As vaping mainstreams and hits the big screen Phoebe Luckhurst asks whether our non-smoking habits will go up in a puff of steam.
Insiders know that the real party invariably takes place outside. The coolest guests spinning the most compelling conversations are always found in the eye of the swirls of slender white smoke.
Unlike the velvet cordons of the VIP area the smoking area doesn't discriminate — smokers and non-smokers are welcome. As are increasingly a third group: the vapers. Now the whirls of white smoke are accented with illuminated spots — the tips of e-cigarettes.
An estimated 2.1 million Britons vape and the industry is worth £1.2 billion in the US. Celebrity fans include Leonardo DiCaprio, Cara Delevingne, Lily Allen, Katy Perry, Lindsay Lohan, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Jack Nicholson. The goodie bags at this year’s GQ Man of the Year awards included an e-cig.
Unlike the simple death stick — light it, inhale it, try not to choke up a lung cos the cool kids who peer-pressured you into sparking up will laugh — the e-cigarette is a more complicated adventure. There are disposable ones — the cheapest and most popular option; refillable ones that contain a liquid, sometimes flavored; and advanced models for the committed nerd where you can fiddle with voltage and power consumption. Many users start at the disposable end and end up developing a connoisseur’s interest in flavors, something that, admittedly, can’t be said for the humble fag.
The trend has crept up on London — a sad ex-smoker here, replaced by a slender PR girl there. But now the sticks have scored their first major role: Milla Jovovich can be seen dragging on one in the trailer for Cymbeline, a modern retelling of the Shakespearean tragedy, co-starring Ed Harris and Ethan Hawke. The film will be released next year; Canadian manufacturer SmokeStick is rumored to have paid $1 million towards the cost of the film’s production.
