Esquire UK

contributors

DAVID THOMSON is the author of many books on cinema including The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, now in its sixth edition. His new book is A Light in the Dark: A History of Movie Directors. ‘EIGHT-AND-A-HALF POUNDS’, PAGE 75 JEREMY LANGMEAD is a former editor-in-chief of Esquire, Wallpaper* and Mr Porter. His new book, written with Dr David Jack, is Vain Glorious: A Shameless Guide for Men Who Want to Look Their Best. It will be published on 20 May. ‘A CRUMB OF GOO’, PAGE 82 SIMON GARFIELD has written books on Radio 1, the colour mauve, typography, maps and wrestling. His most recent, published in February, is Dog’s Best Friend. ‘FOOZLED’, PAGE 80 The art of SUPER FREAK appears regularly in The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times and he has recently worked for Burger…

bubbleheaded pollyannas

It’s been grim. It’s been heavy and relentless, and shocking, and wearying and worrying, and sad. Jobs have been lost, businesses have failed, relationships have suffered. Many people have died, including people we love. The past months have been cold, and hard, and dark. And it’s not over yet. Esquire doesn’t want to diminish the seriousness of the worst public health crisis in living memory, or its devastating effects, so many still to be felt. We don’t want to seem flippant or heedless or complacent. We would like mostly to avoid appearing to be bubbleheaded Pollyannas — while accepting, naturally, that if you pursue a career in glossy style magazines, you are occasionally going to appear to be a bubbleheaded Pollyanna. And fair enough. I’m not one for magical thinking. If…

sneaking out

The big news in fashionable footwear: loafers are hip, trainers are over. “Heresy!” cry the sneakerheads, clutching their Common Projects to their chests, confused that one of the pillars of contemporary menswear could be binned with such little ceremony, in favour of middle-aged slip-ons. But sports shoes were bound to reach critical mass sometime and considering we’ve hardly been able to wear anything else for the past year, stylish types are sick of the sight of them. Thankfully, a new breed of lairy loafers has stepped in, so to speak, to fill the footwear void. The loafer has been going through something of a re-brand over recent months — gaudy colours, tactile textures, whacking great heels — and now they are at least as hype-worthy as, say, a new Yeezy.…

‘someone actually bought a chihuahua just so it could wear the sweater’

Sometimes, even rock stars have to pivot. In the yawning void left by an absent live music industry, many musicians have embraced alternative mediums. Some hosted live-stream dance classes (Haim), while others took to Instagram to offer informal guitar lessons (Laura Marling). Some redirected effort into commerce, which is why, in part, the internet is now home to cavethings.com, a “store” selling goods “conceived, sourced, shaped and designed by Nick Cave”. “My songs are highly visual narratives,” he tells Esquire, “and I have always drawn or painted or photographed — just generally ‘created’ — visual stuff that supported them. I had often thought about creating some sort of space to make this stuff available. The pandemic allowed me to stop running around the world for long enough to action the idea.” Merch,…

‘casualisation’

If you’re looking to “casualise”, go to the experts. In 1926, sick of the itchy woollen kit he and fellow American football players had to wear, Benjamin Russell Jr pitched a concept of lighter, airier cotton-jersey garb to his father, who’d founded Russell Athletic in 1902. He took the idea and the sweatshirt was born. Nearly a century later, Russell Athletic, one of the most enduring names in sportswear, has collaborated on a capsule collection with Hugo Boss, breathing a little Ivy League heritage into the German brand’s sleek, European aesthetic. “Casualisation is important in our Boss collections,” says Ingo Wilts, Hugo Boss chief brand officer. “A pioneer in this field, Russell Athletic invented the sweatshirt almost 100 years ago, and it has been great to work with a brand that…

more is more

As anniversaries go, 35 is admittedly on the obscure end of the spectrum. It’s probably best to keep the bunting boxed up, and definitely cancel the Red Arrows flyover. On the release of the new M3 Competition, however, its sixth generation, it is worth taking a moment to appreciate one of the true personalities of modern motoring. Born from a 1980s racing rivalry with Mercedes-Benz, the first one was an experiment in creating a dead-eyed track killer from BMW’s most humble saloon. It became an unexpected hit on the road, too, selling in huge numbers and through the years garnering a reputation as the ultimate four-door sports car. For its die-hard fans, many of them from the UK, which is the M3’s second biggest market, it’s simply the standard-setter for…