Nabihah Iqbal’s Sonic Homes between London to Cape Town

Jan 19, 2023 | Interviews, Music

Nabihah Iqbal is a citizen of the world – she has many homes, across many corners of the planet. Cape Town is one such place that Nabihah has returned to again and again; and as a multi-hyphenated musician, DJ and producer – it was in Cape Town during her MPhil degree that she played her first bigger gigs. Born and raised in London – a city that that remains her anchor no matter where she reaches out into the world – Nabihah’s return to the Mother City in the last two months has been in tandem with finishing her highly anticipated new album – as Nabihah says, “the most challenging thing I’ve ever created.” From her nearly decade long work at iconic NTS Radio, to piloting innumerable spaces for music and community to flourish such as Glory to Sound and New Music Energy – Nabihah is a sonically inclined in every facet of her being; music is her medicine, and it is through music that Nabihah interrogates, participates and understands the world.
“London is still my favourite place in the world – it’s one of those rare examples of a city where it’s multicultural, but it works and it’s integrated; everything is mixed up, and that in itself has lent to the formation of so many unique music cultures. I grew up in the middle of London, so I’ve definitely been spoiled in terms of musical opportunities that have been around me; even in terms of gigs and clubs, and watching live music from a really young age.” Home to the most pioneering online radio station originating out of Hackney – Nabihah’s long-standing residency at NTS Radio forms part of a movement unto itself. With their iconic booth, NTS founder Femi Adeyemi initiated a cultural wave most succinctly described by the station’s tagline, “for an international community of music lovers” – NTS is musicians’s favourite music platform, and has provided endless study and celebration of all variations of music from all over the world, through many ages and eras; old and new. For Nabihah, who studied an honours BA in History and Ethnomusicology at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) – NTS is the most perfect space. On this, she says ‘’I’ll be celebrating my 10th anniversary on the station this year, which is mad! So much music. It’s an amazing radio station, and I think they were one of the first to do it; there are a lot of online radio stations now, which is really great as they all have their own niche, but I think NTS set the course for this kind of format in many ways. It’s been an incredible pleasure to explore music through the platform; a lot of my shows have been influenced by studies, so it’s a lot about playing interesting and unusual music from all around the world, and then talking about it, too. I think now, we see a lot more DJs taking interest in different musical cultures, and there’s a lot of record labels presenting music from around the globe to a more western audience, so things have definitely come a long way since I started at NTS. The whole point of music is to share it.” NTS may no longer have its sticker-emblazoned hut studio – a pilgrimage site in inner London and mantle of contemporary musical exploration – to which Nabihah reminisces, “Our hut studio got knocked down during COVID, so a lot of people ended up presenting live from their homes, or from their other studios. I’ve gotten used to doing it at home, it saves me a lot of travel across London. It’s such a great way to share music, especially as I like so many different types of music – I’ve never felt like I had to limit myself and what I want to share, whether it’s my own music or other artists. There is a total freedom too, because with radio, you’re not trying to make people dance – you can play whatever you’d like, you’re not trying to make people move necessarily like you are during a live DJ set.” This experimental mode of NTS is such that it feels like a co-creative, co-inquisitive journey between presenter and listener; and it’s this that makes the space, and a DJ like Nabihah, sacred forces for music’s keeping in the 21st century.

When Nabihah’s husband, designer Nicholas Daley, debuted at London Fashion Week for SS18; Nabihah performed her undergraduate performance instrument, the sitar alongside Karanjee Gaba; they performed the Raga Yaman, which you can listen to  here. A strikingly complex instrument; Nabihah says of the sitar, “I had always wanted to play the sitar, and when I got to university – I finally got the chance to learn. I thought it would be a relatively easy transition, because I already played the guitar, but actually it’s so different and much, much harder. It requires a lot of physical and stamina and focus. Growing up playing other instruments, you can get away with playing things in quite a relaxed manner – with the sitar, before you start playing – you have to have your body in a very specific position. Mentally, it brings you into a whole different space. Learning about that whole tradition of music that exists across Pakistan and North India is just such a different approach to how I was used to learning music. It is an oral tradition, there is no notation, so you have to learn things by heart and just from listening and feeling; I think it’s actually much more of a profound way of interacting with music. I’ve actually for the first time ever included sitar in my own music with this new album, and that feels good.” Nabihah notes that including sitar in her new album forms part of an ongoing experience of her own identity; “Even using my real name now (Nabihah was formerly known as Throwing Shade), and to incorporate instruments from my own Pakistani heritage, yeah – its that thing of constantly experiencing your identity, who you are, the elements that you find that want to put into your art, so I feel really happy about it.”

Nabihah has been in Cape Town for two months and for those who don’t know her personally in the city, it may seem interesting that she’d be here for this long – sometimes in the mundanity and pressure of everyday life, we forget what a special place this city is. Of Nabihah’s deep connection to South Africa, she says “The first time I came here was 2008 on a family holiday and that year at uni I had done the South African history course, and that was the first time I’d been somewhere right after studying it. My professor was from Cape Town originally and he was a really good teacher, and got me really interested in the topic. When I got here, I was just so excited to be somewhere that I had been reading and writing about. After my undergrad, I went to do my masters at Cambridge – a research MPhil – and that was all about South African history. I was looking at the political role of the Black press between 1950 and 1977, and part of my research was coming out to Cape Town and Joburg. I was looking at the newspaper archives here in Cape Town and I was interviewing journalists and Black Consciousness activists here and in Joburg and Soweto. I was starting to make friends here already. After that, I did the law conversion course and the bar, and after being called to the bar, I came back to South Africa to work with a group of women activists at the Women’s Legal Centre, and I spent six months here.” The contrast of a young, intellectual life in Cape Town’s academic, activist and music scenes formed characterisation qualities in Nabihah’s life path; this is perhaps why she has returned here to see friends and spend some time in the sun, “I have such good friends here, and people are so friendly in Cape Town – I’ve made new friends and connected with old friends, and nature here alongside the food and climate; it’s a perfect combination, really. It’s always a pleasure to be back.”

In a sort of obvious, slightly cliché way, I ask Nabihah what music is to her – what has made her dedicate her artistic vision to this art form, albeit in so many ways? On this, Nabihah responds, “Well, music has always just been my favourite thing since I was a baby. I was obsessed with Michael Jackson, and I think music really is the most spiritual art form; it’s way bigger than anyone can ever understand, because when you’re at a festival and thousands of people are there to watch one band, there is some strange, surreal power behind that. Music makes me feel things that I don’t get from anything else and I don’t want that is, or how to explain it, and as a musician I am always thinking about why I make music, what’s the point of it? Everyone is on that quest, there’s something really special that we can’t articulate, but we try.” While I am not musically inclined, music exists to me in an entirely different dimension than anything else; I can be struck by a piece of art, but the intangible feeling that a song can evoke, stirring solely in my own subjective memory and experience is quite inexplicable and that this happens every minute, of every day – all across the planet – yes, Nabihah is right, I think. Music is the most spiritual art-form and force. 

Nabihah is currently celebrating finishing a four-year long album; a body of work that has required her to dig deeper than ever before, “This one has been a lot harder – the biggest, hardest thing I’ve ever had to work on. Finishing it just felt very emotional because there were so many moments where I thought I would never finish it all. One of the main obstacles was getting my studio burgled in 2020 – I didn’t have my work backed-up, so I lost two years of work and then I basically had to start from scratch again. Then I broke my hand, and then my ankle; there were so many things after the other. Normally I feel like I’m quite a resilient person, I can just get on with things, and it’s hard to be creative when you don’t feel good in your head or body. I eventually had to leave London and go to the countryside; I felt like I would focus better, living in the heart of London, the distractions are endless and so much going on. I went to Scotland, and then to Suffolk and I was totally alone. I logged out of my socials. This album is a lot more introspective, and everything in it is more specific and personal.”

Lastly, I had to know – what are Nabihah’s favourite gems in Cape Town? ‘’My number one favourite place is the Seapoint swimming pool, and that’s why I’m staying here so I can walk there everyday. As a Londoner, you don’t understand how good it feels to be living in a place where you can go to the amazing, beautiful 50 metre, outdoor swimming pool, right at the ocean, every morning. You guys are so lucky. I go swimming every morning. My favourite food discovery is probably Kleinsky’s; when I first stayed in Cape Town, my morning ritual was swimming at Seapoint, and then New York Bagel after – that’s not here anymore, and now it’s Kleinsky’s. Mali South on Long St is such a good spot, I always get things made when I’m here, and Meiga who runs the store is amazing. Then Arthur’s Mini Super which is great, and Barley Beach – which is so busy these days, when I lived here 10 years ago, there were never very many people there. Then definitely One Park! I’ve been friends with Matt (Hichens) and Aaron (Peters) for a long time – they’re kind of kingpins of the music scene here – and then to just see their trajectory, and this amazing space, is a real pleasure to see. Us three listened to the first pressing of my album together in their the other day – that was very emotional, and I never thought that the first time I would be listening to the album, in the four years of making it, would be in Cape Town with two of my oldest friends from here, in their listening bar. It was such a good moment.”

Written by: Holly Beaton

Published: 20 January 2023

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

We Are Begging 2023 to Kill Microtrends

Jan 18, 2023 | Fashion

Reality can be really, really absurd. On one hand, we have never been more urgently aware nor required to act in lieu of the devastation that is climate change; with 2022 seeing thousands of scientists participating in civil disobedience, and who have warned that the effects of our warming planet – and our (often involuntary) participation is accelerating this heating – has arrived – and that systems of governance and industry have known for decades that we would meet this point. This sits in stark contrast to the hyper-consumerist stronghold 2022 had on us all; we have never been buying and discarding more products and cosplaying in subcultures and trends than we have in the last year. While self-expression is one thing – and we have an abundance of ways to do it in our world today – journalists from Vice and GoodOnYou have been reporting on the connection between microtrends and the sinister rise and success of fast-fashion giants like SHEIN. As Maggie Zhou investigates and reports for GoodOnYou, “Micro trends are the fuel to ultra fast fashion’s engine. While they often spur organically on platforms like TikTok, brands with alarming labour and environmental track records capitalise off these micro trends to push consumption and waste to new levels.” GoodOnYou provides exceptional reporting and  the most comprehensive directory and rating system available for fashion brands and their impact on the planet, people and animals. 

So what are microtrends? These are snapshot moments that burst out of varying corners of the internet – and become obsolete just as quickly, generally by social media users; think temporarily reigning products like the Miu Miu skirt or micro-cultural predictions like ‘Indie Sleaze’, or ‘gnomecore’ – each of these variations of a microtrends exhibit an aspect of emerging collective behaviours or aspiration; this being an absolute key driver for brands like SHEIN to act fast, creating and distributing their clothing in obscenely unethical ways. In a way, it almost feels like a satirical dance we are all doing; like a responsive performance to the way technology and capitalism have intersected to embed themselves in our hearts, minds and mostly critically, our wallets; and yet, there are real-life consequences for the seemingly harmless or nonsensical proliferation of microtrends. In Izzy Copestake’s brilliant piece for Vice, titled ‘Please Stop Falling for Microtrends’, she speaks to sustainable fashion educator Tom Crisp, who says, “The trends prey on our insecurities about the way we look and feel,” he says, “encouraging us to consume more in order to stay on trend. These clothes are often designed to be worn once or twice before being thrown away,” says Crisp. “So this consumption adds to fashion’s huge waste clothing problem, especially for the Global South, where most of this waste ends up, destroying local environments and local fashion and textile industries. These clothes are overproduced and generally made from fossil fuel-derived plastics, further adding to the environmental and climate emergency through oil extraction, chemical pollution and causing microplastics to leach into soils and seas degrading the ecosystem.” 

When quirky, collective micro-movements or identities such as fairycore / cottagecore / Gorpcore and normcore (etc, etc) are unable to be independent of hyper-consumption; we have a problem. Perhaps only the rise of thrifting seems to err on the side of caution around consumption – with Gen-Zs leading the charge, and thrifting being one of the biggest ways in which we consume. In a conversation among CEC’s team, the starting sentiment to the year was stylistic exhaustion – with our designer, Briony Blevin, saying, “I don’t even know what to wear anymore.”; this appears to be the precise notion of the 21st century. With the 2000s marked by y2K pop style, and the 2010s by ‘indie sleaze’ – alongside trend cycles shortening, will style remain neatly packaged into decades as with the hippies of the 1960s or grunge and hip-hop in the 1990s? While these are markers of the youth, over-culture – not everyone was wearing plaid in the 90s – how do we throw caution to the wind of our own sense of style, and bow out of the demanding, trickle-down seasons of the runway that find their way onto shelves in our local stores? As always, my rule is buy less – thrift as often as possible – and invest in pieces that I can see myself wearing in years to come; pieces that might only need accessories to draw into a different ‘iteration’ of style. As for the rest? I hope we can find a way through the materialism defining who we feel ourselves to be…and still look cute while doing it.

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Images:
Bratz doll: Sonia Singh.
Miu Miu miniskirt: Estrop/Getty Images.
Jethro Nepomuceno: Dazed
Panos Pictures Public Eye: Shein
Snood: Calvin Klein

 

Written by: Holly Beaton

Collage by: Briony Blevin

Published: 19 January 2023

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

MARTIN MAGNER™ On Doing It Himself

Jan 17, 2023 | Interviews, Creatives

Martin Magner™ was raised by pop culture; a child of the nineties and the noughties, who (obvs) counts Gaga as his Patron Saint. Yet, in Martin’s worldwide domination as a ‘Pop Sensation’ (and, a creative director in NYC at Virtue Worldwide, an agency powered by Vice) – the referential nostalgia is kept at a bare minimum. Yes, the idea of the pop sensation was somewhat perfected at the turn of the millennium; Britney leading that charge, with seismic fame, fortune and untenable pressure. Yet Martin’s approach is perhaps more futuristic. The y2K spirit is there, sure – but Martin is a new kind of pop sensation. Parallel, and intersecting with his pop career is his work as a global leader in advertising; multi-faceted, mult-dimensional, front-facing and behind the scenes. Martin is not a pop star because he was scouted in a mall here in the Cape Town or in LA – and he’s not a pop star to cut cheques for old, white men in suits; Martin is a pop star because he claimed this personification for himself, “I woke up one day and realised no one was going to make me a pop star, so I decided to do it myself.”  and whether its performance, or wholly the vision, that’s a secret he’ll never tell. XoXo.

(That question is also irrelevant. This is 2023, where free-reign and even freer expression is the only pursuit.)

Martin’s origin story begins at Red & Yellow – Creative School of Business, after high school in Paarl, being in the Mother city stoked the fire of Martin’s expression, “I got to Red & Yellow and I was like, this is going to be my High School Musical moment, where I can be Troy Bolton. I realised I could be creative and be insane; I could be myself in a way I had not been able to, before. It was an iconic time, I met all my friends, and I was able to go out and experiment with who I can and can’t be. The photos from that time are beautifully chaotic – that’s where Paul Ward and I met, and he would find me on the dancefloor,and photograph me. I got a taste of winning awards at Red & Yellow, I worked very hard, and once that happened – I was like, okay, do I want more of these?” That time in the early 2010s is a specific moment to be remembered; it was the apex of blogging and the rise of Instagram, and photographers (now a film director) like Paul were shooting youth culture in its edification in clubs like Assembly and bars like Fiction. It was the kind of moment when creative kids on the scene realised that they could be something; creative careers took off in a way that was never possible before. During this time, with that magical, uncanny 20 year old super power to party hard and work even harder; Martin reached a plethora of career milestones that most people dream of in their entire career, before he was 21, “I won a D&AD at 19 and was in London, and then the Loeries, and then I was sent to New York for the Clio Awards for design. Things happened very fast, and I felt like a bit of an Adele at college with all my statues. That forced me to approach Ogilvy – which at the ripe age of 21, was a bit cocky – and I didn’t have to show my portfolio that I had worked so hard, and found myself as a junior art director with my friend Anna Nurse, she was my writer, and we were a creative team. We spent days photoboothing, pretending to work; making a reality TV show of it, because we weren’t getting the work we wanted. We were junior creatives in a massive ad agency – no one was taking us seriously, at all. After three months, I was like – I’m done, I’m resigning.” This kind of youthful hubris was Martin’s making; and it fostered a kind of self-belief that has proven indispensable to carving a path that was precisely in line with the kind of work he wanted to make. A big wake-up for Martin was understanding that work was not just going to come to him – he says, “I was in the best position I could have been at my age and instead I went to work as a Chinese-food delivery boy. My reasoning back then was that I worked for Monks because I felt like I needed to be thanked for what I did at Ogilvy. Hysterical. I spent evenings doing deliveries, and days working on my craft and building my brand – making connections and freelancing – and then six months in, I moved to London. Suddenly, the struggle began. I had to use my portfolio, I had to use my CV; doors were getting closed in my face. I walked into Wieden Kennedy‘s office and said, ‘Hi, I’m Martin, I’m from South Africa and I really want to work here.’ and the receptionist was like, ‘Um, this is not how you do this.’ I eventually got a job through a recruiter, and I was sitting in London pretty much with the exact same job as I had in Cape Town. All I could do was immerse myself in the city, and take myself to bars and clubs totally alone. It’s the best way to learn; even now, I prefer to hire people who haven’t been trained by the industry, but rather whose life experience and craft is drawn from other places – DJs, artists, poets – who can channel lived experience is the key, because ultimately we are in the business of connecting with people. I’m not trying to sell you something you don’t need.”

Martin’s dance with Ogilvy wasn’t over – and eventually went onto build the social department with Dan Nash, approaching it with a new mindset. It was a phone call from Mike Leslie at AndPeople that changed everything; “someone had told him about me, and he made a position for me at AndPeople. That was the best move I made; it was an iconic agency. It’s some of the best work I’ve done, and some of the best fun I’ve had with the best people. We were a small agency, and our clients trusted us; they felt like friends. All the work we did for adidas was people first – human centric. NTWRK AREA3 was a project we created for the youth of South Africa to take a global brand and make it their own. When people ask me what my style was, I didn’t really have one; I handed a lot over to the youth, allowing them to guide me.” When AndPeople closed – the decision was to close their doors when the pandemic hit, and end on a high note and a really good, final package. With an interim stint at Ogilvy yet again – Martin says, “one thing about me? I always go back. Love, life – I always go back.” After being put into a meeting with Vice, Martin’s next chapter was sealed; Vice Media & its agency, Virtue, are where Martin is currently, “I think we were in the web3 world before many people. The Coke NFT project was my first highlight, and the NFT sold for half a million dollars, with all proceeds going to charity. It pushed me into a space I knew nothing about. They gave me Space Coke – which became Starlight, they changed the colour, taste and I got to put a popstar on the can that you could watch with augmented reality. I was styling Ava Max from my Gardens apartment, telling her she has to wear the Mugler bodysuit – I was in my total element. I found a niche within the Coke business that connected them with Gen-Z. It’s taking the world’s most democratic brand – Coca-Cola is the second most recognizable world after ‘hello’ and I’ve found so much of my own life is blending with my work, which is amazing. They’ve really bought into having a pop-star creative director, and I bring that work.”

When Martin emerged as a self-professed Pop Sensation – the audaciousness was enviable; Martin reflects on the most ‘serious’ manifestation of his personal rebrand, “I realised very quickly that who I am outside of work is actually going to influence who I am at work. I made a decision to be extraordinary in my personal life, because it helps clients know my level of assertiveness. I really channelled YOLO. I woke up and was like, no one is going to tell me I’m a popstar – I’m not getting discovered like Charlize was found in a bank – I needed to do that myself. I created a song, shot the video – annoyed a few people, but any attention is better than none. The ones who doubted me have turned around and have become Magnets, and it’s so different from the creative career I’ve had – I get to be many things, and express all the parts of myself, and none of it has to be hidden or kept apart from each other. I’m finding so much unity and authenticity between my personal life, my career and who I am finally allowing myself to be. At 29 I got on the phone with my parents, and told them I like boys – for the first time in my life, in 2021. That was the moment where everything shifted; I don’t want to hide, I want to live it fully.” This tenderness is what sets Martin apart from egotism; being a Pop Sensation is a love-letter to himself, to the young boy who survived Paarl Boys High; and in unison with his people-centred creative work; it makes for a true star behind and in front of the camera, both literally and figuratively.

Lastly, but certainly not least, is a piece of work that defines the altruistic potential of technology in the right hands; in a dystopian world, approaching the singularity, Martin’s co-creation of Backup Ukraine is a project that has defied the possibilities of how citizens can respond to war when it arrives on their doorstep; Martin explains, “It’s one of the most rewarding projects I’ve ever worked on. It started as a conversation between my creative partner Iain and I, we were saying how can we help, as two guys in advertising? Iain told me that Notre Dame can be rebuilt because a gaming company 3D scanned the building for a game, and so when it burnt down; the gaming company had the 3D files to recreate it. That’s when the light bulb went on, and Backup Ukraine was born. What if we backed up Ukraine on the Cloud, by equipping their citizens with a 3D scanning app on their phone?  The project has collected 50 awards in the last four months, but it was never about that. Now we have thousands of citizens scanning their city; and not only monuments. We have people scanning park benches where they had their first kiss, their apartments where their memories are made – kids are scanning their toys. It’s all safe, all those memories.”

Martin is made of many creative threads – and is mastering the way in which he yields the M To be serious and deep – to be joyful and iconic – to be living in New York City, with three singles coming out and an advertising career made of stardust; Martin Magner™ is the real deal, and South Africa’s very own icon. With a new, darker shadow-era of Martin’s pop career ahead; we wait with baited breath to witness a Pop Sensation’s joy ride through reality.

Written by: Holly Beaton

Published: 18 January 2023

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

‘the Godmother of Punk’ – Vivienne Westwood’s Life in Retrospect

Jan 11, 2023 | Fashion

There are certain people that feel beyond the beckon of death – and when it comes to Vivienne Westwood, the Godmother of Punk and Grand Dame of Fashion, it had not dawned on me in recent years that she may be coaxed by the eventual confrontation with mortality that awaits us all. When the news struck on the 29th December 2022; I was surprised at my own shock to read that she was 81 years old. I mean, of course – and yet, it was Vivienne’s precise, energetic vigour and vitality that seemed to elevate her beyond time, space – age or eras. Vivienne’s ingenuity carried her throughout the years, and evolved her presence as a hyper-intellectual designer and cultural curator from the 1970s until the moment she took her final breath. Still, Vivienne will live on – the ubiquity of her eponymous label’s Saturnian orb logo is now fully held by her husband and creative muse, Andreas Kronthaler; a natural contingency plan that has been in motion for many years. More on that later. 

Vivienne’s life is one that strikes at the core of many threads that make up a contemporary fable; now, her’s will be a defining jewel in the lore of fashion history. It already has, in many ways; in her role as fashion’s elder witch in the 21st century. With a career spanning nearly 50 years, Vivienne is a myriad of juxtaposing ideas that exemplify what it has meant to be isolated by class, gender – to be under rule of a monarchy – and to turn all such threads of being into an alchemical tide of sartorial consciousness. Named as an influence to designers like John Galliano and Alexander McQueen; Vivienne’s self-determining intellectual development is seen across all her work, from beginning to end.

Vivienne was born in 1941 – during the culmination of the Second World War – to working class parents in Derbyshire, eastern England. Far from London, or any broader cultural consciousness, Vivienne’s formative years were spent playing in the woods – a place she credits with seeding her vivid imagination; daydreaming of having a little house under tree roots, wearing a magical dress that gave her unusual powers. This idea of garments as more than just fabric and stitch would be later reflected in Vivienne’s inimitable relationship to the power of dressing. Unusually for the socially oppressive nature of the times, Vivienne’s parents deeply encouraged her to see through her education; with women being afforded little in terms of career prospects. The idea that being a woman was perhaps a hindrance to a fulfilling life never seemed to stir Vivienne; in fact, being a feminine force would be Vivienne’s alma mater until her last moment on this earth.

In 1958, Vivienne’s family moved to London; and so the stage was set for her expansive, personal revolution. A short semester at Harrow Art School in jewellery and silversmith sparked a shift in Vivienne, famously saying “I didn’t know how a working-class girl like me could possibly make a living in the art world”. After some time as a primary school teacher, and her brief marriage to Derek Westwood – from whom her known name is derived – Vivienne was a self-taught seamstress and designer, tempering her self-expression in obscurely defiant ways. It was a chance meeting and subsequent love-affair with Malcolm McLaren that threw Vivienne into design as a full time life-path. Malcolm was a self-styled ‘impresario’ of bands; himself, totally obsessed with the idea that the 1970s needed a new, revolutionary style with which to push forward anti-establishment notions, and personal notoriety; thus, the punk years were born. 

It’s important to remember that neither Westwood nor McLaren were the creators of punk itself; rather, they were the progenitors of its total onset out of the UK, styling in many ways the mood and look of punk as we know it; all leather-clad, mohawked sweat and sex. Mclaren confessed to visiting New York and seeing safety pins in place of stitches, and the grime and decay of a youth population totally at odds with the white-picket fence illusions of the 50s and 60s; capitalism’s seizure of culture and unconstrained dreams. Punk itself is a vast, multi-disciplinary movement across literature, politics, philosophy and art; all underpinned by anti-authoritarianism, anti-corporatism, anti-consumerism – and while the movement often feels reserved for the discontentment of white-working class people, Black proto-punk bands like Death and Bad Brains originating out of the political and artistic tensions of the civil-rights movements are the original blueprint of what would become Vivienne and Malcolm’s punk wave. 

Vivienne and Malcolm fast-became the ‘Bonnie & Clyde’ of punk – with Malcolm managing bands like the Sex Pistols, and Vivienne dressing all of them. Their famous store, SEX, opened up at 430 Kings Road – Andrea Tuzio writers for Collater.al, saying “When the store was renamed “SEX” in 1974, the rich and bigoted community of Chelsea expressed their indignation at Westwood’s bold move, which consolidated her anti-establishment position and as a landmark in the punk movement. The opaque shop windows appeared to be those of a current sex shop and this prompted potential customers to enter to find out what was being sold inside. It was not a simple shop but a meeting point for the thousands of young Londoners who couldn’t stand capitalism, British materialism but above all the whole of the strongly pro-monarchic public opinion that saw only “young thugs” in punks.”

Later, punk’s time in the sun fade – a natural life cycle that all dominant sub-cultures must eventually undergo – and Vivienne’s relationship with Malcolm ending, their final dance together was the 1981 “Pirate” collection; Vivienne’s attention had turned firmly to historical references as a means to propel her design vision forward. The 1980s and 90s were Vivienne’s ‘Pagan Years’, with many of her collections referencing a hybridised version of antiquated British paganism and neo-classical Greek mythology; at a time when Versace was selling neon hued, Miami-style sex appeal – Vivienne’s endeavour for self-learning would find its apex signature in pieces like the corset; perhaps the most significant silhouette known from her label today. Harkening back to a time when ribbed boning corsetry and period-style drama ruled sartorial consciousness, pieces like the infamous Boucher corset was a revolution in juxtaposing contemporary ideas with historical dress-making and tailoring – Natalie Hughes writes for Harper’s Bazaar’s series “History of the Hero” saying “Because of their sartorial significance and relative rarity, Westwood’s original Boucher corsets are highly collectable and sell for upwards of £5,000 and into five digits – a value buoyed by the likes of FKA Twigs, the Kardashians and Megan Thee Stallion, all of whom stepped out in archival designs in 2019 – the same year Vivienne Westwood re-issued three limited-edition versions of her classic corsets. Those with their heart set on the Boucher corset will be happy to know the house re-released that too, priced at a comparatively more affordable £800.” It is this subversion of her label’s own success that makes Vivienne’s eternal sense of humour a lasting effect. 

Since the early 1990s, Vivienne’s most beloved husband Andreas Kronthaler is almost equal in forging her legacy, and is the man after whom her Gold Label Collection was named; Andreas Kronthraler for Vivienne Westwood. As a silent designer and creative partner of the label for decades, Andreas and Vivienne’s romantic and creative partnership has contextualised much of the label’s success. With Andreas 25 years her junior; he has been exceptionally instrumental in carrying out Westwood’s legacy, spinning her original design language into his own – and yet never straying too far from recognition. With Andreas driving much of the label’s vision in recent years – Vivienne’s later life remained in defiance of society’s constraints. In 2012, she penned a manifesto called Active Resistance to Propaganda – a call to action for people against disengaged leaders who would rather see our world burn. As the biggest donor for the UK’s Green Party, Vivienne’s role as a designer-meets-activist is a behemothic case study on the innate power fashion has to play in driving conversations and actions – with Vivienne, materialism becomes energised as a framework in which we can challenge the prescriptions of society’s status-quo.

Vivienne’s design is intelligent design; a designer for whom references were found in philosophical prose, classical paintings, political treatises, as well the true education of people and ideas born from everyday existence; for Vivienne, the library was her formative moodboard; and this thirst for knowledge will always be the seat of her originality. Vivienne’s wild rebellion is often set in stark contrast to her personal movement from a working class girl to a bonafide seat at the table of social elitism; on one hand, she was rigorously critical of the fashion industry (and all industry) contributing to climate change, with numerous activist causes as threads throughout her career, and on the other; her vast design empire is in many ways, totally complicit. There are varying prisms within which to view Vivienne; one being that perhaps she was so punk that she climbed to the ‘top’, in order to continue fighting for her cause – knowing that with the megaphone that her social status and respect affords, could be alchemised in a way previously unavailable to her. This is precisely what makes Vivienne Westwood such an intriguing figure in our cultural lexicon; she is hard to pin down, difficult to critique, and yet – her impact on fashion, activism and free-thinking are unquestionable enrichments for the world. May she lay to rest under the roots of the trees that held her dreams as a young in those woodlands of Tintwistle village, England.

Written by: Holly Beaton

Published: 12 January 2023

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

TRESOR announces new collaboration with Popcaan & Drake “We Caa Done”

Jan 10, 2023 | Music

Johannesburg, Friday, 6 January 2023 – Kickstarting the year off on a high note, African Pop Maverick, TRESOR, announces collaboration with Popcaan and Drake with their new single “We Caa Done” released through OVO Sound.         

The Pop Afro-Fusion track, with a Caribbean feel to it, was co-written by TRESOR, recorded by Drake’s longtime collaborator Noah “40” Shebib and produced by TRESOR and Batundi, a signee of TRESOR’s Jacquel Entertainment Group. “It’s always a true honour to collaborate on new music with Family,” expresses TRESOR. He adds: “Thank you OVO Sound for believing in me.”  

“We Caa Done” is TRESOR’s latest international feature following a string of high-profile collaborations last year including 6 tracks on Drake’s “Honestly, Nevermind” album.

TRESOR’s rise to global prominence continues to be reinforced with his various accolades and career milestones such as being inducted into The Recording Academy as a voting member, and placing at #15 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Songwriters list in addition to Billboard’s Dance/Electronic and R&B Songwriters list where he debuted at #4 and #8 respectively just to highlight a few.

This New Year promises to be an exciting one for TRESOR with more groundbreaking local and international initiatives to be announced soon. His unwavering commitment to projects that uplift Africa remain at the core as he pays it forward with the Hunter’s Jacquel Culture House (JCH) which seeks to break new barriers this year after its successful launch last year in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, positioning the brand as South Africa’s most powerful empowerment platform for new artists looking to succeed in the music industry.

Make sure to connect with TRESOR on social media for more music news and stream or download “We Caa Done” today.

Stream or download “We Caa Done” HERE 

 

Connect With TRESOR
Twitter: @tresorofficial
Instagram: @tresorofficial
Facebook: @tresorofficial

Your Astrological Roadmap for 2023

Jan 9, 2023 | Lifestyle, Community

The cork is popped and the champagne starts to flow, fireworks dazzling overhead, and yet that oomph to grab 2023 by the horns is nonexistent. Not yet, anyway. And who can blame us when a year starts with two planets doing a backwards moondance, that of Mercury, the planet of communication, and Mars, the planet of action and motivation. We’re being asked to rather float into the New Year, to slowly glide across that pool on an inflatable floatie of our choosing (Unicorn, anyone?!) as we wait for the new year to properly start. No sprinting up that mountain of goals, just yet. Kick back and savour that sunset a little longer.

That’s right, the infamous Mercury Retrograde is in full swing until Jan 18th, causing mischief with Mars in the form of an overflowing inbox and no desire to tackle it. Lucky for us though, Mars will finally go direct on Jan 12th after almost 10 weeks of sending us into a procrastination spiral. So, until then, let’s just take things nice and slow. As Lao Tzu once said, “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” Amen to that. And after the past three years of living in a locked-down world, a state of flux, the astrology of 2023 feels like a breath of fresh air, a redefining of comfort on our own terms, and change in the form of more freedom to be ourselves and share our bold ideas. So, let your summer vacay stick around for as long as you can, or at least until Jan 21st when the first New Moon of the year in the sign of Aquarius arrives. Finally you can take some action and get intentional about the kind of fresh change you want to invite in this year. And you’re in good company because the planets are a’changing too.

The planet of structure – Saturn – has been moving through Aquarius since 2020, and that’s a tricky combo, with Saturn wanting to control and Aquarius fighting back…Sounds familiar, right? But on March 7th, our strict teacher Saturn, takes a plunge into the water sign of Pisces, and all of those obstacles start to melt away. It’s liberation time, baby. Think more of a focus on carving out time for creative projects, and of course, more compassion, more adaptability bubbling up to the surface, as well as wanting to be part of something bigger than yourself. Thank you Saturn. And for those of you between the ages of 28 and 30, your Saturn Return is fast approaching. Get ready for those life lessons. And for the rest of us, a bit more inner peace wouldn’t go amiss.

March is truly the month that just keeps giving, with it marking the start of the astrological new year when the Sun slides into Aries on March 20th. Ready to set your passions alight? This year is yours for the taking, and with the Lunar Nodes of destiny (kinda like a North Star that guides up where we want to go) changing signs from Taurus and Scorpio to Aries and Libra on July 17th, we’re in for a treat. A new story is about to begin where our purpose starts to align more with finding a balance between traversing that brave new independent path and being considerate of others. No-one needs to fall behind this year. This Lunar Node transit dance will last 18 months, and in this time it’s a chance to really show yourself how capable you are of living a life of absolute passion, where you not only empower yourself, but others too.

And with this Nodal shift, comes a whole new Eclipse season. Pop April 20th and May 5th into your diary, as we’ll be graced by two Mars-fueled Eclipses, in Aries and Scorpio. Forward momentum is coming, but look before you leap, as Eclipses can be unpredictable moments. Not quite ready for that new job promotion? Well, the Eclipses think you are. Ready, steady, go.

Meanwhile, the planet of transformation- Pluto, is briefly moving into Aquarius on March 23rd until June 11th where it will Retrograde back into Capricorn for the remainder of the year. Now, Pluto takes up to 20 years to move through a sign, and since 2008 it has been making shapes in Capricorn. This brief interlude into Aquarius is going to be a great opportunity for us to get our brains whizzing into action, to help us progress and start to question things even more. How can we be more innovative? We might start to see big shifts in the tech world. New business idea, anyone? Let those ideas germinate for a bit, then come 2024 when Pluto properly moves into Aquarius for two whole decades, send them out there. Nothing is too open-minded for this 20 year transit. 

And with Jupiter – the planet of expansion, moving into Taurus on May 16th, in the second half of the year we are going to see a lot of Taururean themes being magnified. Oh, this is a goodie! Everything Jupiter touches turns to gold. More abundance, more money, more sharing of your gifts, and then thinking about sustainability and how we can spread and share our riches more. Slow and steady wins the Jupiter in Taurus race, and you name it, Jupiter will expand it, but that soil has to be nourished for those dreams to bloom.

On the subject of blooming, how can we bloom together as a community too? With the second half of 2023 being a year of the outer planets- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune & Pluto swimming through earth and water signs, we need to think about Mama Earth more too. Use her as your playground, but look after her. Is that a glimmer of peace on the horizon…?

The final two Eclipses of the year are both Venus-ruled, which is oh so much softer. They’ll catch you if you fall. The Libra Solar Eclipse is on Oct 14th, and then the final Taurus Eclipse is on Oct 28th. A year of dancing precariously between Venus and Mars – the compassionate, considerate side of yourself with the side that wants to take big strides towards smashing that piñata full of ambition. Once that balance is on point, I guess you can say you’ve started to master the art of slowing down. Can we take leaps and still have soft landings? Sure looks like it this year.

Let yourself get away from having to be constantly tuned-in to the external world this year. How can you find more silence within? Take strides in your field, as long as it will benefit the collective too, but hustle culture isn’t coming along for the ride. That’s so 2022. And throw out people-pleasing while you’re at it. Being considerate doesn’t mean you need to be a doormat.

2023 is the year we finally learn that we don’t have to hurry, and you best believe the planets will make sure of that. So use this slow start to get reflective, to reevaluate the things you want to accomplish this year. Let earth and water be the elements that help you navigate the often stormy seas that life can throw us headfirst into. And why not climb back onto your Unicorn floatie while you’re at it. Make yourself a cocktail of patience, consideration, groundedness, adaptability, and throw in a sprinkling of joy for good measure. No shaking or stirring this year, though. Just let all the different parts fuse together by themselves. In the meantime, get working on that dive. Belly flops are welcome too. As long as it’s some kind of leap.

Written by: Siobhan Lumsden

Published 10 January 2023

 

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

WGSN X Coloro AW24/25: Collating Future Colour Forecasts with Confectionary /// Volume 2

Jan 5, 2023 | Fashion, Community

I have often wondered when, in the midst of this technocratic and contemporary world, we might approach a total abandon or rejection of the hyper-curated – particularly when all we want and all we consume, tends to arise by an eerie and mesmerising order of design. I feel this way about WGSN – the behemothic trend-forecasting institution – whose guarded and prized secrets are hidden behind a stringent paywall; trading in information that is invaluable and highly analysed from market, to brand and finally to us, the consumer. The open-source information that WGSN does share – like their podcast, Create Tomorrow, are bite-sized, interesting conversations with leading innovators in design, beauty, fashion and tech; as a resource for a changing world, changing consumers, and building better products. There is an aspirational feeling, indeed, when I listen to their work – all futuristic and streamlined realities abound, and then a sense of relative excitement when their bi-annual colour forecasting drops in partnership with Coloro. In our first edition of ‘Collating Colour with Confectionary’, released early last year in 2022, I wrote, ‘The other half of this collaboration, Coloro, is a company created to build colour systems for the creative industries; combining research based in the logical application and intuitive envisioning of colour as it pertains to brands, communication and design. Perhaps the most fundamental experience we have as human beings is the interaction of our visual cortex with refracted light, and such colour is an immensely powerful tool. It is the subconscious compass with which we approach our lives – emotional, mentally, physically and even spiritually. In explaining their system, the Coloro website states; “Coloro is based on a 3D model where every colour is specified by a 7-digit code. This code represents a point where Hue, Lightness and Chroma intersect. The system is built by a 160-step Hue wheel with a vertical axis of 100 Lightness values and a radial range of 100 Chroma values. Together, they create a new model to define human colour perception for a potential 1.6 million colours. The only limit is your imagination.’’ 

So why return to the AW 24/25 forecasting, and use the ugly-beautiful-cakes as a reference, once again? Within these neatly deterministic ways of understanding human behaviour and consumer psychology – when certainty is perhaps the most valued prize for understanding our culture/s  – so too, are we experiencing a rejection of hyper-filtered aestheticism. In between beautiful packaging or aspirational moodboards – the Instagram ‘photo dump’ has seen users subvert the curated social media platform from serious, to almost satirical – and when fashion influencers like Clara Perlmutter AKA tinyjewishgirl lean into absurdist abandon in expression of personal style, we know we are collectively experiencing a reckoning with the concept of beauty itself; in all its forms. As Bee Beardsworth writes in her piece for Dazed, ‘In defence of bad beauty’, “Bad beauty is no longer solely concerned with defying conventionality and restrictions. Bad beauty is about inhabiting a new sphere of expression that extends beyond the limits of binaries and societal constructs. It’s about visceral honesty and commanding the power that comes from total ownership of personal narrative and creative vision.” In taking the very tools laid before us, intended for us to be more beautiful – more desirable – more tasteful, and more palatable; make-up becomes strange and surreal, pulling looks becomes a performance of autonomy and healing – and baking cakes becomes a canvas upon which the tension of this entire clash between hyper-aestheticism and human imagination takes place. The more AI-generated filters are introduced, the more there will be the inevitable resistance; protest in the form of doing, expressing and being precisely in the way that feels true. 

Subversive cakes hold the spectrum of colours, florals and adornment – albeit oozing and engorged (and not-unlike the artifice of consumption culture itself, and in the name of indulgence, this style of confectionary puts cake makers like Berlin-based Rust Cakes, Brooke Cowitz of Cry Baby Cakes, NYC-based Cake4Sport, Food Bebo, and Made By Nez as arbiters of the femme-led culinary wave taking root across the world. In the juxtaposition between their work and the ascribed ‘meaning’ of each colour for AW24/25, I hope you find the comedic tension of being real in an often unreal society.

Intense Rust /// 015-33-25

“First forecast for A/W 23/24, Intense Rust returns to the palette for A/W 24/25 as a key colour. The warm and rich shade of Intense Rust is a trans-seasonal brown that evokes feelings of stability. Balancing luxury with a raw, earthy edge, this colour is reminiscent of soil, full of warmth and calm textures. It’s inspired by consumers increasingly valuing sustainability over newness, re-sale culture and products with long-term appeal. This colour communicates authenticity, quiet luxury and promotes a return of classic design.”​

Midnight Plum /// 151-22-09

“Midnight Plum is a powerful dark purple that connects to themes of space exploration and the metaverse. NASA’s James Webb Telescope images opened up the possibility to unravel mysteries about the origins of the universe, allowing colours in space to capture our imaginations. A tinted dark close to black, this colour celebrates darkness, connecting to a sense of mystery as well as gothic and underground sentiments. It aligns with the increasing consumer desire for escapism.”

​

Sustained Grey  /// 035-73-04

“Sustained Grey confirms the continuing importance of neutrals and more sustainable colour choices, which celebrates recyclability and the pursuit of ‘just enough’. Representing practicality and reliability, this colour is foundational and grounding with a utilitarian edge. It speaks to promoting balance and slowing down, as a timeless shade with trans-seasonal and long-term appeal.”

Cool Matcha /// 055-85-20

“Cool Matcha is a tinted pastel with a soothing and calm quality. Connecting both nature and technology, it highlights the importance of developments in nature-powered bio and plant-based materials, dyes, pigments and energy sources. As consumers continue to deal with feelings of anxiety and stress, we look to colour to help soothe the mind and bring a sense of rest and reflection. Cool Matcha is a quiet, pacifying pale with a therapeutic quality and is the perfect combination of a vegetal green and mindful pastel.”

Apricot Crush /// 024-65-27

“This balancing bright is an activating vitamin tone that embodies a full spectrum approach to health and wellbeing. Encompassing the natural vitamin- and antioxidant-rich benefits of apricots and oranges, it also draws from the beauty found in nature. Through times of so much uncertainty, Apricot Crush continues to confirm its importance, acting as a colour full of hope and positivity.“

Written by: Holly Bell Beaton

Search Festival makes their long awaited return and reveals the full line up for 2022

Dec 15, 2022 | Music, Community

Search Festival makes their long awaited return and reveals the full line up for 2022 

Search is a 3-day music festival that ushers in the New Year with world-class explorations in sound, visuals, sculpture, sustainability and friendship. Returning to the beautiful cradle that is Utopia farm near the picturesque village of Swellendam, Search Festival have announced their full lineup for 2022, and it’s looking stronger than ever. Over the course of eight years, Search has shaped itself around independent music culture, creating an empowering environment founded on DIY principles and volunteer participation. The aim is always to create a safe, ecologically sustainable and socially conscious space for all to flourish in and an unfaltering association with only the most exciting and innovative voices in music. This is what sets us apart: connecting talent, scenes and genres in a way that always feels honest and surprisingly organic. The festival’s love for experimental and innovative sounds (and for artists that have been making an impact in the South African and international music scenes), are showcased in full force this year. 

Taking place on December 30th through January 1st across three stages, Search shares a programme of forward-thinking legends with emerging local, regional and international talent to soundtrack your New Year’s, including Nabihah Iqbal, Charles Webster, Surreal Sessions, Omagoqa, SENHORÂ, Xuzi Xafa Xafa, Stiff Pap, KDOLLAHZ and Rose Bonica, among many others. 

Nabihah Iqbal and Charles Webster, two integral artists from the UK music scene, are included as headliners for the festival. Nabihah Iqbal is a highly regarded multidisciplinary artist, researcher and digger known for her NTS and BBC Radio shows and her recordings for Ninja Tune Records. Charles Webster, accomplished DJ and producer, is an important figure in electronic music, creating and curating multi-genre sounds hovering between House, Downtempo and Jazz, with releases spanning over three decades. Both these artists have lived in South Africa and have shown a keen interest in its music scene and culture.

 

The line up also aims to showcase acts who share and create distinct South African sounds. Heavy Gqom sounds from Surreal Sessions (playing at Boiler Room Festival next year) and Omagoqa (booked for Sonar Barcelona 2023). SENHORÂ, who has been pushing the best in local SA dance music as well as KDOLLAHZ who has been an advocate for Yaadt remixes, synonymous with Cape Town culture. Live act, electronic music duo, Stiff Pap have also been included in this year’s line up, known for their experimental fusion of Gqom and Kwaito and vernacular rap. 

Furthermore on the live front will be the debut of Xuzi Xafa Xafa, a new alias from the renowned Nonku Phiri bringing to life her new electronic focused persona, while the synthwave sounds of  Blu Flame (made up of Hlasko and SunSunSun) and the electronic-classical hybrid of Haiku Haiku, round out this year’s powerful list of first-time appearances. 

 

The festival has also brought in some of the deepest diggers to explore the sounds of Jazz, Funk, Soul, Disco, Experimental and indigenous music from across the globe channeled to the soundsystem by Sound Of Xee, Fly Machine Sessions, Hypocrite & DJ Okapi – and to celebrate, some of the best DJs and Producers in House & Techno will be performing. Artists who’ve been keeping the city moving throughout the year, ready to propel us into the 2023, including Kyle Russouw, re.dah & Thor Rixon (Live), Biodive, Mandy Alexander, Ray Bennett, Rose Bonica and too many more to mention. 

In addition to the eclectic line up programmed by Aaron Peters (The Other Records and The Other Radio), Search has invited Tamzyn Botha, curator of Shade Brixton and Brixton Light Festival, as the Site Creative Director. Her work focuses on collectively workshopping and individually upcycling unwanted items to create memorable and highly imaginative art pieces and spaces. Her exciting take on the discarded is surely going to bring something uniquely unforgettable to each of the Search stages and hidden spaces as well gearing a sustainability focus for the festival. 

Purchase tickets HERE

For more info visit www.searchfestival.co.za

Published: 15 December 2022

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

Food and Festive Family Feuds // Navigating family dynamics over the holiday season

Dec 14, 2022 | Lifestyle

Here we are again. Hurtling, head first towards the full stop at the end of another year. A year filled with all kinds of traumas, tragedies and hopefully some semblance of positive transformation. As storefronts and streetlamps start donning the familiar face of capitalist Mr Claus, Mariah Carey starts defrosting after another year in hibernation only to chart with a Christmas banger that probably nets her more money than most of us will see in a lifetime. A time filled with the wonders and joys of the festive season when temperatures soar, and our coastal towns are somewhat begrudgingly flooded by GP number plate after GP number plate. The festive season is supposed to be the season of giving. A time for family time and togetherness, but let’s be honest here, festive fun very quickly and very often turns into festive family fuckery.

Look, family dynamics can be complex, really complex, even within the context of a nuclear family (parents and their children). I am positive that I piss my parents off enough that they would like to punch me in the throat occasionally. Still, the introduction of extended family and the complexities that may carry, well, it’s a wonder families aren’t at each other’s throats more often. 

Familial situations are complex because individuals are inherently emotionally quite complex. We interact with each other, wounded by our fears, insecurities and baggage, expecting there to be care and space and understanding from family that, at the end of the day, is forced on us, not chosen. This doesn’t even consider that it has become very apparent that the generational gap and the factor it plays on many tricky-to-navigate touching points can often lead to frustrating interactions. A  younger generation finds themselves with the self-imposed moral responsibility to educate their elders on why their views or opinions are problematic, outdated or factually incorrect, only to be met by elders who often dismiss the views and opinions of younger (usually) more inclusive members of the family without taking the time to internalise the concerns from a generation they have seemingly already deemed to be too soft.

 

Now, I can’t speak about all the different kinds of festive family dramas. Simply put, the scope of this kind of topic is too vast and complex. At the end of the day, family traumas are often linked to personal traumas. Individual issues range hopelessly too far and wide in severity and context that it would be irresponsible to try to cover them in a single article. Instead, what I think would be far more helpful is a little crash course on some tips and techniques to at least survive through the potential turmoil. It’s not about being selfish, it’s about self-care. 

 

Another strategy that is absolutely crucial in managing festive time family fuckery is setting up clear and communicated boundaries. Is there a family member that just rubs you the wrong way? Well, clearly communicate to them and those around you that these are your boundaries in terms of topics of conversation and/or actions and that these boundaries (within reason) are unnegotiable. We all come with our own internalised baggage, and that is something that should also be respected.

Often when tensions are high, we can lose sight of what we are all there for. However strange it may sound, remind yourself and those around you why you all got together over the festive period. Meet up with people that you WANT to, to celebrate and create lasting, hopefully, beautiful memories.

Most importantly, of all, put yourself first. Remember earlier when I talked about self-care and self-love? Prioritise that. If there’s a family member that makes you feel uncomfortable, unsafe or any negative emotion for that manner, fuck them. We don’t get to pick our families, and I don’t think we should be forced to like them. You and your own well-being should be put first.

I know some people are dreading this upcoming festive flair. Dreading seeing their parents, grandparents or that one Oom that really gets way too friendly. Dreading the expectation to put on a smile and spend time with people they don’t necessarily like very much away for a getaway or in a place that is starting to feel less and less like home. But here’s to hoping that you and I both can use some of these strategies to not only survive this holiday season but hopefully grow and even thrive. It’s been a long two years, damn, it’s been a long life, and I simply won’t accept family (of all things) fucking up our well-deserved end-year break. Family drama can often make you feel like an extra in a soap opera, but I guess that’s just another day in our lives.

Published: 14 December 2022
Written by: Casey Delport

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za

Vans and Surfer Nathan Florence Team Up to Create the Ultimate Surf Travel Kit

Dec 13, 2022 | Community

Vans and Surfer Nathan Florence Team Up to Create the Ultimate Surf Travel Kit

Inspired by Nathan’s favourite essentials, and built for exploration

Costa Mesa, CALIF – Vans, the original action sports footwear and apparel brand, is proud to announce a new collection with surfing legend and Vans Surf team rider Nathan Florence this holiday season. Nathan Florence is immediately recognisable for his style and power in the water and is also just as well-known for his adventurous and fierce spirit. Nathan’s new collection with Vans represents the progression he brings both in and out of the water.

 Nathan travels the world in search of the biggest and best waves, and his new collection with Vans is inspired by these global pursuits. Built with travel in mind, the collection leads with the UltraRange™ VR3, Surf Boot 2 Mid and an assortment of functional apparel pieces. This head-to-toe collection of true essentials includes all of Nathan’s favourite footwear and apparel, built around functionality and versatility, all in his signature red and black motif, and adorned with signature details that appear on all of his surfboards.   

 

The hero style of the collection is undoubtedly the re-engineered and rebuilt UltraRange™ VR3, which features a knit upper textile crafted from 50 percent organic cotton, 34 percent recycled PET, 14 percent recycled nylon and two percent spandex. Built with environmentally conscious materials in mind, the UltraRange™ VR3 supports responsible manufacturing through the Leather Working Group certified tanneries. The brand-new EcoCush™ midsole is made using 50 percent biobased EVA foam, partially derived from plant-based sources. The VR3Waffle™ outsole compound is made with 60% regeneratively-grown, natural rubber sourced from farms utilising agricultural practices that are intended to promote biodiversity, enhance water cycles, improve soil health, and/or sequester carbon—all while maintaining the grip and durability Vans has been known for since 1966.

The collection also includes Nathan Florence board-short in black, an OTW LS tee in black, and an OTW SS tee in chili pepper. 

Not many surfers are as at home on the North Shore as Nathan Florence. Hailing from Haleiwa, he can be found charging waves on the biggest days, and his accomplishments in heavy surf over the years speak for themselves. Growing up in the fierce brotherly battle of who could pull into the biggest tube or launch the highest air, Nathan was shaped into the charger he is today by never backing down.

Vans’ Nathan Florence Collection is now available at select Vans retailers and at Vans.co.za. For more information about Vans sustainability initiatives, visit vans.co.za/sustainability.

Head HERE to shop the collection 

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Published: 13 December 2022

For more news, visit the Connect Everything Collective homepage www.ceconline.co.za