I am pleased to be in possession of CR Fashion Book Issue 7 as well as CR Men’s Book Issue 1 and my first thought is to salute Carine Roitfeld: C’est fantastique, brava ! My second thought is to clarify information previously published here: CR Men’s Book will be packaged as an annual supplement to CR Fashion Book and will not be sold separately. This is according to Carine’s letter introducing the publication, I find it charming so I am reprinting it here:
Fashion doesn’t look good on men. It’s very difficult to strike a balance between trendy and traditional. Go too far and you look like a victim. Play too safe and you seem like a bore. In between, though, there’s an ambiguity that is seductive — a vagueness of style, of sexuality, of gender, of generation. I love this look on a man.
For the first issue of this annual supplement to CR, I thought to create a cinematic tribute to five legendary men who’ve inspired me with their subtle masculinity and quintessential looks. Over the years, their style — a bit offbeat in each one’s heyday — has evolved to simply be men’s style. Who can forget Kurt Cobain’s distressed cardigans or Christopher Walken’s polished camel coats? What about Robert Mapplethorpe’s penchant for sensual, low-riding black leather and not much else? Or the way River Phoenix made any old white t-shirt look like the coolest white t-shirt in the world? Bob Marley wore his tracksuit like a tuxedo — always cool and together.
Obviously most of these stars have passed. So I selected modern personalities to channel their spirits. Boys like Lucky Blue and Jaden Smith can’t be compared to Christopher or Bob, of course. They’re all such strong individuals. But in their personal freedom, their striking faces, and their embrace of ambiguity, they are one and the same.
— Carine
I love that Carine chose to focus her first issue of CRMB on five of her male style icons: Robert Mapplethorpe by Oliver Greenall, River Phoenix by Love Rönnlund, Kurt Cobain by Logan Flatte, Christopher Walken by Lucky Blue Smith, and Bob Marley by Jaden Smith, all photographed by Sebastian Faena. Also notable is the appearance of Kate Upton in each editorial, adeptly portraying the muse to each of these men: Patti Smith, Winona Ryder, Courtney Love, Natalie Wood, and Cindy Breakspeare, respectively. The Smiths make the issue: Lucky Blue as Walken and Jaden as Marley are exceptional and I found both of their interviews intriguing. It is painful to think that we must wait a year for the next issue of CR Men’s Book but I am certainly looking forward to more of Carine Roitfeld’s way with menswear.
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CR Men’s Book images courtesy of crfashionbook.com.