DOPAMINE DRESSING AT SCOTCH & SODA

For those interested in trends and forecasting, one movement heading your way is dopamine dressing, which is all about expressing, creating, transferring and receiving joy through the things you wear, be it colour, childlike or nostalgic symbols or things evocative of nature.

I’m particularly enamoured of Scotch & Soda’s super-relaxed, all-natural and brightly coloured suiting, a giant smile emoji the form of a suit.

TONY MPOFU AT HAUS OF STRAUSS

In an economy where jobs are few, entrepreneurship becomes crucial, as do skills development and education. And when we marry those initiatives to a process that drives things such as upcycling or waste reduction and furthers skills transference or other empowerment initiatives, we create opportunities for sustainable change and development.

At the beginning of the year, Levi’s Haus of Strauss launched a tailoring workshop as part of a broader initiative to upskill and empower people while educating them about the issue of waste in the industry.

Levi’s partnered with two talented, emerg- ing tailors, one of whom was Tony Mpofu. He participated in a week-long guided educational process, which took him through the ins and outs of creating upcycled garments, facilitated by Levi’s in-house master tailor Sir William. We commend Levi’s for its initiative and Mpofu for his contribution to this project.

JADE PATON CERAMICS

When you think of the future and technology, it’s often necessary to slow down, take stock and reconnect with Earth. Nothing does that better for me than ceramics. There’s something incredibly primal and emotional about the art, maybe because it’s something we all do as kids playing in the dirt, to an extent. It speaks to our innate longing to build and create harmony or beauty from our environment.

But ceramics can also often be uninspiring. So, for me, Jadee Paton’s work ticked all the right boxes: bold, unexpected or unconventional shapes with rough, organic textures in a tantalising array of colours that still appeal to my minimalist palette. I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something very sexy about Paton’s work.

This article originally appeared in GQ print May/June 2022 issue. It has been edited for online use.