Evening Standard ES Magazine

Transcription

21.10.16
FROW
QUEEN
Alexandra
Shulman
tells all
RHYTHM OF
THE NIGHT
HOW Londoners
party NOW
PATERNITY
TEST
One man’s
IVF journey
Look who’s
BACK!
Russell
Brand
CONTENTS
5
5 What d’ya know? It’s Lupita Nyong’o in
CAPITAL GAINS
7 Size matters in UPFRONT
9 Longchamp lets the cat out of the bag in MOST WANTED
11 Ewan McGregor keeps his kit on in FLASHBULB
RUSSELL BRAND’S new revolutionary road
21 WOMEN’S STYLE with shoes and bags
23 Becks and checks in MEN’S STYLE
27 Dan Rookwood on his IVF journey
34 PERFECT PROPORTIONS for autumn
42 ALEXANDRA SHULMAN on the issues of the day
49 The new NIGHTS OUT
53 Chanel makes us blush in BEAUTY
59 GRACE AND FLAVOUR goes to Foley’s
61 It’s all totes oats in TART
63 HOMEWORK covers the full spectrum
65 We nosy around Basilicata in ESCAPE
66 MY LONDON with Ophelia Lovibond
14
COVER
Russell Brand photographed
by Dean Chalkley for
Camera Press
Here are the ES team’s
top five illustrators
on Instagram
1
NICOLAS BURROWS
@nicolas.burrows
‘I love the loose, free-form lines
and daubs of colour’
Matt Hryciw, chief sub editor
ANDY REMENTER
@andyrementer
‘Rementer regularly creates
illustrations for The New Yorker,
MTV and Urban Outfitters’
Samuel Fishwick, features writer
4
2
ELLIE FOREMAN-PECK
@elliefp
‘These are astonishingly
detailed line drawings,
mainly rendered in
monochrome’
Clara Dorrington, picture
desk assistant
3
OLIMPIA ZAGNOLI
@olimpiazagnoli
‘Zagnoli’s graphic, modernist
images make the quotidian
look extraordinary’
Joanne Kelly, deputy chief sub editor
JIM STOTEN
@jimtheillustrator
‘Jim’s surreal kaleidoscopic
images create a wonderfully
absurd world’
Lily Worcester, lifestyle assistant
Visit us online: standard.co.uk/esmagazine • Follow us: @eveningstandardmagazine
Editor Laura Weir Acting Editor Charlotte Ross
Deputy editor Anna van Praagh
Features director Alice-Azania Jarvis Art director Rasha Kahil Fashion director Nicky Yates Fashion features director Katrina Israel
Commissioning editor Dipal Acharya
Beauty editor Katie Service
Features writer Samuel Fishwick
Lifestyle assistant Lily Worcester
Art editor Jessica Landon
Picture editor Helen Gibson
Picture desk assistant Clara Dorrington
Merchandise editor Sophie Paxton
Fashion editor Jenny Kennedy
Fashion assistant Eniola Dare
Office administrator/editor’s PA Niamh O’Keeffe
Chief sub editor Matt Hryciw
Deputy chief sub editor Joanne Kelly
Instagram
Contributing editors Lucy Carr-Ellison, Tony Chambers, James Corden, Hermione Eyre, Richard Godwin, Daisy Hoppen,
Jemima Jones, Anthony Kendal, David Lane, Annabel Rivkin, Joe Scotland, Hikari Yokoyama
Group client strategy director Deborah Rosenegk Head of magazines Christina Irvine
ES Magazine is published weekly and is available only with the London Evening Standard. ES Magazine is published by Evening Standard Ltd, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, Kensington, London W8 5TT.
ES is printed web offset by Wyndeham Bicester. Paper supplied by Perlen Paper AG. Colour transparencies or any other material submitted to ES Magazine are sent at owner’s risk. Neither Evening Standard Ltd nor their agents accept
any liability for loss or damage. © Evening Standard Ltd 2016. Reproduction in whole or part of any contents of ES Magazine without prior permission of the editor is strictly prohibited
21.10.16 ES MAGAZINE 3
CAPITAL GAINS
What to do in London
MOOSE
KNUCKLES
jacket,
£1,499, at
harrods.
com
BY SAMUEL FISHWICK
4
1
Four-stars REVIEW
COLD
COMFORTS
Two’s company, three’s a crowd
and four’s a party as all-girl
indie quartet Warpaint bring
the noise to the Roundhouse,
with new material from Heads
Up, the follow-up to their selftitled 2014 album. £19.50.
27 October (roundhouse.org.uk)
Not content supplying maple
syrup, Ryan Gosling and the
two Justins (Trudeau and
Bieber), Canada’s kitting us out
with the cosiest coats south of
the tundra, courtesy of
Montreal outdoorsmen Moose
Knuckles, launching at Harrods
on Friday. (harrods.com)
5
FIRE STARTERS
2
Halla YES
Rex Features; illustration by Jonathan Calugi @ Machas
If you’re in search of a snug
hideout this winter, Queen of
Hoxton’s Skye Halla rooftop
den fits the bill, with a Viking
longboat bar, fire pits,
driftwood sculptures, faux-fur
throws and drinking horns
a-plenty. (queenofhoxton.com)
3
6
Feel the burn — or rather,
feed the grill — at Ben
Chapman’s Kiln. From pork
curry soup to lamb-andcumin skewers, the hotspot
serves meat Thai-barbecue
style, licked on the open wood
fire of the eponymous kiln.
58 Brewer Street (kilnsoho.com)
Nights at the MUSEUMS
From druids dancing in the bowels of
Somerset House to rebels running riot
through the Houses of Parliament, the
Museums at Night festival returns with a host
of after-dark performances at the capital’s
most iconic landmarks. 27-29 October
(museumsatnight.org.uk)
TAKE A BOWIE
Pawn STAR
Directed by Olivier Award-winning Ivo van
Hove, written by Enda Walsh and the late
David Bowie, Lazarus — a musical take on
The Man Who Fell to Earth — lands at
King’s Cross Theatre after its smashhit Broadway run. Trust us, it’s out
of this world. 25 October to 22
January (lazarusmusical.com)
LAST CHANCE: Priced out of the art market? Battersea’s
Affordable Art Fair is a chance to check out emerging stars, with works
starting at £100. Until 23 October. £8-£25 (affordableartfair.com)
7
Get your Oscar bets at the
ready — Disney’s Queen
of Katwe is already ahead
of the pack, with the true
story of a chess prodigy
determined to play her way
out of Ugandan slums. Lupita
Nyong’o (left) stars. In cinemas
21 October.
LOOK AHEAD: Lost the plot? The British Library’s enthralling
exhibition, Maps and the 20th Century: Drawing the Line, will
navigate major cultural changes. 4 November to 1 March (bl.uk)
UPFRONT
Laura Craik on the politics of TV size, Zayn’s new
fashion foray and the new ‘Freedom’ remake
T
Alamy; HBO
here are many reliable markers that winter
is coming — the rise in woolly jumper
sightings, the need to buy Vicks First
Defence, the urge to make thick, inedible
green soup, the number of columns that incorporate
the phrase ‘winter is coming’ — but none quite so
reliable as the arrival of a new, bleak, lacerating drama
about relationships. For what could be cheerier, as the
nights draw in, than a TV series about divorce? Let’s
get the biscuits in! Hygge!
So excited was I about HBO’s new drama Divorce
(the first TV show Sarah Jessica Parker has starred in
since Sex and the City ended in 2004) that I rushed
out to buy a new telly. Well, I say ‘rushed’, but really
I’d been pontificating since May. It’s not an easy
purchase. What size is the right size? When does a
TV become a surround-sound, in-house chav cinema?
46-inch? 52-inch? 60-inch? Every time I went to
someone’s house, I’d surreptitiously measure theirs. It
didn’t help, namely because I was using my hands and
not a measuring tape.
Now that staying in is the new going out yada yada,
like most people, I receive a surfeit of emails titled
‘The Art Of Hibernating’ featuring £65 log baskets
and £170 throws. Yet nobody wants to tackle the
vexatious issue of TV size, in spite of your television
dominating your room more tyrannically than any
other purchase, bar your sofa. In desperation, I
emailed Panasonic. ‘Oh hiya, what size of TV are all
the neurotic middle-class London women buying this
year?’ I asked. ‘46- to 50-inch’, came the reply. So I
bought a 42-inch, and mounted it above the fireplace.
I’m joking. About the fireplace part, not about the
screen size. After squinting at my phone all day, a
42-inch looks mahoosive. And now, I’m ready to
hunker down and watch a harrowing Danish crime
drama. Skål! Can someone please design a chic TV
console? Because those bastards definitely don’t exist.
NEW DIRECTION
In this week’s instalment of Celebrity Career
Moves We Didn’t See Coming But
Probably Should Have, we focus on the
unexpected news that Zayn Malik
(right) is to collaborate on a Versus
collection with Donatella Versace
(far right). Well, if it’s good enough
for JW Anderson, Anthony
Vaccarello and Christopher Kane (all
previous Versus collaborators) I
daresay it’s good enough for Zayn.
Despite dating the beautiful and loving
Gigi Hadid, Zayn, I suspect, isn’t the
kind of person who’ll limit himself to
just one career. So while I’m a tad
concerned that a person who suffers
Breaking bad: SJP is
back and starring in
HBO’s Divorce
“So excited was I about HBO’s new drama
Divorce, starring Sarah Jessica Parker,
that I rushed out to buy a new telly”
from anxiety is choosing fashion designer as his next
move, if anyone can assuage his worries, it’s the
goddess Donatella. Good luck to them.
ORIGINAL APPEAL
George Michael’s
seminal ‘Freedom! ‘90’
video has been remade
with Joan Smalls, Irina
Shayk and Adriana
Lima strutting around
Times Square looking
all kinds of sexy. All
kinds of sexy bar the
sexy of the supermodels who starred in the original
‘Freedom’ video, that is. Soz, but 26 years later, no
one’s come close to Linda Evangelista (above)
writhing around in that slouchy navy jumper.
Fellow fans of the five original Freedom stars
(Linda, Christy, Naomi, Cindy and Tatjana) will
be as stoked as I am for a new Channel 4
documentary about George Michael, which claims
to interview them all together for the first time.
More reason to be glad I bought a new TV (yes, I
promise to go out more next week).
HOT
CRISPS
Finally getting the
recognition they deserve
courtesy of HipChips, a
conveyor belt café in
Soho. Yussssss!
NOT
UROTHERAPY
‘Collect your morning
wee and wipe your face
with it,’ they say. ‘Your
skin will glow.’ No, ta
Wilson the ragdoll kitten from ragdoll breeders angelrags.co.uk (07834 858634)
THE most WANTED
OUT OF THE BAG
Longchamp’s PURR-FECT
neutral TOTE is quite simply
the cat’s MEOW
LONGCHAMP Paris Premier bag, £1,295 (uk.longchamp.com)
PHOTOGRAPH BY MARIE VALOGNES STYLED BY SOPHIE PAXTON
FLASHBULB!
Party pictures from around town
BY SAMUEL FISHWICK PHOTOGRAPHS BY JAMES PELTEKIAN
Craig
McGinlay
Otis
Ferry
Amara
Karan
Eric
Underwood
Dan
Caten
Dean
Caten
Marc
Quinn
Jenny
Bastet
STAMPING GROUND
Moncler, Old Bond Street
Tim
Blanks
Moncler’s Freeze for Frieze party,
in collaboration with the Royal
College of Art, celebrated the
opening of the luxury fashion
house’s London flagship store.
The cryptic postcards on display,
decorated by stars from Jude Law
(‘this is not a postcard’) to
Rafael Nadal (a hand holding
up a peace sign), left us
wondering what it all
meant. Answers on a...
oh, just tweet us.
Miles
Teller
Lady Mary
Charteris
Rosamund
Pike
Malaika
Firth
Sarah
Harris
Rosanna
Falconer
Nick
Grimshaw
Lady Violet
Manners
Olivia
Grant
Sam
Rollinson
Charlotte
Wiggins
Lady Alice
Manners
David
Furnish
Patrick
Cox
Diarist: Helena Blackstone
PART AND PASTORAL
Bulgari Hotel
Cressida
Bonas
Morgane
Polanski
Ewan McGregor celebrated
his directorial debut, an
adaptation of Philip Roth’s
American Pastoral, with his
parents at the Bulgari Hotel.
What’s Ewan’s favourite thing
about being behind the camera?
‘Not having to worry about taking
my clothes off as soon as I get to
work,’ he says. Now that’s the
naked truth.
Danny Boyle
and Denis
Lawson
GO TO EVENINGSTANDARD.CO.UK ⁄ ESMAGAZINE FOR MORE PARTY PICTURES
Melissa
Mills
Name
Name
Ewan,
James and
Carol
McGregor
Marissa
Montgomery
Picture credit
Russell’s
re-brand
He’s the divisive comic who took on the establishment —
and lost. Now he’s studying at SOAS and expecting his
first child. Elaine Lipworth is granted unprecedented
access to the world of Russell Brand...
‘D
ILLUSTRATIONS BY MAYA WILD
o you want a cuddle?’ asks
Russell Brand, fixing me
with his enormous brown
eyes, smiling and wrapping
his long arms around me.
It’s certainly an unusual
situation in which to find
yourself, mid-interview. We
are sitting in a sunny office
at DreamWorks Animation
Studios in Glendale, California, and are supposed to be
discussing the 41-year-old comic, actor, and sometime
activist’s role in the animated blockbuster Trolls. But
then, perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised — with Brand, I
learn it’s best to expect the unexpected.
The cuddle is intended as an apology. The usually
loquacious star has lost his voice. ‘I’ve got a bad cold and
can’t talk much,’ he whispers. Bearded, wearing blackleather trousers and a tie-dyed sweater, this is the first
UK interview he’s given for 18 months. He’s kept a low
profile ever since that controversial interview at his
London home with former Labour leader Ed Miliband,
prior to last year’s general election. Brand had urged his
12 million Twitter followers not to vote, called for the
dismantling of the political system — or ‘revolution’ as
his 2014 book was called — only, at the 11th hour, to
endorse Labour after the deadline for voter registration
was up. Blamed by many when the party lost, he stepped
back from Twitter and took a break from his hugely
popular current affairs-themed YouTube channel, The
Trews, though he returned last week with an episode on
Donald Trump. ‘What I was looking at was much too
limiting,’ he says. ‘What I learned is that I was right in
the first place; the system will preserve itself. Now I’m
focused on what’s best for human beings.’
Now Brand — who was expelled from several schools,
never took A levels and was asked to leave the Italia Conti
stage school for drug use and poor attendance — is now
focusing on education and has enrolled at SOAS, London
University’s School of Oriental and African Studies, to
study Religion in Global Politics. ‘I am very interested in
the role that religion and spirituality will play in the
further formulation of world events and how secular
societies are held together,’ he says. ‘The old idea [about
politics] is dead and people don’t know what’s replacing
it yet, so I’m spending some time discovering what it is.
I’d like to understand what the deep truths are of Islam,
Bahá’ísm, Christianity; I want to know more.’
It’s not the only change in his life. Together with
fiancée Laura Gallacher, 27, sister of TV presenter
Kirsty, Brand left London last year and bought a house
in Henley-on-Thames. ‘It is very calm. I look at the
chickens, they hatch some eggs. Basically I’m like a
village idiot — just looking at livestock.’ The couple are
expecting their first child imminently. ‘I feel lit up by the
idea,’ he says.
It’s quite a transformation. Brand has a longstanding
reputation as a womaniser, having been linked to a string
of high-profile women including Kate Moss and Courtney
Love. There was also a short-lived marriage to the
American pop star Katy Perry, whom he met in 2009
when she filmed a cameo for his film Get Him to the Greek
and married in 2010 in an extravagant Hindu ceremony
in Rajasthan (they divorced the following year with Brand
citing irreconcilable differences) and a relationship with
Jemima Khan. When I ask what’s different now, he
complains that journalists ‘intuitively try to place the
organic experience I am having into an existing,
predetermined template’. He throws out a ‘typical’
example of a headline he says would be misleading, to
illustrate his point: ‘It all changed for Russell when he met
his Laura’. He says the relationship hasn’t changed him —
his internal transformation has made him ‘more available’
for a lasting partnership, ‘because I am no longer looking
to the external world to resolve my problems. If I
feel connected spiritually, then I find that I
am happy and I am a good boyfriend’.
Still, he says: ‘There is constant
conflict between the primal drives: the
drive to procreate, the drive to survive,
and the drive to have status. But I am no longer deluded
as to what may provide happiness.’ His rural retreat suits
him: ‘I’m so much happier over the course of the day to
see one or two people and a few chickens, that’s a good
way of living.’
S
Brand new:
right, with
Laura
Gallacher
uddenly, he takes my Cath Kidston notebook,
rips out a page, and starts doodling: hearts
and stars. ‘One can tell from your flowery
notebook that you are a sweet person,’ he says.
I grab the book back. ‘You’re protective of
your notebook?’ I say he’s trying to distract me; people
still want to hear his views; they are interested in him.
‘People are interested in pornography…’ he flings
back. ‘We’ve got an obligation to talk about things that
are relevant.’
He argues that it is ridiculous that observers describe
his critique of capitalism — in Revolution and elsewhere
— as hypocritical, claiming that his personal wealth
and lifestyle have nothing to do with his populist views.
‘I’m not going to let other people tie me down with hard
and fast rules of whether I’m allowed to have Nike
shoes. I don’t remember saying everyone should become
a monk.’
Long before dabbling in politics, Brand
was a provocateur. He started out in standup, then became an MTV presenter — only
to be fired after coming to work dressed as
Osama bin Laden on the day after the
September 11 attacks and bringing his drug
dealer to the studios. Yet he continued to
surprise, producing two acclaimed memoirs:
My Booky Wook and My Booky Wook 2,
chronicling his difficult childhood growing
up in Grays, Essex, with his mother Barbara
and his battles with addiction. He developed
a successful career as a stand-up comic but
16 ES MAGAZINE 21.10.16
he alienated many fans in the notorious 2008 ‘Sachsgate’,
when Brand and Jonathan Ross left obscene messages on
Fawlty Towers star Andrew Sachs’s answering machine.
He has since apologised for the prank.
These days, he says, he’s focusing on ‘being kind to
people, being loving’. Last March, he announced he
would use money from Revolution to open the Trew Era
Café on Hackney’s New Era housing estate employing
recovering drug addicts. The project has just been
donated to rehab charity RAPt (the Rehabilitation for
Addicted Prisoners Trust) where Brand is a patron. ‘I
recognise that I feel happier when I do things that have
a positive impact on other people,’ he says, before telling
me that he has to end the interview because ‘I’ve only got
about nine syllables left in my little throat’. We’ve been
together for 45 minutes.
I return to DreamWorks to continue our discussion the
following morning and find that Brand is still hoarse, but
feeling better. There’s another hug. Around us, the walls
are decorated with posters for Trolls. Inspired by the
cute/ugly naked dolls with rainbow-coloured hair, the
film explores the nature of happiness. The ridiculously
cheerful singing and dancing trolls live in a forest utopia,
led by Princess Poppy (Anna Kendrick). Their sworn
enemies, the Bergens, are miserable monsters (led by
John Cleese) who hunt down trolls and eat them at their
ritualistic feast day, Trollstice.
“It’s very calm — I look at the
chickens, they hatch some eggs.
I’m like a village idiot”
Justin Timberlake is the film’s executive music
producer and also voices the character Branch. It’s
highly entertaining — and Brand is funny playing
Creek, a troll. ‘Whoever does casting at DreamWorks is
very skilful,’ he laughs. Brand was attracted to the
positive theme. ‘If you make a decision to be positive
like the Trolls, life will be more abundant than if you
zombie around in Bergen Town cannibalising adorable
trolls,’ he muses. One of the appealing characteristics
of the Trolls is that they wear flower watches that light
up on the hour, reminding them to hug regularly.
‘Hugging releases oxytocins, a self-manufactured
chemical,’ says Brand. ‘If we hug each other more and
love each other more, then we’re making a commitment
to move closer to one another — it’s an essentially
optimistic act.’
Twenty minutes in, Brand has to leave
again, but his manager Nik assures me that
I will have more time with him when his
voice returns. A few weeks later, back in
London, I’m summoned to meet him at
Electric House in Notting Hill, where I wait
in a book-lined room. Brand doesn’t appear.
Forty-five minutes pass and I get a text
informing me that he is now at The Mitre, a
pub in Holland Park. It takes 20 minutes to
find a taxi; the traffic is
gridlocked. Frazzled, I arrive
" %
# % # &!& %# &# '% &%& "# &"
(" % ' &%& % #" #" &
to find Brand, yoga-teacher serene in white-cotton
trousers, a grey T-shirt, silky gold scarf, wooden beads
and Nikes, his hair tied in two buns, languidly chatting
to the woman behind the bar.
‘Elaine, I’ve been waiting all afternoon, where have you
been?’ he exclaims in mock fury.
Waiting for you at the Electric.
‘That’s not the sort of place I’d go to,’ he
deadpans… and so it goes on.
E
xasperating? Yes. But Brand
wins you over. Waxing lyrical
about the pleasures of country
life, ‘walking by the river’ with
his fiancée, their cats, Morrissey
and Jericho, and his German shepherd, Bear,
he’s charismatic and charming company. ‘I
felt very peaceful. I’m enjoying rural life
because there’s less stimulation.’ He hasn’t
abandoned London, he insists. ‘Sometimes I am
here for work, I go to watch West Ham. I go to
the National [Theatre], I saw The Caretaker (the
recent production of Harold Pinter’s play with
Timothy Spall) at the Old Vic.’
Sober for 13 years, Brand’s writing a book
about addiction to be published next September.
‘Addiction is about the way you relate to the outside
world. If you’re lucky, you’ll get a substance misuse
problem, which drills it right down. If you’re not lucky,
you’ll have a food, sex or spending issue; those things
are insidious because they’re culturally endorsed,
they’re habitual.’
Addiction should, he argues ‘be regarded like autism’.
He says: ‘Everybody is somewhere on the spectrum. If
you look at your own life, what is it you do that isn’t good
for you and you can’t stop doing, even if it is seemingly
innocuous, like the way you watch TV.’
“I’m very excited about becoming a
dad and I’m preparing myself”
For the past seven years, Brand has meditated twice
daily, a practice he was introduced to by director David
Lynch, who runs a global Transcendental Meditation
foundation. ‘I commune with the inner world relatively
frequently or else I get a bit barmy.’ He takes my
notebook again and doodles: ‘Hearts then a bit of a
spiral, then a staircase...’ he says as he does it. Does
he believe in God? ‘Yes, but I haven’t devoted
myself to any specific “thing” [religion] or
teacher,’ he says before, 20 minutes in, suddenly
breaking off again and announcing that he has to
leave for his next appointment. But not before
promising yet another interview.
Our final encounter is on the phone a month
later. He sounds buoyant. ‘I’m very excited about
becoming a dad and I’m preparing myself. I am
just getting ready to be with a new little person and
see what it is they want.’ He doesn’t know the baby’s
sex: ‘I might never find out. I may never look!’
He says Laura is busy ‘decorating the nursery.
Notoriety: (top, from left) Brand and
Jonathan Ross; The Trews with Ed
Miliband. Above, in The Bill in 1994. Left,
with Jemima Khan, and far left, ex-wife
Katy Perry. Below, with his mum
Around domestic issues, my vote is often
secondary... Or the vote of my gender at least, so
I will just wait to see what is determined’.
As a child, he says, he was ‘a very solitary,
mischievous, unremarkable little boy. The
first time that I performed when I was 14 was the
happiest moment in my life, in a school play (Bugsy
Malone), and I didn’t want to do anything else ever
again’. When he was eight, his mother contracted
uterine cancer and then breast cancer. His father — who
took him on a ‘sex tourism’ holiday in the Far East when
he was 17 — was largely absent and his relationship with
his stepfather was strained. These days he takes a
philosophical view of his upbringing. ‘I always had this
tremendous sense that I could do whatever I wanted,
probably from a combination of my mother’s devotion
and my father’s sense of “can-do” individualism.’ He
remains close to his mother. ‘She’s very well and she’s so
excited to become a grandmother. She’s a beautiful,
kind woman who taught me through example that it’s
really important to be compassionate, loving and
understanding, to put other people before yourself.’
Will it be difficult not to spoil their child, who unlike
him, will enjoy a privileged upbringing? ‘I’m just going
to be really loving and giving; I will do what my parents
did, which was their best. It seems the thing that is
important is that children know that they can trust
you and be open with you.’
Our interview over, Brand says he hopes I have
enough material. ‘It’s hilarious,’ he laughs, ‘I’ve
never been so in touch [with a journalist] in my
f**king life. You’ve got enough for a four-hour
documentary, the definitive biography. This has
been a thorough, coruscating, CAT scan of a man’s
soul, an MRI of a man’s identity.’ He chuckles
again. ‘It is all going to be all right, you know?’
My article or life in general?
‘Both; life more importantly.’ And with a friendly
farewell in lieu of a hug, the intriguing Russell
Brand hangs up.
‘Trolls’ is in cinemas on Friday.
VALEXTRA large
Iside bag, £2,350
(valextra.com)
STYLE NOTES
What we love now
SARAH &
SEBASTIAN
earrings,
£350, at
net-aporter.com
EDITED BY KATRINA ISRAEL
Add to BASKET
HANDI WORK
Valextra, the Milanese accessory brand
that has collaborated with design world
greats from Peter Saville to Martino
Gamper on its graphic bags, has opened its
first UK flagship on Mayfair’s Mount Street.
Mark Monday 24 October in your diary — Moda
Operandi is hosting an online trunk show allowing
you to pre-order new London-based shoe brand
Neous’ debut collection. The brainchild of exKirkwood staffer Alan Buanne and stylist Vanissa
Antonious, the brand’s architectural approach
and bold use of block colour stopped us in our
tracks at the SS17 shows.
Until 6 November
(modaoperandi.com)
FACETIME
Net-a-porter
has launched a
demi-fine jewellery
category featuring
artful Australian
brand Sarah &
Sebastian, which
first drew our gaze
on fellow antipodean
Kym Ellery’s
Parisian catwalks.
(net-a-porter.com)
NEOUS mules,
£415, at moda
operandi.com
Rich PICKINGS
PAUL SMITH
shirt, £205
(paulsmith.
co.uk)
London-based artist, designer and illustrator
Kyle Bean makes models that crack big ideas
with unexpected materials.
THOMAS TAIT
jacket, £1,255, at
matchesfashion.com
Catwalking.com; Tobi Jenkins
@kylejbean
JOSEPH AW16
InSTARglam
CHRISTOPHER KANE AW16
Society snapper Slim Aarons’
seductive photography of the
leisure class at play is legendary.
This new cinematic tome is
entirely dedicated to his favourite
leading (and lunching) ladies.
‘Slim Aarons: Woman’, £55
(abramsbooks.com)
ECLECTIC FASTENINGS
Got a penchant for nosing about the
haberdashery department? So do London’s
design guns J W Anderson, Thomas Tait,
Christopher Kane and Paul Smith, who
collectively dipped into the odd button bin for
winter. Take their lead and spruce up a plain
white shirt or last year’s winter coat with an
excursion to Liberty’s third floor for a ceramic,
wood or metal button fix.
LIBERTY brown
button, £1.95
(libertylondon.
com)
LIBERTY wooden
zebra button, £3
(libertylondon.com)
Follow us at @eveningstandardmagazine
J W ANDERSON
trousers, £600, at
brownsfashion.com
CÉLINE shoes, £497
(0207 491 8200)
MEN’S STYLE
What to buy now
BIG
BEN’S
bit on
the side
BY ANISH PATEL
A TALE OF
TWO MEN
Ben Machell embeds
himself with some
American tourists
H&M X KENZO
H&M Modern Essentials
As we march into winter,
H&M’s menswear offering
heats up with the launch
of David Beckham’s
second Modern Essentials
instalment, followed
by a spirited Kenzo
collaboration on 3
November. Expect chic
classics from the former
and a high-octane urban
uniform of military-inspired
outerwear from the latter.
Whatever your style, they’ve
got it covered.
AQUASCUTUM
X SUPREME
Filey raincoat,
£598; scarf,
£98; waistcoat,
£228 (aqua
scutum.com)
Check MATES
Josh Shinner; illustration by Jonathan Calugi @ Machas
AQUASCUTUM X
SUPREME track
jacket, £328
(aquascutum.com)
ECHO FRIENDLY
Its iconic club check has been
worn by leaders from Sir Winston
Churchill to Margaret Thatcher.
Now Aquascutum, the British
rainwear heavyweight, has joined
forces with skate brand Supreme in a
collection that sees its signature prints
plastered over waterproof utility
vests, club jackets and flannel
shirts. Grab one quickly and, er,
‘rain’ supreme in the style stakes.
Available from Friday
(aquascutum.com)
Although voice assistants have been on our phones for
years, they’re unreliable and often no quicker than
typing or tapping — sorry Siri. But Amazon’s new
wireless speaker, with its built-in virtual assistant
‘Alexa’, is different. Download the in-house app and
connect to wifi to set alarms, play music or check the
football scores and weather — all by calling out a
command. Easy. Amazon Echo, £150 (amazon.co.uk)
My mum is originally from New
York but met my dad on a trip to
the UK, promptly fell in love and
then relocated to Leeds. It takes a
certain sort of woman to survey 1970s New York City,
observe the thrilling mishmash of culture — Warhol,
Studio 54, CBGB, the birth of hip-hop — and then think:
‘Nah, I actually quite fancy moving to a post-industrial
city in the North of England where I’ll spend the first
five years sporadically crying about the food and
worrying about the Yorkshire Ripper’. Anyway, that’s
what she did, which is why I’m here today.
“I felt embarrassed for not acknowledging
that Americans are some of the finest
goddamn tourists this city could wish for”
The upshot, however, is that I have lots of American
family. Since moving to London, they have been
particularly enthusiastic about coming to visit, which is
how I came to spend last week poking around the city
with an aunt and uncle from Chicago. Now, in the past,
I have been guilty of a certain amount of snobbery
towards American tourists, mainly because of their
gigantic trainers, their propensity to cross roads in
suicidal waves and their use of the word ‘classy’ to
describe pretty much everything from St Paul’s
Cathedral to telephone boxes, not to mention eating in
Aberdeen Angus Steakhouses (although on that count,
I’m basically just jealous). So it was an odd sensation to
suddenly find myself embedded with some bona fide
Yankee sightseers. I was like Elijah Wood in Green
Street. Only in reverse. And with no football violence.
And as I toured London with them, I felt
embarrassed. Embarrassed at myself for having spent so
long refusing to acknowledge the truth, which is that
Americans are some of the finest goddamn tourists this
city could wish for. They are enthusiastic, gracious and
genuinely curious about everything around them. They
were more interested in London than I had ever been,
which I suppose is what happens when you travel 4,000
miles to visit somewhere, and they politely put up with a
succession of gormless Brits asking if they were going to
vote for Trump, their response essentially being: ‘Um
hello, we’re literally paying to visit a foreign country and
exposing ourselves to its culture so draw your own
conclusions.’ The only thing I found disappointing was
that at no point did they insist on eating in a central
London steakhouse. They might come back next year,
though. So fingers crossed.
FATHERLAND
Dan Rookwood never thought it would be so
hard to conceive. From miscarriage to IVF,
he charts his long — and often heartbreaking
— journey to becoming a dad
PHOTOGRAPHS BY BILL GENTLE
Baby daddy: new father Dan
Rookwood welcomed twin
girls into the world in May
Four’s company:
Rookwood and his
wife, Sam, with
Rose and Indigo
S
o this isn’t exactly how I’d imagined
becoming a father. It’s 7.30am and I’m
sitting in a lounge area, pretending to
read some dog-eared celebrity gossip rag
while I wait restlessly for my name to be
called. I furtively scan the room, which
is filling up with other men all there for
exactly the same reason: to masturbate
into a sterile cup before work. And then
to my horror I spot someone I think I
recognise. Of all the places! When he looks up, the penny
drops: he’s the guy that grunts in the free-weights room
at my gym. We both look away and I return to whom
People magazine deems the sexiest men alive.
A nurse with a clipboard calls out a name. Then she
makes another attempt, only louder. Oh, it’s ‘Rookwood’
she is mispronouncing comically. I jump to my feet and
scuttle after her, cheeks flushing. In the next room I am
handed a vast legal disclaimer to read and sign. I then
initial my details on two stickers that will ensure my
sperm is not mixed up with anyone else’s. They verify this
twice. Then I am given a screw-cap cup and ushered into
a windowless cubicle.
A surgical paper sheet covers a wipe-clean fauxleather La-Z-Boy chair. ‘Please wash your hands!’ says a
laminated clip-art sign. There are some hospital tissues
on a table, a jumble of well-thumbed pornography
magazines in a drawer. Wincing, I jab a finger at the
Apple TV remote and the screen pings to life with a
selection of adult movies. This feels all wrong. If I must
do it this way, it very much matters to me that the only
person I think about is my wife, Sam.
“WINCING, I JAB A FINGER AT THE TV
REMOTE AND THE SCREEN PINGS TO
LIFE WITH A SELECTION OF ADULT
MOVIES. THIS FEELS ALL WRONG”
Having attended to the matter in hand, I pause
before the hatch where I am to leave my offering. In this
most unholy of places, I say a little a prayer. And then,
head bowed, I scurry off to work.
As a priapic young man, you never imagine such
fertility struggles. You blithely presume that when you
want to start trying for a family you can just flick the
switch and wham, bam, thank you ma’am! But sometimes
nature’s course can be tortuously circuitous with
breakdowns and dead ends en route.
A little part of us died over Christmas 2012. Sam had
come off the pill when we went to India on honeymoon
in December 2009 and we had been trying to get
pregnant, with gradually increasing intensity, for three
years. Then finally, it happened. I remember feeling
more relieved than excited. That’s male pride for you.
We told Sam’s mum’s family when we saw them for
dinner on Christmas Eve, my family as we sat down to
lunch on Christmas Day, and then Sam’s dad’s family
when we went over there on Boxing Day. It was supposed
to be a much-needed happy ending to what had otherwise
been a rough year following the loss of my mother from
cancer that June — 40 days from diagnosis to death. But
even as we clinked celebratory champagne that Sam
couldn’t drink, she knew something didn’t feel right.
Because she couldn’t feel
anything. On 27 December, we
drove to a hospital in Blackpool —
and believe me, there are few more
depressing places than Blackpool in
December drizzle — for confi rmation of
what we feared. A miscarriage.
I have a triptych of freeze-frame memories:
the festive tinsel in the doctor’s hair when she shook
her head; the horrible sound of my emotionally
shattered dad weeping down the phone as I called him
in the corridor; the rain-soaked parking ticket waiting
for us in the hospital car park.
“SAM STARTED GOING TO
ACUPUNCTURE AND REIKI. SHE EVEN
PUT WEIRD PINK CRYSTALS AROUND
OUR BED. NOTHING WORKED”
Back in London, Sam had to have the dead foetus
scraped from her uterus. If that sounds brutal, that’s
because it was. Things were not quite the same after that.
What had started out as fun — all the sex, all the
optimism, all the discussions about potential names —
had become tinged with sadness, worry, doubt. Despite
this being the social-media age of #oversharing, a stigma
around miscarriage and infertility remains. Maybe it is
not in British culture to talk openly about such things.
However, if Sam and I had realised then how statistically
common miscarriage was — an estimated one in five
pregnancies fails — or known how many of our friends
had experienced that same secret heartache, we might
not have got so stuck in a counter-productive vortex of
internalised despair.
Sources: NHS England, HFEA and Fertility Network UK
T
he longer this process took, the more it
became an exacting science. Work trips
and social events were organised
primarily around Sam’s menstrual
cycle. Text messages would arrive via
pregnancy apps telling us when
conditions for copulation were optimal. But month after
bloody month brought disappointment, a different kind
of period pain. Remember before Trump and Brexit,
when Facebook was just an endless carousel of
photographs of other people’s children? You force a smile
when parents say how much they envy your carefree,
childfree life. It got to the point when we began to resent
friends succeeding with apparent ease where we
continued to fail. Two of our best friends took us for
dinner to tell us their happy news and my eyes
pricked with tears. ‘You guys!’ I exclaimed. But
inside I was screaming, ‘Not you guys too!’
When you’re a couple in your 30s and
you’ve been together a while, people often ask:
‘So when are you two going to have kids?’ It’s
a well-meaning enough question but an
insensitive one for it assumes a) you want children
(and not everyone does), and b) that you can have
children (and not everyone can). My response was often
to grasp the nettle — and thrust it in their face. ‘Actually
we’ve been trying for ages,’ I would reply. Then I’d let
them squirm for a second or two. ‘And we’ve been trying
just about everything.’
The longer we tried, the more I was prepared to set
aside eye-rolling cynicism to give just about anything a
go: supplements, special diets, Transcendental
Meditation. Giving up alcohol was tough because
everyone then assumed we were already expecting. Sam
started going to acupuncture and reiki. She even put
weird pink crystals around our bed. Nothing worked.
We were also seeking professional help. ‘Well you
conceived once so there’s clearly no major problem. Keep
trying and come back in six months,’ said our GP, the
NHS’s face-palming equivalent of, ‘Have you tried
turning it off and on again?’ So we paid £500 for a
‘Fertility MOT’ at a private clinic in Wimbledon and
discovered ours was a frustrating case of ‘unexplained
infertility’. ‘Try to relax; it’s most likely stress,’ the
consultant said. ‘The more anxious you get, the less likely
it is to happen.’ Nothing stresses you out more than
someone who can’t give you any definitive answers telling
you not to stress out.
For years, we tiptoed around the white elephant of
infertility. Medically it is defined as ‘the inability to
conceive a pregnancy after 12 months of unprotected
sexual intercourse’. These days we can get whatever we
want delivered whenever we want it at the swipe of a
touchscreen. But not babies. One in seven UK couples of
reproductive age struggles to conceive, according to the
NHS. And it’s a trend on the rise: in 10 years, infertility is
IVF IN BRITAIN
For every 100 couples trying to conceive
naturally, 84 will conceive in one year, 92 within
two years and 93 within three years.
ACCORDING TO NHS ENGLAND,
ABOUT ONE IN SEVEN UK COUPLES WILL
EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTIES CONCEIVING.
Common causes of infertility in women are
irregular ovulation, blocked Fallopian tubes,
polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). In men, the most
common cause is poor quality of semen.
UNEXPLAINED INFERTILITY AFFECTS 25 PER CENT
OF COUPLES WHO ARE TRYING TO BECOME
PREGNANT WITHOUT SUCCESS.
The numbers of women seeking IVF and DI
continues to rise. The most recent statistics show two
thirds of those women were aged 37 and under.
IVF FAILS 75 PER CENT OF THE TIME
In 2012, 2.2 per cent of all babies born in the
UK were conceived through IVF.
In 2013, one third of the UK clinics offering IVF and
DI were based in London and the South-East.
expected to affect one in three couples, partly because
we’re all determined to live our own lives before creating
another. Yet we didn’t play fast and loose with our family
planning — Sam was 30 when she stopped taking the pill,
I was 32. Plenty of people leave it later.
Once you hit your mid- to late-30s, it seems like
everyone has children. We bought a two-bedroom house
in family-friendly Richmond in anticipation of our own.
There was a playground so close we could hear toddlers
cry when they fell off the swings. In early 2014 we
relocated to New York for work, a move made much
easier, ironically, because we didn’t have kids. The NHS
has a great many virtues and rightly remains the envy of
the world, but one of the first things we realised once we
got set up in the States is that it can be shambolic. The
US health system is far from perfect, but we made more
progress in our first 30-minute consultation than we had
in the preceding two years. After that appointment we
fell into each other’s arms and wept. Suddenly there was
renewed hope.
O
ur doctor immediately drew up a plan
with a timeline. We did three rounds of
IUI — intrauterine insemination— all
of which failed. So we ended up at the
IVF clinic. ‘Test-tube babies’ are
increasingly common these days: one
in 50 births is the result of IVF, with the number rising
every year. The proportion is higher in cities where
careerists leave starting a family until later in life. When
you know what to look for — a double buggy being
pushed by older-looking parents, for example — you can
spot it a mile off.
On the same day that I produced the goods into a
plastic cup, Sam underwent general anaesthetic to have
her eggs retrieved. There followed a nervous 24 hours
while we awaited news of how many had been fertilised, if
any. Encouragingly we had six and we returned to the
clinic three days later for the embryo transfer.
‘One egg or two?’ It’s a question I’ve been asked a
thousand times at breakfast but when you’re
sitting in a fertility clinic, it’s one of the
biggest decisions of your life. We couldn’t
bear the thought of this not working so we
decided to double our chances of success —
and make twins more likely — by transferring
two embryos. We paid to freeze the remaining
four for use down the track, if necessary. And
then for the next 21 nights I injected a 1.5inch long syringe of the hormone progesterone
into one or other of Sam’s buttocks.
When we finally saw those two blue lines
on the pregnancy test, we couldn’t believe it.
For weeks Sam kept buying tests kits to
check again. This time we didn’t tell anyone.
We were expecting... something to go wrong.
Twins! We stared in disbelief at our grainy
ultrasound scans.
‘Do twins run in the family?’ is the second
question everyone asks. (The first is: ‘Are they
identical?’ All IVF twins are non-identical.) I have no
qualms about being honest. When commissioned to write
this article, I asked Sam if she was OK with it. I asked
myself the same thing. The process has dredged up some
painful memories but I believe we should be able to talk
about miscarriage, infertility and the emotional tumult
that is IVF. And people should be careful how they ask
sensitive questions of couples without children.
“‘ONE EGG OR TWO?’ IT’S A
QUESTION I’VE BEEN ASKED A
THOUSAND TIMES AT BREAKFAST BUT
THIS WAS A BIG LIFE DECISION”
Sam’s wasn’t a straightforward pregnancy. She ticked
all the high-risk boxes because of her age (over 35), her
history of miscarriage, but mainly because all the past
procedures had left her with a weakened cervix that our
doctor was worried might not be able to support two
babies full-term. At four months, there was some
bleeding. Oh no, please no, not again. Sam was put on
indefinite bed rest and we cancelled our babymoon. She
managed to keep the babies. But we dropped down to one
salary sooner than anticipated and that then meant we
missed out on the apartment we were on the cusp of
buying. At every stage, I tried to take as much anxiety
away from Sam as I could but I’d never felt so stressed in
my life.
At times it felt like the odds were against us but we
marked off every milestone during the pregnancy and
gradually we allowed ourselves to believe. Some people
go through several rounds of financially and emotionally
draining IVF without success. We know how lucky we
are: it worked the first time for us. On 10 May this year
we welcomed Rose Hope and Indigo Grace into our lives.
Our yearning and our gratitude became their middle
names. They are perfect.
The fee for this article is being donated to Fertility Network
UK (infertilitynetworkuk.com)
KENZO dress, £800
(020 7491 8469).
MARNI shoes, £570
(020 7245 9520).
SONIA RYKIEL
earring, £225
(soniarykiel.com)
VIOLET TENDENCIES
Cascading ruffles and
elongated sleeves update a
classic shirtwaister in the
loveliest shade of lilac
CROWN JEWELS
Alexander McQueen’s
hair adornments bring
sparkle to Simone Rocha’s
sheer romance
Glass
WARRIORS
Right now it’s all about making an impact. Corset
belts, dramatic frills and fierce hair embellishments
— here’s how to slay with a statement piece
PHOTOGRAPHS BY LUKE STEPHENSON
STYLED BY JENNY KENNEDY
SIMONE ROCHA top,
£495 (0207 629 6317).
WILLIAM AND SON earrings,
£14,900 (williamandson.com).
ALEXANDER MCQUEEN
chandelier hair pin, £245; star
hair pin, £245; eye hair pin,
£215; snake gold earrings, £315
(all alexandermcqueen.com)
MARC JACOBS
coat, POA
(marcjacobs.com).
LOUIS VUITTON
earrings, £415
(louisvuitton.com)
CALL OF
THE WILD
Coloured fur
flourishes finish
heritage tailoring
with a tactile twist
at Marc Jacobs
PRADA hat, £225;
coat, £2,230;
bustier, £590;
sandals, £790; belt,
£280; agenda book,
£305 (prada.com)
WHAT A
WAIST
Rein in winter’s
military resurgence
with Mrs Prada’s
coveted corset belt
PUMP IT UP
Eighties shoulder pads are
back and wider than ever
with Jacquemus leading
the charge
JACQUEMUS
jacket, £640;
boots, £810
(jacquemus.com)
BALENCIAGA dress,
£7,450; and boots, £2,595
(balanciaga.com)
Hair by Mirka Mysicka at Saint
Luke using Bumble & Bumble.
Make-up by Kristina Ralph
Andrews at Saint Luke
using Givenchy.
Model: Rosie Amanda
@ Select Model Management.
Fashion assistant: Eniola Dare.
Casting by Lock Studios
EX MACHINA
Demna Gvasalia ups
the cocktail-hour ante
with elaborately
encrusted boots
that extend his
Balenciaga sheath
She’s
got it
COVERED
As she publishes her brilliantly candid memoir, British Vogue
editor Alexandra Shulman gives Charlotte Edwardes the lowdown
on what it’s like to work with everyone you’ve ever heard of,
and why she’s standing by Philip Green…
O
ne of my absolute
favourite excerpts
from Alexandra
Shulman’s diary
of Vogue’s 100th
year (and there
are many) is when
she can’t find
anything to wear
in the racks of designer clothes at Selfridges.
‘I’m the editor of Vogue,’ she declares, ‘surely
this should not be happening.’ So she goes to
Jigsaw instead and finds lots of ‘really good,
well-priced, easy clothes’. She says she’d love
to wear Preen, but would look like a ‘bag
lady’, and later buys her mother, the writer
and former magazine editor, Drusilla
Beyfus, a nice, safe Liberty print
wallet for her 90th birthday.
So when I sit down in her light,
bright kitchen in Queen’s Park, I’m
surprised to find she’s in Erdem and
Dolce & Gabbana. ‘This is just for
the pictures,’ she corrects. ‘This is
not me.’
What is her is the chicken carcass
in a Le Creuset pan — roast chicken
is her ‘favourite’ — and the endless
cups of coffee she provides from a
moka pot. There’s a ribbing
exchange with her son, Sam Spike,
21, who lives with her and her
boyfriend, the writer David Jenkins.
Sam accuses her of being dismissive of his
view of ‘contemporary feminism’ and says
Jenkins agrees with him. She replies —
somewhat dismissively — that they are just
‘ganging up’.
The first thing to say about Inside Vogue
the book is that it is everything the BBC2
documentary Absolutely Fashion: Inside British
Vogue was not. Shulman, 58, says writing was
‘therapy, really’: ‘I thought, “I’ll put it all
down. I’ve got to be careful not to edit”. So in
the end there’s more than I thought.’
Even without the piquant observations —
Karl Lagerfeld is a ‘benevolent Bond villain’;
Mick Jagger is ‘soft shoes and Mount
Rushmore face’; the late Zaha Hadid ‘just
like Big Bird’ in an enormous ostrich cape —
Fab four: Alexa Chung, Pixie Geldof, Kendall Jenner and
Alexandra Shulman on the Topshop Unique FROW
it’s eye-popping. She faithfully reports
Sophie Hunter telling her how she met
Benedict Cumberbatch in a loo, Ben
Goldsmith calling Sadiq Khan a ‘smug little
f***er’, David Bailey comparing himself to
Picasso and then asking Vogue’s fashion
director, Lucinda Chambers, why she hasn’t
had Botox.
Tracey Emin cancels expensive shoots at
a moment’s notice, as does Naomi Campbell.
Shulman relates how Campbell calls in a
cold fury that she won’t be included in the
centenary issue because she didn’t turn up
to a shoot, adding, ‘threateningly, “It’s not
going to look good in the press if I’m not
there”’. The shoot is rearranged and
Campbell sends ‘a sweet text with lots of
emojis I can’t interpret’.
Charles Saatchi is ‘weird,
u ndoubte d ly’ for stoppi n g
Shulman in the hall as she leaves a
dinner party to check her ears for
plastic-surgery scars. And I
cringed reading that Kate Moss
put her arm around Shulman’s
son, Sam, ‘like a cat with a baby
mouse. (The next day Sam says he
has her hair extensions in his
jacket pocket.)’
My God, is she worried about
causing offence? ‘It’s not in my
nature to offend,’ she says. ‘But I
decided to do this so I have to be
Getty Images
PHOTOGRAPHS BY JONNY COCHRANE
“You can say
someone is a
serial killer and
they won’t be
offended. But
say they wore a
red tie, and they
really mind”
Keeping up:
Shulman
with Kim
Kardashian
prepared that some people might be upset.
My main thing was it had to be honest.’
What shatters ego in her world is,
anyway, hard to judge. ‘You can say someone
is a serial killer and they won’t be offended.
But say they wore a red tie and they never
wear a red tie, and they really mind.’ The
main thing is that it’s an antidote to the dull
thud of the documentary. ‘That wasn’t me,’
she says. ‘The book is.’
Certainly I was nervous to meet her after
reading it — not just because of her
waspishness but the number of times she is
‘cross’, ‘grumpy’, ‘irritated’, ‘mildly annoyed’
or ‘snaps’ at an assistant, hair colourist or
driver. In person, though, she is warm and
droll. The only time she gets exercised in our
hour together is over pubic hair, and the
notion that women are waxing themselves
bald for men.
‘It’s absolutely appalling for women to
have to feel that they have to be different
from the way that they’re created,’ she says.
‘Women have pubic hair, they should have
pubic hair. The idea that they feel they can’t
have pubic hair because their generation of
men will think they’re less attractive, I find
absolutely repellent. It really makes me
quite distressed.’
She waxes her legs, she concedes, ‘so on
one level there’s something I’m changing’.
But not her arms. ‘Lots of people would wax
their arms if they had as much hair as I’ve
always had.’ She gives it a stroke.
Rather than be drawn into condemning
the march of skeletal models down the
catwalk (‘I’d like to say, “And I’ve changed
the world!” But I haven’t’), Shulman believes
the way to confront the issue of Size Zero is
by providing heroines who are not in fashion
or fashion thin.
One ‘bug bear’ is designers who won’t
lend clothes for them to shoot, say, the head
of pathology in a hospital. ‘If you want
teenage girls to be something other than
Kim Kardashian or Holly Willoughby or
Keira Knightley, well I suppose Keira is an
actress, if you want them to aspire to be in
the professions — lawyers, doctors,
economists, engineers — you’ve got to also
encourage them to think they can have all
the fun of glamour, too.’
P
erhaps it’s no surprise, then,
that one person she’d love to
shoot for Vogue is Theresa
May: ‘Absolutely love to. I
love the way that she clearly
enjoys her clothes, and that
she’s this very hard- hitting, tough-seeming
person. She holds her own in a man’s world
and she doesn’t want to be granted any
favours because she’s a woman. But at the
same time she had really great red nail polish
on when she opened the Tory party
conference, and lipstick. And she likes her
jewellery. Obviously she likes her shoes, and
she has great legs — it’s a huge help when you
are going to wear trousers.’
Of course, Shulman’s big coup was
getting the Duchess of Cambridge to pose
for the centenary cover of Vogue this year.
How does she differ from the late Diana,
Princess of Wales? ‘Diana was more
interested in that high-voltage celebrity,
that was something she really embraced.
One of the things I’ve learned in this job is
how much celebrity is a decision.
‘The Duchess of Cambridge is prepared to
do her bit, but it’s not one of the things that
she most cares about. She loves her kids and
the countryside. Dressing up, that’s a
professional side to her. It’s a sort of uniform,
all those lovely couture costumes.’
Shulman describes the Duchess as very
amenable. ‘She’s incredibly likeable, she
really is. She wants to do what she’s doing
well, and she’s very professional. That’s the
point with the royal family. It’s when they
stop being professional that things go wrong.
‘We want them to be pros, to get
everything right, to be on message and look
great. We don’t want them to have off days.’
Shulman is dark and pretty, yet her lack of
vanity is striking. She can’t be bothered with
the fiddle-faddle of a blow-dry — ‘one of my
least favourite activities’ — and the idea of
having hair and make up done daily is
‘unbearable’. Actually, she’s happy to change
into eveningwear in the office loo and will
slug a glass of wine at 9am if it helps her
overcome her fear of flying. She cheerfully
admits to scarfing two croissants in a binge
of disappointment after Alber Elbaz fails to
Vogue’s
COVER HIGHLIGHTS
Getty Images
April
2008
January
2002
December
1991
October
2001
January
1990
October
2000
May
2003
December
2005
June
2016
turn up to breakfast with her in Paris, and
trying on a dress one day, she remarks she
looks like a ‘sequin sausage’. ‘My diary has
appointments on the half-hour every hour,’
she reflects. ‘That sounds as if it would make
one thinner, but not in my case.’
While ‘The Saintly Audrey’, as she calls
her yoga teacher, comes regularly and she
runs in nearby ‘Dog Poo Park’, she also
smokes ‘between two and four roll-ups’ every
night with a glass of wine (‘I always drink on
my own’). A childhood habit of waiting for
her father, Milton Shulman, the former
Evening Standard theatre critic, to get home
before having supper means that she can’t
eat before 8.30pm at the very earliest. ‘I’m
terribly unhealthy. I do everything the wrong
way round: eat, drink, smoke and sleep.’ It’s
more Bridget Jones than Anna Wintour.
Like Wintour’s father (Charles),
Shulman’s father worked on the Standard.
Both women attended high-achieving,
competitive London girls’ schools —
Shulman St Paul’s, Wintour North London
Collegiate. There the similarity ends. She
‘hugely’ admires American Vogue. Are they
friends? ‘We don’t “hang out”,’ she says, ‘but
we have had supper together and we have
mutual friends.’
Her good friends are people she’s known
forever, such as her neighbour Jane Bonham
Carter, the Lib Dem peer. She’s also ‘loyal to
Philip Green’, whose appearance in front of
the Select Committee over the BHS sale and
subsequent fall-out over pensions is chronicled
in her diary. As the press mounts against him,
Shulman is firm that he is a friend of British
fashion. When I ask what she thinks of his tax
avoidance, she says: ‘There are all kinds of
other people who pay no taxes at all,
companies or whatever. How great do we feel
about that?’ She concedes, ‘[Green] hasn’t
handled it brilliantly. I’ve spoken to him
about it. I know his arguments. But clearly it
was a bad decision to sell.’ Should he pay back
the money? ‘It’s difficult for me to say what
somebody like him should do, but he should
do something that makes people feel better
about him, yup.’
Shulman is, understandably, patriotic
about British fashion. It annoys her that
Stella McCartney shows in Paris instead of
London, for example. ‘I really wish all the
“I have appointments
every hour. That
sounds as if it would
make one thinner, but
not in my case”
British designers would show in London:
Stella McCartney, Sarah Burton and
McQueen, Victoria Beckham. It would be so
fantastic and I don’t really understand why
they don’t.’ She’s had this conversation with
Victoria Beckham, she says. And? ‘People
normally say it’s about the market.’ Is she
firm? ‘Listen, I can’t tell people what to do
with their businesses.’ I don’t doubt she tries.
Actually she’s funny about ‘Brand Beckham’,
as she calls it. ‘That’s a strong-worked image
and as I say in the book they all contribute.
It’s unbelievable. It’s like the royal family: it’s
a machine isn’t it? They’re all in there. Even
Harper is now adding to the lustre of the
Beckhams. She’s only four.’
After 24 years at Vogue (before that she
was editor of GQ), she’s fairly cynical
Kate Middleton
with Shulman at
the Vogue 100
exhibition
about fame. She was thrilled when Kim
Kardashian and Kanye West came to the
Vogue Festival, although she was openly
clueless about Keeping Up With The
Kardashians. When they asked for security
she observed: ‘No such thing as a free celeb.’
Despite the pragmatism and the dry wit,
Shulman is brilliant at writing female
anxiety, especially her own. When she meets
the ‘still’, ‘rooted’ Duchess of Cambridge,
she says: ‘I compared myself, looking beyond
hideous with swivelling eyes and hands
waving all over the place.’
Anxiety has hovered on the fringes since
she was 21, and after several ‘episodes of very
bad anxiety’ she took medication. Today she
always carries an emergency Xanax,
although ‘I haven’t used it for quite a long
time’. She says: ‘Lots of people feel bad about
admitting [to anxiety]. Drugs to treat
anxiety and depression are absolutely
invaluable. Anybody who thinks it is wrong
is not giving themselves a chance.’
She doesn’t know what will come next in
her life. ‘I never thought I would do anything
I did, so I’m open to seeing what happens. I
certainly don’t want to stop working,’ she
says. ‘My mum is still working and she’s 90.
My dad worked until he was 87. I’m not
genetically predisposed to stop working.’
She doesn’t rule out moving to New York
but would need a good job because ‘to not be
successful in New York would be terrible’.
Meanwhile, she’s rented a flat on the seafront
in Aldeburgh. ‘I’m looking forward to
having somewhere different to be, to
doing things that aren’t anything to
do with Vogue, like spending a lot
of time in pubs. Yes pub lunches.’
How fabulously un-Vogue.
With David
‘Inside Vogue: A Diary of My 100th
Bailey at
Year’ by Alexandra Shulman, out
GQ’s 25th
anniversary
on 27 October (Fig Tree)
party
Getty Images; Rex Features
En Vogue: Shulman
with deputy editor
Emily Sheffield,
centre, and fashion
features director
Sarah Harris, at
Anya Hindmarch
SS15; far right,
Shulman with her
son, Sam
Clockwise from above,
MNKY HSE’s secret
corridor, artfully
presented octopus
starter, bespoke
cocktails and opulent
top floor. Far right,
Adwoa Aboah and
Georgia May Jagger at
Park Chinois. Below,
Jourdan Dunn
arriving at Coya
ALL night
LONG
D
Getty Images
One-dimensional clubs are out, replaced
by one-stop party palaces where you can
dine, drink and dance. Claire Coleman
on how Londoners are living it up now
eep underground in a
dimly lit, opulently decorated domed vault in
Mayfair, dinner is drawing
to a close. Accompanied
by laid-back ambient
house emanating from the DJ booth, you
and your friends have polished off plates
of ceviche, tacos, tortillas and black cod,
washing them down with pisco- and
mescal-based cocktails. It’s been perfect, and you’d be happy to linger.
Indeed, as the next part of the evening
calls — a move to a club or a bar — your
heart sinks.
The thought of corralling everyone
together, collecting coats and bags,
arranging transport for 10 of you to
get to a club, then the inevitable
queue… If only you didn’t have to
move, if only someone could just,
well, bring the club to you…
Then, it happens — the lights get a bit
lower, the music gets a bit louder and more
upbeat. A few people get up and they’re
dancing, but the people who don’t want to
dance are just sitting round the table, drinking and chatting. No Ubers, night buses or
rain-sodden treks across town needed.
This isn’t some utopian future, this is
MNKY HSE (pronounced Monkey
House and no, I don’t know what happened to the vowels either), the new
venture on the site of Dover Street Wine
Bar that puts all the elements of a good
night out — bar, restaurant, nightclub — under a single roof.
‘It isn’t just a restaurant that
does music, or a bar that does
food. We wanted to create somewhere that was strong on all three
fronts,’ explains Yann Chevris, the
general manager. He’s spent more
than 20 years in the industry working with names such as Alain
Ducasse, Joel Robuchon and Nobu
Matsuhisa, but describes MNKY HSE as a
totally new proposition. ‘We’ve flown in an
amazing chef [Pablo Peñalosa Nájera, formerly of the Four Seasons in Bogotà and the
acclaimed Morimoto in Mexico City] to oversee an innovative Latin American menu,
we’ve got a bar serving up some really
impressive cocktails, and a schedule of international and resident DJs taking charge of
the music.’
It’s already played host to a post-Frieze
crowd including Jay Jopling, Andre Balazs
and Dallas Austin. ‘The feedback so far has
been fantastic. There’s a really good vibe all
night and people like the fact that once
they’re through the door, we can just take
care of their whole night.’
It is far from the only place in town taking this approach. From Albert’s in
Kensington, a new private members club
founded by the people behind Boujis and
Raffles, to Coya, the Peruvian restaurant
and member’s club in Mayfair that has plans
Katie Hillier, Edie Campbell,
Derek Blasberg and Alexa
Chung at Park Chinois
to open a second
London site later this
y e a r, a n d n e x t
month’s hottest opening Sumosan Twiga, a
three-floor edifice on
Sloane Street serving a fusion
of Japanese and Italian food alongside DJs and dancing until 2am — it’s all
about the all-in-one experience, catering
to Londoners who want a big night out
but without the hassle.
‘If you’re hopping between several
venues, you lose the rhythm of an
evening,’ says Sanjay Dwivedi of the
Coya group. ‘People come for drinks, but
don’t stay for dinner, or decide they don’t
want to stand in the cold for half an hour
waiting to get into a club.’
A
nd, as nightlife impresario
Nick House (of the
American-themed cabaret bar and restaurant
Steam and Rye near
Bank and Park Lane’s
Drama nightclub) points out, booking a table
for dinner doesn’t just cut out queuing in the
cold, it also guarantees you entry. ‘You see
this a lot at high-end places in the South of
France and Ibiza where people who don’t
want to be at the mercy of the whims of the
door bitch circumnavigate the issue by getting in there early for dinner.’
Downstairs flair: the basement at
Park Chinois. Left, Rafferty Law
parties with a friend at Albert’s
uered floor at the other
end of the bar. Voodoo
Rays on Kingsland Road is
a pizza restaurant that in
reality operates like a club:
on a Saturday night it’s a
cross-section of people eating pizza, slurping Margaritas and dancing around the tall tables. And Hackney
Wick’s Night Tales residency was the roaring
success of the summer, a sprawling network
of food stalls, cocktail bars and micro dance
floors. It had your whole night covered.
So what’s behind this seismic change on
the club scene? ‘The 2003 Licensing Act
relaxed things,’ says Charlie Gilkes, a
founder of royal favourite Bunga Bunga, the
“LONDON’S DEVELOPED A REAL BAR SCENE, AND PEOPLE
HAVE STARTED TO WONDER WHY THEY’RE GOING TO A CLUB
WHEN THEY’D RATHER CARRY ON SITTING AND TALKING”
But even those who could be guaranteed
entry to pretty much anywhere in London
are fans of one-stop-shop socialising. When
Marc Jacobs threw a party to celebrate the
launch of his beauty range at London
Fashion Week earlier this year, he didn’t
want to shepherd the likes of Naomi
Campbell, Georgia May Jagger, Beth Ditto
and Alexa Chung from dinner at Nobu to
dancing at Mahiki. Instead he booked them
all into Park Chinois in Mayfair, where a
Chinese banquet can melt into cabaret and
clubbing until dawn.
High-end establishments do not have the
monopoly on the trend. Ridley Road Market
Bar in Dalston looks like a makeshift workers’ canteen, but it’s running a slick operation: the bar is catered by local legends the
Slice Girls, who cook £5 pizzas in a vast
wood-fired oven, while dishabille Hackney
kids dance till the small hours on the cheq-
bar-cum-pizzeria-cum-nightclub that was at
the vanguard of this growing trend, and this
autumn is set to expand with a huge new
Bunga Bunga in Covent Garden. ‘Before
that pubs would close at 11pm and the only
option to continue your night was a nightclub. Since then, London’s developed a real
bar scene, and people have started to wonder
why they’re going to a club, and paying to get
in when actually they’d rather carry on sitting and talking. These all-in-one venues
give them the best of all worlds.’
You might expect operators to miss the
Peruvian
restaurant
and members’
club, Coya
traditional nightclub door charge, but that’s
offset by longer opening hours, and it’s easier
to get a licence for places that serve food as
well as booze, so this sort of set-up even keeps
London’s licensing authorities happy.
‘They far prefer it when a venue is serving
food rather than just alcohol,’ says Sumosan
Twiga’s general manager, Massimo Montone.
‘If people are sitting down, capacity is smaller,
so there are fewer people going into and out
of a venue for its size. As a result, the impact
on the surrounding area is diminished.’
It’s basically a win-win-win scenario. But
isn’t there something a bit lacking in glamour about dancing around dirty plates with
the smell of steak — or whatever — lingering
in the air? Gilkes says it’s easier when a venue
has more than one floor, and that it’s about
reading the crowd and using lights and music
to move people mentally from a restaurant
to a club space. ‘You have to take people on a
journey throughout the evening — and even
throughout the week. On a Monday night
Bunga Bunga feels like a local neighbourhood pizzeria, whereas on Friday it’s more of
a raucous, buzzy bar that serves pizzas.’
He thinks we’re only really at the start of
one-stop-shop socialising and is predicting
that the next wave of venues will incorporate entertainment. And not just any entertainment. ‘People want immersive theatre
— look at the success of You Me Bum Bum
Train and Punchdrunk,’ he says. ‘In London
people always want more. They want something they can share on social media that’s
different to the cookie-cutter,
copycat norm. And when the
news is depressing, they want
escapism.’
Drinks, dinner, dancing and
escapism all under one roof —
we’ve seen the future of Saturday
nights, and we’re excited.
BEAUTY
BY KATIE SERVICE
CHANEL Calligraphie
de Chanel eyeliner in
hyperblack, £46;
Joues Contraste
powder blush in
hyperfresh, £31,
from 4 November
(chanel.com)
WHAT A CHEEK!
Pair punky eyeliner with
sugary blusher for a look
that’s naughty and nice
PHOTOGRAPH BY XAVIER MAS
BEAUTY
HAIR IN A HURRY
Insta-Lights at
Edward James, SW11
T
Having your roots done no
longer means being stuck in
a salon chair for three hours.
Here, James and his team will
blend away outgrown roots on
highlighted hair and hide any
greys. It is not a full colour
change but as maintenance
goes, it can’t be beaten. And if
you thought that speed means
sacrificing the condition of your
hair, think again: the salon is
an Aveda concept, so it only
uses hair-friendly natural
colourants. Insta-Lights colour
application, processing and
rough dry, £35, Edward
James, 18 Northcote Road
(edwardjameslondon.com)
15
MIN
PREEN IN 15
Fix up fast with these short
and sweet treatments
WORDS BY KATIE SERVICE
THE SKIN SAVER
The Spot Zapper at
Skin Matters, W8
Woken up on the day of a big meeting to find
Mount Vesuvius erupting on your forehead?
Call these skin-saving therapists, who will
shrink it with salicylic or glycolic acid, or even
syringe it if needs be. Next, an enzymatic mask
will accelerate the formation of new skin cells,
followed by a blast of blue LED light to kill any
lingering bacteria. Money well spent in a crisis.
The Spot Zapper, £60 (skin-matters.co.uk)
THE PICK-ME-UP
Express LED
Rejuvenation Facial
at Cowshed,
Selfridges, W1
Can’t squeeze a full facial into
your lunch break? Sit back as an
11-minute blast of rejuvenating
light is shone over your face.
Choose from a yellow light that
hydrates and plumps fine lines
or a blue one that has deep
cleansing and antibacterial
properties — a great option for
calming flare-ups. Express LED
Rejuvenation Facial, 15 minutes,
£35 (selfridges.com)
THE BODY BLAST
Fifteen-minute
training at
The Clock, W1
EPIONCE
Lytic Gel
Cleanser,
£27.50,
epionce.
co.uk
At the elegant Wimpole Street
branch of this private members’
club and gym, founder Zana
Morris (the woman behind
FROW favourite, The Library)
will design a bespoke training
regime based on high-intensity
training that only takes a
quarter of an hour. The premise
is that this blast of intensity
burns body fat without
prompting the release of stress
hormone cortisol, which is
linked to fat storage and can be
triggered by long workouts.
Each session takes place on
clever ‘Timepiece’ weights
machines, which allows you to
move between exercises in the
shortest possible time while
focusing on a different part of
your body — thighs and calves,
arms and shoulders or back and
chest. Memberships start from
£345 per month (theclock.com)
BEAUTY
You beauty!
ON THE SOAPBOX
Thanks to the contouring trend, sponges are all over
Instagram. KATIE SERVICE on which to use for what
S
ponges have fallen in with a bad
crowd. Once the choice of tools of
fashion make-up artists (Kevyn
Aucoin and François Nars to name two),
in the past couple of years they
have become synonymous with OTT
contouring videos. But don’t write them off — there are
sponges, when used correctly, that can give a more
natural look than a brush. Remember to pat with your
sponge — not smear, swipe or rub. And use them to
apply a little product at a time. Here are my picks...
1. Real Techniques Finish Miracle
Sculpting Sponge
Dubbed the ‘miracle sponge’, the flat edge
can slide cream bronzer under the
cheekbones, while the tip fits in nooks and
crannies and the round curve is great for
blending foundation. (£5.99; boots.com)
2. Barely Prep Blot & Blend Sponge
Did you know that you can apply moisturiser
2
and prep the skin with a sponge too? These
are really handy for freshening up day old
make-up — just pat over cheeks and temples.
(£6; thisisbeautymart.com)
3. Beauty Blender Blotterazzi
These beat blotting papers hands down. Dab
them over your T-zone and they soak up
excess shine instantly. Plus, you can just
wash them with cleanser and they come
3
out as good as new. (£16; net-a-porter.com)
4. Beauty Blender Micro Mini Duo
Small but mighty, these tiny quail egg-sized sponges
are really effective for patting in under-eye concealer.
Any dragging motions will be too aggressive for
the fragile eye area. (£13.50; beautybay.com)
4
1
A
Annabel
Rivkin tries
sweatproof
mascara
Josh Shinner; Tobi Jenkins
HEADSPACE
Is your favourite thing in the world having your hair washed and massaged at the
hairdresser? This Friday, spend your lunch break enjoying the Fusio Dose hair and scalp
treatment — 10 minutes of seratonin-filled chill-out time in the basin. (Kérastase Fusio
Dose Treatment, £15 at Daniel Galvin, Selfridges; danielgalvin.com)
question about your disgustingness: when (if)
you go to the gym at lunchtime or before work
or going out to dinner or whatever — do you
ever just dry the sweat out of your hair rather
than washing it? There are good reasons to do this.
Firstly, because it’s just easier. And secondly, because
a little fresh sweat can give hair some quite intriguing
muscle. It’s a secret shame but it happens.
Similarly, if you work up a proper sweat, can you
occasionally not be arsed to re-do your make-up
start-to-finish before you make the deranged dash to
wherever you need to be next? If this repulses, then
I apologise (while simultaneously finding you a little
judgmental). But if it chimes at all, then welcome to
Eyeko Sport Waterproof Mascara.
I’m quite late to the Eyeko party, which is ironic
considering I am oppressively punctual in real life. Can’t
seem to help it. But despite hearing the insider whispers
for years, I have only just stumbled upon Eyeko and it’s a
mascara specialist. Name your mood, name your look;
Eyeko will manifest it for you in lash form. I’m almost
tempted to build a ‘mascara wardrobe’ and that is a
phrase I never thought I’d write without a sneer.
Its Sport variety simply does not budge. Waterproof
mascara can be a bit clunky and weirdly formulated, but
this stuff is smooth and irreproachable. You can beast
yourself at the gym, sweat buckets, do a tropical trek
(not for me), get drunk and pass out before cleansing
(the horror), have steamy sex; whatever rings your bell —
and your lashes, my beauties, will not tell tales on you.
Eyeko Sport Waterproof Mascara (£18; spacenk.com)
READ YOUR STARS BY SHELLEY VON STRUNCKEL AT STANDARD.CO.UK ⁄ HOROSCOPES ⁄TODAY
FEAST
GRACE
& FLAVOUR
Grace Dent longs for largesse at buzzing Foley’s
“Autumn is made for sit-up counter
eating. Spare your home-heating
bills and warm your cockles on the
nervous stress of a sous-chef ”
AMBIENCE
FOOD
Jonny Cochrane; illustration by Jonathan Calugi @ Machas
T
he space between late summer and
mid-December is the most wonderful
time of the year for Grace & Flavour.
Tons of new spots to try, all the
summer openings starting to take root plus the
chance to wear opaque tights, a frock with sleeves
and leave the house after dark to eat supper like a
grown-up. British restaurants make most sense in
autumn when they’re buzzing, warm, nurturing
and when the annoying clots in your party of four
stop strong-arming you to eat on an outdoor
terrace in clouds of wasps. Autumn is made for
sit-up counter eating. Spare your own homeheating bills; eat dinner six feet south of a smoker
oven, warming your cockles on the nervous stress
of a sous-chef. With this sort of stance in mind, I
popped to Foley’s, recently opened on Foley
Street in Fitzrovia. Foley’s is headed up by Mitz
Vora who was sous-chef at The Palomar in Soho.
If eating Middle Eastern-influenced food in
flatteringly lit places playing music nicely
intrusive enough to dance to is your thing, then
you probably have a lot of time for The Palomar.
Menu-wise, Foley’s casts the net a lot wider,
terming itself ‘modern-world’ cuisine and namechecking the Spice Trail, but still there’s many of
The Palomar’s spores present. Yes, you can avail
yourself of a proper table, but the best seats are
possibly ones overlooking the basement kitchen
amongst all the shouting, peeling, tonging and
kitchen chat. Yes, there’s titivated aubergine,
grilled cauliflower and lamb rump with dukkha
on offer — so far so Berber-influenced — but also
ceviche, sticky beef with daikon and cucumber
som tam, and Korean BBQ chicken burnt ends.
FOLEY’S
23 Foley St, Fitzrovia, W1
(020 3137 1302; foleysrestaurant.co.uk)
1
Aubergine
£8
1
Cauliflower
£6.50
1
Market salad
£8
1
Sweet potato fritters
£6
1
Charcoal grilled chicken
£6
1
Sticky beef
£9
1
Lamb rump
£12
1
Glass of Negroni
£9
1
Perrier-Jouët Brut NV
£12
2
Glasses of Malbec
TOTAL
£18
£94.50
One residing difference with Foley’s is a
confident amount of chilli heat seeping through
several dishes, even the innocent-sounding
affairs such as sweet-potato fritters on a saffron
coconut curry or a grilled half aubergine with
pomegranate, dates, chilli-lime yogurt and
puffed quinoa. Even these would make a chicken
korma fan snivel. The potato fritters, I should
add, were nicely crisp, daintily light, and possibly
a star of the show. The aubergine was squidgy,
cake-like and not wholly a success but I have been
spoiled for a lifetime by the actually lifeenhancing roasted aubergine ‘Sharabik’ at The
Barbary in Neals Yard. Let’s be honest: The
Barbary is the quiet, trunk-hoisting, all-crushing
elephant in the room for everyone in chef’s whites
hoping to impress a London audience with
Middle Eastern cooking. Even at its sister
restaurant The Palomar nowadays. Because there
are very few misses or even ‘I’m-not-100-per-cent
in-love’ moments on The Barbary’s menu.
The super greens salad at Foley’s, on the other
hand, wasn’t much more captivating than an
M&S lunch pot. The chicken burnt ends were
fatty lumps with no discernable sear, blackening
or texture. Inoffensive albeit wobbly. The grilled
cauliflower is delicious, rich with cumin and
littered with smoked peanuts, but a plate of lamb
with hummus was oddly something or nothing.
There is a lack of largesse in the food here.
There isn’t the smearing, oozing, glistening and
wiping-up with breads one might expect from
this genre. Still, stuff me, Foley’s is a hit with its
clientele. They’re clearly doing something right.
The kitchen bar was jammed with earnest chinstroking foodie types and I hear only good things
about group outings to the basement alcoves.
Mac & Wild, across the way, is seemingly doing
nicely as well with the two restaurants firing each
other’s overfill in opposite directions. Brexit
schmexit, I shall believe the financial meltdown
has truly taken grip when London millennials
stop paying £8 for a quarter of a cauliflower.
FEAST
TART
LONDON
Neither too hot nor too cold, Lucy Carr-Ellison and
Jemima Jones serve up bowls of porridge that are just right
GNOCCH ‘N’ ROLL
Great balls of carbs! Here’s Lucy
learning how to make gnocchi on a
recent trip to the US
Jemima Jones (left) and Lucy Carr-Ellison
Josh Shinner
W
hen we were young, the thought
of porridge — a lumpy grey bowl
of horror — filled us with fear.
Since then, it’s had a fashionable
makeover along with its summery cousin, bircher
muesli, and has now become a staple from healthfood blogs to classic cookbooks.
Porridge comes into its own at this time of
year when you crave a warm, hearty breakfast
but nothing as heavy-going as a Full English
ahead of a weekday commute. Porridge has a low
GI (glycaemic index) which means it is slowly
absorbed into the bloodstream, giving a gradual
release of energy and keeping hunger at bay until
lunchtime. Apparently Bear Grylls is a long-time
fan — and if it’s good enough for him, then it’s
good enough for us.
On a crisp autumn morning, just the waking
thought of a bowl of creamy porridge topped with
crunchy nuts, honey or fruit porridge is a moodenhancer. It’s an indulgent way to start the day,
but you don’t have to feel guilty about it — we
have been experimenting with lighter styles than
the classic milk-based concoction to which more
cream, or even butter, might be added.
Nut milks are now widely available from most
supermarkets. For the hazelnut version, we
usually pick up the Rude Health label as it
doesn’t have added sugar and is actually
‘hazelnutty’ (dreamy in a coffee), but if you can’t
find it, then use almond milk.
COCONUT AND
CARDAMOM PORRIDGE
HAZELNUT, APPLE AND
CHOCOLATE PORRIDGE
50g whole rolled porridge oats
3 bruised cardamom pods (or a half tsp
of ground cardamom)
200ml almond milk
100ml water
1 tbs desiccated coconut
Maple syrup, to taste
Toasted coconut and flaked almonds
Berries, or fruit of choice
50g gluten-free oats
300ml hazelnut milk
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1 drop of vanilla extract
1 apple, grated
1 square of dark chocolate, broken up
1 handful of roasted hazelnuts, chopped
METHOD
Put the almond milk and water in a pot over
a medium heat with the bashed cardamom
and allow to infuse, simmering for five
minutes, then put through a sieve.
Mix the oats, coconut and cardamom-infused
milk, pour into the pot and cook over a
medium heat for five minutes, stirring.
Serve at once, adding your toasted coconut
and almonds and any fruit you may want.
This is delicious with maple syrup.
METHOD
Put 50g of oats in a small saucepan, then pour
in 300ml of hazelnut milk. Simmer for four to
five minutes (or 10 minutes if using regular
porridge oats), stirring constantly. Add the
cinnamon, vanilla and the grated apple and
stir. Sprinkle the chocolate and chopped
hazelnuts over the top and serve immediately.
HOMEWORK
Wallet by Comme des
Garçons, £129, at
doverstreetmarket.com
BY LILY WORCESTER
Headphones by
Frends, £140, at
net-a-porter.com
Mirror by Fritz
Hansen, £510,
at skandium.com
Wine glass,
£45 for four
(lsa-international.com)
Pendant lamp
by Lyngard
Ceramics,
£300, at
conranshop.
co.uk
Sunglasses
by KREWE,
£265, at net-aporter.com
Cutlery set, from
£5.99 (zarahome.com)
GLEAM ON
HOUSE OF HOLLAND AW16
Warp vase, £200
(tomdixon.net)
You know that iridescent glaze you see in oily
puddles and giant soapy bubbles? Combine that
sheen with a touch of intergalactic glam, and you’ve
got yourself autumn’s latest interiors trend. The
‘Prismania’ chair by Dutch designer Elise Luttik,
which combines Studio 54 reflectives with sleek
angular shapes, was one of the star pieces at Milan’s
Salone del Mobile furniture fair. Since then,
shimmering, reflective pieces have cropped up
across both designer and high-street brands. Look
to Lyngard Ceramics for striking pendant lamps or
inject a little zing into cocktail hour with Urban
Outfitters’ Electro shaker. We’ll drink to that.
Prismania chair
by Elise Luttik,
POA, at noon
furniture.com
Tote by
Bao Bao
Issey Miyake,
£600, at
matches
fashion.com
Coffee
table by
Patricia
Urquilo,
£1,532, at
chaplins.
co.uk
Pen by Hay, £5, at
libertylondon.com
Oyster Mosaic
Freshwater Pearl,
£18.30 per tile
(firedearth.com)
Nail varnish
in primrose
street, £15
(nailsinc.com)
Cocktail set,
£28 (urban
outfitters.com)
Phone
case, £14
(skinnydip
london.
com)
ESCAPE
The ancient
dwellings of
Matera
EDITED BY DIPAL ACHARYA
WHERE TO EAT
Huge plates of antipasti are
the order of the day, as well
as Matera’s famed orecchiette
pasta (meaning little ears)
and fava-bean purée. If you
want to try the best of what
the town has to offer, dine
at the RISTORANTE
FRANCESCA on Vico
Bruno Buozzi — its terrace
is hard to beat both for food
and ambience. But it’s LA
GATTA BUIA (90 Via delle
Beccherie) that wins plaudits
for its local wine list.
Italian
antipasti
ANCIENT WONDER
The city of Matera in Basilicata, in the arch of Italy’s ‘boot’, is
steeped in history. Teetering on the side of the Gravina Gorge,
the town is home to the famous Sassi cave dwellings, a
designated Unesco World Heritage Site, which date back more
than 9,000 years. Cobbled streets and labyrinthine alleyways
twist and turn to reveal centuries-old limestone grottoes
containing churches and homes. In summer, the weather can
make the city unbearably hot but it’s perfect for an autumn
break. Nicole Mowbray
Le Grotte
della Civita
WHAT TO SEE
The CASA GROTTA DI VICO SOLITARIO
museum is a must-see if you want to
understand how life used to be in Matera,
as is the rock-hewn MADONNA DI IDRIS
cave church in the centre of the Sassi. For a
contemporary afternoon, visit the MUSMA
sculpture museum on Via San Giacomo,
housed in caves once used for storing wine.
WHERE TO STAY
Alamy
The best and most evocative
place in Matera is LE
GROTTE DELLA CIVITA,
which teeters on the edge of
the GRAVINA gorge.
Formerly abandoned caves,
all rooms are housed deep in
the tufa limestone and lit
almost entirely by
candlelight. With
freestanding baths, no
televisions and awe-inspiring
views unchanged for
thousands of years, there are
few locations more romantic
than this. Rooms start at
£150 (legrottedellacivita.
sextantio.it)
WHAT TO DO
WHERE
TO SHOP
Into your Italian
food? Make sure
you visit the
SAPORI DEI SASSI
to pick up supplies for a
picnic with a view. This
gourmet grocery store
sells everything from
local olives and wine to
truffle-infused cheeses
from the region, alongside
indecently good focaccia.
Nearby I VIZI DEGLI
ANGELI (36 Via Domenico
Ridola) is a gelato
‘laboratory’ purported to
make some of the smoothest
ice cream in Italy with outof-this-world flavours.
Casa Grotta di
Vico Solitario
WHERE TO DRINK
Matera is not car-friendly but it’s compact enough to
explore on foot. Spread across the Murgia plateau,
the deep gorge running around Matera provides the
backdrop for the famed Sassi — a complex network of
ancient cave dwellings and prehistoric rock churches
linked by higgledy-piggledy streets, archways and
terraces. But for a glimpse of what life was like in the
Paleolithic Period, explore the SASSO BARISANO
and the uninhabited rawness of the SASSO
CAVEOSO neighbourhood, where you can wander
through empty caves.
If you have a whole evening
to spare, start at PIAZZA
VITTORIO VENETO in the
middle of the historical
centre. From early evening
this square, with its array of
open-air cafés and gelato
kiosks, is the meeting place
for people beginning their
night out. AREA 8, on Via
Casalnuovo, offers fantastic
aperitivo accompanied by live
jazz. And while good coffee is
never hard to come by in Italy,
ALTERENO (Via Madonna
delle Virtu) is a must for fans
of potent espresso.
Madonna di Idris
GETTING THERE
Cocktails
at Area 8
British Airways flies to BARI,
an hour’s drive from Matera.
Prices start at £56 each way.
(britishairways.com)
MY LONDON
OPHELIA LOVIBOND
AS TOLD TO SAMUEL FISHWICK
Where is home?
Hornsey. I live in a beautiful
Victorian flat with all the typical
lovely things that come with it —
fireplaces and all that jazz.
Building
you’d like to
be locked in?
The Natural History
Museum (right). And yes, I do
think everything there comes
to life at night.
Where do you let your
hair down?
Trisha’s in Soho. It’s a tiny little
subterranean bar which mostly
plays rockabilly and Motown.
Favourite Pub?
The Camel in Bethnal Green
(below). It does great pies and
very good Guinness.
Last play you saw?
Faith Healer at the Donmar
Warehouse. Brian Friel’s
writing is inherently funny.
He’s got the gift of the gab.
Most romantic thing
someone’s done for you?
An ex used to insist on walking
closest to the road if it was
raining. If a car came by, it
would splash him, not me.
Best place for a first date?
Tate Modern. It’s such a great
building, you’ll never be stuck
for things to say.
What would you do
as Mayor?
Paint big red crosses on
all the unoccupied
buildings in London to
show how many people
could be living in them.
Your best meal?
My dad took me to the
park and bought me pork
pies, Scotch eggs, prawn
cocktail crisps and
The Shepherd’s Bush-born actress gets the
Notting Hill Carnival police dancing with her
and goes to Bethnal Green for Guinness
Coca-Cola when
I was nine.
What do
you collect?
Portuguese bowls and plates
that look like cabbage leaves.
Who’s you hero?
Diane Keaton (left).
First thing you do when
you get back to London?
Go for a curry. A tarka dhal
at Rajput in Shepherd’s
Bush is my favourite.
Earliest memory?
My mum, Simona, taking
my sister, Letitia, and me
to the Ravenscourt Park
paddling pool in the
summer when I was very
little. We had
funny Minnie
Mouse costumes
from Woolworths.
Last album you bought?
John Grant’s Pale Green Ghosts.
It gets into your bones.
Best thing a cabby has said?
‘A fiver will do.’ That was for a
much bigger fare.
Biggest extravagance?
I do love my Le Labo perfume
(right). I find it intoxicating.
Best place for
a nightcap?
Experimental Cocktail
Club in Chinatown.
They do the best
whiskey sours.
Ever had a run-in with
a policeman?
I make them dance with me at
Notting Hill Carnival every
year. They just stand there
looking grumpy otherwise.
Who do you call when you
want to have fun?
Caroline Flack. She’s always
the greatest company.
Best advice you’ve been given?
My mum told me to always
shoot for the stars, because
you’ll regret what could have
been more than failure.
What are you currently up to?
Playing in The Libertine, with
Dominic Cooper at his
debauched best.
‘The Libertine’ runs at
Theatre Royal Haymarket
until 3 December
(thelibertineonstage.com)
Getty Images; Alamy
Favourite shops?
Liberty for great gifts; & Other
Stories for dresses with unusual
European cuts; Beyond Retro,
because I never know what’ll be
in there; Portobello Market
(above), where you can always
find great vinyl records.

Evening Standard ES Magazine

Transcription

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