Style Salvage Speaks to... BUCK (part two)

Here's part two of our interview with the chaps at BUCK magazine. For part one click here.

SS: How do you see BUCK developing over the next couple of years?
SD: There are so many things that we want to do with it but and we don't want to bore you with this but there is so little cash around. It is difficult to know how it will pan out to be honest.

SS: I guess it must be difficult with BUCK when it comes to getting the right advertisers on board... you don't want just any old brand

SD: In a way I'd rather have ads for food and interiors, so we can be a bit more picky what we put into the fashion pages. As the magazine is settling in to its own stride now, we will turn our attentions more to the website, get a lot more video content up. You can just translate a lot of our features into video. For example 'In my room' could be turned into a three minute programme and depending on the production value it could be popular. Once you know what you want, and it has taken us several months, but now everyone here understands the brand, who our reader is and we always keep that person in mind, someone like yourself, are we targeting this to Style Salvage Steve? It can be easier to make decisions that way when you are going along, some magazines forget who they are actually targeting.

SS: I think with some magazines they have certainly lost sight of who their reader actually is, they have become diluted and as such don't really appeal to anyone and they can have a confused voice.
SD: Not everyone likes the design of the magazine. We had a really great response from people our age but people in their fifties find it a little arty. Which is strange...
EJS: It's because it isn't like GQ or Esquire...
SD: We just want to translate this online through video. We will start during fashion week. We are going to do video reports, backstage, street style outside of the shows and we have interviews with a couple of designers. it is going to be really complicated because we are so busy. Fashion is hard work.

SS: Oh fashion is hard work. People don't realise that it is actually quite demanding!
EJS: The hardest part is waiting around with no food...
SD: A few canapes and champagne. We are going to drink Prosecco for four days...

SS: BUCK is packed full of knowledgeable recommendations, from restaurants and shop addresses to the best red wine and how to tie a bow tie. Could you recommend something you've recently come across to our readers today? What is your favourite tip at the moment?
SD: Well, Elliot can do style... There is a new restaurant/bar called Derriere (in Paris) and it is the coolest place in the world.

SS: That is what is getting you excited right now?
SD: It is. We are going again when we go next week. It is absolutely incredible. It is at the back of a bar called Andy Waloo and it is set up by the same guy who set up Sketch in London and Momo. It is basically a house behind Andy Waloo, hence the name and it is completely secret...they don't advertise, there are no pictures, they basically don't tell anyone and it is one big house party inside with a restaurant kitchen. You go in and you have a lounge, dining room, a snug and a bedroom, dressing room and bathroom upstairs and you can eat anywhere. We ordered in the bedroom and it was fine to eat there as well, the guy was like...*puts on believable Parisian accent*...'You can order it here and we bring it to you, it is fine'. It is just really Parisian. The interior decor is just so eclectic, Philippe Starke ghost chairs next to a 60s black and white table, then beaten up leather sofas next to a real Louis XIV chair...all just so mismatched and really, really good.

SS: And your fashion tip Elliott?
EJS: What we have been thinking alot about recently and this links into the new design...is that what we'll see in the coming years is people actually ordering from the designers themselves, rather than going to x,y or z department store. It is great to contact the designers directly about pieces.

BUCK front covers, Steve at his desk and Elliott posing on the desk...

SS: I bought a cardigan from the Carola Euler 'Still' Collection and it was so nice speaking to the designer.
EJS: I ordered a few pieces as well and I bought a backpack from Sophie Hume. Car boot sales are still a big tip as well. Finding new ideas to update your wardrobe in the credit crunch.

SD: We always try to promote vintage. I went to Brick Lane on Sunday and half the shops had sales on, and I've never seen that before... I think the price of vintage is going to come down because it has been quite inflated over the years.

EJS: Vintage is a key element to BUCK, it highlights how we approach fashion. We see guys mix their grandad's shoes with Comme trousers and a tshirt their mum made them or something. There is always a place for high end and classic pieces. As we enter the recession, it makes sense to buy quality but much less.

SS: Last couple of questions now, what is the one question that you would like to be asked but never had the chance to answer?
SD: To answer the question in a round about way... Most people, when they meet me and they think of what I do, they get it completely wrong. They think I spend all day looking at clothes rails or the Habitat catalogue or something.

SS: That sounds like a dream job!
EJS: That is actually Laura's job.

SD: In fact, my day is spent responding to irritating emails and dealing with people (outside of this office) not doing their jobs properly. It is certainly not all high glamour but I absolutely love it!

SS: Ok, last question: when are you going to run a feature on men's style blogs?
*Noticed the hint that we'd like a feature*
SD: We could do, I mean we could get you in some other way, an at home with 'Steve and Susie'

SS: But then you would just see Susie's shoes everywhere!
EJS: I've seen, they are amazing!
SD: It is a funny thing though because when GQ does a similar feature, it focuses on the old guard telling you what is going on young people's culture. For us to do it, it would be somewhat odd because everyone know, if you know BUCK, you would probably know about the blogs already.
EJS: We all read everything and we want to offer something quite different. if we did do anything on blogs we would like to do it from a different point of view.
SD: We don't want to tell people what they should have on their blog reader.
EJS: The life cycle of some blogs can be very short. It is amazing how blogs like yours have been around for so long, grow it whilst keeping it up.

Style Salvage Speaks to...BUCK (part one)

After a couple of weeks of hinting about our 'Style Salvage Speaks to' feature we can now finally begin posting our interviews. Over the course of the next month we will be posting interviews covering as many facets of the men's style industry as possible, including a number of designers, stylists, journalists, buyers and shop owners... even fellow bloggers! As most of the blogging world's attention has been diverted to the goings on in Milan, Paris and an ever increasing number of trade shows around the globe, this feature will provide something a little different. Even though we have been watching the shows we believe that there is much more to men's style and fashion than what happens on the runway.


We thought that we would start off proceedings with our little chat with BUCK magazines editor and founder, Steve Doyle and Fashion Editor (and long time blogger) Elliott James Sainsbury. As mentioned on Wednesday, Steve has just launched his own blog where he is documenting his random collection of thoughts, so it is a fitting time to get to now the man behind BUCK that little bit more. We have supported BUCK ever since we first heard about its launch last year and have seen it develop into a fine magazine; it has certainly filled a gaping hole in the market.

Steve met up with the chaps at their offices in Bethnal Green the evening before they flew off to Milan to cover the shows....

Steve Doyle hard at work at his desk...photoshopped in front of a 'Buck Reader' inspiration board.

Style Salvage: Are you surprised to be founder and editor of a Men's lifestyle magazine at the age of 26?
Steve Doyle: Not at all because it feels so right. It doesn't surprise me because I was very determined to do it and when I'm determined to do something, I tend to do it.

SS: How did you get into journalism?

SD: I actually worked in fashion programmes for the BBC, I'm not sure if you remember but it was for a show called Style Challenge. It was on in the daytime and no one seems to remember it. It was one of the first makeover shows, where they kept the person they were making over in the dark and then at the end they had this spin the mirror moment

SS: Wow, TV is missing something like that!

SD: It was made at Pebble Mill and I grew up in Birmingham. When I was in sixth form I worked there for about two years, every Friday and during Holidays. I worked on that and Clothes Show live. Then I did my degree in Japanese and as part of that was lucky enough to live in Tokyo. I was always into the fashion but then fell completely in love with Men's Non-no whilst out there and I just always thought, "I wish someone would do this or something like it back home, there has to be a market for it even if it is small". I finished Uni, had a diversion into working in the City which now seems like a distant memory - what was I thinking? - but I learnt a great deal but realised it wasn't for me and needed to working on something creative. I had some inheritance come through and decided that this is what I needed to do. Set up this magazine with a website.

SS: Who would you say was the target BUCK reader?

SD: I would say that he was around 25, living in a city, might be living with his girlfriend or in a house with mates. He is just starting out on his career, whatever that might be, and he wants something accessible and affordable but new. He wants to find out what other guys are doing without being dictated what to do, which I feel a number of Men's Lifestyle magazines do.

SS: They can read like an aspirational catalogue...
SD: Yeah, it is all a bit constraining. Which is why we do the street style feature, the in your home feature...it is from their point of view, the readers point of view. Okay, this guy has designed his own wall in this way, we then show the shopping pages after so you can get the look in your own house but it not all a PR push from a brand. With some magazines every page is PR copy, it really is no wonder people aren't buying magazines anymore.

SS: My gripe with a number of leading men's magazines is that it difficult to see what is editorial content and what are adverts or advertorials, everything is blurred in to one.

SD: i noticed in the new issue of i-D, their Menswear Issue, they have a ten page feature on CK. Did in an interesting way but why dedicate ten pages, it has to be an advertorial. They ticked all these boxes by featuring the underwear, the jeans, menswear and womenswear...it's just not very interesting.

Elliott and the an inspiration board used for the upcoming issue...

SS: There are so few adverts in BUCK and many of the ones that are in there are dedicated to emerging designers, for examples there were two full pages of JW Anderson

SD: We've featured Carola Euler, Unconditional, SOAR...We think they are going to be important and want to build this relationship from the start

Elliot James Sainsbury: With JW Anderson, he is now showing at MAN. Since the very first BUCK we have been saying that he is a great talent. It is fun to be an early adopter.

SS: It is a close knit team here, where did you find everyone?

SD: We've been quite lucky that everyone has got on so well but most people were hired through completing open interviews. I met so many people last summer, it all took several months. Everyone has brought different skills with them. Most people here had experience with working with web or were prepared to, whether it was a blog or like Elliot at a site like Fashion156. Joseph and I had both worked at Vogue and we were introduced there but on the most part it was through interviews. I think that is why it has worked because often in fashion magazines, they are quite cliquey.

SS: I assumed that you were a group of friends maybe, living in a flat together and then one day you thought, fuck it, let's just start our own magazine.

SD: It does happen but often that can go wrong. We spend so much time together that we are all friends now. We have built up so many contacts now, so if we need anything we can put our heads together and come up with the right person. We have so many street style photographers that we could pretty much take our street style feature to any city in the world.

EJS: We can now put together shoots at a day's notice which is really good.

SS: If such a thing exists, could you describe your typical day?

SD: Joe gets the brunt of my typical day. I normally get here about 9 and go through my inbox, which is quite horrendous, deleting. Then it is a whole variety of things really, because I am editor and publishing there is a lot to do. Planning the next issue, it is talking with Elliot about which designers we are going to use for the next shoot, what are the themes and what are we going to promote as the important things for next season, and this is mainly what we have been doing recently because of the new season starting soon. Then I'll be talking with Laura about the same for interiors, then we'll decide what restaurants we are going to review each month and who is going to review them. I'm not sure about a typical day but I tend to have the same conversations every day. I spend a lot of time with our picture editor Holly finding new photographers, we love featuring new talent. As each of our issues is focused on a different city, we try and get as much as we can do in that city which takes quite a lot of organisation. There is the advertising side, so I am speaking to advertisers and I cover distribution as well.

An array of front covers next to an inspiration board for the next issue...

SS: I was amazed at how widely stocked the magazine is, even from the launch issue...

SD: The cover is by far the most difficult. The cover is so hard to decide. On the launch cover we almost had a full breakdown, there were nearly tears because it was so stressful. How can you ever sum it up in one image. There were so many mistakes we made with that first cover, which is why the 2nd and 3rd covers look different, for example the BUCK logo was in the middle of the page, but in 2 and 3 we have switched it to the left and the reason for that is that when you have it in a corner shop...

SS: ...You can't actually see the title.

SD: Exactly! On the day it came out I went into a shop and couldn't see it and then saw the red but I was like 'Oh god, nobody is going to be able to see it'

SS: We should just blame the display... The issues are getting stronger and stronger, so it feels like you are learning as you go...

SD: That is a huge part of it. I think with the third issue we are all really happy. The first two were getting there, I'm still really happy with the first issue but the third is much closer to what we want it to be.

EJS: At first no one really knew who BUCK were and Steve was keen on bringing in people who were up and coming or whatever, so by issue three, everyone we wanted to work with and everything we wanted to do we were able to do. Issue four has been so much easier because people really know the magazine. Now, when we go out and do the street style, people know about the magazine which is great.

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Come back for part two of the interview tomorrow!

A judging eye on Milan

Fantastic Man's very own Gert Jonkers wearing his stars and stripes outside the Ermenegildo Zegna show.

Seeing as the last post was a long rant of a post, I thought I'd offer something a little lighter. As I try and arrange an agreeable time with Thom for our Milan discussion, I am still refraining from posting about the shows themselves (although that makes it sound like they were really exciting when you all know that they weren't!) so instead I will continue to comment on the street style. I have searched the net for the best street style shots of the events in Milan but the Sartorialist's blog on men.style still offers the best by far (if you've come across anything of note, please do let me know).

These two chaps above are two of my favourites.

As I cast my judging eye over the happenings over in Milan I would like to award Ermenegildo Zegna as attracting best dressed crowd. The show itself had far too much camel for my tastes (I guess it made a nice change from all that grey) but the crowd were far better dressed. Apparently, this tailored clothing powerhouse wants to be known as more than just a maker of luxury textiles and banker suits and it certainly attracts a different crowd. Well done Ermenegildo.

A Nation of Shopkeepers?

Source

Over the last week most of our attention has been focused on the goings on over in Milan and now Paris...Charlie Porter has notified us via his Twitter that the YSL presentation is his favourite show thus far so I am desperate to see the first lot of images (update: now up on Dazed Digital). Despite the fashion week activity I have also been contemplating the other side of the business, retail. Even the collections themselves were deeply affected by the current state of the world economy...the recession wasn't hinted at but instead the shows almost screamed panic due to the state of affairs...which sends a warning signal to the rest of the industry. I am torturing myself by watching and reading the news...as the doom and gloom seems to be getting darker by the day...which leads me to thinking about the business side of men's style.

However much Tyler Brûlé frustrates me, he frequently covers the topics that interest me and within his Observation column in Monocle he talks about playing shop. I visited the Monocle shop in November last year and at just nine square metres in size (it is only a touch larger than my childhood bedroom which only allowed my bed, a small television set and my Sega Mega Drive) the space has been beautifully designed and furnished so it feels welcoming and feels so homely. After over two months of trading Tyler Brûlé feels there is a core of consumers who are looking for a more personal, hands on approach to minding a shop. I couldn't agree more! My favourite shops are the ones which have a strong but friendly and welcoming ownership. bstore which is now in it's seventh year has gone from strength to strength and this can only be down to the vision, drive and commitment of the two owners, Kirk Beattie and Matt Murphy (and maybe a little luck). We featured parts of an insightful interview Matt Murphy gave with Ponystep and I have to admit that I re-read this from time to time and it inspires me...Another prime example of how a shop owner should be is Daniel Jenkins who has single-handedly put Monmouth (a small town in Wales, population 8407) on the men's style map and is always buying in great menswear. As mentioned on the blog previously, I met up with Dan at the last MAN show and this guys passion and knowlege for menswear is in my experience unparalleled...and over a beer before the show he was taking calls from designers and customers alike. I just wish more store owners shared these attributes but they really are few and far between.

In a recent interview with BUCK, Creative Director of oki-ni, John Skelton, predicts that 'there is going to be a real return to the independent retail mentality of old, where small/independent stores will make their money by offering something different.' Over the last year or two, we have certainly seen a number of retailers, large and small, offering emerging menswear talent and I hope this continues into 2009 and beyond. There is undoubtedly a market, where people like myself, are eager to buy designs from recent graduates and small fashion teams but this market is certainly not the safe option: the demise of London-based fashion concept store twosee which showcased avant-garde designers but is unfortunately closing it's doors at the end of this month is testament to the difficulties. The Shop At Bluebird (even the website is down) used to be a favourite of mine and I managed to pick up a number of pieces from emerging design talent but in recent visits I have become frustrated by the 'safe' Buying, there is no longer a place for brands like Unconditional and Omar Kashoura, they have been replaced by much more established brands. Yawn.

The UK used to be dubbed as the nation of shopkeepers but in recent years the landscape has changed from busy, bustling stores to empty and even boarded up stores. I can honestly count the number of exciting stores in London using my fingers. Tyler Brûlé mentions how Japan's lost decade was the catalyst for the rise of a new. super talented merchant class that kept the retail scene buoyant despite the dire state of the economy. Let's hope that one positive outcome of the recent troubling economic times will be a new breed of shop keepers. It would be great if the UK could be crowned as the nation of menswear shopkeepers.

There is a lot that could be said on this subject so I feel that this is only the beginning. I would like to hear your thoughts thoughts though....What in your eyes makes a good menswear store? What would you like to see store owners do in the year ahead and beyond?

Eager for a Werther's Original from Bond

OK, I should warn you in advance that this is a slightly strange post but welcome to the inner thoughts of my odd, little mind....I picked up the latest issue of Monocle earlier this evening and as I was flicking through the pages somewhat excitedly over my Mocha in a crowded coffee chain I encountered the sight of an old friend on the back cover. Sean Connery is the second grandad I've always wished I had so it is always nice to see him now and again. Here he stars in the new Louis Vuitton ad shot by Annie Leibovitz and tonight was the first time that I've seen it. I have grown up with the best James Bond ageing very well indeed whilst he starred in some great films and a number of bad ones. In the shot taken close to his Bahamas home, Connery is the picture of masculine cool - I wish I look this good when I reach 78. Mr. Connery if you are reading this, you can give me a Werther's Original anytime.

A fur coat and a classic look

A great twist on classic staples... the loafer and the fur coat. Her hair is also great!

The Editor informs...The Burberry Belly Warmer Explained

We have a number of interviews at various stages of completion but over the coming week or two you should be entertained as we launch our 'Style Salvage Speaks To...' feature. We have spoken to a number of people involved in men's style, including designers, editors and stylists and are enjoying getting different perspectives on our favourite subject. One of the first interviews posted will be our discussion with BUCK where we spoke with Editor and Founder, Steve Doyle and Fashion Editor Elliott James Sainsbury, the night before they went off to Milan. During the course of our long chat Steve mentioned that he was going to launch his own blog and he certainly meant it because Doyle Says is already live!

In his very first post he has taught me something. Although it was an unexciting and uneventful Burberry AW09 show, my heart skipped a bit for the folksy knit cummerbunds, whilst Steve agrees that this was one of the standout pieces he sheds some light onto this accessory which I thank him for:

"In Japan, this is known as a haramaki. A very traditional garment, originating out of armour that the Samurai once wore, it is said that, by keeping your belly warm, it is good for your health."

One of the most iconic haramaki wearers is apparently Tora San. A film critic once said that in Japan, his face was more recognizable than the emperor’s; fans call him “the bum from Shibamata.” He is the sake-loving, itinerant salesman who starred in the longest-running film series in history.

In recent years there has been resurgence of popularity in the haramaki in Japan (as supported by this article in Pingmag) but of course they do not have much in common with their historical predecessors that were made for armour...although an armour one would be interesting!

I lapplaud designers when they look further afield and to the past for inspiration. As I said on the Fashion156 blog, Bailey's designed belly accessory could not be further from what I imagine a cummerbund to be. I have always found this traditional piece to be rigid , uncomfortable and somewhat dull but these folksy yet chic creations were beautiful in their versatility. Have you come across a haramaki before the Burberry show?

Groomy Look

Tags: groomswear, grooms attire, menswear, mens wedding wear, mens suits, evening wear

Japanese Dandyism on show in Italy

Members of the 'Japanese Fashion Flock' as captured by the Sartorialist for Men.Style

We often say within posts and the comments section (particularly from one rather persistent fellow, naming no names...Thom...this post is dedicated to you) that Japan does everything better. It does seem that we as men's style commentators spend a large chunk of our time salivating over designers, brands, magazines and the people of Japan wishing that we could either speak the language, lived there or looked as cool.

During their coverage of Pitti and Milan The Moment mentioned the rise of the new Japanese dandy.

'I have to say that the Japanese fashion flock are stealing the show here. Amazing personal style, with what is becoming a bit of a signature look for a group of them: very natty, often checked sport jackets, worn with a coordinated checked shirt underneath a crew-neck sweater, along with slender pressed gray flannel trousers, argyle or some other colored sock and a very fine English shoe.'

I agree with everything above, except the fact that this is new because season after season I have marvelled at the Japanese fashion flock when captured by The Sartorialist. The mix of fabrics and attention to detail really sets these gents apart, we should all take note. If you aren't doing so already I suggest that you take a look at the street style photography outside of the shows...it can be much more interesting than the shows themselves.

Topman Calling

Topman have asked us to spread the net in their hunt for creative talent and we thought that we just had to pass on the opportunity to you as we know how talented you are. Topman are on the hunt for movie makers and budding photographers to capture the highlight of the London Fashion Week calender, the MAN Show on 25th February.

MAN will enter it’s 8th successful season as it opens the final day of London Fashion Week on 25th February 2009. It proves that British menswear is fighting strong and making it’s mark and you could be a part of it.

You will get behind the scenes and squeeze your way into the end pf the runway whilst taking pictures and shooting the show for Topman. If you would love a chance to cover the event all you have to do is send a few examples of your work in to contribute@topman.com