FRONT AND CENTER

Through the xx, global fandom, chart success and a Mercury Prize all came Oliver Sim’s way. But within the tight trio, he remained a mystery. Now with his debut solo album, he’s casting off shame, coming out as HIV-positive and ready to put on a show.

By Stuart Brumfitt

A RENDEZVOUS ON A STREET CORNER with a man you’ve never met is easier when that man is Oliver Sim. The 33-year-old is simple to spot: a rangy matinée idol, immaculate in Miu Miu. Plus, since he launched his solo career off the back of the three-album, world-touring critical success of the xx, he’s stepped out of the shadows (quite literally, considering the band’s hyper-obscured aesthetics) with a series of high-camp music videos, high-fashion shoots and high-impact storytelling. We’re meeting in his childhood neighbourhood of Earl’s Court for a Queer Tour (subtitle: “A Mince Through Time”) of the area from 82-year-old Stuart Feather, an artist and former lacquer craftsman who moved here in 1960, seven years before homosexuality was made legal. I thought the ghosts of an old gay scene would…

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

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