PRESCRIPTION FOR DISASTER

The story of hydroxychloroquine is a strange and twisted tale pitting power against knowledge. Let’s not repeat it

GLOBAL POP ICON: MALUMA

From Medellín to the world, Maluma’s ascent to global pop superstardom has been stratospheric. His tracks are dance-floor anthems across the planet, with 55 million followers on Instagram who watch his every move. He’s as adventurous with his style as he is with his music, an evangelist for the power of cross-cultural expression and collaboration. With a clear eye on Asia in 2021, it’s just onwards and upwards for this “farm boy” from Colombia.

FASHION ICON: SIR PAUL SMITH

Sir Paul Smith is a fashion industry legend, a menswear maestro who created his eponymous label and grew it into a multi-million dollar empire. Although, now venerated around the globe for his impeccable taste, Smith’s roots are humble: Born into a working-class family in a provincial English town; opening a small shop in Nottingham where he first began designing and getting noticed; and on to Paris where he first showed his menswear collection in 1976. Since then, the label has developed into a powerhouse fashion brand, with a cult following in Japan, and a global fan base that reveres his quirky twists on classic tailoring. Over the decades his signature multicoloured stripes have found fans among aesthetes everywhere – including Jack Nicholson, Harrison Ford and David Bowie. The Paul Smith brand celebrates its 50th anniversary this year: Half a century of pioneering style, independence and creativity. And to mark the occasion, Sir Paul is doing what all true legends do: Giving back, by working through his foundation to empower and enrich the creative class across the planet.

DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR: HANSAL MEHTA

Mehta’s powerful storytelling has always brought to life the humour and humanity behind headline-making events and figures. With notable films like Shahid, Aligarh and Omertà, he has chronicled the shifting contours of Indian society. Long a favourite of the critics, he impressed audiences far and wide this year with the masterful Scam1992: The Harshad Mehta Story. He also forayed into the mainstream masala space like never before with Chhalaang. With 23 years in the industry behind him, he stands at the cusp of a new decade and phase in his career. Among India’s most acclaimed film-makers, this is Hansal Mehta 4.0.

COAT TALES

Wonder how we select the season’s sexiest outerwear? Oh, the lengths we go to

Inside Beirut's Broken Heart

After the catastrophic blast of August 4 – one of the largest recorded explosions in human history – Beirut was coming to terms with an unbearable trauma. In the days that followed, Nasri Atallah grappled with his country’s past, present and future

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

You’ve heard it before: Social media is addictive and manipulative and rewiring your brain every day. But the truth is, it is possible to break out of the tech cage, if you subtract the hyperbole and induce incremental changes. Going cold turkey never worked for anyone

Big UP

Why you need to bulk up before you can shred

NO Reservations

In Ravi Patel’s jocular, ever-expanding universe, any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely intentional. It is also a means to find answers to the big questions, discover parts unknown and build community. The American actor-creator of Indian origin weighs in on his extraordinary journey so far – from an investment banker to a stint in Wonder Woman 1984 – and his future capers on the road to world domination

SUBLIME

When he became the first person of Arab descent to win the Academy Award for Best Actor, Rami Malek had climbed the mountain. Now, with a starring role in an iconic franchise, he s̓standing on one summit and staring at a whole new peak

STRAIGHT SHOOTER

The world is in flux. And investors are on the hunt. Some countries will rise, others will lag. Powerhouse investor and writer Ruchir Sharma has refined his formula for what lies around the corner

Mumbai Central

Scenes of the pandemic from India’s epicentre through the eyes of photographer Colston Julian

CRYSTAL CLEAR

With macOS Big Sur, Apple gives its desktop UI its biggest facelift in 20 years. Alan Dye, VP of Human Interface, takes GQ through a redesign that marries minimalist design with utility

The Hate U Give

The most powerful African-American voices you need to be reading right now

Vidyut Jammwal - The Outsider

Every generation produces a new kind of action star. Ours is Vidyut Jammwal, a trained martial artist in kalaripayattu, who’s built himself a strong and loyal following through his high-octane action films as well as his explosive – and frankly, insane – fitness videos on social media. Meet the actor who plays by his own rules

SERVICE LIP

Through her masterful Trump lip syncs, Sarah Cooper has become the voice of a nation – without saying a word

CASA TRANQUILA

Latin music superstar J Balvin crafts a pair of eminently quiet, contemplative refuges in his native Colombia with the help of Medellín-based design firm 5 Sólidos

LEVEL UP

As we await the impending arrival of the Series 6, here’s a look at all the new updates that Apple Watch users – Series 3 and upwards – can look forward to

THE Souza Evolution

In a fascinating story that spans multiple generations and continents, as well as reflects universal human themes of migration, dislocation and identity, Vivek Menezes traces the ascension of muralist, graffiti artist and painter Solomon Souza, the Jerusalem-based grandson of the great modernist legend FN Souza

THE GENRE BENDERS

A round-up of the most unusual graphic novels of 2020

CROSS currents

A well-told story is going to be a straight hit, regardless of language, scale or budget. As you might’ve discovered during your quarantine binge-watch, it’s an axiom upheld by a bold new generation of film-makers and actors from the South Indian film industries. Few others are systematically scripting content that is hyperlocal and aesthetically global all at once, and helping unfamiliar audiences caper past that “one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles”. Meet five eminently watchable actors fronting Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada cinema, as they dwell on their extraordinary journeys and why, pandemic or not, breaking the mould is a full-time job.

The New Rules of Fatherhood

Ten hacks for surviving – and enjoying – being a dad

The New Old Order

This year, Audemars Piguet has dug deep into its past, and struck gold

IN THE WAKE OF GLOBAL CRISIS, THE WORLD'S LUXURY GOODS WILL REDISCOVER THEIR TRUE VALUE

It’s a crisis the first blows of which were felt in China and Italy, two key nodes in the web of high-end global commerce... But as GQ Luxury Editor Nicholas Foulkes explains, though its weaknesses are laid bare by Covid-19, so too are the strengths of a sector that is far more than the sum of its balance sheets

DUST BUDDY

Royal Enfield has just set up a school for riding. The kind you don’t want to skip