Sommaire pour March/April 2026 de Esquire UK

“Elegance is the balance between proportion, emotion and surprise.” So said the late, great fashion emperor Valentino Garavani, who passed away at the age of 93 as the pages of this magazine were going to press. Throughout his long and colourful life, Valentino was unsurprisingly vocal on the subject of elegance. He also stated that “elegance in its essence is simplicity”. It’s a stance I hold in admiration — and one I try hard to emulate — as the idea of elegance has been a guiding principle for me for as long as I’ve worked in luxury magazines. But what is elegance? For Valentino, it was an objective truth. For me, it’s highly subjective. What began as a vague idea — a kind of internal moodboard of men whose style…

The move towards flat-soled trainers can be traced back to last summer, when Harry Styles and Jacob Elordi began wearing Maison Margiela’s Sprinters. That was followed by Prada’s streamlined Collapse trainers, while sneakerheads gravitated towards the thinly soled Jacquemus X Nike Moon Shoe. This season, trainers are getting even flatter underfoot, but where the look was once a little space age, the new breed of ballet-pump sneaker has a distinctly 1970s feel. Celine’s retro runners feature millimetre-thin soles, Prada swaps its driving-inspired design for good old-fashioned plimsolls, while Paul Smith’s mesh and suede sneakers look fresh out of Chariots of Fire. Elsewhere, Dunhill’s suede football trainers sit on pared-back gum soles and are brilliantly easy to wear (with bell bottoms or otherwise). Beyond the retro mood, the rise of barely…

Having conquered music and film, it shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that the 1980s and 90s have now cast their nostalgic spell over cars, too. Classic models from the era are booming — as design pieces, everyday drivers and bankable investments. Insurance agency Hagerty even tracks the value of cars from this period in a standalone “RADindex”, which hit an all-time high in 2025. In one sense, this is a natural generational shift. “The things that we had on our wall when we were youngsters… Once we get to a certain age and have a bit of disposable income, suddenly we start driving prices up,” says James Banks, the founder of La Source, which specialises in high-value hypercars and restored classics. But the sheer cultural might of the late-20th…

Dear Style Shrink, Pyjamas. In public. Discuss. Tom Briggs, Stockport Hi Tom. In 2010, a Tesco in Cardiff banned customers from entering while wearing night-time clothes, because too many people were turning up to the shop in their pyjamas. An acceptable reaction to an unacceptable situation, I’m sure you’ll agree, particularly given that this was some 10 years prior to the pandemic heyday of PJs outside. Today, thanks in part to said global-health emergency, the rules around wearing pyjamas in public have relaxed somewhat. You’ll often see a film star sporting a silky pyjama shirt beneath a suit on the red carpet, and it’s not unusual to spot a pair of tanned legs popping out of boxer-style bed shorts on warm days in London’s hipper parks. High fashion is also…

I wear white gloves when I’m drawing because otherwise my hands get filthy. It takes two days with a pumice stone to get the ink off. I don’t like dirty fingernails. My childhood in Santa Cruz de la Palma was enchanted. It was untouched by modern life. We didn’t have planes. We only had boats to go between the islands. I love films from the 1930s. When I was 10 years old, I went to see Gone with the Wind. I fell in love with the green dress worn by Scarlett O’Hara. Even when I worked with Ossie Clark in the 1970s, I thought about that dress. I had the most beautiful parents. Especially my mother. My father was more of a disciplinarian. My mother read non-stop. Everything. She was…

Paloma Squeeze half a lime into a tall glass full of ice and drop in the rind. Add 60ml of 100 per cent agave reposado tequila. Add a pinch of salt and top off with 90-120ml of grapefruit-flavoured soda. Garnish with a wedge of grapefruit and serve. Dry martini Stir 60ml of gin and 30ml of dry vermouth together with lots of ice. Strain into a chilled glass and twist a thin-cut swatch of lemon peel over the top. Note: you can also substitute Russian vodka for the gin, though martini purists chafe at the notion. Caipirinha Cut the ends off a lime, slice it into 4 rings, and cut each ring into quarters. Put the cut-up lime and 2tsp of sugar in a smallish, heavy-bottomed tumbler and mash everything…

For a man who dedicated the bulk of his twenties to classic French cooking, Gordon Ramsay has done a pretty good job of moving with the times. Not content with conquering television, the 59-year-old chef has enjoyed an unlikely second act as a social-media star. To mark the release of his new Netflix documentary, Being Gordon Ramsay, he talks us through his life on screen. The rise of the rock-star chef in the 1990s was fucking incredible. There was a spotlight on British cuisine. Years earlier, during my apprenticeship in France, I’d had the shit kicked out of me. They said: “What do you know about food?” That made me even more determined. I learnt under the likes of Marco Pierre White, Albert Roux, Pierre Koffmann — absolutely brilliant cunts.…

For too long, the tie has been relegated to the sartorial sin bin. It’s been written off as the uniform of the boardroom drone or the required accessory for a wedding you’d rather skip. It’s been safe. It’s been predictable. It’s given school uniform or autocrat, neither of which is great. And that, my dears, is precisely where the opportunity lies. After decades of watching the world’s best designers pull together outfits that make your heart sing, I can tell you one thing: the greatest style is found just on the border of your comfort zone. And right now, that zone is begging for a bit of neckwear rebellion. We’re not talking about a return to the power tie of the 1980s; we’re talking about a playful, modern re-think of…

PERU South America’s third largest country is having a moment. In 2024, Peru enjoyed a tourist uptick of 29.3 per cent on the year prior. Some people might say it’s the increasing cultural influence of a certain marmalade-partial bear that’s pushing the country’s popularity, but the truth is that Peru is a uniquely seductive travel destination. From the fantastic food, with its mix of South American and Japanese influences, to the bonkers topographical variety (where else can you experience rainforests, deserts, mountains, beaches, cities and ruins in the space of a few days?), Peru is nothing if not multifaceted. Whether you plan on spending a week, a month or just a few short days in Peru, we’ve pulled together a handful of highlights to help you make the best decisions…

EMERALD FENNELL Having written and directed Promising Young Woman, which won an Oscar, and Saltburn, Fennell has just adapted Wuthering Heights for screen. Her Better Man: The film’s star, Jacob Elordi, who she interviews on page 90. KK OBI Having worked with Dazed, Burberry and Tommy Hilfiger, the stylist and creative director styled our “Spring awakening” fashion story. His Better Man: “My dad. You’ll never meet a chicer man in your life.” BEN SCHOFIELD The London-based fashion stylist, who works with a mix of brands and celebrities, styled actor Jacob Elordi for his cover shoot and profile “Star boy”, which begins on page 90. CAROLINE ISSA Esquire’sWardrobe Mistress is an entrepreneur and fashion consultant who works with retail brands and cultural institutions. Her Better Man: “Mark Ruffalo. There’s nothing sexier…

In Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, our cover star’s Heathcliff is styled less like a museum piece and more like a study in modern severity. Long, weather-beaten coats, dark, mineral palettes and fabrics aged by wind and rain place the character closer to contemporary menswear than museum-grade period costume. That sensibility is gaining traction beyond the big screen. At Dior, Jonathan Anderson is blending couture codes with everyday utility, led by strong outerwear and sharp coats. Elsewhere, menswear is leaning into substantial layers in shades of stone, ash and peat.…

As you’re holding a copy of Esquire in your well-manicured hands, I’m going to assume you understand a thing or two about looking smart and put-together. But what about looking dishevelled and elegant at the same time? Not so easy. Dishevelled elegance is an advanced sartorial state, a tricky-to-master style involving skew-whiff ties, half-popped collars and rolled trouser legs. To be clear: this isn’t scruffy dressing. It might appear like a wardrobe accident, but it’s all about precision and detail. In the wrong hands, it can look as though you got dressed in the dark; done properly, it’s quietly devastating. Get acquainted — you’re going to see a lot of dishevelled elegance this season. It all started in June when, six days before his Dior Men’s debut, Jonathan Anderson teased…

If you travel even semi-regularly, you will know the bag dilemma. You want something smart enough for the lounge, tough enough for the overhead locker and roomy enough to swallow two days of clothes without looking like you packed in the dark. Prada’s Bonnie suede tote is the answer. Made from calf leather with gold-toned hardware, it is soft, structured and luxurious. It comes with two top handles, a detachable shoulder strap and logo-jacquard lining. Expect compliments the moment you reach the gate. £2,800, prada.com…

“We do our own thing,” says Jeremy Chan, head chef and co-owner of Ikoyi. “There’s no restaurant like ours in London.” Hard to argue with that: located on the Strand, Ikoyi merges West African food, British ingredients and lots of spice. Clearly that formula works: it now has two Michelin stars. Chan, born in England and raised in Hong Kong, studied at Princeton before training as a chef at institutions including Noma in Copenhagen and Dinner by Heston in London. It’s fair to say he developed a distinctive palette. To his 200,000 Instagram followers, he serves up dishes like cola-spiced cherry sorbet ― with baba ghanoush! ― celebrate the season of the stone fruit. In May, Chan will be shaping the menu at Spring Garden, the restaurant at the Chelsea…

We know how it goes: you start your year with the very best intentions. You are going to run every day. You will stop using your phone so much. You are going to read an entire library. And suddenly, it’s February. Your trainers are gathering dust, you’re doom-scrolling before bed. You’ve forgotten what a book looks like. So Esquire’s contributing literary editor Jack Edwards has collated six titles to help get your reading goals back on track. (Not sure how to help with the running…) SO LONG, SEE YOU TOMORROW by William Maxwell (1979) Two boys meet. One has faced the biggest tragedy of his life, and the other is about to experience his. Unembellished but deeply moving, this underrated classic packs an emotional sucker punch. ONE DAY, EVERYONE WILL…

When the worst happens, you have three main options: send it back to the watchmaker or its UK headquarters, or visit your local watch repairman. Here’s what you can expect from each. To Switzerland! The utmost care will be taken if your watch is dispatched all the way back to Geneva. Expect to be away from your watch for a little bit longer than you’d like, but know that it’s getting treated better than you ever will. To the UK outpost! One of the main benefits of having your watch repaired at a brand’s UK headquarters is that, in the eyes of many collectors, repairs done there (versus a local dealer) are less likely to affect the value. If your watch is still under warranty, repair is completely free. Otherwise,…

Allday Goods Santoku knife This eco-conscious brand crafts its wavy tie-dye handles out of post-consumer plastic waste, meaning each one is unique. On top of that, one per cent from every sale goes towards waste-collection efforts. £140, alldaygoods.co.uk Katto Utility knife This Sheffield-based brand started life in 2018 and quickly built a reputation for its elegant and formidable kitchenware, crafted with Japanese steel and hand-craved wooden handles. £130, katto.shop Fragrant Knives Chinese Chef’s knife A new project from chef and food anthropologist Sean Warmington-Wan, this cleaver-esque tool takes inspiration from the traditional vegetable knives used in Hong Kong kitchens. £88, fragrantknives.com…

Given that one is an Australian movie star, the other is an acclaimed British director and both are current toasts of Hollywood, it seems more than plausible that Esquire cover star Jacob Elordi (the former) and Emerald Fennell (the latter) are likely to exist at any one moment in different time zones, possibly hemispheres. But very quickly into a video call between the pair it becomes apparent that they are both in London and, actually, less than a mile apart. Fennell is at the Warner Bros office in Soho on the final day of post-production on Wuthering Heights, her feverishly anticipated film adaptation of Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel, in which Elordi plays its antihero, Heathcliff, opposite the Australian actress Margot Robbie as its antiheroine, Cathy. Elordi is just down the…

So long, quiet luxury. According to the SS26 shows, the flashy waist-cinchers of the Nineties have returned. At Demna’s debut Gucci collection, silver double Gs adorned leather belts; over at Dior, Jonathan Anderson showed CD-logo woven belts. His pre-fall menswear collection also featured chunky Dior-emblazoned buckles. Elsewhere, Burberry showcased the equestrian-knight motif, while Balenciaga doubled down on brand identity with its signature double-B hardware, and Versace under Dario Vitale also went bold with gold and silver blocky versions. In short: the bigger the buckle, the better. BRASS TACKS The logo belt is back – bigger, shinier and impossible to ignore…

We get it: there are a lot of hair products out there. A silly number of pomades, a sea-salt spray for every day of the week and still far too many sticky gels, considering hard spikes haven’t been in style since Justin Timberlake cut his off. It can be confusing. But there’s a reason for all that choice. Not everyone has the same hair, and no single product works for all of us. If you want to do anything beyond leaving it alone, the best place to start is your hair type. Straight, curly, fine and afro hair all need different formulas to shape, control and bring a bit of life to them. Here’s how… FOR STRAIGHT, FLAT HAIR MONTE TEXTURISING TOOL Designed by two men with limp, straight hair…

Sports watches began life as tools. Dive watches tracked time underwater; field watches prioritised legibility; pilot’s watches were built for instant clarity; chronographs measured speed and distance. Today, those original functions matter far less. What defines the best modern sports watches are design and engineering — ceramic bezels, advanced alloys, longer power reserves and finely tuned movements. Utility still matters, but it’s no longer the USP. The modern sports watch is built to change lanes — shifting effortlessly between performance, design and daily wear.…

Had I been writing about the hottest Patek Philippe a couple of years ago, I would, of course, have nominated the Ref 5711 steel Nautilus: at one time this watch was trading at five or six times retail. I was even told a story (maybe apocryphal, but so strange it’s probably true) of four men each buying a quarter of a Nautilus. Had the boom persisted, fractional ownership of Nautili might have become a thing, like apartments in Lanzarote or limbs of racehorses. The madness ended. The bubble deflated. The Nautilus remains the same great watch it always was, but the Patek of the moment is as far from the Nautilus as it gets. A watch about the size of an Alka-Seltzer, all the Ref 96 does is tell the…

Your phone takes a decent picture, sometimes a very good one, but it is still doing a lot of pretending. The smoothing, the sky boosting, the way it insists on turning every room into a soft-lit bistro: clever, yes, but also guesswork. A camera is simpler. It shows the world as it is, with colour and depth that are not algorithmically embellished, and files you can actually work with later. More than that, it gives you a small sense of authorship, the feel of a dial, the click of a shutter, which in an age of automation is extremely satisfying. If you enjoy the act of taking a photograph as much as the result, these four cameras make a strong case for stepping beyond your phone. THE DIGITAL FILM CAMERA:…

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“This will be my last hurrah,” said Tracey Emin, as she toyed with her starter. “I’m so excited by the show, and have become consumed by it, but after that I’m going to retreat for a while.” We were dining in Fischer’s, the brilliant Viennese café opened by Jeremy King back in 2014. This is one of the restaurants Tracey uses when she’s in London, as it is postcode-adjacent to her house. On a rare trip up to town — she is based in Margate, although you could legitimately say she is the queen of the seaside town (she is already, quite rightly, a dame) — she was here to see friends, to attend a meeting at the British Museum (she’s a much-valued trustee), and to oversee the final details…

Esquire contributing style editor Gianluca Longo has a party trick: he can guess what a person’s decor looks like purely based on their outfit. It’s not so hard. Our sartorial sensibilities inspire our homes and vice versa. With that in mind, here are six characters the Italian tastemaker regularly bumps into on his travels (and some furniture inspiration for those who recognise themselves all too well). The Easy Rider For this man, retro has never been out of fashion. He opts for a mix of 1970s styles — picture the Mike Leigh film Abigail’s Party, where a vinyl cabinet is still the main feature in the living room. He finds everything at Kempton Park antiques market (which he visits at dawn, religiously) or sources it pre-loved from Vinterior.com, and his…

A winter coat works hard. With the right care, it will last for years; without it, you’ll face fading dyes, compressed insulation, cracked leather and defeated waterproofing. This is how to look after them, whatever their fabric or finish. WOOL Wool fibres are naturally elastic and protected by lanolin, which allows them to resist odour and shed surface dirt. As over-cleaning is a common cause of premature wear, instead brush regularly with natural bristles. A gentle steam refreshes shape and releases creases. PUFFA Wash sparingly with a down-specific detergent and rinse thoroughly. Dry on low heat with dryer balls to break up clumps and restore volume. Never store puffa coats compressed; long-term crushing permanently damages the insulation. LEATHER Water, UV exposure and heat all strip natural oils, leading to stiffening…

There is a story in the second Book of Kings in the Old Testament about the prophet Elisha. He was walking to the city of Bethel, when a crowd of small children spotted him. “Go up thou baldhead, go up thou baldhead,” these little shits shouted. Elisha did not find this funny. He “cursed the children in the name of the Lord, and there came forth two she-bears out of the wood, and tore 40 and two children of them”. If you’ve ever been mocked by someone who said something mean about your bald head, you might have wondered in the moment whether the Almighty couldn’t spare any she-bears. In their absence, balding men have turned to ever more intense ways of avoiding what they imagine people are saying about…

AT 6:30AM, the school day at Ivan Bohun High School in Kyiv begins. Students at the boarding school for boys and girls aged 15 to 17 wake up, make their beds, brush their teeth. At 7am, they go for a 20-minute run, followed by their first breakfast; they pour into a large cafeteria and eat eggs and toast quietly. At 8:20am, they stand in a line for roll-call, ready for their first lessons of the day. Ivan Bohun is a regular high school in some ways, with regular subjects, but the children are also here to learn something else: to defend their country — if need be, with their lives. Built as a school for imperialist soldiers in 1915, two years before the Russian Revolution, it is named after Ivan…

Last November, Esquire editor-in-chief Teo van den Broeke hosted a dinner at the iconic Claridge’s hotel in London to mark the launch of our inaugural Better Men list, which celebrated the leading figures who currently define positive masculinity. From politicians and pop stars to activists and actors, it’s a comprehensive roll call of men who are leaders in thought, style and creativity. Needless to say, the three cover stars of Esquire’s previous issue — actors Colman Domingo, Alexander Skarsgård and Jonathan Bailey — took pride of place on the list. All three exemplify what it means to be a beacon of positivity in today’s occasionally stormy masculine sea. On the night, held in partnership with Boss, we celebrated the new era of Esquire with Bailey himself — as well as…

“I’m only just getting started,” Owen Cooper tells Esquire. He’s calling from Rome, where it’s his first day on set for Tom Ford’s next film Cry to Heaven. But the 16-year-old from Warrington could be talking about his own rise: Cooper is already operating at a pace most actors don’t reach until their thirties. After breaking out in Netflix’s Adolescence, Cooper has become one of Britain’s most talked-about young talents. He has earned a Primetime Emmy, a Golden Globe and a Critics’ Choice Television Award, all before his 17th birthday. This month, he’s starring as Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, a role he shares with Esquire’s cover star Jacob Elordi. But before drama classes, Cooper dreamt of life on the pitch. When asked to nominate his 2026 Better Man…