British GQ March 2017

When I was interviewed for my job back in 1999, I was obviously asked to give an indication of what I might commission for the magazine should I be offered the position. Simple, I said: AA Gill directs a porn film. That’s the kind of thing I’d commission – the country’s best critic immersing himself in the seedy world of hard-core pornography. I was laughing so much at the thought of it – I was already imagining what Adrian would write – that I wanted to get the job simply in order to see the piece in print. I’d always liked Adrian’s columns (we were both working for the Sunday Times at the time), but I thought he should be writing features and thought he should go out and do…

See more Sheeran Watch an exclusive film from behind-the-scenes at our Ed Sheeran cover shoot and hear what he had to say about James Blunt, being a sexy ginger and his new tattoos. Plus, we interview photographer Norman Jean Roy to find out how he got the extraordinary photos in the rain. How to spoil properly this Valentine’s From lingerie to laptops, from sex toys to pyjamas, we’ve got a host of ideas that are both GQ-approved and suitable for every pocket-depth. Your significant other will never forgive you if you don’t read this list. The trends you need to know for spring Because it’s not that far away, really... Read what you should be wearing this spring in our online guide. Also, we’ve just got back from the Fashion Week shows in London, Milan…

Luke DAY This month, GQ Style Editor Luke Day interprets and presents the most important and eye-catching trends to come off the Spring/ Summer 2017 catwalks: from double denim to graphic tailoring via futuristic hiker. His fashion story also showcases models as diverse as this season’s styles. “I love the striking Korean models Do and Bom,” says Day, “and my favourite look is the Louis Vuitton clash of African-inspired prints with British punk.” George CHESTERTON This month’s cover star Ed Sheeran returns with a new album (and behind-the-scenes video on GQ.co.uk). “He’s revealed as an artist with a business sense as sharp as his songwriting,” says GQ’s George Chesterton of his world exclusive interview with the singer. “His third album – part of a masterplan of ten – is bolder than anything he’s…

A man had drowned on a Friday in a weed-cloaked eddy beneath the pillars of the highway bridge. Mohammed, grasping quickly that it was as important to convey to me the drama of war and death as it was to catch fish that hot, unsuitable afternoon, pointed out the spot with a nonchalant wave of his hand as we rattled across the pebblecovered banks to the river’s edge, fishing rods in hand, while traffic on the Mosul road thundered overhead. “He died here two days ago!” he said. “Many have drowned at this spot. People in the town say that the river is thirsty for blood on Fridays.” But he said nothing, just smiled, when one of my friends suggested that Friday was a very convenient day for the river to be…

1,900% increase in google searches for léa seydoux following the cannes premiere of blue is the warmest colour, in which she has a seven-minute lesbian sex scene. WHEN Samuel Taylor Coleridge made his philosophical enquiry into the nature of beauty, two centuries ago, he concluded that it is “the coalescence of the diverse”. Perhaps that explains the allure of Léa Seydoux. The 31-year-old vacillates between two different personas: one moment she’s a blockbuster starlet, the next an art-house experimenter. She was the maid in Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel; she was the spunky rebel leader in Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster. She performed alongside Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds; she performed alongside Adèle Exarchopoulos in lesbian drama Blue Is The Warmest Colour. In her words: “I always wanted to be able to…

GQ INTEL rag’n’bone man's tattoos include skulls and a guitar. oh, and where robert mitchum once had “love” and “hate” tattooed above his knuckles in the night of the hunter, graham has the less sinister “soul” and “funk”. HE might have won the Brits Critics’ Choice Award and been selected for the BBC’s Sound Of 2017, but to soul singer Rory Graham – better known by his Steptoe And Soninspired moniker Rag’n’Bone Man – the awards could be any old iron. “The accolades are great, but you’ve got to just take each day as it comes,” says the 32yearold. “Don’t believe your own hype.” Graham grew up in a musical family in Uckfield, near Brighton, and his earliest musical memories are of his father playing old blues records, such as BB King’s “The…