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Anja Rubik On Poland’s Frightening Near-Total Ban on Abortion

Supermodel and prolific Vogue cover star Anja Rubik shares a powerful letter highlighting the realities surrounding Polish abortion rights and her hopes for an inclusive future for the LGBTQ+ community….

The LGBTQ+ community in Poland lives in fear. We are a sum of parts, and to allow a faction to be marginalized or discriminated against is abhorrent and cowardly. So much of this behavior is fear-based and ignorant. A Polish church that picks and chooses its dogma to manipulate an outcome is a direct contradiction of where Pope Francis is leading the Catholic faith in 2020 and beyond. To those who are LGBTQ+ phobic, I would ask you to confront your fears and be better. Poland is better than this. We are better than this.

I started a sex-education foundation in Poland in 2017 [called SexedPL]. It wasn’t as much a passion project, as it was a practical solution. For thousands of years, sex has been part of our lives, beyond algebra and physics. We are here, every single one of us, at a cellular level, because of sex. How is it possible to imagine a healthy community where we don’t teach our children about their bodies, their personal boundaries, consent and safe sex? Sex is inherently personal, comes with deep insecurities and dangers, and to simply ignore or reject it is irresponsible and a step backwards for Poland. In 2020, the Polish government is doing its best to censor and ultimately ban sex education. The adults of tomorrow face an isolated and uncertain future without the very best community care and structured education. Our government’s attack on sex education is an attack on our children.

There are moments and days where I feel deflated and terrified. Let me be clear: I feel I’m no more significant than the next Polish citizen. My family and community are riddled with anxiety and uncertainty. I watch the protests on the streets, provoked by the abortion ruling, with a mixture of pride and terror as I wonder how our Poland has become this place. After all we have faced over the past 100 years—the adversity, the heroes, the lessons learned—we find ourselves here. I try to stay positive and do everything in my power to support the men and women rebelling against oppression and fighting for our freedom, and the recognition of human rights. During low moments, I share phone calls and conversations with my friends and restore my confidence that we can make the change by being brave and speaking out.

We have learned many things during our lifetime, but a fundamental principle that underpins us is that ‘our Poland’ has the ability to thrive and adapt during crises. There is goodness in every single one of us. We need to remain calm, listen, focus and never undermine our own integrity. We are only free when everyone is equal.

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Entertainment

A$AP Rocky Turned An Entire Manchester City Kit Into His Album Rollout

A$AP Rocky at South by Southwest 2019
Photo: DannyB Photos / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

A$AP Rocky doesn’t do album rollouts quietly, and this one recruited an entire Premier League club to help. Manchester City, PUMA, and Rocky teamed up on a limited apparel run tied to “Don’t Be Dumb,” his 2026 album, timed around his September 5th show at Co-op Live.

The centerpiece is a long-sleeve PUMA King jersey in black and archive gold, with “DON’T BE DUMB” running down the sleeve and AWGE branding worked in throughout. A bold “MANCHESTER” graphic covers the back. Fans could also add limited “A$AP 11” name-and-number printing onto the club’s actual Home, Away, or Third kits, while supplies lasted at retail.

There’s a players-only version too, and it never went up for sale. That one sticks closer to City’s usual sky-blue identity, with its own sleeve detailing and back graphic — the kind of piece that exists purely because a handful of people got lucky.

The whole rollout kicked off with a one-night pop-up on September 4th, when PUMA turned a spot in Manchester’s Northern Quarter into a pop-up cafe for the night, mixing football, music, and street style into one room before the wider release hit the stadium store the next morning. Some of those jerseys even came with golden tickets to the concert or that Saturday’s match.

Rocky has called the project true to his own design language, and it’s not even his only club collaboration this cycle — a similar drop with AC Milan landed around the same time. At this point, the line between fashion week and matchday has basically disappeared.

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Entertainment

Quavo And Lids Are Going All In On Atlanta With Their New Cap Pack

Quavo photographed in 2019
Photo: Finish Line / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Quavo has never been shy about his hat obsession, and Lids just gave him another outlet for it. Their new “Atlanta” pack drops September 12th, marking another round in a partnership that’s been running strong since 2019.

The collection is a love letter to the city, spread across three very different caps. One mashes up pinstripes, script lettering, and Braves branding into a single design, working navy, red, white, and light blue into the mix. Another goes the opposite direction entirely — fully iced out in crystal detailing, done up in black and red, with both the Falcons and the Braves showing up in the design. The third strips things back to an old-school “ATL” trucker cap in red, white, and gold, the kind of understated piece that lets the city’s name do the talking.

None of this is new territory for Quavo. He’s talked before about waiting on hat releases as a kid, and that same excitement seems to be what’s kept this partnership going years past most celebrity collabs. His earlier Lids run leaned on one moment — the Braves’ 1995 World Series win — but this pack pulls from the city’s whole sports history instead of just one highlight.

Lids has called Quavo one of the rare voices who can blend music, fashion, and sports without it feeling forced, and this drop backs that up. Given how fast his past releases have moved, Atlanta might want to set an alarm for September 12th.

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