Table of contents for Issue 27 in British GQ Style

1. What did you work on for the issue? 2. What’s your favourite part of Britain and why? Michael Mayren Photographer 1. I shot Raheem Sterling for the cover story. 2. Manchester is my favourite place in the UK and the whole world. James Pryor Designer 1. I helped design this very British edition of GQStyle. 2. The only area of Britain where beaches rival the world’s best – Cornwall. Kamin Mohammadi, writer 1. I wrote an essay about being British. As an Iranian-British writer, I loved writing about what this country means to me and why it goes deeper than pop culture and fab fashion. 2. I’m a displaced Iranian and now live part-time in Italy where I set my new book Bella Figura, so I am no stranger to exile, but I’m a Londoner through and…

It takes a lot of balls to walk out of Central Saint Martins on the eve of graduation, but that’s what Alan Crocetti did. ‘I was studying womenswear and I decided I would make everything for my final collection. Accessories, clothes and jewellery. I was late for my final crit so they said I couldn’t be part of the fashion show, so I told them I didn’t need a piece of paper and I left.’ Is he fiery generally? ‘Er, yep.’ Very? ‘Let’s say, um, mildly.’ Born in Belo Horizonte, the sixth biggest city in Brazil, the 33-year-old moved to London, via Italy, 11 years ago. ‘I’d been studying at home but my parents went bankrupt and it didn’t seem right to continue.’ So he moved here, started at Saint…

‘When did DJs become celebrities or when did I become a celebrity DJ?’ sighs Honey Dijon. She’s anti the idea of personality DJs and reckons the only difference between her and someone at the party is a set of decks. ‘Once you become more important than the music, then you’re finished,’ she says, referencing an old Frankie Knuckles quote, ‘and I live by that.’ If you’re not familiar with Honey Dijon, she’s major. Capital letters kind of major. She’s had top billing at every club worth mentioning and been on party invitations from Balenciaga to Givenchy. She’s scored the music for a fashion movie, written about nightlife and is a transgender spokesperson. ‘DJing is still how I make my bread and butter,’ she says. ‘Everything I do I enjoy but…

For a long time, the best way to make yourself look younger was to go under the scalpel for a bit of nip and tuck. The Cavendish Clinic has introduced Ultherapy at its Fitzrovia clinic in central London, a non-surgical ultrasound treatment which promises to counteract the effects of gravity on your skin. It works by using the body’s own regenerative response to gently and gradually give your skin back its youthful energy. The Ultherapy machine delivers focused ultrasound energy onto the chosen area of skin, stimulating collagen production without the need for cutting or disrupting the surface of your skin. This non-surgical process doesn’t use any toxins or needles. Instead, Ultherapy bypasses the surface of the skin to deliver the right amount of ultrasound energy at the right depths…

Photo assistant Tim Smyth Retoucher Joe Thomas Location Loft Studios…

FOOTBALLERS aren’t supposed to be like Raheem Sterling. They aren’t meant to be involved in tabloid stories, moral panics, race rows or political debates. They’re supposed to be media-trained, mum-friendly supermen who track back and sell trainers. They’re supposed to be grateful, deferential, and somehow above all the temptations of the average young man. They’re supposed to do the business on the pitch, visit sick kids at Christmas and not much else. But here we are in 2018, and one of England’s most dynamic young footballers is being hauled into an age-old dispute that’s affected everyone from Jack Johnson to John Barnes: criticism of ostentatious young black men in sport. The tabloids have never taken to Sterling – not since he first enraged Middle England by answering back to manager…

Groomer Eliot McQueen Photographer’s assistant Mat Kay Stylist’s assistant Lauren Perrin Models Lucien and Yann Jones…

NINETEEN-NINETY-FOUR. The term Britpop was ubiquitous, encompassing a sound and style that projected cool Britannia in a major way for the first time since Carnaby Street was the centre of the world in the Sixties. Oasis, Blur, Suede and Elastica dominated the airwaves. Songs about sitting at home and having a cup of tea and going shopping for food like common people had never been so essential. And it wasn’t just the everyday Joe who wanted to be in a band and drink at The Good Mixer in Camden. Even politicians fancied themselves as rock’n’roll stars. Labour’s Spinal Tap-style leader Tony Blair decided this was the moment to remind everyone that he once played an instrument, in sharp contrast to the not-so-rock’n’roll John Major. It was very much a case…

At the closing night party for Kim Jones’ triumphant last show for Louis Vuitton, I bumped into the brilliant emerging young menswear designer, Charles Jeffrey. We got to talking about Charles’ hometown of Glasgow. The conversation took on the misty hues of two people talking about a city they both love. An idea grew for Charlie to shoot a story us, a travelogue back to the teenager he once was through the eyes of the man he now is, in the city that oversaw that transition (I’ll Be Your Mirror, page 172). See if you can spot Charlie’s mum in there, one of several heartfelt moments that punctuate the narrative. For reasons too numerous and too personal to divulge in this short space, I love Glasgow too. In Charlie’s story,…

Working out, looking after yourself, shredding, getting swole – it’s never been more on-trend. If you’re not going running in the park, hanging out by the pull-up bars, or playing tennis after work… what’s wrong with you?! But the pursuit of a beautiful body and a perfect mind is no excuse for not dressing well. Farah Sport’s latest collection brings together the best of sportswear and casualwear. It’s lightweight, quick-drying and breathable. It’s youthful and stylish and authentically British. And it makes you look well fit. Hit the Slopes Italian twins Marco and Stefano Schiavon were born in Rivoli in 1983; now, working together as illustrators Van Orton Design, they’ve transformed their shared childhood love of Eighties pop culture into a booming career. With ski season quickly approaching, storied Italian…

British-American designer Mimi Wade made a splash in the world of womenswear creating print-led pieces inspired by her Old Hollywood starlet grandmother. Now, however, the designer’s gaze has shifted to include men too, with a new gender-fluid collection. ‘I think a lot of the prints I design are quite inherently feminine and saccharine, and the juxtaposition of them being worn by a man is quite interesting,’ says the 26-year-old Central Saint Martins graduate. For her new pieces, the designer has swapped vintage-movie nostalgia for a slightly more recent throwback: Polly Pocket, with a collection of two T-shirts depicting the cult Nineties mini-doll, in all her candy-coloured glory, resplendent on the back of a seahorse and a snail. Why choose those creatures? ‘I wanted to bring back the Nineties nostalgia and…

Our cover star this issue is England hero and Manchester City superstar Raheem Sterling. This could be the year that his club wins it all; and if they do, they’ll do it in Dsquared2 suits, mixed up with some denim from the collaborative collection that first launched in 2016. ‘Our work is shaped by our passion for the game and for the faces of this team, as well as our close friendship with Pep Guardiola,’ explain the brand’s founders and designers Dan and Dean Caten. ‘We worked closely with him and the rest of the team to define each piece. The looks celebrate the youth, athleticism and contemporary masculinity of these amazing and stylish players and their coach.’ Wear Your Sunglasses at Night Danish eyewear specialist Lindberg’s motto ‘Looks before…

‘My daughter is big into Ed Sheeran,’ says Kent & Curwen’s creative director Daniel Kearns when we meet at the brand’s townhouse on Savile Row, ‘we have him on in the car every morning, which is quite horrific.’ Why are we discussing music? Because we’re here to talk about the brand’s collaboration with the Stone Roses for its SS19 collection, which is available for pre-order this month. In case you’re not familiar, Kent & Curwen is the classic English brand founded in 1926 by tiemaker Eric Kent and seamstress Dorothy Curwen to create regatta ties and sporting wear for the British upper classes. Acquired by the Fung family, one of Asia’s richest dynasties, it was relaunched in 2016 and steered in a more contemporary direction with the appointment of Kearns…

1. Haydall Codeen Writer, 29, Thameslink Londoner Not everyone’s idea of secrecy is a rattling Vauxhall Nova flying blind through the night round country bends somewhere on the outskirts of Slough. Nor will many detect much to love in the idea of four teenage boys, eyes shot red, grimacing into the darkness as drum’n’bass blares like slapped tin from dashboard speakers built for the soft, graveyard hum of talk radio. To us, though, Dan’s car was a portal to a profound and hidden world, albeit a portal littered with Fantazia tape packs, Haynes manuals, Fanta cans and pictures of Jakki Degg. The tape packs, recorded live at raves across the British countryside, were the most cherished of these artefacts. Drum’n’bass isn’t the coolest music ever made. But it is some…

Groomer Jody Taylor at Premier Hair and Make-up using TAYLORED LONDON Make-up Anete Salinieka using Sisley UK Models Asa Andrew at AMCK Models, Jamel Gordon-Lynch at Elite Model Management, Raashid Hooks at Models 1, Daniel at D1 Models, Gabriel Furtado at Storm Model Management, Jeffrey Obed at Storm Model Management Lighting assistant George Read Stylist’s assistant Lauren Perrin Groomer’s assistant Tariq Howes Digital technician Tom North Production KO Productions With thanks to West Indian Cultural Centre…

On a brisk Saturday evening last January, during the bi-annual menswear collections in Milan, Donatella Versace showed her AW18 show in the gilded surrounds of the Società del Giardino. The collection was an eclectic mix of classic Versace, which shouted opulence, and a new, somewhat sportier look, which spoke of youth with a distinct British accent. There were, of course, all the requisite baroque print shirts, dense velvet suits and lush silk scarves you’d expect from the 40-year-old brand. But, alongside all the usual Versace touchstones, there were also oversized, heavily branded football scarves, patchwork check worker jackets and heavy-duty punky boots finished with studs and buckles. Perhaps most interesting was the extraordinary energy in the room during the show. The models – young, lithe and expensive – strutted round…

Russell Athletic makes a triumphant return with a bass-thumping collaboration with London’s bright new creative consultancy Kick-drum. Taking its influence from the famed 808 drum machine responsible for some of music’s most influential songs, from Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody to Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing, Kick-drum’s 808 capsule collection with the 116-year-old American athletics brand has this winter’s best tracksuits and T-shirts. Nick Davie, who founded Kick-drum with our deputy editor and fashion director Elgar Johnson, explains: ‘Myself and Elgar are the biggest know-it-alls when it comes to music and are both fascinated by the 808 experience: the impact it had was huge, and allowed people to create DIY music. We loved the idea of working with a sportswear brand that has a great heritage but has not…

Meme accounts have changed how we experience fashion (and politics, and reality, and everything around us) and their cut-and-paste, tongue-in-cheek, to-hell-with-copyright aesthetic has also greatly influenced fashion design itself – as can be seen in Vetements’ mash-up Frankenstein approach, Gucci’s bootleg T-shirts, Diesel’s knockoff pop-up store during New York Fashion Week, Off-White’s deadpan use of words and so much else besides. Fendi, however, has taken things a step further by hiring a real-life meme-weaver, Hey Reilly, to design artworks and prints for its free-associating AW18 menswear collection. If you’ve been wondering where the ‘FFANCY’ upside-down elephants floating above ripe strawberries or the ‘FFAITHFUL’ horses standing on wedges of Swiss cheese came from, well, now you know. Aside from the aforementioned photo-montages and wordplay, Reilly – his name’s Reilly, not Hey…

‘The figures within my work are all from imagination,’ George Rouy, 24, responds when asked if his hazy, sensual nudes are painted from life or photographs or something else entirely. ‘I try to capture a feeling that is not subjective to a specific person. I feel they speak about my own context, thoughts and feelings.’ This young painter from Kent graduated from Camberwell College of Arts in 2015 and has already had four solo shows in London and New York. His work can also be seen, until 27 October, in a group exhibition in Belleville’s Galerie Sultana, Paris. So how does George feel about appearing in our magazine as the subject rather than the creator of an image? ‘I’m not sure how I feel,’ he begins tactfully. ‘I think the…

Hair stylist Teiji Utsumi at Bryant Artists using Bumble and Bumble Make-up Mona Leanne using MAC Cosmetics Models Gulliver Whitby at AMCK and Søren Müller Casting director Charles Jeffrey at Starworks Photo assistant Guy Isherwood Stylist’s assistant Emily Tighe, Hana Ross, Stevie Hunter Hair assistant Kanae Kikuchi Make-up assistant Coco Hirani On-set production assistant Mat Hay Production by KO Productions Postproduction by Ink Retouch With special thanks to The Glasgow Guild, The University Café, Starry Starry Night, QMU, Abode Hotel Glasgow, Relics, Julia Gilmore, Patrick McAlindon, Murphy the Dog, Stevie Newall, Ciaran Moore, Liam Torrens and Annette Hall, Sophie Jewes…

Hair stylist Ryuta Saiga using Kiehl’s Men’s Make-up Franziska Presche using Laura Mercier Model Benoni Loos at Premier Model Management Casting director Paul Isaac Photo assistant Beatrice Sangster-Bullers Stylist assistant Millie Semourson Production KO Productions In association with…

Groomer Ben Jones using Davines and Evolve Skincare Models Finn Hayton at Select Model Management, Jonas Barros at IMG Models Lighting assistants Andras Bartok, Jack Snell Stylist’s assistants Emily Tighe and Angelo Mitakos Digital technician Mathias Ribe Retouching Lisa Langdon-Banks Production KO Productions In association with…