As Alessandro Sartori returns home to Ermenegildo Zegna to assume his destined role of artistic director, he embarks on a journey to redefine luxury menswear for a multitude of generations. 

By HASSAN AL-SALEH
Photography DANIEL BERES

Call it fate or destiny, but everything that designer Alessandro Sartori has worked for has culminated in his role as artistic director of Ermenegildo Zegna. 

The son of a tailor, Sartori was born in Trivero, the birthplace of Zegna, and studied fashion design at Istituto Marangoni Milano. His life story is intertwined with Zegna; first joining the brand after graduation and then coming back for eight years as the artistic director of Z Zegna. His five years at the creative helm of Berluti transformed the Parisian label from a heritage shoemaker, renowned for its unique leather finishing, to an all-encompassing menswear and lifestyle brand of inconspicuous luxury. 

In his new role at the world’s largest luxury menswear brand, Sartori is focusing on creating the perfect fit of modern and classic and writing a new chapter of contemporary timelessness in the brand’s rich history. 

In many ways, your return to Zegna is a homecoming. How does it feel to be back?

Coming back after such a long time, five and a half years in Paris, was particularly special and touching. Also, because I’m very attached to the family.

Special, interesting, and challenging, but beautiful. Interesting because it is not only the largest and most complete menswear house in the luxury market, but it is constantly changing. Challenging because times are changing. Today, we need to update ourselves, we need to be open. We need to have a very clear point of view.

Beautiful because it is a house full of new solutions - from new fresh talent to the workshops.

How have things changed and developed under your direction?

I think teams are more connected and the energy and speed is very high. We work as one big team, even if each one has his or her own responsibilities, we try to be connected as much as possible. Not only because I’m a strong believer that if we work with confidence and listen to each other, we can do much more than what we can produce individually but, mostly, because I think if you cultivate, like a forest, new interests, you let young people express themselves. You show that there is possibility to grow and to develop responsibility, if you prove that you can do it. It doesn’t matter what age you are.

Today, Zegna is a place where young trees are growing, with ideas that are growing.

You are cultivating a new generation of creatives who then become entrenched in the Zegna family.

Yes, creativity is part of each step of the process, and we are much more open with a unified vision. 

What do you find most intriguing about designing for men today?

I like to build an aesthetic without tricks but with new solutions. There is a very strong part of the work that is related to this new world of modern classic that starts from where the modern classic was a few seasons ago until overdesign took over. Where I stop, is where the overdesign starts. Overdesigning or over-styling is not interesting to me.

I think that’s very evident in your collections. Details such as belts can add such an interesting component to the whole look and the technical solutions, which you offer, speak to a multitude of audiences.

Absolutely, and the details are particularly interesting if they are simple to use and not over styled.  If I put three jackets one over the other, for sure, that’s interesting, but how many people will do that? How real is that?  Or, if I use a very long woven belt, that ties around the waist three times with a little buckle on the side, how many people are going to do that in real life?

I like garments that have a beautiful fit and offer styling solutions that are real. 

How have customers responded to these changes? 

Faster than what we thought. Of course, it changes from market to market because we have different clientele, but faster than what we thought.

The sportswear side of Ermenegildo Zegna - the Z Zegna line - and the couture line, is growing very fast.  

How has the Zegna customer evolved along this journey with you?

Today, the aesthetic is different and diverse. How many images do we see per week? Thousands and thousands. This has changed the perception of everyone, including the Zegna customer. There is increased awareness and education and it’s evolving very fast.

The way you communicate with customers has most definitely evolved to changing consumer consumption of information. Talk to us about your on-going collaboration with Benjamin Millepied. 

The collaboration with him is very honest, open, and frank. It’s not about giving him money, or giving him clothes. It’s about the possibility to do something great. It’s about a feeling. We met over a friendly dinner in Paris and since then we connected, and we liked each other.

He is a deep, personable and interesting person that you can listen and talk to for a long time. The collaboration was organic, and it was a great thing to do. We were in Marfa for five days. It was beautiful.  

I think what was most appealing was that it felt very authentic. It didn’t feel like a forced collaboration, it wasn’t about the fashion, it wasn’t just about the dance. Everything married so effortlessly together. It felt very true to who you are as a designer but also very true to Benjamin and very true to the brand.  

Thank you for that.

Even during your time at Berluti, you introduced a lot of artistic collaborations. How do they all fit within your bigger narrative for Zegna?

I feel that you need a reason to go back to the store. That’s why I’m a big fan, or a big believer of, when you do the buying for a big store, being very creative is important. But when you do the buying for a small store, even more creativity is needed. 

The collections and the shows are the most important part of the creation of the aesthetic of the brand but, also the excitement, the freshness, the freedom of doing new projects is important. They need to be in the same aesthetic, but arriving as a parallel agenda to refresh the offer. And so, we started, and we have a lot of ideas, a lot of things to come.

As an example, I want to talk about the one with Master & Dynamic, which we did with Zegna Toyz. Part of it was just games, or leather products but a very technological part was working together on leather devices; headphones, vinyl players and so on, it’s fantastic.

Zegna is synonymous with high quality fabrics. What is your emotional connection to fabrics as a designer?

It is a very tactile feeling. The first thing you are attracted to, immediately, is the color. Second, most probably, is the design and then you see what type of fabric it is. 

I really like the fact that we are in a very good “kitchen” so we can build things from scratch. Like the Achill Farm, as a project, is fantastic and starts from how we feed the animals for example, for the cashmere. We start from natural elements from coffee beans to actual flowers and that is really interesting because it’s like creating a very good meal, putting together all the components.

A the end, when I touch a fabric, it's a very sensual feeling and questioning the difference between two is fantastic. But the reaction that each one, even a very similar one, according to the design, could be very different, that’s why you have to work a lot on the technical part.

There is a lot of talk about sustainability in fashion. How do you see things developing and moving forward?

This isn’t just marketing, I see this as a fantastic story. The real story, and one of the most creative things to me, is the 360 Economy, where you take a thing, transform it and then go back and reintegrate it in the process. 

As an example, Bonotto, one of the mills that the company owns, has a beautiful project on recycled polyester that starts from recycling plastic bottles.

I feel that these sustainable types of ideas for design and materials are important and I am a strong believer of them.

How do you honor the legacy of Zegna while speaking to such a modern, contemporary audience?

Keeping the craft, the roots, the DNA, the artisans, which is the core of the brand. That has to be at the center of our world. So, if I do a modern aesthetic with a beautiful quality fabric using the craft and the style, which belongs to the house, even if it is very modern and fresh, I think I’ve done my job. If I move everything into a territory that doesn’t belong to the craft of the house and I use a bad quality fabric, I didn’t get the job done. That’s my theory.

You said when you re-joined Zegna that you were obsessed with the vision that the family had for the brand. Can you explain?

When looking at the archives, they look and feel super modern, which is unbelievable. So, I like the idea of how transformation always kept craft in modernity, always kept a very strong legacy tied to the brand’s roots but a very brilliant vision of the future. So, that is what is interesting to me and what was interesting in the past and what should be interesting in the future.

What do you hope to achieve at Zegna?

An updated recognizable style for multiple generations. It’s more about the lifestyle, rather than the age.

Men’s fashion is in a state of flux. What do you think is your responsibility as a designer to establish order when so many things are changing?

Three or four years ago, we saw certain brands create very chaotic styling and aesthetics and that worked particularly well.

In my opinion, today is another moment and in fact, also brands are reacting and doing different things. Today, there is a lot of chaos in politics and what is happening in every social aspect. I think the work that includes music, art, design, and fashion should be very inspirational for our time. It should be much more organized, less chaotic. So, I try to be as clean, sharp, and modern as possible. Also, because I want to communicate a certain aesthetic that fits with that.

That makes perfect sense. It’s about balance. If there is chaos on the outside, there needs to be stability inside to create that equilibrium.

That’s right.

What is your hope for the future of men’s fashion?

Have you seen the movie by Luca Guadagnino entitled “Call Me By Your Name”?

Yes, it’s incredibly beautiful and moving.  

How inspiring is that film? That’s my hope for fashion.

Photography MARIUS W. HANSEN
Styling JOHANNE MILLS

Designer Haider Ackermann evokes the idiosyncrasies of the places he inhabits and the emotions he experiences all to compel us to keep reaching, searching and traveling.

By HASSAN AL-SALEH
Photography RAPHAEL LUGASSY
Styling ROBERT RABENSTEINER

Haider Ackermann is a rare breed and a man of exacting standards. Despite the pressure and demands of the fashion industry, he is one of the most sartorially forward-thinking designers of our time. He goes beyond the necessity of fashion to craft people’s dreams with his sculptural yet soft silhouettes and urban avant-garde aesthetic. Dreams that come alive when worn, and then set in motion.

Ackermann’s formative years as a child traveling the world with his family have informed his designs: the masterful use of textures, artful draping and rich fabrics. A graduate of fashion from the famed Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, he launched his eponymous label in 2003 to critical acclaim and in 2016 was tapped as creative director of Berluti. Carefully guarding his vision of deeply personal luxury with a flair for romantic bohemianism, he plays with the notions of duality between rigidity and sensuality. The result is sophisticated and eclectic, asymmetric designs that are recognized for an exquisite sense of androgyny and bourgeoisie spirit. But perhaps most importantly, they are charged with unapologetic attitude and evoke a serious case of wanderlust of the heart, mind and soul.

“I grew up in a family, which was so far away from my own sensibilities. My life used to be about contradictions, but we’re all made out of contradictions and perhaps I explore them more than anyone else. I like that, because it makes everything more fragile, but in every form of fragility there’s a force in it.”

Leaving a lasting legacy of transformation, Christopher Bailey’s swan song for Burberry delivers a powerful message of love, hope and tolerance.

By MAX BERLINGER
Photography BRETT LLOYD

It was the end of an era.

When Christopher Bailey presented the Spring-Summer 2018 collection for the British mega-brand Burberry, it was his last big gesture for the brand that he had worked at for 17 years, and that he had transformed from fusty heritage label to modern newsmaker favored by fashion-conscious shoppers across the globe. It was big news and everyone was watching.

So it makes Bailey’s message so much more meaningful, that the designer chose this moment to share a message of inclusivity, hope, and optimism. He recognized that the best way to show his appreciation would be to thread the collection with bits of personal history for added significance. It’s as if Bailey knew the best way to properly say goodbye to the brand and close a 17-year chapter in his life was to look inward, and give a glimpse of himself as a small but meaningful parting gift. The rainbow colors, beautiful and tender, were a lovely, moving way to do that. Burberry also made donations to three charities: the Albert Kennedy Trust, the Trevor Project and the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association to support their efforts in raising awareness, mentoring and providing resources to LGBTQ+ communities worldwide, which happen to be at higher risk for suicide, abuse, and depression. 

“My final collection here at Burberry is dedicated to - and in support of - some of the best and brightest organizations supporting LGBTQ youth around the world. There has never been a more important time to say that in our diversity lies our strength, and our creativity.”

Jonathan Anderson, creative director of Loewe, realize the full potential of art to unite people into a collective mind.    

By JON ROTH

Once, we had patrons. Popes, kings, and first families of trade funded the great artists of the past, trading humble gold for masterpieces that have carried on through time. Think of the Medici, or Louis XIV. They were the still points around which spheres of creative influence spun. Then that model broke. Today, many artisans — those who ply their craft by hand — have been left in the cold. Their output is shrugged off as too quaint, or old-fashioned, or precious for a world that prizes convenience and commodity. There is no patron to champion them.

Except for Jonathan Anderson. He looks out for his own.

At 34, Anderson is the creative director of Spanish leather goods and fashion house Loewe (as well as his eponymous line, J.W. Anderson). He’s also a man who deeply appreciates the value of making things by hand. Which is why, in 2016, the Irish designer founded the Loewe Craft Prize, an international competition accepting applicants of all ages and nationalities, seeking handmade pieces on a basis of excellence, artistic merit, and newness. In many ways, Anderson and the Loewe Foundation are fulfilling the role the patrons of yore once did: they are giving artisans the space and resources to thrive.

“As we head into an incredibly digital landscape, we want to connect to things made by hand more. We are living in such a period of non-reality. We communicate via email all day, we have dates via social media… We’re in this moment where we’re trying to become more tactile again.”

The Loewe prize does just that: lifting up artisans who work with their hands, creating pieces you can touch, and hold, and treasure. Both designer and brand are firmly rooted in a respect for the slow, painstaking, human effort required to create pieces of timeless beauty. Now they are becoming a new kind of patron

Anthony Vaccarello, creative director of Saint Laurent, honors the love and legacy of one of the most prolific designers of the 20th century through a spellbinding celebration of tradition and functional design.

By ADAM HURLY
Photography RORY VAN MILLINGEN

When Saint Laurent hired Anthony Vaccarello as its creative director in 2016, it wasn’t because Vaccarello was provocative or innovative. He is both of those things, but Vaccarello’s appeal as a leader and visionary comes from his love of process, his veneration for order and legacy. His Spring-Summer 2018 collection was a love letter to the recently departed Bergé, and an artistically optimistic celebration of life. It was so very Parisian, so Yves and Pierre.

“I think of everything Saint Laurent when I begin a collection, but I don’t set out to make a Saint Laurent collection. The weight of the house is so heavy that I would be blocked. Anyway, when you’re inside the house, you don’t think about it. I think it’s mostly in the eyes of other people. Everyone has a vision of what they think Saint Laurent should be, and that’s something I knew when I started.”

Vaccarello is a student of fashion, sans an ego that might get in the way of Yves’ hopes for the brand, and of his and Bergé’s legacy. You get the notion from Vaccarello’s humility in the spotlight that everything is matter of fact: I am good at design, so I design. I love the process, so here I am. How can I do my job in the best way? He doesn’t set out to be provocative, but he is. He doesn’t try to be Yves Saint Laurent. But in honoring Yves’ vision—and in trusting his gut, above all—Vaccarello has proven that if you love something, set it free.

Photography ROBBIE FIMMANO
Styling LIZ MCCLEAN
Hairstylist JENNY KIM at M.A.P
Makeup Artist ERIN GREEN at ART DEPARTMENT

Photography CRISTA LEONARD
Styling GABRIELLA NORBERG
Grooming BRADY LEA at STELLA CREATIVE ARTISTS
Model RHYS PICKERING at MODELS 1

A dreamer grounded in reality, Valentino’s Pierpaolo Piccioli uses his enlightened sense of freedom to progressively break the Italian label out from the confines of the past and move it into the present.

By HASSAN AL-SALEH
Photography GREG KESSLER

Pierpaolo Piccioli, creative director of the storied couture house of Valentino, uses fashion as a powerful vernacular to express freedom.  The freedom to choose and not adapt to rules or any stereotypes that take away from creativity.

After working for 26 years alongside his longtime creative partner, Maria Grazia Chiuri, first designing accessories at Fendi and then at Valentino before being appointed co-creative directors, Pierpaolo Piccioli has been going it alone at Valentino for the last two years, developing his vision of what fashion means today. While the duo worked harmoniously together to cultivate and synthesize differences, now Piccioli is making Valentino his own; more intimate, more personal. 

There is no denying that Valentino has undergone a renaissance, which has propelled the brand back to the forefront of fashion. Its couture DNA has been modernized to fit the contemporary consumer of today. Piccioli’s creative energy is striking in its originality and his thoughtful, intellectual approach to fashion, which explores how humanism can nourish creativity, pushes the couture ideals and traditions of the house forward, into different worlds. Take, for example, the birth of haute athleisure. It is in sportswear that Piccioli finds diversity and unification, which he uses to spread the message of authenticity, individuality, and diversity.

“I really believe in values of freedom and individuality. I think that beauty is about uniqueness. All these values are the values I want to deliver every season with every collection because it is something that I believe in my life and not only in fashion.”

Photography MAXIME POIBLANC

Styling & Set Design DAVID DE QUEVEDO

Grooming MIGUEL LLEDO at ARTLIST NEW YORK

Model JUSTIN PETZSCHKE at SOUL ARTIST MANAGEMENT

Constructing something new from something old, Designer Walid Al Damirji breathes new life into history with his deft approach and multi-layered vision of fashion.

By MAX BERLINGER
Photography TOMO BREJC

In today’s vast, global economy, brands are struggling to break through and be heard. The madness of Fashion Week and the bombardment of images on social media have made it difficult for labels to stand out. Designer Walid Al Damirji, of the label By Walid, has found a way to do just that and it’s not by going bigger, bigger, bigger. It can be done by something as simple as stepping out of the ongoing cycle of newness and looking at something revolutionary: old textiles.

Al Damirji uses old, deadstock, discontinued fabrics and textiles and creates new, hand-crafted, meticulously-made, and stunningly-detailed works. They are garments that mix cultural background and historical references; things that look both like pieces from the distant past and the distant future, clothing that effortlessly mixes eastern and western influences, oftentimes one-of-a-kind and breathtaking in their originality and beauty.

This bold way of working not only allows Al Damirji to create exciting work, it is an ecologically friendly way to participate in the fashion system without creating waste - in fact it does the opposite.

“I love creating something out of what are often shredded remnants. GivING new life to something so discarded yet with a history of its own. It can often be very time consuming and frustrating to produce a series of one of a kind garments. There’s so little that’s tactile in these times.”

Photography SERGE LEBLON
Styling EMIL REBEK
Hairstylist PIERPAOLO LAI
at JULIAN WATSON AGENCY
Model JOSEPH SIGNORET at SUCCESS

Drawing inspiration from the vibrant, underground nightlife of New York, Desi Santiago transforms his Club Kid past into a visceral creative force.

By Hassan Al-Saleh

Multidisciplinary visual artist Desi Santiago is a continuum of reinvention. He first made a name for himself as a 90s New York City Club Kid with his ‘Desi Monster’ alias, then had a brief stint as a jewelry designer. He is now the mastermind behind creating immersive experiences for Opening Ceremony, Loewe, Y-3 and Cartier’s Ecrou de Cartier launch at Salone del Mobile in addition to creating the dynamic onstage narrative for Madonna’s MDNA World Tour. He also conceived theatrical masks and headpieces for the record-breaking Alexander McQueen ‘Savage Beauty’ show at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and for Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton’s retrospective installation at Paris' Musée des Arts Decoratifs. Most recently, he art directed Bruce LaBruce’s film ‘The Misandrists’ and teamed up with Randy Weiner and Ryan Heffington as Production and Costume Designer of the critically-acclaimed theater show ‘Seeing You’. An impressive roster of collaborations that are both visceral and involving.

From set and costume design to editorial and film credits, every project feels like the birth of a cultural movement starting with his New York nightlife heydays.  We are just playing catch up.

For the New Jersey born artist of Puerto Rican descent, it is always about seducing the audience and transporting them to a fantastical and otherworldly dreamscape.

“I really like inspiring people and taking them to another place. I consider a lot of my installations like these pockets in reality and of the moment. It’s a physical connection.”

Read the full interview in our latest issue out now.

Photography Philippe Vogelenzang

Styling Ferry Van Der Nat

Model Parker Van Noord at Bananas Models

After taking over Dior Homme ten years ago, Kris Van Assche continues to lead the French couture house toward a brave new world of experimentation, self-expression and liberation.

By Hassan Al-Saleh

Photography Morgan O’Donovan

Over the past decade, the private and methodical Artistic Director of Dior Homme, Kris Van Assche, has created a radically new vocabulary for the illustrious French couture house. The Belgian designer has defined a strong aesthetic of his own by reinventing contemporary tailoring, imbuing sartorial suiting with street-cool edge with great rigor and skill.

Expressing Monsieur Christian Dior’s modernist and anti-conformist spirit, Van Assche believes that one needs to reinvent to stay relevant and that could not be more true of his tenure at Dior Homme. After weathering the early storms of his appointment and putting his eponymous label on hiatus, he has come into his own during what can only be categorized as a boundary-breaking journey at Dior. By consistently presenting a study of contrasts through a conscientious balance between heritage and innovation, Van Assche has gained subversive power against storied codes. 

As Van Assche explains, he has transformed Dior Homme and Dior Homme has transformed him.

“It has taken me some time to believe that the significance of what we are doing could affect and inspire people outside the industry.”

Read the full interview in our latest issue out now.

Photography Mariano Vivanco

Styling Teddy Czopp

Model Jacob Hankin at Soul Artist Management

Grooming Ali Pirzadeh at CLM

Stylist Assistant Maya Pambagiun 

Gucci’s Alessandro Michele enlists the talents of visual artists for a string of high-profile collaborations to build a community that embraces his creative genius and signature eccentricity.

By Max Berlinger

Photography Coco Capitán

It’s no secret that Alessandro Michele created a revolution when he took over the Italian behemoth Gucci as Creative Director, back in 2015. His androgynous, bookish maximalism has swept the fashion industry by storm, causing competitors to play catch up to his ornate and eccentric take on luxury. From his fur-lined slippers to graffiti-style logo T-shirts to his embroidered denim, Michele is a virtual hit machine, cranking out covetable must-haves season after season, seemingly never lacking for inspiration.

Michele, who has many times waxed poetic on philosophy, has tapped visual artists a few times during his short tenure, each with delightful results. The most recent collaboration, unveiled during the Fall-Winter 2017 collection, is with artist Coco Capitán.

“Fashion and art are mutually informed by one another, and they are really part of a connected dialogue.”

Read the full article in our latest issue out now.

Photography Zeb Daemen

Styling Gabriella Norberg

Model Julian Schneyder at New Madison

Photography Marius Hansen

Set Design Annette Masterman

Model Bertie Pearce at Elite Model Management

Grooming Samantha Cooper at Carol Hayes

First Assistant Photographer Richard Turner 

Véronique Nichanian, the longtime Artistic Director of the Hermès Men’s Universe, has redefined luxury menswear by capturing timeless values with contemporary design. 

By Hassan Al-Saleh

Photography Ilaria Orsini 

Behind every successful man is a woman and that could not be more true of the Hermès man and the woman behind him, Véronique Nichanian. For almost 30 years, the Artistic Director of the Men’s Universe has been designing for an ever-evolving man who is sensitive to quality, details, and exceptional fabrics. The result is timeless allure and purity; living proof that fashion can defy seasons and trends. 

Nichanian’s pragmatic approach to menswear coupled with her penchant for innovation and craftsmanship, gives her a refreshingly clear focus on what both menswear and luxury needs to be today. She juxtaposes the old with the new to push the Hermès brand forward without losing its core DNA.

According to Nichanian, fashion is not something totalitarian. Instead, her philosophy centers on men developing a special, invisible bond to their clothes. She seduces the senses of sight and touch through a meticulous design process informed by color and fabric.

For a brand permanently inscribed in the lexicon of luxury goods, Nichanian believes that Hermès has to be a positive force, bringing strength and happiness to fashion.

“Luxury does not mean anything anymore. I think it’s about being demanding of what we propose to men and the way we do things. Luxury should be about proposing the best we can propose from our soul and from our heart.”

Read the full interview in our latest issue out now.

Alessandro Sartori’s interplay with the other arts and mediums serves as a preview of his modern-day vision for Ermenegildo Zegna. 

By Jon Roth

Photography Patrick Fraser

You wouldn’t expect to find a sought-after Italian designer like Alessandro Sartori knocking around in the middle of the Texas desert. The context is all wrong, the setting feels like a glitch. But then Sartori has never been interested in merely meeting expectations. And so in between his comeback show and his second collection as Artistic Director at Ermenegildo Zegna, he made time for a project with longtime friend, dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied.

Sartori knows that fashion can’t exist in a vacuum - that a designer’s mind works best when it’s in dialogue with other artists, responding to their ideas and their output. His partnership with Millepied is just the first page of a new chapter for Ermenegildo Zegna, proof that a modern designer doesn’t just make clothes, he makes aesthetic statements, no matter what the medium.

Read the full article in our latest issue out now.

By Kurt Markus & Eric Hansen

Photography Kurt Markus

What began in 1996 as a magazine assignment quickly became an obsession.  Yemen hooked me, hard. I went back, on my own dime, for the following three years. I covered the various, distinctive regions, lost in the rush of discovery. That’s the way I felt, as if I was the only photographer to fall in love with this wonderful landscape and people. Each of the four trips took me to the limits of my endurance, both physically and emotionally. Nothing came easily. I packed a large 4x5” format camera and lenses, making photographs as if they were carved out of stone. No snapshots, just pure, unmanipulated images. No shortcuts, one picture at a time, often surrounded by a couple hundred villagers, clamoring to see what I was doing.

With me was the great travel writer Eric Hansen. Whenever we traveled together, I did the pictures and Eric told the story. We were brothers.

From the beginning, we knew our goal: to create a unique body of work that deserved to be showcased in exhibitions and a book that would travel to major institutions. But the world changed in 2001. Eric put away his notebooks and I stopped printing, although by this time I had made over 400 exhibit-quality prints. The archive has sat on shelves for 20 years, waiting for a right time to bring the archive out of darkness.

Now, the time is right. Maybe these photographs and stories will go some distance to heal what separates us. Maybe we can find common ground. A world without violence.

Kurt Markus

The central purpose of this body of work is to introduce Yemen to a worldwide audience; and in the process, serve as an evocative and lasting tribute to a unique culture in the midst of political, social and economic change that is presently sweeping across Yemen and the rest of the Middle East.

Yemen is an ancient country, situated at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Largely unknown to most of the Western world, Yemen is a place unto itself - a land of warriors, poets and builders. Even compared to other Middle East countries, Yemen is unique. It is populated by proud, independent people who consider themselves the aristocrats of the Islamic world. In addition to history and culture, the visual impact of Yemen is powerful: stark, hauntingly beautiful landscapes, medieval looking cities with their whimsical brick, stone and adobe architecture, and mountain slopes sculpted with undulating stone terraced fields. It is all the work of thousands of years.

Eric Hansen

Tom Ford’s preternatural love of film has transformed the celebrated fashion designer into an honored filmmaker with an arresting vernacular that intrigues and inspires audiences of both worlds.

By Hassan Al Saleh

Tom Ford is a model of reinvention. With impeccable taste and meticulous, unmatched attention to detail, image-making has always been his forte. The genius re-imaging of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent with bold, controversial and hedonistic campaigns will forever be a cornerstone in fashion history. Therefore, it came as no surprise when he stunned the film world with his 2009 directorial debut of A Single Man starring Colin Firth and Julian Moore. The film was a critical sensation, earning Oscar, Golden Globes and BAFTA nominations.

Seven years later, Ford made lightning strike twice with his spectacular second cinematic work, Nocturnal Animals starring Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal.

It won top prize at the Venice Film Festival and garnered Golden Globes, BAFTA and Oscar nods, affirming his remarkable storytelling acumen that is intelligent, powerfully moving and artistically thought-provoking.

Simply put, Tom Ford is a rarity in every sense of the word. He injects the same artistic vision and brilliant sartorial splendor of his fashion designs into the painfully beautiful and sumptuous films he writes, produces and directs.  We sat down with the man himself to understand how and where the realms of fashion and film collide.

“For me film really is the ultimate design project.  I think fashion does have permanence – you can go to a museum and see something created – but I don’t think that it necessarily affects you in the same way as a film.” – Tom Ford

Anthony Vaccarello bravely takes on one of fashion’s most illustrious legacies at Saint Laurent. 

By Max Berlinger  

Imagery Nathalie Canguilhem

For most designers who take over a storied brand like Yves Saint Laurent, it’s part of the job to deal with the founder’s legacy and at YSL, that legacy casts a long shadow. Yves Saint Laurent is one of the most prolific designers of the 20th century, a man who firmly moved clothing into the modern era, a man who was obsessed with making clothing that was made for living, not just couture made for society of ladies. It has been said that no designer has ever been closer to godliness, in the eyes of the fashion industry, and specifically the French, than he.

But Italian-Belgian fashion designer Anthony Vaccarello, who was named Creative Director of the iconic French brand in April 2016, has to also wrestle with the tenure of his immediate predecessor, Hedi Slimane, whose rock ’n’ roll energy sent critics wringing their hands but sent consumers to the stores, happily buying the ineffable style of cool proffered on the runway.

“If you attempt to do the amazing things he did, the incredible things he brought to fashion, you will never re-create the past, so you always have to think of the now for Yves Saint Laurent. It’s not even really thinking about the future with this house: it always has to be about the now.” – Anthony Vaccarello

Photography Robert Fimmano

Styling Andrew Mukamal

Models David Alexander Flinn at the Lions

Grace Corton at Soul Artist Management

Digital Tech Dean Podmore

Photography Assistant Timothy Shin

Stylist Assistant Chris Lee

Makeup Artist Seong Hee Park at Julian Watson Agency  

Hairstylist Bok Hee at Streeters

Set Designer Holli Featherstone at Mary Howard Studio

Photography Coppi Barbieri

Set Design Kelly Russell

Dries van Noten’s proud independence has transformed his eponymous fashion house into a beacon of creative ingenuity and intellectual integrity in living color.

By Max Berlinger  

Photography Ojoz

Belgian cult fashion designer Dries van Noten first showed his work in 1986, as part of the powerful collective known as The Antwerp Six. Since then, as the industry has unfurled in an explosion of globalization, van Noten has remained a man apart from the madness, maintaining his aesthetic tinged with timeless eclecticism and nostalgia.

Today, as corporate collectives like Kering and LVMH snap up big brands, van Noten remains the Chief Executive and Creative Director of his business, which still remains headquartered in Antwerp. This autonomy has helped inform his work, which mixes a sense of athleticism and wistful romanticism into an undeniably cool, intellectual look.

“I have always believed that economic independence informs and sustains creative independence, a principle of my work. My parents set an example in that they owned their own retail ready-to-wear business. Besides this, I have always enjoyed all of the aspects of my business as one's attention drawn to one area can be a welcome respite from another. It is clear, too, that getting clothes made as an independent company in these days of vertical integration is increasingly important.” – Dries van Noten

Photography Pablo Saez 

Styling Gabriella Norberg 

Model Felix Gesnouin at View Management

Hairstylist Carol Guzman at Kasteel Artist Management

First Assistant Photographer Fede Delibes

Second Assistant Photographer German Gomez Criado

Stylist Assistant Cesar Sanchez

Belgian-born Moroccan makeup artist Sammy Mourabit masterfully peers into the soul of his subjects to blur the line between the familiar and the fantastic.

By Jon Roth

Photography Steven Klein

Almost from the beginning, Sammy Mourabit has been fascinated with the human face: its textures and contours, the angle of a cheekbone or the jut of a jaw. Certainly, that’s evident in his massive body of work. Over the past 30 years, the makeup artist has left few facets of the visual world untouched - taking his vaunted talents from the old-world tradition of opera and ballet to the glossy sheen of fashion editorials. But even before he picked up a brush, Mourabit was an earnest student of the human form. In his earliest years, he seriously considered becoming a plastic surgeon.

Years of experience have given him a wide-ranging skillset, from wig making and prosthetics to stage makeup and runway-ready looks.

There’s too much work to summarize it neatly. But it may be in film where his talents shine most

Mourabit moves deftly between the outlandish and the approachable. He does this because he’s a professional who can read a client’s needs, sure, but he’s an empath who can read his subjects, too.

 “I listen to their soul and their pain and create a visual that fits them perfectly. It all depend who is sitting in front of me. It's a powerful process, that exchange between two human beings.” – Sammy Mourabit

Fendi’s foray into the restorative arts underscores its deep pride in its Made in Italy heritage.

By Radhina Almeida Coutinho 

Photography Matteo Piazza

Two intertwined bronze trees holding an 11-tonne sculpted block of marble by celebrated Italian avant-garde artist Giuseppe Penone took residence at Lago Goldoni outside the Palazzo Fendi, a gift from the luxury fashion house to the Eternal City in which it was born a little more than 90 years ago.

The sculpture called “Leaves of Stone” is the latest in a series of projects supported by Fendi that put art and architecture front and center of the brand’s community initiatives – notably revolving around monuments and artists that are iconically Italian.

Penone has described “Leaves of Stone” in a language that evokes a similar concept. He speaks of the sculpture as “something that changes and develops in response to the elements, like a three-dimensional drawing, with nature as the ultimate draughtsman. The oxidized bronze will eventually color the white marble, which is like a blank sheet of paper waiting to be written on over time.”

Photography Marius W. Hansen 

Set Design Annette Masterman 

First Assistant

Photographer Nicola de Cecchi

Set Assistant Ali Bailon 

Creative Director Christopher Bailey takes the iconic British heritage brand Burberry gallantly into the future. 

By Max Berlinger

Despite fashion’s obsession with the new, in many ways, it can be an industry that is cautious about trying new things. Take, for example, the fashion calendar, which dictates that brands show their collections to press and store buyers a full six months before they’re available to customers. It’s been this way for the entirety of the modern fashion era, and the timing made sense to give labels time to take orders and then fill them. Those days are gone. Thanks to the Internet, average fashion fans are now able to access the images at the same time (if not sooner) than magazine editors and store buyers. Blogs are able to report on the season before traditional media is able to. Buyers, quite frankly, are bored of the clothing they saw six months ago by the time they land in stores. 

There’s a reason that fashion is reluctant to change: it’s hard. Huge corporations can’t easily reimagine the logistics of a supply and demand chain they’ve relied on for the sum total of their existence. And yet Burberry, despite its enormity as a company (not to mention cultural presence) is dedicating itself to adapting, as it has since the dawn of the digital age, thanks to its Creative Director Christopher Bailey. 

Despite its heritage and its size, the company has been quick to embrace technology to help spread its message. It was one of the first brands to livestream its runway shows, starting back with its Spring-Summer 2010 show, and to offer customers at home a chance to purchase pieces they see on the catwalk from the comfort of their own home, just click and go. 

This season, Burberry made a huge leap, and decided to close the six month gap between the unveiling of its seasonal collection and selling it, adopting a nascent business plan in the industry called by many, “see now, buy now”. During September, when many other brands were showing their Spring-Summer 2017 shows, Bailey showed his Fall-Winter 2016 collection, which was made immediately available via its own stores across the globe and selected retail partners, like Barneys New York in the United States, and MR PORTER online.

“For an industry that loves moving forward - that’s about newness and inspiring people -how can we not be excited about the thing that has changed every one of our lives?” – Christopher Bailey

More than 20 years since his debut film Kids, Larry Clark turns his singular lens on Dior Homme.

By Jon Roth

Photography Larry Clark 

There they go, strutting ahead, long and lanky, cocky in the way that only teenage boys can be. Behind them, the Art Deco bas-relief of the Palais de Tokyo. Before them, skateboarders speed and spin, held aloft less by physics than sheer exuberance. The boys walk on, talking with their heads down, laughing, looking up here and there to smirk, to wink. They loaf together on a stone ledge, legs dangling. It looks like they’ll live forever young.

No one captures surly, rambunctious youth like Larry Clark.

The auteur has just created a short film in collaboration with Dior Homme, a skate-centric montage of sudden jump cuts, shaky close-ups and superimposed imagery meant to highlight the release of seven new sneakers. And sure, we see the shoes, but the focus is much broader than that. Mostly, we see four models, and the skaters surrounding them, inhabiting the space outside the National Museum of Modern Art in Paris. 

It’s a fitting subject and setting for Dior, and particularly for Dior Homme’s Artistic Director Kris Van Assche, who has worked diligently to reconcile the fashion house’s historic roots with the forward-thinking vitality of youth culture. 

"Larry Clark is intimately linked to the youth culture of my generation, and for this reason he is one of the indelible references in my inspiration. It has been an honor and a pleasure to be able work on this project with him." – Kris Van Assche

It might be the innate Dutch ability for effortless ease tinged with flashes of mad ingenuity, but Lucas Ossendrijver has inadvertently shaped the defining look of 21st century men’s fashion.

By Radhina Almeida Coutinho 

Photograhy James Bort

He has described himself as the master of the reserved. No obvious gimmicky references, no muses, no forced attempts at creating a defined “look”.

Instead, what Head of Menswear at Lanvin, Lucas Ossendrijver, has consistently preached during his decade at the high fashion French label is his desire to create a complete wardrobe – one that naturally fits any man, in any situation. Comfortable and confident in its individuality – it’s the ability to wear a suit with sneakers and still look elegant that is the mark of the modern man.

Having grown up in the Dutch country around Utrecht, watching his father build up his lumberyard and construction business, Ossendrijver has said that he always knew he wanted to work with his hands. It’s a way of working that has stuck with him – Ossendrijver is known for employing a very intuitive and tactile approach to creating his designs – one that exercises instinct and develops organically rather than strictly from a drawing board.

“I try to touch people through my collections and bring the passion that we have for making clothes to the customer.” – Lucas Ossendrijver

Photography Philippe Vogelenzang

Styling Peghah Maleknejad 

Models

Simon Nessman at Soul Artist Management

Anna Mila at IMG Models

Hairstylist

Paul Donovan at CLM Hair and Make-Up

Makeup Artist

Jo Frost at CLM Hair and Make-Up

Manicurist Trish Lomax

Digital Assistant Robert Self

Producer Sandra Gormley

In just a few short years, Irish designer Jonathan Anderson is taking the Spanish brand Loewe from sleepy traditionalist to cutting-edge newsmaker.

By Max Berlinger

Photography Steven Miesel

Jonathan Anderson looks innocent, but the way he has imposed himself on the fashion landscape with willful determination suggests that there’s something fiery beneath his boyish facade. And the results are hard to ignore. At his own eponymous label, JW Anderson, the 32-year-old designer has become known for his wildly innovative and intellectually challenging collections which feature his prescient penchant for asexual wardrobes where he blends men’s and women’s garments with aplomb. So it was something of a shock to the industry when the news was announced, in 2013, that the designer would be taking the reins at the iconic Spanish brand Loewe, a much more conservative label on the fashion landscape. 

Loewe was founded in 1846, originally as a cooperative of leatherworkers in Madrid. The brand’s Spanish heritage, artisanal history, and focus on leather accessories have remained central aspects to the brand. Yet when Anderson presented his first collection, a menswear collection for the Spring-Summer 2015 season, he made it clear that he would be relying less on history than on transformation. 

“Brands need to move at the speed the world does, and today that is fast. We live in the era of content. We put something on Instagram and it gets reposted and it’s everywhere and a minute later it’s gone, over. I don’t see that as a negative thing; it’s the way my mind works, too. It’s not just about consumers not getting bored of the brand, it’s about me not getting bored of it.”
– Jonathan Anderson

One of the most influential figures shaping modern menswear, Kim Jones’ perpetual wanderlust has built a powerful narrative for the venerable house of Louis Vuitton over the last five years.

By Hassan Al-Saleh

Photography Kim Jones

Kim Jones has been a voracious international explorer since the age of three months old, when he and his family moved to Ecuador. He has not stopped traversing the planet since, with the stated intention of visiting every country in the world. The London-born Men’s Artistic Director of Louis Vuitton has collected, and continues to collect, a globe’s worth of references that feed his wondrous imagination and have helped him build the menswear collections he designs for the Parisian megabrand Louis Vuitton, into major seasonal statements. Very becoming for a brand founded on a steamer trunk and where travel is the essence of its soul.

During his 5 years at Louis Vuitton, Jones has given the menswear collections a real fashion identity, doing “interpretations of himself” with worldly intelligence and a trademark mix of youthful irreverence, through the language of culture. It is his ability to move between worlds that has made a profound impact on luxury menswear, fusing formal with casual and ingraining sportswear in the modern man’s wardrobe.

“Of course, travel is a huge inspiration. Besides the discovery of techniques, fabrics, crafts that is crucial in my work especially at Louis Vuitton, traveling is a massive part of the modern life.” – Kim Jones

Bottega Veneta may be the original proponent of the no-logo philosophy, but Creative Director Tomas Maier will definitely leave an indelible mark.  

By Radhina Almeida Coutinho

There’s something to be said for a 50-year old brand breaking with tradition at the very moment it pays tribute to its past.

Bottega Veneta brought together its men’s and women’s collections on the same catwalk for the very first time at its Spring-Summer 2017 show in Milan. It was a deliberate choice that many believe heralds the brand’s desire to confidently embrace its future.

In between the rich leathers, crinkled lamé biker jackets, silk suits and moleskin pants that graced the runway, the models paraded 15 classic archival bags alongside 15 brand new designs - a mirror tribute that was fitting for a twin celebration - 50 years of Bottega Veneta and 15 years with Creative Director Tomas Maier at its helm.

“When I joined the house it was losing its identity and roots, so I instituted our four cornerstones of outstanding craftsmanship, timeless yet innovative design, contemporary functionality and the highest quality materials.” – Tomas Maier 

Syrian-born Swedish artist Jwan Yosef is shattering boundaries with his innate raw talent and structural vision of art that conveys a greater and purer expression of today’s modern existence.

By Hassan Al-Saleh

Photography Tomo Brejc

To conceptual artist, Jwan Yosef, subtlety is intellect. Since graduating from Central Saint Martins in London, he has honed his craft of layered simplicity with great dexterity to evolve his figurative work to almost “hyper minimal” but equally self-referential. The unpretentious complexity of his work is filled with an unabashed sense of intimacy. Strong with purpose, the simplicity is captivating, seducing even, with expressions of mystery that heighten intrigue and ignite the imagination.

A prolific painter of beautiful abstractions, his relationship with art supplies and materials - and his attempt to make sense of their purpose and value in contemporary art - has become a defining quality of his work. He brushes his canvas with broad strokes of commentary on dualisms, absence, acceptance, identity, gender, and sexuality in today’s modern existence. In an era of blurred lines, Jwan bends the boundaries of mediums to transcend form and function.

Born in Syria, raised in Sweden and now living in London as he prepares to move to Los Angeles, Jwan describes himself as a modern-day gypsy. He does not conform to Arab or Scandinavian archetypes and considers himself a foreigner wherever he goes. We caught up with him in his studio in London just before his first solo show at Stene Projects in Stockholm entitled “Masking”.

“The platform for art is certainly shifting; it’s becoming somewhat more loose and fluid, somehow maybe more digitalized, less dependent of actual objects.” – Jwan Yosef

Photography Mariano Vivanco

Styling Hassan Al-Saleh

Hairstylist James Brown  

Makeup Artist Alex Babsky 

First Assistant Tomas Hein

Digital Robert Self

Casting Director Paul Isaac

Stylist Assistant Sayuri Bloom

Set Designer Trish Stephenson

Producer Junietsy De Marcos  

Photography Coppi Barbieri

Art Direction Luca De Salvia

Styling Johanne Mills

Photography Stewart Shining

Styling Andrew Holden

Models

Jesse Gwin at Soul Artist Management and Impy at Next Models

Hairstylist Davy Newkirk

Makeup Artist Matthew Vanleeunwen

First Assistant Andrew Roque 

Stylist Assistant Mel Eligon

Production Walter Schupfer Management

Photographer Damnien Ropero
First Assistant Andres Guillard

When it comes to holding up a mirror to the present day, no one does it better than the visionary and founder of intellectual fashion Miuccia Prada.

By Radhina Almeida Coutinho 

When Miuccia Prada presented the Fall-Winter 2016 collection of her eponymous label at Milan Fashion Week, it seemed as if she transported an entire human city in flight straight onto the catwalk. The thrown-together look of the ensembles was palpable – long coats belted over brocade gowns, cagoules paraded alongside fur coats, hemmed trousers cut as though the wearer expected to walk through a damp field, sneaker-clad feet tramping alongside leather dress shoes.

The overall image would have seemed unsettlingly familiar to those we have watched repeatedly on our television screens in recent months – that of a crowd on the move.

But then Miuccia Prada has never shied away from tackling the issues of today. Her boundary-pushing aesthetic, bordering at times on the avant-garde, is deeply rooted in the reality of these tumultuous times we live in.

“We need to understand who we are now…Maybe it’s useful to look back to the different characteristic moments, difficulties, love, no love, pain, happiness... this was the main concept,” said Mrs. Prada.

The overall impression is one of world-weary individuals who had journeyed through the rough and had emerged on the other side.

They’d survived.

The storied house of Valentino embraces genderless clothing with a capsule collection of unisex basics.

By Max Berlinger

Valentino is accommodating a new generation who doesn’t get hung up by men’s clothing versus women’s. But it is handled in a way that feels true to the brand, with the release of the 12 piece collection, titled Rockstud Untitled.

“We wanted to render the unisex items unique, we therefore worked on the Rockstud Untitled Collection and on the idea that signs are the element that make objects and human beings unique,” said Piccioli. “We used golden studs to render the items immediately recognizable.”

The collection, which takes its inspiration from the Japanese idea of wabi-sabi, or the concept that things find perfection in their imperfections, is part of the brand’s Fall-Winter 2016 offering. The designs lean on classic items, with most of the fripperies stripped away, leaving each garment and accessory represented at its essence and instead of traditional labels, they’re merely identified by numbers, one through 12. These are, in a sense, Valentino’s idea of a core wardrobe, pieces that aren’t tied to a particular season or gender or even country or aesthetic, they are just iconic items that every person should own. 

After a short hiatus from the industry, designer Khalid Al Qasimi is back with a deeply personal menswear brand that confronts the issues of today’s world.

By Max Berlinger

Photography Brett Lloyd 

In fashion, things are rarely easy. No one knows this better than Khalid Al Qasimi, the designer who took a break from his namesake brand in 2013, to rest and redouble his efforts for his re-launch, with a focus on menswear and aspirations to transform Qasimi into a lifestyle brand.

Qasimi, who was born in the United Arab Emirates and now lives in the United Kingdom has drawn on both places as inspiration for his deeply personal, elegantly romantic designs. His background as an architect has also come into play, wherein Qasimi takes traditional garments and imbues them with touches from his childhood, adding a flow and lyricism to slouchy pants, embroidered knitwear, and keen eye for color. The Central Saint Martins graduate employs a disciplined approach to creating menswear though a unique perspective that sparks dialogue with his signature trademark of blending cultures, social issues and politics in fashion. 

“I feel that it is extremely important to discuss and debate my cultural background and the political discourse that surrounds it. The media is generally very biased towards a certain agenda and it is key for me to voice my views through this medium. I hope that we can all begin to work together to get a better understanding of each other’s cultures and beliefs and that we can find a lasting solution to the conflicts going on around the world today” – Khalid Al Qasimi

We speak with the designer about his inspirations, how his upbringing has influenced his aesthetic, and the most difficult part about working in the fashion industry today.

After a decade in the art business, accidental art dealer Steve Lazarides has beaten all odds and looks to the future with Qatari business tycoon Wissam Al Mana.

By Max Berlinger

Ten years is a long time —120 months, 520 weeks, 3,650 days, 87,600 hours, and so on. And this decade, from 2006 to now, has felt especially long with the advent of social media helping to change the way we understand the world around us, changing the way we understand time itself. This has been a particularly long decade for those who work in the art world, a decade where everyone with an iPhone camera and an Instagram following fancies themselves an artist and where likes and filters have come to mean more than paint strokes and ideas. It’s the decade that everything changed.

Naturally, the art market has been rocked by these developments, and it’s reflected in the record-setting auction prices and a new generation of artists who bring a digital energy to their work. It’s an unstable, thrilling time and it’s the era in which Steve Lazarides has owned his gallery in London, aptly called Lazarides and this year, he celebrated his first decade as a gallery owner and art dealer in perhaps the most tumultuous art market ever known. He started his business just as the global financial markets faltered, and he’s survived nonetheless.

"It's a miracle that we are still here. Every step of the way we were told by the art world that what we were doing was impossible, and it would never work. But you know, we're still here"  - Steve Lazarides

His survival against all odds proves that success is not limited to conforming to rules and following a beaten path. Earlier this year, he forged a partnership with the Qatari business mogul Wissam Al Mana, a signal that Lazarides is serious about continuing his work in the art world in a major way.

“I have been interested in opening an art gallery for quite some time. As an art lover and collector, owning a gallery seemed the next thing to do, so when Steve approached me to partner with him, it was a great opportunity to penetrate the art world by being part of a successful and renowned gallery with a potential to take it to the next level” – Wissam Al Mana 

One of the most pre-eminent contemporary photographers of our time, Mariano Vivanco documents his bold and imaginative style in a captivating new book ‘Portraits Nudes Flowers’ to redefine a higher, purer form of beauty.

By Hassan Al-Saleh

Photography Mariano Vivanco

Photographers have an incredible urge to have the world see their work and feel what they feel. That couldn't be more true of one of today’s most influential, versatile and creative talents, Mariano Vivanco.

He’s a dreamer, a romantic and a flirt. His evocative images are reflective of the man behind the lens. But there is one distinct quality that does not go unnoticed: his genuine spirit, a rare commodity these days. It permeates every genre of his work.

Unknown to many until now, flowers have also been part of Vivanco’s early photographic explorations. The three subjects may appear to be disjointed at first, but Vivanco marries them with the unifying quality of exposed, unabashed innocent emotion. Vibrant colors juxtapose the tonal portraits and nudes in modern and compelling compositions.

“They are three subjects in my photography that I really love. I enjoyed pairing with similarities between people and flowers and I love observing purity in nature and purity in the soul” – Mariano Vivanco

‘Portraits Nudes Flowers’ comes full circle with a repertoire of what can be best described as a photographic journal that is an elegantly rendered example of classic photography in its purist form, and one that bears testament to Vivanco’s evolving style. As Tim Blanks puts it, “Intellect plus instinct. Equal visions”.

Photographer An Le
Stylist Andrew Holden
Model Jarrod Scott at Ford Model Management   
Hairstylist Nabil Harlow  
Makeup Artist Bruce Dean  
First Assistant James Sakalian III
Styling Assistant Olivia Perdoch  
Producer Ana Victoria Pavon 

Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci embodies the myths and ideals of American culture in the Maison’s growing denim collection.

By Hassan Al-Saleh

Like so many designers, Givenchy’s visionary Artistic Director Riccardo Tisci is inspired by the promise of the American Dream and has made Americana a recurring theme in his work. While Tisci has experimented with a number of American sub-cultures and references, nothing better personifies his fascination with America and his own personal journey than denim.  

“America was the first country to really believe in me. People find a way to express themselves in America. So that was my American Dream.” - Riccardo Tisci

Denim, highlighted in nearly all of his collections since he was named creative director of the Maison in 2005, serves as the perfect multi-dimensional canvas to express Tisici’s deep, complex and resolutely modern vision for Givenchy.  

For Fall-Winter 2016, he evokes ’50s Americana workwear and taps into the bearded, booted, check shirt-ed aesthetic. The collection includes jackets, jeans, dungarees in blue and black denim in straight and slim fits. The ruggedness of the pieces is accented with the designer’s penchant for metallic studs juxtaposed with distressed floral-like detailing.

Images courtesy of Givenchy.

Photography Jack Waterlot 
Styling Matthew Marden 
Model Henrik Fallenius at Soul Artist Management  
Grooming Benjamin Thigpen  
Styling Assistant Kevin Hunter  
Photography Assistant Herman Van Den Brandt  

As the Creative Director of Balmain Hair Couture, Parisian-born Arab wunderkind Nabil Harlow is at the height of his power but is leaving a little room for imperfection.

By Jon Roth
Photography An Le

Last year, master hair designer Nabil Harlow made history in the fashion and beauty circles when he was appointed Creative Director of Balmain Hair Couture. It’s an unprecedented position: in addition to overseeing Balmain runway and campaign looks from the ears up, he’s also the figurehead of a global hair empire, with an exclusive Parisian atelier, partnerships with salons across the world, and a constantly evolving product line of sought-after sprays, shampoos and straighteners. That he is still so young, and an Arab man of Moroccan decent in an often lily-white industry, makes his climb to the top doubly impressive.

But Harlow’s career didn’t start out in fashion. As best he can remember, it really began with old movies, which he watched as a child in the living room with his grandmother. He’s credited the movie sirens of the ‘40s and ‘50s - Greta Garbo, Lana Turner, Joan Crawford - as silver screen inspirations. “I learned about perfection from them,” he says. Inspired, he started cutting hair for family members at 13, and enrolled in hair school by 17. Harlow helped cover the cost with a few modeling gigs, and eventually worked backstage with greats like Orlando Pita. Three years later, he moved to New York, learning English while he colored hair at the Frederic Fekkai Salon on 5th Avenue. After four years, it was back to Paris, where he was reunited with his first love: the cinema. He began doing hair for films.

It wasn’t until an agent approached Harlow that his career left the screen and reentered the fashion world, but since he began working with Balmain, many of the skills he learned behind the camera have been brought to bear on the runway. He credits his film background for his strong technical abilities (you can’t create hairpiece for a 13th-century period piece without really knowing your trade) and that acumen shows in his recent work for the French fashion house. In the past year, he’s created a hat-trick of technically ambitious looks — swapping the hair colors of models Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner with carefully designed wigs, creating two-foot dreadlock extensions for the men’s Fall-Winter 2016 runway show, and crafting dramatic, Mod-inspired pony tails in the Spring-Summer women’s show. Each new look had fashion crowds (and Instagram followers) abuzz.

“I have my own ways. It doesn't mean they are better than others, but they seem right to me.” - Nabil Harlow

And that’s only half the job. Balmain Hair Couture, originally founded back in 1974, is enjoying a renaissance under Harlow’s creative directorship. This includes a luxury line of styling products (their sprays, shampoos, and hair perfumes are top sellers), tools like brushes and straightening irons, plus extensions and wigs geared toward a fashion crowd always eager to switch up their look. For a man who’s moved largely in artistic circles, it’s hard science, and big business, helping to formulate new releases and expand the reach of the brand.

But it’s not about business for Harlow. It’s about a feeling, and that’s evident in his work. He praises glamour (thanks to those silver screen stars, no doubt), but also loves imperfection. He’ll create beautiful shapes and textures, then remove some of the polish. Performing at the top of his game, the charismatic Harlow understands the allure of hair as few others could. Today, he’s on a mission to empower women around the world, one tress at a time.

Alessandro Michele’s unique understanding and appreciation of
the historical codes of Gucci, married with his modern take on romanticism, have created a compelling new narrative for the venerable Italian brand.

By Hassan Al-Saleh

Alessandro Michele, Creative Director of Gucci, has emerged as a polymath of the likes of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, leading a fashion Renaissance in an era of cultural change. Beauty and the awareness of individuality are the epicenter of his movement with a renewed desire to unravel the axioms of aesthetics and restore proper value to craftsmanship and artisanship.

Since taking the reins of the storied house in January 2015, Michele has re-established the luxury house’s position as a truly directional fashion label by not only presenting gender-redefining collections that are built seamlessly as a ‘continuum,’ regardless of season but by introducing a plethora of creative collaborations that showcase the poetic reinvention of the Gucci brand.  

Alessandro Michele has captivated the world with his grand eclectic vision. A man with a beautiful mind who lives in his own creative world and has made the Gucci affair both fascinating and irresistible without loosing mainstream appeal.

“I always try to translate the beauty of the brand in a different language. I can't resist the idea of creating another story from the very beginning. Its time for this brand to tell another story and change everything.”  

- Alessandro Michele

A champion of the romantic and historical, his stewardship has been a wonderful flurry of the two infused with retro codes and eccentric maximalism.

Portrait by Kevin Tachman. Images by Ronan Gallagher courtesy of Gucci.