Assets and liabilities: The October edition

Here’s the lowdown on what’s hot, what’s not and what the Currency team think must go.
3 mins read

From over-the-top business trips to Stanley Cups and TV comebacks, we rate what’s in and what’s out. 

Assets …

Over-the-top business trips (and accountability to match)

Going on a business trip? You’d better hope then that whoever approved the budget for your trek takes inspiration from sports, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie’s R800k Olympic jaunt. From more than R215,000 on flights and R454,000 on ground transport, we can assume McKenzie wasn’t crammed into steerage or debating the price of a cappuccino like most South Africans travelling on the rand. Fear not, if you’re raging about your hard-earned tax moola being spent on his lavish trip, because in the ultimate act of transparency, McKenzie has announced he will be investigating … er … himself and his own budget and spending.

The return of teenage crushes

Growing up in the 1990s and 2000s, actors Joshua Jackson and Adam Brody had us in a grip. First Jackson had adolescents swooning as Charlie Conway in the Mighty Ducks franchise and then as perpetual mistake-maker Pacey Witter in Dawson’s Creek. Brody captivated fans as the saccharine but hot nerd, Seth Cohen, in angsty teen drama The OC. It turns out that, 20 years on, these two are still looking, as Chappell Roan sings, “H-O-T T-O G-O”. Jackson recently made waves when he walked the red carpet at the Emmy Awards and, at 46, had many a millennial hot under the collar. Brody’s new hit Netflix series, Nobody Wants This, has him back in our orbit. Turns out he’s the perennial hot nerd.

A fine line

Last week we went 100% Wasp and visited the utterly charming annual Glenshiel Fair. There we saw beautiful stripey products, ranging from Oyster Box-like floating pool cushions in a candy-cane red and white, to a glut of lined bags and apparel. Then in Braamfontein – the land of the super-cool youth – we once again came face to face with stripes, this time bedecking shoulders, pants and cool trainers, all in the style of in-vogue sportwear brand  Adidas. Turns out, it doesn’t matter who you or what you’re adorning, stripes are the business.

Liabilities …

Victoria’s Secret

The iconic Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show was back last week after a four-year hiatus. The American lingerie empire touted the gig as an inclusive and exciting comeback, but it fell totally flat. In recent times the company has been plagued by sexual harassment and bullying claims, and dubious ties to Jeffrey Epstein. While it may have added a couple of trans and plus-sized models, and had former supermodels Kate Moss and Tyra Banks in the mix, the underwear show felt completely tired. The only highlight was an impressive musical line-up that included Cher, Lisa from K-pop supergroup Blackpink and homegrown star Tyla. Times have changed, and Victoria’s Secret hasn’t. Perhaps it’s time to hang up those angel wings and polyester undies.

The Stanley Cup Quencher

Nothing says “peak ugly American consumerism” like the rise of the Stanley Cup – and, no, we don’t mean the globe’s leading ice hockey trophy. Rather, we’re talking about the Stanley Quencher, a large, insulated cup with a handle and straw that has fans camping all night when a new limited-edition drop is announced. It’s long been the go-to drinking vessel for campers, the military and blue-collar workers. The Stanley company dates to 1913, when inventor William Stanley Jr “fused vacuum insulation and the strength of steel in one portable bottle”. Thanks to social media, customisation and clever collabs, TikTokers and influencers are now chugging their liquids out of these preposterous, many-hued giant cups. In South Africa, they cost about R1,300 and that’s excluding accessories like straws, lids and every doohickey and hanging decoration you can imagine.

The hybrid croissant

Leave the croissant alone! For the past decade, the French pastry has been remixed more times than bad electro in Ibiza. These include hybrid cronuts (croissant-donuts) and cruffins (croissant-muffins) and the supersized giant croissant that is all the rage in Europe (some weigh as much as 1kg). The latest craze, a buttery and delicious Moo Deng croissant, is inspired by viral internet sensation Moo-Deng, the baby pygmy hippo. But in a plot twist, it turns out that Ethos, the Austin-based restaurant that offers this croissant treat, doesn’t exist. The joint is completely AI generated but still has 75,000 followers and touts itself as the No. 1 restaurant in Austin. We reiterate, real or not, leave the croissant alone.

Jo Buitendach

If it happened in Hollywood, design or pop culture, Jo Buitendach knows about it. Having had an award-winning career in tourism, Jo took the plunge and became a journalist. She now writes for a variety of leading publications on a broad range of subjects including pop culture, art, Joburg, jewellery, history, cultural issues and local design.

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