C Men's Edition

WOODY HARRELSON'S WEHO WEED SHOP HOW A WINEMAKER WORKS OUT IN CALISTOGA DIOR PUTS ON A SHOW IN VENICE

Cover

The Champion Winning Is Just the Beginning for Ryan Garcia

Gucci

Gucci

Gucci

Gucci

Prada

Prada

Saint Laurent

Saint Laurent

Fendi

Fendi

SO U T H COA S T PL A Z A 714 751 1111 FEN D I.COM

Bottega Veneta

Bottega Veneta

Cartier

Cartier

Valentino

Valentino VALENTINO.COM BEVERLY HILLS: 324 NORTH RODEO DRIVE 310.247.0103 SOUTH COAST PLAZA: 3333 BRISTOL STREET 714.751.3300 SAN FRANCISCO: 105 GRANT AVENUE 415.772.9835

ME N'S CONTENTS/FALL 2022

36.

Going for Gold Jewelry to make you SHINE

30.

28.

David Yurman Falcon amulet with sapphire, $1,950, davidyurman.com.

54.

22.

Cartier Écrou bracelet, $7,300, cartier.com.

35.

Premium

48.

Hoorsenbuhs Revere ring, $5,500, hoorsenbuhs.com.

44.

26.

24.

NEWS

FEATU R E S

22. A new Porsche 911 pays homage to the ’60s

36. Champion boxer Ryan Garcia on his life outside the ring

24. What to wear in fall as the leaves turn

44. Why Dior Men and ERL joined forces to celebrate L.A. style

26. Woody Harrelson’s WeHo weed shop is open for business

48. How winemaker John Bailey makes the most of wine country

28. Greg Lauren goes formal with deconstructed tuxedos

30. The creative discourse between Mike Amiri and Wes Lang

CALI FOR N IA CLASS IC

35. Zegna’s Oasi Cashmere line puts traceability front and center

54. A tour of the Albert Frey II house

18

Saint Laurent

by Anthony Vacarello Sailor knot bracelet, $395, ysl.com.

Bulgari Cuff links with antique coins, price upon request, bulgari.com.

Beverly Hills 310.271.5555 • South Coast Plaza 714.546.9377

Giorgio Armani

Cmag_GA_FW22_SPS_Mens Edition-October.indd 1

9/12/22 12:18 PM

Sheep and Chic

Founder’s Letter

Wrap yourself up in SHEARLING Founder, Editorial Director & CEO JENNIFER SMITH Editor & President JENNY MURRAY

Gucci Shearling mocassins, $1,250, gucci.com.

Loewe Shearling jacket, $5,100, loewe.com.

I

am so excited to relaunch our Men’s edition of C. We started publishing Men’s issues in 2010 as we understood the California man is singular and unique, and deserves a publication speaking to that point of view. But, 12 years later, it was time for a fresh way to communicate it. Our amazing editorial team conceived a new look and format that really speaks directly to the modern man. In this day and age, with definitions of gender being more commonly discussed, it can be tricky to present to more than one archetype. So within these pages, you will see all sorts of articles speaking to many. It comes down to finding great stories that inspire, excite and elevate no matter how you identify.

One all-embracing theme is fighting for the underdog. Our cover subject, the athlete and California native Ryan Garcia, has swung his way up to the very top as the lightweight champion in the boxing world. But his sport is just the beginning of his tale, as he has his sights set on much more. Even Hollywood might come calling when they see him star in this season’s cover story, with shades of a young Johnny Depp echoing throughout Jack Waterlot’s shoot. My money is on him!

From our exclusive behind-the-scenes reportage of the ERL x Dior Men’s show in Venice Beach to Napa’s next-generation winemaker to an interview with the great Woody Harrelson and his venture into the weed business, we have it all covered. I hope you enjoy all that’s new and great emanating from the West Coast this fall.

Chief Content Officer ANDREW BARKER

Chief Creative Officer JAMES TIMMINS

Managing Editor ANUSH J. BENLIYAN Senior Editors DANIELLE DIMEGLIO KELSEY MCKINNON GINA TOLLESON ELIZABETH VARNELL Photo Editor LAUREN WHITE Copy Editor NANCY WONG BRYAN Graphic Designer DEAN ALARI

Publisher RENEE MARCELLO Director Digital, Sales & Marketing AMY LIPSON

JENNIFER SMITH FOUNDER, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR AND CEO

C People Premium

Information Technology Executive Director SANDY HUBBARD Sales Development Manager ANNE MARIE PROVENZA Controller LEILA ALLEN

Fendi Fall/Winter 2022, fendi.com.

Bottega Veneta Patchwork wool scarf, $1,500, bottegaveneta.com.

Louis Vuitton Reversible gilet, $5,400, louisvuitton.com.

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C PUBLISHING 2064 ALAMEDA PADRE SERRA, SUITE 120, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93103

Jack Waterlot

Alanna Hale

Christian Stroble

Max Berlinger

Born in Paris to a cinematic set designer father and prominent painter mother, Jack Waterlot grew up traveling the world with his family and honing his eye for photography. Today based in New York City by way of Los Angeles, the visual artist has a roster of clients that ranges from Numéro, Vogue, W and other fashion magazines to luxury labels like Tom Ford and Roberto Cavalli.

For this issue, he focused his lens on our cover star, pro boxer and entertainer Ryan Garcia, for “King of the Ring,” p.36.

Lifestyle, interiors, travel and food lenswoman Alanna Hale has lent her expert eye to publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Wine Enthusiast, Food & Wine and Architectural Digest, which recently named her one of 50 AD-approved photographers. The San Francisco-based creative’s commercial work includes projects for West Elm and Masterclass. For “Hit the Harvest,” p.48, she chronicled a day in the life of Knights Bridge vintner John Bailey.

Fashion editor and creative director Christian Stroble began his career in the early 2000s as a womenswear designer favorited by the likes of Natalie Portman.

These days, the stylist—who splits his time between Los Angeles and New York City—contributes to fashion magazines including L’Officiel Italia, Vogue, British GQ and Numéro, and dresses A-listers such as Shawn Mendes, Garrett Hedlund and Lenny Kravitz. Stroble was behind the fashion direction for this issue’s cover feature starring Ryan Garcia.

Based in Los Angeles, Max Berlinger is a freelance writer who covers fashion, design and lifestyle for publications including The New York Times, GQ, Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, Men’s Health, Departures and many more. For this issue, Berlinger penned much of our style news section, including our story on hatmaker Nick Fouquet’s latest MycoWorks Reishi vegan capsule collection, “Shroom Service,” p.28, and a piece on Zegna’s new Oasi Cashmere line, “Trend and Traceability,” p.35.

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Cover

RYAN GARCIA wears GIORGIO ARMANI and TAG HEUER. Photography by JACK WATERLOT. Fashion Direction by CHRISTIAN STROBLE. Hair by ANDRE GUNN at Art Department using T3MICRO. Makeup by ELAYNA BACHMAN at Art Department using CHANEL.

Tag Heuer

01.

STYLE/NEWS

PORSCHE pays homage to the 1960s with the limited-edition 911 Sport Classic, a rear-wheel-drive, 992-generation 911 Turbo fitted with a manual transmission.

Wide rear fenders, a ducktail spoiler and a modern take on the iconic “Fuchs” wheels harken back to the classic 911s of the air-cooled era. Notably, Porsche designers eliminated the typical Turbo’s rear air intakes on the side for a cleaner, purer look. The signature paint is inspired by the factory color Fashion Grey, first used on the Porsche 356.

Other retro details include gold-colored lettering and an old-school version of the Porsche crest. Inside, Porschephiles will recognize the Pepita-patterned upholstery, accented with cognac semianiline leather and open-pore wood, reminiscent of the mahogany veneer trim offered from 1964 to 1967. Pricing starts at $273,300, with dealer deliveries expected late this year. porsche.com. L.B.

Nick Fouquet California Lorem ipsum

03.

Sea Change

06.

02.

Get Your Kicks Founded in 2005, the sneaker reseller FLIGHT CLUB has been instrumental in cementing Fairfax Avenue as ground zero for L.A.’s streetwear scene, with a reputation among hypebeasts hunting down special-edition kicks. After a two-year pandemic-produced hiatus, the buzzy footwear shop is back, and it’s bigger and splashier than before. Among the industrial concrete walls, shoes are lit and featured like works of art. At the center of the room is a brutalist rectangular slab for trying on shoes—CEO Eddy Lu told the Los Angeles Times the new, grittier urban look is a reference to the highways and streets of the city.

535 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A.; flightclub.com. L.B. 05.

E

News A Man’s World

ntering LOUIS VUITTON’s first men’s boutique in California, newly opened on Rodeo Drive, may inspire the immediate impulse to attempt a handstand. Giant Man, the massive baseball-cap-wearing sculpture doing just that—designed by the company’s late artistic director Virgil Abloh—is set inside the twostory split-level space. The piece extends from the floor toward the 17-foot ceiling near Marisa Ferreira’s vibrant acrylic painting on mirrors and stainless steel. The playful works join Alex Proba murals inside the light-filled space replete with all the house’s métiers, from

Abloh’s final ready-to-wear collection to shoes, leather goods, accessories, fragrances by master perfumer Jacques Cavallier Belletrud and watches including the limited-edition Tambour Twenty. Just 200 of the automatic chronographs—with specially engraved casebacks— are released to commemorate the design’s 20th anniversary, and the latest model includes the original Tambour’s unique sculpted round case. Pair it with a Monogram canvas trunk such as the Coffret or Cotteville, which can be personalized and hot-stamped on-site 420 N. Rodeo Dr., Beverly Hills, 310-309-6006; louisvuitton.com. E.V.

Blooming Marvelous Desperate for a brief getaway? Head for the storied Hollywood Roosevelt hotel and its poolside ROSY CAFÉ. Set in a froth of palms and greenery, with bistro chairs and tables beneath fringed yellow-and-white umbrellas, the cheerful outdoor dining spot serves breakfast all day, the better to indulge a hankering for huevos rancheros, gluten-free almond flour pancakes or duck confit and sweet potato hash. Chef Rigoverto “Rigo” Salas headed the kitchen at Santa Monica’s Tar & Roses and Venice’s Superba Food & Bread before joining Rosy Café. In addition to breakfast, the day-long menu includes gulf shrimp ceviche, chopped dino kale and classic steak frites with salsa verde—not to mention rum-soaked baba cake. Cocktails can be conjured from the Tropicana Bar. Loathe to leave? Reserve a day pass for the David Hockney-painted Tropicana Pool via resortpass.com. 7000 Hollywood Blvd., L.A.; 323-856-1970; thehollywoodroosevelt.com. S.I.V.

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The new TAG HEUER Aquaracer Professional 300 GMT may still depict a scaphander diving suit on its steel caseback, but it has adopted a whole new color palette. The Swiss watchmaker’s automatic “toolwatch”—an instrument of choice for surfers, divers and time-zone crossing adventurers since its inception in 2004—is now even more readable. A two-tone rotating bezel is cast in fade-resistant ceramic with deep midnight blue representing the evening hours and brilliant white for the day. The timepiece’s Calibre 7 movement has a power reserve of up to 50 hours, there’s up to 300 meters of water resistance, the crown is still screwed and protected, and now the rhodium-plated seconds hand has a yellow lacquered tip—luminous to aid divers—rounding out the new hues riffing on the sky, water, crashing waves and sun. tagheuer.com. E.V. 04.

Tender Are the Nights Extending 12 stories into the sky, the new LINE HOTEL in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood isn’t just the Bay Area’s hippest new opening, it’s also a work of art in its own right. Starchitect firm Bjarke Ingals Group collaborated on the design concept with Handel Architects, who conceived a Flat Iron-like structure to house 236 hotel rooms and 242 private residences. Honeycomb window frames adorn the exterior like an ornament while taking cues from nearby masonry buildings. Enter the wedge-shaped structure on Market Street, and guests can access four different dining venues, including a ground-level restaurant and a rooftop bar.

The most desirable accommodation is the 1,500-square-foot penthouse, complete with a kitchenette and a dining room that seats eight. Local artwork, city views and Cowshed bath products can be found in all the rooms, though. 33 Turk St., S.F., 415475-0000; thelinehotel.com. S.B.

01. A 3.7-liter twin-turbo engine powers the 543 hp Porsche 911 Sport Classic. 02. The Louis Vuitton Beverly Hills men’s boutique.

3. TAG Heuer Aquaracer Professional 300 GMT, $3,500. 4. The Line Hotel is on the same block as the historic Warfield Theater. 5. A cozy spot to enjoy a cocktail at Rosy Café. 06. Air Jordan 4 Retro Rasta sneaker, from $240.

WOR DS BY: MAX B E R LI NG E R, SAMANTHA B ROKS, LAU RA B U RSTE I N, E LI ZAB ETH VAR N E LL, S. I R E N E VI R B I LA. PHOTO: FLIG HT CLU B: @FLIG HTCLU B.

So Sixties

Gucci ©2022 South Coast Plaza

South Coast Plaza

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA’S ULTIMATE MEN’S COLLECTION A. Lange & Söhne · Alexander McQueen · Audemars Piguet · Balenciaga · Berluti · Bottega Veneta · Breitling Brunello Cucinelli · Burberry · Cartier · Celine · Christian Louboutin · Dior Men · Dolce&Gabbana · Fendi · Gentle Monster Giorgio Armani · Givenchy · Golden Goose · Gucci · Hermès · Hublot · IWC · Jaeger-LeCoultre · John Varvatos · Lanvin Loewe · Loro Piana · Louis Vuitton Men’s · Mikimoto · Moncler · Panerai · Prada · Ralph Lauren · Rolex · Saint Laurent Salvatore Ferragamo · The Webster · Thom Browne · Tod’s · Tudor · Vacheron Constantin · Valentino · Versace · Zegna partial listing

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STYLE/TREND

What to Wear in Fall Take inspiration from the TURNING LEAVES and stock up on EARTHY TONES

Ralph Lauren Purple Label

IWC Schaffhausen

Cashmere turtleneck, $2,195, ralphlauren.com.

Big Pilot's watch, Top Gun-edition, “Mojave Desert,” $16,300, iwc.com.

News Bottega Veneta

Saint Laurent

Boots, $4,200, bottegaveneta.com.com.

Surf keyring in Wood, $325, ysl.com.

Loro Piana Fall/Winter 2022

John Varvatos

Lapima

Givenchy

Ribbed beanie, $98, johnvarvatos.com.

Caetano Oliva sunglasses, $545, lapima.com.

TK-360+ sneakers, $995, givenchy.com.

Fendi

Brunello Cucinelli

Prada

Crossbody wallet, $1,390, fendi.com.

Suede shearling jacket, $9,995, shop.brunellocucinelli.com.

Symbole carry-on, $6,300, prada.com.

E D ITE D BY A N D R EW BA R K E R

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John Varvatos

Actor and cannabis activist Woody Harrelson has co-founded THE WOODS, a dispensary in West Hollywood with its own chill zone

PROFILE

I N T E RVI EW BY MA R TH A H AY E S

M

26

Harrelson

Welcome to Woody’s Weed Shop So I go down, and what would have normally taken one take took 10.

Every year I have a cleanse. I just did fourand-a-half months of no smoking, drinking or coffee, and when I came off the cleanse I told myself, “I’ll definitely be very moderate.”

That lasted about 45 minutes. For the last month, I’ve really been hitting it hard.

The Woods is definitely the most beautiful dispensary I’ve seen, but the outdoor area is what makes it special. To have a consumption area is pretty cool—it’s as good as if you were in Amsterdam. When we found this place and we saw the garden, we were like, “Wow, this is beautiful.” You’re in the middle of WeHo but you might as well be in a vacation spot. There’s going to be a neighborhood bar next door, so if you’re like, “I can’t do this anymore,” you can get up and go have a drink and then come back.

It is my pursuit to be somewhat of a Trojan horse. I want clean, sun-soaked, soil-nourished herb [to be sold in The Woods]. It has a nice lift and doesn’t just

blow your head off in two or three puffs.

The war on drugs drove herb indoors, and while there are many phenomenal indoor growers, you can’t overlook the importance of that sun and that water in making that plant. There’s a big difference

» I want clean, sun-soaked, soil-nourished herb with a nice lift that doesn’t blow your head off « WOODY HAR R E LS ON

between sitting on a tanning bed and being outside in the sun, you know?

It’s very challenging for farmers because there’s a real disparity in how much they make compared to the indoor variety made in these vast warehouses. It is my hope we can try and move people in a different direction. Now that we’ve won the drug war, let’s get back to the way nature intended it. We just started delivery because, believe it or not, there are some lazy stoners out there and they don’t want to get in the car and drive down to the dispensary. For now, I’m just focusing on The Woods, but I am going to do something separate, [his own weed brand]. I’ve got great friends up in the Emerald Triangle who are doing amazing stuff, so I think that will happen eventually. It’s like, “You see, Mom, it does pay off!” X Clockwise from top left: The interior of Harrelson’s The Woods dispensary at 8271 Santa Monica Blvd., which sells flower, gummies and a range of other marijuana-based products and has a consumption area in the back; Harrelson at the store (inset).

STE FAN I KE E NAN/G ETTY I MAG ES (STOR E + STOR E PORTRAIT)

y mother always said, “Son, if I ever hear of you smoking marijuana, it’ll just kill me!” So that kept me off it until I was 21, when a college friend and I took a hit of a steamroller pipe.

I didn’t touch it again for a week. My friend was very disciplined, and I stayed disciplined until I moved to L.A. and started dating a smoker. That’s when I realized, “Oh, you can smoke this shit all day long!”

I like to just smoke it on the weekends.

I eat a very regulated, almost entirely raw diet and I don’t drink except on weekends.

I can do whatever I want on Saturdays. The other day I did [co-owner of The Woods] Bill Maher’s podcast, Club Random. It was just him and me with drinks and roll-up joints—I would never normally do that in an interview. It’s bad! I would have been canceled 19 times from the shit I said. I was like, “Please can we edit some of this?!”

I never smoke when I work. When I was doing Cheers many years ago, me and George Wendt would smoke a fatty as soon as we’d finished on set. One day, he and I are smoking a joint and I hear, “Woody, can you come down for your monologue in scene C?” And I’m like, “I thought we were done!”

IWC TOP GUN.

IWC Schaffhausen

Pilot’s Watch Chronograph TOP GUN

inspired the high-contrast, purist design of this

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03.

STYLE/NEWS

01.

Twisted Tuxedos Designer GREG LAUREN creates his unmistakable looks by breaking down classic menswear references and rebuilding them. This season, he set his eye on black tie, artfully deconstructing tuxedos, tailcoats and ruffled shirts.

“Working and creating on the West Coast, the mood of this season came while staring at the ocean in the fall, sitting on the beach in colder weather and imagining a pair of tails born from that,” Lauren says. “What would that look like—or more importantly, what would it feel like?” The result is rakish and relaxed red-carpet dressing for the post-COVID age. greglauren.com. M.B.

L

Shroom Service

ook around and you’ll see mushrooms everywhere these days. Not just on the ground, mind you, but in drinks, food, wellness products, medicine and now sneaking into art, home design and, of course, fashion. The latest example comes from Los Angeles-based milliner NICK FOUQUET, who has teamed up with MycoWorks on a Reishi capsule collection of toppers made from Fine Mycelium, a proprietary fungi-based leather alternative that is free of any plastic or animal byproducts. The designs include a fedora and a panama style which

feature a band of mushroom leather around the rim, plus a bucket hat fully constructed from the groundbreaking material. (Luxury brand Hermès has worked with Fine Mycelium on a version of its beloved bags.) “Our clients want luxury made from materials that feel good and that they feel good about,” Fouquet says. “MycoWorks’ Reishi is the only leather alternative we’ve seen that matches the beauty, quality and functionality of traditional leather—it feels organic and rich and has a beautiful, worn patina that we showcase through this collection.” nickfouquet.com. M.B.

STAR STRUCK VAN CLEEF & ARPELS has a history of putting its own spin on Western Zodiac signs, and once again the French jewelry house is looking to the heavens and the earth for its latest two Zodiaque collections. In homage to an archival classic pendant design from the 1970s, a new group of rose-gold necklaces has debuted, each one depicting a celestial symbol alongside ornamental stones evoking water, earth, air and fire. Also, a new set of yellow-gold medals—riffing on a 1950s house collection—is launching in smaller dimensions. Formerly produced as charms and cufflinks, the polished gold 21-millimeter pieces include zodiac depictions and dates in relief. vancleefarpels.com. E.V.

News 06.

With its Gucci wallpaper, eye-popping yellow wainscoting and plush Takara Belmont leather chairs, AANUKO in Culver City trumpets that it ain’t your granddaddy’s barber shop. (Hotel lobbies and 1980s New York inspired the design.) The difference is more than aesthetic: the shop, opened by the grooming masterminds at Hanz de Fuko and Blumaan, is packed with perks beyond haircuts and shaves: you can get a drink from the quaint café and take an Instagram-worthy snap at the in-house photo studio. “[It] is a place to play, connect and thrive,” says David Alfonso, co-founder and CEO of Aanuko. “Where the barber and client unite in creative inspiration, and new friendships are formed.” 5790 Washington Blvd., Culver City, 424-417-2592; aanuko.com. M.B.

05.

Bel-Air Banquets

02.

Cali Style In 2016, Leszek Garwacki and Courtney Ormond launched LACALIFORNIENNE by hand-painting the dials of iconic vintage timepieces in sunset colors and swapping the straps for more spirited options. Now the company is bringing that whimsical touch to its own line of watches. Daybreak is a sleek, Swissmade unisex model with a steel, gold-plated or rose gold-plated case. The vegetable-tanned leather straps come in all manner of stripes as well as simple, buttoned-up black. (The company also makes straps for the Apple Watch.) lacalifornienne.com. M.B.

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It’s big deal when Swedish chef Marcus Jernmark, who presided over the kitchen of the three-star Frantzén in Stockholm, decides Los Angeles is the place and convinces his best friend, the also much lauded chef Robert Sandberg, to join him in opening their dream restaurant. Over the past few months, HABITUÉ has operated in test mode, offering private dinners in Bel-Air. Now the restaurant is open to the public by reservation and pre-payment only, for parties no larger than 8. At $1,500 a head, the menu is strictly prix fixe and ever evolving as the highly pedigreed chefs source premier seasonal ingredients and bring it all home to their BelAir kitchen to cook—no holds barred.

Every Monday, tables are released for dates four weeks in advance habitue.us.

S.I.V.

01. Selections from the Greg Lauren Fall 2022 collection. 02. Nick Fouquet’s hat designs made with a mushroom-based leather alternative.

03. Van Cleef & Arpels Zodiaque Sagittarius and Scorpio necklaces, $21,100 each. 04.

Prestige caviar, Vietnamese bone broth bisque and EVOO at Habitué. 05. laCalifornienne Daybreak watch, starts from $1,480.

WOR DS BY: MAX B E R LI NG E R, E LI ZAB ETH VAR N E LL, S. I R E N E VI R B I LA. N ICK FOUQU ET: AYSIA STI E B. G R EG LAU R E N: E M MAN U E L SANCH E Z .MONSALVE. HAB ITU É: OSKAR BAKKE.

A Cut Above

04.

Centric West

JOESJEANS.COM

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PROFILE

Personal Space The fashion designer MIKE AMIRI and contemporary artist WES LANG chronicle their ongoing collaboration in a new behind-the-scenes book

I

WOR D S BY E L I Z A B E T H VA R N E L L

visit Wes’ studio from time to time and we talk about life,” said Mike Amiri, the founder and creative director of his eponymous label, while describing the ongoing dialog he had with painter and sculptor Wes Lang as he prepared to open his first Los Angeles boutique in 2020. Lang’s work hangs inside the gallery-like store on Rodeo Drive and now in Amiri boutiques worldwide, from New York to Tokyo. Fast-forward through the pandemic-lengthened months, and a collaboration between the two L.A.-based creatives—whose work meets at a cross-section of rock, skate, selfexpression, graffiti and gothic script— emerged. The duo joined forces on Amiri’s Fall/Winter 2022 collection, the evolution of which is documented in a new volume, Amiri Wes Lang (Rizzoli New York, $135) out this fall. The book depicts the creative

30

partnership unfolding, from early studio sketches to the making of garments and ultimately the collection’s runway debut of ready-to-wear looks and accessories.

Essays by fashion editor Dan Thawley and art critic Andrew Berardini paint a behindthe-scenes picture of the creative journey, as does photography by Hart Lëshkina, the interdisciplinary artist duo of Erik Hart and Tati Lëshkina who use white space to striking effect.

Across canvases, paper, worktables, pants and shirts, this story of shared creativity plays out through a series of behind-the-scenes atelier and studio images. Thawley calls the collection’s progression from skull sketches to checkerboard clothing a “high-wire pirouette between concept and craft,” and the visual trail from artist’s studio to rolling rack is riveting. This is no screen-printed T-shirt endeavor—hoodies are fringed, sweaters

» With Los Angeles as the backdrop to their lives and a crucible for shared creativity, Wes and Mike’s first dual creative act dives deep into cultural phenomena « DAN THAWLEY are hand-embroidered, denim is layered and flecked with paint as an homage to Lang’s own work pants, and the artist is pictured hand-painting a black cashmere coat, the collection’s final look. X From top: Artist Wes Lang (left) and designer Mike Amiri look at coat samples from their Amiri Fall 2022 collaboration. Runway looks from the collection presentation. A fitting at Amiri’s L.A. atelier. Completed Fall 2022 collection looks.

HART LËSH KI NA / COU RTESY R I Z ZOLI N EW YOR K

Amiri

How do you say Pink in French?

Photographer Iris Velghe - Conception Luma

Laurent Perrier

The Pink Champagne from Pinot Noir. Chosen by the best. champagnelaurentperrier www.laurent-perrier.com

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TECHNOLOGY

The Flying Taxi Dogfight

Flying Cars

Over 10 years in the making, a fleet of warring “AERO CABS” are prepared for landing. But which one will become the Uber of the skies?

I

WOR D S BY DAN N Y F OR TS ON

I LLU S TR ATI O N BY S O Ñ A L E E

t started 13 years ago in a backyard barn in the mountains above Santa Cruz. Today, Joby Aviation, the brainchild of founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt valued at over $3 billion, is racing to develop the world’s first air taxi—and launch an era that promises to free commuters from gridlock via quiet, emissions-free air transport for the masses.

An estimated 200-plus companies around the world, large and small, have raised billions of dollars to develop wildly different prototypes of so-called eVTOLs (electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles), drafting on huge advances in electric motors and battery technology. This period of invention has been likened to a modern Wright Brothers era,

32

replete with a battle full of intrigue, infighting, harebrained ideas and bitter lawsuits.

Leading the pack is Joby.

The company, still based in Santa Cruz, has raised more than $1.8 billion in funding— an amount reportedly far greater than any of its competitors. Its five-seat eVTOL model is furthest along the circuitous path of convincing the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) that it is airworthy. Joby recently passed a critical stage of regulatory approvals, putting it on track to launch services as early as 2024, industry experts say. The firm went public on the New York Stock Exchange last year.

Ask anyone about flying cars—a label no one in the industry particularly likes—and they are likely to dismiss the concept as a Jetsons-style fantasy. Which is understandable,

since the sector is best known for renderings and unmet promises. Yet flying cars are coming, and sooner than most people think.

“Many companies are developing fullscale prototypes now, and that’s the dress rehearsal to actually starting to go into production aircraft,” says Sergio Cecutta of SMG Consulting, publisher of the “Advanced Air Mobility Reality Index” which tracks the sector’s progress. “A year ago, we were massaging the dough. Now, the pizza’s in the oven.”

Some of the world’s biggest companies (and deepest pockets) are betting that air taxis are indeed the future. Germany’s Lilium has lured the likes of Honeywell and NetJets as partners, while Britain’s Vertical Aerospace

» Joby’s goal is to “save 1 billion people 1 hour per day” by whisking them over traffic with the ease of requesting an Uber «

has racked up more than 1,400 preorders from the likes of American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic for its five-seater eVTOL. Yet most of the action is centered in California. In addition to Joby, United Airlines has backed Archer Aviation, a start-up in Santa Clara, while Boeing has bet on Wisk Aero, a Mountain View-based rival that’s developing a self-flying vehicle.

Bevirt’s role in this scrum is ironic. The 49-year-old engineer has long been obsessed with electricity precisely because he grew up without it. Bevirt’s father was part of writer Ken Kesey’s roving band of hippies, the Merry Pranksters, and brought up his son in a backto-the-land commune where they used kerosene lamps and cooked with propane.

Bevirt, a relentless tinkerer, made a fortune when he sold his first company, a robotics company for the genomics industry.

Flush with cash, he returned to his passion for power, starting Joby Energy in 2009 to develop an off-the-wall idea: flying wind turbines. That scheme didn’t take off, but it led him to air taxis. After a decade of trial and error, Joby developed an aircraft with six tilting rotors that allow for vertical takeoff and enable the vehicle to reach around 200 miles per hour with a maximum range of 150 miles on a single charge. Crucially, it is also quiet, opening the possibility for over-city travel to a degree not possible for helicopters.

For anyone who has ever been stuck on the 101 or 405 freeway at rush hour, all this presents a tantalizing option. Indeed, Joby’s goal is to “save 1 billion people 1 hour per day” by whisking them over traffic with the

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STYLE/REPORT

Trend and Traceability WOR D S BY MAX B E R LI N G E R

ZEGNA’s sleek Oasi Cashmere collection tells you the complete story of every garment

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t’s easy to think of Zegna as a fashion brand because, well, it makes beautifully constructed clothes from the world’s most sumptuous fabrics.

But to stop there would be to ignore the fact that the company encompasses so much more. Its scope is perhaps best understood through the lens of Oasi Zegna, the 100-square-kilometer nature preserve nestled among the Biella Alps in Northern Italy.

While many brands have jumped on the sustainability bandwagon, the Oasi, founded in the 1930s, represents how the environment has been at the core of what Zegna does since the very beginning. Among the Oasi’s many features, it is home to a reforestation project wherein the brand’s founder, Ermenegildo Zegna, planted a staggering half-million trees in the 1930s. This dedication to the planet and its natural resources is one reason why the brand has promised to make every textile it uses fully traceable by the end of the decade.

While that may be a few years off, we already can see this project come to life in the Oasi Cashmere collection, a laidback yet sophisticated 70-piece offering that includes coats and knitwear, some of which was featured in Zegna’s recent show at the conservation as part of Milan Men’s Fashion Week in June.

While each piece is understated and sophisticated—think plush, nubby knits in subtly evocative designs—the real bragging rights are hidden inside each garment, where a scannable QR code allows you to see the complete journey the fabrics made. You may discover, for

Continued from p.32 ease of requesting an Uber. The company has conducted more than 1,000 test flights and hopes to receive so-called “type certification” with the FAA next year—another step closer to launching commercial operations.

Morgan Stanley has predicted that by 2040, the market for “advanced air mobility” could be worth $1.5 trillion. In short, the stakes are high—and naturally, there is a big lawsuit. The litigation is between Archer Aviation and Wisk Aero. Archer formed in 2018 when Brett Adcock and Adam Goldstein, without any aviation experience, decided to plow the cash they earned from selling their

instance, that your plush, cozy sweater started its life on the back of a goat in Australia before it traveled to Italy to be spun to a buttery thread and then woven at a Zegna-owned facility.

In addition to flexing the brand’s sustainability credentials, the Oasi Cashmere collection demonstrates the beauty of Zegna’s vertically integrated operations. That means the process of making clothes—from farm to hanger—is all overseen in-house (as opposed to outsourced through a network of global supply and logistics chains, which, as we’ve all learned over the past two years, can very easily get backed up). All of this demonstrates how integral Zegna is to Italy’s textile economy; the brand not only makes its own ready-to-wear line but also provides fabrics to some of the biggest names in fashion, including Gucci and the American label Thom Browne, of which it acquired an 85% stake back in 2018. Earlier this year, the brand listed on the New York Stock Exchange, yet another example of its expanding influence. Despite its global might, the company is still a family affair, run by Ermenegildo’s grandson, Gildo.

It’s a blend of technology, environmentalism and fashion that is forward-thinking and doesn’t lose sight of Zegna’s mission to craft intentional, covetable menswear. Luxury today is not just a beautiful product, it’s transparency in how it was made, as well as a process of craftsmanship that is respectful of tradition and honors our most precious resource, the earth. Zegna accomplishes this—a traceable, enchanting collection—without patting itself on the back. It simply delivers the quality that we’ve come to expect. zegna.com. X

Ermenegildo Zegna

recruiting business into flying cars. They began hiring engineers, including ones who had worked at Wisk, a joint venture between Boeing and Kitty Hawk, the start-up funded

by Google billionaire Larry Page.

When Archer unveiled its prototype vehicle last year, Wisk chief executive Gary Gysin was aghast. Wisk alleged that Archer had not only taken employees but also stolen trade secrets. Wisk sued last year, claiming “a brazen theft of its intellectual property.”

Wisk had been at this for more than a decade, with five vehicle iterations and more than 1,500 test flights. The lawsuit alleges one engineer downloaded confidential files

right before he quit for Archer. Archer has denied anything improper occurred, and that its own investigation turned up nothing. In turn, it countersued Wisk for $1 billion in damages.

While the drama plays out, cities are readying for the day air taxis ply the skies. Los Angeles is preparing for eVTOLs to arrive well in advance of the 2028 Olympic Games; discussions on where best to place “vertiports” and how to route air traffic have begun.

Big hurdles remain, however. Every last one of the eVTOL start-ups is losing money, and thus they exist only as long as investors choose to back them. Which is why the first

to make it to market will be critical. If the aircraft works economically, socially and technologically, dozens of rival services will no doubt follow. If the pioneers stumble, the whole sector could fall into a deep freeze. It is worth noting that Amazon and UPS have also placed bets on eVTOL start-ups, as they could prove vital in helping them speed package deliveries. In other words, success is not entirely dependent on whether people will happily climb aboard the newfangled electric flying machines.

For now, the industry is surviving on some genuine technological breakthroughs— and a large helping of hope. X

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Part athlete, part entertainer, RYAN GARCIA is California’s undefeated boxing hero.

But he has his eye on an even bigger prize

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PH OTO G R A PH Y BY J AC K WAT E R LOT FA S H I O N D I R E CT I O N BY C H R I ST IA N ST R O B L E WO R D S BY C H R I S WA L L AC E

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TAG HEUER watch, $3,050. IN GOLD WE TRUST PARIS necklace, $270. Opposite: HERMÈS cardigan, $1,750, pants, $1,375, and boots, $1,475. VACHERON CONSTANTIN watch, $39,000. Vintage PAUMÈ LOS ANGELES pendant.

Vintage VITALY necklace.

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DOLCE & GABBANA coat, $6,695, and leggings, $745. Vintage YOHJI YAMAMOTO pants.

BURBERRY shoes, $1,150. Opposite: VALENTINO coat, $3,950, shirt, $1,150, pants, $1,690, and shoes, $980. CARTIER bracelet, $7,000, and ring, $2,240.

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’m on fire right now,” Ryan Garcia says, and it would be difficult to disagree. The 24-yearold boxer with the face and physique of a campaign model has a lot to feel good about. In the seven years since he turned pro, Garcia has won all 23 of his fights—19 of them by knockout—and most of them in spectacular fashion. His ferocious but elegantly constructed combinations almost blur in real time, and they astound with their precision in slow motion. He has won many millions of dollars in prize money and TV deals, and, I don’t know, if you go toe-to-toe with two dozen guys who’ve trained their whole lives to fight and beat them all, maybe you are allowed to feel a bit confident in yourself.

But Garcia’s optimistic energy is not just that of someone for whom things have come easily. Growing up in Victorville (he has three sisters and one brother), Garcia was hungry to compete and says he was disappointed in the effort and commitment of his baseball teammates. When, at 7 years old, he raised his concerns to his uncle (“As long as it is an individual sport, I’m in,” he says he told him), his uncle introduced him to boxing for the first time. “It could’ve been tennis, or anything, really,” Garcia says now, but on that first day, he fell head over heels in love with the whole culture around boxing. “I can still hear the sound of my mitt hitting the bag the first time,” he says, like he’s talking about a love song.

He moved between gyms in Riverside and San Diego, seeking out the best coaches

Feature to work with in the ring, and as an amateur and soon an undefeated professional, Garcia was able to channel his passion and competitiveness. In very short order, the charisma he showed in his fights found him a fanbase and a platform to express his flash and panache in other arenas. On Instagram, Garcia is @kingryan, a handle he says comes not from arrogance but a play on the Gaelic root of Ryan, which means “little king”— though he often wears a necklace with a fully iced-out pendant reading “King Ryan,” which does somewhat belie the claim. In his flexy photos on social media, standing in front of his Lamborghini or stunting around Rome on a trip this summer, Garcia gives good old-fashioned playboy boxer in a medium expressly made for just such unbridled aspirational alpha-id-gone-wild content. Which, to him, is all sort of part of the plan. “Boxing’s always been a classy sport,” he says, “even though it’s brutal— celebrities coming to Mike Tyson fights, everybody dressing up in suits. You could become a great role model. Even other athletes look up to me,” he says. “I’m not just in it for the game,” he adds. “I love the whole art of boxing, from the business side to what I bring to the table: entertainment.”

And this is crucial to Garcia’s idea about himself, his role in the sport and beyond, and his future. “I describe myself as a leader, like a general for troops,” he says. “I’m the one that has to go into battle for everybody, for a kid that’s looking up to me, and I’m going to put on the best performance they’ve ever seen.” He believes that he has a

» I’m really into fashion. It’s like a project for me.

And I don’t halfass anything. I have to try my hardest « R YA N G A R C I A responsibility to show that kid, and the rest of us, “the best way of life.”

It sounds like that kid he is fighting for, for whom he is champion in the ring (and the world) is sort of abstract—all kids. But Garcia does have two children of his own, (he lives with his family in his new home in Porter Ranch, close to Ten Goose Gym in Van Nuys where his coach, Joe Goossen, is based), and perhaps the sense of greater responsibility comes with young fatherhood. Not that he is exactly struggling to do it all—the training, the media, the expectations and two daughters with two mothers.

Garcia is nothing if not efficient with his time, he says. “I have ADHD, and everything has a purpose. It’s a rare thing that I’ll kick back and watch a movie.”

Managing Ryan is a family affair. His father, Henry, is his assistant coach, who you’ll spot in his corner talking strategy with Goossen during fights. His brother, Sean, is also a professional boxer and has been assisting in Ryan’s training for the past seven-plus years. His mother, Lisa, oversees Ryan’s merchandise line, Fierce King, and she and Henry have their own business, Fierce Reflex, a line of boxing reflex bags used in many major professional gyms.

When he does need to blow off some steam, or treat himself, Garcia’s favorite hobby is shopping. “I’m really into fashion,” he says, and he loves going into a store, trying things on to put together. “It’s like a project for me. And I don’t half-ass anything. I have to try my hardest. That looks good, that don’t look good, OK.” However, he isn’t exactly living the fast life in L.A., even when all duded up in his Lambo. “Honestly,” he says, “I’ll go to Dave & Buster’s with it, seriously.”

Eventually he’d like to put his interest and talent in the field to work by creating a capsule collection for a fashion brand, and to have a hand in doing the marketing— maybe directing commercials or ideating campaigns—aspirations which were fanned to flame by his interactions with Kim Jones, the artistic director at Dior Men with whom Garcia designed his trunks and robe for a recent fight. “Me and Kim, we talk all the time,” he says. “I was watching Aladdin and I liked how he was dressed in it. He had the white with the baby-blue silk inside lining, and then that’s what I was telling Kim. ‘I

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Feature » Boxing is all body language.

I can feel when somebody’s uncomfortable.

I tell people I could have been an FBI agent « R YA N G A R C I A

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ADIDAS x GUCCI jacket, $3,200, and pants, $1,750. Vintage PAUMÈ LOS ANGELES shirt.

AMIRI shoes, $650.

CARTIER necklace, $25,000, bracelet, $38,800, and ring, $22,800. Opposite: ADIDAS x GUCCI pants, $1,980, gloves, $370, and blouson (over shoulder), $3,900. JAEGERLeCOULTRE watch, $11,000.

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want to put it all together. That’s where my inspiration’s coming from.’ They were collaborators not dictators, and I like to work with those type of people.”

In 2021, while he was the reigning lightweight champ, Garcia canceled a title-defense bout in order to address mental health concerns. It was an extraordinary move in the world of boxing, even as athletes in other sports are making strides in this arena—think tennis player Naomi Osaka opting out of her title-defense run at the U.S. Open last year. Garcia says now that his anxiety and depression were spiraling at the time, to the point that he was suffering panic attacks and even experiencing suicidal thoughts. As you can imagine, for an athlete on his level, Garcia has an outsized will and an intensely analytical mind; he wants to measure everything he puts into his body and brain and study their results to improve performance. And he says that when he was able to analyze what he was experiencing, something rather remarkable occurred to him—during a game of poker, of all things.

“I don’t encourage people to gamble,” he says, “but I was looking at my hand and realized that I had been trusting my feelings instead of trusting truth.” Our inferences, and expectations, about what a dealer is holding, what other players may have in their hands, what cards might come up next and how the whole game will play out, in other words, do not reflect reality but merely our own feelings about reality.

And those feelings for which we have no objective evidence, Garcia implies, cannot be trusted. So now he commits himself to playing the hand he has, in all phases of his life, “being in this moment,” he says. He has even worked this into his mid-match

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mantras as he coaches himself through a fight. Which, in itself, is extraordinary.

Because think about it: How many of us regularly enter into that extremely heightened fight-or-flight consciousness and, while there, can maintain cool, calculated poise, let alone create a beneficial commentary while under attack? “You’re fighting for your life basically in front of millions of people, and then on top of it, you’re going to be judged how you fought for your life,” Garcia says.

“I’m always saying mantras for myself while I’m fighting, and thinking without thinking,” noting particular punches and behavior and trends, all without consciously articulating them but building them into his own response on a reflex-twitch level. He may be naturally gifted in this department, like those people who are somehow calmer under duress. He considers himself to be extra perceptive of human behavior and body language—essential information about the status of a combatant during a fight—and

thinks this gives him a kind of superpower in civilian life, a talent for reading people, reading a room. “Boxing is all body language, and I can feel when somebody’s uncomfortable really quick … I tell people I could have been an FBI agent,” he says, seeing through the veils as he does, to know how people are really feeling. Actually, “no, that’s an idea for a DC comic.”

Garcia’s comic book character would have a bit of mysticism about him too, he says, because he has a kind of Zen master control of his mind. “You get to this place in your mental training where you’re ignoring

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» I have ADHD, everything has a purpose.

It’s a rare thing that I’ll kick back and watch a movie « R YA N G A R C I A

the signs of your body … because your mind actually is way [more] powerful than people could imagine. You’re willing to let it all go, like, ‘I’m willing to die on this run, so let’s see how far I can go.’ What I’ve experienced is this sense of freedom once you pass the mental barriers that hold a person back, and then all of a sudden you’re not tired no more, and you’re free,” he says.

In that headspace, Garcia says, “you could think against anybody, whether it be in business [or any walk of life], because you know where you’ve been mentally.

No awkward moment or no weird situation could ever throw you off because you’ve already been to a very hard place in your mind, and you push through it.

You’ve become the master of your mind, and your body has to listen and adjust.”

So what happens when you develop this superpower and the confidence born from an undefeated run of prize fights? When you are as competitive as Garcia is, you want to put it to the test—on bigger and bigger stages, with heightened stakes. “I’m ready,” Garcia says. “I told everybody that, after what I was coming out of, my whole career was just going to take off.

I feel like I’m going to go on this run of nonstop victories.” X

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LOUIS VUITTON jacket, $6,250, and pants, $1,180. Vintage PAUMÈ LOS ANGELES necklace.

Tank, stylist’s own.

Opposite, top: ZENITH watch, $8,400. Vintage PAUMÈ LOS ANGELES tank. Vintage VITALY bracelet. Opposite, bottom: FEAR OF GOD pullover, $160, and shorts, $70. Vintage bag.

Hair by ANDRE GUNN at Art Department using T3MICRO. Makeup by ELAYNA BACHMAN at Art Department using CHANEL.

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Subculture Couture Feature

In Venice Beach, DIOR and ERL collaborate on a capsule collection that’s straight off the L.A. sidewalks with a Parisian Boulevard sensibility PH OTO G R A PH Y BY M A R K G R I F F I N C H A M PI O N WO R D S BY A N D R E W BA R K E R

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Backstage at the DIOR MEN x ERL Spring 2023 capsule collection show in Venice Beach, which took place under the iconic Venice sign on Windward Avenue.

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T

he globe-trotting Dior road show stopped in Venice Beach earlier this year for a men’s show quite unlike any other.

Kim Jones, Dior Men’s artistic director, had handed over creative responsibilities to guest designer Eli Russell Linnetz of Venice-based ERL, permitting the local designer to apply the codes of his label and marry them with whatever sparked his inspiration from the Dior archive—under Jones’ watchful eye, of course.

To launch the tinsel-toned collection in Tinseltown, they took over the boardwalk-abutting section of Windward Avenue with the Venice sign acting as a welcome banner for guests including Taika Waititi, Rita Ora, Christina Aguilera, Christina Ricci, Tony Hawk and front-row regular Dan Levy.

“I love Los Angeles,” says Jones. “It’s the American way, the American way of looking at sportswear. Also, the idea of Christian Dior in America, of the glamour of that time in film. It’s all here in L.A.—I love spending time here.”

They started their creative process for the Spring ’23 capsule collection with the year of Linnetz’s birth, 1991. Diving deep into the archive, he took cues from Gianfranco Ferré, the incumbent creative director when Linnetz was born. Heavy gold chains on Dior’s mini saddle bags were borrowed straight from Ferré’s designs, which Jones hitherto had not yet referenced.

Nineties nods abounded. Cannage-style puffer jackets donned a Dior patina. There were playful fluffy totes, baggy shorts and

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trailing suits, pants, hoodies and heavy-soled skate shoes. Bucket hats and tinted lenses straight out of ’90s rave culture no doubt chimed with a teenage Jones as a cultureobsessed designer in waiting. “ERL is so greatly influenced by honoring the generations of American artisans and celebrates the iconography of what they created,” says Linnetz. “I think Dior pays a similar tribute to French artisans and couture.”

Logos were present throughout, another nod to the ’90s, when logomania meant brands would emblazon garments as a way of allowing their customers to signal status to peers that they, too, could afford it.

Dior brought its Parisian know-how, not only with the garment construction, which involved thick, gem-encrusted embroidery on the side stripes and trims of shorts and pants, but with the slickest event production,

including neon signage and a blue nylon awning that formed a cresting wave on either side of the runway. Jones roped in British veteran Stephen Jones (no relation) to work on the pillbox hats and veils, an homage to a favored style of Monsieur Dior’s muse Mizza

» I love Los Angeles, the American way of looking at sportswear « KIM JONES

Bricard, and acutely apposite in the current age of genderless fashion.

Linnetz has seen more than most for someone just entering his third decade. A USC School of Cinematic Arts graduate, he had variously been a child actor and an opera singer before serving as a director of music videos in Kanye West’s artistic studio and as Lady Gaga’s personal photographer. In 2018, he launched ERL with small collections drawing on the L.A. style he grew up with, inspired by the surfers, skaters and cool kids you see on the boardwalk of Venice and the sidewalks of Hollywood.

Arguably his biggest moments came at the 2021 Met Gala when he dressed A$AP Rocky in that patchwork blanket and put Kid Cudi in a wedding dress at the CFDA awards. (He was also a finalist for this year’s LVMH Prize which, more often than not, guarantees a bright future).

Back in Venice Beach, Cudi showed his support on the front row alongside a mixed bag of musicians, actors, fashion and athletes: Michael B. Jordan, Tommy Hilfiger, Leslie Odom Jr., Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz, Finneas, Henry Golding, Amber Valletta and Winnie Harlow. C’s cover star Ryan Garcia (see p.36) was also in attendance. (Kim Jones designed the lightweight champ’s Dior-branded boxing outfit.)

European fashion’s long lens has already focused on California twice in the past 12 months with Gucci closing down Hollywood Boulevard for its Spring/Summer 2022 Love Parade and Louis Vuitton landing at The Salk Institute in La Jolla for its Cruise 2023 show. You could say it’s got California on the mind. But hey, we’re not complaining. X

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Clockwise from top left: Models wait to walk the DIOR MEN runway on Venice’s Windward Avenue. The Dior Paris logo created for the show. Jewelry designed for the show. A STEPHEN JONES-designed modern take on the pillbox hat.

Opposite, from top: The bag chain was inspired by former Dior creative director GIANFRANCO FERRÉ’s designs. ELI RUSSELL LINNETZ of ERL (left) and KIM JONES of Dior Men.

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Hit the Harvest Feature

As a second-generation vintner and former college athlete, JOHN BAILEY explains how he keeps his fitness in check as he joins the family business PH OTO G R A PH Y BY A L A N N A H A L E WO R D S BY DAV I D N A S H

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JOHN BAILEY and KNIGHTS BRIDGE winemaker DEREK BALJEU taste from barrels in the winery’s caves.

Opposite: A former Harvard swimmer, Bailey takes daily advantage of the infinity pool at his family’s vineyard home in Knights Valley—complete with lush views stretching to Mount St. Helena.

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n 2006, John Bailey was just 13 years old when his father and uncle—Jim and Essel Bailey—bought an 83-acre plot of land in Knights Valley, one of Sonoma County’s original five AVAs known for producing stellar cabernet sauvignon. That site would become home

to the family and its award-winning Knights Bridge Winery.

“I have three older brothers, and a lot of my fondest memories are [of us] getting in trouble roaming around the vineyard, chasing turkeys,” Bailey recalls. “Growing up, we had family dinner every single night—it’s something my dad stressed—and wine was

always on the table. So, even when I was too young to really appreciate it, just seeing the role it played was important.”

While he’s no longer running after wild game on the family property, the now 29-year-old Ivy League-educated finance industry expat returned home at the beginning of 2021, trading in a New York City desk

job to focus on East Coast sales distribution for Knights Bridge’s respectable portfolio of limited-production wines. “It’s about meeting with restaurants, distributors and wine buyers, and educating them on what makes our property and the region so special.”

Surprisingly, in college Bailey took only a couple elective classes on wine, but

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Cycling across the nearly 133-acre property offers Bailey new perspectives on the fruits of his family’s labor. Left: Wines are poured regularly in the new facility’s various tasting rooms, which opened to the public last November. Below left and right: Staying active is an essential part of daily life for Bailey.

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» I got a good cycle in, and then we harvested some of our sauvignon blanc « JOH N BAI LEY

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his palate was clearly primed. “One of the alumni came back and taught some of the best wine education courses I’ve ever been part of, going region by region and varietal by varietal,” he says. “At the time, Château Margaux actually had a case study written

by Harvard Business School about whether they should release a second wine, and because the reception was held in my dormitory, I got to sit in on that, which was a real treat—definitely not emblematic of your standard introduction to wine.”

In the year leading up to his formally joining the family business, he began working through the Wine & Spirit Education

Trust—or WSET—courses, completing Levels 1 through 3. “It’s sort of a different track from the Master Sommelier coursework, for industry professionals who want the knowledge base but don’t want to go that route.”

A competitive athlete—and former Harvard Crimson freestyle swimmer—Bailey takes staying active as seriously as growing the family business. “To me, cycling is like an extension of work,” he says. “We’re right off Highway 128, so I’m out there around 5:30 a.m. and try to make it to Healdsburg and back. Or I’ll take Silverado Trail and head into St. Helena—there are a couple good

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» When we’re not in the middle of harvest, we typically head out to the breaks on Bodega Bay « JOH N BAI LEY

climbs there too.” After that, he goes to the winery to meet the production team, which includes 27-year-old winemaker Derek Baljeu, with whom Bailey shares a passion for both wine and waves.

“Derek’s brilliant and has an incredible resume, but we really hit it off over surfing,” he says. “When we’re not in the middle of harvest, we typically head out to Bodega Bay—there’s a couple of different breaks out there, like Salmon Creek, which is a favorite.”

With the completion of Knights Bridge’s new winery in July 2021, the secondgeneration vintner splits his time between responsibilities in the on-site winemaking facility and tasting room—which began welcoming guests that November—and flying back east to meet existing clients and prospects. “This has been a life-long dream for my dad, so to be able to communicate that we’re a small-production family operation and that we’re trying to make artfully crafted wines in this beautiful AVA in Sonoma really excites me.”

One of his favorite wines to tout is the estate’s opulent and lush Fairview sauvignon blanc, a direct-to-consumer wine that isn’t widely distributed. “It’s a beautiful wine, and Fairview was the name of a one-room schoolhouse where my grandmother got her first teaching post—and that really kicked off everything for my entire family,” he notes.

“She was an incredible educator for 60 years

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and made sure all of her four kids went to college—the first in our family’s history.”

Bailey’s activities during the recent harvest kept him in constant motion. “Monday last week I flew in from New York and we hosted a dinner that night with a [local] distributor,” he says. “The next day I drove out to Knights Valley and got a good cycle in that morning, and then we were able to bring in some of the whites. We harvested some of our sauvignon blanc, a little of our chardonnay and just a fraction of our cabernet—harvest is basically between the beginning of September through mid-October, but it changes a bit every year. In general, there’s a lot going on every day, so you just have to go with the flow and help out where you can.”

This past February, the family acquired a neighboring 50-acre vineyard and increased their planted acreage to just over 80. “We’ve been practicing organic for the past four years and should be certified organic within the next year and a half,” says Bailey, who notes that being good stewards of the land has always been a priority for the family.

“With the investment my father made in the winery and vineyard, we have a goal to make honest and beautiful world-class wines that represent us and where we are in Sonoma— and we want to carry that 100 years into the future,” he offers humbly. “I really have a lot of gratitude to be able to do what I do.” X

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At the end of a long day, Bailey can usually be found unwinding in his natural habitat, surrounded by mountains and vineyards.

Opposite, clockwise from top left: Bailey and Baljeu in the property’s state-ofthe-art winemaking facility.

With water conservation in mind, a large portion of the family’s vineyards are dry farmed. Surf’s up for Bailey and Baljeu when harvest is well in hand.

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CALIFORNIA CLASSIC

● To match the mountainside, ABOVE

THE

the cement of the foundation, carport and pool area have been painted a complementary shade of pale pink, while the metal-clad exterior walls, roof and interior-facing vinyl window treatments are a turquoise color that corresponds to the native cholla cactus. Alternately, the exterior-facing curtains, in bright yellow, connect to winter-blooming California brittlebush flowers.

FREY

● Extensive walls of floor-

to-ceiling sliding glass offer sweeping panoramic views while also contributing to the home’s energy efficiency. The structure’s east-west orientation allows it to benefit from passive solar heat and cooling when the northern summer and southern winter sun are at their most intense.

● Although it may go

● Frey literally brought

the outdoor environment indoors by anchoring the home around a large boulder as an homage to the rocky mountain landscape. The interior spaces fan out from the boulder, separated by lowprofile built-ins designed to keep sightlines clear and promote functionality.

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unnoticed from the pool and deck level, nestled underneath the protruding platform is the property’s carport. When walking up the exterior staircase to the home, however, it’s clear the pool is actually built atop the cantilevered cement block wall that makes up the carport’s ceiling.

● The home—originally called

● The stepped elevation of

a “crazy” idea by Palm Springs City Hall—sat at an elevation higher than any other residence in Palm Springs at the time of its completion. Today it is one of only two architecturally significant structures in the Palm Springs Art Museum’s permanent collection.

the house expands the visual footprint and maximizes actual physical space. A few steps up from the pool is the main level, which includes the primary bedroom, living room and kitchen. Another three steps up is a dining/ work area and bathroom.

The Frey House II

S

ome 300 feet above Palm Springs in the San Jacinto Mountains rests an icon of Desert Modernism known as Frey House II. Completed in 1964, the second Palm Springs home of Swiss-born architect Albert Frey combines many architectural characteristics of the International Style, including rectilinear forms, strict plane surfaces with few decorative elements, an open floorplan and a visual weightlessness attributed to the structure’s symbiotic relationship with the landscape. The original 800-square-foot living

space was enlarged in 1967 to include a 300-square-foot guest room at one end of the modest expanse. Unobstructed views from the glasswalled house stretch from the swimming pool across the Coachella Valley, thanks to its perfect positioning; Frey spent an entire year at the site determining the best placement of the home and pool. Bequeathed to the Palm Springs Art Museum upon his death in 1998 at 95, Frey’s residence of 35 years stands as a recognized masterpiece, embracing both innovation in design and its natural surroundings. X

Hosted by the Palm Springs Art Museum, 30-minute tours of the residence are available during Modernism Week in October and February. $75/ticket. psmuseum.org.

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PORTRAIT: DON B UCKN E R. FR EY HOUSE I I (3): DAN CHAVKI N.

WO R D S BY DAV I D N A S H

Givenchy

Louis Vuitton