The way that monograms have become such a huge part of luxury fashion is a testament to their enduring power. We may be moving towards monogram-lite fashion these days (cue all the slew of TikToks on quiet luxury) but monograms remain perennial brand identifiers. In the past few years, brands the likes of Versace, Balmain and Burberry introduced new ones—the latter initiated by former chief creative officer Riccardo Tisci.
One of creative, artistic and image director Hedi Slimane’s first undertakings at Celine was reviving its monogram.
The Triomphe Canvas was officially introduced as part of Celine’s autumn 2019 collection yet its origins date back to the '70s. Its name comes from the chains surrounding Paris’ Arc de Triomphe. The story goes that after a minor collision on Place de l’Étoile (now Place Charles de Gaulle) involving Celine founder Céline Vipiana, she stepped out of her vehicle and noticed the mirrored Cs embedded as part of the metal chains surrounding the monument. Co-opting the motif for her own, she applied it on a range of bags, accessories as well as ready-to-wear.
Slimane took this further with the Triomphe Canvas. The lightweight construction of a Triomphe Canvas piece—a canvas body trimmed with leather—makes one primed for anyone constantly on the move. Its durability is on par with Celine's leather offerings, but less precious in some ways that makes it better withstand some better over prolonged use. The leather on the Triomphe Canvas is poised to age and patina beautifully over time, while the canvas body takes on a bit more character with scuffs.
That's the appeal of the Slimane-era Triomphe Canvas. The monogram already feels timeless with each piece of the collection meticulously constructed to exude a vintage allure. Not only does this give the appearance of a vintage find, but it also paves the way for the legacy of the monogram in the vintage market. Fast forward a decade, and we're almost certain that you'd be able to find Triomphe Canvas pieces in vintage stores the world over.
The fact that it has only been less than five years since Slimane reintroduced the Triomphe Canvas, yet it's become so synonymous with the house speaks to its distinctive markings. In its classic tan colourway, the Triomphe motif is subtle; lighter colourways offer a more striking appearance of the motif. And of course, seasonal interpretations take on various forms and even artistic expressions.
But no matter what you'd gravitate towards, it's bound to be one that you'd surprisingly find more use out of than you'd think.
Will Poulter has had a very busy year. Before he was cheffing it up at Noma as Luca on The Bear, the 30-year-old British actor was getting the Marvel treatment as Adam Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Before that, he was a front-row favourite at fashion week, a demigod fallen from grace on magazine covers, a social media trending topic garnering every reaction from thirst-tweets to “Wait, this is the kid with the eyebrows from We’re The Millers now?”. When he hopped on a call with me at the tail-end of a long day in Budapest, where he’s working on a SAG-waived project; just before that, he starred in the autumn/winter ‘23 campaign for COS, looking sharp and graceful, a tousled prince straight out of a Friedrich painting.
“To be honest, I have a bit of impostor syndrome when it comes to doing this sort of stuff, but I feel so grateful,” Poulter says. It’s slightly jarring, how warm and humble he is on the phone—for someone with that bone structure, who has played several villainous roles in the past that well, Poulter is delightfully charming and sweet, completely opposite to some of his most well-known roles.
“This was just a really cool, full circle moment for me, because I think genuinely, when I first started taking an interest in fashion, COS was something that felt elevated but affordable,” he says. “So it was something I kind of aspired to wear and saved up for and did wear, and I always felt really good in it. I always appreciated the simplicity of their designs and how thoughtful all of their clothing was. And to do a campaign for a brand you've been a longterm fan of is very cool.”
The campaign, shot by Daniel Jackson, pictures Poulter in stark black-and-white or warm sepia, a 6-foot-2 vision of timeless tailoring and understated elegance. He inhabits the entire frame of every shot with an unapologetic self-possession that could only come from a 16-year career as encompassing and expansive as his has been, hair ruffled just-so, eyes never wavering from the camera lens.
“In my scenario, it's very rare that I see a photo of myself and I'm like, ‘I like that,’” says Poulter. “But with Daniel, it's like, ‘Oh, actually, I'm more than comfortable with it.’ And that's a nice position to be in.”
Poulter wears the clothes as naturally as a second skin, perhaps because his own personal style is a conglomeration of precise tailoring, timeless pieces, and classic cuts, too. “It’s kind of understated,” he says, “but I like to be thoughtful where possible, so I don’t like to wear anything just for the sake of it.”
That much is evident, even if you’ve only seen one or two pictures of Poulter’s street style. His closet is no stranger to a neatly cut blazer or a long coat with proportional lapels. Fashion, he says, is something he’s always had an interest in; what started with taking cues from his favourite movies and TV shows evolved into gravitating towards characters and roles that reminded him of the ones he grew up with, the ones that influenced his long-standing relationship with style. He credits now-retired Arsenal legend Ian Wright as his number one style icon of all time (and adds that he’s the kind of person who would “look fantastic in COS”), and praises the understated, cool approach to layering Wright has.
“I think developing a relationship with fashion is about what makes you feel good and also an extension of how you express yourself has been something that I've come to terms with maybe a little bit later in life, or as my relationship to fashion has evolved,” he says. “And I think I've also been encouraged to take a few more chances as well, and be a bit braver and bolder. But generally, I do err on the side of understated, and I think when something's well-made and in a colour that you like, really, you don't have to get much more complicated about it than that.”
The mark of a true menswear nerd, though, is knowing it’s all in the details. Poulter, a sneakerhead himself, doesn’t just leave his outfits at a matching shirt, pant, and shoe—it’s about the fit, too. “I think pants or trouser length is very important, depending on what kind of shoe you're wearing,” he advises.
Unlike the masses of celebrities who know a thing or two about fashion posting fit pics on your feed, Poulter isn’t dropping his latest looks to the 'Gram. You wouldn’t know, from a quick search of his socials, that he’s armoured with an arsenal of tailoring tips and sneaker scrutinies. That’s because, as far back as you can scroll, he takes to social media only as an advocate.
His Instagram highlights are a quartet of posts from the past three years, platforming various Black-owned businesses, charities, and causes; on his feed, he’s spreading information on how to donate to earthquake survivors in Syria, or victims of state-sponsored homophobic violence, or foundations that are working to combat the climate crisis.
“I just have a lot of respect for people who do the work that I choose to platform on my social media,” he says. “I think that probably emanates from the fact that my family are medics and caretakers and educators and volunteers.”
Most recently, Poulter partnered with The Reuse Research campaign, which funds cancer research through clothing donations to UK charity shops. The campaign encourages people to be thoughtful about their clothes, and instead of throwing them away, it urges participation in a more circular, sustainable economy powered by donations.
“Being an actor, there's only so much impact I can make,” says Poulter. “I just found [this] to be the best use of my social media platform, because there's more attention being directed my way than there is any of my family members in their roles. And that's wrong in many senses, so it's a way of tipping the balance somewhat, and also just making sure that I'm trying to maximise the potential of my impact.”
Originally published: Esquire US
Miu Miu's collaboration with New Balance continue to be one that's highly sought after by both women and men with feet size smaller than a 42 EUR. Its latest collaborative effort could potentially garner the same reception—this time with British luxury footwear brand Church's. The brand also happens to be part of Prada's group of brands, which could attest to why the two-piece Church's x Miu Miu collection—a pair of brogues and a pair of double-monks—look to be a seamless collaboration. The make of the shoes are rounder and broader than Church's originals, and are fitted with a sportier rubber sole. But unfortunately, for those of us 42 EUR-sized and above, these aren't meant for us.
The Church's x Miu Miu collection drops in Miu Miu boutiques from 6 September.
Ground Y—the brainchild of acclaimed fashion designer Yohji Yamamoto—has collaborated with anime hub Crunchyroll on a limited edition collection of Hell's Paradise-inspired ready-to-wear. The collection stays true to Ground Y's ethos of genderless and ageless fashion with artfully done prints from the anime featured on oversized hoodies, shirts and more.
The Ground Y x Hell's Paradise collection is now available for pre-order.
Both on and off the runway, Alexander McQueen is proving that its outré designs are made to fit a diverse range of individuals. The autumn/winter 2023 campaign exemplifies this with its cast that includes supermodel Naomi Campbell alongside male models Momo Ndiaye and Eliott De Smedt Day as well as French singer Yseult. While the collection showcases standout three-dimensional knits, its the tailoring—applied for both men and women—that truly shines, reflecting a sense of genderless styling codes.
Following the announcement of fellow Stray Kids member Hyunjin as Versace's global ambassador, Louis Vuitton has taken in Felix as its newest house ambassador. The performer known for providing Stray Kids with deep, growly vocals, was previously seen attending Louis Vuitton's pre-autumn 2023 women's show in Seoul and had been dressed by the house for a number of the group's performances as well as appearances. In a statement, Nicolas Ghesquière, Louis Vuitton’s artistic director of women’s collections, praises Felix for "his energy, his unique personality and his audacious sense of style".
Carlos Alcaraz keeps racking up W's. There was, of course, the victory over Novak Djokovic in the final at Wimbledon in July of this year. (Alcaraz says he "learn[s] something from him every time we play.") Before that was his 100th career win at the Indian Wells Masters in March. And in between those two tennis milestones, a triumph of a different sort: being named a brand ambassador for Louis Vuitton. Not bad for a guy who just recently turned 20.
"I have admired the brand for a long time," Alcaraz says of Vuitton, "so for me the partnership is a dream come true."
Today, the storied French fashion house unveils its spring/summer 2024 formalwear campaign—and Esquire has your exclusive first look. In still photos and an entrancing video, Alcarez takes his virtuoso tennis moves off the court and into an opulent grand hall, all while wearing impeccable tailoring and luxurious loungewear.
"It was a bit surreal being in a palace wearing a Louis Vuitton suit," Alcaraz says of the experience on set, "but [photographer] Dan Jackson and his team were amazing. Once we got into it, we had a lot of fun."
So, when he's not the star of a fashion campaign, has the spotlight changed the way Alcaraz dresses in real life? "Honestly, not really," he says. "I try not to think about it too much. I am still developing my sense of style. That is, of course, made easier by my family at Louis Vuitton, who are always on hand to help when I need." Not a bad situation to find oneself in, if you can manage to make it happen.
It goes without saying, though, that it all comes back to the sport that rocketed Alcaraz into the rarified air that he's currently breathing. And the next step in this big summer of W's is the U.S. Open, which kicks off on 28 August. Alcaraz won it last year—his first major. Now, he's readying himself for a return, and he's pretty excited about it.
"It was incredible to win my first major in NY," he says. "The crowd there are the best. I can't wait to get back out there under the lights."
Photos by Dan Jackson.
Originally published: Esquire US
When BOSS rebranded, not only did it underwent a name change, it also got to the heart of the label. In its #BeYourOwnBOSS campaign, BOSS dives into the brand's slogan: "Bosses Aren’t Born. They’re Made." What are the stories that make BOSS' personalities who they are today? With BOSS' AW23 collection, the spotlight returns to that. BOSS puts the spotlight back onto a selection of top stars and influential ambassadors to explore what it is that defines them as a genuine BOSS.
Showcasing the globally familiar faces of change makers Naomi Campbell, Maluma, Lee Min-ho, Gigi Hadid, Khaby Lame, and Matteo Berrettini, the Autumn/Winter campaign offers a more intimate angle on their individual stories. It also introduces American football quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, and British actress, Suki Waterhouse, as new brand ambassadors. Short black-and-white videos shine a spotlight on these BOSSes sharing the inspiring stories that have defined their journey so far, and reflect on the moments that have shaped who they are today. While wearing pieces from the new BOSS collection, archival footage is projected in the background, providing an up-close-and-personal take on their climb to the top of their fields. Each intimate video features emotive background music in the form of Tupac Shakur’s iconic song ‘Changes,’ which samples the original Bruce Hornsby and the Range single, ‘The Way It Is,’ creating a synergy that pulls at the heartstrings while conjuring a universal sense of belonging.
The Autumn/Winter 2023 collection delivers a blend of sophisticated textures infused with a laid-back approach, embodying the BOSS brand ethos of self-determination and distinctive tailoring. Comprising elevated styles with a retro-modern feel, it features standout colors and nature-inspired prints alongside the brand’s iconic palette of black, white, and camel. A striking spectrum of gray tones augments and elevates the mood of the campaign, bringing added visual richness to the overall look and feel.
The moving and motivational approach of the new campaign—photographed by Mikael Jansson under the creative direction of Trey Laird and his agency, Team Laird—provides a touching portrait of the featured celebrities, while remaining on course with the HUGO BOSS Group’s aim to amplify the global appeal of its brands.
To cement the impact of the new campaign further, large-scale outdoor advertising techniques will be deployed in a range of cities internationally, while BOSS stores worldwide will bring the key look and feel of BOSS Autumn/Winter 2023 to its window displays and interior merchandising. BOSS.com is also hosting a dedicated hub page to celebrate the campaign’s launch and showcase key pieces for the new season.
The fashion industry is dizzyingly brutal. Just this past May, Swiss luxury brand Bally announced it was parting ways with Rhuigi Villaseñor—the founder and designer of Los Angeles-based brand Rhude. Villaseñor assumed the role of Bally’s creative director in January 2022 and only managed to showcase two collections before getting the boot.
But that’s not even the shortest creative director stint in the past year thus far.
French designer Ludovic de Saint Sernin made his creative directorial debut with a runway collection for Ann Demeulemeester during Paris Fashion Week’s Autumn/Winter 2023 show season. The gender-fluid and skin-baring collection garnered quite a buzzy reception and reportedly prompted stockists the likes of MyTheresa to renew their relationship with the brand. Alas, even before the collection could be realised for retail, Ann Demeulemeester ended de Saint Sernin’s time—a mere two months after his debut runway show.
It is hardly a new phenomenon. The fashion industry has been going through creative directors so quickly and frequently that having one lasting longer than the regular contractual three years can be considered a unicorn. We have seen numerous occasions where creatives have been cycled through as though they were in a game of musical chairs: Anthony Vaccarello replacing Hedi Slimane at Saint Laurent making way for the latter’s entry to Celine after Phoebe Philo; Kim Jones departing Louis Vuitton to join Dior Men while its former creative director Kris Van Assche went on to head Berluti; and Riccardo Tisci’s jump from Givenchy to Burberry, only to be replaced by Daniel Lee from Bottega Veneta.
Trust us, to say that all this gets confusing for fashion journalists too, is an understatement.
Change is constant and especially so in fashion. While defining a clear, signature aesthetic is undoubtedly the goal for any brand, big or small, there’s often a delicate balance that creative directors have to strike—crafting a distinguishable look while ensuring a consistent flow of excitement that hopefully translates to increased profits. Lest we forget, fashion is a business. And as much as the industry thrives on new, buzzy ideas, consumer dollars are king and these ideas have to resonate with a buying audience at the end of the day.
Zegna’s Alessandro Sartori—already into his seventh year as artistic director—has proven to be a master at evolving a defined aesthetic. Part of the family-run Zegna Group, Zegna is founded on menswear tailoring backed by the company’s expertise in luxurious fabrics. Sartori’s evolution of the brand’s aesthetic appears to be a shrewd calculation of slow and steady. His debut Spring/Summer 2017 collection kicked things off with a unification of Zegna’s then-different lines while still retaining elements of its core tailoring business. Suiting was matched with inflections of sporty dress that introduced a more relaxed approach to Zegna’s tailoring.
Season after season, the silhouette gradually shifted. Trousers got roomier and outerwear grew to be cut oversized with drop shoulders almost a given on every design. It was after the Covid-19 pandemic that the evolution seemed to have accelerated. Sartori referred to the Autumn/Winter 2021 collection as a representation of being in “a world where the indoor and the outdoor are colliding”, resulting in a softening of traditional tailoring lines and construction, making way for elegant ease that has since remained.
While the sportier Z Zegna offshoot is no longer in production, Zegna has offered collaborations with brands specialising in certain areas of sports. Its latest this past January was one with trail-running shoe brand norda as part of Zegna’s growing Outdoor collection.
Coupled with a thorough rebranding exercise—the brand dropped the first name of its founder and has been going by Zegna as of December 2021, complete with a new logo and coloured signifier—the strategy has paid off. For the first quarter of 2023, Zegna’s reported revenue grew 21.4 per cent year-over-year to EUR271.9 million.
Gucci took a different approach. Its appointment of the relatively unknown Alessandro Michele in 2015 created a seismic shift in an industry where the tried and tested are often favoured. Michele’s clear vision of a more poetic and referential Gucci, marked by an exuberantly excessive styling, was a stark departure from his predecessor’s. It was the dawn of a new era, one that was quickly lapped up by both insiders and consumers alike. Gucci saw a boom like never before, landing at the top of every luxury fashion list imaginable, alongside being Kering Group’s top-performing asset.
Michele’s meteoric ascension and cultural-shifting aesthetic, however, proved to be his downfall. The look that he crafted became so distinct that it eventually fell victim to consumer fatigue. Although Gucci remained Kering Group’s majority revenue earner—it accounted for 52 per cent of the group’s total revenues in 2022—its growth started lagging behind other Kering-owned fashion houses such as Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta.
To his credit, Michele did inject excitement throughout his tenure. Collaborations were plentiful, ranging from a capsule collection with one of South Korea’s top entertainers Kai, to an unprecedented two-pronged partnership with Balenciaga. But at the same time, these contributed to an onslaught of the GG monogram that was central to Michele’s design vocabulary—almost every collection incorporated the motif in some form and it became overwhelming and predictable. To the consumer, it was too much of the same thing.
There’s often so much emphasis on the creative director that the essence of the brand that hired them gets lost. Hiring established figures can thus be a double-edged sword. In the hopes of tapping into their prior commercial successes, brands have handed over their design reins to big name creative directors. But every brand is different, and well-known creatives come packaged with their own signature look, which can be boon or bane. Much like forcing a square peg into a round hole, attempting to adapt and weave a creative’s aesthetic into a brand is hardly a surefire hit.
Burberry lost traces of its Britishness when Riccardo Tisci took over as the brand’s chief creative officer. His goth streetwear leanings—a winning combination throughout a 12-year appointment at Givenchy—were pared back to be remixed into Burberry’s more sartorial heritage. There were the odd spikes and embellishments peppered here and there, animal motifs (another Givenchy-era design trope) and heavy-handed use of streetwear elements that all felt forced. The aim seemed to be to create a new Givenchy, even if the world had already moved on from that particular style.
That’s not to say that having an individual point of view spells disaster. Hedi Slimane’s time at a wholly rebranded Celine mirrors more of his personal style than that of the clean, minimalist leanings built by former creative director Phoebe Philo. A hardcore fanbase and the sheer consistency of his vision helped Celine achieve a revenue exceeding EUR2 billion for 2022—all despite the initial blowback from Philo devotees.
There’s no clear-cut solution because no two fashion brands are exactly alike. Each possesses its own unique set of challenges that require different approaches to strengthen its identity. And it gets compounded if a designer’s stamp has become so intertwined with a brand that they’ve inhabited.
A fashion brand/house should never be buoyed by a sole creative force. As harsh as it may sound, a creative’s time is finite. Ultimately, a brand’s strong, overall narrative has to stay consistent and somewhat untainted by an ever-changing roster of creatives. It’s one of the main reasons why some brands, more than others, continue to thrive despite relatively little creative changes at the top. Hermès, for example, repeatedly doubles down on its storied heritage of artisanship and playfulness with Véronique Nichanian at the helm of the men’s universe since 1988. At Loewe, Jonathan Anderson is still going strong after nine years of formulating a rich emphasis on art and craft. Similarly at Maison Margiela, where creative anonymity was taken over by John Galliano in 2014, the house’s avant-garde storytelling remains at its core.
Slimane-like radical changes are risky. And if done in repeated succession, especially within a short period of time, tend to dilute a brand’s identity. Or worse, confuses consumers. As much as fashion embraces newness and originality (if novelty is even a thing any more) a certain level of consistency is comforting. This is precisely why efforts like those employed by Sartori at Zegna as well as Vaccarello’s iteration of Saint Laurent are working. Both were strategically careful to transition and evolve slowly, thus allowing time for consumers—both existing and prospective—to adjust and follow along on their journeys.
And there’s the crux of it all: Time. It’s something that’s necessary, yet not every creative director is afforded it. A vision—and in relation, the strengthening of brand identity—requires time to be fully realised. Could Bally have expanded its brand narrative if Villaseñor were afforded time? Perhaps.
Gucci is gearing itself for another revival with the appointment of Sabato de Sarno. Like Michele, de Sarno is a relative unknown who had been working under Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli. His debut for Gucci is scheduled for this September. Ann Demeulemeester also opted for a fresh perspective in the form of Stefano Gallici, a designer from within its own ranks.
Here’s hoping that they’re all given time. Or at the very least, are offered much needed creative inspiration in a new house.
Singapore lacks a fashion museum. It’s not imperative for every developed metropolitan city to have one, but we have been trying to position ourselves as a serious fashion hub for decades now, and not having one seems off brand.
We’ve organised a steady slew of fashion weeks—there were the previously Audi-backed Singapore Fashion Week, Digital Fashion Week, and Fidé Fashion Week just to name a few—and encouraged fashion-focused reality television series ranging from fashion model searches to design competitions. Fashion is also a major in a number of art schools in Singapore. There’s even a Singapore Fashion Council.
To be fair, fashion-skewed exhibitions aren’t uncommon here. Aside from brand-specific exhibits by fashion giants the likes of Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Hermès, there have been numerous international fashion designer retrospectives as well as culture-related highlights. The latter is often a responsibility undertaken by the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM). But for the past couple of years, the museum has been ramping up on a meatier fashion programme.
It started off with 2019’s blockbuster Guo Pei: Chinese Art & Couture, a study of Chinese couturier Guo Pei’s creations—including that heavily meme-d gown worn by Rihanna to the 2015 Met Gala—and their cultural references. After a year’s break due to Covid-19, the ACM debuted #SGFASHIONNOW in collaboration with LASALLE College of the Arts in 2021 that was followed by a second edition a year later. And in 2022, batik became the centrepiece in a two-pronged exhibition that included a display of a menswear collection by students of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in collaboration with Indonesia batik producer BINHouse.
The ACM’s latest fashion exhibition continues the trend. Andrew Gn: Fashioning Singapore and the World traces the journey of one of Singapore’s prolific fashion designers, Paris-based Andrew Gn. The exhibition is the museum’s largest ever dedicated to a contemporary Singaporean fashion figure.
“Fashion isn’t new for us,” says Kennie Ting. The director of the ACM and Peranakan Museum is the man behind the developmental shift in ACM’s curatorial approach. One might add that it’s a necessary evolution of the museum’s raison d’être given how the charting of history doesn’t stop till time, well, stops. Ting reasons that the ACM’s move into more contemporary design disciplines—fashion, jewellery and furniture—are “natural extensions” of the museum’s existing collections.
In 2020, the ACM completed a refresh of its permanent galleries and officially inaugurated two new additions: the Fashion and Textiles, and Jewellery galleries. Both are housed within ACM’s Materials and Design wing located on its third level and serve as a celebration of the decorative arts in the region.
“The strengths of our collection currently lie in historic fashion and textiles up to the mid-20th century, including Indonesian batiks, Indian trade textiles, and Peranakan fashion,” shares Jackie Yoong, senior curator (fashion and textiles) at the ACM and Peranakan Museum. Yoong has played an integral role in curating the former’s fashion exhibitions as well as the permanent fashion gallery of the recently reopened Peranakan Museum. “We work closely with associated communities and collectors on significant loans, with special attention to provenance. Our Peranakan collection—including fashion and textiles—has travelled quite extensively for overseas display, including Paris, Seoul, Tokyo and Fukuoka.”
Opening up to the contemporary sphere means that the collections will reflect that too. As part of National Heritage Board’s Our Singapore Heritage Plan 2.0—a set of initiatives guiding Singapore’s heritage and museum landscape for 2023 and beyond—the ACM is seeking to expand its fashion, furniture and jewellery collections with contemporary ones. For example, more than 160 pieces of Andrew Gn’s creations have been added to the National Collection.
“We hope the Andrew Gn: Fashioning Singapore and the World exhibition spurs more local designers to think about their legacy, and to think about ACM when they think about preserving their legacy,” Ting says. The ACM has already begun connecting with new and upcoming local fashion designers through #SGFASHIONNOW, tapping on the series’ student collaborators to bridge connections between the two.
One would assume that holding more contemporary fashion exhibitions would immediately rake in visitors in droves. After all, New York’s Metropolitan Museum has managed to make its annual Costume Institute exhibitions important global events. There’s also Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty, an exhibition so successful that it was shown years apart in New York City and London, and prompted the institutions in both cities to introduce unprecedented measures to meet public demand. At the ACM, Ting reveals that that’s hardly the case. The footfall of the museum’s classical exhibitions still make for its more popular ventures—at least for now.
“I think there is still a disjoint between the public’s perception of what the ACM was versus what it has become. And there is also very little exposure for local designers in general,” Ting proffers. “Most Singaporeans still don’t know very much about the Singaporean fashion design scene. If we did a show on a major Western fashion label or designer (or even a major Asian one), it would almost certainly be a huge hit. But featuring a Singaporean designer? Huge risk. Then again, between supporting a major Western one and supporting our own, I would choose the latter without hesitation. We have to take risks in order to progress.”
There’s still much to be positive about, especially with such “risks”. Ting says that the fashion exhibitions organised thus far have introduced the ACM to an entirely new crowd. He’s encouraged by statistics that show about half of the visitors to the contemporary fashion exhibitions have been first-time ACM attendees, and a majority of them range between teenagers to those in their 20s. And the fact that they’re being exposed to a more diverse pool of Singapore’s fashion design talents? Priceless.
But what is Singapore fashion? It’s a perennial question that often comes up, almost as a dissenting voice to the efforts that multiple organisations like the ACM work on to highlight a scene that’s still somewhat in its infancy.
As someone who has spent her career studying and dissecting fashion by people from and of the region, Yoong offers this wisdom: “As a Southeast Asian port city at the crossroads of international trade, people in Singapore have been exposed to a multitude of influences across the region and the world for centuries. The multiculturalism in Singapore has fostered a society that values experimentation and appreciates diversity. This ethos is reflected in the fashion choices of people in Singapore, who celebrate and incorporate different cultural elements into their style. Fashion becomes a platform for self-expression and cultural exchange, allowing individuals to experiment with their different styles and a hybrid aesthetic that reflects the essence of the Singapore story. This should be recognised, instead of seeking a single, imagined, ‘national style’.”
It’s a poetic notion. Yet one that rings true. If there was an aspect to lean in on and hone when it comes to Singapore fashion, it’s that there’s hardly an identifiable look. What others may see as having a lack of strong identity could actually be a strength. We’re a community open to outside ideas and welcoming of different cultures—traits that make us, perhaps quite tritely, uniquely Singapore.
The ACM may not be Singapore’s official fashion museum, but given how as a country, we’re connected and influenced by the many different cultures in the region, there’s unlikely another institution that could fill the role quite as harmoniously. The permanent galleries serve more than mere historical references to understand and learn about the past. Rather, they’re a continuation of a journey towards crafting a creative vision for the now. It may not be an apparent link (what could perhaps be a potential exhibition by the ACM) but the next time the museum holds a contemporary fashion exhibit, take a gander at the permanent galleries as well and you may notice such interwoven connectedness.
In the bigger scheme of things, Ting hopes that the Singaporean public will grow to appreciate the kind of creative and design talents that we have through the ACM’s continued efforts to highlight them. “And feel compelled to support them,” he adds. “That would constitute success.”
If there's one trend in fashion that's held strong for years now, it's the hold that K-pop has on luxury fashion. The latest group to be officially named as Dior ambassadors is TOMORROW X TOGETHER, or more commonly known as TXT. The five-piece group made their debut in 2019 and are label mates with another K-pop phenom BTS—the first male group to ever collaborate with Dior Men back in 2019. TOMORROW X TOGETHER's ambassadorship was preceded by their performance at Lollapalooza Chicago on 5 August where Dior Men artistic director Kim Jones created custom looks for their set.
Famed for its feline mascot—the regally named Lord Nermal—Los Angeles-based brand RIPNDIP has dropped its collaboration with Puma. It's a fuss-free range of apparel, accessories and sneakers that combine Lord Nermal graphics with distinct Puma branding. On a number of pieces, including a sweat set, Lord Nermal evolves into Puma's cat logo, while he peeks mischievously along the sides of collaborative Puma Slipstreams.
The Puma x RIPNDIP collection is now available at Puma 313@somerset, VivoCity, Bugis+, ION Orchard and Jewel stores, Puma.com, and select Limited Edt. stores.
We're about a month away from seeing newly installed creative director Sabato de Sarno's vision for Gucci. But ahead of the actual runway show that's set to take place during Milan Fashion Week, de Sarno teased a high jewellery campaign for the Italian fashion house on his personal Instagram account. The David Sims-lensed image features Daria Werbowy poolside at the Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles, wearing statement earrings as well as subtly branded Gucci bikini bottoms. Werbowy was part of a 2004 campaign for Gucci during the Tom Ford era, potentially signalling a return to a similar aesthetic—of glossy glamour and sensuality.
New York-based Tapestry, Inc.—the parent company of Coach—is acquiring Capri Holdings in an USD8.5 billion deal. The latter's portfolio, comprising Michael Kors, Versace, and Jimmy Choo, will be added to Tapestry's existing umbrella of brands that includes Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman. In a press release, CEO of Tapestry Joanne Crevoiserat says: "From this position of strength, we are ready to leverage our competitive advantages across a broader portfolio of brands. The combination of Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman together with Versace, Jimmy Choo, and Michael Kors creates a new powerful global luxury house, unlocking a unique opportunity to drive enhanced value for our consumers, employees, communities, and shareholders around the world."
For Loewe's autumn/winter 2023 menswear campaign, Japanese musician Kenshi Yonezu (also known as Hachi) offers a glimpse into his creative impulses. Photographed by Arnaud Lajeunie, the campaign features Yonezu in the collection's standout pieces—including a shirt affixed with metal wings—alongside comic books, novels and memorabilia that have shaped Yonezu. Creative director Jonathan Anderson calls the partnership timely as Loewe celebrates its 50th year in Japan.
It's easy to assume that a well-recognised brand like Valentino would already part of a fashion conglomerate—it's not. Well, at least not quite. The Italian couture house is owned by Qatari investment fund Mayhoola—backed by the Qatari royal family—since its acquisition in 2012. The group also owns Balmain as well as Italian menswear brand Pal Zileri.
Kering Group is about to change that. The French fashion conglomerate has made an announcement to acquire a 30 per cent shareholding stake of Valentino for EUR1.7 billion. The deal also includes an option for 100 per cent ownership of Valentino that's valid by 2028. While that's still quite a long way to go (should Kering decide to hold out to the very last minute) the potential for the group to exercise that option seems likely.
Valentino reported a revenue of EUR1.42 billion for 2022, a 10 per cent increase from the year before. That may not be much as compared to Kering-owned luxury houses, but it's a significant increase as compared to top-earner Gucci's revenue bump for the same period. Gucci reported an 8 per cent increase in revenue for 2022, while Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta each experienced double-digit percentage growth.
Fully acquiring Valentino could help Kering tap into its couture-buying clientele. But more than that, a Kering-backed Valentino could signal a different future for the couture house.
Valentino's strength lies in its dreamy couture creations. It's the bedrock of the house that informs its other lines. And while the aspirational messaging is clear and undoubtedly beautiful, it often doesn't translate as efficiently across the more relatively affordable ready-to-wear creations. Kering's involvement could help strengthen Valentino's messaging and ensure a more intentional consistency across every facet of the house's overall universe and (hopefully) without impeding the awe-inspiring creativity of its haute couture.
It's not that Valentino is a stranger to collaborations—remember the one with Birkenstocks and Undercover in 2019?—but rather, it hasn't really capitalised on it much. Not being involved in many collaborations isn't a bad thing either but being part of a group like Kering, a bit more may be in store. Kering-owned brands Gucci and Balenciaga are big on collaborations—they've even partnered up in 2021 for an unprecedented two-prong series—and Valentino could probably do the same.
We're not expecting a random Disney-led collaboration either. Kering doesn't seem to be one to force an unlikely collaboration, finding partnerships that align with a brand's aesthetic such as Balenciaga with Crocs, and Saint Laurent's many artistic-led collaborations outside of fashion.
Kering Group has its own eyewear division that manufactures eyewear for its luxury houses as well as those outside of its umbrella of brands. Valentino is currently in a 10-year agreement with Switzerland-based Akoni Group that's slated to end in July 2032. Being part of Kering could see Valentino's eyewear manufacturing move in-house with a more focused narrative that seeks to strengthen the overall messaging of the house.
This may not be ideal but seeing how Kering—and counterpart LVMH—tends to operate, there could be a potential change in the creative director seat eventually. But hopefully, this ranks low in Kering's priority when it comes to making Valentino a force to be reckoned with.
James Lance has been in various roles in film, television, and stage productions, but it's likely that you are most familiar with him as Ted Lasso's Trent Crimm, the sports-journalist-turned-AFC-Richmond-book-writer who stepped further into the spotlight in Season 3. Lance grew up in the Somerset countryside, but he decided he wanted to be an actor the moment he stumbled onto the stage during a performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
“I was wearing a long robe as I was playing Ruben, the brother of Joseph. I got a big laugh, and from that feeling, I thought, ‘I would like to do more of this in my life,’ so I knew I wanted to be an actor from that point,” Lance explains. His first big break came around the age of 10, when the BBC came to a nearby village, holding auditions for a film called The Russian Soldier. “I did three days of auditions, and eventually I got the role. The feeling of the community, the magic, the cakes at four o'clock every day, the laughter, all of that stuff just sealed the deal.”
From that point, he hired an agent, and learned about the world of theater school and the “special children” who got to act, dance, and sing. By age 12, His mother finally gave in to his persistent efforts to convince her, and he was able to move to London to pursue his dream. He’s been doing just that for the past 39 years. Below, Lance and I discuss the unprompted backstory he gave Trent Crimm that led to the character’s three-season arc, the process of collaboration with the show’s costume designer, Jackie Levy, wearing onesies and jumpsuits, and more.
How did you prepare for the role of Trent Crimm, and did you expect to continue the role through to the third season?
I had no idea that Trent Crimm would eventually end up as a series regular. I didn't even know there was going to be a Season 3. All I thought was there was going to be one scene when I read the pilot and my manager had sent it to me and said, “Take a look. The role of Higgins could be good for you.” I read and loved the script. I knew that I wasn't going to get the role of Higgins, and when I first saw the name Trent Crimm, I thought to myself, "Who is that? I need to know who that is," and I liked that scene.
Six months later I auditioned, I got the role, and then Jason Sudeikis said to me, "We really love what you're doing in the show, and what's happening with Trent.” I started talking to him about why Trent is the way he is, and I said, "I think he had an oppressive father, and that's why he's got a cynical, tough exterior.” Jason looked at me and said, "I'm going to tell you something that not everybody else knows, but this show is all about bad dads." And I said, "I don't think Trent's living life he wants to live, and I think he got bullied as a kid, and so he hit the library because he wasn't getting picked to be on the sports team, and he donned the glasses and the intellect, and that became his suit of armor," and he was like, "Huh. Yeah."
And then from that three-minute conversation, a lot happened, and a lot of different avenues opened up, and then they grew the role. In between Seasons 1 and 2, Jason wrote me a text, which made me cry because he said, "Hey, man, love what you're doing in the show. Trent Crimm is very much around in the second season, but it's Season 3 I'm most excited about for you." I was so thrilled because I just had a little baby boy, and the idea of some more gainful employment in a show that I adore was a dream come true.
In terms of how I prepared for the role, initially it was a musical riff because there's this sort of gag that every time my character stands up, he announces his name in the press conference, which is “Trent Crimm, The Independent,” and I just knew that there was some comedy to be had in the way that he said that. The more grandiose and puffed up that I could deliver it, the funnier I thought it was going to be. I saw it like a guitar riff. Sure enough, it made people laugh.
And so there was a vocal thing where I wanted him to, whenever he said anything, for it to be so ridiculously self-assured, like over-the-top privileged, know-it-all, smartass, cynical, acerbic, droll. That was the musical tone of it, and I looked at a lot of the great thinkers, like Christopher Hitchens and his delivery, or the great writer and thinker Will Self. I did something between an amalgamation of those two great brains, and that sort of assured delivery is what brought me to the way that Trent speaks.
In terms of his background, I went on a ride, and I wanted to find out why he was the way he was. I worked out very quickly that I felt that he was bored as a sports writer, that there was more inside to come out, that he wanted to do more, but because of his oppressive childhood, he wasn't kind of able to freely express himself and actually be the kind of sweetheart he really was inside. So, I gave him this whole backstory to do with his father, and him getting kicked out of boarding school and then going to a comprehensive as a sense of punishment because he messed it all up.
Also, he was gay, and his father wanted him to be this alpha male man’s man, which is what brought Trent to present himself in the way that he did. But I worked out three things about him that his public persona was one of independence. His need was to be loved, and his tragic flaw was the belief that he was unlovable. And between that sort of triangle of emotional notes, that was how I played him and sort of explored his character.
The entire third season shows him writing a book about the team, but we never learn anything specific about what's in the book. What's the deal with that?
Season 3, if you think about it, is the book. Maybe with a few more behind the scenes, certainly in moments where Trent Crimm isn't there, but I think in terms of the overall kind of emotional atmosphere and terrain, that is what we see in Season 3.
The reason that he decided to write the book is, in my opinion, kind of an interesting one, which was that obviously he blew up his own career because he put the human before his profession as a journalist and revealed his anonymous source, which is a complete taboo. He spent enough time being a journalist, and what he was more interested in was being a decent human being, which was of course prompted by being in the company of Ted Lasso, who actually represented everything that Trent Crimm—certainly as a little boy—would've loved to have been in the presence of with a tough dad.
So, he takes the leap to be a better human being and be damned with his profession. And then, of course, he's out of work. He's no longer “Trent Crimm, The Independent.” He's now Trent Crimm, independent, and I like to think that by the end of the season, he's actually just Trent Crimm. He became deeply curious as to find out whether or not the philosophy of Ted Lasso could take AFC Richmond all the way to win the tournament, and if it could, how did that happen? He wanted to really get under the bonnet and look at the kind of minutiae and the mechanics of those interpersonal relationships, and how Ted could inspire these young boys both on and off the pitch. But if they didn't win the tournament, what's more important? The winning, or the losing, or the wellbeing of the team? So, either way, whatever the result was going to be fascinating to Trent.
Will there be a fourth season or any spinoffs?
As everyone probably has heard, we have no idea whether there's going to be a fourth season or spinoffs. I just don't know the answer to that. I can say that if there was, and I was invited along to the party, I'd be there with my leopard skin boots on.
Trent helps the player on the team come out to the rest of the team. How did you feel about that bit of side plot?
I was delighted to be part of such an important storyline. Repressed sexuality within the football team, or any sports team—or actually any environment—is something that kind of just needs to be blown away, and we need to step into what's really important, which is just who people are regardless of who they love and what their decisions are.
I'm really delighted to be a part of normalizing sexuality in whatever way. I have a little boy myself, and I'm just so glad that he's growing up in a world where any form of sexuality is represented in the mainstream, and it is not something that's seen as abnormal because there's nothing abnormal about it. It was really lovely to facilitate that safe harbor for Colin in the show. Also, Trent is the old guard as a gay man. He's been through so many similar experiences that Colin's been through, but he doesn't go out in the middle of a pitch and have the focus of thousands of fans upon him.
I was told you put a good deal of thought into your character's wardrobe. Can you speak to the process of styling your character on the show and your relationship with the costume designer, Jackie Levy?
Jackie Levy is the best in the business. I love her vibe. I love how open she is. It's a discussion, and it's just so playful and so much fun working with her. She's really wonderful, and we just would vibe on the kind of flowering of Trent as he moves through the show. When we first meet him, he's in a suit and tie, and he's putting on this slightly fierce, classic kind of British impenetrable persona. But I knew that back at home, he was probably wearing onesies and a Golden Girls T-shirt, and a splash of color.
To bring that forward, as Trent starts to get brought in and accepted for who he is, meant that he could dare to be himself, which of course then would express itself in his clothing. A particular high point would be the point where he was able to come in wearing his Dolly Parton tour T-shirt, which of course he went to that show. He's a massive Dolly Parton fan. He's actually got a hugely eclectic appreciation for music, I think. It’s just an expression of the man flowering into himself, and I love that journey on the show.
When did you first become interested in fashion or clothing?
I don't really know, but I do know that I have experienced the power of a good costume. Clothes are so powerful and expressive, and they're the bit between you and the world. It's an interesting opportunity to be creative and to put out a vibe and a message. I've done a lot of period pieces, like a movie called Northern Soul, which had the most superb ‘70s style with these huge wide pants and tight tops. When I put those costumes on, I was like, "Oh, I found my trousers." I'm not a big fan of trousers that hug the thigh or go in too tight down the bottom. That just doesn't work on me, so when I wore these wide trousers, I was like, "Yes." From the 1940s, I've done some work there as well, and it's the different decades of experiencing costumes that influenced my appreciation for clothes.
What does personal style mean to you, and how have you honed yours?
I think a few years ago, I decided to really celebrate my life, and when my little boy came along, and we would put him in these really killer color-block onesies, and I would be rolling around with him on the floor in, I don't know, my jeans, and I thought to myself, "Hold on a second. He's looking way better than I am, and I'm going to start dressing like him." So, I got into onesies and jumpsuits and more color, and actually, it is kind of a perfect metaphor for my life because when my boy came into my life, I think I just realized how precious this magical experience of life is because I was now responsible to at least keep another one alive. I wanted him to feel comfortable and fun in his clothes and just sort of have a relaxed, playful nature to it, and because that was how his character was, and in turn it turned the dial up for me a bit where I thought, "Well, if he's having so much fun and having a good time, I think I'm going to do the same." So now, if I have a style, I would say it's ideally quite playful.
If you had to wear one outfit for the rest of your life, what would it consist of?
It would probably have to be a killer pair of wide trousers. I really love those King & Tuckfield cream trousers we just wore for this shoot, and maybe a Nick Cave T-shirt, because I just love the man, and I'm happy to be a billboard for his output in the world, and then probably a pair of Converse [sneakers].
Originally published on Esquire US
The first episode of The Bear features Carmen Berzatto, who is miserable and in serious debt. He inherited the restaurant that his brother left to him before taking his own life. With the restaurant came hundreds of thousands of dollars in bills and loans that must be repaid, and not a single helpful hint from his brother on how to locate the money to save his mess of a sandwich shop. So, Carmy does what anyone in his situation would do—he goes home, opens his oven, and takes out a few pairs of the really rare, antique denim items he's been keeping there. (There are even more in his closet; the oven only serves as a storage space for extra goods.) Then, he organises an impromptu meeting in a parking lot and sells them.
We see Carmy's first journey into the realm of menswear ten minutes into the popular FX series, and it won't be his last. After The Bear premiered in 2022, all anyone could talk about was the show's fashion—and for a show about the art of making and serving food, that's kind of a big deal. The costume design in The Bear isn't as outrageously over-the-top as it is in Sex and the City or Emily in Paris, where the scene changes constantly. It isn't even Succession, where, for the last few seasons, catching moments of stealth wealth and unbranded luxury goods turned into a Sunday night sport. It's a show about family, trauma, chefs, cuisine, and forgiving, and among it all, fashion is the main character, the common denominator that threads it all together.
The outfits on The Bear might not look like anything overtly ostentatious—but for the niche menswear fanatics, isn't that the best way to go? It's about everyday, real-world fashion—a streetwear brand here, a designer item acquired on the spur of the moment there. Carmy's attire is understated, yet if you have a keen eye, you can see he obviously knows his stuff. He's rarely seen not wearing a white shirt and black pants—a classic combo, sure, but also a meticulous one consisting of a perfect (yet niche) tee and just the right fit of pants for a character that is obsessive and habitual and appreciates craftsmanship and history.
"Chefs have a particular eye for detail and what looks good—quality, cut, colour, which I think has come through with Carmy, with Syd, and with Marcus," says Courtney Wheeler, the show's costume designer. Carmy, the quintessential workwear king, is wearing a 75-euro German-made tee, Dickies, and Birkenstocks to represent the current gods of fashion. Everyone's favourite sous-chef, Sydney, has more unique vintage items on her person than the eye can see. Marcus, the beloved pastry-chef, who is rarely seen without a streetwear (or streetwear-adjacent) logo, whether it be Carhartt or Jordan or Fear of God. It's all done with intention and months of sourcing, plotting, bidding, and buying. Everything from the custom Thom Browne chef coat Carmy gifts Sydney to the USD2,500 waistband of the 1950s Levi's Carmy wears around his kitchen comes from Wheeler and her team diving into the characters' histories, their arcs, their thought processes, and the basements of every store in Chicago.
Wheeler discusses everything from the most significant events in season two to the final red Carhartt beanie in existence.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Before we even get into talking about The Bear itself, I’m so curious to know what your reaction is to seeing everybody on the Internet freak out about the style of the show and the hype around the fashion.
It's really surprising. What we thought was going to be a very niche show, well-loved by the restaurant industry, turned out to be this bigger thing, which we're all stoked about. I think it happened to be a style show just because chefs, if you get to know them, have their own personal and unique style. So we definitely wanted to put that in the show and to put a point of view of real people who are in the world and have an interest in clothes.
I think that [The Bear] is true to that, in that I think chefs have a particular eye for detail and what looks good—quality, cut, colour, which I think has come through with Carmy, with Syd, and with Marcus. It's been really cool to see the reaction, it's really awesome that people appreciate the clothes. Even on set and in our personal lives, the cast and crew are all constantly looking at each other like, "Where'd you get that? What are you wearing?" We're constantly going back and forth. I do think we are a cast and crew that like clothing.
Did you go to restaurants and draw inspiration from the teams there for the show or was this something you noticed before even working on The Bear?
You'll always see someone and you'll make a note of that person looking good, but you don't really truly connect the dots until you start working on a show like this. And especially as a costume designer, you're always looking at people like, oh, that's great. But especially since The Bear started, I will never walk into a restaurant the same way. It was definitely a moment of always looking over the counter, always seeing what front of house is wearing, what back of house is wearing, asking them questions, like, "Why these? What pants are you wearing? Why? Tell me your decision-making process."
I have friends who are chefs who have great style, but I never really connected it to the industry until I started doing The Bear. Even within their uniforms, there's a way it hangs on their body and how they want to wear it. I love that. Especially the first season, we had the constraints of a uniform, but we get to bring people's personalities forward, in a way.
What was your process like in curating each character’s wardrobe?
When we first did the pilot, Cristina [Spiridakis and I] came in with a blueprint for the characters, and she came in with mood boards. As you go into fittings and as you start talking to the actors, you have to flow a little bit more, and you lean into what's working and what's not working. Especially with that first pilot, we had just seen everyone in uniform. That was all we had to go on for months about what was going to inform their personality. But even then, if you notice, Marcus is wearing a red beanie in the pilot, with these black work boots. And when I went back to shoot the rest of the season, I had a conversation with Lionel [Boyce], and he was like, "I've been training, when I went to Copenhagen I've been wearing this beanie and these Infared Jordans." He's like, "Can I bring them to the show? Do you think that Marcus would wear these?" And I'm like, "I think that makes total sense."
So Marcus wears the same beanie that Lionel was wearing. We took his inspiration. It's funny, because this beanie has come back to haunt my department. We usually have alts for everything, and alts for everyone's kitchen shoes. Every time you see them in the kitchen actively cooking, we have at least three versions of those, because we change them out. But with Marcus and this beanie [after the pilot], we could not find the [green] colour. We could not find the Carhartt beanie...Marcus must have literally gotten the last one in stock. We reached out to Carhartt, we were in Copenhagen looking for it, we could not find the exact colour match. It's kind of haunting us and we'll address it in later seasons in my mind, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.
Your sourcing process sounds wild. There are three characters whose style I find so different, but so distinct, and those are Carmy, Richie, and Sydney, who cumulatively wear everything from vintage pieces to Adidas trackies to plain white tees. Where did you find their pieces?
Oh, man, literally everywhere. Me and my assistant and our shopper—we are leaving no stone unturned, especially when it comes to shopping in Chicago. The first thing I do when I arrive is hit the streets. Even if we're not buying anything right away, we're in the shops. We're talking to our vintage sellers in Chicago, we're seeing what they have. We're going to the independent stores, and there's so many great local shops in Chicago. We're making those connections and seeing what's out there. We're in basements. Carlos from Knee Deep in Chicago is one of my friends now, because we're literally like, hey, we're looking for this and this. He goes: Go in the basement. Here's some seltzer water, knock yourself out. And we're doing that, digging through [bags of vintage] trash. We're doing that all over town.
So when I tell you it comes from Chicago, it comes from the thrift shops out there, it comes from eBay, it comes from Etsy. We have people in New York. When I tell you it comes from everywhere, it truly comes from everywhere. Even Ebon [Moss-Bachrach], who plays Richie, loves eBay. That's his source for where he shops in his personal life. There’s this one shirt that we didn’t get to use this season that, trust, next season it’ll be on the top of the list. Ebon found it, and said, "Can Richie have this? Can you purchase it?" I’m like, bet. So I'm in eBay bidding war, making sure I get this item. I won it, which I’m proud of.
Oh my god, I can't wait to see next season what shirt that might be.
With Richie, his stuff is a mix of vintage and store bought. Even with his store bought stuff, sometimes we have to change the colour slightly and over-dye it, just in case it's a little too bright. Sometimes the accent colours pop too much, we have a wonderful dyer who will go in and hand-paint it for us. We’ve gotten Richie’s stuff from Adidas and Lacoste, but also, thrift stores and vintage markets. Some of his T-shirts are deadstock vintage. He’s a mix and Syd is a mix. Carmy, actually, we got one pair of vintage Levi’s for. I don’t think we see more than the waistband of them. Accounting will kill me—they know, they saw the receipt. It’s a pair of USD2500 vintage 1950s Levi’s that were beautiful, they’re gorgeous, Jeremy was obsessed with them because they fit him perfectly. We didn’t have to do anything to alter them, they were just perfect.
When you source things like those Levi’s for Carmy, are we as the audience supposed to read that as Carmy going and hunting down this really rare, expensive pair of jeans for himself? Or is it more like “if you know, you know,” but if you don’t catch it, then it’s just Carmy in some random pair of jeans?
Oh, that's such a good question. With Carmy, I will say he knows what it is. He collects denim, he probably has someone who he goes to, a source that he trusts where he’s getting these pieces from, because most of the people who collect denim do. So if he’s wearing that, he knows what it is. People were asking if Sydney would be wearing this Million Women March T-shirt she has knowing what it is, and I’m like, yeah! Sydney wearing a Million Women March T-shirt is not her buying it from Round Two or eBay like we did. She got that from her mom. That’s something that her mom wore that she’s holding on to. That Bulls T-shirt, she’s probably found in her dad’s closet and kept wearing it.
For characters like that, they're just picking up whatever. Someone who would be a little different would be Marcus, who’s wearing a Black Ivy T-Shirt. He knows what it is, he knows what it means. He knows what his T-shirts stand for. He's wearing it because he's like, oh, I don't wear this out anymore, I'll just wear them to the shop.
What was your thought process when curating Carmy’s wardrobe?
Carmy is a creature of habit. When we established him at the beginning of the season, for the pilot, we already knew he was going to wear the Merz B. Schwanen shirt. And then he was wearing the Carhartt Work In Progress pants, and then he had Dickies. He would flip between those brands, but he also had a couple different workwear pants. Also, for season one, he wore Whitesville T-shirts and he wore a Supreme T-shirt. But as it went on, especially for the second season, Jeremy and I streamlined him a little bit more. He truly only really wears the Merz white T-shirt, and he has a bunch of the Carhartts. Sometimes he'll wear his Dickies, but we wanted him to be focused more.
He knows what he wants, so he just buys more of that. He already has honed his style. Especially for this season, we're kind of playing with the idea that he's moving in now. So instead of the one blue sweater, you’ll see him in the grey one. Maybe he has another sweater. He'll start playing with it more, just because he probably unpacked, but unless you see him in flashbacks, he’s pretty focused and established in what works for him.
Of all the plain white T-shirts in the world, why did you settle on Merz B. Schwanen?
That was established in the pilot. By the way, fun fact: Right now, we shoot in a big studio out in Chicago. But for the pilot, our offices were across the street from Mr. Beef, which is what The Beef is based off of, but it was a defunct restaurant called Brunch. So we're sitting in the middle of this defunct restaurant, facing each other, being like, "What's a good T-shirt?" Kind of screaming to each other across the way. But Chris Storer loves the Supreme x Hanes, so we got some Supreme x Hanes in there. Then we got regular Hanes. We got some ALD T-shirts. When I tell you we got T-shirts from literally everywhere, I think we had about a dozen different brands. Jeremy walked into the fitting and it's literally just white T-shirts and black work pants and Birkenstocks. He looks at us, like, "This is what I’m doing?" We said, yeah, this is what you’re doing, and he said, “Okay, great.”
The Merz just fit him so well. And it's such a great cut. The white T-shirt is perfect. Merz has a perfect cut, it truly is a great T-shirt.
I saw a report that searches for “The Bear sweater” spiked on Google after season two came out, referring, obviously, to that grey sweater of Carmy’s. Can you tell me about that piece?
I think that’s so funny. I’m like, "You go, men of the world, finding things!" So that sweater is J.Crew men. I was always a J.Crew fan. It's just so classic, and their menswear has always been pretty strong, and lately it’s been even more so. With Carmy, we go where the classics are. Whatever is well made, whatever has a great cut. He's not a fussy guy. Yes, he has a thing with denim, but I think it’s different. He likes the history behind the denim, he likes how it’s made, and he’s someone who appreciates the craftsmanship.
I think for his everyday wear, he just looks for pieces that have great quality and cuts. If he just blindly picked a top and bottom up off of his floor or in his closet, they would go with each other at all times. It doesn't matter what he has chosen. Everything is just—he wants it to look good, but he does not want to think about it. And I feel like that sweater is just a natural progression of that. He can appreciate the sweater, the knitwear is there, and we just wanted to play with a new colour for Carmy.
Okay, we need to talk about that custom Thom Browne moment in the penultimate episode of season two. What’s the story behind that, and why Thom Browne?
This is such a good story because it really means a lot for the show and means a lot for Chris Storer. But also, it was just a full circle moment. Syd’s pilot episode shirt is this beautiful Thom Browne embroidered shirt from Dover Street Market. Me and Cristina were shopping at Dover before we left for Chicago, and she came from one end of the store, and I came from the other end, but we were both homing in on that shirt.
Chris was stoked about it, and it also reads so beautifully. In real life, if you look at it, it might be too precious for the kitchen, but on TV, it just added so much depth and it looks so good. So that was Syd’s pilot shirt, but then she also wore the classic Thom Browne button-front for a lot of season one as well. The Thom Browne of it all comes from Chris kind of paying homage to his sister, who wore a lot of Thom Browne shirting when she cooked.
I love that suit on him. I think it's such a great character moment. And if you notice in that episode, he does go from what we're used to seeing him in—The Beef T-shirt, a pair of sweats, his Members Only jacket, which was another vintage find—to what he’s wearing in the restaurant. He has on a dark-coloured Ralph Lauren chino with black Timberland boots, and it’s like, yeah, that’s what he would wear. He also wore those boots for his date scene last season. That’s what he would put together for himself to say: This is me trying. And for him to go from that to borrowing the blazer from the restaurant—which, by the way, restaurants like that really do have a stock of shirts and blazers and ties in the back. But to go from that to the next episode where we see him in his suit, he’s thinking, "This is what makes me feel good. This is what makes me feel good about myself. This is how I'm going to dress for the day." It’s a form of using clothing as armour, clothing as a tool to help you. I’m so glad we got to to that for him.
Where was his suit from?
The suit is Boss. We played with different ones, in terms of process. We did a suit which was Boss, which was, say, between $700 and $800. Then we had suits for the fitting that were at a $500 price point, slightly lower. And then we did a really high-end suit that was about $2,000 or $3,000. It was about finding a middle ground, and that happened to be the middle price point we did. With Ebon, how it fit and how he felt in it was really important. The brand is not supposed to be important at all for his storyline, but I honestly do think it’s believable that Richie said, I’m going to go out and buy this suit. It’s recognisable, it’s what a guy wears who knows his stuff.
Do you personally have a favourite character or episode to costume design for?
That’s like picking your favourite child. I do love dressing Richie. It's so much fun. I mean, all of them are great, honestly. Even characters like Ebra, a lot of his shirts we have to build just because we shoot in the wintertime and I have a very particular way that I want his shirts to look, and it’s really hard to find those patterns in those tones in winter. Marcus this season was so much fun to dress. Syd is obviously great. They all bring me so much joy for so many different reasons, because they all have this one thing that I'm obsessed with looking for for them.
Sydney, it’s good vintage. Fak, it’s T-shirts and hats. The workwear that Fak wears is actually Matty Matheson’s own workwear line, Rosa Rugosa. It wasn’t out the first season, so we basically asked them to make things for us, but this season, it’s available and we used it for the staff at The Beef. They all have particular things that I like to home in on and look for for them. With Richie, it’s his track pants. With Tina, it’s her accessories. Liza [Colón-Zayas] is so funny, she’ll be like, “Tina needs a bag. She needs a backpack, just in case she has to run.” I’m like, okay.
You know who was really fun to dress, even though we only got to see him for about two seconds? Chester, Marcus’s roommate and friend. We put him in a lot of vintage suits, a lot of Drake’s, a lot of Brooks Brothers. He’s stealthily one of my favourites.
My favourite episode this season, just because of how crazy it was, is definitely “Fishes.” It was three weeks of madness to do all of those fittings and shop for all of those clothes, I'm glad I have such a strong team. It was all hands on deck. My tailors, my dyer, my coordinator, my PA. We went to L.A. and had to do a fitting there for 36 hours, it was so involved. But we got to do such specific characters in one episode, and it was so great. All the guest stars were so collaborative and so down with what we were doing. It was crazy, but so satisfying.
I felt like all those characters had such distinctive personalities, and you can see that in their style, but then Mikey just wearing a T-shirt at this formal family event. What was the reasoning behind that?
Mikey is one of those guys where if he's wearing an Under Armour shirt and clean jeans and a sneaker, he's like, "Yeah, this is me." I also don’t think he’s in the mind state to try. He’s just waking up every morning and surviving, at that point. It is what it is. We did play around in the fitting and see if we should do a nicer sweater, but for where he is in his mental state and who he is, it felt like that was where he was at.
Can you share some of your favourite style Easter eggs from this season?
This isn’t an Easter egg, but me and Jeremy just got a kick out of it. His jeans for “Fishes” are the A.P.C. classic jeans. We were like, of course Carmy, in his hunt to hone his style years ago, landed on the gateway to liking denim. Of course he’d be wearing that jean. I would say his whole look from that episode—he’s wearing a Palace x Polo Ralph Lauren collaboration rugby shirt, it’s just so specific to that time. He would definitely be like, “Yeah, this is what I’m wearing now,” coming back from his travels.
There’s so much that we put into it, and we are appreciative that people are noticing it. We did try to add a lot more kitchen workwear, even for people who are back of house and in the kitchen. Connor is wearing this white kitchen workwear jacket, we started putting people in Blundstone because that’s what the kitchen world is wearing now. There are little things that we tried to incorporate for the characters to make it true to the world.
Originally published on Esquire US
Walk into the Hermès flagship store in New York and you’ll think you’ve gate-crashed a Supermarket Sweep for millionaires. The well-turned-out shoppers seem primed to drag an arm across a shelf, gathering as many pieces as possible from one of luxury’s oldest brand names. Naturally, there are more restraints—and significantly fewer shopping carts—in this 20,000 square foot temple of tastefulness, which opened on the Upper East Side last October.
“The store is really a masterpiece,” says Véronique Nichanian, artistic director of the Hermès men’s universe since 2008. “For a big store, it feels really intimate.” it is a means to highlight Hermès' superb menswear, which Nichanian has been overseeing for a staggering 35 years, beginning in 1988 when she was appointed artistic director of men's ready-to-wear. In any industry, longevity like that is unusual. She is a unicorn in terms of style. Hermès men's has evolved under her leadership from the bougie bon chic, bon genre style of the late 1980s—all blazers, suits, and patterned city-boy ties—to relaxed, contemporary apparel and accessories fit for a hangout session that just so happens to take place on a private jet.
“For me, more and more, it’s about simplicity,” Nichanian says. “I’ve always loved working with materials, with cloth. I like simple shapes. But I find that men have really changed, too; they are more and more into clothing that is relaxed. Wearing a suit and a tie is no longer by obligation; now it’s a choice, a pleasure. So men are broadening and investing in their casual wardrobes like never before.”
It’s easy to believe, with a grand old name like Hermès—with its silk scarves and Birkin bags and iconic orange packaging—that you’re buying into a vision of permanent Frenchness here, something stuffy even. Not so. “I never really liked that traditional bourgeois view at all,” Nichanian explains. “I think it’s vital to move, inject colour, play, twist things to surprise people. We always do things at Hermès with a sense of humour, lightness, and charm.”
The men's summer 2023 collection, which was revealed in Paris in June, is a confirmation of the air of sophisticated, contemporary elegance that permeates Hermès under Nichanian's direction. The company, which is getting close to its bicentennial, sees itself as a conduit to modern excellent taste rather than fighting change. It is not trendy, but it is unquestionably in style.
Much of the appeal comes from the makeup of the clothes. For summer, there’s near-weightless construction, unimpeachable quality, and colours rarely associated with men’s fashion. Nichanian uses the word légèreté, or lightness, frequently in our conversation, which jumps between French and English. The concept matters just as much emotionally as physically. “I really wanted to give the collection a real sense of lightness, a feeling of escape,” she says. “The world feels heavy at the moment; I think men need summer clothes that feel less urban. There was a lot of inspiration in David Hockney’s art for me—all that California light, those swimming pools, things seen refracted through water—that provided a sense of fluidity, even a sense of humor.”
That playfulness is discreet. You may see an understated H embossed on a leather bag or a belt here and there. But that’s pretty much it. “We’ve been doing things a certain way for nearly two hundred years. We don’t need to put big logos on everything,” Nichanian says. “People talk about Hermès with a real sense of reverence but also with a real fondness—a certain joie de vivre—compared to many other big brands, which I think personally take themselves far too seriously. Of course, business is business, and brands are like people at the end of the day—each to his own, you know. For us, Hermès is all about its personality.”
Photography by Jason Kibbler
Styling by Nick Sullivan
Grooming by Kevin Ryan for Ludlow Blunt salon
Model: Hamid Onifade for DNA Model Management
This story originally appeared in the April/May 2023 issue of ESQUIRE magazine
