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DEPARTMENTS 17

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THoMAS HUGHES, 19 SNoWboARDER

VMAN CULTURE French movie star Vincent Cassel’s criminal mind, and your overview of all things music, print, film, and TV. Plus the fellas from True Blood and Weeds

JACKET bURToN GOGGLES ANoN

VMAN STYLE Move over Amy Winehouse! Music producer Mark Ronson’s new muse is Gucci. And for your aesthetic edification, our insiders’ look at the studios of Calvin Klein, Dior Homme, Givenchy, and Thom Browne. Plus new-skool designers, Trussardi’s legacy, cinema meets la mode, a collaboration roundup, chemicals you need for your bathroom, and a shopping extravaganza! Looking good, feeling good

FEATURES 69

FACE oFF They journeyed to London from around the globe to do battle. The prize? The mighty mantle of VMAN Model Search winner and a contract with mega-agency Ford! Only one can earn the title, but all are winners in our eyes.

Witness the making of fashion’s newest faces PHOTOGRAPHY BY NICK KNIGHT

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STYLE IDoLS Four leading men who spark fashion creativity

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WAITING IN THE WINGS A fresh crop of acting talent from Britain

BY LAUREN COCHRANE PHOTOGRAPHY BY HEDI SLIMANE

130 MoST WANTED One of our favorite artists renders the most recognized stars in his inimitable way

BY RICHARD PHILLIPS 136 DEFINING DIDDY Diddy loses the playa façade and gets real

BY JACOB BROWN PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHAD PITMAN

FASHIoN 92

WoRK IT oUT! PHOTOGRAPHY BY TERRY RICHARDSON

100 LEGENDARY PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSH OLINS 112 CATCH THE DRIFT PHOTOGRAPHY BY BENJAMIN ALEXANDER HUSEBY 120 GENTLEMEN oF LEISURE PHOTOGRAPHY BY KARL LAGERFELD 10

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY NICK KNIGHT STYLING SIMON FOXTON HAIR DUFFY FOR TOMMY GUNS NY (PREMIER) GROOMING FLORRIE WHITE USING CHANEL A/W 09 (D+V) MODEL RICO NIEVES PHOTO ASSISTANTS TRISTAN THOMSON, ADAM GOODISON, ANDY VOWELS, BEN BEAGENT, NICK CHARD AND RASMUS JENSEN STYLIST ASSISTANTS ELGAR JOHNSON AND RUFAI AJALA MANICURE MARION NEWMAN AND ADAM SLEE (STREETERS) DIGITAL CAPTURE JOE COLLEY AT PASSERIDAE LIGHTING BY KENETIC AND UNIqUE RETOUCHING TOM WANDRAG (EPILOqUE IMAGING) SPECIAL THANKS PARK ROYAL STUDIOS AND SOMERSET HOUSE

RICO WEARS SHIRT AND PANTS PRADA

THIS PAGE PHoToGRAPHY KLAUS THYMANN

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DEAR DIARY,

14

pIcTuREd hERE

JosEph F. JENNINgs, 26 poWdER skIER SKI JACKeT, PANTS, GLOVeS RLX RALph LAuREN

PHOTOGRAPHY KLAuS THYMANN PHOTO ASSISTANT PAuL CALVeR PRODuCeR CORDeLL WOLKING SPeCIAL THANKS POWDeR MOuNTAIN

My body is going through all sorts of changes. There is hair where there wasn’t before and my voice is cracking. Am I normal?

Anyway, at least things are going well at my fantastic job at VMAN. In this issue, we round up the best acting talent with Weeds’s Hunter Parrish and True Blood’s Stephen Moyer. And Vincent Cassel too! He’s from that country France! Hedi Slimane handles the up-and-comers with a stark black-and-white portfolio of the next generation of British stars.

Shit! Did I tell you about Diddy? I can’t believe I forgot to do that. He is the coolest. Maybe one day we can kick it. Kick it hard-core!

What’s that you say, diary? No other American periodical gives you as strong a visual testament to all things style as VMAN does? You are such a wise tome. We particularly wanted the images to speak for themselves this time. Check out Richard Phillips’s rad paintings of male celebritydom’s most iconic visages. Oh, diary, you know what a visage is. It’s a fancy way of saying face.

The one and only Nick Knight shot the model contest. Jackpot! Wouldn’t life be so much easier if I looked like the winner, Rico? On a more casual note (but never dressed down), Benjamin Alexander Huseby hits the slopes. Josh Olins explores all things denim. Terry Richardson outdoes his outrageous oeuvre with a singular take on gym clothes. Finally, Karl Lagerfeld documents the elegance of Paris.

Whew! Recounting all of this excitement has exhausted me. Well, I guess that’s all for tonight, diary. Should I start calling you journal since I’m a guy? Well, I’m glad you’re comfortable with your masculinity. VMAN is too. G’night. WILLIAM VAN METER

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Photography Broomberg & Chanarin

Tame ThaT Tiger! hunter parrish wears shirt Tim hamilTon Jeans a.P.C. tie Band of ouTsiders shoes sPerry ToP-sider

film PrinT imPresarios vamPires

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Jon kortaJarena

on the Move

The megamodel and muse To Tom Ford seTs his sighTs on hollywood

The business of being tall, dark, and handsome isn’t as easy as it looks. Just ask Jon Kortajarena, the Spanish modelturned-actor better known as Jon K. “I can’t tell you how

debut gig was a Cavalli campaign, to which he showed up a

bit naive. “I remember asking, ‘So who is this Cavalli? Where is he?’” he laughs. “Everyone just kind of stared.”

Armani, Versace, and Tom Ford campaigns soon followed. A steadfast friendship with Mr. Ford has provided Kortajarena the opportunity to leap from being just a pretty face to serving as a full-blown fashion muse. Now, with Ford making his directorial debut, Jon has made the crossover to acting. In Ford’s film, A Single Man (starring Colin Firth and Julianne Moore), Kortajarena plays Carlos, a struggling young actor who winds up turning tricks in a liquor store parking lot. The emotionally redolent film scored high with critics at the Venice Film Festival. “I knew the movie was going to be something special from the moment I read the script,” he says. “I had tears.”

Kortajarena describes working with Ford on the film as the high point of his career so far, and he hopes to do more acting in the future. “I realized that while playing this role I felt very strong and very secure, maybe more than in real life,” he says thoughtfully. “If you feel that way doing something, it means you’re supposed to do it.”

Catherine Blair Pfander

JoN KorTAJArENA IN bArCEloNA, JuNE 2009 PhotograPhy Will davidson styling Jay MassaCret SHIrT dior hoMMe A Single MAn opENS IN dECEMbEr 2009

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SpECIAl THANKS THE bArCElÓ rAVAl HoTEl dIgITAl ASSISTANT pAul M produCEr Eddy brAVo rETouCHINg MorpH IMAgINg WWW.MorpH-rETouCH.Co.uK grooMINg SHAMA uSINg M.A.C (ClM) pHoTo ASSISTANT dIdI MAIEr STylIST ASSISTANT pAolA ErAzuN

rare it is for me to find a couple of days to just relax,” he sighs. Kortajarena was scouted right out of high school. His

BOSS Black

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film

aaron JoHnSon

THE fifTH BEaTlE Taking on a side of John Lennon ThaT no one has seen before

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how to play guitar, banjo, and harmonica. All of this training life not mined to death: his adolescence and family life. was a welcome chance for Johnson to broaden his scope “This is a role that I can play,” Johnson explains. “It’s a com- in art, which was refreshing since his tastes encompass ing-of-age story, and all the things that you’ve never seen. more than acting.

There’s no footage on the Internet of this. It’s pre-Beatles “I have an interest in art and photography,” Johnson says. and pre–his mother’s death. It follows him from when he’s “I went to dance school when I was younger and did tap, about 15 to when he’s about 20. It’s about his relationship ballet, jazz, and hip-hop.” with his aunt and mother, how he grew up with his aunt but Audiences will also be able to see Aaron Johnson in then discovered his mother and developed a love for and Kick-Ass.This role sounds like more of a stretch than friendship with her before losing her.”

Lennon—he plays an American comic-book fan. The film Since there was so little documentation, it was freeing for might not be suitable for the whole family.

Johnson to portray Lennon in this epoch.

“It’s about dweeby, nerdy geeks who dress up like super“I was able to create my own portrayal of the young Lennon,” heroes but get the shit kicked out of them,” Aaron says Johnson says. “There’s a fine line between imitation and excitedly. “It’s really fucking violent. It’s got gangsters who outright mimicry, but with no footage of this era to mimic, blow each other’s brains out and an 11-year-old girl who there was nothing to chuck away, so I went with my instinct goes around chopping people’s heads off then calling them of how he may have been. We added a lot of vulnerability cunts. It’s a dark comedy.” toward his mother, but kept him tough with his aunt. You Against all odds, Johnson will surely make being a geek see him putting together the Quarrymen [precursor to the believable. William Van mETEr Beatles], learning the banjo, playing with Paul, and how he wrote his poetry. We do have his poetry and what he wrote AAROn JOHnSOn In LOnDOn, AuguST 2009 as an insight into his head.”

PHoTograPHy niall o’BriEn Johnson had to prepare for the film months before shoot- STyling micHElE raffErTy ing began. He worked with a dialect coach on the perfect SHIRT dunhiLL Liverpudlian accent, took singing lessons, and had to learn Nowhere Boy OPenS In DeCeMBeR 2009

GroominG maarit niemela usinG aveda (d+v manaGement)

It’s not surprising that Aaron Johnson is into rockabilly.

“Music of that era is more enjoyable,” explains the 19-year-old actor. “It has a lot more feeling and soul to it than there is now.”

On this hot July afternoon, Johnson is wearing a fitted green plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled above his elbows, like he is about to work under the hood of a Ford Fairlane. Three buttons are undone, and a gold chain dangles down his exposed chest. His hair is slicked back with Brylcreem. Sideburns and a pair of black motorcycle boots complete the look.

Johnson is in a conference room at his PR agency in posh Chelsea, London, although his rough-and-tumble air suggests his Camden home would be more of a suitable setting. His large saucerlike blue eyes are flecked with gold and rimmed by long eyelashes. A scraggly Van Dyck beard interrupts his smooth skin. He is soft-spoken and intense, and exudes that ultra-rare star quality.

Johnson is obviously the perfect choice for the lead in this winter’s Nowhere Boy, the directorial debut of conceptual artist Sam Taylor-Wood. The London tabloids, of course, had a field day when Johnson started dating Ms. Taylor-Wood, who is twenty-two years his senior. All of the hubbub about their ongoing dalliance hopefully won’t detract from the remarkable

film. Nowhere Boy traces the only facet of Beatle John Lennon’s

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jay Bulger

riding shotgun Jay Bulger is everyone’s favorite self-oBsessed model/Boxer/ filmmaker/director/writer/talk show host

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reclusive drummer Ginger baker, who is widely regarded as the most influential (and bonkers) skinsman ever. after doggedly tracking baker down in south africa and showing up at his ranch, bulger convinced the expat brit to sit for interviews. “He said, ‘Who the fuck are you? you yankee idiot, fuck off!’” bulger fondly recalls. “but he warmed up to me and invited me to live with him for three months. it’s amazing to be in love with someone other than myself.”

Hyper and intense in person, bulger’s brain doesn’t have an off switch. “When i was a kid, i was part of the first aDHD study. it didn’t work, that’s for sure!” in his spare time, bulger cooks up episodes for his quirky chat show/future cult hit youtube series, Driving with Jay. each episode features bulger interviewing a friend while going for a spin around new york in his vintage Ford Falcon.

With notable guests like actress Paz de la Huerta and

rFK’s grandson, bobby Kennedy, the awkward voyeurism quotient can get high. the shining moments arrive when random strangers appear, like the army sergeant who has just returned from his fourth tour in the middle east, or the hooker who explains how armageddon will involve nanorobots embedded in humans’ heads. the real tour de force comes in episode 10, when bulger exhibits real acting chops by interviewing, and arguing with—who else?—himself. Victoria desilVerio Jay bulGer in brooKlyn, october 2009 PhotograPhy Matthew Porter styling lester garcia JacKet Boss Black Pants toM Ford sHoes vintaGe WatcH DriVing WitH Jay at WWW.youtube.com/user/JaybulGer

GroominG rebecca Plymate (see manaGement)

Jay bulger stumbled into modeling after his friend photographed him, all bloody and broken-nosed, boxing in the Golden Gloves tournament in 2001. His career took off quickly—he was the bare-chested armani Jeans guy and was shot by terry richardson for the cover of Vogue Hommes with a tarantula on his face—but it was brief. “the money was great, but i felt like a moron walking on runways and going to castings,” bulger says. after a bout with skin cancer on his cheek, which took ten nips and tucks to expunge, bulger bailed on modeling and poured his talent for winging it into copious creative projects. in between writing his memoirs and directing music

videos under the moniker Doctor mindbender, the 27-yearold Washington D.c. native made a documentary about

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CharaCter Study The cosTume designers of This WinTer’s mosT mega films Tell hoW They broughT immorTal souls, louche deTecTives, vampires, and half-naked WereWolf boys To life text Miriam Coleman Sherlock Holmes Before creating the costumes for Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes, designer Jenny Beavan had to rid her mind of that clichéd image of the detective—the deerstalker hat, inverness cape, and ever-present pipe. A lifelong fan of the Arthur Conan Doyle tales, Beavan found that this iconic look was never mentioned in the stories, but was the product of an early illustrator. Robert Downey Jr.’s Holmes is a brooding, bohemian reading of the gumshoe. His waistcoat buttons are mismatched, and he steals pieces from his roommate, Dr. Watson. “His look is slightly more romantic, Byronic—or Rolling Stones,” Beavan says. Jude Law’s slimmed-down Watson rocks a soft, English countryside palette of blues and browns and Harris Tweeds.

SHerlock HolmeS opEnS in DECEmBER 2009

The Twilight Saga: New Moon

Jude law, Watson, Sherlock Holmes

THe TWiligHT Saga: NeW mooN opEnS THiS monTH

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Terry Gilliam’s immortal Doctor parnassus is a washed-up

supernatural huckster who can’t resist a drink or a wager with

the devil. His costume and caravan are a grubby junkyard jumble of elements collected throughout centuries of travel.

He shuffles around in layers of robes, caftans, and kimonos, and the members of his sideshow troupe mix Roman skirts with silver-painted boxing boots.

The swindler Tony is played by Heath Ledger in his final role.

“He’s a trickster,” says costume designer monique prudhomme.

“He can disappear and reappear as a different character.” Hiding behind a long-nosed Venetian mask, he wears a girl’s tutu with 17th-century trousers and an Elizabethan shirt.

THe imagiNarium of DocTor ParNaSSuS opEnS in DECEmBER 2009

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robert pattinson, edward, The Twilight Saga: New Moon

heath ledger, Tony, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Sherlock holmeS artwork © warner Bros.; the twilight Saga: New mooN Designer tish Monaghan, illustrator terry Pitts; the imagiNarium of Doctor ParNaSSuS artwork Monique PruDhoMMe

Tish monaghan dresses the vampire Edward, played by Hollywood it boy Robert pattinson, in old-world fabrics like the worsted wool and velvet of this overcoat.

“The time frame that he lived in as a real person,” monaghan explains, “was basically from 1900 to 1920.” in the film, Edward is living as a modern teenager, but his tastes were formed near the turn of the last century.

For the rogue vampires, monaghan channeled modern elegance, inspired by Jil Sander and paul Smith. Since the undead are “living” and feeding among real people, their look couldn’t be too freaky. “They’re also scavengers,” says monaghan. “So, if they happened to find a victim sporting something fabulous, they would steal that item.”

Werewolf Taylor Lautner opts for jeans and T-shirts—with the tees cut close enough to highlight his newly ripped torso. in lupine form, he runs around in cutoffs and nothing else.

Don’t call them Daisy Dukes or he will bite you.

print

tHE rOCK & rOLL BiBLE LOST IMAGES OF THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, THE BEST ROCK BAND EVER

The Velvet Underground is out now from Rizzoli 30

CLOCKWISE fROM TOP LEfT: B/W NICO PhOTOgRAPhY AdAM RITChIE; LOU COLOR PhOTOgRAPhY UNKNOWN; LOU CATChINg fOOTBALL PhOTOgRAPhY dOUg YULE; JOhN CALE PhOTOgRAPhY LISA LAW; LOU hUggINg MO PhOTOgRAPhY dOUg YULE; COLOR NICO PhOTOgRAPhY UNKNOWN; ShIRTLESS PhOTOgRAPhY PAUL MORRISSEY; MO ThROWINg fOOTBALL PhOTOgRAPhY dOUg YULE

Seminal New York avant-rock ensemble the Velvet Underground was criminally underappreciated during its 1965-1970 existence. Mega-influential after its demise, no band has been dissected and analyzed as much as the Velvets. But as the Internet leak of the lost 1966 track “I’m Not a Young Man Anymore” (released in 2008) has proved, a group as creatively rich as the Velvet Underground still has a trove in the ether. The hardcover monograph The Velvet Underground is a revelation. Editor Johan Kugelberg somehow unearthed a wealth of unseen images.

“I wanted to make sure even hard-core fanatics hadn’t seen eighty percent of the stuff,” Kugelberg says.

Kugelberg can certainly be counted among the fanatics.

A writer and curator, he is responsible for a 2007 exhibit of Velvet Underground ephemera that is still touring the globe. But his fascination with the Velvets began at a very young age.

“There’s a shockingly absurd photograph that my mom has of me at the age of 5 holding the Velvet Underground and Nico album,” Kugelberg recalls, laughing. “My nanny’s son was a rock fanatic. I’ve listened to the Velvet Underground every week, I can easily say, since I was 12 years old. The Velvet Underground is one of the greatest art statements of the 20th century.”

The book has minimal text (including an exclusive interview between bandmates Lou Reed and Maureen Tucker).

Its strength lies in the knockout imagery, which visually traces the narrative of the group, and of the ’60s era itself, from the wraparound-sunglasses-all-black-amphetaminecool of their early days as Andy Warhol’s house band, to the bell bottom jamming of their swan-song period.

It took Kugelberg three years to compile the book. One discovery stands out. “Tracking down Adam Ritchie was an amazing visual epiphany. Adam is a superb photographer who lives in London and who spent six months in New York from around August of ’65 and basically hung out with the Velvets and the Warhol scenesters and photographed everybody. These photographs haven’t been seen by anybody for forty years. The shots that Adam Ritchie took of the Velvets playing at the Psychiatrist’s Convention with the shadows on the wall kick my ass every time I look at it.”

Ours too. wiLLiam van mEtEr

machinery

The Falconer photography noah schutz

A Motorcycle Designer HArks BAck to A golDen erA of steel steeDs

The quintessential epic Lawrence of Arabia begins with legendary upper-crust insurgent T.E. Lawrence (portrayed by the shockingly pretty Peter O’Toole in eyeliner) racing down an English country lane, perilously fast, on his beloved Brough Superior motorcycle. Even as he rockets toward his demise, spins out of control, and flips into a ditch, it’s impossible not to notice how incredibly cool Lawrence looks—a boarding school rebel with a cause.

Falcon motorcycle co-founder Ian Barry has been enamored of classic English motorbikes since he was a schoolboy in Santa Cruz. Falcon is 36-year-old Barry’s rebellious proclamation against the prevailing motorcycle culture, dominated by bloated, flame-colored Harleys and plasticlooking Japanese racing bikes.

Barry concedes that Falcons aren’t “for the faint of heart.”

Meaning that they’re incredibly finicky machines both to mount. Each of Brough’s bikes was custom-built for its rider, drive and to maintain. “You don’t see too many Triumphs and Barry has applied the same approach to his Only 10 riding around,” he says. “When I see one, it just makes me Series of Falcons, dedicated to replicating one signature bike envious. It takes a lot of love and care to keep one on the from ten departed British motorcycle manufacturers. road.” Barry puts thousands of hours into each of his conBarry started his series with an interpretive recreation structions, and it’s not just about polishing up a glamorous of the 1950 Triumph Thunderbird that Marlon Brando final product. He has a deeply felt attachment to the entire rode in The Wild One. Lovingly handcrafted, down to process. “There’s something romantic about these bikes the wiring and bolts, the bike has been transformed —the form isn’t just about function.” into the Bullet Falcon, and was promptly snapped up Much like recent trends in men’s fashion, such as the by actor Jason Lee, who avows, “the Bullet is a perfect rediscovery of bespoke items, Barry is looking to the past motorcycle.” Not surprisingly, there is a wait of more to chart a new course forward. If he has his way, bikers will than a year for one of Barry’s new creations, but he’s not be ditching their spike-studded leather for goggles and a interested in expediting his process. “These bikes are more kerchief. ken miller individual and more personal than a bike made on an assembly line,” he says. www.falconmotorcycles.com Barry took inspiration for his Los Angeles workshop directly

from George Brough, manufacturer of Lawrence’s fateful

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music

In his office at Def Jam

C un-DM

With R

From right: Will smith, lyor Cohen, Russell simmons, Jazzy Jeff, Ready Rock C

Lyor’s roar WIth toRy BuRCh on hIs aRM anD pop staRs on hIs speeD DIal, WaRneR MusIC GRoup Ceo lyoR Cohen Is ReaDy to save the ReCoRDInG InDustRy

People have called Lyor Cohen some rude things over the years. It doesn’t bother him. “I’ve always loved swimming upstream,” he says. “If I go to an airport and I see a long line, I instantly look for a different solution. Many people follow like cows—a long line is like a magnet attracting them to file in. I never file in.”

In the early ’80s, that attitude took Cohen from lowly L.A. concert promoter to Def Jam Records’ guiding force in record time.

“Around ’80 or ’81, I came up with the hairbrained idea of booking local Hollywood bands and Run-DMC together for an after-hours spot,” he explains. At the time, Run-DMC had never sold an album and the local Hollywood band moniker applied to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

“Run thought he was being attacked by the audience,” 32

Cohen recalls. “I had to explain that they were just stage

diving. Begrudgingly, he came back out and spent his set

flinging little white kids off the stage. Afterwards he told Russell [Simmons] about me.”

Soon after, Cohen went to work for Simmons at the nascent Def Jam Records. He ended up helping create or develop careers for artists including the Beastie Boys, LL Cool J, Nas, Sean Combs, Will Smith, Mariah Carey, and Jay-Z, and helming other labels such as Island, Roc-A-Fella, Universal, and his current roost Warner Music Group (as CEO he oversees Atlantic, Warner Bros., Bad Boy, and Sire, among others).

“I always loved rap for not being regurgitated love songs,” Cohen says. “But back then it wasn’t always the music that drove me. I was pissed off at the fact that so many of my contemporaries thought it was just a fad, that we weren’t worthy of actually building a business. We had no money, no clout. We had to be creative and have better music in order to survive.”

Almost thirty years later, Cohen finds himself the underdog once again. Conventional wisdom has declared the music industry—which faces plummeting profits thanks

to MP3s and the Internet—a sinking ship. Cohen relishes the challenge. “The industry has been lazily swimming downstream. Now that the current has changed, the industry must change.” he says. “And most execs aren’t wired to do that.”

Cohen, however, is. Last year, he bucked the industry, pulling his artists off YouTube; there was no revenue in it. For Cohen, music is still a deeply emotional product for which people want to pay—it is just a matter of figuring out how.

“Nearly fifty percent of our roster is 360 degree,” he says, referring to a deal in which the label gets a cut of everything from album sales to T-shirts. “If you sign the right artist, and the consumer has a relationship with that artist, the consumer will tend to purchase or come along with that artist in a series of ways.”

Bands might bristle at sharing that money, but the setup allows Cohen to invest heavily in them, even when they don’t sell as many albums.

“We have a huge responsibility to our acts to figure out this new world,” he says. “This is a way for them to continue making a living.” Jacob brown

PhOTO AssisTANTs NiCOleTTe Del MurO AND BOweN rODkeY

DrINK

LIBATIONS The BarTender On The GO PhOTOgrAPhy DAN FOrBeS

Jim Meehan, the meticulous head barman of New York’s neo-speakeasy P.D.T., used to cobble together makeshift travel kits for his frequent trips to bartending competitions. At New Orleans’s Tales of the Cocktail, the Cannes of the mixology scene, he won American Bartender of the Year. Meehan designed his own bag for upscale leather goods company Moore & Giles. The result is an expression of his notorious attention to detail, with room to store everything that a wandering barman needs—and to look damn good doing it. This supple canvas and leather number with ingenious adaptable storage compartments will be on the top of every bartender’s wish list. JASON rOwAN www.mooreandgilesinc.com

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His father, the celebrated French actor Jean-Pierre Cassel, was due to play his on-screen father, the first time that the

important thing is working to accept what you are and not to change yourself.”

pair would have worked together, but he succumbed to

Odd words coming from the man who is one of France’s

cancer shortly before filming. Vincent paid a moving hom-

major heartthrobs—mention you’re meeting Cassel and

age to Jean-Pierre, one of French cinema’s finest gentle-

women literally melt. He sees the YSL gig as just another

men, when he won his César in February. Cassel’s younger half-sister, Cécile, is also an actor. His brother, on the other hand, is a rapper known as Rockin’ Squat.

Mesrine’s success in France coincided with Vincent’s nomination as the face of the Yves Saint Laurent fragrance La Nuit de l’Homme. Cassel has reconciled with his physique, but not due to seeing himself on endless billboards.

“It took me a long time to accept myself physically,” Cassel says. “When I was young, a lot of my friends modelled, but oddly enough I never got cast! I still don’t understand people who have plastic surgery–fair enough if you have a trunk and one ear coming out of your forehead, but the

role: “Of course I’m not myself, I’m playing a part! I’m sur-

rounded by all these girls, for god’s sake! I initially said yes because of my bank balance, and also because I liked the fact that Saint Laurent was the first designer to use black models. I used to see them all out at Le Palace in the early ’80s—Saint Laurent, Mondino, Jean-Paul Goude, Grace Jones, all wasted of course!”

Cassel spends his time between Paris, London, Rome, and Brazil, a happy situation that he has worked hard to bring about. He is also happy to have a break from his latein-life modelling gig to return to acting.

“I used to choose parts that would piss people off,” he

says, “and for that reason I was always cast out of the establishment. Not that I cared. Now I feel like I’ve been welcomed in, but perhaps not for long. They’re going to get the guns back out when they see my latest project. I think it will touch a nerve!” Cassel shaved off all his body hair to play the as-yet unrevealed lead in the top-secret film from director Costa Gavras’s son Romain.

Whether he returns to his niche in risqué foreign language films or becomes a Hollywood heavyweight, Vincent Cassel will always remain one thing.

“What can you do? I’m so fuckin’ French!” he says in perfect English. NATHALIE FRASER VINCENT CaSSEL IN PaRIS, SEPTEMBER 2009

PHoTogRAPHy KARL LAgERFELd STyLINg MIcHAEL PHILouzE aLL CLOTHING yvES SAINT LAuRENT

tv

StEPHEN MOyER

around with the dog,” says Moyer. “I got out of Bill’s vibe.”

Moyer’s vibe feels exceedingly warm and slightly boyish, particularly for a guy about to turn 40. He first established himself on the stage in England, where he had his own theater company. He likes to refer to the True Blood cast as a repertory.

“Give us Lear!’” he bellows, only half kidding.

His versatility seems an extension of his well-honed acting skill, which had earned him respectable television and movie roles, but nothing as high profile (or high quality) as his current vehicle—a fact Moyer realizes and appreciates.

“True Blood is the apex of a pop-culture craze for vampires,” he says. Vampire-mania is fueled by the Twilight franchise, the CW’s new teen soap The Vampire Diaries, and Being Human, BBC America’s bloodsucker program, as well. And Lindsay Lohan recently posted pictures of herself as a vampire on her Twitter page. But no contributor to the undead zeitgeist can match True Blood. The series’ sophomore season averaged a whopping 12.4 million viewers per episode, firmly establishing Moyer as one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, a boon he partially attributes to the economic bust. “It’s people having no money and choosing to spend it on things that are truly escapist,” Moyer explains. “There’s nothing more escapist than our show.”

The emphasis on relationships and graphically campy sex scenes (not to mention the unflagging sexual undercurrent) helps True Blood win viewers, particularly in the female demographic. But the show has appeal beyond that. While bloodsucking is always part of the plot, the main themes are allegories for political and social issues, like gay rights and racism.

“You can bring your own metaphor to the table!” Moyer exclaims. “It’s about being an outsider.”

Moyer credits the show’s creator, Alan Ball (Six Feet Under), with keeping the show unpredictable and captivating by constantly throwing obstacles in the characters’ ways. In return, Ball has nothing but praise for his leading man, who deftly navigates any dramatic challenge. “Working with Stephen is a joy,” says Ball. “He understands Bill to the core and yet is always open to trying something new. I have tremendous respect for him, and am immensely grateful for what he brings to the show.”

Next, Moyer hopes to direct Paquin in a movie. “I love working with her and I’ve wanted to direct for ages,” he says.

The predator/prey couple are about to head off to England for True Blood’s British debut and to celebrate Moyer’s 40th birthday with a party at a rented estate in the country, complete with hunting expeditions and an Indian Elvis impersonator. After that, Moyer will begin work on the thriller Tribes of October, with James Caan and Robert Duval, before resuming work on True Blood.

Last season’s finale ended with vampire Bill being mysteriously dragged away by a silver chain—a weapon deadly to his ilk. When asked about his character’s fate in the next season, Moyer fingers the thick silver chain he happens to hair is back to its natural caramel color too. be wearing around his neck. It is adorned with three antique “I started to look like Joan and Jackie Collins’s bastard medallions, each engraved with Jesus’ image. He looks up, daughter,” Moyer says of his character’s escaped-from- his blue irises vanishing to reveal a severe slice of white. A Dynasty gray coif. flash of fang seems imminent.

Moyer is hanging out after a photo shoot in a Hollywood “I think I’m the only one who hasn’t had his contract apartment building constructed by William Randolph Hearst. renewed,” he says, laughing. “But I’m sure it’s coming…”

With its ornate lobby and supposedly haunted halls, the setWe hope so. DEBORAH SCHOENEMAN ting is reminiscent of True Blood’s Southern-gothic aesthetic.

But Moyer couldn’t look more different from his morose STEPHEN MOYER IN L.A., SEPTEMBER 2009 character as he kicks off his sandals and curls up on the PHOtOgRAPHy PAuL JASMIN leather couch, wearing cargo shorts and a black T-shirt. (FYI, StyLINg NAtHALIE SAPHIER vampire Bill tends to wear a lot of John Varvatos).

THIS PAGE: SuIT SALvAtORE FERRAgAMO “I’ve been out at the beach surfing, skateboarding, running SHIRT DOLCE & gABBANA

LOvE At FIRSt BItE Stephen Moyer is showing signs of coming back from the dead. During his first break in almost two years from playing the vampire Bill Compton on HBO’s cultural tsunami True Blood, Moyer has been indulging in some human pastimes.

For starters, he’s been gorging on Indian food, not sipping the synthetic blood concoction that sustains the undead on the show. And instead of a wan complexion, he’s sporting a fresh tan from a recent trip to Hawaii with fiancée Anna Paquin, who happens to be his on-screen love interest, telepathic waitress Sookie Stackhouse, as well. Thankfully, his 36

Photo assistant Jaesung Lee grooming Davy newkirk (tracey mattingLy)

True Blood’s main vampire, stephen moyer, soaks up the sun

Suit, Shirt, tie Dolce & Gabbana

caPital

taking care oF

The fashion power couple running Denmark’s nascenT inDusTry location: Copenhagen founders: Eva Kruse and Thomas Hargreave

So much as say the word “fashion” in the country of Denmark and these two will know about it. Copenhagen power couple Thomas Hargreave and Eva Kruse pretty much run the country’s fashion industry. A former photographer’s agent, Hargreave now owns a production and creative direction studio called Stage 7. Kruse directs the Danish Fashion Institute, which promotes the country’s industry abroad. Together they run Copenhagen’s Fashion Week. The top-notch festival is quickly becoming the de facto Pan-Scandinavian Fashion Week. “There are so many great designers in this part of the world, it’s important to give them the opportunity to grow and expand,” explains Kruse. Hargreave adds, “We try to create an international stage, one that appeals not just locally, but to the world.”

PhotograPhy hasse nielsen

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PHoTo ASSISTAnT ISA KrISTIAnSEn STuDIo STAgE 7 rETouCHIng DAnKEr (THE ColorClub) HAIr CIm mAHony (THE WAll grouP) groomIng ZEnIA JAEgEr (unIquE looK)

Danish Fashion institute/ stage 7

Business

knives for wives purveyor of high-end cusTom cuTlery for The discerning chef location: New York founder: Kenny Jossick

Some companies are launched at expensive M.B.A. programs; others are launched at art school. “After I graduated, I was in Nepal with a buddy of mine,” says Knives for Wives founder Kenny Jossick. “We saw this guy making these knives out of the back of his car with an anvil and grinder, and a fire right there in the trunk!”

Soon Jossick was applying his studies in sculpture to metalwork and selling an array of completely handmade, custom knives fashioned out of various precious metals and gems. He has indentified a niche: bespoke cutting instruments. His most costly work includes an eightpiece set with sapphire-adorned silver handles and a solid gold and diamond kitchen knife (the blade is steel).

Never has cutlery been so cool.

PhoTograPhy Daria werBowy T-SHIrT ANd SWeATSHIrT J.crew JeANS Levi’s

Ten young businessmen (and Two businesswomen) prove you can rise To The Top and look good doing iT Text Jacob Brown

CaPitaL SLUG

SatUrDayS SUrf nyC

A new sociAl networking mediA compAny Aiming to slAy the music mAgAzine giAnts

A new surF shop on crosby street in new york—montAuk meets mAnhAttAn

location: new york Founder: david navarrete

location: new york Founder: Morgan collett

new Jersey native david navarrete moved to new york

growing up in southern california, 25-year-old Morgan

as a teenager after getting signed by new york Models.

collett spent most of his youth surfing. after moving to new york a few years ago to work in marketing for J. lindeberg and then acne, he started to miss the waves. he also noticed that there wasn’t a good surf shop in downtown Manhattan. partnering up with friends colin tunstall, Josh rosen, and Mike townsend (who has since left the project to focus on his own store, inventory, and the new lower east side restaurant le cubain), collett found a spot on crosby and opened a surf-oriented coffee shop/clothing store called satudays surf nyc. he is slowly building up the stock of surfboards, fashion, and gear, while hosting small events in the space’s oddly-large-for-soho back patio. “it’s not just about selling,” he says. “i want people to come hang out and have fun.”

“it was fun for a while,” he says of modeling, “but it never really took off for me.” after calling it quits, he went to work for keith richards. there he ended up running all of richards’s online properties: Web sites, itunes, archives, etc. now 25, he has the best possible education in the online music industry, and last summer he launched noisevox, a streaming video site anchored by John norris, formerly of Mtv. navarrete has pinpointed many of the problems that the current batch of music sites—from newcomers like pandora to titans like Myspace—have stumbled on, and in the next few months noisevox will transition into a fullblown music magazine and social network. then watch out, he says. “it’s gonna change the world.”

PhotoGraPhy BeaU GreaLy StyLinG aLLiSon LawSen Jacket and Jeans ConverSe By John varvatoS henley MarC JaCoBS

PhotoGraPhy DaviD SChULze

saturdays shoot: special thanks Bevan Meyers (Milk digital) and Mario torres (another digital)

noiSevox

silkstone

young turks

TalenTed chefs caTering To (and educaTing) new York’s gliTTeraTi

hoTshoT Young a&r exec responsible for signing arTisTs like The big pink, el guincho, Jack peñaTe, and The xx

young turks shoot: grooMing sally M c cann photo assistant ivan ruBerto silkstone shoot: hair thoMas dunken (the Wall group) grooMing hung vanngo (the Wall group) production assistant tiMothy Mitchell

location: new york founder: Mickey sumner

Micky sumner has a lot on her plate. a young and successful actress, she has endless castings and a number of hot film projects. But in between trips to los angeles, she found time to partner up with friends Benjamin towill and philip Winser to start silkstone. they consider it a “food lifestyle company dedicated to delivering honest, rustic food to a stylish table,” says sumner. Whether catering or consulting, sumner aims to link, in the general public’s mind, pleasurable food and entertaining with socially conscious, organic eating. “Macrobiotics and natural nutrition are subjects of huge personal interest for Ben,” she explains. silkstone’s chef, Ben has worked for everyone from raymond Blanc to gordon ramsey. “he has experienced firsthand the direct impact of natural nutrition,” says sumner, “and observed the power and synergy between our diets and our ultimate well-being.”

location: london founder: caius pawson “i started off doing club nights,” explains 23-year-old caius

pawson. “animal collective in a shadwell warehouse, klaxons in an abandoned school, etc.” in london’s fastpaced rock scene, club nights are certainly king. add to that an ear that can pick out the young bands on the verge of blowing up, and you get young turks. With an impressive roster that includes jack peñate, el guincho, the Big pink, and buzzed about newcomers the xx, plus backing from powerhouse label Xl, pawson’s imprint is suddenly on the tips of everyone’s tongues. and there is good reason. “i may not play any of the instruments on those albums,” he laughs. “But i invest just about every ounce of energy i have into each.”

PhotograPhy Mel Bles

PhotograPhy Matthu Placek

styling stevie Westgarth

BenjaMin Wears shirt arMani exchange

shirt alexanDer McQueen

jeans calvin klein jeans Mickey Wears t-shirt h&M jeans levi’s philip Wears shirt Polo ralPh lauren jeans Diesel

RAD HOURANI

WWW.RADHOURANI.COM

gucci (Feat.

Mark ronson) Give the season’s must-have sneaks a spin Mark Ronson’s Williamsburg recording studio sits on the second floor of a stylishly derelict warehouse. He’s got

tracks playing from the Like’s forthcoming second album, which he produced. Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys is due by later to work on a project. In the meantime, Ronson sits down to discuss his fashion debut: a project called Gucci ICON-TEMPORARY. Working with designer Frida Giannini, he created four exclusive styles that will debut at a string of international pop-up stores. Get ready for the frenzy. Jacob brown

how do you find the recording artists you work with?

Just through being out and randomly meeting people. Even

with Amy [Winehouse], a friend was like, “Do you remember

that girl Amy?” I’d heard her out at a club or something.

so is that how this Gucci thing started?

Yeah. Met Frida in a club. [Laughs] No, she invited me to come out to Milan to see the men’s show and talk about this potential collaboration. I watched the show—my first real introduction to Frida and Gucci—and I loved it all. It had this ’80s new wave by way of the Mystery Jets and Klaxons thing. I’m friends with the guys in those bands— it’s funny because none of them dress that well!

GROOMING REBECCA PLYMATE (SEE MANAGEMENT)

the boat shoe thing is cool.

I used to be a super avid sneaker collector. My sister’s still die-hard. And AM, you know before he—I don’t think of AM being gone—he has like 350 pairs of sneakers.

No way I can compete. But I know how the culture works, and I wanted to make something that was special so that when it goes on sale, you want to line up outside to buy it.

each pair comes with a vinyl record, right?

I’m not a clothing designer, so it had to have some component of music or it didn’t make sense. I collaborated with Sam Sparro and Theophilus London on the tracks—each city has its own mixes. The sound is something like an ’80s experimental R&B record; like some kids thought they were really cool and would put on their Gucci to go out on a Friday night. Because of label obligations, we need a pseudonym. So we thought, What would a band like that be called? The name Chauffeur sounded right. So we are called Chauffeur.

MARK RONSON IN BROOKLYN, NY, SEPTEMBER 2009 PhotograPhy Magnus unnar styling Morgan luka GuCCI ICON-TEMPORARY DEBuTED IN NEW YORK IN OCTOBER 2009.

IT OPENS IN MIAMI IN DECEMBER AND IN TOKYO AND LONDON IN 2010.

AMERICAN STORE INFO: 877-GuCCI-44 ALL CLOTHING gucci SHOE gucci ronson WATCH RONSON’S OWN

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a daY at tHe Four desIgners gIve us an InsIde look at the hard work goIng Into theIr sprIng collectIons. look For the culmInatIon oF theIr eFForts In stores soon!

“It’s about transparency, lIghtness, and optImIsm.” —italo Zucchelli, Men’s creative director, calvin Klein collection 44

PHotoGRaPHY tHoMaS loHR

Model AJ AbuAlrub (Ford NY) GrooMiNG Jodie bolANd (See MANAGeMeNt)

calvin Klein collection

atelieR

GivencHY

“the collectIon Is very baroque, very rIch. at the same tIme, It has underground and street elements. the castIng was maInly latIno men, mostly new Faces; I love latIno culture and Its attItude oF Freedom toward the body—but always executed wIth an haute couture hand. It has to look eFFortless!”

—Riccardo tisci, artistic director, Givenchy PHotoGRaPHY ScHoHaJa

Dior Homme “The Cold love ColleCTion is an airy exerCise, playing on proporTions, layering, and TransparenCy. i wanTed To updaTe The suiT by unveiling iTs seCreTs, by showing iTs inner workings.”

—Kris Van Assche, Creative director, Dior Homme PHoToGrAPHY Zoe CASSAVeTeS

dsquared “Get out of town and Get into nature!”

—dean and dan Caten, Founders and creative directors, dsquared photography Courtesy dsquared

tHoM BRoWne "For thIs season the Importance Is In the new shapes. also, I've always been Interested In addIng elements oF sports, but For thIs season, I am IntroducIng true, FunctIonal sportswear to the collectIon." —thom Browne, Founder and head of design, thom Browne PHotoGRaPHY tHoMaS loHR and dan lecca

FOLK TALES

Trussardi Looks Toward The FuTure BuT doesn’T ForgeT The PasT

“Trussardi needs a soul again, needs a face, needs emotion,” says creative director Milan Vukmirovic as he lights a cigarette and leans over his long black table. He taps the ashtray on his left—a hollowed-out chunk of smooth, pink marble with a jagged rim.

“I designed this,” he says.

The Trussardi showroom, a luxurious, leather-floored space with walls the color of milky coffee, is situated over the Trussardi Restaurant, overlooking the Piazza della Scala in Milan. Founded in 1911, the Italian luxury leather goods house is now in the midst of a centenarian comeback—a thorough overhaul of its stores, showrooms, art properties, and brand ethos, with Vukmirovic at the helm.

“For me, there are two things,” he says. “One is to show the quality of the leather and all the savoir-faire of the company.

Secondly, Trussardi has always been about glass, brushed metal, cold white. And I said, let’s install wood and a leather floor, something warm. And let’s do some marble that’s precious and cool, too.”

“I would call it a soft revolution,” says president and CEO, Beatrice Trussardi. “I like his approach. In being a nonaggressive designer he’s able to shape the collections and our flagship stores according to the world today.”

If anyone can revamp the brand it’s Vukmirovic. An industry

50

veteran with a knack for reinvention, Vukmirovic was a founder of Paris’s hip mainstay Colette, design director at Gucci Group, creative director at Jil Sander, and is the current editor in chief and art director of L’Officiel Hommes.

“I want Trussardi to show that I love folk,” he says. “It’s a territory where you can do much more in terms of craftsmanship with leather, suede, and fur. The smell of leather somehow makes me think of the earth, horses, and folk.”

Rebirthing a luxury label is no easy task. “You need a good showroom, a good store, good salespeople, and advertising—it’s the whole thing,” he says. “It’s almost like cooking.

You just need the right spice.”

The house has mostly given Vukmirovic license to do as he pleases. And that’s just how he likes it.

“I love when people trust me and give me carte blanche.

They’ve placed their trust in me. I have to show them I can do it.” DAnicA LO PhOTOgrAPhy AnD STyLing MiLAn VUKMirOVic All ClOTHInG And ACCESSORIES TrUSSArDi 1911 CHECk OuT VMAn.COM FOR MORE On TRuSSARdI GROOMInG MARkuS lAMBERT (MFT PARIS) ASSISTAnTS FRAnCESCA nICOlI And MARIO dICE MOdEl SIMOnE BREdARIOl (d’MEn)

Model Yuri Pleskun (request) Hair estHer langHaM (art+coMMerce) grooMing Maki rYoke (see ManageMent)

New Power Studio Flipping through the rack of New Power Studio’s clothes, it is immediately evident that run-of-the-mill casualwear is not their specialty.

“That’s a sweat corset, a sworset,” Thom Murphy says as he lifts up a horsehair sworset. Murphy and his New Power partner, Ebru Ercon, are in their cozy headquarters in the Dalston quarter of London in a former metal foundry. It is a bright August afternoon, and sunlight beams through the windows of the mostly blond wood office.

New Power Studio’s first collection melds a ’90s techno vibe with a futuristic dystopian cleanliness. Their clothes are utilitarian, perfect for the dance floor at four a.m. or an early evening fashion party.

“We want our clothes to be worn,” Ercon says. “A lot of fashion is fantasy.”

Ercon and Murphy work mostly in a palette of gray jersey. But mistake the clothes for jogging gear and they will get riled up.

“It’s not sportswear!” Murphy exclaims. “Who does sports in sportswear anyway? It’s a very old-fashioned term.”

The pair met four years ago at the famed London club night Horse Meat Disco. They both teach courses in fashion school, but Murphy’s background is as a stylist, and Ercon was a womenswear designer. They became fast friends and New Power Studio was soon born.

“We felt something was missing out there,” Ebru says, “and that we could produce it.”

Different is certainly the key word when it comes to the pair’s creations. Many garments have more holes than Swiss cheese, and clock parts are used for embellishments.

“It’s just a little bit left of normal,” Murphy explains. His partner concurs.

“It’s spot off rather than spot on!”

PhotograPhy tom allen Styling Jay maSSacret text William Van meter

the next gener ation

Five New deSigNerS who are makiNg their mark, From SPorty to elegaNt to architectural. theSe are the rookieS to watch

52

ModelS aideN aNdrewS, douglaS Neitzke (Ford), thiago SaNtoS (New York ModelS), lYle lodwick (red) hair reBecca PlYMate (See MaNageMeNt) grooMiNg rie oMoto (See MaNageMeNt)

Siki im Precise tailoring plus just as precise deconstruction equals a sexy but cleanlined aesthetic

GenerAl ideA Various plays on geometry– pattern, color blocking, proportion—achieve a reworked sense of masculine shape

Antonio Azzuolo Bespoke, old-world tailoring exhibits a surprisingly flattering synergy with youthful blasts of color

ASSembly new york Year-old downtown retailer Assembly New York wowed with its house-designed new collection. Opening Ceremony watch out!

Necklace Giles & Brother

By PhiliP CranGi ShoeS viNtage

this PaGe PhotoGraPhy Cameron Krone stylinG yuKi James text JaCoB Brown

LIGHTS! CAMERA! FASHION!

Two arTiST/deSigner pairS CreaTe faSHion week’S MoST buzzed abouT filMS

pringle, Tilda SwinTon, and ryan Mcginley TeaM up, link SoulS

At 8:00 a.m. on a warm morning in August, the boys arrived at a wrestling gym in Hoboken, New Jersey. Thick ropes hung from the ceiling, drawing occasional nervous glances.

Ostensibly, the hotshot young models were profesionally 54

engaged, there to be filmed for CFDA–award winning designer Tim Hamilton. But the circumstances each guy found himself in—the mandate to repeatedly prove his strength in front of a group of strangers—slowly moved his psyche into a more primal place of testosterone, struggle, and competition.

Across her body of work, Collier Schorr offers a unique perspective on masculinity, youth, and motifs of domination

and subjugation. In men’s fashion, the idea of masculinity and what it represents is ever present. The collaboration allowed Hamilton to tap into a vision of masculinity that is synergistic with and inspires his work. The two films created by Schorr and Hamilton, Climb and Rope, capture the emotion that makes fashion more than cloth and thread.

JACOB BROWN

IMaGeS COLLIeR SChORR fOR TIM haMILTOn. aLL CLOThInG TIM haMILTOn

TiM HaMilTon and Collier SCHorr Make ModelS CliMb

IMaGeS Ryan M c GInLey COuRTeSy PRInGLe Of SCOTLanD aLL CLOThInG PRInGLe Of SCOTLanD

The duo behind Pringle of Scotland’s short film and print campaign, photographer Ryan McGinley and actress Tilda Swinton, are seated on a long white sofa in London’s Saatchi Gallery. They’ve spent the afternoon answering questions from a pack of journalists.

“It’s not been that bad,” Swinton admits. “I could sit here all day with Ryan.” To say the two of them have formed a bond is an understatement. McGinley refers to Swinton alternately as his “brother from another mother” and his “twin sister,” although the two met only three weeks ago on the Pringle set. “It feels as if we had always been psychically connected,” Swinton explains.

The campaign feaures Swinton in a variety of gorgeous Scottish settings. “I fell in love with the landscape,” McGinley explains. “I felt I was evoking the work of Derek Jarman, which is how I was introduced to Tilda. I studied Jarman’s films in art school, and he was one of my biggest influences.”

Much of Swinton’s early career, including the work of Jarman, revolved around role reversal; namely, her willingness to blur gender and sexual identity. Of her various roles as men in the arts—she once appeared as Mozart in a play in the composer’s native Vienna—and her personal penchant for menswear, she explains: “Identity is a concept I’m inspired by.” She takes McGinley’s hand for emphasis. “I find it interesting that society says someone should conform to this or that. That the absurdities of these conventions isn’t obvious to everyone intrigues me.” DEREK BLASBERG

Soccer BomB Model douglas Neitzke (Ford) studio Fast ashleys special thaNks Nils (Fast ashleys studio) (l) photography aNthoNy MaNdler (r)grooMiNg rie oMoto (see MaNageMeNt)

DaviD Beckham, Biggest footie star in the galaxy, has a new aDiDas line

On an autumn evening in Los Angeles, David Beckham was celebrating the launch of his new line for Adidas, Originals by

Originals (ObyO), at an event space next door to the brand’s

Melrose Avenue store. His wife, former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, and friends including Ben Stiller, Snoop Dogg,

Ellen Pompeo, and Rashida Jones, stopped by to pay their respects to arguably the most fashionable sports star in the world—and check out the line, which he designed with James Bond, a founder of the hipster sneaker chain Undefeated.

Samples of their luxury take on streetwear adorned the walls like artwork in a gallery.

The line is largely made up of things that Beckham wanted to wear, so he figured everyone else probably did too. “We wanted it to be original,” he says, “not too branded, not too in your face. There’s something that everyone can wear, whether it be going to the gym in the morning or out to dinner in the evening.”

Beckham was decked out in his own wares, an ObyO black leather jacket and sneakers paired with Dior jeans artfully ripped at the knee, two black, beaded bracelets, and a chunky Rolex. The glow of the white leather couch combined with the klieg lights and the buzzing entourage made Beckham seem like a deity. He’s not far from that to his millions of fans, including Bond.

“Being able to sit in a room with one of the most iconic sports figures and just hang out and shoot the shit was the main exciting thing,” Bond explains of the collaboration.

Beckham’s wife first had the idea for the guys to work together after she met Bond at one of his Undefeated stores in L.A. about five years ago. “She said, ‘You should meet David, you two would hit it off,’” Bond recalls.

Shortly thereafter, Beckham signed a lucrative five-year contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team.

When they had their first meeting at the Beckhams’ Beverly Hills abode, Victoria gave the new business partners a crucial piece of advice. “She said to James, ‘Whatever you do, keep it manly,’” Beckham recalls, laughing. “Then she stayed out of it. She has her own stuff going on.”

Beckham completely trusted Bond with the vision for the line. He explains: “Working with someone who knows exactly what he wants and what he’s doing and has my style and ideas and my suggestions down, sometimes before I even say them—that’s something not many people apart from my wife can do. I know what I like and stick to it. I love nice

tailored suits, but I also like to wear sweats and hooded tops, jeans, and sneakers.”

Beckham’s style icons are Steve McQueen and Muhammad Ali, but his real fashion passion is sneakers. “Whenever I go to a different part of the world, I always find out where the best sneaker store is,” says Beckham, who was 7 years old when he got his first pair of Adidas and has been working on collaborations with the brand for over fifteen years.

“I try to collect sneakers not just for myself,” he says, “but for when my sons are older.” Would he put his shoe count at thousands? He shakes his head, flashes his billion-dollar smile, and says, “Maybe hundreds.” DeBorAH ScHoeNemAN PHotogrAPHy cAmeroN KroNe StyliNg yuKi JAmeS Jacket, hoodie, scarF DAviD BecKHAm for ADiDAS origiNAlS By origiNAlS

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NewFaNgled 1

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What advanced civilization has delivered these Products unto us? the Future is here, today!

Photography graeme Montgomery Text danica lo 56

1. Remember way back in the day when your parents tormented their friends with

endless vacation slide shows? Now it’s your turn—with the cinemin swivel portable multimedia projector ($350). Plug, play, and beam your iPhone and iPod photos and videos anywhere, anytime. G-rated if in public transport, please

2. Just call it a WhiteBerry. BlackBerry Bold (price varies by carrier) gets bleached with a snow-white release just in time for winter. The Bold’s signature leatherlike back and vivid broad screen and keyboard get a refreshing face-lift—if Miami were a BlackBerry, this would be it

3. Waterproof, shockproof, dust-proof, and cold-proof, the Pentax optio W80 (MSRP

$300) will withstand the wildest safari or deepest jungle adventure. Unless a large bird of prey or something swoops down and eats it

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4. The HP ENVY 13 laptop (MSRP $1,700) is a razor-sharp 0.8-inches thin, boasts up to seven hours of battery life, and is as light as a kitten but with less meowing and allergens

5. Vertu’s Constellation Ayxta (MSRP from $7,000), is more than just a sexy stainless steel, ceramic-keyed, leatherbacked piece of machinery. It’s a worldwide concierge at your fingertips—at the push of a button, subscribers have access to assistance and advice anywhere in the world

6. With its 8.1 megapixel Cyber-shot camera, built-in Wi-Fi, stereo media-player, and 3G, Sony Ericsson’s W995a multimedia phone ($600) is crack for tech junkies. It comes with one hundred free music downloads—dock it in its own portable speakers ($39.99) and it’s a party in your pocket

7. The wide-screen, touch-screen, highdefinition portable media player Zune HD ($219-$289) plays music, movies, games, and Microsoft apps—and there’s rumors that 3D games are on the horizon for this slick handheld. Oh, yeah!

TAG TEAm

R. CRUMB + VANS Mr. Natural Sk8-Hi $60 at Vans.com

Counterculture artist R. Crumb currently rocks The New Yorker, but in a previous life he helped define the underground comix style of the ’60s. His satirical and sexually-charged drawings lend pop-art and indie cred to these kicks

BIG STORES + COOL DESIGNERS = RETAIL AWESOMENESS Collaborations are all the rage for Fall. Designer Jil Sander’s +J for Uniqlo is already a runaway success, Raf Simons forges ahead with metallics in his ongoing partnership with Dr. Martens, and Jimmy Choo is doing menswear and accessories for the first time with H&M. “Working with H&M allows Jimmy Choo to reach a larger consumer base,” says Jimmy Choo president, Tamara Mellon. “We wanted to create a surprise, which we did with menswear. Although they had to push me a bit. We sat down and talked about, Who is the Jimmy Choo woman’s boyfriend or husband, and what’s he going to wear?”

Smart suits, sleek leather bombers, and polished ankle boots, by the looks of it.

Here are some of our favorites.

COMME DES GARÇONS + CONVERSE Sneakers $100 at Comme des Garçons

Wearing your heart on your sleeve is so last century. Try stitching it onto the side of your Chuck Taylor’s instead!

Comme des Garçons PLAY does just that for Winter. The line’s trademark heart-with-eyeballs adorns high- and low-top canvas sneaks, making them oh-so-PLAYful.

We heart ’em

Photography Adrian Gaut Text Danica Lo

SIX SCENTS: SERIES TWO Fragrances $95 each at Seven New York

The second installment of fragrance team-ups from Six Scents delivers olfactory pleasures from Phillip Lim, Damir Doma, Henrik Vibskov, Henry Holland, Richard Nicoll, and Toga. Only two thousand bottles of each scent will be produced, and a percentage of the proceeds will be donated to support ProNatura’s environment and sustainability programs

RAG & BONE + PENFIELD Jacket $795 at Rag & Bone

Rag & Bone gets all hunter-tough with Penfield.

Their goose-down trailwear jacket with zip-off sleeves makes for a lumberjack look in a jiffy.

Made of water-resistant, windproof melton wool, design details on the winter-hardy puffa include traditional shoulder yokes, shaped hems, and a leather Rag & Bone arm patch. You can even wear one detached sleeve as a leg warmer for a real funky look! Or not

RAF SIMONS + DR. MARTENS Koram Flash metallic boots (price upon request) at Dr. Martens stores

Raf Simons and Dr. Martens combine classic silhouettes with two distinct Simons looks: an American minimalist Carl Andre–inspired metallic gold, copper, and pewter collection, featuring a shaped toe and limitededition metallic welt stitching; and a more classic range, inspired by 1930s-style traditional English shoes

JEREMY SCOTT + ADIDAS King of Africa track top $250 and Mickey Mouse high-tops $250 at Adidas Originals stores

Adidas forges fashionforward in its longtime collaboration with wild-child designer Jeremy Scott. The newest offerings for Fall include this chenille tiger-patch track top and glossy Disney sneaks.

Technicolor 1980s childhood nostalgia, anyone? Yes, please!

YOHJI YAMAMOTO + DR. MARTENS Tweed boots (price upon request) at Yohji Yamamoto and Dr. Martens stores

JIMMY CHOO + H&M Leather jacket (above) $299 Ankle boots (left) $148 Scarf (below) $49.95 at H&M

Swedish collab-happy superchain H&M taps Choo for its newest high-low limited-edition collection. Featuring a range of men’s handbags, accessories, and shoes, the joint effort is a first for both companies. It’s H&M’s first design venture with an accessories company and Jimmy Choo’s first foray into apparel. We’re glad they explored their virginity together

If the rugged work-boot aesthetic of Dr. Martens and Yohji Yamamoto’s genteel, luxury fabrication spawned offspring...well actually they did: this nine-eye, inside-zipped boot in black, red, or blue graphic print, or a premium tweed and nappa leather version in navy and cream, black and white, or solid black

BERNHARD WILLHELM + CAMPER Boots $600 at Opening Ceremony

Camper, the Majorcan footwear brand adored for its quirky, ultracomfortable shoes, yields a capsule collection inspired by the classic hiking boot but intended for urban trekking, courtesy of Willhelm. Always one to shy away from understatement, and blessed with a keen eye for detail, Willhelm adorned the megastylized footwear with serrated lug soles, aged leathers, signature buckles, and prominent stitching

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CHANEL Allure Homme Sport DeoDorAnt Men don’t perspire, they sweat. And stylish men don’t use Right Guard, they use Chanel $18.50 cHAnel.com

DOLCE & GAbbANA ligHt blue After SHAve Prevents razor burn, attracts mates with its refreshing morning scent $45 SAkS.com

LAb SERIES SmootH SHAve oil Forget foams and gels.

Only a couple of drops of this clear oil will do the trick $18 lAbSerieS.com

VERSACE HAir & boDy SHAmpoo A revitalizing scent that simplifies your shower products to one bottle $32 mAcyS.com

TOM FORD tuScAn leAtHer cologne A delicious leathery spice of a scent, rough and masculine with no hints of perfume $180 tomforD.com

KIEHL’S flAgSHip excluSive ultimAte rAzor A classic, timeless style that holds modern blades $85 excluSively At kieHl’S Since 1851

DIPTyQUE pHiloSykoS SoApS The always-chic Paris company’s classic scent of fig encompasses not only the fruit but the whole tree, bark and all

well-kemPt SALVES, CREAMS, LOTIONS, TONICS, ELIxIRS, ETC. PhotograPhy Sharif hamza text william van meter

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moDel cHArleS Devoe (mAjor) printing box

$35 SpAcenk

covETED MATTEr OuR hanDY GuiDE TO hELp aLLEviaTE YOuR SEvERE caSE OF ThE hOLiDaY GimmE GimmE GimmE’S. FROm RuSTic TO DEnim TO RainbOw bRiGhT, wE’vE GOT YOu cOvERED Photography Pascal Aulagner Editor Jay Massacret Text Danica Lo

FEETS OF GLORY Delightful, luxurious, gentlemanly TOm FORD tasseled slippers (above) $4,660 RaLph LauREn puRpLE LabEL crested slippers (right) $650

ROuGE wavE can an outfit be any more festive? no L.L. bEan trapper hat $40 Y-3 Knit hat $105 caLvin KLEin cOLLEcTiOn razor cut T-shirt $250 DOLcE & Gabbana silk suit $2,795

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ToaSTY cozy up to shufe around the homestead with layered wool l.l. Bean wool socks $17.95 Woolrich For conVerSe sneakers $115

counTrY eSTaTe lanVin angora felt cap $535 oPening ceremonY shirt $280 Woolrich Woolen millS trail jacket $550 marc JacoBS gloves $575

en guarde!

Fire iT uP The perfect host gift smells like limitededition holiday spirit ralPh lauren home scented candle $45

Perfect to open gifts, safes, etc.

The VicTorinox Swiss army knife and tools $120

holiday hunting keep winter cheery

OxFOrd BlueS The only color, besides black, you can wear head-to-toe without frightening other people rOBerT Geller FOr levi’S shirt $195 lANviN.ACNe trousers $495 dieSel sneakers $100

SPOT-ON Bleach is the new bleach H&M shirt $24.95 McQ By AlexANder McQueeN jeans $300

CArry ON ANd ON Weekend luggage perfection, or just to show-off at the gym. lANviN sports duffel bag $1,325

JEANIOUS Is it or isn’t it?

Denim is a printed matter D&G shirt $495 and jeans $300

FLATPACK Finally, work-appropriate denim, sort of CALvIN KLEIN COLLECTION leather document case $1,350 leather portfolio $975

BLUES & SOLE Rugged gentility in a shoebox LEvI’S “Upton” boot $80

Jean Splicing Spring denim hitS

GroominG rutGer (See manaGement) modelS alexander JohanSSon, Gordon Bothe (new York modelS), Paolo anchiSi (Ford), roBert rae (dna), chriS Pulliam (wilhelmina) StYliSt aSSiStant olivia kozlowSki

COLOR BLOCKED TOpman green and blue trousers $140 UniqLO socks $5 CaLvin KLEin COLLECTiOn blue oxfords (left) $450 Lanvin lace-ups (right) $925

Zip/TUCK a pocket protector for your most precious hardware maRC By maRC JaCOBs laptop sleeve $58

OH snap Beyond retro. BLaCKBiRD FLy CamERa By sUpERHEaDZ from moma Design store $125

REaR ViEW pack it up, pack it in DSqUaRED backpack $1,850 CaLViN KLEiN COLLECtiON transparent jacket $1,295 turquoise sport pants from suit $1,350

tWO-timiNG Original chrono plastic and water-resistant SWatCH “yellow Head” and “Red toxin” watches $110 each

SUN SHOWERS Come rain or shine, we’ve got you covered Left: SUpER wayfarer sunglasses $117 BURBERRy pRORSUm parka $1,095 LOUiS VUittON pullover $980 BURBERRy pRORSUm scrunch pants $895 DSqUaRED boots $586 Right: LOUiS VUittON sunglasses $390 BURBERRy pRORSUm parka $1,295 CaLViN KLEiN COLLECtiON polo $650 BURBERRy pRORSUm scrunch pants $895 DSqUaRED boots $348

PRISM EFFECT SPRIng’S lookIng bRIghT

w w w . p o u p o u l a p i n . c o m a r t w o r k b y n a y l a n d b l a k e

f a s h i o n a v a i l a b l e

f o r m e n & w o m e n a t c o l e t t e , p a r i s

NEW FACES OF FASHION BRIT STARS OF TOMORROW HOLLYWOOD ICONS OF TODAY DIDDY! DID HE? GYM GEAR FOR ANY TIME, ANY PLACE EARLY ’90s DENIM TO TOUGHEN UP YOUR LOOK WINTER WEAR FROM THE CITY TO THE MOUNTAINS ARISTOCRATIC SUITS

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Face oFF the latest crop of VMaN Model search coNtestaNts desceNded upoN loNdoN to do battle. left staNdiNg aMid the blood, gore, aNd chic desigNer clothes was wiNNer, rico NieVes. he caMe, he saw, he coNquered, aNd he left with a ford coNtract. Meet all of the coNteNders whose careers are about to take off Photography Nick Knight Styling Simon Foxton

Rico nieves, 25, fRom loRain, ohio, weaRs Tank and panTs Prada

Matt schMitt, 17, froM new albany, ohio, wears sweatshirt AlexAnder M c Queen

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Louis harris-Tench, 24, from London, wears shirT and panTs Dolce & Gabbana ring his own

daiv ambrose, 22, from midland, texas

Matt nichols, 20, froM toronto, wears rope necklace emPorio armani

Matt schMitt wears Jacket Jean Paul Gaultier

from left: louis harris-tench wears t-shirt and pants Rick Owens earring and ring his own matt nichols wears sweatpants and rope necklace empORiO ARmAni

D’Marco jones, 23, froM Detroit, Michigan, wears feather pants anD shirt John Galliano

D’Marco jones wears carDigan, turtleneck, pants Louis Vuitton this story, all jewelry (unless otherwise noteD) froM MichaeL costiff’s WorLd archiVe

daiv ambRose weaRs Jeans d&G

haiR duffy foR Tommy guns ny (pRemieR) gRooming floRRie whiTe using chanel a /w 09 (d+v managemenT) models Rico nieves, maTT schmiTT, maTT nichols, louis haRRis-Tench, d’maRco Jones phoTo assisTanTs TRisTan Thomson, adam goodison, andy vowels, ben beagenT, nick chaRd and Rasmus Jensen sTylisT assisTanTs elgaR Johnson and Rufai aJala manicuRe maRion newman and adam slee (sTReeTeRs) digiTal capTuRe Joe colley aT passeRidae lighTing by keneTic and unique ReTouching Tom wandRag (epiloque imaging) special Thanks paRk Royal sTudios and someRseT house daiv ambRose’s self-poRTRaiTs weRe submiTTed as paRT of an online enTRy To The vman foRd model seaRch

Sir Anthony Hopkins doesn’t so much play a character as become one. Hopkins disappears into his roles, from patrician aristocrat to homicidal maniac. But linking all of his characters is the sparkle in his glare.

“arguably one of the greatest living actors, effortlessly cool with a classic edge, sir anthony hopkins is a British icon.”

—Christopher Bailey creative Director oF BurBerry

Four Fashion visionaries nominate their creative inspirations 80

© Jim mcHugH/SygmA/corBiS

anthony hopkins

FIlM stIll oF EAsTERn PRomisEs, couRtesy oF Focus FeatuRes

viggo mortensen Before playing the post-apocalyptic wanderer in this month’s The Road, Mortensen made his name as the thinking man’s action hero in films like A History of Violence.

In 2007’s Eastern Promises, Mortensen played an inked Russian mob soldier with a golden moral compass.

“i am fascinated by viggo mortensen.

For me he represents a man who is sure of himself, who has the confidence and strength to experiment with his identity— to constantly reinvent himself. He carries the marks of life, which i love; he is a survivor. He looks like a person that will always surprise. there’s a danger there, but at the same time a tenderness, even perhaps a certain boyishness. i think he personifies the perfect balance between the physical and the intellectual.”

—riccardo tisci Artistic Director of Givenchy

robert mapplethorpe

“Creation should be about the total freedom of expression, and mapplethorpe truly embodies this idea. his work explored the boundaries of aesthetics, art, and performance, and it was very much connected to his sexuality and the people around him.”

—raf SimonS Designer of raf simons anD Creative DireCtor of Jil sanDer

© The RoBeRT MaPPleThoRPe FoundaTion / aRT + CoMMeRCe

Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe’s name conjures images of ’70s excess and ’80s decadence. But his emotional, provocative oeuvre is a timeless testament. Mapplethorpe found the inherent beauty in his subjects with his empathic images.

trojan Trojan was the roommate/muse to Leigh Bowery. Together, they were their art incarnate.

Their unhinged sense of style and the absurd redefined social parameters of ’80s London and reintroduced art to a nightclub context.

“the Mozart of my youth.”

—alexander McQueen Creative DireCtor of

PhoTograPhy ©PauL harTneTT/PyMCa

alexanDer M c Queen anD M c Q

waiting in the wings Photography hedi slimane styling nicola Formichetti text Lauren Cochrane A new generAtion of British tAlent is equAlly comfortABle in speciAl effects-lAden BlockBusters And on the stAge. hAil the new thespiAns!

ChRistian COOKe He might not know it, but Christian Cooke is about to become a teen heartthrob. The 23-year-old with sideswept hair and clear blue eyes is currently starring as Dorian Gaudain in Trinity, Britain’s answer to Gossip Girl, set in an Oxbridge-style university. Dorian is an aristocratic Chuck Bass. “I think it’s good, but it’s been panned by the critics,” says Cooke of the series. The show has helped fans see a lot of him too—he had three nude scenes in the first episode alone. If Trinity takes care of the teens, Cooke’s next project, due in April, will usher him to household-name territory. He just wrapped Cemetery Junction, a feature film by The Office creators, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Gervais has compared the film, about three friends in the ’70s and the summer they leave school, to Saturday Night Fever. “There’s no dancing, thank God,” laughs Cooke, “but it is an upbeat, feel-good movie about working-class people.” Cooke plays the lead, Freddie, a boy desperate for a job at the height of a recession who ends up selling life insurance. While Cooke maintains there are parallels between Freddie and himself, hunting for a job isn’t one of them. Cooke is in demand, but determined to keep up the quality of his work, even if that means turning down jobs. “Integrity costs money,” he says. “I want to do things I believe in.”

Jacket photographer’s own

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Jamie CamPBeLL BOweR Jamie Campbell Bower, the impish 21-year-old with an artfully messy mop, has done his time in costume—as love-struck Anthony in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, vampire Caius in Twilight: New Moon, and dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in the upcoming Harry Potter films. “Jeans and a T-shirt would be nice next,” he jokes. He might have to wait awhile for that—his latest project, London Boulevard, ditches the wizard robes but still has an element of dress up. Set in the London underworld, the film is the directorial debut of William Monahan, the screenwriter behind The Departed, and stars Keira Knightley and Colin Farrell.

“I play a guy with dreadlocks and gold teeth,” laughs

Campbell Bower. “Something a little bit different.” It’s certainly different from Campbell Bower’s background. Brought up in West London, he went to a boarding school renowned for educating the privileged in a liberal way. It was also where he started acting, in school plays. “It was always something I felt comfortable doing,” he recalls. He attended the Sweeney Todd audition not thinking he would ever get the part, just as a foray into the audition process. He landed the role. “That was pretty sick!” Bower opines. Indeed it was. He hasn’t looked back since.

JACKeT BaRBOuR WATCH d&g

Alex Pettyfer Alex Pettyfer shifts in his chair, fiddling with his black RayBans. It’s clear that he is not one for interviews. “It is kind of weird,” he says, rubbing his hand across a newly shaven head. “I only want to talk about the work.” Well, we can start there. Pettyfer, who is 19 and hails from Windsor, on the outskirts of London, first came to prominence at the age of 15 in Tom Brown’s Schooldays, a 2005 adaptation of the 19th-century novel. Chosen out of over five hundred other boys, Pettyfer would never have even tried out if it wasn’t for his bladder. “I was on a school trip and went to find the toilet,” he remembers. “I wandered into the audition in my school uniform.” He scored the part, opposite British national treasure Stephen Fry, and decamped to L.A. two years later. It was easy to adapt.

“I’m lucky that I feel at home in the same place as where I earn my living,” he says. The work, again, was a major part

of the transition. Pettyfer was handpicked by writer Anthony Horowitz to star in the film version of his book, Stormbreaker.

Pettyfer just completed Beastly, a modern interpretation of Beauty and the Beast, also starring Vanessa Hudgens and Mary-Kate Olsen. He plays the Beast, complete with scarred face and sleepless eyes. “I’m in every scene, which meant six and a half hours in prosthetics every day,” he says. “But I was a very lucky guy,” he adds, referring to his fellow cast members with a devilish grin. Not that Pettyfer, a straightedged teetotaler, is likely to be seen at the same hangouts as these lovely ladies. “I’m not into the party scene,” he admits. “I like to have barbeques on the beach and go rock climbing at Joshua Tree.” A personal revelation from Alex Pettyfer? You read it here first.

Je ANS diesel

LuKe tReadaway Luke Treadaway wishes he could get through one interview without mentioning his identical twin, actor Harry Treadaway. “It is hard,” he admits. especially because the two starred together in the 2005 cult hit Brothers of the Head. The film, the story of Siamese twins in a ’70s rock band, is where it all started for both Treadaways. “It was quite intense,” Treadaway remembers, rolling his enormous green eyes. “Twelve-hour days and being surrounded by people with massive egos.”

The 25-year-old will make the shift from cult to blockbuster with the remake of ’80s mythological epic Clash of the Titans, starring Ralph Fiennes.

Treadaway plays Prokopion, a prophet “who is basically Hades’ man on the ground.” A big-budget production, Titans was the first time Treadaway had worked with special effects and supersized sets. “I wasn’t sure if I could believe in a tennis ball as a monster or whatever,” he admits, “but you just realize what’s in your mind.” Treadaway’s other 2010 film is the modern Faustian tale Heartless. Treadaway plays the concerned brother to Jim Sturgess, who sells his soul to the devil. Always the brother, eh? At least it wasn’t his twin.

VeST aRmani exChange T-SHIRT VINTAGe

dOugLas BOOth Douglas Booth isn’t a typical 17 year old. Dressed in a Burberry mac and dark jeans with his sleek blond hair falling into his chocolate-colored eyes, Booth has a restrained, adult air that is beyond his years, which is fortunate since he leads a very grown-up life. His self-assurance comes from years in the business. Booth discovered acting at 12, after struggling with dyslexia at school. He attended acting class with aspiring thespians six years his senior. After his mother e-mailed the agency Curtis Brown (which also reps Robert Pattinson and Dev Patel), the company signed the 14-yearold. Then his career progressed quickly. From Time to Time, a supernatural miniseries directed by Gosford Park writer Julian

Fellowes, introduced him to television viewers, and his audience has been even further expanded by his moonlighting in

the new Burberry campaign with emma Watson.

“We had these massive, epic lunches,” he gleefully recalls of the shoots.

Booth just wrapped filming The Pillars of the Earth, a costume drama also starring Donald Sutherland. The role required him to ride horses and wield a sword. “I love that my job involves getting on a horse and pretending to kill people,” he says. “Does it get any better?” For Booth, it only can.

DeNIM SHIRT AND T-SHIRT aRmani Jeans

thOmas sangsteR Thomas Sangster arrives for his interview rocking a motorbike

look—complete with Harley, boots, jacket, and helmet. His style contrasts charmingly with his puckish looks and skinny frame. Acting for close to ten years, Sangster grew up backstage helping out on productions his parents (both actors) worked on. eventually, he thought the acting part “looked quite fun” and tried his luck. At 13, Sangster wowed in Love Actually (which also featured his distant cousin Hugh Grant) as Liam Neeson’s stepson, and worked on Jane Campion’s quiet, emotional Bright Star—the story of John Keats and his love interest, Fanny Brawne. Sangster plays Fanny’s brother, and says that Campion directed “just enough.”

Sangster’s next project puts him in the spotlight—or half of

it, at least. He plays Paul McCartney in Sam Taylor Wood’s film Nowhere Boy, a study of John Lennon in the ’50s, when the band was known as The Quarrymen and Beatlemania wasn’t even a glimmer. “It was challenging because, well, he’s Paul McCartney and he’s been in the public eye forever,” says Sangster. “There’s barely any footage from the time, and only one recording to get his voice right.” Any nerves can be calmed, however, by approval from the man himself. “He never managed to get down to the set, but apparently he liked the film,” says Sangster. “He paused when it got to the bit with me, and said ‘That’s me, then, is it?’” Yes, it is.

JACKeT hein geRiCKe

retouching dtouch digital technician devin Blair (provision photographic) stylist assistant anna trevelyan photo assistants rudolf Bekker and Jordan grant grooming kelly cornwell (premier) location spring studios

tOm hughes Author Roald Dahl is partly responsible for Tom Hughes’s acting career. Playing the title character in The Fantastic Mr. Fox in his school’s stage adaptation when he was 8 was a defining moment. “My mum always tells this story, that I came off the stage and still had this big nose on and said, ‘That’s what I want to do! I’ve never been happier than when I was doing that!’” grins the blue-eyed boy, sixteen years later. “I never grew out of it.” Hughes went to RADA, partly because he “didn’t have a clue how else to make this my career.” Three years at the prestigious acting school paid off—it’s only a year after he left, and the Northern-born 24-year-old has already starred with Christian Cooke in Cemetery Junction. If Cemetery Junction is as Hollywood as a British film gets, Hughes has also worked on the other end of the scale too. Low-budget Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

is the biopic of post-punk legend Ian Dury. It was produced on a shoestring budget, but the cast is a testament to the film’s quality—Hughes plays bassist Chaz Jankel and lines up alongside Ray Winstone, Noemie Harris, and Mackenzie Crook, with Andy Serkis (aka Gollum in Lord of the Rings) as Dury. Hughes met Jankel as part of the production process. “I was really nervous, “ Hughes remembers. “I know he said he wanted Richard Gere to play him and here I am, this cocky little shit. Within two minutes, though, it was like we were soul mates.” Hughes relishes emotional roller coasters like this—they’re part of that job he fell for so long ago. As he says, “I love not knowing what you’re going to go through every day.”

JACKeT tOPman T-SHIRT POLO RaLPh LauRen JeANS gaP

Get pumped up for sprinG photography terry richardson styling mel ottenberg

Cable Curls Garrett wears t-shirt sisley swimsuit bernhard Willhelm socks ameriCan apparel sneakers puma

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Shoulder ShrugS Corey wears singlet Bernhard Willhelm soCks american apparel shoes dior homme on skin, rodin olio lusso

Kettle Weight SquatS Corey wears Hoodie uniqlo sHorts vintage from Cherry Vintage nyC soCks bernhard Willhelm sHoes onitSuKa tiger by aSiCS

Dumbbell Curls From leFt: Grayson wears shorts ViCtor GlemauD x quiksilVer swimsuit Juun J for speeDo sneakers ConVerse sunGlasses Y-3 tanner wears shorts ViCtor GlemauD x quiksilVer underwear bJรถrn borG sneakers laCoste sunGlasses Y-3 on hair, reDken Glass 01 smoothinG serum

Traps sTreTches Nate wears t-shirt Guess shorts Michael BasTian Jockstrap viNtage from cherry VinTaGe nyc heaDBaND Fila socks Bernhard WillhelM sNeakers conVerse

Shoulder PreSSeS Garrett wears swimsuit dSquared socks american aPParel sneakers adidaS

Glute StretcheS Nate wears taNk roberto cavalli shorts Saucony socks american apparel sNeakers D&G Garrett wears taNk roberto cavalli Biker shorts calvin Klein collection socks american apparel sNeakers ceSare paciotti

Pull-uPs Tanner wears sweaTshirT Converse by John varvatos shorTs adam selman Fragrance dior Dior homme sporT

hair Dennis DeVoy (arT DeparTmenT) grooming Frank B (The wall group) moDels garreTT neFF, Tanner Tillung (click), naTe gill, corey BonD (major), grayson geTTys (wilhelmina) phoTo assisTanT DaViD swanson sTylisT assisTanTs lesTer garcia anD anaTolli smiTh prop sTyling anDy harmon sTuDio manager seTh golDFarB caTering ilili reTouching gloss

100

From leFt: Joel wears Jacket William Rast Pants Yohji Yamamoto underwear calvin klein undeRWeaR Belt lazaRo Hat empoRio aRmani rings and Bracelets david YuRman marcus wears Jacket William Rast Jeans dsquaRed Belt and Jewelry lazaRo alex wears Jacket G-staR Jeans Gap all Jewelry lazaRo Beret stylist’s own

Fashion’s most iconic guys lend a tough new look to the season’s most in-demand denim photography josh olins styling jay massacret

tyson wears customized vest diesel cHain caRtieR Fragrance d&G 1 le Bateleur

Brad wears Jacket maRc jacobs sHirt William Rast sHirt (worn around waist) levi’s Pants GianfRanco feRRé leatHer Beret maRc jacobs sHoes pRada socks Ralph lauRen Bracelets and ring (His leFt) lazaRo Bracelet witH stone and ring (His rigHt) lazaRo link Bracelet (His rigHt) david YuRman watcH nixon tyson wears suit GioRGio aRmani sHirt h&m Belt lazaRo Bracelets john haRdY cHains lazaRo

rJ wears vest Gap Pants dioR homme medusa Head and sHield ring GReGG Wolf square rings david YuRman all otHer rings lazaRo toP Bracelet (His rigHt) GReGG Wolf Bottom Bracelet (His rigHt) lazaRo toP Bracelet (His leFt) david YuRman Bottom two Bracelets (His leFt) lazaRo on Hair, Redken water wax 03 sHine deFining Pomade

Joel wears sHirt just cavalli Pants z zeGna toP Belt witH Fringe GReGG Wolf Bottom Belt and necklace lazaRo Hat Y-3

marcus wears all rings (His rigHt) david YuRman center Bracelet (His leFt) RobeRt lee moRRis Belt and all otHer Jewelry lazaRo Jeans dsquaRed underwear calvin klein undeRWeaR

Joel wears Jacket and Pants Yohji Yamamoto Hat albeRtus sWanepoel foR alexandeR WanG necklaces caRtieR outer two rings (His leFt) david YuRman Pinky ring (His rigHt) RobeRt lee moRRis all otHer rings and cHains lazaRo Fragrance dolce & Gabbana tHe one

alex wears Jacket h&m Pants louis vuitton tank (worn underneatH) calvin klein undeRWeaR sHoes pRada socks punto toP Belt lazaRo Bottom Belt GReGG Wolf Bracelet (His leFt) david YuRman all otHer Jewelry lazaRo

Brad wears Jacket Y-3 Pants dsquaRed necklace david YuRman Belt and cHains lazaRo

tony wears Jacket (worn inside out) buRbeRRY pRoRsum

vest and leatHer Jacket (worn underneatH) William Rast Pants botteGa veneta on Hair, moRoccanoil oil treatment

Hair For Joel west, rJ rogenski, marcus scHenkenBerg, alex lundqvist

By Franco goBBi (art dePartment) Hair For tyson Ballou, Brad kroenig, tony ward By Bok-Hee (streeters) grooming kaoru (management artists) models tyson Ballou, rJ rogenksi, alex lundqvist (wilHelmina), Brad kroenig, marcus scHenkenBerg (Ford), tony ward (dna), Joel west (nous models) PHoto assistants rory Payne, Jason mickle, matt roady stylist assistants olivia kozlowski and edward tang digital tecHnicians matt Farrell and tonia araPovic catering monterone

From leFt: ryan wears Coat Emporio ArmAni turtleneCk monclEr sCuba pants cAmAro baCkpaCk, hat (worn underneath), gloves, boots Burton hat (worn on top) G-StAr sunglasses oAklEy Chain Clip y-3 soCks AmEricAn AppArEl Julian wears Coat monclEr shorts Emporio ArmAni sCuba pants cAmAro boots Burton Fur gloves (worn as sCarF) poloGEorGiS sunglasses oAklEy soCks uniqlo blaine wears JaCket and shorts Emporio ArmAni thermal leggings AcnE goggles Burton gloves FAirFiEld GlovE compAny

112

Bright colors, futuristic faBrics, and a touch of fur make for an adventurous winter wardroBe Photography Benjamin Alexander Huseby Styling Jay Massacret

From leFt: ryan wears Coat (worn inside out) diESEl turtleneCk rlX rAlpH lAurEn ski pants with suspenders monclEr nEiGE collEction ski mask duckiE Brown helmet, goggles, baCkpaCk Burton gloves Emporio ArmAni soCks JockEy boots nikE

Julian wears Coat (worn inside out) diESEl ski pants with suspenders monclEr nEiGE collEction goggles and baCkpaCk Burton gloves duckiE Brown soCks uniqlo boots d&G

blaine wears Coat Gucci shearling Coat (worn underneath) AdAm kimmEl sunglasses oAklEy

Julian wears JaCket truSSArdi 1911 ski mask and gloves duckiE Brown hat Burton sunglasses oAklEy Fur gloves (worn as sCarF) poloGEorGiS baCkpaCk tHE nortH FAcE

Ryan weaRs Coat Ann Demeulemeester tuRtleneCk Duckie Brown sCuba pants cAmAro Gloves moncler soCks AmericAn AppArel boots reD wing

Ryan weaRs Coat (woRn inside out) Tim HamilTon Vest and tuRtleneCk RalpH lauRen black label sweatshiRt and leggings 1909 VicToRinox goggles buRTon gloVes moncleR Boots Tom FoRd

Julian wears Coat GivEncHy By riccArdo tiSci sweater and boots Burton shorts EA7 Emporio ArmAni leggings and hat 1909 victorinoX sunglasses oAklEy watCh SwAtcH gloves Emporio ArmAni

hair FranCo gobbi (art department) models blaine Cook (maJor), Julian Feitsma (Ford ny), ryan smith (CliCk) photo assistant Jenny hueston stylist assistants olivia kozlowski and shawn lisle digital operator Joe gunn speCial thanks georgia lopresti meCkes and ski patrol at belleayre mountain, new york’s winter snow park. highmount ny www.belleayre.Com

GENTLEMEN OF LEISURE Spring’S fineSt-cut SuitS hark back to a time of old-world elegance and tailoring. inSpired by iconS like the duke of windSor, rudolph Valentino, gary cooper, and baron nicolaS de gunzburg, theSe photographS beg the queStion, how well kept are you?

Photography Karl Lagerfeld Styling Jacob K

120

Baptiste wears suit, shirt, tie Dolce & Gabbana Belt Paul Smith Chain Valmont tie pin carlo manzi

baptiste wears suit, coat, tie Salvatore Ferragamo shirt Charvet chain Cartier collar bar Carlo manzi on hair, BumBle and BumBle Gellac

IrIs wears shIrt, pants, tIe Dolce & Gabbana suspenders Jean Paul Gaultier Bracelet Valmont Brooch lanVin sIlver armBands HarVie & HuDson collar Bar carlo manzi orIol wears shIrt HilDitcH & Key Bow tIe DunHill suspenders carlo manzi cufflInks Valmont on mIrror (from left) dotted tIe WunDerKinD prInted scarf Dries Van noten prInted tIe Hermès

baptiste wears Jacket louis vuitton shirt, shorts, shoes lanvin bow tie HermĂˆs socks PantHerella sock Garters Carlo manzi flower brooch lanvin Double c brooch CHanel Necklace rePossi

Baptiste we ars Suit Versace Shirt charVet tie Jil sander Bar necklace Maison Martin Margiela line 11 croSS pendant necklace dior hoMMe collar Bar carlo Manzi Watch chanel Fragrance chanel allure homme edition Blanche

iris wears treNch coat salvatore Ferragamo suit aND hat Paul smitH shirt lanvin tie dries van noten Necklace rePossi earriNGs CHanel Fine Jewelry oN lips, CHanel rouGe allure lumiNous satiN lip colour iN iNtuitive

Baptiste wears suit with skirt Comme des GarÇons homme plus shirt Brioni tie dunhill pocket square Wunderkind chain Valmont pendant Cartier iris wears Jacket (worn over shoulders) Y Ves saint laurent suit dries Van noten shirt and pocket square CharVet Bow tie Jil sander Brooch Chanel fine JeWelrY necklace maison martin marGiela line 11 earrings Chanel fine JeWelrY hair shon (Julian watson agency) grooming peter philips models Baptiste giaBiconi (dna), iris struBegger (women), oriol elcacho (view) stylist assistants sioBhan lyons and clemente lomBert hair assistant Julien nauBert production daniel hettmann

most wanted In an exclusIve edItorIal project for vMan, artIst rIchard phIllIps creates portraIts of chace crawford, Zac efron, leonardo dIcaprIo, justIn tIMberlake, and robert pattInson artwork by Richard Phillips Captions by michael K text by aimee walleston Contributing art editor dominic sidhu

I see a rainbow and I want to paint it black. Men experience a curious mix of love and hate when they look at images of their celebrity brethren. They see the person they want to be and the competitor they want to destroy. Richard Phillips is known for his figurative paintings of high-gloss surface glamour fraught with questions of fame, power, and commerce. In his newest work, “Most Wanted,” commissioned exclusively by VMAN, Phillips sheds new light on some of America’s most recognized faces. Like the phases of the moon, Phillips’s portraits illustrate the temporal stages in the lives of the most in-demand male celebrities.

In these portraits, the subjects stand in front of “step-andrepeat” backdrops, the staged red carpet photo-op settings supplied by advertisers sponsoring premieres and events.

Actors get press coverage by being photographed in front of walls plastered with sponsor logos. Sponsors get their brands blessed by the power of celebrity. By reinterpreting these photographs (which Phillips describes as “utterly worthless, and completely harnessed to commerce”) in pastel, Phillips has effectively brought each of these famous men into the realm of sorcery. The medium recalls ancient cave painting, where our ancestors used abstract depiction to 130

conjure the essence of what they drew. The gestural qual-

ity makes these boys more touchable than the camera ever could, and more real, yet their poses and the Easter egg colored backdrops retain an implacable otherness. They remain above and beyond us still.

This tension seems integral to Philips’s intricately-wrought conceptual framework for the piece. “There is funny double play with this work,” the artist explains. “It’s a come-on. I’m literally inviting you up to show you my pastels.” By depicting sought-after celebrities, Phillips is repositioning power roles.

What if a Versace step-and-repeat wall is truly a distillation of the ‘fuck all y’all glamour’ of Versace? What if, in front of it, Zac Efron becomes not just a teen fantasy item for sale, but the very thing his identity purports him to be—the boy every American boy wants to be; good and maybe a little bad, American to the core without a hint of pretension, and doubling over with raw ambition (to match his lady love’s naked ambition)? He is Zac Efron, with the mystical magic of Versace glamour to back him up.

Who we cannot be—scratch that, who we do not allow ourselves to be—becomes totemic to us. In our strange, animal hearts, we choose pretty young men as our leaders. We make

our beautiful actors into gods only to shove them in front of step-and-repeats so that they become indistinguishable from the advertised product scrawled behind them. And then a question gets raised: to what end does it behoove a young man to have that particular label behind him? “Pick me, LV, for your next campaign—don’t we look gorgeous together?”

And what happens to these pictures of icons leaning against icons? They disappear into pixel dust—forgotten upon sight and remaining as a ghostly archive on Perez or Dlisted (the fame bashing/worshipping blog whose editor lovingly captioned each portrait).

The minutes that tick by in our lives often matter far less than we hoped they would. By this standard, the moments we imagine our stars living must live up to expectations we could never fulfill for ourselves. Our culture strives to apply meaning to the meaningless—and the development of a consistently successful pose at the step-and-repeat can exist as a code for a beautiful life. What is stardom but a private trailer and an assistant handing you a fresh towel? Perhaps what they truly shed light on is the collective, willful naïveté in believing that those distinctions can be so easily parsed.

And on the seventh dAy, the MAttel fActory burned to the ground And chAce crAwford rose froM the Ashes like the Most perfect ken doll gleAMing in the sun.

when tweens witness ZAc efron flip his hAir in high-definition, they instAntly lose their virginity just like thAt.

do you think leonArdo dicAprio is still MAd At kAte winslet for letting go?!

every tiMe justin tiMberlAke sings in fAlsetto, A puppy gets cAstrAted. bob bArker Approves.

ImagIng ServIceS InduStrIal color

whenever you see A rAinbow in the sky, you cAn rest Assured knowing thAt robert pAttinson just hAd An orgAsM.

Defining DiDDy

Once the pOster bOy fOr hip-hOp excess, sean cOmbs has a new image and a new sOund. it’s nOthing tO dO with bling and everything tO dO with black Photography Chad Pitman Styling Jay Massacret Text Jacob Brown

jacket and shirt Sean John

137

“We’re The oBaMa generaTion anD iT’S noT all aBouT Where We are aT anD Where We are froM, BuT alSo, Where We Can go” — Sean CoMBS

diddy has love on the brain. “it’s my strength, my weakness, my kryptonite,” says the rapper, producer, mogul, and fashion designer. “it’s the thing i am always in search of— and i am the type of person that if i love you, i love you hard.” sure, that might sound like a sickly sweet stanza from some bubblegum-pop outfit’s latest hit—but when it comes out of sean combs’s mouth, and he is sitting across the table looking you right in the eyes, it sounds utterly heartfelt. the machismo façade of diddy is on the wane. in its place, something softer is emerging, not soft in a weak sense, but in a real sense. this month sees the release of the first singles from Last Train to Paris, combs’s new album, set for a March release. a concept album, it details a turgid, tough romance, all told in first person so that the listener can’t help but equate it with the impresario himself. the truncated version is as follows: Boy meets a girl. they fall madly in love. But eventually she leaves him for being too much of a bling-bling hip-hop stereotype. “Pulling that diddy shit,” is how combs aptly phrases it. heartbroken, he languishes until one night in London he gets a call. she has been spotted at a Paris club. he races to the station, all his hopes of winning her back pinned on catching the last eurostar out.

Last Train to Paris is refreshingly not all about the Benjamins, a complete volte-face for Mr. combs. no one is spillin’ cristal. no playas. no bitches. no guns. if anything, the songs indict the hip-hop lifestyle, blaming it for chasing away the thing he wants most, the thing he calls more precious than bling. has the world’s biggest hip-hop ego—the one with giant sean john cologne billboards of himself towering over times square—turned introspective? Yes. and it shows, not just in the music, but in the way he’s promoting the work. One example: over the summer he invited press to his recording studio in midtown Manhattan to preview the album. introducing the tracks, he cautioned that they were works in progress. he hemmed and hawed over what the music meant, what he was trying to express—endearingly insecure behavior, the lot of it. “it’s a weird thing,” diddy says, “like, now that it’s really personal, i want everybody to hear it, but at the same time, i’m scared for everybody to hear it. i think i have evolved a little bit, grown up. the ostentatious, over-the-top donald trump kind of thing was fun.”

But for combs, that moment has long passed. somewhere, one can assume chicago, Oprah Winfrey is smiling. at the end of 2007 she invited combs to her show, sat him down, and politely read him the riot act. the treatment of women, the glorification of violence: hip-hop might be a rich musical genre, she said, but it was having a detrimental effect on the very people it should be lifting up—all detractions that have existed since day one of rap.

jacket (WOrn inside OUt) and Pants yohJi yaMaMoTo sUngLasses vintage

On the show, combs pointed to hip-hop’s origin, the harsh reality black youths faced in the late ’70s Bronx. For many there were only two ways out of the ghetto, basketball

and hustling. that frustrating reality needed expression. combs admitted to Winfrey that things had changed since the ’70s, but argued that the music still expressed a reality worth hearing. she didn’t fully accept his line of argument, but she saw its merit. since that interview, the world has been turned on its head. For one thing, the economy collapsed. “Unless you have on blinders you know this is one of the craziest times a generation could ever be in,” diddy says. “the future doesn’t look bright.” though, like so many, combs sees the downturn as a creative opportunity. “it is how you deal with it that matters, either you can be depressed or look into what really matters. there are other priceless things besides diamonds,” he says, “like love and the beauty and miracle of making music.” certainly within the vague and sprawling environs of “black music,” creativity is at an all-time high. traditionally, it is a voice for the oppressed. Black music is also defined by the way that white culture has continuously appropriated it. From spirituals to jazz through Motown to modern rap, black artists have been imitated and borrowed (and stolen) from.

But in the last couple of years, that trend has sometimes been inversed, with black music borrowing from white—in fact not even american as much as european—music. the hits are sounding more and more electro. classic hip-hop beats are being displaced by newer techno varieties. diddy derides some of what he calls “euro hip-hop dance” as lacking in rawness. “My music,” he explains, “i always envision it sounding like it comes from a booming system of a car as it drives by.” indeed, Last Train is raw. it feels genuinely new, with a pronounced vulnerability. But raw or not, there is little rapping on the album—combs actually sings. Beats that could be called hip-hop are even rarer. some tracks on the album even evoke the avant-garde scandinavian electronic group the knife. this reversed osmosis of cultural borrowing dovetails nicely with the other event that has changed the world since that Oprah interview: Barack Obama. combs is acutely aware of this turning point and its potential impact on artistry. “it’s almost like black lifestyle represents the new america,” he says. “We’re the Obama generation and it’s not all about where we are at and where we are from, but also, where we can go. it’s past just dreaming about money and freedom. now you can dream of love—or just dream.

You don’t always have to be black and have your black car and be doing black things.” is that why black music can sound like white music now, and still be hip-hop?

With a self-deprecating laugh, combs answers, “that’s the new black, to be able to just make some good music.”

vest BeSS t shirt hooD By air sUngLasses SuPer

jacket (WOrn inside OUt) ToM forD sUngLasses SuPer gLOves Dior hoMMe

trench cOat Z Zegna sUngLasses vintage

PrOdUctiOn BetsY haMMiLL digitaL technician MariO tOrres (anOther digitaL) LOcatiOn sMashBOx stUdiOs stYList assistant OLivia kOzLOWski On set PrOdUctiOn Peter MccFLaFFertY hair shizz grOOMing YUMi (Frank rePs) and MerreLL hOLLis PhOtO assistants nick WaLker and kOUrY angeLO

jacket ToM forD vest (WOrn Underneath) hooD By air earrings cOMBs’s OWn Fragrance Sean John i aM king

“ThaT’S The neW BlaCk, To Be aBle To JuST Make SoMe gooD MuSiC.” —Sean CoMBS

RICHARD BRAnson

To BolDly Go As we yeArn for the new yeAr And spring’s thAw, A few words from A mAn we Admire will do us All some good. A renowned Adventurer And entrepreneur, A mAn who does everything in his own style, richArd BrAnson is A true vmAn—someone we cAn All Aspire to emulAte And leArn from

I love a challenge.

I have broken world records by boat and balloon—and been rescued out of them too.

I have built a respectable group of businesses with fifty thousand global employees, and have worked with them to find solutions to many challenging situations. One of those businesses is even working on commercial spaceflight.

But achieving sustainability of the human race on our planet is the defining challenge of the 21st century.

Climate change threatens the viability of life, as we know it. This is not only about melting ice caps, threatened polar bears, or political debate.

It’s about ensuring economic growth for the long term. It’s about having clean air, fresh water, and enough food for us all. It’s about the survival of our beautiful planet.

There is no silver bullet. The solution will be multi-faceted. The challenge calls for a combination of responses that will mobilize capital, innovation, expertise, international collaboration, and compassion.

We at Virgin Group have used this recipe before. We’re always trying to channel our entrepreneurial strength in creative ways to make a difference.

Virgin Unite, our nonprofit foundation, has built public-private partnerships to tackle health-care issues. For example, we worked with the South African government and started an initiative modeled after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to deliver high-quality data, quickly share best practices, and coordinate responses to serious health crises.

And here in the U.S., Virgin has made it easy for people to support those less fortunate. For instance in November, National Homeless Youth Awareness Month, a donation can be made to the RE*Generation campaign to help homeless youth by visiting www. virginunite.com/campaign/The-REGeneration-USA. Virgin’s ethos can be summed up like this: use business as a force for good. We are testing biofuel flights, flying the most fuel-efficient planes, investing in clean technology, and working to re-engineer our businesses to reduce our carbon footprint. Recently, we convened something called the Carbon War Room. Harnessing the unique influence, resources, and spirit of entrepreneurs from all over the world, the War Room is developing sustainable market-based models that will increase the effectiveness of all climate change efforts.

It’s not beyond us to work out how to live happy and full lives without doing harm to the world. But humanity needs to act faster, and on a grander scale, than it ever has before.

Are you up for the challenge? RICHARD BRAnson 144

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