It’s September, and after weeks of relatively normal sleep, I’ve suddenly become aware of creeping deadlines, social commitments and back-to-school anxiety. The adrenaline is surging once again. But is this stress? And if it is, is that such a bad thing? According to my health tracker, the metrics by which I might judge my stress levels – pounding heart, sleeplessness, number of unopened emails – are not necessarily the things that cause our rates to spike. I was curious to discover that my biggest surges coincide most often not with work but with sociable activities such as going to parties, weddings or (may God forgive me) a lunch date with my mum.

Does stress need a rebrand? It’s a question that Kathleen Baird-Murray poses in this week’s magazine. After years of talking about burnout and adrenal exhaustion, it seems we’ve decided that all stress is unacceptable. In fact, as she discovers, stress is an ancillary of normal productivity – it’s how fast we recover from it that really counts. She tries to find the balance and puts forward a convincing argument as to why a bit of stress may do us all some good.

If coming back to work after a brief holiday is mildly stressful, returning to work after maternity leave can feel like an out-of-body experience. Adwoa Aboah had her first child in 2024, and is currently readjusting to a schedule that includes modelling, acting (see her in Too Much on Netflix), mental health advocacy and, now, The Veil, her self-funded accessories line. The daughter of two highly successful entrepreneurs, Aboah has the savvy for business deep within her DNA: I’ve always admired her have-a-go determination, whether in raising awareness around substance abuse and depression, or, today, flexing her retail muscles. She talks to Funmi Fetto about this new chapter of life over breakfast in our exclusive cover interview.

Incidentally, Funmi will be joining us this weekend in Hampstead at the 10th edition of the FT Weekend Festival. A journalist and herself an entrepreneur, she published a debut short-story collection earlier this year and will soon be launching her own new beauty brand. I’m forever in awe of anyone who finds time to write a book, let alone set up a business – where do all these gaps in one’s diary magically appear? I plan to find out. How To Schedule It: coming soon.

Not ready to call time on summer? Then be inspired by David Coggins and James Harvey-Kelly, who this week travel to the lazy French resort of Cap Ferret. The 11-mile stretch of coastline encapsulates the perfect “seaside equation”, argues David, a sum total that delivers the “enduring low-key pleasures” of sand, salt water, a scandalous novel and “a glass of something cold”. In this instance, these simple luxuries also include oysters, best sampled in various shacks known as cabanes, dotted along the water’s edge and overseen by (in David’s words) “grizzled” veterans. “The simplicity and direct pleasure are unrivalled; the fact that it’s all entirely affordable is a bonus. You eat while looking across the bay where the oysters came from, next to the shed where they were cleaned.”

Lastly, in light of this week’s news of the death of Giorgio Armani, I urge you to revisit Alex Fury’s interview with the designer, which we published last weekend. The piece was written to celebrate his 50th year in business and serve as a tribute to his astonishing career.

Of course, we understood how unwell he was when preparing to run this story, and it is testament to Mr Armani’s extraordinary determination and stoicism that he still insisted on going ahead. The man who wanted to control everything remained unequivocally involved in every detail of his business until the very end. It was an honour to have worked with him on so many stories in HTSI. We will not see his like again.

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THREE MORE STORIES TO READ THIS WEEK

Camille Cottin on comedy, the red carpet and Call My Agent! the movie The French actress has always made clowning look cool A first look at RH in Paris The billion-dollar lifestyle brand has arrived on the Champs-Élysées. It’s set on seducing the French Danny Clarke: ‘I’m your archetypal tree hugger; they give you energy’ The presenter and garden designer loves Tolkien, Dr Martens and his namesake David Austin rose

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