The Radical Liberation of Sam Smith

A DECADE AFTER THEIR SPOT ON A DISCLOSURE TRACK DEFROSTED HEARTS AROUND THE WORLD, SAM SMITH IS ENTERING A NEW PHASE OF POWER AND INFLUENCE – AND EMBRACING THEIR ASCENDANCE FROM MUSICAL MEGATALENT TO FULL-BLOWN CULTURAL ICON.

By Jeremy Atherton Lin

◼ SAM SMITH LETS OUT A GASP. In a calm, undecorated third-floor studio near the British Museum, the jewellery designer Andrew Bunney has revealed the cast of a large rose-shaped ring. The plan is for a finished version to adorn Smith’s microphone-holding hand on the next tour (and for the mic – as well as a grand piano – to be made out of black leather). “My God it’s heavy,” Smith says. The petals are perforated with nearly 500 tiny holes, each of which will be filled with a diamond, a process likely to take a week. The ring, based on the one Samantha vies for at auction in the Sex and the City movie, will be inscribed with the digits 969 – Samantha’s bidding card number. “I like jewellery…

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British GQ Style (Digital) - 1 Issue, Issue 35

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