Vogue Hommes English Version Spring - Summer 2021

—I recall a staggering survey, published several years ago, in which the authors posited confidently that, in less than a hundred years’ time, the majority of people will have no idea who Marilyn Monroe was, incidentally the greatest icon of the 20th century. If this prophecy were shown to be true, we will have reached the peak of a phenomenon that is already making headway and appears to be unstoppable: in other words, an indifference to the past never before witnessed throughout History. A past that has been eradicated by a merciless cult of the almighty here and now. How then can we not be concerned about this, when we know only too well that turning our backs on the past would be tantamount to drawing a line under memory;…

—During his flamboyant glory years in the mid–70s, American designer Roy Halston Frowick would host the great and the goofy in his gigantic New York apartment spread over two floors. The 101, as it was known, was the place to be until the city that never sleeps succumbed to the advent of yuppies and gentrification. His mega soirées where drugs were rife were notorious. Where else would you find Martin Scorsese arriving with Liza Minnelli on his arm, putting in an order for every illicit substance imaginable? For the happy few, including the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Anjelica Huston, Lauren Bacall and Andy Warhol, it served as antechamber for Studio 54, a veritable bubble–bath of excitement, with a disco–funk soundtrack for a movement whose hedonism was about to come crashing…

A CUT ABOVE “Our most extravagant creation? There are quite a few but I would have to say the driving suit Marc Newson wore to race his 1955 Ferrari 857”, muses Campbell Carey, creative director and chief cutter at HUNTSMAN, a bastion of men’s tailoring, established in 1849 and located at 11 Savile Row. No end of sartorially inclined stars have crossed the emporium’s threshold in search of the perfect cut, personalised to their exact desires, in what is always a unique experience. The likes of Coco Chanel, Henry Kissinger, Gregory Peck, David Bowie, Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon, “even Alexander McQueen and Marc Jacobs”, Carey adds. “Considering they had both access to the best ateliers and the finest tailors in the world, the fact they chose Huntsman speaks volumes.” But…

PUNCHY Dominique Ropion has extracted the filtrate of Y — a benchmark for clear–dark fougere. The result packs a punch, with a duel between vibrant lavender and opaque cedar notes. The subtle difference: its ingredients have been deconstructed and reconstructed to extract the very quintessence. The heart of lavender diva, for example, comes from flowers and stems that were first distilled into vapour with the essence then split using CO2. Y LE PARFUM, YVES SAINT LAURENT BÉAUTE 60 ML, €89 ICONIC As the olfactory incarnation of the mythical colour, Gris Dior was always going to be as floral as the eponymous creator’s tastes. This elegant scent opens with peppy notes before smoothing off into a floral wave characteristic of its great cypress predecessors. The subtle difference: the box features a…

FROM ANTI–WRINKLE TO SKIN REGENERATION While women’s collagen levels plummet from the age of 50 onwards, men’s reduce at a much slower but steadier rate from the age of 20, with the consequences being most visible on muscle mass and the tautness of the skin. The key is to find products that go beyond wrinkles and target the thickest layer of the skin to reinforce it. LA PRAIRIE RARE PLATINUM HIGH–REJUVENATION PROTOCOL This 30–day treatment targets skin cells — whose activity slows as the years go by — as well as regenerating the entire environment in which they evolve. Its strength is in the blend of signal molecules that act as growth factors. LIFE SERUM + PEPTID7 COMFORT DROP Peptide SDKP was discovered by the French National Centre for Scientific…

VOGUE HOMMES Of all the objects we can pass on, why is the watch unique? RÉMI GUILLEMIN First of all, because it’s something that can be passed on. A watch is made to last not just a lifetime but several lifetimes. There is no notion of obsolescence. It is also highly personal and therefore emotionally charged. Of course, we pass on more than the object itself. It’s also about sharing one’s passion, knowledge, emotions and memories. VOGUE HOMMES Collectors from father to son? RÉMI GUILLEMIN This is, in effect, essentially a men’s market. We curate sales according to the watches that are consigned to us and, while there will always be a small selection of jewellery watches (Cartier or Piaget), the majority of lots are men’s timepieces. Many collectors were…