Home/Men's Lifestyle/British GQ/December 2022 / January 2023/In This Issue
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023ContributorGARY YOUNGEWriterGary Younge is a writer, broadcaster and professor of sociology at the University of Manchester. He profiled Stormzy for this issue. “Stormzy had been on an intense personal journey. He seemed more reflective, determined and heavily focused on self improvement than I have ever seen him.”Office GrailsFEDERICO SARICAHead of Editorial Content, GQ Italy “What will never die? Loafers, denim, and white socks. (Pink shirts come and go.)”MURRAY CLARKSenior Style Editor British GQ “I’ve been rewatching The Sopranos for the fifth time, if you couldn’t tell by the vintage Sergio Tacchini tracksuit.”…1 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023Joseph Quinn’s Upside-Down YearWHEN JOSEPH QUINN took the call that would come to change his life for good, he was standing in his kitchen in South London. His agent was on the other end of the phone. “He called me, like, ‘Who’s that?’ And I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ So he goes, ‘I’m sorry, is that Eddie from Stranger Things?’” Quinn recalls. “I literally fell to my knees. Like, What? Are you sure? It felt like it’d just fallen out of the f*cking sky.” It was November 2019. Only three weeks prior, in the very same flat, he’d recorded his first self-tape for the hit Netflix series with the help of his then-girlfriend and flatmate. “Obviously, at that point, I’m just f*cking suspicious about the whole thing. This never happens. And…11 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023Sheila Atim’s Latest ActIn which we shout-out the year’s most radical breakouts and winningest performances.IT’S ONLY A few days after the UK premiere of The Woman King, the biggest role of Sheila Atim’s career, but she already has her sights on the next job. “I’m trying to change my broadband,” she says. “These little life things are a big goal right now.”This has been a breakout year for the 31-year-old. In May, she made her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness as Sara Wolfe, who sacrifices herself in a pivotal moment to help save the multiverse. “If it wasn’t for me, that movie could have turned out very differently!” she says. “I just want to play roles that are impactful in some way.”A part in Disney’s live-action…2 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023Es Devlin Takes Centre StageFOR GRAMMY WINNERS, global fashion houses and playwrights, Es Devlin was the woman to collaborate with this year. The British designer has masterminded stages for Beyoncé, Adele, and Dua Lipa. She also designed tours for Florence + The Machine and The Weeknd, sets for the Royal Opera House and National Theatre; displays at the Super Bowl and Tate Modern; installations for Cartier and Saint Laurent. Chances are you’ve seen a Devlin design, even if you don’t recognise her name.Looking back at 2022, what would you consider your biggest success?What does the word success actually mean? Can we look it up now?How about we go with “accomplishment of desired end.”The Super Bowl I was really proud of. What I was pleased with was it was very specific to one place on…2 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023Ashley Walters Won’t Stop CreatingTHIS IS YEAR 30 of Ashley Walters’s long career in entertainment. In that time, he has become an emblem in Black-British culture.“I’ve continually had to reinvent myself,” he says, “but all those stages of reinvention have never been contrived. I’ve just naturally gone in the direction that I feel like I should be going.”What started with minor roles in children’s TV shows aged 10 evolved into a music career with the legendary So Solid Crew in the new millennium. A turnaround back into acting followed, with appearances in cult classic films Bullet Boy (2004) and Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (2005), before a career-defining role in Top Boy (2011), where he plays Dushane, a gangster wrestling with his own morality and mental health in a city that can be a…2 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023GQ’s Most Stylish People on the PlanetChris PineWe were blessed with quite a lot of Pine Time during the press run for a little film called Don’t Worry Darling. Much documented drama aside, Pine’s style has been a highlight. He’s gone from bearded LA mountain man (or at least Erewhon Market) to slick-backed gold Day-Date daddy, with Wayfarers and wide, wide-open shirt. The man has range.Thomas DohertyScottish actor Thomas Doherty hasn’t done red carpets for long. Not that you’d know. He goes shirtless under Dior suits, evokes Mars Attacks with his sunglasses, and generally does all the sort of highly sexed-up sh*t you’d expect from a Gossip Girl 2.0er.Elliot PageAs much as we love the extreme and bizarre side of getting dressed, there’s also something about knowing what you like and running with it. Take Elliot…8 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023YOUNG HEARTS RUN FREEIt’s afternoon at Rowan’s, a bowling alley and arcade in North London. The kind of place where the floors are sticky and the fizzy cola never quite tastes right. As most grown adults are wallowing in hungover states, two of the most famous young men in the country – Joe Locke and Kit Connor, the stars of Netflix’s Heartstopper – are here surrounded by kids’ birthday parties. It’s the closest they now get to incognito, since almost no one their age is kicking around. But while the boys are distracted shooting hoops, playfully competing against each other, a stray teenager spots them and whispers into her mum’s ear.I wonder what she says. How she tries to summarise the sheer power of Heartstopper, the show that changed the pair’s lives and…16 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023JACK HARLOW’S RADICAL CONFIDENCEJACK HARLOW WON’T appear on stage for five more hours, but his fans have been mustering beneath the sky-high white colonnade of Kia Forum in Los Angeles since dawn. A long queue, comprising mostly young women, snakes around the edge of the car park. Attendants in neon vests seem flummoxed by the crowd, first redirecting those gathered to another entrance, then to a VIP check-in tent. The line moves compliantly from place to place like a tentacle.Four gregarious women at the front, Theresa, Ivy, Mackenzie, and Geneva, arrived at the Forum at 4am and waited in the street until they were allowed into the grounds. Theresa, with long false eye-lashes, sleek black hair, and sharp contouring that seems calculated to set her apart from the blur of faces at the…22 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023ANTHONY VACCARELLO FOR SAINT LAURENTAnthony Vaccarello and I are sitting in his stately office, housed in a 17-th-century hôtel particulier in Paris’s Left Bank. Vaccarello has just presented his spring 2023 womenswear collection for Saint Laurent in front of the Eiffel Tower, and today things are so quiet you can hear his French bulldog, Nino, snoring in the next room. Vaccarello’s office is minimally decorated, as if he’s still moving in, with a tidy black desk, a few Pierre Jeanneret chairs, and a small daybed underneath some bookshelves. “It’s peaceful,” he says, sipping from a tiny glass of water. “And very chic.”Vaccarello, who took over Saint Laurent as the brand’s sixth creative steward (including Mr. Saint Laurent) in 2016, is plenty settled in. Under his design, artistic, and image direction, the brand’s revenues have…5 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023PRADA AMERICA’S CUPA quarter of a century ago, Prada debuted the PS0906, a techy performance trainer engineered specifically for the house’s newly-formed Linea Rossa sailing team to wear on the water at the 1997 America’s Cup. Almost instantaneously, trainer aficionados and fashion freaks alike fell hard for its curvaceous panels of mesh and leather, and the shoe became a surprise crossover smash. The Prada America’s Cup, as the model is now officially known, has quietly remained a staple of the label’s footwear lineup ever since. In 2022, the shoe cruised back into the limelight in a major way: Prada tapped the artist Cassius Hirst – son of Damien – to transmute the America’s Cup in a wave of trippy textures and neon tones, and it also let the silhouette loose on the…1 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023RIMOWA CARRY -ONLong a status symbol among the global jet set, Rimowa’s cabin-size aluminium suitcase took on an entirely new significance this year – and for reasons having far more to do with durability than fashion. The return of pandemic-delayed intercontinental travel was met with “airmageddon,” as airlines couldn’t keep pace with the boom in Euro trips, destination weddings, and far-flung soul searches. Checked baggage seemed to be disappearing at alarming rates, leaving the compact and efficient carry-on as the only safe way to travel abroad without risking outfit apocalypse. Rimowa rose to the occasion – not just as maker of the world’s premier carry-on luggage, but on the strength of a slew of new colourways and collaborations with the likes of Supreme, Dior, Daft Punk, and Porsche. Packing light has never…1 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023BODE LOS ANGELESIn February, Los Angeles got the fashion flagship it deserves when the doors of a 3,000-plus-square-foot Bode store opened on a sleepy stretch of Melrose Ave. Designed by Green River Project, the buzzy interior design firm cofounded by Emily Bode’s husband and creative collaborator, Aaron Aujla, the former furniture gallery now resembles a walnut-panelled natural history museum, where Bode’s meticulously researched garments are presented alongside ancient mastodon ribs, a replica dodo skeleton, and delicate bird’s nests taken from Bode and Aujla’s house in Connecticut. It’s a uniquely enthralling aesthetic universe that makes shopping for a pair of needlepoint-embroidered trousers feel like an act of profound discovery. And it’s been a godsend for crafty Angelenos, who have been clearing the shelves.BALENCIAGA’S STOCK EXCHANGE: COURTESY OF BALENCIAGA. BODE LOS ANGELES: ETHAM M.…1 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023TREMAINE EMORYDuring a big year for new designer appointments and departures, one seat in fashion’s game of musical chairs looked more like a throne. The February announcement that Tremaine Emory would be the new creative director of Supreme was unexpected, but not entirely surprising. And for those keeping track of the fashion world’s hierarchy of influence, it was nothing short of seismic. Emory, who grew up in Queens, New York, had established himself as a whisperer of fashion whims high and low, having spent years working at every level of the business, starting in a retail position at J.Crew, making his way up the ranks at Marc Jacobs, then helping to revamp Stüssy. He worked on the margins of fashion, too, with Frank Ocean and Andre 3000, and he set the…1 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023A new landmark for luxury livingAs Samuel Johnson famously said, ‘When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.’ Just as it was for the 18th-century man of letters, the city’s appeal today lies in the dynamic complexity of its streets and squares, little lanes and courts, and there is nowhere that encapsulates that cosmopolitan vibrancy better than the West End. And where is the best finger-on-the-pulse living experience the city has to offer moving into 2023? Galliard Homes’ new TCRW SOHO scheme.Resplendent on the corner where Dean Street meets Oxford Street, two blocks are set to redefine luxury living with 81 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and 11 one-, two- and three-bedroom penthouses. Block C will be notable for a…2 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023LETTER FROM THE EDITORNINE MONTHS ON AND THE queues to get a Swatch version of an iconic Omega remain. Watch collectors might call blasphemy, but has the MoonSwatch somehow become the most pivotal watch of the century?I’ve never experienced a moment quite like this one. A week ahead of its release, Nick Hayek Jr and Raynald Aeschlimann (Swatch and Omega big dogs respectively) flew me blind into their Biel HQ in Switzerland to unveil the much-hyped collaboration. In what ended up being a globally exclusive teaser, I wrote that “this joint mission… will break the internet”. I knew it would be big news – but not that big.What struck me most was the sheer volume of non-watch nerd friends reaching out about it. People Googling “Omega Speedmaster” to work out what all the…1 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023YOUR FAVOURITE TIMEPIECE IS NOW GUILT-FREEIN LUXURY, SUSTAINABILITY IS a loaded word. Often brands are accused of greenwashing when talk of preservation appears performative. However, with a sustainability revolution happening throughout the luxury world, many brands are committed to making a positive impact on the planet. Watch brands have been at the vanguard – working, as they often do, at the world’s extremes, from Arctic ice to deep ocean.Blancpain is a clear OG. The Swiss house has been involved in raising marine awareness through ocean exploration for more than 60 years, supporting initiatives such as the Pristine Seas expeditions, led by National Geographic explorer-in-residence Dr Enric Sala, and Laurent Ballesta’s Gombessa project, which studies some of the rarest marine creatures and phenomena. Blancpain also partners with the Ocean Photography Awards and Festisub (the Swiss festival…3 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023THE MAN CARRYING LOUIS VUITTONTHE SUM OF MARC JACOBS, KIM JONES, and Virgil Abloh’s influence on men’s style over the last two decades is unfathomable. And yet, though the trio have been at the helm of Louis Vuitton for the entire lifespan of its High Watchmaking department, their creative energies have never fed into LV watches.That honour has largely been bestowed upon LV’s master watchmaker, Michel Navas, a man who’s had a hand in Patek Philippe’s Nautilus, and one of the world’s first ever tourbillons at Audemars Piguet, as well as the Crazy Hours from Franck Muller. Navas learnt his trade from watch god Gérald Genta (the brains behind AP’s Royal Oak, Patek’s Nautilus and the Cartier Pasha de Cartier to name a few) but in many respects, Navas’ achievements are just as notable…4 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023THE VIBIEST WATCH MOMENTS OF 2022THE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL WATCH universe can sometimes feel like a vortex spinning with technical info and IYKYK details impenetrable to an outsider. You’d be forgiven for having little interest in disappearing down said whirlpool, but recently celebrity watch spotting has brought horology into the mainstream. Clocking a major piece – Jay-Z wore what? – has become a minor celeb-watching pastime, as well as a gateway into the world of serious collecting. And it doesn’t have to be expensive, or difficult to fathom (see Andrew Garfield wearing an Omega De Ville Prestige to the SAG Awards). Indeed, 2022 has been the year in which watches have embedded themselves in society’s consciousness. Name a major cultural moment when watches weren’t present (we’ll wait). Here, for your reading pleasure, are some of…10 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023How theTANKTook the World’s Most Stylish WristsTHE WATCH-COLLECTING WORLD HAS always had its favourites. The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and the Patek Philippe Nautilus, for instance, have for some time been firmly established as the go-to for understated elegance – having a heritage and history that’s distinctive without being OTT. But lately, another classic that shares those prerequisite qualities has grown majorly in popularity: the Cartier Tank.“People are beginning to recognise that these Cartier watches have been thematic throughout the 20th century,” says Harry Fane, a London-based dealer who specialises in vintage Cartier watches and jewellery. “They’ve been iconic, and they are fundamentally beautiful and elegant.”The Tank was first introduced in 1918, its sleek shape inspired by the physique of a First World War combat vehicle. It resonated with customers from day one – although it…7 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023GQ’s Ultimate WatchGuideSTATEMENT PIECESIF THE PLAN IS TO INITIATE CONVERSATION ABOUT WATCH FLEXES, START WITH THESE.TOP GUNSLEGIBILITY EQUALS TELLING THE TIME QUICKER, THOUGH YOU DON’T NEED A PILOT’S LICENCE FOR THAT.THE SMART ONESA WATCH COLLECTION IS INCOMPLETE WITHOUT A DIGITAL SOMETHING TICKING IN YOUR BOX.BRITISH - BORNPROOF THAT US BRITS ARE EXPERTS IN MORE THAN JUST QUEUING AND TALKING ABOUT THE WEATHER.BONKERSTHE RIDICULOUS END OF THE HOROLOGICAL SPECTRUM IS ALSO THE MOST TECHNICALLY GIFTED.PICK A COLOURWANT TO MAKE YOUR NEW INVESTMENT STAND OUT? DIAL UP THE PANTONE.OG’S REVISITEDSTORIED PASTS THROUGH MODERN DESIGN DON’T NECESSARILY HAVE TO COST THE EARTH.THAT’S BALLERWHAT CONOR McGREGOR’S WISHLIST LOOKS LIKE, BECAUSE HE KNOWS HIS STUFF ABOUT WATCHES.HYPE IS REALAND WARRANTED. THESE ARE SOME OF THE MOST TALKED-ABOUT WATCHES OF THE YEAR.EVERYDAYERSO SECOND NATURE THAT YOUR WRIST FEELS…34 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023The Agony and EcstasyGREETINGS FROM GQ HQ. And welcome to our 25th annual Men of the Year issue. Yup: this marks a quarter century of our biggest, brashest, shiniest moment, MOTY. It’s the time of year that we celebrate and honour the people who have shaped culture most radically.Here at British GQ, we’ve spent much of the past year rethinking… everything. And that approach applied to MOTY, too.So, a few pieces of housekeeping. Firstly, we have for many years honoured people who are, in fact, not men! Secondly, we’ve chilled out the mood a little this year, dropping traditional “awards” and “categories” and instead simply filling our pages with a collective of honourees that we truly and deeply admired. Lastly – and this needs to be said – jeez, what a year.I’ll spare…4 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023How Industry Became the Best Show of the YearLITTLE ABOUT INDUSTRY, the least BBC show the BBC has ever aired, should work. It’s a workplace drama that dropped during the pandemic, when the very notion of the workplace lay in tatters. A show about careerist tenacity set in an era in which, as Kim Kardashian said, “It seems like nobody wants to work.” One led by Gen-Zers but pitched at FT readers (and quite successfully, at that).Its core characters are City of London bankers, who, post-pandemic and mid-cost of living crisis, are less relatable than ever. “All of the people in this world are incredibly selfish,” Marisa Abela, who plays Yasmin, one of the show’s ascendant leads, says. Plunging the depths of the UK’s vacant, hyper-capitalist soul, it forces us to confront society’s flaws head-on when the news…9 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023THE RETURN OF THE BOX OFFICE KINGAFTER JAMES CAMERON’S Avatar came out in 2009 and made £2.4 billion, the director found the deepest point that exists in all of Earth’s oceans and, in time, he dove to it. When Cameron reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench, a couple of hundred miles off the southwest coast of Guam, in March 2012, he became the first person in history to descend the 6.8-mile distance solo, and one of only a few people to ever go that deep. Since then, others have followed – most prominently, a private-equity titan and former Naval Reserve intelligence officer turned explorer named Victor Vescovo – but Cameron is adamant that none have surpassed him. Vescovo, Cameron told me, “claimed he went deeper, but you can’t. So he’s basically just making sh*t up.”As…30 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023Lee Jung-jae’s Got GameFOUR DAYS BEFORE the first anniversary of Squid Game, its star Lee Jung-jae walked on stage at the Emmys to accept the award for Best Actor. In beating the likes of Jeremy Strong and Jason Bateman, Jung-jae was writing history in real time; becoming the first Asian actor to win the prize. But to him, that didn’t matter. “I didn’t want to focus on discussing that element of it any further,” he says.Nevertheless, it’s impossible to ignore Squid Game’s success. In its first four weeks, the show was watched by 142 million households, surpassing titans like Stranger Things and Bridgerton. But the actor prefers to express his gratitude for the “crazy amount of love” he’s received than to quantify the personal impact of one of the biggest TV shows on…2 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023Leon Edwards Is on Top of the WorldIN AUGUST, INSIDE an octagon-shaped ring in Salt Lake City’s Vivint Arena, Leon Edwards hit Kamaru ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Usman with a head-kick that reverberated throughout the sporting world. It was a move that – out of nowhere – announced the Jamaican-born, Birmingham native as UFC’s new welterweight champion.In a sport in danger of becoming predictable, 31-year-old Edwards’ win injected a much needed jolt of instability. Belt secured, dreams achieved, the new champ – who’s been hustling since the age of 17 – did what any man would. He called his mum and shed a tear or two.What do you put your victory down to?Usman was the number one, pound-for-pound, best fighter in the UFC; a long-reigning champion. But to become a champion you have to go out there and…2 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023Ben Whishaw Is in the Thick of ItBEN WHISHAW HAS had such a weird year you can’t blame him for being shoulder-shrugging-emoji-guy about it. Still, he’s lovely enough to try to articulate all the weirdness – starting with that Paddington tea party with the Queen. “I didn’t act with Her Majesty, but I was so amazed,” he says, himself the voice behind Peru’s most famous export. “I thought she did such a brilliant job. But, yeah. What a strange year it’s been.”The strangeness started with This Is Going To Hurt, a medical drama starring Whishaw as an overworked, fried-eyed junior medic in 2006. Airing in January, the dramedy absorbed our pandemic anxiety and anguish for a health service on the brink. “It was right in the forefront of our minds and our experiences at the time,” says…2 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023Andrew Garfield’s Search for the SublimeA FEW MINUTES ACROSS the border between Los Angeles and Ventura County sits a members-only club called Little Beach House Malibu, and in that club’s open-air dining room, on a balmy Thursday in October, an out-of-work actor sits facing the sea. Andrew Garfield – modestly bearded, dressed in white painters’ trousers, a logo-less black T-shirt, and your basic incognito-celeb baseball cap, whose brim he keeps tilting upward like the visor of a knight’s helmet – orders a cheeseburger with sweet potato fries, yellow mustard on the side, and begins to elaborate on what he’s been up to lately, which isn’t much.“I’m in a real period of not-doing,” he says, cheerfully. “The usual aggressive, ambitious, driven heartbeat, rapping at the door has subsided for a while.”The break he’s on now comes…23 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023STORMZY REAWAKENINGFOR A MOMENT it is difficult to see the stage for all the lights. They strafe the ceiling, pound strobes from the wings, send radiant cones to the ground from on high, propel diagonal rays to the upper corners from below, and pan the stadium with a blinding luminescence. Fireworks lining the runway shoot vertically from each side, cascading towards the audience. The packed crowd at London’s O2 Arena is well and truly lit. The first few bars of “Big Michael” roar. Stormzy, real name Michael Ebenazer Kwadjo Omari Owuo Jr., roars back, “It’s big Michael!”His voice fills the stadium; his face fills the jumbotron, but you can barely make him out at the back of the stage. It takes the whole song for him to bound to the front…19 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023ZOË KRAVITZALWAYS LANDS ON HER FEETNEW YORK’S UPPER EAST SIDE IS OUT IN FULL FORCE AT THE NEUE GALERIE, A SHRINE TO AUSTRO-GERMANIC EXPRESSIONISM TUCKED INSIDE A PALATIAL LOUIS XIII–STYLE MANSION, ON THIS GLOOMY AUTUMN AFTERNOON. COATS ARE SUMPTUOUS SHADES OF NAVY AND BROWN. HAIR IS COIFFED AND GREY. ELEGANT SILK SCARVES ARE MANDATORY. THE PATRONS HAVE STEPPED INSIDE THE FILIGREE-IRON DOORS AND UP THE DRAMATICALLY CURVED MARBLE STAIRCASE TO BE TRANSPORTED, THROUGH THE EVOCATIVE POWER OF ART, TO THE GILDED REFINEMENT OF TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY VIENNA. ALSO, TO EAT THE CAFÉ’S £30 WIENER SCHNITZEL.ZOË KRAVITZ GLIDES in wearing a long black coat over an all-black ensemble with her hair slicked up in a ballerina bun, looking like Catwoman decided to settle down in a fancy apartment on Central Park. Her face is what happens when you…18 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023ADIDAS X EVERYONEAlmost anyone can knock out a hot sneaker collab these days. But multiple full-scale fashion collaborations with a murderers’ row of the biggest, most vital designers on the planet? Only Adidas. In February, those familiar three stripes appeared on Gucci’s Milan runway amid a wide array of Alessandro Michele’s exaggerated tailoring and Pop art sportswear. In May, when Demna’s Balenciaga took over the New York Stock Exchange, the stripes adorned ankle-length windbreakers and gigantic flowy tees. Grace Wales Bonner showcased her vision of shapely Adidas tracksuits and thigh-baring soccer shorts. And Prada reinvigorated the age-old Adidas windbreaker and swishy shell pants in its legendary Re-Nylon fabric. In all those instances, Adidas didn’t simply disappear into the background of another brand’s aesthetic. Instead, it synced up and signal-boosted each disparate, individual…1 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023BOSSAfter almost a century of solid Eurocool tailoring, Boss was popular. Wildly so.Whispers of a reboot caused much panic among the Boss faithful, then: what was to become of this stalwart? What was going on behind the hoarding freshly nailed to stores across the planet?And how do you fix something that isn’t broken?The answer? Change is good! With a sharper, refined logo stamped to waistbands, accessories, and a new chain of lacquered flagships, the steadfast German brand felt radical again with tailoring that didn’t try too hard, near-future metallics, and the sort of flowing overcoats you can wear anywhere and every day.All of that built to a shuddering climax with the world’s hottest talent in a candescent Milan show. So when Naomi Campbell, Future, Anthony Joshua, and Khaby Lame walked…1 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023OMEGA X SWATCH SPEEDMASTER MOONSWATCHNo watch release this year was as anticipated or riotous as the first-ever collaboration between bargain-priced Swatch and venerable watchmaker Omega. Executives at Nike and Supreme would blush at the lines that formed to purchase the $260 (£225) watch exclusively sold at Swatch stores. Collectors chose from 11 different vividly-coloured selections designed with reference to the key features of our solar system – each of the planets, the sun, the moon, and Pluto. The crowds grew so large that many Swatch stores were forced to shutter early on release day. It’s a collaboration worth the buzz – an increasingly rare thing these days. The partnership takes one of the world’s most iconic timepieces – the NASA approved Omega Speedmaster – and makes it accessible to the kid who might otherwise…1 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023MULESTwo years of sequestering at home sent demand for Crocs and Birkenstocks surging – and now an eclectic mix of designers are cranking out mules, the upscale cousin to clogs, of an entirely different order. Martine Rose introduced a squared-off, snakeskin-embossed version with silver-tone detailing; Marni dropped a slew of buttery calfskin joints; Our Legacy lopped the back off its smash-hit boot, added a buckle strap, and left the hulking Vibram sole entirely intact. The dress mule had officially arrived, and it didn’t take long for it to usurp its cushier counterparts as the shoe du jour for hall of fame dressers like Jonah Hill, A$AP Rocky, and scores of style-minded Joes eager to freak their bodega-run fits. That canny summation of the crackling, anything-goes energy animating menswear right now…1 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023CARIBBEAN LIFEThere’s no better way of beating the winter blues than migrating to warmer climes in search of some sun, and the Caribbean has long been a favourite destination of the jet set. The region is extraordinarily rich in natural beauty, with each of the many islands offering something special, from mountains verdant with tropical vegetation to pristine sandy beaches overlooking azure seas.In recent years, these islands have become more popular than ever. ‘Since the pandemic, many visitors have fallen in love with the region and begun purchasing properties,’ says James Burdess of Savills.Currently for sale is this remarkable contemporary property that’s set in an elevated position overlooking the beach on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, just off New Providence and within easy distance of Nassau. As it forms part of…3 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023Connections, connections, connectionsIn the business of top-tier residential sales in Kensington and Chelsea, South Kensington and Mayfair, Simon Rose has established a reputation for making things happen in even the thornie*st of markets. Committed to a shrewdly pruned portfolio of no more than a dozen or so properties and a handful of clients at any given time, he gives 100 per cent of his time towards nurturing a successful transaction, from initial brief to completion and beyond. ‘I find it very rewarding when a client hands me the keys and asks me to get on and sell their property,’ he says. ‘Trust is so important. It’s all about the relationship; my clients know I will deliver for them.’Based in the landmark Michelin House in the centre of his patch, Rose is completely…2 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023GQ WATCH CONTRIBUTORSROBIN SWITHINBANK“How Rolex’s Long Game Helped Golf Get Cool” (p45)“Bulgari smashing the record for world’s thinnest mechanical watch in March, only for Richard Mille to go even lower in July. The race for thinnification went into overdrive.”BRYNN WALLNER“The Other Tick Tock” (p56)“Attending Watches and Wonders in Geneva – it was like Disney World for the watch industry. I’m simply shook that I was there and have been able to pivot into this budding, fulfilling career in luxury watches.”SIMON DE BURTON“GQ’s Ultimate Watch Guide” (p68)“Adrian Hailwood of watchcollecting.com gave me this excellent piece of advice regarding both new and vintage watches: ‘Don’t look at the name on the dial. Look at what you are getting for your money.’”LAURA McCREDDIE-DOAK“Your Favourite Timepiece is Now Guilt-Free” (p19)“This year’s wow moment was a private…1 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023Get a (Gucci) GripThere was a time when fashion brands used to cash in on a watch line by slapping a logo on a dial and popping a quartz movement in there – job done. But what’s this? Its name inspired by the way the rider’s trainers stick to the grip tape on a skateboard, the Gucci Grip Sapphire (price upon request) – with a strap and case hewn entirely out of the precious rock – is a watch as bonkers and OTT as creative director Alessandro Michele’s clothes. What’s more, the jumping-hours display mechanism means that it plays home to some legitimate watchmaking. Welcome to the new age of haute horological high-fashion timepieces.…1 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023TIME TO WIN THE WORLD CUPIN CASE YOU’VE SOMEHOW MISSED THE big “Hublot” atop the fourth officials’ injury time boards, the Swiss watchmaker is the official timekeeping partner of the FIFA World Cup. Just as Omega times the Olympics and Rolex rules Wimbledon, Hublot has been clocking up World Cup minutes since 2010, and is very much a familiar fixture across other major footballing events such as the Champions League and Premier League.An official ambassador and regular wearer of Hublot watches, Gareth Southgate is the man all Three Lions fans have pinned their hopes on to try and mastermind an England victory. Ahead of his fourth World Cup as a player or coach, we catch up with him to chat about watches, winning, and how football can bring communities together.Your favourite World Cup memory of…3 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023MR BREITLINGTHE TIME IS 9:30AM ON A STORMY MORNING IN BIARRITZ and Georges Kern is looking out of a rain-speckled car window. Hiding behind the peak of an orange Deus Ex Machina cap that matches the Outerknown watch strap of his new Breitling Superocean, he seems a little nervous.The last time I was with Kern, he had just announced himself to a busy departure lounge in Zurich airport by descending an escalator alone – dressed as a pilot. Though the outfit was for effect, he proceeded to board a plane to Geneva with several hundred journalists and Breitling collectors. The occasion? To celebrate the 70th anniversary of Breitling’s aviation-inspired Navitimer. How? By unveiling the new collection in midair, of course.Today, we are on our way to a group surfing session to…6 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023The OtherTick TockLAST AUTUMN, I POSTED A VIDEO ON MY INSTAGRAM account of Cardi B flashing her iced-out Patek Philippe Nautilus. Cardi was full of her usual brash joy: “I’m gonna show off this sh*t ’til the day I die.” Her selfie clip represented everything I love about watch culture right now: timepieces feel cooler, sexier, and more expressive than they ever have before. It’s part of the reason I launched @dimepiece, a community for the growing collective of female watch enthusiasts.Posting the video to my account lured a predictable band of haters to criticise the fact that Cardi’s watch was customised with aftermarket diamonds – certain purists have a knee-jerk urge to scoff at the mere sight of customised watches. It’s a fact that aftermarket anything will detract from the value…16 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023Icons OnlyI AM NOT A BELIEVER IN THE HOLY TRINITY – the collective name for Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet – of watchmaking. But back in the ’70s, there was a moment when the whole thing made a bit more sense.After AP’s Royal Oak in 1972 and Patek’s Nautilus in 1976, 1977 saw Vacheron celebrate its 222nd anniversary with the 222. It was an odd milestone to mark and the 222 was a correspondingly unusual watch. While the Royal Oak and Nautilus were sufficiently successful to remain in production ever since, the 222 lacked the staying power and was duly replaced by the Overseas.When I stumbled across the 222 in about 2010, I went nuts: less subtle than the RO and Nautilus, it was gloriously out of character for…1 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023On The CoversStormzy wears Bottega Veneta.Photographed by Jenny Brough.Styled by Itunu Oke.Sydney Sweeney wears Versace.Photographed by Charlotte Rutherford.Styled by Anna Trevelyan.Andrew Garfield wears Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello.Photographed by Luke Gilford.Styled by Michael Darlington.Joe Locke and Kit Connor wear Boss and Boss Bottled.Photographed by Brendan Freeman.Styled by Angelo Mitakos.Jack Harlow wears Boss and Boss Bottled.Photographed by Danny Kasirye.Styled by Angelo Mitakos.Zoë Kravitz wears Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello.Photographed by Steven Klein.Styled by B. Åkerlund Klein.Max Verstappen wears Uniqlo.Photographed by Mikael Jansson.Styled by Kate Phelan.Leah Williamson wears The Row.Photographed by Elliot James Kennedy.Styled by Angelo Mitakos.…1 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023Is This the First Smartwatch for Horology Fans?EARLIER THIS AUTUMN, when it released its Ultra, Apple did more than simply put out a new timepiece: The company took its first truly momentous step forward with its watch since debuting it back in 2014. This was a watch designed to appeal to mechanical-watch aficionados. Not that the previous iteration didn’t suit their smartwatch needs, but, viewed horologically, Ultra features many of the characteristics found in a classic tool watch: the larger case size and crown; activity-specific bands (elastomer for diving, woven textile for climbing); and a fortress-like construction with a titanium case to protect the glass and crown guards.The redesign is radical, and certainly newly alluring for Rolex fans, but Ultra’s best attribute is that it runs on software. Which means it can be truly multifunctional while still…3 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023Your Next WatchIs an All-Grey AffairCHRONOGRAPHS – distinguishable for having two or three subdials and two pushers either side of the crown – are a functional way of having a timer on your wrist without distracting you from, well, telling the time. Something of an eternal collector’s favourite, thanks to the likes of TAG Heuer’s iconic Carrera and the Rolex Daytona, this Boss Steer GQ Quartz watch riffs off the classics to carve a niche of its own. It’s water resistant, powered by an unshakeable quartz movement and its palette nails the whole “quiet confidence” vibe – in other words, a perfect daily driver.£449; hugoboss.com…1 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023The Ascension of Emma D’ArcyWHEN EMMA D’ARCY removes the signature blonde Targaryen tresses worn for House of the Dragon, the actor becomes unrecognisable. But on the red carpet, their transformation goes beyond taking off a wig. Promoting the Game of Thrones prequel this summer, D’Arcy (who identifies as non-binary) used the chance to indulge in the wonderful and freaky: in London, they capped off a regal Acne Studios look (big white shirt, slim leather trousers) with blue gloves and a shimmery gold vest. In Amsterdam, they completed a ballooning Marni suit with sad-clown makeup the colour of rosacea. And in Los Angeles, they wore a severe all-black Vetements suit with Mr Tickle-sized sleeves and Vetements platforms.Improbably, D’Arcy, 30, says the inspiration for their red carpet look came from dazzle ships. The First World War…3 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023This Is Sharon Horgan’s TimeSHARON HORGAN SLIPS onto a sofa in a Soho hotel and announces her displeasure. “This place,” she says, “I f*cking hate this place.” It is a quintessential Horgan shot: blunt, brutal and followed up by a chaser of her most generous laugh. Horgan, 52, takes pleasure in delivering unfiltered truths, whether her subject is romance (Pulling, Catastrophe), the end of it (Divorce) or family (Motherland). The Irish creative powerhouse turned homeward for Bad Sisters, a comedy thriller about four sisters who want to murder their sibling Grace’s abusive husband. An adaptation of a Flemish drama which she co-writes, produces and stars in, it tackles toxic masculinity and coercive control, laced with Horgan’s acerbic humour.The series Bad Sisters is based on, Clan, is pretty wild – an enormous death count, the…2 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023Imagine Being Michael ImperioliAFTER THE PANDEMIC, as venues tentatively reopened and people emerged blinking, into the streets, Michael Imperioli realised something about his fans. “Yeah,” he laughs over a Zoom call from New York, “they were getting younger.”Over lockdown, the actor (and writer) (and screenwriter) (and Buddhist meditation practitioner and singer-songwriter and podcaster and artistic director) discovered and doubled-down on Instagram, which he uses unlike anyone else: a rolling curated blog of sorts, a real early years of the internet throwback, long paragraph devotions to semi-obscure shoegaze bands he loves, vintage photos of actors and musicians he admires, book recommendations (recently he’s been loving Emmanuel Carrère’s Yoga and David Milch’s Life’s Work), hour-long guided meditations, and unofficial rewrites of Sopranos lore. In the run-up to the 2020 election, for example, he claimed Tony…3 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023Stephen Graham Is on FireNOT MANY PEOPLE have a CV that reads like a rollcall of the buzziest British TV hits from the past 15 years (This Is England, Line of Duty, Peaky Blinders) amid some heavy Hollywood blockbusters (Pirates of the Caribbean, The Irishman). After another non-stop year, the 49-year-old Scouser is quietly pushing his credentials as one of our finest actors.Boiling Point was filmed in a kitchen in one take. Was it as intense to make as it was to watch?Well, it was a real kitchen, so it was very hot. When we got to the end and [director] Philip [Barantini] yelled “Cut”, the whole cast cheered. Making it was the most zen-like experience I’ve had as an actor. You had to be in the moment the entire time.Four BAFTA nominations isn’t…2 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023Sydney Sweeney’s Sweet RevengeSydney Sweeney is the sweetest! How sweet is Sydney Sweeney? So sweet that even her name sounds like a Sherbet Dip-Dab swirled in sugar and sheathed in sparkly cellophane, or an IV drip of blended rainbows that shoots glitter through your blood plasma. Two double-Sydney Sweeneys, extra sprinkles! So sweet that when Sydney Sweeney tells you you can do something – and she has every faith that you can – you will instantly forget why you ever doubted yourself in the first place. A compliment from Sweeney – for instance, while you’re both hanging out at a pottery painting studio on a sunny afternoon – is like having a pep talk from Oprah, or The Rock spot you at the gym: “I believe in you!” “Don’t be scared!” “In art…21 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023LEAH WILLIAMSON’S GOALSLeah Williamson keeps a playlist for every game she plays. She sends the list over to the kit manager who makes sure it’s playing in the changing room when the team arrives, whether it be Arsenal or England. “I love how music makes people feel, and how you can connect with people – most conversations I have with the girls come off the back of music,” Williamson says. “I like it because when you think back to key moments, you always remember the music that was playing.” On the night of the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 final, the list included Beyoncé’s “Break My Soul”, Luther Vandross’s “Never Too Much”, and Céline Dion’s cover of “River Deep, Mountain High”. It’s an eclectic mix spanning ages, genres, continents – less so than…16 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023MAD MAXToward the end of Max Verstappen’s first season in Formula 1 – a season in which he’d become, at 17, the youngest-ever driver to compete in racing’s top series – he returned home to the north of Belgium to take his road test for his driver’s licence.DESPITE WINNING IN every racing category from seven years old onward, he hadn’t been in much of a hurry to drive normal cars, but it was getting to be a little silly. There was a break in the 2015 schedule, and a tight window to take the test before jetting off to a stretch of races in Asia. “The driving instructor was actually very strict,” he told me recently, before clarifying, “which is very good – it should be like that! And I wasn’t…23 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023ARMANI’S RETURNTO ELEGANCEGiorgio Armani has been a bellwether of formal dressing for decades. He took the edges off the suit in the 1980s and menswear hasn’t been the same since. This year, as we look to restore elegance to our wardrobes, Armani once again had the answer: his spring-summer 2023 men’s collection. Look number 51, in particular, unlocked something we’ve been missing. Here, Mr. Armani explains just what this is, in his own words.“This collection is made up of classic pieces with subtle design details to make them quietly unusual. These are then combined in a similarly quietly-unusual way. Everything looks both familiar and new and different at the same time, because what we need at the moment is a wardrobe that is credible and reassuring, while still offering interest and character.“I…1 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023VALENTINO PINKValentino designer Pierpaolo Piccioli’s radical-colour-as-branding experiment paid off. You couldn’t throw a rock stud shoe without hitting a celebrity decked out in a shockingly-elegant pink PP fit this year. “When looking at one colour, you have to go deeper than the surface, to texture, cuts, silhouette, volume, and detail,” Piccioli i says. “And you also go deeper into the faces: You see who the persons wearing that pink are, and not what they represent. I am tired of representations – we all should be.”…1 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023BALENCIAGA’S STOCK EXCHANGE TAKEOVERIn 2022, the runway show jumped the rails of fashion and leaped into popular culture in a grand new way. And nobody has elevated the form – turning a commercial exercise into an intellectual and emotional performance – quite like Balenciaga creative director Demna. In May, Demna took over the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to show a dark collection of warped power suits and sinister leather trenches, the models shrouded in latex gimp masks. In the middle of a literal stock market nosedive, the show viscerally evoked America’s big business fetish – and showcased, to great viral effect, a beautiful collection of extremely desirable fashion.…1 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023TENNIS VIBESTennis has always been supremely stylish – your washed-to-hell Lacoste shirts and standby Stan Smiths are proof – but the sport’s sartorial influence has rarely felt so ubiquitous. Miu Miu sent a gaggle of Richie Tenenbaum piped polos and cropped cable-knit vests down the runway for autumn 2022. Rising labels like Paris’s Casablanca and Copenhagen’s Palmes, meanwhile, have built their identities on the game’s prep-forward aesthetics. Thanks to a doozy of a US Open – punctuated by Serena’s farewell and Carlos Alcaraz’s coronation – the pro game felt as red-hot as ever, too. But the most glaring evidence of tennis’s style dominance lies right outside your door: You can’t go two blocks these days without running into someone in a pleated white skirt or a full McEnroe tracksuit.MULES: COURTESY OF…1 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023Dream houses galoreA second home is top of everyone’s wish list – and a prospective dream-property’s location can be a recurring subject of fun discussion among families. Shall we opt for a restful bolthole away from it all in the country? Or a villa abroad for poolside summer escapes? A chalet in the mountains for skiing? Or a chic pied–à-terre in Paris, Cannes, Rome or Barcelona for cultural and shopping breaks? Somewhere specifically good for summer watersports perhaps, or a location with guaranteed year-round sunshine?Questions, questions, questions… and then the caveats are aired. Some family members want rural tranquillity; others want city buzz. Words like ‘hassle’, ‘worry’ and ‘maintenance’ fill the air – underpinned by the statistic that the average holiday home is occupied for just 35 days per year. The subject…3 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023NOTEBOOKDRESSED TO IMPRESSThe way in which a property is decorated can have an enormous effect on how easy it is to sell it. Hence the rising popularity of professional house stagers, who can furnish a property with a view to making it as desirable as possible to potential buyers. The Folio Group launched earlier this year and specialises in staging properties across London’s super-prime market. Sourcing items from companies such as Soho Home, Porta Romana and Julian Chichester, The Folio Group brings a touch of luxury to every project it works on.REACHING THE TOPA short stroll from the shops and cafes of Marylebone lies West End Gate, a new development by Berkeley Group. The stand-out properties are the two penthouses, set 29 storeys high and offering bird’s-eye views of the…2 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023THIS ’80s ICON STILL TAKES POLEAFTER 36 YEARS, THE TAG HEUER Formula 1 is still one of the best all-rounder, entry-level sports watches in the game – and you don’t have to be into fast cars to flex one.Given its birth date, there is plenty of historical significance to this watch. In 1986, as the watch world was recovering from the near-fatal quartz crisis that had threatened a major demise in mechanical watchmaking, the purpose of Swiss sports watches was to be serious, monochrome tools. But the F1 had other ideas, adding ’80s pizzazz and colour to the genre, defining an era in the process.“It made its debut at the time watchmaking was re-establishing itself as a field of interest, and its significance in the UK was tremendous,” says GQ’s own watch expert, Nick Foulkes.…3 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023MARK STRONG KNOWS HIS WATCHESWHERE DOES MARK STRONG FIND THE time? One of Britain’s most in-demand actors – he currently has no fewer than six new projects in the pipeline – the Kingsman star is known as one of Hollywood’s most reliable men. Perfect, then, for his latest role as ambassador for fellow countrymen Bremont. Strong takes some time out from filming in British Columbia to chat to us about his not-so-secret love of watches.What first got you into watches?If I remember correctly, it was seeing a Casio called a Casiotron. I thought the LED display and the fact that you didn’t wind it and that it ran on a quartz crystal was very futuristic – it could have been from Star Trek. As a teenager, I was impressed by that and thought it…4 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023TRY SOME ALTERNATIVESANYONE WHO’S RECENTLY TAKEN a more serious peek behind the horological curtain to the world of watches beyond, the chances are you’re already discovering it isn’t just a world – it’s a universe. Despite the myriad makes and models on offer, certain watches consistently rise to the surface as the most talked about, the most written about, and consequently the most coveted bought and sold.For anyone who lives life by not following the crowd – or who wants a watch they can actually get hold of – what should be on the radar? We chose five “legend” pieces and asked five leading watch professionals to suggest a more imaginative alternative.SILAS WALTON, FOUNDER OF PRE-OWNED WATCH E-TAILER A COLLECTED MANIf You Like: Patek Philippe Reference 1518Introduced in 1941, the 1518 was…4 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023HOW ROLEX’S LONG GAME HELPED GOLF GET COOLGOLF. A GAME FOR FLAGON-EARED OLD MEN. In terrible trousers. Who drink warm ale and aren’t shy to voice an overripe opinion or two. When I first picked up a club as a boy in the mid-’80s, encouraged by my Pringle jumper-wearing father, this was the general view of golf, and, to be fair, it wasn’t far off the mark.Throughout my teenage years, my local club became two places: the course where I learned the love of the game with my peers; and the clubhouse where I realised just how many rules these dull-eyed men in their ill-fitted troos had concocted for us juniors to learn – and break. Golf was a great game, but it had a personality problem.Three decades later, those times still echo in some of golf’s…6 min
British GQ|December 2022 / January 2023RIDE OR DIE: How Richard Mille Turbo-Charged Haute Horology“f*ck!” IS THE LAST WORD the commentator could be heard saying before Romain Grosjean crashed his Haas VF-20 into a steel bollard at 119 mph at the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix. Registering 67 G at the point of maximum impact, the car split in two, causing the fuel tank to explode. “He was in the flames for 27 seconds,” says Timothy Malachard, marketing director of Richard Mille, over a Zoom call from the brand’s Paris office. “Afterwards, I sent him a message just to say, ‘Look, I hope you’re OK.’” But Grosjean, who could still see the skin bubbling on his hands, wasn’t able to text back because every finger was wrapped in bandages. Instead, he sent Malachard a voice note along with a picture of the Richard Mille watch…10 min
