;
leather boots by Bottega Veneta.
Paul Smith
Travel Jacket
(part of a suit)
SGD1,390
Solid journeyman
How to look immaculate on the go.
You can see why the good folks at Paul Smith named this “A Suit to Travel In”. Not only is it
made with 100 percent high-twist yarn—meaning it is remarkably crease-resistant (no more
ironing!) and water repellent, it is also cut to flow with your body, thereby putting comfort
front and centre. And if you are still in any doubt, check out Paul Smith’s AW15 presentation
online, which featured awe-inspiring acrobatics performed by artists from UK’s National
Centre for Circus Arts. All executed in the suit, of course.
Is it a shirt? Is it a jacket?
No! It’s a shacket
Meet the new autumn multitasker
Lighter than a jacket but more substantial than a shirt, a shirt-jacket
(or “shacket”) in soft suede, cotton gabardine or even a superfine wool is
perfect as the nights draw in, teamed with a T-shirt, or, on chillier days, with
a fine-gauge roll-neck. We’ve picked five of the best.
Khaki cotton-
canvas, SGD644*, by
Private White VC
Brown/blue/
white wool-cotton,
SGD760*, by dunhill
Grey cashmere-
jersey, SGD2,160,
by Louis Vuitton
Tan cotton-drill,
SGD750*, by Prada
Navy wool-cotton,
SGD698*, by
Oliver Spencer
lightweight shoes
Navy suede loafers, SGD450*, by Tod’s
Classic Panama
Natural toquilla palm hat, SGD513*, by Lock & Co Hatters
Tulum, Mexico
There are few fashionistas who haven’t holidayed in Mexico’s
most picturesque beachside town. Far enough away for
comfort from spring break-central Cancun and only a short
flight from Mexico City, Tulum may not be the place for a
break from the scene, but it is the place to go if you want to
casual PANTS beach shoes SIMPLE shirt be seen.
Navy/red silk trousers, Black leather sandals, White cotton T-shirt,
SGD698*, by Dries Van Noten SGD240*, by Camper SGD26*, by Topman Where to stay Be Tulum, betulum.com
Trancoso, Brazil
Situated in Brazil’s spectacular coastal state of Bahia, this
former fishing village boasts unspoilt tropical beaches,
remarkable seafood restaurants and a horizontal attitude to
life. Both Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell went on holiday
here last year and Olivier Baussan, owner of cosmetics giant
L’Occitane, owns a hillside villa in this blissed-out epicentre
of chill. CASUAL SHIRT SLIP-ONS Beach GAMES
White crepe-cotton polo shirt, Blue cotton espadrilles, Wooden Trancoso
Where to stay Uxua Casa Hotel, uxua.com SGD1,505*, by Ermenegildo SGD28*, by H&M bat, SGD327*,
Zegna Couture by Frescobol Carioca
Agonda, India
Far from the madding hippy crowd of northern Goa,
this enormous white beach in the state’s southernmost
reach is the latest haven for media people on a mission
to escape (but don’t let that put you off). Fly direct to Goa
— or get a connecting flight from Mumbai — jump in a cab
down the coast and spend a week sleeping in a hut on the
sand, eating the best tandoori food you’ll ever taste and
CASUAL SHIRT CLASSIC SUNGLASSES SWIM SHORTS drinking G&Ts (for around 30p a pop).
Blue towelling cotton polo, Tortoiseshell Wayfarers, Pink cotton swimming trunks,
SGD207*, by Orlebar Brown SGD275*, by Ray-Ban SGD164*, by Paul Smith Where to stay Simrose Resort, simrose-goa.com
Navy silk
T-shirt, Navy linen
SGD274*, overshirt,
by Kilgour SGD722*,
by dunhill
Victorinox AW15
Wilhelm Blouson
Victorinox’s Archetypes range,
designed by its Artistic Director
Christopher Raeburn, is a
collection we’re particularly
excited about. Inspired by
military surplus garments
and the brand’s archive, it’s a
fusion of form and function.
We especially like the Wilhelm
Blouson, a modern take on the
army bomber. Victorinox’s
new modular lining system
also impresses, allowing the
collection’s quilted gilet and the
full-sleeve liner to be clipped
into waterproof outer layers.
victorinox.com
New season,
new everything
Victorinox’s military hardwear, plus
ground-breaking boots and bags
Ugg
Treadlite collection
Ugg has unveiled wintry new
additions to its Treadlite
collection. A series of the
label’s sturdiest designs have
become super-light with the
addition of a Treadlite sole,
which is durable, comfortable
and, most importantly,
bafflingly lightweight. It’s the
most stylish treat you can
give your feet this season.
uggaustralia.com
Hermès
Cabacity 45 bag
Hermès has made exemplary leather
goods for 170 years, but the Parisian
house has always had a penchant for
the unusual. The new Cabacity 45 bag
is a perfect example. Cut from Hunter
cowhide and Cristobal bull-calf leather,
it’s a two-in-one shopper, with a rigid
tote-style outer and a removable over-
the-shoulder inner. The two bags are
made one by a series of poppers and
interlocking tabs—it’s joyfully practical,
but with all the aesthetic finesse you’d
expect from Hermès. So, if you’re only
going to buy one bag this season, buy two.
hermes.com
and future. The exhibition is not arranged chron- icisms—the Armani/Silos ode to the experimen-
ologically as one would predictably expect; it isn’t tal in Armani clothes be that Privé, GA or EA—is
lined with pictures of Armani in triumphant mo- shown along with accessories. The colour scheme
ments and the artefactual history of him and the rooms come next, with an ode to “greige” (the Ar-
brand. Instead, it starts with an installation of a mani signature colour), reds, blues and other as-
special Armani T-shirt (part of a capsule collec- sociated elements of the spectrum, all the while
tion only available at Armani/Silos) that stands representing the 40-year kaleidoscope.
barrenly in the middle of the foyer, lights shining The final level ends with light as a commodity
upon it, with a picture of Armani from the glo- (transparency, reflection) of his fashion, as well as
rious ’80s when he began his brand, when Stu- the digital archive that serves as a scholastic re-
dio 54 was his stomping ground and his soldering source for academics and passionate laypersons
Italian looks reigned over fashion. “You see from of style history. The archive contains 1,000 out-
above the lights are positioned to make it a star fits categorised by season, images of 2,000 outfits
with light and shadow,” our guide tells us, as we and accessories along with sketches, stills, videos
start visiting the rooms and their 600 outfits (130 and more. “It really is a testament to Mr Armani,
looks are menswear) on our tour. the love that people have for him and his passion
The ground floor does have a bit of the glam- for beauty that we have this space,” says the guide
our, the celebrity culture that Armani is known in true wonder, as she casts her gaze onto the
for. Plasmas show A-listers in red carpet moments atrium’s ceiling. With 20 million people coming
to reinforce the dream of Hollywood and fash- to the capital of Italian and European fashion for
ion’s place in it. By the first floor, though, the co- the Expo this year, the Armani/Silos will serve as
lour and the thematic schemes take over as Exot- a visual ode to such stylish love.
E S Q: Fashion is linked to the entertainment faithful market to me. The American public were
world. Your name has been associated with Hol- among the first to appreciate my work and my
lywood since the days of American Gigolo in desire to innovate, and this is something I cannot
1980. You have created costumes for more than and will not forget. Besides, many of the concepts
100 films. What’s the difference between creat- behind the American DNA include values and
ing costumes for films and designing lines for thoughts that have always inspired me—tenacity,
the market? a sense of responsibility and freedom, fully be-
GA: It is certainly different from creating for the lieving in what you do. I think this is also why I
market. You get to work with a number of dif- immediately found great support in the US.
ferent directors and actors, and you have to help
build characters through clothes. They must also E S Q: Some say you’re not at all flashy com-
be designed for the time in which the film is set, pared to other fashion designers. You’ve said:
whether it is the past—as in The Untouchables— “I don’t drink alcohol, I don’t smoke, and I go to
or the recent A Most Violent Year, or even the bed at 10:30 every night.” However, in an inter-
future—as in Elysium. It is extremely interesting view with Suzy Menkes, you also said: “I have
work that originates from within the story and so many things in my life. I have the money, and
has always stimulated me very much creatively. I’m very famous. Everyone recognises me when
I walk down the street. It’s like being Madonna.
E S Q: Giorgio Armani has a special New-York/ It is so much fun.” Do you enjoy being a public
Hollywood/American DNA. How do you view figure? Does this help the Giorgio Armani fash-
the Italian heritage of your brand and your ion empire?
American DNA? GA: I am clearly honoured that some people con-
GA: The United States is much more than a solid, sider me an icon. It is great, but personally, I don’t
The curator
ESQ: Is there an advantage to this method of de-
veloping the collection, as opposed to design-
Esquire speaks to Pietro Rizzi, Head of Product ing and manufacturing everything from scratch
Development at BOGGI, to talk about the in-house?
brand’s past, present and future, as well as his PZ: Absolutely, because you can take the best of
observations about the Singaporean man. the different Italian suppliers. In this case, we
Words by Eugene Lim know who is the best at a certain model, like who
we should go to for a double-breasted jacket or a
single-breasted jacket, or who makes the best un-
constructed or constructed jackets. When we fin-
ish a collection, every piece of clothing is, in our
opinion, the best that you can find that is made in
Italy and the BOGGI world.
and challenging consumer market. At nigh 60, the man who Idol. Tommy Hilfiger grew faster than anybody in
It was not always so. The beginnings of Tommy rode the dragon of fame the industry thought a brand could grow; it was
and success became a new
Hilfiger were simple; some would even say naïve. dad… and in many ways, ubiquitous, hip, urbanely desired. Even Esquire’s
Straight out of high school, Hilfiger started his it is his most satisfying legendary ad man, George Lois, created Tommy
iteration.
retail career at 18 by founding a store called Hilfiger’s minimalist, facially led advertisements.
People’s Place in his hometown of Elmira, New It was one of the first ad approaches where an
York with USD150, where he customised jeans idea rather than clothes were sold. From 1985 to
and bell-bottoms. A flood that gutted the original 1986, sales doubled to USD70 million. Within two
store and his constant partying in Studio 54 led years of operating at this level, 68 percent of New
to bankruptcy by 25. It made Hilfiger realise that Yorkers surveyed named him as one of America’s
he’d need more education and skills to lead his top-selling designers. The pace was frenetic.
next company to success. Undeterred, he moved to And—like the story of Icarus—the heat of
NYC and plotted his next move. success started melting the wings of ascension.
The early days in the city were bittersweet: the Hilfiger almost sighs remembering the frustration
smell of fashion money on every street corner of of those years, of realising that Murjani was
the Garment District was intoxicating. Hilfiger becoming corporately distracted with other
knew, given the right break of investment and activities like Coca-Cola clothing and Gloria
resources, he could get a foothold. But the mad Vanderbilt (Murjani would soon go bankrupt)
scramble of hundreds of would-be Calvin Kleins and the entry of a new investor in the form of
was a scrum he had to navigate. Offered jobs by Hong Kong businessman Silas Chou whose Novel
Perry Ellis and Klein himself, Hilfiger declined, Enterprises pushed Tommy Hilfiger to even
waiting for the wind to fill his sails. greater heights. The company hit USD500 million
That wind of change happened in 1985. Mohan in 1996 and was considered the best-performing
Murjani, an Indian textile entrepreneur, became apparel brand on Wall Street. Meanwhile, Hilfiger
the angel investor that Hilfiger was looking bagged the prestigious CFDA designer of the year
for. Murjani announced that it was time to go award in 1995 (after being snubbed in 1994). There
big and unseat Ralph Lauren in the category of was even a rumour that Hilfiger would take over
contemporary American fashion. “Well, the first Calvin Klein. Tag on the licences for fragrances,
five years were sort of like building block years— womenswear, scarves, a line for toddlers… and
just establishing and planting the seeds of the Hilfiger seemed invincible.
brand. And then, in the early ’90s, things started However, being chained to a public company
taking off,” Hilfiger recollects fondly, shifting his structure that barrels ahead in search of growth
smart Tom Ford specs and straightening the cuffs rather than sustainability can be lethal. “We started
on his blazer. A massive billboard erected in Times to go global. We started opening our own stores. We
Square announced that Hilfiger was one of the started branding in a much more significant way.
new princes of American menswear (“The Four But it grew too large in the ’90s in the US.” Would
Great American Designers” listed only the initials he have slowed it down if he had the power? “Yes.
RL for Ralph Lauren, PE for Perry Ellis, CK for But you know, we were a public company… It was a
Calvin Klein and TH for Tommy Hilfiger). The problem because we kept pushing and pushing and
move appalled the entrenched fashion hierarchy. pushing and it hurt the brand,” he admits wanly.
(Calvin Klein was supposedly so irritated that he By the early ’00s, the label started to feel the
accosted the billboard designer at a cocktail party.) stress of those decisions, sales dropped 30 to 40
But one man’s affront, however, is another percent in 2001, influencers deserted it and its sale
man’s bravado: Tommy Hilfiger emerged as a was nervously talked about. Nasty urban rumours
sassy, underdog brand decked out in preppy started like the infamous one that Hilfiger spewed
attitude, a far cooler Ralph Lauren. The emerging a racist comment in a hot mic moment with Oprah
hip-hop movement adopted the brand as their Winfrey (completely untrue—he hadn’t even been
apparel of choice. By 1994, Snoop Dogg had on the show at the time of the rumour—and Oprah
appeared on Saturday Night Live in an oversized and Hilfiger set the record straight as recently
Tommy Hilfiger shirt, its bold red, white and blue as 2013. “Big fat lie!” Oprah intoned). Sweatshop
reordering of Americana signification welcomed accusations, somewhat more factual, entered
the heady Clinton presidential years. Britney the news cycle in 1999 touching mostly on the
Spears, Mick Jagger and a slew of other rock Saipan manufacturing loophole that allowed many
celebs would sport Tommy Hilfiger wares on retailers, not just Tommy Hilfiger, to cite “Made
stage, prompting Hilfiger to declare his philosophy in USA” as a moniker, even as conditions were
of FAME as a marketing tool, where F=Fashion, sub-standard. (By 2012, after a fire in Bangladesh
A=Art, M=Music and E=Entertainment. It was a killed 29, Hilfiger became an industry advocate for
tool of brand persuasion that he’d use well, even garment safety reform, pledging millions of dollars
to the point of becoming a judge on American for fire inspection and other safety measures.) In
2005, Tommy Hilfiger was acquired by Apax, a carefully shaped and pruned started to pay off with
London-based investment firm, for USD1.6 billion, Tommy Hilfiger, the brand and the man being one
a large sum for sure, but by no means what the brand of the best-positioned players in Asia.
was worth (as we’ll soon see). Hilfiger lost control Even personally—after all the trials and
of the company, even though he retained creative tribulations with his family (he has four kids from
control. “There was a bit of a backlash, so we his first marriage) that saw his two oldest kids
restructured the brand [in 2006]. It was frustrating go through rehab and son Ricky/Rich Hilfiger in
because it’s like a locomotive train and you can’t a high-profile on-and-off relationship with Rita
stop it. But hey, it’s a learning experience,” he says Ora (they recently broke up)—Hilfiger has found
of those difficult times, an experience shared by his bliss late in life. Re-married to stunner Dee
other once hot, then not designers (Perry Ellis, Ocleppo in 2008, the couple had a child—Sebastian
Pierre Cardin) for whom it spelled the end. By all Thomas—in 2009. At nigh 60, the man who rode
appearances, the heydays were over. the dragon of fame and success became a new
Then, in 2010, Hilfiger dialled in, found his dad… and in many ways, it is his most satisfying
place within the macro machinations of the iteration. “Yeah, it keeps me young,” he says of
investors and the markets he loved to operate in. his new life and fatherhood as he breaks into a
Ajax sold on a high to Philip van Heusen (PvH), smile that speaks of satisfaction. “When my four
which owns Calvin Klein and IZOD, among others, children were growing up, I was so busy all the
and since then, the trajectory has been positive time I didn’t get enough time with them. Now I’m
with the core message of great style at affordable getting more time with my six-year-old than I did
prices. “I think affordable luxury is the sweet with my other kids. And the older children love
spot in the world,” Hilfiger declares with market him, so they’re always around,” he says sanguinely
evidence as his proof. And note that—unlike Calvin and affectionately. As he looks back at his life and
Klein and others that get bought in such deals and the 30 years of his brand, Hilfiger can certainly grin
retire into their payoff—Hilfiger is as vigorous and wonder at how crazy life is, how the fortunate
as ever, and still as involved both creatively and are the ones who get to stay active and relevant,
strategically. The global roadwork that had been and prove their vision of what can be.
On luxury, fave
designers and eating
rodents in China
Esquire gets exclusive time with Tommy
Hilfiger ahead of his London Collections:
Men SS16 presentation.
TH: I think there are men’s brands coming up Even though you’ve been going for a long time,
that are phenomenal. each year must be different.
TH: I think the biggest change is the real estate. It’s
ESQ: Like who? bonkers. And you can’t find really great locations
TH: Like Thom Browne and many others. They’re because all the big guys have taken them all. We’re
doing really interesting and challenging things. well positioned in the second-tier cities, but it’s
in Beijing and Shanghai that we’re fighting: it’s so
ESQ: China, New York, now London; what a year difficult to get triple-A locations. And if you can get
you’re having! This has to be one of your more them, you can’t afford them because the big guys
exciting years. are willing to pay more than you. It’s crazy. We
TH: It’s an exciting year. It’s a little sad in one way have 35 stores now and we’ll be opening another
though. 75 or 80 over the next few years.
ESQ: Why? ESQ: You could spend your whole time visiting
TH: Those 30 years are gone. And those 30 years stores that are opening in China and India alone;
were so exciting. I would say the first 15 years were that would be your full-time life!
the most exciting in building the brand. TH: [Laughs] True, but it’s fun and interesting.
ESQ: I guess that’s always the trade off between ESQ: Do you like Asia? Is this a second life after
getting the capital you need to grow and showing you’ve gone through the US and European
those returns. But it’s horrible to have to bet on markets?
failure to prove your point. TH: I’ve spent a lot of time in Asia over the years.
TH: Yeah, that’s exactly it and I don’t think they got Most of our sourcing is done in Asia. And as a
it. young man, before I even started Tommy Hilfiger,
I was travelling and sourcing in Asia. Going to
ESQ: But the good news came in 2010, with the factories and mills, going way, way out into No
new tranche and investors [PVH]. Man’s Land… people riding bicycles and wearing
TH: It’s been amazing. Great company, and I would Mao Zedong jackets to the factories. Not speaking
say we have more professional resources. a word of English. No highways, no air-conditioned
Mercedes… it was really pretty primitive.
ESQ: The analysis and forecasting seems to be
moving in your favour. ESQ: What was the most bizarre/surreal
TH: Except the euro is a problem for us. Tourism to experience in those times?
the US is down, too. TH: We went to visit a factory. The factory owner
talked to our agent in Mandarin and it was decided
ESQ: All the more reason why your entry into that he was going to take us out for lunch. So we
China has been so aggressive. drove off this rickety road, onto a dirt road. Where
TH: Yes, exactly. They have an enormous, growing were we going? We pulled up in front of this
middle-class and they’re the spenders because house, and on the porch, there were cages with
the wealthy travel. The elite like to buy in Paris, rodents. And there was a little conversation with
London and New York. But the growing middle- the restaurant owner about which rodent we were
class—which is about 500 million people—is almost going to eat. He went into the kitchen, brought out
double the size of the US. You go to the second- a club, grabbed this racoon-type creature, clubbed
and third-tier Chinese cities, places you’ve never it, carried it into the kitchen, all furry, and 45
heard of, and they’re 10 million. And the younger minutes later, brought us back this mound of rice
Chinese are very tuned into what’s going on: they with chunks of meat in it. It’s the best lunch that
can’t be fooled. I’ve ever had.
Back to basics
“What is essential is invisible to the eye,”
so said the Little Prince in Antoine de Saint-
Exupéry’s classic novel. Yet, for something as
intangible as style, honing in on the essentials
becomes a key part of the visual allure. We
go back to basics with Hedi Slimane’s Saint
Laurent collection and pick out six items
that should have a permanent place in your
wardrobe.
Words by Janie Cai
1.t he T ux e d o jac k e t: One of the most 2. Jea n s : Slimane revisits the skinny silhouette
important things that Slimane did for menswear at for denim that he first introduced at Yves Saint
Saint Laurent was create a new “Tailleur” atelier, Laurent in 2000 for the Black Tie collection.
which consolidated expertise unique to the label Skinny yet tough, the jeans are made of Japanese
with regard to structured tailoring. By ensuring a denim hand-woven on traditional looms. Each pair
focused production entity that concentrated solely features a signature double pleat on the middle
on the tailoring aspects of menswear, Slimane back. Denim is key for Slimane and included
deftly combined the tradition and the expertise of in every collection, with its presence felt in six
Parisian couture ateliers with his exacting vision distinct washes: black, raw blue denim, light stone
for the men’s collection. The result? An exquisitely wash, medium stone wash, heavy stone wash and
tailored tux. bleach white.
1 2 3
4 5 6
3. D u f f l e : Inspired by Slimane’s own travel bag, 5. B e lt: But not just any belt, Slimane’s singular
this sleek leather carry-all has a clean, understated vision resulted in the creation of the “3 Passants”
aesthetic that makes it easy to see why it tops the belt—a signature accessory that features three
brand’s best-seller list. modernist loops and a “Carré Rive Gauche” square
buckle in solid brass. (In case you’re wondering,
4.S n e a k e rs : From classic, minimalist models a “passant” is an image of a heraldic animal that
created in a black, navy and white palette to skater- faces left with its forepaw raised.)
style pairs featuring the classic Yves Saint Laurent
“Babycat” print, no other luxury brand has quite 6.Leather jacket: A wardrobe classic known
matched the breathtaking array of sneakers that for its utilitarian charm and masculine ruggedness,
Slimane has designed for Saint Laurent. The latest Saint Laurent’s leather blouson jackets are so
model—a metallic leather pair embellished with painstakingly crafted that they have become a
cut-out stars—is already a cult item. recognised symbol of expertise at the maison.
First, a question: Do you shy of the end of your toes skin below isn’t too raw, layer of petroleum jelly
wash your feet? As in, Your nails so that you don’t bash the sure, pull it off. over your feet nightly. Not
while showering, do you Everyone: Trim them, end of your nail into the toe enough to stain your sheets.
lift them up or crouch or leaving a short edge that box of your shoe step after Not beneath socks. Not in
sit cross-legged on the hangs over the end of the step. This should help avoid between your toes (keep
shower floor in your sailor toe. Cut them straight blackened nails—but also that area dry). The jelly
cap* and scrub them with across; don’t dig into know that you can safely That dryness will moisturise better than
soap? (Do not confuse these corners. Going too short grow out a black nail. As for Everyone: As you get older, lotions, which are water-
with just splashing them can lead to ingrown nails. a loose black nail: Fasten your sweat and oil glands based and don’t hydrate
around.) Many people— Athletes: Trim them just with a Band-Aid or, if the decrease. Spread a thin as well.
Olympic endurance athletes
included—forget this basic
hygienic process, which
This little piggy went to
would rid them of, say, three
bed and didn’t cause its
quarters of their problems. Those calluses
owner’s wife to recoil.
However, you can do more. Athletes: Building calluses
is your foot’s way of
cushioning its contact
with the ground. Wearing
Your shoes inserts like the Hapad sports
Everyone: Stagger two replacement insoles (hapad.
pairs. It takes more than a com) will minimise that
day for the sweat in your collision. You can also use
shoes to dry, but most the Emjoi Micro-Pedi callus
day-jobbers allow about remover (emjoi.com) to buff
half that between wears. them away, as the top layers
Dampness accumulates, of calluses are just dead
making your shoes a lovely skin anyway.
château for bacteria, which
smell, or fungi, which itch. *Note: Wearing a sailor cap
If needed, try common has no proven medical
talcum powder, too—or in benefit.
dire circumstances, a high-
caliber antiperspirant like
Certain Dri Clinical Strength
(shop.dsehealth.com),
which you can get without a advice from
prescription. an olympian
Athletes: Stagger two turned RUNNING-
pairs for dryness. But when store owner
breaking in a new set,
switch mid-workout instead With Bob Kennedy, former
of daily. Wear the new ones holder of the American
first to mould them into records for the 3km, two-
form, but put on the old pair mile, and 5km, and president
before the friction blisters of Movin Shoes.
your foot. (Yes, this requires
the purchase of new It’s partly about the type of
footwear before the current shoe. Most people pronate,
pair tears at the seams.) If meaning as their foot strikes
it’s too late, use antibiotic the ground, their
cream and a covering, like ankle rolls inward. Experts
a bandage or Spenco 2nd at your local running store
Skin (spenco.com), which can see whether you
adds a cooling sensation. pronate a lot. (The at-home
test doesn’t work well.) If
so, they may recommend a
denser midsole, the cushy
material of which works
Your socks against the pronation. But
Everyone: Use them. Wash it’s also about the fit. We all
them. Do not reuse them have different foot shapes
before washing them. and nuances to our toes
Athletes: See above. and arches. Experts can see
all that, too.
No Sweat
A full-body guide to looking good in the heat.
Back sweat
Axe’s new Dry Spray
antiperspirant
SGD7*
Anyone who’s peeled his Pit sweat
back off a leather driver’s Viktor & Rolf’s Spicebomb
seat, and then speed-walked SGD40*
to his desk chair before If you’re already spray- Foot sweat Face sweat
anyone sees the Rorschach ing your back, you might Lavilin foot deodorant Kiehl’s Men’s
test on his shirt knows this: as well spray your armpits, cream Oil Eliminator 24-Hour
it’s time you treat your back too. Do this routine at night, SGD26* Anti-Shine moisturiser
like your armpits. Sweat when you sweat less and Runners like myself know SGD37*
glands work the same no your glands are more easily foot stench is a menace In the summer, switch to
matter where they are on suppressed. Also, on warm that can threaten a man’s a light facial moisturiser.
your body, so you can use days, avoid cologne—sweat relationship with his loved It won’t clog your pores—
the same antiperspirant strengthens its scent to a one. They should use the instead, it’ll use glycerin to
for your back as you use nauseating degree. Instead, odour-taming Apply it pull good moisture into the
for your underarms. Unless try a high-end scented de- only once a week to help skin and silica to wick away
you’re some kind of yogi odorant, like which will make preserve your sneakers (and sweat and oil.
who can rub a stick on your you smell a little like a grape-
your relationship).
spine, you’ll want to try a fruit wrapped in leather and
spray. fresh tobacco.
* d enotes tr a ns l ate d pri c es. WO R DS By Ro d ne y Cut l er. ESQUIRE SEPTEMBER 2015 179
ST Y LE — NOTI CE BOAR D
Choices, choices
Burberry raises the bar.
With over 7,000 variations to choose from, you can now get a Burberry scarf the way you have your
drink. Perhaps better. In celebration of the iconic cashmere scarf, the quintessential British brand
will be launching The Burberry Scarf Bar globally this month. Encompassing the complete range of
32 check colours and 33 solid colours in a choice of runway-inspired prints, the scarves can be further
personalised with two font sizes to monogram up to 30 letters in over 30 shades of thread. The service
is offered both in-store and online with luxury retail specialists at your assistance. In addition, all the
scarves come in either classic or lightweight cashmere and are woven on a traditional loom by skilled
artisans in Scotland for a soft hand-feel finish, making the end result the perfect gift bar none.
The Burberry Scarf Bar is available at the Burberry store, ION Orchard, #02-16.
Modern substance
Introducing new concept retail store Manifesto.
Music treks
One small step for man…
Shirt tales
ButtonNStitch is back with a bang.
Local label ButtonNStitch made its quality dress shirts available to men
online three years ago. July saw the launch of its new collection, We Dress
Heroes, comprising four capsules with a total of 15 shirts. Each capsule
is released monthly, with the first, aptly named The Sidekick, created
to serve as your wingman for every occasion in life. We Dress Heroes
offers craftsmanship more synonymous with premium labels at a highly
competitive pricing range (from SGD69 to SGD89). Made of 100 percent
European cotton and uncompromised thread count, shirts come in both
slim and straight fit and you’ll be pleased to know that they have taken
Singapore’s glorious climate into account too, with two short sleeve options
in lightweight cotton. Just leave the superhero cape at home.
Check out buttonnstitch.com for the We Dress Heroes collection out now.
Blue steel
If you’ve ever doubted the popularity of diving activities, all you have to do is take a look at
the islands off the east coast of Peninsula Malaysia, where the sport has mushroomed over the
last few decades, attracting practitioners both local and foreign. And Breitling has been right
there, since their first diver’s watch, Superocean, launched in 1957. But it is time for a complete
update, don’t you think? This year, they have launched a new Superocean, which is sleeker,
with a slimmer case that makes it particularly wearer friendly. The rugged body is made of
brushed stainless steel, which is water resistant to a depth of 200m. It also has a blue rubber
moulded unidirectional rotating bezel with 15-minute countdown marker, framing an attractive
sunburst mariner blue dial with white luminescent Arabic numeral hour markers, and repeated
on the hour, minute and second hands. The watch is driven with precision by an officially
chronometer-certified automatic mechanical movement.
Future ventures
Hamilton revives a cult classic.
ESQUIRE: How did Mido fare during Baselworld FL: The difference is between countries, not
this year? continents. What the Italians like in a watch is
FRANZ LINDER: Although Basel was a good completely different than, say, the Germans.
event for us, it’s more important for luxury watch
brands—it’s not like you order a Mido and get it 12 ESQ: What about growth? Is Europe the
months later. That being said, our outing was in dominant continent in this regard?
line with the past years, as we hit our projections. FL: Growth is driven by Asia—no question about
The most important thing during the fair is to get that. Not only for the watch market, but also for
a sense of which product has the most traction in everything else. Europe is an ageing continent. The
order to anticipate the scale of our next production. elders have everything they need, but in Asia, the
Similar to every year, we aim to sell more. young people are affluent, they appreciate life, and
Above they enjoy spending on nice things. We see less
The Mido Commander
II—for the everyday
ESQ: How is the watch market in Asia compared growth in Europe than Asia, where the market is
man. to the rest of the world? booming.
Last frontier
When you think there’s nothing else a watchmaker can do to make their timepieces
aesthetically appealing, along come astral objects. Jaeger-LeCoultre has found a way
to make their timepieces even more precious than they already are.
Words by Leong Wong
Su f f i c e to say, Jaeger-LeCoultre never says After nearly two centuries of making precision
no to a challenge. Over the years, we have seen how timepieces, inventing and innovating from re-
the watchmaker has put a spin on tradition with its nowned clocks and pocket watches to wristwatch-
own modern interpretation and continued to inno- es to capture the breakdown of time into fractions,
vate 250 years of watchmaking tradition. it’s only appropriate that Jaeger-LeCoultre should
For 2015, Jaeger-LeCoultre has planned some- feel that it’s time to dedicate an entire collec-
thing special and out of this world for all their fans tion to the astronomy that gave us the concept of
and watch lovers out there. They have decided time. With all their know-how and mastery of the
to dedicate the entire SIHH 2015 collection to as- art of haute horlogerie, it is a good time to put all
tronomy. You may ask why this indulgence over as- those resources not only into good use, but also to
tronomy? It’s because our earthly hours are dictated demonstrate that the manufacture still has what
by the positioning of the stars and the planets, and it takes to create the best timepieces around. To
Above astronomers use them to calculate the seasons, the complete the watches, they even included some
The night sky that
inspired the 2015 SIHH
months and the days. Mariners use them to deter- heavenly bodies themselves to make them even
collection. mine their location and find their way home. more astronomical aesthetically.
A new key
Unlike the automobile industry, the watchmaking world rarely sees the introduction of
an entirely new watch. So when there is such an occurrence, it tends to generate a wave
of interest, especially when it comes from Cartier.
Words by Leong Wong
R ar e ly d o yo u s e e a watch design that veers round, but for Clé de Cartier, it is shaped like a key,
from the usual shapes of round, square, oval, rect- and inspired by the keys used to wind old mechani-
angular or tonneau. This is mainly because the de- cal devices. Winding the watch with the key has its
sign of cases is dictated by the shape of the move- advantages: the bar-like shape enables you to wind
ment, which in turn dictates the shape of the gear- it with ease. It took a year to perfect the key’s de-
ing, which is determined by the laws of science. sign, but the result is a watch that is every inch a
Cartier with art deco as its signature theme.
T h e watc h m a k e r The engine making its debut with Clé de Cart-
Watchmaking is a very conservative business, un- ier is one of the latest mechanical movements de-
less you are a company like Cartier. As a jeweller, signed, developed and made in-house, and beau-
the nature of their business is to create something tifully decorated and hand finished. A little tech-
new regularly to capture their clients’ imagination, nological improvement was given to the barrel: it
and experimenting with shapes is what they do best. now rotates rapidly, which leads to tremendous
Since making their very first wristwatch in 1904 for accuracy, as the burst of energy is constant and
the Brazilian aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont, they continuous. The automatic winding mechanism
haven’t looked back and have continuously created is bidirectional using the lever system, and keeps
new shapes, many of which are still available in power in reserve for up to 42 hours. The new Cali-
their collection today and considered iconic. bre 1847 is cleverly named after the year that the
The most important criterion for a watchmaker company was established.
in order to be taken seriously is the ability to cre- If you are one who loves all things classic, Clé
ate everything in-house. And since the early 2000s, de Cartier is certainly one to put at the top of your
Cartier has re-established itself as a serious watch- watch wish list. It has ticked all the right boxes and
maker because they have set up a completely new has a robust movement with a considerably well
manufacturing facility that produces over 90 per- thought-out mechanism to give it great precision.
cent of all their components and parts, as watched Overall, this beautiful, versatile and classic time-
over by a talented team that has become the envy piece, with a rather superbly executed mechanism,
of their competitors. This independence means is well worth investing in.
that Cartier now creates some exciting new time-
pieces, not just aesthetically, but also mechanically.
Facing page
Clé de Cartier, side view with The new kid
the curve caseband. This year, Cartier introduced an entirely new
Below timepiece: Clé de Cartier. But why is it called Clé,
The insides of the Calibre which is French for key? The aim was to create a
1847.
watch that is simple in its design and comfortable
Right
The Clé de Cartier in its
to wear. The case has a classic tonneau shape that is
splendor. imbued with round edges and smooth surfaces. Its
curvature allows it to sit on the wrist beautifully and
appear smaller than it actually is. It is not only aes-
thetically pleasing, but also ergonomic. The bezel is
a tubular ring framing the round face of the watch.
Everything about the silver dial bears a strong hall-
mark of Cartier aesthetics, from the multi-pattern
finishing to the sunburst-finished hour band with
blue transfer Roman numerals. The centre dial,
where the central time is located, is decorated with
flinqué guilloché and blue steel hands.
There’s one unique feature that led to the
watch’s name. The winding crown is usually
Hublot
Jaq u et D roz
Grande Seconde Deadbeat
Deadbeat seconds is an old complication that we don’t
see very often nowadays. It works with a second hand
that moves on every second to its next mark. Sound
familiar? Very much so, because it moves like a quartz
second hand. The Grande Seconde Deadbeat is a re-hash
of an old movement and it is a fascinating proposition for
a mechanical watch where, in this case, is prominently
placed. The upper smaller dial contains the central hour
and minutes with black transfer Roman numeral hour
markers, along with a larger retrograde date dial. All
the hands are in gold and they sit on an ivory grand feu
enamel dial. This marvel is powered by an automatic
mechanical movement housed in a red-gold case.
H u b lot
Big Bang Tourbillon Power Reserve 5-Days Full Magic Gold
Hublot celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, with a timepiece that bears all its DNA.
Rendered in a special alloy—called Magic Gold that boasts a unique shade of the precious
element—the bezel frames a skeleton dial with gilt Arabic numerals, hour markers and
indexes and skeleton hands coated with black Super-LumiNova. A gilt sub-dial for the five-
day power reserve indicator sits at nine o’clock, while a gravity-defying tourbillon is found
at six o’clock. The watch is powered by an in-house developed and produced hand-wound
mechanical tourbillon movement.
S e i ko
Grand Seiko SBGH039
Nostalgia seems to be the trend this year, and Seiko have
dug out their very first automatic for the occasion: the
original 62GS from 1967. Superficially, only small tweaks
have been made, but the real difference lies at the
heart of the matter. The SBGH039 is equipped with the
latest Calibre 9S85, which has a high-speed regulating
system that hums at a very cool 36,000vph, instead of
the nominal 21,000vph—and this is something that very
few watchmakers can do. And to top it all off, it also has
magnetic resistance of 4,800am, which is more than
enough for your everyday needs. The latest model has
a brown sunburst dial, which contrasts beautifully with
the steel baguette hour indexes and the classic dauphin
hour, minute and second hands. The brushed polished
stainless steel case houses an automatic mechanical
Rado
Hi-Beat movement.
DiaMaster Grande Seconde
Rado never once neglected their commitment to being the forerunner in creating the latest
high-tech materials. The Grande Seconde references a classic design previously found in
pocket watches. The main black dial accommodates the central time and the big seconds
comfortably. In addition to a date window, the big seconds is decorated with Arabic numeral
minute markers and a gold hand, while the central time has gold appliqué hour indexes and
hands. Beneath the dial is an automatic calibre ETA 2899 mechanical movement—all housed
in a black high-tech ceramic case.
Lu m i n ox
Recon Leader 8840 series
One of the most attractive features is the alarm function
where your split second actions can be timed to the last
fraction, as your life and that of others might depend on
it in a reconnaissance operation. And this watch that’s
built and made for an army recon unit leader is certainly
more than good enough for civilians like us. It has a
walking speed tachymeter in kilometres or miles per hour,
a countdown quadrant for start time coordination in a
contrasting colour, and a bezel compass to help establish
your position. It also has a chronograph function and
a world timer. All indexes and Arabic numerals are
laminated by Night Vision tubes, which last for 25 years.
The watch is powered by a quartz movement and housed
in carbon-reinforced PC. Ready to roll?
Lo n g i n e s
Heritage Diver 1967
As diver’s watches seem to get even more outlandish, Longines has decided to look to the
past—where sports and elegance merged comfortably—for inspiration. And the Heritage
Diver 1967 is exactly that. Here, its classic aesthetic is the attraction. The Bordeaux
unidirectional rotating bezel with Arabic numeral minute markers contrast with the black
opaline dial, which also houses silver and black sub-dials to give it added readability. The
minute counter is at nine o’clock, the hour counter at six o’clock and the minute counter
at three o’clock. The dial is further demarcated with Super-LumiNova-coated hour indexes
for night reading, a feature that’s repeated on the rhodium-plated faceted hour and minute
hands. The central chrono second hand is rhodium-plated, as are the counters’ hands. The
tachymeter scale in silver is located on the outer flange. This classic timer’s machine is run
by an automatic mechanical movement with a column wheel chronograph with 54 hours of
power reserve.
Gucci
Dive XL
This has all the right ingredients for
a serious diver’s watch, yet it is also
imbued with classic good looks.
Water-resistant to a depth of 200m, this H a m i lto n
classic sports watch looks right at home Khaki Chrono Worldtimer
with the current trend that favours This watch was designed in collaboration with
matte black dials. The compulsory world-famous aerobatic pilot Nicolas Ivanoff, and
unidirectional rotating stainless steel that translates into form and function above all else.
bezel sits on the stainless steel case. The Khaki Chrono Worldtimer is one watch that you
Luminous appliqué hour indexes and shouldn’t leave home without, when you embark on
hands further enhance underwater your next thrill-seeking expedition. It has a black dial
legibility. The watch is powered by an with Super-LumiNova appliqué Arabic hour markers
ETA quartz movement. and nickeled hands coated with white Super-LumiNova.
The outer flange is marked with 24 cities according to
their individual time zones. A mode selector for time
or chrono function is located at 10 o’clock, while the
indicator is at one o’clock. The chrono minute counter is
at six o’clock and the hour counter is at 10 o’clock, with
the chrono second counter centrally located. The hour,
minute and second hands are centrally located. A day/
night indicator sits at one o’clock. The quartz movement
that powers the watch is housed in a stainless steel case.
C h o pa r d
LUC Quattro Rose Gold
Since establishing their LUC watchmaking department,
Chopard has regained its reputation as a watchmaker.
The classic watches that we’ve seen over the last decade
have been something of a marvel, and their adaptation
of classic pieces with a touch of modernity is working
like magic. The LUC Quattro in rose gold is made even Zenith
more stunning by the brown sunburst dial adorned with Elite 6150
gilt Roman numeral hour indexes and faceted gilt hands. El Primero may have hogged the limelight at Zenith for most
The power reserve indicator and the date and second of the company’s 150 years in existence, but only the true
counter are at 12 o’clock and six o’clock respectively. This connoisseur will know the hidden charms of the Elite range.
classic beauty is powered by a hand-wound mechanical Its smooth classic lines speak of an aesthetic that will last
movement with a nine-day power reserve. forever. This elegant timepiece has everything that you
could ever desire in a watch: that is, the ability to tell the
time with precision, while delivering timeless versatility at
the same time. Its stark beauty is evident in its matte silver
dial with thin, brushed polished baguette hour indexes and
three slim elongated leaf hands. Its heart beats with an
automatic mechanical movement, which has 100 hours of
power reserve on standby. This study in simplicity is housed
in a stainless steel case.
T i f fa n y & C o
Tiffany CT60 3-Hand
After lying low for a few years, the
almost 180-year-old American jeweller
has decided to revive their watch
offerings with a brand new collection.
The CT60 range captures the Tiffany
spirit and its strong American heritage.
This can be seen clearly in the CT60
3-Hand, with its white sunburst dial
with an Art Deco touch. Apart from gold
transfer Americana Arabic numerals,
the classic month indicator is located
at six o’clock, while a slim central hand
with blue-tipped arrow indicates the
date, in blue transfer on the outer
flange. The watch has an automatic
G l as h ü t t e O r i g i n a l mechanical movement that beats within
PanoMaticLunar a rose-gold case.
Glashütte Original, one of the first German watchmaking
companies founded 170 years ago, was re-established
in 1994, and it continues to produce releases inspired
by their archive. Veering not far from their DNA, but
with a modern vision infused with technology, the brand
has become much sought-after. The PanoMaticLunar
is a utilitarian classic in its most absolute terms. It has
a solid rose-gold case that frames the galvanised black
main dial, with off-centred large and small sub-dials
that overlap. The large dial hosts the main central time
with gold appliqué hour indexes and hands, while
the secondary dial indicates the small seconds. The
moonphase indicator and the large date are at two
o’clock and four o’clock respectively. The watch is run by
an automatic mechanical movement.
P h oto g rap h y by M ar c us wo n g
te x t an d st y l in g l e o n g wo n g
Left:
Pink gold case with rubber strap. Black dial with gold
Super-LumiNova coated hands and applique hour indexes.
In-house automatic mechanical movement.
Right:
Stainless steel case and bracelet. Black dial with Super-
LumiNova-coated hands and appliqué hour indexes.
In-house automatic mechanical movement.
Right:
Diagono Automatic
Stainless steel case with steel and gold bracelet.
White dial with gold hands and hour markers.
Automatic mechanical movement.
Photography by
luna
words by
leong wong
Right
IWC
Portugieser Annual Calendar
Red-gold case. Silver-plated dial with
appliqué gold Arabic numeral hour
markers and gold hands. Month,
date and day display between 11 and
one o’clock. Small seconds at nine
o’clock. Power reserve at three o’clock.
Automatic mechanical movement.
Right
Cartier
Clé de Cartier
Pink-gold case. Silver dial with guil-
loché centre and blue transfer Arabic
numerals. Blue steel hands. Automatic
mechanical movement.
Right
A Lange & Söhne
Saxonia Automatic
Pink-gold case, silver dial with
appliqué baton hour indexes
and gold hands. Small seconds
at six o’clock. Hand-wound
mechanical movement.
The Whitley Neill Gin & Tonic is priced at SGD18 and available at The Rabbit Hole, 39C Harding Road.
Soju
South Korea
Typically lower in alcohol content than many spir-
its, soju is South Korea’s number one liquor (singer
Psy is its poster boy), and one of the biggest-
selling spirits in the world.
What is it? Made from rice, wheat or barley, the
distilled beverage contains ethanol and water that
works the palette on the sides of your tongue and
kicks when it slides down your throat. It is best
sipped neat from a shot glass from a bottle on ice;
and it pairs surprisingly nicely with whisky.
Taste Neutral to begin with, it surprises with
a vodka aftertaste, though not as overpowering.
BAIJIU
China
Be careful, this stuff is strong.
What is it? Made from sorghum and other grains
and vegetables, including wheat, barley, rye and
peas. It’s created through saccharification, fermen-
tation and distillation. Due to its unique character
and high alcohol strength, it’s drunk at meals and
toasts but a more approachable style is being
produced. Serve it either mixed in a cocktail or
straight up with stir-fried or richly flavoured dishes.
Taste Fruity to start, then grassy and herbal.
Aquavit
Norway
This pungently herbaceous Nordic staple is gain-
ing favour (probably because it can floor hardy
drinkers with barely a sniff).
What is it? Like gin, it’s made from a neutral spirit
(distilled from grain or potatoes) then infused
with herbs and spices. I prefer the Norwegian
aged “linie” aquavits, named after the process of
shipping oak barrels from Norway to Australia and
back, thereby passing the equator (“linie”) twice
before being bottled. The movement and changes
in temperature create a unique ageing environ-
ment that hasn’t been possible to replicate on dry
land. Drunk at meals, most often celebrations, it
pairs with salty foods, pickles and seafood.
Taste Ranging from crisp and clear to almost
whisky-like for some aged varieties. Dill and cara-
way give a savoury, medicinal character.
ARRACK
Sri Lanka
We need to get on this already.
What is it? Coconut flower sap is collected early
morning by “toddy tappers”, men who tightrope-
walk from tree to tree. They cut the stem of the
coconut flowers and drain the sap. The day’s heat
turns it into “toddy” (palm wine); sugarcane and
grain (typically red rice) are then added. High-
quality arrack should be drunk with subtle citrus
flavours such as lemon or orange, or even just with
an ice cube and a bit of water. Otherwise, it can
be paired with wine-based spirits and natural fruit
flavours.
Taste Subtle anise notes; it’s most often described
as a mixture of rum and whisky.
and tequila primer the last coin and want to call it a night in a big
way. And then you wake up several hours later
The quintessential drinks of Mexico have yet to in regrettable conditions. The better if you’ve
hit the Singaporean scene in a big way, tequila been blessed with amnesia as to what really went
shots at the end of the night notwithstanding. down, but with digital evidence? You’re basically
We explore the production of mezcal and
and swear off the drink for another wild
tequila and the ways to drink them the
right way. night at least.
Our story doesn’t start with tequila. It starts
Words by Lestari Hairul
with mezcal and ends with tequila, without any
of the embarrassing moments, except quite an ab-
normal amount of good cheer. Top
With mezcal, sipping the drink and munching Just a small selection of
mezcal and tequila from
on worms (yes), you’re only hit with the gravity El Mero Mero’s extensive
of what you’ve done quite a bit later as it sneaks collection.
up on you. Innocuously enough, it goes down same agave varietal being grown in the area.
smooth and, we like to think, is quite a bit like “Agave is grown in the main mezcal-producing
a good single malt in its complexity. But when states of Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Oax-
you’re not used to it, just two hours later, with six aca, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Zacatecas and
glasses swimming around in your gut, you find Michoacán,” says Eggleton. Michoacán was only
your formerly introverted self flitting about an recently added to the list of states in the Denomi-
event intent on making everyone your best drink- nación de Origen, which determines the place of
ing buddy, while extolling the virtues of mezcal. origin for mezcal. That being said, mezcal is pro-
No, there’s no mescaline in it, nor is it in any way duced in 20 states all over Mexico, both of the
made of a psychoactive plant. legal and the homestead production varieties. As
But we digress. It begins, as always, with an in sweet, sweet moonshine. “Probably, the most
initiation. well-known mezcal comes from Oaxaca; how-
Orlando Eggleton, General Manager of Mexi- ever, the best ones come from Durango, Guerrero
can restaurant El Mero Mero, takes us on an in- and Michoacán, from very specific regions with
troductory trip with four bottles of mezcal, one very specific agaves,” continues Eggleton.
bottle of tequila for comparison and a plate of As for taste, it differs wildly indeed. In a cock-
orange slices laced with ground-up worms and tail, it adds an intriguingly hard to discern taste,
salt. What? Yep. Sal de gusano is the quintessen- and unless you’re familiar with mezcal, its smoky
tial ingredient to your mezcal-drinking experi- complexity throws you off a little. A mezcal mar-
ence. Certainly not one to lick pre-shooting; in garita rounds off our initiation. With several more
fact, you shouldn’t be shooting the mezcal at all. bottles to taste at El Mero Mero, alas, we have to
Instead, the proper way to indulge is to sip it as embark on tequila next. Tasting tequila after mez-
if it were a fine whisky, and then have an orange cal makes the former a little bit sterile and flat.
slice sprinkled with crushed salted worms. Spicy. Pardon the blasphemy, but the closest we can
Eggleton demonstrates: first take a small sip, let think of is the comparison between vodka and
it roll about your tongue, hold it, and then swal- whisky.
low as you open your mouth to breathe out. Then At Hombre Cantina, a Mexican bar right
do it again. It is in the second sip that you fully smack in the middle of Boat Quay, Manager Pe-
experience all the flavours of the mezcal that are lagio Manalang, explains, “Tequila is made from
actually quite smoky. blue agave only within the region of Tequila. Nor-
Top
That comes from the production process. A bottle of tequila, aged at mally, it’s double-distilled, but some tequilas un-
Made from the agave plant, which looks like a least for a year, and not for dergo triple distillation, changing the strength of
shooting.
cousin of the pineapple (although biologically, the alcohol and its smoothness.”
Bottom
they’re actually very distantly related up to the The Hombre Cantina. Cock-
If it’s inscribed “100 percent Blue Agave”,
class of Liliopsida), mezcal derives its name from fights not included. you’re in with the better stuff. But if it isn’t, there’s
the ancient Aztec word for “cooked pineapple”.
The heart of the agave is stripped of its leaves, cut
up and roasted in a kind of rudimentary oven. It is
this roasting that gives mezcal its smoky flavour.
After being dried, the hearts are then pulped
by a massive, again primitive-like, grinder pulled
by a donkey or a mule. Then water is added, and
the concoction is fermented, and later distilled.
This whole process and its component parts re-
main unvaried no matter if it’s a fancy, more ex-
pensive mezcal or something modest and entry
level.
Terroir, too, is important to mezcal. In the
same way that sherry ferments by way of the
yeasts that naturally form on the wine in the very
specific areas in Spain where sherry is produced
(see the April 2015 issue of Perpetual Taste), the
airborne yeasts in Mexico play a part in the taste
of the resultant drink. With over 150 different
types of agave in existence, the different states
produce different-tasting mezcal, even with the
at least 49 percent Blue Agave, with the rest made Top old men who frequent bars in Mexico, you too
Mexican cuisine and drinks, all
up of other types. Eggleton’s words from the ear- in at CHIjMES. can spend the afternoon with a bottle sipping and
lier session surfaces in my mind: “Normally, those watching the world go by. Preferably with some
Bottom
types of tequilas aren’t your favourite tequilas. Another bottle of Arette, this sangrita on the side to clear the palate. Piquant,
That’s not what you’re going to have in a really one’s artisanal. pungent and tasting a little bit of salsa, tradition-
good store or a good restaurant. That’s gonna be ally, there’s actually no tomato in it. And though
in a very sketchy bar in the United States. We’re the tequila and the sangrita will each be served in
very proud of our product, especially when it’s a shot glass side by side, neither is meant to be a
well done.” All delivered with a grin. chaser for the other. Once again, as if we haven’t
Like many bars serving good tequila, Hombre emphasised it enough, sip and sip them good.
Cantina typically holds three different varietals Best with the more astringent blanco, though you
to each tequila brand, sometimes four. Housed can also have it with the reposado.
in virtually identical bottles differing only in de- On our palate, the tequila, even aged, is a lit-
scription, and sometimes labelling, it is the colour tle less delightful to be sipped, compared to the
of the drink that informs you of the age and the mezcal, but we attribute it to years of straight up
flavour. The darker the tequila, the longer it has shooting nasty tequila in grotty bars more than
been aged in an oak barrel. to the characteristic of the tequila itself. With a
“There’s the blanco, the reposado and the añe- bit more time and careful appreciation, there will
jo. So the blanco is basically the purest flavour of perhaps be room for an afternoon of tequila sip-
agave and it’s unaged. After you ferment and distil ping in the works one day. Maybe before a siesta.
it, you put it in the bottle straightaway. The repo- Oh, and the worms, the scorpions and all that
sado is rested in the oak barrel for a minimum of jazz at the bottom of the bottle? They’re really
six months to 364 days, which is still counted as just there for show. Studies conducted in Mexico
less than a year. You can see that the longer you demonstrated marked chemical changes to the
age it, the more you get complexity of flavour, the tequila when a worm was added, but as a sign of
more characteristics you get from the barrel. And purity or authenticity, you don’t need a drowned
then, when it comes to the añejo, you rest it for creature in the bottle to determine if your tequila
one to three years at least,” explains Manalang. or mezcal contains actual good stuff. You can use
The last category, usually in a special, more ex- the Tequila Matchmaker app to pick the ones
travagant bottling, is the extra añejo where the from retail. Or do it the old-fashioned way. Just
tequila has been aged for a longer period of be- head to the bar and request for an education from
tween three and five years. the barkeep. You’ll be lolling about in true spir-
Just like mezcal, shooting tequila isn’t stand- itual communion in no time.
ard practice. Particularly with the older, aged
varietals, the tequila transforms into something El Mero Mero is located at CHIJMES, #01-20 30
complex that you’ll want to swish in your mouth Victoria Street. Hombre Cantina is located at 53
for a bit. And it goes without saying that like the Boat Quay and also conducts regular tequila ap-
preciation workshops.
214 ESQUIRE SEPTEMBER 2015
D RI N KS — N OT I C E BOARD
With the F1 season in town, you’ll want to have the best seats
in the house to catch all the revved-up action. Or not. We all
know the actual best place to watch the race is on TV, but if
you want to join the fray and party it up while watching the
fast cars do their thing, why not do it in the sky? LeVel33, of the
world’s highest urban micro-brewery fame, offers an excellent
view of Singapore after dark with the racetrack in full glory
both in realtime view and via television screens inside. With
pints of beer to boot. And if you’re even thirstier, get a party
of six and share two beer-tasting paddles, six craft beers and a
choice of a sharing board. Food’s excellent here, too.
There’s a small case to be made, cancer aside, for enjoying drams with a finely
rolled stick of Cuba’s most famed export. And now that the Bar and Billiards
Room is restored to its former glory—no more lunches and dinners on the
programme—you can once again have your whisky where they once shot the
infamous tiger. A grand selection of 450 whiskies, including excellent Japanese
and Taiwanese ones, and a specially curated group of 300 Scotch malts
unavailable elsewhere are at the ready. To roll with the Havanas, the Fuentes and
the Partagás, you’ll need to get on their database, and then be invited for one of
their Gentlemen’s Nights.
Whiskies start at SGD16 a 4cl dram and can go up to a few hundred based on rarity.
Whisky appreciation dinners can also be arranged. Contact +65 6412 1816.
Yes, yes, champagne brunches are a grand thing—if you’ve just arrived and haven’t
quite gotten used to the windfall package yet, that is. For another novel experience,
have the Dom Pérignon 2005 Vintage with your dinner or lunch instead. Up till
the end of the year, eight restaurants will be offering specially curated meals
paired with the champagne, including the ever-scrumptious Gunther’s at Purvis
Street. You’ll have your pick of the type of cuisine you’d like and they’re all meant
to pair terrifically with the bubbly. And if you round up your mates to the tune
of 10 and more, you’ll be treated to an even grander Dom Pérignon experience at
your restaurant of choice with all the fancy trimmings, including complimentary
bottles. The whole thing is a bit of a secret and we can’t guarantee that you’ll
receive the same treatment, but when we tried it out, we were driven around in a
stretch limo popping bottles like ballers...
The Here Active Listening System is priced at SGD348* and available only for the first 2,855 backers. It ships in December
2015. Put yourself up on the waitlist at www.hereplus.me and receive updates on the next batch of release.
Bas i c i n st i n ct:
m o r e g r e at
s i n g l e-us e p ro d -
u cts wi t h n o
t r i m m i n gs
AeroPress
Forget “aroma settings”
and “programmable
coffee grinds”, this
plastic contraption
makes amazing
espresso in just
30 seconds.
K i n d l e Voyag e
High-resolution screen,
haptic page turns and
slim, ergonomic design
make this the best
e-reader going.
Dialled down
It’s still smart. And it’s still a phone. What more do you need?
I n 20 1 0, Yale University computer scien- device strips functionality back to phone calls
tist David Gelernter called for an anti-Inter- and text messages, plus a diary and clock func-
net movement, a “group of intellectual dis- tion. The MP 01 also boasts a monochromat-
sent that asks us to slow down”. Others pre- ic surface, punchy buttons, a 2in LCD display
dict a broader anti-tech backlash. We’ll just say and a huge battery life. You can’t go online or
Pound
this: at Esquire, we love a gadget. But some- tweet. It hasn’t got a camera. It’s just a well-de-
Shav e C l u b
times (when we’re balancing a tablet on our signed product intended to do one thing—be a A budget mail-order
arm to check Instagram on our Apple Watch, phone—and do it well. razor blades service that
aims to—in the words
for instance) even we have sympathy for this “We hope it will offer a bit of a digital de- of US trailblazers Dollar
kind of talk. After all, isn’t technology sup- tox,” Punkt founder Petter Neby says. “Or you Shave Club—“shave
time, shave money”
posed to make life simpler? Maybe it’s time to can carry two phones: one for work, one by providing no-frills
declutter? for pleasure.” Hang on, doesn’t that sound products without
Enter the MP 01, a mobile phone from Swiss like more clutter? Either way, it’s a lovely a vibrating handle
in sight.
brand Punkt. The Jasper Morrison-designed phone. SGD507*; punkt.ch
Best for: commuting Best for: light touring Best for: all-out performance
If comfort is top of your list, stick to “It’s a more expensive material and This Canadian bike boasts a sub-kilo
steel. “It’s strong and can be made quite it’s harder to work with,” Burnett frame, but weight can be overplayed.
stiff, but still gives you that bit of flex says. “But it’s stronger and generally “If you add the componentry and the
on the road,” Burnett says. It also has lighter than steel and it won’t rust. rider, it’s less of a factor. At the cheap
the advantage that it is easy to machine, Plus, it still has that nice road feel.” end, aluminium might be better. But
meaning you can get a frame tailored As a result, Genesis’s Equilibrium at the top level, there are advantages,”
to your exact specifications. The is flexible—it will hold its own in Burnett says. Bikes like this can be fun
Escapist is Mosquito’s new own- faster rides, but there’s scope to sling to ride—that isn’t always the case with
brand bike, hand-built in Brighton on a rack and mudguards to tackle pro bikes. “Tour riders aren’t paid to be
from Italian Columbus steel. “It’s the daily slog to work. The perfect comfortable, they’re paid to perform.”
quite lively and not boring to ride.” year-round, all-weather ride.
There are occasions in life when something as dull and conventional as a “car”
just won’t cut it. Who wants a roof, rear seat and four wheels when there
are road-legal rides like these three to be driven instead?
Cat e r h a m
S e v e n 270
Engine
1.6-litre Ford
Sigma Ti-VCT
Power
135bhp
0–60mph
5secs
Top Speed
122mph
For weekend
wa r r i o r s
Caterham Seven 270
The Japanese marque’s latest
attempt to throw a grenade into
the “ -quick coupé” market
dominated by the BMW M4 is
definitely striking to look at,
thanks to a grille design only
previously seen on industrial
barbecues. As you’d expect, it’s
pretty much good at everything
and full of technical gizmos—the
inside has more buttons than
a haberdasher. And with 467bhp,
it makes the kind of satisfying
sound that frightens children
and the infirm.
F o r o ff - r oa d
s h e n a n i ga n s
Ariel Nomad
Brilliantly imagined, expertly crafted
and ridiculously good fun (0–60mph
in 3.4secs), the Nomad is to off-
roading what British marque Ariel’s
original car, the Atom, was to the
racetrack. It’s basically a modern-
day dune buggy that’s just as
capable cruising around the city
as it is exploring a field, track or
beach. Thanks to an ingenious
suspension and some very clever
engineering, the Nomad will take it
all on with aplomb.
F o r c o u n t ry- l a n e
cruising
Can-Am Spyder F3
It’s easier to say what the Spyder
F3 is not rather than what it is, but
that’s part of its charm. The three-
wheel design makes more sense
when you’re sitting on top and
soaking up your surroundings. It’s
slick, secure and, yes, a bit silly but
it packs a punch and handling is a
breeze. It’s hard not to enjoy every
second you’re perched on top of
this truly original cruiser.
Zoom-zoom
making snap decisions, where the outcome is in the hands of fickle Fate.
And the game is tailored as such that you won’t grasp the totality of the
story, so you play again, and again. With every new choice made, the Making a scooter ride look good again.
game reshapes itself. Before you know it, you’ve played the whole night
through and you still want to go back to it again. There’s no shame in not having your own car,
so we go for the next best thing: a personal
Until Dawn is only available for the PlayStation and retails for SGD69.90. electric vehicle (PEV). The INOKIM QUICK
2 electric scooter is light (14.5kg by electric
scooter standards), intuitive (displays battery
life, distance travelled, speed control) and sturdy
(with 10in pneumatic tyres). It can traverse long
distances and carry a load of up to 120kg (believe
us, we tried). So, while the jury is still out on the
whole legality of riding a PEV on the sidewalks
(don’t be a doofus and act like a hell rider on
wheels), you might as well get the INOKIM
QUICK 2 electric scooter.
NSPACE
The people behind storage space find commonality with
the people behind the Apple.
What’s UP dog?
A better activity tracker.
From the makers that brought you speakers that look like a
Lego brick comes this UP3 multi-sensor activity tracker. The
thing about activity trackers is that data produced is only
limited to it picking up body motions, but the UP3 sees that
claim through with a little something called “bioimpedance”.
The system measures the resistance of body tissue to tiny
electric currents to capture a wide range of physiological
signals like heart rate, respiration rate and galvanic skin
response. It might not sound like much, but the more data the
tracker collects, the better your health profile.
The UP3 by Jawbone retails for SGD309.
W h at l i e s b e n e at h
Peel away the layers and give in to your baser instincts.
Words by Janie Cai
Photographs by Dmitry Zhuravlev
Styling by Maria Yankovskaya
1.
G i v e n c h y G e n t l e m e n O n ly Casua l C h i c E DT
The original Gentlemen by Givenchy fragrance was released in 1974. Its third interpretation,
Casual Chic, is a woody, spicy scent with alluring top notes of juniper and cardamom that
segue into a heart of birch and cedar. Perfect for the laid-back gent.
ESQUIRE
ESQUIRE AUGUST 2015 231
SEPTEMBER
9.
D o lc e & Ga b ba n a C ot to n h at
Old Blue Eyes knew the charismatic allure of a jauntily angled hat and it seems
that with this smart windowpane check trilby, Italian design duo Dolce & Gabbana
are just as clued-in to this hat trick.
ESQUIRE
ESQUIRE AUGUST 2015 233
SEPTEMBER
TR AVE L
Solar juice
As every survivalist will tell you, you need a bug-out bag kitted with items essential for
your survival—both the physical and the mental kind. Alright, so technically you don’t have
to live your life in a permanent state of paranoia, waiting for D-Day to happen. But you’ll
still want something that can easily charge your devices, especially if you’re part of the
mobile workforce peddling your livelihood by way of a laptop and an Internet connection.
Something like this will come in handy for those moments when you can’t find a serviceable
power socket. Plant yourself anywhere sun-drenched and once the Voltaic Battery is juiced
up by way of the solar panel, you can charge your devices. On an island vacation but insist
on roughing it out? No problem, a mere 90 minutes in the sun will keep your phone from
running on empty. That’s a snooze session in the sun right there.
The Array Solar Laptop Charger is priced at SGD538* and available from voltaicsystems.com/array
WA N D ERLUST:
Stay i n g i n
fas h i o n
The most stylish hotels around.
P ER P ET UAL
E S CA P E :
I n to t h e
land of
t h e g i a n ts
It’s cold, it’s expensive and even
the fish are sad in Norway. True,
and not true, says our man on the
Hardangervidda plateau.
Words by Henry Dimbleby
Right
In rural Norway, a network
of overnight huts is strung
across the rugged landscape;
they can be up to 14 hours
walk apart.
Right
Hardangervidda National Park:
home of Thor and Loki.
T i p s Fo r W h at
To Pac k W h e n
Wa l k i n g I n N o rway
1
As little as possible. A 10kg
pack instead of a 20kg one
will change your life.
2
I had a satnav watch, which
was a luxury, but meant
I could be really relaxed
about navigation. The trails
are marked every year with
red Ts painted on the rocks,
so a map and a compass
would be fine.
3
Walking poles. Yes, they
are ridiculous when you’re
strolling through, say,
English countryside but
are essential when you are
trying to navigate a bog,
scree or permafrost with
a heavy pack.
4
A knife to cut your dried
whale meat, or fight off
wolves. Don’t take food
that has much water in it,
eg, fruit, vegetables. And
no bottled water: it is just
too heavy.
5
A quick-drying trekking
towel.
5
Money, lots of it.
your own food, or buy from the storeroom via mountains. The panoramic rolling moorland,
an honesty system. The set-up is all very Nordic. glinting with a thousand lakes, transformed into a
You sleep in large dormitories and cook and have wilder, bleaker place as we passed lakes, peaks and
dinner in a communal room. Occupants—mostly valleys with names that seemed to come straight
Norwegian, with a few Germans—are expected from Tolkein’s Middle-earth: Rauhelleren, Had-
to share tasks such as collecting water from the laskard, Torehytten. The land is wild, but in sum-
river or sweeping the floor. Do so when there is mer it is giving. You can pick wild blueberries
someone around to see, or you may get dark looks almost anywhere. Sweet, translucent cloudber-
from other guests who assume you aren’t pulling ries are also common. If you are thirsty, you can
your weight. drink from any stream. The Norwegians are proud
The only other custom you need to be aware of of this, and it is a wonderful feeling. If you fancy
is not to ask anyone you meet what they do for a meat, there are plenty of lemmings to hunt. These
living. This is considered the height of rudeness. little mammals are cute and furry, like wild ham-
Norwegians come to the mountains to escape the sters. They are also famously stupid. At one of the
restrictions and labels of their daily lives. huts we stayed in, the Norwegians hosted a quiz
Right
Walking trails are marked with
Over the following few days we gradually which my sister and I won (with the help of some
red Ts painted on the rocks. climbed from the eastern plateau up into the local ringers). The prize was a “grill spear”—for
t h e ba r b e r
d oss i e r:
Z a n z i ba r
An Indian Ocean paradise
famed for spices, sealife—and
Freddie Mercury. 1. Stay
White Sand Luxury Villas does what is says on the rather el-
Words by Tom Barber egant tin with a range of, well, luxurious villas for couples (or
families, if you must) that lead directly onto the, yep, white
sand of Paje Beach. For the sake of catchiness, what’s not in
the name is that each villa has its own plunge pool, the ex-
cellent restaurant serves top-notch Zanzibari cuisine, and the
roof bar is an idyllic spot for a sundowner.
whitesandvillas.com
Z a n z i ba r must be one of the most exotic names
2. Lu n c h
in the travel lexicon. The largest of the so-called It might be ever so slightly gimmicky to have to take a boat,
Spice Islands off the coast of Tanzania has seen or swim out to a tiny island restaurant, but The Rock—off
Persian traders, Portuguese navigators, Omani Michanwi Pingwe beach—is well worth the journey. Just make
sure you go when the tide’s in or the whole experience is a
sultans and (surprise, surprise) the Brits, hold bit of a (not) damp (enough) squib. The lobsters and octopii,
sway. Now, only palm trees sway in the sea breez- caught each day by the resident “crustacean hunters”, are
grilled to perfection and best accompanied with an ice-cold
es on its astonishing white sand beaches. The local Kilimanjaro lager. therockrestaurantzanzibar.com
largest island—Unjuga, part of the Zanzibar Ar-
chipelago—can form the perfect coastal element 3. D i n e
The Jambiani Tourism Training Institute doesn’t sound the
of a classic bush-and-beach itinerary after some coolest place to eat, granted. A Canadian couple set it up
serious safari action in East Africa’s national to train locals in the hospitality trade, and on Friday nights
parks. For the less nature-inclined, excellent bou- the trainees put their skills into practice in its Alibi’s Well Res-
taurant. Great atmosphere, great project, great food. jtti.org
tique hotels and the laid-back island vibe work
their relaxing magic. Additional factoid: Zanzibar 4. D r i n k
The Livingstone Beach Restaurant, in the former British Con-
is the birthplace of one Freddie Mercury. That sulate, feels untouched since the end of the British Protector-
ought to clinch it. ate in 1963, but that’s part of the charm. Set in all its former
colonial splendour right on the water in Stone Town (on the
AVOID west side of the island), this is the place to enjoy a sunset
Tom Barber is a founder of travel-site originaltravel.co.uk drink and even occasional live music.
Normal rules apply:
ie, don’t walk down an
alleyway at midnight 5. Pa rt y
9 flashing your Rolex. Jambo Bar is a very laid-back place on Paje Beach for a re-
laxed evening session with locals and tourists, but for a row-
W h y G O? dier time head just up the beach to Paje by Night for themed
Paje Beach is one of evenings such as foam parties. pajebynight.net
the best kitesurfing
beaches in the world 6. S h o p
thanks to its reliable, Emerging from the labyrinthine lanes in Stone Town one
cross-shore winds and street behind the waterfront, you’ll find Fahari, a shop opened
shallow, sandy-bot- by Julie Lawrence, once accessories designer for Sir Paul
tomed waters. Happily, Smith. The majority of things will appeal more to the wife, but
White Sand Luxury there are some quality bags for the discerning gent, made by
Villas owns Zanzibar Zanzibari ladies. fahari-zanzibar.com
Kite Paradise, the finest
set-up on the beach. 7. D o
ziff.or.tz; zanzi- Appreciate the extraordinary carved doors and architectural
barkiteparadise.com legacies of Zanzibar’s varied settlers in Unesco Heritage Stone
Town. At the bizarre manifestation of multiculturalism that is
8. W h e n i n …
Enjoy a cup of delicious East African coffee. The best in Zanzi-
bar is found at the café beneath the imaginatively named Zanzi-
bar Coffee House Hotel where the owner of both serves brews
made from beans grown on his coffee estates in Zanzibar and
the Southern Highlands on the mainland. riftvalley-zanzibar.com
9. S e e
Life beneath the waves. Ras Nungwi Hotel arranges guided
snorkelling and/or trips to the nearby marine conservation
area of Mnemba Atoll where you can spot everything from
turtles to—here’s hoping—resident pods of dolphins.
rasnungwi.com
2. T h e g r e at fo o d e s ca p e
Margaret River’s seminal Gourmet Escape festival
brings together the best of the culinary world in one of
the best wine regions of Western Australia.
L AST R E S O RT
Park Hyatt Sanya Sunny Bay Resort,
Hainan Island, China
Words by Lestari Hairul
M E R K I N S FO R M E N
Merkins aka pubic wigs were a popular fashion trend among
prostitutes in the ’40s when they had to shave their genitalia for
hygiene purposes to combat pubic lice and/or hide symptoms of
STDs. The merkin has gained traction thanks to its use in movies.
Here’s some of the “in” merkins for the AW15 season.