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THE MAN BEHIND â€˜THE GENTLEMANâ€™S ATHENEUMâ€™ ; NATHI MVUBU

By Ayanda Dlamini | 2018-09-22

Today’s men are putting an effort and focusing on personal grooming more , this is especially true to the working crowd because they want to maintain a professional appearance.

This is can easily be identified in the service line, for example having a waiter with clipped nails, trimmed facial hair, and smells good is a more pleasant experience for customers. However, practicing personal grooming doesn’t only result in looking better, but can also result in a more healthy body. Nathi Mvuba is one man who focuses more on personal grooming and maintaining a professional appearance.

“ I try to take good care of my skin, being careful with what I use on it, how many times I wash it. I try drinking lots of water as well and lots of green tea to for general well being. Grooming is not just about skin or the exterior; it’s about a holistic approach to preserving your body. Eating right, exercising, protecting your skin from the sun, trying to distress (too much stress makes your body age quicker), etc,” he tells L&E.

He is the man behind ‘The Gentleman’s Atheneum; a platform on which he explores some of his lifestyle interests such as ‘fine dining’ , ‘dressing up’, ‘good whisky’ as well as ‘literature and art’.

“The Gentleman’s Atheneum is something I had been toying with for some time just never got round to doing until very recently. It’s basically a platform on which I explore some of my lifestyle interests. I am not an expert in any of these things, I like to approach each subject as a consumer and from time to time I engage with people I regard as experts.

“An aspirational lifestyle is something I have always valued and tried to strive for from a very tender age. I have always been lucky to be surrounded by friends who are just as aspirational. So in a way the passion has always been there, add that to my love for literature and writing. So in a sense it was always a matter of time.

“I get to meet a lot of interesting people, some are influential and others not so much. What I have learnt is that be it a big celebrity or a car guard, everyone has a story to tell and everyone has good qualities and flaws. Hopes and fears. So I try to learn from everyone I get to interact with. (Laughs) I don’t like name dropping.”

Mvubu oozes style confidence. He makes a point to look good every now and then. He believes that the way you dress is somehow a form of expression.

“I prefer thinking in terms of style rather than fashion, the former is timeless and the latter fleeting. For me it’s all about expression really. What you wear and how you wear it says a lot about who you are. I try to wear clothes that resonate with my personality or mood. Your clothes have got to speak even before you say a word. The older I get the less I care what the next person thinks about what I’m wearing. So I try to buy clothes that make me feel good about myself, wear them and get on with it. (Instagram page: the_gentlemans_atheneum)

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