10 Men #58

10 Men - Issue 58: Autumn/Winter 2023

In this issue, we find a way to express the elegance of a modern man, his quiet confidence, his stillness, his measured approach. This season we really did see the tracksuit-wearing, post-Covid attitude of the last few seasons become a thing of the past, as Calum Gordon explores in his brilliant piece about post-hype dressing. Across the AW collections, there was an innovative approach to refinement, and although it was peppered with a few nostalgic details, this new vision showed a confidence that’s in touch with an unashamedly more feminine side. The clothes and the attitude were gentler and less rigid, all the better to express the multifaceted sides of the modern man. Our contributors have expressed their visions of elegance in this issue.

For Tony Marcus, it is all about smell. His essay explores the scents that evoke sophistication; the big surprise for me was his inclusion of Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel in his top three. Karen Binns creates a fashion tribute to her friend, the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Back in the day, Binns would go shopping with him and understood his nonchalant style better than anyone. “I wanted to show the elegance of a man who was an intellectual and always working with his hands,” she says. Cornelius Lafayette’s striking editorial shows the importance of silhouette when expressing the idea of elegance. It’s all about beauty, as designers like North London-based Aaron Esh and Luar’s Raul Lopez from Brooklyn merge elements of womenswear with menswear to create something new.

The attitude is haute, as Stephen Doig explains in his essay on the rise of men’s couture. Kim Jones has been pressing this point since his debut at Dior and, now, a new level of refinement and luxury is blossoming.