VMAN 29

spring sUMMEr 2013

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Contributors

bruCe weber sebastian Faena Carlyne CerF de dudzeele kaCper kasprzyk bay garnett Collier sChorr ryan Mcginley shariF haMza benjaMin alexander huseby Mattias karlsson aMy troost robbie spenCer philippe vogelenzang steven westgarth Carlos serrao bjarne jonasson Matthew williaMs robert nethery MaryaM Malakpour Mel bles Catherine newell-hanson stevie danCe toM guinness kris zero ulysse FreChelin kenji toMa alFredo piola MeguMi eMoto roberto reyes t. Cole raChel kyle buChanan jason laMphier logan hill Carrie battan On the Cover DOugLAS BOOth PhOtOgrAPhy BruCE wEBEr FAShION BAy gArNEtt

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f ro n t o f b o o k 45 SPACE ODYSSEY Find out what the future holds for Spring accessories, men’s fashion, and, possibly, even mankind

50 TECHED OUT Augment reality with the year’s best gadgets

52 VMAN FUTURES In honor of our Next Gen issue, a pat on the back for good calls past

54 bAlENCiAgA bOUND Alexander Wang takes the reins at legendary fashion house Balenciaga

56 A SiCiliAN AFFAiR For their Spring collection, Dolce & Gabbana assemble an authentic cast of men and boys who bring Sicily to life

58 blOOD FlOW When it came to setting the tempo for this season’s Kenzo collection, designers Carol Lim and Humberto Leon tapped Blood Orange for the perfect pulse

60 MENSWEAR’S NEXT WAVE A new generation of designers set a chic standard: Tim Coppens, Christopher Shannon, Ganryu, and Gosha Rubchinskiy

66 HOW TO bE Get next to godliness and survive the streets with all the accoutrements that give you your man card

72 DiSAPPEAR HERE Cloak yourself in the coolest camouflage shown in seasons—be battle-ready without blending in

78 CHRiSTOPHER’S PWNAgE After amassing a swell of fans with his San Francisco band Girls, music man and Saint Laurent muse Christopher Owens gathers the gumption to go it alone

80 AMERiCA’S MOST WANTED When it comes to national pastimes, rap is the one game with no seasons off. Meet Meek Mill, French Montana, Angel Haze, and Dominic Lord—these are the rookies of the year

88 AgE OF CONSENT With the sun set on Twilight there’s a new Host of young talent ready to take Hollywood by the brains: introducing Max Irons and Jake Abel

92 bEAUTiFUl FUTURE Does Beautiful Creatures star Alden Ehrenreich have what it takes to be Hollywood’s next legitimate leading man?

98 TEENAgE DAYDREAM With a hot new role in the remake of Carrie, Ansel Elgort is making a splash

102 HE gOT gAME For Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook, capturing the NBA’s attention from coast to coast is merely another part of the game

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f a s h i o n

108 NEW S CHOOL ROMEO pHOtOgRapHY BRUCE WEBER With a string of unglamorous roles as unlikely heroes, Douglas Booth has circumvented the status quo.

Now he’s ready to make love to the camera, as 2013’s own Romeo

116 B BOY pHOtOgRapHY SEBaStIaN FaENa Breakdancing superstar Brahim Zaibat knows how to cut a rug, when not cozying up to his girlfriend, Madonna

126 COLOR CORRECtION pHOtOgRapHY KaCpER KaSpRZYK Embrace the boldness of Roy G. Biv

134 CHaRaCtER StUDY pHOtOgRapHY pHILIppE VOgELENZaNg Meet the men(talities) who rep Spring fashion

144 gEOMEtRY EVOLVED pHOtOgRapHY SHaRIF HaMZa Behold the collections that shaped the season, worn by male modeling’s boys on the rise

160 pERFORM pHOtOgRapHY COLLIER S CHORR All the world’s a stage, so dress for the role

170 LIgHt tESt pHOtOgRapHY BENJaMIN aLEXaNDER HUSEBY Celebrate the angular and avant-garde silhouettes of Spring in seductive simplicity

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f o r e w o r d

dna forever The innate beauty of print is its permanence. The Internet is a thing that piles on top of itself, infinite newness

obfuscating that which came before it. Whereas a magazine’s history stacks outward, spines on a bookshelf like a beautiful strand of DNA, a tactile history born to be kept. Perhaps our favorite aspect of being cultural bookkeepers is tracing our predictions past: the trends, talent, and aesthetic futures we have championed in these pages. That sentiment lives in the heart of this Next Gen issue: be it the designers of tomorrow (p. 58), the guys who are claiming dibs on Hollywood’s continued obsession with Young Adult adaptations (Age Of Consent and Beautiful Future), hip-hop’s new heirs (America’s Most Wanted), or the NBA’s Russel Westbrook (p. 102) —these aren’t just the actors, athletes, artists, and designers who are hot this season, but people who will continue to impact culture for years to come. We even take a minute to pat our own backs with a toldja so flashback to some of our best calls in VMANs past (p. 64).

Leading the pack is our cover star, Douglas Booth, photographed by Bruce Weber. Booth rules the spring with leading roles in Romeo and Juliet, appearing star-crossed to Hailee Steinfeld’s Juliet, and in the brilliant director Darren Aronofsky’s Noah, playing the son of the biblical ark builder (played by Russell Crowe). Another youngblood hearkening the past (though not as far back as Genesis or Verona) is Brahim Zaibat, the 25-year-old b boy who’s bringing breakdancing back into cultural prominence via his performances touring with his girlfriend, Madonna. Check out Zaibat’s inversions captured by photographer Sebastian Faena and stylist Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele. This issue is packed with the season’s best fashion, as is our wont, but we pay close attention to the shapes, silhouettes, colors, and archetypes that will (continue to) define masculinity and menswear for years to come. This isn’t just another issue of VMAN, it’s a time capsule for future generations to remember their heritage, it’s a living fossil, a printed piece of forever, part of us, and, now, part of you. Thanks for reading.

The ediTors

SPeCIaL THanKS Gwen Walberg Jeannette Shaheen Little Bear Inc. LGA Glenn Wassall Hervé Bougon Art + Commerce Jimmy Moffat Philippe Brutus Dyonne Venable Ian Bauman Lindsay Thompson Bryan Bantry Palma Driscoll Art Partner Giovanni Testino Amber Olson Candice Marks Sally Borno Jeff Stalnaker Allison Hunter Lindsey Steinberg CLM Nick Bryning Cale Harrison Natalie Hazzout Management Artists Pia Byron Francesco Savi Daniel Weiner Christine Lavigne Manja Otten Total Justinian Kfoury Matthew Mitchell Katie Yu Alexandre Camille-Removille Intrepid London Cadence NY Neil Cooper Ashley Herson Piergiorgio Del Moro Samuel Ellis Scheinman REP Ltd. George Miscamble Artist Commissions Felix Frith Shea Spencer Helena Martel Laura Hinds Atelier Management Farid Benlagha IMG Greg Chan FORD NY Jesse Simon Sam Doerfler Blake Woods NY Models Christophe Sanchez-Vahle Major Models Gianmaria Cassani Carmelo Pizzano Re:Quest DNA Carlotta Sironi Soul Artist Management VNY Lana Winters-Tomczak Wilhelmina Jenelle Phillip Tomorrow is Another Day Bananas Models Julian Watson Agency Janna Shapiro D+V Management Andy Phillips L’Atelier NYC Joe Management Artlist New York Jonathan Ferrari Michael Quinn Tim Howard Management Vanessa Set ton Michelle Ser vice-Fraccari Je d Root Inc. The Magnet Agency Cheyenne Vesper Gabriella Moussaieff Artists by Next Starworks Artists Opus Exclusive Artists Spring Studios, London Boxeight Studios Smashbox Studios, Los Angeles Jack Studios Sandbox Studios Splashlight SOHO Fast Ashleys, Brooklyn The Waldorf Astoria, New York Martin Andersen The Standard, Hollywood Rachel Hunter

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prop stylist Jared lawton digital technician nicolas lemery nantel location fast ashleys, brooklyn

vman spring not all the future is unknown. here’s the best of what lies ahead for men’s fashion photography ulysse frechelin

s pac e odyssey from top: bag z zegna ipad case and shoe calvin klein collection portfolio fendi

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high fashion sneakerheads can add some unexpected (but recognizable) names to their shoe roster. christian louboutin, Jimmy choo, and giuseppe Zanotti, renowned stiletto specialists for women, offer a colorful selection of surprisingly sporty but totally masculine trainers. enough with glass ceilings, it’s the men’s turn for a bit of equal shoe share.

clockwise From leFt: Christian Louboutin Giuseppe Zanotti DesiGn Jimmy Choo

c o l o r r e f o r m the first look of the salvatore Ferragamo men’s show

this spring was a clarion color proposition with citrus yellows and crisp ceruleans, jolting the more gentlemanly

and traditional milan season into a fantastically brighter place. the collection was wrought in the playskool colors of david hockney, a sartorial summation of the bright scenes the artist captured of the city of angels in the ’80s. “we created a white box for the show space, designed to emulate a los angeles gallery, the perfect setting to debut this vibrant collection,” revealed creative director massimiliano giornetti. “david hockney is a pop art icon. to create a collection inspired by his work and his vision of los angeles while adding modern design and fashion elements to the mix was challenging, but a clear success after presenting in milan.” successfully bringing hockney’s l.a. to the runway of essentially a leather goods house speaks to the breadth and inspiration giornetti has brought to Ferragamo in recent seasons, all while announcing one of the most important color trends of the season. it was a satisfying, well-executed surprise to see the understated elegance of Ferragamo get some sun and lift our expectations of what to wear.

46 vman | n ews

lady’s man photography Ulysse Frechelin prop stylist Jared lawton digital technician nicolas lemery nantel location Fast ashleys, Brooklyn color correction images coUrtesy Ferragamo

l a dy ’ s m a n

Acne aCneStudioS.Com AdidAs adidaS.Com Aesop aeSop.Com AlexAnder McQueen alexandermCqueen.Com AMericAn AppArel ameriCanapparel.net ArMAni exchAnge armaniexCHange.Com ArMAni JeAns armanijeanS.Com AsseMbly new york aSSemBlyneWyork.Com bAdichi BadiCHiBeltS.Com bAlenciAgA BalenCiaga.Com bAlMAin Balmain.Com bArneys BarneyS.Com berluti Berluti.Com billionAire boys club BBCiCeCream.Com blAck Fleece BrookSBrotHerS.Com blk dnM BlkdnmCloSeup.Com bottegA VenetA Bottegaveneta.Com burberry prorsuM BurBerry.Com cAlVin klein Calvinklein.Com cArtier Cartier.Com cArVen Carven.Com cesAre pAciotti CeSare-paCiotti.Com chAnel CHanel.Com christiAn louboutin CHriStianlouBoutin.Com christiAn lAcroix CHriStian-laCroix.fr christopher shAnnon CHriStopHerSHannon.Co.uk chroMe heArts CHromeHeartS.Com church’s CHurCH-footWear.Com coMMe des gArçons Comme-deS-garConS.Com dAVid yurMAn davidyurman.Com diesel dieSel.Com dior hoMMe dior.Com diptyQue diptyquepariS.Com dolce & gAbbAnA dolCegaBBana.Com dries VAn noten drieSvannoten.Be

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last june, in a gleaming tower above the city of milan, Silvia venturini fendi showed her vision of the future with a coolly modern portrait of the young, style-minded man who has an eye for something slick and perhaps a bit

daffy. Her idea for what men should be wearing next Spring is quirky, ranging from the mad scientist in his lab to the club kid decked out in prismatic prints and finishes, and as always the accessories are the thing. “the fendi man is futuristic,” she says, “but very attentive to high quality materials and traditions from the past.” eel, shark, and lizard came to life in boxy cases slung on thin straps, more reminiscent of stacking cubes or tool kits than of the usual portfolio or messenger bag. in recent seasons fendi has developed a healthy tolerance for the idiosyncratic in both the men’s and women’s collections. this year the approach to fur and skins, for which the brand is deservedly renowned, is nothing short of revolutionary: hiding these materials inside a shirt collar or pant cuff constitutes a supremely dramatic departure from the it Bag and mink-swathed doyenne that built the brand in the last century. “a structured bag is more functional for the traveling fendi man,” she says. there is in this collection an orientation to the artisanal that feels like both an homage to italian craftsmanship and a willful disobedience of its dictums, everything anarchic but nonetheless exquisitely executed. it steers clear of anything too kooky with a devotion to textiles, leaving the wearer comfortable in the clothing and yet fashion-forward. the creams and deep turquoise indigos of the season bring to mind an underground lab in palm Beach, perhaps.

Brick-thick lug soles on white-bottomed loafers and sandals add to the clinical effect, producing in a gentleman a purposefully awkward mien. Curious ombre patterns and akimbo digital prints bring home a lurking narrative. proportion was also on fendi’s mind; full but precariously short and high-buttoned suits with dramatically attenuated trousers are a quick route to the subversive. fendi occupies a singular place within the landscape of milan menswear, contentedly more niche than its global behemoth sister, but buoyed by the resources and know-how of a proper megabrand. fresh and fearlessly left of center, ms. fendi pushes her man into new territory. christopher bArnArd

dsQuAred dSquared2.Com eddie borgo eddieBorgo.Com edun edun.Com eMporio ArMAni emporioarmani.Com erMenegildo ZegnA zegna.Com etro etro.Com FAlke falke.Com Fendi fendi.Com g-stAr g-Star.Com gAnryu laneCraWford.Com gents gentSCo.Com giorgio ArMAni armani.Com giuseppe ZAnotti design giuSeppezanottideSign.Com giVenchy givenCHy.Com goshA rubchinskiy goSHaruBCHinSkiy.Com gucci guCCi.Com herMès HermeS.Com hugo HugoBoSS.Com hugo boss HugoBoSS.Com J.w. Anderson j-W-anderSon.Co.uk JAck spAde jaCkSpade.Com JereMy scott jeremySCott.Com Jil sAnder jilSander.Com JiMMy choo jimmyCHoo.Com John gAlliAno joHngalliano.Com John VArVAtos joHnvarvatoS.Com kenZo kenzo.Com lAcoste laCoSte.Com lAnVin lanvin.Com leVi’s levi.Com lindA FArrow luxe lindafarroW.Co.uk louis Vuitton louiSvuitton.Com MAison MArtin MArgielA maiSonmartinmargiela.Com MArc JAcobs marCjaCoBS.Com MichAel kors miCHaelkorS.Com MoniQue péAn moniquepean.Com MorgenthAl Frederics morgentHalfrederiCS.Com neil lAne neillanejeWelry.Com pAul sMith paulSmitH.Co.uk polo rAlph lAuren ralpHlauren.Com pQ eyeweAr pq-eyeWear.Com prAdA prada.Com rAF siMons rafSimonS.Com rAg & bone rag-Bone.Com

t i m e t r av e l e r Since we can’t break the rules of time and space, we can at least define them, which is exactly what happened in 1884 when the international meridian Conference divided the earth into 24 time zones. in 2013, avid globe-trotter ralph lauren offers Sporting World time, a 24-city display, transcendent timepiece for the contemporary gentleman, the elegant bro, and the chic horologist alike. Who cares what we’ll call the hours in 200 years— elegance is timeless.

rAlph lAuren ralpHlauren.Com repetto repetto.Com roberto cAVAlli roBertoCavalli.Com rolex rolex.Com ruFskin rufSkin.Com sAint lAurent ySl.Com sAlVAtore FerrAgAMo ferragamo.Com sAMsung SamSung.Com sAnshA usA inc nydanCeStore.Com 7 For All MAnkind 7forallmankind.Com sMythson SmytHSon.Com t by AlexAnder wAng alexanderWang.Com the Art oF shAVing tHeartofSHaving.Com tiM coppens timCoppenS.Com toM Ford tomford.Com toMMy hilFiger tommy.Com VersAce verSaCe.Com wooyoungMi Wooyoungmi.Com y-3 y-3.Com yohJi yAMAMoto yoHjiyamamoto.Co.jp Z ZegnA zegna.Com

48 vman | n ews

Hair Sofia Sjoo uSing BumBle & BumBle (Billy & Bo) grooming anne-SopHie CoSta uSing CHanel a/W12 and rouge allure renovation model SHane giBSon (Storm) digital teCHniCian david immS (Spring digital) pHoto aSSiStantS olin Brannigan and daniel Cuifo retouCHing dave pHoenix (BeSpoke) CaSting eddy martin (file and parade) time traveler image CourteSy ralpH lauren

VMAn 29 STOCKISTS

photography Ulysse frechelin prop stylist Jared lawton digital technician nicolas lemery nantel location fast ashleys, brooklyn

techeD out adult playthings is a trillion-dollar business, and we’re more than happy to reap the rewards of a competitive market battling to constantly one-up itself. here are four of our favorites from the past year and the coming spring. the new samsung galaxy camera takes cell-phone snappage to the next level: one side offers the samsung android staple, whereas the other is a full-faced traditional shooter, suggesting that sometimes the best innovations are a return to tradition. the kindle fire hd is a brilliant addition to the tablet universe, but in conjunction with amazon’s audible.com library and the new app whispersync, one can finally—we’ve been yearning for this app for years— seamlessly segue between e-book and audiobook. and for that transition, we use dolce & gabbana’s ds2012 headset, created in conjunction with audio innovators grado labs. the superluxe, handmade, all mahogany wood headphones ring in at $1,250 and are in dolce & gabbana stores now. for those subway rides when we need a lit break, we plug into our playstation Vita, which this february celebrates its one-year anniversary. we’re gleefully geared up for the time being, but who knows what the future will bring?

clockwise from left: camera samsung galaxy tablet kindle fire hd headset dolce & gabbana handheld gaming system playstation vita

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V M a N f u t u r e s In the spIrIt of our next gen Issue, we remInIsce on some of our favorIte celebrItIes who were but stars on the rIse when we fIrst celebrated them In our pages

Nicholas Hoult photographed by Willy Vanderperre, Spring 2010

Tom Brady photographed by Inez & Vinoodh, F/W 2007

Liam Hemsworth photographed by Hedi Slimane, Fall 2011

Chris Evans photographed by Inez & Vinoodh, S/S 2007

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Dane DeHaan photographed by Hedi Slimane, Fall 2011

Cast of Twilight photographed by Doug Inglish, Winter 2008

Justin Bieber photographed by Mark Abrahams, Spring 2010

Hayden Christensen photographed by Mario Testino, F/W 2006

balenciaga by nicolas ghesquiÈre

alexander wang

balenciaga b o u n d after years of playing the y o u n g fa s h i o n p h e n o m , alexander wang takes the reins at balenciaga

alexander Wang’s ascension to the helm of Balenciaga, other than causing some welcome fashion fervor during the winter doldrums, has put the recent collections for his own label into sharp focus as prognosticators begin to place odds on what direction he will take. it’s important to begin that search where departing designer nicolas ghesquière left off. His spring 2013 collection is an austere exploration of proportions mixed with futuristic cool (seen here in black), a hallmark of the brand. as for what Wang will bring to paris is excitingly up in the air, but if his spring collection for his high-end eponymous line, alexander Wang, is any portent, expect the kind of artful restraint that’s indicative of maturity. “there definitely was this idea of ‘cleaning up’ this season, everything from the seams, to the details to the overall idea of our guy,” says the 29-year-old designer. “the attitude hasn’t changed, we just like exploring different ways to convey it.” Wang has always designed in the language of the street, which, for his man, is

hoodies, sporty separates, and now-signature shorts. “We took all of the utilitarian functions we love and tried to evoke them in more of a quiet and seamless way,” he says. “the pockets and details are meant to blend in and almost disappear within the garments.” all to clean effect, but ironic given that Wang himself is doing everything but disappear.christopher barnard 54 vman | n ews

Hair Wesley O’Meara fOr Bangstyle (tHe Wall grOup) grOOMing Kristin gallegOs fOr laura Mercier (clM) MOdels eric tHai and VictOr nOrlander (fOrd) digital tecHnician tOtO cullen pHOtO assistants paVel WOznicKi and JanneKe de JOng stylist assistant Hayley pisaturO lOcatiOn MetrOdayligHt studiO

photography philippe Vogelenzang fashion brandon maxwell

A S i c i l i A n A f fA i r Dolce & Gabbana are masters of usinG the runway to portray the italian man, anD this sprinG they took a turn for the literal

5 6 vman | runway

IMAGES CourTESY DoLCE & GABBANA

Picture this: Sicily, Spring 2013. Masculine shapes, instantly iconic prints, textures you can feel just by looking at them. Now add the unmistakable air of Mediterranean romance, exuded by Dolce & Gabbana’s ingenious cast of characters. The men and boys sent down the catwalk at the designers’ Spring 2013 show confidently captured the true spirit of the clothes with authoritative command. These models were the real deal: seventy-four of them, hailing from various backgrounds and trades and ranging in age from 11 to 40. And they authentically represented both the pronounced personality and the pleasing physicality of the Sicilian man.

“The idea came about in Taormina when we were shooting the [Fall] campaign, where we used local people as extras, real men and women who were able to stand out as true protagonists in the pictures,” Domenico Dolce explains. “The collections were very baroque and precious, with many embroideries. However, these outfits when worn by them seemed absolutely normal.” Stefano Gabbana adds, “We had the idea of staging a fashion show using real men of different ages and with different features. The casting was a great experience, we traveled to different places in Sicily where we met men of different ages.”

Each individual brought a singular swagger to his respective look, reinvigorating the marriage of man and clothing while inducing a curiosity about his character. A true gathering of real-life beauty rarely seen in the typical assembly of male models, the show avoided homogeneity and stereotype by allowing personality to play a key factor.

“There are many men and they are all different,” says Stefano. “We want to reach them and we address them. We held this casting looking at the personalities, not at their physical aspect.” When asked to define the Sicilian man, Domenico describes him as “having a great personality and lots of character.” “But,” Stefano interjects, “they are also very ironic. They like to challenge themselves. Like the Dolce & Gabbana man.”

Seeking to attract and keep an expansive audience in the global marketplace, many designers compromise their visions at inception. But how much allegiance should a major fashion brand pay to its country of origin? Domenico answers: “You never have to lose contact with your roots. Without roots you have no identity, no personality. You run the risk of homology. We do think that at some point globalization was great, but we are now a bit fed up with finding the same things everywhere.

There is a need for more authenticity.” Spoken like a true Sicilian. RobeRto Reyes

b l o o d F l oW Kenzo sets the tone for spring by enlisting the signature sounds and styl e o f d eVo n t É hynes

photography alfredo piola The swiftness with which Carol Lim and Humberto Leon

have revitalized the Kenzo brand has been impressive.

Then again, appealing to the young, wayfaring consumer with an eclectic combination of utilitarian ingenuity and urgent aesthetic relevance has become the Opening Ceremony creators’ stock-in-trade. For their Spring 2013 show, the designers extended their prescience to the soundtrack by tapping songwriter-producer Devonté Hynes, aka Blood Orange, to do the music. Their instincts were spot-on: in the months that followed, Hynes produced one of the sleeper pop hits of the year in Sky Ferreira’s “Everything is Embarrassing,” and released a shimmering EP with collaborator Solange Knowles, entitled True. Dubbing their latest outing “Kenzo Jungle Japan,” Lim and Leon debuted an energetic complement to their womenswear, a new take on urban safari that serves as an homage to the original DNA of the brand— Jungle Jap was the name of Kenzo Takada’s first store, opened in Paris in 1970. The clothes, consisting of layered prints and graphic text, felt electric. The music, sung and performed live by Hynes, was an effervescent experiment in pop and R&B. Here, the designers speak to the musician about merging expressions and his mornings with Michael Jackson. PATRIK SANDBERG CAROL LIM & HUMBERTO LEON We were so excited

to work with you on the Kenzo show. What made you decide to do it?

DEVONTÉ HYNES I really love and respect Kenzo. I also really loved the idea of creating a piece of music along with a show that was happening—soundtracking something that people will only experience by being there at the show in Paris, and aiding their eyes. It’s something I think about a lot, settings of places people hear music, so on that side of things also I was very keen to do this.

CL & HL What was your inspiration for the music?

DH Seeing what was influencing the collection was a huge source of inspiration for me, especially as you seemed to be drawing from things that aesthetically I tend to look to anyway.

CL & HL Was this your first time composing music for a fashion show? Were you surprised by anything?

5 8 vman | style

ALL CLOTHING KENZO

For example, we have heard musicians say that they are always surprised by the tempo necessary to keep up with the models’ walking.

DH This was my first time. Before I’d only ever supplied music to designers. It was awesome to get to write something new. Tempo and pacing was a new thing for me to think about.

CL & HL What is your favorite song to dance to now?

DH I’m in love with “Kiss You” by One Direction. It’s actually flawless. And “MIA” by Omarion.

CL & HL Do you have a go-to karaoke song?

DH I have so many. I go about three times a week!

CL & HL What is the first thing you think about when you wake up?

DH Michael Jackson, usually.

CL & HL We heard somewhere that you have synesthesia, meaning that you can literally hear colors and see music. Is that true? Did the Kenzo collection awaken any specific kinds of sounds for you?

DH Yeah, I mean, it’s all the time. The show was really fun for me, in the sense that because I was controlling the sound I could match it visually so that nothing was too jarring in my eyes.

CL & HL We are so excited about our friend Solange— she was the one that introduced us to you—and her new EP, which features your production and songwriting. What was it like working together?

DH It was a dream. She’s the best person to collaborate with, we work very naturally together, so it’s always such a joy! I’m so happy with the EP results.

CL & HL We know that you are a huge Jean-Paul Goude fan, especially his work with Grace Jones.

He has worked with us on Kenzo campaigns, and was at the show as well. Did you get to meet him?

Any impressions?

DH I di d a n d I di e d ! I tr ie d to ke e p i t c o o l, b u t then Humberto blew my cover about how crazy obsessive I am !

TIM COPPENS Age: 37 Place of birth: Belgium Place of current residence: New York What inspired you to pursue fashion?

I wasn’t really inspired by anything specific or by the way certain people dressed. I didn’t have a lot of access to people that were into fashion until I went to Antwerp. Even then, the main reason I started the course was because I always enjoyed making things—not necessarily clothes. The process of creating something from its concept to something functional was my initial drive. I like it when I work on a collection and the puzzle falls into place: the prints, the colors, the music, the styling, and the casting.

Where do you find confidence in this very competitive industry?

When I see people wearing my clothes, of course. I think every industry is competitive but that’s a motivation to keep on pushing the brand’s boundaries and make a new collection every season.

How have you witnessed social media and digital communication alter the way the fashion industry works?

Social and digital media allow you to create an awareness of your brand because you can reach a wide audience at little or no cost. Your work has a stronger chance to be seen by a nonprofessional audience, and I believe that is a good way to build a loyal following. In addition, it provides a platform to communicate and engage on a whole new, and very real, level. I see it as very natural, not something you forcefully have to do.

What inspired your collection for Spring?

Fighter pilots post-WW2, Detroit’s ’90s techno scene, Richard Diebenkorn’s “Ocean Park” series.

Give us a hint as to what’s inspiring your next (Fall) collection.

It’s a very personal collection, it’s also the first runway show we are doing. Tailoring is more important but also curves and rounder shapes...

Like Rodney Mullen’s moves in the ’80s.

menswear’s n e x t w a v e these five young designers ensure that the future of men’s fashion is in good hands photography amy troost fashion tom van dorpe 6 0 vman | fashi o n

G A N RY U Age: 36 Place of birth: Fukuoka, Japan Place of current residence: Tokyo What inspired you to pursue fashion?

The biggest influence I have received is from Ms. Kawakubo and Mr. Watanabe of Comme des Garçons. I think I am deeply influenced by them in the core of my inner foundation. When I was a teenager, I was wondering if I wanted to become a painter or make music, but then, when I watched Kawakubo’s collection and then later Watanabe’s, I was shocked for the first time in my life by clothes. I was moved. I had always liked clothes, but that experience made me actually want to take up a challenge in fashion for the first time.

Where do you find confidence in this very competitive industry?

I have a sense of crisis, much stronger than confidence. All I can do is to try and work hard every day, no matter what.

How would you define the current state of menswear? Where is it headed, where is it coming from?

I feel some traditional taste and eccentricity are in parallel, and sometimes they mix. That’s something I feel both from the designers and the street.

How have you witnessed social media and digital communication alter the way the fashion industry works?

They are changing fashion in both good and bad senses. I believe I must be flexible about it and make the change a positive one for me.

What inspired your collection for Spring?

Life until now and the life that is yet to come.

Give us a hint as to what’s inspiring your next (Fall) collection.

The way Ms. Kawakubo’s and Mr. Watanabe’s work inspires me. My friends who work hard also inspire me. Meetings with the show director and the hair and makeup artists inspire me too.

CHRISTOPHER SHANNON Age: 31 Place of birth: Liverpool Place of current residence: London What inspired you to pursue fashion?

Making a living. Finding a job where I make my own hours. Being my own boss. Early fascination with music videos and magazines. It was more a process of eliminating what I didn’t want to do. Both my parents were self-employed, I think that has an effect—never seeing them take orders from anyone. I loved pop videos when I was a kid: Björk and Neneh Cherry, who both wore stuff by Margiela and worked with people like Mondino. I liked how those things linked together.

How have you witnessed social media and digital communication alter the way the fashion industry works?

With Twitter and Facebook you have much more interaction with your customer, although it can get a bit much sometimes and it feels like you can’t get away from it. I think there will continue to be a rise in designers selling directly online from their own stores. It’s something we plan to do next year.

How do you define success for a young designer today?

I’m not sure. I’ve only done it now, in this time. I think in the ’90s it was mostly about press and drama, whereas London has now become more about sales and being grown-up. My idea of success is a business that works, gives me a certain income, and means that for four weeks a year I can holiday in France and not have to take one call or e-mail about work.

What inspired your collection for Spring?

The desire to work with more color. British folk rituals. Spoiled brat–gap year students.

Give us a hint as to what’s inspiring your next (Fall) collection.

My slightly nervous, OCD mood. New ways of working. Neatness.

6 2 vman | FASHI O N

G OSH A RU BCH I NSK I Y Age: 28 Place of birth: russia Place of current residence: moscow

64 vman | FASHI O N

Hair Dennis Gots (JeD root) GroominG BenJamin Puckey (D+V manaGement) moDel matHias lauriDsen (imG) DiGital tecHnician Denis Vlaso PHoto assistants aaron tHomas anD marek Berry stylist assistant carrie WeiDner location sPlasHliGHt

What inspired you to pursue fashion?

People around me.

What would you say is your specialty? i am always trying to know more about myself, about who i am.

Where do you find confidence in this very competitive industry? i am always doing things that i want and like. it is the key.

How would you define the current state of menswear? Where is it headed, where is it coming from? i am going my own way and don’t look to the sides a lot.

How much do other arts (architecture, sculpture, etc.) inspire your designs? i like photography and movies. tarkovsky’s filmography and photo album about sports in early soviet time is the best for me now.

Where do you go to be alone? Where do you go to be surrounded? i like to spend my holidays in st. Petersburg. there is the Hermitage museum and many small bars with cool kids.

How have you witnessed social media and digital communication alter the way the fashion industry works? you can show your work very fast now. it gives you freedom. But if you aren’t careful someone can use your ideas very fast too, and show them at almost the same time.

How do you define success for a young designer today? you are successful when you love what you do, i think. and it is very good when you meet people who like your work. it is cool for me seeing kids skating in my stuff.

What inspired your collection for Spring?

We try to mix old-school sports things from the soviet era of the ’30s and club culture pieces from the ’90s.

Give us a hint as to what’s inspiring your next (Fall) collection. krylatskoe, the area at the northwest of moscow.

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Former Girls Front man Christopher owens is out on his own and owninG the Future oF roCk

photoGraphy ryan mcGinley text t. Cole raChel When it comes to dealing with up-and-coming rock stars, it isn’t humanly possible to find someone as resolutely low-key as Christopher Owens. Despite being one of the most talked-about (and photographed) musicians to creep into popular consciousness over the past couple of years, in person Owens is soft-spoken to the point of seeming nearly invisible. When I turn up to chat with him at NYC’s Bowery Hotel, he begins the interview by apologizing and then slipping outside for a cigarette. A few minutes later, when I ask him if the business of rock stardom has gotten easier for him, he can only shrug and laugh a little. “Less weird, but still pretty weird,” he says.

Owens first made a name for himself as a member of the beloved indie-pop duo Girls. After releasing its first proper album in 2009, the band quickly ascended the rungs of the indie-rock ladder with an irresistible combination of bizarre backstory (Owens was raised as a member of the Children of God cult), unabashed romanticism, and an aesthetic that embodies a druggy, lovey utopia—messy yet harmonic, a somewhat lovelorn vision of the band’s hometown of San Francisco. In early Girls videos, an omnisexual Owens lounges around various funky San Francisco bedrooms, watches the sunrise with a bunch of his bros, and whizzes through California in a convertible while rocking a blond mop top and skimpy cutoff T-shirt. Then, after the 2011 release of a superb sophomore album—the universally beloved Father, Son, Holy Ghost—Owens shocked everyone by abruptly calling it quits with Girls.

“It has mostly been liberating,” he says of the split. “The decision to leave wasn’t really out of anger or some kind of breakup or a fight, it was just something that I felt was happening naturally over time,” he says. “So, to go with that feeling felt really good. The easier thing would have been to put out another Girls record. I’m sure it would have been well received and we’d probably be on our first bus tour right now and have a song in a movie.

[But] I needed to do what I wanted to do.” The breakup of Girls still looms large over Owens’s professional life, but he has only good things to say about his previous band, even though going it alone still sometimes seems like a scary proposition. “I hope for the best,” he says. “I definitely didn’t want to take a huge step backward by becoming a solo artist.”

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At the time of our interview, Owens is in New York to play one in a series of shows serving to introduce the world to Lysandre, his debut solo album. As he is quick to point out, the solo shows are both nerve-racking and incredibly freeing.

Having already made waves in the fashion world earlier this year when he was chosen as the new face of Saint Laurent Paris (“There was no hair or makeup, I just showed up and Hedi took my photo,” he says), Owens feels the Lysandre shows are the capstone of what has been a fairly busy albeit tumultuous year. “I just hope people like the record,” he says, shrugging off any mention of the buzz that seems to surround him.

Not that he should worry. Lysandre’s abjectness is what makes it so beautiful. It’s the most romantic collection of songs that Owens has ever written. Conceived as a continuous narrative, the record recounts Owens’s experience of touring the world with Girls for the first time and falling in love with a girl somewhere along the way.

Tracks like “New York City” and “Riviera Rock” tread the line between the kind of jangly indie-pop that would have been right at home on a previous Girls record and something more akin to old-fashioned British folk music (flutes are involved). The most striking thing about Lysandre, however, is the album’s lyrics. While so many of his peers are happy to hide behind a wall of aloof ambiguity, Owens is unabashedly straightforward, hopelessly sentimental, and not even a little bit ironic. At a time when earnest sentimentality is at a peak of uncoolness, Owens’s ability to wear his heart on his sleeve is not merely disarming but incredibly charming.

“Romance is the space that I can’t seem to get out of,” he admits. “It’s a very natural place that I come from. I don’t know why, really. People are so jaded and so sophisticated and have seen it all, so I’m sure it can come across as very naïve, but it’s always been the driving thing behind my music. I don’t want to let the fear of being made fun of overtake my desire to say these things. I’ve always been shocked by how well it’s been received. From the beginning I expected people to say something like, ‘You’re an idiot.’”

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8 0 vman | m usi c

meek mill Generally soft-spoken and reticent about his personal life, 25-year-old Meek Mill is inclined toward privacy, a rare asset among a generation of big personalities who often issue more bark on Twitter than bite on a track (although Mill’s Instagram account, featuring dirt bike stunts and flashy whips, is the stuff that legends are made of). He chalks this tendency up to a pensive nature, which is at least partially a result of the eight months he spent in jail, in 2008. “I’ve been in jail fifteen months altogether,” he says. “I had the time to think and I took my career more seriously when I came out. I took everything more seriously. I’m kind of a professional now.”

Shortly after landing in stores and on iTunes, Mill’s debut studio album, Dreams and Nightmares, became the number two album in the country, and number one on the Rap and R&B charts. It sounds like a dream come true, but there were definitely a few nightmares along the way. “It’s about my life,” he says. “Things I’ve experienced even making it to this point. Where I am right now, I could have been dead or in prison. Getting involved in the streets, I had close calls.”

Born Robert Williams, the Philly native began his career in music with a group known as the Bloodhoundz, which released four mixtapes, earning him a deal with T.I.’s Grand Hustle Records. “My friend and neighbor used to call me ‘Meek Millions,’”

Mill says of the name he goes by now. Indeed, money was always an effective motivator for the young artist. “I just handle my business,” he says. “It’s something I learned, for a long time.”

Mill mostly sees success as manifested in wealth and doesn’t dwell on the value of accolades, which he’s earned from the likes of Nas and Mariah Carey. “I’m the type of guy who doesn’t actually get excited,” he shrugs. “But it gives you good feelings to know that you are working with a legend like Mariah. To hear a statement from a person like Nas, it feels good, man. But then, when the time comes, I handle my business. I’ve always had a level head.

“But it isn’t all money,” he continues. “I love making music. I always write and I like to hear good music, so when I’m done making it, I like to have a good piece of work.

I like every song to be loved by the fans and played and taken seriously.” Looking toward the year ahead, he says, “I’m just turning up. I’m still young in the game. I just dropped my first album and I plan to have a nice, long reign in the game. This is the beginning of a legacy. I’m staying out here and staying hot.”

Dreams and Nightmares is out now from Warner Bros./Maybach Music

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angel haze “I came from underground, dude.”

It’s as succinct an answer as any to the question of where the prodigiously tal-

ented, beguiling young female rapper called angel haze hails from exactly. despite popping up on Youtube freestyling at the beginning of 2011, the 21-year-old’s 2012 emergence—heralded by the impressive 14-track ep Reservation, released online— came as a surprise. Made popular by intense word of mouth, the record instantly felt like a breath of fresh air for listeners who prefer a more introspective, thoughtprovoking style of hip-hop.

“I wasn’t ready back then,” angel says of her initial exposure. “I kind of prepared myself this year and thought, Fuck this. It’s my turn now.” with two more mixtapes since, she has swiftly established herself as a big name to watch, inking a deal with Universal republic while her ep was still catching fire in the blogosphere. Born raee’n wahya, in detroit, Michigan, the artist has overcome some adversity to get to where she is today. raised in what she describes as a “cult situation”—the controversial apostolic pentecostal sect—young raee’n frequently resided in homeless shelters and was forbidden to listen to secular music. “either you listened to hezekiah walker or you listened to nothing at all,” she says, laughing. “I was allowed to listen to music when I was 16, and the first person I found that I related to was eminem.” still, rapping was not the young girl’s first choice of profession. “I actually wanted to be a traveling poet,” she says, “which to my despair is kind of what I am now.” she started to rap at the urging of a friend. “he was like, ‘You write great poetry, you should turn it into rap.’ when I first started I was fucking terrible. Learning wordplay and metaphors was what I spent most of my time doing. For me it was learning the craft before I could claim that I mastered it. I still haven’t, but I think I’m pretty good now.” evidently the feeling is shared by fans of all stripes. today haze splits her time performing for urban hip-hop crowds and indie-leaning pitchfork readers alike.

“I love the diversity, honestly,” she says of her fan base. “I can relate to those kids who are thrashers or metalheads or who love acoustic rock. then I can relate to kids

who love eminem or kanye west. I play shows and I am completely confounded by how many different types of ethnicities are in the building.” as for the inevitable female rap comparisons, angel is unconcerned but realistic: “I’ve learned through observation that the way hip-hop works is generally that when girls come out they are always compared to whoever the hottest rapper was before them. It’s a rite of passage. when you’ve established your own voice, then everyone who comes after gets compared to you. to be a female rapper, you have to be pitted against other females. You have to be the only bitch that matters. In other genres, females reign collectively because they realize their sounds differ tremendously. In hip-hop, they say she sounds like nicki Minaj even if she isn’t doing anything like nicki Minaj. You get compared because she’s the biggest one. she was the only one for a while. she started it for a generation of female rappers who are coming up now. You have to give her credit. I feel like some sort of cosmic shift is happening where, goddamn, there are more female rappers than any of us imagined and they’re all pretty fucking awesome. I love Missy elliott so much. she’s instilled in me that you respect everyone, regardless of how they treat you and how they come off. respect your peers. Missy elliott is like the bejesus of rap.” one thing besides her unique sound that sets angel haze apart is her style. “every day people say to me, ‘oh my god, you look like aaliyah so much.’ and then they say, ‘are you a lesbian?’” she laughs at this juxtaposition. “It’s like, bro, it doesn’t matter. I’m not fucking you. everyone in tLc wore boxers and baggy pants and they were still cool!” as she puts the finishing touches on her debut album, Dirty Gold, with producers like salaam remi and Malay, known for work with artists including the Fugees and Frank ocean, angel haze is ready to leave her own mark of strong, female hip-hop. “I want to evolve more sonically. I want to sound like I took a step up. It’s fluid in the way that I write, it’s written based on the emotion I put behind it. everything I do is working up to that album release. But I also have like five other eps. It’ll be fun. I’m a working girl.”

Dirty Gold is available this spring from Universal republic

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f r e n c h m o n ta n a “it was two days ago. But, you know, my birthday lasts for a week or a month.” French it’s no surprise that French’s history was not always bidding wars among labels or Montana is in Miami, where he’s come to celebrate his twenty-eighth year on earth. mansions in South Beach. Born karim kharbouch in rabat, Morocco, French emigrated But then the musician’s life year-round tends to come across as one epic, neverend- to the Bronx at the age of 12. he describes his teenage years there as “the hustler ing party. it was during the last year that Montana “made it” on a mainstream scale, life,” where he made ends meet any way he knew how, in order to support his family. thanks to numerous rap features on songs with rick ross, DJ khaled, Diddy, Waka “if you wanna make anything out of yourself, you gotta have a hustle,” he explains.

Flocka Flame, chief keef, and a$aP rocky, among others. his breakout song, “Pop “as soon as you’d come downstairs, there would be people selling this and that, sellthat,” featuring Drake and lil Wayne, came complete with a hyphy, scream-chanting ing t-shirts, people selling…” he trails off, but it’s not difficult to fill in the blank. One refrain and an opulent video starring bikini-clad girls poolside at a mansion, both of fateful day, during some type of deal gone awry, French was shot in the back of the which helped propel it to number two on the u.S. rap and r&B charts—no modest head. Miraculously, the bullet entered and exited through his scalp, and he survived. achievement for a debut single. in the next few months, the rapper’s headlining prowtoday, he’s inarguably one of the industry’s best-loved personalities, known as ess will be tested further, when he releases his first official album, the long-anticipated much for his humor and positive attitude as for his party-starting verses and trademark Excuse My French from Maybach Music group and Bad Boy records.

Versace scarf ensembles. “i learned something a couple of years ago when i got shot,” “it was just me sitting back and making my situation work for me the best way it can,” he says. “i learned that you’re the only person that can make yourself happy. nobody’s French says of the two labels coming together (initially each competed to sign him, but got control over what happens in life. So i feel like, if you’re not going to make yourself ultimately they came to the unusual decision to share the honor). “i got myself hot to happy, nobody else can.” Wise words from someone who literally pulled himself up off the point where i could demand what i want. it kinda worked like that. if i had been a the pavement and came out on top. Of the album, he says, “i feel like it’s a record that new artist, there would have been zero percent chance i could have made that happen.” will be around for years. it’s going to be the best party record that’s come out in a long indeed, despite his sudden rise, the boisterous, Moroccan-born emcee is no rookie, time. nobody is gonna believe what i’m going to do. You know when something comes having released 20 mixtapes with his group, coke Boys, since 2007, and collaborating along and smacks people in the face and they don’t expect it? this record is everything on dozens of songs with other artists. “i guess they measure you by successes,” he you never thought it was going to be, and that’s what it will be.” says of the media’s tendency to label him as a new artist. “as soon as you have a success, they say, ‘Oh, this is the new cat.’ You never know all the history that people have.” Excuse My French is available March 12 th from Bad Boy/interscope

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dominic lord “in seven years, i want you to hear that dominic lord is designing for dior…but not

we have similar things in common,” he says of his time spent downtown designing

now,” the rapper says of himself. it’s a brash statement to make to a fashion magazine, but at least you can’t say that this young recording artist isn’t ambitious. “i’m someone who’s always wanted to do those things, and i have those things designed out. it’s like having an explosive pop song—you have to make sure you have enough money behind it to hit the radio hard. while you’re gathering that up, you’re doing the stuff that you love. the buildup is the buildup, but if you don’t got no bombs after the buildup, it ain’t shit.” the harlem-raised 19-year-old unapologetically explains that fashion is his first passion. “i was sidetracked all through high school, looking at clothes and reading magazines inside my binder,” he says. “i’m italian, so my dad is really into brands and stuff. he’s into dressy minks and he would have those brands lying around. when i would ask if i could have them, he would tell me about them. he would teach me how to know a real Versace tag from a fake.” it’s a bit prosaic then that the tuned-in teenager—who counts both Grimes and alicia keys among his favorite artists—named his debut eP Fashion Show, which he released last september. Featuring a buzzy, baritone singing-rap style and dark electronic-synth production, the seven tracks are born of the same dNa as work by predecessors like kid Cudi, kanye west, and a$aP rocky, with whom lord has collaborated in a fashion capacity. “it’s cool when you find people that are similar and

with the a$aP crew. “things happen and time goes by and everyone gets focused. everyone shines and they do their own thing. i was a part of that and we influenced a lot of people, and in some ways we always will. i got tattooed. i don’t remove tattoos, know what i’m saying? this is real shit.” though he’ll always keep an eye on design, lord is quick to declare that his main focus right now is putting out music. though it’s been less than a year since he dropped his first song, “Pierce,” on Youtube, he says, “i’ve been creating and understanding for all my life. i don’t like to prove anything to myself, but i want to make that groundbreaking album that i am destined to make.” in terms of production, he finds inspiration in “a push, a new element. the thought of creating something new—because we all know that there’s nothing new under the sun—is what captivates me.” For his next eP, entitled Gawk, lord plans to establish a sound that is completely his own. “warm, captivating tracks that are giving Me, in a way where i am coaching myself and pushing myself. You know? i’m happy for kendrick lamar. i love that album [good kid, m.A.A.d city]. i listen to a body of work for what it’s worth, and i love that shit. recording out here in California, i’m unleashing a lot of different sounds, creating this shit from scratch. i want my music to speak for everything.”

Gawk (eP) is available in February from Geffen records

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Jake abel and max irons, standout stars of this spring’s young adult adaptation the host, embrace the unrelenting mentality thrust upon today’s young actors by the hollywood studio system: it’s y.a. or the highway

photography robert nethery

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“nobody’s a star until they’re a star,” says Jake Abel, accurately coining a catchphrase for contemporary celebrity. “Everyone’s a Joe So-and-So and everyone’s a hack,

until they’re not. You see all the guys you’re competing with, and suddenly you’re in a franchise that’s being compared to Twilight.”

Jake Abel, 25, and max irons, 27, aren’t A-list stars yet, but the moment they scored lead roles in The Host, they got their feet in the door. the film is Stephanie meyer’s first since her girl-thrilling, skin-sparkling Twilight franchise, and it’s likely the first film of a new trilogy. As in Twilight, an intense young woman (Saoirse ronan, of Hannah and Atonement) must choose between two handsome men vying for her attention.

But, in The Host, directed by sci-fi auteur Andrew niccol, the action unspools on a post-apocalyptic, alien-invaded Earth. ronan plays melanie, a woman whose body has been inhabited by an extraterrestrial intelligence named wanda. irons plays Jared, the rough-hewn romantic who loves and has seemingly lost the human melanie. Abel plays ian, a more sensitive soul who falls for the alien wanda. “it’s more a love box than a love triangle,” says Abel. it’s also a huge opportunity. “i remember clearly my parents’ first piece of advice,” recalls irons, the son of Jeremy irons and Sinéad Cusack. “they said, ‘don’t look at us and think it will be the same for you. we are the one percent who are doing very well, but the odds are against you. Be prepared for a life of financial instability, fear, paranoia, and rejection.”

But so far, irons and Abel have been among the lucky ones too. After small film and tv parts, irons landed a plum role opposite Amanda Seyfried in Red Riding Hood.

Abel has scored roles in everything from Percy Jackson and I Am Number Four to Supernatural and The Lovely Bones. with this film, they both enter that small pool of actors who have a shot at becoming the next Pitt or depp. But these days everyone is asking, Can you become the next robert Pattinson? “it’s a very lazy comparison, because Twilight was a phenomenon unto itself,” says irons. “Pattinson was chased down the streets of Paris before the films even came out. And he is doing well for himself. he has about five films with acclaimed directors lined up.”

Abel, too, is generous with regard to both team Edward and team Jacob. “A lot of people expect us to knock the Twilight cast,” he says. “But taylor Lautner is a really nice kid. rob Pattinson, i couldn’t imagine the tremendous amount of pressure he was under—and he earned my respect when i saw him fight for certain projects.

Water for Elephants is a great novel, the movie was what it was. that’s not his fault. that’s the risk: we’re the face of projects.”

Both actors may wax complimentary toward the other men in meyer’s life, but they’re also savvy about learning from the way those who came before them have navigated hollywood. once upon a time, actors made their name in small parts and

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stages. today, fresh faces who get thrust out onto 3,000 screens before you even know their names either sink (taylor kitsch) or swim (Pattinson). as for today’s hottest young actors, a landscape dominated by franchises and sequel-stretched brands is just reality—even for the biggest new fish (hemsworth(s), radcliffe, Gordon-Levitt), this is the only water they know. abel and Irons weren’t just born after Jaws and Star Wars, they were born after Return of the Jedi, Superman III, Rocky IV, and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. It’s a very different business than the one that made stars out of Pacino and nicholson, redford and newman. “a young person like myself,” says Irons, “I look at the actors I respect, Paul Giamatti, Phillip seymour hoffman, and you track back through their careers: they did small parts with good directors and good scripts, laying a foundation of good solid work. they worked their way up.” that’s not how it works in 2013—especially if you are as handsome as Irons and abel. If you blow up young, you don’t just have a better chance of buying a house in the hollywood hills, you have a better shot at getting great parts. or flaming out entirely. “now some young people shoot up in terms of fame and pay and notoriety, but they aren’t necessarily ready for it,” Irons says, declining to name names. “there are few who are ready, lots that aren’t. that’s a scary model. You only get one shot.

It’s difficult. Instant megastardom? that’s a dangerous way to do it.”

abel and Irons talk about actors like ryan Gosling and Michael Fassbender who have managed to balance the big hollywood flicks with riskier indies. abel writes screenplays and directs short films on the side. Irons is acting royalty, schooled in theater. Both name-check highbrow directors and repeatedly mention how Twilight paved the way for Pattinson to work with David cronenberg on Cosmopolis and how The Notebook allowed ryan Gosling to do, well, whatever the hell he wants.

“I knew Red Riding Hood, my first major role, might not be the greatest film ever made, but you have to take a chance in order to get your foot on the next rung of the ladder,” says abel. “It’s not necessarily the only way—but it’s a way. But if you play that card too strong, the minute you fail there will be someone to replace you.”

In a new hollywood scene where the box office is built more on established brands than a-list talent, Irons and abel know it’s not going to be easy. they talk earnestly about their desire to back up the big franchise parts with steady, quality work over years. only time will tell. Until then, both actors are aware that, just as they battle for saoirse ronan’s heart in The Host, they’ll be fighting each other for parts—probably sooner than later. “whoever I compete with, I’ll take jobs from them and they’ll take jobs from me,” says abel. “Max and I will compete! It’s the way it is. and the ones of us who take it seriously are going to get the work. It’s Darwinian.”

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B E A U T I F U L F U T U R E Can alden ehrenreiCh break hollywood’s spell and breathe life into a new generation of ameriCan aCtors? photography Carlos serrao fashion maryam malakpour text kyle buChanan

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“I Am Comforted is just yams,” laughs Alden Ehrenreich. Gibberish? To a casual

observer, sure, but at L.A.’s Cafe Gratitude, the restaurant where we’re lunching, that

sentence makes a certain amount of New Agey sense: each item on the menu, from yams to bruschetta, is named with an esteem-boosting spiritual koan. And though Ehrenreich is a young actor—and acting often demands your commitment to saying ridiculous things out loud—well, every man has his limits.

“I Am Magical? I cannot believe this,” he laughs, scanning the menu. “Can you imagine being here on a first date and going, ‘I Am Succulent, please?’ It’s insane.

It’s almost like a spoof of an L.A. restaurant. I mean, the fact that I would order I Am Bonita...” He dissolves into laughter.

“I can’t read this. I’m just getting a Caesar salad. I’m defaulting.”

The 23-year-old Ehrenreich doesn’t have his own publicist yet, but he’s just come off several months of early promotion for his new film, Beautiful Creatures, a Southernset fantasy based on a young adult book series. The film is a big leap forward for Ehrenreich, who until now was best known for his feature debut three years ago as the lead in Francis Ford Coppola’s lush, black-and-white Tetro. It was an auspicious career-starter, but Tetro isn’t the kind of movie that plays at the mall multiplex.

Beautiful Creatures, on the other hand, has star-crossed teen lovers, supernatural trappings, and an ardent fan base—all the ingredients that made Twilight such a hit.

And that’s exactly why Ehrenreich didn’t want to be in it.

“I originally turned down this movie,” he admits. “I didn’t read the script, and it was pitched to me as kind of a rip-off of Twilight, and so I said, ‘It’s the kind of thing I’m not interested in.’” Eventually, though, the film’s original lead had to drop out over scheduling issues, and when Ehrenreich was reapproached and convinced to crack open the script, he fell in love by page three—little wonder, since the film was written and directed by Richard LaGravenese, the Oscar-nominated scripter of The Fisher King.

Ehrenreich recently saw a big swath of the film while redubbing some of his dialogue, and he’s giddy about how it’s turning out: “Richard left in all the weirdest takes, and that’s just great,” he says, a big grin on his face. “What I’m really grateful for with Beautiful Creatures is that I got to do a movie that has a foundation to it, and I get all the benefits of that without having to sell out. From an acting standpoint, the stuff I get to do in this movie is as exciting as in any movie I’ve ever been up for.”

And he’s been up for a lot. Just a few days after our lunch, it’s reported that Ehrenreich is on a short list of actors being considered to join the next Spider-Man film. “I’ve lost parts to people that were…well, I don’t even want to go into that,” he laughs. If Beautiful Creatures does bring him Twilight-level fame, Ehrenreich knows exactly how he’ll use it: “There have probably been 10 to 15 movies that I was cast in that haven’t gotten financed, so it’s exciting, the prospect that I would have more power to get something made.”

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“The main Thing is jusT having your own fire burning, having your own life separaTe, your happiness unhiTched from wheTher or noT you geT a parT.” —alden ehrenreich

Not that he minds the constant auditions. “I really love it!” he says. “I love acting.

That’s what sucks about being an actor: if you’re a writer, you write every day, and if you’re a painter, you paint every day, but if you’re an actor, it’s a lot more difficult to create and to act by yourself. Days where I get to audition are days where I get to act.”

He acknowledges, though, that it’s a difficult time to be a young actor in Hollywood.

The distaff is stacked—you’ve got a long roster of powerhouse actresses in their early 20s, including Jennifer Lawrence, Kristen Stewart, and Emma Stone—but Hollywood has had trouble growing new matinee idols to replace the Damons, DiCaprios, and Gyllenhaals that used to be commonplace.

“I think there’s probably a broader conversation about the roles that are being written for males,” suggests Ehrenreich. “What I like about Beautiful Creatures is that it’s a leading-man part even though he’s a teenager. A lot of the roles you go up for when you’re in your 20s are in the archetype of The Graduate, these lost, confused, timid people. In The Graduate it works, but it doesn’t always make for the best protagonists.”

Ehrenreich’s experience in Hollywood may serve as an empirical anomaly with respect to the thesis that young American men aren’t aspiring to movie stardom anymore. Is it still considered to be a manly pursuit when some of the most famous American actors in their 20s are Jesse Eisenberg and Michael Cera? Ehrenreich shakes his head at the thought, mystified, and mentions that he fell in love with movies early on in his childhood, when his mother used to throw mock film festivals at their house. It didn’t take long before he began idolizing screen stars like Paul Newman.

“I saw these iconic actors that I loved, and to me, that’s what being a man was,” he says. “These were the coolest people I had ever seen in my life.”

And so, as Ehrenreich finishes a salad named I Am Dazzling, he ponders his future.

In addition to his part in Beautiful Creatures, he has a supporting role in this spring’s Nicole Kidman thriller Stoker, directed by Park-Chan-wook, and he just finished a role in Woody Allen’s next movie. “Yesterday, I was thinking about all the people I’ve gotten to work with or have been involved with in my career, and it’s insane to me,” he says. But no matter what happens next, Ehrenreich is determined to stay unaffected.

“The main thing is just having your own fire burning, having your own life separate, your happiness unhitched from whether or not you get a part,” he says, adding with a laugh, “but I do buy myself a present whenever I don’t get a part I really wanted.”

As we leave Cafe Gratitude, Ehrenreich is forced to acknowledge something about his meal, despite its dorky name: “That was actually pretty good,” he says. He picks at his teeth with a toothpick, heartened, then looks up at the horizon on this clear, cloudless day, spotting something familiar on the hill. “The Hollywood sign,” he sighs. “My heart swells.”

T E E N A G E DAYD R E A M Ansel elgort, stAr of this spring’s Carrie reboot, just might be the crown prince of the millenniAl generAtion photogrAphy philippe VogelenzAng fAshion steVie DAnce text jAson lAmphier

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High school dreaming, adolescent fears, your worst fucking nightmare. anyone familiar with Carrie, Stephen King’s 1974 novel and its classic 1976 film adaptation starring Sissy Spacek, knows that it doesn’t get much worse for a wallflower. ansel elgort, on the other hand, has been living a reverie so bright it’s nearly blinding.

Sitting in the booth of a burger joint in New York’s Greenwich Village, the 18-yearold actor, who’s making his feature debut playing opposite Chloë Grace Moretz in director Kimberly Pierce’s forthcoming reinterpretation of Carrie, rattles off his escapades and musings with the effusiveness and precocity you’d expect from a baby-faced golden boy who was born and raised in the Manhattan art world. “I’m so glad I waited seven years to do any movies,” he says. “I look at every actor and critique them, and I critique myself the same way, and I’m pleased with what I’m doing. For me, it’s really about the craft. It’s about making art.” elgort, the son of renowned Vogue photographer arthur elgort and Norwegian-born opera director Grethe Holby, is the six-foot-three, perfectly bed-headed embodiment of the millennial renaissance man. Carrie, his first foray into Hollywood, is only the latest of his ventures. elgort’s endless list of pastimes stands as proof that he’s the overachiever of overachievers. there’s the tap dancing, the piano lessons he’s been taking for six years, the electronic music he’s been cooking up in his bedroom for the

past year, his painting of fantastical miniature figurines (dwarves, orcs, spaceship captains, and the like, for which he’s won three national Golden Demon competitions), and his seven summers’ worth of productions at Stagedoor Manor, the performing arts camp for kids in the Catskills. there’s also his first off-Broadway play, Regrets, which he starred in with Gilmore Girls’ alexis Bledel last spring, just a few months before he graduated from the LaGuardia High School of Music & art and Performing arts. and he recently started serving as what he calls a “brand ambassador” for his favorite designer, thom Browne, a relationship that elgort initiated by sending an adulatory e-mail to Mr. Browne’s team. Later in the evening, elgort is DJing at Pink elephant, a recently reopened underground hotspot just around the corner from where we’re having lunch, and a few hours earlier he was at a callback for what he hopes will be his next movie gig.

“I’ve never really been nervous, because I’m an actor and they’re a director, and it’s sort of an audition for both of us,” says elgort, who discovered his passion for acting the opening night of his performance in The Nutcracker with the School of american Ballet, when he was 9. “we work off each other; we both have our own jobs to do. I go in there as if I’m ready to perform. when I went in for my first table read for Carrie, I had the entire script memorized.” He was called back six times before F IL M | vman 9 9

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outsider anthem, 1999’s oscar-winning Boys Don’t Cry. “kim would help me out so much,” he says. “she would give me notes, not only in terms of what to do in the Carrie (Grace moretz) a bone and asks her to prom (a bucket of blood later, we know scene, but also as an actor on film.” and though he refrained from screening Brian De where that nice gesture gets him). palma’s original twisted version of Carrie until he was done filming pierce’s reboot, elgort gleefully recalls the circumstances of his final audition for the part, which he did read the novel to prepare for his role. “i think stephen king is a great writer,” took place as he was wrapping his run of Regrets. “it was a tuesday night, and i’d he says. “he writes books based on an idea, not just a plot. What happens if somealready gone in for a callback earlier that day. i was just about to go into Billy Budd the one that was bullied could retaliate? it’s their fantasy. it’s really justifying, because opera at the met. We had, like, the best tickets in the house. then i get a call from the the people she messes with really deserve it. i think Carrie’s a smarter horror film.” casting woman, saying, ‘ansel, you need to come back, right now!’ she’s like”—he elgort has no immediate plans to attend college, but his parents are “100 percent pauses for effect, chuckles, then lowers his voice slightly—“‘we need a shot of you okay with it,” he says, adding that both his brother, Warren, and sister, sophie, are with your shirt off.’ so i just gave my tickets away to two old people standing outside. artists too (a film editor and a photographer, respectively). instead, he has his sights they had probably the biggest facegasm i’ve ever seen.” the idea of the big reveal set on Broadway. “if i can do a few movies and get people to care about who i am, didn’t spook him, though. “i mean, i’d been rock climbing and boxing, so i was in fine then i can go back to the stage for a while. i won’t be surprised if i see tom hardy shape,” elgort says. “Clearly, they were ready to cast me, and they were like”—he onstage soon. he’s that type of actor.” But what if the casting directors stop calling? shifts his voice into a gruff, theatrical tone, mimicking a skeptical detective—“Wait! “i’ve never doubted myself,” he says. “sometimes i think, Wait, am i a little bit cocky?

But does he have a good body too?”

But i’ve worked really hard. i’ve never taken time off from being an actor. this is the he adored working with Grace moretz (“We still text all the time”), Julianne moore kind of career i’d be so happy to do until i die. i always joke to myself that i want to (who plays Carrie’s disturbed mother), and director pierce, the auteur behind another have a postmortem academy award nomination.” he landed the role of tommy ross, the handsome popular high school jock who, at

the urging of his beautiful and popular girlfriend, throws his tormented classmate

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even if you didn’t watch a second of the nba playoffs last summer, you might have an image of the finals burned into your brain. not of a winning shot, but of a pair of oversized fire-engine red plastic glasses (no lenses, naturally) perched on the face of oklahoma city thunder point guard russell Westbrook during a postgame press conference. and then there was the accompanying shirt: an eye-popping Prada button-up splashed with colorful vintage cartoon drawings. the thunder ultimately fell to the miami Heat, but Westbrook soundly stomped the rest of the league in the wardrobe department. He’s since become something of an avatar for basketball’s newfound fashion sense, a dandyish breed of nerd-chic that pushes back against the baggy-shorts sensibility ushered in by the university of michigan’s Fab Five team in the early ’90s. now Westbrook’s stylistic flash is part of his on-court presence, too. He recently signed on as the latest representative for nike’s iconic Jordan brand, and debuted the xx8 shoe in the new barclays center when the thunder first took on the brooklyn nets. the aesthetic of the new air Jordan—which is encased in a zip-up black shell reminiscent of scuba gear—has received mixed feedback, but Westbrook seems to be wearing them in just fine: he scored 25 points and offered nine assists during the thunder’s win against the nets. We caught up with Westbrook after his brooklyn debut to talk fashion, social media, and haters.

CARRIE BATTAN My friend has a painting of you wearing the red glasses

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in his bathroom, and it ended up on your Instagram a couple of weeks ago.

How’d you find it?

RUSSELL WESTBROOK somebody sent that to me! it’s great.

CB You hashtagged it #trendsetter.

RW yes. From time to time i definitely start seeing people do things after i’ve done them, especially on twitter and other social media. People always hashtag my name.

CB Have you retired the glasses?

RW no, but i haven’t worn them in a while—i’ll only wear them if the outfit presents itself.

CB You’ve been playing well with the XX8s, which are pretty crazy looking. What did you think when you first saw them?

RW the shoes are...very interesting. they’re different, but it’s a great shoe. most of my teammates didn’t like them when they were off my feet, but when i put them on they eventually changed their minds.

CB Did you debut them at the Barclays Center because you wanted Jay-Z to see them?

RW no, Jay-z wasn’t there. it was a marketing thing—a good opportunity to wear them in a new arena.

CB Oklahoma City isn’t known to be the most fashionable place. Where do you shop?

RW i do it on the road when we go to big cities—new york, L.a. i also do a lot of online shopping from places like topman, FarFetch, and urban outfitters.

CB What sort of designers or specific items are you into right now?

RW right now i’m really into Paul smith, but i wear everything. i’m into cutoff jean jackets, leather stuff…

CB Then you’re lucky to be a smaller-sized basketball player.

RW definitely. i don’t have to get anything custom-fitted from designers, which is a blessing.

CB Do other players ever resent you for your style reputation?

RW they do try to clown on me from time to time, but i don’t pay them any mind. if anything, though, they’re trying to figure me out, to see what i’m going to wear next.

CB Do you feel a constant pressure to dress up now off-court?

RW i don’t worry about that because i dress naturally. i don’t [intentionally] get dressed up a lot—like, i’m in sweats right now.

CB Are you ever concerned that the style thing will be a distraction from your athletic career?

RW i don’t. the court is a different thing.

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he lack of new leading men in Hollywood is no secret to anyone. Whether or not this is the result of a studio system that’s stingy with second chances or a cultural phenomenon of guys just not striving to steal the silver screen anymore, one thing is inarguably clear: Hollywood is densely populated with handsome men. A spin around any upscale hotel lobby, Equinox, or trendy organic juice enema bar can tell you as much. But what separates actual actors from the pretty boys isn’t a desire to rebel against their attractiveness or to lean upon it too heavily, but rather to make it a nonissue. Think about the greatest performers of recent generations: Johnny Depp’s early breakout role was portraying a deathly pale, scissor-fingered living doll who horrified suburbia. Leonardo DiCaprio has Oscar nominations for playing a mentally ill kid in a messed up family (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape) and a quirky millionaire who bottles his own urine (The Aviator), not for being the golden-haired heartthrob on a big boat that sank in 1912. Good looks are obviously gold, but in this business if they’re your sole skill you might as well see if that juice bar is hiring.

So it’s a relief that Douglas Booth, whose career began as a ridiculously good-looking male model, looks haggard when we meet for a drink at a hotel in downtown New York.

He looks biblically haggard, in fact. Booth is wrapping up Noah, Darren Aronofsky’s epic retelling of the good book’s animal-coupling ark tale. Booth is sporting a scruffy, weathered face and gross, ratted hair extensions that are pulled back with a dime-store elastic headband. He’s just taken off a baseball cap that earlier today fell off his head and was run over by a truck. But what’s really impressive is that his seat is facing a mirror and he only falls into a narcissistic stare twice.

“It very quickly isn’t flattering to be known only for the way you look,” Booth says.

“It’s just uninteresting if that’s all people want to talk about. I don’t necessarily want to hear about my talent or my greatness as an actor. You can say I’m shit, if you think so.

But make it about something I do.” Ironically, he finds comfort in the unglamorous confines of a character. “The grittier, the dirtier, the worse I can look, the happier I am. It takes the pressure off.”

It’s Booth’s nonchalant handsomeness that first brought him to the attention of the fashion world. “He understands fashion and always looks effortless and impeccable, whether he’s in sharp tailoring, evening tux, or jeans and a T-shirt,” says Burberry’s Christopher Bailey, who cast Booth when the to-be was 16 for a series of international campaigns. “He’s a dude!”

The actress Emma Watson, who starred in Booth’s initial Burberry campaign and was reunited with him on the set of Noah, where he plays her husband, goes further to explain that he’s a dude with gravitas. “There’s something old-mannish about Doug, which he had even then. He knows who he is. He doesn’t get intimidated, doesn’t hold back, and is generally fearless,” she says. Yet she will readily admit that even when they met five years ago, her first reaction was that he was pure eye candy. “We met when he was 15 and I remember looking at him and thinking he was offensively attractive. And it’s just gotten worse since then.”

Booth grew up in London, but a childhood diagnosis of dyslexia made it clear from an early age he’d be better suited to the arts. He started playing the trumpet–“I figured if I couldn’t be an academic I’d be a famous musician”–but gave that up when his friends started picking up guitars and forming rock bands. “Coincidentally, I was cast in a play at the same time, and it all went from there.” He scored his first major role at 16 in From Time to Time, a BBC biography of Christopher Isherwood written by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes.

What brought him to the attention of the casting director was his next role, as Boy George in the 2010 British TV series Worried About The Boy. “That was my first lead experience, and it was sink or swim. Fuck it up and my career would be over before it even started. I knew I had to take it seriously and commit 100 percent.” Committing to

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the part of Boy George was colorful and bonding stuff: the role called for five hours of makeup a day, and costumes varied from vinyl bodysuits to silk kimonos to dominatrix nuns. “Even to this day, when someone says something derogatory about Boy George, it still upsets and offends me. Part of me will always be quite attached to him.”

In 2011, he scored a part opposite Ray Winston and Gillian Anderson in the BBC’s Great Expectations miniseries, which was followed by 2012’s campy American tween film LOL, opposite Miley Cyrus and Demi Moore. Booth originally had to be forced into even meeting with that film’s director by his agents but he was ultimately glad he did because it felt like he’d crammed the last two years of high school, which he’d missed, into those three months of filming.

His next role was as literature’s most famous lovelorn teenager: Romeo, in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, which hits theaters later this year, opposite Hailee Steinfeld. Booth describes the film as having “the beauty and romanticism of Zeffirelli’s 1968 version with the energy of Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 version,” the latter of which starred the aforementioned DiCaprio. It was initially an intimidating casting process, but Booth got his head around it when he realized his inexperience in the world of Shakespeare was a benefit. “I figured, Fuck it, they’re choosing me because I can bring something fresh to it. Something in-the-moment and real, which is the spirit of Romeo, isn’t it? ” The film that he is wrapping up when we meet is Noah. “It’s the epic telling of the story of Noah’s ark,” Booth explains, adding, “but because it’s an Aronofsky film, it’s dark and twisted too.” It’s a boldfaced production: Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly play Noah and his wife, Watson is Booth’s wife, and Logan Lerman his brother. He jokes that this film has been the most grueling yet, and his first exposure to Method acting. The past few weeks of production have been slammed because Hurricane Sandy wrecked the set, a true-to-life-size ark, and many of the crew’s homes were affected by the devastation. (Yes, the irony that a hurricane destroying the set of a movie depicting a biblical flood was not lost on the cast and crew.) “On the last shot of the day I fell asleep in bed,” Booth says of his work the day before, when he was in bed with Watson, who just had to act her way through her first childbirth scene. “I was meant to wake up, so suddenly I hear Darren screaming, ‘Douglas! Douglas! Are you really asleep?’ I told him I was just doing some Method acting.” Booth flashes a smile, which even through extensions and untamed stubble could convince anyone of anything. “I hope he bought it.” Derek BlasBerg

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the new romantic Gryphon wears ClothinG Saint Laurent by hedi SLimane Jewelry his own

the sicilian Tucker wears cloThing and accessories Dolce & Gabbana available aT barneys.com

the gigolo Matthew wears clothing Gucci scarF (in pocket) ETRO

the introvert John wears Jacket Lanvin shirt, pants, belt DsquareD rings his own boots BaLmain

the pugilist Rob weaRs clothing Versace eaRRings his own

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clockwise from top: satoshi, pascal, jester wear clothing and accessories comme des garÇons

from left: jamie, simon, mclain, florian wear clothing and shoes GIVENCHY BY RICCARDO TISCI available at barneys.com

from left: dae, simon, joseph, otto wear Clothing and aCCessories LOUIS VUITTON dae wears shoes CARVEN

from left: otto, simon, mclain, joseph wear clothing and accessories CALVIN KLEIN COLLECTION

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30 j o i n u s t h i s fa l l t o c e l e b r at e a decade of vman!

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