GQ

Nigo evaluates the Kenzo spring 2023 collection during fittings at the Paris Headquarters in the run up to the fashion show. where things aren’t built around shows, or “I felt limited by the tea bowls. “My tea ceremony master lives in presenting the clothes to the media months in success of Bape; it the countryside and I don’t get to visit often, advance, I’m grateful for the chance to study forced me to spend and I’ve found that my ability declines quickly and learn what that world is all about,” Nigo a lot of time making without regular practise,” Nigo told me. His said. “But for me, the real event is when the things I didn’t want aim, he said, is to achieve the elevated sense of clothes arrive in the store.” to make.” hospitality that comes from “serving tea to my guests in a bowl that I’ve made myself.” And yet One way of managing this disconnect was Timberlake sat next to Jaden Smith; backstage, its hold on him, he conceded, is probably “tied to release a handful of Kenzo pieces ready for David and Cruz Beckham each posed for their to his feeling for objects and acquisitiveness.” order ahead of the spring-summer 2023 collec- own separate photos with the designer. tion: A “drop” of sorts, built around a painting When we met for the last time in his office of a Japanese boke flower blossoming on crew- Nigo’s debut Kenzo collection, autumn-win- at Kenzo’s Paris headquarters, I asked Nigo neck sweaters, carpenter trousers, and coach ter 2022, is part biography, part autobiography. whether he felt he could keep his hobby sep- jackets; a simple, fully realised capsule of stylish Jungle flower prints recalled both iconic Bape arate from his career. Could it remain a sanc- clothing that suggested evolution as much as pieces and Kenzo’s autumn-winter collection tuary, untouched by the entrepreneurial urges interpretation. Then there’s the instant grat- from 1976. Berets marked “1970” commemo- that have defined his life and dominated our ification of his work for Human Made. In late rated the year of Nigo’s birth as well as Kenzo culture? Or will he continue evolving Harajuku, March, when Victor Victor Worldwide launched Takada’s inaugural fashion show at Galerie the neighbourhood that reshaped global street- the I Know Nigo album with a pop-up store in Vivienne. And, in what may be his most per- wear, by opening up his own ceramics shop? Lower Manhattan, the line stretching down the sonal statement, Nigo named one print after Several weeks later, on a sweltering afternoon street and around the block brought to mind his master ceramics instructor, Shuji Fujimura. in Tokyo, I thought of his answer while walking a variation on Matthew McConaughey’s most the streets of Harajuku, where I passed bou- famous line from the film Dazed and Confused: About four years ago, Nigo added a ceram- tiques for Bape, Human Made, and Billionaire Nigo keeps getting older, but his customers stay ics studio to his compound in Tokyo, where Boys Club as I headed for lunch at one of the the same age. Three months later, however, he spends his free time crafting ceremonial two curry restaurants Nigo owns. the launch of his funky Ivy League–themed spring-summer 2023 collection for Kenzo “You know me too well,” he said. served as a reminder that Nigo can, at least for now, have it both ways. In the front row, Justin joshua hunt is a writer in Brooklyn and a former Tokyo-based correspondent for Reuters. OCTOBER 2022 GQ 147

TIMINNWEDTOXIHEIDCEYEANCTNEAUWADMCESTASTOMAARRFÁITSWTEASARMTRBABSRRIEÉTSANIENKR,GTIINEHASGEGAOAANUCLDTCAOOCINRMT.ITCPHLREISEIHVCOEODLNUICTION BY IANA MURRAY PHOTOGRAPHS BY FANNY LATOUR-LAMBERT STYLED BY TOBIAS FRERICKS



C A S S I A N A N D O R , T H E intergalactic spy played by Diego ←← an intimate play called Cada Vez Nos Despedimos Mejor, Luna in the Star Wars universe, is an enigma at first. In which roughly translates to “Every Time We Break Up in a the 2016 spin-off Rogue One, Andor vaguely alludes to his OPENING PAGES Better Way.” It’s a monologue about a crumbling decades- lifelong fight for the rebel cause, at one point telling a fresh long relationship set against the backdrop of events that recruit, “I have been in this fight since I was six years old.” jacket £2,450 have marked Mexican history, from the 1985 Mexico City shirt £1,050 earthquake to the contentious 2012 elections in which a Out of that line blossomed Andor, a new Disney+ prequel deeply unpopular Enrique Peña Nieto became president. series set a few years before Cassian gave his life for the trousers £1,050 “It was amazing occupying that space for so many weeks,” Rebel Alliance, which tracks his evolution from recalcitrant Gucci he says. Prior to the pandemic, he would return to the stage cynic to martyr. The show, out in September, is part origin → every couple of years. That live, ephemeral energy is some- story, part political awakening; a saga about how imperi- thing that Luna had been missing, especially in “a tiny space alism can shake a population out of its reverie and make it OPPOSITE PAGE for 250 people every night.” fight back. Luna tells me that, at its core, Andor is “about a community that is waking up.” sweater £1,250 Luna broke out in the international art house scene Prada with Alfonso Cuarón’s Y Tu Mamá También and has been More than most actors, Luna gets what it’s like to be ush- steadily taking on acclaimed roles with an eclectic set of ered into a rebellion. In 1994, the Zapatista Army of National trousers £765 directors, from a lovestruck airport attendant in Steven Liberation (EZLN) staged an uprising against Mexico’s gov- Umit Benan B+ Spielberg’s The Terminal to a Michael Jackson imperson- ernment for the rights of Indigenous people in Chiapas, the necklace £1,350 ator in Harmony Korine’s Mister Lonely. With Andor, the country’s southernmost state. With the encouragement of David Yurman actor, now 42, is transcending the art house roles that have family and teachers, a teenage Luna would skip school to watch, throughout so far defined his career to become a leading man in a mul- join the protests. He and his classmates mobilised, inde- (price upon request) tibillion-dollar franchise. pendently organising events – protests, concert fundraisers, food drives – to support the residents of Chiapas. “I remem- Rolex Nevertheless, Luna doesn’t measure success by scale. ber meeting amazing people of all ages, all worried about “We’re not here for the fireworks,” he says. “We’re still telling the same issues, and feeling part of something meaningful,” very intimate stories and character-driven journeys. I like to Luna recalls on a hot July afternoon in Madrid. He found be able to have that texture in a universe like this.” Luna con- comfort in the movement’s growing numbers and learned nected Cassian’s refugee status to the forced migration he the power of banding together for a greater good. “I was sees happening all around the world. (As a child, Cassian’s 15 years old and I was feeling the responsibility of being home world gets destroyed by the Empire.) “He’s got a direc- a citizen in my country. I remember those days as being torial eye,” his Wander Darkly co-star Sienna Miller tells me. important. They defined me.” “He approaches something not just as an actor, he really sees the bigger picture.” We’re eating lunch at a tapas restaurant in the Chamberí neighbourhood. The city is uncharacteristically quiet, save Of course, finding and holding onto space for artistry for a few traces of the previous day’s Pride celebrations. “You inside the vast bureaucracy of the Star Wars machine isn’t know,” he says, peering at my plate of grilled vegetables. exactly easy. You’re searching for glints of Shakespeare “You’re with the only Mexican who doesn’t like avocado.” inside the terms and conditions. With Luna, that stubborn insistence on storytelling and heart trickled down through Luna has spent the past few weeks in Spain performing the rest of the Andor cast. Tony Gilroy, the series creator, tells me that “the personality, leadership skills, grace, and empathy of the person that occupies number one on the call sheet has an incredible effect on a show.” In Luna, he found that he “could not have a better number one.” T H E A T R E W A S P R A C T I C A L L Y encoded into Luna’s DNA. His father was a renowned set designer in Mexico, and his expat British mother designed costumes. Young Luna was obsessed with football. He played as a boy and watched eagerly when the World Cup came to Mexico in 1986. But it was Luna’s home life that shaped him: The kitchen table was constantly buzzing with debate and discussion, and he remembers there were at least three newspapers scattered around at all times. Home was a judgement-free haven where someone young and impressionable could test ideas and “define what you believed in.” Luna’s schools were their own nascent forms of democ- racy in action. The student body would hold a referendum on everything, even on things as basic as what they would have for lunch. Social justice was central to their education. If there was a demonstration going on – say, the Chiapas uprising – educators would leave the door open for you to go. “I was always in schools that were pushing you to be proac- tive,” says Luna. “To be loud about what mattered to you. To define your voice. Not to become just a number.” His mother died in a car accident when he was young, so Luna ended up spending a lot of time shadowing his father. The theatre became his playground. Whenever his father was working on a production, he would run around and watch the technicians and actors. 150 GQ OCTOBER 2022





← He forged a close bond with Gael García sweater Bernal – another son of artists – when they (price upon request) were young. They would become close friends Miu Miu and eventually creative collaborators, drawing trousers £750 deeply from their shared background. “We Gucci were quite advanced for our ages because we vintage belt grew up really exposed to adult dynamics,” Aigner García Bernal tells me. “We saw the adults play [onstage] and we just wanted to play too. We wanted to be close to them. We became little Phantoms of the Opera.” Luna remembers witnessing every step of his dad’s process, from the impressionistic sketches strewn across his home to the archi- tectural dioramas that would steadily increase in size and detail. Watching his father work entranced Luna. “It was like being in Alice in Wonderland,” he recalls, holding his arms wide open to demonstrate the scale. As a teenager, he apprenticed under his father, learning the ins and outs of theatre production. García Bernal remembers those days fondly. “It was actually quite incredible growing up like that,” he adds. “Because we felt that we could become anything or anyone.” Luna cut his teeth acting in telenovelas. As a child actor he would sit idly at a dinner table while scandal and drama unfolded around him. (In El Premio Mayor, for example, he played the son of a womanising lottery winner who’s trying to tamp down his libido so he can remain faithful to his wife.) Those shows trans- formed Luna into a teen idol in Mexico, and the immediacy of that fame was disorientating, especially in relation to his previous theatre experience, where integrity and performance were valued above all. It’s why Luna appreciates doing theatre, especially in Mexico – and even something like Star Wars – so much. There’s a real relationship that develops between him and the audience. “There’s people that have seen the last three, four shows I’ve done in Mexico,” he says. “It’s nice that I get to grow up with [them].” Eventually, Luna landed a role alongside García Bernal in Y Tu Mamá También – Cuarón’s road movie about a pair of horny teenage boys, with homoerotic subtext so overt it’s just plain text – which launched the pair into a new stra- tum of fame. For six months, they were on the road hitting the festival circuit. “I had no expec- tations of how my life was going to change,” Luna recalls. “And then we went to the Venice Film Festival and won the award. I got an agent, things started to happen. We went to Europe, South America, Japan, and the States.” It was the kind of promotional circuit usu- ally reserved for global blockbusters. Both Luna and García Bernal remember it as lightning in a bottle, the kind of film that strikes once a gen- eration. “[If you pitched] Y Tu Mamá También now, I don’t think it would get made,” García Bernal says. “With that film, we discovered cinema. That’s when we both formally decided that we were going to be actors.” For Luna, it was gratifying to see the world embrace the film, especially one so steeped in OCTOBER 2022 GQ 153



GROOMING, MAT THEW TUOZZOLI FOR ORIBE HAIR CARE AND CHANEL. PRODUCED BY MAMMA TEAM PRODUCTIONS SL. Mexico’s history and culture. “We were telling a very spe- THIS PAGE T H E N E X T D A Y , I see Luna at a modest villa outside the city. cific story [and] you had to read subtitles, and audiences We’re surrounded by thick, well-read books that line the responded,” he says. “I suddenly realised there was a chance coat (price upon walls: Historia de España, an architectural atlas of Warsaw, that specificity will take you far.” request) a biography of American engineer John DeLorean. Luna Versace tells me he wants to direct, something he’s done a few times Y Tu Mamá También’s legacy endures in everything from in the past. “It’s something I’m missing,” he says, hoping to aesthetic Tumblr GIF sets to film-school curricula. I tell him turtleneck £1,460 create something more personal. “We have this saying in that I studied the film in college – a fact that horrifies him. “I Hermès Mexico,” he says.“Jugamos como nunca y perdimos como was a part of your textbooks at school?” Luna says, his voice siempre. It means, ‘We played like we haven’t ever played rising in faux despair as he sinks into his chair. “I’m ancient!” trousers £2,000 before, and we lost like we always lose….’” He trails off, Martine Rose unsure. “It sounds better in Spanish.” L U N A I S P A R T I C U L A R L Y attentive to Mexico’s film industry, boots £1,400 having witnessed how a number of films from the late ’90s Prada Luna explains that the phrase comes from football. and early aughts – Sexo, Pudor y Lágrimas; Amores Perros; He felt it during the 2018 World Cup, when Mexico faced Y Tu Mamá También – became phenomena that birthed a ← off against Germany, who were among the favourites to movement. “People went to cinemas to see stories where win the tournament. Mexico somehow did the improba- they could see themselves and their context represented,” he OPPOSITE PAGE ble when Hirving “Chucky” Lozano scored a goal in the explains. “Back then, there were very few films that the gov- first half. ernment wanted to fund. That control is not there any more.” shirt £740 belt £650 Luna remembers the moment clearly – he had 30 people But despite the greater creative freedom, he is aware of Tom Ford in his house, all crowded around the TV, just waiting for the challenges that Mexican filmmaking currently faces. “We trousers £1,150 something to go wrong. “Until the last second, there was a don’t have a healthy industry these days. It’s very difficult to Valentino feeling we were going to draw, that they were going to score get your money back from the box office,” says Luna. “The necklace £1,350 somehow,” he recalls. The saying, then, describes the “feel- amount of pressure the major [blockbusters] have on cin- David Yurman ing that you’re never going to be able to win. But that was the emas leaves very little space for Spanish-speaking movies.” day I went, like, OK, something is different.” Even if Luna will forever be one of the faces of the New Germany’s attack grew desperate, but Mexico’s defence Mexican Cinema, he eschews the pedestal of national rep- was stronger. The Mexicans ended up winning 1-0. resentation. “I don’t like thinking in passports,” he says. “I don’t think my passport defines anything about me, “And then we lost the next day,” Luna says, laughing. “But besides that I was born in a place at a certain day and certain in that game we beat Germany, the unbeatable team. And time…” He stops himself. It’s an impossible paradox: he’s I felt like things could change.” trying to avoid thinking nationalistically, but he recognises how his roles have allowed others like him to feel seen. “How iana murray is a writer based in the UK. do you say arraigo?” He looks over at me, immediately clocks my cluelessness, and reaches for his phone to ask Siri: “Arraigo in English.” The word translates to “roots,” but that definition doesn’t sit right with him. It’s insufficient; arraigo is something more ingrained. It’s one of those words whose connotations run deeper than what an internet translation can convey. “But let’s use roots,” Luna continues. “I think your roots can’t just be from one place. My mum was British, my father is Mexican. As soon as I was 18 years old, I started going to Spain, then to the States [for work]. I’ve lived in many places, but I’ll always call Mexico home. When I’m here in Spain, I relate to this country as if I were a local. I think we have to be very careful of this nationalism that’s very dan- gerous these days.” Every night after the play here in Madrid, he greets fans outside the stage door. There was someone who came back a second time to bring their partner, others who flew all the way from France and Italy to watch him. Luna became acquainted with the city’s thriving Latin American commu- nity – Colombians, Venezuelans, Peruvians. “As much as the States is the region to migrate to from Mexico and Central America, countries in South America tend to look more to Spain as a place to move to,” he says. “I ended up understanding a little more of what Latin America is like being in Madrid. Latin Americans interact more here than we do in our [countries]. We know very little about each other, but Madrid congregates so many nationalities.” He adds: “This doesn’t happen anywhere in the world, where you can cross 20 borders and you’re still speaking the same language, right? At the same time, it’s kind of sad, how little we [Mexicans] travel – our art, our stories, our work. When you’re in Madrid, you realise how all these different communities interact [with each other] in a very interesting and rich way.” OCTOBER 2022 GQ 155

She’s collaborated with Beyoncé, Drake and Future. Adele is a fan. So is Barack Obama. The world is clamouring for a slice of Nigeria’s biggest music star. But Tems? She’s pretty relaxed about it. BY SIMRAN HANS PHOTOGRAPHS BY DANNY KASIRYE STYLED BY ITUNU OKE



“ I H A D A show the night before, so on Friday in July. “Who are you? Nobody has those yet!” you understand? Coming out of Lagos, you still feel the echo of it.” Openiyi was born in I was just sleeping the whole day,” she says. he said, sidling up to her. “Me?” she replied. the city, in the midst of its noise. Her father is British, and the family moved to London when Openiyi had a guest vocal – in the standout “I’m just a girl.” she was a baby. They returned to Nigeria three years later, and her parents divorced shortly track “Move” alongside Beyoncé and Grace She won’t be able to slip in and out of par- after. Her older brother Tunji spoke with a newly acquired British accent. “I didn’t speak Jones – on the biggest album of the year. ties anonymously for much longer. On “Move”, until I was three,” she says. “I was very quiet as a child.” They were raised by their mother in the Another artist might have popped Champagne. Openiyi refers to herself as the girl in the back neighbourhood of Ilupeju, in “a really little one- bedroom-type place”. On Sundays, everyone Not Openiyi. She had a lie-in, then went for of the room, but she’s standing shoulder to attended the same church. “It was that type of community where everybody knew everyone. a late lunch with her mum. shoulder with pop royalty. Openyi, Beyoncé We were Temi and Tunji from down the street.” This kind of thing has been happening to and Grace Jones: three Black women, across She joined a choir as a teenager, and, reluc- tantly, studied economics at Monash University Openiyi lately, ever since she released “Essence” three generations, from Nigeria, the American South Africa in Johannesburg. She wrote music in her spare time and taught herself how to in 2020. The duet with Wizkid reached num- South and Jamaica. “It’s iconic,” she says. She make beats by watching YouTube videos. She wasn’t thinking about global success, or even ber 9 on the Billboard Hot 100, earning Openiyi sat on the collaboration for the best part of a professional career. Back then, she was just trying to process her own emotions, and to a Grammy nomination and a string of celeb- a year, unsure if the track would actually make make the kind of music she wanted to hear. After university, Openiyi moved back to Lagos rity admirers. Last year, a clip of Adele – the album. “You’re never really sure until it and got herself an office job in digital market- ing. But the job made her depressed. “I was like, a confessed Tems fan – singing Openiyi’s “Try comes out. And it wasn’t something that I was I can’t live a lie anymore,” she says. Me” went viral on social media. “‘Free Mind’ focused on [or] keeping track of,” Openiyi says. In 2018, she quit her job to pursue music full time. Her relatives were shocked. “You quit by Tems has me in a fucking choke hold… It’s not something she can talk about either, your job to sing?” Openiyi says, impersonating them, with raised eyebrows. I ask if she thinks wow,” wrote SZA on Twitter. When Future sam- although Openiyi confirms that she is yet to their response was cultural. “Probably,” she notes. “It was like, ‘You’re a woman. Do you pled her song “Higher”, he made sure she had shoot a video. “Of course it means something want to sing at the bar?’” a featuring credit so his fans got to know her to me. If someone told my five-year-old self lis- Six months later, Openiyi wrote, produced and released her debut single, “Mr Rebel”. It name. Having only released two EPs to date, the tening to Destiny’s Child that one day you’re was a stripped-back DIY production, with no video. Eventually, the song reached someone 27-year-old has already featured on tracks with going to have a song with one of them, I might who got her an interview slot on the radio, and after a while started to get recognised both in Drake, Future, and Justin Bieber. The same just be confused,” she says. Nigeria and abroad. Her trajectory has been unusual. “The journey that I’ve been on, it’s week “Move” came out, Openiyi soundtracked Remarkably, she takes it all in her stride. very new. There are no blueprints I’m follow- ing,” she says. “Think about it. I’m from Nigeria. the trailer for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever “I just have this chill thing going on,” she I’m from Lagos. There’s nobody that I was like, Oh yes, she did this, so let me also go and do – so far seen more than 35 million times on says. When Openiyi met Rihanna at a Savage this.” Without other female artists from her hometown to follow in the footsteps of, she’s YouTube – and appeared on Barack Obama’s x Fenty show in Los Angeles last year, the singer learning how to be a pop star from scratch. summer playlist. All this before the release instructed her to stop being so humble. “She of her debut studio album, due this winter. was like, ‘You need to be that bitch you know As Openiyi herself puts it on her 2021 EP, you are.’” If Orange Was a Place: “crazy tings are Openiyi seems wary of being hyped happening.” for the wrong reasons – the co-signs, the We meet in a hotel restaurant on runway shows, the award nominations. the bank of the River Thames. It’s ←← What makes her stand out a weekday afternoon in the sum- is that voice: rich and resonant. mer, and tourists walking along PREVIOUS PAGE “Yes, these things add up to my the South Bank keep peering in career,” she says, referring to the through the floor-to-ceiling glass headpiece £2,250 collaborations that have helped Slim Barrett earrings £32,800 windows, magnetised to her. She Bulgari her cross over. “But they’re not the is tall and glamorous, in a clingy necklace (price core of my story,” she says. After black maxi dress and mesh hood- upon request) all, she says, the common denom- ie-bolero patterned with pink Van Cleef & Arpels inator in “all these things that are roses. I clock her shoes, black Nike → going off and blowing off” is her. x Martine Rose trainers shaped dress £2,350 like slip-on mules, with an ele- Balmain W H E N O P E N I Y I T H I N K S of her vated cherry-red heel. A famous belt £940 hometown, she hears a car horn. boxer (or so her friend told her) Graham Cruz “BRRRR!!! Imagine being born noticed her trainers too, she says, shoes £1,125 hearing it,” she says. “It’s like when she wore them to the after- Jimmy Choo when you go to the club and come party for Adele’s Hyde Park show earrings £165 out, you can still feel the ringing, Completedworks 158 GQ OCTOBER 2022





Openiyi’s steady ascent has partly coincided “I don’t even remember most of it to be hon- Artists like Drake and Future have been with the global embrace of Afrobeats and alté music coming out of West Africa. Music from est,” Openiyi says. “It was a blur.” She has been hypnotised by her chill, sensual vibe. “Soon as the continent “is like the new oil reserve,” says DJ Edu, who was one of the first to play her on tour for most of the year. “I’ve been travel- I heard the @temsbaby sample over @atljacob- here in the UK after hearing “Mr Rebel” back in 2018. As Edu puts it, the genre is “party friendly ling since last year, but it was always knowing beatz. Instantly connected to my soul,” Future and has the backing of a billion people on the continent behind it.” It’s what helped “Essence” I was going for a couple of months. I didn’t fully wrote on Twitter, praising her “AMAZING” become a crossover hit, and why so many peo- ple were blasting it from their cars and in their grasp how far, or how long I would have been voice. She’d rather not talk about Drake. “Just gardens last summer. gone for.” because you meet and work with someone, Still, that success didn’t happen overnight. The year before she released “Mr Rebel”, Despite things happening so fast, Openiyi doesn’t mean you know them,” Openiyi says. Openiyi was living alone and struggling finan- cially. She was putting pressure on herself to remains unfazed. She projects outward Zen, Besides, she hasn’t seen him since they made help provide for her family, which was difficult without the security of a stable job. Her leap of floating serenely above the excitement swirl- “Fountains” (“I mean, he lives in Canada. faith was yet to pay off. “I couldn’t take care of anybody,” she tells me. ing around her. Even her speaking ← I live in Nigeria”). She is also tight- voice is unnervingly, unchangingly scarf £195 lipped when I ask about Rihanna, “There were times when I was not just broke mellow. In person it is so striking Nanushka other than to say she is “the cool- – I was broke and hopeless. I used to steal that at university, her lecturers sunglasses £335 est babe on Earth” and “I’ve not food. I used to go to my aunty’s house just so would ask if she was high. “I can’t Balenciaga worked with her yet, but it’s gonna she could give me food to take home,” she says. change it. People always think ring £3,330 happen.” When Openiyi decides to “I just felt like, What is the point of me existing right now? You have to remember those times. I’m high,” she says. “I had certain Boodles manifest something, you had bet- Because that person does not exist anymore.” traumas that made me just numb ter believe her. “Everybody I said In order to vanquish that person, Openiyi had to change her state of mind. “The decision myself off, which is why I speak ↑ I would work with, I’ve worked I made was to not wallow in sadness.” She chose the way I do.” She clarifies that top £320 Dion Lee with. Wiz, Drake,” she says. “Every to stop seeing herself as “this person that can her measured talking voice is “not single person.” never be anything” and to give music a real shot. a trauma response or anything” at Selfridges but the result of being taught trousers £810 The The magnitude of these new “I didn’t have any self-esteem. I didn’t think Attico at Flannels experiences, in particular the I was pretty. I didn’t even think of my voice as anything. I just thought, There are so many peo- shoes £825 ple that can sing, I’m not a model, I don’t dance, but whatever chance I have, I’ll take it. Even that it was better not to express Christian Louboutin shows, tends to hit her several if I end up singing under a bridge somewhere, squealing enthusiasm. “I think earrings £22,100 days later. In her downtime, she I’ll be the best under-the-bridge singer ever.” at a young age, when you decide Tasaki writes, paints and draws. She pulls that nothing matters, you don’t necklace £35,700 out her phone to show me a series That time now feels very long ago. In the try to be enthusiastic, like, ‘OH MY Chaumet of faces and croquis illustrations last year, Openiyi has played Glastonbury, GOD, WOWWOWWOW.’” she’s sketched on her iPad. She has The O2 arena in London with Wizkid, and bracelet (price upon a headline show at Somerset House (“One of request) De Beers the most transformative nights of my life,” she wrote on Instagram). She and Jack Harlow did a festival together in Massachusetts where they played to a crowd of 10,000 university students. So far, zero bridges. OCTOBER 2022 GQ 161

coat £8,500 Balmain dress £950 16Arlington bodysuit £60 Skims shoes £718 Amina Muaddi





HAIR BY ISSAC POLEON. MAKEUP BY MATA MARIÉLLE. NAILS BY SIMONE CUMMINGS. SET DESIGN BY JOSH STOVELL, ASSISTED BY ARTHUR WILLIAMS AND TAGORE CHAYNE. been working on new music for the autumn, who is “zero or a hundred” in all aspects of Earlier that morning, she had been in a cab on the way to the Nigerian High Commission “about finding balance and finding your feet in her life. “For me to not turn it away, it must be to renew her passport. As she got into the car, the driver said, “Oh my God, you remind me a new life.” She is trying to find peace through solid. It must be somebody that is completely of that singer!” Minutes passed as he racked his brains without starting the engine. “What’s the chaos of her new existence. grounded. And not someone that distracts the name of the song?” she asked, humouring him. “‘Looku Looku’, baby! You know it?” She me, because love is not a distraction. Lust grinned, and told him she wrote it. T H E L A S T T I M E Openiyi was in Lagos was to is – attraction is distracting, but love itself is These days, everybody wants to be her best friend, but at times she still feels like the ring in the new year. “I miss everything. I miss enabling, encouraging. Love is something that uncomfortable adolescent who didn’t have a lot of friends growing up. “A lot of my social the food. I miss my family, I miss my mum. fuels you to go harder.” skills, I’m learning now,” says Openiyi. “I think I’m too used to myself.” She thinks of herself as I miss the atmosphere,” she says. The waitress interrupts our conversation a child who entered a time capsule and got fro- zen. I ask her at what age she got frozen. “Oh, I ask if being on the road so much has and brings out a curry goat flatbread, com- I’m definitely 13,” she says. “For sure. I still act like a teenager.” affected her relationships. “Firstly, I don’t pliments of the chef. “He’s a big fan of yours,” On one of the hottest days England has have any romantic relationships. I haven’t she says. Openiyi cranes her head over to the ever seen, Openiyi played a sold-out show at Koko in Camden. The room was heaving and had a romantic relationship since I released open kitchen and offers a regal wave. A ran- sweaty. It was so hot that midway through her set, Openiyi asked someone to get her a pair of my first song.” Is that a choice? “Um, yes dom patron waves back excitedly. “Hi! I was scissors so she could cut the tasselled, turquoise sleeves off her custom halter top. Tossing her and no,” she says. “Yes, in that saying hi to the chef, but hi as braids and whining her waist, she was in her element. Joyful. Free. She brought her mum I don’t put myself out there for it to ← well!” Openiyi laughs. She takes along to the second Koko show a week later. even be an option.” No, in that she dress £2,195 a dainty bite, even though she “She was there at my very, very first show in Nigeria, which was an intimate thing, maybe is open to love. “I’m just focused. It earring (right ear) is avoiding dairy after a recent like 100 people,” she says. “She’s never really seen me in concert. This was her first time.” doesn’t mean that people don’t hit £355 Erdem bout of vocal laryngitis. Openiyi on me…” she says, rolling her eyes. earring (left ear) tells the waitress it’s “perfect”. It was also her last show for some time. £1,250 Slim Barrett I’m impressed by her grace. For the next few months, she will attempt It’s not like Openiyi doesn’t get “Oh, thanks. This is my life. to catch her breath and work on new music lonely. At university, she used to gloves £58 It happens a lot, everywhere here in London. She’ll head home to Lagos ring her mum when she was feel- Miscreants in December, even as her old life in the city becomes a distant memory. ing low. “She was like, ‘Girl, don’t ↑ I go. Whenever I see Black people, you have friends? Don’t you have jacket £7,800 Prada I know someone will recognise “Every day is a pinch-me moment now,” somebody? Why you calling me all me,” she says. On cue, another she says. “Something happens every single the time?’” top £206 waitress finds an excuse to glide day that reminds me, Oh, you thought you skirt £144 past our table and whispers, “We were going back there? No. This is it, girl. This Openiyi describes herself as, at Lisa Folawiyo all love you!” is your life.” her core, a “very romantic person” earrings £10,300 Pomellato simran hans is a culture writer based in London. OCTOBER 2022 GQ 165

Bella Hadid makes her long- awaited acting debut on the new season of Ramy. And it turns out her friendship with the show’s creator and star, Ramy Youssef, has helped her navigate some of life’s more meaningful questions concerning faith, family, and using your voice for the common good. By Sarah Hagi Photographs by Nick Sethi Styled by Bella Hadid and Brandon Tan 166 GQ OCTOBER 2022



I T I S D I F F I C U L T to imagine a career trajec- ←← Hadid, who is of Palestinian descent, already shares with Youssef an tory for a millennial supermodel that does not overlapping network of friends and creative confidants. Youssef is close involve a pivot to acting. In the case of Bella PREVIOUS PAGE with Hadid’s brother, Anwar, and they’re both friends with the Canadian Hadid, arguably the world’s most famous ON BELLA musician Mustafa, who was excited to hear that Hadid had found her way model since she was 17, the crossover might onto the show. “Bella’s been at the centre of a world that doesn’t acknowl- have even seemed inevitable. “People probably vest top £650 edge what it’s like to be a Muslim at any of the intersections,” Mustafa thought,” she tells me, “that my first acting job trousers £1,250 tells me. “She’s sometimes the only Muslim or Arab person in a room, so would be something super sensual and sexy.” Prada it’s great to see Bella surrounded by her community.” Instead, when the 25-year-old makes her act- shoes £295 Hadid felt that sense of belonging instantly, she says. When she arrived ing debut this autumn as a guest star on Ramy, Nicole Saldana on set for her first day of filming, she was surprised by the gift the crew it’ll be in a slightly more unhinged role: had left in her trailer: a T-shirt that said “Free Palestine.” The simple, wel- a weirdo girlfriend. necklace and bra, coming gesture made her weep. “I couldn’t handle my emotions,” Hadid her own says. “Growing up and being Arab, it was the first time that I’d ever been The Emmy-nominated dark comedy (you can with like-minded people. I was able to see myself.” find it on Amazon Prime) follows a fictionalised ON RAMY version of Ramy Youssef, an Egyptian American I know what Hadid means. Feeling the constant need to minimise your millennial who tries – and mostly fails – to be all clothing, identity can take its toll on you. Growing up Muslim, I often felt like I had a good Muslim as he navigates adulthood. shoes, to shrink down or hide that part of myself in order to seem less difficult Across two seasons, the show has been lauded accessories, or demanding. Both Hadid and Youssef – each in their own way – seem to by critics for its general abhorrence of easy his own be taking a different approach. By amplifying their heritage and proudly morality and its eagerness to dive into messy asserting their cultural identities, they’re embracing the spotlight and territory. For example, one of Ramy’s more using it to complicate outdated expectations of what Arabs and Muslims quotidian plot points involves Ramy helping are capable of in the culture. Part of what makes Ramy so special is its his best friend jerk off because his muscular deft ability to raise heavy and spiritual questions: Underneath all the dystrophy won’t allow him to masturbate. And Hadid’s role on the show? “It’s probably one of the weirdest scripts we’ve ever written,” says Youssef. “And that says a lot.” The model and showrunner first connected back in January, when Youssef emailed Hadid out of the blue and asked if she’d be interested in a guest spot. They hopped on a Zoom and, after a long conversation, Hadid said yes. “I was like, this is perfect,” Hadid gushes. “We hadn’t even met before, but I had a feeling it was gonna be kismet.” 168 GQ OCTOBER 2022

plotlines about porn stars and racist family members and what really ← his then fiancée, now wife, who came to hang caused 9/11, the show refreshingly offers no tidy answers, nor does it out. He was even so focused on continuing claim to represent what a “good” Muslim even is. OPPOSITE PAGE our conversation that he missed his scheduled flight out of town. Meanwhile, in the last few years, Hadid has become perhaps the most jacket (price outspoken American celebrity advocating on behalf of the Palestinian upon request) The Ramy you see onscreen is, to put it people. In an era of halfhearted virtue signalling, she is finding ways to mildly, a hall-of-fame fuckboi. Like, you could dig deeper into the issues – and her own experiences – with her platform. Le Père retire his jersey and put it in the fuckboi rafters. This past winter, I was struck by an Instagram post in which Hadid high- TV Ramy is also on a spiritual journey, but his lighted the discrimination women who wear a hijab, like me, face every t-shirt £380 pursuit of inner peace comes at the expense of day. She took specific aim at a corner of the culture she knows well. “If we The Row all the people who love him. The second season are seeing more and more appreciation of hijabs and covers in fashion,” of the show concludes with Ramy cheating on she wrote, “we have to also acknowledge the cycle of abuse that Muslim trousers £90 his fiancée the night before they get married – women of all different ethnicities in fashion get met with on a regular Carhartt WIP with his cousin – a catastrophe that ruins the basis within fashion houses, especially in Europe [and] America.” It was, lives of everyone in his orbit. to say the least, not the sort of concern that your traditional supermodel belt, his own is posting. Despite having donated his likeness to the ↑ character, Youssef knows that TV Ramy sucks. If the Hadid we see in the culture is an honest reflection of who she “You pick the worst side of you because then the is in private, Youssef couldn’t be more unlike the character he plays THIS PAGE people you meet are like, ‘Oh, you’re so much on television. Real Ramy is easygoing, kind. Almost effortlessly thought- better than I expected!’ As opposed to the other ful. On the day the pair met up for the photo shoot to accompany this t-shirt, way around,” he explains. “It’s all upside, really. story, he met Hadid at her apartment here in New York and they rode her own You gotta undersell hard.” together to set, where he gamely permitted her to take the lead in styling him for the photos. He made certain that he properly introduced me to trousers £415 Hadid can relate. “That’s what I’ve dealt with R13 my whole career!” she adds. “People will meet me and think, oh, I thought you were a bitch. belt £430 Or I thought you were mean. [They assume] Miu Miu I’m this other person. I’m like, this other person that you saw on a magazine cover: no soul, no earrings £183 nothing? It’s just an armor.” Jennifer Fisher Underneath Hadid’s aura of celebrity is ring £140 someone who is grappling with her own her- Swarovski itage and where she fits into a larger dias- pora. She was born in Washington, D.C., to a Palestinian father, Mohamed Hadid, and a Dutch model, Yolanda Hadid, best known for her role on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. The family relocated to California when Bella was a toddler. “I was with my Palestinian side [of the family in D.C.],” she explains. “And I got extracted when we moved to California.” She grew up in Santa Barbara, and the separation from her roots made Hadid feel a sense of unease. She was often the only Arab girl in her class, and while she says her upbringing was mostly fine – there was the typical stuff, like racist name-calling when she was a teenager – she has long felt that there was something missing from her life. “I was never able to see myself in anything else, so I tried to just sit back,” Hadid says. “For so long I was missing that part of me, and it made me really, really sad and lonely.” One of her bigger regrets is that she wasn’t raised around Muslim people, particularly after her parents separated. “I would have loved to grow up and be with my dad every day and studying and really being able to practice, just in general being able to live in a Muslim culture,” she says. “But I wasn’t given that.” Nevertheless, she spends a lot of time think- ing about her family and what they endured: “I speak about [this stuff ] for the elderly that are still living there that have never been able to see Palestine free, and for the children that can still grow up and have a beautiful life.” Joining the cast of Ramy felt like a natu- ral step in reconnecting with that side of her heritage. She’s still working through what it OCTOBER 2022 GQ 169

ON RAMY shirt £437 Le Père t-shirt, Bella’s own trainers £75 Adidas socks, his own ON BELLA jacket, her own shirt (price upon request) Louis Vuitton trousers £380 Kenzo socks £17 Falke for bella hadid: hair by evanie frausto at streeters using redken; makeup by raisa flowers at e.d.m.a. using mac. for ramy youssef: hair by andrea grande-capone; grooming by melissa dezarate using augustinus bader. produced by anima studios. 170 GQ OCTOBER 2022

means to actually be Muslim, which is some- thing that Youssef recognises in her. “Bella’s telling you she feels this deep connection when she’s in a mosque or when she’s praying, but there’s also this hesitation to say ‘Muslim’ because of this specificity of what that can look like,” says Youssef. The pressure to perfectly represent an idealised version of Muslimhood is something that can hinder our community and keep us in a box. Hadid’s friendship with Youssef has helped her explore some of the quieter questions about her faith too. “There was one time where Ramy came over during Ramadan and allowed me to pray with him,” says Hadid, beaming at Youssef. “And it was one of the most beautiful moments of my adult life.” “Ramy has always had such an incredible ability to cultivate community,” says Mustafa. “The way he embraces people, even if they just have an ounce of faith – he makes them feel like the ounce is worthy of practicing and holding onto. He makes them feel like Muslim spaces are welcome to everyone.” O N E O F T H E episodes in the forthcoming sea- son of Ramy was shot on location in Haifa and Jerusalem, and was produced by Palestinian actor Hiam Abbass, who plays Ramy’s mother. The episode had been in the works before Hadid was even attached to the show. Youssef first visited the region in 2015 when he was invited to the first-ever Palestine Comedy Festival, where he performed a set and taught a workshop. “It was a time when the Flint water crisis was all over our news,” Youssef recalls. During his workshop, a young girl raised her hand to ask a question – a question that’s stayed with him ever since. “She was like, ‘How can we help kids in Michigan?’ And I remember just being like, wow, this is pretty surreal.” Regularly speaking out in support of the Palestinian people has thrust Hadid into the centre of entire news cycles. Last year, for exam- ple, she and her sister Gigi, as well as Dua Lipa, were the subjects of a full-page ad in a national newspaper attacking their alleged points of view. Hadid, however, remains steadfast in her conviction. “I realised that I’m not on this earth to be a model,” she says. “I’m so lucky and blessed that I’m in a position where I can speak out the way that I do. And really, the downfall is what? That I lose my job?” For Hadid, there are certain things that are more important than her career. At one point, the three of us talk about how, at the end of the day, there will always be a side of your journey and relationship with God that exists in private. And the very existence of that relationship can be mined as a source of strength. “That’s the trick,” Youssef says. “You think you’re by yourself. But if you think there’s an unseen – and I’m pretty sure there is – then you’re not alone.” sarah hagi is a writer based in Toronto. OCTOBER 2022 GQ 171

























BRITAIN | PROPERTY CAPITAL PROPERTY From former fire stations and old government s to brand-new buildings in fantastic locations, the latest crop of London developments have something to suit every taste WESTMINSTER FIRE STATION, SW1 This former fire station has been turned into 17 smart apartments, either in the old station building or in the new Station House addition, which is connected via a leafy courtyard. Ranging from one to three bedrooms, each apartment has its own unique layout and character. From £895,000. CBRE: 020 7420 3050

PARK MODERN, W2 Overlooking the green spaces of Hyde Park and Kensington Park Gardens, this new development consists of 57 new homes, including lateral apartments, three penthouses and two mews houses. Amenities include a concierge, restaurant and cafe, valet parking and a wellbeing floor with a 25-metre swimming pool. From £2.15 million. Fenton Whelan: 020 7629 2669 A s one of the most exciting BRENT CROSS TOWN, NW11 cities in the world, it’s only fitting that London’s As London’s largest urban regeneration project by a single developer, Brent latest crop of residential Cross Town will provide 6,700 homes, a high street, work space for 25,000 developments make a people and 50 acres of parks and playing fields. Masterminded by Related characterful bunch, ranging from grand Argent, it’s a brand-new town a short distance from the heart of the city. conversions of national landmarks to brand-new buildings in prime positions. Brent Cross Town: 020 3319 0729 A good example is the transformation LONDON CITY of Westminster Fire Station, a Grade II ISLAND, E14 listed building that was originally built as the home of the Metropolitan Fire The last properties at Brigade. It has seen many dramatic London City Island have moments, most notably during the been built and are now Blitz, when the station’s former crew for sale – a collection of were responsible for saving nearby Westminster Abbey from burning down seven striking riverside during a bombing raid in 1940. The townhouses that are current redevelopment makes full use the largest homes of the station’s existing features, such within this impressive as the exposed steel beams, glazed brick development. Each tiles and the three huge carriage doors, townhouse has three one of which has been turned into the bedrooms, generous residents’ entrance. Six apartments living spaces, a front will be housed in the old fire station, terrace and private while a new building will add a further parking. 11 units. Thanks to the relatively small EcoWorld Ballymore: scale of this project, each apartment 020 3925 6368 has its own individual layout, with bespoke kitchen cabinetry, marble-clad bathrooms, and flooring and tiles that nod to the former fire station’s original fittings. Pictured left is one of the three show apartments, decorated by Laura Marino of Studio L, London, which brims with character, comfort and plenty of colour. ‘When it comes to what buyers want, outside space, amenities and design have never been more important,’ says Nick Vaughan of Savills. ‘We’re finding there is still a huge amount of pent-up demand and there are lots of buyers waiting for the opportunity to get back into the capital.’

41–43 BEAUFORT THE OWO, SW1 GARDENS, SW3 Due to open this winter, Set across three 19th- the former Old War century townhouses in Office will be home to 85 the heart of Knightsbridge branded Raffles residences, a 120-bedroom flagship is a boutique Raffles hotel and a collection development of nine of nine restaurants and bars. properties, comprising The three-bedroom six lateral apartments, a apartment pictured duplex penthouse and here, designed by Angel O’Donnell, costs two ‘townhouses’ £14.25 million. arranged over three The OWO: 020 7139 5012 floors with their own FULHAM REACH, SW6 private entrances. The three-bedroom With views across the apartment shown here River Thames, this new has a guide price of development has plenty to recommend it – residents £14.5 million. can enjoy hotel-style facilities Harrods Estates: including a state-of-the-art 020 7409 9346 gym, an indoor swimming pool, a steam room and a sauna.There’s also a 24-hour concierge, a cinema room, a snooker room and virtual golf. From £840,000. St George: 020 7870 9500

CHELSEA BARRACKS, SW1 Four new apartments have launched at the prestigious Chelsea Barracks development. Located in Whistler Square, the collection consists of three duplexes and one lateral apartment. Each of the properties have been decorated by the interior-design studio Goddard Littlefair, offering an elegant, turn-key solution for buyers. POA. Chelsea Barracks: 020 7801 3081 A particularly hot new development is CHELSEA WATERFRONT, SW10 the former Old War Office in Whitehall, which is now being rebranded as the This landmark waterfront development comprises two new glass towers OWO and is currently in the middle and the old Lots Road Power Station. Pictured is a generously sized, of a spectacular transformation to create a new Raffles hotel – the first in four-bedroom apartment on the 19th floor of Tower West, with breath- the UK – and 85 branded residences. taking views of the River Thames and the London skyline. £6,031,000. With all the amenities of a famously luxurious hotel, these properties will Savills: 020 7409 8756 certainly appeal to even the most fastidious buyers. The first completed THE BRENTFORD apartments have now been unveiled, PROJECT, TW8 with interiors by leading design studios Angel O’Donnell and Albion Nord. Just across the river Both of the show apartments blend from the green spaces of elements of old and new to create Syon Park,The Brentford timeless and sophisticated interiors, Project spans 11.8 acres, giving potential purchasers a chance which includes brand-new to appreciate the potential of this remarkable development set in one of shopping and leisure London’s most iconic locations. facilities as well as 876 new homes.The most Meanwhile, at Chelsea Waterfront, recent residential launch an ambitious eight-acre development is was The Whele, a prime taking shape, the largest of its kind on spot on the waterfront. the north bank of the River Thames. The old Lots Road Power Station is From £425,000. being redeveloped and the site also The Brentford Project: features two soaring glass towers, which stand dramatically on either 020 8569 7775 side of a landscaped creek. This bold new project also has the advantage of opening up 400 metres of waterfront for public access, creating a fantastic amenity for both the local area and future residents.

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Clockwise, from left, the 53rd-floor Observatory; a sky garden balcony; stylish interiors with organic touches; stunning riverscape vistas; each Wardian London apartment is an oasis high above Canary Wharf SANCTUARIES IN THE SKY Wardian offers stylish apartments in Canary Wharf with garden balconies, a 53rd-floor Observatory entertaining space and wellness amenities that harness nature with elegance – only 39 minutes from Heathrow on the new Elizabeth line Greenery. Outdoor space. An envi- breathtaking views across the capital’s skyline. ronment that encourages an It’s hard to stay attuned to the seasons active and healthy lifestyle. This is the mantra for the most in the city, but Wardian’s harnessing of the desirable residential property – environment keeps residents tapped into the and the unique 50- and 55-storey Wardian natural world with its ever-changing botanical buildings on the doorstep of Canary Wharf collections. This extends into the Observatory, promote the restorative powers of nature to an exclusive, residents-only rooftop bar that the most appealing standard. serves coffee and cocktails with glorious day- into-night panoramic views; it’s the perfect From the entrance lobbies surrounded by setting to meet friends, read or work. There’s exotic plants in towering Wardian cases (a also the Wardian Club, a collection of boutique homage to the Victorian passion for imported amenities featuring a 25m outdoor heated exotica) to apartment balconies that allow pool framed by leafy canopies, spa, gym and residents to create their own ‘sky garden’, private cinema. Wardian represents the best of both worlds – proximity to the bustling metropolis of Canary Canary Wharf is world-famous as a hub Wharf and the calm green paradise of home. of financial institutions, boutiques and Floor-to-ceiling windows maximise vistas and popular restaurants such as Six by Nico and enhance an energy-boosting play of light; Hawksmoor as well as old gems like The natural materials such as marble, wood and Grapes. The recent opening of the Elizabeth glass combine contemporary élan with subtle line increases connectivity – with a 39-minute Wardian touches. link to Heathrow – and Wardian is just half a mile from Crossrail Place, easily accessible in A joint venture between EcoWorld and under 10 minutes. With the City just five Ballymore, Wardian’s residences promote stops west on the Docklands Light Railway wellbeing at all levels. Apartments have and European flights via London City generous outdoor spaces to allow inhabitants Airport just three miles to the east, Wardian to nurture their personal oasis: a one-bedroom is ideally situated with further transport residence has 164sqft of balcony, a two- connections served by the Jubilee Line and bedroom home has up to 400sqft of al fresco the Thames Clipper. A selection of suites to space, wrapped around the apartment, with penthouses available for sale. access from different rooms. At the pinnacle, Please visit wardianlondon.com duplex penthouse apartments command or call 020 3925 1360



Advertisement Feature Drayton Gardens, South Kensington SW10 We recently let this property to a corporate tenant for three years after it was unsuccessfully listed for months with a competitor. Guide price £4,275 per week Your partners in property Knight Frank’s prime team handles trading 10% higher than pre-pandemic. Our tenancy What are the benefits of working with homes renting from £1,500 per week renewals are 30% above traditional levels as many Knight Frank’s Prime Team? to selling properties upwards of tenants are opting to renew at higher rents than enter £2m. Ellie White, Head of Chelsea such competitive market conditions. We offer a truly seamless approach. Our highly personal lettings, focuses on the letting of these and proactive service is backed by a global network of properties, working with family What is it about Chelsea that makes it a over 348 offices that cover every aspect of real estate. trusts, estates and high net worth popular choice for Prime London lettings? Our partnership model attracts and retains industry individuals to deliver outstanding acclaimed talent, meaning you will have access to results. Here she explains why now, Chelsea has long been considered one of the most an experienced, insightful agent with an unrivalled more than ever, a trusted partner in desirable areas of London to live in. There are knowledge of their market. This is supported by our property is essential. over 30 parks managed by the Royal Borough of market leading research, enabling us to provide factual, Kensington & Chelsea, so despite being a central relevant advice you can rely on. What are the current trends for Prime location, plenty of green spaces are available for lettings in Chelsea? outdoor activities within walking distance. There’s What, for you, makes Knight Frank also an excellent range of schools, from state to so special? Inventory remains low, which means we are independent and prep schools, which remains a huge experiencing upwards pressure on rents, particularly draw for families and international tenants. Along the A relationship built on trust is vital. as we now enter our busiest period with families looking King’s Road you’ll find everything to suit your needs, to secure a home in line with the new school year. Our from luxury boutiques and designer fashion labels to We will always act with integrity and care when it comes Corporate Relocation Department has also seen a hip independent brands and pop ups. My favourite to our clients’ unique needs; consistently thinking about surge in demand, meaning our landlords can capitalise spots are Bluebird Courtyard for an alfresco bite, or the bigger picture to provide personalised, clear and on high calibre tenants at premium rent levels. La Famiglia for an authentic Tuscan experience. considered advice across all areas of property. Through our deep understanding of key markets and sectors – Prime family homes in key streets such as Drayton What kinds of properties are currently in both emerging and established – we are dedicated to Gardens perform particularly well given its proximity high demand? meeting and exceeding your property goals. to schools and transport links. Its famous 18th century white stucco fronted homes to the north and portered The Ten Acre Estate, located between King’s Road I have been operating within the residential lettings red brick mansion blocks to the south offer large lateral and Fulham Road, remains hugely popular thanks to industry for 17 years, including two years at Knight living and private gardens. Properties here are now its beautiful 18th and 19th century architecture and Frank, and there’s a notable difference here. A true exceptional value for money. On the river, Chelsea partnership is a balanced one, and the passion and Waterfront is a world-class new development offering commitment to making our business inclusive and supremely spacious lateral living, with amenities on a diverse is clear. My recent promotion to Partner proves par with the world’s top hotels. how the business recognises the immense value every individual brings. Contact us today to discuss your property needs To book your free market Ellie White, Head of Chelsea lettings appraisal, 020 3051 4172 please scan here [email protected] knightfrank.com

BRITAIN | PROPERT Y WE POST THE MOST IMPRESSIVE PROPERTIES ON THE MARKET, AS WELL AS THE FINEST INTERIORS AND ARCHITECTURE FROM AROUND THE WORLD. FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM FOR DAILY UPDATES @CONDENASTPROPERTY PHOTOGRAPHY C/O SAVILLS

ven before Joanna Lumley graced the official opening with her high-wattage presence, Riverstone Kensington had Ebeen declared ‘absolutely fabulous’ by early visitors to the residence uniquely designed for stylish later living. Welcome to a vibrant community in one of London’s most desirable residential areas, an elegant sanctuary which provides top-notch bespoke care, fitness and social amenities. Were you to draw up a blueprint of the most Clockwise, desirable set-up for an over 65 lifestyle, this would Maria G’s Italian be it – with further details, both aesthetic and restaurant; master deeply practical, beyond imagination. Sensory bedroom; the Club herb gardens designed by Jekka McVicar, for Room; 10-metre example – produce from which is used in Maria swimming pool; G’s, the independent neighbourhood Italian 24-hour concierge; living room restaurant and bar that is open to the public and local community and provides the perfect place to COMMUNITY OF host friends and family. Think freshly baked herb focaccia, fresh fish with sweet pepper and basil… All the apartments are set up for Smart Home Technology. There’s also valet parking and a 24-hour concierge service to cater for every need; KINDRED SPIRITSbespoke care is also available from The Good Care Group at Riverstone for residents who require it. Promoting independence, good health and camaraderie in a truly stunningly elegant environment, Riverstone With a prime W14 postcode in the Royal Borough, Riverstone Kensington lies in the heart Kensington shows over 65s luxury living at its best of London’s cultural quarter, with the Royal Albert Hall, the V&A, Holland Park and the boutique and antique shops of Kensington High and Church Streets nearby. Riverstone has partnerships with establishments such as the Royal Albert Hall and Saatchi Gallery, and residents have access to a range of arts events, talks and masterclasses as part of the Forever Curious programme. The residence, designed to replicate a classic grand townhouse garden square, comprises one-, two- and three-bedroom highly specified apart- ments, each with floor-to-ceiling windows and a terrace. Many enjoy an outlook over the planting scheme conjured by award-winning landscape designer, Andy Sturgeon – an oasis which also hosts yoga, tai chi and outdoor screenings. Exceptional amenities encourage good health and well-being, and include a fitness studio, vitality pool and 10-metre swimming pool. As well as physical activity, residents can play cards or chess with like-minded fellow residents, friends and family at the Espresso Bar and Club Room, as well as enjoy the cinema. Many residents consider moving to River- stone because they already live locally: they still want the buzz but also the security of being based in a community of kindred spirits with round-the-clock services. Riverstone Kensington is now open; Riverstone Fulham is set to open soon. Visit riverstoneliving viewing or pop by to meet the community and indulge in a Lumley coc

HAMPSTEAD HILL GARDENS HAMPSTEAD NW3 A BEAUTIFUL, RARELY AVAILABLE, RED BRICK DOUBLE FRONTED DETACHED FAMILY HOME. THIS FANTASTIC PROPERTY IS LOCATED ON ONE OF THE MOST SOUGHT- AFTER RESIDENTIAL ROADS IN HAMPSTEAD BENEFITING FROM BEING SET BEHIND A SECURE GATED ENTRANCE. The house has been beautifully refurbished throughout by the current owners and offers exceptional, bright, high-ceilinged accommodation arranged over four floors. On the raised ground floor there is a welcoming entrance hall overlooking garden to the rear, a 33’ front to back double reception room, a large 21’ family room and an office/study. There is a fantastic family orientated kitchen/ breakfast/family room which opens out onto a spectacular conservatory/garden room, guest bedroom suite, utility, boot room, wine cellar and guest WC on the garden floor. On the first floor is the principal suite with double bedroom, large dressing room and en suite bathroom, two additional bedrooms with a shared family bathroom. There are three further bedrooms on the top floor, (two en suite) with generous balconies each offering far reaching views. The gardens are a particular feature to this wonderful property extend to over 90’ x 70’ and are mainly laid to lawn with mature shrubs, hidden walkways, trees and bushes with a large paved dining area and a pretty gazebo that overlooks a water feature and pond. The secure front garden has gated off-street parking which leads to the integral garage that is wider than normal and has a 2 car stacking system. ACCOMMODATION & AMENITIES Secure Entrance | Reception Hall | 33’ Double Reception Room | 21’ Drawing Room | Study/Office | 33’ Hand Built ‘Shaker Style’ Kitchen/Breakfast Room 29 x 18 Conservatory/Garden Room | Utility Room | Boot Room | Guest Cloakroom | Cellar | Ground Floor Bedroom with En Suite Bathroom | Principal Bedroom suite with En Suite Dressing Room and Bathroom | 5 Further Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms (2 En Suite) | Two Roof Terraces | 90 x 70 Rear Garden | Gated Off street parking | Integral Garage with Car Stacker | Residents Permit Parking TERMS TENURE Freehold GUIDE PRICE Upon Application SOLE SELLING AGENTS

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE Clockwise from below,The Pickle Factory in Bermondsey; elevated urban chic in the Blackwell Collection; Arts and Crafts-style family homes in Walton- on-Thames PRIME TIME FOR LONDON SQUARE From loft-style chic in Bermondsey and contemporary city living in Nine Elms Park to bespoke family homes in Surrey, this leading residential developer creates upscale homes that celebrate the capital and its surrounds Award-winning London Square is In the heart of the capital, The Blackwell bronze-panelled building by award-winning renowned for creating some of Collection – a limited edition of highly indi- architects Allies and Morrison, featuring 186 the most spectacular upscale vidual two- and three-bedroom penthouses beautifully designed private for sale apart- homes across the capital and top – is now available on the sixth and seventh ments. Standing opposite the US Embassy commuter spots. Jo McDonagh, floors at The Pickle Factory in the buzzing and overlooking a park, it is set to be the Group Sales and Marketing Director, cultural and arts district of SE1. Showcasing tallest building in Nine Elms Park with London Square, said: ‘From loft-style loft-style living and impressive internal spaces outstanding river views and restaurant space industrial chic in Bermondsey, premium of up to 2,000sqft, the penthouses feature at ground level. A sales preview will be held contemporary city living at Nine Elms Park freestanding baths, large dressing areas, and later this year. to luxurious Arts and Crafts-style family sweeping city views through oversized Register at nineelmspar @londonsquare.co homes in Surrey, each home is bespoke, with Crittall-style windows flooding every room Please contact 0333 666 4343; londonsquare.co exquisite attention to detail – and destined to with light, framed by expansive terraces of up or @londonsquaredevelopments become a design classic.’ to 500sqft. Elmbridge is one of the most coveted With its original redbrick façade and Art addresses in Surrey and London Square Deco-style entrance, The Pickle Factory is a Walton-on-Thames is in the desirable Ashley conversion of the former manufacturing Park area. Set in over five acres of gardens home of Branston Pickle at London Square with mature trees and landscaping, there are Bermondsey. This new neighbourhood is set distinctive three- and four-bedroom homes as in landscaped grounds of 4.7 acres, with a well as five-bedroom detached family houses, garden square and courtyards, gym, and food all with private gardens, featuring generous store. Prices for warehouse-style homes in bay windows and impressive façades and The Blackwell Collection start from £1.45m. outstanding interior specification. Prices for a stylish three-bedroom house start Coming soon at Nine Elms Park, one of at £950,000. the capital’s largest regeneration areas, within walking distance of Westminster and the West End, London Square will be launching a striking 23-storey, six-sided,

BRITAIN | PROPERTY NOTEBOOK A round-up of the latest property news, at home and abroad RIVERSIDE LUXE CARIBBEAN DREAM Occupying a riverside location in the heart of London,Thames City Situated on a dramatic 375-acre peninsula on the in Nine Elms is now welcoming its first residents.This ambitious northern tip of this idyllic Caribbean island, development can boast several ‘firsts’ for the capital – among them, Cabot Saint Lucia is surrounded by raw, untouched the highest residents’ lounge and the largest private swimming pool. In natural beauty.This residential development will addition to this, there’s a host of other amenities, including a state-of- feature a collection of properties ranging from the-art gym and wellness centre, a cinema and karaoke room and an turnkey villas to plots of land for those seeking immersive, multisensory kids’ jungle gym.There’s also outdoor space to to build a home to their own tastes. With an enjoy, with gardens exclusively for residents alongside a new 2.5-acre impressive new golf course nearing completion, alongside plenty of spa and wellness offerings, this public park. Apartments from £1 million. soon-to-be-completed resort promises the best For more information, visit thamescity.com in barefoot luxury, in the most spectacular setting. From $2 million. For more information, visit cabotsaintlucia.com ESSENTIAL ADVICE Investing in property – particularly in London – can be a daunting prospect, and it’s vital to do your research first. Professional help can avoid a costly mistake, so consider a company such as London Central Portfolio (LCP), a boutique property-buying and investment agency that’s firmly on the side of buyers and can identify the best opportunities on the market. Best of all, LCP can help you long after you’ve got the keys – in-house interior designers and architects can oversee any renovations or decorating, while a property management service takes the stress out of owning a buy-to-let. For more information, call Andrew Weir on 020 7723 1733 or visit londoncentralportfolio.com