//Opening spread of my interview with Peter York, Arena Homme + Winter/Spring 2020. Portrait: David Sims//

//From the Them fashion story. Photography: Julien Martinez Leclerc; fashion: Tom Guinness//

The jury is out on this autumn’s relaunch of the print edition of venerated British style magazine The Face; as I suggested here it’s going to take more than one splashy issue to assess whether the proposition has legs as we enter the 2020s (next May will mark the 40th anniversary of the founding of The Face by Nick Logan).

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Arena Homme +, Ashley Heath, Berluti, Bottega Veneta, Brockhampton, David Sims, Fantastic Man, George MacKay, Gert Jonkers, Harpers & Queen, Joe Cole, Jop van Bennekom, Julien Martinez Leclerc, Kris Van Assche, Lawrence, Mark Leckey, neville Brody, New Order, Nick Logan, Peter York, Prada, Rex Orange County, Stephen Morris, The Face, Tom Guinness

In my twin capacities as “biographer” of The Face and curator of last year’s British independent magazine exhibition PRINT!, I’ve been asked publicly and privately for my thoughts on the imminent online relaunch of the title (the plan is that the quarterly physical edition will follow in August, carrying a September dateline).

So here they are:

It’s interesting that the greatest anticipation for the magazine’s return is being generated for and by the fashion community. The PRs, writers, stylists and students who kept the flame alive after the publication’s 2004 demise are now busily banging the drum in response to the relaunch’s oddly one-note Instagram branding exercise, filling their feeds with excited content.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 032c, Accent, Apartamento, Aperture, Ashley Heath, Bauer, Beauty Papers, Buffalo Zine, Christopher Wylie, Dan Flower, Delayed Gratification, Electronic Sound, Emap, Facebook, Fantastic Man, Fred Perry, Gal-dem, Gucci, Inez & Vinoodh, Interview, Jason Gonsalves, Jeremy Leslie, Jerry Perkins, Liv Siddall, MacGuffin, Migrant Journal, Mojo, Monocle, Mushpit, Nick Logan, No Man’s Land, Orlando, Paris Vogue, Positive News, Q, Riposte, Shamir Sanni, Sheryl Garratt, Stuart Brumfitt, Suspira, System, The Gentlewoman, The Skirt Chronicles, THIIIRD, Twin, Virgil Abloh, Wasted Talent, Weapons Of Reason

What Men Wear is the self-explanatory title of a slim volume from the Fantastic Man gang which punches well above its weight.

Containing questionnaires with 50 men on their favourite garments, the book also presents long-form interviews with three of the fashion world’s leading figures: Italian designer Stefano Pilati, British designer Charles Jeffrey and retailer Paul Smith.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Brown's, Caterine Milinaire, Charles Jeffrey, Charlie MacLean, Cheap Chic, Devendra Banhart, Fantastic Man, Fennica, Irvin Pascal, Orslow, Paul Smith, Stefano Pilati, What Men Wear

//Athenaeum has done the book proud with this splendid window display. Photo: Athenaeum//

The Story Of The Face is coming to Amsterdam on Friday (December 15).

In an event at the city’s NewWerktheater organised by leading Netherlands bookshop Athenaeum Nieuwscentrum, I’ll be making a visual presentation about the magazine that changed culture.

Afterwards I’ll talk about the enduring influence of The Face and my new book The Story Of The Face with Gert Jonkers, founder of Butt and Fantastic Man and publisher of The Gentlewoman and COS Magazine.

If you’re in town please come along. Tickets from aanmelden@athenaeum.nl

Tags: Amsterdam, Athenaeum Nieuwscentrum, Butt, COS Magazine, Fantastic Man, Gert Jonkers, NewWerktheater, The Gentlewoman