In Hot Pursuit

Winning Magazine's Editor in Chief Katarina Kroslakova reflects on our much-anticipated Pursuit issue.

Photography by Pierre Toussaint.

Fame. Fortune. Wisdom. Equality. Sustainability. The best brownie. Welcome to the Pursuit issue, a blueprint for goals from the personal to the era-defining. The people featured in these pages all pursue excellence, whether in their craft, their jobs, or as parents and custodians of the planet.

Matthew McConaughey, an actor known for his nuggets of folksy wisdom, has achieved his dream of writing a children’s book, but it’s more manifesto than fairy story (page 18). “We’re all as young as we’re ever gonna be, so let’s just keep learning,” is one of the pearls he shares from his years as an artist, a father and a son. 

Fifteen years ago, cover star Gwyneth Paltrow launched a newsletter called Goop. She has since built it into a lifestyle empire spanning beauty, wellness, fashion, food and design. Paltrow’s “conscious uncoupling” and Goop’s Vagina Candle may have their detractors, but no one is laughing at her achievement. On page 22, she reflects on Goop’s growing pains, the gift of hindsight and the ambition that keeps her showing up every day.

The longevity of the Rolling Stones is also remarkable — especially in the music biz, where an act typically records a handful of albums before burning out or breaking up. (Case in point: the Stones’ contemporaries the Beatles were together for just seven-and-a-bit years.) In a rare interview on the eve of their first new album in 17 years (page 36), the Stones set the record straight about the rumoured in-fighting between Mick and Keith, and reveal that, underneath the money and fame, they’re still every bit the hard-working rock’n’roll band. 

Sometimes the pursuit of success is spurred by nothing more than the goal itself. Why did we walk on the moon? Because it was there. Something similar is going on in Swiss watchmaking, as Felix Scholz writes on page 54, with heritage brands in a battle of technical wits for the wonderfully unnecessary title of world’s thinnest watch.

When it comes to the changing climate, the challenge is of an entirely different magnitude. But that shouldn’t prevent us from pursuing a solution for that, too. On page 112, Helen Hawkes asks if we can address the crisis with a radical approach to development — starting with the not-so-humble tree.

Also this issue, we curate boundary-pushing homewares and accessories (page 44), discover why the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna is considered the foodie centre of a food-crazy nation (page 64), and profile the women hotel designers building some of the most exciting new places to stay (page 146).

So keep chasing dreams. To quote the author Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

This is an extract from an article that appears in print in our tenth edition, Page 8 of Winning Magazine with the headline: “In Hot Pursuit”. Subscribe to Winning Magazine today.