As the world came to a spectacular, grinding halt around us, the Esquire team, like the rest of the world, felt anxious. We felt anxious about our friends, family and loved ones, and the distance and pandemic that laid between us. We worried about the safety of our fearless delivery drivers, frontline health-care warriors and the other, tireless key-worker heroes. We watched on fearfully as the effects of Covid-19 ravaged every corner of the economy, from the FTSE 100 to our favourite, family-owned bakeries. But we also worried about how, in a time when it was more needed than ever, we could bring you a comforting distraction in the form of quality journalism and creative content.
As the pandemic’s devastation stripped away normality from day-to-day life, it also bereaved us of our usual means and methods of production. While we quickly took remote press days, Zoom-led brainstorms and “we hope this e-mail finds you safe and sane” introductions into our strides, navigating how to bring you the best in new season fashion became something of a headache-inducing perplex – at the risk of taking on a condescending tone, assembling an 8-person crew into a snug ol’ studio wouldn’t be the safest, or most tactful move in these times. But we are people of our words, and that means when we say we will bring you the highest quality of content, be it interviews, grooming, or, in this case, fashion, there’s not a virus on earth that will stop us.
Enter Esquire Middle East’s first ever remotely-executed editorial. Shot in the alleyways of Umm Suqeim, from the rolling fields of Croatia, the images were captured entirely on iPhone cameras and video-call technology, through the masterful lens and brilliant eyes of Filip Koludrovic. Aggressive in his aesthetic and blinkered in his quest to not disguise the unorthodox method, but instead celebrate it, made our emerging maverick the perfect, forward-thinking creative for this project. Conventional? Not so much. Brilliant? We think so.
Fashion’s surface-level importance, in stark contrast to society’s current challenges, is something of an understandably frivolous concern. When the world around you is in a total anarchy, the cut and textile of this season’s most revered tailoring may translate as something of a whimsical indulgence – but that is precisely why it is so important. The garments you choose to both wear and purchase are more than just cloth on your back. They possess the ability to remain an avenue of self-expression, when all other routes are closed.
So enjoy, without guilt or distraction, the best of S/S20’s strongest silhouettes. Whether you’re looking towards masterful McQueen for some asymmetric tailoring to flex at post-iso soirees, or just want stomp those sublime Bottega boots up and down the hallway catwalk, to an audience of, well, your cats, we hope this line-up of dreamscape-inducing cuts offer a rare moment of fantasy and solitude, for you. Stay safe, stay home, download the Esquire ME app, for free, and trust in us that while everything is looking tempestuously uncertain right now, one thing is not, and that’s our promise to continue bringing you the thoughtful, blue-ribbon content that we have delivered over the last decade, and for many more decades to come.
Jacket; Trousers; Boots, All POA, All Bottega Veneta
Jacket, POA; Shirt, AED5,800; Trousers, AED2,700; Belt, POA, All Valentino
Silk Shirt, POA; Trousers, AED2,800, Both Dior Men
Blazer, AED6,750; T-Shirt, AED410; Leather Trousers, AED5,630, All Les Benjamins
Jumper, AED1,990; Jeans, AED1,630, Both Maison Margiela at Mytheresa
Shirt, AED2,620; White Shirt, AED2,695; Trousers, AED4,170, All Hermes
Jumper, AED1,100, W Anderson at Mytheresa; Trousers, AED1,710, Casablanca at Mytheresa
Jacket, AED12,650; Shirt, AED10,300; Trousers, AED2,800; Boots, AED3,050, All Alexander McQueen
Jumpsuit, AED9,990; Trainers, AED2,950, Both Fendi
Photographer: Filip Koludrovic
Words & Fashion: Tabitha Jane Glaysher
Model: Imad Chehimi at Bareface Dubai
Styling Assistant: Rima Mani Varghese
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