British GQ September 2021

This issue marks a new beginning for the global GQ brand. You may not know that there are 21 unique editions of GQ around the world. The original was established in the US in 1957. Some three decades later, the spawning commenced, first with British GQ in 1988, continuing through a period of rapid expansion in the 2000s (including GQ Japan, GQ France, GQ China and more) and leading up to the 2018 launch of our newest title, GQ Middle East. The only thing that was strange about this ever growing network of GQ editions is that we didn’t really speak to one another. And we certainly didn’t collaborate. Which – in an increasingly globalised world – was a little like having access to an incredible superpower and choosing not to…

Who or what makes up your personal community? What does that word, “community”, even mean to you? I’ll be honest, I hadn’t given it much thought until a few months ago. Until we began curating this first global issue of GQ – the British edition of which you’re holding between your perfectly shiny, shellac-dipped nails – the word community, for me, conjured up images of warm, slippery plastic cups of home brew at local fêtes, tart damson jam and bad bunting. Digitally speaking, the word “community” feels like a bit of a swizz too, a word used by marketing managers to pigeonhole a too-easily definable group of people (who probably don’t exist) a brand can sell against or suck data out of. The truth is, overall, that word, community, is caught…

Daniel Jackson Photographer Daniel Jackson shot this month’s cover star, The Weeknd, AKA Abel Tesfaye, as the artist marks a decade since dropping his first three mixtapes. Four albums later – including the triple-platinum Starboy in 2016 and last year’s UK and US No1 After Hours – Tesfaye has the world at his feet with his unique brand of falsetto, synth-infused hip-hop. Thomas Barrie Fourteen years after The Sopranos ended, the hallowed show is returning in the form of The Many Saints Of Newark; GQ Features Assistant Thomas Barrie spoke to those involved in its production. “To do the show justice within the limited confines of a feature film seems like an impossible ask,” says Barrie. “That said, creator David Chase and the rest of the cast might just have pulled it off.” Poppy…

If the recent collaborative efforts from the world’s biggest brands are anything to go by, we’ve entered a supernova moment in high-fashion partnerships. First Miuccia Prada took on Raf Simons as her co-creative director at her brand (and the sartorial universe shooketh, let us tell you), then Gucci teamed up with Kering stablemate Balenciaga in a unique “hacking”, which saw both brands share their house codes in a mad mash-up collection (think classic Balenciaga tailored hourglass jackets emblazoned with the Gucci monogram and iconic Gucci bags furnished with the Balenciaga insignia), and, most recently, Kim Jones, artistic director of Dior menswear, announced that his next collection would consist of a partnership with Japanese design deity Chitose Abe of Sacai. At the other end of the spectrum, however, a handful of major labels…

When I recall the rise and fall of the Sex Pistols, there is one defining image that always comes to mind: Sid Vicious on stage at The Screen On The Green in Islington, North London, having his Fender Precision Bass tuned by guitarist Steve Jones. At the time, the Sex Pistols were, without question, the most talked about band on the planet. And here was their lead guitarist tuning the new bass player’s instrument because he did not know how to do it himself. Can you imagine Mick Jones of The Clash having to put Paul Simonon’s bass in tune? Or Paul Weller getting Bruce Foxton in key? No, you can’t, because the leading lights of punk rock were all brilliant musicians. It was musical technique that didn’t matter a damn…

Men’s grooming is absolutely booming. The market expanded from £48.2 billion in 2020 to £50.6bn this year, according to Statista, and it’s set to reach a whopping £58.5bn by 2024. It’s a state of affairs that means new products and brands are launching each and every day, which is great news for grooming nuts like us, but not so helpful if you’re trying to find the perfect treatment in a sea of lotions, potions and indiscriminate newness. Fortunately, for you, we’re here to help source the boss from the dross, so we assembled a crack team of ultra-qualified grooming experts to select the best products they’re using right now. 1 The moisturiser Fenty Skin Hydra Vizor Invisible Moisturizer SPF30 Eric Underwood, model and dancer “I absolutely love sunbathing, but lots of sun exposure for…