British GQ September 2018

Hollywood is full of happy accidents. Scratch that: Hollywood was made by happy accidents. Just look at some of the films that were meant to have happened in other ways, by other means and using different people entirely, involving roles that we really couldn’t imagine being played by anyone else: John Travolta was meant to have starred in An Officer And A Gentleman, the movie that made Richard Gere a star; La La Land was originally meant to star Miles Teller, the apprentice drummer in Whiplash, until tortuous contract negotiations resulted in Ryan Gosling getting the job; and, almost unbelievably, Jack Nicholson was originally offered the Michael Corleone role in The Godfather, the gig that not only made Al Pacino’s career, but contributed to what is widely regarded as one…

‘Backseat Diaries… With Sir Paul Smith’ During London Fashion Week Men’s, GQ Style And Grooming Director Teo van den Broeke took to the backseat of a Mercedes to ask the acclaimed designer some quickfire questions. Behind the scenes with Riz Ahmed Watch additional footage from our shoot in New York, featuring more conversation with the British star of Venom and The Sisters Brothers. ‘Best New Grooming Items This Week’ Check in every Tuesday at 6pm to see which products make our list of essential purchases for your daily routine. Introducing: our new political columnist The Guardian’s parliamentary sketch writer and author of I, Maybot: The Rise And Fall, John Crace, will be writing about the biggest issues in UK politics every Monday. ‘10 Coolest Things To Do In London’ The capital is a big place and it’s easy to…

Alexi LUBOMIRSKI Having photographed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding in May, Alexi Lubomirski turned his camera on this month’s cover star, Riz Ahmed. “We wanted to show his many facets, from his childhood to Oxford University and working in New York,” says Lubomirski of the star of Western dark comedy The Sisters Brothers. “We shot him in a gentlemen’s club and on the streets of NYC.” Teo VAN DEN BROEKE When Off-White’s Virgil Abloh replaced Kim Jones as artistic director of Louis Vuitton menswear in March, the label entered a new era. GQ Style And Grooming Director Teo van den Broeke interviewed Abloh about how he’s shaking things up. “Talking to designers can be hit-and-miss,” says Van den Broeke, “but he was thoughtful and considered.” Alex HANNAFORD What would have stopped a mass…

We owe Prince Albert a great debt. Many know the 1851 Great Exhibition that showcased Britain’s industrial and design prowess to an audience of millions. The profits effectively paid for the V&A and other cultural institutions in South Kensington. “Albertopolis” is one of our jewels in the crown. But in the 1830s he also supported the founding of the Government School Of Design, which later became the Royal College Of Art and established a system of art and design education that set us up for the next 180 years. Our schools of art and design are key to our creative success and an essential part of our national identity. These schools have produced sculptors as celebrated as Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, alongside designers such as Terence Conran and Kenneth Grange. They…

Mabel She might be music royalty – her mother is Neneh Cherry, her father producer Cameron McVey – yet when first carving out her career, Mabel didn’t want to leverage her family. “I knew when I started putting music out, people were going to talk,” she says, “but I was adamant that I wanted to do it by myself.” And so she has. Having been spotted by Skepta’s creative director, Grace Ladoja, she was cast in the “Shutdown” video and used the contacts she made to put out her 2017 hit “Finders Keepers”. Since then, Mabel (who doesn’t use her surname professionally) has supported Harry Styles on tour, was nominated for this year’s Brits Critics’ Choice award and has become a mainstay of popular radio. Now a pop princess, the 22-year-old is…

Days like these: when you wake up not so much on the wrong side of the bed as under it, amid the lint, dead skin and old spoons. From the moment you prise open your eyes, you feel detached. Maybe you slept badly? Maybe you have jet leg or are worried about some deadline, client meeting or bake sale? Still, you pull yourself out of sleep’s black hole, take a tepid shower, floss (it prevents erectile dysfunction apparently), moisturise and stand naked as you were born in front of your yawning walk-in wardrobe. Today, you need supportive architecture around your fragile inner self, clothing you can rely on to signal to everyone else in the room/street/hotel lobby that not only are you fully present, but you are also your own personal…