Editor’s Note
Stop the presses. South African designer Thebe Magugu has won this year’s LVMH Prize. Even if you’re not into fashion, the news that a local guy, hailing from Kimberley, went up against 1,700 other young designers from 100 countries and won a prestigious international award is huge. No wonder the newsroom was abuzz on Wednesday (the day Lifestyle goes to print) with last-minute changes to cover spreads — Thebe deserves his moment to shine.
When actress Alicia Vikander, the face of Louis Vuitton, presented Magugu with the prize this week, she said: “The talent in this room is quite simply stupefying, and the finalists represent the future of fashion.”
What Magugu really represents is the passion and determination to set your mind to something and then go about achieving it. In the press release after his win he said: “I can’t say this has been two years in the making: this has been in the making since Grade four. Every cell in my body has been geared towards my being a person in fashion and being a designer.”
It reminds me of what Bruce Springsteen said when New Yorker editor David Remnick asked him what he would have been if he hadn’t made it as a superstar rock god. Springsteen answered that he’d simply be playing music in dives along the Jersey shore, scraping enough dimes together to get by. He added, if you really want to make it, you don’t have a plan B.
Another thing not everybody knows about Springsteen is that he’s gone though debilitating depression. That’s something many people who’ve turned to alternative treatments and therapies to enable them to cope know all about.
Ibogaine, a plant native to Gabon, is being hailed by some as a miracle drug and patients who have been through the programme describe it as a “lifetime of therapy in a night”. Ufrieda Ho asks those in the know what Ibogaine is about.
The story is personal to me — a close family member had the treatment, which includes visions, purging and an emotional roller-coaster ride and she’s come out the other side changed for the better.
If a hallucinogenic medicinal plant that makes you vomit is too extreme a therapy for you, there are lots of others, including the controversial trip du jour — microdosing — though, it must be said, it is dangerous and illegal. Sanet Oberholzer found someone willing to speak about her experiences with the trend.
There’s also sound therapy, family therapy and a host of others that we’re importing from Silicone Valley. Or you could just try a good book, a movie or a series or take in some art for light relief and to escape your life for a while.
We have it all for you in this week’s edition.