AW09 Men’s Mag Miscellany.

What with the abundance of online fashion magazines (Fashion156, Mykro Mag, WWIT etc.) publishing content just as good, if not better, than what’s to be found in the pages of the “established” print publications, it feels like an eon since I last felt compelled to purchase a magazine. By compelled I mean so captivated by an editorial or enthralled by a report/story that I felt it would be downright criminal to actually leave the magazine on the stand. Still, there’s a good chance that’s due to the dearth of frequently published (monthly, bimonthly) men’s magazines rather than a lack of appeal in print.

But we’re on the brink of another season and with so many stellar collections (voluminous knits, belted trenches, and fur galore) to be styled I’m optimistic something will beckon from the bookshelf. Fantastic Man and Vogue Hommes International are, for me, the last bastion of the smart and seductive men’s fashion magazine. Both mags strike the balance, more often than not, between accurate and original reportage/collection reviews, fashion photography and lifestyle features. But I’ve not got my hands on the AW09 issue of either yet so I’ve decided to feature a select few, random snippets from random AW09 mags. Totally incoherent but absolutely brilliant…

Styling Olivier Rizzo Photographer Alisdair McLellan

^ Fantastic Man #10 AW09 – Mr. McGregor making Miuccia’s leather-panelled mohair confection for AW09 look as wearable as a H&M tee. This mag never ceases to offer up an eye-catching portrait of some of the most idiosyncratic personalities out there. (Vogue US fans rejoice, Hamish Bowles also makes an appearance in this issue…).

Of all the GQ Style editions it’s the editorials of GQ Style Russia that I find the most intriguing to pore over on TFS. I quite like the below, which features Noah Mills bellowing and gesturing exaggeratedly while sporting the latest in AW accoutrement…

Styled by Igor Garanin Photographer David Roemer

^ GQ Style Russia AW09

I tend to cringe when mags try to merge members of the public and a fashion editorial as it doesn’t often yield more than a group of shots of not-quite-relaxed, average-looking people making clothes you’d previously drooled over look decidedly civilian (that sounds snooty but isn’t intended to be so…). The second issue of Love has managed to buck the trend with a moving editorial of Britain’s best boxers in some of the season’s finest Prada and Comme Des Garcons…

Fashion Editor Olivier Rizzo Photographer Alisdair McLellan

^ Love Magazine AW09 (not sure if these are released or unreleased or, indeed, a mixture of both…)

Images from TFS and Love