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essential journal The pursuit of a quality lifestyle
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60
C R A F T E D T H E O L D W AY I N I TA LY F O R Y O U R E V E R Y D AY M O M E N T S
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Fuel Consumption: N/A. CO2 Emissions: 0 (g/km). EV Range: Up to 292 miles. **The figures provided are as a result of official manufacturer’s tests in accordance with EU legislation with a fully charged battery. For comparison purposes only. Real world figures may differ. Energy consumption and range figures may vary according to factors such as driving styles, environmental conditions, load, wheel fitment, accessories fitted, actual route and battery condition. Range figures are based upon production vehicle over a standardised route. 4 information, Business users only: Based on a 22MY I-PACE EV400 SE standard specification, non-maintained. Excess mileage charged at 20.8p per mile +VAT. Must be returned in good condition to avoid further charges. Important Contract Hire subject to status. 18+ only. This promotion cannot be used together with other manufacturer’s promotions and is subject to availability at participating Retailers only for new vehicles registered by 30 September 2021. Contract Hire is provided by Jaguar Contract Hire, a trading style of Lex Autolease Limited, Heathside Park, Heathside Park Road, Stockport SK3 0RB. Model shown may not reflect 22MY specifications. Consult your local Retailer for 22MY specifications. ^Benefit In Kind Tax rates for 2021-22 financial year.
CONTENTS
07.
28.
38.
The Primer Drinks, Eats & Chats
Cover Story: The 'P' Word ft. Jack Carlson of Rowing Blazers
Article of Note: IWC Big Pilot 43 & IWC Roadshow
15. Article of Note: Made in India 100Hands
20.
44.
50.
Wax for Life 100 Yrs of Barbour's Waxing Service
An Essential Excerpt On Words & Whisky
The Importance of Drinking Alone Haunt, Manchester
22. Out of Sight with 7L Systems
32.
42.
47.
Behind the Badge with Forty
Essential Thoughts: The Wild Turkey Tasting Experience
The Grapevine Debrief Hectors, London
54. Columns & Thoughts
CONTRIBUTORS CONTACTS 100hands
RANKIN
Publishers
Partnership Manager
Akshat Jain
ON Running
Essential Studio
Sam Dyson
Alex Wilson
Graeme Campbell
essentialstudio.co.uk
s.dyson@essentialstudio.co.uk
Hectors
Hatfields
Walker Slater
Wild Turkey
Editor
Lead Designer
Alex Natt
The Whisky Exchange
Will Halbert
Christopher Gerrard
Forty
Nicholas Morgan
w.halbert@essentialstudio.co.uk
christopher.gerrard@essentialstudio.co.uk
Jamie Lundy
Jack Carlson
Harry Miller
Rowing Blazers
Tessuti
Mathew Gonzalez
Joanna Parsons
Sam Watson
IWC Schaffhausen
Vanessa Ferguson
Creative Director
Thomas Sumner t.sumner@essentialstudio.co.uk
Front Cover: @essentialjournal essentialjournal.co.uk
Jack Carlson, Rowing Blazers Shot by: Thomas Sumner
TERMS & CONDITIONS Under no circumstances must any part of this publication be reproduced without prior permission of the publisher. Whilst every effort is taken, the publisher shall not be held responsible for any errors. Furthermore, the publisher shall not be held responsible for any advertising material/content. Please also note that the views and opinions written within this publication do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the publisher. All prices and details stated within this publication are correct at the time of print, however these are subject to change and the publisher shall not be held responsible for these. Third party contributors own exclusive copyright to their own material that they have submitted as part of the publication. All rights reserved.
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A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR.
‘I've never lost a game, I just ran out of time.' – Michael Jordan I know a thing or two about a thing or two, but neither of those things happens to be sports. I boxed, back in the day. But even that was out of a kind of obligation to my body; something to keep my thoughts on their toes and my fears in their place - a kind of catharsis via cardio. Boxing is a lonely sport, too. Each bout is an exercise in standing alone punching at nothing but brick walls - brick walls with mean thoughts and clenched fists of their own. All of which is to say that I’ve never felt a part of the collective fervour that accompanies the football match or game of rugby. I’ve never found myself woven into the social, historic, or emotional tapestry of any team competition. Not on account of any spoilsport scorn, you understand, but instead out of a sheer, almost insurmountable indifference toward the whole endeavour. I did, however, catch a good portion of both the Olympics and the Paralympics this year. I saw more of it than I’ve ever seen before. In many ways, I think I saw it for the first time. I saw years of training and discipline and grit and gall all boiled down to minutes of electric, kinetic feats of strength and skill and courage. I saw the human form in its myriad makeups, unhindered by genetic or physical boundary or barrier, free to find its own way to victory. I saw glory. I saw defeat. I saw the awesome beauty in both. I saw Olympians literally and metaphorically held up by the strength and humility of their opponents. I saw milestones set. I saw records broken. I saw the impossible occur on a daily basis. I saw entire nations rally in a collective optimism scarcely conceivable this time last year. What I didn’t see was anything to be indifferent about. So here’s to milestones. What better place to celebrate them than here, in the 60th issue of Essential Journal. Enjoy, Will HALBERT
THE PRIMER WHO WE’VE BEEN HIGH-FIVING: Moor Hall, Restaurant of the Year Surprising absolutely no one, Moor Hall has been named the UK’s Best Restaurant consecutively at this year’s Estrella Damm National Restaurant Awards. Helmed by Chef Mark Birchall, The two Michelin-starred restaurant was first crowned 'Restaurant of the Year' in June 2019, a title it has now retained. ‘After the huge challenges faced in the last 18 months,’ Mark tells us, ‘this year’s list is incredibly important in recognising the work that everyone is doing, and the determination of the industry to make it through.’ Mark and the Moor Hall team’s ethos has always focussed on home-grown and locally-produced products that sing of the venue’s five-acre estate. Every dish on Moor Hall’s four and eight course tasting menus celebrates ingredients picked from the restaurant’s kitchen garden or from a trusted network of the region's best growers and producers. So yeah, high fives all round. www.moorhall.com
WHY WE’RE STILL USING ZOOM: The Whisky Exchange’s Rum Show 2021 If there’s one solitary, surefire way of warding off that all-consuming Zoom fatigue, it's the addition of a little rum. Thank goodness, then, for this year’s Rum Show. Hosted online by our good friends, The Whisky Exchange, the Rum Show drew a crowd of over 500 people across 41 countries. From demos, to brand spotlights, to carefully-curated tasting sets, the show was an out-and-out, drop-for-drop, dram-for-dram, celebration of the world’s best sugar-cane spirits and the fine folk who make them. Turns out this Zoom lark isn’t so bad after all. www.thewhiskyexchange.com 7
FIVE in 5
WHO WE’VE BEEN TALKING TO: Vanessa Ferguson, Legs Wine
Interview by Will Halbert
From Hector's Wine [ full article p.45] my own way in an industry.’ It’s just about not comparing yourself to other people, staying focussed, and staying true to the things that you believe in as much as possible. Your journey is going to be different from the journeys of others. It doesn’t have to be as fast or as slow as anyone else's, either. Just try to stay focussed and carry one.
Cascina delle Rose Langhe Nebbiolo Perfect for quiet nights alone.
Avita Rosato Dare we say it: 'crushable’.
Paltrinieri Solco Lambrusco Fizzy reds? Count us in.
Vouette & Sorbee Fidele Blanc de Noir Strictly for sipping & savouring.
Cyril Fhal Le rouge et Le blancs A true testament to terroir.
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First off, tell us a little about yourself. What’s your background? How did you get here? I’m Vanessa. I grew up in Liverpool, I set up a business in Liverpool. I started Legs Wine during the first lockdown. So it’s been going for over a year now. I focus on organic, biodynamic, and natural wine with a larger focus on female producers. Talk us through the Legs philosophy. How did it come to be? The Legs philosophy is all about having good wine made by caring people, caring producers. It’s all about keeping it quite light and accessible for everyone. I don’t want it to be too serious. From day one, I’ve wanted to champion female producers as much as possible. That in turn gives me the motivation to push things further as a woman in the industry. Why do you personally gravitate toward natural wines? What makes them stand out? Why should we be drinking them? Natural wine refers to the way wine has always been made. That’s just how it’s always been. What we call ‘conventional’ wine actually came about after the natural wine processes. I look for producers that intervene as little as possible. So we don’t use any pesticides, herbicides, or unnatural yeasts. I look for producers that use grapes indigenous to their region, too. I just gravitate towards producers that have a story; they show how much they care for their land and how much they respect the wine that they make. These producers work day in, day out. They live and breathe their wine. So it’s very much a craft - like music, like art. What have been the biggest challenges that come along with working for yourself? Any major lessons learned in your first year of business? It’s definitely been a big learning curve, trying to motivate myself and tell myself that ‘I can do this; I can make
The world of wine is traditionally a stuffy one. Do you think it’s loosened up a bit in recent years? How has the wine scene changed over the last few years? It absolutely has. Wine used to be such an exclusive thing. I didn’t really grow up with wine. I didn't try any classy wines as I grew up. Natural wine speaks to me for the simple fact that it’s made by people who aren’t as stuffy and old-fashioned in their mentality. It’s much easier to get into wine when there isn’t that wall of pretense. Sure, you can get technical and go deep into flavour profiles if you want to - but it’s not a necessity. Personally, I’m not too strict on that kind of thing. What advice would you give to people new to natural wine? Celebrate the irregularities and idiosyncrasies of the wine. I think most people would agree that perfection is just boring, isn’t it? It’s the imperfections that make things special. www.legswine.co.uk
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO: Cocotte’s South Kensington Opening This 23rd August, Cocotte welcomes a brand-new location, on Harrington Road in South Kensington, to its roster of acclaimed rotisserie chicken restaurants. With restaurants in Notting Hill, Shoreditch, Parsons Green, Queen’s Park and soon, South Kensington, Cocotte makes its rotisserie chicken the star of the show (and, you know, namesake). Cocotte’s high-quality free-range chickens are sourced from a farm in Evron (Pays de la Loire, France) and are cooked using expert techniques honed by Romain during his time in Belgium's Michelin-starred restaurants. A combination of Herbes de Provence, a secret spice mix, slow roasting and - the finale - a spin on the traditional rotisserie spit, result in beautifully moist and aromatic chicken. Long story short: we’re excited (and hungry). www. mycocotte.uk
WHAT WE SHOULD BE SHOUTING ABOUT: Got a suggestion, a tip-off or a project you think we'd like? Drop us a message and we could feature you in The Primer or FIVE in 5. @essentialjournal
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‘We hope that this piece of jewelry that only Xiao Yang can wear brings with it new experiences and memories. This is what jewelry means to us. Thinking about the relationship between jewelry and body will always be YVMIN's creative theme and source of inspiration.’
The Image: Form Meets Function Meets Art
YVMIN
@yvmin_official
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Hatfields Land Rover Pickering 01751 477 177 JJJJound, a Montreal-based studio, Shrewsbury was launched initially in 2006 as a digital mood board exploring the recurring Hatfields Land Rover patterns in design. 01743 234 300
hatfields.co.uk Extended test drives available until 31 OCT 2021. Subject to availability. Terms & Conditions apply. Official WLTP Fuel Consumption for the Defender range (excl. PHEV) in mpg (l/100km): Combined 18.7-32.8 (15.1-8.6). WLTP CO2 Emissions 340-226 g/km. Defender PHEV range in mpg (1/100km): Combined 72.4-85.6 (3.9-3.3). WLTP CO2 Emissions: 88-74g/km. The figures provided are as a result of official manufacturer’s tests in accordance with EU legislation. For comparison purposes only. Real world figures may differ. 10 CO2 and fuel economy figures may vary according to factors such as driving styles, environmental conditions, wheel fitment, load and accessories.
O N E T H IN G DO N E W E L L : The MULO Espadrille A milestone in elegance and reliability, the MULO Espadrille offers slip-on simplicity with a serious edge
Top: The MULO Linen Espadrilles. Mixed. Left. The MULO Suede Espadrille. Navy
Ever worn an espadrille? You ought to. The espadrille, after all, offers the perfect middle ground between the sneaker and the loafer. They’re an invitation to wander, stripped-back and sockless into oncoming adventures. I understand your hesitation, though. Improvised and rough around the edges by tradition, the sole of a typical espadrille offers about the same comfort and longevity as a Lindt Bunny under the warm embrace of the Sahara sun. But there’s nothing typical about a MULO Espadrille. For almost a decade, MULO’s stock and trade have been nothing less than the espadrille elevated. I mean this by every conceivable metric. The shoe’s construction reads like a roll call of carefully considered tweaks and perfections: 100% recycled foam insoles grant unparalleled comfort and breathability; an active carbon coating enhances odour resistance; GOTS certified organic cotton lining lends softness; linen and hemp uppers boost sustainability.
Seriously, it’s a shoe so perfect it’s almost smug; as good for the soul as it is for, well, the sole. No doubt mirroring founder Toby Cox’s predilection for travel and adventure, the MULO Espadrille is tailor-made for those who like to stay light on their feet. It’s a shoe defined not only by its elegance, robustness and simplicity but by its evocation of travels far-flung and well fared. It speaks of journeys in the best of company with no destination in particular, needing nothing more than that first (and ideally espadrille-clad) step. EJ
www.muloshoes.com 11
The Bleeding Madrass Shirt JAKE'S LONDON by Will HALBERT photography Alex NATT
Nothing speaks to the preppy, collegiate, if-youknow-you-know cool of the ‘30s and ‘40s quite like madras. Narrow-loomed, hand-spun, and ‘guaranteed to bleed’, madras’ fading potential spoke to the Ivy-leaguer’s need for a little more laid-back nonchalance in their otherwise squeaky-clean ensembles. Jake London’s take on the menswear staple offers a faithful-yet-elevated ode to that said same nonchalance in the Bleeding Massive Madras Shirt. Cut from vintage, deadstock madras, Jake’s made-to-order shirts put the fabric’s fading glory front and centre. ‘It won’t wash out on its first wash,’ says Jake. ‘We’re talking a very subtle fade over years and years of wear.’ The shirt’s unlined collar breezy fit, and mother of pearl buttons double down on the shirt’s more rakish charm. A benchmark in classic, Americana-inflected sartoria, cut and crafted by Jake himself in his East London Workshop. Undeniably excellent stuff. EJ
www.jakesldn.com 12
M O D E R N + S U S TA I N A B L E S W I M W E A R
CHESTUDIOS.CO.UK
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JJJJound, a Montreal-based studio, was launched initially in 2006 as a digital mood board exploring the recurring patterns in design. This special edition of the Vault by Vans Style 37 sees JJJJound honour the shoe's status as best in its class with a series of refined design elements.
VAULT BY VAN S ST Y L E 37 G ETS A M IN IM AL I STI C M AK EOVER BY JJJJ OUN D
The materials are specially selected for their durability, and colorways lovingly evoke the state of heavily-used skate sneakers. This special edition lets the details speak for themselves—quietly, subtly, but convincingly.
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ARTI C LE OF NOTE Made in India: 100Hands interview by Will HALBERT
You know, it’s downright character-building to step out of your comfort zone every once in a while. That’s especially true in the realm of menswear, where well-intentioned buzzwords like ‘heritage’ and ‘provenance’ keep us firmly in one place for entirely too long. That place is invariably rife with snobbery and gatekeeping, too. The kind of snobbery that turns its smug little nose up at anything that wasn’t hand-crafted by the same, tenth-generation artisan in the hallowed ateliers of, say, Savile Row or Northamptonshire. Don’t get me wrong; pride in any craft is a beautiful thing. It should be celebrated. Just not when it descends into a saccharine, reductive, and (let’s face it) racist pantomime of just-likemomma-used-to-make marketing make-believe. But I won’t labour the point. I don’t have to. I have Akshat Jain, co-founder of luxury shirtmakers, 100hands, to do that for me. Made in India, Akshat’s shirts are a fitting (and fitted) testament to the scope and breadth of the world that awaits once you step out of that pesky comfort zone. EJ First off, what’s the driving philosophy behind 100Hands? The key driver of 100Hands was to bring craftsmanship back to the core of the product. Over the years, everything became a by-product of cost-versus-margin and this led to a continuous decline in quality. We want to revive the craft and gradually educate the customers about its beauty. People are surprised when they become aware of what goes into a shirt from 100Hands when compared to a mass-produced shirt. At the same time, the whole concept is sustainable by producing only what is needed, so there is zero wastage. Where does the name come from? In 2014, we started drafting a process to make the best handmade shirt in the world. We estimated it would take approximately 50 people to complete all hand-sewn operations for a shirt. So, we coined the name “100Hands”. Today, there are more than 200 people involved, but the process followed from the very start is the same. 100Hands is known for working alongside Indian artisans in an ethical, sustainable way. Can you tell us a little about your factory and the artisans that work within? The factory is in the northern part of India and it is a fully air-conditioned factory, also to maintain a dust-free environment. There are so many manual steps in our shirt-making that our artisans are actually the biggest assets in the company. We pay everyone a proper salary with a 25% pension, 15
in comparison to the piece-rate payment used throughout most of the industry. This allows us to focus on quality rather than quantity. Aside from that, we’re audited yearly by an international company to ensure that not only wages but every aspect of safety and lifestyle are provided to our artisans. India has a rich history of fabric & embroidery mastery. How does 100Hands celebrate that heritage? How are you ensuring its survival? The embroidery heritage of India forms the foundation of our work. We are lucky to have access to several tailors who had the skills passed on to them from the generations before them. They are our teachers today, and every person joining the company goes through six months of training, irrespective of the experience they came in with. Sometimes, it’s necessary to ‘unlearn’ certain methods in the interest of crafting a shirt the 100Hands way. Do you think the menswear industry - and indeed the wider fashion industry - places too much emphasis on provenance? Do you think we're missing out by only looking at the usual suspects for our shirting and suiting? I think clothing has always been connected to its origin. For example, the best silk and cotton fabrics, from over 3000 years ago originated from China and India. For the last 200 years, Italy and the UK have made great fabrics, so the focus of the industry has largely been on them. Naturally, companies with great marketing teams can effectively use concepts like origin and provenance to bolster their own standing in the industry. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. The only problem is that taking such an approach usually leads to generalised statements about production in other countries. With globalisation in full swing and people traveling around the world, these perceptions are, thankfully, changing very quickly. There are amazing garments to be found outside of the usual suspects. Has 100Hands ever fallen victim to any of the usual made-in-India bias? It’s part of our daily life! We are headquartered in Amsterdam, so for the first two years, we weren’t too vocal about our roots of production.
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However, we’re proud of our atelier so we decided to be fully transparent about our production origins. Once we opened up and showed people what we were about, we noticed an immediate spike in sales all over the world. The customers and the stores loved the authenticity and quality of our shirts. Our provenance became one of our biggest strengths as it surprised the whole luxury menswear industry that an Indian production house (although the brand was established in Amsterdam) crafted the finest shirts in the world. Let’s address another misconception. People tend to believe that the more handwork the better, but both are important elements in the shirt-making process, are they not? Can you tell us a little about 100Hands’ balance between handwork and machine work? Both are important. A lot of handwork is a question of experience value. It’s a flourish above all else. In fact, most of the visible handwork is not strictly necessary for the construction of the shirt, while much of the behind-the-scenes handwork - like cutting and pasting - is absolutely vital. Again, a lot of it comes down to marketing. We don’t think in terms of how many steps are done by hand; we think in terms of the number of hours worked on that shirt. Which, if you’re curious, is around 34 hours for a Gold Line shirt. Gold Line shirts are largely done by hand. But of course, a lot of enforcements are given by machine in a very fine manner. The main goal is to achieve the highest possible precision - whether it’s done by hand or by machine. A simple example would be our button holes. They’re embroidered on a frame, which takes about 40 minutes. The industry standard for a handmade buttonhole is around 5 minutes. As they say: it's all in the detail.
100Hands Indigo Western Overshirt
"A LOT O F HA NDWO R K I S A QUESTI O N OF EXPE R I ENCE VA LU E. I T 'S A FLO UR I S H A BOV E AL L ELS E."
And finally, what's next for 100hands? We are a young company but we’ve got high hopes. We want to share our story, our craftsmanship, and our commitment to such intricate processes with more and more customers. It might sound a little lofty, but we want to become the highest possible benchmark in quality shirt making.
Discover more at www.100hands.nl
100Hands Cashmere Cut-away
E S S E N T IA L VOI CES: Walker Slater on Linen Tailoring interview by Will HALBERT It seems as though Walker Slater has really branched out in terms of fabric since we last spoke. What sparked the interest? Walker Slater is all about great quality ingredients and finding artisan makers with a passion for producing quality to make something special. We are very fabric-driven as a brand and care deeply about texture and colour. These attributes are there in tweeds but also in linen and, as such, I was really at home working with them. It’s all about taking something that has heritage and making it relevant for today. What are the biggest differences you’ve noticed when working with linen? Do those differences affect the design process at all? Well, linen has not got the movement that tweed has, so we had to make allowances in the cut and allow more room in parts of the fit. It is also a low-build fabric, so again, patterns need to be adjusted or else the shoulders become too big and the whole piece can look oversized. I’ll be honest, it's very satisfying to play with these smaller adjustments until they are right. It’s even more satisfying to see the garments worn and looking smart but relaxed. Linen has seen something of a comeback in recent years. What is it about the fabric that you appreciate, personally? What do you think customers will appreciate? I think it's the ability of linen to keep a clean silhouette whilst cutting it to allow for the extra space that the fabric demands. Anyone who’s experienced wearing a suit in the heat whilst maintaining a tailored look will immediately appreciate the benefits of wearing linen. The mill-washed linen we work with is great in that it is softened and has more bilateral movement in it, meaning it does not end up creasing as much - a common bugbear amongst linen wearers. I also appreciate that it's breathable and super cool to wear in the summer while remaining very durable. Can you talk us through the inspiration behind (and subtle differences between) the Edward and Edmund patterns? The Edmund has been altered from the Edward specifically for linen. It is off the same block but with some refinements in the armhole and with the lining mostly removed, this makes it ideal for linen by giving it space and taking away an additional layer from the jacket. Linen can certainly lend a more relaxed vibe to an outfit. What advice would you give to people yet to take the plunge on a linen suit? Don't treat it as you would any other suit. Look for the linen to be able to make its mark and be able to breathe. Half lined, slightly roomier in those tight areas but tailored where it needs to be: the shoulders and front-facing lapels. A word of warning: make sure the linen has not been bulked out with cotton; it will lose its breathability if it has. www.walkerslater.com 17
BEST FOOT FORWARD G. H. BASS & CO for MAH ARISH I words by Alex WILSON
Back by my own demand, I’m here again on the subject of penny loafers. The focus of my adoration? British-born streetwear brand, Maharishi, having found a suitable partner in everybody’s favorite slip-on, G.H.Bass & Co’s famous Weejuns Penny Loafer. This joint effort happens to be just how I like my collabs: subtle and effortless. G.H.Bass has utilised the iconic Maharishi Bonsai camo print and applied it to their Weejun Larson using an embossing technique. This distinct aesthetic is featured across the upper, while the shoes bear all the hallmarks of the classic Weejun. Crafted from polished leather, the loafer is hand-stitched using a tubular moccasin construction and boasts a clean penny cut-out on the bridge. The finished article is, unsurprisingly, blinding. AW
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BARBOUR WA X FOR LIFE
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C E L E B R ATI N G 1 00 Y E ARS OF S U STA INAB I L I T Y Our Editor quite literally waxes poetic about this noteworthy milestone for Barbour words by Will HALBERT Barbour’s re-waxing service turns one hundred years old this year, which is to say that the South Shields heritage brand has been quietly waving the flag for sustainable practices for a century now. A minor celebration for some perhaps, but I’ve raised a glass to less so here goes: Here’s to the miles, the minor scrapes, and the near misses. Here’s to the myriad tears and the mystery of their origins. Here’s to the teeth of dogs, the claws of cats, and the guile of wily infants. Here’s to the storytelling power of the patch repair and good ol’ patination. Here’s to the rain and its bigger brothers. Here’s to the deluge and the downpour and to staying dry regardless. Here’s to the great outdoors and its thorny might; to winter nights and their frosty bite.
"H E R E’S TO M A KI N G I T L AST. H E R E ’S TO M AKI NG I T CO U N T. HER E’S TO G ROWI NG O LD ( DI S )GR ACEF ULLY "
Here’s to accidental damage and well-earned disrepair. Here’s to craft. Here’s to the makers that, well, make with mileage in mind. Here’s to progeny, posterity, and the passing down of old rituals, old sentiments, and old ceremonies. Here’s to time and its purposive attrition. Here’s to making it last. Here’s to making it count. Here’s to growing old (dis)gracefully. Here’s to one hundred years of rewaxing. Here’s to Barbour. Here’s to being old as hell and good as new. Cheers. Read more about Barbour’s Wax for Life services over at www.barbour.com 21
Out of Sight: 7L Systems 7L founder, Jamie Lundy, discusses the art of camo, the importance of core values, and the spirit of collaboration interview by Will HALBERT
Pictured: 7L MTP System Overwatch Field Shirt
It’s been over a year since we last spoke; how are we doing? Any major lessons learned over the course of last year’s chaos? Any silver linings? Wow, time has flown. What a year for everyone. I think, most importantly, that the pandemic has taught us all valuable life lessons and to value the things we have and the time we have with other people. We live fast-paced lives and never have the chance to re-evaluate and of course by default we’ve had this opportunity. Business-wise, we were right in the thick of it. Our inaugural collection was launched just prior to the pandemic, we launched a flagship shop in Alderley Edge, my home town, and we designed and created the next-wave MTP collection, part of our exciting evolution. So we haven’t stopped, but certainly 7L faced challenges 22
with having to close the shop as soon as it opened, delays on sampling, issues with importing and of course the general business fears surrounding Covid 19 that millions have experienced. Your inaugural range was a huge hit - was there ever a sense of pressure going into the new MTP collection? Thank you. That’s always nice to hear. Yes, I think it went down extremely well and much of that product remains core to the business and our future development. I wouldn’t say we felt pressure as a team regarding the collection as we have a great skill-set and experience here that just allows us to free-flow with creativity and to constantly challenge, so we are aware of being ‘on it’. MTP has been a chance to again play with fabrics and de-
signs and to maintain our partnership programme aimed at bringing manufacturing home to the UK and specifically Manchester. Can you talk us through the MTP line-up? What was the thought process going into this collection? What were you hoping to bring to the table and how does this fit into the wider, 7L picture? Well we maintain a military based layering system inspired by the New British Forces Multi-Terrain Pattern (MTP) Camouflage, a design delivered to work across a mixed landscape with effortless ease. From woodland, to mountains through to urban settings. Boasting Layers from Base to Rain, the 7L MTP collection is versatile and crafted to adapt to a multitude of requirements dependent
I know you’re supposed to love all your children, but do you have any stand-out pieces you're particularly proud of in the new collection? Great question! Like that. You’re right, these garments are like children to me, I feel responsible for them all and alongside designer Chris Vandrill, we never release anything we are not proud of, so sorry to disappoint you, but I can’t bring myself to choose one piece in particular. I will say this: I love the Overwatch shirt. It’s a great, unique feeling and fitting garment. Plus, I love the Recon Jacket, and can’t wait for the Breach Parka to drop. See? I love them all! 7L's military leanings and learnings are more present than ever thanks to the addition of camouflage pieces like the Overwatch Field Shirt. What was it in particular that drew you to the MTP camouflage pattern above all others? Since being a young lad, I’ve always loved camouflage. The MTP SYSTEM actually began life as the MIRAGE SYSTEM inspired by the US Military desert camo, but we couldn’t find a technical fabric with that camo print available and we had no chance of manufacturing one from scratch during the pandemic. Undeterred we started scouring the glove for a technical fabric with another camo print and discovered one being manufactured in Italy. It was the British MTP camo and it came with a crinkle effect. Perfect. So, we used the colours of that camo as inspiration and basis for SS21 and the MTP SYSTEM was born. We like to design and manufacture samples in the same styles but different fabrics. Some styles work well with certain fabrics and some don’t. It’s important for the brand to continually research and develop new fabric innovations and technologies. The 7L range is utilitarian yet style-forward. Are there any major challenges that arise when trying to balance functionality with aesthetics when designing a new collection?
I think that has been an obvious challenge in the past for brands, but understanding what you are trying to do from the outset is very important. We have always aligned to fashion combined with function and performance fused with style. We try to think about the environments and people we are designing for, which admittedly is broad, but with a layering system it allows wearers to pair up or down. With our separate layers not only does it allow us to design ultra technical outerwear pieces, there’s also room for a natural 100% cotton piece too. We are not fans of overcomplicated designs where everything gets a bit busy and technical, but that’s not to say our next collection won’t have a few more military style zips and overly designed technical innovative fabrics.
Pictured: 7L MTP System Recon Jacket
on the wearer, featuring collaborations with Manchester-based English Fine Cottons (EFC), Cookson and Clegg and of course the now ever-present ArkAir based in Exeter. Outwear to watch out for would be the Overwatch field shirt, the Breach parka and the Reconnaissance jackets as well as our beautifully made T-shirts and hoodies.
Camouflages’ military applications are well known, but are there any other movements that you associate with camouflage? What’s your earliest memory of camouflage clobber? Did you sport any yourself back in the day? There is an obvious relationship with music and military garments, you only have to look at the Mod movement through to Punk and the New-Romantics. My personal experience and my era was perhaps centred around a passion for vintage wear and also the terraces of the Casuals culture through to the rise of the Manchester music scene - think A Bathing Ape and Ian Brown, through to the Charlatans and latterly, OASIS. The finishing on 7L’s garments is second to none - can you talk us through a few of the collaborations that made it possible to take 7L's garments to the next level? I’m afraid I’m a pain when it comes to quality and detail. I’m from a family engineering business where those two core values were top priorities, alongside customer care and satisfaction. It has taken 6 years and a lot of very hard, unforeseen and thankless work to get to this level. I wouldn’t say we’ve done any official collaborations. A collaboration to me is where both brands share the costs, the marketing, the ownership in victory or failure. We have a fantastic supply chain such as English Fine Cottons, Cookson & Clegg, British Millerain, Schoeller, Toyota (fabrics), Halley Stevenson, ArkAir, Private White, Supima etc. As a brand, we wear our heart on our sleeve. If we are to collaborate with another brand then honesty and integrity have to be high up the priority list.
Sharing ownership, traceability, and quality of that collaboration is very important. And finally, can you let us in on what’s in store for AW21? Because the ORIGIN System was such a huge success we have restocked a number of pieces for this Autumn including the 3L waterproofs, the Half Zip smocks and NightCAM parkas. The current MTP system will continue on through Autumn, releasing a new Hybrid Insulation Piece (Primaloft) , the new Moss Gibson Bomber (RDS approved Down) and new insulated Detonator Parka in Military Green. For the ACD system we have the new cobalt Blue and Red overhead smocks, cobalt blue and red hoodies. We will also start to see more graphics on T-Shirts, hoodies and the odd outerwear piece. Exciting times! www.sevenlayer.com 23
BREAKING A SWEAT IN STYLE The UA RUSH collection offers style by the mile for those looking to go the distance They say the UA RUSH collection is custom built with the personal best in mind. I’d wager that’s not entirely true. I’d wager that for all intents and purposes, the UA RUSH line is designed to leave your personal best right where it belongs: in the dust. How exactly? Well, UA RUSH boasts infrared technology that reflects your body's energy to help you work harder and recover faster. Its close-fitting, soft knit fabrics all feature engineered mesh ventilation, expertly mapped to the places you need it most. The collection’s almost sew-free construction eliminates chafing, while its four-way stretch construction supports a full range of motion. 24
Combine this with moisture-wicking, quick-drying technology and you have a collection built to help you go the distance. Bottom line? The UA RUSH Collection represents gear you wear when it matters most. It’s the gear that gets you through your toughest workouts, your biggest games, your most intense training. It does so with science at its back and experience on its side. It is, quite simply, the best workout partner you’ll ever have. The fact that it also happens to look so good is just a bonus. EJ
www.underarmour.co.uk
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BE NCHM A RK PAI R I NG S Oliver Spencer x FILA Oliver Spencer and FILA drop Royal Tenenbaums-inspired sportswear capsule
Not the most obvious or congruent of collabs, granted. But as it turns out, the easy, breezy, light n’ boxy cuts for which Oliver Spencer has (deservedly) become famous are the perfect match for the stylistic breadth of FILA’s sporting heritage. Harking back to the timeless style of the ‘80s, the Oliver Spencer x FILA collection brings an updated twist on the latter’s distinct heritage styles with the likes of the Hayward Jersey Jacket, the Benedict Polo, and the matching Ari Jersey Shorts. Sure, the lookbook (shot by none other than Rankin) is seasoned with a hefty dose of 80s-infused, Royal Tenenbaums-tinged nostalgia, but it’s offset with a smattering of genuine fun; a kind of sport-casual loucheness. Terry towel shorts sit alongside penny loafers; drawstring hoodies lie beneath tailored suit jackets; shell jackets sit atop linen-blend trousers. If you ask us, it’s exactly the sort of irreverent, sartorial lopsidedness that keeps menswear exciting. An unexpected doubles match, to be sure. But an entertaining one all the same. EJ
words by Will HALBERT
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photography by RANKIN
The Oliver Spencer x FILA collection is available now through FILA.co.uk.
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THE 'P' WORD JACK CARLSON OF ROWING BLAZERS
interview WILL HALBERT photography THOMAS SUMNER
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There are a number of ways to ensure an interview gets off to a strong start, but few are as effective as a freshly-shaken French 75 from The American Bar at The Stafford. Jack Carlson can attest to this. He takes sips of the gin cocktail to punctuate his myriad, quick-fire cultural references and literary nods, his eyes wide and alive with a boundless enthusiasm towards, well, everything. It’s that same infectious enthusiasm that makes his brand, the New York-based Rowing Blazers, so captivating. For four years now, the brand has revelled in a sense of play and irreverence seen all too rarely in its peers. Leaning into a past-meets-postmodern-present aesthetic, Rowing Blazers joyfully scrambles, reshuffles, and re-codes sweeping historical zeitgeists and niche, flash-in-the-pan trends alike. As a result, the brand's roster of rugby shorts, sweaters, short shorts and, you guessed it, rowing blazers is more akin to a DJ’s mashup track or a cultural archivist's wet dream than it is a prep-cum-streetwear brand. It’s a spectacular feat of cultural and stylistic omnivorism, to be sure; erudition in fabric form. And it welcomes the kind of conversations for which one solitary French 75 simply will not do. First, a brief introduction. Rowing Blazers is a relatively young brand in the grand scheme of things, but it feels wise beyond its years. I wonder if you could give us a quick story so far. That’s a big one! The brand is four years old. In some ways, it feels like I’ve just started out. In others, it feels like I’ve been doing this all my life. But of course, I haven’t been doing this all my life, I haven’t been doing anything like this at all. I don’t come from the world of fashion, the world of design, or even the world of business. I’ve spent most of my adult life doing two things: sitting in boats and sitting in libraries. I was a Cox in the sport of rowing from ‘99 to about ‘17, where I represented the United States at three World Championships. I also studied Archaeology at Oxford, so I spent a lot of time sitting in old libraries reading about Roman and Chinese archaeology. As Indiana Jones once said: ‘seventy percent of all Archaeology is done in the library’. Rowing Blazers as a brand is inextricably linked to both of those pursuits; rowing and
studying. Back in 2014, I wrote a book titled Rowing Blazers. It documented the various individual traditions surrounding the blazer at rowing clubs all over the world. That really laid the foundations for the Rowing Blazers brand. Fashion is quite a departure from academia. Did that transition feel like a natural process? Fashion with a capital ‘F’ has never really been what Rowing Blazers is about. In some ways, Rowing Blazers feels like the logical continuation of my academic work more than anything else. Archaeology, after all, is the study of material culture; it’s the study of the past through objects. The Rowing Blazers book laid the groundwork for the brand's approach to things, and everything we do involves the same academic legwork and meticulous research and deep digging as those writing days. It’s why I’m so obsessive when it comes to collecting vintage clothes and studying smaller details, lesser-known fabrics and production techniques. I think that material obsession has informed how we do things at Rowing Blazers. There’s a lot of talk about Rowing Blazers’ position at the intersection of preppy style and streetwear, but neither term quite captures the brand’s singular appeal. How would you describe Rowing Blazer’s core ethos in your own words? You're right, neither word really describes what we’re doing with Rowing Blazers. I get it though: if you just hear the name then you might get the impression of a really preppy, old-school brand. And there is an element of that tradition and heritage for sure. But Rowing Blazers has so many other dimensions to it as well. When I really think about it, what we’re doing is curating cool things from the past and bringing them into the 21st Century in a way that is both authentic but also quite irreverent. Maybe even a little subversive. We’re having a little fun with the relics of material culture. That’s how I’d describe what we’re doing. I think people who are familiar with the brand and who have followed along for a while really get that. I know that Rowing Blazers has always been wary of the stuffier connotations of the word 29
‘preppy’. Have shifts in fashion made you a little more comfortable with the moniker? Does it bear the same stigma it once did? The ‘P’ word has always been tough, because it traditionally came with a lot of baggage. I grew up in the ‘90s and went to high school and university in the ‘00s. We were coming out of the big Abercrombie & Fitch era. There was a bit of a preppy renaissance, if you will. But there were aspects of that renaissance that some people reacted negatively to. I’d like to think we’ve played our part in changing peoples' perspective on it. For all my personal efforts to avoid using the word, I’ve often been told that Rowing Blazers has helped to redefine the word ‘preppy’. That’s a huge compliment, and I suppose it’s always been part of the goal, part of the mission, on some level. Do you think that your 'fashion outsider’ perspective has given you an advantage in a way? Do you think you’re drawing from a wider range of influences and traditions as a result of your academic background? Definitely. For me, it’s not about fashion; it’s about clothes. That’s an easier way for me to wrap my head around things. It’s about the stories that come along with a particular item of clothing. That’s why I love vintage, that’s why I love merch. A lot of the capsules that we’ve put out as Rowing Blazers have had a kind of merchlike vibe about them for the simple fact that they tap into very niche subcultures and specific periods in time. I love that.
things in fun and unexpected ways. Taking things out of their usual contexts in a way that respects the story behind them, but presents them in a new light. Which, if you ask me, is what you did so well with the recent Fila x Babar collaboration. Our recent three-way collaboration with Babar and Fila is, in some ways, the most niche, bizarre and unexpected thing ever. But it’s also oddly classic. It makes sense despite never having actually existed before. That’s where the fun lies for me; just tapping into the past and conjuring up things that never quite were but that you wish had existed. It’s all about offering something in a fresh context. That collaboration brought a Northern Italian heritage sportswear brand and a French children's book character together in an off-kilter but natural way. It doesn’t get more fun than that. It’s good to shake things up, to make these obscure references, and to embrace the niche, if-you-know-you-know aspects of clothing.
That has led to some pretty interesting collaborations over the years, right? Right. It usually makes for some interesting and off-the-wall projects. Harry’s New York Bar in Paris, for example. It’s the oldest cocktail bar in Europe and the birthplace of the French 75, the Bloody Mary, and the Sidecar. I walked in there 5-10 years ago and I asked them if they had any merch. They had one golf jumper. Literally one left from a batch they’d made back in the mid-'90s. I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I got in touch with the owner of Harry’s Bar - the great-great-grandson of Harry himself - to tell him they really needed to bring it back. He was way into the idea. Before I knew it, we were working on a Harry’s capsule.
Does Rowing Blazers’ more subversive, playful streak ever elicit any backlash from sartoria’s hashtag menswear gatekeepers? Listen: there will always be people who just don’t get it. And that’s cool, because we really don’t want to be for everyone. If you try to be liked by everyone you risk diluting your core values. Those looking through the hashtag menswear lens will often see the term ‘blazer’ and expect Savile Row tailoring. They might ask why a particular blazer isn’t fully canvassed or why it isn’t lined. They’ll adhere to stuffy stereotypes and miss out on all the fun of the smaller details. Like, do you know how hard - how much effort and precision it takes - to craft a blazer without lining? There’s no hiding anything with an unlined jacket; all of those interior seams have to be immaculately finished. It takes a lot of skill, even if it doesn’t match up with people’s perception of a blazer. Don’t get me wrong, much of the menswear crowd have really embraced Rowing Blazers, too. It’s not just the streetwear crowd; it’s people from all stylistic, cultural backgrounds. That’s amazing. Some love us because they truly get where we’re coming from. Others don’t quite get us, and that's cool with me too.
Rowing Blazers has this wonderful sense of playful subversion that never descends into outright parody. Is that a tough line to walk? What’s the secret to letting people in on the joke without overdoing it? I think there's a lot to be said for mastering the rules of something before you can break them in interesting ways. We’re very rigorous about how things are made, about all the details and the meanings behind what we do. Nothing is random, everything has a story and some thematic justification. But that doesn’t mean we can’t reposition or recontextualise
I’m getting the sense that the blazer isn’t quite the stuffy, sartorial staple people might think it is. Dude, it was the hoodie of its era! A mix of a windbreaker and a varsity jacket, if you will. It just so happened that the rowers wearing them would start putting them on to go for lunch or to parties or to classes, so they started to take on a more formal guise. The blazer originated as a piece of sportswear. It was just a sports jacket that rowers would wear while they were warming up. Traditionally, they were unstructured, unlined,
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and ventless. They had three or four buttons to be buttoned as you pleased. They were brightly coloured and crafted from wool flannel. That, my friend, is the traditional blazer. You have to think about the historical context. Blazers were around at a time when people were walking around in white bowties and capes. And these guys, these rowers, were showing up wearing striped, unlined, river water-stained jackets with metal buttons. The blazer was the most roguish, rock n’ roll thing ever. The name Rowing Blazers is almost a provocation of sorts, then? You’re playing with peoples’ expectations of what a blazer is? Totally. I mean, it wasn’t necessarily intentional, but Rowing Blazers certainly wound up being fighting talk to some degree. The name primarily stemmed from my book and from the fact that, for a time, we were only making blazers. So it made sense. But it’s great to have seen the Rowing Blazers name come to mean so much more over the years while still staying grounded in a sense of authenticity. ‘Authenticity’ is such an overused term nowadays, especially in menswear, but we actually make the blazers for rowing clubs around the world. It’s an integral part of what we do. That gives us an authentic grounding; it informs everything else we do too. We’re not just going to take some vague coat of arms and just slap it on a shirt. We make the blazers for Harvard and Princeton rowing teams, for the USA National Rugby Team, The Explorers Club - that’s such a cool thing to be able to say, but it’s also exactly what keeps us grounded in the real deal. Speaking of the real deal, New York is the uncontested epicentre of grassroots fashion brands. It’s a place to make things happen, but also a place of fierce competition. What’s your take on owning a brand in NYC? New York is in our DNA. It’s part of who we are. I’ve always seen it as a blessing, and the community that we’ve managed to forge in New York is beyond comparison. Before the pandemic, back when we had our Grand Street store, we’d throw the biggest parties. Honestly, they were on another level to your average in-store event. We went all out on a weekly basis. People would be playing beer pong in the middle of the store, we’d have some of the best DJs in New York on the decks, and people would literally be swinging from the lights. I’m serious! Our PR guys started to get a little nervous [laughs]. But at the heart of it all there was a real sense of community. You had models, skaters, streetwear kids, finance bros, Upper East Side old money, and everybody in between, all united by this common interest, this common passion. It was a beautiful thing, and it just goes to show what happens when you stick to your guns, embrace your niche, and stay true to yourself.
WIN TE R-WA R MI NG WO O L E N WA R E S The new Rowing Blazers autumn/winter 2021 campaign sure is wholesome, isn’t it? Not only does it include a bevy of tailored tweeds, patchwork fleeces, and cosy sweats, it also leans into the brand’s longstanding love for collaboration. Continuing its fruitful partnerships with both Gyles & George and Warm & Wonderful (two heritage British knitwear brands made famous by their associations with Princess Diana) Rowing Blazers continues in its tradition of historic callbacks and timeless irreverence. And if that isn’t enough, the campaign features the warming hug of a dude that is Pete Davidson. Bonus.
Sweater Weather Standouts GY L E S & G E O RG E Gyles & George is a high-end British knitwear brand with a sense of humour. Over the years, Gyles and George conjured up scores of tongue-in-cheek designs worn by personalities as varied as Sir Elton John and Diana, Princess of Wales. Knitted in Portugal using the finest wool, Gyles & George jumpers are currently available exclusively at Rowing Blazers New York and Selfridges London.
WA RM & WO ND E R FU L Warm & Wonderful created the original sheep jumper in 1979 and shot to fame when a young Princess Diana began wearing it. Joanna Osborne and Sally Muir, who founded Warm & Wonderful and designed the very first black sheep sweater, haven't produced the design since 1994. Until now, that is. Made to the original design (in 100% wool) the Rowing Blazers x Warm & Wonderful sheep sweater features the same pattern famously worn by the Princess of Wales.
www.rowingblazers.com 31
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BEHIND THE BADGE: FORTY
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HOW MUCH DOES A BRAND OWE TO THE CITY IN WHICH IT WAS CREATED? WE SIT DOWN WITH FORTY FOUNDER, HARRY MILLER, TO TALK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF THE BRAND’S DISTINCTLY GLASWEGIAN ROOTS WILL HALBERT PHOTOGRAPHY: THOMAS SUMNER MODEL: ANESU ZIMUCHA INTERVIEW:
‘My thinking has always been this: if you love what you do you’ll find a way through; if you don’t love what you do you’ll find a way out’ says Harry between bites of artisanal pizza and bouts of infectious laughter. That tracks: if there were a shortlist of words compiled to help sum up Forty’s vibe, attitude, or general outlook on things, ‘love’ would sit somewhere at the top. You see, Harry and Forty team love what they do. They love where they are and the path it took to get them there. They love the process, the struggle, and the lessons learned along the way. They love their city and the people who make it so unique. They love the clubs and scenes that not only soundtracked their formative years but provided the basis of the brand’s driving philosophy. Forty is a brand born of the kind of organic, grassroots attitude most streetwear brands can only dream of. It’s a brand that sings of its Glasgow roots; a brand informed and shaped by the sights and sounds of the city’s racing subcultural pulse. And you know what? We love that about them.
Tell us a little about the Forty logo. I hear there's something of a story there? My three-year-old came up with the Monster. I came home from work one night and as soon as I saw what he created, something just clicked. I posted it on Facebook and it got one like and one comment. That comment was from Peter, a longtime friend of mine. He said it would make an amazing T-shirt. And just like that, the Monster was born. The rest is history. I’ll tell you what there aren’t many fathers that can say their sons have left them a legacy. That’s pretty cool.
First off, talk us through the Forty philosophy. What are the ideas and ideals that drive you as a brand? First and foremost, Forty is about doing what you love. Forty is a collective of people brought together through a love for what they do. Forty is about always developing, improving, and moving forward. But most importantly, it’s about creating a space that people can pour their hearts into. We all bring our own experiences to Forty, that’s what makes us so unique. Through Forty, we give an honest account of ourselves.
Tell us a little about growing up in Glasgow. I grew up in a time when the rave scene had really started to take hold. They were good times. You didn’t have to know people when you got to a club there was a real sense of inclusivity. That common purpose of just turning up, getting involved, and having an amazing time. Building friendships with people you didn’t know, united by the common bond of music. That’s a massive part of who we are as a brand. A passion for music and a fascination for the ways in which that love spills out into other aspects of our lives.
That must add a real element of protectiveness around the logo, right? One hundred percent. We’ve had some fun with the Monster over the years, though. We’ve deconstructed it, re-assembled it, re-interpreted it, and defaced it. That’s the beauty of a good logo: you can play around with its constituent parts but it’s always somehow recognisable. Of course, you need to be protective of what you have, but that's not to say there’s no room for fun and experimentation. We’re not precious, but we are protective.
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How does that translate into how you do business? Do those concepts of inclusivity and openness extend to the Forty family too? I feel extremely grateful to have been given an opportunity to do what I love every day. But it’s not just about me or [Lead Designer] Peter - it’s about everyone. Forty is a collective. It’s not about one standout person. There’s never an ego attached to Forty; we accept what we don't know, and respect those that know what we don’t. Forty has always been about marrying the team’s collective experiences. It’s never been a one-man show. It’s about listening to what others have to say because it’s all relevant. Nobody’s above or below anybody at Forty. It’s a question of asking each individual team member ‘what do you think? Tell me. Guide me.’ We all make up the Monster. What does the Forty collection look like now compared to when you first started out? It’s evolved, that’s for sure. When Peter and I started out, we were all over the place. We didn’t have a particular person in mind; no idea of our audience. It was just a celebration of our freedom, of being able to do our own thing for the first time ever. We revelled in the sheer creative freedom of it all. As a result, the collection was a bit mad at the start. The charm of the creative process is how unstructured it can be. The collection is a little more curated nowadays. What you have to learn as you develop as a brand is that your collection has a kind of language to it. It needs to be coherent. It needs to communicate clearly and be understood as part of a whole. The collection as it stands is the most structured it's ever been. We’re particularly proud of the all-new Bailey line as it represents the culmination of all we’ve learned so far. So the Bailey line represents a point of maturation for you guys? I really think it does. The Bailey is a great encapsulation of where we are right now - philosophically and developmentally. From a fabric and design perspective, it represents how far we’ve come and our dedication to pushing things forward. It’s a benchmark for sure. In a wider sense, though, the collection is also about slowing down and finding out about things before you decide to comment on them. It’s about educating yourself and reaching a greater understanding of the world around you, of the people who co-exist in the world around you. 34
"WE’VE HAD SOME FUN WITH THE MONSTER OVER THE YEARS WE’VE DECONSTRUCTED IT, RE-ASSEMBLED IT, RE-INTERPRETED IT, AND DEFACED IT. THAT’S THE BEAUTY OF A GOOD LOGO: YOU CAN PLAY AROUND WITH ITS CONSTITUENT PARTS BUT IT’S ALWAYS SOMEHOW RECOGNISABLE."
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The collection carries the motto ‘Scientia potentia est’, which translates to ‘knowledge is power’. That’s a mindset very much woven into the fabric of all we do. We’ve seen entirely too much strife and hate in the world as a result of people’s lack of understanding. So the motto is a reminder to all to stop, listen, and learn wherever we can. How effective are style and fashion as methods of communication and self-expression? You know, I’ve always been fascinated by the way people choose to represent themselves through what they wear. Fashion has always been the meeting point between culture, politics, and music, hasn’t it? Just think of the teddy boys, the terrace boys, and the punks. Style is a powerful thing; it lets us send a message to others. Style lets people tell others exactly what they're about. All without uttering a single word. I find that utterly fascinating. I also love how passionate people get about their clothes. I think back to the terrace culture of the late eighties and how it wasn’t just about football. People had a genuine interest in the fabrics that made up their favourite pieces. Wearing CP Company and Stone Island wasn’t just about status; it was a shared fascination with fabric and construction. There was a sense of belonging underpinning it all, too. The same goes for music and the way people would dress to go clubbing. There’s a sense of community and belonging. I know that extends far beyond Glasgow, but I think it’s a very UK thing. There’s also something to be said for the connection that people make with clothes they wear, right? There’s almost an emotional investment. I’ve always had a strong emotional connection with the clothes I wear. The clothes have always been a suit of armour of sorts. It’s amazing how a particular garment can make you feel a certain way. The right clothes can give you so much confidence. Clothes are also capable of evoking memories of the places you’ve been, the people you’ve met, and the emotions you’ve felt. That works both ways, though. If I’ve had a terrible experience while wearing something, chances are I won’t
wear it again [laughs]. We want people to form the same emotional bonds to Forty’s collections. We want people to understand that it’s not just about the product, it’s how we got there. Does your spirit of communication and connection extend to working with other brands? Absolutely. Collaborations are the perfect way to practice letting go of your ego and listening to other people. They serve as a reminder to stay humble and understand that you can only really drive things forward if you admit what you don’t know. At the end of the day, we only want to work with people that share our passion. We want to surround ourselves with the best of the best. We’ve been fortunate enough to work with Hancock of Scotland. They make world-beating, hand-finished jackets. We shared the same passion, so the chemistry was instant. Our collaboration with Johnstons of Elgin was the result of another very honest conversation. They’re one of the greatest manufacturers of knitwear in the world, operating right here in Scotland, too. We simply could not have trusted anyone else to help create our Alexander Lambswool sweats.
What did that bricks-and-mortar setup look like in the early years? Oh man, we started in the basement of a hairdressers with nothing but a disco ball, a broken window, and some crazy notion of trying to sell T-shirts in January. People always talk about being ‘underground’ with a certain romanticism, but we were quite literally underground. There was still something special about it, though. Something just felt right, even if we were making it up as we went along. We almost felt like we could do anything we wanted. No judgement. No rules. Just raw creation. It was mental. There were challenges, obviously. But I always say that if you love what you do then you’ll find a way through. If you don’t love it, you’ll find a way out. How does your mindset shift as you start to enter the wider, wholesale market? It’s nerve-wracking! You’re taking something you love, something you’ve nurtured and watched grow, and you’re exposing it to the big bad world. This isn’t business for us; this isn’t what we do for a living. It’s what we do for life. So you’re bound to be a little unsure. Sometimes, you just need to take a deep breath and say ‘you know what? Let’s just do it’. Creating Forty was always about losing the ego, ditching the excuses, and taking responsibility for our own actions - start to finish. You can’t be for everybody, so you try not to take any negativity to heart. Everyone has something to say. Just do things as well you can, with as much honesty as possible and you can’t go far wrong. As a guy with a long history in retail, what are your thoughts on the importance of a brand’s bricks-and-mortar presence?
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I’m a shop floor guy at heart. That’s where I cut my teeth, so to speak. I loved the banter; the good patter and the crap patter. I just loved the interaction with people. That hasn’t changed. Old-fashioned bricks and mortar retail is absolutely essential to what we do. It's where you build real relationships. You can’t tell your whole story online as you can face to face. You don’t get the same real, unedited honesty. You’re always going to have more of an impact through an honest, one-on-one conversation. Also, some of our fabrics need to be seen and felt to be believed.
What are the major lessons you’ve learned over the course of the brand's evolution? Where to start? Learn to listen; don’t take yourself too seriously; know that you don't know everything and you can’t do everything; be honest in your limitations; know that tomorrow is never promised; have no expectations, but appreciate everything you’ve got around you. And while we’re at it, know that there’s no such thing as a mistake. If you do something for the first time with no prior knowledge of how it will play out then there’s no mistake to make - only a chance to learn. So don’t be too hard on yourself. And finally, what’s next for Forty? The world. Let’s take on the world. tessuti.co.uk fortyclothing.com
bring the cafe experience to your home
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ART I C L E O F NOTE The IWC Big Pilot 43 words by Will HALBERT
Few watch brands come with the storied past and horological acumen of IWC Schaffhausen. They're something of a rarity in the Swiss watch world; a brand that merges everyday utility and uncompromising luxury with a deftness quite unparalleled. Said deftness is present and correct in the house’s all-new Big Pilot 43. The Big Pilot’s 43 offers a faithful interpretation of the iconic observation watch design with a more ergonomic, 43-millimetre stainless steel case. Available with either a black or blue dial, the watch is powered by the IWC’s in-house 82100 calibre with Pellaton winding - a movement fully deserving of its sapphire glass display back. The user-friendly (and oh-so-satisfying) EasXCHANGE system makes switching up straps a doddle too. By all accounts, the Big Pilot 43 is the quintessential modern utility sports watch. EJ
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GOT A MINUTE? IWC's Head of Sales, Joanna Catherine Parsons, answers our questions in the time it takes to set a chrono You guys are currently in the middle of a national roadshow. What was the idea behind that? The idea of the road show pretty much came about when we realised that there was a lot of interest in IWC around the country in places that didn’t have easy access to our watches. It’s often difficult for people to get the full IWC experience outside of London. So we decided to get all of these containers and take them on a tour around the UK to introduce IWC as a brand and to let people get more hands-on with our watches.
Left: IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar Below: IWC Big Pilot Watch: Big Date - Spitfire Edition "Mission Accomplished" Right: IWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41
The Big Pilot’s Watch 43 is creating quite the buzz. Can you tell us a little about it? Our Big Pilot’s Watch 43 was released earlier this year. In the 43, we decided to scale things down a little bit in comparison to our traditional Pilot’s watches. We reduced the case size and opened up the case back to showcase our lovely new in-house 82100 calibre. It’s definitely a more contemporary,
easy-to-wear piece. A lovely alternative to our original Big Pilot’s Watch that speaks to IWC’s passion for pushing this forward whilst respecting our heritage. Do you have any advice for those yet to take the plunge on a luxury watch? In terms of choosing your first luxury watch, it’s important to decide, early on, exactly what you want to use it for - beyond telling the time, obviously. If you want an everyday all-rounder you’d certainly go for the Pilot’s Watch because it’s easy to wear and goes with pretty much anything. Those looking for something a little dressier or ornate would probably go for our Portugieser or our Portofino ranges. But it really depends on the individual; it’s such a personal choice. That’s what keeps things interesting. iwc.com davidmrobinson.com 39
MADE TO MEASURE
READY TO WEAR
FALL • WINTER S ARTO LUXU RYTAI LO R I N G .CO.U K
T H E P OW ER OF CO N N ECTI ON : Graff ’s Threads Collection The latest additions to Graff ’s Threads collection turn gemstones to milestones words by Will HALBERT
To take the hidden wonders of the earth and transform them into pieces of fine jewellery that move the heart and stir the soul is no mean feat, by any standard. But for over half a century, haut diamantaires, Graff, have done exactly that. Graff ’s Threads Collection is a vibrant ode to that very pursuit. One of Graff's permanent collections, the Threads collection mirrors the geometric lines of diamond threads with a series of awe-inspiring constellations of emerald cut sapphires and cushion cut yellow diamonds. Minimalist strands of diamonds converge upon bracelets, necklaces and rings, echoing the invisible bonds that link us all. This sense of spontaneity belies the complex, carefully-orchestrated construction of the designs, with each jewel featuring myriad diamond bars that overlap and cross, in a subtle, expert articulation. ‘In the new Threads high jewellery pieces, the gemstones represent milestones in our lives, the precious moments, meetings and occasions that change the course of fate forever,’ says Anne Eva Geffroy, Design Director at Graff. ‘They bring colour to our lives, and the world, which is reflected in the vibrant yellow diamonds, sapphires and emeralds." In short, there’s a lot to love here. Sure, any one entry in the ever-expanding Threads collection would make for an exquisite gift or symbolic token of affection. But there’s more at play here. Graff operate at the very pinnacle of the high jewellery industry; their Threads collection is nothing less than a dazzling display of the power of connection and the sheer, unfettered joy of artistic creation. EJ
www.graff.com 41
Essential Thoughts On:
TH E W IL D T U R K E Y Whiskey Tasting Experience “Alexa, enable Wild Turkey whiskey Tasting…” A simple cue that opens a door to a world of whiskey. A word we’re a little ignorant of, if we’re upfront. But let it never be said that we're not as honest in our ignorance as we are active in our learning. Especially when said learning is assisted by Wild Turkey’s legendary Russel brothers and comes with the possibility of an educational libation or two. All in the pursuit of knowledge, you understand. So grab a glass. Take a seat. We’ve got some learnin’ to do.
W IL D TU RKEY 101, 50.5% In a Nutshell: a surprisingly gentle slap in the face.
WH :
with Will HALBERT, Christopher GERRARD & Thomas SUMNER 42
Before we get into it, what is your current perception of bourbon? Because I’ve always thought of it as a younger, cooler whiskey. Don’t get me wrong; single malts are doing a great job of shaking that red-faced, tweeded-up English gentleman - but it’s not gone entirely. Bourbon always just seemed that little bit cooler to me. Maybe I’ve just watched too many westerns. TS: See, I’m the opposite. Bourbon has always felt a little stuffy and old. It’s still the sort of thing I’d expect to find, mostly full, in my grandparents’ booze cabinet. CG: I think if you’re into whiskey even just a little beyond face value, which I would say I am, then there's a lot to appreciate in bourbon. If you invest just a little more time in bourbon you’ll find the same heritage and provenance that scotch enjoys with a more accessible flavour. Anyway, shall we? TS: Wow, that’s sweet, but you certainly know that you’re drinking something. CG: Yeah. Over a little bit of ice, this is dangerously drinkable stuff. WH : Dangerously drinkable for sure. ABV-wise, it’s a little stronger than your average bourbon. But for all of its strength, it’s a very well-rounded whiskey. CG: [Looking at the bottle] 50.5% ABV. Bloody hell. WH : I think that higher ABV works in its favour. This’d be class in an Old Fashioned. There aren’t too many problems with an Old Fashioned, but made badly they can be sickeningly sweet. Wild Turkey 101 has the heft and sharpness to cut though that sugar and give it a more balanced kick. TS: This is a great intro to bourbon. It's the kind of thing I'd gift them as a gateway whiskey. You know what? People don’t buy other people whiskey often enough. That's a shame, as buying someone a bottle of whiskey is a great way of saying ‘I enjoy this, and I think you’d like it too’. It becomes a bit of a journey, a learning experience. I think it’s a far greater gesture than people might initially think.
LONGBR A NCH , 43% In a Nutshell: as silky smooth as a Texas drawl W H:
My god, Matthew McConaughey has a lovely voice, doesn’t he? I think he might actually make the whiskey taste even better. CG : This is going to be so hard to vocalise, but I always think of taste in terms of shape. The 101 was wider and flatter. This? This is a little more pointed. W H: I’ve never heard whiskey being described that way before. That was beautiful. This is certainly more direct than the 101, though. Some definite smoke in there, though nothing too crazy or overbearing. Maybe a little of that mesquite influence? TS: On the subject of taste, what’s everyone’s favourite McConaughey film? CG : [Without pause or hesitation] Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. TS: Well, that’s a curveball. Is that early Matthew? CG : I’d say it was prime Matthew, Tom. Peak McConaughey. TS: I’m looking through IMDB and I don’t recognise any of these. Does King of the Hill count? Hank the Cowdog? Oh, wait, Interstellar! CG: Wow. I cannot believe the first thing that came to mind was Ghosts of Girlfriends Past when there are films like Interstellar out there. W H: I bet this would play a blinder in a cocktail. CG : Well, you know how partial I am to a Manhattan. I think this is gentle and unimposing enough to set a Sweet Manhattan off quite nicely. I don’t think it would help anyone get their head around Interstellar, though.
R A REBREED, 5 8.4% In a Nutshell: a nightcap like no other.
W H:
Now this one speaks to me: my dad always used to say I was cask-strength stupid. CG : I’m glad we worked up to this one. It’s pretty challenging. Wild Turkey has quite the flight on their hands with these three. I think we nailed the order. W H: Yeah, this to me screams ‘nightcap’ to me. I don’t think you’d spend the night on it, but it’ll put one hell of an exclamation mark on the end of your evening. Dessert whiskey. Not in the sense that it’s sweet, but that it kind of puts a definitive end to a meal. Or in this case, a drinking session. Goodnight, Irene. TS: This isn’t strong for the sake of it, though. There’s something really interesting going on here. It reminds me of the 6-10% category in beers. They’re strong but so full of flavour that you don’t quite notice their heft. You don’t quite appreciate how strong this is because there are real qualities beyond the high ABV. CG : Yeah this is dangerously sippable. You expect there to be some kind of penance that goes along with drinking stiff liquor, but this is pleasantly approachable. TS: This would make for an excellent bookend to an evening, really. If I’m feeling a little lethargic, a shot of this would get things going. Likewise, it’d make for a great nightcap. So it’s a good way of gearing up and winding down. CG : What are we thinking in terms of cocktails? W H: There aren't an awful lot of cocktails that can’t be improved with the addition of a little whiskey. I'd happily throw this in a Negroni instead of gin, Boulevardier-style. W H: Wll, that's a wrap. Any final thoughts or pearls of wisdom? TS: Yeah, whiskey makes everything brighter. www.wildturkeybourbon.com Please drink responsibly 43
NICHOLAS MORGAN
Extracted from Everything You Need to Know About Whisky: (But are too afraid to ask) by Nicholas Morgan and The Whisky Exchange. (Ebury Press. £20)
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
W H IS K Y (but are too afraid to ask)
an essential excerpt
ON WORDS AND WHISKY Nicholas Morgan and The Whisky Exchange ponder the influence of whisky on history’s wordsmiths There’s something about words and whisky. Think about all those words crammed in very small print around a flavour wheel – each a whisky word to provoke a memory of a place, a person or a thing. Each single whisky word the mother or father of many others. Words tumbling down like a small highland spring that ends up as a wide meandering river heading to the ocean. An ocean of words.
Whisky fires the imagination in the same way that it warms the soul. The places it comes from – be they wild and heartachingly beautiful, or urban iron-barred fortresses. The people who make it – proud, patrician, resilient and remarkable. The pleasure it provokes in good company or in companions remembered. Like stepping through a looking glass, whisky is a doorway to another world: a world we have gained, and a world we have lost. Hardly surprising that Robert Burns, in whose writing whisky was never too far away, should express his poet’s gratitude in ‘Scotch Drink’, published in 1785: ‘O Whisky! soul o' plays and pranks! Accept a bardie’s gratfu’ thanks!’ Victorian authors on both sides of the Atlantic loved Scotch whisky and the colour it brought to characters and events; they also admired the Highlander’s legendary prowess when it came to consumption, which even in temperance times was considered a sign of noble virtue. It recalled the heroic drinkers described by early Hebridean traveller Martin Martin, the ‘chief lords of the isles’, sitting in a circle, sharing usqebaugh from a quaich, until the last man among them dropped.
It was almost as if there was a native innocence in this drinking, free as it was from the squalor of industrial slums and servitude. Scottish novelist William Black, ‘whose name’ said his biographer in 1902, ‘was bracketed with those of the greatest novelists of the day’, was an enthusiast for Highland air and Highland whisky and peppered his pages with references to Scotch, Lagavulin in particular, so much so that one might wonder if, like some twenty-first century ‘influencer’, he wasn’t in the pay of distillery owners Mackie & Co. to promote their product. His words, from the short story The Strange Horse of Loch Suainabhal, published in 1875, have long been on the label of Lagavulin whisky: ‘I hef been close by the Lagavulin Distillery, and I know that it is the clear watter of the spring that will mek the Lagavulin whisky just as fine as the new milk’. Like Black, American author Sylvanus Cobb Jr, ‘a prolific writer of sensational tales quite without literary value’, wrote freely about whisky, particularly Lagavulin, in stories set in Scotland, where his characters could drink ‘what would have intoxicated half a dozen Lowlanders, and killed as many Frenchmen’. 45
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The Grapevine Debrief:
HECTOR’S, DE BEAUVOIR, LONDON interview by Will HALBERT As it turns out, the new kids on the block are anything but. We share a glass with Jimmy Stephenson, one half of the newly-opened Hector’s, to catch up on the team’s first few weeks of business Talk us through the Hector’s philosophy. What makes you guys tick? We love the idea of community. Wine making is usually a family business and Hector's is our family business. Hector is a family name for Jimmy, Anna’s brother works with us in the shop, our best friend Luca is a partner in the business and our family lovingly helped to put together the shop as you see it today. We want people to feel at home at Hector’s. Can you tell us a little about De Beauvoir? How important is the concept of community to Hector’s? De Beauvoir is brilliant, other than the obvious beautiful houses and greenery, there’s this real sense of village community there. People really live there and care about the area and they’ve been very supportive of us since we moved in. I [Jimmy] have a pub background and I love pubs that are full of locals and regulars - they’re the most important part of it all. I love the hospitality community too and it’d be great to be considered an industry hang out for sure - I can foresee heavy evenings digging through the cellar for rare gems already! 47
What’s your background? How did you get here? I [Jimmy] worked at The Charles Lamb pub in Islington for a good 10 years growing up, learnt pretty much everything I know from that in terms of how to create a welcoming space and relaxed service, but always remaining serious about the quality of the product. Same for Hill & Szrok, where I was GM. Luca, the owner, is obsessed with having the best of the best, and it’s by far the best butchers in London because of it. He got me hooked on good wine when I first started there and after a trip to Burgundy a few years back, we started a wine programme of collecting and cellaring interesting bottles, that eventually out-grew Hill & Szrok’s cookshop, and became the starting blocks of Hector’s. How do you go about selecting your wines? What are the most important elements you're looking for? Buying wine can be quite overwhelming so I think it's nice to cover the bases of what people already know. So, I like to have all the classics, but try to find the best versions of them. We use a handful of amazing suppliers too and they do all the hard work really in terms of filtering out the rubbish. 48
The term ‘natural’ is often a frustratingly vague term in the wine industry. What does it mean to you guys personally? We’re not too bothered about it to be honest, it can be a helpful signifier for customers sometimes, so we can point towards orange wines and unfiltered reds, so it's good in that sense. The majority of our wines would be considered ‘natural’, but we usually seek out stable wines without faults in them, with a few necessary exceptions where it's warranted. Why do you think so many people gravitate toward natural wines nowadays? What makes them stand out? I think the proof is most definitely in the pudding. More often than not, you will find that the best winemakers are using ’natural’ techniques. Some take part in the movement whilst others don’t focus on it so much. What advice would you give to people new to natural wine? Where should they start? Natural wine only means wine that is made in a natural way, it doesn’t always mean funky or different tasting - it's about being made well, so simply
start by seeking out styles of wine that you already like by natural producers and take it from there. How has the wine scene changed over the years? Do you feel like it’s opened up a little? Absolutely, the great thing about natural wine is that it’s become trendy which essentially just means that more people are trying wines and more and more places are popping up. It’s exciting, wine shouldn’t be pretentious, or only for people who know loads about it. Wine is for drinking after all - it doesn’t need to be intellectualised. We hope that's something we offer at Hector’s - good wines without the fuss. Are there any producers, in particular, that you guys are excited about of late? Avita in Calabria are making some really delicious wines that are perfect for the summer, they’ve been selling really nicely in the shop and whenever we have the Rosato or their orange wine on by the glass it always goes down a treat.
www.hectorslondon.co.uk
Article of Note:
KEEPING THE CRAFT ALIVE Benriach Malting Season by Will HALBERT Celebrating traditional methods dating back to the earliest days of Benriach Distillery, Benriach Malting Season will be the first expression in a century to be produced entirely using barley malted from the Speyside distillery's historic floor maltings. The floor malting method is a highly skilled process requiring the delicate and skilled hand of
Benriach’s team of dedicated craftspeople. After being steeped in water, the barley is spread across the malting room floor and turned by hand over several days to allow for optimum germination of the barley. Using their keen eye, the malting team decides when the barley is ready to move to the kiln and the iconic pagoda-shaped chimney comes alive. The first edition of Benriach Malting Season is two-cask matured in bourbon and virgin oak barrels to bring out the wholesome, creamy flavour we find in the distillery’s floor malted spirit, giving a beautiful barley gold colour to the liquid. The expression boasts a rich aroma of barley sugar, almond fudge and poached orchard apple with smooth, rounded flavours of vanilla and honeyed pear, with a lasting nuttiness of slowly kilned malt.
For each new edition of Malting Season, Master Blender Rachel Barrie, will carefully select the type of barley and bottling strength, making each annual edition a benchmark in its own right. This inaugural release is made from concerto barley and has a bottling strength of 48.7% ABV. EJ
www.benriachdistillery.com 49
The Importance of Drinking Alone:
HAUNT, MANCHESTER If there’s one metric by which to judge a bar - beyond its pricing, cocktail programme or overall aesthetic - it’s the comfort it lends to the solo guest. It’s no easy task, after all, to greet the companionless, sun-up coffee prowler and the solitary, sun-down wine sipper and to treat their alone time with equal respect and reverence. To create a space in which the unaccompanied can while away their hardearned alone time without the awkwardness. Haunt meets the measure of that metric with a modest ease. It’s a quaint, dawn-til-dusk drinking den that, despite its placing on Manchester’s ever-kinetic Peter Street, feels very much like a well-kept secret. That’s not to say that Haunt’s open space and breezy, aperitivo hour-inflected aesthetic doesn’t cater to the bigger crowds, far from it. But that just makes its balancing act all the more impressive. It’s the kind of bar that can work a crowd, to be sure. But it’s also a bar that knows full well that to be alone is not to be lonely. A rare gem by any metric. EJ
www.haunt-mcr.co.uk 50
Inside Scoop:
GOING SOLO DMR expands its presence in Liverpool ONE with the opening of a mono-brand OMEGA boutique by Will HALBERT
Home to David M Robinson since 1969, it was just a stone’s throw away from the eponymous retailer’s current flagship showroom that the brand was founded in a small jewellery workshop. In a journey that has spanned over 50 years, the business has grown and expanded around the UK yet has held true to its Liverpool roots. Partners of Omega watches for over 30 years, this latest expansion is DMR’s first opening of a mono-brand boutique.
The space will combine the watchmaking heritage of Omega with the reputation for excellent customer service that David M Robinson boasts. Entirely operated by DMR, the new Omega boutique - the retailer’s fifth showroom - spans 2000 sq. ft and will be located on South John Street, the heart of the Liverpool ONE estate. 'Liverpool is our spiritual home and remains the beating heart of our retail offering,' says DMR Managing Director,
John Robinson. A ' fter the challenges of the last year or so, this latest announcement reaffirms our commitment to bricks-and-mortar retail and to the Liverpool ONE development which continues to attract visitors from across the North West to this vibrant city.' EJ
www.davidmrobinson.co.uk 51
Coffee & Conversation
KARL THOENNESSEN AND BEN NEUHAUS Karl and Ben sit down to chat through the continued culture of camo, and the Rouge Territory workshirt.
KARL, ROGUE TERRITORY First off, can you give us a little history lesson in the creation of the RGT Work Shirt? How did it come to be? The Work Shirt was one of a five-piece collection for my first presentation of Rogue Territory as a readymade line. Before that, I was a tailor with a focus on making fully bespoke jeans for my customers. At that time and even to this day, I don't think of myself as a fashion designer, I think of what I do as a continuous exploration of garment construction and design. I love dissecting a particular aspect of a garment, understanding its functionality, and why it was designed and implemented in the way it was. So, that was a long-winded way of saying the Work Shirt is a product of studying many vintage workwear and military shirts and picking and choosing what I resonated with, while trying to introduce something that looked and felt new. Looking back at your collections, it's clear you have a longstanding interest in camo. What sparked your interest in it? What makes it so much fun to play around with? I can't pinpoint the exact moment when I knew I had a love for camo but I think it really presented itself in a big way when I began making my own clothes. I love fabrics, I love patterns and I think there’s something to finding the right fabric for the right style, while also trying to create something that makes you think ‘huh, I’ve never seen that before.’ For me, camo is the perfect medium for that. I want to help people disassociate camo from just being a functional pattern for hunting or military purposes and one that can really be easy and fun to mix into your wardrobe. You've used a few different camo variations over the years. How do you go about seeking out the patterns you use? I rarely hunt for anything specific. That becomes too daunting and I don’t love all camo patterns. I am a student of DPMs and love using fabrics and patterns that aren’t as common. But, if it doesn’t grab my attention right off the bat it’s not gonna be something I’d consider using. 52
There’s a few mills that we work with that are passionate about reproducing period-correct DPMs so I’m always asking them what they are excited about. I’m also looking for deadstock military fabrics at specialty vintage and military garment resellers. What was it about the RAF DPM in particular that made you want to use it on the latest release? And why on the work shirt specifically? For me, the RAF DPM is one of the most unique and complex camouflages ever developed. It’s also not a pattern that I’ve come across often in vintage military garments or modern fashion. When it came to how to use it, I immediately went to the Work Shirt because it’s not only recognizably RGT, it’s easy to wear. It gives a nod to work wear in its construction while keeping the pattern front and center as there’s not a lot of pockets or military details you may be accustomed to seeing on camouflage garments.
"I WANT TO HELP PEOPLE DISASSOCIATE CAMO FROM JUST BEING A FUNCTIONAL PATTERN FOR HUNTING OR MILITARY PURPOSES AND ONE THAT CAN REALLY BE EASY AND FUN TO MIX INTO YOUR WARDROBE." Camo might be military in origin, but it has some serious streetwear/workwear overlaps. What subcultures and personal memories do you most associate with camo? For me, vintage M-65s jackets and other military fatigues and overshirts bring me back to grunge, East Coast hip hop, and skateboarding in the late 90s, which was a very influential period in my life. Vintage military and oversized garments were what I was attracted to. In junior high school, I became obsessed with shopping at second hand vintage shops and skate shops. Even at that age, I was obsessed with finding unique clothes that nobody else was wearing. When I was 15 or 16, I remember buying my first pair of vintage M-65 field pants in an amazing vintage military shop in NYC and I absolutely loved skating in them. Fast forward 20 years, my tastes haven’t changed much, my fit preferences have, but my love for finding what isn’t common is still strong. I love the idea of marrying styles and creating looks that are maybe less expected by using beautiful fabrics and patterns. Adding a unique camouflage pattern to the mix is a great way to achieve that.
BEN, SNAKE OIL PROVISIONS It’s safe to say SOP has been a big fan of the RGT work shirt over the years. What is it about the shirt that makes it such a shop favourite? Welp. Design and fit are absolutely spot on. It's a modern, no frills, immediately recognizable take on a workwear staple that the everyman’s man can get into, whether you're into premium duds or not. The appeal is universal on that bad daddio and for good reason. It's so easy to wear, stands up to years of use and abuse, is as versatile as a denim jacket, and adaptable to so many different personal styles. You’re no stranger to camo at the shop in general. What’s the appeal? Oh man. I think for me personally, it harkens back to when I was a lad in the ‘90s and first started to take a real and spiritual interest in clothing and style. Camo to me represents all my favorite hip-hop acts and metal bands. You already know I had a woodland camo M-65 that I wore into the ground, and slews of camo snapback and fitted hats. But, of course, there's the military aspect which is a constant influence on every possible style of dress on earth. Classics never die. Beyond the obvious military links, camo has some cool subcultural ties too. Can you think of anyone you’ve seen rock camo particularly well over the years? Any early memories of the stuff growing up? YES. I prematurely touched on this in the previous question, but probably seeing the best of the best East Coast rappers wearing camo really stuck with me. Countless photographs and videos of Nas, BDP, Rakim, and WuTang in woodland camo jackets was so fucking cool. Then, of course, it transitioned into streetwear with the likes of Stussy and Supreme. Camouflage has always been a mainstay in my personal style, so naturally it transitioned into the shop's style. People might be under the terribly, terribly misguided impression that camo is hard to style. Let’s fix that. How would you wear it? Camo is the pattern I wear most (and aloha shirts, of course), so I wear it with all manner of stuffs, including aloha shirts. The RAF Camo Work Shirt worn open with a vintage Prince teesh underneath? Check! A tiger camo BDU with white jeans and snakeskin boots? Yup! Most camo patterns are surprisingly neutral and can be worn with just about any damn thing, including other patterns. The best rule of thumb is don't overthink it (like most dudes do). The only thing I don't recommend is camo on camo (an entire camo kit). That's too GI Joe. @snakeoilprovisions | @rgt
COLUM NISTS
No other has ever gone about their business with such immaculate grace; his personal style is microcosmic of what makes tennis both cool and just so damn beautiful. Looking back over the decades, tennis fashion takes on all manner of forms. But its relationship with the streets remains constant. That statement can also be true of Federer. When exploring the Swiss’s wardrobe, it’s almost become a stereotype to use words like “smart” and “debonair”. He is the embodiment of a gentleman, sure, but not in a way that’s stuffy. Whether its his biker ready head-band or aggressive SABR (Sneak Attack by Roger) shot, an edgier side has always bubbled beneath the surface. The same vibe comes through in his new On sneakers, THE ROGER Collection. It’s smart and unassuming; a low-key workhorse you could throw on with some suit trousers to a casual black-tie event. Alternatively, it would just as easily compliment some funky shorts in the summer. “Timeless” is a word that’s overused in sneaker parlance, but the unassuming design is an aesthetic, similar to the man himself, that is built to last. But don’t be deceived by its stripped back appearance: Underneath the vegan-leather bonnet you’ll find CloudTec® and Speedboard® technology, as well as a midsole that incorporates a brand new type of lightweight foam. This acute attention to technical detail and On’s appreciation of timeless street fashion, brings effortless wearability to THE ROGER Collection.
GAME, SET, MATCH THE ROGER Collection by On: An abridged history of tennis fashion
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hey say the German language has a word for almost everything. “Zeitzeuge” has no direct equivalent in English, but it roughly translates to “contemporary witness,” or an individual still living who has experienced an event of significant magnitude in their time. One such event would lead Swiss performance-wear brand, On, to engineer and collaborate on a collection of footwear that they call, THE ROGER. On June 22, 1999, a 17-year-old Swiss tennis sensation made his debut on the hallowed Wimbledon grass. The ponytailed youngster put in a valiant effort, but eventually succumbed in five sets against his older, top 100 ranked opponent. The result didn’t matter. Of more importance was the sparsely populated crowd — the Zeitzeuge — in attendance that day; the people who, unknowingly, had just become a tiny footnote in the annals of history by witnessing this prospect at his future second home. The kid’s name was Roger Federer, and he would go on to rewrite the sport’s golden pages. In his now-legendary essay titled “Roger Federer as Religious Experience”, the late writer David Foster Wallace wrote that “beauty is not the goal of competitive sports, but high-level sports are a prime venue for the expression of human beauty.” In Federer’s case, the All England Club is a church. It’s here where the maestro was sculpted, ascending to record-breaking greatness with an aesthetic that’s been likened to Michaelangelo's painting. Federer is a winning machine first and foremost, but it’s his elegance that sets him apart from the rest.
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Shop the ROGER collection at Tessuti.com
with Graeme Campbell
"WHEN RENE LACOSTE ESCHEWED TRADITIONAL TENNIS ATTIRE FOR A POLO AT THE US OPEN IN 1926, HE COULDN’T HAVE IMAGINED CHANGING THE COURSE OF MENSWEAR FOREVER. " As far as partnerships go, On and Federer are a good mutual sounding board for each, and not just because they share the same Schweizerdeutsch tongue. Like Federer, On is obsessed with being the best, and leaves no stone unturned in its quest for utmost performance. People have sat up and taken notice. The brand hasn’t so much as disrupted the footwear market as they have turned it on his head. In Berlin, you’re just as likely to see their silhouettes on the feet of cool kids in trendy Neukolln, as you would hardened runners in the parks of leafy Prenzlauer Berg. As far as crossover appeal goes, it’s hard to think of any other brand doing it better. Gauging Federer’s impact on sportswear and wider fashion is no easy task. As a close friend of Anna Wintour, he is someone who thinks carefully about his choices, but never over-complicates things. The confidence and charisma is a huge part of the appeal, sure, yet not everyone can pull off a tuxedo with the same ineffable panache. He plays the role of a tennis royal well, and his style is universal, easy to admire whether you’re 15 or 55. Federer’s status as a fashion icon follows a rich lineage of players who cared deeply about their sartorial choices. When Rene Lacoste eschewed traditional tennis attire for a polo at the US Open in 1926, he couldn’t have imagined changing the course of menswear forever. Fans embraced the Frenchman’s looser look, and soon he was building an empire of snazzy colored shirts. This success didn’t go unnoticed by a Grand Slam-winning English entrepreneur named Fred Perry, who fancied a slice of the action for himself. Come the late ‘70s, tennis wear had fully penetrated youth culture in Britain, and was
Outside of the commute there are other pressing matters like the daily coffee fix. We’re said to visit our local bean dealers some 152 times per year - that’s roughly three times a week. Add in those daily gym trips, regular yoga retreats and occasional last-minute shopping trips and you start to see the bigger picture: city living is nothing if not a series of small journeys. Sadly, those small journeys are made to feel a little too long by the drabness of the four wheels that get you there. Bottom line? If you’re going to spend so much time in your car, you might as well make it the ride of your life. Enter the Range Rover Evoque: a plug-in, hybrid SUV. Compact by design and luxurious seemingly by birth right, the Evoque offers the perfect solution to modern urbanite’s shorthaul, city-living, coffee shop-hopping needs. The Evoque’s plug-in hybrid system combines an internal combustion engine with an electric motor to ensure a fuel-efficient ride with exceptional performance credentials.
being re-appropriated in a different context by skinheads and casuals. The gilded courts of SW19 might be a million miles removed from the ramshackle terraces of Birmingham and Leeds, yet sportswear-obsessed, football-going lads still managed to co-opt Bjorn Borg’s effortless looks in their own way. The dam burst and the gear transitioned to the lifestyle arena. That it hardly came cheap only added to the allure. It’s remiss to write any tennis piece without mentioning Andre Agassi, the sport’s proverbial enfant terrible. The (then) mullet-haired American was a punk — an upstart whose distaste for the game’s conservatism extended to the point where he refused to play at Wimbledon between 1988 and 1990 because of its all-white dress code. He preferred acid wash denim shorts and neon spandex underlayers, inevitably accompanied with some lurid sneakers. For a generation bred on a diet of Bevis and Butthead, Agassi was a true renegade worthy of veneration. His unapologetic attitude and blood, sweat and tears “pusher” approach stood in stark contrast to eternal rival Pete Sampras, a dour but indomitable powerhouse famed for serves that risked inflicting blunt trauma on the unfortunate receiver across the net. Pistol Pete may have come out on top in tournament wins, but Agassi had the last laugh where fashion is concerned. “Agassi was a wave,” said Virgil Abloh in 2018. “He impacted me and what I thought about sports.” That takes us full circle to the turn of the Millenium, and the boy who would be king of Wimbledon. As a youngster, I remember watching Federer ballet dance his way through matches on TV, thinking “this guy must be some kind of artificial avatar.” Everything was just too perfect: from the way he glided across the court to his perfectly measured 7” inseam short. It was a classical symphony in human form, a flawlessness we shouldn’t be able to attain in this life. Unfortunately, like every being, time is a foe that even a giant of Federer’s ilk can’t beat. At least, when he does finally hang up the racket, it’s now all of us, the Zeitzeuge, that can say that we were there to witness his greatness. GC
"OUTSIDE OF THE COMMUTE THERE ARE OTHER PRESSING MATTERS LIKE THE DAILY COFFEE FIX. WE’RE SAID TO VISIT OUR LOCAL BEAN DEALERS SOME 152 TIMES PER YEAR - THAT’S ROUGHLY THREE TIMES A WEEK."
OH HELLO, HYBRID The all-new Range Rover Evoque turns city driving into a spectator sport with Miles Kenny The average commute time in the UK is now 62 minutes a day, with 15% of workers commuting for 102 minutes or more. Big numbers, no? The average round trip comes in at around 23 miles, while 14% of commuters clock over 42 miles a day. That’s a lot of road miles.
Discover the Evoque at Hatfields.co.uk
For all the under-the-hood wonder of the Evoque, though, it’s the behind-the-wheel splendour that deserves a special mention. From the leather (or vegan-friendly eucalyptus) interiors, to the 10-inch, touch-screen infotainment display, to the digital climate controls, the Range Rover reads like a roll call of technical and aesthetic elevations that put the joy of the ride front and centre. And that’s exactly the point, isn’t it? If city living has taught us anything, it’s that the road is long and the responsibilities are many. But the new Range Rover Evoque transforms the daily commute into a calm-evoking, zen-inducing exercise in sheer escapism. It gives you the much-needed opportunity to slow things down, take things in, and, well, live a little. MK 55
"BY THAT I MEAN THE SUIT WAS THE UNIFORM OF THE WHITE COLLAR AMERICAN MAN AND ALL UNIFORMS HAVE RULES ASSOCIATED WITH THEM WHICH ARE EXPECTED TO BE FOLLOWED." MID-CENTURY AMERICAN STYLE
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here is often a great debate about which era of men’s fashion reigns supreme. If you ever find yourself on Savile Row for an extended period of time, you will certainly encounter the entire spectrum of tailored menswear from chesty cut tweeds, slick city stripes, vibrantly patterned jackets to the odd Edwardian suit that looks like it’s come straight out of a history book. As the modern suit is over 170 years old there are plenty of styles that can be considered, but in the opinion of this author and tailor only one era stands out as truly timeless: the mid-century American suit. The United States in the decades that followed the Second World War had everything any country and its people could ask for: more money, power, influence and confidence than they knew what to do with. As such, the men who lived and worked in the major cities across the US dressed themselves in a way which reflected this and as a consequence helped create the modern archetype for masculinity in the process. Just think of some of the icons of men’s wear today; Steve McQueen, John Kennedy or any one of the members of the Rat Pack. Their moment in history perfectly aligned with, and is representative of, 1950s and ‘60s America. They were masculinity personified. These men, and many more like them, were stylish, wealthy and exuded that quintessentially American style of confidence while they were in the public eye. As a result, their clothing didn’t need to do any ‘work’. Their suits were cut with an understated and elegant silhouette that was meant for comfort as well as style. Suits back then were paradoxically intended to make a man stand out through conformity.
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@m.g.bespoke matthewgonzalez.co.uk
Tailored Thoughts Matthew Gonzalez
By that I mean the suit was the uniform of the white collar American man and all uniforms have rules associated with them which are expected to be followed. Suits from that era were made to conform to these rules while simultaneously helping the wearer subtly and subconsciously stand out through the silhouette and cloth. The exact opposite was happening in certain parts of the UK during the same time. The rise of the peacock man who was pulsating with colourful and heavily-patterned clothes would catch everyone's eye wherever he walked. His clothes worked tirelessly to grab the attention of others. Bold patterns have long been a staple of British tailoring, too. Think of the bankers with their thick, chalk-striped suits in the city or the landed gentry walking the countryside in bold, Prince of Wales flannel suits. Classically British. Ironically, Americans tended to be much less bold with their cloth choices. American suits at that time were made using rich and tactile fabrics in single block colours. Texture was far more important. Woolly flannels in deep charcoal grey, smooth, steel-grey sharkskins or open-weave hop sacks of a salt and pepper effect were more popular in the United States than the more adventurous British cloths of the time. More importantly, there is something far less costume-y about mid-century American suits. For example, if you saw someone walking down the street who was trying to dress like Thomas Shelby from Peaky Blinders you’d know it instantly; that style is baked into that time period. If that same person was trying to dress like Mad Men’s Don Draper then it might be harder to pin down. The reason for this is that early 20th-century suits are just far enough away in history to be different from how they are cut today whereas, for whatever reason, the 1960s American style isn’t. This is fairly unique, as the decades which followed - the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s styles - are also very much of their time. They all stick out in a way that the ‘60s don’t.
a strong porter. Ultimately it was our inherent linguistic laziness that saw it become stout. At the same time, IPA - at first an export only (to, you guessed it, India) - was first brewed with George Hodson at Bow Brewery. Demand for this style grew, and by 1840 it was a very popular product at home and abroad. Non-export IPA didn’t need to be as strong or as heavily hopped, so the ABV dropped and the level of hops decreased over time, giving us the classic British session IPA. Some brewers even dropped the India moniker. Parallel to the IPA a similar style was being produced in Burton-on-Trent, a pale hoppy and bitter ale. Considered high in quality due to the malt, hops and local water chemistry, Burton Pale Ales became very popular. At the height of brewing, Burton produced one quarter of all beer drank in England.
Mid-century American style possesses a timelessness that other eras in fashion simply do not have. It was born in a time of supreme confidence and prosperity which helped create the modern world we live in today. While there are without question very stylish examples of menswear in the decades which preceded and followed ‘50s and ‘60s America, there hasn’t yet been a period of men’s style which is able to withstand decades of changing trends as well as it has. Of course, there is no conclusive answer to the question of which style or era of menswear is the greatest. Ultimately, it comes down to individual tastes. But there is something unarguably special about how people dressed in America during the ‘50s and ‘60s - and for that reason alone it certainly is a leading contender. MG
"ENGLAND IS KNOWN FOR ITS TOP FERMENTED CASK BEER ALSO KNOWN AS REAL ALE, A PHRASE COINED BY THE CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALE (CAMRA; MORE ON THEM LATER)."
E IS FOR ENGLAND
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eer has been brewed in England for hundreds of years. Evidence from the Roman era suggests they were buying in malt and getting the local Celtic brewers to work their magic - outsourcing at its finest. England is known for its top-fermented cask beer also known as real ale, a phrase coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA; more on them later). English beer styles vary greatly from dark stouts, porters and mild’s to bitters, brown, ruby, and pale ales (including the now famous IPA). Lager has been the most popular style since the mid-20th century. This growth has also come with multinational brewing corporations alongside the boom of smaller microbreweries to create a diverse brewing heritage. Jumping from the Romans to the early 18th century, great leaps were made thanks to the industrialisation of brewing and the growing production of vast quantities of Porter. This brought great financial reward to the mainly London-based breweries whilst also progressing technological advances in brewing. In terms of stout vs. porter, I will use the words of historian Ron Pattinson: ‘all stouts are types of porter. But not all porters are stouts. Only the stronger ones.’ Essentially, if you asked for a stout porter, you wanted
@thefermentationstationuk thefermentation-station.co.uk
Sam Watson’s The ABCs of Beer
Continental lagers were first offered in pubs in the late 19th century, occupying only a small part of the market. They survived the temperance movement and two World Wars until technological advancements such as pasteurisation and artificial carbonation allowed for serving draught beer from pressurised containers. From 1965 to 1975 lager rose from 2% to 20% of the market. CAMRA coincidentally was formed in 1971 to protect unpressurised beer, they coined the term “Real Ale” to differentiate between cask and keg, lager and ale. CAMRA currently has around 170,000 members and has fought for many issues around pubs and real ale and cider over the years. It has influenced home brewers in the USA and paved the way for craft beer to grow and grow. The future of the English beer world feels uncertain at the moment, with brewers and publicans facing their biggest challenge in modern times. Will we see a repeat of the roaring ‘20s? Only time will tell, but I feel CAMRA may have a lot of campaigning work to do. SW 57
Take Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, for example. Yes, the film is a healthy and necessary lungful of fresh, culturally representative air. Yes, the extended cast navigates the sociocultural intricacies and intergenerational politics of Asian-American life with the same grace and elegance as the film’s meticulously choreographed fight scenes. And yes, it’s leagues above the vaguely fetishistic, overtly sexist, and alarmingly nationalistic Mulan. But here’s the kicker: it’s still a Marvel film. This is to say that Shang-Chi inevitably falls victim to the same formulaic ante-upping as its legion of predecessors. The ballet-like choreography and deft characterisation that so gleefully punctuate the first two-thirds of the film spin out into a cacophonic, CGI-laden hodgepodge of escalating bombast. Any emotional import or cultural rumination is lost in the chaos of the film’s own histrionic excess.
"IF YOU WANT SOME SENSE OF HOW FAR THE LINGUISTICS PAYLOAD OF ‘AWESOME’ HAS SLIPPED OVER THE YEARS, I OFFER YOU THIS: YESTERDAY, I USED THE WORD TO DESCRIBE MY SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE."
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS
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here was a time when words like ‘awesome’ and ‘epic’ were reserved for the truly remarkable. You know, for the ground-breaking, knee-shaking feats of such prodigious wonderment that they were just as apt to elicit a frisson of fear as they were a sense of awe. Think Wagner’s ‘Ride of the Valkyries’, the breaching of a Sperm Whale on the surface of the Arctic Ocean, or, for those of darker dispositions, the testing of the atomic bomb. If you want some sense of how far the linguistic payload of ‘awesome’ has slipped over the years, I offer you this: yesterday, I used the word to describe my Spaghetti Bolognese. I will not apologise for this; we are all guilty of reducing the vernacular of the epic to the vulgarity of the everyday. But no one has done so with more calculated panache than Marvel Studios.
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@willhalbert
And Another Thing from our Editor Will HALBERT
By the time the credits roll there’s a creeping suspicion that Marvel needs a new metric by which its films must be measured. The Marvel Universe now operates outside of cinema’s myriad moving parts, and it has remapped terms like ‘epic’ and ‘blockbuster’ in such a way that renders them less in their descriptive clout. For Marvel, the blockbuster has become the benchmark and we are all bound not just for boredom, but for deep and desperate exhaustion. All of which might lead you to think that Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is a bad film. It isn’t. It’s a very, very good film. Awesome, in fact; far and away one of Marvel’s best. But at this point, we have to ask: what does that even mean? WH
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