14 DAY TRIAL // The prestigious "Esquire" magazine marks its 75th anniversary later this year and, as expected, this important landmark in its history will be celebrated in style, as it is only fit for a men's magazine that so far published journalism from some of the world's iconic writers, such as F Scott Fitzgerald or Ernest Hemingway. The British edition of the title is starting the celebrations early in a very unusual, yet very high-profile move, and invited eleven of the most prestigious fashion designers of the moment to each re-create one of the vintage Esquire front covers designed in the sixties by the magazine's iconic art director George Lois.
The portfolio is set to be published in the June issue of the UK Esquire and will also be featured in an exhibition at The Hospital Club in Central London. The line-up is absolutely impressive: Giorgio Armani, Tommy Hilfiger, Karl Lagerfeld, Christopher Bailey, Donatella Versace and Vivienne Westwood are among the chosen few and they seem to have gone out of their way to create realistic re-enactments of the covers in question. From Karl Lagerfeld recreating a 1969 Esquire cover featuring Richard Nixon, to British designer Paul Smith recreating an Andy Warhol cover by pretending to be on the verge of diving in a can of Heinz tomato soup - it's all classy, subtle and funny.
"The [Lois] covers are now part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and they're a really big part of Esquire's heritage. So recreating those images was a way of bringing modernity and history together", reveals Jeremy Langmead, Esquire's UK editor, explaining the logistics behind coordinating such an illustrious pack of world-famous designers. "We sent out letters to them all last November and the first few said yes quite quickly", he says. "But then things got a bit trickier as deadlines approached. Lagerfeld said he'd love to do it just as we were going to press. So we delayed the press day and he literally did it overnight", Langmead adds. Have a look at some of the covers in question and have your say.
