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The Alarming Business Class Ritual Spreading Faster Than Coronavirus

You could be pardoned for thinking there’s nothing worse than coronavirus on a plane. But then, you probably haven’t sat next to a business class bogan posing with fairy lights or attempting to break David Boone’s record for Martinis across the pacific.

Welcome to 2020.

Elitist as that sounds, if New Age business-class flyers get their way, these acts may become the norm rather than the exception.

But Perth-based travel blogger and owner of Flight Hacks Immanuel Debeer yesterday spoke exclusively to DMARGE and said this could be a good thing.

In fact, to send a “gentle fuck you to the elite we see in airline lounges and onboard” Immanuel has started doing a “business class slammer” (gulping a glass of champagne) before every flight.

“I’ve… added the compulsory slammer to my pre-departure checklist.”

While Hunter S. Thompson punished the bastards of the world with “ink and rage,” Immanuel is putting the world’s fly-flat snobs on notice with a bottle of Kruger.

He has also assured DMARGE he is not an alcoholic, and that “business class slammers” are purely a political protest.

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A post shared by Immanuel Debeer (@flighthacks) on Jan 7, 2020 at 10:25pm PST

While one of his friends was the first to start doing “business class slammers,” since Immanuel started broadcasting them on his Instagram story (and inviting others to do the same), we’ve noticed the trend has spread.

While Immanuel admits he has had negative feedback to his invitation to indulgence, he says “99% of the response is positive.”

“People see the fun in it; hence there are so many people jumping on the #slammerwagon. I think most people get that it’s a joke and a middle finger to the snobbery that is business/first-class travel and the elites it brings with it.”

Immanuel also told us he hasn’t yet had any negative feedback from flight attendants. What he has had is a bunch of other bloggers and Instagram users taking on the challenge.

From Austrian entrepreneurs…

… to Canadian travel hackers…

… to private users, various pointy end passengers got involved.

To gain a deeper insight into this Bubbly New World, we asked Immanuel a few questions. Here’s what he had to say.

On the easiest champagne to ‘slam’…

“The more expensive the champagne the more outrageous the slammer. When it comes down to it, all champagnes are easy to slam, however the bubblier the champagne… the tougher the job.”

On the ritual spreading

“I’d love to see more people jump on board the slammer train.”

On negative feedback to ‘slamming’

A picture speaks a thousand words, but a screenshot speaks millions.

Final thoughts from DMARGE

There’s nothing wrong with making the most of biz: You’ve paid for it and – as long as you’re not rubbing it in other people’s face as they trundle through to Economy – why not have a little fun?

When Brice started to run, he instantly felt a high, something he never thought was possible from running. But it was an altogether different type of exercise he was enjoying. One away from large groups, adorned in headbands and fluorescent t-shirts that he had seen pounding city streets. His experience felt much more like an individual, meditative one – something more personal and less competitive.

Like many of us, he started wearing standard running gear from major sports brands – shorts, tees and trainers but didn’t feel that their designs represented who he was and why he ran.

So he decided to create his own.

Raised in Grenoble, a city that sits in the heart of the French Alps, Brice was always deeply passionate about sports. Whether snowboarding in the winter or bowl riding in summer, he was always active – and endlessly inspired by the DIY music subcultures of the 90s and early 00s.

It was during this time that he first ventured into the world of clothes manufacturing, creating the hugely successful April 77 brand which he ran for 18 years before starting Satisfy. The knowledge and experience he gained during this period put him in the perfect position to bring his new running product to the market, with a tight-knit team that he had worked alongside for years.

“At the beginning, we started with shorts,” says Brice direct from Satisfy’s HQ in Paris. “Shorts are as important as shoes. When I was wearing standard running short shorts I was like, where do I put my keys or my phone? I didn’t like the idea of putting the phone on my arm, and I just couldn’t find anything cool and practical. So we decided to focus on shorts, making a phone pocket with a membrane that protects it from moisture, and a pocket for your keys with separation so they don’t jingle. We also introduced a double waistband to stop chord chafing.”

These subtle touches became very effective, with the designs gaining instant rave reviews.
Brice realised quickly that he was onto something and started to personally design Satisfy’s first collection together over a six month period, all inspired by his own personal running experiences with a touch of that old DIY ethos.

He knew that the collection needed to be aspiring, and offer something more to the runner than just practicality and on-trend designs. The clothing also had to provide something that enhanced the running process – something that helped others reach that same high that he so regularly experienced. So Brice looked into developing a material inspired by the now-defunct French silk manufacturing industry – a woven fabric that would later become known as Justice.

Justice is a “technical silk” that dries up to 35% quicker than materials used by major sports brands. It’s also an impressive 65% lighter, making the overall running experience a pleasurable one. It’s made in France and then exported to Portugal for production to fall in line with Satisfy’s commitment to sustainability.

“Our carbon footprint is very important to us,” says Brice. “I am a vegan so we don’t use animal products. Sustainability is not just about the product, it is how you produce it. We don’t overproduce and we keep our production to a calendar in line with our consumer, which is also an important sustainable aspect of the business.”

He continues, “From next year we will also use only 100% recycled organic cotton in all our products.”

Satisfy have also been involved in some interesting collaborations in 2019, one of which was a running shoe they created alongside another famous French brand, Salomon. This represented the latter’s first foray into the road running market after producing a range of trekking and hiking shoes.

“Salomon is a very specific brand that covers a particular area of a sport,” says Brice. “They are the perfect brand for the transition between road running and trail running. We like this romantic idea of being able to leave the city and be a solo runner in the outdoors, and it made perfect sense when they approached us.”

Then came the Keiichi Satisfy project alongside sports eyewear pioneers District Vision. These stunning, handmade Japanese titanium frames with shatterproof lenses are made for the serious adventurer, proving again that luxury, style and performance needn’t be considered separately.

But it’s possibly Satisfy’s limited edition New York marathon collection that says more about the brand as a whole. Inspired by the glam rock band the New York Dolls, the range is made up of hand-dyed cotton pieces that represent the counterculture values Mr Partouche holds so dear.

Brice highlights this perfectly when he says – “It wouldn’t be me if it didn’t have a relation to music. Everything I do is inspired by music. It is who I am, and is always reflected in what I do.”

In 2020 Satisfy will be ever-present at other major marathons in Los Angeles, London and Paris, with a few more interesting, yet tight-lipped collaborations set to drop throughout next year and 2021. These new designs, as with all of Satisfy’s earlier collections, will be available to purchase via their website or SSENSE.

Some helpful DMARGE stories about workouts and gym clothing

Workout Shirts FAQs

What to consider when choosing gym shirts?

Choose gym shirts that are made from breathable and moisture-wicking fabric, like nylon, bamboo and spandex. This will allow air to circulate, making you feel fresh and comfortable.

How should gym shirts shirt fit?

Workout shirts should not get in the way of your movement. The fit should depend on your activity. Generally, gym shirts should be loose and comfortable, but if you are doing pilates or yoga, you need stretchy and fitted fabrics.

Can I wear a cotton shirt to the gym?

Cotton is excellent for working out as long as you blend it with other fabrics like spandex. Pure cotton tends to absorb moisture easily, leaving your shirt heavy and sticky with sweat.

Flick through your Instagram feed any day of the week and you’ll likely be presented with several images of topless guys. More often than not, those same guys have bodies that look like were chiselled by Gods themselves. But what you may also notice, is that they’re not the same steroid-induced muscular mountains – the likes of which were made popular by Arnold Schwarzenegger – but much leaner versions instead, with virtually no body fat to be seen.

The preference for a leaner build has been around for a few decades now, but it’s certainly a far cry from the bodies guy were ‘supposed’ to sport in years gone by. In the late 1800s for example, the ‘in thing’ was to be fat, as it showed you had enough wealth to afford feasts of food. There were even Fat Men’s Clubs in America, that set its minimum weight at 200 pounds/90kgs in order for you to gain entry. Nowadays, 90kgs is considered average, with many workout warriors aiming to break the 100kg barrier.

Go back even further in time to the Ancient Greeks, and a God-like, muscular body brought you God-like status amongst your peers.

With photo-sharing platforms such as Instagram becoming ever-popular by the day, keeping up with the latest trends when it comes to how we should look under clothes, is almost as tiresome as choosing the clothes themselves. Especially as we now seem to have come full circle, with (most) guys still wanted to look ripped, but not necessarily aiming for the extreme body fat deficits of a bodybuilder that they used to in 2010.

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A post shared by ANDY ANDERSON WBFF PRO (@andy_i_anderson) on Dec 1, 2019 at 5:35pm PST

Dr. Harrison Pope, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard University has written a book, The Adonis Complex, which examines the ways in which the media manipulates and distorts that very notion of the ideal body type, particularly for men. We’re used to the idea of women having to follow magazine ideals, but guys don’t have it easy, either.

We spoke to Andy Anderson, change expert and founder of the Ultimate You Change Centres, to find out if he’s noticed a change in body trends, what causes them, and what future male body types may look like.

Andy starts by telling us that the “surfer beach bod” look was made popular in the late ’90s and early 2000s, “lean, healthy and tanned”. But not everyone wanted to be a part of that clique, bodybuilders still had shrines to Schwarzenegger and Stallone, “[they] were getting bigger and it was becoming extreme”, Andy adds.

“Over the last five years or so, it’s become more of a social norm that men work out, have more lean muscle mass and are focused on being strong.”

“They’re going for the Wolverine look – lean with hard, toned muscle. Instagram has fuelled that ideal.”

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A post shared by Sam Asghari (@samasghari) on May 4, 2019 at 9:50pm PDT

Just as Instagram has been a go-to bible for women to see how they should be looking, it’s played a similar role for men. We can be fit and strong, sure, but if we want to get likes on our photos, we need to be built as well.

To this, Andy says, “I think social media is definitely having an influence on society in terms of marketing an ‘ideal’ body shape. It used to come from magazines – now we get it from social media.”

“There are definitely more men who want that lean, toned, harder look. But I think what’s missing is the understanding of what it takes to achieve it!”

As Andy points out, we didn’t always have Instagram to influence our decisions. We used to turn to magazines and the big-screen to determine how we should be looking and dressing. TheList.com says in the 1950s and 60s the “executive look” was in fashion. Men wanted to appear big, but without the necessity for muscle, so they would wear boxy blazers with a looser fit compared to the slim and skinny styles of today.

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A post shared by jm_zalu (@bond_and_boats) on Feb 8, 2019 at 10:29am PST

Bodies did slim down somewhat in the late 60s and 70s with the arrival of Sean Connery as the first James Bond. He introduced an ever-so-slightly more toned figure, although still no abs to be seen. However, his suits were cut closer to the body and his chest was hairy. To many, he is the epitome of a ‘manly man’.

Of course, not everybody sticks to the “ideal”, some like to stray from the path. Take Leonardo DiCaprio for example, the 45-year-old actor championed the ‘dad bod’ look back in 2016. And – for many men – this was taken as an opportunity to let themselves go.

As far as we’re concerned, you should be able to do what the heck you want with your body, and leave the shrill “dad bod mania” headlines for those stuck in 2016. But is loosening your standard to the point of a dad bod healthy? We asked an expert to find out.

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A post shared by Total Dad Move (@totaldadmove) on Dec 10, 2015 at 8:29am PST

According to Andy, it can be ok, but it has its conditions. “What we accept is very personal, but the way we should all be judging our bodies and lives is how we feel day-to-day.”

“We should ask ourselves: ‘Do I feel good? Is my energy increasing? Am I sustaining my momentum during the day? Do I feel happier? Do I have more clarity? Do I feel more motivated? And not just: ‘What do I look like?'”

“In all honesty, being lean, healthy and having a smaller waistline is just a reflection of eating clean and moving properly. So, you’ll naturally lose the ‘dad bod’ if you’re focused on clean eating and movement, but your first preoccupation should be how you feel.”

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A post shared by Garrett Neff (@gwneff) on Mar 5, 2019 at 11:44am PST

This is a sentiment reiterated by research conducted by American gym chain Planet Fitness in 2019, which found that 79 percent (of the 2,217 mixed-sex study group) were happy with their figure, while 46 percent revealed a ‘dad bod’ made them feel relaxed. Furthermore, 78 percent said a ‘dad bod’ represented a man who was comfortable in his own skin.

As for ‘the next big thing’ in male body trends, Andy says, “it’s an evolution and I think we’ll move towards taking a more holistic view of things. We’ll move away from the superficial. People will learn about who they need to be in order to live true to their authentic self. That’s the next positive evolution I hope will happen.”

As for the last ten years of Instagram, here’s our take on what has ebbed in and out of stye.

2010 to 2012

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#youngcorymonteith

A post shared by Cory Monteith GLEE (@corymonteithpic) on Mar 13, 2016 at 5:41am PDT

The time period between 2010-2012 was dominated by Cory Monteith, James Franco and Ryan Reynolds types, as society got over its Green Day emo punk hangover.

2013 to 2015

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A post shared by Brad Pitt (@bradpittofflcial) on Dec 1, 2019 at 9:38am PST

According to Glamour Magazine, the hottest guys of this time period marked a return to the classics: George Clooney, Mathew McConaughey, Ashton Kutcher, Daniel Craig, Jon Hamm and Brad Pitt.

2015 to 2017

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A post shared by Ross Edgley (@rossedgley) on Oct 21, 2019 at 7:28am PDT

These years saw a divergence in men’s physique. Some revered Leonardo DiCaprio’s dad bod (see: Emilia Clarke Says Her Ideal Man Has A Dad Bod), but most went more in the ‘get as jacked as possible direction’ at the behest of growing icons like Joe Rogan and Ross Edgley.

2018 to 2020

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A post shared by Tim Robards (@mrtimrobards) on Feb 7, 2020 at 9:16pm PST

Particularly in Australia, the most popular men’s body of the decade crystallised as a mix between the jacked bros of 2017, and the chubby wholesome rig of 2016. In other words: strong but not too ripped, not too huge, and not too skinny.

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A post shared by Lachie Brycki (@lachiebrycki) on Sep 21, 2019 at 3:23am PDT

While, as we discussed earlier, you shouldn’t feel pressure to look like this (let’s be honest, there’s only a small percentage of the population that will achieve it, and it’s not necessarily any healthier, only more coveted than other body types), if you are keen to join the fad, the articles below aren’t a bad place to start.