DANIEL

RICCIARDO
THE FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT
The Triathlon Squad

Daniela Ryf
Jan Frodeno
Chris McCormack

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3 DAYS, 19 HOURS,
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THE PIONEER
SPIRIT LIVES ON.
 Contents
November | December 2020
DANIEL
RICCIARDO
THE FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT
ON THE COVER
Knit, $1580, by Burberry.
Photography Tom Sloan.
Styling Britt Mccamey.
16 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020
31 Brief 122 Manu’s moment
Sibling Architecture is rethinking the way Sydney rapper Manu Crooks is about to
we socialise; 37 books in, Bruce Pascoe cement his place in Aussie rap history.
is showing no sign of slowing down;
how the Nintendo ‘Switch’ changed the 128 Great outdoors
gaming landscape; Hollywood is still very Taking a stroll with our favourite new
much alive; Jack Dylan Grazer is about to scarves, bags and outerwear.
take on ‘It boy’ status.
134 Sea of dreams
44 Big Ideas A piratical preview of our favourite
Introducing the speakers from GQ’s theme from the AW20 collections.
first virtual summit on the ideas shaping
the world for the better. 145 Travel
With international holidays off the cards,
51 Style we preview the best local getaways.
How Bode became one the most in-
150 Food
demand names in fashion; all the best
’90s fashion inspo; the crafty designers If you’re going to eat meat, you might as
taking luxury fashion to Gen Z; a look
inside Celine’s new collection;
well ensure you’re getting the most out
of your meal.
and more.
152 Drinks
74 Watches Raising a toast to the cans of summer.
Despite a challenging year, the future
of watches looks bright; a look at TAG 154 Wellness
Heuer’s dynamic ‘Carrera’ collection. The GQ guide to a perfect night’s sleep
– and why it matters.
82 Urge to splurge
From books and bags to cameras and 156 Motoring
watches, we pick a few of our favourite Young, cool and socially engaged,
things from the year. welcome to the new generation of
F1 drivers.
88 The road ahead
There’s more to Australia’s best Formula 1 160 The Columnist
driver than that smile. Dan Rookwood looks for the positive in
an otherwise bleak year.
96 The culture clash
A look at some of the brands bringing
punk back to the runway.
108 Flower power
Thanks to Gucci, fashion and music
have never been more intertwined.
116 New pornographers
What the OnlyFans phenomenon means
for the future of the Internet.
GQ.COM.AU
 Editor’s Letter

Daniel Ricciardo doing what

he does best for Renault,
ahead of his move to
McLaren next year.

I don’t know about you, but every morning when I wake up, I have to fight the urge to pick
up my phone and check the various ways the world is ending. Fires, floods, plagues – it’s
all happening. By the time this issue is out, the US election will have shaken the geopolitical
order once again, the world’s hopes of recovery are pinned on a vaccine that’s still far from
certain, and here in Australia, we’ll be heading into another bushfire season.
I’m not trying to sound depressing. Because the truth is, there’s so much bad news around at
the moment, you couldn’t possibly worry about it all. You literally don’t have time for it. So this
issue, we’re all about staying positive.
Take Daniel Ricciardo. Our cover star is not simply a model of optimism – Optus has even tapped
him as its Chief Optimism Officer – but is one of the nicest men in sport. He is also among the
world’s fastest drivers, who spends a significant portion of his life travelling at over 300km/h. For
those unfamiliar with the intricacies of Formula 1, that is really, really fast. At that pace, 100 metres
passes in about a second. He has travelled a kilometre in the time it took you to read this paragraph.
Needless to say, bad things can happen. You don’t have time to react if a tyre blows or a
seagull detours into your path. Things can switch from good to bad to much worse in the blink
of an eye – less time, actually. But if Ricciardo spent all day worrying about what the worst-case
scenarios might be, he’d probably never get behind the wheel.
In a normal year, this would be our Men of the Year edition, a glitzy celebration of actors,
athletes and overachievers from around the world. Well, this has not been a normal year. And
since parties are off the cards, instead of our usual black-tie gala, we’ve taken things virtual,
launching the GQ Big Ideas Summit. Hosted by Hamish Macdonald, this digital panel
discussion took place on November 5 and was a celebration of people whose ideas and actions
are shaping a brighter future for all of us. You can read more about some of the speakers on p44,
and you can watch the event in full and for free at GQ.com.au.
With so much going on, it’s sometimes hard to focus on the good stories. Bad news is often
louder and more aggressive, and tends to dominate the headlines (sound like anyone familiar?).
PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES.

But there are people creating a positive change all over the world, in ways big and small. And
it is worth thinking about them in dark times.
If there’s any lesson we can take from the relentless optimism of people like Ricciardo, it’s
that no matter how well you plan, no one really knows what lies ahead. So you might as well live
in the moment, focus on the things that really matter – and enjoy the ride.

Jake Millar
Editor

22 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020 GQ.COM.AU

 Contributors
Emma Proudfoot
PRODUCER
GQ: What does a typical day for a GQ and
Vogue producer look like?
Emma Proudfoot: A lot of emails and calls!
Depending on the shoots I’m working on, my
days vary massively. I’m either in the office
working with stylists and co-ordinating crew,
locations, talent and managing budgets, or
I’m running around on set.
GQ: Spotting locations for shoots is your
bread and butter. How do you know you’ve
found the right spot?
EP: I’m constantly filing potential shoot
locations in my head (and on my camera roll)
whenever I go somewhere new that inspires
me. It helps to have a big reference bank
rather than starting fresh every time.
GQ: What new challenges has shooting
during a pandemic presented?
EP: A silver lining is that with no international
or regional travel we’ve been forced to explore
the depths of opportunities in NSW, so it’s
been nice to bring it all back locally for
a while.
GQ: The fashion calendar has been turned
on its head. Which designers are you most
excited about?
EP: I’ve loved seeing a new lo-fi approach
to high fashion, ironically with minimal
production. Collina Strada, Saks Potts, Acne
Studios, Dilara Findikoglu, Margiela, Prada,
Simone Rocha and Balenciaga are some of the
labels I’m into right now.
24 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020
David Smiedt
WRITER
GQ: What was the takeaway for you from
delving into the world of OnlyFans (p116)?
David Smiedt: That the balance of power
has now shifted firmly towards creators and
away from the traditional models of media
ownership many of us grew up with.
GQ: Are you now a subscriber?
DS: Thanks, but no. Though I do have some
Patreon accounts I follow.
GQ: As GQÕs grooming editor, how have
you managed to keep up appearances
while working from home?
DS: By only being in Zoom meetings from
the waist up.
GQ: Good call. In another life, you’re a
stand-up comedian. Are you itching to get
back onstage?
DS: I do miss the interaction – and to be
honest, the validation – stand-up brings. Not
being able to bring a few minutes of joy to
people has also been missed.
GQ: 2021 is just around the corner. What
hopes do you have for the year ahead?
DS: I hope that some of the community
kindness that Covid-19 has engendered
lingers into 2021 and beyond.
Tom Sloan
PHOTOGRAPHER
GQ: You shot Daniel Ricciardo (p88) for
the cover story. What was he like?
Tom Sloan: He’s a seriously nice, laidback
dude with a great sense of humour. He made
the experience a pleasure.
GQ: If you could race against a Formula 1
driver, who would it be?
TS: The one and only Ayrton Senna.
GQ: You note that a lot of your work
involves shooting groups of people. What
challenges do you face in showcasing the
dynamic of a group with social distancing
now the norm?
TS: It’s certainly going to be a different
approach to the ‘group shot’. Let’s just go
with it I say, and pray things will be back to
what they were before too long.
GQ: You live in London. What’s the
general sentiment over there?
TS: The city has changed for the time being
PHOTOGRAPHY OF DAVID SMIEDT: ALAN MOYLE.
as I’m sure most major cities have. The events
and arts sector have suffered dramatically.
It’s really sad. But Londoners are tough,
resourceful and hopeful.
GQ: You document the youth of England
for your own project, a newspaper called
Younger. What have you learned while
making it?
TS: Youth has always been a strong thread
that runs through my personal work. One
thing I take away from working with young
people is to stay hopeful and positive.
GQ.COM.AU
 #GucciTimepieces
gucci.com swiss made
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 Brief
PHOTOGRAPHY: KATHERINE LU. © SIBLING ARCHITECTURE.

Personal space
Sibling Architecture wants to rethink the way we socialise. As we near the end of a year plagued by isolation,
economic downturn and disease, the studio’s skills have never been in higher demand.
Words Amy Campbell

GQ.COM.AU 31
 Brief | Design

T imothy Moore has been thinking

about the office. Not the TV show
(though maybe that too; we’ve all been stuck
indoors), but Sibling Architecture’s
Melbourne and Sydney studios, which have
been sitting dormant since March. “How do
you incorporate staff into the culture of the
office,” he wonders aloud, “while we’re all
working from home?”
He’s not the only one asking such questions.
Team managers everywhere have been forced
to become experts in hosting everything from
farewell parties to baby showers over video
calls. But Moore’s concern is emblematic of the
philosophical questions that motivate Sibling,
the architecture practice he co-directs with
four friends: Amelia Borg, Nicholas Braun,
Jane Caught and Qianyi Lim. “What does it
mean to ‘challenge the norm’ in architecture?
How can we bring people together in different
ways?” muses the director.
Needless to say, 2020 has been a challenging
year for this young studio, but one that’s
strengthened and reinforced its resolve.
“We’ve always been interested in how the
built environment creates social cohesion and
kinship,” explains Moore. “Which we’re all
really needing this year.” problems to do with space – that’s the core staged, noting they’re designed “so that you
When Sibling Architecture launched in element of architecture. Not always buildings, walk to this rack first and that rack second”.
2012, its approach to design – to create per se.” How does Sibling avoid creating scripted
inclusive spaces and experiences that enhance Many of the practice’s projects do take experiences then? “Sometimes, it just comes
our lives and the way we socialise – was the form of buildings though. Its ‘Glassbook from messing about with form, space and
considered fairly radical. Today, the studio’s House’, which is pictured on the previous tectonics. It’s not so methodical and rational,”
ideas are hot property. For example, its page, is a book-lover’s sanctuary. The offers the designer.
ongoing investigation into alternative housing backyard of this Federation-style house in It’s this playfulness that caught the eye of
solutions for Australia’s ageing population, Sydney features a “permeable boundary”, Ewan McEoin, the Senior Curator of
such as reimagining multigenerational homes which means neighbours can gossip – socially Contemporary Design and Architecture at

PHOTOGRAPHY: CHRISTINE FRANCIS. © SIBLING ARCHITECTURE.

for the modern family, feels particularly
relevant as the pandemic forces us to
reconsider where and how we home our elders.
Similarly, Sibling also won acclaim for its
‘Frenches Interior’, a home-office which
recasts the conventions of wheelchair-
accessible design. “We’re interested in spaces
that allow for difference; that allow people
to arrange themselves, rather than us
determining how they use the space.”
When we ask Moore what attracts him and
his colleagues to a job, his response is a simple
one. “Spatial problem-solving,” he says. “It’s
the base definition of architecture. Whether
it’s a door handle or the housing market,
interrogating these things, and solving
distanced – without having to shout over a the National Gallery of Victoria. For the
fence. In this age of privacy and individualism, gallery’s upcoming Triennial, which is an
such a communal feature seems… unusual. exploration of modern art, design and
But we bet the owner of the Glassbook House architecture spanning 86 projects by artists
had a less lonely lockdown than most. from more than 30 countries, McEoin
“We want you to make the meaning,” approached Sibling and asked them to partner
explains Moore of Sibling’s approach. with renowned London-based artist Adam
“Meaning is made in how you use the space, Nathaniel Furman, known for his ludicrously
rather than being told what to do in the colourful installations that rebel against
space.” He draws on the example of a clothing the strictures and decorum of traditional
store as an interior that’s typically quite architecture.
“We’re interested in spaces that allow for difference;
that allow people to arrange themselves, rather than
us determining how they use the space.”

32 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020


Their task was to ‘queer’ the NGV’s Gallery
Kitchen. Applying the theory of queering
– to challenge the preconception that
heterosexuality is the norm – to architecture,
they set about designing an installation
inspired by three historically inclusive spaces:
the boudoir, the nightclub and the salon.
“These interiors were locations where
activities and identities outside of the norm
gathered and could thrive,” offers Moore.
The pioneering 20th-century modernist
architect Eileen Grey’s ‘Boudoir de Monte
Carlo’ was one reference point; Piper, the
infamous Italian nightclub, was another. The
finished product is an interactive installation
called ‘Boudoir Babylon’.
Moore says the goal was to create a space
that “allows for different bodies, genders,
sexualities, even just different personalities,
while challenging the convention of how
people dine.”
A range of feature elements open the space
for reinterpretation. There are the adjustable
screens, which allow for either privacy or
exposure, while colourful dividers punctured
with “oculi” encourage people to “watch and
A TRIO OF TRIENNIAL
HIGHLIGHTS
Previous page: Sibling Architecture’s
‘Glassbook House’ in Sydney. Opposite: The
team behind Sibling Architecture. This page
(clockwise from top left): the curtained dining
area from Sibling’s ‘Frenches Interior’; drinks
cabinet from Sibling’s ‘Frenches Interior’; some
of the oculi in ‘Boudoir Babylon’.
be watched” as they sit beneath the hypnotic
swirls of Boudoir Babylon’s ceiling. There’s
also a giant lazy Susan-style stage at the centre
of it all to allow for 360-degree viewing, while
a column that transforms into a catwalk
inspires those who venture in to have a dance.
And Covid dining restrictions shouldn’t prove
too much of a dampener – the adaptable nature
of the boudoir allows for however many people
are legally permitted to sit in the space, without
it ever feeling awkwardly proportioned.
It does, however, mean the parties will be
more intimate. “Just imagine a nightclub with
a big podium – that was our dream. There will
still be a big podium, just less bodies on it,”
says Moore with a chuckle.
But such is the nature of 2020. And whether
it’s designing houses or hospitals (Moore says
enquiries have been coming from the public-
health sector since the pandemic begun), you
might argue the essence of Sibling – creating
environments and experiences that respond to
social needs and desires – couldn’t be better
suited to this exceptionally transitional year. n
The NGV Triennial runs from December 19 to
April 18, ngv.vic.gov.au, siblingarchitecture.com
GQ.COM.AU 33
 Brief | Gaming

Switch it up

WORDS: AMY CAMPBELL.

34 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020 GQ.COM.AU

 Brief | Film
Hollywood’s not dead
When blockbusters bailed on 2020, some started to mourn the end of cinema. But as our screen time skyrocketed,
so did the streaming numbers on a group of indie flicks, earning them the kind of critical and popular acclaim
usually reserved for big-budget releases. Here, we pick out four of the best.
BABYTEETH
How are you supposed to live, when you know your life
could end tomorrow? Babyteeth isn’t the first coming-of-
age drama to address this quandary, but the performance
of Australian actor Eliza Scanlen, who plays the terminally
ill teenager Milla, puts forth the most invigorating, life-
affirming case we’ve seen so far. She shaves her head,
falls fearlessly in love with a shifty drug dealer named
Moses (played by Toby Wallace) and shoplifts cheap
lipstick like she’s got nothing to lose. Because, well,
she doesn’t. Directed by Shannon Murphy and set in
suburban Australia, this achingly beautiful film will leave
you feeling alive. Now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
ON THE ROCKS
Bill Murray and Sofia Coppola are one of modern cinema’s
most dynamic and unlikely duos: he, a very famous actor
in the twilight years of his career and she, a talented
writer and director from a dynasty of creatives. With more
mainstream appeal than Lost in Translation, the pair’s previous
collaboration, On the Rocks finds Murray playing the young-
at-heart father of Rashida Jones’ character Laura, who calls
on him to tail her husband, whom she suspects is cheating.
The film’s silliness is enchanting; as is its backdrop of a pre-
Covid-19 New York, which is enough to generate ripples of
nostalgia, even if you’ve never been.
Now streaming on Apple TV+.
36 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020
DA 5 BLOODS
We didn’t know it at the time, but Da 5 Bloods would be one
of Chadwick Boseman’s last films. Directed by Spike Lee, the
film follows four veterans who return to Vietnam in search of
their fallen commander and the bounty he helped them hide.
Hilarious one minute and prophetic the next, it premiered
as Black Lives Matter protests radiated across the globe,
making a potent statement on the history of Black sacrifice in
America. The film could also find itself with a swag of Oscar
noms: the critics say Delroy Lindo is a strong contender for
Best Actor, while Boseman could be recognised with
a posthumous gong for a supporting role.
Now streaming on Netflix.
WORDS: AMY CAMPBELL. PHOTOGRAPHY: OF BABYTEETH, LISA TOMASETTI; OF DA 5 BLOODS,
BAD EDUCATION ON THE ROCKS AND BAD EDUCATION, COURTESY OF NETFLIX, APPLE TV+ AND BINGE.
It might be Hugh Jackman’s greasiest and sleaziest
performance ever. Inspired by a 2004 exposé that ran in
New York magazine, Jackman plays Frank Tassone, a Long
Island school administrator at the centre of the largest
embezzlement scandal to rock America’s public school
system. Jackman is joined by the brilliant Allison Janney,
who plays Tassone’s colleague (and fellow fraudster) Pamela
Gluckin. Their flirtatious relationship reeks of ulterior motives
from the get-go, but what unravels is a classic yet shocking
tale of what happens when money, power and freedom are
placed in the hands of an otherwise mediocre man.
Now streaming on Binge.
GQ.COM.AU
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 Brief | Books

Rewriting
history
Bruce Pascoe didn’t set out to change
the way we think about Australia’s
past. But 37 books later, he’s done
a pretty successful job of it. Better
yet, there’s plenty more work this
70-something storyteller wants to do.
Words Amy Campbell

I t’s been a year of highs and lows for

us all. But Bruce Pascoe’s has been
especially bumpy. The Bunurong, Yuin and
Tasmanian Aboriginal man blew into 2020 on
the back of a fire truck, fighting to protect his
East Gippsland community from the worst
fire season on record. The embers had barely
cooled when certain members of Australia’s
conservative media launched callous attacks
on Pascoe’s Aboriginality. But as the year
wore on, something peculiar happened: Dark
Emu – the book Pascoe first published in 2014
– began to creep back onto bestseller lists. Its
thesis – that pre-contact Aboriginal society
was more sophisticated than this country’s
dominant historical narrative implies – has
found a receptive audience among young
Australians unafraid to reckon with our
nation’s shameful history.
Pascoe isn’t surprised by Dark Emu’s second
wind. Nor is he about to stop and smell the
myrtle. His first travel book, Loving Country,
a guide to culturally sensitive travel within
Australia written in collaboration with artist
and researcher Vicky Shukuroglou, has just
been published and apparently, there’s another
novel (or two) on the way. He may be rewriting
Australia’s past but, as we recently found out,
Pascoe is always looking to the future.
GQ: In the introduction to Loving Country,
you write: ‘Help us make this the start of
genuine conciliation.’ What role does
travelling to Indigenous landmarks and
learning from communities play in Clockwise from top left: Dark Emu (2014); Found (2020); Convincing Ground (2007); Salt (2019);
Young Dark Emu: A Truer History (2019); Loving Country (2020), all by Bruce Pascoe. All books available from dymocks.com.au
inspiring this change?

38 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

 Bruce Pascoe: Well, we have to know our
country. But to know our country we have to
know our countrymen and women. Aboriginal
people are a significant part of Australia’s
population and a very significant part of its
history. For Australians to understand their
continent, Aboriginal knowledge from 120,000
years ago is very important. And the younger
generation seem to believe the logic of that.
GQ: Young people are particularly
receptive to your writing and ideas. Why
do you think the next generation is more
eager to stand with Indigenous Australia
than the generations before them?
BP: You know, I don’t know. Maybe there’s a
sufficient distance between this generation
and the frontier [wars], that the past can be
contemplated with more of a sense of interest
and curiosity than a sense of guilt. I think their
parents and grandparents felt they couldn’t
address these issues, because it brought up the
ugly truth of Australia’s history. It’s mainly
people under 40 who seem to be driving this
change. My generation is pathetic. But I do
think the younger generation are urging their
elders to come forward and address the
elephant in the room.
GQ: Does this give you hope?
BP: I’ve always said that every country should
have an eight-year-old as its prime minister,
because their souls aren’t corrupted. They’re
very honest. After that age, the world starts to
tinker with your morality, and by the time you
get to 17 or 18, you begin to give the answers
you think should be given, rather than the
answer you believe in your heart.
GQ: Having educated yourself about your
own Aboriginal identity, how does it feel
PHOTOGRAPHY: OF BOOKS, GEORGINA EGAN;
seeing Dark Emu being taught in schools?
BP: I’d like to say it’s exciting, but it’s just a
OF BRUCE PASCOE, LINSEY RENDELL.
bloody responsibility. I was sort of… thrust
into this role; it wasn’t necessarily my own
volition, it was the result of this search. I feel
like I’m obliged to follow the line of enquiry
now, because readers keep coming forward
with new information. The reward is there.
But there’s also that sense of obligation and,
you know, there’s always sorrow attached to it,
massive sorrow.
GQ: You’re not the first writer to suggest
that Aboriginal people weren’t just hunter-
gatherers. Why, then, do you think your
books have found more popular success
than the work of historians like Rupert
Gerritsen and Bill Gammage?
BP: Bill’s book was popular, there’s no doubt
about that. I think Rupert was too early and he
was a bit of a rebel. That’s not to say I’m not a
rebel, but he was in the university system trying
to tell a different version of the story, and the
system came down on him hard. He broke
ground at the cost of his own reputation.
By the time I began talking about these ideas,
a new generation was beginning to hold sway in
universities. The old, white professors were no
longer in charge. There was a change happening,
and it still is. I don’t know how successful Dark
Emu would’ve been 20 years ago.
GQ: Has this year’s resurgence of Dark
Emu surprised you?
BP: No, not at all. Even before it was published,
from speaking at literary festivals and what not,
I was aware of the fascination that Australia
had with the information [in it]. I think it was
my 32nd book, so I’d had 31 occasions to be
modest about predictions [chuckles]. But this
one, I knew it was going to be successful.
I think, because of my storytelling ability, I was
able to fashion the information in a way which
would ring alarm bells for people.
GQ: What do you make of the recent
global uprisings in support of Black and
Indigenous lives?
BP: It’s a wonderful time – it’s an indication
the world is reviewing that cul-de-sac of
history. World leaders like Trump, Johnson
and our own, they’re not very compassionate
people. But I’m confident the next generation
is going to forge a more compassionate and
honest future.
GQ: You seem like a patient person. How
do you remain so when the issues you
write about – climate change, Australia’s
treatment of Indigenous people and
culture – feel so urgent?
BP: I don’t know if I am that patient. I’m in a
bit of a hurry, but the conversations I have
with younger people inspire me to think that
there is a future. I don’t think we have the
luxury of despair. We have to remain
confident. I hear the environmental scientists
from my generation saying ‘We’re going to
hell in a handbasket and there’s no return.’ But
I survived the fires in East Gippsland earlier
this year, and I can tell you that this earth is
trying really hard to recover itself. And if she
can do it, we can do it.
GQ: Do you think about your legacy much?
BP: No time, mate. I really don’t like that side
of celebrity, I think it’s anti-Aboriginal, so
I try to avoid it. I’m trying to run a farm as
well as write, so there’s really not much time
for contemplation of that sort of frippery – it’s
just incidental to my life. Fame and celebrity
is part of Western culture, but in our culture,
there’s no ego. It’s the only civilisation that
I know of where history wasn’t predicated
by war. What if war isn’t part of our nature?
That idea alone could alter human history.
Australians need to know more about this,
and about Aboriginal knowledge. Because
very soon the rest of the world is going to
demand to know about it. n
Loving Country: A Guide to Sacred Australia,
$45, is out now.
GQ.COM.AU 39
 Brief | TV

It boy
We Are Who We Are is hardly
Jack Dylan Grazer’s first major
role. But there’s little doubt
the new TV series by director
Luca Guadagnino is about
to turn the young American
actor into a household name.
Words Amy Campbell
Photography Nik Antonio

Sweater, by Versace;
vintage turtleneck,
by Prada, available
at What Goes Around
Comes Around; rings
by David Yurman.

40 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

 T he Timothée Chalamet comparisons
are inevitable. That porcelain skin,
those thick brunette curls, the lithe build; Jack
Dylan Grazer makes for a convincing mini
Chalamet. In fact, that’s exactly who he played
in the 2018 film Beautiful Boy, as a 12-year-old
version of Chalamet’s character, Nic. But
appearances aside, Grazer shares something
else with his doppelgänger: raw talent.
So it’s no surprise that two years later, Luca
Guadagnino, whose film Call Me By Your
Name shot Chalamet to fame, should call up
Grazer and ask him to front the filmmaker’s
first foray into TV.
“He’s unforgettable,” says Grazer of the
director he’s just spent six months filming with,
near Chioggia in Italy. When we speak to Grazer
he’s back home in LA, and despite our interview
taking place after a full day of online school, he’s
full of beans as he tells us about We Are Who
We Are. Set on an American army base in Italy,
against the ominous backdrop of the 2016
election, We Are Who We Are follows a group of
‘military brats’ as they come of age in this
unconventional setting. Fraser (played by
Grazer) is the new kid. He’s rebellious and a little
erratic, and his burgeoning friendship with
Caitlin, who’s brilliantly portrayed by first-time
actor Jordan Kristine Seamón, throws the
group’s dynamics into chaos.
“Fraser is a wandering guy, he’s kind of an
enigma,” says the 17-year-old. “Playing him
was a challenge because I really had to
understand him from the inside-out.” The
actor dyed his hair blonde for the role,
PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF SBS.
something he says “Jack would never do”.
After arriving on set with his nails painted,
Guadagnino ordered Grazer keep them that
way for the role. “We like this! Let’s keep it!”
exclaims the actor, doing his best
impersonation of the Italian director.
“Fraser is really in touch with fashion and
the art of self-expression. I learned a lot about
fashion through playing him,” adds Grazer,
noting that in the show, his character wears a
lot of Raf Simons. “Before this, I’d dress for
being comfortable. But now I’ve found
another comfortableness in wearing fashion,
good fashion.”
The cast of We Are Who We Are isn’t
conventional, nor are the characters they
inhabit. Chloë Sevigny is Sarah, Fraser’s
lesbian mother and a colonel at the base;
Scott Mescudi (more commonly known by
his stage name Kid Cudi) plays Caitlin’s
MAGA-hat-wearing father, while Francesca
Scorsese, daughter of Martin, takes the role
of Britney, the leader of the brat pack.
The show’s plot is propelled by
interpersonal nuances. But the relationship
between Sarah and Fraser, which is maternal
“Playing him was a
challenge because I
really had to understand
him from the inside-out.”
and loving one minute and abusive the next,
demands the most from the viewer. “I didn’t
want to hurt Chloë, because she’s a goddess,”
says Grazer when we probe about the show’s
more physical scenes. “But it wasn’t personal,
right? It’s like: we’re playing these characters,
it’s theatrical, we signed up for this, we’re
getting paid and having fun. We’re gonna go
all or nothing.” Guadagnino’s motive isn’t
to create palatable film, explains the actor:
“It’s important to disturb an audience. That’s
his philosophy.”
Visually, We Are Who We Are is bewitching
– this is no surprise, given the director’s films
are just as famous for their aesthetics as they
are for plot. And it’s Guadagnino’s other-
worldliness that lends the well-worn subject
of American teen angst its freshness.
“The Italian way of shooting is just so much
more… poetic. It captures the emotions more
than just an American blockbuster,” says
Grazer, who’s already got big-screen hits to his
name – the 2017 horror film It and superhero
flick Shazam! among them. An aspiring writer,
Grazer says he learned a thing or two from
working with the Sicilian auteur. “I’m way
more conscious of not being pretentious, and
telling a real story. Which is hard because not
a lot of things happen in real life. But Luca gets
it so right – writing something that isn’t normal
when you’re trying to write normally.”
For someone who hasn’t yet got his driver’s
licence – he’d planned to do so this summer
but life got in the way – Grazer seems to have
a pretty good handle on the way things work.
As we wrap up our conversation, it’s not hard
to imagine that We Are Who We Are could
change Grazer’s life in a way that Call Me By
Your Name did for Chalamet. Having already
premiered in America and Europe to rave
reviews, it’s more than likely a matter of when,
not if. n
We Are Who We Are is streaming now on SBS
On Demand.
GQ.COM.AU 41
 It starts

Daniel Ricciardo Age 3

with yes

Daniel Ricciardo Age 31

 Big Ideas

Last month we launched GQ Big Ideas, a virtual event series on the issues that really
matter. These three virtual sessions culminated in the GQ Big Ideas Summit, which took
place on November 5. Hosted by acclaimed journalist Hamish Macdonald, it featured
a headline interview with NBA athlete and activist Ben Simmons, as well as a panel
discussion with three figures whose ideas and actions are truly changing the world. To
hear from them all, head to GQ.com.au where you can watch the full event for free.
To celebrate the series, we enlisted photographer Hugh Stewart to shoot some of the
GQ Big Ideas participants – virtually, of course – using a remote set-up over FaceTime.
Right now, there is a lot to be worried about. So meet some of the figures who not only
give us hope for the future – but are helping to shape it for the better, too.
Words Jake Millar Photography Hugh Stewart

Supported by

44 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

 Ben Simmons
FOUNDER, THE #DOMORE PROJECT
A generational talent and two-time NBA All-Star, Simmons has become Australia’s most high-profile
athlete – and he’s only 24. But it’s his performance off the court that’s perhaps most inspiring. Having set
up the Philly Pledge, to help those in his adopted hometown of Philadelphia hit hardest by Covid-19, he’s
now turned his attention to home, establishing the #DoMore Project, alongside the likes of Margot
Robbie and Hugh Jackman. Designed as “a call to action for Australians wanting to be more informed,
more educated, and more engaged in challenging racism”, the initiative uses storytelling to challenge
existing narratives around racism and raise awareness of its impacts. After a year marked by protests against
racial inequality, its arrival could not be more timely. To find out more, head to domoreproject.com.au.

GQ.COM.AU 45
 Big Ideas

Jessica Wegner
CO-CHAIR DIRECTOR, FIRESTICKS ALLIANCE
Earlier this year, as the country was ravaged by some of the most ferocious
bushfires ever seen, some relied on modern technology for solutions. Others,
though, looked to the past. For thousands of years, Indigenous Australians
have pioneered techniques of cultural burning that research has shown can
decrease the severity of bushfires. Wegner’s Firesticks group not only
promotes these techniques but also facilitates workshops to train accredited
fire practitioners, ensuring this ancient knowledge is passed to future
generations. To find out more and support them, head to firesticks.org.au.

46 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

 Dr Catriona Wallace
CEO, ETHICAL AI ADVISORY AND
FOUNDER, FLAMINGO AI
One of Australia’s foremost experts in artificial intelligence,
Dr Wallace is also a human rights activist, an environmentalist and
a mother of five. She is passionate about the future that AI will
shape, but cautions it could leave some behind if we’re not careful.
“We’ll see a good percentage of jobs being removed,” she said of the
ways AI will replace traditional workers, during her GQ Big Ideas
virtual session on the Future of Work. “Ninety per cent of those will
be the jobs of women and minority groups, and entry-level jobs that
are traditionally the jobs of young people. So there’s a big risk.”
Ralph Ashton
FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,
AUSTRALIAN FUTURES PROJECT
With a background in international policy initiatives, Ashton
founded the Australian Futures Project in 2011, with an aim of
ending short-termism in governance. As he explained in his GQ Big
Ideas virtual session on the Future of Politics, Ashton believes one
of the biggest revelations of recent months has been the inability of
some governments to focus on more than one issue at a time.
And in a year that’s given us bushfires, a global pandemic, recessions,
a resurgent China and a US in turmoil, for many leaders around the
world, 2020 may prove the ultimate test.
GQ.COM.AU 47
 Big Ideas

Sam Elsom
FOUNDER AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, SEA FOREST
When it comes to climate change, the impact of farming often gets overlooked.
But the livestock sector accounts for 15.5 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions –
more than the entire transport industry. At Sea Forest, Elsom – a sustainable fashion designer
turned climate-change pioneer – is looking to fix that with a unique solution: seaweed.
Asparagopsis is a species of red seaweed that, when fed to cattle and sheep, can help reduce
methane emissions by more than 80 per cent, thereby helping to decrease the sector’s carbon
footprint. And with the organisation’s five-hectare farm in Tasmania hoping to deliver 355
tonnes of seaweed a year, Elsom and his team are offering a more sustainable farming future.

48 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

 Sophia Hamblin Wang
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, MINERAL CARBONATION INTERNATIONAL
Having represented Australia at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year,
Hamblin Wang is quickly becoming one of the country’s most prominent voices in the
sustainability space. But she’s not merely talking about climate change: she’s fighting it.
At Mineral Carbonation International, she and her team of researchers have developed
a clean technology platform that transforms CO2 into building and construction products,
offering sustainable solutions for the mining, manufacturing and energy industries.
Their pioneering work converting emissions into valuable materials is leading a carbon
utilisation industry that is estimated to be worth almost $7 trillion worldwide.

GQ.COM.AU 49
 Let Your
Spirit Soar
 Style
PHOTOGRAPHY: CERRUTI & DRAIME.

Modern heirlooms
Bode is a brand for elegant men who like to wear interesting clothes. It’s also one of the
fashion industry’s buzziest names. On a recent afternoon, we found out why.
Words Amy Campbell

GQ.COM.AU 51
 Style | Profile

E mily Adams Bode is in a car. “I’ve been

running errands and the time just
disappeared,” explains the designer as she
the perspective of a female, or that’s even
informed by women’s garments.”
Oversized, masculine aesthetics dominate
The runway set at the
Bode AW20 show at
Paris Fashion Week.

answers our video call from Manhattan. She’s
riding shotgun and members of her team are
juggling fabric samples in the back. Outside her
window, restaurant awnings and shop facades zip
by, and the late afternoon sun bathes the car in a
warm yellow light. It all feels very… on brand.
The handmade eclecticism of her eponymous
menswear label Bode (pronounced ‘Boh-dee’, as
is her surname) suggests a designer who pays her
suppliers and craftspeople personal visits. But
still, it feels good to catch her schlepping through
New York, dressed in an embroidered Bode
shirt, living the dream.
Bode, the brand, was born in 2016. Two years
later, it became the first female-led label to show
on the official New York Fashion Week Men’s
schedule, before taking the leap to Paris where
its last two runways have been held.
In 2019, she won the Emerging Designer of the
Year title at the Council of Fashion Designers
of America (CFDA) awards and took out the
inaugural Karl Lagerfeld Award for Innovation
at this year’s Woolmark Prize. Safe to say, the
global fashion industry is enamoured by Bode.
So too are a subset of chic, arty guys who like to
dress in unusual, vintage-inspired clothes.
These are the guys that mainstream menswear,
the kind dominated by streetwear and brand
logos, have half-forgotten.
Bode wasn’t conceived with the intention to
capture this audience, necessarily. It was actually
a pair of trousers the designer sewed from
vintage fabric that set the wheels in motion.
“I was wearing these pants at a trade show and
a lot of people were asking me where I got
them from,” she recalls. “But they were just a
sample I’d made.” The trousers helped confirm
the womenswear market right now, but it’s not
as common for menswear brands to borrow
traditionally feminine conventions. Yet this is
Bode’s superpower. You can see it in the
crocheted shirt inspired by mid-century
American table decor, which was in her SS20
collection, as well as the patchwork quilt
jackets that have become a signature of her
namesake brand. Bobbing to the rhythm of the
car as it navigates the precarious intersections
of Downtown, Bode says that her intention is
to “focus on fabrications as much as they do in
womenswear, but do that for menswear”.
It’s not the only fashion narrative she’s been
flipping. Late last year, Bode did something else
counterintuitive: she opened a bricks-and-
mortar store. The Bode flagship, which stands
on Hester Street on the Lower East Side, allows
the designer to create a microcosm of the Bode
universe while speaking directly to her customer
– which is a luxury that’s tricky to capitalise on
without a dedicated physical presence, or your If this were a regular year, the Bode team
own direct-to-consumer e-commerce store. would have presented its SS21 collection in July.
We ask why, when traditional retail is But they chose not to do a show; Bode explains
apparently dead, she chose to invest in a physical it didn’t feel right, given everything that was
boutique. “Because of the emotional quality going on in the industry and her community at
people feel with the clothes,” says Bode. “The the time. Instead, she spent lockdown in Canada
physical aspect is an important part of the brand. with her partner’s family, thinking about what it
“It’s always been something that I wanted. means to make a Bode collection at this time.
I worked retail all throughout college and even “We heard everyone was really excited to
before I wanted a clothing brand, I wanted change the industry, and now everybody has
a store,” she says with a smile. just kind of… fallen back on the original
Bode has managed to hold onto the bulk of schedule,” she says. “It’s kind of bizarre.”
its stockists this year (the brand is sold by But stepping off the treadmill gave her time
approximately 120 stores worldwide, including to hone in on what being a designer – and an
Galeries Lafayette in Paris and Matchesfashion. American designer, no less – means to her at this
com and SSENSE.com), but she admits retailers point in history. “I’ve always been passionate

PHOTOGRAPHY: OF RUNWAY SHOW, CERRUTI & DRAIME;

something Bode had always felt to be true: that
there was demand out there for clothing inspired
by vintage craftsmanship, but that’s made to fit
and flatter a 21st-century physique.
She pinches the collar of her blouse – it’s a
translucent white shade and stitched around
the hem is an intricate pattern, which looks a
bit like cross-stitch. The shirt is inspired by
a Romanian embroidery technique from the
1940s, which was typically used on women’s
clothing, Bode explains. “To do this on a
menswear silhouette, primarily for a male
audience… there’s this idea of reinvigorating
craft back into menswear that’s coming from
are ordering fewer clothes than they usually do.
As wholesale dips, though, Bode’s own store has
only got busier and busier.
After spending the best part of the last six
months closed, the flagship has just reopened
with a skeleton crew of staff, but Bode quickly
realised she’s going to need more help. “We
weren’t expecting such a big demand when we
opened back up – we thought we’d have, like,
one person in a day. So we need to ramp that
back up,” she says, noting that thankfully, New
York City is in pretty good health at the time
of our chat, compared to its days as the
country’s coronavirus epicentre.
about investing in the consumer space in
America. We have such an incredible history of
manufacturing here, of fabric mills and garment
OF FLAGSHIP STORE, WILLIAM JESS LAIRD.
factories…” she trails off in thought.
Outside, the daylight is fading and soon the
car will approach the Bode studio, where its
contents of antique fabrics, embroidery samples
and people will part ways. “Being someone who
leads a brand that can help reinvigorate that
aspect of America and preserve some of those
histories – those are big goals of ours,” says the
designer. ‘Big goals’ is an understatement. But
this young brand has a history of challenging
the status quo – and coming out on top. n

52 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

 “There’s this idea of
reinvigorating craft
back into menswear
that’s coming from the
perspective of a female,
or that’s even informed
Inside the
Bode studio.
by women’s garments.”

The Bode
flagship store.

Bode AW20 collection.

The Bode AW20 collection,

which won the inaugural
Karl Lagerfeld Award for
Innovation at the 2020
Woolmark Prize, includes
multiple designs made from
Australian Merino wool.

GQ.COM.AU 53
 Style | Inspo

’90s vibes Michael Hutchence,

pictured here with model
Helena Christensen in 1992,
was fond of a printed shirt.
It was a time when boy bands ruled the world, when double
denim was ubiquitous and when Justin Timberlake had actual
noodles for hair. But believe it or not, the ’90s are back in a big
way. And as we plunge into summer, we take a moment to revisit
some of the era’s most memorable menswear contributions and
how you can recreate the look today.

THE SHIRT
Adorned with exclusive,
hand-painted prints,
Commas’ silk shirts are
just as dreamy to look
at as they are to wear.
Shirt, $605, by Commas.

Pants, $225, by Holiday the Label.

THE CULT CLASSIC

In all its awkward, small- Shorts, $149,
town glory, Muriel’s Wedding by Double
Rainbouu.
captured the mood of the
moment. The film’s kitschy
costumes were just as good.

54 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

 The cast of Round the Twist.

THE SWIMWEAR
Boardshorts weren’t
popularised until the
new millennium. So
this summer, we’re
going back to the
budgie smuggler.
Swimwear, $120, by
The State of Play.

Shirt, $150, by
MJ Bale.
LOUIS VUITTON SS21

THE SLANG
From ‘how’s the serenity?’ to ‘tell
him he’s dreamin’,’ The Castle gave
us lingo for everything.
PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES.

THE SOUNDTRACK
Infusing rock, folk and
traditional Indigenous
music with a political
message, the band Umbrella, $129,
by Blunt.
Yothu Yindi was
a beacon of hope
for many. Bum bag, $79, by Magpie Goose.

GQ.COM.AU 55
 Style | Feature

Crafting a
new future
Luxury brands have been courting the next
generation of consumers for years. But their
latest attempt to get Gen Z on board might be
the most creative of them all.
Words Amy Campbell

IMAGE COURTESY OF REESE COOPER.

56 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

E arlier this year, Reese Cooper found
himself in a predicament familiar to
many independent designers. A sizable
portion of the American brand’s stockists had
reduced or cancelled their seasonal orders due
to the pandemic, leaving Cooper with a whole
lot of fabric and not enough garments to sew.
Meanwhile, a trend was emerging on TikTok:
stuck at home, creative teenagers were filming
and sharing videos of themselves ‘thrift
flipping’, in which vintage clothes are given a
DIY glow-up. Cooper, a teen himself not that
long ago (last year, at 21, he became the
youngest-ever CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund
finalist), quickly realised this crafty movement
was something his brand could play into.
“Our brand has been built on a do-it-
yourself mentality,” explains the now 22-year-
“The project came from a sustainable angle – recycling materials. But I also
wanted to show people that making clothes isn’t rocket science.”
old Californian designer. “My motto has
always been, ‘If you do something, something
will happen.’” In April, the brand did just that:
selling DIY kits for its popular chore coat
online, under the sub-brand ‘RCI - DIY’. The
kit – which includes everything but the sewing
machine – sells for $136, approximately $600
less than the ready-made patched denim
version that’s currently for sale on Cooper’s
website. “The project came from a sustainable
angle – recycling materials,” he says. “But I
also wanted to show people that making
clothes isn’t rocket science.”
The project was a hit. Cooper encouraged
those who bought the kit to share their results,
“to give the project a community feel”, and as
customers began uploading their jacket-
making attempts to social media, word of the
Reese Cooper brand spread.
The designer even went as far as including
a chore jacket that one of his fans made in his
SS21 show.
Cooper’s mentality represents a shift in the
designer-consumer relationship that’s been
bubbling away for some time. While most
luxury brands still appeal to a very select (and
very rich) established clientele, more of them
are realising that in an increasingly digital
world, it pays to look to the future: Gen Z.
SHIFTING VALUES
They mightn’t be single-handedly propping
up the luxury economy – according to a recent
report by Boston Consulting Group and the
Altagamma Foundation, Gen Z accounted for
just eight per cent of the world’s luxury retail
spend in 2020. But instead of waiting for those
born after 1997 to begin earning disposable
income, brands are vying for their eyeballs
now. That’s because for legacy labels, the
clout that comes with a hyper-connected
audience is invaluable – according to that
same report, 95 per cent of Gen Z-ers say
social media is how they interact with luxury
brands. Tommy Hilfiger was one of the first
to really get this. In 2017, it successfully
introduced itself to a millennial audience
when it made Vine-star-turned-Instagram-
influencer Cameron Dallas the face of its
TOMMYNOW collection.
These days, it’s all about TikTok. Celine
creative director Hedi Slimane has been clear
about his aspirations to woo Gen Z, since he
chose American TikTok star Noen Eubanks
as the face of the brand last December. This
July he upped the ante, unveiling his SS21
collection – named ‘The Dancing Kid’ in
reference to the viral routines that dominate
the platform – with a soundtrack by TikTok-
famous Canadian rapper Tiagz.
Unlike the image-obsessed Instagram
generation that came before them, teens today
want something more interactive; things they
can make, bake or even paint – so long as it
makes for snackable video content. It’s an
attitude that’s been shaped by TikTok’s
format: the app’s most popular clips tend to
end with some kind of punchline or big reveal.
It’s why edited montages of laborious projects
– like sewing and personalising a chore jacket,
for example – do particularly well on the
burgeoning platform.
A CREATIVE EXCHANGE
“TikTok encourages creativity – that’s what
makes it special,” says Sydney-born, New
York-based Ava Nirui, director of special
projects at Marc Jacobs. Nirui recently headed
up a new venture for the brand called Heaven,
which she describes as “an access point” for
the next generation. “Marc’s runway shows
are the one true expression that’s coming
right from Marc – they’re beautiful, they’re
such an art form. But for younger people, it
needs to be something that’s more digestible,”
she explains. Not only is Heaven more
affordable – a branded cap costs $90 and a
T-shirt goes for $145 – its ’90s-inspired
silhouettes are Gen Z catnip.
Nirui isn’t sure if Heaven will evolve to
include a DIY aspect, but the collaborative
nature of the project – which involves inviting
zeitgeisty artists, including Aussie streetwear
and DJ collective Pelvis, to dream up
interpretations of the Marc Jacobs brand –
represents a similar creative exchange found
in projects like Reese Cooper’s RCI - DIY.
“It’s important to be able to give people that
access, but also to encourage personalisation
or DIY culture, which ultimately just creates
more conversation around your brand,” says
Nirui, who found acclaim in the industry by
posting pithy recontextualisations of luxury
logos to Instagram. Heaven is about giving
back to the Marc Jacobs’ community, she
explains, while simultaneously introducing
the brand to a younger audience. “It’s fun to
lead the re-education of the public on Marc
Jacobs’ importance, as well as his affiliations
with personalities like Sofia Coppola,
Courtney Love and Marilyn Manson, who
kids still idolise today.”
DIY DOMINATION
Reese Cooper might have spearheaded this
year’s make-it-yourself movement, but with
the help of a little-known pop star named
Harry Styles, the race to create JW Anderson’s
GQ.COM.AU 57
 Style | Feature

‘Colourblock patchwork cardigan’ became the Harry Styles wearing the JW

most viral example of this TikTok tailoring Anderson piece that triggered the
#HarryStylesCardigan challenge.
trend to date. Unlikely to afford the cardigan
that Styles was spotted wearing in February
– it cost $2660 – TikTokers took matters into
their own hands, with crocheted replicas. The
resulting #HarryStylesCardigan challenge
went so viral that by early July, Jonathan
Anderson decided to make his sewing pattern
for the cardigan free to download.
“The biggest thing I’ve learned this year is
that fashion has to gain more humility,” says
Anderson, who is also the creative director of
the Spanish fashion house Loewe. For him,
sharing the pattern meant making JW
Anderson available to a demographic of fans
who might not be able to buy it – yet.
When it came time for Anderson to present
Loewe’s SS21 men’s show, which took place in
July while the world was still in lockdown, the
designer chose to further embrace the trend,
releasing the sewing pattern for a tunic-style
shirt that features in the collection.
Without the Harry Styles co-sign it might
not have ripped through the TikTok-verse
with the same intensity as the cardigan did,
but Anderson’s intention wasn’t to engineer
a viral moment; it was to create a more
approachable, interactive gateway into the
Loewe universe.

“People realise the workmanship that goes into

something when they make it themselves.”

“I’ve been enjoying talking to our audience

directly,” says Anderson, who regularly ‘likes’
the TikToks that fans of his designs post.

PHOTOGRAPHY OF IORI YAMAKI: SHOICHI AOKI.

“Offering to download the original pattern to
create something in real time, for free, is a
way of giving back. I think we are also living a
in a moment of creativity, in which people can
project [this] onto something of their own.
People realise the workmanship that goes into
something when they make it themselves.”
As we near the end of a year that’s changed
the way we engage with fashion, brands that
encourage a sense of physical participation Stylist Iori Yamaki
might be next in line for the new generation of wears Heaven by
Marc Jacobs.
luxury consumers. n

58 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020 GQ.COM.AU

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 Style

Form and function

Multidisciplinary designer Jordan Gogos takes us inside his artistic
world, as he models Celine’s spring/summer 2020 collection.
Photography Tim Lo Styling Petta Chua Words Jake Millar

T-shirt, $690, jeans, $1150, and shoes, $790, all by Celine Homme by Hedi Slimane; Bag, $2250, by Celine Homme by Hedi Slimane; table, $1553, and vases,
socks (worn throughout), stylist’s own; vases, $330 each, all by Jordan Gogos. $330 each, all by Jordan Gogos.

60 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

GQ.COM.AU 61
 Style

62 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

 Suit jacket, $4450, pants, $2100, shirt, $940, tie, $290, and shoes, $1450, all by Celine Homme by Hedi Slimane; mirror, $1330, by Jordon Gogos.
J ordan Gogos doesn’t just design
objects; he creates spaces.
“I grew up in the suburbs and a lot of
Australiana decor is quite bulky,” he says
of his upbringing in southern Sydney.
“So when I make pieces I always want to cut
out elements of furniture, so air and light can
go through.”
Case in point is his signature ‘Tria’ table,
a geometric and sculptural piece crafted from
aluminium, which you might have spotted
inside some of designer Dion Lee’s boutiques
around Australia. But Gogos says the
relationship between fashion and art is more
than decorative.
“There’s this concept called hedonic value,”
explains Gogos, who studied at UNSW
before moving to New York’s famed Parsons
School of Design last year. “Let’s say you
have a white T-shirt and there’s this Jeff
Koons artwork next to it. The curiosity of
that artwork will transfer into the T-shirt,
so it increases the perceived and artistic value
of the piece.”
The same theory applies to his own work,
with ambiguous pieces that evoke a natural
sense of curiosity – Is it a table? Is it a chair?
Does it matter? – to create a sense of intrigue
that elevates the space around it.
His work is helping the environment in
more direct ways, too. Available to buy online,
his designs are made on demand and are what
Gogos calls “singular components”, meaning
they don’t rely on any additional elements.
“If you buy a table, it might have a metal
screw in it and that screw might come from a
completely different supply chain,” he
explains, of traditional furniture. “But my
pieces are just sheet metal, welded, so it’s
actually a really sustainable practice.”
Like many creatives, Gogos finds settling on
a job title difficult. He started as a performance
artist, before moving into everything from set
design to photography. But when pushed, he
lands on “multidisciplinary designer”.
It’s an attitude that would resonate with
another figure central to today’s shoot, Celine
creative director Hedi Slimane, who oversees
the brand’s collections, as well as shooting
its campaigns, designing its boutiques, and
even creating the furniture to go in them.
So perhaps it’s little surprise that Gogos finds
wearing Slimane’s designs to be somewhat of
a transformative experience.
“As someone who grew up in The Shire [in
southern Sydney], there’s a definite style that
you have to conform to,” he says. “When I
wear designer clothing, it takes me out of the
world that I grew up in and makes me feel like
I can do what I want. Putting on a label like
Celine makes me feel like I’m not bound to my
roots; I can live in Paris or be from New York
– even when I’m in my hometown.”
After all, that’s what great design is all
about. At their best, furniture and fashion are
about more than just aesthetics. They might
make you or your space look good, but their
real value is in how they make you feel, the
way they allow you to dream, or transport you
to another place or time. And right now, that’s
probably never been more important. n
gogos.online
GQ.COM.AU 63
 Style

Blazer, $3950, shirt, $940, jeans $940, and shoes, $1450, all by Celine Homme Jacket, $1650, and jeans, $1150, both by Celine Homme by Hedi Slimane;
by Hedi Slimane; table, $1553 by Jordan Gogos. table, $1553, by Jordan Gogos.

64 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

GQ.COM.AU 65
 GQ PROMOTION

THE MASERATI ‘MC20’

EMBODIES THE MAVERICK
SPIRIT THE LUXURY
CAR MANUFACTURER
IS KNOWN FOR.
Underneath that impressive lightweight body
is the beating heart of the ‘MC20’, the Nettuno
engine, the first in this new chapter of the Trident
Brand’s history. The 3.0L V6 630HP twin-turbo
power unit features an innovative pre-chamber
combustion system derived from Formula 1 and is
available, for the first time, in an engine for those
not only on the racetrack, but now on the road.
It delivers 0-100 km/h acceleration in under 2.9
seconds, with a top speed of more than 325 km/h.
Nettuno is the first engine produced from the
Maserati Engine Lab, established within the Viale
Ciro Menotti plant in Modena. In fact, the ‘MC20’ is
the first model of its kind to be entirely built at the
historic plant where cars are still assembled by hand.

I
t’s here. The latest release from the Maserati
marque that the world has been waiting for. A
thoroughbred, that’s for certain, with Formula 1
racing built into its very DNA. A powerful super
sports car that quickens your pulse as soon as you
catch sight of its sleek, sculpted body, unabashedly
made for speed and high performance. Above all,
the Maserati ‘MC20’ embodies the maverick spirit
the Italian luxury car manufacturer has been
known for since its inception in 1914. It also signals
a new era for the trident brand as the first Maserati
car to make a return to the racing arena.
The ‘MC20’ – an acronym for ‘Maserati Corse
2020’, referring to the year of a new phase in the
marque’s celebrated history – signals a whole
range of firsts for the Italian sports car specialist.
Developed at the Maserati Innovation Lab, it’s
the first Maserati with a carbon fibre monocoque,
a construction used in the most lightweight
performance vehicles. The result is a perfect
balance between craftsmanship and engineering,
bringing together precision machining and
technical ingenuity within an aerodynamic form.
The renegade soul of the Italian
luxury marque lives on in the
‘MC20’ as Maserati continues
to forge its own racing line.
 Grooming

Badass by name I t takes a certain swagger to inhabit the

Brooklyn’s own Joey Bada$$ is ready to drop bars – in more ways than one.
Words David Smiedt
creation that is Joey Bada$$ – note there
is not merely one dollar sign but two. It’s also
safe to assume that he is not the child of Mr and
Mrs Bada$$ of Brooklyn. Rather, the rapper
has manifested a persona that balances
braggadocio with genuine accomplishment.
A founding member of the hip-hop
collective Pro Era, he has scored a Billboard
number-one album with 2015’s B4.Da.$$,
collaborated with the likes of Kendrick Lamar
and A$AP Rocky, and took on the role of
Inspectah Deck in the bio series Wu-Tang: An
American Saga. This followed a three-year
stint alongside Rami Malek in Mr. Robot.
Now would probably be a good time to
mention that he’s only 25. Add just a hint of
Bada$$ controversy – at the 2015 Falls Festival,
a security guard asked him for ID, there
was a scuffle, Joey allegedly broke his nose and
then delivered a searing set – plus the kind of
largesse that this year saw him donate $34,000
to support homeless NYC students affected by
Covid, and you get one of pop culture’s most
intriguing characters.
Self-belief is clearly not in short supply
either. When the subject of who will be
occupying his playlist for the end of 2020 and
beyond arises, he laughs. “Joey motherfucking
Bada$$. Have you ever heard of that kid?” he
says. “He just dropped the three-song bundle
called The Light Pack with this crazy video.
This kid is coming for everything and
everybody. I got all my bets on this door right
here. It don’t even make sense to bring up
anybody else’s names. Cause that kid Joey
PHOTOGRAPHY: QUENTIN DE BRIEY.

Bada$$. Let me tell you, he is the one, period.”

With this amount of volcanic presence,
it’s hardly surprising that commercial suitors
came calling. He landed on a collab with
fashion and scent heritage brand Paco
Rabanne. Specifically, its newly launched
‘1 Million Parfum’, a revved-up, pimped-out
and sure-to-be-popular version of the
bestselling ‘1 Million’ fragrance.

70 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

 Already a fan of the fragrance, it was the
packaging that most resonated with Joey: “It
has got to be the golden bar bottle. I think
that’s just the flyest shit ever, it looks really
good on your dresser top. It’s literally a gold
bar and that’s what I do. I drop gold bars.”
Still on the subject of aesthetics, Joey
delineates style “as something you’re born
with” and fashion “as something you get into”.
While stressing he is “not really a labels
dude”, he is drawn to the work of Murder
Bravado, Pyer Moss, Martine Rose and Fear
of God – “all Black-owned, by the way”.
It’s on the topic of race that Joey is most
forthright. Asked if the Black Lives Matter
movement impacted on his latest release, he
says, “No, the Black Lives Matter movement
has played no part in any content that I do,
period. I don’t like that Black people’s plight
and pain is being simplified into this hashtag
called BLM. So no, BLM does not and will
never influence anything that I do as far as my
content, my life experience and my history
[goes]. My ancestral history is what plays a
part in the things that I do. Not some hashtag
that is funded by billionaires.”
He is just as strident on cancel culture and
the keyboard warriors behind it: “In today’s
generation, people act as if people can’t have
opinions and more importantly, people act as
if people can’t make mistakes, and even more
importantly, people act as if other people can’t ”People act as if people can’t make mistakes and
grow from their mistakes and past experiences. even more importantly, people act as if people can’t
You can go on my Twitter right now and I’m grow from their mistakes and past experiences.”
sure there’s things I said back in 2011 that no
longer apply to my mental, physical, spiritual, they can’t say what they want to say, because light-years ahead of the person I was before.
emotional growth, but I tweeted it at a totally they might be ‘cancelled’.” So I’m truthfully grateful for the slowdown.
different point in my life. It’s also safe to say that Mr Bada$$ is not I don’t call it a lockdown. It did not hinder my
“Of course, if somebody is a rapist or if averse to a conspiracy theory. Asked about his creativity at all. It absolutely improved it
somebody is an abuser, they should be lockdown experience he says, “If this was a because I used my time wisely. I used it to
cancelled, but the point that I’m trying to ‘plandemic’, like many people think, I say that study, to research, to slow down, stay at home,
make is that people are being cancelled for old the elites who plan this shit, they made a huge to breathe, to meditate, to change my diet.” n
tweets or old ideologies, as if they can’t grow. mistake in giving people so much time to The Light Pack is out now. Paco Rabanne
That limits younger people wanting to come focus on themselves. Because for me, I used it ‘1 Million Parfum’, $109 (50ml) is available
up and use their voice because they feel as if to my advantage. The person that I am now is from myer.com.au and davidjones.com.au

GQ.COM.AU 71
 Grooming

La dolce
GQ: Has lockdown impacted on the way say my very first Dolce & Gabbana fragrance:
you view the world? the iconic ‘Light Blue’.
MDV: Throughout my life, but even more so GQ: Tell us about your grooming routine.

vita during challenging times, what gives me real

As the face of ‘K by Dolce &
Gabbana’, Mariano Di Vaio can
teach us all a thing or two about
Italian elegance and when to
put that phone away.
Words David Smiedt
strength is family and faith. When all my
family is gathered around a table and I know
that everybody is fine, an inner kind of
strength gives me hope and confidence that
everything’s gonna be OK.
GQ: What are your tips for embracing
classic Mediterranean-inspired style in
a way that feels current?
MDV: Hydrating cream is fundamental for
face, neck and hands. I use it every morning
and before going to sleep. I also use beard oil
to soften my beard. Fragrance is also used
every day. Absolutely. Perfume is like an
ID card. It’s not an accessory, it’s not just for
special occasions.
GQ: How do you spend your downtime?
MDV: Golf and family.

B eing tapped as the quintessential

anything can be fraught with
pressure. However, as the face of ‘K by Dolce
& Gabbana’ – now available in a potent EDP
variant – model Mariano Di Vaio wears the
mantle of all things Italian with an easy grace.
If you popped the Umbrian equivalent of je ne
sais quoi into a Google search, you’d most likely
encounter the 31-year-old’s rather chiselled
visage staring back at you.
Far from being the one-dimensional,
six-packed spokesperson favoured by most
brands these days, Di Vaio views his greatest
achievement as his family. In fact, instead of
the brooding coolness on display from so
many wannabe influencers, Di Vaio’s more
than six million Instagram followers are
treated to rather adorable family portraits
and holiday snaps.
It’s a canny move by the Italian fashion
giants, as Di Vaio straddles the middle ground
between aspiration and attainability. In the
midst of a Northern Hemisphere lockdown, MDV: Do what you love, wear what makes you GQ: What about your workout routine?
we quizzed him on what masculinity means in feel great and have fun during the process. MDV: One hour at the gym daily.
2020, social media and, of course, style. GQ: What was the first fragrance you GQ: What’s been your best – and worst –
GQ: You’ve clearly mastered the art of bought with your own money? catwalk experience?
Insta. What’s the secret? MDV: I’m obsessed with fragrances. I used to MDV: Without any doubt, walking the Dolce
PHOTOGRAPHY: MATTHEW BROOKES.

Mariano Di Vaio: You need to truly enjoy
authentic moments. In my family at dinner,
phones are prohibited. I don’t want to
communicate that digital life is better than
real life, so I choose to not share everything.
Connection to reality is very important and it
allows you to tell real stories, while the risk
on social media is to tell fake stories based on
what people want.
buy my fragrances in an artisan workshop in
Paris, and I loved the fact that nobody would
know the name of my fragrance. I wanted to
be the only one wearing it.
GQ: If you had to survive with just three
grooming products forever, what would
they be?
MDV: Hydrating cream, hair wax and if
I can’t say ‘K by Dolce & Gabbana’, I would
& Gabbana show during Milan Fashion Week
with my wife Eleonora. I don’t remember
having a bad catwalk experience – but I trip
walking on the street from time to time!
GQ: If you weren’t a model, what would
you most like to do?
MDV: A Moto GP racer, of course!
‘K by Dolce & Gabbana Eau De Parfum’, $148
(100ml), is available now from myer.com.au

72 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020 GQ.COM.AU

Subscribe now theaustralian.com.au/dollar 1800 186 580
 Watches
An iconic update
I n 1962 a 28-year-old Jack Heuer, fresh
from a stint in the States, stepped off a
plane in Switzerland and took charge of the
family business, Heuer (the TAG came later,
in 1985), founded by his great grandfather
Edouard in 1860.
The young CEO was a marketing dynamo. It
was under his direction that the watchmaker
built a truly global brand – he was a pioneer in
product placement and the Heuer ‘Monaco’
worn by Steve McQueen in 1970’s Le Mans is a
testament to this. Heuer was also the first watch
brand to sponsor a Formula 1 team, in 1972.
But perhaps Jack Heuer’s most enduring
legacy is the ‘Carrera’. A modern, purpose-
designed chronograph with a streamlined design
that was both stylish and eminently practical –
after all, this was back when a stopwatch on your
74 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020
wrist was an essential tool for timing on the track
and elsewhere. And while that initial design was
a commercial hit, it’s the name that was the real
winner. It’s commonplace these days, but then,
the practice of giving a watch an evocative title
was novel. The name ‘Carrera’, which was
inspired by the gruelling and dangerous road
race the Carrera Panamericana, rolled off the
tongue and instantly evoked an image of speed
and purpose.
Today the ‘Carrera’ is still racing along,
and this year TAG Heuer has released two
new interpretations. The first is the classic
42mm version, the spiritual and stylistic
successor to the ’60s models. Offered in a
range of dial colours and with dressy leather
straps or more utilitarian bracelets, this
clean take shows how elegant a chronograph
can be. If you want a bit more oomph on
your wrist, there’s the sportier take on the
‘Carrera’. Clocking in at 44mm, with thicker
lines and a tachymeter-inscribed bezel,
there’s no hiding the purpose of these plus-
sized timepieces.
And while the exteriors of these models
present two different faces of the ‘Carrera’,
it’s what’s inside that unites them. The in-
house ‘Heuer 02’ movement is among the
most modern automatic chronograph variants
on the market. Not only does it boast a
column-wheel mechanism with a vertical
clutch for improved performance, but with an
impressive 80 hours of power reserve, it offers
a level of autonomy that’s up there with the
best. The ‘Carrera’ has come a long way since
1962, but it’s as exciting as ever. n
GQ.COM.AU 75
 Watches
From left: Rolex ‘Oyster Perpetual 41’ with
silver dial, $8300; Rolex ‘Submariner
Date 41’ in 18-carat yellow gold with blue
Cerachrom bezel and royal blue dial,
$52,150; Rolex ‘Submariner Date 41’
in Oystersteel with green Cerachrom bezel
and black dial, $13,450; rolex.com

Fresh faces
Like many industries, it’s been a dark year for watches. But thanks
to a few exciting new releases, the future has rarely looked brighter.
Words Felix Scholz Photography Georgina Egan

76 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

T he picturesque Swiss city of Basel
has been in the business of showing
watches for over a century. For two weeks
of the year, the Swiss (and global) horological
industry descends on the Rhine-bound
enclave for a glittering bacchanal of luxury
timepieces, parties and trade. Heavyweights
like Rolex, Patek Philippe and Hublot use the
occasion to announce their latest and greatest,
and for one or two days, the typically
sedate and tradition-bound watch industry
makes headlines in the Financial Times and
The Wall Street Journal. Except not in 2020.
Baselworld, as we knew it, is gone forever –
thanks to Covid-19.
Many brands sensibly decided to scale back on the quantity of new releases.
Still, they made up for it in the sheer variety of hues on offer.
The death of this glorified trade fair doesn’t
really affect too many people; watches are still
being made, bought and sold. But it is
symptomatic of the upheavals in the luxury
business model, which was in many ways rather
old-fashioned. Global Swiss watch exports are
down some 30 per cent this year and Australian
demand is down around 20 per cent. The
Richemont group (which owns powerhouse
brands such as Cartier, IWC and Panerai)
estimates around $1.3bn in lost sales between
January and March, with all the other major
players experiencing similar woes.
Locally, the watch business has felt the
crunch too, but for all the storm clouds there
has been the occasional silver lining. Helen
Gregory, co-CEO of Gregory Jewellers, notes,
“When we reopened, we saw a more captive
audience come through our doors. Despite
foot traffic being down significantly, the
customers visiting us are spending more time
in the store and are very happy to make
decisions that would normally take longer.”
Many also leaned into e-commerce, a space
watch brands have been slow to embrace. Those
with an established presence – like WatchBox,
an online retailer of pre-owned timepieces –
found themselves in a healthy position, with the
company reporting 25 per cent revenue growth
in the first half of 2020. CEO Justin Reis said:
“Our fastest-growing segment is in the $69,000-
$139,000 category, with nearly 50 per cent
growth in sales over last year.”
Reis went on to comment that while Australian
tastes have traditionally leaned towards classic
sports watch brands, there was a noted shift to
higher-value pieces from prestigious marques
such as A. Lange & Söhne. Brad Harvey,
managing director of Bulgari Australia, echoes
the sentiment, saying, “We have seen a dramatic
increase in our online business as more clients
have time to research and seek out new and
exciting products – icons such as ‘Serpenti’ and
‘Octo’ are proving popular.”
Thankfully, there’s a bright contrast to the
plummeting sales and business uncertainty
that was watches in 2020, and that’s the watches
themselves. Many brands sensibly decided to
scale back the quantity of new releases. Still,
they made up for it in the sheer variety of hues
on offer, perhaps subliminally aware that now
more than ever, people want a watch that’s
equal parts fun and functional.
Hublot – never one to follow the herd –
offered a sophisticated take on pink with its ‘Big
Bang Millennial Pink’, a 42mm chronograph in
dusky-hued anodised aluminium. And just in
case you weren’t ready for your wrist to take
part in deconstructing gender binaries, there’s
a matching ‘Sky Blue’ ceramic option.
Rolex, not to be outdone of course,
refreshed its iconic ‘Oyster Perpetual’ line,
bringing in a bold suite of new dial colours
with evocative names like Candy Pink, Coral
Red and Turquoise Blue. Even in the more
sedate silver or black options, this improved
take on the classic design shows why Rolex
wears a crown on the dial.
Breitling also joined the party, announcing
the ‘Endurance Pro’ as its summer star. Billed
as an athleisure watch, this large chronograph
weighs next to nothing thanks to the Breitlight
(proprietary polymer) case and Superquartz
movement. And while the case might be black,
the high-vis highlights and rubber strap give
this watch a permanently sunny countenance.
The last 12 months have seen the future of
luxury watches change forever. And while
virtual sales appointments and digital drops
look set to be with us for the long haul, so too
are the watches themselves, in all their
vibrancy. So at least you know that even if the
future doesn’t always look that bright right
now, at least the watches are. n
GQ.COM.AU 77
TIME CODE
Show your true colours with a new collection
of watches that mix good looks and functionality
for the ultimate timeless style.

‘Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Selfwinding

Chronograph in Light Grey’ and ‘Code 11.59
by Audemars Piguet Selfwinding in Blue’.
 GQ PROMOTION

T
here’s a colourful new twist on the classic
‘Code 11.59’ by Audemars Piguet. Enjoy 10 bold
additions to this luxe collection, including five
‘Selfwinding’ and five ‘Selfwinding Chronograph’
references. Both variants are gender-neutral and
clock in at a comfortable 41mm in diameter.

KEEP WATCH
The new range comes in a contemporary palette of
burgundy, blue, purple, and shades of light and dark
grey, with a sunburst lacquered dial and matching
strap. But these timepieces offer so much more than
contemporary aesthetics – with 70 hours of power
reserve and water resistance to 30 metres, both the
‘Code 11.59’ by Audemars Piguet ‘Selfwinding’
and ‘Selfwinding Chronograph’ models are made
for an active lifestyle. Powered by the Calibre 4401,
the ‘Chronograph’ models feature an integrated
column wheel and flyback functions, which allows
the chronograph to stop and restart without
having to be reset.

These vibrant new models

are the ultimate display
of craftsmanship and
contemporary design.
CASE IN POINT
The burgundy model has an elegant, contrasting
white-gold case, while the purple and blue models are
enhanced by an 18-carat pink-gold case. A selection
of the new models also feature a refined two-tone
case with a mix of 18-carat white and pink gold.
This combination highlights the hand-finished matte
and mirror surfaces of the case, which have become
one of Audemars Piguet’s trademarks over time.
Based in Le Brassus, Switzerland since 1875, Audemars
Piguet is still in the hands of the founding Audemars
and Piguet families. Together, they continue to uphold
their commitment to traditional, fine watchmaking.
These vibrant new models are the ultimate display
of craftsmanship and contemporary design.

Clockwise from top: ‘Code 11.59 by Audemars

Piguet Selfwinding Chronograph in Burgundy’,
‘Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Selfwinding
Chronograph in Dark Grey’ and ‘Code 11.59 by
Audemars Piguet Selfwinding in Purple’.

For more details, visit audemarspiguet.com

 AJ TRACEY,
RAPPER

2020’S “I’m feeling the fact that

it’s a flip phone. I’ve been

GREATEST
missing that feeling of
whipping my phone out
and flipping it up to shout
someone since school

GIFT
times – it’s very nostalgic
and very stylish.”

With a foldable design and

revolutionary Flex mode,
the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip
is a phone made for
our times.
 GQ PROMOTION

F
rom simply staying in touch with friends and
family to finding inventive ways to have fun
and celebrate the ones we love, 2020 has seen
us take our relationship with technology to dizzying
new heights. This year may have presented more
challenges than most, but one of its greatest gifts
has been the way it has inspired us to use our
creativity (and our smartphones) to stay connected
with one another like never before.
Collectively showing our love for people via
video message has become an important part of
how we communicate, with each of these new
digital endeavours pushing the limits of our
imaginations a little further and the bar ever
higher. Enter British rapper AJ Tracey and actor
Jess Alexander with ‘The Greatest Gift’, an A-list
lesson in creative collaboration brought to you by
the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip.
The film, released this November, sees AJ,
Jess and a cast of Vogue and GQ talent including
fashion designer Harris Reed and pop singer
Rina Sawayama use Samsung’s physics-defying
phone to produce a video gift for a famous friend.
As the Galaxy Z Flip helps them to effortlessly CHECKING INVOICES,
JESS ALEXANDER, ACTOR
connect and create, each of their entertaining
“I love the design, it means the screen’s
ANONYMOUS DUO
artistic efforts offers insight into who the recipient “We love it. The colour palette is amazing
protected and I can actually fit my phone
of the film might be as well as just what this and so unique. It’s the perfect accessory
THE CAST’S REVIEWS OF THE GALAXY Z FLIP WERE PROVIDED AS PART OF THEIR PAID PARTNERSHIP WITH SAMSUNG.

into my handbags and my pockets.”

to complete our look.”
foldable phone can do.
For Jess, who delivers some lines from Romeo
and Juliet for her part of their virtual show of
appreciation, it’s both form and function that make
the Galaxy Z Flip special: “I love the design, it
means the screen’s protected and I can actually fit
my phone into my handbags and my pockets.”
While the Galaxy Z Flip’s satisfyingly square,
micro design is an irresistible nod to the iconic ’00s
flip phone, Jess thinks that it’s the Galaxy Z Flip’s
flexible Hideaway Hinge that allows it to stand on
its own that sets it apart from other devices. “The
fact that the Z Flip’s hands-free makes everything
easier. It’s a lot less fiddly than other phones,”
explains Jess. From hands-free video calling and
*CERTAIN APPLICATIONS MAY NOT SUPPORT FLEX MODE.

selfie taking, to the unique way it allows you to

simultaneously view content on the top half of the
display whilst controlling it from the bottom half,
the Galaxy Z Flip lets you focus on what matters*.
Whether that means creating your very own
virtual show of appreciation for someone or
staying connected to the world with incomparable
ease, the Galaxy Z Flip is a phone designed for
our times, ready to be part of your greatest gift.

RINA SAWAYAMA, SINGER HARRIS REED,

“I’m actually obsessed with it. FASHION DESIGNER
The folding glass really blows “It’s incredible to have a phone that
my mind, it’s an incredible makes it so easy to talk about my work
For more details, visit samsung.com engineering feat.” and get it out there to people.”
 Gifting

Urge to splurge

82 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

GQ.COM.AU 83
 Gifting

84 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

GQ.COM.AU 85
 Gifting

86 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020 GQ.COM.AU

 THE
ROAD
AHEAD
Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo is on
the edge of glory. But as hungry as he is
to win, racing isn’t everything.
Photography Tom Sloan Styling Britt Mccamey Words Noelle Faulkner

L
et’s finish what we started.” Daniel Ricciardo calmly
pressed his team, determined, hungry. It’s September’s
Tuscan GP at Mugello Circuit and for the entire race, the
Perth-born Formula 1 racer had been driving flawlessly.
2020’s disruptions had meant several new tracks were
added to the calendar, some of which had never hosted a
Grand Prix before – this circuit included. Among all the action – including
two spectacular multi-car crashes within minutes, a pair of red flags, total
restarts and only 12 out of 20 cars left in the race – was Ricciardo, the
sport’s smiling assassin and one of only four Australians ever to win a race
in Formula 1. In third position, Ricciardo had been pulling all his
signature tricks out of the bag: swift, aggressive decisions; overtaking
manoeuvres with effortless panache. He was primed for his first podium
with Renault since he joined the team in 2019.
2020 had seen some chaotic races, but the Tuscan GP was one of the
most intense in recent history. As Ricciardo tells it, “I drove the absolute
wheels off the thing!” For everyone watching, it was a burning reminder
that the 31-year-old is undoubtedly one of the finest drivers in Formula 1
today. Despite all his efforts, his Renault didn’t have enough guts against
Alex Albon’s Red Bull, and after putting up a fight with just eight laps to
go, Ricciardo crossed the line in fourth. The race was a tease for Ricciardo
and his global fans; a droplet of water offered for an unquenchable thirst.
Situations like this have plagued the Monaco-based athlete of late, but
as they say, ‘that’s racing’. Drivers, as good as they might be, can still be
left to the mercy of their machines. This insatiable appetite, mixed with
danger, physics, engineering and speed, is what has always made racing
such an addictive, sexy sport. “Last week, everyone was like, ‘You’re so
close to a podium! It’s gonna happen,’” Riccardo says when GQ meets him
in London. “And I was like, ‘You know what? The truth is, I’ve won races,
I’ve had podiums. So if I get another podium, it’s not like I haven’t done it
already.’” As of the day we meet, Ricciardo has seven wins and 29 podiums
under his belt. And as hungry as he is for more, again, ‘that’s racing’.

GQ.COM.AU 89
“It’s not the be-all and end-all,” he shrugs. “I left Sunday night very
fulfilled. I had a lot of nice messages. I was happy, my parents were happy.
They enjoyed the race. And I’ve made a lot of other people proud of me.”
It’s this fine balance of focus, determination and genuine optimism that
has seen Ricciardo propelled into the top flight, feet-first.
Ricciardo’s racing origin story starts a long way from Tuscany, at his
family home in Perth. His father, Joe, had chased a dream of motorsport
himself and would take to the racetrack for fun, family in tow. “Dad was
always passionate about it,” he recalls. “Some weekends, I would be at a
racetrack in my mum’s arms watching him, so from a very young age,
I was exposed to the speed, sound and the smell.” As a child, Ricciardo was
a typical Australian kid. He loved playing backyard cricket, soccer and
tennis; just being outside. Karting, he says, was never forced on him – but
there was something about the sport he couldn’t shake. “I was fascinated
with speed,” he says, recalling his first time on the track. “Dad took me to
an indoor karting place and I still remember driving down the little straight.
The first thing I thought was just, ‘This is freedom.’ At seven or eight years
old, I was in total control: ‘No one can touch me. I am literally free right
now,’” he beams that million-watt smile. “I was in love with that.”
Eventually, Ricciardo’s parents, stretched from shuffling him from field
to court to circuit gave him a choice. Ricciardo wanted to race. The
decision wasn’t without hesitation – rental karts (and eventually, race cars),
fuel and tyres are a lot more expensive than a pair of soccer boots. And
besides, the odds weren’t exactly in his favour. No one from Western
Australia had ever made it to Formula 1 before. He laughs, shaking his
head, “I was winning some races, but was never the child everyone pointed
at and said, ‘This kid’s going to F1!’ So, yeah, it took a bit of convincing.”
Unlike his European opponents, who seemingly learned to steer
before they could walk, Ricciardo was a late-bloomer in the sport. In his
final years of school, disinterested in academia, his appetite for racing
flourished. Entering professional single-seater, open-wheel categories
like Australian Formula Ford and Formula BMW Asia, his potential
raised eyebrows. “I was quite immature at school,” he says. “I got to 17,
and something just clicked – I fully committed to it.” That year, he
moved to Europe to compete in various racing categories and his
trajectory to Formula 1 started to gain traction.
The grounded, positive, cookie-cutter larrikin attitude that has made
Ricciardo a star on and off the grid (and one of the reasons Optus has
tapped him as a brand ambassador), has a lot to do with his early days in
the sport. Europe wasn’t a luxury, it was a sacrifice. Ricciardo deeply
loved and missed Australia (and still does), and was plagued with that
imposter syndrome Australians know all too well. “I hadn’t convinced
myself that I was good enough,” he says. “I was like, ‘Well, if I can’t
dominate in Australia, how am I going to be able to dominate in Europe
where the sport is 10 times as big and ten times as competitive?’”
The moment was pivotal. “I became crazy disciplined,” he says.
“You’d think living alone in Italy at 17, 18 – you can drink and party,
but I didn’t. I was determined to make it happen.” He adds, “I watched
other young drivers completely take advantage of the situation. They
were like, ‘Well I’m a race-car driver, and I’m living in Europe and I’ve
made it.’ But we couldn’t be further away from making it.” The
naturally competitive Australian noted his competitors’ mistakes. “I
could see the path they were on. But my parents had invested money
and family friends had helped out, financially, for me to be able to do
this. My dad worked too hard to make his money for me to piss it away.”
One of the most frequently complimented professional traits
Ricciardo possesses is his upbeat sense of duty to his team, sponsors and
family. We see this in London on the set of our GQ cover shoot and have

90 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

GQ.COM.AU 91
Vest, $1190, by Fendi; gilet, $2250,
by Giorgio Armani; pants, $1050,
and shoes, $1355, both by Gucci;
bracelet, $9950, by Cartier.
Top, $1810, by Prada.

GQ.COM.AU 93
often heard it over the team radio. Where other drivers might defer
blame, Ricciardo will apologise for letting the team down when at-fault
errors happen. Take a recent incident at the Russian GP, for example:
Ricciardo was handed a five-second penalty for a mistake. His response?
“OK, I’ll drive faster.” Class. “I see it now the older I get, but my parents
taught me well,” he says. “I understood the value of things. I grew up
watching my dad build his business. I knew that it didn’t come overnight
– that real success isn’t quick success. I’ve always had that in me.”
Equally, however, Ricciardo will not hide his disappointment when the
team lets him down – this was an issue in his final season with his last
outfit, Red Bull. And ironically, a situation that helped to propel him to
household levels of fame in the first season of the Netflix documentary
series Formula 1: Drive To Survive. “The show did wonders for the sport,”
he says. “It certainly brought in a whole new audience.” What Drive to
Survive managed to do was humanise these icons of speed. Unlike other
sports, the physicality and emotion involved in racing is hidden under
helmets. Fragments of team radio are our only peephole into what the
drivers are feeling. “That’s the hardest thing with our sport, as far as
perception goes,” says Ricciardo. “People are like, ‘Why do you need to
be fit? We drive to work every day, you’re just driving faster.’”
For those unfamiliar with the physics of a Formula 1 car, drivers can
experience up to 6G force – that’s the equivalent of six times their body
weight. “But yeah, sure, driving is easy,” he laughs. “Formula 1 is certainly
one of a few sports in the world that only 20 people at a time can relate to
what we go through.” Being on a knife’s edge of danger comes part and
parcel with the sport, too – Ricciardo has often palmed this off in a half-
“I GREW UP WATCHING MY DAD BUILD HIS BUSINESS. I KNEW THAT IT DIDN’T COME
OVERNIGHT – THAT REAL SUCCESS ISN’T QUICK SUCCESS. I’VE ALWAYS HAD THAT IN ME.”
joking, “That’s why I try to be pretty good at my job.” This, or what he
refers to as “high risk, high reward-factor”, are some of the most attractive
elements of the sport to him. “Racing is a real sport, with very real risks.”
Despite his charm and endearing personality, Ricciardo is a ruthless
competitor not to be discounted. When asked if his competitive nature
is often underestimated, he replies with a stern “Yes. I feel it has worked
to my advantage,” he says. “It just doesn’t show on the outside with
my personality.”
In 2014, when he replaced fellow Australian Mark Webber at Red Bull,
Ricciardo’s on-track Hyde to his Jekyll emerged, earning him respect
from top drivers and teams along the way. “I would surprise them on
track,” he beams. “They’d see me in their mirrors, and think, ‘Oh, it’s just
Ricciardo.’ Then all of a sudden, I’d throw an aggressive move. I kept
catching them off guard.” He smiles, “I’ve always been competitive. I
vividly remember, playing F1 or something on PlayStation with one of my
best friends when we were kids. He took me out and won. I was trying so
hard to control my anger. We basically had a fight over a stupid video
game, but it got pretty serious,” he laughs. “Anyway, I’m not going to give
away all my horrible competitive bullying stories! But yes, I am nice!
But when it comes to competition, I’ve just got that gene in me.”
Winning is one thing but without the wheel-to-wheel racing, what’s
the point? As fans know all too well, there are certain home truths about
the sport in the modern era. Recent championships have been dominated
by one team, and one driver, for better or worse. “It’s been awesome to
have a bit of variability,” Ricciardo says of the chaos the new circuits have
brought to the championship in 2020. “Mercedes are so dominant that it
94 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020
is… Well, I feel like it’s even boring for them to be honest! Because, Lewis
[Hamilton], now when he wins, he tries to play it out, but the truth is he’s
not getting that excited. I don’t know. They’re just so dominant…” he
trails off. “Having those red flags and incidents in the last few races that
have changed up the field. It’s been really cool and it’s good for the sport.”
Ricciardo may have a blazing, shoey-guzzling appetite to be the first
Australian to win a Formula 1 championship since Alan Jones, but “race-car
driver” is not his personal definer – he is not falling asleep counting corners
and lap times nor dreaming of braking zones. Least of all, is he interested
in the politics of the sport. “It’s like any job – if you let it consume you, it
can,” he says. “And I want to do the best I can and get the most out of
everyone working with me. But I don’t live and breathe the sport. I have
other hobbies and interests.” UFC, MotoGP, mountain biking and the
great outdoors are all filed next to racing, but music likely surpasses it. An
ambassador for Beats, music has been the one constant love in Ricciardo’s
life – it even acts as a marker for his achievements. He tells GQ an anecdote
about his 2018 Monaco GP win. At the centre of the story is a line from
Playboi Carti’s song ‘Shoota’, spoken by Lil Uzi Vert, “‘Now it’s my time”:
a pivotal pre-game ritual that he now attributes to his win. Ricciardo’s
passion for live music has even seen him invest in a 600-person (pre-Covid)
music venue in London’s Kings Cross, called Lafayette, with Ben Lovett,
his friend and keyboardist from Mumford & Sons.
If anything, 2020 has seen Ricciardo lean further into his hobbies,
most recently with his YouTube series ‘No Brakes’. This POV-style
travel series, shot between races, sees him hiking, biking and exploring
beyond the confines of the racetrack. “I used to rock up and go airport-
hotel-racetrack-hotel-airport. I’d travel to all these places and literally
wouldn’t see anything,” he says. “I thought that was the right thing to
do, keeping disciplined and focused and on a schedule. I realised, in a
way, I was abusing the privilege of travel by not making the most of it.”
What’s more, says Ricciardo, a glimpse into this side of his life helps to
set a good example for his younger fans – particularly kids who might not
be able to go karting, but can still share an interest in Ricciardo’s other
passions. “I’m at an age now where I realise younger kids are looking up to
me,” he says. “I’m more conscious of setting a good example, whether it’s on
a matter of activism, life, health or business… I guess I’m trying to show
them there’s a time to be disciplined and focused. But then there’s also a
time to switch off and let yourself enjoy life.”
Next year, Ricciardo will move to McLaren. He says the growth of the
marque in the last 12 months is what has tempted him there. “They
employed a few people who I’ve known from back in the day, who I think
are key people for moving them forward. I think that excited me enough
and will give me the best chance to compete at the top in the coming
years.” But, he adds, this is not before he does everything in his power to
finish what he started at the French team. “I’m hungry for success,” he
says. “And when I say success, it’s to win and to prove that I can do this.
I really believe I’m the best. I want to prove that I can be World Champion.”
When asked what his goals are beyond the racetrack, Ricciardo grins.
“Just being completely comfortable with myself... I’m doing things that feel
authentic to me, that I’m passionate about, looking for opportunities to
build myself as a person and learn more about life.” He smiles again. “At the
end of the day, everyone’s just looking for happiness, right?” n
THE
CULTURE
CLASH
Dial up the attitude
as we rock one of
this season’s most
influential trends,
with a look at the
brands inspired
by the enduring
power of punk.
Photography James Tolich
Styling Sarah Starkey

Evan wears cap, $1150, and

bomber, $15,000, both by
Dior Men; pants, $1195, by
Hermès; boots, $1450, by Ann
Demeulemeester; gloves,
vintage; scarf, stylist’s own; belt
bag, $1230, by Valentino; pins
(used as earring and on jacket),
$90 each, all by Stash Jewellery;
belt chain (at top), POA, by Song
for the Mute; chains (at middle
and bottom), POA, both by Stash
Jewellery; chain (on boot), POA,
by Heart of Bone; bracelets, on
right arm, from top, $380, by
Stash Jewellery; and $750 by
Hermès; and on left arm, from
top, $380, by Stash Jewellery;
and, $875, by Hermès.
GQ.COM.AU 97
98 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020
Bozhen wears coat,
$2499, blazer, $860,
and pants, $499, all by
Strateas Carlucci; vintage
boots by Harley Davidson,
$250, from Route 66;
earring, necklaces (top
and bottom), all stylist’s
own; ring (on left), $180,
by Heart of Bone; chains,
POA, and ring (on right),
$150, by Stash Jewellery.

GQ.COM.AU 101
102 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020
Evan wears vintage T-shirt,
from Route 66; pin (used
as earring), $90, by Stash
Jewellery; earring (on
right ear) and nose ring,
Evan’s own; ring (on right
hand), $180 by Heart of
Bone; rings (on left hand,
from left) POA, by Heart
of Bone; $220, by Stash
Jewellery; and $150, by
Heart of Bone; necklaces
(from top), $220, by
Ebonny Munro; POA, both
by Stash Jewellery.
GQ.COM.AU 105
106 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020
 FLOWER POWER

Gucci’s latest line of tailoring is the perfect

homage to the brand’s colourful creative director.
Photography Georges Antoni Styling Petta Chua Words Christopher Riley

108 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

Suiting from the Gucci Men’s
Tailoring collection; ‘Jackie 1961’
bag from Gucci Fall Winter; shoes,
$1515, by Gucci; socks, stylist’s own.
Opposite: suiting from the Gucci
Men’s Tailoring collection; ‘Jackie
1961’ bag from Gucci Fall Winter;
rings (on left hand, from left),
$360, and $295, (on right hand,
from left), $370, $385 and $335,
all by Gucci. (All rings worn
throughout.)

GQ.COM.AU 109
 Suiting from the Gucci
Men’s Tailoring collection;
‘Jackie 1961’ bag from
Gucci Fall Winter; shoes,
$1175, by Gucci; socks,
stylist’s own.
Suiting from the Gucci
Men’s Tailoring collection;
shoes, $1175, bracelets (on
right arm, from top), $860,
and $425, and necklaces on
neck, $595, and on jacket,
$355, all by Gucci; socks,
stylist’s own.

M
usic and fashion have long been close allies,
but few are as skilled at blending the two
worlds as Gucci’s Alessandro Michele. Since
taking over as creative director of the Italian
fashion house in 2015, the 48-year-old has
been joined by a merry band of musicians who
now seem just as synonymous with the ‘new Gucci’ as the Roman
himself. Just look at his latest campaign. To front the luxury brand’s
new tailoring offering, Michele tapped three names: rappers A$AP
Rocky and Tyler, The Creator and punk icon Iggy Pop.
But aside from a shared love of Gucci, Michele’s muses have one
thing in common: they’re just as eclectic as the designer. Not content
with being a Grammy-winning musician, Tyler, The Creator has
launched his own streaming app, written TV shows and has a fashion
label while Rocky and Pop have achieved so much outside their
respective genres, it would be almost impolite to label them merely
musicians. Culture shifters who transcend their own field, they define
what Gucci stands for today: a place for the dreamers and visionaries.
112 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020
The trio would find common ground with
our model for today’s shoot, Lochie Colin,
who, like those in Michele’s orbit, seems
incapable of sitting still for long. A 19-year-old
singer-songwriter who plays not one but
seven instruments, Colin has just released his
debut album entitled Racing, a collection of
music he’s been working on since he was 16.
When he’s not writing, producing and
recording new songs – “I just prefer to do it
on my own I guess” – you’ll find him rushing
between university lectures and model
castings. Oh and he’s also writing a screenplay
for a film in his spare time.
Like many of us, Colin’s year was supposed
to turn out very differently. He had deferred
university at the start of 2020 to travel to
Japan for some modelling work, though
Covid-19 got in the way of that. But Colin is
not one to dwell on what could have been.
“It’s just been a case of getting back on
track with uni again, just working on little
personal projects and having fun,” he says.
“Trying my best to have fun.”
While the closure of international borders
may have prevented Colin from going to
Japan, it did mean he was able to showcase
Gucci’s latest suiting for GQ. Intended to sit
alongside the main seasonal collections, the
line is designed to be repurposed and
reinvented using different accessories. And as
with much of Michele’s work, from the
gender-fluid styling to the clash of bold
colours and logos, it’s all about contrasts.
Take the ‘Jackie 1961’ bag. When worn with
classic suiting, the traditionally feminine
Jacket and shirt design becomes the perfect universal
from the Gucci
Men’s Tailoring accessory: fun, unique and full of character.
collection. In other words, classic Michele.
Made famous by US First Lady Jackie
Kennedy Onassis and reinterpreted this year for Gucci menswear,
it can be carried like a traditional handbag or worn across body
(opposite). There’s only one barrier to entry: attitude. And fortunately,
that’s something Colin has in spades.
“I reckon I could pull it off!” he laughs when asked if he’d consider
one himself.
Perhaps it’s no surprise the bag first made an appearance in the ’60s,
a decade that holds a special place for Colin.
“That late-’60s, early ’70s era is where I wanna be,” he says. “That’s
when the best music ever was, and fashion was at a high because of the
music influence. You had Mick Jagger, you had Freddie Mercury
breaking boundaries. I think it’s the best era for fashion.
“Just like then, people are starting to really idolise musicians again
and take inspiration from their favourite artist. Me personally, I try to
mimic anything Harry Styles does.”
As it happens, Mr Styles appears in the brand’s latest campaign for
– you guessed it – the ‘Jackie 1961’ bag. Safe to say, then, that Colin is
on the right track. Watch this space. n
 Suiting from the
Gucci Men’s Tailoring
collection; scarf, $520,
shoes, $1175, bracelets
(on right arm, from
top), $860 and $425,
all by Gucci; socks,
stylist’s own.
Suiting from the Gucci
Men’s Tailoring collection;
scarf, $655, shoes, $1175,
bracelets (on right arm,
from top), $860, and
$425, all by Gucci;
‘Jackie 1961’ bag from
Gucci Fall Winter.
Hair Alan White at Great
Bowery using R+Co.
Make-up Sean Brady.
Set design by Jordan
Gogos at Lion Artist
Management.
Talent Lochie at Priscillas
Model Management.
NEW PORNOGRAPHERS
Sex, celebrity and social media: how sites like OnlyFans
have changed the Internet forever.
Words David Smiedt

GQ.COM.AU 117
W
hen it comes to the confluence of business
and pop culture, it can often be difficult to
know when global mainstream status has
been achieved. For OnlyFans – the content
subscription service favoured by many an
adult-entertainment provider with time and
an HD camera on their hands – that particular rubicon was crossed in
late April. In one of the century’s most potent celebrity shout-outs,
none other than Beyoncé dropped a reference to the site in a remix of
Megan Thee Stallion’s smash hit ‘Savage’. Specifically, rapped the
most successful of Destiny’s Children, “Hips TikTok when I dance/
On that Demon Time, she might start an OnlyFans (OnlyFans).” Her
nod to the site apparently caused a 15 per cent spike in traffic on the
day the single dropped.
But Queen Bey isn’t the only big-name celebrity drawn to the
OnlyFans phenomenon. Cardi B went a step further in August by
actually opening an account on the platform, entitled Welcome To My
World. Here, for just shy of $7 a month, you can gain a behind-the-
scenes glimpse into Cardi’s days, nights, photo shoots and downtime.
As to what followers could expect, the woman born Belcalis Marlenis
Almánzar was quick to add that she would be keeping things PG: “No
I’m not going to be showing my titties, or my pussy, or my ass,” she
clarified. “Just straight up real-life content shit.”
Why the disclaimer from an artist who wears her sexuality and
body-con like a badge of honour? Well, much of OnlyFans’ success
has been built on the strategic revelation of flesh. And it’s a hugely
profitable one. Founded in 2016 and owned by the London-based
Fenix International Limited, some analysts have valued OnlyFans at
just shy of a billion dollars. By contrast, Netflix took 10 years and
Apple 14 to cross the billion-dollar threshold.
For those who have been living in a digital black hole (we admire
you), here’s how the platform works. Once creators have established an
account, they ask their followers to take out a monthly subscription to
view their content. The subscription fee, decided by the creator,
ranges from anywhere between $7 and $70. As far as the business
model is concerned, it’s a fairly simple one – OnlyFans takes 20 per
cent of the creators’ income for hosting the platform and facilitating
the e-commerce. Beyond that, it’s all down to those hoary twins of
trade: supply and demand. Some performers charge a flat fee for a
certain number of photos or videos a month while others provide
tiered services where the more you pay, the more you get – both in
118 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020
terms of quantity, exclusivity and, sometimes, explicitness. Should you
particularly love someone’s work, you can also throw tips their way.
While so many industries have been razed by Covid-19, OnlyFans
found itself in the midst of a perfect commercial storm. As the
pandemic was declared, everyone from sex workers and musicians to
fitness models and actors were separated from their clients, audiences
and incomes – virtually overnight. Bills needed to be paid, livelihoods
maintained and lonely hours at home required filling. At the same
time, with travel, dining and bar-hopping off the cards, potential
subscribers suddenly found themselves with a bit of extra cash. The
two circles of this Venn diagram overlapped, with Forbes estimating
a 75 per cent surge in sign-ups since the crisis hit. At last count, the site
had some 30 million registered users and 450,000 content creators.
In the first four months of 2020, 200,000 Australians signed up – more
than 5000 of them as content creators.
Few have mastered the medium better than 29-year-old Perth
native Jem Wolfie, who has parlayed a 2.7 million-strong following on
Instagram into “the most subscribed OnlyFans account in the world”.
According to the OnlyFans blog, she has almost 10.5k fans, each of
whom pay a monthly $7 fee to access her content. She wouldn’t reveal
her exact income to GQ but she recently took to Instagram to pose
alongside a shiny new custom blue Porsche ‘Turbo 718 GTS’. So she
seems to be doing pretty well.
What is it about Wolfie’s content that keeps her many fans coming
back for more? The immediate yet mistaken assumption would be that
her feed mirrors the explicit material found elsewhere online. But
where the latter is often beyond X-rated, Wolfie’s would receive an
R rating, at best. With her hourglass figure always strategically
covered with wisps of fabric, she straddles the middle ground between
coquettish centrefold and girl next door. There’s a smartly contrived
sense that what you’re viewing are private photos from a smoking hot
girlfriend meant for your eyes only. But more on that later.
What is most apparent is that Wolfie has cracked the code to what
has become the burning question of the millennium: how to monetise
social media. Sure, the Kardashians and others have turned their huge
followings into legitimate careers, but in terms of pure conversion of
posts to cash, OnlyFans has changed the landscape entirely. Though,
there’s more to it than just the dollars for Wolfie. “Other than financial
gain,” she says, “OnlyFans offers freedom to post whatever you want
without restrictions; it’s a great way to express yourself without
judgement from random people. OnlyFans is literally for your fans
 only, so you’re able to interact with a smaller number of people than, Cardi B set up
say, Instagram. But my brand as a whole has definitely grown over the an OnlyFans
account in
years,” says the model who has also released a clothing label called August.
Wolfgang Apparel, created her own line of vegan treats, and
collaborates with Atlantic Records to add soundtracks to her videos.
From the outset, however, Wolfie has combined an unshakeable
sense of her own worth (“I made it very clear to almost all the brands
I work with from the beginning that, I don’t want you to send me boxes
of supplements or a shitload of leggings, I want to be paid”), an
unwavering editorial policy (“I don’t do full nudity and I won’t”) and
some smart economics (the longer you subscribe, the cheaper it gets).
“I feel free and independent on OnlyFans as I don’t get as much
judgement on there as I would on other platforms. There are no
restrictions and it’s a great way to send positive messages through Jem Wolfie
beside a new
content,” says the model who, for example, proudly displayed her Porsche.
cellulite in a recent post. She has also clearly found a sweet spot
between giving the audience what it wants and leaving enough to the
imagination to have them returning in their multitudes.
As far as the downsides of OnlyFans stardom go, Wolfie says, “Your
content will always get leaked onto other sites so you don’t post
anything you’re not proud of or happy with. You also have to deal with
aggressive comments for not posting nudity. Some people try
pressuring me to go down that path but it doesn’t really bother me.”
Aside from millennials like Wolfie, who are seeking to transfer their
Instagram followings into OnlyFans subscriptions, it’s sex workers
who’ve formed the backbone of the platform’s growing pool of
creators. In an industry where pay can be inconsistent and workers left 19th-century
It Girl, Sarah
vulnerable to exploitation, the platform has offered a new source of Bernhardt.
income as well as a safe way to interact with customers. For Sydney
PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES AND JEM WOLFIE.

escort and entrepreneur Samantha X, it’s been a game changer.

“OnlyFans has always been hugely popular for those working in the
adult industry,” she tells GQ. “This is a place where I feel more
comfortable showing a bit more of my body. I am incredibly shy and
cringe at most ‘sexy’ photos of me. But I am who I am. I am in the adult
industry and will probably always be known as that woman, so I may as
well make the most of it while I still can. I feel OnlyFans is the safest way
to do that – I know exactly who is looking at my photos and the content
is in line with [my agency’s] brand.”
More than just a safety net, OnlyFans also offers X and others the
opportunity to branch out into other forms of content. Aside from
posting what she has termed “some embarrassingly tame” images,

GQ.COM.AU 119
 X has broadened her offering so that subscribers get “exclusive access
to my vlog series on subjects they’ve requested, from sex, intimacy,
relationships and connection to living a healthier lifestyle. Subscribers
can also ask me questions for personal one-on-one advice.”
For Alan McKee, Professor of Digital and Social Media at University
of Technology Sydney and an expert on entertainment and sexualised
media, the OnlyFans explosion is – to quote Shirley Bassey – just a
little bit of history repeating. 1860 to be exact.
As McKee points out, the Industrial Revolution gave rise to a new
class of urbanised workers who had leisure time their rural forebears
never dared dream of and what they wanted in that leisure time was
entertainment. With entertainment came stars and there was no one
bigger than Sarah Bernhardt – who McKee likens to the Kim
Kardashian of her day.
Former Disney It’s an apt description as Bernhardt also monetised her persona with
star Bella Thorne.
such enthusiasm, it would have made Kris Jenner blush. After watching
her perform, McKee notes, you could buy and collect photos of her in
postcard form but “if you were very rich, you could then buy an
intimate encounter with Sarah Bernhardt. If you were a prince, you
could send a bunch of flowers into Bernhardt’s dressing room with
a note saying, ‘Will you meet me for dinner?’ She would say yes.
And then she’d become your lover.
“That kind of impulse is there from the 19th century onwards,”
explains McKee. “The parties form a relationship, which is mediated
but in which there is a desire to move to an intimacy beyond that
Austin Mahone. mediation. And by understanding that, it helps to explain what is now
going on with OnlyFans. What’s different now is the democratisation
of access. When it was Sarah Bernhardt, you had to be either a prince
or commandant in the French army to see her. Now with OnlyFans,
it’s $7 a month, but it still offers that same tension between ‘this is
somebody who is out of your reach’ versus ‘this is somebody with
whom you can have an intimate contact’. And that is the tension that
makes subscribing to OnlyFans different from talking to the person
PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES.

next to you at work.”

McKee points to the success of Wolfie’s content, stressing she does
not adhere to the traditional porn formula of, his words here, “large
objects in small holes”.
“She does soft-core pornography,” he says, “but what you’re selling is
Rapper Tyga is
one of the latest
charisma, character, personality, story, brand, something interesting
big names to join happening every day, which again, is pure entertainment aesthetics.
OnlyFans.
And that is very exciting and wonderful from a Marxist perspective.”

120 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

 Yes, Karl Marx. It turns out his principles are firmly in play here.
McKee notes that the introduction of camera phones a decade ago
allowed workers to seize the means of production in that we could now
be the stars of our own entertainment. In addition to the means of
production, sites like OnlyFans have allowed creators to seize the means
of distribution, too – not only can they make their own videos but they
can get them out there without being beholden to a parent company.
Think of it as the Uber of titillation.
But, much like Uber, the story of OnlyFans is not without its
controversy. While, in theory, the platform enables anyone with a
camera phone and an Internet connection to make money, the reality
can often look a little different. One person was able to highlight the
cracks in the facade – former Disney star, Bella Thorne. In what soon
became a highly publicised scandal, the actress created an account in
August and within 24 hours, had raked in $1.4m, a figure that’s now
closing in on $2.8m. After explaining that her actions were partly
prompted by research for a new role, she set a fee of $200 for nude
IN ADDITION TO THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION, ONLYFANS HAS ALLOWED CREATORS TO
SEIZE THE MEANS OF DISTRIBUTION, TOO ... THINK OF IT AS THE UBER OF TITILLATION.
photographs. Fifty thousand subscribers said ‘yes please’ but received
only a series of lingerie shots.
They predictably cried false advertising and demanded their money
back, which resulted in OnlyFans weathering a media shitstorm and
having to dole out thousands of refunds. The furore took place at the
same time as a change in OnlyFans’ policy where creators can now
charge only $50 for exclusive content and tips are capped at $100 –
previously there had been no limits on either. It also altered the way
payments work, so creators would be paid monthly instead of weekly.
Sex workers like Canadian Rebecca Madison were angered by this
apparent coincidence, tweeting: “Bella Thorne’s OnlyFans scam caused
OF to drastically reduce the amount SWs can charge for content, which
SIGNIFICANTLY impacts our income. I lost my job due to the
pandemic, so online sex work is my ONLY source of income right now.”
So, while the incident generously lined Thorne’s pockets, many of the
platform’s creators lost out in the process, leading some to question who
is actually taking the lion’s share of the earnings. If the platform signals
a 21st-century Marxist dream, then surely the wealth would be evenly
distributed among the masses? A closer look suggests this isn’t the case.
According to an analysis carried out by xsrus.com, the top one per cent
of OnlyFans accounts make 33 per cent of all the cash generated and the
top 10 per cent of accounts rake in 73 per cent of the dough. The median
take home sits at $250 a month.
But perhaps that’s to be expected. The same thing is happening at
similar platforms like Patreon, where, for a flat five per cent fee,
musicians, podcasters, comedians and writers can spruik their wares to
punters who will gladly pay for curated content, some of which they’ve
previously sampled for free.
One of the key benefits of Patreon is that charging a fee allows for
content free from the intrusion of advertising, while sidestepping the
possibility that the creator may have to plug products that do not align
with their own values. As with OnlyFans, this delivers a sense of
freedom. But while this sense of liberation is inviting, the earnings don’t
always follow the same pattern. According to a 2017 study, only two per
cent of the platform’s creators make more than the US minimum wage.
It’s undeniable that innovations like OnlyFans have undoubtedly
changed Internet culture and, by extension, social behaviour forever.
Bella Thorne might have shown that it is far from a perfect system, but
for now it could not only offer an opportunity to stem the tide of free porn
that has decimated the adult industry in recent years, but also help reduce
the stigma around sex work. What’s more, as an increasing number
celebrities join the platform – everyone from former teen idol Austin
Mahone to rapper Tyga have recently opened accounts – it could well
provide a glimpse into the future of mainstream entertainment.
After all, anyone can, in theory, turn themselves into the next Jem
Wolfie, generating thousands of dollars from the comfort of their own
bedroom without a boss hovering over their shoulder. For any artist or
content creator with even a shred of ambition, that is a tantalising
prospect. Similarly, the gap between those who create content and
those who consume it has converged, and most likely will continue to
do so. The success of OnlyFans might lie in that most basic rule of
commerce: sex sells. But as performers like Wolfie prove, it’s smarts
that make the serious money. n
GQ.COM.AU 121
 MANU’S MOMENT
Sydney rapper Manu Crooks helped put Australian hip hop on the map.
With new EP Mood Forever II dropping soon, he’s back to take what’s his.
Photography Tim Lo Styling Harriet Crawford Words Christopher Riley

122 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

M
anu Crooks can remember the first time he
tried to rap. He was in Ghana, where he grew
up before moving to Australia at the age of 12,
and 50 Cent’s debut album Get Rich or Die
Tryin’ had just been released.
“They would play ‘In Da Club’ on the
radio,” he explains, “and I would get my cassette out and try to record
it. I’d get the lyrics down and go from there.”
It took Crooks several tries but he was able to jot down every line
of the song that made 50 Cent a household name. Fast-forward
14 years and Crooks would be working on material of his own,
releasing his debut project Mood Forever. The EP may not have sold
nine million copies the way Get Rich or Die Tryin’ did, but it was a
game-changer in its own way.
Released in August 2017, Mood Forever was fresh and exciting in
a way that few Aussie hip hop releases had been since the days of
the Hilltop Hoods in the ’00s. And the sound was like nothing
Australia had ever heard. Rather than imitating US artists, as was
increasingly common, Crooks found a way to infuse Atlanta trap
influence with Western Sydney swag. It was recognisable but entirely
new at the same time.
The video for the lead single, ‘Day Ones’, had Crooks dressed in all
white, rapping on the roof of a house. There were dirt bikes, vintage
“YOU START MAKING MUSIC AND YOU HAVE THIS BELIEF THAT YOU WILL TAKE IT
ALL THE WAY, BUT WHEN IT’S ACTUALLY HAPPENING, IT’S A BIT HECTIC.”
fashion and skyline views of Western Sydney; Crooks was showing
a side of Australia the rest of the world hadn’t seen. Not yet, anyway.
Mood Forever was a milestone for Aussie rap and, in turn, changed the
course of Crooks’ life. Soon he was heading overseas on tour and being
interviewed by publications like Complex – US-based hip hop
magazines that for years had almost forgotten Australia existed, let
alone had any artists to call our own.
“You start making music and you have this belief that you will
take it all the way,” Crooks tells GQ, “but when it’s actually happening,
it’s a bit hectic. Going on tour to Paris, seeing the Louvre, the
Eiffel Tower… coming from this side of the world, not everyone gets
to do that.”
The EP put Crooks at the pinnacle of the Australian rap scene. The
only thing was, it was a relatively small scene. If Crooks was blazing the
trail, there weren’t many local artists ready to follow in his footsteps.
“When I was dropping music early, there weren’t many artists doing
it,” he explains. “Now, with this scene and the noise we’ve made, to be
able to tour off the music and go all around the world, it really
clicked for a lot of kids. They’re now aware of where doing this kinda
stuff can take you.”
The turning point came mid-way through last year. Having spent
what felt like decades watching from the fringes of mainstream hip
hop, Australia started to bubble with genuine excitement. Acts like
OneFour, Hooligan Hefs and The Kid Laroi announced the arrival of
a new generation of talent capable of taking Aussie rap further than it
had gone before. Finally, Crooks had some company.
Which is why the announcement of his follow-up EP, Mood Forever
II, was met with such anticipation. Dropping early 2021 the
circumstances surrounding the EP could hardly be more different to
its predecessor. Not only has there been the small matter of a pandemic
that’s ripped through the planet, perhaps more importantly, the local
music industry is now finally in a position to embrace Crooks as the
visionary he is.
When we speak over video call, Crooks tells us Mood Forever II is
almost complete. “The music is done now,” the 27-year-old confirms.
“I’ll send it off for mixing and mastering then I have to get the visual
component of the project done.”
As for what we can expect, Crooks says the EP will demonstrate his
new maturity both as an artist and a person. “With this one, it’s just
more in-depth [than Mood Forever]. For me, there’s been a lot of
growth. I’ve travelled heaps, so I understand myself more.”
This sense of self-discovery is evident when we talk. As opposed to
some of his fresh-faced peers, Crooks has the air of someone who’s
been there and done it – which of course, he has. He’s been able to sit
back and watch as the local scene catches up with him, and as a result,
understands the industry, and its pitfalls, better than most.
“Some of these artists are very honest with me,” he says. “They’re
like, ‘You paved the way, we were listening to your music in high
school.’ It’s dope but, for me, we have a long way to go.
“I was noticing a lot of beef going on,” says Crooks of some of the
not-so-friendly rivalries between artists. “For someone like me, I’m
like, ‘Look, man, I’m not picking no sides. I’m here to make music.’
For us as a scene, it doesn’t make sense for us to be fighting each other
when we haven’t even taken off yet.
“Beefing and all that shit, it’s exciting for the viewers. But at the
same time, it could kill everything for us.”
Sharing his knowledge with those around him, Crooks has become a
leader within the Australian hip hop community, an experienced voice
mentoring younger artists on the importance of the long game. Making
a hit is one thing, but as Crooks knows, the real art comes in doing it
time and time again.
“I feel like we’re having a moment right now,” he says. “But after the
moment is gone, there’s a few prominent players who are gonna be able
to stand on their own and carry the whole continent.”
Crooks would know – he’s carried Australian hip hop on his back since
he first started releasing music. Now, with Mood Forever II on the way, he’s
certain to cement that legacy even further; a trailblazer who not only helped
create a new multicultural Australian sound, but inspired a generation of
kids to do the same. n Mood Forever II is available for pre-order December 4.
GQ.COM.AU 125
 GREAT OUTDOORS
We head off-road to showcase the outerwear
and accessories worth exploring this season.
Photography Gleeson Paulino Styling George Krakowiak

128 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

GQ.COM.AU 129
Suit, POA, by
Dolce & Gabbana.
Opposite: Jacket, $385,
pants, $214, and belt, $150,
all by Calvin Klein; T-shirt,
$332, by Missoni; shoes,
$1472, by Dolce & Gabbana;
scarf and bag, both POA,
both by Christian Dior.
 Blazer, $3520, and shirt, $2246,
both by Brunello Cucinelli; top,
$396, by Dolce & Gabbana; scarf,
$75, by My Grandmother Had.
Opposite: Jackets, pants and
shoes, all POA, all by Hermès.
Grooming Liege Wisniewski at
GROUPART MGT using Dior.
Talent Gabriel Mariz at Prime
MGMT and Marcelo Lima at Way.
 SEA
OF
DREAMS
With ruffled shirts, big buckles
and chunky jewellery, AW20
saw pirate-inspired clothes
hit the runway in a big way. We
preview some of our favourites.
 Travel
An aerial view of Sal Salis
Ningaloo Reef Safari Camp, WA.

Home
advantage
With international travel off the cards
and some local borders still shut, we turn
inwards to look at why it’s the perfect
time to explore our own backyard.
Words Amy Campbell

S ure, those plans to spend a couple of

weeks luxuriating on a Greek island or
jetting off for a white Christmas in New York
have been set aside for now. But that doesn’t
mean you can’t get your travel fix. In fact,
between the restrictions and risks associated
with travelling abroad, this just so happens
to be the perfect time to explore our own
magnificent country.
This recent period of stillness has also
inspired some to rethink their travel habits.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF LUXURY LODGES OF AUSTRALIA.

Suddenly, the idea of getting on a plane a few

times a year feels excessive, given not just the
environmental costs but also the fact there’s
just so much to experience right here within
Australia. Plus, with businesses in bushfire-
affected communities fighting to stay afloat,
the local tourism industry could certainly use
our support.
With this in mind – as well as the various
constraints still in place around the country
– we’ve hand-picked some lesser-known trips
that will remind you what it feels like to get
away. And all without needing your passport.
It’s time to start packing.

GQ.COM.AU 145
 Travel

The Road Trip, VIC The jetty at

Haggerstone
Victoria has two ‘Great’ roads. But where the Great Ocean Road is full of tour buses and Island Resort, QLD.
selfie sticks, the Great Alpine Road is quieter, longer and more geographically diverse.
Begin in the town of Wangaratta, in Victoria’s north east, and time it so that you reach
the village of Wandiligong by lunch. Stop in at the iconic Wandi Pub for a feed and some
live music, before retiring for the night at one of three boutique Kilnhouses in the nearby
village of Porepunkah. As you coast through the summit community of Dinner Plain and
descend into Gippsland the following day, the change in landscape from barren and
windswept to green and mossy gives off the impression of passing between two worlds.
Hang a left when you reach the coastal town of Lakes Entrance, and if you can, enter
the fire-razed region of Mallacoota with an empty Esky. Visit Broadwater Oysters, if
you’re in the mood for a salty snack. They’ll shuck a few for you on the spot.
thewandipub.com; kilnhouse.com.au; broadwateroysters.com.au.

The Natural Wonder, QLD

Swimming in Far North Queensland is a precarious pastime, given the area’s population of
saltwater crocs. But in addition to being Cape York’s most epic outpost, Eliot Falls is freshwater
and located inland, which effectively mitigates the risk of running into any unfriendly reptiles.
The nearby Fruit Bat Falls is also worth visiting for a splash. Just come to the region prepared
– the closest village, Injinoo (population 500-ish) is 95km away.
If you had something a little more luxe in mind, book into Haggerstone Island Resort.
Situated on a private, reef-hemmed isle a two-hour flight from Cairns, from the terrace of your
beachside villa (there are only five on the island) you could quite easily forget that 2020 even
happened. The resort has a four day-minimum stay, but we can’t think of a reason why you’d
want to spend any less time there than that.
parks.des.qld.gov.au; haggerstoneisland.com.au.

146 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

 A dish at Pipit
Restaurant in
Pottsville, NSW.

The Camping Spot, WA

If you’re not entirely ready to cast off the feeling of isolation (and you reside in
Western Australia, as the state’s borders are set to remain closed into the new
year), the Ningaloo Coast beckons. The remote UNESCO World Heritage-
listed region is a 13-hour drive north from Perth, near the town of Exmouth.
But tucked among the white dunes that overlook the Indian Ocean, the Sal
Salis beach camp’s open-air luxury makes the trip worth it.
With house-like tents, luxury amenities and daily banquets that revolve
around fresh fish and produce, Sal Salis is a camping experience for those who
like to be comfy. If you prefer to prep your own meals and sleep with sandy
feet, though, check out the nearby Janes Bay or Point Billie campgrounds. Pack
your togs if you like to snorkel, and your walking shoes if you like to, well,
walk. Home to the Jinigudera Aboriginal people for over 30,000 years, with its
rocky canyons, estuaries and ancient river systems, the Cape Range National The Foodie Fix, NSW
Park is located just inland. Most people head to New South Wales’ Northern
salsalis.com.au; parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au. Rivers region to surf, spot a Hemsworth or drink in
its bohemian-ness. But that would be overlooking its
The ‘campsite’ at Sal Salis
Ningaloo Reef, WA. phenomenal food scene, which is underrated – though
probably won’t remain so for long. If you’ve already
munched your way through Byron Bay, head north to
the sleepier village of Brunswick Heads and indulge
in a bowl of homemade linguine (made from organic,
pastured, free-range ingredients, of course) at Park
Street Pasta Bar.
Twenty minutes up the coast in Pottsville is Pipit,
an exciting new restaurant with a produce-led menu
that’s driven by the region’s eight growing seasons.
OF TOURISM AND EVENTS QUEENSLAND; OF PIPIT, COURTESY OF PIPIT RESTAURANT; OF SAL SALIS, COURTESY
PHOTOGRAPHY: OF THE KILNHOUSES, COURTESY OF THE KILHOUSES; OF HAGGERSTONE RESORT, COURTESY

If you prefer to catch your own dinner, book a Pot to

OF AQUABUMPS & TOURISM AUSTRALIA; OF SEALINK, COURTESY OF SEALINK NT & TOURISM AUSTRALIA.

Plate cruise in Tweed Heads. Guided by Yugambeh

man Luther Cora, you’ll learn about traditional
fishing practices, which involve ‘pumping’ for yabbies
and plucking crabs from pots.
parkstpastabar.com.au; pipitrestaurant.com;
tweedecocruises.com.

The Cultural Immersion, NT

In our interview with Bruce Pascoe (p38), the Indigenous author
speaks about why knowing our country and its history is so necessary
if we’re to truly create a more equal future. His words got us thinking
about the various parts of Aboriginal culture Australia often ignores,
and art is certainly one of them – it took 99 years for an Indigenous
artist to win the Archibald Prize, as this year’s winner Vincent
Namatjira pointed out.
One way to learn about and support First Nations art is by visiting
an Aboriginal Art Centre. Often, they’re located in remote
communities, and many of these remain closed to visitors due to Covid
restrictions (so be sure to check before you book). But at the tip of the
Northern Territory sits the Tiwi Islands, which have an amazing
history of art and design. One of the oldest art centres in Australia,
Tiwi Design on Bathurst Island is currently open and can be reached
by the SeaLink ferry from Darwin. An artist on SeaLink’s Tiwi
Islands tour, Darwin, NT.
tiwidesigns.com; sealinknt.com.au

GQ.COM.AU 147
 Travel | Experience

Elements of Byron

D uring the Covid-pocalypse, it was hardly surprising that anyone who could, decamped to
Byron Bay. There are few better places in which to lay low while the rest of the world goes
to seed. Just ask anyone who’s tried to book a weekend away there in the past couple of months.
But among the destinations GQ is repeatedly drawn to is Elements of Byron, one of those
rare resorts that offers families, couples and single travellers (we see you) everything that your
greedy little checklists might encompass. Prime beachfront? Of course. Uber-luxe surrounds?
Definitely. And before you ask, why yes, there is an onsite horse ranch.
Another plus is the location. An eight-minute journey out of town on the solar-powered Byron
Bay train, what you get here is a sense of solitude far removed from the throngs of patchouli-

WORDS: DAVID SMIEDT. PHOTOGRAPHY: NATALIE McCOMAS.

scented backpackers finding themselves while busking Jeff Buckley’s version of ‘Hallelujah’.
Where Elements really stands out is in its wellness packages. The offerings are broken down
into three themes: Relax – “Allow yourself to completely switch off. Rest and catch up on lost
sleep. Let your mind slow right down”; Rebalance – “Breathe and focus on reconnecting with
yourself. Low-intensity activities that promote mindful brain activity and reflection”; and
Revive – “Something a little more active that moves the body and re-engages the mind”.
The packages run over five nights, starting from $1493, including breakfasts, daily beachfront
yoga (because, well, Byron), three group-exercise sessions plus two guided rainforest walks
around the property’s eight hectares of native wetlands. That said, you can do all of it, none of
it or somewhere in between – it is, after all, your holiday.
One mandatory activity is the Osprey Spa. The pick of the signature packages is the Reflection
Ritual, which clocks in at almost two hours and includes a foot treatment, hot stone back massage
and a facial, all for $255. Because what’s the point of travelling if you don’t come back happier
and even a little healthier? After the year we’ve all had, you deserve it.
elementsofbyron.com.au

148 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020 GQ.COM.AU

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 Food

Eat
less
meat,
eat
better
meat
For good reason, more
people are leading an
increasingly vegetarian
lifestyle. So, when it
does come time to
embrace your inner
carnivore, make sure
you do it right.
Words David Smiedt

150 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020

 L et’s get one thing straight off the bat
– or in this instance, the grill – no one
is saying you have to forgo your summer
barbecue or that richly marbled piece of steak
singing away on it.
Like many Australians, however, we at GQ
are not filling up on as much red meat as in
days gone by. And it’s not just us. According
to research published in February by Roy
Morgan, 2.5 million people (more than 12 per
cent of the population) are almost or entirely
vegetarian. That’s up from 1.7 million since
2012. The reasons vary from a desire to help
reduce the environmental impact associated
with beef farming to lower cholesterol levels
and better heart health.
With that in mind, when you do want to get
your meat fix, quality is key. And few do it
better than Lennox Hastie from Sydney
restaurant Firedoor. Only two Australian-
based chefs have been included in the six
seasons of Netflix’s Chef’s Table. One is Attica’s
Ben Shewry. The other is Hastie.
His Surry Hills outpost resembles the
gates of hell, if they were in a one-bedroom
inner-city apartment. There is no gas,
no electricity and everything – from the most
delicate vegetables to decadent desserts – is
cooked over flame. That said, it is also a gentle
space where flavour is coaxed rather than
demanded, the kitchen is soft spoken and
tendrils of smoke pervade like the most
intoxicating of perfumes.
Here, we’ve taken inspiration from Hastie
to create GQ’s golden rules for summer
barbecue perfection.
THE CUT
To put it in fashion terms, there’s the Target
of meat and there’s the Gucci of meat. Since
this is an occasional treat, we recommend
spending more if you can. Look for a
minimum dry age of 30 days (but the longer
the better). The removal of moisture in this
process intensifies flavour while the beef’s
natural enzymes break down connective
tissue for a more tender result. Marbling is
also a plus as the flecks of fat liquefy when
they come into contact with heat and form a
PHOTOGRAPHY: NIKKI TO.
baste no sauce will ever match. You also want
free-range and organic for obvious reasons.
Grass-fed versus grain-fed is a matter of
both taste and debate but the former is higher
in antioxidants, vitamins and a beneficial fat
called conjugated linoleic acid that’s been
tied to improved immunity and a host of
anti-inflammatory benefits.
Be prepared to travel to find the prime cuts
– it’ll be worth it though. In Sydney, for
example, Victor Churchill was described by
the late, great Anthony Bourdain as “the best
butcher shop in the world”. Victoria’s
Meatsmith, owned by chef Andrew
McConnell and butcher Troy Wheeler,
stocks one of Hastie’s favourite suppliers,
O’Connor Beef.
THE FIRE
“While firing up the gas barbecue is often the
easiest option, light a fire and cook over live
embers,” says Hastie. “It will provide a certain
satisfaction not derived from the flicking of
a switch and it will really take your grill game
to the next level.” Here’s his game plan.
Create a stable foundation. Place two logs
parallel to each other, approximately
30 centimetres apart. Bridge two logs across
the first pair of logs. These should also be
30 centimetres apart and provide support for
your fire and help protect it from wind. Lay
four pieces of kindling across the second pair
of logs, creating a hollow. Nestle your tinder
in the hollow of the kindling. Bridge four
additional pieces of kindling across the second
pair of logs, enclosing the tinder. Bridge two
more logs across the second pair of logs on
either side of the kindling. Nestle tinder on
top of the second layer of kindling. Bridge the
last two logs across the third pair of logs,
maintaining an open structure. Ignite the
layers of tinder at each level to create initial
flames, which will catch and set the ‘cabin’
alight. Gently blow air on the flames to aid
combustion. Once the embers are glowing,
you’re ready to cook.
THE COOKING
Having brought your meat to room
temperature, Hastie advocates just one more
ingredient: a generous sprinkle of salt. “Don’t
disguise everything in a marinade,” he says.
“Allow the food to speak for itself.”
A modest spray of olive oil on both sides
will ensure the cut doesn’t stick to the grill.
“After putting it on the grill, leave for one
minute and rotate the steak 60 degrees,
adjusting the height of the grill or the embers
as necessary to ensure that the steak is only
being licked by flames and not marked by the
grill,” he says. “Repeat the rotation five times
[with a minute per rotation] until the surface
is caramelised to a rich mahogany. Turn the
steak over and season again. Then repeat the
rotation and adjustment process.
“Be instinctive,” Hastie adds. “The best
grilling comes from the soul.”
One rule we suggest you do follow, however,
is resting the meat as this allows the natural
juices to redistribute through the muscle,
relaxing the fibres. Aim for one minute
rest time for every 100 grams of meat.
A final sprinkle of salt will do it and you
might want to follow Hastie’s serving
suggestion of cutting the meat into slices
then arranging them on a platter. All the
better to reflect your status as perennial king
– or queen – of the grill. n
Hastie’s episode of Chef’s Table: BBQ is now
available on Netflix; firedoor.com.au
GQ.COM.AU 151
 Drinks

Can do

E xtraordinary times call for extraordinary drinks and the current generation
of tinnies is light-years from what your dad sank over the family barbie.
For a start, those sugar-laden alcopops have now been replaced by expertly mixed
Top row, from left: Jacoby’s Tiki Bar x Curatif
‘Trader Vic’s Mai Tai’, $14; The Grifter Brewing
Co ‘C-Boogie Cucumber Kolsch’, $6; Moon Dog
Lager, $4; Yulli’s Brews ‘Dolly Aldrin Ale’, $6.
Middle row: Grassy Knoll ‘Native Storm Illawarra
WORDS: DAVID SMIEDT.

classic cocktails. Another trend is sours where a contemporary take sees the Plum Sour’, $9; Badlands Brewery ‘Draughty
traditional citrus twists replaced by the likes of guava and apricot. Speaking of Kilt’ ale, $5; Young Henrys ‘Passionfruit and
Guava Sour’, $24* (four-pack); Sailor’s Grave
fruit, ciders too continue their resurgence albeit on the crisper side as opposed to ‘Law Of The Tongue Smokey Oyster Stout’, $7.
Bottom row: Wayward Brewing Co ’Everyday
sweet. Elsewhere, the stouts and lagers of winter give way to zingier Indian Pale Ale’, $5; Fin ‘Apples and Pears’ cider, $6; White
Ales, which are perfect for warm climes. Whatever your choice, let’s raise a can to Bay Beer Co ‘Thick Of Things IPA’, $11; Slow
Lane Brewing ‘Botany Weisse Apricot Sour Ale’,
the back of 2020. $8.50. pnvmerchants.com; *younghenrys.com

152 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020 GQ.COM.AU

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 Wellness
Sleep matters
With the world erupting around us, getting your eight hours has never been more challenging
– or more important. GQ enlists expert advice on how to achieve the perfect night’s rest.
Words Christopher Riley
I t’s been a challenging year for many of
us. From social isolation to loss of job
security, the pandemic has crept uninvited
into almost every aspect of our lives – and
that includes our beds. A global study by the
Turner Institute for Brain and Mental
Health at Monash University found that
46 per cent of us have been sleeping poorly
since Covid-19 became a thing, an increase
of nearly double.
Few understand the importance of a good
night’s rest more than Dr Carmel Harrington,
who’s been researching the biochemistry of
154 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020
sleep for over a decade. “Sleep influences how
we think, feel and behave,” she explains, “as
well as our physical and mental health.” So it’s
clearly worth getting right.
Harrington says her research shows people’s
sleep is being affected in one of two ways.
“For some of us, life hasn’t changed that
much. In fact, life has become nicer. We’re
not having to do the daily commute, we have
more time at home, we get more done and we
don’t have an economic impact. So that’s
happened to a percentage of the population
– and they’re actually sleeping quite well.”
Not everyone has been so lucky. “There is
this other section of the population for whom
life has been tipped upside down,” she says.
“They don’t know if they will keep their job,
they don’t know if they will get another job,
they don’t know how to pay the bills. So there’s
a lot of anxiety, and their sleep is suffering
because of that.”
If left unchecked, the implications of poor
sleep habits can become concerning, and the
longer you leave it, the harder they can be
OF APPLE WATCH, GEORGINA EGAN.
to break. “You start associating your bed with
PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES;
sleeplessness, not sleep,” says Harrington. “So
once we have that connection, your brain
conditions you to think, if you’re going to bed
you’re not going to sleep.”
If you’re part of the population enjoying
blissful nights’ sleep, pandemic or no pandemic,
well, lucky you. But Harrington says this doesn’t
mean you can ignore the lessons altogether.
 “For all of us, there’s going to come a time in
our lives when sleep will become problematic,”
she cautions. “It might be due to a relationship
breakup, it might be illness, problems with
work or Covid. And it’s in those times that
really good sleep practices are needed or we
start entrenching bad behaviours.”
Don’t say we didn’t warn you. To make
things easy, we tapped Harrington for her top
tips for a good night’s sleep.
PREPARE YOUR BODY
Getting ready for sleep involves both physical
and mental preparation. “The bottom line to
think about,” says Harrington, “is that how you
spend your day affects how you spend your night.
And how you spend your night affects how you
spend your day. It’s very harmonious.”
Accordingly, there are things we can do each
day that will best prepare our bodies for sleep.
The first is exercise, which Harrington says we
should be doing daily but not within three hours
of bedtime. We also need to limit caffeine intake
after midday so as to not stimulate our nervous
system, and we need to be eating wholefoods, not
processed junk.
“We need certain vitamins and minerals to
produce our beautiful melatonin, which allows
us to sleep at night,” explains Harrington.
Though, as with exercise, steer clear of eating
a large meal within three hours of bedtime.
When it comes to alcohol, Harrington says
anything more than one drink or so and we’re
asking for trouble. “Alcohol is a toxin”, she
explains, “so the body starts to metabolise this
before anything else because it wants to get rid
of it from your body. After about five hours you
will wake up because you’ve spent so much
energy metabolising the alcohol, so your
temperature will increase, you’re dehydrated
and you’re alerted.” Disappointing, we know.
Finally, Harringtom recommends waking up
at the same time every day “because that gives
the body the 24-hour cycle it requires”.
powerful messages to our brain and our
psychology that it’s time to go to sleep.”
This involves managing our anxieties, so
that as soon as our head hits the pillow, we
don’t immediately start listing all the things
we haven’t done or should have done.
“At the end of the day,” says Harrington, “take
10 or 15 minutes to write everything in our
‘worry diary’ all the problems we didn’t get to
deal with. By putting these things in a book, the
brain is recognising, ‘It no longer needs to be in
my brain, it’s in this book. It’s safe, I’m gonna
remember it.’ It’s all about creating a safe space
for our brain and our thinking processes.” But
she reminds us to not get carried away either.
“After 10 or 15 minutes, stop writing,” she says.
“It’s not supposed to be War and Peace.”
SWITCH OFF
“One hour before bedtime we need to switch
off,” says Harrington. This means literally and
figuratively – “you switch off all technology;
you disconnect yourself from the world.
“This is really hard right now as people
don’t want to be disconnected, but for one
hour you need to do that because this is not
the time for the brain to be alerted.”
WATCH YOUR SLEEP
And by “all technology”, Harrington means
all. “You don’t want the bright lights,” she says.
“I don’t care how many filters you have!”
Then, you need to dim the lights in the
room. “This is important because it sends a
message to your brain to relax and it starts to
produce melatonin, which can only be
generated in falling light or darkness.”
“A warm-to-hot shower also works really
well,” adds Harrington. “That’s not only very
relaxing for the body but the brain likes to fall
asleep on a falling temperature.”
Finally, Harrington encourages some sort of
relaxation process. “This is highly recommended
during this time of high anxiety,” she says.
“Maybe some restorative yoga that brings you
into yourself and stimulates what we call the
parasympathetic system, the ‘calming system’
that looks after you when you’re asleep.”
As for your room, a cluttered space can lead
to a cluttered mind – so make sure your
bedroom is conducive to sleep. “If we have a
computer in the room, or work on the desk, our
brain sees that and gets alerted,” warns
Harrington.“The room needs to be quiet, cool,
dark and comfortable.” n To find out more, head
to sleepforhealth.net.au

AND YOUR MIND

Now that the body is primed for sleep, we
need to start switching off our brains, too.
“Sleep is a brain function and we have
awake pathways and asleep pathways,” says
Harrington. “So what we want to do is
de-stimulate our awake pathways, because we
want to start to slow it down, to send very

GQ.COM.AU 155
 Motoring
Driving real O
change
New owners, a new generation of
socially engaged drivers and a
new wave of public interest have
reinvigorated a sport that’s only just
addressing its elitist reputation.
Words Brad Nash
156 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020
n a nondescript day in the middle of
June this year, in a scene typical
of lockdown entertainment in the age of
Covid-19, four twenty-somethings stepped
into their respective bedrooms, turned on
their gaming PCs and began broadcasting
what they were playing to Twitch.
Nicknamed ‘The Twitch Quartet’, Lando
Norris, Charles Leclerc, George Russell and
Alexander Albon are not, as their nickname
might suggest, a foursome of hardcore young
gamers. Nor are they eSports aficionados.
Rather, as anyone with even a cursory interest in
Formula 1 will tell you, they’re four of the
brightest young talents in the world’s most
prestigious motorsport championship. And with
F1 undergoing some major upheavals, they have
become the youthful, socially engaged faces of a
sport in the midst of establishing a new identity.
F1 is going through something of a
renaissance period. Fuelled in large part by
the success of Netflix documentary Formula 1:
Drive to Survive, it has seen a resurgence of
public interest from those under 25 – a sector
that still accounts for less than 20 per cent of
F1’s 400 million-strong global viewership and
one that is not typically associated with
motorsport fandom.
While this momentum was temporarily
threatened by the 2020 season’s postponement
in March, F1 was among the first sporting
entities to make virtual lemonade from the
situation by going online. The ‘Virtual Grand
Prix’ series proved to be one of the true
sporting success stories of the Covid-19 era;
racking up more than 30 million views across
TV and digital platforms over the course of its
two-month run and bringing the drivers into
the homes of even more people.
Here, the personalities of Norris and his
contemporaries shone in a particularly vibrant
way. Even now that the on-track action has
resumed, they’re more likely to be found
bantering with each other on social media –
where they boast more than seven million
followers combined – than involved in the
sorts of bust-ups that have long been part of
F1’s notoriously competitive environment.
Boasting a knack for engaging meaningfully
with his online base and producing viral
moments on and off the track, Norris has
become the sport’s first social media celebrity.
His Twitch profile has had more than 15 million
views, while a live stream he hosted in March
clocked more than 70,000 concurrent viewers;
the most-watched on the platform that day.
“It comes as a bonus from doing something
that I love,” explains Norris of his new-found
reputation for high jinks. The 20-year-old
Brit is notably aware of the reputation that
The Twitch Quartet has. “Between us four,
you might think we’re enjoying our time here
in F1 more than some of the other drivers.
“Unfortunately, Formula 1 is still seen as a rich
person’s sport and we need to change that.”
And I guess I can speak for myself more than
them, but a lot of it’s just subconscious.
Sometimes you have to show that you’re
taking it all seriously, but I’m not going to
pretend to be someone I’m not.”
For journalist and Sky Sports F1 presenter
Rachel Brookes, the engagement of drivers
like Norris is going to be crucial in endearing
F1 to a viewership that consumes much of its
sport through social media rather than
traditional broadcasting.
“It used to be that if you want to get to know
a driver, you’d have to wait for a revealing
interview on TV or radio or in a newspaper,”
she explains. “Nowadays you can simply type
the name into a social media platform and
their life is laid out in front of you. Or at least
the life they want you to see. That’s hugely
important for garnering fans.”
The recent prominence afforded to the voices
of drivers comes at a particularly poignant
moment in the sport’s history. Amid pandemic
and protest, F1 has been forced to confront its
own lack of diversity and reputation for elitism.
A particular flashpoint came when six-time
world champion Lewis Hamilton, still the
sport’s only Black driver, ever, called out the
GQ.COM.AU 157
 Motoring

3.

4.

1. 2.

rest of the grid (and society in general) in the
wake of the George Floyd killing and
subsequent Black Lives Matter protests.
“I see those of you who are staying silent,”
the British driver wrote on social media before
taking a knee at the July Austrian Grand Prix.
What ensued was a historic moment in setting
the course for F1’s future identity: a reckoning
between the traditional custodians of the sport
and their own privilege. As a start, the drivers
now make a collective gesture of protest against
racism before every Grand Prix. “I believed that
this was my proper chance to have an impact on
anyone should have judged anyway. Inside,
I know what I believe in and it’s the same with the
kneeling – it’s just one gesture, you know?
“I don’t think anyone needs to think of it in a
negative way or a positive way, if half the people
are standing or kneeling. For me personally,
with kneeling, I can just have a bigger effect.”
F1’s move to promote an anti-racism stance
also brought an added focus to its own traditional
lack of diversity. The bulk of those employed in
the sport remain male and white, however
Brookes notes efforts have been made to create
a more inclusive space. 5.

the world and the future of a lot of other kids
growing up,” says Norris on his decision to be
one of the drivers to take a knee.
“I wanted to show the most amount of
support that I could. It was such a big movement
– in terms of everyone around the world coming
together to form what BLM was – it might not
happen again in my lifetime. I felt honoured to
be able to kind of have that effect on people.”
“I’ve spoken to several teams and I know that
they’re putting their own plans in place, but the
plans F1 have also really encourage me,” says
Brookes. “They’ve looked at the areas where
they recruit and they are tackling that to make
sure that they are opening up F1 as an
opportunity to people from all backgrounds.
Unfortunately, F1 is still seen as a rich person’s
sport and we need to change that.”
PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES.

Even this move courted controversy. The
resumed championship’s first race took place
under a cloud of debate, as some drivers (who
took part in the gesture of solidarity all the
same) refused to kneel on what they cited as
cultural grounds.
“That’s what they believe is right, and I stand
by their decisions,” says Norris. “I don’t think
It’s this collective sense of optimism that will
serve as F1’s most important fuel going into a
time of radical change. Drastic new measures
designed to improve racing are set to arrive in
2022, but, for the first time in the sport’s history,
it’s the actions of the drivers off the track that
look set to play the biggest role in keeping the
sport moving in the right direction. n
1. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc celebrates with Lando Norris at
the Austrian Grand Prix in July. 2. Lando Norris. 3. Alexander
Albon (left) with George Russell. 4. Lando Norris’ McLaren
on the starting grid at this year’s British Grand Prix. 5. The
‘Twitch Quartet’ stand on the grid before the F1 70th
Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone in August.

158 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020 GQ.COM.AU

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 The Columnist

DAN ROOKWOOD says

Thanks, 2020. Thanks a lot.

W hat a decade 2020 has been. The year started with the country on fire, and it feels
like the world has been burning ever since.
From the Covid-19 pandemic to classy fights over toilet paper in Woolies, WFH over Zoom,
home schooling, social distancing, and the global lockdown; to mass unemployment and an
economic meltdown; to Brexit Day; to the death of Kobe Bryant; to the impeachment of
Trump; to murderous hornets and plagues of locusts; to Cardinal Pell’s acquittal; to Black Lives
Matter protests against police brutality and systemic racism; to soaring rates of depression; to
the postponement of the Olympics; to the rise of Cancel Culture; to the Philippines volcano
eruption, the Beirut explosion, and more wild fires; to the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and
the farce of the US election… 2020 has been a lot. Which is to say, apocalyptic. And it’s not
over yet. Who knows what the writers’ room has in store for the season finale.
As this challenging and life-changing year finally – finally! – comes to an end, most people
will be glad to see the back of it. But future generations will ask us what it was like to live
through. And what will we tell them?
With the clarity of 20/20 hindsight, it would be myopic to draw a line under what we’ve just
lived through without first drawing out the lessons learned in the process – about health, about
community, about how to bake banana bread. But mainly about resilience.
I’m a big believer in the truism that you should never let a crisis go to waste – because it’s an
opportunity to dig deep and discover hidden strengths and abilities you didn’t know you had.
None of us wants bad things to happen. But they do – not only this year but every year. And just
as muscles have to be put under strain in order to grow, so do we as people. Stability is comfortable
and predictable, and often leads to complacency and ennui. It’s from life’s unforeseen instabilities
– the loss of a job, or a relationship, or our health – that we learn about ourselves. Negotiating such
curveballs leads to what psychologists call ‘post-traumatic growth’ – an overcoming Chaos Theory
of channelling a negative experience into a positive outcome. Survivors emerge feeling stronger,
with the confidence and coping mechanisms in place to face new challenges. Priorities shift,
perspectives sharpen. We find true meaning, clarity about what matters most, a new level of
empathetic gratitude and joie de vivre.
Regular readers of this column may recall past mention of The Five-Minute Journal, a
notebook I scribble in at the beginning and end of every day, and arguably the best $40 I’ve
spent this year. Each page starts with an edifying thought, then you fill in the blanks on three
things you’re grateful for, three things that would make today great, and an affirmation (“I
am…”). Before bed, you write down three positive things that happened, and one way the day
could have been even better. It’s a remarkably simple yet effective daily mindfulness practice
that helps me reframe my outlook to focus on the good rather than dwell on the bad. For
example: we’re not stuck at home, we’re safe at home. Complain less, appreciate more.
Life is short. So instead of writing off this year as a clusterfuck of disasters you’d rather forget, write
down how it has changed your life in positive ways. Are you the same person now that you were in
January? What has altered about how you view the world? What have you learned about yourself?
Try this: note down three things you’re grateful to 2020 for and see what matters most. For
me: 1. The precious time I’ve had at home with my three kids, making memories and
strengthening relationships for life. 2. Fridays With Dad: my hour-long call home to my father
in the UK each week, asking the big questions while he’s still around to answer them.
3. Starting a side-hustle brand with my wife to help save my brother-in-law’s business. Family
– that’s evidently what matters most to me.
So yes: thanks, 2020. Thanks a lot.

160 NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2020 GQ.COM.AU

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