Issue 24 —
Picking up on the eclectic historic references that have been a feature of fashion collections for the last couple of seasons, VMAN seizes the timely opportunity to devote its winter issue – and spring preview- to the trend for a bit of retro culture in current fashion parlance. Taking the form of ‘The Decades’ issue, this manifests itself as, among other things, a fashion feature that catalogues current looks according to the decade that they reference. It’s the 1930’s at Ralph Lauren, the 1960’s at Prada, the 1970’s at Gucci, and so on…
But, VMAN takes it a lot further. Drawing on ideas about ‘the archive’ that have been knocking about in contemporary art for a while, it offers a sumptuous series of shoots tracing the language of very contemporary menswear as far back as the 1890’s. Using everything from faux vintage illustration to recreations of history that border on costume drama, it’s a delightful and fulfilling exercise in a creative concept consummately realised. In amongst so many sumptuous shoots, however, it really is hats off to Matthew Scriven’s shoot, directed by Tom Jarrold, that mimics the work of the turn-of-the-century pre-cinema pioneer Eadweard Muybridge to showcase athletic wear; the perfect marriage of form and content.
But, have no fear VMAN is anything but nostalgic and the issue also features a series of incisive articles on the rising stars of the year so far. In amongst the notable talent to make it onto VMAN’s barometer of future fame are British actor Jeremy Irvine, making his debut in Spielberg’s big screen ‘War Horse’ and Brady Corbet who has soared straight into art house cult status. On the music front Christopher Owens and John Maus get a similar treatment. And Hedi Slimane’s signature camera style is used liberally throughout to capture a series of poignant portraits of stars about to happen.
As always, all this comes as part of a full menu of content that delivers on all fronts, from the appetisers at the start to the dessert at the finish.
October 2011 138 Pages
Breakout Stars of Winter Christopher Owens John Maus Tyler The Creator And Odd Future Bradford Cox Vman News A History of Taste The 1880s: The Birth of Vman The 1890s: The Gilded Age The 1900s: Muybriodge In Montion The 1910s: Long Live Classical The 1940s: Life During Wartime
Stephen Gan
Derek Blasberg / Elliott David
Sandra Kang
Our Take —
VMAN is the quarterly baby brother of V Magazine. Born in 2003, to the same creative team responsible for its older sister, VMAN was a savvy move, responding to the hunger for a hip and stylish title aimed at a certain sector of American men. Sliding neatly into the gap between the rather conservative feel of established men’s fashion titles on one side and the boy-next-door jock antics of successful titles aimed at the younger market on the other, VMAN immediately gained a readership amongst aspirant and affluent urban males who were eager for an option that offered sophistication and a bit of luxury without these things being defined in boring traditional terms.
Retaining the breeziness and the bold styling moves of V Magazine, VMAN put a masculine twist on the formula, smartly realising that its target readership were not going to be put off by a less pedestrian approach to men’s fashion, indeed, quite the opposite. Staying true to a the mix of fashion, culture, music, celebrity and lifestyle, VMAN is particularly notable as an American title that operates from the position that its readership is educated and interested in the world outside. Somewhat unusually for a successful American title – given the traditional difficulties in attracting a popular American audience with content from outside its borders – VMAN is one of the few titles that manages to retain its strong roots in its native NYC whilst regularly offering its urbane readership international content. And, just like its older sister, its work with top photographers, stylists and personalities has made it a hit not only at home, but also abroad. There is a certain irony that one of the world’s largest economies actually offers relatively few stylish, upmarket and forward thinking magazines to its male population. But VMAN is almost certainly the top title in that small and special group.
