← The Run-Through with Vogue
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A
This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try it@progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match Limited by state law not available in all states.
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B
This is the run through and I'm Nicole Felt. Today I have GQ's Global Global Fashion correspondent Samuel Hein here with me in the studio. Welcome Sam.
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C
Hi Nicole. Thanks for having me.
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B
Sam is a fixture on the menswear scene and writes the popular GQ newsletter Show Notes which is a must read report from Global Fashion Weeks. Welcome again. We are well, you are leaving for Milan in several hours and headed into Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks. Pitti is happening today and tomorrow in Florence. And so we are here to get your take on what's to come over the next 10 or so days and what you're excited about. So let's start with Milan. You land tomorrow morning and what is on your mind? What are you looking forward to?
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C
Yeah, my bags are packed. I'm ready to go. So I think one of the big questions, one of like the sort of meta questions about Milan Fashion Week men's right now is just the energy levels and the brands that are showing there. Milan has always been kind of like the super bowl of men's tailoring. So historically you go, you see a ton of suits in about five days. There's a lot of time to go to showrooms and touch fabrics and try things on. And it's always been a bit more chill than Paris but also anchored with big important Runway shows. And this season and well, in recent seasons there's been a trend of some of the big Italian brands going co ed so moving their shows from January and June in men's to February and September and women's. So there's a bit of a deflationary effect sort of happening in Milan. Obviously there are still big shows, Prada, Giorgio Armani, Zegna. So there is some action.
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B
The fact that it's a little bit quieter, it leaves room for one of an American legend, isn't that right?
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C
Yes. A young man known by the name of Ralph Lauren will be returning to Milan Fashion Week and I believe he showed there for the first time in 2002 and then maybe once after that. But so the big show of the season in Milan, it's also one of the first shows on Friday is Ralph Lauren and it'll be at his the Palazzo, the sort of Mid century epic palazzo that he purchased I think at the end of the 90s. And the timing makes a lot of sense. The Milano Cortina Winter Olympics open, I think just about two weeks after the men's shows close. Ralph obviously designs the Team USA uniforms and this season in particular or this edition of the Winter Olympics, I have to say the Ralph uniforms are incredible. Very sick. The leather bomber jacket is totally amazing. So I believe that the show will have a lot of sort of Winter Olympics Team USA tie ins and sort of serve to promote that. But it also, to me it feels also like a bit of a victory lap. A well deserved victory lap.
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B
He won the CFDA designer of the year.
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C
He did. For women's wear for womenswear. But menswear is Ralph's biggest business and Ralph's business has never been bigger than it is right now. He, you know, I think five, 10 years ago there was some question about the relevancy of the sort of prep trad IV that is obviously very associated with Ralph. And in recent years the culture has like firmly sort of swung back in Mr. Lauren's direction. And you know, now Ralph is everywhere. I think especially younger, you know, Gen Z people have sort of rediscovered the polo pony and sort of think it's the coolest thing.
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B
Definitely my son has.
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C
Yeah.
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B
Why do you think that's happening though? If you like, think a little bit Meta. Get, get meta on it. I mean, he is on the verge of celebrating 60 years in business. 1967 famously being when he started selling his super wide ties.
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C
Yes.
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B
At Bloomingdale's.
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C
I think that people are looking for consistency right now. I think we have an, I mean, I don't need to tell you that we, we live in an extremely chaotic media environment. I think there is more stuff, there's more fashion than ever. Ralph has things that just feel really solid. An aesthetic that has been basically unwavering and has evolved in interesting ways and sort of new directions, but has, but within a very sort of tight set of sort of interests and ideas for almost 60 years. I think he himself has sort of emerged as like an unlikely style icon or actually not so unlikely. But I think with, you know, there's a lot of like Ralph Lauren mood boards and things on Instagram and I think a lot of young people look at that and they say, wow, this guy is amazing. And I have to agree. And, and, and there's also a lot, there's a lot of it out there because the brand's been around for a long time and so I think, and I think these days, when there's a lot of clothing on the secondary market that's available for, you know, at a relatively affordable price, I think, I think young people sort of, sort of naturally gravitate towards that. You know, like I said, polo is everywhere. There's a lot of it and purple label and double rl and it is a whole world that is fun and exciting to explore. So I think that all of that has sort of combined in some way, plus a lot of just savvy marketing stuff. The Olympics, US Open, Wimbledon, all that, you know. You know, there's a lot of Ralph sort of in the air, so. And there's also just been, like I said, sort of a general, like, cultural shift back towards preppy Americana.
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B
Ivy, do you think that the Olympics in Cortina will affect or impact the Milan shows in general? Do you think it'll be a sporty season?
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C
That's a good question. I think there are some. I think it'll feel. I don't know if we'll see that on the Runway or in the showrooms or things like that, but I think there are going to be a lot of events and sort of side quests at Milan Fashion Week this season related to the Olympics. I know EA7, the Armani Athletic wear line, is doing something. I believe they outfit the Italian national team. GQ Italia and Vogue Italia are co hosting several events related to the Olympics that I'm excited to attend. Maybe the traffic will be worse or less bad. I'm not sure. In Paris before the Olympics, the hotels will cost more.
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B
Lovely.
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C
The hotels cost more. But I remember before Paris two years ago, which also started directly after the men's shows everyone was talking about, just like the epic all time Paris meltdown, traffic apocalypse because of closed roads and stuff. And it ended up actually being the best season ever because everyone who lived in Paris had already fled to the south of France for the summer. So just to avoid all of the headaches and stuff. So I had no problem getting around. And if that's the case in Milan this season, I'll be very happy.
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B
You'll be blessed. So you mentioned EA7 and earlier you spoke about Armani. Obviously he is Italian fashions legend and it will be the first Runway show without Mr. Armani. He died in September.
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C
The first men's. The first standalone men's runaway show.
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B
Yes. So what are you expecting? What do you think the mood will be? And the people who have inherited the brand, do you think they will stick very close to what we know and love about Armani.
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C
Yeah, for now I'm expecting continuity. Leo Del orco, who was Mr. Armani's right hand man for I think four or five decades, he's stewarding, creatively stewarding the brand since in the wake of Mr. Armani's passing and they worked so closely together that it would be very surprising if Armani all of a sudden took a sort of radical left turn. That being said, so this season, I think I'm sure it'll feel quite solemn and reverential. I don't think that it'll be a sort of any sort of like rehashing of greatest hits or tribute. I think that the Armani spirit is very much to look forward to and keep doing things, new things, in the very Armani way. That said, in Mr. Armani's will, he stipulated that in three to five years he wanted the his heirs to sell. I think it was like 30 to 56% of the company. So I think a lot of people have questions about what that will mean, whether that will usher in a sort of grand change at the house. Will Eddie Slimane finally, you know, become the creative director of Giorgio Armani, as has widely been rumored? I'm not exactly sure where that came from, but I think that's. Those questions are out there. But I don't think we'll see any real change this season and maybe not for some years to come. I love an Armani show. I'm excited for it. I think it'll feel nice to be reminded about just another time why he was the goat of Italian men's.
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B
The brand had a good night at the Golden Globes. Right. They dressed Hudson Williams, who is one of the stars of the hottest show of the moment. Heated rivalry. So maybe we'll see some heated rivalry guys at the. At the show.
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C
I'm sure we will. One of the things that I love about. Well, I have to caveat this and say I have not watched Heated rivalry, but maybe I will have to given the amount of buzz and hype it's getting.
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B
Not on the plane.
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C
I don't think it's for public consumption. What's fun about the men's shows in January is that it's just smack in the middle of awards season. So you often get celebrities, you know, actors, movie stars who are campaigning for their Oscars at the shows. I mean, the heated rivalry guys are just taking a victory lap and that's awesome for them. I'm sure that they will be all over Paris, maybe Milan too. I'm thinking about will we get a timothy sighting somewhere in Paris? It's happened before. We'll see.
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B
Yes. I recall a Heider Ackerman show where Timmy was still a young guy and made an appearance that had us all a flutter. So you mentioned the Prada debate. Definitely. Mucha and Raph have been doing some pretty bold things in menswear. Very, very short. I guess you could call them bloomers almost, I think, last season. So what. What is your take on Prada men's right now?
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C
Yeah, I think I described the. Those shorts as diaper shorts last season.
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B
Okay. I didn't want to say it, but.
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C
Since you said it, it's already. It's already out there. I mean, so the Prada shows, I mean, that is really, like the heart of the Milan Fashion Week experience. The shows in. In recent seasons especially, I mean, product shows, have always been subject to debate. They've always been, you know, they're challenging, they're polarizing, I think, intentionally. And in recent seasons, they've been talking a lot about how they're designing by instinct, and they're sort of discarding maybe some of the. The big grand concepts that would sort of guide their collections before and doing things that they feel are right through whatever sort of mysterious process they do together to create the collections. So the men's shows have been particularly chaotic in recent seasons in ways that I've really liked and thought have been really cool, and in ways that have also left me feeling a little puzzled. But again, I think that that's sort of the beauty of the Prada experience is it does make you question what is beautiful, what is ugly, makes you question, you know, how you get dressed. They often think about, like, how we put outfits together and why we do and why we select the things that we do. And so it's really fun to take in a Prada show, run backstage, like, elbow your way through. You know what I'm talking about.
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B
Yes.
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C
And try to find Raph and Mrs. Prada and ask them a question or two and listen to what they say and hear them sort of contradict each other and try to resolve the sort of message of the season and then go back and write about it and then go have dinner with other people who are other protophiles and talk about it and debate what we were looking at and what it meant and whether it was good or not. So I also have to shout out GQ global fashion director Miles Pope, who, every season, I think, basically, like, the day after the Prada show, always emails Bar Luche to get the GQ Global team a reservation for an hour before the Prada show for the next season. So we have a tradition now where all the GQ Global editors who are in town will meet at Barluce for a panini and a coffee. That's before the Prada show.
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B
That's a wonderful tradition. Yeah. I wanted to just agree with you on what you're saying about Prada. I was very struck by the, I guess you would call them suspender skirts that were very loose, you know, and didn't really cling to the waist or the hips at all at the women's show. And they were really something that I had not even ever seen before. And I've been going to shows for many, many years, so I'm excited to see what they do at men's and women'. More with GQ's Sam Hein after the break.
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D
Hi, I'm Rebecca Ford, senior awards correspondent at Vanity Fair and co host of Little Gold Men. Oscar season is upon us. Little Gold Men takes you behind the scenes of the race for the biggest prize in Hollywood.
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B
There's 100 wrestlers in the room, but only one can be Oscar nominated.
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D
Whether you're a movie lover or an industry buff, Little Gold Men from Vanity Fair has everything you need to know about this year's Oscar race. Follow and listen to Little Gold Men wherever you get your podcasts.
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E
This year. Don't let that late January slump get you down. There's still a lot of winter left, but Macy's has everything you need to feel cozy, look your best and perk yourself up. A decor update, fresh outfit or a new self care item can really change your mood this time of year. So head to Macy's for cozy additions like an UGG reversible faux fur comforter, Jo Malone London Peony and Blush suede diffuser and hotel collection Turkish bathrobe. Or how about a portable sauna from Sharper Image or Kylie Cosmetics Vanilla Milk toner shop now@macy's.com or in store.
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B
I wanted to go back to Pitti briefly. I know you're not there, but we know that there are two Japanese designers who are showing there this week. Soshi Otsuki, who was the LVMH prize winner last year, and Shinya Kozuka. And I wondered if you could weigh in on the importance of Japanese design globally and especially especially in menswear.
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C
I mean, Japanese design has always, has always been just a huge factor in men's fashion and menswear, starting with the sort of Japanese Americana wave you know, post war, when Japanese, you know, the Japanese menswear industry kind of adopted these sort of American mid century style signatures and then took on prep. And you know, this W. David Marks has an amazing book about this. And I'm not going to explain the total ins and outs of the rise of the Japanese menswear industry and how important and influential it's been. But I think, I think specifically with, with regards to PT and Milan, I think the, you know, Japanese buyers and brands have, have been a, have been a real growing force at PT in the past decade. And I think, I think it really speaks to Italy's status as this sort of men's tailoring powerhouse. It's still the place where you want to go to get the best suits made. And you know, and obviously, you know, a lot of the Japanese stores and designers, they really care about the quality. You know, they're very, very specific and Italian tailoring is very important to them. And what I think is amazing about Shoshiotsuki in particular is to see how he has reinterpreted Italian tailoring in this very like kind of 80s banker sort of aesthetic. But the way that he does it's very, very soft, like almost even softer than Armani, than what Armani did. And it just looks, it looks really, really great. And you know, there are sort of, I've written about this before, but there's sort of a weird dearth of up and coming men's fashion designers in Milan. Luca Magliano of Magliano is a great example of who is there. But for whatever reason, there's just not quite as much energy in the sort of emerging brand space in Milan and Florence. And so these Japanese designers coming in I think is really important to sort of just like revitalize, re energize the Italian fashion scene. Set you is another great example. The designer Satoshi Kiwana is on the Milan Fashion Week schedule and he's a real tailoring nerd. He trained on Savile Row. He is a deconstructivist and it's been really interesting to see his work develop in the past few years since he started showing at Milan. And I believe he's showing on Friday or Saturday. So I'm excited to see what he does this season too.
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B
So on the subject of tailoring, we just did watch the Globes and before that the Critics Choice Awards. Obviously the Oscars will happen in March. What did you like on the red.
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C
Carpet for Men at the Globes? My number one, Timothee Chalamet in Chrome Hearts I can't say I've loved every one of those looks, especially when he was deep, deep in The Marty Supreme DayGlo Orange Press Tour mode. But I thought he looked really, really great in the suede three piece custom Chroma Arts suit with the. I think they were custom Timberlands as well. He just looked comfortable. He looked easy. It looked easy. It fit really well on him. I mean, everything kind of fits well on him. So. But because things fit well on him, like when they look a little off, it's very noticeable. But this suit was just. It was perfect.
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B
A little lower key than a lot of the other guys, and it wasn't.
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C
And I think instead of doing casual black tie, he just did something else, which I'm a fan of the classic tux. If something's black tie, I would. I would just wear that. But I noticed a lot of men this season or a lot of men at the Globes were. Had ditched their bow ties and were doing a sort of open. The open tuxedo shirt with like, kind of like low unbuttoned thing. And I actually, you know, I kind of like that look, but I would almost rather, you know, do sort of subvert the dress code entirely like Timmy did and do it in a new way. It did look formal, but also, you know, in a very casual sort of way. I would almost rather do that than lose my bow tie.
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B
Right, well, shout out to Stellan Skarsgrd. I thought he looked very good sans bow tie. So. Moving on to Paris. Dior is another. Is another big moment for Jonathan in a series of huge moments. And it sort of blows the mind to think that he is gonna have his second men's show for Dior and then a few days later do his debut. What do you think he'll do for men's?
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C
Well, that's the. That's the question that everyone's asking themselves before Paris. I think the Dior show is definitely the one on the schedule that everyone's, you know, circled in bright red Sharpie and is very excited for. The beauty of Jonathan Anderson. The reason why we all are, you know, can't stop talking about him, thinking about him, talking to him, writing about him, is because he is very, very good at keeping. Keeping people guessing. I would imagine that he's going to continue exploring this sort of preppy classicism that he'd. That he. That he sort of launched with his Dior debut during men's in June and then continued with a pre collection that. That honestly had these, like, really weird and surprising, kind of like vineyard vines vibes to me. So I imagine that he'll kind of keep. I thought it was really compelling. I loved his men's debut. Not everyone did. Again, I love that he really made an argument and tried something that maybe he knew that people that not everyone would like. Again, I love a show that's a bit polarizing that people want to discuss. I think it's honestly a smart strategy these days to take risks and try things like that. But he's just such a curious person. He's so naturally alive and in touch with the world. And he has so many factors, fascinations in art in particular, but also literature and furniture and things like that. And so I think there's basically no telling what the show experience will be like because he likes to fill his collections and the room with all these sort of details from his mind, his obsessions, his passions and the reason. And it's always so compelling because if. If you could guess what those things were, he wouldn't be who he was. So I'm really looking forward to it. I hear that it'll be another very intimate show, probably on the scale of his men's debut. What I would like to see would be. I still haven't seen the Adam Curtis video that he played before the women's show.
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B
Provocative.
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C
They didn't put it on YouTube. And I don't know, I hope maybe there will be a sequel for men's. Probably not, but I would enjoy that.
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B
I've noticed how influential already his Dior is. I think that sort of late 80s, early 90s prep, which, as you said, has sort of been in the air, seems to be getting even stronger.
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C
A couple days after the show in Paris, I was driving to an appointment or something and I was looking out the window and I saw a guy walking down the street like a young guy. Looked like he was going to a job at an ad agency or something. And he had his tie on backwards with the logo out. And I was like, there can't. He has to have seen the Dior show and done that as some sort of reference, because otherwise, it's a bit hard to explain otherwise.
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B
I love that.
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C
So I thought that was cool.
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B
That's a fast moving, fast moving trend.
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C
So not an endorsement, by the way, of the backwards tie.
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B
Okay, I won't see you on 25 with that look. Another designer that we all have our eyes on is Julian Clausner at Dries Van Noten. I thought that he too did a very influential men's show last season. With those sarongs. I mean, suddenly there were girls here on 25 wearing sarongs. And it seemed like they started popping up all over the collections.
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C
I have yet to bring my sarong to the office, but maybe when it warms up. I think Julian Klausner is great. You know, he was a. A relatively unknown figure when he was promoted to the job from. From inside the company. He really blew me away with his first men's show. I basically never feel like, particularly emotional at fashion shows. And I really did find myself sort of getting a little misty eyed when the. When, you know, at the sort of crescendo of his men's show. The finale. Everyone listening to this should go watch it on YouTube if you haven't seen it. The soundtrack was Lou Reed Perfect Day Remix. And it just like built and buil and built and to this epic moment where all the models came out and their sarongs and the beautiful tailored jackets and the patterns. And it just made me, you know, my takeaway was that he really learned a lot from Therese Van Noten about clothing and emotion and how to sort of intertwine the two in a fashion show. And so I'm very excited for his follow up. I think in general, like, the. This season will be challenging for a lot of these designers who debuted last season, because for your first show, there's all this hype, there's all this anticipation. All the eyes are on you. People are tuning in live stream and creating a lot of discourse around it. And the sophomore show is not as big. It's just not as big a deal. And there's maybe just not as much attention going your way. And so I think. I think the question for a lot of these guys, especially someone like Julian, is how do you continue that momentum and how do you sort of keep moving the ball forward when there's not so much sort of hoopla around what you're doing? But I'll be continuing the hoopla for him. I think he's great. And the one thing I will say about Dries is that I would love if they took the shows out of parking garages, because especially in January, you know, they always do it in different sort of desolate parking garages in Paris. And it's just cold and, you know, sometimes you have to climb all the way to the top and they're very nice. So they have, you know, shopping carts of beer and stuff. But it's. But I don't know, I would love to sit inside, like a real.
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B
Even a real Palais to Tokyo Yeah, I remember, you know, early days when I was going to Paris and sometimes at a, like a Yoji show, you would get one of those silver Mylar blankets like that the marathoners wear because they, they acknowledged what they were doing to us. Sort of slow torture, waiting for 45 minutes before a show starts. We'll be back with GQ's Sam Hein in a moment.
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F
You come to the New Yorker Radio Hour for conversations that go deeper with people you really want to hear from, whether it's Bruce Springsteen or Questlove or Olivia Rodrigo, Liz Cheney or the godfather of artificial intelligence, Geoffrey Hinton, or some of my extraordinarily well informed colleagues at the New Yorker. So join us every week on the New Yorker Radio Hour wherever you listen to podcasts.
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B
All right. Well, we've talked about a relative newcomer, and we can't not talk about Veronik Nachanian, who has spent 37 years at Hermes, which is incredible, and is leaving to retire. And I have to say that I don't go to men's very often, but I always love looking at Hermes. I think the shows have, like, the best casting of the, of the week in Paris. And what do you think Veronique stood for over, over her tenure at Hermes and what made her unique in the world of menswear?
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C
What I love about Veronique, and she's just a fantastic woman, she's very funny. What I love about her is that she really didn't play by the rules of the sort of broader fashion establishment. I mean, she started before, I think, the modern rules of the game were even established. But she really just did her thing. She followed what she had an idea for what Hermes Manzur should be 37 years ago or maybe 38, when she pitched it to the Hermes family, to the Dumas family. And she's basically just kept doing that for almost four decades, which is menswear. That is, that is personal, that's light, that's obviously incredibly luxurious and well made. But that really sort of like, works for the wearer and makes them feel, she often uses the word sexy, makes them feel sexy. And you know that when she started doing that, there wasn't a lot of that out there. I think it was, I think it started to sort of, you know, she sort of created or sort of built the foundation of this, like, category of, like, really, really elevated menswear that kind of like, toes the line between, like, elegance and casualness and that altogether, like, you know, I think her shows that I've been to have have been really, you know, like, they're cool. And she's a grandmother and it's amazing that she's managed to sort of keep her finger on the pulse. And she seems to still really have a really good idea of what her customers want, what men want. But it's pretty rare to leave a Hermes show and not be thinking, like, you know, if I was a billionaire, I would be buying half this collection. And just. She also is very proud of the fact that she doesn't use the archive as a resource, really. I mean, she's very obsessed with the technical abilities of the Hermes metier and things like that. But she told me when I interviewed her once last year that I don't think she's ever even been to the Hermes archive, or maybe she's visited it once or something. But she likes to say that she's her own archive. And she's definitely, after 37 years, is leaving behind a pretty big one.
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B
I will be watching very closely, but for our listeners who aren't paying as close attention as you are, what has happened at Hermes now, What's happening at.
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C
Hermes is Grace Wales Bonner will be actually, you know what, in a year from now, we'll be having the same conversation. Maybe a week or two before Grace Wales Bonner's debut at Hermes designing menswear, when a couple, a few days after Veronique announced her retirement, Hermes announced that they were hiring Grace Osbonner the fantastic, an incredibly talented London based designer who's a menswear specialist. And I could go on and on about why Grace is amazing and perfect for this job. We have a full year to wait before we'll see her work on the Runway. But that's gonna be the big show of 2027. So.
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B
Yes. And it's quite rare. I mean, I guess Chanel gave Mathieu Blaisie quite a long time to prepare and it seems to have paid off very, very handsomely. But, but, you know, how lucky for Grace to be given all of this time to really think about what she wants to do. I think it's a very graceful move on Hermes part.
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C
Yeah, I mean, Grace is a. She's so academic, she's a researcher, she is a deep thinker, she has big ideas. And I'm also glad that Ermes recognized that you can't rush that. And I think it's also just gonna be really exciting for her to sort of get in there. And I'm not sure exactly when she's officially starting, but to get in there and to see What Hermes can do in terms of the construction and the materials and what they have going on in the. I don't remember how many metier they have, but I would love to see what Grace Osbonner can do in the porcelain workshop that are mez owns and maybe she incorporates that into her work somehow. I think that'd be really cool.
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B
So there's almost a full week of shows of men's shows in Paris. What are some of your personal favorites and what are you looking forward to?
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C
I am a Rick Owens guy.
- [32:05]
B
Who isn't?
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C
I don't wear it. Who isn't? I don't wear it. But that is every season, far and away a highlight for me. Rick is just the man. And he is. He's sort of unique on the calendar too, as one of the only designers whose shows and whose ideas behind them sort of engage with what's happening outside of the very, very insular bubble of Paris Fashion Week. And that is, you know, like midway through, you know, a long menswear season, you can feel like you're sort of just getting clubbed over the head with luxury and bags and shoes and suits and stuff and. Which we love. We love all of that. But sometimes, especially at times like this, when it can feel like the world's on fire, you can feel like all of the whole sort of circus, three ring circus is like a bit. Is a bit out of touch. And then you go to Rickshaw and you're just like smacked in the face with reality and this really harsh, hardcore version of it sort of interpreted through his very grungy, glamorous clothing. And the soundtracks are always amazing. And I expect that this season will be a bit more, you know, he always shows a play to Tokyo. His. His summer shows out in the courtyard are always just these like epic experiences with, you know, with, with fire. And there's been like exploding like dye fireworks and stuff. I don't even know how to describe them. There's been huge balls of fire that have been like craned up and dropped into the, into the pool and. And so. And last season he was celebrating his retrospective at the play Galliera across the street from the play to Tokyo, and just. And created this like epic sort of like jungle gym ziggurat thing that all the models were climbing and there was water and it was like totally insane and epic. So I don't know. Yeah, I think this season maybe he'll go back to doing something a little bit simpler. But I love a Rick show.
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B
Important Rick question. Have you tried his new mouthwash, which is supposed to taste like tobacco and gin.
- [34:08]
C
I have not, but there's a sample.
- [34:10]
B
At my desk, so come by sometimes.
- [34:13]
C
Let's go up after this. Yeah. I don't know if I want my mouth to be. Smell my breath to be. Smell. Smelling like that at the office. But. But. But Rick, you gotta love his sense of humor. Louis Vuitton Pharrell kicking off the week on the first night, that's always obviously sort of a major spectacle. Last season, Beyonce was there with Jay Z. You never really know who's gonna. Who's gonna, you know, walk down that front row. And, you know, I think for every season, he sort of got into this groove of kind of taking. Taking us to a new, exotic location. You know, last season was sort of a sartorial exploration of India. His debut was, like, Virginia, you know, and there was a show in Hong Kong that I went to that was sort of about. That was about Hawaii. And, you know, he's really. You know, he's taken the jet sort of all around to sort of to hunt for inspiration and then, like, render it into these, like, incredibly lavish pieces of men's clothing and bags. And the accessories are all totally incredible. So where he's going this season, I'm sure he'll tease it on Instagram in a few days. He's been doing that recently, so I'm sure we'll find out soon, but that's always a highlight. Aura Lee, which opens the week before the Vuitton show, is just. That's like the real palate cleanser, kind of starting Paris with these really, really specific and really sort of intelligently styled men's clothing, you know, made by, like, a total, like, incredible fabric obsessive who custom makes every single piece of fabric that they put in the collection. Last season was, you know, also sort of leaned into these, like, preppy vibes. There are a lot of flip flops on the Runway as well. And, yeah, so we'll. You know, that's. I think that's become a show in Paris that you really can't miss. People do arrange their travel from Milan in order to make it to that show now, so I'm looking forward to that.
- [36:10]
B
Tell us about Willie Chavaria, who is a hometown favorite, like sort of the biggest star or one of the biggest stars on the New York Fashion Week schedule. And he upped and left for Paris a couple of seasons ago. How. How do you think it's going for him? There's been a history of New York designers going to Paris over the years, and most of them come back. And, you know, I think, in retrospect, will say, oh, maybe it wasn't the greatest idea. It's hard to compete on the Paris stage. How do you feel he's doing?
- [36:41]
C
I think that Willy has really risen to the occasion. I think that, like you said, it is very hard for American designers to break through in Paris and really stay there. I mean, not everyone's a Rick Owens who will basically completely relocate their business and their life to Paris and build it there. I think that Willy has sort of actually similar to Ricky, and I think American designers can sort of fill this, you know, do a good job sort of filling this role in Paris is. He really brings these, like, bold, you know, these bold political statements to the Runway and to his shows. His show last season began with a. I guess you could call it sort of almost like performance art statement, a gesture about the Salvadorian prisons that the Trump administration has been sending people to or were sending people to at the time. That, in the room was like, a very, very unbelievably striking image and gesture. And I think what I found interesting about that was that I had a certain take on it just as an American who'd been following this news very closely. And the European crowd, I think, was actually quite moved by it, Even though the issues that he's talking about and the things that he's referencing are sort of a world away in some ways, even though the themes are sort of similar to a lot of what Europe's experiencing now, too. But I think he's really winning people over in Paris, and I hear that this season he has something quite large scale planned. I don't have details just yet. Maybe you do. Do you know anything about it?
- [38:19]
B
I do, but I don't want to say. I don't want to spoil the surprise.
- [38:22]
C
Okay, you can tell me off mic.
- [38:25]
B
So is there anybody else you want to shout out?
- [38:28]
C
Two more shows. I'm looking forward to Kartik Research, which is a brand that the designer Karjak Kumra is based in India. They have a store in New York. So it's sort of. He went to school in America and started the brand in his dorm room at Penn, which is very cool. They are on the calendar with an official show. I believe he joined the Paris calendar last season. That was a sort of presentation slot. This is like very, very inside baseball, but, like, it's a big deal to be moved from, like, a presentation time slot on the Paris calendar to an actual, like, Runway. Show slot. So congrats to Kartik. And last season, the presentation, he did a Runway show. A lot of people sort of do that anyway, and it was really fantastic. And so I'm excited to see how he sort of rises to the level of Paris and being officially on the calendar really demands. And then Eli Russell, Annette has something big planned for Paris. He's on the schedule for the first time this season.
- [39:28]
B
Oh, that's exciting.
- [39:28]
C
Or a presentation. Again, the format of it is not totally clear to me yet, but Eli, he showed at PT, I think maybe in 2022 or 2023. And when sort of given the opportunity, he's a really sort of wonderful showman and image maker. And so I'm excited to see what that has in store. And another also great just to see another American designer in Paris.
- [39:56]
B
We haven't talked about Versace. There's an open role there. Who do you like for that job?
- [40:03]
C
Well, I love Dario Vitaly for that job. I thought that his debut last season during women's was just a total highlight for me. It really knocked me over. So I was rooting for him. I knew that the larger business machinations were working against him. I hoped that that show would sort of save him. I'm sure he'll land on his feet and I look forward to seeing what he does next. So the rumor. Well, you might know more about this than I do, but the rumor. Well, why don't you tell us what the rumor is?
- [40:36]
B
Well, there have been reports across the industry that Peter Moulier, who of course worked very closely with Raf Simmons, is going to go to Versace. They have not been substantiated.
- [40:49]
C
Yeah, I do like the idea of Raph and Peter being reunited somehow, but I think that Eddie Slimane would be incredible. And I'm just a big. I love Eddie's clothes. I love wearing them. And so I want to see him back in the game if he is ready and even wants to do it, if he's not off taking photos of surfers and rock stars somewhere. A sort of unexpected and unlikely choice. I would love to see what Kiko Kostadinov would do at Versace. He's a big Versace nerd.
- [41:24]
E
Is he?
- [41:25]
C
I mean, I believe he got married.
- [41:27]
B
And you wouldn't know it from looking.
- [41:29]
C
You wouldn't know it exactly. But at his wedding to Deanna Fanning, who is one of the co designers of Kiku Castana of women's wear, he wore a vintage Versace suit from the Gianni era. I believe it was either his wedding or the rehearsal, I don't remember exactly. And it looked awesome. And he knows that house, top to bottom, back to front. And to see how he would reinterpret it in his very technical, sort of very complex and interesting way, I think would be really, really interesting.
- [42:03]
B
Have you written about that?
- [42:05]
C
I have not. This is a run through exclusive.
- [42:08]
B
This is a run through exclusive. We're breaking news here. Any predictions for fall 2026? I think that GQ ran an article that you will be wearing slim fit this year. You already do wear slim fit, but you think more guys will.
- [42:22]
C
I don't wear. I guess I wear slim fit. I don't wear.
- [42:25]
B
You're slim.
- [42:25]
C
I don't wear skinny. I think, you know, I think if I'm being totally honest, I think that a lot of guys are still catching up to the wide fit era, which means, of course, that the, you know, the tastemakers, the trendsetters, I think that we should not be surprised if we see them embracing the slim fit, even the skinny fit. Demna's Gucci had a lot of really sort of tight, kind of 90s throwback references, which I thought were really great and look very cool, at least on the models. I don't know how it'll sort of translate in real life, and I guess we'll see because that stuff's now in stores.
- [43:07]
B
The Gucci store on 14th and 9th Avenue was busy the last time I walked by, which was nice to see.
- [43:13]
C
It should be. It's a great collection. So I. Am I going to embrace the skinny fit? If Jonathan Anderson wants to send me a pair of those, like very sort of Eddie Dior Homme style, like wash jeans, like skinny jeans, then I would absolutely wear them. Otherwise, I think I'll probably stick with my slim fit for now.
- [43:36]
B
What can you tell us about the GQ Bowl?
- [43:41]
C
So speaking of fashion shows, we have our own. This will be the second annual GQ Bowl. It is super bowl weekend in early February and Super bowl is in San Francisco this season. And yeah. So GQ bowl is GQ's celebration of the collision between fashion and football. We launched it last year officially in New Orleans with a special one off Runway show by Bodhi. Emily Boddy brought her amazing Americana vision to New Orleans and we collaborated on a Runway show featuring a brand new collection and a bunch of football players walking in a fashion show for the first time, which was really great to see. And yeah, so we're doing it again.
- [44:28]
B
Who do you like for the Super Bowl?
- [44:31]
C
Oh, my God.
- [44:32]
B
I'M really putting Sam to the test.
- [44:35]
C
As we discussed before the pod, I was in Australia for three weeks until Sunday. So I was. I've not been following. I did not. I did not get the chance to follow wild card weekend. However, I did grow up mostly in Chicago and the Chicago Bears are still in it.
- [44:51]
B
Good moments.
- [44:52]
C
They won a great. I understand they won an amazing game against Green Bay. It's a great game and I'm really a Giants fan. You're a Giants fan. They are obviously not in the playoffs and since they're not in contention, it's. It's to Bears for me. What about you? What's your take?
- [45:08]
B
Well, I think the Bears might get stopped by. Who are they playing this weekend? Broncos. I can't keep it all straight. I am a Bills fan, so I would love to see the Bills, but that might be a bit of a long shot. So. One more question about gq. Will Welch, who is the global editorial director, announced that he's leaving on February 15th and he's taking a job in Paris with Pharrell. As someone on the inside, what do you think is next for gq?
- [45:37]
C
All I can think about right now, and I'm being completely honest here, is Fashion Week, GQ Bowl. Will's here for five more weeks and we have a lot of work to do. And so I think what I can say is we're all just putting our heads down and it doesn't feel like anything's all that different right now because, yeah, we're just so excited about these projects we have coming out. And shout out Will Welch, who's been an incredible mentor to me, incredible editor. He hired me 10 years ago as his assistant, taught me everything I know. So I will miss him dearly. And I'm trying not to think about his departure just yet. And luckily, we have him for five more weeks.
- [46:22]
B
Thank you, Sam. Enjoy the shows and we'll catch up when you're back.
- [46:25]
C
Thanks, Nicole. Thanks for having me.
- [46:28]
B
That's it for the Run Through. See you Thursday.
- [46:36]
A
The run through is produced by chelsea daniel, alex depalma and stephanie kariuki. It's engineered by pran bandy and james yost. It is mixed by mike kutchman.
- [46:55]
B
From prx.